#.rem gushes

[remdeans]

pictures of me snuggling with my boyfriend dean winchester

witch turned me invisible and really small in the first one . witch turned me into a pillow in the second one . it happened it was canon

[animeisforanimation]

Tristamp Party. Day 1. Episode 1.

Let’s start from the beginning.

I adore stories set in space. The country I was born in is famous - among other, way less pleasant things - for a generation of kids dreaming of becoming astronauts. Or maybe it’s Star Wars that brought me the fascination with giant ships taking over the screen, voyaging into the placed yet unknown?

Anyways, by the time Stampede aired I still haven’t watched 98 or read the manga but it was a story I knew about and had a lot of expectations of. But I did not expect these:

The way these ships float into the screen, the size of them, the grandeur! It reminded me of Dune even before we got to the desert planet and the giant warms. And then the design of the ships! Someone has pointed out it really looks like angel arm which is fantastic, but at first they look more like fish or flowers drifting through space. Fantastical, whimsical even, otherworldly.

All in all, I was blown away.

-

And then there was Rem.

Sorry, I’ll skim over the scene of baby Vash saying hello to the people in cryosleep - a hauntingly beautiful one! - and move right to REM because she was a final nail in my coffin. The music and sound design is beautiful, Maaya Sakamoto is fantastic as usual, but what makes this scene stand out are microexpressions.

We’ve known her for what? a minute? But I joined in with her tears. I ached for her.

Now, after Trimax, I do have things to complain about, for one, she sure is less of an Ellen Ripley now. And yet, when I rewatch Tristamp, I cry. Every. Single. Time. That’s strong!

-

And now back to the twins. I’m sure someone else have already talked about that, but the blocking is immaculate: We almost never see Kni’s face, his emotions, reactions.

This shot is my favorite. If you pay attention, you can almost see him clenching teeth. Or maybe you’re just looking too closely and projecting at this point? Who knows.

And then there’s this one!

We’re only privy to determination with which he jumps into the pod - and then almost blank expression when he invites Rem to join them. After her decision to stay, though - nothing. There’s only poor anguished Vash - and a blank wall of black hair.

I wonder, if this trick has already fulfilled its purpose when we saw Kni laughing over the debris and learned of his role - or if we’ll see more of the twins’ childhood, more of this boy that becomes Millions Knives, more of his manga self.

I kinda wish we do~ but whether it comes to be or not, this first scene of Trigun Stampede did exactly what it should have: it sucked me into this world and here I am a year later, deep in the sands of this planet in all of its incarnations.

[ourlittleforever]

i want to draw remmillie as the Planet Of Bass people

[zvdvdlvr]

young remus x f!r with "your did so good" fluff pls

always proud

Remus could feel your joy from the entrance of the Great Hall radiating off of you like sunbeams. Your Mary Janes hit the ground fast as you ran towards Remus and his friends, waving your essay over your head like a flag. People didn’t spare you a glance as you charged for the Gryffindor table.

“Look! Remus we did it!” You rounded the table and humped onto your boyfriend’s awaiting form. His arms wrapped around your waist as you clung to him like a koala. Remus ignored his friends’ wolf whistles and teasing comments. “We aced it, Remus!”

Remus tried to commit your breathless chuckle to memory. Your joy made his heart swell. “No, dove, you aced it. I just read over it,” he told you, releasing his grip on your waist. He sat down at elbowed James in the side: a silent ‘move your arse’ so that you could sit by him.

You shoved the essay under Peter, Sirius, and James’s noses. Remus’s eyes softened at the way you flaunted your ‘O’ to everyone who would listen. “Look- there are even notes,” you gushed, pointing to the loopy red cursive. “‘An excellent observation, ms. l/n,’ and ‘an extraordinarily paragraph’ and ‘very well done’.”

“You did so well, dove. I’m proud of you,” he said so quietly you could barely hear it. For the first time since receiving your essay, you set it carefully on the table and took Remus’s lanky frame in your arms.

“Thank you, Rem,” you whispered, face buried into his chest.

“Bugger off with your— your romantic moment,” Sirius gagged. His shudder turned to a mockingly offended gasp as Remus flipped him the bird and kept you in his arms.

“‘Corse, dove,” Remus cooed.

[soupandsimple]

Coach P. (with James Potter)

[ gym coach James being called out by a student for often visiting you during their art class ]

* simple fluff 💜

** muggle au

This was requested: see the ask here

……………………….

Knock knock knock

You looked over to the little window of your classroom door while in the middle of demonstrating to your students how to create clean, even coverage brush strokes with a paint brush and saw James Potter, the school’s gym teacher waving at you.

You smiled, held up your pointer finger informing him to give you a moment and continued on explaining the method.

“There, that easy” you said to the group of twelve year old children once you finished. “Now I want you all to practice this technique on the mosaic sheet designs you made yesterday. I’ll be coming around checking your progress in a bit,” you concluded.

As the kids stood up to gather their painting supplies from the back of the room, you went over and finally opened the door.

“Sorry for the wait” you apologized to James.

“No, no- you’re here to do your job. I have no trouble waiting around for you…here, I brought you these” he said, handing you a bag of fruit snacks that were carried in the school’s vending machines.

“Ugh, you know I can’t say no to fruit snacks” you admitted as you grabbed the bag. “I’ll just save them for later, it makes me sad to eat them with the students watching” you forced a little laugh as you set them on your desk.

“Such a thoughtful thing you are,” James half joked, half gushed.

“As are you coach Potter,” you playfully bantered back, resulting in a shared shy laugh as you each looked in different directions.

“No but seriously though James, thank you for the snacks,” you spoke in your normal tone of voice now, with a smile of gratitude on your lips.

Before James could reply, Lawrence, one of the more outspoken boys of his year, called out, “Hey coach P, why do you always come in here during our class?”

Some of the students laughed while others internally gasped and stared at each other with knowing looks, looks that told you they all speculated there was something between you and James.

“Uhh..well it’s my free period Lawrence,” James replied back as casually as he could.

“Yeah but you like always come in here, can’t you go home during your break or take a nap?”

“No, work is still work. I can’t leave the school and I certainly can’t sleep.”

“That sucks Coach…I bet you still look forward to your free period everyday anyways don’t you?” Lawrence said with three comical eyebrow wiggles.

A group of girls giggled and even you wanted to laugh at the fact that James was being called out by a twelve year old but luckily you were able to contain your lips in a subtle smile.

A red hue quickly spread across James’s cheeks as he let out an airy chuckle, “Okayyyy Lawrence, enough of that. Why don’t you get back to your work.”

Lawrence shrugged and went on about his business.

What the students didn’t know was that during the summer, James and you had been set up on a blind date by mutual friend Remus Lupin but that once you met and found out you’d be working at the same school that year, you both decided it’d be better to keep things simple and just be friends. The feelings between you two, however, were undeniable and it was really only a matter of time before you both accepted you were not meant to limit yourselves to a friendship.

“Well, I should go,” James said pointing to the door with both hands then walking backward towards it to keep an eye on you. “But oh, hey, you going to Rem’s birthday dinner tomorrow night?”

“Mhm,” you nodded.

“Good, um me too. I’ll see you there then?”

“Yeah, see you there,” you assured him happily with a little wave goodbye.

James smiled and cutely saluted you in exchange of a wave and as he walked out of the door, Lawrence eagerly shouted out …

“Have a good weekend coach P!”

… to which James pretended not to have heard and kept on his way without a look back.

Naturally though, he couldn’t help the small smile that escaped his lips as he exited, just as your lips did the same inside because you both knew you’d be getting to see each other outside of school hours for a change; and well, that certainly made for a good weekend. <3

[ddejavvu]

multiverse monday! casual dominance with poly!marauders in which james applying ur lip balm for you bc ur lips get dry, remus ties ur shoes and stuff like that PLEASE TYSM <3333

"Pucker up, m'love." James taps at your cheek, directing your attention away from Remus who's tying your shoes, kneeling at your feet.

"Oh!" You gush, pushing your lips out into a pretty pout so that James can smear strawberry chapstick over them. The change in angle means that the braid Sirius is weaving into your hair nearly comes undone, and the man scoffs, voice close to your ear.

