#it took forever to pick the overlay colors

[theglowingeyeballz]

Sydney Sargent, gotta be one of my favorite genders

#got carried away slightly #it took forever to pick the overlay colors #sydney sargent #sydney chnt #camp here and there #chnt fanart #my art #stay tuned next for the sound of me drifting off to (hopefully) a dimension of dreams #goodnight #night vale #good night #(I am going to sleep now) #(finally)

[tsukasageorge]

hey raey! ur art is so pretty, reminds me of a strawberry soda float tbh. anyways I wanted to ask what your coloring process is if you don’t mind sharing :)

OH MY GOD HI THANK YOU FOR ASKING LOVE YOU FOREVER ALSO SORRY FOR ANSWERING KIND OF LATE I DONT CHECK MY ART ACC VERY OFTEN ANYMORE

ok so (this is a lighting tutorial not a rendering tutorial btw) here's my Ten Step (not) Program For Achieving Strawberry Soda Floatness

i actually usually start with pretty normal/true to reference colors bc i often don't have incredibly intense, neon lighting. however, im gonna be using the mari piece i just finished to demo, where i wanted to pinkify the drawing from the start.

here are some of the base colors (skin, hair, shirt): as you can see even the white shirt leans into saturation/color, and they're all kept around the red/pink area.

ok so here (skipping about 15 steps) i already did the rendering using a color shifting method where instead of using multiply or directly lowering the luminosity (?) i shift the hue closer to the blue/purple category and decrease luminosity + slightly up saturation of the color. so like, on mari's skin you can see that the shadows are pink and purple rather than like. orange or something.

for the background i filled it with a lightish pink color and used the sunset gradient tool on a 30-50% opacity to establish the light source.

alright, here's where the fun begins.

i started off by using an overlay layer (later lowered to 28%, but just use whatever looks good) on the darker colors where the light would shine the brightest. this layer originally included highlights on the face and shirt as well, but i took those off bc the yellow on dark colors looks like an orange and the yellow on lighter colors looks like a fucking highlighter.

first i added a sort of reflected/second light source of this fun little pink on soft light. i did 2 layers bc 1 wasn't bright enough for me. then on the lighter areas i added white highlights. important little tip: when i pick colors for overlays i usually use yellow as the primary light source, pink as a midtones/secondary light source, and blue or purple as the shadows. however, this is not a rule, just an example:

in this drawing i have blue as the light source & red as the shadow. my tips for picking colors to overlay with: most programs/devices have an option for you to turn off the saturation. whichever color looks lightest is often best for the highlights. you can obviously change the brightness but yeah just make sure your highlights aren't darker than your shadows

apologies for the inconsistent opacities, you get the idea. so i would like to make a disclaimer here that for my hxhbb piece (left) i used only one direct lighting overlay, which was the yellow. the amount of those overlays i use per piece varies. anyways i added a lighter green as a substitute for the white highlights on the darker colors

lil bit of a secret sauce: on an overlay layer i airbrushed yellow onto roughly half of her and pink on the other side. unifies the colors + lighting and just looks cool

okay now here's how to actually strawberry soda float-ify your art (sorry lol that was just background info):

the sunset gradient map is your best friend here. you can really just fuck around with any gradient maps, doesn't really matter. now you can also change the brightness, contrast, saturation, etc. what i usually do is up the saturation & luminosity together: +50 saturation and +25-50 luminosity. experiment with blending modes and opacities and shit

when you're done, uhh, congratulations. the gradient maps are really carrying the entire thing the yellow and white lighting is just to torture myself with

#asks <3 #raey draws #raey spam #art tutorial #art tips #i do not know if this is actually helpful in any degree BUT. learning to use gradient maps changed my art forever. so

[keylimejuice]

HAPPY HALLOWEEKEND, KEYKEY! PALLOT! JUICEE! ✨🎃

Any fond spoopy season memories or related funny occurrences (or art >:)) ) you wanna share~? <3

heyyyyy there Blue Blue!! >:)))) happy spooky weekend!! 👻👻🎃

i grew up never really celebrating halloween so i don’t hav memories there, but i do like making halloween related art when i have time! this one was back in 2019 when i was still into pokemon sm and demon slayer just hit peak popularity !

i was new to digital art back then and wasn’t confident in my ability to draw directly onto the screen so this technique was:

- draw on paper

- take picture of said drawing in the art app or import it into art app from photos

- CLEAN UP ALL THE LINES SO IT LOOKS SMOOTH AND THE ART DOESN’T HAVE RANDOM FLECKS (this took forever)

- pick your colors and overlay them (picking the right ones were tough)

and then you have this art (and most of my 2019 era art)! i haven’t done this method in so long, but i think it’d be fun re-exploring XD

this particular one was super fun to do YAHAH i still really like it !! <33

i hope you have a wonderful halloween! stay safe and enjoy!!

#juicetobs #juiced asks #doodle dumpster diving #gladion is still very beloved in my head he is wonderful #this isn’t the full piece but just one of the cuter side doodles yahah

[moodymidnightkitten]

Fangs and Flowers 1

Pairing: AU Garou x Fem! Reader

W/C: 1.6K+

Genre: Fluff (mostly building the setting)

Warnings!: slight swearing but not all that much

A/N: After 3+ months after my car accident I can confidently say I'm ready to get back into the game and I'm so happy that even over these months I'm blessed with Tumblr users who come to my dash and liked and reblog things, y'all have really kept me going and I love you for that, thank you. And if anyone needs any emotional help in regards to traumatic experiences please give me a shout, I know things can get scary sometimes but I will be here always, to listen whenever you need me.

psst heres my masterlist

Why is it that when you finally have everything figured out life just switches up on you. Landing yourself in a world you’re not too familiar with. You try not even thinking about how your father is going to feel when he’s learned that you seriously couldn’t control your powers this time. How were you even going to get back?

You’re a combination of powers from your mother and father, healing and universe traveling. A mix that made no sense but blended quite well together. Or so you and everyone you thought.

You looked around, the signs on buildings decorated with flowing symbols, those must be words. You looked at them longer, waiting for them to make sense to you, as it usually happens. A little backstory, your people are considered the be all kinds of people, the people who, in combination could do anything and everything but not one person was capable of doing everything themselves, most people, like yourself in your clan had a max of three, and that really depended on your lineage. Lucky enough for you, your parents and ancestors were the strongest in the clan, every first born naturally developing three abilities. And here you were, the first born waiting on your grandfather's power to radiate to and through you.

It took what felt like forever but it finally came to you, the sign slowly making sense in your mind.

“...C-ci-ty Z?” you squinted a bit. “City Z, interesting, it’s blocked off.” ignoring the other signs littering the way claiming it wasn’t safe, not possibly feeling as though where you are could threaten you, you walked through the gates, your long black cloak swaying as you walk through the quiet streets. You came to the conclusion after walking for five minutes that where you were in a desolate area, abandoned even, whatever happened here must’ve been serious.

“Absolutely wonderful, I should assume I won’t be home for awhile so this will probably be the best place for me to be for the time being, I can settle down here,” you said talking to yourself, pondering over all of your living possibilities, you kept your thoughts to yourself for now, finally coming to a stop in front of a tall grey building. You walk in and settle for the open apartment on the fourth floor, with two bedrooms and a spacious communal area, not that you needed all of the space, it was still nice.

You rummaged through the apartment, it was almost empty of food but the electricity and running water was working, odd but okay you thought to yourself. You came to the decision that you would need to go out and grab more things, get used to your new home for now. Luckily whoever was living here before was also a female of the same size, stature and taste. You pulled out a light beige dress with black lace trimming, it hugged your hips perfectly, you twirled in the mirror and loved how it blew out around you, a bit above the knees, airy but not too short. You also found a cute pair of beige flats that had a glossy overlay to them. No you looked like you really belonged.

You waltzed out of the apartment and back outside, where it was luckily still quiet out. Looking back to make sure to remember the building. You dangled the empty bag you grabbed before leaving by your side before coming up to the least damaged grocery building and restaurants. Everything fresh was still good thanks to the power that was maintained in the area. But you still grabbed as much as you could just in case, it was certainly more weight than you should carry but it wasn’t killing you. Grabbing food and basic first aid supplies as a generic thing, just in case, you didn’t know what kind of diseases or harm this place could do but it seems as though this first aide was something universal. Even though you could heal yourself, it has its limits, like everything does.

You easily got lost in thinking within yourself, taking in your new surroundings and enjoying everything you’re seeing, until you come up to a peculiar building, one intact except one thing, a body shaped hole in the side, weirded out but so highly intrigued you walked up to the building and placed the bags you were carrying by the building. Peering into it you could see the front of the building wasn’t doing as well as the back, You averted your eyes from the tops and to the sides of the building finally looking down to notice there in front of you was a man. Naturally you were startled but grew some confidence to finally submerge yourself into the building to get a closer look. You bent down, laying a hand on his back, he was breathing. That was good you thought, at least he is alive but not conscious, his heartbeat was still going too slow for comfort though.

As you started to channel your healing ability to the palm of your hand your eyes grazed over his body, beaten badly, he was decorated in cuts, scrapes, bruises and what lies beneath you’re more than sure is a couple of broken bones and an illness, everything was more than you could handle healing in one setting. So you took your time, you’re going to wait it out until he’s healed enough to awaken again. After a few minutes more of assessing the person beneath your hands you began to notice his odd features, from his spiked up white hair to the strained and tired but well built muscular figure, he seemed as though a man not to be reckoned with.

And there it was, after sitting with him for ten minutes you felt his heart rate pick up and a small cough, it startled you, causing you to fall back from your knees, your butt now on the ground. The man took a deep breath and pulled himself up onto his elbows, rolling himself over, face up to the ceiling now. You watched in awe, finally seeing the rest of him, the jawline and color of his eyes, how much worse he looked when you saw his face. He put a hand on his chest and fell into another coughing fit. You were just sitting still, unmoving, breathing quietly, waiting for him to notice another presence within the same space as him. He began to sit himself up, legs criss crossed underneath him, taking a deep breath. You noticed how his muscles tugged at the shirt that was tattered, how they flexed so beautifully you could mistake it for water flowing in a stream.

“What are you staring at?” he said quietly, with a tinge of annoyance dancing on every vowel.

“My apologies...I noticed you were hurt badly, where I come from I heal those in need…” You were nervous in the presence of this man, a man with such delicately beautiful looks it could put all the men from your clan in shame. You could hear the man click his tongue against his teeth, trying to stand up he just grunted loudly and sat back down.

“Then heal me dammit instead of just sitting there,” he hissed to you. Your mind racing a mile a minute, even when he’s hurt he’s still as venomous and powerful, his aura eating away at the beautifully crumbled atmosphere.

“I...I can only do so much in a certain period of time, I used up everything I had to even get you awake...but I can help you over to my living establishment and I can continue to help you there, I know I’m rambling but there is a lot wrong with your current state and would also like to heal you to the point of resolving all internal and external injuries.” He sat there in silence peering at you through the corner of his eyes, concentrating on your proposal. A small grin also spreading across his face, your heart jumped, this man was more than a singular force, he was the whole beast, a predator, a blush crept along your face, as new to this world as you are this was about to become an amazing ride and you couldn’t wait.

“Help me up,” his tone shifted from annoyed to less annoyed but welcoming. You scrambled to your feet, crouching alongside him as he lightly draped his arm on your shoulders, using your right arm and put it flat against his back to offer as much support as you could, a blush lacing across your cheekbones. As you two began to stand up you noticed his build in all its glory, he towered over your small and frail frame, putting weight on you, grunting with most motions to get himself onto his feet. He also understood the size difference between you both, he’s either feeling better standing or is holding in the pain in consideration of how much of him and his weight you can handle.

“My name is Garou by the way,” he muttered out softly and in between huffs of air.

“Mine is y/n, nice to meet you Garou...even under these circumstances..” You looked to the ground smiling, even without looking at him it was as if the feeling of him grinning with just boring into you. You two have made it out of the building and you grabbed your bags and threw them over the other shoulder that was free of the damaged and in pain predator Garou and started walking to your new home, the feeling of giddiness feeling like twinkling stars against your skin.

#one punch man garou #garouonepunchman #one punch man #garou x reader #garou the hero hunter #garou the human monster #garou fanfic #one punch man x reader #opm au #garou x y/n #garou x you #garou

[pastelpaperplanes]

do you have any tips on shading?

Yes! Though I will say that I work with cell shading like 99% of the time so my knowledge on proper blending and soft shading is a bit limited—BUT!! Here’s a few asks I’ve answered in the past regarding some tips and tricks I’ve learned along the way

some flat colors look better when shaded with a another color and NOT pitch black—this ofc doesn’t mean that pure black shouldn’t ever be used to shade your work, but just try and experiment a little!

Here’s two different asks that kind explain my thought process/preferences on what colors I prefer to pair with others when I shade!

Honestly the most important think I recommend to keep in mind is that shading and scenery go hand-in-hand. Depending on where the type of mood you’d like to work with or what kind of environment you stage your piece in—the colors and shading techniques you use to show those settings can have a HUGE impact on meeting those goals!

Here’s two different asks I paired with some examples of that concept

For pieces with multiple light sources or low key lighting paired w uhh,,,a highlight of some sort? I like to do a mixture of both cell and soft shading, kinda gives a nice glowy look and shows more depth!

Another thing I’d recommend is to experiment with your layer settings! Often times changing a layer to like overlay, multiply, hard light, or even vivid light can make your shading process far more easy if you were looking to shade a layer with a whole palette of flats rather than taking each different color on a different layer, then shading one by one.

Haha I realize that probably sounds confusing—but uhh a cheat I like to use and abuse with for example this palette: blue, yellow, orange, and grey—is to take a saturated purple and set that as my shading color, then have that layer set to vivid light. It makes the flats still look saturated despite being cast in shadow—plus lmao I can manage to shade four colors in one layer so that’s literal eye candy to my lazy ass

So yes, experiment with your layer settings! Find what works for you and hey you just might cut your shading process time in half

also another thing I’ll say to someone out there who may be new to digital art, is to please, please love and appreciate that clipping mask setting. I wish I learned this from the get go because yes, I was absolutely the one to meticulously color in between the lines with NO mask for my shading. Took absolutely forever and I’m so glad those days are well behind me lmao.

Honestly I’m just gonna like THIS ASK as well on some key basics when working w digital art—clipping mask I gave my little spiel on and haha that basically pertains to this ask, but the others are always good to keep note of esp for someone starting out w digital!

