#watercolors for dis one...! super fun

[miikpal]

princess tutu request i did at the airport

#princess tutu #princess tutu ahiru #princess tutu duck #ptutu ahiru #ptutu #;drawn #fanart #watercolors for dis one...! super fun

[for-the-sake-of-color]

AAYYEE the 218th's Urban Crisis Response's very own Crisis Company as a revamped Draw the Squad!

after a year and a half worth of drawing practice, I like to think I've come a long ways, though my squad themselves have changed very little

Though if you're new here, perhaps some introductions are in order? Below the Cut

Captain Jet - Leader of the 218th's Crisis Company and Heartbeat of the Family

Captain Jet, formerly known as Corporal Jettison before he lost nearly the entirety of his Company during the first battle of Geonosis, only gained his rank due to the combination of a field promotion and a paper pusher rushing to get the 218th put back together with what forces they could get their hands on after their devastating first deployment, without vetting his Shiny New Promotion through the proper channels. Nevertheless, Captain Jet is dedicated to his soldiers, and to being the Kindest man he can be, not wanting any to suffer the burden of loss and shame he felt as everyone he ever grew up with died in the first week of the war.

Lieutenant Margo - Second in Command of Crisis Company and one of the Finest Technician's money can Make

The first Addition to the newly reformed Crisis Company, Margo left behind her own squad command to be the second to her Captain, Jet. Trusting in his judgement, Margo would follow him to hell and back, though for the first half of the war she largely follows him to a glorified guard posting for the republics embassy and shipping warehouses on Brentaal. She's a fine Leader and an even better Tech, though her specialties lay much closer to Mechanics than to Code-breaking. The only thing that tops her technical skills is her love of having a Fun Time. Body and Mind of a Super Soldier, personality of 'if a frat-boy was a girl'

Specialist Nihlus Brek - Ancient Sith Archivist and a loving Guardian of his squad with a Sadistic streak

After being shown selfless kindness by the Captains personal squad after the loss of his clan and his rough awakening from a forced stasis, with the 'permission' of the Jedi Council, Sith Lord Nihlus Brek now serves in the GAR under the command of Captain Jet, the only man who's orders he follows without hesitation or question, killing or healing as needed for the man he now calls 'Alor and Brother. Though it is true he holds love for his squad, the real secret of his unwavering loyalty is the Blood Oath he swore to Captain Jet, his orders now bound by sith alchemy, Nihlus has given his leader unwavering control over both their destinies.

Sergeant Cynic - Heavy Weapons Expert and Artist with an Attitude

Though an Urban Crisis Response unit doesn't particularly need a soldier who's second greatest passion in life is blowing things up with his rocket launcher, Cynic earn his place on the squad through the power of nepotism. That is, Margo's one condition for leaving her previous squad behind with little complaint, was that she got to bring her favorite brother with. Although his name may suggest otherwise, this pessimist (though he considers himself a 'realist') has a love for all things pretty and colorful, and quite the talent for copying it down in his small sketchbook, always making room for his small assortment of watercolors in his combat kit.

Corporal Lake - Spotter of the Squads Sharpshooter duo and self proclaimed Ethics Committee

Lake is likely the only one of the Captains squad that, once you get to know them, could be described as the republics ideal of a Good Soldier. That is, Lake is one of the few who spares even a second or third thought for the success of the mission and collateral casualties over the lives of his fellow squad mates. He is probably the only one who could say he would not give a thousand lives just to spare those he cares for. Nevertheless, although he has his own personal misgivings over the result of some of their missions, Lake is grateful for his life, for his family, and for the many chances he is given to fight another day. And, as always, his Captains word is Law.

Corporal Torch - Deadeye of the Squads Sharpshooter Duo and resident Troublemaker

"We're here for a fun time, not a long time!" Are common words for Torch to say before getting his ass beat for replacing Cynics fancy face lotion with space Nair or being put on 'Fresher duty for his ballsey yet comedic insubordination. Captain Jet often says the only thing that stops Torch from being demoted to maintenance duty altogether is his skill with a rifle, hitting targets your typical human would have needed the force to even perceive. Though in truth, Jet would not trade Torch's levity and loyalty for the galaxy itself. Torch and Lake are mirrors of one another, by choice, as it brings them great joy to be mistaken for one another by not only natural born humans, but also unfamiliar clones. As some of the last living soldiers from their original bloc of trained sharpshooting specialists, they refuse to be parted from one another, unable to bear the thought of losing the last of their batch.

Field Medic Heron - Resident Healer with a Big Secret

Heron tired of front line Medicine fairly quickly, as his zest for death did not hold up to losing his brothers one by one, upon joining the Urban Crisis Response Specialists of the 218th, his steadfast work and easy bedside manner landed him his place in the Captains squad rather easily, and he took rather well to glorified guard duty. That is, until the fateful day where an assassin droid hidden among their cargo took his leg, though in a feat of the butterfly effect, directly led to the squad meeting their Sith. His secret? On shore leave, Heron likes to kill people. In order to stay in line with both his own ideas of morality and his Captains idea's of ethics, not that Jet hears of his activities from the medic directly, he dresses in plainclothes and limps around, waiting for some unfortunate mugger to make their move. Heron craves the feeling of holding someone on the brink of life, having power over their fate, and then denying them the salvation they seek. And maybe sometimes he takes a bite or two, but that's his business.

Specialist Sprig - Explosive Ordinance Disposal Technician and Company Spymaster

Specialist Sprig, formerly of the 398th Ordinance Corps, got his name as a result of a growth tube malfunction in his infancy, leaving him 2 inches shorter than your average trooper. Despite this 'defect' as the Kaminoans would refer to it, Sprig would rank among the top of his batch with his skills in bomb diffusal, having a deft touch and a keen eye for detail. In a cruel and ironic twist of fate, Sprig's greatest fear is dying in an explosion, vaporization, desintigration, you name it. Reassignment to the 218th and his posting of glorified guard duty was a dream come true. Proton bombs vs backyard terrorists? Sprig knows exactly which he would take in an average day. With his keen eyes, sharp ears, and strong memory, Sprig also excels at information collection. His shorter stature and friendly demeanor is often very encouraging for those who have a burden they'd like to share, though one has to keep in mind, he has the ear of the Captain one short comm call away.

#star wars #star wars the clone wars #star wars ocs #clone trooper ocs #clone trooper #sith oc #crisis company tag #draw the squad #jet tag #margo tag #nihlus tag #nihlus brek #lake tag #torch tag #cynic tag #heron tag #sprig tag #my art

[highabovethecloudssomewhere]

tips/resources that taught me how to Art as an Adult - a masterlist

Four years ago I decided that “I’m too old to learn how to draw” is a pointless lie I’d believed for too long and you’re never too old to learn something new. I still definitely consider myself a novice and a learner but I’m at a very happy place with my art and I’m having a ton of fun so I thought I’d pass along the tips/resources that helped me get started and kept me motivated. 

I’ll get into resources under the cut, but here are personal tips I lined up for myself that helped during the early stages of frustration and wanting to give up. obviously they won’t work for everyone, but they really kept me going

fill 14 sketchbooks. if you still want to give up after that you can (I’m currently at 13 sketchbooks and could not imagine ever letting it go)

what specifically do you want to be able to draw? For me my goal has always been characters and cats. I’ve added things to it here and there, but starting out overwhelmed with how much you don’t know isn’t great. find a handful of things you really want to draw and see where it takes you.

get yourself a sketchbook fancy enough that you feel cool as heck but cheap enough that you don’t mind absolutely destroying it. Personally, I love EXCEED bullet journals. the dotted paper keeps me from being too picky but are less intrusive than lined paper. From my experience, EXCEED bullet journals takes acrylic and ink like a champ, and they’ve got nice covers that just make you “feel” cool. confidence is important!

acrylic paint and post-it notes are great ways to cover mistakes. I personally love anything that makes my sketchbooks feel “sketchbooky” so this is super fun. 

it is okay to “waste”/”ruin” pages. one time I was in “I’m a failure” artblock and so I poured black coffee onto my sketchbook. (it was gonna get dumped out anyway and I was Very frustrated with my art.) then when the pages dried I just kept right along using it. taught me a lot about not being perfect. sketchbooks are about learning and love, not about perfection.

try drawing in pen. seriously, draw in pen. it’s scary as frick to not be able to go back on mistakes but that’s what the post-it acrylic-paint tip is for, and it’ll help with all sorts of stuff like lineweight and line confidence. it takes some of the stress off too because, you screw up? oh well! Try again! it encourages “try again” over “meticulously nitpick until it’s perfect” and has done wonders for me. I started out my first two sketchbooks in pencil before making the switch and I’ve never gone back. 

(also sketching in highlighter and lining with pen is super fun and cool and satisfying!)

the first page doesn’t matter. I usually just use the first page of the sketchbook to write my favorite songs at the time and then do the same thing on the last page. first page jitters begone. 

(starting in the middle of the sketchbook also gets rid of those jitters pretty nicely. I tried this a couple times and personally still prefer the linear front-to-back but it was fun for a while.)

picking a color theme for your sketchbook can make it feel more “sketchbooky” too. I usually go with blue or orange- blue acrylic paint, blue post-it notes, those cheap blue BIC pens, etc. I like this bc it makes the sketchbook feel like a sketchbook and is very satisfying.

And figure out why you’re doing it. I did it because I always wanted to make cool art and draw my characters, but if you’re doing it for a career then obviously the path to that looks much different. Don’t compare yourself to others. Be inspired by people who are better than you. Acknowledge where you need to grow and where you’re strongest. Lean into those strengths. Adapt to those weaknesses. Be proud of being a beginner- you won’t be one for long. 

Now: some of my favorite creatives and resources!

///

CREATORS:

"Kasey Golden" Mostly traditional art, mostly watercolor, cartoonist, art challenges

"DrawingWiffWaffles" Mostly traditional art, alcohol markers & pens, semi-realism

"LavenderTowne" Digital art, art tips/tutorials, cartoonist

"ABD Illustrates" Digital art, speedpaints, semi-realism

"Proko" (or "Stan Prokopenko") Realism, anatomy tutorials, free complete "Anatomy For Artists" series- basically as hogwild as you can get learning hyper-realistic anatomy

"Ethan Becker" Digital art, ex-DreamWorks employee, tips/tutorials, "Perfect Practice"

"Sinix Design" Digital art, anatomy tips/tutorials, general tips/tutorials, realist

"Oliver's Antics" Digital and traditional art, tips/tutorials, speedpaints, semi-realistic style

“Nerdforge” Traditional art, painting, metalwork, woodwork, bookbinding, building, seriously these people do everything they’re incredible

///

FOR GESTURE DRAWING:

Line of Action Gesture drawing, figure drawing, optional timed practice sessions

AdorkaStock fantastic line of unique reference poses

 ///

Aaand that’s about all I’ve got! there are so many resources out there and so many amazing artists to be inspired by. just have fun with art! art is freedom. be proud to be a beginner and be excited for how you’ll grow. I hope these tips are helpful for someone out there! <3 

Here’s my first digital artwork (April 2019) up against my latest (August 2022)

April 2019:

August 2022:

best of luck to you all. I believe in each and every one of you. <3 happy drawing!

