#I have a whole folder in my notes app

[sauerkrauted]

I have so many fic ideas with like full outlines that I will probably never actually write because my adhd gets bored and I move into the next one. But I wanna read these fics so bad. Should I post the outlines anyways so people can adopt them?

They’re all pretty much Izuku-centric btw because that’s my boy.

[icelogged]

a cute van i saw

[monstrsball]

feeling bored… kinda wanna talk abt pokemon au more. send me a hq character and i’ll assign them a pokemon team? maybe? 👀

[iamthescalesofjustice]

btw i sometimes get into a State where i spend a few days doing nothing but churning out character sheets but this time it lasted a week and i overhauled the entire artificer class and revised all extant revisions for the armorer subclass until it made a cohesive whole that felt right and i also went ahead and hammered out a less vague crafting system including example formulas for all common and uncommon magical items. 

[idontmindifuforgetme]

i do NOT play when i say i romanticize my life. i have a whole folder in my notes app where i just write cute little anecdotes of my life in a very colorful way. and i kid u not, that has been such an esteem booster

[cyberbun]

I think part of the reason I hate the switch so much is because I had years with my 3DS which had so many more social and artistic functions and all in all felt so much less... Sterile.

The 3DS had drawing, animation, music making apps that were more like toys than anything, a music player, a pretty Alright camera app, notes, a screenshot function, an entire social network, and you had stuff like legacy pictochat through the built-in DS emulator, SwapDoodle which I still wish worked because some of my warmest memories were of using the swapnote app to send people little doodles and letters, and a pretty robust mii maker. Streetpass made carrying teh console around actually fun, and for a while it was a pretty entertaining part of my daily routine. Everything had built-in animations and music that gave it so much personality. It really felt like, even if it wasn't as technically potent as a PSP or Vita, everything worked so well and was so polished and high quality. And themes! And badges! Folders! Wallpapers! How can I forget those. Everything in the 3DS' user experience felt like it had so much life to it. Also durable as all hell, a lot of them are still going despite being about 10 years old or more.

The switch? Minimalistic UI you can't customize or organize. No music. Barely any sound effects. A touchscreen but no pen to use it, so there are no decent apps to draw or make music or anything like that. Store barely works and starts lagging as soon as you navigate one page down. Absolutely flooded with shovelware. Sales section is useless because actually decent sales get buried under dozens upon dozens of android games that are 90% off forever. No social functions, you get a friend list and a screenshot function but that's about it. Online services that you have to pay for and barely work. Shitty wifi connectivity. None of the features they managed to cram into the little pocket-sized console 10 years ago. You don't even get any free apps to play with when you first open the console up. It just feels like a console designed from the ground up to be as economical and sanitized as possible. With less interactivity and personalization. "Less" is how I describe the entire console as a whole, really.

But hey. It's got HD rumble, I guess.

[starsifter]

Hello! First, I wanna say I love your layout.

Secondly, I wanted to ask for a Ford x M! Reader who is a poet, and in general enjoys writing poems for Ford.

Thank you!!

ty! also as someone who writes poetry, I love this request.

Ford's never understood poetry, but he appreciates the art form more when he sees how passionate you are about it

He starts reading books of poetry and brushes up on his literary analysis skills just so he can understand your poems

It doesn't matter if you scribbled it on a napkin, wrote it in your notes app, or lovingly wrote it down on paper he will keep it, he has a whole folder dedicated to the poems you wrote for him

He has some favorite poems: I Am He That Aches with Love, Whoever You Are Holding Me Now in Hand, Of the Terrible Doubt of Appearances, O You Whom I Often and Silently Come (All of these by Walt Whitman from Leaves of Grass.) to name a few.

He has recited poetry to you before, including your own poems back to you, he's pretty good at it

Sometimes a line or phrase from a poem just gets stuck in his head and he finds himself repeating it a lot, for instance "He ahold of my hand has completely satisfied me." - Walt Whitman. He knows it's cheesy but he keeps saying it every time you hold hands.

He loves when you explain your poems to him, he takes notes on meanings and notices common themes in your work

Eventually you get to the point where he can pretty immediately understand the meaning of a poem you've given him without explanation, but he always gives you his interpretation and asks if it's "right" one. You have to keep reminding him that it's art, and there's no "right" interpretation.

He put together a little book of your poems to give to you as a gift, matching up the themes of them, he bound it himself

[thatonezodiacfan]

I haven't posted in a while so here’s one of my folders in my notes app dedicated to lmk :)

a lot of people head canon that macaque smells like mango’s or plums or whatever stone fruit you associate him with but I think it would really awesome if he smelled like curry 24/7, it is in fact the only thing he knows how to make. AND HES GREAT AT IT. I think it would be really funny if he smelled like a whole thanksgiving, he smells like curry and can’t get rid of it. 

-Now realizing that in the first episode in lmk Monie king took some of mks powers away so he could learn better, right? We never see swk give them back (and YES he did say Mk COULD get them back). Bro defeated LBD without his extra power not even MONKIE KING could beat her. IMAGINE WHAT MK COULD DO WITH HIS FULL POWER. LIKE CMON.

-i think that it would be cool if when Mac and swk were younger they would have a bad habit of when they talk they would get so rapped up in the situation and find themselves REALLY close to eachother and old habits die hard I guess because skip forward to Mk times and I  think they would still sometimes find themselves do that and immediately get REALLY embarrassed 

Lmk coping mechanisms: 

macaque: online shopping while murdering someone    

Swk:He brushes his teeth, peach in mouth, struggling to yell at the cardboard cutout

Tang’s  is going to the noodle shop, and yes I’m insinuating that he’s stressed all the time

Sandys would be making collars for his cats, some cats have 2-3 collars because of this

Mk’s: he doesn’t have one, he bottles it up 

Mei: she would go to one of those rooms where you can pay to break stuff

Bai he: she talks to macaque, he braids her hair while she rants, or they’re making curry

Redson: he makes little robots or he works on his cars that have atleast one epic transformation 

[abbysimsfun]

Sims In Bloom: Generation 2 Pt. 25 (Unexpected Death Cull but then a Baby, Finally!)

The town of Henford was rocked by a seniors’ river cruise disaster which killed Spencer’s grandparents Dennis and Vivian Lewis-Kim, as well as Ian and Derek Moody-McMillan, who were old friends of the Nesbitts and grandfathers to Nicola, Hazel’s bestie-turned-girlfriend.

The disaster brought Everett and Spencer home to visit her family. The Nesbitts sent condolences, grateful to have been spared greater grief as the town’s fledgling riverboat tourism industry took a nosedive. Spencer met her new niece and infant Greyson got to know his aunts on the Pancakes and Kim-Lewis sides of his family.

The visit made them miss home, and they began to talk about coming home to Henford for good. For now, however, life called them back to Oasis Springs after the funerals.

Daisy was still a PlantSim, which was concerning as the effects of the forbidden fruit had worn off much slower than she expected, and River’s wedding was just around the corner. Despite this, Daisy stayed close to Heather until delivery.

One evening, Heather tried to show her mother how to use accounting software for her floral business, but it wasn't going well and Heather was starting to get bored. She nonchalantly checked her phone. "You wrote a whole cookbook, Mom. You taught me how to do online research, but you can't figure out a few numbers?"

Daisy frowned. "I always let the telescope do my number-crunching for me. I really just loved gardening." She clicked something, and the program disappeared. "Oh, what now?"

"Let me." Heather leaned over her mother's shoulder. "You deleted it? How did you do that?"

Daisy shrugged in frustration. "I really don't know."

Heather opened her Recycle Bin to retrieve the deleted file when she noticed a strange folder. "VetConnect? Is this a clone? What?"

"What does that mean?"

"I...I think someone might have cloned my app files and given them to Petcare Inc."

"Who would do such a thing?"

"Other than you, no one's used my computer since...since Malcolm! I used to let him log in to send work emails. Oh my god! I could kill him!"

Daisy frowned. "Don't say that. Can you sue?"

"Against the Landgraabs? I don't even know if I could prove it was him," she said. "But I think I can fight fire with fire. My vet tech had the idea, and it took years to make the first one, but I'm going to have to work on a new app."

After a family dinner in Henford, Heather finally went into labour. Daisy went with her to the hospital, where her doctor was the on-call intern, Jamar Scott, her childhood neighbour.

(And the eldest son of Henford townies Simon and Sara Scott.)

"How's life in Brindleton Bay?"

"It's really great! I love being by the sea and I really feel like the clinic was my calling."

"I know what you mean. What you do for animals is what I love to do for sims."

"And how's Malia's freelance career?"

"She loves the flexibility, and I can't say I blame her. We're talking about starting a family of our own once my residency's done and I can work better hours."

Just before four in the morning, an exhausted Heather gave birth to a healthy baby boy she named Ash Neal Nesbitt. She debated the last name for months, but Malcolm hadn’t checked on her except when he needed a paternity test. And he stole her mobile app's code!

Since then he’d been no better than a ghost. If he wanted to miss out on his son's life, Heather was fine with it. ->

<- Previous Chapter | Gen 2 Start | Gen 1 Summary | Gen 1 Start

NOTE: To prevent them from randomly marrying other sims I made Dennis Kim and Vivian Lewis fall in love and marry years after their kids, Eric and Alice, married and started a family (they had three girls - Olivia, Spencer, and Lydia Kim-Lewis).

NOTE 2: I made OG grocer Kim Goldbloom the adopted daughter of Ian Moody and Derek McMillan because I wanted to make all the Henford NPCs playable at the start of the game. (I also paired up Michael Bell and Cecilia Kang despite their canon bad first date, married off Agnes and Agatha and moved them in with the Pancakes after making Agatha the mother of Bob, and put Lavina and Rahul in a home in the Bramblewood. She married Paolo Rocca and had two more kids, Rahul married Rashidah Watson after graduation and they moved to Brindleton Bay to start a family.

[mercurial-thrills]

6 Mildly Quirky Tips To Make Outlining Easier

If you're a plotter, these tips may be of interest to you 😏

One of the most fun yet grueling processes of writing is plotting. The act of plotting - writing down the sequence of events in the story - can be both enjoyable and complicated at once. This process can be filled with thoughts, such as, “Will this event go well with this event?” and “How can I keep this important detail consistent?”

The process can be enjoyable because you get to find ideas for your story. The process becomes difficult when you do not know what will happen next. A common question I had when I was younger was, “How do I make outlining easier?” 

In light of that question, here are seven different tips on how to make outline easier. 

First and foremost, acknowledge how an outline is optional. Not everyone needs to write from an outline, particularly for the first draft. Two common categories in the writing community are people who plot before they write(plotters), and people who let the story come to them while in the process(pantsers). People who are in between those categories are called “plantsers.” I consider myself to be a plotter with some pantsing tendencies, especially when I find myself stuck on the breaking point of a story. 

Now, write down the character’s daily routine. Write down what they do in the mornings, afternoons, evenings, and nights. Write how it differs from weekdays, to weekends, from days they work, or days they choose to hang out with friends. Think to yourself: How could the plot move along by adding something outside the character’s routine?

My WIP Mysterious Dice takes place within the span of a month, give or take a few days. Because of this, I wrote down my main character’s routine for each day, and how it would change. I did this during the fifth draft of the story, though doing it earlier would have helped the time flow in the story.

Brainstorm the plot in bullet points before putting them in a chapter-by-chapter outline. By putting the whole story in bullet points, you can find ways to move the events around, connect them together, and create your story. If you feel like outlining keeps your writing constricted, this can create freedom while maintaining a degree of structure.

Keep a Thoughtdump. This can be a document, a notebook, or a folder in your Notes app.  Any miscellaneous information about your story can go into a thoughtdump, whether you want to dump all your thoughts at once, or write down ideas one at a time. Having a thoughtdump is beneficial for breeding ideas and having a place to explore them without committing to them.

After you have written down ideas in your thoughtdump, find a place to mark plot decisions you are going to put in the story. You can highlight them in a different colour, or copy and paste them into a separate document.

If you do not have a middle or ending for your story, write the beginning chapters and see where it takes you. Though this is less of an outlining tip, writing the beginning chapters can help create a spontaneous middle part. Some of my brightest ideas for my stories have come about without plotting them. If you are unsure on whether you are a plotter or a pantser, this tip can show you where you may stand on the spectrum. 

