#the gradient came out better than I thought

[kkaeero]

little ghostly acrylic in my sketchbook (I had a reference)

[valaruakars]

26 LOVE LETTERS TO KARLACH: A & B (Or, the NSFW Alphabet meme in oneshots)

Karlach x AFAB!Tav/Reader; 1891k; Explicit. Warnings beneath each letter. Ao3 link.

𝔄 - Aftercare Warnings: Cunnilingus, masturbation, hardcore cuddling.

Her lips are wet. Spit and slick. You and her.

“C’mere,” they coax as Karlach sprawls back on the bedroll at your feet, dragging her forearm across her glossy mouth as she goes.

Propped up on her elbows, the laces on her leather pants gape. A wet smear on her thigh catches the lantern light where she must’ve wiped her fingers clean before. Her chest heaves, her bare breasts splay, but above all else, the pulse that backlights her ribcage holds you in a fucked-out trance.

Each heartbeat shifts the gradient. Cobalt at the height, turning indigo as she comes down. Subtle, one color into the next, unlike the way she touched herself to the taste of you and broke with her face buried between your legs, vents on her shoulders breathing blue.

She’s pulsing magenta now, and you’re still just staring. Realizing, distantly, that your knuckles throb because your grip on the tentpole at your back is needlessly iron. Both feet planted firmly on the ground, it’s of no use now for balance—to keep from toppling with your thigh draped over her shoulder, toes curling, legs quaking as her tongue licked impossibly deeper. Your knees are still weak, though. She has that effect.

You blink and there’s the smoldering red, orange, red again. You know it as the color of new love and the flower she picked for you by the roadside this morning; as sunsets spent together, however many are left. You know it, too, as hellfire and blood and all the awful things you came along too late to protect her from. To love her is to wish you could’ve, somehow.

“Everything alright?” she asks, growing worried.

You nod bonelessly—fucked stupid and strangely sentimental, apparently—but that does little to convince her.

Karlach sits up, curling forward to rest her forearms on her knees. The scarred skin of her stomach folds softly above her open pant laces. “Hey…” Her voice is gentle, earnest as ever. “We don’t have to do anything else tonight. Well, unless you’re up for it—in that case, I’ll happily provide. But me? I had more of a cuddle in mind if I’m honest. I just want you close.” Uneasy, then: “…If you want that too.”

It’s not surprising. She’s always eager to thread her spent body around you, the smell of sweat, metal and sex thickened by her heat, but a thought finally occurs to you.

Champion, bodyguard, protector—her arms are as good for cleaving bone as they are for holding a lover, but when was the last time someone held her? Made her feel wanted and safe and cared for in that vulnerable stretch before sleep follows satisfaction? In the morning, she’ll ask if you still like her. She keeps asking like sharing a private joke, but you know better. You know her and what anxiety looks like in her eyes, what it sounds like in her voice; how she blooms for you, made vibrant by a little reassurance. You might know, too, how to stay the doubt before it ever starts at dawn.

“Of course I want that,” you croak, cracking a coy smile at your own raw, scratchy voice. Whoever could guess how it got that way? You pad over, loose linen shirt scantly covering the still-damp curls between your legs. “Scoot, please.”

Karlach wiggles over, smile restored, as you sink down beside her. Her arms move to curl around your waist, to pull you into an embrace as soft and warm as sleep has been beside her lately. But your arms thread around her shoulders and you’re the one to pull instead, gentle and more insistent, different than every other night before.

“What’s this about…?” she starts to ask. Her body is pliant, her muscles are soft. Trusting when life has tried and failed to teach her to be otherwise. She goes easily, guided to lay her head against your chest. Settles in that perfect spot where her broken horn clears your shoulder and her ear is near enough your heart. Her breath slips warm beneath the edge of your shirt as she shudders a quiet, “Oh.”

The moment stretches in sweet, idle touches. Your fingers trace the thick keloids up and down her tricep. They card through her dark hair as the lantern burns low, balancing affection’s scales with each absent kiss to the crown of her head. And before her breathing turns slow and even, before her lips part and the arm around your waist grows heavy, she whispers, “Thank you,” as if loving her the way she needs is any hardship at all.

𝔅 - Body Part Warnings: Alcohol use, shitty attempts at seduction; no, he's not being serious (when you know, you'll know).

Wind through the trees, drink in your hands—the campfire crackles and pops, smoke sweet with pine sap billowing downwind. Huddled in a semicircle, the night is still young amongst the five of you left awake.

There’s Shadowheart to her right, kneeling prim and rigid, leading a one-woman argument by the haughty pitch of her voice, but Karlach isn’t listening. Neither is Lae’zel for once, too fixated on sharpening her longsword to be baited into it. Not yet, at least. 

Then there’s Astarion, grimacing with each shallow drink he takes from a green glass bottle. It’s never good wine pried from overturned crates, lost and forgotten on the roadside, but it’s wine nonetheless. Always fucking wine, no matter how hard she wishes for cured meats or bruised fruits. They’re cursed with a bounty of it.

Possibly blessed, on second thought, because then there’s you sitting straight across the fire with dark, hungry eyes and slackened lips. Thoroughly sloshed, shamelessly staring; somewhere so beyond yourself that you’ll have trouble finding your way back in the morning.

Nothing’s going to happen. It can’t on account of her engine, neither would it on account of her principles, but Gods, watching you finger the bottle in your lap sings to her imagination. Over and over, you drag it in and out with the faintest wet pop. You do it so slowly that perhaps it could be mistaken for absent fidgeting to anyone else, but not her. You look Karlach dead in the eye with each and every lazy pop, and the intent is very clear.

It’s so stupid—such a sloppy attempt at seduction that Karlach knows she’d be snorting into her fist if she saw it happening to anyone else. What’s stupider is that it fucking works on her. Trashed and desperate make a heady pair, apparently, and for her part, Karlach can feel the blood rushing down, evacuating her brain like it’s an emergency.

“Alright, yes, we get it,” Astarion suddenly groans, then beneath his wine-soaked breath mutters something that makes you peal a giggle. Well, more of a sloppy chortle, really, but the rose tinted glasses are firmly on at this point. Shadowheart purses her lips, finally quiet; Lae’zel clucks her tongue. “Can we perhaps turn the conversation to something, oh, I don’t know, interesting?”

“Like…?” you ask, lolling your head. Slurring, “Far’s I can tell, your only interests are blood, sex, ‘n fancy shoes.”

“Nonsense, darling. My companions have become a great interest to me, as it turns out.”

His eyes flit around the campfire, weighing some invisible odds. They settle on her.

“Dear Karlach, why don’t you tell us your favorite thing about our little friend here?” he drawls, gesturing to you, mid-swig from the bottle she thought you’d emptied a while ago. You start to smile too soon with it pressed to your lips and that little bit left in the bottom drips down your chin. Down, down, fucking down, and her eyes brazenly follow.

“Easy,” Karlach snorts, because she’s horny. “Ti—” she starts to say, because she doesn’t think before she speaks half as much as she should.

But Karlach clamps the word down before it’s all out in the open and you’re too embarrassed to ever speak to her again. It’s one thing to eye-fuck across the campfire and another thing entirely to let everyone else in on it. She fumbles for a laugh to cover it up that putters into a cough, backpedaling hard as she can. “T—‘Tis an easy question, I mean…” Nailed it. “Got a little tongue tied there. Must be the wine. You know how it is,” she shrugs, “really gets to my head.”

“Funny,” Shadowheart hums, “I wouldn’t consider you a lightweight. Come to think of it, I recall an evening when you drank two bottles on your own without ever stopping to empty your stomach.”

“You try eating the food in Avernus for a decade. Got an iron stomach right here,” she laughs, easier this time, as she flexes and gives it a knock.

Languidly, Shadowheart’s eyes drop. Something about it rakes, appraises. “To match the heart, I suppose?” It’s familiar. She’s seen the same look on your thrice as drunk face all night.

“How generous of you to remind her,” Lae’zel sneers, because for reasons unknown, Karlach has found herself on her good side. But this feels like more than that. This feels sharp, spiteful and goading, hanging heavy between the two women so often at odds.

Karlach coughs again as the atmosphere shifts strangely. “Sorry, what was the question?” she wonders too loudly. On purpose. “Oh—right, yeah.” Karlach shrugs like it’s a casual fact: the sky is blue, grass is green, and you are fucking lovely when you watch her sharpen her axe and think you’re being sly. “She’s got the prettiest eyes.” 

“Cute,” says Astarion, dripping with disgust, “but are you quite sure you didn’t mean to say tits? You know, a smutty answer was preferred…”

“What? Psh, no! I would never—” Four sets of eyes are on her now, leveling that you’re-full-of-shit sort of stare right at her in various intensities. “Fine, alright,” she sighs. Knows when she’s caught, and when to surrender. “Respectfully: Tits.” And then for some Godsforsaken reason, her mouth produces the words: “Perfect handful right there, I just know it.”

Across the campfire, your lip wobbles. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Too much, again, and Karlach sucks air through her teeth for an apology.

Before she gets any further, “That is… the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me,” you sniffle, flopping bonelessly toward Astarion like you mean to hug him. He’s faster, cat-like as he shifts away and stands, leaving you in the dirt. Literally.

“Whoever thought the bar could be so low?” Shadowheart murmurs, getting to her feet too.

“Yes,” Lae’zel agrees, a rare and beautiful thing, “that is incredibly sad.”

Karlach doesn’t have the presence of mind to think it’s strange that she follows Shadowheart off into camp. Not as you blubber just out of reach, a self-proclaimed ‘emotional drunk’ no longer when here’s the soggy proof.

The good news: She still likes you. A lot. Even as wave your arms to the starry sky and bemoan how the Gods gave their toughest battle to their weakest soldier. Not in reference to the tadpole or the goblins or the inevitable horrors to come, just that you can’t, quote, ‘get your hands on Faerûn’s most perfect ass,’ without getting scorched to the bone.

The bad news: For the same reason said hands are not on her ass, nor is her tongue in your mouth, she can’t exactly put you to bed.

The worse news: Astarion’s certainly not going to help.

He sighs, forlorn, and pouts, “So, no orgy?”

[ryanyflags]

Flags for: virsian/virsic (feeling gay for men) liersian/liersic (feeling gay for women) rivean (feeling straight for men) reilian (feeling straight for women) avirean (feeling gay for men and women) riverean (feeling straight for men and women) revlian/revlic (feeling gay for men and straight for women) rivlerian/rivleric (feeling gay for women and straight for men)

Transparent .pngs of the symbols: [outline + gradient] [gradient] [plain/no color]

I didn't coin the terms, I just made flags for them. (See the terms' original post here)

───────────────

I got some asks for other terms in that post, and eventually decided to make flags for all of them once I figured out the format (as well as make an alt virsic flag. feel free to keep using the original one though) (original virsic flag here).

I think they came out pretty good :)? I'm open to feedback though.

───────────────

Each has two flags, the first with a symbol and the second is just plain stripes.

The flags' color meanings are: Virsian: blue & green for men, lavender for feeling gay for men, and off white for all genders (since these terms don't specify the gender of the user). Liersian: pink & orange for women, lavender/violet for feeling gay for women, and off white for all genders. Rivean: blue & green for men, grey for feeling straight for men, and off white for all genders. Reilian: pink & orange for women, grey for feeling straight for women, and off white for all genders. You're probably seeing a pattern with the color meanings here. The remaining flags are similar, they're combinations of the above flags' colors with the same meanings, with some minor adjustments (specifically the green and orange of revlian and rivlerian) for aesthetics.

For the symbols: Like originally, the symbols are inspired by the interlocking gender symbols other orientations have. I used a plain circle to represent any/all genders. The colors for the symbols are taken from their base flags, and carry the same meanings. I wasn't sure how to represent feeling gay or straight for a gender using symbols (that isn't just using the same or opposite gender for the other symbol, since this is for all genders), and thought colors might be a way to represent that (there's likely a better way to do it than what I did). They use the main colors green/orange, with a purple/grey gradient for feeling gay/straight. They also have darker outlines to help separate them from the background colors.

