#side-story

[way-of-forfeit]

[Princely] Something far more interesting

[Princely] he hates their touch.

[Question Refers To This Post] [Ask Fenrir or Me!]

--- OMG THANK YOU FOR THE FIRST ASK!! @foodielovethealicorn

[thenotebookwizard]

I don’t know why it never occurred to me that you’d be on tumblr…

anyway. it’s getting unhealthy now help. (I started reading defiance in January of this year…)

No lie, I love that number!

I'm glad you're enjoying Defiance so much. It has been a joy to write, and there is a lot more to come.

I've been on tumblr for a long time now, but I don't check it as often as I should and my queue keeps running out on me. Alas.

Thank you so much for the message - and for reading!

[rayman-chibi]

Look at how gorgeous I made this animation to be 😍

Oh yeah, if you're wondering why I made an animation with Bullfrog even though I... kinda hate him for some reason, there are a few reasons I can think of:

Because I can draw him to have one of those head shapes I draw some of Raymi's friends with (Barbara, Globox, Murfy, Uglette)

Because Ramon (technically) canonically exists in the Rayman Chibi universe, what were you expecting?

I'm expanding the Rayman Chibi universe to include all of Captain Laserhawk, acting as a bit of a side-story to the main thing, except here, it's supposed to be a humorous retelling of the whole thing with pretty drastic changes since I haven't actually watched the """anime""" so it's called (eh, doesn't stop me from rewriting the mid). I'll post the details in another post, but for now, I'll just keep this post short and sweet.

[dual-domination]

Side-Story for the main Guardian x DMBJ crossover is ON

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43663135/chapters/109793737

Summary: Pei Wende didn't know where that promise came from, but he knew that someone should love him as much as he had loved the person, to have a promise with him to fulfill in another life. Thus, he pushed his feelings for Hua Wuxie away from himself, he certainly shouldn't think of his sworn brother that way, he was surely just in pain for a love he didn't know where to find. A love that Hua Wuxie himself, years later, helped him look for, but they had found nothing. And so, disconsolately, he preferred to be left alone about getting married, he preferred to just continue working for the Guardian Order and live a life that Hua Wuxie would always be a part of, even if he could never be his. If that had been the case, he wouldn't have had to worry, at that moment, about whether his children would be all right now that their mother had passed away. He needed some more wine.

(You don't need to watch Pei Wende and Hua Wuxie to understand this fic, there aren't any references to their canon media.) (This fic is part of the "Stars aligned in a perfect sky" side-stories, but can be read as a stand-alone)

**** Beautiful Cover Art by @sagittariusdarkarrow​ 

*** Rating: Mature Archive Warning:No Archive Warnings Apply Category:M/M Fandoms:镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)镇魂 | Guardian - priest盗墓笔记重启 | The Lost Tomb Reboot (TV)盗墓笔记 - 南派三叔 | The Grave Robbers' Chronicles - Xu Lei花谢花飞花满天 | As Flowers Fade and Fly Across the Sky (TV)缉妖法海传 | Fa Hai (2018) Relationship:Huā Wúxiè/Péi Wéndé Characters:Hua Wuxie Péi Wéndé Da Qing (Guardian) Zhang Qiling Lin Jing (Guardian) Additional Tags:Wu Xie(DMBJ Series)/Zhao Yunlan (Guardian), Wu Xie (DMBJ Series)/Kunlun (Guardian), Hua Wuxie and Pei Wende as Wu Xei and Zhao Yunlan past lives, Alternate Universe, Everything here is totally canon divergent for Fa Hai and As Flowers Fade and Fly Across the Sky, Post Shen San Extra in Guardian Novel, Childhood Friends, Sworn Brothers, Love Confessions, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, First Guardian Order, Mei Shiqing as Xiaoge past life, Min Ting himself as Lin Jing past life, Some Humor, Ancient SID investigations in Wuxia, Bai Yu/Zhu Yilong Character Combinations, Established Relationship in their own way, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Very Established Couple to Lovers Language:English Words:8709 - Chapters:1/2 (the last Tag is Arrow’s tag for this fic)

[maine-writes]

Meanwhile...: Steven and Connie's Adventure & Couple Time

Space, the final frontier. When one looks up at the night sky, one looks upon a million, billion stars, each star is either a distant solar system or an entirely galaxy of its own. So when one looks upon a star, they are really looking at another sun of another, distant world, or a million suns with a million planets.

