#I started in 2020 but didn't keep any shots from then

[iron-sparrow]

Then and Now

↑ 2021 🪶 2024 ↓

Thank you for the tags, @lilbittymonster and @selnyam, and sending me this far down into my gpose folders.

Tagging YOU, if you're seeing this right now.

[imlosingitiswear]

Tw: pure vent and lots of screaming

I sincerely thought that I'll be able to keep this inside but the latest episode has made me mad beyond reason so I shall let the anger out, even if it's only for my mental health's sake and no one ends up reading it.

Spoilers alert (though I won't be talking about the events, just their execution) for ep 3

EXCUSE ME BUT WHAT THE LEGITIMATE HELL IS THIS ABOMINATION OF MINDLESSLY COMBINED MANGA PANELS WITH NO THOUGHT, CARE OR YEN SPENT ON ANY EFFORT ASIDE FROM SHINY LOOKING STILLS

I am an animator.

I have fallen in love with animation ever since I started watching anime.

My first anime was Kuroshitsuji.

My reason to be where I am today, creating what I do, fighting for what I believe is right and worthy of passion comes from Kuroshitsuji.

The reason I feel things the way I do comes from Kuroshitsuji.

And some business head only looking to steal as much of the already-limited-budget as possible IS NOT GOING TO BE THE REASON I FOREVER DESTAIN THE STORY AND CHARACTERS WHO COMPRISED MY FIRST EVER CONSCIOUS FEELINGS TOWARDS THE CRAFT OF ANIMATION.

Oh I'm sorry, WAS IT PERHAPS TOO HARD TO NOT ONLY LOOK AT THE SOURCE MATERIAL BUT ACTUALLY READ IT THE WAY INTENDED?

Was it TOO HARD TO ACTUALLY FEEL WHAT THE CREATOR WANTED YOU TO FEEL WHILE I'm not even gonna say reading cus its more of an EXPERIENCING THE MASTERPIECE THAT THE KURO MANGA HAS, IS AND CONTINUES TO BE NEARLY 20 YEARS AFTER ITS CREATION???

Was it THAT. HARD. TO PUT EFFORT INTO THE SOUND DESIGN AND TIMING OF YOUR SHOTS AND HOW THEY CONNECT TO THE OTHER SHOTS WITHOUT MAKING IT LOOK LIKE A FANCY POWERPOINT PRESENTATION???

I feel sorry for every animator who has had to bust their bum to make a shot look pretty and "appealing" even though that's absolutely not what the aesthetic of this project demands it to be but that is partially me being very attached to the og style and also finding NO REASON WHATSOEVER FOR THE COLORS TO BE THIS BRIGHT, MAKING THIS ANIME BLEND IN WITH EVERY OTHER ANIME FROM 2020 ONWARDS BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT PEOPLE LIKE RIGHT??? THAT'S WHAT KIDS THESE DAYS NEED - SOFT, CUTE, BIG EYED, PAINFULLY BRIGHT POWER POINT PRESENTATIONS WHO MAY OR MAY NOT MAKE NICE PC WALLPAPERS FOR A FEW WEEKS BEFORE THEY'RE FORGOTTEN FOR THEIR LACK OF UNIQUENESS AND RESPECT TOWARDS THE MATERIAL THEY ORIGINATE FROM

I have no idea how Yana feels about this.

I really, really need to know how Yana feels about this.

How is it possible for you to take some of the strongest scenes in the story and execute them in such a boring and cheap way, it's almost like you were doing it on purpose at this point.

Do you guys notice how the new seasons are OBVIOUSLY made by people who have a business and not a creative brain???

They don't care about respecting the aesthetic, ever since the first episode of the school arc when they literally trademarked "Yes, my lord." to be a phrase that sells the character more than it respects it.

The animation is so unbelievably average, it's unreal. The key frames are pretty, sure, but they're not what makes an animation, THEY'RE WHAT MAKES A MANGA AND THE MANGA IS ALREADY BEAUTIFUL BUT MORE THAN THAT, IT ALREADY EXISTS?!?

THE POINT OF THE ANIMATION IS TO MAKE IT MOVE, MAKE IT AN ENHANCED EXPERIENCE THAN READING THE SOURCE MATERIAL, MODERN ANIME HAS FORGOTTEN THAT.

Everything, EVERYTHING IS ABOUT THE MONEY AND HOW THE BIG BUSINESSHEADS CAN PROFIT FROM THE AVERAGE VIEWER BECAUSE THE STANDARD IS DYING, WE'RE BEING SLOWLY MANIPULATED INTO CHEAPER AND CHEAPER PRODUCTS AND IT ALL SUCKS AAH AND I'M SO TIRED OF IT

You know what didn't suck? THE VOICE ACTING, ABSOLUTELY AMAZING EXECUTION ON THE VAs PART, AT LEAST THAT ARTFORM IS GOING STRONG

But that's not the point...

The point is. We're not doing anything to change what's happening.

As I said, I don't know how Yana feels about this and if this is indeed what she wants from the show, then so be it.

But I find that hard to believe.

But that's just me.

All and all, I'm probably reanimating this episode because f everyone, f clover works producers, I hope they get the profit they're so desperately punishing us for cus maybe, just maybe, they might start thinking about preserving the aesthetic of their projects more than their fancy heating toilets

[ribbonstrawberrysurprise]

Possible Mia Ikumi Doujin Penname

First off, thanks to @berrychanx who found the initial doujin listing and @kuro93 who I know also looked into this and bought some of her works! Second off, warning for some suggestive doujin covers and other art, although there's nothing truly explicit.

First things first, I want to say that I sat on this information for a little bit considering if it was appropriate to speculate since Ikumi never chose to make this connection publicly. Ultimately I've decided to go through with it since imo the artstyle is instantly recognizable, so it'd come out eventually. I also found some still-up online accounts associated with this penname, and I know that's a thing the fandom has wanted to see for a long time. I'd ask that you please be respectful with this info and keep in mind it is NOT confirmed and that Mia Ikumi has passed away.

I'd also like to make clear that I'm totally uninterested in trying to figure out her birth name or track down any other personal info on her life that she didn't choose to share in doujin, her website, manga notes, interviews, etc. That feels very out of line. Finding other pennames can help us fans catalogue more of her work, but finding her real identity does nothing but violate her privacy.

So that's kind of where I'm at right now. If you feel differently about whether it's right to speculate on Ikumi's doujin works, or if you don't want to see anything even a little suggestive, please turn back now.

We know for sure that Mia Ikumi was a penname, since that was confirmed in ads for Re-Turn when she changed one of the characters.

征海美亜 ＊征海未亜よりペンネーム変更されました Ikumi Mia *Ikumi Mia yori penneemu henkou saremashita Mia Ikumi (征海美亜) *[Her] penname was changed/altered/revised from Mia Ikumi (征海未亜)

Prior to her return to Nakayoshi with some TMM anniversary art and then the 2020 Re-Turn short, the last work she published under that name was Koi Cupid, way back in 2005-08.

There's always been speculation as to whether she continued drawing manga under a different penname, but there was never any official word from her once her website went down, since she was not active under that name under any social media or on Pixiv. We also had no idea how her art might have evolved in the years since her last official release, so there was no guarantee we'd recognize any work of hers if we saw it. The first anyone saw of her art post-website was back in 2015 when she drew some art of Ichigo and then Ichigo, Mint, and Lettuce for the 60th anniversary of Nakayoshi.

https://hikayagami.tumblr.com/post/132481043559/more-nakayoshi-60th-anniversary-mew-mew-art-from https://hikayagami.tumblr.com/post/118704238761/ichigo-momomiya-in-her-cafe-mew-mew-uniform-drawn https://hikayagami.tumblr.com/post/130755109662/new-picture-of-ichigo-minto-retasu-drawn-by

As you can see, this art featured a pretty different art style than she'd had 2 decades back.