[ijuststareatstuffhereok89]

"Time & the Trickster" A Loki/Doctor Who crossover

Chapter 7: A Titanic Setback

As you begin to make your journey across the sea, the SS Stormbreaker fails to live up to it's mission as it begins to sink off the coast of Iceland. Meanwhile, The Doctor gets a visitor.

CHAPTER WARNING: thematic elements/peril

Previous Chapter · Next Chapter MASTERLIST

You were surprised to find that you slept better than you had in Boston. However, some choppy waters greeting you in the morning, and you’d slept only until 7am, as indicated by the ancient digital clock bolted to the wall beside the bed.

Loki slept beside you again, but after saving his ass in Boston, you’d given him what-for before accepting him beside you. 

“I really should make you sleep against the wall with Joey,” you snarked, pointing to the bunk beds bolted against the adjacent wall, so slim that Joey’s leg hung limply over the side as he immediately zoned out. “And he dribbles in his sleep worse than any dog I’ve met.”

He shrugged. “Would you really?” he dared, raising an eyebrow while simultaneously smiling with a mock innocence that only served to soften you. 

Ugh, damn you. 

“I guess not,” you muttered. “And, I guess I should thank you for the helpful advice. It freed us all.” 

He smirked as he crawled into the bed next to you, under the surprisingly soft sheets. “May I ask what you did to cause the distraction? Simply curious, it seemed to be quite effective.”

Your skin went cold. “I, uh…solicited some help, and to get them to go along with my idea…” you giggled, deciding that beating around the bush wasn’t worth it. “I flashed them.” 

“Flashed?” asked Loki, apparently unfamiliar with the colloquialism. 

You rolled your eyes and lifted your shirt for the briefest of moments, only to pull it back down and be greeted with a look of delight from your bedfellow. 

“Ah ha!” he replied, an odd grin spreading across his face. “Um…well done, Y/N.” 

Well done? Is…that all?

You chose to address the awkward silence by curling up and facing away from him, muttering a ‘goodnight,’ hoping he got the message. 

The next morning, you woke up sprawled like a heavy sack of groceries across Loki’s chest. His breathing was still shallow and regular when you came to, so you tried not to wake him when you rolled off, sparing yourself some embarrassment. The rough waters must’ve tossed you both about on the bed last night, especially being in the bow of what may as well have been a dinghy. 

You realized that his own hand was voluntarily on the small of your back as you began to turn. Having no idea whether to wait until he stirred to discover your compromising position, or to simply be extra-cautious as you slipped out of his grip, he began to rouse on his own. Fortunately, he’d moved his hand quickly, and you leapt off Loki before he regained full consciousness, much to your admitted regret.

I can’t, you thought sadly. I can’t let it go that far. I’m already playing with fire…

The sun was just starting to crack the eastern horizon, turning the indigo sky into a gradient of  violets and pinks. Your mind was flooded with conflicting thoughts as you emerged onto the deck, your nose instantly accosted with salty-smelling air. At least the wind had died down enough that it wasn’t chilly out on the open sea, and the waves were actually beginning to quell enough that the boat was cutting cleanly and smoothly over the surface at a decent pace.

Carrie was at the helm, looking at some technical readouts on the dashboard behind the wheel on the upper deck. Shane was catching some ZZZs below. Joey was also awake and sitting with his feet dangling off the port bow, his nasty sneakers and old socks piled behind him.

You quietly sat down beside him, removing your shoes and letting your calves swing over the side. Carrie shouted out from above. “You really shouldn’t do that! You fall over and you’re shark food!” 

Neither of you listened. 

“So…how was the conjugal bed last night? Toasty warm?” Joey said with a smirk and a wink. 

You didn’t respond, your mind still below decks and how the simple feeling of Loki’s chest against your cheek, and his arm on your back as if he needed you close to him, made you hot under your skin. 

“Sis?” Joey asked. “Earth to Y/N--”

“Joey?” you snapped back to. 

He smiled knowingly and looked out at the ever-backing horizon as the sun crawled upward and released more of its light. “Are you feeling ok?”

You sighed, willing to let it all out as long as it was just your brother listening. “No, I’m really not.”

“I knew you’d fall for him,” Joey said with a smile. “I knew you two would get close.”

“And yet you’re happy about it,” you mumbled bitterly. 

He laughed with a casual shrug. “My big sister gets to cozy-up to the guy she’s been crushing on for a decade. I’m not sure where the problem is!”

“Oh come on!” You groaned. “It’s not like we’re going to stay together! We’re literally dropping him off on the other side of the world, Joe. You said it yourself: he's got to go back, and we have to get him there." 

“But,” Joey said softly, “Did you ever think of the chance that this Doctor fellow is a fake? And there’s absolutely no way Loki could go back to his time and place? Where else would he go?”

No, you hadn’t. “I don’t think indulging in that luxury is a smart choice for me right now.”

Joey snickered. “Give yourself five minutes to daydream a little and relax. In case you haven’t noticed, we’re kind of living in weird times. Maybe it’s possible…” 

He got up and decided to leave you to mull it over while he went to make a halfhearted pass at Carrie, despite the engagement ring on her finger. 

You used to be an avid daydreamer, to the point where it could be a liability, particularly in your school days. As you reached 30, the gift of randomly-sparked story weaving began to leave you behind as making rent and surviving became a more important pastime. 

Looking off into the spreading sunrise, you began to pose the question to the hidden recesses of your mind: what if Loki couldn’t go anywhere in the end, and that he was fated to live a natural, mortal life here with you? What would it look like? Would you return to Syracuse, or attempt to find a familiar face? Would you succumb to your growing feelings, and would he reciprocate? You rarely allowed yourself indulgences. You simply did not have time for them. Therefore, permitting a fully-formed romantic fantasy took some getting used to. You had to re-learn how to remove the what-ifs, and not-possibles.  

A tableau painted itself across your mind’s eye: a rainy clearing in a wood. The smell of petrichor radiating up from the layer of damp yellow leaves on the ground flooded your nose, replacing the sting of the salty ocean spray hitting your face. A quickly-smoldering fire in an outdoor pit lent the last dregs of smoke to the natural perfume of the air. The precipitation was warm and fat, and your ears could barely make out any sound beside the repeated pitter-pattering of each drop against the metal side of the large trailer in the center of the clearing. 

You were conscious of yourself and your place in the scene, standing quietly under a tree, waiting for the right moment to dash inside without getting wet. You wore an oversized cardigan and baggy jeans. They didn’t flatter your shape at all, but they were comfortable. 

The trailer door opened, and the figure inside was backlit, so you were hardly able to make him out. As soon as he opened the door, a baby’s wail boomed into the yard from behind him, shrill and persistent.

“Thanks Norns you’re back, Y/N,” Loki’s exasperated-sounding voice sounded. “Our daughter is hungry, and I’m afraid I lack the proper equipment to oblige her.” 

Even her high-pitched squealing didn’t remove you from the peaceful feeling in your veins or the tranquil, slow beating of your steady heart. 

Loki’s hair was tied back. He wore the most unremarkable white shirt and black jeans. He was completely mortal, and yet it became him more than his rich Asgardian leather vests and gilded armor. As you walked through the falling rain toward him, your smile became so wide that it stretched your cheek muscles. 

“Y/N!” he sighed gently. “Y/N! Y/N!” He held out a hand to greet you as you stepped inside, the sudden change of light blinding you…

“Y/N! Y/N!” 

“...Y/N? Are you alright?”

Loki was standing behind you as everything blinked out of existence, and you re-established your position perched on the edge of a pathetic little boat illegally crossing the Atlantic. 

You felt your cheeks burn. “Yes,” you said quietly. “I was just meditating.” 

“I’m sorry I interrupted,” he replied. 

“Don’t be, it was just for a moment,” you dismissed, allowing Loki to help you to your feet. 

“Carrie says we can make breakfast down in the hull,” Loki informed you. “We should probably mind our health right now. I was hoping you would perhaps help me whip something up?”

You sighed deeply, letting the tension deflate you as it left your body in the exhalation. “That sounds like a delicious idea.” 

It wasn’t delicious. At all. 

When Shane and Carrie had warned the three of you that food supplies would be scarce and satisfying, they hadn’t been exaggerating. “Minding your health” as Loki had put it, would be more difficult than you’d thought. 

Not to mention, a fifty-foot yacht didn’t provide much extra space to stretch your legs. Exercise would be virtually impossible beyond the hundreds of laps you could take from bow to stern and back. 

The only food supplies in the kitchen were a small cabinet of spices, a hot plate and pathetically-small pot, a large box of dry rice, and an icebox that went out of style in the 1950s, containing five eggs, three sticks of butter, a few various candy bars, and an empty milk carton.

“How is THIS supposed to last us the five weeks to London??” Joey had nearly screamed. 

“Um, we’re surrounded by the ocean, genius,” said Shane. “Like, ninety-percent of what we eat is caught. Come help me get the nets set up, Joe. Maybe we can get a big tuna for supper?”

Meanwhile, you and Loki had made up some of the eggs, but as neither of you knew your way around the hot plate, they ended up grossly overdone and smelling nearly too foul to swallow. Even the oddly-wide variety of spices you found couldn’t save them, but it was either eating the eggs for breakfast, or the sticks of butter. 

You did have a good laugh with Loki about it later, which made it all worth it. Still, when Joey began shouting gleefully around 1pm that he’d caught something, and it ended up being  swordfish nearly as long as you were tall, you were more than grateful. That first full day at sea, you feasted on fish steaks and rice, which took a hell of a long time to fry up on the dorm-sized hot plate and skillet.

“Glad you like it,” said Carrie. “Because it’s the daily special for every meal for the next five weeks!”

The days were long, especially as the summer solstice drew near, but Shane and Carrie advised you to create a routine to see them by. Indeed, it helped to pass the long hours once you, Joey, and Loki settled into your places on the boat. 

Joey quickly took to fishing, and he’d wake up at dawn every morning (weather-pending) to catch the day’s meals with whoever wasn’t at the helm when he awoke. You usually woke up with Loki after the sun was fully risen, and you both usually took your time getting on your feet.  You usually shared the cooking duties in the morning, but Carrie preferred making dinner for everyone herself. 

Days were lazy for the most part. You and Joey learned the basics of steering and navigating the yacht so that there would be more people to cover for Shane and Carrie while they rested. Whenever you took over the wheel, Loki sat behind you, reading aloud from one of the waterlogged old volumes he’d dug up somewhere down in the hull. One was a volume from an outdated encyclopedia (for letters XYZ), another was a decaying copy of Flowers in the Attic, (you’d warned Loki to skip over that one), and the third wasn’t in English. So, he read to you from the textbook as you steered. 

You had to admit that you didn’t mind spending the afternoons listening to his buttery baritone describing the different uses for yak’s milk. 

After a sunset supper, you and anyone else who cared to would sit in a circle on the upper deck under a string of Christmas lights that had been string across the awning. You chatted well into the night, admiring the unblemished night sky from horizon to horizon. Usually when it was midnight, all of you would turn in, aside from whoever was steering through the latter half of the night.

Every night, the last thing you did was bid goodnight to Loki, then wait in the stagnant darkness to hear his breathing regulate, indicating he slept. You couldn’t help but make out his slumbering form. Six times, you’d gotten brave enough to trace his outline with your finger, so softly your fingers barely make a wrinkle in the blanket. Once, you scooted so close that your noses nearly touched by the time you drifted off. Loki seemed ignorant to these moments, but they were for your own benefit, as if making yourself a promise that this was all real, and that you would wake up to find him still beside you. 

A week went by in this pattern, then another five days. On the evening of the fourteenth day, just as you were about to hand off the wheel, Shane appeared, cursing to himself and red in the face, 

“What’s going on?” you asked as he climbed the ladder up onto the top deck. 

“I went to check our gas inventory this morning, and we’re down way more than we thought,” he grumbled. 

“Meaning?” you goaded him to go on. 

“We have to make a pit stop…in Iceland,” said Shane with heavy reluctance. “And please don't yell, Care’s already covered it.” 

