Cranky, big and meaty MC x tall and slim clown

I forgot tiktok hates sm0ker MC, so I’m gonna share this here.

Day 5 of learning to do digital art! I love how this one turned out, just bc I rarely see masc presenting MCs, specially if they’re big and buffy!!

I was a Torrin guy until the very second the Nicolas update came out, Sorry Tor

Join us in celebrating the masculine apprentices, OCs, and creators in the Arcana fandom this August 9-15th in Gentleman Apprentices Week! The prompts are as follows: 

Sunday—Magic Man—what type of magic they specialize in

Monday—His Daddy’s Son—your apprentice’s childhood or backstory 

Tuesday—For the Boys—a celebration of your apprentice’s friendships 

Wednesday—A Man in Love—on meeting and falling in love with their LI 

Thursday—Man’s Best Friend—about your apprentice’s familiar

Friday—(boy)Friends to Lovers—on physical intimacy with their LI 

Saturday—Dear Husband—your apprentice’s wedding or married life

Writers, visual artists, and all kinds of content creators are welcome to participate. Tag content with #gentapprentice to get featured on this blog! 

For @gentapprentices  - Day 4                

There is a letter safely tucked into a handmade, beautifully illustrated book placed under the cushions of a wandering magician’s tent. Written in neat, elegant Nopali script, the letter is a little rumpled, as though the magician in question had been reading it over and over, as though he’d fallen asleep under the stars with it pressed to his chest, as though he’s traced every word with his fingers so many times that it formed little crevices on the paper. It reads:

My dear Asra,

We’ve spent so many nights -talking and brewing and reading cards, and I don’t think there’s a lot that’s gone untold between us, as I’m sure you know. I’m not in the business of keeping secrets, especially not from you, so I don’t know how I went this long without telling you. Maybe I was nervous, maybe I didn’t want to make things weird between us, or maybe I just didn’t want to hear that you don’t feel the same but- it’s you, and you’ve never judged me for anything, even the things I’ve judged myself for. I’ve told you about the times I’ve messed up my spellwork, and you just laughed with me, and not at me, and told me that it happens to everyone. (The Boss says the same, but it’s easier to believe things when it comes from you, already. Don’t tell her that, though, she’ll get mad). I’ve told you about the time I accidentally set free a herd of cattle from a Venterran dairy pasture and you just thought it was funny and cool, that I was sweet for helping them back home. I’ve told you about the shitty, embarrassing things I’ve done, all the magic that never comes to me, and you’ve only smiled and reminded me of all the other things I could do, and told me what you knew about the ways to get around it. I’ve told you about everything that happened- everything that I did in those first two years after my parents died, and you always, always understood. I could lay open the worst of me and you’d still listen to me, still remind me of what’s important, and you’ve never, not once, had a problem listening to anything I’ve had to say.

So forgive me, if my keeping this a secret makes you feel like I don’t trust you with my feelings- or my secrets. I promise, I do. It’s just, it’s a hard thing to say, all of a sudden, even if I’ve said the words so many times, whispered them to myself, even said them to you, every time we said hello and goodbye. I’m scared, but you deserve the world, and surely then you deserve my courage too, so I’m gathering it up, every little bit of it, to tell you what I’m going to tell you. I’m scared, but even if you don’t feel the same, I know you won’t judge me for it. So, no pressure, please. Whatever happens, we can talk everything out, and no matter how everything pans out, there’s going to be no hard feelings. It’s not like me to take so much time in a letter to get to the point, no? Meandering’s more your style, hehe. So, allow me, though you’ve probably guessed already where this is going.

Asra, I love you.

