#that this gets more attention than my other art

[egophiliac]

Hi there! I really love your comics and how expressive they are. How do you go about making the characters in your comic so expressive?

thank you! 💚💜💚 I am REALLY bad at explaining things, so my apologies if this doesn't make a lot of sense, but maybe there's something helpful in here somewhere. :')

1. warm up! drawing is a physical activity, after all! so if I'm planning on sitting down and drawing for a while, I usually start off by taking a couple of minutes to doodle a bunch of circles and lines and random shapes, just to get my drawing arm goin' again and get back into the physical groove. just stuff like this:

and just do that for however long you feel like! you can kind of feel when your arm starts to loosen up and your strokes get more confident. it makes it a lot easier to get those swoopy big lines and gestures!

2. play around with how you use your lines! paying attention to the shapes that they're making will change a lot about how much force and life your drawing feels like it has. (no way is better than another, it just depends on what effect you're going for and how it looks as part of the larger whole.)

and you can also use lines against each other to get different vibes:

it's not really a matter of "you need to make sure all your lines are always doing this all the time", it's more like...being aware of it, and getting that into the general thrust of a pose, if that makes sense? like a lot of smaller lines of action, beyond the big one that goes through the spine.

(just gonna use my own art as examples, apologies)

if you have a good foundation of tension, then all of the little bumps and contours of a character's details won't get in the way of it, and it'll still come through.

and don't forget about negative space either! the spaces between things have their own interesting shapes too!

I don't mean this to come off as, like, all these extra things that you need to be constantly thinking about and stressing over. more like...just try different stuff and then see how it works and how it changes the feeling! if you find a good shape, see if you can exaggerate it and make it more interesting, and how that affects things! angles and shapes are a LOT of fun to experiment and mess around with, especially when you're going more cartoony. :D

3. acting!

just...spending a little time to think about what the characters are actually doing! (aka the "figuring out what everyone is doing with their hands" bit.) this is more a personal preference, but especially in multi-panel comics, I like to have them be in the middle of doing stuff. not just big actions, but smaller things -- like even just how they're sitting or standing -- so that it feels like we're looking in on the middle of a scene, instead of a couple of characters just standing around neutrally and staring straight ahead while talking at each other.

this probably sounds really obvious, but it is one of the most fun parts for me! I love trying to find some little action or something that they can be involved in, especially if it's relevant to their character or adds an extra joke. (for some reason this usually involves me being mean to Sebek) (I'm sorry)

it doesn't need to be everyone Always! Doing! Something! all the time, especially if starts becoming distracting (sometimes they do actually need to just be standing around neutrally and staring straight ahead, especially if there's a bigger action going on that you want the audience to focus on instead). but even just figuring out some kind of non-neutral pose for them to be in can add a lot and make it feel less generic!

3. thumbnailing!

this is, again, very much a personal preference; unfortunately, every artist really is different, and we all have different processes that work better for us. so I can only speak to my personal experience! but I find what helps is to start REALLY rough -- not so much as in messy, as in not trying to start right into actually drawing everything out. like, literally just starting with stick figures and :O faces.

it probably doesn't sound relevant when talking about Drawing Expressively, but I find it's really, really helpful to have already figured out what everyone should be doing (acting!) and what the overall general layout and flow of things should be, before getting into the actual meat of drawing the characters. like having a sketch for the sketch!

(good compositional flow is something I struggle with, and text layout especially, so this stage also helps a LOT with making sure things are fitting where I want them and staying consistent/not breaking screen direction/etc.)

then after that, I can go ahead and focus on getting those Shapes and Lines and Angles and all that, without having to think too much about the layout or where things should go!

(of course, the downside of that is that my thumbnails are usually way better than my actual drawings, alas alas.)

4. this is more philosophical, but...give yourself some slack. the stress of Making Things Look Good is, ironically, often the biggest problem. (see: thumbnails looking better than the actual drawings.) so...let yourself draw shittier and without regards to accuracy. make things just for yourself without thinking about posting or showing them to anyone else. draw stupid faces and wrong proportions because they feel better that way. focus on what's fun and not on getting a perfect end result. "draw expressively, not well", as they say -- you can always tighten up things like proportions and details later, if you really want to.

that's all WAY easier said than done -- god knows I haven't really managed it -- but even just aiming for that attitude really, REALLY helps. if your lines are confident, they'll look a lot more alive and expressive than lines that are exactly technically precise but have no rhythm in them. (this is why tracing photographs tends to look so weirdly stiff and unrealistic, by the way -- even if you're drawing realistically, you usually need to exaggerate and stylize a little bit so it doesn't look lifeless.) it's a balance between caring about what you draw, but also being willing to let things go a little bit.

↑ I hope some of this helps! I don't know if any of this was actually what you had in mind, let alone much of it actually made sense outside of my head. :') but hopefully you (or other people) will be able to get something out of it!

[spellbooking]

let me preface this by saying: you are allowed to have whatever pairing/ship you want. this post is not about saying you can’t nor should you feel bad for having them!

I will always use my blog as a means to advocate and boost queer material. But lately I’ve noticed the lack of engagement on queer tav x companion pairings. And it feels like it’s getting worse. It’s discouraging as a queer man who mainly ships men with men that a gif/art of Gale (or any other male companion) with a masc!/nonbinary tav will get 30 notes (if that!) in an hour but a headcanon or gif of a male companion with a fem! presenting tav will receive much more attention (100s of notes) within that same time period. For such an inclusive game, me and a couple other queer folks have come forward to say how excluded we are starting to feel. As someone who has a pansexual male partner, it is heartbreaking to see. I’m putting these in bullet points because it’s easier for me

• Gale, Wyll, Astarion and Halsin are NOT straight

• Gale, Wyll, Astarion and Halsin are PANSEXUAL

• Shadowheart, Lae’zel, Karlach, and Minthara are NOT straight

• Shadowheart, Lae’zel, Karlach, and Minthara are PANSEXUAL

• Just because a fem!Tav is paired with a male companion does not mean she is automatically straight. Stop erasing sexuality or assuming.

• Just because a masc!Tav is paired with a female companion does not mean he is automatically straight (I can relate to this one as I have a pansexual masc!Tav who is paired with SH and his sexuality gets swept under the rug)

The reluctance to engage with queer tav x companion media is discouraging and so disappointing. I know people will write g/n blurbs but honestly, upon reading them, they seem to weigh heavily towards AFAB individuals (if it’s about a male companion). I’ve seen blurbs be titled as g/n just to have an allude to AFAB individuals at the end. Queer pairings are much less likely to receive reblogs or engagement in this space and it’s baffling.

And honestly it’s even worse for nonbinary and trans individuals. You guys truly get the short end of the stick and I’m so so sorry. You don’t deserve that. But I am so tired of groups of people trying to claim these companions or claim what their “preference” is. Gale and Wyll are not “ladies men”. They’re just MEN. Even when these companions are headcanoned as parents, it’s conveniently forgotten that two men and two women can be parents. Stop claiming these characters as if they only prefer one gender. I literally made a gif of astarion kissing my male tav and it felt taboo because I RARELY see gifs of him kissing or engaging romantically with masc!Tavs.

The heteronormativity with these companions is frustrating. Us queer individuals are FRUSTRATED. I see it. I hear about it. People vent to me about it! The fact that people are so quick to give attention to fem!Tav x male companion or masc!Tav x fem companion but are so reluctant or give no attention to queer pairings is disheartening and I cannot sit by and not acknowledge this any longer. A lot of the fandom will preach equality and equal engagement but won’t even give said engagement? Please engage with queer content. Please reblog queer tav content. Please stop assuming sexualities of tavs. Please stop erasing sexualities of these characters. Stop excluding queer tav pairings from these narratives! All we’re asking for is equal engagement, please. We are tired, we are frustrated, please give us a voice too. And if you believe the companions cannot be with someone other than explicitly of the opposite gender, please block me.

[contextfreepatentart]

Context-Full Patent Art

Every now and then I see people in the comments who seem to genuinely want a better idea of what one of the posted bits of art here was supposed to be patenting. Giving that context myself doesn't seem in the spirit of the blog, but I absolutely want to encourage people to do the legwork to go sniffing around for original sources.

It's something I have to do a lot in my day job, something I've learned to enjoy, and the thing that led me to start Context-Free Patent Art a dozen years ago in the first place.

Let's start with today's post, which is a perfect example of art that raises more questions than it answers.

Almost every post on this blog has a header detailing the date of the patent or application and the number, which you can find on the top right. In this case, this image is from Patent Application # 20020022516.

Longtime Context-Free Patent Art fans might remember this image from when it was first featured here over a decade ago. I figured that a lot of the people following the blog now haven't seen some of the gems from years ago, so I'm going to be doing re-runs of some of my favorites this week. There's a bunch more I think would be good to bring back, so I'll use the vintage cfpa hashtag in the future so you know when a duplicate post is intentional (as opposed to me just forgetting I've posted a thing before, which happens a fair bit).

