#thank you penbwl

[sylphidine]

[Fic Excerpt] Stars

I come bearing Yuletide gifts, gentle readers!

Have a winter-themed chapter of a longer Swatchton fic previously posted on AO3. The premise is based on Penbwl's Spamsician AU and set in the future in Castle Town. Swatch and Spamton are both elderly; the younger Swatchlings have taken over the Color Cafe. Swatch is free to create art to their heart's content. Spamton in this AU glitches in song lyrics rather than in ads and l33tspeak; he still plays piano and sings, but he's getting a bit arthritic.

Enjoy!

++++++++++++++

One of the drawbacks of being married to a visual artist was that they sometimes dragged their partner into situations that weren't always comfortable, just so they could "soak up inspiration".

Fortunately for Spamton, that drawback was negated by the fact that the visual artist he was married to was Swatch, who also happened to be a textile artist.

And one of the many benefits to having Swatch as a partner was that there seemed to be a never-ending supply of knitted goods in the apartment they shared. This never-ending supply stood Spamton in good stead on this cold winter night as he and Swatch sat together in the porch swing set up on the balcony outside Swatch’s studio.  They were both swaddled in sweaters, scarves, hats, and afghans, with two tasques and a phearrette snuggled up on their laps. Meta4 and SimiLee each had their own sweaters in dark blue and white stripes; Slinky had a solid sweater in periwinkle stretching over the pneumatic tube that was her middle, leaving her back legs and her wire-coil tail swinging free and dangling off the edge of the swing cushion.

The sky above Castle Town was awash with the starscape that changed so slowly it seemed to never change at all, other than some lights varying their sparke. The warm lamp-glow spilling from the studio through the sliding glass doors was apparently enough for Swatch to see by, because the pencil in their hand was virtually flying over the pad of paper balanced on the knee that was not claimed by a trilling SimiLee.

Spamton loved watching Swatch work on their art; it was so different from what he did while he was composing at the piano or performing on stage. Spamton’s music burst out of him, pulled out of his bones and blood; Swatch’s paintings seemed to take form from the quiet introspective center of their mind. That wasn’t to say that Spamton’s music didn’t have moments of sweetness and delicacy, or that Swatch’s canvases didn’t have great splashes of fierceness and flamboyance.  But the sheer focus that Swatch put into their creation looked to Spamton as though his husband had to go inward rather than outward to express themself.

Tonight Swatch was sketching the sky above them, and then adding great swirls of stars and clouds. Spamton looked forward to seeing the colours Swatch would use when they transformed the sketch into paint. Silver? Gold? Blue? Purple?  Probably all of those colours and more.

Without consciously intending to do so, he started to sing a Lightner song under his breath, “Now the starlight which has found me/Lost for a million years/Tries to linger as it fills my eyes/'Tll it disappears/Could it be that somebody else is/Looking into my mind/Some other place/Somewhere/Some other time.’

Swatch turned their head slightly toward Spamton when some of the words caught their attention, but they still continued to draw as they asked their husband, “Do you ever think that there might be other worlds out there, not just the Lightners’ world? Worlds where there could be a different you and a different me?”

“Different how?” 

“Hmmmm. If each one of those stars has a world around it, how different would you and I be? Is there a world where you’re a tasque and I’m a maus? Is there a world where we’re two pirate captains on one ship? Is there a world where I’m a prince like Ralsei and you’re the rose I keep under glass? Is there a world where you’re the butler and I’m the salesman? Is there..” Swatch trailed off, lost in thought, and their pencil slowed.

Spamton didn’t have to think long before answering. “[[We may be planetary, but it's time we had some suns.]] If there are lots of other yous and lots of other mes, I’d hope they’re all [[so happy together]] as we are.” He gently took the pencil out of Swatch’s hand and leaned over to kiss his husband on the side of their beak.

The painting, when it was completed a few weeks later, showed shapes in the star patterns, shapes that resembled a multitude of Swatches and an equal multitude of Spamtons, each reaching out to one another across the vastness of the night sky.

Full fic here...

[scun-gilli]

“When we’re older…you won’t forget me, right?”

“Never.”