Hope all this helps! I’m nowhere near perfect in my utilization of these shading techniques, all that I have picked up on this far is thanks to tutorials and tips from other artists. I’m always gonna be continuing to learn and hopefully practice new things! I hope my few recommendations will help you out a bit with your future pieces! Good luck ✨

#wow that was long #but yes shading can be tricky by pls don’t give up #but** #even a little bit of shading can rly make your work POP #no need to get fancy all at once tho. personally I see cell shading as a go-to esp for somone new to digital #work your way up through experiments and practice and try not to get too frustrated or stressed! #haha you’ve always got that undo button >:)) #asks #helpful

[hayjeon]

Tips on creating fun fanfic headers!

i had so much fun writing the fanfic writing tips yesterday and i got a few more questions about header-making, and so i decided to make one more of these! i hope these tips help somebody out there! hope you enjoy :) 

p.s. these tips won’t require any hard editing skills or photoshop skills, nor any expensive tablets/apps! 

typically i spend around ~5-10 min creating one header, and that’s either after i think of/finish a fic. i have so much fun doing it and sharing it with you that i figured i’d share how i do it! 

why headers? 

as I talked about in my fic tips, one of the most eye-catching things about fics are headers. when i’m scrolling through a rec page, my home page, a tag, or even someone’s masterlist, i’m immediately drawn to well-made headers. that’s what captures my attention, and then i’m more drawn in by the content. so, you can say that headers is your own version of an ad for your own fic, or an extension of it (like the cover of a novel!) 

if you were writing your own book, imagine how much time you’d spend figuring out what you wanted your cover to look like. i try to have as much fun and invest as much time making my own headers because it’s just the cherry on top to my finished product :) 

disclaimer: BUT HEADERS ARE NOT NECESSARY/DO OR DIE! if you don’t feel like you want to do this, then keep writing! its ok! this is just a suggestion. i’ve seen plenty of well-written fics without headers at all, so don’t beat yourself up over not having one/not wanting to do one. this is truly just a fun, extra kind of thing, and only keep reading if you want to learn how i do it! :) 

tips for people who don’t want to make headers: if you still want something to make your fic stand out, use gifs! i use them in my drabbles a lot! this will at least give ur fic a lil boost! 

how to find pictures

I typically use unsplash, which is a free website in which photographers upload their HQ pics for free use. the pics are really high quality, typically stock photos, and don’t have any logos on them like other ones on google. unfortunately, you won’t find any pics of the members or anything, but you’ll find beautiful stock photos of typical scenes like “ocean scene” or “desert scene.” I found the stock photo for cut me open (shown below) on that site by just looking up “medical” or “doctor”. 

i used to use google a lot and just use keywords like “desert scene HQ” and edit the search settings to deliver HQ pics, and a minimum # of pixels, but unplash is definitely better in terms of quality, more aesthetic photos, and no logos/watermarks. 

on some occasions, i will screenshot some scenes of youtube videos, turning up the quality to 1080p or 4k and zooming in so that the pixelation is as crisp as possible, and then editing it later to look good (which i’ll explain in a second!) 

the above photo was a scene from the specific characters from the drama, “100 Days My Prince” that I screenshotted from a youtube video that TvN uploaded, recapping the drama. I cropped it just right so that their faces were left out, which i’ll also mention soon! 

things to look for when picking pictures: 

you want the picture to reflect a specific motif/theme from your fic! if its a moody fic, then try to find a moody scene that you can edit with filters/lighting to look even moodier; or if the characters’ jobs are a big portion of the fic (like cut me open/doctor theme) try to look for stock photos with that shown very clearly!

make sure its high quality: tumblr really dumbs down the quality of the photo when uploading it, so try your best to find something with a lot of pixels in it so that when you start editing, you don’t sacrifice too much of the quality already

try to look for something simple/clean: a picture with too much subject (ie. people in the background, or too much detail) may end up taking away from the main point of your header, which is your title. so find pics without too much clutter! 

try to make sure its landscape: which will help during editing to save some of the quality better. 

editing your pictures

now that you have a specific photo you want to use, now its time to edit! I use VSCO CAM (free app) and my own apple photos cropping tool for faster crops. 

crop/adjust: if your picture is too large/wide, crop it to at least a 16:9 ratio. i’d say aim for skinnier if you can, so that you don’t take up too much space (especially if you’re planning to add headers to your masterlist). also crop out any faces, any clutter, any unnecessary details, so you have a nice, clean slate to work on when adding text. 

contrast/sharpen/clarity/white balance/etc.: i’m not gonna give you a lesson on photography, but i’ll tell you I learned like 80% of everything that i know just by fiddling with it on VSCO! So just try it out and play with the app, see what you can make of it. i’d say a rule of thumb to follow is that you want happier fics with a brighter tone, and moodier/angsty fics with a darker tone so that it can reflect the nature of the fic further, without saying anything! 

if you wanna be extra af like me, then go a step further and photoshop your pics. this one is a good example; when i screenshotted this scene from another youtube video for my fic One Year My Love part 2, i was specifically looking for a scene that would showcase the ornate/regal details of their clothing/environment in contrast to part 1′s modest clothing/scene (the first header in this post). 

i found this scene, but actually, this scene portrays the Crown Prince and the Princess, not y/n. So, the actors weren’t smiling at all! They were actually frowning at eachother in this scene, to portray the tension between the two characters and their marriage. 

So, I took the extra step, adjusting the pic with VSCO so that their shoulders/chins were at the same level, cropped off their faces up until their lips, and then used the adobe photoshop free app to photoshop their lips to be SMILING at eachother!!!! subtle, but important! 

call me crazy for taking that much time but i’m so proud of how it turned out and i loved every second of making this one. that way, this scene makes it portray the happy ending for Jungkook and y/n! 

adding text to your header

you can use any app out there, but i really like Font Candy! I actually ended up buying the 2$ version of this and never regretted it, but you can actually find a lot of their basic fonts on the free version; I tend to use the fonts: OSTRICH SANS, BEBAS, TREND, and INTRO the most! these are pretty clean-looking, block letters that look good whenever i put them as my titles. 

I love this app too cause you can easily control the spacing between letters to make them take up more space, add shadows, or even make them contrast their background using the overlay feature; like this one i made for wildest dreams (see how the text changes depending on what part of the photo its on? amazing! it’s literally with a click of a button!!)

And i’ll always add “written by HAYJEON” or “by HAYEJON”, space it out, and add it somewhere underneath as my own branding.

orrrrrr 

if you want to be more creative, you can even go a step further and use whatever you have on hand to enhance whatever you’re trying to portray. 

for this one, i ended up finding this amazing photo on unsplash and i thought it would do a create job of portraying the “movie-set” quality of what wildest dreams is going to be about. this stock photo had someone else’s names on it, so i used my ipad, and used instagram to just erase the existing writing with the color of the background, and then wrote in my own title and url with my own handwriting/apple pen!!! 

i thought this was pretty cool because it’s like wildest dreams is its own movie/has its own movie set, which, once it’s out, you guys will see that it’s supposed to be! 

saving/uploading

this is pretty easy/obvious, but i figured i’d mention it. all the apps i mentioned are available on the appstore, and they will save directly to your photos. after doing that, i’ll just upload them into a special folder i have on my google drive so that when i’m finished writing a fic on tumblr using my laptop, i can easily download the photos without sacrificing quality. easy! 

and that way, i can save them forever; even if i have to delete them from my computer, i can always redownload them! 

side note: making text separators

i just recently started doing this, but ever since tumblr took down their text separators, i’ve just been cropping the bottom like 5-10 pixels of the header to use as my text separators! (with my laptop)

i saw some other writer doing it and thought that it looked better than what i had used previously (a cropped photo of a random line i found on google); i found that doing this tied my fics together a little better and just looked better aesthetically; 

so there it is! hope you enjoyed! :) i would love to see what other tips you guys have been using, feel free to send me an ask or reply to this post; and if you end up using any of my tips, please let me know! I love to hear from you guys all the time <3 

lots of love, especially during these times, 

hay <3 

#writing tips #story talk

[momentofmemory]

creator tag game

rules: answer the questions and then tag 10+ other creators to answer the questions!

tagged by: the most beautiful, lovely, supportive cheerleader ever @timothyolyphant 💜

first creation and most recent creation of 2020: apparently they were both about family and this was 100% unintentional? 

most recent: the old guard + family

first: spider-man + family

one of your favorite creations from 2020: allison argent + hamilton. this is one of those sets where i knew exactly which scenes i wanted blended together and then managed to execute it as-intended and it just. ugh it’s so pretty. and painful. so my two fave things.

a creation you’re really proud of: what’s up danger + sam wilson. both the concept and the execution turned out fire, man—I switched up a lot of my typography choices from my normal thing and I love how it looks.

a new style you tried this year and a gifset that uses it: this og six set. i switched up my blending technique for it, and i really love how it turned out—i’ve been finessing that technique ever since, lol. 

your favorite coloring: this scott mccall set, because any time I make TW look visible—let alone pretty—it’s a triumph, but also working on that first gif 1)took forever and 2)turned out really pretty in comparison to the OG colouring.

a creation that took you forever: black panther + pray for me. my very first attempt at Big™ gifs, and finessing the scene choices, overlay techniques, and fonts took like. hours. i love it so much and  will forever be sad it didn’t show up in the tags.

your creation from 2020 that received the most notes: sam wilson + i’m captain america. tumblr didn’t eat the post despite the blm donation link (which can still be used fyi!). <3

a creation with a favorite scene/quote: this edit of quiet uptown murders me every time. the scenes/cropping/overlays i wanted just came together really well.

a new fandom you joined and a creation you made for it: nile freeman + quotes. the way i adore that woman and her strength and determination and gentleness?? yes good. the colouring & typography worked together really well for this set.

a creation you made that breaks your heart: i made this set on grief in the black panther back in july and it already cut deep at the time, and now it hits... differently. nikita gill’s poetry is excellent and getting all that text to work on a set of four gifs was a fun challenge.

a ‘simple’ creation that you really love: this tfatws set was put together & posted in under like 20 min right after the trailer dropped because I was so excited. the black & white effect was a  callback to this set from the previous year. ...except that set took like ten hours lol.

a creation that was inspired by another one (add both your creation and the one that inspired it!): i don’t think i have any sets that were explicitly inspired by another set this year, but i’m almost always staring at @anya-chalotra​’s work when i need insp.

a favorite creation created by someone else: no picking one is impossible i refuse?? a few at random that are so pretty i want to yeet myself into the sun:

tony stark appearances by @timothyolyphant​ - gorgeous, amazing, phenomenal

scira + yellow by @lovingyennefer - it is my children and this is so pRETTY

jatp + wake up by @betty-coopers - the colouring and blends on this are gorgeous

tog + dæmons by @nilefreemans - excellent concept, A+ execution

the witcher + purple by @yenvengerberg - the colouring and overlays have me !!!!!

avengers overlays by @sersi - LOOK AT THE OVERLAYS. LOOK AT THEM. 10/10.

derek and scott + brothers by @alexjulies - the way i am soft and also typography??

the witcher + fave quote by @anya-chalotra - she doesn’t know how to make a bad edit and i am constantly in awe

some of your favorite content creators from the year: NO TOO MANY. everyone tagged in any sense in this post and also everyone i’ve reblogged from ever.

for good measure, another a couple more creations of yours that you love:

star wars s7 finale + ts eliot - this finale broke me and i couldn’t stop thinking about this  poem the whole time, and i love how the overlays turned out.

scott & stiles + twenty-one pilots - if you’d told me i’d be giffing teen wolf this year i’d have laughed at you. yet here i am, fully <3333 for these two.

marvel + little women - this set is peak i just think that women™ and i love it.

tagging: everyone tagged previously and also: @capsgrantrogers | @merlinemryspendragon | @jemmablossom | @clintfbarton | @hollywoods | anyone else that wants to go!

#tag games #end of year #content creation

[afni-fics]

Elder Scrolls DC - A Reluctant Dragonborn - Chapter 9: Bleak Falls Barrow - Exterior

Elder Scrolls DC - A Reluctant Dragonborn - Chapter 9: Bleak Falls Barrow - Exterior by C_R_Scott Chapters: 9/? Fandom: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Red Robin (Comics), DCU (Comics) Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Characters: Tim Drake, Lucien Flavius Additional Tags: Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Skyrim/DCU crossover, Reluctant Dovahkiin | Dragonborn, Not Beta Read Summary:

Tim and Lucien make their way to the exterior of Bleak Falls Barrow, and Tim has another altercation with the local bandits, though this doesn’t go as smoothly as how it did with the tower bandits.

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It took another solid two hours of of hiking along the snow covered mountain path before Tim and Lucien finally caught their first up close sight of the exterior of the Bleak Falls Barrows resting at the base of the mountain peak.

Though the stonework was worn down by weather and age, the decorative stone archways that led the way to the Barrow entrance were still an impressive sight to behold. It was both magnificent and ominous at the same time.

"Wow," Tim breathed out.

He could hear the smile in Lucien's voice behind him. "Oh this is wonderful!" he exclaimed as he reached into his backpack and pulled out a leatherbound journal and what appeared to be a type of pencil made of a thin stick of graphite held in a simple, but effective, carved wooden holder. "I couldn't be certain when I saw the Barrow from a distance back on the road between Helgen and Riverwood, but up this close there's no doubt that this place used to be a temple of the Dragon Cult!"

"Dragon Cult?" Tim glanced back at Lucien

"It was a cult of dragon worshipers who were at their height during the Merethic Era about four thousand years ago," Lucien murmured as was sketching and jotting down notes. "They had a huge presence in Skyrim during that time before the Nords rose up and overthrew their dragon overlords."

"Could they be the reason that a dragon attacked Helgen?"

Lucien paused in his note-taking and looked at Tim. "I... don't think so. The Dragon Cult was destroyed midway through the First Era, which came after the Merethic, again several thousand years back, and nearly all dragons were killed with them during the Dragon War. The dragon at Helgen... Well... I think that might be the first sighting of an actual dragon in these lands since that Era."

Tim shrugged. "Ah well." Then he looked back at the Barrow. "Why don't you stay here to finish your notes. I'm going to scout ahead. See if there are any bandits about."

***

Turns out there were bandits patrolling the exterior of the Barrow. Tim watched the movement of three of them as they paced back and forth beneath the massive stone arches as he hid behind a wall at the base of the stairs. Tim frowned. This was going to be a challenge. Not only did those bandits have the high ground, putting him at a distinct disadvantage, but all three also had bows, which meant if they saw him they could pick him off at a distance.

But Tim had a bow of his own.

Reluctantly, he pulled it off his back and nocked an arrow to the string. Doubt began to creep into his thoughts. He was trained as a Bat, not an Arrow. Though he knew how to use a bow, it wasn't something he ever used extensively like his bo staff. He also didn't have the knowledge yet on how to alter the arrows to make them non-lethal but still precise and functional. Did he even have the skill and precision to shoot one of the bandits from a distance and not kill them?

As one of the bandits paused in their patrol and stood in one place for a moment, Tim brought up the bow and drew the arrow so that the fletching just barely brushed his cheek as he aimed at the bandit. For the first time in forever, he said a brief silent mental prayer for forgiveness if his aim was off before letting the arrow fly.

Unfortunately for the bandit, Tim's aim was off. He had been aiming for the bandit's shoulder, hoping to make it so the man couldn't wield either his bow or the war ax hanging off his waist. But he misjudged the distance and arch the arrow would travel

Instead, the arrow flew far too low and pierced the bandit through his knee, straight through his kneecap. Tim winced at the scream of pain before the bandit lost his balanced, tumbled down the stairs, and knocked himself out along the way. Reflexively, Tim rushed out to check the man to make sure he was still breathing. However, the scream had drawn the bandit's other two compatriots who saw him immediately.

Before he could get to the fallen bandit, Tim saw an arrow just whiz past his face, and he was forced to dive for cover behind a pile of stones. Unable to reach him with their arrows, the other two bandits drew their axes and swords and began to rush down the stairs.

While he was behind cover, Tim swapped his bow for his quarterstaff. As soon as the second bandit was within range, they found themselves with doubled over in pain as the wooden staff swung out and caught them across their stomach. As quickly as he could, Tim followed up by moving out from behind his cover and swept the legs out from under the bandit, causing them to fall to the frozen hard earth with a solid thud.

Before he could follow up and land a blow that was certain to knock the bandit out, the third masked bandit lashed out at Tim with a giant war ax. The world-displaced vigilante tried to block the blow with his staff, but there was too much force behind the heavy metal blade! As soon as it connected with the quarterstaff, the weapon split into two pieces with an explosion of splinters and Tim was knocked backwards to the ground!

Tim could hear a gravelly chuckling from the bandit as he approached to finish the job. The young man looked up to see his attacker raising his axe above his head to land the killing blow. Something shifted in Tim's perception. The image of the bandit was suddenly overlayed by an image of the headsman from Helgen. An icy shard of fear and desperation spiked through Tim as the axe began to fall.

"No!"

Suddenly, there was a moment of blackness in Tim's vision.

Everything was suddenly cold and still.

Slowly, Tim's vision began to clear. He was breathing in ragged gasps. Then he registered that his hands were full of something, and there was a weight bearing down upon his arms. He looked up in in growing horror as he saw an iron sword in his hands, the blade of which was now stained in fresh crimson blood. His eyes followed the trail of blood up the length of the blade until it abruptly ended in the chest of the final bandit.

As the masked bandit fell onto the ground, Tim dropped the sword.

"Oh no... No... No no no no no..." Tim dropped to his knees at the side of the fallen bandit. Frantically, he searched the pouches at his waist and found the one that held several red bottles of healing potion. Then, as quickly as his shaking hands would allow, reached out to remove the bandit's mask from his face.

Tim nearly dropped the potion.

"Croc?!" he gasped as he stared in shock at the unconscious man's reptilian face.

Tim froze for a moment. Thoughts raced through his mind. Killer Croc couldn't be there, could he? How would he get from Gotham to here? Was he hallucinating? Had he finally cracked and lost his mind?

Then he noticed something. He shoved his more panicked thoughts as far down as he could and leaned hard into his more analytical mind.

"His scales are the wrong color," he murmured under his breath. "Croc's are green, and these are brown." Tim took another breath. "Croc is taller, bigger, bulkier... This one's only about as tall as me. This is not Croc." Finally Tim felt the panic begin to subside.

Quickly, he uncorked the bottle and poured the liquid into the reptilian man's mouth. "Please... Please let this work," he whispered as he watched the bandit's throat shift as he swallowed.

The man's shallow breathing began to even out and get a little stronger. When Tim checked the wound through the hole in the bandit's armor, he was somewhat amazed to watch as the awful gaping injury began to mend itself right before his eyes. It appeared he might be alright now.

"Timothy?"

Tim glanced up to see Lucien standing nearby, a very concerned look on his face. "Are you alright?"

Tim set down the bandit's head as gently as he could on cold hard ground. "I think so. Just... caught a little off guard." Slowly he rose to his feet, feeling a little weak in the knees and light-headed. His back and left arm were also throbbing with pain adding to his disorientation. He stumbled a bit as he tried to catch his balance.

Lucien came up and helped to steady Tim. "I should say so," the scholar remarked. "You act as if you've never seen an Argonian before."

"Argonian?"

Lucien nodded. "Yes... They're a race of reptilian beastmen who originate from from the lands of Black Marsh, but they can be found all across Tamriel. Have you never encountered one before?"

