#there were some stuff in the ask box i still really wanted to draw out so im finishing them up really fast

[mintae-chii]

Simon hides *in* the fridge during summer

The desire to make Simon the prosecutor's office's resident cryptid vs the voice inside me saying "he would not do that" fighting to the death

[tsuvvy]

Damian would never admit it but he actually loves coloring with little sister reader 😚 It’s such a nice stress reliever for him after a chaotic day as a teenage vigilante. Would love to see you write this!!

Color Therapy

Pairing: Damian Wayne x youngest sibling reader

Summary: Damian couldn't deny you were sweeter than you put yourself off to be. And, coloring was more therapeutic than he was expecting.

Warnings: Mentions of you living on Gotham streets and being homeless, mention of robberies, nothing really bad in this though

Word Count: 1.2k

You were an odd kid, that's for sure. You were younger than Damian, about a year or two, so he had expected someone more.. Childlike.

But you were an indifferent kid. You obviously came from a rough background, having grown up on the streets of Gotham. But still. His point stands when he was expecting someone more childlike.

You never reacted to the glares or scowls you received from him. You only returned his mean, annoyed gazes with a calm, unconcerned one of your own. Slowly, Damian had stopped giving you these scowls and glares.

And slowly, his school and vigilante work started to take up most of his time. He'd started visiting the library more often to study for his exams and finish his homework. And with that, he noticed something. He'd noticed it was common for him to find you within the library with a sheet of paper and just some highlighters. Usually, he'd just ignore your presence and sit elsewhere in the library.

He doesn't know why, but. He just started sitting with you. Neither of you would say a word. You would just sit in the comfortable silence filled with your coloring of highlighters on paper, and Damian’s typing of keys on his computer and turning of book pages.

“Y/n,” he finally spoke your name after a few days. You looked up at him. “Why do you only have highlighters?”

You looked down at your piece of paper for a second before saying, “They were all I could find.” You looked back up at him. Damian and you left that conversation there.

But the next time he came to the library, he dropped a pack of nice colored pencils in front of you.

You stared at the pencils for a moment before looking up at him. He caught your gaze.

“What?” He asked, looking back down at the book he had for his homework.

“Wanna color with me?” You asked abruptly. It made Damian pause in his tracks. He looked up at you, his gaze flitting to your paper, the highlighters, and the colored pencils he'd just given you.

“No.” He said, looking back at his book. But something kept him from reading. “Thank you, though..” His voice was quieter.

Nights like this tired Damian out. It was a stressful night. It was just supposed to be a patrol. But there were a string of robberies out of seemingly nowhere. He was exhausted.

And now he was slugging throughout the halls. He yawned just as he passed an agape door. He glanced through the crack. And what he saw made him stop in his tracks.

You were laying on the floor of your room coloring with the pencils he had given you. He didn't know why he stepped forward to your door. And he didn't know why he pushed it open.

You looked up at him. And he looked back at you. You seem to understand what even Damian couldn't.

“Wanna color?” You asked again like you had earlier.

Damian glanced down the hall to his room before looking back at you and your coloring stuff.

“Fine..” He gave in, stepping into your room and sitting on the floor across from you. He took the paper you handed him and grabbed a few colored pencils from the box you had moved closer to him.

It took him a moment to decide what he wanted to draw. But when he began to draw, it was weird.

His head was empty and it just seemed so.. Simple? He was calm..

“Can I use the red?” You asked, your hand was out awaiting for the red pencil.

“Yeah,” He put the red colored pencil in your hand.

Damian sighed as he put a textbook he had acquired from math on the library table.

Damian glanced at you from across the table, you were coloring like always. Then he looked down at his homework. He didn't want to do this. He never did. Homework was annoying. And you seemed to read his mind, because without even looking at him, you passed him a sheet of paper and moved the box closer to him.

Damian closed his computer and stood up from his seat. He moved to one next to you so you could both share the pencils better.

Damian could practically feel his stress and annoyance slowly wash off of him.

“Purple please,” You asked him.

“Mhm,” He hummed, finishing the area he needed to with the purple before he placed it into your hand.

“Damian,” you called his name within the halls of school.

“What?” He looked down at you when you took up pace with him.

“All the colored pencils in the box you gave me are short and hard to use now,” You told him, looking up at him.

“Alright,” He looked ahead, “I’ll get some more, then.”

“Could you get a bigger box with more variety in colors?” You asked.

“Yeah, I can.” He nodded.

“Thank you!” You said, hugging his arm abruptly before running off to class, joining a few kids you had made at the very least acquaintances with.

The way you hugged his arm startled him, he hadn’t expected it. He watched you run off, his heart feeling like it’s blooming like a flower.

Damian dropped the box in front of you where you sat on the floor of your room. He took a seat across from you much like he had the first time he joined you for coloring.

You looked at the back where the names of all the colors were, and sure enough, there was more of a variety like you had requested.

You passed him a piece of paper and put the box in between you two so you both could reach it.

“Why do you color so much?” Damian asked you.

“My head is quiet when I do.” You replied.

Damian paused in his coloring, looking up at you. “What do you think about when you don’t?”

You were quiet for a moment. “What I saw growing up on the streets of Gotham.” He didn’t need you to go into detail to know what that short sentence implied.

He looked backed down at his sheet of paper. He put the pencil he had down.

“Are you using the light green?” He asked. You shook your head and handed him the light green pencil.

You two were quiet for awhile. Silently coloring in a comfortable silence.

“You know you’re safe here, right?” He looked at you, and you finally looked back at him. “You’re here for good, you aren’t going anywhere.”

You stayed quiet.

“You’re safe here.”

You stayed quiet.

“Say something.”

“Thank you.”

Damian looked back down at his sheet of paper at your words, taking it as your understanding of his words.

Damian usually thinks of his own traumas when nothing occupies his brain. Or he’s doing homework. Or he’s fighting crime.

He doesn’t often give himself moments of peace.

But when he’s coloring with you in a comfortable silence like he is now. It’s like for once, a moment of peace washes over him.

He hated to admit it. But you and your dumb coloring were nice. It was nice for him to finally have a quiet moment.

Damian hates being vulnerable, and he feels almost vulnerable.

But he couldn’t deny it anymore. These moments were therapeutic.

[starshideurfics]

Thirsty Thursday - Ring My Bell

steddie, omegaverse, flagging/signaling culture, mdni 🔞

Based on a fun worldbuilding convo in the SHOM discord that’s still buzzing around my head. Credit to @itcanbepalped and @jeffgoldblumsmulletinthe90s for vibing on this one

Steve’s parents never wore rings. They said it was gauche; very new money of them.

“Why bother with jewelry on your fingers that will get banged up on your hands when you can wear a necklace,” Clarissa would say when she spotted someone at the club with a ring, or god forbid two! Her own betrothal and bonding necklaces were layered, drawing the eye to her bite.

That was the whole point of a necklace. Either it emphasized a bonding bite, or it highlighted the fact that the wearer’s bonding gland was intact.

Steve had been given a necklace after he presented, a simple gold chain with a bejeweled padlock.

Pretty fucking gauche if you ask him.

Steve wouldn’t have worn it, but it was expected. Plenty of omegas wore something similar; he’d rather have his grandmother’s old claddagh ring, but his mother said it was low class.

So he wears his necklace every day, a reminder that he belongs to his father until he is mated. Then, he’ll belong to his alpha. Legally. At least until Congress hot its act together and passed some of the proposed equity laws.

Maybe his mom was right, rings were more easily lost. They tainted the scent of your hands with harsh metal.

It’s just that he’s seen some interesting ones, shapes so far beyond the standard lock, circle, and eternity knot. Meanings far more individualized than his necklace.

Which is why when the pups start following after Eddie Munson, Steve really notices his rings.

He gets what the book means. Or, he thinks he does. Munson doesn’t wear blockers, ever. His scent is an open book.

And the skull could be one of those gothy, ‘I mate for life’ things.

But the pig makes no sense. And no scents. Pigs don’t typically have a smell worth advertising.

The ring on his right hand is so simple in comparison that Steve gets stymied there, too.

He drops it, not wanting to reveal his interest in anything to do with Eddie Munson.

Steve is perfectly ready to let it stay a mystery until the night he comes to pick Dustin up after Hellfire only for Eddie to be the only one left in the lot, hauling his stuff out to his van. 

“Sinclair got his permit; your chuckleheads all went with him so he could show off.”

“Oh,” Steve says dumbly, only for his brain to catch up and spit out, “And they’ve never heard of a phone?”

“Real butthead behavior on their part,” Eddie agrees with a smirk. “Anyway, sorry you came out here for nothing.”

“Eh, could be worse.” Steve’s thinking monsters or g-men.

Of course, Eddie doesn’t know that. He gives Steve an appraising look. Then he surprises Steve. “I could make it up to you,” Eddie says with a crooked grin.

“How?” Steve asks, swallowing back the ‘not your fault’ that almost slipped out automatically. Because it kinda is.

Steve wouldn’t be here if not for Eddie’s club and the hold it has on Steve’s merry band of twerps. So he’s open to whatever Eddie’s offering to make them square.

He shouldn’t be surprised when Eddie pulls a joint from his pocket, sets it in his mouth to light, and inhales.

He holds it towards Steve as he blows out a stream of smoke. “We can hang, take the edge off your night.”

Steve takes the joint. Eddie grins and skips over to his van, opening the back door and giving a joking bow.

Steve laughs. He didn’t expect to be charmed so easily.

But he is, and after a couple hits he feels relaxed and loose in a way that would be fine in the safety of his bedroom, not so much when he has to drive.

He’s going to say as much, tell Eddie he should clear his head, when his eye catches the shine of silver on his fingers.

It’s like his brain isn’t connected to his mouth as he asks, “Why the pig?”

Eddie looks up from the box of cassettes he’s looking through and furrows his brow. “Huh?”

Steve’s brain must be cut off from his body too, since he reaches out and snatches up Eddie’s left hand.

“The pig,” Steve says, tapping on the offending ring. “Like, the book and the skull I think I got, but I’m coming up empty on the pig.”

“I’m surprised you knew it was a book.”

“But it’s book-shaped!”

“You mean rectangular?”

“But it is a book right?”

“Yeah.”

“So that’s about your scent,” Steve feels smug as he says it.

“I don’t smell like books,” Eddie says, clearly confused. “That’d be pretty awesome, though. Old books smell nice. Unless they’ve been in a basement too long.”

Steve nods sagely. This is obvious wisdom. No one wants to jump your bones if you smell like a musty basement.

Then he remembers his point. “You don’t smell like books, you are a book. Easy to read your scent ‘cuz you don’t wear blockers.”

“Don’t like ‘em. Make my head all fuzzy, and not in a fun way.”

“And the skull is a ‘til death’ thing right?”

“It’s actually a vampire skull.” Eddie points out the elongated canines. “You know, ‘the eternal kiss’ or whatever. I think bites should mean something.”

Steve nods again, feels a weird pull low in his belly. “That’s cool. Not enough alphas I know have that opinion.” He’s seen too many broken bonds at the country club and his father’s company Christmas parties.

Seen too many couples who shouldn’t have bonded in the first place.

“So, what’s the pig?”

Eddie looks down where Steve is still holding his hand. “Ever heard of a truffle hunter?”

“Like the chocolates?”

“No, the mushrooms! You’re rich, don’t you know about fancy mushrooms!”

Steve shakes his head, feels dumb. 

But Eddie just accepts his ‘no’ and moves on, “Well, they’re these rare mushrooms, and pigs like to eat them, so they’re really good at sniffing them out. And that’s me. I fully plan to sniff out my scentmate, and until then…” He shrugs. “Plenty of hot omega pussy to smell.” 

As soon as the words are out of his mouth, Eddie slaps his right hand over his whole face in shame. “Shit, sorry. Not appropriate in front of an omega. Or anyone. I promise I’m not a creep trying to get in your pants.”

But Steve’s mouth has gone dry. He wears blockers still, for work, the scent neutralizing deodorants and perfumes good at covering up his scent. The only place he doesn’t apply it is his crotch, because no one should be getting close enough anyway.

Suddenly he wants Eddie to be close enough.

He’s still holding Eddie’s hand, can still smell the edge of his woody scent over the weed. “It’s okay,” he says. Turns Eddie’s palm toward him and brings it to his nose.

The metal smell is there. But also pine and herbs, deepened by dark musk. His tongue darts out for a taste.

His hand mostly tastes like skin, a little like salt and smoke, but the scent is still there. Makes him want more. He pulls back, looks at Eddie who is staring at him with awe on his face.

“Okay, Mr. Trufflehunter, how do I smell?”

“You’ve got blockers on-”

“Not everywhere.”

His movements are slow, giving Eddie every chance to back out as he slides his fingers into Eddie’s hair, gripping the side of his head, and guiding him down towards Steve’s crotch.

Towards his wet pussy.

continued in part 2

[christinebloodwrittings]

To hunt or be hunted #2

Pairing: Alastor x Fem!Reader x Lucifer

Summary: Strong statements from the "feared" king of hell, deadly oversights, cute duck-shaped cupcakes and the forgotten terror that lives beneath the hotel enjoying a certain demon's broadcast.

Warnings: Self loathing, a bit of a scare, nothing else I can think of.

Taglist: open...

The crowd, and 102 notes have spoken. Funny enough, things I consider drabbles blow up, and stuff that I like and post stays forgotten, anyways that's life. Feedback is always appreciated btw.

For the ppl that voted One-shot, my request box is open if you guys want to drop something Hazbin related.

Charlie had habilitated a back door for the kitchen, heading to the street, so that groceries and the kitchen supplies that you order could arrive unnoticed and would not bother her guests. Also for you to come and go as you may see fit without drawing, as she called it, ‘Unwanted attention’.

Of course she wasn’t thinking of the swarm of questions that may come your way, but more like if they found out, she would have to break the little image she had worked on all this years, the controlled, nice and loving princess everyone knew; to show a bit of the real menace she can be. She hated exercising her authority over others because of what happened with you, it felt wrong and invasive, so she never wanted to re-enter the same void she had fell through when her mother left.

She still used a more severe tone when addressing to you and her orders, or as she calls them ‘mandatory suggestions’, orders nonetheless, and when she asks you for what you’ve heard around town. She wants to keep up with what the people say about the hotel? Not entirely, she just likes gossip.

When either Angel Dust or Husk asked Charlie where did the food come from, she either said that she ordered it, or rely on the fact that sometimes Nifty cooked, per Alastor’s suggestion, but only when he wasn’t around to bring out the fact that she was lying.

Your ears perked up at some noise coming from the renovated parlor, usually it was just Alastor messing with the king of Hell, which made your eyes roll in annoyance given his lack of battle IQ, but the stubborn stag was mildly protected by the princess’s favor, without it, his head would hang on the king’s wall, probably as a coat rack. Now, that thought brought you a smile and a small laugh.

Later at night, when most demons were fast asleep, Angel Dust tiptoe his way inside the hotel, after a long session demanded by Valentino. He tried no to groan given the fatigue, and as he stretched backwards, making his back crack.