(Sidenote: it seems she also did some art for the 55th anniversary, back in 2010, but this is much closer to the dates when she was working under the Mia Ikumi name and has roughly the same art style as OG TMM: https://hikayagami.tumblr.com/post/151430694480/doodles-of-ichigo-and-berry-drawn-by-mia-ikumi )

Obviously, starting in 2019, she then went on to release the two-shot manga TMM 2020 Re-Turn, some miscellaneous promo art (Blu-ray bonus comic, Alice in Wonderland merch, Smewthie fanart, etc.), and finally new covers and bonus comics for most of the rereleased manga volumes before her passing. Between the works she published in the 90s-early 2000s and all of this new art, we have a pretty good sample size of her artstyle over time. So it was only a matter of time before someone stumbled on something familiar looking…

Berrychanx found a listing (https://jp.mercari.com/item/m11046282201 ) for an Idolmaster doujin called Room Fight! created as a collab between 2 doujin circles/artists: Nameless Color (ねーむれすからー) and Komomo+ (こももぷらす), published by Poco Poco in 2014. The seller specifically noted that the style looks very similar to Mia Ikumi's, and it's very hard to argue! The hands especially look the way that Ikumi has always drawn them, and the eyes, facial expressions, and hair shading is pretty much one to one for Re-Turn.

Nameless Color has some other works, but they aren't in this same artstyle at all. Therefore, the one whose style matches Mia Ikumi's is Komomo+.

https://doujinrepublic.com/product/tag_page.html?tags=85361&ref=product_page&type=rel_tag_circle

As far as I can tell, the doujin circle is named Poco Poco, and the artist's penname is Komomo Kozakura (小桜小桃) or later Komomo (小桃) or Komomo+ (written as こももぷらす). There's a lot of variation in which spelling is used across doujin sites, and sometimes Komomo is listed as the circle name rather than Poco Poco, but I'm unsure as to whether this is a change in how presumed-Ikumi branded herself or just a lack of organization in the websites. Also, the Room Fight! doujin is categorized under komomo+ (https://www.suruga-ya.jp/product/detail/ZHORE153927) and under Komomo Kozakura (https://ecs.toranoana.jp/tora/ec/item/040030276511/ ), so I’m sure they’re the same person and not just 2 people in the same circle.

Here are the titles I could find under all of these names across various websites in approximate publishing order:

https://www.suruga-ya.jp/search?category=&search_word=&ck=true&inStock=On&person_id=1051050 https://www.suruga-ya.jp/search?category=&search_word=&ck=true&inStock=On&person_id=2874482 https://www.suruga-ya.jp/search?category=&search_word=&person_id=2864627 https://ecs.toranoana.jp/tora/ec/cot/circle/LUPA2D6P8476d16Qd687/all/

The main fandoms are Idolmaster, Kantai Collection, and Strike Witches. It's immediately obvious how much they look like Ikumi's style, from small details like the faces to larger things like how she tends to pose characters on her covers. They range from 2008-2016, and you can see that earlier works look a little more like her TMM-era art while later stuff is way more Re-Turn.

So is that all the new info? Do we need to track down and buy these doujin to get any more new info on Mia Ikumi? Well, that’s definitely a thing you can do! But there’s one other avenue.

You see, the title page of Girls Fight! does lead to a now defunct webpage: pocopoco.sblo.jp

https://web.archive.org/web/20081201000000*/pocopoco.sblo.jp

The Wayback Machine has 5 captures for this website: 12/31/08, 2/25/11, 6/3/13, 4/25/16, and 3/14/23. The latest one just shows the same error page not found message as if you try and go to the site now, but the others all have blog entries ranging from 2008 to the end of 2015 (i.e., starting RIGHT after the end of Koi Cupid/Mia Ikumi's professionally published/official manga career).

https://web.archive.org/web/20090103031628/http://pocopoco.sblo.jp/article/20797588.html https://web.archive.org/web/20160425011557/http://pocopoco.sblo.jp/article/170290508.html

Mostly these posts are either drawings or advertisements for a new book she's selling at a con or online by mail order, so there’s a whole bunch of new art. (Warning: there's nothing outright nsfw, but some of these images are probably the most suggestive ones I link in this post, moreso than even most of the doujin covers. Use your own judgment!) The rest of the posts are personal diary entries.

(Sidenote: I am NOT going to translate this whole blog because there’s a whole bunch of text! I looked through the available pages, and the auto-translated version is fine for getting a basic understanding. If you have questions about a specific post, feel free to ask, though! Right off the bat, the text on the big image at the top of the earlier captures, the one with the green-haired catgirl in a red outfit, is just a paraphrasing of the post where she explains her categories/tags to help you navigate the site https://web.archive.org/web/20090103030651/http://pocopoco.sblo.jp/article/21376253.html )

This website, crucially, also links to Komomo's pixiv account (Username: 小桃/Komomo), which is still up!

https://www.pixiv.net/users/3966440

(I was logged in when I accessed the page, so it's possible you may need an account to view it. Please do keep in mind this is not an account publicly associated with Ikumi/TMM and that the owner is likely deceased. We don't need to leave random comments and messages.)

The oldest picture is from 2012, when she created it (she posts about this), and the most recent picture is from 2018, so you can really see the artstyle shift here as well. There is no reference to TMM or Mia Ikumi anywhere.

The blog also links to her NicoNico page (Username: 小桃/Komomo), where she posted a few Vocaloid covers from 5/16/10 to 6/4/11.

https://www.nicovideo.jp/user/16890918/

She talks about uploading these covers on her blog under her utattemita/”I tried singing” tag: https://web.archive.org/web/20160425011607/http://pocopoco.sblo.jp/category/907578-1.html

So, the art definitely matches with what we know of Mia Ikumi’s art, both from published works and stuff posted online to her official website, ikumimia.chu.jp (Hika posted some of the website art here and here if you aren’t familiar)

(As a tangent, that website seems to have been created at or before 5/7/07 and gone offline sometime between 7/1/10 and 7/27/11, so there was definitely a period where she was working under both identities at once…)

But is there any other info linking Komomo and Mia Ikumi?

The site doesn't give much personal detail about Komomo irl, but it does say she was born in spring, and Mia Ikumi's birthday was March 27th.

プロフィール 名前小桜小桃です。 一言:春生まれです。 Profile My name is Komomo Kozakura. In a word, I was born in spring.

There's also a diary entry about her getting a Scottish fold kitten for her mom in 2008 after the family cat passed away 2 years back. We know from the bonus comics in the TMM manga that Mia Ikumi had a Scottish fold.

スコティッシュフォールドという種類のキャリコなお嬢さん。 A calico lady called a Scottish fold.

https://web.archive.org/web/20081231223544/http://pocopoco.sblo.jp/category/627816-1.html

Komomo also says she’s interested in gothic lolita clothing and that she dresses up at events. We know Mia Ikumi also dressed up for events, since that’s in her bio, and she drew her outfits in manga bonus page.

＊ゴスロリの部屋＊ 小桜小桃の趣味のページです。主に持っている服やアイテム、欲しいモノの紹介、ゴスロリに関する事とかも書いていこうと思います。 *Gothic Lolita Room* A page about Komomo Kozakura’s hobby. Mainly I’ll write about clothing items I own, stuff I want, and things related to gothic lolita fashion.

https://web.archive.org/web/20160425154652/http://pocopoco.sblo.jp/category/627812-1.html

今回のコミケはカゼのため、コスとかせずに防寒重視でいっ��のですが Because I had a cold at this Comiket, I went without any kind of costume to focus on keeping warm

https://web.archive.org/web/20160425154658/http://pocopoco.sblo.jp/category/627816-1.html

Between the art, the timeline of when things were posed vs Ikumi's public career, and the small bits of overlapping info on the artists' lives, I'm very confident that Mia Ikumi and Komomo Kozakura are two pennames for the same artist.