#art #resources #cloud rambles #masterlist #obviously this isn't TOTALLY comprehensive #but I've been talking to a lot of friends lately who preemptively give up on art bc they're 'too old' #and I just felt like making this #i believe in all of us

[hyperfixated-homo]

7,8,12,14, and 16 for the artist ask game (sorry for springing so many on you aosdjasjdq)

:00 thats a couple

7. A medium of art you don't work in but appreciate

already answered this one but ill do it again akdjaos. any sort of paint is super cool!! like watercolor and gouache and stuff. im also rlly into woodworking rn :)

8. What's an old project idea that you've lost interest in

i had a roleplay thing going with my friends on twitter for a bit. we called TETO (the entities and the organisation). it was AMAZING, i talked to so many cool people and i had so much fun playing my character (a scientist called Dr Olsson). eventually it sort of died off, and nobody really participated anymore. it was great while it lasted though. i wrote two fics abt it, i can link if ur interested (although it may be confusing without context skdjsod)

12. Easiest part of body to draw

literally just the collarbone. that one area is so simple. all the parts connecting to it are weird asf but i can do collarbones LMAO

14. Any favorite motifs

eyes. my oc (nonhuman one) is literally a void of a being with one singular eye. i constantly make references to “watchers” mentally. also i love possession plots where you can see it happening through their eyes. theres just something about the symbolism behind them that makes me happy

16. Something you are good at but don't really have fun doing

so imma be honest here, there isnt really any part of art i dont like doing. at worst, on some days i can get frustrated when my hands dont cooperate with my brain, but art is just sort of a fun thing to me. its one of my greatest sources of joy. whenever i do anything im practically always have fun lol (maybe this is a sign that i need to challenge myself more lmao)

ty for all the questions!!

ask me weirdly specific artist asks!

#ty for the ask! #this was fun sodjskdjsodj #cryingrainbowsandrocksongs

[kay-elle-cee]

14 & 25 ☺️

Ooh, thanks for asking!

14. favorite feel-good show

I'm super basic, so my answer is Friends if I'm looking for background noise/something with low focus and high nostalgia factor, and 30 Rock for general entertainment.

25. what’s the best personal gift someone could give you (playlist, homemade card, etc.)

Oooh this is a good one...I love a good homemade card, but one of my old coworkers would do personalized watercolor paintings for us for Christmas gifts (and in particular, after my sweet kitty died, she made one for me based off of a picture I had posted of me and my cat) and they were just so special.

Ask me some fun questions!

#ask me

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

Lemon, vermilion, and turquoise blue for the watercolor asks, please!

Thank you for the ask! From this list.

lemon; what’s your comfort food?

Hm. I do love potato things. Potato casserole and good old fries (preferably with some equally healthy meat option) are things I often throw in the oven when I feel like I could use some nice food.

When I’m miserable enough to not want to cook, though, it’s always gonna be toast <3

vermilion; what’s your favorite accent?

Okay, honestly? I HATE ACCENTS. I have a hard time understanding people half of the time already if they speak perfectly clear textbook language. I once asked a customer on the phone for his name 7 times, spelling it out at the end, and still didn’t get that it was PETER. That’s how much I hate accents. Then I feel horrible for not understanding someone when it’s obvious it’s their second language; sorry I’m not making fun of you, the words just don’t arrive in my brain.

And that’s in my native language. English makes it way harder.

Written in books it’s just as hard to read. I do not enjoy this. I don’t hear a voice in my head when I read. All I see is funnily written words that take a moment longer to decipher.

turquoise blue; if you could start a garden, what would you plant?

I mean, I could. If I had the motivation. I once did, but a) it’s work and b) god I do not want to garden in front of a horde of annoying little goblins screeching at the top of their lungs and calling “hello! hello! hello! hello! what are you doing? hello!” over and over.

(Should one be allowed to forbid children from playing outside? No. Should I have to endure it 2m in front of me while doing work I didn’t like in the first place? Also no! Also oh my god, it’s not only the children screaming, apparently no one in this family has indoor voices.)

Didn’t have much luck with sub ground plants like carrots and radishes; very small, got very eaten by stuff. I’d probably go for potatoes (they are magic. you put one potato in and pull several out! :o) and green beans (god I love green beans) and perhaps cucumbers - I know zucchini grow fast, but I do not want several tons of zucchini. Tomatoes would be nice, but I would not have the patience to grow them from seeds, so it’s also a bit expensive, getting the plants. Perhaps some salads. Would likely get eaten by slugs :(

We do have some apple trees, a quince tree that produces like 3 fruits a year, a plum tree no one took care of so it’s too high now to reach anything, and our cherry tree died last year :( I’d like to get a new one, or mirabelle plums, but there isn’t really a good spot to plant a new tree. The old cherry tree was in the middle of a lawn, and it was annoying. In general, fruit trees are the best. And bushes. We used to have red currants, which were fun to harvest, but no one actually liked to eat them :D I love raspberries, but I so do not want to deal with the thorns.

I don’t care much about flowers. I’d like to murder every last rose that’s still in this garden, because they grow wild parts that are thorny all over the place, and I don’t like thorns. Something that is perennial. Perhaps a nice flowering bush. Oh! Some more hibiscus :) I have one that’s mine. And dandelion. It has a hard time growing in my garden (oh, the irony), but all my hamsters loved it.

I’d also like to rip out one of the flowerbeds, because it’s overgrown anyway, and the path next to it is really narrow. Would love to have a wildflower meadow mix there, but on the one side of the house it’s super hot and dry in summer, and on the other it’s very dark and everything is full of moss. So currently it’s “whatever manages to survive can stay”, lol.

Just a bunch of tasty things, and a bunch of nice plants that do not require replanting and can be trimmed down to size once a year, I guess.

#salad-ask #whump-in-the-moonlight #Yea sorry this got long #apparently I have emotions about the garden at 4am #I don't have anything against kids in general #as long as they leave me alone in my own home #But I do not want to deal with that when I'm already doneTM with life after work #and have to water some shit #I have in fact not touched the garden since they moved in #which was some years ago

[little-orphan-ant]

Les Mis ask game: Feuilly

(Requested by @earthbound-in-doubt)

No specific numbers were requested, so I'm just going to do all of them (warning: this will be a long post):

Fun Fact: When I was almost done with this the tab decided to reload and I lost all my progress! which was very fun and definitely didn't make me almost throw my laptop across the room!

1. full name

So Feuilly's an orphan, and my headcanon is that he was orphaned at a very young age, like young enough not to know/say his own name. He was found on the front steps of the orphanage on Christmas, though, so the people working there decided to name him Noël (French for Christmas). He doesn't usually use that name, though, because it reminds him of his not-so-great childhood. Feuilly is sort of like the word feuilles, which means "leaves" and is also used like feuille de papier, or what fans (he's a fan maker, if you didn't know) are made of. So there's a double meaning here (which Feuilly thought was fun) because he makes fans and because he left the orphanage in fall, when leaves were falling. Then he just edited it a bit because why not.

2. appearance

Ginger hair, brown eyes, tall, pale, freckled. (He looks like Marius except Marius has blue eyes, is shorter, and has a rounder face - still, these two pretended to be siblings to the point that Joly was actually convinced they were related)

3. romantic/sexual orientation

He's not sure. He knows he isn't straight, but nothing more than that. (idk why but he gives me huge pan vibes so)

4. family

As mentioned above, he's an orphan. His father died shortly after he was born and his mother wasn't able to take care of him on her own and abandoned him. However, when Feuilly was about 5 and still living in the orphanage without any contact with his mother, she remarried and eventually had three more children. Feuilly and his siblings are unaware of the other's existence and his mother has never tried to get in contact.

Though, let's be real, the Amis are his family, not anyone else.

5. job/what they're studying

He makes fans in a fan factory, and takes whatever odd jobs he can find, plus being friends with the Amis, which is basically a full-time job of its own.

6. every single town/city they've ever lived in

Paris. That's it. (but he's visited Poland many a time)

7. or introvert?

Both- super extroverted around people he knows, even if he's just an acquaintance, but is shy when he meets someone new. And after large social events he needs time to rewind before doing anything that involves talking to people.

8. hobbies

He draws. He's not Grantaire-level good, but he's not bad. His specialty is watercolors. He can also play tennis, and he writes poems sometimes (which he is horrendous at, but no one wants to tell him).

9. languages spoken

French, English, and Polish. French because, well, he lives in France, English because the school he went to offered it as a foreign language and he took it, and Polish because one time he was bored.

10. how they dress on a daily basis

He just throws on whatever he can find, but often it's jeans, a t-shirt, and a gray sweatshirt.

11. favorite color

It changes every day - usually green, but sometimes blue or red (that's usually when he's been hanging out with Enjolras).

12. favorite musical

Newsies. Poor orphan standing up to unfair working conditions. Must I say more?

13. favorite book genre

Adventure and/or fantasy (he can't choose). After a long day one can often find Feuilly on this super comfortable chair he has with a soft blanket wrapped around him and a glass of hot cocoa in his hand (even in summer), reading one of his favorite books.

14. favorite animal

Kangaroos. He has no idea why, he just likes them.

15. favorite sport

Tennis, as I said above, plus basketball and football (soccer to my fellow Americans). He's pretty athletic, though, so really he plays whatever sport he can.

16. strange obsession

Poland.

17. biggest secret

As a kid he did ballet (because it was the only sport the orphanage offered), and the other Amis can never find out because they (by "they" I mean "Courfeyrac") would tease him endlessly. (He still remembers all the positions and stuff)

18. pets they have/would like to have

He really, really wants a goldendoodle named Henri because they're so soft and because he likes the name Henri, sue him.

(a reminder that these are my own headcanons and you're welcome to think whatever you'd like)

#feuilly #les mis #les miserables #les misérables #les amis #les amis de l'abc #les mis asks #les mis ask game

[dandelionflower]

She Sits Alone

Based off of the haunted mansion AU by @miraculous-of-salt

——————

Marinette was on the bus to the Culpa Mansion and she was sitting alone.

Normally she would feel hurt, but this was nothing new. She sat alone in class, she sat alone on the plane to the US, she was sitting alone on the bus now. She just felt numb by now. So numb she was barely excited for the mansion.

The Culpa Mansion. Marinette could babble about the history of the Culpa Mansion for hours.

~~~

Once the home of the businessman Garfield Culpa, it was a refuge for injured soldiers. One such person was Abigail Laurens, a nurse who got injured when an explosion hit her base. She critiqued his process and he fell in love.

Years after, their daughter Harriet Culpa met Darrian Poll. They were in third grade. He pulled her hair and she chased him around the playground.

They lost contact after high school and reconnected after college. She was a pro wrestler and he was a librarian. They got married as Harriet and Darrian Culpa. (She insisted on keeping her last name.)

Their son Micheal Culpa married Wenda Delair. They were unable to have children and assumed their bloodline would die with them until they saw a young girl rummaging in their trash can. They instantly adopted Rosemary and began training her in watercolor.

Usually, Marinette would be cut off from talking now and she would recite the rest to herself.

Rosemary never married and opened her home to any starving or homeless artist who couldn’t get on their feet. She passed the Culpa mantle to one of the more present artists, Denise.

Denise never married, though she had plenty lovers. She continued the tradition of housing the starving and homeless but allowed them to be employed in the manor as cooks, maids, gardeners, and security. She eventually gave birth to a son, Felix Culpa.

Felix had nearly every trait of the Culpa family, despite not being blood related to any of them. He was caring and cynical, like Garfield and Abigail. He was physically able and a bookworm like Harriet and Darrian. He was a lover of the arts like Micheal, Wenda, and Rosemary, and he was suspicious of the existence of love like his mother.

He became suspicious no longer when he met Bridgette Chang, the designer child of an author and illustrator pair. She designed all of Denise’s favorite gowns and was commissioned for Felix’s first suit. She struck up a conversation about his favorite novel and they became fast friends.

Soon, they fell in love and they were inseparable until Felix left for college. Even then, they were the only thing on each other’s mind. Felix wrote daily letters to Bridgette and whenever she didn’t read them, she was weeping in the private room Felix gave her.

The minute he returned, he proposed. They were set to be married, if not for one tiny detail.

Delila Ross.

She was a fellow member of Felix’s college and was obsessed with him. She almost got her hooks into him when she used a love spell. Luckily, Felix knew some witchcraft of his own and was able to fight it off. She disappeared soon after.

However, the day of the wedding, she returned to kill Bridgette. Felix warned all of the staff against her and threatened them with extreme punishment. She came in and, assisted by the staff, stabbed Bridgette through the heart with her favorite flower pin.

Theorists say Felix went insane, but Marinette didn’t believe that part. He allegedly killed every member of the staff that allowed Delila to enter the mansion and soon he died himself. Legend has it that he roams the halls of the mansion, now a hotel, in search of the reincarnated soul of his loved one and when he found her, he would have the power to return from the dead and be with her until the end of his days.

