#finishing this project brought me a lot of joy and excitement

[lesbianvillain]

one. One more comparison picture.

I’ve come a long way with my fursuit making skills even on just my 4th suit. Confetti will always be special bc she was my first and I poured a lot of love into her but I don’t think I will wear her ever again. She a real one tho.

#im emo about how happy I am with mysterie #finishing this project brought me a lot of joy and excitement #I can’t wait to make more! and improve even further! #just remember kids….don’t give up on your projects even if you don’t think they will look good #even with confetti! I was so happy with her at the time despite her flaws #like damn I made this. #and even if your first try is shit and this goes for anything really #just keep going!! keep creating!! that’s the most wonderful thing about existing #is the ability to create #to share your heart with the world in whatever form you choose

[starwarsbean]

Love Against The Odds

Warnings: Fake Dating. Alternate Universe. Smut/ Fluff. Sexual tension.

Pairing: Tech x F! Reader

A/N: Hi everyone! I hope you’re having a good day! This is the second chapter to this series. I’m still unsure of how many chapters there will be. If there are mistakes so sorry it’s late for me. Just let me know. Please heart and share. <3

Summary:

We see Techs part of the storyline. Understanding his part of the story.

Chapter 2: Tech’s Idea

Tech was sitting at his office. Typing a way on his keyboard. Taking small sips of his black coffee. He was setting long term plans for the company making sure the company reaches their goals. Techs intelligence, dedication, and determination made him succeed in his role. His analytical skills helped him guide the company in the right direction. Tech always thought things logically and rationally. His mind was focusing on work most majority. The other half of his mind was on his brothers and Omega. Tech always cared for them deeply. He had his own way of showing it. His head was always typing away on the keyboard working on a new project. Tech knew he was a critical boss and can come out as harsh. He never intends to be so critical, but it’s common knowledge to him. He is blunt on his employees. Articulating what he wants done. Most majority of his employees did not enjoy being around him at any events or even enjoy working on a project with him. They would all walk away when he walked into the room. Even small talk would lead to them excusing themselves awkwardly. Tech felt like an outsider regardless if he was in a high position. Sometimes he would get rather lonely.

“Sir, your phone is ringing it’s your brother Hunter.” Techs assistant walks in to inform him.

Tech nods his head and picks up the phone. Techs assistant quickly walks out the office room.

“Hunter, what is it?”

“Good to hear from you too tech.” Hunter says sarcastically.

“What is it? I’m currently working and I have an important dinner tomorrow.” Tech ask a bit annoyed.

“Yeah you’re always working tech. How about you come swing by for a game tonight. Wrecker and Omega really miss you.” Hunter says.

“Well I’m really busy and I don’t know if it’s certain I’ll be done by the time.” Tech looks at the time.

“Well how about you take a break for your family and just come by. Bring your work with you.” Hunter says. Omega is in the background begging for tech to come.

Tech hears Omega wanting him to come by. He sighs.

“Alright I’ll come by just for a few minutes.” Tech says giving in.

Omega grabs the phone away from Hunter and thanks tech for giving in. Hunter grabs back the phone and laughs.

“See you then Tech.” Hunter hangs up

Tech looks at work realizing he’s almost finishing his work. He continues to concentrate till it’s time for him to go. Tech packs up his stuff when he’s finished. He heads to hunters place. He stretches his long arms and his neck. Feeling a bit stiff from typing all day. Tech arrives at Hunters place. Omega opens the door before tech can even knock.

“Tech! You came!” Omega says happily. Her blue eyes full of joy from her brother visiting her.

“Well I don’t think I had a choice.” Tech says with a little smile.

Wrecker pops by the door and punches tech shoulder playfully. Making Tech roll his eyes at his brothers action. Wrecker laughs while he teased him. Tech walks inside and goes to sit on the couch.

“Good to see you too Wrecker. Didn’t think you’d be so excited to see me.” Tech says while pulling out his work from his bag.

“Oh come on you brought work with you? We’re suppose to play a game!” Wrecker looks at tech confused.

“Yeah Tech we want you to play the game with us. You’ll like the game. It’s very strategic.” Omega says while sitting next to tech on the blue couch.

“Sadly, as much I want to beat you both at this game. I have lots of work to do.” Tech says while typing in his keyboard.

“Come on Tech.” Omega pleads.

“Omega…Wrecker.. I told you both Tech was busy. As long as he’s here. We get to enjoy his company.” Hunter says coming from the kitchen with some homemade nachos.

Wrecker walks over to eat a chip. Omega rolls her eyes in defeat. She groans as she sets up the game. Tech notices the changes in Omega. Realizing she’s getting older. Her blonde hair grew out a bit more. She was a bit taller too.

“Tech! Do you want some nachos?” Hunter ask while placing the nachos on the table.

“Not right now.” Tech says.

Wrecker and Hunter shrug, eating their nachos.

“When are Echo and Rex coming back from their double date?” Omega ask giggling.

“Look at you being nosey.” Hunter says smiling at Omega.

“I’m just asking that’s all. Maybe they will want to play since Tech can’t.” Omega says with a smile.

Tech looks up from his work. He pays attention to what they’re talking about.

“Rex and Echo went on a double date?” Tech ask getting amused at this conversation.

“Yeah Tech something you should be trying.” Wrecker says while laughing.

Tech rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

“I have no time for romance. Or any sort of relationship. It is not something I want to try.” Tech says firmly.

Hunter and Wrecker sigh. Omega pops a nacho in her mouth.

“Tech.. maybe you could try dating out. You’re always caught up in work. Sometimes you don’t realize what’s out there till you try.” Hunter says while scratching his neck.

“Yeah you’re so caught up in work. You hardly see us.” Wrecker buts in

“Nonsense. I do not need to try. I’m busy and that is all.” Tech says sharply

“Maybe if you found someone you love you would be a lot happier. There’s more to life than just working your life away.” Hunter chips in.

“I am happy. I finish my work and I go to bed. My routine is on schedule.” Tech looks up at Hunter and Wrecker annoyed

Hunter and Wrecker look at each other and sigh knowing that they tried.

“We just care about you tech. We just wanted to see you try something out besides just work.” Hunter says.

Omega looks at them. She frowns then looks back at the game. Hunter noticed Omega starting to look down. Wrecker and Hunter sit on the floor with her and begin playing the game.

Tech sighs softly as he looks at them. Why would falling in love help him? It only leads to disappointment from seeing his brothers past relationships. Dealing with relationship issues was not worth it. Just because you love someone? It didn’t make sense to tech. Then again he never tried falling in love or meeting anyone. Work was his main focus and his life. No one could possibly change that…

Rex and Echo walk into Hunters place. They both are extra happy. Rex had a certain smell of perfume. It was so strong it made Tech nose clench. Echo had a smile on his face.

“Guessing you both had a good time on your guys double date?” Hunter says with a smirk.

“It was pretty nice. She was a great women. Most definitely will be seeing her again.” Rex says.

“I’m doing the same thing. My date was kind and understanding.” Echo says while cleaning the table of leftover nacho cheese.

“Glad you both had fun. Maybe you guys can bring them over so we can meet them.” Hunter says happily for his

Tech listens to their conversation. Feeling a bit annoyed. He was truly happy for his brothers dates going well. He just wanted the whole dating conversation to get out of the room. He notices an error in the dinner menu. He messages one of his employers annoyed. Due to his irritability from his brothers he was being a bit critical on Heras error. She was one of his best employees, but he was in no mood for errors. After finishing the messages. His brothers call his name. Tech looks up.

“Tech, are you almost finished?” Wrecker ask.

“No. One of my employees made a mistake for tomorrows dinner event. Now I have to make sure they correct their error.” Tech says firmly.

“Will there be single people at the dinner event?” Wrecker says with a laugh.

“I am unaware and do not care. That is not my main objective at tomorrows dinner event.” Tech says sternly

“I wasn’t asking for you. I was asking for myself.” Wrecker looks at Rex with a grin.

“In that case I do not know.” Tech looks at them.

They all just nod and get back in to the game. Echo and Rex try out the game with Omega. Everyone expect Tech was screaming in fun. Hunter laughs as Echo loses to Omega. Tech looks at them feeling a bit left out. He packs up his work to head home. Not wanting to ruin their fun.

“I’m going to get going. I have lots of work to do.” Tech says.

Everyone waves bye to Tech. Before Tech leaves Hunter pulls him to the side.

“Tech, from what we said. We’re just worried about you. We just want you to experience other things besides just working.” Hunter says putting a hand on techs shoulder.

Tech looks down and thinks. He knew his brothers were worried about him working all the time. Tech thought nothing of thinking it’s part of life. His honey eyes behind his goggles look around the room. Avoiding eye contact with Hunter.

“I understand your concern. I must get going.” Tech says while shutting the front door behind him.

Hunter sighs as he watches Tech leave. Omega and Echo call Hunter back over to play the game.

Tech gets to his own place. Placing his work on his table. He goes to look what’s inside his fridge and cabinets. Realizing he forgot to go grocery shopping. Not having much food nor was he in the mood to cook. His stomach grumbling. He makes a reminder to send his assistant to pick up his groceries. Tech grabs a granola bar and a cup of vanilla yogurt. He eats it fast from how hungry he is. The crumbs of the granola bar falling down his shirt. Feeling annoyed of the mess he made. The crumbs falling on the kitchen floor. He finishes his snack and cleans his mess. Finally receiving a email on the correct forms from Hera about tomorrows dinner event. He goes over the details and list of names. He sees a brand new name he’s never seen before. Thinking of how nice the name is. Wondering if he’s met this person before. Techs alarm goes off for him to shower and get ready for bed.

As Tech lays in bed he starts thinking of what Hunter said. Did he really need to date? Why was it so important to experience? He pulls his blankets over his body. Tech did not understand the concept of dating. How dating works is not logical and super complicated. It was odd to Tech to think of love. He never thought of the idea of him dating. The questions continue to wonder his mind. Did he even need the experience? Yeah, it would be nice for him to find that person to spend the rest of your life with. Even start a family with. But, Tech knew he none of that would happen. His work was his purpose, not love. An idea pops his mind. Fake dating would work. He wouldn’t have to fall in love and deal with the reality complications of dating. His brothers would stop nagging him. Tech could continue his work while tricking everyone. It was a brilliant idea for him. Something he should’ve done years ago. Tech slowly writes down his idea. After, he finishes he lays back down. Wondering who would even agree with this idea. Tech drifts off to sleep.

#tech x reader #tech x you #tech bad batch #tbb tech #hunter bad batch #bad batch fanfic #wrecker bad batch #bad batch #the bad batch #captain rex #tbb echo #clone trooper echo #clone trooper crosshair #tbb fanfiction #tbb crosshair #tbb wrecker #tbb fanart #star wars #star wars fanfiction #fake dating #alternate universe #bad batch fic #hera syndulla #kanan jarrus #smut #star wars bad batch #the bad batch crosshair #bad batch au #star wars au

[the-guy-shes-interested]

The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy - Drama CD Interview from the cast!

Hey everyone! Back again, and this time, we're diving into the comments from the cast of the Drama CD adaptation of The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't A Guy At All. Be sure to join the Discord Server of The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't A Guy At All for every latest updates!

Comments from Mariya Ise, Akari Kito, Kenjiro Tsuda, and Tasuku Hatanaka about the Drama CD of The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy have been revealed! This comic, written by Sumiko Arai-sensei and eagerly anticipated by fans, released its second volume on February 27, 2024, receiving massive support on social media.

The drama CD is set to release on April 24, and the four cast members (Mariya Ise, Akari Kito, Kenjiro Tsuda, and Tasuku Hatanaka) have shared their thoughts after recording for it.

[Interview starts from here! ― Original Link]

Post-recording Comments:

――Please share your honest impressions after finishing the recording.

Mariya Ise: You know, I've been quietly enjoying Arai-sensei's manga on Twitter. The way Mitsuki unconsciously exudes that handsome aura… it's just so captivating. I found myself getting as excited as Aya about it (laughs). Playing Mitsuki was beyond anything I imagined… I feel incredibly grateful and excited!! Getting to bring to life a beloved character from a beloved story is just pure joy. I put a lot of care and love into portraying Mitsuki!

Akari Kito: The recording session had a lot to cover, but I found it really fun because I had the freedom to act as I liked! Being part of a project I was already a fan of was really satisfying, and it reminded me once again of how thrilling it is to see this story, which is so tied to music, come to life as a drama CD!

Kenjiro Tsuda: Recording was a blast. The atmosphere was lively and upbeat. Whether we were tackling comedic or serious scenes, there was this perfect mix of tension and relaxation in the air, making it all the more enjoyable.

Tasuku Hatanaka: When I joined this project, I made sure to read the manga, of course. It's brimming with those precious emotions of falling for someone, experiencing pain, and feeling frustrated. Being part of the drama CD adaptation of such a heartfelt work genuinely brought me joy.

――Please share your impressions of the character you portrayed.

Mariya Ise: I'm really drawn to Mitsuki's genuine passion for the things she loves and her determination to pursue her goals. It resonates with me because I strive to live my life cherishing those same values. Her genuine care and appreciation for the people around her are truly admirable. Mitsuki's coolness stems from these qualities, and it's clear why she's so supported and loved by those who know her.