"Oi! Mind lettin' me work?"

"Sorry, Siri." You mumble, mouth mostly closed as James lines your lips with the balm.

"Not you, darling," Sirius hums, leaning in to kiss your temple, "I was talking to the big oaf doing your makeup."

"Hey!" James's jaw drops, and he reaches forwards, quick as a flash, to smear chapstick against Sirius's angled cheekbone, "Call me an oaf."

"Both of you," Remus hisses from your feet, nudging James's calves out of the way as the man tries fighting with Sirius, "Are in the way. Darling, do you want your socks bunched up by your ankles, or up to your thighs?"

"Thighs," You decide, and Remus's slender fingers stretch the fabric until it's over your knees, "Thanks, Rem."

"Kiss," He demands, as compensation for his work. You gladly lean in to share some of the chapstick James has just slathered on your lips, and it gives the two men behind you room to wrestle.

"Dickhead," Sirius sneers, laughing hard when James sticks a hand against his ribs, "Ah! You asshole, that tickles!"

Remus is barely able to catch James's arm before it swings out towards you, gripping the man's wrist and nearly twisting it. James looks to Remus, eyes widening when he realizes he'd nearly whacked you in the face, mouthing a 'sorry!' that you don't see because you're still kissing at Remus's mouth.

The only response that James gets is a scarred, slender middle finger thrown his way, and Remus escorts you out of the room before James and Sirius can even get back on their feet.

[byuljoonie]

Valentine // knj

I blinked and suddenly I had a valentine…♪

pairing: dom!rm x f!reader

genre: sfw, fluff, drabble

word count: 0.7k

warnings: fluff if you hate fluff

note: Have a lovely Valentine’s Day darlings ໒꒰ྀིᵔ ᵕ ᵔ ꒱ྀི১ -dubu♡

“Y/N,” you stirred slowly in your bed, turning over to fall back into deep rem. “Baby, wake up.” You felt two large hands grip your hips, softly urging you to roll over onto your back. You groaned into your pillow, begrudgingly moving to face the culprit.

“Hmmm,” you hummed rubbing your eyes aggressively, letting them adjust to the streams of sunlight penetrating your shared bedroom.

“Surprise!!” A beaming Namjoon said happily. He stood beside you holding a tray of assorted fruit and a coffee, surprisingly making it to your room without spilling anything.

You noticed the pink heart shaped balloon tied to the handle of the brown serving tray. Giggling as you finally found yourself fully conscious. You lifted your arms from under your weighted comforter, stretching them wildly before reaching towards your lover.

Namjoon sat the tray on your bedside table, sitting comfortably next to your waiting frame. You sat up giddily wrapping your arms around him in a tight hug. He reciprocated contently squeezing your body against his. He pulled away attacking your face with a bundle of feather-light kisses.

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” you muttered your voice still groggy with sleep.

“And happy anniversary my love,” he said warmly. You smiled at the not so distant memory of Namjoon asking to be your boyfriend last year. An easy yes for any sane suitor of such a golden man.

“So lame,” you teased poking his dimples. He feigned hurt placing a hand over his chest in shock. Pinning you to the bed suddenly, he smiled as you let out a huff.

“But you love it,” he said leaning down to plant a trail of kissing down your neck. You relished in the feeling of his lips, sighing when he left a lingering kiss on your collarbone.

“Hey, at least let me have breakfast first” you whined, trying to wiggle your way from under your boyfriend. He laughed at your foiled attempts to escape before letting you go.

“I’ll go wash up,” you said grabbing a strawberry from a plate on the tray. Turning to Namjoon and feeding him one. He pressed a kiss to the palm of your hand, exiting the room swiftly.

Your feet padded softly on the carpet as you walked into your bathroom. Not expecting to see a gift basket of new toiletries waiting for you atop the counter. You squealed seeing the cutely decorated items.

You felt beyond lucky to have someone as thoughtful as Joon. He regularly made you feel special in ways that once felt unattainable. You began brushing your teeth, humming the lyrics to whatever came to mind.

The thought of Namjoon sneaking around to prepare little things for you sending a love surge through your body. I’ve rejected affection for years and years, you sang in your head. Pushing away the sporadic thoughts of resentment for past relationship mistakes.

The thoughts rarely crossed your mind anymore. Namjoon is the last one you’ll ever kiss, and truly love deeply. You washed your face gently, before hanging the towel on its respective rack. Having the privilege of learning and growing together has changed your life for the better.

You make your way down the long hallway, seeing the light of the kitchen shine in the corridor. As you crossed over into the kitchen you found Namjoon leaning against the counter. A wrapped bouquet of wildflowers sat graciously in his hand. Your eyes widened at the sentiment, rushing over to embrace him.

He quickly moved the flowers to the counter, fearing they’d get squished between you. After a string of I love you’s and a never ending hug, you began to gush about your other gift. Thanking him for the small details he always remembers. He tilted his head curiously, smiling down at you. “What?” You asked confused, wiping at your cheek as if something were there.

“Nothing, you’re just beautiful.” He confessed admirably, grabbing your hand from your cheek and placing another kiss to your palm. You felt your heartbeat racing, wondering how you got caught in a romance with him somehow. He looked so pretty all you could do was blush.

“I love you,” he mumbled against your lips, sending a shock through your bones. The thought of losing him causing a pain in your chest. You pulled away to catch your breath, running a hand along his shaved head.

“Now, we have dinner tonight at 8.” He said running to the living room. You jogged behind him excitedly, trying to meet his long strides.

“So don’t forget to wear this,” he beamed proudly, handing you a heart covered gift bag containing a dress.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

[letsgetrowdy43]

Drunken proposals—

Jamie Drysdale x Reader

Warnings: nothing really, drinking??, lmk if anything else :)

"Y/n which of these flowers should I add to my bouquets?" Lily slid a scrapbook chalked full of flower cutouts from magazines in front of her. The young woman smiled warmly, fingers running over the glossy shine of the magazine pieces as she looked up at her best friend who was practically glowing with excitement

Ever since the bride's mother-in-law had heard the rumour of her daughter's proposal she had begun compiling a bag full of magazines and venue pamphlets. The moment the question was popped, the planning followed suit.

Lily and Y/n had been tasked with the dinner arrangements, from tablecloths to seating arrangements, tonight was the night all of this would be settled. It seemed as if every "insignificant" detail had been thought through, many tears were shed as they sipped cheap wine and reminisced on their childhoods, giggling at the outrageous pairings they put at tables, just to stir the pot.

Lily smiled at the woman who went through and examined every tiny sample of tablecloth colours the venue supplied, the wedding had been a nice distraction for Y/n's nerves. Jamie was still contractless well into the free-agent season, and the Anaheim Duck organization seemed like a pit of doom, but both her boyfriend and their ex-roommate had decided that they had some 'unfinished business' to return to in California.

"I'm in favour of the white narcissus, maybe some eucalyptus branches, and a few lilies, mixed with some baby's breath" Y/n grabbed the four cut-out slips and placed them together in front of Lily who gushed. Her best friend's mother-in-law leaned over the kitchen table and then looked at the bride with a grin, "They're lovely" Lily gushed and nodded in approval. And that's how the night went, a perfectionist's dream as they sorted through all of the details, picking out colour schemes and grinning with pride as they perfected the entire night.

Lily smiled, her thumbs drummed on the table and finally, she looked up at Y/n with a grin. "That's a scheming grin" "It's not! But I do have a question for you" Y/n rolled her eyes as Lily took her hands into her grasp. The woman laughed at the awkward tension, chuckling at the terrified look on her best friend's face as the mood turned dark.

"Y/n?" Lily paused causing the girl to groan. "Lily you're making me anxious!"  "Be my maid of honour!" Y/n smiled widely as she nodded, pulling Lily into her arms, "Oh my God, of course!" she said swaying back and forth with excitement.