I love you as my best, dearest, cleverest, most wonderful friend, and I love you as something else, too. I won’t lie- I’ve been in love before, you know I have, but I promise, now I’m wondering if everything I’d felt back then was love, because nothing, noone’s- made me feel quite like you have. I don’t know when it happened, maybe it was the moment I met you, when you wandered into the shop in your too-big hat and your too-long scarf. Maybe it happened later, when we both sat by the steps and stretched our legs onto the road and you took a few sips of the brew I made and called me a “great magician,” when you read my cards and you blushed when The Lovers slipped out of the deck to land between us. (Maybe they’ve been saying something to you, so maybe you’ve already been expecting this. Well if you’ve been waiting too long, I’m sorry. The Boss tells me it’s not like me to pine in silence for this long, and I agree). Maybe it was even later, when we began to swap stories and you told me about how you grew up and I told you about how I did, and then we talked about magic and read books together and you asked me to teach you how to brew what I did and how to read tea leaves. Maybe it was little by little, and maybe it was all at once, but what I know, for sure, beyond even the tiniest shadow of doubt, is that in the time between then and now, I’ve fallen hopelessly, wonderfully, in love with you. I love you, and I want to be with you. I want to hold you and take care of you and help you sleep when you can’t, and wipe away your tears when you cry, and make you brews when you’re sick and kiss you and, well, a lot of things, that could fill several letters, but you get my point. I want to be there for you, and I want you to be there for me, like we are, now, but even more. I want us to stay together, and travel together, but also go home and cuddle up beside each other in that embroidered woolen quilt (another one’s in the works, by the way!). I want to knit sweaters for Faust with you, and I want us to cook and bake together, and wherever I go, I want us to introduce each other as “my lover.”

I want us to be lovers.

I want to learn with you, and from you, and I want you in every way, the best of you and the worst of you, and everything in between, and I can’t think of a single thing, good or bad, that’s impossible to love in you. I love you, I love you, and fuck, it feels so good to write it down and just know that you’d read it. It feels like a weight lifted right out of my chest, already. Even just writing to you makes me feel lighter, you know. You’re wonderful.

I always thought that a little bit of my heart died with Umma and Vaapa. Turns out I was wrong. I don’t know if I’d been wrong all along or if you really made my heart grow two sizes. Wouldn’t put it past you.

There’s so much more I want to tell you- you deserve to hear everything, everything that I’m feeling about you, over and over and over again. But I want to see you when I say all of that, and I need to know that you’d like to hear it. I want to hold your hands and look into your beautiful eyes, and tell you every last thing I love about you.

Look at me, rambling. You have that effect on me too. The Boss says I haven’t shut up since I saw you, and I think she’s exaggerating, but I also don’t think she’s wrong.

Again, please. Please don’t feel any kind of pressure to reply in a certain way, or anything. I’d be over the moon if you feel the same, and if you’re willing to give this a shot, but if you aren’t, that’s okay, too. I know you hate being tied down or bound to things you don’t want to bind yourself to, so- take your time, and just be honest with me, whatever it is. If you don’t have an answer for now, that’s fine too, just let me know.

I want you to be happy and safe no matter what, and I want to make you feel happy and safe, no matter who we become to each other. Ma always told me that love doesn’t have to be big things. That it’s only leaving each other’s world a little better than it was alone. And I think we’ve already done that- at least you have, for me. My world is a lot lovelier because you’re in it, and I hope I’ve done a little bit of that for you, too.

The Boss has agreed to let me keep shop here permanently, as you know. I’ve been shifting all my things to Vesuvia in bits and pieces, and I’m positive that, by the time you come back from this trip of yours, I’ll be nice and settled in, and we can have a chat about all of this over tea and biscuits, if you want.

Oh, how selfish of me. How is that trip of yours going? I know the deserts are nothing new to you, but feel free to drop by Asvin’s place if you need somewhere to stay. You won’t have to spend a thing, and you know he likes you. It’s a windy season, so be sure to take care of your skin and eyes. Apply those lotions I’ve given you, okay? And cover up enough at night, don’t catch a cold, and wear your protective charms. And please, please don’t go around following every strange superstitious local legend you hear. Some of those people chatter so much white noise just to be heard, and a lot of it isn’t even true.