~~~

Before she met Adrien, Marinette had fantasied about being the reincarnation of Bridgette, after all, Chang and Cheng were very similar. However, now she had met Adrien and was dating him.

Speaking of, Marinette checked her phone. Sure enough, there was a text from her boyfriend.

Sunshine 😍: Hey sorry bout not sitting w/ u 😰

Sunshine 😍: It would have seemed rude if I turned lila down

Princess 💞: It’s fine! I totally get it.

No, she didn’t get it! She was Adrien’s girlfriend and he still managed to make Lila a priority over her. And not just Lila either, Marinette knew Adrien thought she didn’t notice the stars in his eyes whenever Ladybug was mentioned. How touchy he would get with other models during a shoot.

Marinette growled and pulled out the vest she was embroidering. Half was black with small white snowflakes and the other half was pink with little flowers. It was based off of Felix and Bridgette’s favorite seasons; spring and winter. She had already made a strictly Felix themed outfit for the trip and a Bridgette themed outfit, she wanted to make one based off of the relationship the two had.

After finishing, she took a nap, dreams of swirling snowflakes and a blue eyed cat approaching her filling her mind. She woke up with Adrien sitting next to her, tapping her shoulder.

“Hey, Princess. We’re here.”

She bolted up and pressed her face to the window. “What? I missed it? But I heard such great things about the gardens…”

He laughed and pressed a kiss to her temple. “We’ll find some time to check them out, promise.”

“‘Kay.” She hummed and leaned forward for a proper kiss, before another popped up.

“Hey, Adrien?” Lila. “You mind helping us out back here? We’re stuck on a level of Super Penguino, and I, as an award winning player, need a partner. Would you want to help me out?” She bat her eyes innocently and Marinette felt the all too familiar sense of rage well up inside her.

No, don’t do that again, she reminded herself. You don’t need this, Adrien loves you and he doesn’t want you to get in trouble.

“Sure, Lila! I’m sure Marinette won’t mind.” He pressed another kiss to her temple and went back to Lila’s seat.

Marinette sighed and stared out the window as they finally approached the mansion.

———-

There was a bit of concern over rooming, there was an odd number of students and the teacher surely couldn’t room with anyone. They talked about three in a room, but Lila said she read a study that claimed that three in a room was harmful to sleeping patterns.

“Alya! Want to room with me?”

Alya gave Marinette a sympathetic smile. “Sorry, girl. I told Lila I’d room with her.”

“Oh, alright.” That meant she’d be rooming by herself then. “Have fun.” She sat on the bench again, alone.

She heard a giggle from across the room. “Yeah, I’m definitely the distant relative of Bridgette. Who knows? Maybe I’m his soulmate and Felix will come back from the dead for me.”

“He’s supposed to come back for the reincarnated soul.” Marinette muttered. “Not the relative.”

“You know that?” A red headed boy in a cap approached her. “No one knows that, Grace and I usually have to tell them a million times. Grace!” He shouted over his shoulder. “Grace! Come over here! This chick knows the Culpa story!”

“Wait, really?” A girl with a two long braids walked over from the reception desk. “No one knows the Culpa story.”

“My parents told me some when I was little, I did some research.”

“Well, the fact that you know it makes you a celebrity to us. I’m Grace, this is Finny. What’s your name, celebrity?”

She grinned. “I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I’m with the school trip from Paris.”

Finny gasped. “You mean you’re, the Marinette Dupain-Cheng? The same Marinette Dupain-Cheng who designed Jagged Stone’s favorite sunglasses, and his album cover?!?!”

“Fin’s a bit of a music nerd.” Grace snorted.

Fin, meanwhile, was patting his pockets down for a pen. “I don’t have a pen! Grace! Can you give me a pen?”

“No, ask her for he autograph later, dork. It’s the middle of the night, she probably wants to get back to her room.”

“Oh, right, sorry.” He rubbed the back of his head. “But I am totally asking for one later.”

Marinette winked. “That’s fine with me.”

“Where are you staying, anyway?”

“Umm, I actually don’t know. There was a room problem.”

“I can handle that.” Grace winked and Marinette noticed her eyes were a beautiful silver. “I’ve got some pull.” She sashayed over to the desk and started scribbling on a piece of paper. Apparently satisfied, she picked up a key and tossed it to Marinette. “Here. It’s the key to Bridgette’s room. A huge honor. Not something we take lightly around here.”

“Thank you! It’s not something I take lightly either.” Then, seeing her class was leaving, she lifted her bag and followed. “I’ll see you tomorrow, I hope!”

“We hope so too!” Finny yelled after her.

—————

Marinette hummed to herself as she began unpacking, planning her outfits for each day.

Her Felix themed set for museum day.

Her Bridgette themed set for the art museums.

Her Felix and Bridgette themed one for tour day.

And her ghost themed ones for all the other days.

Satisfied, she turned around and admired the room. It was exactly what she would have wanted. Pink everywhere, a beautiful white lace canopy over the bed, flowers all over the balcony and above the bed there was a portrait of Felix and Bridgette mid-proposal, Felix on one knee.

Marinette snapped a picture of it. Perfect for inspiration.

She texted Adrien a quick goodnight and went to sleep, soon to be struck with the same dreams of the blue eyed cat and the swirling snowflakes.

——————

Meanwhile, a sleek black fox and an orange bee held a meeting in the basement.

You think he knows yet? The bee asked.

I don’t know, Fin. He will once he makes his rounds.

She has to be her. Gracie, her life directly parallels with Bridgette’s. All the way down to the company she keeps.

Speaking of, we need to get everyone locked down and in their punishments for the night before Felix starts his rounds.

Before you do, a white and turquoise turtle crawled into view, we need to have a conversation about the other her.

What about her? Grace asked innocently.

What will we do about the ghosts? If they see her...

They’ll go insane.

Maybe they won’t, Finny suggested, they might just ignore her.

Unlikely. They’re more likely to torment her, which will end on the mansion being quarantined.

They won’t do anything without Felix’s permission, Allegra. Grace rolled her eyes. Which he won’t give until he has his bride.

But, it wouldn’t hurt if we let them scare her a little… Finny landed on Grace’s head. Would it?

Allegra and Grace smirked, well, as much as a fox and turtle could smirk.

Probably not… Allegra mused

I’ll spread the word when I lock up my section. See ya, Allegra.

As the bee and the fox climbed out of the basement, unnoticed in the empty halls, thunder cracked and a red headed boy, paired with a raven haired girl strolled the mansion, unaffected by the ghoulish shrieks of horror that followed them.

—

The rest

#felinette #mlb #ml felix #felix culpa #a scribble #marinette dupain cheng #ml marinette #adrinette #adrien agreste #ml adrien #haunted mansion au #ml lila #lila rossi #ml alya #alya cesaire

[moeruhoshi]

Unfinished and unedited draft comin at ya

A young Lucy sighed a wonderfully bewitched sign as the old woman who was reading to the crowd at the children's library closed the leather-bound book and finished the story that many were a fan of.

E.N.D Pan...she loved this story, so much so that Spetto went out to buy her the same edition with its faux weathered pages and watercolor painted images.

The boy with pink hair...a dragon who could fly between worlds...why, he was just the most amazing boy on and off Edolas. While other girls may have been interested in gallant princes and stately weddings, Lucy was enthralled with the mystical and magical.

Most of her fantasies stemmed from the stories her mother told her often, just before she fell asleep. She remembered them dearly whenever she looked to the stars from the perch on her balcony.

The twelve zodiac...Layla spoke of them as if they were her old friends and taught Lucy just as well. Even though they never answered, Lucy still made sure to talk with them every night before bed. It made her feel like she had close friends, and it was a way to stay connected with her late mother.

The story of E.N.D Pan was one that filled her with pleasant hope. Her home was dark and cold and devoid of love, his story taking her thoughts away from it even if only for a moment.

It began with the Strauss children, three orphans who lived in Edolas too. But they were cast out of their village after it was discovered that they carried magic in their bodies, which was outright impossible. Magic in Edolas only resided in crystals collected and inserted into objects to create magical items.

They were marked as demons and would have been beaten in the streets if the townspeople weren't so afraid of them. Lisanna wished quietly one night after Elfman came home covered in squashed tomatoes. She wished for someone to save them, someone to take them away from this god-awful place.

And suddenly, there he was with his flying companion, Happy.

"Second star to the right and straight on 'til ya see Fiore!"

Fiore...a country twice as large as Edolas, connected to countries even bigger than the last.

At the heart of the town, Magnolia, was where the mage guild, Fairy Tail, resided.

They took in the Strauss family as if they were their own. The whole darn world was full of magical people just like them!

There was Gray, runaway prince from the Kingdom of Iceberg who had the power to make anything out of ice. Juvia, the mermaid; she was incredibly powerful and head-over-heels in love with Gray. Erza, daughter of the famed pirate Belserion. She left the pirate life behind after having a run-in with Natsu and Gray when they were younger and was changed for the better.

It was safe to say that Lucy had found her first love, that most nights she went to bed wishing and dreaming about Natsu stealing her away in a similar fashion.

Jude didn't approve of these thoughts or liked hearing his daughter go on and on to Spetto with her dreams and wishes. Insane was a suitable word; his daughter was insane and undoubtedly full of things his late wife filled her head with. How was he going to look to his business partners and colleagues who all had refined children while his jumped off the fake plank of a pirate ship? He would have none of it.

One day, when Lucy came home from the park, all the books in her room were gone, no toys in her chest, only a stack of notebooks left on her desk.

"W-Wha..." She felt tears at the corners of her eyes as she ran to her nightstand, even the book Spetto read to her every night was stolen.

"I've hired multiple tutors for you to begin gaining a proper education from," Jude cleared his throat as he stood in Lucy's bedroom doorway.

"B-But, papa..."

"It's in your best interest to forget about those fairy tales you insist on reading. You're a Heartfilia, it's time you start acting like one."

As she grew up, Lucy moved farther and farther away from the faux world of Earthland as she was pulled into the endless whirlwind of lessons, high teas, and etiquette courses. She barely ever received a moment's rest, thankfully still able to take the time to speak to the stars before bed.

"Oh, Loke..." The now eighteen-year-old sighed, holding her arms close to herself as the cold nipped at her skin. The Leo constellation was in full view overhead that night, his nickname given to him by her late mother.

"Today was the worst, I never do like having tea with Hughes and Sugar Boy...they're not at all interesting. And they spend half our tea time staring down my chest. What I wouldn't give to punch them out...at least this wasn't the worst birthday I've had. Thank you for visiting me, I think I'll be able to sleep much better knowing that you're watching over me. Goodnight,"

Lucy turned around with a sigh as she decided to leave her balcony and get ready for bed, gasping slightly at the sight of a gift left upon her sheets. A card was placed on the large red ribbon, her name detailed in glittered writing.

'I hope this is still your favorite!’

There was no name left oat the bottom, but she assumed it was Spetto who would have made sure she received something.

Branded into the familiar leather was the title, E.N.D Pan. She eagerly flipped open the book to see her young and scrawled out handwriting, her name plastered to the first page in purple crayon.

