#So I put the tag on before that cus what if it actually works this time–

[wackywatchdotcom]

man, i have to go do something in a minute here, but i am CONSTANTLY think about like... how long DOES the average circus member last before they abstract?

we dont have a lot of information about the passage of time in general in the show (which is infinitely painful to me, who likes to know about technical details very in-depth. but i understand writing wise why its like this) other than that the first 4 episodes take place over the span of 4(? or 5, depending on how you interpret the ending scene of episode 4) (which this also intrigues me that 8-9 days will pass over the course of the show... and also makes me curious about just how eventful the average day truly is in the circus!) days and that everyone in the circus has likely been here for at MINIMUM 2 years

(i say that because jax says "weve been stuck here for years" which implies that all of the people there at the time have been there for more than one year and because of the plural years, a minimum of 2. maybe. he also could just be oversimplifying things but unless given reason to think otherwise im interpretting the line this way)

we know of a at least ~18 people whove been in the circus total, but i frankly think its more than that. we know ribbit abstracted before kaufmo, but we dont know when ribbit joined the circus, or how much time was between these

it also depends on how long you think the circus members have been trapped for. i personally think this has been going on for at minimum 10 years (i have my own hcs abt it being ~16 years, but thats just hc and based on a bunch of my interpretations of random details) but we dont really know this, and how long this has been happening, and how long kingers been here, and whether or not kinger has or hasnt been here the longest of anyone whos ever been in the circus

like if its been like 5 years thatd mean like... 3-4 people join the circus each year (on average). if its 10 years thatd mean 1-2 people join the circus each year (on average). and we dont even know how many people the circus has in it at one time on avg!! like theres the theory it floats around 6, but thats just a theory and not smth we know for sure. point being, we dont even know how often people join the circus and that effects a LOT of things

idk..... i guess the question really is 'how often can a person last in the circus before they literally cannot take it anymore' which is a much sadder question. we dont even know how long ago queenie abstracted, or ribbit abstracted. did zooble know ribbit? did ribbit get here before or after zooble did??

it just haunts me a little

[seven-thewanderer]

…I kinda wish I could just.

mentally transfer all the info of my Strayed!Au telepathically to my device & to yall

[nerdie-faerie]

I have got to get worse at my job cus no way can keep letting them rely on me like this

[just-let-me-see-accounts]

/chrono has literally not worked for me ever but it suddenly just? Started working?? Hope it doesn't go away cus /chrono is really useful.

[kakushino]

hello can i get a giyuu x reader angst , like where giyuu had an argument with the reader , but it turns out the reader is pregnant? you can add any other plot twist cus i love plot twists thank you !<3

Almost

Tomioka Giyuu x Fem! Reader

He had lost a lot of people in his life by his own making. He refused to lose you too.

Tags: pregnancy, arguments, blood mention, abortion mention (no actual abortion), hurt/comfort Word count: 2k

Masterlist

AN: Hope you enjoy it! I actually had a WIP of an argument + making up before, so I got to revisit it and add the pregnancy spice you asked for hehe~ Huge thanks to my dearest beta reader @glitchtricks94 for helping me clear it up (o゜▽゜)o☆ another huge thanks to @starrierknight for brainstorming with me

Giyuu’s injuries weren’t worse than normal, but that didn’t stop you from fretting over him – especially when he had a gash on his cheek, the same cheek you kissed a week ago when he was leaving for his mission. It made your chest feel tight to see his pretty face marred by demons. Your grandmother was surely rolling in her grave that such a classical beauty was hurt, the thought spurred you on to care for him.

No detail went unnoticed under your eye. He seemed tired, as usual, and a little stressed, as usual too - just a regular morning after slaying demons.

You sat him down at a western style dining table with a medical kit and supplies to clean the cuts with next to you. Your hands shook slightly when the damp cloth wiped away grime and blood, your lips pressed together when a fresh drop of blood oozed from the wound.

“You need to be more careful,” you murmured as you worked, the statement automatic, thoughtless.

Giyuu’s whole body stiffened. “Or what?”

You froze in place, your hand dipping the cloth in warm water. This was a new tone of his – a new way words could cut you if he wanted you to hurt: it was rough, serrated, mean. “What?”

He rolled his shoulders back a little, rearing for a fight. “You heard me the first time.”

You clenched your hand, leaving the rag in the water, and turned to fully face him. “Why are you so defensive? I meant no harm,” you replied, trying to calm the storm before it fully set in.

He stood abruptly, nearly knocking the chair he had sat in over. The look he shot you sent your heart galloping in your chest, from fear or indignation, you didn’t know. “You’ve done enough. Leave me be.”

Did he like you like this? Was the hurt in your eyes enough? That was – did he like the way it glinted, the way it caught the light? Hours upon hours spent on making your suffering pretty, and perhaps now it would pay off. He could cut you down into something pretty if he wanted to, and maybe you would let him.

