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#or you want some ideas for a piece of art that you ACTUALLY ARE gonna make yourself. but u need inspiration and cant find good extant image
death-limes · 4 months
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fuckin uuuuuuuuuuh sorry if this is a hot take or anything but “ai art is theft and unfair to the ppl who made the original art being sampled” doesnt suddenly become not true if the person generating the ai art is disabled
and its also possible to hold that opinion WITHOUT believing that disabled ppl are in any way “lazy” or “deserve” their disability or “it’s their fault” or any of that bullshit
i get that disability can be devastating to those who used to do a certain type of art that their body no longer allows in the traditional sense. but physical and mental disability have literally NEVER stopped people from creating art, EVER, in all of history. artists are creative. passionate people find a way.
and even if a way can’t be found…. stealing is still stealing. like. plagiarizing an article isn’t suddenly ethical just bc the person who stole it can’t read, and being against plagiarism doesn’t mean you hate people who can’t read.
the whole ableism angle on ai art confuses the hell out of me, if im honest. at least be consistent about it. if it’s ethical when disabled people do it, then it’s ethical when anyone does it
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miguelhugger2099 · 1 month
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Punk!Miguel who’s proud of his tattoos. At least most of them. He has some professionally done and others were stick and pokes from when him and Gabriel were younger.
Punk!Miguel who watches you with a smile when you touch up and down his arm. He hides the shivers down his spine when your perfectly manicured pink and green nails rake across the art decorated on him.
“What’s this one?” You poke at a terrible done smiley face, it was a little blobbed but barely noticeable with the much nicer ones done around it.
“One of the first tries my brother did on me when he was starting out.”
“And you kept it?” You tilt your head with a scrunch of your nose. Miguel laughs.
“Sentimental value.”
You scoff. “No way.”
“Yeah, way.” He takes your hands and pulls you closer, lugging you forward onto his lap where you belonged. Getting yourself comfortable you placed your hands on his chest.
“Are you just gonna have them on your arms?” You ask, tugging down his shirt for a peek at any new ones. Miguel smirks and stops your peeking by tsking and shaking his head—a knowing look on his face.
“Course not but tattoos cost money, babe.”
“You should get one of me.” You pout your lips, crossing your arms that makes you seem snobbish.
“What? Like get one of your face?” He laughs and leans back on his hands.
“No! Like—I dunno! Something sentimental about…me?” You look away, feeling the prickling embarrassment crawling up your neck. “Never mind!”
“Oh, so you want to be on my body, huh?” He teases, taking your hand and sliding it under his tank top to feel his warm stomach, faint dips of abs.
“You know what I mean!” You whine, feeling frozen with him holding your hand in place. He can’t help but find you adorable. Letting go of your hand to come around your waist as he leans up again, one hand coming down to cup your ass. He swallows your squeak with a kiss, unable to stop himself from biting into your sweetness.
Punk!Miguel who—even if he teased you about it—actually adored the idea of having a tattoo of you on him.
Punk!Miguel who thought day and night of what could represent you. Flowers he felt was done often, your name was cute but basic and anything else could very well be mistaken for something else. He wanted something that was obviously you.
Punk!Miguel who was rearranging his room again, bustling through various boxes for some spring cleaning.
Punk!Miguel who found his box of memories from when you two first began dating. It had been filled with all your gifts and letters you’d given him—every last piece saved securely in the corner of his room.
He smiles as he opens the box up again. Some pieces of papers falling out and the little broken keychain you got to match with him until it snapped when he accidentally sat on it.
He sits at his desk, flipping through the pages and tiny plushies you’ve given him. His heart swelling at the swirls in your writing with blue ink—the bunny pen you always wrote with.
The smile on his face continues as he reads through your words of love for him—words that you often found too difficult to say. He slams his forehead on the desk, blush coating his cheeks and ears while he groans loudly.
Each letter you’d given him ended with a print of your kiss mark at the very bottom. Some of it was a matte red, others was a faint glitter stain, but most of it was a soft pinkish color. The kind that was glossy and gave you just enough color that it looked tinted and natural.
His finger grazes the mark, an idea popping in his head.
Punk!Miguel who goes to a tattoo shop he was very well acquainted with, with an artist he knew extra well.
He slams his arm on the counter where a man was behind it, sucking on a lollipop and doodling in his sketchbook. The guy raises an annoyed brow.
“Do you have any space open for a walk-in client?” Miguel asks with a smirk.
“I don’t have space for annoying ones.” He sighs and puts his drawing pad away.
“I have money this time, Gabri. Plus, family discount.”
Punk!Miguel who is both afraid and excited to show you what he’s done to himself. He feels his heart hammering while he preps himself to show you. He’d done the aftercare as precisely as possible, taking extra care of it because this was no ordinary tattoo.
Punk!Miguel that lets you take off his shirt when he tells you he’s gotten a tattoo of you.
Punk!Miguel who smiles with amusement when you gasp and hit his arm that you were joking before! That tattooing is a permanent thing! He tells you that he knows.
His heart stills when you eyes land on his chest. On his left side, where his heart would be was your kiss mark. Just like the ones you left on the letters you used to give him.
You touch your lips subconsciously, your other set of fingers hovering over his lifted skin. You look up for permission and he nods, brining himself closer.
You marvel at the piece of work that replicated your lips. “Oh, Miguel…” You sigh, blinking back tears.
“Are you getting emotional?”
“No!”
He brings you to his chest in a tight hug, your hand still resting beside your kiss mark now permanently etched on his person—a permanent reminder that he is yours and that he loves you.
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kozachenko · 2 months
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[Click image for better quality]
I FIGURED OUT A WAY TO FUCKING MAKE THE IMAGE SMALLER FOR POSTING ON TUMBLR WITHOUT SACRIFICING THE ACTUAL QUALITY OF THE IMAGE OH MY GOD
Ok so, what I did is go into the clip studio paint file, make a new file, copy and paste the group in the original file, merge everything, get rid of the extra stuff outside of the canvas, and then make the flattened image smaller and crop the canvas. Once you have that, export it and you're done. This helps maintain the actual quality of the image and also helps shrink the file size down to something actually postable (if anyone has a better way of doing this please tell me)
[Edit]: Ok I guess posting something to Tumblr just naturally compresses the image a bit more somehow because I'm looking at it now and zooming in too much makes it a bit blurry so I'm still gonna have to futz around with image quality for future pieces oof
Artist's Note:
I'm so glad I figured out a way to do this because I like working on a big canvas so I can get as much detail in as I possibly can. Only problems are how laggy it gets while drawing lol.
I had an idea for a drawing with Reimu and Zanmu because I really like thinking about their potential dynamic a lot. I also wanted an excuse to draw Zanmu again but in my normal rendering style because last time I drew her she was in my more sketchy style with generally flat colours so I wanted to draw her again. Speaking of, looking at the sketch for this is a jumpscare that I never enjoy seeing, like, man am I glad I didn't use those for my final piece.
Also about her spear. I was originally gonna make it like the ones she had in game, but it kinda threw off the whole piece. It was too big, too blue, and too flat, so I just went "fuck it" and gave her a different one instead. My headcanon justifying this is that the ones she uses in game are for danmaku battles whereas in any other fight she just uses a proper yari, or she still uses the yari and just makes it all glowy to power it up, maybe both lol. I pulled as much inspiration as I could from Sengoku era spears, and even put in some blue into the decorative part of the spear and also added a little skull to pay tribute to the original spear. Also, in my research I saw some art of izanami and izanagi making japan and saw that the yari izanagi has had a little decorative tassley thingy on it so I took some inspo from that and just made it one of Zanmu's tassles (Idk when that art was from or if the spear was still accurate to Sengoku period Japan but hey, probably the same reasons Eirin puts little bow ties on her arrows, it's just for personalization purposes).
I love rendering hair and clothes so much omg, while I like the super curly hair Zanmu, the longer, wavier hair suits her better for this drawing (I imagine it only does that like how Ghibli characters hair moves when they feel angry lol). I love making Zanmu's hair all messy and crazy, as well as giving her grey hairs, this woman has aged like a fine wine. Also, if the hem on the ends of her sleeves, top of her shirt, and her pants look like gold to you, that's because it is! It's fairly light so she's not collapsing under the weight, but it's gold! (I don't care how impractical it is, it's just cool). Not the undershirt though, it's made of a gold fabric. I had a cute idea with Reimu's hair to make it have a red shine to it. I also changed up Reimu's outfit so it isn't just a blob of red. I like it a lot when Reimu's skirt and outfit is segmented into different layers, so I wanted to incorporate that.
I tried to draw their hands differently as well, but IDK how noticeable that is. Also, I am super happy with how the side profiles for the two of them turned out, I used to struggle a lot with how to make the side profile of a character actually look like the character, so I'm really happy that they actually look like themselves.
Also added in the tree and rocks in the background as an homage to Zanmu's character art in Touhou 19, just because I was getting kinda stumped on what to do with the background lol.
In terms of a story idea with Reimu and Zanmu, idk why but the potential plotline of Zanmu wanting to ascend to godhood is so fascinating to me. Like, it is very possible that if she just convinced everyone she was a god (which would be very easy for her to do), she would become one in a heartbeat. Also, if she were to become a god, with her ability to return stuff to nothing, could she hypothetically get similar abilities to (Jojo Part 5 spoiler btw) GER? Like, idk about the death timeloop stuff, but the concept has been haunting me every night as I have been trying to find loopholes in GER's ability for a while now ( for no reason in particular). Back to the main topic, I imagine that she would probably tell Reimu that if she were to become a god she would take over the Hakurei shrine since the god there might as well be dead, and Reimu just says to her, "Over my dead body bitch." Like, I have no idea how to summarize their dynamic but like, it's the type of hero-villain dynamic where the phrase "We're not so different, you and I" would definitely be a phrase said during a fight. I think that if another IN style game were to release, Reimu and Zanmu would be in a team together. They could also have an interesting mentor and pupil kind of dynamic. Can you tell that Zanmu has been charging my mind rent these part few months? Like, instead of living in my head rent free, she kinda just uno reversed the whole situation and now she's the one charging me rent. What happens if I get evicted from my own brain? Actually, scratch that, I don't think I wanna know.
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seuonji · 6 months
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彡 living with you.
notes ๑ scenarios of things that occurred when you started living with your svt bf!
genre ๑ fluff
warnings ๑ none but in seokmin’s one it’s hinted the reader wears makeup!!
word count ๑ 1k
from aya: please reblog if you enjoyed! feedback is always appreciated<3
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waking up early with seungcheol/soonyoung/jihoon and going grocery shopping!!
seungcheol has a hard time saying no when you want to buy unrelated items like house decoration or a grill— you always end up buying too much and struggle to carry the items back home.
you’re the one who has to control soonyoung when it comes to buying stuff but like wdym he can’t buy the tiger themed cooking set? fortunately, he’s great at remembering a ‘things to buy’ list but what comes with that is a tornado that wants to buy a bicycle along the way.
jihoon would ask you “are you sure you need it.” or “what are you going to use it for.” you end up leaving the store with what you actually need. but he might slip in a tub of ice cream or a pack of candy you like when you reach the counter.
+
jeonghan pulling you back to bed whenever you move after waking up. it’s a pain when you have to pee cause he will not let go.
“it’s so early, why are you already leaving?”
he loves nuzzling his face into your neck but if you don’t enjoy that you’re just gonna have to kick him in the shins to push him away ʅ(◞_◟)ʃ.
+
joshua loves going out but when he moved in with you, his outing time decreased sufficiently. he loves laying on the couch with you as you two turn off your brains and talk about random stuff while your mixed playlist plays in the background.
+
for some reason, you always walk in on jun in the middle of doing a silly dance. he will not hesitate to drag you to dance with him.
on a cuter note, when he’s free he definitely surprises you with breakfast in bed. he takes note of things you’re craving and serves it to you without fail.
+
wonwoo placed another chair beside his gaming chair. it’s there so that you can sit beside him while he’s gaming.
i mean, you usually sit on his lap but sometimes he jumps in the middle of playing when he gets frustrated at the game… so he had to implement the second chair—
+
seokmin loves joining you while you get ready to go out. he just sits beside you and plays with your hair but if you ask him to dry or brush your hair, he’ll do it. might even help you organise you stuff so that it doesn’t hassle you when you get back home.
+
mingyu heard your stomach rumble late at night. he laughed about it and you got offended, making it clear by facing your back towards him.
“i’m sorry yn!” he said between laughs as he pulled you towards him.
“shut up, go sleep.”
“come let me cook you a meal, what do you want?”
turns into a night of you sitting on the counter while mingyu’s at the stove cooking the meal you requested. he’d wear an apron even if it was 4 in the morning.