If you are out of ideas, search for inspiration in another type of media. Pick up a book, perhaps one in the same genre, or one in a different genre. Watch a TV show, the news, or cuddle in a blanket with a movie. The events from other types of media can inspire you to create similar events, causes, or repercussions in your story.

Crafting a powerful outline takes time. Along with time comes different methods, like writing what happens in each chapter, using a template or method like Save The Cat, and understanding how much information you want to use in your outline. 

I am always looking for advice on how to improve my writing. In my opinion, it is never impossible to have too many outlining tips. Let me know in the comments if you have any other outlining tips.

[pikxelbit]

Please excuse any writing errors here, I'm kinda tired to go over this whole thing and I don't want to pay a website to check my spelling

Chapter 3: Introductions

Word Count: 6,611 words

Warnings: Not that much, Mentions of death and somewhat near death experiences

Chapter Prompt: Everyone gets a check-up

Turbo x Reader | Chapter 2

It's now the next day and currently you started to practice your skills. Your abilities includes, opening and closing files, self-updating when possible, running diagnostics, coding simple assets into the game such as background items and even simple colouring, you can even try to repair errors and do anything once given enough information.

Your code can work somewhat similarly to a video game characters' code. You can interact with anything that's either a different game or app. However, unlike video game characters though, since you are accustomed to work in a computer, you don't exactly need a door to go inside and interact within the application itself. As long as the file has been opened, you can enter and leave as much as you'd like.

Furthermore though, when a file is opened and a window would appear, showing the contents of the folder or file that has been pressed. Once open, that's where you can step inside and interact with its contents.

Regarding how you do move inside the computer, you just hover and fly here and there. It's much more easier to reach files and do your tasks this way.

...

"Ok, let's start with your simple skills. Start by opening a few files and then organize them in an alphabetical order please," Danny spoke towards you.

Abiding, you opened a few random folders before organizing it in alphabetical order.

"Ok...next, open the file to the background of Turbo Time and right after, try to run a simple test on it."

Nodding your head, you opened the file to the environment of Turbo Time before trying to inspect if anything would break. Looking around, you observed how the background would move when being interacted to. Running through the fields and tracks, you confirmed that it is stable before trying to play the audio. Listening through, it didn't glitch at all like the theme song in RoadBlasters.

After all that, you brought out a notepad wherein you took note of every detail you perceived as important. This notepad could be accessed by Danny as it would automatically be saved into another separate file in the computer.

"Ok... So this is kind of your big day Y/N. To continue your practice for the day, I want you to run some tests on all the characters okay? Don't delete anything, just run a simple 'check-up' and list down the errors you might find. We still don't know how things happened so it would be good to do a check-up on how the characters are for the time being. I already checked the codes but I was way too sleepy last night so I need you to test them for me. I'll come back later to check on what you've done," and just like that, he went off.

By now it was normal for you to do certain things by yourself. Early on, he would usually leave the computer running for a few hours sometimes and try to record what you'd do without him. Danny used to do that, before he would come up with a notepad as a replacement of recording. The notepad would also serve as somewhere for you to journal the things you've done and other important information you might have gathered when he's gone. So sometimes you'd just be left alone in the room.

After sometime though, you did feel somewhat... alone. It's a bit silly to think of, but being left alone by yourself in the house made you sometimes wonder what could be happening right outside this computer. You didn't do anything important, sometimes Danny would accidentally leave the computer open so you'd usually use that time to try and look through files you have access to.

The computer didn't have a lot of games installed into the system, but even then the games that are available were one's without any characters at all. Still thankful though, you would oftentimes play the games just to kill time. But, sometimes, you could just shut yourself down when there's nothing to do.

Using your journal, you would often write simple things and observations. Usually just certain things such as, listing simple actions you did for the day, or listing the many times you've reassembled a few files. A few times though, your entries really do show how lonely you are...

You admit, a lot of the times it is quite lonely. With no one to speak to other than Danny, Kiara, and even their parents, you had a limited range of people to talk to.

But now, right after your encounter with Turbo, you felt somewhat glad to have someone else besides yourself in this computer. Four new people to talk to...

...

Opening a file, you started with the first character on the list, Max..

The racer from RoadBlasters. It seemed she was the only character the developers made for the game. You did somewhat understand, the game did look very polished so perhaps they just didn't have enough money for more characters.

She was characterized as a bit of a vigilante, driving a racecar through different tracks and places. Well, when speaking of the arcade games, disregarding other materials, that's how she is. Not much talking, just the driver of the vehicle to be controlled by the player.

The game is clear-cut, it was a racing game, just like Turbo Time. Danny and Kiara told you about the two games and a few details as well about the characters, so you did know their names and such, but as for the cause of damage to the games, you all didn't exactly know yet.

Sure the theory that has been formed is adequate enough for the outcome. A virus in the game, perhaps someone tampered with both games the night before and managed to do this. But other than that all of you were completely clueless on the possibility of this happening because of malice.

Stepping into the 'window', you went onwards until you're standing right in front of Max. For a moment, you wait as her code slowly started. Like a lifeless husk, she stood still for a solid 15 seconds before waking up. Once she did, she widened his eyes slightly before landing it on you. She was slightly taller than you are.

"Greetings, I am Y/N an assistant in the current repair of your game."

Raising her eyebrows, she nodded slowly, while looking around trying to ground herself to the whole situation.

"Oh...I'm sorry, maybe I should give you some time to process first," you spoke with a small sheepish smile on your face.

She took a while, closing her eyes, she seemed to recall something in the same way Turbo does. Pausing for another moment her eyes gazed at the big rectangle shaped window seemingly the exit out of this abyss. Returning her gaze back at you, she tilted her head in confusion, her brain puzzled with a million questions flooding her mind as she tried to make sense of this, 'Who is this again? Where am I? What's going on? What happened again?' she thought to herself.

"Alright, I assume you want a whole explanation of how you got here, where you are, and what's happening?" You spoke, summing up all the possible questions she might ask as you noticed her quiet demeanor.

Swiftly, she nods back, "Yes, that would really help."

So, you explained how she got here, why she's here, where is here, who you were, and what you do, "...as for why you are currently in this dark room, right now you are separated as a different element to your game. All the other things from your game are separated and are placed in different rooms just like this, so apologies if it looks bleak. Do not worry though, in due time, you'll be transferred into a much more pleasing place."

"Ah...ok..." Max mutters, slightly gaining more insight on how everything currently is. She still looked a bit baffled though, and understandably so, waking up from a near death experience is... absolutely strange.

'That's right... I crashed into someone..? Then the whole game fell apart,' she thought to herself, her mind going on to recall what might have happened before her awakening in this dark, empty room.

She pondered for a while, leaving only a few seconds of silence before noticing that she might have been unnatentive. However, it didn't seem to bother you that much as you took to your own devices. Writing on your notebook, you took note of a few things. In silence, he took this time to try and interpret how you looked. You were a few inches shorter than he was. You looked like an accountant with a notebook, well you did fit the description you gave yourself, an assistant. She thanked you in her mind, Mr. Litwak and the others. Her game was only plugged in a few weeks ago and suddenly a whole accident happened. She thought she was going to die. Although this feels like a dream, she's still glad to even be here right now. After a short while, you stopped writing and placed your notebook somewhere before continuing to speak.

"Sorry about that, just had to take note of something. Moving onwards though, as you know I am an assistant of sorts, and right now I am here currently to see and test if you're working fine. Don't worry, it won't take long. So...are you comfortable with that?" You asked her politely.

Well if it's for the better, you are just going to do this test to know if something's wrong, so she supposes why not. Nodding her head in approval, she lets you start.

Getting tested was strange, although characters might have nearly never got checked-up or went to the doctor, they still did somehow got background knowledge of this because of a few chatterboxes arriving in the arcade. A few kids here and there, speaking about nurses and doctors... The tests went by as quick as you said, you asked her to do certain things and took some notes that's most likely just for reference.

From her vision, to her mobility, and right to her health, she felt like she was she was visiting a doctor. You didn't exactly need to test everything that's included in a typical diagnostics test for humans, you just had to make sure that the assets, in this case, the characters can work well. Questionably, you somehow brought something out of nowhere. And now, the only thing left is her ability to grab objects. 'Most likely some computer assistant thing' she thought to himself.

Grabbing the item firmly, nothing happened, but then, only after a few seconds her hands soon started to glitch. Gasping, she dropped the object. Whatever happened, it made her hands displace without her needing to move it. For a moment she felt her hands disappear.

Catching the item, you held it on your hands and gave her a reassuring smile, "Ok...don't worry we'll get you fixed up in no time," you spoke calmly.

"What was that?!" She asked, understandably perplexed by what happened.

"Well, that was because of something that's not supposed to be in your code. Perhaps it was tampered with..." You spoke, tapping your pen on your chin, "But just as I said, don't worry, I'll make sure you'll get repaired soon."

Nodding his head, she still was confused and a bit freaked out. But with your reassuring words she put his trust in you. She might have met you only an hour ago, but being someone who actively participated on repairing her game was something she can't deny as outright really kind and generous. With that in mind, she managed to calm down knowing she's in good hands.

The glitching stopped as quickly as it happened. She managed to stand up by herself, her hands feeling slightly numb for only a second before turning back to normal. You asked a few things, making sure she wasn't in any pain all the while as getting more information on what happened.

After writing on your notebook, you bowed slightly and thanked her for letting you run a diagnostics test. Max calmed down surprisingly quick after that, it seems your reassurance helped. Before you left though, you had to explain one last thing.

"Before I leave, I'd like to know if you're comfortable with me closing that window?" You pointed at the rectangle opening right in front, "When I close it, you'll somewhat go to sleep... Is that okay? I promise it won't hurt," you tried to explain properly.

Well, she's been alive for this long and you have helped her a lot already. Extending more trust, she replies, "Alright, if it's necessary."

"Well then, see you later. Once more, thank you Max," bidding her goodbye, she waved her arm before you stepped out into the rectangle window and disappeared. Weird. 'Must be another computer assistant type of thing,' she thought.

Leaving the file, you then pressed the [X] button to close it. Clicking your pen, you held out your notebook.

_________________________________________

Ticking off Max's name, you lowered your pen downwards to see the names... Dash and Flash, (I changed their names).

Dash is a side character, he's the youngest of the three. Although, strange, the three are somewhat brothers, with Dash being the last of them. Looking just like a bot of some sort. His outfit was simple like the others, no doubt this game was made with a small budget.

...

Dash wakes up, the bright light of a huge rectangular figure making him squint his eyes. Taking in a breath he realizes it's not game over! He touched his own face, unsure if this was a dream or not. All he could remember was the big yellow poster sign blocking the screen before their game got unplugged shortly afterwards.

Taking in another breath, he closes his eyes for a moment before asking a lot of questions to himself. 'Where am I? Where is everyone? Did someone save me?' Looking around, all he saw was the cold, and dark empty space covering the room. It was a chilling sight to see. So he turns, facing what he guessed was the screen and the only thing that brings light into this room.

Stepping forward though, he soon realizes he's not alone. He stares into your direction, you looked fancy, well somewhat. From what he guessed, you most likely are a doctor or an accountant of some sort. You're most likely are taller than him by the looks of it. Other than that, you didn't look threatening. Though, it seemed like you held something close to your chest... Upon closer inspection it was a notebook.

"Who are you?" Dash asked before you could say anything.

"I am Y/N, an assistant to help with certain tasks," you reply shortly, "You are Dash, correct?"

"Yup, the one and only," he nods his head before looking around in a baffled manner.

"Y/N may I ask, where am I? Why am I here? And do you know where my friends are?" He politely asked.

Just like when you met Max, you did your best to explain what has been happening, how he got here, and why he's here. However, as you were about to continue explaining, he interupts you for a moment.

"Ok, sorry for interrupting... So if I'm getting this right... You're someone who's helping Mr. Litwak's neice and nephew to fix our game?" He paused looking for some reassurance. Right after you nodded your head, he then continued, "So Turbo Time is still busted, and since they wanted to look into the code and fix it they just transferred us here? In a computer?" He paused once more, and you nodded once again, "Ok...what about my friends/brothers? Flash...and Turbo... Where are they?" He asked you with a tint of confusion and concern noticable on his face.

