#this was too funny not to do especially since i draw him so gremlin now

[devilart2199-aibi]

I really like your art style :)

Can you draw Grian staring into our soul?

Thank you! And absolutely hehe

[dc418writes]

✨Pairing✨: trucker!Ari Levinsonxblack!reader

Summary🪄: It’s always a time when uncle Ari comes around

⚠️: uncle!Ari (just as damaging as dad!Ari and regular Ari lol) mention of nightmares, pretty much all fluff💕

A/N🎤: Hey guys! Another Halloween themed fic but this time with a softer Ari😌. This will serve as atonement to myself (and others who might be affected) for daring to make my fave dark in my last post lol. Hope you guys like it!!

*DISCLAIMER!: although visual made by me via Canva, I DO NOT CLAIM OWNERSHIP of pics used as they were all found on Pinterest*

As expected, four year old Grace had been attached to Ari since the moment you both arrived to babysit for the night. You wouldn’t say you were upset seeing that he was her uncle and that they’ve talked nearly every day since she could babble, but there was still a little sting every time you were greeted with a quiet “hi” or short wave before she was gone and you long forgotten.

Like now as they dug through their shared pumpkin emptying it’s stringy contents while you were in charge of decorating the sugar cookies waiting on the cooling rack.

“S’cold!,” she squealed dumping out her handful of pumpkin guts.

“Be careful of the seeds, you swallow one and a huge pumpkin’s gonna grow in your belly,” Ari warned to which little Grace quickly shook her head.

“Nuh-uh!”

“Uh-huh!”

“No uncle Ari, we can eat. See?” Before either of you can say anything, she’s quick to set one on her tongue happily chewing until she can swallow it down rubbing her belly. “I’m fine.”

“I guess you showed me huh,” he chuckles tapping her nose and leaving some juice from his finger on her skin successfully turning it light orange. Grace is quick to retaliate though rubbing her hands on his cheeks to leave behind tiny pieces of string as she giggles - and you do too from the other side of the kitchen.

Honestly you couldn’t blame her for picking Ari over you as her favorite. You’d choose him too if you had to pick between the two of you.

“Alright, it’s pretty much cleaned out now. You want scary or funny?,” he asks watching as she adorably tapped her tiny finger to her temple in thought.

“Hmm…funny!”

“Got it,” he nods. “Why don’t you get cleaned up and help your aunt with cookies?”

“I got everything we could ever want Grace,” you smile reaching in your grocery bag full of decorating goodies. “There’s sprinkles - three different shapes I might add - glitter, edible stickers, and stencils to help us draw shapes!”

The way she gazed at the sprinkles with her mouth in a little “o”, you think you’ve got her. Finally able to bond with her over a shared love of cookies like you were in one of those Hallmark movies. Like a little happy family.

“Um..wanna stay with uncle Ari.”

Well, so much for that.

“Oh okay,” you answer successfully hiding your hurt behind your nonchalance. Ari still notices though giving you a sympathetic smile and mouthing, “sorry.”

You appreciated him trying, but maybe you were just meant to be the fun uncle’s wife that barely got a hello. And who tends to go overboard with cookie decorating supplies.

•

“Alright ladies are we ready?,” Ari asks sitting on the navy blue sectional between you and a bouncy Grace nodding yes. During your spaghetti dinner - made by Ari since apparently his was the best although he used your recipe - he suggested that you all watch a movie afterwards.

Specifically, Gremlins.

His thought process being what better way for everyone - more so you and Grace - to spend time together than to watch a movie? Especially a spooky one seeing that it was the night before Halloween. You, on the other hand, had a few concerns on his niece potentially being scared of the little troublesome creatures.

“She’ll be fine. It’s not that scary,” he assured kissing your cheek.

Freshly bathed and in her appropriately themed pumpkin pajamas, Grace couldn’t wait holding on tight to her Mickey Mouse blanket as she watched her uncle press play.

“Share with me!,” she smiles just as Ari spreads the bigger, cream blanket over both yours and his lap.

“I’m not gonna fit though bug.”

“Uh huh! Watch,” she states crawling into his lap and neatly spreading the grey blanket over her legs and his thighs. You - again - casted off to the side with your blanket as she tilts her head back to look up at him. “We fit!”

“Y-Yea, looks like we do.” He gives you another sympathetic smile draping his arm around your shoulders while you bundle deeper under the blanket.

“I’d rather be by myself anyway. Little does she know her uncle is a blanket hog,” you think trying to make yourself feel better.

•

Ari appeared to be right on Grace not being scared. She even fell asleep towards the end with her upper half on the cushion next to them and lower half still on his lap; mouth wide open pointed towards the ceiling. Ari was the one to tuck her in bed, while you cleaned up the blankets and plates of cookie crumbs left in the living room.

You were the last to enter the shared guest room to finally get ready for bed yourself. Your love struck husband taking turns gazing at you and the last period of some hockey game as you strode back and forth from the bathroom to the bedroom. A small, dopey smile on his lips watching you wash your face and apply all your products.

“Share with me?,” he pouts with those puppy eyes making you giggle while sliding into the full sized bed.

“I don’t know,” you sigh, “I feel like Grace is gonna somehow come in saying how she wants you to sleep in her room instead because that’s where you’re supposed to be.”

Yes probably a little petty, but you couldn’t hold it in anymore.

His tattooed arms bring you closer into his body pecking the top of your head as you settle between his pecs. A low “aw” vibrating in his chest while his hands rub along your back.

“I know I probably sound jealous, but I’m not. I love how you have a great relationship with your niece! But it’s like she hates me and I have no idea what I did.”

He knew that had always been a bit of a fear for you. Kids hating you for whatever reason, thus meaning you shouldn’t have them although you did desire to be a mother one day. It’s why you were nervous meeting Grace all those years ago, afraid that the smallest mess up would ruin everything.

It didn’t help that the minute Ari passed her to you, she began whining and squirming. Your coos of comfort and gentle rocks didn’t seem to help, only making her more agitated not getting what she wanted. She didn’t stop until she was back in Ari’s strong arms and you kept your distance the rest of the visit cautious of a repeat interaction.

If only he could get you to ignore that fear and really see how everyone you met - adults and children alike - had no issues with you. Some even left enchanted by the charisma you thought you lacked.

“I promise, she doesn’t hate you gorgeous.”

“She said so?,” you quietly ask lifting your head with a hint of hope.

“Well…no. But she didn’t say the opposite either.” He tried to soothe your qualms, but it’s not helping the way he hoped watching your head fall back to his chest with a light huff. “Trust me sweetheart. I guess she’s just attached to me because-,”

“You’re amazing and clearly the favorite,” you mumble making him chuckle.

“I was gonna say because I talk to her more, but I’ll take the compliment.”

It’s not long after that you’re both falling asleep lulled by the shared warmth from holding each other. Ari’s soft snores vibrating the side of your face still lying on his chest.

You think you’re dreaming when a mix of a whine and cry hits your ears disrupting your rest and making you groggily sit up. Hearing feet shuffling outside your door though confirms those sounds are in fact real, giving you more motivation to investigate.

Your husband’s too far gone in his own dreamland to be affected by your moving; still lightly snoring with an arm over his forehead and the other out by his side.

Quietly opening the door, you wrap your arms around yourself in your thin pajama set feeling the chill of the night air seeping into your sister in law’s house before carefully padding out to the living room. There, you notice something on the couch moving under the blanket you folded earlier causing you to freeze in place. It was then you realized you probably should’ve woken Ari up so he could be the one playing detective or at least grabbed something you could use to defend yourself.

“H-Hello?,” you call out to the dim space only lit by a couple plug in nightlights in the walls.

“Hi,” Grace’s soft voice responds with a short sniffle.

You also realize how you’re sleepy brain might not be fully thinking straight unable to conclude earlier how it could just be your own niece sitting there on the couch.

Stepping closer, you sit on the cushion next to hers peeling back the cotton throw until you see her splotchy face and red eyes. Water attached to her curled lashes and some still threatening to spill over. “What’s wrong?”

“Bad dream…gwemlins,” she answers using the blanket to wipe her eyes. You immediately hug her close as you coo and assure her everything’s okay.

And surprisingly, she hugs you back.

Her tiny arms wrap tight around you - well, as far as they could with her adorably short reach - almost refusing to let you go.

“Yea, when they get angry they can be scary huh?”

She nods. “And have very very sharp teeth.”

“They do, but luckily they’re not real so there’s nothing-,”

A crash from the back room startles both of you making Grace scream, with the six year old nearly choking you now having her arms around your neck.

“It’s them!,” she cries hiding her face in your shoulder just as Ari limps into the living room holding his knee and appearing half asleep.

“Damn dresser,” he grumbles wiping his eyes that quickly fill with concern seeing both of you on the couch and his niece upset. “What’s wrong?”

“Grace had a nightmare about Gremlins,” you answer pointedly glaring at him as if saying, “I told you so!”

The slight wince on his face isn’t just from an uncomfortable knee as he walks forward to perch on the coffee table. “I’m sorry bug. I didn’t mean to show that to you to scare you.”

“Not nice uncle Ari,” she mumbles still attached to you.

“Forgive me?,” he pouts holding his arms out for a hug. “Peas?”

Wiping her eyes one last time, a small smile begins to spread on her lips as she moves from you to Ari. A fit of giggles rapidly escaping her mouth as his larger body practically swallows hers in a bear hug and he attacks her cheeks with kisses. A dramatic “mwah” sounding every time he made contact causing you to giggle as well.

And fantasize the undoubtedly joyful future you’d both have with your own children.

“Don’t do it again!,” she chastises when he stops. Wagging her finger inches from his nose making him chuckle. She was definitely her mother’s child.

“I promise I won’t.”

“Alright guys,” you sigh, “Since it’s gonna be a bit difficult to go back to sleep, I say we watch something happy.”

“Not Gwemlins!”

“No definitely not,” you chuckle. “I was thinking..Aladdin.”

“Yay! I love Aladdin!,” she claps in Ari’s arms as he picks her up so they both can sit on the couch. To both of your surprise, Grace crawls from her uncle’s lap and squeezes between you and Ari. “You like too?”

“Mhm, I even went as Princess Jasmine for Halloween when I was little.” You have to admit, seeing that gleam of admiration in her eyes as she gazed up at you made you silently thank Ari for showing her that movie. It was the reason behind this bonding moment that you didn’t think would happen.

As the movie played, you and Grace talked about the scenes and of course sung along to your heart’s content not caring if you were off key. All the while Ari watched you both with a soft smile on his pink lips loving how fast of friends you’d become.

And when you both fell asleep - you leaning on his shoulder and her across your lap - he couldn’t help but sneakily take a picture with his phone. Sending it to you with a message saying “looks like you’re amazing and a clear favorite too😉”.

[thecruellestmonth]

Juni Ba is holding a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" session on May 7 at 4 PM CEST (10 AM EST).

Some of his answers in his previous interviews about The Boy Wonder, a reimagining of Damian's story—

This is a standalone graphic novel (Black Label), meant to be accessible to readers with no prior comic knowledge. It is meant for ages 13+.

Damian is Ba's favorite Robin, and he finds him very relatable.

On Damian comic influences, Ba says Son of Batman and Super Sons were two of his favorite books.

Other than Damian, Talia and Jason are the characters that Ba has been most excited to work with.

Ba did the art for the "Happy Birthday Damian" story in Truth & Justice; while the art was a test run for some design ideas he's using in The Boy Wonder, the actual story isn't necessarily indicative of his own writing style or his version of the characters.

Ba is a big fan of Darwyn Cooke. Justice League: The New Frontier thematically inspired him here, possibly more than particular Batman comics.

Ba is aware of the racism discussion regarding the al Ghuls, and he intends to humanize them.

Ba started writing in 2020 or 2021, and the story is being released now after a period of waiting.

"This is very much I guess a Juni Ba book that happens to feature Batman characters."

To start us off, what can you tell us about the story of your new series, The Boy Wonder?

I usually introduce it to people by saying it's the story of a child with a lot of hang ups and preconceived ideas, both about himself and his family members. Over the course of this coming of age fairy tale he starts to learn about them, and himself, and grow into a better person. And it really leans into the fairy tale aspect to push the allegory and the magic in this story!

Why does Damian appeal to you so much as both an artist and a writer?

I find him both tragic and adorable. He and I share some things and I think that's why my brain started coming up with a story about him all by itself. Writing wise there's a fertile ground to tell a really heartfelt story. And art wise, he's such a fun character to draw. It's like a cute little gremlin who's always frowning and judging everyone, which can often backfire on him in funny ways.

How much does Damian's past with Talia and Ra's al Ghul influence Damian and this story?

A lot! They raised him after all, so that upbringing influences a lot of what he does. But that includes Batman too, even if his influence is more recent. There's a looming presence of all the parental figures and the pressure of what they'd have wanted you to do, how they would have judged you.

Since we were talking about Damian’s mother, there have been questions surrounding characterization and stuff, especially for characters like the Al’Ghuls, whose stories unfortunately do have a lot of racist elements in their origins. Are you doing anything to combat or alleviate those concerns in your book?

Stories often dehumanize them, so I try to do the opposite. I think I have a very character-driven style of storytelling, and a lot of the time I try to give the point of view of as many people as I can in the story.

There are five issues. Three of them have the Robins, and then eventually we get to my 2nd favourite team up, which is with Talia and it’s done from her perspective. The main goal was to try to give her more of a voice, because you start this story with a kid who tells you “My parents are messed up,” he was essentially raised to kill people, but we see how she was raised too, and the faults that she can see in her father’s philosophy.

Ra’s gets a bit of that as well later on, but the main goal was, I want to make it so that when you start the story with Damian, he has a lot of preconceived ideas about both sides of his family, which make his relationships to everyone very difficult. Every adventure he has, he gets to understand things in a different light by the end of every story, and one of them was, “What is his relationship to his mom like?” And you get to see it from the mom’s point of view and understand that she loves her son, but there are a lot of complications that come from being raised by someone like Ra’s.

Beyond that, this is an older Talia, more mature and less sexualized than the usual I’d say. As for Ra’s, I can’t say much, but a lot of what you see of him at first is rooted in Damian’s childlike, heightened, and scared perception. Just like the rest, it gets explored later.

It sounds like the book will see Damian coming to terms with his place in the Robin lineage. How does he feel about his brothers?

This Damian would probably say they're usurpers, ingrates, failures and profiteers! It's pretty hard being raised as the center of all the attention, as well as a successor who's never quite enough for his grandfather, and then when thrown into the Bat family, he becomes what feels like the fifth wheel. The last and least appreciated son. So his whole arc will be about processing that.

Is there a character other than Damian that you’re particularly excited to be writing and/or drawing?

Jason and Talia, by a lot. I think because the core of it is this is a world of people who seem very perfect. Damian works as this kid who feels like he’s not good enough for that. But aside from him, there’s Jason, who’s really a well-intentioned, good hearted person who really bad stuff happened to, and he’s struggling to get out of the traumatic impact of that. And I think the story works really well in showing that.

Talia is kind of the same. It’s someone who has a very idealistic view of the world and wants to essentially, be allowed to shape the world into what she thinks it could be, but she has to be under the boot of someone else who is not very reputable, and it has impacted a lot of her life in ways that she did not intend, including her relationship to her son and that’s also probably why those two characters also get like an issue told from their perspective. I really wanted to show you the inside of their mind and dispel a lot of the prejudice that Damian has about the way they are.

I really love the way you visualize Damian and the other Robins expressing themselves with their eyes. What design elements of the character were you most excited to highlight to help show readers what Damian was feeling in a given moment?

I do love using the eyes to express! It’s a very efficient and visually compelling way to do it, but more so than that I use character design. Their shapes, their colors, they all are designed to convey something relative to the story at hand. For example Jason takes cues from Taxi Driver and the general feeling of alienation and being a drifter. It’s all to give a shorthand into how he feels, to then unpack that and give it context. Everything is story basically. Damian looks like a cute angry potato! And that’s all because despite how abrasive he can be, he has to remain endearing and you must see that it’s still a kid learning.

Well, since this is your own thing, I assume that must mean that you’re giving your own spin on these characters. Is there anything without spoilers that you can tease that is going to be different? Like if you’re a long time reader going into this you’re going to be surprised by it.

I’m someone who really likes a more fairy tale and magical side to storytelling. Something that I added a bunch of, I mean, they talk about demons in the solicits of the first issue. It’s both an allegorical thing and a very, real thing that the magical aspects of certain parts of that world have been pushed more.

The other big thing for me was Damian is the heart of the story, so everything is seen from his point of view. So Batman looks a lot more like a dad. Talia looks a lot more like a mom, and with every one of the Robins, I try to take a core concept of every one of them and push it to the forefront to contrast it to Damian. So like, I would say that the more fun part of it would be observing how Damian interacts with what’s essentially kind of a mirror put to himself every time. But overall the idea is a sort of cartoon-making logic, of taking the general elements in various iterations of a character, synthesizing them for the story, into something recognizable but digestible.

The Boy Wonder has this beautiful visual style - fairy tale, as you just said - despite some strong moments of violence. Why did you choose to tell the story this way?

Fairy tales are great for allegory, larger than life concepts and leaning into the magical. There's also a story reason I can't spoil but it makes for a great framing device.

[...] There are narrative reasons in the book that I can’t spoil, but overall I’d say it’s because it’s my favorite format, as well as a great way to really lean into the larger than life aspect, the allegorical, the magical. Fables often contain a nugget of a message or meaning, and this is a coming of age story, so it fits rather well.

The Boy Wonder is as much about Damian as it is his brothers. Has that story not been told enough — how similar and different Bruce’s kids really are — and did you draw on your relationship with siblings at all?

Pretty much no one I talk to in the larger world ever even knows that there are multiple Robins, let alone read their stories. So I’m glad to be making a book that’s easy to access for new readers, with no prior knowledge needed, that appeals on its own and can tell them a cool story about family and overcoming pressure. A story that works both for the ones who know these characters and want a self contained tale, and the ones who know nothing and just want a fun comic to read. The comic is Black Label, which usually skews older, but this is a tale I wanted accessible from mid teens to as old as you want.

And I did pull from experience! I have two siblings, my best friends all do as well, and the inner workings of how you view yourself and your family members depending on where you fit is interesting to me. It’s very much a tale of reckoning with your assumptions about your family, as well as the impact your parents had on you and your siblings.

What about Damian Wayne is so interesting to you? Do you think he gets a bad rap even now in the grander DC Universe?

Damian is simultaneously the most insufferable and most touching little boy to me. There’s a mix of adorable and deadly that I find amusing to watch, and satisfying to write. Plus I sympathize with him on a few backstory elements which are the cornerstone of the whole story.

As for his reputation, I think I’m glad there’s a reminder that being coarse and ill mannered can hide a good heart.