Akari Kito: At first glance, she (Aya) might come across as a cheerful, popular girl who fits the "gal" stereotype and holds a high status in school. However, she's actually quite multifaceted. She's deeply passionate about Western music and can be quite serious about it. On the other hand, she also has a cute side, like when she develops a crush on the "onii-san" (?) at the CD shop. It's like she's a kid with many different sides to her personality. Initially, I wasn't sure how to approach playing her character, but I decided to portray her as an ordinary girl, incorporating all those diverse aspects into my performance.

Kenjiro Tsuda: He's (Joe) a fun and caring uncle who's still really cool. It's great to have adults like him who understand and connect with young people. I made sure to show both his playful side and his ability to be supportive. He's just a really great guy.

Tasuku Hatanaka: Playing Narita-kun was a breeze for me. Back when I was a student, I wasn't super experienced with women, but there was something about his easygoing nature that I could relate to. So, slipping into the role felt effortless! It was a blast portraying him!

――This time, Mariya Ise, you had a singing part for "Creep." Please share your thoughts after singing it, and if there are any points you'd like listeners to pay attention to.

Mariya Ise: It was really tough! (laughs) The challenge felt overwhelming… I honestly wanted to escape from it! (laughs) But I knew I had to give it my best shot for the project, so I gathered my courage and tackled it head-on. I hope you'll listen with warm ears…

――Please give a message to all the fans.

Mariya Ise: I'm a bit anxious about capturing the Mitsuki that readers envision, but as someone who has been a reader and a fan for many years, I played Mitsuki with care and dedication, imagining the Mitsuki that I hold dear. I hope you'll enjoy and cherish the drama CD The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy At All as much as I do! Thank you so much!

Akari Kito: I've been a fan of The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy At All series for a while now, and I'm aware of its popularity among readers around me. I'm sure there are many eagerly anticipating this drama CD! It would bring me immense joy if this beloved series, cherished by so many, could be enjoyed in audio form and loved by even more people!

Kenjiro Tsuda: This work is truly special, blending laughter and touching moments that capture the spirit of youth. With a soundtrack featuring songs from legendary rockers, it's a treat for fans of rock music. But even if you're not familiar with rock, I'm confident you'll still enjoy this refreshing youth drama.

Tasuku Hatanaka: Reading the story, I was struck by how beautifully it portrays the experience of falling in love. I really hope the drama CD manages to capture that essence and brings happiness to everyone who listens to it! I would be so thankful if you could enjoy both the original work and the CD multiple times! Thank you so much!!!

――To all the cast members, thank you very much!

#the guy she was interested in wasn't a guy at all #ki ni natteru hito ga otoko janakatta #tgswiiwagaa #aya oosawa #mitsuaya #mitsuki koga #koga mitsuki #arai sumiko #yuri manga #girls love #yuri #gl manga #saphic #girl love #green manga #sumiko arai

[floodkiss]

Happy new year, I hope January is treating you with kindness and you are all taking care of yourselves. I know that Blue Monday is coming up soon, so I hope you are all well supported and cherished in this time!

A couple of exciting things are happening in my life! If you are in France, my work will be a part of the canadian focus exhibit, D’un océan à l’autre at Angoulême BD. I received 2 grants to work on a mid-length comic later this year-mid 2025. I had to push the deadlines back a bit because I am also about to start a mentorship through CAKE (Chicago) via being awarded the CupCAKE award! 🧁✨ Plus some other smaller works that I've been doing. I am so grateful for these opportunities and I hope I can make the most of them! I am also excited to visit the USA for the first time ever! I will be very busy and stressed, but very happy and excited all the same (I am already kind of stressed and overwhelmed...)

I think I told myself a couple months ago that I would start doing some "blogging" in addition to posting art, and I want to document my process as I work through these bigger projects! I have been in such a rut since I finished art school and it feels like my life slowly got started again at the end of 2022.

Things I still need to do: [] update the email, call, mail, fax, about ceasefire document [] post an older comic [] last 2 commissions sketches (I'm sorry it's taken so long!) [] update pinned

I've also been participating in political life in my city again, so I have been going in between worn out and feeling nourished. It is funny how organizing can break our hearts and save our lives all the same... and so I may also be spending time figuring out how we can safely archive our work so that it may serve the community in the future as well.

2024 will be about love and friendship for me and i hope it will be for you as well. I am so deeply happy that I decided to make tumblr my main art space, it has brought me a lot of joy for the past few years! I appreciate you!!! Do you have anything you're looking forward to this year? Any successes from last year? I feel very nervous but excited about 2024!

#diary #i might be procrastinating just a little bit right now... #january 2024 #even less time for fanart than last year 🤧

[kingofthewilderwest]

Hey, just saw your ffnet post! While it's totally fair of you to not want to put your works on Ao3, I'd ask you to consider it. I've read a lot of fics, many that are years old, many that might be considered "cringey" or "bad", and many that had barely any views, and they all brought me joy. There's a special kind of grief I feel when I see that a fic has been taken down and deleted.

I do understand not wanting to upload this content as if it's what you're currently writing; Ao3 does allow you to backdate your works, so it wouldn't show up as recent but could have the original posting date. You could also consider setting up a pseud account on ao3, which allows it to be attached to your main but not explicitly your main, and have a note that this is a work that you're archiving from ffnet. It's kind of like having a sideblog on tumblr, except the links work better.

You don't need to decide right away; the "ffnet is going down" panic sweeps tumblr every few months and you likely have some time to figure out what you'd like to do. I just thought I'd reach out and share my thoughts. Your work is absolutely worth saving and sharing, in whatever capacity you're comfortable with, and I respect whatever decision you choose, but would also like to encourage you to be open to preserving your works for people to find and enjoy. You never know how much joy you could bring, even just to one person who finds your fics in the future.

Thanks for the message, I appreciate it and everything you've clarified here. Like seriously, thanks. I'm going to keep vomiting out words as I think "aloud", responding to what you've said, because you've helped me.

It's fascinating, because I am a hardcore preservationist who can't get rid of a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g to save my life. I'm similarly bummed when people delete even the most minor things online. And I have no sense of personal cringe. I'll always cherish what projects I've done.

You'd think this would be an easy decision given my values.

The challenge with me here is that publicly posting fics online is more about preserving for others as versus preserving for myself, and I'm trying to decide if I feel comfortable putting my stuff up again for other eyes in any capacity. I'm glad people have gotten joy out of my fics and it does help me think this over more, though I'll admit I've always felt out of sorts, nakedly exposed, having my writing online (even though I wrote and finished fics FOR that Sense Of Others, a sense of obligation and promise, rather than for myself). Ficwriters post about the excitement of getting notifications, whereas for me, it meant going through anxiety every time. XD (but thanks to everyone who wrote the kind words!!! they did make me happy once I got through opening the notification. your kindness is why I wrote. and I am touched when there's the rare comment from 2022 that pops through.)

I realize this frames the situation as more "me-centric" than "giving others joy-centric." I don't want to come off as dismissive of others finding joy, because that's important. The smallest things can be the brightest. My mind has just moved on so much from my fics that I think in terms of "How can I give someone joy today?" in new ways. But you are framing it in terms of people getting new joy. So. That's a good point to mull over.

I've never gotten an account on AO3, so I won't need to think about making the "sideblog"-esque account (though that's fascinating to know about!!! that's cool! you go AO3 for being awesome). But GOSH your response being thorough has been the bestest thing, because I've never known about the backdating, either. That makes it more likely I'd consider moving fics onto AO3, because even writing a "hey this is old" in front of a reupload onto a new site still puts it as "new" in the feed and that makes me uncomfortable. Just quietly shifting it to 2014 when it was written feels more fitting.

I was definitely wondering how this current sweep of "FFN going down" was different than the ramblings that have been going on for years. I've seen recent posts talking about how FFN might not have been updated for one or two years, and that's the most explicit I've gotten. I've recently seen some posts say "just in case," which is more of what I thought it'd logically be. I tend to not believe "FFN is going down" posts because they're just people hashing out what they've said for years, and I want better proof. They're right the site is falling, but yeah. But since these "ending" comments have been particularly widespread all at once, I figure, "Eh, only takes a few minutes, better safe than sorry." But it's good to know your impression of the situation is similar to mine, and that this isn't something I have to resolve anytime soon.

#long post #creative writing #fanfiction #my fanfiction #ask #ask me #theshadowedqueen82 #FFN #ffnet

[eldritchaccident]

Timing: Mid December Location: The Jones house Feat: @ohwynne & @eldritchaccident Warnings: N/A (though there is very very brief description of gore in the first paragraph) Summary: Teddy shows Wynne their latest project.

It was strange to be back at this house where Wynne had once made a deal with a demon. Said demon was no longer present, having slipped from this world onto what they only assumed was another plane of existence, and yet here they were. Staring at that large house, their bike awkwardly parked on the still-green lawn. Something in their body seemed to be stirring, memories scratching at their brain. Levi shaking their hand in this house, sitting across from them as they ate dinner. Levi ripping apart at the seams and becoming the Leviathan. A claw undoing Padrig’s skin, organs spilling. The black blood. The swish of its tail as it left.

There would be no demon in that house any more and it was hard not to feel like it was their fault, somehow. That Teddy was alone now, or at least without their adopted father. Wynne fiddled a little with their jacket, pulling it tighter along their body as they walked up the lawn. There was no reason to be nervous, but they were. The howling wind sounded like gythraul when it had been fighting.

Eventually they rang the doorbell and eventually Teddy opened in all their bleach blonde glory. Wynne smiled at them, knowing there was no reason to be nervous around them and still feeling their stomach twist. It was strange to see the former-demon in the house, as the boat had fit them better. At the same time, Teddy Jones probably had the ability to fit into any and all places with that energy they brought. They were glad to see their face, in spite of all their twisting guts.

“Hi!,” they said. Wynne looked at their empty hands for a moment. They hadn’t brought any food, for once. “I’m here.” Obviously. They shivered. “Can we go in? It’s kind of cold.”

—

“Wynne!” Teddy practically squealed with delight, a force of nature they always seemed to carry with them in excess. The ex-demon rushed forward, throwing warm arms around their shivering guest. “C’mon in, I have somethiiiiing to show you. But first let's warm you up. I made hot cocoa.” There was a sing-songy quality to their voice. One part joy of holding a pleasant secret, the other of finishing a job worth doing. Both were for Wynne, and they deserved even more. 

“How’re you doing, hope the drive over wasn’t too bad.” With one arm around them, Teddy made for the kitchen where wafting scents of warmth and sweetness drifted from. The mugs were already set out. Teddy’s, looking quite a bit like a cartoony angler fish, and Wynne’s was peppered with sunflowers. The chef rounded the counter to start pouring right away. But not before continuing their pestering questions. 

“Are you warm enough? Do you have enough clothes for the winter? Maine is rough, and we could go get you stuff if you need it.” 

— 

Teddy seemed so glad to see them and Wynne felt a little less heavy immediately, not quite understanding that someone could be so excited by their simple appearance. They leaned into their touch though, and returned it in kind. “Something to show me?” They looked up at them, intrigued and eager, but mostly excited by the promise of something warm. The wind had felt like icy knives against their bare cheeks.

As they moved into the house, they worked on pulling their handmade hat from their head, shrugging. “It was cold, but it’s not so bad when you have the prospect of a warm house ahead.” They fiddled a little with their hat. “I should get a license, but there’s a … a fae at the BMV who kind of made it hard for me last time I tried.” They frowned and shrugged. “And I’m … okay. I’ve just been really tired. Maybe dazed is the right word. What about you?” 

They looked at the mugs being poured full of hot chocolate and then at Teddy, slowly pulling off their scarf and jacket as well. “I have some warm things. I took a lot of wool and fleece things when I ran, because it was around this time of year too … and I –” They flushed slightly. “Stole some things after running away. But I might want some new things.” Wynne folded their jacket and placed it on a stool. All their old clothes had been made by the hands of those they’d betrayed. Of those who had betrayed them first, perhaps. “I’m setting aside some money for it. But I’m warm enough now, don’t worry!”

—

Teddy was good at listening, they liked to believe they were pretty good at picking up non-verbal things too. If only because they’d studied the craft immensely, always being a little too obsessed with humans and how they interacted with each other and the world at large. Unfortunately, the more personal it got, the harder it was for them to discern. Wasn’t so much a problem with Wynne, though. 

There was an easiness to the conversations they held together, a peace. Something about being the survivor of a familial attempt on their lives. Maybe that thread alone was enough for their energies to exist on some sort of similar wavelength. Pretty much as soon as they had heard their story, Teddy felt so protective over Wynne. They wondered if the other knew. Even if there wasn’t much they could do now except jump in the way of danger, take whatever came at them just to dish it out to whoever deserved it. Maybe that's why they were pushing for this surprise. If the other member of the survivor’s club would take it. 

“You need a license?” Their head tilted to the side, as they took a careful sip of the hot drink. Not too hot, just right. “I could just get you a fake, y’know. I got a guy who’s an expert. One of my aliases actually got summoned for jury duty once. I went on a lark, it was actually kind of fun, strangely enough.” A satisfied hum sat on their lips. “I can probably teach you how to drive better than any school anyway.” It did not take much at all to amuse Teddy Jones. They were a self-contained universe of entertainment. Throw them in a pit of beige, and they’d explode it into a waterfall of technicolor. But they always preferred having someone along for the ride. 