“What the fuck?” he muttered when a candle lit up on top of the new bar table, on top of it lied a plate with a medium rare cooked stake sided with homemade mash potatoes and some sauteed vegetables, next to it a glass of wine and silverware, along with a note that read:

“You failed to attend to dinner, saved you a plate. Enjoy”

He reluctantly took a bite, but after realizing that if it were spiked with anything he would’ve already died, given that drugs in hell had a fast effect when it comes to assassination, he enjoyed every last bit of it, making small moan sounds as he did. He also complimented the selection of the wine. You enjoyed the praises as you saw him eat.

As soon as he made his way back to his room, you took the plate and various items to give them a wash. The next day, Husk earned a kiss on the cheek without knowing what he did to deserve it.

It gave you a warm feeling in your chest when the guests liked your food, even more so when they expected anxiously what would it be for the next day, as you never really published the menu for the week, only the princess knew.

Given Angel’s constant praise, you started leaving protein shakes in his night stand before he woke up, always with a ‘Drink me for strength’ note, same with Vaggie when she started working out in the mornings. Charlie took your gesture and assured that she made them out of concern, which was well received by the rest, but not so much from her towards you.

“What did we talk about laying low?” she turned a bit demonic as she whispered harshly, “If you want to starve yourself to death, be my guest, but you made me the chef of the Hotel since day one, and no one inside this walls will die of malnourishment if I can help it” you well knew of the nasty habit the princess had towards food, by sometimes (often) forgetting to eat, or drive herself to an extent of stress, that she just dismissed breakfast or launch, even both on some occasions.

“Fine. On another subject, my dad will start living here, permanently. He’s Celiac, just so you know” Gluten allergy, that caught you off guard. You made a mental note to replace flours, rice and pastas into a non-glutinous option, same as your pastries for tea time from now on.

“About time you made peace with him” she shot you a warning look but didn’t correct you, “Yeah well, I’m happy about it, it took too long” for a while she felt that it was her fault for her parent’s split, as any child of divorce would begin to feel in the first period of the breakup. That feeling diminished, but hasn’t left her system entirely, no mater how much her girlfriend reassures her of the contrary.

“Arrange his room please, I left a few things lying around, but I have a session, so, can you handle it?” you nodded, satisfied with your answer, or rather lack thereof, she turned into her cheery self. “He left to pack up a few things from the castle, he’ll be back in a few hours, please don’t let him see you” with that last bit, she left the kitchen.

The king’s room wasn’t messy, Nifty wouldn’t allow it, so there were just a few items to place around, and a massive bed to put together, piece by piece no less. It was a Belphegor’s elite brand bed, no less, it had an insane amount of screws and parts, for someone known as the queen of Sloth, it took a serious amount of effort to put up with her products.

Took you two hours to set the whole thing up. Why did it take so long to put together a bed? because when you had it perfect, you noticed that you had three leftover screws, you weren't supposed to have leftover screws, so you disassembled it piece by piece until you found a place for the damn screws. The instructions were worse written than a menu in a Cantonese restaurant when the owner is obviously not Cantonese and wrote up the whole thing in google translate.

You took a big breath, satisfied with your work only when you put on the last blanket over the foot of the bed. “Weight blanket” you muttered with the fabric in between your fingers. Right in between the bedspread and the sheet there was a fairly heavy blanket, it lead to something obvious, two, either anxiety, or the king was missing his wife to the point he needed a weighted hug over him.

Your ears caught the sound of wings, he would arrive in no time.

You only had a millisecond to think, either run to the door and risk being seen, or put on the veil, jump out the window, but you were at penthouse level, that would probably leave you quadriplegic, on the other hand you transferred your tunnel system between the walls from the old hotel to the new one, you would just have to push the fake tile behind the bathroom door.

You ran out of time.

Still in your place, like a statue, you put the veil carefully over your body, this time without your eyes being able to be seen through.

The fallen angel dropped one single portfolio, the same blowing up into a swarm, no, a tsunami of rubber ducks, pieces of clothing, all ending up scattered all over the room, giving you an opportunity to make your way behind the bathroom door.

“Oh Charlie put together my bed? That ought to be a lot of work” he ended the sentence with a singsong tone before jumping onto the mattress. ‘That’s a shit ton of baloney, I bust my ass and the little devil gets credit for it? Fucking fantastic’ you mentally growled.

“Lily, if you could see her, she looks more like you every day” his voice cracked, “I wish…I wished I knew how to help. What could I possibly offer her? Advice? Experience? On what?! falling, being a constant disappointment? She did more things than you and I did in ten thousand years”

“I feel so useless” peeking over the door you saw the tiny king, wrapping himself in his six enormous wings. ‘Majestic’ you thought, after seeing millions of demons since you died, it was the first time you saw someone so beautiful. It made sense, he was indeed the prettiest angel God ever created, the best singer too.

How can someone like that, ethereal, could be troubled by things so…earth bound?

In an instant, he jumped out of bed, brushed up his hair a little, then walked out the door with the most fake smile you had ever seen. Boy you knew about fake smiles.

Later in the afternoon, around tea time, you changed up your regular flour for almond, it was definitely a different experience in terms of texture, but in terms of flavor, it could pass for regular flour, no one was going to notice.

Three types of cupcakes: Salted caramel, red velvet with vanilla stuffing, and cookie dough cupcakes shaped as ducky ones.

Alastor wasn’t a fan of sweets, so a mildly coffee infused cake with a caramel dressing with coarse salt on top, did the trick amazingly. Paired with a nice cup of Orange Pekoe tea to send him down memory lane. When you picked his plate up, there wasn’t a single crumb left.

The rest of the Hotel fancied your pastries, and loved sweets. Red velvet was a well-received classic, but it consisted of a vanilla flavored cake, and pair it with a filling of the same flavor might over do it. Instead, you added orange juice to the mix, the citrus smell with the sweet vanilla swirl on top  were the sensation in the redemption session.

The only questionable thing about the mix was the berry tea that Charlie liked to drink during her sessions.

You baked small batches of cookie dough balls only a quarter of time, then poured the gluten free vanilla cupcake batter on top of it, keeping the cookie cooking at the bottom while you prepared the chocolate icing. When still warm you used a duck shaped scraper for the cake to take shape, then use the icing to make spikes, horns and little faces on them when it had cooled down a bit.

Why were you making special things for him? Pity? Empathy? Maybe both, but you were far too busy remembering the steps to the king’s room to bother.

All the ducks seemed organized, it definitely was the same mess, but perhaps there was some sense in his insanity. The plate was placed carefully in his night stand, along with a saucer and the tea cup filled with chamomile tea.

“Stop, freeze right there” you were about to place the hand written card when the distorted voice of the king froze your nerves in place, good thing that you were wearing the veil.

“Riddle me this, I’m connected to your every step, but I’m not your shoe. What am I?” he was near but stayed right in your blind spot, as he walked towards you. “Answer” his voiced sent chills down your spine, made your teeth sharpen as well as your claws, and your ears perk up defensively.

“You’re a shadow” your answer brought in him a subtle laugh, “Even through that shield of yours, dear, you cast a shadow, I saw a glimpse of it make it’s escape through the bathroom” was it that simple? Did anyone else in the Hotel had been as perceptive as him, no they would’ve ask Charlie or Alastor about it.

“So? How long have you been lurking in the Hotel?” walking past you, he brought up the tea cup to his lips, making a grimace, “Drink it, you look either sick, or worse, anemic, you’re three tones paler than your daughter” he shrugged, apparently aware of his state.

“I believe I asked you a question” his eyes shifted colors, just like Charlie’s, “None of your beeswax” you couldn’t tell him even if you wanted to, “I’m your King” the little heavy step he did was hilarious, but laughing would’ve get you killed.

“So what?” he widened his eyes at your boldness, dismissing it entirely after a laugh, “Mm, how about you answer my question and then I might consider letting you go?” his boot was on the edge on the veil, one move and he would see you, “How about you stop being a bull on me and enjoy my cookin’?” he took a moment to actually see the cupcakes, a tender smile drawn on his face.

When he looked back at where you where, all he saw was the veil falling gracefully to the ground, likewise it dissolved into the air.

“I fucked up” your heart throbbed painfully in your ear; the rush was real.

Your room was underneath the Hotel, a system of catacombs led to different fates to those stupid enough to enter, only you and the princess knew of the correct way. The space wide consisted of black brick walls, a twin size bed placed on the corner, a wooden wardrobe, the rustic eighteen hundreds themed bathroom, and a set of seven iron candle holders screwed to the wall.

“Good afternoon Hell!” Alastor’s voice became present through the radio you kept on your night stand, “I’m in a jolly mood on this occasion, a well baked pastry would put a smile on anyone, even in the crankiest demon in hell” he laughed, then continued on topics from a simpler time, then the screams of his new victim.

You rested your tachycardia on your bed, focusing on your breathing and Alastor’s voice, to make your heart slow down to a normal pace.

“Thank you for listening, it was a pleasure to entertain you. Now, a small request from a friend in between the walls, I hope you enjoy this one, dear” he placed the dusted vinyl on the player, allowing it to roll one of your most liked songs, Cuban Moon by Carl Fenton’s Orchestra.

Slang, jazz, the demoness that haunted Alastor’s brain was definitely from his timeline, probably the same state he lived in. But what really itched his brain, was the axe. “It’s an unorthodox method to kill someone, the blade loses its edge quickly and it would require a brutal force to cut through bones…unless” he pondered over an open binder with pieces of old newspaper that fell with him, parts of the news were about him, but the front page was about someone else.

The next day, Lucifer walked fast down the stairs, grabbed Charlie by her shoulders and demanded, “Who is she? The demon living in the walls?”.

Your note for Lucifer read the following: "Someone who swore to love you through sickness and health, and still left, is not worth your tears."

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

Baloney: same as nonsense or bullshit

None of your beeswax: Slang for 'none of your business'

Bull: Slang for police-man

Stay tuned ;3 Part 3

[marc--chilton]

house md/saw crossover where lawrence transfers to ppth and adam comes with, on-record as an orderly but really it's just that he and lawrence aren't doing so hot if they're separated for too long quite yet.

wilson and lawrence become easy work friends, obviously, and lawrence appreciates how easily wilson accommodates him without being pitying about it (adjusting his stride when they walk, tentatively asking about his foot not for the gory details of his trap but out of medical curiosity; aspects he's clearly picked up via being friends with house)

adam, naturally, turns out well-liked by a Lot of people bc like.... it's adam. he'll chat up patients, nurses, doctors..... if he can remember sometimes he'll take the time to sit with some patients who don't get many visitors because he's all too familiar with the feeling himself of being hospitalized and left to heal alone in a sterile room since no family nor friends found him worth seeing. he learns about house through befriending ducklings (kutner and thirteen are his pals for sure; kutner asks to see his photography, totally unfazed when adam jokes that his most recent stuff is stalker shots, and adam likes to flirt mostly unseriously at thirteen both as a compliment to her and so he can get a listen on her insane dry wit) (actually adam/thirteen would go crazy. there could be a whole subplot where ppl find out they hooked up but they're both super chill about it bc they were never aiming for being a Thing, they just wanted to check out sex with each other. and it was fine so it's not even a deal to either of them, let alone a big deal)

he's not happy to admit it but adam is a little terrified of house. just a bit. just based off the things he's heard from literally All Over the hospital. so when house corners him and demands to know what he's heard (he's annoyed bc adam can be slippery when he wants to be and house wanted to try to needle out jigsaw info on him; house is almost positive he could catch jigsaw before the cops could) adam is quick on the draw. "that you're funny as hell, scary as shit, and way smarter than me. hey, while you're staring me down like this, you wanna use your x-ray vision and see if i still have bullet fragments in my arm? i've been starting to think they missed some back at angel of mercy"

after that house seems to?? approve of him?? he's funny, he's got snark, he's got problems..... he ticks all the boxes for someone house would find himself befriending. adam is wary on returning the sentiment, too suspicious from all the conniving things he's been told house has done in the past, but he does take house up on the offer of destressing in his office if lawrence is busy/he's afraid of annoying him (recurring fear particularly at work) so. yea

[genericpuff]

As someone who can't afford to go to animation school n adores your work- are there any advice or tips they taught you could share that transfer to art or comics? I know you talked about learning how to properly reference things which I admit I think I and a lot of other artists struggle with knowing how to do

Ironically enough, as much as I learned that I do NOT have the patience for animating (which is... ironic, considering all the patience that's required to make a comic LMAO) I did still learn a lot from it that I was able to take into comics. Storyboarding was one of the more obvious ones, as storyboards are basically just the "still versions" of an animation before it's been animated, with establishing shots, camera pans, dialogue shots, etc. all of which you'd find utilized in a comic.

Alongside that was learning how to draw consistently. Turnaround sheets are a shared practice in both animation and comics, they're necessary to creating an ongoing project that features the same core cast of characters. Learning how to draw the same characters the exact same way every time in a way that's both consistent and efficient is crucial.

That said, aside from those little starting tips, I do hope that some day you're able to find the means to go to school for animation or whatever it is that you're desiring to go into and learn. Yes, post-secondary schooling is expensive, and there are a lot of risks in pursuing a diploma/degree that can affect your future. That said, as someone who went to a school that literally no longer exists (like fr I don't even know if I can get my transcript anymore so for all I know, the year I spent in animation college only exists in the student loans that I'm still paying off, rip) I still learned and gained so much that I simply wouldn't have in high school or on Youtube. The biggest of which was the environment - being put into an actual dedicated space for learning art, with peers and teachers who were all unified in that space working towards the same goal, made so much more of a difference in my learning than I initially anticipated. I got so much feedback and guidance thanks to my instructors, and it really put me into a space where I was forced to try new things, I couldn't keep relying on the same tricks and comfort zones anymore. If it weren't for my instructors pushing me to step outside of that comfort zone, I never would have learned how to draw from life or use other mediums that subsequently became the foundations of the stuff I make today.

And while a lot of the things they taught I could have learned on Youtube or CTRL+Paint or Draw-a-Box, being in an actual classroom with grades and a schedule to abide by actually kept me moving in a forward direction and gave me so much more help on a personal level than some guy on Youtube could have given me reading from a script or, in this case, some rando on Tumblr responding to anonymous asks LMAO

Obviously, I'm never gonna recommend that anyone put themselves into financial ruin for post-secondary schooling, ESPECIALLY right now with the economy being what it is, but I do hope that if you genuinely want to go to school that you can find the means to do so, whether it's opting for community classes or applying for scholarships/bursaries/grants/etc or even just signing up for a local art class. Do your research on what's available and feasible to you - even art clubs can be super helpful in getting you out there and talking to people! As much as we may all be slaving away over our desks creating our next big piece, art is still a form of community and interpersonal communication - whether it's between you and an audience, or a peer with whom you exchange new ideas and feedback, or a mentor whose skills you hope to inherit and pass on to the next generation.