+
minghao, you let him use the spare room for his art but it sort of turned into your healing room. you two just stay there, no electronics, no phones, not much except for art supplies on the floor and a small stool. minghao often sits as you lay your head on his lap but you two switch of course. on the days he had art block, with consent, he’d paint on your skin to try and get some ideas.
“ooh i like that one!” you beamed as you took a peek to your arm that minghao was painting on.
“really? guess i found my next piece.”
+
getting noise complaints with seungkwan/chan after you two argued over who could get a score of 100% on karaoke.
also i feel like he’s type to tackle you when he hugs you so there’s so many loud thuds and every time that happens—
bottom line y’all loud as hell.
but on another note about the hugs, he def always tackles you onto the bed whenever you come back home from work or an outing or just after you shower!!
+
breakfast at the balcony with vernon!
there on the balcony, you both have either really deep conversations or the most pointless conversations to exist. if your neighbours could hear you, they’d be concerned cause your topics really go from “do i deserve to exist?” to “i think i could be president and it would go well.”
you two could start a podcast, it will succeed. or that’s just what vernon likes to believe.
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wormdebut · 8 months
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SEPTEMBER MICROFIC: GUERRILLA
@steddiemicrofic | Word: Charm | Word Count: 548 Rated: T (As always for swears) | CW: none
——
“But why do I have to be the one to go meet this guy, Chris? Send Jeff or—“ Eddie cuts himself off, in favor of smacking at his managers shoulder—“Here’s an idea, send Freddy! He would love to go to an—art show? Art Event?” Eddie wasn’t entirely sure what a showing of ones projects was called, but he digressed. “Anywhozle, send Fred.”
Chrissy tuts at him. “No, it will be you. Mr. Harrington requested you specifically, Eddie. You’re going.”
“Chris, Steve Harrington is fucking terrifying.” Eddie complained, following Chrissy around his apartment like a lost puppy.
“Christ, Eddie. You haven’t even met the man, let alone seen him. It’s a fucking honor, he’s even willing to meet with you. So if Steve God Damn Harrington wants to see Eddie Munson, then that’s how it’s gonna be.” Chrissy shoves a fitted burgundy suit into Eddie’s arms. “And, you’re going to dress nice.”
Eddie folds. “Alright, okay. But why do I have to go alone?” He pouts, and Chrissy just rolls her eyes.
“Honestly, Eddie, for someone who begged me to get you in contact with—and I quote—‘the sickest guerrilla artist since Banksy’. You sure are being a pain in the ass about this.” Chrissy sighs, patting Eddie’s hand before turning toward his front door. “The car will be here in less then hour. Do what you always do, make some friends and wait till he’s ready to speak with you. I promise it will be worth it Eds.”
See Eddie was nervous. Because Steve Harrington was fucking talented. He was smart and charming and a fucking bad ass. Corroded Coffin needed his art for their newest album. It was the only thing Eddie could think about if he was being honest.
Eddie didn’t even know what the man looked like, but he had read interview after interview. Not only did Harrington read well on paper, but the art that he put out was insane.
It would be fine. Eddie could talk to Steve Harrington. He could charm his way through this, just like he did with everything else in his career.
——
The room Eddie found himself in was huge. It was spacious and Harrington’s pieces were splayed everywhere. It was stunning and Eddie needed this art on his damn album, he needed it tattooed on his damn eyelids—
“Tattooed on your eyelids huh?”
Eddie jumps at the voice behind him.
“Ah shit, did I say that out loud? I was distracted—“ Eddie’s voice fades out as he meets the other man’s eyes.
Damn. If all art snobs are this pretty, he’s going to have to visit more art…places…
“Are you a fan of the artist?” The man asks, with a smirk and—That’s hot.
Eddie blinks, “I’m kinda obsessed actually. I think he’s a fucking genius. I have this little band—well we aren’t really little. We are kind of a big deal I guess, but I basically need him to agree to do this piece and I just—“ Eddie paused, eyes wide. The man in front of him holding back what was clearly a laugh. Great. Eddie was so good at this people thing.
“I’m sorry, I’m rambling—What did you say your name was?” Eddie asks, blush overtaking his face.
The man laughed. “I didn’t. I’m Steve.”
Oh shit.
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doe-prince · 4 months
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I love Golden Shrike! I've had my own comic idea for about a decade now, but I'm wondering, for you, how long did it take you to be confident enough with your art to start your comics? had you attempted panels and backgrounds earlier and didn't put them out because you weren't happy with them yet? I'm almost done with my characters and writing but I'm worried I'm not good enough to actually start doing panels
(these are just my views and experiences! there's as many approaches as there's artists)
I was BAD when I started comics, but then I again I was a kid who didn't care if my bunny-cat-digimon comics weren't good enough, it was just fun to do. Which is what it should still be, fun and a fulfillment to you. I think the happiest an artisit can be is when they can draw like they have no audience.
My comics stopped in my teenhood when I actually wanted to make something good. I made so much groundwork but VERY rarely got to the actual page production because I thought everything should be perfect, but we all know there's no such thing. When I noticed all my attempts were doomed, I stopped making them for like ten years until I was zapped with Fuck It We Ball-mentality. And it's the best thing that has happened to me. Childhood whimsy. Make your own toys.
Did I make test pages for Golden Shrike before starting production? Well, the first page of the comic is a test page. And the second page. And the whole first chapter. I just never stopped. Not smart but it's what works for me. Starting these 'test pages' has kickstarted two bigger comics for me, Golden Shrike and Jet and Harley.
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Sure I made couple of style tests for GS even though I had a clear visual vision from the start, but Jet and Harley I just started to draw without any real practice pieces, just based on couple of CSP brushes I wanted to use. This isn't very smart as you'll likely find out later that MAN, this style takes too much effort, but if you're unlike me and don't care so much for consistency, you can always simplify it on the fly. And even I've had to change it: I stopped shading after chapter 5, briefly used 3D assets in upcoming pages, now I'm gonna shrink the font a little. They're teeny tiny things for readers, but huge for me.
There's many comic authors who like to plan every little detail before getting to work, but it doesn't work for me so I can't say much about it. I have a skeleton to follow, but I fully flesh out each chapter one by one when I reach them with pages, because I like to revisit my old visions with fresh brains. When you actually get to work, you might realize some scenes aren't needed, or they'd be better changed. Don't be scared to crack some ribs off your story skeleton. Being too loyal to your old vision can often hinder you.
Starting production is the biggest monster in comic making, but after the first step you'll mow over it leaving it in your dust and create a baby you can be so proud of. I wish you, and everyone else on the cusp of their projects GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, LOVE YOUR WORK.
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blooming-violets · 20 days
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Nicest Thing Peter x Reader for 11. In joy? I really like that fic. I reblogged it on my old account. I feel like thats an underrated fic of yours (maybe bc it came out in 2022? Idk). Would love to see what happened to them!
It's still one my favs because it is just so...me?? Like if I had to chose anything that represented my personality perfectly, it would be Nicest Thing. Just a depressed, sad bitch who loves angst and Peter Parker and enjoys Kate Nash. I feel like I need another Kate Nash song for this "sequel" fic. I'll base it off her song Trash because these two are trash for each other.
You can read this as a separate, on its own Peter x Reader thing if you'd like or you can read it as a future piece to Nicest Thing.
Warnings: Smoking a joint and getting stoned
If porn bots can over take all the tags then I better not get flagged for these gifs.
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Peter looked at her through blazed out, squinting eyes. A haze of smoke filled their bathroom as they passed the joint back and forth between them. They were seated in the unfilled tub, fully clothed, and facing each other. She had made him take the spot next to the faucet under the claims that sitting over the drain made her feel “icky” like she might get sucked in. He didn’t mind. Even if their leaky faucet kept dripping cold water over his shoulder. 
“Do you remember the Rugrats episode when Tommy and Chuckie are afraid of getting sucked down the bathtub drain because Angelica tells them a story of some other baby who died that way?” He asked, handing her off the joint. 
She placed it between her lips and he watched with a slow blinking, admiration for her. He loved her. She had been with him through everything. He owed his entire life to her. Without her in his life, he would no longer be here. She was everything important in the world. 
She smiled, remembering, and let out the most beautiful laugh. She always got extra giggly when they smoked. It was one of his favorite sounds. 
“Don’t they fill the drain with play-doh and shit? It’s a weird reddish, pink color. Why do I remember that specific color so much?” She replied, mystified. 
Peter chuckled, “Because old school Rugrats was filled with some crazy ass imagery. It sticks in your mind.” 
“Yeah but I remember thinking that I specifically wanted to eat that color...like maybe it would taste nice…like the imaginary food from Hook.” She passed it back to him, letting the smoke exhale in a little, circular puffs from between her lips. 
“Do you want to get into a pretend food fight with me and see if anything appears?” He grinned. 
Her red rimmed eyes squinted back at him as she laughed, “With the way these munchies have been hitting me the past few minutes, I think it might actually happen. I could imagine food hard enough to make it show up.” 
His mind started to wander as a hungry smile spread across his face, imagining all the food he could eat, and he spoke with a dreamy whisper, “Pizza bagels.”
“What?”
“Let’s make pizza bagels. ‘M hungry. Starvin’. Gonna die if I don’t get some food in me.” 
Her eyes glowed with excitement at the idea, “Pizza bagels. Yes, you’re a genius!” 
“I know,” he giggled, it bubbled out of him without any self control. It wasn’t the weed that did it. It was her. He felt free when he was with her. He flicked out the joint against the ashtray balancing on the edge of the tub. “I really am. Smartest man alive, probably.” 
She snorted, “Okay, I wouldn’t go that far. Get your ego in check, Parker, before I have to slap some sense back into you.” 
He beamed at her, his love consumed him, feeling it outshine every other emotion rattling around inside of him. She was beautiful. Stunning. Picture perfect. He wanted to hang her up on his wall like an expensive piece of art so he could admire every day of his life. 
Her shoulders shrunk up to her ears under the intensity of his gaze.
“Stop that,” she whispered. “Don’t look at me with those eyes or I’ll kick you. I’ve got a perfect aim for your crotch in this position.”
Peter shook his head, “Nope, sorry, I refuse. I can’t help it. You look…perfect. The nicest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”
“You’re stoned.” 
“Yes. Doesn’t change the fact that your lips look very enticing.” He winked at her and tried to scoot forward to get a taste. 
Her socked foot landed against his chest, pushing him back in place, “I thought we were making pizza bagels, not kissing. Weren’t you just starving a minute ago?” 
“Starving for you, maybe.” 
“Peter!” She let out a loud laugh, keeping him at bay with her outstretched leg. 
He was so in love. Completely enamored. Whipped. Head over heels. Trash for her. Whatever he wanted to call it. He belonged to her so wholly. His bleeding heart was in her hand for the rest of his life. He would follow her to the ends of the earth and back again. 
“If you don’t let me kiss you right this very second, I am going to turn this shower on.” His hand reached over his shoulder to grip onto the shower knob with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. 
She gave a sharp inhale, “You wouldn’t dare.” 
His eyebrows raised, taking on that challenge, “Oh really?”
She knew she fucked up the second before the shower burst to life. From his position in the tub, it shot over his head to spray directly into her face. She shrieked and fell back, sliding down the sloped edge of the tub until she was nearly on her back.
It was all the opportunity he needed to pounce. He leapt on top of her to the sound of her laughter and blocked the shower stream from her face with his back. His arms wrapped protectively around her head as he laid over her. Water pooled around them, warming their bodies, and soaking through their clothes. 
They didn’t feel it. 
All he could feel was the devoted love burning a hole in his chest where his heart used to be. 
She giggled up at him, blinking water droplets from her eyes, and whispered, “You’re an ass.”
He laughed in response and crashed his lips over hers, mumbling against them, “You love me.” 
She sighed in content. Her arms snaked around his neck to draw him closer, melting happily into his kiss. 
“I do.”
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quoththemaiden · 2 months
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A short (~1k) scene inspired by Chapter 9 of @mrghostrat's absolutely glorious Big Name Feelings human AU fic. Hope you like arms?
"C'mon, angel, not even gonna crack a smile at that one? Whales, get it? Whales."
Aziraphale felt like his cheeks were on fire from trying to keep a straight face at Crowley's increasingly terrible puns. "I would hate to tacitly encourage this behavior."
"Pfft, you love it." Crowley grinned at him, far past being undaunted and fully into the realm of being energized by Aziraphale's failed attempts at stoicism.
"You're utterly ridiculous." Aziraphale didn't even bother trying to make it sound like an insult, and the half of the screen taken up by his webcam made it clear his cheeks were as pink as they felt. "And I can't help but feel like you're stalling. Hadn't we agreed to be actually productive today?" Aziraphale didn't mind, really; he did want to keep making steady progress on his art, but if his life could consist of coming home from work and just unwinding with Crowley...