"I'd almost forgotten you," Lucy smiled softly as her fingers brushed around the curve of Natsu's cheek, his broad smile painted in soft watercolors. "Maybe that's why I don't have much fun with anyone around here, no one is as energetic as you are,”

Lucy fell asleep with the book open on her chest, having reread the text over and over until her eyes fluttered closed by the force of her tired body. Her dreams hadn't been very memorable until that night, her heart reheated by the fictional flames bursting forth from Natsu's tanned fists. His lips moved, but she failed to imagine his voice. She grinned when he grinned, the desire to be held by him bobbling in her chest again. She never loved anyone like the way she loved Natsu, even if it wasn't real. While other girls had their prince, she had her dragon.

Her curtains rustled in the wind, balcony doors unlocked and wide open. A shadow slid across the wall, wooden flooring creaking slightly as harsh tiptoes pressed against the panels.

"Shush! You'll wake her up!" The blue exceed hissed as Natsu approached the bed.

"We're supposed to wake her up! I'm not about to kidnap her!" The dragon whispered back with a slight glare. "She has to agree to come with us!"

"That always takes so long," Happy rolled his eyes." You take her arms, I'll take her legs."

Natsu held back his laughter with a hand over his mouth, Happy equally trying not to burst out loudly, tears streaming from his eyes.

"Oi, c'mon, we...we gotta go before it gets any later." Natsu snickered as he began to gently shake the girl awake.

"Wake up, Blondie! Time to go!" Happy said, leaning over her to squish her cheeks with paws.

"Quit that! Last time someone woke up to you talking they- "Natsu's eyes widened as the girl stared blankly at the blue cat, his hand ready to cover her mouth if she screamed.

“Happy?" She asked through pursed lips as he was still squishing her cheeks.

"Uwah!'' He yelped as she sleepily wrapped her arms around him. "Wha...Natsu! Help! She's squishin' me!"

"What a weirdo, how'd she know your name?" The pink-haired boy asked, ignoring the cat as he struggled to claw free from her embrace.

"Just wake her up!" Happy yelped and pawed her face, hands too soft to startle her awake.

"Oh, right!" He carefully pried Lucy's arms apart, the cat quickly flying out of reach and making sure that she hadn't taken any of his fur. "Hey, let's go, it's almost midnight!"

"...hmm?" Lucy yawned and turned over, smothering her face into her pillow and grasping to find her blanket. "Ten more minutes, okay, Spetto?"

"Spetto? It's Natsu!" He huffed, almost ready to throw her over his shoulder like Happy had suggested.

"E-Eh, Natsu?!" The blonde quickly sat up, wiping drool from her chin as she stared at the boy who grinned at her.

"Yup! I'm here to take ya to Fiore!" She flushed, ears warm and buzzing as she finally exposed to his voice.

"This...this isn't a dream, is it?"

"No, if it were, I wouldn't have almost died!" Happy yelled, making Lucy jump in surprise. "H-Happy, too?!"

"You just grabbed him, don't ya remember? It was pretty funny."

"I...I didn't think you were real," She said, slowly getting out of bed as she warily looked at the two.

"What're ya talkin' about?" Natsu asked with a quirk of his brow.

"My book of co-hey...it's gone," Lucy frowned as the leather text had suddenly vanished, similarly as it had appeared.

"Uh-huh, we've gotta get moving," Happy said as he stared out the baloney doors. "It's gonna be too late if we don't go now,"

"Go, right now, really?" Lucy asked hesitantly as Natsu went to stand by the baloney doors.

"Yup, we gotta go now,"

"But..." Lucy took a moment to stare at her bedroom door, her thoughts wandering to the staff who would probably worry about her sudden disappearance. And her father...well, he hadn't been the same since her mother passed away. "Oh, at least let me take my mother's necklace, it's all I have left of her,"

"Sure, hurry up!" Natsu sighed as she rushed over to her jewelry box.

"We can't come back, right?" Lucy wavered again as Natsu shook his head.

"You don't have to come with us," The dragon started, calmly reassuring her. "But we can't come back for ya even if you change yer mind."

"It's really fun, promise!" Happy said as he fluttered around her head, Lucy giggling. "Everyone back home is super nice!"

"Gray, Juvia, Erza...even Gajeel, right?"

"Geez, you know everyone's name, huh? We don't even know yours!" Natsu pouted as she came to his side.

"Lucy! Lucy Heartfilia,"

"Here we go! Hold on tight, Luigi!" He said as he quickly swept her into his arms and boomed off her balcony, red wings spreading as he flew higher and higher into the sky.

"It's Lucy!" She squealed, quickly wrapping her arms around his neck as she feared falling to the ground.

"You sure are loud," Happy said as he perched himself on Natsu's head.

"Wouldn't you scream if you were suddenly flying?!" Natsu and Happy laughed, not bothering to mind the fuming girl.

"We fly all the time, ya weirdo. Figured ya know that since ya seem to know everythin’,"

"I know that," She grumbled at the two who continued to laugh. Their teasing at least kept her mind occupied from getting too flustered. To actually be in the arms of the boy she loved through her childhood, the boy she'd been dreaming about only a few minutes ago...and his voice fit his appearance just right.

Natsu grinned as he tightened his grip on Lucy, wings batting wildly as they shot towards the bright star.

"You can open your eyes, Lucy!" The exceed said, now gliding through the air beside them.

"It's...beautiful!" Lucy gasped as she looked down on the pocket of Ishgar and corner of Fiore.

The full ocean sat beneath them, the coast lined up with boats against the port town.

"We gotta go over a couple things before we bring ya to the guild," the dragon said as he settled the girl down onto a cloud.

"What things? Should I have changed? I guess it's a bit weird to Eh––I'm glowing!"

"I've never seen anyone glow when we brought them back," Happy ooed as he admired Lucy's golden skin.

"You've got magic in ya! That's why we came to get you," Natsu explained.

"Magic? Really? what kind?" Lucy asked as she confined to stare at her glittering palms.

"We dunno, it'll just come to ya," He shrugged, eyes suddenly sharpening as he turned his head toward the water. Lucy yelped as Natsu tackled her and dragged Happy to the other end of their puffy structure. Her eyes widened at the sight of a large black cannonball shoot its way through the cloud, effectively disintegrating the half they were sat upon.

"Crap! One of the patrol ships must've seen us!"

#nalu #natsu dragneel #lucy heartfilia #nalu fanfiction

[ruby-dear]

all of them except 77, 78, 81, 92 and 96

Ember, I know this was you. I’m doing it, but that’s 93 questions you’re asking for so they’re going under a cut. 

1. Talk about your first love. There have been a lot of those, so let me talk about the first one I really remember. I was in eighth grade, at the time, and she wasn’t exactly a great person looking back but she was cool and confident and she liked me, and she called me her best friend, and probably the best school-related memory I’ve ever had was her tackle-hugging me from across a classroom. I didn’t even realize I liked girls until she’d pretty much left my life completely. Maybe I’m looking at it through rose-tinted glasses now, but I think that’s okay, sometimes.  2. What’s the most beautiful songs you’ve ever heard in your opinion? Most of my favorite songs are Owl City, especially the older stuff. It has a soft, dreamlike vibe to it that I find really pretty even when it’s depressing. 3. How’s your heart feeling right now? Pretty good, I think? 4. What kind of self care is your favorite to do? The fun stuff. Bath bombs, makeup, fancy shampoo. Retail therapy actually works pretty well for me, even if a lot of the time I don’t even buy anything. 5. What’s your skincare routine? Um... Shower? 6. How did you get to be so beautiful? Natural talent and carefully learned confidence. 7. Do you have any stuffed animals? Oh, do I. I have like, seventy Webkinz, and that’s without getting into anything else. You could say I collect plushes, even if I don’t do it as actively now. I have a couple of Eevee plushes, too - I’d say I want to own all of them one day, but I’m like, 95% sure that’s not possible. 8. Best trip you’ve ever been on? Once, we went to Prince Edward Island for a week, and my mom surprised me by meeting up with my best friend’s family, who happened to have gotten a room at our hotel for one night. I think that probably wins. 9. Favorite thing about your room? That it’s starting to look like it belongs to me, even if I want to move somewhere else. 10. Opinion on love? It takes work, but it’s worth it.

11. Are you affectionate? Around people I’m comfortable with, definitely. 12. Who do you look up to? The people who have enough confidence to be unapologetically be themselves.

13. Favorite poet? Robert Frost. When I was eleven, I found a book of his poems, and I loved that book so much I didn’t pay any attention in English class at all.

14. Song that makes you happy? How about one that calms you down when you’re in a bad place? There’s a lot of songs that make me happy. Hard to go wrong with the Pokemon theme, though. As for things that calm me down... It’s Alright by Mother Mother and Misguided Ghosts by Paramore have both got me through a lot.

15. Do you play an instrument? No. I was supposed to learn piano in seventh grade, but I couldn’t read the sheet music so they never let me play, and I tried to learn guitar multiple times but it never stuck for the same reason.

16. Do you do art? Using what (pencil, watercolor, etc)? I paint, though not as often as I’d like to! Using acrylics, usually, but watercolors sometimes.

17. Do you dance? What style of dance? I took ballet as a child, til they kicked me out of class, and I still enjoy dancing but I don’t remember any of what I learned.

18. What’s your zodiac sign? Do you believe in astrology? Gemini. I think it might have some kind of truth behind it, but I’m not really one of those all-or-nothing people. It’s just for fun, you know?

19. Favorite old film? I don’t watch a lot of them. Does The Aristocats count?

20. What’s your hairstyle? It’s long and wavy. I’m getting blue highlights soon.

21. What weather is the most beautiful, in your opinion? Light rain. The kind that dries off before you get inside, when the sky is perfectly clear, but it starts falling anyway and it stops just as quickly.

22. What upsets you most about the world? That however hard we try to fix it, we’re unlikely to get very far.

23. Are you in love right now? Yes. At least, I think so.

24. Do you have a crush? If so, talk about them! I have a girlfriend. Is that the same thing? She’s cute and funny and she thinks the same things about me for some reason, and she knows exactly how much of a disaster I can be and hasn’t run away yet.

25. Do you have pets? Talk about something sweet about them! I have a cat, Little Prince. His sister died about a month ago, and she was the one who usually kept me company (total lap-cat), but ever since he’s usually either close to where I am or comes when I call him over.

26. Do you have a lucky number? Any multiple of seven, but especially fourteen. They’re my favorite numbers for the same reason.

27. Have you ever wished on a star? What about on a fallen eyelash? I try to wish on stars, when I see them. Eyelashes I’m usually more annoyed about than anything.

28. Do you believe emoji spells to work? I think anything has the potential to work, given the right amount of effort and intent. That said, I don’t think you’re going to accomplish anything drastic.

29. Do you believe in magic in general? Oh, definitely. Just look at the world we live in. How can you not believe in magic when it’s all around you? The night sky without air pollution, the sunlight dancing on the water, candy cane white hot chocolate - it’s everywhere, in everything.

30. What’s the most beautiful thing in life, In your opinion? Everything. There’s something beautiful in everything, if you look for it. Today, let’s say the feeling of sliding around on a hardwood floor in fluffy socks, dancing along to one of your favorite songs.

31. Opinion on the color pink? What about baby blue? As a kid, I hated pink. I like it now, though. Blue is my color, light blue especially (particularly with star patterns), so I’ve always liked it.

32. What instrumental sound is your favorite? Am I alloawed to say wind chimes? I’ve always thought they sounded super pretty.

33. Do you like the sound of wind? What about the sound of rain? I love them both.

34.Who makes you happy? My friends. All of them, in different ways, the people who are still in my life for various reasons. I love them.

35. What makes you happy? Light rain, strong wind, good music. My cat’s soft meow when I wake him up by accident. White peppermint hot chocolate. Fall colors, string lights, Halloween and winter holidays. Ice and snow and skating, dressing up for no apparent reason. The trick to it all is finding new things every day.