As for why, we can only speculate. I will say it's pretty common for artists to use a different penname for doujin work vs professional work, although some keep it more secret than others. It's especially common if the doujin work is more risque than the professional, which is the case here. I'll also say that almost all of Ikumi's post-TMM works were fairly short. Only One Wish may have been imagined as a one-volume anthology from the start, but it seems like TMM a La Mode and Repure may have been canceled early based on rushed endings with a lack of follow-up on plot points. Comi Digi +, the magazine in which Koi Cupid was published, got discontinued in 2008, presumably ending that series early as well. Ikumi also seems pretty annoyed with her editor in the a La Mode bonus comics, so possibly she was frustrated with baggage of the Mia Ikumi identity and wanted a fresh start.

Possibly she stopped putting out work around 2018 or possibly she started working under another penname. Maybe that was when Nakayoshi got in contact with her to begin planning for ReTurn, Ole/Au Lait, New, the TMM Blu-ray, the manga re-release, etc.

In conclusion, it seems like there are many more works by the artist known as Mia Ikumi than we'd thought previously, plus slightly more of a web presence, although this seems to have ended years before the TMM 20th anniversary renaissance. It's possible there are more accounts under the Komomo/小桃 name or under another penname that might be found in the future.

[queen-of-deans-booty]

Goofing Off

Pairing: Jared Padalecki x Puerto Rican!Fem!Reader

Word Count: ~900

Warnings: fluff

Request by anon: Hola so i was watching the episode where Arthur is talking with the Winchester about the chupacabras so can i request a one shot where the reader is a actress a Jensen or Jared girlfriend who is Puerto Rican and is the one who is teaching David (Arthur actor) who to said Chupacabras?  With a lot of funny

Summary: You love pulling pranks and making people laugh. Whenever someone new comes onto the show, you make your mission to pull as many pranks as you can on them.

Square Filled: woke up married (2020) for @spnfluffbingo

Author’s Note: i didn't really go into the details of a reader that is puerto rican because i didn't want to get anything wrong, so i tried to keep it really vague here.

x

Out of all of the seasons you’ve worked on, your favorite has to be the current one: season twelve. One of the newest cast members, David Haydn-Jones, has been such an incredible addition to the show even if his character isn’t well-liked. Recently, David loves to have fun and joke around, and you just so happen to be one of the best pranksters on set.

Even before you met Jared, you were always looking to make your family smile and laugh with small pranks that didn’t do any harm to anyone. Jared happened to like that about you when you started dating, and it only got worse the more time went on.

The very first prank you ever pulled on Jared was putting a bunch of Ken Dolls on your car and calling him to tell him that there were men on your car and you were scared. He came out with a towel on his head like how a woman would wrap her hair after a shower and your bathrobe on. It was so funny you almost peed your pants.

The longer you two dated, the more he got into your pranks. Now, he almost expects them whenever he comes home from a long day of filming or doing a convention. Then, you two got married, and the first thing you did when you woke up as a married woman was pull a prank on him.

His life would never be boring from that on, and would always be filled with laughter and joy.

He got you a part on Supernatural for a few years now which you have loved doing. Being around Jensen, Jared, and Misha have been nothing short of amazing. Your pranks actually doubled in size when you teamed up with Jensen to take on Jared or Misha.

The newest person to suffer your wrath is David who plays Arthur Ketch on the show. He is more of a serious actor than the ones you usually work with but after a while, he got used to your pranks and lightened up a lot more.

Jensen and Jared are finishing up a scene while you and David are off to the side going over your plan. The plan is that you told David you two were going to get Jensen and Jared when in reality, you were turning the tables so that Jensen and Jared are going to get David.

“I got it, I got it,” he nods.

“Okay,” you smile.

David walks on set when he is needed, and the scene with Ketch, Sam, and Dean is ready to be put into motion.

Sam and Dean are seated in the Bunker’s library and Sam calls Mick over the phone to which Ketch answers.

“Hello, Winchester,” David says in his posh Ketch accent.

“Ketch? Where’s Mick?” Dean asks.

“He didn’t tell you? He flew back to London last night after all the unpleasantness with Dagon. Well, Mick has a lot to answer for. For the time being, you will report to me.”

“Seriously?” Dean rolls his eyes.

“I don’t like it any more than you do. I’d much rather be with your mother… hunting… for Chupacabras in Texas.”

It’s the way he said Chupacabras that has everyone confused. You know how to say it very well since you have the accent for it, but you told David how to say it the American way which Jensen and Jared picked up on easily.

“A what, Ketch?” Jared asks, still in character.

“Chupacabra.”

“What was that?”

“Chupacabra,” Jensen says in a deep voice while rolling his R’s.

Jared snickers but tries to stay in character. He takes out his phone and makes Google pronounce the word, and the entire crew starts laughing.

“Chupacabra,” Jensen says again.

“Chupacabra,” Jensen tries again, rolling his R’s.

“Chupacabra,” David says in the same accent as before.

Jensen looks at the phone weirdly as if David is right there in front of him.

“He doesn’t know how to say Chupacabra,” Jared says.

Jared plays the Google pronunciation of the word again loudly.

“Chupacabra,” David says.

“It’s like a brrra,” Jensen rolls his R’s. “Then Chupa. So it’s like Chupa, chupa, chupa--”

“Chupacabra,” David says over the phone in the same tone he’s been in since the scene started.

He’s trying so hard not to break character even though Jensen and Jared have already done so. You’re going to pee your pants from laughing so hard.

“Chupacabra,” Jensen rolls his R’s with a bit of an accent.

At this point, Jensen and Jared start talking gibberish and rolling their R’s and just having a good time while David is trying to stay in character. You can see him scrunch his nose up as if it itches, but that’s a ploy to hide the smile trying to break through.

“Chupacabra,” Davis says, causing Jared and Jensen to break out in giggles. “I don’t like it any more than you do but for now, I’m what you’ve got. So, Wisconsin…”

David can hear everyone laughing through the phone as he tries so hard to stay in character.

“Ketch? What was that?” Jared giggles. “He doesn’t know how to say Chupacabra.”

David hangs up the phone just as the director calls, “CUT!” David breaks out into laughter and looks right at you who can’t hold it in anymore.

“I’m not trusting you ever again!”

God, you love working on this show.

x

Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary​​​​​​​​​​​​ where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)

[maxsimagination]

𝗵𝘂𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗸𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 - 𝘀.𝗸𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗶

summary: even after a year of dating, playing against your girlfriend doesn’t get any easier

𖦹 masterlist

𝗜𝗧 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗔 𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗬 day to say the least.

one of my least favourite days during the season. i had to go up against sakina.

it was psg vs lyon, and both me and sakina were in the starting eleven for our respective teams.

we started dating last year. both of us got called up for national team duties, to represent france in the world cup. that was when we first properly met and, thanks to elisa, started dating.

elisa and i met when i was on loan to montpellier in the 2020/21 season. since then we'd kept in touch often.

now in the 2023/24 season, sakina and i had been together for a whole year and two days. we had celebrated our anniversary with a recreation of our first date, same restaurant and everything.

but during the season, there was a few times where we came up against each other. whether it be for the champions league or the french division, it had to happen.

i always got nervous about these games because the little voice in my head would tell me that something might change between us after we played. nothing had ever changed in the year we'd been dating and come up against each other it that didn't stop me from over thinking.

——

on the pitch, i could see both sakina and elisa ready and waiting in the psg defence for the whistle to blow.

when it did, i was the first to shoot forward with the ball. being a striker didn't help when your girlfriend was a defender. there was bound to be some tackles involved.

and eventually it did.

in the 70th minute, both me and sakina had stayed on, as expected.

i was running down the middle of the field, having intercepted a pass from two of the psg strikers. i ducked and weaved through the defenders and i was almost at the edge of the box when i noticed sakina out of the corner of my eye.

just as i took the shot at the goal, sakina came sliding in and took my ankles out.

i landed on the ground with a thud and all the air left my lungs. i didn't move for a while, just trying to get my breath back, but then the medics came rushing in.

i didn't think i needed them but let them do their thing anyway.

i could see sakina standing nearby, trying to see if i was okay. i was but i was a bit mad with her. she didn't have to take my ankles with her in her attempt to clear the ball.

when the medics cleared out and i stood up, sakina came up to me.