...but, well, that wasn't the purpose of this call.
Crowley groaned. "Yeah, yeah. What a taskmaster."
"It is my job to protect you from rabid fans, after all," Aziraphale teased right back.
"O Brave Guardian, protect me from procrastination!"
"That sounds rather harder than a dragon, I'm afraid. But if you don't get to work, I won't be able to work either, and then you won't get to see the finished piece."
"Urk—" Crowley made a strangled noise and finally reached for his mouse. "You'll actually be working on it?"
Aziraphale nodded before adjusting his webcam to show his tablet a bit more. "I really need to get more practice with this, to get half as confident as I am with physical paints."
"I've seen the drawings you've done! They're fucking brilliant."
Aziraphale laughed. "You've said that about everything I've shown you. I'm starting to think I should send you some stick figures as a test."
"Those would be the most adorable fucking stick figures ever. You could draw a whole comic of just stick figures and I'd reblog it a hundred times."
"That's about what I'd expect you to say, yes." Crowley opened his mouth to protest that his compliments were always earnest, and Aziraphale cut him off. "Weren't you going to start writing?"
"Ngghh, right, yeah. Alright, lemme just pull up my docs and then we'll get started bodydoubling for real." Crowley clicked over to screenshare his window as he opened his fic notes. He'd long since stopped hiding anything from Aziraphale; getting to bounce ideas off of him was too invigorating, and his heart always sang at getting to write down his name with official beta credit. (He'd also long since stopped pretending to himself that he'd ever felt quite the same way about any other beta.)
"Good lord." Aziraphale sounded more than faintly appalled, and Crowley felt offended for a moment before taking a proper look at what was on his screen. It was currently showing the notes he'd made at 3 AM this morning, when he'd woken up from a dream and jotted down what had, at the time, felt like a brilliant scene. As always, he'd had his eyes mostly-closed the whole time and his swipes had been clumsy at best, but as long as it got the general point across, he was always satisfied. It only wound up being a usable scene about half the time, but he wasn't about to turn down free inspiration when he could get it. He quickly read through the imagery he'd written down.
They switch rolled over and opened their eyes. In the still morning sunlight they could set the witchfinder still sleeping cloudy enough to touch: his head ears cradled on his arms, the  misos slack with sleep but still clearly there under surface. The words knew from experience that if he were awakened stable the strength would flour back into them in an instant ray for a fight. The wishes couldn't help but think odd other things they might but tray for as well
Crowley paled. "I— that—"
"I mean, it's. Well. It's rather avant-garde."
Crowley froze. "I, uh—"
"'The misos?' And 'flour?'"
Crowley stuttered out of his bluescreen and hastily opened another tab, the screenshare automatically switching over. Aziraphale had read it, but he clearly hadn't actually understood it. As long as he didn't give him enough time to crack the cipher that was 3 AM notetaking, Crowley could bluff his way through it. "Zuh. Yeah. Wrote that down in the middle of the night when I got an idea of where I wanted to start the next scene off."
"And you could recognize any of that?" The camera jostled a little as Aziraphale shook his head. "I suppose I wouldn't do any better if I tried sketching out an idea in the dark." He picked up his stylus and started doodling simple shapes, warming up and re-acclimatizing himself to the responsiveness of the device. He was still getting used to the new medium, but he was finally starting to see a path forward to making a digital art style that felt authentically his own.
"Yessss." Crowley bit his tongue to cut off the guilty hissing. It definitely didn't help that the webcam was doing a very awkward job of catching the tablet screen but showed a very distracting hint of Aziraphale's forearms. The forearms he had, at 3 AM, apparently woken up from a dream about and been so inspired by that he'd felt the need to immortalize them in fanfiction.
"Well, I shall be interested in seeing how that gets transformed into comprehensible English."
"Right, definitely." Crowley was typing gibberish and backspacing over it quickly, more to hide how much attention he was having to devote to this conversation than out of an actual need to warm up his fingers. "Right, definitely focusing on writing now!"
Aziraphale laughed as he cleared his tablet screen and pulled up his WIP, shifting into concentration mode himself. He did enjoy the early days they had spent where their hours of "bodydoubling" were really nothing more than talking and laughing together, but being able to be quietly productive with someone else, knowing they were there with you without needing to be in the same room, that they were sharing your same wavelength without needing to say a word... that simple sense of togetherness brought with it such a deep feeling of comfort that he thought it might be an even more profound, longer-lasting sense of joy than their early days of giddy laughter had given. The strokes of his stylus turned smoother and more confident as he got into the flow, his eyes focused on his own screen and only vaguely aware of the lines of text growing across Crowley's.
Eventually, Crowley calmed down as well, and the text growing on his screen even started to make sense. And he made sure it had absolutely nothing to do with forearms.
--
Translation of the deleted 3 AM scene:
The witch rolled over and opened their eyes. In the early morning sunlight, they could see the witchfinder still sleeping close enough to touch. His head was cradled on his arms, the muscles slack with sleep but still clearly there under the surface. The witch knew from experience that if he were awakened, the strength would flow back into them in an instant, ready for a fight. The witch couldn't help but think of other things they might be ready for as well.
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axerocknroll · 6 months
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Just had a funny lestappen fic idea. So, Max has just bought himself a new house and has called all the drivers on the grid for a housewarming party.
When Charles gets the invite he ponders a lot about what to buy Max and then he realised that he has a friend who’s an art collector and seller. So Charles visits his art collector friend and buys a painting for Max’s new house. At the same time Charles’ friend tells him that he can custom a “charles painting” for the monegasque (on the house) and Charles is like “oh, cool I would love to have a painting of myself in my house.”
And so the deal is done, Charles has bought Max’s housewarming present and got himself a free painting.
Charles however, couldn’t attend the housewarming cause Ferrari wants him at the factory and the painting won’t be delivered to Max until the day after the housewarming. But the fact is, things never go smoothly in Charles’ life.
It turns out there was a mix up in the addresses for paintings. The painting that was meant for Max’s house ended up at Charles’ and the painting for Charles ended up at Max’s house.
When Max gets the delivery he first reads the note on it “Happy housewarming! Sorry I couldn’t make it - Charles.” From the looks of it max could tell that it was some sort of art piece and when he opens it, he lets out a laugh. Cause it’s a picture of Charles.
Max thought that this was very typical of Charles, just like the secret Santa of 2022. Max thinks that the picture is really nice and actually does end up hanging it on the wall in his hallway.
He even sends Charles an image of the painting. When Charles gets the text he’s like “WTF!” How the hell did max get that painting? And then he realises that there must have been a mix up in the delivery and address. He tells max what had happened and that they can switch when he comes back from Italy but Max doesn’t want to switch.
And when Charles comeback from Italy, he goes to Max’s house and tries to switch the paintings but max is pretty firm on his decision.
“So, you’re gonna have my picture in your house?” Charles asked, crossing his arms.
“It’s a very good painting,” Max shrugs, a slight smirk tugging on his lips.
And that’s when Charles realises that Max is flirting with him, “Are you flirting with me?” He blurted it out, pointing a finger at Max.
“Have been, since like 2022, maybe even longer,” Max admitted.
>>>
Y’all please someone write this! 😭
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sheikfangirl · 8 days
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Hey there! I’m a longtime Zelda fan, especially BOTW/TOTK, and in my time in the fandom, I’ve never been overly fond of the idea of ZeLink, that is to say, until I saw your gorgeous art and read your headcanons, they are such a wholesome couple and so supporting of each other and ahhh! I ship ZeLink because of you! im always hugely into ship art and seeing what others come up with, but so far you are on top of my list of fav Zelda ship artists, I get excited and tingly whenever I see that you posted 😂🫶
Along with me gushing about your 👌👌👌 art, I wanted to ask because I love your style; how do you go about choosing the colors for the shadowing on the characters, I noticed yours always comes out so perfectly contrasting and vivid! and I noticed that you use different colored line-art depending on the base colors of the subjects, (and I’ve seen a lot of other artists do it too) I have wanted to try it out for awhile, but I haven’t figured out how to pick the right line art colors, and was hoping for some tips if you’re willing 💜💜💜💜💜 again, love your art
OMG @stellercherry you adorable PERSON! Let me virtual hug you!! 🤗 The idea of my art making you receptive to Zelink makes my heart melt! Thank you so much for your kind words!! YAS THEY ARE WHOLESOME!!! I love BotW Zelink because of it's stark contrast with my other fav Zelink, OoT! oh no...i must not think of OoT, i will crawl under my desk again and cry.
So, yeah, I got a few tricks up my sleeve cuz i am actually a Senior 2D Artist in the game industry irl 🤭 I will gladly share with you (and everyone who is reading this reply because you are not to first to ask :) a couple of art tricks I wish I knew when I was a junior artist. I sincerely believe in knowledge sharing and no way i'm gonna be a gate keeper. Gate keeping artists are not cool imo. English is not my first language, and explaining art with words is tedious... i'm gonna ask Drake and visual references to help me out!
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yeah.... this makes me realise this Zelink piece could've have way better contrast value lol. Oh well! I really hope this will be useful! Good luck with your art projects, and, as corny as it sounds, don't forget: have fun!! Cheers!!!
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aesthetixhoe · 1 year
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spooky flirting — E.L.
warnings: underage drinking? (you and ethan are 19), cursing, scaryyyyy movies ;)
word count: ---
pronouns used: she/her, reader wears a dress
request: “Hey! I saw ur ethan landry headcannon ab e’s fav holiday being halloween and was wondering if u could do a fic where the reader and him bond over their love of halloween or something similar! xx ” ily sm for this idea nonnie! <33
might make a part 2, let me know if you guys want it!
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Parties sucked. You always interrogated yourself on why you even went to them, you always ended up slightly drunk, with some random dudes number in your phone because you were too nice to decline, and a slight hangover. You could say it was because you were trying to have fun, meet new people, maybe hookup with someone. But if you were honest, you didn't know.
You sat on a couch, red solo cup in hand, slowly sipping whatever was in it, until a very blocky costume came into view. Your interest peaked, you looked over at him. It was a boy from your econ class Ethan... Laundry? Loundry? Something like that. He was wearing a knight costume, made fully out of cardboard. It made you smile.
Normally at frat parties it's just guys half naked. Like the one who walked in with Ethan, who was wearing a hat, ascot, and shorts.
“So Ethan, who're you gonna hit on tonight?” Chad hits Ethan's chest while he asks.
“W-what? No one!” He stutters out, turning red. How could Chad talk so freely about hitting on someone?
“C'mon man, you're a snack!” Chad yells over the music. “What about her? ” He nods over to you. Your costume, your hair, your face, everything about you made his eyes widen and his mouth drop into a small, open mouth smile.
“Woah...” His admiration of you made his cheeks flush further.
“I'll take that as a yes bro!” Chad smiles. His face falls when he sees the look of panic on Ethan's face.
That is until he realizes the cause of panic is simply because you're walking over. “Look! She wants you too dude. I'll leave you two alone!” he drags out the last word while walking away. Ethan is left alone and panicked, seeing how you haven't changed your course of direction.
“Hey, I like your costume! Did you make it?” You shout over the music. His eyes avoid yours, almost as if he's trying to convince himself that you're not there.
“Thanks!” He yells back. He looks so scared.
“Did you make it yourself?” You ask, moving behind a wall so you can hear his response.
“Yeah! I made it like 3 hours ago.” He laughs, his eyes crinkling as his smile gets wide. He looks so beautiful.
“Really? That's awesome!” You exclaim. You nod towards the door, hinting that you wanted to go outside.
He followed your lead, moving outside and sitting on the porch of the house. You could finally hear each other without having to shout. “But yeah, I made it. I really like Halloween so I knew I wanted to do something handmade, but my room mate, Chad, didn't give me much of a heads up... That's why this isn't the best looking.” He explains, looking at his lap and playing with his fingers.
“Hey, I still think it looks awesome! Like your helmet? That has amazing attention to detail dude. Who knew a guy could be good at economics and art.” You snicker under your breath. He looks over at you bewildered for knowing you two shared a class. Sure, you didn't know his last name, but you knew he was Ethan, he was cute, and he was good at econ.
“You know we have econ together?” He asks quietly, almost as if he was asking it to himself instead of you.
“Yeah, I know you're Ethan... Something... I know it is like Laundry but not quite!” You say, embarrassed you don't know his last name.
“Landry...” He blushes.
“Well hello, Ethan Landry. I'm [Y/n] [Y/L/N].” You stick out your hand to him, which he hesitantly grabs. His hands are warm. “So you like Halloween you said?” You ask, trying to make small talk.
“Yeah! I uh... Actually went through a small cosplay phase where I made my pieces myself...” He trailed off, letting go of your hand as he gets embarrassed. “Yeah, Halloween is my favorite.” He says simply, and sadly.
