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thedawningofthehour · 1 year

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didn't you say you were making Draxum's house in the sims? Did you ever finish? :(

So I whined about this on my main blog, but I'm having issues with my computer. The power port, and I've noticed this for a while, gets extremely hot whenever I try to run anything more intensive than Powerwash Simulator, and the past few months it's become harder and harder to get it to charge. (I'm not overclocking or anything-I bought this computer for gaming and made sure it had the specs to run shit like my heavily modded Skyrim and Fallout, it should be able to run Sims) I contacted Acer about a repair and they quoted me over eight hundred dollars. The actual computer was about 1200-1300, for comparison. There's other issues with it as well-there's a chip on the screen that's really obvious on a white background, and they advertised that it would support a second hard drive, but it's never recognized the one I bought. The power port is the most grievous though, and power ports on laptops are notoriously hard to repair.

And this computer isn't old. I bought it last spring. Less than a year and a half-and I've barely been gaming on it because I've been writing this, so I spent over a thousand dollars on a turtles fanfiction machine essentially. (there's been other reasons, depression funk caused a complete disinterest in gaming and after so many mass shootings I've started feeling guilty whenever playing games with guns, but writing is mostly what I've been using this expensive gaming PC for) I only had the one-year warranty that came with the computer, but honestly I can't find it in myself to regret that too much because I have never once had a company actually honor a warranty. It's like safety deposits on apartments or insurance claims-they'll do everything they can to weasel out of doing what they're supposed to.

So back to your question-I currently don't trust my computer to run the Sims. Or anything else. And I can afford to buy another gaming PC right now, but it would be financially pretty irresponsible. I returned the tablet I bought to draw with, and I think I'm going to get one of those two-in-one laptop/tablets so I can use it for drawing and writing. Maybe I'll be able to run the Sims 4 on that-it doesn't have to run great, I use it mostly as a building simulator. Kind of sucks though, Crusader Kings 3 came out with another expansion pack and the new Cities Skylines is coming out this fall, plus I've been getting a hankering to play Skyrim again.

But enough about my computer woes, I do think I have some screenshots I could show...

First floor, I apparently took these during the first round of building because I made a lot of changes. The lab is way bigger now, and I have the rest of the house shell done. The blank space in the back right is where I was going to put in the multi-story room where the turtles find the weapons-which is probably the least completed part of the entire house because holy hell the building controls do not want to work with me.

But in the back left you can see Cass and Gale's rooms! :)

I do like how the main hallway turned out. I know it was mostly destroyed on Creation Day, but let's just say Draxum redid it in the same style. The middle picture, that's the little storage room that hides the door to the part of the house where Gale's room is. If you know the Sims you can tell where the secret door is.

And yes, I know the half-walls under the stairs look ridiculous, I've fixed it since then. I couldn't just extend the half-wall all the way back because it would delete the upper staircase, for some reason.

I'm pretty proud of how the living room is turning out. Could be a little bigger, but the symmetry of the bookshelves are just too perfect. (also the curved walls get fussy, FUCK CURVED WALLS) Needs some clutter on the mantle though.

The kitchen no longer looks like this, I moved around a lot of the pictures and added another layer of cabinets, because Draxum probably has like six sets of fine china he's received as gifts throughout the years and refuses to part with. I added more retro-looking décor, because the last time he remodeled this room was in the sixties and I wanted it to look a little old-fashioned. I also imagine he refuses to get an electric stove, saying his mystic wood-burning stove works just fine. I tried to work a pantry in, but it didn't really pan out. (lol) And the more I think about it, he probably has a legit larder somewhere in the basement, since Draxum is from a time before refrigeration and would have grown up storing food in underground cellars. (and he deffo has like several years worth of food stored away, he's pretty much a doomsday prepper)

This is also incidentally the layout of the kitchen at my old house, hence the weird octagon dining area. Except we had windows. With no curtains. In the woods. It was unsettling to cook at night.

Draxum's study is bigger now, and I think I added a fireplace? He absolutely has eight bazillion degrees and awards and he puts them ALL on his wall. He earned that shit, dammit.

His bedroom's nothing to write home about. It's comfortable, not luxurious. There's no electric lights because he prefers candlelight.

Just imagine that white bathroom counter stained with pink splotches from Draxum's hair dye.

I had BARELY done anything with the pool, but as you can see it is indeed a tank. Draxum was planning to keep a mutant or something in there.

I was actually in the process of redoing the entire greenery lol, but I think I did an okay job on 1.0. Not the mason jar lamps though, I'm not sure what I was thinking there.

Some pictures of Lab 1.0. The ooze-vine-thing looks terrible; I straight up haven't even started to recreate it in 2.0. I pushed back Draxum's alchemy area and gave him an actual medical bay in the back, which is where The Table would have been located.

That's mostly Gale's area on the left, I think it still broadly looks this way? I didn't put in stuff like the robotics table because it just looked silly-and besides, we're not actually playing this build. We know Galois only needs two hands and a welder to make a robot.

I will leave you off with a slightly more clutterfied Gale's room! Oh, but also, I GOT PURPLE CC CURTAINS FOR HIM. :D After I took this picture, but just know he has them now. He has no reason to have them because he does not have a window, but I'm happy for him.

#okay i did not intend to spend an hour doing this #i was gonna post the next chapter tonight but i don't think that's going to be happening no #not much of a surprise it needed a lot of work and i've been dragging my heels on it #doth asks

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icedmetaltea · 9 months

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I've been feeling discouraged about my art recently. Could you possibly give me some tips?

Ok I wanna preface this by saying I am by no means a professional or even "good" artist, BUT I shall try!

These are all tips by a digital artist so I can't help much when it comes to other forms

This got long so under the cut, 20 ART TIPS TIME LETS GOOO

1.Try to draw most days, or at least once a week. The more often the better BUT I don't mean like hardcore, a complex drawing every single day (recipe for burnout right there). I mean like even just 30 seconds of SOMETHING. You can draw shapes, maybe fill a page with circles. There are programs u can find online that give you like a min to sketch something and challenge yourself in a really short time frame. Guess what?? When you draw often you're building those neural pathways (I think) and the more you do it the easier it'll get

2. Don't obsess over making stuff look perfect on the first draft... or at all. I recommend making a "draft" layer or 2... or 3 over the initial sketch. The more you go over it and change stuff, the better it'll be. Also, If you spend hours on it and still hate it?? Who cares! You put in the work and now you have an idea out on paper that you can go over some time in the future and improve if you chose to.

3. DON'T DELETE STUFF!!! Unless it's literally just mindless scribbles, save everything you draw. Like I said, you can go over it again and improve it someday. You can also look back at it in like a year and compare your art to see where you've improved! I deleted all my old art from beyond like a year ago and regret it so much. Don't berate yourself for the stuff you need to work on, be proud of what improvements you've still made

USE REFERENCES!!!!!!! Please just do it, I know it's annoying but I promise it helps so so much

4. Invest drawing tablet, preferably one with buttons that you can map to undo, sketch, fill and such. This will make drawing sooooo much easier (and faster). My quality of art has improved just from drawing the same thing and redoing it like 20 times at a time, and it takes way less time when I can just click a button to do that. It might seem daunting at first but it quickly becomes instinctual. This is the one I got and I'm quite happy with it! It's got good sensitivity, a pen you don't have to replace batteries for or even recharge, and it's mid-range so not wayy too expensive. However, if you're just starting out, I'd recommend this (I got the corded version but I assume it's about the same) since it's small, cheap and you can focus on just learning basics like improving lines n such.

5. Use a bigger canvas size. I started out with 1000x1000, and that's still fine for smaller stuff and doodles, for better quality I recommend bigger sizes. If it's too small it'll look all weird and pixel-y

6. THERE ARE LITERALLY SO MANY FORMS OF ART, maybe the one you're trying just isn't something you vibe with! There's mosaics, digital, traditional (and all the many sub-categories of that), sculpture, photography, etc. All are equally valid and you will improve in your craft if you choose something that 1. you enjoy, 2. are consistent with it!

7. SEGEMENT OUT THE LIMBS drawing DCA stuff for over a year has helped me improve on anatomy sooo much literally just because it forced me to think of each part of a limb in terms of segments, shapes- for instance, instead of an upper arm, I think of a tube which connects to a circle that allows it to rotate and another tube... followed by a weird shape for a hand that connects 5 smaller tubes, whiCH ARE THEN SEPERATED IN TO 3 TUBES EACH. Yes it sounds confusing but breaking it down like that instead of just trying to figure things out helped an absolute shitton

8. Have some kinda hobby that makes you draw frequently. For instance I have a discord sona I draw a new pfp for every month or so. It's a simple design and since the pfp won't show many flaws I can pump out lots of art for it in a small timeframe and I find it relaxing. I've actually improved a shitton just drawing pfps This is one of my first pfps from maybe 2 yrs ago compared with one of my most recent ones

(yes I'm a bit of a furry deal with it) It's cute, there's nothing wrong at all with it! However, you can see how things have changed.

See how the lines are a lot more even, less jagged? The proportions of the shoulders are much wider, the ears aren't just popping out of the hair, the shading makes a bit more sense and isn't just thrown around at random. There's also a broader range of color, with a few bright highlights to catch the eye, colored shading I think as well. The former is just like 3 simple colors. These are all things I learned from drawing pfps consistently.

9. CONSISTENCY IS KEY!! And FUN, if you have fun drawing it'll be a lot easier to do frequently

10. Whether it's drawing pfps, blorbos or landscapes, find something that brings you joy and it'll be MUCH easier to stick to. Draw, draw a lot, do not worry about "good" art and "bad" art cause there's literally no such thing. Compare what you draw now with what you do in like a year or two from now and I promise, if you're consistent, use references and are patient, you WILL amaze yourself with how much you improve.

11. Challenge yourself! Join secret santas (assuming you know you can complete it within the allotted timeframe), draw your friends' sona/ocs (if they're cool with it), do palette challenges, do monthly stuff like drawtober or whatever it's called (BUT I don't recommend doing something every single day for a month cause again, gonna cause mega burnout)

12. Draw when the inspiration comes, it will move your hand. These days I make much better quality art that I'm proud of when I just let inspiration flow through me instead of begrudgingly making myself draw. You shouldn't be forcing yourself!! If you are, you probably are burned out by either drawing too much, feeling a lack of confidence or some other stuff going on irl. Inspiration comes naturally, and when it doesn't it's prolly your mind trying to communicate that something's up. If resting a week or two doesn't help, take a deeper look at your life and see if the artblock is a symptom of something else (for me it's most often depression).