"Good good, so obviously you and Marley's person of honour will be walking together in the bridal party" She smiled as she showed a picture of the bridesmaid dresses and the optional tuxes that her own mother had promised to make as a wedding gift to her. A lovely shade of sage, it was a long dress with puffy sleeves and a cinched waist. Y/n gasped as she looked closely at the dress, "they're stunning," she looked up at a grinning Lily

"I have a question," Lily handed two china saucers to Y/n and motioned for her to pick her favourite, "when did you know you wanted to marry her?" the girl asked as they sorted through napkin samples. Her best friend grinned as she flipped through a wedding dress magazine, "I don't actually know, I met her and I knew that I wanted to be with her for the rest of my life, but marriage wasn't something I ever pictured with anyone really, but she brought up the idea a few months ago and asked my opinion and honestly a no never even crossed my mind," she grinned and looked down at the ring on her finger.

Y/n nodded and smiled, thinking back to young much awkward Jamie. The two of them had met just after his draft into the OHL, and she swore in that second she had met him, a little over five years ago, that he was the man she was meant to adore for the rest of her time on the earth. Marriage was something she really wanted, something she had dreamt of since she could remember.

She stared at the piles of books in front of her, a grin on her face as she remembered the conversation Jamie had brought up to her a few weeks prior, "Would you be mad if I just wanted to elope?" he asked as they laid next to each other in their shared bed. he didn't even need to explain why, if that's how he wanted it she was okay with it, she would be happy with anything, as long as he was the one she got to call the husband at the end of the night.

She stared at the piles around her, stacks of magazine clippings and ribbons surrounding her as she looked up at her best friend, "I think I want to propose to Jamie," she confessed as her best friend grinned.

★★★

A bottle of wine and lots of giggly conversations later Y/n stumbled back home and into bed next to Jamie who slept soundlessly.

A breathy laugh left the woman's lips and she crawled in next to him. Her makeup was still on and her clothes were discarded onto the floor, with only a bra and Jamie's boxers remaining on her body. The defenceman's face scrunched up as she worked her way into his arms, giggles leaving her lips as she tried, and failed, to quietly get comfortable.

"I'm sorry honey" she whispered. "You sound a bit drunk love" he groaned rubbing his eyes of any remaining sleep "I am," she grinned before placing a wet kiss on his nose

Y/n stared at his sleepy expression, her heart thumping as she brought her hand up to run her fingers through his bedhead, a content grin on her face as he snuggled in closer to her. Her face broke out into a full-blown smile as she watched him close his eyes at the feeling of her touch. "I'm so utterly and unconditionally in love with you," she mumbled, blurring her face in his chest as his arms wrapped securely around her.

He went to cut her off but instead was silenced by a finger that she placed on his lips, a small shush following shortly after. "I'm not done" she frowned before placing a kiss where her finger previously resided.

"Jamie Drysdale, I'm so overwhelmed by the love that I hold for you, with my entire being. You're my favourite person, my favourite everything" she took a short pause, her eyelashes batting as she took his hand into hers "You make me feel so many things, you feel inevitable to me like you are my forever"

Jamie sat up onto his elbows to look at her, his eyes began to well with tears as she endlessly confessed.  "Like- like we are something written out by the gods," his thumb ran across Y/n's face, wiping away the tears that fell down the apples of her cheeks. "What I'm trying to say is that you are the kindest and most loving person in my life. And I will cherish you until the end of my days" she whispered the last sentence and placed a kiss on the knuckles of the hand still in her grasp.

His tired features melted away long ago and now resides a look of pure love on his moonlit face.  Tear streaks highlight his cheeks, his vocabulary had already withered away as she spoke, leaving him nothing less than speechless.

Jamie watched her smile and let out a laugh at the awkward tension, he leaned in to capture her lips on his, his hand cupping her jaw as she hummed into his mouth. Her lips tasted cherry wine and cigarettes, soft from the overuse of her vanilla lavender lip balm, a taste that was familiar on his tongue, a sense of home, as his hand found the side of her face.

"Marry me" she whispered, her forehead now leaning against his as she let out shallow breaths. Her hand plays with the hair at the nape of his neck, her brows furrowed as she waits for his response so she can start kissing him again. Jamie smiled and let out a quiet "yes" before he leaned back down to kiss her.

He didn't even need to say words, or a large rambling confession as she did, Y/n knew that Jamie loved her with every fibre of his being, he'd shown it countless times over the years. There was no doubt in her mind that James wouldn't walk hand in hand with her for the rest of his life just as she would for him.

He pulled away to look her in the eyes, his hand still cradling her cheek. She slowly blinked as her thumb ran over his cracked bottom lips, pulling at the flesh as he tried to find his voice again. "You mean it?" "Yes J," her mind was distracted by the stubble that was growing in on his jaw.

Jamie rolled over onto his side to rummage in his bedside table drawer, searching for the little box that was hidden under a pile of paperwork and a book. He turned back to face her and pulled Y/n right into his chest, her cheek pressed against his chest as he placed the little box in her palm.

She opened the tiny box to see a small ring, nothing extravagant like she specifically said she wanted, "oh J, did I just ruin your proposal?" she slid the ring one, face a blaze as she admired its other ring finger. "Was gonna wait till your birthday to do it, but I liked yours more," he grinned as he took her hand a placed a kiss right onto her finger, lips ghosting over the ring.

"I just drunkenly prosed to you," her jaw dropped as she rolled onto her back and stared at the roof, confused by the escalation of her actions, "What are we gonna tell our kids?" "Kids?" he choked on his laughter as she rolled back into his side, her eyes lovingly staring up at him. "Well I mean yeah, in the future, how am I supposed to tell them that Lily got me hammered and I word-vomited myself into an engagement," she joked. "I say you tell them just that," he mused and got himself comfortable.

She grinned into his skin, "We are engaged," she whispered and closed her eyes, a telltale to Jamie that she needed some sleep. Shortly after the room filled with her small snore, Jamie's finger agilely danced across her forearm and he watched his now fiancé roll onto her side. Her face squished into the pillow as a quiet snore left her lips.

He let out a quiet sigh and rolled to be face to face with her, his fingers now brushing her face-framing strands from out of her eyes and tucked behind her ears. A sombre look washed over his features as he watched the rise and fall of her figure.  And in that exact moment, he swore to himself that he'd do everything within his power to make sure he was the best husband he could be to her, cause she was everything he'd been dreaming of and more.

-

-

-

I didn't proofread... I got lazy :) so if it's bad don't say anything cause I will cry!!

[remdeans]

not to sound like a nun seeing a flash of skin for the first time or smth but whenever he just wears a tshirt i swear my heart starts beating a little faster . also i miss his jewelry in the later seasons :( headcanon he wears rings and bracelets and necklaces forever because i love the character they add to him (and the only reason he even stopped wearing them was cuz k.ripke wasnt working on the show anymore so) . also maybe he would give me his ring as a gift and i can wear it as a necklace teehee

TLDR; boyfriend is boyfriending extra hard here

[scribbly-somethings]

oh man EVERYTHING about this ask. all of these things PLUS the way you craft relationships!! when I started reading your works, the very first thing I noticed was the way the characters interact with each other. a few things that make it stand out- they are very physically affectionate with each other, none of them interact with the others in the same way, and it all feels so familiar.

for example- the way leo will kiss mikey's head, but that's not something leo and donnie will do; donnie presses a kiss to his palm and then baps it on leo's forehead. my internet's being spotty and not letting me load ao3 to look at other examples fjkdlajfs but it's fascinating to me that leo and donnie have a relationship that is so distinctly different than leo and mikey, or raph and donnie, or donnie and mikey. I think @/turtleinsoup was the one to describe your character relationships as puzzle pieces, and I think that that's a perfect way to explain it. all of these brothers fit together, but not in the same ways. every side is different. every piece connects different.

and the familiarity! I think it's part of the reason why your writing feels so soft and soothing to me (uh, excluding parts like chapters 13-15 :'D). the way one of them will conk their head against the other, or how they'll make fun of each other, or heck, even how they fight with each other. I have several siblings, and whenever I read moments like that, I can immediately see myself and my brother in them, or me and little sisters. it feels like it was drawn from actual experience, and it's so full of heart! it's very, very cool. :)

aaaand small circle back to the repeated lines- YEAH. dang, it deals so much power. one of the lines that kept messing me up in death wish (and then, consequently, became one of my favorite lines) was the "He never knew how to tell his brothers when things actually hurt him, because every time he did it just made things worse."