"That's what I was about to explain earlier. You see, all of you are currently saved into different rooms for now at least. We don't exactly know yet what went wrong in the game but for now at least all of you will be separated in order to easily check if there is something wrong in each of your codes," you finish explaining, leading him to nod his head.

"Ok... So, I'm guessing you're here to do a check-up?" Dash correctly guesses.

"Well, if that's alright with you?" You respond back, holding your notebook firmly on your hand.

"Sure, I guess I won't mind," shrugging his shoulders he stepped closer.

Starting from his vision, to his mobility, health, and lastly his ability to interact with other objects, the check-up was happening quite a bit faster than usual. During the start though, he felt as if he was visiting a doctor, and because he did start to feel comfortable after only a short period of time, he was starting to see you in a doctor-assistant role.

...

In the midst of the 'check-up' though, Dash decided to talk. It was awfully quiet at the moment and perhaps he should shed light on something. It might help make sense of the situation, guessing with his gut, he hopes you can keep a secret.

"Y/N, is it okay to call you doc?" He asked.

Looking up from your notebook, you nodded swiftly, "Yes, it doesn't bother me at all."

"So doc, you don't really have any background information right?" He spoke.

"Yes...at the moment, we have guessed perhaps there was a virus of some sort that somehow corrupted both Turbo Time, and RoadBlasters, the only two racing games in the arcade," you replied, placing your pen up to your lips as you gave it a bit more thought.

"Well, I don't really think that's it. You see there's a story here," he scratched the back of his head, becoming a bit unsure if he should say it.

"There is?" You asked, now fully interested.

"Before I tell you though, don't tell Kiara nor Danny or any other human about any of this, it's just between us characters okay? You can ask Flash later about this..." Dash spoke with a tinge of unease in his voice making it clear to you this was most likely a private matter.

You nod, dropping your notebook to the side.

Sighing, he soon starts explaining, his gaze looming to the side.

"Well, a certain person I know kind of went bonkers and tried to do something with RoadBlasters. He went on and on about hating the game before and I'm pretty sure he was jealous or something... I can't really tell you his name for now though," he finished off, with a hurt look on his face, "He went missing after that. I'm not sure where he went, but right after day, an orange poster was quickly pasted on the screen. Me and Flash couldn't really leave the game because the cabinet was quickly unplugged right after, and now here I am."

Nodding your head, you thanked him greatly, "Thank you for sharing this with me, this will really be of great help in fixing things. Do not worry about missing a few details, I'm sure even without it, the information you've given right now is enough to help."

...

Right after the exchange, the diagnostic test was completed quickly. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary and he passed with flying colours. There wasn't any bugs, nor glitches, or anything else.

"...and that's all," you spoke, closing your notebook.

"So how did I do doc?" He asked a bit nervously.

"Well, good news, you did really well," you smiled, "No glitches and everything is working fine. No repairs needed as far as I can tell."

He smiled back, jumping in happiness as you both share a good laugh for a moment.

"Well that's a relief, I thought there's something bad..." He sighed.

"Nope, nothing at all. And might I say, thank you for letting me run a diagnostic test."

"No problem doc."

A few minutes after though, soon you did have to go. Bidding him goodbye, he wishes you farewell as well. But before you did, just like last time, you explained how closing the window might make him "sleep". Although a bit spooked, he trusts you and accepts right after you promised it will be painless and that absolutely nothing bad will happen to him.

So just like that, another check up was done. Ticking another box, your pen went lower... Up next was... Flash.

_________________________________________

As you were about to continue, Danny was just in time to catch up on what you've done so far.

"So how's it going buddy?" Danny asks, sitting down.

"It went well. So far I've detected an error from Max, but Dash did really well on the check-up," you answered.

"Oh, well I'll make sure to fix it up sooner or later, but good work," he replies with a smile.

"Shall I...continue?" You asked, hovering close to another file.

"Uhh, no, it's okay," he responds, his attention now towards the time, "It's getting late so let's continue tomorrow yeah."

"Alright," you agreed, fixing up your things.

"Goodnight bud," Danny spoke as he turned off the computer.

...

The very next day, Danny woke up early and booted up the computer. He instructed you to continue with the check-ups before going to school.

Nodding, you do as he says. Before anything else though, you refreshed yourself before taking your notebook and pen. Now ready for the day, you opened a file.

_________________________________________

Just like Dash, Flash is another side character. With the same design, anyone could mistake them as twins. He's the eldest of the group, a bit more low on the energy, but still, manages to beat Turbo a few times in a race.

...

Gaining sentience once more, he opens his eyes, heaving a sigh from his mouth. Looking around, he tries to take in where he's at. Strangely enough, he's in a dark empty room, akin to an abyss.

He's...alive? Looking down at his hands, his face reflects an expression of extreme confusion and wonder. But if he's alive then where...

"Hello?" He jumps slightly in surprise, turning around, he gets flashed by a the bright light behind you. You step in the way of the light, shading his face from the bright rectangular figure.

"Apologies, the light from outside hasn't been adjusted," you comment, staying still for him to properly take a good look on you.

_________________________________________

Just like the others, you went on once more to explain how he got here, where is here, who you are, what you do, and why he's here. He didn't interrupt all that much, he didn't speak all that much either, just nodding a few times, humming as well for you to continue.

He was silent, but attentive. Although, still looking a bit baffled right after the explanation.

"Ok, so, you're a computer assistant of sorts helping out on repairing our games. Right now I'm in some kind of room separated for you to check up on me?" He asked, clarifying.

You nod, agreeing to his summarization, "Are you alright with me running a diagnostics test?"

"I mean, I guess I won't mind," he responds, shrugging his shoulder before approaching you.

"But first though... Did you meet the others?" He asked, his voice showing signs of worry.

"Yes I have. So far Dash is alright. I conducted a check-up on him before meeting you and nothing is out of the ordinary," you spoke while checking your notebook, your words easing him slightly from worry, "Turbo though..." But right as you said 'Turbo', his gaze turned ever so slightly bitter but it still was tainted with concern. Flash may be upset towards Turbo, however he can't really help but still feel some sort of distress for him.

"Last time I encountered him, he glitched a bit uncontrollably... But nothing too much for me to handle. I'll help him get better as soon as possible. He's the next person I'll be checking up on," you spoke, flipping a page from your notes.

'Dang it Turbo, look at this mess,' Flash thought to himself. Flash knew Turbo was jealous of RoadBlasters, but he didn't have to do all this. Honestly they're so lucky to not be shipped to a local hardware store right now.

"Ok, is it alright for you if I conduct the check up now?" You asked politely, bringing him back to reality.

Nodding, he huffed out another sigh before once more settling himself in front of you. And so, you conducted another check-up. Doing your best, you managed to go through half of the required tests. During it, you managed to make some small talk and discussed a few things with him as well.

"So, how'd your meeting with Dash go?" Flash asks suddenly, as his hands played with the makeshift rubix cube you gave him for testing.

"Oh, well it went fine. He was polite and cheery all the way through," you replied keeping track of a few things.

"Ah so he's polite with other people...interesting," Flash spoke once more, this time with a slightly smug face.

You chuckled, "So it seems..."

"However...he did say something a bit odd," you spoke, gaining his interest.

"Dash told me there is a story that happened before the incident, regarding someone he knows?" You spoke, looking back at him curiously, "Do you know anything about this? Knowing the cause may help fix the games quicker."

Flash sighs, nodding his head, "Well, I'll tell you what I know..."

Flash contemplated if he should say or not, but deciding that it should be for the best, he confessed who did it.

"You see, Turbo Time was by far the most successful game in the arcade and let me tell you, Turbo loved the attention," Flash spoke, smiling slightly as he explained, "But when RoadBlasters came in a few weeks ago, the popularity of our game started to dwindle. So Turbo got jealous, and he grew more... aggressive," he continues, his smile disappearing, "And well, one thing led to another, he took his kart and started to drive out of the game, leaving me and Dash behind. Through our screen, we saw him drive and crash into RoadBlasters."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," you answer, now becoming the one who's perplexed.

"Ah well I should've seen it coming. Even though what he did was really terrible, I think there's something more to the way he acted." Flash, spoke, turning his attention back to the rubix cube, "So, what are you gonna do now?" He asked.

"Now...at least I'll eliminate a few other theories I've had regarding the reason for this whole incident," you answered.

"Oh yeah? Let me hear one," Flash spoke, turning the conversation around.

"Well one is about a virus getting a hold of both games for some reason," you spoke.

"Yeah I can see that," Flash responds back.

...

The check up went smoothly right after. With new information currently at arms length, it helped you analyze further that Turbo most likely had the most damage than the of the three... Well perhaps both Max and Turbo took the most damage.

Clicking your pen, you refused to write this information down and just finished up with Flash's check-up. Finishing another entry on your notebook, you closed it back up.

"So, what's the matter with me Doc?" Flash comments right after you closed your notebook, it seemed that nickname will not be going away soon.

"Nothing's wrong at all, just like Dash you are perfectly fine," you conveyed with a smile.

"Well at least that's good," he replies back.

"Ok well, now that we're done, I'm afraid I'll need to leave now," you spoke, giving a slightly sorry look as you both began to walk towards the bright rectangular figure "I truly am sorry to cut this short."

"Don't be... The sooner you'll meet Turbo, the sooner you'll get to fix him," Flash spoke, shrugging his shoulders slightly in a nonchalant way.

"Well, I suppose that is true. Do you want me to pass a message to him?" You asked, stopping your tracks.

"Nah, the message I want him to hear is something I'd rather deliver myself," Flash replied.

"Ok well, if you say so," right after you were about to leave though, you once more explained that he might go to "sleep" when you leave as the rectangular window will close. He only nods for a moment before shrugging it off, "Don't worry, it's okay," he respond before both of you bid farewell to each other.

Being left in alone in the dark, he wished you luck on handling that little gremlin. Flash gazes into the screen for a moment before feeling his whole being shut down.

_________________________________________

Finally, after some time, you ticked off Flash's name. Now for the last but not the least, Turbo was next for check up. Taking a breath, you closed your eyes for a moment. This task is quite a bit tiring...

Turbo had a different set of colour pallete. It was typical, he is the main lead of the game after all so it was understandable. However, he may be shorter than Dash, he's absolutely much more older than he is.

Before continuing though, you sat down beside Turbo's file for a moment. You had to think about something first.

The possibility of this happening because of jealousy wasn't what you'd expect. Although you might not be very knowledgeable to how game cabinets work, you did know characters like Turbo and the others could gain enough sentience to have enough complexity driven in their code in order to feel strong emotions.

Your talk earlier with Flash and Dash brought light into the situation. With Turbo standing right in the middle of the spotlight. Both Dash, and Flash didn't exactly know why he did this so that's something you plan on searching an answer for...later. It did explain why only Max and Turbo was the only ones to glitch the first time you've met them, and why Dash and Flash are completely fine.

With the knowledge that Turbo caused all this, you didn't exactly feel unease or worry as you remembered what Flash said, there's something else happening inside Turbo. Perhaps he's not that mentally well, however that's what check-ups are for right?

Standing up, you felt ready to continue. With your notebook on hand, and your pen on the other, you opened a window headed to Turbo.

_________________________________________

Slowly, just like the others, Turbo gains consciousness in the same void room he's woken up to yesterday. Breathing heavily, all he could remember was a faint "Goodbye" in your voice and a memory of the screen shutting down.

He's back, and alive once more. Holding his face, for reassurance but suddenly he glitched. Gasping in surprise, he recoiled. Ah yes, that. Recalling all that has happened last night, he remembers your name. "Y/N..." He mumbles under his breath.

Gazing into the the bright light before him, he sees you.

"Greetings Turbo, we meet again," you spoke, as you hovered close to him.

"It's...you," he mumbles once more.

"Yes it is, I hope you didn't get too surprised last night," recalling the sudden end of your conversation, a sheepish smile crawled up your face, "I'm sorry that our interaction the last time was ended prematurely."