You fought every urge to groan loud enough to frighten the whales. “What does that mean for us?”

“We’ll contact a private dock in Keflavik. It’s on the southwest shore and not far from Reykjavik, but far enough away to prevent unwanted attention. Probably won’t take more than a day or two to get back on track.”

A day or two? That’s not too terrible.  

“Just have to be careful of rocks as we get closer to the island,” he said. “Carrie and I can handle it.” 

Just then, you began to hear guitar music. Confused, you looked over your shoulder. Joey was playing an old instrument that looked like it was out of date when Hendrix played Woodstock. The strings, however, were perfectly tuned. 

Shane chuckled. “I hope you asked Care before you took that thing out.”

“What’s she gonna do, take back the song?” he laughed, playing louder, adding a hint of defiance to his attitude.

Loki was following Joey onto the deck. He seemed in a jovial mood. “Well, at least this realm has music,” he said, his tone upbeat despite the bitter admission that this world was dull. 

He came right over to you, hand held out. “Does this mean there is dancing as well?”

You bit your lip and quickly rejected his hand. “I don’t really dance well.”

Loki didn’t listen, taking your hands instead and quickly throwing them over his shoulders, pulling you impossibly close. You could smell his breath, it was cool and sweet. 

“You will after my lesson, Y/N,” he said quietly. 

As Joey played, you did everything you could to mirror Loki’s steps, which created an odd pattern on the floor, nothing like you’d ever seen in films or on stage. “It’s an Asgardian step,” he explained. “More about the ankle work than the foot placement. Asgardian dances are all about showing off.”

“I have to admit,” you said softly, “I never thought the Prince of Mischief was a twinkletoes.”

He laughed heartily and spun you around. “You cannot believe a royal prince would be educated in the arts?”

“I guess it is a bit difficult to picture you in finishing school, yes,” you retorted as Joey began to slow down the music. 

“I assure you, my friend, I was trained in every possible ballroom quadrille, ballet step, theatrical art, and musical instrument you could fathom,” Loki continued. “You know, you might find the step a little easier if you stopped watching your feet and looked at me instead.”

He scooped your chin and raised your face to meet his. You felt your legs become jelly, your bashfulness returning. In a moment, you came to a still position, hands still placed just-so on his shoulders. He smiled weakly. “You look a little lightheaded.”

“It’s all this spinning,” you said casually, feeling your flesh tingle as you noticed the tender way Loki was looking at you.

“Maybe we should stop, then,” he suggested with concern.

“...we have stopped.” 

Off in the distance, you could suddenly hear the sounds of splashing. Looking over in that direction, you and Loki caught sight of a small pod of blue whales breaching and playing off in the distance, against the sunset. It was the single most beautiful sight you’d ever seen. 

You weren’t positive, but you thought you felt a hand on your back, gently pulling you closer to Loki’s body. Your heart threw itself against your ribcage with all of its weight. 

“Loki?”

“Yes?”

Joey’s comment from your first morning at sea came to the head of your mind as you waited to speak until after a long, low whale call subsided. “What happens if this is all for naught? If you’re stuck here forever?”

He scoffed, clueless. “I can only hope that doesn’t occur.” 

“But would it be so terrible?” you asked, turning to look him in the eye. “You could stay here. I could teach you everything about being a mortal.” 

“But the timelines would eventually ensnare and implode, and you all would perish,” he reminded you. “I have no choice.”

“Maybe not,” you shrugged. “I guess I just…” 

Loki’s look grew to one of concern. “What is it, Y/N? Have I said something?” 

“Loki,” you paused to gather your thoughts, “What is it you’re supposed to do when you get back to the DMV?”

“TVA.”

“Right,” you dismissed, rolling your eyes, “Please answer me.” 

He took a moment to consider what to say. “I…simply must do what must be done.”

You groaned and gently pushed him away. “Are you supposed to kill yourself or something? Why won’t you tell me anything else? ”

“Because it’s not your concern--”

“--yes it is!” you blurted out. “Loki, I can’t stand you. I can’t stand you because you somehow manage to be both so intimate with me and distant at the same time! You talk about getting back to meet some glorious destiny, but sometimes when you…get this close…I think you…I…”

…I think--I hope!--you want to stay with me…

However, you couldn’t say anymore without losing control of yourself. Frustrated, you felt tears forming, and you spun on your heels to go inside instead, concealing your feelings at the last moment in order to prevent anything from getting even more complicated than it already had become. You threw yourself onto the bed, starfishing yourself out over the mattress so that Loki would take the hint later on whenever he came to bed.

Meanwhile, Loki stood on deck, dumbfounded as the others attempted to pursue you. 

Norns, she’s fallen in love with me…

You were thrown violently from your bed hours later. Knocking your head against the bedside stand on your way, it took you several seconds to reorient yourself, looking around, fumbling in the complete darkness for the light switch, which you knew had to be nearby. 

“Fucking hell!” you muttered as shouting began to ring out from above you. 

“FUCK!”

“Where’s Y/N?”

“We have to get in the lifeboat!”

“No, we’re close enough to land her!” 

“Like hell we are, moron!”

“I’m getting Y/N--”

As you stumbled to your feet (difficult to do with the violently-rocking boat), you became conscious of your wet pajama pants. Your behind and legs were soaked in cold ocean water. 

“Oh my god,” you felt your heartbeat rise into your throat. “LOKI!” you shouted. 

It was so dark below deck that it made finding the steps a treacherous task. The water continued rising until it hit your knee. “Help!”

You were able to make out the sounds of frantic feet on metal stairs. “Y/N! Follow the sound of my voice!”

“Loki!! We’re sinking!” you called out. 

“Yes, we’ve figured that part out, now you can do this!” the god encouraged you. The stress of your emotional moment from six hours before was gone, replaced by pure adrenaline as your brain  descended into survivor mode. 

You let go of the wall and followed Loki as he continued to praise your courage. “You’re being so brave,” he said tenderly. “You’re almost in my hand…”

The minute you felt his skin on yours, you gripped his hand for dear life, and the pair of you hauled yourself on deck, which was beginning to list starboard. 

Carrie was readying the small motorboat tethered to the stern with professional swiftness, while Shane was still at the wheel, trying to steer toward what appeared to be a thin, faint line of lights in the far distance. 

“Asshole! We won;t make it! She’s already tilting too far!” Carrie called. “Abandon ship!”

“How will we get it back?” asked Shane. “We can fix it if it’s just a gash!”

“It’s not far to shore, we can retrieve it,” Joey suggested, his bag slung over his shoulder as he waited by the lifeboat with an obvious sense of urgency. “C’mon!”

He saw you and Loki approaching the boat hand-in-hand, and he looked relieved. “Sis, we hit a big-ass rock! We have to get to the beach on this.” 

The ship jerked again, sending you all spiraling to the deck, tilted so far to the side you could use it to slide into the water. “All aboard! That means you, Shane!” called Carrie. “We’re out of time!” 

Loki hopped aboard first in order to help you up. That was when the yacht hit another rock, this time with more force of impact than the initial strike. 

You lost your balance and tumbled overboard instead of into the lifeboat. The drop wasn;t far, but the shock of falling had stunned you, and you felt the sensation of gently sinking downward. You couldn’t move your arms, but you did begin to kick frantically in an attempt to reach the surface. 

Instead, you hit your head on another rock, and the last thing you saw before passing out was Loki doing a butterfly stroke in your direction, his swimming silhouette growing larger against the emergency lights of the yacht. 

He grabbed your limp body just as you fell unconscious, scooping you under his arm and quickly resurfacing just as Shane and Carrie lowered the lifeboat onto the ocean. Joey was panicking, throwing a life jacket around his shoulders like a winter parka and bundling himself in it. As he got you to the boat, he easily lifted you in with his godlike strength, and Carrie quickly made a pillow out of another life preserver, laying it under your head. 

Shane asked Joey to take the rudder as he began steering toward shore. The SS Stormbreaker ceased its watery descent, stuck between several rocks. She was marooned. You all were. 

It took hours until Shane and Joey were able to manipulate the lifeboat around the minefield of boulders. Loki and Carrie tended to you as you slowly began to come around, your head roaring and your stomach lurching. Carrie used a t-shirt to clean your bloody forehead while Loki refused to let go of your hand. 

You made landfall just after midnight, on a remote, rocky beach with only a few waterfront cabins to light the area around you. You were capable of sitting up and walking with support, but your head was still throbbing. 

“Thank Norns you’re alright,” Loki said quietly, turning you around and examining your face and body for any further signs of trauma. He looked distressed, perhaps traumatized himself from the event. “Y/N, If I’d lost you--”

You stopped his thought with a thankful kiss. 

Your kiss was different from the two quick, awkward pecks you’d shared with Loki before. Your lips danced a pas de deux that sent your heart shooting into space. You laid your hands across his cheeks, keeping his face against yours as you slipped your tongue into his mouth. He didn’t argue with the somewhat sensual turn of events, choosing to accept it instead and respond by holding your body closer to him. 

Joey shuffled his feet awkwardly nearby, his back to you. “Uh…guys? C…can we get moving now? Are…are you done, Sis?”

The Doctor’s impasse was not helping him sleep. 

He wanted to be awake and alert in case the TARDIS tried to speak to him again. He set up a hammock under the console where he spent hours either reading or staring blankly up into the steel grid above him that comprised the floor. 

Truly, it didn’t make any sense that she was only allowing him to see the inside, while simultaneously taunting him with the occasional flash of green and revving noise before going silent again. He couldn’t prove to anyone in this reality of who he was without the TARDIS flashing her goodies for these human naysayers! 

At least it seemed that for the lack of resources on this Earth, there weren’t any alien conquests either. It was remarkably dull. The Doctor would have preferred being trapped in a two-second time loop for ages than to be stuck in this un-wibbly world, useless and ordinary.

For the near-millennium of his life, he’d never seen anything like it. This was not a trick that the Daleks, nor the Master or Cybermen, were capable of. No aliens, no TARDIS, no hope. 

He’d tried to seek out his doppelganger, the silly lad who played him on television. He liked that actor, but wanted to give him a few pointers. Of course, he hadn’t expected the bodyguards (and a very confused Georgia Tennant) to chase him off before he came within a hundred meters. 

The Doctor’s eyes were just starting to get heavy when the TARDIS spoke again, sending him jolting to his feet. 

But this time it was different. Instead of a strong, deep single rev from the box, it sputtered and coughed for several seconds, a gray, foggy light blinking repeatedly. Something different was happening…or perhaps…coming…

He bounded up to the console, fiddling with every level, button, and trigger he could toy with in an attempt to get an answer. He quickly looped a stethoscope over his neck, plugging his ears with them and attempting to listen to the heart of his ship.

That was when there was a knock at the door. 

The Doctor paused and went deathly still. 

The door knocked thrice more. 

“No….oh wait….yes!” he muttered, a thrilled grin spreading across his face as he nearly flew down the steps and threw the door open. 

Someone stood there, looking as lost as he was. It was a woman, diminutive in stature, but with a hard, defensive gaze hidden under a blonde haircut that seemed a little out of its time period.  She held a small pebble in her hand, and it was pulsing gray in tandem with the TARDIS’ weak sputters. 

“Oh hello!” The Doctor said merrily, not thinking about coming on too strongly. “Who are you? I’m The Doctor!” 

The woman’s face didn’t crack. She peeked over The Doctor’s shoulder, looking inside. “Is…is that a dimensional discrepancy of some sort?”

“Ah…what do you know of dimensional discrepancies?” asked The Doctor, choosing instead to grab the woman by the wrist and yank her inside the TARDIS, slamming the door quickly so as not to let this wonderful new development get away. “Who are you? What is that?” he pointed down at the gem in her hand. 

“I’m looking for someone,” she said firmly. “Can you help me?”

The Doctor looked skeptical. “Not sure I can, I’m in a bit of a bind myself. But…you’re not from this reality, are you?” He grabbed for a 17th-century spyglass standing on the console, and comically stepped back to observe her through it. “Who are you? Where are you from? How did you get here? Is there a time rift here after all? If it’s not in Cardiff, then where--”

“--I need to find a runaway,” she said, interrupting him. “He’s running from something very important, and I’m here to bring him home. I’m afraid he’s lost.” 