Back to the matter at hand though, if you're ever curious, the US Patent and Trademark Office has a super-handy patent search function. It's pretty easy to find from their main site (uspto.gov), but you can also just bookmark this link to the basic search form:

Check out the search results, click on the link for the .pdf, and you'll get the complete patent/application to peruse at your enjoyment.

In this case, you'll find the patent being applied for covers a method of "Advertising inside electronic games" and you'll learn that:

In FIG. 1, girl 10 is climbing onto a hamburger 11 like one sold at a fast food restaurant. However, in the displayed image, hamburger 11 is as large as girl 10. The person playing the game will therefore perceive hamburger 11 as fantastically large. That unusual scale will help to burnish the image of hamburger 11 in the player's memory as well as draw his attention to it while he plays the game.

Not shown in FIG. 1 are other characteristics which electronic games could apply to hamburger 11 which cannot be shown in unanimated line-drawings. Hamburger 11 will compress as girl 10 steps or pushes on it. That action will be accompanied by squishing and slurping sounds...

Yeah, the explanations are weird too, sometimes.

Sorry for all the words, I just wanted to make it as clear as possible to people that if they're ever curious about stuff they see on Context-Free Patent Art, it's usually pretty easy to find out what the deal is.

[yaut-jaknowit]

HIIIII

I LOVE your work!! And I love Gawtin so much!! Can I request a Gawtin scenario in which the reader is (consensually) touchy with her muscles?? Like squeezing or feeling up her biceps, praising her for being so strong, etc.

Thank you!!

Guardian Angel

Pairing: Gawtin (Female Yautja) x GN!Reader

Word Count: 1181

Summary: Gawtin has taken care of you since she took you to her home planet, Yautja Prime. That's around two years. She's protected you, laid down her life for your safety, keeps the fridge stocked, and most importantly, showers you with her love. Now, it's her turn to be showered.

Author Note: Muscle mommy needs some praise and love too! This is short, I know but I made it as sweet and fluff filled as possible to make up for it!

Masterlist

Ao3

Target spotted. A grin widened on your face. You acted innocently in the kitchen, pulling a snatch from the fridge Gawtin was laxed in the living room, a book in hand. Every minute or so, she would turn the page. Qui’oky was down for his midday nap, the young child worn out from being a kid.

The bowl of strawberry-like fruit was set down carefully on the counter once Gawtin turned another page. Your eyes darted side to side to ensure no surface could reflect your presence to her. Not until you were ready to reveal yourself.

After living in this cottage for so long, you’ve grown to learn the ins and outs. Specially which floor board squeaked so you didn’t wake up any of the other occupants if you could help it. You took a known route to get to the couch Gawtin was on. She was none the wiser, focused strictly on her book that you could partially read. You’re getting there.

“I offer you my heart, little artist but why do you think you could sneak up on me?” Gawtin turned her head and glanced at you from the corner of her purple eyes. A pout turned your features down.

A shrug drew your shoulders up and down before you padded to the other side of the couch to face her. “Well, I just thought I could surprise you, love,” you excused then looked at her prettily. You shuffled closer to her hulking frame. Even sitting down, the giant still dwarfed your form. Now, you stood between her open legs, up close and personal with your lover.

Her book was set on the nearby coffee table, marked. Gawtin’s full attention returned to you. This could either go in two different directs.

You cleared your throat then placed a hand on her shoulder to lean in closer to her face. Your other hand reached up cupped her cheek. “You’re so pretty,” you whispered and stroked her ridge of her upper mandible. “My pretty girl.”

The forest green Yautja quirked a brow and mandible at your actions. But, she tilted her head into your palm and nuzzled against it. You let that hand drift down to her muscular shoulders and gripped it. “Look how strong you are too. Such a good protector for your child and your mate.”

Though, Gawtin was confused at first, she was more than pleased to let you continue. At first, you glanced down at her lap and got the nod to go ahead. You couldn’t wipe off the smirk on your face and climbed onto her. Gawtin threw her arms over the top of the couch and watched you preform your next actions.

The couch offered some added inches to you, but that wasn’t enough to be eye level with Gawtin. You stood on your knees, hands now cupping both of her lower mandibles. “I probably say this a lot but I love you so much. My big strong protector, keeping me safe any harm or males attempting to court me.” That was a jab towards the first and last time a young male offered you skull. He got a life lesson: Don’t mess with another’s mate; let alone Gawtin’s mate.

A purr began in the depths of her chest. Gawtin even titled her head slightly back, baring her throat to you. “Oh? What’s all this praise for, artful one?” she questioned with a trill, eyes hooding over. Gawtin was more than happy to let you have your way currently.

One of your hands slid down to softly grasp her throat, fingers not even reaching the sides. An innocent look was thrown at her. “I can’t tell my mate how amazing she is? Is that so wrong?” you cooed, lips turning into a small pout. You leaned forward and placed kiss on the column of her throat. A place only ones she trusted most were allowed to even see, let alone touch in your case.

“You don’t know how much I appreciate all you’ve done for me, Gawtin,” you continued and drifted the palm on her mandible down to the area between her shoulder and neck. Your lips pressed another kiss a little higher on her throat. “You do so much for me, love.”

The purr deepened. Gawtin sunk further into the couch. Your hands continued to roam, both going to her biceps to squeeze her muscles there.

From the two years you’ve been around Gawtin, a lot has occurred. Even your meeting with her was a whirl emotions that you weren’t prepared for. Meeting a pregnant alien then going out of your way to protect her. Neither of you expect that from the measly human just trying to enjoy their last couple days at the cabin. An artist that only wields pencils.

It still shocks you to this day that a Yautja, a species born for the hunt and lives to prove their prowess, wants you. You’re just… you. A human that didn’t have a lick of fighting skills. Now, under Gawtin’s protection and watch, you’ve grown stronger, faster, more of a hunter than ever before. You had a lot to thank her for. If it wasn’t for your walk into the forest, you’d never have met her. Worst of all, she could possibly be dead, with Qui’oky.

You kissed a line down one side of her throat then up the other side. Your hands squeezed at her biceps. “Look how strong my pretty hunter is. You can take down anything you want, anything you set your mind onto.” Gawtin’s arms slipped off the top of couch. Both of her hands grabbed yours and carded her fingers through yours in a firm grip.

Gawtin leaned forward and bumped her forehead against yours. “I offer you my heart and bare my unarmored body to you, my exquisite mate.” The Yautja’s voice rumbled. Your grip tightened, nails biting into the back of her palms.

“You are beyond anything I could ask and more. More than anything I could dream of. You are all I need in my life. You are all I want in this life. My life is yours,” you whispered and held your lips to the little snout between her mandibles.

Your eyes fluttered open and stared into her soul entwined with hers. Gawtin shifted her hold on one of your hands to hold the back of it then held it to her chest.

Between layers of muscles and bones, you felt the strong, thundering beat of her heart. The organ in her body that beats for you.

In return, you slid the hand still entwined with hers out then did the same action on your own chest. Your heart beats for her as well.

“My little artist, I will forever protect you. You are mine. My ooman. My mate. My lover.” Her upper mandibles brushed against your cheek bones. Your eyes drifted shut again as you simmered in the affection that poured between the two of you. This is a love you’ll forever hold onto.

[asterr1sk]

pretty as the paintings

⊹₊ ⋆ park seonghwa wc: 472 genre: pining, strangers to ??? a/n: i love my husband <33

you've always been fond of visual art, whether it be a painting or a sculpture. it was your source of happiness and stress relief, but now, as an art student, it just gives you more stress than ever. here you are, standing in front of an art museum, hoping that this might give you motivation for your next piece. as you entered, there were all kinds of displays, varying in era and style. you decided to go to one exhibit, walking around and inspecting the paintings. 

you felt someone stand next to you and peek at whoever that was. it was a tall man with long hair wearing a turtleneck, holding onto his coat. even from this angle, he looked pretty. you wondered if he went alone, just like you. the whole afternoon went on with you exploring the beautiful museum. you can’t help but notice that man was also coincidentally in the same places you went through. you are pretty sure he already knows of your existence, exchanging glances at each other but never making a move. it seemed like you weren’t paying attention to the displays anymore, except for that man.

you sat on a bench in an open area since you wanted a break from all that walking and searching. you took out your notebook and pencil to write some ideas. although, some of your doodles were of that man. you were determined not to think about him. you stood back up and grabbed your things to roam the other exhibits again.  

you were in the last exhibit, but your mind was definitely somewhere else. you walked around, trying to find that man again. it was your fourth loop around the exhibit already, and there was still no sign of him. you sighed as you thought maybe it was for the best. the only motivation you had on this trip was to talk to him. you finally decided that it was already time to go. 

you were having a last look at the museum when you felt a tap on your shoulder. 

“this may sound so sudden, but do you want to get something to eat? ” you turned your head, and to your surprise, it was him. now that he was actually facing you, the details of his face were like those of the displays you saw earlier. 

“since dinner time is near, we can go to a restaurant. you can choose if you’d like.” you answered back with a smile. he looked at his watch and nodded.