Lucifer is the king of the realm and his sworn sword is his childhood friend, Alastor. Lucifer is arranged to marry Lilith, but something tells him that his red thread is connected to someone else. Alastor had always felt a connection with the king, but the deal that binds him makes him fight against those feelings.

(King x King's Guard AU)

CHECK OUT THIS AMAZING FANART <3 (spoiler alert)

By @penbwl

My sweet Raphael from Chapter 34. By @elkaseltzer as well :)

A beautiful commissioned scene from Chapter 29!

A Cain and Abel sketch by the talented Elk!!

TRT CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS

just a little RadioApple fun on ao3. We having fun over here.

[elkaseltzer]

Bonjour! I just would like to inform you about how incredible your art is! I’ve been reading “The Red String That Binds Us” ever since I was lucky enough as to wonder upon one of your works! I appreciate you sharing your art for people to see and become inspired by!

I genuinely cannot cease thinking about one of your pieces:

Have a lovely day!

bonjour!!!!

thank you so much!!! it makes me so happy to know that people out there like the things i make :3 and even happier that it led you to TRT, because gosh gilli's fics are AMAZING and should be known!!!

but i cant take credit for that piece, that one was drawn by the absolutely talented @penbwl ! but it also lives rent free in my head. its so absolutely gorgeous

[penbwl]

⭐️Time to announce the three winners of the luaisy DTIYS!

It was very hard to pick who should win with over 50 submissions and I just want to say they were all brilliant! Thank you to everyone who took part, I wish I was able to give everyone a prize

⬇️Here are the winners in no particular order

The first winner is Citrimoti on twitter!!

I’m obsessed with how cute their art style is and I absolutely adore the texture they used❤️

The second winner is Luigipeepee on Twitter!!

Their line art and colour usage is so soft and comforting to me, I also adore Luigi’s nervous expression☺️

The third winner is @yamchala !! The energy and perspective in this piece is so much fun! Super expressive and lively colours! I absolutely adore the difference in their expressions ^^

Thank you everybody for participating!! Even if you didn’t get a prize I just want to say you’re all very talented and well done for your hard work! I’ll be dm’ing the winners individually to claim their sketch prizes☺️❤️

[bexthewolf]

Elderly Bowuigi Quick-Fic

(Just for you @penbwl)

The castle shined as the sun set on the lava-filled kingdom, everything fell silent as everyone was heading off to sleep.

…Well everyone except the old king and his loving husband Luigi.

They sat in the cozy chair by the fireplace, giggling as they talked to Bowser Jr, who’d grown up and came over to visit.

“I’m glad your-a doing well Jr.”, Luigi uttered in a smiling grin. Bowser nodded in agreement as he mumbled the same thing.

“Thanks Dad.”, Jr replied.

“Thanks again for visiting son, and tell your siblings that we miss them.”, The bigger koopa stated.

Jr rose from his chair, “I’ll be sure, but I’m pretty sure they’ll visit tomorrow anyways.”. The young koopa straitened his bandana as he calmly hugged his dad and step-dad. “Bye dads, I’ll see you tomorrow!”

“Bye Jr!”, Bowser and Luigi waved as their son stepped out the castle doors, closing them softly behind him.

Luigi sighed, missing him and his siblings already, “Such a good young man, you raise him well.”.

“Like you didn’t do most of the work..”, Bowser modestly replied. Luigi chuckled at the statement, and without warning, leaned up to kiss Bowser on the snout. When it ended, the green clothed man blushed as he terribly hid his face.

“Hehe, still the same little flustered man.”, the old koopa mumbled as he kissed him back. They both smiled at each other as they slowly got up from the chair, and headed off to hit the hay.

(Sorry it’s so short, this is my first fix and I just pulled this out my a$$)

[braver-stronger-smarter]

Over the Garden Wall AU on Ao3

Hey everyone! Just letting you know that the full first chapter of my OTGW story is up here on Ao3! Feel free to check it out, if you like. Just a fun little side project to give me a much needed break from my other WIPs. Now, back to Avatar!!!

Thank you again to the amazingly talented @penbwl for the art that inspired this story. I hope that you like it :)

[depressedstressedlemonzest]

One last thank you post!

Thank you all for helping me pull this off, for participating and contributing.

