#thank you for the ask! lemme know if u have any more questions!

[lethesbeastie]

Hi, I saw your post about practicing drawing fat people and I was wondering if you could compile like a list of resources or references?

It can be difficult to find resources for drawing the wide variety of forms fat bodies can occupy, so I've done my best to bring together some resources I've been able to prove have some degree of diversity in the references they offer!

My primary resource recommendation for drawing fat people is Morpho Anatomy For Artists: Fat And Skin Folds! It does a wonderful job breaking down where fat accumulates on the body, how it interacts with the familiar landmarks of human anatomy, and what sort of shapes it tends to form under the influence of gravity. It's a phenomenal reference and my top recommendation for anyone seeking to improve at drawing fat people!

When it comes to finding decent photo references for fat people, the pickings are frustratingly slim. Most sites that specialize in pose references either don't have fat models or have all their images behind paywalls. Of the resources I looked through, the best sources for pose references were Adorkastock and Line of Action.

@adorkastock actively seeks to provide an incredible profile of pose references with diverse body types, and as an added bonus you can access a lot of their images for free on their site/Tumblr or join their patreon for early access to images! Line of action is a site aimed towards practicing figure drawing, providing images and a timed function to challenge artists to sketch within a set time limit. I took the time to go through roughly 300+ images and was pleased to find that during my session around two-to-three out of every ten photos were fat models. The only caveats to this was the fact that most of the images were of the same individual, limiting the applications for studying the variants of fat bodies. Still, it's an amazing tool that has a free mode and allows you to filter the types of references you want based on age and level of nudity.

Beyond sites that specialize in art reference photography, there's also the ever popular Pinterest, which is the site where I typically seek references for my personal studies. Due to the nature of Pinterest's extensive collection, there's a vast variety of references for different fat body types that includes a lot more "everyday" people. The primary issue with Pinterest however is the rampant reposting and lack of proper credits for images, which can make things dicey depending on how you wish to use the references you find. For personal studies this isn't really an issue, but for any sort of professional or paid work is something to be aware of just for the sake of accountability.

* For those who are 18+, porn photography of real people also offers an incredible wealth of visual resources for fat bodies and how they interact with gravity/movement/etc. The variety of positions and angles offer many opportunities to study human anatomy, and it's a pretty well-known fact that drawing NSFW art can be an important learning experience for those struggling with drawing anatomy. In the end, it depends on your personal level of comfort with viewing/drawing explicit images, but it's not something you should completely overlook.

Last but not least, look at the work of artists you admire who draw fat people! While I typically recommend sticking to photo references for learning anatomy, studying artist's portrayals of fat people is also incredibly helpful for learning different tactics for simplifying and/or stylizing fat bodies to better fit ones own style. There are also plenty of artists who've crafted tutorials detailing their approach to drawing fat folks, so I highly recommend you check them out as well! I hope the resources I've linked here can help you in your studies, and feel free to drop another ask if you have any more questions! I'm planning on posting a tutorial on how I do studies for fat people soon, so that will be an additional resource for you once I've got it posted!

[kriskross]

was looking through your art tag and i'm digging tanis' vibe can you tell me stuff about him? :)

I LOVE YOU . I'm at work rn so I might not be as in depth as I want to but if I don't get this out now I fear I may explode So if you have more questions feel free to ask or send me a dm or smth this is awesome ❤️

Tanis is my sorcerer that I made for a curse of strahd campaign! Hes a shadow sorcerer so unexpectedly he is having Such a connection to barovia and he has no idea why, really ... He doesn't recognize his magic for what it is, he just kind of woke up after what he thinks was a near death experience with magic! A few other side effects of dying are that he doesn't blink very often, he's very very cold all the time, and he has a newfound fear of water . He doesn't know that he died, and he very much does not know how or why he was brought back (and I don't either) .

All of this aside he has been doing his very best to live a normal life (pre-barovia), starting his own jewelry business selling his own work and playing piano at a local tavern for some extra coin since his business is very much struggling. He meets his wife there, she sings in the evenings and they would often duet. They both just kind of chill out for years and years :) yay

Then, Tanis' parents fall ill... They're both elderly and can't take care of themselves like this, so Tanis closes shop and goes to be their caretaker! ... Only he runs out of money pretty quickly. His sister, who was off at an apprenticeship, returns home to care for them while Tanis tries to start working again . He tries mercenary work but he's too much of a coward to do that, so he's stuck doing odd jobs where he can, still playing piano to make ends meet.

Then one night he has a dream, a woman tells him to meet at a tavern a days journey away, and he will find great riches that way. He thinks about it, and eventually decides to give it a try.

He goes, and meets a few adventurers who also had a similar dream, and they decide to go together, despite Tanis' cowardice, on an adventure.

... They end up in barovia with no way out .

He's a level 9 sorcerer now so he's been there for a while still with no clear way out . The campaign kind of died so as far as I'm concerned tanis has been trapped in barovia for the past few years, but I'm hoping to revive it in a few months and maybe we'll finally get a resolution for him :) he's found more than enough riches on his journey so once he gets home he's set for life

[kiwibirdlafayette]

oooo i wanna know about orphi!! he’s a gorgon right?

YES YES HELL YEAH!! hellooo i have loreeee hehhe

Ophi is a stargorgon to be super specific, which falls under the larger species of Voidwalkers, End-inhabitants created by the Ianite of his home-realm Astrakheins :D She used energy derived from the Void and starlight to transform gorgons and other mythical creatures into these beings who could move freely about the end through flight and overall had a stronger affinity to transformative magics (such as magical properties related to invention, building, engineering, etc.) They somewhat still retain features from their origin species, in Ophi's case the snake hair, and the Eyes tm (he can somewhat turn people to stone too if they look in his eyes, but its on his own volition, meaning unless he's mad at ya you could look right into his eyes without his shades on) Other Voidwalkers could have wings, any other number of eyes (like cyclops), hooves or whatnot, what's most important is that they have some kind of star like feature about them such as the blue snakes on Ophi's head

Ophi is trans, like all gorgons is AFAB and transitioned at a early age :D He's also demisexual/biromantic! As a whole he's a very loyal, sometimes irrational silly chaotic guy who makes up for a lot of social awkwardness (sometimes he doesn't know when to shut it) with a decent amount of technical knowledge. He's had an interest in portal travel and their capabilities from when he was young which is what led him into his field of work. He also likes bees, and singing as side hobbies :D

Before he came to Oakheart (realm of Mianite RPG) Ophi worked for Syn inDustries as a materials engineer, where most of his research was in experimenting with the physical, magical and mechanical properties of materials being uncovered out of the Nether, which for the longest time was shut off as it fell to ruin in the absence of a god (as on Astrakheins, there is only Ianite. Mianite and Dianite are not present at all, and haven't been. the reason why I can't reveal just yet smiles menacingly /silly ;] Ianite in a way rules over both the Overworld and the End in this universe)

He was somewhat content with his work, but part of him knew that there must be more out there, out in the vast multiverse and was worth exploring, that he could make a name from. He never felt like he fit in amongst his Ianite worshipping peers, and was often seen as the odd one out- this only being fueled more on a day that changed his life forever.

He was in the Overworld visiting his mom's supervisor strolling through some woods when he sees a fiery rift tears a hole in the sky, from it, a blazing horned red god draped in a black fur cloak. He drops what he's carrying and runs through the exit when the god takes something (he's not sure what, or who) from the ground, and leaves with an inferno in his path. He's drawn to whoever this god is, and now having some greater sense of what's really out there, he promises to himself he'll find him again. Ophi spends the next two years putting his research to the test, on days off retreating to a shack in the corners of the End to build a portal. Using some stone fragments from the crater from where the god landed, he's able to hopefully have extracted and located a quintessence signature in a branch of the "greater mianite multiverse" and sets his sights on that realm- somewhere far away from what he's known all his life.

As he does this, he does become shunned by his peers, who bring their concerns to his mother and eventually Queen Ianite. He gets summoned to the goddess who gives him a name for this god- Dianite. She warns him that the god is not someone to be meddled with and that it would be in his best interest to abandon his side project; but the name calls out to the chaos living dormant in Ophi's heart and he goes on with his plan regardless. A few days before he leaves, his mother visits to plant a patch of new sunflowers next to his house, wishing him good luck, and not to forget her.

Upon landing he arrives in Oakheart and is greeted by the others- many of which who also came from other universes. Without question, upon learning that there is in fact a Dianite here, he pledges his undying loyalty to him. When he finally gets to meet Oakheart's Dianite, he doesn't look all like the Dianite he saw back on Astrakheins. But he knows time moves differently between timelines, theres offsets, so it must just be that a ton of time has passed. This is his god. Over the course of the next year, he embraces his silliness, his chaos and contributing what he can to prove himself to the old man- through fights, being apart of the legion and making friends and allies and fighting the bringers of Darkness, finally feeling that sense of belonging he's longed for. There are days he still looks up to the stars not sure if he'll stay here the rest of his life, but for now he's happy by the legion of dianite and the guardian's side- no matter where it takes them (even back to the season 1 world uh ohhhh)

[reidrum]

I can't stop thinking munch!spencer x reader who's insecure about having thick thighs (it's me, I'm reader)

take a seat | s.r

hi thank u for requesting!! i tried to be ambiguous about reader’s size but if it doesn’t come across that way lemme know and ill fix it!!!

wc: 1.7k

cw: 18+ smut minors dni, afab reader, face sitting, munch!spencer my beloved, insecure!reader who i took to be a little self indulgent sorry, fluff, hurt comfort but no hurt lol

this is also not proofread sorry

_______________________________________________

the thing about spencer is if you have any fear or qualm about anything, his main verbal form of comfort is information. and it’s not a bad thing, not at all. finding comfort in the facts is what spencer hopes to achieve when he spews his tidbits. it’s just, sometimes it’ll do more harm than good, or even worse, do nothing at all.

that’s where you’re at right now, sitting in spencer’s room with your legs tucked under you while he sits up at the head of the bed. the top buttons of his dress shirt are undone, tie strewn somewhere in the room. you’re still fully clothed albeit in a loose t shirt and some panties. the want in his eyes is undeniable, his question still lingering in the air.

you weren’t exactly the most confident person, but was anyone really? did people really wake up in the morning, look at themselves in the mirror and say, ‘wow, i look beautiful today.”? tell themselves they’re going to have a good day because they said so?

so when you’d spent your whole life living in the shadows trying to blend in and just do your job, one day an ever observant spencer reid saw you struggling to carry your coffee and your bag into the bullpen and came to your rescue before it could spill all over you. you were a mumbling mess, uttering thank you’s and i’m so sorrys and i’ll be more careful next time. but his gaze on you was unwavering, even in the face of your uneasiness, and firmly but softly told you nothing was wrong, and suggested that maybe you and him should get coffee before work to avoid this rush next time.

falling in love with him was too easy after that.

spencer never failed to make you feel cherished, loved, safe, always going above and beyond to care for your needs and wants. the trust you had in him was immense and you knew he would never steer you astray.

so sitting in front of him on his bed while he adorns a small smirk asking, no telling, you to sit on his face, made you falter a bit.