"Eh, it didn't spook me at all, nothing too much for someone like me," Turbo smiled smugly.

Chuckling, you nodded your head, "I see...well I suppose I don't need to explain a few things other than where your brothers/friends are, Dash and Flash."

Right as you said their name, he felt as if his heart skipped a beat. His whole demeanor seemed to change quickly.

When he drove outside Turbo Time, he recalls them screaming for him to come back. When he crashed right in RoadBlasters, he thought that was the last time he'd seen them. And honestly, he somewhat hopes so. He hopes that they got out and stayed in Game Central Station, he hoped they would never meet again, because as much as he hates to admit it, he knows how badly he messed up. He didn't want to face them. He didn't want to-

"They're currently fine, I checked up on them recently and it's safe to say that Dash and Flash are not injured nor are they defective," you continued.

"They're...here?" Turbo asked, his voice drained from it's charismatic tone.

'Interesting...' you thought. "Yes, perhaps after you're fixed from your current state, you'll be reunited with them."

Right after you said that, he suddenly glitched. Gasping, he couldn't control it for a moment.

"Whoa there... Calm down," you spoke, holding out your hands to grab him at the right second when he stopped glitching, "Take a breath, it'll help," you calmy spoke.

Breathing in and out, he slowly calmed down.

"There you go," you spoke in a lower tone, your hands on his shoulders.

'That was even worse than the last time, it's even worse than Max's... Oh dear...' you thought to yourself.

"Ok...I'm fine alright," slightly panting, he took your hands off him, "I told you, this is nothing," he insisted, looking a bit pale.

"Uh huh..." Nodding your, head you took out your notebook.

"What's that?" he pointed towards your notebook.

"It's my notebook, I just need it for journaling," you respond.

"What like a diary?" he asked, his smile slightly returning.

"Well, somewhat yes. It's to list important observations and for me to keep track of a few things," explaining, your hands firmly grip the notebook as you show it to him.

"What you're going to journal what just happened? It wasn't even anything important at all..." Slowly gaining more energy, he scoffs at you.

"Well, even so, there is something else I'll journal for this interaction," bringing out a few things out of nowhere, you flipped your notebook open.

"And that is..?" Confused, and now in a stable condition, he asked.

"Well, I am here to run a check-up on you. It's to check on a few things and it will also help quickly pinpoint what may be wrong and how it could be fixed," explaining, you clicked your pen and wrote something down.

"So what, I'm your little test subject now?" he asked, looking up at you.

Returning his gaze, you replied, "What? Not at all," shaking your head, you continued, "Remember what I told you last time, I am an assistant, and I'm simply here to assist."

For a moment, Turbo thought about it. He doesn't exactly like the feeling of being vulnerable. But thinking about it, does he really want to deal with this stupid glitch and possible deformities he might have caught right after the crash?

Sighing, he agrees, "Alright, alright..."

_________________________________________

Holding up an object from a distant place, you tested his vision first. Slightly squinting his eyes, he managed to answer correctly each time. Doing the eyes test was also something you conducted, pulling up the Snellen chart, he managed to get a good score.

Moving forward to his mobility, you made him walk and run a few times. Panting, by the end, you rewarded him with a bit of a break afterwards.

Sitting down he panted slightly as he took his well deserved rest. Taking a seat beside him, you took note that he's doing well for now. As for his voice, he didn't seem to have that much trouble speaking so you decided to skip that part of the test.

Looking up from your notebook, you asked him, "You ready for the next one?"

"Yup, just give me a minute..." He answered, taking one last breath before standing up.

"Ok..." Looking back down at your notes, you held out your hand.

Something was supposed to appear on your palm. He gazed at you for a moment, feeling slightly confused, but going through what he considered was a strange check-up so far, he let out a sigh and didn't question further.

Then, you felt something on your hand. Raising one of your eyebrows, your eyes quickly averted from your notes and saw his hand holding yours. Noticing your reaction, he returns the same confusion you felt.

"What?" he asked raising his shoulders.

Well...that's one way to test his abilities to hold objects. Then, the rubix cube he was supposed to interact with appeared on top of your intertwined hands. He stared at the object, before it fell down. "Uhm..." You muttered quietly.

Quickly realizing his mistake, Turbo felt his cheeks flare up because of embarrassment.

Quickly removing his hand from yours, he spoke, "I thought..."

"No, no it's alright," you spoke, shaking your hands as you smiled awkwardly.

"Let's just... Forget that happened," he muttered quickly, his cheeks still noticably red.

You agreed and went onwards with the test, picking up the rubix cube, you handed it to Turbo. It was awkwardly quiet for a while. You wrote on your notebook, and he just aimlessly played with the cube.

"You're doing quite well," you spoke, breaking the ice.

"Of course, you shouldn't even be surprised," he responds, trying to sound confident.

Smiling, you replied back, "Well, so far you hadn't glitch so fa-" His hand suddenly glitches. He was surprised, but he didn't drop the cube immediately.

"What...a comedic timing..?" You spoke.

He chuckled slightly, and you followed suit. Inspecting his hands, he responds, "How'd this even manage to happen?"

Thinking back to the crash, you shook your head and explained, "Most likely because your code might have been mangled slightly. It's not enough to change a part of your appearance long-term, but it still isn't all that stable enough to avoid that."

"You're kind of a smarty pants Y/N...or should I call you doc?" Turbo spoke, his playful demeanor starting to appear.

Letting out another chuckle, you reply, "As long as it's appropriate, then any nickname is fine," it seems the nickname 'Doc' is common among Flash, Turbo, and Dash.

...

Since the test has been finished, there was nothing left to do. Everything has been finished and all that is wrong with Turbo was currently his glitching.

"I'm guessing we're finished Doc?" Turbo asked.

"Yes, we are. You've done well for the most part. But don't worry I'll make sure you'll get fixed up in not time," you spoke, making your notebook disappear somewhere, "Which means..." you muttered, gazing outwards the screen.

You didn't really have anything else to do for the day. Danny left the computer open for you to finish this job, but you didn't exactly have any plans for the day. Loneliness...wasn't something you ever were prepared nor ever will love, but now having all these people to talk to, you wanted to honestly spend time with at least someone while the computer is left open.

Noticing you were quiet for a while, Turbo stared at you with confusion. Your eyes looked empty, thinking about something most likely.

"Hello..?" He asked.

"Ah... sorry, all of a sudden my mind pondered somewhere else. Anyways, as I was saying, we are finished so I suppose I'll leave," you replied, retracting your eyes from the screen.

"Uh huh..." nodding his head, still somewhat confused by the quick turn of your emotions, you both stood up.

Slowly approaching the exit, your mind started to think of how quiet and lonely it will get once you exit this window. Although it will only be for a few hours, it wasn't something you were looking forward to. Then, you felt something tug at you. You don't need to go yet... Right?

Ok, this was quite a very long chapter. I've never written this long before so it took me quite a while to get this thing wrapped up.

Take note btw that I'm not really all that experience with writing long fics so bare with me on this one lol

Still haven't finished the storyline inside my head too so...I'll most likely edit the chapters even if it's unfinished as I try to work up a few things as time goes by

[laugtherhyena]

Every time I see your sprite work, it just makes me want to make a sprite edit of Akane with the design I made for her in my "She Was Saved" AU (An AU based on the idea of Akane surviving the events of DRA), but I've never done any sprite work so, do you have any tips?

Ok ok so, first things first, i wanna make it clear that none of my sprites are made from scratch, they're sprite edits, hence why i always tag them as such. Every single one of them used some canon character as a base for the base sprite (that one fitst sprite where the character is just standing there with a simple expression) and a handful even have canon sprites uses as bases for poses. Just figured i should make that clear so there's no confusion here.

While I'm not sure if I'm the best at giving tips n stuff, here's what i could think off;

I think the most important tip i can give anyone who wants to get into sprite editing is MAKE A BUNCH OF LAYERS‼️Save things separately just to be sure rather than merging them because that almost always leads to more time spent later down the line. While the amount of separate things certainly varies from artists to artists here's the one i use for my edits.

The app i use (Ibis paintX) allows me to make folders with a bunch of layers to them so i use them to keep stuff more organized.

On the first pic well have a folder with the base sprite, one for the different poses and in Beni's case two for the different eyes she has (one for the normal eyes and one for the ones that are part of the glasses, normally i only have one layer with all the eye variants)

On the second image I've opened the folder that holds the base sprite, or should i say just sprite since it's in this folder that i organize everything that belongs to one specific sprite when I'm making them as to not get myself confused. Anyways, you can't see in the screenshots but the first layer has her glasses, second has her eyebrows and mouth and the third has the eyes.

Fourth has the main body lineart and fifth has the main body colors, please keep those separated as by doing so you make it easier to add those lil effects onto the character's faces on certain expressions + having the lineart of the main body always helps when sketching and connecting the different arms to the main body.

Lastly you got the arms, but ideally you should make the arms/poses in a way they can be placed over the body layers since that just makes things easier to put together, i just have this habit of placing the no pose arms under everything else.

When editing i make the different arms and eyes in advance so that when i start making the different sprites i can just duplicate the canva with the first one a thousand times and everything will carry along with those. Saves time in the long-run + you don't need to separate all layers on them (lineart, colors, shading) since they're just parts there's no problem in just merging them together.

A very important thing to note tho i that if the character has glasses or any accessories that you plan on removing or moving around in some pose/sprite this accessory should be made in a different layer from the main body, this makes editing easier than if you had to just erase and refill the part where the accessory was in the sprite you don't want it to be in.

A similar rule should be applied to the character's hair, if they have short or mid length hair you can just add the whole thing to the main body sprite, but if the character's hair is long you should make this bluk/back part of the hair in a separate layer placed under the main body layers. This also apllies to any back accessories.

Here's Akira as an example; she has one layer for her glasses, one for the back/bulk of her hair and one for the guitar case she carries.

These are essentially the basics of if, so let's go over to some actual tips.

Make the sprites on a small canvas.

Since the Danganronpa another games are made on game maker the size of the character sprites is surprisingly small, while I don't think you should just do it on the same canvas size as the actual sprite, it's good to have a smaller canvas so that the lower amount of pixels gives it a look similar to the in-game sprites + as you can see by mine, they don't actually look low quality at all.

(if curious, the go-to canvas size i use for most of my edits is 773x1020)

Use other sprites as references/bases

Especially if you're just starting on making sprites, use the canon ones for bases, references or even just straight up trace them. This will make the sprite look closer to canon and will start making you undertand the elements that make up the style of the sprite, do it enough times and soon enough you'll be able to make poses on your own without needing a sprite from the game as a base.

Remember! What's wrong about tracing is not the act of tracing itself, as the act of doing so is a great exercise to help you learn, the problem is when you do it and claim you made it 100% on your own. Since these are sprite edits, there's not a problem in doing so.

Observe and learn what makes up the style you're trying to replicate

This is hard to talk about since it really is something that comes with practice, I've been making sprite edits for like 5 years now so this stuff is like written on the walls of my brain by now. Just try to look and analyse the sprites and slowly you'll start seeing patterns and small onto them that you didn't noitce before, like how Linuj's sprites have a bit if line weight to them but are still on the thinner side, how he tends to make the hands a bit on the smaller side, how when he color the character's skins he makes the area near the top of the head a lighter shade than the rest of the skintone, the way he usually makes the character's mouths, and even some more complex things like how the male characters will have very little to no eyelashes while the female characters tend to have a whole lot of them, etc.

At the same time, there's no shame in deliberately ignoring some of these things. Personality the small hands REALLY bother me in a few cases and i tend to just make mouth shapes on a whim instead of trying to stay 100% close to the style. It's just a question of messing around and figuring stuff out, it won't look perfect on the first go, but overtime you'll start to get the hang of it.

[shrekgogurt]

An ask game for writers to procrastinate working on you WIP(s)

Thanks for the tags @theearlgreymage and @wellbelesbian !!!!

🦈Tell us the name of your/ one of your WIP(s)

For the sake of this endeavor I’m gonna focus on I Knew A Boy, I Knew A Man which is also more affectionately referred to as IKABIKAM, eyecab eyecam, 👁️🚕👁️📸, etc.