For putting up with my million reminders and deadlines and nonsense.

I really appreciate all the help in making this a nice surprise.

You're all amazing!

If I am forgetting to tag anyone, or your name is misspelled or something please let me know!!

@sani-86

@likearumchocolatesouffle

@thatwhichidarenotspeak

@holycatsandrabbits

@Akinmytua2

@tehrenb

@whotheheckitheheck

@Dragons-n-bones

@laurenblu

@formyfriendssanity-goodomens

@sassy-space-trash

@Northernspies

@avidreaderffn

@aziferal

@anonymityisbest

@i-am-truly-chaotic

@ephemeralmotive

@5ftjewishcactus

@10yrsyart

@lunarmultishine

@summerofspock

@eveningstarcatcher

@thewildmeiling

@kittyknowsthings

@witchy-capri

@whatawriterwields

@zadusk

@queer-alien-space-princess

@softcroft

@Babysuitenthusiast

@stars-sky-see

@kanna-ophelia

@kbeekill

@insubstantialways

@penbwl

@squeegeelicious

@thesylversmyth

@stars-sky-see

@c4th33-wolf

@hope-inthedark

@wizzygold

@wheeloffortune-design

@acgold

@laurenblu

@formyfriendssanity-goodomens

@Daisies-on-the-windowsill

@yamikakyuu

@sassy-space-trash

@lostinthecosmoslonely

@zebraonwheels

@flameraven

@lady_virdis

@Apocalypseneh

@insubstantialways

@kbeekill

@softcroft

@avidreaderffn

@ineffablelovebirds

@jojisoja

[ineffablefool]

i love the snakes! snakes are good friendly boys! 🌺

penbwl reblogged your post and added:

Gosh they are so beautiful                   

magnetothemagnificent replied to your post “who would like Snakes (pictures below readmore) Jormungandr just had...”

Snakes! I love snakes! They're so beautiful!                   

captainclickycat replied to your post “who would like Snakes (pictures below readmore) Jormungandr just had...”

Lovely! (They know they’re being photographed)                    

Thank you all <3 <3 (I am pretty sure they do not care about being photographed, since the question is “human, are you bringing me food or just pestering me”)

[hope-inthedark]

penbwl replied to your photo “half-bun Crowley owns my heart  playing with white-on-black...”

The detail!! I love him!!!!

...y’all ever have one of your favorite artists compliment your art? It’s fine I’m fine (thank you Isaac)

[sylphidine]

for the author thing, 17, 12, 29

Oooh, some good ones!

Your favorite character to write this year?

Always hard to pick one, so it's kind of a tie between two.

I've found myself very fond of the stories and chapters I've written this year for North from RISE OF THE GUARDIANS, whether as the ROTG-canon Guardian of Wonder or as the human professor of Arts and Music at NDU.

And I have really enjoyed writing for Tasque Manager from Deltarune, whether canon-fanon welding her into Castle Town via the Spamsician AU created by @penbwl, or her human!AU version Tabitha Montgomery Tanner in CALL SIGNS.

How many WIP’s do you have in your docs for next year?

Nine definites, with three more possible as sequels to extant works.

Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?

Hehehe, you ask all the tough ones. Hmmm.

Gotta be this texting exchange between T.M. and Swatch. Especially the "Captain Backup Bride" bit. Their friendship cracks me up, even as the author.

From: MOGGY

Wednesday: 22:47

hey you wanna have a movie party on friday and can i bring aster over i dont think hes seen spiderverse yet

From: BIRDMAN

Wednesday: 22:48

Yes, we can have a movie party on Friday. No he can’t come. I swear to gods he’s “Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” given physical form. From: MOGGY Wednesday: 22:49

huffy swatchy

From: BIRDMAN

Wednesday: 22:50

You know I'm right.

From: MOGGY

Wednesday: 22:55

At this point I will cuddle anything to prevent from dying alone

From: BIRDMAN

Wednesday: 22:56

Don't say that, dear. You know I'm your backup bride for when we turn 50.

From: MOGGY

Wednesday: 23:01

love you

From: BIRDMAN

Wednesday: 23:02

Love you too. See you tomorrow for Turkey Day.  Bring my DVD.