“i know this great restaurant nearby. we can go there. oh wait, i forgot,” he laughed at himself. “my name is seonghwa, by the way.”

“i’m y/n.” you were sure that you saw him turn red.

“nice to finally meet you, y/n. i’ll lead the way.”

[shycroissanti]

I know you like to be welcoming to everyone, but it’s okay to not ship your OCs with everyone else’s. I can’t imagine how overwhelmed you get trying to make everyone happy. And I also can’t imagine how many people are struggling for your attention when you make a new character and the only interest they have in it is shipping. It sort of breaks my heart to see you make a new oc and the only people who seem to care about it are people trying to make a ship.

I see you’re getting burned out more often and taking a lot of breaks… but your blog should be a fun place, not something you avoid because you’re stressed by it. Maybe limiting requests or only keeping OC ships to good friends would help you relax. You don’t have to take my advice if this makes you happy. I’m just a bit worried about you. Especially since you seem tired all the time and recently made a post saying you were worried about people being upset with you if your characters already had ships and you didn’t want to add any more.

I would also like to say that some people like the shipping because they just want free art of their OC and less because they actually want to bond with you. Many people do not realize they are being like this.

Your real friends will not be bothered by you putting up boundaries. The only people that will be upset are selfish, too young to understand, or people who didn’t consider your feelings at all.

Just take care of yourself, Shy. I’m sorry if I’m overstepping. And of if I have this totally wrong, just say so.

You're right, I recognize that I've been doing this lately...

It's a fact, I'm very afraid of making others upset, I really want to please everyone. I've actually been feeling a little overwhelmed lately, but I don't know how to deal with it.

I love making ships with my OCs with the OCs of my moots, I really really like this interaction, I was just getting worried about the situation where more than one person wants to make ships with a single OC, I'm afraid of causing confusion with that.

I'll get better with this, I swear, I even want to tell you that I've been trying to be more like you, you know? "Post what you want" I've been trying to do this more often and it's making me happy🥹

I have several plans for the future with my OCs and I'm optimistic about that, even if I'm still a bit clumsy at communicating, and I'm pretty sure that everything I wrote here must be a little confusing because it really took me by surprise, I really value your attention and words so much and after I read everything (including what you said in the other posts too), I started crying, in a good way❤️

[imtrashraccoon]

Total Eclipse

Eclipse!Sans x OC

Eclipse!Sans belongs to @llamagoddessofficial and I am rather obsessed with them! I hope I captured them accurately but I couldn't help but wonder how they'd react to my OC.

Their design is based on art that @sparticus2000art created. I loved the first one the most so I hope you don't mind that I used it.

Background: This drabble is not canon to The Nightmare of Apathy and is a sort of "What if?" situation for whatever happens after the story ends.

All you really need to know to enjoy this is that the Reader was in a relationship with Nightmare and lives in his castle with the rest of the gang. The world is only lit up by the moon and the stars, thanks to Nightmare's influence.

Word Count: 1,959

You woke up alone, which wasn't too unusual in of itself. Still, you couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed that Nightmare hadn't joined you this time. He'd been extra busy ever since forming a treaty with his brother but you'd hoped he'd take a break on his own. Now it seemed like you'd have to go bug him about getting proper rest, even though he always insisted that he didn't need to.

You crawled out of bed and pulled the curtains aside. Just like always, the world outside the castle was dark. Only the light from the stars and the moon could pierce through the veil, but you didn't mind as it was all you'd ever known. Well that wasn't entirely true since you'd visited a few other worlds by now. Despite how pretty it was, you didn't think you'd get used to how bright the sun was anytime soon.

To your surprise and shock, the moon looked...different.

Somehow, it had turned black although the edges also seemed to be glowing. It was so bright, that you couldn't bear to look at it for longer than a second.

What did this mean? Was the world in danger? You'd never heard of anything like this happening before, although there was one person who might.

With little care for your appearance, you threw on a robe and hurried through the castle to find Nightmare, but when he wasn't in any of his usual spots like his office or the library, you started to get worried. In your hurry, you nearly ran into Killer in the hallway but his quick reflexes kept the two of you from ending up on the floor in a heap.

"woah there, what's the hurry, angel?" he asked teasingly.

"Where is he?!" You were slightly out of breath and had to take a moment to recover. "Where's Nightmare?"

Killer hummed thoughtfully, "i actually haven't seen him in a while." He seemed to notice how concerned you were and the corners of his smile quirked up slightly. "what? is the world ending or something?" he asked with a chuckle.

You huffed and shot him a glare. "Maybe? The moon is completely messed up and I don't know where he is."

That seemed to catch his attention. "i'll go ask the others and see if they've heard anything."

You nodded and Killer shot you a wink before vanishing into mid-air. As irritating as he could be, you had to appreciate how serious he got when it counted. No wonder Nightmare trusted him with important jobs.

You continued to search the castle and were soon joined by Nightmare's other henchmen, but no matter how hard you looked, there was no trace of him. At some point, you happened to glance outside and noticed that there was somebody on the veranda. They were facing away so you couldn't really make out what they looked like beyond being a tall skeleton with pitch black bones.

Maybe you should've been more cautious about approaching the strange skeleton, especially with everything that had happened before the treaty, but the moment you stepped outside, you couldn't help but feel drawn to them. They just felt oddly familiar, like an old friend or loved one.

You only got about halfway across the veranda when they seemed to sense your presence. They turned quickly and the moment you made eye contact, you realized that despite what you had thought, you'd never seen them before.

They were much taller than you'd initially thought; easily pushing eight feet tall, making them taller than even Horror. While their bones were indeed black, they actually seemed to have a white glow, kind of similar to Dream. Their eyelights were mismatched, with the left being cyan while the right was gold, and there was a flared halo hovering around the top of their skull. You were also immediately struck with their intense aura that was reminiscent of both the god brothers. You could feel your eyes start to sting with tears that threatened to spill over and yet your soul nearly leapt for joy at the same time.

They wore an elegant black overcoat with white epaulettes, a flared collar, white buttons, a white sun motive on the lapels, and their tail coats had a white lining. Under the jacket, they had on a dress shirt with lace ruffles, high waisted black pants with buttons that matched the jacket's, and knee high boots with white accents.

"Who...? Who are you?" you asked cautiously.

They gave you an amused smile but said nothing at first and just continued watching you.

You frowned and took a step closer. They just seemed so familiar and you felt like you should know who they were. The more you stared up into their eyes, the stronger that feeling became. His facial bones vaguely resembled Nightmare's but maybe that was just because their left eyelight was the same colour.

Your eyes widened with the realization that this was why he hadn't been anywhere in the castle. What could've caused such an extreme change in appearance? Was this related to the moon?

"Nightmare?"

Their smile didn't falter and they just continued watching you, although you felt their already very intense aura flare up even more. You could feel the buzz of ecstasy in your veins and how your soul seemed to swell from the positivity.

It actually hurt.

You recoiled and quickly stepped back. While your body was nearly overwhelmed by emotions, your mind was relatively clear at the moment. You wished you had more control over your magic, especially for times like these, but at least you had some defense against this manipulation attempt.

This wasn't Nightmare. It couldn't be! He wasn't capable of inflicting positive emotions and he hadn't tried to influence your emotions at all since the beginning of your relationship. There was only one other person who could, and previously had, tried to do these things.

"Dream...?" you tried again, although your voice trembled as you spoke.

They blinked before the amused smiled finally faded a bit. They did vaguely resemble the god of positivity, especially with the whole inflicting positive feelings ability. The gold right eyelight did seem like the exact same shade as his as well.

"That is not my name anymore."

You could hardly believe your ears but their voice was exactly like Nightmare's, although it was the one he used when he was trying to intimidate mortals. It was nothing like the calm, velvety tone he used when you were alone together.

You couldn't keep yourself composed any longer and the tears that had threatened to burst earlier, now flowed freely down your cheeks. You didn't want to believe it, but you could see that something terrible had befallen your partner and it seemed like Dream was involved as well.

You felt their claws press into the skin around your jaw as they ever so gently tilted your head up to meet their gaze again. When had they gotten so close?

Even though your head was dwarfed by the size of their hands, they were so careful as they wiped your tears away with the tips of their claws. You didn't dare move in case they injured you with how sharp they were.

It felt like their eyelights could pierce through to your soul with how intensely they were gazing at you. Their aura felt a lot warmer all of the sudden too and your mind felt kind of fuzzy.

They began to stroke your hair in what felt like a reassuring way, although you felt shivers run down your spine every time their claws grazed your scalp. You had been in too much of a hurry to brush your hair earlier and their claws caught on the occasional knot every now and then, but they were careful not to tug on the individual strands too much at least.

"It's... It's alright to cry..." Their voice suddenly lowered mid-sentence until it was almost a whisper. It still didn't sound exactly like Nightmare's voice but it was eerily similar. "Would...a hug help you feel better?"

You swallowed and barely got out a "Yes" when they practically engulfed you in a warm embrace. Their bones were quite literally warm, much like Dream's were the few times you'd touched him, although you could sense that the temperature was actually from how much mana they had contained in their form than anything else.