What are some of the benefits of putting this out as a DC Black Label book?

Mostly freedom! I got to tell the story I wanted. I didn't have to worry about continuity, and thus made what I like making: a self-contained adventure that anyone can appreciate as a comic, with or without any prior exposure to that world. Plus we got to have fun with the design of the issues!

Do you have a favorite Damian-starring story that you drew on for this book? Or maybe another Bat Family story instead/as well?

I think my two favorites were Son of Batman and Super Sons. I just vibed a lot with the fun adventurous tone. But most of my inspiration comes from outside superhero comics, or even outside comics as a whole. I didn’t even reread those two books I mentioned aside from when I needed to check phrasing. In that case I read those, and the early Damian stories just to absorb how he spoke.

But outside superhero stuff, were there any influences that were working on you as you were writing this story?

So a lot of comics from the 60s and 70s, from France and Belgium.I have a thing for like 80s and 90s movies, including movies that I was not supposed to watch when I was a kid, so stuff that’s drama-oriented. The point of this book is, it’s basically a character study, mostly of Damian, but also Damian through his interactions with other people in his life. So, mostly the other Robins, but also his parents and more so his mother.

The events that happen are really just a setting for you to observe how the characters interact, and there’s a bunch of movies in the 80s that were really good at doing that and showing you a very flawed person and the way that they react to the world around them. So yeah, that’s more of a tone thing. The aesthetic aspect was really taken from 60s and 70s French and Belgian comics as well as very old sci-fi, fairy tales, and black and white photography.

What’s the process look like for you when you write and draw a comic?

Whoa. Let’s see. So the origin of every book is a little different, but usually I spend a year or two, maybe more just thinking about the story and putting ideas down and then once I have an idea of how every story step works into each other, I start storyboarding so there’s no script.

[...] I don’t write scripts because I prefer to have the storyboard of the thing already made, because that’s where I know if something is working or not. Then once the storyboard has been greenlit and all the corrections are done, the next step is drawing the final pages. I do the sketching on my tablet, and then I print that in blue lines and ink over that. It’s a recent thing, I started doing it the last few months. The Boy Wonder was made that way. [...]

[...] I mean, technically, I started writing it in 2020 or 2021. Yeah. I’ve been sitting on it for a while, and then I made a tweet about it and it got the attention of Chris Conroy, who basically runs Black Label. He just asked, like, “OK, sure. Show it to me. I want to see what that’s like.” Several months later, the book was greenlit by DC.

You talked about how Batman: The Animated Series is an inspiration for this. And also because it’s Damian, I assume that the Grant Morrison Batman stuff is also an inspiration in some ways. But what other Batman material were you inspired by, if any, when writing this book?

Well, I wasn’t so much using Batman as I was using other things. Like there’s a bunch of influences from a bunch of different places, but the superhero stuff was mostly influenced by Darwyn Cooke. So it wasn’t so much Batman as much as it was Cooke. Like the thought process I guess was, “What do I like about these characters? Like the concept of the superhero?” Because the idea came from me watching a documentary about The Dark Knight Returns and Frank Miller. They mentioned how he was given free reign to make the Batman book he wanted. I just had the thought of, “Yeah, that would be fun, having a superhero story where you can just do whatever you want. Like, it’s your personal take.”

I guess from then, my brain started imagining a story with Damian because he’s my favourite Robin and I have a lot in common with him in terms of his backstory. I think it was this sense of sympathy towards the kid and the story grew from wanting to talk about the feeling of “You’re not good enough to be a part of the group you’re in or the family you’re in.” So being a superhero was more of an allegory of, “I don’t feel good enough to be a part of those great people who seem so perfect.”

Then the Darwyn Cooke stuff came. He was probably the biggest superheroic influence, because he’s kind of the epitome of superhero storytelling to me. He makes all his stories very easy to understand, very accessible to someone who maybe has never opened or barely knows what that character is about. His storytelling is also strong on its own artistic terms and most of all, he has this great sense of making superheroes this idea of the ideal version of ourselves, like those people who, even if they have bad thoughts or flaws that they have to overcome, they always do the right thing and they represent the best in all of us, and there’s a sort of sense of joyful fun in the superhero stories that he does. He also can talk about very serious subjects through that at the same time. My favourite superhero comic is The New Frontier, and I kept reading it over and over again when I was rewriting the book just to look at how he was managing that balance of joyful, superheroic, and inspirational fun, and the more serious themes. So yeah, the biggest influence would probably be him.

When I was doing research for this, I noticed that this isn’t your first time with a Damian comic. It was the “Happy Birthday Damian” story for Truth and Justice. Even over there, there’s a lot of similarities in terms of the character design, and even to some degree, Damian’s own struggle with his family and all that. So did that story help inform or define where you wanted to go with the characters for this book?

Well, no actually because basically when they asked me to do that story, the way it happened was that I was originally approached for something else, and I said, “I don’t really want to do that, but I’ve been writing this Damian story just for myself. Would you like to take a look?” Truth and Justice was kind of a test like, “We already have this story written by Andrew Aydin, and the idea was, do you want to draw it? It’s kind of a test run.” So I just used the designs I had already made for my own book. The fact that the themes are very similar is kind of a coincidence and it was kind of funny actually. It was a good way to sort of try my hand at drawing these for the first time, get a sense of what works and what doesn’t. I would say my story is a lot more complex, and delves a lot more into the psychology of most of the characters.

This book is an anthology like you said, where it’s about Damian with all these characters. But in terms of the structure of the story, is there like a connection beyond that, like Monkey Meat is all about the corporation. So is there a connection like that in this story?

Yes. It’s a narrative cut into different, contained stories, basically. Because the idea is that Damian is on a quest to try and prove his worth by defeating an enemy, and it’s really more of a set up to allow for him to meet all the different characters that he does. But the goal is that every story progresses that main plot that he’s on and getting closer to the final showdown against the big enemy.

The whole point is this kid needs to grow up and understand the familial context that he was born into on both sides, like a lot of it is him learning how complicated his parents are, and the effect that they’ve had on the people around them and learning to move beyond the trauma and the more negative impact of being the son of a guy who dresses like a bat, or the descendant of a selfish egomaniac. The big plot of the thing is a young boy wants to prove his worth and every story is a step on that journey towards the final end.

For Damian, you said he’s your favourite Robin. You relate to him a lot, but was there anything beyond that that made you want to sit back and think, “Okay, this is the character that I want to give my own spin on?”

I love the concept of Robin. When I was a kid, that was probably the thing that I liked the most about the Batman world. The reason why Damian worked so well is that it was such a perfect way to also tackle the previous ones, so every one of them represents some aspect of what being a Robin is like, and you can use that as an allegory for being part of a group or family with a code and stuff. You can talk about being part of a group with specific ideas of how you should behave, what kind of things you should uphold as good.

Damian’s the runt of the family. He’s the kid who just showed up. He doesn’t really know these people. He has a lot of preconceived ideas and it was a good way for me to be able to also talk about the previous Robins through him. It’s not a meta commentary, it’s more like, “Why do you like these concepts? What speaks to you as a person when you watch those beacons of goodness do things?” Damian is kind of like the audience surrogate in discovering that aspect of things at the same time.

What’s Damian’s favourite sandwich?

Well, I’m going to try and focus on my version of Damian from The Boy Wonder specifically. That Damian, his favourite sandwich would probably be something made by the mystical creatures that serve his grandfather, who take care of the whole land that they live in. So it’ll probably be a sandwich made with vegetables and meat from supernatural sources, something that he would not be able to get in Gotham because no one even knows that this stuff exists.

I like the idea of how even his favourite food is inaccessible in the new place that he’s in, furthering the whole alienation that he’s experiencing.

If Damian had a favorite song, what would it be and why?

I’m now going to show my age and mention how my teen sister listens to these moody chill songs that sound like the softer version of the emo rock I listened to as a teen, so I’d say that style! (Don’t ask me to name them, I don’t know!)

A song from my angst phase? “Numb” by Linkin Park.

[tamelee]

Hi tamelee ❤️ can you do an analysis/review of Kishimoto's recent popularity poll art? I saw a hashimada shipper comment on how Kishimoto drew Madara and Hashirama on exact opposite sides of each other + his love for symmetry and I was wondering if you noticed anything interesting in the illustration (just general observations, doesn't have to be about shipping 😊)

Hi Nonee, sure 🧡!

Long post - Image heavy:

Well, first my eye was drawn to the brightest part of the drawing. Promptly in the middle, big, foreshortening technique used on Minato's arm leading you to his face secondly where the colors gradually get darker and more saturated. As are the colors surrounding the NinJutsu to make it stand out more. Every line on this drawing illustrates Kishimoto's experience, talent and hard work regarding his knowledge on composition.

Then..

Sakura is holding the same type of axe-weapon she was also holding in an illustration for Chapter 15.

Naruto has a slightly different one on Volume Cover 33 too. (I'm obsessed tbh- LOOK AT THE KURAMA-TEETH ON THE SCROLL)

As you pointed out Madara and Hashirama are on opposites of the illustration, almost as if they're battling each other! But also look at how Kurama's tails embrace them, how that enhances the movement and expression of their battle-intent + the Rasengan twirls!! 😱 AND the weaponry that both come from behind their heads at the same spot. (Omg I love Kishimoto so much.)

(Of course on these sides too!)

Naruto and Sasuke are paralleled on either side of the illustration too! (And so are Kurama and Shukaku 🤭..)

Speaking of Shukaku, Gaara is holding what looks like the "Tea Kettle" he was sealed in. The former Jinchuuriki 'Bunpuku' and the beast were inspired by a Japanese folktale 'Bunbuku Chagama' where the creature in the tale is a raccoon dog, like Shukaku.

I think that's a really nice addition. (Especially since I saw this legendary creature used as a toy by this mini-Hinata look-a-like gremlin in 'Boruto'.. what's up with that anyway..)

I think Kakashi's weapon is kind of like the Kamui Shuriken he used when they fought Kaguya?

Furthermore:

I'm glad Kakashi and Sakumo are together on this.. also, Obito's goggles have made a comeback ;-;🥹! It's funny to me that Kishimoto started to draw Naruto with goggles (a way to cover himself and hide as he did in Chapter 1)

..but then said in a later interview that it was too much work. (I tried a few panels drawing them and I totally get it...) Anyway I digress-

We can also see Shisui wielding a sword/drill that looks like it was designed with his supposed(?) Susanoo in mind. This was seen in Ninja Storm the game.

NOW I'M NOT SURE ABOUT ITACHI'S SWORD... BUT:

It loooooooooks like a masamune sword, but I'm not sure.

I'm no expert on weapons. If anyone recognizes it...

Long-ass Indra's arrow-bow.. in physical form.. legendary!!! So fine 🤌 I also love how Kurama's tail frames him in the background. Orange looks good on you Sasuke.

The way the Rasengan swirl pulls your attention on him (and the characters in general) + the Chakra/energy sparks are all placed so nicely *-*! It really communicates more movement and liveliness into the illustration.

Neji is holding what looks like Chakram/Chalikar weaponry? These are throwing knives used for.. well throwing AND close combat. At least that's what I thought at first but then I was thinking about it more and the Hyuuga's "gentle fist" is based on "Baguazhang". This is a martial art style which uses a lot of rotation style techniques. (Hence.. "eight trigram palm" is real because that's what it literally means.)

There are special Baguazhang Crescent Moon knives/Deer horn knives that look like this:

I think that's what these are, which are perfect for rotation-based combat.

In the same category, Baguazhang in practice used a double-edged sword called 'Jian'. It was known as the "gentleman of weapons" in Chinese Folklore. Early Japanese swords known as 'Ken' or 'Tsurugi' are often based on 'Jian'.

It does seem a bit unusual since most of them don't have a guard like that, but they exist as Changjian, or longsword.

What she has could be a Tsurugi though not sure.

Regardless, it seems pretty heavy for her 😁?

Naruto and Jiraiya both stand very wide, using an open, boisterous body-language that Kishimoto often uses for the both of them in many of his previous art. This over-the-top, theatrical design and visual representation is based on 'Kabuki' which is a traditional form of Japanese theatre, dramatic performance/dance. The umbrella is called a 'wagasa', often used in these plays/ceremonies.

I'm happy these two made it!:

A sword made from the tail of Sasori's puppet, Hiruko? That goes so hard!! It kinda reminds me of Renji's (character from Bleach) sword. I always thought that design was so cool, but this one also has that poison..

Not sure how those clay mask bombs work wrapped around a string, but you gotta admit, they're pretty artful! Perhaps it's like wire binding infused with Chakra.. Or what if, once he has put them on you, your head explodes or something..

Additionally:

I love how Kishimoto just added Guy (and Kurama) because he wanted to but also because having Lee and Guy together on the illustration just seems right.

Shikamaru with Asuma's Chakra blades of course~ (He uses them for his Shadows Imitation Shuriken techniques... but I read he gave them away to Mirai?)

I might be missing many things but..

The more I look at it, the more nods to earlier work I see, tbh I could go on and on. I really appreciate it.

Oh and.. no there is no shipping-intent and hints/clue's at all that's also not what this is made for.

Don't let anyone fool you. Naruto is looking up to the banner he's holding lol. It's a shame that the first thing people look for is things like that and then discard the entire thing when it is made with passion, love and hard work..

Anyway thankyou for this ask, this was so fun 🥰

[cuckoo-among-beasts]

Ok, I'm finally writing this, the Ezra and Huaisang connection, aka how I came to feel some kind of connection to this gremlin. I can't tell when that exact moment happened and by that time I had finished the donghua and started on both the novel and web series. In general, I tend to get attached to characters similar to myself, but me and Huaisang doesn't share that much, the biggest difference being him fine with seen as useless and frivolous, while I'm the exact opposite, terrified of being seen as useless, lazy and good-for-nothing. He's also considerably more social than I am. I also tend to rp more "hero-like" characters and although Huaisang isn't a villain, imo, he's definitely not a hero either (the first mdzs character I thought of rping was actually LXC). So what made me steer out from my comfort zone?

Well, we aren't completely different, Huaisang and I, but I'm not going to go into details about that. I'm just going to write about main things that made me love this lazy, cunning, lovable gremlin. This might end up being a bit rambling and it will be very personal. Might end up being long too. I will probably not re-read it, so if it ends up sounding weird or grammatical errors and whatnot, sorry about that. And yes, most of it will be about me since I need to explain shit for anyone to get it.

I was born during a blizzard, it was -40C at the time, this was all a rather unlucky sign since children born during storms are said to bring chaos. Therefore, my parents... ok, I'm kidding. Well, not really, I was born during those conditions and tradition says that will bring chaos, but it has nothing to do with what I'm about to write, I was just thinking about how to start and this popped up. Sorry, sorry.

Let's try again. For as long as I can remember, I've always had a love for art and beauty. I used drawings to communicate before i could properly speak (which I have no memories of). I always loved to draw, but also appreciated others' art, including crafts, sculptures and so on. As a very young child, I could randomly start crying because I found things so beautiful, which also included music and the sounds of words. During early childhood tests, my parents were always told I seemed gifted, if not particularly sociable and communicative. I was a sensitive child, who cried easily and frustrated easily. A child that was either constantly moving or could sit for hours staring, who froze in the middle of things and just daydreamed (I'm still guilty of this) or who could just flop down and take a nap whenever. My three main interest as a child was: drawing, reading (in which ancient China ended up being a favourite subject xD ) and walking around in the forest where I lived watching nature and animals, especially birds (we had several different bird houses, since both my parents are nature lovers as well). This all sounds pretty nice, doesn't it? And it was, at first.

I was repeatedly told off for being too sensitive (funny enough, I was also told off for not emoting enough, all this is still a mystery to me), for not being attentive and sociable enough, for being lazy, for being too chatty (but also too quiet, once again this weird thing where I'm still not sure where the limit goes). Hearing this and other things enough times and you start to realise you're wrong and I started to do my best to change. This was also when I realised that people prefer too little over too much, so even if I couldn't grasp what was emotional enough or chatty enough, if I kept myself stoic and quiet (even when I wanted to and could speak), that was more acceptable than me "overreacting" and "never shutting up". I was still an outsider though, something I would always be and still am. No matter how much I've tried to fit in. At least I still had my interests. For now.

As I grew older and things like job and career starting to creep into my life (around the age of 12, since that's when they start asking you about high school and by then you need to know if you want to study a theoretical or practical program and also what kind of that you want, you can't mix and match subject in the way you do in the US, for example) and I had no answers to what I wanted to do. All I know I liked, and wanted to do, was read, write and draw. I was repeatedly told that's not a career and I should stop with those fancies and not waste my intelligence on "aesthetics" (by this time, I had been in three class plays with fairly prominent roles in all three and I started in the church choir at the age of 8). Hearing this over and over, as well as being severely bullied (by both students and teachers), I basically stopped drawing and at 16, I quit the church choir too, saying I needed to focus on my studies, in reality, I had begun to develop pretty bad anxiety (this all culminated in my early twenties when I basically shut myself in in my flat, it's gotten better since, but I still struggle to talk to strangers or show anything I've created out of fear of rejection and ridicule as well as me being extremely sensitive to criticism. And yes, I do miss the acting and the singing sometimes, especially the singing, I've always loved that too). And yes, I did not choose the "art program" in high school, I went to the "social science program - focus: environment, humans and society" (a mix of science and social science). To keep things short, I eventually got my current diagnoses and began drawing again, which helped. I still don't do it as much as I should. I also still don't allow myself the rest my brain seems to need. I do allow myself to cry when needed when I'm alone now. To make it even shorter, I started to try and find my "true self" again. This included being honest about my transmasculine gender identity. And then it came again. The negativity. How I couldn't be things because "real men" aren't this and that way again. Scared of being unaccepted, I once again hardened myself. Now it also included stop wearing nail polish and getting a more traditional masculine appearance and just generally removing anything "feminine" with how I looked or acted: no emotions, no crying, no softness. Hell no. I just wanted people to believe me when I said I'm not a woman. Since that was it. I wasn't, isn't, a woman, but I'm also not a man and not until I moved her to the UK did I find out that you can be neither and still also be masculine (I'm not going to go into details about my gender identity here, feel free to ask if you want to, but to quickly specify it, I'm a transmasc agender).

Anyway, this is where Huaisang enters. Here is this fictional guy where many of my bad traits and many does dislike him for them, but he doesn't give a shit about that. He is unapologetically himself, and as much as Mingjue complains about him, I think we all know he indulged his didi, making him feel loved for who he is for most of the time. And not only is Huaisang unapologetically himself, he prides himself for his artistic interests, his sensitivity, his uselessness and laziness. My mind made a 360 at that and then... once I realised, I cried. I'm admitting that. Why did this fictional character get to be what I weren't allowed to be? He's even a (cis) male! Outrageous! Yes, I admit that too, I got angry and jealous at a fictional character. It went over quickly. Instead I started to love him and also realise that if someone could come up with a character with these traits that were loved and had friends and so on, then maybe, just maybe, I'm not completely wrong and broken?