Until then though, keep creating and keep getting inspired. If you've never drawn from life before, set up a bowl of fruit and draw it as closely as you can to the real thing, or go to the food court and see how quickly you can sketch the people walking by before they're gone. If you've never tried storyboarding before, grab a piece of paper, find a scene from a live action movie you like, and storyboard it as if you were making an animated film. Try things! Fail at it! Try it again! See what happens!

[2hoothoots]

So I was going through your blog (again) and found some of your stuff mentions fsau Raz having ADHD, as somebody with adhd I’m intrigued, may I have some of those headcanons (canons??) related to that? Also, I would give “a penny for your thoughts” but I’m out of pennies, so here’s various images of a drawing of ur blorbo I put next to my animals, note that a rock had to be added in one picture to keep him from flying away (BONUS: his now permanent place with the wifi guardian frog)

NOTHING brings me more joy than seeing physical drawings of these guys, like, out and about. in situations. thank you for this gift, and ALSO for the great ask because it's a perfect chance to ramble

so first of all, canon Raz having ADHD is very real to me. he's constantly fidgeting and moving around, getting distracted by sidequests and scavenger hunt objectives, always talking to himself out loud, gotta write everything down so he remembers it because there's so much to DO!, running away from home because his dad yelled at him one time and now Raz assumes he must hate him forever... i could go on, but i think there's a lot of room for interpretation there!

in my headcanon, he never got diagnosed as a kid. maybe there were some notes about it in his reports each year, sure - but a little hyperactivity and distractability never seemed to slow him down. he excelled in lessons and on missions, and when he was with his family their performances gave him something to focus that energy into. it was only really when he turned 18 and graduated to a full agent that the cracks started to show.

because there's a big difference between the responsibilities you have as a minor, and the responsibilities you have as an 18-year-old living away from home! one who's expected to cook and clean for themselves, and take care of adult life stuff, and also work the 9-to-5 office job he's just graduated into that involves sitting in front of a computer and write reports all day.

short-term, he found he could get himself to power through a deadline with energy drinks and psi-pops (a lot of psi-pops...)

long-term, something had to give. he was working himself to exhaustion, constantly stressed, swinging between days spent staring at his computer screen doing nothing and all-nighters desperately trying to finish his paperwork before the deadline. it just didn't make any sense to him. he'd finally started his job as a Psychonaut, he was living independently like he'd always dreamed, he'd gotten top surgery after planning it for so long. he should have everything he ever wanted. why wasn't he happy?

following a deep post-surgical depression, about a month before his 19th birthday Raz was living out of his car, couch-surfing or sleeping in his office. he got kicked out of his apartment after falling behind on bills and rent. it wasn't that he didn't have the money, it was all just too much for him to stay on top of.

he'd probably have stayed in that misery hole for a lot longer if Frazie hadn't marched into his life and demanded he let her help him move into a new place, or she was telling mom that he was homeless. together, they sorted through all of his possessions from the last place - everything that had been hastily shoved in his car, or tossed in a box in his office, piled in a heap that was giving him anxiety even looking at it.

things do get better for him from there.

when he eventually explains things to Hollis, she gently suggests that he should get a roommate. he ends up moving in with Phoebe, and they become pretty good friends after a couple months! something about having another person around to help do the chores and wash the dishes and share the space helps, even if it takes him a while to admit it.

he gets his ADHD diagnosis, and finding the exact right medication and dose is a journey he's still on years later - but they're a huge help in getting him to actually knuckle down and finish his work on time. and the whole thing ends up being a chance for him to take a step back and really think about what he wants to do with his life. he'd always assumed that being a Psychonaut was his dream, but he'd never really reckoned with what that dream would look like before.

in the end, he sticks with it, but also decides to follow Lili's example in branching out. he applies to study a part-time Bachelor's in Psychology on a remote course, and gets accepted. juggling missions and paperwork and study and relationships (because the whole thing made him realise he also wasn't setting aside any time for himself, and wow, dating is a thing) is a lot - but he manages to figure it out, day by day.

(Lili comes back to the Psychonauts after graduating. she and Raz have both changed a lot over those four years, but on their first mission together they hit it off like a house on fire - and the rest is history!)

[zombeebunnie]

Trembling Essence:💙Clean up changes + New CG💙

Helloo guys and welcome new followers, here's how the game development is going so far!

A very big thank you to the recent influx of interest and comments stemming from my last game development post! I will try to get to everything when I can! :]

Important notice towards updates about Trembling Essence:

For a good while I've been able to post updates about the game's progress weekly! Now that it's getting closer to fall and spooky month(Yay! :]) I am going to continue to be busy so I want to let you guys know that future updates will be irregular. Game development posts will be every 1-4 weeks depending on how things go. :[]

I spent the first few days continuing off from the previous development post by going through the last of The Swamplands and patched some things up! Towards the end of that week however, I got very busy and didn't get a chance to get to the cabin section or much else which is why this was delayed by an extra week so I appreciate the patience! :]

New CG:

I drew up a new CG that you can get depending on your choices when talking to Noah. My play tester saw the first version I colored up but unfortunately the perspective was really off and his shoulders were too wide. I was given a couple of tips and pointers so I redid it and here's how it looks for right now. I couldn't do much else after that. :,,,]]]]

Last bit of clean up changes:

Intro:

When it came to the introduction of Noah, the new parallax effect I added created a small glitch where the HP/COLD indicators were still shown behind CG's during a screen transition. There was some minor dialog adjustments, mainly describing certain situations a bit better. The moments where Noah talks to the player(Y/N) have been tweaked, not by too much but just enough to fill out this section of the game a little more. While I was going through the choices, I came across new dialog I added at some point and never came back to so I fixed it up just a little too. :]

Before:

After:

I altered the choice text for this since the previous wording was a little confusing from my play testers perspective. A good portion of the dialog was fixed and there was going to be a timed situation later on but I decided not to add it since this is a fairly straightforward path.

Chasm Ending:

This ending got expanded by a fair amount mainly because the end is awkwardly abrupt and I didn't like that. I corrected it but the CG you see at this part didn't match the text so I went back one last time and a added visual effect. Overall, this part is done! :]

If you like what I create, please consider supporting what I do on kofi! All donations and tips help tremendously while I continue to work on the game. Thank you to those that optionally bought the [Extended Demo] and the March 2023 demo on itch.io. :,]

Q&A / Ask box is open:

To know and understand Noah through Asks and random posts about lore, they'll be under #Get to know: Noah ! :]

**Some asks won't be answered if it contains spoilers but I do appreciate what I receive. :,,]

If you have any questions about Trembling Essence/Noah feel free to ask here or on itch.io please. This makes it easier for me to see and answer accordingly! I enjoy hearing from you guys!

I can't guarantee I'll be able to answer them right now since I practice drawing for responses but do know that I've seen them!

This update is getting fairly long so I'll stop here. Again, thank you to everyone for your continued support and influx of interest! I really wasn't expecting any of it since I got very busy towards the end. While I continue working behind the scenes on the game I'll try and respond to stuff/comments I missed! :,]

[yoruio]

Post!Hour of Joy Catnap x Reader HCs:

Genre: Fluff!!!!!!

AN: really short thingy I did, cant get the catnap brainrot outta my head, based him off a house cat a tad bit too much

☾ Catnap took some time to get used to you. And a lot of sweets— but in the end it all seemed to work out!

☾ The first few days, Catnap would stalk around the playroom to avoid the kids running about just so he could see what you were up to!

☾ Kickin and Hoppy would always spot him and pull him back into the play area every time he got caught.

☾ Catnap is not the one to give up easily and would sneak out during recess time and leave little trinkets on your desk

☾ Ever since you taught him how to be more social, he and the kids that would go to Playcare grew to become very close and would help him do tasks that require smaller hands, like folding paper or coloring with crayons.

☾ It's a miracle how he was able to find your quarters in this massive establishment.

☾ The first time it happened you saw a little purple paper cat with a tiny moon charm on it's chest. Hmm, you wonder who this came from.

☾ The next time you saw Catnap you didn't forget to give him a head scritch and a cheery "Thank you!"

☾ Catnap then on would find ways to sneak handcrafted toys into your office.

☾ Congrats, you're now his favorite person in the whole world!!! Till this day the little paper cat still stands on your desk.

☾ Catnap would always draw you every time there were arts and crafts activities in the playcare.

☾ Catnap doesn't know how Craftycorn works her magic with those hooves of hers, but the least he could do is draw a messy stickman of you. And what do you know, you adored his drawing! And now it's hung on a little frame in your room!

☾ Catnap, after you'd visit him around working hours his mood would noticeably get more lively... So lively in fact that he dashes all over the room like those house cats getting the zoomies. Dogday's in awe at how fast his sleepy buddy was. Hey, if the kids are having fun then he guesses it's fine!

☾ Despite Catnap's distorted voice box you never really minded how brief his answers were.

"You want to eat?" you chuckled. Lowering the box you were carrying to meet his gaze.

"No." he spoke, staring at you with his dotted white pupils.

"Uhm... Need something from me?" you asked curiously. You wondered what he wanted.

"...No..." He spoke again.

"You're just here to bug me, are you?" you huffed, a small smile etched on your face as you stared up the purple cat.

"..." His long tail twirled deviously.

You raise your brow at him with your arms crossed over your chest.

"Yes."

☾ The other smiling critters seem to like this side of the purple cat too! But what they don't enjoy is how loud his purring gets whenever he naps.

☾ Catnap likes to laze in your office at night. He often curls himself around your desk chair as you work. His soft purple fur a great insulator against the cold room.

☾ Catnap tends to be more active at night, hence the reason he's always scratching your bedpost. On some occasions, he'd even stretch like a cat.

☾ You made sure that after you'd finished all your paperwork you would snuggle up with him on the floor since he was a tad too big for the bed Play Co. provided for you.

☾ He hoped things would never change.

Ik ik its boring but I've been wanting a bit of sweet stuff yknow

This the thing Catnap made for u btw :>

Peper kat!!!!!!!

[my-great-big-book-of-fan-fiction]

teen!gojo satoru x reader - super short oneshot in which you go on your first real date

This made my heart feel so full, I absolutely loved writing this. I'd so super totally write a part two, maybe a second date or something? please leave a ❤️ if you want part 2, so that way I know if it's worth writing...although I might still write it anyways.

words: 1582

warnings: cursing, dirty jokes, mushy stuff, and ice cream biting.

______________________________________________________________

"Whatcha lookin' at?"

Satoru's playful voice startled you a little as he put his arm around your shoulder, leaning down so your faces were next to each other. Your eyes were now on him and not the inside of the jewelry store you were in front of, His circular sunglasses resting on the tip of his nose. You had been walking with him, but a pretty ring in the store caught your eye, so much so that you nearly forgot you were on your first date.

well, your first real date. You and Satoru had been dating for some time now, both of you training to become sorcerers at Jujitsu Tech, but it dawned on the two of you that you never hung out together with the explicit intent of being romantic. you both immediately planned a date in town, wanting to walk, maybe shop, definitely eat, and all around just have a good time.

"Nothin'," you responded nonchalantly, scanning the town square to find a good place to stop and eat. You tapped at your cheek, stomach rumbling as a couple of vendors caught your eye. "What do you think, takoyaki or..." You looked over, seeing your normally clingy boyfriend was missing. Your head whipped back and forth, searching for him, before getting a glimpse of his signature white hair in the window of the same jewelry store you were just looking at.

You watched as he handed the clerk some cash, grabbed a bag, and walked out with that same confident and carefree stride he always had. Once he exited, seeing you just at the entrance, he grinned down at you goofily. "Oh heyyyy Usagi-chan, fancy seein' you here," He said blithely, as if he wasn't by your side less than a minute ago.

"Heyyyy toru, whatcha got there," you asked with mock curiosity, already knowing what he had. He just shrugged, plopping the bag in your hand before sniffing at the air and mumbling, "mmm, takoyaki." well, it's settled, you're getting takoyaki. You opened up the bag, seeing 3 boxes stacked neatly on top of each other. How many boxes does one ring need...? Turns out just one, because he had bought you the ring, a necklace, and a bracelet.

"Uh- Satoru, you didn't have to-" You looked up, and he was gone again, the bastard. You looked around in a similar fashion as before, but this time he popped up behind you, arm around your shoulders once more. "didn't havta what?" He held two takoyaki sticks in front of your face, two more in his other hand. After a pause, you just grinned and chuckled a little. "You're a special lil guy, huh," you teased, taking the takoyaki as he walked the two of you to a big tree in the center of the shopping district. It had a raised structure around the base, perfect for sitting beneath the shade.

"I'm your special lil guy," he countered, sitting cross legged next to you. For the next hour the two of you sat, ate, and talked under that tree, playing games and goofing off like teens did.

"Ok, Ok, hold still," He snickered as you turned around. It was his turn to trace a drawing on your back, which you'd have to guess once he finished. His skinny index finger, gently dragging across your back, went in delicate waves and lines, one half circle, one straight line, another half circle leading to yet another line, and a final bump up and then down. It was so obvious, your predictable boyfriend.

"Satoru," you asked sweetly.

"yeah," he said in between giggles.

"Is that a penis?"

"..."

"..."

"You're really good at this."

You both burst out laughing, you leaning back against him and he doubling over you. The sight was heartwarming, Just two teen lovebirds enjoying each other's company. You looked up at the pinkening light filtering through the trees, then to Satoru's loving gaze. Something about it just took your breath away, the way someone so easily distracted can have eyes only for you.

"Let's go get some ice cream," you offered, sitting up and brushing yourself off. "mmmm yeah, let's go to the one over there," he said, pointing at an ice creamery known for their giant towers of soft-serve. You nodded quickly and hummed in agreement, the two of you standing from your spot beneath the tree and taking the short walk over.

The shop was relatively small, but it had a few people enjoying themselves inside. It was a little surreal, being around normies as two sorcerers in training. Like, to them, you were both just a normal couple, albeit highly attractive. You watched as two girls giggled and blushed at the both of you, and as much as you'd like to say you weren't a jealous person, it kind of made you twitch. You shook the feeling off, knowing you were being irrational, and your attention was quickly grabbed by your boyfriend yanking you away and saying, "look!"

He saw two pinball machines in the corner, the sight immediately making the both of you light up. they were pretty beat up, but seemed functional. "Loser has to give the other one a kiss," Gojo said, which made you giggle a little. "so then...you get the same thing if you win or lose?"

"...Alright alright, so I'm not amazingly right all the time, It's difficult being so perfect sometimes! how about..." you chimed in, a competitive gleam in your eye as you said, "Loser pays?" He gave a mischievous smile, holding his hand out for you to shake. You took it, and he pulled you in for a kiss while slipping a coin in his machine. You gasped, betrayed by your one true love. "Asshole," you yelled with an astonished grin, getting a coin in your own machine as quickly as possible.

The two of you played for a solid 30 minutes, keeping the ball out of the holes (Something he joked about incessantly while trying to distract you) and accidentally breaking several records. The game was getting heated, crowds surrounding you as you two played neck and neck. "Hey Usagi-chan," Gojo taunted, clearly about to talk trash. "What," you panted, because while not physically taxing, a game of pinball this competitive had you holding your breath.