I’m excited to see you again, I know you’ll have a lot of stories when you get back.  Golden sand is great for the rituals that you’re aiming for, I’ve heard. You’re an amazing magician, and I love how much you love to keep learning. It makes me want to learn more too. But I hope, a little selfishly, that you don’t take too long.

Whenever you’re ready to see me, you know where to find me. I’ll be right there, at the counter, arranging charms or chatting up clients. (Or in the backroom, maybe, but we all know who they go to for cards.) I’m brushing up on my Vesuvian, to deal with customers better, and you know I’m a professional. (There’s also a list of places I want us to go together, if you’d like to. Have you had that baker’s pumpkin bread? I swoon.)  

So, to summarize: I love you.

Give Faust a boop from me, and let her know my wide shoulders are just asking to be squeezed, and the jar of treats on the counter is full to the brim, waiting to be opened. I miss her as much as I miss you, and I can’t wait to see how much longer she’s grown.

I hope to see you soon, Asra.

Love always,

Ok I want to finish this one before the end of Mermay so here we go y’all

I HC Julian as a black ghost knifefish variety merman (picture below for reference)

For a little context why I chose this interpretation, our lil buddy the ghost knifefish feeds on these creatures that are basically carnivorous, venomous leeches (but not really leeches), called bloodworms. They’re also nocturnal.

Although he is usually a deepsea merman, one night, our buddy mer!Julian finds himself drawn to the surface of the water by the glint of gold in the water illuminated by the moonlight, tossed over the side of what looks like a pirate ship on the surface

Of course, this is MC trying to cause as much fucking trouble as possible for their pirate companions while they’re asleep because why the fuck not, they’re mischievous AF

MC is on this ship travelling away from their homeland after having gone back to visit their teacher, Asra.

Julian is immediately captivated by MC, wants to bring them back with him to the depths and keep them forever yes he wants to possess them like a shiny object, and he maaay be thinking of having them as a snack, it probably isn’t healthy

MC doesn’t seem to notice Julian at first, but damn does Julian notice them

He thinks they’re the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen, on land or sea, and they smell DIVINE.

At first it’s purely a physical attraction thing for him - they’re stunning and he’s thinking with his dick … cloaca … whatever fucking organs a fish has for reproduction … Genital pore? Sorry, I don’t know fish anatomy and google isn’t helping me much, but I digress.

But the more he observes MC, though, the more he stops seeing them as a potential snack, and starts to fall for them romantically?

MC throwing gold overboard, picking fights with pirates, swinging from the ship’s rope systems, chilling in the crow’s nest with a journal? Good shit, says Julian. And MC sassing the goddamn pirate captain? Well shit, he’s smitten.

During the daytime, Julian can’t go to the surface because the sun is harmful to him, and he dreads when the sun begins to rise because that’s when MC is most active and he’s MISSING OUT on that precious time

It’s all fun and games, Julian watching MC and MC pretending not to notice, until MC lets it be known they know Julian is there one night by fucking JUMPING OVERBOARD to see if the merman who’s been spying on them is friend or foe

Julian loses his shit - doesn’t know if he should laugh or panic, and he’s trying to make sure the little human doesn’t fucking die in the water because how should he know if humans can swim? This is literally the first human he’s ever actually seen, let alone met.

He swims over and scoops them up, taking them to shore.

“WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING YOU IDIOT?! YOU COULD HAVE DIED- CAN YOU HUMANS EVEN SWIM WITHOUT FINS?”

MC is cackling. “Of course I can swim, I just wanted to see if you were friendly or if you’d try to eat me or something, pretty fish man!”

Julian is stunned. MC just called him pretty, even though he’s a carnivorous spooky scary deep sea merman?? He’s fucking weirded out because normally the other mermaids are afraid of him

He’s never had anyone think he’s pretty before and he’s just shocked that a human pirate is calling him pretty when he could easily attack them and drink their blood in an instant

And he’s fighting off the urges and instinct to do exactly that because MC looks and smells delicious to him

He just wants to make them his, so he can claim them as his own and stop wanting to eat the one being who doesn’t seem to actually be terrified of him?