Huaisang has partly helped me to try and start taking steps to find who I am now. I'm working on growing out my hair, I've bought nail polish again (only used black so far, but I have a lovely pale mother-of-pearl pink next to me I want to use) and I want to wear beautiful clothes again (still needs to be comfy though), even if I haven't dared checking out the women's section yet (since the men's one are boring and we all know it), but at least the will is there now. I'm trying to get back to drawing and painting more again, but that's also effort since it requires me to take things out and put it away each time. I've returned to some bird watching though.

Huaisang might not be the best fictional role-model you can have, but I think I needed him, still does, he makes his gremlin comments to me sometimes (obviously, I know this is me talking to me). He definitely drives me insane at times (I'm too much of an "Orderly Lan" to him), but it's worth it. The true charmer he is, he managed to even charm me into stepping out of my boundaries, both as myself and for the type of muses I usually portray.

Now, where can I find a real life Mingjue for myself? xD

[thepilotdogee]

So right now, I’m envisioning an Undertale x Deltarune AU and since I will have to feature the Dark World, I will also have to figure out how to handle Azzy’s dark world outfit. Then I decided to retroactively have the wardrobe I always draw for him as his “Dark World” outfit. Funny thing is that when I first released my first version of Asriel, someone on reddit commented that it looks like a Dark World thing, lol. This also means creating a new outfit for his “Light World” appearance and I've pretty much joined the several Deltarune artists that gave Azzy glasses.  He tends to wear them on his forehead because he thinks he looks like a dork with em).

The reason for Azzy's "dark world" look you see here? 1-      I imagine that entering the Dark World grants Lightners their wardrobe based on what they envision themselves to be and I like the idea that he secretly wants to be the next Sans. See this post here and this comic by Yukimura-4

2-      He wears the green and single yellow striped color scheme in memory of his sibling Chara. I like to think that before his death, Asriel admired Chara and kinda thought they were really cool. I also imagine that Chara was a silly little gremlin who pulls pranks and when Asriel became Flowey, he’s mimicking Chara’s habits, but is extreme about it. This carries over to this AU Asriel, making this version of him sort of an expy of Chara, for better or worse). 3-      Because it's so “plain” by dark world outfit standards, he eventually develops it by having a bit of additional armor plating. Probably a carry over from his dad; Asgore. Like father like son right?

4-      Having his goggles and scarf specifically be a dark world thing would symbolize that he wants to fly, because he’s fascinated with wings and all. Lore wise, Papyrus wears his signature scarf and a pair of goggles too, which influenced Asriel to don his own versions in the dark world.

5-       I know many people would have him in his God of Hyperdeath look in the Dark World but I decided not to do that… yet. After the events of Undertale’s post-pacifist ending, this Asriel does NOT want to go back into becoming his edgy OC again, especially not after that “absorb every soul in the underground” thing. Besides, he may be secretly reworking his OC in this timeline (or at least he’s planning to…)

Essentially, his Dark World outfit is a combination of Chara, Sans, and Papyrus, the three people he admires the most in his life.

TL;DR

Light World Azzy: Nerdriel (But not too nerdy looking)

Dark World Azzy: Uhh…. Dripriel? Goggleriel? (IDK what I should even call this wardrobe, lol.)

Edit: Changed the kneepads and Jump Gears to be smaller so that they are easier to draw. Also updated the older ref sheets I did of Asriel...

[alderaani]

the shape of silence

this little fic is a gift for @hobiiwan as part of the @starwarssecretsanta event - i really hope that you like it! thanks so much to @lilhawkeye3​ for organising the event, it has been a really lovely thing to look forward to 🥰

summary: it has been two weeks since Nevarro, and Din is still trying to wrap his head around the quest he’s been given. he lands the Crest on a remote, wintery planet so that he can regroup and get his bearings | also readable on AO3

warnings: none, this is just a little fluffy winter-themed piece!

It’s too quiet. There’s the rumbling of the engine of course, the ever-present beat of the Crest’s mechanical heart, but apart from that…there is nothing. The deafening quiet of space lingers on the edge of his mind, like a predator hovering just out of sight. It sounds like it always does, after the bounty has been brought on board and sealed in carbonite, when Din is left exactly how he likes things. Alone, with his own thoughts.

Except this time, he isn’t. Silence, it turns out, can be very deceptive.

There is a clank somewhere deep in the hold and Din jumps, tripping over the corner of a storage crate and dropping the tarp he’d been trying to look under.

“Come on, kid…” he mutters, running a flustered hand over the top of his helmet. “Don’t do this to me.”

Something else rattles, ringing sharply through the durasteel. Somewhere in the gloom a little satisfied giggle echoes, a funny trilling sound that makes him smile through the sharp exasperation in his chest. Din sighs, slumping against the crate.

“I know you’re in there,” he tells the selection of equipment around him. There is no answer, but the silence feels bated, interested. Like someone is listening. “You’ve got to come out sooner or later.”

There is another giggle and the sound of many small things tinkling as they fall. Din groans and tips his head back.

“Anything you spill, you clean up on this ship,” he says, trying to be threatening, but even he can hear the defeat in his own voice. When there is more suspiciously long silence, he sighs again and crouches, lifting up the edge of the tarp and turning his heat sensors back on. Cold blue shapes swim muzzily on the HUD, and he’s just about to give up again and move on when a patch of orange flashes by. The little womp rat is back here all right, just as he suspected. A little bloom of relief spreads headily through him, but it’s not enough to dull the panic that has plagued him for the past several hours, from the moment he turned around in the pilot’s chair and realised the kid had vanished. 

The orange blur solidifies into a dense blob of red as the child comes out from behind more of the junk that Din has accumulated on jobs. Odds and ends mostly, things bounties had with them when they were taken and he’d kept because they’d looked useful. Boxes of scrap so that he can put the Crest back together when it is inevitably damaged. Stuff one absolutely would not want a small, overly curious infant to have full unrestrained access to. Din has seen the kid put a live frog into his mouth, so his opinion of the little gremlin’s judgement is not especially high. He keeps meaning to clear up, but he has yet to figure out how to baby proof a ship when the baby in question can move things with his mind.

The Razor Crest is not a big ship, but Din has quickly learned that that is very much a matter of perspective. He’d buckle the kid down if he thought it would work, but those little fingers are fast; he figured out the controls on his sleeping pod almost before Din did. The fact of the matter is that the child does not get put anywhere. He will tolerate being placed, if Din is lucky. Today he wasn’t.

The patch of glowing red shifts as Din watches. The child stoops, one small clawed hand reaching out to paw at the ground.

“I can see you, kid.” The red blob straightens, and then the shape of two large ears rotate in his direction. “Yeah, that’s right. We’re landing soon, get out here.”

There is a questioning chirp, and then the child is moving, emerging from the gloom. Din flicks off the heat sensors and looks down into a pair of large brown eyes as a body shuffles up to his leg and latches on to the fabric of his trousers with one hand. The other is closed tight, but Din catches a glint of silver through his fingers.

“Hey, what have you got there?” He plucks the kid up by the back of his robe and tucks him into the crook of one arm, then holds his free hand in front of his face, palm up. “Come on, hand it over.”

The kid makes no verbal response, but his ears flick down once, a dismissal if Din has ever seen one.

“I’m not negotiating,” Din says sternly, but it’s all a lie. He’s already starting to sweat a little at the look the kid gives him.

The child’s ears flicker again before he looks impassively out across the hold, hand held protectively against his midriff. Din keeps up the stalemate for a few moments, then hears something beep urgently in the cockpit. He sighs.

“Look, you give me whatever that is and I feed you. Sound good?”

This makes the child look up almost instantly, shifting in Din’s arms with a soft eager crowing noise. His hand twitches, and Din holds his breath. Then the cockpit beeps again and Din curses, half turning back towards the ladder. The kid has started making innocent burbling noises and is sitting placidly in Din’s arms, as if he hasn’t just dragged a seasoned bounty hunter on a several hour goose chase through the hull.

“I’ll double the jerky,” he pleads, patting the pouch on his belt for emphasis. “Come on kid, work with me here.”

The child grins. His little hand comes up and releases a collection of knuts and wire ends into Din’s palm, which he stows quickly into a pocket. He knows that he lost this round, but he’ll take whatever he can get at this point, so long keeps the kid alive and relatively out of trouble.

They get back into the cockpit just in time for the Crest to drop out of hyperspace, a shuddering rumble and then a familiar lurch sending him scrambling for the controls. There is a breathless, weightless moment as the sweeping dome of a planet materialises below, blotting out the stars. Din studies it quickly. Swirling grey clouds roiling within atmo, and where they break, mottled landscapes of white and green. He checks the navi-computer again for its name: Ayarth 4, cold, settled by mining colonies, covered in forest. Remote enough that not even Din knows it, because bounties clearly don’t stray here often. Perfect, in other words, for anyone that wants to lay low for a while.

As he sits in the pilot’s seat and sets the controls back to manual, Din feels a slight tugging on his boots and glances down to find the kid scaling his leg. He huffs out a laugh and moves his thigh so the womp rat can get a better grip, then can’t help the smile that spreads across his face when the kid drags himself into his lap and promptly sprawls, huffing as he draws his feet up under his robe out of the cold.

“You actually gonna take a nap, huh?” he asks, by now starting to recognise the sleepy droop to the child’s big brown eyes. It never happens when he hopes it will, but right now suits him just fine. The kid doesn’t say anything, but he curls his hand over the lip of Din’s thigh guard and rests his head on the exposed fabric, which seems answer enough.

As he lowers the ship into atmo and starts scanning the frozen ground for signs of civilization, Din reaches down to gently worry one of the baby’s ears between his fingers, sighing heavily to himself. The child weighs next to nothing, but he feels every ounce of the small body curled into his. 

The silence presses back in, interrupted this time by the roaring wind outside and the whining groan of the engines, but Din feels it all the same. He’s never minded quiet; when they were young Paz had always been the talker when necessary, happy to utilise the attention his size bestowed upon him so naturally. Din has always preferred to watch. He can read a person’s body, know exactly how they will move next in a fight, but words have too many faces.

Now though...now the silence feels too empty. He knows the deep abyss of space intimately - the feeling of great nothingness and infinite possibility stretching out in front of him. Has welcomed it, even. But there has always been something to go back to, in the past. A tether binding him to the rest of the galaxy throughout the solitary weeks and months drifting through stars. Now though, the covert is gone. They might reassemble, in time, but he has no way to find them even if they do, and so many will be gone. He has his mission, and that alone has kept him going through the two lonely weeks since Nevarro, the image of those piles of empty beskar seared into his mind. 

He’s self aware enough to know that he’s running, though. Panicking, almost. When they left, he was just trying to put as much distance between himself and the planet below in case of any straggling imperials that might try to follow their trail. Now they’re just drifting between fuel stations as he tries to fit his head around finding a people he has never heard of, let alone seen. A ‘race of enemy sorcerers’ no less...all he has to work with is a name, Jedi, and the way the kid’s ears perk up when he says it. He’s good at tracking people, good at chasing them to the far reaches of the galaxy and dragging them back to wherever they belong. But this feels like catching smoke. 

The kid snuffles in his sleep and his ears twitch as debris thumps against the hull. Din watches his eyelids flicker as he dreams and sighs, directing the Crest down towards a clearing. It’s maybe a mile away from where he can see lights and dwellings nestled among the trees. Far enough away to be discrete, close enough that they can run if he needs.

Dusk is falling when he lands, casting long blue shadows against the white ground. The sky, fractured and fragmented by trees, is bleeding purple and orange from a blood red sun. As the Crest settles the snow hisses, steam billowing up around the hot engines and drifting across the windshield. The baby stirs, blinking sleepily up at Din as he runs cool down checks and flips the safety switches, locking out his codes and setting everything to standby.

“Sorry, kid,” he murmurs, settling one hand at the back of his head. It’s too much to hope that he will go back to sleep. Already his ears are pricking, his head swivelling to focus on the little of the landscape visible through the transparisteel. Din thinks that his eyes are distant sometimes - not absent, but focusing on things that he cannot see. Going beyond. It wouldn’t surprise him if the baby’s strange powers allowed him to see through walls. He can already lift beasts, strangle people and heal them with his mind - what’s one more impossible thing?

Din lifts the child off his lap and sets him in his pod, leaving him to wake up more fully as he heads back into the hold and opens the weapons cache, gearing up in quick, practised motions. The new weight of the jetpack on his shoulders is still a thrill. His last blessing from Armourer. An affirmation that this is the right path, wherever it leads.

As he slings his rifle over his shoulder there is a little chirp. He looks down in time to see the kid’s pod bump gently into the open cache door; the child has his eyes closed and brow furrowed in concentration, his hand raised. Din looks at his gauntlet and sees a little red light blinking on the pod control panel, one that he definitely did not switch on, and sighs, feeling his heart sink. 

“Very clever, kid,” he says, even as he resigns himself to never being able to find the child again. “I take it that means you’re ready to go?” 

The kid chirps again, giving him a toothy grin that falters into open amazement as the ramp hisses and lowers, revealing a world of muffled, glittering white. Snow has started falling again, a breaker of clouds rolling in to chase out the sunset and bringing the weather change with it. Din stops to wedge a spare scrap of fabric into the pod, looking critically at the child’s ears. He usually keeps the scraps on hand to clean his blasters, but they’ll do for this purpose too. 

The kid makes a funny crowing noise, reaching towards all that white, and tilts his head up at Din in silent demand.

“You’ve never seen snow before, huh? It’s cold, so keep that on. And let me know if your ears hurt.” He steps forward and fiddles with the pod controls so that that baby will stay level with him. “Best way to explain it is just to get out there. Come on.”

He finds himself almost excited as he steps out from under the metal plates of the Crest’s belly, keeping half an eye on the kid as he scans their surroundings for any hidden threat. The kid’s mouth opens in toothy delight, his brown eyes going big and dark and intense as he stares up into the darkening sky and the maze of swirling white. His little breaths puff up into the air and he reaches for it, babbling when it slides through his fingers and dissipates into the dusk. 

Then, his ears twitch, a quick reflexive motion. The kid turns to look behind him, then makes a disgruntled noise when there’s nothing there. His head tilts as he turns back to this new, interesting landscape, then his ears twitch again, flapping in a manner reminiscent of a sneeze. Din feels a smile creep onto his face as a large snowflake lands on the curve of the baby’s left ear, waiting with bated breath. He can’t stop the laugh ripping out of his throat when sure enough, the ears twitch again.

The kid whines, reaching up to cover his ears with his claws.

“It’s just the snow. It’s like rain, see?” Din says, still chuckling. He lets several flakes settle onto the back of one glove and holds it in front of the kid’s face, watching those clever little eyes latch onto the melting spots of white. The child reaches out to touch and makes a noise of consternation when the snow vanishes, bringing his hand to his mouth. “Yeah you got it, kid. It’s just water.” 

He turns back to the Crest and makes sure the ramp retracts, listening for the tell-tale triple click that means the lock has engaged. Mining communities tend to be insular, but not unpleasant. Not scavengers. He doubts there will be any trouble, but then, he thought that the kid would be a regular job, if high stakes. He’s quite done with surprises.

His breath bounces around the inside of his helmet, his boots creaking as they break through the frozen shell of the snow. It’s been a long time since he saw a view like this, even longer since he got to enjoy it.

“I say we head into the settlement and see if we can get some food. What do you think?” He says, turning back to the kid. He’s in time to see his closed eyes, to hear a coo of deep concentration - but what really gets his attention is the small wall of snow shooting towards the child’s outstretched hand.

“No, kid - wait!”

It’s too late. The force of the incoming snow sends the pod skittering, the child within flying backwards with a squeal as he is painted head to toe in white. He shakes his head like a dog, ears springing free. It’s the most disgruntled Din has ever seen him. 

“Bet you’re not gonna do that again, huh?” he chuckles, righting the pod and sweeping out the worst of the mess. 

The kid just holds his arms out, ears drooping as a lump of snow slides off the tip of his nose. Din huffs out a laugh and picks him up, tucking him under one arm and fishing out the blanket to drape over his legs. 

“When we come back later I’ll show you how to make snowballs. You had the right idea, but we’ve gotta work on your technique.” The kid huffs. “You’ve got to admit it was a little bit funny. Now, how about that food?”

The kid coos and settles his weight down, ears lifting as they set off through the trees. Din hones in on the distant flashes of strung up lights and squat houses, a warm orange glow fracturing off the ice. The child curls into the crook of his arm, now content to watch this new world unveil itself instead of bringing it to him, his face scrunching with every breath of wind. As they walk, he winds one small hand around Din’s thumb, his fingers worrying at the smooth orange leather.

Silence falls again, amplified by the way snow muffles everything, suspending them in a long unblemished moment. 

But this time, with the kid in his arms and the path stretching out in front of them, Din’s mind settles, crystallizing around the most important truth. 

Wherever it may take him, this is exactly where he’s meant to be.

[peppersonironi]

Siblings: The Truth of the Matter

For @duketectivecomics‘s Duke Week Day Six: All in Batfamily

Summary: Duke had a strange family. Two of his siblings had been raised from birth to be assassins. One was born in a circus. One had been a crime lord for a time. Yet another was the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company by the age of seventeen. All of them dressed up in spandex every night to punch bad guys.So when he was woken up by icy water being splashed in his face, tied to a chair in nothing but his boxers, he wasn't surprised. Now, that's not to say he wasn't worried. Duke was definitely worried. Especially since it was these two. AKA Duke gets tied up and questioned by his siblings, all while drugged with Truth Serum!

Notes: I’ve had this for a while (it was going to be a chapter of my Batfam/Avengers Crossover), and figured I might as well submit it! What’s family without pranks, right? I might do a new one later on, but we’ll see!

Duke had a strange family. Two of his siblings had been raised from birth to be assassins. One was born in a circus. One had been a crime lord for a time. Yet another was the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company by the age of seventeen. All of them dressed up in spandex every night to punch bad guys.

So when he was woken up by icy water being splashed in his face, tied to a chair in nothing but his boxers, he wasn't surprised. Now, that's not to say he wasn't worried. Duke was definitely worried. Especially since it was these two.

“Now, Thomas,” Damian said, setting a now empty water bucket to the side, “we have a few questions for you-”

“And since we loaded you up with truth serum, there's no way you're getting out of it!” Jason finished. He had an evil grin on his face as he fiddled with a hanging lightbulb that provided light to the otherwise pitch-dark room.

“Of course, the results of this session will go straight to Father. I'm sure he will take them into account with your training.” Damian had produced a clipboard from somewhere, and began to write on it with a… was that a feather quill? Gosh, Duke's brothers were so extra. “Todd, you may now commence.”

