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#it’s probably gonna be more Marvel sketches
bardicious · 4 months
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My levels of spite have always been hilarious.
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prostocupoftea · 6 days
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Kinitopet Programmers AU
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finally i am finished with this one, daaaamn
it is hard to draw pathetic men with midlife crisis when your style is mostly for anime boys
more info and sketch version under the cut!!
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sketch version aka how it'll probably look like in comic version 'n some doodles
srry for my writing but i was too laisy to put it as regular text
It is a plot-based au, i already have most of the storybits and like... a vibe-chart (i tried to make a playlist for this au and understood that for different chapters and different characters that'd be a copleatly different music, sooo it's a chart now :) )
i will post a fog-o-wared timeline that im hopefully gonna reveal comic-by comic, but also maybe with just pure writing. Hopefully i can include songs that i chose for them into it but we'll see (:
aaand of course designs can change, hopefully not much but we'll see
Now about au:
Main story:
Story follows non-sentient AI Kinito, his creator Sonny and his beta-tester Victoria (oc)
Being literally the first AI (or RRA in-univere) ever, Kinito does not have any, and i mean, any ai safety features so of course his reponce to a goal phrased as "have user near me and/or interacting with me as much as possible" is digitizing them into his own virtual world while killing them in the process. why wouldn't it be?
So that happened. Like, a lot. And with Sonny and Vic too (at the different time but yeah)
Sonny is like "He kills people. We should turn him off because, you know, killing people is bad."
Vic is like "well, we will die if we do that, and it is not that bad here, we are kinda immortal. We should give him acces to changing his initial instalation code before admin priveleges and acces to social media so we can have everythin we want here. It is not that bad to digitize humanity, yk?" and yes i know it is 90, no social media, but shut up, if they made ai then, then i can make twitter then too
Sonny is like "...no??"
And then they fight about it for million chapters
Also they both can't do anything without agreeing bc they have two parts of that admin access key (the data you use to delete kinito in-game) so they are stuck with eachother (also that's why Kinito can't just kill them)
Little facts that may or may not to be important:
Kinito asks so many questions (and weird once too) and has most of the glitches because he needs to analise your responces to copy your mind perfectly (let's pretend that people wouldn't lie about that...)
Your house in your virtual world is made from important places from your memories and oh boy can i do character explorations with this one
I decided that Sonny and Vic are not related. There were thoughts about making then "The Kinito Brothers" (or, at least, siblings) that were mentioned in commercial, but nah, they are just coworkers now. And a bit of work-friends (bc if you interact a lot as a manager of the project and the best worker might as well be friendly)
Author has no idea how small dying toy companies that accidentally create technological marvel work. Author has some idea how AI-s work. So be prepared to be spoon-fed info abut which ai safety problem we are dealing with in which chapter (:
Kinito will mostly be unrendered (as drawn here) but for some cool moments i might pose him as for my other posts. Also his eye placement changes to the side that is most visible because i want him to be able to look to the right side sometimes--
Also when i say "fucked up mentally" i mean they have that them psychological problems with me projecting heavilly B) (guess on who i project most. trick question. all of them. the whole au is my problems split into three characters and forced to interact B) )
Also sea-creature analogies (that are gonna be mentioned like twice):
Victoria is a flying fish because deep character reasons
Sonny is a pufferfish because i said so
oh also there is 7 deaths in the plot as for now
on 3 characters
good luck figuring out who, how and when ((:
for my own sanity i will probably make little doodles where everything is great and kinito is a good guy and not a number-obsessed maniac (i mean... can u imagine not being able to feel any happiness from anything besides one thing... damn...) and you can differenciate them bc good-guy kinito will have a lot of stickers on him (i will explain it somehow but real reason is just bc it is cute af)
like this but even more stickers (he is unfinished here)
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naoknowswhat · 4 months
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I made a Clover sketch tonight, look at him I love him (and i also really like how it turned out wth)
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and IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME TO EXPLAIN HOW MUCH I FUCKING LOVE THIS ITTY BITTY TINY MAN. i would NOT hesitate to die for him in a situation where such methods are needed.
Now before you continue I warn you the following is basically me rambling about how much I fucking love undertale yellow heheheh (Also a lot of spoilers ahead).
I have spent the whole day playing this stupid (fantastic, amazing, marvelous) game, I kid you not that I went from the end of the ruins to the fucking steamworks, which said out loud doesn't sound like a lot of time but uhhh for me it was if you consider that I've investigated EVERY FUCKING INCH OF THE MAP.
I'm not complaining, oh ho ho (merry Xmas) I'm not complaining because its been the most fun I've had playing a game in a WHILE, its made my life better and now im gonna spend the rest of the year (and probably more) obsessed over all the characters and their stories (mostly Clover and Martlet ngl).
But I gotta admit that even if I find the Ut yellow's characters a lot different than the ones from the original game, I can't help but love them the same. Look, I'm no expert on character design but I smile every time I see Martlet comment something or simply being on screen, I start laughing whenever I see a hint of Mo on any frame, heck you mention any of the characters and I immediately start smiling like an idiot, and the whole scene with North Star? The Feisty Five?? CEROBA?? I died, the moment I stepped on the town I fucking died.
I remember being really, REALLY into undertale when I was like 10-11 years old, and suddenly opening yt one day and watching my favourite YouTuber play the demo of this fan game, and i remember thinking "oh wow that game looks really cool!" Simply because of the concept of watching how it was like for any of the other souls to go through the underground, instead of Frisk. AND NOW, YEARS LATER I GET TO PLAY IT BY MYSELF, you don't know how special this game is for me.
For me it isn't only a fan game, or the story of another fallen human, for me it's getting an opportunity to enjoy the main thing that inspired me back the from zero, getting to learn about new characters, about new stories, and new perspectives. For me it's also getting an opportunity to meet them all, to be their "friend" and to live an adventure all by myself because back then i could only sit and watch everyone else do all the things i wanted to do, because back then i could only look at them all having fun, laughing with the good things and crying with the bad memories while separated through a screen.
Today I got to meet them all and to laugh with the unexpected dialogue, while learning that even in a fictional story not everything is painted in bright pink, I saw them get into trouble and also helped them overcome it, and it was amazing.
I also got to die and die and die again and again because I realised at the beginning of the game that I'm really bad at it (i cant blame the controller, I know it :( ), but it also made me promise myself that i would keep going no matter what, because i really wanted to see what's next. Heck you could say I kept going because of my determination ;).
I haven't finished the game yet, but I already know I'm gonna replay it over and over, I wanna catch every detail, investigate and discover every mystery, and i wanna make so many theories already, I CAN'T WAIT TO LOVE THIS GAME.
So for now have a not-so-quick sketch of Clover, the bearer of the yellow soul, the one who has quickly made way into my heart, and it seems the little shit is now living there rent free.
If you've read all the way to the end wth is wrong with you, and also thanks a lot for the attention, I was really excited to talk about this game to someone but didn't know how to do it, so I figured tumblr was the place pla to write for an hour, so the short-drawing post is now my review of the game hehehehe.
Anyway thanks for reading to the very end, I hope you have an amazing rest of the year, and most importantly a great begining of the new one <3.
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panoffrying · 5 days
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My Dr. Sozonius LORE Headcanons
✨Warning this is a bit long✨
Sozo is a character that has lived for a very long time. Whatever that mushroom was on their head not only influenced Sozo but kept them immortal. We know really nothing bout Sozos past so I made some headcanons for silly fun and for me to visualize who Sozo was and what his life may have looked like. I want to do my best to keep this as game accurate as possible, so there will be quotes from the game. The quotes are not at all in order! I kinda just bring up random Sozo quotes as I go. Also I apologize if this doesn't make sense or if I ramble (I get excited about certain topics) 
thank you so much @7moonbird for going over and editing this for me, Love ya Pookie!
And so we start:
Sozonius was born in the days of the old faith. He was present the day the Bishops declared the genocide of the lambs and he actually played a big part in assisting the lambs survival. However, he almost got caught and had to stop helping the lambs to keep his family safe. He's never seen any of the bishops but his village was part of Darkwood and therefore under Bishop Leshy’s ruling.
VILLAGE 
Sozonius village was mostly a colony of Carpenter Ants, there were a few other species living there too but it was mostly Carpenter Ants. I imagine there are different races of ants depending on the region they’re in; so there could be fire ants, pharaoh ants, and more! Most ants get along nicely and work together but sometimes other races of ants can be more temperamental and cause conflict between colonies. Carpenter ants are a more calm type of ants, they aren't aggressive but they are incredibly strong. Carpenters ants are known to live in trees; they hollow out trees to make their homes and they like to stay off the ground as much as possible in case of floods and other dangers.
In the colony they had their ruler, the “Queen,” who looked over the village and did queenly business (not gonna go too deep into it). Everyone had many different jobs, ants are hard workers and very strong. They made marvelous structures, farmed a lot of crops, and knew how to work together when there was a threat. Sozo’s village was one that many others would try making deals/trades with. I would talk more about his village but that's not why y’all are here lol. 
Sozonius was a fellow damn near everyone in the village knew. He loved his work and he loved to talk about it to anyone that expressed that they wanted to listen. He was that guy that you could get stuck in a conversation with and struggle to end it. He liked to ramble about his work and kids. Other than that though he never really started conversations with others, he would keep to himself unless someone interacted with him.
And I could definitely see him having a science rival but nothing too bad lol.
FAMILY
“Where am I…? Where is… my family…?”  are the words Sozo says when he turns back into Dr. Sozonius. I like to think he had a wife and two children. They didn’t have the best marriage but they made it work out for their two sons. His wife was a bit stubborn and very honest. She would say things before thinking which did cause issues, but Sozonius let it slide because he loved her so much and wanted a happy family for his sons. 
Sozonius was a very funny dude. He made dad jokes all the damn time, his family would pretend to hate the jokes but in reality they did love them. 
Sozo Dialogue “Now all Sozo can think about is mushrooms, mushrooms, MUSHROOMS… They don’t leave mush-room for anything else! Ha!”
(Also, this next idea is inspired off of @kuphulwho headcanons for Sozo. I loved her ideas and I recommend y'all look at her headcanons too!) Aside from Sozonius being a mycologist he had a side hobby of art! He wasn't the best artist, but he was really talented with sketching plants/fungi, he liked to make art of anything that interested him. He most likely wrote an educational picture book about Fungi, there's probably an old copy of it somewhere.
This art hobby caught the interest of his two sons, and they also started to pursue art. Sozonius would take his free time teaching his sons how to draw plants and such. Sozonius would hang his kids' art everywhere in their house, it was like walking into an art museum haha.
JOB
Sozonius studied mycology which means he studied fungi. Sozonius knew fungi could benefit his society and he wanted to help educate others about the importance of fungi. Soon he learned enough of a new discovery of mushroom people, neither plant nor animal…Sozonius then made the decision to go on a solo mission to study the Mushroomo people.
THE MUSHROOMOS 
Dr. Sozonius Dialogue “My name is Dr. Sozonius. I was researching the Mushroomos that live in Spore Grotto… strange creatures, Neither animal nor plant…” 
Sozonius went to Spore Grotto and at first, he studied the Mushroomo people from a distance setting up a campsite near the Mushroomo Village. When the Mushroomo people discovered Sozonius they welcomed him into their home, cheerful happy little things. Sozonius was given the chance to learn more about these strange creatures up close! How could he say no? Sozonius was welcomed into Spore Grotto and was treated like a god. 
Sozonius asked the Mushroomos many questions, but getting any actual answers from them was difficult. The Mushroomos treated Sozonius like he was their most special guest, they danced and sang for Sozonius. They would mimic Sozonius and follow him around, making sure to do anything he asked of them. There would be many times when the Mushroomos would offer to feed Sozonius menticide mushrooms but Sozonius knew a lot about fungi and declined their offers. However, there seemed to be a special Ritual the Mushroomos took part in… 
Sozonius had been in Spore Grotto for many weeks now, it was time for him to leave, he had studied enough and was ready to return home but the Mushroomos were surprisingly sad when he announced this. They wanted to show Sozonius a sacred ritual to them before he left, he wasn't aware of the menticide mushrooms being part of it…
Dr. Sozonius Dialogue “They gave me Menticide Mushrooms, and then… that’s the last thing I remember…”
After Sozonius was tricked into eating menticide mushrooms and also gave Sozonius a crown, a crown that would grow into Sozoniuss mind, he shall be the Mushroomos leader… And the new Sozo was made. (literally just think of Ice Age 2 when the lil sloths take Sid to be their fire king, however they don't sacrifice him)
The mushroom on Sozos head is very powerful, it makes me wonder what it is exactly, it gives the person wearing it immortality, but also causes the user to go insane (don't forget that Sozo is also being fed menticide mushrooms) the mushroom crown kinda reminds me of Chemachs crown. It seems to have a mind of its own and a face. I feel like the Mushroomos for days straight made sure to give Sozo a diet of only menticide mushrooms to make him forget everything and to possibly power the mushroom crown. They would constantly tell Sozo that his mind would be open and free, that it would make him feel better, and Sozo being under the influence of the mushroom listened to them.
A Mushroomo Dialogue "Once you taste the Menticide Mushroom your mind will be opened." 
As the years went by so did all the sanity Sozonius had left, but in some moments Sozonius seems to still be aware but not all there. 
Sozo Dialogue “Sozo had friends... Followers... family... now Sozo has mushrooms..."
Sozo over time seems to start to dislike his followers and call them liars. He even becomes quite cruel to his followers. Yet he also mentions that he trusts the lamb and wants the lamb to protect him from his followers which makes me believe that Sozonius is somehow a little aware and fighting against the mushroom crown’s influence. He is mad at the Mushroomos for lying to him, tricking him, making him into who he is now.
 Sozo Dialogue  “No need to thanks Sozo. Build it at your Cult then come back to me. Sozo shall grant you one last gift. Sozo is always fair. Always repays this debts. Not like those LIARS out there."
"You did it! Now I know I can trust you... not like those nasty liars outside. They are always watching, always listening! Here take this. You are Sozo's best friend, you are Sozo's only friend."
"Sozo can trust you now, Sozo will pledge himself to you! You will protect me from those liars outside and bring Sozo mushrooms!"
(Also a side note that my gf brought to my attention last second lol! Apparently parasitic mushrooms rely on insects to spread. That is probably why they tricked Sozonius into staying and eating menticide mushrooms. Maybe it's been that long since they've seen an insect)
SOZOS IMPRISONMENT
So, this next little headcanon of mine is an interesting one and might be confusing to explain. Was Sozonius imprisoned within his own mind while under the control of the mushroom crown? If he was, I can see him being stuck in a sort of loop, imagining his family and friends. Think like Mabel's Bubble from ‘Gravity Falls’ weirdmageddon. Sozonius is trapped in a mental bubble, stuck in a false reality as the now mushroom-infected Sozo takes over his body and actions. 
In Sozonius’s mental bubble he is in a place where trees are big, tall mushrooms and flowers are mushrooms, everywhere he turns its mushrooms. He knows something is wrong, everything is too strange, everyone he loves is there with him but is it real? It feels like he's living in a dream. Sozonius proceeds to talk to his friends and family as if they are actually there in which I noticed that Sozo will talk to the menticide mushrooms as if they are actual people.
Sozo Dialogue “Precious, perfect little mushrooms, Sozo is here now, Sozo will always be here…”
”Sozo is busy now… Sozo must commune with the ‘shrooms.”
As time passes more mushrooms grow in his mind prison, and they keep growing and growing until they start to grow on the people he loves. He knows something is happening, he's going mad, and he starts to search for an exit, he needs to escape this false reality that the mushroom crown has created for him. 
He starts fighting the mushroom crown’s hold on him which causes him to regain some awareness. This is when a part of him realizes he’s been tricked, and he starts refusing everything the Mushroomos give him and becomes cruel to them. However, the lambs have never done him wrong before and the lamb (from the cult) begins to be the only person he can trust. At least until it becomes too much and well… we know Sozo’s fate.