"what the hell was that for?"

i spoke first. i knew that it was a game and she had to defend but that tackle really took the life out of me for a bit there.

"i'm sorry, i didn't mean to take you out too."

"whatever. let's just play the game."

i walked away and returned to my position. the game went on and lyon ended up winning 3-0 including the shot that i got in before sakina tackled me.

after we won, most of the girls did a couple laps to greet the fans. i made a couple laps before heading back to the lockers. freshly showered and dressed in the clothes i arrived in, i walked back into the communal hallways.

however, just as i was walking out, sakina walked in and she whisked me into an adjacent room.

that room happened to be a physio room, thank goodness no one was in there.

"yn, i am so sorry about the tackle. i truly did not mean to take you down like that. if i could go back and change anything, i probably wouldn't make that tackle at all."

that last bit stunned me.

"you'd let me take the goal?"

"yes."

"really?"

"yes, yn. i'd rather loose a game of football than have you injured. please forgive me."

i didn't see how i could still be mad at her after that so of course i forgave her. i nodded at sakina and was  about to verbalise my feelings when she kissed me.

her lips were soft as always and she easily slipped her tongue into my mouth.

i tried to keep it pg, so pulled away after a bit with a grin.

"let's wait until we're home to start something like this, yea amour?" (love.)

[phoebeegreen3]

Capri Persson (F1) — First Day

this section is an official excerpt from the book "F1, Stories and Anecdotes" by the renowned Jeremy Clarke, who has kindly offered his perspective and narrative

Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spain. February, 2020

There were quite a lot of people, as usual during pre-season testing. The garages were once again full, and people were back in action. There was always a warm atmosphere at the track around that time of year. It felt like going back to school when everyone was in primary.

Charles was the first to approach Pierre when he saw him alone in a corner of the garage while everyone else was busy with their tasks and teammates.

"Beautiful day to race, isn't it?" he smiled at the Frenchman, placing a hand on his shoulder. Gasly stood up immediately.

"It's good to see you again, brother."

"Same here. How was the break?" Leclerc asked, and soon they struck up a lively conversation, which Carlos, Daniel, Lando, George, and Alex joined. They all chatted about their winter break until Carlos asked the question that had been on everyone's mind since Alpha Tauri's big announcement. The one nobody had dared to ask Pierre via text.

"So? How did it go with Persson?" Sainz Jr. threw out the question, and Gasly scoffed, rolling his eyes, making everyone laugh. Pierre had likely had such a rough week getting used to Alpha Tauri's new car that he could easily rank it as the worst of his career.

"Have you met him? Have you seen his face?" Daniel insisted, crossing his arms.

"I swear I have a suspicion he's a ghost," Pierre confessed. "We haven't spoken since I met him. Not a word, nothing. It's really weird."

"I saw he communicates using sign language. Is he deaf?" Lando frowned.

"No. How do you think he communicates over the radio, then?" Carlos shot back, and the younger driver just shrugged.

"When we did the tests, he didn't say a single word. I didn't see his face, his hands, his ankles, or his neck. Nothing."

"Well, take it for granted. He's a ghost," Russell commented.

"When he came into the garage, he was already suited up with his helmet on. We fist-bumped as a greeting, and that was it. Honestly, I'm a little terrified about how this might affect things on track," Pierre admitted to his teammates. If anyone would understand, it was them—though even they were puzzled. Capri Persson's arrival in F1 was intriguing, but even more so were his methods of avoiding any kind of interaction with the world around him. "According to Franz, he does it to avoid the circus. The guy shows up, analyzes, races, wins, and leaves. That's it."

"You have a long season ahead," Alex lamented, voicing what the rest of the group didn't want to admit. It would not only be a long season but one of the loneliest and most uncomfortable for the driver.

"I'm willing to keep the secret as long as it doesn't turn into a terrible year."

"You'll see, it'll all work out, and you'll end up talking somehow. It'll be fun, I promise," Charles tried to cheer him up, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Easy for you to say, your teammate is Vettel," Gasly laughed before a photographer called them to the track. It was time for the season photo, and the 19 drivers started gathering—except for one.

All the teams stood with their teammates, looking comfortable with each other, even the rookies just starting out or the veterans with years of experience. Everyone chatted as Gasly walked across the track, helmet in hand, suit on, glancing around. The photographer counted them again with a frown, and the issue resolved itself when Capri Persson finally emerged from the Alpha Tauri garage, helmet on, with a tall woman with short, wavy dark hair following closely behind, seemingly giving him instructions. Definitely not deaf.

"Alright, gentlemen. Your positions are marked on the ground. They're labeled—find yours and stand with your teammate," they were instructed, with numerous cameras aimed at them. Netflix was capturing every move for the third season of Drive to Survive, and Pierre could only hope his discomfort didn't show.

Capri approached the group as cautiously as a spy, but being the only one missing, everyone noticed him instantly, unable to look away. Daniel nudged Pierre, who stood in front of him, as Persson joined them. His teammate looked at him, swearing he saw his eyes through the visor. Capri simply nodded slightly as a greeting and gave a thumbs-up.

No one could take their eyes off Persson. Every movement, every breath, every second mattered. Everyone was searching for the slightest sign that there was truly a person behind that helmet and not just a machine built to dominate every competitor.

For some, Capri Persson's image demanded respect, curiosity, and mystery. For others, he was just another idiot who thought he could win something just because he had a bit of luck in F2. And that group was already set—those with the most experience in the sport.

When the man with the megaphone began explaining the camera movements and how the drivers should pose, they exchanged glances, sharing amused, knowing looks. Gasly wanted to do the same, but when he turned to his teammate, he barely seemed present in that moment.

"Excuse me, the driver with the helmet—could you take it off? It disrupts the shot's consistency," the man with the megaphone announced, and the entire place fell silent.

Jean looked up, and Capri looked only at her. Jean understood.

"He's not serious, is he?" Capri signed. Jean understood him perfectly.

"I don't think that's possible," his advisor stepped forward. "He won't take it off," she stated, and another crew member approached the director to inform him about the issue.

"Alright, whatever. Are you all ready? Action!" the director shouted, and the camera in front of the drivers, arranged in a V-formation, started rolling. After that shot, there were more, and if it wasn't already clear how unusual Capri Persson's addition to Formula 1 was, the upcoming test race would make it undeniable.

Surprisingly, Persson remained in the top five during the first stage and in the top three during the second. And while it didn't mean much yet, Capri Persson's first pre-season in Formula 1 foreshadowed what would be a remarkable year for the unconventional rookie. The world was witnessing a driver with immense talent—but who was the driver facing?

NEXT: The Ghost

[pixelnrd]

hello! ive binged your blog this past week and have been so invested and impressed with how professionally everything has been done. I particularly liked the snippets of your 'process' you've hinted at in other asks. I havent been around since the beginning so i wanted to ask what inspired you to undertake such a large project! or, rather, did you expect it to be as big as it became? each generation has 70+ daily posts, their portrait headshots, family portraits... i love it! were you trying to build an audience when you started out? was it a covid project that you had time to build a huge queue for? i think ill be starting my own narrative simblr here soon and i'd love to hear your thoughts or advice about your journey with it, if any.

Hello and thank you for such a lovely message, it's so nice to receive feedback on the quality of my Decades Challenge because I do put so much effort in behind the scenes thanks to my agonising perfectionism!