“you want me, to sit on your face?”

he nods, “yeah.”

any thought you’ve ever had vanishes from your brain, “b—but, won’t it be uncomfortable? for you?”

“not at all.”

seeing spencer be surprisingly calm about this is having the opposite effect on you, creating the unsettlement in your gut. like he’s been thinking about this for while, has wanted you at his mercy in a way you haven’t experienced before, has thought through all the facts and possibilities and ruled with absolute certainty that this was what he wanted, needed. and right now your body is betraying your mind as the heat pools between your legs.

but that brain of yours, a blessing with its vast knowledge but a curse at how easily a single thought can send you into a deep spiral, is working overtime to convince you that this isn’t really what he wants.

he can see the cogs working overtime and scoots closer to you and places a comforting hand on your thigh to rub soothing shapes with his thumb, “what’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?”

“nothing i-“ you stop before you can get too deep.

his eyes look at you expectantly, luring you to continue.

“what if i hurt you?”

“that is literally impossible.”

“what if i suffocate you?”

“then that would be a great way to go out.” he chuckles.

you lightly slap his leg, “stop that.”

he gestures you closer to sit curled into his side, a comforting arm smoothing you up and down. “if you really don’t want to do it that’s okay i don’t want to push you, just want you to feel good s’all.”

you ponder for a minute, “…you would tell me if it’s too much right?”

“i would,” he nods, “but i won’t need to.”

he squeezes your hand in reassurance, and you remember that spencer reid would never lie to you.

which is why you say, “okay.”

his eyes light up like a carnival, “yeah?”

you take a deep breath, “yeah.”

“come here,” cupping your cheek to bring in and kiss you.

it starts off slow, deliberate. like he wants you to know how much he appreciates you placing your trust in his possession, and how gently and carefully he’s going to take care of it.

you hike a leg over his lap to straddle him and wrap your arms around his neck, letting his lips mark you like a road map. he moves down your jaw and uses his nose to nudge your neck away, giving him better access to litter the skin with love bites.

the moans spilling from your mouth spur him on, he starts subconsciously bucking his hips up causing you to grow restless for more.

he senses this and motions for you to lift up on your knees above him so he can slide his body down flat between your legs. the warm palms of his hands rest where your thighs meet the swell of your ass.

you look down at the sight of him laid out for you, and catch his shit eating grin staring back. the dichotomy this position gives you with a sense of power to be over him like this but the vulnerability at feeling so exposed caused a swirl of emotions for you.

“hey,” he squeezes his palms laid on your ass, “if this is a lot, that’s okay.”

“no, no.i think i want this. i’m just scared.” you softly admit.

“nothing to be scared of, angel. it’s not like i haven’t eaten you out before, it’s just a different position,” his hands move closer to your core, “let me make you feel good, please.”

you stare into his eyes once more, being met with nothing but trust and lust for you. with a deep breath, you nod your head.

he smirks again, “alright sweetheart, take a seat.”

you slowly inch your body up his own, hearing him outwardly groan as your cunt came into his line of sight.

“jesus fuck, you have the prettiest pussy.”

you preen at his words once you’ve reached the position, and you hover in hesitation. he wraps his arms under and around your legs and gently pulls you down.

and he attacks you like a man starved. his tongue licking a full stripe up your cunt, letting it swirl around your clit. the feeling is so intense in this position you have to lean forward and brace yourself on the headboard.

with a gasp you whine out his name, “oh my god, fuck.” he continues to use his tongue to barrel you towards your peak, knowing exactly where to touch and lick to rile you up.

he can tell you’re still holding back, feeling the tense muscles in your upper thighs harden under his touch. with a sharp tug he pulls you to be seated fully on his face, and he lets out a deep groan that vibrates through your whole body.

you’re fully at his mercy now, held down by his large hands and his mouth working so hard to make you see stars. the pleasure is overtaking all of your senses, when you look down to meet his eyes they’re staring right back at you, reveling in your ecstasy. a languished moan leaves you as you tangle your hands in his hair and pull.

he laps up your arousal with urgency, tongue moving in such a delicate and intricate way you would think he’s writing a love letter with it.

the coil in your gut starts to tighten and you can feel your peak coming fast, “spence…” you whine.

he hums in response, silently acknowledging what you mean. one more slow lick up and down your slit was all it took to push you overboard. the endorphins rush over you like a tsunami as you try to ride out the wave of your orgasm.

spencer doesn’t stop his motions and continues to work your overly sensitive clit, gripping your legs tighter to him as he prevents you from escaping.

“shit, oh god baby, you need to st—stop.” you brokenly moan out. you tug on his hair hard as you try to release his grip on you, and after a few minutes he takes pity and lets you go.

you let out a big and tired sigh as you flop to the side of him, one leg still draped over him as you’re both panting heavily, attempting to come down from the heat of the moment.

he smoothes out the leg over him with his hand and turns to face you, face plastered with a stupid grin and glistening with you.

“see? that wasn’t so bad.”

you scoff breathlessly, “i think maybe you’re trying to kill me.”

“maybe,” he laughs, “ but you liked it right?”

you nod bashfully, “did you…like it?”

his eyes widen, “are you kidding? you looked so hot it drove me insane. you’re always so beautiful but having you like that…i like making you feel good, it makes me feel really good, and that is a win-win.”

you smile at him and move closer to fit under his arm and into his side, your hand resting on his chest. he tightens his arm around you and whisper, “i love you.”

“i love you too,” you say through hooded eyes. your hand starts trailing lower, “must have been really good for you seeing how painful this looks.” you softly say, gesturing to the aching bulge in his boxers, the dark patch stained by precum.

his breath hitches as you inch closer, “baby, no it’s okay. you don’t have to do th—“ the sentence gets cut off when your hand gives him a tentative squeeze.

“i don’t have to, but i want to. i should thank you somehow for making me feel so good,” your voice dropping an octave in lust, “will you let me show my thanks, honey?”

you stare at him with the sultriest doe eyes he’s ever seen, and he’s thoroughly convinced in that moment that you are, in fact, trying to kill him.

still a great way to go out, he thinks.

[101maverick]

how would dick grayson react to his gf acting possessive towards him out of jealousy in front of a super villain flirting with him. sort of like the reader telling the villain “cut to the chase or I’ll cut your throat” while they’re interrogating the villain

A/n: Okkk we're going strong with the Dick asks! This one is very original :)) lemme see what I can do for u >:)

word count: 911

You, Me, and the Moonlight

Your eye twitches compulsively. You don't know if the sound that's itching to escape from your throat is an exasperated sigh or something suspiciously akin to a growl.

What was supposed to be a relatively normal patrol, with the usual shtick of stopping muggers and the occasional gang dispute, had quickly turned into you and Dick dealing with a Poison Ivy.

Thanks to one of Wayne Enterprises' new unreleased gadgets, a.k.a. one of Batman's new toys, the plant-maniac is currently tied up inside of the warehouse she had been planning on transforming into a home-base for her infesting plants.

Nightwing is currently interrogating her while you watch from the shadows of the rafters. Operating in the dark is always best in these kinds of situations, while dealing with this kind of people. Poison Ivy is notorious for her ability to hypnotise, so it's optimal that she find out of your presence only if need be.

Plus, her mind-control perfume has no hope of working on Nightwing while he's got his air-filtering mask on, and he strategically put the chair she's tied to in front of a mirror conveniently already present on the scene, to make sure to react readily to any attempts of escape.

Nightwing stands in front of her, still and stoic. Despite the lack of cape and the electric blue of his costume, years of being the Batman's sidekick are evident in how effective he is in the intimidation department. His voice is cold and authoritative as he questions the woman in front of him.

“Ivy. Who helped you get out of Arkham?”

Poison Ivy just giggles, responding to his looming stance by slightly tilting her head downwards to better bat her eyelashes at him, her voice sultry as she responds. “Can’t a woman do things by herself, Nightwing?”

From where you are perched, you can see the line of his back tense with well-concealed frustration. “I know you had help, Ivy, there’s no use denying that. Now I’ll ask again,” he leans forward, coming face to face with her, “Who helped you?”

You stalk your way over to a more advantageous view point, steps muffled and careful as you manoeuvre on the support beams. From your new position, you're able to make out the mischievous way her lips curl as she responds. "Let me out of these restraints and I'll tell you without a problem."

Another deflection. Dick's face is obscured by both the domino and the mask, but you can still read his mounting annoyance in the way his hand twitches at his side, a tell-tale sign he's refraining from clenching it into a fist.

Before he can respond, though, Poison Ivy speaks again.

"You've grown up to be such a handsome man, Nightwing, why don't you take that mask off so I can see you better? After all, we have quite the long history don't we?" And wow if you didn't want to bash her face in at the looks she was giving him before you sure as hell want to do so now.