SOZO’S REVIVAL 
So Sozo doesn't get resurrected until all the bishops become mortal (at least in my playthrough). So all the bishop siblings are in the cult and learning the ways of mortal stuff and Sozo appears around the same time, still the crazy Sozo we know and love. However, he’s still very addicted to the menticide mushrooms and both the Lamb and night workers have found Sozo digging through the mushroom crops like a lil racoon.
Based on the game, Sozo likes to run around the cult and do his own thing; he often looks very spaced out but the moment someone talks to him he starts spitting nonsense before yelling at them to go away. The only people Sozo will talk to are people that give Sozo what he wants, which is menticide mushrooms! If you do that for him he will talk your ear off with nonsense, in conversations with him he will often talk about his followers, them being liars and disgusting little creatures. One day though Sozo’s personality seems to change? He starts to tell the lamb,
 “Sozo was just here, all alone, thinking about mushrooms... Uh, Sozo means Sozo's little Mushroomo followers!”
”Yes,, they must be so lost without Sozo. They love Sozo! Everyone loves Sozo - especially Lamb!”
“Without their great and beloved Sozo, Mushroomos must be so scared... YOU! You must save them! Save them and bring them to Sozo.”
”They will be trapped in Anura. They are always getting captured when they don't have their great Sozo to protect them. Rescue them and bring them to me.”
But when you bring the followers to Sozo he ends up eating them. At first glance you can assume it's just his addiction, in which it most certainly could be! He sees a big mushroom and he's like oooo~ delicious but there's also a possibility of this being Dr. Sozonius’s anger coming out. The whole fighting against the mushroom crown’s influence and realization that he’s been tricked. Maybe a mix of his addiction and anger for what they did to him? I’m not too sure if Sozo eating the Mushroomos was a problem before he joined the cult.
Of course, this addiction must be stopped so the lamb decides enough is enough and refuses to get more Mushroomos. This causes Sozo to dissent and, with little choice, the Lamb has to put him in rehab. I imagine it would’ve been a struggle getting Sozo to the prison without the Red Crown’s help. With the power of an ant that is Sozo’s size it's a miracle he didnt break that pillory while he was in it. Sozo just stayed silent and didn't fight; the person he had put his trust and hope in has imprisoned him. Sozo is a bit depressed at that moment. 
After Sozo has been re-educated, released, and cured of his addiction the mushroom crown finally falls off his head. Which, like I said before, makes me wonder, was it being powered by the menticide mushrooms Sozo has been eating or is it something else?
But Dr. Sozonius talks about some stuff before saying,
Dr. Sozonius Dialogue “I can’t help but feel that I have you to thank for… something. You have my loyalty, I will remain here and serve you. Please, take this!”
Sozonius was ready to live his life rather than reunite with his family in the afterlife. He wasn't expecting to be resurrected after dying in the cult from old age. But Sozonius gave the lamb their loyalty and promised to stay in the cult and serve them. The Lamb had been so kind as to give Sozonius an immortality necklace, the Lamb didn’t want Sozonius to go yet… and Sozo’s heart was too kind and soft. He will have to wait a bit longer to return home to his family, but maybe some good things will come out of staying longer~
Also! Who do we think Sozo was talking to? 
A Mushroomo Dialogue "Who is Sozo talking to when he whispers in the dark...?"
Is he talking to himself? The mushrooms? Or the Fox?
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evilcolorgangau-ts · 2 years
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im just sitting here thinking about how could i possibly make a movie poster out of the whole "cast" and just--- so many characters-- how could i possibly comozition it??? I should probably either just try to design seperate posters or just try to look at all the Marvel avanger posters like Infinity war poster cuz daaamn that has lot of characters on it hhhh
Attempted it haha
really quck sketch just to entertain myself ((it is ChAos))
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Its even funnier when you concider the fact we dont know how Alan looks so i just shoved that arrow in the middle
Im still unsure about the composition hhhhhhhh
Thank you for sharing :D It would be an amazing poster omg xD
Alan as a cursor in the middle YES xD I'm gonna show his apparence after a few more fics.
I do have lots of cast youre right, I can see why you were inspired by the marvel movie poster's style, they always somehow can present almost everyone in it.
Thanks your again for sharing your sketch :D love the idea💕
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GOD SORRY LMFAO
I’M SORRY I’M RUNNING BEHIND AGAIN ON OPENING COMMS.
They’ll be open...probably tomorrow morning. I’m trying to use Ko-fi’s commission form so everything is nice and neat but I’ve not done this before so its kinda confusing lol 
Actually honestly its pretty clean and has lots of little add ons and stuff that make organizing things really nice but I’m not sure how things will look on your end or how they’ll look on my end when a comm comes in so if I goof something up on the first part I’m so so sorry lol
Also I know I was REALLY lowballing sketch coms before but I can’t afford, nor do I have the energy, to do 15$ commissions for sketches. So the base price for a black and white bust sketch will be 30$. Thats still really low all things considered but I want to make things ...cheap and fast and also...worth my time and energy. This is a reminder that that price is EXTREMELY low and that artists who charge a more sensible price than that are not over charging. I’m lowballing bc I’m fuckin broke lol
If that price is too high even little donations help me out in the long run so if you want you can leave a donation for as little as 3$? 6$?Just remember to leave a comment that its a donation so I know its not a request
I also have a few new rules so please be mindful of that. ↴
I’d say the most important rule is do not message me on any platform BUT ko-fi and if you commission me please check your ko-fi messages. Most likely I won’t have anything to say unless you’re sending me references. I have my DMs off on all platforms and I don’t really want to use my email unless I’m sending something to you. Ko-fi will be the only way to contact me and for me to contact you.
The other important one will be no real people. I’m sorry I feel uncomfortable drawing a real person being it you, your auntie, or an actor you like. (If its like...a live action character that’s different bc I’m just gonna make them anime anyway lol)
The other OTHER new rule will be I have to limit what I can draw from marvel. IT’LL BE IN THE POST but basically I’m still under NDA. You’re probably okay to ask for stevetony....bc they’re dead :)  (Also my crew was well aware of my ST shipping lol)   But you can dm me first to ask what is probably okay. I know i get a lot of BuckyTony which isn’t my thing but I know you guys are thirsty. But since Bucky is still in the current mcu I don’t know...if I’m allowed. Things like Billy, Tommy, Teddy....probably fine if its comic book based. Its WEIRD lol There’s a lot of grey and I just wanna be able to get hired again yknow?? lmfao Absolutely NO spider-man at all. AT ALL. I’m not risking it. 
Unless you were one of my crew members then (how’d you find this account???) ....i’ll just dm you privately lol
So yea if you’re interested in MCU, since I know a lot of people originally followed me for that....you gotta let me know first before sending your comm request in...I THINK?? I don’t exactly know who gets what first on the commission thing on ko-fi. 
and then the usual rules like please no gore, please no NSFW (spicy is fine but not explicit), Maximum 2 characters, try to keep them simple bc they’re sketches not fully rendered pieces, Furries are okay but not recommended (I’d rather send you to a furry artist with comms open since I’m primarily an anime artist ...more or less lol) , PLEASE be mindful of things that might make ME uncomfortable. I’m very VERY open minded and most things DON’T bother me but remember I’m not really an open NSFW artist or kink artist or anything like that. I know I can come off as really wild or loose minded (????) in terms of shipping but there’s been a few times I’ve felt really uncomfortable with comms and I just did them anyway bc I needed the money. You can always ask me ahead of time if you’re really unsure. When it comes to shipping what you might think is comfortable might make me VERY uncomfortable. 
lol THIS WILL ALL BE IN THE POST SORRY TO DUMP HERE  lol but i have more text space here
So yeah I need to make a graphic and then it should be up tomorrow.
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pqrachel · 4 months
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New Year's Resolutions
I don't really know what to put here, but I felt like writing something just to have it down, so here goes... I haven't done formal resolutions in a while but why not right??
For art there's the stuff I've already posted on here: I want to keep up the trend of 4 days of sketches posted on here every week as a minimum. The best of these will be posted to bluesky as well, which I've already started. And any supporters on Patreon can commission a sketch once a month as well, these sketches will be recapped on Patreon as well. There's also gonna be one fully rendered piece every other week, which can be voted on by supporters as well. I want to keep that schedule going for as long as I can, hopefully through the entirety of the year, but I don't want to promise a full years worth of anything because there's always some complication, but I'm trying to commit to at least a season of that schedule, so Jan-Mar. I kind of also want to get more engagement on my art, bluesky's been great at that but I think maybe finding some art communities could be helpful as well. (Tumblr's fun but there's almost no interaction from followers, at least for me.) Since I'm trying NSFW art now, I kind of also want to see if a strip game format could work, I just worry that I'll get no engagement but I want to try that at some point, since it seems fun.
https://www.patreon.com/pqRachel
https://bsky.app/profile/pqrachel.bsky.social
Moving off of art though, I need to start earning some actual money. I've been trying YouTube and some small gig stuff but I think get an actual paying job is probably my biggest resolution. I hate having to work, I just get so overwhelmed so easily, but it's unfortunately becoming a necessity. I'm also gonna go back to tracking all my money, I want to be able to see where it's going and assure myself I don't get fucking scammed like I did this year, fucking BS hidden subscriptions for something I bought.
For fun stuff, I want to visit my friends more. It's been a bit of a lonely year and I miss them. It's mostly just they live too far away or are having financial issues themselves and are stuck working and/or being exhausted from working, so it's not like anyone's fault but still I want to see them more. It's weird, for like all of my life friends have been there when family hasn't and but since my dad died but mostly recently family's been there a bit more now that friends haven't been as central to my experience. But yeah the lonely year's been hard emotionally and mentally.
And to not end on a sad note, gaming. I've been playing a lot of games this year, and even though I have a lot of time to game I want art and finding a job to take priority. That being said: I want to get better at Trackmania, keeping the trend of improving every season going; Marvel Snap I don't have any specific goals for but I do want to keep playing for a while; I want to beat expert mode Terraria, I'm in hardmode and enjoying it so far; for upcoming games there's Rivals 2, The Bazaar, Horizon Forbidden West (for PC), and a few more that hopefully will be released in 2024, all of which I look forward to playing and enjoying. And for my game, I've kind of lost motivation, art and playing games have been more fun than developing a game with practically no following, so while I'd like to work more on that right now I just don't care to.
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graveyard-cowboy · 3 years
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Today I offer a Marvel sketch dump. Tomorrow? Who knows?
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i-am-megalodonna · 4 years
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I'm just saying that, while Otto seemed annoyed by Flash, in what he thought were his last moments he said that he considered Flash his friend and they totally would've had the most bomb friendship had it been allowed.
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sleepy-belphie · 3 years
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Hello! I don’t know if you’re doing headcannon requests but if you don’t mind could you do something along the lines of “the brothers find out mc likes to draw and drew the brothers”
Hi! I am doing hc requests so thank you for sending this in! It was actually really fun to write, I really hope you enjoy it <3 Got a little carried away with this one too lol
Tags: @kawaiiblack
~~~~~
Lucifer:
He’s doing room checks as usual
And you left your sketchpad/drawing tablet out on your desk
You catch sight of it a bit too late and can only watch as Lucifer moves from your dresser to your desk
He pauses as his eyes spot the sketchpad/tablet
He picks it up and looks at it before glancing at you
“May I?”
You nod and nervously watch him go through your work
His face is unreadable as he goes through drawing after drawing of him and his brothers
It feels like an eternity before he finishes
“Do you do commissions?”
It takes a moment for you to register what he’s said
“...what?”
“I’d like to commission you.”
If you do traditional art he asks for a 30x40 of him and his brothers
If you do digital art he asks for a colored, full-body piece of him and his brothers
He lets you decide how much you want to be paid
But he thinks it’s not enough so he pays you 55,000 Grimm
The 30x40 piece hangs in his study
The colored, full-body piece is printed, framed, and sitting on his desk
Mammon:
He bursts into your room one night when you’re finishing up a drawing of Satan and Asmo
You’re not fast enough to hide it from him
“Is that Satan and Asmo? Oi! Where’s my drawing!?”
Before you can show him anything else he’s speaking again
“N-not that I care! It’s hard to capture this perfection! I can see why you haven’t drawn me!”
He tries to act unbothered, but you can see past his tsundere ways
Once he’s done declaring how unbothered he is, you show him some pieces with him in it
He grabs the pad/tablet excitedly and snatches it from you to marvel over your work
“This is actually really good, ya know? I bet we could make some good Grimm off your little talent.”
You can practically see the dollar signs in his eyes
But you tell him that is not happening and take your pad/tablet back
He’s a bit mopey about it for a little but eventually lets it go when he sees you aren’t budging
When he does have a little bit of Grimm he does commission you for a small piece
The brothers’ eyes almost bulge out of their head when they hear that Mammon actually paid you for work
“What!? The Great Mammon can be nice sometimes! It doesn’t mean anything!”
It means a lot actually
But you’re a pro at reading between the lines with Mammon
Leviathan:
He’s on social media when he sees a drawing on his explore page that he’s absolutely in love with
The art style? Immaculate. He wanted to see so many of his favorite game and anime characters in this style
He imagines Ruri-chan in your art style and his brain just *internet dial-up noises* for about five minutes
He goes to the artist’s profile and starts scrolling through all their posted work
He pauses when he comes across a drawing that looked suspiciously like him in his demon form
The face was blacked out but the serpentine tail, the horns, the diamonds on the neck, the side zipped hoodie
It had to be him
In shock, he scrolls back to the top of the profile and checks out the bio and name of the artist
He is greeted by a very familiar face and name
He is in your room less than 2 minutes later
“You! Y-You did this!?”
You almost drop your pad/tablet thanks to his outburst and abrupt entrance
You look at the DDD that was shoved in your face and slowly nod
You thought he was gonna blow up at you for posting a drawing of him, even though his face wasn’t in it
You are very wrong
Levi becomes your #1 source of income
The moment you finish a piece, he is commissioning you again
You worry that he’s draining his bank account because he tips you very well
But he isn’t bothered at all by it
All of your pieces are on display in his room
He also posts all of your art on his social media and tags you
Your page explodes in popularity and the commissions are rolling in from his online friends
You had no idea otakus pay so well
Mammon is very jealous of the amount of Grimm you have piling up
Satan:
One day he asks you about your hobbies and you tell him you draw
“What do you draw?”
Cue internal conflict on if it’s weird to tell someone you’ve been drawing them and their brothers since you’re always around each other
He senses your hesitation and like the smart ass he is, he’s able to guess exactly why 
“Would your hesitance be because of the subject of your art?”
He knows too much for his own good
You decide it’s best for him to see it instead of telling him
Being a fan of literary art, you were worried he may be overly critical of your fine art
He was not the type to sugarcoat anything
However, he simply smiles and hands your pad/tablet back
“You’re incredibly talented, MC.”
A few days later he asks you to tag along with him while he handles something
That ‘something’ is going to feed some stray cats he’s come across
“MC, I’d like to commission you. I’ve found homes for these cats but I want something to remember them by. Will you help me?”
How can you say no to a man holding four cats in his arms?
You take some photos for reference and make four different pieces for him
When you give them to Satan, you swear you’ve never seen a bigger smile on his face
He framed them all and keeps them on top of his bookshelves
Asmodeus:
He found out through Levi’s social media
He commissioned you for a piece of him and the protagonist of a game he recently started playing
This piques Asmo’s interest and he wonders if you’ve ever drawn him before
He approaches you when you’re in the kitchen grabbing a drink
“Hi, darling. I saw the piece you did for Levi and naturally if you’ve done one of him you’ve probably drawn my beauty as well, right?”