From: MOGGY

Wednesday: 23:03

YES SIR CAPTAIN BACKUP BRIDE SIR

love you good night

Thank you for the ask!

[braver-stronger-smarter]

Good Omens - Over the Garden Wall (OTGW) AU

Hello all! This excerpt was inspired by @penbwl‘s lovely post found here! I plan to do a full chapter for each episode as a fun little side project when my current WIPs are wearing me down and I need a quick break. This isn’t the whole chapter, just the first part to introduce Aziraphale, Warlock, and Crowley.

I absolutely love this show and when I saw a lovely drawing for this AU pop up on my dash, I just knew I had to write it. I hope you all enjoy this sneak peek. First chapter should be up on my Ao3 page by the end of the week.

Thank you again to penbwl for coming up with this brilliant idea and allowing me to take a stab at it. I’m having a load of fun so far :)

Excerpt below:

The forest was dark. Much darker than it ought to be, and quiet too. Shouldn’t forests have birds singing high up in the branches? Or cute little critters scuttling about in the underbrush, foraging of nuts and berries and the like? The darkness seemed to imply that it was nighttime. Would that not suggest the presence of at least an owl or two hiding in the dense treetops?

There was nothing. Not a single sound except for the crunch of dead leaves beneath his feet and that of the boy walking beside him.

Warlock. The child’s name was Warlock. An adventurous boy of six who had a love for asking the most ridiculous questions and a predisposition to not do as he was told. It was for this very reason the pair had found themselves in this predicament, he was sure of it.

He was...a pause. A glance. What was their predicament, exactly? Alone, in an unfamiliar forest? How did they get here? What had been the events leading up to this? Why was he so certain this boy was the driving force behind it all?

Yes. The boy, Warlock. This boy was named Warlock. And he was Aziraphale. Simple gardener for the estate and sometimes caretaker for the child as well, when his parents were too busy to mind him themselves. Which was often, now that he stopped to think about it. 

“...Bartholomew, Curtis, Razzle Dazzle, Mr. McStiggins, Pete, Steve. But I think the very worst name for this frog is - ”

Aziraphale’s hand shot out reflexively, nearly slapping the child in his face and stopping them both in their tracks. The silence drifted in like a dense fog and Aziraphale found himself straining to catch a glimpse of anything that might seem familiar. Anything that might clue him in on which direction to go.

“Wait,” he chastised as a faint noise echoed at the edge of his hearing. Was that a bird taking off in the sky? The wind rustling through the thick foliage? “Wait a second, Warlock.” He paused, looking down at the boy beside him, dressed in his olive overalls and long-sleeved white shirt. His normally unruly dark hair was mostly hidden from view, with only the ends sticking out from underneath an old silver teapot that was, for some reason, perched securely on the child’s head. “Where are we?”

“In the woods,” the boy responded, shifting the frog he was carrying from one arm to the other. Aziraphale blinked. Where had Warlock gotten a frog? He didn’t remember the child stopping to pick one up. And why was this one so big? It was unlike any frog he had ever seen before, and yet, that was certainly what it was. There could be no denying it. A frog, bigger than his outstretched hand, lay dangling from Warlock’s arms like it hadn’t a care in the world. How very strange.

“Yes, my dear, I can see that,” the gardener replied, glancing around them one more time. There was something about this place. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was, but it made Aziraphale think that nothing in the world could be better right now than to curl up in his cottage, surrounded by his many books and nestled under a warm blanket, with a nice mug of fresh cocoa. “I meant, what are we doing out here?”

“We’re walking home,” Warlock stated so matter-of-factly that Aziraphale would have laughed were he not currently so unsettled by this bizarre situation they had found themselves in. 

Looking around once more, Aziraphale reached down to take the child’s hand in his, a sense of dread slowly starting to creep in. thunder rumbled in the distance and the man suddenly had a certain feeling that they shouldn’t be here. “Warlock, dear.” He paused, not sure if he should continue. Aziraphale didn’t want to scare the child, but he needed to make the boy understand that this was no laughing matter. “I think we may have gotten a bit turned around.”

