#also i am still trying to figure out my new drawing program so i guess any practice is good

[icedmetaltea]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P.S

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

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

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

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

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

[adultswim2021]

Aqua Teen Hunger Force #79: "Gene E." | March 29, 2009 - 11:45PM | S07E01

Look, I made this defiant decision to renumber the seasons of Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Long ago, when the internet was young, the first 18 episodes of the show (now considered “season one”) used to be split up as two seasons. I considered the later 18-episode regrouping to be some sort of needless revisionism. At the time I was starting this blog, it seemed novel at the very least, to split from the now-accepted norm. In my heart, season one was always just the 2001 episodes. I guess I just like it that way. I could fix it, but then I’d have to delete this paragraph, and my words are precious. So, if you prefer, this is season six.

Season six (*jack-off hand-motion* or seven) debuted on television on March 29, 2009. But a few months earlier (December 16, 2008 to be exact), the first four episodes of the season debuted on Digital Versatile Disc as part of Volume Six. I’ve enjoyed far fewer repeat viewings of this season than I have previous seasons; I probably watched this episode once on DVD, once on television, and I think I rewatched the series leading up to the 100th episode. That’s all to say that I’ve probably sat through this episode three times. And yet, it was entirely unfamiliar to me on this viewing. 

Shake finds a Genie in a schnapps bottle at the dump. Curiously, he’s in a dumpster at the dump, which seems redundant. It also draws a less-than-ideal comparison to Beavis and Butt-head, in which the boys go dumpster diving and find their own “genie” in a bottle, which is just a dead rat. But the Aqua Boys genie is real, I guess. He prefers to be called “Gene E.” and is clearly hungover. They take him in and he eats one of Meatwad’s sausages he was saving for his birthday. When each of them make a wish, Gene E. simply turns them all invisible, which none of them asked for. 

Eventually they find Carl, who is small for reasons of knowing Gene E. At this point Gene E. has died, and Frylock is desperately trying to harvest his organs hoping to find a genie gland or something that they can use to make an invisibility antidote. No luck. Carl and Shake spend some time in a ladies bathroom trying to be peep on women with their combined powers. They immediately blow it. Frylock figures out that Carl has been turned into a genie, hence his smallness (a fact Carl himself doesn’t seem to know). They race to find Carl, but it’s too late, he has been flushed by Shake and drowned in sewage. 

This one is just okay, and it comes off mildly diabolical when you realize how much easier it must’ve been to animate this episode with three invisible protagonists. Objects float around, and some mildly elaborate scenes occur, but still it must’ve been markedly easier to accomplish not having to worry about character animation. Mediocre Aqua Teen is still an okay way to pass the time. The fact that I didn’t remember this episode despite having seen it multiple times sorta says it all. 

EPHEMERA CORNER: 

The Mighty Boosh #15: “Eels” | March 30, 2009 - 1:00AM

Adult Swim’s foray into acquiring British programming didn’t really result in any kind of new tradition. It’s an experiment that resulted in them airing most of these shows (Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, Look Around You, and The Office) through 2011 and then never again. Boosh had more staying power than its contemporaries, remaining on the block through 2013. 

There was a brief moment in 2010 when a Friday Night Brit block was a regular part of the Adult Swim schedule. I remember liking it. I sorta like the idea of an Adult Swim that has varied enough programming to have more uniquely programmed nights like that.

Adult Swim started with series three, for some reason. It was the first time I ever saw the show, which I think had previously aired on BBC America. I am honestly ill-equipped for this write-up, because it’s been a pretty long time since I’ve seen this show. I like it, but I feel like I’ve never truly loved it. It’s one of those ones I really should revisit. 

The Boosh boys actually rolled through comic-con and put on a show in partnership with Adult Swim. I was there! I intend to cover it in some fashion when 2008 comic-con rolls around, but I don’t know if I’ll actually have much to say about it, so please don’t consider this a tease.

#adult swim #adultswim2021 #aqua teen hunger force

[nsheetee]

For Life (109 Steps to You Epilogue)

read “109 Steps to You” here!

Genre: epilogue, angst, fluff, soulmate AU Length: 5.4k Summary: Donghyuck and Y/N meet again one year after their last encounter, back at the place where it all started.

a/n: this is for everyone who asked for a part 2, I hope you all enjoy ♡

this is the epilogue for “109 Steps to You,” please read that fic before continuing!

Haechan walks into the cafe, the scent of espresso hitting him square in the face. He doesn’t have to walk far into the shop to find his two best friends sitting at one of the tables. Silence falls over the table once Haechan orders a drink and the waitress walks away. The three men sit mutely for a bit, looking at their phones or outside the big windows at the people walking by outside, until Haechan draws their attention.

“Huang Renjun, you invited me here and you won’t even say hi when I sit down.” At his ice breaker, Renjun lets out a shy laugh and turns in his seat to pay attention to his friend.

“Hi.” He says.

“Hi.” Haechan says back sarcastically.

“Hi.” Jaemin pipes up from across the table.

Somehow, conversation became a lot easier after that.

Haechan never thought it would be awkward with his longtime friends, especially since it has been only a year since the three of them graduated college and moved on. Jaemin works as an elementary school music teacher (just an assistant, for now) and he shows the guys some pictures of his students, commenting about how so many of them have natural talent. Renjun decided to do the graduate program and stayed on campus.

“What about you, Haechan, what have you been up to?” Jaemin asks and takes a sip of his iced americano.

“Oh… Nothing special. I work at SM Entertainment.” The guys’ eyes widen at the “not so special” news and Renjun almost chokes on his bagel.

“As an artist?” Renjun coughs out.

“No, god no, I write music for them, and they liked me enough to let me produce songs in the future, so they have me a full time job.” Haechan explains.

“Dude, that’s insane. Congrats, that’s what you always wanted to do, right?” Jaemin asks, still looking a bit amazed by his friend’s accomplishments.

“Yeah.. I guess.” Haechan trails off, laughing afterwards and praying someone will have something to say to get the attention off of him.

“Actually, there’s a reason I wanted to meet you guys here…” Renjun sits up straighter, making Haechan and Jaemin glance at each other. “I’m going to marry Mya.”

“Renjun…” Jaemin turns soft, his eyes turning rounder and his bottom lip pouting at the news, making Renjun roll his eyes and laugh. His joy is just at the thought of marrying his soulmate, the one he has spent the past five years with.

Haechan has to swallow down the lump in his throat to congratulate his friend, ruffling his blonde hair and saying something about how he can’t believe Renjun is the first to get married out of the three of them. When Haechan was with you, they were all sure that he would be the one to get married first. Oh, how easily things can change.

“I was hoping you guys would help me? I want to ask her under the bell tower, the same place I asked her to be my girlfriend, but I want to do it at night. I need help setting things up.”

“Of course we’ll help, right, Haechan?” Jaemin asks, looking over at his other friend. Haechan knew that by coming to this small reunion, he would have to face a part of his past, but he decided to come anyway. The past year has been tough, but Renjun has been Haechan’s friend for longer than he can remember, so this is the least he could do.

“Of course,” He nods. “Anything for Renjunie.” He adds a pat on the head with the pet name and Renjun slaps his hand away, giving him a scowl. The two guys would have continued with their play fighting if it wasn’t for Jaemin suddenly standing up, his chair skidding back along the tile floor loudly.

Haechan and Renjun glance up at him, but his eyes are glued to the entrance of the cafe. They turn around just in time to catch a girl stopping in her steps, her eyes focused on Jaemin. It’s been years; her hair is longer than before and she definitely grew up since the last time they saw her, but it’s no doubt Yeji, Jaemin’s soulmate and the one who rejected him when they were teenagers in high school.

“Jaemin.” She clears her throat, looking at the three guys, “You’re all here. Why am I not surprised your friendship lasted this long?” She laughs lightly as she recognizes the group of friends.

“Do you want to sit?” Jaemin points at the fourth chair at their table that has yet to be occupied. Yeji nods slowly and makes her way to the seat, gently sitting down and smiling shyly at the three guys. There’s a silence that falls over the table as everyone sips on their drinks, but the world around them continues on living loudly.

“So, what have you been up to recently?” Jaemin asks and turns to face her.

“Oh, I’m finishing college this year. I go to UOS.” She proudly smiles.

“Oh? We all went there too, we never saw you?” Renjun asks.

“I took a leap year, so I started college after you guys. You probably didn’t see me around because of that.”

“What did you do during your leap year?” Haechan asks, leaning back in his seat.

“I was in the hospital.” When three pairs of wide, serious eyes stare back at her, she laughs and waves her hand at them, “Oh no, it wasn’t anything bad. I found out my immune system is weak and spent some time figuring out what medicine to take and making my body stronger so I don’t get sick easily. That’s why I was gone for part our last year of school, too.” She explains and the three guys unstiffen and nod.

“Is that why you rejected me?” With Jaemin’s sudden question, Renjun and Haechan felt like they shouldn’t be sitting at the table anymore. They glance at each other, both wondering the same thing: should we leave?

“No,” She looks over at her soulmate, and then glances at Renjun and Haechan, “I guess I should explain myself now, huh?”

“Please.” Since Yeji rejected Jaemin, he turned into a different person. His affectionate and compassionate side is still present, but he tended to keep a calm and neutral front during most of his time in college that made some people think he’s a mean and scary person. Haechan and Renjun are very curious as to why Yeji dumped Jaemin all of a sudden, for the sake of their friend, and stay seated to hear what Yeji has to say..

“I only have one mark.” She explains. Jaemin looks at her a bit dumbfounded.

“What do you mean? Where’s the other one?” He asks and glances over her as if trying to find her other mark. Yeji laughs a bit at the question.

“I mean, I was only born with one. I will only have one mark my whole life.”

“There are people like that? What does it mean?” Renjun asks, stirring the melting ice in his drink with his straw.

“It means that your soulmate is also the person who will hurt you the most in life.” Yeji’s sharp eyes glance over to Jaemin, “That’s why I rejected you so quickly. I’m sorry if I caused you pain. I was just young and only thinking about myself.” She explains.

“No, I understand. I think I would’ve done the same thing.” Jaemin nods, and the two of them fix their eyes down and away from each other, Jaemin now knowing the reason for their separation makes him think about the decisions he made over the past few years.

Haechan, however, starts thinking about you. His palms get clammy and his heart beats faster, his mind running through the years and years of memories he has of you.

Where is your second mark?

Has it just been so long that Haechan doesn’t remember anymore, or did he never see it in the first place? Could it be… that you’re like Yeji? One mark, destined to be hurt the most by the person who’s supposed to love you the most. Haechan feels sick. It can’t be.

“It’s rare, right? For people to be born with one mark?” Haechan asks Yeji, and she purses her lips.

“Not really, no. Most people just don’t admit it out loud, since it’s not the norm to only have one mark. If you think about it, the people you love have the most power to hurt you. It’s not that uncommon.” She shrugs, and the table settles into another silence as the three guys think about her words.

Haechan refuses to believe it. You told him everything, you trusted him to the very end. You would’ve told him if you only had one mark, right? On the other hand, Haechan cannot remember ever seeing a second mark on your body— ever.

He begins to feel pain, for you and for what you must’ve gone through while you were with Haechan if this is true. He also begins to feel fear. Fear that his actions in the past are the end-all, be-all to your relationship. Haechan always had hope that you two might be able to work out your problems in the future, until now.

Haechan really hopes he’s wrong. He really hopes there’s a chance, a small sliver of promise of a future left for the two of you.

“Oh, hey, you got here quick.” You say as you open the door, Mya stepping in through the threshold and into your home. “I’m sorry we had to change plans so quickly. It’s just Mirae got a fever and wouldn’t stop crying…” You trail off as you lead your friend into the kitchen.

“It’s alright, I understand.” Mya smiles, watching you pull two mugs out of your cabinet and pour hot water, the savory aroma of coffee immediately filling the room. Mya takes a good look at you; you have some hair falling out of your ponytail around your face, there’s some sort of stain on your sweater, and you can’t stop playing with the diamond ring on your left hand; you look just like any new mom would.

“So, what’s going on? You don’t usually call me up like this out of nowhere…” You ask once you sit down, mugs on the table between you and your old friend. During your college days, you guys got to be pretty close, but after you graduated it became harder to get in touch due to your busy lives.

“Well, you remember Renjun, right?” Mya begins, nervously sipping on her coffee. You pretend to not notice how her hands shake.

“Of course,” You smile at the memory of Mya and Renjun, “Are you guys doing good?” At the question, Mya sets down her mug and stares into the creamer that swirls through the coffee, her shoulders sagging and eyes dull.

“I think… he’s going to propose to me.” You freeze, your heart suddenly beginning to hammer in your chest. Not because you’re excited by the news, but because your friend looks miserable.

“Why does the look on your face say that’s a bad thing?” Your heart begins to break when Mya lifts her head to show the tears surfacing to the edge of her eyes. You reach your hand over the table to capture Mya’s, trying to comfort her in any way.

“You know you can tell me anything. I won’t judge.” You nudge her to open up. After a moment, she takes a deep breath and squeezes your hand.

“I don’t think I’m Renjun’s soulmate. I think… I’m the opposite.” She admits, biting into her bottom lip. “I think I fell out of love. Soulmates can’t do that, right?” When you shake your head, she sighs and continues, “I think it happened a while ago actually, but I was too afraid to say anything because I still care about him, like a friend. We share a mark, so it could mean I’m the one who’s meant to hurt him the most, but, this is going to sound insane…” She lets some tears fall down her cheeks as she talks, and you can only grip her hand tighter to encourage her to speak.

“I don’t want to. I think I’m supposed to hurt him, but I don’t want to— not at all. How does any of this make sense?” The tears start to fall as she thinks more and more about the situation, why did fate have to be so unfair to her?

You always thought about how unfair it is that there’s going to be a person who hurts you and gets to walk away from the situation without a care. When it comes to Mya and your own story of how you got hurt, you realize hurt is a two way street sometimes. It’s not always malicious and spiteful, hurt can be just as much of a shared emotion as love.

“Hey, everything happens for a reason. Even if it hurts, it’s supposed to hurt for a reason. Or else, why would fate exist in the first place?” You’re not sure if these are the most comforting words you can give Mya at the moment, but she finds some comfort in your logic and nods her head.

“I should go talk to him, shouldn’t I?” When you nod your head, Mya sighs. She dreads having this conversation, even thinking about it makes her scared of how Renjun will react.

“When you have your thoughts in order, go to him and tell him how you feel. No matter what kind of relationship fate assigns you, it doesn’t take away all the time you spent together. It’ll be okay.”

Mya has a lot on her mind as she stands up and makes her way to your door, denying your request of walking her home or calling a cab. As she slides her shoes on, the bedroom door opens and closes quietly. Mya smiles at the man who walks up to you, some bags under his eyes and his light brown hair tousled, not surprising Mya the slightest.

“Is she okay?” You ask as he comes forward, worry lacing your words. The man nods and lovingly pats your head, telling you not to worry before turning to Mya.

“Hey, sorry I didn’t come out earlier to say hi, Mirae was sleeping on me and I didn’t want to wake her up.” He explains while his arm comes around your shoulders and he tiredly sets his chin against your head.

“It’s okay, Xiaojun, I’m the one who intruded. You guys should focus on Mirae, and maybe get some sleep.” Mya manages to smile as she glances at her phone, a message from Renjun reading “Where are you? Come home, I miss you” making her nerves from earlier arise.

“We’ll try,” You comment, “And hey, call me anytime. I’ll always be here for you.” Mya nods, sending a wave and walking out of the front door to walk the long way home. When the door closes, Xiaojun sighs and moves his head to your shoulder, snaking his other arm around your waist to pull you closer to him.

“Y/N… I’m so tired.” He whines, laughing through his words a bit. It sends chills down your spine when his lips brush against your bare skin and his breath tickles your neck. You tug on his shirt, pulling him closer and resting your head against him.

“That’s what happens when a baby is sick.” You sigh, and Xiaojun can already guess the question that’s about to leave your lips. “You don’t regret this, do you?”

Around the same time that Donghyuck left you, Xiaojun found his soulmate. She came into Xiaojun’s life as quickly as she left it, something about backpacking through Central America. Not sharing the same goals and dreams as his soulmate, it left Xiaojun heart broken and lost without the person who’s supposed to be his home.

He needed someone and you needed someone, too. And then it turned from needing the other’s presence to understanding each other in a different way than friends do, and then you realized… You’re in love.

When he decided to love Mirae as if she’s his own, that’s when you knew Xiaojun is the right choice for you. However, that didn’t stop you from wondering if Xiaojun ever regrets his decision.

“You ask that question all the time,” He leans back, his gentle hands cupping your jaw as you make eye contact, “You know I’ll always answer the same way. I never regret picking you.”

Xiaojun waits for the anxiety to leave your eyes before giving you a smile, brushing his thumb over your soft cheek. He wonders how he hasn’t fallen in love with you sooner, you being his childhood friend and all. He knows it’s probably because he has always been waiting for his soulmate and it blinded him from seeing the one he truly loves: you.

When he feels you fully relax into him, he leans in and softly presses his lips to yours. You melt into him instantly, letting him hold onto you as his lips move slowly against yours. The hand on your waist pulls you closer and you hear Xiaojun whine when your nails scratch on his back over his shirt.

You pull away before anything else can happen, and Xiaojun stares back at you with a pout that makes you giggle a bit.

“Maybe we really should go to sleep?” You ask, and Xiaojun nods. He takes one more look at you, that look full of adoration that always makes your heart jump and your face heat up no matter what, and then he leads you to your bedroom for, hopefully, a restful night of sleep.

The next time you hear from Mya, it’s when you’re walking home from work one evening.

Your phone rings loudly and kills whatever train of thought you were on, pulling you to your electronic device and pressing the answer button.

“Hey, hun, what’s up?” You hum into the phone, stepping over cracks in the sidewalk.

“I think it’s today. I think Renjun is going to propose to me today.” Her words make you stop in your tracks, making some people around you throw a glare at the sudden obstacle in the middle of the sidewalk.

“What? What happened?” You ask.

“He just called me and told me to go to campus, to the bell tower. I just know he’s going to propose.” You can hear the panicky tone rising in Mya’s voice and you feel her anxiety all the way through the phone.

“Didn’t you talk to him about it?” You try to make sense of the situation.

“I was going to when I planned out what I needed to say, but I’m not ready yet. Oh, my god, I can’t go see him. I can’t.” You can practically hear her shaking her head by the sound of her wavering voice. “Please, Y/N, help me. I don’t know what to do.”

“Mya, it’ll be okay. I’ll meet you in the front of the campus and we’ll go in together, okay?” You turn around abruptly, already planning the quickest way to get to the university in your head.

“Wait, what? I just said I can’t go there.”

“Think about it, if you don’t show up then Renjun will know something is wrong and bring it up first. If you do show up, then you can say what you need to first before anything else happens.” You explain as you weave through people on the sidewalk going home. “I don’t think you should drag this out any longer.”

“... Okay, okay, I’ll meet you there.” After saying goodbyes, you end the phone call and send a text to Xiaojun telling him you’ll be late tonight and saying you’ll explain later. You put your phone into your bag and quickly make your way to campus, playing with the ring on your finger out of worry for Mya.

When you arrive, Mya is already at the front gates, pacing back and forth as college students pass by and send her glances. You walk up to her, scooping her arm into yours and looping them together, calmly walking onto campus and towards the bell tower. You clutch your bag closer to your side, thinking about the one place you want to visit before leaving tonight.

“Have you thought about what you’ll say?” You ask quietly, but your voice still startles Mya and she jumps a bit in your hold.

“I can’t even think straight right now, I have no idea.” She grips your arm tighter.

“I believe in you. One way or another, you and Renjun are connected somehow. I think you already know what you have to say.” You ponder out loud.

“How?”

“Because it’s your fate, even if it’s a bad one. Some things in life are hard, but that’s why we can say we live.” Mya doesn’t look any more  relaxed at your words, and you don’t blame her.

After walking for some time, you reach the bell tower. You can already see a figure of someone standing underneath it. The sun is setting behind the clock, and when you walk closer, you can see balloons and some candles lighting up the dimming area. Right before you reach the tower, you stop and let go of Mya’s arm. Giving her one last look of reassurance, you gently push her to Renjun.

You don’t hear exactly what happens next, since you’re standing too far away. But if you had to guess, Renjun noticed Mya and greeted her with the flowers he was holding. For a split second, you felt deja vu. Back when you were just a college student, you saw this exact same scene through a video— same people and same proposal.

There was a point when Renjun’s face changed that you know Mya broke the news. He looked confused and agitated, but most of all hurt. True pain breaks over his face, you can even see it from where you’re standing. You’ve never seen someone hurt by the one who is fated to bring them pain until now. Renjun looks like he could crumble into the asphalt and roll away with the wind, and it would still hurt less than standing there, hearing the words of betrayal from the one he thought was his soulmate.

You sympathize with him. It’s almost like you can feel that same feeling, like muscle memory in your heart forcing you to remember what it feels like to be hurt that way.

When Mya turns and walks away, you see the pain on her face too. When she passes you, she moves quicker than you and you aren’t able to stop her, only watching her walk towards the entrance of the campus.

You turn to look at Renjun, your heart seizing in surprise when you see two other familiar faces: Jaemin and Donghyuck.

He looks like he hasn’t changed one bit, but at the same time he isn’t who you remember. His hair is still that golden shade of brown, falling over his ears and down the back of his neck. His clothes look the same, his posture is still a bit hunched as always, but his eyes and his gaze look different as he stares back at you.

You aren’t sure why you’re still standing there, you don’t have anything to say to your three old college friends, so you politely nod at them and turn around, walking further into campus. You walk next to the buildings you used to know so well, your feet guiding you to the place your heart wants to go to the most.

You pull out your phone and start calling Mya. Once, twice, and after the third time, you send a text asking her to pick up the phone. There are so many places she could’ve gone, and you could probably catch up to her if you turn around and run, but your feet don’t listen to your brain and carry you to the place you’ve been yearning to see again since the second you stepped into campus.

The staircase looks the same as it did 5 years ago. You have changed, so has Donghyuck, but this staircase remains stagnant in time. The trees on the left side still sway over the stairs peacefully and the cracks in the stone wall on the right seem to not have changed either. You immediately feel comfort upon seeing this steep set of stairs, slowly starting to walk up while putting your phone into your bag.

One, two, three, four, the fifth step a little longer, then repeat.

When you reach the top, the air feels slightly cooler and you close your eyes for a moment. Not for too long, though, because you hear your name being called from the bottom of the staircase.

Donghyuck manages to catch your attention with his loud voice, his figure looking small. You stand in your spots for a bit longer, the sun setting behind the trees and the wind nipping at your nose. Until, suddenly, Donghyuck starts climbing the stairs.

One, two, three, four, every fifth stride a little longer, one hundred and nine times until he’s on the step right before yours, glancing at you through his hopeful eyes.

“I knew you would be here.” He’s slightly out of breath, but the cheekiness in his voice is still evident.