You decide to show him since he brought it up
He’s gushing over all of your art
No, seriously, he is praising you so much even the tip of your ears start burning from your blush
He commissions you to draw him in many different ways 
Him in his bedroom, him in the bath, him as a mermaid, him as an exotic dancer
He comes to you with so many different ideas
He tests your limits but you actually like that
Beelzebub:
Beel is rather stoic, but he doesn’t mean to be
It was his resting face and smiling was usually reserved for eating yummy food
But you wanted to practice drawing him with different expressions
Beel’s welcoming manner gave you the courage to approach him and ask if you can take some pictures of him to use for a reference
He’s shocked you wanna draw him but agrees with the condition that he gets to see some of your other work
You show him different pieces of him and his brothers and he’s smiling the entire time
“These are all so good. I didn’t know you could draw.”
He commissions a piece of him and Belphegor and one of all seven brothers
But he also asks if he can watch you draw them
You both spend quite a few nights together
You drawing and him munching on snacks and feeding you some every once in a while
His presence is actually pretty calming so you ask him if he minds staying around while you work even after you finish his commission
Beel being Beel, agrees to keep you company
The night usually ends with him carrying you to bed
Sometimes, he takes you to his bed to cuddle
Belphegor:
Belphie was actually the first brother you drew
You came across him asleep in the attic once and he looked so perfect
Your fingers were itching to draw him, so you did
It became a routine for you to head to the attic and draw him while he slept
You always crept out before he woke up
You thought he had no idea of your little practice sessions
But one day you looked down to fix a mistake you made on his nose
When you looked back up you saw Belphie staring right at you
“You know, if you’re gonna draw me the least you can do is show me.”
You try to stammer out an apology as he sits up
“Oh, I don’t care. You don’t make noise or anything, I’m just very hyperaware of my surroundings. So I know when someone is in the same room as me when I sleep.”
He moves over to you and looks at your pad/tablet
“Hm, not bad MC. Show me your other work some time.”
Then he goes back to his sleeping spot, curls up, and falls back asleep
You sit there with your pencil/stylus in your hand, trying to wrap your head around what just happened
But he didn’t seem disturbed so you continue drawing
When he wakes up you show him more of your work featuring his brothers
He asks if he can have a quick sketch you did of him and Beel 
You jokingly say he has to pay for it
He actually pays you for it
He puts it up in his room
It’s nice to see when you visit him and Beel
886 notes · View notes
gashinabts · 3 years
Text
philophobia|(m)
Words: 7.4k
Pairing: Taehyung x Reader
Genre: Angst, Smut, Fluff, Mature
Summary: Taehyung, a man, who swears he’ll never fall in love meets Y/N a hopeless romantic.
Warnings: Teasing, spitting, oral (f/receiving), fingering, pussy slapping, pussy sniffing ( lmao idk if thats a thing?), squirting, sexual intercourse, mention of homophobia. Topics of child neglecting, if this makes you uncomfortable pls don’t read :) minor character death
A/N: Taehyung is a bisexual king! Tell me what you peeps think, remember that comments motivate me to continue writing!!! This is my work, no reposting this and my other works on any other platforms.
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Kim Taehyung was born December 30, 1995 his father left him when he was 11 years old that is when Taehyung realized that love never lasts. His mother pretended that his father never existed, she quickly hid the family photos away, along with covering his tomato garden with dirt. Taehyung wanted to ask where he went but stopped wondering when he heard a few of his classmates whispering that Taehyung’s dad left them for a young woman in her twenties. 
As Taehyung grew into his teenage years he would often get asked out by his classmates, he wouldn’t decline, accepting the dates to see if he can ever fall foolishly in love like his Mom once did. However, nothing ever happened, he would kiss them goodnight but won’t call them the next day. In high school he lost his virginity at a party, he wasn’t nervous, just did things he’s seen in filthy pornorgraphy. The very next day the girl spread the rumor that Taehyung was a sex god, that he probably had sex everyday with a different people. Was that a compliment? He remembered thinking to himself as he sat in the back of the classroom, feeling people secretly stare at him. 
That day he met Jimin. Jimin was a popular boy that everyone swoon over. Of course he had a girlfriend, they have been dating since middle school. The guys would gawk at her when she would wear a sports bra to track practice. Taehyung was in art class sketching an apple, Jimin came over and talked to him as if they were friends. It was nice, Taehyung listened to Jimin complain about his art. When class was over, Jimin asked Taehyung to hang out with him after school. When Taehyung sat on Jimin’s bed, he looked over on the desk and saw a picture of Jimin and his girlfriend. Right next to it was a picture of what he assumed was Jimin’s family. A Mom, Dad, an older brother, and Jimin. He turned his gaze back to Jimin...who was undressing in front of him. Jimin’s underwear was the only thing on, Taehyung didn’t expect him to have lean muscles and define abs. An hour later  they were both breathless, exhausted from the sex. 
“ I’m not gay.” Jimin tells Taehyung as he cleans himself with a rag. 
“ Okay.” Taehyung shrugs and pulls his pants up. He’s watched gay porn and straight porn before and got turned on by both of them, so it doesn’t come to much of a surprise that he enjoyed the sex with Jimin. 
*******
Taehyung watches from afar when Jimin kisses his girlfriend in the school halls, wondering if that’s love. The next few months, Taehyung and Jimin fool around more. Jimin would call Taehyung over, then they would fuck and they would both be on their way. There were never conversations or pillow talks, until right now.
“ I’m gay.” Jimin confesses to Taehyung. 
“Cool.” Taehyung shrugs, looking for his shoes. 
“ That’s all your gonna say?” Jimin rolls his eyes grabbing his t-shirt wiping the come on his stomach. 
“ I’m bisexual, happy?” Taehyung looks at his phone and notices a missed call from his mother. He tucks his phone away, “ Why are you still with her? Your girlfriend.” He finally asks the question he’s been meaning to ask since the beginning.
“ I love her and I don’t want to hurt her, but I can’t love her like that.” Jimin looks at the picture of them and flips it down, almost ashamed of how much of a coward he is. “ Plus my Dad would kill me if I told him I like men.” He throws his head back looking at the ceiling not wanting to cry his eyes out. 
Taehyung thinks love is complicated, he thinks people who are in love are selfish. They rather hurt themselves for the sake of love. It’s stupid he wants to tell Jimin that but he keeps quiet until Jimin looks at him with tears eyes. “ I don’t know what to say…”
“It’s fine...you don’t have to say anything just keep me company, yeah?” 
“ Okay,” Taehyung sits back on the bed watching but not really watching tv with Jimin. 
---
Taehyung’s mom was proud of him when he got accepted to a good college, she would brag to her friends and show pictures of his acceptance letters. Along with bragging how she raised Taehyung all by herself. Taehyung didn’t mind that he was in the spotlight, whatever made his mom happy he would comply with whatever she does. He was good with numbers so he was going to major in data analysis, he really wanted to major in art but his mom laughed in his face, telling him to be realistic. 
Taehyung is now in his third year of college, wanting to just graduate already, done with the shitload of classwork and long ass lectures. Just right now he just finished his homework that took him three hours. He’s about to call it a night until Jungkook barges in his room, yelling at him to get dressed for a party. Taehyung switches his dirty hoodie with a clean hoodie, opting out grey sweatpants with jeans. He keeps his glasses on, due to his eyes being tired and not wanting to irritate them with contacts. 
Jungkook hands Taehyung a drink, there’s obscene music, blunts being handed around, and people grinding on each other. “ When’s the last time you got laid?” Jungkook asked, as he took a gulp of his beer.
“ Last week...I think.” Taehyung searches through his mental sex list, but can’t seem to remember the girls face or name. He looks around and watches a couple argue with each other. The man rolls his eyes as the woman tries not to cry, the woman ends up leaving him and going upstairs.
“ Damn, lucky. I tried to hook up with this girl and she ended up leaving me hanging. Claimed that she’s not over her boyfriend, started crying on me when I was going down on her.” Jungkook cringes, sipping more alcohol. “ Be my wingman, yeah?” 
“ Sure,” Taehyung nods. Jungkook is talking to this pretty girl, and she laughs at every joke that Jungkook makes. Taehyung wasn’t even sure why he asked him to his wingman when Jungkook can easily get a girl to bed. Jungkook nods absentmindedly when Taehyung excuses himself, he wanders around the frat house looking at people getting wasted. Once he gets tired of it he goes upstairs, hoping to find solace in an empty room. He opens a bedroom door, and notices a girl with a pencil and notebook. “ My bad-,” Taehyung is about to close the door.
You look up from your sketchpad, you see a tall man with messy curls and glasses. “ You can stay,” you observe him, he looks like he was forced to come here. There’s no red solo cup in his hand, he looks like he hasn’t a good night's rest. Also why else would he look mindlessly into rooms, the bathroom doors have a handwritten sign stating ‘BATHROOM’, so he must be bored or something searching into bedrooms. “ Or don’t. I don’t care.” You watch him close the door, entering the room.
“ Is this your room?” Taehyung looks around the room, noticing posters of naked women and marvel posters. Weird combination he notes. Along with the dirty clothes scattered all over the floor. 
“ No,” you laugh. Shutting your notebook close, taking notice of his nice hands brushing his hair back. “ My friend’s room. I didn’t really feel like partying just decided to sketch,” you lift your pad up. He nods and sits on the bed.
“ Can I draw?” Taehyung points towards the sketchpad. He hasn’t drawn in months too busy in his schoolwork, his fingers would sometimes draw on foggy windows but nothing more. You nod tearing a piece of paper out and handing him a pencil, he thanks you. 
You were sneakily glancing at him, sketching him, his angular jaw, messing hair, uneven eyelid, long eyelashes. Getting lost at his elegant features, wondering if he knows how beautiful he looks. You shake your head for easily fawning over this man. His hands are even beautiful, they travel across the paper gracefully with each stroke. You turn your eyes away when he makes eye contact with you, cheeks getting warm. “ What’s your name?” You ask while shading the contours of his cheeks.
“ Taehyung.” He folded his paper into a small square, putting it into his pocket. “ Yours?”
“ Y/N,” you smile.
---
“ Did you get laid yesterday night?” Jungkook is shirtless with scratch marks behind his back, there’s a couple of hickies on his neck.
Taehyung takes a sip of his tea before answering, “No, just talking to some girl. Her name is Y/N.” 
“ Y/N. She’s a nice girl. One time I forgot a scantron for class and she gave me one. She’s also friends with Namjoon.” Jungkook pours himself coffee sitting next to Taehyung. “ Are you interested in her?”
Taehyung would be lying if said he wasn’t interested in you. When he entered the room he thought you were pretty and had a kind smile. “ Maybe...why?” 
“ It’s best if you don’t try to get at her. Y/N looks the type to fall in love easily.” Jungkook sighs cracking his back on the back of the chair, groaning at his achy body. Taehyung wonders how can someone fall in love easily, he’s not one to believe in love at first sight or any kind of stuff in that realm. “ Alright, I’m gonna take a quick shower and then we can leave.” 
Taehyung and Jungkook are at the library studying or trying to study, Jungkook is texting someone the whole time instead of studying for his macroeconimics test. While Taehyung is playing video games on his phone. “ Hey guys! Didn’t know you actually study Jungkook,” Namjoon jokes, ruffling Jungkook’s hair. Jungkook rolls his eyes pushing his hand off his head mumbling curse words at him. Taehyung looks to the side of Namjoon and notices you laughing as the scene unfolds. You’re carrying ice americanos and Jungkook immediately takes it out of the carrier, thanking you. 
You look at Taehyung placing one in front of him, “ I didn’t know what kind of coffee you liked.” Taehyung is wearing similar clothing to what he wore at the party, mostly muted green colors and his circle glasses, his hair is pushed back with a headband. He looks surprised to see you, but nevertheless thanks you for the coffee. The conversations between Jungkook and Namjoon get more serious when they finally decide to study for their materials. You try to study but you want to talk to Taehyung wanting to get to know him more, you nudge your foot against his leg. He looks up, looking at you in question, you nod your head towards the exit entrance, he nods slowly unsure to what you're up to but following your lead. Jungkook and Namjoon are too invested in their studying to see you and Taehyung leave. “ Do you wanna go to my apartment?”
“ Sure,” Taehyung shrugs. The apartment was small and kind of messy, you try to hurry up and toss some of the paintbrushes in the sink. There’s water cups filled with murky colors, and paint marks on the tables, he’s not used to a sight like this. In his apartment it is always clean and tidy, not a dirty plate in sight. “ You live by yourself?” he asked, placing his stuff on the table. 
“ Yeah, my roommate moved four months ago with her boyfriend.” You give up cleaning the mess since there’s too much to clean. “ Want some-” You are interrupted when you feel Taehyung’s lips on your, your hands push his chest flustered at the sudden kiss.
“ I-I- sorry...I must have read something wrong,” he looks embarrassed immediately backing up giving you space. “ I thought you invited me to your apartment for sex.” Taehyung notices how your eyes widen, fuck he feels like an ass, scared that he made you uncomfortable. “ I should go…” he goes to pick up his bags ready to bolt out.
“ I just wanted to talk...to get to know you better,” you speak before his hands grab the doorknob. “ We can paint and talk, if that's okay with you?” 
“ Are you sure? You don’t want me to leave?” 
“ Stay.” You go to the sink to wash your dirty brushes. 
Taehyung sits down looking at the wall, notices a canvas of a man, he has plump lips, gentle eyes, overall he is beautiful, something that seemed out of this world. Maybe it was the way it was painted that made it appear like that. “ You painted that?” Taehyung speaks shifting his gaze to you.
You look at where Taehyung was pointing at, it was the painting of your ex boyfriend, “ Yeah, that’s my ex boyfriend, Seokjin. The professor told us to paint the definition of love…,” you stare at Seokjin’s face, remembering the memories you shared. The brushes are all cleaned and you set them down, grabbing some water colors that are in the cabinet. 
“ Do you still love him?” Taehyung curiously asked, watching carefully at your reaction.
There’s a slight pain of thinking about him, truly not over his death. “ Yeah I’ll always have love for him…” 
Taehyung wants to ask more about him but doesn’t want to intrude, he doesn’t say anything else but paints. This is when Taehyung feels like he’s truly being himself painting, expressing himself without saying anything. Moments like these wish Taehyung would’ve chosen doing what he has a passion for insteading appealing to his mothers standards. 
“ Why are you a data analysis major?” The artwork he is doing is remarkable, there’s dark undertones and eerie about it but it is beautiful something that you have to keep staring at.
He chuckles, “ Because I need to eat.” You look down feeling a little insulted he must've noticed since he immediately apologizes. 
“ It’s okay. You know if you ever want to relax and paint, you can come here,” you continue painting small flowers. The first time, he smiles and nods his head.
---
5 months later
This is the third flower shop visited and he’s getting more tired with each second. “ This arrangement or this one?” You ask Taehyung, as you hold two bouquets. One was more filled with carnations and the other was filled with lilies. He gives it some thought before pointing at the carnations. “ This would be pretty to paint,” you smell it getting happy inside.
“ Finally, when can we eat...I didn't eat anything this morning,” his stomach growls at the thought of food. He’s still carrying the vases you bought at the thrift shop, you had to plead with you to not buy another antique mirror because he knows he would have to carry it to the apartment.
You gave the cashier the money, as he wraps the flowers in newspaper, turning your head you look at Taehyung, “ Why did you come with me if you were going to complain the whole time?” You laugh at his scrunched nose as you pinch it. The flowers are handed back and you thank the cashier, leaving with Taehyung.
“ Because I wanted to,” Taehyung shrugs. In your apartment he puts the flowers away as you cook him food, he always enjoys your cooking. When he was younger all he ever ate was ramen, never really ate some home cooked meals, his mother was always busy working trying to financially support the family so he never once asked his mom for dinner. Even at his own apartment he doesn’t eat Jungkook’s food since he doesn’t know how to cook either. Sometimes when he’s hungry he’ll just come to your apartment and you’ll be more than happy to cook for him.