13. At the same time, sometimes you just need to start. Kinda on the previous point of lacking confidence, often we scare ourselves out of even trying. It might feel insurmountable. Nah, try. If all you can do is a wobbly, vague sketch?? You got the idea out!! Start drawing fuckin eyeballs or something, just start. Sometimes the hardest part is just facing a blank canvas and putting a couple lines on it

14. Not all brushes are equal. Some just make drawing easier- at least for me. I dunno the science behind it but when I use my sketch brush (it's got a similar look to pencil) rather than my lineart brush it makes drawings just... look better. Also using thicker lines in general helps. Why?? NO CLUE, maybe thinner ones just show flaws easier or intersect better or something.

15. Music or some other distraction can help, idk why. Some days I like to have a movie/show/podcast going in the background for a mild distraction that keeps me slightly stimulated on other stuff even as I draw- maybe it increases brain activity or??? No idea. Sometimes just listening to music. Sometimes I need total silence. Do what works for you! Give lots of different stuff a try, you may love drawing while listening to a podcast in the background

16. Take breaks!! The pomodoro method works with art as well. Every 25 mins or so, take a 5 min break. Get up, stretch, get some water, maybe watch a yt vid. Call ur friend and tell them you love and cherish them. Then get back to it and you will feel oh so refreshed. After maybe 3 rounds take a 15 min or longer break and then repeat if you still feel like it

17. SLEEP IS INCREDIBLY FUCKING IMPORTANT you will see a deep decline in the quality of your art when you're tired, plus you just feel like shit and art is about feeling good and expressing yourself. Sleep is important, even tho yes I stay up too late drawing most nights, I do my absolute best to get at least 7 hours of sleep every night, as should you!!

18. DO NOT BE SCARED OF STICK FIGURES AND MESSY SKETCHES, they're actually the best way to start bc 1. it's a quick way to get an idea out before you forget it 2. the finished piece will actually look a lot more fluid since you weren't spending all that time obsessing over making the first draft look perfect- which often just makes it look stiff. You can do a whole lot with stick figures. Focus on that good ol' line of action.

19. Random but when drawing the face, I like to first make a circle and then like a "mask" over it for the actual face. For me it just makes sense. Then two lines, one up/down and one left, right, it'll make it easier to align the eyes and ears. In general, the ears usually go where the "mask" begins and just below the left/right line

20. Finally surround yourself with people who encourage you. I grew up in an environment where people would gawk at stuff my sibling drew and ignore me bc they were ~naturally talented~ and it made me not want to draw at all.

Well guess what?? Now that I spend time with people who encourage me and genuinely care about my interest in art I've improved a lot bc I have the motivation, the joy of showing ppl who care about me new pieces. If people in your life aren't encouraging you, or gods forbid insulting your art (excluding constructive criticism that you've explicitly asked for) then TOSS EM OVERBOARD THE BOAT OF LIFE and find people who will treat you with the love and respect you deserve

P.S

This isn't a tip, just a recommendation: Chicory, a colorful tale. It's a game where u play as a cute lil dog who gets a magical paintbrush that lets you color the world. The only issue? You have no ~talent~. My gods, this game struck a cord with me.

Feeling like you don't have any talents that come naturally to you. Being overlooked even when you try your best. Feeling like a complete joke when you try to pick up the brush (or in this case stylus) because there are so many "real" artists and you're not one of them.

Also the things people say and how they can affect you even when not intentional. Damn. It's just a beautiful game. It's made by the same people who made Wandersong, another absolute banger game with a character who is seen as a joke and I cannot recommend them enough.

bonus tip bc why the fuck not: OVERLAYS!!!!!!! In clip paint studio you have all these layer options, I can never memorize what they all do so I just make like an ombre color layer over my base colors and try all of them to see what looks cool

#Answer tag #Metaltea Talks #ref #art tips #long post #*gives anon a thousand tiny cartoon hearts in a bottle*

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revilleaj · 7 months

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Art update & 3D Robodi model images

It has been quite a while since I've last really done anything online. I've been heavily burned out and tired constantly since at least December or so (I have done drawings in months prior, but I have never posted them publically). I still do not have a new computer, even though I have enough money (about £1k) to buy the parts or even an entire computer, but there are other factors in life that need more attention being put towards right now.

I'm still in the midst of trying to get a job (damn required experience and driving license listings!), and drawing right now is bottom priority. It feels like a chore and it's not fun when I have rusted from not drawing in so long (making so many mistakes really sets off my anger problems). I really do not like being pressured into trying to do things, and I have been experimenting with 3D, but only to an extent.

So, with that said, I am going to put making newer drawings on hold for an indefinite amount of time until I feel motivated enough to draw. I'm not done with art entirely and I never will be, but I think I really shouldn't pressure myself as if art is some kind of requirement in life. I've been also having drawing tablet issues, and I noticed there's a small crack in my Huion that I haven't been able to use almost ever since I had it (thankfully the thing still works, and the crack is near the top, only half getting on the drawing area).

I may also finally add some images to my empty DeviantArt account. As much as I do not like that website nor its community, I think it would work if I just put my favorite drawings I've worked on there, specifically ones up until the end of 2023. All of the really old and weaker art (mostly from 2018 and 2020, and anything from 2017) I won't be reposting, as they no longer reflect me, and have not done so for a very long time.

-----

Now, for the second topic of this post, and in a much better light; the 3D Robodi model. I'm sure I've talked about this years ago on Twitter. Back in 2020, when I was still in my first year of university, I worked on a 3D model of one of my characters named Robodi, using Cinema 4D. It was never finished, but I did learn quite a bit when working on it. Here's some newer screenshots of him, now that I've managed to pick back up an older version of C4D (I do not like the 2022 UI layout change):

This is the last version of the model to not be animated, from May 2020. The image is rendered using the Sketch & Toon shader with the Standard renderer. A few options were altered to remove unnecessary outlines.

The model in the renderer itself; right is the objects list, bottom are the materials (vertex colors and textures, some with C4D specific features).

The last ever version of this specific model from September 2021, with the FOV heavily reduced to improve the depth. A single black thin cube was added between the eyes to create a fake extra outline. A bit of a hacky effect; I did not know how to do inverted normals, in fact I don't think I knew that was how most computer games handled outlines.

The very first saved version of the model, in Cinema 4D's editor, made earlier in May 2020. The pieces have default names and are not parented, some materials are not added yet, and the shapes are noticeably bigger, especially the base of the head and the torso.

I once experimented with "realistic" materials and shading (including the dreadfully slow Global Illumination), which doesn't make the most sense for a cartoon character. Here you can see the unit plate on the back of his head, which I don't think I have ever shown before. The camera may look close here, but it's actually extremely far away with a very low FOV (dubbed Super-Telescope). Some textures are no longer in the project files, so this looks slightly off from how it did back in 2020.

In October 2021, I went back to the older May 2020 model and decided to try and remake it. I realized that using one mesh and extruding it works a lot better with the Sketch & Toon shader, as it does not create unnecessary outlines when the default shader options are left the way they are. The lines in the middle of the eyes and nose are from the shader, rather than a black material cube. Of course, it would be more wise to just duplicate each mesh, enlarge them and invert the normals while applying a pitch black texture to them. I abandoned the model shortly after the progress I made here, and I am not sure why. Maybe I was burned out and lost interest.

I should probably try to attempt making a 3D model of him again and some others, now that I know a lot more than I did nearly 4 years ago (yeah, can you believe it has also been nearly 6 years since my Reville character was created? Robodi was first created in mid-2019; almost 5 years ago! Good things take time and care). It will be a difficult task, but I'll make sure to export whatever I make to a .FBX model, so that it doesn't get lost to C4D licensing Hell. Hopefully, that would make the models work in Blender and such (the materials will have to be baked into textures however, instead of being separate C4D ones. At least .FBX doesn't use an external material file unlike .OBJ, which I and others have had issues with). Maybe I could use them for rotoscoping or somethin'.

Here's hoping to me eventually finding motivation, losing my tiredness, and getting a job with stable income alongside continuing to work on my passion projects, no matter how much time has past since the day I first thought of them. I want to keep doing things, not resting in bed most of my days. Too bad winter is freezing cold where I live, and I suffer from mild hypothermia...

#3d model #software #update #indie artist

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patternwelded-quill · 8 months

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Gifts and Updates

My fiancee @ladytamris drew and colored these because I'm writing a SM fanfic. I think she's learning to draw on her tablet faster than I am on mine. That being said...

The second-to-last chapter is now up! What started as a roughly 120k draft has turned into an outline of three books, this first one alone coming in at over 150k itself.

That's 30k bigger than the first novel I ever finished. Thanks to all the readers and everyone who left a compliment; you've made the effort all worth it!

#original character #ranma 1/2 #bishoujo senshi sailor moon #digital art #sailor moon #sailor pluto #ao3 fanfic #fanfic writing

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batstorm93672 · 2 years

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Do I Know You?

This is part 2

<<<Previous ~First~ Next>>>

Cass sat in front of Damian in the same position as him. It's her way of connecting easily, copy the target and get into their heads without a word. Damian let his walls down, being tense won't help and luckily the brownie that Alfred let him partake helped ease his mind.

"You are telling the truth, there is no indication of lying" Damian sighed "Finally I got someone on my side. Cassandra you are my sister, we've known each other for quite some time. I even have orchestrated as you do ballet, I played the violin" "I don't know how I know you exactly, but your words have truth in it. I suppose that's enough"

Tim walked over, holding a tablet "You got the okay from Cass, but there is nothing on you in any file or record. Are you sure you didn't come from a different universe?"

"I would punch you if I were not under surveillance and suspicion"

"I'm gonna ignore that, now why is there nothing on you?"

"Someone did this to me, I don't know who it was"

Dick sat next to Damian on the couch "Well, do you know why?"

Damian put his walls back up just enough so Cassandra wouldn't tell by the mere glance even though she was standing next to Tim. "No I don't, I've been meaning to ask you Richard. Where is Titus, Alfred the cat, Batcow or Jerry?"

"I know Alfred the human and none of those other names are things in this place"

"This is the worst fucking thing ever. My pets aren't here?!"