As a project it has grown beyond what I thought it would be, to a point that I had to reign it back in in early-2022 because I couldn't keep up. I'll put more detail under the cut ✨

The Langstons started as a covid project in 2020. I was an unemployed student with a lot of time on my hands. I'd done legacies before and was pretty good at getting close to the end so that was the 'project', to do the Decades Challenge. And while looking for inspiration like cc and builds etc I found simblr and discovered people were posting their Decades Challenges here with narrative attached. By this stage I'd already played a fair bit into my Langston family (they had 4 kids by that point) so I decided to start posting my sims as well, which pushed me to put a bit more effort in with shots, story, editing etc because I had imposter syndrome. I didn't intend for there to be much narrative or story, and I think that's pretty obvious when reviewing the 1890s Langstons, but it started to grow as I was posting because I wanted to give my sim characters justifications for their life paths I was sending them on... and it all kind of took off from there, as a Decades Challenge story.

Covid over 2020 and 2021 in my country forced us into hard lockdowns, and over those 2 years I had heaps of spare time for home-based hobbies - so I just kept pushing myself to keep going with my Decades Challenge for something to do. I got really into creating storylines and costuming and wanting to do the project 'justice' because of how much effort was going in and how many generations I needed to cover to finish it. Then I stared doing lookbooks, creating portraits and character pages, and then making cc (which was a fun side project).

I wanted to build an audience at the start because I wanted to gauge whether anyone was as interested in my sims as I was in others', and when I stared getting feedback and responses to my posts it was very validating and flattering, so that spurred me to keep up. I never dreamed it would get the audience it has now! It's nice being told that something you are making is good. IRL at the time, I was pretty miserable - I graduated my Masters without a job, I was trying to conceive and failing, I was lonely due to covid and lost some of the best years of my 20s - but simblr made me happy and was a distraction from those hard things and so I really poured effort into the thing that brought me happiness.

2022 and 2023 forced me to pull back from my Decades Challenge project due to pregnancy and becomming a parent. It felt very natural to drop it at the time, but since finding my groove with parenting and my new life I still want to finish this project because it's been nearly 4(!) years of effort and I'd hate to leave it so close to the end. So that's why I'm still here - in a reduced capacity to what I was in 2020 and 2021 at my peak - trying to get it done. I don't post lookbooks or do cc anymore, because I just don't have the time anymore. But everyone is so encouraging, I have made some nice friends here and I'm constantly in awe of and inspired by the sims, content and stories others are creating. There is so much more potential for historical gameplay in the years since I started my Decades Challenge - farming! horses! infants! - and I hope that my project has inspired others to have a go! That's the best legacy I could hope to leave...

[anti-praxis-antihero]

Duke's Digimon partner

To the interest of very few I made digmon lines for a lot of the bat characters. I've seen some post doing similar some with amazing art. I wanted to try my hand at it.

For those who don't know Digimon is monster raising/virtual pet franchise, spanning multiple mediums where the monsters grew as you take care of them or go through character changes.

Duke was the first and hardest I had to come up with. Since Duke is the only bat to have goggles as a part of his costume (very rarely and usually on covers) I like to think of him as the google head [a fan term for the main protagonist of each series most of the time]. Or the Davis to to Dick's Tai at least, a successor. Anyway obviously he'd have a medieval Dukemon (eng: Gallantmon) but why and how and what story hooks would he have.

Long post ----long post-----long post------------

So a motif of Duke's his fans keep gushing about and lamenting being ignored is the classic batman knight theme being literally for him in his alternate universe counterparts.

The finale knight and Quietus (the Ras+Bruce+Duke death monster)

Heavy on the Knight theme, heavy on the metal.

Anyway here's his knight and heavy metal themed evolution line.

I gave him some fire/smoke based in training/fresh/bbys to invoke his light and shadow powers he gains in Batman & the outsider (2019).

He gets the edgey boy Impmon X, a delinquent and punk with a chip on his shoulder. He rejects the friendships offered to him throughout the anime series Digimon Tamers until events make him reevaluate his priorities. I feel this is what a fully realized version of We are robin (2015) would've gone for as Duke's character arc (I was about to say only someone doesn't die to make him accept help in WAR but oops someone does! AT least Duke didn't cause it). I also chose it to twin with the regular Impmon rookie I gave Jason because it's a common Jason rookie that I can't argue with.

Since starting this I found it fun to have certain character lines echo each other when appropriate. Impmon typically transforms/digievolves into Wizardmon, which works well as a reference to him being a magic user with a demon arm and Teekl (Her/His descendant?) as his familiar in Batman: Urban Legends. To avoid spoilers I'll just say this version of Duke makes a sacrifice while the most well known Wizardmon in the franchise makes the ultimate sacrifice.

Flamewizardmon is for his Robin outfit in We are Robin nuff said. No heavy stuff here. Phew.

Deathmeramon's (eng: Skullmeramon) name is a play on death metal and that's why he's here, simply and sweet.

While Gankoomon is being used as a reference for Duke's possible future state timeline. In Future State: The next Batman (2021) Duke is an organizer and resistance fighter who fairies people in & out of Gotham. So the reason he seemingly has a Jojo stan/persona/lightning spirit at his back is because Black Lightning cursed by a witch to be incorporeal and he found his way to one of Katana's swords that doesn't house her husbands soul. And that is why Duke is rocking the Ichigo look with a stan!

The Final Knight's armor is made out of a...dragon version of a fusion combing Bruce & the once maybe a real demon now cosmic entity Barbatso. It's complicated. But of course that means Duke gets a death metal dragon in Heavymetaldramon. This was found in the Tales from the Dark Multiverse Dark Night Metal (2020) [yes that's its full name].

Was any of the lore confusing or interesting to you? Well then you should go read the comics I mentioned! Yes this was in fact a trick to get you interested in these little talked about Duke entries. I'm very clever.

We are Robin (2015)[12 issues] Batman & the Outsiders (2019)[17 issues] Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Dark Nights Metal (2020)[one shot, The Final Knight also appears in The Outsiders (2023) issues no. 3,7 He's not in issue 7 to much but he does have a conversation that plays with the stuff in TftDMDNM. Ignore context here, outsiders is very meta and its not necessary to enjoy the edgiest boy FK] Dark Nights: Death Metal Robin King (2020)[one shot, Quietus' only appearance] Future State: The next Batman (2021)[issues no. 1,3] Batman: Urban Legends (2022)[issues no. 8 & 9 for Wizard demon arm Duke but he is also prominent in issues 18 & 19]

[toffee-and-tandoori]

hiii hannah, i just wanted to say thanks so much for making your web weave!!! i LOVE it. i really love all the pics you chose. i'm crying at their awkward teenage pics in their suit jackets 😭 and i especially love the shot from brazil where charles is driving behind them ❤️ anyway, thank you! you know i always love to see emotionally-devastating pierresteban creative artwork haha!!!! it's my favorite thing!

caitlin i know you said there was no pressure for me to answer this ask (which i very much appreciate <3) but i am answering it anyway because i was actually planning on sending you an ask with a 'behind-the-scenes' look of my creating my first web weave! i put it below the cut because (as is typical for me) my explanation became long as hell!

first of all, as i really looked at the lyrics my idea evolved from just being focused on the 2024 season to their whole lives. the second verse was just too perfect to not include the year of mutual horror (2019).

i'm so glad you loved the suit jacket photos! i genuinely had SO MANY options to chose from (e.g. other photos from their karting days, photos from their time at the ffsa karting academy, the 2015 boat photos, 2016 paddock photos [tons of these to choose from], the 2017? photo of them flying post-brazil gp, etc.) but ultimately i went with these for no particular reason (also apparently a number of awkward suit photos to choose from).

i was so close to picking one of the monza 2020 photos with the confetti falling gently on pierre because i think they're so beautiful. but 1) i couldn't find one with the quality i desired and 2) the parallels of both pierre and esteban looking to the sky with their winner's trophy in hand were too tempting (i was also tempted to find pictures from this but alas).

