ok so i finally feel comfortable to debut this story!
ONE THING: No Im not giving up on Adellum's Diary. I'm still producing that, I just don't wanna get bored of doing one story at a time.
This story is a precursor to Adellum's Diary, as it details a summer the then Princess Tater tot spent at her friend, Kobyashi's (orange guy) house. Tater tot got into it with her family, and was kicked out of the main palace. So, she stays with her friend. It's a childhood friend to lovers story with... an ending.
This is a oneshot story. I already completed it and will be uploading it as soon as I draw all of the illustrations I wanna draw for it! so it will be coming soon.
Tater tot sat carefully, removed her gloves, and set them on the table. The weather had smiled upon the sky and allowed the clouds from weeks of rain to finally retire. The warmth was like a hug from a dearly loved one after not seeing them for a long time, and the wind was the perfect balance to it. Tater tot tied her hair into a practical ponytail in hopes of avoiding eating her own hair.
Finally, she began to eat. It was a regular, boring sandwich. Some strange meat we've never seen before, some cheese, and colorful alien vegetables to reach her daily need for nutrition. She looked off into the distance, letting her mind wander and slow down for a little before she had to return to the endless problems that came with her position. The only thing that would make this moment better is if she were completely by herself.
"I don't understand how you eat the same thing every day. You don't get tired of that?"
A nicely dressed, smooth-talking man asked as he had his lunch served by one of the servants. He, by all standards, was considered a 'beautiful man'. Light eyes, a pretty mole beside the left one, soft and shiny yellow hair to match his skin. What helped was that he was an axolotl with scales that slowly transitioned into an even nicer shade of yellow. He didn't even look real.
"No." Tater tot replied with a shortness of her tone.
"Oh, come on, you've had to at some point. The same ingredients, the same time, at the same place every day? You have all the money in the world. If I were you, I'd-"
"But you're not me."
"-Yes, but if I were, I would take advantage of where I was. You can afford to have and do something interesting every day."
"I do interesting things, it's just not interesting to you."
"What, picking bugs apart? Looking at ants all day? That's not 'boring', it's creepy."
"It's not creepy if they're already dead, Hercules. I don't torture bugs. You make me sound like a monster."
"No, no, I know you're not. It's just a bit strange, that's all."
"It isn't. Scientists do it all the time."
"You aren't a scientist, though."
Tater tot gripped her sandwich a little harder and sighed.
"Oh, come on, don't stop talking to me over that. It's not a big deal." Hercules tried to save face. However, Tater Tot didn't respond.
"Fine, fine. Sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. It's just- you aren't like other girls-"
"Please don't start that." Tater tot groaned.
"No, really! Especially with how you look, I'd just expect you to like shopping and dressing up, that's all."
"Why would I like that?"
"Well, I just said why."
"If you want someone to be into that, go find someone who's into it." Tater tot flatly replied, not even looking at him.
"Woah, I didn't say I was trying to take you out."
"Why are you talking to me then?"
"Calm down. I just wanted to talk to you. You're so quiet, and you're alone most of the time. Why do you just assume people are trying to get something out of you?"
"I'm not assuming anything, I just-" Tater tot took a breath.
"I just want to eat my lunch. I've been pretending to be amicable for 6 hours nonstop, and I'm tired of talking."
Hercules sighed and shook his head. He threw his hands up and then began to eat his meal.
----
Lunchtime concluded, and everyone dragged themselves back to work. After everyone settled into the routine of the later half of the day, a few fraternized in the break room for some coffee and much-needed social interaction.
"What's up with the empress? She's giving me a hard time again." Tobias walked in with a couple of painkillers and another bottle of water.
"Someone was probably bothering her while she was trying to eat." Diane shrugged nonchalantly. "What did she do?"
"Well, she did talk about someone named 'Hercules' talking to her. She seemed mad, but she never really told me who that was...? She kept drawing comparisons between me and him and- ugh-" Tobias sighed.
"What did she say?"
"She said that I was 'a little more tolerable' than him because 'I only make noise when I've hit my head or tripped on something'. She's just never going to let that go, is she?" Tobias groaned.
Tobias threw the painkillers into his mouth and chased them with water. When he finished, he heard a small giggle coming from Diane.