Basically the whole reason I wanted to point out your language was so I could point out two things:

1. your strategic love of periods

You use periods. A lot. And usually, in the best of ways. I LOVE reading your work because of how you use excessive periods well. For example, I’m looking at Firefight right now, and here’s a line from it.

“Donnie leaned back, breathing slow and even, trying to calm his racehorse of a heart. It was beginning to painfully assault his ribcage. He knew Leo had a plan. He always had a plan. Just give him a minute. Just wait.” Genius. Amazing. I could praise your writing for days, because the use of the periods are just perfect for conveying the hysterical desperation of the situation, the pain, the fear. Just wait for Leo, just wait for him, just wait and it’ll be better.

You could’ve written it like: “Donnie leaned back, breathing slow and even to slow his racehorse of a heart, which was painfully assaulting his ribcage. He knew Leo had a plan, he had to, he just had to give him a minute, he just had to wait.” And it wouldn’t have been as alive as you made it seem with all the periods and the language. You use periods where there shouldn’t be, and it’s perfect.

2. How you describe verbs.

I’m not entirely sure how to describe how you do this, but if it were a mathematical formula of any kind, it would be put as: “All” + (adjective + noun)

An example I made up: Leo collapsed on top of the pile, all uncoordinated limbs and heaving lungs.

From Firefight: “Leo’s eyes flickering in circles all around them, not stilling for a moment. They were so exposed out here. All yawning stars and space.”

This really reminds me of that line from. “On Turning 10” by Billy Collins, in the line “And my bicycle never leaned against the garage as it does today, all the dark blue speed drained out of it” which I think could be described as treating a characteristic like a noun. I love it when you do that.

Those were the main points that I noticed, but I have some other ones too

3. Your lack of connecting words.

I’ve still got Firefight in front of me right now, so here’s an example: “He was staring straight ahead in cold terror, sweat down his brow, pupils tiny.”

It’s just a cold, hard statement. There’s no possessive noun, it just is its own separate thing, while still being ‘his’. There’s no possessive noun, and there’s no motion, there’s just “down”, showing off how frozen the moment is, how you can’t move, you can’t breathe. He’s right there, right there, right there, breathing is too risky, I must. Stay. Frozen. He’ll find me, I’m so scared, don’t move a muscle, don’t sweat too loud.

You could’ve written it “He was staring straight ahead in cold terror, there was sweat dripping down his brow, and his pupils were tiny.”

I’m not even sure I described it right, but there’s just something about this. THIS, that just. Itches my brain.

And there’s another point with your excessive use of periods.

4. “Just. Itches my brain.”

I know this is technically a punctuation error, but it’s BEAUTIFUL. To be grammatically correct, it should’ve been, “Just… itches my brain” but the way you write it makes it so much more alive. There is an audible pause, no trailing off, just a hard . No question about it. It puts kind of a tone in the character’s voice that I absolutely LOVE. Then again, I love everything you write, haha

5. It was

Describing a void. Love it when you do that.

Again, looking at Firefight: “But it was flip-flopping all anxious and disoriented. He was still panicking. It was cold sweat broken out all over.” That last line is what I’m talking about specifically, you’re describing a feeling, or a void, with “it was [enter symbol or described noun]”

6. Gerunds

“‘Explain then.’ Donnie requested, gulping down air. Not throwing up. Leo holding onto him. [F] his ribs hurt.” This is kind of an example of your use of periods, too, and it’s also kind of a different version of your use of. “It was”, because you’re using a gerund to fill the space, describe what’s happening like the readers are there with the characters.

And this is also a little bit of constructive criticism I’ve wanted to share with you since I started reading your work, but I’ve learned that when you’re finishing a dialogue piece like in the above example, you’re likely not going to want to put a period at the end of the dialogue, unless you’re ending the sentence. The line above should’ve been: “‘Explain then,’ Donnie requested, gulping down air,” because “explain then” isn’t actually the end of the sentence, it’s just a part of the sentence. If you tried to read it aloud, the period would be an abrupt disruption. I’m not sure how to explain this rule but the best way I can think of it is to say, if you could take the quotation marks away and let it stand as its own sentence, then you’re good to put a period. But, if you take away the quotation marks and the line can’t stand on its own, then you need a comma. Unless it’s a question or an exclamation.

For example: Explain then. Donnie requested, gulping down air = does not work

Explain then, Donnie requested, gulping down air. = does work (ignoring how the second comma makes it sound weird. The quotation marks will make that up for you)

Or, for another example from the next line: Gotta breathe slower, dude. Leo told him. Vs. Gotta breathe slower, dude, Leo told him. (Again, the quotation marks make up for the weird comma)

If you wanted to implement another part of your writing quirk to make up for the periods, you could do that too. You could say, using the first example, “‘Explain then.’ Donnie was gulping down air. Not throwing up.

7. They’re teenagers

This isn’t really a quirk, but the way you write the guys just—UGH it’s awesome! They’re brothers, they’re teenagers. I’m not sure how you do it, but you portray their relationships with each other so perfectly, with how they treat each other in casual situations, with how they act in casual situations. Like, in Little Kid with a Big Death Wish. Snapchat! I didn’t even think of them being into social media like that until you said it! How it’s a regular part of their lives, how you were able to use it as a symbol. The streaks, starting over, a broken connection, I love it.

8. It’s 3 AM

This is something I REALLY admire, the most out of all the things I’ve told you about throughout this absurdly long ask. I love the reoccurring motifs, the symbolism of 3AM. It kind of feels like an inside joke that only you and I and a hundred thousand other readers know about. A secret between the character and the readers. The symbolism of 3AM was set from the very beginning, and it just kills me in the best of ways every single time I see it.

9. Repetitive language

My examples from Little Kid with a Big Death Wish and Firefight:

The last two steps of the tightrope. It’s an obscure little thing that no one would think twice about. Until you used it again, with more meaning. First time I read about the tightrope, and said, “Okay, whatever. Existential dread.” And then at the end of the chapter, you used it again, with FAR more weight and pain added to it. The terror of death, the expectation of it, the inexplicable emotion that Leo was feeling, conveyed in less than 10 words in a way that I can’t even describe accurately. But you did, you used something completely unrelated and conveyed the exact, indescribably emotion you wanted to.

Breathe deep, from the bottom of your lungs. It was only used a couple times, but it’s still meaningful, for no reason at all. The repetition of the phrase just… does things to me. I love it so much, and I don’t even know how to describe the emotion.

Words written in blood on a tomb wall. Again, feelings I can’t describe, but every time you use this, it just gives me a feeling of pained dread, of inevitable doom, just slowly crawling towards the end and absolutely terrified with it.

Pot of water. Again. Feelings. It makes the rift between Leo and Donnie painfully palpable, and it actually makes me wonder how the aftermath of the Prison Dimension will be shaped BECAUSE of this. Will there be a rift between them, even with Donnie’s crushing separation anxiety?

10. “With it”

You use this phrase a lot, actually. Usually, it’s used with an action, and the unspoken ‘it’s just makes it better every single time you use the phrase. Like: “Leo smiled, lip wobbling a little with it.” But what’s ‘it’? Good question, it’s up to you, but with context, it perfectly describes the emotion that might not have a word for it. ‘It’ is a filler for the word that would describe the emotion.

11. Illness descriptions.

Again, this isn’t a quirk, but I love how perfectly you describe the feeling of illness, dissociation, anorexia, pain, etc. I’ve experienced all of this myself, and I cannot tell you how accurately you described all of it, that feeling of separation from your body, the extreme pain that’s so strong it’s just forgotten, the lack of hunger, the struggle of trying to eat. All of it is so amazing. I couldn’t have described it so amazingly as you did even if I tried. I think I’ve told you how incredible it is before in the comments, but I’ll say it as many times and I can, because it’s true. It just feels like you know exactly what you’re talking about, and exactly how to write the characters and convey how the characters are feeling.