“I knew you would find me.” You say back, making him smile a bit, “But, I’m not sure what for. If it’s about what Mya did to Renjun, I don’t think that’s my place to explain.”

“No, there’s something I’m curious about. Actually, there’s so many things I want to know about you, but I have a feeling you won’t tell me everything I want to hear.” He bites his chapped lip, shoving his hands into the pockets of his oversized jacket. “Will you let me ask you a question?” The look on your face tells him to go on.

“Do you only have one mark?”

You cock an eyebrow, “It took you this long to figure out?”

He laughs, not out of humor but out of disbelief, and looks at his shoes. “I can’t believe it. All this time…” he mumbles and kicks the step he’s standing on. When he lifts his head to look at you, you’re surprised by the tears lining his eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

“For what?” Your heart still hurts to see him in pain, even after everything, your soulmate connection is still strong.

“For hurting you. You knew what would happen all along, you knew how we would end up, but you still stayed with me. I’m so sorry that I couldn’t do anything to save us.” He sniffs, one tear falling down his eye. He tries to wipe it away quickly, but you still see it. Something in you pulls you towards him, something telling you to comfort him, but you hold back.

“It doesn’t matter anymore. It’s in the past now.” You bite your lip in thought as he nods, “Where did you find out about single-marked people?”

“I ran into an old classmate. When she explained it, I realized it sounded just like what happened to us—”

“What you did to me.” You quickly correct him, making the pain on his face fade away and a cold look present itself on his features.

“Hey, I know you understand why I did what I did.” He rebuttals.

“Just because I understand doesn’t mean I’ll forgive and forget.” You taunt back, feeling anger and irritation rise. You decide now is the time to walk away, talking the first step down the stairs where Donghyuck is standing. He stops you with a strong grasp on your left wrist, turning you to him and looking you straight in the eye.

“One more question. Whose ring is this?” He holds up your left hand to his face, eyeing the diamond that shines as he tilts your hand back and forth. His thumb rolls over the dragonfly that paints your hand, his identical mark peeking out of his sleeve and touching yours as he examines the ring.

“Xiaojun gave it to me.” Donghyuck flinches at the name, looking between you and your hand.

“Xiaojun…” He repeats, the name feeling heavy on his tongue, “Good. He’s a good guy.” You can tell how hard it is for him to get those words out of his mouth, as if he’s saying the words out loud to convince himself rather than just commenting. You gently try to take your hand away, but Donghyuck grips onto it more, dropping your hands down between you two.

“Wait, one more question.”

You sigh restlessly, “You said that about the last question.”

“No, seriously, this is the last one.” You pause for a moment to compose yourself before nodding slowly, signaling him to go ahead and ask.

“Will you ever be able to do it? To forgive me, and to forget what I did?” His voice holds so much hope you’re almost afraid of talking, since you know your words will break whatever last piece of expectation he has left. You gently take his hand, stepping closer to him to slide it into his jacket pocket. You wipe some pollen off of his shoulder, looking him in the eyes afterwards.

“One day, when we’ve found our place in this world and the pain we gave each other is just a distant memory, I will forgive you. But I’ll never be able to forget how you left me when I needed you most. In this world where love is chosen for you, I turned my back on fate and I chose love. It’ll never be the same as when I was with you, but that’s not what I need. I need someone who will love me— someone who will stay when things go good or bad. Someone who will stay for life.” You explain, “And actually, I’ll start forgiving you now.”

You dig into your bag, finding your wallet and producing a photo from one of the slots that’s supposed to be for a card.

“This is Mirae. I can already tell she’s going to have your eyes and your hair when she grows older,” You can’t help but smile, watching Donghyuck’s every emotion as they move through his face. Surprise, fondness, instant love. “We’re always going to be tied together from now on. Not because of this,” You point to the dragonfly that’s imprinted on his hand, “But because of her.” You point to the picture that he’s gripping tightly.

Donghyuck looks at the photo for what seems like hours. The little girl in the photo is laughing at someone behind the camera, holding a rubber duck in her small hands. She's a perfect mixture between you and Donghyuck, and you’re right, she does have his eyes.

Donghyuck has never felt this much regret in his whole life.

“I have to go,” You say, pulling out your phone when you hear it buzz in your bag to see Mya calling you, “But don’t be a stranger. I never changed my phone number.” And with that, you walk down the stairs. When you get to the bottom, Donghyuck watches you turn and wave to him before disappearing behind the stone wall.

He grips the picture in his hand, not able to look away from his daughter who stares back at him with the same eyes. The sunset has ended and Donghyuck eventually makes the slow walk back down the stairs to find Renjun and Jaemin.

He keeps looking at the picture the entire walk back, thinking about the choices he made when he was younger. He realized he cared a lot about what his marks made him; the sunflower on his knee made him a stranger to his father, and the dragonfly on his left hand made him a stranger to his daughter.

Even though he thought he took the cautionary steps, in the end, he ended up exactly the way he never wanted to be— like his dad

The marks on bodies help guide people to their fate, but there is more to life than fate. Sometimes, you have to take destiny by the reigns and pull it your way. And with this picture— with this new chance to begin again, Donghyuck will do just that.

#haechan #nct dream au #nct fluff #nct angst #nct dream fluff #nct dream angst #nct scenario #nct imagine #nct blurb #nct fic #nct dream fic #nct dream scenarios #nct dream imagines #nct dream blurbs #00 line #dreamies

[high-functioning-lokipath]

Unusual Way - Loki x Reader - Words: 3,294 (including song lyrics)

A/N: Reader is Silver Shadow. However, this doesn't follow the same 'first meeting/falling in love' sequence as "Hurting Each Other".

Loki and you were best friends and had been for about 2 years now since he moved into the tower. It all started the day he'd moved in while you were out on a mission and no one had the brilliant idea to tell you that you were now sharing your floor with someone.

~ 2 Years Ago~

So there you were, exhausted and dirty from the fight, looking forward to a nice hot shower. You'd already taken off your cape in the elevator and as you got off and walked down the hallway to your bedroom, you started to pull at the zipper of your jacket.

"I must say, I wasn't expecting you to be so forward."

"Who's there?" You yelled, not recognizing the voice that spoke to you. You whipped around, trying to see who it was that was speaking.

"Hello," A man suddenly said, appearing directly in front of you. You throw a quick punch but your hand goes right through him and he disappears. "Over here!" He exclaims, waving to you from a few steps away. You quickly draw one of your knives and throw it at him. Again it goes right through him.

"I said, who are you?" You demand, not having had a chance to get a good look at his face yet.

"Tsk tsk," He says, appearing once more, a few feet now away from you. "So impatient." As he talks you focus on the vase setting on the hallway table behind him and start drawing it towards you. If you time it just right, you can either hit him or, if he's not there again, stop it in time before it hits you. "I am Loki, of Asgard! And I am burdened wi-OW!" He yells as the vase hits his head. "Will anyone ever let me finish that thought?"

“Loki?” You screeched. “What are you doing here? Do the others know?” You asked, rushing up to the admittedly handsome man. Even during his attack on New York you couldn’t help but go a little starry-eyed at his presence.

“I am here to help. I,” He sighed, rubbing the back of his head again. “I’m here to work with you and your little team.” Your eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Oh! Well, I, uh, sorry about that," You stuttered, gesturing to his head. "Here, let me fix that." You reached up and touched the back of his head gently.

"Thank you," He replied with a small smile.

"Let's start over," You grinned. "Hi, I'm Y/N. I guess I'm your new floormate." He grinned back, still surprised by your kindness.

"Yeah, I guess you are."

~ 6 Months Later ~

"C'mon, Y/N!" Loki yelled down the hallway. "The pairs' free dance is about to begin!" You ran out of the bathroom, socks sliding on the hardwoods.

"Woah!" You exclaimed, sliding, or rather bodyslamming, into him. He of course caught you easily, being used to this occurrence, and laughed. A few minutes later you were both sitting on the couch with a rather large bowl of popcorn between you. "Those twizzles were completely out of sync. That's going to ruin their score."

"Perhaps," he commented, tossing another buttery snack in his mouth. "But their lifts have been perfect unlike the other couples." You shrugged and continued watching. You found yourself shivering, however, as you continued watching the programs.

"Has the thermostat gone down?" You asked. Loki got up and checked.

"No, are you cold?" He, of course, didn't notice any difference since he was, not only a Frost Giant, but also wearing a lovely sweater, you thought.

"Yeah, must be the ice," You joked, nodding at the television. You eyed his soft, grey sweater once again and decided that, even though it looked absolutely stunning on him, you needed it more.

"Um, would it be alright if I borrowed your sweater?" You asked nervously. He looked mildly surprised but quickly pulled it off and handed it to you. "Thanks," You said quietly. The past couple weeks you'd realized you had developed a minor crush on your new best friend. You didn't say anything, however, for fear of ruining said friendship. "It smells like you," You chuckled, pulling the jumper close around you. Loki blushed brightly and apologized.

"Sorry, so sorry. I can-I can get a new one from the wash." He went to get up, face still flushed in embarrassment.

"Loki, it's fine," You replied, stopping him. "I don't mind. Thank you for lending it to me." He smiled sweetly at you in reply.

"You're welcome. After all, what are friends for?"

~ 1 Year Later ~

"He's too pretty for his own good, Nat!" you complained, throwing quick punches at your sparring partner.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means if he knew what's good for him, he would be so perfect all the time!" You blocked three punches and landed one of your own. "If he doesn't I might have to take matters into my own hands."

"Meaning you'll finally ask him out instead of driving us all crazy pining over him like you have been for the past year and a half or so?" She retorted with a smirk, flipping you to the ground and pinning your arms behind you. You groaned and rolled out from under her, standing and holding your hands up in defeat.

"No! Of course not! It means I'd have to ugly him up a little." Natasha rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Like you'd ever have the guts! C'mon! Be honest with yourself! You liked him since New York. Just put on your big-girl pants and tell him! And if you can't find yours, I can lend you mine," She teased, playfully slapping your butt.

"Watch it, Widow!" you snapped. "I'm going to the conference room if it's not in use. I don't want to be disturbed, ok?"

"Fine, just let me know all the juicy details when you finally have the guts to go back to your floor, ok?" You rolled your eyes and walked out.

"Finally alone," you sighed, tossing your gym bag in a chair and slumping down in another. "FRIDAY?”

"Yes, Miss Y/N?" The AI replied.

"Please shut the blinds and lock the door. Emergency override only."

"Yes, Miss." You closed your eyes, tears threatening to slip through.

"FRIDAY, shuffle Linda Eder from my library."

"Of course," The AI replied. When I Look In Your Eyes started playing and you leaned back in the chair, closing your eyes and tuning out the rest of the world. You were so focused on your music and trying to figure out your own feelings that you didn't hear the door open. The next song started and you chuckled humorlessly.

"This one's for you," You said to yourself, thinking of your best friend. You sang along as Unusual Way played.

“In a very unusual way, one time I needed you

In a very unusual way, you were my friend

Maybe it lasted a day, maybe it lasted an hour

But somehow it will never end

In a very unusual way, I think I'm in love with you

In a very unusual way, I want to cry

Something inside me goes weak, something inside me surrenders

And you're the reason why, you're the reason why

You don't know what you do to me

Don't have a clue

You can't tell what it's like to be me

Looking at you

It scares me so that I can hardly speak...

In a very unusual way, I owe what I am to you

Though at times it appears I won't stay, I never go

Special to me in my life, since the first day that I met you

How could I ever forget you, once you had touched my soul

In a very unusual way...

You made me whole”

When you finished you thought you heard a noise behind you but when you turned around there was no one there. You shrugged it off as your own overactive imagination and got up, gathering your stuff. When you got back upstairs, you found Loki in the kitchen. "Thought you might like some lunch," He explained.

"Oh, thanks," You replied, sitting down and letting him serve you. After a few minutes of silent eating you decided you needed to say something. "Loki, I-"

"Y/N, I-" You both laughed, having spoken at the same time.

"You first," You both said. Laughing again, you shook your head and motioned for him to go on.

"Y/N, I must confess something. I-" He paused, taking a deep breath. "I wasn't going to say anything because I was afraid of how you'd respond but," He chuckled nervously. "I believe I've fallen in love."

"Oh!" You gasped. You set down your fork, losing your appetite quickly. "So who's the lucky lady? Do I know her?" You asked, taking a sip of water trying to look casual.

"Yes you do," He replied, smirking. "She's very beautiful and talented. She's kind and helpful to everyone. And most importantly she-"

BZZT BZZT

"Uh, sorry," you said, looking at your ringing phone. "I should take this. It's Steve." Loki looked upset but nodded. "Hello?"

"Y/N? We've got a problem. Is Loki with you?"

"Uh, yeah, he is. Cap, what's wrong?" Loki got up and moved closer to listen in on the conversation.

"We just got intel on a new Hydra base. This one's different though. They have too many defensive procedures in place for us to just attack. We need someone on the inside. That's where you and Loki come in."

"You're sending us to work undercover in a base?!" You screeched.

"Yes, pack a few things and be on the helicarrier in an hour. I'll finish briefing you then."

Working on the inside was, of course, much harder than you'd expected. Thankfully no one here knew you from your actual Hydra days so that made it easier. You just hadn't expected being separated from Loki for so long. Especially after your interrupted conversation, you wanted to talk to him again. Steve assured you, though, it would be a quick mission and you could get back to your normal life within a few weeks.

~ 6 Months Later ~

"You have exactly 2 minutes to get out before this whole place blows, you got that?" Cap yelled through your comms. The mission had gotten complicated and had extended to 6 Months for you both. But now you and Loki had apparently collected enough info for Cap and the others to finally come and blow it all open. Although, none of you had expected a literal explosion. You grabbed the last of the information you needed and booked it out of there. Once you made it into the clearing where the others had regrouped, you looked around frantically as Cap took a head count. "Loki's not out yet!"

"What!" You exclaimed. "There's only 30 seconds!" Suddenly your comms crackled to life.

"Found...girl…trapped," Loki said. The static made it impossible to understand the sentence fully but you understood what he meant.

"Loki! Get out!" Steve yelled.

"I'm going in," You said. Steve yelled to stop you but you were too quick. You teleported in and found the two, trying to shelter themselves in a corner. "Loki!"

"Y/N?" He exclaimed, turning to see you. "What are you doing here?"

"Trying to rescue you, you idiot! Now hold on." You reached out and grabbed Loki's and the girl's hands and teleported out just as the building exploded. Cap immediately went to help the girl, leading her back to the helicarrier.

"So," Loki said, looking at your hand still gripping his. You impulsively gave him a hug, the thought that you could have lost him starting to sink in. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," You replied, pulling away quickly. "I just-"

"Loki! Y/N! C'mon!" Cap called out. You were interrupted once more but ran to the helicarrier and rode back home in silence. When you landed back at the tower, you rushed to your bedroom and flung yourself on the bed face first.

"I need a life," You groaned. You heard Loki calling out for you so you rushed into the bathroom and quickly turned on the shower hoping that he would think you were in there and leave. Once you didn't hear him anymore you decided it actually was a good idea to take a shower so you adjusted the temperature and got in. A few minutes later you found yourself lost in the magical world of shower thoughts. Not wanting to get upset again, you decided on music. "FRIDAY, shuffle my library," You said.

"Right away," It replied. As you were dressing a few songs later, Unusual Way started playing and you thought back to the day you'd left for the mission. You sang along sadly, once again thinking of the man you loved who, apparently, loved someone else.

"You don't know what you do to me

Don't have a clue

You can't tell what it's like to be me

Looking at you"

You opened your door to go to the kitchen and Loki stumbled in. "Were you leaning on the door?"

"Maybe," He admitted, blushing. You stared at him, gesturing for him to explain. FRIDAY paused your music since you were talking and he glanced up at the ceiling. "I wanted to talk to you but I heard the shower start so I was going to leave but then I heard you singing and-"

"I don't like performing," You snapped, quite embarrassed that he'd heard you singing that song especially.

"But I want to hear you sing. Especially that song, you sing it so beautifully."

"How would you know? You heard me through a door," You scoffed. Pushing past him you walked out into the hallway, pulling your door shut behind you.

"Not six months ago I didn't." That stopped you in your tracks. Spinning around on your heel you marched back up to him.

"You heard me when?"

"In the conference room, the day we left for the mission. I'd gone to watch you practice and see if maybe you wanted to practice with me a little but Natasha said you'd left already. She told me where you were and that you didn't want to be disturbed but," He chuckled softly. "Has that ever stopped me?" You laughed and shook your head. "Well, I heard you singing and I decided to leave you be."

"Oh well, thanks I guess," You said, smiling softly, still embarrassed but not as mad anymore.

"May I ask, who were you singing to?"

"What do you mean?"

"When the song started you said 'this one's for you'. Who did you have in mind?"

"Oh," You said, surprised. You blushed brightly and shook your head. "Just someone I care for very much I suppose."

"You suppose?" He teased.

"Ok! I do care about him! Geez! You're as bad as Nat sometimes!" He laughed loudly and you could help but smile wider. You loved when he laughed like that, a real laugh that reached his eyes and filled the room. As you walked into the kitchen and sat down at the counter together, you quickly remembered your conversation at lunch that day though and frowned. "Unfortunately I don't think he quite thinks of me the same way."

"Why's that?" He asked, brows furrowing.

"I am quite sure he has his eyes on another girl."

"Is it the Captain?"

"Oh goodness no!" You immediately replied. "No, definitely not." His eyes suddenly lost their joy and he seemed almost scared to ask his next question. He got up and went to the window, putting quite a bit of space between you.

"Is it my brother?" He asked quietly.

"No! No no no! Never!" You exclaimed. You actually shuddered at the mental image. Realizing what needed to be done you teleported yourself in front of him with your back to the window. He startled and jumped back quickly. You smirked and stepped closer. "I don't know if you've noticed but I'm not a fan of blond's."

"Perhaps Banner then?" He stammered, trying to come up with an idea. You could not believe how clueless he could be.

"What? Ew! No!" You pretended to gag. "I like someone more fun, more mischievous," You grinned.

"Misch-oh," He breathed, finally figuring it out. You looked away, feeling embarrassment set in again. "Well, Y/N, I-"

"Look, I know you were trying to tell me before we left that you're in love and I couldn't be happier for you and I wish you all the best but I just needed you to know, ok?" You cried.

"But Y/N! You don't-"

"I'm sorry," You said, trying to run past him to lock yourself up in your room.

"Not so fast," He said, grabbing your arm.

"Wha-" You were cut off by a pair of lips meeting yours. He quickly pulled away, grinning like mad.

"You don't know what I've been trying and wanting to tell you! The girl I love is you, Y/N! I love you!"

"Me?" You squeaked, smiling giddily. He nodded and you laughed. "I cannot believe it. We've been idiots haven't we?"

"Most certainly," He agreed. He gave you another quick kiss and looked in your eyes. "I think I've loved you since we met but you know when I fell in love with you?"

"When?"

"When you borrowed that grey sweater and never gave it back." You gasped, eyes widening in surprise.

"I didn't realize I never returned it!"

"Oh sure! You wear it all the time!"

"I do no-oh," You paused, thinking about your closet. "Maybe I do," You chuckled. "Well, I actually liked you from the first time I saw you."

"When I scared you coming off the elevator?"

"No, 2012," You whispered. Loki stared at you, quite surprised. "I knew what you were doing was wrong but," You sat down on the couch, having wandered into the living area. "Somehow I understood you."

"Y/N, I don't know what to say. I, well, I was a very different man then and-"

"And you were pretty," You deadpanned.

"Ah, so my irresistible charms strike again." You both laughed and he sat beside you. "Y/N, I think we've been fooling ourselves for far too long. Now, you love me, right?"

"Yes!" You said emphatically.

"And I love you, right?"

"I sure hope so!" He grinned and you wondered where this was going. He stood up and took your hand in his.

"Well then, I should wish to officially court you if that should please you and have your approval," He said, bowing slightly.

"I accept," You replied immediately. You stood up and gave him a big hug. "Oh, Loki, thank you."

"You're welcome, my love. But I hope you know what this means."

"What?" You asked, pulling away just in time to see his smirk.

"It means you're no longer allowed to hog the popcorn bowl on skate night!"

"No," You retorted. "It means that as your girlfriend I can now officially tell you to get your own!" He gasped, playing offended.

"Why! I'm wounded!" He cried, holding his hand over his heart.

"Does this help?" You teased, placing your hand there instead.

"No," He smirked. "But this might," He said, pulling you in for another kiss. "I will never tire of that."

"Nor I," You sighed contentedly. "But we must stop for now."

"Why?"

"It's skate night and I need to get the popcorn ready!"

"Go sit down," He smiled. "I'll get it ready."

"Aw! How sweet!" You squealed. "Alrighty then." You walked back to the couch as settled in. "Loki, dear?" You called out towards the kitchen.

"Yes, darling?"

"Remember, 2 bowls!"

Loki Taglist

@lucywrites02

@delightfulheartdream

@serpentargo

@khena

@nyx2021

@kaz11283

@weasley-main-lover

@up-to-mischief

@lokislittlesigyn

@darkacademicfrom2021

@lokiwhxre

@loki-laufeyson965

@eclipsedplanet

Marvel (all characters) Taglist

@bartv21

@another-crazy-fangirl

@whatafuckingdumbass

@ladylulu143

@lokislittlesigyn

@gaitwae

@mysticunicorn7

@kind-of-crazy-butthatsokay

@thoughts-and-lovely-illusions

@for-hearthand-home

@lokistoriesblog

#loki #loki oneshot #loki imagine #loki fanfic #loki x reader #loki x you #loki x y/n #loki laufeyson #loki odinson #loki friggason #loki fluff

[accio-victuuri]

Devil Timeline : GG and Web before the official meeting.

Disclaimer that this is All CPN and nothing is really proven. As with all these things, feel free to disagree. Don’t crack your head open thinking, we’re all just clowning here. some info on here are taken from different sources and others I added in. 

What is this timeline/theory all about?

This CPN is all about them liking each other as early as 2015-2016. This is different from the love at first sight theory from 2017 & with them keeping in touch till they meet again in 2018. Part of this speculation is that they are ex-boyfriends. Also that Web was punished (what for and if this is even true, we don’t know.) by his company in 2016 before hosting Day Day Up. I don’t buy the ex-lovers part/punishment. My take on this Devil Timeline is that they were lowkey fanboying each other or have a crush on e/o. Where they in contact or have they met? Yes. possibly. 

Plus, It’s not too outrageous to believe that they know of each other. GG is a koreaboo and he most probably heard of UNIQ. Web on the other hand, most likely heard of XNINE. 

So where are they between 2015-2016?

GG joined the reality program x-fire in 2015 and went on to debut with xnine on 2016 as the main vocalist. Notable acting job was superstar academy. Web on the other hand, was busy with UNIQ. Promoting in Korea, China, Thailand, Brazil and Japan. Notable in 2015 was the release of EOEO. In 2016, he joined the cast of Chinese Odyssey part 3 and was also announced as an assistant host for Day Day Up.

What are some key points to this Timeline? 

