Okkaayy, so, when I said "haha, no more UTMV for me!" I was actually a big fat liar. Though also not reeaallyy? I'm not gonna be interacting with the larger mass of the fandom as a whole. I'll probably still draw art here and there, I still have AUs that sink into my head and live rent free.
Mallverse, my Swap Multiverse, Fellswap!RUST, Fellswap!OUTER
But uh, yeah! Anyway. This post today is centered around MALLVERSE!! YIPPIE!!
The main thing about Mallverse is that MOST of the Multiverse is actually one large city. Though, due to this being based upon my silly Swap Multiverse, it's really shitty. Not a good place to live if you want a peaceful life. The Mall where everything takes mostly place in is this world's Omega Timeline. But also functions as the Doodle Sphere and Anti-Void. *shrug* still kinda a work in progress.
Also, early 2000s kinda vibes/technology here. No big future tech, sorry bucks.
First up we have Dreamcatcher (Dream). I really like this design more for her, her old one was... okkaaayy, but not SLLLAAAYY. Not like this one is. I tried to take more inspiration from her Romantic Goth aesthetic I applied to her. Hopefully that comes across. Also, more spider stuff! omg, I was LACKING. Her whole thing is basically being a Widow with her brood in her canonical world, so- like- yeah.
She and her sister (because I turned Monarch!Nightmare into a girl. Sue me) HATE eachother. Only really working together if absolutely nessisary. Honestly, they get the closet to breaking the one rule of the Mall "No Fighting (Physically)" So, uh, yeah. Hi bestie girlboss :3
Next up, Monarch! (Nightmare) HI!! I don't quite like her makeup, but that's okay. I'll get it right one day. She's supposed to be a Victorian Goth. Hopefully that came across? The Chibi's are uncolored because this is still a WIP, but I may as well just post them now because... uh... yeah, I don't think I'll be finishing these. Sad. Anyway. Monarch used to be a guy, but I was like "Nah, let her be fem" and so she got turned into a girl. Haha, giggles, haha.
Hates her sister, but deep down wishes to mend their relationship. Considered one of the most beautiful monsters in the city and often has to hide herself away in the Mall to escape the people obsessed with her. Her lil crew of misfits often help to keep creeps away, and also they're all apart of her lil uh... 'organization' if one may say. She and her sister are big time rivals, fighting for territory and the what. Again, still brewing, still cooking.
Alright, the others. BIG INHALE
Thimble and Snail (Ink and Error) are both the Co-Owners of the Mall. Working besides Omega Chara in keeping the place under control/maintaining the rules. They both have their own respective areas, two big shops that have those big like- wide entry ways? Thimble's art supplies store (The Doodle Sphere) is on the left side of the mall, while Snail's Arcade (The Anti-Void) is on the right.
Snail has epilepsy (As a way to represent his crashes) and has a service dog with him at all times. I'm still deciphering if I wanna make that dog Geno or Reaper, or maybe neither. Who knows?
Hatches (Cross) has been blinded in both eyes, being barely able to see out of them. He's dating Dreamcatcher, and often hovers around her like a looming threat. Just because he can't see, doesn't mean he can't sense you. An unsuspecting beast of a skeleton right here folks.
The next two are Slice and Dice (Killers), a set of twins who have similar yet contrasting aesthetics. My Swap Multiverse has two Killers hanging around Nightmare, instead of one. They get into trouble, often record and egg on Dreamcatcher and Monarch's fights, or simply steal from the stores. They often bicker, then laugh, then bicker some one with one another. Though they find the most enjoyment in tormenting others. Evil twins... EVIL!
Butcher (Horror). Butcher the Butch, haha, I thought that was funny. Butcher is a big sweetheart, and it's surprising she's so nice because she grew up in the slums. Though, I guess her Girlfriend has helped a lot in that department. She's the largest out of all the skeletons, but her bones are pretty hollow so she's kinda... like a uh... glass tank? I dunno. She sometimes hangs around Monarch and the crew, but 99% of the time will be helping her girlfriend, Pecan Pie, out with her store.
There are other characters here that have not gotten a head icon/even a doodle yet. But they have names! Kinda, so uh... I'll talk about them here.