Wynne went on about having some things stored up, and Ted made a mental note to keep the ex-greenhouse stocked with yarns and wools for crafting with. Of course, there would be a few holiday gifts too, maybe even a tree. Religion wasn’t really something that Teddy ever interacted with, for pretty obvious reasons, but they loved the traditions around the winter holidays. Bright lights, big dinners, a chance to show everyone you care about how well you’ve been paying attention. Wynne deserved a whole lot of nice things. Cozy things. Deserved a chance to carve out new traditions that came with their freedom. With their new life. Teddy couldn’t wait to be a part of that. 

“I’m gonna worry, sunflower. It’s like my job.” Teddy grinned, then gestured slightly towards the back door. “So. Wanna see it?” 

—

It was a rare thing to have someone who could understand the situation Wynne had once been in. The people in Moosehead had the context that others lacked, had mostly endured the same upbringing but couldn’t understand what pre-mortem sanctification was like. The people here were filled with kindness and perhaps righteous anger, but most of them didn’t fully get it — and that was okay. But Teddy understood what no one else they’d met so far understood: what it was like when your parents were willing to give away their child for a demonic entity.

There had been a level with comfort with the other from even before this revelation, but ever since they had found out that (un)fortunate link between them it had grown steadier. Teddy was someone to rely on. Someone who was capable of lifting them up. Who made them feel hope.

“Oh. Really? I mean! I think the government is not to be trusted anyway. And I am afraid maybe they’ll ask many questions or something,” they said, frowning a little. “And Ariadne has been teaching me to drive and I know some things already but I could definitely use some more lessons. You’d be a good teacher.” Wynne was certain of that. “I saw your car, I think? It’s very cool.” 

They took a long sip from the hot chocolate, letting it warm them up. They were beaming up at Teddy, “Okay. But I’m alright. No hypothermia from me!” The houses here were a lot warmer than the ones at home had been, anyway. Those weren’t the things they were worried about, that they thought were worth worrying about for Teddy. They nodded their head, ready to follow the other wherever they would take them. “I very much do. What is it?”

—

Maybe it was the sudden loss of their adoptive father, bringing back a cache of old haunts that had eaten away at Teddy's mind from the moment they were old enough to comprehend their birth parents' betrayal. Maybe it was the colder weather and early nights that made an empty house feel even more so. Maybe, both, or neither, but Teddy was clinging so tightly to anything that resembled connection. 

Wynne, Emilio, Nora. Teddy wasn't blind to the reasons behind their attempts to keep the trio close. It was a selfish need to not be alone. The ichor that washed over the whole of Wormrow provided a wonderful excuse to collect all of their favorite people nearby. "Atta-kid. That's why you're the best." Teddy hummed fondly, always pleased to anti the establishment. “Having a few teachers isn't a bad idea anyway, different types of driving, that way you can find your own style. Though you shouldn't say the thing about my car being cool, too loud, Emilio will pop out of nowhere just to tell you you're wrong.” The wide grin on their face really betrayed the serious tone they sarcastically spoke with. 

The next part was a lot easier to show than to explain. “Follow me.” One part ominous, one part joyful. Teddy turned and started off towards the door, expecting Wynne to join them. Back outside just for a moment, down a short path and over to what used to be another storage and greenhouse, but had been completely redone. Pretty much gutted and refitted entirely to be a cozy little house, made perfect for their little sunflower. A bit of a bigger project than Emilio's office, but well worth it. 

The outside was a warm yellow, painted with red, orange, and green flowers and swirls. A stark contrast to the cold gray that painted the last few days of autumn. In spring, they'd plant flowers together, well, if Wynne liked it that is. Teddy really hoped they'd like it. 

“Ready to go inside?”

—

They knew that Teddy said kind things easily and to a lot of people, because that was the kind of person they were. Uplifting and positive, spreading a boisterous kindness around in a way that Wynne found inspiring. But even so, when they said that they were the best they were beaming up at them. “I learned to drive on a tractor. I know a bit about how to use it, but all the rules …” They sighed. “There are very many of them. And I do want to know them. So I don’t get arrested or something.” They frowned. “I will tell Emilio that he is wrong if he does!”

They followed Teddy, curious what it was that they had to show them. They couldn’t begin to guess what it might be, with the other being unpredictable in a way they had grown to appreciate. Their intentions were always good, after all, and that was something they were growing more steadily used to as they realized that the intentions of those at home had not been.

Their eyes fell on a small home, which they hadn’t seen the last time they had been here. There had been something, though, but they had barely noticed. Their mind had been more occupied with meeting an actual demon who wore aprons. Wynne’s eyes were wide, heart skipping a hopeful beat as they glanced at Teddy to try and gauge what this was about. What this meant. If it — no. Surely not.

“What’s inside? Is this … for Gabagool?” They hadn’t seen the demon yet and for that, they were kind of glad. He’d been rude and revealing last time. Wynne blinked at the paint. “Did you paint that?”

—

“Oh bud, we’re in Maine. No one knows the rules on how to drive here.” There was a pause, a comforting smile, and Teddy closed the distance between them to put a hand on their shoulder. “You’ll be fine. Driving is ninety percent just not speeding too much, and the other ten is paying attention to road signs. If you can drive a tractor I’m confident we can get you on the actual roads in no time.” The warm smirk burst into a small fit of laughter as they walked, “I do, in fact, love telling Emilio he’s wrong.” They pointed out. As if it wasn’t obvious. “But it’ll be better when you do it. He might even listen for once.” 

The brisk air was enough to make Teddy want to usher the kid inside the new place faster, but there was something to savor out here too. Wynne deflected, in a way that they thought the other might. However, Teds didn’t quite expect– “For Gaba– No, Wynne, sweetie. Gabagool has the whole house. He’s a free range goblin. This is–” A pause, searching for the phrasing. “It’s actually for you. If you want it. I did, I painted that cause it reminded me of you, y’know. Wanted it to feel all homey. Wait until you see inside.” 

— 

“Oh. Yes, people are a little careless sometimes.” Wynne smiled a little. “I mean, I already drove! Once, by myself.” They didn’t really feel like bringing up the context of having to go save Ariadne from Rhett, though. “And on a parking lot. But the signs are the ones I’m trying to learn. And then if I know them I can use a fake license.” They were glad Teddy and Emilio were such good friends. It was good, that the people they cared about cared about each other — it felt a little like what had been good at home. Like community. “He sometimes listens to me. But he’s very much like a mule sometimes.”

They were quiet. For a long stretch of time they were quiet. They had thought their hopes and instincts silly just moments before, but here Teddy was revealing that this was to be theirs. If they wanted it. There was something about both those statements that had them feel a little lost for a moment, but in a way that was welcomed. It was their choice. And it was a kindness, no strings attached. “Are you — are you serious?” They finally blinked up, eyes a little teary. Of course Teddy was serious. They made many jokes, but not about these kind of things. “I want – yes, I want to see the inside and — are you?” They pressed their lips together, looking up at the small building. “Are you serious?”

—

A little careless was an understatement. The last time Teddy saw someone use a turn signal was… probably before they moved to Maine. Ah well. There were a lot of other things that made up for scary driving skills (or lack thereof) that made the ex-demon want to stay in this weird little fucked up town, in a weird little fucked up state. They could go on, wax poetic about the way the cliffs met the ocean, about the charming little neighborhoods, about the lively downtown area. But it was never about the place was it? Teddy had been all over the world, and never once even thought about settling down until now. Until here. With people who somehow managed to poke through the evasiveness, the selfishness, and the fear of commitment that came with any new place. 

Until now, it was all temporary. Strange, to think about considering until now, they had forever. Maybe it was the eventual end that gave meaning to the things it ended. Maybe living on, expecting yourself to be apart from anything that wasn’t themself or their father was removing them from the life they wanted to live. Even if they hadn’t known it yet. 

There was an undeniable pride in Teddy’s chest as they looked at Wynne. The kid had gone through so much, and here they were, standing on their own two feet. Stronger than ever. Like the flowers etched in paint along the walls of the building before them, Wynne was something that grew bold and kind in the face of adversity. Such a rare blossom deserved a place to thrive. To see what it could do in favorable conditions, with the support they needed. 

“Serious.” Teddy beamed, crossed a finger over their heart and mimicked locking it with a key. “All yours champ.” Just like with Emilio, they handed over the key, figuring the first step should be theirs. 

—

Losing their apartment had been a sad affair. It felt silly to complain about it, as they had been able to spend more time with Ariadne and there were way worse things in the world — but the apartment building had been the first place that had felt like home since they had ran away. There was something special about it, even if the faucets were leaky and the wind howled through the cracks and one of their neighbors sometimes threatened them with a knife. Wynne hadn’t been looking for a new place, hoping foolishly that it might one day be restored and all would be good. Avoiding the problem.

Maybe it was good that they had been, because here was the solution. Teddy had come to the rescue, once again, their spontaneity matching perfectly with their hesitance. They were looking at them and then the house and then back at them, hardly able to believe that this was happening. That someone could love them, like this. That it could feel this secure. This giving. 

They curled their hands around the keys and were quick to dive in for a hug, pressing their teary face against Teddy’s chest. Wynne swallowed thickly, trying to pull their tears down with them, and then pulled back. There was a small sniffle. “Thank you. Thank you. I can’t – I can’t believe it.” They let out a laugh, which was nervous and excited, and they tried not to tremble as they pushed the key into the lock and turned it. 

—

A gift well received was one of the most gratifying things to experience. Teddy knew it was a bit selfish, or at least they saw it that way. Doing nice things with the ulterior motive of… well, this, they supposed. Of seeing the look on someone’s face when it all worked out just right. The feeling was something they had chased for… pretty much ever. Whether it was acting as demonic as possible to make their father proud, or being a little over the top with gifts and such. 

The hug was returned, long gangly limbs curled around the shorter of the pair and squeezed tightly, protectively. For a moment Teddy pressed their cheek into the top of Wynne’s head before stepping back. Smoothing out the other’s hair from their face, and wiping away one of the big tears that had begun to spill. 

“Alrighty sprout, let's get in before we do get hypothermia.” 

The inside of the tiny house was as meticulously crafted as the exterior. Maybe even more so with all the room for expression. Teddy giddily urged Wynne on, asking them to explore the space with gestures alone. Too excited to properly verbalize it at all. 

The doorway opened to a small foyer, a little bench to the left to sit and take off boots, along with pegs to hang up coats, scarves, keys, or whatever just above. Further in, a small sitting area with a comfy couch, a little coffee table, and a small entertainment system filled in the corner that split off to the stairs and a small hallway that led towards the kitchen. The appliances were old, but well taken care of. (As luck would have it, a year or so ago Ted had done a shift at an old antiques place and their temporary boss had a knack for restoring old stoves and fridges. They cashed in that favor as well as quite a few more for this little adventure.) 

Greenery was strewn about the whole place, in cute pots both on the ground and hanging in macrame holders. Though the ex-demon did look a little sheepish when Wynne went in for closer examination. “Plants are fakes for now, couldn’t get a whole greenhouse worth in here in the middle of winter, but we’ll fill it out in time, y’know?” The rest of the decoration was sourced from local artists, and some Teddy knew from way back when. Lots of cute things with folksy charm that reminded them of Wynne. 

The stairs in the center led to a small loft style bedroom, complete with dressers full of thrifted sweaters, socks, and other cozy things. And a big old bed with a heavy knitted quilt sitting right in the center of it all. Teddy was pretty proud on how well they had done in such a short time, but that was the benefit of being the person who always “knows a guy.” As well as having a stupid amount of money they really didn’t need left to them by their father. Excited as they were, there was really only one opinion that actually mattered about the house. So Teddy grinned, turned back to Wynne and asked;

“Whaddaya think?” 

—  

It was overwhelming. That was a statement that often rang true for the likes of Wynne, who had been raised sheltered and without the constant input that came with mobile phones, computers and televisions. The world was large and filled with terrifying and glorious things and it was sometimes too much for their brain to comprehend. But in some situations it was a welcome thing.

Like now. Teddy called them sprout and the doors opened to a house that was theirs. Was decorated with them in mind, by someone who not only had a good eye for interior design but who knew them. They thought of their bedroom in Worm Row, which had been decorated with a poster that had been gifted by Ariadne and a few random plants and candles. It had been bare besides those few things, lacking in personality. They hadn’t thought they’d had one of those. They had thought that whatever identity they’d had had been left at the estate, when they had abandoned their title of dewisedig. 

But this was theirs. This was made for them. This fitted whatever personality they had apparently been showing to Teddy. The cozy couch, the kitchen that looked well-used but more than functional. A little outdated, but still working. The plants were especially fitting, even if they were fake. The art pieces were ones they liked, even they couldn’t quite put into words why. It was all proof, though, that they were seen. 

They were quiet as they moved through the house, aside from a few sounds of surprise. They liked that it wasn’t too big. That the bed was covered in a quilt. They ran their fingers over the handiwork, looking up at Teddy. “It’s …” 

Wynne didn’t want to start crying again. They looked outside, at the far away ocean view. They exhaled deeply. “It’s too much.” How did one accept such a gift? How could they, when they had done nothing in return? Wasn’t everything a give and take? A balance? They were blinking at Teddy. “Right? It’s — it’s perfect. It’s so perfect. It’s too much.” They had to give something in return but they had nothing but their empty hands and the things they could make. Nothing of this scale. “It’s beautiful. I love — it. But …” Their lip trembled. They didn’t know why they were getting so upset. “Teddy …”

—

“No, hey–” Teddy saw the wobble, the break in resolve. They knew this all might have been a little overwhelming but they never wanted Wynne to cry, or anything even remotely close. Teddy pulled the shorter one into a hug. One hand cupping the back of their head while Ted’s chin rested neatly on the top of their head. “None of that, okay? You earned it, sprout. Don’t gotta give me anything back. This isn’t transactional okay? It’s your turn to grow, I’m just here to make sure you got the sunshine.” 