for the crash photos, i intentionally avoided australia 2023 or monaco 2024 for...reasons. went with france 2018 because it amuses me that the grand return of the french gp ended in disaster for the french drivers and hungary 2023 because after my in-the-moment frustration i can find the comedy in it. also (most importantly for me anyway) both of them were racing incidents and not the fault of one or the other!

i'm so glad you noticed the charles inclusion (i knew you would <3). it was definitely intentional from my part because i will ALWAYS be a proponent of charles (and lance, mick, jack, etc.) being semi-unwillingly roped into the pierresteban of it all and hoping those two get their shit together and actually communicate for once in their lives (and being their biggest supporters once they do)! almost used this photo too but i ultimately thought it would be best to keep the focus on pierre and esteban (not the three of them - sorry charles!).

and finally the lyrics from the chorus. i was honestly very proud of myself of using photos from the official announcement of the two becoming teammates for 2023 and then photos with their new teammates for (at least the start of) 2025 - perfect bookends for the pierresteban teammates era! also it was a happy accident that pierre and jack's photo was on the left and esteban and ollie's photo was on the right at the end. i didn't have a particular order in mind but then i realized once the photos were inserted that it looked like pierre and esteban were still next to each other...of course it had to stay!

there were some lines where i was tempted to use 3-4 photos but i decided to keep it uniform. the desire for uniformity is also why i ultimately decided to not use article quotes (also because i either couldn't find the actual quotes or because i would have to transcribe it myself - otherwise i would've used this and pierre's 2018 beyond the grid interview among others).

hope you love this behind-the-scenes look and if you have any other questions about my thought process, let me know <3

[survivalxofxthexfittest]

Oscar - STRAINED for a scene from my muse's past in which they interact with someone they have a difficult relationship with

JP - IMPRESSED for a scene from my muse's past in which they tried to impress someone, successfully or not

Emily - LOST for a scene from my muse's past in which they felt lost, literally or figuratively

Ethan - SWOONED for a scene from my muse's past in which they were infatuated with someone

X

Oscar - STRAINED for a scene from my muse's past in which they interact with someone they have a difficult relationship with

During basic, so many years ago, for some reason one of the drill sergeants had it in for him. Every little thing he did they pushed back. Immediately starting the initial drop off. They enlisted the help of two other drill sargeants to scream at him during the first hazing when he didn't struggle holding up his bag. Assigning him a thousand word essay on respect when he tried to keep his hands warm (thanks to his training in the dead of winter) by tucking his fingers into his sleeve while waiting for the rest of his unit to settle into formation. Doling out punishment after punishment - cherry pickers, overhead arm claps, push-ups, sit-ups, laps, whatever she could think up - for every little 'misstep' of catching on to things too easily. And all of it from a drill sargeant that wasn't even assigned to his unit. It was amazing Oscar even graduated - sure she would find some reason to hold him back to penalize him even more, but he kept his head down and pushed through. To this day he still has no idea why the drill sargeant disliked him so much.

JP - IMPRESSED for a scene from my muse's past in which they tried to impress someone, successfully or not

November 2020, Ash's apartment

It wasn't the first birthday the Roses had celebrated with Ash, but it was the first one where they actually knew their new neighbor. And John-Paul had grown to like him. A lot. But one look at his brother squashed whatever crush he may have had. Whether or not Jeremiah or Ashton realized it, JP saw the undeniable, unspoken, and very real connection the two men seemed to have and he wasn't about to get in the way - believing from that moment on Ash would be good for Jeremiah, hopefully bringing out the best in his brother.

But not before he'd named a star for Ash - knowing he loved space. Ford Prefect. After the nickname he'd given him after their initial reason for meeting. (Jeremiah saving him from the New York traffic reminiscent of Ford wanting to meet the intelligent life of the planet and John-Paul hadn't let him live it down yet.) He was glad Ash hadn't caught the implied meaning behind such a personal gift because it would have made for a very awkward conversation.

Emily - LOST for a scene from my muse's past in which they felt lost, literally or figuratively

She felt pretty lost the first time Oscar came back severely injured. While he'd been shot while working with their father, seeing him after and ied blew up on his team nearly broke her. He was hooked up to all kinds of machines, in a medically induced coma to treat the wounds, barely hanging on by his own volition, and she was sure this was it. She was going to lose him. She was going to be left alone once and for all. The last remaining Lockmoore. She stayed by his bedside for three weeks, refusing to leave until he woke up despite the doctor's warning he may never come back.

Ethan - SWOONED for a scene from my muse's past in which they were infatuated with someone.

Ethan has never been infatuated with anyone. Any sort of real connection is extremely difficult for him. Especially since emotions aren't really in his tool box. He fakes a lot of them just to keep up appearances. Well, most of the time anyway. Now that the world has ended he doesn't worry so much about hiding who he really is. But when he was younger he had a small crush on a girl in his class. One that lasted all of a week and ended after he slipped her a note asking her to be his girlfriend - because that's what you did when you liked someone in fifth grade. She outright denied him and that was that. He never tried having a significant other again. Unless he was on the hunt for his next kill.

[kisames-corner]

FAQ – 👻KisaWeen 2024👻

What is KisaWeen? KisaWeen is a Halloween themed event that's centered around Kisame :) Just like how Kisame Week is, we post prompts, and you create something based off that prompt. That could be absolutely anything you can think of. Maybe a gif set, a headcanon list, a one-shot, a multi-chap, a drawing, really the sky's the limit.

How do I participate? Check out this guide for how to participate.

Do we accept submissions which use AI? We here at Kisame's Corner do not tolerate AI art/fic of any kind. Basically, if you use an AI bot to create your art and/or your fic this is not elidable to be submitted. Using AI for ideas is okay, however your creations must be your own. Reposts are okay so long as you have the explicit permission of the original poster. Since it is nearly impossible to get explicit permission from the original artists whose art is fed into AI bots, and original fic writers who've had their stories scraped, we have decided that all AI work is prohibited. We repeat, all creations must be your own or you must have explicit permission to post them.

Is there a limit to how many prompts I can do? Nope! You can do all or just one, two in one day, whichever! If you want to combine prompts be our guest! The only rule is that if you combine prompts, they have to be for the same day. We want to make sure the specified content gets the spotlight. Doing a multi-chap or something like it for the whole week as one cohesive story is okay too!

How many prompts will there be? 6 this time! We will be hosting three per day for the last weekend of October. Since we started so late 😅

How should I interpret the prompts? Any way you'd like! The prompts are to spark inspiration, so go wild! Just make sure that Kisame is at the center of them!

Are prompts going to be ship based? They are not going to be ship based. It's more along the lines of an idea like a word or a phrase or a scenario, and you create content based on that. If you want to write a non-romantic Kisame-centric piece, that is totally welcome!

What pairings are welcome? All ships including Kisame are welcome! As long as the characters in question are of age, everything is accepted as a ship. This includes non ships, × Reader, × OC ships, and childhood aus as well. If you want to keep it platonic, that's okay too! Just remember that if someone doesn't share the same idea as you, it's okay to take a breath and move on.

Is there a word limit for fics? Not at all!! Write as little or as much as you'd like for any of the prompts!

How dark can the content be? As long as everything is tagged correctly and the rating is appropriate, as dark as you want. We don't want to put very much limitation as to how much freedom creators can have. Whatever you feel comfortable making is fine for us:)

Can I submit art and fic? Of course you can! You can do the same prompt with art and fic, you can do one prompt with art and the other with fic, or you can do either or and switch off. There are no limitations for how much you'd like to contribute.

I didn't get to vote for the prompts. What happened? KisaWeen gets its prompts usually from the server members at Kisame's Corner. However, this year, we took a vote from the prompts that weren't picked in 2020 and 2021 when we first did KisaWeen. Long story short, prompts were picked by sharkfam in the 'cord (is that real slang or am i making that up)

I saw something about a Discord Link but I can't find it. Where can I find it? Right here!