Blueberror helps Snail out in his arcade, often rolling around the floors with it's roller skates. They have a pretty good relationship, for Snail helped Blueberror out of a rough patch in it's life. (In the swap Multiverse, they do indeed have a better relationship than Canon Blueberror and Error. But that's due to the fact Snail wasn't the one who abandoned Blueberror and instead helped it learn how to cope with it's new life.)
Soot (Dust) is apart of Monarch's crew, but mostly hangs around Butcher and her girlfriend. It's not uncommon to find Soot sleeping in the back of Pecan's store. May or may not have a crush on Butcher, but they've kept it mostly under wraps because... uh... they don't wanna be a homewrecker man! They live in the slums, but often end up sleeping at Pecan's place because Pecan is just... really sweet. Yeah, very platonic. (Little does Soot know that Butcher and Pecan are plotting to pull them into a Poly with them. Giggles and taps my fingers together)
Pecan Pie (Farm) runs a grocery store down in the food court of the Mall. It's one of the main places people go to get good food. Pecan lives outside of the city, and her brother helps in delivering product to and from the farm. Sometimes she catches a ride with him, or catches the train. Butcher and her have been dating for a time now, don't know how long, but long enough for Butcher to move out of the slums and with Pecan permanently. The shortest out of all the skele's, giggles and kicks my legs.
So uh, yeah, woah. Mallverse. *waves hands around.*
I'll just uhh... slap Pronouns down here. Yeah.
---
Dreamcatcher(She/Her), Monarch(She/Her), Thimble(He/They), Snail(He/It), Hatches(He/Him), Slice(She/Her), Dice(She/Her), Butcher(He/She), Blueberror(It/It's), Soot(They/None), Pecan Pie(She/Her).
Y'know, it's funny that @mallverse should get an update of sorts tonight because I just so happened to also challenge myself to redraw this old doodle from 2017 with no references. I still don't know how Cloud's hair works, or how to draw cats, and the perspective, proportions, and anatomy are wonky because of the lack of refs, but, hey, I'm impressed with how far I've come since that initial doodle!
Kord Center Mall: Out In The Rain, In From The Cold
Rating: E (the nerdiest smut you’ll read all week.)
Fandom(s): DC Comics, Jack Nought from Mass Effect makes an appearance, but familiarity with the game is not important
Ship: Rose Wilson/Jason Todd, mentions of Jason/Roy/Jack
Linkage: Ao3
Summary: Rose is finally ready to come clean with Jason, and admit the feelings she has for him. But is it too late?
Note: This is a cross over, mall-verse AU concocted by @scifi-ginger and myself. You’ve been warned. Also, I just want to state, for the record, that I wrote this before Titans: E.L._.O. hit the internet. I have the Tumblr snippets to prove it.
–>–>
The ground’s so dry when she leaves Cassie’s, Rose doesn’t even think to grab a jacket on the way. By the time she reaches Jason and Roy’s apartment, the sky’s dumping car-wash levels of water on the bus. Even though it only takes her five minutes to walk to the building, Rose’s clothes are sticking to her when she rings the doorbell. Lightning cracks in the clouds behind her.
Opening the door, Roy’s face flashes bright and dark as the thunder rolls around them. “Rose.”
“Roy.” Rose takes a breath. “Hey. Uh--”
“Fuck off,” Jack calls from the couch. “Jason doesn’t want to see you.”
Yeah. She deserves that. “Could you at least tell him I’m here?” Rose says it to Roy, not Jack.
Lighting flashes two more times before Roy sighs. “Fine.” He holds up a hand to keep Jack back. “But I swear if you hurt him again--”
“Fuck, Roy. I’m here to apologize.” Rose glances at Jack as she steps gingerly through the doorway. “Nice to see you, too. Jack flips a finger in response.
Just as Rose knocks on Jason’s door, the power goes out. “Oh come on!” Jason yells from the other side of the door, and she hears the crash of a controller hitting the floor and the rolling of batteries as they fall out.