Duke could have sworn he heard water drip slowly into a pool as Jason bent over into Duke's face.

“Okay Duchess, what did you do with my power puff girls guillotine? I know you were next to it last week.”

“Umm …” Duke didn't quite know what to say. This was not what he was expecting from The Red Hood. How could he even keep a straight face?! “Jay, do you know how weird that sounded?”

Jason did not find that funny. He stood up straight. “I guess we're doing this the hard way.”

“Wait, what?” Duke started to panic. Knowing Jason, 'the hard way' would probably involve lots of guns. “I don't know what you're talking about! I didn't know you even had a guillotine, let alone a power puff girls one!” Duke couldn't hide the upturn of his lip at the end of his speech. That was one sentence he never thought he would say.

“You saw it when you were in my room last Thursday!” Jason paused, and Duke once again heard the ominous drip. Drip. Drip. Of the water. “Say, Duchess, why were you in my room last Thursday?”

Duke thought back. “I think I was looking for you,” he began, “Dick wanted everyone together for a movie night.”

Jason shook his head. “That may add up, but you've still been around my stuff an awful lot, lately.” 

“Like what?” Duke asked, honestly confused.

“MY CANDY STASH!” Jason blew up. He waved his hands around, almost hitting the hanging lightbulb. “In the kitchen! You got into it, I know you did!”

“Do you mean the single Snicker's in the bottom cabinet?” Duke had found it just yesterday, but didn't touch it for fear of a glitter bomb booby trap. “I'm sorry, if there were more, I didn't touch them. I'm not your perp!”

“That Snicker's is my stash, duchess! And you looked at it funny! I know you were thinking about taking it!”

“Do you know what happens to people in this house when they eat the last of something?” Duke was filled with horrible memories of things he wished he could unsee. “There was all out war when Steph finished Dick's Captain Crunch cereal!”

Damian nodded his head as he kept writing. “Avoiding the questions and denying blame. Good, Thomas. I didn't think you had it in you.”

Jason glared at his partner in crime while Duke denied the … compliment?

“No I'm not! I'm answering the questions honestly!”

Damian gave Duke a look that was eerily similar to Dick's 'oh, honey' face. 

“What about my rubber bullets, kid?” Jason once again leaned down over Duke, and rested his hand on the back of the chair. “You took them. Thought using a vacuum would be sneaky, did'ja?”

Ah, now Duke was in trouble. He and Stephanie had been teamed up for a prank war, part of which involved stealing Jason's ammo. “That's what was all over the floor in the living room?” Thank goodness Bruce had taught him how to evade truth serum.

“What the f*** did you think they were?!” Jason was leaning in close now, his glare boring into Duke's soul. Drip. Drip. Drip. Went the water, its pace ever steady. Damian stood to the side, a small smirk on his face as he wrote down every twitch in Duke's face, every breath. Duke began to sweat from the pressure.

“What's going on?”

All three of the rooms occupants looked over to the sudden intruder. Stephanie stood in the now open doorway, flooding the room with light. She looked very confused.

Duke pulled his eyes away from his savior long enough to take in his now revealed surroundings, and was quite surprised.

Instead of some dark, dank corner of the Batcave, or some KGB torture cell, Damian and Jason had set up shop in one of Alfred's drawing rooms. The windows had been blocked off to limit to the light, and the furniture had been pulled to the sides of the room the only other thing on the floor was a large bowl of water. The lone lightbulb swung precariously from a wire pulled from the chandelier. The Chandelier itself seemed normal, except for -

“Dick?” Duke was open-mouthed at the 20-something year old man wrapped around the gold and crystal, an eyedropper in hand, which he seemed to be using to produce those ominous dripping noises. 

“Uh,” Dick laughed nervously, “hi?”

Stephanie laughed, grabbing the doorframe to steady herself. “Oh, this is gold! What are you even doing?”

Jason grinned, standing straight. He hit his head on the light bulb, but didn't seem that bothered. “We're interrogating Duke. Wanna join in?”

“Truth serum?”

“You know it.”

Stephanie beamed as she skipped over to the others. Before she could join in on the Duke-torture, however, Dick dropped down from his perch and put a hand out to stop the purple-clothed terror.

“Wait, you gotta be in character.”

Crap, Duke thought, as Stephanie nodded solemnly before shutting the door. Once the room was back to darkness, Dick retreated into the shadows, and the dripping continued.

Stephanie walked up toward Duke, pausing to take a deep breath. She put her hands in front of her face, drawing them down as she let out the air. Within moments, Stephanie Brown became a whole other person. A much, much scarier person.

Jason cursed as Steph stalked forward, giving Duke small satisfaction that he wasn't the only one scared. “Duke,” Stephanie drawled as she bent down, “Pancakes or Waffles?”

“I …” Duke looked around, searching for help. Some kind of help. Anything that could get him out of this mess. H***, he'd even take Bruce at this point.

“Duuuuuuke?” Jason asked. “Why don't you answer the lady? Surely old Alfred has taught you some manners while living here?”

“I …” Duke closed his eyes. “My answer is … yes.”

A small snicker floated from the darkness. Great, at least Dick found this amusing.

Stephanie, however, did not. She unleashed upon her prisoner the full brunt of her own batglare(TM). It was different than Bruce's. More Vicious. She accessorized it with a tight smile.

“Which you prefer, Duke?”

“I … I couldn't tell you.” Not if he wanted to live. “I … haven't had them in a while …” Ah, there you go Duke, he thought, beating the system.

Stephanie looked to Jason, and they both grinned. “Oh, I think we can help with that.” From somewhere behind her, Steph pulled two plates, one with a stack of pancakes, the other with waffles. Somehow, they were both warm. “Which do you like better Duke? Pancakes, with their light, fluffiness?” Stephanie waved the plate of pancakes under Duke's nose, and he had to admit they smelled divine. “Waffles, with their crisp exteriors, eggy interiors?” She switched the plates, and her smirk grew as Duke began to tremble. “One is clearly superior.”

“Stay strong, Thomas.” Damian said. The little gremlin had a small grimace on his face. Ah, so he was perfectly fine with stabbing his siblings, but Stephanie's emotional torture was now inhumane?

Yeah, it really was.

Duke smashed his lips together, the only part of his body that wasn't trembling. He wasn't going to tell Steph he preferred pancakes. He'd rather die.

“He's close.” Steph said, deadpan. “He just needs a bit of a push.”

“I got it!” Jason pulled out a syringe from his cargo pants. “One more dose of truth serum. This'll get him singin' like a bird!”

“But I was never Robin!” Duke blurted out before he could stop himself. Jason, Damian, and Stephanie looked unimpressed. “it's true ….” Duke muttered. 

“Poor banter,” Damian said as he took another note on his clipboard. “And to think you were doing rather well. Unlike Todd.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Jason said as he tried to inject the dosage into Duke's neck.

“Jason, please!” Duke begged. “Don't! This is too much, even for you!”

“Duchess,” Jason said, shaking his head, “I've killed, maimed, and tortured people. Do you really think this is too much for me?”

“Damian?” Duke turned as much as he could in his restraints to look at his little brother. “Please, have pity! I thought we were good? We play video games together! You've told me I'm acceptable!”

The former assassin turned his head aside . “I apologize Thomas. This must be done.”

“Dick!” Duke was almost to tears at this point. “You're supposed to be the nice one! You're supposed protect your brothers! Protect me!”

Dick's voice trailed from the shadows, full of regret. But also … excitement? “Sorry, Duke, but I also have some questions for you.”

Duke wailed in horror as Jason launched himself forward, jabbing the needle into Duke. “Three minutes should do it.”

“BETRAYAL!” Duke called. Hopefully Alfred would hear. But Alfred knew everything that occurred in his house, so the chances that he wasn't already aware, were slim. Heck, the butler probably approved!

“Once again, Duke.” Stephanie announced, once the allotted time for the serum to start working had passed. She tented her fingers. “Do you prefer Waffles or Pancakes?”

Duke tried to stay quiet, he really did. But none of Bruce's training had prepared him for the horrendous, unstoppable force that was Batman's children.

Just then, Tim Drake opened the door to see a strange scene before him. Duke, tied to a chair wearing nothing but boxers. Jason, standing to the side with an empty syringe, a maniacal gleam in his eye. Stephanie, looking much like the super villains that they fought, her fingers tented, her face dark. Dick, once again wrapped in between the coils of the chandelier, eyedropper in hand.

His eyes were wide and unblinking as his mouth opened and closed, trying to form words.

Unfortunately, fate was not with the captive that day. Duke Thomas couldn't help but blurt out the words that sealed his fate: “I like pancakes better! The texture of waffles is just weird!”

“Uh …” Tim began before cringing as he heard Duke's words, then saw Stephanie's face. He looked to the heavens, as if begging for strength. “You guys look like you need some privacy. I didn't see anything.”

“No!” Duke called. “Tim, don't leave me!”

Tim shut the door behind him, but not before calling out: “Sorry dude, but I value my life.”

Stephanie tutted, shaking her head. “I'm sorry Duke,” she did not look sorry, “But no one's coming to save you.”

Jason whistled. “Wouldn't want to be you right now, Duchess.”

Duke slunk down in his chair. “Me neither.”

Stephanie opened her mouth, about to start a rant on the glories of waffles, when Dick leapt down from the chandelier and handed Steph his eyedropper. “Nuh-uh, it's my turn!”

The purple patron saint of waffles harrumphed, but retreated into the shadows. “I'm not doing that freaky contortion stuff on the chandelier though!”

Dick grinned as he sat down in front of Duke. From a pocket of his jeans, he pulled out an envelope. Out of which he plucked a piece of paper.

“Now, Duke, I have collected some fan-questions for you. All are completely harmless. Do us all a favor and answer … truthfully, eh?”

Duke groaned. “That was just bad, Dick.”

The acrobat didn't seem discouraged. He then unleashed a barrage of questions, completely unrelenting. Luckily, Duke was prepared.

“Best prank you ever pulled?”

“Was prepared.”

“Worst punishment you ever received?”

“Dolled out by Alfred.”

“Most embarrassing memory?”

“Not worth me telling you.”

Jason laughed appreciatively. “He's good.”

Dick narrowed his eyes slightly. “Your funniest pun was …?”

“Better than yours.” 

Stephanie, Jason, and even Damian let out a laugh at that.

“Kid, you are now my favorite brother.”

“Hey!” Damian and Dick said, simultaneously.

“Thanks Jay,” Duke said, “If only you felt this way before you drugged me!”

Jason laughed. “You're funny, Duchess.”

Once again, the door opened. This time, Harper Row stood in the doorway, and she did not look happy.

“What's this that Tim told me about you tying up Duke?”

“It's not what you think!” Dick began.

“Yes it is!” Duke cut in. “They gave me truth serum and are interrogating me!”

There was a war going on in Harper's eyes. On one hand, she seemed to be trying to be the responsible sister. On the other, Harper loved chaos. 

In the end, she sighed. “You guys really shouldn't be doing this. And you, Dick! You're supposed to stop these kinds of shenanigans!”

“That's what I said,” Duke muttered.

Once everyone looked properly remorseful – or at least pretending to be – Harper nodded. “I'm going to go now. This is your only chance.”

As soon as the door closed behind her, and Duke's last hope left, Jason let out a sigh. “That was close. Let's continue, shall we?”

Duke let out a moan, “I thought you were going to stop!”

Stephanie's voice was gleeful as it came from above: “Aw heck no, Duke! This is the most fun I've had in ages!”

“Better hurry up,” Jason said, “B will be home soon.”

Dick nodded sagely. “Of course.” He turned to Duke. “Okay, middle D, one last question for you.” Duke cringed. “It involves ducks.”

Duke’s eyes widened. “NO!” He yelled, knowing exactly what Dick was going to ask. “NO! You can’t make me!

Dick shook his head. “Aw, come on!” Duke continued to shake. “Duke Thomas, how many times have you-”

“What on earth is going on here?” Duke let out a relieved sigh as Bruce opened the door and strowed in. He glared at everyone, and even though every single member of the batfam was immune to Batman’s glare, it still gave Duke’s attackers  siblings pause.

“Just some brotherly bonding, B.” Dick said tentatively. “You know, what you’re always trying to get us to do?”

Jason snorted. “Nothing harmful going on here,” he said, “and that’s the truth.”

Dick chuckled. “Ah, that pun was good, little wing.”

Bruce was not impressed. “Stephanie?”

“We’re having fun!” She said, dropping from the chandelier. “And we’ll clean it up.”

Bruce let out a long, suffering sigh. “Damian, will you tell me what all this yelling is about?”

Damian frowned at his father, before glancing around at his accomplices. “Todd and Grayson insisted on drugging Thomas with Truth serum. I was roped into assisting. I believed that I could keep them from going too far.”

Bruce rubbed his temples and sighed once more.

“If I may, father, Thomas performed admirably under the pressure. You may refer to my notes.”

“Little brat,” Jason muttered, and Stephanie and Dick nodded along.

Bruce shook his head. “I don’t need to see that Damian. Right now I want all of you to go to your rooms. As soon as Alfred is back from the grocery store, He and I will be having a discussion about your cookie privileges.”

Dick, Stephanie, and Jason deflated all at once and filed out of the room. Damian nodded to Duke, then stalked out. Huh, maybe the kid did feel bad.

Once the room was clear, Bruce untied Duke. "I'm sorry about them. If it happens again, come tell me or Alfred."

Duke nodded, "Thanks, B."

Bruce paused at the door on his way out. “The cure is in the cave. Or you can just wait it out.” He frowned, then sighed. “Also, I hope you don’t need me to say this, but please don’t attempt vengeance.”

Duke nodded solemnly as Bruce walked out. Then he smirked. He may be comparatively saner than his family, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t up for a bit of payback.

“Maybe Cass will help me,” Duke muttered to himself. “That’ll be fun.”

[pakchoys]

on that note, do you have any edling fic recs? 👀

this would be a lot easier if i bookmarked all the fics i read. huh

i haven’t actively read any since the days when i consumed edling at a horrifying rate to ease the suffering of being fifteen. obviously there are the ones i wrote as noodlebunny on ao3, but those are a dumpster fire, good god

the ones i saved are probably ones you’ve read if you’ve spent any time on the edling tag at all, soooo……… can i interest you in some meagre edling dug up from my old fma files? it’s a modern au where ed adopts nina, alternatively titled Ed Fights A Twelve Year Old Then Meets His Future Boyfriend

Words: 1.6k

TW for implied child abuse

Edward watches Nina from a bench at the edge of the play park. He shifts his grip on his paper cup while Nina moves from the slide to the monkey bars. There was a time where he would have been up there with her, arms raised and ready if she fell; now that Nina’s seven years old, however, she’s a self-proclaimed big girl who can tackle the monkey bars herself. It’s good, seeing her so independent.

If only Ed’s heart wouldn’t plummet into his stomach every time she so much as slips.

It can’t be helped. Al calls him an over protective mother hen; Ed calls himself sensible, thank you kindly.

Nina clears the monkey bars without a hitch. From the top of the unholy metal playpark structure of death, she gives Ed a winning smile and a wave, sending her two braids flying. Ed waves back, adding a thumbs up for good measure.

His phone pings. Ed fishes it out of his jacket.

Al’s texted, Want to see the cat I saw on campus today??? followed by a string of cat emojis dispersed with hearts.

not really, Ed replies, a smile tugging at him because he knows Al knows he’s lying.

Oops, too late, Al says. The cat’s cute, sort of. Ed doesn’t really get the beasts, but Al’s crazy for them and so is Nina, which means it’s such a damn nightmare when Al encourages her.

demon gremlin creature, Ed sends.

He’s so preoccupied with watching the dots as Al types that he doesn’t hear Nina until she’s crying.

His phone is left abandoned on the bench as he sprints towards her, and oh god, she’s on the ground—what if something’s broken? What if she hit her head, what if—what if she’s hurt bad just because Ed couldn’t keep an eye on her, not for five damn minutes—what if they take her away—

Not until he’s stopping next to her does Ed realise that there’s another girl there too. She’s already helping Nina sit up, her crying has already beginning to taper into little sniffles.

“Nina,” Ed says gently, “Are you okay? Where does it hurt?”

“‘M fine, big brother.” She looks up at him through her tears, as stoic as a seven year old in yellow dungarees can be. Too brave, too willing to hide her pain. “I fell off the climbing wall. It’s just a scrape.”

He gingerly checks her knee over and, yeah, it’s just a sluggishly bleeding cut but there’s sure to be bruising. The plasters and disinfectant are all back at the apartment.

“Oh, here, I can help!”

In what Alphonse fondly dubs as Big Brother Panic, Ed had completely forgotten the girl who helped Nina up. She looks maybe a few years older than Nina, but she’s short and her black hair is in two massive buns so it’s hard to tell. Rifling through her pink backpack, she pulls out a box of plasters and antiseptic salve.

“You just carry that around with you?” Ed asks flatly.

The little girl, previously so sweet to Nina, shoots him a cold glare. “What’s it to you, shortie?”

“Wh—Hey! You’re like, ten! Shortie! Shortie?! I’m a damn giant next to you!”

“Yeah, next to me.” She rolls her eyes. “Not saying much, is it? And I’m twelve, so watch it, or I’ll cut you down another inch.”

Ed’s in half a mind to pick Nina up and nope the fuck out of here. ‘Roasted by a twelve year old’ wasn’t on his schedule. He does the roasting, dammit.

“Big brother, calm down,” says Nina. “You’re being silly.”

Oh, Ed woes the day this doe-eyed girl wrapped him around her little finger.

“Right. Sorry, kiddo.”

“Anyway, I’m Mei,” says the demon in the body of a girl with a pink backpack. “I’m gonna be a doctor someday, so I can help you out.”

“I’m Nina! This is my big brother, Edward. He’s grumpy right now but he’s really the best.”

“Hm.” Mei narrows her eyes at him. “We’ll see.”

He will not stick his tongue out at a child. He will not stick his tongue out at a child.

To her credit, Mei is efficient and gentle about dressing Nina’s cut. She’s got excellent bedside manner too, and by the end of it Nina’s tears are all gone and she’s warmed to Mei like a new best friend. Not all kids are good with younger kids, and Ed’s silently impressed.

“Are you out here alone?” Ed asks as he helps Nina up. Not that Central in the middle of the day is especially dangerous.

“Naw, I’m with my brother. He went to get us ice cream, and then I saw Nina fall down, so I came over to help.”

“Nice of you.”

“Yeah, I’m a nice person.” Mei shrugs her backpack on. “We can’t all be, I suppose.”

