#I did a couple other paintings in a similar style

[fhrlclln]

NSFW request please! Could we get Miguel cockwarming his Spider!fem!S/O while they’re both still in their spider costumes? He couldn’t help it with how great she looked fighting some bad guys!

miguel o’hara x spider!fem! reader

ANON THIS IS SO SEXY. THE SPIDERSUIT IS ALWAYS AN A+ PLUS FOR ANYBODY WEARING IT, LIKE LOOK AT MIGUEL’S ASS LMAO. but anyways, cockwarming, hehe, i love you anon. <3 i added a lil sexual frustration into the mix ; ) cuz i felt like that would be so miguel lolz.

nsfw under the cut

｡･:*˚:✧｡

for as long as he had known you, miguel never had once experience this more intense feeling that he ever felt following the years you two had been together. you were spider-woman, as of many others but you were his spider-woman what mattered. and jesus, he thinks, as he stares at you with this embarrassing bloom inside of his mask whilst you’re swinging and kicking some couple of brutes causing havoc around nueva york. eyes strained solely on you as he merely grips his opponent’s neck tighter, not noticing how he was choking the poor man. the only question in his mind arousing as he tries to shake it off.

why did you have to wear that suit today?

he gulps, watching how you flex your each move as your ass kind of jiggled when you jumped. the tight-skin spider suit you were wearing made it worse as he feels the blood rush down to his trousers— or tights per-say. it was the suit he made specifically for you, similar to his color palette but overall suited your previous style perfectly. and he can’t help it, you just… just looked so fucking good kicking ass when your tits and ass are hugged tightly by your spidey-suit. he lets out a shaky sigh, still gripping the man’s neck not until someone interrupts his oogling.

“ahem! miguel? we got a couple of more coming in! maybe ogle later?” lyla flashes immediately in front of his face, he doesn’t notice the smirk right away from his assistant’s face as he focuses back on the mission, still glancing at you with sudden frustrating feeling clawing at the back of his neck and his crotch. he dodges an incoming bullet as it slightly grazes his shoulder making him wince, annoyed he got lost on focus.

“i know!” miguel grits his teeth as lyla disappears. he gazes hard on you as you suddenly felt your spidey-senses tingle as you glance at miguel, who merely glares again making you wave innocently at him in greeting as you bashed some thug’s head to the ground.

what was with him? you think, a little confused. huh.

•••

there was something definitely going on with him.

“you feel now what you’re doing to me, huh? speak, my love.” he whispers harshly against your ear, both of his arms wrapped around your waist as your body arches when he sinks you deeper on his cock. you gasp out, your mask thrown somewhere, discarded as the bottom piece of your suit was pushed down to your ankles while your top stayed on you uncomfortably. he was a menace when the two of you got back, immediately dragging you with his attitude to meet him in his lab for a ‘briefing’ for the next mission across the multiverse he says… but nope.

this. this certainly wasn’t you were expecting for a briefing. being tortured and cockwarmed for how many minutes you can’t remember since he fucked an orgasm into you roughly a while ago. his spent cum still nestling in you, painting your tight walls and his still hard cock inside you as well. he looked absolutely wrecked and pent-up when he murmured something about you in his suit that he made when he roughly groped your ass when he got his hands on you alone. you weren’t complaining! just that you wished he’d moved right now feeling the tip of his cock hit your cervix making you squirm again uncontrollably.

“miguel, please, it’s—“ you pleaded, moaning as he cups your breasts, massaging them with his big hands as you leaned your head on his big shoulder, whining loudly “‘is not fair.”

“not fair, hermosa? what wasn’t fair was you looking too good in this fucking suit.” he says with a chuckle, kissing your neck, nipping it lightly, fangs grazing your skin as you felt yourself shiver at the feeling of danger on your neck. you moved your hips a little, desperate for the movement of his cock thrusting into you but miguel was relentless. his way of punishing you when you literally think you didn’t do anything wrong! not his fault he couldn’t keep his dick calm around you.

“mhm, nu-uh, mamí. be a good girl for me and warm my cock up.” he slaps your thighs in warning sending shockwaves to your core along with your favorite nickname he has for you. gripping the meat of your thighs harshly as he chuckles when you swear at him with your cock-drunken mind. the feel of his cum in you, making you feel sticky and satiated at the same time was driving you nuts when his huge prick is filling you up to the brim, you can’t help it anymore, you need him.

“miguel, fuck you.” you whine again as he kisses your cheek. you can’t help but grin as you wiggle your hips again as you clench around him to tease him a bit to see what he’ll do. miguel smirks, grabbing your jaw, squishing your cheeks as he sets a final warning for you and your brattiness with a promise of a good fuck later. just that he wants to savor this moment a lil longer when he finally rips your suit to pieces that he can always make one for you after this.

“stay still or you’ll regret it.”

｡･:*˚:✧｡

listen, i wouldn’t mind my cause of 💀 be miguel’s cock— 😽🤭 ALSO MIGUEL CALLING US MAMÍ HAD ME ON MY KNEES RN *pats my shoulder* <3

#miguel o’hara x reader #miguel o’hara #spiderman 2099 x reader #spiderman 2099 #miguel o’hara imagine #miguel o’hara smut #oscar isaac #across the spiderverse #across the spider verse spoilers #fnhrlcllnwrites #eri’s request box 📦 ｡･:*˚:✧｡

[meanbossart]

Another much overdue ask compilation! Some short-ish lore asks (Gale, Gort, DU drow relationships and pet-companion preferences) and a couple of art/advice ones sprinkled in. THIS IS BY NO MEANS ALL OF MY ASKS so as usual I appreciate everyone's patience!

I actually think he'd give them a pass entirely as soon as he noticed. Correct me if I'm mistaken but half-drow get No love from underdark drow and are usually surface babies right? So that fruit is miles away from the tree lol. I think he generally has a bit of a soft spot for mixed kinds since he himself feels like an amalgamation of sorts.

Thank you! They're kind of a pain in the ass to draw at times for that very reason but man I do like the look 😩if other people like it too then that makes it all worth it!

THAT'S TRICKY TO ANSWER BECAUSE OFTEN TIMES I'M NOT... REALLY TRYING. I've draw a ton of horror comics for mine and my partner's series' SAD SACK and SORTIE, so I think it just comes naturally to me 😅 also I do genuinely find expressive and, uh, rugged faces more attractive? (I think they look rugged, again that's what people tell me at least.)

I think the secret might be adding bits of realism in there. I get a lot of comments about the wrinkles and eyelashes I add to my art, as well as the way I draw individual teeth (though I've lately been making an effort to simplify my style in favor of drawing faster, so I haven't done that as much or in as much detail.)

Both symmetry and the lack of it can also add to that effect. I have employed both facial unevenness and almost point-perfect symmetry to achieve something a little frightening or otherworldly in my work. [MORE UNDER THE CUT]

Thank you so much!!! The contrast is very much intentional, that's what DU drow's character is all about ;)

Hahah well I somewhat doubt Bhaal would care that his spawn gets named, but either way he stripped himself of his name as soon as he killed his foster parents and abandoned the Underdark. He had a drow name that I jotted down somewhere but it's completely irrelevant because nobody has used it since he was a child, and he doesn't remember it (even pre-tadpole/having his brain scrambled.) Here's a little write up about his origins that might shed some more light on that: https://meanbossart.tumblr.com/post/739688837431836672/did-drow-ever-have-a-childhood-before-the-temple

And about his original drow-given name and the reason behind it: https://meanbossart.tumblr.com/post/741350986692591616/drow-had-to-have-been-given-a-name-by-his-adoptive

Everyone just referred to him as his supposed race, or as Bhaalspawn or Bhaal's child, and any other similar titles. Orin called him "kin" and "brother" and Gortash likely called him his associate. Post-tadpole the camp grows entirely used to calling him "the drow" and he has no desire to change that or to choose a proper name.

THANK YOU BOTH SO MUCH😭 no reason to be intimidated, I'm just some rando drawing BG3 fan art LOL I've been drawing since I was a child, and started taking it semi-seriously when I was 16 years old, so twelve years ago! That's around the time where I got my first non-display tabled and used that well into my twenties, prior to that I only did stuff on paper and liked to do inks color with pencils. I never really ventured into traditional painting at all except for a little bit of water-coloring in college.

Traditional and Digital art are very much different beasts. Which one you want to start with is, in my opinion, just dependent on what you want to do. Digital art gives you a lot of tools that makes learning easier, but you might find yourself having much steeper of a learning curve if you ever decide to do traditional art instead. If you want to be good at both, you need to practice both, since the skill doesn't entirely translate from one medium to the other.

Naturally you will be able to draw well on either, it's just... Different. I will say though, that I think if you're still learning you should use whatever allows you to look directly at what your hand is doing, so either traditional or display tablet/Ipad. I have no idea what a non-display tablet would do to a beginner, but remembering my experience with it I feel like it might be a huge detriment to developing the skill (feel free to share your experiences in the replies if you disagree, as I would definitely be curious to read them!)

YOU KNOW ME BABY IT WAS MESSY AND COMPLICATED the tldr.: is that they were "buddies", absolutely no romance intended there on either mine or DU drow's part, but due to his nature the friendship was extremely weird.

Here's a couple of replies where I go into more detail about it: https://meanbossart.tumblr.com/post/739191190871818240/i-dont-have-a-particular-question-in-mind-sorry

https://meanbossart.tumblr.com/post/744952815768764416/so-not-sure-if-youve-covered-this-but-i-thought

That's definitely reserved for the vamp LOL DU drow very much enjoys when Astarion teases and fusses over him, and while Astarion probably got a kick out of acting that way around such a big and scary looking guy at first, I think by "now" (later and post-game) he's pretty much immune to DU drow's looks and just enjoys doing it in earnest.

He's not at all averse to being touched (even rather intimately) by close friends, but he wouldn't be quite THAT vulnerable with anyone else.

HE REALLY DISLIKED GALE... He irked him out by seemingly fostering a rather persistent romantic interest in him for at least half the time they spent together (very much based on my interpretation of their in-game interactions at the time, though my Gale might have been a little bugged.)

But also they had a... Fairly in depth relationship still? Gale was a staple in my party, and even though I antagonized him constantly by the end of the game it still felt like they had so much weight in each other's lives, if that makes sense. I might need to do a bit of an "update" on the DU Drow/Gale lore sometime, I feel like I've had some thoughts since that warrant more exploration of their dynamic (you can find a lot of old asks about it if you just search the Gale Dekarios tag in my blog though).

The gist of it is that DU drow found him arrogant and duplicitous, his constant optimist irritated him to no end and felt like it veiled a stream of self-pity (two things DU drow despises) Gale's attempts to get through to him only added insult to injury. By the end of the game he decided to pursue the crown of Karsus and this only lost him even more respect in Drow's eyes, seeing as he doesn't value godly power at all.

I was pretty overwhelmed by the game at the start so I actually missed a lot LOL including Scratch. I did get the owlbear cub though, which DU drow gladly welcomed into camp since it was injured - but I think he would have wished for it to remain a wild animal and to return back to it's home after it had grown up a bit. He didn't really make a "pet" out of it more than he just looked after the little guy in the way it's mother might have, probably with Shadowheart's help.

He wouldn't be opposed to proper pets though if one were to stumble into his life. He'd definitely be more of a cat guy because of their independence and strong little attitudes.

It is very hard to build proper rapport with him. He will be "friendly" to most people who have a good sense of humor about them, but friendSHIP is another thing entirely.

I think it's kind of circumstantial. He's very economical in his relationships and doesn't really seek them out at all - so a situation where he's forced to be in someone's company might be the only way to develop a bond with him, as he doesn't appreciate insistence either and that's more likely to push him away. He doesn't value status or titles either (kind of looks down on them really) so that won't help.

I think he just likes people who are true to themselves and their nature, sometimes even if the nature is one he disagrees with at it's core. This is why he liked Gortash, why he and Shadowheart got along so well, and why him and Astarion fit together so seamlessly despite seeming so different. Likewise I think it's why he didn't jive with people like Gale or Wyll, because they seemed to be rather... Dishonest with themselves and their own end-goals.

#ask compilation #DU drow lore #ask

[reveluving]

Can you do one where Batmom loves doing ballet? Maybe with her in the ballroom dancing, and the kids come in. Cassandra immediately goes to join her and the boys want to try so batmom and cass try to teach them? And then at the end Bruce sneaks in and watches then fondly?

P.S. I love your work :)

a/n: to whomever sent this request last year (+ a couple of others), I am so sorry for only doing this now lol BUT! y'all know I love a fluffy batfam moment! 💗💗💗 changed it up a bit and also, thank you so much!!

warnings: fluffy fluff! (ballerina!cass !!!)

check out my batmom m.list !

Cass is an expert of many things, but your absolute favourite has to be her love for ballet!

It was no surprise how much she's incorporated her ballet knowledge into her fighting style—not to the point where anyone could see the similarities between Cass and Orphan, but just enough to give her certain advantages that the rest didn't have.

The first time Cass gave you the invitation to her recital was when she stopped by the café as usual one fine afternoon.

You had expected a form for a trip that needed your permission but no, it was so. much. better.

Not only was Cass' name handwritten in gold ink, but she was going solo for that matter?

You immediately tackled her into the biggest, most bone-crushing hug you could muster. Nothing Cass couldn't handle, though, in fact, she reciprocated your own happiness, grinning and giggling as you wouldn't stop gushing about how proud you were and how you needed to call Bruce, even if it was still office hours.

And you did just that!

Bruce thankfully didn't have any pressing matter when you rang him up, picking up the phone in one hand and idly checking some reports with the other. He stopped caring for the papers in hand though, not when he could hear how excited you sounded.

"We're invited to Cass' first recital next month!" You squealed, the soft of giggles of your not-so-little girl didn't go amiss on the line, "You have to clear your schedule."

Bruce grinned, both at the news and your sudden seriousness. You didn't have to tell him and you knew it, for he immediately wrote the date on a piece of paper to be passed to his assistant later on.

Cass also took the opportunity to share the news with the rest of the family, with all of their congrats and compliments ranging from Alfred and Damian's detailed praises for her appreciation in such fine art, to Dick's chaotic but meaningful cheers in all caps lock, with a side of triple fire emojis.

All in all, it was almost overwhelming for her—no matter how subtle Bruce tried to be in moving the old, almost depressing paintings out of the manor's ballroom after learning about her hobby, or how you'd bring over a single chair in the middle of the room to watch her new move without hesitation, or how Alfred made sure the manor's ballroom was always squeaky clean for her own use, she would be in awe of how fate brought her here.

A place where she not only fought for the safety of others, but also a place where she could finally make a name for herself the way she wanted.

Despite your protests, Cass helped you around the café that day, too happy to just sit down when she could channel that energy by lending a hand. You were thankful for the extra pair of hands though, for you wanted nothing more than to celebrate with her at home.

It was only fitting to bring her to the ballroom, the person praising her now was Alfred, who had came in with tea to pair with the extra cookies you brought from the café.

There was really no other way to channel your own joy other than to dance with her—from pirouettes to a grand jeté together. You learned from the best after all, how could you ever say no when she once shyly offered to teach you how to properly plie once upon a time?

With the classical music paired with Alfred's claps and the three of you laughing, it wouldn't take long for the rest of your family, besides Bruce, to investigate as soon as they're home. Some readily came with gifts, others were ready to properly congratulate Cass as texting did little to no justice. But seeing how much fun you were having, they believe it was best to at least wait till the music ended.