1. Love Mole : It all started with this photo. Web holding a picture he drew of someone smiling and with a Mole. A mole on the same place as GG’s.

Another explanation for this is, he was actually drawing himself. there is a fake rumor that says Web is fixated with GG’s mole because he had one on the same site when he was a kid ; then disappeared over time. It goes on to say that Web jokes that GG stole his mole. (this joking tho was done during CQL shooting).

Recently, you can see in his photos that it’s there again. It’s literally the LOVE MOLE! but yeah, going back -- the delulu interpretation here is he was drawing GG. 

2. GG’s dream lover : 2016, On GG’s vlog for Qixi he talks about a “dream lover” and drew it on paper. He goes on to say that he left the face blank as appearance doesn’t matter- It’s about the feeling.

Now onto the drawing of GG, bxg compares the features of the figure to Web.

3. Parallels : Similar posts from 2015-2016. There is not too much out there and we can’t really verify cause of GG’s weibo post restrictions. I can’t find ones aside from the example below cause most of the same posts that we have screenshots of are from 2017 onwards.

On 6/2015, Web posted a picture of himself visiting a spongebob exhibit. On 2/2016, GG shared a picture from his visit of the same place with his friends. It’s too far apart if you ask me and so many people love spongebob, so this could really be a coincidence and not them cueing each other.

4. How long have they really known each other? : The Usually reserved Web was so open with GG during that 2017 TTXS episode. Remember that Web only started being an assistant host on 2016 and is usually very shy. But he interacted with GG in the simplest way by imitating his gesture. Tho the TTXS bros were the first ones who did it, he went ahead and did the pose too. His smile was also teasing.

Compare this with their CQL interviews and GG recalling what he said to his bandmate who was scared that it’s Web who he’s gonna battle with.

I don’t think he said that because he doesn’t know who Web is. Again, it’s too familiar. Like, don’t worry it’s just Web, I know him, he’s good, he won’t kill you. In this interview he proceeds to say that he has faith in his bandmate but after watching Web dance, he knew they could not win. 

Also add Web’s reaction in this interview, trying to wave GG off when he kept on saying he knew of Web for a long time already. 

GG, you just met in 2017, why are you saying you’ve known him for a very long time? “know of” is such a broad term. It can be you know them personally or because Web has been a celebrity longer , that’s why he knew of him. we are betting it’s the latter.

So if that’s what we’re thinking, then why did he say that he knew they couldn’t win AFTER seeing Web dance. If you’ve been a fan and KNOW who wang yibo is- the first thing you will find is that he is an EXCELLENT DANCER. It doesn’t match up. Unless, It’s really GG who first followed Web’s career?

I can go on and on about things these two have lied about from eggplants to carrots and that waterfall scene. They have a say on what narrative they want to put out in this interviews, whether they honestly forgot things or are actively refusing to give information. It’s up to them what they wanna say. 

5. Love clues from 2015-2016 : 

Web’s ideal type : Suzy from Miss A (which was i guess everyone’s ideal girl in the KPOP world during that time) and Taeyeon from SNSD. I know there are parallels of how Suzy and GG look alike and how Taeyeon is kinda like GG. They are both vocalists and are older than Web. 

GG’s ideal type : He said he wants someone who is gentle but can still stand on their own. Also someone with personality. Plus, he doesn’t care if his other half can’t cook because he will do it. When asked what he will do if him and his friend like the same person, he says if he really likes the person then he will fight for it. 

6. The first table read : This is a new entry based on the BTS released last night. We only had snippets of this when they were joking around but this new video shows more. GG just naturally turns to Web and like he’s done it before. There is still some shyness when they were talking about pants but it doesn’t look like two people who have only interacted today. Especially Web’s demeanor, there is a time or two that he hesitates when joking, but that could be because he is testing the waters. 

There was Absolutely no barriers (from GG) in tapping Web’s back a couple of times. If I’m a stranger just watching this, I’ll tell you these two have known each other for quite some time. Not just from that 2017 meeting and beyond.

7. A 2016 drawing - Over the years, we have learned that GG, like many artists put clues in their drawings. with things up to interpretation, as most of the time, he does not explain things outright. One BXG pointed out this drawing he made of a heart + bunny + cat. the Bunny is obviously him, so, love with a cat? Plus the look of the cat, like it’s looking at an innocent bunny. I know power dynamics between the two is a complicated topic, BUT---- 

8. WILDCARD: I know this is a popular fake rumor out there but we don’t really have evidence. No picture and I don’t have a screenshot of a fan account. It says GG went to a Uniq fanmeet on 6/22 in Guangzhou cause he wants to research about idols. This is before he went on xfire. The date 6/22 matches with the 622 coincidence. Consider this as fanfic but this lives in my mind.

That’s it. feel free to add thoughts or some other info you have about this timeline cause I’m sure that I don’t have it all. It feels so good to finally put this out because it’s been sitting on my draft for some time T.T. I am sure there are other explanations for this timeline.This is all CPN anyway. Please don’t take seriously. 

This posted was last edited on 11/28/2020 12:53 PM

#yizhan #bjyx #devil timeline

[bogkeep]

Hey! I'm the one who asked the poorly worded art process question. I'm here to give it another try by being more specific. The problem is . . . that's hard. Because that was about a specific as I can get, since I kind of want to know everything about how your art works.

Big things, like how you come up with ideas, or how you design characters. But small things, too, like what tools you use for drawing, how you balance between traditional and digital art, and how you decide what color to use for your unique and beautiful line art.

I want to be more specific so you can answer, but the question in my head is too vague and broad for me to be specific about it. So . . . here are some subquestions of my question, I guess! Maybe that helps?

Sorry this is so weird, and thank you, your art is amazing

first of all, thank you so much <3

and yes, this is far more answerable! i hope i can satiate some of your hunger for insight without writing a whole book.

HOW DO I COME UP WITH IDEAS?

this is obviously going to be very different for everyone. i very rarely have to dig for ideas or sit down and brainstorm, unless of course i am trying to achieve something very specific, like fulfill art contest criteria or working on a commission. my brain is very visually wired, so a lot of my ideas literally just pop up in my head (i know of several artists with aphantasia - some people don't have any visuals in their head at all and I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THAT'S LIKE AND I AM IN AWE OF THESE ARTISTS), sometimes i see a character or character design and im like HNNNG i need to draw them, or i just... have a concept i really want to Exist and i'm going to figure out how.

my biggest problem is that often, when i get an idea i want to DRAW IT, NOW NOW NOWNOWNOW, and that's just Not Feasible. sometimes because i'm Literally In Bed, sometimes because i have too many things i need to do or draw first... but i need to clear up space in my head, because my Urge To Draw will be like, beeping and whirring until i satisfy it... so i write it down on my TO DRAW-list! it's a real list that exists on my phone and i have to use it frequently. if i keep scrolling down i start finding weird notes that i have NO idea are supposed to mean anymore, but that's fine. i can't satisfy every Art Urge. sometimes i need to let them pass.

HOW DO I DESIGN CHARACTERS?

this one might vary a bit, but it can often be boiled down to "i sketch around until i figure something that Works." many of my characters, especially my older characters, became characters by accident when i kept drawing them over and over and i was like Ah I Like Drawing You... You Exist Now. that's how sparrow spellcaster happened, at the very least. this could happen because i had school and i would focus in school by doodling/sketching while listening to class. since i no longer go to school, pretty much all of my new characters are far more intentional. Timian and Vinta specifically exist as a result of a "favourite character fusion" challenge, and a lot of iphimery characters started with a Purpose rather than just harnessing the vibe of something i drew multiple times without thinking.

it helps to write down elements or tropes i want to include, like "sturdy-looking" or "VILLAIN OF EVIL SCARY MAGICS but it's a little girl and the dark magic is bright lightning and not shadows" or something. it can vary from a tiny visual detail to their role in the story. whatever i want to Achieve. my Intent. because my brain works so visually, i just really need to sketch somethign repeatedly until i nail it and can be like Yes That's It.

sketchbooks look a little messy but that’s what they’re for.

WHAT TOOLS DO I USE

for digital art, i’m currently using an ipad pro and procreate. i use a lot of the brushes that came installed, like Mercury is my primary lineart brush, and Moorilla is my primary sketching brush, but i also buy a lot of custom brushes on the hunt for More Delicious Textures (DAUB has a lot of good ones, especially if you want some that imitate traditional art). i have also used Huion and XP-pen tablets and generally recommend them, as well as clip studio paint as an art program (i love it very much and if it wasn’t subscription-based on ipad i would still be using it).

for traditional art, mostly just whatever sketchbook i have + my trusty mechanical pencil. i mean i have two: one with softer lead (it comes out darker) and 0,7 mm thickness, and one that’s 0,5 and harder lead for more light sketching, or if i’m going to line it with ink.

i also have a trusty pentel brush pen that i love DEARLY and feel bad for not having used in a while for reasons i will get to.

when i work on calendar pieces traditionally, i like to draw lines with ink - i use a dip pen with exchangeable nibs - and then color with watercolors. i have several sets because they’re all slightly different and i want the Range.

i sometimes travel with a little sketchbook in my bag and an assortment of pens, so that i can sketch Anytime, Anywhere. i think doodling with a pen can be very useful because you gotta become comfortable with the mistakes and imperfections and keep going anyway. if i doodle at work that’s the tools i have -  regular ball pens and a bunch of paper lying around.

HOW DO I BALANCE BETWEEN DIGITAL AND TRADITIONAL ART?

currently, i... don’t, really. it was easier when i had school, and i would just doodle freely and then maybe use some of my sketches as thumbnails or concept ideas. it’s harder now that i need to intentionally sit down with my sketchbook, and tbh... the ipad works very well for sketching. it’s so CONVENIENT and i have WORK all the time and my time to create art has become much more limited than it was. i miss going to my weirdo art high school where we would try out a whole bunch of different tools and methods. sure, yes, i had to paint with Acrylics My Beloathed, but getting to play around in different mediums is VERY valuable.

i genuinely want to be able to make more time and space for non-digital art again, but i just don’t have the ability to right now. it’s also different now that i’ve moved away from my parent’s place - i used to have an enormous desk and my mother has a large collection of art tools and there was a lot more storage space for whatever i created. digital art is very convenient and very accessible. ah well!

HOW DO I DECIDE ON THE COLOR FOR MY LINEART?

i usually line in black or a very dark color, and when i’m done coloring + shading i might play around with the colors and see what works. if you lock the layer you can just throw all the spaghetti at the wall you want. i decide on whatever fits the piece. i tend to be pretty fast and loose about it too, sometimes you can probably spot parts of my lineart that have slightly mismatchy color, but it’s like... done is better than perfect! i don’t have the energy to overlook every single pixel of my piece or else i would drive myself utterly mad.

HOPE THIS ANSWERS ANYTHING AT ALL!! THANKS FOR ASKING!!!

#art advice #(tag for archival purposes not to imply my methods are gospel) #everyone has their own ways!!!

[one-more-fangirl]

Hidden talent - Luke Patterson

(gif not mine! credits to owner)

AU: alive! luke patterson x oc

summary: in a world were none of the boys have died and instead live in the same timeline as julie, luke’s girlfriend has a hidden talent only her mother knows about

warnings: slight cursing, nothing much

a/n: this is the first thing that i publish, and i’m still trying to figure out how tumblr works, so if anyone reads this, please bear with me people

masterlist

***

Heather had been friends with Alex since they were in diapers. Every memory of her childhood she had, he was there too, since the beginning. The only ones she had he wasn’t in were the ones at family meetings. He was even there when she went to the dentist! That’s how tight these two were.

So it was kind of inevitable her meeting his band. Sunset Curve had been all he and Julie —her other best friend, along with Flynn— could talk about since they had started it. They had met the other members in the music program, something Heather had never even thought about joining, regardless of how many times her mother had told her she had an incredible voice and should definitely let the world listen to it. However, the raven haired girl preferred to keep her voice to herself, like her small little secret.

Meeting Luke and Reggie —she already knew Bobby— was easily one of the best things that could’ve happened to her. She hit it off with them instantly, as she had never really had any trouble with making friends —she was the sociable one out of the Heather-Alex duo, and the mom friend out of the “Triple Trouble” trio. Her and Flynn had denominated themselves as the band’s managers and marketing team, and the others had to admit, they were doing a pretty good job.

While Flynn took the social media part, promoting the band on every platform she could think of and posting stuff like teases of new songs, short rehearsal videos and performance dates and places; Heather had taken the people approach. She had recruited her cousin, Willie —who she suspected only wanted to help her because he had a massive crush on Alex, and not because he “wanted to help his favorite cousin”—, and they had both skated the streets of LA, putting up posters and throwing them around, telling people to “tell their friends!”, a catch phrase Reggie had come up with.

 [...]

“I got us a night at The Hollywood Club!” Heather entered the Molina garage with a proud smile and arms on the air, getting immediate cheers “I know, I know, I’m awesome” she bowed.

“Hey, I was there too” Willie pushed her aside, leaving his skate on a corner and plopping on the piano seat “In fact, if it wasn’t for Caleb owing me one, you wouldn’t have gotten that gig. I’m his messenger boy”

“Okay, listen you little shit, it was me that had to offer herself to clean the place up after the show, so I don’t wanna hear any more lies coming out from you” she narrowed her eyes at her cousin, but the skater only rolled his eyes.

Luke, beaming, reached out to Heather’s arm, pulling her onto the couch with him. The two had been dating for nearly three months, and anyone that didn’t know that could’ve thought they’d been together for years, just by seeing how deeply they cared for each other. Alex had been a tad overprotective of the girl when Luke started to flirt with her, but Julie and Flynn made him realize that if anyone could match Heather’s adventurous and forward personality, it was Luke.

Heather came up with an idea, something to do, and most people —including Alex, who over the years earned experience in this kind of things— would disregard it immediately, because it sounded, and most likely was, crazy. Not Luke. Luke would just smile and do it with her. Hype her up even. They found in each other a safe to talk, the craziest ideas and dreams coming to life. Still, they knew when to draw the line, and realize that maybe cliff diving in the middle of November wasn’t the best thing to do.

Luke liked to get the things he planned, make them real, and with Heather he felt like it was possible. Sure, he had the band to make his music dreams come true, but —and this can come out as shocking— he wasn’t just music. There were so many other things he wanted, and Heather was the first person that encouraged him to let them all out, the first person that listened to all the things he wasn’t as good at but he still liked, and forced him to get out of the studio to do them.

They were basically perfect for each other.

“Besides,” Flynn had pointed out with a teasing smirk and a knowing look that was also in Julie’s eyes “you’re going to end up dating her cousin, so it’ll be fair in no time” Alex had left that conversation blushing like a fool and with his mind a little more at peace.

“You’re incredible, babe” the lead guitarist kissed her cheek “When is it?”

“This Friday night” she answered, making herself comfortable in his arms “That gives you two days to rehearse some songs, maybe even come up with a new one. How’s my musical genius doing with that, Jules?”

“We have a few lyrics left on Finally Free, but I’m sure that we can have it done and perfected by Friday” she smiled, showing her adorable tooth gap “I’m gonna need to borrow your boyfriend for that, though”

“Sure, two musical geniuses work better than one. Meanwhile, Reggie and I have a date”

“Huh?” Luke’s head turned so fast, Heather thought for a second it would snap from his neck.

“Yeah, we’re going to watch the last Star Wars movie. We told you guys to come and you didn’t wanna, so we’re going by ourselves” Reggie could barely contain his excitement, the smile on his face making it impossible for Heather not to copy him.

“Speaking of which... if we don’t leave now, we’ll be late. Let’s go!” the girl pecked her boyfriend as a goodbye, ruffling Bobby’s hair after and blew a kiss to both girls and her best friend.

“I don’t get a kiss?” Willie pouted, but Heather only kissed her middle finger and flipped him off “Love you too, cuz!” he called, but Reggie and her were already out and the only response he got was his light laugh.

  [...]

The two friends were meeting Carrie Wilson at the theatre. Nobody would’ve guessed that the lead of Dirty Candy liked Star Wars, but Heather had known her since kindergarten, and she knew the girl.

They all technically knew her, being Bobby’s fraternal twin and all, but the boys didn’t consider her an actual friend until the girls started inviting her to their hang outs, seeing as they were all friends. Luke and her often had friendly bickering of which band was better, Reggie discovered that she could be a wonderful addition to the mischievous duo Heather and him had formed, and Alex found his perfect dance partner one night playing Just Dance. It was safe to say that she had been welcomed into the group.

“You guys are playing at The Hollywood Club?!” was the first thing he strawberry blond said when they arrived.

“Tell your friends!” Reggie winked, then turned to Heather “Damn, Flynn is fast. We have good managers”

“That you do, Reg” she passed her arm over his shoulders. It was a little awkward, because she stood on her tippy toes, but they made it work.

“Can you get me a performance too?” Carrie pouted and made puppy eyes “I need a marketing team like yours”

“C’mon Care, it’s literally my cousin and I in his skate and my roller skates and Flynn with a phone and Wi-Fi. You could do that too” Heather waved it off “Plus, you can have daddy make a call and you’ll be able to play at the Madison Square Garden. Shit, we could do that too, we have Bobby. Why am I putting so much effort into this?”

“You know I’m trying to earn my own spot, Heath. Being famous because my dad isn’t as satisfying as knowing I made a place sold out because they liked me and not the daughter of Trevor Wilson”

“You’re doing great, Carrie” Reggie encouraged “Your songs are good, and your dance moves are killer. People don’t just go to your shows to see if they can meet your dad”

“Thanks Reggie, but I’m pretty sure you only go to my shows to see Kayla” she smirked, and both girls watched their friend flush red.

“T-That’s not true!”

“Really? I guess I won’t give her your number then; she’ll be real disappointed”

“She asked for my number?”

But Carrie just chuckled and walked ahead with Heather by the arm, leaving the gaping boy behind for a few seconds before he snapped back into the real world and chased after them, asking the same question again.

“I’ll see what I can do for ya” Heather smiled “But you’ll have to fight Luke by yourself when he finds out I’m helping our rivals” she finished in a dark tone, laughing along with Carrie.

“Yes! You’re the best Heath!” she squeezed her in her arms.

  [...]

Friday arrived sooner than planned, and that left Flynn and Heather to get the band’s asses to the place. Flynn was on the phone with Caleb, assuring him that they were just stuck in traffic and they’d be there soon. They were actually trying to calm Alex down.

“Hey, look at me. Bird, look at me” Heather had her hands on his shoulders, doing her best to get him to breathe with her “You’re the best drummer I know-”

“I’m the only drummer you know, Feathers!” the anxious boy stressed.

“You’re the best drummer I know!” she exclaimed over him “This isn’t any different from our other gigs. You’re gonna get up on that club’s stage, and you’re gonna kill it. I’m gonna be on the side of the stage like I always am, with Flynn. I’m there if you need anything, which you won’t because once you get into the song, you’ll be crazy amazing”

“Okay, I can do this” he nodded to himself, taking deep breaths along his best friend.

“Hell yeah you can” she laughed softly “You good?”

“Yeah, I think so”

“Great, then let’s go people! We have an audience to impress!” the others, behind them, cheered with her and started to go to Ray’s van, were the instruments were waiting.

“Hey” Alex took a hold of Heather’s wrist “Thanks, Feathers” he smiled at her, using the nickname he gave her when they were three.

“I’m always gonna be there for you, Alex. You know that. I’m the Feathers to your Bird, we’re a package deal” she smiled back, then wrapped her arms around him “I love you”

“I love you too”

  [...]

Alex did amazing. Obviously.

The whole band was incredible, and the people in the club absolutely loved them. Heather had stayed at the side of the stage like she promised, but from where she stood she could spot Flynn with Carrie, Willie, Nick and Kayla all jamming and moving their bodies along to the song in their chairs. She clapped and hollered once the show was over, a huge smile adorning her face.

“You were right” the man himself, Caleb, clapped next to her “They are really good”

“I told you, dude. Any chance we’re able to play here again?”

“I’ll call you” he offered, and Heather didn’t think it twice before shaking hands with him “I’m closing in half an hour, and I want this place spotless for tomorrow” he smirked.

“I thought you were joking! You have people for that”

“A deal is a deal” and he left. Heather groaned and threw her head back.

“Why the frown, Princess?” at the voice of her boyfriend, the smile was back on her face.

Luke was a sweaty mess, not that she cared. She took a couple of seconds to admire his “after show” glow. Because yes, he was glowing —both literally, because sweat, and figuratively. After every performance, there was a glow to all of them, pure happiness radiating from them. You could see it in their smiles and heavy breaths, but Heather liked to see how their eyes glinted with the ecstasy of doing what they loved. It appeared while they were on stage, and it stayed for some time after performing in front of an audience. When they were rehearsing or jamming in the studio it was more relaxed, content, but on a show it was almost magical.

“What are you looking at?” Luke laughed after drinking some water, with his eyes squinting as he smiled out of pure glee.

Heather too his sweaty face in her hands and planted a firm kiss on his lips. She had never cared if the boy was sweaty and therefore by hugging or kissing him she’d get all dirty and smelly. If she wanted to show him affection, then she would.

“You guys killed it up there” she told him after a moment with a proud smile “Amazing, baby”

“Thanks, Heaths. Sang that solo for you” he added with a smirk, hand slipping around her waist.

“I saw” she answered as she passed her arms over his shoulders and around his neck “You looked really good while doing it too” the smirk widened and the hold tightened, bringing her closer to him to kiss her again.

“Take your lovey dovey acts somewhere else!” Bobby booed, nearing his friends.

“Hey, just because your sorry ass is alone doesn’t mean you have to hate on us” the raven haired girl replied with a teasing smile.

The boy scrunched his face and mocked her, which went back and forth between the two until Heather’s teasing and playful smile turned to a excited one.

“Wait! Oh, she’s looking again!” confused, the rhythm guitarist went to look behind him, but Heather shot her hand to stop him “Don’t look! Not yet... Okay now. See that pretty blond? She’s been eyeing you all night, dude!”

“For real? You think I should go talk to her?”

“Are you stupid? Of course you should go talk to her, did you not hear what I just said? Wait, here, clean some of this sweat” she took a towel and dabbed it over him, then pushed him forward when he didn’t move “Move, Bobs!”

“Thanks Heaths!”

The couple watched their friend jog over to the girl and introduce himself, saying something that she found funny. “I’m an amazing wing woman”

  [...]

The club was officially closed. After a couple of Caleb’s songs, that Heather had danced to with Flynn —more like they made a fool of themselves, but at least they had fun— and then she helped them put their instruments back in the van. Now, she held a mope in her hands, swinging aimlessly from side to side, humming to the band’s songs.

“I believe, I believe that we’re just one dream...” she picked up the pace of the song, closing her eyes as she jumped on top of a chair, spinning on her spot and using the mope as a micro “And we’re standing on the edge of great!”

The girl continued to sing her heart out, unaware of the pair of eyes that followed her very movement, watching the private show she put up for herself. When she finished the song, she let out a content sigh and a small chuckle.

“Woah” the word escaped Luke’s mouth before he could stop himself, causing Heather to jump and turn around.