You couldn't physically wrap your arms around them, so you settled for letting your hands rest on their chest instead. They didn't seem to mind in the slightest, although you thought you faintly heard a soft purr when you touched them.

They suddenly scooped you up in their arms as if you were nothing but a small child, causing you to gasp as your feet left the stone tiles. They held you close to their ribcage and pressed their teeth against your hair, as if mimicking a kiss.

"Dear little human... I'm sorry for causing you such distress."

You sniffled and buried your face into their shirt. Everything felt wrong and knowing that this entity wasn't Nightmare hurt so much.

"You're...a very special human. The last thing I want is to hurt you..." they purred.

"Do... Do you remember me...?"

They stilled for a moment before moving to sit down on a nearby bench and setting you in their lap. They resumed stroking your hair before even attempting to answer your question.

"I'm sorry, dear, but I can't remember someone I've never met." They moved one of their hands to your back and began to rub circles into your shoulders. "You're certainly familiar to me though."

You pulled back so you could look up at them again. "Night...what happened to you? Why do you look like this? I don't... I don't understand what's going on..."

"I'm not your Nightmare, not anymore," they answered. They paused for a moment, as if trying to find the right words to say next. "I'm not either of them anymore. This is...just the natural result..."

"But why?"

"It just is. I am the god of feelings, both positive and negative." They sighed and lightly caressed your cheek. "If it is of any comfort to you, they didn't plan for this to happen."

You took a deep breath. "Was it because of the truce?"

The edges of their permanent smile quirked up slightly but they said nothing. You weren't sure if that was a yes or no but you couldn't think of any other reason for the brothers to have accidentally merged into one body out of nowhere.

They let out a quiet chuckle and softly poked your nose. "He may not have always been able to say it, but he loved you so much. If you'll allow me, I would be happy to share the depths of his love with you sometime, dear."

You furrowed your eyebrows and glanced away from them. "I... I don't know... Does this mean you have their memories?"

They shook their skull ever so slightly. "Not quite, but I have their combined knowledge. Anything you could possibly want to know, I can explain."

"How about a name first?"

They practically beamed and quickly pressed their teeth against your forehead. "My name is Total Eclipse or, if you prefer, you can just call me Eclipse."

You felt your cheeks grow warm at the contact but quickly forced any emotions down for now. "My name is Aylin. It means 'moon halo' and, well..."

They let out a quick bark of laughter. "...'the one who belongs to the moon...' I think it's rather fitting."

"That's... That's actually almost exactly what he said when we first met..."

"I told you, I know everything that they knew..."

[littlemarianah]

What's your headcanon for Katniss and Peeta's children?

How old was Katniss when give birth to their daughter?

How many years apart between them in age?

Your headcanon for their name?

Who gets the singing and art skill from their parent?

Bonus question : please give recs of your fav everlark post-Mockingjay fanfic.

Thank you :)

@curiousthg

✨️Oh god! I love this question, thank you so much! ✨️

My favorite headcannon is that the first daughter is very desired by both of them. And they take a long time because they want it so much. They want it to be perfect and at the right time. Pregnancy and postpartum hits Katniss very hard, it's very difficult for her. But after the baby grows a few months she starts to really enjoy being a mother. Willow is such a sweet and smart baby. Fill their house with her cries, then her laughter, then her heavy footsteps, then her questions, then her singing voice. It fills their home with life and happiness that they haven't seen in many years. Peeta and Katniss are able to enjoy life more after she is born, and they fall in love again. The first daughter makes them want a second baby (something that wasn't in the plans).

By my count, Katniss gave birth at 32 years of age, 15 years after the war. And her second child she has at 35 years old. So Rye and Willow are about 2.5 years apart.

About names... Rye and Willow! It's a name that has been circulating in the fandom for a few years and I really love it.

Rye is Peeta's deceased brother, but not only that. It's the name of a food and besides food, the other thing that keeps K&P alive is everyone they lost in the past. Rye is a tribute to those who couldn't get here. And also because when the boy is born, Peeta finds him very similar to his middle brother. A little boy makes Peeta very emotional about missing his brothers.

Willow is for the tree in the lullaby. It's a safe and happy place. Katniss decides on this name after she discovers is a girl. It's a tribute to the little girls in her life who didn't have the chance to become women. It is also a tribute to Katniss's mothers and father who named their daughters after plants, she wants to maintain the family tradition.

About who gets the talents! They both sing a lot, Katniss sang to them all the time when they were young, so they both have a love for music and they both sing. . But Wiilow has Peeta's charisma and loves being the center of attention, while Rye is very shy and only sings when he is alone. So is Willow who always clears her throat and starts singing loudly whenever she has the opportunity. She has a much more powerful voice than Katniss, sings with vigor, and has a deep voice. She's very good at that. In addition to singing, she also writes music. She starts creating rhymes about Rye, making fun of him and singing all day to make him mad. Then when she gets older, she starts to write about all her romantic disappointments. And I believe, she breaks your heart so often that her parents start to worry.

Now Peeta's artistic talents go to Rye. Rye, being a 14 year old boy, loves to say that he is actually a hunter, not an artist. But all of Rye's arches are carved with designs he made. He loves drawing and carving in wood and when he is a teenager his fingers are all injured from the amount he cuts himself doing so. He doesn't draw much on paper, but he's always creating something. Or making bread in the shape of animals. And Peeta is extremely proud about it. He wasn't able to explore his artistic talents at Rye's age, so he does what's best so the boy can. He gives him expensive art supplies for his birthday and always hangs Rye's sculptures on the wall. He's the slobberiest dad ever.

I could talk about toast babies all day.

Instead of talking about my favorite fanfics, I'm going to talk about the post-MJ fanfic I'm writing.

The fanfic is about Willow studying to be an army nurse like Prim was. The world is different now, there are no more wars, but it still makes Kantiss very nervous about the idea. So there's a lot of mother-daughter drama. Willow is very angry and rebellious and Rye is very shy and attached to his parents. It's about the Mellark family dealing with generational trauma and Peeta and Katniss trying to help their children understand the world. And how difficult it is to explain to those children who were raised with a lot of love that there is a lot of hunger and a lot of evil out there. And also about parents who have to let their children grow and mature. It's about love, it's a famfic about family.

Well, it was a very long text, but I'm very happy with this question!

Thanks, non. 💞

[deadgirlwalking91]

new update - 'Thank You for the Venom', chapter 4 🎸 🗡️

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter 4 Summary

After a hard day, all Lute wants to do is relax in the bath. Alone.

Adam, however, has other plans.

Author's note:

I have a super cool announcement to make - I now have a beta reader! And not just any old beta - she is none other than the most incredible, incomprehensibly talented @branded-rose! She deserves the utmost thanks for being my sounding board, fellow head-canon theoriser, hype gal and all-round legend. Also, if you aren't familiar with her work, close this tab right now and go check her art and accompanying mini-fics out!

I have had the MOST fun writing this chapter. The concept for it has undergone a few transformations in my mind, and I'm glad it's ended up where it has. I hope you all enjoy reading it!

As always, thank you for the comments, likes, reblogs, inboxes and for reading this silly little story <3

***

Lute’s Apartment, Exorcist Training Centre, Heaven

Lute hated being injured.

It wasn’t necessarily the feeling of being in pain that she couldn’t stand. On the contrary, she welcomed the tenderness of every bruise, the sting of every laceration – hell, the dull, aching throb of every broken bone that had been inflicted upon her over her years as an Exorcist. Pain meant she had no hesitations in putting her body on the line; she was renowned, after all, for her reputation as an unrelenting, unstoppable, balls-to-the-wall killing machine.

Her body was heavily adorned with the scars as proof of her status; hundreds of faded gold marks of varying sizes were flecked upon her otherwise pale skin. Each healed wound beheld a gory reminder of her battles and triumphs.

No, what irked Lute was the unwanted attention that she attracted whenever she sustained an injury. Thankfully, due to her recent refocus on physical conditioning, there were no weapons being handled and therefore, there should have been minimal opportunity for anybody to come into harm’s way under her guidance.

There was just one variable that Lute hadn’t accounted for: her dickhead boss.

What the fuck had Adam been thinking, tackling her so suddenly during that afternoon’s training session? One minute, she’d been pointing out common weak spots to hit on a Sinner’s body to expose their vulnerabilities, and then the next she’d unexpectedly been crushed by him. Her right hip and lower back had taken the brunt of the fall as he’d grabbed her around the torso, pinned her arms against her body and drove her into the floor with a force so great she’d been winded before she hit the deck.

Then, her sisters had shrieked, screamed – there may have even been one who cried, there usually was when someone hurt themselves – and crowded around her as she lay on the hardwood floor, dazed, confused and completely smothered by Adam’s considerably larger frame.

“Get off her, Sir, she’s not breathing!”

“I-is…is she dead?”

“Lieutenant, are you alright?!”