But he doesn’t want to scare them either with the idea of mating so he doesn’t try to initiate anything

UNTIL

After a few weeks, when they’re comfortable with each other MC decides to tease him

“Aw, is the big bad fishy gonna bite me?”

Of course he fucking bites them, that was basically a fucking invitation

MC is not fucking amused but they are slightly aroused under the annoyance

“Eat your goddamn bloodworms, not me, you dumbass. Unless there’s another way you want to eat me.”

Goddamn it guys I’m trying not to sexual innuendo the fuck out of this post but I keep walking right into it I’m sorry

There may or may not be a little vore/blood play going on here if people are into that but that’s a story for another post people can ask for if they want to hear it

Eventually Julian and MC are essentially romantically involved and Julian decides to see a magical sea deity and requests that MC be allowed to become a merbeing themself, so they can be with Julian forever.

Imagine this deity to basically be Ursula and Triton from the Little Mermaid combined as far as power levels go

The deity decides that they will transform MC, but only under the condition that Julian gives something up in exchange - his nocturnal vision - which means he would essentially be blind.

Now, Julian loves seeing MC. Their looks were the first thing he fell for, after all. Never seeing their face clearly again would devastate him, but so would being separated from them for over half of every day because of the sunlight.

So he agrees to the conditions, although MC protests that this is a fucking dumb idea and isn’t there a better way to go about this? 

MC then decides that, to make sure Julian keeps his precious sight (or at least most of it), they’re going to offer something else. 

Their proposition: Julian would lose sight in one eye, and MC would give up their ability to go on land, even if it meant never seeing their beloved teacher, Asra, ever again.

The deity, intrigued by MC’s willingness to sacrifice something they love for Julian, decides that they will not require any conditions, because MC’s courage, dedication to Julian, and love for Julian, who no merperson or mortal has ever even been friends with, let alone loved, is just astonishing to them.

So Julian and MC get to have their happy ending together, and in addition, the deity gifts them both the ability to shift between human and merperson forms as a show of goodwill toward this union between the mortal and the merman.

You best believe there are lots of merbabies in their future too, some wee cuties they’ll be

I’m sorry this is garbage but I tried

Ooooooooh you just hit a good nerve with me, my friend. I agree 100%, that is A++++

Our boy Julian looooooooves getting facefucked.

He loves giving MC full control, letting them take their pleasure from him.

So when a blushing MC asks him for a blowjob for the first time, he is ON IT, SIR/MA’AM in a heartbeat. 

MC and Julian determine a safe signal ahead of time for if Julian needs to breathe or wants to stop, just in case. Better safe than sorry, in MC’s eyes, even if Julian doesn’t think it’s necessary.

It only escalates from there as they figure out their dynamic preferences and as MC gets comfortable domming Julian in more certain terms.

“Get on your knees, sweetheart, hands behind your back. Keep them there, that’s a good boy~”

Julian MELTS, moaning happily as MC wraps a hand in his hair, guiding his mouth to their cock. This is how MC realized they live for calling Julian by pet names, and for using every bit of dirty talk possible.

At first, MC just lazily guides Julian’s head up and down on their cock in a leisurely way, listening to Julian’s muffled moans.

As Julian deep-throats them, they murmur words of appreciation . “You’re being such a good little slut for me, Ilyushka, taking me so, so well. Are you ready for more?”

Julian bobs his head, nodding with a moan of appreciation as his own cock strains in his own tight leather pants.

MC picks up the pace, fucking Julian’s throat until he’s gagging and moaning, tears streaming down his face.

“That’s a good pet, making me feel so good. I‘m getting close, sweetie, are you ready?”

MC pulls out of Julian’s mouth, cumming all over their boy’s pretty, debauched, tearstained face with a groan.

There is cum everywhere, in Julian’s hair, dripping down his face and onto his chest and thighs.

Afterward, MC pets Julian’s hair and cleans up his face, getting him settled on the bed for cuddles and aftercare.

“You were so good for me, my sweet. Did you have fun?”