But ever the perceptive child, Cass was quick to notice the newcomers and immediately waved at them. They all huddled around her, with Cass growing flustered by the sheer attention she was getting in one day. She did somewhat expect a positive reaction, but not to this extend, but she wouldn't have it any other way.

You and Alfred watched the sight fondly, your smiles growing bigger when one of them had asked her to teach them a thing or two. And just like chain reaction, almost everyone was trying it out. It was hilarious, to say the least, seeing them, ranging from tall, buff, serious and just almost out of place, glancing at one another as they sought the girl's approval for their plie.

"I wasn't aware of a party." You sucked in a breath, the unexpected arrival of your husband taking you by surprise, let alone when his arms wove around your waist and then kissed you on the crown of your head. You leaned into him, caressing the back of his hand before letting his intertwine his fingers with yours.

"It's only fair," You sighed, not wanting to tear your eyes away from the tooth-rotting moment before you. You felt Bruce's chest vibrate on occasion, no doubt amused to see some making it a competition to see who was best, "Our girl deserves it."

Our girl.

As if on command, Bruce's hand lightly brushed over your tummy. You didn't stop him, only to gasp when he proceeded to tickle you and shared a laugh. You threw your head to the side, giving him the opportunity to nuzzle into your neck and be in your own world just as your children was.

To say Cass was in heaven was an understatement, and though her life started rough, she had always thanked the universe for shining her to the path that actually mattered to her most.

With the people she was meant to be with.

˚ · . f i n . · ˚

#cassandra my bb! <3 #— reve's reverie 🌹 #— reve's asks 🌹 #a mother's touch series #batfamily #batfam #batfam x batmom #batmom #bruce wayne x reader #bruce wayne x you #bruce wayne x batmom #batman #cassandra cain x batmom #cassandra cain x reader #cassandra cain #dick grayson #jason todd #duke thomas #tim drake #damian wayne #terry mcginnis #matt mcginnis

[cod-sins]

Can I have Ghost, König and Thomas Hewitt (if you write two fandoms in one) with male reader who is a metal head? Long hair, corpse paint, is fascinated with gore stuff and such.

.ೃ࿐ Format: HCs.

.ೃ࿐ Reader: Male. Heavy Metal!Reader.

.ೃ࿐ Ratings: SFW. Gore/Blood mention.

.ೃ࿐ Word Count: 1.3K

[A/N: FIRST MALE READER REQUEST LET'S GOO! Thank you anon for giving me an excuse to watch TCM again. I also did some similar HCs with König (no mention of gender) you can check those out as well. Also, it was so hard for me to find a picture of a black male with corpse paint *sigh*.]

𝑮𝑯𝑶𝑺𝑻

Wowie y'all make an interesting duo.

Between his skull mask/balaclava and your corpse paint and dark clothing, you two make a very visually appealing couple. Ghost jokes about how it's always Halloween at y'alls house.

He likes your long hair. Military guys aren't allowed to have long hair so seeing you with long hair is somewhat refreshing to him.

There is something that awakens inside of Ghost when he sees you walking around shirtless with your hair down.

Ghost is another COD character who wouldn't be surprised by your music.

His father used to take him to Bone Licker concerts (sounds pretty heavy metal to me) when he was younger but he stopped going after the prostitute incident. With him being in the military it only drove him further away but if you could convince him to go to concerts with you he would.

He would make sure to mark the date so he wouldn't forget or let his work intervene. With even more convincing he would allow to you paint a skull on his face, he wouldn't wear it out though he'd switch back to his balaclava.

If there was a chance he couldn't make it to a concert or just didn't wanna go, he'd make it up to you by buying you VIP tickets.

Gets really defensive when other guys hit on you. Puts himself between you and the guy. “Yeah his style is nice and all now bug off.”

At first, Ghost would try and shield you from whatever injuries he has. If he came home still a little bruised and bloody from his last mission he wouldn't want you to see, probably heading straight to the bathroom to freshen up until you tell him you aren't squeamish and you're fine with it. Then he would come straight to the bedroom while you clean up his bloody bandaged shoulder.

Thought you were an odd fella the first time he laid eyes on you. It was most likely Soap who set you guys up.

He acknowledges your interest in gore, however, he'd prefer if you kept it to yourself. When he's deployed he's constantly surrounded by it--by death and blood. So when he gets home it's the last thing he wants to see.

Since the majority of Ghost's clothing is dark colors he would mix up y'alls clothing and wouldn't notice.

“Hey, Simon?” “Yeah?” “Is that my shirt?“ He peers down realizing it is in fact your shirt.”Ah, yeah sorry love I guess I grabbed the wrong thing.” He begins to take it off until you tell him it's okay and that he actually looks really good in it.

KÖ𝙉𝙄𝙂

The moment König laid eyes on you he was blown away.

He doesn't see people with your style so he thought you were very unique. He asks you why dress that way and why your makeup looks so crazy. He doesn't mean to come off as rude or anything he's just not used to it and he likes to hear you talk about your interests.

König would shyly ask if you could make his face look like yours. He would let you sit on his lap and watch as you meticulously drew on his face with black liner, on top of the white paint. He'd have a dumb smile on his face after you finish.

Just like Ghost, König would also go to concerts with you. If you were on the shorter side he would pick you up and put you on his shoulders so you could get a better view. The dude is like a rock so when people get a little too aggressive with their thrashing he has you stand behind him so you don't get hit.

Likes when you put your hair up and let strands of hair fall down, thinks it's really hot. König would stare non-stop until you called him.

Wouldn't say anything about your gore interest but he would indulge you in ways he killed/kills people. [cough cough König finishers cough]

He told you about how one time he sniped a man and his brain splattered out on a wall behind him. Or once he snapped a dude's neck so hard you could see the bone about to come out.

König watches closely as your eyes get big and you squirm in your seat as he goes on and on about his war stories.

He glares at anyone who would dare say anything negative about you. That includes his coworkers and supervisors.

König could not tell you the name of the bands you listen to because of the font. He says it looks all scrambled and he couldn't tell which letter is which.

When you told him you thought he was a little intimidating the first time you he giggled and told you, he felt the same way too. People think y'all are like that one scary goth couple in school.

𝑻𝑯𝑶𝑴𝑨𝑺 𝑯𝑬𝑾𝑰𝑻𝑻

The first time Thomas saw you he instantly fell in love.

He couldn't stop staring at you, he thought you were sent by the devil himself as a gift.

He is so interested in you especially since you guys look the same. You have long hair, he has long hair. You wear intricate corpse paint that covers your face, he delicately sews people's faces together to cover his.

Thomas wouldn't allow Hoyt [derogatory] to make fun of you. He takes a lot of shit from him but he draws the line at his boyfriend being made fun of.

Thomas prefers your hair over his. His isn't really taken care of. It's all greasy and messy so if you took the time to brush and style it, he'd probably cry.

No one is that nice to him besides his mom. So it'd be up to you to spoil him.

I imagine the type of music you listen to isn't common in Texas, especially on rural Texas radio so he would be very interested in it.

He would have you play it while he's dealing with his victims because he finds the screaming to be very annoying and sometimes headache inducing.

Tommy always keeps an out for you to make sure you don't pass out from the heat. He'd literally be standing there, watching you with your paint running down your face with a concerned look on his face as you tell him you're fine.

He would let you watch him disassemble bodies. Since you're interested in that stuff Thomas thinks it's the perfect bonding experience.

Thomas would also put your ass to work, I'm sorry to say. He believes everyone should pull their weight including his partner.

While his method of butchering is sloppy, he would still show you how to properly gut a person and how to get the most meat off the bones.

He's happy that you have an interest in gore and he would most definitely make a mask for you. If you were to wear it around he would be so unbelievably happy.

You're wearing his art AND you like it?? A match made in heaven.

If you were too grossed out by the whole canniblism thing Thomas would try and find you other food. There aren't a lot of animals in the area but he would try and catch deer, rabbits, or coyotes.

Thomas might have you lure in other victims, and you may have to change your look-up to be more “approachable” so he would lend you some of his clothes. They'd be too big but he and his mom know how to tailor.

He would only do this if you felt comfortable with it, he would never want to put you in harm's way.

I think Thomas would do a lot to make sure you're okay. He doesn't get that luxury and he is afraid of you leaving him for someone else.

You would have to reassure him that you wouldn't leave him because he's pretty insecure about himself and being around Hoyt and Monty does not help.

#.jupiter writing #.könig #.simon “ghost” riley #.thomas hewitt #könig x reader #ghost x reader #könig headcanons #könig x you #ghost headcanons #simon riley headcanons #thomas hewitt #thomas hewitt headcanons #slasher headcanons #leatherface #leatherface headcanons #cod x male reader #cod x reader #könig x male reader #ghost x male reader #thomas hewitt x male reader #slasher x male reader #.Male Reader #.anon #male reader #male reader fanfic #male reader fluff

[suckmybigtoeoikawa]

The Way That Lovers Do.

(i’m on my period and feeling a bit sad, but i was on tik tok and saw this lovely video of this couple and they looked so in love while sitting at this table ^. it inspired me to get out of my writing slump) sorry if the story is a bit unorganized, i was struggling on what to write.

it was your second date with him. he was a very sweet guy. usually, people say that opposites attract and they do, but really we look for the similarities.

when you two talk to each other it was like gazing into a whole different world. for example, his career was totally different from yours, and the stories that he would tell you about his job would be shocking enough to make your jaw drop. he was so eager to talk while you were intent with listening. you had no problem with this, he even made to effort to listen to you (which is different from your ex’s).

he was a little shy and so we’re you, being that it was your second date with him, it’s expected to feel this way. yet, his nervousness only propelled him to go on nervous rambles and very detailed stories. and like mentioned before, you throughly enjoyed them.

6:45 pm

he pulls up to your house, you swear that time was moving quicker than it usually did. so when you hear the door bell ring, you’re rushing to fit things in your tiny bag, making sure you’ve got everything you needed. ‘gum, phone, lip gloss, perfume, keys, wallet,’ you quickly check off while rushing down the stairs. the sun was setting, leaving a nice warm glow around him when you opened your front door.

“hi.. hello” he repeats nervously as if you didn’t hear him the first time.

“hello” you smile back at him. he stares at you almost as if he’s in a daze, and you stare back reciprocating the same look. he looks very very good. his style is a tad bit different from yours, color wise. you guys both made the effort to dress up on your second date. A complete contrast from your first date where you guys were dressed down (because y’all painted in the park 🤭) .

“uh, you look very very beautiful,” he says as he reaches out for your hand. “thank you, you don’t look so bad yourself,” you smile again, looking him up and down, while giving him your hand. he smiles really hard and mumbles a thank you, while he closes your door.

when you guys reach the car, he opens the door for you like a princess, waving his hand in front in a way how chauffeurs (idek bro😭) do in fairytales. when you get inside you see him quickly walk to the drivers side and you try to reach over the console to open his door as well.

7:20 pm

upon arriving to the restaurant, you both walk in hand in hand. the smell of fresh bread and soft jazz giving you a warm welcome, the lights dimly lit and the evening sun helping light up the restaurant.

“this place is nice,” you say to him. “i’m glad you like it, i took some of my coworkers here a little while ago, it was nice and the food was good,” he replies. “they serve french cuisine here, so i figure that it would be romantic”. you smile at him and you can tell he starts to get nervous. “cause you know, like, France, heh.. Eiffel tower—,” you start to rub your thumb over his hand to calm him a little “i understand,” you laugh.

“so what did you try the last time you were here,” you ask, as you guys get settled in your seats.

“we’ll, this place is very well known for their soufflés, so last time i got the salmon and asparagus soufflé i believe.”

“hmm, i might try that”

9:05 pm

the night is going beautifully. after you both ate you decided to talk for a while. while you tell him about your drama at work, or the latest trend you saw on tick tok, he would be heavily engaged. he would keep deep eye contact with you and would have a through response and/or interesting opinions. Not only that but he was a good listener.

when you first met him, you were a bit thrown off by him. considering that you didn’t know him well enough, it was so easy to come up with assumption about him based on how he looked and what people around him said about him. but after your first date with him, you found yourself a lot more eager to learn about him, and so was he about you.

so when he starts to share his stories about his day, and he shows how he was listening to you by relating his stories to yours, or even brining up similar topics, you find yourself smiling at him (the wine isn’t helping either).

so as the night grew longer, and the conversations became deeper. you found that you guys are much alike. and although you guys are different in many ways, the main thing you have in common is you hope you guys can love each other the way that lovers do.

—

Kageyama, suga, asahi, kita (but i feel like he’s a bit more direct), goshiki, Aone, sakusa (i feel he’s a bit more direct too), Aaron T, Aaron Z, (maybe) Robaire, Iida, miguel o’hara (he wouldn’t be stuttering, but he’d be shy, i feel like he’s lowkey corny.. jus a lil bit) peter b. parker, miles (BUT LIKE OF AGE/ NO ALCOHOL!!)

#suckmybigtoeoikawa #headcannons #astv x reader #haikyuu x reader #my hero academia x reader #miguel o’hara x reader #peter b parker x reader #miles morales x reader #kageyama x reader #sugawara x reader #suga x reader #aone x reader #goshiki x reader #tenya iida x reader #iida x reader #kita x reader #robaire x reader #aaron t x reader #aaron z x reader #4town robaire x reader #4town aaron z x reader #4town aaron t x reader #sakusa x reader #asahi x reader #4town x reader

[seat-safety-switch]

Have you noticed that for most manufacturers, every car they make looks kind of similar? This is what car designers like to call a "design language." Like real, human-spoken languages, these automakers have special words for "headlight," "centre console," and "that fucking gewgaw in the back door that is too small to hold a goddamn water bottle and just fills up with snow when I open the door, why did they put a picture of a water bottle there?"

Making all your cars look the same builds what marketers call "brand presence." In a nutshell, you can look at a thing with too many curves and giant headlights, and be like "that's probably a Mazda." Somehow, this translates into you or someone you love later buying a Mazda. The exact science is unclear, which is why we haven't sent any brand marketers to space to do experiments on the ISS yet.

Me, I don't love it when all my cars look the same. Although I have been unfairly stereotyped by my political and social enemies as owning sixty-seven 1978 Plymouth Volares, the exact number is actually closer to only thirty-three. Give or take a couple, of course, depending on what percentage of a parts car has to be present for you to call it "a car." I'm definitely open to broadening my horizons and digging something out of a ditch that I've never seen before. For instance, one of these Volares is a two-door. That is a highly desirable feature, and the additional valuation means that it's too nice for me to drive, mostly because I usually park them in a nearby ditch on the way home rather than use up the brake pads.

So when you're out there on the roads tomorrow, take a look around you. Does your car look exactly the same as every other car that was made by the manufacturer of choice? Maybe you can take a page from Our Lord, Richard Petty, and throw a number and some brightly-coloured paint on the side. Don't forget the huge spoiler, because we all know for a fact that anyone who worked hard to style your car would hate it.

[kenney-mencher]

Super Host, 18x24 inches oil on canvas panel by Kenney Mencher $600

How did you specifically become an “erotic” artist?