🍄Describe your wip/one of your wips in the format of “___ + ___ =___”  

Natasha as like a vaguely Margaret Thatcher figure but she was in office in the late 90s not the 80s don’t think about it too hard okay the exact policy/praxis doesn’t matter so much as the ideology/vibes/dynamic + Davy (The Mage) as like a fucked up Welsh caricature (of his own design) because he’s overcompensating and has the media literacy of the worst film bro you’ve ever had the misfortune of talking to = their sons falling in love through football/soccer against all odds as juxtaposed between childhood and adulthood.

🌍What tags or warnings will your / one of your wip(s) need if you intend to share it?

Trauma

🧭An alternative title to your/ one of your WIP(s)?

Solsbury Hill for obvious reasons

⚠️Which wip you’re most likely to finish or update next?

This one :-)

💾What is your document of your wip/ a wip called? (not the stories actual title but what you’ve saved it as)

Okay, I’m usually absolute ass at naming files in any helpful fashion but this project is so organized on Google Docs. My notes app is a different story. Those don’t even have titles. I just launch into my whims as they come.

Most interesting answer I can give is that the folder containing all my fic documents is titled “kill the part that cringes.”

🖍Post Any sentence from your wip

Listen, I warned y’all.

To be in love with Simon Snow—a life sentence, an encyclopedia of grief.

♻️A scrapped idea for your current WIP

In the original musings of IKABIKAM—titled Scarborough Fair as the club was gonna be in Scarborough—Simon was Irish rather than Welsh and raised by Ruth. I know. Wild to think about now. But it’s true. And then I did some excavating on canon and the story we have today was born. Lost to time (the original idea of this fic which was actually two fics) is a whole very fun scene. I had planned that after the international break match against other, Simon convinced Baz to go out on the town with him. I wrote this snippet back then. It didn’t make the cut for obvious reasons and honestly I don’t know how much I stand by the characterization. Or the prose. Everything about IKABIKAM is better to me but this sexy little number deserves the people’s attention. I’m slightly concerned it’s offensive.

They’re playing INDUSTRY BABY in this club right now? I’m not dancing with Simon Snow to a Lil Nas X song. That music video…I’m only a man. I’m also not exactly sober. I will not risk a Snow relapse. Besides, Snow himself just downed the rest of his drink.

He leans toward me to say something. With the combination of his drunkenness and his accent I can barely make out his words, “eye gahta gohbakta da barrr.” (Translation: I’ve got to go back to the bar.) He really doesn’t.

I pluck the glass from his hand, “this last one is on me.”

He goofily smiles. His head is drooping to the side and his eyes are half-lidded. It would be adorable if I wasn’t worried about him falling over. I scan the room. One of the other Irish players is nearby. I hook Snow’s arm in mine (both my hands are full!) and drag him towards his teammate. He stumbles behind me looking completely blissed out.

I tap the other player on his shoulder. Clancy I think? The left winger. “Hey, I’m going to force Snow home so he can avoid a stomach pump. Could you make sure he doesn’t wander off while I close out my tab?”

He nods. I throw Snow at him and maneuver through the crowd up to the bar. It’s packed. I finish my own drink before I can push an opening to order. The bartender nods at me. She looks worn out from the night. I don’t blame her.

“Soda water with lime please.”

“Sure. What’s the name on the tab?”

“Grimm-Pitch. Could you close it?”

She nods and turns on her heel. A minute or so later she returns with the drink and my card. I take them.

“Is there any chance I could close out my mate’s tab too. He’s pissed.” I gesture back at the direction of Snow and Clancy. A circle of women have surrounded them. Honestly, fair.

The bartender gives me a wary eye. “What’s the name?”

“Snow.”

“Snow? Like the footballer Simon Snow over there?” She points at Simon.

I nod. The bartender scoffs, “Sure I’ll give Simon Snow’s card to some random Englishman.”

Random Englishman? Am I really going to have to do you know who I am this woman? I go for a subtle approach and just sort of lift an eyebrow and draw attention to the name on my own card: Tyrannus Basilton Grimm-Pitch. The realization hits her. I was afraid I would have to tie my hair up.

“Oh shit. Fuck you’re Baz Pitch.” She stares at me. I hold out my hand. “Right, the card!” She hands me Snow’s card.

I nod, “Alright. Thanks.”

She shakes her head at me, “No, sorry for the hassle. Have a good night English…defensive midfielder…Baz Pitch.” She says my name with a laugh like she’s awestruck I’m in this Dublin nightclub (fair), “and thanks for the win today!”

I’m beyond tired of hearing that line.

When I return Snow is having the time of his life: posted up surrounded by ladies singing along to Ayyy Ladies. They’re not being subtle in their flirting. (Again, fair. Good for them.) Snow is incredibly respectful despite being off his face. Good lad. He’s still far too drunk to consent to anything so I don’t feel terribly guilty for pulling him away from the grind fest.

When he sees me approach he lights up, “Baz!” His arms fly open. “Took you long enough.”

I hand him his drink. There is a blonde woman dancing on him. She throws her arms around his neck. He knocks back the drink and chugs it in one go. A little water dribbles down his chin and he wipes it away with his thumb. It catches on his bottom lip. He hasn’t looked away from me once. And this fucking song…

“When I hit it from the back, don't fuss, don't fight

When I put it in ya mouth, don't scratch, don't bite”

I need to get the fuck out of here.

He hands me back the glass, “That drink was awful. What was it?” His speech is a little less slurred than before.

“Water. I’m taking you home.”

He blushes, “What?”

“You’re plastered. So, you should get sick in your own loo rather than on this lovely woman,” I give the blonde a wink. She dances away.

I’m pretty sure tabs aren’t even really that much of a thing in Ireland. And like…I don’t think you can close them out for someone else. So like. I don’t know what the fuck I was on while writing that. Obviously not Google.com, or reality. But most of all I was absolutely jump-scared reading that back and discovering I was gonna make Baz a defensive midfielder? WTF!?

🤔What’s a story you’d love to write but haven’t even started yet?

A hockey one-shot. Whenever it happens the chirps are gonna be out of this world.

🤡How many Wips are you actively working on?

One in a way that’s meaningful. Maybe two. It’s a fresh thing.

🛠Is there a scene or anything in the WIP you are struggling with right now?

The chapter is really expositional in an isolated way and so I have to backtrack for context without being boring.

❤️Not a question, just a second kudos to send.

Blessed beyond belief.

Now tagging @artsyunderstudy @brilla-brilla-estrellita @cutestkilla @facewithoutheart @hushed-chorus @iamamythologicalcreature @ileadacharmedlife @j-nipper-95 @noblecorgi @prettygoododds @thewholelemon @valeffelees @roomwithanopenfire @youarenevertooold @you-remind-me-of-the-babe omg and @emeryhall tell me everything

[moon-alight]

Hello dear, I’m not sure if requests are open but if so can I request Yuma as a boyfriend? I was looking thru you’re masterlist and he’s the only one that doesn’t have the as a boyfriend 😂. If requests aren’t open then just trash this. Ty 🖤

Thank you for requesting! ❤️ Yuma is my Bias Wrecker and I absolutely love him so I'm excited for this one! (My requests are always open lol)

Masterlist

&Team Yuma as your boyfriend

Warnings: fluff

Word Count: 733

CRUSH PHASE

-Believe it or not but Yuma definitely is the most confident one of the bunch whenever he has a crush on someone.

-He's also the most genuine and tries to get closer to you through observing and doing little things for you

-I believe you are in the same friendgroup so when you all hang out and he sees you struggling with opening something, he will help you in a heartbeat

-The sweetest guy on this planet, I'm telling you

-Whenever you are saying something and someone else interrupts you, he will make sure you get to finish you story

-Easily head over heels

-Will confess to you when he is confident enough you like him back

-He had seen the signs of course. You'd blush whenever he complimented you or you'd stutter if he touched your hand slightly.

DATING PHASE

-That sweet guy I was just talking about, remember him? GONE!

-Yuma is and will always be a little menace in my head so expect a lot of teasing from him!

-But only he can tease and bully you. If anyone else does it. . . he becomes so protective over you

-The epitome of 'touch her and you die'

-Tries to be the coolest guy but only shows his soft side to you and you only

-Very clingy in private and always has to hold you one way or another

-The kind of person to wait until you come to him for affection so that he can act like he isn't the needy one

-But will absolutely come to you if it takes to long for his liking.

-You two went out to some fun fair in Japan and Yuma made the most random pictures of you during that time.

-One of those is now his background on his phone

-Overtime he learns more and more about relationships and about you and becomes more confident in seeking affection

-Has an entire folder in his notes app dedicated to you in which he writes small things you said or he observes about you so he doesn't forget

-Your favorite food, favorite color, prefered clothing style, favorite places, cute things you said and ringsize. . .

-Always brags about you to his members because he loves you so much he cannot stop thinking about you

-You had gifted him this small simple keychain which you made yourself and he still has it. . . it is right with him at all times

-He is a bit of a hot-head

-It takes him a while to admit he is wrong

-But he will definitely bend the moment he sees a tear escape your eye

-Is prepared to catch all the stars from the nightsky for you

-Will do anything you ask in a heartbeat because you got him wrapped around your finger

-You want to go out in the rain and dance? Sure. You want to have a cute photoshoot with him? Absolutely. You want to bake cookies together? He is already tying his apron.

-About baking. . . yeah, don't do that

-You once did and he almost blew the whole kitchen up

-He's not the best baker but he definitely loves watching you bake

-He actually really loves cuddles (but he won't admit it)

-Loves having you that close to him and just being able to hold you tightly

-Kisses with him are so soft and cute

-He would be the one to pepper your face full of kisses whenever you two are cuddling

-You have annual movie nights in which you don't actually watch the movie

-You're too busy arguing about the plot to watch it

-A lot of agree to disagree

-Remember the first date fair? Yeah, he won you a panda plushie.

-He suggested the name 'Oreo' because, you know. . . original🙄

-But you named him Cuddlesworth instead

-Yuma did not like and told you this. You're still arguing about the damn name to this day

-But he melts everytime he comes over and sees da panda on your bed

-He'd make a playlist with the most random songs and hands it to you

-After weeks of listening to it you realize the songs in it spell your and his name

-When you find out you hug him and he teases you for not noticing sooner

-Overall the cutest and most playful relationship of &Team 💕

[allamericanb-tch]

crimson rivers thoughts (12)

@tastetherainbow290

chapter 26

rip james potter’s leg he’s gone full peeta

sirius is visiting reg

reg ☹️

talking about throwing up is arguably the worst part of this fic so far

“It's fine. I didn't even like this shirt. (Sirius really liked this shirt.)”

i am legitimately shaking but i don’t know if this is important so i need to read it

please stop talking about throwing up

poor regulus i feel so bad

and hes throwing up again

i cant even think about this what if i just skim the rest

ok pov switch thank god

oh no i forgot remus has to go back… 

sirius is so considerate

nooo remu

sirius pov again im praying there isn’t any more throwing up

and there it is.

poor regulus ahhhhh i just feel so bad for him like. i want to give him a hug.

why doesn’t regulus want to see james ☹️

sirius is visiting james now

that was sweet. sad, but sweet.

remus pov again

remu ❤️‍🩹

can someone tell me why the rat is my 5th most used emoji

"You're so precious to me, did you know that?"

remus loves sirius (duh)

chapter 27

i’m sad for wolfstar what’s gonna happen

"You can trust that the only person I have an interest in seeing naked is your brother." 😭

this hallow drama is actually hilarious

reggie 💔

i’m scared that pandora is going to die in the future bc we have t seen any of her pov

this is so sad.

no thoughts just sadness.