"What's so funny?"
"Is this the first time she's said something like that to you?"
"No. She got on me about tripping down the stairs and almost choking on my own food too." Tobias rolled his eyes. "Obviously, I'm not used to the gravity here. I'm from a while other planet, so of course it's going to be harder for me to get around for a bit."
"Oh, Tobias, she's teasing you." Diane laughed a little more. "She means no harm."
"Why does she say it in such a way that makes me sound like an idiot then?"
"She's not great at tone, but I can assure you it's nothing malicious. I think she was trying to get you to laugh... Ah... so that's why she seemed confused a few days ago."
"What do you mean?"
"She was genuinely surprised when you seemed annoyed at her. I wondered why you did too, but I have to remember that I've known her for longer than you have. I'm used to her little antics- it used to put me off too."
"...And how do I know you're not just trying to embarrass me for laughs too?"
"Because I like you. Tater tot likes you too. I don't know why, but she does."
Tobias shook his head and went to open the minifridge.
"No, really, Tobias! Just... try to say something funny to her the next time you see her."
Tobias side-eyed her, making the look of suspicion stick to emphasize his discontentment before going back to greedily looking through the fridge for some snack he'd stored in there.
"Trust me. You'll see. Besides, harboring anger toward someone, especially someone who didn't mean any harm, is going to make your job harder. Just try to get back on even ground with her, alright?"
Dealing with a lot of health issues etc but I wanted to at least make one drawing for pride month and hopefully I’ll get my ass in gear n start finishing more art so I can actually post it lmao (shae doesn’t realize she’s aromantic til later but,, still she is)
"Have you ever thought about customizing your uniform?" Diane leaned over the counter, sipping a cup of coffee.
"I can do that? Aren't you supposed to be a higher rank to do that?" Tobias sat on the counter, facing her.
It was a new morning, bright and early, of course. Tobias wasn't sure if the Empress was even up yet, but regardless, he didn't want to give her another reason to make fun of him.
"Yes. I think you would look better without the blazer, or if you don't want to get rid of it, add some of those gold chains you see in Victorian male clothing. Maybe have your tie match your eyes too." At this point, Diane was thinking out loud to herself. As a matter of fact, why was she so focused on his appearance? Or was it just her trying to make small talk?
Tobias then began to look at hers. As she was busy chatting away about how he could look better, he analyzed her uniform. She seemed to choose black as her accent color, but it complemented the blue color they were all ordered to wear. She wore black heels and black tights that slowly transitioned into being the color of her pale skin the further you went up. She also wore a black mini skirt and, depending on the day, wore black glasses also. Her blue blazer seemed to elongate and split in the back, but in the front, it was short enough to expose her stomach. Like him, she wore a white button-up, but her tie was - you guessed it - black too.
"The dress code is a little lax here, isn't it?"
"When you're in charge, you can do whatever you want. Now back to what we were talking about-"
The two heard some footsteps. They were fast and seemed to carry the weight of crankiness.
"Ohhhh, Dema, I'm surprised to see you up so early," Diane called over.
"Don't be! That idiot Hercules is using some of the grant to fund a hot spring. We were supposed to have a gym per Tater tot's request!"
"Oh, again?" Diane sipped from her cup.
"You know, I told him he was on his last offense. After that, it's overtime & employee training modules for him. Put in the request, and I'll send him a document."
"Who's Hercules?" Tobias asked.
"Mr. Valios, your office is right next to his, remember?"
"You'll be dealing with him a lot. So brace yourself." Dema sighed.
"Tater tot will probably use you as her meat shield when it comes to him. No one wants to deal with him."
Before Tobias could ask anymore questions, the empress walked in.
"Hi Tater tot!"
Dema greeted in a teasing tone. The empress grimaced, and her body began to glow just a bit.
"I told you to stop calling me that. Why would you even call me such a stupid nickname?!"
"How do you get Tater tot from Sol?" Diane laughed.
"Because they're both crispy, warm, and are somewhat of the same color," Dema replied.
"How am I 'crispy'? What if I called you borscht? Not so funny anymore, is it?"
"You only picked that specific dish because I'm Slavic, not because of anything cute!"
"You are cute, just not right now."
"Ouch."
"Tater tot it is, huh?" Tobias smirked.