But with the miracle of alien technology, where one generates an artificial gravitic singularity to "bend" space in front of a vessel and expand space behind it, allowing said vessel to travel past the speed of light without experiencing the negative side effects of such travel, this vast expanse of space becomes a little smaller.

"This is great, isn't it?" Steven said, lying in bed as he stared at the viewscreen on the ceiling of the room showing the vastness of space.

"Yeah, sure." Connie unenthusiastically agreed.

The pair were on an adventure of a lifetime, or at least their latest strange adventure. A childhood of near-death experiences and adventures tend to make subsequent adventures rather mundane, even the space adventures. But on this particular one, the couple were destined for an old Era 1 colony, located on a planet beyond the Perseus Veil. According to the Diamonds, this colony was one of White Diamond's first and was believed lost after a supernova caused them to lose contact with the colony. Recently, an expedition led by Lars Barriga reported that the colony was alive and well, unaware of the events of Era 3. After initial contact, it now falls on Steven and Connie to check on the status of the colony and get them up to speed.

But first, they have to get there.

So now we find the loving couple, lying in bed in comfort as their vessel speeds past hundreds of star systems on the way to the colony.

"We get to help a bunch of Gems catch up with the rest of Homeworld." Steven continued. "Helping people to make the universe a better place."

"Yeah," Connie muttered, "Just you, me, and Jasper lying between us."

Of course, Steven and Connie weren't going to a distant alien world alone, they had a small contingent of Gems accompanying them. However, Jasper, being the protective Quartz soldier she is, insisted that she come along as well.

"I get the feeling you don't like me being here." Jasper grumbled.

"Oh no," Connie quipped, "Why wouldn't I enjoy a big, buff Gem intruding on me and my husband's alone time?"

"Steven is an important dignitary on an important diplomatic mission." The Gem argued. "We do not know how these Era 1 Gems will react to him. After all, they were independent of the Diamond Authority for well over 10,000 years. So as his bodyguards, we must accompany him wherever he goes."

"What do you mean, we?"

"It makes little sense for only one of us to stand by him at a time. And since he is most vulnerable while sleeping, we must both be as close and as vigilant as possible at this time."

Steven was worried, since Jasper and Connie had been at each other's throats since they boarded. The worse was when he needed to use the bathroom. Jasper was following closely behind him, and when he said he'd rather not have her be in there with him, she called for Connie to take her place. Eventually, she agreed to just having one of them wait at the door.

Jasper was a diligent bodyguard, but sharing a bed with her was going too far.

"Jasper," Connie began as she sat up. "You know, I was really hoping I'd get some alone time with Steven."

"Alone time? Like training?"

"N-Not exactly..."

"Then allow me to training with Steven as well, just like before when he shattered me!"

Hearing this made both Connie and Steven blush, but for very different reasons. To Steven, it was an embarassing chapter of his angst-ridden teen years. To Connie, it sounded pretty bad, but in a different way. What was terrible about the whole situation was that Connie was just planning on cuddling, enjoying each other's company, cute stuff that they never get to do with all the work they have.

"Jasper." Steven interjected. "What Connie means is, the alone time we have is something someone does with someone special to them."

"Am I not special to you?"Jasper asked. Despite her gruff, rough exterior, she did seem genuinely hurt. There was something, puppy-doggish about her amber eyes.

"No! I mean, you are!" Steven stuttered, "I mean, you are important to me, but Connie's important in another way!"

"Explain." Jasper said. "What can Connie do that I can't?"