There’s an excitement in being transgressive and depicting or illustrating things that either excite or annoy other people. Especially when it comes to sex and power. There are some fancy theories about this proposed by author Michel Foucault in his “History of Sexuality.” I was introduced to this text and the ideas in it in graduate school but I think it explains rather than created the impulse for me to create sexually or erotically charged images. To put it bluntly, I’ve always been excited by depicting taboo things such as sex, sexual power, and sexual identity.

I started depicting taboo or difficult subjects in high school and have continued to do so throughout my entire career. For my graduate thesis exhibit my show consisted of a series of loosely expressionistically painted male figures having sex in the style of the Bay Area figurative painters, Diebenkorn and Bischoff while every other painting in the exhibit was a series of fairly tightly painted still lifes of fruits and vegetables against drapery. I was thinking memento mori my graduate advisors didn’t know what to make of it. This was at the University of Cincinnati a couple of years after the Mapplethorpe exhibit. I remember one of the comments left in the guest book was something like, “This isn’t a retrospective, make up your mind about what you’re going to paint.”

Later, I made similar transgressive or erotically charged images while I was working with a gallery called “Hang” in San Francisco. Surprisingly enough, “Hang” wasn’t that interested in the edgy imagery and even stopped representing me because they were offended by what I was painting. This despite a great sales record.

[do0dlfex]

Milo x Sweetheart Headcanons <3

these are gonna be some couple headcanons and some specific to their characters, anyways enjoy!! (btw it’s 5 in the morning where i am right now so sorry for any spelling mistakes)

—————————————————————————

• Milo and Sweetheart both have IMPECCABLE fashion taste (as we all know) so both of them love thrifting clothes and turning them into incredibly stylish outfits then having mini fashion shows showing off their outfits to eachother

• Milo is half Italian (from Marie) and is fluent in it so he likes to confuse Sweetheart by speaking in Italian to them (Sweetheart 100% finds it attractive)

• Despite having very similar styles of clothing Milo and Sweethearts ideas on how they should decorate their house were VERY different like they didn’t have any proper arguments over it but they definitely had their differing opinions

• for example Milos more of a simplistic kind of guy whilst sweetheart wants a bunch of colour and plants everywhere

• Sweetheart owns many MANY plants and talks to them whilst they water them all. they also have names that they address each of them by along with their own personalitys

• Milo has multiple half older brothers from a previous relationship that his dad was in before he met Marie, and they all constantly tease Milo for being shorter and having a smaller wolf form. and when they tease him at family gatherings Sweetheart gets like noticeably mad but manages to keep their composure as much as possible but cloaks and scares them just to show them what for (they’re all secretly scared of sweetheart)

• Milo gets Sweetheart to paint his nails black for him because he doesn’t like having bare nails and doesn’t want to admit to Sweetheart that he can do it himself because he likes the excuse to spend time with them <3

• Sweetheart’s love language is physical touch and gifts, Milo thinks this is adorable and constantly tells Sweetheart that they don’t have to always be giving him things (Sweetheart doesn’t listen) , even when they’re out food shopping Sweetheart is constantly offering new things to milo and asking if he wants to try it

• Milo has taken up the responsibility of feeding Aggro because the smell and texture of (wet) cat food makes Sweetheart throw up

• Milo put a small slit through his eyebrow while Marie was out when he was a teen because he thought it looked cool and then he realised shortly after that she would see it when she got home, he then panicked for about 20 minutes and just left it hoping she wouldn’t notice (she definitely did notice and he was grounded)

• Sweetheart was adopted when they were young and both of their parents are British so they have a bit of an accent that only comes out sometimes (ESPECIALLY when they’re mad)

feel free to add if you have any others :3

#redacted asmr #redacted audio #redacted milo #redacted sweetheart #redactedverse #redacted headcanons

[journalsouppe]

Ghost trick!!!! Loved this game it was exactly what I expected from a Shu Takumi game. I do hope they plan to make a sequel or crossover, I really loved the mechanics of this game.

Writing typed below! (plus some extra commentary)

Rating: 9.3 Played: Su 2023 Port: Nintendo Switch Favorite? Y Replayable? Y Recommend? Y

Comments:

LOVE missile

really fun premise - you died and don't know who you are

DON'T GET A CONCUSSION MISSILE

not the PM erotica T-T

LMAO Payne and Wright

the kazuma pose (skull)

I'm in love with Cabanela

Lynne not again T-T

Sissel in the painting...

NOT THE FEET OUT AT WORK T-T T-T

omg the security camera murder and the meory are different. I know your tricks Mr. Takumi (I didn't realize Yomiel shot the gun twice here LMFAOO)

mmm... chicken kitchen

is everyone in love with Lynne?

I'm actually so obsessed with the Ghost Trick art style

ALL of your medicine????

he's already dead... and they used an electric chair.....

THIS IS SO FUCKED UP

chicken kitchen and execution fates were really fun

man I really want an AAxGT crossover

love how oversized all the objects are

MISSILE IS BACK AHHH and he has different ghost tricks omg... then how did the lamp know about mine

so many mysteries omg I love it

how was I supposed to get sissel to the top (skull) (I was genuinely stuck and when I restarted the level it spawned me at a different place LMAO)

SISSEL? IN THE PARK?

HE SAW ME AND TURNED TOWARD THE SCREEN (Skull)

but his name wasn't sissel... who is the lamp....

love this crazy arm contraption

red suit man had radiation in his body... so I/Sissel died near it... but who am I... (I forgot about the cat LMFAOO)

Temsik... kismet... mmmm kismet (kismet is the name of my favorite restaurant)

STOP looking at the screen

yomiel...

I WAS YOMIEL'S CAT T^TT^T

ZAM RAY WAS OLD MISSILE

little Lynne T-T

Sissel has temsik...

Game Dev Notes

really fun animations and character design

unique gamplay - I love moving thru objects

love the character dialogue - great humor and timing

extra puzzles and challenges similar to professor layton

characters have tons of personality in design and posture

LOVE the cool toned shadows on the sprites

great music

fun and sweet ending credits

Summary

Shu Takumi has done it again (even though this is a remaster lol). What and incredible mystery game with really fun mechanics. There were definitely a couple times I was stumped on what to do or was stuck bc I missed my window of opportunity, but I think it worked well since the puzzles were difficulty and you couldn't just immediately breeze past them all. I also really enjoyed gaining missile's abilities later and having to think of the puzzles in different ways. The characters and animations/sprites were really fun. There's so much personality in them without even saying a word. The game also reveals character information in a really good way as you slowly learn more about the mystery of the game yet also feels like you're getting farther from learning who you are. I also just love how this game is just made with so much love for Takumi's real pets and how Sissel ended up being Yomiel's beloved cat... what a sweet ending oh my god. Each level had such a fun and unique design while also adding a twist to the puzzle, like the stealth level or submarine sinking level. The game also has many unlockable achievements to encourage replayability as well as concept art and other illustrations to unlock. There's so much added to this game and you can really feel the love and care the team put into this game, I hope there are more Ghost Trick games in the future or hopefully even a Ghost trick x Ace Attorney crossover -- I wonder how that would play out esp with Maya's spirit abilities. All in all, such a sweet and fun game. Not too long either. Can't wait to replay it to get all the achievements and make fanart!

#ghost trick #ghost trick spoilers #sissel #yomiel #cabanela #journalsouppe #bullet journal #journal #video game journal #lynne ghost trick

[tiffyfoundsomething]

Lady Doolli

I’ve mentioned before that I like blind box toys and ball jointed dolls and now I’m in trouble because there are blind box ball jointed dolls out there.

Lady Doolli is blind boxed but is NOT a BJD though she’s in a similar style. I’d seen these on Amazon for a while and was curious but only recently decided to give one a try.

There is 1 skintone, 6 different hair styles/colors, and it looks like maybe 2 eye colors.

There are also 6 possible outfits.

The dolls and clothing are separate, but are each $26 and both are in the same listing here: https://amzn.to/3OrhHsk

The box is small and cute with a lot of pictures and writing on it, especially making a point to let you know there’s no second outfit in here and they must be bought separately.

The outfits are packed in a little paperboard box shaped like a garment bag. It says 2022 Spring, so I wonder if there are many other outfit sets that have been released.

To be honest, I don’t care for any of these outfits, really. Figured I should get one to review, at least.

Both the doll and outfit are packed in these silver foil bags inside the boxes. There’s no plastic shell or anything to hold their position in the packaging. They’re just loose in there.

I got dark, long hair with a side part with blue and purple eyes, and almost missed the tiny little bag of extra hands inside the silver bag. She does come already dressed in the pajamas.

I tried to get a good photo of the face screening but my phone is a potato. There’s a good amount of detail with a simple layout. She has eyeshadow, blush on the cheeks, chin, nose, and brows, a little lip line to separate her lips... It’s a cute face, but I do prefer my dolls to not look sad or startled.

She does have rooted hair which is silky and smooth. It’s a little stiffer than Kiwi nylon (Rainbow High) while still being soft.

She also has a couple paint spots on her face that look to be from the eyebrow paint.

The rooting isn’t super dense in some areas.

Her head is harder than a Barbie’s head but is squishable to a degree so her eyes could be removed and replaced with some heat and her hair could be rerooted if you wanted.

Hair drop on a new doll head is normal. This looks like a plug or two which didn’t get anchored.

I’m impressed with the posing. The joints are stiff enough to hold a pose but easy to move other than her hips which take a little bit more pressure, and have a high range of motion.

The torso joints aren’t as mobile as the arms and legs, though.

Her head can look up and down or tilt left and right depending on how you turn the neck joint which is a simple hinged ball.

The backs of the knees...

All of the jointing reminds me of Figmas.

Honestly I feel like the body alone is worth the $26 price tag, AND you get a rooted head with quality hair and inset eyes, a pair of pajamas, and an extra pair of hands.

-

Neither outfit that I have has any sort of closures or openings so you do need to remove the head and hands to dress her.

Getting the hands on and off is difficult

Turns out there’s a LOT of flash on her wrist pegs. I did go in and clean that off. There was a good sized bit on her neck ball, too.

Heat up the hands, though, and they go on and off pretty easily.

-

As for the outfit.

Silver bag again.

I couldn’t get this headband to stay on her hair because it’s satin and her hair is satiny smooth, but it does have a wire in the “ears” so you can pose it as you wish.

......

LOOK AT THESE TINY LITTLE SHOES!

They have stitches, laces, tongues, glued on rubbery soles with IN SCALE texture on the bottom...

They went on a lot more easily than I expected them to OVER her socks. I did need to get a little stick to pull the back of the heel out and over the doll’s heels. Other than that, easy-easy.

I also didn’t even try to extract and tie the laces. They looked really short and I have poor motor control, so I opted to just shove her feet in there with the laces tucked inside.

The outfit came with shorts, a one-piece sweater and shirt combo, and some long socks. The socks aren’t hemmed but everything else is. Again, no closures, not even an elastic waistband on the shorts. The shorts were a little difficult to put on.

All of the fabrics are soft and despite the sweater having a feelable texture, it’s not rough or scratchy so it’s not kicking off my texture-BAD senses.

Action pose! FWIP!

She can’t quite pull of Sailor Moon’s signature pose.

Here she is next to some other blind box BJD (the others really are BJD). They all could certainly share clothes despite Doolli’s longer, thinner body.

From left to right:

Penny’s Box Antu Natural Wonderland - https://amzn.to/3IqKfOz

SimonToy Teenar Campus Series - https://amzn.to/3IlnGLl

Lady Doolli and outfit pack - https://amzn.to/3MiOflA

Come4Free Bonnie Journey of Streets - https://amzn.to/42QlMKG

-

While I do feel that the quality of Lady Doolli is in line with the price (all together she costs $52), and am impressed with, basically, everything about her, I don’t feel a need to buy another. Out of all of the blind box BJD I’ve tried (not pictured here is the Penny’s Box centaurs), the only one I’ve wanted more than one of was Bonnie. I have three.

#bjd #blind box #blind box bjd #lady doolli #product review #affiliate links

[saintgoths]

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴏɴᴇ

CHAPTER ONE - ENTER: SUIREN UCHIHA.

WORDS - 3,991.

RATING - G+.

SUMMARY - with talks of their father, suiren attempts to hide away the fact that she needed her father back and when team thirteen leave to their mission to the land of waves, suiren is advised on her issues with her fire eating nightmares.

Audibly, as her twin, Suiren was similar to Sarada but it had been known that Suiren had captured the girlier essence between the two of them. Evidently, Sarada had been girly but Suiren had distributed the feminine attribute of always caring what she looked like, getting up early in the morning, brushing her teeth, doing her face-routine, styling her hair and perfecting her outfit; currently the two had sat on the floor of Suiren’s room, Sarada in her younger twin’s aid of painting her nails a nude pink colour. Together, the two girls had always felt in ease in each other’s energies, huddled up in Suiren’s poster decorated room and eating desserts their mother, Sakura, had formerly made for them.

Suiren’s room had been the same size of Sarada’s room but had been painted a light blue colour and had been embellished with pictures of her favourite band famously known as Starfire. Even though Suiren was girly, there was a grunge-sovereign aesthetic she had displayed that had made her emergence enigmatic, similar to her father. Who they had currently spoken about, their father Sasuke was always known as an enigmatic and mysterious public figure, the topic of the Uchiha man was rather lumbering and damp for them; whenever they had asked their mother why their father had left, she would tell them it was to protect them and the village, but it was never enough for them.

“Do you think he’s going to come back?” Sarada asked, her eyes concentrated on Suiren’s nails as she finished her right pinkie finger, ere she began Suiren’s left hand and Suiren had gently shrugged her shoulders, no matter how much she had tried to make it seem like she hadn’t cared about where her father was or if he was going to come back soon, Sarada knew Suiren secretly worried and cried for him to come home. Though, she never mentioned it.

“Mother said the two of you were inseparable,” Sarada told, “wherever dad was found you were there, or wherever you were found dad was there, mum said that everyone found it cute.” Sarada timidly smiled at the story her mother had told her a couple of days ago and Sarada could tell Sasuke had favoured Suiren, but Sakura did mention that their father had loved the both of them very much, it was just the condition Suiren was born in that had made the aloof man authentically protective over the younger twin.

“He never speaks to us,” Suiren belatedly spoke up, she didn’t want to make her sister feel like she was having a one-sided conversation and adhered it was best to respond back. “I don’t know if he’ll ever come back but I do wonder what he’s doing and if he ever thinks about us.”

Aside from being sad that her father had disappeared, she had in truth had been angry with him, she didn’t like to show it but it had seemed like Sarada had always known what she had felt. “I can tell you’re angry,” Sarada forwardly commented, and Suiren had looked up to her sister whose empathetic eyes shielded behind her red-framed glasses.

“How do you know?” Suiren breathed out, “how do you always know?”

Entertained by Suiren’s curious look, Sarada widely smiled, her eyes glinted in tease as she closed the cap of the nail polish, she had finished using on her. “It’s a twin thing.”

Over it, Suiren rolled her eyes but as Sarada had always been someone to pay attention, she could see the big smile Suiren had on her face as she briskly but gently threw her head back. “How would you feel if dad randomly came back?” Sarada asked as she got to her feet, she dusted her knees, her eyes were currently off Suiren who nimbly shrugged her shoulders.

“I wouldn’t know how to feel,” Suiren truthfully answered, she had silently admitted that she had loved the shared time she had directly shared with Sarada, but she had grown quickly to be bored of the arsenal of questions Sarada had urged her. “I need to sleep; I have a mission tomorrow.”