“i’m collecting them all” i’m glad to see you making jokes reg

"Oh, this is just the bruise finally blooming from where I tripped and fell the moment I saw you,"

this was a lighter chapter but still sad

chapter 28

back to james pov

oh no a nightmare

CRAP I FORGOT ABT MY MATH HOMEWORK it was due yesterday but she hasn’t graded it yet so if i turn it in now she won’t take of points for it being late

math homework is finished! back to reading (suffering)

oh yeah. nightmare. ☹️

"I wasn't supposed to go through this," no james, you were not. i’m sad now (i have been sad)

james leave regulus aloneeee (don’t leave him alone)

shrodinger’s cat mention

“james”

i’m actually crying right now.

nooo why are the fighting

james is getting his glasses back soon!!! huzzah

"I don't want to be a great, big tragedy anymore,"

baby

“it’s a parting gift” i’m crying again

regulus and remus friendship <3

“we broke up” “you were together?” 😭

ugh this is so sad. already i’ve cried more times than reading atyd AND choices and ive barely made a dent in cr

oh no interview prep

evan mention 💔

every time i see the word hallow in this fic im like “i need to add this (hallow/hollow) to my list of homophones” and i never do bc im writing all my thoughts in my notes app and my homophones list is in a different folder than my marauders thoughts 

chapter 29

oh me oh my hanky panky happening in this chapter i wonder for who

every time i call sex hanky panky i give myself the ick

"We broke up? This is news to me” james 😭

“No one needs romantic love to be fulfilled as a person. Not everyone wants it, and then there are those who aren't ready, and all of it is okay. That doesn't mean there's an absence of love, or that you're getting it wrong. You're not, Regulus, I promise." 

they’re holding hands (but for sad reasons)

interview time i’m scared

evan ☹️☹️☹️

vanity ☹️☹️☹️

“We love your love, don't we?" 💔

this is so sad omg i genuinely don’t know how im going to survive this

GLASSES!!!!!!

so he’s just been wearing contacts this whole time?

ok i need to go do my duolingo. 

i am back from duolingo.

james telling sirius to go have sex with remus on their last night 😭 i mean fair. they should

"I'm absolutely thinking about your brother right now." oh, james

james telling sirius about him and reg 😭 poor sirius

sirius asking james for tips 💀

“i expect all the details” james fleamont potter 😭

sirius is such a good brother. i love him. 

remus pov !!

“i would not have known joy if i did not have the pleasure of knowing you”

ugh wolfstar. i love you. 

😯 hanky panky

spine has been realigned

ok but any time any of them ever talk about getting off it just makes me think about one time when i was at a district choir concert and when we were practicing one of our songs the director said “there won’t be a dry seat in the audience” (he meant dry eye, bc the song was beautiful, but it just came out like everyone in the audience would dream their pants 😭) but. unnecessary story and it isn’t really that funny unless you were there but. 

chapter 30 (?!)

evan 💔

god.

remus ‘reading’ sirius’ mind 😭

they have to say goodbye ☹️

barty mention!!!!

*singing* i just miss you and i just wish you were a better man

“i love you” eeeeeeeee

omg kissing

and it’s over.

“i don’t want to hurt you anymore” 💔

eeeee they’re kissing again

“it’ll take a while but later—much later—james will look back on this and wonder, sadly, if it was a parting gift, too.” WHAT

sirius kissing the mask so remus will always have a sirius kiss

i love pandora

wolfstar goodbye 💔

the fact that all of this happened in the span of two weeks

effie and monty!!!!!!!!!!

the next chapter is lily… should i read it or go to sleep 

[blankvort]

you've probably answered something like this but favourite songs from the stage show and i want details, GO‼️

pezberrywhoreee i cannot even begin to describe the dearth of times i have answered anything related to mean girls and the amount of times i have internally cried and screamed wanting to interrupt a conversation to talk about mean girls. i say that god is dead but you are doing his work right here. putting this under a read more because you said details and this became a study of why every song in the stage show is better than opioids and thin mints combined <333 no articulacy here just 8000+ words of vibes and ranting

first of all if cady sings a single line i am violently shoving every note of the song into a mental folder called faves in such eldritch fonts that my brain computer is halfway to summoning cthulhu whenever it loads the soundtrack. she is described as the heart of the story on the backstage casting call page for a reason and that reason is her absolutely incredible range as she struts from the plucky guitar gyrations and membranophone-focused percussion of it roars into the candid, confiding, crescendoing (and other c words you can probably guess based on the verbiage i use in dms) keys of stupid with love and then climb the vocal volcano that is apex predator and akfjskhfidbdihgshejfhiajw i love her and i love her songs and i need to shut up now i’m sorry

second (but not really because i’m still going on and on about cady i’m sorry) i’m upset abt most other productions burying cady’s fourth-wall breaks and kind of making the segue into revenge party less. i don’t know riled up?? because 1) where did my girl janis’s influence go it is so much more impactful when cady’s main reason for going along with the revenge plot and pushing it further is hearing about janis being outed from janis herself! when her main motivator becomes aaron, who she likes super superficially by the time more is better rolls around, you think wow! what a bitch! for even longer! like you don’t even have to cut the “your hair looks sexy pushed back”/”are his eyes gray or green” conversation that prods her into sending gretchen over the edge this isn’t a time issue 2) where did cady’s brain go bring me a whole box of profound regret and impulsive decisions let the people in the back hear the hows and whys of her descent into plastichood and moreover i would like her to sing more and most of all i love it when characters break the fourth wall. by that i mean i want the “sounds kind of bad right to spy on someone but they’re the first friends i’ve had and i don’t want to have none” things back because the narrative nudity and the way it follows the melody of the verses in fearless is a+++

now. my legitimate favorite songs from the stage show in chronological order

a cautionary tale: the repartee the art freaks have is elite and so are their riffs. The lyrics are 3am notes app poetry lines and that’s an amazing thing for mean girls. It’s not the typical broadway opening number but it’s rough and brash and brilliant. To me the cast of mean girls strikes the perfect balance between caricature and lived-in character and the insouciance of this song towards seriousness reflects that wonderfully. Janis assuming the worst of everyone by saying that the temptation to be popular and hot is far too great and saying that you can’t buy integrity at the mall is some nice, if blatant, foreshadowing regarding cady losing her integrity as she gets caught up in the perilous biome of shopping centers with such dangerous patrons as build-dat-bear. The last line of the chorus abruptly changing the amount of beats in the measure adds an extra kick layout fosse quality that i love too. The ending is the apotheosis of mezzo-soprano/tenor harmonization. Need both janis and damian to step on me but for different reasons. No i will not elaborate

it roars: i have a soft spot for wild life but it roars is superior in every way to me because it introduces cady, the show’s sense of humor, the cast’s incredible skill when it comes to singing and dancing (seriously i had never seen an ensemble that made me want to be ensemble before mean girls), and the perfect transition from a cautionary tale will always get me hyped. i have many thoughts about the many changes the mg script and score have gone through throughout the years but oh my god my jaw dropped at the breathtaking belting of “i have danced with the maasai, i have climbed kilimanjaro” when i first heard it mashed up with it roars and the callback the verse gets in fearless 2.0(?) totally dislocated it. Also i know that it’s a pairing so unpopular it’s basically nonexistent but hear me out when i say that it roars is just a more optimistic, afrobeat inspired version of what’s wrong with me. Cady never seems to think that it’s the student body that needs to change, she thinks she needs to fight and win to belong just as gretchen thinks she needs to serve the most powerful person in school to be deserving of… idk anything?? Of course you cannot trust me on this because i will ship cady with anyone if you give me the chance. Writing cady/the marymount girl fanfic as we speak

it roars is the first indicator that musical cady is pretty different from movie cady in that she earnestly wants to go to the us, wants to have more/better friends, wants to try high school and skateboards and rapping and starbucks venti chai. which makes sense because you know you gotta have that sick i want song so characters feel less tossed about and more thrusting into. there’s a better way to word that but i don’t have the skull size to summon a less immature dictionary right now. a curious thing about it roars, though, is that kenya, being a country and all, has high school and skateboards and rapping. no starbucks because apparently rwanda was an easier location to settle into but that’s a good thing actually nobody should support starbucks. either way you can really see that cady’s been sheltered from the realities of any society past the stone age and idolizes this incredibly abstract view of friends and people. she’s equal parts desperate and determined, artless and acute. it’s ironic, i feel that at first her speech patterns (lions and birds and stuff) seem at odds with her sub-saharan surroundings as though she’s already trying to integrate herself with this slangy teenage culture she knows nothing about and then when she finally finds herself in slangy teenage culture she compares everything to the survival-based rules of the savannah. i know this is probably for streamlining purposes but it’s also so interesting to me that her immediate reaction to her parents’ funding being cut is wow adventure wow possibilities. she knows that everybody wants connection but she doesn’t yet know why connection has to be culled by all these arbitrary rules like fashion or acting cool. like i don’t remember where i read this but some novel said that the only thing worse than being smart is being smart and sensitive because then neither the logical nor emotional explanations for any event can make sense. i swear i will find that book someday to take a photo but today i am bedridden because i walked the five or so inches from home to the grocery store

back to it roars. i hate the grammar in the line “none of my closest friends even has hands” but i love everything else about the song. the beat is so bouncy and the ostinati of the wind and brass sections are top tier. the comedic beats are underscored by cutting the music and then the vocals come back in soaring alongside the strongest bass since george perry and i could die happy if hospitals changed the flatline noise to any cady singing “so exhilarating”.

two paragraphs and we’re still going strong dead god help me. personally i feel like the best delivery of the ensemble lines have to be as obnoxious and deafening as humanly possible but i get people who feel differently. it’s just really great to me when cady is polite and confused and very presumptuous and sonja aquino’s actively going through act two of the exorcist in real time. i think that’s why danielle wade is my cady of choice too. love it when autism: the song is put through the epiglottic funnel of anxiety. also i’m wiping tears right now about the fact cady refers to phones as little screens in her first act one song and in the act two opener she’s glued to her phone because she wants attention so badly and still doesn’t feel like she has enough even though she talks about how america and the plastics are so much more than what she’s used to. Also very interesting that cady views inclusion as a game that needs to be won (and eventually comes to view baleful adoration as winning) even though she later exhibits a sort of survival of the fittest mentality that shows up as early as her mention of baboons attacking those that go near their pack. Fun fact i think her takeover of the plastics mirrors dispersal in male baboons wherein mature male baboons leave the pack they were born into to find another troop to temporarily stay in and usually if they end up replacing the alpha male of that non-natal troop they commit infanticide because then he can reproduce with the alpha male’s old mate/s. That’s not super fun but it is a fact to me. but i’ll talk about the strange views musical cady heron seems to hold about winning more in my do this thing essay which i am definitely going to write despite my best efforts to make this post under five thousand words

gonna slide the it roars reprise in here too because it’s not on the soundtrack but it still makes me feel things. “i’m sixteen just like everyone here but not like everyone here” and what if i said mean girls is the best dissection of the torturous dichotomy between being desperate to belong and being desperate to be unique. There’s a thing called theatrical exaggeration but for mental health purposes i choose to believe that north shore class of x immediately clocked cady as a weirdo utterly undeserving of trust or respect when they saw her wear socks and sandals. I know i just complained about people calling every iteration of cady boring but i feel like i haven’t seen actual hate for musical cady (at least not as much slander as i’ve seen sent to og movie and especially movie musical cady) because you can better bear witness to her most vulnerable moments when she’s singing directly at you instead of saying things in a soundproof recording studio. She’s not quitting she’s regrouping! Which is a fascinating choice of words to me because regrouping in math is basically carrying over values because they’re too much. She gets sucked into this idea that more is better even though she has to compartmentalize the information she’s learned from hostile classmates and teachers and draw connections to her experience with animals because more is not better without proper management. Also this bitch is gonna get e coli if the janitors don’t care enough to clean the slut-shaming graffiti on the wall they are not wiping down those cubicle doors