“Ahhh, alright then,” said The Doctor. “Perhaps we can help one another.”

He offered his hand, and the visitor shook it. She finally smiled, though it still had all of the warmth of a frozen steak. 

“The Doctor, was it?”

He nodded enthusiastically, this new development giving him boundless energy. “Yeah!”

The woman introduced herself at last. “I’m Sylvie.”

TAGLIST: @crashingwavesofeuphoria @kkdvkyya @red-shirt-mania @misschris1412 @salvinaa @marygoddessofmischief @spiderstyles04 @fireflymoonwitch @mochie85 @loz-3 @lcolumbia1988 @lokilurker @eleniblue @gruftiela @starkzdaughter @mrsbarnes-avenger @thedistractedagglomeration @km-ffluv @lokisgoodgirl @holdmytesseract @itsthattimedarling @wolfsmom1 @scully2u @shinisenko

@mischief2sarawr @ririsutty73 @lulubelle814 @meg81589 @gloriuspurposeposts @theonetruepotato87 @linllewellyn @wistfulclueless @etherealkistar @tinydancer40 @hardtravelerwizard-blog @fangirllanie @keegansakura @himek0fallenangel-blog @abeeigrl @theoraekenslover @halfbakedideas

[mediocre-shark-tales]

Fated by the Stars (3)

Straykids ot8 x Reader

Warnings - Mentions of Abuse, Traumatic Past

Summary - You really enjoy picking out everything for your room, especially when you find some stuff perfect for any future nesting. However you have a terrible run in with someone from your past, but the boys made a promise they were gonna stick to.

Masterlist

Walking around the store I was lost into all the color variety and options for flooring. I wanted my room to represent the same sunset/sunrise style. I wanted to feel the same comfort and relaxation the sunrise and sunset bring to me. I looked between all the colors, some of the pack had gone off to look around themselves and give me space to make my own decisions. However I could smell Eucalyptus and Dampened Cypress wood grow in intensity. Looking to my left I saw Felix coming over to me. "How's it going doll?" I shook my head. "I'm trying to figure out how to bring my idea to life with the flooring and walls. Other items are easier to think of but this is the most difficult." Felix smiled and grabbed me around the shoulders. "Well tell me about your theme, maybe I can offer some help?" I nodded. "Well there was also one thing that made my days a little better. My mother and I used to watch the sunset and sunrise together, It was one of the few good things we could do with how we lived. So I want my room to represent a sunset or sunrise, or both I guess." Felix gave me a small peck on my cheek. "Thank you for telling more about your life doll, I will make sure you find even more things to enjoy in life." I smiled at him while he continued. "I think you could do a sunset theme gradient on your walls. Like the blue to purple to pink to orange gradient that you can see in the sky." I nodded "But what about the flooring?" He looked at the options for a moment before speaking again. "Maybe a darker color of wood so your walls stand out more, or even a darker shag rug or carpet? that way you still have some comfort."

I gasped. "That's the perfect idea! Let's do that with the walls, and then make the flooring this wood." I pointed to the wood flooring that reminded me of a rich darker chocolate. "Under my bed we can put a dark grey shag rug that gives me about 2 maybe 3 feet of rug before the hard wood?" Felix nodded and called over an employee. He relayed to the worker how much of each thing I would need and what colors of paint I wanted. The other boys had now traversed back over to me and I saw them all smile at me. They all seemed proud of me and the decision I made.

Next we walked out of the store and I began to look around for a bit before I saw a sign saying 'Omega's Heaven' this interested me. Quickly I ran over to see the inside and what they sold. The room was larger than it looked, I bet it took up most of the mall. I could see so many different objects and items, all of which brought a smile to my face. I could feel the omega inside preening at the sight of such glorious things. I quickly went over to the first aisle, seeing pretty things in all colors available. Behind me the boys followed close with two carts. They told me that they knew I needed a lot of things. putting emphasis on the fact that I would be living with them for the rest of my life. Soon I found the decor aisle, I grabbed a few packs of hangable clouds, perfect for my sunset theme. Then I saw the most perfect item I could ever need. it was this little lamp that glowed at just the right hues and brightness level to create a sunset glow in your room. Knowing my room I made sure to grab about 4 before moving on to the blankets aisle. My brain instantly thought about nesting and I hesitated. I know the boys wanted me to get whatever I wanted but would they really be okay with me nesting however I wished. Even if they did want that, did I even know how.

I felt a gentle hand grab my waist as Chan came around to look me in the eyes. Now holding both of my sides, he gave a soft comforting smile. "What wrong little one?" I sighed and spoke softly, but just enough that if you paid attention you could hear me. "I really want a nest but I don't know how to nest really. We were never given a choice when it came to nesting items, some were even shared among the omega's. I don't know what to do with some many options." Chan nodded and kissed my forehead. "You are with us now, we can help you make choices. Some of us grew up with omega's in the family, so we know what kind of things an omega may want. All you have to do then is say yes or no, trust yourself. You are an omega and you know what makes you happy and comfortable." I agreed to his idea and he grabbed my hand leading me down the aisle. "So most omega's like to have their mate's scent in their nest. I know my cousin had 4 mates, so she had a blanket for each one of her mates to cover in their scents. Then they were ready for whenever she went into heat or just needed to nest to relax." I glance at all the different soft fabrics and colors. "I like that idea, I think I know what to do a bit better now. Thanks Channie." He nodded and allowed me to let go of his hand as I walked over to the wall full of the softest furs and plush blankets. I grabbed the an orange blanket with a citrus design all over it. Just by picking the first blanket, I felt my omega grow stronger in my mind. My omega was nearly in control, but I still held enough resolve to complete the task at hand. I grabbed a mixture of blankets and Furs all in the colors that matched my room theme. However each one had a difference of some sort, and each one was specifically chosen with a specific mate in mind.

Soon we had picked out any and all clothes I could need, including body washes and shampoos made specially for the differences in Omega Biology. Seeing the price I had almost passed away, I quickly tried to tell my pack that I didn't need so much. However I was quickly scooped up by Jeongin, who carried me out of the store. "We told you not to worry about the price princess, Nothing is too much for our little omega. Besides if it helps, wee all make more than enough money to sustain any lifestyle you may wish for. We have been waiting for this day, when we met our last mate and finally get to spoil them. We are just so happy our last mate was an omega as cute as yourself. You know princess, your sub gender is a bit rare amongst wolves. That why you are so treasured. Unlike your old pack, most packs take care of their omegas and treat them like royalty. So don't deny us the chance to treat you as such." I nodded. "This is just so different from what I am used to, I have never been treated so nicely by anyone who wasn't an omega." I saw Jeongin's face sour for a moment before he held me closer, pushing my face into his neck near his scent gland. I calmed when his citrus and oak moss scent filled my nose.

"I'm so sorry your last pack was so incompetent and educationless to have treated you in such a way that you don't understand what it means to truly be loved. But we will make sure to teach you everything you need and shower you with tons of love." I smiled and just continued to bask in his scent and warmth.

However that happiness was cut short as I heard a voice I could never forget. Her laugh echoed in my ears like a vipers hiss. I instantly began to try and escape from Jeongin's arms. He in return began to voice his concerns and worries for me, not understanding why I was trying to get out of his arms. That's until her voice broke into our personal space. "Is that little Y/n? did I just find our little escaped pathetic Omega? My brother will be so happy to learn I found his prey..." I could hear the smirk in her voice, small laughs escaping her everyone and then. I felt my body stiffen as tears began to well up in my eyes. I stared Jeongin straight in the eyes, as my fear grew so did his anger.

"Turning and looking at me you pathetic useless girl." Instinctively I turned to see the female alpha and her bright red locks staring back at me. I felt myself begin to shake in fear as those dark eyes brought back painful memories from the past. She and her brother shared a similar pair of dark eyes. As the Pack Alpha's sister she was given more privileges than most other alpha's.

Suddenly I heard the deepest most reverberated growl of my existence. "Who are you to talk to our omega like that, you filthy excuse for an alpha?" Soon infront of me stood Chan, who had begun a stare down with Sang-Hee. She gave him a disgusted look in return and with a scoff she replied "That omega is the property of my brother and his pack. She was born to bare his children and serve him for life, so I suggest you hand her over. You don't want to mess with the blood moon pack." Chan gave a short chuckle. "I don't think you realize who we are, your bloodmoon pack is nothing but a grain of sand next to us. I believe your brother has actually been trying to set a deal with us recently..." I saw her face slowly begin to hint at realization and nearly fear. "That's right you incompetent woman, I am chan Pack Alpha of the Levanter Pack. Now if you could please get the fuck away from us, then maybe I won't show you just how quickly we can destroy your pack from the inside out..." I saw her look at me one more time. Earning 8 growls in return before she finally left.

"Are you okay sweet girl?" I turned around to look at hyunjin who had asked. Once he saw the tears cascading down my face, he instantly ran over and picked me up. Holding onto me tightly, I finally gained enough control over myself to whisper out. "Can we please go back home now?" I felt him nodded quickly before responding with, "Yes we will, we are going home now sweetness, whatever you need we will do for you." I heard quickly rustling and talking before we were quickly walking back out the door. I heard the sounds of the crazy obsessed wolves outside the door, and bright flashing lights. However Hyunjin pushed my face into his neck to hide me more as they all continued to speed walk to the van. Once we got there, Hyunjin handed me over to Minho in the front passenger seat. Everyone all climbing back into their original seats and buckling up. Soon we were driving back home, I could feel Minho rubbing my back as I continued to silently cry into his neck.

It didn't take long before I passed out under the heavy amounts of stress I had taken on the in the last few hours, especially with what had gone down in the last few minutes. I knew that Sang-Jun would soon find out where I was. Knowing him, he was not going to stop at getting me back under his grasp. I could only fear what kind of things the future held for me, I just hope this pack was as strong as they claimed. I just want to survive and be happy, please don't less this all be for not.

Masterlist

[cleothelittlerockstar]

=×⭐Aren't they gorgeous?⭐×=

Who? The new Starmaker?

🌟 Yes

🌟⭐ Them.

🌟⭐♥️ I mean..

🌟⭐♥️⭐ Just

🌟⭐♥️⭐🌟 look at

🌟⭐♥️⭐🌟🌟⭐♥️⭐🌟 them...

🌟⭐♥️⭐🌟🌟⭐♥️⭐🌟🌟⭐♥️⭐🌟

=×=×=×=×=×=×=×=×=×=×=×=×=×=×=×=×=×=×=×

🌟

\___________________♥️_____________________/

,,I mean, I guess they are."

/+\+/+\+/+\+/+\+/+\+/+\+/+\+/+\+/+\+/+\+/+\

(Click the image for best quality)

I decided to change up the formula for this post because I am just so fuckin proud of how this turned out so a rant about my progress and work on this peice under the cut!

HAZAH! BEHOLD!

FOR I BRING ANOTHER DRAWING TODAY!

This one is called The new Starmaker!

It is based off of an AU/HC I had for a while based on the fact that the more Crowley (as an angel) began to question things during his conversation with Azi his wings turned darker and darker.

Sooo...

What if, days, hours maybe even moments before his fall...

His wings became a galaxy, an omen of hope for him that maybe he was doing the right thing questioning things before God struck him down.

But yeah! All in all, I am really proud of this one♥️, it took me half a day to finish in total because Pixel studios kept crashing on me. Fuck you Pixel Studios (I love you) and I actually did two vers of the BG on this one!

So let's look at it together!

So this is Ver. 1

-Basically just a void behind him, I thought it added a nice contrast and people I showed it to seemed to like it but when I came back to look at it I dunno

-It just kinda felt bland, ya know?

-Like yes the colors do contrast nicely and the lil stars around him pop more but eeeeeh

-I dunno, I just didn't vibe with it with that bg

So I went to Ver. 2!