“Oh right, sorry for taking up time,” Sarada quickly apologised and Suiren bounced her shoulders uncaring Sarada had taken up some time, Suiren always liked being in her presence.

“Do you want to sleep in my room?” Suiren asked and Sarada shook her head.

“I’ll sleep in my own, goodnight, Suiri.”

Elated, Suiren beamed at her older sister who made way out of her bedroom. “Goodnight Sara.”

With her hands around her throat, Suiren quickly sat up gasping for air, too dissociated to realise the atmosphere she was in, however, when she realised that she can breathe, she had eventually allowed her hands to let go of her throat.

The area blank and endless had nonplussed Suiren, on the other hand, it wasn’t like Suiren hadn’t had this dream before. It would always begin with her being woken into a white abyss, her attempting to save breath as if oxygen were about to run out and then her then realising that she was safe, for now.

Eventually, a red door, far from her would appear and Suiren would make sure that she would be able to get to the exit. In such wise, currently, Suiren had stomped her feet against the white grounds, ardent and determined to free herself from this realm.

A bright roar emitted behind her, currently, knowledgeable why she’d always run like her life depended on it, blazing fire tracked and trailed after her which had constructed the young girl to be ardent on making it out of the white realm. The fire was fast and agile, but, luckily, the red door had grown closer for the girl’s exit.

Panicked, Suiren had reached for the door, her body and energy intense as she could feel some of the fire kiss her skin, the young Uchiha had ripped the door open and quickly leaped into the obscurity that had soon welcomed her and caused her to crazily wake up from her acute slumber, her skin sweaty and dark locks slightly curled. Suiren had examined the room around her in order to process the area around her and had felt relieved when she recorded, she was in her room.

Unwell and damp, Suiren had pulled herself out of her bed and dragged herself out of her room, ambitious to drink ice cold water, she had sluggishly walked into the kitchen. Even sick, Suiren’s awareness were still spiked enough to feel the recognisable presence she always drifted to, her mother.

The warm and nurturing energy her mother had always brought had somewhat healed some parts of the bedridden energy she had currently been in. Sakura had immediately felt the young presence enter the room and had hastily turned to look at her youngest child, briskly bothered by the state she saw Suiren in. “Oh, Suiren, come to me,” Sakura pleaded upset, aside from the sweaty skin, whenever Suiren caught a sickness, her hair would get really curly in consequence of the excretion.

“Did you have another nightmare?” Sakura kindly inquired and softly Suiren nodded her head desperate to hug her mother.

As Sakura inserted a quick embrace to her youngest child, the pink-haired woman had been too intent and immersed to rid the young girl of her short sickness, as she pulled out a chair for the dark-haired girl to sit down, “I’ll make you feel better,” the mother hummed and Suiren softly plopped herself against the kitchen chair and weakly rested her upper body against the cold table, the icy touch giving her some relief.

“I want water,” the young girl muttered and quickly, Sakura fixed her water to drink for hydration. As Suiren busied herself on drinking the cold beverage, Sakura’s soft hand glowed in the natural healing colour of green, the soft whizzing sound the action created soothed the long-haired girl who had presently finished with her drink and if it had not been for her mother healing her, she’d have the hiccups.

“I want the nightmares to stop,” Suiren randomly commented and receptive, Sakura had pulled her hands away the moment she finished her mini-task.

“I can give you pills to make them better,” Sakura aided and Suiren softly shrugged her shoulders.

“Maybe I’m having those dreams for a reason,” Suiren doubtlessly muttered, “actually, no matter how much I want them to stop,” she trailed off, with her sight now levelled with her mother’s, she tightly gripped the glass cup her hand was tied around. “I need to know what they mean.”

“If that’s what you want,” Sakura accepted, “but if it goes worse then I’ll have to put you on medication, okay?”

Receptive, Suiren had beckoned her head, with her back currently leaned against the chair she had sat on, Suiren had silently remarked of the conversation she had shared with Sarada, curious enough to want to share the discussion with her mother, but covert enough to not want to stress her mother, but this was her mother, her mother always knew when Suiren was keeping something from her.

“Spit it out,” Sakura hummed and eventually she had pulled off the coat she’d wear whenever she was in one of her shifts in the hospital and it was a coat Suiren really liked, when Suiren was younger, she was caught trying her mother’s clothes on, it was an adorable sight to see and the pink-haired lady could tell that this twin that sat in front of her was going to be the fashionista.

Suiren lightly pulled her head backwards, slightly humoured and comforted that her mother could always read her. “Sarada and I had a talk about dad,” Suiren slowly informed, “we just wondered if dad loves us and if he’d ever come back.”

“Your father loves the both of you so dearly to the point that he’ll sacrifice anything of himself to protect the two of you from the danger that lurks outside the village,” Sakura easily explained, but she had wished that she didn’t have to get to this level of almost having to expose his secret mission. Howbeit, Sakura knew Suiren was an intelligent girl and wouldn’t convey what she had heard to other people, but the moment Sakura had answered Suiren, she had saw her doe eyes glisten in interest.

“Danger that lurks outside the village?” Suiren repeated, curious to what else she didn’t know. Tired, Sakura’s palms gripped the wooden table in front of her, she sighed while her eyes gently closed. “I know papa is strong but how comes he never visits us?”

“Because the danger will follow him back here, and that’s the last thing he wants,” Sakura explained, and compassionate, she had brought herself to her daughter and raked her slender fingers through Suiren’s long hair. Sakura didn’t mind that Sarada liked keeping her hair short, but she loved the fact that she was able to play hairdresser whenever it came to Suiren. “All your father is doing is protecting the village but mostly our family, okay?”

Considerate, Suiren nodded her head before she had rested the side of her cranium against her mother’s stomach. “You need to get back to sleep,” Sakura reminded and perceptive, Suiren pulled herself off the chair she had previously sat on.

“You need to go to sleep too, you tire yourself out all the time,” Suiren had gently smiled at her mother who tiredly waved her hand in her direction, quietly reassuring her little girl that she will get to bed soon.

With her back turned towards the pink-haired woman, Suiren walked down the corridor and casually walked past her bedroom door in aim for Sarada’s. The juncture Suiren pushed the entry of her twin’s room open Sarada had easily woken up from her slumber, it had seemed like she wasn’t asleep for a long time, Sarada could be a heavy sleeper if she was comfortable enough, and their home was her sanctuary.

“Can I sleep in your room?” Suiren politely asked and immediately, Sarada had made room on her bed for her younger sister.

“Did you have another nightmare?” Sarada asked.

“Yeah.”

Gently, content, Suiren closed the door behind her and crawled onto Sarada’s bed and briskly got comfortable on her sister’s cot. “Mum’s back,” Suiren lightly informed, she had her back faced towards Sarada who had gently pressed her stomach against Suiren’s back to embrace her into a protective hug. When Suiren first began to get her nightmares Sarada would hold Suiren in a strong bear hug and would tell her that it was her way of guarding her, and would tell her that the nightmares would be too scared to come for any of them, because the both of them were together, and for Suiren, it would work, she would sleep peacefully and would forget all the terrors that would try to frighten her.

“I know, I felt her when she came in,” Sarada quietly responded, “get some sleep now Suiren.”

“Okay.”

Team Thirteen was the group Suiren had belonged to, her sensei was Ren Tanaka, or if you were traditional, you’d go by Tanaka Ren. He was an excellent Wind Style user; he hadn’t originally lived in the Village Hidden in the Leaf and was said to come from the cities outside the village.

Ren had been a father figure to Suiren, especially with his other student, Akane, but he was usually there for Suiren. Ren was known to be a handsome man, his hair dark and eyes purple, his skin contrasted his hair, known to be fairly pale with a bunch of beauty moles on his face, due to his handsomeness, a bunch of female students had wanted him to be their sensei before they were put into teams, specifically Sarada’s best friend, Chocho Akimichi.

Suiren’s first team mate, Raiden Nakamura, a student who is a practitioner of Water Style had belonged to a prestigious clan in Konoha, known for their Kekkei Genkai, a Dojutsu known as the Dekishigan, which had meant drowning. The Dojutsu would make their victim feel like they’re drowning from the inside of their body which can lead to outcomes of death.

Raiden was a popular student, aside from the fact that he belonged to a prestigious clan, it was because he had much fan girls, he was perceived to be calm and collected, and could be very sarcastic. He had an interesting connection with Suiren which was interpreted to be romantic by Ren and Akane who weren’t surprised the two would take a liking to each other, even if Suiren was “less obvious of her feelings”, there were certain things she would do or say that had finalised their pondering.

Raiden was a brown-haired boy and had a pair of green eyes and normally wore outfits in a dark colour scheme. Suiren’s last team-mate, Akane Ikeda, she was like another sister to Suiren, though Suiren had perceived the girl as more annoying than her actual sibling. Akane was an orphan and was famous for being prodigious with weapons, she had looked up to Ten-Ten and was a student that was astonishing when it came to Earth Style.

Akane was known to be straight-forward and witty, but she was one of the kindest people in Team Thirteen, after Ren, after Raiden and after Suiren…

She had a unique appearance, white hair and purple eyes and wore blue colours on her clothing that had matched her skin tone. The entire group felt like a family, treated each other like they were each other’s homes. Moreover, currently their mission was to retrieve back stolen goods that belongs to the Land of Water. When they were first tasked of the mission, all the students had complained on why they weren’t given any dangerous missions, but the Hokage had to remind them that they were Genin, not S-Rank Ninjas.

“Why do we never get dangerous missions?” Raiden repeated, the entire group had arrived to the gates that had been opened for them to leave through and humoured Akane had glanced at Suiren before she had said anything.

“Hokage-sama gets nervous putting sweet Suiren in dangerous positions,” Akane responded which had caused the girl to roll her eyes.

“Maybe I should use my privileges to kick you out of the group,” Suiren smiled just to have the white-haired girl nudge the dark-haired Uchiha in her ribs.

“Why can’t we use trains?” Akane asked once she had straightened herself on her feet. Time has changed, people usually didn’t need to use their feet to drag themselves across destination to destination, verily, when trains were introduced to the ninja world many older generations were against the idea and had argued that it had made the younger generation lazy and Ren had actually been one of them who had thought of that.

“I want you guys to practice your stealth,” Ren easily responded and Akane lightly scoffed and aligned herself to speak with her Sensei as Raiden and Suiren shared a confidential conversation.

It was nothing new to the group, Akane and Ren observed when the conversation between the two lovebirds got more hushed and discreet, it had meant that it was a moment for the both of them. Even though Akane loved jumping into their hushed conversations and annoying the two of them.

“Is there anything okay with you?” Raiden asked, Suiren’s concentrated and confused look had caught his attention the moment he had saw her today, Raiden could always tell when something was wrong with her, he would call it his Super Senses when Suiren would call them annoying, it had always made him laugh but he had wished Suiren had understood how much he cared for her.

Dismissive, Suiren shrugged her shoulders. “I’ll get over it.”

“It’s unhealthy when you do that.”

“You’re not my boyfriend.”

“Not yet.”

Humoured, Suiren pushed herself to laugh, forthwith open to speak about her issues. “It’s just a lot, the main one being about my fire dreams and my dad.”

“Your dad’s back?” The team exclaimed and out of ambush, Suiren flinched once she had recognised the rest of the group had been listening to her conversation with Raiden, and that had caused her to become flustered that her Sensei and Akane must’ve paid attention to the conversation Suiren and Raiden had before she spoke about her current situation.

“No, my dad is not back, and if he was, I’m pretty sure the entire village would be speaking about it,” Suiren fairly replied.

“That’s true,” Akane muttered, “it’ll be cool to meet your dad, he’s so ho—I mean talented.”

Hastily, Suiren sent the white-haired girl a deathly look during the time Raiden laughed at his team mate’s cover up. “You two can walk further behind if you want a more private conversation,” Ren offered and the dark-haired duo had briskly taken his idea to chance and pulled themselves away from the rest of the team while Suiren had thanked their teacher for the suggestion.

Raiden had always been aware of the nightmares Suiren would have, and he would try to advise the Uchiha girl with what suggestions he would have for the fire dreams to leave her alone but it seemed like none of them would work. Suiren had categorically appreciated his efforts.

“What if your fire dreams have something to do with your Fire Style abilities?” Raiden mildly implied and fairly, Suiren had taken his comment to attention.

“Perhaps,” Suiren added, “I don’t know how to control my fire powers too well,” she said, for instance, Suiren was amazing with the element, it was just that it was too able that she would set things she didn’t mean on fire.

“Have you ever tried to allow the fire to take you?” Raiden curiously suggested and surprised, Suiren had thought about it.

Astounded, she had shaken her head. “I was too focused on running away from it.”

“And you were too focused that you had forgotten that you are fire-proof,” Raiden joked, and embarrassed, Suiren had blushed at his comment.

“I forget it whenever I’m having that nightmare,” she truthfully replied, “but, I’ll try to follow your advice the next time I sleep.”

“I’ll watch over you,” Raiden asserted and Suiren had glanced at him as if he were a clown.

“Thank you, but you’ll have to get some sleep, you cannot be tired in the morning especially since we’re doing a mission,” Suiren explained and stubborn, Raiden crossed his arms as he had pondered about what she had said.

Softly, Suiren had curved her eyes, gently annoyed at his adamant behaviour. “I truly don’t need you to watch over me, Raiden, I’m not your responsibility,” she avowed and before she could receive any response from the boy, Akane had directed the two to catch up with Ren Sensei and without any second thought, Suiren had scurried off to be in touch with Ren again.

Eventually, the group had arrived to the Land of Water, they had been greeted by a very old man and another man to some extent around the same age as their Sensei. The man had introduced himself as Inari and had informed the group that the very old man who stood beside him was his grandfather, Tazuna.

“I’m Ren Sensei, the leader of the group,” the dark-haired man attentively acquainted himself before he curved his body to his students and directed them to make themselves familiar with Tazuna and Inari.

“Raiden Nakamura.”

“I’m Akane Ikeda.”

“Suiren Uchiha.”

That was the moment she had felt the air grow ice cold, hastily, Tazuna and Inari looked at each other, taken aback, they had taken turns to examine the dark-haired girl who had stood awkwardly, sandwiched between Akane and Raiden. “Like Sasuke Uchiha?”

Familiar with their reactions, Suiren had nodded her head. “Yes, I’m his daughter.” Suiren had grown acclimated to people’s behaviour whenever she had said her last name, people would usually grow cold towards her because her father was known as a villain during his teenage years, even though he had tried to atone for his sins after the Fourth Great Shinobi War, people were still stuck on hating him; if people weren’t cold to Suiren when they learn of her last name, they would usually be very careful of what they would say or do around her.

“Your father along with the other Team Seven members saved our land, they helped us take down villains,” Inari gladly explained, “you really look like your father, your mother’s genes barely show.”

Stiffly, Suiren had smiled at Inari’s efforts to make her feel welcomed. Akane slightly turned to look at Suiren, an odd smile on her face as she encouraged the Uchiha girl to speak. “People say I look like a good mix of my parents, I just have my father’s colour scheme,” she dryly joked, but between Sarada and Suiren, the two girls had realised that Suiren had just had a really darker shade of her mother's eyes.