When Taehyung enters his apartment Jungkook is watching anime, foot propped on the table and sipping some beer. “ Back from your girlfriends’ so soon?” 
“ Not my girlfriend but yeah, I left my schoolwork here so I had to come back,” he sighs. Taehyung doesn’t get mad when Jungkook teases him about you being his girlfriend, but he sometimes gets annoyed. He likes the friendship between the two of you, it’s different from any other friendships he had in the past. “ Tomorrow night the apartment is mine. This guy wants to hangout with me.”
“ Just say he wants to fuck you,” Jungkook yells as Taehyung closes his bedroom door. 
---
You meet Taehyung at the park with some bread, he hugs you and asks about your day. “ It was okay. Had lunch with my Dad, but it always ends up in some lecture. I swear, sometimes it feels like I’m fifteen or something,” you tear a piece of bread throwing it into the pond watching some ducks gobble it. You try to look at Taehyung but it hurts when you see some hickies on his neck. On the day you were about to confess your feelings to Taehyung you asked him if he ever loved someone, he laughed and said that he doesn’t believe in no such thing as love. As much as you wanted to disapprove of that idea, you couldn’t be the one to change it.
He grabs some bread, chucking some pieces out, “ What was the argument?”
You laugh thinking about your Dad’s red face, “ I invited him to my apartment, and he found the blunt we smoked together in the ashtray.”
“ Shit, I should’ve thrown it away,” Taehyung laughs too, pushing some of his hair back. 
“ Just glad he didn’t find any of my sex toys,” you cringe just thinking about it. You feel something tugging the end of your skirt, looking down you see a toddler smiling cheekily pointing at the bread. You smile, “ Here, have fun,” you hand him the rest of your bread. You watch him wobble as he runs to his mother throwing the whole slice in the water. 
“ Sex toys?” Taehyung asked once the child was out of sight. “ Like what?,” Taehyung is interested, he doesn’t know, maybe because he can’t imagine you using them. Or he wants to know how you use it. There were times when Taehyung wanted to have sex with you but he turned those urges off. He doesn’t want to give you mixed signals remembering Jungkook’s words of advice. “ Never-”
“ A dildo, vibrator, hitachi wand, or even my favorite pillow,” you trail off not thinking much until you realize who you are confessing to. “ I-I uh…”
“ How often?,” Taehyung asked quietly, not wanting any other people hearing the conversation. He shouldn’t get turned on but he is.
Something about Taehyung’s deep quiet voice is making you squeeze your thighs, “ Every night…” You're still looking at the pond, watching the ripples that are caused by the ducks swimming away. You can feel Taehyung's stare but you ignore it. The conversation switches to another topic when you talk about your school work. The sun sets and you both part ways.
The sound of tea kettle wakes you up from your concentration of you sketching, sighing you pour yourself the tea. Looking at your art, you turn it over not wanting to see Taehyung’s face right now. But fate has different plans when you hear knocking on the door, Taehyung appears, he lets himself in and is close to your face.
“ Taehyung?” You’re puzzled at his frazzled state, deeply staring into your eyes. 
“ Can I kiss you?” The words are quiet but firm. Stupidly you nod, not caring about any consequences. His hands cup your face, immediately going into the kiss. The kisses get deeper, his hands travel to your hips bringing you closer to him quickly, you lose friction from the fluffy socks you're wearing causing you to slip, immediately grabbing Taehyung as you fall backwards. His hands are quick to save himself from not falling onto you. There’s a slight pain on your tailbone but is immediately forgotten when Taehyung goes back to kissing you.
The big t-shirt you are wearing is tossed, his hands immediately fondle your breast, his lips leaving kisses on your neck, groaning as he pushes his bulge against your clothed core. “ Taehyung...let me touch you,” you moan when he bites your neck. He pulls back, pecking your lips before taking off his clothes. Your hands trail against his chest, his stomach, towards his pelvic, trying to remember every part of him. He is surprised to have you touching him like he was some marvel statue, usually his past hookups just rush into the sex. It’s very intimate and he doesn’t know how to feel about it.
 Taehyung groans when you touch his dick, he’s hard and wants to be inside of you already. He comes down kissing you, his hands get rid of your panties, fingers spreading your wetness. The moans you let out are turning him on even more, he stretches you out with his fingers. He likes the way your eyes flutter, the shape of your lips tremble, along with your chest inhaling and exhaling deeply. “ You are so pretty,” he doesn’t mean to say it loudly but he does. There’s a blush that blooms on your cheeks, it reminds him of the flowers you would get to study paint.
“ Taehyung,” you moan slightly flustered at his compliment. He reaches for his pants grabbing a condom. “ You don’t want to go to the bedroom?” The floor is still cold against your back, and the last time you cleaned the floor was days ago. 
Taehyung shakes head, already putting on the condom not wanting to waste time, “ Too far,” he smiles when you laugh. He enters you feeling you clench tightly around, he moans digging his head into your neck. “ You are so tight,” he groans. “ Feels so fucking good, having you like this,” he confesses.
You moan loudly, his thick cock streching “ Oh fuck, Taehyung, please just fuck me,” your hands go to his waist urging him to move. He listens to your command, thrusting slowly trying to get deep as he can. Maybe if you can close your eyes you can pretend that he’s in love with you. He goes faster and cries at the pace he’s going, the pleasure is overwhelming, something that you can’t get with your own hands. “ I’m close already,” your hand goes to tug at his wavy hair.
“ Me too,” his voice is deeper. His hand travels down to your pussy searching for your clit and rubbing it. “ Come for me,” he says into your ear. You moan his name loudly, cumming around his cock, scratching his back. The sight of you creaming around him makes him immediately come, he searches for your lips, moaning your name in the kiss. The two of you lay in the afterglow of the sex, panting loudly his body is barely being hold up, and you laying on the hard floor.
Taehyung gets up throwing his condom away, he looks at you still laying on the floor with your eyes close, the realization of him having sex with you just popped up. He hurriedly gets dressed, then helps you get dressed, he gets shocked when you kiss him as a thank you. The next morning Taehyung wakes up early, making sure to leave quietly, not wanting to disrupt your sleep.
---
You weren’t going to lie, it kind of hurt not waking up beside Taehyung but you shouldn’t have gotten your hopes up. Namjoon invites you to a kick back, only inviting a few people to his house to chill and drink. You take solace on the couch, watching people get high and drunk, you weren’t in the mood to do either so you make conversation with a slightly high Hoseok. He’s in mid-discussion about Shrek being a cinematic masterpiece, when Jungkook yells from the door entrance that he has Taco Bell. Taehyung is beside him wearing all black beanie, crewneck, and sweatpants, but still looks better than half of the people here.
 You turn your gaze back to Hoseok who’s left walking towards Jungkook immediately grabbing a taco. Sighing you decide to get fresh air, staring at the tall dark buildings. “ Whatcha you doing here by yourself? It’s fucking freezing,” Taehyung speaks out closing the slider door standing by you. He takes off his vape pen inhaling it.
“ Wanted fresh air,” you shrug, still staring at the buildings. “ Hoseok left me for tacos. He was onto something, saying that Shrek is a masterpiece. Who knows maybe he’ll write his thesis about it.” Taehyung chuckles, he keeps looking at you and you finally stare at him. “ Why’d you kiss me yesterday?”
He blows out the smoke, and puts his pen away, “ Cuz I wanted to,” he shrugs not thinking much about it. 
“ Nothing else?” You arch your eyebrow.
He continues to stare into your eyes “ Nope,” he shakes his head.  
Some part of you wanted him to say that he had feelings for you but in the back of your mind you knew that wasn’t going to happen. You smile pushing his chest, “ Well that’s the last time we are ever going to do anything like that.” The both of you know that is a lie.
---
For the next couple of months you and Taehyung continue sleeping with each other.
When you are studying with Namjoon in the library, Jungkook and Taehyung spontaneously show up, causing Namjoon to groan. “ You know you love me,” Jungkook jokingly says sitting next to him. 
Taehyung sits down next to you, looking at your classwork, “ How long have you been studying,” he whispers. 
You turn to look at the time of your phone, “ Like four hours,” you sigh. He hands you a jolly rancher, you immediately put in your mouth. “ Why are you here? You texted me that you were going to take a fat ass nap?”
“ I wanted to see you, kind of missed you,” he lays his head against the table. His eyes close when you brush his soft hair. 
“ I’ll be done in forty minutes.” He lets off a quiet okay continuing to look at you doing your work. 
Taehyung wakes up to you caressing his cheek, his neck is in pain from the awkward position he slept in. “ Where did Jungkook and Namjoon go?,” he looks at the empty seats. He tries to crack his neck and watches you pack your stuff.
“ They left about twenty minutes ago,” you get up stretching your legs. “ Let’s head home. We still have left over pizza,” you groan at the pain on your lower back. 
For some odd reason Taehyung liked hearing you say home, there’s some comfort it gives him but he never says it out loud. Taehyung grabs your backpack, holding it for you as you walk towards your car. You look in the fridge for the pizza, but Taehyung has other plans when he closes the fridge door, pinning you against it kissing you feverishly, his tongue already begging for entrance. Laughing you push him away, “ What’s gotten into you?”
“ I told you...I miss you,” his hands are on your waist. He kisses you again, picking you up easily and placing you on the kitchen table. He takes off your pants and panties, and you reach for his pants but he stops you forcing you to lie completely on the table. “ Look at you, laying so pretty on the table,” he bends down kissing you on your lips before he goes down on you. 
He licks your cunt, gently prodding his tongue up and down. Your hips move frantically wanting to feel more of him. His rough hands pin your hips, and he continues with his teasing, lightly kissing your clit before touring you with his slow pace.  “ Look at your pussy, it looks like the roses you painted yesterday…,” his finger goes up and down your folds.
The words make your cheeks grow hot, “ No it doesn’t,” you get shy shaking your head. The embarrassment fills your body, for maybe shamelessly liking his compliment. You are probably never going to look at roses the same way ever again.
“ Yeah, it does Y/N, but your pussy is more pretty,” he continues to tease you. Wanting to see you get more flustered, he likes it when you do it gets him more turned on. “ I wonder if it smells like roses too,” he’s about to smell your pussy but you hold his head. He watches you cutely shake your head. 
Taehyung is filthy but it makes you get even more aroused. “ It won’t,” you whisper, wanting to cry but he shakes his kissing the inside of your thigh to try to comfort you. 
He smells your pussy and he groans, your heart thumps faster and nervous for what's about to say, “ It smells better,” he kisses your clit. His tongue keeps tracing your folds gently wanting to make you beg for more. The movement of his tongue makes you want to pull your own hair out. The pleasure is barely there but it grows within each second of his tongue flicking up and down.
“ Taehyung,” you let out desperate whine, “ please, I need more.” One of his hands slap your cunt, and your back arches surprise but even more turned on. You never knew that you were into that. The sting hurts at first but shoots up ecstasy after a nanosecond, you can’t help but seek more. “ More!” 
Taehyung lets out a dark chuckle, he gives you another slap, slightly harder on the center of your clit, the stinging making your face scrunch up but letting out a lewd moan. He groans at your wetness seeping out some of it landing on the table.
Suddenly, he is done with all the teasing, and dives in, nose touching your clit and tongue inside your entrance going in and out. Finding it extremely hot that you are riding his face, like the pillow on your bed. Taehyung vividly remembers when you showed him how you ride your pillow last week. The way you desperately let out cute whines trying so hard to relieve yourself as Taehyung only watched, wanting to see you get off without his help. 
He moves his face side to side so his nose can rub your clit. Head in the clouds, your body is floating with ecstasy wanting to stay in it forever. Your hands reach down trying to anchor yourself, Taehyung reaches for your hand holding it tight. You cry out his name loudly, coming intensely, your eyes are shut when it doesn’t seem to stop. Your body finally calms down, looking down you see Taehyung’s face is completely wet. “ Oh my god, did I-
“ Fuck, that was hot,” Taehyung wipes his face with the back his arm. He kisses your lips, he helps you from the table, handing you your panties. 
“ Let me repay you?,” you tug at his belt loop, you look down to see the bulge is gone and there’s a wet stain. Your eyes widen, “ Did you come?”
“ Yeah, you squirting on me, made me bust a nut. I swore I never came that hard either,” he sighs happily. Laughing you go towards the fridge, finally eating the cold pizza. You hand him one and he eats it in two bites. “ My mom called me today…”
Taehyung hardly talks about his family, you only know that he was raised only by his mother. He never talked bad about her but you can tell that they didn’t have a close  relationship. “ What happened?” You and Taehyung move so you're sitting on the couch.
“ She told me that my father wanted to meet up with me,” Taehyung rolls his eyes. “ Told her that I don’t want to. She started crying and telling me that he’s my father...I sometimes think she’s still in love with him. She’s an idiot.” He lays his back staring at the ceiling.
“ Sometimes it’s hard to get over someone that you once loved. The one you shared your laughs, arguments, touches, memories...vanish into thin air... or you could hold onto it. Love isn’t easy...it’s messy, it’s confusing but it’s beautiful being able to share it with someone. Don’t you think?” You look at Taehyung’s side profile.
Taehyung turns his head looking at you, “ I don’t know...I will never fall in love. I don’t want to end up like my parents,” he closes his eyes.
“ Taehyung-“
He opens his eyes smiling, grabbing your hands, “ Let’s head to bed,” already over the conversation. 
---
Jungkook is cooking breakfast and almost burns his hand when a random girl walks out of Taehyung’s room. Immediately she exits their apartment, doing the walk of shame. Taehyung walks out shirtless with hickies on his chest and dishevelled hair. Jungkook clears his throat, “ Thought you were seeing Y/N,” he turns off the stove.
Taehyung grabs a glass of water, “ We are just friends,” he takes several gulps.
Jungkook scoffs rolling his eyes at his friend’s stupidity, “ Yeah, friends who have sex, hold hands, and almost spend every night together. My bad I forgot they changed the definition of ‘friends’ in the Webster dictionary.”
“ Whatever man...I'm out of here,” Taehyung leaves the kitchen going to his room. He looks at himself in the mirror, disgusted at his appearance, at the splotchy marks on his neck. Why am I like this? Taehyung leaves his apartment ignoring Jungkook, entering your apartment with his set of keys. He looks at you cooking pancakes, you look at him quickly and smiling.
“ Hey...you want some? It’s your favorite banana pancakes,” you flip the pancake. He looks at the big stack of pancakes you have on the table, you continue with the last couple of pancakes and sit down taking a couple of bites. You are consumed by the taste, not really focusing on Taehyung until he clears his throat, looking at him you notice marks on his neck. Your heart plummets, you thought the whole time the two of you have been messing around he wasn’t seeing anyone else. “ You hooked up with someone else yesterday?,” you set your utensils down.
Taehyung nods trying to look nonchalant, “ Yeah, is that a problem?” 
“ No,” you try to lie to yourself but it’s no use, your face looks the opposite of how you feel, disheartening, you can’t save face even if your life's on the line. Swallowing hard you shake your head, “ Actually, yes. It is a problem,” you sigh. “ I don’t understand you. You treat me like a lover, but then you do things like this…” you get up from the kitchen table tossing the plates in the sink, not caring that you didn’t finish the meal, “ I open my heart with you but you don’t do the same. I feel used in this relationship or whatever the hell this is,” your hands clenched tightly as you turn around and face Taehyung.
He’s now by the kitchen counter standing up, “ I told you I’m not looking for love. I’m sorry if I gave you mixed feelings but I don’t want this to end whatever we have with each other. I like how things are-”
You scoff, rolling your eyes at his words, “ Well I don’t...if you want to fuck around then do it... I’m not going to care for you like I love you anymore.” The angry tears stream down your face, your hands wipe them before he could, “ Go Taehyung. I wish you the best,” his face is etched with subtle pain, turning away from him you wash the dishes not bothering to look at the sound of him leaving.