"You sure do swear quite a bit. If you who you say you are, then you must spend quite some time with Jason"

Damian's shoulders sunk "No... I spend most of my time with you... we were the best of partners ever. But now... I don't think we are anything" A strike of... pain? Maybe regret, struck Dick. He sounds so... sad.

"Hey, we can find a way to reverse this"

"...yeah, we can"

Bruce walked back in, looking at Tim "Anything?" "No, you?" "Nothing" He turned to Cass next "So?" "He's telling the truth"

"Alright, well if he's telling the truth and if he promises to stay under surveillance then he may go around the Manor"

"Bigger house arrest, how extraordinary"

"So I get a call from Golden Boy talking about someone we might know who we've forgotten. Sure why not"

The low rumble of the motorcycle in the cave caught everyone off guard for a second.

"So who is thi- holy shit you look like a computer created mix of Bruce and Talia"

After an hour of getting the clear to go around the Manor and telling Jason everything, Damian sat in the guest room (aka what was once his room) he misses his posters and art work on the walls.

Damian was drawing on some paper that Dick brought for him, Dick was drawing as well by Damian.

"So we know each other but we can't remember you"

"That is the gist"

"When were we partners?"

"Father's supposed death, you became Batman" Dick nodded, so at least everything isn't different only his existence in all those moments are wiped clean. "I was your Robin"

"...I see"

"Do you remember at all Richard? How we were, how we fought, how we protected each other and Gotham? Do you remember how much you meant to me?"

Dick looked at Damian who kept his head down, his voice trembled, Damian took a deep breath in and put the paper down. "Hey... I'm sorry I don't remember, from how you spoke I can't help but feel that you mean so much to me as well. I'm sure we'll undo all of this"

It hurts you don't remember, but I asked for this, I spoke about making a choice and I don't even know what that is meant to be. I made a choice already and I paid the price. So what am I trying to do now with myself?

#damian wayne #dick grayson #tim drake #bruce wayne #jason todd #cassandra cain

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etes-secrecy-post · 2 years

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Hi, before I explain my post, I want to say something important.

• What you see my blog has become a major overhaul. And despite the changes, I decided that my 2nd account will be now my artwork blog with a secret twist.

⚠️NEW RULE! (W/ BIGGER TEXT!)⚠️

⚠️ SO PLEASE DO NOT SHARE MY 2nd ACCOUNT TO EVERYONE! THIS SECRECY BLOG OF MINE IS FOR CLOSES FRIENDS ONLY!⚠️

• AND FOR MY CLOSES FRIENDS, DON’T REBLOG IT. INSTEAD, JUST COPY MY LINK AND PASTE IT ON YOUR TUMBLR POST! JUST BE SURE THE IMAGE WILL BE REMOVED AND THE ONLY LEFT WAS THE TEXT.

⚠️ SHARING LINKS, LIKE POSTS, REBLOG POSTS, STEALING MY SNAPSHOT PHOTOS/RECORDED VIDEOS/ARTWORKS (a.k.a. ART THIEVES) OR PLAGIARIZING FROM UNKNOWN TUMBLR STRANGERS WILL IMMEDIATELY BE BLOCKED, RIGHT AWAY!⚠️

😡 WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT EVER LIKED & REBLOG MY SECRET POST! THIS IS FOR MY SECRET FRIENDS ONLY, NOT YOU! 😡

Okay? Capiche? Make sense? Good, now back to the post…↓

Title: A Christmas gifts for my OC friends

Ho! ho! ho! 🌟⛄ Happy holidays, my secret friends! 🎅🎄 I'm having a great time with my family during the spirit of Christmas! 👨‍👩‍👦‍👦😊🎄🎁 And not just our families (including yours), but also our OCs, as well. So, here are the Christmas gifts that we're given by the folks of my OCs! Take it away.

🎁 First presents 🎁

Spot 🐶🏎️: Alright! Let's start up with ours! 😁Me, my twin sis & Cude are requesting a custom stuffed toy wearing our clothes courtesy of our friendly neighbor rabbit & fox OCs. 🐰🖌🐰👊💥🦊⚽️

Riya 🐰🏎️: Aww, aren't we cute or what!? 🥰🤗

Cude 🐰🤖: Indeed we are, hope our friendly trio appreciate it! 😄

MuruKir 🔵⭐: Including mine! A baby Ice Bear (from We Baby Bears) dressing my clothing transformation! 🧸👕👖🧢🥰

Cude 🐰🤖: Should you requesting your face wearing Brown's clothes? 🤔

MuruKir 🔵⭐: Maybe, but since he's a pure CN fan, I rather choose baby ice bear in aforementioned. 🙂

Cude 🐰🤖: Okay, good for you. 🙂👍

🎁 Second presents 🎁

Miya 🐰🐻🔋: Eyo! 😄👋 For my Christmas gift, I gifted Mikey a pair of warm gloves with my face & his slapped on. 🧤🐰🐻🔋 🐱🎧🎵This is because he gave me some new clothes, along with my new friends (Maxwell, May, Sam & Brown). And since Mikey is not wearing gloves for his paws, I bought these cool gloves & requesting a special logos. Isn't that cool? Hope you like it, Mikey! 😉👍

Rita 🐶🚺: As my regalong pamasko (Christmas Gift), I gifted Windy a Filipino cook book. 🇵🇭🍳📙😊 That way, not just good ol' American healthy food to make, but also cook some new foreign foods that she needs to learn & new experience. Yes, there are a lot of foods that involve meat, but there also masustansyang pagkain (healthy foods) made by dugong (bloody) Filipino.😋🍽️🥕🥦🥬 That's why I picked "The Easy Filipino Cookbook: 100 classics made simple" by Roline Casper. You won't disappointed, Windy my friend! 😁👍

Bonn 🐰🚺: For Scottie, he's never been boxing before or any type of physical sports; except calisthenics. Yes, he's focused on drawing, so, I've gifted him a brand new drawing tablet back in 2021. 🙂 But in 2022, I gifted him a boxing gear. Specifically, a pair of boxing gloves & a head gear in Donkey Kong inspired theme! 😁🥊🐵That way, he'll shape up his body to the next level, much like Donkey Kong himself. His favorite Nintendo character idol! I hope you like it, Scott! And I'll see you in the boxing ring for some good ol' boxing practice! 😃👊🥊💥

🎁 Third presents 🎁

Miya 🐰🐻🔋: Eyo, back again! 😄👋 For my newly-new boyfriend, Sammir 🐻🌩️, he's a HUGE FAN of "Wow Wow Wubbzy" when he was a tiny adorable childhood! 🙂👶📺 So, I gifted him a brand new (not so) ugly Christmas sweater with his cute character idol, and a special Funko Pop of Wubbzy! 😊Oooow, I hope my cute cloudy bear loves my gifts! I'm so pumped & blushed at the same time! 🥰😘

Riya 🐰🏎️: That's so nice of ya, Mi! 🙂 You gifted Mikey & Sammir in one night! 🎁🐱🎧🎵 🎁🐻🌩️Also, you're not the only one who's giving double presents! Right, twin bro?! 😉

Spot 🐶🏎️: You bet, Ri! 😃 For loving couples, Shadow 😺🗡️& Lisa 😺❤️⚡are gamers who loves playing anything on their owned switch consoles. 🎮🖥️ Their joycons are nice, but nothing beats a traditional gamepads, with handle grips. And our mom's gifts to their children in 2021, we're gifted Shadow & Lisa a brand new controller from the folks of 8bitdo! 😁

Riya 🐰🏎️: Heck yeah, a Pro 2 controller with their personal color themes! 😃🎮 Furthermore, the Pro 2 has all the functions they need (for the switch), including two back buttons to program via software. Isn't cool or what? 😁

Spot 🐶🏎️: I hope the couples will appreciate our gifts! And maybe will party up with Mario Party 🎲, or SSBU 👊, or even Mario Kart 🏎️!

Riya 🐰🏎️: Aww yeah! Sign us up! We're ready to play, this Christmas! 😁✊

🎁 Extra (fourth & final) presents 🎁

Me 🇵🇭: Finally, I want a give an extra presents for Alexander 1301 & Romulus907. 🙂🎁🎁 I gave his OC Alex 👦🏻🔴 some clothing courtesy of two Speedster twins 👕👖🐶🏎️🐰🏎️, whereas Romulus' Fuse (Quilava OC) & Pyrus (Cyndaquil OC) 🔥🔴🟡 received their own pet mecha Haros. I'm curious to see, what are the names of their Haros? 🤔Mmmm... Nonetheless, here's to you, Fuse & Pyrus. Take care of your Haros, and same goes to Alex. ☺️

🎄🌟 Well, that's all for now & Merry Christmas, my secret friends! 🎁🎅

The Rabbit Family, Sam, Brown & Mikey - owned by @bryan360

Shadow Ramcat - owned by @carmenramcat

Lisa (Sonic OC) - owned by LadyFeliz (formerly named Lisadots123)

Alex - owned by Alexander1301

Fuse (Quilava OC) & Pyrus (Cyndaquil OC) [Pokemon OCs] - owned by Romulus907

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characterillustrationoliviap · 1 year

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Character Illustration: Class 1

I started this class by opening up some of the palettes which Toby said we would be using today. These palettes were the layers palette, colour palette (colour wheel) and the brush palette. I then saved the layout as a workspace by selecting new workspace in window.

Today we talked about line work for illustrations. We were all given a Wacom tablet to plug into our computer and then I played around with it for a bit. It's very different to drawing on paper or an iPad as what you're drawing appears on the screen rather than the tablet.

I tried drawing a straight line and a curvy line. As you can see, the lines aren't very clean and are really bumpy.

To fix this, I needed to increase the smoothing of the brush. Originally it was at 0% so I tried it at 50% and 100%. This allowed me to understand how the tool works and which percentage I should have it on when drawing.

This was the 50%.

This is the 100%.

Since I am use to drawing on paper or onto a screen, it was difficult at first getting the line to go in the right direction. To refine this skill I drew two Xs and practiced drawing a smooth curved or straight line that went from one to another. It became easier time and I found zoning in helped at times. I think this is something would definitely take time to get really good at so I'll just have to be patient.

Using these curving lines we then tried to draw an eye. It was just a quick rough exercise to adjust to the tablet. I added another layer underneath and gave the eye an iris colour. I played around which the sensitivity of the tablet and pen when I made the specks in the eye.