“Are you going to be sleeping over at our home or in a hotel?” Tazuna questioned and the young pupils looked up at their Sensei, even though the idea of sleeping over Tazuna’s home was cordial, the pupils would rather stay in a hotel.

“Ah, hotel,” Ren neatly replied, “but we will be coming over.”

“That’s great, that means you guys can eat our food, I know you guys will like it,” Inari proudly smiled, and the pupils courteously agreed that they would be content with the food the family would supply to them.

With his hand on top of Suiren’s head, Ren signalled his head towards the men in front of him, “that’ll be great, we’ll just put our things away and come over,” Ren courteously smiled before he waved Tazuna and Inari a goodbye and left with his group.

thank you so much for the support!

masterlist

♆

#boruto #naruto #boruto fanfiction #naruto fanfiction #kawaki will come soon #kawaki x reader #kawaki x suiren #sasusaku #sasuke x sakura #sakura x sasuke #sasuke #sarada #sarada uchiha #sarada has a twin #magneticsiren

[roninreverie]

Got on the "Big Mama's Assistant" / "Lost TMNT sister" bandwagon and did a whole mess of sketch-dumps!

Instead of going for a "Venus" or "Jennika" route, I made more of an OC. She is a painted turtle named "Galizia".

Being a painted turtle, she is actually very similar to Leo in design, except her stripes and shell are red and her eye markings are a white-yellow color. They are also dots instead of stripes, which mimics the 6 eyes of Big Mama.

She is named after female Renaissance artist, Fede Galizia.

While Mama and Lou Jitsu were in Italy filming for one of his movies, the couple kiss in front of one of Galizia's paintings, and wanting to remember the sentimental moment, Big Mama eventually steals (or buys, but probably steals--) it for her personal art collection, later using it to name this baby turtle who was mutated with the "late" Lou's DNA.

** It was during this trip that Splinter also learned a lot of cool names and artists that he would eventually use as names for his own sons. (Maybe? It's one of many headcanons, you know?)

Huginn and Muninn trade Big Mama this last mutant turtle they find in the wreckage when Mama came looking for her stolen champion at the end of the "Goyles Goyles Goyles" flashback. Draxum and Mama battle, but a weakened Draxum is overpowered and knocked out. Though, at the prospect of the trade, and this being her last tie to Lou, (who was presumably destroyed,) Mama accepts the deal to spare Draxum's life and raise this turtle who would quickly become her beloved daughter and right-hand assistant.

Galizia's ninpo, a golden manifestation of webs, appears at the end of "Battle Nexus New York" when she portals Big Mama to safety before trying to fight Cassandra and the Shredder herself.

Getting the ring back for her mother, as well as recovering Shadowfiend gives her the perfect chance to finally show her mother that she is the best at her disposal, something she strives to prove, despite her high position and constant praise.

** I used a lot of Gwen Stacy Spiderwoman references for her fighting style, and stuck to just giving her shuriken and kunai, though I imagine she is well versed in many different weapons.

Her ego takes a hit as she ultimately loses the battle before escaping and allowing Cass and Shredder to break Big Mama's hotel skyscraper in two and retreating into the sky.

The loss, failure, and feeling like she let her mother down, humbles her and later fuels her desire to train with this supposed "other family" of hers who not only defeated the Shredder at his peak strength, but also are the only ones in the world who can help her hone her new Ninpo powers.

This leads her to train with Splinter and her brothers, and family hijinks ensue as everyone gets used to one another.

---

Might do more with her if people end up liking this, but mostly just wanted to get these ideas off my chest.

Thanks for reading all that if you did! ❤

#rottmnt fanart #rottmnt Galizia #rottmnt big mama #big mama's assistant #rottmnt splinter #lou jitsu #rottmnt gus #cassandra jones #rottmnt shredder #rottmnt raphael #rottmnt leonardo #rottmnt mikey #rottmnt donatello #painted turtle #fede galizia #roninreverie #rottmnt oc #clone high hands #rottmnt sisters

[irish-dress-history]

I’m wondering if you have any examples of Irish clothing from the early 1600s (around 1610-1615)? I haven’t been able to find much from this era so I’d appreciate any sources or museum collections that you could recommend.

Starting this out with the caveat that if you're looking for the same level of detail and precision that we have for English dress history in this period, you are going to be disappointed. The types of English primary sources we have for this period (well-dated detailed paintings, well-preserved rich-people clothing, wills, printed books, etc) just don't exist for Ireland. There also seems to be much less research interest in 16th-17th c. Irish dress history, so there isn't nearly as much for secondary sources (books, articles etc.).

You don't mention if you are interested in a specific region in Ireland. Ireland in the early 17th c. was a pretty heterogeneous place. People in Dublin and Waterford wore English-influenced styles. According to British-appointed solicitor-general Sir John Davies, by 1606 a few of the wealthier people in Connacht had started wearing English dress, but many others were still wearing Irish clothing. Ulster was a mix of Irish who were wearing Irish dress and incoming English and lowland Scots settlers.

All of the extant Irish clothing I know of from the early 17th c. comes from either bogs or archaeological excavations. It looks like you've already seen my post on extant garments at the NMI. The NMI also has a couple of felt hats that might be early 17th c. This one is from Knockfola, Co. Donegal. It originally had a decorative cord or band where the pale line is:

There are also another cóta mór and brat, found on a bog body from Leigh, Co. Tipperary, which I don't think the NMI has on display. I did not bother to include them in my post, because they are so similar to the ones from Killery, Co. Sligo, but the fact that these have been found in multiple places suggests that they were common, widely-used garments.

The other major garment-find from this period is the Dungiven outfit which is in the Ulster Museum. a short video The bright blue thread was added by a modern conservator; it's not original. (Side note: The identification of this outfit has gotten unfortunately politicized. Tartan trews were worn by both the Irish and the Scots during the 17th century (McClintock 1943, Dunlevy 1989). The presence of tartan should not be used to draw conclusions about the ethnicity of the wearer.) The primary publication for this outfit:

Henshall, Audrey, Seaby, Wilfred A., Lucas, A. T., Smith, A. G., and Connor, A. (1961). The Dungiven Costume. Ulster Journal of Archaeology, 24/25, 119-142. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20627382

The one other reasonably-well preserved outfit that has published on is from a child burial from Emlagh, Co. Kerry, now at University College Cork. Shee and O'Kelly give it a late 17th c date, but they largely base this date on the presence of a rather generic-looking comb. IMO the outfit could easily be early 17th c.

The Emlagh gown, photographed on a living 8-year-old child who was wearing a sweater and skirt underneath. (The 1960s was a different time.)

The bodice has a wrap-front closure with a back and button-up sleeves similar in cut to the Killery cóta mór. The skirt is a pleated rectangle with the pleats sewn in vertically, somewhat like the Shinrone gown. Publication:

Shee, E. and O'Kelly, M. (1966). A Clothed Burial from Emlagh, near Dingle. Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, 71(213), 81-91.

There are also, frustratingly, a bunch of fragmentary clothing finds at the NMI which might be 17th c, but no one seems to care enough to do publications on them, and NMI Archaeology still does not have their collection on-line, so they are useless to us.

The typical Irish shoe for this period is known as a brogue (also called a Lucas type 5 by archaeologists). broguesandshoes.com has photos, a pattern, and construction information.

Unfortunately, the illustrations from Speed's map are the only images I know of from this specific period.

If you want details on what materials were used, I recommend Susan Flavin's dissertation. It's about the 16th c. economy, but things didn't change that much between 1599 and 1601. free download here

If you don't mind wading through early modern English and a bit of period-typical prejudice, I recommend reading A Discourse of Ireland, by Luke Gernon written in 1620. His description of Irish clothing starts halfway down p. 356.

Finally, if you can find them, Dress in Ireland by Mairead Dunlevy (1st ed. 1989) and Old Irish and Highland Dress by H. F. McClintock (1st ed. 1943, 2nd ed. 1950) are the best books I know of for this period.

#asks #17th century #irish dress #irish history #dress history #brog

[photogirl894]

"Sun and Rain Part 2: Age of the Empire"

Chapter 22

"The Imperial Masquerade Gala"

A "Bad Batch" fanfic!

Pairing: Hunter x fem OC, Echo (more best friend pairing)

A/N: I'M BACK, BITCHES!! 😆😆

Seriously, the writer's block I had over this whole chapter was insane and I hated not being able to just write a single word for months! Then finally, it all hit me like a freaking freight train! So here I am, back with another chapter and it's my longest chapter yet! There's a lot to cover in the gala, so I apologize if a couple characters don't get as much attention as others, but they will next chapter cuz the gala is definitely being split into two parts! Also, any other characters or places mentioned in this are canon and the explanations of who or what they are are also true! (Thank you, Wookiepedia!)

And, because I spent a lot of time figuring out the outfits for the Bad Batch and the Koriena Force for this, I'm going to include pictures of their attire in the chapter as well so you don't have to imagine everything on your own! Everything's too detailed for that 😜

Lastly, a huge thank you to my bestie @l-lend for her help with this chapter and for inspiring the idea of an Imperial gala so long ago! Now, we're finally here!!

Enjoy, my lovelies!! 💜

Taglist: @the-sad-batch , @nimata-beroya , @intrepidmare , @cole-kenxbi , @tech-aficionado , @ladykatakuri , @d1n0-dan , @sammi9498 , @darthzero22 , @scarlettrose9901 , @tech-deck , @thebadbatchscyare , @chxpsi , @ilikemymendarkandfictional , @4pplecider , @locitapurplepink , @l-lend , @nekotaetae , @eternalwaffle , @merkitty49 , @avathebestx , @idoubleswearimawriter , @techs-stitches , @fantasyproductions

《 Chapter 21

》 Chapter 23

All chapters (Part 2) (Part 1)

Explanation: The time has come for the Bad Batch and the Koriena Force to attend the Imperial masquerade gala that they've spent weeks preparing for. Will they obtain the information they need or will their cover be blown before they can succeed?

Before they all knew it, the day of the Imperial masquerade gala was upon them. All preparations for the infiltration plan were finalized and reviewed several times in the week that led up to it. Now was the time for it to finally be put into action. 

In the last few hours of the trip through hyperspace on their way to Tibrin, Kida singlehandedly got everyone ready for the gala. She made sure everyone's outfits were properly fitted, hair was styled and she did makeup on all the women as well as, much to his chagrin, Hunter. Kida thought it would be safer to cover up his tattoo since it stood out so much, even if it was going to be mostly covered by a mask. Hunter wasn't entirely thrilled with the idea of putting makeup on his face, but he reluctantly agreed. Kimber also wasn't too fond of it either, but that was solely because she loved Hunter's tattoo. Seeing him without his signature feature was…incredibly off-putting for everyone, to say the least. 

The Clones were all dressed and dealt with first. Hunter was clothed in all black; leather boots, form-fitting trousers and a dress shirt. The shirt had a high collar with silver buttons on both sides and then silver chains pinned on one side in the front that swept over his chest and connected into a collection of sewn in silver leaves that cascaded up onto his other shoulder. On the arm below the leaves was a single dark red armband made of satin wrapped around his bicep, that naturally, Kida's hand had lingered on just a little too long when putting the armband around it in the first place. The mask he'd been given was black with a wave of red similar to his armband painted on to look like a flame across one side. He no longer wore his bandana and, for the first time practically ever, his hair was pulled back into a small ponytail at the base of his head. It was a different look for him, but Hunter didn't mind it all. 

Wrecker's outfit was somewhat similar to Hunter's. He too was dressed in all black, but his dress shirt had gold floral patterns embossed with thread up one side as well as on the collar and cuffs of the sleeves. The buttons going up the center of his shirt were also gold like the patterns. His mask was simply black, but the left side of it was longer so it covered his entire scar. When making his mask, Kida figured his giant scar would be a giveaway or would draw too much attention. Luckily, Wrecker thought it made him look even tougher.

Echo's gala garb was a bit more elaborate than the other two Clones in order to hide his cybernetics. His shirt and slacks were a dark green and his boots were black. Over his clothes, he wore a long, flowing side cape of the same color that draped over his right side to cover up his scomp arm, making him look quite sophisticated. He also wore a black leather, gold-studded pauldron on his opposite shoulder. Kida had taken great care in designing his mask because she'd made him an entire helmet that also served as a mask. The reason being that it would help disguise his cybernetic headpiece so he wouldn't have to remove it, especially if he was going to be using his scomp to obtain information and he'd need the headpiece to regulate everything. The helmet was made similarly to his regular helmet where it had an opening in the back to fit over his cybernetics and blend together perfectly. It was painted silver with green accents to match the rest of his outfit. On the sides of the helmet were large, curved metal wings, made to cover the sides of Echo's headpiece and further disguise it. The front covered the upper half of his face, had two eye holes for him to see through and left the lower half open where his mouth could be seen. He was certainly more done up than his squadmates for good reasons, but Echo was no less impressed at Kida's work.

Some time later, Kida finished with all of the ladies going to the gala and they came out in full garb and makeup, ready to go. The Clones, however, were not prepared for the sheer, jaw-dropping beauty they were about to see. 

Rina came out first in a sleek, form-fitting sparkly dress of bright red. It was floor-length with a low, revealing neckline, straps for shoulders and a red ribbon sash around the waist. There was a slit up the front of one of her legs that ended at her mid-thigh. Around her neck was a large silver necklace with red jewels and the mask on her face as a gold mask decorated with red lace overtop it and cream-colored ribbon and lace splayed out along the edges as well as some extra red jewels. Her lips were also painted red and there was a light dusting of rouge on her cheeks. Her hair was lightly curled on the ends and half of it was pulled up into a jeweled clip on the back of her head. 

The look Wrecker had in his eyes gawking at Rina was enough to make her blush enough that she could've blended in perfectly with her red dress. "I picked red because I thought you'd like this color," Rina told him as she approached him. 

Finally finding the ability to speak again, he declared, "I do like red...but now I love red!" He took her hands and said excitedly, "You look incredible, Rina!" 

She smiled happily. "I would kiss you, big guy, but I'm pretty sure Kida would skin me if I messed up my makeup. You clean up pretty good yourself."

He just grinned proudly. 

Then Lex came out next. Her entire getup was much simpler than Rina's. Her dress was navy blue with straight skirts, two open slits on the sides of her waist and the top was made of loose, ruffled fabric that hung down in waves almost like a scarf. Around her neck, she wore a sparkling choker necklace with the single charm of a star dangling in the middle made of white jewels. Her mask was black with pearl accents and curls along the edges; a classic yet still refined masquerade mask. The dark outlines around her lips were gone and they were now painted a light pink instead. Her hair was still braided in rows along her scalp and around her Zabrak horns and the rest was pulled into a curled ponytail that fell down her back. She still wore her single black arm glove over her robotic arm, which still complemented her overall look. 

Echo's eyes caught sight of her and he was stunned immediately. He already found her attractive and thought she looked pretty when she'd gone to the doctor's party on Balmorra, but seeing her like this almost rendered him completely speechless. She was so gorgeous and his heart threatened to beat itself right out of his chest and through his clothes.

She approached him, timidly tucking a loose part of her hair behind her ear. "Your look is very unique," she commented, looking him over. "Kida did a good job with the helmet. You almost can't tell you're wearing a cybernetic headpiece."

"And you…you look beautiful," he said, still just in awe of her. 

Her cheeks went hot and she smiled shyly, but then she turned away, embarrassed. She shouldn't be reacting this way. Not when she was trying to bury her feelings for him for her own good.