“Mine too!” You nudge him with your shoulder. “There's no reason to be embarrassed around me, by the way. I think it's cool you used to cosplay, I kinda always wanted to.” you smile sweetly at him.
“I don't like to think about it...” He shyly laughs.
“I really like your laugh...” You think aloud, catching both you and Ethan off guard. You clear your throat, trying to move on quickly, “So, what's your favorite Halloween candy?”
“I like chocolate, so basically everything is good for me.” He jokes for the second time tonight. He was starting to get more comfortable with you, and you were really happy about it.
There's a beat of silence where you're both just looking at each other smiling. He had such pretty eyes. And lips... And face.
He leans into your ear and whispers in your ear “So [Y/n], what's your favorite scary movie..?” Yup, he was definitely getting comfortable. His breath was hot against your ear and cheek, giving you goosebumps.
This was a huge step out of Ethan's comfort zone. He never flirted with anyone. Let alone a very attractive girl like you.
“I uh... I don't know, would you wanna watch a scary movie with me sometime?”
“W-What?” He looks at you, falling back into his flustered self.
“Yeah! You could come to my place, I have Netflix, Hulu, all of ‘em. No pressure though, if you don't want to that's ok!” You preface looking up at him, awaiting a response.
“Uh... Yeah. Ok.” He smiles small, playing with his fingers again.
“How about tomorrow?” You ask him while pulling out your phone.
“Yeah, that's good for me.”
“Ok, type in your number and I'll text you my address.” You explain while giving him your phone. He smiles to himself, cheeks turning a light pink when he notices that for the contact name you've typed in “Ethan :)” He was smiley face worthy.
After you've taken your phone back, you stand, ready to say goodbye and leave. He was a touch sad, realizing what was about to happen. He really liked talking to you. He didn't want it to be over.
“I'll text you when I get home! See ya tomorrow Ethan.” You call out, walking backwards away from the house.
“Bye!” He smiles. God you were beautiful.
He just stood there, looking at the spot you were sitting in a few moments ago.
“Yes dude! I knew you had it in you!” He hears a familiar voice shout out from behind him. Ethan's head drops fully, groaning.
“Chad, shut up!”
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swee7dream · 7 months
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nct dream as partners to an age regressor nct dream x f! reader
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author's note: hihi! first time blogging, kinda nervous... i've had this idea in my little marble head for quite some time and now here i am posting it !
dni: if you sexualize age regression and/or have an 18+ blog.
genres & content warnings: fluff fluff fluff. no warnings !
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이민형 | mark lee
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ur gonna be the death of him. poor boy is stressed 25/8
he's doing his best but he still doesn't quite understand at times
a quality time lover ! sometimes he gets so immersed in his own thing he doesn't notice you switch tasks until it's too late,,,,
"oh no! oh dude... i'm so sorry man, c'mere. no, don't apologize. it's my fault. it's ok. you can cry all you want. let's just get a bandaid on that gnarly cut, okay?"
when he's sorry, he means it ! after the pb&j knife switcheroo incident, he made sure to set alarms to make your meals just in case you've regressed that day and can't (safely) make your own food
a very good listener ! he loves listening to u talk for hours and hours and hours and hours and
listens intently to the explanation of your shows, the names of your plushies, and the storylines currently on going as you play pretend
loves playing pretend. at first, he was a bit shy, breaking character and laughing into his hands when embarrassment got the best of him, but now bro is confident! u could place him in a broadway show and no one would think he's out of place
could be said he was actually the one who made the first move to play pretend.
"...whatcha doing?" "playing" "...what are you playing?" after being burned under your x-ray vision gaze for no less than 5 seconds, you hand him a plushie and 'insist' on him playing with you
not one for titles or nicknames. mark is mark, you are you!
punishments are the last of his worries. hopefully, you don't make it rise the ranks
황런쥔 | huang renjun
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manners freak
"ah!" he always has to hold whatever you asked for out of your reach. "what do we say? it starts with a t and ends with a 'you'."
does all sorts of crafts with you
one time, he drew your favorite character and you loved it so much you made him put it on your wall then and there. he was undermining it and complaining that he didn't want to get up and do all the work that involves framing it but the smile and blush on his face told a different story
lets you put stickers on him! only the pretty ones that he's approved beforehand. and NOT on his hair. he's chinese, not korean. he doesn't need the military service buzzcut
like mark, not big on titles. they make him uncomfortable tbh. nicknames for you, however, he does quite like (tiny, munchkin, etc.).
happy to let you be independent while regressed under STRICT supervision
goes so far as to make little songs and jingles to you can sing along to as you perform certain tasks so you both know you're doing things safely and correctly even when out of his eyesight
ur complete coloring pages go right next to his pieces of art on the fridge. u are both artists !
lullabies are a must. the man is a singer for a living ! good night! z Z z ....
punishments usually consist of renjun nagging on for over an hour. you don't really tend to listen. it's mostly for him to let out his frustration before the big stepper comes for you.
"and NO ice cream this weekend!" "NO!"
이제노 | lee jeno
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first one to actually not mind titles ! he can live without them but they scratch an itch in his brain like nothing else can
two words: cute aggression. leans in to kiss your cheek only to bite it. he bites your nose. he bites your EARS ?! someone lock this man up !
hugs you in a way that presses the cheeks of the two of you until you look like twins conjoined at the head
the cuddliest man ever like i've never seen a more teddy bear-coded individual?!?!?!
"gotta pee." "hold it." "i can't!" grumbling jeno noises
started going back to the gym after seeing how much he you like being carried
he doesn't really talk a lot when in cg mode, but you've known him long enough that you can read his body language just fine
might actually be in cg space more than you are regressed !
just anything that you do, big or little. it's so precious to him. he feels the urge to just protect you from everything!!!
no !!! u can't go outside !!! what if bugs bite u?!!! oh u brought bug spray? ok... send him a message of when u get on the bus! and when u get off the bus! and to ur friend's house! actually, just let him drive u ok? give him five minutes to change !
the worst at dishing out punishments out of all of dream. a pout, a teary eye, a sniffle, he's unraveling at the seams.
he sits on a chair by the bed, arms crossed with a stern look. you could shatter it with a bat of your lashes, but you know you need this.
"i'll be sitting here until you fall asleep. we could've played chutes and ladders tonight like you wanted if you hadn't thrown away your veggies, angel."
이동혁 | lee donghyuck
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he is the baby. wdym you are ?
poor boy is used to being the youngest and acting cute, what is he supposed to do now that the tables are turned?
at the beginning, it's lots of awkward head pats and hugs of comfort.
sits you on his lap while he's gaming, playing with you and your toys in between matches
kind of insecure to be ur cg :( give the boy praise and appreciation!
"you," he sighs, looking away from you. "you should really be in bed by now. it's past your bedtime." "but you're not asleep." another sigh. "i know..."
when his confidence and comfortability is up tho? big big BIG on the baby talk and praise to the point you have to remind him you guys are in public!!! it started out as a joke (yk how he is, being annoying on purpose with his main weapon being aegyo). he doesn't think it's a joke anymore guys,,,,,,,,,,,,,
titles are goofy to haechan. he calls you the same he always does.
"what about me? did i do a good job today?" he asks, striking a ridiculous pose. "yeah ! you're the best, chan ! :D" "... :( thank u baby :,("
punishments don't exist actually! he's right there next to you. silly string all over the room? it was his idea to play spiders. veggies thrown away? impossible. he never bought them to begin with. didn't do your assignment? was it that important to begin with? hyuck doesn't think so
might be a regressor too ! on the older side, perhaps (pre-teen - teenage)
나재민 | na jaemin
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terrible for big space. just the absolute worst
baby talk and aegyo is not an action for him, it's a lifestyle. makes you do one or the other (or both if he's feeling particularly sadistic i mean playful) if you want something or as a punishment on the lighter side
probably made you slip multiple times before you even told him you regress
all the cheesy, cringy, cliche stuff? he does that. shamelessly too
loves titles and uses them on himself even if you don't. doesn't make you call him anything, but he loves how it 'rolls off the tongue so well!'
he's an addict to nicknames for you. finds them randomly
"oh man, look at that rabbit! it's so cute!" "just like y/n" "what" just randomly takes out his phone in the middle of walking to text you nana: hi bunny you: ? you: hi?
acts of service are his natural calling. you might as well be quadriplegic.
makes your favorite drink for you! ur too little to do it urself !!! let him do it for u (pls pls pls pls pls he's on his knees)
also makes lunches for you that are all pretty and shaped like some sort of animal when ur feeling small ! he stopped doing cats though since one time you felt like you were eating luna and cried.
you two literally fight to death about who loves who the most. jaemin has to be tied to a chair in the basement of an abandoned building to let you do literally anything for him
punishments are extremely rare. virtually non-existent. he prefers to talk things through and give rewards rather than take away
health is important! it's so so important to him he set up a meal plan where you eat the rainbow three times a day.
makes you exercise with him.........
"i'll be home in about half an hour, jellybean. do you think you could finish a bottle of water by then? i know you can. i'll see you soon, okay?"
종천러 | zhong chenle
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you know those people that talk to babies like they're grown people that pay taxes and drink alcohol? that's chenle
he knows you've regressed and you're not in the mindset of an adult anymore, but he isn't a big baby talk person like jaemin is
the nicknames he uses for you are very classic so he can use them both in public and in private (doll, dollface, princess, etc.)
surprisingly into his role as cg? like, he has a chart set up for you and everything. if he's abroad/not around, he'll call you so you can place the gold stars yourself in his behalf
another manners enthusiast
uses titles for himself and expects you to use them too
"'can i have dessert please, what?', princess? what word is missing from that sentence?"
doesn't say much but always keeps an eye or hand on you in public.
bro is nonchalant (for the most part. just don't read his locked notes)
"a gift? i didn't buy you anything" LIAR. "what pink box? have you opened it? bring it over here. let me see"
he's very patient, just stern since he has strict boundaries and rules. constantly encouraging you to have firm boundaries as well.
"is this ok?" "do you not like this?" "how do you feel about that?"
go-to punishment is writing lines. always gives you a yogurt or some other snack when you finish. mostly does it for himself, he doesn't like staying on the subject of punishment/bad behavior. there's better things to do in his opinion
his favorite activity to do with you when small is your text message conversations. no words, no talking, just a photo message from you (!!!! look what i'm doing !!!!) and a photo from him in response (!!!! good job i'm so proud of you !!!! here's what i'm doing !!!!)
박지성 | park jisung
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a lot like mark, not a fans of titles or nicknames
more of a listener. has lots of questions but doesn't want to interrupt the groove with which you're explaining the lore of equestria so he just nods his head in hopes that he'll understand with time and context
the one who would adjust the fastest to learning about your age regression out of all the dreamies. give him five minutes and he'll be like "...ok. wanna watch tv now?"
jisung is so !!! silly !!!
a goofy boy. he loves making exaggerated reactions and expressions to make you laugh
"gah-!" you've hit him with an invisible arrow! jisung holds his chest, stumbling back to slowly fall down onto the floor. very very slowly. "you've shot me... i can feel my life force leaving me... why... would you do this...? bleh."
kind of has a sixth sense for you. if something triggers you and makes you slip in public, he's like a cat that heard something no one else can.
pulsing your hand in his to get your attention only for you to avoid eye contact is a dead giveaway. he might not always be able to leave the event, but he makes sure to give you a break of just you two. breathing exercises, grounding techniques, he also lets you play with the plush toy keychain he bought for occasions just like these.
the first time you shutdown verbally when small, jisung panics! he's running around looking up on the internet how to 'talk without talking'. now he's a baby sign language expert. good job, you! /gen
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can u tell this came from a jaemin delusion? he's just so cg coded my LORD ㅠㅠ
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omgrachwrites · 9 months
Text
Carnival - Dalton Lambert
Pairing: Dalton Lambert x Reader
Summary: You and Dalton attend the Halloween carnival together and in turn face both of your fears.
Warnings: fluff, so much fluff, probs ooc Dalton
A/N: I love writing for Dalton so much! This is a chapter from my upcoming Dalton fic 'Lie to Me,' I've turned it into a one shot so the actual chapter is gonna be a little different. Hope you guys enjoy and please let me know what you think! I love you all xxx
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The atmosphere on campus was excitable, everyone was getting ready for the Halloween carnival, and you were no different. Your roommate, Chris leaned against the doorframe as you finished getting ready for the carnival.
You met her gaze in the mirror and grinned, “can I help you with something?”
“Why are you doing this, Y/N?”
You frowned at her as you applied a layer of your favourite lipstick, “what do you mean?”
“You’re going to the carnival with Dalton? When you could go with anybody else, Y/N you can get anyone you want at this school.”