Tim looked down at the Argonian as the man began to cough and groan. "Back home I know someone who looked a lot like him," he admitted uneasily. "He... wasn't a good person."

The scholar tilted his head curiously, giving Tim the same appraising look that he had earlier at the earlier bandit's watchtower. "That reminds me. I've been meaning to ask..." Lucien tried to look Tim in the eyes. "Where is home for you anyways? You look like you could be a Breton or an Imperial, but I can't place your accent."

Tim bristled visibly. "I'm no Imperial," he said coldly. Before Lucien could ask any more questions, he distracted himself with the fact that the Argonian was waking up and trying to sit up on his elbows.

"Y-you saved my life," the reptilian man said in a gravelly voice that, thankfully to Tim, sounded nothing like Killer Croc. Though Tim couldn't be sure, the tone of Argonian's voice sounded confused as his gold eyes, with slits for pupils, focused on Tim. "Why?"

Tim's expression softened. "I didn't want you or your people dead," he said simply.

"But I... but we attacked you?"

"I'm no executioner," Tim said. "And I don't know why you and the others turned to crime to survive in this place. Perhaps your reasons are justified, perhaps not? I'm in no place to judge."

The Argonian's pupils went from slits to fully round in an expression Tim assumed could be surprise?

Then Tim motioned his head toward the ruins. "My friend and I are going into the Barrow. Are other bandits inside?"

The Argonian nodded.

"I may not want anyone dead," Tim continued before turning the tone of his own voice lower and foreboding and kneeling so he was nearly nose to nose with the reptilian bandit. "But know that I am not above crippling anyone in order to defend myself and the people under my care." Tim's expression turned cold and menacing, his blue eyes like blades of unmelting ice. "My advise to you and your friends out here... Don't follow us. Just walk away. If I find you in my way again, I will make you regret every life choice you've made up to that point, and I may not have any mercy potions left to spare. Do I make myself clear?"

Once the Argonian nodded again, pupils still blown wide, Tim stood up and looked to the massive doors leading into the Barrow. Then he looked at Lucien, who had been watching the entire exchange with more that same contemplative expression. Whatever questions he had, though, Lucien decided to hold them for a different time as Tim addressed him.

"Did you get enough information for your journal?" Tim asked.

Lucien shrugged. "Sure. I got enough notes about the exterior. Let's move onto the interior."

As they walked away from the bandits, Tim paused to look at the remains of his quarterstaff where it had fallen in pieces. He sighed and walked over them.

"Do you need to borrow my sword?" Lucien offered as he saw the state of Tim's destroyed weapon as they moved up the stairs.

Tim shook his head. "I'll make due."

Then they pushed open the doors to the Bleak Falls Barrows and stepped inside.

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Warning: This is being pantsed more than plotted, and this is not beta read. We'll see where this journey takes us. Mostly I'm just doing this for my own amusement.

Note1: If you have any questions about the playthrough and Tim's feelings/experiences that aren't described in the chapters, please ask me in the comments. I'll do my best to answer your questions as best I can.

Note2: It just so happened that during this playthrough one of the bandits ended up being Argonian along with the usual couple of human races, so I just decided to run with it with the role play.

Note3: I have also added a new mod to allow for more hand-to-hand combat options for Tim. It's called "Way of the Monk - Unarmed Combat" (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/17684). One of the aspects I love about this mod is that, with a solid sneak skills, you can get access to both a "Chokehold" ability and a "Knockout Punch" ability! Woohoo! Using this mod in conjunction with another combat mod called "True Spear Combat" (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/10483) allows me to give Tim his actual combat skillset of using both his longstaff and unarmed abilities! True Spear Combat even gives me access to shuriken and throwing daggers, so I can give Tim a ranged attack that has nothing to do with bows.

#elder scrolls dc #skyrim fanfiction #tes 5 skyrim #tim drake #red robin #batfam fanfic #wip #crossover #afewnovelideas

[the-old-40sbuckybarnes]

You Mean, Like a Date?

Summary: It’s 1942, and when Steve decides to get really drunk, he realizes he might like Bucky as more than a friend.

Pairings: Preserum Steve Rogers x Bucky Barnes

Word Count: 2,765

Warnings: drinking, some angsty feelings and some internalized homophobia, but mostly fluff! :)

A/n: this is my first time publishing a fic!!!! apologies in advance if it’s terrible but i just love stucky so much!

Steve always liked the color red. He admired the way it gleamed amidst all of the patriotic paraphernalia that lined the streets of New York. He loved the way it reminded him of the crimson dress with gold buttons that his mother would wear only a few times during the year, for special occasions. But most of all, Steve felt proud when he saw the color red, staining his hands as he wiped away a bloody nose. He wasn’t afraid of a fight, and dark red blood courtesy of his neighborhood tormentors only emboldened him to fight back.

However, right now, Steve never wanted to see the color red again. He sat alone at a bar just down the street from his tiny Brooklyn apartment and glanced down at a thin piece of paper that detailed his personal information and health records, overlayed by a big, ugly, stamp in bright red ink that said, “DENIED.”

Though Steve was by himself, the bar was teeming with activity. On this Friday night, tall, muscular, handsome men decked out in shiny uniforms were dancing and laughing with their girls before they were to be shipped off to war. A roar of laughter erupted from a group of friends beside him, and Steve winced in annoyance, immediately holding up a finger to signal for another drink. Steve watched intently as the bartender uncapped a frosted glass bottle of beer and slid it over to him. Steve wasn’t much of a drinker, because well, he was as small as men were made, and alcohol tended to destroy him from the inside out. But this was Steve’s fourth rejection from the US military. The war was still raging on overseas, and Steve woke up everyday with a sense of guilt. He felt utterly useless. As he downed his fifth(or was it the sixth?) Budweiser, an “I Want You,” poster taped to the wall mocked him.

The handsome jerks at the bar continued to have a good time, quite ostentatiously, and Steve was about to just pick up a six pack from the store and drink by himself at home, when a forceful clap on the back and a smile that spread like butter prevented Steve from furthering his downward spiral. Speaking of handsome jerks…

“Hiya, Stevie,” crooned Bucky Barnes. He plopped down on the barstool next to him and ordered a whisky. “What’s a guy like you doing in a bar like this?” He teased.

Steve was half relieved, half annoyed to see his best friend interrupt his pity party. Bucky always cheered Steve up, but that was usually through constant pestering and jokes that Steve didn’t feel up for. Steve was just too tired, too drunk, to convey anything but a mumbled, “fuck off,” to which Bucky promptly laughed in response.

“Jesus, this one’s gotta mouth on ‘em,” He mocked incredulously, and Steve rolled his eyes. “What, you got rejected by the army so now you’re trying to be a sailor, starting with their damn vocabulary?”

Though Steve was pissed because of his rejection, a smile broke out on his face. Scratch what he was thinking earlier about not being in the mood-- no matter what the state of his misery way, Steve loved Bucky’s attention. He loved it when Bucky was around. His presence was so warming, and Steve just couldn’t believe he had doubted Bucky’s ability to truly make him feel better.

Unfortunately, Steve didn’t exactly have the capability to be articulate right now. So instead of saying something along the lines of, Hey, Buck, I really appreciate you spending time with me. You always make me happy, “Mmmm, fuck youuuu.” Was all Steve could say with agrin and a drawl.

“Deep down, you know you love me,” Is all Bucky said back plainly, a smile on his face, realizing the fact that Steve must have been drinking for a while if he was cursing this much.

Steve didn’t know if it was the alcohol or his ever present anger towards the entire United States Military, or what, but his heart surged when Bucky smiled back, his charisma practically radiating onto Steve like sun rays on a hot day at Coney Island. Steve half giggled- half snorted and absentmindedly reached out a hand and caressed Bucky’s face. Well, it was more like him patting his cheeks softly the way a grandmother did with a newborn, except way more drunk. “Bucky, Buck, course I do Bucky, hm, you’re blushing! You’re blushin’ Buck.” Steve slurred out, ruffling Bucky’s hair with his other hand.

“Okay, crazy,” Bucky chuckled back, reaching to remove Steve’s clumsy hands, when the pad of Steve’s thumb brushed the corner of Bucky’s lip. Bucky froze, hands caught on Steve’s wrists gently and looked into his eyes. Steve was looking back at Bucky, his bright blues accentuated by the dilation of his pupils, courtesy of the all the beer in his system. The encounter couldn’t have lasted more than a few seconds, but it felt like forever for Bucky, who could feel his heart beating in his chest. Steve, even in his intoxicated state, could feel a radiation of energy between them. Suddenly, Bucky blinked his way out of his entranced state and cleared his throat, setting Steve’s hands back down. Steve watched Bucky shift his eyes around the room, before downing the last of his whisky and smiling, like nothing had happened. What had happened anyways? Steve could barely even remember where he was…

“Well, Rogers, I’d say you’ve had enough to drink, but watching you drunk is really fucking funny,” Bucky waved at the bartender. “Another round on me?”

***

“I mean, you should’ve seen the guy’s face, Buck, he didn’t even look at me for more than five seconds and I knew his mind was already made up. “

Police sirens wailed in the distance and a light drizzle fell atop Steve and Bucky’s heads. The streets of Brooklyn were quiet, but not yet silent as the night faded into early morning. A hum of action constantly surrounded the burough, and it was comforting to the two men who trotted down the road.

“I mean, at least let me take the goddamn test, like the other fellas--a fair shot! Gimmie a fuckin’ fair shot before you say no.” Steve half exclaimed, half slurred into the air, and Bucky laughed in response, mostly because Steve always got really cute and frustrated with he was drunk.

The two had been walking for some time, because though Steve’s apartment wasn’t far from the bar, Bucky had to nearly drag the kid home, as he was far too drunk to make the journey alone. Bucky was drunk too, no doubt, but compared to his smaller friend, he could handle his alcohol. Steve continued to ramble on as they finally made their way up the stairs of the apartment complex. On instinct, Bucky reached for the hidden spare key, knowing his friend wouldn’t be able to produce his own at the moment. Bucky turned the knob and ushered Steve inside as the rain picked up into a steady fall.

“You know, I think you should go, Buck, an’ pretend to be me. You’d for sure pass their little test, huh?” Steve though out loud resting against the countertop. Bucky stood opposite to him, resting against the oven, though there still wasn’t a whole lot of room between them, given the small size of Steve’s kitchen. A dim overhead lightbulb illuminated the pair amongst the dark apartment.

“Though, it wouldn’t be long before they saw your handsome face and then recognized my name and then… well they’d figure it out and then we’d both go to jail.” Steve managed to get out, eyes cast downward to the tile floor.

Bucky let out a small scoff and smirked. “So you think I’m handsome, huh?” He replied, his voice low and hoarse, almost suggestive in the silence. He thought back to their almost intimate encounter a few hours ago that had him caught up in Steve’s eyes and slightly shaken for the rest of the night. He wanted to say something more, though he didn’t want to scare himself, or Steve with the feelings that were creeping up on him.

Steve took tentative steps towards Bucky, the sound of his soft, but ragged breathing filling the air, and soon Steve was mere inches apart from Bucky. Looking up through his eyelashes, Steve outstretched a hand, his dainty fingers gently cupping one side of Bucky’s face, for the second time that night, though this time, Steve was driven by a sense of purpose. A surge of warmth pulsated through both men’s veins as they were brought together. Bucky, swallowing thickly, allowed himself to relax as much as he could beneath Steve’s touch, comforted by the fact that they were no longer in a crowded bar with eyes everywhere, but he was still tense.

“Yes,” Steve finally said quietly. “I do think you’re handsome,” Though he was still incredibly drunk, his words felt sobering as the sound of rain pattered on the glass window pane. “So handsome.” Steve almost gasped out with a slight laugh. If it hadn’t been for the incessant pounding of his heart that traveled to every inch of his body, Bucky might have been able to produce something beyond the slight curl of his lips that emerged after Steve spoke.

Steve’s mind was foggy, and he felt disoriented from reality, but he felt compelled to follow through with what was about to happen. Pushing himself up on his tiptoes, Steve’s eyes fluttered to a close. Bucky’s soon followed, as he lowered his neck to reach Steve. The two reached each other ever so slightly. Their lips danced atop each other, like ghosts, hesitant of the next move that could forever change their relationship. Steve used his other hand to fully cradle Bucky’s face, partially to make the moment more intimate, but also because he so desperately wanted to draw Bucky closer.

With that, Bucky decided to plunge himself into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Steve’s delicate body, and holding him carefully as if he was all that he needed. The kiss was passionate and warm, with Bucky taking control and savoring the touch and taste of Steve’s soft lips, that were exploring the sensation of a kiss for the first time. An aura of innocence and excitement surrounded the two men, in the way only the experience of a first love could create.

That was until Steve began to feel more things he never had before. Heat and tension filled his body, sending a feeling through him like nothing else. His lips parted slightly, and a soft, almost inaudible sigh laced with pleasure escaped him. But he didn’t have the opportunity to enjoy it any longer. Steve was abruptly pushed away--gently-- but the very action of it felt cruel.

Bucky had broken off the kiss. He was exasperated and worried. His wide, but sad eyes met Steve’s confused ones. Bucky shook his head and then swallowed the lump in his throat.

“You’re drunk,” He said, almost spat, trying to keep his voice form wavering, because for some reason, tears were brimming in his eyes. What was going on? Bucky knew he wasn’t like this. He never got emotional. He was strong. But gazing upon Steve beneath him, with flushed lips that had just been on his, Bucky was frightened by the fact that he wanted to kiss those lips again. Maybe if I pretend he’s a girl… Just close my eyes and imagine someone else… Bucky thought to himself, trying to reason with the impurity in his mind, but he shook it away, knowing it would be in vain. “Steve, you’re drunk. This is wrong, a-and you don’t want it. I know that.”

“Bucky-” Steve began, feeling defeated. Even drunk, he understood the rejection.

But Bucky just pushed past Steve, slinging on his jacket he had absentmindedly taken off as he came in. “I’m sorry, Stevie.” He said at the door, trying to be as firm as possible, but the tender nickname had slipped out. Bucky took one last look over his shoulder at Steve, standing sad and confused beneath the light, and then stepped into the darkness.

***

The chilly mid-November rainfall had no effect on Bucky, who was fuming as he hustled back to his own apartment. Bucky was a jumble of emotions. He was conflicted at his enjoyment of the moment he had just shared with his best friend, but angry at himself for indulging in such a wrong action. But he had liked kissing Steve. He really had. Bucky realized he had been falling for Steve for all of these years, it just took until tonight for him to realize it.

But Steve was so incredibly drunk. He probably didn’t even mean it… And even if he did, well, Bucky wasn’t going to do anything while Steve wasn’t in a proper state of mind. Bucky felt like he had to push Steve away, no matter how much it had pained him. He reached home, his mind still a mess of guilt and pleasure. Bucky’s last thought before drifting off to sleep was of Steve’s lips.

***

Steve awoke the to though of Bucky’s lips. A lazy smile brushed across his face as soft morning light filtered in through his windows. Unfortunately, as soon as that happened, last night’s memories flooded his mind. Steve thought about kissing Bucky, but groaned as he recalled his rejection. Pulling himself out of bed, he turned the radio on and began to freshen up. A sense of wonder surrounded him as he pulled a clean shirt over his head. Steve had kissed Bucky last night. And for a little while, just a little while, Bucky had kissed him back. A broadcast of war updates and death tolls hummed from the radio. Steve thought back to the kiss, the softness in Bucky’s touch, and the safely he felt wrapped in Bucky’s arms. If Steve couldn’t make a difference overseas at war, than he sure as hell was going to make one here at home.

***

A sweaty, heaving, Steve Rogers stood on Bucky’s doorsteps a few minutes later. Bucky, standing over the threshold and holding the screen door open, was shocked, not only to see Steve given last night, but because the asthmatic looked like he was about to faint.

“Can I come in?” Steve panted out.

“Yeah, jeez, sure,” Bucky chuckled, hoping Steve didn’t remember last night, but also hoping that he did. The two took to the kitchen once again, Bucky grabbing a glass of water for Steve. “No more alcohol for you, Steve, I mean--” Bucky started, trying to feel out the situation, but Steve cut him off.

“I’m still a little hungover. But I’m not drunk anymore, Buck.” Steve said, quiet, but brave, just like himself. This time, it was Bucky’s turn to walk over. Steve’s big blue eyes intoxicated Bucky far more than all the beers he had last night. Doubt resurged in him, but Bucky pushed it down. He wanted this, he knew he did. For the second time in less than 24 hours, they were inches apart.

“And I still think you’re handsome. I still want to kiss you.” He whispered, looking up at Bucky. Steve bit his lip, fearful of being rejected again, but at the same time, wanting his best friend again so badly.