where do you belong: i love gay people. “so what if all the ducklings think you’re ugly it’s because they’ve never seen a swan” is ted talk worthy material. never getting over the fact that damian knew this girl for all of maybe one introductory french class’s worth of interaction, accused her of doing drugs, and then built her confidence back up from the seventh circle of hell. the “your mother called you baby girl?” “singing!” exchange is peak best friend banter and showcases the art freaks’ dynamic of frank, funny jerk with a tarnished heart of gold and budding broadway babe with a shocking amount of wisdom obscured by hilarity and hypocrisy. the debate team rejected damian because he was too fabulous to be deigned to one oregon-oxford role i’ve decided. i love unreliable narrators and damian shooing cady away from the mathletes as soon as she shows the barest interest in them is an entertaining way of showing that nobody in this story is free from social norms. the lunch tray percussion is something all marching bands should adopt and so are the lighting cues. janis’s reactions to damian killing his dance breaks are the best. rachel hamilton is my fave ensemble student i don’t care if she gets maybe two or three lines total.  she was giving bombastic side eyes before anyone knew the word bombastic. i desperately need to know if she knew what cady was actually saying or if she thought cady was just a lion king stan asking to be canceled. damian painting everyone but his two-person clique as problematic is also peak teenage behavior. everything at that age is just finding the lesser of two evils and figuring out whether or not you want to meet the bigger evil anyways. janis deriding “the geeks and the freaks” despite being labeled as an art freak by every mg promo is also amusing and barrett and mary-kate’s deliveries of “christian believers” could send me to heaven any day they want. the ending is so satisfying to listen to and even more satisfying to watch. also i do mean it when i say that cady was adopted by the local gays in this number. are janis and damian aware that having their own table in a school that makes juniors and seniors have lunch at the same time makes them more powerful than all the politicians of the globe combined

stupid with love: ALSKAJLDJASLDAJLLKJ. stupid with love is the best musical representation of how a crush driven by hormones and being treated with the barest sense of humor and dignity can devour a person taylor swift eat your heart out. the music really sweeps you up into this story like you’re a close friend privy to even her most embarrassing thoughts and the way her love life flashing before her eyes just shuts out whatever aaron was going to say about lebron james is the funniest thing because yeah! you can be convinced you’re totally in love with someone when you’re that age while ignoring everything that makes them a well-rounded human being! the way cady’s clearly grown up in a caring household that’s so chock full of trust that her parents can’t fathom that she’d do anything remotely dangerous while having the whole house to herself for more than one hour BUT also feels like she doesn’t “get” love is super interesting to me to like most sixteen-year-olds have the idea that their parents don’t understand them sure but has she come to the conclusion that familial love isn’t enough? that she doesn’t get enough familial love anyways? that love is unknowable? does she wholeheartedly believe that she fell in love at age five? stupid with love is a song of so many possibilities and it’s as giddy and delusional as you’d expect, every emotion heightened by cady’s new brand of eloquence. fetch may never happen but calculust absolutely should. the little snippets of dialogue in between are so endearing on both cady and aaron’s ends to the point where i can forgive ms norbury clearly not knowing how to conduct a class. who’s gonna tell cady to raise her hand before she answers. i’m kidding she can do whatever she wants, even ignore the existence of multiplication. multiplication is a bitch cady i get it

we once again see that cady is determined almost to the point of self-destruction and that she’s desperate to live a ‘normal’ life by getting together with the normalest boy of all time and the song so perfectly sets up why we should care about cady and aaron as a couple–he’s the only person thus far to not even suggest what she should think/do, encouraging her in a teasing way to be herself (ie smart) instead of telling her to be dumber so he can feel better about himself. cadaaron is the only straight ship ever argue with the wall. also the instrumental on its own is literally such a bop?? i’d drop a grand piano on myself daily if the keys could just perpetually play the song. quoth my own blog my heart belongs to every video out there of a cady opting up on the last “i learned math so i can learn love” it just fits so well thematically and makes the song even more satisfying because it makes you think yes!! summon that girlfailure swag and learn love. also this song is so next to me from twihard: a new musical coded with the pencils and/or feet providing the musical pulse. this is me very subtly begging you to listen to twihard: a new musical as put on by the esoteric ensemble productions and uploaded like a full decade ago starring danielle wade 

apex predator: i love women. i love bon jovi. i love zoology. this song was made for me tina fey told me herself. i can even forgive whoever made halls rhyme with dolls because of the regina furry confirmation. the first few chords kind of give me jaws theme vibes. it’s grinding and warning and doused in grit. you get the brightness of cady’s other songs cut with the flinty, darker strings of janis’s numbers. the heavy drum sort of sounds like a heartbeat, quickening as cady realizes the might of the pride and considers how regina’s help compares to janis’s in an almost clinical manner. shout out to erika henningsen’s “exotic pet” obviously. that line should be studied by every ivy league with a literary program because regina and cady considering the other an exotic pet instead of a real friend but still seeking each other’s approval……. maybe the narrative foils are really reflections of my tin foil hat but hear me out. it’s so interesting that they refer to regina as an apex predator because apex predators are animals without natural enemies but almost every single friend or admirer of regina’s exhibits an envious kind of awe when it comes to regina. regina’s so magnetic that you can’t be her enemy but close enough to pseudo-celebrity that you can’t exactly be her friend either. also the harmony at the end combined with the epic percussion deserves its own award. no longer does egot mean anything. One must be an egota (emmy grammy oscar tony apex predator singer) to be considered showbiz royalty

stupid with love (reprise): cady is so so smart and so so stupid. aaron getting confused at a genuine compliment not solely based on his looks is adorable but i also love it when the line delivery gets changed to be more like “wow i already know i’m cool but it’s nice to hear it from the cute possibly murderous girl who sits behind me”. same goes for cady’s “shit” right after aaron swears off dating–it’s funny as hell whether she’s smiling through the pain or so disappointed in herself she looks like she’s experiencing medical shock. her making love into a function is similarly messed up but funny as hell. i literally have a google drive folder full of audio clips of the “i just don’t get it–i’ll never get it–i just don’t get it–somehow…” part it’s so serious

sexy: this is modern feminism talking i expect to run the world in shoes i cannot walk in - the greatest mind of our generation karen smith. if the national emergency alarm was changed to the ending riff i would become an arsonist just to hear it over and over again. a youtube commenter said that she sings every line like she’s waiting to be shown the script and redo it and whenever acting and singing can waltz along in magnificence together i sob in joy even if that waltz is set to trashy pop. literally every costume shown is worthy of fashion week and then some. the sex doctor bit is beyond saturday night live. sexy rosa parks deserves the world. modern feminism is a mess but at least it built the last verse of this incredible song.

someone gets hurt: regina pretending to cry and aaron being confused again and then being manipulated into a makeout session is so so funny. so terrible but so funny. the incredible blare of noise after that first “until someone gets hurt” feels like being pushed off a cliff and into a sea of warning sirens which feels fitting. if any song from the stage show were to be played by a chamber orchestra i would want it to be someone gets hurt because everything about it is almost four seasons by vivaldi to me. as i said do not expect sensible comparisons from this review. it’s really dark and intense like all of regina’s numbers but this time her style of seduction is on full display, highlighted by some heavy timpani work and a male ensemble that’s carrying more than just regina on their backs holy cow. squidward would worship regina with how she made the bass clarinet sultry despite hitting something in the high fs during each “hurt” and holding that “go” for like five seconds. the ending is giving celine dion’s villain arc. it’s also maybe the first time the audience sees aaron through the eyes of anyone other than cady who’s so starstruck she might as well be blind and we see a guy who’s still susceptible to regina’s yknow reginaness. she guilt trips him about his potential infatuation with his body and then gets extremely touchy with him while wearing a playboy bunny costume. she asks if she was a game he wanted to play despite (maybe devoid of remorse) playing him just to get back at cady. she’s making so much shit up because peeling away too many layers of her perfection would be dangerous but so would losing aaron to cady’s actual openness. first she says “fine” to mean that she’ll be fine without aaron in the reverse psychology sense, then they say “fine” to mean that they’re both hot af, then he says “fine” to agree to get back with regina and possibly to convince himself that his interest in cady can and should be pushed aside because being with regina is better for them both. love this song. hate being unable to sing a single note of it.

revenge party: my overall fave song of the obc album, the stage show, and the movie musical. words alone cannot describe the excitement that electrocutes my nerves when i hear “now you know, caddy—” because everything from that line onwards is going to be stuck in my head for at least a week. some people can’t function until their first cup of coffee in the morning, i can’t function until my first listen of revenge party. in slight relation to that gretchen’s squawking will make me spit out any drink; such has been scientifically proven over the course of several years. i actually have a line-by-line analysis of revenge party drafted so i won’t go into detail right now because i need viewer retention but i mean it when i say art freak harmonization is the best kind.

whose house is this: if kevin g has one fan it is me. let the man rap even if half his lyrics don’t make sense. i have heard the big fun from heathers comparisons. i have heard the halloween from be more chill comparisons. all of them are so incorrect i could set several houses ablaze with the rage i feel at the very suggestion that whose house is this isn’t a masterpiece. no joke this is the first song on my workout playlist. the way nobody even cares about cady in this number is hilarious and so is kevin refusing to swear. gretchen deserves all the thank yous and so does the horns section. karen’s actions are just. Absurd as they always should be. the mario kart ass instrumentals during that “turn the freaking music up” segment make me pleasantly stressed. there are traces of jungle techno but little to no traces of cady’s signature sound and the usually lax but articulate and expressive rhyme scheme of her songs switching to frenzied verses full of immaturity and inconsideration makes me feel things that should not be felt while listening to a rave number with flatulent bass.

more is better: the only romantic duet to ever exist if you ask me. the fact that cady switches from the more sincerity-charged love to like most likely because the plastics’ philosophy is to be cool about things makes me want to bite the bars of alcatraz prisons. the way cady’s signature sound only really returns after aaron chooses to leave her because she’s become regina 2.0 without even acknowledging it is the stuff of emotionally resonant legend. as i said in my aaron review post the only thing that bothers me about this number is aaron kissing cady while she’s clearly drunk and he isn’t but cady kind of gets him back after do this thing so. yay equality. aaron’s so tired of being manipulated and told to shut up i feel so bad for him. cady’s so in denial about missing her old home in any capacity and being uncomfortable with the skin she’s tried to grow into for aaron’s sake and i feel so bad for her. the shimmering sound that comes with cady singing “stars” makes me feel better though. 11/10 would be sad again. say no to excessive air conditioning and light pollution

someone gets hurt (reprise): i like it when gays have bad breakups without even dating. what more do you want. but actually i am obsessed with the way this is blocked out because the way the chaos of cady’s house gradates into the dark street where there’s nothing but her and her crumbling friendships. the link between janis and regina is really reinforced by this song and it makes me feel insane.

world burn: the only way regina can redeem herself for wearing a black turtleneck and black pants is by slaying so hard you forget she’s just printing shit and polluting the corridors and she does it in world burn. her having a recurring set of notes to follow until she absolutely loses it is iconic. i learned so much about hernia formation through this song so i think it’s also an educational heritage site. the contrast of her 1984-esque lyrics and beats with lines like “trang pak is a grotsky byotch” is beyond hilarious but in the context of the show it makes my timbers shiver. she is both manipulated and the master manipulator. renee rapp’s opt up for the ending is golden but every regina brings their own flair and intensity to it. something that really interests me is how different actresses interpret the lines “this is what i get for helping / helping someone lame fit in” because to generalize regina either thinks she was actually helping cady or is trying to convince herself/the audience that her primary motivator was controlling cady’s every action before she got too hot to ignore or because she saw her hanging around janis and damian or because regina can’t ask a girl out like a normal person. idk it’s very fun and very satisfying to listen to and ramps up the ante for all antagonistic songs ever!

i’d rather be me: did you mean the feminist anthem of the twenty-first century? i’d rather be me is pure janis in her sort of jumpy, edgy, eleven o’clock exasperated glory tuned to this effusive fusion of pop and rock. the energy this has is soooo good because every girl in school is tired of being treated like shit because of the expectations placed on them by society and the idea that by i’d rather be me the female student body of north shore is so exhausted of the plastics’ bs that they parade janis around despite shunning her for years is amazing. most criticisms of this are abt how wordy it is or how it’s not worded right but hello janis is a teenager her inner and outer monologue is not going to be as mature as fucking grizabella the glamor cat and it can include words that anyone would study for the sats like sycophant. sycophant is not that fancy a word i learned the word sycophant from a star wars fanfiction i read when i was seven how could you not know the word sycophant at age seven squared after making a living out of reviewing shows written by wordsmiths like sondheim. sorry that was mean i’m just tired of people either going “they wouldn’t talk like that they’re teenagers” or “they shouldn’t talk like that they’re part of a theatrical production worth millions of dollars!” lmao

ok so i think that janis was losing herself just as much as cady over the course of the revenge plot taking place because okay she’s ruined regina but she’s barely changed anything about herself and if her plan had worked without hitches wtf was she going to do. was she going to keep hanging out with cady. was she going to fill the power vacuum left by the plastics herself. was she going to run regina over with a bus herself. i’d rather be me is the culmination of the crushing pillars of her revenge plot and the full realization that revenge wasn’t what she wanted–she wanted to change the way the world works, change it into a place where people can just do and be without being ostracized. to me the instrumentals and the mockery in the lyrics are almost stinging?? someone with even could describe this better than me but the strings during the instrumental section between verses remind me of a mosquito bite because they’re high and sharp and put against the heavy drums and cymbal crashes they really paint this picture of a dam of anger breaking and giving way to a new wash of awareness. 