36. Imagine your ideal life, the life you wish to make, what will that look like? A house big enough for a family. A degree of some kind hanging on the wall. A life where I’m making things because that’s what I love, and I can try new things just for fun, where I don’t have to worry about money so much. The chance to get married someday, maybe.

37. Do you wear makeup? If so what’s your favorite type of makeup or specific makeup product? Favorite store to buy makeup? I do! Unless someone else is doing it for me, I generally keep to lipstick and eyeshadow. I’ve never been especially picky about what brands I use, but I usually go to Nyx because it’s on my usual route when I go on shopping trips, and I’m kind of attached now. Plus, nowhere else I’ve been in person has as many bold colours.

38. Do you wear dresses? If so what’s your favorite dress you own? I like wearing dresses. My favorite that I still have is a longer black dress, and it’s in serious need of either repair of retirement, but I got it for $20 as a cosplay outfit last year and it served its purpose. I wear it around still, sometimes, because it’s generally an easy fix.

39. Ever been heartbroken? How do you deal with it? Yeah, a few times. I vent to my friends, usually, and then I eat ice cream and listen to gnash for a while and eventually I start to feel better.

40. Who’s your closest friend? What do you love about them?

41. Introvert or extrovert? Kinda both? It’s complicated.

42. Do you like MBTI? What’s your MBTI? Is that... Fuck, is that the one with the letters? I think I got ENFP last time, and when I was younger it was INFP.

43. Would you be a fairy, a mermaid, a vampire, a siren, a or an angel? I’ve had people tell me I have ‘fae vibes’ before, so let’s go with that and hope it’s not offensive.

44. What’s the best song a friend has ever introduced to you? I don’t remember enough of them to feel good about picking one. I basically only listen to music I’m recommended now.

45. Parlez-vous français? A little, by virtue of being Canadian and having driven through Quebec. Not enough to carry on a conversation.

46. Most beautiful place you’ve been to? Prince Edward Island, hands down. It’s gorgeous.

47. Where/when do you truly feel at home? When there’s a light breeze, and the perfect song is playing, and the people I love are there. When we’re laughing with each other.

48. Does smiling put you in a better mood? Try it right now, you’re smile is gorgeous! I don’t think it does, honestly? But it does tend to happen when I’m happy.

49. Favorite shoe you own? These ankle boots I got secondhand that have little metal stars on them. I’m gonna be so upset when they finally wear out and I need new ones.

50. Can you walk in stilettos? Do you like them? God, no, I’ve tried. Any heel that’s too sharp or pointy or tall is a major problem for me. It’s part of what makes finding shoes such a pain.

51. Do you feel loved? Not always, but yeah. When I remember, or when I ask, or when I’m reminded.

52. How do you express love to those you care about? I try to tell them, but I’m also the type to engage in constant teasing. I’m the friend that punches you in the arm as a show of affection.

53. Favorite term(s) of endearment? The more creative ones. The basics don’t do much for me, honestly, but it’s more about the person saying them anyway.

54. Most romantic thing someone’s ever done for you? Make me feel like I don’t have to try so hard to feel like myself.

55. When is the happiest you’ve ever been? Walking the downtown city streets in winter. It was cold, sure, but it was gorgeous and I finally felt independent for a while.

56. Are you happy right now? Yeah, I’d say so.

57. What makes you smile? Bad jokes, among other things.

58. Do you laugh a lot? Yeah. A lot more than I used to.

59. What’s your favorite kind of aesthetic? Punk/scenecore. They’ve really influenced my more recent style choices.

60. Do you want to marry for love or for some other reason (like money)? Love, definitely.

61. What would your dream wedding look like? Do you want to get married? With someone I love, and the other people I love there too. Somewhere beautiful. I think I do, someday, but it’s not something I’m so worried about.

62. Favorite flower? Roses. Blue Moon Hybrid Tea Roses, in particular, are especially pretty.

63. Favorite artist? I don’t really have one. I do enjoy looking at art, though.

64. Favorite music artist? Owl City.

65. How kind do you think you are? Is kindness important to you? I don’t know. People seem to think I’m kinder than I believe I am. It’s important to me, yeah, to try and help people and to do nice things.

66. Ever made a playlist for someone? A few times. They were never anything special, as far as I’m concerned.

67. Do you have anything you do to physically comfort you when your sad? Such as a favorite blanket? Or a relaxing bath? Long, warm baths and cuddling with my cat. Warm blankets and stories with happy endings.

68. Early bird or night owl? Night owl. I’m a night person.

69. Morning routine? Wake up, do nothing for a while, actually get out of bed and figure out breakfast. While that’s going on, try and figure out if anything important is happening today.

70. Night routine? Get comfortable, then write or daydream til I fall asleep.

71. What is the most lovely quality a person could have in your opinion? Self-confidence and a willingness to help others.

72. Do you cry often? Does crying help you get the emotions out? Do you feel better after? I tend to hold back my feelings til they all fall out. So I end up crying at least twice a month, usually. It helps, yeah.

73. Do you like hugs? From people I feel comfortable with.

74. When was the last time you kissed someone? On the lips? Never.

75. Are you small or tall? Small. I’m 5′0.

76. Do you like wholesome memes? Yes. They’re cute.

79. Have you ever lived in a different country than you currently live in? Nope. I’ve never lived outside this city, only been on trips.

80. Do you like plane flights? Airports? I’ve only flown once, and I was two, so I don’t remember it very well.

82. The beach or a forest? Sand or bugs? Depends on the day. Today, though, forest.

83. What time of day do you tend to be in the best mood? Evening, usually.

84. Do you push yourself to act together and in a good mood even when you aren’t? Yeah, when I’m stressed.

85. Favorite kind of tree? Either maple or pine. I’m Canadian, what can I say?

86. Do you care about the health of the Earth? Yes, but there’s only so much one person can do.

87. What did you like most about your childhood, if anything? Field trips. Adulthood is sorely lacking in field trips.

88. Do you read a lot? What’s your favorite book? I used to. These days I still read, but it’s mostly fanfiction. My favorite books, though, are Tamora Pierce’s Emelan series and the first two books of Kenneth Oppel’s Silverwing trilogy.

89. What are you most nostalgic for at the moment? Trick-or-treating.

90. What’s your favorite personality trait you have? I try to let the people I love know that I love them.

91. List at least ONE thing you love about your appearance. I have pretty great hair.

93. Do you worry a lot? Constantly.

94. The dazzling lights of the city or the relaxing countryside? The city. The countryside’s nice, but the streetlights and the city skyline are what make me feel at home.

95. Ever changed the shoelaces on one of your shoes? For what reason? I actually don’t know how to tie laces, so no. I’ve never been able to pick it up. I might get someone sense to, if I could find cool enough laces.

97. Do you like doing little acts of kindness? Yeah. It feels good to make people happy, you know?

98. How’s your day/night going? Pretty good! I did just spend over an hour on this, but I finished it, so that’s an accomplishment of its own.

#asks #Anonymous #ember why are you like this #ruby speaks #thank you though

[stone-cold-mustache]

@sweetbabycarat tagged me 😍🥰

1. Are you named after anything? Yeah, Shelby from Steel Magnolias (still have never seen that movie, apparently Shelby dies tho so...)

2. When was the last time you cried? Yesterday at work. We had to put a puppy down because it was paralyzed from the neck down and the girl who helped the doctor said it licked her chin the whole time and as it passed its licks got smaller until they stopped. That hurt.

3. Do you have any kids? I don’t plan on having human children, ever. I do have a dog named MJ who is my fur baby tho.

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Nooo never that’s the worst. (Note the sarcasm) I drive my mom insane daily.

5. Eye color? Green but they shift to a hazel or blue gray every once in a while. I guess green eyes do that? Idk it’s science man.

6. Scary movie or happy ending? Depends on my mood. Usually I prefer happy endings but sometimes I just want to ruin my sleep schedule and give myself nightmares ya know?

7. Special talents? I can pop my toes continuously, does that count? If not then no I’m not special 😂.

8. Where were you born? Oregon, United States.

9. Do you have any hobbies? Definitely. Listening to music is a big one, I almost always have music playing, I like to paint, mainly acrylic sometimes watercolor, drawing sunflowers 🌻, watching YouTube videos, and playing video games.

10. Do you have any pets? Yes I have my pup MJ. He’s a border collie mix who’s mostly black with a white chest and one of his front paws is white, hence the name. I guess I also technically have a black cat named Skippy Jon Jones, but he’s at my moms house and is the family cat so idk if that counts.

11. What sports have/do you play? Oh jeez. I played baseball from when I was 7-12 then I played softball when I was 13, I sucked. I played soccer when I was 9 and again sucked. I played basketball when I was 11 and sucked. I was on the swim team my freshman year and you guessed it, I sucked. I also played tennis for 5 years and once again sucked but it was super fun so I stuck with it.

12. How tall are you? I am a whopping 5’5” so pretty average.

13. Favorite subject in school? In middle school it was english/writing. In high school it was definitely science. In college it was my psychology classes.

14. Dream job? OOOH I just figured this one out recently. Hair stylist. I love doing hair. I do my own actually and love experimenting.

15. Tag 15 mutuals. I don’t have 15 mutuals 😭 so I’ll tag the few I have.

@trill-onyx @seventeenmadeus @carryonmyswansong @imboredsueme

Thanks to all my mutuals and @sweetbabycarat for tagging me. Hope you enjoy

[lobsters-on-their-heads]

Continuing Travels of Cophine, Part 3 Chapt. 10

Fucking finally. I’ve been trying to get my novel out to literary agents, which has taken up a lot of creative energy on top of regular life activities and things (bipolar doesn’t always work in my favor, either). But, here it is!

You can read all of Part 3 here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16820221

Cosima didn't know how to write a condolence card. She sucked even more at picking one out, but on Tuesday that was her One Job.

At the card-and-party-goods store Sarah brought her to, the card section stretched over three full aisles, and the “sympathy” cards were ten percent of that. “Just grab a card,” she muttered to herself, “any fucking card.” But all of the cards she picked up sucked. Donnie Hendrix just lost his mother – the first person in his entire life who loved him – and the trite pre-written message on a two dollar piece of card stock was supposed to sooth his pain? Were the swoopy cursive letters and watercolor flowers actually supposed to comfort anyone? Or wasn't it all just a ploy to make those who hadn't lost anyone feel better about themselves? Like saying “look, I helped” without actually helping anything at all?

She picked up a card showing a tire swing at sunset. Always remember that every part of life is a part of God's plan, it said.

Cosima huffed. “Is cloning a part of God's plan, too?” she asked the card, and stuffed it back into it's slot.

Another read, Nothing happens without a reason. A whole bunch of Cosima's life experience contradicted that one, too.

Those who love us never really leave us.

“Way to rip off Sirius Black, yo,” Cosima told that card. As she suspected, JK Rowling was not credited with the message anywhere on the back.

She had no idea how close Donnie was (had been) to his mother. If (when) Cosima's mother died, there wasn't a card in existence that would even dent Cosima's pain. To make matters worse, in her search Cosima came across sympathy cards for the loss of a spouse or partner and she nearly fled the card aisle to join Sarah in the “summer fun” aisle with the pool noodles and plastic sand buckets. The two news alerts from Syria she got a few minutes ago really didn't help, and Delphine wasn't even in Syria yet.

Cosima was scowling at a card reading Don't cry. They're in a better place now when her phone rang. She crammed the card back in it's overcrowded slot and answered. “Hey gorgeous,” she said.

“Hey,” Delphine said. “Is everything alright? You said you needed some help?”

Delphine sounded exhausted, and Cosima chided herself. Delphine had treated two Turkish clones in two cities in two days. She deserved some time to herself. “Totally alright,” Cosima assured her. “Nothing to worry about. Forget I asked.”

“Euh, not very likely. What do you need help with?”