“Hey kid, is that supposed to mean something—“

“Big brother Ed, can we get ice cream?” Nina clings very suddenly to Ed’s automail arm, tugging enthusiastically. She’s always been casual about his prosthetics. It’s nice to have someone who doesn’t give it a second glance, even if that someone is a tiny child begging for more sweets.

“I guess so,” ponders Ed, pretending to debate it. “You have been pretty brave today. And it’s hot out. But try be more careful playing next time, okay?”

“‘Kay! Ice cream?”

“Sure.”

“Yay! You’re the best, big brother!”

Ed can’t help but notice Mei watching them strangely. He’s sure they must look strange and not related at all, what with Ed’s Xerxian complexion. Whatever.

“In that case, come meet my brother,” Mei says. “He’s probably waiting for me at the ice cream place. Havoc’s, you know the one?”

“We went there for my birthday!” Nina’s bouncing now. Ed’s whole arm shakes.

“Well, come on then. I have a feeling my bro’s gonna like you.” Mei looks at him funny as she says it. Ed does not like this child.

It’s busy out on such a sunny day. Ed gets a few stares at his arm, and he almost, almost regrets going out in a t-shirt. Then Nina holds his hand tighter, beaming up at him, and he breathes easier.

Now if only he could bring himself to wear shorts too.

“There he is,” says Mei as the ice cream place comes into view. “Ah, jeez, he’s shirtless again.”

“Wait, what?” says Ed.

Mei ignores him in favour of stalking up to a guy about Ed’s age, nineteen or maybe older, who is indeed entirely shirtless. Ed looks furiously away.

“Hey, you dolt!” Mei near-shouts, drawing looks from bystanders. “Put your shirt on in public! You’re so embarrassing, Ling, I can’t believe we’re related.”

“Aw, is my baby sister embarrassed?” Ling chuckles and ruffles her hair, wincing as his hand is slapped away. “It’s hot. I’m just airing out!”

“It’s public indecency, if you’re looking to get arrested again. Where’s our ice cream?”

“Oh, that. It’s a funny story, you know…”

“You ate it?! Again?”

“Ahahah…”

“Buy me another!”

“I would, I would! But that was the last change I had…”

“Ugh! Next time I’m going with Lan Fan and you can’t come.”

“Hey, hey, it’s not my fault you took so long! Chill!”

“I was helping out a girl with a cut knee, so don’t give me that crap.”

Ling seems to notice them, then. He pushes his floppy black hair away and gives Ed a winning grin, sticking his hand out to shake. Ed cringes; he’s gonna have to use his automail hand, and that makes people act so annoyingly awkward.

Ling just grips his hand without missing a beat, shaking firmly.

“I’m Ling!”

“… Ed. This is Nina.”

“Hiya, Nina!” Ling bends down slightly to wave. “Wow, I love your braids. Stylish.”

“Thanks!” Nina chirps, encouraged out of her shell by Ling’s friendliness. She’s not what Ed would call a shy child, but there was a period where she was so withdrawn Ed worried she’d never recover from what her bastard of a father did to her.

Tried to do.

“Your sister’s right,” says Ed to Ling. “You should put a shirt on.”

Way to make friends, idiot. So friendly and approachable.

Ling stares; Mei snorts. Ed contemplates his own terrible, off putting personality.

Then Ling waggles his eyebrows and says, “What, don’t like what you see?”

“Wh— Hey—!” He’s spluttering and bright red and say something! “No, it’s terrible! I hate it! Put a damn shirt on!”

Not that!

He doesn’t dare look Ling in the eyes as he briskly scoops Nina up, much to her indignation, and escapes into the ice cream parlour. He just knows the shirtless idiot is watching him.

“Big brother, can we see them again? They’re so cool!”

“No, they’re not, Nina. They’re the worst and we hate them. Pick a flavour.”

“But what about Mei? She doesn’t get any ice cream!”

“Too bad.”

Oh, no. He’s done it now. Nina’s eyes begin to water and Ed’s heart clenches, already knowing he’s done for.

“Hey, kiddo, I’m sorry.”

“If Mei doesn’t get any, I won’t have any. ‘S not fair if I’m the only one…”

Ed closes his eyes. His counts to three. He faces the facts.

“If that’s the case…”

—

Later, when they all have ice cream out of Ed’s pocket and stupid Ling is wearing a stupid shirt, Ed adamantly pretends not to hear Mei lean over and say,

“See, I told you my brother would like you.”

—

A/N: ED STOP CUSSING IN FRONT OF CHILDREN

[sparklingichigo]

OVA I - Date gone wrong

Somewhere in Asmo's room, Asmo is trying to find the right outfit for his date. He ends up calling up Ichigo and Haruka to his room.

Asmo: BESTIES I NEED HEEELPP!!!

Ichigo: Sis, what's wrong? What happened??

Haruka: Whoa, I did not expect that-

Why did she say that? Because Asmo's bed is full of clothes and ironically this fashionista can't find a good outfit of the day.

Haruka: What's happening? Why are your clothes all over the place?

Asmo: That is the problem! I have no idea what to wear!!

Haruka: To wear to...?

Asmo: Solomon asked me out on a date... it's been a while since I go out with him and I panicked so here we are!

Ichigo: O-oh! Fashion emergency! Right, right. We'll help you.

Haruka: Yeah, we'll help you!

And they did. First off is just normal things he wears every day, the second one is the cute strawberry dress but he wore that already so here we are on the third option.

Ichigo: This is the one...

Haruka: I think so too!

Asmo: Ah finally, I have a good outfit for the date! Thanks a lot, you two! I owe you one!

Ichigo: It's okay, it's the least we could do... ^^

Asmo: Oh well, it's time for me to do my hair and my make-up. Now out!

Haruka: You're kicking us out?

Asmo: Yes.

Ichigo: I-

Before Ichigo can even talk, she hears the brothers creating chaos again, so they have no choice but to get out and deal with that. Especially since they hear Lucifer's shout of one name,

Lucifer: M A M M O N!!!!!!!!

Ichigo: Okay...guess we do have a reason to get out.

Haruka: Yeah... let's go^^

Once they're out, they see Solomon and Mammon arguing in the hallways with Lucifer facepalming.

Ichigo: What happened?!

Lucifer: As you can see... [sigh]

Mammon: I'm just being a good brother and-

Solomon: How is preventing me from dating your brother is being a good brother?!

Mammon: First off, you are sus! Second of all, my little brother Asmo is too precious for you!

Solomon: .... He's the one who confessed to me first though... :(

Mammon: Still! If you dare hurt my little brother.... [transforms into his demon form] YOU'RE D E A D!

Lucifer: .... [sigh in where should I hang him again]

Solomon: Lucifer, you agree to me dating Asmo right?!

Lucifer: Not quite, but as long as Asmo is happy.

Ichigo: [sigh] Here we go again... Mammon, calm down. They've been dating for years.

Mammon: tsk. He's still sus nonetheless

Lucifer: Mammooooonnn!!

Mammon: Eek! See you, humans! Bye! [runs off]

As Mammon runs off, Asmo appears with Mammon running towards him.

Asmo: Mammon wtf- OmG!! [falls off lol]

Human trio: Asmo!!

Asmo: Nooo! My haiiirr!! ;-;

Asmo: Mammon.... I'm gonna kill you!

Mammon: Got no time for that! [still running away]

Unironically, a certain tall demon is there. Of course, Mammon didn't see that and bumped on Beel yet again.

Beel: Mammon?

Mammon: Hehe... hi...

Beel: What happened? Hey, Asmo, are you okay?

Asmo: NO?! MY HAIR IS RUINED! IT'S NOW ALL DIRTY AND I SPEND MINUTES ON THIS!!

Beel: .... oh...

Lucifer: Beel! Hold him back!

Beel: I am... :D

Mammon: LET GO OF ME!!

Beel: Lucifer told me to hold you back though

Mammon: That doesn't mean you should listen to him!!

Satan: As much as I dislike him, you've crossed the line

Mammon: Tf! Where did you come from?!

Satan: Oh, I was behind Beel.

Mammon: [sad/scared noises]

Lucifer: Thank you, Beel^^ [dragging Mammon away]

Beel: No problem! Enjoy your punishment Mammon!!

Mammon: f*ck you!

Lucifer: ^^Language

Mammon: ugh...

Okay back to Asmo and Solomon and the others.

Ichigo: Do you want me to help you with that hair?

Asmo: .... Uhm... I don't know...

Ichigo: I can always help styling it^^

Asmo: I'm gonna be late though :(

Solomon: It's okay, my love^^ You look just fine. We'll just need to brush them.

Ichigo: That's right! Here let me help you! [brushes Asmo's hair and basically fixing it]

Asmo: Ichigo you saint!! Thank you so much!

Ichigo: You're wel- [sees Solomon and Haruka arguing]

Haruka: Oh ho ho ho since when have you been dating him?

Solomon: ....years?

Haruka: How many years?

Solomon: .... since forever after? HOW THE HECK AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW!

Asmo: 30 years to be exact^^ [glares at Solomon] you didn't remember our anniversary?!

Solomon: I do... I just don't know how many years have we been dating...

Satan: and that's how he got 50 on our math test^^

Solomon:...

Asmo: pfft-

Ichigo: He did?

Haruka: What?

Satan: Ichigo, you're literally in the same class with him.

Ichigo: That's been weeks! How am I supposed to remember?!

Satan: Touche, ironically I'm in a different major yet I remember^^

Ichigo: Whatever. Aren't you guys going on your date?

Solomon: Oh yeah, we are! Let's go, my love^^

Asmo: Let's go!

And so, Asmo and Solomon went on their date, specifically to the human world and Solomon being Solomon uses a portal to get there. Mammon of course is hanged by Lucifer's chandelier, we have no idea how long he's gonna be there though.

Satan: Anyways, what do we do now?

Beel: Eat +w+

Satan: You just frickin eat my APPLE PIE twice!

Beel: You told me I can have it :((

Satan: Right....avatar of gluttony. Shouldn't be surprised.

Ichigo: How about we go to Madam screams, Hon ^^

Beel: Sure, let's go!

With that, this leaves Satan and Haruka alone in the House of Lamentation. The two have no idea what to do, sure Satan has a lot of ideas for this like going to the cat cafe, library, art museum, his least choice is the mall, he dislikes it a lot.

Satan: So, what do you want to do?

Haruka: Hmm... I don't know... maybe I'll just draw or do some karaoke or something. Maybe walk around or....play some games.... probably with Levi if he's around.

Satan: Oh.

Haruka: What?

Satan: So you prefer to hang out with Levi? [leaning closer to her]

Haruka: w-wait no! That's not what I meant- [moving backward bcs why the fck is he so close-]

Satan: Then what do you mean by that? [haha kabedon happens]

Haruka: uh.... [trying to escape] you're too close.... [sweat drops]

Satan: I'm waiting^^

Haruka: I mean.... [hugs him instead] I do like playing games with Levi but I don't mind hanging out with you^^

Satan: .... [blushes a bit bcs Haruka barely does skinship on him]

Haruka: Are you by chance....jealous? Because of me playing with Levi?

Satan: What if I am? You know I'm really possessive about you, right?

Haruka: True...then we'll do what you want! What do you want to do?

Satan: I have a couple of ideas in mind^^

Haruka: Hm? What are they?

Satan: Well we can go to cat cafe, the library, art museum, probably the mall but we'll probably end up in a book store instead.

Haruka: Hmm... how about walking around the garden?

Satan: Hm? Garden?

Haruka: The castle's garden^^

Satan: Can we actually go there?

Haruka: Of course! He'd accept us. Why? Scared?

Satan: Me? Scared? Quite bold of you to assume such things. [more kabedon]

Haruka: Satan! Stop tha- Oh! There's a cat!

Satan: Huh?! Where?! [looks around]

With that, Haruka escapes all the way to the castle leaving Satan confused in house of lamentation.

Satan: ...where did she go??

Meanwhile, in Madam's scream, Beel is enjoying his 2nd plate of waffles as Ichigo watches him as she sips on her drink.

Beel: Oh, you have something near your lips...

Ichigo: Hm? Which part?

Beel: Right here^^ [takes the cream off easily with his finger]

Ichigo: O-oh... [blushes]

Beel: It tastes really sweet by the way^^

Ichigo: Eeeh?!

Beel: It really is

Ichigo: You can just ask if you want some-

Beel: Well where's the fun in that^^

Ichigo: [huffs]

Beel: By the way, do you want some? [offers his waffle]

Ichigo: N-no thanks... I'm not hungry-

Beel: Not even one bite? It's the strawberry one~

Ichigo: F-fine... [accepts Beel's offer]

Internally, Ichigo is really confused. Since when is Beel such a romantic? Well, he always is but since when is he this smooth. He's usually clueless just pretty much viewed as innocent and slow. But here he is.

Beel: Well, I'm more comfortable with you now so I can show you the real me^^

Ichigo: The real you meaning gremlin Beel?

Beel: Not necessarily a gremlin but I can be that if you want me to-

Ichigo: I- no thank you;///;

Beel: Oh too bad, you're so cute to tease^^

Ichigo: Beel! ;////; please-

Beel: Hm? Oh my! You've turned into a cherry! Did I overstep?

Ichigo: ....n-not really but... I-I don't mind this side at all [blushing really hard]

Beel: Alright then^^ [pats her].

Ichigo: I- Uh, your waffle isn't finished yet...

Beel: Oh yeah. Where do you wanna go next by the way?

Ichigo: The mall?

Beel: Hmm... Sure^^ We can go to that mall. Right after I finish this

Ichigo: Aw okay then^^

Now back to Haruka, she's now in the castle meeting Barbatos who's very very confused.

Barbatos: Are you okay?

Haruka: Yeah- [pants some more] I'm okay-

Barbatos: Do you want some tea? Water?

Haruka: Tea... make it cold

Barbatos, internally: Such a crime...but okay

So Barbatos prepares ice tea despite him disliking it. He also provides sugar cubes instead she needs them.

Barbatos: Here you go^^ [put the glass to the table]

Haruka: Thank you, Barb!

Barbatos: You're most welcome. It is my duty to serve Lord Diavolo's guests^^

Haruka: Speaking of him, where is he?

Barbatos: In a meeting, he won't be home until.... 5 pm I believe. It seems to be a long event.

Haruka: Oh? You're not going with him?

Barbatos: Unfortunately not^^ He told me to stay put and keep the castle safe.

Haruka: Ah I- [sees Satan appearing at the castle] Oh sht-

Barbatos: What's wrong?

Haruka: Hide me.

Barbatos: Come again?

Haruka: Hide me from that! [points at Satan from a distance]

Barbatos: Oh my goodness! [teleports the two of them away before Satan can even reach them]

Satan: [pants as soon as he reaches the table] Where did they go??

Meanwhile, Haruka and Barbatos end up in the kitchen.

Barbatos: You will be safe here. What happened? Did you have a fight with him?

Haruka: Not necessarily a fight.... he's just acting weird again...

Barbatos: Weird? How weird?

Haruka: He's just acting weird! When I talked about gaming with Levi, he instantly corners me into a wall and leaning closer. It's just so weird!!

Barbatos: Ah I see... [holding back his laugh]

Haruka: It isn't funny, Barb! I'm scared and creeped out! What's happening to him?!

Barbatos: Maybe you're discovering a new side to him. Good luck getting used to it^^ I'll return you to him.

Haruka: What?! Barb- Nooo!! [got returned to Satan]

Back at the table, Satan is walking around until he hears a portal opening on top of him, and here comes Haruka falling down from that portal.

Haruka: AAAAA!!! SATAN!! WATCH OUT!!

Satan: Huh? [looks up] Oh my! [catches her in time] You could've fallen for me in another way^^

Haruka: Tha-that's not the point! [flicks his forehead]

Satan: At least you're not injured^^

Haruka: L-let me down! I can walk by myself!

Satan: Not a chance, you'll run off again. Especially when I want to hang out with you.

Haruka: There you go again! Acting weird again!

Satan: What? Is my calm demeanor shocking to you?

Haruka: Y-yeah... sort off. Get that handsome face away from me! [looking away]

Satan: Oh? So you think I am handsome?

Haruka: Uh- Shut up, you stupid raging ball of chaos!!

Satan: I don't remember being stupid considering I got first ranked in our class^^ [talking as he's walking out of the castle]

Yeah, anyways, the two end up going to the mall. Yes, I'm talking Beel and Ichigo. Satan and Haruka went to that same mall but we'll talk about that later. Now let's watch Mammon get punish.

Mammon: How long am I staying here again?

Lucifer: 30 more minutes.

Levi: Ha! That's what you get for being stupid!

Mammon: Say that to your math exam, you weeb!

Levi: At least I got 65! Unlike you on that English exam!

Mammon: English is difficult you piece of-

Lucifer: [glaring at them] Levi, do you want to be hanged as well? I told you to come here to watch him, not create more chaos!

Levi: No thank you. Right, so I'm here to watch him?

Lucifer: correct. I'm pretty late for my meeting with Lord Diavolo. I just skipped two periods of it so I'll be off^^ Make sure he doesn't create trouble. If anything happens just contact me or maybe the angels. I'm sure Simeon would love to drench him in holy water

Mammon: What?! Nooo!!

Levi: You can count on me! I'll make sure he doesn't escape.... can I do it though?

Lucifer: I believe in you, Leviathan^^ Please do your best

Levi: O-okay... I'll try my best [nods]

Now back to the mall. Beel and Ichigo end up in a clothing store. Beel has 0 idea what fashion was but he likes watching Ichigo try out some of the clothes.

Ichigo: So? What do you think?

Beel: It looks great! Probably looked better on the floor in our room-

Ichigo: Beelzebub Morningstar!

Beel: no no no I'm joking. It looks great! I prefer the last one you wore though. The floral top and the red skirt.

Ichigo: Oh... well what about the pink collection? What's your choice?

Beel: Hmm...

Ichigo: Don't you dare make a dirty joke!

Beel: Do you want me to?

Ichigo: Beelzebub! [yeets a shoe at him]

Beel: [luckily catches it] Now, now, there's no need to get worked up, sugar^^

Ichigo: ^^ I might throw another one if you keep on making that dirty joke

Beel: Is your shirt next- [got hit by another shoe]

Ichigo: You've hung out too much with Asmo! Or have you been watching those animes with Levi?!

Beel: What anime are you talking about? I did watch the one with desserts on it.

Ichigo: Specify which anime was it...

Beel: Well there's a lot actually...

Ichigo: Doesn't explain this sudden change [glares at him suspiciously]

Beel: I mostly just focus on the food so I guess... this is just me being comfortable with you^^

Ichigo: Right- So the pink collection! Which one?

Beel: isn't that white?

Ichigo: Yeah but most of them are pink so they somehow called it the "pink collection" which is odd I know.

Beel: The puffy pink one looks nice, the white dress too^^

Ichigo: So both?

Beel: Both^^

Ichigo: Since you like both... are you gonna pay for it?