Kida was the next to emerge in one of the most elaborate, stunning outfits thus far. Her dress with long skirts that flowed out below the hips was metallic silver with a single long sleeve, a plunging neckline and a slit on the waist where there was no sleeve. A large, gaudy choker necklace made of silver chains and big teardrop diamonds adorned her whole neck and then her mask was elaborately floral in design with a wing jutting out from one side. Her hair had been pulled up into an updo with two curled strands hanging by her ears. Her lips had been painted silver and dusted with glitter to match her dress.

“You look amazing, Kida!” commented Wrecker.

“Why, thank you, Wrecker,” replied Kida proudly, doing a small curtsy in front of him.

Then Echo spoke up, saying, “I thought Kimber was the one who was supposed to stand out?”

Kida’s eyes lit up and she declared enthusiastically, “Oh…she will. I can guarantee that. She and I have a sort of moon and sun thing going on, as you will soon see.” Then she looked back over her shoulder and called out in a singsong voice, “Oh, Kimber, darling! Your adoring fans await you!” 

“I feel ridiculous, Kida!” they all heard Kimber call back from around the corner. “Do I really have to go in this?”

“Yes, the entire ensemble is essential to making sure you capture and keep every Imperials’ gaze on you,” Kida answered in a loud voice. “Besides, you look fabulous! Now, come out so we all can see you as Kahna Sora, musician extraordinaire!”

They all heard an exasperated groan come from Kimber and then finally, she emerged from around the corner. As she appeared, everyone’s jaws dropped in awe.

Kimber was garbed completely in glittering gold from head to toe. Her dress was a form-fitting, shimmering gold fabric with shorter sleeves that had a flowing cape attached to the shoulders. On her neck rested a multi-chain necklace of gold stars, the largest one in the middle possessing a glowing blue stone. Her intricate mask was gold, as well, with flowers in the corners and a curtain of beaded chains hanging from the bottom, cascading over the lower half of her face. The most noticeable feature of her ensemble was the giant halo crown that adorned her head, nine points spreading out from one side to the other like sun rays over her head. It was golden, naturally, with inlaid gems on the base as well as in the tip of each point with several loops of beaded strings hanging from both sides. Underneath her mask, she was done up with metallic gold makeup on her eyes as well as her lips.

As she came into the room, despite the fact she looked uncomfortable, Hunter couldn’t take his eyes off of Kimber. To him, she radiated beauty and power like a goddess. He had thought the way she’d dressed for her first undercover op on Kuat and at the gathering on Balmorra were already amazing enough…but this look outshone them all. He truly had never seen a more beautiful, captivating woman in his life and he found himself just falling even more in love with her. 

Everyone else also stared and gawked in awe at how fantastic Kimber looked, Kida looking especially proud of her work. 

“Whoa…you’ve really outdone yourself this time, Kida,” commented Lex.

Wiping a tear from the corner of her eye, Kida replied, slightly choked up, “Yes…this is my finest work. Perhaps the best I’ve ever done!”

Omega, whose face was practically beaming with delight, cried out with a small, excited jump, “Kimber, you look gorgeous!”

Kimber walked in stiffly and gave Omega a grateful smile, but it quickly vanished as she then declared to everyone else with a huff, gesturing to the crown, “This thing is so heavy, I feel like one move is going to snap my neck!”

Rina stepped up and quipped to her, “Just don’t turn too fast and you’ll be fine. Though, you might hit some people. I’ll be fine, but I worry about some of the taller folks here.”

Kimber grimaced at her, unamused.

“That style is all the rage on Naboo, my dear, worn especially by the Queen,” Kida said back to Kimber.

With a flat look on her face, Kimber responded, “I know you once told me you could make me look like the Queen of Naboo, but I didn’t expect you to actually do it.”

“What better way to possess every Imperial’s attention at the gala than to show up looking like you could possess everything else already?” Kida simply asked in reply with a cheeky grin.

“You’re certainly going to achieve that goal. She’s even more golden than my skin,” commented Irys, holding up one of her hands and comparing her golden skin to Kimber. 

“I am inclined to agree,” said Tech. 

Kimber gritted her teeth together and looked down. “I hate this,” she muttered, dreading the unwanted attention this whole getup would earn her.

She saw someone’s hands come into view and gently take her own. When she looked up, Hunter stood in front of her, a look of love and enchantment in his eyes that he couldn’t hide even behind his mask. 

“I know you hate this, sweetheart,” he soothed her, “but if it’s all the same…I think you look wonderful…and I know you’re going to be amazing at the gala. You’ll play your part as well as the rest of us and everything will be all right. I promise you.”

As always, the words of comfort Hunter offered her made Kimber start to feel less anxious about the pending mission. While she knew it was necessary, she still wasn’t overly fond of being so overdressed than normal and in a way that would definitely ensure all attention would be on her. It just wasn’t her thing. She sometimes hated being the one that ended up doing all the undercover missions, especially when she was at the forefront of the operation, but it was just part of being in a squad and for being as skilled as she was in espionage. 

“I needed that. Thank you, love,” she said quietly to Hunter.

Right then, Kida stepped up in front of everyone and clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. “All right, all my fabulous darlings!” she announced. “I have done everything in my power to not only ensure you all look extravagant, but that you also blend in and are disguised enough so no one should be able to tell who any of you are, especially the Clones. Please do your best to not ruin any of my work, if you can.”

“No promises,” said Lex.

“Remember the plan: all of you are part of my personal entourage; we’re not going in as Imperial higher-ups or anything, so try and glean as much information from the other partygoers as you can without acting like you know more than you should,” explained Kimber. 

Then Echo spoke up, “While you all monitor the main floor, Lex and I will infiltrate the Senator’s office and extract whatever information we can from his main computer.”

“With Irys and Tech’s help watching the security cameras,” Lex added, gesturing to the other two. “We all have the earpiece comms ready to go and synced to the same frequency so we can all remain in contact."

"As well as additional comms on the Clones, should we need to pick up any outside communication," added Kida.

“Good, we’re all on the same page,” said Hunter.

Looking at his datapad, Tech spoke up, "After some extensive research, Irys and I found three key figures to watch out for or whose names to listen for in conversations: Senator Gume Saam--obviously, since he is the host--, Mak Plain and Arsin Crassus."

"That last one sounded real pretentious," said Rina.

Tech went on, "Mak Plain is the liason for the Intergalactic Banking Clan, one of the interested parties attending the event, and Arsin Crassus is an Imperial financier and money lender who was once employed by the Trade Federation. Our hypothesis, given what we found on him, is that he's looking to take as much as he can from the Separatist financial accounts and use them to help build this new Empire as well as elevate his own status."

"There's a rumor that Crassus helped lure the Separatist leaders to Mustafar, where they were executed," added Irys.

"At least he did something right," commented Echo. Naturally, everyone understood what he meant, knowing his former captor was among those killed on Mustafar.

Then Hunter said to the group, "We'll keep our eyes and ears open for any information we can get and relay it over comms back to Tech and Irys."

Just then, a datapad in Irys’s hands began to beep and all eyes turned to her. She lifted it up to read it and then declared, “Excellent timing. It appears we’re coming up on Tibrin and are about to enter the planet’s atmosphere. While the rest of you finish your final preparations, I’ll go oversee our approach.”

“I shall assist you,” Tech stated as she turned to leave.

“What, you don’t think I can land my own ship by myself?” she questioned.

"You are mistaken. We are paired together for this mission, so I simply thought it best for me to help wherever possible," he simply responded. 

Irys seemed a little taken aback by that answer. "Oh…well…I welcome your help then," she said back.

As the two of them left the room, everyone heard Tech then add, "And to ensure you do not miss the checkpoint upon entry."

"See, I knew there was a catch to it!" Irys exclaimed. 

With a good-natured snicker, Kimber commented, looking to Omega, “You better make sure those two get along and don’t kill each other. That’s an extra special assignment for you on this job.”

Omega gave her a determined grin in return and said with a nod, “No problem.” After that, she trotted off after Irys and Tech.

Rina then slammed a fist into her hand and declared, “Let’s go crash an Imperial party!”

“Oh yeah!” yelled Wrecker in agreement.

The Senator of Tibrin’s mansion was just as lavish as they all expected. Multiple stories, widespread grounds, statues along the pathway up to the house; the works. An ocean of partygoers of various species and dressed in numerous colors moved along the pathway up to the doors of the mansion. There were also plenty of gray Imperial uniforms seen scattered about amongst the rest of the crowd. Imperial troopers lined the edges of the pathway and provided security at the doors to check invitations. After Tech and Irys dropped them off, the Bad Batch and the Koriena Force seamlessly weaved their way into the mass of people. Kimber had to be careful to make sure she didn’t accidentally hit anyone with the giant sun crown on her head. They all stuck together save for Echo and Lex, who hung back a bit in the crowd so it would be easier for them to slip away and get to the Senator’s office. There were troopers at the front doors checking invitations and letting people in. The Bad Batch and Koriena Force all had theirs ready and Kimber prepared to introduce herself as the entertainment to ensure they were directed the right way. 

Inside the Aurora, Tech, Irys and Omega watched the live security camera feed at the front on the monitors as the teams approached the entrance. Hunter, being the closest to the front behind Kimber, had his extra comm hidden in his sleeve turned on so the three in the ship could hear everything. The guards asked for Kimber’s invitation first and she spoke to them in her refined Alpha voice as she handed it to them.

“I am Kahna Sora, one of the entertainers for tonight’s festivities,” they heard her say before gesturing to everyone else behind her, “and these people are with me. Tell me where I am expected to perform.”

The soldier in front of her answered in a Clone’s voice, “Go into the main ballroom and there is a door that leads behind the stage. You can wait there until they’re ready for you.”

Kimber simply bowed her head and said nothing as she strolled on past into the building with everyone else trailing behind her. Tech switched to a hallway camera to keep an eye on them as they went and then he switched to yet another camera feed that overlooked most of the ballroom. There were multiple cameras that caught the room at different angles, so Tech pulled all of them up at once on the monitors so they could see everything. 

“They’re coming into the room,” Omega observed, pointing to the feed closest to the ballroom entrance where they could see their friends going in. 

“Excellent,” said Irys.

As they made their way into the crowd, they heard Hunter’s voice over comms go, “All right, once we’re in the crowd, split up.” 

Tech stated over comms, “Echo and Lex: you will need to head to the Westernmost corridor.”

A few seconds later, the group split up into four teams going in separate directions: Kimber continuing forward further into the room on her own, Echo and Lex heading to the West side of the room as per Tech’s instructions, Hunter and Kida going to the East and then Rina and Wrecker hung back and stayed in the middle of the crowd for the time being.

“All teams are in place. The plan is a go,” Tech declared.

Just after he said that, they heard over the ship’s sound systems the cries of Kori waking up from his nap.

“Omega,” hinted Tech.

“Already on it,” the young Clone replied as she ran from the room to tend to the baby.

Irys watched Omega as she exited the room and then said to Tech as the doors slid shut, “She’s quite adept, that girl. She’s a fast learner.”

“She is, indeed,” he responded. “My ambition is to help expand her mind and give her more proper lessons and education when things die down a bit, if possible.”

“I’m sure she will greatly appreciate that. As long as she doesn’t pick up your ego, as well, then she’ll turn out great,” she said to him with a smirk.

He, however, was not as amused about that comment as he snidely said back, “I would rather Omega inherit my ego than your arrogance.” Then he turned away and started pressing different buttons on the console in front of him, making sure their links into the security systems remained intact.

Irys just smirked more and rolled her eyes, knowing her words got under his skin. “All the same, it’ll be good for her to be knowledgeable about other things in the galaxy that will prove useful.”

Pulling out his datapad and not even glancing her way, he replied, “Then perhaps one day, she can start answering the many questions my squad usually directs my way.”

“You and your intelligence are a valuable asset to your squad,” she assured him.

He faltered for a moment and the hand that held his datapad lowered into his lap, his gaze distant as he looked forward at the screens. Something about what she’d just said resonated with him for both positive reasons and negative. He could feel a sensation squirm in his stomach; he wanted to share something in response to her statement, but he normally was not as open about his personal feelings, never being sure if he could effectively communicate them. However, despite his opinion of Irys, he was not blind to the fact that they were similar in a lot of ways. Perhaps she could understand the repressed thoughts he usually hid away from others…especially his squad.

“It is…,” he said, “...but it is also something that brings me much tension.”

That wasn’t entirely the response Irys had been anticipating. Her head turned to look at Tech and she was surprised to see a light look of melancholy in his eyes. “Care to elaborate?” she asked.

Tech took a moment, his eyes flitting back and forth to different things around the room as he tried to manage his thoughts. Then he told her, his voice a pitch lower than normal, “When we do not know or are unsure of something in certain situations, my squad usually turns to me for answers or clarification. I am well-versed in various topics, but…I do think sometimes that I must know everything in order to serve our squad to the best of my ability. I must confess that is why I am always immersed in my datapad. It is my belief that I must always be studying or learning so I may continue to provide aid when needed. Otherwise…I may potentially let my squad down.”

She was taken aback a bit at not only Tech entrusting her with such a secret, but the fact that all this time, he’d put such unnecessary pressure on himself to basically achieve perfection in order to be an asset to his squad. In response, she blurted out, “Well, that’s just utter nonsense.”

His head finally whipped around to face her, his eyes widening ever so slightly at her reply.

She went on, her voice calm yet firm with conviction, “Your squad; your brothers, if I may remind you, regard you highly and would never think such notions about you. Kimber certainly would not, either. Even the smartest people don’t always have all the answers, but that does not deter from their overall intelligence. I too have an intelligent mind like you, but I couldn’t tell you anything about the Force and how the teachings of the Jedi work. That would be Rina’s expertise. That, however, does not mean I am letting my girls down by not knowing such things. The same can be said for you, Tech. Just because you don’t know something doesn’t mean you’re useless in any way and I can guarantee your brothers or Kimber would never think that way of you. You shouldn’t put such pressure on yourself. It’s perfectly all right to not know something.”

Having grown accustomed to constantly bantering back and forth with her, he didn’t expect such a civil and albeit helpful response from her. It took him a few seconds to seemingly get his bearings and then he said to her, “That was…rather cordial of you to say, Irys.”

With a simple shrug, she replied, “I am merely speaking the truth.”

“Yes, well…your confidence is appreciated,” he said.

“I do hope my confidence outweighs my arrogance,” she said back, emphasizing the last word to call back to his earlier comment towards her.

Tech didn’t fail to notice her not-so-subtle hint and his eyes looked away timidly. “Perhaps I was a bit brazen in that statement towards you,” he then said. 

Irys was even more astonished at receiving what was almost akin to an apology from him. It wasn’t outright, but it was close enough, which was most likely about as much as his pride would allow him. That satisfied her enough. 

“Perhaps. Never you mind, though. I’ve forgotten it already. There are more important things to deal with,” she told him with a grin, redirecting her attention to the monitors. 

"Indeed," he said, following suit. 

Though, her grin began to fade slightly a few seconds later. "However, if I may say so: you and I are more alike than you think," she stated. They both looked back at each other and she went on, "I too once believed that I would be useless to the Koriena Force if I didn’t have an answer for everything." Then her confidence returned in her expression. "Eventually, I learned to accept that, no matter how hard I try, I’m never going to know everything and that's okay. I know what I know and it’s already enough."