"I love you."

"Huh?!" you whipped your head around to him, eyes wide. All 3 of your balls sunk, and Satoru was the winner. "Yes!" He cheered, arms flying up as everyone clapped. He looked over at your flabbergasted face, arms lowering as his viciously prideful smile turned into a gentle, more loving one. "I really do," he muttered to you, trying not to let anyone in on the moment.

That failed, however, when you panned to the crowd and raised your own arms up in victory. "He loves me!" The audience was silent for a moment, before giving an uproar of applause. You looked back at him, he was so adorable when he was laughing like this, and smiled brightly. "I love you," you muttered back to him, taking his hand in yours.

The two of you ended up getting free ice cream after attracting so much business, and when you walked out you realized how late it was. Stars were twinkling in the sky, although they were just about drowned out by the twinkling lights of Tokyo. He watched as you gazed up at them, making sure you weren't going to trip as you walked. He took the opportunity to lean in, get real close... and BITE the top of your ice cream off.

"Hey," you gasped, although you didn't sound all that offended. "What? Your flavors are different than mine." He licked his lips, BITING into his own strawberry and mint chip ice cream. odd combo, but not bad sounding.

To get back at him, you leaned in to steal a little of his ice cream, but he was too fast for you. You tried again, and again he pulled it away. You went back and forth like this about 5 times over before you finally got a taste. Unfortunately, the only reason you got any taste was because your face smashed into it.

"Bleh," You groaned, wiping off the ice cream on your nose and chin in one smooth motion before shaking the excess off your hand. He laughed, grinning stupidly as he joked, "Man, our first date and your face is already covered in cream." You rolled your eyes, wiping what little was left on your hand on his shirt. "You wish," you teased, unable to stop smiling and equally unable to stop blushing.

You pulled out your phone, checking the time and seeing it was past Jujitsu Tech curfew. "We gotta go back," You sighed, looking back up at him. "But I haven't proposed my undying love for you yet," he pouted sarcastically, finishing off the cone of his ice cream. You handed him yours, no way you were going to finish it anyways.

"You'll just have to wait until next time," you sighed, a hand on his arm. He was already almost finished with your ice cream, dude was serious when it came to sweets. "So...there's gonna be a next time," he asked gleefully, before standing up straight and pretending to find the news unimpressive. "I just knew it, my boyish charm is too much for you to handle," he sighed, taking your hand in his.

Maybe, just maybe, he was right this time.

______________________________________________________________

this thing went on for way longer than I was expecting, it was supposed to be around 600 words, but I loved it! Can you tell I've been hyperfixating on him? As always, leave a comment on what you liked, what you didn't like, or literally anything, I love reading them!

[warriorofdragons]

New Beginnings

Word Count: 6.3k

Warnings: Language, Spiderperson! Reader

Summary: Miguel finds out that his wife might be pregnant and struggles to both confront her and come to terms with being a father again.

Notes: I only know some broken Spanish, but I did double-check the words I used, sorry if my grammar’s not the best.

Miguel walks into the kitchen where the love of his life is busy tying up a garbage bag. She starts to heft up one of the three bags at her feet grunting in the process and Miguel stops her, “What are you doing?” he asks. “Taking out the garbage?” she asks. He places his hand over hers and slips the strings out of her fingers, “I’ll take it out.” She smiles up at him, “Well, I guess I’ll go ahead and get started on supper then.” Miguel lifts up the other two bags easily lifting them all with one hand. His wife turns the water on in the sink and stares at him sideways shaking her head at him, but still smiling nonetheless. “You didn’t really think I’d let you carry all of this by yourself?” he asks. “Well, hurry up and get back so you can help me with dinner,” she laughs. Miguel laughs too, and then he turns towards the door to their apartment. He opens it and steps out and then locks it behind him. He almost always takes the trash out so he’s not sure why she was already in the midst of doing it herself. Especially since it appeared to be rather heavy for her, it’s not like he particularly minds this chore either. He walks down the hallway and takes a right. Come to think of it, she took the trash out last week too. He remembers he had just been heading back home when he turned the corner and saw her trying to lift a particular heavy garbage bag into the shoot opening. He had immediately rushed forward to help her and asked why she didn’t wait for him come home first if the bags were too heavy for her to manage by herself. She had seemed briefly startled by him and though he knows she’s not as strong as him, he’s never made her feel like she was less than him because of it. Miguel takes a left this time and spots the trash shoot. She did express wanting to do things herself sometimes, although oddly enough she didn’t protest him taking it out this time. Miguel hefts the first bag of trash and opens the shoot and sends it on it’s way. He lifts the second bag and as he pushes it into the opening of the shoot, the bag catches on one of the sharp metal edges and rips it open, spilling it’s contents onto the hallway’s floor. Miguel groans, great. He pulls the bag back from the shoot and more trash spills out, and he sets the entire bag down on the floor, before grabbing the third bag and carefully placing it into the shoot. Miguel then stoops and turning the bag upside down so that the drawstring part of it is now on the bottom, he starts filling it back up again. “¡Carajo!” Miguel sighs as his fingers come into contact with something sticky. Now he’s going to have to wash his hands when he gets back inside. He tries to carefully put the gross bits of food back into the bag by grabbing old napkins and tissues and scooping it up. At least there’s a lot of bathroom trash in this bag so there’s not as much really gross stuff to worry about. Miguel scoops up another of handful tissues and an empty pink box clatters away from him. The bright color draws his eye and he reaches for it next, but just as he’s about to put it back in the bag, something about the label catches his attention. He reads it. And then he reads it again before it dawns on him what it is. He looks inside the box to find it empty and then looks back at the front of the empty pregnancy test box. Miguel then sets the box down on the floor and starts searching through the rest of the trash on the floor and when he doesn’t find it, he searches through the rest of the bag. One of his neighbors opens their apartment door clearly dressed to go somewhere and when the old woman spots him, she eyes him still currently crouched on the floor in a pair of flip flops rummaging around through his own trash. “Uh…I lost my ring,” Miguel lies even though his wedding band is still clearly on his finger. The old woman shakes her head at him as she shuffles past him towards the elevator. When she’s gone he sighs heavily and continues searching. And only when he’s searched the whole bag twice does he realize that the Actual Test is not there. That’s strange considering all of the bathroom trash is in this bag, and they only have one trash can in their bathroom. Miguel looks back towards the shoot and briefly considers going all the way down to the trash room just to see if one of the other bags might have the test, but he quickly thinks better of it. He stuffs the rest of the trash back into the bag, she’s probably wondering what’s keeping him. He saves the pregnancy test box for last and looks at it one final time. He desperately wants to know what it said. There’s a part of him that realizes it could have been negative and she didn’t want to get his hopes up, but another part of him is nagging at him and telling him that it’s not a coincidence that the test and the test box ended up in two separate bags. Then he remembers that she took out the trash last week and he about drops the trash bag as he drives the heel of his left palm into his forehead. He literally Helped her throw away the evidence! He was her unwilling accomplice. And now she’s the only one who knows what it said. He looks back in the direction of his apartment and then back at the box and throws it into the bag before tying up the torn edges of the garbage bag as best he can. He tosses it down the shoot finally and quickly strides back to his apartment. If she would go to these lengths to hide it from him, it must have been positive…right? It couldn’t have been negative, so she would be pregnant. Is she really pregnant? With his child? She’s always told him how much she wants to be a parent and they both adore her nephews. Miguel is certain that she would make a great mother…he’s just not so sure that he would make a great father. Miguel pauses as his hand hovers over the door handle and tries to calm his rapid breathing. Whatever the truth is, she clearly hadn’t wanted to tell him she even took the test. He can’t exactly blame her, even with all he’s talked about it and her helping him sort through his feelings along with his therapist, Miguel’s still not sure he’s prepared for her to tell him that she’s actually, genuinely pregnant. If he had the chance to hold this baby right now he still doesn’t know if he’d be prepared for the reality of caring for and raising another child. He blinks and wets his lips, his mouth gone dry and is oddly comforted by the fact that that’s a thought many first time parents have had even though…he is not. But his situation has been shared by others before him as well, perhaps not quite the same. The only difference in his case is that the questions are: Do I deserve this? And will I be good enough? Miguel looks up towards the door as he makes out the faint sounds of his wife’s humming and chopping of a knife on a cutting board. He wonders how she feels about all this? If she truly is carrying his baby and shouldering the responsibility all alone, something she has warned him about time and time again being Spiderman, and all because he can’t handle it? Then he feels he isn’t being a very good partner to her.

Miguel takes a steadying breath and tries to steal his nerves and finally opens the door. She instantly looks up at him and smiles that lovely, bright smile of hers that he adores so much. And for a moment he’s able to quell the painful churning in his chest. “What took you so long?” she asks. And Miguel is reminded of his discovery as she glances back down at the vegetables she’s chopping. “Bag split open,” he says in an even tone, “Trash went everywhere.” He watches her carefully and he sees there’s a small flicker of nervousness on her face as he says this, but then she turns away and dumps the vegetables into the pot. And when she turns back around it’s gone completely, “Eww, gross. I’m sorry, Miguel.” He closes the door behind him and slips off his shoes and makes his way over to the kitchen sink, “I bet you’re glad you didn’t take out the trash now.” “I mean…a little, but now I feel bad that you had to pick up trash,” she says throwing him a sympathetic smile over her shoulder. Miguel washes his hands thoroughly glad to be rid of the sticky food substance on his fingers, but also still focused on the task at hand as he dries his hands on a towel and turns to stare at her back as she returns to her chopping. Setting the towel back down he steps towards her, busy with dinner preparations, and then lightly touches her waist first before wrapping his arms around her. She stops chopping for a moment or two when she feels him touch her, and as his hands rest themselves comfortably against her stomach, she begins chopping again. Miguel presses his chest to her back and leans down and presses his nose into her hair. “You know…you were supposed to be helping me with dinner,” she begins, “But seeing as you had to clean up trash, I’ll let it slide.” Miguel hums in response as he inhales her scent. He can smell her shampoo and the spices that have wafted up into her hair from the soup she’s making, but other than that, she doesn’t smell any different. She smells like she always does…wonderful and like home. He strokes over her stomach, it’s too soon for her to start showing. She giggles as her head turns slightly, “Baby?” And Miguel realizes that she’s finished chopping as he continues to cling her. They often say that pregnant women are glowing. Is it just because they’re happy? Or is it hormones? Miguel reaches around her and takes the cutting board for her, “Let me get that,” he says and then unwraps himself from around her and steps over to the pot on the stove and dumps the ingredients in. He looks back over at her and she’s smiling softly and gazing at him very lovingly. She always looks happy to see him. She then turns and puts the knife in the sink and holds out her hand for the cutting board, and Miguel hands it to her and she rinses them both off before stepping over towards him by the stove. She seasons the food and then takes the nearby wooden spoon she set out and stirs everything together. He smiles at her and presses himself to her back again and bends down to pepper her neck with kisses. She giggles softly, “Miguel. I’m trying to cook.” “Mmm and you’re doing a wonderful job of it, Mi Amor,” he hums. She reaches up her free hand and runs it through his hair. He closes his eyes gently and enjoys the soothing strokes against his scalp. This is going to be harder to figure out than he thought. Of course when this day started this is not even close to the dinner he’d thought he’d be having tonight.

After supper is done and they’ve finished eating they spend some time curled up together on the couch and continue watching the movie they started yesterday. Miguel had kept a close eye on her at dinner to see if she had any changes in appetite that might be another indicator on whether or not she was carrying his child. But she ate about as much as she usually would although she did complain about a little bit of heartburn after their meal. But that could also be contributed to the fact that it was a spicy dish, and she did add just a little bit more of the peppers she was using than usual to make it spicier. It wasn’t too spicy for Miguel’s taste of course and it didn’t overpower or cancel out the other flavors in the soup, and it was her idea to add more not his, and she didn’t even drink more to douse it. Right now he’s having a hard time following the plot of the movie they’re watching because he’s too busy hyper-analyzing her every move. He tries to pull his focus back to the film, by assuring himself that she would tell him. But not even a minute passes by before the seeds of doubt take root once again. “Miguel?” she asks softly. “Hm?” he hums. “Did you hear what I said?” she asks. Shit. Miguel’s mind races as he tries to remember what she said and failing that he tries to guess, but his mind is blank, “Um…” he mutters instead. “Did you just not think it was funny?” she asks, disappointment creeping into her voice. “No, Mi Vida-¡Carajo!” Miguel curses, “I meant no, I didn’t Hear you.” He glances up at the tv and notices that it’s paused. How long has it been like that? She turns in his arms and stares up into his eyes, “You seem very distracted tonight, Miguel,” she whispers and then she reaches up a hand to stroke his cheek with her knuckles. Miguel’s eyes slip closed and he ponders for a moment. “I’ve just got a lot on my mind,” he answers meeting her gaze again. She studies his face for a few moments, looking him over and then locking eyes with him again, “What’s going on in that head of yours?” She can read him like a book and knows better than anyone when something’s eating at him, especially when he’s afraid to tell her what it is. And normally he would tell her. He would cave to her soft eyes and voice and they would lay here and he’d tell her all about what’s bothering him and his anxieties for the future and she would listen. But his words get caught in his throat just as he opens his mouth and he can’t. He can’t say anything, because the fear takes hold in his heart of everything that could go wrong, and nothing comes out. There’s too much and it all gets caught in the tightening of the dam in his chest and nothing gets past it. She blinks slowly as she looks at him and then her eyes close and she leans up and gingerly presses her lips to his. Miguel closes his eyes and softly moves his lips against hers. And as they part he can’t stop the pair of tears that slip from his eyes. And even though she doesn’t know why, she still swipes them away with her thumb anyways. “Let’s go to bed,” she says gently. She slowly rises from the couch, takes his hands in hers and pulls Miguel up with her. The movie is turned off and the tv forgotten as she ushers him to their bedroom. They brush their teeth silently next to each other and then Miguel strips out of his clothes to sleep in his boxers as she picks out one of his shirts from the dresser to change into. The light is turned off and the covers are pulled back and Miguel wraps himself around her and presses his face into the crook of her neck. He focuses on her heartbeat under his lips at her pulse point and listens to the sounds of her breathing for a long while. His fingers stroke over her stomach lightly before he pulls them back sharply and then places his hand overtop hers, suddenly fearful of his sharp claws somehow sinking into her abdomen against his will. Which is a ridiculous thought he realizes almost as soon as he has it because he has great control of his claws and this isn’t even the first time today he’s held her. So why would he now? But the longer that he’s awake the more the anxiety gnaws at him. That he won’t be able to take care of her. That he won’t be a good father, that he’ll ruin everything again, that he’ll do this or that, and a thousand other things. Miguel lifts his head up and carefully extricates himself from her. And only when he’s sitting up in bed does he realize his chest is heaving. He swallows and the lump passes painfully through his chest. So he gets out of bed and starts putting on his suit. But when he starts to put his arms through it a soft voice calls out, “Miguel?” And it would seem she wasn’t as sound asleep as he thought she was. “Where are you going?” she asks. He finishes putting on his suit and turns to face her, and with his heightened senses he can make out her features perfectly and the confusion in her eyes is as plain as day. “Lyla called me in to check on something,” he lies. She starts to sit up and pull the covers back, “Do you need my help?” “No,” he says quickly, “It shouldn’t take long, go back to sleep.” She hesitates for a moment, but starts to lean back into the mattress and he watches the confusion be replaced by disappointment. “Okay,” she relents, “Miguel?” “Yes, Querida?” he asks. “Be safe,” she says. A smile tugs at his lips as he places his palms on the bed and leans over to her and kisses her desperately…and then he pulls away.