Beel: I might if you need help paying for it.

Ichigo: The-then we'll get this too! [shows a floral dress]

Beel: Anything for you^^

Ichigo internally: HAVE LEVI BEEN SHOWING HIM MAID SAMA?! USUI IS THAT YOU?! WTF-

Beel: Ooh! So that's the anime that has all the food :o

Ichigo: Hm? What do you mean?

Beel: Never mind^^ Don't mind me! Let's go and pay for the clothes~

Ichigo: Okay, let's go^^

As they walk to the cashier, their hands keep on brushing on each other that Beel ends up holding her hand.

Ichigo: U-uh can you hold them properly like that?

Beel: I'll be fine^^

Ichigo: Do you not want me to help?

Beel: It's okay, you already have enough stuff in your bag, plus your hand seem heavy I have to hold it for you-

Ichigo: [blushes furiously] Shut up you gluttonous bear!

Now, let's go upstairs. Now Haruka and Satan are looking at a menu on some restaurant in that mall.

Haruka: So... what do you want to order?

Satan: Are you on the menu?

Haruka: [steps on Satan's foot] I'm not food!

Satan: Ouch! Geez, you're so violent today!

Haruka: Says you! Since when is your brain as dirty as mud?!

Satan: [chuckles slightly] Oh? How do you know?

Haruka: OMG! Shut up you furry!!

Satan: Oh well, I'll order this one^^ [to the cashier]

Haruka: I'll have the sizzling beef curry rice, the package one!

Cashier: I see, so one sizzling beef curry rice package, Beef, and Salmon pepper rice. Is that all? Anything else? No drinks? [to Satan]

Satan: Oh... hmm.... I'll have Lemon Tea^^ Thanks a lot, Miss

Cashier: N-no problem o///o

Haruka: Tsk. [looks away sulkily]

Cashier: Here's your alarm when the food is ready^^ Hope you enjoy [gives the alarm to Satan]

Satan: Thank you^^ Have a nice day, Miss.

Cashier: y-you too, sir o///o

Haruka: [glares at the cashier]

Cashier: O-O

Haruka: [gives the cashier a warning look]

Satan: Oh? A little jealous I see^^

Haruka: I'm not!

Satan: I'm just being polite, babe. There's no harm in that^^

Haruka: Whatever. Sit here! I'll go sit there!

Satan: Oh? Why so?

Haruka: Because I want to!

Satan: Alright then, let's go, we'll sit there^^

Haruka: N-no! I meant-

Satan: Come on, let's go~ [leads Haruka to that far away seat]

Haruka: You stupid raging ball of chaos!!

Satan: For the last time, I'm first ranked in our class, that insult doesn't affect me. ^^

Haruka: Whatever! Do what you want!

After a few minutes, the alarm starts to ring. Haruka of course is still sulking so Satan ends up getting the food for them. As he gets them, the female cashiers are gushing because of how handsome he is.

Satan: I know, but unfortunately I'm taken^^

Cashier 1: oh... :(

Cashier 2: Really?

Satan: Yes, I'm taken. So just give me my order. [went to cynical mode]

Cashier 1: He-here it is sir! [gives the foods and drinks to him]

Satan: Thank you. [flat face lol]

With that Satan returns to his table and finds Haruka texting on her DDD turns out she's talking to Ichigo.

Ichigo: Just got out from Majolish, you?

Haruka: Majolish? Are you in Devildom's city mall?

Ichigo: Yeah... why?

Haruka: Omg gurl! I'm at Paper Lunch!

Ichigo: ....3rd floor?

Haruka: Yeah?

Ichigo: Omg we should hang out!!

Haruka: Well Satan and I are gonna watch a movie after this, do you wanna come?

Ichigo: Depends on the movie. If it's gore then I'll back away.

Haruka: I dislike gore as well, don't worry. I prefer action though.

Ichigo: Oh yeah, action is good.

In real life, their boyfriends are curious so they peek through their phones.

Ichigo: Beel... you're a bit too close...

Beel: Oh, I'm just curious. Who are you texting?

Ichigo: Haruka. Who else?

Beel: Just in case it was another guy.

Ichigo: Solomon?

Beel: [nods]

Ichigo: [smacks Beel's shoulder] you idiot! That'd mean I'm interrupting his date with Asmo! Why would I disturb his date?!

Beel: You guys seemed really close so-

Ichigo: Since when are you bothered by this?? [confusion went brr] I thought you trusted me!

Beel: I do, what I don't trust is him^^

Ichigo: No worries, Solomon and I are just buddies^^

Beel: Okay^^ I'll trust you.

The same thing happened with Satan, Satan is secretly peeking at Haruka's phone. Haruka is of course oblivious until she heard Satan's voice.

Satan: The food's here^^

Haruka: [looks up] Gah! Why are you so close?!

Satan: Curiosity. Who are you texting?

Haruka: Ichigo...?

Satan: Ah...

Haruka: Who do you think I was texting?

Satan:...

Haruka: ....Solomon?

Satan: [nods] You guys seemed really close.

Haruka: [pushes his forehead away] We're just friends but I'm clearly texting Ichigo. Here, you can read the chatroom. [hands him her phone]

Satan: O-oh....okay [reading the chatroom as Haruka eats]

Haruka: Anyways, wanna watch a movie after? [accepting her phone back and putting it into her purse]

Satan: Hmmm we can do that. What movie are we watching though?

Haruka: We'll just see.

Satan: Sounds fair.

As they're eating, Ichigo and Beel appear beside them.

Ichigo: Hi^^

Beel: Whoa! That smells really good!

Satan: no no no no order one yourself!

Ichigo: Hon...^^ didn't we just ate?

Beel: Well...yeah. Let's just order drinks or snacks.

Ichigo: Pudding! Let's order that

Beel: Sure^^

So, Beel and Ichigo order their food. The cashier is intimidated by his height. He was about to flirt with Ichigo actually because Ichigo is pretty and friendly.

Beel: I'll order 3 chocolate puddings, what about you, sugar?^^

Ichigo: I'll have oreo cheese!

Cashier 3: So...three chocolate puddings and one oreo cheese pudding. Anything else, miss? Drinks?

Ichigo: Hm... I'll have blackcurrant, what about you, Beel?

Beel: .... I'll have the chocolate milkshake^^

Cashier 3: Alright then, that'd be [insert price here] and here's the alarm, miss^^ [gives it to Ichigo]

Ichigo: Thank you^^

Beel: [glares at the cashier]

Cashier 3: A-anyways, here's your changes! Have a nice day^^

Ichigo: You too!

Once they sit down, Satan notices Beel's mood is sinking down.

Satan: You okay?

Beel: I'm fine... all this overthinking is making me hungry :((

Ichigo: The food is gonna come anyway^^ don't worry.

Beel: Hm.

Ichigo: Beel? Beelzebub? Honeybear?

Beel: Oh? So now you call me Honeybear? [leans closer to her]

Ichigo: I-is that a bad thing? [moving back]

Beel: That cashier is clearly about to hit on you though.

Ichigo: Aw Honeybear, don't worry^^ I was just being polite. I only love you remember?

Beel: You should, I'm not sharing you with anyone

Before Ichigo can answer him, she feels a vibration in her pocket. She fishes out the alarm and turns out their food is done.

Ichigo: Wanna go get the pudding together?

Beel: Sure^^

And so, Beel and Ichigo go to get their pudding. This time it's Cashier 2 giving them the pudding. Luckily no chaos happened.

Beel: Thank you! Have a nice day!

Cashier 2: You too, sir^^ Enjoy your meal!

Ichigo: ...Is that guy okay?

Cashier 2: Cleary not, but don't mind him. Enjoy your meal, miss^^

Ichigo: Alright then^^

After their lunch, the four of them go to the theaters to see what movie are they gonna watch. The list is endless and they're now confused.

Beel: none of them seem delicious. So Nah, I'll let you guys choose.

Ichigo: You're not eating a movie...

Beel: I know, but I'm letting you guys choose^^

Satan: What about that one? [points to a scary-looking poster]

Ichigo: Venom II?

Haruka: Ooh! I like that! We can watch that since I've watched the first movie.

Satan: There's the first movie?

Haruka: Y-yeah.... ^^

Satan: Then it'd be spoilers.... what about this one?

Haruka: Jungle Cruise sounds fun^^ An Adventure comedy movie

Satan: What about the others? Wait where did Beel go?

Ichigo: ...going to see the food:")

Satan: [sigh] Well, what do you think? Shall we watch this?

Ichigo: Yeah, it sounds fun. ^^ I'll be right back though [goes to search for Beel]

Haruka: So, Jungle Cruise?

Satan: Yeah. Sir, we'll have four tickets for Jungle Cruise.

Theater Cashier: Oh, which seat sir?

Haruka: B! Let's go with B!

Theater Cashier: Oh, you're in luck! The B seat is empty for now^^

Satan: That's great! We'll have four tickets in that B seat.

Theater Cashier: ^^ Okay. The total would be [insert price]

This time Satan paid for the tickets despite Haruka's protest. He just simply told her to pay him back if she feels that bad. Meanwhile, Ichigo is confused because Beel actually ordered drinks instead of food.

Ichigo: Just drinks?

Beel: Yeah, I'm thirsty... in both ways.

Ichigo: [smacks Beel's shoulder] Beel!

Beel: Alright, alright, I bought drinks for you guys though^^

Ichigo: Eh? Really?

Beel: Yep! A sweet ice tea for Haruka, Lemon tea for Satan, Strawberry tea for you, and....water for me ^^

Ichigo: Water? Are you sure?

Beel: Yep! Since I've drunk a lot of sweets at least I have to clean my palate.

Ichigo: That's smart^^

So here they are in the B seat. Here are the seat orders; Haruka, Ichigo, Beel and Satan. Of course, the boys are sort of disappointed with the seating order.

Satan: But-

Haruka: Sit with your brother! I prefer to hang out with my best friend rather than you and your dirty jokes!

Satan: What even did I do?!

Haruka: [rolls her eyes and seats on her seat]

Beel: Sugar, are you sure?

Ichigo: I am^^ don't worry. I'm beside you anyways~

Beel: Oh yeah, yay!

Ichigo: no touchy-touchy though! >:o [cute angy noises]

Beel: I won't promise, especially when you look this cute^^

Ichigo: Tsk. Whatever you gluttonous bear! Uh.... do you want some by the way? [offers the strawberry tea]

Beel: Oh thank you^^ [drinks the strawberry tea without any second thoughts]

Ichigo: How does it taste? Is it good?

Beel: It is, just like you^^

Ichigo: [blushes deep red] h-hon... I don't think flirting here is a good idea [sees Haruka and Satan in a bad mood]

Beel: Oh right... :(

Satan: [getting annoyed every second]

Haruka: [plays with her phone because the advertisement is annoying]

Haruka: wait... is that Asmo?!

Ichigo: Oh my goodness! You're right!

Asmo, in the ad: Use Majolish lipstick to get beautiful pucker lips! Mwah! [blows the kiss towards the camera]

Satan: [sigh] why must he be here...

Haruka: Whoa! I never knew he's an ad model!

Ichigo: So am I! That's so cool!

Beel: ...the lipstick looks delicious-

Ichigo: Hon...you can't eat lipsticks^^

Beel: Oh they were lipsticks?

Ichigo: Yeah??

Beel: Do you want me to buy you one?

Ichigo: So sudden?

Beel: Just feel like treating you^^ [pulls Ichigo closer so she can lean on his shoulder]

Ichigo: You don't have to though :<

Satan: [is on his limit] Can't you two just get a room?!

Ichigo: Deal with your own business! Plus we're gonna watch a movie, shut it!

Satan: Tsk.

So the movie has started. Everyone is enjoying the movie, including the couple. Haruka is enjoying every second of this and Satan is surprisingly amused by this movie. Yep, romance has left the chatroom for Beel and Ichigo because this movie is so funny.

Overall their movie adventure went well and they went home. As they went home, they waited for Asmo and Solomon to get back. Seconds become minutes, minutes become hours. It's to the point that It's already 10 p.m and he hasn't returned. This causes Lucifer to worried!

Lucifer: Have you girls seen Asmo?

Ichigo: Not that I know off, why? We just got back from the mall and didn't meet him there.

Lucifer: I see... it's already 10 p.m and he hasn't returned yet.

Satan: Knowing Asmo he'd probably bang Solomon again [coming in casually]

Lucifer: [smacks Satan's head] You! Since when did you have such a dirty mind?!

Satan: I always do, just not exposed much, D A D.

Lucifer: [glares at Satan]

Beel: I'm sure he'll be okay^^ Asmo can defend himself and so can Solomon.

Lucifer: I'm not concerned about that sorcerer. He can die for all I care. What I'm worried about is what he'd do to Asmo!

Beel: ...Oh my...you're right-

Lucifer: Oh well, I'll just search for him myself. Rest up you four^^ I'm sure you guys are tired. I'll be off [transforms to demon form and flies away]

Ichigo: Are you sure he doesn't need any help?

Beel: Sugar, you're literally this close to sleep. Come, I'll get you to your room.

Ichigo: It's fine.... I'll go myself. Just help me with the shopping bags...

Beel: I'll still help you though^^

As Beel helps Ichigo to her room, Haruka clings to Satan causing confusion of the avatar of wrath.

Satan: What's wrong?

Haruka: Lift me up.... to my bedroom.... [clinging on him]

Satan: As you wish^^ [haha bridal style]

Haruka: w-wait that's not what I expected- o////o

Satan: it's more comfortable for us anyway. Let's go^^ [carries her to her bedroom]

Haruka: B-but piggy back-

Satan: Just hold on to me, you can lean on my shoulder that way^^

Haruka: O-okay >////<

The night, Lucifer is still looking for Asmo and he finally spots him on his way to the House of Lamentation.

Lucifer: Asmodeus!

Asmo: ...Lucifer?!

Solomon: WTF-

Lucifer: [flies down and lands right in front of them]

Asmo: I-I can explain...

Lucifer: It's okay, I'm sure you're really tired. What I need an explanation of is him. [eyes Solomon]

Solomon: M-me?

Lucifer: Yes. So, where did you take him?

Solomon: The human world....? and we went shopping [shows shopping bag]

Lucifer: Uh-huh...

Lucifer: Wait- you went to where?!

Solomon: Human world...?

Lucifer: That is clearly forbidden to demons without the approval of Lord Diavolo! What are you thinking?!

Solomon: You didn't ask where I want how am I supposed to know!

Lucifer: You are dating a demon! A high-level demon! Taking him to the human world is against the law!

Solomon:...

Asmo: I-it's okay... I got one from Diavolo.... here! [shows a letter already signed by Diavolo]

Lucifer: Really? [sees the letter] Ah, so you did ask for permission?

Asmo: Of course... I'm not a rogue demon, Lucifer. Besides, I won't look good in prison clothing.

Lucifer: Alright. I'll get you back. You, go back to Purgatory hall.

Solomon: What-

Lucifer: You heard me, go back to your dormitory.

Solomon: What about his shopping bag?

Lucifer: Put them in his room then go back to purgatory hall. You're forbidden to stay in the House of Lamentation for three days.

Asmo and Solomon: What?!

Lucifer: Just Solomon

Asmo: that doesn't make it any better?! Who is going to deal with me when I'm in heat?!

Lucifer: Then we'll call him when you actually need him.

And so that ends this episode. All the three couples have their fun even though Solomon ends up with a punishment of not meeting Asmo for three days but he'll survive... will he....?

Simeon: It's okay, Solomon... it's just three days...

Solomon: I CAN'T!!! I MISS HIM A LOT!!! [sobbing dramatically]

Luke: It's been two days...

Solomon: Yeah TWO DAYS! EXACTLY! I can't even be apart from him for a few hours now it's for two days!

Michael: It's just two days, Solomon. You can focus more on your training or teaching Luke for his classes.

Solomon: [eating his ice cream in sadness]

The same thing is happening to Asmo, he's eating ice cream with the girls as they watch some random chick flick on the TV.

Ichigo: you'll be okay, it's just for a few days.

Asmo: Still! Who's gonna help me when I need help in that way?!

Ichigo: We can always call him when you really need him.

Asmo: I don't wanna cheat on him anymore. We've been in so many affairs because we can't see each other a lot so I end up doing stuff to a succubus but now I wanna focus my lust only on him, the one I truly love.

Haruka: Awww, that's really sweet of you Asmo!

Asmo: Yeah.... but for now I should deal with my toys for those three days if I need help and such.

Ichigo: there-there [pats Asmo] by the way... what have you been telling Beel and Satan?

Asmo: Hm? What do you mean?

Haruka: Satan is unusually dirty-minded yesterday.

Asmo: Oh? He did read a lot of sensual books so that explains his behavior.

Ichigo: What about Beel?

Asmo: Beel? He always is perverted! You didn't notice? Probably because he's really quiet the entire time that's why it came out that day. He's a demon, after all, a gluttonous one in fact. You don't think he'd use that sin on something else?

Ichigo: You mean....?

Asmo: Mmhmm^^

Ichigo: ... Oh my Lord...

Haruka: What has Satan be reading...

Satan: Some sensual books, as he said.

Haruka: Gah! Where did you come from?!

Satan: by the door...?

Haruka: Ish you! [smacks him]

Satan: ouch! Why are you so violent these days?!

Haruka: That's because of your perverted mind, you stupid raging ball of chaos!

Satan: You love this raging ball of chaos though^^

Asmo: ew, get a room.

Satan: Alright-

Haruka: Wait what- [get lift up by Satan] wait! Asmo! Ichigo!! Help me!!

Asmo: Have fun, darling~ ^^ [waves in a girlish way]

Ichigo: pfft- Good luck dealing with him.

[dontdowhatisayandnobodygetshurt]

just a very tipsy bit of June and Dante bonding because idk if it’s clear how much I fucking love their relationship :’) look, it’s something actually sfw this time!! :D :D :D

“Dante...” June’s voice was only vaguely slurred, in the way of one well in practice being inebriated. “Fuck, marry, kill-”

“Kill.”

“That’s not how it goes!”

“Myself. I haven’t been this bored since the Signs movie night.”

“Shut up, play the stupid fucking game. It’s better than sitting here.”

Dante rolled his eyes, admiring the way the whole room wavered as he did so. “Okay. Who?”

“Beethoven-”

“How old do you think I am?”

June narrowed their eyes. After one long moment, they obviously decided thinking in this state was too much work, so they just shrugged their narrow shoulders with a noncommittal grunt.

“Nice to know you care so much,” Dante grumbled. “One hundred and sixty three this year. Now you know.”

June made a noise half way between a cat coughing up a hairball, a snicker, and a giggle. Dante decided hazily to call it a snicker; he liked his head attached to his neck. “You’ve aged well,” they managed to get out after a moment.