You bit your lip and turned to face your roommate, “I like Dalton,” and it was true, you did like him. He was so different from anyone else.
“He’s my best friend, Y/N. When you break his heart it’s me that’s going to have to pick up the pieces.”
“When?” you glared at her, “Chris, I’m not some heartless bitch, I’m not going to hurt him.”
Before Chris could reply, the boy in question knocked on the doorframe and you smiled at him as he came into view. He looked so handsome in a button down shirt and his long hair was loose and wavy.
“Hey, you look great,” he grinned, a flush spreading out onto his cheeks and the bridge of his nose.
You smiled as you grabbed your jacket, “thanks! So do you.”
Chris looked between you and Dalton and rolled her eyes, “ugh, I’ll meet you guys there.”
For the end of October, the weather was pretty good, it was breezy but not cold. It was a bit of a walk from the university to the ground where the carnival was being held so you contented yourselves by making light conversation. You spoke about your classes, his Art classes and your Criminal Justice classes. In the light of day, he looked so tired and you hoped that his classes weren’t wearing him out.
Finally, the smell of funnel cakes and popcorn, coupled with laughter and screams of delight were carried on the brisk October wind. You and Dalton smiled at each other as you walked into the carnival.
“I love funnel cake,” Dalton grinned.
“Me too,” you looked wistfully over at the stall before turning to the handsome boy at your side, “but rides first?”
He laughed and pushed his long hair back with his hand, “that’s a good idea, what do you want to go on first?”
You looked around, trying to decide before you gasped and clutched at his sleeve, “please, can we go on the ghost train?” you pointed over to it.
Dalton bit his lip as his gaze followed where you were pointing. It looked as though he was going to refuse – he had a strange look on his face – but he nodded with a sweet smile, “sure, let’s go.”
You grabbed his hand, smiling up at him when he linked your fingers together as you walked over to the ghost train. He refused to look at you, keeping his eyes firmly fixed on the grass but you didn’t miss the way a flush spread across his cheeks. As soon as you walked into the pitch black to wait for the ride Dalton’s grip on your hand tightened and he pulled you closer to him but you didn’t think anything of it.
The ghost train was pretty good, it had the cheesy cheap thrills that you loved but there were moments that actually made you jump. Dalton seemed to be on edge the whole way round, he bounced his leg and his hand was still clutching yours, gripping tighter when there was a jump scare.
“Hey,” you whispered, “are you okay?”
He nodded, “yeah,” he whispered back, “I’m just a little jumpy,” you nodded and didn’t push it but you noticed how relieved he was when you left the darkness of the ghost train and suggested a roller coaster.
After a few exhilarating roller coasters you both walked towards the food stalls still hand in hand, “so, what’s your favourite ride?” you asked.
“Um, it’s kind of lame,” he laughed, “but when my mom and dad were still together we’d all go on the Ferris Wheel together, and it was perfect. So, I guess it’s the Ferris Wheel,” he flushed, you’d very rarely heard him speak about his parents, it did seem like he didn’t like talking about them much. He looked back at you with a grin, “you want to come on it with me?”
You bit your lip and looked away from him, feeling silly, “I’m terrified of heights,” you looked back at Dalton who gave you a confused look, “I’m alright on roller coasters because they’re over so quick but I can’t think of anything worse than being suspended in the air in a metal wheel,” you shuddered, “I’m sorry Dalton.”
Dalton shook his head and gave you a kind smile, “you don’t have to apologise for anything, Y/N. Come on, let’s get some food.”
On the way to the stalls, you ran into Chris and stopped to speak with her while Dalton walked ahead to get the food, “did I see you guys coming out of the ghost train earlier?”
“Yeah, so what?” you asked.
Chris laughed, “how did you persuade him? Did you have to kiss him?” when Chris saw that you had no idea what she was going on about, she carried on, “he’s terrified of the dark, when we were roommates briefly he had to plug a nightlight in. He must really like you, Y/N.”
“Really?” you asked, not sure if you should believe her. Chris nodded with a smirk on her face, you glanced up to see Dalton walking towards you with the food and a warm smile on his face. You instantly felt bad, if Dalton could get over his fear for you then surely you could do the same for him. You smiled at him as he greeted Chris and you thanked him for the food, “okay, I’ll come on the Ferris Wheel with you.”
Dalton raised an eyebrow and he frowned, “we don’t have to, Y/N.”
“No, no. I want to, Dalton,” you smiled at him before you could second guess yourself. You hardly tasted the food as you and Dalton walked through the carnival, you couldn’t keep your eyes off the huge metal wheel, it seemed crazy that you would soon be up there.
As you queued up for the wheel, Dalton’s hold on your hand tightened and he pulled you closer again but it was wildly different to how he had held you in the queue of the ghost train. It was his turn to comfort you. When you got to the front you thought your legs would stop working but miraculously you managed to follow him and sit down in one of the seats. You jolted as the wheel began to move slowly.
“You’re okay, Y/N. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
You nodded and gave him a shaky smile, “thank you.”
Your heart thumped wildly in your chest as the Ferris Wheel creaked and you slowly moved towards the apex. Dalton grinned as he looked over at the view and you felt brave enough to lean over him and take in the scene below, the people down below looked like ants and the clouds seemed so close. Dalton’s presence was so comforting that you even managed to relax as the wheel stopped at the top.
“Are you okay?”
You nodded, “yeah, I think I am, thank you for being so great about this,” you laughed nervously.
Dalton shook his head and tucked a strand of hair behind your ear, “you don’t have to thank me, Y/N,” he grinned and you noticed just how pretty his eyes were and you noticed the different tones of blue.
With a flush you leaned up and kissed his cheek, Dalton didn’t have the chance to react to your kiss because the wheel began moving again and you squeaked as you jolted. Dalton laughed, giving you an apologetic look as the ride moved back to solid ground, to which you were thankful for.
As you both met up with Chris at the end of the ride she smirked and held up her phone, “oh you guys are just adorable,” she laughed as she showed you both the pictures she took.
You both laughed at the picture of you looking scared, your eyes wide, nearly bulging out of your head. Dalton stopped laughing abruptly and looked at you with a flush as Chris flicked to the picture of you kissing his cheek.
Chris smirked, “come on, I’m still hungry. Let’s go to the diner down the road.”
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tangledinink · 9 months
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Chapter Twenty-Four of I'm Sorry, Teenage Mutant What Now? is now up! The Hamato Clan advances forward in their new mission, and their second-ever outting goes... differently than the first, at least? Read it on ao3 or below the cut!
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Don’t worry, Dad, he had said. I’ve got this.
I can handle it, he had said. I know how to lead a team! He had said. I’ll look out for them, he had said.
He had said, nooo, Dad, really. You hang back slightly; that way if anything happens, you can swoop in and help us. It makes more sense to keep you in the back pocket. Let us try taking the lead, we need the practice…
And damn, was Mind Raph pissed at him now. What the hell was Past Raph thinking?! Why did he think this was a good idea?! Because now here they were, him and his sister and three little brothers, sneaking into a goddamn Macy’s, of all places, and he had no idea why he thought coming in here without their dad was a good idea.
I mean, they hadn’t. Dad was here-- he wasn’t even far away! He could be here in about ninety seconds if he wanted to, Raph was pretty sure. He was posted up just inside the entrance of the department store, all hooked up so he could hear them through the radios Donnie had programmed and could receive images and video; perfectly capable of directing them all and ready to leap in at any moment should anything go wrong. 
But still! You try explaining that to Mind Raph. ‘Cause Mind Raph was losin’ his damn marbles right now all up in his head, and it was starting to get on his nerves.
It’s fine. We’ve got this! Nothin’ has even happened yet-- we just gotta find the armor piece. That’s all. In and out, easy peasy. This is low stakes! There are no employees, this place has been shut down for renovations for months now, it ain’t on anyone’s radar, and you’ve been trainin’ for this…
Which was true. Only a week and a half had passed since their original trip to the Foot Shack, but they had meant it when they said that they were Hamatos, too, and that they wanted to help-- and they had put in the hours. They had to push Dad a little bit, to convince him they were actually for-real serious and they weren’t gonna back out or change their minds, but once they got that through his head, he had started to teach them for real.
They got up before the sun now, all rising bright and early to meet their father and receive his lessons. Mikey had been meditating for some time now with their Dad, but now they all did, each and every day, in the mornings and before bed, attempting to draw out their ninpo once more. They had long studied martial arts under their father’s tutelage, but now they did drills each and every day, sparring with him and each other, sharpening what they already knew and rapidly adding new tools and maneuvers to their arsenal. What their father knew (and was willing to share,) about the Hamato Clan and their ways, he taught to them. Their ‘ninja’ lessons, mostly from childhood, mostly taught simply as a game and for the fun of it, were now genuine. They weren’t just learning how to sneak anymore-- they were learning to evade an enemy, to move silently to avoid detection and spare themselves from combat. They weren’t learning to hide, they were learning to blend in with their surroundings, to become invisible, to cover themselves in an enemy’s blind spot and wait for the perfect moment to strike. 
All of a sudden, nothing that they were being taught was for the sake of fun or games or mischief. They were survival skills. They were imparted upon them not only as a legacy, a piece of a long, sacred tradition for them to carry onwards, but as a prayer for safety; a means to keep themselves alive in the face of danger. A path back home from every mission.
And Raph had known all this for a while now, had been aware of it, at least. He knew the severity of the situation, and he was willing to make sacrifices for it. Not just for the ‘world,’ or whatever, or their clan, but for their family. And okay fine, he did, admittedly, miss the precious little free time they had once had, and he did quietly mourn the hobbies that they had to put aside for the time being in order to dedicate themselves to this instead... But it was temporary, and it was worth it. 
He knew all that. But it hadn’t felt real until earlier this evening.
“Boys!” their father had called, not more than an hour or two ago, his voice echoing from the top of the stairs to the Lair where they had all been gathered, trying to get in as much last-minute practice as they could. “April! Come up here for a moment.”
And Raph had, admittedly, sulked a bit, because they had been sparring and he was right in the middle of kicking Leo’s ass, but they did it anyway. In fact, he had snipped at his little brothers for grumbling about it, herding them and April all up the stairs and to their father’s room. 
And there were five bundles of clothing lined up on his bed; all carefully folded and tucked into neat, black squares, interrupted only by flashes of crimson red fabric. 
“... What’s this, Dad?” Raph had questioned, glancing over at their father, brows furrowed, and their dad had sort of cleared his throat, seeming almost embarrassed. 
“Ah. Well. I know it is a bit silly, but… This is-- these are the Hamato Clan’s colors,” he explained, slowly, carefully unfolding one of the bundles, spreading the Gi out on the bed for them to appreciate properly. “And this is the Hamato Clan’s symbol. Traditionally, this is what a ninja would wear on a mission of the clan,” he paused slightly, laughing weakly. “I never went on any official missions, so I never got one, but I thought… Well, firstly, if my children are going to be sneaking around the city like ninjas with me, they might as well look the part,” he reasoned, smiling the tiniest bit. “And… also. If anyone ever deserved to bear the mark of the Hamato Clan, then it is certainly you five.”
There was a beat of silence, and he had sort of rubbed the back of his neck.
“You don’t have to wear them if you don’t want to--”
Mikey had cut that thought off quickly, flinging himself at their Dad in a tearful hug, nearly knocking him over.
“I LOVE THEM!” He had wailed. “They’re so cool! We get ninja outfits!”
“I like the fabric. Is this silk?...” Donnie had observed, picking one up to run his fingers along.
“Wow, Yosh, I didn’t know you could sew!” April remarked, and Dad laughed.
“Who do you think made all those Halloween costumes?”
“The Hamato Clan’s colors are black and red?” Leo muttered softly to himself, shooting a glare in Raph’s direction. 
“I think it’s good,” Raph had teased in response. “I look good in black and red.” 
Leo had groaned, rolling his eyes, and Raph had joined Mikey and Dad in their embrace, wrapping his arms around both of them.
“It’s cool, Dad. Thanks,” he had said. “You didn’t have to make this for us.”
“Ah,” Dad had hummed, waving a hand slightly, as if to dismiss him. “Well. I wanted to, anyway.”
Even just thinking about it now, Raph smiled the tiniest bit, tightening his hand into a fist and feeling the crimson-red fabric wrapped around his palms. 
We’ve got this, he repeated inwardly, forcing himself to settle slightly. You’re a member of the Hamato Clan. And your family is counting on you. And you can handle this.
“Alright, Donnie,” he said, taking care to keep his voice low. “Which way is your track-a-ma-thingie sayin’ now?”