You know it's a tactic meant to make Nightwing uncomfortable in the hopes of making him loose his footing, but you can't just stand aside and let this downright witch play her mind games however long she pleases.

Your boyfriend is quick to move his face away from your prisoner, taking a step back, and you choose that moment to drop down from the shadows of the warehouse roof right in front of her.

You land almost upright, and unsheathe a dagger from your side in one smooth motion as you turn to stare Ivy right in the face.

"Cut to the chase, Ivy. And don't even think of saying something like that again or I'll cut your throat, and you know I'm not bluffing." 634

Ivy's expression turns downright sour, and as she grumbles under her breath before reluctantly spouting off the needed information you feel vindictiveness making a home in your chest, and damn if that doesn't feel pleasant.

————————————

Being able to finally rest after a night of chasing, interrogating and arresting villains feels like heaven on earth, and as you flop down face-first on your bed you're extremely grateful for the fact you and Dick decided to splurge on your mattress.

A smile upturns the corners of your lips as you feel your boyfriend lay beside you, and you stay pliant sa you let him snake an arm around your waist and roll you over to face him.

His breath fans over your face as he whispers in the moonlit silence of your shared bedroom. "Thanks for earlier, with Ivy."

At that, you open your eyes and find him staring right into yours.

"Can't let a creep talk to my man like that, can I?" You let out a low chuckle.

In the low light, it takes a while for your eyesight to adjust, and his features slowly come into focus.

As you keep holding each others' gaze, you drop the humour.

"I'll always protect you, Dick," You whisper while bringing your hand up to cradle the side of his face, fingers tangling in the hair at the base of his neck. His eyes sparkle in the almost-dark of the Blüdhaven night. "Just like you protect me."

You wonder how many vulnerable moments just you, Dick and the moonlight are witness to.

Laying there, each of you in the other's gentle embrace, you hope there'll be many more.

————————————

A/n: This was fun! I can't decide if it feels a bit rushed, but I'm still happy with the result :) Fun fact! While I was working on this ask I got another ask that's basically the reverse of this lol, where it's Dick getting jealous because a villain is flirting with reader😂 If you like my work, please consider reblogging and checking out my other works through the master list in my pinned post<3

[heavenbarnes]

hi!! i’ve never done this before but id like to request a sydney adamu x femreader :) like maybe with the reader being a new sous chef at the bear or old culinary school crush or smth along those lines haha or literally any other ideas u might have!! there’s an unfortunate lack of sydney fics in general so i’ll rly take anything lol. also LOVED the one you wrote recently (im losing it lately) i have been re-reading it over and over again omfg

Already better for knowing you

Sydney Adamu x female reader

Warnings/Contains: swearing, syd is so fucking awkward, carmy is a meddling shithead, mature themes (involving fruit), beginnings of a praise kink, no actual smut (can you believe it?!)

Thank you so much for requesting this, I thoroughly enjoy writing for Syd! Also sorry that I always write her the same way (awkward-lesbian-munch) but I genuinely think that’s how she’d be. Also cannot believe you’ve read my work multiple times! I didn’t know if you wanted this to be smut so I only hinted, but lemme know if you want more. Anyways, hope you like this!

Sydney and Carmy had to have the difficult talk.

With the success of The Bear, how much it had taken off with their hard work, it was time to bite the bullet.

They needed more hands in the kitchen.

Experienced hands, they needed someone that Syd could rely on. She could give an order and that person would follow.

She needed a sous chef.

They put up the ad and, sure enough, they had a number of chefs in for the interview. They were keen, mostly young, hungry for the chance to break out into their first kitchen.

Both Syd and Carm knew you had to start somewhere but they both really needed the experience, the trust, the reliability.

Their last day of interviews rolled through and Sydney couldn’t help the feeling of helplessness creeping in her chest. Last day of interviews and still no closer to a new sous.

Were they being too picky?

As she shuffled her papers of interview questions and old CVs, she watched Carmy scratch the back of his neck as he read over the last applicant’s details.

“Well, she sounds good on paper.”

Syd couldn’t help the snort she let out, elbows on the table and head resting in her hands. “They’ve all sounded good on paper.”

Carmy shrugged his shoulders at that, but nevertheless sat down beside his chef de cuisine still reading over the paper.

“Says she’s worked in a couple restaurants, out of state- she’s only recently moved to Chicago.”

Syd listened to him speak, trying to find herself a little bit more excited at the prospects.

“Graduated from the CIA, experienced with-“

That perked her up a bit, knowing it was a long shot with the number of campus locations and students that came and went from the institute.

But there was still a small chance.

“What’s her name?” She turned to read the paper over Carmy’s shoulder as the sound of the door opening filled the space.

It all happened so quickly.

The door opened.

Carmy said your name.

You appeared before her.

Still as beautiful as the last time she saw you.

As if she could forget that day, for a few reasons. One, it was graduation, obviously she was going to remember it. Two, well, you were there.

If anyone cared enough to ask, she could tell them what you wore. The way your smile shone under the stage lights. The way you smelt as you hugged her and wished her the best.

Sometimes, when things got quiet, she’d play that moment over in her head.

Sydney thought she might’ve been dreaming when she saw you striding across the auditorium right towards her. You smiled, bright smile, hand coming up to give her a quick wave.

She’d even looked over her shoulder, trying to find out who you were even waving at. By the time she looked back towards you, you were smiling harder and giggling a little.

“Yes, that was for you.” You’d teased, making a heat grow on Syd’s cheeks.

“Yeah- yeah, I knew that.”

Your smile turned into a smirk as you nodded knowingly. “Course you did.”

Then you both stood there quietly, Sydney couldn’t really focus when you were dressed like this. Granted, it was just your chefs whites, but she couldn’t deny you wore the hell out of them.

You’d been wearing them nearly every day, and it still took her breath away every time she saw you. She didn’t even notice you were speaking until you shifted to get into her eye line.

“Sorry- what was that?”

“I said I’ll miss seeing you in the kitchen.”

Syd nodded, earnestly, face softening as she spoke. “I don’t think I’ll enjoy cooking as much without you there.”

She’d surprised herself with her confidence, actually being able to say it. She was pleased to see your smile growing. There was also a glint in your eye that she couldn’t place.

Her chest tightened up as you stepped forward, hands reaching out to pull her into a hug. She melted into you, taking a deep breath to remind herself of your sweet scent.

“Soon as you make it big,” You spoke knowingly, like it was inevitable. “I’ll come find you.”

And here you were now, standing before her in her own restaurant.

You’d found her.

Her mouth fell open as she tried to find the words she’d wanted to say to you all this time. How are you? I’ve missed you? I’ve thought about you every day since the last time I saw you?

Instead, she just stayed silent. She closed her mouth, blinking up at you with those beautiful eyes of hers.

“Syd,” Her name sounded at home in your mouth. “How long has it been?”

“Three years, eight m-months.” She’d only realised how quickly she’d answered when she saw your eyebrows raise.

Carmy shifted beside her, too. It snapped her back into reality, the reality where you were standing right before her and she was acting like a fucking dickhead.

“Well, here’s hoping I’m right on time.” You didn’t look put off, you assumed that same smirk you’d given her all those three years, eight months ago.

You were, you were always right on time. Always in the right place. Always just right.

Syd managed to pull herself together enough to stand up (for whatever reason) and gesture to the seat before her and Carmy. You graciously accepted, sitting down and placing your hands on the table.

Her eyes were immediately drawn to them, the way your fingers intertwined together, the lines coming off your palms. Sydney remembered back to the institute, the distractions she’d face watching you handle a knife or split a citrus fruit.

She couldn’t think of the latter right now.

The way your fingers would pierce the skin, pulling it apart with juices spraying up your wrists. You’d scoop out the flesh with your bare hands, not caring for the way it’d leave you sticky and dripping.

You’d look up at her, finding her watching you and not minding the way she stared. The fateful day you threw the rest of the grapefruit into the scraps, bringing two fingers to your lips to lick the excess off before you washed your hands.

Sydney was completely and utterly-

“Obsessed,” Your voice brought her back into the room, only for the second or third time in the short span of time. “Obsessed with what you’ve done with this place.”

She saw Carmy smile out the corner of her eye, his cheeks blushed a little at your words. You had that effect on most people. Sydney knew better than anyone what you could do to a person with just a few words.

“Well, we’re quite impressed with your CV,” He responded, laying it out on the table. “Aren’t we, Syd?”

By the time she looked away from him, she found you were already staring at her expectantly. She nodded, mumbling an affirmative sound to the both of them.

“Really impressed, seems like you’ve done a great job since graduation.”

You lit up, that’s the only way Sydney could describe it. It was as if your heart was swelling in your chest as your cheeks rose.

“Thank you, that means a lot,” She had assumed you were referring to the both of them until you finished. “Coming from you, Syd.”

If this was how she was at the interview, lord help her in the kitchen. There was no doubt you were getting the job, that was an absolute given. But Sydney would have to think hard about how it’d work practically.

Her sous chef. Following her every move. Responding to her every word. Reliable, obedient, willing, responsive.

Syd had seen you in action at the institute, but never following her own orders. She didn’t know if she’d be able to cope with hearing your “yes, chef” and knowing it was directed at her.

Even the way you were looking at her now, so expectant, hanging on to everything she was saying. She knew that look in your eye, on your face, you’d given yourself away just a little earlier.

“Coming from you, Syd.”

Praise. You were looking for her praise.

The thought sent Sydney into overdrive, forcing her to stand up abruptly and knock her knees into the table as she did.

Both you and Carmy looked up at her in confusion, your mouth opening to ask if everything was alright.

Syd cut you off, babbling as she walked away from the table. “I just remembered- remembered that the stove is on and- that’s the number one cause of kitchen fires- and I will be right back!”