-I liked this one a lot more than the original one because why yes, I am a sucker for color

-Oh and it gave me the chance to test out the brushes Pixel has to offer

-I really like the cross looking ones!

-Okay but back onto the art

-I just genuinely liked the vibe of this one more than the last

-(Also got to give my boi a halo so WAHOO)

-And I got to play around with a lot of details for the bg and stuff

So with that out of the way, as a closing touch I wanna just show off some of the bits I had the most fun with while doing this!

(Again, click for better quality)

So first off! I had so much fun with the bg gradients it isn't even funny. Like the lil pixels scratch my brain just right when I drew them.

Oh and the wings. They were REALLY fucking fun to draw.

Love em, need em, gonna do more of them soon ^^

But my most favourite part of this was ♥️Crowley's hair!♥️

Like I just zoned out for a good forty minutes, made the hair look like a galaxy on accident, had the program crash on me and erase all the progress and do it all over again.

But like.

In my not so humble opinion (because I have the ego the size of a blue whale, deal with it) I think it turned out TERRIFIC!

Like I just MWAH!

I love how I drew it!

===×=×==×

But yeah, that's pretty much it! Thank chu for reading my art rant and see you on the next post, baiii!

[quibbs126]

Could you draw a child for one of these ships?

1. Capsaicin x Kouign Amman

2. Shining glitter x black lemonade

Okay, I plan to do the other one (even if I was only told to do one), but I finished this one and just wanted to share it now, so here we have Sparkling Lemonade Cookie

He’s named after sparkling lemonade, though more specifically sparkling raspberry lemonade. I had some back in England (it was alright), and that’s when I originally got the idea for the name and put it on my list. Then later I got a request for the ship, so I used it here

Also I thought “sparkling” worked since Black Lemonade’s band is called SparkL, and neither of them use it

Sparkling raspberry lemonade:

You know, it wasn’t until coloring him that I realized that Shining Glitter’s pretty pale herself, at least compared to other Cookies

Anyways, so I got his hair down pretty quick (that was one of the things I had thought of first, with it being pink and yellow), but it was the clothes that gave me a lot of trouble. He’s been sitting as a sketch for like a week. Eventually I slapped something together that I got to actually work, and yeah. Then I was having trouble with his colors, since again, aside from the hair, I didn’t have much idea of what to do. I looked up some pictures of raspberry lemonade and decided to go with red and yellow

I also ended up changing the hair to be slightly more red, but I’m not sure how noticeable it is. Maybe I should have gone all the way, to keep consistent colors, but I really liked how the gradient looked alongside it, so I left it as is

I feel like his eyes look a little bare. Maybe he should have some makeup

But yeah, overall, I think he’s good. Maybe I could have done better with the outfit, but I’m not sure how to, so I’m fine leaving him as is. Definitely like the hair though

Anyways, so onto Sparkling Lemonade

So he’s a photographer instead of any sort of singer. I swear, when I thought up the idea, I thought I was stealing the idea from @bellatheinkdemon’s Pink Muscat, until I looked and saw Pink Muscat wanted to be a makeup artist, so I was good (though I’m not sure if it was just another character of theirs I was stealing from that I can’t remember). I don’t know why I chose photographer, it just sort of came to me. But yeah, that’s what he is. I settled with landscape photography, but tbh I’m not sure why

Is that all I have for him? Feel like I should have more than he’s just a photographer, but I don’t really know what else to say? I mean, maybe he likes Rockstar’s music and sometimes wears makeup. But I don’t have much else, other than he might be a bit moody

I think I focused more on the design than the character. And also some of it may be because I took like a week break from him struggling to figure out his outfit, and what I was originally thinking was mostly lost

But yeah, that’s Sparkling Lemonade, hope you enjoy!

[the-bunnys-code]

Eclipse's design for the film! It's a little rough around the edges right now in terms of the fine details for a piece of artwork, but this will serve as a great reference for now! A more polished reference will definitely come someday, probably as a continued edit of this one.

I actually had a bit of a journey with this design, part of which may or may not have been experienced by the original designers. It honestly wouldn't surprise me if the same thought process was had when creating the original Eclipse. Full story under the cut:

Let's begin with what I had to work with. First, I took a look at Eclipse's canonical design and identified which parts were from either Sun or Moon's designs.

From top to bottom, we have some of Sun's rays, Moon's hat, Sun's right eye and arm and Moon's left eye and arm, and Moon's pants pattern gradually fading into Sun's pattern.

Beginning with what I knew I had to tackle first, of course the Daycare Attendant I am working with is not ruined, just mildly damaged from a fight, and even then, they are repaired and decide to remain Eclipse (for the most part.) With that in mind, I decided to create the first design as if they were completely repaired, something not seen until the end of the film. I could always wear them down a bit later, it would be easier to do it that way than the other way around.

I began from the bottom working up, layering Moon's design over Sun's and erasing the lower half of the pants until I had a nice fade between the two. This involved coloring over some stars with blue and then erasing once more to get the pattern you see now. Next, I erased Moon's right arm, making it so that the arms corresponded to the canon design. From there, I moved to the vest. For those who have not been following this project (or just missed the post in which I discussed it,) I added a vest to the Daycare Attendant's designs for two reasons: The initial reason was because I had designed the other animatronics to look more furry than robotic by removing the obvious creases between their joints and other articulations, but when I applied this same effect to the Daycare Attendant, they looked rather... bare. I added the vest to not only make them look a little more modest (sorry, I can't think of a better word for what I mean at the moment) but to also lightly imply their past as a member of the theatre, which is actually discussed more in depth later in the film. This is what the vest looks like in both Sun and Moon forms:

I decided to apply the same effect to the vest that the pants had, so I erased a little bit of the blue vest from the bottom to give it a gradient. It sort of came out looking like a sunrise!

As you can see, I also added little sun and moon emblems on the vest for both of them respectively. I wanted this to reflect the shape of Eclipse's head in a way, so I started working on the face to establish that.

Eclipse's canon face/head is a little different than what I did. They have Moon's hat at the very top of their head with 6/9 (nice) of Sun's rays pointing out from either side. My Daycare Attendant has seven rays to make up for the fact that they're big and wide as I wanted them to be floppy rather than rigid, and Moon's hat is rather big as well. Before I even started, I sort of had an idea for how I wanted Eclipse's head to look. Where did I get that idea from? This, actually:

This is the Utilidoor navigational decal for the Daycare... whatever that means! But that is what the Wiki said.

I like the way this thing looks, so I followed along more with this than Eclipse's actual design. I might try making it look more like canon someday in terms of ray and hat placement, but I like how it's obvious as to what Moon's hat is from the front. I also have to keep in mind that, as I said, my Sun's rays are floppy for expressive purposes. They sort of mimic cat ears in many cases, specifically the two on either side of the top one. I think that maybe a lack of one of those on Eclipse's design sort of signified that they were beaten up and had been through some tough stuff, kind of like how a stray cat maybe has a shorter/cut/missing ear or has an irritated ear folded over. I kind of like that for Eclipse's design.

With the shape of their head completed, it was time to shape their face a little more. I started with the eyelashes by making them so that they weren't perked up like Sun's but weren't droopy like Moon's, overall just a nice meet in the middle. For this reference alone, and just to make a cute detail, I made it so that they were grinning with teeth to sort of also be a midpoint between Sun's open mouth and Moon's close smile. It also makes them look a tad bit mischievous, but that's just a bonus! There was one thing that kept bugging me though, and it was the fact that the right side of their face was Sun's color and the left side was Moon's color. it's an eclipse, shouldn't the part of their face that's moon-shaped be moon-colored and the other part be sun-colored? On a separate layer, I decided to color it this way to see how it looked:

...

I went back to the original coloring that was more closely inspired by the canon design. I could probably go on for a bit about some ideas I have about why this looks as wrong as it does, and it probably has to do with the imbalance of certain colors, but I don't want to think about it too hard right now. This is the part that I wonder if the original designer(s) went through, which would be very funny if they did (but also wouldn't surprise me if they didn't for some other reason.) Lastly in terms of their face, I kept the eye colors that corresponded to the colors of each design that covered each side of their face, and what do you know, it's just like the canon design too!

With that all said and done, I finalized the design with the emblem that reflected the shape of Eclipse's head, having four rays peeking out from behind a crescent moon.

And that's how I put together Eclipse's design for this project! Thank you for reading!

[mbat]

every day i wonder what happened during the design process of equestria girls for them to all come out the way they did. i can see where the skirts thing came from cause they wanted them to be undeniably girly i guess or whatever but. every other weird decision is just confusing

like fluttershys whole outfit, the shortish skirt but especially the tank top. maybe its meant to indicate that shes outdoors a lot with animals, but it completely betrays her shyness and tendency to try and hide herself

they kinda messed up big mac and shining armor? mostly shining armor. his jaw could slice metal. why he look like that

also i only realized while looking at the characters that. okay i was just going to say 'lol cheerilees hair is stupid its like 1 foot taller than her head, why didnt they just give her normal bangs wtf' and i still mean that but then i realized... they swapped her mane and fur colors for her human counterpart ??? so now her usually darker coat and light hair became dark hair and light skin ??

which leads me to the point about the skin colors being weird. like. i dont like how they lightened them up, i dont like how aj and big mac have human skin colors (i have to assume maybe they thought for them that the colors looked bad, or possibly even close to caricature territory, especially with big mac), and the way they outright lightened up the colors of at least 2 normally darker ponies? like i said, cheerilee, but also

luna. even back when i first saw the movie and adored it, i DID NOT like the princesses designs. how did they fuck up some of the best characters in the show, especially the ones that are the prettiest (imo).

i would say that of the 3, cadence is the most okay design (i know we dont see her in the first movie just roll with me here). its clearly her, she looks like her and has her vibe (visually), all around not bad. not necessarily my favorite, theres still something slightly off? but it doesnt rub me the wrong way

celestia... i dont like her vibe. who is she. shes light pink and she has hair spikeys that are meant to look like a crown but just made it look like she didnt brush her hair properly. she has celestias hair but her face does not read like celestia to me. she looks like an imposter. where is my mother

and finally. the pinnacle of the issues with the designs. luna.

WHO IS SHE. THAT OUTFIT? NOT LUNA. THAT HAIR? YOU WOULDVE BEEN BETTER OFF JUST DOING A GRADIENT. OR PUTTING IN LITTLE STAR HAIR CLIPS. THAT FACE? THATS SOMEONES WINE MOM WHO SINGS EXTRA LOUD AT CHURCH. same critique about the hair spikeys as before. AND THE SKIN??? HELLO??? THE PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT GOT TURNED INTO PRINCESS OF MIDDAY. WHY.

the design of the show vs the movies is, i guess now literally, night and day. pony luna is so inspired and pretty and meant to invoke such regality, its very clear what her theme is, and she very much sticks out amongst the others, both in shape and details!

but the human version feels generic, she could easily be a background character (and she basically was), she feels unfinished, the colors on their own arent the worst but moreso feel insulting when compared to the original (i like the addition of pink/pinkish purple to the palette, but not so much to luna as a character. it just isnt her imo), she doesnt even look like an authority figure aside from obviously looking older than the other characters, let alone being someone meant to be somewhat equivalent to royalty. also again she was a minor character here but its like... her pony version has such a stone strong personality, both when shes freshly back from the moon and later on when shes more grounded and princess-like. human luna is just... generic teacher person. did human luna even ever experience significant isolation and feeling completely unseen by everyone she cared about? doubt it.

and yeah, they significantly lightened her skin ?? why ?? theres literally no reason to do that? she wouldnt look like a caricature unless you somehow chose the wrong colors (how possibly would you), and its not exactly impossible to draw characters with darker skin, again her pony form literally has a dark coat !! but also plenty of people have redesigned her human form to have the right skin color and they look great!! and in general obviously theres plenty of characters with dark skin, like... what was the reason they did that. it just feels gross.

dont cross me when it comes to luna dude i love her so much

anyway yeah its been over 10 years since EG first aired and i loved it back then and i still love it but i think a lot more about character designs now. mlp g4 is known for having these really pleasant and well put together designs with lovely colors (for the most part), its so weird how that gets easily messed up, like in g5, but also still in g4 itself(in the spinoffs and the main show lol)? wish i had the motivation to redesign them all lol, i probably will someday. please go look at redesigns theyre very lovely

[facelessxchurch]

Came right here to complain about that figure because oh my god 200+ for something of THAT quality?