In their mind, this was all the logical progression of the story. Levi had taken in a kid, bound to sacrifice and raised them. Wynne might have been a bit older than young Teds, but they were still just a kid. Needed a home. Needed someone there to support them when shit got rough. Someone who could give advice and comfort. Not that Teddy was the best at either, but they had a lot of love to give, and Wynne was as deserving, if not more, than anyone. 

— 

They felt themself tremble and when Teddy pulled them close, their face resting against their chest. Tears still spilled, even if they were told there was no need for it. Wynne let out a shaky exhale and returned the embrace, nodding their head against Teddy’s hand and chest. “Okay.” Not transactional. A space to exist, a space to simply be and be safe. What else could they ask for? A place to come home to, created with care and meant to be somewhat permanent. “Okay. Okay, if you’re sure.”

They eventually let go from the embrace, looking around the place again. Their chest felt heavy, but less so than it had felt before. It would take a while to get used to this, but maybe that was alright. “It’s really beautiful,” they said, a little breathless. They weren’t sure what to do next, but when their gaze rested on the entertainment system they looked at Teddy. “Will you … show me what all that is, how it works?” That would be good. To listen, to watch and to busy both their hands. Wynne smiled. “I’m a … noob, is what they call it, I think.” And Teddy was good at those things, not just at explaining things but all of this — at giving. 

#wickedswriting #ohwynne #eldritchaccident

[capybaraonabicycle]

Lavender's blue (Mels Zucker x Reader)

I finally wrote something fluffy for Mels!

Rating: Teen

Genre: Fluff, Romance

Words: ~ 5,700

Warnings: Some illegal activity (theft and trespassing and there is a short scene in a prison cell) and some light innuendo, descriptions of knife-like objects as weapons but no one is attacked, also non-sexual sensory deprivation

Summary: It is almost the end of the last year of school. History class is covering the Roman invasion of Britain. Spirits are high. The reader loves Mels, Mels loves the reader. They go on a (slightly illegal) date.

read on ao3

Amy was walking next to you, a spring in her step, her voice brimming with busy determination.

“Rory has agreed to wear the soldier costume” she said “So we just need you to spruce up that text on roman gender roles and someone to make Mels finish - or rather start - her take on weaponry. Then there is no way Kaylee's stupid presentation will beat ours.”

“Hey, there is plenty of spruce in my text already!” you complained automatically.

“That is not a thing” Amy rolled her eyes at you. “And: No there isn't. You literally copied two lines out the textbook about how women were more likely to take care of the household, teach children and weren't allowed to vote. There is nothing spruced up about that.”

She might have had a point. If you were being honest, you weren't entirely sure what your text snippet had covered. During the lesson you had only half-heartedly been working on it - way more interested in Mels' jokes about roman orgies than your assignment. Way more interested in Mels than history lesson, period. Contrary to Amy, who for some reason had been excited by the prospect of yet another 'end-of-year-extra-credit-how-do-I-keep-my-pupils-occupied'-presentation project, this time on the roman empire, or roman life and culture in your case.

But you were nothing if not a good friend - and slightly terrified of Amy's wrath- so you graciously agreed: “Fine. I will write you a piece about how Romans already performed full body Brazilians if that's what you want, Pond.”

“See: That line is gold” Amy nodded with satisfaction. “Keep that in.”

“Why is this so important to you anyway?” you asked. You had thought you were all on the same page about history taught by Mr. Hilbert: It was necessary to be passed for your nearing A-levels, but that was about the amount of effort it was worth. Rory still studied and helped you all to get through, but neither one of Amy, Mels or you had ever been paying a lot of attention to it. And when it came to you, you were very okay to spend the time you got for the project flirting with Mels.

“It's the first topic in history class that interests me: Invasion of the Hot Italians!” Amy explained with great flourish and a wicked smile.

“Is that the title of our presentation?”

Amy beamed. “You bet it is.”

You chuckled, fully convinced now to invest yourself in the project if brought her that much joy.

“Fine, I promise to make an effort” you said, remembering something you had read the other day. “As long as you allow me to put in a bit on transgender Romans? There was this really interesting article in National Geographic.”

Amy stopped suddenly, grabbing your shoulders and staring at you with wide eyes.

“Y/N. That. Would. Be. Perfect” she said, stressing each word individually. “And if you could get Mels to hand in something?”

That was a bit more of a difficult request.

“I’m not sure I can do that” you admitted. “But I promise I will do my very best to convince her to take the 'Julius Caesar was not stabbed earlier because the Doctor wasn't there to initiate it' line out.”

Mr. Hilbert had given you a flowchart for the project and Mels only contribution had been to immediately write down something along those lines. When Amy had tried to throw the sheet away and ask for a new one, she had been denied, so for now her imaginary childhood friend was still part of the presentation.

Amy grimaced. At least she seemed more amused by Mels’ antiques now than during the lesson. “Wasn't it 'Julius Caesar died because the Doctor didn't save him'?”

“Not sure” you frowned in concentration, trying to recall the flowchart. “But I believe Mels should be in favour of the empire crumbling? She is very anti-autocrative figures.”

“Didn't she have a thing for Cleopatra though?” Amy asked but you just shrugged.

“Just another reason to wish Caesar gone.”

You had reached the crossing where you would normally split up and stopped idly, not ready to say goodbye yet.

Amy wrung her hands. “Well, it would be great if the Doctor did not make an appearance in my- uh our presentation.”

“I'll try my best” you promised again.

“I'm sure she'll listen to you” Amy nodded optimistically. “She loves you.”

You felt yourself smile. “She does, doesn't she?”

It was all new, you and Mels. Barely three weeks ago, she had suddenly taken the first step and asked you out. Three weeks that you had spent with nothing else than making googly eyes at each other as Amy liked to point out. You didn’t care that she was mocking you, you were too happy. Having been crushing on Mels for literal years the current state still felt acutely like a dream come true.

Amy snorted good-naturedly. “To a fault. Hey, I bet you two'll be voted 'endgame couple' in the yearbook.”

Saying that she elbowed you lightly as if she was letting you in on a secret. You however could only raise an eyebrow sceptically.

“We will not. We're way too unpopular in school” you argued.

Amy shrugged. “Well, Rory and I have voted for you.”

“Shouldn't you vote for yourselves?” It was out before you could hold yourself back. You bit your tongue, silently cursing your faulty impulse control and praying Amy would overhear your slip up. As much as you shared Mels conviction that your friends were meant for each other, you didn’t want to meddle. Unfortunately, Amy was not heading your voiceless plea.

“What do you mean?” she asked with a frown.

“Nothing” you hurried to say. “Forget I said anything…So I will get home I guess and work on roman gender roles, see you tomorrow?”

Okay, maybe you were just trying to get out of the conversation. But you really should be getting home, too, if only because Mels had been calling your landline every night for the last weeks and you were hoping it would be the same today.

“Alright” Amy agreed, hugging you tightly. “Take care, Y/N.”

“You too” you grinned, waving before turning to make your way home.

Having barely taken ten steps down the street, you recognised a familiar figure squatting on top of a little garden wall on your side of the road. You reckoned normal people would be a bit disturbed if their girlfriend – who had stayed behind at school and was supposed to be having a Spanish period right now – snuck past them and their friend on their way home to wait until said friend had left and greet them as a slightly threatening, ominous figure on a garden wall, playing with a fidget spinner they had transformed into a shuriken nonetheless. But then, normal people probably wouldn’t date Mels.

In any case, the feeling flooding your stomach at her sight was far from unease and a whole lot more pleasant.

“Mels!” you greeted her, beaming. “Good to see you. Amy has just given me the very strict instruction to make you work on the presentation.”

She smirked, pocketing the shuriken.

“That would not be half as exciting as what I have planned.” She jumped down from the wall and strolled towards you, reaching for your hand. “I want to take you on a date tonight.”

“But you can't tell Amy or Rory anything” she added hurriedly, intertwining your fingers and looking searchingly into your eyes. “Promise?”

You guessed her hesitation to inform your friends wouldn’t have anything to do with the presentation. Mels was usually very upfront about not caring about school, even when Amy, Rory and you did. You frowned thoughtfully.

“That sounds moderately concerning” you admitted. “How illegal are we talking?”

Mels chuckled. “It's not... more illegal than usual.”

“Why are you so insistent I don't tell them then?” you asked, reaching out with your free hand to caress Mels’ cheek. Like always, she immediately leaned into the touch.

“It's just something I am not ready to share yet” she said quietly and you got the feeling that she was uncharacteristically coy about it, shy almost. Whatever it was, Mels seemed to not be sure about it, as unbelievable as that sounded. And still she was inviting you, trusting you.

You bit your lip. “But you’re sharing it with me?”

“Yeah...” she pulled a face and lightly hit your front. “Don't you dare go all soppy on me now!”

You couldn’t help it, you had to take her face into your hands and kiss her. When you pulled back, she looked incredulous, like she couldn’t quite believe she deserved this. It was not the first time you had seen this expression on her but she kept insisting, it didn’t mean what you thought it did. Well, you had decided you would just make sure to make her feel like she did deserve you with all your might.

“Promise, you won’t get us into trouble this time?” you asked, already knowing what her answer would be.

“How dull would that be?”

You rolled your eyes but couldn’t suppress a grin. “Promise me then you won’t push me into a sewer again?”

“A sewer?!” Mels eyes widened in mock exasperation. “Honey, I pushed you into the canal! There is a difference, thank you very much.”

“You pushed me right next to a pipe that looked suspiciously sewer-y” you pointed out. “And have you seen Leadworth’s canal? My sneakers still smell like a dog who rolled in a freshly-fertilised field.”

“Did save you from getting arrested” Mels mused, way too satisfied with herself and you felt the strong urge to kiss that smug smile from her face.

Instead, you flicked one of her braids teasingly. “So, what? You want me to thank you now?”

She considered you for a moment, definitely more for show than anything (she had to know what it did to your heart when she looked at you this intently). Then she shook her head slowly.

“No” she said with that slightly deeper voice that never failed to make your legs feel like jelly. “I want you to thank me tonight. On our date.”

She cradled your hand in hers again, then glanced up at you through her lashes. “Deal?”

It would be so easy to give in. Too easy.

“I still haven’t agreed I owe you thanks” you managed to say, even though it came out rather hoarsely.

Mels smirked at the way your breathing had acquired a ragged undertone, caressing your throat lightly with the back of her free hand. You held your breath. She chuckled. “Haven’t you?”

You burst out laughing, partly at her arrogance, partly out of nervousness, and slapped her hand away. “You are incorrigible!”

“I know” Mels agreed without a hint of shame. “It’s why you love me.”

She had said it light-heartedly, considered it a joke, probably. But your mood switched instantly.

“It is” you confirmed earnestly. “Among other things.”

Mels froze, a fearful expression flickering over her face, so quickly you almost missed it. But when she forced back a smile onto her lips and cheerful cheek into her voice, neither of those pretends were convincing anymore. “Didn’t I tell you not to get soppy?”

It puzzled you, how it seemed so hard for her to accept your love when she kept demanding it freely.

“Maybe, I am incorrigible, too” you said softly, and Mels gulped. Then a tentative hope crept into her eyes.

“Seems, like we make quite a team” she offered.

“Seems like it” you agreed, pressing her hand.

Mels cleared her throat and let go of your hand, suddenly in a hurry to put some distance between you.

“I need to go” she announced. “But I will pick you up at eight. Don’t leave me waiting!”

“Wouldn’t dream of it” you promised.

“You’d better not” she grinned, “’cause I’ll be bringing sickles.”

“’Sickles’?” you repeated, confused, but Mels just blew you a kiss, waved and skipped away.

You chuckled quietly to yourself. Well, it was not the first weird weapon she had used to threaten you with, and you guessed it would not be the last. But whatever kind of date she had planned, you knew you were in for an adventurous evening.

-

Mels picked you up exactly at eight, punctual on the second as she always was when she wanted to be. She did not greet you with a sickle or shuriken but a silky blindfold. Your teasing remarks ignoring she made sure it was fasted securely before helping you onto her motorcycle. It was thrilling, riding through the complete darkness, the wind howling around the thick helmet and the roaring of the engine deafening you so that your grip on her leather jacket remained the only sense anchoring you to reality. When you stopped after an immeasurable time period and had taken off the helmet, your hands immediately reached up to undo the blind fold. However, Mels’ gentle touch on your wrist held you back.

“Wait a moment, darling” she whispered. “Let me surprise you.”

She helped you off the motor cycle onto mushy ground. Something tickled your ankle and you jumped.

“Where are we?” you whispered, grabbing onto Mels’ arm so as not to lose your balance. She wrapped the other one around your waist, pulling you close.

“You’ll see” she hummed close to your ear and you rolled your eyes.