The boy stood just by the entrance, an awestruck expression on his face. Red flushed Heather’s face, and she opened her mouth to stutter out something, but Luke didn’t let her, taking long strides to her.

“Heather, that was incredible! Why didn’t you tell us you could sing like that?”

“I usually like to keep the singing to myself, when I jam with you guys it’s quiet”

“Babe, you could be the lead singer of Sunset Curve! I’ll retire if that means you get to show everyone your voice”

“No” she quickly dismissed “Do not give up your dreams, Luke Patterson, you’re not allowed to do that. Not for me, not for anyone”

“But, Heath, your voice!” Luke was making big gestures, trying to get his point through.

He couldn’t understand how his girlfriend didn’t let anyone know of her huge talent. When he walked inside of the club again to help her, he couldn’t have imagined the scene that was playing in front of him, how she looked so carefree. She sounded like a goddess. It was a pleasant surprise, to say the least.

“I don’t like to be in the spotlight, Luke” she explained “You guys were born to perform in front of people, but I like to keep it behind closed doors. You understand that, right?” she took his hands, looking up at him through her lashes. He sighed and nodded.

“Yeah, I get it. But I really hope it’s not the last time I hear you sing” Heather laughed and shook his head, as Luke’s face lit up with an idea “Oh! You could perform for all of us in the studio! You’re cool with that, right?”

“I’ll sing with you and perform with you at the studio” she agreed, squealing when he picked her up and twirled her around “But you have to promise that if you guys record it, it won’t end up on social media”

“Of course, anything you need” he nodded quickly, bringing her lips to his “If I get to hear that voice again, I’ll even sell my guitar”

“I told you not to joke with that!” she chastised, hitting him on the chest and getting out of his hold. She rolled her eyes at his laughter and smirked to herself, handing him a piece of cloth “Make yourself useful and clean those tables, Rockstar”

Luke frowned, but complied.

He made her sing along with him in his car all the way back to his house, and suddenly realized that he had been an idiot for a long time. Why hadn’t he made her sing with him before? It was his new favorite thing to do.

#jatp #luke patterson #reggie peters #alex mercer #julie molina #willie jatp #carrie wilson #sunset curve #willex #charlie gillespie #owen joyner #jeremy shada #netflix #au #julie and the phantoms imagine #julie and the phantoms #luke patterson imagine #madison reyes

[wouldduskwood]

Jake's POV Descendants of Despair Part 53

As I lay beside her, I thought about how much I had changed. I wasn't obsessively checking my computer anymore because I had everything I have ever wanted beside me. Though I wanted to keep her safe, she also kept me grounded and real. I knew that, if it came to it, she could escape pretty much any situation. She had proven that to me on more than one occasion. This and her absolute trust in me helped me trust myself too. Trust that my hacks wouldn't fail. That they would notify me the instant something wasn't right. Now these fears only returned when she was out of my sight. She had made my life worth living. I wasn't just surviving. I wasn't just protecting the information I held. I was living life, for the first time in so long. My eyes soon grew heavy, holding her in my arms and listening to her sleep. As I began to drift, my mind wandered back to her laying Dan on his ass. Though my thoughts had a dream like quality to them, it still made me insanely happy.

I woke relatively early, holding her lightly and staring at the ceiling in quiet contemplation. She startled awake not long after and must have noticed my strange new discomfort. “It’s weird, isn’t it?” she asked quietly. I nodded thoughtfully. “I guess discomfort has become comfortable to us?” I questioned and sighed. “I should be happy, we had an amazing night...I slept in more comfort than I have in a long time, yet somehow it just doesn’t feel right.” It was a strange thing to admit, and I hated that she felt the same way I did. We should be able to enjoy comfort, not fear it.

“Check your laptop,” she murmured, sitting herself up on the bed. I stood uneasily, noticing how free my muscles moved with sleep in a proper bed. She got up with me and we got dressed, then as I went to check my laptop she began pacing back and forth. I wondered if she was as hungry as I was, we hadn’t eaten since yesterday before meeting up with Dan. When she picked up her backpack and rummaged inside, I figured she was. As she scavenged, I grabbed a couple of energy bars I had salvaged from the remaining food and appeared beside her, handing her one. “I grabbed a couple of these from the car last night. Thought we might need something. We can get some proper breakfast after I have checked where we are at,” I said as I opened my own bar and began chewing on it.

She accepted my offer and began eating, sitting close to me, watching what I was doing on the laptop screen. Because my laptop was so limited, I found I was having to flick from screen to screen to ensure everything was in good working order and there had been no attempted breaches. I was fairly engrossed in my work when I heard her mumble, “Hm,” quietly. I wondered what it was that had drawn her attention. “Yes?” I asked, pausing briefly in my screen flicking and typing. “Nothing, just...you’re still keeping track of Richy?” she asked. “You saw that, huh?” I replied. She really amazed me, I had been working at a fairly high speed to get us out of here as soon as I could and yet she had still picked up on what I was doing. “Well done, I am impressed. You know a fair bit about programming to pick up on that from the small strings you must have seen.” She shrugged in embarrassment. “You don’t mind me watching?” she asked in wonder. Her question touched on my epiphanies of the previous evenings. She was part of me and she hadn't seen it yet. Her question made me laugh in wonder. I thought I had shown her just how much she meant to me by allowing her access to my system but I decided she needed me to say it.

She glared at me as I turned to face her, shaking my head to try and gain control of myself. “Here’s the thing,” I replied soothingly. “I love you and I trust you. Usually my trust in people is based on what I have been able to dig up about them online. Not with you, you are a blank entity online. Anyway, I guess what I’m trying to say is, my reaction to you hadn’t made sense until I decided that you were made for me, as dumb as that sounds, I think of you as a soulmate...if they were to exist. Because you are truly part of me, I have made everything I do part of you as well. You have full access to my set up remember? You also have full access to my phone through yours. Everything I am, it is you.”

As I expected, she seemed happy but uncomfortable at my expression of love, so she turned away from my gaze and then pouted as I giggled at her reaction. “It’s okay, you don’t have to say it, I know how much you love me,” I replied smugly. She growled under her breath then leaped on me, but I was already expecting her response and caught her with a grin. “Okay, maybe we should get you some proper food eh?” I asked, trying to stifle my giggles. “Urgh,” she groaned. I closed my laptop and packed it in a bag then motioned for her to gather her gear as well. Though she had grounded me, I still didn't like to stay in one place for too long without a full compliment of tech gear to keep watch over us. Also, enclosed spaces started to get to me after a while. It is nearly impossible to escape from a small space like this.

Once we had cleared out the motel room of our personal belongings, we dropped the key on the table then put our hoods up and left. It was too early to head to meet Dan, so we had a little time to fill in before we would need to head back to the prison. “Let’s go through a drive thru,” I suggested, knowing full well that she preferred to eat healthy but unable to part from her just yet. “Then we can decide on our next steps.” I was pleased when she nodded in relief.

The first drive thru we saw, I pulled in and we argued briefly over the least disgusting options from the menu before both deciding on our breakfast. I pulled up to the window with my head down, we paid, got our order and left. She picked up her bag as if it was something she hadn't seen before and didn't trust, and sniffed it in mild disgust. I glanced at her and grinned. “Okay, I know, not the best but at least it's something.” she raised an eyebrow as she pulled her breakfast muffin from the bag. “...is it though?...” she asked. Her expression and reply were so funny that she had me laughing as I pulled the car over near a deserted park. “Okay, gross food is still food,” I grinned as I dug into my bag and began to eat. I had to admit, I too preferred the healthier options. We needed the physical fitness ability to keep on top of things.

“So, the plan?” I asked. “I take it there is a bit more to it than the simple stuff you gave the buffoon.” Surprisingly, and to my absolute delight, she snickered in response then became angry at herself so nudged me with her elbow. “Sorry,” I responded with a sly grin. Her reaction to Dan had been absolutely priceless. “Yeah, you need to have the cameras going, follow everything outside. If something happens, you need to get a signal to me without digital means. I can’t take my phone in with me, they will confiscate it until I leave and I would rather they had no access to it at all. I’m assuming Dan will have his, but again we won’t have access to it while in there.” She paused to take a breath and have a sip of water. I was thoughtful for a moment. This was probably the most important part of our operation and she had entrusted it to me.

“Okay, the programme you installed that gave me access to their system also gave me access to their alarms. If something happens, I will set off some form of alarm, nothing major that would cause a lockdown, but enough of a distraction that you can get out and hopefully it will draw the man without a face away.”

“Wow…” she gasped, sounding impressed. “Fuck Jake, you’re incredible!” she declared earnestly. I was so proud of myself that I couldn't believe it. “Uh...there is one other thing I want to do before we go. I may not get time after...I want to take down the traps on the roofs, in case an unsuspecting person gets hurt. I also want to look at whether the trap was tampered with on the roof the man without a face was waiting on.” She requested hesitantly. I wasn't thrilled with the idea. “I can’t stop it from happening can I?” I asked sadly. “No, not this time. It’s important to me.” she replied bluntly. How could I say no to her now? Besides, she was probably right, the traps, if they hurt someone, would draw more unwanted attention on us. It wasn't work the risk, even if that risk was minimal. However, if we were just on the roofing, I could work with that. “Okay, but this time I’m coming too. We will park as far away as we can, where there is access to the roofing around that area. Do you agree?” She thought for a moment, glaring at me intently. “Ugh, fine. But you keep your face hidden the entire time. You dismantle any cameras around the area first and if there is anybody looking at you, you go!” She replied in an attempt at compromise. I nodded solemnly and started the car. I was thrilled that she wanted to keep me safe...and that she had wanted to compromise.

Part 54

#duskwood jake x #duskwood jake pov #duskwood jakexplayer #duskwood jake x player #duskwood jake x mc #duskwood fanfiction #duskwood fanfic #duskwood jakexmc fanfic #duskwood #duskwood jakexmc #fanfiction #fanfic #duskwood jake #jake x mc #jakexmc #hackerman

[votederpycausemufins]

and you thought we would have less angst~! lol nope!

@petrichormeraki @helleborusangel 

Grifter left briefly and returned with Sefter and Grifect, taking them over to where Grian and Mumbo had taken Jrum. “Oh I had the best idea! Since you have your kids and Sense and I have ours, they could be best friends! I’m sure they can get along great!”

“I’m not sure that’s the best idea right now.” Mumbo said, keeping Jrum close to him. “Jrum is very vulnerable right now and-”

“I kinda do want to play.” Jurm spoke up, tugging on Mumbo’s pant leg. “It was something nice I got to do when I was with d- uh… Bad.”

Mumbo hesitated, but then nodded. “I guess it probably wouldn’t hurt. But if anything happens to Jrum-!”

“Oh calm down, I won’t do anything to him.” Grifter replied. “Besides, I’m sure he wouldn’t let me.” And he pointed behind him to a doorway where Xannes was just coming in, followed by NPG.

“Jrum’s okay!” NPG smiled, before moving behind Xannes when he locked eyes with Grifter, the hels admin crossing his arms.

“You’re out of prison.”

Grifter smiled and pulled himself close to Sense. “Of course. Wouldn’t want to leave this hot stud alone for too long, now would I?”

“Well, You’ve had time with him, now it’s time for you to go back.”

Grifter pouted. “But my kids are having a playdate with Jrum. You wouldn’t want to upset a child, would you?” Grifter’s pout turned into a sly smile and he moved closer to whisper to Xannes. “And Sense has said you’re such a softie when it comes to kids. Before you can do anything to me, I could do whatever I want to that robot. I could create a fun little feedback loop and break them like that. And you couldn’t do anything about it because you decided NPG is better to protect, hmm?”

Xannes wasn’t sure what to say that wouldn’t cause some problem, so he just glared. Grifter’s evil smile quickly turned to one that was much sweeter, and he pulled Grifect over, letting the child talk to Xannes. “Hi Mistew Xannes! Awe uwu weawwy the best hackew evew?”

“I… am known as the best hacker, yes.” Xannes gritted out after another smirk from Grifter.

“Wow! Thawt's so coow! Cawn uwu teach me how tuwu duwu stuff wike thawt?”

“Don’t you want to play with… whatever Jrum would be considered to you? Cousin or some shit?”

“Yeah! But cawn uwu teach me watew?”

“Yeah yeah, whatever.” Xannes growled, rolling his eyes. Grifect went back over to Jrum and Grifter tried pushing Sefter to play as well, but the older sibling refused to join in.

���Hmm, it looks like Sefter doesn’t want to play. I guess I should take him back to Prof. Sense, you can watch Grifect, right dear?” The evil scientist nodded and Grifter gave him a kiss. “Now Grifect, remember what I told you.”

“I wemembew!” The young bot replied, getting a pat on his head from his dad. Grifter left with Sefter after that, but Grian and Mumbo watcher where they had been.

“You’ve got a bad feeling about that too, right?”

Mumbo nodded. “After what we’ve heard about him, of course I do.”

.

.

.

Sefter twirled a sword in one hand while holding an axe in the other. Behind him, Tommy was tied up and stuffed in a large chest, muffled sounds being the only thing to escape the box. 

On the other side of the room, Grifter dragged Grum along, who was doing his best to resist. “P-please. I d-don’t w-want to g-go.”

“I don’t care! I need you for this, so you’re coming with me. No one will even notice!”

“N-no. I w-want to s-stay with T-Tommy. P-Please!”

“Stop complaining or I’ll rewire you for what I need. I’m sure it can’t be much worse than a lobotomy.” Grifter threatened in a cheerful voice. “Now let’s go!”

Grum was scared by the threat and then stopped resisting. Grifter found it much easier to move the robot now, though the screen changing to a smiley face confused him. He hefted the bot onto his shoulder, quickly sent a message to Grifect, and then they were gone.

The_Grifter left the world

Sefter left the world

The_Grifter joined the world

Grumbot_System joined the world

When they arrived in the SMP, Grumbot jumped off of Grifter’s shoulder and pulled out a sword. “Alright, I’m guessing that means you can also find Theseus from here, right?”

“Theseus is likely to be with the admin. The admin also has a needed item. That item must be retrieved.”

“Good.” Grifter smiled. “Take us there!”

Grumbot hesitated, buffering for a few moments. “Console commands have been disabled. Locating Theseus is not available. Reinstate programs before trying again.”

“Ugh, well how do I do that?” Grifter huffed, smiled gone. 

Coordinates appeared on Grumbot’s face for a few moments before it spoke again. “If it has not been moved, those should be the coordinates. There will be people around it.”

“And they know my ‘good’ copy?” Grifter asked, using air quotes.

“Correct.”

Grifter sighed and pulled on his new outfit, replacing it with a standard red sweater. He cleaned up his hair a bit, resisting the urge to mess it up again and then showed himself off. “How do I look?”

“You look like bzzt.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Grifter asked. Had the robot just censored a word. “I look like what?!”

“Was that not the goal? To look like bzzt? You did change into what looks like bzzt sweater.”

Grifter calmed down. “Oh, you were trying to say Grian’s name hmm? And people say I’m the bad one. He won’t let you say his name.”

“Incorrect. That is a recent addition as protection against the Admin and Dream.”

That got Grifter’s attention. “Oh really? So it’s something you’re doing on purpose?”

“Also incorrect. It has not been turned off and knowledge about the program is recent. It also cannot currently be turned off.” Grumbot explained in a deadpan voice, starting to walk to the quartz mansion, leaving Grifter to follow behind.

“Well now I’m curious. Why can’t you turn it off?”

“Another component controls that program.”

“Hmm, I see.” The helsmit nodded. “So, where are we headed?” He paused as Grumbot pointed to a building in the distance, far enough that Grifter needed to squint. “Over there? Pfft, why walk. I can get us there quicker.”

He grabbed Grumbot, and greenish magic swirled around them, teleporting them next to the building. “If you are attempting to mimic bzzt, that is not helpful for the image.”

“Pfft, it’s fine. No one saw. And if they did, I would deal with it. Now let’s go inside. I already know what I’m going with. Oh, and you better play along, or else.”

Grumbot nodded, making Grifter frown about that fact that it didn’t seem even a little scared from his threat. The helsmit picked Grumbot up before walking into the building, putting on a smile. “Hey, we’re back. Mumbo’s still back in Hermitcraft with Jrum keeping Tommy company.”

“Did you not figure out how to help him out? His body’s still here and obviously he didn’t come with you.” Philza spoke, having returned and Techno gone once again.

The helsmit didn’t need to worry about figuring out an answer because Grumbot quickly answered. “The revival process for those from this world requires an extra step in the form of an item that the admin was in possession of. He will need to be found.”

Those there glanced at each other, which obviously didn’t mean anything good. “What’s wrong?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. Fundy held out his communicator, letting Grifter look at it before showing Grumbot. Grifter held in a smile when he saw that Theseus was here, and it looked like his old admin was here too. The errored message was interesting though.

“Obviously it isn’t good news. Dream was bad enough, I don’t want to see what an evil version of him is like. Unless of course it’s an opposite version and he’s nicer.” Phil spoke again.

“From what I’ve heard? He’s not really that nice.” Grifter replied. Not nice to most people that is, at the very least. But he wondered if this Nightmare person would want to be on the good side of a Listener. In fact, he had already lost his server, hadn’t he? So what more could he possibly lose from some sort of partnership. “And while it probably isn’t a good idea to go near him, it looks like we’ll have to.”

“I’m not sure how long it would take to gather people up to help with that.” The hardcore player said. “A lot of people are still injured from the banquet and-”

Grifter cut Philza off. Grian would probably be concerned for his faaamily~. Ugh. “I’m sure I can do fine on my own. Even an admin can’t do much against a Watcher. And while extra help would be nice, you getting close could just end up being more harm than good if you end up in the crossfire. I don’t want to need to revive anyone else just trying to get this thing.”

“He will also be getting some assistance already.” Grumbot spoke up, and Grifter held in the urge to roll his eyes. 

“I’m not sure that’s the best idea.” Grifter tried his best to sound genuine. He’s pretty sure calling the robot by its name would be more effective, but to be completely honest, he had forgotten it at this point.

“There is to be no discussion on this matter. You will be getting assistance.” Grumbot replied, pulling out an axe. “And the sooner travel is started towards the new admin, the better.”

Grifter looked over the people in the room. Obviously getting Philza to look after the robot wouldn’t be a good idea. Even if he wasn’t like his own dad, the helsmit was sure he would be equally as experienced. The demon was off the table too. No way the robot would escape from that. The enderman thing could just teleport around.The fox hybrid might also be too quick on the draw, though he did look young. But no, the fluffy haired boy with little nubs of horns poking out, he seemed like the best option.  He even already had a kid attached at his leg, so adding another would make things tougher on him.

Grifter took Grumbot over to Tubbo and put the robot in the teen’s arms. “Here, try to keep him occupied. I’m sure those two could even play together.” Though Grumbot didn’t react, it looked like the ziglin liked that idea, making it even more likely for the teen to respond positively. And that he did.

The helsmit sent a little wink to Grumbot before giving it a hug and leaving the building. As soon as he was outside, Grifter leaned against a wall and waited for the robot to come out. In a few seconds, there was a commotion from inside and then Grumbot rushed out of the building. Grifter immediately pulled the robot into his arms and teleported them away before anyone could follow outside. “I’m hoping you got what you needed?”

“That could not be obtained.”

“Well then what the fuck was all that noise?”

“Attempting to reconnect programs followed by a necessary escape.”

“Ugh, well I’m sure everyone’s out looking for you now. I’ll take us back and you can do whatever the hell you need to.”

“That would be a good idea.”

Grifter teleported them back. The Fox hybrid unfortunately stayed behind, but the helsmit quickly bashed him over the head, letting him fall to the floor unconscious. “Hmm, I think I could have gone a little harder without killing him. Normally there’s more blood. Maybe I’m just out of practice?”

Grumbot didn’t respond to the banter, just staring at the replacement console. It didn’t need all the programs, but it would be so easy to just add them all back. Its arm reached to plug itself in, but the other arm’s hand stopped the first. Its screen flickered for a moment, and then it released its arm and plugged in. Just a copy of the coordinated program. That’s all that was needed.

When Grumbot unplugged again, Grifter picked it up. “I’m guessing that means you’re ready. Where are we headed to?”

Coordinates appeared on Grumbot’s screen and Grifter smiled before teleporting them there. They reappeared in a large field of snow, the helsmit glad he had changed back into a sweater. “You’re not going to freeze in this, right?”

“Correct.”

Grifter nodded and then looked around. “I’m not seeing them. Are you sure these are the right coordinates?”

“The coordinates were altered slightly based on movement, positioning and terrain. They will be four chunks in that direction in a number of ticks.” Grumbot answered, pointing towards a hill.

“Alright, sounds good enough!” Grifter shrugged and then started dragging Grumbot along in the pointed direction. When they reached the top of the hill, the helsmit looked around, smiling when he saw the people he was looking for. Theseus was following behind what was presumably Nightmare. Then the helsmit’s gaze drifted to a few blocks behind them and the extra set of footprints following the pair. It looked like someone was using an invisibility potion.

Grifter pulled out a bow and arrow, attaching his signature TNT to the end of his arrow, and then fired it so it would land in front of the pair. Not enough to hurt either of them, but enough to startle them at the very least.

When it exploded, Grifter teleported closer, leaving Grumbot behind. “Hi there. I don’t really want you going much further.”

“Who the hell are you?” Nightmare spoke as Theseus glared.

“Mmm… I’m sure you’ve heard of me. I’m a Listener. Grifter to be precise. I’m sure Theseus has talked about his much better older brother. If not, well I guess he’s just more of a little shit than I thought.”

“Nope, he never mentioned you. But I’ve heard of your kind.”

“Aww, that’s too bad.” Grifter pouted, pulling back another arrow and firing it at the invisible figure. “Anyway, nasty tail you’ve got there.”

Nightmare and Theseus turned around to see an arrow floating in midair, footprints being created in the snow with nothing visible making them. Immediately the invisible figure was pulling armor on, ready to fight. “Thanks for the tip.”

“Anytime! Anyway, I need Theseus. Apparently Dadza really likes him still and is upset he’s gone. I wouldn’t do anything, but he kinda cursed someone that I actually care about, so if I don’t do this, it’ll end badly for me.”

“Well tell him Theseus is staying with me. There’s still some training he never finished.”

Grifter’s eyes lit up briefly and the implications, but he still frowned. “Can I at least have him long enough to take back to Dadza? It’ll take five minutes, ten tops. If he doesn’t let me bring bitch boy back, I can just try killing him.”

“Try killing death?” Nightmare asked, sounding skeptical.

Grifter nodded. “Yeah, we’re pretty sure I’m the only one who can actually do it. It’s why people really prefer being on my side.” The helsmit’s smile shifted to something darker. “Which is why you should probably… you know… Listen. Besides, being on my side has plenty of perks!”

Grifter couldn’t see Nightmare’s expression because of his mask, but eventually he nodded. “Fine. But you better be back before those ten minutes.”

Grifter nodded, giving a beaming smile before grabbing Theseus and disappearing. Nightmare put his arms behind his head, acting bored, before pulling out an axe and shield at the last second, blocking an attack. “I know you’re still here idiot.”