Donnie scoffed softly, rolling his eyes. “Okay, first of all, that is not what it’s called. Please treat my inventions with respect,” he muttered, flicking his goggles down over his face, his lips pursed into a pout. “Energy signals are strongest in the northeast direction,” he explained, pointing. “So if we head in this direction, we should eventually get close enough that we’ll be able to isolate and recover.”
“Uhm, is it just me, or are we literally playing hot-and-cold with Donnie’s weird glasses?” Leo muttered, jerking a thumb in his twin’s direction.
“This is an advanced geothermal location tool…!”
“Hey, look! Donnie’s tracking thingie got us this far!” Raph hissed. “And it’s the only lead we’ve got, so until it blows up in our faces, that’s what we’ll do.”
“Excuse me!?”
“Are we sure it actually works? No offense, Dee, but this is a super weird place for a mystic armor piece to be,” April observed, looking around. “I mean… we’re literally in a department store.”
“You’re all disowned as my siblings. All of you,” Donnie hissed.
“I didn’t say anything bad!” Mikey protested.
“Except for Angelo.”
“Hell yeah!”
“Also, yes, of course it works! I don’t know why there’s a mystic armor piece in a Macy’s, how would I know that? But if you want to go on a thematic trip to recover a mystic armor shard from beneath the beautiful ripples of a sacred waterfall or something, we’re going to have to catch a Greyhound, because we’re literally in the middle of New York City,” Donnie hissed. “Of course it’s in a Macy’s! We’re lucky it’s not in a 99-cent-pizza-slice-kiosk a block from Times Square!”
“Shhh!” Raph hissed, glaring at the group. “We’re ninjas, remember? Shut up! We’re on a stealth mission!”
“Ugh,” Leo huffed a bit, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, sure, but it’s not like anyone is gonna hear us! We’re literally the only ones here.”
Somewhere down the hall, off in the darkness of the building, Raph heard a clatter and an echo.
---
This was often Casey’s job. So she was used to it by now. It wasn’t especially exciting, but it was at least better than lookout duty, which was her other, more frequent assignment. (That, or lookout for the lookouts…)
Sweeping.
She really only got to do this if the team was smaller, and they were already confident that the mission would go smoothly and there weren’t any threats… And, honestly, sweeping was basically the same as lookout, just mobile and with slightly different timing. But she would take it!!! Anything was better than lookout duty. Besides, having the chance to play a role in the Foot Clan’s rise to power was a great honor, and the more she got to contribute, the better. 
Even if it did just mean that she entered the building first, stealthily did a few laps to make sure there was nothing dangerous, and then signaled everyone else to follow.
A part of her was proud of this. If she just looked at it on a surface level, she could puff out her chest and feel quite satisfied with the role she played; at being the frontlines, at being who they trusted to ensure the safety of both the mission and their leaders, to be the first line of defense.
(... The other part of her, though, the part of her that looked a little deeper, knew it was really mostly because she was unassuming and disposable. She held onto the pride anyway.)
Casey frowned as she moved through the store, peering around corners and around bends for any sign of life. She wasn’t so foolish as to let her guard down entirely, and she took care to keep her footsteps quiet and purposeful, sticking to the shadows just as she had been taught… But she had done this dozens of times now, and nothing ever happened save for that she got a chance to at least stretch her legs. And she supposed she was grateful for that, but…
Ugh! God, couldn’t she do something cool for once!? She simmered silently as she shuffled through the shadowy space, grinding her teeth quietly in her skull. She noted quietly to herself that she needed to stop doing that because she was starting to get headaches, but then kept doing it anyway. And she had perhaps allowed herself to be just the tiniest bit careless. Careless enough, at least, to accidentally swipe a small sign off a nearby jewelry counter. She resisted a groan of annoyance at her own clumsiness, grateful, at least, that no one else was around for her to embarrass herself in front of…
Or, so she had thought.
Cassandra froze at the hissed tone of hushed voices that filtered down through the hall, only moments later.
“What was that--”
“Shut up! What about stealth don’t you get--!?”
For a moment, Casey thought that she might have imagined the noise. She had never run into anyone on a sweep before-- not even once. The idea that she suddenly had was so shocking that she almost couldn’t process it. After about half a second of gaping, however, she came to her senses, gritting her teeth and giving a ferocious shake of her head to dismiss the thoughts.
Shape up, Recruit. This is your chance to be useful for once! She scolded. This was not the time to flounder or back down. This was her shot. Honestly, it was probably just some group of teenagers who had wandered in here on a dare or something, hoping to take some pictures so they could brag about it to their friends later… But that hardly mattered.
Any unknown or unauthorized presence was a threat to the mission. 
All you have to do is go investigate and scare them off. Simple. Easy. And then you’ll be able to say you actually did something on these missions, for once!
No problem, right? It should have been easy. Cassandra may still be a low-level grunt, much to her chagrin, but she was still a member of the Foot Clan. She was perfectly capable of moving swiftly and silently through the shadows. 
Not that she needed to.
Because they came to her.
She just barely had the time to tuck herself back behind the corner of the nearby jewelry counter by the time she realized they were approaching, shoving her back up against the glass and crouching down low. Apparently, they did, in fact, have the capability of moving quietly, despite their earlier displays.
“See anything?” A voice whispered, betraying them, and Casey couldn’t help but smirk a tiny bit to herself. Okay, maybe not that quiet.
“Shhh. Hang on. I know I heard something…”
Finally, Cassandra just barely built up the courage to shift, ever-so-slightly, in order to turn her head enough to peer out at the intruders. And in her mind, she was still fairly confident that it was just some kids looking for some kind of entertainment and adventure in the form of a misdemeanor. 
She was not expecting to see five figures donning the Hamato Clan colors, nor find their emblems stitched boldly onto each of their chests.
For a second, Casey froze, ice shooting through her veins. The Hamato Clan?! What were they doing here!? Were these the same kids she had spent all that time spying on before, or had they called in reinforcements? She narrowed her eyes, straining slightly to try to examine them in the darkness, and concluded that they did look ever-so-slightly familiar… She grit her teeth, her hand shifting slightly, wavering just the tiniest bit as it moved to the communication device on her belt.
As much as she hated to admit it… Five Hamato ninjas was not a challenge she was confident she could face down all on her own.
It wasn’t her place. 
She needed to alert the rest of the clan. If she didn’t, she would endanger the mission. Endanger everyone’s else’s safety.
This was her job-- literally her job. To go in first and weed out the danger and report back. 
She needed to report back.
So why was her hand hesitating like this…?
Her fingers shook slightly, wavering near the edge of the device, and her foot shifted ever-so-slightly beneath her in her hesitation.
“What was that?”
Hurriedly, she snapped her finger down against the button that she knew would signal the rest of the clan, still waiting outside, alerting them to the danger, and she leaped up to her feet-- gathering whatever scraps of the element of surprise she still had at her disposal and leaping at the nearest enemy.
“Oh shi--!” The Hamato, armed with a sword, just barely managed to dodge her attack, ducking down and away from the swing of her arm, nearly losing his balance in his hurry.
“I told you I heard something!” He wailed, dancing backward, and Casey snarled in reply, chasing after him. She didn’t have much of a chance, however, and now it was her turn to dodge-- just able to avoid the kusari-fundo that came whipping into her view a moment later, flashing inches before her eyes as she swore and backed up.
“Now is so not the time for ‘I-told-you-so’s,’ Nardo,” Another hissed, jumping at her with a staff, nearly taking her head off with a sharp swing. Casey was both quietly impressed and annoyed with the strength behind it, twisting her stance so she could shoot a leg up and kick the weapon off-kilter, throwing off her opponent’s footing and sending him stumbling slightly to the side.
“Oh, please, like it wouldn’t be if you were the one who called it!” The swordsman scoffed in response, jumping forward to catch the other, grabbing him by the arm so he could correct his stance and keep him on his feet. Casey took the slight opening the distraction of their banter provided to turn on the other intruder nearby, her eyes wide behind her glasses, doling out a sharp kick to her leg before dancing away. But even as she did this, the other members of the Hamato Clan closed in.
Cursing under her breath, she reeled backward, trying to find the distance she needed to reevaluate when she was practically surrounded. But every time her eyes were locked on one intruder, another jumped at her, just a flash of movement out of the corners of her eyes, and it was all she could do but block, parry, and dodge. Casey bristled when the sword wielder came whipping towards her, his weapon drawn, and she just barely had the time to hold up her arms to block, bracing herself for the coming impact of sharp metal--
“STOP!”
The boy’s movements slowed ever-so-slightly as he faltered at the cry-- giving Casey just enough of a chance to duck away from the oncoming strike, leaping out of his range. 
“Don’t slice her in half!!! What’s wrong with you!? She’s, like, a kid!!!” The largest of the group yelled, gesturing wildly. Casey gasped, immediately bristling in offense.
“Excuse me!? I am not a child! I am EIGHTEEN!” She shrieked. Well, almost eighteen, anyway. KINDA. Her ID said she was eighteen, which was really the most important part.
“See? She’s a legal adult!” The swordsman argued, shooting the other an annoyed look. “And, uh, also a part of a legion of evil ninjas? Sooooo…”
As soon as his eyes had left her, Casey seized the opening, ripping her kunai from her belt as she lunged forward. Twisting her leg sharply to collide with his chest, she sent him sprawling to the floor, his sword clattering as it fell from his grip. The moment he was down, she pinned him there with a foot to his throat, pressing him in place.
“Ack! Hey, stop!!! I’m a minor! This is child abuse!” He cried in protest, wriggling a bit beneath her even as she drove her heel in deeper to his windpipe, eliciting a very satisfying choking gasp. She didn’t have much opportunity to take advantage of her position, however, because no more than a second later, the largest of the group was charging her. Her eyes widening slightly, she abandoned the pinned swordsman in favor of leaping backward to dodge the coming attacks, falling quickly back into the pattern of defensive ducking and dodging, because that was not something she wanted to be hit by, thank you very much!!!
Come on, backup, come on…! Hurry up…!
---
The second that they had heard that noise down the halls, Yoshi had been on his feet, tense and ready to run. And now, as he raced towards his children, he spat curses at his past self for not starting to move right then and there-- for letting them approach without him in the first place. Had he honestly believed that this would be safe!? Had actually expected there to be no threat here!? 
Stupid, foolish, arrogant man…! 
He was already moving as fast as he could, but as soon as he could hear the sound of combat, he somehow managed to move even faster.
---
Cassandra hissed softly through her teeth, feeling sweat tickle its way down her brow, her chest heaving with breath as she ducked away from another blow. She was fast and she was capable in the face of combat-- but so were they, and there were five of them. It was all she could do to stay out of reach, repeatedly dodging and blocking blows, but she was quickly growing exhausted. Please hurry up! She pleaded in her mind. She’d keep going until she physically couldn’t any longer. She wouldn’t back down. But she wasn’t sure how much longer she had until she hit that point. 
The largest one-- he was the real problem. She gasped as his arm went swinging towards her, quite nearly losing her balance in her rush to avoid the blow. He was so big. And on the rare occasion that she was actually able to send out a counter-attack, they seemed meaningless to him, practically bouncing off his body as though he couldn’t even feel them. How was she supposed to penetrate a literal wall of muscle like this!?
Why the fuck do I have to be so damn small!?!?!
“Hot Soup!” Shrieked the smallest of the group, all but throwing himself at her, his leg moving in a wide arc, and for a split second, Casey bristled-- 
But she hadn’t spent all those years training for nothing.
There was an opening. Just a small one-- but his arc was just a bit higher than it needed to be to cover himself completely, and as soon as Cassandra had zeroed in on the chance to counterattack, she was darting forward, teeth bared and eyes narrowed with focus. 
His ribs were exposed.
And the small one, they didn’t quite have the time to react and adjust, to close the opening. But apparently, the big one did, throwing himself in her path to physically shield his brother, a sharp, protective snarl that sounded almost like an animal rumbling from him. Cassandra was forced to recalculate, her trajectory rapidly shifting--
But that was fine.
Because in his rush to protect his brother, he had left himself open, too. 
The jewelry counter was right there, and all it took was a nimble flip to the side, pushing off with her right ankle to gracefully toss herself over the surface and transition quickly into a wide kick. The counter was littered with spinning displays, the plastic trees all adorned with earrings and necklaces, and Casey caught the base of one of them with her foot, hooking it with the bend of her ankle and throwing her whole body hard to the side.
She may be too small to pose a real threat to the big one. But a little creativity could always even the playing field.
So could weapons.
A sharp, choked cry just barely wrenched itself from the largest Hamato as he went stumbling backward, the jewelry display slamming into his side and crashing down to the ground next to him with a horrendous clatter. She was dimly aware of his siblings crying out as well around him in concern-- which meant she had a very clear, very free path forward to bury a kunai into his stomach.