That’s all I have so far. I’ve been practically studying your writings because I love your voice to an unreal degree, so call me a stalker, but you’re just so cool to me. Sorry for the absurdly long ask, but there’s a lot I wanted to say. Obviously, lol.

Actually, when you reblogged that anon ask about sharing the ao3 bookmark with the least notes, or whatever it was, and you said “I got a jump scare”, I saw that post and didn’t really read a lot of it until I opened the work myself. The writing style was immediately familiar, and then I saw the end notes, and that just solidified my theory. Then I looked at your tags in that reblog and said aloud, “Called it.”

Thank you for bearing with me. I’m so sorry lol

oh my god this is so long DUDE I WAS NOT EXPECTING THIS MUCH DETAIL OK OK

i'll address the constructive comment first: many, many people have tried to teach me how to properly do dialogue punctuation. i learnt wrong a long time ago and my brain REFUSES to learn the right way so i've just accepted it. hopefully it's not too annoying LMAO

i am fascinated, thank you. i thought of my own contribution while reading this, which is that i LOVE to use the 'something about xyz' construction. eg from firefight "Something about how Donnie's throat felt about ten times smaller, and the flicker as his purple lights faded, standing next to their stupid little nest."

i have a lot of influence from poetry. fucking love poetry. oh and i've always felt that my descriptions of the connection bt emotions and physical sensations is bc i'm autistic and i spend a lot of my time going OK WHAT'S GOING ON IN HERE at my body

i don't really know what to say other than, YEAH. that's all pretty correct. it's like that thing abt how 'if artists get to have an art style then i get to have a writing style' LMAO ... i'm just glad my silly little repetitive things are fun to read, i guess? hahahaha

[somereaderinblue]

I've gushed about the spacesuits we see Rem, Vash & Nai wear in Trimax and '98 but today, I want to gush about the spacesuits worn by the Earth Federation Independents.

Orange Studios, look at me. Look. At. Me. I am down on my hands & knees saying please please PLEASE don't take these away in Tristamp S2. THE OPEN HIGH COLLAR. THE PUFF SHOULDERS. THE ARMBANDS. THE HIP THINGIES. We already lost the spacesuits once & Rem's shirt-jeans combo, PLEASE DON'T TAKE THESE TOO.

.

.

DISCLAIMER: NO HATE towards Tristamp designs. I love Vash's undercut & big ol' glasses and love to make fun of Nai's snuggie. But I have a particular attachment to these suits for some reason.

[ourlittleforever]

I just know Rem would give some of the best hugs. I want him to hold me tight in a bear hug, petting my hair and shoulders, and swinging me slightly. He'd be really soft too, muscular but with a belly that hangs over his belt and a little pudge, to match my pudge lol. his big strong arms around me, his cheek on top of my head...

[queeranotkira]

ik this isn’t your usual post, but which dn character would you match up with an infp? just curious because they’re all my favs

Rem is canonically an INFP and she’s paired with Misa 😝

I think Matsuda or Near maybe? An INFP could be a good sidekick to Matsuda’s antics. Fuel his Ne but also be introspective enough to encourage him to reflect upon his behavior a bit more before jumping head-on into the action, lol.

Naomi Misora, Papa Yagami, and Watari are all INFJs and those usually get along swell with INFPs.

Matt is an ISTP and they can sometimes work really well together too (example: Clannad)

The schizophrenic drama version of Near is an ISFP, but the idea of INTJ anime/manga Near having to deal with a moe version of himself that channels his existential trauma through a Mello puppet he then uses to verbally abuse himself will never not be appealing to me.

Also maybe Mello, just because Yuri Plisetsky from Yuri On Ice is a mirror of him personality-wise and Katsuki Yuri is an INFP. Their relationship is really chaotic and borderline abusive though lol and ENTJs get fed up with INFPs being mopey and emo very easily but it would be entertaining to watch.

Also here’s a poll because I accidentally clicked on it and my phone won’t let me delete it (referring to Near as Nia so I have more text room):

[bodybeyondstories]

Rapid Expansion Mechanism - 1

Amir signs up for an experimental sleep study to make some extra cash, then starts having strange dreams about people around him growing wildly out of control. He's not all that concerned.

maleTF // growth // butt growth // dick growth // nsfw

4340 words

Note: I was really interested in dreams and dreaming, the impacts of the immaterial on material worlds, etc etc. Also thinking about playing around more intentionally with body horror as a theme. This is a little heavy on the exposition, I was having fun with a l'il bit of worldbuilding. We'll all have to see where it goes I guess.

---

[lol I think you were in my dream last night]

Amir stared at his phone for ten minutes, waiting for a reply. Stared at the ceiling for another ten waiting for the telltale double vibration of a text notification. The sunrise dusk began to shift into a muddled overcast morning. He lay in bed waiting for some outside force to begin the day for him as the world progressed on its own.

He’s probably still asleep, he thought. He probably woke up to the notification from me, reluctantly opened it, cringed and went back to bed. Telling someone you dreamt about them after a first date is insane. He began to berate himself with clarity as his sleep-addled thoughts cleared. This guy’s barely been rid of you for twelve hours and you’re sending good morning texts as if he’ll actually respond. You’re supposed to be playing it cool. That’s what people do, right? They play it cool.

He needed coffee. He needed coffee and he needed to stop beating himself up. I’m a perfectly fine focus of someone’s attention. A catch even, sort of, sometimes. I would love to hear about my weird REM sleep adventures. None of this felt reassuring.

The dream! I’m supposed to be recording my dreams, he remembered, one hand flailing around the side table until it landed on a small spiral notebook. He eased deeper under the covers to try and convince his body that it was not actually waking up yet and should let him hold on to the opaque montage of sounds and images slowly flushing out of his brain. He squinted in the gray dawn light, putting pen to paper and letting memories flow without interpretation or context, as instructed.

The date with Dex last night. He’s sitting across the table from me and he’s talking about something, I can’t make out what he’s saying, the sound is garbled and woozy but he’s talking about something and there’s something creeping up under his shirt, bulging and pulsing higher and higher but he’s still just talking and eventually it reaches the top and his brown cockhead pokes out, it’s leaking precum, continues expanding upward and he’s still just talking as it gets girthier and rips his collar and he’s just ignoring it and everyone else seems to be ignoring but I feel more and more anxious, no, terrified, I can see it stretching and lurching higher and bigger and he moves his head to the right to maintain eye contact with me and it’s gushing all over the table and he’s still just talking like having a liter bottle thick schlong arcing past your head is the most normal thing on a date and eventually the rest of his clothes rip and his dick slams onto the table and everything goes flying and I’m staring right into it getting ready to blow and it erupts and…

Amir paused in thought, pen in hand. The memories had slipped out so easily onto the pad in his lap and were now completely gone from his head. All he had was the scribbled description of the strange scene and the still image of Dex and that…thing erupting from his body and the phantom sensation that something was very wrong. His heart was beating fast in anxiety or anticipation, he couldn’t tell. I’m already having sex dreams about this guy? This dry spell is ridiculous, he thought, seeking to convince himself that that’s all it was. Pent up sexual frustration and anxiety leading to one too many drinks.

He looked at the notepad laying in his lap with trepidation. I guess it is good to have a space to think through whatever weird bullshit is bouncing around your unconscious, he thought, sure that somewhere he’d read that it’s good for your mental health to make a practice of writing your dreams. He hoped that that was the only reason they had him doing it.

He’d had an appointment the day before with a sleep study research trial. He'd been referred to a specialist for his insomnia, but lacked the coverage for it until he started a new job. So he ended up signing up as a subject with some place called Phantasy Labs that he had never heard of but apparently had a huge research campus nestled in the woods just outside of town. Some kind of experimental startup with more money than God and not a huge public presence. Not that he thought much of it beyond the pay was decent and he needed the cash. He figured whatever it is, he’d probably get the placebo anyway.