The invisible figure didn’t respond, so Nightmare just threw their axe at the person, the blade digging into the armor, deep enough to break through it. “I guess the durability was low.” Was all Nightmare said as he popped his arm back into place, having dislocated from the amount of force he used in the attack. “So, got a na-” Nightmare continued before being cut off as he was grabbed from behind.

“You are in the possession of a needed item. It must be handed over.”

“And what are you supposed to be?”

Grumbot buffered for a moment before answering. “Console. The admin used a console for various jobs before he was taken away and replaced by you. You likely still have an Item needed for the revival process of this world in your possession. The surrendering of that item would be appreciated.”

Nightmare kicked Grumbot away. “Not a chance.” He then pulled out a sword, hitting away the invisible figure. “Not like I can do it with this person fighting me.”

“Then they will be eliminated.” Grumbot replied, booting up its combat program. It pulled out a sword, ready to attack, but then was pushed to the ground.

“Nah, you might be useful later. Get out of the way.” Nightmare said before pulling out a trident and stabbing it into the ground, impaling Grumbot’s arm and nailing it to the ground.

As Nightmare and the invisible person fought, Grumbot looked at the trident. Fortunately it only injured one arm, and as a robot, it was ambidextrous. It pulled the trident out and held it in its hand. With the combat program active, Grumbot angled the throw, adjusting for movement from the other combat, and then threw the weapon.

In a moment, Nightmare was the one stuck to the ground. The invisible person tried to take advantage of the situation, but Grumbot managed to push them aside. The face flickered and then changed to its normal self, though even then it still flickered a bit. “Look, I’m just after my book. Give it here and you can be on your way.”

No one moved, Nightmare wasn’t even struggling, so Grum pressed his foot into Nightmare’s chest. “Give it up, or we could just stay here.”

“Who are you?”

“I think you know.”

There was quiet for a bit, but then Nightmare pulled out a book. “Fine, but I’ll be getting answers.”

“No you won’t.” And Grum pulled the trident out again before smashing it down on Nightmare’s face, shattering the mask he wore before the body disappeared into a cloud of smoke. Immediately Grum closed his combat program and curled into a ball. He started crying at what had just happened, everything quickly catching up with him. But the danger was gone now, right?

The sound of armor moving drew Grum’s attention to the now formerly invisible person, the piglin now looking down at Grum. The bot immediately regretted closing his combat program and tried to boot it up again, shakily drawing his sword. He didn’t want to die again, especially now he had the- the book! Grum dropped his sword and grabbed the book, shoving it into one of his extra inventory slots. It was just in time too as Techno grabbed him.

“D-d-don’t kuh-kill m-me ple-please!” Grum stuttered out. He was lifted up, which he thought was a curious way to kill him, but he also didn’t expect fireworks as a weapon, so anything was on the table with him. 

Instead, Techno just moved Grum onto his back before leaning down and grabbing the dropped sword. “Already made the mistake of killing you once. Besides, you’ll get rid of my ghost problem.” And then he started walking. Grum was still a bit scared of getting killed, thinking the piglin could be lying, but he was also tired. He was glad he still had the trident, which was channeling at the very least, so he wouldn’t necessarily need his charger, but conserving power would be good right now, so he went to sleep.

#hermit!tommy au #hermit!tommy #grian #hels!grian #watcher!grian #grian xelqua #avian!Grian #mumbo jumbo #jrumbot #hels!jrumbot #tommyinnit #hels!Grumbot #grumbot #hels!tommy #dreamwastaken #technoblade #philza #still not a fan of how dream's persona eminates someone... problematic

[thiswasinevitableid]

For the prompt fill, number 3 for Indruck seems pretty fitting!

Here you go! Prompt 3 was “sweet” , Indrid’s design is based on a barracuda and I went with SFW on this one.

“Duck, can you do me a favor when you lock up?” Leo dumps orange taffy into a glass jar. 

“Sure, what d’you need?”

“Got some locks for the garbage cans; put ‘em on after you set the alarm out back. Somethin’s been getting into our trash every damn night for the last week. It makes a god-awful mess and I’m worried we’re gonna get a fine for littering.”

Duck nods, turns his attention back to the flock of tourists approaching the window. The afternoon is swallowed up in a pit of sugar-sticky air and blasts of welcome cold from the freezer. There are worse places for a summer job than Tarkesian’s Sweets--he’s right by the water, can watch the wildlife on his lunch break, and Leo is low-maintenance boss--but after eight hours on his feet getting splashed with soda or burned on the popcorn machine, he’s ready to head home. The trash locks have other ideas.

It takes ten minutes of cursing and fumbling to get the first bin secured. He doesn’t even know how the damn things are getting overturned; they seem too heavy for a raccoon or seagull to knock to the ground. 

A tiny splash behind him, probably a fish jumping. 

Then a crooked, shiny pole slowly enters his periphery. In dim yellow of the streetlight, he can tell the end of it is curved. It pokes inelegantly at the wall, then the locked can, then the wall once again, and then Duck’s leg.

The hook pulls back, pauses, then pokes him again.

“The fuck?” He grabs it when it goes for another jab, pulls up only for his arms to be wrenched towards the water. Not to be outdone, he tugs harder. His opponent retaliates with enough force that he almost tumbles off the pier. He growls, braces his foot on the railing, and hauls the hook and its owner up onto worn wood with him. 

It’s a guy about his age, angular face framed by a mess of silver hair and pierced ears. Figures it’s some sort of artsy punk swimming around poking people in the leg. That explains why he’s shirtless too. 

It does not, however, explain why he has a tail. 

“Rude.” The guy sits up on his hands, silver and black tail flicking droplets of saltwater everywhere, “I don’t go around stopping you from eating.”

“Look man, I just wanted you to stop jabbin me and knockin the trash over.” Maybe if he doesn’t mention the tail it will go away. 

“How else am I supposed to get at those odd, pulpy tubs full of ‘cookies and cream’ or ‘bubblegum’?”

“The fuck--wait, you were tryin’ to get the ice cream containers out of the trash?”

“Yes? I also want more of the caramel apples” he pronounces the last word “applees” causing Duck to giggle in spite of himself. 

“Look, I have to piece words together from the signs on your store. And you obviously know what I meant or you would not be laughing, so do you have any in the cans or not?”

“Nope” Duck gets his laughter under control, “sold out of caramel apples today.” 

“Drat” the visitor starts scooting across the pier towards the unlocked trashcan, “I’ll see what else I can find.”

“Wait don’t fuckin knock that over, Leo’ll be pissed at me if he comes back to a mess, and I don’t feel like pickin up trash because you want a snack!”

“But I’m starving!” The merman, because at this point there’s no way he can deny that’s what’s been rooting through the garbage, whacks at Duck with his tail.

“I know for a damn fact there’s food down there.” He points at the bay. 

“Only if you can catch it, and only if it is not in another mer’s territory. Which much of this area is; I am new here, young, and thus have no claim to any patch of sea.”

“You ain’t got any family?” Something pings in his chest. It’s the part of his heart that made him pick out the runt of litter when his mom let him get a cat on his thirteenth birthday, that means he always splits his lunch with Juno because she’s running track and needs it more than he does, that makes him tear up when he thinks about everything a sapling has to survive to become a tree.

“Merfolk leave home at sixteen.” The merman shrugs.

Duck sighs, grabbing his keys, “If I bring you somethin to eat, will you leave the trash alone?”

“Yes.” 

He shuts off the alarm, grabs a cone and fills it with bright blue ice cream. The merman is back in the water when he returns, arms resting on the pier.

“Oooh, my favorite!” He takes the ice cream, biting huge chunks out of it as Duck re-arms the door. 

Crunch

“...The container is edible!!”

He sits next to the merman’s arms, “Guess you wouldn’t have had an ice cream cone before, huh.”

“No, but it is lovely. I wish humans threw these away more often.” He polishes off the treat, licks his fingers clean with moans Duck hears in his dreams later, and smiles, “thank you for the meal. Goodnight.” 

There’s a final flash of silvery tail, and then Duck’s alone in the breezy night air.

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

“That’s a sandwich, correct?”

“AHfuck” Duck knocks over his water bottle in surprise. He’s eating behind the candy store like usual and not expecting an aquatic dining companion. 

“Apologies. I have seen you eating here before and thought you may like some company.” He sets a sea urchin on the ground and proceeds to bang on it with a rock. 

“Found some lunch?”

“I followed some otters; I was mainly trying to draw them, but they led me to a kelp bed no one else was in.”

“...Wait how do you draw underwater?”

“Let me finish cracking this open and I will show you.”

Duck spends the rest of his lunch break on his belly, the merman showing him a sketchbook and enchanted pen that conjures whatever colors the illustrator envisions. The mer is genuinely excited to talk to him. He assumes the nuzzling is due to him smelling like cotton candy; he doesn’t mind, the mer’s skin is cool and he makes cute little noises whenever he touches Duck. 

Before the stands, Duck asks, “You got a name?”

“Indrid.”

“Duck.” 

Indrid’s eyes flick to the nearby estuary.

“Yeah, like the bird. It’s a nickname.”

“I like it.” Indrid smiles, dives, and flaps his tail once in farewell.

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

“Cutting school again?” Indrid’s voice bubbles up by his feet. 

“Yep.” Duck watches the spring clouds roll by from his favorite spot on the beach. It’s secluded and far from town, meaning no one will give him shit for skipping class and nobody will see Indrid.

He worked at Leo’s until this past summer, only quitting at the start of his senior year of high school when Indrid pointed out that much of Kepler was surrounded by water and that, if Duck wanted to see him, he did not have to keep working at the candy store in order to do so. 

“Not that I mind the free food.” Indrid winks. 

“Just gonna bring you bulk ice cream from Safeway; no way am I missin out on that chirpin you do when you eat it.”

Duck slides the grocery bag towards the surf, “not like KCC is gonna rescind my offer. Ain’t a fuckin Ivy League or some shit.”

“And you will be happy there?”

“Yeah. They got a decent work-study program with the park, so I can still get a job as a ranger if I want to.”

“Oh. Good.” 

Indrid sounds sad, and Duck sits up on his elbows. His friend’s torso is fully on land, his tail fidgeting in the foam. 

“What’s up?

“I...Barclay told me his human is going to a school further inland, and I know there are many places you could got to learn. You...you did not choose to stay in Kepler because you feel the need to look after me, did you?”

“Course not.” Duck is sitting up now, aching to stroke Indrid’s hair, “I mean, I’m glad we’re still gonna be able to see each other, and I really hopin I can get a room near the beach so it’s easy to come talk. But this is the right choice for me; if I really want to, I can transfer to a different school in a few years, and I can learn a lot here without takin on a shit-ton of debt. Besides, ain’t like I think you’re helpless; I love bringin you stuff and rubbin your fin when it’s sore, but that’s because you’re my friend. Don’t think you’re helpless. I never have.”

“Not even when I was stealing trash?”

“Thought you were a fuckin nuisance, not helpless.” He playfully nudges his shoulder with his toes. 

Indrid turns his head and nips his calf, “How’s that for a nuisance?”

“Not much, felt kinda nice. Uh, I mean, uh, fuck, so, where’d that worry about my stayin come from?”

The mer crawls and wiggles until they’re shoulder to shoulder, “I think my future sight is finally developing; my fathers arrived around the time he turned eighteen, so it makes sense mine would arrive at a similar point. The trouble is, I am having a hard time telling the futures from my own imaginings and worries.”

“That fuckin sucks.”

“I’ll manage. All seers struggle at the beginning. I just wish I was quicker at learning whether certain timelines are really more likely or if they are just ones that I want to be likely.”

“Like what?”

Indrid glances at him, opens his mouth, then shuts it and faces the sea.

Duck smirks, “‘Drid, there somethin you wanna ask me?”

“No. Yes. Maybe? I, I just don’t want to pressure youOOOHhhh that’s not fair” he flops on his back with a groan as Duck scritches his upper tail, “you know I’ll do anything when you touch me like this.”

“Damn right I do. And what I want is for you to tell me the truth.”

Indrid whines, covers his face with his hands.

“Do it or I’ll stop.”

“Rude” Indrid lowers his hands enough that his red eyes peer over the top, “is that any way to treat a mer who wants to kiss you?”

Duck gives his answer by pouncing on his friend, pinning narrow shoulders into the sand as he devours his mouth in kisses. 

“You like that treatment better?”

“Goodness, yes.” Indrid pulls him back down, slipping his tongue between his lips and nibbling his neck when he finally stops to breathe. Then his hand flails sideways, grabbing the plastic bag and chucking it further up the beach.

“The, the tide is coming in and I, ah, foresee us working up quite the appetite.” He tugs Duck’s collar down with his teeth, nuzzling and licking across his skin with little hums of pleasure, “so I want to save those for afterwards. Who knows” he grins, “maybe we’ll need energy for round two as well.”

Duck cups his cheek, inhales the scent of the sea and the sight of his future, “I like the way you think, sweet thing.”

#Indruck #indrid cold/duck newton #mermay fills

[shadowed-artist]

Hi there! I really love your animatics and I hadn't realised that you had a Tumblr until today. Your art is freaking gorgeous! It's kinda messy and cute and it's just really great all around, awesome work. And your colouring is really pretty do. What do you use to draw/make your animatics? I want to make one as well, but I am *very much* an amateur with no digital art programs, tablets or pens. So what do you use and how did you go from art to animatics? Thank you for your time.

Thank you so much! This made my day

I use firealpaca for drawing and iMovie for putting the animatics together. I regretfully don't know the name of my drawing tablet because I got it as a Christmas present a few years ago and have since forgotten what kind it is (I also lost the box. whoops)

That's awesome that you want to make an animatic! They are time consuming, but it's honestly really fulfilling to look at the finished product and say "I MADE that!"

How I made the switch from art to animatic? Honestly, they are very similar (at least, the way I do animatics). My animatics are just many pieces of art stitched together in time with the song, so there wasn't really a technical process I had to switch from. I treat each frame as a simple sketch, then I just draw a lot of them

The biggest challenge of doing animatics is simply how time consuming they are and how many drawings you physically have to do. My "Defying Gravity" one used 218 drawings, not counting repeated frames, whereas my "Must have been the wind" animatic only took 79 drawings. The more details you want (and the longer the song), the more frames you have to draw.

If I were to do polished frames with proper line art it would probably take longer, but like you said, my style is "messy and cute" so I can get away with not being very precise. (Pro tip: it is much faster drawing hands if they are just vague hand-like shapes lol).

You say you have no digital stuff, so I'm assuming you'd want to use pencil and paper? I'm not gonna lie, doing an animatic that way is hard. I tried doing it a while back (before I got my tablet) and I never finished because I got impatient. (The benefit of working digitally is that you don't have to redraw extremely similar poses. You can copy layers, erase expressions, redraw an arm, and boom. New frame. It saves a ton of time)

That being said, try your best and see how it turns out! If my guess is correct and you're going to use pencil and paper, I suggest starting with something short (maybe a tiktok or vine audio?) just so you can get a feel for the process and see whether you can handle doing a longer song using that method

Most important advice I can give: Your style will evolve as you get more practice, so be kind to yourself if your first attempt doesn't look the way you want it to. I'm STILL figuring out how to shade properly, and that is something I will only learn with time. As they say, practice makes perfect

Did this help at all? I've been very sleepy all day and it's kind of late, but I wanted to respond before I went to bed. Hopefully something here is useful, best of luck!

(And if you DO end up making an animatic, feel free to send me the link or tag me in it! I'd love you see what you come up with!)

#oh I rambled HARD I am so sorry if you wanted a short response

[beclynn-herondale]

Heyy can I PLEASE request a Celine and Jace fic? With some clace? Please? *puppy doe eyes* 🥺

Yup, I want to write stuff for them so bad, and you gave me an excuse to do it 😉

Jace and Clary were on a mission together and they stepped through a doorway that took them to a space between worlds Jace supposed, all he knew for sure was that they weren't in their world anymore. Clary was drawing something out, trying to figure out what happened and hoping she could get them out of here.

"I don't know what happened, this is so weird," Clary said with frustrating.

"well hopefully the gang will figure out we are missing, unless this is the kinda place where time doesn't pass back home, and even though it could be weeks for us it could just be a couple hours for them, and–"

"honey your spiraling," Clary interrupted.

"oh," Jace let out.

"Maybe I can figure out some rune to help us out, so Angel now would be great!" Clary said

Jace was starting to realize he was actually anxious, he didn't know why, he was usually pretty calm in these situations, and besides they'd been to hell twice so why was this making him so anxious? Maybe because Magnus wasn't here, Magnus always fix everything and they really owe him for it.

He looked over at Clary who had some paper and a piece of charcoal out, she always carried those two items with her, it was something that made him love her even more, she seemed to be concentrated on a rune, but by the look of her face she isn't having much luck.

"honey," Clary said at Jace

"yes, Clar-bear?"

"what if we don't figure out a way out of here?" Clary said with a worried look

"we will my love, I promise," Jace said reassuringly

"I hope so cause there's something I need to tell you when we get back," Clary told him

"oh, what's that?"

"well if I told you then it wouldn't be a surprise," she teased

"ah, I see," he said with amusement

They decided to explore a little while Clary was waiting for a rune or something to come

It looked like some kind of house or manor that they were in, they were walking around when they heard a faint sound of a piano coming from a room, Jace being in love with piano music was drawn to it, it also felt so welcoming.

Jace found the room where the music was coming from and saw there was a girl with honey blonde hair playing the piano, she seemed vary concentrated on it and consumed into her playing, she also had brown-tan skin like Jace did himself, and in am odd way she seemed so familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.

"I've been waiting to finally meet you, Jace," the woman said

And Jace jumped, rare for him, he must have just zoned out a little

"wh who are you?" He said with anxiety plain in his voice and he cursed himself, "and how do you know who I am?"

"a mother always knows who her child is," she answered, "and I have heard much about you from Robert," she said

"Robert?" Clary said from the doorway, looking very pale

"yes, I know this is weird and strange, but you two crossed between the dead and the living, you will have to go back to the living side soon," she said

"oh, and I am, Celine, by the way, your mother Jace," she said, "I know this is a lot and you don't have to say anything, I just want you to know," Celine finished

"my– my mom?," Jace said with a mix of feelings in his voice

"your Celine Herondale?" Clary asked

"yes, I am, and you are Clary Fairchild, the girl who has loved and taken care of my precious boy, and who is very skilled and saved the shadow world," Celine said with a smile that said thank you, thank you, thank you.

"I– I don't know what to say, but thank you," Clary said back

"and Jace, I want you to know, it was never my intention to leave you, I wanted to give you all the love I never got as a child from my parents, I wanted you to know nothing but love and goodness, but when Valentine did what he did my last thought was that I would never get to meet this angel I had been waiting for for 8 months already. I did nothing but impatiently wait for you to come, I had so many things I wanted to tell you and teach you, and the last thing I wanted was for you to have to have a similar childhood that I did," Celine said with her voice breaking and tears running down her face. "Your father wanted you to be loved and taken care of as well, he had mixed feelings about you at first but after a couple months of me being pregnant, he started talking to you, and even though I know he never loved me in the way I wanted him to, that we both shared the love for this little human inside me," Celine said.

"I'm sorry, this is too much for you, and I am just rambling on," she said anxiously

"no," Jace said as he sat down on the floor, Clary doing the same beside him, "keep telling me," he said. As hard as it was knowing he would never have the chance to actually meet his parents and he still wasn't sure if he wanted to, but there was something about her voice that put him at ease.

"well, I know that you have had it hard and if I could take it away I would, I would take it all, but I can't, and you are who you are, but the person you are is so amazing and so worth it, I am so proud of you and I love you so much my sunshine," Celine said as more tears started streaming down her face.

And Jace noticed something wet dripping onto his hand and realized he was crying too, it was strange for him but he let himself cry, Clary was so silent and he was wondering why.

"Celine, I want you to know that I will take care of Jace always, I will love him and I will remind him everyday that he is loved and worth it, I will make sure he is safe, and make sure he will know nothing but love the rest of his life," Clary said

And Jace start crying more, he loved Clary so much it hurt and she made him more love them she knew.

"thank you Clary, you are so lovely and I wish I could know you, I wish I could be there but I can't, and the can'ts and what ifs in life hurt the most," Celine said with so much regret and pain in her voice that Jace felt a lump in his throat

"but I know my son is in good hands with you and the Lightwoods, I wish I could tell Maryse thank you as well for raising my boy, but I don't think she liked me much and I think she may already know in a way," said Celine

"I think Maryse liked you," said Jace, "whenever she does mention you on the rare occasion, she talks about with a look in her that says respect, maybe respect as a fellow good Shadowhunter but that's still something," Jace finished

"thank you for reassuring me, my love," Celine said to Jace.

Jace felt warmth at her saying that, a mother's love he would never fully know, he thought about the little boy who shut his true self away to please a parent who would never be pleased and how he would have loved this woman as his parent and he would have been a sun in her life

"also, I want you to know that me and Clary have started a program for Shadowhunters with mental health issues and we hope that it will help many, part of me wanted to start because of you, because no one ever got you help when you needed it and you never got to live your life like you deserved, I wish you could have and I wish you could have gotten the help you needed, you deserved so much more Celine and I wish I could have given you the love of a son and made you feel loved," Jace said with the realization that he just let go of all self control and spoke completely from the heart, he didn't do that very often

Celine walked over and hugged him, as well as give him a kiss on the forehead, she pulled Clary into the hug as well, Clary was now also crying and they had one big hug.

"it's time for you two to go, before your loved ones notice you are gone, but promise me something Jace," Celine said, "promise me you will continue to play the piano and never give it up for anything, and remember that you are so very loved by so many, and that you have and always will be enough, my sunshine," Celine finished.

"I will," Jace answered

"and Clary, thank you again for loving and taking care of my boy, you are lovely and perfect for him," Celine told Clary.

"you're welcome and I will continue to do it till I die," Clary told her, and they both shared a look of understanding.

"the angel told me to give you this, Clary," Celine gave Clary a piece of paper with a new rune on it.

Clary beamed at the new rune, that was his Clary and the nerd she was, Jace wished he could stay and talk with his mom more, but I guess we don't always get what we want he thought to himself.

Celine gave them both a hug and a kiss on the forehead before she disappeared and said 'i love you Jace, I swear to you I do, and I'll be waiting here when your time has come, but don't come to soon, live your life my sunshine,'

And with that she was gone, Clary drew the rune on paper and then they went back to where they came and she drew on the doorway and there was new york, they stepped through and Jace felt the familiar smells of home

"hey honey, let's go home and go to the greenhouse so I can tell you about that surprise and then we can call it a day and take time to process all of this," Clary said, "usually I would wait but this surprise can't wait," she finished.

Jace was now very curious as to what the surprise was but his mind was also thinking about everything that happened in that space between worlds, he wasn't sure he would ever really tell anyone and maybe by the morning it would all fade away but for the moment he was gonna hold onto the memories of his mom and how he looked like her in many ways.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They made it back to the institute and apparently they had only been gone a few hours for the others, they both got changed and cleaned up.