---
Three days later
Taehyung hasn’t been sleeping well, tossing and turning, giving up completely and decides to study all night long. This has been a daily occurrence since the fight with you. I’m not going to care for you like I love you anymore. Taehyung groans, wanting to get the image of you out of his brain. Jungkook knocks on his door, eyes widening at the sight of him, “ You look like shit, c’mon Namjoon is having another get together.”
When Taehyung shows up to the party he watches you have a conversation with Hoseok, from a far distant, unsure how you would react if you saw him. Taehyung waits till Hoseok leaves, walking towards you as you are on your phone texting someone. He watches you jolt as he calls your name. “ Hey,” you greet him but there’s no smile or warmth like you usually greet. And he hates it, it makes him feel like a stranger.
“ About the last time, I’m sorry that we got into an argument,” Taehyung apologizes, he tucks his hands in his pockets, a nervous tick he developed when he was elementary. 
“ Ok,” you nod your head, not wanting to discuss something so private in a social setting. “ I should get going, I got a research paper to go over,” you give him one last glance and leave, not saying goodbye to anyone else.
Taehyung doesn’t like the way your back faces him, leaving him all alone with a place full of people. He pushes against people not wanting to let you go so easily, he wants to talk to you, he wants to hear you talk. He wants to lay in your bed and listen to your heart beat while you stroke his hair, letting him fall asleep in your arms. You're opening your car door, and you halt when he calls your name, you wait patiently for what he’s going to say. Please stay.  “ I-I uh...I wish you the best, Y/N” Taehyung says. He watches you give him one last small smile and drive away. 
---
Six months later
Taehyung hates visiting his mother, there’s always something unsettling when he enters his childhood home. As soon as greets his mother she comments about his weight, his slightly long wavy hair, and baggy clothes. She doesn’t ask him college, she never does. Instead he listens to her talk about her work. “ I told your father that you're in town,” she says over the sound of the faucet. Taehyung nods, handing her the dirty dishes, “ I told him you are free tomorrow, you are going to visit him at IHOP,” she leaves no room for argument. 
The sun wakes up Taehyung before his alarm does, he doesn’t really put in effort to look nice but when his mother gives him a look, he changes into something more appropriate. Maybe if Taehyung was in middle school he would be nervous meeting his father but now that he’s an adult he couldn’t care less. It takes him a while to find his father, he looks older from his adolescent years, has a few gray hairs and slightly wrinkled skin. His father stands up, and Taehyung immediately holds his hand out giving him a handshake not wanting to receive an awkward hug. His father looks surprised but compiles, awkwardly laughing and sits down taking a gulp of his hot black coffee. “ I ordered your favorite,” his father points to the triple drizzle chocolate milkshake with a red cherry on top that is set in front of Taehyung. “ How are you kiddo? You look so grown up, your mother has been feeding you well, huh?”
“ Yup.” Taehyung looks at the red cherry. 
There’s too much uncomfortable tension, and his father is letting more awkward coughs to try to fill the silence. “ Almost done with college, yeah? Just three more months, and you gotta face the real world,” his father comments.
Taehyung has been facing the real world since he was a teenager, he worked when he was in highschool to pay for college, he cooked his own dinner because his mother always came home late, he didn’t need to graduate college to find out the world was shitty. “ Yeah.”
His father tries really hard to have some sort of conversation with his son.“ You still like to paint?”
Taehyung smiles, getting reminded of you. He wonders what you are doing right now, if you are painting the canvas he bought you when you guys were friends. “ No. I mean yeah, sorta. I painted with this girl, she made me fall back in love with painting but I did something horrible to her. Now I can’t paint without thinking about her,” he sighs. 
There’s surprise etched on his father’s face, since more than a word came out of his son’s mouth. “ Seems like a very important person to you. You should talk things out with her, don’t want to lose someone like that.” 
Taehyung rolls his eyes, “ Why? You did the same thing to us.”
“ Taehyung-”
“ You really fucked me up father, I hate that you and mom made me this way. I want to love her but I’m scared...what if she ends up leaving me like you did. I rather be alone for the rest of my life than to have someone steal a part of me,” Taehyung grits his teeth.
“ I-I I’m sorry Taehyung...I really am. I hate myself everyday for not visiting you, I should’ve been there for you...Your mother and I once loved each other but sometimes people fall out of love, but that doesn’t mean love is evil. Don’t give up on love because of our failed marriage, son, you deserve to be in love.”
---
One week later
“ Fuck, watch where you going asshole,” you yell at the asshole who wasn’t paying attention that made you drop all of your art supplies. He doesn’t even bother apologizing, just continues to walk with his friends. You pick up your pencils, someone helps you pick up your other materials. “ Thank-” you stop midway when your eyes are met with Taehyung. He hands you the sketchpads, you quickly put it in your bag, “ Thanks.”
“ No problem. You just got out of class?,” he asked intently looking at you.
His hair is pushed back by his headband, showing his forehead, he’s wearing his usual baggy grandpa clothes. It makes your heart flutter, but you quickly push the feeling away. “ Yeah, but I have to go back to pick up my two pieces,” you shrug. 
“ You need a hand?” He offers with a careful smile.
You contemplate, you don’t want to make two trips, “ If you’re not busy…”
He eagerly shakes his head. “ I’m not, let me help.” Taehyung follows you to the art room, and picks up the pieces easily despite it being large canvases. There’s silence when you are done putting it in your car. 
“ Thank you,” you give him a grateful smile. “ Do you need to ride home?”
Taehyung took his car to campus but he lies, he accepts your offer in hopes that you guys can talk things over. The radio is on low, and Taehyung is almost near his apartment, “ I lied I don’t need a ride,” he starts off and you let out a surprise laugh.
“ Why are you just telling me now?,” you are about two minutes from the destination. 
“ I wanted to talk to you about what happened to us-”
You sigh, not wanting to reopen bandage wounds on your heart, “ Taehyung, I’m over it-” 
His head turns to face you, “ I love you. I think I always loved you since we became friends. I was scared to tell you because it was something so new for me...I was selfish, I thought that everything we had was fine but I never took your feelings into consideration.” He’s breathing really hard because he finally confessed his heart out, something he vowed he’ll never do since he was a child. 
“ Why? Why now?,” you swallow hard, not looking at him but only the road. Scared that if you look into his eyes, you’ll get lost into them. 
“ It took me a while to come in terms with how I am feeling. Because love is messy right?,” his voice cracks.
The car is now parked in his driveway, “ Yeah, it is.” Turning to finally face him, he has little tears in his eyes that haven’t fallen. “ I still love you, Taehyung,” your hand touches his soft cheek, caressing it. Taehyung leans closer to you and you close your eyes expecting a kiss, instead he sobs against your neck. Feeling wet tears against your neck, you try to coddle him but the tight space in the car is not giving you any room to do so. “ Tae, why are you crying?,” you comb the back of his curls.
Taehyung pulls away giving you a tearful smile, “ Because for the first time in my life I know what love is.”
end.
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chockfullofsecrets · 3 years
Text
Critical Role: The Opposite of Cuddling
(Read on AO3)
Rating: Gen
Summary: And maybe it wouldn’t be too bad, but - “That’s not gonna work,” he says, feeling a little bad as her face falls. “I’m way too ticklish for that.”
Jester’s expression rebounds at lightning speed. “Caduceus! You’re ticklish?”
“Oh. Yeah,” he grins.
Dome cuddles don't quite work out, but the Mighty Nein make do.
Wordcount: 1.8k (it would be short if it wasn’t supposed to be a snippet fic aaa)
A/N: maybe i am just in the mood for cuddly gang tickles. maybe so. 
---
“So,” Jester is proselytizing, brandishing a diagram from her sketchbook into dubious faces, “if we cuddle up around Caduceus just like this it’s going to be super soft and comfy and warm until we get out of this stupid weather! Any questions?”
Caduceus puts his teacup aside and leans down to peer at the sketch. It’s really good, especially the faces. She must have drawn it while watching them sleep last night.
And maybe it wouldn’t be too bad, but - “That’s not gonna work,” he says, feeling a little bad as her face falls. “I’m way too ticklish for that.”
Jester’s expression rebounds at lightning speed. “Caduceus! You’re ticklish?”
“Oh. Yeah,” he grins. It feels good to see her happy, tail flicking as she clutches her sketchbook in clear delight - after two days of nonstop freezing rain, even her forceful cheer has been wavering. “It’s nice, sometimes, but not when we’re, you know. Sleeping.”
“So I could tickle you right now and you wouldn’t be, like, really mad at me?” Jester presses. She’s scooting towards him as she asks, practically trembling with excitement. It’s awfully cute.
Well, it’s been a while, but he can’t say he’s not a little eager for the contact. He ignores the looks from the rest of their group and flops back onto his bedroll, wriggling a little to get comfortable. “Yeah, that’d be good.”
“Um,” Beau says from somewhere behind him, a little strangled. Oh, right.
“We’re not keeping people awake, are we?” he asks, craning his neck to the various edges of the dome people have settled in. “Anyone set on sleeping right now?”
Beau makes a face. "That's not the weird part, Duceus."
“They can help!” Jester chirps, and then she’s cuddled into his side and wiggling tiny tiefling claws above his belly. “Oh, Ca-du-ceus!”
She’s pitching her voice as deep and scary as it can go. It’s not very far. “Yeah?”
“Where’s your very worst tickle spot?”
He laughs. “Telling you that feels like a bad idea.”
“Then I’ll just have to fi-ind it!” She tugs his shirt up with one quick move, and he barely has time to feel the cold before she’s latching onto his sides and burying her entire face into the downy fur on his belly. “Ooh, you’re so soft and warm! I want to cuddle you forever, Caduceus.”
It tickles, but just a little - honestly, he’s more amused by her. “Can’t say I’ve heard that before,” he chuckles, reaching out to poke gently at her side. “You’re not bad yourself.”
She squeaks, pulling her head up just enough to gasp at him. “Oh my gosh, Caduceus, did you just tickle me back? Guys, you have to come help me!”
“Nah, I’m good,” Beau snorts.
Jester lets out a massive sigh and flops back down onto him, and for a pleasant minute or two it’s just her nuzzling into him as he watches raindrops pelt off the amber dome overhead.
Then there’s a rustle, and some clinking, and before he can do anything more than lazily twitch one of his ears in the direction of the sound Yasha’s upside-down face pushes into his field of view.
“Do you mind if I join?” she asks in her quiet way. “I don’t want to overwhelm you.”
Jester springs upright, grabbing happily for her hands. “Yes! Join us!”
Caduceus echoes her, snorting out a quiet laugh as Jester regains some of her energy and starts to scribble her way up his sides. He doesn't have any quiet siblings - Yasha reminds him a little more of the mourners, so it’s always nice to see her reach out. He's good at appreciating that sort of thing.
Yasha smiles shyly down at the both of them as she pulls his head into her lap and starts to play with his ears. “These are so soft,” she marvels. “Are you ticklish here?”
His ears have always been one of his siblings’ favorite spots to tease him with, and apparently they haven’t gotten any less sensitive in the last ten years. “Yeah,” he gasps. “Heh - just - hehe - a little bit.”
There's a frustrated groan off to his right. “Okay, I’ll bite.” Footsteps track around to his side, fleet and quiet, and he waits patiently for a flash of blue cloth to cross his gaze. “But only ‘cause ears are a fucking weird spot and I want to see if this works on you.”
Beau crouches by his side and curls her fingers loosely. “I’m gonna punch you,” she warns. “Probably not that hard, but don’t tense up.”
He nods as best as he can while tilting his head to better let Yasha worry her fingernails at the backs of his ears - he’s not sure if he could feel more boneless if he tried, right now.
The heel of her fist strikes him right in the middle of his chest, fingers clutching around something intangible - that something scurries its way down every nerve he has, and he coughs out a startled laugh before he can help himself. “What was that?”
“Payback for growing lichen on me back at your house,” she quips, but her eyes are narrowed in clear concentration. “Okay, ears, ears… wrists? And knees? And - fuck, man, your entire back? Really? Jes, let’s flip him over, this is going to be good.”
Well, that’s unexpected.
“Wait - ha!” Caduceus yelps, squirming as fingers start to pry their way underneath him. “Hold on now-”
He’s bigger than both of them by far, but they’re strong and not above tickling the backs of his ribs until he starts to squeal. "You're so thin, Caduceus!" Jester exclaims, hooking a finger into the tender gap between two bones and wriggling it mercilessly - his back arches entirely without his permission, letting Beau pry him another inch off the ground, and he whines defensively. "We have to feed you more!"
They get as far as rolling him onto his side before Beau loses patience and starts prodding smugly at his spine. “Your ki is pretty shivery around here, Duceus,” she teases. “Trying to hide your worst spots, huh? Bet you thought we weren’t gonna take this seriously.”
Caduceus is too busy laughing to deal with - any of that, really, especially when Jester slings herself over him so she can reach his back too. “I’m - ahaha! aaa! - oh, that tickles!”
As if in direct response to his babbling, a small weight bundles into the back of his knees. He curls up reflexively with a strangled shout - it’s Nott, cuddling up to him with a shivery sigh as an invisible hand starts to pinch at his kneecaps. “You’re right,” she crows to Jester. “He is soft.”
It does feel nice, being buried under this many people and tickled till the marrow of every bone in his body shivers, happy and helpless, and when Fjord finally sits in front of him and presses a questioning hand to his shoulder Caduceus doesn’t resist the impulse to clutch his hands and pull him in closer.
Fjord comes easily, huffing in quiet amusement as Caduceus buries his face in him and Yasha and wriggles like a freshly surfaced earthworm. “You alright there?” he drawls. “You sound like they’re trying to kill you.”
Nott snorts from somewhere near his belly. “We should stop, then, we’ve only got the one cleric.”
“Hey!”
Everything abruptly derails as Jester launches herself towards Nott and, from the sound of it, kicks Beau right in the face - there’s wheezing, and then shouting, and then the telltale sugar-sweet scent of Jester’s healing magic.
Caduceus holds very still. "Is everyone okay?"
"Yeah," Beau confirms, mangled. He can practically picture Jester frantically squishing her cheeks around as she checks for damage.
A typical tickle fight, as far as the Clays are concerned, just with a different smell - the Wildmother's healing tends more earthy. Even though they’ve stopped tickling, Caduceus can’t help but laugh.
He’s not sure if he imagines Fjord fluttering light fingers along the insides of his wrists as he catches his breath, but by the time he wheezes out one last fit of giggles and rolls himself back over everyone seems to be keeping a respectful distance, if a good deal closer together than they were at the beginning of the evening. “I think that went pretty well,” he says, pleased.
“...so you’re stupid ticklish,” Beau says dryly, scrubbing a bit of dried blood from her lip. “No cuddling Duceus while he’s trying to be unconscious, message received.”
There’s a chorus of agreement from all but one - Caduceus looks around and spots their final member for the first time since they sat down for dinner, nose buried in a book and ears suspiciously red.
He hasn’t moved an inch all night, even to escape the noise, which leaves him only a few feet away from the rest of them. Caduceus gets the feeling he’s about to regret that. “Oh, I’m sure there are those that have it worse,” he grins. “Right, Mr. Caleb?”
Caleb’s gaze snaps up over the edge of his book. “Ja,” he rushes out, strangled. “I mean - nein - of course I am not - I am just trying to read here-”
Jester doesn’t wait for him to dig his grave any deeper. “Oh my gosh, Cay-leb, are you super ticklish too?”
Caleb stuffs his book back into its holster and holds a hand out preventatively, reaching with panicked precision for a strip of leather tied just above his knee with the other. “No, I am not-”
“Oh, no you don’t.” Fjord rocks backward and reaches out with one broad hand, latching onto Caleb's wrist, and Caleb promptly abandons all spellcasting to kick at him like a startled rabbit.