“Are you fucking kidding me, Commander?! What the fuck was that?!” Thank God for Vaggie, who had elbowed her way to the front of the gaggling group and stood, hands on hips, glaring at the angel who lay atop her friend.

“Out of line, Vagina,” he had drawled lazily, finally pulling himself up to a standing position. “You owe me burpees for that.”

“I don’t owe you a thing after the bullshit you just pulled,” she’d snapped back, helping Lute stand to her feet. “Ladies, back up, she’s coming through.”

“Thanks,” Lute had managed to grunt, shuffling away from the crowd as quickly as she could so they couldn’t see the golden flush of humiliation that had started to warm her cheeks. There was only one thing that she hated more than being injured, and that was being embarrassed.

Luckily, the colour of her face had returned to normal by the time she’d knocked on Sera’s door to report that training had been cancelled for the rest of the day. She’d even come up with the perfect excuse: the Exorcists had made such remarkable progress with their strength training she was giving them the rest of the afternoon off as a reward while she made some adjustments to their schedule.

Too bad her hip and lower back had started burning by that point – not to mention the feathers of her wings were incredibly ruffled, a dead giveaway that she’d been involved in some kind of mishap. Sera, astute as ever, noticed her limp and disgruntled appearance and had demanded to know what had happened. And it wasn’t like Lute could lie to the Head Seraphim.

At least, not off the cuff.

And so, she found herself fumbling for her key outside her apartment door, ordered to rest up for the evening lest her injuries worsened.

Oh, she was going to rest up, alright. Today’s events called for a bath so damn hot her skin would burn brighter than the surface of the sun, a glass of wine in one hand and steamy novel in another. She’d slip beneath the bubbles of her bath and into the pages of her book, with zero plans to re-enter reality for at least three – no, maybe four hours.

At last, she felt her apartment key in bottom of her bag. Sighing in relief as she entered her immaculate personal sanctuary, she softly pushed the front door back towards its frame without looking, kicking her trainers off as soon she was fully inside. Hanging her bag onto a hook in her entryway, she made a beeline for her small kitchen – specifically, for a bottle of red wine she knew she’d had stashed away at the bottom of her pantry for emergencies and unexpected visits from Vaggie.

After the day she’d had, this was absolutely classified as an emergency.

Ignoring the burn that seemed to now consume most of her lower body, Lute located a wine glass and unscrewed the lid of the bottle, pausing to take a long swig directly from it before filling her glass.

Classy.

Sipping her drink from its intended vessel, she plucked a candle off her coffee table and wandered into her bathroom to start preparing for her date with her bathtub.

As Lute sat her glass and candle onto the counter, she caught her reflection in the mirror. God, she looked like she’d had a day – though, to be fair, she’d had the absolute wind knocked out of her only a few hours earlier. Her platinum hair, half of which had been twisted into a small knot on top of her head, had loose strands starting to fall around her face. The bun was askew, leaning more towards the right and threatening to unravel any minute. If her little altercation hadn’t been so public, it wouldn’t be so farfetched for one to imagine she’d been sandwiched between her boss and the floor for a different reason.

Snorting in disgust to herself at the mental image she’d painted, she released her topknot and leant down to turn on the bath mixer, nudging the lever closer to the right until the water temperature was practically scalding. Perfection. She plugged the bath and turned her attention to the unlit candle.

She’d forgotten the lighter. Dammit. She walked gingerly back out into her living area, peeling her crop top up and off over her head, letting it fall to the floor somewhere near the bench of her kitchen, her socks following. Usually, she’d never allow herself to leave stray items of clothing around her apartment, but she was so hyper focused on getting into her bath she was willing to break her own rules - just this once. Besides, she’d tidy up before bedtime anyhow.

After she grabbed the lighter from an overhead cabinet that was just out of reach, requiring a little assistance from her wings, she set back to the bathroom to light her candle. The calming combination of rose geranium, bergamot and patchouli filled her bathroom almost instantaneously; the smell reminded her of the one and only time she’d allowed Vaggie to drag her to a day spa for a massage and to get her wings preened.

It was a one-time event because, as it turned out, strangers touching her body made her skin crawl and she couldn’t bring herself to relax, even if the aim was to help relieve years of built-up tension, stress and physical exertion. Getting her wings preened was even worse; the therapist kept running her fingers through all her sensitive spots, which made Lute squirm uncomfortably throughout the entire session. Neither experience was what she would call enjoyable.

The only good thing to come out of that disaster was the candle she’d purchased to reassure Vaggie the day hadn’t totally sucked.

She took another sip of wine and looked back in the mirror, turning to see if she could see any obvious signs of bruising on her body. She pulled the waistband of her leggings down for a better look – ah, there it was, a familiar dark orange patch beginning to bloom directly over her right hip. She leant forward to inspect it further – that was going to be ugly tomorrow – and a repetitive, robotic tune sung from her pocket, breaking her concentration. Probably Vaggie checking in on her, bless her.

Lute dug her hand into her pocket and retrieved her phone, frowning as she checked the caller ID.

Commander Adam.

“Absolutely not.” She hit the red decline button and padded out to her lounge, where she turned her phone off and tossed it onto her couch. Bath time had a strict no-phone policy, and Adam had already ruined enough of her day – she didn’t need him encroaching on her night, too. She shimmied her leggings down her lower half, resting against the arm of her couch to support her body as she bent over and tugged the end of them off her feet.

Clad only in her underwear now – a practical, black, seam-free thong ideal for wearing under workout clothes – Lute headed into her bedroom, where she grabbed the book she was currently reading from her nightstand, closing the door as she turned towards the bathroom. Pausing in the hall to rid herself of her last item of clothing, entered the bathroom, fully naked, shutting the door firmly behind her.

The bath was now full and inviting, bubbles threatening to spill over the edge and onto the white tiled floor, steam visibly rising from its depths and dissipating somewhere just short of the ceiling. Grinning in anticipation, Lute shut the mixer off and turned off the light switch, the flickering flame of the candle providing the only source of light – just enough for her to be able to read. Grabbing her book, she stepped into the hot water, allowing the heat to envelop her completely as she slid down into its warmth, tucking her wings comfortably against her sides.

Sighing contentedly to herself, she opened her paperback up to where she’d dog-eared her page and allowed herself to be fully consumed by the words between the well-loved cover, banishing any thoughts, any feelings, any pain that had arisen from her day out of her mind.

What she was blissfully unaware of was that she hadn’t closed her front door properly.

Or that she’d missed two calls, a voicemail and a text message from her boss.

And that he was on a frantic mission to try and find her.

Right now.

Adam and Lute’s Office, Exorcist Training Centre, Heaven

“You’ve reached Lute. Leave me a message if it’s important.”

“What is the point of having a damn lieutenant,” Adam growled to himself furiously, “if she doesn’t answer her fucking phone when I need her to!” Huffing impatiently, he threw his phone onto his cluttered desk, knocking a ball made entirely of rubber bands onto the floor. Women were always on their phones, why was this one any different?

Because her sole purpose in life is to make everything difficult.

He glowered in the direction of Lute’s spotless desk. This was all her fault. If she hadn’t of approached Sera with her shitty statistics and stupid proposal, he wouldn’t be facing the prospect of a pointless life in less than a year’s time. Sera would have just let Extermination Day continue as it was, and things would stay the same. Stay normal.

And now, he had to figure out a way to coexist peacefully with the she-devil. Pretend to support her ideas. Not lump his paperwork on her. Make small talk with her.

Fuck his life.

“Ribs or wings?” He asked the empty chair. He figured he may as well sound out some practice questions in preparation. “Actually neither, you’d be the type to survive on gross shit like protein shakes and probably don’t know what real food tastes like. Alright…” he cleared his throat. “Uh, what was the last movie that made you laugh? Nah, that one’s dumb, I don’t think you’ve been programmed to laugh or understand humour.” He groaned. “Last one, because I’m starting to feel like a dickhead. Most fuckable member of a band…go!”

Silence.

Adam narrowed his eyes.

“Yeah, you would pick the drummer,” he grumbled, standing up. He reached for his phone and tried calling Lute again. Bitch better pick up, or he’d search every nook and cranny of this complex for her. And once he found her, she’d have hell to pay. Screw the idea of a truce, she was pissing him off now.

“You’ve reached Lute. Leave me a message if it’s important.”

Beep.

“Fucks sake, Lieutenant, pick up your phone!” He hissed. Instead of locking the phone after hanging up, he hit the message icon instead and tapped out a quick text, tongue between his teeth as he concentrated.

Adam: Lt. Call me. That’s an order!!!

He shoved the phone into his pocket and sighed, puffing his cheeks out. Dammit, he really had no other choice but to find her.

If I were her, where would I spend my spare time? No – it could take hours trying to find her. I need a workaround. Someone who would know where she lives.

Adam grinned maniacally, inspiration suddenly kicking in.

“I’m a ge-ni-us,” he sang to himself, taking his phone out once more and tapping on a contact.

“Hello, Adam. Have you calmed down?”