Well you came to the right place to complain bc I don't like it either. And I'm happy to see most other people don't like it bc that means I'm not just a nitpicky bitch.

Like, everything on the store is overpriced, but 250+ Euro for THAT? I'm starting to wonder if the entire merch store is just a money laundering scheme at this point.

For reference, the Unlocked figures from lol are about 80 Euro each and are WAY better quality. And the Unlocked figures are the budget versions. The more high-quality ones are way more expensive. The Skul figure is worth 50 at most. And that's only bc of the novelty of it.

The sculpt is decent at a distance but closer up it looks really dirty.

The paint job is dirty too and so basic. Like, just black and white, no gradient, not even accent colours.

Neither the sculpt nor the paint job is professional.

Even ignoring that, the pose is stiff and boring. Couldn't even add a scarf flowing in the wind. A gun or a flame like the OG figure had. And the OG one captured the OG books cover vibes perfectly and this one is... pretty generic. Honestly, eventho the OG one is cheaper in material quality, I actually like it more than the new one.

This is so the result of nepotism and that's the first thing I thought when Landy said his brother did the figure. At one glance I can tell he wasn't hired for skill. If you look at his Instagram and Artstation, you can tell he has potential, but he just switched from another profession to sculpting in 2022 and you can tell.

He probably went with his brother so he can financially support him/help him with his new career. But also bc it's easier and cheaper than doing it the proper way. Hire a concept artist, hire sculptor, hire a 3d printing company, hire painter and optionally hire someone for the box art. (A mini painter YouTuber did it this way and the result was AMAZING!)

Or just collab with a company that does figures like Youtooz. Everyone who is someone is doing a collab with them right now. First4Figures is like topnotch but can get REALLY pricey, especially with LED stuff. Or McFarlane Toys also got pretty good stuff. Their black light stuff would be so cool for China's tattoos.

So many good options and instead he chooses to use his brother and his brother's 3D printer. I have a 3D printer too, so I can tell the resin costs for each sculpture is very likely less than 5 Euro. The slicer tells you the material costs when exporting the print file. At least the Lychee Slicer does which is the one I use.

The expensive part is the colour. But they only used 4 different colours. And one of those colours is gonna be either black or white primer. Like, that's such a lazy paint job it looks like they only applied the base, no layering, no shade, no dry-brushing, no nothing.

TL;DR: the Skul figure is an overpriced scam, don't buy it. But we both know these figures will sell out eventho by what I've seen the fandom as a whole doesn't like it and thinks it's too expensive. Which it is.

[pokefighter]

Thoughts and headcanons

I was lazy to type these at first despite it being in the back of my mind for months, but it’s nice to have a place to organize dumb thoughts. As I’m catching up on other anime like Yugioh, it’s kind of sad that Death Note in comparison doesn’t have much content in terms of world building, merchandise, or even showing what a character’s life is like outside of doing their job. In fact, some of their existence are treated solely as a plot device instead of a fleshed out compelling person. I know it’s mainly because DN’s writing is more story-driven than on characters, but it leaves me wanting to know more about them. 

Besides being highly fond of a few characters, admiring the animation’s cinematic visuals and how the style is a time capsule of early 2000 anime (muted color palette, gothic aesthetic, white gradient lighting) I’m not that invested with DN as a whole, the Yotsuba arc being the weakest with forgettable side villains (seriously, how often do you hear anyone mention the Yostuba members besides occasionally Higuchi?) and a section that dragged on longer than it should have. Rem being the one to kill L also ruined the point of this whole battle of wits DN was building up if Light can simply make a fucking shinigami do the work. It’s fine though, L’s passing means BEST BOY NEAR has now entered the picture.

Only Near can have soulless eyes and still be cutest thing alive. He actually fits well with the gothic visual design of DN in subtle ways- It’s those black eyes that stare right into your soul, his ghostly appearance, playing with creepy toys/finger puppets/L’s mask, and smiling like a psychopath out of nowhere in some scenes, hilariously contrasting his usual stoic demeanor. 

Onto headcanons:

Near

can be more sensitive than he lets on, he’s just good at hiding it. 

avoids eye contact unless it’s with someone he trusts.

enjoys visual stimulation such as the flickering of holiday lights, rain drops on a window, colorful contraptions performing in a loop or predictable pattern like a toy train driving in circles or a spinning windmill (I sketched something for this).

round pudgy Near >>>> generic skinny anime girl Near. I get why some imagine him skinny since he barely....moves. but a lil bit of chub fits his character design better. Plus there’s already plenty of skinny bitches in DN so it’s more fun to see some variety (long-haired Near is an exception bc he lost all his baby fat by then).

has a rather big capacity to hate or look down on someone, shown by his opinions on Kira, the president, Takada, etc. It’s visually amplified in the anime where he constantly looks like an angry kitten. 

smug brat

the giant common room at Wammy’s House is also Near’s playroom and there are days when everyone needs to clear out so he can play amongst 1000000000000000+ legos. 

his reaction came off as cold during the announcement of L’s death, but I imagine he didn’t exactly know how to express his grief at the moment. You even see a nonverbal display of his upset in canon when he spills his puzzle pieces on the floor. The first emotion he felt was anger towards L. The hero he respected was supposed to be unbeatable. L promised he’d win. It’s not until Near’s alone in his room that he breaks down. 

this one’s not a headcanon, but I love the fact that he's literally the only main character who survived. And on top of that, a breaker of the white-haired-anime-character-dies trope. What a king. Big win for autism. 

has extremely low pain tolerance. One little splinter to the finger and he’s done. 

Creepy nightmare fuel L is best L. 

L

can play the piano and sometimes does it during his Wammy House visits. 

has 0 interest in romantic relations. He doesn’t even express interest in making friends. He’s shown only ever focused on crime solving and is content with it. Other than that, I can only see him as a top. He’s prideful, hates losing any ounce of control, and isn’t the type to let his guard down.

L understands Near best. Everything about them looks like they’d be on the same wavelength. They can communicate and tell what the other’s thinking with a glance. No words needed.

so dependent on sweets that he can’t function without it, almost like an addict. If he doesn’t get his daily sugar, he becomes distressed and easily irritated.

Speaking of addiction, I doubt he’s the type to use drugs (though he certainly would have easy access), but maybe he’d save it for rare occasions when he needs to truly wind down and turn off his mind especially after an exhausting case.

is impatient and less cooperative when working with others as opposed to Near. (canon actually, just an observation.) 

like Near, L is also sensitive to noise and dislikes being around loud people/environments, but he’ll tolerate it if it’s necessary.

unlike Near, L has a much higher pain tolerance. He took a punch to the face several times and didn’t even flinch. If something did hurt, he’d under react simply saying: “ow.” with the same stoic face. 

Yeah I know that’s Misa’s eye but there’s no official anime screencap for B so fuck it that’s him with mascara. 

Beyond Birthday

if Another Note ever got an anime adaption, Akira Ishida would be the  ideal voice for B. Just listen to these clips. I can’t find anyone else more perfect for the role. A soft yet menacing tone, constantly scheming.

I know there’s BxL fanfics out there, but it’s hard to see B ever wanting him. If anything, I’m more convinced that B loathes L, what he represents, and how he’s idolized by the kids at Wammy’s House, you know, an institution that grooms orphans to become L’s successor.

B is also often depicted as a top but we all know he’s true bottom because what edgy tryhard says out loud: “I’m a top, an aggressive top (guys i swear i’m a top look at me lick this knife i’m so evil)” -B 

he’s a few years younger than L. 

was close friends with A. A’s death was the final straw that pushed B to leave Wammy’s House.

B is Californian, more specifically from L.A. What better location to scheme complex murders than in a place you’re well familiar with?  

he had eyebrows, but shaved them off for his L disguise. 

[lord-shitbox]

part 2 of this ask

📝Process for hurt mezu drawing 

here are the steps i dug out of an art server's wips channel lol

1. initial sketch

2. refine sketch. thats lines now babey. (omitted "the sleeves are KILLING ME WAHHH" stage that led to this)

3. grayscale, to use with gradient map (this is a more polished grayscale than I started with, i dug the working file out to get better images)

4. find nice gradient map (ended up being the same one I'd used for the piece i made right before. the goal is to make what's essentially an underpainting, not to color the whole thing with one map)

5. tweak and add colors that arent in the map with hard light layers & also sneak in a layer for special effect and atmospheric/ scenic perspective while you're at it

6. shading & more finishing effects. pretty much all of the shading was done with hard light layers! the only non-hard light layers I used for the shading were the particle effect layers & like one faint glow layer to fix some values. blood was done with linear burn

✨Inspiration for hurt mezu drawing 

the coloring method (grayscale -> saturated gradient map underpainting -> additive color adjustments) is something I tried out with the piece i'd made right before (the one where gozu is holding mezu from behind) & turned out really well, so I wanted to keep going with it

I also wanted to draw them angstily again because it'd been a very long time. like half a year at least. angsting them is very enriching for my soul so I try to do it regularly, this one was overdue

subconsciously referenced the poses in the initial sketch from this old thing (feb 2021). i love doing this. all my for-fun works recycle old elements in some way. my favorite game is "what old art reminds me of what im doing rn" im so good at digging stuff out of my archives for it. everyone loves when i do this

the gangi-kozou panel also

i went through a "shade in bold red-orange & dark blue with hard light layers" phase in like..april/may of 2021. i still like that stuff a lot so I wanted to revisit it

💚Things you like about hurt mezu drawing

repasting the link there but the sixth image in the process is essentially the final so you can just look at that

the colors are nice!! I'm real happy with using more saturated colors n I think the warm vs cool balance works really well

the sleeves (man being dramatic on the sand meme)

no like fr look at the 2021 piece's kimono sleeves vs the one I just did 2.5 years later. so satisfying

Gozu's expression came out nice

i think the claws and flash lines successfully added Emphasis to Gozu's expression & the piece overall

the poses … the drama …. the brush textures are also good

⏳Things you’d do differently with hurt mezu drawing

add in a liiitle more contrast...aka use a wider range of values. Some lighter lights and darker darks. I miss my 2021 hard neon lighting

a bit more distinction between the characters and the background also

the composition isn't bad but it could be better. Should've thought more about the way the eye would flow around the image in the drafting stage (solid b&w color block thumbnails are good for this)

Moar Sparkles. (I put a solid amount of large & low opacity light bubbles in there & some finer brighter dots especially around the claw stems, but I think more clusters of tiny bright lights on the characters themselves would've gone hard)

💌Some favourite feedback on art

as the wise man Austin Kleon once said: keep a "praise file" of all the positive feedback you get (if you've never read "Steal Like an Artist," you must). so. i am prepared for this question hold on

tastes like sugar glass

multiple people have told me my art is soft & dreamlike

jayce you reblogged my touchstarved art with nice tags on april 10th ive got that saved love uou

umm theres a lot...anytime someone keysmashes or feels emotional because of my art i get happy ,,, lys messaged me about the hurt mezu piece that made me happy also,,,,,there is so much joy in the world

[demonsfate]

🔥 + anything tekken/FGC related that's got y' out for blood

unpopular opinions from the mun // accepting !

Can't say I'm particularly out for blood when I say this but...

TK5 opening overrated.

I'll even say

My Last Stand > Sparking

TK4 opening > TK5 opening

When people say Tek5 has the best opening, I thought they were solely referring to the Heihachi & Kazuya vs the Jacks scene. Which yeah, when referring to that - I can say it is def one of the most badass openings and probably one of the most iconic scenes on the PS2 and in Tekken. It ending with "Heihachi Mishima... is dead" is such a raw delivery. But I didn't realize that people... thought what came after it was that good LOL. Like sorry, but me and my brother joked that the best opening is followed by an AMV. I mean, there's nothing particularly special about the characters just... doing shit. Or dancing in front of a gradient background. But then I was surprised when people were happy that TK8's opening references that, and I was like "that's... not even the good part of the TK5 opening, is it???"