“Wish I could say the same,” Dante said pleasantly.

“Oh, fuck off. The amount of times I get mistaken for a fucking prepubescent-”

“Until they see your face.” Dante laughed, a bit too loud for the enclosed space. He remembered the poor mortal woman the other day, who had asked June where “her” parents were, until June had turned around with their face of cutting sharp angles and ire and the woman had almost fainted on the spot. 

“Fuck off,” June repeated darkly. They drained their wine glass for the....... 14th time tonight? Dante looked at the multitude of empty bottles on the floor. They’d gone through five. Six? Given it took two to get a single demon tipsy, it wasn’t that bad. That.

Dante couldn’t remember the last time he’d let himself go this far. A bit of a buzz, yeah. Not the-world-looking-vaguely-alive-and-also-kind-of-sparkly-in-a-way gone. He had responsibilities. People to look after. A reputation to uphold. But now Jesse and Vrox were safely in Hell, the rest of the pack, too. No strays running around causing trouble. A night of peace. Weight off his shoulders. It was... nice.

“Funny,” he said.

“What’s?” June didn’t look up from their wine glass, tilting it so the remaining drops glinted like rubies in the dull light through the windows.

“Think I’ve forgotten how to relax,” he admitted.

“Doesn’t fucking surprise me. You’re not a soldier anymore, Dante. I don’t think you’ve got that through your thick skull yet.”

“Yeah, and who’s fault is that?”

“You almost got yourself killed-”

“Aw, you do care.”

“- and left me with ruling over the Kennels, alone? Get fucked. Never happening. I will drag you out of a warzone myself.”

“You did. Literally. Drag me”

“Damn fucking right I did.” June tossed their glass aside - getting a few flecks of darker red on the couch - and grabbed the remaining bottle, forgoing the glassful now in favour of drinking straight from the bottle.

“Do you know what it feels like to be hellgated when you’re not ready to be hellgated?”

“Y-”

“It’s not a great feeling.”

“What are you, an infant?” 

Dante snorted. “A one hundred and sixty three year old infant...”

“Alric,” they both said at the same time, which caused a chorus of uninhibited laughter, even and especially if the subject matter involved a 13 year old hellhound who died via cult and who now routinely ate people.

“You know what?” June said suddenly, breaking off their laughter. “Are you ready now?”

Dante struggled to remember what they’d just been talking about. “What?” he said, a bit apologetically.

“Useless.” June flicked wine in his general direction, missing by a few metres and splattering more red on the carpet. Their lounge was beginning to look like a sweet-sour crime scene. “Are you ready to be hellgated?”

“Not... really...”

“Fantastic!”

Before he could process the level of sarcasm dripping off that one word, June had sprung up, staggered only a little to find their balance, grabbed his hand and dragged him forward - into pure darkness.

Dante didn’t like hellgating. Having to do it every day for one hundred and thirty four years straight didn’t make him any fonder of it. It reminded him of dying all over again, all sensation except a faint sense of consciousness flooding away - because that was exactly what was happening. At the end, his physical self re-formed around his consciousness - or what was left of his soul, he didn't know. He was grateful for one thing, and that was that he was a demon. This was natural to him. If he was mortal... well, it would take a lot of skill and care from whatever demon was with him to re-form him afterward. And while June was definitely skilled, they were always running a little low on care.

The moment in the consuming, absolute darkness could have lasted a second or a year for all Dante knew, but when it did end, it gave way to a hillside dotted with a few flowering weeds, sloping into a pine forest. The cold air instantly shocked more alertness into Dante’s brain.

What was more surprising than the sudden change of scenery, or that June had willingly elected to go outside, was that Dante recognized it. 

“Is this-?”

“Where we first met?” June was fastidiously adjusting the cuffs of their dress shirt. Their waistcoat was also decidedly slanted. “Yes.”

Alarm show down Dante’s spine. “June, are you - okay? Being here? I know-”

“Don’t you fucking dare try and mother me, Diệu,” June said through clenched teeth, without even looking at him.

Dante winced. “Don’t call me that, chết tiệt. That name is dead.”

“Like the rest of the past, yes? I’m fine.”

“Alright, alright.” He held up his hands as a peace offering and looked around. He could see glimpsed flecks of buttery yellow lights between the trees below, a few brave fireflies spiraled out into the open. One seemed to like June’s shiny dark hair, following them as they sank down onto the grass. He hesitated, but followed suit.

“Did I ever thank you for that?” June asked.

He glanced at them. They still weren’t looking at him, instead staring into the fringe of dark trees.

“No,” he said truthfully. He had never expected, wanted, or received any gratitude from them.

“Good.”

Dante smiled and leaned into them playfully, making them hiss and swipe at him with their nails, the blow going wide. Not on purpose. Absolutely not.

“How much do you remember?” he asked.

For once, they didn’t comment on his gentle tone. Their eyes grew a bit distant, lost in the past that was not as far gone as either of them liked to admit.

“Not very much, after...”

They didn’t finish. They didn’t have to.

Dante shrugged off his jacket. It was made of heavy, thick, green fabric, leftover from the Vietnam war. It was one of the few he hadn’t participated in, but the jacket had belonged to a friend of his who didn’t need it anymore. He started to drape it over June, but they recoiled with a hiss.

“Don’t be a jerk,” Dante said impatiently. “You’re shivering. Take it.” He wrapped it around them none too gently, clamping it shut with his hands for a moment so they didn’t try to shake it off.

June’s frosty stare turned into a glare, and Dante couldn’t help but start laughing: they were so small and the jacket was so big it was like a tent on them, and with just their face poking out from the collar, they looked like that alien from the movie Jesse liked... E.T. But angrier.

“Get,” June said, very delicately, “your hands off me.”

Dante obliged, and his guess proved right, as after their initial hate mode wore off, June kept the jacket on, though they did pull it down off their head and put their arms in so they looked more respectable.

“Are you happy now, mother?” June grumbled.

“Much,” Dante said with a smile, reaching over to ruffle up their hair. The firefly spiraled wildly away, and this time, June’s swipe connected. He didn’t mind.

“I don’t know why I interact with you,” June sad, still grumbling, as they fished their cigarette packet out of their pocket. Dante frowned at it, but June pointedly ignored him. “Got a light?”

“No.”

“Dante,” June said, mock-patient tone undermined by their snapping fingers. “I know you always carry a lighter. Give it to me.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I will say it again.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Try me.”

“I’ll get you in a headlock.”

“Di-”

“Shit, fine! It’s in the second pocket down in the jacket.

June lit their cigarette like the happy little nicotine gremlin they were and tossed the lighter back to Dante. They took a long draw, the tip burning like a red firefly, and exhaled grey into the cold air.

Silence fell. A breeze tried its best to raise goosebumps on Dante’s arms, but he ignored it. The rustling in the trees, the beating of tiny wings, and the crackle of June’s cigarette were the only sounds.

“I do remember you,” June said, quietly. “You were in your hound shape. Your eyes were red. They lit up the entire clearing. But I wasn’t afraid. You smelled like... home. A home I’d never known about.”

Dante looked at them. In the light of the crescent moon drifting through the clouds and the aftermath of six bottles of red wine, the hard lines of their face seemed to have softened a bit, their mouth holding what could have been a smile.

“I know that home now,” June added. “It smells like shit and most of it is on fire. Not what I expected.”

Dante laughed. “Was I what you expected?”

“Only when you give me a light and buy me dinner,” they said with a grin.

“Guess I have to do that, then.” He inched closer to nudge them with his elbow, but he didn’t move again, and after a stiff minute, June put their head on his shoulder.

Grudgingly.

He’d take it.

[mosrael]

Like...I’m frustrated in my job, like really extremely frustrated, but I love the kids I work with, I love the people on my team at my site, and I love the families that we work so hard for.  These people make such a frustrating job really worthwhile...Working with kids is batshit bananas every single day, but somehow, despite all the weirdness, kid drama, and absolute inability to spell or multiply, they really grow on you...

Like, getting little notes from them and listening to their weird little stories...they feel like small things but the fact that they trust and like me enough to want to share those things with me is really heartwarming.

OK GUYS,  WARNING THIS IS A REALLY LONG POST  I AM SO SORRY - I HAD WAY MORE THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS THAN I THOUGHT I DID, PHEW...

Yesterday I was at a doctors appointment for the first part of program so my boss covered for me till I got back and she could leave. When I got back, I just barely peeped my head in the door they LITERALLY screamed and ran and mobbed me at the door and nearly knocked me over trying to give me hugs and to tell me whatever crazy stories they had of things that had happened in the WHOLE two hours that I was gone, hahaha!  And yes, it was chaotic, but it was just so sweet and heartwarming, I just....these students are my kIDS, MAN, MY KIDS. They did the same thing today when I left for like 20 minutes to go get more icing for their gingerbread houses and it just blows my mind every single time. This one little girl who ALWAYS has an attitude told me she’d miss me over break like five or six times before she left today, and gave me a bunch of hugs and kept waving as she walked out the door, and there are kids that do that every day, but this time with her, it was just kind of...a strange moment? because i could tell how much she was growing as a person, becoming more positive and confident and open and slower to catch an attitude like she was forever doing when i first started. I get the same warm fuzzies when they come to program all excited and out of breath waving around a crumply piece of paper that turns out to be a quiz or a test that they did so well on that they ad to RUN to program to show me. It’s nice to see them succeed, and be happy and proud of themselves, it’s just a really promising thing to see, and I can’t exactly explain it. Over the summer the kids who walked from a bus stop to program would bring me flowers (pretty sure they “found” them in someone’s garden so I had to shut that down hella fast but STILL). They tell new poop jokes literally every day like it’s the best shit on the planet (see what I did there HAH). I guess it’s refreshing that kids can be so...upfront and weird and honest... its endearing! lol they’re the weirdest little gremlins, but hey we’re a team of gremlins and i’m the gremlin queen so i guess i’m gonna lead these gremlin troops to their glory if it is the last thing i do lol.

I mean, there are just so many examples I could give and I have only worked here for a couple years....I can’t even imagine the weird, ridiculous, great and awful things that teachers that have been in the line of work for DECADES have seen. Jfc...

Like, interacting with kids so much though, and spending more time in the teacher role rather than a student role in a school environment, I really find myself wondering what is the norm, or even if there is one. Sucks that I can really only speak to my own experience and that’s all I can go by, especially because even my own memories of my own experiences aren’t entirely reliable. I definitely know that I don’t remember being like these kids are when I was a kid? Affectionate with teachers, or attached to them, I mean, specifically, because of course there’s a ton of similarity I can see in them compared to the way I was coming up, in some things here and there. But I’d never go out of my way to hang around a teacher, or to like...draw them a picture or write them a letter, or tell them a joke or ask to sit next to them on the bus rides to field trips and stuff. That’s where the greatest difference is, at least comparing to my own experience in school. I had a couple teachers that sort of inspired me, but I didn’t have casual conversations with them, and I didn’t like...want them to play tag or four square or anything with my friends and I, and I didn’t try and show them funny jokes or tell them what was going on in my little weird kid life. But the kids I work with do all those things. I know that there are probably loads of reasons why this is the case, and that it’s unrealistic for me to try and pinpoint what causes that kind of difference, especially since when it comes down to it all these kids are individuals and can’t be expected to behave like I did, or like my friends did at their age, because every individual’s experience is just that...individual. But I find myself wondering at the reasons why they are the way they are regardless. Maybe it’s different because really, I’m not a teacher, since this is a nonprofit after school program, no matter how closely integrated we are with the area schools. I guess in a way, that makes it easier to connect with families in a more personal way, but still...I know that’s probably a piece of it, but it isn’t the reason. I can’t imagine an entire group of 8 year olds would base their behaviors towards someone they consider a teacher on what exactly the status of the program is, especially when they have slime to make and fidget spinners and beyblades to trade and break and lose and argue about. There have got to be a lot of reasons, and no matter how much I know in my head that it’s unrealistic of me to try and pin down all the exact reasons, and that there’s really no point or value to trying to track them down, I still find myself heading down this train of thought pretty frequently. Not as frequently as I think about how shitty Ella from Ella Enchanted’s life would be if she lived in our society, but still pretty frequently nonetheless. I mean, some of these kids are like “Bye Gabby love you!” when they leave, even if I scolded them earlier that same day and dealt with the subsequent attitude that scolding a kid inevitably gets you sometimes. They’re always giving me hugs and trying to sit in my office with me and to organize my office (but NEVER the library or their own cubbies, that would be TOO MUCH TO ASK) or asking to try what I’m eating, or how my sister and her chinchilla are doing, or trying to make me try some food or other they brought me, or trying to force feed me broccoli because they know I hate it and they think that’s HILARIOUS, or telling me that we HAVE to get the class fish a gift for christmas and that his last name is the same as my last name and ew I’m married to the class fish and the list just goes on and on and on....Their candor extends to their families too, truthfully. The families for the most part are really warm and welcoming and kind, too...The parents bring me meals sometimes and even invite me and the team at my site to their get togethers...

I guess it just really surprises me how welcoming and open the people and kids I work with are. i don’t remember where i was going with this. I have been really irritated with my job lately, to the point where I’m really very seriously considering packing up and moving away to try something new elsewhere. It’s just....working with the kids and the great people on my team at my site really mean a lot to me, and I don’t want to leave them behind like that because we’re a team and the kids and families are a part of that...I don’t know. I’m just really torn. It’s absolutely no doubt that my job is fun sometimes, I mean, literally every day I’m positive that I hear at least one sentence from a kid or a coworker that is so strange that I’m POSITIVE I will never hear it again in my life. And in what other line of work could I experience the excitement and terror of organizing and attending an ice skating field trip with 80 8 - 12 year olds, and hoping and praying that no one gets a finger chopped off by a wayward skate on a kids foot? Where else would I be able to experience falling hard on my butt on the ice and having a bunch of kids try and help you get up just to slip and fall themselves while also trying to stop you laughing co-teachers from taking photos of the admittedly hilarious scenario? Is there another line of work where it’s an entirely reasonable occurance to turn around and see a pair of little kid legs sticking out from beneath your desk, telling him to come out from under there, and having him tell you he can’t because it’s his cucaracha cave and he’s just a cucaracha living in his cucaracha house? It’s really bananas, the whole thing is exhausting and exhilarating and fun and messy and frustrating and annoying but lovable and worthwhile, and I just have to remember all that when all the long hours, frustrating pay, and other awful things that dredge up all my anxieties and fears and concerns happen. It’s literally just like...a rollercoaster of terror. It’s exciting and terrifying at the same time, it’s great and it’s also literally killing me, sometimes moreso than others. It’s fun and the kids and families are sweet and my team and site are fabulous and the work we’re doing is always undoubtedly worthwhile, so for now at least, that’s enough to keep me invested for now, I guess. The people who make it worthwhile really do a great job at making it that way. I appreciate them a lot, honestly. My team does so much and I appreciate them like crazy, and my desire to make sure that I’m helping them as much as they help me outweighs my desire to branch out wholeheartedly to find something better because that would mean more work for them and they don’t deserve that, because they’ve been nothing but great. the kids don’t deserve that either, they’ve already had a lot of teachers and coordinators come and go every single year and they’ll feel abandoned and hurt, and that seeps into the families and breeds just...some really bad feelings that the kids don’t deserve and I don’t want to do anything that would cause any of them to even begin to wonder if it’s something that they did that made me leave, or if it’s something about them that makes people come and go so frequently, because that’s absolutely false. i don’t want to risk anything that would jeopardize all the hard work that the kids and the whole team has put into building their confidence in themselves along with their academics. And besides, I’d miss my team and I’d definitely miss the kids....

I don’t really know why I started going into all this, but I’m slowly getting the impression that I’m maybe trying to give myself some pros and cons so that I can have something to reference when I inevitably have to make a real decision about where I’m going to take this whole career thing. I didn’t plan to be where I am now, but now that I’m here, I’m invested and I really do need to think carefully about any moves I make since it’s impossible to ignore the fact that it’ll affect a lot of people, and people I care about and am actively working to build up at that. I think I just...needed to have all of this out in some kind of haphazard organized form and out of my cloudy excuse for a brain where all these things were just kind of frantically flailing around in little half-thoughts. and now I can’t find the read more button thing so it’s just gonna be this long annoying text post on your dash  UPDATE: I FOUND THE READ MORE THING! phew, one problem solved at least! That’s the first time I have ever solved a problem, I think--anyways, i honestly would not fault someone for totally ignoring because WOW this got real long real fast...

if you did read this, thanks. C: it feels good to know that someone out there knows what I’m worrying about and is maybe expending a little bit of energy just thinking about the same thing I’m thinking about. just the possibility of that sort of makes me feel a little bit less alone in this situation. let me know what you think if you feel so inclined! I’ve gotta make a decision here and I know that I don’t really have time to just fool around and pretend that this doesn’t exist...I can’t afford to fuck around and be careless here when there are people I honestly care about (I KNOW! I hate admitting that I CARE about people. gross lol) involved. ugh. balance, what even is that? sounds like fake news, i don’t believe it exists.

uh....anyway, i guess this is the end. i’m sitting here typing away like i don’t have to be an adult and get my car inspected before taking a 3 hour road trip tomorrow. i should be responsible and go to sleep but whatever i’ve done enough responsible things for the day so getting to bed in a timely manner can wait for another day. baby steps, fam, baby steps

[awesimz]

Hi guys, welcome to my Sims 4 “Differences in the Family Tree” legacy, which came about solely because my Sims 3 game keeps shitting out on me and I have finally run out of fucking patience, lol. TS4 runs so much faster on my PC anyway, and while I do miss the open world aspect, I can’t deny there’s something very pleasing about not lagging 24/7, lmao. This legacy has also been paired with the mini challenge “Runaway Teen”, but it’s pretty much only relevant during this episode so it’s not that big of a deal. I honestly just wanted more of a challenge.

At the moment, the only expansion pack I have is City Living, and the only game packs I have are Parenthood and Outdoor Retreat. 

Now, without further ado, let’s begin our little story :)

Meet Serah, our founder. After growing up in a household that was extremely controlling to the point of near suffocation, she ran away as a teen to finally find freedom from her oppressive parents. It was a spur of the moment decision, and while Serah desperately craved independence, she also wasn’t aware how hard it would be to strike out on her own. She crossed a few towns before finally settling down in Willow Creek, attempting to keep under the radar so that her parents wouldn’t find her and bring her back home.

Unfortunately, keeping under the radar meant that she couldn’t enroll in school, and because she couldn’t enroll in school, it meant her future job prospects were going to be very limited. More than that, being on any kind of pay roll could put her name back in the system, which would make it easier for her parents to find her. Therefore, Serah figured her best bet was to attempt to live off the land.

It... was probably going to take awhile until she started catching anything of quality though.

At least she looks pleased with herself.