He feels guilty for leaving her like that and he feels angry at himself for lying about it as he swipes through footage from across the multiverse. There’s nothing pressing that requires his attention, but he knew there wouldn’t be. “Lyla, can you get me a better view on Hobgoblin-2103?” he asks. There’s a flicker of yellow light in his peripheral and he continues swiping away at his screens. He’s sure there are bags forming under his eyes and his feet ache from standing for so long, but working is the only thing keeping his mind off of his anxieties. He needs to keep busy or it’ll just consume his thoughts again. Usually work is the thing that’s stressing him out and spending time with his wife is what eases his mind and heart. But not this time. He realizes then that there’s been no response from his chatty A.I. assistant which is very unlike her, “Lyla-“ But as he turns to look at her, Lyla has her arms crossed and has fixed him with her strongest glare. “Are you giving me the silent treatment?” Miguel ask raising a brow. Lyla looks at him for a moment and then looks at all of his open screens, nearly a dozen in total, and waves her hand at them and closes all of them. “¡Oye!” he exclaims trying to reopen them. Lyla immediately closes the two he opened again forcing him to look at her, “What gives?!” he demands. “What Gives?!” she repeats indignantly, “What gives, is that you’ve left her wondering where you are and when you’re coming home.” Miguel winces as the guilt washes over him, “I just needed some time to think.” “You’ve been here four hours, Miguel,” she says narrowing her eyes through her heart-shaped sunglasses, “I think you’ve done enough ‘thinking’,” she says bending her index and middle finger for emphasis. Miguel rubs the back of his neck, “Has it been that long already?” “Look you’re tired, she’s worried, just go home already,” Lyla says her face softening. Miguel sighs, “What do I do if she’s really-And I’m going to be-“ he stops and then wets his lips as he turns his gaze downwards and shakes his head. “Look, I can’t answer that for you. I just know that whatever you do, you’ll do it together,” Lyla says. Miguel looks up at her flickering image. “That’s what a partnership is all about, yeah?” Lyla asks with her usual optimism returning. “I tried earlier to talk to her, but I just…couldn’t get the words out,” Miguel says lifting and lowering his shoulders in defeat. Lyla seems to think for a moment, “Well, just start by telling her that you found the box. If it turns out she is pregnant, chances are she’ll have a lot to say to you too.” Now Miguel is thoughtful for a moment, for an A.I. with no family and only programmable feelings, she certainly has picked up a thing or two about interpersonal relationships from him and other members of the Spider Society. “But what if-“ Miguel begins “Blegh!” Lyla exclaims throwing her hands up and blinking out of and back into existence for a split second, “MIGUEL! You’re stuck trying to solve Only Half of an equation,” she says holding up one hand in front of her, thumb pointed towards herself, “Hm?” she hums and then she lifts her other hand and does the same and then slowly joins her palms together, and then she gestures with her clasped hands towards him, “Hm!” “You’re right,” Miguel says. “Good, now don’t come back until you’ve talked to her and had at least eight hours of sleep,” she says turning her back to him and opening a screen in front of her. He goes to open his mouth again, but she stops him by lifting her hand, “Up, up!” “Gracias, Lyla,” he says as he steps off the platform.

When he quietly creeps back into his bedroom, her back is to him. He slips out of his suit and peels back the covers and shifts over to her. Wrapping an arm around her waist he tries not to disturb her too much, but she stirs anyways. “Baby?” she asks voice heavy with sleep. “I’m here,” he whispers into her hair before pressing a kiss to her temple. Her body goes lax again and she more than lets him slip his hand under hers to rest against her stomach. Miguel rests his face in the crook of her neck once again and breathes a deep sigh. And when he wakes it’s to the sound of retching.

He quickly throws back the covers and leaps out of bed, taking only a moment to notice that the sound is coming from the bathroom, and as he reaches for the door the toilet flushes. Turning the knob slowly, Miguel peers into the bathroom. She’s sitting on the floor with her cheek pressed to the cold surface of the nearby tub with the toilet lid up. She’s so dazed, she doesn’t even notice him come in. Miguel grabs a washcloth and runs it under some cool water before wringing it out. She looks up finally when his shadow passes over her and he pulls her hair aside and places the rag on the back of her neck. She sighs in relief and Miguel takes a moment to press the back of his hand to her forehead. She’s very warm and obviously still reeling from her upset stomach. He sits down on the floor next to her, making sure not to block her path to the toilet. “Not feeling well?” he asks even though the answer is obvious. It takes a moment for her to respond, “…yeah…” Miguel pushes the hair that had fallen away from her face and she adjusts her cheek pressed against the tub. He stays like that with her for a few minutes, rubbing her back soothingly until she’s ready to stand. He helps her up, keeping one arm wrapped around her middle. She lets out a sigh and he takes the washcloth off of the back of her neck as she heads for the sink. Miguel carefully lets her go, keeping a hand on her back to make sure she’s steady on her feet before setting the washcloth down on the edge of the tub and lowering the toilet lid. She washes her face with cool water and then rinses her mouth out by cupping water in her hands. “Do you need to go to a doctor?” Miguel asks brushing his knuckles over her cheek and she leans into his touch. “No, I don’t think so,” she says slowly. He feels like he’s holding his breath as he stands on the edge of a building not knowing if he should take the leap and ask her if she’s pregnant and if this is morning sickness. “Do you want me to make you breakfast?” Miguel asks instead, “Or do you not feel like eating anything yet?” he winces, realizing his mistake. She looks up at him quizzically, “Miguel, that was breakfast. It’s almost two p.m.” “Oh,” he mutters. “What time did you get in last night?” she asks. “I don’t really remember,” he admits, “Just late.” She dries her hands and face with a towel. “You don’t remember me crawling into bed next to you?” he asks. “Vaguely…I know I woke up to you holding me so tightly it was hard to wiggle out of your grasp so I could go to the bathroom,” she laughs placing a hand on his cheek. “Sorry,” he chuckles. He then bends down and presses a kiss to her forehead. After Miguel gets dressed they make their way to the kitchen and after she gets something to drink, she starts snacking on plain chips not even five minutes later. While Miguel sets the soup pot back on the stove to warm up for lunch and as he’s waiting he sees her perk up when the smell wafts through the apartment. She looks a little less weary and her movements stop being sluggish by the time Miguel turns the heat down and fixes himself a bowl of soup. “Can I have some soup too?” she asks stepping next to him with a bowl already in hand. Miguel smiles at her and spoons some soup into her bowl for her, “I see you’ve got your appetite back.” She smiles sheepishly, “Yeah.” And as they sit down to eat, while last night where her appetite had been fairly normal, today it is voracious. She almost scarfs it down and only slows down after she goes back for a second bowl. And he’s almost convinced she’s going back for a third bowl, but she places it into the sink instead. And then she does something that surprises him, she places her hand on her abdomen and caresses it, even letting it linger there for a good second or two too long. Miguel stands up from his chair and walks towards her, but she stops when she hears his chair scrape across the floor. She smiles up at him lovingly and he hands her his bowl and she places it into the sink too. He moves to cover the soup pot with the lid and remove it from the burner. He should say something. Anything at this point. He can’t keep going on like this not knowing, but he looks to her and instead of saying anything at all, just stares at her in awkward silence. She purses her lips as she places her hands on her hips and shifts uncomfortably. “Did you…want to try watching that movie again?” she asks. And Miguel is mostly certain the suggestion is just to break the tension. “Yeah,” he nods, “That sounds nice.” She smiles up at him and he smiles back at her. So they sit back down on the couch and start the movie again from where they left off, and Miguel is very confused by what’s going on in the movie and ends up asking several questions. He really wasn’t paying attention to it last night. His arm is wrapped around her shoulder as she leans against him and after answering yet another question from him, she’s quiet for roughly a minute or two. But then she leans forward to grab the remote and she pauses the movie. Miguel looks down at her as she shifts in his hold to stare up at him. “Is everything alright?” she asks concern lacing her tone. “Of course, why wouldn’t it be?” Miguel asks. She narrows her eyes at him, not very convinced, “Because…you were really distracted after dinner last night and then you left me in the middle of the night.” Shit, that does sound concerning. And to be fair he is having a crisis. “You need to talk to me, Miguel,” she says, placing her hand on his chest, “I can’t help with whatever it is you’re dealing with if you don’t tell me, Sweetheart.” He takes one of her hands in his, “I’m sorry for making you worry. I didn’t even leave this dimension, I just watched screens until Lyla told me to go home.” He can see in her eyes that this new information raises alarm bells in her head. She knows how prone he is to locking himself away and only focusing on work as a means to cope with the rampant thoughts in his head. “Miguel, talk to me,” she whispers insistently, “Por favor, dime lo que está mal.” Miguel swallows , “I…” he pauses to exhale a breath, both of his hands now gripping hers tightly, “Yesterday when I took the trash out…one of the bags split open…” And she nods at him. “And I found an empty box for a pregnancy test,” he says watching closely for her reaction. Her eyes grow wide and her lips part as she stares up at him in complete shock, a similar kind of shock that he had felt yesterday when he made this discovery. But her silence is making his heart clench painfully as the seconds tick by. “Mi Vida, are you pregnant?” he asks. She subtly nods, “Yes.”

Miguel inhales shakily as all the nerves of the past two days catches up to him. And he’s relieved somewhat to finally have an answer to his question, but then a dozen more pop up in it’s place. Questions he’s been trying to hold at bay when he didn’t know for sure and now they’re all rushing to the surface. But one in particular sticks out above the rest. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asks unable to keep the hurt from creeping into his voice. Her eyes grow watery, “I-I didn’t know how to tell you,” she answers quietly, “I’m sorry.” “How far along are you?” he asks next. She takes a shaky breath and Miguel cups her face in his left hand and tilts her chin up to meet his gaze from where it had slipped down to his chest. “Almost two months?” she questions almost uncertain herself, “I just know I should have had my second period by now.” Miguel clenches his jaw and inhales sharply. Two months? Two Months?! Almost- He blinks as the tears start to form in his own eyes, “I’m sorry, I made you feel like you couldn’t tell me-I didn’t mean-“ She clutches at his chest bunching up the fabric of his shirt in her palms, “No, no, no, Miguel Baby, I don’t want you to blame yourself.” “But it is because of me?” Miguel asks quietly, “Isn’t it?” The tears fall freely from her eyes as she shakes her head at this, her eyes squeezing shut, “I didn’t want to get your hopes up is all, in case…I wasn’t or couldn’t…and it wasn’t just about how you felt about it, it was also how I Felt about it, because I’ve wanted this for so long and what if I mess it up or I’m not good enough or-“ She’s rambling at this point so Miguel leans forward to press his forehead to hers and he strokes her cheek with his thumb to try to quiet her sobs, but his own tears finally slip past his closed lids and he cries too, “It seems like we’ve both been thinking the same thing, I just wish you hadn’t tried to do this on your own and for so long too." She presses a kiss to his palm, “I didn’t know right away, things have been so busy, but also so good,” she sniffles. He brings her in close to his chest and then presses his face to her hair, “I will admit I am scared shitless though. I’ve been spiraling since yesterday, because I didn’t think a good thing like this would happen to me again.” Her fist tightens on his shirt, “Are you happy?” “So happy, Amor,” he whispers, “Now that I know for sure.” “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to hurt you,” she says with her cheek pressed over his heart. He pats her hair and tucks her head under his chin, “We have to remember to be there for each other and part of that is opening up and talking about what’s bothering us. You taught me that.” She nods against him, “You scared me, when you left last night.” His arms tighten their grip around her and he pulls her fully into his lap, “I didn’t mean to, and I’m sorry for that.” She sniffles again. “You know Lyla actually yelled at me,” he says. “She did?” she asks picking her head up to stare at him, “She never yells at you, roasts you sure, but?” “She does when I fuck up. Remember when I was trying to propose to you and I couldn’t work up the nerve?” She laughs lightly, “She’s right though you can’t do a proper proposal over what is essentially an inter-dimensional phone,” she says a smile finally finding it’s way to her lips. “True, but that’s how nervous I was you would say no,” Miguel says. He then leans down and kisses her softly. As they part she brushes her nose against his fondly, “I was going to tell you, and I finally figured out how I was going to do it too.” “How?” Miguel asks curiously. She smiles and extricates herself from his embrace and stands. He watches her walk over to one of the bookshelves by the tv, the one that houses her romance novels and moves a few of the paperbacks out of the way. And behind one of the rows that Miguel didn’t even notice was askew, she removes a small silver box with a white ribbon tied around it. She steps back over to him and sits in his lap again and hands it to him. He looks from the box to her and then gingerly pulls on the ribbon. Lifting the lid, Miguel stares inside the box at the pair of absolutely tiny baby socks with the classic Spiderman’s mask design printed on them. He chuckles breathlessly as he picks one up and rubs the fabric between his fingers, before looking up at her again. “There’s a little note too,” she adds, nodding to the box. Miguel turns his attention back to the box and underneath the other sock is a little piece of paper. He picks up the handwritten note and on it reads: “Miguel, I’m pregnant, and pretty soon our home is going to be filled with the pitter patter of our very own little Spiderbaby!” Miguel smiles and swipes more tears from his eyes. “I know it’s kinda corny,” she says covering her mouth with her hand. He sets the note back inside the box and then holds both of the baby socks in one hand, in awe of how tiny they both are in his large palm. And then he looks at her, “I like corny. And this? This is perfect,” he says softly. “What would you say to getting a little matching onesie?” she asks. “Is this your way of telling me you already bought one?” he asks. “No,” she says indignantly, “…but I did consider it.” “Hmm…it might be a bit too much,” he says. “Oh come on, you know you’d love it,” she says poking him in the chest. The corners of his mouth tug upwards the tiniest bit, the only indicator that he is sort of on board with going all out on silly outfits for their infant. Her smile drops suddenly along with her playful demeanor, “I hope you know I’m not trying to replace her,” she says seriously. Miguel nods his head, “I know you’re not, Querida. But this child you’re carrying isn’t just mine or ours, it’s also yours. I don’t want you to feel guilty for something so beautiful as giving life to another being.” She leans in and quickly presses her lips to his. And though Miguel still holds guilt in his heart for his daughter and perhaps always will just as easily as he still loves her, he’s also so incredibly happy to be able to soon welcome a new child into his heart. After all, the love of his life is carrying his child and there’s so much to prepare for and do, and so so many new memories to make. And even with his fear of the future looming in the distance, it’s been banished from this particular moment. He wants to live in the present with his wife who is his home and the child she’s carrying for him. And as the two finally dry their tears and curl up on the couch once more, with Miguel laying on top of her, he rests his cheek against her stomach and with his enhanced hearing, and the close proximity…he can can hear two strong heartbeats.