“Me? Pfft. Don’t worry about me Sera, I’m so fine. I’m calling because I really want to apologise to Lute, but she’s not answering her phone. Do you have her apartment number so I can drop by to check on her?” He balled his hand into a fist near his crotch and made an obscene gesture. Check on her, his ass.

Silence.

“Adam.”

“Sera.”

“If I do this in good faith,” her voice was dangerously cool on the other end of the phone, “and I find out that you’ve misused the information I’ve given you, there will be consequences. Understood?”

“Crystal, boss.”

“Her apartment number is 583. I mean it Adam, one more incident from you and I-”

“SweetkaythanksSeraloveyoubossbye!” He quickly hung up the phone before Sera could finish her sentence. He’d deal with the inevitable lecture he’d get for hanging up on her later.

He had a lieutenant to hunt down.

Apartment Block, Exorcist Training Centre, Heaven

It wasn’t often that Adam found himself in a situation that required him to make a mental pros and cons list.

However, Lute had left him in quite the predicament: her apartment door was slightly ajar. Which meant he was likely to find her in there: big pro.

He was also likely to find her in a more hostile state than usual, given the events that had transpired earlier that day: big con.

But, if he went in, he’d be able to propose a truce, which would help ensure the success of the next Extermination: bigger pro.

Also, he could twist his pitch to emphasise that it would make her job easier: another big pro.

Fuck it, that was all the evidence he needed. He was getting impatient. He nudged the door open, expecting a response from inside. Nothing.

“Lieutenant?” Adam called, pushing the door open further and poking his head inside. “You home?”

No answer.

He frowned as he fully entered the apartment, observing the immaculate home in front of him. His colleague lived a truly minimalistic lifestyle – he found it borderline depressing, really. A small TV, two-seater couch and coffee table were all that occupied her living room. No decorative clutter. No prints on the walls. No photos of friends. Clothes on the floor.

He did a double take. Clothes on the floor?!

That… he hadn’t been expecting. Then again, he didn’t take Lute as the type to leave her front door unlocked and open when she was nowhere to be seen.

He strode forward, trying to get his bearings around her apartment based on the trail of her clothes. Crop and socks by the kitchen counter to his left. He walked past the discarded pants next to the couch on his right. A dead end with two closed doors and…something scrunched up on the floor? He bent to take a closer look and bolted upright once he realised what it was.

Her underwear.

Dismayed, he blinked repeatedly at the offending item of clothing on the floor in front of him. This surely had to be some kind of fucked-up fever dream. Because if somebody had told him that during his search for his second-in-command that he’d find himself staring down at her underwear on the floor, he would have thrown them down into the pits of Hell himself.

“Sera must have put some kind of curse on me with her four hundred weird eyes,” he muttered. “This is too messed up to be real.” He took a wide berth, desperate to avoid the offending undergarment, and found himself directly in front of one door, with another to his left. Both were closed.

He tentatively opened the door in front of him, hoping to catch her in bed, asleep. Where else could she possibly be? He knew he’d likely pay for it – she wasn’t likely to enjoy being woken up, least of all by him – but it’d be worth it just to see the sheer panic that would likely cross her face for a brief second before she went off the rails.

However, nothing could have prepared Adam for what was behind that door.

Because, he’d found his lieutenant, alright. In the bathtub, her body illuminated only by candlelight.

Naked.

Adam looked down at her, his eyes widening in horror. Oh no. No, no, no. This wasn’t happening. This was meant to be her bedroom, she was supposed to be asleep and she definitely wasn’t supposed to be fucking NAKED.

He’d opened the wrong fucking door.

“SHIT!”

He clapped his hand over the mouth of his mask, accidentally banging the door completely open in the process, revealing his presence to the wide-eyed angel laying in front of him.

The same wide-eyed angel who, renowned for her reputation as a bloodthirsty killer, had a murderous look in her eyes that he’d never seen before, despite many an excursion down to Hell.

Shit. I’m SO dead.

Lute’s Bathroom, Apartment Block, Exorcist Training Centre, Heaven

“I am going to KILL you!”

The water in her bath had long gone lukewarm, but white-hot heat radiated throughout Lute’s body, starting from her cheeks and spreading rapidly all the way down to her toes. Still seated, she instinctively flung her book to the other side of the room. She desperately grabbed in the direction of her towel with one hand, her other arm pressed tightly against her breasts in a feeble attempt to cover as much skin as possible. She just needed to get this towel around her, sprint to the kitchen, grab the butcher’s knife and-

“Shit!” Adam yelped, turning away from his lieutenant, drawing his golden wings around his middle to protect himself. He hastily began retreating into her lounge, eyes fixed on the front door. At lighting speed, Lute seized her opportunity to stand – an awful squelch filling the room as water sloshed out of the bath onto the floor - and retrieve her towel, hastily wrapping it around her body with one hand, not bothering to dry herself before hurling herself out of the tub towards her superior.

Her wings were weighed down with half of the water from her bath, soaking through her white towel completely so it clung to her like a skin-tight dress. As she ran, enormous puddles of water pooled in her wake, but she didn’t care. Water could be cleaned up anytime.

She had mere moments, however, to violently murder her boss.

With an almighty cry, she launched herself at Adam’s back, still clutching the towel at the top her sternum. Her knee caught him in his lower back, causing him to stumble and trip, face-down onto the carpet of her living room.

“How-” she growled, straddling his upper back with her thighs, knees poking into his armpit, leaning forward so that her free arm curled around the front of his neck, “- the fuck did you get into my house, you disgusting piece of shit?”

“Maybe,” Adam rasped, using both of his hands to pull Lute’s arm away from his windpipe, “you should learn to lock your door, Lieutenant. You left it wide open for all of Heaven to come in and enjoy the show!”

“And you didn’t think it polite to knock?!” she roared. “Or, I don’t know, try calling me first?! What could you possibly want so fucking badly,” she grunted the last word as she squeezed her thighs against his back, bracing herself so she could fend off his hands, which were gradually freeing her elbow from his throat, “that you needed to walk in on me in the fucking bath?! How long were you standing there, perv?!”

Adam groaned in discomfort as her knees dug into his underarms. Lute squeezed harder again as she moved her mouth closer to the side of his head to get close to his ear.

“I am giving you three seconds,” she snarled, ignoring her towel slipping down her chest as she channelled all her energy into closing the gap between her elbow and his neck, “to explain yourself before I choke you to death. I don’t care if Sera casts me down into hell; a life of damnation would be worth it if it meant I got to be the one to end yo-”

Adam’s right hand let go of Lute’s forearm and he braced it on the floor so he could jerk his right shoulder up and over to his left violently, causing Lute to teeter off-balance and fall sideways onto her already bruised hip. She yelped in pain, motionless for a moment and Adam, now free, took advantage of her breather to straddle her thighs, pinning them together with his own. His knees were quickly becoming soaked as he pressed into the wet towel that still clung to her lower body, but he didn’t care. She howled in rage and made to claw at his mask with her free hand before he caught her wrist and held it to the floor above her head, his face only inches above hers. With his other hand, he swiftly untangled Lute’s fist from her towel and brought it up next to her other hand, pinning her down completely.

“Listen here, girlie,” he seethed as she thrashed her legs violently behind him, attempting to use her hips to throw him off. “I didn’t fucking come here to do anything untoward, alright? I needed to talk to you urgently and you weren’t answering your phone. Your door was wide open. What else was I supposed to do?”

“You didn’t notice the trail of clothes on the floor and think I might be otherwise occupied?”

“Oh please, I’ve seen enough thongs to last me an afterlife. Your underwear on the floor wasn’t going to stop me from finding you. Besides, I’d assumed you were in bed, asleep. Hold still you crazy bitch, I need to talk to you.”

“There is nothing you could need to tell me that necessitates coming into my home uninvited - argh.” She arched her back to try and twist herself free, her towel now dangerously close to being rendered completely useless. Frustrated, wet and spent, she let her head drop back against the carpet, her chest heaving with exhaustion. Adam’s eyes flickered downwards, and he grinned devilishly.

“Didn’t realise you gave up so easily, Dangertits.”

“What the fuck did you just call me?!” she hissed. Her cheeks flushed brilliantly as she looked down and realised that he’d snuck a quick look at her cleavage, which was beginning to spill over the top of her towel.

“You heard me, babe. I think that’s what I’ll refer to you as from now on. It really…” he let his gaze trail down to her chest again, before deliberately taking his time to being his eyes back up to hers again, knowing that he was antagonising her now. A wicked gleam etched across his mask. “…suits you. Ready to wave the white flag and hear me out?”

“I’d rather fucking die.”

“Not an option, Lieutenant. Shut up and stop running that filthy mouth of yours for a sec and listen to me. That’s an order.”

Lute glowered at him.

“Let me go.”

Adam snickered. “Not a chance.”

“Now.”

“Nuh-uh.”

“I’ll tell Sera.”

“Tattling again, Lieutenant? That would be twice today. I’ll give you a hot tip, because I’m feeling generous.” He bent his head low against her ear, his forehead pressing against her hair as he whispered into her ear. “I strongly advise you against it. Wouldn’t want the boss thinking you can’t hold your own now, would you?”