We then moved on to tracing a shape from a template. The first template we were given was this duck. It has a large variety of line lengths and curves so it will be a really good drawing to use to adjust to the tablet. I brought the image into PhotoShop and then added a layer. I placed a white rectangle over the drawing and then lowered the opacity to make the sketch less visible.

I then added another layer and started to draw the outline of the duck. This took we a bit of time as I was trying to make the lines as smooth and clean as possible. For a few sections, I had to redo the line about 10 times until I produced one I was happy with.

This was the final outline I had for the duck. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I think the curves are mostly all really smooth. The eyes are a bit rough but it's the best I was able to do. I decided to go for more of an angry duck so I gave him some big tilted eyebrows.

I then moved on to colouring the duck. I decided for this drawing I wanted to try and get use to the tablet more so I coloured the entire illustration in by hand rather than using shortcuts like fill. I'll use these better techniques in my second drawing.

I started by adding base colours on a layer behind the outline. I coloured the entire duck in a pale yellow colour for a start. This gave me a simple base colour to build off.

I then went and added all of my other base colours using the brush tool again. I frequently went over a line so I used the option key and mouse to select the other colour and quickly fixed it.

The next step was to add some details. I started by adding some detail to the eyes. Since he was angry I wanted to give him some red bloodshot eyes to match his fury. I made my brush a lot smaller and changed the colour to red. I then made a collection of squiggly, branching lines. I then wanted to add a redness around the edge of the eye. I started made my brush a lot bigger so it would blend evenly. I lowered the opacity of the brush to about 10% and started to build up the redness.

I then added some shadows and highlights to the beak. I used the colour wheel so select a slightly darker shade of orange. Shadows typically are under raised points so I added them under lines on the beak as shown in the image. I added a highlight on the top of the beak and a small one on the bottom.

I then moved on to his outfit. I decided to make it so it looks like he was wearing a vest with some sort of shell (bullet) belt. I started by adding the darker grey shadow to vest. I just played around with the shape of the shadow as there wasn't any guide in the template. I then added some shadows on to the neck of the vest. I also changed the colours of the legs to match the darker orange from the beak. I think the yellow was a bit too light.

I then moved on to adding highlights and shadows onto the boots. I made the boots have a massive lip rather than a really thin one. I added a lighter shade of blue so that the darker one became the shadow. It took me quite a while to get the shape of the shadow right as I was trying to make it fit with the rest of the boot.

I then added some highlights to it to make them seems shiny and new.

I then added some shadows and highlights onto the duck itself. I added some shadows on the underside of some feathers and under his eyebrows to help express the anger. I added some highlights on the top of his head and on his wings.

This was first final drawing. I'm really pleased with the outcome as I've never drawn anything on PhotoShop or using a wacom tablet so I think this was a really successful first attempt. Next time I'd really like to try and add some more shading using brushes with lower opacities. I think this would really elevate the illustration. I think tomorrow I'll move on to the Rooster cop template and try colouring in using the proper way shown in the tutorial.

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rbhcom55 · 2 years

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#funny #buzz animals

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szk0dn1k · 2 years

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For any fellow tumblr user who reads this, I wish you nice, nonstressing holidays (even thou in my time zone it is slightly late)

Here, have some hot choccy milk with extra whipped cream and smol marshmallows, all in a big mug

For actualy liking my shitty drawings either made with tablet pen that I feel weird holding (becouse it's way thicker than a regular pencil [yes, I know it's obvious but I wanted to clarify that this particular thing bothers me]) , drawn with single or two pens(if two then one for sketch and second for lineart [even thou I end up making both of them rough sketches]), or actualy drawn using a goddamn pencil but still almost always chaotic and messy, and for those who actualy read my whole mumbling that was streched WAY too much, or those who just scrolled ignoring it here, have even bigger choccy milk mug

And for those curious, this is my self insert trollsona plz don't jugde

#shitty doodles #art #some hot choccy milk couse you guys are epic

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galeemdoesart · 2 years

Photo

got my wrist sprained but that won’t fucking stop me.

#minecraft #Minecraft fanart #herobrine #Minecraft Steve #herosteve #myart #artistsontumblr #the first one is still unfinished lol #will work on it more alot of things I need to fix #the second drawing was made on my bigger tablet #felt so good to draw on it again #I think you guys can tell the difference in quality lmao #not very good at glitching effects yet #need to practice more lol #i like angy stevie #sitting pose was a bitch but like how it turned out haha

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themaribatpit · 2 years

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Love and War: Chapter 1

Prompt: Aim (Jasonette July) @maribat-calendar-events

Rating: M for violence

Ships: Jason Todd/Marinette Dupain-Cheng

A/N: Sorry, we’re a little late to the party because we’ve been busy. We promise, we’ve got some fun stuff coming soon for Jasonette July.

Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Ladybug had been caught somewhere she shouldn't be, and this was confirmed by the click of a gun that she heard behind her. She slowly turned around, inch by careful inch she came face to face with the Red Hood. She could see the gun in his hand was pointing right at her, taking aim between her eyes. She slowly got to her feet, yes, this looked bad. The explanation behind it, being that she was looking for the source of a magical presence that had the gods of creation and destruction on high alert...didn't help either. To him, this probably looked like a hero in a brightly coloured costume snooping around an infamous crime lord's warehouse. Ladybug could only nervously chuckle as she stared down the barrel of the gun. She couldn't see the man’s face, just the harsh white lights on his red helmet that one would assume were meant to look like eyes. "Looking for something?" It was hard to tell with the robotic sounding voice, but Ladybug could have sworn she heard a wry edge to the comment.

"I was," she said as she slowly got to her feet. Her hands leaning on the edge of the crate behind her. She tried to keep up her nervous smile, maybe he'll see that she didn't mean any harm. "But since you're here," she said slowly as her eyes darted towards the ceiling, and her pressed her hands down on the crate. "I guess I'll be on my way." Ladybug pushed herself against the edge of the crate and kicked one of her legs up towards his gun arm, it fired and struck one of the sprinklers above them. She ducked down and bolted ahead, readying her yo-yo as she made her escape.

As Ladybug made it out of the warehouse and into Gotham’s cold city streets, they both knew the pursuit would not end there. The Red Hood continued to give chase as she swung away on her yo-yo. Whenever she managed to latch onto something, a grappling hook was never far behind. She could do this all night, but she didn’t want to and sooner or later he would catch up to her. She needed to hide and turn back into Marinette, and fast. As she reached the twinkling lights and the bustle of Gotham’s Chinatown, she saw her chance to shake him off.

Ladybug slipped into the alleyway and had mere seconds to throw him off. “Spots off,” she muttered. With a swirl of green light, she stopped looking like the former Parisian superhero and more like a small young woman. Marinette dove into the crowd of people who were either making their way home or getting some warm late night comfort food. Marinette glanced behind her to see the tall figure land surprisingly gracefully on the rooftop she leapt from moments earlier. While he searched for a woman in a bodysuit, Marinette looked away and dusted off her pink chiffon dress.

She quickly walked back to her apartment, only stopping to get dinner. As far as everyone else knew, Marinette had come to Gotham to open a small fashion studio. They didn’t know that Ladybug was here to continue to do good as a hero and as the Guardian of the Miraculous. Well, at least in the sense that she was continuing to help people by night, while she ran a small boutique and designed clothes by day. The tiny apartment was no bigger than a shoebox, but Marinette did everything in her power to make it comfortable. She always made warm bread and sweet cakes in the tiny kitchen. She had a thick soft futon on the few occasions she managed to get some sleep. Her sewing machine, mannequin and drawing tablet were neatly sectioned off into one corner. The tiny bathroom also had a bath she could submerge herself in, and there was a small shelf full of products that made her smell like a flower garden. As Marinette stepped inside, there was one other thing she neglected to tell her family and friends about. While Marinette toiled away at her commissions and designs, there was one person who was a constant presence in the apartment. When she stepped inside and shrugged off her coat, he looked up from his spot atop the futon. He had been reading a book that was roughly the size of Marinette’s head and leisurely turning the pages. “Busy day at the shop?” he asked. Marinette shook her head, “I was feeling hungry, so I went and got something to eat.” She set a takeaway bag down on the small dining table, taking out the small bento inside and offering it to him. One thing she neglected to tell the people back home in Paris about was the fact that she wasn’t alone in the tiny apartment. She met someone shortly after arriving in Gotham, and that someone would often stop by the apartment, so often that he practically lived there. He was a guy who, on the surface, towered over her and looked strong enough to crush her into a coke can if he thought about it hard enough. She was drawn to his kind eyes and gentle smile, and he had a fondness for literature that made him seem like he was more than just the tall brute people made him out to be. That being said, he could still be intimidating towards other people when he wanted to be.

As her boyfriend ate the bento, Marinette slumped down on the futon. She lay there quietly for a moment, her mind racing with thoughts about her encounter with the Red Hood. She had heard whispers and rumours about him in the area. People didn’t know what to make of him, but they were all certain that no one should cross him. Ladybug had probably made herself a target by searching for something in one of his warehouses. She couldn’t trust anyone else in Gotham to understand or make sense of it, nor did she want anyone else to get hurt because of it. All she knew was that Tikki had been feeling an unsettling magical presence ever since they had landed in Gotham. It was like a curse hung over this neighbourhood, possibly the whole city. They even felt its presence in this very apartment. They had always felt it from time to time, making a note to tug on the inside of Marinette’s sleeve when they felt it was particularly strong.

The spot on the futon next to Marinette dipped a little when her boyfriend finished his food. He was probably going to read a few more chapters of the book he was reading before she came home. “Jason,” she asked, her voice partially muffled by the bed sheets as she buried her face in them, “could you read me a story?” Marinette felt his fingers brush against the top of her head, gently sweeping aside the lock of hair in her face. As he softly read out the words on the page, she felt herself sink deeper and deeper into the futon, letting sleep take her.

Having read aloud the next few paragraphs of his book, Jason glanced down at Marinette, snoring softly beside him. She looked completely and utterly at peace, she wasn’t plagued by nightmares of killer clowns or the agony of being dragged back into the land of the living. As far as she knew, he worked at the Iceberg Lounge, she didn’t need to know that he owned the place. She didn’t know that her colourful little apartment was probably the last place anyone would go looking for the infamous Red Hood. She had heard of the Red Hood, heard stories of how he became Gotham’s most formidable crime lord. She once said that she couldn’t imagine what would drive someone to do that. Marinette once told him that Paris was under a long reign of terror. One where someone’s negative emotions made them a target for magic users who wanted to turn them into monsters. She felt as though they were, usually, still people underneath. In this case, they were people who were often being controlled and made to do someone else’s bidding. She didn’t understand how someone could be driven to kill those same people. So, Jason kept his other identity to himself. He kept telling himself that it was because he didn’t want to put a target on her back. Ever since he returned from the grave, he fought with everyone he thought had once cared about him. Marinette had been the one thing that hadn’t been tarnished by his ordeal.