And when they say on a bench in the greenhouse Clary looked excited and nervous for what she was gonna tell Jace.

"so as you know, we have been talking about having a family," she said

And the first thought that went through Jace's head was that Clary was pregnant, but he let her finish, he would give Clary this.

She took his hand and placed it on her lower abdomen and said "and I hope you are ready for it to start getting bigger cause I am pregnant," she said with tears in her eyes, happy tears

"I am Clar-bear, I am," he said with tears making their way down his face and he felt the tension leave Clary's body as he hugged her tight and kissed her head.

They we're gonna be parents.

"Clar-bear, if it's a girl what do you think of naming the baby Celine? We could call her CeCe for short," Jace said.

"I think that is a perfect name," Clary said.

And they stayed there in each other's embrace and cried tears of joy over the fact that there was about to be more love and light in their lives.

I hope you like this anon, it's a miss but it represents my writing very well 🤣

I enjoyed this and almost couldn't stop writing it and there is a lot to take in in this but I like that it's packed, hopefully you like it and I hope you have a wonderful day 🧡💛🧡💛

#clary fray #clary fairchild #jace herondale #jace lightwood herondale #clace #celine herondale #celine montclaire #jace week #tsc #the shadowhunter chronicles #tmi #the mortal instruments #tmi gang #tmi fam

[connorandersons-blog]

Computer Virus

Connor gets a virus from a murder victim, but the only way to 'cure' himself is... you guessed it! Have sex! This has definitely been done before it was still really fun to write! I also blame the convin discord server for this. It's just pure smut with feelings thrown in at the end.

The reference to rape is from the victims of the crimes, Gavin and Connor very much want this and consent. There is dubcon only cause its the whole fuck or die and I wanted to be safe!

Word count: 3,037 Rating: E

Hope you enjoy!

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

He shifted in his sheet for what felt like the hundredth time since getting back from the case, trying to ignore the shivers and jerks that wrecked his body. He grabbed the edge of his desk, his knuckles turning white as his… problem got worse again. "Ha-Hank, I um, need help." It was getting too much, and he needed it to just stop. 

Hank hummed looking over with a raised eyebrow. "What's up, son?" 

"So, I uh, may have downloaded a virus." One that his systems didn't exactly know how to fight. "Normally I can fix it myself, but it isn't acting like a normal virus." It wasn't creating anything new but just enhancing things that were already there.

Hence why he kept staring at Gavin and having to stop certain programs, even when they kept coming back online without his permission.

He pouted when Hank burst out laughing, drawing nearly everyone's attention, even Gavin looked over rolling his eyes. Fuck, Gavin's eyes on him (or at least in his general direction) wasn't helping at all. Gavin caught his staring and stared right back with blinking. It reminded him of cats finding for dominance, and now he's thinking about that, fuck. 

He had to look away, trying to focus on Hank and not the rising heat in his face and his whole body for that matter. "Hank! This is serious! I got it when I connected to the victim." A dead one, so he thought it would be safe. Apparently, this virus didn't need power to stay alive, fucking wonderful. 

That sobered Hank up a bit, realizing exactly *what* virus Connor was infected with. "I am not helping in that way. Sorry, Con, I appreciate it, but no. Not happening." 

That only caused his blush to get deeper, shaking his head so quickly he's worried it would fall off. "What? No! I don't, oh my god, Hank, what the fuck? I meant I literally need help: I'm overheating!" 

"Oh. Uh, I can get you a drink? But you know what you have to do to kick this if you don't wanna burn up." Hank moved to stand, and Connor let him. They had both seen the burned bodies when the androids hadn't been able to work it out of the systems. 

And that was the problem. Connor would have to have sex with someone, the even worse problem was it didn't have to be consensual. With the cases they'd seen one too many sexual assaults due to it, which was hard to figure out how to charge them. On one hand it was self-defense, if they didn't they would die, but it was still rape. They'd let the lawyers figure that out, their main mission was to watch whoever created the virus. 

"I know, I know. I'm going to go to the bathroom, splash some water on my face so I can think clearly for a second." Standing was awkward but he shut down that program so he could at least make it there without his problem being too obvious. 

The bathroom was blessedly empty, he went to the sink. He yanked off his tie, tossed that and his jacket to the counter, and unbuttoned his shirt, the cool air making him shiver in relief. "Fuck." He grumbled, leaning against the counter. He cupped his hands under the cool water and splashed it onto his face, feeling the wet trail down to his chest. 

He didn't have time to pull his shirt on again before the door swung open and none other than Gavin Reed stoked in, eyes catching Connor's before sliding down to openly stare at his chest. 

"Jesus, what the fuck Tincan?" Gavin said, crossing his arms. 

Connor ran a hand through his hair, trying desperately to not jump Gavin here and now. "I'm having some technical difficulties, I apologize for my appearance." 

"Right… you know if I found a human-like this I'd say they were horny. Can droids even get horny?" Gavin leaned on the counter, apparently forgetting why he came in. 

"We can, the case I currently have deals with a virus that does just that but to the extreme. If the android does not release the tension they will overheat and die." He should have told him to just fuck off, use the bathroom and leave, but he wanted Gavin to know. 

"Right." 

"I've been infected with this virus." 

He watched as Gavin's face morphed into one of shock, then worry, then… interest? "Well damn. Can't you just rub one off? Not the first time someone's done that in these bathrooms." Gavin let his arms relax, eyes trailing up and down Connor's body. He lingered on his chest and crotch where there was definitely a tent to his pants. 

"It seems it must be done with someone else. I'm not sure why. I was going to contact one of my friends, perhaps Markus, to help if I couldn't get this under control." He knew Markus would understand, he'd been kept up to date on the case and had worried about the possibility of Connor getting infected. He had assured Markus it wouldn't happen, his firewalls were too strong and if it did get in he could work it out without a problem. 

"Don't you have like… android antibodies?" 

"Not exactly. This virus is different than most. I have to go and find the strings of code myself but they keep multiplying faster than I can delete it. My systems aren't recognizing it as a virus but part of my normal coding." Which just made it so much harder. And it took them a while to find in the androids since scans had said nothing was wrong. 

Gavin's face scrunched up adorably, trying to process the information. "Fucking hell. Well, how much time do you got left 'til you literally die from being too horny?" 

"Approximately thirty minutes unless I have sex, then the timer stops as long as I eventually climax." Might as well be as honest as possible if he really was going to die. It didn't feel real like it was just some silly prank, but he'd seen the damage. He knew how much agony the androids went through as they caught on fire and burned alive. 

"What the fuck?! You're going to die in thirty minutes but you're standing around talking to me? Go get some dick or whatever!" Gavin pushed away from the counter, shaking his head. Connor couldn't help but try to get closer, leaning forward just a bit. "... Why are you looking at me like that?" 

"I'm sorry, I'm trying to control myself, I swear." He tried to say it normally but it came out as a whine. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to take in slow breaths. The closer he got to the timer running out the harder it was to think clearly or even stop himself from grabbing Gavin and fucking him on the counter. 

He jolted, biting his lip to stop the moan that threatened to spill out when rough, calloused, warm hands ran up his chest. "Oh god," he whined, tilting his head to expose his neck. 

There was a tentative hot lick to it, a moan slipping out of him. "Can't let you die, I guess. Do you need to fuck or be fucked?" Gavin asks, fingers massaging Connor's chest. He shivered when those hands started playing with his nipples, getting them since and hard. 

He kept his hands to himself even as they twitched to hold and pull Gavin even closer. Each touch from Gavin was like an ice cube to his skin, burning cold, yet it felt so good. "I don't know, just need you." 

Gavin hummed, pulling Connor down enough so he could suck a nice big hickey onto his neck. "I can do that." 

No. Fuck, no this wasn't right. He weakly tried to push him away and off but his hands just holding him by his shoulders. "Don't do this, don't want to hurt you or… not without you wanting it too." He couldn't rape someone, he couldn't do that to Gavin or anyone else. 

Gavin paused, pulling away so they could see each other's faces. "I've wanted to get my hands on you from the moment you walked in. It was so unfair, it was like they stole you from my dreams and made you real. Drove me fucking insane." 

"Please touch me," he whimpered, leaning closer. It hurt so much, his body tugging him closer to Gavin to get anything he could from him. 

"Shit! Right, sorry Tincan." Gavin grumbled, crashing their lips together, teeth clinking awkwardly until they got into a fast rhythm. Gavin leans against the sink until Connor needs more and picks him up to sit him on it, slotting himself between his open legs. 

Connor ground his hips forward, hissing at the electricity that shot through him, making his arms tighten around Gavin. 

Gavin broke the kiss, gasping for air but taking the time to shrug his own jacket off and Connor grabs his shirt and yanks it over his head. He needed his hands on Gavin and he needed it now. His chest has some hair, and Connor couldn't help but squish and play with those soft but firm pects. 

"I want you to fuck me." He sighed out when Gavin scratched down his back. "I need you to, please Gavin."

Gavin sucked at the skin on his collarbone before pulling off with a soft, wet pop. It hit him that they were in the bathroom… at work. Anyone could walk in and see them and yet he didn't want to stop. It only made him want to keep going, the idea of being caught sending a thrill through him. He could easily say he had to, he had the virus after all. 

"Yeah, yeah ok. I, oh fuck, I don't have lube or a condom on me." Gavin leaned forward, resting his head on Connor's shoulder, biting down to keep his own moans quiet. The bathroom may have thick walls but if someone walked past there was the possibility they'd hear. 

"Don't need a condom with me and uh… I don't need lube either. I kinda self-produce it." Thank God for that. He could get away with doing it without on himself, it wasn't like humans could hurt him in this way. 

Gavin's mouth dropped open as he leaned back, eyes wide as saucers. "Well fuck me then."

"I thought you'd be doing the fucking," Connor teased, reaching a hand down to cup Gavin through his pants. He bucked his hips into the hand, letting out his own small whimper. 

"Fuck off! Shit, ok uh, how do you wanna do this?" Gavin asked, pushing off the counter, but his hands quickly went back to touch and pull Connor close. 

Connor glanced around before eyeing the stalls. He hooked a finger around Gavin's belt loops and pulled him into one, sitting him down. "This ok?" He pulled his own belt off, tossing it to the ground. 

Gavin nodded so quickly his head was sure to fall off, but he pushed his own pants and boxers down, eyeing Connor as he did.

The cold hit him up but he really couldn't care less. He hadn't even closed or locked the stall door before he reached behind himself and pushed a finger in. He bit his lip, working himself open quickly, eyes squeezed shut. He could hear the slick sound of Gavin fucking his own hand roughly at the sight of Connor. And if that didn't do things to him. 

He pressed a second finger in, then a third after a glance down at Gavin's length. It wasn't too long to be a problem, but it was plenty thick, flushed from the blood rushing through it. His lube had already kicked in, it had done that the minute he was infected but now he had an actual use for it. 

"Have you done this?" It was probably a stupid question to ask, but he wanted to make sure Gavin at least had an idea of what to do, even if Connor would do most of the work. 

"Trust me, I've had plenty of dick and given plenty. You aren't my first pretty boy, not by a long shot." Gavin smirked up at him with all the confidence in the world. 

Connor keened at the petname, nodding quickly. "Thank god, so have I if you're wondering." He had been very curious after deviating and had some friends that had no problem helping him experiment. 

Apparently, he was taking too long because his body started to tremble and the timer started up again. He pushed it out of his HUD with a small huff. "Shit, ok, you ready?" He positioned himself over Gavin, glancing down to make sure they were lined up. 

Gavin's hands rested on Connor's waist, thumbs rubbing soothingly into his perfect skin. "Course I am, take what you need, baby. I'm yours to use." 

His hands rested on Gavin's shoulder as he slowly sank down onto his cock, both groaning at the sensations. He just felt so sensitive, skin burning in a good way from where they were connected. He sat himself down, hips twitching but he needed to give them both time to adjust. 

Then Connor rose up and sank back down, again and again, speeding up to an almost inhuman pace. Gavin leaned forward capturing Connor's lips in a heated kiss. 

"So good, baby," Gavin mumbled when he needed to breathe again. "Keep going, ok? Shit, you're so beautiful." 

He rolled his hips just the right way that had him close to screaming, but Gavin was quick enough to stick two fingers into his mouth. Connor sucked on them, licking between them and swirling his tongue around the tips. Gavin pressed the other to the small of Gavin's back, almost reverently as he let Connor fuck himself just how he wanted it. 

Connor took the fingers out his mouth to intertwine their fingers, his other still holding desperately to Gavin's shoulder as their foreheads pressed together. It was close to being caring and intimate, but Connor didn't want to think too hard on that. Gavin was just doing this to keep him alive, nothing more nothing less. Right? 

Gavin kept mumbling sweet nothings against his lips, their breaths mingling as Connor's bouncing started losing its rhythm. "You close?" Gavin whined, his hands tightening enough that would hurt a human, but the pressure just felt good to Connor. 

He nodded, already feeling the tenseness come over him. There was a coil inside him but he couldn't get there, he needed something. 

"Come on, Connor. Let me see you come." Gavin pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. Gavin probably had no idea what he'd done, but Gavin saying his name like a prayer shook him to the core and he couldn't hold on anymore. He said it like he… like he loved him, but his mind went blissfully blank as he sat him onto Gavin's lap, squeezing around him. 

He could feel Gavin in him, feel himself being filled up but he went limp in Gavin's arms. The man didn't seem to mind, just putting his arm tightly around him as they tried to slow their breathing. 

He checked for the virus but it was completely gone and out of his system. He felt overheated but not unnaturally so now, now he felt content and satisfied in Gavin's arms. He pressed soft kisses to his shoulder and neck, leaving lazy hickeys here and there. "Thank you," Connor mumbled against his skin. 

"Yeah, no problem. Hopefully, you enjoyed yourself?" 

Connor nodded, his eyes still closed in bliss. "Very much so. Though we should both get cleaned up and back to work." Not that he wanted to even move let alone work, but he had responsibilities. He had to tell Hank he was ok and managed to get it out of his system. 

Gavin's hold tightened protectively around him, their hands still clasped together. "Nuh-uh, not yet. You fucked me so hard I need more than a minute and you're staying with me for it." 

Connor hummed happily, nuzzling at Gavin's neck before laying his chin on his shoulder. "Ok." 

The two sat there and no one even came near the bathroom (little did the two know, Hank had said there was a problem in there and told people to just hold it for now, and everyone listened). It was calm and warm, but he did pull off, making them both hiss. He sat back down, wrapping his legs around Gavin's waist. 

"Could we do this again?" He asked meekly, still hiding his face. He didn't want to push, Gavin was generous enough, but he didn't want this to stop. 

Gavin was silent for so long he was sure he'd be thrown off and yelled at for even thinking it was a possibility. But then Gavin pulled back, cupping his cheek gently and pressing the softest kiss to his lips. "Yeah, we can do this if you want. I'm ok with whatever you want, just sex or… more?" Now Gavin looked nervous, but Connor broke into a wide grin.

"More! More, please, I um, yeah I'd like more." This couldn't be real, but Gavin was still holding him and pressing kisses all over his face making him giggle. "Gavin!" He whined, his smile widening impossibly. 

Gavin smiled back, his eyes lighting up beautiful even in the bathroom lighting. "Good, cause so do I. But I think we should at least leave the bathroom, my ass is getting sore."

"Oh!" Connor jumped back, offering a hand to help Gavin up. They got toilet paper and cleaned each other up with soft words and laughter. They still both looked thoroughly fucked, but maybe people would think they just fought? One look at either of their necks would prove otherwise, but that was fine. 

He wasn't sure if he'd first thank or punch the person who created this virus, but either way, he would catch them. Plus Gavin had promised a reward for doing so, and he wouldn't fail his mission.

#Convin #dbh convin #convin dbh #convin fic #gavin reed #gavin800 #connor x gavin #dbh gavin reed #detroit gavin #gavcon #gavcon fic #reed800 #gavin reed x connor #connor x gavin reed #Connor #Connor Anderson #connor army #dbh gavin #gavin reed800 #dbh game #dbh fanfic #dbh fandom #dbh fic #connor dbh fanfic #detroit connor #Detroit: BH #detroit become human #detroit: become human #connor rk800 #rk800

[theliterarywolf]

How was the sequel to Tales from The Hood, a shitshow?

The original Tales from the Hood, while having some campy horror elements, still managed to present its stories and tone competently while still incorporating themes of struggles of black Americans in urban areas. 

Examples: 

A black politician who’s been trying to fight against police corruption gets beaten to death and injected with drugs post-mortem by said corrupt cops to slander his name. The politician returns from the dead to exact vengeance. Obviously this short tackles police brutality and corruption.

A little boy and his mother who are constantly beaten and abused by what he draws and identifies as a ‘monster’ who, it turns out, is the mother’s new boyfriend. The theme here is Domestic Violence and how often people try to brush it under the rug as just a way of life in the community. 

A former klansman-turned senator buys a building called ‘The Dollhouse’ that is of high historical significance to the local black community, despite their wishes and complaints, to serve as the headquarters for his racist campaign to become governor. The house in of itself was where a confederate-supporter, after the loss of the Civil War, decided to murder all of his slaves rather than see them freed. Their restless souls haunted the place until a ‘voodoo woman’ managed to calm their souls and place them into dolls. You can pretty much guess where this is going and the themes.

The final entry centers around a gang-member who, after getting hunted and shot down by rival gang-members, is taken into police custody and is given one last chance for freedom by a doctor’s new, radical behavioral therapy program. Said therapy takes a note right out of A Clockwork Orange and bombards our main character with alternating images of brutal gang-violence and KKK lynchings. After which, he is berated with apparitions of all the people he’s shot and killed; including a little girl who was a victim during one of his drive-by shootings. Of course, this kind of therapy will only be successful if the subject shows some remorse...

And all of this is wrapped in a framing device of three gang-members trying to find some drugs at a funeral-home, even harassing the funeral-director, which turns out to be a portal into hell.

... *deep breath*

I have to do a ‘Read More’ because this post got long. But I implore you guys to read on to see the abyss of insanity and bad directions that were taken in regards to the sequel of this movie. Please.

The sequel decided to throw ALL NUANCE AND TACT out of the window and give us such wonderful stories as: 

A white girl and a black girl are on a road-trip and decide to go to the... ugh... Museum of Negrosity where the owner chastises them on thinking that the uncomfortable racist memorabilia he owns (collections of minstrel show cartoons, golliwog and pickaninny dolls) are things of the past instead of acknowledging them as parts of America’s racist past. And, for some reason, the white girl is obsessed with buying one of the golliwog dolls because she had one when she was little. Anyway, they sneak back in later with the white girl’s brother who happens to be the black girl’s boyfriend, so they can steal one of the dolls. Through hijinks, the doll comes to life and grows to the size of a human being. The brother/boyfriend gets whipped to death, the black girl gets cut in half by a minstrel-colored guillotine, and the white girl... Fucks the giant golliwog doll, gets pregnant, and a few days later, has her stomach torn open as a bunch of baby versions of the doll go flying out everywhere.

Some gang-members track down a former pimp who’s changed his ways to try and shake him down for some owed money. He doesn’t comply, so they kill him but, golly-gee! How are they going to get the money now~? Oh, I know! Hold a scam medium hostage so he can perform a seance to talk to the pimp to find out about the money. But, oh no~ It looks like the medium’s powers decide to actually work this time~ Ooh~

Two douchebags hookup with two hot chicks and, after the world’s worst game of Cards Against Humanity, they decide to roofie the girls so they can record themselves raping them so they can post it to ‘le dark web’. ... Lo’ and behold, the girls turn out to be vampires who were playing 4D chess to rope the two douchebags in so they can use them for their own recording-something-brutal-to-post-online scheme. 

And... The LAST one. Oh my God, the LAST ONE. *deep breath* Okay.

So we follow a black republican councilman who is married to a white woman and they’re expecting a baby after a long line of miscarriages. But the wife is having weird bouts of bad dreams and insomnia. What are the bad dreams about? 

... I need you guys to understand. That I am not shitposting when I type the following words. *deep breath* Okay. 

The wife is being haunted by the ghost of Emmett Till telling her that she doesn’t deserve to have her baby. You know? Emmett Till? The victim of one of the most brutal, horrific murders in America due to one of the most disgusting, vile acts of racism? THAT EMMETT TILL?!

So..! The black councilman is working for a white politician who... I’m just going to put a direct quote from the movie so you can get where they were coming from.

“That man wants to close down ten more voting locations, all of them in black districts!”

Anyway, after a house-call from a doctor who brushes off the dreams as hormones, the councilman hosts a party for the politician who’s running slogan is ‘Let’s take Mississippi back!’ Gee-golly-willickers! Can’t imagine where they were coming from with that one!!

So the party goes on, the politician even congratulating our councilman on his ‘white wife’, but said wife rushes downstairs after having another dream; ranting about ‘that boy from the field has decided to LIVE! And if he lives, our baby’s going to die!’ And she runs outside with a machete to try and kill the ghost of Emmett Till (who, again, very real person and victim of racist brutality). 

So the councilman’s mother and the local voodoo expert drive up and the voodoo expert tells the councilman that Emmett Till is trying to talk to him about the nature of sacrifice. The next day, the wife is talking about how her stomach is getting smaller, but the councilman doesn’t want to hear any of it and calls the doctor again. And, guys..?! If shit hadn’t jumped the rails before?! The train just starts doing cartwheels from here. 

The doctor is suspiciously short-tempered with the politician this time around and he does examine the wife to confirm that her stomach is indeed shrinking. However, when he’s told that the councilman is the father, he storms out and snaps “I don’t work for coloreds!” 

Then the wife runs out of bed and tells the doctor that the councilman isn’t her husband and that he kidnapped and raped her. So both the wife and the doctor drive off and the councilman realizes that the world has somehow gone back to the era of Jim Crow. 

... Oooh my gosh, typing this is making me want to commit toaster-bath but it gets so much worse..!

So, after the voodoo expert comes to chastise the councilman about not ‘respecting the sacrifices that have been gifted to you’, he is able to see the ghost of Emmett Till (who was a real person, why is this happening..?!) who is there to tell him that he’s decided that he wants to live. Which means that the world will never see the brutal images of his body at his funeral and that will cause a Butterfly Effect in history that will make it so that the Civil Rights Movement never happened. 

You may be questioning the logistics of this, but don’t worry! The ghosts of the girls killed in the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing in Birmingham come to explain and further berate the councilman about ‘respecting the sacrifices that have been gifted to him’ and working for a racist politician. 

But wait! There’s more! *whines* I keep crying out to God but he won’t answer...

They’re soon joined by the ghosts of the three Freedom Riders who were killed during the Mississippi Burning Murders, the ghost of Civil Rights Activist Medgar Evers, and DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. 

Not to mention several other unnamed figures who walk up while everyone else starts chanting about ‘respecting the sacrifices that have been gifted to you’, who look like Rosa Parks and Frederick Douglass, just to name a few. 

... I need a drink. I need a cold, stiff drink. ... Almost done. 