Lute shuddered at his closeness – or was the adrenaline starting to wear off and a chill settling in because of the wet towel? It didn’t matter, anyway. He was right. She couldn’t go to Sera again with something like this. It would make her appear weak. Incapable. Not to mention that the whole situation was utterly humiliating, and there was no way she was telling a single soul about what had happened tonight. Not even Vaggie.

“What do you want, then?”

Adam lifted his head back up, so their faces were parallel once more and scoffed.

“Are you kidding me, babe? We’re not having this conversation right now! In case you haven’t noticed, you’re soaking wet – not in a good way, either – and basically naked. We can talk tomorrow morning.”

“Y-you,” Lute gasped, shutting her eyes in disbelief. After all this, he wasn’t even going to tell her. Oh, how she wanted nothing more than to tear him apart, limb by limb. “You asshole. You evil, conniving sonnuva-”

“Nine o’clock. Our office.” Adam released his grip on her wrist and rose to a standing position. He held out his hand to help her up, but Lute swatted it away angrily. He could shove it up his ass, as far she was concerned.

“Don’t be late.” He straightened his robes and headed towards her front door, whistling merrily to himself. Lute pulled herself into a sitting position, readjusting her towel so she was adequately covered once more. She said a silent prayer of thanks that the wetness of the towel meant that it stuck tight to her lower body, ensuring some level of modesty for her during their scrap. She desperately wanted to scream at him, throw something at his head, charge at him again and make him pay for the humiliation she’d just suffered.

But she didn’t. Because, despite wanting to exact her revenge immediately with every fibre of her being, she was overwhelmingly exhausted. At this point, all she had the energy to do was crawl into bed and forget that she’d even woken up this morning.

Adam grinned as he opened the door.

“At ease, Dangertits.” He saluted her mockingly before exiting.

He managed to close the door just in time to hear the TV remote hit the back of the door and clang to the floor.

***

Next time: Lute's suspicious that Adam's trying to poison her.

[kyuusberry]

can u do more leeseo fluff :3? like continue the umbrella story where reader ACTUALLY walks leeseo to the building? and the other members of ive meet reader?

crush | ive leeseo - oneshot

pairing: idol classmate!leeseo x fem!reader

genre/theme: fluff, angst (if you squint), idol au, high school au, reader is a dancer, leeseo is an idol, both are sophmore year of high school (it’s hanlim arts high school if you want to know extra info)

warnings: a few kiss scenes (1 is non-consensual, but there’s a reason!!) and some cursing

a/n: i love this idea anon, tyyy! sorry this is actually so bad.. also first part is here!!

“hey! y/n!”

you looked back and saw leeseo running up to you with her usual bright smile. she seemed more bubbly today, which was good.

“hi, leeseo.” you smiled. she handed you the umbrella from the day before and thanked you for allowing her to borrow it.

”thanks for letting me borrow it yesterday! i really appreciate it.” she smiled, “i got you some chocolate in return! i heard you liked milk chocolate so i got you some.”

“o-oh.. uh thank you..” you were stuttering so badly, it was horrible.

*ring ring ring!*

“i gotta take this phonecall, thank you again though!” she smiled before bouncing away.

someone hit you on the arm and you turned around, it was iroha, aka your best friend for life, aka the girl who debuted in illit, aka the maknae of illit, aka the most annoying person in the world but you still love her anyways. yeah, that iroha.

“someone’s blushing,” iroha laughed, teasing you. “consider yourself lucky, y/n. leeseo doesn’t do that for just anyone. now come on! let’s go to class! mrs. choi is going to kill us.”

*ding ding ding!*

“wait which mrs. choi?—“

“choi sooyoung! that mrs. choi! now hurry your ass up!” iroha groaned, dragging you to class with her.

-

mrs. choi cleared her throat, “ahem. bae y/n? quit your daydreaming and pay attention. or i’m going to give everyone a pop quiz.”

you snapped out of your daydreaming, “sorry mrs. choi..”

iroha snickered, “daydreaming about leeseo?”

“have something to share, ms. hokazono iroha?” mrs. chou raised an eyebrow.

iroha immediately shut up, “no, mrs. choi.”

“good. now shut it before i separate you two.”

“yes, mrs. choi.” you both replied in a monotone.

-

“gosh, that class was horrible.” you groaned as soon as you walked out.

“you were asleep half of the class.” iroha rolled her eyes.

“and?? still boring!!”

“i’m surprised you’re even passing that class..” she sighed.

you grinned, “with a b too! i’m doing more than just passing.”

“whatever. let’s just go eat lunch. i’m hungry.” iroha’s stomach rumbled and you two started laughing.

when the two of you got to the lunch tables you saw some guy talking to leeseo. it made your heart break into pieces. that was until you saw her face. she was distraught, completely terrified.

“hey, can you hold my bag for me real quick?” before she could answer, you shoved your bag into iroha’s hands and walked towards leeseo.

“leeseo!” you put on a fake smile, glaring at the dude in front of her.

leeseo laughed awkwardly, “y/n! glad to see you!”

“who the hell are you?” the dude glared back.

“her girlfriend.”

“wait what?—“ leeseo got cut off by the dude.

“girlfriend?” he laughed, “prove it to me then! show me some pictures! or kiss her.”

“i will!” you scowled at him, grabbing leeseo’s arm and kissing her. the guy immediately backed off, cursing under his breath.

“sorry— i didn’t mean to kiss you like that. i just saw that you seemed uncomfortable.” you smiled awkwardly.

“it’s fine. i’m just glad i was able to get away from him.” she laughed.

“i gotta go now, i have some friends waiting on me. i’ll talk to you later though!” before you could leave, leeseo grabbed your arm and gave you a kiss on the cheek.

“for the favor earlier.” she smiled, slipping a piece of paper in your hand. “my number. so we can talk whenever.” she whispered in your ear. “see you later, yn!” she walked off, leaving you all flustered.

“damnnnnn, yn!!” iroha laughed, bumping your arm.

“someone’s popular! didn’t think you would kiss her like that!” moka teased, poking at your arms.

“honestly same. thought you would chicken out.” wonhee and iroha added onto moka’s teasing, making chicken noises at you.

“hey! what’s in your hand!” iroha took it out of your hand and read it, “it says.. call me! +82 X XXXX XXXX. xoxo, leeseo.”

“DAMNNN!” moka burst out laughing with the other two.

you took the piece of paper back, “shut it you three! don’t be too loud.”

“whatever! anyways, can we go eat now? i’m hungry as hell!” iroha’s stomach saying it all.

you sighed, heading over to the lunch tables to eat.

-

by the time school was over it was raining. yet again. rainy spring weather was one of your favorite types of days. you loved the way the rain fell on the ground, the soft patters of rain droplets. the way the rain dripped off of the rooftops and how it smelled after it stopped raining. it made you feel so calm and relaxed.

you saw leeseo standing in the front, panicking while dialing some numbers on her phone. you tapped her shoulder and smiled.

“i don’t have a car because i usually walk home, but i can take you over to your company.”

“no— yn, it’s fine. i can head there by myself.” leeseo replied, still calling some people, suspecting that it was her manager or her members.

“no. i’ll walk you there. especially since it’s raining and all and i don’t want you walking by yourself in this type of weather. and i’m not sure if that guy will come back and bug you again. plus, i let you walk by yourself last time, which i shouldn’t have.”

“fine. thank you though. i’ll repay you back sometime.” she finally gave in, letting out a soft sigh of relief.

“come on, let’s go before you get in trouble for being late.”

-

“thanks again for walking with me. i appreciate it.” her voice was soft and sweet, with the occasional hands brushing against one another.

she suddenly pulled you closer to her by linking arms. “your shoulder is getting wet, i don’t want you to catch a cold.”

“oh— uh.. thank you..” you muttered.

“don’t worry about it.”

you dropped her off in the front of her company building and was about to bid her farewell and go home, but she wouldn’t let you. saying that you should stay in the company building till the rain died down.

you tried refusing, but she just wouldn’t let you leave. you sighed and ended up staying, nervously following her into the elevator.

“my members are amazing, they’re super talented and nice! you’ll be fine with them. it’s just till the rain dies down.” leeseo’s voice was bubbly and bright, just like her usual self.

you hummed in response. your palms were sweaty and you were extremely nervous. you hoped that they would like you. you two arrived at her practice room and she opened the door making you go in first.

“leeseo— who are you?” one girl raised an eyebrow, voice sharp.

“unnies! this is y/n! she walked me here today and i told her to stay with us for a while till the rain dies down.” leeseo grinned.

you bowed 90° and introduced yourself, “uh.. hi.. i’m bae y/n.. nice to meet you all— and uhm… yea.” you stuttered, mentally face-palming yourself.

“you look like irene sunbaenim.” one girl blurted out.

“oh.. yeah, she’s my older sister.” you replied.