[safe-from-sharp-teeth]

Ayo! I haven't answered asks in FOREVER, so it's time for some spring cleaning :) Also answering other stuff, like what I've been up to.

If you sent an ask and it's not here, sorry! I may have deleted it because the prompt required too much work of me and I wasn't feeling it, or I was uncomfortable.

Let's gooooo !

Firstly - where have I been? Work REALLY picked up in a way I wasn't expecting over the last...4 months? I was working double and often triple the hours I was used to. With work, vacations, random illnesses, and many video games I got a bit too obsessed with, this blog took a backseat. Plus, sometimes I get disinterested in vore when obsessed with something else. Sometimes, that lasts months, and it did this time.

But now I can confirm that work will FINALLY chill for a long period of time. I'm free! And more motivated than ever! Wahoo! Thanks for your support ALWAYS.

Next big question - when am I going to do more of my story? The one with Asyr? AHHHHHGHHGHH this story has consumed my life. I think about it daily. I dream about it. And yet I'm not as comfortable writing as I am drawing, so writing is a slow process that my perfectionist ass struggles with. I can assure you that there is a story in the works - and I am working on it at a snail's pace.

Okay, ask time...

@ponyluvesonic09 AYO maybe I'll make a full ghost pred pros/con list for you, because that sounds awesome! Kir//by is one of the silliest canon preds out there. Honestly getting eaten by him would be like getting vored by a vacuum, LOL. Galaxy tummy!! Imagine a prey floating around in one of those item bubbles all grumpy. Thank u for the ask, this is good stuff.

no. ( /・・)ノ

UWAGHHHHH I LIKE HER!!! Never played O/verwat/ch but what a gem!! I have a random fondness for centaur-like preds nowadays. She looks so cozy. THANK U I LOVE HER!!!

@tiger9o0 I have not played r//ain w//orld or know what it's about, LOL. Looks like a platformer? Man, I'm terrrriiiiibblleee at those. But whoever this is on the cover, I LIKE EM. A+. (That might not answer ur question shdjbghkjg SORRY)

@heimkoheimkofan LOVE THAT I GOT THE ROBOT ENJOYERS AFTER THAT ONE POST....YES yall are so right and I'm so wrong for just hard metal robot tums. I will rectify my mistake soon I PROMISE. Also oh! You were the one asking about stomachs other than elemental ones! IVE HAD THAT IN MY DRAFTS FOREVER IM SORRY AHHHH. I REALLY love your imagination with tums and you've inspired me to think of some awesome environments! THANKS

@fastfur07 BWAH?? Ugh I'm all over the place when it comes to art. Some pieces take 30 min (like the zangooc I drew at the top of this post), most take 2 days. Some really hard drawings like my wolf bat creechur from a few months ago and my shrimp from last year took a month. THANK U??

We're going back so far that I think this is about my naga oc (which I'm in the midst of redesigning cough cough). For him, he would never tolerate being prey, extremely unwilling bahaha. In general, I haven't thought much about naga or snake prey! I get the appeal of slurping up a noodle, but I just prefer human prey :)

@fastfur07 you fiend, you always give me the best drawing ideas. UNFORTUNATELY, I didn't have time to draw something for this one. BUTTTT....

(i've had this next one in my drafts for forever)

then i had a silly comic. I'll post the wip here because I won't finish it, so enjoy bahaha.

@blizzaria123-blog THANK U im rapidly melting into a puddle from ur words

@mrpotatomanversionsix relevant. i will continue drawing them 4 u

?!??!!??!?!??!?!?!??!?!? how dare u enter my ask box with this blasphemy

@sfwsillynoms WAH!!! you!!! I'm currently redesigning my naga oc but when I finish I'll tag you, if you're still around! And he can 100% be drawn with ur preysona :)

@mystorl i am SO late to this, but SMART. I like it. I shall give my lil guy this friend. I just want to let u know that I see this and it's wonderful and I will do something abt it.

I remember this ask made me laugh a ton when I first got it. thank u. idk why I find this so funny

@sillylilprey IM CRYING RIGHT BACK AHHHH this is an ancient ask, but thank u! hope you're still enjoying!

@terrytheinsane finally, the last ask in my askbox. I love it. You have been wronged with how long it took me to answer you. I have gained knowledge from your ask. THANKS

AND THAT'S IT!! Thanks guys, I hope to make you proud! Feel free to send more asks, and hopefully I will answer in a TIMELY manner.

Goodnight! And remember: Nice Vore ᕕ༼⌐■-■༽ᕗ

[hannahssimblr]

In the evening we bike to the shop to buy firelighters. Jen says she likes the idea of a bonfire while we eat our barbeque food, even though the only time one has even been lit at the beach house is when my dad did it, all the while ranting on about how he learned everything he knew about fire in the boy scouts, and how if I had an iota of discipline or self control I might have benefitted from them before the local pack expelled me for being a shithead.

He was right. I reluctantly accept it as Jen and I approach the materials for making fire. Nobody has ever told me about the difference between briquettes and coal, what firelighters actually look like and exactly where peat plays into all of this. I know nothing about how to do manly things, and only ever figured out how to pitch a tent after subtly watching Shane do it the first time he and I went camping in the woods. 

In contrast, my father has shot an actual gun. He and his brothers hunted deer, game and wild pigs in the hills around their family farmhouse in Redding California. As they loaded up their rifles and zipped up their jackets they would say things to me about how I’d be coming with them someday, as though was some sort of honour, something to strive for, but by the time I was big enough to kill pheasants I was already five thousand miles away drawing comics on printer paper. My soft hands were meant for art.

“You grab the firelighters,” I tell Jen, and take a swerve towards the magazine stand so that I can peruse something in my comfort zone. There’s a small selection of artsy magazines, and I flip one open. 

“Um, do you think we should buy gasoline or something?” She stands chewing on her lip. 

“Probably not, right? That seems dangerous.”

“Should we ask someone?” 

“What? No.” Embarrassing.

I pretend to be engrossed in an article so that I don’t have to help, but while I'm there, an ad catches my eye, “Hey,” I call out to Jen, “would you want to go to an exhibition this weekend?”

“What kind?”

“Art.”

“Yeah, what kind?”

I turn the page to her so that she can see it, “contemporary,” and her eyes narrow at the images of weird sculptures made of bits of scrap metal, canvases with random splatters of paint dripping off the bottom, colour bleeding onto the floor.

“Hm. See, that’s the kind of weird art I don’t get.”

“It’s not about the art specifically, it’s about us doing something fun together.”

“And that’s in Dublin?”

“Yes.”

She smirks in a self satisfied way, “You’re bored,” she stops a passing customer to ask him if he knows what firelighters are, and if so, what does the box look like.

He shows her, and while she’s picking up the last two packets I come to stand with her, not helping, because now I'm more interested in selling this new idea to her. “It’ll be fun! How nice would it be to have a change of scenery? Get back to the city where stuff is actually happening, maybe go to that ice cream place you like.”

I’m certain this will sway her, but she pulls a face, “There’s loads of ice cream here, and the only reason you think nothing is happening on the beach is because you’re deliberately not doing anything.”

“Is it so bad that I want to have a day out with you?”

“No, I suppose not, but...” She wrinkles her nose “Fine. I don't want to be cynical. Do you think I’m cynical?”

“Yeah a bit.” I pay for the firelighters. As we exit the shop into the lingering light of the evening I admit to her, “I’m trying to cheer myself up, I just think I should make the most of the time I have left.”

She laughs, “It sounds like you’re terminally ill. You’re moving. So what? I’ll still talk to you all the time.”

“Yeah but I really want to savour these last few weeks. Will you come to the gallery?” I grip her arm and pretend to die, letting my knees buckle under me to really sell it, “...before it’s too late?”

“God, yes, fucking hell,” she groans, “I’ll come. I’ll do whatever you want for the rest of the summer, right?”

I throw an arm around her, “Thanks Jen.”

“Yeah, manipulator.”

“Takes one to know one,” I say cheerily, and we unlock our bikes and head towards home.

Beginning // Prev // Next

[ryuatewater]

what happened why is there mass genocide of anons???

glad im not anon

wait-

-📟

Well its from the anonverse uh ill explain it all wait

Okay so you know @/a-narcissists-warren right?

Funny thing they have their asks open and answer non question like stuff (basically just talking)

Well my friend started talking to them in anon while also adding an anon sign off so Afonso could recognize em (they used the 💽🎞 emoji combo)

And Afonso always* drew a little doodle when answering them, they even drew the anons and gave them unique designs based off their emojis

When I saw my friend talking to Afonso (who is literally my idol) I ofcourse wanted to do it too so I sent in a few asks (one or two asks really because i was nervous and shy) ALSO using an anon sign off (though i got the short end of the stick because my anon sign off had stuff to do with trees my lil guy was a tree too)

Then new anons started appearing so Afonso started drawing them designs too

People REALLY loved the designs and everything was going jolly

Then Notepad anon made an account for their anonsona

Everyone LOVED the idea and started making accounts too

The anons were interacting with eachother, drawing eachother fanart, blah blah blah everything was so fun and jolly!!

Heres the most recent pic i have of the anons btw

BTW THIS IS DRAWN BY @a-narcissists-warren SORRY FOR THE TAG

BUT there was a certain anon (I've seen a few names used for them like funny, odd, creepy but most common was silly anon so ill just call em that) silly anon had an account way before they started sending asks to Afonso

I wasnt there to see it myself but from what ive heard Silly Anon is canonically a child, back when the account first started people sent "asks" to silly anon just brutally murdering them woth gory descriptions that i wont be talking about now, this of course affected the child a lot and the kid grew up to be extremely violent (they were canonically 7 years old when they started sending asks to Afonso i believe) they also closed their own ask box because they were scared of getting hurt again

Silly anon would brutally kill people if not given enough candy (they of course loved candy bc theyre a literal child) so there was a full on massacre that happened because silly hadnt eaten enough candy to calm down

I believe it was here when we learned of a power Afonso had, they could draw in the air with their finger and anything they drew became real! But if they drew too much theyd experience a burn out where their hand was literally burnt and they couldnt draw properly

So Afonso started drawing candy for silly anon and when they couldnt draw because of a burn out they went and bought some for them

Afonso also tried to treat silly well and made them feel welcome (acting like a parental figure in my opinion)

So silly started trusting Afonso

Afonso drew all the dead people back to life and everything was alright again

Timeskip to when sillys canonical birthday came, they were turning 8 years old, they made a post about it and tagged every anon, everyone gave silly candy and sweets!! It was going so well until ONE ANONYMOUS ASSHOLE stabbed silly anon, silly healed quickly but was enraged, seeing red even, the ask box closed back up and silly went on another rampage literally killing EVERY ANON THERE IS and they were killing these anons using methods people ued on them, making the anons live trough sillys trauma

Okay so every anon was dead, Afonso was outside while all this was happening so when they came back they were horrified, every anon was dead and silly was so mad they even wanted to kill Afonso but Afonso started crying about how they couldnt make silly feel better, become a better person and theyve done all that they could

Silly dropped their weapon and hugged Afonso falling asleep on their shoulder because they were exhausted from all that killing, they breathed out a white gas from their mouth recovering every anon thats body was still intact and not turned into a pile of gore

Afonso drew all the other people back to life so now every anon is back EXCEPT ONE, 💽🎞 anon (who we like to call dvd anon), dvd anon was underground when they got killed so they cant be recovered right now

But every other anon is back

Thats where the story is at right now

Ryu note: if dvd doesnt come back i will cry /halfjoking

[kirbsmakemesmile]

I finally finished my Kirby gijinkaverse lore 😧

Remember, if you ask one question about the lore stuff after reading it all, I will draw one doodle of one character of your choice 😊😊😊

Send the questions through my ask box and your character request through my dms please!!!

Ok! Here we go! 😊😊 (please dont mind any typos)

Slight Tw: some described g0re, and implied plans of sui during one part

Ok let’s do this ok guys

Origins of Nightmare:

Nightmare was the original dark matter, and was always around because of peoples bad dreams. The thing is, they never fueled his growth because the fountain of dreams and the star rod was what kept him from becoming a huge threat. But, as generations had passed, the fountain of dreams became less of an important protective device, and more of a relic or a roadside attraction, to put it bluntly. The people had lost the knowledge of its meaning and didn’t value their peace anymore and they took it for granted, not even really acknowledging how good they had it. Anyway, a long time passed and nightmare is a puny threat to everyone, and he’s tired of it, so with what little power he’s saved up from aaallll that time saving up on bad dreams, he makes his move. He goes to popstar and shatters the star rod completely. And since the people didn’t acknowledge the importance of the star rod anymore, he went by basically unnoticed the whole time, and this began the start of chaos across the universe. Since nightmare grew to such a ginormous threat after the destruction of the star rod, the people figured they needed something big to defeat him too, and they created the GSA (Galaxy Soldier Army) and the star rod finally became a completely forgotten weapon.

Star rod and star people :

Nightmare became very successful in his plan to take over the universe at first, but because the star people (Kirby, Mk, etc.) were directly connected to the star rod (meaning they wish through the star rod, and so genetically they are connected) This is what made them a difficult species for nightmare to defeat because of the sheer power they had. (Unlike other species that would just wish on any shooting star and not the star rod) But the destruction of the star rod also had an effect on that too. The star rod allowed for wishing to be a very safe and reliable process, being able to wish any planet, any location, anytime.But without the star rod, you were not guaranteed this kind of safety, and now the children could be in danger during that process, sometimes even accidentally making wishes Wishing is a force of nature so the wish isn’t granted by a certain being, it just happens, the star rod kept that force in balance so without star rod it’s out of balance now. The wishing system is super screwed up so any large amount of emotion being said out loud could cause a wish. And the only reason why the babies of the star people were still being born with such power was because their parents still contained that star rod gene in them, so it still passed on through the wishing process. So in order for Nightmare to win, he had to destroy this species from the inside out.

Creation of Meta Knight:

Nightmares target became the firstborn child to the heads of the GSA (Sir Arthur and Lydia). So after the wish was made and the star had fallen to the ground, he made his move. He kidnapped the baby and took him to be experimented on. He turned him into a tracking device/ ambush plan, and gave him powerful, unnatural features that no other star person had. Nightmare later returned the baby to his parents, to be raised until the time was right for his plan to begin. He was raised along with three other siblings and was treated as a normal part of the family, so he never felt out of place. This was exactly what nightmare wanted

Nightmare’s plan:

At 25, Meta knight learned his true identity, through a vision from nightmare. He learned that he was a pawn to be used for nightmare’s efforts, and would be the downfall of the GSA. After finding out the truth, meta knight left the base feeling that he would be a disgrace to the GSA, and also out of fear that staying any longer would facilitate nightmare even more. However, this only opened the door. After he left, Nightmare took the opportunity to ambush the head GSA base and completely destroy it, as well as sending more beasts to meta knight after he had left to force him to return again in seek of refuge. Upon returning he saw that the base was completely destroyed and by leaving, he allowed that to happen (nightmare knew that if he didn’t leave, the ambush would be unsuccessful because the experiments he did on him made him a very skilled fighter, and nightmare needed that for his own gain, but against him he would not win). His family was nowhere to be found and neither were the other soldiers. So in this moment, nightmare physically appeared to him and tried to convince meta knight to join him. But after he refused, he took his eyes… (I’m sorry I don’t know how to describe it but he left him like severely injured like he actually ripped through his face and he was like horribly like lacerated on his face it was really bad and he was blinded like permanently).