I need to get out more, Amir mused as he cruised through the heavily wooded grounds of Phantasy Lab’s campus, marveling at the fact that he’d apparently never seen this landscape before. He craned his neck back and forth at impossibly tall oaks with great beards of Spanish moss, their tops forming a crown shy cathedral far above that let in just enough dappled light to see the road. The pavement was well manicured, resembling a reddish brown clay, winding its way through the forest with meandering curves, making for a delightful cruise through nature but preventing him from seeing too far ahead or too far behind. Visibility quickly became poor as he gazed into the gloom of the densely wooded landscape, tricks of the light occasionally producing brief glimpses of what looked like figures moving furtively among the trees, too big to be anything he recognized. 

But it was just him ambling in his beat up Civic with mismatched hood, no other hints of this supposed facility beyond the occasional sign inviting him to continue along this path, as if there were anywhere else to go. Eventually, and somewhat reluctantly, the trees parted to release him, revealing the squat structure that he took to be the research facility. The road gentled him to the right and he cruised along, looking for a parking lot but seeing only the great wall of trees on the right and the seamless, continuous curve of the building to his left. He continued on for what felt like ages, convinced he had to have circled the building at least twice if not for the occasional break in the scene of what looked like experimental farm plots with unusually large crops. He’d heard of giant pumpkins but had never seen eggplants that could eclipse his entire leg or peaches the size of his head weighing down the branches of a tree. This was all being tended to by the only human presence he had seen so far, gardeners who looked fit to bursting out of their work coveralls, some of them going so far as to rip the sleeves off or crop the pant legs to free up surprisingly juicy quads. He wondered if they were hiring.

Eventually he saw a car symbol on the smooth wall of the building. As he pulled up to it, an invisible seam unzipped from top to bottom, revealing an interior space just large enough for his car, with no discernible light source yet softly lit nonetheless. He idled in, pulling to a stop as lavender text appeared on the solid wall in front of him: “Welcome to Phantasy Labs. Please put your car in park, turn it completely off, and proceed to the door on your left.” A series of dots of soft light began to appear along the wall, running to the left from the text around to an outline of a doorway. As he approached, the wall unzipped itself, and more lavender text appeared above: “Remember to gather your things. We’re so happy you’re here.” 

He turned around just in time to see his car being soundlessly lowered into the floor, towards what he hoped was some sort of underground garage. He made a mental note to ask someone about that, then stepped through the entryway into a massive foyer. The space was expansive, significantly taller than the building appeared from the outside, the curvature of the walls dominated by rounded hexagonal windows that ran from floor to ceiling, providing a view of the monumental trees outside, and far in the distance, the tops of the city skyline.

A smattering of people who seemed well trained in looking busy were milling about, heading from one unzippering portal to another, none bothering to acknowledge his existence. The only direction was given by the familiar lavender dots of light, now appearing along the floor, and progressing as he followed them along to the wide, swooping reception desk.

“Hi,” he said, walking up to a welcome desk that seemed the manifestation of minimalist efficiency. “I’m–”

“Amir,” the receptionist said, without pausing in their tapping against a keyboard of lavender light embedded in the surface. “Welcome.”

“I’m here for the–”

“4 o clock REM study. Sapp is in the lab now, looks like he’s just about ready for you. Please double check the liability waiver and the NDA,” they said, as two streams of text appeared side by side on the wall behind them, scrolling just fast enough for Amir to keep up before a signature pad appeared directly in front of him on the surface of the desk. He scribbled his name in his usual seal of lukewarm approval and it disappeared into the ether. “Please proceed directly to the lab and nowhere else.” At this, the receptionist finally looked up, locking eyes with Amir just long enough for him to see what looked like circuitry running through their lavender irises. “Just use your fingerprint for security.”

“Oh, do you need my fingerprint?”

“We have it,” they answered, with a practiced smile.

—

Amir followed the dots through the facility, which somehow managed to be both claustrophobic and expansive, like an open air maze. He was convinced he would be meandering through those passageways and elevators for the rest of his life if he lost track of the pattern of light along the floor leading him forward. He couldn’t tell if it was matching his pace or setting it. Finally, he stopped at a door with soft light around the frame glowing in approval before letting him through with the press of his thumb against a small pad on the side.

“Hi, you’re Doctor Sapp?” Amir asked in the general direction of the lab-coated figure puttering around the space, checking monitors, gathering equipment, opening what looked like a highly sophisticated code-locked cooler to pull out a bag of peanut butter cups. He paused, spinning on one heel toward the sound of Amir’s voice.

“I’m a technician,” he corrected, scanning Amir up and down, seeming to look through him. “All the PIs are, uh, indisposed elsewhere, you could say. But hopefully they’ll find their way back soon enough,” he added with that same practiced smile. “Oh you’re interesting,” he said, as if finally noticing Amir’s existence as an actual human being, looking not quite at him but at the air immediately around him.

“I’m…here for the–”

“Study! Yes, we are thrilled to have you. Please take a seat,” he gestured to a stool placed in the center of a ring of what looked like sigils imprinted in a circle on the floor, softly glowing and fading to a rhythm Amir couldn’t quite catch. From the ceiling hung a white cap covered in glowing sensors, a handful of small white circles dangling from the edges. As Technician Sapp walked him over, Amir’s eyes were drawn to his sneakers, which looked disproportionately big for an otherwise average sized man. They seemed large enough to affect his motion around the lab, his peculiar walk drawing Amir’s attention as he explained the procedure.

“There’s still so much we still don’t know about the human brain, it’s like a portal to radical new worlds.” His eyes brightened as he gave the elevator pitch to Amir, who began going in and out of focus as Sapp shifted into granular detail about the neurological ins and outs of the procedure as he finished setting up the apparatus, carefully placing the cap on his skull and sticking the little white sensors to his forehead and temples. It was more than a little out of his wheelhouse to be honest, but once the helmet was on he became fully distracted by the fireflies. Or at least that was the closest approximation. Little bursts of warm light in the space around him, progressing in lazy, chaotic spirals and loops, or flashing across his vision like shooting stars, but never venturing past the circle of sigils on the floor. He had the brief thought that maybe he should mention this.

“...there’s really incredible advancements being made in the research sector out of CSS,” continued Sapp. “Some artifact they’ve been working with that’s pushed transdimensional energetics decades ahead and if our theories are true about quantum tunneling via dream states, and the conditions are just right, we might be able to give you the right nudge–combination of nudges I guess–to activate REM.”

“Oh, like REM sleep!” exclaimed Amir, brought back to Sapp’s words by a term he thankfully recognized. “That’s good, right?”

That middle space stare again, not quite at him or through him, but analyzing something about him that Amir couldn’t quite see.

“Yeah. Yeah, let’s go with that.” The technician paused in contemplation. “I know this all probably sounds very…woo woo,” he said, as if making that specific sound for the first time, his hands splayed out and rotating left and right with each respective woo, the fireflies dancing in tandem. They locked eyes in prolonged silence until Amir realized his statement was more of an open question.

“I think it’s fine, sounds cool,” Amir responded with a crooked, encouraging smile.

“Good!” the technician clapped. “Then we’re all set.”

Amir looked nervously at the clock, composed of lavender numerals on the far wall, which displayed 16:16.

“Spooling up now,” said Technician Sapp. “Just relax, you shouldn’t feel a thing. You shouldn't not feel anything either.”

The fireflies began to take on a range of multicolored pulses of light, their meandering paths turning into a counterclockwise rotation around the inside of the circle. Am I supposed to close my eyes? thought Amir. Should I have asked? But he was captivated, finding it impossible to look away as they picked up speed and intensity, blending into a vortex of light that stretched the length of his vision, tightening closer and closer until–

They were gone. Amir was sitting perfectly still in the middle of the ring of sigils, still softly glowing and fading.

“All done,” said Sapp, who had positioned himself with a wide stance at one of the monitors. “Really interesting readings on this one. That session lasted 33 minutes and 28 seconds.”

The clock displayed 16:17.

“How do you feel?” asked Sapp. “Any spacetime folds? Prophetic visions? Partial phase shifts?”

“Um, no?” said Amir, who didn’t know what any of that meant but wasn’t sure if maybe he should. 