“no wonder! you two look so much alike!” leeseo played with your fingers.

another girl introduced herself, “i’m yujin, the leader of ive. nice to meet you y/n.” she paused. “you know leeseo. the girl next to me is wonyoung, the girl next to wonyoung is rei, the one on the left of the couch is gaeul unnie, and the one to the right of her is liz.”

“these are my members! they’re all amazing and i love them with all of my heart.” leeseo stopping yujin, her smile wide.

“i love your music, it’s really good. i went to one of your concerts not to long ago. the one in seoul during your last world tour. mostly to support leeseo because she is my classmate after all.” you gave them a small smile.

“thank you for supporting us. we appreciate it a lot.” wonyoung said happily, but classy at the same time. “oh— leeseo-ah. could you get us some water? we ran out. here’s some money for the vending machine downstairs.” wonyoung handed her the money and sent her on her way.

“now. you.” everyone got up and stood in front of you. “are you dating leeseo?” liz asked.

“no—“

“do you have a crush on leeseo?” rei’s eyebrows raised.

“oh— uhm. uh—“

rei and liz pressured you, “say it.”

“yes..”

“ha! knew it!” gaeul exclaimed.

“you’re the one who let leeseo borrow your umbrella last time it rained, didn’t you? your umbrella has the same design as it did when leeseo came by herself.” wonyoung said, crossing her arms.

“uh— yeah.. i did..”

liz butted in, “why didn’t you walk with her then? huh, y/n?”

“i was really nervous and i chickened out—“ you got cut off by gaeul.

“you better be treating our maknae right. i don’t care how you two are associated with each other, friends or dating.” gaeul pointed a finger at your chest and all of the members agreed.

leeseo came back with a bunch of waters in her hands and you helped her put it down on the ground. you were saying that you had to leave and that your mom would get upset with you if you weren’t home, leeseo tried to get you to stay longer, but yujin told leeseo to walk you out since it wasn’t raining anymore.

“fineeee..” leeseo whined, leading you out of their practice room and towards the elevator. “hey— i’m sorry if my unnies were scaring you. they tend to get protective over me sometimes, especially since i’m the youngest.”

“it’s fine. they were really nice to me. and i get it, they just want what’s best for you.” you smiled.

you two got to the front door and she gave you a hug, “see you tomorrow. oh, and don’t forget your umbrella, just incase it starts raining again.”

“thank you, leeseo.”

“hey— can i.. uhm.”

“what is it?”

“can i kiss you?— sorry if you don’t want to, i just.. yeah.” leeseo muttered.

“go ahead. i don’t mind.”

she gave you a small kiss before going back for another one, this time it was longer. her lips tasted of grapefruit, possibly from the lipgloss she always wears. she wrapped her arm around you, smiling and giggling into your chest, it was such an adorable sight to see.

she gave you one last kiss before finally pulling away, the taste of her lipgloss still lingering on your lips. you could see where she was kissed, the light tint of lipgloss on her upper lip and mixed in with the rest of hers.

leeseo interrupted your thoughts, “i expect you to call me once you get home. i wanna know if you got home safely. promise?” she held out her pinky.

your wrapped your pinky around hers, “promise.”

“good. see you tomorrow!” she beamed, happily bouncing off back to the elevator.

“hey!— uhm. what are we?” you blurted out.

“girlfriends?” she laughed.

“sure.” you grinned, walking out of the building and instantly pulling out your phone to call your friends.

“what is it, y/n?” iroha asked, the other two joining the call.

“you guys will never believe what just happened.”

[hanasnx]

regarding this: (https://www.tumblr.com/hanasnx/748349244024471552/which-ones-your-boyfriend-which-ones-your-side?source=share)

not a fully formed idea, just what came to mind when reading your post

bro, BABY DADDY SATORU where he's pining to get you back, but you've been talking to this single dad (toji) and your kids just get along so well (you probably met bc of the kids, maybe they go to the same preschool or something) so you're spending more time w/him and you feel something there, you feel like this may be your chance to finally move on from satoru. but satoru sees little snippits and glimpses of you and toji together, like coming to pick up your kid from the park, you and toji are there laughing away as the kids play on the playground, and satoru is just fuming seeing you laugh and smile at his old rival. so satoru ramps up his doting baby-daddy ways, trying to show you without actually saying it but he wants you back bad, even more now that toji is in your life. his confidence and ego aren't used to taking a hit like this and it drives him MAD. but toji, i could see him only being moderately interested, or even worse, doing it just to get on satoru's nerves because he could use the entertainment. sure toji likes your company, but he doesn't want anything serious. until he finds himself getting more and more competitive for your attention. FUCK the back and forth between these two has so much potential

— link.

sid we’re like this ✌️🤞

i loved this idea, i would go back in my inbox periodically to read it bcos i enjoyed it so much. i asked the question and by god you answered. you fulfilled. beautiful, just beautiful.

satoru trying to get you back (playing the long game, easing you into it) at the same time you and single dad toji are hitting it off. toji spends more time with his son now that he knows a hot mom is around watching him, and he’s got no idea the baggage you have with your baby daddy. not that he minds a little competition.

like you said sid, he gets competitive and he does it to get on sato’s nerves. god it’s all so juicy. satoru uses any opportunity to hammer it in that he was the one that got you pregnant, and toji loves to remind him how much more active he is in sato’s son’s life than satoru ever was. toji’s helping your kid make arts and fucking crafts just to prove a point.

toji’s also more accessible to you. he’s a freelancer in work, his ex is the breadwinner so toji spends a lot of time with megumi who spends time with your son etc it all works out. whereas satoru has responsibilities that free up every other weekend for his son. it boils his blood that he can’t be there more often to keep an eye on you when toji’s so obviously preying on your isolation and loneliness. cant you see he’s just trying to protect you? no other personal stake in it ofc.

love the fact it rly rakes on satoru’s otherwise impenetrable ego. not used to feeling these feelings when he’s so spoiled.

great ask. loved it loved it loved it.

[fawnsil]

“It’s okay, we’re okay <3″ doing a fun little challenge where i post chaggie until the show drops for the next 30 days <3 expect girls for a bit

[kaelidascope]

“I can’t believe we got you to dance all night with us!” Sun crows gleefully as Blake approaches. Neptune cheers, and as one the newlyweds surge over to her: framing her from both sides as they kiss her cheeks, hugging her between their held hands. Blake hopes Velvet caught that; she’d love to have a picture like that for her desk. Something to zone out at when the words won’t come and she’s half-convinced no one’s actually fallen in love, ever—that no one ever truly feels that deeply.

An inspiration.

A goal.

---

Velvet may not have captured it but Chef Kaeli certainly did! For @professorspork <3 Who so graciously made my job coming up with a birthday treat so much easier with this suggestion

Read this fic guys it's INSANELY cute and I was squealing the whole read. It's a short lil thing c'mon guys if I can shotgun this in one morning you can too. Give her some love, she is an absolutely hidden gem of an author and so far every work I've read of hers is excellent.

Also it's like her birthday so like yeah go on. Off with ya, go read. Comments are crack for us and we are shameless addicts

[skunkes]

it is so refreshing to see ppl be like normal and regular about other artists taking heavy inspiration 😐 way too many ppl start screaming and crying over it for some reason /gen

i understand why some people might! especially depending on visibility and audience, and level of heavy inspiration.

i know there was a point where ppl thought i was copying a popular artists character and i got so scared solely bc i feared people coming after me.

but i also understand bc I myself have taken heavy inspiration from others before, and also because I myself am not somebody who Sticks (or Stuck bc i dont do heavy focused style inspo stuff anymore, because, surprise! i grew and frankensteined it into my own work after i learned what i like!) with an emulated art style for long

(see: my post where I struggle naming inspirations bc my inspirations arent...extremely, consistently, visibly, immediately influential on my work.)

i like giving ppl the benefit of the doubt for that reason... I now also understand and recommend naming/mentioning the ppl who inspired you when you do so as it immediately sets that level of understanding! (like oh, its a style study/inspiration and not somebody plucking my hard work and planning to cause a scene abt it)

like even recently that person who was copying my art down to the ideas (literally redrew a personal smunker doodle comic about smthng that actually happened to me, as their sona), i decided not to intervene because well, they're young, not harming anyone or screwing me out of anything, there's a chance they learn what they need from my stuff and move on in a few months. that's how you Learn sometimes...i did the same when i was in high school, i grew and moved on art wise... no good would have come out of someone attacking me about it bc its... common !

i do like seeing how ppl are interpreted and inspired by my stuff because im curious, and have enjoyed what ive seen mentioning me directly ^_^ but ill still say the only mistake made in this specific case was getting caught ykwim? "do what you want but dont let me see it" (except i do wanna see it ykwim)

[welcometogrouchland]

Also what if I said the show taking time to show that Luz and Hunter aren't unhealthily dependent on one another post time skip the way they were in thanks to them (but still close seen in Luz's patches on her clothes or Hunter taking time off work to go to Luz's bday) actually plays in to the cycle of sibling betrayal motif w/ the Clawthornes and Wittebanes????

[frozenhi-chews]