She kept talking as she eventually made her way into the kitchen, hiding in the space right next to the oven (that hadn’t been on all morning).

Sydney knew she was fucked. Royally, totally, well and truly fucked. The crush she’d had on you at the institute had been debilitating and, whilst she’d missed you, these three years and eight months had meant she was finally able to focus.

Now here you were, in her kitchen and looking like everything she’d ever wanted.

Syd had no idea how long she stayed hiding in the kitchen but sooner or later Carmy came through with a stupid smile on his face, leaning against the bench.

“Think you handled that really well.”

“Shut the fuck up, I’m begging you.”

He laughed, laying the brown folder he’d been carrying down beside him as he crossed his arms. She looked up at him, wincing a little as she already knew what was coming.

“You gave her the job, didn’t you?”

Carmy laughed louder, looking down at the heap of Sydney on the floor. She could kick his shins right now.

“Of course I did,” He responded, pushing up from the bench as he turned to leave. “Have fun training your new sous chef.”

Fucked. Completely fucked.

[lemonxdaisybby]

Zhao when people ask why him and his s/o don’t fight: “they tell me to shut the fuck up and I listen.”

Alternatively: They had one (1) major argument in the course of their relationship and the aftermath was so bad that Joon-gi had to step in before there was an actual casualty.

Hello - my first ask, thank u 💕

Hope u like and it’s what you wanted, if I misunderstood or you want more just lemme know!

These also somehow turned into general argument hcs nearer the end, hopefully that’s okay.

‘They tell me to shut the fuck up and I listen’

Honestly, Zhao is so chill and unbothered. If his s/o did give ‘shut the fuck up’ vibes during any slight disagreement, he is just gonna be so amused, and will find it more entertaining than anything.

As long as it’s not in a properly rude way or intended to be disrespectful, he’s happy to just accept this vibe and go along with whatever his s/o wants, unless of course it’s something he genuinely disagrees with.

Zhao would likely just keep his mouth shut and go along with what his s/o wants to appease them, because he is not about those angry or argumentative vibes. It’s not that he’s afraid of confrontation, it’s just that he literally cannot be bothered.

He’s dealt with enough arguing, fighting, and confrontation during his time with the Liumang, and also it seems he can never just have one nice, peaceful day with the Ichigang without them getting into at least one fight with a bunch of random punks.

To be honest, arguments with Zhao would be so rare. He’s pretty relaxed so doesn’t get too worked up over things, and if he had any issues or problems he’d probably let his s/o know long before it escalated to argument level.

He would be an absolute shit during arguments though.

Sarcastic punk. He’s just gonna be countering with lots of sarcastic remarks and questions, and his s/o would probably get the impression that he’s not taking the issue seriously, which of course is likely to escalate the argument further.

Would only ever raise his voice if his s/o was refusing to listen to him, or kept cutting him off. Also if the argument keeps going round in circles he’s gonna get a bit frustrated. For example, if a solution has been proposed, but his s/o keeps trying to dig further and prolong the argument, he’s gonna eventually snap.

After an argument, he would probably want to be left alone to regain his composure and think the issue through clearly, before seeking out his s/o to talk it out and reconcile.

Type of guy to apologise if he knows he’s in the wrong.

If he firmly believes he’s not in the wrong, he would still apologise to his s/o for losing his temper, but would attempt to explain to his s/o the issue. He’d do it in a really nice, fair way though, making it clear he’s not trying to blame his s/o or make them feel bad.

Probably would be unlikely to argue with his s/o in front of people or get his friends involved.

[yearninqheart]

what kind of future (teaser)

If I could go back in time, rather than roughly but warmly, would I be able to let you go?

pairing: pansy parkinson x reader

word count: 0.8k (this teaser)

release date: TBD

series tags: fem!reader, gryffindor!reader, angst, some fluff, wlw, pansy pov, friends to something, more to be added as i finish writing this!

teaser warnings: self-doubt, mentions of worry for the future + meeting parents expectations, lemme know if i missed any!

notes: got in my feels and started writing pansy angst while listening to what kind of future instead of finishing that other reg fic my bad. anyways let me know if you’d like to be added/removed from my taglist and what you think of this pls and thank u <3

“Have you finally got your head out of your arse?” Draco asked as he took the seat across from Pansy. Quickly, she began to miss the quietness that filled the room prior to his presence. 

“Such a kind friend you are. I’m doing well, thank you.” Pansy rolled her eyes as she picked up her teacup, gesturing to the second one reserved for Draco before taking a sip of her tea. 

For a brief moment, silence filled the room as the two simply enjoyed their tea and snacks. From where they sat in the drawing room, the sound of running water from the b fountain in the garden outside helped fill the silence before one of them was ready to speak. Unsurprisingly, it was Draco.

“Have you told her yet?” 

Pansy wished she could play dumb. Told who what? But there was a reason she had invited Draco over today, and both of them knew it was not because she missed her best-friend. 

“Or have you finally realized it for yourself?” 

At that, she slowly nodded her head, her gaze casting downwards as Draco leaned back in his chair. “Do you plan on telling her anytime soon?”

She scoffed in response to this. “And then what?” 

“What do you mean ‘and then what?’. And then you can finally have your—painfully obvious—answer that’s what!” Pansy had opened her mouth to say something but Draco continued. “Don’t you even try to deny it, all of us can see it. I don’t understand how you’re doubting yourself even after so many of us have told you it’s not just you.” 

He was right, unfortunately. All of her friends have told her in one way or another to just go for it. They all claim to see the spark but all Pansy seems to see is the aftermath of everything that could possibly go wrong. His words hung in the air for a while before she finally spoke again. 

“I’m scared it won’t work out.” She finally admitted, eyes landing on her lap as she picked at her fingernails. “And if it's not because I mess it up then it’ll be because of my family. Draco you know how they are, remember how they reacted to Longbottom? And he’s a pureblood! How do you think they’d react to a muggleborn? I don’t want her to be dragged into this whole mess.” 

The reason why Pansy was always seen as reckless growing up was due to the knowledge that everything she ever had was always replaceable. She never had to worry about damaging or losing anything because she could always simply get it back one way or another. This however, would not be replaceable if something went wrong. 

“Don’t you think she also knows what could  happen?” Draco tried to reason. When she simply remained quiet, he continued. “ Pans, it’s been a year since your friendship with them changed whether you choose to acknowledge it or not. I think she knows what she’s getting herself into and is just being the off chance everything is fine. Don’t you also want this to work out?” 

Pansy scoffed, lifting her head up to look at him. “Of course I bloody do, what kind of question is that!”

Love was something she had pushed to the deepest edges of her mind but now appears to have flooded every inch of it, turning her into, per Draco’s own words one drunken night, a “tolerable person” which had earned him a shove at his shoulder. 

“Then why don’t you try?” 

“I’m not risking her!” Pansy exclaimed, suddenly jumping onto her feet causing a plate of scones to go flying across the room. “I can’t risk losing it all, not if there’s a chance it won’t work out.”  

Draco looked at his best-friend with a softened expression, watching her struggle to calm her breathing as she stood hunched over her chair, fingers tightly gripping the back of it as she tried to calm her racing mind and heart. 

In that moment, Pansy wonders if this was all even worth it. Physical objects her parents could care less about, but the future of their family name was a different story. They tolerated her mischievousness growing up but with her graduation in 2 years, her parents had become more firm on their expectations of her and unfortunately, her little songbird is not a part of them. Not in the way she would’ve liked that is.

 “But what if it does?” Draco was now suddenly standing on the other side of the chair, the feeling of his hand covering the tops of her seemed to pull her out of her head to finally realize he had moved. “It could work out for all you know, you won’t know unless you try.” 

He was right. What if it doesn’t mess up? What if she’s just overthinking everything? What if it would work out? 

But would that be a risk she was willing to take?

tagging, lmk if you wanna be added/removed: @with-love-anu @screennamealreadyused @retvenkos @princekooks

[xinrouska]

Hey!! I would like to ask if you do any art studies? I’ve followed ur art for a long time and I envy how quickly u seem to improve. Do u have any advice to give? Love ur art! :”)

Aww thank you!!

I’ve been drawing for a long time but the thing that improved my art the most was getting insanely hyper fixated on characters to the point that I wanna draw them in all sorts of scenarios (gestures at the turtles) LOL

But yes I do studies, here are some things I do:

- gather art inspiration of artists i like and try to replicate their style (making notes of what works, what textures they use, use of color, etc)

- pose studies from Pinterest

- tracing on both art and photography helps understand the choices other artists make, stuff that I don’t even consider (don’t post as ur own work tho of course, it’s only for practice)

Here's an example of how I did one of my studies:

First took some notes on how it was drawn. This is from Eve - Fight Song MV.

Then boom. Try my best LOL. i hope this helps and lemme know if you have any more questions <3

[celestie0]

Girl I was balls deep in my attempt to make fanart for u a couple months ago

Like I had the reference pictures collated and I sat my ass down and picked up an pencil with the intention of actually drawing something after ages

cause basically I became a lil sad cause I felt like I forgot to draw bc last year in school I took an external art subject and it didn’t occur to me that doing a hands on subject through distance study wasn’t the brightest idea

anyway that fucked me over and led to me dropping and taking up fucking legal studies 😭

Even though I’m a bit more STEM based I can still fw the wordy subjects but not this someone pls save me why am I being assessed on the bi cameral structure of parliament

saur yh I’m super lazy as is with anything so that situation just put me off drawing and art completely

congrats to me setting every world record for yip yapping and going off track

ummm yh for context it was like my 10th read through of the kickoff chapter 6 scene that compelled me to collate a bunch of reference pics that ranged from twitter smut comics to bathroom sinks and eventually I gave up because anatomy is a bitch

I changed into a dress with the same type of neckline I think reader was wearing bc of the way it tucks under her boobies and I was this close to just shamelessly positioning myself in front of the mirror to make my own references

then ofc I got distracted by a half baked portrait of Rose from titanic that I drew when I was like 15 and ended up drawing a two hour long remake of the same picture

only for my friend to tell me it looks like Mary Shelly’s ghost

Should I know who that is

To be fair it looked nothing like her but I mean it was an improvement from thinking all my ability just went poof and I drew better when I was 15

never the less I was somewhat disappointed with the product and I haven’t drawn since

wait I wanna show u actually lemme try

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0edTRG9Tb54pRh9Qe5unszRrg

the Mary Shelly in question

do these links work I’m scared I’m gonna accidentally leak personal details or my whole camera roll lol

also IM NOT AN ARTIST don’t judge me peeps I’m just a girl idek how to drive yet

I feel bad every time I send an ask I feel like I’m force feeding u Ellie babes u have the patience and commitment of a saint

also OMG IF YOU MADE ART FOR ANY OF MY FICS I’D SOB!!!!