Steven nervously glanced over at Connie, who was also unsure as to how to approach this problem. They thought they'd have their first "The Talk" with Vonvon, who knows a little bit because of Amethyst's loud mouth, Pearl's enthusiastic approach to education, and Garnet tendency of simply stating facts. After a previous incident, however, they realized that they may not have to have "The Talk" with their child after all. But somehow, explaining human biology to a Gem was just as embarassing.

"I don't get it." Jasper stated after Steven's convoluted, vague, and flustered explanation.

"Well, Gems and humans are different." Connie said, "You guys come fully formed out of the ground. There's not a lot of similarities."

"Show me."

"No."

The whole trip would turn out to be a nightmare for Connie and Steven. Jasper, unwilling to accept that she was possibly not as "useful" or important as Connie, would loudly demand that the couple demonstrate the particular miraculous human activity they inadvertantly exposed her to. The worst was whenever they hugged or cuddled, Jasper would appear and ask if they were currently demonstrating said activity, which only furthered their embarassment.

Connie only wanted to cuddle, maybe kiss. How did it end up like this?

Their visit to the colony itself was mostly uneventful, exactly as one would imagine a diplomatic visit. One unexpected aspect of the colony was the civil war they fought and the establishment of a diverse ruling council. In all, Steven thought they could easily integrate into Homeworld's Era 3. But that was a long ways away, as the council must gather the opinions of the colony and come to an agreement on a course of action. The Pearl that greeted them when they landed, an interesting Aubergine Pearl, was rather excited to finally meet someone from Homeworld. She showed them the vast cityscape they had managed to build from their old spaceships and native materials. Steven and Connie were taken by the seas of crimson grass, the violet sky illuminated by two suns by day and the nebulous glow of the Perseus Veil in the moonless night, and the warm, black sands of the earth. In the distance, natural obsidian spires tower over the colony's skyscrapers, which tended to be mirror-like in appearance to better preserve the natural beauty of the surrounding landscape. The interiors of these buildings were typical of the interior of Era 1 colony ships; marble-like stone, carved into geometric shapes.

Although there were many who were afraid Steven would attempt to re-establish the Diamond Authority's rule over the Perseus Colony, their worries were quickly laid to rest with his presentation on the events leading up to Era 3 and the many changes Homeworld had undergone. There was even a pre-recorded message from White Diamond, encouraging the colony to continue "pursuing the life and freedom" they desired. Luckily, they didn't need the pre-recorded message from White Diamond that was to be used if the colony was hostile.

But during that whole weekend, Connie was still irritated. When not out touring the colony with the Perseus Gems, the couple were interrupted by Jasper.

"Steven! I can't take it anymore!" She screamed as the couple were standing on a balcony overlooking the colony. "We finally have time to ourselves and an easy mission! Can't you just pull rank or something and get Jasper to leave us alone?!"

"I tried, but she insists on being nearby."

"Steven. We have been working for eight months straight." Connie continued, grabbing her husband by the shoulders. "For six of them, we were on different planets. I'm kissing you, we're cuddling, we are going to enjoy each other's company on a beautiful, alien world!"

But shortly after planting her lips on her husband, Connie was interrupted by the big orange Gem bursting through the balcony door.

"So this is kissing!"

"That's it!" Connie screamed, drawing her big pink sword, "You've hus-blocked me for the last time!"

Steven would say something. But he knew better than to get in the way of his angry, sword-wielding wife. He just hoped the Diamonds were faring better in their endeavor of taking care of Vonvon, blissfully unaware of the horrible mistake they made at around the same time.

@artsycooky13

[sueisen]

I am home and drawing again! If anyone is interested in how my past year was feel free to open the read more. It's heavy stuff dealing with worker exploitation and my mental health, so be careful. <3

Other than that, I sketched this Neptune piece a few weeks ago! I am trying to go with a mermaid theme, although May is already over. It just makes sense for Michiru <3

What did you think of the new Crystal movie? I was very excited about it, and I loved the aesthetic. Story-wise I think the pacing was horrible, I do not recommend it to people who are new to Sailor Moon. Also, I prefer the animation style of Crystal Season 3, this felt too childish, I guess??