So, in comes the Klan. You know, the white-robed bastards; I hear they have an outreach center a few cities away from me. Sure, fine, whatever. The wife is leading them along with the white politician who hits the councilman’s mother in the face with a baton and Emmett Till stops time just as reinforcements show up to tell the councilman that, in order for everything to go back to normal, he has to join the ranks of those who sacrificed. 

“If what you want is worth us dying for, how come its not worth you dying for?!”

And, at first, the councilman disagrees; even being dragged away by Klansmen. However! It’s his wife angrily spitting in his face that makes him realize that this world isn’t the world he wants to live in. So he runs over to Emmett Till to tell him that he will join him... And then he’s beaten to death, becoming a sacrifice to get the world back to normal. And, once it is, his spirit joins Emmett Till’s and walks off into the great beyond. 

So! Not only did this schlocky, B-movie horror movie sequel decide to use a REAL LIFE VICTIM of racism-driven brutality as a story-device, but it also wants to put forth the message that the people who lost their lives during the Civil Rights Movement? Yeah, they HAD to die! Otherwise the Civil Rights Movement would never have happened~!

You see why I hate the sequel to Tales from the Hood so much? Not even mentioning the terrible framing segments of a racial-profiling robot being told these stories so it knows what ‘criminals’ to go after, but this movie is just a temple of ‘WHY?! WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS?!?!?!’

#Anonymous #replies

[freebooter4ever]

i’ve seen the discussion going back and forth on boundaries and sexual objectification, and i don’t have much to add to the conversation other than to say everyone is allowed to determine their OWN ‘lines’ and just because we don’t vocalize them doesn’t make them any less valid. but here’s the limits i set for my blog if anyone feels it is important for them to know (<3):

personally I consider ‘characters’ fair game for anything goes, with ‘public personas’ a little more iffy. ‘RPF’ isn’t new - it just takes on a new more accessible/visible form nowadays. i remember reading my first fic about a ‘real person’ back in my LOTR fandom days - it was a story in first person perspective about the main character meeting orlando bloom on a plane before he was ‘famous’. like a lot of these types of stories, it wasnt so much about the person as it was about the meet cute. the actor was just a convenient placeholder with a handsome face and some personality quirks thrown in to make the romance/dialogue more specific. i personally dont read much xReader fic nowadays, but mostly only cause i’m an old fart who can’t relate to the ‘you’ format. i miss the good old days when people actually created OC’s and then inserted them into things LOL. but also LOL if you think i’ve gone an entire year of quarantine without some imagined personal fantasies of joe mazzello (or steve aoki in the years before)(ramilicious can attest to this. she can also attest to most of these fantasies ending in friendship rather than anything explicit cause that’s just how i roll these days lol). the line i draw is i would never post these types of fics in a place where the subject could accidentally find them - you have to go looking for this stuff on tumblr, most fics are given explicit ratings and under read-mores. with the blacklist tags it’s pretty easy to filter things out. its even easier to add filters to ao3 searches. i am NOT going to do something like message steve aoki and say ‘yeah i watched that movie Ibiza like five times, here is my 1k fic where you’re the dj and i’m the one night stand’. but obviously people still enjoy imagining scenarios like these otherwise movies like Ibiza wouldn’t exist?

for art, i consider anything already on display up for grabs, we all know a certain person’s ass is all over the place...all you have to do is google ‘need for speed’ and rami’s name. HOWEVER, in the case of actors i personally would not draw anything more explicit than what’s already there. i’m not gonna draw full frontal nudity for rami (unless he gifts us with it in a movie, i suppose) or anyone. this is 100% a personal choice for me. 

i was a sophomore or junior in college when i volunteered as a figure drawing monitor where i’d time the nude model’s poses and help them set up the stage and lighting and such. there was this one guy in his mid forties probably, a regular who came every week, and i always thought of him fondly till one day (the day after i ran into my Hot Programming TA during dinner and later sent him an email begging him to go on a date with me because i was desperate for kissing experience)(and Hot Programming TA emailed me back within minutes saying yes) this artist guy who i saw all the time and thought i knew fairly well, decided to draw me instead of the model. which would have been fine except he drew me naked. i was NOT naked at the time, i was wearing a shirt, and a bra, and a full prairie skirt with alternating calico and floral patterns. he drew what he imagined was underneath all that. he came up to me after the figure drawing session and showed me his drawings and told me i had been ‘glowing’ and my response was to laugh it off awkwardly and get the hell out of there as soon as i gave the model their pay check. but inwardly i was thinking a) i was NOT glowing for this creepy man twice my age and b) i did NOT give him consent to sexualize my body under my clothes and then SHOW me that objectification. i never said anything to him or anything else, i continued to be the monitor, and i continued to field off creepy advances from him including multiple job offers, but when i finally realized i could just...stop..and i passed the student volunteer monitor job on to my friend naeem, i also realized that what that older male artist did was NOT ok in my book. and it was probably not something he would do while naeem was monitoring.

nowadays im working in an industry that regularly objectifies female bodies. in the past year alone i have had to deal with requests to make breasts bigger, i have been given character rigs that in addition to the usual elbow, knee, and spine joints also have ‘nipple’ joints but ONLY for the women (to make them jiggle for animation), every time i send out a female pose i get it back with notes that push it further into the sexy type of body language reserved for women (twist the spine more! sway the back more! give it ‘energy!’), i have been told to erase wrinkles and fat and pores but ONLY for the women (men you ADD pores bc realism! and manliness!) and this is all me working for a company that is actually fairly progressive in terms of sexism compared to OTHER studios.

like it or not, sexual objectification is a huge part of specifically women’s lives and how we react to that is our business. for me, turning the tables and putting men on display feels like fair’s fair. i cant stop the men from doing it, so if i want to enjoy sexualizing male bodies, damn it im gonna! like dang it, boy do i want to send steve aoki a thank you note every time he posts a video of himself doing those ice baths during the sunset golden hour bc holy shit gorgeous or working out in his gym wearing VERY little clothes, but i dont because i know what its like when someone imposes their personal fantasies on the subject. or, god, there was that time i had to unfollow nicole’s insta for a while bc i had a very explicit dream about her and realized, shit, i need to take a break and get my emotions under control before i can refollow. and god some of the stuff i see dudes sending her during her live videos on mental illness/meditation is TOTALLY gross and not something they should be confronting her with. and she’s not even ‘famous’ famous. or how some fans send their idols explicit direct messages without consent. THAT feels inappropriate to me.

a part of me feels like i shouldn’t have to defend this. men don’t. they’re even encouraged in mass media to sexualize women. but i also recognize the importance of talking about consent. the importance of recognizing that a celebrity deserves to have their boundaries respected. these are my lines in fandom. other people have different lines they won’t cross, and that’s okay to me. i block or blacklist any blogs or tags i think go over the top.

heck, even in fandom-only spaces i still try to keep my own more sexual fantasies off this blog and only in private messages with my friends and mutuals, and i feel like that might come across as unintentionally prudish or judgmental sometimes. i’m not ‘horny on main’ very often. but like...every time i reblog that particular ‘washing machine’ gif of joe mazzello am i thinking about him naked and thinking about how he’s got very loooooong feet, and ‘gee i wonder if that means /other/ things are Too Big for my tastes’ but also ‘gosh wouldnt that make a pretty picture to draw’???? hell yeah.

i dont know who is gonna actually read this essay but yolo i guess :)

#journal shit

[getcooler]

The Warlock and the Roommate

Bang Chan (Skz) x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 8k

Genre: Fluff with a hint of angst; Warlock!AU

MAGIC!AU: Hiding his magic from his roommate is more difficult than he thought it’d be. Especially when he’s had a crush on her since Freshman year.

This a spin-off fic of Inseparable (Lee Know).

Chan sat in his bedroom, head in his hands, lost deep in his thoughts. Hiding his magic had never been a problem before. Why was he struggling with now? He wondered if he’d gotten weaker, or maybe stronger? Was he losing it? What exactly was different now from three days ago?

A clatter of dishes sounding from the kitchen reminded him. 

His roommate. She was the difference from three days ago. 

In the earlier years of college, Chan had never had to share his dorm with anyone. That was thanks to not only the well-timed requests but also the spell of luck he cast every year. Who would have guessed that missing the spell once would land him in the situation he was in? (Well, the answer is probably Seungmin but Chan was having none of his know-it-all attitude that day).

He stared at his door as the reality of the situation set in: he would have to hide his magic for the rest of the school year, no matter the cost. Even worse, the person he had to hide it from was the one person he became a blushing mess around, his crush of two years.

“It’s not that bad. It’s easy enough,” he comforted himself with a huff and an arrogant shrug before diving into his sheets. He let out a quiet sigh, convinced it was going to be a piece of cake.

Chan had never before realized how difficult life could be without constant access to magic. Even now he found himself snapping his fingers just to have a glass of water appear in front of him. Even now he still mumbled spells to keep the hot water from running out for just five more minutes. All in all, it was a miracle (Y/n) had not figure his warlock status a whole week ago.

To add to that list of problems, Bang Chan had a habit. It was a habit he could not break. You see, like many other warlocks and witches, Chan had developed a morning routine to help him balance out his magic. Some drank coffee, some drank whiskey, some walked their familiars, some read a book, some… Made their clothes dance before putting them on.

He, Bang Chan, belonged to that last group of some. And it hadn’t been a problem at first, but it had become one recently. 

After all, how would he possibly explain the hoodies shimmying on his floor as he salsaed around his room to a song on the radio that he fit in the playlist using a spell? 

Even though he knew he should just find a new habit and force himself to forget this one, Chan always followed the routine on instinct from the moment he opened his eyes. 

Without thinking, he snapped his fingers while rubbing sleep out of his eyes and the radio came online. He heard the ending jingle of the seven o’clock morning news and the chirpy voice of the male host. Chan had no plans on focusing on the senseless chatter about the Kardashians this early in the morning. 

Another snap, his blankets rolled themselves up and off his body. He shivered from the cold morning air but smiled. With a stretch of his arms, he began climbing out of bed.

A third snap and his song interrupted the radio program. Sometimes Chan had half a mind to think about the poor radio hosts who by that point must have thought their program was haunted. 

Mindlessly, he began shimmying and moving his hips as he walked around his rooms. Every few beats, he would snap his fingers and a clothing item would come to life to dance along with him. Chan chuckled as his favourite hoodies began salsaing, the sleeves tying together in an embrace. 

Then a knock sounded on his bedroom door and Chan felt like a naughty child being caught with his hands in the peanut butter jar. His eyes widened at the sight of all the clothes freezing and mocking the movement of checking their surroundings. 

With a panicked snap of his fingers, his clothes became just clothes and the radio hosts could breathe in peace again. Shakily, he looked around before opening the door. 

There stood (Y/n), his new friendly roommate, clad in no more than three items of clothing. Chan found himself willing a blush to not appear as his eyes wandered downwards.

Fortunately, (Y/n) didn’t seem to notice, too sleepy to do so at such an early hour, and just stared at him tiredly. After some silence, she finally sighed and asked, “Why the hell are you awake at this hour?”

“Why shouldn’t I be?” Chan wondered sheepishly, a shy smile on his face. On instinct, he reached up to rub the back of his head. 

“Because it’s seven in the morning on a Saturday and your roommate wants to sleep?” she reasoned with a cocked eyebrow before sighing and shaking her head. With a quiet curse directed his way, she walked back to her own room. 

Chan squeezed his eyes shut and facepalmed in his doorway. Turned out this year was going to be more difficult than he had thought.

Difficulties just didn’t seem to cease. No matter what, Chan kept finding himself in sticky situations. To add to that, he had been so busy trying to avoid being caught using magic that he had completely forgotten to bond with (Y/n). Even his friends could see it was an issue.

“You’re wasting your energy,” Seungmin pointed out with a bored roll of his eyes. Under Chan’s glare, he stirred his lemon tea and spoke, “It took Felix only two months to figure out you’re a warlock and he’s not even a B student.”

“I get Bs!” Felix protested to that, slamming his bubble tea on the table and spilling some in the process. He cursed but mumbled, “At least I have more friends than just a broomstick.”

Seungmin glared at him and turned back to Chan. “Is there even a point in hiding your magic from her?”

“What? Am I just supposed to walk around with a giant poster claiming I’m a wizard?” Chan questioned sarcastically. To his surprise, Felix didn’t seem to catch on to the sarcasm and nodded enthusiastically. 

This earned the boy a slap in the head from Seungmin. “You’re both being ridiculous.”

“I have a very serious concern,” Chan whined. “Help me, guys!”’

“And how would we do that?” Seungmin wondered. 

“I don’t know…” Chan pouted and placed his chin down on the table, staring up at his friends with wide eyes. “You could take away my magic for a while? Until I grow used to not having it?”

Felix blinked, shared a look with Seungmin, and then slapped Chan upside the head the same way Seungmin had done to him just moments ago. The oldest boy whined and held his head, scrunching up his face in pain. 

He turned to glare at Felix who was already staring at him in complete disbelief. Chan was mildly taken aback by the intensity behind the boy’s eyes. 

“Why in the world would you give up your magic?” Felix asked with a frown. “Don’t you have a giant crush on her? Shouldn’t you want her to find out you have magic? So she’d think you’re cool?”

“I don’t want her to find out,” Chan pointed out with a sad tone. “What if she ends up hating me?”

“I’m sure she thinks you hate her,” Seungmin mentioned not-so-subtly while taking a bite of his lunch. He glanced a few tables down and motioned for Chan to do the same. “It’s a shame. She’s kind of pretty.”

“Bro, he knows,” Felix snorted at that before stuffing his mouth with ice cream. He glanced at Chan with narrowed eyes, pointing a fork in his way as he spoke, “If you ask for my opinion, I think you and her are meant to be. I mean, how else would you explain you two moving into the same dorm?”

Seungmin raised an eyebrow. “They probably picked the roommates with a draw or something. It’s not that deep.”

“Or she could be your soulmate,” Felix said seriously. His statement earned disbelieving glares from his friends. 

He scoffed and shrugged, “In the past year I’ve witnessed dancing clothes, talking plants, crazy intelligent cats and a love potion. You can not, and I repeat, NOT convince me that soulmates are not real.”

Seungmin paid him no mind and launched to a new topic, “So, anyways, that Psychology midterm—”

Evenings were always calm in the dorm, with Chan studying at the library and (Y/n) enjoying her free time. Being alone in the apartment, (Y/n) often found herself wandering around and peeking at things she usually wouldn’t dare to. 

This evening was just like any other. Chan had left for a study session about two hours ago and (Y/n) was sitting at home alone, mindlessly watch whatever came on TV. Bored beyond belief, she began looking around once again. 

There was nothing very interesting lying around. Only text books and crumpled essays on the coffee table and Chan’s red hoodie thrown on the floor in a hurry. Then, something caught her eyes.

“What’s this?” she mumbled to herself and reached for the item. She held it up towards the lights to inspect it. 

At first glance it looked like a stick, dark and slightly crooked and a bit sharpened at the top. As (Y/n) focused more, she began differentiating shapes and engravings in the wood. She had a thought. 

“What if it’s….” she voice aloud and grabbed the stick in her dominant hand. She was baffled to find how comfortably it fit in her palm. 

Before she could test her theory, the door to the apartment opened. (Y/n) turned to glance at the intruder and found Chan staring at her with wide brown eyes and all the colour gone from his face. 

“Hi,” he stuttered out rather quietly as he slowly neared her. For a moment, (Y/n) felt like he was trying to talk to a wounded and scared animal. “What’s up?”

The girl blinked before turning back to the stick in her hand. Cheerfully, she pointed out, “I didn’t know you were a Potterhead. This is a pretty realistic wand.”

“Oh. Right. Yeah, I’m a…” He chuckled nervously. “I’m a snake, as they say. Yeah.” 

Chan seemed to sigh in relief and (Y/n) felt more confused by the minute. Why in the world was her roommate gasping for air and shaking in his spot? He looked like he had seen a ghost or almost had his deepest secret revealed to the world.

She scoffed at the thought. It’s not like this was a real—Oh. Her eyes widened. 

As she came to her realization, the wand seemed to respond. The vein-like engravings began glowing a dim golden and (Y/n) could feel her power being drawn to it. She gulped. 

Deciding to play it cool, she forced out a sound of surprise she hoped was realistic and called out, “It’s so realistic! Oh my goodness!”

At that Chan’s eyes seemed to grow twice their size. From the corner of her eyes, she could see him gulp and fidget with his wristbands. She found herself growing anxious as the boy contemplated on what to say. 

To her relief, he spoke up soon enough, “Yeah. Very realistic. It was also like… Very expensive so if you could maybe like…” He reached out his hand, palm faced up. (Y/n) gladly took a hint and handed him back his wand. “Thanks.”

(Y/n) found herself entranced with his panicked expression as he rushed towards his room. She wondered what she could do to see that cute side of him again.

Bang Chan truly believed that his life could never have any more excitement and anxiety than the moment (Y/n) had found his wand two weeks ago. There hadn’t been another close call since and he was absolutely revelling in it. 

Perhaps he was attempting to test his luck, or perhaps Seungmin was right and he had gotten cocky (Chan refused to believe this theory), but on a nice Friday evening, just before sunset, he began working on a potion. He tried to convince himself that this was just for practice and Seungmin was absolutely not right this time.

“Nothing can go wrong today,” Chan told himself, unable to find any anxiety or worry in himself or the day at all and, as the last rays of sun hit the kitchen just right, he took out an old worn cauldron hidden at the very back of his cupboard.

While cheerfully humming, he pulled out his potions’ notebook. It looked tattered and the cover was illustrated by childlike flower doodles. This was the least suspicious form for a potentially dooming collection of potions he could think of five years ago and, to be honest, he was absolutely proud of it.

Slowly, he began flipping through the pages, partly to give himself time to think but mostly to stop himself from damaging the worn paper any more. He winced and whined every time he accidentally tore the fragile leaves.

Deep in thought, he began reading out the titles of the pages to himself, closer to murmurs than actual words. “Strength potion… Invisibility brew… Potion to turn oneself into a carpet for 3 hours? Why do I even have this?” He scrunched up his nose and continued browsing. After a while, his eyes brightened and the corners of his lips quirked. “Love potion. Today is perfect for brewing a love potion, yes it is.”

He placed the cauldron on a cooker and let water start to boil. When bubbles broke the surface, he began adding ingredients one by one and was surprised at how many components the potion had. He tried to recall the last time he had made a brew of more than fifteen components.

“Oh, right, fifth grade,” Chan mumbled to himself and hummed appreciatively all the while stirring in a spoonful of lavender blossoms. 

“What was in fifth grade?” 

The voice startled Chan and he almost threw his spatula. He only calmed a bit upon seeing his roommate’s familiar face. With a hiss, Chan said, “A warning would’ve been nice. Maybe like,” he shrugged with a tight-lipped smile on his face, “a knock?”

“Oh, right, sorry,” (Y/n) replied to him. Just by looking at where her gaze was pointed, Chan could see she didn’t really mean it. He resisted the urge to click his tongue at her lack of respect but just a second later he was choking in surprise. “What are you making? Soup? Smells sweet.”

Chan swore he must have coughed up all the air he had breathed in throughout the day. His eyes were wide and panicked and he could only hope he wasn’t completely red in the face as he replied, “Uh, no… A tea, actually.”

Frozen in panic, he didn’t have time to even react when (Y/n) grabbed a spoon and took a sip of the potion. He only snapped out of his shocked state when she hummed in appreciation and reached for another spoonful. “I wouldn’t drink it if I were—”

“It’s delicious,” she cut him off and smiled brightly. “Very sweet.” Chan wasn’t sure if he was supposed to find the way she scrunched up her nose cute, but he definitely thought it was adorable. After a pause, she thoughtfully added, “It would be better with a hint of citrus or something. Maybe like an orange leaf. Would add some edge to it.”

“I’ll…” Chan blinked and tilted his head, studying the girl curiously. Slowly, he spoke, “I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks.”

(Y/n) smiled brightly and tapped his nose affectionately. “You are very welcome!” Then she all but skipped out of the kitchen, leaving behind a confused Australian.

After a while, Chan breathed out deeply and turned back to his potion. He was glad she hadn’t walked in just a few minutes later when the potion would have been ready. He wasn’t sure if he would’ve been able to handle a lovesick roommate, even if he did have a massive crush on her.

For now the brew was absolutely harmless, just like tea. It was missing just one last ingredient to give it power. 

Chan peeked at the notebook on the counter and hummed as if to congratulate himself for something. Mindlessly, he reached into a cupboard and pulled out a jar of leaves. 

He placed two in the cauldron and put the jar away again.

His heart sank in realization as he watched the leaves melt into the potion. “Orange leaves.” He gasped and turned to look at (Y/n)’s door. “But how did she—?”

“I’m telling you,” Felix tried to convince him, a hand over Chan’s shoulder as they walked up to a house with flashing lights and loud bass echoing, “you two are meant to be. She—and I can’t emphasize this enough—literally completes you.”

Chan rolled his eyes. “Now you’re just taking the piss at me, Felix.”

“There’s no convincing you, is there?” Felix sighed and just dragged his friend inside. 

As they entered the large house, one which Chan recognized as belong to the legendary Jackson Wang, Felix led his friend right to the makeshift bar. 

Chan accepted the beer placed in his hand and hummed in appreciation before taking a sip. As he swallowed the bitter liquid, he glanced around the room. There were tens, if not hundreds of people dancing and chatting, grinding and kissing. He scrunched up his nose in disgust. 

Parties like this were not his scene. When Felix asked about it, he usually said it was because he was afraid of getting too drunk and revealing he was a warlock. Truth was that he just didn’t like these crowded and smelling-like-sex-sweat-and-alcohol gatherings. 

It wasn’t that he was incapable of partying or having fun or making a conversation. He just preferred a nice sober discussion to heated idiotic chats he’d forget before morning came. In fact, he wasn’t that big of a fan of alcohol. It was bitter and it made him jittery and shaky. That was it. That was all that bothered him about parties.

But when his eyes caught her figure snuggled close to Jaebum’s on the couch, he found himself no longer disliking the taste of alcohol. He hoped that the jittery and sickening feeling of being drunk would make him forget the way Jaebum kissed his roommate’s cheek so he would not end up attacking the guy. He could already feel his fingers tightening into fists by his side.

Felix watched in astonishment and maybe a hint of fear as Chan downed drink after drink while mumbling curses. By the middle of his fifth can of beer, Chan finally lost the itch to punch a guy. It was also at that point that Felix found out that Bang Chan was an emotional drunk. 

The younger boy patted Chan’s shoulder as the latter sat by the pool and sniffled. “There, there.”

“I just don’t get it,” Chan spoke while eyeing his reflection in the water. “What does Jaebum have that I don’t? I mean…” 

He looked up to stare at Felix with wide tearful eyes; like a child he seemed to beg for affirmation. 

“I’m smart, right?” He pouted and waited for Felix to nod his head. 

“And I’m also quite good at making music, right?” Once again he paused. Felix hummed in confirmation. Chan hiccuped. 