Within a matter of seconds, Bucky’s lips collided with Steve’s again, as tender as ever. As the two explored the kiss, they carefully held each other, mouths fitting seamlessly together in a nimble dance. Steve’s heart fluttered as one of his hands softly gripped the base of Bucky’s neck, resting in his overgrown curls. For one, brief, beautiful moment, neither Bucky nor Steve cared that they were kissing another boy. Because all they wanted was to be with each other, and right now, they were.

Bucky smiled into the kiss, his lips curling as he pulled away slightly and opened his eyes to find a tiny, bubbling Steve Rogers. Bucky caressed Steve’s jaw and tucked a strand of blonde hair behind his ear.

“I guess this is the part where I ask you if you wanna see a picture or get a shake or somethin’?” Bucky murmured, cocking his head.

Steve blushed fervently, raising a curious eyebrow at Bucky. “You mean, like a date?”

Bucky grinned and pulled Steve in for another kiss, their lips lingering over one another. “‘Course, Stevie. Right down to the part where I gotta pay for everything, huh?”

#bucky barnes x steve rogers #stucky #stucky fanfiction #stucky oneshot #pre serum steve #pre serum stucky #bucky barnes #steve rogers #captain america #fluff #stucky fluff

[mysticsparklewings]

Fairy Enchanting‪

A bit later than I expected, but here we have the art that I used for the examples on my Commission Sheet! (Unoriginal title is unoriginal and also a pun based on "very enchanting") When I started thinking about putting together a commission sheet in the first place (which was something I wanted to do for the new year, as before I was just using a lengthy pricelist), I knew that I wanted to make a piece of art specifically for it and track my progress as I went, so that I would have an example for each stage in the process I take commissions for. And for the art, I more or less wanted to "go all out" since it's supposed to be an example, and I figure the example needs to be as close to top-notch as possible. Admittedly, I probably could've done even more than this, but me being me I procrastinated and ended up having less time to work on this that I initially expected, so... In deciding what the drawing would be, I also decided to return to my roots a little, and a do fairy as an homage to back when I used to do Winx art all the time. Likewise, as Enchantix to this day is my favorite transformation from the show, I drew heavy inspiration from it, and I'm sure that's so obvious that if you know the show I probably didn't have to point it out to you. Anyway. I actually didn't start completely from scratch with the sketch; I re-used this pose from a previous sketch I did that never saw a full-finished piece. I liked that other sketch okay, but it didn't feel like a "finish me" project. I did have to alter the feet because the original sketch was made with feet for ballet slippers (bigger heels, more rounded/curved toes, etc.) and much later on in the process I ended up angling the leg on the left more outward, as that felt more natural for the direction I was taking this new sketch in. In sketching all the bits that make this sketch otherwise unique from the old one, as I mentioned, I was taking heavy inspiration from Enchantix. One of my favorite parts of the transformation has always been the leg-wrap/barefoot sandals, for reasons I can't explain. So those were a must. I also really like how the Enchantix outfits tend to be short dresses that are more form-fitting at the top and more flowy and soft at the bottom. Here, I decided to bring the ribbony look on the leg wraps up into the bodice, and to frame the collar/shoulder area I used a sleeve & choker style similar to what I did for the dress for Ink Dance, which itself was based on a dress I actually own and love to pieces despite never getting a chance to wear it because of how fancy it is. The main difference for both of the drawing versions is that I skipped the lace overlay that connects the sleeves and choker, mostly because both pieces are traditional and drawing lace/mesh traditionally, especially when it's so teeny, is a nightmare I do not want to engage with. And the choker part fits nicely, as in Enchantix each fairy has a necklace (usually a choker) that holds their fairy dust bottle. I'm not sure if this fairy has one or not, but she very well could! Enchantix usually has long gloves, but I altered these to be shorter and fingerless (more like Magic Winx or Believix gloves) since this fairy is also based partially on myself, and I'd be more likely to wear that kind than the full-length formal gloves. And for the hair, as is maybe obvious, I was primarily inspired by Stella's for her Enchantix, since I've always loved that part of the transformation sequence for her's. Also, even though it doesn't look that way on my commission sheet, IRL I drew only one wing and left it separate, off to the side, to make positioning and flipping it easier. Once the sketch was done, I did try inking it traditionally/by hand once, and I just really wasn't happy with how it turned out. And I also realized I had drawn the skirt billowing/ruffling in completely the wrong direction anyway; It was moving to the left when it should've been moving to the right like the hair. So I had to take time out to fix that. As opposed to wasting more paper trying to ink traditionally after that fiasco, I instead went with what had been my gut instinct anyway; I scanned the sketch in and did the lines in Photoshop. Well, most of the lines. I was a dumb-dumb and when I did the lines for the wings, 1. it took forever because they're large curves everywhere and 2. I used a slightly bigger brush than for all the other lines, as I had mistakenly thought I was going to be re-sizing them significantly and the lines would be altered to for me when I did that. When I realized that wasn't the case, I did not want to have to redraw most of those curves again and risk not being able to get the right a second time. So I ended up booting a copy of the wings I'd already done into Paint Tool Sai and made use of the linework layers to redo the wings without having to draw the same line fifty times. Then I booted that back into Photoshop and adjusted the wings to be angled/aligned with the rest of the lines as I saw necessary. It was also at this point that I played around with positioning the leg on the left more outward than what it was on the sketch and ended up going with the position you see here. I could have then gone back and added weight to the lines in some places, but at this stage, I was already thinking that I wanted to print the lines out and use my digital lines to hopefully get cleaner traditional ones, as opposed to just printing the lines off outright. (Mostly because I wanted to use some super thick mixed media paper that I would bet serious money will not go through my printer.) That's what I ended up doing, and I have to say that attempt went a lot more smoothly than me trying to ink from the original sketch. And once I had the initial lines done, then I went back and thickened them in certain places. And I should probably mention here that the wings were a little tricky to figure out how to handle traditionally, as that's not something I've had to do very often. I ended up using my clear stardust gelly roll when I did the normal inking, and then, later on, I used colored pencils to go back over the outlines before coloring them in. After doing some tests, I started coloring with markers for the hair and skin, and a little colored pencil for some blush. I tried to get a little more bold with the shading than I usually do, which I'm sure still looks pretty tame compared to most. But I'd rather the shading be too light than too dark. Originally, I thought I was going to do all or mostly all of the coloring with alcohol markers. (Sidenote: is it just me or does it seem like there’s a lot of alcohol marker related stuff going on in the art world lately??) But then I did some testing with the lines I originally inked and didn’t like, and was reminded why I normally don’t use alcohol markers for gradients like the one on the skirt...frankly, I’m not very good at them...yet. Even though the test went better than expected, I still wasn’t happy with it. Then I tried a few more tests with watercolor, and that didn’t fare much better. Watercolor would’ve worked if the gradient wasn’t also supposed to be shaded, I think, but trying to shade it without using another supply wasn’t working. That left me with good ol' tried and true colored pencils. But colored pencils are relatively slow and textured, and I didn't really want that for the skin. The texture would've worked for the hair, but I didn't want to make the time investment for it either. And so I ended up sticking to my mixed media instincts and I used the colored pencil exclusively where I had to (on the dress so I could get the gradient for the skirt right) and then I used alcohol markers everywhere else, shading and all. With the alcohol marker doing most of the work, then I came back and added additional shading/highlights with the colored pencils as needed to everything except the skin. I added blush, but otherwise, I was quite pleased with how the skin turned out and didn't want to touch it for the risk of ruining it. The dress is supposed to be black/really dark gray, but I did brighten it up a bit with some of the blues from the skirt gradient as opposed to pulling out specific grays, so it definitely looks/feels more navy in the final product. Although my relatively dark/saturated color choices for her outfit made figuring out what to then do with the wings more challenging. I didn't want the wings to be the exact same colors as the rest of the drawing, because then they'd blend in too easily and be too distracting from the rest of the piece. But at the same time, I wanted them to match/look like they belong. (Again, similar to how the wings are in Enchantix) After some back-and-forth testing and a LOT of color sampling, I decided to color the wings in with alcohol markers in colors that were similar to her clothes but overall lighter/more pastel and outline them and the sections inside the wings again in colored pencil. Most of the colored pencil is slightly darker than the marker colors I picked, but I went with purple for the black/gray rims of the wings because I thought a dark gray or black would be too harsh. I'd already decided I wanted to do a slightly more complex background digitally, but even with that in mind, the traditional drawing still felt like it was missing one more thing after that. Namely, the wings didn't seem special enough. I realize that sounds a little weird; I was just talking about how I didn't want the wings to be too distracting, but I think there is a delicate balance to having them be special in the way fairy wings should be while still not overpowering everything else. And I'm not sure I achieved that, but I at least tried to. Though not a perfect solution, I ended up adding some metallic watercolor on top of the "true" (less purple-y) blue and pink sections on the wings.  You can't really tell here on the scan, and what little you can appears to be the wrong color, but in person, both colors now how a lovely pink or blue sheen to them when you move the picture in the light. (The metallic paints, in this case, are very opalescent, so they're almost completely transparent when you see the flat color despite still have a really pretty metallic sheen in the light.) After that, I felt there wasn't much more I could do traditionally, so I scanned it and moved on to that background. At this point, I was kinda pressed for time because me being me, I had unintentionally put making my commission sheet off to the last minute. I really wanted to have it finished before the ball dropped on New Years' Eve ("new year, new me" and all that jazz), and I still hadn't finished my example art by sunset time the day of. So I had to keep things moving. Early on, I'd had the idea to either digitally make a slightly more complex (but not too complex; I wanted to keep at least a little of the sanity I have left) background or perhaps make a special watercolor piece to use as the background. Unfortunately, I just didn't have the time for that anymore if I wanted to have the commission sheet finished by my self-imposed deadline. (And if we're splitting hairs, in theory, I could still go back and change the background if I wanted to, for reasons I'm about to go over, so of all the things to get rush-cut that's really not so bad.) What I ended up doing instead was taking some of the left side of my Starfall Mountains painting (I was looking for a background-type thing I'd already done/made that would suit this drawing or that I could quickly tailor to make it work, and I'm just as surprised as anyone else that this frustrating tiny painting ended up being the one I liked best of my options) and I blew it up to comfortable cover the background here, flipped it around so the colors would flow a bit better, and used the hue/saturation slider to make it more of teal color for a little more contrast. But of course, there was still just one more thing missing, even after all that. After a little tinkering, I decided I didn't like trying to making the wings transparent (I could do it, I just didn't like the way it looked in this case), so I went in and added a touch of sparkles digitally to both tie them more into the piece as a whole and to give them a little more pizzazz. And finally, blessedly after all of that, the artwork was finished, I was very happy with it, and I could move on to making the actual commission sheet.   I have to say, for as rushed as it was towards the end, I do really like how it turned out. More particularly I like just how blended both digital and traditional art ended up being here. To me, this is the next step beyond what I was able to do for mixing digital and traditional art with my Doodle Moon piece, and if I weren't currently in the middle of a tablet crisis, I'd really want to do more with this concept of going back and forth between the two on one artwork. However because of the tablet situation, the thought of really trying to do that right now kinda fills me with dread, so we're gonna have to wait a little while on that. I do also really like the anatomy/proportions in this. Which is not something I normally feel comfortable saying.   It's not the best art I've ever made or anything, but looking at it makes me happy. It's good to see it finished and it's good to think of where a lot of the ideas for it came from. (Re: Nostalgia for my life a few years ago) I'm not sure if I will since it kinda counts but also kinda doesn't(?), but I'm tempted to put this and some of my old Enchantix drawings up on the "Draw This Again" template, just to show how far I've come. I'm still thinking about it, we'll see. Speaking of "we'll see," I got word that the sketchbooks from the contest I made Designiest Design for back in October are finally in, which means the prize packs should be sent out anytime now! I'm excited to see how the sketchbooks turned out and get my hands on the Powder Pack and see how said powders work! I was admittedly starting to wonder how that was coming along, so that was some good news and a nice surprise I'd really been needing here lately. Rest assured, there will almost definitely be an art piece talking about that stuff once I have it in my hands! 

____ Artwork © me, MysticSparkleWings ____ Where to find me & my artwork: My Website | Commission Info + Prices | Ko-Fi | dA Print Shop | RedBubble |   Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram

#fairy #enchanted #enchantix #enchanting #fae #faerie #magical #magical girl #magic #winx #winx club #galaxy #space #mixedmedia #digital art #traditional art #alcohol markers #colored pencil #acrylic #photoshop #photoshopcc

[animus-wild-magic]

Questions and answers

Hell guys! I wanted to thank your support and the amazing question you've sent me during this last week. They are all awesome and interesting questions I'd love to share with everybody here in this article. Your curiosity and support means the world to me! (: So, let’s begin!

Q: Do you intend to release a print version too?

A: Yup! That's the dream! Q: How do you shadow / light your drawings? Do you use adjustment layers in masks or do you pick the colors manually?

A:  I pick the colors manually, respecting a specific color palette created for each scene. I also uso a lot of gradient tool, in modes such as multiply, overlay and lighten 🌈 About masks: I LOVE masks, hahah! I use them to separated the characters from the BG and other elements

Q: How much time do you spend on a comic page on average? 🤔

A: hey! I generally take beween 10 and 15 hours of my weekly schedule to work on this comic, and I a generally able to produce a page a week. That being said, I spend a huge chunk of time previously organizing and planning thumbnails, poses and sketches, so I'd say tot total amount of hours is longer than this. Some pages are more complex and demand more time, too! Anf finally, if you're interested, I've written a post in my blog detailing this entire process: "One single page" https://bit.ly/2CbPvV6

Q: What studies did you do mainly in preparation for your comic? Did you have to look up specific locations? Styles?

A:  I am very methodic, so I id a lot of studies. mainly: character studies, color palettes (for each moment of the story and the overall character and location colors), locations, envir onments and buildings (I've modeled the entire village of Arceria in 3D, haha!) and a lot of style research from many of my favorite artists!

Q: Do you work a few pages ahead of the one you're scheduled to post or do you post them as you're finished working on them?

A: I have a generous buffer of ten pages, haha! I share some of them earlier with my supporters are Patreon, but I like keeping ahead of my posting schedule! Gives me time to take a second look, correct colors and dialogues, and this way I can keep my page updates regular!

Q: Did you write the script yourself?

A: Yes, this is an entirely authoral project!

Q: how did you first come up with Animus? I feel like I read this in the blog a while back, my memory is foggy though... I do remember reading on many masks.

A: The first time I considered creating a new comic, I wanted to make it about growing up as a girl. I read "Women who run with the wolves", and I was really inspired by the mysticism of those female oriented tales throughout time. My wish was to create a captivating story about womanhood, that could be filled with this magic and mysticism! When Alma leaves Arceria, she's leaving childhood and beginning her journey. Ooh, and yes, many masks! Those are the tools she'll use to craft her own magic! I wanted this to work both in a literal and more ritual way, but also to make sense as we all try on many masks as we grow up and have to face the world.

Q: What were the hardest/most important choices you had to take during this project?

A: “To color or not to color that’s the question!” It took me forever to decide whether this would be full color or not, for a mix of time management, production printing and what I envisioned as the final result. I’ve opted for full color, simply because I love color, and I want this project to look the best it can by the end of it. I’ll find a way with production later! There were some hard choices for the script as well, such as stuff I had to let go, and also a couple of sad mourning moments for the emotional attachment to some events in this story.

Q: Where do you find inspiration, for environment and character design... plot ideas, character development, etc?

A: For environment and character design, I generally look out in nature and history. I love to watch documentaries on those topics, so for example the village of Arceria has elements of ancient Greece, but it's villagers dress a little more like a mixture of Ethiopian and Persian colorful clothes, but the palette chosen is quite more inspired on summer blue and violet sunsets ( I love to observe the sky!).

Now, for plot, character development and such, j don't think there's a way to tell a honest, compelling story if not by being true to yourself and sharing your own experiences. I look for things that can resonate in a more emotional way with others, and then create ways to tell it through fantasy and magic, but the core of Animus is still about a girl growing up and facing wild changes in her world.

Q: What's the most challenging part of this project for you?

A: Wow, that's a tough one! Well, I have to say it is the emotional struggle to keep focus and not give up or being overwhelmed by the work. Most of my blog posts are about this inner fight! Drawing, painting, technique, all of this you can improve by reading and watching video. The challenge is not to lose your mind and your focus during the process, really!

#animus #comic #comic creator #indie comic #independent comic #questions and answers #ask me anything #creative process #motivation

[sorenmarie87]

Howlin’ for You

Summary: Winnie and you talk Garth into throwing a Halloween party, but when you can’t find Garth all night, you start worrying.  

Pairing(s)/Character(s): Garth x Reader, Sam x Eileen, Castiel, Dean, Charlie, Winnie (OFC) 

Word Count: 2,051 

Warning(s):  Lots of fluff.  Alcohol mentions.  Sexual comments.  

This is an extra chapter in the Anything For My Lady series.  It’s gonna make more sense if you’ve read it beforehand.  

A/N:  I need to thank @fictionalabyss and @coffee-obsessed-writer for all their help and listening to me ramble on about this story.  