Meta knight’s recovery:

He was left there for a while and he would’ve died, if he wasn’t found by two warriors (Jecra and Garlude) that came looking for others after surviving the ambush attack. They had their kids (Joe and Sirica) with them and were preparing things to to leave the planet with anyone they found. When they found him, they carried him into the ship and headed to one of the only peaceful planets left in the universe, Popstar. There, they cared for his wounds and helped him heal from actually being horribly ripped up and yeah.

Evil moment before warp saves him:

(Tw: implied plans of suicide in this part) After Meta knight was mostly recovered, he could only really see light, shadows, and vague shapes. His wounds had started the healing process and he was able to move around, so he left to the very edge of the woods, and he stayed there all day waiting until night. He contemplated the many things he had lost, his family was gone, his health and his vision had deteriorated, and the only life he had ever known turned out to be a lie. He went there in a bad mental state and didn’t think things could get better, so he planned to try and you know… yeah. After standing there for so long he broke down and he started like actually losing is like yelling like you are loud dude… basically just pouring out his heart in that moment of like sadness and confusion and wanting something to change the course of his life.

Warp star and star rod:

Now before I get back to the story I need to explain a little about warp. Warp star is a sentient being like galaxia, and she is also dually the star rod. After being broken, she had to be regenerated again because it’s just a law of nature, she exists with the universe no matter what, so she will always come back even if it’s in a different form. In order for her to be reborn though, she had to heal, and this process took years and years of regeneration. And for her to even be born, she had to choose a star person to be born with and to be her guardian for life, Kirby. This meant they both would rely on each other for power in the beginning stages of life (like how some sharks are born with a yolk sac, both rely on each other to an extent the shark needs food and the sac needs blood flow ☝️🤓). Anyways, Kirby and warp would be born together and that made Kirby her guardian, she is his galaxia.

Kirby:

Okay so remember how I said the wishing system was screwed up because warp wasn’t there to keep it in balance YOULL NEVER GUESS WHAT HAPPENS 😧😧 When Meta knight started pouring out his heart, it was read as a wish, and so Kirby was sent down to him, and he accidentally made a wish.😧 Kirby was born with warp star in his hands and they relied on each other as a source of power. So meta knight found the fallen star and realized exactly what had happened.

Post wish stuff:

After hearing him out in the forest, Jecra and Garlude were able to find him and Kirby and took them back home to be taken care of. They helped him raise Kirby in the beginning stages, and helped fashion a visor to be put in his mask that allowed him to see light and shapes in a little higher definition, which helped him navigate better and see Kirby a little more.

First 5 years:

For the first 5 years in cappytown raising Kirby, things go very smoothly. Meta knight starts training with Kirby in order for him to get his agility and skill back, and hoping that Kirby may learn from him as well. He has learned about Kirby’s copy abilities, and has become a fully involved father in Kirby’s life. (He’s so devoted because while it seemed that this was another stumbling block in his life, it was exactly what he wished for in the sense that he wanted something to happen that would completely change the course of his life) Also in cappytown, Dedede has barely become king and is just now learning to handle the throne (this is important for later)

After 5 years:

After a long and peaceful 5 years living with his son in cappytown, Meta knight received a notice from the GSA notifying former soldiers and warriors that their presence was needed urgently for the next attempt to to defeat nightmare. They claimed that the GSA had made changes to its system to ensure a “safer” environment for people with kids and were convinced that this time they would win against nightmare. Feeling obligated, and also a little hopeful of maybe seeing his family again, he left with Kirby to help the cause.

The issue with the GSA:

After the ambush at the head base of the GSA it seemed that Sir Arthur and the rest of meta knights family had perished during the ambush, but it’s actually all the contrary. When the ambush happened they were able to escape using one of the ships, and they left to one of the only other peaceful planets in the universe, Ripplestar. But because meta knight had left before the ambush, they couldn’t find him, and assumed that he died during the attack as well. So why didn’t they come back to help this second time? Arthur’s leadership in the GSA prevented people from serving that had small children, or people that physically could not serve, and he just had a very good handle on the leadership in the GSA, because he knew that yes the cause was good, but soldiers are still people, not machines. He valued everyone and after the ambush he felt he had failed the GSA in the sense that some fault in his leadership allowed for the ambush to happen, so he resigned his position to take care of his family, and removed himself from the GSA entirely. So what’s the deal with the GSA now? This new system that made the GSA a “safer environment” was really all just propaganda to get as many people to fight for freedom in the universe. And while in theory yes it’s good, like let’s get people to fight for the good, they forgot the importance of valuing each soldier as a person, and they really only just needed numbers. So what they did for people with kids was, they created a ship that would send your kid into space for years, until the war was finally over. The kids would be in cryo sleep the entire time until their ship was programmed to land, and when they landed they would be granted the knowledge of what happened to their family/ parents.

2nd war:

When Meta knight arrived to serve in the 2nd war, he realized what would happen and had no other choice but to rely on the GSA’s technology to protect Kirby. The second way started out promising, but turned out to be the most unsuccessful attempt yet. By pushing their soldiers to the limit, they overworked them and it was just bad. That’s why there were so little survivors in the end.

Garlude:

Let me pose to you this situation okay, we have Garlude, and she is the best warrior okay (it literally says that in the anime) and we have another really good warrior, Meta knight, and they’re both gonna get this legendary sword okay. Logically Garlude would not lose, and she would get the sword right? At least that’s what everyone was thinking right. Anyways, when they get there, they start fighting this monster to get the sword and he gets caught and is about to die, but this gives Garlude an opportunity to grab Galaxia to retrieve it successfully, but through trying to get Galaxia, she finds out the sword was not meant for her, she gets shocked and realizes Galaxia was meant for him. Unfortunately she has no other choice but to grab the sword and use it to help meta knight, because he’s losing really bad. So she sacrifices herself by using the sword to free meta knight, and she’s electrocuted. While this didn’t kill her at first, it made her extremely weak, and vulnerable to the monster, ultimately leading to her demise. So when Meta knight, a great warrior but not the best, comes back with Galaxia but no Garlude, don’t you think rumors would start? I think it’s worth thinking about. This is how Sirica, got the wrong idea about meta knight, and how Nightmare continued reminding Meta knight of his purpose and how he would always be used against the GSA and the warriors no matter what. He was the cause of one of his closest friends’ death.

Jecra:

Jecra’s death was a statement from Nightmare to Meta knight, once again reminding him who he really was. Jecra was kidnapped during an attack by some of nightmares beasts, and he was turned evil by nightmare. Upon returning, meta knight realized exactly what had happened to him and it was like looking in a mirror, he saw what nightmare had planned for him, and desperately tried snapping Jecra out of it, but it didn’t work. Meta knight had no other choice but to go against Jecra in battle. This resulted in him having to kill his only other friend left. Once again making him the cause of his friends’ death. All of because nightmare never wanted him to forget his identity and purpose.

After the second war:

At the end of the second war, most of the warriors in the GSA had died and there were very few survivors, including Meta Knight. He escaped and once again headed to popstar to seek refuge. This is basically where the anime starts

KRBAY:

The show is basically what this time was like from Kirby’s point of view, he sees dedede and a scary tyrannical leader and the one that orders the monsters, and everything is very “kids show” through his eyes, which isn’t necessarily how it happened.

King dedede had been king for about 9 years, but his leadership has been questionable, but he was doing everything in his power to keep the peace the cappytown even if it meant doing things that were wrong. King dedede filtered what could and couldn’t be seen by the cappies, basically making them ignorant to the whole war that’s going on. I guess like all of this just to say that the show is like a very kid like depiction of what actually happened.

Kirby returns to popstar:

About a year after meta knight had returned to popstar after escaping, Kirby’s ship crash landed in cappy town. (during this year that meta knight spent in Cappytown by himself, he became very close with tiff, because she was interested in who he really was as a star warrior. She disagreed with King Dededes method of leading, and she actually wanted to know what was going on, so that’s why him and tiff are very close) The whole plot of the anime continues during this time, and since Meta knight had barely returned from such a traumatic war, he felt that he wasn’t capable of taking care of Kirby anymore and that’s why they’re not very close during the show at all.

Sirica:

Even though the show depicts Sirica coming after knuckle Joe, I do what I want and I say she arrived before Joe did. When she arrived we all know what happens we’ve seen the show, she thinks meta knight killed her mother which isn’t true and the show kind of brushes over it, that’s not what happened. After their conflict, he fully describes the story like he zones out and starts retelling everything like it happened and it’s kind of difficult to hear for everyone, but it gives Sirica the reassurance that her mother died a hero and for the greater good. She does not leave right after this, she stays in cappytown for a while, because I don’t think she would leave I think she wants to hear more about her mom and the only guy that knows a lot about her is Mk so it only makes sense.

Joe:

Similarly to Siricas conflict with meta knight, knuckle Joe comes to cappytown seeking the warrior who killed his father, we know how it goes we’ve seen it. And just like last time after their conflict, he fully retells the story, except this one is particularly more difficult for him to tell, because he actually did kill his father. Since nightmare made him one of his pawns and made him fully evil, meta knight had no other choice but to you know like… yeah. So after zoning out again and telling the story in full detail it’s very difficult for everyone to grasp, knuckle Joe does get the closure he needed, but the people (WHO DIDNT REALLY EVEN KNIW A WAR WAS GOING ON) hear that meta knight actually had a crazy war story and was a crazy fighter, and that’s how this persona of meta knight started being built up even more and people thought of him as like wow so fighter like he’s so noble and so cool. Basically treating him like a fictional character now instead of an actual dude.

Joe and Sirica:

After staying in cappytown for a while, learning about their parents and how they cared for injured soldiers, and were very noble people, they left into space to find survivors from the war, and other star warriors, to help with the final battle against nightmare that would be coming very soon.

KRBAY finale:

As the show nears its end, there’s a bit of foreshadowing that comes from meta knight, where he says Kirby will soon be going up against an even bigger foe, and the next episode starts the finale. That means he knew that Kirby would have to fight nightmare very soon, how did he know that?? Basically nightmare gave him a vision and this was like the worst thing nightmare had in store for him, in that vision he told meta knight that now Kirby would be going up against him whether he liked it or not, and he was going to take what was most important in his life, Kirby. (It’s not like super important to know this but I thought it was cool so i out it in) ANYWAYS, the finale starts and meta knight, sword, blade, Kirby, king dedede, and Tiff (she snuck on board) head into space to fight nightmare. They get there and yeah we all know what happens, and then they get surrounded by a bunch of nightmares ships. And that’s when they notice three of the ships actually helping them out. And then it’s like big reveal, it’s Joe, Sirica, and Sir Arthur and his family WHAAATTTT 😧😧😧 I THOUGHT THEY DIED (that’s his brain)

He kind of disassociates during the rest of this battle just because so much has happened and he knows what going to happen and it’s just a lot, which is why his reaction to seeing his family again is so like 😮 instead of actually freaking out. Ok let’s fast forward to the end okay.

Final battle with nightmare:

Finally we get to this final battle with nightmare, and in the show it depicts tiff being the one that gets taken by nightmare and Kirby goes after her, but I honestly think that it would just be a lot more meaningful if it was meta knight just because this final battle represents his fear of nightmare, controlling his life, and just always being around, so for the sake of this story, I’m changing it to that. Anyways, as Kirby is going after them to save meta knight, this is basically meta knights worst nightmare come true, and his fear is what is fueling nightmare at this very last battle to make him look much bigger and stronger. This is all kind of like a show to make the person fighting him think that they need a huge arsenal to defeat him, when in reality, all they need is the star rod. So at the end when Kirby reveals that he is the guardian of the star rod, that’s how he’s able to defeat nightmare. By using the only thing that could defeat him, he destroyed nightmare forever in an instant. In the show, nightmares defeat is only shown for a very small portion of the entire finale, which I think really drives the point home that nightmare was all show. He played this role of being a huge threat to hide the fact that he had such a big weakness.

Post nightmare’s defeat:

After successfully, defeating nightmare, and nightmare enterprises, everyone returned home safe, and meta knight and Kirby left Cappy town to go and see his family after all these years. They spent about six months visiting and came back to Cappytown after that.

Meta knights revenge:

After returning to Cappy town from visiting his family, he came back to a completely different town. While in many aspects, Cappytown had improved, for example, king dededes leadership, media, and education had improved. Many of the cappies continued to choose to be ingnorant to the efforts of the GSA and basically all the crazy war stuff that had happened. They treated star Warriors as fictional characters to put it bluntly, and didn’t value the freedom that they had even during the wars. One example I can give you of the Cappies ignorance to everything that was going on, is in one of the episodes where they collect little figures of some of the star warriors and soldiers, they collect these figures and don’t even know their actual names. (There was even a collectible of Jecra and like it’s kind of messed up like why are you making a marketable figure of a man that died???) It’s just very representative of how they view star warriors as a whole, just a collectible or a character. So when Meta knight had arrived to Cappy town, the people treated him like he was a celebrity and people fawned over him and made merchandise off of him and it was just really weird. This really irked him, and he kind of lost it, because a couple years ago when he lived there and he was going through things, nobody cared about him except tiff, but now since he’s a “hero” everyone loves him and idolizes him just because he lives in their town. So, his solution? IM GONNA TAKE OVER THIS ENTIRE PLACE AND IM GONNA MAKE THESE PEOPLE STOP BEING SO IGNORANT AND LAZY AND SEE WHAT I AND A BUNCH OF OTHER WARRIORS WENT THROUGH 🐺🐺🐺🐺 (this entire invasion is really just a manic episode, he completely loses it and it’s just all build up from all the crap he’s had to deal with from the cappies) During this time is when we really get to see the true power nightmare gave him though. Similarly to the evil frog thing from that one episode, he goes into this trance like state where all he can do is wreak havoc and he can’t recognize anyone he’s up against. So when Kirby goes to fight him, meta knight doesn’t recognize him, and that’s why he’s so brutal.