Are you accepting late entries? Yes we are up until the end of the rest of November! Feel free to post your stuff by then :) (but also if you take longer we don't mind )

Have additional questions? Don't hesitate to ask!

[fallloverfic]

Hey! I'm new to the ENNEAD fandom and have been on a fic binge for the past few days. I've noticed the tag "AU 19" on a lot of your fics. Would you mind explaining what that is?

Welcome to the fandom! I hope you enjoy any fanfics you try!

The number system refers to the age rating between the two different versions of ENNEAD: the 19+/Complete/Mature version and the 16+/Older Teen version, which contains censored and sometimes new and more safe for work scenes. 19+ tends to be used on the original Korean listings (it's why there's typically a little 19 on the covers when you buy episodes on places like mcomics or Ridibooks):

("Complete" is how the 19+ version is referred to in Korean: 엔네아드 (ENNEAD) [완전판] (the brackets say "Complete Edition"); it's complete in that it hasn't been modified for younger audiences like the 16+ version has)

Tappytoon doesn't use an age rating for the 19+/Complete Edition, sticking to "Mature" for its translation of that version. Seven Seas also calls it Mature, which is designated for age 18+, likely because Seven Seas is a U.S. company and Korean ages start newborns at age 1, not 0, so a 19-year-old Korean would be 18 in other countries (like the U.S.). The English translation of ENNEAD didn't begin until March 10, 2020, which was shortly before season 1 concluded in Korean (by that point, ENNEAD had been ongoing for at least around 3 years). It took a long time for the English translation to catch up, and by that point, both the post-season 1 AUs were out. There was fandom outside Korea prior to the release of the official English translation (e.g., in Japan, which got a translation of the 19+/Mature release starting February 28, 2020), and I imagine most people differentiated it based on the 19+ and non-19+ ratings.

"AU 19 ENNEAD" is one of the fan-designed tags to designate fanfics related to the alternate universe short story extra for the 19+/Mature version of ENNEAD season 1 about Horus becoming king and keeping Seth prisoner. The AU is non-canon and based on an earlier draft of ENNEAD that Mojito scrapped before creating the current version of the story, and is available as episodes 74-75 of season 1 on the 19+/Complete/Mature version.

It was also included in an extra booklet in the Taiwanese box set of season 1, and with luck it'll be included in some form in volume 6 of the English physical release via Seven Seas, perhaps like it was included along with Tiny AU in volume 6 of the Panini German release.

The 19+/Mature AU is sometimes referred to as AU 19, to differentiate it from Tiny AU, a fan name for the AU attached to the 16+/Older Teen version of ENNEAD season 1, where Seth is sentenced to become tiny (which is available as episode 74 of the 16+ English translation).

The 19+/Mature AU is also sometimes called R19 AU (e.g., Rated 19, again for the age of the story version), Gaiden 19 in Japan, or as I prefer, Dark King Horus AU, because it's more specific in the same way "Tiny AU" is and doesn't require knowledge of the rating system.

I only have the tags for AU 19 ENNEAD/Dark King Horus AU on two fanfics, my one-shot for ENNEAD Week 2022, which is set within the 19+/Mature AU universe, after what's shown in S1E74-75, and my longfic, As Long As You're Mine, which is set after that. This is in comparison to my Tiny AU fanfic. At the time I posted my first 19+/Mature AU fanfic, I only found one other fanfic for the AU, so I used the tag they used, which was AU 19 ENNEAD. There were apparently two other fics at the time, in Chinese, both of which referred to it as the r19 AU. Other folks seemingly followed suit after the English fics.

[diy-fire-water-pups]

What did you pups do, back then, during the covid 19 last year? Where are there any emergencies during the virus spreading in adventure bay or no? (Also did you guys got vaccinated too including ryder!? I hope you guys tok many people died during that 2020)

Even with all the lockdowns and stuff, we were considered essential workers, so we continued to work just the same. The difference was that, with people quarantined at their homes, we had way less emergencies to attend to. Most times the job would be to go with Ryder to Adventure City in the Paw Patroller to buy and restock groceries and food for the whole town, since both transportation and mail were halted. Farmers Yumi and Al even donated most of their food production to be distributed in town!

For other regular emergencies, sometimes Ryder wouldn't come along with us, instead he would keep an eye from the tower and give us instructions through our Pup-Tags. Whenever he would get down and come outside with us, he'd be wearing gloves and a mask and avoiding getting close to people as well, unless when strictly necessary. Most times he wouldn't even get off from his ATV!

Once the first vaccines were developed and approved, only Ryder got his shot. At that time, there was no evidence that pets could get sick too, so it was assumed we didn't need it. That doesn't mean we weren't careful, though! Ryder made special masks to fit comfortably on our muzzles and we were always wearing shoes whenever we would leave the Lookout. And that's not even mentioning how we had to take a bath everytime after coming back from a rescue or mission before we would be allowed back inside the Lookout. We had to constantly wash our vehicles before turning them back into our Pup-Houses too. Even Rocky had to take a bath every time, there was no other way! Only later, after a few concrete evidences about some rare cases of pets getting contaminated too, a vaccine was developed for dogs and we finally had our shots too.

I'm just glad it's all mostly over now, it was an absolute nightmare to keep taking so many baths. With everyone in town vaccinated and after several months watching out to not get contaminated or spread it around, we're back to our normal lives, but since it's not REALLY over, we're still keeping an eye on things.

Yeah, if it happens to start spreading around again, or if a stronger variant will show up, we're all ready to get the town in a lockdown again.

It's a good thing Adventure Bay residents are well educated and aware of how important it is to follow the lockdown rules and instructions. We rarely have any problems with that, besides they got us to help providing for them until it's safe for everyone to come out again!

[terriblepersongreatseamonster]

TW: Death & grief

God, this year has been something else. I told a friend that it feels like 2020 was a dress-rehearsal for this year. And not just because of the fact the world is in chaos.

In the space of 8 weeks all of this happened...

-I had my surgery to remove my fallopian tubes. I didn't want to do it, but I live in the U.S. & was terrified that I might get pregnant & have my seventh early term loss.

-Mom passed from cancer. Our relationship was complicated to say the least. I went no contact with her in October of 2021. I'd already mourned the loss of relationship, but I've been surprised by just how hard this still hit me.

-Dad passed in his sleep 12 or 13 days after mom died. We're not sure which day he passed, there's not quite 48 hours between the last time someone spoke with him & him being found. While mom's death wasn't a shock, dad's certainly was. He was in good health, but I think losing mom broke his heart.

-My dog, Krypto got diagnosed with stage 4 oral cancer. It was fast & aggressive (poor dog was growing tumors like they were tribbles). Not quite two weeks after he was diagnosed, he was in such bad shape, putting him down was the kindest option.

-Not quite two weeks after Krypto died, my aunt took my folks' cat to the vet due to breathing issues that were rapidly getting worse. The cat had been living with her since dad died. It was also diagnosed with cancer & ended up being put down. I only met the cat once (mom got it after I went no contact), so the grief I feel over it isn't as strong, but because of all the other deaths that happened, it hit me harder than I would've expected.

I am not doing great. I'm still here, but functionality is low. I do what I absolutely have to do everyday, but even that is a struggle.

I haven't been able to write. I keep trying & it's not happening. I did start having a couple ideas percolate last night for a few different Apothecary Diaries fics, but I have a pile of unfinished fics already. I really shouldn't put yet another unfinished story out there. Maybe I'll try doing a one-shot of one of the ideas. We'll see.

Grief is weird & sucks big time. I cycle between anger, sadness, nihilism, apathy, & numbness. Sometimes the feelings cycle so fast it feels like they're all happening simultaneously. I'm exhausted. I haven't had any appetite since February 4th (the day mom died). It took me until halfway through March to be able to eat anything without my stomach completely rebelling at the thought of putting food in my mouth. I'm now able to eat a tiny amount every day (and by tiny I mean a packet of saltines or a few apple slices), but still have no appetite.