What to do, what to do? A frown made its way onto the gardeners face. What was one supposed to do in situations like this? He turned to look behind them, images of a familiar children’s tale filling his mind. Two small children wandering through a wood just like this one, leaving a trail of breadcrumbs behind as they marched toward their doom. 

“We should have left a trail…” the man muttered to himself. Beside him, Warlock shifted, tugging his hand from Aziraphale’s grasp as he reached into his pockets.

“Don’t worry!” The small, yet boisterous voice declared as he tossed a fist full of candy at the path behind them. “I can leave a trail of candy. From my pants! See?”

Once again, Aziraphale felt the temptation to laugh, and once again, he stifled it. No reason to let his guard down now. Not until they were safely back at the Dowling Estate.

A dull thud sounded nearby and Aziraphale nearly leapt with fright. He spun around, peering in the direction of the noise, trying to ignore how his heart was currently trying to climb up and out of his throat. “Did you hear that?” he asked, hoping Warlock might say that he hadn’t and it had all been in the gardener’s mind. 

“Yeah,” Warlock nodded his head in affirmation and Aziraphale once again took him by the hand and slowly moved them forward, keeping them mostly hidden behind the large trunk of a nearby tree. 

There, just on the other side of the treeline, stood a man. He was dressed head to toe in black, pants tucked down into his boots, a rather tall hat atop his head. From here, Aziraphale couldn’t make out most of his features. The forest was dark, and the only light nearby was coming from a single lamp resting on the ground by his feet.

The thudding noise they had heard, it turns out, was the sound of the man’s axe, whacking repeatedly into the fallen tree in front of him. He was humming a soft tune to himself as he gathered the finely chopped pieces, kneeling down to ensure he gathered up every last bit. Aziraphale’s eyes drifted over the scene, trying to gather any bit of information he might have missed. Other than the sticky shadows of what looked to be sap upon the fallen tree, there appeared to be nothing of use here.

“We should ask him for help,” Warlock announced with all the innocence of a child that had not yet been taught to be hesitant around strangers. His frog croaked in what sounded like agreement and Aziraphale shot it a glare before realizing how ridiculous an action that was.

“No,” he cautioned his young charge, eyes returning to the strange man once more. “We should not ask him for help.”

“But - “

“Shush,” Aziraphale snapped, feeling immediately guilty at how harsh he sounded. He didn’t want to scare Warlock, or make him cry, but the longer they lingered here, the more nervous Aziraphale became. What they needed to do was stop wasting time and find their way back to someplace familiar. A street with cars or a neighborhood, perhaps, where they could borrow a telephone and call for help.

“You shush,” Warlock argued, tugging his hand free to bring a single finger to his lips like he’d seen his mother do a thousand times before.

“No,” Aziraphale was almost at his wit’s end. “You shush.”

The boy glowered, but there was a teasing glint in his dark brown eyes. “You shush.”

As the pair argued, the light around them grew dimmer and dimmer. By the time Aziraphale looked up to take stock of their situation, the woodsman was walking away, the light from his lamp slowly disappearing behind the trees up ahead until it was over the hill and out of sight, leaving them in darkness once more.

“Ah,” Aziraphale sighed, feeling that all-too-familiar uneasiness return to his stomach. His gaze lingered on the space where the man had been. “Perhaps we should have asked him for help.”

“Maybe I can help you.”

The voice, sounding from behind them, was soft and low. Not deep, like a bass, but warm and gentle, and just a bit sultry. Aziraphale turned and saw, to his absolute horror, a serpent, nearly seven feet long with inky black scales and a red underbelly staring at them from a nearby tree. He’d managed to climb his way up to the branches level with the top of Aziraphale’s head and was gazing over at the pair of them with bright amber eyes.

“I mean,” the serpent continued, never once averting his gaze, “you two are lost, aren’t you?”

Aziraphale gasped, reaching up a hand to slap himself in the face, now certain that this was a dream. Some kind of twisted nightmare he’d found himself in - one that he desperately needed to wake up from. When the action did not banish the snake or the darkness or the wood at all, he spluttered, hoping some sort of answer might be provided. “What in the world is going on here?”