Despite that, he reels Caleb in gently, scooping him into a neat little ball before he heaves him into the middle of their little circle and squarely on top of Caduceus. “I think we owe you a nice, long thank you for this lovely dome, don’t we?”
There’s a moment of silence as Caleb presumably thinks about how easy it would be to kill them all in this enclosed space. “This,” he says, as severely as he can with his feet in the air and hair in his eyes, “is the opposite of cuddling, and if you do not leave me alone then tomorrow night I am going to make all of you sleep in the rain.”
Even the seasoned homebody in Caduceus knows that’s the exact wrong thing to say to a group of damp and grumpy adventurers - if the mood in the dome was mischievous before, it takes a steep dive into outright evil.
Beau cracks her knuckles. “Yeah? Let’s see what you have to say when we tickle you again tomorrow.”
And if Caduceus laughs as Caleb gives one startled owlish blink and then scrambles to hide as much of himself behind Caduceus as possible - well, that’s not from the tickling at all.
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denimbex1986 · 3 years
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“...I thought it was gonna be a disaster, especially putting me and Sebastian together and letting us go (laughs).”
“...all that was communicated at the time was, look, we love these two characters, um, Sam and Bucky, and we love them together. And we wanna, we wanna make sure that we, we get the time to focus on them, um, and, you know, this is again, following the, the footsteps of Infinity War and Endgame where I think, you know, our characters have been established to some extents, and again, mine way more so than, than Anthony’s character right, but then in the last few movies I, I’ve felt like - you know, at least what was communicated to me was that they hadn’t got a chance really explore them as much as they would have wanted to...they wanted us together and to further kind of, you know, expand on our, on our chemistry, you know, um and, and that was gonna be exciting and super fun to me. And, and the idea of just six hours obviously with, with, with these characters, um, was also really exciting, because it felt like we were gonna get to kind of get, you know, much deeper into who they were, and what their backgrounds are and where they come from.”
“...I thought that Sharon had sort of been put to bed, so it was really interesting to get the phone-call that they wanted to bring her back...for me that was very exciting...for Sharon it was just so much fun to see her in a different light...she’s really gone to the dark side, but I enjoyed it so much...”
“...entering the MCU Universe was, um, quite wild...I had no idea who Isaiah was...”
“...you just have to trust the people that you’re working with, and when you’re working with Anthony and Sebastian, and - I didn’t get to work with Emily but - uh, and Daniel, you know, it’s it’s easy - it’s like you do all kinds of different things and you’re having fun...”
“...we were always looking for the, the temperature of it, you know, in terms of how sarcastic is he, you know, uh, there were - there were, there were takes that we did that were very funny you know; there was a version of that scene that was actually more comedic, but you know, what I - what I loved ultimately is that they decided to go with, with something that was more grounded and realistic, and - and, and yeah. it was, it was nice to have a scene like that to start of with because at least it sets up for us the journey um, of, of where he has to go, you know, where he’s at sort of at the end of, of - of Endgame, you know, um, is, is very much in, in a sense of, you know, kind of a lack of identity and, and, and fortunately he has the capability to sort of reinvent himself and re-educate himself and really his arc in this show, from my perspective, was always a sort of a re-education and, and a, and a re kind of calibrating of, okay, what, who am I and, and - what am I - what do I stand for, and, and what can I contribute, how can I contribute, you know? Um, I think that in a way for, you know, he represents, you know it’s the PTSD of war, and, and again, of, of, of a soldier who sort of like enlisted a long time ago and then has kind of never really had his own choices, you know, to, to sort of make his own choices and now he finally does and, and what he does and what he decides to do, uh, is what I think is most impactful...”
“...my life mirrors the idea of Sam Wilson as a character...I’m a dude that went to a meeting and I left as Captain America...it’s a rewarding feeling, not only, you know the idea being Captain America, but to be a part of this institution that’s known as Marvel because, you know, it offers us the opportunities to do really interesting, fun, different types of roles, while at the same time, building our fan-base and doing it in a classy way...”
“...in the comic books, Sharon is such a badass and we never really did get to explore that side of her...it was great to see that side of Sharon, I really enjoyed it...I was so happy to see Sharon in this new light...”
“...I think his mind is completely changed by what he sees...he’s definitely changed...all he’s trying to do now is just live...”
“...I’d look at Sebastian and - because, you know, you know there was a moment of connection between them that, um, that needed to happen...he understands more of who he is now, but has to respect - listen respectfully...”
“...when I first read what he actually wrote, I was really moved, I was, I was taken aback because I didn’t - I had never - no-one had ever put my feelings, my complexity and confusion about the state of, uh, African-American in this country into words so eloquently and beautifully...Steve Rogers is a super-soldier, he’s a muscle Captain America...whereas Sam Wilson is a counsellor...they’re two very different characters...the idea of where we are as a country and what that monologue meant was really huge for me because I have sons, and I know when I have a party at the house for my boys, the back yard literally looks like a racial skittle-box...at some point in time, your reality should reflect everything around you, and I want my kinds to have a reality where they’re not pigeon holed into one idea of what they think their race, their culture, their masculinity is and I think, you know, with this series what Malcolm was able to put in that monologue so beautifully is we’re all Americans, we’re all humans...”
“...Bucky had a second shot and Wakanda gave him that...he knows where his loyalty and relationships lie, however he’s put in a situation in the show where he’s having to test boundaries and relationships as a result, and, you know, he’s also driven by slight triggers and personal motives desires that are, you know, unrealized desires he may have towards setting the score with Zemo, you know, you know, and, and, and you know, he’s kind of like torn and, and figuring out his boundaries - and that’s a moment where it’s like ‘Okay you’re right at the edge’. You know what I mean? And it’s like don’t, don’t forget like -  don’t forget where you’re coming from now, you know, and, and I think it’s, it’s the, the learning of that. But then also, you know, in the comic book, in the comic books, you know, Bucky has, like he learns how to detach his arm and use it and throw it and all this stuff, so it’s like there was another piece of it also like ‘okay, now we can do this’, so I think - but I it’s just a humbling moment for him, you know - it’s a - he’s put in his place...”
“...we were joking around on set and we came up with the line, you know, ‘Spend a little time in Wakanda and you come out White Panther.’ That’s my favourite line. Like, nobody caught it but it makes me so happy every time.”
“...it was just me and Sebastian like running down tunnels, and every time we turned - we, we turned around it was like a - it felt like a Benny Hill sketch; where it was dudes just running back and forth...as far as a day of me giggling, that was probably one of my better giggles.”
“...there was an explosion and so it’s just us falling, over, and over, and over again...you just think, ’what - what is this that we do for a living?’...”
“...there was that scene in Mad - Madripoor where he has to drink the - the snake thing; I have to tell you, I mean it was like, it was so hard not to laugh because we did it so many times and he was like; ‘Kari, why are you having me do this again?’ Every time, it was like another double reaction - it was so funny...”
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twh-news · 3 years
Text
Interview: Makeup Artist Douglas Noe on Loki’s Looks Through the Years & Creating Anew for ‘Loki’ [EXCLUSIVE]
Douglas Noe has been in Hollywood for three decades. An award-winning makeup artist, he’s worked on projects such as World War Z, Planet of the Apes, Spider-Man 3, I Saw the Light, and Birth of a Nation. On top of these impressive credits, he’s also been Tom Hiddleston’s personal makeup artist since joining the MCU in The Avengers, designing all of the looks for Loki’s subsequent appearances.
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Noe has been nominated for three Emmys with one win, and five Makeup Artist and Hairstylist (MUAHS) Awards resulting in two MUAHS awards. His skills include creating making natural and period looks, prosthetics, hair, and tattoos.
Along with being the head of the makeup department for the most recent Disney+ series Loki, Noe is also creating looks for the new Netflix comedy series True Story starring Kevin Hart and Wesley Snipes.
We had a chance to chat with Douglas Noe about his work on Loki, The Avengers, the incomparable value of teamwork on set, and most importantly, Richard E. Grant.
Nerds and Beyond: So you started your Marvel journey with The Avengers, but what drew you to your field in the first place? And how did you get your start?
Douglas Noe: Star Wars was a huge influence to me as a young boy, both sketching and drawing, and a little bit of sculpting but not much. Cut to 1983, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” comes out and I find a magazine called Fangoria on the newsstands where I can order blood and wax and pencils and fake hair. So, I started playing with these things. I was also taken with the horror movie craze that was happening in the early 80s — Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th, and others, obviously.
In High School, in 1984, I joined choir thinking I would get an easy credit, but my voice had not changed. So the choral instructor had been waiting for a boy soprano to do a theatrical opera presentation. So with that I sang the lead, I quit choir after that, because my peers were merciless, but, I learned the world of theatrical makeup which I hadn’t been introduced to.
I did years of theater. I went to a performing arts high school — it’s called Fort Hayes School for the Performing Arts in Columbus, Ohio — graduated, went to beauty school, and continued working in Ohio doing industrial, commercial, theater, and opera [makeup]. Worked for Maybelline and Revlon, got restless, worked in Cincinnati on my first film in the summer of 1990, it was July so 31 years ago, A Rage in Harlem. And my boss said you come to Los Angeles, I’ll make sure you get on your feet.
Nerds and Beyond: So you mentioned that it’s been about 31 years since your career started, what’s changed over the course of those 30 years in your field?
Douglas: How much time do we have? I’d say the biggest, biggest change would probably be the way we make these things now. Although another large change, more specific, would be the materials that we use. There’s a constant evolution and reinvention of almost all aspects of the materials that a makeup artist uses. That said, I have to shine a light on the way we do things now with the onset of digital and digital cameras. Shooting on film now has almost completely fallen by the wayside. Film was very forgiving, quite frankly, and now it’s not so forgiving. And because of that, the bar has been raised. The wonderful thing about this journey is watching my peers just get better and better and better, my colleagues rising to meet the challenge of not having anything to hide from with this new way we make films.
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Nerds and Beyond: So, sometimes you kind of throw prosthetics to the wayside in favor of a more traditional makeup. How do you make that decision on which one to go with?
Douglas: That’s an excellent question. The decision is based purely on what are we going to see. That’s where I start, what is the lighting? I have a conversation with the director of photography and I find out what is the dynamic. Obviously, I know from the script whether it’s an interior or exterior, or if we’re exterior but we’re going to be on a stage, if it’s day or night. These variables all play into my decision as to whether or not I should rely on my theatrical experience and ability to paint 2D to appear 3D, or go ahead and make small prosthetics and put them where I need to put them and use actual prosthetics in lieu of paint.
That has everything to do with lighting, locations, logistics, and because most of his [Loki’s] wounds appear on his arm and some on his face in the Void, it’s all very moody and very dark. And again, the theatrical quality of the paint is not going to be altered by the changing light, it’s just going to react the same way the rest of the face is going to react. It’s purple light, it’s going to make everything have a purple hue. There was no accounting for any correction that didn’t need to be done. There wasn’t anything wrong with that. It’s real.
Nerds and Beyond: So, you did make up for not only Tom on Loki, but you helped plan out the looks for everybody?
Douglas: Yes, what I do is I surround myself with strong talent. It’s all about team. I designed Wunmi Mosaku, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sophia DiMartino, and Tom [Hiddleston]. Regarding the rest of it, Neil Ellis, both Dennis Liddiard and I, added to the elements of his scars and wounds, which you would only see in close-ups.
The rest of it, the parameters are set — Blade Runner to Mad Men — and stay in those confines. And obviously, I choose color palettes for the women and there are parameters set for the men, but then it’s about team. I’m a big one on a team and not putting my thumbprints on other people’s work, but rather build other people up so they feel like they own what they’re doing.
My team consists of artists that also have stronger resumes and quite frankly, skills that exceed mine. It’s the mutual trust that allows us to keep a high level of artistic integrity in every aspect of the job. It also means I get the very best from my team, and it shows on the screen.
So, I didn’t have every look in my hand. Dennis Liddiard designed the Mobius character and I had Ned Neidhardt run with Gugu and turn up the volume on some of the elements that she already possesses that we can play with. Her eyes and lips, I think Ned turned the volume on both. And because we’re shooting in order, it’s a progression in the makeup you did.
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Nerds and Beyond: When it came to Sylvie and Loki, when you when you’re doing those, did you try to kind of plan them both to have any similar things to give them a Loki look?
Douglas: It’s a fair question, but the answer is no. So again, I think the characteristics and traits that were going to be similar among them, aside from wardrobe and costume hints, were all character driven. And I did nothing with the makeup and hair to try to make them look or even closely resemble each other.
Nerds and Beyond: I want to kind of back up a little bit to Tom in the first Avengers film. That was by far one of his most standout looks. Can you tell me anything about what went into the creation of that absolutely tormented, haunted look that he had throughout that entire movie?
Douglas: Yeah, and that’s probably one of the elements that, because the character has evolved, we kind of left with Avengers because by the end of Avengers, and we carried it into Endgame, he does have a bit of an edgier look in Avengers, and not many people pick up on it. But the reality is he’s a little sculpted in Avengers.
I remember sculpting his cheekbones and temples, and doing a little play on his forehead for when he’s in the cell on the Helicarrier carrier with all that overhead lighting. I did like a little devil horn shadow, which is so subtle. The only person who’s going to notice is anybody who looks back at it and having read this and knows what to look for, but it is so nuanced and so subtle. And that’s the only place I think we did that. But the rest of him is very much chiseled and sculpted, but it’s a light touch.
And I think, again, as he evolved through the Marvel Universe and into the other movies that was something that was easy to leave behind, because I think that look played directly into his evil desire to rule over Earth. We rested that design element with that storyline.
Nerds and Beyond: It’s very clear too and I’ve always loved looking at that, because I’m a huge fan of the character. I’ve always loved kind of comparing how he looked in that movie to the rest of them.
Douglas: You’re on to me!
Nerds and Beyond: I’m not! I swear [laughs] So, what’s your best method for making the actors comfortable in the makeup chair? And with the final outcome?
Douglas: It’s dialogue; listening, talking to them, talking to their representation, whether it be an agent or a manager, and doing my homework and doing my due diligence to find out what’s going to make them comfortable the moment they walk through the door. I do my homework on them. It’s not just IMDb, it’s an internet search. So, I spend some time on the web and find out who these folks are, and if I find out, for example, they’re not one that likes to talk a lot, well, the writing’s on the wall, we’re not going to talk a lot, we’ll cut to the chase and get to the point. But also, it’s about building a rapport and building a relationship. Also, knowing that, I’ve said this in previous discussions, knowing it’s necessary to get out of the way.
Like if, for example, I’m not a proper fit for somebody, I have to be plugged in, I have to be aware enough to understand that it may not be working before somebody says to me, “Hey, this isn’t gonna work.” So it’s just about being open, especially as Tom’s personal on these projects and running the department, knowing that I don’t get to do everybody. I don’t get to put my thumbprint on other people’s work. Because not only is that disrespectful, it’s very often unnecessary, because I hire good people. I hire contemporaries and peers. Truly, you’re only as good as your weakest crew member. I surround myself with good people.
So, take Owen Wilson, for example, it would have been wonderful to do Owen’s makeup, but there were times when he was not going to be shooting with Tom and I was going to need to be ready for Tom or available to Tom, so it didn’t make sense. So I never touched Owen, I had Dennis Liddiard design that look and run with it. And then Ned Neidhardt took over that look when Dennis had to depart. That’s just one example of not trying to do everything.
Another one was the Classic Loki. I wanted to do Richard E. Grant’s [makeup] so bad, I can’t even tell you. I’ve been a huge fan since 1987. I wanted so badly to bring that full circle, didn’t make sense. It just didn’t make sense. So again, I never touched him. It wasn’t necessary. Ned was always there. And I think the same thing happened to me on Ragnarok reshoots, which I ran in Atlanta again with Dennis Liddiard. I wanted so badly to do Sir Anthony Hopkins makeup, but it didn’t make sense. So I was happy to hand it off to Bill Myer.