“Well, you seem like a classy lady, and so I thought – ”

Delphine's snorted laugh cut her off. “I'm sorry, what?”

“I have to buy a sympathy card for Donnie, and I have no frikkin' clue what to get, or, like, what to do when we see him later today.”

“Oh.” Delphine's mirth vanished. “Why are you buying a sympathy card? What happened?”

“His mom died. She had a stroke on Friday and she never woke up from the coma. Not, if you ask me, the worst way to go, but still sad, you know?” Funny how none of the sympathy cards said that: It wasn't the worst way to go, but it's still sad, I know.

“Hm.”

“Anyway, I'm trying to find the right card, and nothing seems right. Sarah doesn't know either, and the whole “sorry your mom died” thing kind of sent her to a bad emotional place too. Totally understandable, you know? She's distracting herself right now. I'd normally ask Alison, but obviously that doesn't work here. Scott's socially inept in these areas, even worse than me, and my mom's off the grid until June, so I can't ask her either.”

“I see.” Traffic rushed by on Delphine's end, and she said, “hang on,” a couple of times before the traffic noise ceased. “I'm not sure how much I can help, actually. I'm not exactly an expert in comforting phrases or what to say after someone dies. In English or in French, actually.”

Cosima sighed. “Well, you've gotta be better at this than I am. Like, what kind of card would you want if your mom died?”

Delphine laughed again. “That depends.”

“On what?”

“How she died, if she'd decided to talk to me before she passed, if she has a will...”

“Let's say there's no will, you were on speaking terms, and she died of a stroke.” Cosima had no idea about the will part, but assumed it didn't matter here. “In fact, you know what, scratch that. You'd probably want a card saying something like Guess what? She's dead.”

“In my case, yes, that would be fine. But this is not my case.”

“What kind would you want if I died?”

Delphine inhaled sharply, and Cosima kicked herself again. Delphine already had those nightmares. “I'd rather not think about that.”

“Yeah, fair. Ditto.”

“Cosima. What kind of card do you think you should get? What would the right one say in this situation?”

“I just want one that says, This sucks, and we all know it sucks, and we're here for you. None of this greater purpose, heaven and God shit. I mean, I know the Hendrixes go to church and all that, but... I don't know. It seems off base to me, and it'll be super obvious I don't mean it.”

“Don't they have any blank cards? You can write in your own message if you want.”

“I am not sure that would be better, actually.” She sighed again and held a hand to her forehead. Chances were, this would be their only conversation that day – it was dinner time in Bursa, and Cosima would be spending the next few hours with the Hendrixes. She should get the most out of her daily Delphine Time. Walking away from the cards towards the big store-front window, she asked, “How'd your day go, then? How was the treatment?”

“Fine. She's asymptomatic, as we suspected.”

Cosima smiled. “Nice of you to use the plural there. If I remember correctly, you're the one who convinced me not to drop clone fest to inoculate her back in March.”

“You weren't terribly opposed, though.”

“Mostly because I knew Alison would kick my ass.” Cosima giggled. “If only we'd known how Clone Fest would actually go! Alison might've been happy for us to miss it.”

“I thought you two smoothed all that over?”

“Eh. I guess. Forgiven but not forgotten, for my part.”

“Doesn't sound like you've completely forgiven, either.”

“I've forgiven enough to not bring it up again with her. How's that? I'm letting it slide.”

“As long as you're both okay.”

“I am fine. Alison's husband is the one I should be worried about right now. And you. I'm always worried about you.”

“Don't worry too much. Bursa is very nice. Rainy, but nice.”

“Oh, I'm sure it's nice. And it's not really Bursa I'm worried about, either.”

Delphine made a noncommittal noise. Cosima picked up a little animatronic Easter bunny from the store's clearance bin and pushed the button on its ear. While it danced around to its tinny robotic song, Cosima tried to think of something else to say – something other than “you know there have been chemical attacks in Syria recently” and “you know our security team can't really protect you from everything.”

“How's everyone else?” Delphine asked.

“Fine. Charlotte's still being Charlotte. Sarah's worried she's gonna fail her math class, so we're all trying to help her out with that.”

“Wait. Sarah's worried that Charlotte will fail? I thought she was strong in math.”

“No no no. Sarah's worried that Sarah might fail math.”

“Ah!”

“Too many shes, I know.”

“Hm.”

Cosima looked around to make sure Sarah wasn't in hearing distance. “I'm trying to kind of gently coax her into, like, an advisor's office or something. Maybe an academic counselor.”

“Sarah, you mean?”

“Yes, still Sarah. Like, it's weird.” Cosima looked around again. Sarah had moved on to the “Over the Hill” birthday aisle, where she was laughing at some tombstone shaped decorations. “She's obviously smart,” Cosima whispered to Delphine, “and she's doing everything she's supposed to do. She's working her ass off for these classes, and she just can't get it. Me and Scott are still tutoring her like once a week or so, but I dunno. I think she needs something that we're not able to give her, but I don't know what. She just keeps saying she's too stupid to get it, but I don't think that's the case.”

“No, I don't think so either.”

“She was joking the other day that someone must've dropped her on her head as a baby.”

Delphine was silent on the other end, but in the silence Cosima heard her thinking. The gentle tap of a pen or pencil gave it away. Before either of them to continue the conversation, Sarah came over and waved a “old man survival kit” at Cosima.

“Art's birthday's all set, then,” Sarah said. When Cosima just stared, she clarified. “He's turning 40 in a couple weeks.”

“Oh,” Cosima said. “Cool. Um. Send us the date, yeah?”

“Sure. He doesn't want anyone to know, but whatever.” She waved at the phone in Cosima's hand and raised her voice. “Hi Delphine!”

Delphine chuckled softly and said, “Hello Sarah” in a voice soft enough for Sarah to miss it.

“I should get going,” Cosima said into the phone. “I probably can't talk much later, but text me if you want, yeah?”

Delphine agreed to, they both said “I love you,” and Cosima hung up. Then she turned to Sarah. “How'd you know I was talking to Delphine?”

“Your face, mostly. Anyway, you ready yet? Where's the card? I wanna get outta here before I buy too much shit I don't need.”

* * * * * *

On Thursday, as Delphine travelled to Izmir, Cosima sat in their apartment and scrolled through job listings. The exercise was futile – she wouldn't apply to any of them and anyway, she didn't have her PhD yet. Her advisor sent back a list of dissertation edits yesterday, but Cosima had only made two of the smallest ones. More and more, every time she sat at the computer, her mind drifted. Some of it was the same old shit: anxiety over the state of the world and the nagging feeling that nothing she did amounted to much. And worry about Delphine. She always worried about Delphine. The job search began as a combination of those – worry that she'd never get a job good enough to give Delphine the kind of life she deserved.

Her family made sure to get her away from the Rabbit Hole for at least an hour every day now, and Cosima was not allowed to protest. If she did, they pretended to move in with her, loudly, until she left the apartment in frustration. That only happened once, though. Tuesday's outing was to the store and the Hendrixes, where Clone Club gathered to support Donnie in his grief. Yesterday, Cosima was back at Bailey Downs, to “help Helena with the boys” while the Hendrixes attended the funeral in Hamilton. “Helping with the boys” made no sense, of course, since Cosima didn't know what the fuck to do with one-year-olds except make silly faces once in a while, and Helena resented the obvious supervision. Cosima spent half of that visit riding Alison's bicycle aimlessly through the subdivision by herself.

Thoughts of the twins and the suburban expanse of Scarborough set Cosima's mind spinning again.

She remembered the sprawling, packed metropolises of Mexico City, Istanbul, and São Paulo. Those weren't even the biggest cities in the world, and still their size and scope took her breath away. She remembered the bustling streets of Lima and Cairo, and she'd never stopped being amazed at how many distinct individuals existed in the world. Little Arthur and Little Donnie were unique, just like every single one of those people. Just like Delphine. Just like Cosima and each of her sisters.

She shook her head and tapped her own cheeks. Another cup of tea was in order, but before she got up her phone emitted a weak little chirp – another news alert from Syria.

“Fuck it,” Cosima told her laptop. Grabbing her coat and purse, she went outside, leaving the job search and dissertation edits behind.

The Syrian news alerts never made Cosima feel better. Even the occasional cease fires failed to get her hopes up, because most of them devolved into violence again, or yet another armed group entered the scene to fuck shit up again.

At least Cosima now checked those alerts only from outside of the Rabbit Hole, with a view of sky and trees rather than drab walls and a moldy ceiling she lacked motivation to clean herself. Ignoring the chirps from inside the apartment didn't change the situation, but it helped Cosima keep her head screwed on, and it kept her from telling Delphine to just stay far the fuck away and send someone else to cure the Syrian Leda.

Not that she hadn't thought about it. The trouble was that no one else would do it – not the way it needed to be done, or with the appropriate discretion.

Cosima ordered a chai latte at the cafe around the corner, sat near the window, and gave in to her brain's desire to dwell on bad news for the day.

Fighting in Aleppo schools bombed in Hama clinics shot up in Ghouta ISIS kidnapping people in Deir ez-Zor

Hundreds of thousands of people were trying to flee with the clothes on their backs, and the only people trying to get in were ISIS recruits, aid workers, and foreign military “advisors.” By the time this whole shit show ended, Cosima doubted there would be anything left of the beautiful country she'd wanted to visit as a teenager – encouraged by her tenth grade math teacher who just happened to be Syrian and also super fucking hot. But that was now beside the point. The point now was that a different super fucking hot object of Cosima's affections would be in Syria within the next couple of weeks. Their purchase earlier that year of “kidnap and ransom” insurance only made Cosima feel worse.

Skimming over the most recent alert from Damascus, a pair of chimes interrupted her. The first was from Qamar, their remaining Arabic translator, requesting a phone call in a few minutes. She did that often, preferring to relay messages longer than five words verbally rather than in writing. Cosima sighed and agreed.

The other was the semi-daily update from Nabil back in Djibouti. Like most of the children's texts, it was short and random – a picture of a filthy street cat in the shadow of a trash can that he'd captioned “friienb.” Cosima replied as she usually did, with a picture of her own – her chai latte, framed by a glass sugar shaker and a napkin holder. She added a short and simple message of her own. “Lunch.”

She kept thinking of talking with Qamar about Nooran's nieces and nephews. Djibouti was certainly safer than Yemen, and now that Nooran was cured their life could improve somewhat, but Cosima couldn't let go of Nooran's request – to take the children to Canada with them. She also couldn't forget the role they'd inadvertently played in Cosima's current situation by sending a picture of themselves with the flag of the Muslim Brotherhood in the background. It wasn't their fault, and she would never – could never – ask them about it.

Her phone rang and she answered before even checking the caller. “Hello, this is Cosima,” she said.

“Hi, Cosima,” her mother said, a certain heaviness in her voice.

The dissonance between her expectation of Qamar's chipper accent and the sound of her mother's voice made Cosima reel. “Oh. Hey, Mom. I thought you were out to sea right now?”

“Well, we were.”

“Okay. That doesn't sound good. What happened? You said the boat was having some issues, but – ”

“No, honey, the boat's fine. We got that fixed last month.”

“Okay...”

A garbled, wonky announcement sounded through the phone, like the announcements at airports or train stations, but filtered under water. Sally sighed and waited for it to finish before speaking again. “We're at the hospital right now.”

Cosima froze. “Oh shit. Is it your foot?” She'd been worried about that, about her mother going out to sea so soon after bunion surgery, but Sally said no.

“No, honey, my foot's doing fine. It's Gene.”

“Oh. Is he...”

“It's not his heart this time. He's very keen on everyone knowing that. He did not have another heart attack, and he's been taking his statins regularly.”

“Okay, well that still doesn't really tell me what's wrong with him.”

Sally sighed again. “Well, a couple of days ago, he started noticing blood in his urine. Of course, being Gene, he didn't say anything about it until yesterday, when he couldn't urinate at all.”