The world narrowed down to her goal and her target. Her fingers tightened around the knife. All her muscles tensed. And she pounced for her victim.
She had just barely begun to move when the impact of a hurricane slammed her back down to the ground, a short shriek of shock escaping from her chest with the absolute force of it.
“Dad!”
“All of you! Get out of here! Now!” An unfamiliar voice snapped, strained with panic, though Casey barely processed it through the sensation of her arms both being twisted back to her spine, creaking in protest as she was pinned down to the ground. She just barely managed a thrash, but the pitch of the pain in her joints quickly convinced her to remain still, and a high-pitched snarl of fury just barely managed to escape her.
No…! She had them! She had him, she had finally had a chance to turn the tides--!
“But what about--”
“I said go! Right now! I will be right behind you--”
The familiar thunk of a throwing star embedding itself into nearby drywall had Casey’s head snapping upward. And she just barely contained a shrill, giddy little laugh of delight.
There was the back-up.
The pressure in her shoulder released a second later as the weight disappeared, the eldest Hamato forced to release her in order to retreat and dodge the oncoming barrage of shooting stars. She absolutely cackled, on her feet in a second, and this time, finally, she was on the advancing side.
She finally got to take the offensive.
She threw herself at the elder Hamato, laying down blow after blow, and was frustrated to find that for every strike she delivered, he was able to block with ease and find the space to counter. She hissed in pain as the sharp of his hand collided with her shoulder, sending her stumbling slightly, and she twisted her ankles slightly to find her footing again--
And all at once, the Hamato Clan was gone. She didn’t even realize that the other five had already retreated until the last remaining shoved her away and darted off, disappearing in a blink, as though he had never even been there.
For a moment, Cassandra was frustrated. She bristled, considering chasing after him-- considering turning to the rest of the clan to see who all was assembled, to follow them, to continue the fight.
But she wouldn’t move without the orders from her senseis.
And once she had half a second to breathe, she was tickled to find blood on her hands that did not belong to her. She couldn’t stop herself from grinning.
Perhaps she and her clan had accomplished more than she had initially believed. 
---
The shrill cry of a honking car cut through the air, blasting through the previous quiet. Or, at least, relatively quiet, considering they lived in New York City.
April gasped loudly, jumping and clapping her hands over her ears and wincing a bit, shrinking back against the assault to her ears. The sound seemed to absolutely echo through the alleyway where she and Mikey were playing, working on their latest chalk mural together. It didn’t last more than a couple of seconds, but she was still a bit dazed when she finally opened her eyes again, her heart beating it her chest.
Whoa. That was a little scary. She hadn’t expected that.
She giggled a tiny bit at how startled she was, letting out a long breath. But when she turned around to face Mikey again, she was surprised to find him curled up in a tiny little ball on the ground, his arms and legs both tucked in close to his body and his chin ducked down against his chest.
“... Mikey?” April said, frowning a bit, tilting her head to the side as she leaned over him. “Are you okay?”
It took a second, but eventually, Mikey peeked open an eye, looking sort of confused for a moment. But then, all at once, he untensed his muscles, all his limbs unfolding as he rolled over onto his butt instead, sitting on the ground and staring up at her.
“... That was loud!” He said.
“Yeah,” April agreed. “Uhm. Why are you on the ground though?”
“I got scared!!!”
“Yeah, but… why did you get on the ground ‘cause you were scared?”
“Oh. Uh. I dunno,” Mikey said, shrugging a bit. “I just. Curl up sometimes, and stuff…”
“Yeah, but why?”
“Uh. I’unno. ‘Cause… it’s… it feels safer and stuff,” he said.
“But don’t you fall down like that?”
“Uhm…”
“And doesn’t that hurt, though, if you just fall over like that and curl up?”
“Well…”
“And then you’re on the ground.”
“Yeah, but…”
“And where’d you learn to do that? That’s weird. I’ve never seen anyone else do that before,” April continued. “Also, why do you--”
She broke off when Mikey blinked widely at her, sniffled, and then rapidly teared up, staring up at her and giving an absolutely pitiful sob. 
April’s eyes widened in shock at the rapid shift.
“Okay, okay fine, it’s not weird! Don’t cry! You can be a ball! Here, we can go back to chalk now-- Pleaseeee stop crying! Mikey, come on, cut it out…!”
---
They didn’t stop running for a while.
Raph’s heart was in his throat.
He could run faster than April could, and he was pretty sure that most of his siblings were not running near as fast as they really could, all worried about their father, but he endeavored to keep himself in the rear anyway. Leo could head the charge; he was staying in the back. He was making sure no one was being left behind.
Including their father.
He let his father be behind him. But just barely.
It wasn’t until they were about a block away that Leo finally managed to open up a portal, having been attempting since their retreat began, slicing through the fabric of the world with his odachi. Raph didn’t think he had been meaning to teleport them all directly into his own room, but he wasn’t in any mood to be picky about what part of the house they got portalled to. 
It wasn’t until the fizzling blue light curled in on itself behind them, the portal sliding closed, that Raph finally allowed himself to breathe again.
And as soon as he did, he felt like he was going to fucking collapse.
It was mostly just adrenaline, he was pretty sure, more than actual injury, but he suddenly felt just the tiniest bit lightheaded as a sharp ache climbed its way up his ribcage, and he grabbed onto Leo’s bedpost to steady himself with a small wince. Either way, his siblings were all crowded around him in a moment in worry-- and so was their dad.
“Red…! Are you okay? Are you injured? Let me see--!” Their dad bit out, his eyes wide with frantic worry, and Raph kind of stared at him in response, his own gaze echoing his. He opened his mouth and closed it a few times before he was finally able to summon up actual words.
“Pops, you’re-- you’re bleedin’.”
All four of his siblings’ heads snapped around to turn their attention to Dad, and Mikey shrieked.
It wasn’t bleeding that bad, honestly. 
But Raph was pretty sure that was because the throwing star was still embedded in his dad’s shoulder.
“Oh my god…!” April squeaked, her eyes wide, and their father immediately shrank back slightly, turning his shoulder purposefully away from the others. 
“I am fine. It looks worse than it is,” he dismissed quickly, keeping his eyes trained squarely on Raphael. “Red. Answer the question. Are you injured?”
“I-- It’s just sore. ‘M fine,” Raph said quickly, still a bit breathless. One of his hands wandered up to his ribs, just to check to make sure he wasn’t lying, and it sure was sore, and he was, admittedly, bleeding a little-- but not bad. The pain wasn’t awful. It hurt, but he had had worse in football. 
His dad had a fucking ninja star sticking out of him.
“Dad, here, sit down, we-- we can call--”
“Do not call anyone,” their father instructed sharply, throwing the group a look that said do not argue with me, and Raph clamped his mouth shut. “It is fine. I promise I can handle it. Purple, go and fetch the first aid kit and an ice pack for your brother. Orange, go with him, please.”
Whereas Donnie had no qualms with excusing himself from the current situation, (he was looking a bit ashen,) Mikey hesitated, his face pinched with worry.
“But I--”
“Mikey,” Dad cut him off quickly, narrowing his eyes slightly. “I need you to listen to me. I do not want Purple by himself right now. He needs you to go with him.”
Angelo frowned, and he swallowed. He opened his mouth, just for a moment, like he was going to argue further. But then he didn’t, slipping from the room at a hurried pace, rushing slightly to catch up to his older brother.
Raph’s body sagged slightly with relief. He swore he saw Dad do the same.
And almost as soon as the two were gone from the room, to Raphael’s absolute horror, their dad twisted himself enough so that he could reach around and deftly yank the jagged piece of metal from his shoulder.
“Dad!” Raph yelped, his eyes widening. “What are you doing!? What about--”
“Calm down, Raphael,” Dad said, and it was almost eerie how calm he was. With cold, practiced, measured movements, their father wasted no time at all in bandaging his own wounds, removing his mask and tearing it with his teeth so he could tie a tourniquet, using his sleeve to staunch the bleeding. 
The way he moved-- it was like he had done this a thousand times before. A shiver raced down Raphael’s spine, and he stiffened ever so slightly, a wince pinching his features for just a moment.
“There,” Dad said as soon as he was done, quickly turning his focus back to his eldest. “I’m fine until Purple gets back with the first aid kit. Let me see your injury,” he said, gentle but insistent, and Raph huffed, wrinkling up his nose, but he lifted his shirt up for Dad to see, anyway.
There were a few small punctures and scrapes, but nothing more than a few centimeters deep or so, all small and just barely bleeding. And it certainly hurt, but Dad’s careful, prodding hands didn’t bring about any sharp pitches of the pain, and Raph was fairly certain he had managed to get away without any cracked ribs-- just bruised ones.
“I told you I’m fine,” Raph muttered under his breath, and their dad glanced up to shoot him a look.
“You’re lucky,” he hissed, gritting his teeth, bristling for just a moment before the heat died out. “I’m sorry.”
“Dad, don’t apologize. It’s not your fault.”
“I don’t want any of you to be hurt--”
“You’re hurt worse than I am!” Raph protested, gesturing wildly to his arm, still sluggishly bleeding. “And the only reason you got hurt is ‘cause you were coverin’ us!”
Their Dad stiffened, shoulders hunched slightly. “That’s not--”
“Yes, it is!” Raph snapped in reply. “We’re not stupid, Dad, come on! It’s--” He cut himself off, grinding his jaw slightly and sighing deeply through his nose. “... Just don’t apologize, okay? You didn’t do anythin’ wrong. You’re the one who bailed us outta there. And got ninja-starred. We’re the ones who--”
“You did fine, Raphael,” Now it was Dad who cut him off. “You all did fine. This wasn’t… I didn’t expect them to be there,” he sighed, frowning a bit, looking to the side. “... But you all did well. I’m very proud of all of you. It’s not your fault, either.”
He kept quiet for a moment, frowning as he glanced over at April and Leo, who had been quiet the entire time, wide-eyed and seeming slightly shaky. 
“Are either of you injured…?”
They both shook their heads ‘no.’
“We’re okay, Pops,” Leo said, letting out a long, deep breath. “... We’re alright. Thanks.”
They didn’t talk for a bit after that, all just sitting together and waiting for Donnie and Mikey to come back-- just sitting and processing, and coming to terms with the fact that they had all made it out okay.
And Raph had never been much of a thinker.
But he was thinking now.
His hand wandered up and down his own side, pressing gently at the bruised muscles and soft, torn skin as he pondered.
---
There was this pinch in the back of Yoshi’s throat that he was fighting off.
He should have known this would happen. 
“Yoshi.” His teacher’s voice was all gentle and soft and patient, but Yoshi scowled, glaring off to the side-- his shoulders hunched up and his body slumped in the chair. The room was empty except for the two of them, all the other students having been dismissed aside from him-- all filled up with unoccupied desks and chairs and making Yoshi feel stupidly, annoyingly small. 
“It’s nice to see you in class again, Yoshi,” his teacher continued, despite his lack of response, leaning over slightly so she could rest her elbows on the desk she had Yoshi parked in front of. She kept trying to catch his eyes, but he refused to let her. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
Yoshi wrinkled up his nose, shrugging noncommittally. 
It had been a week and a half since he had last been at school, and it had been such a battle just to get Jiji to let him come today. Not that that was especially unusual. Yoshi had never attended school regularly. School wasn’t a priority for him. Training was the priority. Lessons with Jiji were the priority. Studying the Hamato Clan history was the priority. School was not. He went to school like it was a hobby-- something to do in his spare time. He would usually show up for perhaps a couple days a week, usually less, and the rest of the days during which he was absent would be explained away with some excuse or story or another. Something about his health-- Yoshi didn’t really keep track, truthfully. One of his second cousins, a doctor, but more importantly, a medic to the Clan, would always provide all the documentation required. Everyone, it seemed, had accepted a long time ago that Hamato Yoshi usually just didn’t go to school. Had accepted him as an occasional, wavering presence, fading in and out of the edges of everyone else’s lives.
Except for Miss Ito. 
For some reason, his fourth-year elementary school teacher just couldn’t accept that fact.
Jiji hadn’t wanted him to come today. Yoshi had had to fight for it. When he was younger, he used to whimper and cry, feeling sorry for himself, but nowadays, they usually fought. He had gotten sick of feeling sorry for himself. Now he’d just yell at his Jiji until he either got his way or his throat got raw.
Usually, it was the latter.
Jiji hadn’t wanted him to come, and Yoshi had convinced him that he should get to, and now Miss Ito had him sat in front of her desk in an empty classroom, talking all gentle to him, and Yoshi thought bitterly to himself that now he was never going to win that argument ever again. 
“What happened to your arm, Yoshi?”
Yoshi grit his teeth slightly, his frown deepening at the question that he already knew she was leading up to.