So some of you might know, but in August I moved to France to be an "au pair". Basically, a young foreigner who helps with taking care of the children in a (usually rich) family, in compensation for housing and food etc. It's supposed to be a cultural exchange thing.

I say "supposed to be" because it was anything but!! It was work. Just work. For half of the minimum wage, I was made to take care of these children who were absolute nightmares!! They were rude, demanding, entitled, self-centered, spoiled and treated me like a dog AT BEST. After a few months, it turned out that they actually have serious mental health issues (They were extremely aggressive and easy to irritate.) I was not notified about this, even though I am not in any way qualified to take care of children with special needs.

I was also made to clean the whole house all by myself once a week. The house was HUGE, three stories, and all-white so every small spot was noticeable. But I cleaned. I did my best, but it was never good enough. And at the end of the week, my host mom would tell me off and ask things like "did you even clean???," I did, but no one ever cared and by the next day the house was a mess again. They left everything opened in the kitchen, and no one ever cleaned up after themselves, walked around in dirty shoes and just generally didn't give a f**k because I guess they were not the ones who had to clean it up anyway.

They didn't care about me in general. They told me lies about "being a part of the family" and stuff, but they treated me like an employee 100%. At one point they gave me a sheet with my "strengths and weaknesses". We never agreed to do anything like this. I was already nervous and then I just broke down crying in front of them. It was so humiliating. Like I was a robot and they were giving a review on a website. It didn't help that in some aspects they gave me a 0 out of 5!! As if I was not even trying!!

My mental health took a deep dive. I haven't been this s*icid*l since 2018 when my house almost bURNED DOWN. That's how bad it was. I was there, trying to enjoy this new city, but all I could think about was jumping into the Seine and drowning. I cried myself into sleep many nights, as I was hiding this from my family and friends. I was embarrassed by letting myself be taken advantage of. Even though THEY shouldn't have exploited me from the start!!

Their expectations were unbelievable! I was a 19 year old with no qualifications at all!! They wanted me to be a cook, a cleaning lady, a nanny, a cleaner, a teacher (I had to teach the kids English and PIANO??? IDK HOW TO PLAY THE PIANO AND THEY KNEW THAT!!) Of course, I was not perfect! No one is! But I was a first-time au pair as well! And they knew that! It was unfair.

I am out now. I stayed for 10 months for the money, so I could afford to take my parents on a holiday that they deserved. I have never appreciated them this much before. It was a time of reflection. Of how good I had it back at home, where people CARED and LOVED me.

If you're an au pair and being exploited (It's very common, I could almost say it's the NORM!!) please don't be afraid to reach out. None of this is right. You're not supposed to be drained every day, you're not supposed to clean toilets, you're not supposed to do anything that has nothing to do with the children (I had to iron the PARENTS clothes, and COOK for them EVERY DAY. FOR TWO ADULTS!!).

You're not the problem. You're enough!! It's not your fault that these rich people were too cheap to pay money for a professional nanny for their children and decided to exploit young foreign girls instead!

xoxo

[asinglewallflower]

*talking continues in BG*

Idunn: “Nif... again?”

Niflheim: “I’m... sorry. I just- I remembered something. And I- I miss her. I miss them.”

Idunn: “Them?”

Niflheim: “The... the other children that our land-mother had. Do you remember? She had more than us... some that were older than us. And they were... so big and nice.”

Idunn: “...I don’t remember them... but I’m glad you do, Nif.”

Niflheim: “I wish I could... I wish I could see them again. Wouldn’t that be fun? Do you think we could?”

Idunn: “Nif... I...” *sighs* “I’m not sure. We’re still really little. Mama doesn’t let us out of the palace, remember? We don’t even have our colored tail scales yet. Maybe once we’re bigger...”