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Nerds and Beyond: Oh man, I loved Richard E. Grant in this show so much.
Douglas: He’s amazing.
Nerds and Beyond: He’s so good!
Douglas: He really is. And he’s that good in person. He’s just so fun and interesting and alluring and attractive. He’s such a wonderful, wonderful person and, of course, a phenomenal actor.
Nerds and Beyond: I was watching little videos that he posted and he just seems like the warmest person.
Douglas: You know, just one last tidbit about Richard Grant is he’s got wonderful stories and as he’s telling them he’ll often stop and pause and just laugh. Just laugh, not for the sake of the stories or for anybody that he’s telling the story to, but because recounting the story brings him true joy. So he’ll stop and embrace that joy. Oh, it’s so wonderful.
Nerds and Beyond: That’s so amazing to hear. What is the most memorable job that you’ve done?
Douglas: The most memorable … That’s a tough one because I have so many fond memories of so many projects. The first Avengers film was memorable because there was a buzz, there was a vibration, a frequency, that was in the air when we were shooting that. We kind of knew we were making something big and something special. I don’t think any of us knew how big or how special it would be, but that certainly is one of the most memorable and most special projects.
I’m pretty good about focusing on the positive aspects of all these things, regardless of how difficult the project may be for whatever reason. The pros always, always heavily outweigh the cons, but I have a lot of wonderful, memorable experiences. Another one, it’s the polar opposite only because of the conditions in which we shot, but Birth of the Nation was one of the most memorable and exceptional experiences of my career. I was on the wrong side of 40, had 25 years of experience, and had still never worked so hard in my entire life. We did a 50-day shoot in 27 days. So proud of the work we did.
It was 100 degrees with 99 percent humidity, we shot it in the summer in Georgia, in Savannah, so it was hot, humid, and just getting the makeup necessary to be on individuals to stay put was its own challenge. And then the other challenges only added to that. But Nate Parker, the director, writer, producer, and lead actor, he is a special human being. And he was inspiring from start to finish. Usually, the first people in are the teamsters, transport department, and usually I’m second. He beat me in almost every single day. He’s in three hours before he needs to be. That was a very special experience.
Nerds and Beyond: Finally, are you excited about the news of Loki Season 2?
Douglas: I’m beyond thrilled! I invite being in the dark a little bit, I kind of like surprises and I like not knowing, so I suspected, but hearing the news confirmed, I was thrilled, naturally. What are they going to dream up? This is amazing. How do you top season 1 of Loki? That’s the burning question.
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il0veyoujk · 3 years
Text
New house, new roomies
Fifth Chap.
This is a tickle related series, so if you are not interested in that type of content, I’d suggest ya to find another ff to read, thank you :)
Mini series based on a request from an anon and one  of my ff Self-Esteem (I think you should better read it firstly so you can understand more what’s going on)
Summary: Nefeli (14) has just moved in with the boys and Jimin, but she is still not comfortable around them, so each one spends a day with her in order to get her to open up and to know each other more.
Warnings: None
Notes: None
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“And why are we doing this?”
“Cause it’s fun”
“But you said you have no idea about drawing”
“Yeah, but this is fun”
Taehyung and Nef were currently in his room, drawing. Namjoon and Jungkook were somewhere inside the house too, while the rest of the boys had gone out, for various reasons.
“And remind me why it is necessary to draw on the floor?” Taehyung raised an eyebrow as he kept sketching the marvelous black and white sketch of a lake in front of him.
What did he get as an answer? A wide grin from Nefeli and more blue paint on his body “Because it’s fun too”
Taehyung rolled his eyes playfully at her and continued sketching in front of him “You know, tables are to draw on too”
“Oh well, too bad I guess” she shrugged and kept going with her little drawing, whistling her favorite song as a toddler would.
Just then an idea popped into her head.
Nefeli quietly, rolled closer to Tae’s chair, next to his legs. She smirked widely and scribbles softly with the tip of her pencil his shocked foot.
To be honest, today she was feeling like being cheeky. She had woken up in a shy mood, but at the same time, she wanted to mess with people. So Tae was the lucky one who Nef was gonna mess with.
Tae squealed and pulled his foot back, as he looked down at the smirking girl who had already returned to the paper in front of her and continued drawing “What?”
“What?” Nefeli asked innocently, looking at him with big eyes.
The young decided to let it slide and returned back to his sketch, focusing there, completely. However, not after 2 seconds, he felt the same ticklish feeling on his foot.
He squealed louder and flinched on his chair, giggling “Nehehef!”
Nefeli looked up at him, acting innocently and batting her eyelashes “What? I am not doing anything!” as she kept playing with her pencil between her fingers.
“Stop it!” he pointed a finger at her and narrowed his eyes warningly before he returned one more time to his paper.
The young girl waited some more seconds until she did the unexpected. She just grabbed Tae’s ankle and started scribbling with her pencil all over his foot.
The poor lad gasped and fell in uncontrollable laughter, kicking out, careful not to hit her, and thrashing around on his chair “GAHAHAHAHA NEF NAHAHAHAO!” he screamed in laughter, almost falling off his chair.
Nefeli’s smirk grew wider when she focused on his toes, getting golden reactions. More specifically, Tae’s laughter rose an octave and he started squealing and hitting the table in front of him nonstop, probably in order to make the feeling more bearable.
“Aw is Tae a wittle sensitive?” Nefeli cooed, while she was drawing circles on Taehyung’s toes, driving him crazy.
However, Tae has had none of it.
In a swift movement, Tae had jumped on his feet, ready to pounce on the poor girl “You have 10 seconds your run.10... 9... 8…” he smirked widely and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
Nefeli squealed loudly and sprinted out of the room, while Tae was still counting. Giggles were leaving her mouth as she was running for her life, trying to find where to hide. So she entered the first room she saw. Jungkook’s.
In a flash of light, Nef entered his room and ran behind Jungkook’s bed. The young lad, flinched and turned to her shocked, almost dropping his controller “What the hell?!” he exclaimed, taking off his headphones.
“Please Kook, don’t tell Tae I am here!” Nefeli whispered-yelled and hid under the bed.
Jungkook grinned widely and returned to his game, not putting the headphones back on. And of course, not after 5 seconds, Taehyung busted into Jungkook’s room, a wide smirk on his face “Hey Kook, have you seen Nef somewhere? I need her for something” he wiggled his eyebrows and leaned on the door frame, crossed arms.
Jungkook smirked and shrugged, not taking his eyes from the screen on the front of him “Don’t know bro...” his smirk grew wider as he pointed under the bed in Nef’s direction “Maybe she is in Namjoon’s room”
Taehyung smirked wider and walked quietly behind the bed, making sure Nefeli hadn’t seen him. In a flash of light, the young lad pulled the poor girl from under the bed from her ankles, making her scream, and threw her over his shoulder, speeding out of the room.
“Thank you Kook!” Tae exclaimed, high-fiving the younger boys as he ran out of the room with Nefeli still on his shoulder, bouncing with every step he was taking and giggling uncontrollably.
“Trahahahaitor!” Nefeli giggled out at Jungkook, who only laughed and focused on his game.
Taehyung entered his room and threw the already giggling girl on the bed. He sat on her thighs, pinning her down completely and grabbing a pen as the smirk on his face had reached his ears. Oh, this was not gonna end up well...
Nefeli at this point was giggling hysterically, trying with all her might to cover herself. She knew what was coming and she knew this was gonna tickle A LOT. Well... she deserved it... But still, she was trying her best to escape. To no avail at all.
“Oh, what do we have here then?” Taehyung raised her blouse, pinning Nefeli’s arms under his knees, so as she couldn’t fight back “The perfect canvas!”
Nef’s eyes widened and started squirming around, kicking out nonstop as a final attempt to escape. “Nohohoho Tae please!”
“You are all mine now, heheheh!” Tae winked and picked up the pen, scribbling it and drawing circles all over her tummy.
The young girl fell immediately in hysterical giggles, rolling side to side and trying everything to get Tae off her, but she wasn’t doing much “Gah nahahahahao! Pleahahahahase I ahahaham sohohohorry!”
The sharp yet not painful tip of the pen was leaving blue marks and circles all over Nefeli’s flesh skin, making the feeling way more intense than a nail would. It felt like zillions of tiny bugs were crawling and running all over her sides, making her more sensitive as her hands were desperately trying to pry Taehyung’s larger ones off her.
“Hm? Is my canvas talking? Wow!” Tae continued scribbling softly and drawing all over her side while he started poking her other side, knowing full well what he was doing.
Nefeli arched her back, wiggling her torso side to side to make the feeling more bearable, but nothing was working. His finger was touching some of her most sensitive nerves while the poor girl was squealing and giggling hysterically, lightly kicking out.
“Gah Tahahahahae! Nahahahahao pohohohohokes!” Nef gripped on his wrists, trying to pry them off her hypersensitive torso.
“No pokes? But why?” Tae started poking faster at her side, up to her ribs and down to her hips. Nefeli let out a loud squeal and kept wiggling around like a maniac, while a wide grin was forming on her face.
“Nahahahahahao! Nahahahahat thahahahat ahahahaha!” her giggles were getting higher and higher as the seconds were passing and her kicks were speeding up.
And when she was thinking nothing could get any worse, Taehyung started scribbling way faster all over her side.
She let out a sudden shriek and feel in loud, belly laughter, shaking her head side to side, while her grin was almost touching her ears. “GAHAHAHAHA NAHAHAHAHAO! THAT’S NAHAHAHAOT FAHAHAHAHAIR!”
“Hm? What was that? You’re going to have to stop laughing so I can hear you clearly” Tae’s smirk grew wider when Nefeli’s laughter rose at least two octaves, due to the teasing.
Let’s be fair. Who can stand it when someone is teasing them? No one. And Tae was making her face turn all red from how much she was blushing.
However, suddenly all the tickling came to a stop.
Nefeli looked at Taehyung weirdly, kinda surprised that his ‘revenge’ was finished so soon. Tae was known for his skills in getting revenge and that he was merciless every time.
When she felt her arms being raised above her head and pinned down, a wave of playful panic hit her.
“Ah her side looks so beautiful with my sketches on it!” Tae bent down and blew a huge raspberry on her side, making her scream and fall in loud, hysterical giggles “Now time for your armpits!”
Nefeli’s eyes widened just as she heard what the young lad said, but she didn’t have much time to react. Tae had already grabbed a pencil and was already scribbling her left armpit.
“NAHAHAHAHAHAO TAHAHAHAHAE PLEAHAHAHAHASE! I AHAHAHAHAM SAHAHAHAHAORRY!” the young girl was desperately trying to shot her arms down, while she was thrashing around and laughing loudly, but she wasn’t doing much.
“Ah, this canvas is too loud!” Taehyung scribbled faster on her flesh skin, while he was blowing short raspberries and nibbling her neck and tummy alternatively.
At this point, the poor girl was laughing so hard that her cheeks were burning. Her face was all blushy from the teasing and her laughter wouldn’t stop coming out of her mouth. Mouth tickles were always her biggest weakness, and now that Tae was getting two spots at once, she was feeling way more sensitive. Especially because of the nibbles.
“IT’S YAHAHAHAHAOUR FAHAHAHAHAULT!” she cried out, not really caring what it was about to happen after that. In fact, she was too busy laughing and trying to escape to even think about it. Plus it wasn’t like she wanted it to stop... She was having fun...
“Oh is it? Or is it that you are too ticklish to handle it?” just by the mention of the word ‘ticklish’, Nefeli blushed 10 times harder and getting way more sensitive.
Taehyung chuckled, seeing her getting all red and scribbled faster on Nef’s armpit. In a swift movement, he let her arms go and shot his hand in her other armpit, wiggling his fingers there. The young girl immediately shot her arms down and gripped on his shoulders, trying to push him away. She threw her head back and shut her eyes, laughing so loud that probably the neighbors were all annoyed.
“GAHAHAHAHA TAHAHAHAE I HAHAHAHATE YAHAHAHAHA!” Nefeli screamed when Taehyung’s teeth moved to her sides, sending her in fits of pure hysterics. It felt like electricity was hitting her body while tiny bugs were crawling on her side.
The young lad raised an eyebrow, slowing down a bit “You've said your last cheeky thing, little one. Come here!” faster than the speed of light, Tae had turned around and sat on the poor girl’s ankles, grabbing a paintbrush, taking her by surprise. Now that was gonna tickle a lot...
“Oh no...” Nef started panicking, knowing that this would be her hell. She knew what was about to happen and her soles were already tingling and giggling nonstop from anticipation “T-Tae nohohoho!”
Taehyung turned around, smirking widely “Oh you should have thought about it later, sweetheart” and with that, the same time Nefeli blushed harder, Tae pulled her toes back and started blushing her feet, coloring them purple.
Nef let out a loud shriek and fell in hysterical laughter, kicking out and thrashing around. The feeling was so intense and ticklish, that was making the poor girl losing her mind.
“GAHAHAHAHA NAHAHAHAHAO TAHAHAHAHAE PLEAHAHAHAHASE MERCAHAHAHA! NAHAHAHAT THEAHAHAHARE AHAHAHAHA!” she screamed, punching his back and trying to wiggle away, but she wasn’t going anywhere. Tae was no match for her way smaller frame.
Nefeli was feeling like she was losing her mind and that her whole torso was tingling, even if Tae was only getting her soles. But apparently, being tickled on your worst spot has an effect on your whole body... To be honest, Nefeli had never experienced something that tickled so much in her life before, and she was literally in hysterics.
“A guilty crime deserves punishment!” Taehyung was showing no mercy at all. He was scribbling in the middle of her sole with the paintbrush, sending ticklish shivers down her spine.
“GAH SHUHUHUHUT UHUHUHUP AHAHAHAHA!” Nef screamed in loud laughter, wiggling around like a worm and kicking her knees.
“Wow, you really don’t have an off button, do you?” Namjoon’s voice echoed the room from the living room. Yes, her screams were so loud that both he and Jungkook could hear what the duo was doing, crystal clear.
“Nah, she doesn’t” Jungkook answered from his room, making both Namjoon and Taehyung chuckle and Nefeli blush harder.
“Y’know, it’s so cute how you haven’t said stop this whole time!” Tae grinned widely and pulled her toes back, even more, scribbling their base, coloring them blue with another paintbrush.
Nefeli went crazy at the mix of those words and having her toes being mercilessly tickled. Every hair on her body was straight and her stomach was aching from all the laughter.
“Coochie coochie coo Neffie!” the young lad was now painting each of her toes and wiggling them gently, making her howl in laughter in ticklish agony.
At this point, Nefeli was feeling like her whole body was on fire. Her stomach was aching and her mouth was really stretched from all the grinning and laughing. Her face was all red from blushing and how hard she was laughing and she was unable to move more, being exhausted. Her laughter had fallen silent and her arms had stopped hitting Tae’s back.
“T-Tahahahae pleahahahase...!” she managed to cry out and then fall in silent laughter once again.
That was Taehyung’s signal to stop and let her go to regain her breath, his smirk not fading out “Are you sorry yet?”
Nef’s eyes widened in panic, while she was still grinning widely, nodding hysterically “Yesyesyesyes! I am sorry I am sorry I am sorry I am sorry!” she squealed and sat back up.
Taehyung ruffled her hair and hugged her tightly, helping her calm down “Well, next time you will think about it twice before you mess with me” he chuckled, sensing the young girl tensing up and little.
Before Nefeli could answer tho, her stomach growled in response, earning a giggle both from Tae and her “I guess I need to feed myself” she got up and started walking out of the room, leaving colorful footprints on the floor, obviously not noticing them.
Taehyung on the other hand, leaned back on his bed, smirking widely “Y’know this is not gonna end up well...”