“And I’m also quite okay looking. I mean, not model material but I’m not a goblin either.” Felix wondered how he was supposed to respond to that. Nevertheless, he nodded slowly.

Chan hissed and looked away. He took a sip of his beer (one that Felix was seriously contemplating taking away from him) and seemed to grow frustrated all of a sudden. “I mean, heck, I even have magic! MAGIC!” Felix’s eyes widened; he looked around in panic and was glad to find no one around. Chan grabbed him by the collar and shook him gently. “I’m literally a warlock. How is that guy Im—Lim Jae-whatever better than that? Huh? I don’t get it. I have magic.”

Felix sighed and resumed patting Chan’s back gently. Under his breath he mumbled, “Yeah, sure, just announce it to the whole world. What could possibly go wrong?” He cleared his throat before speaking louder, “She’ll be right, Chan. It’ll get better. You two are meant to be, believe me.”

“He and who are meant to be?” sounded a female voice. 

Even in his drunk-beyond-belief state, Chan recognized the voice in an instant. He cheered up and reached out for her. “(Y/n)! I missed you!”

To his discomfort, Felix discovered himself under (Y/n)’s suspicious (he wondered if maybe even jealous) stare. Thankfully this wasn’t Felix’s first rodeo. In an instant, he spoke, “He and this hangover he’s gonna be suffering from tomorrow. Make sure to scold him for me when he wakes up in the morning.”

“Will do,” (Y/n) chuckled and let Chan grab her hand. She seemed almost surprised at his affection but didn’t say anything. Instead she patted Chan’s curly hair and asked, “Do you want to go home?”

“I’m a wizard,” Chan slurred as she helped him to his feet. “I have magic.”

Felix nervously glanced at (Y/n) to see her reaction and was relieved to find her chuckling and agreeing. 

“Sure you are. Come on, let’s get you home, wizard boy.”

Chan smiled at her, his eyes hazy and mouth at this point spitting out every word he thought. “Can we get ice cream on the way?”

The clock seemed slower than usual. (Y/n) wondered if maybe the batteries had run out and the actual time was well later than 3 am. She stared at the clock with scrutiny, upset at its slowness.

Maybe if the hands moved faster, she’d forget Chan’s words faster as well. Maybe then she could get some sleep. WIth a sigh, she reached out to grab her phone and check the time. Her theory about the clock’s batteries proved to be true; the numbers on the screen shone brightly. It was 3:07 in the morning.

She slammed her phone down on the bedside table, screen-down to properly showcase how upset she was. With a frustrated sigh she sat up and pulled her knees to her chest, resting her chin on them. 

A frown tugged down her brows as she stared at a slightly darker spot on the wall. She couldn’t help but purse her lips in a pout as she mumbled, “Did he mean it?”

Her mind kept replaying what had happened what felt like hours ago. Chan’s words echoed endlessly. 

“(Y/n), I like you. A lot. And I wish I could tell you that I’m not an ordinary guy. I’m a warlock… and I have magic. Would you give me a chance if you knew that?” 

He had told her exactly that and it had made her heart race and her cheeks burn hot and her lungs feel heavy and useless. It was like she was a lovesick fool all over again. Did he have to do that just as she was about to lose all hope? 

Couldn’t he have let her be and wallow in her self-pity that her cute roommate didn’t like her back? Did he have to complicate things?

“(Y/n), I like you.” 

His words continued echoing and (Y/n) wished he hadn’t said a name. Then she could convince herself he was talking about someone else. Then she could forget this ever happened and go on a date with Jaebum in peace.

“I’m a warlock… and I have magic.” 

She wondered if he announced that to everyone. He might as well have with how sloppily he was hiding his talents. (Y/n) shook her head. 

“Would you give me a chance if you knew that?”

(Y/n) sighed and lied back down. If it was a night of no sleep, it was a night of no sleep. She could only hope the morning could bring her answers.

When Chan awoke, he swore the gods were punishing him for any and all sins he had committed. He couldn’t remember the last time he such a migraine. In hopes of relieving the pain, he rubbed his temples a bit. It proved to be useless. 

Eventually, he got out of bed and made his way to the kitchen. To his surprise and relief, there were painkillers and a bottle of water on the counter. Chan searched for a note of some sort but found none. He could only assume (Y/n) had left them for him. The thought made him smile.

It was only hours later that he started to wonder what had happened the night before. No matter how much he tried, he couldn’t remember anything that happened after he saw (Y/n) and Jaebum together. 

Slowly descending into a state of panic, Chan jumped to his feet (a grave mistake; his headache got worse) and grabbed his jacket to leave the apartment. Not bothering to even call ahead, he rushed to Seungmin’s dormitory across campus. When he finally reached the building, he knocked frantically. 

Soon he was met with the deadly glare of Kim Seungmin himself. Really, if looks could kill, Chan would have been 6 feet under. “What do you want?”

“I need your help.”

Seungmin scoffed. “Haven’t heard that one before.”

“Please,” Chan begged, practically on his knees. “I can’t remember anything from last night.”

“Don’t tell me…” Seungmin cursed when Chan’s eyes mirrored all the guilt the boy felt. Begrudgingly, he opened the door further and motioned the Australian inside. Once the door was closed, Seungmin began, “I’ve told you a million times that you and alcohol don’t mix. Not well at least.”

“I know,” Chan sighed. “I was just really upset last night and Felix took me to this party and now I have a headache and I’m sure I said something stupid to (Y/n).”

His friend rolled his eyes and walked to his bookshelf, full of books and notebooks of hundreds of kinds. Seungmin picked up a worn-out book and began flipping through the pages. Off-handedly he remarked, “Maybe you should just act like other humans and just accept the fact that you can’t remember what happened. Not everyone has the luxury of magic at their hand.”

“But what’s the point of having magic if I don’t use it?” Chan answered cheekily though he was torn with anxiety. 

“Why are you so worried about last night anyway? What could you have possibly done that makes you this anxious?” The young warlock walked across the room to a pot and began gathering ingredients. 

Chan watched as the other began throwing component after component into the metal container that began boiling by magic. After a while, he sighed as if the weight of an entire population was on his shoulders. “I just can’t help but feel like I said or did something really really dumb that could jeopardize my entire life here.”

Seungmin wasn’t one to be fooled so easily. “You’re afraid you confessed to (Y/n), aren’t you?”

“... No?”

With a sigh, Seungmin pointed out, “You can’t just run away every time something inconvenient happens, Chan. If you confessed, then you confessed. Chances are she was as drunk as you were and that’s on that.”

“You’re kind of awful at comforting me,” Chan frowned and said. “Can’t you just tell me ‘it’ll be okay’ or ‘I’ll help you pack your bags’?”

“That’s what you have Felix for,” Seungmin replied easily and poured the newly brewed potion into a mug. 

Chan raised an eyebrow at the design of the mug—white fancy cats on a soft pink background would not have been his personal first choice for a potion—but drank the potion nevertheless. He winced at the taste of the drink and couldn’t help but think of the irony of the bittersweet recollection potion. 

“You’ll get your memories back in like five minutes, tops,” Seungmin said so casually one might have assumed he did this out of routine. “I suggest you lay down for a bit and just let the potion do its thing.”

Begrudgingly, Chan settled down on the couch and began staring at the pastel blue ceiling. He felt his head hurt just a bit as memories began flooding back. Soon, he began to cringe at his own idiocy.

On the other side of the room, Seungmin felt rather entertained by the way Chan grimaced. He sipped his cola and enjoyed the show. This was the only reason he always agreed to make Chan and Felix recollection potions—free entertainment. 

“OH GOD,” Chan shouted and groaned at once as he sat up with wide, horrified eyes. A memory of him trying to charm Minho, a local witch’s familiar, with broken French resurfaced and he let out a gasp mimicking a sob. He asked no one in particular, “Why am I like this?”

More memories came back and it seemed that each next one was more embarrassing than the one before. He could only assume they came back in the order of drunkenness, his words growing more slurred and Felix’s gaze becoming more worried by the memory. 

Then came the memory that Chan had been most anxious to see. The confession. 

Seungmin couldn’t help but laugh loudly at the absolutely terrified and broken look on Chan’s face as he recalled the words he’d slurred to (Y/n).  He didn’t stop laughing even when the older boy turned to him and whispered, “I’m so doomed.”

Desperate to once again forget the party ever happened as well as to avoid running into the very person he embarrassed himself in front of while drunk, Chan threw himself into midterms. Head first. 

He went as far as to ask Felix to temporarily switch dorms with him. The latter had agreed only because Chan looked ready to break down in the middle of his balcony. Now Chan could only attempt to convince himself and his friends that he had switched dorms with Felix only to focus more on his midterms. Nothing more. Nothing less. 

Except everyone seemed to know why they had gone through with the switch. 

Felix settled in at Chan’s dorm, taking over the older guy’s bedroom. It took him an hour just to get his favourite plushies into the room under (Y/n)’s watchful eyes. Then it took him another hour to move in his clothes and books and computer. 

(Y/n) could only assume Felix wouldn’t be leaving any time soon. 

At first she was okay with it. She needed time to accept that Chan’s confession had indeed happened and this was giving her the chance she needed. For the first couple of days, she was delighted to not see Bang Chan anywhere.

But on the fourth day, she grew worried and sad. Suddenly she started missing the Australian warlock and his awkward laughter and nonsensical humming and his dancing clothes. 

To her surprise, one morning she found herself turning on the radio at 7 am, just as Chan magically cut off the morning programme and terrified the hosts. Instead of a cheerful song, a heartbreaking ballad began playing instead. For the sake of her sanity, (Y/n) tried to convince herself that Chan was in a strange mood and was still making his clothes salsa all over the dorm.

By the end of the week, she surprised herself further. Without meaning to (because, truly, her mind was empty of any and all thoughts), she cast a simple spell while studying one evening. Nose still in her books, she hadn’t noticed she’d used magic.  It was just a mindless trick. Honestly, she was only half-witch, her magic was insufficient to do most things so she hardly paid it any mind.

But when she looked up from her book, she glanced at the screen of her laptop, dim from the lack of batteries. The screen didn’t glow, didn’t show anything but a reflection. Except… This wasn’t her room in the dim reflection.

“Chan?” she found herself asking as she watched the Australian boy lie in the middle of a room in Felix’s apartment. He looked tired and worried and anxious and it hurt her heart to see him like that. She slammed her laptop shut and glare at it for good measure. 

Then she grabbed her phone and called the first number she could think of. 

“Hey, mom. Can I rant a bit?”

And so she began blowing off steam by speaking non-stop. She knew well enough that her mother had probably placed her phone on speaker and was focusing on anything other than her rant, but being heard by someone other than her house plants really helped. 

She was so busy listing every reason why Bang Chan was the dumbest, most undesirable man she had ever met that she didn’t notice Felix peeking into her room half an hour into her rather aggressive rant. 

He listened quietly, eyes widening as he took in the information. 

“Like this guy keeps making potions wrong and it’s so frustrating because he’s wasting so many ingredients and, mOM, IT’S SO STRESSFUL WATCHING HIM!”

Felix blinked in confusion. How did this girl know about potions?

She continued ranting, “And on top of that,” she laughed in frustration, “he messes up almost every spell and then he looks at me with those big brown eyes and he’s so frustratingly cute and I cannot handle him. Mom, are you listening?”

He had heard enough. Felix pursed his lips and walked off, ready to tell Chan the news. His friend owed him big time.

When Chan moved back in after the midterms, he quickly became convinced that his roommate hated him. Why did he think that? Because even though he was sure she remembered his confession, she was going on a date with Im Jae-whatever.

Chan could hardly hide his bitterness the entire day. More than once did his friends have to tell him to stop glaring at the infamous frat boy that was charming his beloved. Once Chan almost cursed the guy so he’d be in pigeon poop but Seungmin had managed to shut him up before he finished the spell.

All in all, Chan was having a bad day and it was all because of her. 

When (Y/n) left the apartment for the date, Chan offered him a smile that probably looked more like a grimace and then hid in his room. He spent the next hour lying and wallowing in self-pity under his three blankets. If one listened carefully, they might have even heard some murmurs and silent curse words. 

After a while, Chan grew tired of pity and sadness and took the anger route. He nearly flew out of his bed and harshly grabbed his largest spellbook, not caring if the force of his actions made other books lose their balance and tumble down. The way he flipped through the pages was almost aggressive.

Under his breath he spoke, “Stupid Jaebum and his stupid looks and his stupid sweet personality…” 

Then he read spell after spell and tried to pronounce them. Truth be told, the pronunciation was the most difficult part. Latin, apparently, was not his strong suit. This led to him letting frustration out by glaring at random Latin words. It went on for four hours in a row.

He wasn’t even a bit tired when (Y/n) returned. 

The girl glanced over the door frame to greet him, surprised to see the light still on at 2 am. She watched the young warlock aggressively turn pages and vocalize the spells and she couldn’t help but snort. 

“Hi,” she spoke a minute later, deciding to put an end to Chan’s self-torture. “Why are you still up?”

Chan seemed more startled than anything, staring up at her with wide eyes. He gasped for a bit, searching for words before slamming his book shut and declaring, “I just couldn’t sleep. You know how it is.”

(Y/n) raised an eyebrow but said nothing in response.

Awkward silence filled the dorm and Chan became desperate to end it. He cleared his throat before asking, “So, how was your date?”

“It was... “ She pouted thoughtfully before shrugging. “It was okay, I guess. We went to a restaurant and then to an art museum.”

“Was it fun?”

“Not really,” she told him with a chuckle. “He kept speaking nonsense. Or, I guess they were facts about the art? But honestly, I was too tired to really think or analyze.”

Chan laughed a bit. “Yeah. That’s why they say that a dinner and a movie are a safe option. At least you won’t bore the other to death on your first date.”

“To be fair, I was probably just as boring,” she replied with a sigh and leaned against the doorframe. 

“Hey, no, you weren’t,” Chan protested gently. “If he thinks you’re boring, I’ll fight him for you.”

“Thanks,” she said, truly grateful for his words. “I’ll better go to sleep now. I’m so tired.”

Chan smiled brightly and nodded. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” she responded and straightened up again, pushing her weight off the doorframe. She turned to leave but then remembered. With a cheeky smile, she glanced back towards Chan and murmured, “By the way, it’s pronounced aqua not agua, you dummy.”

She didn’t stay around to see Chan’s eyes grow wide like saucers.

It was too early for this. It was way too early for Chan’s rants. 

Still Felix couldn’t help but worry and wonder if the warlock had slept at all. After some inspection, he decided that clearly Chan hadn’t slept that night. There were dark bags present and the whites of his eyes were growing redder by the minute. Felix shook his head in disappointment. 

“—and then she told me what she thought the correct pronunciation was and, sure, she was right but, like, how did she know?” Chan had the expression of a maniac as he stared Felix straight in the eyes. “How did she know?”

Felix only raised an eyebrow and continued mixing his Caesar’s salad. For now, he’d let Chan rant. The guy clearly needed it.

“Does she study Latin? Is she secretly an Ancient Roman?” Chan tilted his head in thought and paused. “No, she couldn’t be. She speaks too modernly to be a time traveler.”

“Sure,” Felix snorted and mumbled, “that’s the only issue with that theory.”

Chan didn’t pay him any mind. He just continued fuming. “And have I told you about that one time when she knew exactly what the last ingredient of my potion was? Just by tasting it? And she was so calm about it? How?”

Felix was slowly growing concerned that his friend had turned into a maniac. Tentatively, he asked, “Are you okay, Chan?”

“I’m not okay,” came the reply. “I have no idea how to deal with this issue. There’s no way she knows about magic so she’s probably just playing with me, right?”

At this point Felix sighed. He firmly placed his hand down on the table and spoke, “She’s a witch, Chan.”

“There is no way. I’d know if she was.”

“The other day I heard her ranting about how you’re incapable of making actual potions and that you keep messing up spells,” he pointed out, punctuating the statement with his fork. 

“You must have been hearing things.”

Before Felix could retort, Seungmin’s melodious voice interrupted, “Hey guys! How’s lunch?”

“Stressful,” replied Chan and hid his face in his palms. He seemed to cry a bit but if Seungmin noticed, he didn’t react.

“Have you spoken to (Y/n)? She seemed a bit out of it in class today,” Seungmin spoke and sat down across next to Felix. He took out his lunch while silence reigned over the table. Realizing what this meant, Seungmin rolled his eyes and spoke in frustration, “You are impossible.”

Chan took offence to that. “Oh I’m sorry! Let me just go up to (Y/n) and tell her that I’m a wizard and I think she might be a witch and that I almost cursed her date with eternal pigeon poop because I’m kind of in love with her!”

Eyes wide, Felix stared at Chan before nudging Seungmin and mumbling, “That was a mouthful.” But before he could make a sarcastic remark or give Chan some comfort, a female voice interrupted.

“You are?” 

Simultaneously the three boys’ jaws dropped and eyes widened. It was (Y/n). 

Chan couldn’t do anything. He felt like he’d been glued to the spot and his vocal cords tied together to prevent him from saving his pride. Unable to do anything else, Chan merely stared up at her and began stuttering out random words and phrases. 

“Well? Is that the reason why you’ve been avoiding me?” (Y/n) asked, sounding more curious than anything as she stood in front of the table, right behind Felix and Seungmin, and watched Chan stumble over his breaths like a fish out of the water. She tilted her head in question.

Definitely not willing to participate in the awkwardness, Seungmin and Felix shared a look and began packing up their things. The latter just about shovelled his salad into his mouth while shoving his books into his bag with his free hand. Before anyone knew it, the two young men were out of the cafeteria, desperate to to get away.

When (Y/n) sat down across from him, Chan was left with no option but to speak. He sighed and hid his face before mumbling, “Please don’t make me say it.”

“But I want to hear you say it,” she told him encouragingly and leaned forward to catch his eyes. “Please?” Finally, after what felt like forever, she spoke again, “I think I’m in love with you too, Chan.”

“Don’t.” He sounded dejected as he pulled his hood over his head and hid his face once again. “You don’t have to lie to make me feel better.”

“But I’m not lying,” she said and reached out to take his wrist. “I’m kind of in love with you too.”

“You went out with Jaebum,” Chan reminded but allowed her to stop his hands from hiding his face. 

To his surprise, she held his hands in her own and told her, “Because I wanted to get over you. He seemed like a nice distraction.”

“And about that Latin thing—”

“Dude, even Felix doesn’t pronounce aqua as agua,” she laughed. “So, we good?”

“I guess?” Chan wasn’t so sure. He had so many questions to ask, so many answers to retrieve and give. But as she stared at him with those shining eyes and that hopeful smile, all the questions and doubts seemed to disappear. He had no idea what he was so worried about. 

Deciding to set his doubts aside, he cleared his throat and squeezed her hands. “Then, shall we go on a date? Maybe later tonight?”

“As long as you don’t take me to another art museum,” (Y/n) spoke with a theatrical sigh. “That was really tiring.”

“Don’t worry,” he smiled bravely though his cheeks seemed to have a redder hue than usual, “I’ll one-up Jaebum’s date. You can bet on that.”

(Y/n) contemplated for a bit. “Alright. But if I’m underwhelmed by the end of the date, you owe me a kiss.”

Chan choked on air. He knew she could be bold, but this he wasn’t expecting. “Fi-fine. Deal.”

His heart was doing somersaults in his chest. Chan swore his heart was going to explode soon. 

It was a Friday afternoon and they were both tired of the week. There had been tests and essays and a coffee date and they were exhausted.

Chan watched as his dear girlfriend rested her head against his shoulder as they walked home after classes. Somehow he felt his energy recharge. Just one look at her enjoying his presence made him feel like he could take on the world. 

And just like that he knew he had to tell her. If he didn’t tell her, he’d go insane with guilt and worry. He convinced himself that if she truly found comfort in him like this, she was worth the risk.

Before they reached their apartment, he tugged on her wrist and led her to the park across the street instead. He swore he couldn’t love her any more than he did as she looked at him with those tired but curious eyes. He adored her.

And that’s why he had to tell her.

He led her to sit down on a bench and crouched down in front of her. A moment of just looking at her was what he promised himself before launching into an explanation. He had to take this moment and cherish it because he had no idea what would happen next.

After taking a deep breath, he began speaking, “You know that I love you, right?”

She blinked down at him in confusion as he caressed her cheeks and stared at her so lovingly. “Of course I know. And I love you too.”

Chan’s eyes held an unrecognizable dim spark. He continued. “We’ve been together for a while now, right?”

“Two months counts as a while, I guess,” she spoke with a frown. Confusion was evident on her face as she reached out to grab his face in her hands, the same way he was holding her cheeks in his palms. “What’s going on, Chan?”

“Promise not to get mad at me?” he whispered and (Y/n) recognized the spark in his eyes. Guilt. She couldn’t help but wonder what he felt guilty about.

She chuckled weakly and asked, “Why would I get mad at you?”

“Because I hid something from you,” he mumbled and turned to kiss her palm. “I can’t hide it anymore.”

“Just tell me. Whatever it is, tell me.”

He took a deep breath. “I’m a warlock. Like, an actual magic-wielding warlock. And I can’t hide it from you anymore.”

(Y/n) wanted to laugh. She wanted to laugh so badly that her lips curled as she tried to keep herself from doing so. Under Chan’s worried gaze, she burst into giggles and leaned forward to hug him close. “You silly goose.”

“I know you think I’m kidding or something but I promise you—”

“I thought you were going to admit you cheated on me or that you were gay or something,” she wheezed and gently slapped his shoulder. “Stop scaring me like that, you idiot!”

Chan blinked. “I don’t think you understand what I’m saying. I’m an actual warlock with magic and spells and potions and I know it sounds crazy—”

“Chan, honey,” she spoke with a bright smile and forced him to look her in the eyes, “I already knew that.”

He stayed silent for a bit as he processed the information. His eyes widened when it finally clicked. “You what?!”

“I knew you were a warlock already a while ago,” she told him and squished his cheeks together. “You’re so silly.”

As he took in the realization, Chan wondered whether he should breathe in relief or cry in despair. After a while, he decided on the first and pulled her into a tight hug. “I’m just glad to get this off my chest now.”

“You could’ve told me a lot sooner, you know,” she teased. “It would’ve saved you a lot of trouble. Not that you were very good at hiding your magic in the first place.”

“Hey!” Chan gasped and pulled away. He chuckled. “Was I really that bad?”

“The worst,” she confirmed but kissed his cheek. “But that’s what I love about you.”

Attempting to wipe her lipstick off his cheek with a grimace, Chan joked, “Ugh, cheesy.” He then smiled at her brightly. “I’m glad though. But I do have to ask,” he narrowed his eyes, “when did you figure it out?”

“When I found your wand,” she replied after a moment of thought. “It was really difficult to miss the glowing.” 

Chan could only scoff in disappointment.

[MASTERLIST]

#inkidz #bang chan #stray kids scenarios #bang chan scenarios #chan scenarios #stray kids fluff #stray kids au #stray kids #admin vy #this took me like three weeks to write and I am not sure how happy i am with it :)