Jason almost never slept when he stayed over in Marinette’s apartment, last time he drifted off to sleep, he had a nightmare about being submerged in the Lazarus Pit. He woke up to Marinette looking down at him with a very concerned look on her face. Once or twice, he saw that same concerned look in her eyes when she noticed the scars that marked his body. So while she slept, that gave him plenty of time to be alone with his own thoughts.

He remembered meeting Marinette for the first time in a small bookshop that he often frequented. It was run by a charming old couple and Jason liked the place enough that he took extra care to make sure nothing bad happened to it. As he looked through the shelves lined with books new and old, he spotted a peculiar sight a few sections over. He saw a young woman that was about a foot shorter than he was, trying to reach a book that was just out of her reach on the shelf above her. She looked around, unable to find a stool or step ladder to help her reach it. She resorted to trying to climb the shelves, and only then did he think to go over and help the poor girl.

Her face was scrunched up in concentration as she got closer to the book that she wanted. Unfortunately, one of her feet also slipped, and she would have tumbled to the ground had Jason not been there to catch her. The girl gave a startled squeak, before she looked up at him. He stopped and stared for a moment, she had inky black hair, a round heart-shaped face, and expressive eyes that drew him in. She glanced down at her feet, blushing with embarrassment over what had just happened. Jason quietly chuckled, it was just too adorable. He reached up and grabbed the book that she had been trying to reach, before handing it to her. “Th-thank you,” she stammered as she took the book from him “Don’t worry about it, just try and remember the shelves aren’t really for climbing,” he joked.

“Sorry, we can’t all be giants,” she retorted, “some of us just have to try and adapt.”

Jason glanced down at the book, trying to start a conversation that didn’t devolve into him mocking her short height. “So what’s a young lady like you doing trying to reach for a book on knitting?” Jason asked.

“If you must know, I just opened up a boutique in the area,” she said, smiling warmly yet proudly, as if she hadn’t set up shop in one of the most dangerous cities on the planet. Jason was surprised anyone would set up something as unassuming as a boutique in the area, unless it was a front for something a lot less glamorous.

“In Gotham, of all places?” Jason asked, her French accent didn’t go unnoticed. She clearly hadn’t been here long as her eyes still had a hopeful shine to them. She’d probably feel more at home in Metropolis, though no self-respecting Gothamite would say that out loud. She tapped her chin thoughtfully as she looked through the other shelves, seemingly undeterred by the slight surprise in Jason’s voice.

“Yes,” she said, “plan to try and scare me away?”

“Around these parts, there’s probably no one scarier than me,” Jason was only half joking this time.

“I’m shuddering with fear,” she retorted sarcastically, Jason knew she wouldn’t be laughing if she knew the things he’d done just last week.

“Well, if you do decide to stick around, Gotham might actually get some sunshine this year,” he was about to turn and walk away, to squirrel this fun little back and forth in the back of his mind somewhere. Maybe it would be a funny memory, the kind that would make him smile, at least on the inside.

As he was about to walk out of the little book store, rapid footsteps trailed behind him and a card was stuffed into his hand. Jason stopped and looked down at the card, before glancing at the young woman who gave it to him. “Come by the shop sometime, it would be nice to see a familiar face,” she suggested, with a hopeful glow in her eyes that Jason couldn’t bear to say no to.

Jason glanced at the name on the card, “Marinette Dupain-Cheng, a pretty name for a pretty girl” he thought.

“Also, I never got your name,” Marinette scratched the back of her head, somewhat embarrassed at the realisation.

“Jason Todd,” he said, “I guess I’ll see around, Pixie.” With that, he turned and stepped out into the frosty streets.

Since that day, and the months that followed, Jason had managed to play the parts of the loving boyfriend and the brutal crime lord. On occasion, the two sides came dangerously close to merging together. Needless to say, there was a reason other crime lords didn’t come knocking on her shop door demanding protection money.

He came by once as the Red Hood, and this time he was met with Marinette having a much more guarded and serious expression on her face. Her eyes didn’t miss his holstered guns as he walked into the shop. Him being here was more of a show of the business being a part of his territory. "Can I help you?" She asked tentatively, her eyes watched him closely. He wondered if she was perhaps trying to gauge his personal style from the leather and Kevlar.

"This is just a social call, most people around here like to know who's in charge of the area," he explained.

"Is that so?" she said, "Is there anything I can do for you Mr…?"

"Call me the Red Hood," he bit back the urge to say much more than that, one wrong slip of the tongue could give away who he was under the mask. "And you are…?"

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, or 'MDC' for short." Marinette handed him the same card she gave him at the bookstore. This time she carefully placed it in his gloved fingers with both hands, as if she was worried he might bite her if she got too close. There was a cold professionalism to it, he had to remind himself who he was as he stood before her. The warm little boutique just got colder at that moment.

“So, nice place you got here,” he said, trying to make something resembling friendly conversation. Marinette tilted her head to the side, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. He could see her tense up at the remark, as though he was about to imply he would burn the place to the ground if she didn’t pay up.

Marinette stared silently at Red Hood’s attempt at small talk, her eyes darted between his mask, his hands and his guns. He understood he had overstayed his welcome. “Glad we got this out of the way, see you around, MDC.” He gave a brief wave as he walked out.

#jasonette #jasonette july #jasonette july 2022 #maribat #ml x dc #dc x ml

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ragingbookdragon · 3 years

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Batsis & Green Lantern, Sittin’ In A Tree. K-I-S-S-I-N–Wait, Is That Our Sister? PT. 2

Kyle Rayner x Batsis One-Shot

Word Count: 3.3K Warnings: NSFW (Slightly), Explicit Language Tags: @starflyer-104

Author's Note: Hi I finished this! Enjoy! -Thorne

**********************************************************************

Oddly enough, she didn’t make Kyle do anything other than design the first month he was at Wayne Manor. And she was true to her word. He had an entire room to himself, and the room was as big as his whole apartment, bigger if he was honest; and that wasn’t all—he had every instrument an artist could ever want, even some of the newest drawing tablets and pens that hadn’t even come out yet. Limited edition first pick that only someone like her could get her hands on by merely flashing that pretty smile and her last name of “Wayne”. It was a graphic artists dream come alive, and Kyle was afraid that he was going to wake up from it that he never once tried to pinch himself to see if it was a dream or not.

Surprisingly enough though, (Y/N) was being awfully nice to him too. She’d taken him shopping a bunch of times, a whole new wardrobe and even thrown in a new phone and laptop. Of course, Kyle wasn’t a fool and immediately confronted her about using her purchases to hold it over him. That was the one instance in which she wasn’t awfully nice because she sucker-punched him and told him to never call her a manipulator ever again. That she had never once used a purchase to force someone into something—she was a bitch but she wasn’t that kind of bitch.

He even questioned Jason about it once they got back to the manor and his friend cackled at the nice shiner he’d received. (Y/N) doesn’t buy things for people to make them do what she wants. She buys things for people because that’s how she shows she’s fond of them. Honestly, if she buys you what you want, especially if you ask for it, that’s how you know she thinks you’re a friend of hers. Just let her spoil you for a while, Rayner. You’ll miss it when you have to go back to NYC.

Kyle relented then, instead of fighting her on paying for everything, he watched her. Watched her when he asked for something. Just for a split second she’d get a look of honest surprise in her eyes before that smirk crossed her lips and she’d toss it in the basket before picking up her own needs. He found it almost endearing, the way she acted, like she wasn’t expecting him to ask for anything. And Kyle especially liked that look in her eyes. It made his heart beat a little faster when she gazed at him with those big eyes.

And while he did love that look, it only lasted for one month. Hell had come to the manor, and Kyle was smack in the middle of it.

***

“Good morning family!” she greeted cheerfully, placing her hands on Kyle’s shoulders. She received various replies, some happy, some tired, and Kyle gave his own.

“Morning, (Y/N). You seem happy.” He cut into the buttery waffle and started bringing the fork to his mouth when she grabbed his hand and gently but firmly, took the utensil into her mouth. Kyle couldn’t help but go slack jawed as she chewed and swallowed, offering him a smirk.

“I’m sorry,” she purred. “Did you want that?” His mouth opened and closed, and she pushed the plate forward, replacing it with a tall smoothie shaker that was a bright, sickly green.

“Uh…” he started, looking between the shaker and her. “What’s that?”

(Y/N) nodded at it. “That’s your breakfast for this morning.” She flipped the cap open. “It’s got spinach, kale, bananas, vanilla flavored protein powder, pineapple, mint leaves and spirulina.” She grinned. “It’s got all the protein and greens you need for the start of this wonderful day.”

“I don’t even know what spirulina is.” Kyle remarked.

“Blue-green algae super-food.” (Y/N) nodded at it. “From now on you’re going to drink smoothies every morning and then we’re going to weight train and run every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.”

Her family started snickering around the table and Kyle swallowed thickly daring to ask, “And Tuesdays and Thursdays?”

She grinned wickedly at him. “Combat, Rayner.” Handing him the shake, she quipped, “Drink up me hearties.”

“Yo ho.” Kyle whimpered when he sniffed it and gagged.

***

“C’mon weakling,” she nagged. “You’ve barely gotten through the second set. Don’t tell me you’re already tired.”

Kyle groaned as he pushed the weighted bar up, holding it for a second before letting it fall. “I told you I can bench press one-hundred. You put one-twenty on this bar,” he griped through gritted teeth.

(Y/N) smirked. “Feel that pain though? It’s weakness leaving your body.” She grabbed the bar with one hand, pulling it up and onto the hold; she grinned as Kyle panted, chest heaving up and down with every sharp intake of breath.

“I—don’t know—how you do this—everyday.” He gasped and she snorted.

“No pain, no gain, Rayner.” She walked around him, and Kyle was too weak to keep his eyes off her as she did. “Oh, I can’t wait for tomorrow,” she cooed, throwing a leg over his hips, lowering onto his thighs.