I want to 😞🫶 but alas prospect of fanart from me will most likely never see the light of day

that crack scene in ihm was tempting tho everything u write is just so visual

♥️ mwah my gorgeous gorgeous writer wifey

hellooo my dear PLS the ramble of this ask is legendary and i found it very entertaining xD

ouuu the dress that reader wears in ch6 of kickoff is actually based on a dress that i own, here's some pictures of it!! i'm curious if the dress you have is similar!! but yea this is the official outfit reference hahah

looking at it now it's kind of a mild sweetheart neckline lol n yea def tucks under the boobs very nicely xd i was actually gonna sell it on depop a couple months ago when i did a closet cleanout but i was like nahhh i gotta keep it bc it inspired that scene

taking your OWN reference pictures sounds so badass. and its ok babe it's the thought that counts haha <3 i feel u about the losing passion/talent in art thooo aaa i used to draw too but ehh hobbies fizzle

ahh i can't see the cloud photos :(( but anywho thanks for the yap my dear!! i ate it up. also side note but i'm so glad my writing comes off visual to you!! i always worry there's not enough description in my scenes so that's reassuring to hear. much love!

[zorkaya-moved]

me @ tumblr rpc: YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO PLOT WITH OCs and it shows.

And you know what? That happens. Plotting is hard. Honestly? Hate plotting so much if I don't know a person these days because I just feel overly anxious and ramble. So yeah, anyhow... Let me share some personal thoughts! THIS DOES NOT TOUCH ON PEOPLE WHO TAKE THEIR TIME, PLEASE TAKE YOUR TIME IN PLOTTING AND PLEASE DO EVERYTHING ON YOUR OWN PACE! THIS IS A HOBBY AND THIS IS SOMETHING WE DO FOR FUN! This is based solely on some of my own experiences with SOME plotting (not all ofc!) as a woman oc writer in 2022-2023. I've had fantabulous experience with plotting and not so much. Please know you're valid, Ily, thank you for bearing with my burnt out ass in plottings. Mwah. Stay winning.

We all suffer from the collective dead brain cell syndrome when it comes to plotting any interaction, but do you know what kind of sucks and makes little ol' me tinsy bit bitter at the end of 2023 after going through countless people who just ignored my plotting proposals when I gave a ton of ideas? And what I'm going to call out just a tiny bit as a woman oc writer?

You can get into wikipedia and seek out information about a canon character to figure out some ideas on plots if you don't know the fandom, but do you do the same for OCs? 'Cuz OCs are sure as hell the very same 'canons from fandoms I don't know' type of situation.

Do you reach out to the CREATOR who can answer all your questions no matter how miniscule they can be? We, OC writers, are ready to give you the deep lore if you ask.

Do you check out about pages or headcanon pages? Hell, some of us have DETAILED NAVIGATION PAGES FOR VERSES! Is your OC or Canon from there? Check it out! Read! Find what interests YOU or if you didn't find something? Just ask the WRITER! Simple, innit? God, Imma be real, some of y'all gonna get my DMs like 'Listen, I can't find if you have this hc, could you please link it to me?' because I want info for plot ideas and if you do the same to me? I kiss u platonically.

Lemme give you a Done For You plotting thoughts you can use on how to plot with OCs, ladies and gents and nonbinary folks!

Do you have a specific dynamic you WANT for your character? Perhaps, you see a villain OC and want smth toxic to try out - ASK. Or you see an OC that might be a fun friend or neighbor or any other more positive dynamic - ASK. Inquire each other about what DYNAMICS you're open to. Oh you open to all? Sick. PUT DOWN YOUR BOUNDARIES FIRST. BOTH SIDES. SPEAK YOUR BOUNDARIES.

Do you have verses both of your characters are in? Be it OC & OC or Canon & OC? Noice, discuss all possible connections your characters might have! Offer ideas! Offer thoughts! The worst thing another can say is 'no'. And if so? COUNTLESS POSSIBILITIES. Yummy possibilities. Friends, childhood friends, childhood rivals, exes, rivals, co-workers, fight on sight, live next to each other, see each other in the same fucking cafe your muse goes at 2 pm specifically and ALWAYS sees another muse there... Countless. I'm telling you.

JUST DO THE FIRST STEP TOO WHEN YOU INTERACT WITH OCS, I'M ON MY KNEES BEGGING.

OFFER. IDEAS. The vaguest ones will do ok too. I cannot stress this enough but as an OC writer, I've had instances where I just... Gave 5 ideas only to have someone just drop me. Fully and completely. Not the 'I'll reach out to you later I need to think about this' but just full on 'wow this is too much plotting and I don't want to invest that much time' like it sucks. It sucks being the only person offering possible dynamics, ideas, even funny ones in some cases! I'm so burnt out from plotting dynamics because I keep. Offering. Ideas. But I don't have the same feedback loop. More like I have 0 feedback in the instances I dive into possibilities which burnt me out from plotting altogether, closing plotting possibilities with those who may actually be the same kind of insane as I am. And it sucks. Bless you all who give vague ideas or not vague ideas. Love you. You're fucking champions.

BE OPEN TO ASKING QUESTIONS, PLEASE ASK QUESTIONS, HOLY SHIT, PLEASE. Please never forget to ask "Hey, how would you feel about this scenario?" or "Would your character be in this kind of situation? Maybe that's how they met and started hanging out?" or "Oh, how about us trying out this type of dynamic and see where it goes?" or anything, really.

Anyways, this is just my 2 am psa because yeah why not. December sucks ass so why not speak out my thoughts at the end of 2023 to enter 2024 with sunglasses and cool Women OCs Propaganda I will continue preaching. You're all welcome to reblog this.

[amethystfairy1]

hi I'm back, back again. I did more art, this time of witch Martyn, bc I LOVE him :)))

also I have more questions for u

so u know how u said in ttsbc that it's respectful to learn the courting rituals of the individual you're trying to woo? Well, I was just wondering if that happened with doc and Etho, and I did some research, and...

I might draw this lol. I'm picturing Doc just SCREAMING and Etho w/ a thought bubble that just says "hot" LOL.

Anyways the question was over whether doc ever did that for etho or vice versa, but considering the rituals, I'd think not...

2. For traveling thieves, do the collars respond to intentions? In the latest treebark fic, the guy says "do not harm him" whilst referring to Martyn, which made me wonder how vague it could get. Could you say "don't go too far away" in leu of any other movement restrictions (ex. Grian's old "don't fly higher than twice the height of the market), and the collar would just understand? Or, even vaguer, "don't do anything I don't want you to do" to prevent any loopholes people like Pearl would find?

3. Are witches that rare/powerful? Ren comments that Martyn could have the world eating out of the palm of his hand, just because he's a witch, which makes me wonder how important they really are. For example, would he or Gem have more authority? Also what powers do they have besides the training in healing that Martyn got? Any fighting ability, or stuff like that?

ok that's all, have a good day :)

Hello!!!

I SAW! I SAW WITCH MARTYN! He's SO PRETTY! I absolutely ADORE HIM! Thank you so much for drawing and sharing him! I reblogged him as well, I absolutely love him! Super super cool!

Doc just screeching at Etho and Etho doing the like anime girl blush is absolutely hilarious to me. Y'know what. Headcanon away. I love this idea. 😆

Questionsssss 🏃‍♀️

2. Ok, lemme see if I can explain this properly. The collars respond to an 'understanding' of the order. They'll enforce whatever the hybrid hearing it understands the order to be. So in this situation, Ren understands the arena master is referring to Martyn when he says 'do not harm him' so therefore the collar accepts that as the order, and Ren can't make any aggressive moves toward Martyn without triggering it. For your other example, if someone said to Pearl 'don't do anything I don't want you to do' there's a million loopholes in that, because Pearl doesn't know for sure what her master does or doesn't want her to do. I mean, obviously they wouldn't want her attacking them, but like...what if she attacked some other guy? What if she flew really high in the sky? What if she stole some food? She doesn't know for certain that those things aren't things her master would want her doing, so the collar wouldn't trigger. Another example would be if someone said the same thing, 'Do not harm him' but the hybrid truly didn't understand who was being referred too. Then the collar wouldn't trigger. They didn't understand. Of course, in these scenarios, most hybrids as we know them would ask for clarification to ensure they didn't disobey, but even still, that's how it would work. Hopefully this makes sense!