Rose has perfect timing. She clears her throat, reaching to knock a second time when Jason opens the door. His cellphone casts soft grey light along his jaw and highlights the sheen on his nose. “If you’re an axe-murderer, I’ll--Rose!?”
“Hey,” she says softly, pulling out her own phone to cast some light---only to realize it died on the way here. “Shit.” Better not fuck this up.
Jason lingers in his doorway, his eyes roaming over her like she’ll vanish any second. “Didn’t expect to see you.”
“Yeah. Me either.” Rose dares to step closer, looking up at him. “Can I come in?” Jason hesitates ever so slightly, but it’s enough to kick Rose in the gut. She deserves that, too.
“Sure.” He steps to the side, swinging his arm wide. Jason never kept a tidy room. Rose would constantly remake the bed before she left. If she brought pizza, she’d have to clear off the beer bottles and carefully move the bong out of the way. But Jason always took care of his books--bookmarking them, closing them gently and sorting them on the shelves by genre, author, title, routinely cleaning them with a fucking feather duster. At this point, Jason doesn’t even have a bedroom--he has a personal library with a bed in it. Right now--it looks like a tornado had swept through the shelves.
“Fuck.” Rose muttered under her breath, frozen in the doorway.
“Did you come here to talk, or to judge me?” Jason folds his arms, and Rose notices the bags under his eyes for the first time. She’s reaching to push the hair from his eyes before she catches herself.
“To apologize,” Rose says quickly, ducking inside before Jason can change his mind. She finds a Complete Works of William Shakespeare lying open in the middle of his bed. Obviously, it’s too dark to read, but she’d know the size and thickness of that book anywhere. One of Jason’s favorites.
Rose sets it aside, sitting on the edge of the bed with one foot draped across her lap. Jason lingers by the door, but he does close it behind him. His eyes track the movement of the book before daring to glance at her again. “Why’d you come back?”
“I missed you.” Rose says. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry, she chants over and over in her brain, but “sorry” doesn’t feel good enough right now. Jason deserves the world, and Rose is just a tiny island wracked with storms.
Jason’s eyes soften ever so slightly before they harden--cold as steel. “Missed what, exactly?”
Rose allows herself a small smile. Jason loves the big questions--meaning of life, origins of the universe, whether true love exists--he always has his head up in the clouds. Meanwhile Rose stands back on earth--rooted in doing things--going, doing, fucking, eating, breathing. The thunder outside nearly drowns out her words. “I missed the way your eyes change color when you’re angry, happy, or sad. The way you smile when you think no one is looking.” She itches to get closer to him--show him exactly how much he means to her, but it’s not her choice to make. “The way you forget the world around you when you’re reading.” Her voice thickens, with love or want--she isn’t sure. “The way your face lights up when Roy comes in the room.”
Is it still raining? Rose isn’t sure. All she can hear is the thundering of her pulse in her ears and the sound of their breathing. Jason still hasn’t said a word or moved an inch--him and his fucking poker face.
At first Rose thinks her eyes are straining to see him in the darkness, but then she feels a tear slip down her cheek. Damnit. This is why she doesn’t do this stuff. Love, real love, hurts. “I realized I didn’t want to live without that. I didn’t want to live without you. I don’t want to.” Jason probably can’t even understand what she’s saying at this point, with the way her breath keeps shaking her voice.
Jason finally looks away, and Rose nods to herself. Figures. It’s too late for them. It’s always too late. “Sorry,” she mutters, standing up and wiping her nose and eyes. It’s gonna be a bitch getting home in this weather, but she’ll manage. Rose always does. She’s halfway to the door when Jason grabs her hand.
“Where’re you going?” he says softly, squeezing her hand.
“I…” I’m going home, Rose says in her mind, but the words don’t ring true. She turns, daring to face him. “Not sure.”
“Stay.” Jason tugs her ever so slightly, and she falls into his arms like she just jumped off a building. He reeks. Always has. Like dank weed and cheap beer. Rose wouldn’t have him any other way.
“Jerk my arm why don’t you?” His laugh rumbles against her chest and she pulls back just enough to look at his face. Rose traces his features with her fingertips, reacquainting herself with the tip of his nose, the jut of his eyebrows, the firmness of his lips.