Kyle’s throat tightened and he gazed at her as she leaned forward, propping her elbows on his chest, staring into his eyes. “Pretty close there,” he panted and (Y/N) smiled.

“Closer the better in my opinion.” Her eyes narrowed bemusedly. “From here I can get a good view of your form.” She pulled away. “You’re using your lower back to push strength into your arms. This time, use your chest and shoulders. Deep breath when you push up, breathe out when you lower, okay?”

He nodded, grabbing the bar again. “What set now?”

“Three. Five reps.” (Y/N) pressed a hand to his abdomen. “Core muscles tight. Glutes tight. Keep the stability and use your upper body muscles alright?”

“Got it.” He said, pulling the bar off and she felt his pelvis start to push upwards and she splayed her fingers.

“Chest, Kyle. Not your hips.” He grunted, trying harder, and she put all her weight onto his hips, keeping them pressed down to the bench. It showed in his form as he improved almost instantaneously. “Nice job,” she murmured. “Keep going.”

He got to the fifth rep, starting to go up, when she purred, “Your arms are very strong, Kyle. I wonder just how strong.”

Something in her voice made his heart stutter and he forgot momentarily what he was doing. The bar shifted downwards, and he gasped as it came down at him; (Y/N) reached out, quick as lightning and grabbed it with both hands, standing from his legs to put the bar back.

She looked down at him, concern in her eyes. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” he breathed. “Sorry…lost my grip.” (Y/N) nodded and shimmied away, holding out a hand to him. “Thanks,” he said, letting her pull him up.

“Take five and go get some water, alright?”

He wanted to shake his head, tell her no, that he could keep going, but he thought against it and started for the water fountain in the corner. As he bent over, he happened to look back at her, seeing her bent over, stretching her legs. Heat pooled low in his gut, and he groaned, turning his eyes away.

“Jesus Christ,” he hissed. “Get a grip.”

“Let’s go, Rayner!” she called out behind him. “We’ve got two miles to run!”

Kyle let his head hand and he groaned again.

***

Compared to the day before, getting his ass kicked wasn’t as bad as it had seemed. That being said, (Y/N) wasn’t pulling her punches with him and he hadn’t managed to lay a single hit on her an hour in.

He gasped as she dropped him onto his back and he laid flat, gazing at the ceiling before him; she leaned over him, a cocky smirk on her face. “Need a break?”

“I’m not a novice in hand to hand. I trained with J’onn J’onnz for a while.” He countered with a glare and surprisingly, she nodded, rather impressed.

“I can tell in your form. You counter like he does.” (Y/N) bent down and gently swept away the sweaty hair from his forehead. “You’re learning pretty quick though, if I do say so myself.”

Kyle’s face lit up. “Really? You think—”

“But I can see that it takes you getting your ass handed to you over and over again before the lesson sinks in.”

His face pinched and he griped, “I should’ve seen that coming.”

(Y/N) snorted and patted his head, mocking, “You’re learning.” She smiled. “Now get up. You’ve rested long enough.”

“UGHHH!” he groaned, climbing to his feet.

***

On the third month and final month of the project, Kyle noticed a major improvement in himself. Not only had he lost a few of those extra pounds from snacking, toning all over his body, he’d also managed to expand his stamina a great deal. (Y/N) had congratulated him when he managed to run the various miles without even breaking a sweat.

The designs had come in well too, and Kyle honestly had more money than he knew what to do with. Well, rent and utilities were his most prominent factor, but even then, the money he’d have left over would last him a long time. He almost felt sad when they got to the final week of the project, no longer needing drawings, he was mostly there to make sure the designs were made correctly and with good materials.

(Y/N)’d even given him one of the first sets they produced and even if he was used to seeing his drawings published, it was another thing to see his name on the tag with it. It made him giddy, and he didn’t know how to rope that in with the continued nagging in the back of his brain. That it was all ending in a week. No more breakfast being made, no more laundry done, no more seeing his friends all the time and patrolling with them…and no more (Y/N) constantly.

When he thought about that, Kyle’s chest started to tighten, heart starting to hurt a lot more than he wanted to admit. And he knew why—somewhere along the lines of (Y/N)’s continual ass-kicking and training, he’d fallen in love with her. With her crude attitude and cocky smirks, her proud demeanor and skill, her beauty and the occasional kindness she showed to people, but most importantly, the love she showed for her family.

Most people saw an arrogant bitch who could school people six ways from Sunday both verbally and physically, but what they didn’t see, was the care she paid to those she loved most. To Dick’s anger issues, to Jason’s frequent regrets, to Tim’s consistent depression, to Cassandra’s ever-evolving education, to Damian’s rapid growth, to her father’s hurting soul—she cared so deeply for them, would give anything for them, even her life if it meant. And that made Kyle want to fall at her feet and worship her.

That this beautiful woman who allowed people to talk about her and never cared to correct, was the greatest woman alive, the most loving, the most caring. And she was hard, she was, but her love was tough and those that received it, her siblings and her closest friends, they knew she loved them completely. Kyle knew she cared for him. He only hoped that she wanted more.

***

The production party had been held in France and Kyle had never seen so many elites in one spot that he wasn’t sure how to even drink from his champagne chute correctly. Luckily, (Y/N) had stayed with him all night, tucking herself in his side and covering when he faltered in front of someone who didn’t speak English. And God, there was something very sexy about the way her lips moved when she spoke fluent French.

The party lasted well into the night and by the time they got back to the penthouse, he was dead on his feet. The siblings had dispersed to their rooms and (Y/N) stayed up a bit to speak with Alfred and Bruce over the phone. Kyle lingered around the kitchen with her and when she hung up, she sighed heavily, pulling out the dangling golden earrings and removing the chunky diamond necklace that probably costed more than Kyle did.

Her eyes met his and she smiled tiredly. “Did you have fun tonight?”

“I did,” he said happily. “It was…interesting to see what your life is like.” He chuckled. “Well, your day life that is.”

(Y/N) huffed a laugh and he wandered around the island, daring enough to reach up and grab her shoulders, digging his thumbs into her muscles. She groaned and hung her head a bit.

“Feel good?” he questioned, and she nodded.

“I don’t typically wear heels unless it’s for a party and I remember why.” Sighing, she pulled away from his arms and he just barely managed to keep the sadness from crossing his face as she turned. “What about you? Are you okay?”

Kyle shrugged. “Feel like I could sleep for a few days straight, but isn’t that how we all work?”

(Y/N) snorted, then sighed wistfully. “I almost don’t want this night to end.”

“How come?” he asked, and she met his gaze.

“I like seeing you flounder like a fish in front of socialites.” He rolled his eyes and she laughed, shoving him lightly. “I’m joking.” She rested her hand on his shoulder. “It’s been fun having around the manor. I know Dick and Jason have enjoyed hanging out with you.” She smiled and pulled away. “You should come back around after tomorrow.”

(Y/N) bypassed him and started towards her room when he spun and called her. “(Y/N).” she stopped and looked at him, waiting, expecting, and Kyle decided to lay his cards to her, letting her decide. “Spend the night with me.”

For a moment, she was surprised, honest to God surprised, then she smiled sweetly, something he wasn’t really used to, and she murmured, “Come with me.”

And Kyle barely managed to keep himself from tripping over his own feet as he hurried after her.

***

“Shut the door behind you,” she said, and he knew that just from the tone of her voice that she was the one who held the power—not that he cared, all he wanted was her. He felt his heart lurch as the door closed and she motioned him to come behind her. “Mind unzipping me?”

Kyle swallowed thickly as he reached up and grasped the gold zipper, gently tugging it down to where it stopped just above her rear. He also happened to notice that she wasn’t wearing any undergarments and he cursed under his breath. “Fuck, (Y/N).”

She grinned and with one hand undid the buttons behind her neck, then reached back, pulling his hands until his palms were pressed to her bare skin. “Be a dear and slip my dress off for me, hmm?” she leaned back into his hands. “Shouldn’t be too hard now.”

Before Kyle knew what he was doing, his hands were moving underneath the fabric of her dress, around her waist and up her chest, gently grabbing at the flesh of her breasts. (Y/N) gasped, a sound so saccharine in his ears, and leaned her head back on his shoulder.

“Kyle,” she whispered and with his pointer fingers, circled her nipples. Another gasp escaped her as she arched into his touch and she turned her head to the underside of his jaw, sucking the skin at his neck.

“(Y/N),” he groaned, rubbing up against her rear. “Baby...”

She was pushing away from him then, much to his dismay and she spun around, grasping at his suit. “Take your clothes off. All of them. Now.”

All that commanding she was doing was shooting straight to his cock and he obeyed immediately, not even caring about the dress shirt as he ripped it open, the buttons scattering across the carpet. He’d just gotten to his belt when he saw (Y/N) pull down her dress and he almost collapsed on his weak knees when her body came into full view.

For three whole months he’d been slowly driven insane by her tight clothes, guiltily imagining what she looked like underneath during the night, more often than not, relieving the urge.

She smirked and walked up to him, digging her fingers into the top of his pants and turned, pulling him along. They reached the beg and she yanked, sending him backwards onto the bed with a grunt, and then she was climbing atop him.

“I thought you wanted—” he gasped when she grabbed him through his pants. “I thought you wanted me to be naked.”

(Y/N) winked and squeezed him. “I changed my mind.” Leaning close, she let her lips hover above his. “I wanna see how needy I can get you.”

Kyle glared at her and surged forward, sealing her lips in a kiss before he wrapped an arm around her waist, tipping them over. She groaned into their kiss and wrapped her legs around waist. He let his free hand roam her body, caressing her side, squeezing her hip, slipping beneath her leg to grab at the flesh of her thigh. Each grasp, each pinch, each touch had her gasping and Kyle rocked against her, moaning under his breath.

Her fingers busied themselves with his belt and when she got it open, she unbuttoned his pants, and pushed them down a bit. Kyle pulled back to help but the second his hands left her body, he knew he made a mistake because she locked her ankles and placed her hands on his shoulders, shoving back. His back hit the bed and she was on top of him again, this time pinning his hands beside his head.

“Bad boy,” she admonished. “You weren’t supposed to move.”

“Sorry,” he retorted, but he wasn’t. Not in the slightest. “Couldn’t help myself.” He accentuated his point with a deep roll of his hips, and she grip briefly weakened as she ground herself down on him.