3. Witches are quite rare and powerful, yes! Not to the extent that they're insanely rare and completely unheard of, but like, if you saw one walking down the street, it would be quite the event. Most major cities have a coven of witches established in them, but that's only a few dozen individuals within a population of tens of thousands, so that's still quite rare. Martyn is headed out into the sticks, so the more remote areas he heads too probably only have one witch per town, and so that witch would command a great deal of respect and their word would carry a lot of sway. Martyn being someone on the same playing field as those sorts of people automatically makes him very important. Comparing him to Gem isn't exactly possible. Gem holds a ton of authority in the underbelly of cities and with the mercenary guild, but with your average person...well, they wouldn't even recognize her. Like in the story where she and Pearl are going after that dude, he doesn't recognize her as the Slayer, she has to tell him that's who she is. Martyn is obviously a witch, from how he dresses to his charms and pendant, you can tell at a glance, so that's a much more sweeping sort of authority. He'll come into any conversation already being heavily respected and any average person would take him at his word. As far as powers go, the thing about witches is that they have an incredibly high level of inborn mana, to the point that they can actually die from mana overdose as kids if they don't find someone to help them with training, and we hear about how this almost happened to Martyn, but lucky his teacher took him in. Witches are special because they have unique inborn skills, such as the pocket dimension spell 'Inventory' (yes I know I'm very clever 😭) and also several different appraisal skills. But that's not all! They also aren't restricted to one form of magic. Martyn studied healing magic, but he can still cast fireballs, ice spells, weather magic...pretty much nothing is off the table for him so long as he's at least passable familiar with it. He might not be as good as an expert, but he can pull it off. The only sorts of things he couldn't do would be nature magic, which is specific to elves. But basically any magic a human is capable of, Martyn is capable of. And he also trained and studied for the purpose of being able to mimic and manipulate spells and mana usage that he sees off the cuff, unlike mages who would need to train up to using spells in their domain. And Martyn isn't trained as a fighter! He can't throw a punch, but he can throw a fireball! That's why he needs Ren, because like all good witches, he needs space, focus, and casting time to get spells off. Suddenly being assaulted by bandits on the road by himself wouldn't end well for him, so he needs someone like Ren who is capable of physical combat to keep him safe and give him that time to get his magic going!

Jeez that was long-winded...whoopsie! Well, I hope you enjoyed my rambling! Thank you again SO SO SO much for the witch Martyn art! I will cherish him! 💖

[the-heart-of-a-monster]

Ah yes. My favorite trope within fiction. The "Keeping the most dangerous and world-shattering secrets from all my friends and family because I don't wanna worry them when in reality this secret would benefit them all way better if they knew all along but I still won't tell them because the plot demands it" trope!

I'm honestly not too pissed about the usage of it here because while it can be annoying at times, it kind of makes sense here. Shadow is under just as much pressure as Sonic is, albeit without the eldritch horror transformation sequence. Besides, Shadow knows that Sonic is needed for this part of the journey, and he suspects that letting him know about the new information he acquired could demoralize Sonic. Wait lemme say that better: It could scare him away.

Sonic is now very keen on avoiding his Werehog form as much as he possibly can. He knows he can't avoid it during the night, but if he can keep it at bay during the day then he will do so with a smile on his face! I noticed he's done his best to avoid any and all things relating to his Werehog form other than the obvious during the day. Sure, nobody really asks him many questions about it during the day because, like, why would they? But Sonic is still avoidant. Not to mention, him and Shadow are growing farther apart, and it's because of Sonic's avoidance and stubbornness. (Don't worry, I also have no idea how to spell that correctly [Though I somehow got it right]) Rouge, in this new page, calls Sonic out on it and compares it to Shadow's own prowess.

The reason why everyone is keeping all these secrets from each other isn't just FoR tHe PlOt by the way. It's incredibly important this time around. If Sonic knew he could transform during the day from just being under the shade of a palm tree or if he were in a pitch-black room, the guy would avoid going on this mission entirely. Everyone who knows about Sonic's new form knows this fact, especially Shadow, so he's withholding information from his new blue buddy. Shadow doesn't like keeping secrets like these from Sonic because he recognizes that it is crucial information that he needs to know, but- Well, you know why, I've stated it like a million times. Rouge wants to tell him and is very much willing to do so if anyone gave her the chance because she's all about getting things done and being honest when necessary, and she's not aware of how avoidant Sonic is really being. She only knows the bare minimum of how this is affecting Sonic.

Meaning that if Shadow keeps the radio on for too long Rouge would willingly spill the beans and then Sonic would be outta there faster than anyone can say "Chili."

TL;DR, I repeat the same information too many times to count and explain why tropey cliches are actually important this time around.

I would say more about the mental state of Sonic and go deeper into his avoidance, but this is so incredibly wrong and I'm on borrowed time atm (school) so I'll save it for another, more emotionally charged page. (Silently begging for more emotional scenes because I love angst)

Thank you for all your hard work, and I really like this page in general! The colors are really pretty and I love how offended Amy looks when she gets called out- She's just like: "U wOt MaTe??????"

Also the last panel is in Sonic's POV. Change my mind. (IT IS SO PRETTYYYYY OH MY GOSH I LOVE IT THE DETAIL IS IMMACULATE)

Thanks for reading!

don't worry emotions are COMING

also good observation on sonics behaviour, as well as shadow's thought process.

[misc-obeyme]

hi ur writing is literally amazing can i ask u some stuff regarding it/how you go about writing/advice? feel free to ignore this if its not something youre comfy with

were u ever nervous to post fic? i just posted my first one and am like. super embarrassed (i also have a Guilt Complex that influences that lmao). if so, did you find it easier as you kept writing?

also how the hell do you write endings/get the motivation for them? youre really good at tying things together nicely at the end (or the occasional Leave 'Em Wondering) and im curious about your process for it. i can pretty steadily get up to the scene i started the fic to write but after that brain and motivation go honk mimimi

anyways thank you for sharing your work with the internet! i love reading your stuff its always a highlight in my day :)

Hi there, anon!

So first of all, I absolutely LOVE questions about writing, so please always feel free to send me any you may have! I'm such a nerd, I really love talking about the process and I'm happy to discuss it or share advice and so on!

Secondly, omg you're so sweet! Thank you, I'm so glad you like my writing!

Now then, lemme answer your questions! I apologize in advance for the LENGTH of these answers, but I seem to be incapable of writing about this sort of thing without it turning into an entire essay.

Yes, absolutely, I was extremely nervous when I first starting posting my fics. Some of that may have been that I hadn't written fic in a while and I was nervous enough about sharing, but I was extra nervous about messing up characterization. I wasn't used to writing for characters that I didn't create myself. I got nervous again when I started posting smut, too lol.

The thing about this type of anxiety in general is that exposure therapy really is the cure. It's like that for a little bit at first, but the more you do it, the more you prove to yourself that it's no big deal. Nowadays, I have almost no anxiety when I'm posting something fluffy and even most smut pieces are easier for me to post, too.

Another piece of this is remembering that the reason you write fic is for your own enjoyment. You're putting it on the internet on the chance that someone else might like it, too. But really, you have to focus on the things that make you happy. It's easier to deal with posting anxiety if you keep your focus on the joy of creation rather than the adrenaline of sharing. It's hard to do, but it gets easier the more you do it!

Okay, so endings! Uh, here's a fun fact about me, endings are my weakness lol. I have a lot of practice starting things and then never ending them because I absolutely get bored at a certain point. So I know exactly what you mean by the brain going to honk mimimi land.

For me, the trick was to write short stuff. Most of my fics are just scene length. This allowed me to get some practice with writing more endings because I didn't get bored when I was pretty much just writing one scene. So I found a couple things that I like to do for endings specifically, but then I also discovered a way to sort of keep my brain engaged while writing longer stuff.

It kinda all comes down to what you want to leave the reader with. That final paragraph or sentence can really deliver an impactful emotion. So you kinda have to think about what the rest of the scene is about, what specific feeling do you want the reader to have when they get to the end? If you're not sure, you can also frame it as what kind of feeling do you want to have at the end?

One technique I like to use is tying everything back to the beginning. I've used it multiple times, but it's probably most obvious in this Barbatos drabble. The first and last sentences are the same, but you don't have to be that blatant about it lol. That was mostly a stylistic choice. But if you look at the third paragraph and the last paragraph, they are parallels of each other, but they're different. What they convey is that something has changed by the end. So by repeating pieces of the beginning at the end, I'm deliberately illustrating what changed in the middle.

It's like thinking of the ending as a sort of summary of everything that happened in the middle of the story. If you're writing something longer, you can apply this to individual scenes as needed. But you might end up with an entire scene at the beginning and an entire scene at the end that do the same thing (rather than a couple of paragraphs).

Another thing I like to do is leave an implication of further action that isn't included. Something like "You wouldn't leave his room until morning." or maybe "You had a feeling something like this would happen again soon." Like this isn't really the end, but the rest is up to your imagination!

This is more specifically about the last paragraphs/scene/sentence, though. It's good to think of a way to recall the entirety of the story you just told, leaving the reader with the overall feeling you were going for.

But when it comes to longer stories, if you're finding you make it to one scene and then stop, well, that might be the end of your story. For this kind of thing, it really helps me to think about what the end game of the story is. For instance, in my longest fic, The Threads That Bind, I knew it was a Barbatos x MC love story. So the "end" couldn't happen until they had confessed their feelings to each other. A lot of other stuff happened before that, but it all contributed to that final plot point. And there isn't much story after that. The final scene is their confession. (There is a spicy epilogue, but that was just a bonus lol.)

So if you can decide before you even start writing what the goal is, you can write to that goal, filling in a bunch of cool scenes along the way. It doesn't have to be that you know exactly what happens or what the final scene is. When I started writing Threads, I had no idea how the confession was going to go. I just knew that Barbatos and MC had to end up declaring their love somehow.

But I tied that into the rest of the story with the theme of the threads. It was a visual anchor as well as a metaphorical one - magic let them see threads binding them together, but the feeling of belonging to each other was kind of the point of it all. So I was able to take that concept that I'd already used and incorporate it into the final confession scene.

NOW THEN all of this might also be easier if you're an outline type of person, but I most definitely AM NOT. Other writers swear by an outline and you'll probably find a lot of information on how to use one if you Google it.

But outlining for me is like pulling teeth, so I never do it. I write my first draft in a fever dream, with the end goal and a handful of ideas about overall themes and a couple things that I just think would be cool or fun to write. I spend a lot of time daydreaming about the story first, too, but I don't write anything down until I'm writing that first draft.