Everything’s so desaturated in the dim room, but Jason’s eyes shine the brightest blue. “I love you, too.”
Rose couldn’t tell who kissed who first. She’s too busy tasting his mouth and messing with his hair. Jason breaks for air, only to pay careful attention to where her jaw meets her neck. His hands roam her shoulders, arms, sides and stomach as if he can’t get enough of her. He has far too many clothes on. No zipper on Jason’s hoodie, so Rose lifts it to his shoulders, but he gets tangled in the sleeves. “Candles,” Rose says hoarsely.
Jason peeks at her blankly through the bottom of his hoodie.
“Please tell me you have some. Jack’s surely got enough to set the apartment on fire but I’m not keen on asking her tonight.”
“Be right back.” Jason frees himself of his shirt and hoodie, slipping out the door shirtless.
Rose sits on the bed, unable to sit still, still humming with the thrill of his touch. She glances back at the Tome, and switches Jason’s phone’s flashlight on so she can finally read it. Jason has it open to Sonnet 87,
“Farewell! thou art too dear for my possessing,
And like enough thou knowst thy estimate.
The Charter of thy worth gives thee releasing;
My bonds in thee are all determinate.
For how do I hold thee but by thy granting,
And for that riches where is my deserving?”
Rose swallows, reaching to close the book when Jason comes back inside--his arms full of candles. He freezes when he realizes what she's reading.
“Oh, hey. Lemme take care of that.” Jason sets the candles on his tv stand, reaching for the book.
Rose swats his hand. “Candles.”
Rolling his eyes, Jason replies. “Fine. Fine.”
Leaning back, Rose watches as the candles, lit one by one, cast a soft glow along the lines of Jason’s body. She doubts she’ll ever tire of the view.
Lighting the last candle, Jason whisks around, lighter still in his hand. He nods down at the book. “You weren’t supposed to see that.”
“Interesting choice. Real depressing.” Rose kicks her heels against his box spring.
Setting the lighter aside, Jason grins slowly. “Actually. Hold on a sec.” He kneels, clearing a space on the floor.
Rose stares at him. “No. Absolutely not. Your floor is a fucking mess.”
“Don’t worry. You won’t be touching it.” Space cleared, Jason glances up at Rose. “Hand me Shakespeare.”
“Whatever.” Rose hefts it over, eyes widening as Jason sets it reverently in the space he cleared. “You’re shitting me.”
Jason snickers, shaking his head. “C’mon. The book may be hard, but the pages are soft.”
“Oh my god. I’m couching you for that.” Rose chides, but she gets down from the bed anyway. She glances at him one last time before sitting gently between the pages.
“Better.” Jason’s eyes have darkened to a warm green. The fact that a dead playwright and poet makes him all hot and bothered never ceases to amuse her. “Lean back.”
Rose rolls her eyes, grabbing a pillow and stuffing it beneath her arms.
Jason makes quick work of Rose jeans, shucking them off and tossing them across the room. Rose snorts as they take down a couple bottles in their fall. “Tell me if you’ve heard this one before.” His grins as he lowers himself to her neck.
“What’s in a name?” Jason murmurs into her skin, his voice as reverent as a priest’s on Sunday. His fingers drag the zipper of her soaked hoodie down her chest, and goosebumps prick across her skin.
“That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.” Jason lavishes attention where her neck meets her shoulder, and Rose’s so caught up in his touch she almost doesn’t catch the reference. Almost.
“Romeo and Juliet? Really?” she snorts, pulling back to give him a look of disdain. “Most overrated play ever.”
“It’s a classic.” Jason pouts, his fingers edging underneath her t-shirt--a suitable challenge with the way the fabric sticks to her skin. He dives to kiss her collarbone. “And it has your name in it.”
“Jace, they off themselves because they’re impatient hormonal teenagers.” A moan slips from her mouth as he kisses from her waist to her chest, pushing her shirt up and out of the way. “It’s not romantic.”
Dragging the shirt and her bra up and over her head, Jason grins at her. Oh, he knows. “So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d.”
“Do you put Jack and Roy through this? Or am I special?”