"I'm not taking any jabs from a man whose last name is McJoe. What are you, a coffee brand?" Tater tot snapped.
"I don't know, your name is Tater tot. At least I'm useful; I wake people up. You just fatten them."
"Do you want to piss off your boss the first day you're here?"
"Is it working?" Tobias pushed further. A little smile crept up on his face. The way she pouted contrasted with the cool girl persona she had graced him with the first time they'd ever met. She was very, very pretty to him, putting everything aside. If she weren't so stuck up, and possibly not so Intimidating to talk to sometimes, he would chat her up. Her skin was a nice, warm shade of yellow. Her skin seemed to sparkle, too. Did she have powers? And was it related to her beginning to glow when she was getting mad?
Her hair was long and cascaded the length of her body. Even with her fancy uniform and more dramatic makeu,p she donned she was beautiful. A nice strike between the beauty and grace of a princess and the dashing aura of a prince.
"Are you two going to keep bickering like children, or will you finally start the day? Your responsibilities are piling up, your majesty. Don't forget that you have a meeting with the mayor of the capital." Another voice called out to Tater Tot. This time, it was male.
"Mr. Monecrieffe," Diane greeted. "This is who I was talking about- his name is Jakob." She said to Tobias.
"Come on, McJoe, we have work to do." Tater tot sighed.
--
--
Jakob handed Tobias a clipboard. It seemed it was a premade list of things to do throughout the day. All of the tasks had times, locations, and even sometimes people listed in the margins. It was extremely concise but not visually confusing.
"I'm sure you're aware of the fact that you are her assistant. Since today is a busy day, I'll give you a crash course on all of your responsibilities." Jakob began.
"Your majesty, try not to scare this one off." He leaned over to whisper to her. The empress only pushed him away in response and crossed her arms.
"Anyways-" He cleared his throat.
"Your duty as her assistant is to carry out the smaller tasks she's too busy to do. You are to organize and remind her of her tasks for the day. You will also sometimes be responsible for speaking on her behalf for everyone else below the rank of royalty. "
'So.. glorified babysitting.' Tobias thought to himself.
"I understand." He replied.
"Good. Diane also works under her, and her job is similar to yours, but she's the one who dishes out the discipline. That being said, if someone is not cooperating with you, or is violating the code of conduct, you report them to her." Jakob finished.
"I think that's all you need to know right now. For now, your first official task will be setting up a meeting between the empress and her betrothed."
Tater tot's shoulders slumped when she heard this. Tobias happened to catch a glimpse of this, and he wondered to himself.
A part of him was disappointed.
---
Tater tot and Tobias spent the day running around the palace during various tasks, and the dreaded meeting was scheduled for sometime next month. Probably during a long weekend. Whenever Tobias suggested writing the date down, she'd ignore him or lie and say that she already did.
As Tobias was busy scrounging the last stragglers of documents and other important files, he heard a shriek coming from the empress' office. He hastily set aside the papers and rushed to her office. His kind raced with all sorts of terrible scenarios; was this an attempted assassination? Was she hurt? Did she lose something? Someone?
When he practically knocked the office doors open, he was met with the sight of a petrified Tater tot standing on a couch and a little weird-looking creature quickly crawling around on the floor.
While it didn't look like anything he'd ever seen on Earth, oddly enough, Tobias didn't feel any fear toward it.
"That's what you're screaming over?" Tobias asked. He picked the little creature up by its leg. It wiggled around, but ultimately it did nothing to him. Tobias noticed the open window near Tater Tot's desk.
"That's probably where it came from." Tobias gestured with his head toward the open window. He gently set the little creature on the branches of the nearest 'tree' to the window and closed the window.
"You should have someone cut down the vegetation near your window."
Tater tot shook her head. "No, the court likes to spy too much. I prefer privacy." She replied as she carefully got down from her couch.
The office itself - and by extension, the palace - reminded Tobias of fancy French architecture. Although it had its own alien twist on it. Precious stones he's never seen in his life made the palace full of color compared to the antiquity of, say, Versailles.
"You know-" He began, "You would think with the amount of money you have, you could just hire better security."