I could probably write a whole book on my methods for writing, but my biggest piece of advice for this kind of thing is EXPERIMENT.

The best part about writing is that aside from the basic fundamentals (spelling, grammar, sentence structure, etc), there are NO RULES. So if you're finding you're always struggling with finishing, try out anything and everything that might help you with that. Try writing outlines, try not writing outlines, try ending your story with the scene you were working toward, try thinking of a new scene you want to write as the ending scene. If it works, great! If it doesn't work, no problem! Just chuck it and try something else.

Sometimes the best thing for me to do is to ask myself what would be the most fun to write next? And then just going for it. My opinion is that you can always edit things later!

Anyway, I hope some of that helps! I'm sorry I really rambled quite a bit, but like I said, I love talking about this kind of thing lol.

Good luck, anon, and I believe in you!

[directdogman]

hey howdy hey! first off, i wanna say that ive been following dialtown since it was a wee baby demo and i have loved to see every inch of progress it has made. i love this game to bits. i can't accurately express how much of a comfort game it is to me, or compliment the writing enough, but rest assured that i believe it's a fockin masterpiece (even if that means i am damned to hell. i welcome u, phone-satan)

that being said! woe be upon ye, i have lore questions for ya (and i'll probably ask more at a later date)

i would love to hear more about callum crown. literally any detail(s) you can comfortably give that wouldn't spoil a potential sequel or that 30-page lore doc (tho , gotta say, i wanna see that lore doc real bad).

you've said before that you'd like to expand on the singular timeline (how all of the routes coalesce in chapter 3) in dialtown, but that it's tough to put the words you have on paper into words on tumblr. i've got time. lemme read info on the timeline i beg of you

is there any particular reason that phonegingi's head resembles callum's, to the point that callum's 3D model head uses gingi's as a base?? there are hints (i use that term loosely) on your blog that gingi might have modeled their head after callum's. is there anything to that?

moreover, i'd like to know if there's more of a connection between callum and gingi than the heads alone. i mean, gingi literally hears callum's voice before hearing anything about the guy, and they can also somehow read his postcard (without the narrator) DESPITE being illiterate?

finally, a silly one, since winter is upon us! how does norm handle dialtown's winters, being a native arizonan/texan and all? as somebody who lived in arizona, lemme tell ya, the folks there don't take kindly to winter.

i know this is a lot, so thank you if you even took the time to read lol

Some really interesting questions here. I could write an essay in response to some of these questions, which means you’ve undoubtedly asked some good questions heh. You're a sharp one. Lemme answer these as best I can without anticlimactically revealing essential lore in this random tumblr post heh heh

> "i would love to hear more about callum crown. literally any detail(s) you can comfortably give that wouldn't spoil a potential sequel or that 30-page lore doc (tho , gotta say, i wanna see that lore doc real bad)." The stupid thing about that lore doc is that it should be even LONGER. While parts of the Dialup are explained, parts are left out, because I realized that explaining it would require adequately explaining a piece of very strange context regarding another character. Long story short, it connects to something that should ordinarily be very far removed from Crown's tale, so I left it out. I actually left entire pages out to avoid having to explain who someone previously unmentioned in the doc was. Crown's story is funny in the sense that so much of it is why Dialtown (both the game and the city) is the way it is, but the main story of Dialtown is so far removed from it, the only connections to it remaining being Mingus/Norm's beef. Norm's account of Crown's life isn't exactly inaccurate, no one thing he says is technically incorrect, but it misses vital context that completely changes parts of it. Norm missed the end of Crown's presidency, so he also had to learn from revisionist/secondary sources. Some parts are overly detailed, while other parts aren't. EG: Crown's early life has a LOT of focus, but as the timeline gets closer to the end, the detail slows down. Crown's two years of 'honorary leader of the UN' is brushed over, a title that implies he had control over the entire world briefly. As Norm's extras menu implies, Norm is (just like in Mingus) in partial denial about aspects of Crown's leadership and is also in the dark about the behind the scenes stuff from Crown's presidency. Crown's vice president (and best friend, Milton R. Wallace) ended his life after falling out with Crown over the Dialup, and the postcard read in chapter 3 heavily implies that Marla had returned to Dialtown without Crown after he left office. Since Mingus exists, we know Marla + Crown had at least one kid together. Could you imagine trying to raise a young family with the most powerful man in the world, a man who plans his day down to the hour, all without even having a permanent address? Crown’s final days were lonelier than Norm knows and I’d love to discuss them more one day.    

> “you've said before that you'd like to expand on the singular timeline (how all of the routes coalesce in chapter 3) in dialtown, but that it's tough to put the words you have on paper into words on tumblr. i've got time. lemme read info on the timeline i beg of you” There isn’t much I can really say about the timeline without just calling attention to what’s already seen in-game. Any instance in-game where time seems to be falling apart, there’s common visual signs that reality itself is tearing apart at the seams, hell, even outside of the main endings. Only one character in the cast seems to be really aware of this and... Well, seeing God binge-drinking on the curb is usually a bad sign of what’s to come. Hitchcock’s advice for writers who wanna add suspense to a scene is to make people unaware of something significant that’s about to happen. Example: Two men sitting at a table in a diner, talking about something, say, like football... Not a massively suspenseful scene. However, add a live bomb underneath the table, and establish that neither of the men know that it’s there, and every second of that scene will feel like hours, as you hope to GOD that one of the men will look under the table and notice the bomb before it goes off. The bomb under Dialtown’s ‘table’ has a long fuse, but the clock’s ticking down. A lot of what people have noticed regarding Dialtown’s time fuckery is a symptom of something (or someone?) desperately trying to plug up holes in a sinking ship. Anyway, I think I’ve said enough.    

> “is there any particular reason that phonegingi's head resemblescallum's, to the point that callum's 3D model head uses gingi's as abase?? there are hints (i use that term loosely) on your blog that gingi might have modeled their head after callum's. is there anything to that?” Fun question, and a tough one to wrap your head around. Callum Crown’s fame makes it impossible to tell if there really is any connection between him and Gingi’s appearance outside of an eerie coincidence. If Gingi’s head resembled a frankensteined JFK, I don’t think anyone would think for a moment that it meant that JFK and Gingi shared a direct connection, of course, and same for say, Mr Bean and the like. But Crown himself also being connected directly to Norm + Mingus makes it strange. Maybe it’s just the universe’s weird way of doing things, or maybe caused by an intrinsically unknown force? Maybe whoever built Gingi’s phone head just felt that it should look like the most powerful man on earth? Lotta possibilities. I mean. Like, I know the answer. But, for you guys, maaany possibilities!  

> “moreover, i'd like to know if there's more of a connection between callum and gingi than the heads alone. i mean, gingi literally hears callum's voice before hearing anything about the guy, and they can also somehow read his postcard (without the narrator) DESPITE being illiterate?” Again, gotta commend your sharpness, I’ve heard very few people really ask about this. The big issue with the question, of course, is how utterly abnormal Gingi is. God outright implies that Gingi is some sort of time anomaly, since he’s never seen anything quite like Gingi before, and with some of Gingi’s 4th wall breaking dialogue, it seems Gingi has some fleeting awareness of events in other timelines, somehow. That’s excluding Gingi’s weird biology or the fact that Gingi can hear sentient voices. Gingi is unique. You’re right that Gingi being able to hear Crown is abnormal, and combined with, like you said, them having similar appearances (and hell, I’ll add fuel to the fire: how transfixed Crown was with Gingi in that memory Mingus tearfully recounts during the climax, the one where Crown stares at Gingi while Gingi rummages through the garbage outside his window at the nursing home), there’s enough of a connection to be weird, but not enough of one to say anything conclusive. In my eyes, though, I reckon that some universal force could be drawing these two weirdos together, almost like a moth to a lamp. Birds of a feather.   

> “finally, a silly one, since winter is upon us! how does norm handle dialtown's winters, being a native arizonan/texan and all? as somebody who lived in arizona, lemme tell ya, the folks there don't take kindly to winter.” I imagine when he lived in the cabin, during the winter, Norm CONSTANTLY had a fire lit and basically didn’t leave it. Probably had some kind of insane insulation through hunting animals and shoving the pelts into the walls, or something. I guess he wouldn’t had the time to kill, alright.

Thanks for the great questions. Sorry for the vagueness, but hope you got something out of these answers regardless! Some of this stuff will for sure be coming up in future Dialtown stuff! Knowledge is pain!

[lily-janus]

More pinned post shit

Au: mindscape

Pairing (/p): creativitwins

"You've never hurt me. Never."

The Play

Summary: Roman asks for Remus' help... don't worry, it goes better than you think.

Pairing: platonic creativitwins

Warnings: Remus being Remus, sexual innuendos, lots of cursing, angst, yelling, blood mention, self degrading, weapon mention, very brief non-descriptive violence. Lemme know if I missed any.

Word count: 2,125

Thank you for the request! First time trying this kind of premise so hope it turned out okay! Enjoy!

(Likes<<<<reblogs, please reblog if you like, it really helps me out)

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C'mon… it's no big deal! Just walk inside dammit! You do it all the time to all the sides' rooms! Just burst in without a care in the world like always!

…so what if you didn't didn't talk one on one since forever? It's no biggie, right? You don't care about anything, especially not others' opinions! And especially not his-

"Remus?"

Remus jumped, startled out of his thoughts, and turned to look as his favorite snake.

Janus looked at the door Remus had been staring at for who-knows-how-long, then at Remus, and frowned.

"Something I should know?" He asked, probing, but gently probing, as always seeming to pick up on Remus' hesitation.

Remus forced a grin and shook his head. "Nope! All good here!" 

He wasn't buying it, he knew he wouldn't, but it's not like he's going to talk about it here and now either.

Janus sighed. "If you say so, you know where to find me if it's not." And with a gentle brush on Remus' shoulder, he continued on his way.

And dammit the stupid snake always knew what to say didn't he? Whatever happens in there… he's got good ol' Janny.