Jason doesn’t linger on her breasts, just moves her damp bra off her skin, hanging it on one of his bedposts. “Retain that dear perfection with he owes.” He plants a reverent kiss in the valley between them.
“I am special, aren’t I?” Rose groans, for more reasons than one.
Instead of answering, Jason snickers against her skin, breathing her in. “Without that title. Romeo doff thy name, and for that name which is no part of thee,”
Rose has another comeback coming, somewhere, but it’s hard enough trying to keep her breathing steady the farther south Jason travels with his mouth. He stops just north of her thighs, grinning up at her. “Oh, come on, already,” she groans again, letting her head fall back.
Jason wets his lips and tongue, waiting for her to look at him again. Once he has her full attention, he whispers, “Take all myself.”
Then he plants a kiss against her clit, and Rose shudders despite herself. “Really? You think some, some poetry is gonna, oh.”
She can feel his grin as he toys with her licking gently around but never quite touching where she wants him most. His hair musses in her fingers as he kisses deeper, harder, licking her with nice, long strokes. Jason moans with her, the hum reverberating across her skin. Rose’s hips rise off the book and Jason holds her down with one arm. Pausing, Jason licks one finger, then another, and Rose can’t help but cry out his name as they thrust in and out of her while he lavishes attention on her clit. Fuck, she’s probably tearing his hair out, but she can’t help it. Now she’s so close she’s--
Jason pulls back, kissing her thigh, and Rose curses him and half his family. “I take thee at thy word:”
Fuck her, she’s pleading, pulling him back. “Jace, please. I need.”
Snickering, Jason plants a soothing kiss on her thigh before gathering her hands to her right side, holding them still. “Call me but love, and I’ll be new baptized;” he murmurs as he wets his lips again. Something in her belly roils as she realizes what he’s planning.
Mm, yeah, Jack and Roy definitely heard that scream. Let them, Rose thinks, until she can’t anymore, so focused on Jason’s feather light touch against her clit. She’s so close to falling right off the cliff when he pulls back again. This time, Rose bites her tongue, shaking as she waits for him to continue.
Jason watches her come down from the brink, his smile wide (and his lips covered in her slick), and his eyes bright. Part of Rose wants to hide from that look--she doesn’t deserve it--she’ll break his heart--he’ll find out what she’s really like and he won’t look at her like that any-- Squeezing her hands, Jason pulls Rose from her thoughts, and she swallows hard as she allows her walls to come crashing down. “Jason, I--”
“Shh. We’re almost there,” he whispers, kissing her hands, squeezing them again. Waiting until she’s relaxed again, Jason leans down one last time, his words barely audible, “Henceforth I never will be Romeo.” He brings her back slowly, using his fingers as well as his tongue, seemingly touching her anywhere and everywhere at once. Sliding one finger inside her, then another, he closes his eyes, gracing her with long, slow licks, pumping and curling. Rose isn’t even sure what sounds are coming out of her mouth anymore, as her hips rise and fall with his fingers.
Her world flashes whiter and hotter than lightning.
Maybe seconds pass, maybe hours, when Rose finally opens her eyes. The candles have nearly guttered out, and Jason lies, with his clothed legs intertwined with her bare ones. Rose should pay him back for that--when she finds the energy. She leans her forehead against his, murmuring. “Power still out?”
“Yeah.” Jason reaches out, trailing a hand down her bare back.
“You need to clean off the bed before the candles burn out.”
Jason groans, holding her tighter. “Fine.” He releases her standing up stiffly and reaching for the stuff scattered across his bed. “Love you too, Rose,” he muttered under his breath.
Rose sits up quickly, grabbing his hand. “Wait.”
Looking down at her in exasperation, Jason asks blankly, “What?”
“I love you.” The words feel so strange coming off her tongue, but Rose knows them to be true. “Meant to say it earlier but you were too busy going down on me and quoting lines to listen.”
Jason pulls her to her feet, and into a kiss. “You can say it whenever you want.”
Rose’s so busy tasting herself on his lips she almost doesn’t notice the hiss of the guttering candles. “Shit.”
“What?” Jason pulls back, looking around at nothing. “Fuck.”