“Good!” Technician Sapp’s hands clapped in relief, as he began carefully removing the white sensors from Amir’s forehead and lifting the apparatus off his skull. “Please remember to keep a detailed journal of any dreams or dream-like phenomena and let us know about any side effects, real or imagined. Not that you should notice any serious changes whatsoever.”

“Other than my insomnia being cured, right?” asked Amir, with a hopeful smile.

Technician Sapp stared at him blankly, his head tilted at a slight angle, as if analyzing the cartography of pores on his face.

“Right,” he finally said. “Because that is what it does,” bopping his head slightly with the playful cadence, his smile ratcheting in intensity with each word, as if he plucked them at random from the ether and was pleasantly surprised to see them form a coherent thought.

Amir followed the dots of light through the facility, hoping his car was back above ground.

—

“But the clock said 16:17!”

Amir had been a little rattled by his experience as a test subject that afternoon, but had hoped it’d at least make for a cool story on his date with Dex. He managed to get through this tale of seamless walls and fireflies and weird technicians without leaning too hard into the fact that he needed the research study cash because the between in ‘I’m between jobs’ was doing a more than generous amount of work.

Dex was making a valiant effort to look some semblance of interested, hoping something else might emerge to guide the conversation. Eventually, they were chatting about more normal things, like Amir’s newfound interest in neo-futurist architecture, and Dex getting fitted soon for the premier of his musical the next weekend. It was a community theater production of an original sci-fi musical based off of an experimental Progressive House album. He was playing one of the leads, an interstellar vagabond who falls in love with a sentient stellar gas cloud under threat of being harvested to extinction by an expanding intergalactic empire.

“And the whole time I’m wearing like, tights and a glorified jock strap,” he laughed, cheeks blushing. “The stellar gas cloud couldn’t bring the sex appeal, so it had to be me.”

It was neither of their best work, as far as first dates go, but they had both experienced worse. Amir walked Dex home and they exchanged an awkward pseudo kiss-hug goodbye, which ended up with Amir planting his lips on his date’s forehead in a way that was very close to being a headbutt.

He thought it went well. After all, he dreamt about it, right?

—

The next morning, getting over the residual aftershocks of the aforementioned dream, Amir went about his day, bumbling around the kitchen until he produced a single mug of coffee, hoping the caffeine might help him make sense of the strange sequence of events since yesterday afternoon. That day in funemployment he was venturing one floor down in his apartment building to look after his neighbor Kenneth’s cat, Mr. Pibb, recovering from whatever sort of medical procedure is required to keep a nineteen year old feline on this mortal plane. Kenneth called Mr. Pibb distinguished, gently cooing to him as he reposed in his window perch, but Amir preferred ancient, imagining him reminiscing about the Great Depression as he gazed into the overcast morning.

Kenneth’s interior design was intentional, if nothing else, just like his personal aesthetic. Amir liked to think he had just stepped out of a stock photo or had been a menswear mannequin that started speaking and paying taxes. Everything about him was always coiffed, trimmed, tailored, and set just so, from the stately shoulders in his designer v-neck pullover to the cute butt in his light blue tweed slacks. Amir had for years wanted to figure out where he was always heading off to for work, but enjoyed sitting with the mystique.

“Okay so everything’s very carefully arranged in here, and the cleaners just came in yesterday, so don’t go, you know, touching things too much,” said Kenneth. He had a few inches on Amir’s 5’9” form, but had a knack for speaking down to people regardless of height. “Also, there’s a tray on the counter and a drawer in the fridge labeled with your name, those are some snacks for you. Please don’t ruffle around through everything else, I’m on a very particular diet and I’ve already begun prepping for next week.”

Amir gave a lazy salute as he leaned his butt against the counter, taking a sip of his coffee. “I will sit on this couch and stare at this cat.”

“Thank you,” said Kenneth, his face relaxing slightly. “And don’t be offended if Mr. Pibb doesn’t take to you immediately, he gets skittish around strangers.”

Skittish was the furthest thing from the ball of mangy fur sitting in the window like an avant garde art piece. Amir smiled anyway, watching Kenneth stride into the hallway and off to whatever it is he does.

Amir fell into the couch, settling into his usual activity of firing off job applications into the void, letting in just enough existential dread to keep him on his toes, and getting up periodically to make sure Mr. Pibb got his medicine or was still breathing. Maybe Dex’s coffee shop is training new baristas, he thought, picking up his phone and opening the still unanswered text thread. No, no, that’s awkward, you just want an excuse to talk to him. You want to hear from the cute boy who popped up in your dreams. Amir had a flashback to the ghostly image of Dex crammed into the booth across from him, his monstrous member about to unleash a pyroclastic flow of splooge right at his face. Chills went down his spine. 

As afternoon rolled around, he tried a different tack, remembering that Dex had a costume fitting today after his shift. It’s been a busy day, of course he hasn’t texted back, he assured himself.

[Amir: You have the fitting today, right? How are you feeling about opening night?]

Sent into the ether, a bubble of text hanging below the last unanswered attempt.

This can’t be the most interesting thing I have going on, Amir thought, glancing between the dozens of tabs of job ads, the tray of high fiber, high protein snack bars on the counter, and the dozing cat in the window. It was, in fact, the most interesting thing he had going on. Accordingly, he fell asleep in the mid afternoon sun.

Kenneth. Standing in the doorway in his crisp slacks and expensive sweater, petting Mr. Pibb with one hand and gesturing purposefully with the other, the furniture in the room rearranging instantaneously with every swish of his finger, giving a continuous stream of verbal directions that sounded carefully crafted, though I couldn’t decipher what he was saying. The doorframe began to shrink around him, but no it was the same size, his body was growing, expanding to fill the space, his butt inflating cartoonishly behind him until his cheeks pressed against the frame, his hips too wide to fit through, his shoulders approaching the top corners of the doorway as his head surpassed it, cracks forming around the frame and plaster starting to rain down, continuing to gesture casually as the furniture flew and pet Mr. Pibb, who, levitating at elbow height, turned to me with a sentient look in his eyes, a very human concern creasing the edges, saying “You have to remember this. You have to–” his speech became garbled, mixing in with Kenneth’s gibberish, covered by Kenneth’s massive, growing hand–

Amir jolted awake, confused panic releasing adrenaline into his bloodstream until he remembered I’m in Kenneth’s apartment, I’m here to take care of–he turned frantically to see the cat still dozing in the window perch, not levitating and speaking with a human voice, just opening his eyes briefly to give him a look of mild annoyance.

What the fuck was that? he thought. Should I write that down? His notepad was still upstairs, maybe he could do it later, Kenneth should be home soon. He really hoped this dream journal wasn’t some sort of homework assignment. He dreaded the idea of Technician Sapp reading through multiple weird, horny nightmares in a row to try and decode whatever was happening in his brain.

His phone vibrated from where it had become nestled between the couch cushions and his butt. His heart skipped a beat to see the upside down notification from Dex as it hung loosely in his sleep-dulled hand.

[Dex: Hey, sorry, dealing with kind of a weird health issue. Didn’t make it to the fitting.]

[Amir: Oh no! Feel better?]

Why was that a question, Amir scolded himself, making a mental note of the 👍🏽 reaction that was quickly attached to his text. 

“One date and he’s driven to illness. Just me and you, Mr. Pibb.”

Mr. Pibb gave a mrow of negation, his ears turning toward the front door. A few seconds later, Amir heard the sound of key entering lock and deadbolt turning, followed by Kenneth and shoulder bag peaking in.

“Amir?” ventured Kenneth as he opened the door.

“Hey, Ken,” said Amir.

“Kenneth.”

“Hey, Kenneth,” his smile matching the ease of late afternoon and a cat sitting job well done. “Mr. Pibb is definitely still alive.”

“You’re my hero,” Kenneth smirked, taking a moment to lean back against the doorframe and catch his breath. “Sorry, I took the stairs getting up here, I needed the workout.”

“Ok stairmaster. I’ve been rotting on this couch and ya look great,” Amir offered.