I do not own any of the pictures used in my story aesthetic.  I found them on pinterest.  I also hate to say this but if you’re reading this fic - please be over 18.  

Forever Tags - @lovetusk @coffee-obsessed-writer@mirajanefairytailmage@kazosa@soythedemonqueen@docharleythegeekqueen@holyfuckloueh@ellen-reincarnated1967@ravenangel33 @buckyscrystalqueen@clockworkmorningglory@lefthologramdeer@disneymarina

SPN Tags - @underestimatemethatwillbefun @nyxveracity

You were putting the finishing touches on your makeup for your costume.  Halloween had always been one of your favorite holidays, and with the help of Winnie, you convinced Garth to let you throw a party.   Anyone else would find it strange - werewolves throwing a Halloween party with their Hunter friends but your family managed just fine.  There were never any urges to go out looking for human hearts - you lived off of animal hearts, so everyone would be safe.  

You heard tiny feet run into your room and with a smile you turned around to see Winnie.  “Mommy does this look right?”  You placed the brush down in front of the vanity, taking a glance at your daughter’s costume.  The three of you had binged on The Musketeers recently.  You were going as Constance, Garth was going as D’Artagnan of course, and Winnie decided to go as King Louie.  Her costume looked correct but there was something missing.  “You look fantastic your highness, but your hair is wrong.  Let’s fix that shall we?”  

Like her father, she loved whenever you would play with her hair.  However tonight - she was wearing a black wig to bring her costume together.  Plugging in the curling iron, you called her over to the seat in front of the vanity and waited for it to heat up.  

“Are Uncle Sam and Dean coming tonight?” Winnie asked as you worked on curling her hair.  

“Of course they are.  Uncle Sam is bringing a special friend with him, is that okay?”

“Does that mean I can't marry Uncle Sam when I grow up?”  You chuckled and paused.  

“I hate to tell you kiddo, but I think you might have to find someone else.”  Someone age appropriate, you thought to yourself as you watched her expression change in the mirror from disappointed to happy.

“As long as he's happy, I'm happy.”  She wiggled slightly and you had to remind her stay still.  You told her that she could downstairs once you were finished but she shook her head and clung to your side. “Wanna go together.”  You heard voices coming from downstairs and you felt Winnie take ahold of your hand.  

“Okay, let's go.”

--  

It had been an hour and you couldn't find your fiance.  Garth wouldn't just vanish, so you made your rounds.  Sam and Eileen were chatting with each other on the love seat.  She must've signed something inappropriate because you watched Sam's face turn beet red.  

You practically squealed in approval when they showed up.  Sam was dressed as Hercules, and Eileen was beside him as Meg.  You excitedly signed to Eileen that her costume was perfect and you watched as her cheeks flushed.  Cas arrived behind them and you giggled to yourself.

“Father Castiel, how are you doing?”

“My child, I am doing fine.”  You snorted and watched as Castiel gave a curt greeting to everyone he saw.  Both Sam and Eileen chuckled as they made their way into the house.

You smiled as Winnie ran over to Charlie and practically tackled her to the ground.  “What did we say Winnie?”

“Mama, she's my queen though.”  You watched as she sighed and Charlie smiled at the younger girl as she moved her into her lap. “It's fine, Y/N.”  

“You should see her when she hasn't seen the boys or her father in a while.”

“I can only imagine..”

“She doesn't look like much but that girl is super strong.”

--

“Y/N, hey Y/N…”  You turned around and Dean was standing there with a glass of scotch in his hand.  You got a good look at his costume, and you snorted.  He was in a solid black suit with a matching tie and you let out a low whistle.  

“Looking good there, Winchester.”  He grinned as he stepped further into the light and his usual sandy blonde hair was pitch black.  “I hope that isn't permanent.”  

“God no… “  You chuckled as he ran his free hand through his hair.  

“Hey Dean, by chance have you seen Garth?”  He took a sip from his glass and shrugged.  “Thanks for nothing.”  

--

Winnie was passed out on the couch so you picked her up and took her upstairs where it was quiet.  You laid her down in your bed and sat down beside her.  “Where is your father Winnie?” You brushed a stray curl away from her face and sighed.  As she flipped over, he wig started to come off.  You chuckled to yourself and took a picture before something caught your eye.  There was a garment bag hanging from the closet door with a post it on it.  You smiled at Garth’s handwriting but raised an eyebrow.  ‘Put me on and meet me in the backyard.’  You gasped as you unzipped the bag and peeked inside.  

The dress was beautiful.  It had a deep sweetheart neckline with spaghetti straps and a fitted waistline that flows into an intricately beaded lace overlay with a floor length skirt.  You were trying to remove your costume as quietly as you could but you were having some trouble.  “Mama, do you need some help?”  You glanced over your shoulder at Winnie and laughed to yourself.

“Mama’s arms are kind of short, so I can’t reach the zipper.  Think you can unzip me?”  Winnie nodded as she wiped her eyes and carefully made it to the end of the bed.  Her little fingers fumbled at first, but when you heard the zipper going down, she smiled.  “Thank you Winnie.”  She watched as you slid the dress off and it pooled at your feet.  You carefully remove the new dress from the hanger, unzipping it first and carefully slide into.  Winnie helps zip your dress and kisses your cheek once she’s finished.  

“You look beautiful mama, but I need to go change now..”  She jumps off the bed and practically rushes out of the room.  With the door left wide open,  Charlie peeks in with a giggle.  

“I thought you might need some help, but I guess Winnie took care of everything.”  You chuckled as she entered your bedroom, closing the door behind her.  

“Well not everything.”  You smoothed down the front of your dress and made sure everything was in the right place.  “How’s my makeup?”  Charlie reapplied some light pink lipstick and looked you over once again.

“Looking good mama.  However…”  She moved behind you and unpinned your hair.  You watched her in the mirror as your hair cascaded over your shoulders.  “There we go.  Garth is one lucky man.”  

“He really is.”  

“Okay, you ready?”  The two of you made it into the hallway as Winnie ran past you in a hurry.  ‘Sorry mama!’  You heard her call out and you chuckled.  Dean was waiting at the top of the stairs with a grin on his face.  “You look beautiful sweetheart.  Garth won’t know what hit him.”  He winked and extended his arm out to you.  “I know it’s usually the father’s bride who walks her down the aisle but…”

“I’m actually grateful it’s you and not my father..”  He was the reason you were a werewolf in the first place.  He was also the reason your mother wouldn’t be here either.  You shook your head, trying to get rid of the negative thoughts as you made your way towards the patio doors.  As you put your hand on the door handle, Dean stopped you from opening it.  He handed you a bouquet of Fall colored flowers and smiled.  

“On three, okay Y/N?”  You heard him count to three, as the two of you opened the doors, your jaw dropped.  How did Garth have time to do this?  Sam, Eileen, Charlie, and Winnie were each holding a little jack o lantern that lit up as you walked up the aisle towards Garth and Castiel, who you found out was officiating the wedding.  

Dean released you from his arm with a kiss on the cheek and Garth took your hand into his.

“I was not expecting to do this tonight but we are gathered here tonight to join Y/N and Garth in holy matrimony.  Garth has prepared something special for Y/N, in place of vows.”

“Thank you Castiel.”  You smiled as Garth took hold of your other hand.  “Y/N, there is no doubt that I love you, I mean I have loved you since we were kids.  We have an amazing daughter and a life together that I wouldn't trade for anything.”  You met his eye and he smiled.  “You are the only one for me, everyone would agree.  I will spend the rest of my days loving you, and our children - however many we have.  You make my life so much better.”

You felt him wipe away a tear and he smiled at you, his own eyes misty.  “I love you too.”

“Get on with it!”

“Put a cork in it Unca Dean!”

“Okay Garth, do you take Y/N to be your wife?”

“I do.”  You watched as he slipped a band that matched your engagement ring onto your ring finger.

“Do you Y/N, take Garth to be your husband?”

“I do.”  Winnie pressed something into your hand and you thanked her.  You slipped the ring onto Garth's finger and grinned.

“With the power invested me by Heaven and my father, I now pronounce you husband and wife.  Garth, you may now kiss your bride.”  The kiss only last a few seconds, but as soon as the two of you broke apart, Winnie ran up to the two of you and almost knocked you over.

“Mama, can I spend the night at Aunt Charlie’s ?”

“You don't want to stay with Uncle Dean for the night?” She shook her head and the two of you chuckled.  “Aunt Charlie can watch you, but only if she says yes, okay?”

‘'Kay!”  

You knew this playlist and you laughed as Howlin’ for You started playing.  Garth wrapped his arms around your waist and the two of you swayed along with the beat.  You felt his mouth right by your ear and you blushed as he told you what he was planning after everyone left.  The song changed and Winnie pulled Garth away to dance, and when Dean approached and asked for a dance, you agreed.  

“I never thought I would see the day when Dean Winchester asks for a dance.”  He spun you in a circle and pulled you back in.  His hand was resting on your back and you grinned.

“This is a special case.”  He looked away from you and you heard a low chuckle coming from him.  You watched Sam and Eileen dance in the corner, and even Charlie and Cas were swaying along to the music.  It was your turn to chuckle and it warmed your heart as your eyes landed on Garth and Winnie.  She was standing on top of his feet as the music played on.  “So any special plans for tonight?”

“You know damn well what’s going to go on after all of you leave.”  You wanted to stop there but your mouth and brain decided against it.  “I’m going to tap him like a maple tree, Dean.”  

“Gross, why did I even ask that..”  Dean blanched pulled away and you chuckled.  

“YOU ASKED WINCHESTER, remember that!”  You wrapped your arms around his neck and pull him back towards you.  “Hey Dean?”  

“What?”  

“Garth is going to put piece A into slot B and repeat vigorously.  There’s going to be so much going on tonight that I won’t know where I end and Garth begins.  We are going to hump like bunnies…”

“Stop, for the love of God just stop.”  

“You started this train Dean and guess what?  The fuck train has no breaks.”

“PHRASING Y/N.”  You kissed Dean on the cheek with a giggle after the song ended and made your way back over to Garth.  There weren’t many guests but when one trickled out, the rest went with them.  Charlie had Winnie’s overnight bag on her shoulders and Winnie made sure to get a hug and kiss from the two of you before they took off.  

“Alone at last, Mr. Fitzgerald.  What should we do?”  

“How’s about I carry you upstairs and show you, Mrs. Fitzgerald?”  

#SPN One shot #Garth x Reader #Sam x Eileen #Garth Fitzgerald IV #Garth oneshot #SPN #Supernatural

[raptorginger]

Handprints (Complete, 10k+ words) - by raptorginger

Chapter 1: Dark Souls

It was 11:00PM when he heard the tiny voice behind him.  He was levelling up in Dark Souls III after a particularly grueling battle and hadn’t heard her sneak up behind his chair.

“Uncle Ben?” asked the tiny voice timidly.

He turned immediately to see the little girl that had become his whole world in a few short months.  Little Cass.  She stood rubbing her big brown eyes, blonde hair sleep ruffled, black jammie dress with the little aliens on them wrinkled.  She was holding her favorite stuffed dog by its paw, the one that was almost as big as her.  He could see tear tracks down her pink cheeks.  She’d had the dream again.

“What is it, Sweetheart?  Did you have the dream again?”  he asked tenderly, holding his arms out.

The tiny creature clambered eagerly into his arms and lap, nodding as she did so.  “Uh-huh.”  

Ben readjusted her in his lap so he could hold her, the stuffed dog, and his controller.  He held her tight.  She’d been having the dream on and off in the several months since her parents had died.  She would be with them, her mom and dad, somewhere sunny and happy, when a dark shape would take them from her, consuming them in a dark cloud.  She would scream and reach out, her tiny hands grasping at nothingness.  And she would fall, fall forever into a dark pit, the darkness swallowing her small body completely.  

Since Cass had come to live with Ben after his sister, Padme, and her husband’s death, he had done all he could to help her adjust.  He knew he was a poor substitute for her parents, but Cass had loved him all the same, even opening up and talking to him a little bit.  The first time she’d come to him holding out a tea cup and asked him to play, his heart had soared, and he knew he’d do anything for this small child.  It killed him that he couldn’t keep her nightmares from her sleep.

He held her tightly while the game’s music played quietly in the air around them.  He sensed that there was more she wanted to say, but he didn’t push.  She was starting kindergarten tomorrow.  She was having a hard time socially, which was understandable, and honestly, he probably wasn’t the greatest role model in that department.   She was probably terrified.

He felt guilty about that, but there honestly wasn’t a whole lot he could do.  He’d done the playdate thing a few times at the behest of his mother, trying to make awkward small talk with the other parents, typically moms, but all had simply looked at him askance and with strange, slightly accusing looks, like they didn’t believe he was Cass’ legal guardian.  They’d all huddle together, whispering, keeping him out.  It was like high school all over again, and it pissed him off.  But, he’d borne his discomfort for Cass’ sake.  Cass hadn’t had an easier time.  She couldn’t talk to the other children.  She’d always end up playing alone.  So, they stopped doing the playdate thing.  Now Ben would take her to the park, and they would just play together.  They’d play pirates or swing or scramble about on the fort.  That’s when he’d see her old smile come out, and his heart would soar.

“Are you scared of starting school tomorrow?” he asked quietly.

Cass nodded, nuzzling into her dog.  “Uh-huh.”

“Why?”

She thought awhile before answering.  “What if the other kids don’t like me?  Like all those kids at the park?”

Ben felt himself getting angry.  He counted to ten.  He sighed, “Those kids at the park were not nice.  The kids in your class are going to be different.  And they’d be crazy not to like you.  You do have to talk to them though, Sweetheart.  They won’t know you’re nice if you don’t talk to them.”

“But what if there’s like, a hundred?! That’s too many people to talk to!”

Ben felt a smile quirk his lips.  “That is a lot, but I highly doubt there will be that many.”  In fact, he knew that for certain.  He’d picked this school specifically because of the small class size.  And the teaching philosophy, but that was beside the point at the moment.

Cass made a small humming sound into the dog’s neck.

Ben continued, “And you don’t have to talk to everybody.  Maybe just pick one classmate who seems nice like you and say ‘Hi.’  That would be a good start.”

“What if they don’t say hi back or say something mean?”  Cass asked plaintively.

“Then they don’t say ‘hi’ back, and you’ll know not to try and be friends.  If they say something mean, then tell your teacher.”

“What if the teacher is mean?”

Ben highly doubted that.  The teacher, a Rey Johnson, had sent a letter to each parent about a week ago.  It had been a cheery introduction, detailing her background and how committed she was to their child’s education.  Ben had gotten the sense that this woman was irrepressibly cheerful and probably the nicest person in the world, perfectly suited for her job.  “I don’t think your teacher is going to be mean.  But if she is, come tell me, ok?”

Cass nodded, “Ok, Uncle Ben.  Do I really have to talk to anybody?”

Ben sighed softly.  “No, you don’t have to, but I’d like you to.”  He really wanted Cass to have a friend her age.  Her 30 year old surrogate parent uncle couldn’t be the only person in her life.

Cass snuggled deeper into her stuffed animal.  

“I’ll make you a deal.  If you talk to one of your classmates, I’ll take you out for ice cream when I pick you up.  Deal?”

Cass looked at him.  “Ok.”  She paused, “Can we get ice cream even if I don’t?”

Ben looked into her big brown doe eyes.  “Of course.  But if you talk to another kid, I’ll make it a McFlurry.”

She broke out into a wide grin, making Ben break out into one of his own.

“Can I watch you play a while?”

She really shouldn’t, she had school tomorrow, but she looked like she’d fall asleep any second.  “Ok, Sweetheart.”  Cass snuggled deeper into Ben’s arms as he unpaused his game, making sure he didn’t fight anything too scary.  She was asleep in an instant.  A few minutes later, Ben saved his game, turned off the television, and carried Cass to her bed, tucking her and her dog in tight before kissing her softly on the forehead, hoping that kept the bad dreams away.

Chapter 2: Purple Cubby

Ben pulled his black Jetta TDI into a parking space near the entrance to the school.  It wasn’t the designated drop off area per se, but Ben wanted to walk in with Cass. They’d arrived a bit earlier than the typical drop off time.  Ben was hoping to have a word with Cass’ teacher Mrs. Johnson (Ben assumed she was married; most teachers he’d met were), and Cass wanted him to walk in with her anyway.  

Ben knew he looked ridiculous, walking in to the school.  He was tall and broad and even looked ridiculous in buildings with regular size furniture.  He tried to shrink himself, hunching his shoulders, ducking his head sightly, one hand stuffed in the pocket of his jeans.  Cass clung to his other arm.  He led her to her classroom, following the cheerfully painted signs to Miss (he noticed) Johnson’s room.  He looked like a giant among the child sized chairs and tables.