also i cannot stand it when ppl say this song is the show giving endorsement to janis being a hypocrite there is a reason why all the lyrics are in future tense. she is wrapping her mind around the notion that there is no pleasing everyone, that there is no true gratification gained by holding grudges and letting them control your every thought, that if you don’t let yourself have the liberty of lashing out you’re only going to manifest your maliciousness in worse ways with longer-lasting effects. that being said let girls be haters

also the obc album should’ve let janis swear. every public performance of i’d rather be me should let janis swear. let her have a line with bite before her throat turns into a cavern where vowels go to melt into a singular solution

also janis’s costumes over the course of the whole show are amazing but her look in i’d rather be me goes so hard. if i had any of janis’s jackets i think i’d curl into it like a cocoon and wait until the heat death of the universe for metamorphosis into coolness

do this thing: no joke this is the second song on my workout playlist. i hate the title so much but i love also the audience reaction when ms norbury starts singing as if she didn’t just slay the what’s wrong with me reprise gets me every time. truly the actresses in the adult women track are so underappreciated and so are the adult women in general. kevin g’s unabashed doing of the thing regardless of the haters is iconic. the return of the heavy percussion is so enjoyable and so are the mathletes’ lines lining up with the steaming kettle sound somehow behind each buzzer even though i hate buzzers because in real life mathletes nobody wants to answer on beat. ms norbury best matchmaker ever i LOVED the detail of aaron being present for the mathletes’ win but cady clearly focusing on the competition above all else. i’m pretty sure the mathletes are also the only characters to drop an f-bomb in a song which is just fantastic + the gretchen/regina parallel between kevin and marwan regarding schquillz is phenomenal. “the limit does not exist” being both the answer to the question that signifies cady’s return to her old self with more self-assurance and the theme of the musical in terms of not limiting other people is a level of genius i will never reach.

i see stars: i’m sorry they gave cady a big finale where she calls everyone beautiful and bright and holds hands with the other girls she’s hurt and you expect me to not love it?? this one had to grow on me though because i was so bothered about the stars imagery coming up maybe like five songs before when we’d been following animals and math for the whole show. as we all know characters can only have one or two interests before they become completely incoherent. but now i know more about light pollution and have played the video of this song with the pride chorus more times than i’ve blinked so i get it. shane oman also breaking his crown during the escalation of the instrumentals from a very optimistic but singular combo of strings and cymbals into the violins and heavier drums and whatever else is such a good detail. i still get goosebumps with that “you stars” there is just so much emotion packed into this finale and the rest of the ensemble joining in is as effective as onions being cut directly into my eyes when it comes to crying. obviously my fave version of this is the one with cady and janis’s mini duet during the rhinestones don’t shine part but guaranteed this one will make me cry no matter what

now. for the songs that didn’t make it onto my absolute fave list they are still my children just bastard ones and i will go into detail about them too because there is no point in writing this post if it does not crash the tumblr dashboard for you

a cautionary tale (reprise): akin to its origins, the reprise of a cautionary tale kicking off act two is there to introduce the act, but unlike its first iteration, the reprise is literally just there. no jokes no nothing. would love to see it reworked into something that reminds the audience they’re north shore freshmen being told this story by janis and damian because i forget about that framing device until the dialogue break in i see stars every time lmao but other than that it’s serviceable and any song that involves art freak harmonization is a solid song

meet the plastics: maybe i don’t love women as much as i claim to. I don’t know why i don’t like this song more truly. Maybe i just need to listen to it more lmao because the lyrics are great, the tempo changing with each introduction is great, and gretch waiting until regina’s out of earshot to try and convert cady into a fetch truther is great. Maybe it’s the “humps my leg like a chihuahua” line that turned me off from it because nell benjamin i do not care that you wrote legally blonde i do not think regina george would bring up animal humping imagery considering what her mother puts her through unless she was hopped up on pain meds. All that being said i would die for the polyphony at the end and karen playing with cady’s hair near the end is so cute

what’s wrong with me: gretchen it’s not you it’s me and i like songs with a specific sort of climax and what’s wrong with me really does feel like a music box piece played by some dusty not-quite-antique you find in the attic that makes you feel a particular, peculiar strain of melancholy because it’s so cyclical and fragile. which is the point, probably! It just sounds really different from the rest of the show and i feel like the lyrics don’t quite fit the language we’ve heard gretch using so far but maybe that’s also part of the point. That being said the line “see that you see what’s wrong with me” makes me go mad because there are so many ways to interpret it. Is she telling the audience that they should be able to see what’s wrong with her? Is she saying that the audience sees something good in regina that she can’t see anymore because of her constant mistreatment? Is she once again asking what’s wrong with her or has she finally had a breakthrough about her dismal self-esteem?

fearless: oh my god a cady song and act ender that i’m not totally into sound the sirens. but really fearless without the revisitation of the it roars/wild life passage that tells the audience what makes her fearless aside from wanting to move to america (which might make her more fearless than i thought now i sound that out but still) isn’t my favorite songs despite it having some of my favorite moments like karen’s ribbon dance, gretchen’s very cool dance, cady mirroring regina’s pose on top of the cafeteria table at the start of meet the plastics at the end, the mini someone gets hurt reprise at the end, it isn’t my favorite to listen to because the lyrics are just all over the place. Cady why are you saying that she’ll go cry to mama do you think mrs george is sober enough for that. Cady why are you spouting live love laugh merchandise ass quotes. Cady why are you quoting dwayne the rock johnson “imagine stronger, better, bolder” are you going to play a lacrosse game against regina. Why does karen not wear more vests after this number

You know what made me care about fearless?? The fearless reprise. Oh my god the fearless reprise. I need to make a separate post about the fearless reprise but i can’t listen to it more than once a day or i’ll end up crying for hours on end.  

stop: is it homophobic of me to put three damian songs on this list? probably but i make up for it by filling that broadway cares bucket every time i can. and it’s not that i even really dislike stop!! I have so many thoughts about stop!! i just don’t like it when compared to the other songs that can hold up inside and outside the context of the show!! i just feel like it has to be experienced live to understand its award-losing enormity unlike where do you belong and even then it sounds noticeably different from the rest of the show + essentially pauses the narrative to talk about a whole other story that never gets resolved outside of damian being ghosted (i thought theater was supposed to provide escapism 😔) and then frays a bunch of threads out from the ensemble in a way that doesn’t feel quite as well sewn in as the worship we see during apex predator or after rockin’ around the pole because like. it’s funny sure but just the act before we saw that things can be funny while also moving the story along past attempting to hammer in the message “stop ignoring your real friends” in cady’s thickened-by-makeup head. 

also how does damian even know about her word vomit. cady barely even word vomits in the stage show. it’s all just word coughing fits of confusion and unintentional comedy under peer pressure. whenever she says something embarrassing she either gets cut off or turns it into a whole song. i’m sorry damian i love you and your stupid straw hat but we just saw the whole show we don’t need a recap of everything that happened in the last hour with almost zero internal rhymes and without the frantic pacing of ya got trouble from the music man. cmon.

onto things i love about stop tho which are a) the gaiety (and gay-ty) b) the dancing and c) the staging. i love it when gay characters just get to be silly goofy instead of singing themselves to their graves and even if damian was built off the dramatic thespian homostereotype he gives me the impression of a silly goofy teen trying to balance the interests of his best friends with his sanity through the medium he’s most comfortable in which happens to be literally show-stopping song-and-dance number. also we get cadnis content in the background and the choreo i’ve seen for how janis plays keep away with cady’s phone only gets better (which of course is a synonym for gayer. let the babies hold hands before they yell at each other in the street and see a 15-second death they’re both sort of kind of responsible for). the dancing of course is wonderful. i mean does it make sense in-story for damian to somehow be popular enough with the ladies to rally them into a giant dance break after asking them to divulge their biggest, darkest secrets like an hour after being kicked out of the girls’ bathroom and calling one of them danny devito? probably not. is it really enjoyable when you aren’t itching to get back to the main story? yes. it also makes north shore feel more authentic in a sense?? obviously there’s so much about the social hierarchy exaggerated for comedic effect but yeah public high school is that crazy one day you’ll hear that a classmate got into a drunk driving accident and the next you’ll hear that the same classmate scored an audition for the x factor. and the transition from the art classroom, which is one of my fave sets in the whole show because aghhhh i want to pause everything and analyze art whenever it comes up in a tv show or movie or video game or musical because it’s almost never just art present for the sake of filling the set! there’s a reason why the set designers put that there or downloaded that asset or whatever! based on the official yt video in stop we see a sort of cubist portrait of janis ian, a few monochrome figure studies, and some more abstract pieces and i so want to know what this number would’ve looked like in-universe. did cady legit just run out of class to confront damian and get swept into a gay tea spilling session until the end of the day. be glad you got suspended girl

so. while i cannot begin to fathom the stamina it takes for damian to go from that gorgeous dance break into the grand vocal ending—philip doesnt know what he’s missing out on for sure—stop is not something i play on purpose but if the obc album shuffles to it i won’t complain!

what’s wrong with me (reprise): is it homophobic of me to put every gretchen song sans whose house is this on this list? probably but again it’s just not something i can put on repeat/a number i think depends on the production to arouse much entertainment value. it’s fucking hilarious though i’ll give it that. like it might be in the top three of mg songs when it comes to unadulterated comedy. my heart breaks when gretchen realises she’s stuck in this cycle of servitude and is still being hurt by the people she most desires the approval of and her work is still going unappreciated and then i get a heart attack from laughing because regina’s reign of terror is so absolute even her own mother has feared her from the age of three onwards?? in addition to that what’s wrong with me reprise is why i cannot stand for mrs george hate she’s just a girl too. a toxic girl who never emotionally developed past high school but like. what do you want her to do. she has never had a heartfelt conversation with her daughter ever. also “why couldn’t it just be drugs” is so funny to me because yknow. reggie gets hit by a bus and spends the rest of the show so high she forgets her love languages are acts of slanderous service, passive-aggressive gifts, weaponized physical touch, quality time spent playing hard to get, and words of refutation. taylor louderman deserved a tony for pulling the kalteen bar scream off every night too i think it’s night queen aria levels of difficulty.

the funniest part of this song to me is probably the way it starts and ends so abruptly. usually you can tell when a song’s about to start in a musical but gretchen nearly breaking down into sobs as soon as cady turns her non-self-tanned back without missing a beat is both relatable and hysterical. my girl is clinging to les mis motifs and middle school herd mentality in a world meant for fosse tributes. the spotlight is only on her when she talks about how dim her light feels in comparison to other characters. then mrs george joins in and you get the first female/female duet to rival defying gravity since idk. everything in fun home. i take cash and credit not criticism.

but really the gretchen/mrs george connection is so interesting because they tether themselves to regina in a style that’s irreconcilable with happiness on either end and they know that but possibly for a mix of selfish and sympathetic reasons don’t want to leave in any capacity. the way they’re separated on stage by little more than a change in colored lighting is interesting too and raises the question of whether or not they’re aware that regina’s sun is burning those closest to her in general.

also. can plastic cady snap and yell at me i want to feel something

in conclusion i love you pezberrywhoreee thank you for asking this. i think i said the words “also” and “but” more times than i said the word “gay” and that’s a real hurdle to fly over. i think i expect many random things in your inbox hereafter as retribution/reward depending on how you see it