Imagining that made Cosima squirm and cross her legs in sympathy. “That sounds awful.”

Beeping in Cosima's ear told her Qamar was trying to get through. Whatever. Qamar could wait. Qamar probably didn't have a urinary blockage.

Sally went on. “Yes, well, after several hours of that, he agreed we should turn around and head for shore. Fortunately we were only about six hours out from Eureka, so here we are.”

“So, what, Dad went like eight hours without peeing? Holy shit.”

“Closer to twelve or fourteen, I think. He's on a catheter now and they're running some tests.”

“Jesus Christ, poor guy.”

“Yes, well.” Sally gave a few of her deep sighs – the kind that came from somewhere beneath her diaphragm and that Cosima was all too familiar with.

“Go ahead and say it, Mom.”

She sighed again. “Well, it's just – I know this has been going on longer than he says it has. The doctors were worried about his prostate last year, and sometimes Gene gets this pinched look on his face, you know? This pinched pained look and then he acts like it didn't happen and he's not in any pain, like I'm some kind of an idiot.”

“That... sounds familiar.”

“Oh, so you noticed while we were in Toronto a few months ago? You noticed it too?”

“Uh, no, actually, I didn't. I was thinking of something else.” She was thinking of Delphine, wincing over the phone and over Skype and swearing that nothing was wrong, all the while having a cracked knee cap. “I think you and I have similar tastes in partners,” she told Sally.

Sally laughed. “Don't say that! Delphine's a nice girl.”

“Yeah, nice and stubborn as hell. Anyway. What's next? What's going to happen?”

“We're staying on land for a while. I knew Gene was really hurting when I told him we'd have to, and he didn't even argue.”

Cosima whistled. “Back to Berkeley then?”

“We'll see. I'll keep you posted. Love you.”

Cosima returned the sentiment and hung up. She needed to call Qamar and see what she'd turned up, but that could wait another few minutes. Pulling up her on-going text string with Delphine, Cosima typed, Would you tell me if you couldn't pee for twelve hours? After hitting send, she kicked herself. Over text, she wouldn't see Delphine's face when she read the question, and in regular messenger it was impossible to delete texts.

The phone call with Qamar lasted four minutes. Samira, the one Leda remaining in Syria, still resided in Douma, but had no cell phone or internet access. All the information Qamar had was word-of-mouth, from the cousin of a friend of Samira's husband.

“I tell him, you see her next month,” Qamar said

“It'll be a lot closer than that,” Cosima said. “Delphine's scheduled to meet the security team there on May 9.”

“May 9? Okay, I tell them tomorrow. I talk them tomorrow.”

“I mean,” Cosima cautioned, “there's also always the chance the date could change. Just like the others.”

“Yes yes. I know.” Qamar had been with them since they got the Leda List, or close to it. She knew the deal, even if she never quite understood it.

Off the phone again, Cosima let out a long, slow breath. Different news would have been welcome – that Samira had fled along with her Syrian Leda sisters and Delphine didn't need to go there at all, ever. Or maybe that Samira was in some unique position to hop over the border into Lebanon for a day or two and get treated there.

Not likely.

Finishing her drink, Cosima debated a trip to the aquarium or to see Scott at the university, where he was working on nanotechnology. She'd just settled on visiting Scott when Delphine's reply arrived. Yes, I will tell you if I can't pee for 12 hours but only on one condition.

That was unexpected. What's that?

You have to tell me why the fuck you tried putting a robot worm in your face a few years ago.

#continuing travels of cophine #my fanfiction #cophine fanfiction

[constant-calum]

Watercolors (Brandon Arreaga) ~ Chapter Twelve:  Pollock

Summary:   17 year old Amina Parker was far from a blank canvas, but he still managed to make a finger painting with her love.

A/N:  I lowkey despise this story now.  Oops!

WARNING:  Mention of pregnancy and abortion

Part Eleven    Part Thirteen

Amina hated that Halloween was on a Wednesday this year. There was something so badass about getting dressed up in a costume and showing off to everyone in the neighborhood while she took her sister trick-or-treating.  On a Wednesday, however, Amina had too much homework to be able to participate in her favorite tradition.

As she sat in the lunchroom on Wednesday afternoon, she pouted in her tuna salad.  She realized how ridiculous and childish she must have looked, but she couldn’t help it.  All she was looking forward to was dressing up, and she couldn’t even do that.

“What crawled up your ass and died?” Edwin asked, quirking an eyebrow at her.

Zane sighed. “She’s sad that she can’t dress up for Halloween this year. That’s a big deal for the Parkers.”

“I take my sister trick-or-treating every single year. But since it’s a stupid Wednesday, I have too much work for the first time ever.” Amina sighed. “It’s frustrating more than anything.”

“Fuck work,” Nick stated bluntly. “You should go out and have fun on your Halloween. Especially if it’s a tradition you look forward to.”

Amina felt like she was overreacting to the situation, but she couldn’t help her emotions. “I really can’t. College applications are becoming all too real, and I have so much homework.”

Brandon placed a warm hand around Amina’s shoulders, giving her a comforting squeeze. Amina could feel herself relaxing even the tiniest bit. She immediately wondered when Brandon became a source of comfort for her.

“I’m sorry that you can’t go through with your tradition, Amina,” Brandon looked as though he was genuinely upset for his friend.

Amina nodded, which everyone took as the end of the topic. Looking across the table, Amina noticed Zion staring directly at her. She was about to ask him what the problem was until she realized just what he was so focused on. It was Brandon’s arm...that hadn’t moved from its resting place on Amina’s shoulder. Zion finally met Amina’s eye, smirking slightly.

Amina found it impossible to calm down her racing heart, unsure if it was from the physical contact or from the embarrassment of such a public display of affection. She tried to snap herself out of it. If it were Nick, Amina would not have thought twice about it. For some reason, it was different with Brandon.

A loud ringtone interrupted the comfortable chatter of the lunch table. After a few seconds, everyone realized its owner was Brandon, who got up from the table to take the call. Upset at the sudden lack of warmth surrounding her, she decided to lean her head into Nick’s shoulder, who wrapped an arm around her without skipping a beat.

.           .            .

Amina didn’t know how she beat Brandon to the art room after school. It was slightly concerning seeing as he had art last period, and tended to just stay there until Amina arrived. Amina just brushed it off, taking a seat on Brandon’s stool even though she knew he would make a fuss the minute he got there.

As if being summoned by someone else taking his place, Brandon walked through the door the minute that Amina’s butt touched the wood. His eyes were red and puffy, dripping with raw emotion. His steps were slow and uneven, as if he was unable to focus on the act of walking. Amina had seen Brandon emotional quite a few times, and it seemed as though every time he got worse.

“B, what happened?” Amina stood quickly, crossing the room until she stood right in front of her friend. “Are you okay?”

Brandon just sniffled, displacing his glasses in the process of wiping his eyes. Amina didn’t know what else to do but grab his free hand and lead him to sit down. Brandon immediately slumped onto his stool, looking as miserable as ever.

“Talk to me, Brandon. I can’t stand to see you like this.”

Brandon’s framed eyes met Amina’s, taking a deep breath before beginning to speak. “It’s Valerie,” he began. “She’s pregnant again now, with this one night stand’s baby. She’s keeping it.”

A piece of Amina’s heart broke for her friend. At a loss for words, she stumbled over what to do or say. Getting over an ex is hard; getting over an ex who aborted your baby is even harder; getting over an ex who aborted your baby and is now pregnant again is nearly impossible.

“I don’t even know why I’m so upset,” Brandon chuckled bitterly. “It’s not like I’m not over her. And I’m not the father of this new baby. It just...it just hurts for some reason. Not even in a ‘she kept this rando’s baby and not mine’ way. But more of a...I don’t even know. I feel like shit.”

Amina smoothed a hand over Brandon’s dark curls, secretly loving how soft they felt under her fingertips. “What do I always say?”

“I’m allowed to feel however I feel,” Brandon mumbled, reminiscent of a toddler reciting rules back to their parent.

“Exactly. It’s okay if you’re upset. It’s okay if you’re upset and you don’t know why. I’ll be here no matter what.”

“I guess there’s too much baby drama for a 17-year-old like me.”

“It’s not even my drama and it’s too much for me.”

Brandon looked up at Amina from his seated position. A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. Even though Amina could tell he was still devastated, there was a grateful twinkle in his eye.

“Thank you,” he began. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“Probably turn into a ball of sadness and die,” Amina joked, causing Brandon to chuckle.

“You’re probably right. I’d have any bit of sadness or drama and I would just combust. Or just make super angsty art about it.”

“That sounds like a much more positive outlet.”

Brandon continued to look up at the girl in front of him, this time with a smile on his face and dry eyes. Amina couldn’t stop herself from running a hand through his hair once more. The two didn’t speak, but they didn’t have to. They both simply enjoyed the moment.

It was Amina who decided to break the momentary silence. “You know you could always make art about this. Write Valerie’s name in super big pretty letters, then just splatter paint all over it.”

“I think my art is a little more sophisticated than that.”

“Of course it is, Mr. I’m-going-to-RISD (Rhode Island School of Design),” Amina chuckled. “But maybe it will help.”

Brandon thought for a moment before finally nodding slowly. He instructed Amina to grab a few tubes of paint and two smocks from the supply closet. She did so giddily, pointing out how she never got to paint and was excited to do so. Brandon just watched her bounce around the room with a lazy smile on his face.

Amina tossed Brandon his smock before attempting to put hers on by herself. She frowned when her short arms couldn’t reach the tie behind her do.

“Brandon? Can you tie this for me?”

The boy did as told, walking over to his friend and securing the tie around her waist.  He let the tips of his fingers linger on the small of her back, and smiled slightly when Amina shivered.  When she turned to face him, he clapped his hands together.

“Alright, let’s do this,”  he grabbed a piece of paper and spread it out on the table in front of them.  “So normally, I would outline the name in pencil, and then paint over it, but I’m impatient today.  What color should her name be?”

Amina shrugged.  “Maybe we should do something bright.  Then we can put darker splatters on it.”

“Alright, how about orange?”

The way Amina turned her nose up at the color made Brandon chuckle loudly. He watched as the girl picked up each individual color, inspecting the tube like they were in competition with each other. Eventually, she pulled out the yellow, smiling brightly.

“I think we have our winner!”

The two worked meticulously, watching each other as they alternated between broad strokes of the brush and short flicks. Within an hour the two were done. Amina stepped back to admire the masterpiece she and her friend had worked to creative. As she inspected the whole scope of the work, she couldn’t help but laugh.

“Brandon?” Amina managed in between her fits of laughter. “This looks like shit.”

This made Brandon’s indifferent exterior crack as he exploded into laughter. “Mimi, what did we do?!”

“I don’t know! I thought it would look good.”

Brandon placed a hand on each knee, doubled over with the force of his laughs. “It literally looks like a baby vomited on a piece of paper, smeared it, and called it art.”

“I know. It’s pretty terrible,” Amina rubbed her hairline with the back of her paint-covered hand. “At least we did it together right? And don’t you feel better?”

“I definitely do feel better.”

“That’s what matters,” Amina beamed.

The two were quiet as they began to clean up, washing dirty hands and brushes and hanging up their smocks. By the time they were done, the only evidence of their work was the paint smeared paper lying on the center of the table.

“Should I throw this monstrosity out?” Amina asked, still smiling down at their shared work.

Brandon hesitated before picking the painting up and holding it out in front of him. “Nah, I think I’ll keep it.

Amina was slightly surprised that Brandon would even want it, and was a little hurt when she realized that it still had Valerie’s name on it. That’s what it all boiled down to—Brandon and Valerie.

“Okay, well I’m pretty sure my mom is here,” Amina sighed. “I’ll see you tomorrow, B.”

“Of course. I’ll see you.”