“I swear, if you trying to surprise me will land me in the ER…” you murmured while you started moving on unsteady feet. There were quite a lot of things at ankle to knee height and some of them were rather prickly. You assumed you were walking through a forest. The cracking of things under your feet and quiet sounds of owls, wind rustling leaves and a faraway highway were backing up that theory.

“Oh, shut up, you are loving this” Mels huffed and you couldn’t suppress a grin.

“It is a tad more exciting than ‘Netflix and Chill’, yes” you admitted and she hummed non-committally.

“Then again, we have never done ‘Netflix and Chill’ before” she argued. “Might turn out to be loads of excitement with me.”

You sighed and almost surprised yourself by how dreamily it sounded. “I bet you could turn even ‘Netflix and Chill’ into a dangerous car chase with a questioningly legal side quest.”

“You know I take that as a challenge” Mels chuckled and you conceded:

“I would expect nothing less, dear.”

“Okay, here we are” Mels stopped you with her palm against your stomach. “Hang on a second.”

Her arms left you and you heard her rummage through her backpack. Then she pressed something heavy with a wooden base into your hand.

“Careful with that” she breathed, then went to untie the blindfold. You knew her well enough to heed that advise. So you did not dare to move your arms before you could see what you were holding.

It was a sickle; an old, rusty sickle with a serrated, curved blade that shimmered dimly in the feeble light. You gulped.

“Mels?” you choked out. “What is this?!”

“I told you I was bringing sickles” she shrugged and when you looked at her, you saw that she was holding one of her own. You couldn’t make out her features properly but assumed she was sporting an amused expression at your shock. Her voice sounded entertained at least.

“Relax!” she told you, reaching for your free hand. “We're not killing anyone... Or anything.”

“Ideally” she added as an afterthought and your slightly settled heart jumped into your throat again.

“Ideally?!” you shrieked.

“Sorry, context:” Mels coughed, pressing your hand reassuringly. “We're using the sickles to harvest.”

She used her sickle to gesture before her. You were standing next to an open field of knee-high plants, as you realised now. “And if we do it right, we won't kill the plants. That's all. No murder involved…this time.”

“Are you taking me on a foraging date?” you asked, slowly catching up.

“Nah, we're stealing from a farm” she grinned. “But same thing, I guess.”

“Aw, Mels!” Now this was just sweet. And a lot more your thing than any other possible activity involving sickles. At least so you hoped.

Mels voice suddenly turned sharp. “If you laugh, I will break up with you. I'm not even kidding.”

“I would never laugh at you” you promised. “And definitely not when you are holding a sharp sickle.”

“Good call.”

Mels lead you onto the field that turned out to consist entirely of lavender plants. She took out a white canvas, spreading it in between two rows of lavenders and gesturing for you to sit down on top. Then she carefully explained to you how to cut the stems, making sure you understood where to grab the flowers and how to hold the sickle as not to cut yourself. It looked very easy when she did it but your first tries turned out rather clumsy. Still, you immediately felt the calming effect of the activity. The feeling of the hard and delicate stems in your hand, the pervasive smell of lavender in the air, the silence of the rural night, the repetitive movements, Mels’ familiar presence at your side as she cut the stems with deadly precision.

“You are scary good at this” you remarked, a little rueful for disturbing the silence.

“Well” Mels mused, glancing at you without faltering in her swift movements. “It's not so different from decapitating goons. As you know I'm a secret superhero, so I've had practice. I would tell you more but then I'd have to kill you with this sickle. Like I did with Andrew and Sabrina yesterday.”

“I know you are joking but at least half of our class actually believes stuff like that” you said, stopping in your work to admire her skill instead. “And I'm still undecided which side I'm on.”

“My side, I hope.” Mels gathered a larger bundle of flowers, expertly fastening them together with a hair tie.

“Always” you smiled. You went to cut the next handful, but stopped again, looking back at her. “Why are you really this good at lavender harvesting, then?”

She shrugged. “I've come here before, watched the other patrons pay horrendous amounts of money to be allowed to do this. But they got shown how to cut the stems, so now I know it too. And then I stole some sickles and practiced on my own at night.”

Her voice turned teasing again. “All so I could impress you with my skills.”

Well, she had definitely excelled at the impressing part. Or maybe that was just her and you would be impressed by anything she did. Now, that was a thought too embarrassing to bring up in the middle of a field.

“I would never have guessed you were into farming” you said instead. “But it suits you. I like it.”

“I guess I've found it rewarding to do stuff with my hands” she admitted. “And calming somehow. To concentrate on a simple task. And then have something beautiful in the end. There's something to it.”

You knew exactly what she meant, but before you could say so, Mels shook her head.

“I don't know” she huffed. “It sounds stupid when I say it out loud.”

“It really doesn't” you asserted, tapping lightly against her side. “Hey, maybe you could do something like this after we've finished school!”

She stopped, the sickle resting on the stems. She looked at you, then back at her hands.

“I have honestly been thinking about that” she said quietly. “Don't laugh, but-“

She stopped herself again and you reached out to touch her arm. “You know I would never.”

Mels breathed out loudly. “I've thought about studying archaeology.”

You blinked. “Archaeology? I can actually picture it.”

“Yeah, you into that?” Mels chuckled and that low and flirty tone was back in her voice, chasing the precious vulnerability away.

“You as Indiana Jones?” you asked, suppressing a shiver that the mental image sent down your spine. “Definitely.”

She hummed contentedly and continued cutting the plants. “Well now I have to do it.”

You smiled, but couldn’t let the subject drop before she knew how earnest you were in supporting her.

“Seriously though Mels” you reaffirmed. “I think, it's a great idea.”

“Hm” she shrugged “Well it's not gonna happen anyway. But it's fun to dream sometimes.”

“Of course, it can happen” you insisted. “You just have to make a little effort and you will sail through the A-levels. You are incredibly smart, Mels.”

“Is that your pitch to make me work on Amy's presentation?” she laughed too brightly. “Nicely played.”

“No, I am serious” you tried again. “I really believe- ”

“Come on, you've got to look at that sky!”

Mels suddenly dropped her sickle, throwing herself at you and toppling you over. Your sickle fell out of your hands too and you were lucky neither of you got injured. Mels came to lay on your chest but she didn’t give you an opportunity to recover, her lips hungrily claiming yours. Your eyes closed of their own accord, your hands wandered into her hair and then you found yourself sighing into her mouth while you enjoyed the feeling of her weight pressing you into the soft, canvas covered grass, grounding you. After a while, she pulled back, her smile hovering a few centimetres above you.

“I thought I should be looking at the sky” you said hoarsely.

Mels chuckled, her eyes never allowing yours to stray away. “Aren't you?”

You snorted. “You are so conceited.”

“You love it.”

She pressed another soft kiss to your lips, then she rolled off you and climbed into the next row between lavender bushes. With a sigh she let herself fall onto her back, disappearing behind the plants. Something shuffled through the leaves towards you and you had almost shied away when you realised it was her hand, searching for yours. You intertwined your fingers, your gaze finally straying to the sky. It was very clear and millions of stars were twinkling down at you. Mels had been right, it was quite a sight.

Your caressed the back of her hand with your thumb and pleaded: “Explain the constellations to me again?”

“Alright” Mels agreed. Her voice was very clear, as if she was right next to you and not separated by the bushes. “You seeing Ursa Major?”

“Hang on...” you scanned the sky. “Yeah, found it.”

“Well done” Mels praised and you bit your lip. “So, if you follow the axis in the back upwards then...”

“I get to the north star” you remembered proudly. “Found that one too.”

“You seeing the Orion Belt as well?”

“Was that the one that looks like a W?” You had to admit the memories of Mels last lesson on astronomy were rather vague from this point forth.

“No, that's the Cassiopeia” Mels corrected patiently. “The Orion Belt are three bright stars in a line, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka.”

You scanned the sky but quickly decided that you did not know which stars she meant. “I can't find them.”

“That's because at this time of night they are only visible later in autumn” she explained.

“Mels!” you complained, reaching over with your free hand to slap her arm playfully.

“I'm sorry” she said, sounding not sorry at all. “But Cassiopeia is there, can you see her?”

“Yeah” you smiled, tracing the slightly skewed ‘W’ with your eyes.

Mels continued explaining constellations to you, letting you search for them and making sure you had found the right one before moving on. You reached for one of the bouquets you had created from the lavender, smelling the little buds and picking at broken stems while you listened. Her hand in yours was warm, her voice dancing through the air, almost making you believe the stars were only shining for the two of you tonight.

“They are so beautiful” you murmured after Mels had drawn out the Swan’s flight along the milky way for you. She hummed in agreement.

“Imagine if you are travelling through space” she mused, “they will look differently all the time because you are changing your position relative to the stars. You can't even use star signs to navigate. Nor the cardinal directions, obviously.”

“I've never thought about that” you admitted, impressed.

“I have” Mels said. “Loads. Imagine if you are also traveling in time, the stars will keep rotating and exchanging places. How would you begin to know where you are? You get dizzy even thinking about it.”

Oh. Now that sounded familiar.

“Is this about the Doctor again?” you asked.

Mels didn’t even seem to have heard you. “He must have some sort of inner compass. Something that always tells him exactly where and when he is. Or at least his ship must have it. Otherwise, he'd constantly be lost.”

She chuckled but it sounded petty. “Maybe he is.”

“Mels...” you started, unsure, what to say. You still didn’t know why she was so hung up on Amy’s imaginary childhood friend. Especially since Amy herself preferred not to speak about him.

“I think I might have it as well” she continued, still ignoring you. “A feeling for it all. It feels like it's dormant, but if I could just concentrate enough, I could feel it. All that time. All that space. The gravity pulling it all into order.”

It seemed to you as if she believed in those ideas. More strongly than in possibilities of studying archaeology at least.

“Do you think there is a difference between gravity and love?” she asked and despite yourself you smiled. Because after all, why not? Why shouldn’t you call that pull you felt towards her ‘gravity’?

“Right now?” you asked. “No.”

“Me neither.”

Mels pulled at your hand and then she suddenly emerged over the lavender blossoms again. She climbed back on top of you, sitting up and looking at the sky. Her eyes were shimmering like the stars themselves were reflected in them. She looked down at you and her hands reached out for your face, as if on instinct. No, not for your face, for your temples. For some reason you got the strangest feeling, like something important would happen once she touched you. Your breath caught in your throat.

Suddenly, Mels froze, her hands hovering in the air. She jumped, covered slightly and looked around. And then you could hear it, too. Barking. A voice. A faint light flickered over the top of Mels head, only a second. A flashlight.

“The farmer” you whispered in unison.

Mels wide eyes caught yours again and both of you burst out giggling. The voice grew louder, the barking closer, you started hearing heavy steps. The flashlight flickered your way again, your heartbeat picked up.

“I knew, this was going to end this way” you snickered, while Mels pulled you up and you hurried to gather canvas, lavender bouquets and sickles in your arms while never letting go of the other’s hand. “It always does with you.”

“Oh, shut up, honey” Mels snorted, pulling you away from the dark, harsh silhouettes blustering your way. “Shut up and run.”

-

“Do you remember our lavender date?” River asked you one night.

You were lying together on the cot in her cell. Which meant you were mostly lying on top of your wife, as the small frame barely admitted one person. River was right, Stormcage could definitely improve its hospitality for visitors. Strange, it was almost as if they didn’t plan for overnight stays of spouses.

Your head had been resting on her belly, your hand drawing lazy patterns onto the skin where her shirt had ridden up. But now you raised to your elbow, squinting up at her.

“Of course,” you said. “It was the first time you told me you were becoming an archaeologist.”

She quirked an eyebrow. “You remember that?”

“Yeah” you nodded. “It was the first time you talked about your future in a positive way. It gave me hope.”

The right corner of your mouth twitched cheekily as you added: “Also, I might have a thing for archaeologists.”

She laughed and the sound vibrated against your chest. “I'm sure you do, Love.”

“I even kept my bouquet” you said. “Dried it and hung it up. It's on the wall in my TARDIS room now, actually. I liked looking at it and imagining you – Mels, I mean - could come travel with us during those first days.”

She smiled. “I made mine into a moth pillow. Well, I had Dad make it into one. I'm not too skilled with a sewing machine.”

“Don't remind me” you groaned. “I am still mourning that top.”

“Would you like to go back?” River asked, reaching out to caress your cheek.

“To you trying to fix my clothes?” you frowned. “Darling, I mean this the nicest way but I won't ever let you near my clothes again when you are holding yarn and needles.”

She rolled her eyes, slapping your cheek lightly.

“To the lavender field” she clarified. “To the night of our date.”

“Crossing our own timestreams you mean?” you teased.

She shrugged innocently with one shoulder. “I'm not telling the husband if you aren't.”

“You're a very bad girl, River Song” you smirked.

“Only for you” she purred. You knew she was aware you had always been unable to resist that voice. But you couldn’t bring yourself to care.

Ten minutes and one ride via vortex manipulator later you were watching your younger selves flee their scene of crime hand in hand. You distantly remembered thinking that you might get Mels to work on the presentation with you after all while disappearing into the forest. You had been very wrong.

“You know you saved me back then?” River asked, interrupting your reminiscing. “Probably saved the Doctor, too, come to think of it.”

“I didn't do anything?” you wondered, leaning into her and resting your head on her shoulder. “And I remember precisely that you saved yourself and him. And countless other people since then.”