The corners of Tech's lips curved up a little. "A rather motivating mindset."

She gave a small shrug. "I like to think so."

"You are wiser than I gave you credit for. I shall endeavor to follow your example," he said. Then his eyebrows furrowed. "Never thought I'd say that."

Irys chuckled in amusement. "Neither did I," she agreed, "and I'm not going to let you forget it."

He let out a good-natured "hmph" and then said, "This has been a rather…illuminating conversation."

"I can't but agree," she replied. 

Just then, they heard Rina's voice come in over the comms, "Look alive, know-it-all's. The Alpha is about to take the stage."

“Copy that,” answered Tech.

Echo’s voice then spoke, “Lex and I are by the Western wall just by the corridor. Once Kimber gets everyone’s attention, we’ll give them the slip.”

“Let us know when you’re out and we’ll guide you to the Senator’s office,” Irys responded. 

Back in the ballroom, Kimber was glad that her face was mostly concealed by a mask because she was more nervous than she’d ever been. All she could do was hope her performances were enough to keep most of the Imperials’ attention occupied while Echo and Lex snuck out. Once that happened, then it didn’t matter if people watched her or not. They still needed the partygoers to talk business so the other teams could intercept the information. Her alias name was announced and she climbed up on the stage, keeping as much of a sophisticated posture and appearance as possible as she took her position. The musicians present had already been informed of the song selections she would be performing and awaited her cue to begin. She took a long and slow breath, hoping to quell her nerves. Then her eyes found Hunter and she saw him bow his head to her. She knew what that meant: a silent gesture of encouragement from her love and that was all she needed. She waved her hand to the musicians and an upbeat tune began to sound from their instruments. Out of her peripheral vision, she could see quite a few heads turning and looking in her direction. She was already off to a good start. Then her mouth opened and she began to sing a lively melody that she’d learned long ago, her voice captivating many Imperials’ attention.

Kida leaned over to Hunter and whispered, “You said Kimber could sing…that was an understatement. She’s practically enchanting!” 

“I told you,” he said with a smirk.

His eyes glanced across the room to where he knew Echo and Lex would be. They were slowly and subtly inching along the wall as more onlookers gave their attention to Kimber and, a few seconds later, he saw them sneak into the corridor and out of sight. 

Subtly running his finger over his ear to activate his comm, Hunter said, “Echo and Lex are en route.”

“We copy, Hunter,” replied Irys. “I will guide them to the Senator’s office and Tech will continue to monitor your position in the ballroom.”

He took his position back beside Kida, who then all of a sudden looped her arm through his. “Let’s take a turn about the room and catch all the gossip, Sergeant. It’ll be a good chance for us to be...alone” she said with a flirty grin, getting in real close. 

“Uh…right,” he said back hesitantly, a bit unsure regarding her behavior. 

As they began gradually walking arm in arm, Kida leaned in a little and told him quietly, “I’m joking, Hunter. You don’t need to be so nervous. I only flirt to tease you; I know full well you belong wholeheartedly to Kimber. I love and respect you both too much to even dream of coming between you. You can put your worries to rest.”

He grinned slightly with relief “Uh, well…thanks, Kida.”

“Besides, I’m a mother now. I don’t have time for any flippant dalliances anymore,” she added. “If I ever let a man into my life, he’ll have to seriously commit and also accept that my son comes first.”

Then Hunter inquired, “What about Rex?”

He felt a small flinch in her arm that held onto his and there was a flash of slight shock followed by melancholy in her face at hearing her beloved Captain’s name. He could see it clearly even under her mask. Hunter felt sorry for her, his senses catching her longing, and he laid a hand on her wrist reassuringly.

"I don't dare hope for anything with Rex," Kida admitted in an uncharacteristically low voice. "He's in hiding for a reason and even so, I'm sure he has more important things to worry about than a woman he shouldn't have slept with and his illegitimate child."

"You think too little of yourself," he told her. "I know Rex. He's a good man who honors his code and only breaks it when he has a good reason. When we found out he was the father of your child, I knew right then that you were special enough to him that he chose to break that code for you. I have no doubt that, if we ever find him and he finds out about Kori, he’ll be happy with both of you.”

Her lips only twitched up a little, but he could tell she wasn’t convinced. “Maybe so, but that doesn’t mean he’ll stay. He’s more well-known to the Empire and if they find out he’s alive, he’ll be hunted just like us. He needs to stay hidden, even if it means…I never see him again,” she said, her voice quivering with the last few words.

“Kida…,” Hunter began to say, but then his heightened hearing picked up something right then. He heard the name “Crassus”; the name of the Imperial financier they were supposed to watch out for. “Arsin Crassus is nearby,” he told Kida.

Her downtrodden look disappeared and immediately switched to determination. “Let’s find him,” she said. Then she reached up nonchalantly by her ear, activated her earpiece and said, “We might have found Crassus. Hunter and I are moving to intercept.”

“We see you, Kida,” she heard Wrecker respond. 

Hunter casually led Kida in the direction he’d heard the name being spoken, Kida snatching a drink off of a waiter’s tray as they went along. She downed the thin glass in one gulp and then pushed the glass into the chest of another waiter without even looking at them. Hunter reached down and activated the hidden comm device in his sleeve so everyone else could hear their upcoming conversation.

“Mind if I take the lead on this one?” she asked Hunter quietly as they approached a small group of people.

“You lead, I’ll follow,” he responded. 

They were just outside the small gathering of partygoers when they heard a woman in the group state, “I heard that there were rumors of possible Rebel activity happening tonight at the gala. The Senator requested extra security be here to monitor the evening’s events.”

Kida and Hunter snuck each other apprehensive looks. Did that somehow have anything to do with them? Kida then jumped into the conversation, exclaiming in a hushed, fake-nervous voice to appear as though she didn’t want to cause a fuss, “Extra security? What possible Rebel activity are they assuming is going to happen? Surely, this gathering is already well-protected.”

A pompous-looking man in an Imperial uniform and a plain gray mask said in a snobbish voice, "Supposedly, they plan to infiltrate the gala, but that's highly impossible. Any Rebel scum wouldn't get past the gates and they surely would be unable to get their hands on an invitation. I'm certain we have nothing to worry about and can continue on with our business here."

Hunter heard Rina let out a laugh in his earpiece and reply, "Wow, I just love ignorant Imps. They're hilarious!"

Keeping her cover, Kida went on, "You seem so confident in that belief, sir. Might I inquire as to who you are?"

"Arsin Crassus, my silver beauty," the man answered with a hungry look in his eyes that emanated strongly from behind his mask. "And you are?"

"With me," replied Hunter instead, placing a hand on Kida's waist and pulling her closer protectively against his side. 

She was a tad surprised at how forward he was being and for even coming up with such a lie, but she could tell he was doing it to ensure her safety from Crassus. The way he was looking at her made Hunter uncomfortable and she at least was thankful to have him looking out for her.

Luckily, Arsin noticed this and held up his hands. "As you wish," he stated.

Moving past the situation, she went on to ask, "What do you hope to gain at this gala, Mr. Crassus?"

With a pleased grin, he told her, "I'm simply meeting with the remnants of the Separatists parties who…tragically lost their leaders recently in an attack on Mustafar."

Kida, Hunter and everyone listening in didn't fail to notice his dramatic emphasis on the word "tragically", knowing that more than likely confirmed he did have a hand in setting up the Separatists' execution.

“It’s up to me, as one of the Empire’s top financiers, to obtain, divide and allocate their funds to the appropriate places,” he then added.

"Sounds like you've got your hands full," said Hunter. 

Arsin just laughed. "Oh, it's child's play, my friend. Besides, my plans for the money will greatly benefit the Empire in ways you cannot even fathom yet."

"It would seem our hypothesis was correct," Tech spoke over the comms in Hunter and Kida's ears.

"He's a bit too proud of that," added Lex's voice. 

Then they heard Rina, whose voice came through a bit more urgently, "Guys, the Imps are losing interest in Kimber's performance. We gotta step up our game. Big guy, time for Operation 'Cut a Rug'."

"Operation what?" Tech questioned. 

Just then, Hunter and Kida heard a commotion in another direction; not far from where Kimber was. They directed their attention that way and saw the crowd were all turning heads and parting, making a path through them. All of a sudden, in the space that formed, Wrecker and Rina appeared and, to Kimber, Hunter and Kida’s shock--as well as Tech and Irys, who could see it on their monitors--they were dancing together. Not just dancing, but dancing well, especially for two people with a much greater height difference. Wrecker led Rina through the crowd, moving almost effortlessly with the music, and Rina followed him with surprising grace that her friends didn’t know she possessed. He then stopped in the middle of the people, picked Rina up and somehow managed to spin her around his body, the flowing skirts of her dress trailing behind her like the tail of a red shooting star. He set her down with ease and they resumed moving around each other, keeping their eyes on one another, almost as if the sea of people surrounding them didn’t even exist.

Echo’s voice broke through on comms, “What’s going on?”

Irys was the one to answer, still in a stunned state: “They’re...dancing.”

The more the members of the Bad Batch and Koriena Force in the ballroom kept watching, the more impressed they were with both Rina and Wrecker’s dancing skills and how well it seemed to pair with Kimber’s beautiful singing. Even more fortunately, it seemed to take the rest of the party’s focus back to them, which they knew would give Echo and Lex more time to fulfill their objective.

Kida leaned over to Hunter and whispered, “I’m quite impressed. It doesn’t entirely surprise me that Rina can pull off dancing, but I never knew your brother was such a talented dancer.”

“Honestly…neither did I,” he replied.

Echo and Lex had just successfully reached Senator Saam’s office, thanks to assistance from Irys, when they’d heard Rina’s warning about losing the attention of the Imperials and “Operation: Cut a Rug”. 

“What’s going on?” Echo inquired into his comm.

“They’re…dancing,” both he and Lex heard Irys reply.

The two of them exchanged bewildered looks.

“Wrecker can dance?” Lex asked, taken aback.

Echo, who seemed even more shocked, said to her, “Apparently. I’m just as surprised as you are.”

They turned to survey the room and to them, it just appeared like a normal Senator’s office: plain walls, furniture and with a few computer monitors and consoles. There was also a holotoable off on the side of the room.

“All right, you’d better scomp into the main computer. I’ll stand guard by the door,” she stated.

However, he responded back to her, “Actually, it’d be better if you came over with me. You can help me examine whatever data I find.”

Once again, she subtly gritted her teeth and silently cursed him for keeping her close. This situation wasn’t helping her try to avoid anything more developing between them, but it seemed everything and everyone was working against her.

“All right,” she relented and followed him over to where the computer console was.

Echo flung back the cape he wore that covered his scomp arm out of the way, got down on a knee and inserted the scomp into the appropriate slot. Right away, the screens lit up and multiple data files began opening.

“Keep your eyes out for any information we can use that Cid mentioned: weapons deals, shipping contracts, financial agreements; whatever you can find,” he told Lex. “Hopefully, the Senator has something that ties his deeds to any business that’d be taking place here at the gala.”

“Understood,” she replied as she started glancing at other files on another screen, scrolling through multiple files that seemed to solely be about trade agreements or legislature dealing with different issues on Tibrin.

After a couple silent minutes, apart from the whirring of Echo’s scomp arm or Lex clicking buttons to go through the files, Echo stole a look over at Lex, watching her closely as she focused in on the computer screen. He wished he could go over to her and tear her mask away so he could look at her. He wanted to see her face; her beautiful Zabrak face with her intricate, black tattoos whose patterns he’d almost committed to memory and her violet eyes that he felt he could lose himself in until time stood still. There were already walls she’d put up about her and she already wore an unseen mask when she was around him, hiding her pain and real feelings from him. She didn’t need a real mask along with it, even though he knew, of course, that it was for the mission. It was just a thought that didn’t sit well with him, knowing she was shutting him out for reasons he’d yet to figure out or get from her. 

Finally, he spoke up while still going through the files, “Lex…why did you not want to be paired with me for this mission?” 

Lex stiffened up at the question now posed to her, unsure of what to say in reply. She recalled him noticing her discomfort when they'd all originally been split into teams a while ago. Should she tell him the truth or just make it out to be not a big deal? He was smart and would most likely see past her lie, but if she told him the truth, what then? 

“I…I don’t know,” was all she managed to say, keeping her eyes forward on the screen in front of her.

Just as she suspected, he responded, “Don’t lie to me. What have I done that’s made you uncomfortable with me now?”

“I already told you. It isn’t you; it’s me…and I can’t talk about it,” she reminded him.

“You can’t or you won’t?” he fired back.

Her hands balled up in frustration and she hung her head. Why wasn’t he making this easy for her?

Then he chose to add, “While we’re on the subject of things you won’t talk about…I know it was really you who saved me from the fire on Balmorra.”

Now, she really was frozen in place. How had he found out? She knew the answer just about as quickly as she wondered the question. It had to have been one of the Koriena Force ladies. Given how much they’d pushed her about her feelings for Echo before, she wouldn’t put it past any of them to rat her out for what she’d done for him.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she heard him ask.

She swallowed nervously. “I just...I didn’t want you to think you owed me unnecessarily for it,” she explained, hoping that explanation would suffice.

“Unnecessarily?” he repeated. “Lex, you saved my life. I owe that to you whether you like it or not.”

“I don’t want anything from you, Echo,” she said.

“Yes, you do. I see it in your eyes every time you look at me.”

Her whole body locked up.

“You might hide how you feel on your face, but your eyes reveal everything to me,” he added. Right then, he withdrew his scomp from the socket, forgoing the task at hand for a moment, and he walked over to her, startling her since she had expected him to stay where he was. 

As she turned to face him, her back hitting the desk behind her, she urged him, “This really isn’t the time for this.”

“When else are we going to discuss this then? Because you hardly speak to me now as it is,” he replied. He approached her and stopped directly in front of her as he told her, “I thought there was something special between us, ever since the night we spoke in the med room. We were open and vulnerable with each other. What’s changed since then?”

Lex only stammered out a couple syllables, completely at a loss for what to do or say. At this rate, it seemed he wasn’t going to back down from this conversation and she was trapped there until he got the answers he was seeking. 

“I know you felt it, too…,” he said, “...but you act as though your hands are tied and you pull away from me. Why can’t you be honest with me or yourself?”

“You think I don’t want to be?” she asked back. “You think I want to torture myself like this, keeping myself away? I don’t…but it’s what I have to do.”

“But why?"

"All of this…it’s hopeless. You wouldn't understand."

"I understand you better than anyone else could…but if you still believe that, then help me to. I want to understand."

Everything inside of Lex was screaming at her to just trust him with the rest of the truth of how she felt; she knew she could…but if she did, then she would be risking her heart again and that still was a thought that terrified her no matter how much she cared for Echo. Her torn and bruised heart was at war with itself and it caused a great ache in her chest. Her guilt only built up more at seeing the pleading in his eyes, so she turned away from him, averting her eyes back to the screen. 

As she wracked her brain on what she could possibly say to him, something on the screen caught her eye; an abbreviation she recognized on a file that she’d opened just before Echo had gone up to her. 

“Wait…hold on…,” she said, focusing in on the letters. She wanted to be sure they were what she thought they were.

For a second, Echo was frustrated, thinking she was avoiding the subject, but then he saw her looking closer at a file on the screen and enhancing it, zooming in closer on a set of three letters: “CEC”. She’d noticed something. 