After meta knights revenge:

Afterwards, tiff finds him on shore and she is really disappointed. She and him end up talking things over and it’s end up okay but she realizes that he still has very serious issues to deal with. He gets fired from working for dedede, and gets a slap on the wrist but otherwise is fine (dedede didn’t want conflict so he chose this route to keep everyone happy) The people recognize that he’s also a person too, but still idolize him, and honestly this kind of raises his ego. (Until he gets humbled later) After all the games happen up until planet robobot, and that’s when it gets crazy 😧

Susie haltmann:

After being stuck in an alternate dimension since her childhood, Susie finally escapes when a rift is opened, and she finds herself on popstar. (That happens right as Magolor loses and vanishes to that dimension, they like switch spots) With no idea where she is, she steals a star ship from a garage of what seems to be some celebrity or something, idk they had a lot of cars and ships (you’ll never guess who METAKNIGHT OMG yeah) and she heads into space to find her father again. After finding haltmann works, she goes inside to see her father again after all these years, but he doesn’t remember her. Desperately she tries to make him remember, but nothing works. She ends up resorting to being a secretary, hoping maybe one day her father will recognize her again, and plotting to steal the machine that stole her father from her. She’s forced to work in a company she knows is corrupt, just to try to get her dad to remember her.

Planet Robobot:

After getting captured by someone as he entered haltmann works, Meta knight waited in a room for a representative to come talk to him, enter Susie Haltmann. Susie explains a new program called the “Mechanization program”, a new experimental initiative, which gave the person robotic armor that worked with the body to make them more efficient in fighting, and overall just an upgrade to an organic body. Two things to keep in mind though, one, Susie wasn’t really trying to do anything drastic, all she was trying to do was do something big enough in the company to impress her father so that maybe he would remember her, and two, Meta knight had recently (in previous games) been shown to be obsessed with improving his fighting skills, fighting on his own to prove his strength, and proving he’s the greatest warrior ever ( amazing mirror, meta knightmare ultra, etc.) so to him, this program sounded like free plastic surgery to hi so obviously he said yes. Before starting the mechanization process, he had to have a checkup, to make sure his health was up to par, which is how she found out he was blind.

Meta knights’ sight regained:

Before the mechanization started, Susie had to fix his eyes. She replaced them with robotic prosthetics that would help the mecha armor navigate, and after years of being blind, he would finally be able to see again. (His eyes turn yellow permanently after this game so it’s like proof) After surgery, he was extremely overwhelmed, and tried escaping to see Kirby and all his other loved ones, but since he had already signed the contract, she couldn’t let him leave, and the mechanization process continued.

Mechanization:

Technically he wasn’t turned into a cyborg, the mechanization process was more like giving the person mechanization armor that moved for them, meaning the person didn’t have to really even move, and the armor would control the person inside. The person inside acted as more of a skeleton. So the armor wasn’t a part of you (like she didn’t rip him apart and replace his entire body with robot ( except for his eyes but she just freaking made him see again so pllplppt)), it was more of an add on. (In the game the armor is completely off by the next cutscene so yeah no it wasn’t crazy cyborg stuff sorry) When he fought Kirby, he unfortunately couldn’t see him yet, because the program in the mech suit completely took over his vision, so he didn’t see Kirby until the very end.

End of robobot:

After fighting star dream and winning, he saved Kirby and they both land safely on popstar once again. Kirby doesn’t realize at first that Meta knight can see him, and meta knight stays very silent for a while taking it all in, but when Kirby finally realizes, it’s really sweet and they hug and cry and it’s just like GHHHHUHHVHJHHH 😢😢😭😭

From this point on, meta knight slows down a lot and stops trying to be insanely like in gonna be the best and I have to be strong and yeah, he retires from being a warrior like that, and spends time taking in what he hasn’t been able to see for almost 20 years.

Meta knight and Susie:

During his mechanization process, he became very good friends with Susie. Since she had just recently come back from an alternate dimension, he was the first person she could talk to, and they both had very similar traumas that they could bond over (losing their family for an extended time, feeling isolated, being related to a very bad person/ being, etc.) and meta knight felt he had, and always would have, an eternal debt to her for giving him his vision back. So there was never really intense conflict between them, they were just friends, until having to be separated at the very end.

After robobot:

After a much needed break, meta knight became a lot more peaceful and appreciated his family and his life a lot more, he finally felt truly happy and optimistic towards life in general. As for Susie, she did continue her fathers legacy by mechanizing different planets and people, but not in the way it seemed. She helped bring clean energy to different planets that needed help after haltmann works damaging their ecosystems, and she provided prosthetics for people who needed them, and helped many people regain their vision and hearing. (The reason why she was made to look like a bad guy is because since the people of popstar found out that she turned THEIR PRECIOUS META KNIGHT into a cyborg, they immediately assumed the worst and twisted her story around to make her look like she was a horrible person like her dad, which was just not true)

Star allies:

Star allies is really when Meta knight and Susie grew close. Finally being able to work on the same team helped them become even better friends, bond over shared experiences, and eventually lead to their relationship. They found someone they could truly talk about their trauma with, and it was just really great all around and it’s just sweet okay they both get their happy ending.

Forgotten land:

During forgotten land, meta knight has truly settled down and retired from his life of fighting like crazy and being crazy fighter

( I mean unless in one of the next games he comes out of retirement but we’ll see) and he focused on the slower life, he settled down with Susie, they wished for a kid, and life is really good. He will always continue to train Kirby, and anyone else, but after years of so many traumatic things happening to him, he’s now able to relax and heal from it all. 😊😊

Timeline:

Mk 25- Kirby is born

Mk 30 K 5- Mk called back to the second war

Mk 34- he comes back to popstar after the second war

Mk 35 K 6- Kirby returns to popstar (Kirby only aged one year during cryo sleep, so he should be 10 but he’s physically)

Mk 37 K 8- when the show ends and they fight nightmare

Mk 38 K 9- when meta knights revenge happens

Mk 44 K 13- when robobot happens

Mk 46 K 15- star allies and forgotten land

[auspex]

VtM Fangfest 2024 Prompt 1: The Fool

Hello! Here is my first fic for Fangfest 2024 :)

All my fics will be about characters that are previously established, so you might not have context for everything mentioned or hinted at within :( Feel free to reach out to ask I love explaining!

I've never really posted my writing before so be kind!

My first fic is about a Tremere from Mark's game named JP. JP and Mark had the same Domitor, Julius, who was killed at the climax of their chronicle. This fic is set after.

The Educated Fool

Hunched over the box of records, JP flipped through, looking for artists he recognized. Some of the unfamiliar covers looked interesting, but he didn’t want to listen to new stuff yet. He wasn’t even sure if he liked the same stuff that he used to, and so figured it’d be best to start with that.  

There - The Who, an artist he used to listen to, though an album he had not - “It’s Hard”. He fished it out and read over the song titles on the back. Into his small stack of records it went, which already included Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath. Iron Maiden had been the only new artist he had found since his death (he was not allowed much free time, and even early in his unlife), while Black Sabbath was an old favorite. Satisfied with the 3 albums, JP went to checkout. One awkward interaction with the cashier later, and JP was free for the evening. It was a long walk home, and JP instinctually kept to the darker paths, avoiding streetlights and people. Since it was earlier in the night, kine were still awake. JP listened to the cars that went by, kept an ear out for people, and shuffled along, monitoring his speed - he didn’t want to walk too fast, too slow, or too awkwardly. He knew he no longer had visible gruesome injuries, but he still naturally avoided drawing attention to himself. 

It had only been a few weeks since his sire Julius had met his final death, after all. 

It was quiet times like this walk home where it was the hardest to not think about his bad memories and his regrets - lately, his largest one: he wasn’t the one to kill Julius. His nails dug into his hands whenever he thought of it - he was kneeling there, helpless, simply staring at the fight where Julius had met final death, instead of taking part in it. JP, now lost in thought, stared blankly ahead, not really taking in the walk home anymore, oblivious to those passing by. 

Mark had told him that he still contributed, that they couldn’t have done it without him, but he knew better. Hell, Mark himself barely even mattered - his contributions were just a small boon to Julius’s long-term rival, Gaius. It was Gaius who orchestrated everything, who did that weird-ass ritual to revive that wizard, the one who had landed the killing blow. 

JP shuddered thinking of the flames that individual had summoned. What had Mark called him, Lucius? Weird-ass name too. 

It didn’t matter now. Whatever his name was, he had left the city with Gaius. Julius’s body had rotted, leaving only bones, along with almost all of Gaius’s other allies who had died in the fight. 

Mark was lucky to get out with his unlife. JP wasn’t sure if he’d call himself lucky. Part of him had fully expected to meet final death before being free of Julius, and none of him had considered what he would do after. He was so jealous of Gaius - not only did he get his revenge, he seemed to have actually had a plan of what to do after. 

Kicking a can on the side of the road absentmindedly, he had to admit he was glad Mark had insisted he go out and get things, do something. It didn’t give him a purpose, but it did succeed in distracting him at least for a time.

~

There was one thing that never failed to distract JP. 

Hunger. He had started to welcome the gnaw of it, the way it clouded his thoughts and made it hard to think about anything else - it was not freedom, but it was a different prison. Thus, it had now been nights since JP had last fed - intentional procrastination, that he would keep to himself. He knew Mark wouldn’t like it. 

However, eventually, Mark noticed his wild eyes - “are you alright?” - and insisted he feed before he went feral. 

JP would have ignored anyone else, but Mark was different. He would have been rotting in some box, starving in torpor, without him - he didn’t want to make his unlife any harder, and he had to admit that he couldn’t hold off the beast forever. “I’ll go out” he had said, “but only because I still owe you.” 

Truly though, the beast wanted to feed. 

Mark scowled. “You don’t owe me anything. Uh, do you want me to come with you?” He looked very concerned, and started reaching for his keys before JP even replied. 

“No! Yeah, nah.” JP was already going for his shoes. “It’s a private affair, yanno, I know you get it. I know what I’m doing.” 

“Um. I guess, but are you sure that’s a good idea? How exactly uh, hungry are you?” 

JP’s face turned cold and he fixed Mark with a stone-faced stare. “I can handle it. Can I have the keys?” 

Mark opened his mouth, and then closed it into a thin line and held the key out to JP. “Be careful.”

“Yeah.” 

JP grabbed it, turned, and was out the door. 

~ 

JP was used to feeding on Mark’s territory, and thus found himself driving across the bridge to Belle Isle. It still felt strange driving - he had only driven himself a few times since gaining his freedom, and hadn’t for years before it. Mark had to remind him how, essentially reteach him, and he was still awkward. 

Mark was probably just as worried about the car as he was about JP. 

No. JP internally corrected himself. It’s about me. He doesn’t care about this car, he misses his old one. 

JP still wasn’t sure if he was glad that Mark cared about him, or if he wished he didn’t. Regardless, he was almost across the bridge, and had to decide where to go, but instead drove a bit aimlessly. He only caught himself after he had started driving towards the old lighthouse, where he had been staying before Julius’s death - when he had been under orders to assist Mark. 

No, he did not need to go back there again. 

Instead, he turned towards the beach.

JP found a spot to park and turned off the car. He unbuckled, but instead of getting out, he sat back and closed his eyes. Focusing closely with his supernatural hearing, he listened to the waves lapping on the shore. 

For a while, that’s all he heard - it was late, and the swimming area was closed. His beast clawed at him - but he could push it aside for a moment, like how he used to push away the constant pain he was forced to endure every night. It was not quite peaceful, but the sound reminded him of when he was alive - he used to surf. 

JP couldn’t remember the last time he had thought of that. 

Then the waves were interrupted by the sound of a rattling chain link fence, and the thump of someone landing - and then another, and another, along with some hushed voices. JP couldn’t quite make out the whispers, because his beast was focused on trying to listen for a heartbeat instead - there it was, fast ones, was it adrenaline? 

JP exited the car and made his way towards the sound of prey before even consciously deciding to do so. To his ears, his feet loudly crunched on gravel, but he knew he was far enough away that the sound of the wind and waves should cover his approach. 

Approaching the fence, he saw imprints on the other side, where the gravel turned to sand, and further down, some figures closer to the shore. It was a new moon, but the figures had turned on a flashlight, and JP was used to peering into darkness. One of them - no, two - were carrying beer cans. The third was taking off a jacket. Guess they’re fans of night swimming. 

One alone would be easy to prey upon. A pair would be harder. But three? That was trickier. 

JP waited until they had started wading into the water - and oh, they littered those cans too, leaving them on the sand. He walked further down following the fence, listening for anyone approaching. Hearing no one, and feeling safely that he was out of sight, he then he hefted himself over the fence just like they had

Kicking off his shoes as he ran for the water, a part of him almost expected to smell salt - but this wasn’t the Atlantic ocean in California, it was the Detroit River. 

How long had it been since he had last swam? 

He paused at the shoreline and glanced at the group. Taking no notice of him, they had gotten deeper in the water, and were spreading out. 

JP smiled. He took off his shirt, and without further delay, ran into the water, going chest deep. 

The temperature was noticeably cooler, but it was still warmer than his dead skin. Not needing to breathe, he only kept his eyes above the water, approaching the swimmers like an alligator. He could be faster, but creeping forward this way, he was almost impossible to see in the dark. The trio had kept their flashlight on the shore - a miniature lighthouse for them.

It would be so easy to make one of their deaths look like an accident. Headline: Drunkard drowns swimming at night. 

Mark wouldn’t like that though. 

Not committing to keeping them alive nor killing them yet, JP let himself and his beast focus on how he was going to sneak a bite in the first place. As he got close enough to hear their half-yelled conversation (“don’t you dare splash me!” “shut up” “don’t go any deeper!”), he fully sank under the waves. 

It was impossible to see in the pitch black water, and near impossible to hear - but JP managed. Keep yelling. He got close enough to the one who had been warned to not go any deeper (who had ignored it) where he could feel the water shift around his movements. 

Keep it quick, JP. He had resolved to at least attempt to keep this one alive - and if he was to do so, he couldn’t feed for long without his companions noticing something odd. 

JP swam behind his prey and went for his neck, barely exiting the water. He tilted the man’s head back so that his nose and mouth were facing the sky as JP tread water. Even with this, he gasped and coughed seawater, initially spasming in panic, but as JP’s fangs sunk into him he relaxed. 

Water mixed with blood in JP’s mouth, but he was hungry, dammit, and forced down the initial watered down sip. The blood had an odd tang to it, not in a bad way, and JP could also quickly tell that this man was very, very drunk. Idiot; no respect for the water. 

He’ll get himself killed anyway. Drink him all. Also, being drunk would be nice, wouldn’t it? 

JP lost himself for a moment in the taste of him. Fire and water. Risk and carelessness, youthful exuberance, life, found in the taste of blood. 

Yelling brought him back to reality. “Elias, where’d you go?” “I told you to not fucking go deeper!” Some splashing sounded, heading towards him. 

Ugh. 

With great reluctance and force of will, JP licked the wound closed - tasting more water - and sunk under the waves. 

Feed from the others. It’s not too late to kill him. 

JP kicked off the bottom of the river, going deeper instead. 

He listened to the sound of water, letting the relieved laughter and yells of the group of friends fade into the background. With his beast at least somewhat sated, it almost felt good to push against the water, heading to nowhere. The water swished between his hands, fingers, toes. He thought about what creatures may live in this river, how the ecology differed from the sea, how the freshwater even sounded and felt different from saltwater. 

Perhaps he had missed swimming after all.