She slung an arm around your waist and you remembered how Mels had also loved to do that back in the day.

“You loved me” River said, “when I was convinced, I could never be loved. Not by my parents, not by Kovarian, definitely not by the Doctor. Not even by myself. You showed me that there was good in this world. Even for someone like me.”

“Amy and Rory loved you too!” you insisted, pressing a kiss against her shoulder. “Very much.”

“But they didn't know me” she argued. “They didn't know who I was.”

“Neither did I?”

“Yes, you did” she said. “You loved Mels. And that was all I had to be for you. Amy and Rory loved Mels but I was their daughter and I was convinced, had they known, they would have hated me.”

She sighed. “They do hate me a bit now that they know. I don't blame them. And they try not to show. But of course, they do. Hadn't I been myself, they might have had a daughter.”

“River...” you looked up, searching for words of comfort in her familiar face, but she didn’t give you time to find them.

“It's okay” she smiled sadly. “I just wanted to say: to you knowing who I was did not change anything, not really. And I knew that before. And that was so important. You were the one person whose life I wasn't destroying. The one person for who being myself - being Mels - was enough. The only person I could love fully and whose love did not taste bitter in return.”

She reached out to cup your face. “That gave me so much strength. And I think it gave me the ability to believe in what the Doctor was offering. That there was another way for me. That I wasn't a monster. That I could be loved. Because I already was. Unconditionally. With everything I was.”

Tears were glimmering in her eyes and you gulped. “I did not realise...”

“Of course, you didn't” her thumb ran over your cheek in gentle caresses. “But in a way your love was one of the things that made me decide to save him in Berlin. Which in turn saved me. And it helped me get through the time before. So, thank you.”

“Thank you” you said. “For trusting me enough to rely on me.”

She pressed a kiss to your lips and when she pulled back, her smile had turned playful.

“So...” she drawled, nodding towards the field. “How about we see if we can enrage that farmer further?”

You grinned. “You think they will recognise me?”

“I doubt it” she said, “but I sure hope so.”

“It would definitely blow their mind” you chuckled.

River shrugged. “They might believe you to be your own child... Or grandchild.”

She winked at you and you gasped in mock exasperation.

“Watch it, Song!” you warned, pinching her arm.

“Come on, Dear” she crooned, enveloping you in her arms again. “You know I like the gray on you.”

“I do” you pulled back to smile at her. “And I like that we look the same age again.”

“Same apparent age and same mental age” River agreed. “Shame those two don't match up, though.”

“How do you mean?” you asked.

“Well, we're still behaving like teenagers” she explained, offering you another wink, “snogging in a field of lavender.”

“Ah” you understood, nodding sagely, “shame for the farmer then, not for us.”

“Obviously” River grinned. “Shame for them. Us two? We are brilliant.”

“Yeah, we are” you sighed happily, stepping back but pulling her with you by her hand. “Let's go steal some lavender, then? You still carry those sickles around?”

She snorted, following you onto the fragrant field. “Of course. What kind of a woman doesn't?”

Thank you so much for reading! Reblogs and comments are very much appreciated ❤

#mels zucker #dw fanfic #doctor who #river song #melody pond #reader insert #amy pond #stargazing #lavender #river song x reader #mels zucker x reader #doctor who fanfiction #for fairness reasons there is some amy x reader at the beginning this time instead of rory x reader #If I do write the third one of these we will go back to being rory's bestie though

[griffin-wood]

young love — lya x bobby.

a/n: based on the title, just the early days in the PAST of their relationship. The calm before the storm, a little bit of fluff and well, cute-sy moments.

A/n: gonna say f-it. And just post this. Djdkkdkd. 🤐✨

-

"so, since james is getting married; or in other words. Eloping immediately after, want to be my plus one for the day?" Bobby said in hushed tones, as Lya gives him an eye. A side eye presumably.

"we got projects, Robert."

"and that's what the caffeine is for, angel." He pokes her, earning a lazy smile his way.

"well, let me finish this first. And then, I'll think about it." She places a kiss on his cheek, as Bobby sighs joining in with also a smile. The things that she made him do

-

"Red, or Blue?" Lya says to herself, looking at the mirror as Haley makes her observation.

"You're going to a date, and you're not picking the red one?" Lena raises a teasing eyebrow, as Lya covers the embarrassment on her face.

"The red one is specifically for, special events."

Lena stood in front of the mirror beside her, placing the dress her way.

"It's the perfect one, no objections Lya. And, he's gonna love it too." She winks back to her, as Lya smiles changing into the dress. Lena stood by the door, as it was knocked by none other than Robert marks himself.

"Hey, is Lya around?"

"Lya, your date has arrived." She yells in a sing-song tone, as she disappear from the door, revealing a dolled up Lya Toriezze in front of his eyes.

His eyes widen in both awe and surprised, and there's a hint of...need wrapped in it making her blush at the gaze alone.

"hi Bobby." She said amidst the blush crept on her face.

"angel, ready to go?" She nods taking his hand, before leaving the place, heading to their destination.

-

He drives them to the destination stated within the invite, James is one of the elites apparently. And their destination, is somewhat a mansion, that was captured from the movies. It brought an awe from Lya herself, as bobby whistles at the sight.

"no wonder, the elopement was accidental. He must've paid a lot." Bobby whispers as they were greeted by man in suits, offering a cocktail as they walk in.

"bobby, mate! The party is about to get started, shall we?" One of his mates called them both, as he takes her hand and lead them forward.

They both step into the room, where the ceremony will be held. Everyone is already, seated, as they make their way to any empty ones. Lya holding into his hand, there's a fear that she'll be lose or separated among the crowds. He notice the tense hold, and he turn to face her - eyes staring her way, a sign to calm her down.

She takes a deep breath, and let's it go. She's okay now, as he hasn't let go of her hand while the ceremony begins. As the music play, he scoots forward, whispering something to her ear, making her shiver somewhat at the tone.

"You look very beautiful in this angel. Red suits you well." He bits his lip at the comment, before Lya slaps his shoulder playfully to focus upon the ceremony ahead. He grins, before joining their hands together listening and observing to his dear friend, and close mates finally tied the knot, despite the elopement. The family wanted to it to be an official ceremony, and when there's money? There's always a will. He thought, as the couple finally says I do.

Bobby turns to look at Lya, and at the same time; she did it too. Their gazes met at the sound pronunciation of husband and wife, as the celebration erupted pulling them both out of the locked gaze. He shakes his head, at the idea; as they both stood up to clap for the couple.

Lya founds herself placing her head on the side of his shoulder, enjoying the sound of joy, happiness, celebration. She loves being apart of a happy memory, and despite not knowing these people much. She can feel the excitement and happiness from it all, and she turns to face bobby who smiles her way. He sees the smile on her face, it's somewhat like dancing with the sunlight - that he couldn't help but smile, forgetting anything else.

-

They both departed from the ceremony, leading to the next main event. The reception, as James was very much known to be old money; it does scream within the theme. The classical old money theme was the focus of the night, as everyone begins to join in the festivities.

"oh, wow. This feels like stepping into a movie." Lya gawk excitedly, as bobby joins in. Following her lead, somehow finds her adorable while she's curious.

"let's get the party started, angel." He leads her forward, where they were met with a waiter; helping to pass the drinks their way.

"a cocktail or a mocktail miss?"

"cocktails for the both of us, sir." Bobby answered, as Lya smiles at his antiques. She heard stories about him being trouble, and he's far from that to her.

The waiter passed them both a glass, as the microphone whirls to life.

"Everybody welcome for the first time, Mr. And Mr.s Leonardi." The crowd breaks into an applause, as both the bride and groom walks in with a major outfit change, as Lya claps excitedly at the scene; while bobby wraps his hands around her waist, holding her there, smiling towards the married couple.

He didn't say a word, but; he stares at her for a second long. Wondering of this future, it's too early to tell; but... Before he could continue the thought, one of his mates make their way to them.

"bobby, it's good to see you here. And this is..?"

"She's my date, Lya. Lya, meet Ron; a dear old friend of mine from a state away." Lya takes her hand out to him, as the man smiles to her.

"It's lovely to meet you, Lya. Hopefully Bobby hasn't bore you yet with his details and stories, which he tends to entertain the rest of us most of the time."

"It's alright, he did promise to behave tonight. So, I think we'll be okay. And it's nice to meet you too, Ron." She said, as Ron tips his fedora her way, before disappearing.

-

He turns to face her, before raising an eyebrow.

"when did I promise to behave, miss toriezze?" His voice a bit huskier, somewhat a tease to her. She knows it too well

"You didn't, but; since we will be enjoying the night. Can you promise me to behave, Mr. Robert Marks?" She tends to use his full name in particular moments, and he doesn't admit on how much he likes how it tips of her tongue, and the way she says it.

"I promise. However, we got to seal it with something."

"and what will that be?" She knows where this is going, but it's really fun to irk him.

"How about a kiss?"

"Wouldn't that be scandalous around all these people?" She says dramatically, as bobby pull her close. An inch away, before her lips found his in the midst of the crowd, a promise sealed with a kiss, making her weak in the legs as it always have been.

"only scandalous for us, angel." He says, as they both depart to explore the area.

-

And so far, he's been keeping the promise. As they both walk hand in hand together, meeting people, witnessing the first dance, and had a little too much to drink, as they sat down on their assigned table. Both, a tipsy Lya and Bobby, with her head against his shoulders, somehow smiling with the music playing in the back.

"Another one miss?"

"Don't mind if I do, sir." She takes the glass, and fortunately it's another mocktail instead of the first three glasses.

Bobby takes the glass as soon as she's done putting it to the side. Before cupping her face in his hands, holding her gaze.

"stop looking at me like that, bobby." She says drunkenly, as he chuckles.

"I'm just staring at the most beautiful woman in the room, angel." A little bit tipsy bobby replies, as Lya manages to hide her face away from him. Not used to all of these, but he pulls her closer, forehead touching as the music begins to play a mellow tone.

The mellow tone, begins to urge everyone to step into the dance floor. As they both sat there, forehead to forehead. Letting the moment stop just for a second, before he looks at her again, kissing the side of her mouth. Before, pulling her upright.

"sir, would you honor me a dance tonight under the stars?" A drunken Lya let's out a laugh, as she pulls him to the dance floor without hearing his response. But the smile on his face, the admiration on his face says a thousand words.

She tries to lead the dance, as Bobby takes her hand.

"you're drunk right now angel, let me lead you." He says charmingly, earning a flutter of butterflies in the pit of her stomach, as they both dance along with the other couples around them. The moon reflects it light under them; as he twirls her around; making her smile widely enough that he believes she could summon the sun.

"I'm not drunk, I'm fairly sober bobby." She argues, as he continue to leads them in circles. However, it wasn't the best due to them being quite inexperienced, but it did brought up a few laughter from them.

After a while, they finally got the hang of it; as Lya went quiet immediately after.

"angel?"

She looks up to him, and send a small smile his way.

"you gone quiet, everything okay?"

"I think..my adrenaline have fallen and, I'm realizing how much I'll be throwing up in the morning. Lena is going to kill me." She replies, as Bobby shakes his head; somehow amused by it all.

"Lena is not here right now, we got the whole place to ourselves. It's freedom. " He says, somewhat pleading earning a soft look from Lya herself before she nods, pulling him close, as the music continues. Something about the night, making her wanted it to never end.

-

As everyone else disperse, they both join in to leave as the festivities comes to an end. Bobby has undo his jacket, placing it over lya's shoulders; as they both decided to make another pit stop. Requested by Lya herself, at the hour of 3:30 a.m. The city lakeside, where the benches are empty during this hour. He obliges due to his own curiosity, and he admits; he doesn't want the night to end as well.

They took a seat, facing the water - with them sobering up, the sound of the currents is clear. Lya runs ahead, basking in the peacefulness with the jacket still wrapped over her shoulders. Bobby joins in, with his standing behind; his eyes lands on the light house at the other side, a curious glint fill his gaze.

"Robert?"

"hm?"

"Have you ever fallen in love before?" The question falls upon her lips, she's somewhat not that tipsy anymore; but she's been thinking about it ever since they left.

"love?" She nods at the confirmation before he begins to stare into the sea, somewhat thinking deeply.

He crosses his arms, before turning to face her again. The tight features of his face, soften at her; at the sight of her only.

"Yes, I think so. And what about you?" He asks immediately, wondering about it too. And also, why the sudden question being brought up.

She went quiet, looking at the dark ocean ahead. She's aware she's in a middle, of being a dreamy drunk or a sober realist. But, she decides for the former.

"I've always known about love from my dad, and he always told me we could fall in love once. And once is enough with the right person.." she pauses, before looking at him. The quietness could be broke with a pin dropping, as she steps forward.

"And..I think I've found it. The love, he used to tell me about. And, I think I'm very much in love with this person." She whispers the final part, the confession left her lips filling into his eardrums, making his solid heart melt with the confession.

"Do you think I'll meet the person you're talking about, angel?" He question, somehow there's a linger of hope lace upon his gritty voice.

He turns to face her, as the lighthouse shines their way. They both went quiet, before she leans forward, with the jacket still intact over her shoulders as place a kiss on the side of his lip. The gesture earns a shudder by the man himself, before he takes her hands.

"you didn't answer my question, angel."