Anyway, I'm still here. I'm a complete disaster, but I'm still here

[pedripics]

Barça's Little Buddha - Champions Journal Issue 16

Sometimes it's not just what you say, but how you say it, and as Graham Hunter discovers, Barcelona wonder kid Pedri is as cool, calm and collected in conversation as he is on the pitch.

For everyone involved, the atmosphere of a TV interview at the training ground of a major football club is usually at the rarefied end of the scale. This one is with Pedro González López - better known as Pedri - so it's important that everything is spot on. In truth, the empty room we've been given is functional and dull - two things we don't want the interview to be. However, there's nothing dull about the activity taking place: there's a whirl of moving parts and participants, busy constructing the 'studio' where part of this interview will be filmed. It's an intricate, intense and necessarily efficient business. A cameraman, two cameras worth tens of thousands of pounds, a producer, spotlights, backdrops, microphones, three club press officers, an interviewer (me) and ... the player.

Pedri appears to be in the eye of this hurricane of activity, unruffled and unperturbed. It makes a great metaphor for how Pedri plays - what it looks like when rivals fret and flock around him, trying to shackle his elegant imposition of intelligence upon Europe's football fields. But, right now, accompanying that preternatural calm is a gently amused smile. It is neither sardonic nor condescending; rather, it is the smile of someone who is deeply self-assured. And importantly, it reaches his eyes.

"My first club in Tenerife, Tegueste, were big on values. They instilled in us the idea that we shouldn't get angry during matches or argue with the referee - there's no point. They also taught us to have fun. Now, these days I do get angry occasionally. That's normal. But the self-discipline to stay calm and to do better next time you're on the ball can make the difference."

Not to overdo the theme, but Pedri's self-possession also helped him govern the emotions of moving to the Camp Nou in 2020. Just over two and a half years before, he'd been on trial at Real Madrid's Valdebebas training ground, which was a miserable experience: it was snowy, training was disrupted and those in charge told him he wasn't yet at their level. So, turning up at Barcelona with the impression that he might be put under contract only to be immediately loaned out meant guarantees were in short supply.

"When my family and I arrived at our hotel, I made a deliberate effort to stay calm. I knew that, at any time, the club might tell me they weren't going to sign me."

He was 16, small and slight, joining a great club in great turmoil. At the time of signing, he had only started for Las Palmas, in the second division, three times. After completing his first full senior season with the Canary Islanders, the best option that staying put at Barcelona seemed to offer was joining Barça B. But that's not what happened.

"The day Ronald Koeman told me that I could stay with his first team, that I might get a few minutes, was a huge shock - I really didn't expect it. The surprise opportunity filled me with determination to keep training hard, to compete fiercely and to immediately try to grab as much playing time as possible."

From his Barcelona debut (September 2020 against Villarreal) until the end of that season, Pedri played 73 times for club and country. He scored his first Champions League goal at 17; at 18 he won Spain's Copa del Rey and was named in the EURO 2020 team of the tournament (he also won the Young Player award for good measure). And now, aged 20, he has won his first Liga title.

No offence to the great sides that Pedri has faced across Europe, but his most ferocious rival so far might still be his own grandmom. The González family run an eatery in Tenerife and, as a kid, Pedri, his brother and mates would move the tables and chairs to play 2v2 football. One time, a wayward shot smashed a glass lantern; Grandma González was so furious that she tried to burst the ball with a knife. You soon learn tight control after a fright like that. So, is Pedri's ability to be surrounded by four or five opponents but skip free with the ball innate, or was it learned in the family restaurant?

"It's a bit of both. I was able to do some things like that when I was younger, and it's down to the work with all the coaches. But certain things stick with you and often you do things naturally, without thinking."

Champions League defenders, you have been warned: the boy's a natural.

[wrestlingisfake]

so... i need to know more about the House of Torture. any idea where to start?

I think the best thing I can do is run down the origins and history of the group, and link to some shows on NJPW world if you want to check them out for more information. Then I'll try to sum up their general vibe, and why Jack Perry fits into their faction.

House of Torture got its start as a part of Bullet Club, back in 2020. I think technically they're still a subgroup of Bullet Club, but the two factions don't have much to do with one another these days.

The thing about New Japan in 2020 is that the pandemic really screwed up their schedule, and the international travel restrictions left a lot of their non-Japanese roster stuck outside the country. Bullet Club was especially hit hard, since it's generally been an "evil foreigner" group. So New Japan needed to make a new star and also prop up Bullet Club with some new, domestic members.

First, EVIL turned on Los Ingobernables de Japon. He won the New Japan Cup with help from Bullet Club's Gedo (July 11, 2020). Then he beat LIJ's leader, Tetsuya Naito, at Dominion (July 12) to win the IWGP heavyweight and intercontinental titles. Bullet Club never played fair, but there was absolutely no subtlety about Evil's heel act. That title win featured a ton of run-ins, low-blows, you name it. Dick Togo, a 50-something legend from the Japanese indies, debuted to join the group as Evil's personal henchman.

Yujiro Takahashi quickly became associated with Evil and Togo, simply because there weren't a lot of other Bullet Club guys left in the country to team with. Yujiro joined Bullet Club way back in 2014, and the pimp gimmick he developed back then hasn't changed much over the years. The most notable thing about him is that he saunters to the ring with a professional go-go dancer named Pieter, but unfortunately she hasn't been brought in much since the pandemic.

Evil's big title reign didn't last long, and pundits generally considered it a failure. He only managed to get one successful title defense, against his former LIJ buddy Hiromu Takahashi at Sengoku Lord (July 25, 2020). After that, Naito won back his two belts at Summer Struggle (August 29). Evil went back down to the midcard.

The final piece of the puzzle came a year later, after SHO turned on his tag team partner YOH. They had a grudge match at Wrestle Grand Slam (September 4, 2021). Right after the match, Evil, Dick Togo, and Yujiro came to the ring wearing "House of Torture" shirts, and gave one to him. From that point on, the four men were clearly distinct from Bullet Club, even if they never officially broke away.

The defining feature of House of Torture is that they have absolutely no redeeming virtues. The rest of Bullet Club cheats and takes cheap shots, but they tend to be kind of cool and sometimes they've got a good sense of humor. House of Torture doesn't want to entertain you. They don't even want to be entertaining villains. Sometimes I think they care more about frustrating the fans than they do about winning matches. Hence the name: We're the ones being tortured.

If I had to recommend a specific storyline to understand House of Torture, I guess I'd go with their feud with Just 5 Guys in the 2023 Destruction tour. J5G had a 5-to-4 advantage against the heels, but that still could keep them from pulling their bullshit heel tactics, because on September 24 House of Torture just convinced Yoshinobu Kanemaru to switch sides! Every time the good guys think they've got a fair playing field, Evil finds a new way to skew it.

A major criticism of House of Torture has been Sho's performance. Sho is genuinely a great wrestler, but ever since he turned heel he's become this craven psycho whose best move is to hit a guy with a wrench. Half of Sho's matches these days involve trying to get out of the match, by faking an injury or claiming his opponent forfeited when he's really tied up backstage. On the other hand, Sho's on-screen personality as a babyface was pretty bland, so I can't deny that being in House of Torture has helped his character development. I'm hoping that also benefits Ren Narita (who joined in December 2023).

Jack Perry should fit right in with House of Torture. His feud with HOOK last year was textbook cheap-heat heel work. If Hook had been feuding with Evil or Sho, I think they would've pulled a lot of the same shenanigans. The whole "scapegoat" thing fits in well too, and not just because the goat-head thing is spooky-looking. Jack has gone from not caring about the fans to feeding off of their scorn and ruining matches for the sake of spite. I don't even personally blame him for what happened with CM Punk, but his character wants me to resent him for it so he can revel in that hatred. That's the kind of attitude Evil, Sho, Ren Narita, Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru can relate to.