“What is it?” he inquired, leaning down so he could see, too.

She pointed to the letters. “Look at this: CEC. Do you know what that is?”

He shook his head. “Should I?”

“That’s the Corellian Engineering Corporation,” she told him. “They manufacture starships and starship weapons.”

“Then that must be what we’re looking for,” he concluded.

“See if you can find any more data connected to the CEC on the main computer,” she stated. “Maybe any sort of transaction history or weapons contract.”

“On it,” he replied, already heading back to the main computer, where he scomped into the system again.

Lex got on her earpiece and informed the others, “We might have something. Echo’s looking for the data now.”

“What did you find?” they heard Irys respond.

“There was a file with the abbreviation for the Corellian Engineering Corporation,” Lex said. “We’re looking for any other documentation that could connect the Senator to them.”

“If you find anything, Echo, you’ve got the datarod,” said Hunter over comms.

“Roger that, Hunter,” replied Echo. A few seconds later, he cried out, “I’ve got it!”

Lex left the computer she was at and moved over by Echo, her eyes going straight to the main computer screen to see what information he’d found. There were three files that he’d brought.

Peering closely at the first file, Echo said aloud, “This is a weapons contract between Senator Saam and the CEC, commissioning the building of special weapons for ‘new Venator-class cruisers known as…Star Destroyers’.”

“That sounds ominous,” Lex observed. 

Echo then switched to the second file. “Here’s the Senator’s personal shipping manifest. The weapons are scheduled to arrive tonight during the gala.”

Lex activated her ear comm. “Tech, Irys, there’s a shipment of starship weapons that are due to arrive tonight while we’re at the gala. Be on the lookout for any incoming cargo ships.”

“A coincidence that you bring that up because I just scanned an incoming ship entering the planet’s atmosphere a few clicks out from the mansion,” answered Tech.

“Belay that. There are two ships on the scan,” said Irys. “The second one is a smaller shuttle. Looks like a possible escort of the cargo ship.”

Hearing that made Lex concerned and she glanced nervously at Echo as she asked over the comm, “How long do we have before the ships arrive?” 

“Five minutes,” they heard Tech say.

Both Echo and Lex were feeling the pressure now after hearing that answer. They didn’t have much time; they had to find a way to stop those weapons from reaching the gala.

“What are we going to do?” asked Lex. “We can’t steal the weapons nor can we pose as anyone who’s authorized to handle them.”

Echo’s expression steeled as he declared firmly, “Then we have to destroy them.”

“How?” she questioned. “We were expecting people here to be trading firearms, not weapons for Imperial cruisers. We don’t have the right explosives or nearly enough of them to destroy those weapons.”

He looked away for a brief moment in thought before pressing a finger to the side of his headpiece and saying, “Tech, we’ll need you and Irys to destroy that cargo ship.”

“What?” asked Tech.

“We can’t let the Empire get their hands on those weapons and this is the only way to make sure that’ll happen,” he explained.

Then they heard Hunter’s voice come through and say, “Echo’s right. Do whatever it takes to keep those weapons from getting here.”

“Irys, does this ship have guns?” they all heard Tech ask.

Irys answered him, “You’re talking about a ship harboring a group of fugitive women on the run from the Empire. What do you think?”

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’,” said Tech.

“Echo, there’s one last file,” said Lex, who had been pulling up a third and final file on the computer as the previous conversation had been happening. “It looks like it’s a recording of a transmission between the Senator and the CEC.”

“If we access it, it should appear on the holotable,” said Echo, gesturing to the table close by.

Lex opened the file and sure enough, the holotable lit up and a hologram projection appeared, showing Senator Gume Saam, a male Ishi Tib alien with a scaly, almost X-shaped face and a beak, dressed in fine Senatorial robes.

“These weapons are of great importance to the Empire,” the Senator said in the message. “I will need you to deliver them on the night of the gala I am hosting on Tibrin. There will be many trades agreements and business arrangements made that night, so you should have no trouble making the drop. We had other weapons schematics we were intending to use for a prototype of a new advanced weapon; however, Wat Tambor was sent to retrieve them on Kuat and they were lost. Supposedly, he says they were stolen by a woman and a group of Clones, so these new weapons we’re acquiring from you are our next best option.”

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me…!” Echo exclaimed, running a hand over his face. Just as Lex was about to ask what was wrong, he said aloud, “This is all because of us?” He turned to face Lex. “A year ago, we were called in on another assignment on Kuat to intercept plans for modified starship weapons being given to a Separatist operative, which ended up being Wat Tambor. He tried to attack Kimber and, even though he escaped, she still managed to get the intel.”

“So this weapons deal with the CEC is because you guys stole their original plans? Karabast, no wonder the Empire has it out for you,” she commented.

“I need to quickly download that message as well as the other files onto the datarod,” he stated as he pulled the rod from his belt, went back to the main computer and inserted it into the proper slot. Then he started tapping keys to start the process.

As the download started, they heard Kimber’s voice, whom they weren’t expecting to hear since they thought she’d be busy singing. However, her message was spoken quickly and quietly, more than likely because she was still performing and only had a second to communicate: “Echo, Lex, security’s coming.”

As Echo and Lex glanced at each other from across the room in surprise, Wrecker then confirmed, “She’s right. A couple guards went off down the hall where you went. I think someone must’ve seen you two sneak off.”

“I have them on cameras,” said Irys. “We’re about to engage the cargo ship, but I’d estimate you two have only a couple minutes before security arrives. Hurry and get yourselves out of there!”

"Is it finished?" Lex asked Echo. 

"Not yet. I can't make it go faster," he replied. 

Lex could feel her anxiousness building. They were so close and now were about ready to get caught. Their whole operation could be blown! 

"We'll come help you. We'll stop the guards before they get to the office," they heard Rina say.

"No, don't," responded Kida. "If more people go down that corridor, it'll only arouse more suspicion."

Lex said back in reply, "She's right, it’s too dangerous, especially when we’ve got the information we need. We appreciate it, though, Rina. Though, if you hear blasterfire in the next few minutes…then be ready to come running."

"Be careful, Lex," said Hunter. 

She stole a look at the closed door to the office, getting the feeling they were going to have to prepare to fight. Her hand hovered over the hidden pocket of her dress that hid her vibroblade, her fingers twitching in anticipation. If she started hearing voices approaching the door, she’d be ready.

Then she heard Echo exclaim behind her, “I’ve got the files! Let’s go!”

“All right…though, one last thing,” she said. She withdrew from another pocket in her dress a couple small thermal detonators and tossed them over to Echo before he moved away from the computer. “Place these on the computer. Once we’ve made it back to the ballroom, I’ll activate the detonators and it’ll create enough of a diversion for us to escape.”

With an impressed grin, he said in response, “I like the way you think.” Once the bombs were in place, he jogged over to her and said, “Let’s go before the guards get here.”

However, as the two of them exited the Senator’s office and got only a few feet away, they could hear voices that were getting close in another nearby hallway. Security was now closer than they thought and by the time they could get to another corridor, it’d be too late.

“Karabast!” Lex quietly exclaimed.

“Looks like we'll just have to fight our way out of this,” stated Echo. 

Just as he was about to withdraw his blaster from under his cape, he was suddenly shoved up against the nearby wall and Lex was holding him in place, a determined look in her eyes.

“What are you doing?” he asked in a hushed voice.

“What I'm good at...taking a risk,” she replied.

His eyes narrowed at her. The look he could see on her face, even with her mask on, concerned him. He feared she was about to do something reckless and he didn’t like that. 

“Lex, don’t--” he began to say.

“Do you trust me?” she interrupted him. 

He found himself falling silent at that question. The more he searched her eyes and face for any sign of what she was thinking, the only thing he could discern was that she was dead-set in whatever idea she had. Even though he was still worried over what she was about to do, he knew that he had to trust her, just like he always did.

“I do,” he said.

Lex stole one last look towards the other hallway where they could hear the security guards approaching. If she was going to act to save their skins, she had to act fast.

“Guess it's now or never. I'm sorry, Echo,” she thought in her mind.

She inhaled deeply, moved forward and made her move, hoping it was going to be enough to save her and the man she fell for as well as salvage the rest of the mission for the others.

#star wars the bad batch #the bad batch #bad batch hunter #bad batch fanfic #hunter x oc fic #sun and rain fanfic

[libraford]

I *love* the motif deck; the composition, the flexibility, your watercolors are wonderfully done, and while I'm hoping to be able to buy it eventually, I'm desperately poor and can't rn (if I can sell some earrings I maybe can though lol) but every time you post a sample reading it's... also dragging me to filth, and strangely tiding me over, so thank you and also wtf how do you do this

I'll be honest, I don't know how I do anything. I'm just trying to make it to Friday.

The Motif Deck was born from an idea I had a couple years ago, which was an oracle deck with no words attached to the cards so that the reader was encouraged to free-associate. But when I was sketching out the thumbnails I only had four colors in my pen set and I was working on it while at a laundromat so I couldn't get more because someone might steal my laundry. But I ended up really enjoying the simplicity of the color scheme so that got stuck in my head for a bit.

The drive to do an oracle deck with no standard meaning came from doing tarot for like six years (at that point, it's more like 10 now). I've always been a really talented reader and I picked up on the concept right away, but the symbols in tarot seemed a little hard to connect with (which lead me to make @thesweeneytarot ). So I started reading based on vibes. Like... what colors do I see most of in this spread, where are the cards facing, what seems out of place, how do we create a story based on what we have in front of us.

Proved effective! I was doing really well on tarot readings. It felt less like divination this way and more like a puzzle, like a story, like a game.

So what if there was a deck that was made for this style of reading? How do you even start that? What would it look like? Could I make something like that? Where do I start?

Then my friend introduced me to a game called Dixit, and it's sister game Mysterium, which uses untitled surreal art cards to tell a story. And I noticed that sometimes the art cards would have similar objects in them, like red ribbons or gold keys or blue fish. And it was interesting to me how the person in the storytelling position would make different associations than I did and I considered this a feature, not a bug.

I toyed a bit with doing divination with Dixit cards, but I found them a bit too obtuse for my liking and there were too many details to get caught up in.

So I was like... okay, I like this. What do I like about this? Let's do this but make it simpler.

...then covid.

So the idea sat on the backburner for awhile.

Then i got back into doing tarot readings and got the itch to try something new, started thinking about That oracle deck again, but now I'm thinking about those primary colors and how I tried like four different color combinations in my thumbnails and couldn't remember what they were meant to mean between them.

Then thinking about color theory. Like actual color theory but also the meme. And how the red ribbons in Dixit could be the strings of fate or they could be streaks of blood, or the red design on the hospital floor could be 'energetic and positive' or they could be... streaks of blood...

Like... sure, colors might have set meanings... to some people. But they also have meanings in their context. The color of a thing tells a story just like the thing itself.

So this is how I came up with the idea of repeating the images in different colorways.

So now we have my elements: no words, no inherent meaning, simple images, repeating objects interacting with each other, and cards repeating in different colorways.

And then the hard part, which was making it. I do actually have an art degree, so making the paintings wasn't difficult for me, but the logistics was hard. Because I had to decide which objects were common enough to be understood by everyone, and I had to pare the number down to something reasonable because this deck was bound to be massive.

Which took another year.

And now it's done! The slow parts go slow and the fast parts go fast.

I'm the kind of person who like... if I get into my head that I want to make something, I'll find a way to make it. And like... my philosophy for making things has always been that I intend to sell one, and that's to myself. But if I like it, someone else might, so I make it available for other people.

But I'm really glad that other people like it or are even just curious. Like, when you're making a 'product' (which almost feels rude to call something that I did for myself) the hardest part is getting people interested in it. So the fact that so many people think it's cool makes me so happy. (Am I cool now???)

Thank you!! And sorry for the overshare. I just got really excited.

[meraki-yao]

Ahhh there are so many of your WIPs I’m interested in!! 😍😍

But the ones I’m most curious about are I know better (but you’re still around), The Little Prince, and the Sleeping Beauty/Soulmates AU. Can I get a bit more about those?? 🙏😘

Ahhh Thank you so much for the ask my dear!

I know better (but you’re still around)

Song Fic based on Taylor Swift's "Majorie", about grief and remembering family members that have passed

Something I really want to see in the movie sequel is Henry reconciling with his disconnected family members, so in this case, Philip and Catherine, and learn to deal with their grief together.

I've written a fic focusing on Catherine coming out of her grief before, but I kind of want to expand on it and include Philip, because he's in the deleted Thanksgiving scene so they clearly made up, but even in the books I found the sudden change of attitude of Philip kind of out of nowhere. Also, I feel like? Philip tends to be universally painted as an asshole in rwrb fics (well, still better than Queen Mary, at least sometimes he redeems himself) so I kind of wanted to make him more sympathetic and rationalize his actions a bit as an eldest child/sibling. (cuz the book makes it clear he's not actually homophobic, it's more about sticking to the status quo for him, and that I can understand)

The idea is that there's one-word change in the "And if I didn't know better" lines for each verse: "I'd think you were talking to me now", "listening to me now", and "singing to me now", I'm thinking of relating each word to each Fox child's memory of Arthur: so Arthur used to talk to Philip, listen to Bea play guitar, and sing to Henry. Something like that.

The Little Prince

I think I mentioned a little bit of this before? The campfire monologue is written in such a fairy tale style, like something from the Grimm brothers or Hans Anderson. And in the universe, Henry wrote that. I came up with the idea that to cope with his issues, Henry compartmentalizes what happens to him into fairy tale-style stories. I did something similar when I was young, which is why my diaries when I was a kid make no fucking sense lmao

So with this fic I'm doing the reverse: Taking apart the monologue and writing out the events implied in the monologue, so for example "the king gave the prince a suit to armor" = the king telling Henry not to come out on his 18th birthday

Sleeping Beauty/Soulmate AU

I watched 1950's Sleeping Beauty in January and came up with the headcanon that the movie takes place in a soulmate universe where soulmates meet each other in dreams, partly inspired by the Malec fic night vision with a similar setting with the addition of a count down timer until soulmates meet. I think that will explain how Aurora and Philip fell in love and knew each other was the one immediately, as well as the "I know you I walked with you once upon a dream" thing

So the basis follows the basis of the original movie: Henry and Alex are princes of neighbouring kingdoms who were betrothed at birth, but then Queen Mary as the Maleficent (Need to figure that one out) curses Henry and the whole "raise him in isolation thing" happens (Shaan in the position of the fairies)

But the divergence will be throughout their growing up they have dreams where they meet each other and develop feelings, which is the soulmate aspect of the fic

And then the rest of the story follows the basis of the original

The problem with this, and a couple of my other pre-existing movies AU is how much I'll keep and how much I'll change, and how to change the settings in a way that stays true to firstprince but still makes sense in the storyline. So like what the curse is, how isolated Henry will be, how will his prince identity be revealed, should I let Henry fall asleep like Aurora and let Alex do all the saving or something

Ask Me About My WIPs!

#rwrb #red white and royal blue #rwrb movie #taylor zakhar perez #alex claremont diaz #nicholas galitzine #henry fox mountchristen windsor #henry hanover stuart fox #firstprince #rwrb fic #rwrb fanfic #firstprince fic #firstprince fanfic #meraki fic #meraki writes #tag game #answered