She started her garden on a little patch of land she found on the outskirts of town though, knowing she would have to do more than fish to get by. (Also the damn thing is her LTW and the entire basis of the first part of this legacy challenge, so there’s that haha).

She also started digging up what she hoped were ‘treasures’ every chance she got, because right now she was sleeping on benches outdoors or couches in karaoke clubs and lbh, that shit was hell on her back.

Also it’s kinda just plain sad.

The park was easily Serah’s favorite place to hang out though, as it had not only all sorts of ways to make money, but it also gave her an opportunity to socialize with teens her own age.

Cassanda: So you’re, ah... not from around here, right? I haven’t seen you in school.

Serah: Yeah, I’m just passing through. My family’s moving to the city, but we stopped here to visit my grandparent’s first. It’s all pretty boring, which is why I’m hanging around here.

Lies.

She didn’t need Cassandra going home and telling her parents she met a homeless girl though.

Okay listen some of these frogs are actually worth a pretty penny, I’m surprised.

Which is why she can finally afford...... a bed, a trash can, and two whole walls. lmao.

GIRL YOU ARE IN PUBLIC WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

Also side note - is there a way to make them stop walking around in towels after showering at the gym cause this is ridiculous. Manually having to change her myself is tedious. 

Lola: Hey so... my friend Cass tells me you’re just here visiting your grandparents, right?

Serah: Yeah, I think I’m only gonna be here for a few more---

Lola: Oh, come on, don’t lie to me! I live near where you’re camping out, you know! I saw you when I was taking one of my long walks to get away from the crushing despair that will soon be my future, and you definitely weren’t visiting any one. In fact, you looked like you didn’t want to be seen.  Serah: Alright... fine. But if I tell you the truth, you can’t tell anyone. Swear? Lola: Swear.

Serah: So basically my parents are soul-crushing assholes that won’t accept that their child could be anything less than what they deemed to be fit, so I got the fuck out of dodge. I’m dirty, I’m poor, and I will probably never have a real job as long as I live, but fuck it, at least I have my freedom. Lola: ...Wicked.

Yeah, sure, if you enjoy living in poverty it’s totally cool, lol.

The next day, Serah received some visitors.

Serah: Uh... hi?

Serah: Listen, not to be rude - especially since all of you are pretty hot - but if any of you guys’ parents find out about me, I’m seriously fucked. Ya’ll are drawing way too much attention to me right now. Lola: Girrrrrrl, don’t even worry about it; this side of town is our regular hangout; a bunch of teenagers chilling on one lot won’t make anyone bat an eyelash. They’ll just think we found some abandoned shack to make into some kind of silly ‘clubhouse’ or something.  Cassandra: Wait, what do you mean, ‘find out about you’? I thought you were just passing through. Serah: *sigh* Never mind. And it’s not a--! Okay, maybe it is a bit of a shack.  Cassanda: ......I’m still confused. Lola: That’s not a surprise.

Serah: Hey! You though, you look fabulous; and slightly less crazy than everyone else that just wandered into my sad excuse for home. Save me?

Malcolm: Oh honey, if you only knew. But no, just count yourself lucky that people give enough of a shit about you to come by. Not all of us have that.

Serah: Uh, hello? Me, standing right in front of you, offering for you to stay and chill for a bit. There are literal actual shits being given right now. I mean, I might not know you, but fuck it, I don’t really know anyone really in this neighborhood, and if I’ve just gained some sort of posse we need a token gay guy. Malcolm: I’d take offense to that if it wasn’t so disastrously true. You all are in some serious need of my wisdom anyway, and this desperate bisexual vibe you’ve been giving off needs an actual direction. I have a friend of a friend that might be interested. Give me a minute. Serah: You know... I’d be offended too if ‘desperate’ wasn’t entirely accurate. I really need to get laid; it’s been a hard af week.

Serah: Oh... okay, wow. You’re pretty.

Serah: You wanna go to the Romance Festival with me? I know that’s forward as fuck, but I don’t know how to play coy, so. Tanvi: I kind of like the direct approach, honestly. Sure, I’ll go.

Serah: What is this, exactly? Tanvi: Idk, probably drugs. 

Tanvi: You are... pretty fucking hot though. Malcolm said you had this homeless, idgaf rocker chick-chic vibe going on, but it’s so much more than that. Serah: I’m smooth af, I know.

Tanvi: *chuckles as she gets her hands kissed* Sure, we’ll go with that.

She is a bit though, isn’t she? Haha. Then again, they were drinking romance drugs or whatever the fuck they ingested to get in the mood, so really it’s just like they were both roofied. Nice things to give to kids, there, EA.

One of my favorite things about festivals coming into town though is that all of the flowers and produce have regrown themselves and are able to be stolen harvested, which gives Serah a nice little boost to her wallet.

Which means she can get two more walls and an actual toilet! Yay!

She’s getting better at fishing too, which I’m glad for.

Oh! And look what she found! I wasn’t paying much attention to where she got it from because she was on a digging/fishing spree through the park and I didn’t notice it in her inventory until she came home, but I’m excited. I’ve never had a cow plant in any of my games before.

Eric: Hey, you look to be about my kid’s age; maybe you know him? His name is Blake.

See, and this is why we do not socialize with adults; not even when stopping by the vendors to get something to eat.

Serah: *nervous laugher* Uhhh, actually I’m home schooled, sir. So no; pretty sure I don’t know your kid.

Eric: Ah, well that’s okay. You know, me and my wife thought about home schooling our Blake, but then we realized we didn’t want to spend that much time with our kid. It’s gotta be hell on your parents, yeah? Always having you hanging around? Never having a break?

Serah: No offense, but you sound like a shit parent. Eric: That’s what the gremlins in our house say too, funny enough. Serah: Errrrrrrr....

Girl, just gtfo. Lol. 

Anyway, we give you this brief interlude while Lola crashes Serah’s pad again to give you... her garden! It’s getting bigger :)

Lola: Giiiiirl, I just had the best idea. Serah: What is it?

Lola: Camping trip partyyyyyyy!!!! You in????? Come on, tell me you’re in; it’s not like you have anything better to do; let’s be fair. 

Serah: Uh, aren’t ya’ll in school still? Lola: Seriously? We graduate in two days; that’s the whole reason I want to throw this! Like a ‘coming of age, one last time to get completely hammered and make bad decisions party.’

Lola: I know you didn’t go to school with us, but everyone loves you. Actually, everyone kind of loves you more than me.... so I’m gonna need you to make the call, k? Also btw I think everyone’s caught on to your lie of ‘just passing through’ since it’s been awhile and you’re not only still here, but still hanging out at this shit shack. I don’t think anyone cares though, so just call for me? Serah: .........Fuck it.

Serah: Malcolm? Grab everyone; we’re going camping this weekend.... Yes, there will be showers there, calm down. But also don’t bring hair gel; it’ll probably attract mosquitos or some shit. Also you’ve probably caught on to the fact that I’m homeless by now, so can you bring a tent? I’m poor af, clearly.

And so they all went camping, and had a pretty good time. The truth did eventually come out to all of them though, and everyone promised not to say anything. Even though they were all about to become adults soon and it probably did not matter as much after that, Serah still worried that should her parent’s find her, even as an adult, that they’d drag her back home by her hair.

Anyway, they not only had the good, wholesome kind of fun....

...But they also had the decidedly less wholesome kind as well.

(I think Malcolm had one too many to drink, haha).

Lola: Sooo... you gonna do it this weekend or not? Serah: Do what?

Lola: Make it official with Tanvi, obviously. You’re blind as hell if you haven’t noticed that she’s been waiting. Serah: Wait, seriously?

Serah: I mean, you really think I should? I live in a shack and I garden for a living; that’s not exactly setting her up for an adulthood filled with glamour. Lola: You idiot, she doesn’t care about that. Just go talk to her.

Serah: So you know you’re like... so pretty, right? And down to earth, and... and a whole lot of other stuff that I don’t want to list out cause I’m gonna sound stupid.

Serah: But do you think you maybe.... wanna be my girlfriend? I know I’ve got a shit future ahead of me, being uneducated and all, but I’m hoping that’s not something you really care about right now because if you do I don’t got a Plan B, so.

Tanvi: *laughs softly* You idiot, I don’t care at all about that. Of course I’ll be your girlfriend.

(Well, Lola hit it right on the money, didn’t she?)

Awww :)

Of course they gotta take that obligatory FB photo so they can update their relationship status with a pic, lmao.

Serah: Consummate the relationship with me? Tanvi: I thought you’d never ask.

Right when she got home she aged up too! Welcome to Young Adulthood, Serah; hopefully it’s more stable than your teenage years.

Also all that fishing and gathering on the trip allotted her the bare necessities, yay!

...But oh, honey, I think it’s time to hit the gym. lol.

TBC....

[poketrio]

Epic Mickey! (I wanna see what you think!)

Ok! Here we gooooooo

Favorite character:Oh dear… It’d most likely have to be Gremlin Prescott! He’s the character that truly brought me into the epic Mickey fandom, tbh! His edgy charm in EM2 is truly what makes him awesome to me! He wants to prove to everyone that he’s this amazing inventor, while he’s always getting kicked into the shadows of “Best Inventor” Jameface. I kinda relate to that, but I’ll talk about that later-

Second favorite character:Oswald! His character development was so heart(ha)warming, I’m glad he got his happy ending in EM1! I’m glad he got to befriend Mickey and forgive him for his mistakes, and I’m especially glad he got Ortensia back!!Also mentioning mad doctor because he’s a close to second fav, mostly because of his development in EM2! His musicals were awesome

Least favorite character:Hmm… Idk if I have a least favorite! All the characters have a nice charm to them, that I honestly can’t hate any of them! Though… I guess I’ll go with the Petes since they just seem like pricks without any reason, from what I remember.

The character I’m most like:This is where I get back to that feeling with Prescott-He wants attention, he wants people to like him, and he really wants people to praise him for his work! And I definitely can relate to all of that when it comes to my art-I just don’t believe I don’t get as much attention as I deserve with it, but I don’t truly get it. I’d go some lengths for people to notice me/give me attention(i.e. My spike in Steven universe fanart). I’ll still only do things I like, but I’ll do things especially if it guarantees attention. And that’s pretty much what prescott does, he joins sides with the mad Doctor because he knows he’ll get praise from him for doing it.

But I do appreciate all attention I get, and I know what I want will take time and effort.

Favorite pairing:Hmm… Oswald and Ortensia are niceeeeAlso Marscott is p cute too like the fanart for it is always sweet and nice and lOVESo… It’s a tie tbqh-

Least favorite pairing:I hope to goodness not a lot of people ship this but I had a run in with a shipper of it, and it made me feel worse about the ship than I originally did.

Mick and Oswald. Not only is it incest, but I had to do a request involving it for said person. I hated doing it!! I deleted it the moment after they saw the drawing because I did NOT want anyone else seeing it. I don’t approve of it, now have I ever.

BROTP is ABSOLUTELY fine. Just please leave it at that people.

Favorite moment:Gosh… There’s the scene where Mickey gives up his heart for Oswald and Gus which was so!! Sweet!!Then there’s the scene where Oswald’s like “Doc are you ok??” And the doctor just STARES at him like “… Excuse me?” And makes Oswald do the sing along which was funny to me-And there’s also the scene after you beat Prescott… That messed me up-

Rating out of 10:Epic Mickey 1 I’d give a solid 10 on. The visuals are nice, the throwbacks to older stuff was also nice, and the pacing and gameplay were pretty solid! Also going to mention the nice cartoons that you could unlock, those were pretty sweet and got me to buy that Oswald collectors edition DVD!Epic Mickey 2…. 8/10. The gameplay wasn’t as polished as the original, but the visuals were still nice! It was just unfortunately rushed because of Disney.

[spacebuggy-draws]

So, I’ve been writing a story about Storm and Casey, and I’ve decided to start posting it on here. I don’t know it the story is bad or good, so I can’t really say that this is an amazing story, so you’ll just have to judge if it’s good or horrible. Just a slight warning, Casey cusses a lot in this, and so does Storm. Bold words have emphasis placed on them, italicized words are thoughts, and ... means a time skip.

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Storm's POV

I had never liked my father, but I hated him even more now. He always acted like he was better than me, just because he was an Archdemon.

I honestly had no idea where I was, and I didn't care, as long as it wasn't that hell hole; literally; I had to call home. I stopped walking and decided to look around to see if I could find out where I was. I was in a forest, a forest which was obviously on the surface; or whatever humans call it, Earth I think; it was more peaceful than I thought it would be. I sat on a rock by a brook and tried to reflect on the incident that had just occurred.

My father and I had gotten into one of our little disputes, however, it went a little too far this time. I played the whole fight over in my head, especially the names he called me; he always called me names, such as "freak", "worthless", "abomination", and a wide array of curse words. I began to cry; there go those emotions again. My father had been right though, storm demons were freaks; they weren't supposed to happen; elemental demons and psychological demons just weren't supposed to mix. As my emotional outburst got worse, I; unintentionally, of course; sent out a small wave of lightning. I didn't bother to check if I had set anything on fire, it didn't really matter since I thought I was alone. I was about to find out how wrong I was.

"Hey, are you okay?" I yelped, falling off the rock I was sitting on and into the brook. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!" I looked up the person talking, he looked to be about 17, he was skinny, with brown hair, part of his hair was longer than the rest which was cut short, he had brown eyes, and freckles. He wore a purple shirt and a pair of jeans. To be honest, he was pretty cute. Okay, wow, no. Don't think that. I stood up, "It's okay." The kid seemed to relax a little when I didn't get mad. We stood in silence for what felt like an eternity, but it was probably only about 3 seconds; I honestly don't know how long it was, demons don't really have a good concept of time. The boy spoke up, "Sorry I just sort of... barged in on you, I didn't think anyone else knew where this place was." I laughed a bit, "I- I actually don't know where this is." The kid seemed surprised, "Are you lost?" Lost? The kid thinks I'm lost? I'm not lost, I'm just... Wandering, yeah that's it! I, of course, didn't respond with this answer, "Kind of, all I know is that I'm not going back where I came from." I sat back down on the rock. "Why?" The boy asked, "Family troubles." My answer didn't need to be any more than that, it explained everything rather well in my eyes. "That sucks... Hey, what's your name?" What? The kid wants to know my name? Well, that's new. "...My name's Storm..." The kid smiled, "That's a really cool name! My name's Casey." Casey huh, suits him well.

We sat talking for what seemed like hours, Casey was pretty interesting. Turns out he comes to this spot to get away from his gremlin of a little brother. He liked to draw, and I mean liked, he had hundreds of drawings in a journal, they were pretty good to be honest. I had always thought I would be good at something like that, but I never really tried seeing as how my father would remind me every day that I was useless and I would never amount up to anything. In my mind I began to call him every curse word under the sun; specifically, the ones that were used to refer to people. "Hello?" Casey said while waving a hand in front of my orange eyes; snapping me out of the trance I had fallen into. "Huh?" I hadn't heard a word of what Casey had said; if he had even said anything. "You spaced out there." He seemed to find that weird; I guess it's not normal to zone out. "Anyway, it's getting late, I have to head back home. See you tomorrow?" Casey asked smiling. He wants to see me again? That's never happened before... I smiled back, "Sure.", this kid was nice; for a human, although, of course I would think that; I've only ever seen the humans that were banished to hell, and they were all there for a reason. And with that Casey was gone. I sat in silence for a bit, taking in what had just happened. I suddenly yelled; to one person in particular, who probably couldn't even hear me, "TAKE THAT OLD MAN! I CAN GET ALONG WITH PEOPLE!" That was actually the first interaction I had with... anyone really, where I didn't get beat up. "There is no way I am going back now! Now that I have a friend!" At least, I think he's my friend...

I stood there for a while, not really sure what to do. Suddenly, Casey came running back, he stopped in front of me panting. "Oh yeah... You don't... have a place to stay... do you?" He said, clearly exhausted from having probably ran the entire way back. "Um... No." Casey looked like he was about to pass out. Casey finally caught his breath and said, "You can stay at my place if you want, I have my own house, and usually my brother has to stay with me because our mom gets sick of him, but he's spending the night at his friend's house." He's offering me a place to stay? What the heck is wrong with this kid? We literally just met a few hours ago! "Why are you so nice to me?" Humans weren't generally nice to me, or any demon for that matter. "Huh?" Casey was clearly surprised by this, his emotions were bright and clear to me, seeing people's emotions very clearly like that was something I had gotten used to, but it still upset me sometimes. "You just met me today, and you're already inviting me into your house, doesn't that seem just a little unsafe to you?" A demonic presence had been forming ever since I sent out some lightning, but it was even stronger now, and I knew exactly who it was. He found me, I'm done for, he's definitely going to kill me this time. I felt two emotions at the moment, anger and fear; anger because my father found me, fear because he was going to tear me to shreds as soon as we got back. Casey began talking again; snapping me back into reality, "I don't care if it's unsafe or not. Now give me an answer, yes or no." I thought for a moment before answering, "Fine." As long as I could get away from my father's wrath I didn't care, I'd rather be doused with holy water and have an exorcism done on me than have to deal with my dad. "Alright, follow me!" Casey said grabbing my hand and pulling me in the direction of what I assumed was his house.

...

Casey fumbled with his door; it was pretty funny; until the door finally opened and he practically fell into his house. "Come on in!" Casey said holding the door open. I walked inside, his house looked rather cozy and it just felt, homey. There were some plants scattered about, the living room was carpeted; the carpet looked incredibly soft; there was also a fireplace, a TV, a big comfy looking couch, and a comfy looking recliner. "Make yourself at home!" Casey yelled as he ran up the stairs; which were also carpeted. I sat on the couch; it was indeed very comfy. I could smell a dog, and practically on cue, a small, shorthaired, black and tan dog ran up to me. We stared at each other for a bit, they seemed to acknowledge that I wasn't human, but I don't think they cared, but then I looked away and started ignoring the dog; I was fine with dogs, but I always preferred cats more. I began to think about how my dad had found me. Well, I at least know he doesn't know where I am now. But how did he find that area in the woods? I remembered that I had accidentally used my powers while I was crying. Oh Yeah, that would be how he found me. Alright, from now on, no more magic, unless I absolutely have to use it. Casey came back downstairs; stopping to pet what I assumed was his dog. "Hi, Bodhi! I was wondering where you were." Casey said to his dog; Bodhi. Casey walked up to me and practically threw a pillow and blanket at me. Casey ran around the house turning off all the lights, "Goodnight!" he yelled as he ran up the stairs; almost tripping; Bodhi following close behind. "Um... Goodnight?" I laid down on the couch and wrapped myself up in the blanket. I felt happy and warm. It was nothing like the burning and awful heat I always experienced in hell. It was very pleasant and comforting, and I soon fell asleep.