He took one deep breath and swung open the door with as much flourish as he could master!

"I'm hereee!" He sang as he entered the room, shutting the door loudly behind him.

"Geez u scared the living shakespeer out of me, Remus!" Roman startled, putting a hand on his heart.

Remus cackled. "Awesome!"

Roman breathed out a sigh. "I'm regretting this already…" he grumbled.

"Too late! You made the mistake of inviting me!" Remus grinned, pretending Roman's comment didn't sting… because it didn't of course.

"I did… to be honest I didn't think you'd come…" Roman confessed.

"Aww how can I refuse an invite from my dearest brother?" Remus teased.

Roman huffed. "An invite for 5 hours ago, and you don't have a great record of listening to… well, anything."

Remus shrugged. "Welp! I came whether you like it or not… Why did you invite me, by the way?" The question sounded way more hesitant than Remus intended.

Roman bit his lip. "Well I… I just wanted to ask you um…" he took a deep breath. "I need your help with a project okay?" He finally said.

Remus blinked. "My help? Like… me specifically?"

Roman nodded.

"What? You're writing smut or something? I can for sure help with that!" Remus offered with a mischievous grin.

Roman blushed furiously. "No!" He squeaked. "Not that geez um… how do I explain this…" he muttered to himself.

"You see, I wrote a play and it turned out… fine I guess, but it still felt like it's missing something, so naturally I asked the others for feedback… they tried their best, bless them, but they're not artists… they don't get it you know? What I'm saying is… you're kind of my only hope right now." He explained.

"Oh! You need my creative wisdom! Well why didn't you just say so? Let me see your sappy play then!" Remus reached out his hands to take it.

"I didn't say it was sappy!" Roman protested but handed over the play anyway.

"You didn't need to, Ro-Ro, you wrote it." Remus cackled at Roman's pout before turning his attention to the pages in his hands.

Silence followed as Remus read, Roman looking over his shoulder anxiously to see where he was, until he finally finished and looked up.

"You're right, bro, it is missing something…" he tapped his chin, thinking.

"Right? I tried telling them but all Patton did is tell me that it's great and I should give myself more credit, all Logan did was say the 'structure' or whatever was good and fixed some grammar mistakes and Virgil said, and I quote: 'not really an expert on plays but I think it's pretty good'. Which is sweet of them but again, not really helping." Roman sputtered in frustration, putting his face in his hands.

"This needs to be ready tomorrow and I just… I don't know what to do! I can't give it to Thomas when it's like this!" Roman threw his hands in the air theatricaly, looking at Remus pleadingly.

"Calm your tits bro, fuck, your play's fine, just needs some little twicks and it's perfect." Remus rolled his eyes, handing it back to Roman.

"You… you think so?" Roman took it hesitantly.

"Tell you what, let's just try and act it out and see if we get ideas on what to add." Remus suggested.

Roman gave him a funny look.

"What's with the face?" Remus questioned, refusing the urge to blush at the attention.

"That's… that's a great idea, Remus…" Roman said in disbelief.

Remus grinned, shimmying his shoulders. "All my ideas are, bro-Ro!"

Roman huffed a laugh. "We must have different memories then."

Remus waved his hand dismissively. "Eh, you're just boring as fuck sometimes…" he paused. "Though fucking is much more exciting." He cackled, volume increasing when Roman blushed a deep red.

"You're impossibl-"

"Impossibly sexy? I agree! Thanks for noticing!"

Roman shook his head with a tiny hint of a smile. "So are we doing this or what? Or are you stalling because you know I'm a better actor than you?" He teased with a proud smile that's just a shy away from Janus' signature smirk

Remus barked a laugh at that. "You wish." He snapped to conjure another copy of the play for him, looking at Roman, challenging.

Smiling, Roman cleared his throat, holding the script in front of him, and started.

…

Roman looked away with an expression of deep hurt. "I… I'm sorry brother, I failed you.." he said brokenly.

Remus tutted. "Oh no, not at all. You see, you were right, all I do is hurt people… there's no hope for me." He said darkly.

Roman shook his head. "No… no, it's not true! I… I shouldn't have said that, I didn't mean it… please, don't do this." He begged, reaching for him.

Remus chuckled. "You see? I even hurt you-"

"No!" Roman grabbed him by his shoulders, looking deeply into his eyes… Remus would have believed it if he didn't know they were acting…

"Listen to me, you've never hurt me. Never." 

Remus suddenly forgot his lines, choking a bit as he looked away.

"...Remus?"

Fuck why does he sounds like he actually cares?

Trying desperately not to shake, Remus glanced at the pages in his hands and delivered the next line.

But Roman shook his head, taking the play from him and setting it down on a chair gently.

"You can't lie to me, I can tell you're upset."

Remus huffed. "So what if I am? Since when do you care?"

Roman's face almost made him want to take it back… almost.

"All your stupid play's missing is a death scene, there, problem solved, happy ending, cheers and all that." He said emptily.

Roman looked confused for a moment before he saw Remus snap his fingers. His eyes widened. "Remus, wait-"

Was all he heard before he appeared back in his good ol' hell of a room.

He sighed, summoning his morning star and raising it for a strike, when he heard a pop behind him and swung there instinctively.

"Wha- hey! Watch out!"

He froze. "Ro? What the fuck are you doing here? Sneaking up on me like that?"

Roman huffed, dusting his perfectly clean and not-wrinkled clothes in indignation. "I was trying to check up on you, silly."

"Well you're about 7 years late, get the fuck out, unless you wanna find out what fun surprises I have here." He grinned maliciously.

Roman crossed his arm stubbornly. "No, I'm not leaving until you tell me what's wrong." 

"Fine! You wanna know what's wrong, Roman?" Remus snapped, waving his morning star carelessly.

"Yes, I do!" Roman shouted back.

"What's wrong is you suddenly pretending like you care how I feel when you made it very fucking clear in the past 7 years that you don't!" Remus spat.

"No… you don't understand I-"

"What's wrong, is you acting like everything's sunshine and rainbows when you know fucking well how it's not even close!" Remus cut him off.

"Remus I was try-"

"What's fucking wrong is that today is the first fucking time we hung out together in years! And it was just because you needed something from me! Did you even realize that? Or were you so caught up in your stupid fantasies and delusions that you didn't even notice?" Remus was shouting so loudly he could taste blood, but he didn't care.

"You're such a fucking pussy that you can't handle how fucking messed up the world is, you're even worse than your naive father figure! You disappear on me for years and suddenly act like you care? You're never there when I need you! Never! And you wonder what's wrong? What the fuck? You're so fucking blin-"

"I was trying to apologize!"

The room fell into a deafening silence, the only sound being the twin's heavy breathing.

Roman let out a big sigh dropping his gaze. "I… I didn't know how…" he swallowed. "I didn't know how to approach the subject… this was the best I could come up with…"

Remus blinked a few times, trying to process the words. "...what?"

"The play! Remus… the stupid play… I wrote it… about us… but with me trying to make things right… it was just a cover story so I can invite you and… apologize…" Roman explained weakly. "It was a dumb idea I know…" he added, clutching his arm tightly in shame.

The play…

"You've never hurt me. Never"...

Remus swallowed. "H-how accurate is the play?" He hated how shaky his voice was.

"As accurate as it can be." Roman shrugged, looking up to meet his eyes.

But Remus couldn't look back at him. "Why… why now?"

Roman bit his lip. "You were right… I was… I was too caught up in a fantasy to realize I abandoned you… but lately, things… happened. And they made me reflect on myself…" a sob escaped Roman's throat. "I'm such an ass Remus, I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" He buried his face in his hands, shaking with sobs.

Remus pinched himself, Roman was still there, he did again, nothing changed… Roman was here, apologizing for him. He's not dreaming, he's not imagining… he's here!

And yet… Remus couldn't forgive him… not yet at least.

Roman was still sobbing in front of him. "Okay, okay, c'mere you big sap." He pulled him into a rib-crushing bear hug that made him gasp for breath.

"Does… that mean you forgive me?" Roman asked hesitantly into his shoulder.

Remus cackled evilly. "Oh you sweet, naive Ro-Ro…" he shook his head, releasing him so he could see his wild grin. "You have so much to do to make it up to me."

Roman sighed but smiled anyway. "Guess I deserved that, I'll do my best, I love you, Re."

"Ew! Gross, gross gross! Get out of here before your sappy feelings stink up my room!" Remus covered his ears, shaking his head.

"But it's already stinky-"

"Out!" He snapped his fingers, banishing Roman outside.

"Rude!" He heard shouting on the other side of the door. And then he heard him walk away.

Remus shook his head, sighing in relief. "I love you too, Ro."

"Aw"

He jumped. "Fucking hell, Janny! How long have you been here?!" He shrieked.

"Not important." Jan waved his hand dismissively, smirking at him from where he sat on Remus' bed. "So, the big, scary Remus has feelings…" Janny teased, clearly delighted.

Remus huffed. "You're the one to talk, Sneky."

"I say this went better than expected." Janus, of course, ignored him, patting the space next to him.

Remus fell beside him, making the mattress bounce a little. "Were you worried about me, Jan-Jan?" He teased, poking him in the ribs.

Janus huffed a chuckle. "You wish, how long are you planning to keep him on the hook?" 

Remus grinned. "For as long as it's fun." He chuckled.

"Hmm now where did you get that from?" Jan smirked.

Remus cackled. "Gee I wonder."

Janus suddenly turned serious, looking Remus in the eye. "You have every right to stay mad, you know, I saw first hand how much he hurt you."

Remus looked away. "I know… but, I think I want to forgive him… eventually."

Janus nodded. "Alright, just don't feel obligated to. I'll let you sleep now, you know where I am if you need me." He squeezed his shoulder gently before disappearing.

Good ol' Janny, always there for him… and soon maybe Roman would too… who would have thought…

Certainly not Remus.