Which is why I think the TK4 opening is better than the second part of the TK5 opening. TK4's opening may have been similar, but "A Fist for a Fist" had music that sounds so chaotic and fits buildup to the excitement of Kazuya's return. Kazuya saying he'll take back everything, and Heihachi going "you deluded fool..." is more cooler and impactful than DJ screaming in the forest sorry lol.

Also, as I've pretty much made clear - I don't really care for Sparking as a song either. I mean, I like it fine, but it's far from my favorite Tekken track. I like the remix used in the first part of the opening, the Heihachi and Kazuya fight. But the actual song? Nah. Don't care for it much. It just feels all over the place, and not in a good way. My Last Stand gets me way more hype. And as I said, I even prefer A Fist for a Fist. Yes, My Last Stand has some ... weak lyrics. But I just prefer the music, how its sung, and well ... it's not like Sparking had the strongest lyrics, either.

Anyway, the first part of the TK5's opening is not overrated, but the second part definitely is. I don't see what's special about it.

[kotonoba]

ISYT (Jushiro/Fem!Reader) Special Chapter

Halloween special for ISYT pre-marriage cause I got too wordy & ended up behind schedule, so pre-marriage it is!

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Your laughter rang through the Ugendo, cleansing it of the mundane days it spends through this wondrous holiday; you were laughing at your lover’s attempt at scaring you while baking themed cookies for him. His attempts were adorable. First, he placed a white bed sheet over himself and jumped out of nowhere to say “boo!” at you, then he tried to wait till you were focused on your batter for him to jump out at you; but he was mesmerized by your humming, and by the time he remembered to scare you, he had already ended up hugging you, and swaying to the rhythm of your hums. 

“Halloween isn’t all about tricks, ‘Shiro,” you giggled a little when you noticed a pout grace his delicate features. “When I was in the human world, during Halloween, sure, we played pranks on each other, and we also gave out candy to the little ones that knocked at our doors,” you smiled a little at the fond memories as you recalled to last year, how you and your friends ran out of candy to give out, and instead, started giving out oranges instead. 

“What else did you do during Halloween, (y/n)?”

Perhaps he noticed your fond smile. Your gaze averted away from the batter you were preparing and towards his gentle gaze; your face heated up as you felt him tilt your chin upwards a little. Pulling the two of you into a passionate kiss. You hummed in approval before pulling away after a short moment to continue with your memory, “we carved pumpkins, had a party, and watched some scary movies. Even though some of us were not built for scary movies and couldn’t even go to the bathroom on our own, it was worth spending time together. I…” you thought over your words a little; you felt a little nudge from Jushiro when he nodded for you to continue with your comments, “...I think holidays are just excuses to spend time with each other, either with those you love or with those you enjoy their company.” You smiled a little.

You saw him nod with approval before pressing a kiss to your forehead, “I agree, but who needs excuses to spend time with loved ones?” His embrace around you tightened as you organized your batter and placed it in the oven to bake, “just spend time with them, like you and I; we do not need excuses, just be by my side, and I’ll always spend time with you.” He smiled a little, another kiss to your lips before he continued, “you deserve the world, and more, in my eyes, (y/n).”

Even if you couldn’t see color, you could feel like you had turned in a gradient of dark red from his words. You turned towards him, embracing him tightly, “enough, ‘Shiro, let’s work on your costume while the cookies bake.” 

“Sounds good.”

—-------------------------------------------------------

Halloween this year was better than the last, as Shinigamis alike have visited the material world around this holiday and returned with ideas of how to celebrate; you and your fiance decided to dress up and hand out candies to not only the little ones of Seireitei but also the ones in the Rukon districts. As the holiday spirit was received well, many of the Rukon districts did participate in the holiday, or at least they tried their best. 

You handed out your cookies to the kids, just little goodie bags for them to take home, while your fiance did his best to entertain the kids there. It made you laugh. His costume was that of a bloodsucker – a vampire, they’re known to be ruthless and blood-loving; with his pale complexion, it suited him well. As many books in the material world had described, vampires were madly attractive, and, in your eyes, Jushiro was that to you. No one could beat his looks in your eyes. Whether you decide to tell him or not was for another day’s discussion. 

As the goodies were handed out, the night ended; as November 1st slowly came closer by the second, your fiance carried you like his bride. As your costume implied, he was a vampire, and you were his other half, the vampire’s wife. “Did you have fun, ‘Shiro?” You giggled as he nuzzled against your hair. 

“I should be asking you that, but yes, I had fun,” he glanced back at the kids waving at them, telling them to visit soon. He smiled lightly, “I’m glad we could bring so much joy to them, too,” he smiled even more. You’ve never seen him smile so much, aside from that one time you agreed to marry him. 

“I had fun too. I enjoyed spending time with you,” you smiled a little; it took him little to no effort to carry you back to his estate and his room. He placed you lightly on the futon before leaning in for another kiss, a breathless one as well. 

“Maybe I’m too traditional, but we could have more fun,” he breathed a little as he trailed kisses from your lips down to the nape of your neck. His fake vampire teeth grazed your neck gently, causing you to let out a soft yelp. You weren’t expecting this much intimacy from him. He was probably running on his high right now, not that you were opposed to it. 

You hummed in approval at his notion. His hands slipped beneath your costume, trailing them against your smooth back; his touch was cold, but his affection was hot. It led you down a spiral as he leaned back for another kiss, “I love you..” you breathed gently as he shifted back down to your neck, peppering the nape of your neck with kisses.

“I love you too, (y/n),” he breathed; it didn’t seem like he was going to stop. As you felt his teeth on your neck, he quickly pulled away. His arm over his mouth, his eyes widened in embarrassment, “it- it is easy to lose control around you.” 

“Ah- ‘Shiro, I don’t mind if you want to–” 

“No,” he cut you off, although his complexion was pale, you could see a little from the moonlit room that it had darkened a little, “I prefer to savor you for our wedding night; the wait’s worth.” He grinned; those vampire teeth suited him. He seemed mischievous and playful. 

You sighed and laughed a little, “alright, I’ll wait. I love you.”

“I love you too. I’ll see you tomorrow, (y/n).”

------------------------------------------------------------

Nooooo smut yet, sorry (:

Cloudy's AO3

[barbieb0y]

journey: INTERNET OVERDOSE.

yeah yeah shameless song reference in the title but hey it fits my acc's theme

if you can't guess it yet, in this one i'll be talking about my relationship with the internet. of course, i still mostly am on the internet, or at least on my pc and phone, but i'm doing a whole lot better than i did a few years back lol

anyways sit back bc this is gonna be a long one.

i've always had a fascination with modern gadgets, considering i grew up with gaming consoles and a dad who's a computer science graduate.

but i never used these gadgets to actually engage with the wide community on the internet - it was mostly for playing video games, to nobody's surprise. not that i was old enough to really understand anything that's being said on the net; then again, even toddlers are being let on to social media these days.

it truly started when i was around 11. though technically it doesn't classify as a social medium, i remember being on quizup. it was there where i had my first real taste of online social interaction - it's just that it wasn't too memorable so i buried it in the depths of my mind. what came after is much more interesting (despite the sudden onslaught of... graphic pictures of the popstar that clogged the taylor swift quiz community section at one point, but i digress).

it was there where i discovered about amino - a friend of mine there shared a screenshot of what seemed to be a community dedicated to blogging exclusively about taylor swift (i was a swiftie okay you don't have to rub it in) and curious, i asked them what it was. they told me it's an app called amino and you can join any community within the app. for whatever reason, that dragged me in.

i installed amino. i joined my first ever community - the swifties community (or as we call it, swifties amino). while amino is notorious for its roleplaying community, i participated in none of that (i would argue that there is nothing roleplay about in a community about the worldwide popstar taylor swift but terminally online people are well... creative enough to come up with anything). if anything, i think i barely chatted with any of the people in that community. i mostly did my own thing, which is lurking. the only thing i remember posting was fan-made gifs of the song "out of the woods".

no, what really started my chronically online phase was none other than the sims amino. and here's the funny part - i wasn't even a massive sims fan at the time. my only exposure to it is playing the sims freeplay and the sims 2 on my old psp. but since the app was still new (or at least, the main app - there were always the standalone aminos that were their own apps, including a sims amino app i believe), it was one of the only aminos available at the time that didn't really intimidate me. so i joined, for whatever reason.

it was a small community. almost everyone was new. i remember using basic gif filters to edit pics of sims was mind-blowing back then. most people actually play the sims 4, which was new (and paid; expensive at that) at the time, and it made me jealous - i only had a mobile game and an old game to speak for. and that year, i actually begged my mom to buy me a copy of the game. once i got good grades for an exam that year, i got my copy i ordered online which was, funnily enough, the first instance of online shopping i did that i can recount. (fun fact: i also got the get together expansion pack but i don't remember if that was the same year or not)

i wanted to be like everyone else, posting their sims with a pretty gradient background. i read blogs on how to edit. i wrote my own nonsensical, corny stories that i keep cancelling because i couldn't commit. there was a point where i'd post everyday. a point where i put my deepest, darkest thoughts into an amino post because i thought it'd be entertaining. honestly, it would've been simple if it was just that.

but there was a desire for approval.

if you didn't know, aminos have this section called the "feature page" and upon entering an amino, you're instantly greeted with this section. mods can pick certain posts they think are feature-worthy and put them there. we called it "featuring" posts. it's supposed to bring attention to these posts that deserve more attention. i can't remember the first time i got featured but by god was it exhilarating.

logging in and seeing my post, sometimes at the top if it was still newly featured, was like being fed food after not having eaten for a week. i didn't know i was so starving for attention until that moment. or maybe i never craved it - that amino only sparked that need, that thirst.

i remember i would feel particularly down if a post of mine (that i think deserves to be featured) was ignored and only got 20 likes instead of 300. it's funny to think about that now because nowadays, from what i've check briefly on the web, even featured posts get only 12 likes at best. it's eerie to see an amino in such a state. it's like a graveyard.

it kind of give me the image of what it would be like if we actually destroyed the internet.

this is also where i found my first ever friend group. i remember all their (user)names still. back then, i had a tendency to "fictionalize" the people i knew, including myself. i remember making sims that "represented" us. they were even color-coded, with mine being red because that was my favorite color at the time. i've also fictionalized friends outside that group. wrote a fictional story including us living fictional lives, loving fictional men i created, even straight-up putting these characters in situations that should've made my friends uncomfortable. but they never said anything about it. i was lucky. but also not.

one of the members of this friend group actually inspired me to start writing because they were a writer themselves. and after time, they decided to make an amino of their own, exclusively for writing. all four of us joined and some others - including my very own biological sister. i still think of that place as a safe haven; it's a small place with mostly familiar faces and i can write anything i want with little to no judgement.

eventually we all started leaving amino. or at least, they did. i always had trouble moving on when it came to friends leaving, for whatever reason. but perhaps it's because i always had a small glimmer of hope inside of me that told me "but what if they come back?" and that i have to be there when they come back. but they never did.

i was feeling dejected by then. i tried searching for another amino to belong in. fortunately, around the same time, i've been joining my sister in on her danganronpa marathon so i've taken a liking to the franchise. and so that meant i was more than eligible to join danganronpa amino.

i joined. everything happened in a blur - yet it feels like i could remember it all crystal clear too. i remember posting my first ever fanfic there. i don't remember what my first post was. i remembered what was probably could only be described as falling platonically in love with your best friend. i don't remember if i had breakdowns there or not. i remember fictionalizing people and them enabling it yet again. i don't remember what i said to make people even like me.

i remember being ghosted by the girl i loved.

and i remember it cutting deep.

after all the posts i wrote about her, for her, after messaging her "i love you" everyday even after she left, after everything.

i held on. just in case she came back. but she never did. they never do.

i couldn't read any instances of her name for a while after that. being there made me yearn for all the good times again and finally, after a while of holding on to that little glimmer of hope, somehow, i left.