“You’re going to help yourself.” She warned, eyes devouring him where he lay. “Every movement is fifteen minutes added to how long I’m going to tease you.”

Kyle grinned. “Yes ma’am.”

(Y/N) matched his grin and before he could even see her move, she had a pillow from the top of the bed placed on his chest, long side up, enough to cover her from sight.

“What are you—” The door opened, and he tipped his head back on the mattress, seeing Dick and Jason gaping at them from the doorway.

For a solid moment, they all stared at one another, too shocked to say a word, then Dick and Jason were letting out the girliest screams Kyle had ever heard them make and they slammed the door shut.

(Y/N) sighed heavily and pressed her face into the pillow. “Lovely. Now we’re going to be all over the group chats.”

Kyle blinked, looking up at her. “You think so?”

“I know so.” She looked at him. “I knew I should’ve booked a penthouse across from this one.” (Y/N) started crawling off him when he reached out and grabbed her hips, keeping her in place; she cocked a brow. “Really? Your mood’s not killed?”

A flash of green appeared in her vision, then the door locked, and he smirked at her. “Nothing can kill my mood for you.” He squeezed her tightly. “Is yours?”

“Not in the slightest.” She reached down and traced the smirk on his lips. “Do me a favor though.”

“Anything,” Kyle agreed, and she grinned wickedly.

“Call me ma’am again.”

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blackypanther9 · 2 years

Text

Part 8 - Their room

Heiko was in front of the door and slowly reached for the knob.

“Wait ! You need to do a ritual to get this room and make an oath !”, Alma said.

Heiko chuckled.

“That is just something you created as a rule. Also we are already helping the village by NOT promising something we probably won’t keep. After the scientist is taken care of, we will go back home, so why bind ourselves to something ?”

Alma shut up at that and Heiko again reached for the doorknob and then touched it. The door glowed brightly and then the light faded and there was a picture of the whole Afton Family on the door.

William, Michael and Heiko looked to be hard working, a lot of concentration on their faces and Heiko had a mischievous smirk, Elizabeth’s face was filled to the brim with a dark promise, Chris looked like he was relaxing, but also huffing in stress and Vincent looked to be typing something with a lot of concentration. They all looked hard working, besides Elizabeth.

Heiko opened the door and soon smiled. The rest of his Family came to him and gasped, Chris and Elizabeth ran in soon after, laughing in glee.

“Wow…”, Vincent mumbled in awe.

Soon the Madrigals came over to them too and stared in awe and amazement.

The first room was a big living room with things the Madrigals never saw before. A TV with different Gaming consoles, a Nintendo Switch, an X Box One, a PS 4 and a PS 5. VR equipment was there too and a device where they can see all the things they want and of course the DVD, Blue ray and cassette tape players for more movies. There was a big comfy couch and 3 armchairs.

“The couch can also be turned into a bed.”, the person chuckled.

Heiko smiled at him and nodded.

When they left the living room, from the right, they entered a floor with a lot of doors. There stood names on them and Elizabeth opened her door and there was a bed, toys and a TV. She squealed in delight and ran to the bed.

“It is so fluffy !”, she giggled out.

“That is her room… Chris ? Yours ?”

“It is perfect ! Not too bright, not too dark and so much room ! My friends are there too and my bed is very comfortable !”, he answered.

“Good.”

“Mine has a lot of tools inside and parts to build stuff and a big bed, very comfy to sleep in and warm.”, Michael informed.

Then Vincent and William came back next.

“Mine is amazing !”, Vincent cheered.

“Mine as well. So calming and relaxing if needed.”, William sighed in happiness.

“What about yours, Heiko ?”, Michael asked.

Heiko shrugged.

“I don’t know, didn’t see it yet… Let us check…”

With that he went to his own door and opened it, they all looked at it in awe.

His room’s walls were red and black decorated, the red glowed brightly, giving the room a cool and scary look, his bed was an utter place of fluff. Heiko was a sucker for good fluffy stuff, it kept him warm enough and it gave him a comfortable feeling, relieving him of stress in seconds. Fluffy blankets, pillows and a good mattress made him relax in seconds.

He had a big working table and a chair. On the table was his Computer and mouse. Perfect for modeling later~

His closet had all of his clothes he needed and he even had some Blueprints in his drawers. He had a lot of paper to draw and print on and he had a printer too ! His Tablet and phone were there too. He made them himself and because of that no one could track him down on his stuff.

“I. Fucking. LOVE IT !!!”, he cheered.

They next checked the bathrooms, a dream come true. They were all perfect for them and then there were only 3 more rooms to go to. The room, where they will plan everything, the room, where they will build, and the room, where they charge stuff.

The room where they will plan everything and design everything they need was huge and very digital. Heiko was cheering in glee. The building room was even bigger and had a lot of empty shelves, Heiko was more than happy to soon fill them with parts and tools. And the charging room had 8 big stations to charge at. They looked like capsules where a 10 feet big human would fit inside.

Heiko’s friend really outdid himself.

“Thanks Casita.”, Heiko said, knowing his friend knew that he meant him.

He nodded and smirked.

“Next time come with something more difficult.”, he joked.

“I will hold you up to that challenge~”, Heiko hummed teasingly.

“Do your worst.”, he joked back.

Time skip sent to you by Pedro Madrigal…

They were eating different food. Julieta made her Family dessert and William made his Family dessert. They still didn’t fully trust the Family Madrigal and it will stay like that for a while.

“Yo ! Bill ?! What is for Dessert ?!”, Heiko yelled from the Dining room.

“I am frying some mushrooms with onions, for something on bread. And I am making some scrambled eggs.”, he answered.

“Nice !”

William seasoned the fried Mushrooms and after a few minutes they were done just like the scrambled eggs. He brought it to the table and they all took some bread and started to put the fried mushrooms with onions on their slices of bread, then they took a part of the scrambled eggs next.

They all started to eat as suddenly Heiko jumped up from his seat.

“Shit ! I forgot about Michael !”

With that he grabbed an empty plate and piled it up, then ran off to their room and delivered it to Michael. What the Madrigals didn’t know was that Michael can’t even eat, nor starve.

With Heiko…

“I am sorry… I almost blew your cover…”, Heiko mumbled to Michael.

“Hey, it was a hard and nerve wrecking day for all of us. They would have thought the same, don’t worry. “

“I still almost blew it…”

With that Heiko made the food disappear on the plate, but let it look messy, like Mike actually ate it.

“Just bring it down after a while and say it was great. A bit too salty but great.”

Michael nodded.

“Still thanks for covering me and not make me eat anything that I will have to vomit back out seconds later…”

“Hey it isn’t your fault. And Ennard apologized too. There is nothing we can do for now.”

“I miss being able to eat…”

“Don’t worry too much, we will find a way Mike.”

He nodded and smiled softly.

“You should go back… Your food will get cold.”

“I just ate yours. I am eating for 2 idiot…”, Heiko huffed but smiled.

“I know. Still…”

“Fine, fine. I will leave.”

With that he left the room and went back to the Dining room, sat down and ate his own food too.

After they ate their food Alma tried to start up a conversation. But what shocked Heiko was what she asked…

“So Pepa how was today going, helping the village ?”

“Sad as always, Mama…”

Alma hummed and then looked at Julieta.

“It was alright, Mama…”

Then Bruno.

“Brunito did you do anything helpful today ?”

Bruno gulped down his food and looked down at his plate.

“N-no Mama… Not many needed my help and then we helped this Family, so…”, he rushed to explain.

Alma held a hand up and looked at Bruno a little bit disappointed.

Then she asked the rest and they all said the same. Stressful, bad, horrible, sad and alright. But Alma never asked why their day was like that. Bruno was sunken in his chair.

“Wow…”, Heiko laughed out and then whistled as an applause at Alma.

They all looked at him.

“You legit treat your own Family like this ? ‘How has your day been ? Horrible ? Welp your damn problem so stop complaining.’? How about you ask them why it was so bad ? How about you CARE ? And Bruno was right, we were taking your time for the rest of the day. How was he supposed to help, if he was taking care of us like the rest of your Family ?”

“Heiko…”, Mirabel softly said.

He pointed a finger at Mirabel.

“With all due respect, stay silent please. I don’t care if you want to protect her or not and just want to tell me to stop right now. She legit just showed no care at all towards you all and you ACCEPT that behavior ! That is NOT right ! Damn and I thought she actually changed.”

At that the Madrigal Family stared at Heiko in utter shock, while he laughed bitterly.

“Wait…what ?”, Dolores asked.

MASTERLIST HERE !

#Encanto #Crossover with another Fandom #Male!Reader #Bruno x Reader #Alma Madrigal #Julieta Madrigal #Pepa Madrigal #Bruno Madrigal #Isabela Madrigal #Dolores Madrigal #Luisa Madrigal #Camilo Madrigal #Mirabel Madrigal #Antonio Madrigal #Afton Family

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mostlycompetentwriter · 3 years

Text

Domesticated Drabble

Pairing: Bang Chan x Y/N

Genre: Marriage AU; Sequel; Drabble

Warnings: So. Much. Fluff. (small smut scene at the beginning); language

Request:

A/N: Finally finished this one! Please enjoy another taste of my favorite AU!

5 Years Later

“We’ve got five minutes,” I whispered against the pulse point on Chan’s neck, the throbbing vein pumping hard as he panted for breath from above me, eyes shut tight together as he moaned.

“I’ll blow at any second,” Chan cursed, laying sloppy kisses wherever he could reach while fucking me hard and fast.

“Your cock feels amazing,” I practically purred, digging sharp nails into the milky white skin of his back, legs closing in around his waist to keep him close.

“Oh, sweetie, you’re laying it on thick this morning, aren’t you?”

I clenched a vice-grip around the length pumping inside me in response, sending Chan’s hips stuttering against my own. “I’ve got kids in the next room who can wake-up at any second. Excuse me for trying to inflate your ego.”

“That’s not the only thing inflating,” Chan gasped, curling his fingers through mine.

“You’re gross,” I huffed, closing my eyes and throwing back my neck as best as I could in this position: laid out under my husband, orgasm approaching at a meteoric-level speed, and sweat coating my skin in a delightful sheen as the muscles around my abdomen worked overtime to milk Chan for everything that he had before the moment was ruined by my kids.

I half-expected them to burst into the room unannounced at any second, oblivious to their parents fucking in much of the same way that created them in the first place. Locked together with limbs intertwining, sucking in each other’s air, and kisses rough and demanding.