"You do realize that the security I have is the same as the rest of the court has? Nothing would change. You can spy on others in many ways. Some guards can be bought out. It doesn't mean anything. Whatever you thought of, I thought of it already." Tater tot stood in front of Tobias. Though her heels made her tall, she still was not as tall as he was.
I don't know if this has been asked before but do you associate any particular songs with each of your OCs? If so what songs and why? Is it just based on vibes, lore, etc.
I took this ask and ran as far as I possibly could with it so this post is going to be very long… but basically I chose a song and then drew the oc into the album/EP/single cover because I’m insane. I spent way too long on these so some of them r kinda sloppily done but oh well not everything can be a masterpiece…yapping and artwork below
TW: suicide mention, depictions of blood
OKAY so I have a whole playlist for Hibiki and it’s got a bunch of different stuff but I chose Danchi Thesis bc 1) Shinsei Kamattechan is a vibe 2) depression covered in sparkles… but more specially I think the the song Shinitai Himawari has strong Hibiki vibes not only musically, but also just the overall feeling of disappointment and etc. Would highly recommend checking out the music video for this song (viewer discretion advised for flashing lights) alsooooo one more thing which is Saihate Field is also a banger song that gives me Hibiki vibes but I have a hard time finding lyrics so that's why I didn't choose that one specifically...
I've always sort of associated Gwen Stefani's music with Eloise just because it has that major girly pop vibe. I could totally see her and Sun jamming out during a karaoke session. I don't listen to a lot of bubblegum pop/adjacent genres which means I don't really associate a lot of music with Eloise but I can confidently tell you that would be her shit.
not the biggest fan of this drawing but we live… anyways there is no specific song I associate with Raymond but I do associate him with Tyler, The Creator because I think it would be music he enjoys to listen to. It’s got that upbeat energy but also very raw.
Is that Shinsei Kamattechan again??? Yes it is because I’m a fiend :D but not so fun fact, Sun was literally created because of a Shinsei Kamattechan song. The song is るるちゃんの自殺配信 and it’s a reference to a real event that happened of a girl live streaming her death. I just remember this song really hit me when I heard it and learned more about it. I still sometimes cry when I listen to this song, especially the live performances of it. And oftentimes when I feel strong emotions about something it drives me to create things, and that’s how I decided to make Sun. It’s not the exact same but she’s definitely tied to the overall issue of suicide rates in countries like South Korea (etc) being extremely high due to pressure of being perfect/social stigma against mental illness.
the EP Locket by Crumb is very chill in a way that reminds me of Yrjö. Also if you throw me a song called “plant” that is musically gorgeous and full of vibes I will associate it with Yrjö sorry not sorry.
Florence is out here with the ethereal goddess music that Jaya absolutely brings to the table. I think I mainly associate How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful (the song) with Jaya because of the presence of the word “blue” but also the ending starting at “So much time on the other side” ending with “if this one wasn’t enough” just because of the feels with death and stuffs…feels like you’re reaching out when the world looks dull and realizing it’s gorgeous (I’m writing this at 11pm I’m so good at words rn)
femtanyl and taro go hand and hand...this song is very Taro just because 1) trans 2) manipulation 3) vibes. I can't really explain it more than that.
Also an album I hadn't listened to entirely before starting but oh my god I LOVED it. Also this is my second favorite artwork I made for this ask (it took me forever). Anyway, some artists/songs I've chosen for people based on actual music/lyric components but some based on what I think they would listen to, and this is definitely a case of the latter. She would love Kali Uchis 100%
Now time for my favorite artwork I made for this ask!!!!! Looking at this makes me smile...anyways I chose the song Fool by Caravan Palace because...well...lyrics..."Even I don't understand the man I love/ I tried my best, my very best/Out of all the good I do/out of all I do" if you know you know.
Ego by Elita is the most Jökull song ever because musically it just feels very angry, as if there is more to the outside. Meanwhile, the lyrics are just I'm hot you're dumb lalala (FUCK MY LIFE FUCK MY LIFE FUCK MY LIFE) and that is what Jökull brings to the table.
BACK ONCE AGAIN!!! Heh..with..oc redesign!!!! I may just never not do this, I do it so often 💔 BUT ITS MY GIRL!! MELENE!! This time her tales from the borderlands design (TFTBL) instead of her borderlands 3 design.