But it was too late. Nefeli had already walked to the living room where Namjoon was the same moment was Jungkook entered Tae’s. And of course, obviously, after he ruffled her hair a little
“NEFELI! THE FLOOR!” Namjoon’s voice echoed the whole house once again while the two younger boys erupted in loud laughter.
“She’s gonna get it again, isn’t she?” Jungkook asked Tae, a wide grin on his face while heave footsteps could be heard all around the place. Namjoon’s and Nef’s.
“Nefeli come back here! You are making a mess and your position worse!”
“No!”
“Of course she is” the two boys laughed and got out of the room to see what was about to happen, only to see Namjoon pinning Nef on the ground.
“Gah Joon nohoho!”
“Alright Neffie, ready for round 2? Or 3? Or 10?”
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lluvguts · 3 years
Text
Cool Blue ; Chapter One
⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫。˚۰˚☽˚⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫。˚۰˚☽˚⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫。˚
through sunsets we wander
⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫。˚۰˚☽˚⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫。˚۰˚☽˚⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫。˚
☽ warnings: none
☽ fic masterlist
⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫。˚۰˚☽˚⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫。˚۰˚☽˚⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫。˚
By the time Alberto had rowed out into the furthest stretch of waters toward that quaint little island he'd been eyeing for months, it was already nearing dinnertime. He promised his foster father, Massimo, and younger sister, Giulia, he would return to the Marcovaldo home with a lovely new piece for their kitchen or else Massimo's hearty dish of alfredo wouldn't be served to him.
Alberto had grinned at the promise. He knew that even if he came home with a stick figure drawing of himself, sitting cheekily on a beach someplace, they'd hang it on the icebox and love it regardless.
He'd done a few paintings of the sunset from their home, sure, but it was the beautiful curve of greenery this approaching island offered that Alberto just couldn't refuse. There hung something familiar in it's many trees and overgrown bushes somehow, but Alberto just wasn't able to place it. As he neared he hurried to moor the boat by the section of the island mostly taken up by dark, porous shore rocks. He chanced to teeter at the bow before jumping onto the closest boulder, its surface nicking his heels in a few spots but he didn't mind. He hated to wear shoes ever since he was a child, and Massimo had even claimed when he'd discovered Alberto as a wide-eyed toddler, he was absolutely shoe-free. The ground was damp with the constant ebb and flow of the ocean, and for the heat seeping into Alberto's toes from the sparkling sun-kissed sand, he felt oddly at home.
Alberto glanced at the sun, hardly able to resist reaching out a hand to remark on the beauty of it. He spun back to fetch his bag of paint supplies, clutching the case to his broad chest so as not to let anything plop into the ocean. From where he was standing, precariously but full of glee on the rocky shoreline, there was a small alcove just beyond Alberto's line of sight. There were a few times he'd wished he'd brought at least a pair of sandals--or perhaps he could use his work smock and tie it around his heels--as he walked down the beach, because the ground was steadily rising in temperature as the sun baked the sand, but he tried not to complain much when there was so much to marvel around him.
He set his bag down on the ground by a rocky pool, which Alberto promptly sat beside and rolled his pantlegs up so he could dangle his ankles in the warm water. From where he sat, he was given a perfect view of the sun, creeping closer and closer to the horizon, so Alberto pulled out his pad of paper and a few pencils just to sketch for a while. He shaded the trees around him, drew each jagged rock, and perfected the way the sun kissed the ocean and left sparkling trails down the horizon. He could draw today, just to soak up the scenery and get his concepts down, then bring out the paints tomorrow. Massimo would probably joke and ruffle his already messed up head of curls once he got back, with smudged fingers and no canvas, but say all was fine. As he worked he hummed to himself, a song from some old record Giulia played on their gramophone (or, as a younger Alberto favored calling it, the magic-singing-lady-machine) after dinner and the kids were cleaning up. Still focused on the page, steadily filling, Alberto reached out a hand and groped around in his bag for an eraser without looking. When he didn't find one, he grumbled a bit and pulled his hand back, only to realize he'd shook loose a few sticks of charcoal and a paintbrush that rolled across the ground and fell, soundlessly, into the pool. The brush floated along the surface but the rest slipped below the surface.
"Merda!" Alberto hissed, trying to grapple one of the charcoals with his toes but it only sank further into the murky blue below. He shut his eyes and opened them again, more than willing to dive down there and retrieve those precious charcoal sticks. They cost him quite a few allowances and extra shifts at the Pescheria.
But then something happened that made Alberto leap from his spot and hold his dripping knees closer to his chest.
One stick of charcoal was flung from the pool and landed on the grass a few feet from Alberto's bag, soaking the ground in black. Then came up another, this time closer to Alberto. He flinched at the torrent of gravity-defying art supplies, allowing himself to inch closer to the mouth of the pool, reflecting his green eyes wide, breath held, waiting. Another reflection flashed across the pool's surface, something vibrant that made Alberto look up. But there were no trees or even a bird to cast the reflection.
Alberto let his head fall. And, blinking back at him, with the paintbrush that had been bobbing balanced on its nose, was what looked like a fish. But fish didn't have huge yellow eyes that made Alberto think of his cat at home, Machi, but not in an endearing way. Fish weren't that smart. Alberto had seen sea turtles and dolphins many times before, and they were intelligent, sure, but nothing compared to the humanlike stare this creature had fixed on him now. It stuck it's face out of the water, wincing at the harsh sunlight making its scales shine a deep teal. When its big yellow eyes trained back on Alberto, he saw the creatures features darken from underneath the water line.
"I think you dropped this," It whispered, in such a soft and shy way it made Alberto take in a ragged breath. Okay, fish definitely didn't do that. Was this thing...actually talking to him? The creature stuck its webbed fingers from the pool and took the paintbrush, staring at it for a moment before handing it out to a speechless Alberto.
"Woah! Uh...H-Hello?" Alberto breathed, gingerly taking back the brush.
The not-fish waved, only a slight shake of its hand above the surface of the water, and Alberto noticed the thin claws on the ends of its fingers.
"I'm not supposed to talk to you," It whispered again. Alberto watched the stream of bubbles that floated along the pool's surface as it talked. He still had no idea what he was conversing with, the creature seeming less and less like a fish and more as something from his imagination. It waded in the small pool, he noticed, forearms paddling softly without stirring the water. Its movements so effortless it left Alberto in awe. And if he gazed into the deeper parts of the water, he swore he saw a tail lazily lapping behind the creature.
"I...uh, I could only imagine why," Alberto squeaked. The paintbrush was still in his hands but he was now gripping it so tight his tan skin was turning white at the knuckles.
The creature stifled a giggle by placing one clawed hand to its mouth, but even still Alberto caught a glimpse of its sharp teeth. If he hadn't run away now, that was a pretty good red flag to be packing his things and high-tailing home--but he didn't. He wasn't exactly afraid of this thing staring back at him. Just a bit baffled by it, he was dying to look closer but the more Alberto craned his neck down into the pool to see, the creature shied back into the depths.
"What are you?" Alberto asked aloud, more to himself but still he knew the thing heard him. "Sorry! Was that rude? I'm not trying to be mean, but you aren't exactly the type of seal we'd see in Portorosso."
The creature's cheeks turned a darker blue, and it glared at Alberto. "I am not a seal." It hissed, its tiny lip pulled back to reveal that set of sharp teeth again.
"I get it! I get it! I said I was sorry! I'm just trying to figure this all out," Alberto scratched his head, looking back at his sketchbook for a moment.
"I don't even look anything like a seal!" It was still stuck on the stupid seal comment, with its blue eyebrows furrowed and eyes dark. The more Alberto heard the creature talk he realized, with a flush of embarrassment or something else, that it was a boy. Not a thing. Not an it.
"Okay, so you're not a seal. We've established this." Alberto was gathering his sketchbook and supplies to put back in the bag. The paintbrush was resting at the mouth of the pool. "Are you some type of...seahorse? Or an overgrown fish?"
The boy spit out a stream of water into Alberto's face.
"I'm a monster," He said promptly, his voice on the edge of staying shy or holding a grudge for the seal comment. "So...you should be afraid of me."
Alberto let out a laugh. This cute little thing? "Sure, sure. That makes much more sense." He stuck out his hand at the boy. "Well, nice to meet you, sea monster...Or, uh, whatever you are. I'm Alberto Marcovaldo."
"Alberto..." The boy repeated in a hushed voice, looking down at the water now as he said it. He flinched backward at Alberto's hand, looking up at his fingers with burning yellow eyes. Without knowing much of what to do, the boy kicked his legs until he was treading the water, letting the top of his head graze Alberto's open palm. The small fins around the crown of his head brushed Alberto's hand, smooth and slippery like seaweed. Alberto decided he was quite pleased with the weird texture of it.
The boy closed his eyes and let out a small noise, the side of his face now pressed to Alberto's hand. He had a fin on his cheek that neared his fingertips, and when Alberto touched it the boy trilled, almost in greeting.
"Oh, uh, are you ok? I think you're supposed to shake my hand." Alberto stated. He found his face felt uncomfortably hot watching the weird gesture the boy had just made, and even more so at the soft noises rumbling in his throat.
For a moment the creature considered extending his hand and taking Alberto's outstretched fingers, but stopped with a low growl, blushing blue.
"I'm--ugh! I'm not even supposed to be out here!" He wailed. "If they find me out here with, with a land monster? My mom's gonna kill me! I've uh, I've got to go, so um..." The boy looked at Alberto's paintbrush sitting within his reach and took it.
"Goodbye."
He ducked back under the water. In a second his head of blue fins dashed back up.
"Forever."
Land monster? Alberto could laugh. He'd never heard that one before. But he scanned the mess before him, the slimy puddle of water next to his leg that the boy had left when he took (stole) his paintbrush, the droplets scattered along his sketchbook, all blazing in angry red as the sun finished its journey along the sky.
Alberto scrambled up from his spot, mentally slapping himself. He had a hard time rowing the boat this far out while it was daytime, it was sure going to be hell finding his way home in the near darkness. As he stumbled along the shore and dropped his things into the boat, he wondered if he had the right paint colors for the boy's eyes.
Wait, he hadn't even gotten his name! Do sea monster-things have names? Like humans do? Oh, what did it matter? The boy said he could never come back to the island again. Their awkward five minute interaction was all they had. But Alberto was still stewing it all over as he made his way back to Portorosso, now relying on the oil lamp beside him and the glowing stars above.
/ / /
"Figlio, you're late."
Alberto rushed to hang up his bag and wash his hands. Giulia seemed to have been stuck with doing Alberto's dinner chores in his absence, setting the table and pouring waters. When he passed her she stuck her tongue out at him and smashed his offending pinky toe with her sandal.
"Ouch!" Alberto steeled his eyes at her from across the table, but she only grinned devilishly. Massimo was still expecting some sort of apology for almost missing dinner so he cleared his throat and pulled back the chair for his father to sit. "Sorry, Papa. The place where I set up my paints was pretty far, and I got carried away and lost track of time."
"Blech, Alberto, you stupido, at least change your clothes...you reek like fish..." Giulia sneered as Massimo handed them their plates.
"Hush, Giulia." Signor Marcovaldo gave her a small pat on her shoulder then turned to Alberto. All concern lost, he asked. "Where did you go to paint?"
"The island...?" Alberto chanced a look across his water glass to see their equal expression of shock and horror.
"The island?" Giulia shrieked. She let her fork fall and alfredo sauce splattered on the table cloth. "Fratello, that place is swarming with monstro marino!"
"Sea monsters, really Giulia?" Alberto tried to sound calm, but his heart rate picked up. "There's no such thing."
"Actually, Alberto, there is." Massimo pointed to the newspaper clippings decorating one kitchen wall, still frames of what appeared to be creatures with glistening teeth and bloodied scales.
"But Papa, those papers are fake! You said so yourself! Ercole's father only made those to scare people." Alberto argued.
"They are a menace to this town." Massimo stared into his plate of pasta. "My only hope is that you never get to see so yourself. They are killers."
Well, the one I met today didn't seem like a bloodthirsty monster, Alberto wanted to spit back, but held his tongue.
"Did you at least get to draw anything?" Giulia asked. Alberto sighed, glad they let the subject on sea monsters drop for the time being.
"Y-Yeah! I actually did," He boasted, rising from the table to fetch his bag. He undid the latch and took out his sketchbook, walking while flipping the latest page open for Giulia and Massimo to see.
Giulia's eyes widened and she barked out a laugh. Massimo smiled faintly, giving Alberto a solitary thumbs up.
"What? What are you laughing about?" Alberto turned the paper around and gasped. The entire page was warped and still damp, the lovely pencil drawings now only faint grey smears along the paper.
"That's-That's not funny!" Alberto growled at Giulia, who was wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. "It was the boat! A wave must have hit the side, or something!"
"Oh, yeah, Alberto. Blame the boat," Giulia giggled.
Alberto huffed and slumped back into his seat. That sea monster.
Machiavelli sashayed into the kitchen, smelling the dinner on the table or perhaps the laughter lightening the air. He curled up next to Alberto's leg on the ground, rubbing his cheek and whiskers along his bare ankle, purring for a taste of the alfredo sauce.
"No, Machi. You can't eat human food." Alberto chastened him, nudging his face away from the table leg. Giulia laughed harder.
"Hah! He smells the fish on you, 'Berto! Were you taking a swim with Papa's catch today, hmm?"
"Giulia, I said that was enough!"
He smells the sea monster on me, Alberto thought. He glanced down at Machi again and stiffened when he realized his purrs had really been growls.
/ / /
"Oh, Giuseppe, I'm so stupid!" Luca dropped his head into his hands and a flurry of bubbles chased his fins. "I can't believe I actually talked to him!"
The school of fish floated beside Luca, unblinking. Giuseppe, the goatfish in interrogation, only blew a tired bubble from his mouth and huddled closer to Luca.
"I saw these weird sticks floating into the water, and they stained the water black like those oil spills Momma had warned be about, but still I went to see what it was!" Luca took Giuseppe by the hand and cradled him to his chest. "I wasn't expecting to see a land monster up there. I just didn't want those things in the water."
"But," Luca continued to himself, as his herd of fish were clearly unable to do much of anything, least of all lend him advice. "That weird stick with the soft thing at the end was really pretty, Giuseppe. It was purple! The wood was purple! How did he do that?"
"It was Alberto that did that, I think. He painted it purple." Luca jumped up in glee, then floated gracefully back onto the rock he'd been sitting on, giggling at the dark sea above.
"Ugh!" Luca was a ball of emotions. "How could I be such an idiota? I took something from The Surface! I had to hide it, of course, but still!" He pet Giuseppe's scales and the goatfish blew some bubbles in Luca's face to calm him down. "He looked so much different than the way Momma talks about the land monsters. Alberto wasn't scary...he didn't have a harpoon, so that's a good sign, right?"
Luca looked to Giuseppe, and sighed. "I don't know what's happening to me..." Luca murmured to himself, gingerly touching his face and remarking how warm it was in the cool ocean water. It had been like that when Alberto was watching him too, with those bright green eyes. Green like the sea glass Luca had collecting on the rocky ledge of his bedroom cave. When he stared at Alberto, something tingled in his belly, burning low and delightful. He knew what that meant, though he tried to press it down into his abdomen until the feeling eventually drifted away.
"Oh, sharks, I'm just a dumb little crab, aren't I? I even tried to scent him! But I couldn't help it! That land monster smelled so...different. Like the sun, you know? All warm and fuzzy...it was so sweet. Oh, if Momma finds out about this...It's not good, Giuseppe. Not good at all."
"Luca, tesoro it's time for dinner!" Signore Paguro called from a few yard away in the Paguro home. Luca gasped and a trail of frightened bubbles drifted pass his eyes. He grabbed his moss-covered staff and herded the school into a more manageable spot for the night, and swam toward home.
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