It was a bright and cheerful room.  There was an abundance of windows letting in the natural light, what little wall there was was painted white and covered with boards that would eventually display the students’ work.  A banner ran around the room near the ceiling, repeating the alphabet in bright colors.  There was a little alcove off the room that held the children’s cubbies for coats and bookbags and boots.  Each cubby was painted a different color of the rainbow, a prettily painted little sign with each child’s name hanging from it.  Ben presumed Miss Johnson had made those herself.  Ben helped Cass find her cubby and hang up her jacket and backpack.  Ben saw Cass smile sweetly when she saw her cubby was painted purple, her favorite color.  

“Did Miss Johnson know that’s my favorite, Uncle Ben?!” she asked incredulously, her voice barely above a whisper.

“No, but I’m glad it worked out that way,” a lovely voice answered.  Ben turned and saw a young woman behind them.  Miss Johnson was very young and very pretty, he realized.  She was wearing a white a-line dress with an eyelet overlay under a seafoam green cardigan and black flats.  It accented her natural tan skin, warm brown hair,  and the smattering of freckles on her face.  Her hazel eyes were full of light.  Her rosy lips were smiling sweetly down at Cass.  “Hi! I’m Miss Rey,” the woman said, still looking at Cass.  She had knelt down to one knee to bring her eye level with her as she introduced herself.  Ben tried not to look down her dress.  He felt his face starting to turn red.  He ran a hand through his unruly hair, mussing it further.

“I’m Cass Antilles,” Cass said softly.

“Hi Cass! I’m happy to have you in my class,” Rey replied softly.  “Since you’re the first here, would you like to go pick your seat?”

Cass nodded enthusiastically and scampered off to choose a seat near one of the windows, leaving Ben alone with Rey.

Ben held a hand out to her, to help her up.  She took it, his large hand dwarfing her small one.  He had a good foot on her in height.  Keeping a hold of her hand, he gave it a slight shake.  “Hi, I’m Cass’ uncle Ben Solo.”

She smiled up at him, her hand very warm in his own.  “I’m Rey Johnson.”  Her voice had a lovely timbre and a British accent.  He could listen to her talk all day. 

“Umm, listen, could I talk to you a minute? About Cass?”  Ben asked.  When she glanced at the clock, he added, “I won’t take too much of your time, I just need you to know a bit about her situation.”

Rey nodded, “Alright, Mr. Solo.  But other children will start arriving soon.”

“I know.  I’ll be brief.  I became Cass’ legal guardian when her parents died.  Her mother was my sister.  She and her husband died in an accident a few months ago, and Cass came to live with me.  She’s been having trouble opening up to people since then.  She’s very quiet and shy, even before the accident, but even more so now.  But she’s a sweet girl with so much light and niceness.  I just really want her to have a friend that isn’t me…” Ben realized he was starting to ramble, his hands beginning to tug at his hair.  He was looking everywhere but at her.

He quieted when Rey touched his arm.  Her touch was warm and gentle.  “I’m so sorry for your loss Mr. Solo.  For yours and Cass’.  She is a sweet girl.  I will do my best to help with her social development this year, you have my word.”

Ben nodded, meeting her sincere gaze.  He often forgot, in caring for Cass, that he had also lost his sister, his best friend.  He didn’t dwell on it too long or he might fall apart, right in front of the glowing woman before him.

“And if I may say so, you’re incredibly sweet,” Rey blushed when she paused a bit too long.  “To be concerned about her well being I mean,” she added hurriedly.  

“Of course I am.  Who wouldn’t be concerned about their child making friends their own age?”  Ben replied, trying desperately to ignore her blush.

“You’d be surprised, Mr. Solo,” Rey replied sadly.  “Anyway, thank you for telling me about Cass.”  She held out her hand again.  

Ben reached out slowly and took it, the warmth spreading through him again.  “Call me Ben.  Thank you for listening, Miss Johnson.”

“Rey, if you please,” she replied, giving his hand a small shake.  She released him, turning to address the other children beginning to filter into the classroom.

Ben watched her move about the children, directing them to their cubbies and helping others find their seats.  She moved gracefully, a big smile on her face.  She radiated happiness.  Ben walked to the door, flipping a wave to Cass as he left.  He saw that a small dark skinned girl had approached her and was offering her a graham cracker from her bag.  Cass timidly took it and offered the girl the seat next to hers.  He smiled.  He had a good feeling about this year.

Chapter 3: Naptime

Rey worked quietly on her seating chart by lamplight during naptime.  She had switched off the overhead light and drawn the shades over the windows.  Soft classical music was playing.  Soon she would switch it off, open the blinds, and start waking the kids up.  For now, she worked.  Until a pair of soft brown eyes began to cloud her mind, filled with warmth and sadness.  Slowly the rest of Ben’s face formed in her mind, and her thoughts drifted to him.  His concern for his niece was so earnest.  Rey hadn’t missed the fact that he’d called her his child.  

She was glad she’d get to tell Ben he didn’t need to worry.  She looked over to where Cass was curled up, asleep.  She was huddled together with Marlo, the daughter of her friends FInn Brahe and Rose Tico, and Killian, the son of her other close friend Poe Dameron and his wife Jessika.  Marlo had offered Cass a graham cracker earlier that day, and Cass had offered her a place to sit.  Killian had taken another seat at their table, since he and Marlo were inseparable.  All three looked like they were becoming fast friends.  Rey smiled.  She couldn’t think of two nicer children to be friends with.

Her thoughts turned back to Ben.  He’d looked so sweet, large shoulders hunched, shuffling awkwardly, tugging his hair as he spoke.  His eyes held such a sadness.  Rey sighed.  She wondered if he’d had time to grieve for the sister and friend he’d lost.  If he had allowed himself that time, or if he’d thrown himself completely into caring for Cass.  Rey wondered if he had even wanted to be a father, what he’d had to do to adjust.  He seemed young, a bit older than her to be sure, but still young to have fatherhood unexpectedly thrown at him.  She wondered if he had anyone to take care of him.

Suddenly, an image popped into her mind.  Her fingers running gently through his hair, soothing him while he rested his head on her shoulder, his strong arms around her waist, holding her to him.  What if his plush lips ghosted along her neck?  Maybe his large hands would drift slowly up her back then back down, down to grip her…

Rey shook her head.  Nope, nope, she couldn’t think of that right now.  Besides, she thought sadly, someone like Ben probably wouldn’t want someone like her.  She was incredibly independent.  Finn, Rose, Poe, and Jessika were the only people in her life who had stuck around, seeing her loneliness in spite of her independent attitude.  Her parents had abandoned her, and she’d been kicked around multiple foster homes until she aged out of the system about 5 years ago.  She’d made peace with her past, but it had left its mark.  Most men she went out with found her difficult to deal with, and there had never been more than one date.  She didn’t need to inflict that on Ben, who clearly didn’t need anything else complicated in his life.

***

The rest of the day went wonderfully for Rey.  After naptime was art, music, and crafts.  She was too busy to think about anything but her kids.  Before she knew it, 3:00PM rolled around.  The bell rang, and Rey released her kids to their cubbies to gather their things.  Once the kids had everything, Rey herded them together and led them to the pick up line outside.  She waved when she saw Finn and Poe waiting patiently for Marlo and Killian.  The pair tugged on Cass’ arms, wanting to introduce her to their respective fathers.  Both men went down on one knee to say hello to the small girl hiding her face in Marlo’s shoulder, peeking at them shyly.   Rey was smiling at the group, hugging her arms to her midriff, when a shadow came up beside her.

“I can’t believe it,” she heard Ben murmur beside her.  His voice sent a shiver down her spine.  She held herself tighter and looked up at Ben’s bewildered but smiling face.  Her stomach did a flip.

“I’ve known those two since they were born.  You couldn’t find two nicer children,” Rey said.

“Rey, I...I can’t thank you enough for this,” Ben said, looking down into her eyes.

“I had nothing to do with it.  Cass did it all on her own,” she replied, returning his smile with a shy one of her own.

She saw something change in Ben’s gaze that made her blush slightly.  She looked away.  “I’ve known their parents since I was a teenager.  They’re good people.”

“Seems like it,” Ben said with a hint of caution.  His expression changed when Cass ran up to them.  He bent down and scooped her up in his arms, lifting her high.  Rey’s stomach flipped again.  She needed to get a hold of that; this really wasn’t fair.

“How was your day, Sweetheart?”  Ben asked Cass.

“Great, Uncle Ben! I made two friends!  Marlo and Killian!” Cass replied excitedly.

“You did?!  That’s awesome!”

Cass was nodding enthusiastically.  “Can I play with them at the park on Saturday?  Their dads said it was ok.”

“Of course, Sweetheart.  Did they say what time?”

“Lunchtime.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Cass hugged his neck tightly.  “Yay!!  Miss Rey, will you come too?  Mr. Poe said you should come.”

Rey had been so absorbed in the conversation between the two of them that she was startled when Cass addressed her.  “I would love to, if that’s alright with your Uncle Ben,” she stammered, looking at Ben.

Ben looked at her again, his brown eyes warm and inviting.  Was she mistaken, or was there less sadness when he looked at her?  “I’d love that.”

Chapter 4: Black Hat

Ben spent the hours Cass was at school actually in his office at First Order Web Design and Security.  He and another guy named Hux handled the security part while another team handled the web design part.  It was all run by this old codger named Snoke who wanted a foot in the tech world.

“Well well, the prodigal son returns,” Hux grumbled as Ben sat down at his desk.  Ben had made an arrangement to work from home until Cass started school.  He’s kept himself free that first day in case she needed him.  From all appearances, it didn’t look like she was going to.  With the help of her new friends, Cass was adjusting incredibly well.  It helped that Rey was their teacher, with her serene demeanor and just general air of kindness.  And she had those hazel eyes that danced when she saw him.  And that warm brown hair that complimented her golden skin perfectly.  And those damn adorable freckles...

“I hope you didn’t pester the NSA too much while I was out, Hux” Ben replied, shaking his head to scatter thoughts of Rey.  He was in a good mood.  

“No more than you do anytime you jump online, Kylo,” Hux retorted.  Ben scowled at Hux.  Both of them had done some black hat work in college and after, when Ben had used the hacker alias Kylo Ren.  Ben had given that up the second Cass was born.  Hux used the name to tease him now.

“Whatever,” Ben mumbled.

“So how is the little one?  Still ridiculously precious, I assume?” Hux asked.  Anyone else would have taken offense at Hux’s prissy tone, but Ben knew that’s just how Hux was.  Somehow Cass had reached through Hux’s cold exterior, and he genuinely did care.  

“Great, actually.  She’s making friends, smiling more.  It’s incredible, Hux,” Ben replied, gleaming.

“Really?  Who’s the teacher?”

“She’s, umm, new this year, according to her letter.  Her name’s Rey Johnson.  She’s…” Ben paused, trying to think of how to adequately describe Rey to Hux.

“Oh my Gawd, you have the dopiest look on your face,” Hux snickered.  “She’s that hot, huh?”

“Shut up, Hux.  It’s not like that.”

“Umm, yes it is.  I’ve known you since college, and I have seen that look precisely once.”

“Then you’ll remember the look that came after it,” Ben grumbled.  Rejection was not a good look on Ben.  He’d fallen hard for a girl in one of his classes.  She did not return the feeling.  He’d spent the rest of the day in his apartment, growling at Hux and stomping around.  Hux had finally had enough and had dragged him to the bar that night to get drunk and hook up with a random girl.  That had essentially been Ben’s only sexual encounter, and it had been shitty.  He found out he wasn’t the hook up type.  Ben realized a physical connection wasn’t enough.  He wanted an emotional one too.

“Oh please.  That was ages ago.  And who knows, maybe she’s The One,” Hux said, rolling his pale blue eyes.  He was Ben’s polar opposite in that department.

“Maybe…” Ben whispered to himself as he worked, seeing Rey dancing in his code.

Chapter 5: Touch

When Saturday rolled around (finally), Rey found herself staring at her closet like a deer caught in the headlights.  What the hell did you wear to a playdate in the park?  When you weren’t even a parent to one of the kids on said playdate.  And half the reason you were going was to slyly check out the large brooding man with the soft dark hair.  

Rey had found an excuse to touch his hair this week at pick up time.  She’d lied and said a bit of dandelion fluff had gotten caught.  Ben had obligingly bent down and allowed her to pluck the imaginary fluff from his hair.  She may have lingered a bit, stroking the soft strands gently.  

“Got it,” she’d whispered.  The look he was giving her left her breathless.

“Thanks,” Ben had replied, holding her gaze as he rose.   

Rey rifled through her shirts.  Unless she was mistaken, Ben must feel the same way she did.  At least a little bit.  It seemed he’d found any excuse to touch her this past week.  When a couple kids had bumped into her, she hadn’t really been in danger of falling over, but his long fingers had wrapped around her arms anyway, just to make sure.  She’d shivered as his thumbs rubbed inside her upper arms.  Another time his hand had come to rest on her lower back once when she’d tripped, just a little, on a bit of uneven pavement.  His warm touch had lingered maybe a tad longer than was necessary.

Rey found herself blushing like a teenager in her closet, one hand on her cheek, the other over her stomach.  She felt giddy, nervous.  She shook her head.  Focus, she told herself.  You don’t want to be late, she thought as she grabbed a pair of dark wash skinny jeans off the shelf and a fitted light grey tunic top off the hanger.  She tugged on her dark brown leather Frye riding boots to complete the ensemble.  She brushed her hair, working it into her favorite three bun style and rubbed some BB cream onto her face.  She grabbed a granola bar from the kitchen and threw it along with her phone and keys into her bag and headed out of her apartment.

***

It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny.  Everyone was already at the park when Rey pulled up.  Poe and Finn were chatting on a bench with Jessika while Rose was helping Killian cheer Marlo and Cass on as they tried to wrestle Ben to the ground.

Rey placed her hand over her heart, willing it to slow its rapid beating.  If she thought Ben was attractive when he was brooding, that was nothing compared to when he was laughing with a big smile on his face, children climbing all over him like a jungle gym.  And then Ben saw her.  He stopped laughing, but his smile grew broader.  Ben said a few words and pointed to her, the kids all turned and ran to Rey screaming, arms out. Still holding his gaze, Rey knelt down and held her arms out, little bundles of energy crashing into her.  

By the time she disentangled herself, Ben had made his way over.  He held his hand out to help her up.  She took it gladly, giving it a slight squeeze as she let go when everyone else came over.

“Glad you made it, Rey!” Jessika exclaimed, giving Rey a hug.

“It’s been forever!” said Rose, doing the same.  

“How have you been since yesterday?” Poe asked cheekily.  

Rey laughed, “Fine, Poe.”

“Can we have lunch now, Daddy?” Marlo asked Finn.

Finn laughed, “Sure thing, Peanut.  I’m starving.”

They all made their way over to a shady spot under some trees, Rose and Jessika spreading out blankets, Finn and Poe distributing sandwiches to everyone and bottles of cold tea to the adults, and Ben and Rey handing out sippy cups of water and bags of Cheez-its to the kids.  They sat in pairs, with the kids kind of in the middle.  The little ones ate and drank quickly and fell asleep just as fast.

They all talked for awhile, asking Ben about what he did for a living, Ben asking what they did, what everyone enjoyed doing on weekends.  Rey watched Ben grow from cautious and guarded to warm and open as he grew more comfortable with her friends.  She smiled, hugging her knees to her chest.  Picnics were all well and good in theory, but sitting on the ground quickly lost its charm.

Poe nudged Finn, prompting him to turn to Ben and ask, “Hey, Ben, what was that you were saying about your friends?  They’re playing some concert tonight or something?  Rey you’re not busy tonight are you?”

Rey shook her head, watching as a blush crept up Ben’s cheeks as he turned to her, tugging his hair again in that adorable way he did.

“Umm, yeah, my friends Hux and Phasma are playing tonight at the brewery downtown.  My parents offered to watch the kids for the night, if you’d like to come too.  I mean, you don’t have to if you don’t want…”

Rey smiled at him, resting her head on her knees.  “I’d love to.”

Chapter 6: Beer Garden

Ben’s palms were sweaty.  Why were his palms so sweaty?  Wiping them on his jeans, he kept an eye out for Rey.  A lot of people had turned out for the concert; that would please Hux and Phasma.  He’d helped them set up a couple hours ago before going home to shower and change.  

Cass and her friends were already at his parents’.  Leia had been overjoyed to host a sleepover.  Han was already on the phone with the pizza place, ordering stuffed crust.  Ben almost wished he was staying with his parents.  Almost.  His mother had given him a pat on the cheek before he left, his dad gave him a wink.  Apparently he hadn’t been as subtle about Rey as he thought in his conversations with them.

He’d also spent a few minutes before he left straightening up around the house, putting empty glasses and sippy cups in the dishwasher, putting his D&D 5e books back on the shelf with his video games, making his bed.  Not that he thought anyone but him was going to see it tonight, just because he had some time to kill.  Really, that was the only reason.

As he waited for Rey, he thought about Hux’s comments while he’d helped them set up.

“I swear to Hades, Solo, if you don’t make a move, I am going to call you out on stage,” Hux had said.  