Fuck it had been far too long since Chan and I had last done anything even remotely this intimate, and it was still necessary for us to go at it as fast as possible to prevent unwanted eyes from accidentally catching us at the height of our passion.

I couldn’t help but glance at the clock, realizing that we had been fucking for almost ten minutes, and the alarm had been set for 7:00 AM so that I could somehow wrestle my kids together for their first day of school.

Damn, this is gonna turn out to be a very long day.

“Are you close?” I asked Chan, connecting our lips for a sweet kiss since I personally knew that they were a weakness of his.

“Yeah,” he said, features collapsing into a look of pure concentration as a guttural moan found its way crawling up his throat to release itself at the same moment when I could feel his release emptying into the condom separating us from complete skin-to-skin by a thin layer of latex.

But I insisted on wearing them now.

“You’ll cum too, sweetie,” Chan whispered, laving his tongue across the pad of his thumb before reaching down to connect with my clitoris, drawing rough circles in random patterns to snap the physical breaking point: holding my tongue to prevent myself from screaming as I rode the waves of pleasure until nothing was left but a delicate haze and the sensation of Chan’s cock still stuffed inside my spent pussy.

As it turns out, aftercare with Chan was the equivalent of my husband spewing my praises while insisting on letting his cock soften completely before pulling out: cock warming at its finest.

“Do you plan to pull out?” I asked him, smirking when he whined and buried his face into the side of my neck.

“It’s been a while since we’ve been like this,” Chan remarked.

“The kids need to get up soon,” I said, although there was a sleepy pull weighing down my eyelids. A good fuck tended to wear me out. “They’ve got their first day.”

“Yeah,” Chan agreed, but he made no effort to separate us. In fact, I could imagine us both easily falling back to sleep.

“You’re coming right?” I asked around a yawn. “To their Kindergarten orientation or whatever the hell they call it.”

“Of course,” Chan said, and he finally lifted his head from my shoulder, gaze soft as he took his time to explore my features. “I can’t miss that.”

“What? Watching the teachers drag them away for the first day of the education system they’ll be stuck in for the next thirteen years?”

“You have a way with words, sweetie.”

I grinned. “Maybe I’m just using words to deny the weirdness of my kids starting school and making me feel like I’m 100 years old.”

“It feels like they were just born,” Chan agreed, and he slowly rose himself into a sitting position, climbing out of bed to give me the best view of his naked ass.

“Your ass looks great by the way.”

“Thanks,” Chan snorted, reaching for a pair of black slacks from the floor. “I’m taking a shower.”

“Fine,” I groaned. “I guess I’ll go awaken the sleeping monsters.”

“Let the chaos begin,” Chan announced, closing the bathroom door behind him as I reached down deep into the reserves to muster enough energy to finally get out of bed.

At the risk of sounding too long-winded, the best way I could describe my twins was with a touch of irony. Because, despite looking identical to one another, my girls couldn’t be more opposite in terms of personality.

Leah, the eldest by one minute, was boisterous, loud, and unapologetic when it came to being herself. She was the epitome of a social butterfly, jumping from one person to the next and asking questions that occasionally raised a few eyebrows because of their brazenness.

Her sister, Rose, was nothing like that. In fact, Rose hardly spoke at all, choosing to listen instead, and offer her voice only when she truly felt the need to include it. Of course, side-by-side, they were another thing altogether, far too energetic for me to handle.

This morning was no exception, chasing Leah around the house because she refused to change out of her pajamas, questioning me relentlessly on why it mattered that she had to change.

“I should wear what I want!” she insisted, and I had nearly lost my patience with her until Chan entered the room, and he was one of the only people who could talk through to Leah.

Him and Felix, of course.

Before Felix moved out, he and Leah were practically inseparable, and I could see her uncle’s influence in a lot of different ways.

“You want to look your best to make new friends, right?” Chan asked her, and after a laughable look of concentration, Leah nodded and allowed me to change her into a much more suitable dress.

“There,” I grumbled, turning my attention to Rose who was more willing to be dressed.

“Let’s go have breakfast, yeah?” Chan whispered to Leah, and she smiled and giggled at her father as he took her hand and led her into the kitchen.

I scoffed at how easy he was able to manage her, glancing at Rose who was even more quiet than usual. “Aren’t you excited for your first day?”

She shrugged, looking down at her hands. “I don’t want to leave you.”

I could feel my heart breaking at her sweet words, cupping her face between my hands as I tried to reassure her that she would still see me in the afternoons and evenings. “It’s just a little break,” I said, but I knew that Rose was harder to convince.

In the meantime, Chan and I worked together to have both twins fed and ready to leave the house, packing them lunches for school before ushering everyone out the door because we were teetering on the edge of being too late.

At least Chan had the wherewithal to warm-up the car, and it gave us more time to fasten everyone into their car-seats before pulling out onto the main road, speeding into the downtown district with the clock ticking away. “Well, at least the other parents will think we’re irresponsible.”

“I’ve got this,” Chan said, and I shivered as he toed the gas and grazed just going over too fast.

“At the risk of getting a ticket-”

“Relax, sweetie,” Chan interrupted, reaching over to take my hand. “I’ll handle everything.”

“Uh-huh,” I murmured, glancing up into the rearview mirror to see Leah and Rose engaged in their learning tablets. Even if they were a few minutes late, my kids would still be the smartest. I had made sure of that, spending countless hours with them reading as many books as I could buy, digging out paper and pencils to practice their names and alphabet letters, and reading tons of online articles about the best methods to ensure your child’s early learning set them up for the most success.

Right? So what if we were a little late.

“Mommy? Why can’t you both stay with us at school?” Rose suddenly inquired from the backseat.

I sighed, turning around to face her. “Mommy and Daddy both have to go to work, okay? We’ve already had our turn at school.”

“Our turn?” Chan chuckled, and I pivoted in my seat to glare at him.

“That’s the kind of language we should be using with them!”

“Did you read that from an online expert?”

“As a matter of fact, I did!” I huffed, and I caught his smile, letting me know that he was just messing around.

“I just want them to do well,” I whispered, and his expression instantly softened at the sound of my tone.

“You’ve done so well, sweetie,” Chan reassured me, squeezing my hand even tighter as he turned into the school’s parking lot, finding an empty spot near the back.

Immediately, I was at the back door, reaching inside to help Rose out of her seat, spinning her around to help her with her brand new bookbag. “There,” I said, once her attention was on me again. “You’re ready.”

“I don’t know...” Rose trailed off, and her eyes held all the uncertainty of a five-year-old who was used to staying at home with her parents and uncle. Not the unfamiliar presences of her peers.

“Hey,” I said, kneeling down to meet her gaze straight-on. “I know it seems scary, but I promise that you’ll really love it. I was the same way too on my first day, but my mom gave me the same advice, and guess what? She was right. I ended up loving school, and if there’s a little piece of me in you, then I know that you’ll have so much fun that you’ll forget all about your mommy and daddy.”

Rose’s eyes grew bigger, shaking her head in a manner that was quite endearing. “I won’t ever forget you.”

“I know, sweetheart,” I said, pulling her close for a hug as Chan and Leah emerged from the other side.

“Everything okay?” Chan asked, looking between me and his daughter.

“Just fine,” I said, ruffling Rose’s hair before standing tall again. “Let’s go inside.”

The classroom was already full of students, and I was glad to see some parents lingering, which meant we weren’t as late as I had thought.

“Told ya,” Chan snickered, and I gave him a playful glare before turning my attention to the approaching teacher: an older gentleman with a head of pepper and salt colored hair and kind eyes.

“Hello,” he said, addressing me first. “I’m Mr. Park.”

“Hi,” I said, accepting his handshake. “These are my daughters: Leah and Rose Bang.”

“Ah!” Mr. Park remarked, glancing down. “I’m excited for our twin students! Please, have a seat wherever you’d like.”

“Go on,” I encouraged them when I caught their matching looks of insecurity. “You have each other,” I added, reaching down to wrap their fingers together, giving them one last smile before Leah bravely led her sister further into the room, selecting an empty table near the back.

“Well, it’s so nice to meet you,” Mr. Park said, and I noticed that he had grown a little too close, gaze lingering for far too long.

“Yes,” I agreed, “And this is my-”

“I’m Chan,” my husband interrupted, inserting himself between me and Mr. Park with a brusque movement. “The father.”

I rolled my eyes at his tone, watching as Mr. Park hesitated before nodding and shaking Chan’s outstretched hand. “Nice to meet you.”

I smirked, waiting until Mr. Park had moved on before leaning in to Chan. “What was that, dear?”

Chan scoffed, searching the room for a moment. “He was flirting with you, sweetie. What did you expect me to do?”

“Well, it could be from our morning romp, but it kinda turned me on.”

Chan raised a suggestive brow at my comment, but I gave him a cheeky smile in response before walking in the direction of Leah and Rose’s table. “Look at you two,” I remarked. “I think you made a good choice.”

“I like seeing outside,” Leah said, and I nodded and tucked away a wayward strand of hair.

“You’ll both stay together, right?”

I received synchronous nods in response, and there was a lot of relief on my end knowing that my girls would be just fine.

“We’ll be here to pick you up at 2:00,” Chan said, pointing to the analog clock above the door. “Okay?”

Two more nods. “Remember to have fun. You’re gonna learn so much, and maybe you’ll even be smarter than daddy.”

I managed to elicit two laughs in response to that, and Chan chuckled as he wrapped an arm around my waist. “Be good, alright?”

“Yes, daddy,” Leah replied diligently while Rose nodded her head, attention drifting to a book sitting at the edge of the table.

I smiled knowing that she was showing interest, and then I realized that there was a deeper part of me that was having just as much trouble leaving the girls as they were having with leaving me and Chan. But the other parents were starting to leave the room, and with one more exchange of our goodbyes, Chan and I were walking away from our girls, keeping our own hands locked together as the door closed behind us.

“Woah,” I sighed once we were outside in the hallway. “That was harder than I expected.”

“It’s a big step,” Chan said, and he wrapped an arm around my waist to pull me closer. “But they’ll be okay because they’re ours.”

“Oh,” I laughed. “Is that so?”

“Of course,” Chan said, giving me a perfectly serious look before a smile overtook his features, and any previous doubts were vanquished by the sincerity in that smile, and I knew that as long as I had Chan, then nothing would ever be too difficult to overcome.

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