Brandon waved as Amina left the room, still admiring the piece of work that the two created. Something about it warmed his heart, no matter how terrible it was. He smiled to himself.

“Oh, I’m totally framing this.”

.        .         .

As a compromise for not going trick or treating, Amina’s mother let her man the door for the entirety of Halloween Night. It wasn’t ideal for Amina to be curled up with a calculus textbook in one hand and a bowl of candy in the other, but she was happy to do something to celebrate the holiday.

After spending a few hours gushing over little kids and cute costumes, Amina closed the door for what she thought would be the last time. It was already 9:30 on a school night; no one would let their kids out this late. Her sock-covered feet turned away from the door and began to trek up the stairs until she heard the doorbell ring.

Groaning, Amina turned on her heels, picking up the candy bowl on the way. She flung the door open aggressively, obviously annoyed with this last minute group of children. What she didn’t expect was to see six familiar faces beaming at her.

“Trick-or-treat!” They all said in unison, making Amina break out into a wild smile.

Amina didn’t know if she was happier that her friends had come to see her, or that they were all dressed up in various costumes: Nick was a vampire, Edwin a werewolf, Austin was Ash from Pokémon, Zane was Number 4 from Codename Kids Next Door, Zion looked like some underground rapper, and Brandon was Spider-Man.

“You guys didn’t have to do this,” Amina started. “But damn am I glad you did. You’re all getting your picture taken.”

“Of course we had to do this,” Austin leaned on the door frame. “It’s Halloween. If you can’t go out and enjoy it, we’re going to bring the fun to you.”

Amina beamed. “Well thank you.”

“Thank Nick,” Zane replied. “It was all his idea. He even planned everyone’s costumes.”

Nick looked bashful, shrugging slightly. “It was nothing.”

Amina was speechless as she went down the line to hug each of her friends. When she got to Nick last, she hugged him extra tight. Nick did the same, clutching Amina close as if he were to never let her go.

“Thank you guys, seriously. This means a lot.”

Zion scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. “Um, not to be headass, but can we have some candy? Like we are here to trick-or-treat after all.”

Amina chuckled, passing around the candy bowl to everyone. She didn’t miss Austin taking at least six Kit-Kats, but decided not to say anything in effort to preserve the fun.

After a few minutes of the group talking and laughing in the doorway of Amina’s home, Zane declared she was tired, which was instantly met with agreement from the rest of the boys.

“Wait, before you go,” Amina interrupted. “We have to take a picture.”

Although reluctant, the group eventually settled into an appropriate formation, and with a count of three, they were done.

As everyone began to say their goodbyes, Amina found herself pulling Nick close once again, unable to begin to show her gratitude for making her night better. Nick seemed to understand, though, just wordlessly holding Amina until Edwin declared that everyone had to go.

“Mimi, thank you,” Nick whispered, pulling away.

“For what?”  

“Being patient with him.”

“With who?”

Amina didn’t get an answer as the group walked away. She just stood in her doorway, confused as hell, watching her friends disperse into the nighttime.

#watercolors #escritos #arreaga #brandon arreaga #prettymuch #prettymuch fanfic #prettymuch imagine

[noona-clock]

Please Subscribe

Genre: AU/Fluff

Pairing: Hanbin x You

By Admin B

Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

You remembered the day you’d reached 1 million subscribers like it was yesterday.

I mean, it had only been six months ago, so really not that far back in the past, but you’d already gained a million more since then. Those six months had been a whirlwind.

You’d been sitting at your laptop for over an hour, watching the number of your subscribers on a real-time subscriber count website. You’d started biting your lip when you got to 999,980.

A few minutes later, you’d gained 10 more. And then 5... and then 4...

Your eyes had been glued to the screen, and when you watched 999,999 turn into 1,000,000, you had literally screamed. And then you’d started jumping around. And crying.

And then... What else? You had sat down and filmed a video.

Now, half a year and 1 million more subscribers later, you were happier than ever. Not because you had 2 million people watching your videos, but because you were doing what you loved, and you were doing a damn good job at it.

Sure it could be challenging to come up with original makeup tutorials and keep things fresh, but you thrived on pressure. You gained inspiration however you could, and your followers were always so flabbergasted at your ideas.

Your absolute favorite makeup look you’d ever done had been inspired by a Monet painting you’d seen on a trip to New York City. You and your subscribers alike had died over the pastel lips and the soft highlight and the watercolor eyeshadow.

Of course, you also threw in fun videos like hauls and Q&As and monthly favorites. Because who didn’t like watching those?!

You were actually in the middle of editing a Sephora haul currently, but you were suffering from major brain block. Your eyes were tired of looking at your face, and your ears were sick of hearing your voice.

So, naturally, you went to YouTube to distract yourself.

One of your favorite things to do was browse your recommended videos and find new channels to watch/become obsessed with. Even though you were almost strictly a beauty channel, you watched all sorts of videos. Daily vlogs, house remodels, cooking lessons, and lately, you’d gotten into watching those “So-and-so react to KPOP for the first time” videos. You found those extremely entertaining, and they’d gotten you to watch a few KPOP videos yourself.

As you perused the videos suggested for you, one, in particular, caught your eye. The thumbnail was just a black and white picture of a man sitting at a picnic table outside of a small shop, and the title was “Just Go (ORIGINAL SONG) - B.I.” It was only three and a half minutes, the perfect amount of time for a brain break.

So you clicked on it.

The video itself was a screen recording of the music software as the song played, something you thought was a nice touch. And when you heard the opening piano, you were almost instantly hooked. Already the melody was stuck in your head, and once the lyrics started, you felt like singing along even though you’d never heard them before.

“He’s got a pretty good voice,” you murmured, nodding your head along to the smooth, R&B music. But then he started rapping, and your head literally jerked back in surprise. “Oh, wow. He’s really good.”

When the song was over, you immediately wanted to listen to it again. But you also wanted to check out more of his songs, so you gave the video a quick thumbs up before clicking on his channel name (which was ‘HANBIN’). You were pretty shocked to discover he only had 50 thousand subscribers; he was incredibly talented! At least he seemed to be from the one song you’d listened to. But it was a really, really good song.

As you scrolled through his feed, you noticed he posted a good mix of original songs, covers, KPOP reactions, and vlogs. You clicked on the first vlog you came across, wondering what this guy was like. With a voice like that, he had to be super cool and thug, right?

The video opened with him just waking up, and - again - your head jerked back in surprise. Um... he was super cute.

And as you got further into the video, you realized he was pretty funny, too. He was very relaxed in front of the camera, and you could tell he wasn’t putting on an act or anything. He was chill but dorky at the same time. Not at all how you’d imagined him to be. In a good way.

You found yourself watching with a smile on your face, resting your chin in your palm and forgetting about every other thing you had to get done.

And then, all of sudden (though not really because it had been over 20 minutes), he said, “I’m about to go work on a new song, so I’ll leave it here for today. Leave a comment down below what your favorite ice cream flavor is. If you say anything other than Rocky Road, you’re wrong. Thanks for watching, and if you want to eventually hear the song I’m working on right now, give this video a thumbs up. Oh, and please subscribe.”

He smiled, waving to the camera before the video transitioned to his end screen.

Well, you had to listen to him, didn’t you? You moved your mouse over the red button and clicked ‘Subscribe.’

Part 2

Master list //  RULES // Submit a Request! // Read About the Admins

#ikon #ikon scenarios #ikon imagines #ikon au #ikon fluff #b.i #hanbin #kim hanbin #b.i scenarios #b.i imagines #b.i au #b.i fluff #hanbin scenarios #hanbin imagines #hanbin au #hanbin fluff #kpop #kpop scenarios #kpop imagines #kpop au #kpop fluff #admin b

[dreamlikemusings]

@ellothelongwaydown

9. Tattoos i want: i don't actually want any but those watercolor style ones are super pretty

20. Height: 5'6" AND A HALF (you can rip that half an inch from my cold dead hands)

41. Have you ever snuck out of your house? bold of you to assume i've wanted to go outside ever (the answer is no just to be clear)

67. Have you ever been in a car accident? um yeah actually a really bad one. i was mostly okay after (bruised and a little scratched up to the point that i missed 2 weeks of work and i still have road anxiety even almost 6 years later) but my older brother (he was driving) almost died. it was. yeah not fun. cars are the worst.

send me a number and get up in my business

#candis answers things #ellothelongwaydown #💖

[altenewcraft]

DIY Thank You Cards

It's always nice to receive a handwritten thank you card. And making DIY thank you cards is equally nice too! So we're sharing a few projects you can make that will make both you and your receiver appreciate cards. They are one great way to share your gratitude and creativity. Read on to get started, and happy crafting!

3 Cool Thank You Card Ideas

We have picked 3 unique cardmaking projects that you can make with just a few supplies! They’re cute, elegant, and most of all, super creative!

1.Cartoon Panels Thank You Card

Using vibrant colors on white looks stunning and neat! On this card, ink blending was mainly used for coloring the die cuts. This gives off a comic-style aesthetic that’s so simple yet polished. To recreate this card, you’ll need the following:

Crisp Dye Inks in Mango Smoothie, Hydrangea, and Coral Berry

Sentiment Strips 2 Stamp Set

Slimline Sized Card

Square Die as stencils for the frames

Ink Blenders

You will need to stencil in the frames by ink blending the colors to create these square frame backgrounds. Then adhere the die cut flowers to these frames. You can ink blend these flowers or use colored cardstock when die cutting them.

2. Embossed Elegance Thank You Card

Try out a new style of embossing called the Eclipse Technique with this next project! It’s so artistic and unique— anybody receiving this would melt! It is definitely a card worthy of being framed or displayed. You will need the following materials:

A panel of White Cardstock 

The Blooming Through the Seasons 3D Embossing Folder

Terrific Tag Die Set

Some Crisp Dye Inks

Translucent Vellum

Embossing Ink

Embossing Powder

Dimension Foam Tape

This card requires more effort, but as you can see, it's worth it! To start, run the embossing folder and white cardstock through a die cutting machine to emboss the design. You can then add color using the inks or watercolor.

Die cut the tags and rerun them along with the embossed card. From there you'll be recreating the eclipsing look with the use of the embossing ink and powders. Learn how to do this part step by step in this video. After this DIY thank you card, you'll be so much more inspired to create other designs using the eclipse technique.

3. Glitter Thank You Card

Add some sparkles to your DIY thank you card less the mess! In this project, you’ll be using glitter cardstock. You’ll be working with die-cuts to create this cute thank you card, so prep your die cutting machine. Additionally, you’ll need the following materials:

Craft-A-Flower: Carolina Allspice Layering Die Set

Gradient Cardstock

Glitter Cardstock Set

The color scheme for this DIY thank you card project is yellow and purple. However, you can always choose your own! To get started, create the die cut pieces using both the gradient and glitter cardstocks. Be mindful of which layers you’ll want to use the glitter paper on. As you can see, the designer chose to use it on the smaller layered die cuts. You can always switch it up if you prefer.

After preparing your die cuts, create the card and base using the same cardstocks. Align and measure first the glitter background against the base card. Then arrange your die cuts to see how you need them to turn out. Once everything looks good, glue them all in place or use adhesive tape.

How Do You Make a Thank You Card?

As you can see from these examples, creating a thank you card is relatively simple. Aside from your creativity, you’ll need cardmaking supplies.

The most basic ones you can start with are:

Paper or cardstock

Stamps

Stickers

Inks or other coloring materials like watercolor and alcohol markers

To create more decorative thank you cards, you’ll need:

Enamel dots or sequins

Dies

DIY These Creative Thank You Cards Today!

These DIY thank you cards are as unique as that special person you are making these for! So take your time polishing these fun projects.

There are a lot of other DIY thank you card projects on the Altenew All About Crafting page. Check it out for similar cool card projects.