Phasma, overhearing, had come up and added, “Yeah, we’ll make you sing.”  Ben scowled at Hux.  He must have told Phasma about Rey during one of their practices.

“You’ve been moon-eyed over this girl all week and you won’t shut up about her.  Just go for it, you moron.”

“Hux, you don’t know what you’re talking about.  Just leave it alone,” Ben had snarled.

Hux sighed, his haughty facade replaced with a kinder one Ben had only seen a couple times.  He put his hand on Ben’s shoulder.  “Ben, in all seriousness.  If you care about this girl, really care about her, you need to do something about it.  You can’t let fear hold you back from what could be the best thing to happen to you...ok, second best thing.”

Ben had looked at Hux dumbfounded.

“I mean, I’m obviously the best,” Hux had added in an exaggerated haughty manner.  

Phasma laughed and threw in her two cents.  “If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out.  But you won’t know until you DO something.  And from what Hux has told me, it sounds like this girl is warm for your form dude.  Go for it.”

And there she was, walking in with Finn, Poe, Rose, and Jessika.  She was laughing and smiling at something one of them had said.  When their eyes met, her smile grew a little broader, her eyes a little brighter.  She had let her hair down, the warm brown tresses curling slightly.  The afternoon sunshine had brought her freckles out a bit more.  Why was she always glowing?  Ben felt his palms get sweaty again. He shoved his hands in his pockets.

The group made their way over to him, Rey coming to stand beside him.  “Hey guys, glad you could make it,” Ben said sheepishly, trying very hard not to stare at Rey.  “Umm, they’ve set up a bar out in the beer garden where the concert’ll be.  They pulled some limited stuff out of the cellar, high octane so I’d be careful.  I can be the DD, if you want.”  

He pulled some cards out of his pocket, handing one to each of them.  “Hux and Phas gave me these as a thank you for helping them set up.  These’ll get you 15% off your drinks when you show them to the bartender.”

“Thanks, Ben!  That’s awfully nice of you!” Rose chirped.  

“Yeah, that’s awesome of you to offer, but we can just get a cab or something if you want to partake,” Poe said.

“No big deal.  I have room in my car, and I don’t really drink.”  He’d made sure to borrow his dad’s SUV, since there was no way he could get everyone in his Jetta.  Han had been almost too happy, shoving the keys in Ben’s hand and nearly shoving him out the door, telling him to have a good time with his friends.

“Well alrighty then!  Make a path, Finn is cutting loose!”  Finn had cried, making a beeline for the bar.  

Rose laughed, trailing after him.  “If I don’t keep an eye on him, I’ll lose him!” she shouted behind her.

Poe and Jessika followed after them, leaving Rey and Ben alone.

“Can I, umm, get you something?” Ben asked, running his hand through his hair as they walked out into the beer garden.

“Sure.  What do they have?” Rey asked as they approached the bar.  She was toying with her fingers nervously.

The bartender helped them both pick a beer, a session ale for Ben since it was low ABV and a chocolate mint stout for Rey.  As they were about to turn to leave the bartender called out, “Hey Miss! Wait you forgot your cookie!”  

Rey turned around confused, and the bartender handed her a Thin Mint.  “Your beer comes with a Thin Mint.  It highlights the chocolate and mint notes in the beer.”  

Rey thanked him and went back to Ben, nibbling her cookie.  “I got a cookie,” she said bemused.

“I can see that,” Ben replied, laughing.  He held his hand up when she offered him half.

They found the rest of their friends standing off to the side of the crowd and joined them.

***

A ways into the concert, Rey had lost herself in the music, and she failed to notice they’d lost Finn and Poe.  Rose came up to her, a bit drunk and frazzled.  “I lost Finn,” she wailed.

“Oh dear, he can’t have gone far,” Rey said, trying not to laugh.  She saw that Ben was still beside her, staring off into middle distance.

“Will you help me find him?  You know how he and Poe get sometimes,” Rose asked.

“Sure.  Ben, will you help me find Finn?  Ben?”  Rey touched Ben’s arm lightly.

“Huh?  Oh! Sure thing.  Come on, I think I saw one of them go this way,”  Ben replied, shaking himself out of his reverie.  He grabbed Rey’s hand, pulling her into the crowd.

“Thank you!” Rose called out as she headed a different direction.

Ben and Rey moved through the sea of bodies until they reached the middle of the crowd.  Ben was so tall, he was hoping he’d be able to spot one of them from the middle.  He scanned the crowd, but couldn’t see either of them.  He looked down and saw that Rey was wrapped up in the music again, moving slightly to the beat.  He stopped looking and watched her out of the corner of his eye.

Ben saw Phas catch Hux’s eye and jerk her chin in his direction.  Hux seemed to look him square in the eye.  Surely they couldn’t pick him out of the crowd.  

Or maybe they could.  Phasma stepped up to her microphone and said, “Alright folks, we’re gonna slow things down a notch.  Take a chance...to catch your breath.”  She and Hux started in on a slow romantic melody.  They had seen him.  Ben’s palms got sweaty again.  He wiped them on his jeans again.

As the song played on stage, Ben felt a surge of...something...flow through him.  Something bright and shining.  His hand sought Rey’s beside him.  Wrapping his long fingers around her hand, he pulled her closer.  She was looking up at him, her hazel eyes meeting his brown ones, her lips parted slightly.

“Rey,” Ben swallowed.  He bent down to whisper in her ear, “Can I...can I kiss you?”

Rey’s free hand came up and stroked his cheek gently.  “Yes,” she whispered back.

Ben’s heart sang as he turned his head slightly, capturing her lips with his own.  He kissed her gently, bringing his hand up to the nape of her neck, his thumb stroking behind her ear along her hairline.  

Rey returned his kiss shyly, having never been kissed like this before, or really ever.  He was being so gentle, almost like he knew.  When she felt his tongue brush her lower lip, a bolt of feeling went straight to her lower abdomen.  She opened her lips a bit, letting him in.  He deepened the kiss, increasing the pressure on her lips slightly as his tongue explored her mouth.  Her hand slipped into his hair, the soft locks like silk beneath her fingers.  She felt a hum vibrate in his throat.  Encouraged, she let her tongue slip across his.  His grip tightened on her neck and hand.  

Ben ended the kiss as gently as he began it when the song came to an end.  Resting his forehead against hers, he whispered, “I wanted to do that the second I met you.”

“Really?” Rey asked quietly, almost unable to believe it.

Ben nodded.

“Can I tell you something, Ben?”

“Anything.”

“That was, umm, my first kiss,” Rey stammered, looking down.

Ben pulled away from her slightly, a look of incredulity on his face as something almost primal roared through him.  Placing his fingers beneath her chin, he urged her to look back up at him.  When she complied, looking up at him through her lashes, Ben held her face between his hands, bringing his lips to hers again.  This kiss was deeper, almost insistent.  Another bolt of feeling shot through Rey, straight to the place between her thighs as Ben’s tongue stroked inside her mouth.

“We’d like to remind the audience that while PDA is fine, please keep it PG,” Ben heard Hux’s amused voice over the clamor of the crowd.  He and Rey jumped apart almost instinctually, both of them blushing deeply.  

“And to the two guys doing push ups in front of the stage, thank you for the entertainment,” Phasma added.

Ben cocked an eyebrow at Rey. “You don’t think…”

Rey held a hand up to her mouth, stifling her laughter.  “I absolutely do.”

Rey grabbed Ben’s hand and led him towards the front of the crowd.  There they found Poe and Finn, on the ground, doing push ups while Rose and Jessika tried in vain to get them to leave with them.  Apparently they had really enjoyed the bar’s high octane offerings.  With Ben and Rey’s help, Jessika and Rose managed to get Finn and Poe off to the side of the stage.  Both were incredibly inebriated.  

Rose turned to Ben saying, “I think it’s time to go.”

Rey smiled shyly when Ben looked at her and said, “I think so too.”

Chapter 7: New

Rey stood on Ben’s stoop as he unlocked the front door of his house, hands clasped together, nervously chewing her lip.  She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t a little bit scared.  She was a virgin, and while the concept held no meaning for her, the physical implications intimidated her a little bit.  She’d experimented a bit with her fingers in the past, read novels and stories online, but this was guaranteed to be something else entirely.  Ben was just so large; there was no way the parts she couldn’t see weren’t proportional.  And what about Ben?  Was he going to expect things from her?  Was she supposed to do something for him?  

Ben pushed the door open and turned to her, holding his hand out to her.  “Come in,” the faintest hint of a question in his words.  Rey took his hand tentatively, walking in.  Ben’s thumb brushed across her knuckles, trying to reassure her.

“Rey, I can take you home if you want.  You don’t have to stay.  With me,” Ben said gently.

“No, Ben.  I want to stay.  I...want it...to be you,” Rey replied haltingly, not quite sure how to convey that she wanted her first time to be with him.  Without sounding like a teenager anyway.  She pulled off her boots, a sign she intended to stay.

Ben wrapped her in his arms, holding her close.  “To be honest, Rey, you aren’t the only inexperienced one here,” Ben murmured into her hair.

Rey looked up at him.  “What?”

“I...I’ve only been with one other person.  It was a drunk hook up thing in college.  I learned that wasn’t for me.  Since then, there was never anyone that I...cared about enough to want to sleep with.”

Rey could only stare at him.  How could someone as attractive and caring as him have only slept with one person?  And did he say he cared for her?

“I mean, I’ve read and...stuff, so I’m pretty sure I know what I’m doing,” he said with a lopsided grin.

Rey reached up and ran her fingers through his hair, saying softly, “I trust you.”  She rose on her toes, “Make me yours, Ben” she whispered in his ear, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

That primal instinct roared through Ben again- the need to claim and possess.  Where the hell had that come from? He’d examine that later.  Right now, he bent and scooped Rey up in his arms and carried her to his bedroom.  He set her gently on top of the king size bed, cradling the side of her face in his hand.  Rey turned and nuzzled into his palm, pressing a kiss there.

Rey sat on the edge of the mattress, watching him intently.  His fingers trailed from her cheek down her neck, ghosting over her breast, causing her to shiver.  Ben leaned forward, capturing her lips in a deep kiss and his hands crept to her waist, grabbing handfuls of her shirt and pulling it up and over her head.  Rey blushed as he regarded her with eyes blown wide by lust.

“Stand up for me, Rey,” Ben said, his voice rougher and deeper.

Rey stood, shaking slightly, but trying to hold herself still.  Ben reached and unbuttoned her jeans, sliding them slowly over her hips and down to to the floor and off, kneeling before her.  Wrapping his arms around her waist, Ben looked up at Rey.  

“So beautiful,” Ben whispered as he began to press kisses onto her stomach and hips.  His large hands began caressing her back, down over the curve of her ass and back up.  He could smell her arousal through the grey silk.  Shit that was hot.  Ben felt his erection straining against his jeans.   Rey’s hands threaded through his hair, gently scratching his scalp.  He rose and began to undress, Rey watching him with wide eyes.

When Ben stood before her, Rey reached out and touched his chest, trailing her fingers lightly down his abdomen.  His skin was pale, bearing moles and scars.  She felt him shudder as her touch reached his hip.  Rey could see now that she had been right; everything was proportional.  She swallowed thickly, but she trusted Ben not to hurt her.  

He wrapped her in his arms again, kissing her more urgently as he pushed her back against the bed.  Tangled together, Rey felt Ben’s hands roaming slowly all over her body as his mouth moved from her lips to her neck, sucking gently at the sensitive place where it met her shoulder.  She raked her nails softly down his back as soft moans escaped her.  

He moved lower kissing her sternum, stroking her breast over the lace of her bra.  Reaching behind her, Ben deftly undid the hooks and pulled it off her, throwing it to the side.  He raised himself up, taking in her flushed skin and the dusky rose of her nipples.  He reached out and stroked each with the backs of his fingers, watching the delicate skin harden and pebble beneath his touch.  Rey gasped when he lowered his head suddenly, taking one in his mouth, licking and nipping at the sensitive skin while he kneaded the other.  He reached out with his other hand and interlaced their fingers, holding her tight.

Rey had been so wrapped up in the sensation of his mouth on her breast that she jumped as she felt his fingers slipping beneath the band of her underwear.

Ben released her breast, coming back up to look in her pleasure glazed eyes.  “I’m going to touch you, Rey,” he said, panting.  “Are you wet for me, Love?”

“Yes, Ben.  I’m so wet for you.  Only you,” Rey replied breathlessly.  “Please, Ben.  Please.”

He felt himself throbbing painfully at her words.  Only you.  Please.  He ground his hips into the mattress, hoping to relieve the pressure on his cock somewhat.  They were the most beautiful words he’d ever heard.  Obligingly, he reached beneath the thin silk and stroked her slit gently.  He pressed his lips to her ear, purring, “So wet.”

Rey moaned and cried beneath Ben’s careful ministrations.  He took his time with her, finding out what made her moan and what made her scream.  When her cries became whimpers and her body started writhing, he slid one finger inside her, causing Rey to arch.  Ben began stroking inside her, revelling in how tight she was around him.  

“Oh, Ben,” Rey sighed, drunk on pleasure.

“Hmm,” Ben hummed in her ear. “Am I hurting you, Love?”

“Oh God, no,” Rey moaned as Ben continued to stroke her, finding a patch that felt different than the others.  Rubbing it, he smiled as that caused Rey to cry out loudly.  He continued to stroke her, using his thumb to rub at her tight bundle of nerves.  Adding another finger, Ben began stretching her as he stroked, her pleading cries music to his ears.

Rey’s insides felt strange, like there was a spring in her middle, coiled tight.  She writhed and squirmed beside Ben as he touched her, breathy moans and loud cries escaping her.  She threw a hand over her mouth, trying to stifle herself, but Ben grabbed her wrist and pulled it away.

“I want to hear you, Rey.  I want to hear you when you come for me,” he murmured, holding her gaze.

Rey nodded.  The look in Ben’s velvet brown eyes made Rey’s stomach flutter.  She held his gaze as she arched up.  “Fuck, Ben.  I’m so close.  Please make me come,” she moaned as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Ben growled as he kissed that delicate spot between her neck and shoulder again, grazing his teeth over it.  He added a third finger into her wet heat, causing Rey to keen.  He pumped them into her, over and over, continuing to rub her clit as he did.  He nipped at her neck gently.  He could feel how close she was.

Rey’s climax hit her hard.  All at once it felt like the spring inside her let loose, and she was vaguely aware she screamed Ben’s name.  Everything went dark then came back, sharper than before.  She felt her intimate walls clamp down around Ben’s fingers, trying to pull him deeper into her.

Ben rode out Rey’s climax with her, bringing her back down to him.  When her breaths turned deep and slow, Ben pulled his fingers from her, marvelling at how slick they were.  Looking back into Rey’s eyes, he licked his fingers clean, causing her eyes to widen.

“Next time, I’m going to taste you Rey.  I’ll make you come on my tongue,”  Ben hummed.  She tasted amazing.

Rey could barely focus, so she simply watched Ben as he reached over her to the drawer of his nightstand.  On impulse, she grabbed his wrist, stopping him.  When he looked at her with one eyebrow raised, she shook her head.  

“IUD.  Please don’t.  I want…” Rey bit her lip.  Ben’s pupils dilated further.  “I want you to come inside me, Ben.  Please.”

“Are you sure?”  Ben asked, his voice low and rough.  Mine.

Rey nodded, pulling off her underwear.

Ben moaned in appreciation as he settled himself over Rey, reaching down and pushing her legs apart.  Rey wrapped them around his waist instinctively as he lowered his hips, his rigid cock pushing at her wet entrance.  He heard Rey’s sharp intake of breath as he pushed into her.

“Just relax, Love.  Let me control it,” Ben stammered.  She was so tight, so warm.  “Fuck, you’re amazing.”

Rey reached up and held the side of his face in her hand as he pushed slowly into her until he was buried to the hilt.  He held still while he felt her adjust around him until he couldn’t bear it anymore.  He ground his hips, setting a slow rhythm.  Rey started panting, there was so much of him inside her.  

“You take my cock so well, Love,” Ben whispered, praising her. As he began to slowly pump in and out of her.

Rey hummed in response, her hands moving to his back, fingers digging in to tense muscle.  She could feel how hard he was trying not to hurt her, to control himself.  She felt silly, but it brought tears to her eyes.  He cared so much, and it touched her deeply.  She moved her hips, matching his movements, encouraging him to thrust into her harder, faster.

It didn’t take much encouragement.  Ben had been close for so long; listening to Rey moan and cry out his name had almost done it.  And each thrust of his hips brought another breathy sigh from her, encouraging him to pump into her harder and faster until his hips were snapping and her sighs became screams of pleasure.

Ben began to groan, feeling his release getting closer.  But he’d be damned if he left her hanging.  He reached between them to where they were joined, feeling for her hard bundle of nerves.  Rubbing it, he moaned as he felt her walls clench around his hard length, causing him to release inside her.  Ben’s head fell to Rey’s shoulder as he thrust gently with each throb, feeling his spend coating her.  Rey’s hands gently caressed his back, helping him ride out his own climax.  