Kenneth rolled his eyes in reluctant thanks, dropping his bag by the entryway and wiggling his shoulders in apparent discomfort. “It’s warm, are you warm?” He adjusted his pants unconsciously as he strolled over to his cat. “Maybe I’m a little overheated, huh, Mr. Pibb?” The cat was ambivalent.

“Same time tomorrow?” he asked, before turning back to Amir. “Also, please remember, you have to–”

Amir flashed back to the image of Kenneth filling the doorway, frame cracking, plaster falling, pants and sweater ripped to tatters around him as he grew–

“Amir?”

“Kenneth,” said Amir, snapping back to reality.

“Just…remember Mr. Pibb needs his fifteen minutes of stimulation while I’m gone. He can be very energetic.”

“I’ll have to take your word on that.”

“Also, you need to check the package table more often. This has been sitting downstairs for you.” He thrust an iridescent envelope towards Amir. “It’s from Phantasy Labs.”

“Oh, you know them? Super bougie lab in that weird forest?”

“If you mean this municipality’s primary employer and the ecologically delicate nature preserve, then yes.”

“Thanks dude,” Amir gingerly lifted the envelope out of Kenneth’s hand, gathering it up with his laptop and mug as he turned to leave. “Keep hittin’ those squats, bro. See ya tomorrow.”

“Yeah, see ya,” answered Kenneth, a look of mild confusion on his face as his hands settled self-consciously on his hips.

[hmshermitcraft]

(I made the ask with xisuma and ren getting engaged when Ren was king, sooo. Why not add a royal wedding)

Xisuma is looking at himself in the mirror on his and rens room in the castle. He was wearing a beautiful royal wedding dress that fades from white to light red, voidwolkers wear there soon to be husband or wife's favorite color somewhere on their dress and xisuma didn't that would be ok to have rens favorite color somewhere on his dress but ex told cleo and stress (they made the dress) and they surprised x with a off the shoulder ballgown wedding dress that faded from white to light ren. (Xisuma cried when he saw it). xisuma is also wearing a crown on his head that has small end crystals in it.

Xisuma sat in front of the mirror as the girls and Keralis got ready, but Gem was doing xisumas hair.

After getting ready, they took some pictures as they waited.

Ren was wearing a suit, and he found out about voidwolkers wearing their lovers' colors, so he got a green tie, and he also had a crawn with redstone in it. Doc and Cub were there helping him get ready and themselves.

After both parties were ready, the wedding started, and someone would have lied if you said ren didn't cry when he saw xisuma for the first time in his dress.

The wedding went off great, and everyone they knew was there, and everyone cheered when rem dip kissed xisuma after the I do's

It was a beautiful blend of both their cultures and each other. Ren jokes that red looks good on Xisuma (anything does in Ren's eyes) and Xisuma threatens to bring out the strider suit more often.

The crowns seem to switch between the couple as the reception goes on. Up until Xisuma starts musing aloud about if he could get the redstone to do something, and then both crowns get confiscated by Cleo away from the somewhat tipsy grooms and guests.

Xisuma manages to stay awake a bit later than usual, but he still ends up being one of the first to turn in. Ren sneaks out with him, giggling the entire way back to their room and through getting their wedding outfits off. They'd love to say they got up to anything that night, but in reality they just sat and gushed over how gorgeous the outfits and each other are until they fell asleep.

[the-east-art]

Rem Saverem, Mom Jeans, and the Ticket to the Future

aka gushing about Rem, clothing, and settings.

I was reading through some of @chuthulhu-watches analysis on Rem and it got me thinking about one of my own favorite Rem scenes and quotes and how it feels very different from the manga to the anime adaptations (granted I'm still four episodes from being done with '98 so there's a slim chance they'll include it? But I doubt it.

One of Rem's most famous lines and philosophies that she gives to her boys, specifically one we see Vash mention a few times in his journey is the concept of the ticket to the future. This is used as a way to accept previous events and progress forward despite mistakes or pain. I believe Vash uses this philosophy to help others understand how he can still have faith in people who have done bad things - as he sees it the tracks that someone has walked are always behind them, and do not dictate the future.

In both anime adaptations they show Rem telling the twins this analogy, in '98 I believe just as they're hanging out, and in Stampede she mentions it to them before she lets them leave in the escape pod (again if my memory is correct). However, I feel both of these negate the very touching and to me impactful way that the manga tells this story.

One thing that is very relevant in the manga but is not present in either adaptations is the slow realization of the world, and the comfort of the Ship Five. The world of Nomansland is strange to the viewer - just left of comfortable. We understand it as a facsimile of the wild west, but people wear clothes that don't quite fit any time period, and the technology is all over the place. When we realize that this is actually an alien planet, it makes sense to the viewer as their strange feelings are proven to have been valid. People wear strange layers and a million belts.

(this is all relevant I prommy)

And then in one of the first few chapters we see Vash and Rem together for the first time.

This is the first person I can recall seeing wearing something so simple. A t-shirt and jeans. And in this scene Vash is wearing a similar simple outfit. It instantly makes Rem stand out as if apart from the world, simplier and to the audience familiar. I could never imagine red coated Vash walking down the street, but something about this woman feels like she is real in a way. And here we see her mention her ticket to the future. (I could gush about this scene but I'll push on).

Anyways, I think that in Trigun clothing and setting and how the viewer relates to them is very important. We only see Vash in casual clothing when he is somewhere that he feels comfortable, when he is somewhere he considers home. One instance is when he is masquerading as Eriks, and one is when he is at Ship Five - the only two places he really seems to consider as his home at any points during the manga.

I really dislike the anime's decision to make the members of Ship Five have strange, futurist clothing. This makes the occupants of Ship Five feel strange and foreign to the viewer, separate from not only the world but from ourselves. I felt like Vash's time spend in this area is notable in the story and stands out because he is dressed so normally around others who are also dressed so casual. It tells you just how comfortable he is here, and again as a viewer it makes these people and Vash in this instance relatable and in many ways real. He stops being Vash the Stampede and we are able to see him as a person.

Okay okay - as promised let me talk about the Ticket to the Future. (several of these photos are taken from @lonelysnowymemes' edit of this scene - please go check it out if you haven't watched it!)

This scene is a shock to the system. We don't know how long ago humans left earth, or how old Rem was when she left, and for the most part as the reader you have become accustomed to the setting. So at least when I was reading this, to suddenly see Rem on a train felt so... mundane. She isn't wearing special space clothes, she isn't even in her t-shirt and jeans from her time on the ship. She is wearing what perhaps I might wear if I was going somewhere special. This scene is so important because we know so little about Rem, and when we do hear about her especially in the anime adaptations she seems to be almost like a Virgin Mary figure, somewhere high up next to god, untouchable. And this mundane scene shakes that picture of her.

It is a slow and quiet scene in a hectic manga. And then, the scene comes to an end.

Rem wakes up in a room, alone. I always assumed this was on earth, before she became a higher ranking member of the SEEDS project. And you realize that Rem had this dream, this revelation, in the midst of a deep depression. While this analogy is applied often to the inherent goodness that people can accomplish in the future, here the ticket is a way to push forward. I get the sense that this was the start of a long journey. A little dream did not magically fix her world, or her pain. She still wakes up in a messy room, in the dark, and alone. But you can almost still feel the lingering lightness that she felt in the dream. Again I want to push the setting of this scene. A messy bedroom that could feel familiar to the viewer - as someone with bad priorities and depression, this is a familiar sight to me.

And finally, just to top it off. Why does this line convince Vash that people, despite their actions yesterday, can go on to be good tomorrow?

Because that is what Rem tells him. Vash struggles after hurting Rem, and this discussion of both the depression he feels from seeing Tessla and the guilt of hurting Rem as a darkness that he finds himself swallowed by, she uses the same analogy that pushed her out of her own depression to tell him to continue forward. Vash tells himself this, takes to heart this analogy of the ticket, not to ignore the bad things that he has done but to rather help himself to continue onwards.

Sorry if this is super scatterbrained I've just been thinking about these things a lot the past week or so.

anyways have you ever noticed that Rems' name is Rem Save Rem