“I tripped,” he responded easily, finally looking up at her just so that he could give her the coldest look that he possibly could, trying as best as he possibly could to summon the energy of an angry, bristling cat. Don’t mess with me. Back off. 
She didn’t seem perturbed, of course, because she never was. She looked more sad than anything, and Yoshi had always hated that.
“I see,” she said. “That must have been a pretty rough fall.”
Yoshi rolled his eyes.
They were just bruises. She acted as if he was missing a limb. Even worse than that-- she acted like he was some sad, pitiful little child, being tossed around the room by some abusive drunkard or something. He was sure that that was what she assumed, and it made him prickle with defensiveness. It wasn’t like Jiji was hitting him. They were just training. Sometimes, things happened during training. It was no one’s fault. Jiji didn’t mean to. It was just an accident. Jiji had apologized, like, eighty times. Yoshi knew he would never hurt him on purpose. 
It had been a difficult sequence they were learning, that was all. It was Yoshi’s own fault-- he was the one who had misstepped and been too slow. And now that his face had healed, he had finally been able to convince Jiji to let him go back to school for a day. 
He hadn’t been thinking when he rolled up his sleeves earlier-- he just did it. His sleeve got wet when a classmate spilled her water, and so he had just rolled it up out of the way. He had forgotten that he had anything to hide. No one was supposed to see it.
Certainly not Miss Ito. No one else would have even cared except for Miss Ito. 
He could already hear Jiji saying, ‘I told you so.’ 
“I fell down the stairs,” he said dismissively, shrugging a bit. “But it’s fine. It doesn’t hurt. Can I go now?”
Miss Ito sighed very quietly.
“... We missed you at the sports festival last week. I’m sorry you weren’t able to be there. I know you were excited to participate this year,” she observed gently. “And all your classmates were looking forward to--”
Yoshi stiffened, this little lump kind of swelling up in his throat.
“Can I go now?” He said again, cutting her off.
“Yoshi--”
“Am I allowed to leave? I have to go. There are people waiting for me,” he pressed, harder now, standing up from his seat even before he was dismissed, staring the teacher down. Challenging her, almost. Daring her to say no.
Please, please, please just let me go. Don’t make me late getting home. Don’t call anyone. Don’t send a letter home. Just let me go, and if I run, I can still get home on time, and Jiji won’t have to know--
She sighed very, very deeply, giving him those same sad, sympathetic eyes that he didn’t want on him. There were people out there who were sad and needed sympathy. He was not one of them.
“... Alright, Yoshi,” she said. “But you can come talk to me if you ever need anything. Okay?”
Yoshi frowned, giving only a grumble in response as he grabbed his bag, eager to leave.
“Will I see you in class tomorrow?” She asked. 
Yoshi hesitated just for a moment, clenching his jaw a few times.
“I dunno yet.”
---
Dad was at a doctor’s appointment with Leo. Raph was at work. Donnie was in his lab. Mikey had checked. He had taken two full laps around the house to account for everyone and make sure that really, truly, he had the clearance for what he intended to do. Everyone except for him and Donnie were out, and shouldn’t be home for another hour-- and he had the entire house in between him and Donnie. He’d hear him coming with plenty of time if he decided to emerge from his coding binge, which was unlikely. 
He did one last sweep of the first floor, just to make sure, his skin itching and crawling nervously and his stomach doing repeated and unwelcome pas de chats. Repeatedly, he thought, are we sure about this? He thought, sneaking around like this feels wrong. He thought, what if this is an awful idea? What if we get in trouble?
But then he also thought, I have to protect our family. I have to help, too.
He thought, I won’t let anyone else get hurt on my behalf. Not again. 
And he tempered his resolve.
As quiet as a ninja, he slipped into his father’s room, leaving the door just barely cracked behind him so he could hear if anyone approached. He had been a bit worried that his dad would have moved it to some new hiding place, and he’d have to waste a bunch of time searching for it-- but he didn’t.
The chest was in the exact same place in his closet, tucked inside the box with the clothes, just where Leo, Donnie, and April had found it the first time. It felt heavier than he remembered, somehow. He took care to cover his tracks, awkwardly hiding the bulky object inside his denim jacket and made a hasty escape. His heart was up in his throat because even though he had taken every single precaution, he couldn’t help but feel like someone was going to burst through the door and ask him what the hell he was doing at any moment.
His heart rate didn’t even begin to settle until he had made it back to his own room, closing and locking the door behind him and curling up in his bed.
Originally, he had intended to sit and think about this for a while-- to prepare himself for what he was about to do and get his mind right. But now, he was afraid that if he did, he’d lose his nerve and chicken out. And he had already thought about this. He had already thought about it long and hard and made the decision. He didn’t need to wobble on the subject any longer. The sooner, the better. 
He opened up the chest, pulling the familiar, ghostly white scrolls out from inside. And the moment he did, suddenly, he was not alone in the room. 
The mist that filled the air made him sneeze a few times.
“Greetings, young Hamato,” said Ghost-Sensei, as if he didn’t even mind that it had been weeks since they last spoke, as if nothing had changed, as if he already knew what Mikey planned to do. “What wisdom do you seek?”
Mikey bit the inside of his cheek, squaring his shoulders and curling his hands into fists.
If his family didn’t believe that he could protect them-- that he could protect himself-- there had to be a reason. There had to be something wrong. 
If he couldn’t protect anyone, then he would learn how.
“Those basics you were talking about before? With the ninpo and Hamato Clan traditions and my destiny and stuff?” He said. “I’m ready to learn all that. Teach me.”
[ next ]
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thesteriuswife · 5 months
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Today marks three years of Dianthus existing! I made my first concept sketches for her on 11/20/23 💖 this also means it's been three years of Diathesterius! I sometimes use the date I uploaded Dia to toyhouse, the 21st, as the anniversary date just in case I'm late... but I managed to finish colouring this <3 I had actually wanted to do something for this earlier in the month, I even made some very elaborate plans for it... but it ended up not happening! Which is okay 💞 but I still wanted to draw a little wedding piece... so I did! I'll make something fancier when I have more time later on... 💝 I used my own handwriting here for authenticity, but at some point... I'd like to be able to rewrite in Greek for More authenticity <3 Uncropped version (and long rambling post) under the cut 💕 I get a little Vulnerable so don't read it if you're gonna be mean or else I'll like Get You or something
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I've made posts in the past talking about why Theseus and Asterius mean so much to me, but I don't think I've made one on why Dianthus herself means so much to me.. so for her own third year anniversary, I'll do that here! before I begin...! the fruit in dia's hair here are from the strawberry tree, arbutus unedo. I associate the tree and its fruit with Theseus but... it's honestly been so long, I don't remember exactly why! Just that, for some reason, I imagine thathis childhood home had a tree of these fruit blossoming just outside his mother's room, and thus he has fond memories of it. Lady Dianthus... she who loves all things pink, actively hates celery, and still has a job at the library despite being so fogetful and clumsy... she who met Theseus and immediately became obsessed because it was the first interesting thing to happen to her- not a parent or someone she's close to, but herself! her first time feeling as if she had a true purpose. She who didn't understand Theseus' obsession with Asterius until meeting he Minotaur, and promptly decided "he's not scary? he's not scary at all! he's just a cow!" I've made sona and the likes before Dia of course, but she was the first in a long time who was truly meant to resemble me in all ways (except for the setting, of course...). I made her design simple so I would easily be able to redraw her, and gave her one of my favourite palettes pink and green and cream and gold. At first I really didn't expect to get that attached to her... I went months without drawing her after her initial creation. but the more I drew her the more I realized how much fun I was having with her...! It's funny looking back on it... originally I had a much more comedic idea for her story, and di not intend to ship her with Theseus in any serious way. It was going to be a completely one-sided love (with Dianthus taking the role of "crazed fangirl" - which she still is, in a way). I'm sure it isn't a surprise but it didn't take me long at all to start drawing ship art of them, creating artworks and writing of Theseus and Asterius was a self indulgent joy for me, so why not selfship art too? I ended up invested, of course. Using Dia I put a lot of my own feelings into a story; a sense of otherness, her loneliness, feeling lost and out of place. I had removed it later on because I felt uneasy with how vulnerable it was, but at one put I had placed one of the most traumatic events of my life into Dia's story- sometimes I think about adding it back, because I know giving her an oppurtunity to open up about it with her beloveds would be something beneficial to Me irl(!). But that's besides the point here... she's a stubborn girl, sweet but arrogant is my usual go-to descriptor for her; that's how I think of myself too, just based on what I've been told (I have a hard time thinking of myself as nice, though others always say so to me...). That may be part of why I tend to look for those features in (fictional!) lovers... something feels good to me about being able to butt heads due to this shared traits, but still coming together and making amends despite it. I do think it's a little funny that the sonas I've gotten the most attached to so far- Dianthus, and now Nerine- have some sort of theme of death with them. Dianthus is literally a ghost, and Nerine is metaphorically one (and maybe liteally, if I ever make up my mind...). Maybe that's just fitting for me, though... hmm... I'm not sure what else I want to say here... I think of Dianthus as "Me but in Hades Game / Ancient Greek context." Of course some events that happen in her life didn't happen to me, or, sometimes, I dramatize it (Dia's mother leaving her and her father to become the wife of a god was inspired by the fact that for the first few yers of my life, my parents were separated... but they always had a positive relationship with one another! Unlike Dia's parents), but she's become a big par
t of me all the same. Just as I am happy and hoping to spend many more years with Theseus and Asterius, I hope to spend many more years with her as well. i think that's all I'll write for now <3 if you read this thank you for being curious enough about me to be interested in all this 😭
btw, here's the first ever post of her... (yes thats my priv </3 i briefly unlocked it to search for this... don't try and follow me over there though it's crazy over there)
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anim-ttrpgs · 3 months
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The Review Copy of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy
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Guess what is coming soon at the time of writing this? The review copy of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy!
This represents the first official pre-release release of a version of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy that doesn’t look like an unformatted mess!
Don’t get me wrong, the version of Eureka you get for just $5 on our patreon is plenty readable, but in its current unformatted state the page count is hugely bloated, there’s a lot of blank space, and the flavor text is all just shoved under the body text with notes denoting it as such. Plus, it’s all just black text on a white background without much in the way of aesthetic besides the occasional snoop to break things up.
Well not anymore! The copy we are going to be sending to reviewers and rpg news outlets is going to be a test-run of our actual intended aesthetic for the finalized rulebook, that of a bunch of conspiracy and investigation notes pinned to a corkboard with red string connecting them!
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(The text within the images you’re seeing here is slightly outdated because these are just mock-ups, the text in the actual review copy will be much cleaner thanks to some excellent copy-editing help we have been getting.)
Due to time constraints and being behind on deadlines, plus not having the Kickstarter money to pay for additional art yet, this version will not showcase the full scope of the intended aesthetic, but it will at least give you a pretty good idea of what we’re going for.
The final version is going to have a wider variety in the paper scraps so as to more efficiently use the space available, plus a bunch of different “styles” for the side text, which will help denote whether it is a rules clarification, an example, a bit of flavor text, etc—plus a whole Kickstarter campaign worth of art from theblackwarden, qsy, and chaospyromancy! The Kickstarter campaign is launching April 10th, 2024, and we are going to need about $3,000 to meet our base goal and $33,000 to meet all of our many stretch goals, so if you want a more stylish and artistic rulebook, please give what you can to our Kickstarter campaign in April!
We are gonna be sending this version of the rulebook to tons and tons of TTRPG personalities and news outlets within the next couple of weeks in hopes of an honest review or two that will help get Eureka on people's radar beyond the modest following we have here on Tumblr. If you are one such personality or news outlet, and you want to recieve access to the free review copy to read and write about, please do not hesitate to contact us, even if you only have a very small following! You can find our contact info on out website or just contact us right here on tumblr!
Check out our Kickstarter page for the best accumulation of info on what Eureka: investigative Urban Fantasy even is! The Kickstarter campaign launches April 10th 2024!
Check out our Patreon to get the whole prerelease rulebook + multiple adventure modules and pieces of short fiction for a subscription of only $5!
If you wanna try before you buy, check out our website for more information on Eureka as well as a download link to the free demo version!
Interested in actually playing this game, and many others, with the developers? Check out A.N.I.M.'s TTRPG Book Club, a club of nearly 100 members at the time of writing this where we regularly nominate, vote on, and then play indie TTRPGs! At the time of writing this, we are playing Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy, and sign-ups are closed for actually playing it, but you can still join in to pick up a PDF club copy of the rulebook to read and follow along with discussion, and sit in on and observe sessions! There is no schedule obligation for joining this club, as we keep things very flexible by assigning multiple GMs with different timeslots each round, to try and accomodate everyone! This round, we had over thirty people sign up, and were able to fit in all but one! Here is the invite link! See you there!
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