"someday you'll know, because you always know how to get it out of me, Robert." She says, as she begins to make a run for it, with her heels being discarded, the free pathway, and the wind flowing earns a wide grin from Bobby himself. Before he joins in the fun, as two innocent souls trying to find their way to life, something about it brings a new profound meaning to her. This moment, maybe it's the beginning of her extraordinary life, and as she looks his way. Bobby's gaze met with hers, and she feels like; she could give him her heart, and trust him with it.

-

Her thoughts being interrupted by a reverie of one Robert marks, who's clutching her heels in his hands. The grin as wide as she could imagine, as the time marks five in the morning, and the sun is about to rise in an hour. Yet, they are still her. His tie has been undone, with a few buttons being unbuttoned, while Lya has let her hair down, walking barefoot side by side.

"You're thinking there, I presume?"

"What else one could do?"

"You really got splendid company here, and yet you're thinking. At least, I hope it's about me?" He jokes as Lya let's out a laugh, amused by the idea and the confidence he has.

"Maybe."

"That's good enough for me." The smug smile begins to form in his face, as Lya shoves him playfully and chuckles too.

-

She stops in her tracks, as she took out something from her pocket. The memory from the night was blurred in between the drinks, but the thick polaroid proof that both of them are indeed sober, and well.

"I think James would be pissed, would he?" She gestures at the polaroid, which was supposed to be apart of coordinated guest book, but Bobby shakes his head.

"I don't think the man would even notice, but...more for us, then." He takes the polaroid in hand, and the hint of smile at the sight of it; at the sight of them.

She's sitting on his lap, whispering something he couldn't remember. And the camera paused at the exact same time, where they both erupt into fit of giggles he assumer; and by the way he's holding her. It feels like she fits well with him, and the memory stays in the back of his mind.

"a momento of our extravagant date of the day. You're not bored yet, aren't you angel?"

"I don't think I ever will." She confessed once again, her blushy cheeks made him warm inside. Somehow, the feeling he wants to capture it forever, as they both said farewell to the pier, and back to their reality. Hand-in-hand, together, something that they didn't see coming, but it's too good to let the moment go.

And, it's one of the nights; that they will remember it all too well. The first blossoming start of heaven in the form of human connections.

THE END.

Tags: @heroofpenamstan @cadetzarneki @sussoro @moderarato (some ppl that I think would love this mehee)

#alya writes #x: i remember it all too well #bobby marks #twc: lya toriezze #twc #THIS IS THE PAST #soooo; hehe #last night was a technical difficulty and me being sleep deprived #so this is the actual post???? #might rb it just in case timezones

[shatterthefragments]

✨ End of Year Questions ✨

Tagged by @ongreenergrasses 💖

I also didn’t think I created much this year, and. To be completely honest, I didn’t really make much new art, and what I did I didn’t really post here. Most of what I’ve done this year is really continue writing snippets of lyrics/verses/poetry in my notes. Hoping to make more time for a lot of things this year!

What is the favourite thing you created?

A sailboat reduction print (lino style but on a literal disposable plate)

Which work are you most proud of?

Honestly, either that same sailboat print or some of the poetry/lyric snippets I’ve written this year. Or the leather medicine pouch (also created for my class final project)

Is there anything you’re proud that you achieved this year?

I’m proud that I created anything at all outside of class requirements (I took one art centred course at the beginning of the year, which my sailboat print was created in)

Did you explore anything new this year?

Not so much for creating, but I did get stickers made of some of my previous work to sell at fairs and whatnot.

Wait no the leather medicine pouch - I haven’t done much leatherwork yet though I really want to create super long lasting functional pieces and textiles is very new to me and is a way of connecting to my grandmothers’ past. And I also joined a sewing/quilting club at school (which doesn’t seem to be running this year but I have no time anyway this semester so that’s fine) (I have not finished the sewing supply bag project we started)

Which work gave you the most difficulty?

Anything finished haha. I am still striving to fully finish and edit and refine some of my lyrics into songs (eventually to try to record and produce with whatever free and/or cheap software I can find).

Also some of the more unusual custom cake requests at work were difficult to do but they worked out.

And textiles can be. Frustrating.

What was your biggest creative challenge this year?

Finding time to create. I definitely took this as a year to go and do things that I. Had to go to. And while I probably could’ve brought a mini sketchbook with me, I didn’t usually.

Which work brought you the most joy?

A birthday card I did for a friend. It’s a pen sketch of their favourite beach (at least the view I got when I took a quick visit and picture of it)

Which of your works do you think people should check out?

…from 2023 nothing is posted unless you’re on my personal instagram or something. (Unless I did post my year of the water rabbit watercolour paintings? In which case - those.)

Otherwise my Creating Awl Together story/series (once I make time to create more for it 😅)

Do you have creative plans for the new year? Is there anything exciting that you’re working on?

Oh always 🥺💖✨

I accidentally made a new years resolution to record one of the songs I’ve written,, but also I want it to be. Better than the literal middle school vent lyrics I’ve written.. so we are. Trying to write some new stuff and upgrade to… mid twenties vent lyrics… (and some like!?! Joyful lyrics too?!?!) (I’m actually excited and terrified and don’t really play any instruments right now and what I played on flute isn’t really necessarily the vibe for what’s in my head?? But it could have a place so I’ll probably play again and if need be I could probably rent a tenor sax for a day or so.) so. Next up is learning (or throwing together) a bit of music production (I am currently gathering royalty free free samples from anywhere I find them more or less)

I really want to draw a lot more this year!!

And paint more again!!

And of some of these drawings I want to transfer them to be lino cut or dry point and do them as prints!!!

I have several quilts I want to make!! I’m going to start really small though to. Learn how to sew them haha 😅 But I hope my first quilt is a lovely sea turtle themed quilt for one of my best friends’ cat. Or a lap quilt for mum. I. Realistically I don’t think I’ll get to this before the end of the year.

I want to paint more ceramic pieces at the paint your own ceramics place (I have. Several pieces that I just need to finish painting)

More cards that I drew on~ I have a bit more energy than last year despite everything it seems right now so I am hoping I can continue to draw on cards for my friends 💖

This shall be the year I finish my dogs out doodle (barefoot ship life!!!)

Lastly, any words of wisdom or advice to share?

To myself: just try. Just try. Just do. It can be whatever. Just create something. Just create anything. Joy, catharsis, one single line. Anything you can.

Given how late I filled this out I’m not tagging anyone 😬

#tag games #tag game #✨ creations ✨ #long post #you know what? yeah! I am excited for this year!

[llycaons]

ending message...🥺

friends, followers, mutuals, passers-by, exasperated acquaintances, beloved companions, and everyone else. roughly six months ago, to my excitement and disbelief I landed my preferred job right out of school, an extremely demanding and stressful position at a hospital. due to the rigorous training program I found I didn't have the time or energy to do any of my regular hobbies, so I turned back to an old comfort and subsequently started reading much more fanfiction than I ever have in my life.

followers may recall I then decided, with very little thought, to download a tag blacklist and go through the entire ao3 tag for cql (400 pages) and for cql/mdzs (almost 1500 pages). this pursuit, as horrifying as it sometimes was, staved off my breakdown long enough to get my footing at work, and provided hours of entertainment afterwards as I tried to go through all the stuff I'd marked. the vast quantities of ooc, nonsensical, poorly written, confusing, or just silly trash I found on that site have been well worth it, even if I hadn't then found almost 200 works I liked enough to bookmark and recommend to others

I've always wanted to do a rec list, but I haven't had a clear idea of how to go about it responsibly, what with the absolute trash fire that is ao3, until a mutual linked me her own rec list (thank you!!!). along with sharing my passion and my excitement about the works I've found, it also allowed me obsessively categorize, sort, and organize all the fics I have bookmarked, which has given me a much-needed sense of satisfaction during these past few months

and here we are - my training has been completed! I have a week off from work, and when I return I'll be working more independently. finally having finished my training, I have a lot more confident in my capabilities than I even had last week. I feel that I've overcome a monstrous hurdle, plagued at every side by doubts of my competence and fears about my performance. in tandem with this accomplishment, I've decided to make public the rec page I've been working on for so long. I have around 30 fics left in my marked for later, which is far fewer than the 1,660 I began with, and I'm not worried about making it zero before unveiling it. as silly and inconsequential as this project is, relatively speaking, it was a great source of accomplishment and joy for me during this extremely stressful and discouraging time in my life, and I want to thank everyone who hasn't unfollowed me, who's replied to my liveblogs, who's recommended me fics to read, who's laughed and commiserated with me, and who's shared advice or feedback about the organization of the page, especially lesbianstorm, who's been here since the very beginning <3

I've spoken before about finding something new to occupy my time, because I don't know how much cql I still have left in me, but I thought it would be a nice send-off to at least watch the show one more time since this story and these characters mean to much to me, and since it's brought me close to so many wonderful people. thank you all again, and know that your presence here means the world to me

#this is stupid im getting emotional but this genuinely means a lot to me and its ENDING #ficblogging

[lelianasbitch]

Hiya, I've never commented on your fic but I just wanted to let you know I'm really enjoying TDoC! Been on a Donna fic spree the past couple weeks and yours was one of the ones I came across that stuck with me. I've only just come back to Tumblr after a long break, but I finished reading it the other night and I couldn't resist dropping a message to gush about it!

I know reader stories can be tricky to write because the protag is technically a self insert, but I think you've done a great job with balancing! The Courier feels like a distinct personality, but she also feels familiar to me.

Also love how you're handling Donna's development. As a reader, I really appreciate that you've put so much consideration and time into research, especially with regards to mental illness. You've clearly put a lot of thought and care into Donna's portrayal, and I think it's so lovely!

Each chapter is just the right amount of fluff, angst, and tension to keep me hooked. The dynamic between the Dimitrescu sisters and The Courier is also hilarious. I've been glued to my phone and sneaking chapters on my lunch break all week like little digital snacks. (Its gotten to the point where I'm pretty sure the people I work with think I have a secret lover, but the only reason I'm not denying it is because I don't know how to tell them that her name is The Deliverance of Change.)

Also, those wee posters you made? Mega cute. I'm no artist or graphic designer so idk if my opinion counts for much but I think they're very *chef's kiss*

Anyway I've waffled quite a bit, but basically my point was your fic has been a thrill to read thus far. Thanks for publishing it. It's been a real uplifter for me, especially on stressful days. No rush for the next chapter, but I'm eager to see what you do next! Hope you're doing well in general and life is treating you fairly :)

Hello! Big oops because this was asked back in August. Thanks for being patient for my reply even though I'm sure you forgot by now 😅

I'm glad that you're enjoying TDoC!! I appreciate you (and everyone else) even if you don't comment.

TDoC is my first x Reader story so it was definitely unusual to be writing in that style. The hard part was trying not to be too self-inserty, but I'm glad that you think I did a good job balancing it.

Writing Donna's development has been fun! There's so many things I can't wait to share and so many things that I was suuper excited to finally be able to read people's reactions when certain events came about.

I love that you've been reading TDoC like "digital snacks" AND that your coworkers might suspect a secret lover. I wonder what would happen if I posted a spicy oneshot . . .

I'd love to create more art like the posters but I'm currently lazy and uninspired . . .

Thank you again for sharing how much you've been enjoying TDoC! Sharing TDoC with so many people has brought great people into my life. It also really encouraged me to tap back into my personal projects which unfortunately have been scarce in recent years, so people's comments like yours brings me joy and gets me excited to continue.

Hope you've been doing well, highskellig! 🖤

#my asks #tdoc #the deliverance of change #highskellig #tdoc fic #the deliverance of change fic #donna x reader #donna beneviento x reader #donna beneviento/reader #donna beneviento

[captainkurosolaire]

Judas Ceasar is my favourite of your crew.

It's endearing to hear that! Too difficult to explain with words alone, that anyone, ever taken an interest to stuff been working on throughout the years. But my gratitude is boundless. I cherish you forever. My devotion to create only heightens and exceeds itself the more, I delve into learning about the characters and flushing them out. As I go often putting them into settings and right now it's just an on-rail, roller-coaster.

For years now I've thought out and had so much vivid ideas of the world building and just how detailed, I wanted to go. At-first making Captain's crew was too daunting. But man, I've so much love and fondness in this community for the infinite inspiration of others who commit unbelievably into their works. I've got too many idol's in peers to name-off. My Roleplay partners, and those who brought per-established, all my RP partner's former or wherever, account for everything and Captain always been a character that was designed off other's reactions, he was molded to this point where finally he was worth enough to make his own story. And all the Tales people, everyone whose ever been apart of his life, none of that ever goes away. It's all going to be referenced, impacted, or mattered.

Totally makes you feel at home when you find an environment that's filled with your kindred-souls.

If my vitality could just be as equal to my passion, I would do much more. Praise and give so much too, I tried for so-long to overcome my limitations but that became unhealthy, so now from on and ever, I just have to be me. Whatever amount, I am. I'll throw something together and it'll be with all my heart or energy at that day or moment.

I've lot of stories in me, I can see the front-covers, images of them inside my head, I can explain the entire story now in one-word and eventually will come into fold. I've got ideas to make cultures, civilizations, just a lot of Isle's, relics, all sorts of stuff and make every Crewmate and NPC have some sort of evolution, character progression. All leading into a bigger cause.

Think anyone would say hardest part is to stay on the path to continuously write or dedication to your craft, you've sculpted the draft but not lined up and finished all the whistles.