“Well,” Warlock piped up, clearly tickled that someone had thought to ask him. “You’re slapping yourself, and I’m answering your question, and - “

Aziraphale heaved out a heavy sigh. Now was really not the time. “No, Warlock, dear boy. This isn’t real. A snake’s brain isn’t big enough for cognizant speech,” he explained, forgetting for a moment that the six-year-old wouldn’t have the slightest idea what that meant.

Before he could amend his statement, the serpent’s head drifted closer. “Excussssse me? What was that?” 

Blue eyes widened. “I mean - “ boy, had he gotten himself into a puzzle. “I’m just trying to say that you’re, well, you’re abnormal, is all. Out of the ordinary, as it were. Completely unexpected, and rather a bit alarming and - “ Goodness, he was rambling now, wasn’t he? Aziraphale had a tendency to do that when he was nervous.

“Good heavens, Aziraphale,” the man muttered, breaking eye contact for the first time. “Stop talking to it.”

“It?” He had never heard a snake, or any animal for that matter, sound so offended in his entire life. “I beg your pardon?”

Aziraphale’s eyes flashed back up to the luminous yellow orbs. “Uh - well, the thing is - “

Suddenly, the sharp snap of a twig sounded behind them. Aziraphale whirled around, his heart leaping from his chest when he realized Warlock had wandered several paces off to examine a slow moving turtle that he had decided to balance a piece of candy upon. There, standing before them, was the woodsman. Brown eyes wide, shadows etched into the deepest crevices of his face. “What are you doing here?” he demanded, voice thundering in the space around them, sending Aziraphale scrambling to bring Warlock back by his side, despite the boy’s protests to remain with his new friend. “Explain yourselves!”

“Aaaaand that’sss my cue,” the snake hissed, coiling up on himself as he disappeared out of the light and into the treetops, his striking golden eyes, the only part remaining visible. For a moment, the luminous orbs lingered, casting a final wink in Aziraphale’s direction before disappearing completely into the darkness “Ciao.”

[depressedstressedlemonzest]

Another thank you post!!

This one is specifically for the ones who sent such lovely thoughts, well wishes and general lovely things for @ineffablefool for his birthday!

And thank you extra for keeping it all a secret and not murdering me for driving you all nuts with reminders!

@sani-86

@likearumchocolatesouffle

@thatwhichidarenotspeak

@acgold

@holycatsandrabbits

@Akinmytua2

@tehrenb

@whotheheckitheheck

@Dragons-n-bones

@laurenblu

@formyfriendssanity-goodomens

@sassy-space-trash

@Northernspies

@avidreaderffn

@aziferal

@anonymityisbest

@i-am-truly-chaotic

@Ephemeralmotif

@5ftjewishcactus

@10yrsyart

@lunarmultishine

@summerofspock

@eveningstarcatcher

@thewildmeiling

@hope-inthedark

@kittyknowsthings

@Apocalypseneh

@witchy-capri

@whatawriterwields

@zadusk

@queer-alien-space-princess

@softcroft

@Babysuitenthusiast

@stars-sky-see

@kanna-ophelia

@kbeekill

@insubstantialways

@penbwl

@aziraphaleisagender

@istezada

@squeegeelicious

[depressedstressedlemonzest]

Okay everyone!

Those of you who were amazing and secretly helped me with the gift for @ineffablefool he has gotten it!

Now comes the big art thank you post from me.

Thank you everyone who contributed fanart to this! Feel completely free to post and tag and reblog all the art you created!

If you had previously done art and gave me permission to use it thank you also!!

If you did a comission I will do a seperate post specifically thanking for that!

Thank you all so much!

@squeegeelicious

@sani-86

@thesylversmyth

@stars-sky-see

@c4th33-wolf

@hope-inthedark

@acgold

@wheeloffortune-design

@laurenblu

@formyfriendssanity-goodomens

@Daisies-on-the-windowsill

@yamikakyuu

@sassy-space-trash

@lostinthecosmoslonely

@zebraonwheels

@flameraven

@lady-virdis

@Apocalypseneh

@insubstantialways

@kbeekill

@softcroft

@penbwl

@avidreaderffn

@yamikakyuu

@ineffablelovebirds

@jojisoja

@the-purple-rook

@melododdley

@witchy-capri