either i was already a part of it or until after i left danganronpa amino did i join bandori amino. i had little to no negative experiences here - if anything, i was the negative experience. i had a deep hatred for this one character back then and for whatever reason, i often had to make it known to others. but otherwise, all i really did was post edit sets, post blogs explaining why i love the characters i love and sell reroll accounts (and no the price is not real money. it's amino coins). there was a point where i did lose my game account to a scammer posing as an account farmer though.

but things really went down once i joined a3! amino, a bit after i joined bandori amino. i simply wanted to be surrounded by people who enjoys the same game i do but boy oh boy did i get more than i bargained for.

don't get me wrong. a3! amino is still a memorable place for me and i have friends and family i made through it that i am still connected and close with to this day. but to say that it was all positive would be a lie.

underneath the facade of a welcoming community, i could see fights breaking out and users making fun of each other behind each other's backs. i thought i wouldn't ever be a part of all that but well, life is unpredictable, isn't it?

i had these 3 friends. 2 of them were adults, 1 around my age. these adults does not get along with the 1 kid - and honestly, i do not blame them because this kid is insufferable and i was just too naive to really accept it earlier. that i was just friends with her because i pitied her.

one of the adults told me to tell this kid that she has problems, blah blah blah, whatever. i told my friend to get her shit together and solve her own problems and not drag me into it. well, guess what? i got dragged into it. she got mad at me instead, telling me i shouldn't listen to my other friend.

it's to the point where i would feel uncomfortable interacting with any of them. i didn't know what to do. and i don't remember what the resolution was anyway. i only remember how the whole situation made me stressed out like never before. i simply wanted everyone to get along. it seemed so easy before.

another minor dilemma i experienced was when i joined this entertainment team. and though that was where i met my younger sibling and close friend, it was also where my inferiority complex grew. everyone in the team was an artist - except for me. i was the only writer accepted, for whatever reason. though i am honored, at some point, it just made me feel small.

we published a new edition of our magazine, which was in the form of a post. everyone's submissions were amazing - and to close it all off, my fanfic was featured at the very bottom. i had hoped it would make people happy - and now i have no doubt but it must've - but one comment, though innocuous, i took to heart. the user praised all the art featured in the post,

but did not comment on my writing.

i thought that my work is not worth reading. not worth consuming. not worth experiencing, just because you can't just take it in by simply looking. and knowing me, i'm known for how quickly i lose motivation. that one comment was enough to bring me down. i brought it up with my other teammates and they sympathized with me, but eventually i had to leave due to my lack of motivation and, again, inability to commit to anything.

i left both the team and amino altogether. i couldn't take what this app was doing to me anymore. i needed a new start. and somehow, somehow, past me thought twitter was a good idea. most likely because some of my friends were already on twitter by then.

i moved. i made an account. behaved like any other twitter user would - with delusion. eventually, i made two accounts. then 3. then many more. there was my public account, my private, a writing account, a gimmick account, roleplaying accounts (ironic how i got into roleplaying after leaving amino), bot accounts, the works. i was still desperate for attention, for approval, for acceptance still.

again, just like amino, i've had positive experiences with twitter; as amusing as it is, i've met most of my current friends through twitter, through the many, many accounts i made. i fondly remember how a friend of mine messaged a roleplaying account i ran and told me that i'm doing such a great job and how they really appreciate me. i didn't think my actions held so much meaning and significance to someone. and to think there might be more out there who holds the same regards but are not bold enough to tell me.

i've had my dark moments of course. who hasn't impulsively, secretly deactivated when they were feeling like garbage to see if people would notice if they're gone or not? it did work once for me so it's not completely foolproof; but it is also, obviously, unhealthy. it's done nothing but feed into my delusion that nobody cared about me when, really, they do but they need to care about themselves - or even someone else who needs it more - at that time.

i've felt isolated too. it seemed like everyone was good at something, or at least part of a majority, except for me. it was like secondary school all over again. i remember being one of the only men in the self-shipping community and even then, i didn't self-ship romantically and/or sexually so it basically meant nothing. i was nothing.

then came the thing that pushed me to the edge.

it was an innocent tweet. out of curiosity, i was simply asking fellow aroaces at the time if they mind being in a non-platonic relationship. suddenly, a mutual of mine came into my replies with a screenshot taken from my rentry. the screenshot read "i don't think all the bandori girls are lesbians". the caption read "now what is this".

i didn't think much of it at first. it's unrelated to what i was asking and besides, shouldn't have they known that when they checked my rentry before they followed me? it barely took a few minutes for people to come and attack me for it though. first it was just 2 people. then 3. then suddenly hundreds were quote-retweeting me with nasty comments and even some death threats. only 2 of my friends defended me. only a gimmick account i liked was respectful to me.

i laugh at the incident now but at that time, i felt myself break. when i hugged myself, i could hear cracks. i asked myself if i should listen to those death threats after all. maybe they'll be satisfied if such a terrible person like me, who dares misrepresent some anime girls, died at their hands.

i held on, for the sole reason that national exams were nearing and that it's a bad decision to let a bunch of stupid terminally online maggots decide whether i live or die because of fictional girls. but it still affected me greatly. i went private.

one day, i was having it particularly bad. i remember that evening vividly: i forgot i accidentally released one of my cats and i had no idea where she went. she's been out since morning and hasn't come back for a few hours now. i start crying while studying, feeling guilty for not just her but everything. i never seemed to be able to do anything right. i called myself a cursed child, that i'm nothing but a burden and an abomination.

i deactivated, thinking it's just one of those times.

i cried, until the cat showed up at my door eventually. i felt relieved by then, that maybe im not such a failure after all. i debated reactivating now that i felt better but i thought that i could probably focus on studying better if i didn't. so i didn't.

the days i went on without twitter were the most liberating and peaceful days i had. nothing else was on my mind other than studying. i'd study while listening to my favorite albums, with a tinge of curiosity as to what's happening on twitter at the time. but i persisted.

eventually, i came back - but only to announce that i'm quitting twitter and make sure my friends know how to keep in contact with me. it only lasted a few days.

then i deactivated.

permanently.

it felt like a huge burden's been lifted off my shoulders. to this day, i haven't attempted to make a new account at all, even though i had the urges. but i'm proud to say i've been clean of twitter for a year and a few months now.

fast-forward to the present day, i am now on tumblr again and it's a peaceful alternative. plus, i'm not on here all the time like i was with twitter. it's just easier to search for content here, what with the tags and all. and it's the only social media i need.

people can say that i'm missing out for not having instagram or tiktok all they want. i'm comfortable where i am right now.

plus, maybe they haven't overdosed like i have just yet.

crazy to think ive been on the internet for like what 7 years now? but it was my only safe space for a while (and still is to some extent) so i dont blame past me

tomorrow will be the last day i post something for this miniseries. i already have a draft in the works so stay tuned~

[artdecosupernova-writing]

Small Stories Hour: Darkspace Portent

To Be Loved or The Best Birthday Warren Cougar Never Imagined

↳ Days on Tournaltis started to blur together, not that differentiating between them really made much of an impact on Warren's newly implemented way of life. He helped build and pave and program as best as he could, often getting frustrated with himself and determining after some time that the best he could actually do was get in the way.

On one occasion he retired for the night in sour spirits, having tripped over multiple metaphorical feet and nearly ended the short life of a just-finished building on the other end of the city, and thoughts of giving up crossed his mind as he shoved himself under his comforter, window wide open to the oddly soothing sounds of construction in the distance. The moons had a staggered appearance in the sky and he pouted to them, not entirely sure he could get to sleep but hoping to at any rate.

Thrive entered his room almost unheard, slipping through the beams of moonlight cast onto the floor, and Warren chose not to acknowledge his presence until the mattress sagged under his weight and a pair of toned arms snaked around him, hands pressing into the planes of his back and sides. Warm breath tickled the skin under Warren's ear and he sighed, full of drama.

"Hm," Thrive murmured into Warren's throat. "I thought as much."

Warren patted the side of Thrive's face, pretending to ignore the cavernous yawn inside his head that he'd mostly gotten used to whenever Thrive read him. "Yeah, I'm being a giant bitch baby, I know."

"You have a right to your feelings." Thrive rested his chin on Warren's shoulder and gazed out of the window along with him. "Even if they're negative."

Warren combed his fingers through Thrive's hair. "I appreciate that, babe."

"I hope you know we all delight in having you here."

"Are you doing this just to make me feel better?"

"No." Thrive turned his face and met Warren's eyes, which narrowed with righteous skepticism. "…Perhaps in part."

Nodding, Warren closed his eyes. "Thanks. As long as some of it's true, I guess."

He woke up the following morning to a chill coming in through the open window and an overpowering perfume stifling the entire room. Already developing a minor headache, Warren turned over to find Thrive's side of the bed empty and neatly kept, which meant he'd definitely occupied it at one point, though when he vacated remained a mystery.

Warren sat up and peered around the room with bleary eyes in search of the source of the flowery aroma, and he spotted it in seconds—an enormous arrangement of local flora sitting beneath the window, fanned out in rich sunset gradients and glittery buds of looping vines.

"The fuck…" Warren mumbled, shoving himself out of bed and shuffling over to the vase half his height. He bent to examine the blooms, recoiling a bit at their pleasant but strong scent, and turned to see another vase sitting on the other side of the room by the door. Blues and pinks, with accenting feathery white stems.

He opened the door and was greeted by an entire cavalcade of floral arrangements leading down the hall, toward the back of the capital house, rarely visited by him. Each vase seemed more meticulously planned than the last, varying in sizes but equal in beauty.

Warren followed the trail, brows drawing deeper in confusion with each vase. It escorted him around a corner and down a set of stairs, and at one point he had to laugh because the sheer amount of flowers getting him even halfway to his destination was absurd. He continued on nonetheless, down another long corridor in the basement, around another corner.

He came to a halt as he cleared the corner. A glass door separated him and Thrive, who stood in the middle of a huge room with wood floors and turquoise gym mats. Warren cautiously entered the room, catching Thrive's attention.

If Warren thought the amount of flowers in the halls was excessive, he all but lost his mind due to the wall of them propped against the floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall mirror running the length of the room. Soft lights made them sparkle, giving them a haunting glow.

"What the hell is this?" Warren asked, unable to hide his amusement at the grandiose display.

"Your space," Thrive said, brushing his gold cape away from his arms. "We've been setting it up for you for some time. This room is entirely yours to use as you please, whether it be for escapism, dance, what have you. Not even I will encroach unless I've been given express permission." He paused. "Happy birthday, th'saiya."

Warren spun on his heel to aim a wide-eyed stare directly at Thrive, who watched him with a soft expression. "It's…?"

Thrive nodded. "It would be the first of June on Earth, give or take for time zones. As I've said, your being here is highly appreciated, and I know with no degree of uncertainty that I speak for everyone when I say that you deserved something that made this planet a little less of a visit and a little more of your home."

Warren grinned, taking in the reflection of both of them in the wall, the barre that ran across it, the stacks of gym mats in the corner, the small, twinkling lights in the blackened ceiling emulating stars. He moved to stand in front of Thrive and took his face in his hands, gripping his jaw tight.

"This is incredible."

Thrive smiled. "I'm happy to hear that."

"You don't get it," Warren breathed. "I fucking love you so much."

Thrive's eyes glistened and he held onto Warren's wrists. "I understand."

"I've never…I mean, I've had good birthdays," Warren said, flustered, "I've even had great birthdays, but this…man, babe, I…" Finding that words suddenly failed him, he instead threw his arms around Thrive, pressing enthusiastic and grateful kisses to the side of his face, his neck, his shoulder.

Thrive guided him back so he could kiss him proper.

A space just for Warren. A place to move about and get out frustration and anxiety and to do one of the few things that could draw him out of most bad head-spaces. Dance had always been an escape for him, ever since he was a kid, and while it couldn't save him from every one of his traumas, it saved him from most.

"I love you as well, by the way," Thrive muttered. "In case that wasn't clear."

Warren laughed.