Struggles exist for certain, not feeling your best. But when you really start loving, your own pieces, genuinely, even if goes unseen, the fact you can look-back at the aftermath someday and say; I put my energy in the world and that was, me moves mountains. For me, anymore I feel complete and infinite and I've got an internal sense of peace. Just creating and getting closer to a new story. Bringing it to life, alongside the many muses, I've got fills me with joy.

I'm excited almost to be at point in the story of just doing an abundance of revelations. Like having stories lined up in a stack of domino's and finally you get to push one to make all the other's fall into place and eventually it creates your true picture.

Treasure you though anon, sorry for putting so much into this post. Haven't had the energy to work on a side project or update things. Typically wake up do a story and I'm tapped. Trying to get my feet back to consistency.

Hopefully someday probably soon, I'll take a break throughout year and can work on making a Roster page, overhauling my blog and cleaning it, do proper tags. Make thing's way more user orientated for anyone interested, but also me. Since I like to reference a ton of stories in each new thing sometimes.

Thanks for the power.

#asks answered #much heart to you

[dreadnotau]

This is a really difficult announcement to make for me. TL;DR, the process for making the comic has become a lot more complicated due to some changes in my style, and therefore the uploads will have to be set for every other week, rather than every week. Trust me, saying that hurts me a lot more than it hurts you.

Dread Not is, not just the largest project I’ve ever worked on, but also the most consistent. The goal to upload every week was set specifically to keep me motivated and give me just enough room to make something worthwhile. I’ve never regularly released content before, so it was kind of a huge deal for me, even though I never liked the deadline because I felt I wasn’t uploading ENOUGH. The comic is, for all intents and purposes, meant to be read all at once, or over the course of a few days, and short of not releasing anything for years on end and uploading around 100 pages at once, there’s no way to upload it in the same way it was meant to be consumed.

So, for a while, one week was enough to finish an entire page and upload it in a timely manner, or with minor issue (like staying up late to finish the page on the day it’s being uploaded, effectively forcing myself to crunch instead of just releasing it on Sunday instead). The trouble is, though, the pages are getting more and more complicated, and my style and workflow are becoming a lot more time consuming, which is technically a good thing. The quality of the early pages and the newer pages is a stark contrast, and if I want to keep improving my skills, I need to give myself a bit of wiggle room (especially keeping in mind I start college this September, and it’s all gonna be chaos from there). This is half the reason why I decided to upload pages every other week.

The other half is that I miss when this used to be fun for me. If you would allow me a bit of melodrama for a moment, I miss when Dread Not was a passion project that brought me joy, not stress. Nowadays, I find myself thinking about doing literally ANYTHING but work on the comic, but I always force myself to work on it anyway, dwelling on how little time I have until the upload day. I’ve shelfed videos, fics, drawing ideas, and my social life, trying to pour as much into this comic as possible and, honestly, the payoff isn’t worth the price. I have a lot of things I want to do, I have a lot of ideas I want to share, and not all of them are in Dread Not.

What’s especially heartbreaking to me about all this is that I’m forced to make this announcement in the middle of the Fusion’s introductory pages, because these are the pages I was THE most excited for, yet whenever I work on them I feel my soul slowly leaving my body. The Fusion is, unironically, the origin of this comic. A dumb idea I had to mesh my two favourite characters together, which I ended up making a whole world around. I workshopped the story, the idea reached Meowchela, and the rest is history. This dumbass, cat-looking-ass, shambling man stumbling around in the woods is what I have been THE most excited for and now that it’s time to actually show him off, I find myself demotivated, stressed, and depressed. I shot for the moon and crash landed so hard my skull split in half.

Alright, melodrama over.

For future acts of Dread Not, I’ll try to structure my time and work a little more effectively. I’m writing out all the dialogue for act 2, and will hopefully be able to release it in a healthier way, maybe a few pages at a time with bigger breaks of time in between, but we’ll have to see. It’s all up in the air and heavily depends on what my workflow for college will look like.

Again, it pains me to have to switch to this kind of upload schedule. I keep having to remind myself that it’s actually Not Normal for a fully coloured comic to be made by one person and released as weekly updates. Maybe one day I’ll be able to make quality pages in short bursts of time, but that day is not today. Or any time soon for that matter. I feel half dead writing this and it’s literally just the announcement post.

There are exactly 26 pages to go until the end of act 1. That’s around 52 weeks, an entire year. I unspeakably hate that the comic has to be released this slowly, but it’s for my own good. To say I’ve bitten off more than I could chew would be an understatement. I’m trying to swallow the entire Eifel tower whole here.

I hope you all stick around until the end, and I hope it’ll all be worth it. Thank you for being invested in the first place.

#dreadnot #dread not #dread not au #dreadnotau #not comic #schedule update #posting this on saturday is just compounding how dead inside i feel about all this #i am genuinely thankful for the support the comic has recieved and i will keep working my hardest to make something worthwhile #but again for my own sanity i need to give myself more time #a fully coloured comic page on an a4 format is a lot harder to make when youre not just doing the bare minimum #that is shade at no one but my past self who was too fucking lazy to find a good way to shade the fucking pages #kooki is fucking dying hours

[toitown]

Blog Update

Hi everyone! I know I’ve been gone for a while, I’ve been thinking about a lot of things and my brain has kinda switched to a different fandom at the moment. So I’m making this long, kinda rant post to explain and clarify some things moving forward. Thanks for being patient with me!

For starters, I’ve seen the photos of the new Monster High cartoon for Nickelodeon, and read some stuff about it. I know I’m REALLY late to the party, but seeing/reading about the new cartoon gives me real, genuine hope for the franchise moving forward. I like the casting choices, the character designs, and even the very very little I’ve heard about the plot. I’m actually excited to see how it pans out, and I hope it becomes the MH for the next generation.

I have nothing more to say about the live action movie. I still haven’t seen it, and I don’t plan to ever see it. This will be my last post mentioning it.

With that being said, I’ve had some time to think about the state of my blog and reflect on why I started it in the first place. I started this blog to gush about my toy collection, with a specific focus on Monster High and Living Dead Dolls. I wanted this to be a place to destress and enjoy one of my favorite hobbies with others. While I was never excessively public with it, I did privately begin to obsess over the new MH reboot. And you know what? That obsession almost ruined Monster High for me. No joke, fretting over it made me so stressed out that it became hard to enjoy part of one of my favorite hobbies. That’s not what I want for my life, my collection, or this blog.

It’s also come to my attention how fruitless obsessing over the show is for someone like me. I never had much attachment to the MH show, or movies, or books, or anything else growing up, and while I may know more of the canon now and even do enjoy bits of it- I still don’t have any attachment to it. I like the brand for the cool dolls, the scenarios that it encourages me to imagine, the creativity that it helps me to cultivate and explore, the identity that it helped me to form as a child, the comfort and unbridled joy that it has brought me in the past, and continues to bring to me today. I am hugely sentimental about this brand, and I’ve talked about it in past posts, but those sentimental feelings have little to nothing to do with the original show and movies. So I’m not going to let the new stuff bother me anymore. I like Monster High dolls, and that’s the end of that.

So going forward, I won’t be focusing on the reboot anymore. That’s not to say that this blog will be completely free of the topic, I’ll probably end up seeing an episode or two of the new cartoon, and I’ll probably end up buying some of the dolls, so there will most likely be posts about it in the future, but it will probably make up 5% of this blog or less. I don’t think that they will ever take the special place of the original doll series for me. Even if it ends up being amazing and I do start collecting the new dolls, I still don’t think I’ll ever like them more than the originals simply because of the formative nature said originals have on me as a person and my ongoing toy collecting passion.

I will still be continuing my fanfics, although when they’ll be finished or continued is up in the air. All of my writings take place in a canon divergence AU based loosely in the original 2010 canons.

There will probably be some more LDD stuff on this blog, I might be working on some projects for them soon. So stay tuned for that!

I’m going to be working on cleaning out my drafts, so some things may be queued.

Finally, I would like to thank all of my followers and mutuals who have stayed by me. You’ve all been wonderful, and I’ve gotten noting but support and kindness from you, even when I dropped off the face of the earth for weeks. I hope to see and hear more from you in the future, and I hope we can build that happy toy-filled place that this blog was meant to be together. Stay safe, have a good day, and thank you for being you. :)

#monster high #mh #rant #monster high 2022 #monster high reboot #mh 2022 #mh reboot #ldd #living dead dolls #m1n3 #blog update

[with-seokjin]

I was dreading writing this someday but unfortunately, some things we can’t change, especially in situations like this. As most of you know, Seokjin has enlisted in the military. The only emotions I have to explain how I’m feeling other than anxiety, a huge pang of sadness and this weird sense of mixed emotions I can’t exactly pinpoint. 

I have been an army for a long time and when I first got into them, their enlistment wasn’t even talked about because they were so young. Of course, as the years passed by, it started being talked about but there was this part of me that hoped that something, some miracle was going to happen so they didn’t have to do their enlistment but this was completely out of my control and I can’t change the rules, even if I wanted to with my whole being. This is happening whether I want it to or not. I knew it would happen my heart wasn’t prepared for it and I don’t think I could even if I tried. 

Ever since I was a baby army, Seokjin stood out to me, and he wasn’t even my bias at the time. I was always interested in him because sure he was handsome and talented but there was something about his personality that made me relate to him and realize that his “cold” personality wasn’t him and he is literally one of the most adorable humans I have ever seen inside and out and I needed to learn more about him. I instantly fell in love with bts and him even more. I made a dedicated blog for him (this exact one!), I watched every award show, run bts, and everything I could, and I tried not to miss out. This was the peak of my mental health is really bad and for the longest time, bts was holding me above water and bringing me joy when I felt like nothing else could. I totally believe my high school years would have been even worse without them and I will be forever grateful. 

I left being active in the fandom due to personal stuff until last year. I stumbled upon the PTD LA concert pictures and streams on twitter and seeing them together,  being their happy, free, selves during PTD brought me joy I can’t explain! It made me realize what I was missing in my life and what made me fall in love with them, to begin with. The part that made me sob was when everyone did the birthday project for Seokjin. Seeing him so happy and overwhelmed with emotion brought me so much joy. He deserved his last birthday with army in person for a while to be special and it was! I think it’s exactly what he wanted.

This year has been a hard one for a lot of us and I know this huge event will change things I want to remind everyone that we have each other! I have personally met some of the nicest people and I know I have people I can lean on during hard times! It’s okay to reach out to friends, even if they are someone you met online! Nobody has to deal with this alone and shouldn’t have to either so please, reach out, and let your feelings out! Friends, reach out to people you haven’t talked to in a while who may be affected by this! We are a fandom that loves and cares about each other and it’s time to express that! We will be okay as long as we have each other. 

Seokjin,  My heart is heavy and I know this isn’t a goodbye, but a see you later, and it still makes my heart ache. I can’t put into words the impact that you and bts have had on me but it’s so huge. I know I wouldn’t be the same person without the music you have created. I will be forever thankful for you. You are my comfort, one of the funniest people I have experienced and someone with such a kind heart. Things won’t be the same without you but I promise, you have a huge list of people who will be excited and so happy to see you when your enlistment is finished, I’m one of them. 

Please stay warm, be safe and come back better than ever! We will take care so you should too! We love you, our moon! 

#jin #bts #bangtan #we love you #army #seokjin #bts army #kim seokjin

[towardzarabeth]

Brought Alive by David, Nuno, and Bruce

This all started with David, who did an incredible thing over five years and saw it through. He played through both books of the Well-Tempered Clavier "in no particular order, for no particular reason," although he did have an order (he played them arranged by difficulty), and he did have a reason, although he didn’t know the reasons at the time.

When I saw David's project and saw that he had completed it, I was super inspired, and I thought that I might do something similar, or perhaps maybe even do the very same thing. I was playing a lot of piano at the time, working my through Bartók's "Mikrokosmos," and I thought I might try and play the whole thing, maybe, or play the WTC like he did. But I didn't want to start something that I wasn't going to finish and I wasn't sure I would finish at the piano. I'm not a pianist, really. I'm a guitarist who loves counterpoint and so I had to take up the piano at some point. And, at the time, I was a very depressed guitarist, indeed. Too depressed to even to change my strings when my d-string broke. Or to tune them, even if I could change them. That's how very depressed I was.

But I felt the urge to music and so I sat at the piano and started playing that because tuning it was somebody else's problem and that's how it went for me for a very long time. And even that, the piano playing, was the most exciting thing happening in music for me, it wasn't all that exciting because nothing was. And absolutely nothing excited me about the guitar anymore. Absolutely nothing.

And then Nuno returned, just like that. A half-forgotten phantom out of my past and there he was again, very much alive and as amazing as I remembered. Nuno Bettencourt in a completely surprising of audacious brilliance revived the guitar solo and I began to remember that I, too, had loved to play the guitar once. And maybe I should do it again.

And then I heard that my old teacher, Bruce, had been killed in a car accident and I knew that I would start playing again and I began searching, but not for my classical. I wanted to connect with the earlier version of me that existed before all the losses. The hopeful version that still believed in possibility.

In the far corner of a forgotten closet I retrieved the used Strat that Mom had bought for me in 1990. I bought a strap and a cable and an amp and some picks and some books on rock guitar and I thought: what if I learn to play every single one of my favorite solos?

What then?

Might it result in joy?

#guitar #nuno bettencourt #depression