When his throbbing subsided, he pulled out of her, a hiss escaping his clenched teeth.  He collapsed onto his back, panting.  Rey curled onto her side, her small hand resting on his chest.  She could feel fluid leaking from her.  She shifted uncomfortably.

“Do you mind of I, umm, clean up?” Rey asked Ben timidly.

Turning his head, he looked into her bright eyes.  He reached out and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

“Of course not,” Ben replied.  “Bathroom’s just there.  There’s washcloths in there too.”

Rey smiled as she left the bed.  Ablutions completed, she returned and saw that Ben had gotten under the covers, pulling them to the side for her.  She crawled in beside him, curling into his side and resting her head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, throwing the covers over her and tucking them in.  Rey rested her hand over Ben’s heart, feeling the strong beat beneath her fingers.  His other hand came up to rest over hers, holding it tight.  Rey felt Ben sighed contentedly, and she smiled.  They both were asleep within seconds.

Chapter 8: Warmth

Rey’s eyelids fluttered open as diffused early morning light filtered in through the curtains at the bedroom window.  She was lying on her side, facing Ben’s bedroom door.  She could see their clothes strewn about the floor.  His hand was resting gently on her naked hip.  Rey brought her hand up to her mouth, biting down on her knuckle to hide the big silly smile that was spreading across her face.  She felt giddy.

Abandoned by her parents, neglected by the uncle forced to take her in, and shunned by other children for one reason or another, Rey had spent most of her life feeling unwanted and alone.  The empty feelings still haunted her even though by all accounts she’d put her past behind her, had finally found some measure of happiness.  But lying here beside Ben, she felt that empty feeling replaced by something warm.  She felt whole, for the first time in her life.  And unless she was mistaken, Ben must feeling somewhat similar.  This past week, she’d seen the sadness in his eyes replaced by something else.  Something that looked just as warm as the feeling inside her.    

Rey wiggled back against Ben, surprised to feel something warm and hard pressing against her lower back.  Oh.  Biting her lower lip, she gently pressed her backside into his hardness.  Ben moaned in his sleep and ground his hips into her, the grip on her hip tightening.  Rey felt a warm feeling building between her thighs, and she was overcome with the desire to touch him, to see him.  She rolled over carefully, pushing Ben gently onto his back.  His eyes were struggling to open, and Rey took the opportunity to pull the blankets back.  She smiled sheepishly when she saw that he was now fully awake, regarding her with hungry eyes.

“I wanted to see you,” Rey whispered, leaning up on her elbow.

“Hmm,” Ben replied as one hand played with her hair and the other went to grab her other hand.  He pulled it to his lower abdomen.  “Do you like what you see?”

Rey, unable to muster any cheekiness when Ben was looking at her like he was, said sincerely, “I think you’re beautiful.”  She briefly considered that he might think it odd to call a man beautiful, but it seemed to be the only word that applied to him.  His broad body bore the marks and scars of a rough and tumble boyhood.  His arms were strong, but not grossly muscled.  His features were unconventional, but no less attractive to her.  His hair was sinfully thick and dark.  She even thought his more...sensitive...parts were beautiful, in a way. It fascinated her, watching his rigid cock twitch under her gaze.

Ben smiled at her.  “So are you.”  He let his hand trail to her breast, where he began to stroke and tug at her nipple, watching it harden at his touch.  

Rey sighed with pleasure.  “Mmm...Ben...please can I touch you?”

He almost laughed at her, but she asked so sincerely.  In reply, he tugged her hand lower to his throbbing dick.  He inhaled sharply as she gently stroked his hard length.  Rey watched him twitch and throb and grow harder beneath her touch, unbelievably turned on that she was doing this to him.  When she wrapped her hand around him, Ben moaned loudly.  Rey yelped in surprise when he flipped her onto her back, pinning her to the mattress with his large hands on her hips.

“Did I hurt you?” Rey asked, concerned.  She didn’t think she had, but what did she know.  Ben’s eyes were so dark.

“Oh no, Love.  You touch me so well.  But I just remembered something,” Ben replied, a devilish glint in his eye.

“What’s that?” Rey asked breathlessly, her hands resting on either side of her face.  

Ben looked down at the beautiful woman beneath him,  all warm and glowing and perfect.  When he spoke, his voice was low and rough, “I said that next time I’d make you come on my tongue, Rey.  And I’m a man of my word.”  

***

After a morning spent with Ben enthusiastically keeping his word, among other things, Rey was grateful to share Ben’s shower with him.  They had both finished washing and rinsing and were simply standing under the warm spray, holding each other.  

“Rey, would you… I mean, I know it’s Sunday and there’s probably other things you want to do today…” Ben stammered, “But would you like to spend the day with Cass and me?”

Ben had no idea where that had come from, what had possessed him to ask her that.  Of course she’d be busy.  She was a teacher.  She had her own life.

Rey tilted her head up, resting her chin on his sternum, a smile on her rosy lips.  “There is nothing I’d rather do today.”

Ben felt his heart flip flop from the way she was looking at him.  And he felt himself grinning like an idiot when she’d agreed to spend the day with him and Cass.

“What do you normally do on Sundays?” Rey asked as Ben turned the water off.

“Have breakfast with my parents, go to the park, come home with Chinese food for dinner and play either Mario Kart or Dungeons & Dragons,” he replied, handing her a towel.  Too late he realized he was essentially asking her to meet his parents, and there was no way he was going to be able to be subtle about how he felt.  He had to talk to Cass anyway, and Leia was infamous for eavesdropping.  He looked at her, hoping he hadn’t put her off.

“That all sounds wonderful, Ben!  But isn’t D&D a bit too complicated for Cass?  I mean, I barely get it and I’m 24.”  Rey noticed that Ben was looking at her a bit apprehensively.  She didn’t mind meeting his parents so soon.  She hoped she conveyed that.

“I modify it for her.  We don’t really run a campaign or anything.  I helped her create her character, and I send her on missions to find unicorns and young metallic dragons and things like that.  She has quite the menagerie going.  Wait, do you play?!”

Rey laughed at the expression on Ben’s face.  “Yeah, a bit.  Finn and Poe were really into it in college when I met them.  We still play with Jessika and Rose every once and awhile.”

Ben pulled her into his arms and kissed her again, the feeling of finding out she liked something he liked overwhelming him.  “We’re making you a character when we get back.”

Rey laughed again.  “Alright.  Would you mind stopping by my apartment before we go to your parents though?  I’d like to grab some clean clothes and my phone charger.”

“Sure thing.”

It wasn’t long before they pulled up beside Ben’s Jetta in Han and Leia’s driveway.  Ben could see the curtain in the front window twitch, meaning Cass had been on the lookout for him.  His suspicion was confirmed when the front door flew open and Cass rushed toward the car, her arms flung wide.  Ben quickly exited the car and ran to her, swooping her up and spinning her around.  

Leia was in the doorway, watching them.  She did not fail to notice the young woman getting out of the car too.  She smiled when she saw Cass squeal at the sight of the young woman.  This was obviously someone Cass knew and liked.

Rey came up beside Ben and hugged Cass while Ben held her in a kind of awkward group hug.  

“Well well, doesn’t that make a lovely picture!” Leia called out. “Hurry up and get in here before your father finishes the pancakes.”

Ben walked up to his mother, Cass in one arm, Rey beside the other.  He bent down and kissed her cheek.  “Hi, Mom.”

“Hi, Sweetie.  Your friends picked up their kiddos already.”  Leia turned to Rey.  “And who is this lovely young woman?”

Rey held out her hand, replying, “I’m Rey Johnson, Cass’ teacher.”

“Uh-huh.  Just Cass’ teacher?”  Smiling at Rey’s blush, Leia took Rey’s hand and shook it firmly before pulling her in for a hug.  Over Rey’s shoulder, she mouthed to Ben, “I like her.”

Ben rolled his eyes and herded everyone back into the house.  He could hear his father cursing at the bacon in the kitchen.  Han made a mean breakfast, but not without swearing a couple times at the bacon for spitting at him.

“I better go help your father finish cooking.  You all get settled at the table,” Leia said, still smiling.

“Yeah, in a minute Mom,” Ben replied.  He waited until Leia went into the kitchen before he took Cass into the living room, setting her on the floor.  He knelt down on one knee to bring himself eye level with her.

“Hi Uncle Ben!  Hi Miss Rey!”  Cass said, bouncing up and down, looking quickly from one to the other.  

Rey was standing apart from them a both, wanting to give them space.  “Hi, Cass,” she murmured quietly.

“Cass, I want to ask you something,” Ben said, somewhat seriously.

Cass stopped bouncing and looked at Ben, her head cocked to the side.  “Ok,” she said trying to match his serious tone.

Ben smiled, chuckling quietly.  “What would you think if Miss Rey spent some time with us today?  And maybe some more days.”

Cass looked quickly at Rey, then back to Ben.  Leaning forward, Cass whispered in his ear, “Are you friends?  Is she nice to you?  Do I need to get you ice cream because you’re friends?”

Ben pressed his lips together to keep from laughing.  “No, you don’t need to get me ice cream.  And yes she’s nice to me.”  Ben looked over at Rey and held out his hand as he said softly, “And I think she’s more than my friend, but that’s up to her too, not just me.”

Cass looked at Rey again.  “What’s more than friends?”

Rey walked up and took Ben’s outstretched hand.  “Partners,” said Ben.

Epilogue: Two Years Later

Cass came up quietly behind her Uncle Ben.  He was writing diligently in a notebook he used for D&D.  He and Miss Rey met their friends every week to play, which meant Cass got to play with her best friends Marlo and Killian.  They usually ended up watching the grownups though, offering very helpful advice, in Cass’ opinion.

Right now though, she was on a mission.  Miss Rey had asked her to tell Uncle Ben something.  Something important.  

It was late, but Cass had had a bad dream and had seen the light on in Miss Rey and Uncle Ben’s room.  The door was open, so it was okay to go in.  Only Miss Rey was in there, sitting on the edge of the big bed, looking off into the distance.  Her hair was messy, and she wore an old rumpled shirt of Uncle Ben’s and some leggings.  She looked tired, but happy.

Cass liked having Miss Rey living with them.  She made Uncle Ben happy, and she was so nice.  Cass clambered up onto the bed beside her.  Miss Rey had smiled and pulled her into her lap.  

“Hi, Sweetheart.  Did you have a bad dream?”  Miss Rey had asked.

Cass had actually forgotten about her dream.  She always felt better when she saw Miss Rey.  “Yeah, but I’m ok now.  Did you have a bad dream Miss Rey?”  

Rey shook her head.  “No, but I have something to ask you.  Can you go tell your Uncle Ben something for me?”

And then Miss Rey had told Cass what to tell Uncle Ben.  Cass had jumped off the bed and more or less ran to the living room.  

“Boo!”  she cried at him.

Ben jumped in his chair.  “Jeez, Cass!  What are you trying to do?  Make me fall down?”

Cass giggled.  “No.  But I have to tell you something.  Miss Rey asked me to.”

“Hmm,”  Ben murmured.  He lifted Cass and plopped her onto his lap.  “I have something to tell you too.”

“You first, Uncle Ben,” Cass said.  Maybe Uncle Ben already knew what Miss Rey had told her.

“What do you think about calling Miss Rey Aunt Rey instead?” Ben asked quietly, in case Rey was listening from the hallway.  He pulled the ring out of his pocket and showed Cass the gold band with the modest diamond.

Cass squeed and hugged him around his neck.

“I take it you’d be ok with that,” Ben said, laughing.

“Yeah!” Cass exclaimed.  This was perfect!  It wasn’t the same as what Miss Rey, sorry Aunt Rey, had told her.

“What did you want to tell me?”

“Miss Rey, I mean Aunt Rey, wanted me to tell you,” Cass corrected.

“I’m sorry, what did she want you to tell me?”

“That there’s a baby in her tummy,” Cass whispered, afraid to say it too loud.  She didn’t think babies could hear through people’s tummies, but just in case, she didn’t want to wake it up.

Ben’s eyes widened.  He hugged Cass closer.  He knew Rey had opted not to get another IUD at her appointment over a year ago, but the doctor had told her that she probably wouldn’t be able to conceive without assistive technology.  Her ovaries were polycystic, which meant she didn’t ovulate regularly, if at all.  Her periods were never regular; her cycles often lasted months.  They had opted to just kind of see what happened.

“Are you ok, Uncle Ben?” Cass asked, concerned.  He was holding her really tight.

“Yeah, everything’s perfect,” Ben replied, choking back tears.  Everything really was.  He stood and carried Cass to his bedroom.  Rey was sitting at the edge of the bed, waiting for him, her hands in her lap, her feet barely reaching the floor.  She looked so nervous, a small smile on her face when she saw him approach.

Holding Cass in one arm, he reached out and cupped Rey’s cheek with his other hand, wiping a tear away with his thumb.  She leaned into his touch and sighed happily.

Ben deposited Cass into Rey’s lap carefully, before crawling into the bed.  He pulled them both to his chest, holding his little family close.

#reylo #reylo fanfic #modern au #reylo modern au #fluff #smut #fluffy smut #all the fluff #like it's a dandelion of fluff #kindergarten teacher rey #single dad ben solo #rey #ben solo #ben x rey #based on a true story

[mythopoeicmoth]

𝖠𝖣𝖠'𝖲 𝖧𝖠𝖫𝖫𝖮𝖶𝖤𝖤𝖡 : A marathon of horror, yokai, creature feature, and otherwise spooky-feeling anime! I’m this marathon as a solo, for-fun endeavor from the start of September until Halloween! I can never seem to keep to any particular lists I make for what I want to watch in a given time, so I’m just playing this by ear. That said, I'm only watching shows I haven't seen before, so there are some iconic shows I've already watched that I won't be talking about. This post is going to be updated several times as I go about the marathon and will feature updates on what I’ve been watching, as well as my thoughts about shows as I finish them! It’s mostly just for my own sake, but I guess there’s always a chance someone might find it interesting. Happy spooky season! ♡

KAGEWANI || So, Kagewani is a short format (~8 min. per episode) anime with an art style somewhat similar to one of my favorites, Yami Shibai. It starts as a monster-of-the-week show, focusing on mysterious creatures that one Banba Sousuke has a particular interest in. As the show progresses, more of an overarching plot arises. That plot isn’t bad, but my favorite part is definitely, definitely the creature design!

KAGEWANI: SHOU || Season two of Kagewani! It more or less picks up where season one left off with the plot, then gets a little… well, it didn’t quite live up to season one, but it wasn’t bad, either. There were fewer unique creatures in this one, but the creatures that were there were super cool again. Unfortunately, it ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, and since it came out in 2016, I don’t think we’re getting a season three… (T ^ T)

Note: I would love to share some screenshots from this show, but I hadn’t decided to do Halloweeb posts yet, so I never really took any… Still, it’s a really cool-looking show, so I recommend checking it out!

THE LOST VILLAGE • MAYOIGA || A bus full of youths looking for a fresh start in life arrive at the abandoned Nanaki Village. While they’re there, they encounter mysterious creatures that take on physical forms of their traumas, and they have to overcome said monsters to escape the village and return to the real world. I was really interested in the mystery of this world during the first few episodes, but it felt like the plot got a bit messy and rushed as the show went on. I’ve seen a few people say that it would have been better off as a two cour show than a single cour, and I don’t know if a full second cour would be necessary, but around 18 episodes probably would’ve done it. In any case, there were a few really intense scenes and interesting characters, and the designs of the nanaki were absolutely incredible. I only wish we had gotten to know the backstories of more of the characters! (You can check out my screenshots from the first episode here!)

FROM THE NEW WORLD • SHINSEKAI YORI || So, I ended up dropping this one. I got eight episodes in and just… was not enjoying it. The world building and some of the creature design was really interesting, but I just didn’t like the vibes. “Well, what does that mean?” Good question! I don’t know! I just wasn’t vibing with it. It had been on my watchlist forever, too… oh, well. That’s life. We can’t enjoy everything! I think it’s still worth checking out to see if it suits your own personal tastes! (You can check out my screenshots from the first episode here!)

MONONOKE || A mysterious medicine seller travels around Japan, seeking out and putting creatures known as “mononoke” to rest. This anime was just… so incredible, start to finish. You get to watch all sorts of mysteries unfold as the Medicine Seller seeks out the Form, Truth, and Regret of each mononoke he encounters. Not to mention, the art style is kind of enthralling! It’s somewhat reminiscent of classic Japanese art, while having this sort of crumpled paper texture overlay throughout the entire show. The use of color in the Japanese Chimera episodes was particularly compelling! The storytelling is artfully done and the vibes are absolutely impeccable. I really loved this one! (You can check out my screenshots from the first two episodes here and here, along with some of my screenshots of the Medicine Seller!)

#.txt #my stuff #ada’s halloweeb 2021 #animanga