Before he could walk away, before he could twist the rusty blade, you rose from your seat, “I have done nothing to warrant this tone with me, Tomioka Giyuu. Now tell me-“

"Stop bothering me," he cut you off, heading towards the door.

A violent whirlpool of emotion threatened to drown you, and for once, you let go. “You- you oaf! I can’t stand you being like this! What’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong. Everything is perfect,” he snapped, voice like a viper and words just as stinging. “Or at least it would be if I didn’t have you nagging me every time. I’ve been through this enough to know what to do with myself. Unlike you who sits here all pretty and safe and fat, ready to wrap a bandage and call it a day.”

You flinched, for the first time in your husband’s presence, tears springing from your eyes, which you rapidly blinked away. What have I ever done to deserve this? You had waited on your hands and knees for this man every time he’d come home battered and bruised and broken and put him back together, without complaining, with love. This was what you got in return for your devotion? Pretty and useless. That’s what he basically called you.

Your throat tightened. You hardly had the energy to respond so you turned away and just… left. You couldn’t continue listening to Giyuu when he sounded so much like… like Shinazugawa. Whatever was bothering him best be left alone to cool off before you could talk about it.

You nodded to yourself as you packed an overnight bag. Some time apart would be good for you both. You knew he wouldn’t be sent out on a mission for a few days again, since he just returned from a longer stint, so you would come back tomorrow and try to resolve it then.

It was time for a check-up with a midwife anyway.

He had really said all that.

And you left.

Your eyes filled with tears, and you left, as you should. He had treated you like garbage.

There was no going back, no taking back his idiocy, no swallowing back his words.

‘Let's stop fighting’ was at the tip of his tongue. ‘Come here and let me hug you’ nearly spilled from his lips. ‘I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry’ choked him up as you walked away.

He knew you were right. You did nothing wrong.

He felt nothing.

He was worth nothing.

Giyuu picked up the shards of his heart up and finished cleaning up his wounds. A short bath later, he walked into the kitchen to find food already made for him, now long gone cold. It just reminded him how much he butchered his relationship by what – stress and tiredness? A demon taunting him right before its death? If so little shook him up, did he even deserve to be with you?

A sharp pain pierced his heart at the thought of leaving you. His selfishness truly knew no bounds, hurting you and putting you in danger for being a Hashira’s partner yet wanting you to remain by his side.

After eating his portion, he made tea and waited to see if you would join him. There was no movement in the house at all; were you in your shared bedroom, laying in bed as you were used to when upset? He would give you time to cool off, give himself time to breathe, and then he would approach you with a clearer head. He needed to apologize.

One hour. Two hours.

Had he angered you so much that you wouldn’t come out? Your spats had never lasted this long.

The tea had long grown cold, but Giyuu couldn’t bring himself to make more. There were no sounds coming from the house.

Were you even here?

The thought jolted him from his seat, quickly walking to your shared bedroom.

“Love?”

Nothing.

“I’m coming in.”

He somehow expected it, though he’d hoped against it. You weren’t there.

Already turning to check all other rooms, he called out your name. His pace was brisk, his throat starting to clog up with a familiar emotion. Claws of anxiety sunk into his stomach, his heart beat like a drum, his lungs struggled to take in air. You weren’t there.

Where were you?

He ran through the whole estate and back two times but came up with no clue as to where you were. Panic mounted, crawling up his spine like a spider he couldn’t shake away.

Giyuu slammed the gate of his home open, very nearly running into his elderly neighbour.

She was hardly phased, though confused by his frazzled visage. “Tomioka-san? What’s got you in such a hurry, young boy?”

“Have you seen my wife?!” he’d never been as rude as he was now, but you were gone so what was he supposed to do?

“Your wife? Oh, that’s right, I saw her. If I recall, she was on her visit… hmm, who was she going to visit?” his neighbour mused. Giyuu waited with all the patience Urokodaki beat into him, that was – quite impatiently. “Oh right! A midwife! I was very surprised when-“

He stopped listening, or rather, he stopped hearing anything going on around him. A midwife? A midwife was a profession with a very specific set of skills for a very specific group of people… Did that mean-?

“Isotani-san,” Giyuu interrupted, breathless, eyes wide with surprise. “Are you saying my wife is pregnant?”

She squinted at him, “You didn’t know?”

It felt as if lightning came from clear skies and struck him. Every nerve itched with some kind of energy telling him to move.

He later vaguely remembered asking his neighbour for the direction you left in, but at the time, he saw nothing, and felt everything all at once.

Were you going to… terminate it? Were you going to tell the midwife, and would she terminate it? Was the midwife going to terminate it and help you move on? Would you move on without him?

Thoughts racing, heart galloping, Giyuu felt feverish. He stumbled back, deaf to his neighbour’s concerned questions as he turned the way you had left just hours ago. One foot in front of the other, a step by step, getting faster with each meter he passed until he was running nearly as fast as Uzui, desperation spurring him on.

Kanzaburo flew overhead, and when he cleared the village bounds, he called out to get the crow to lead him to you.

Time was of the essence. He may have botched his life, but he was too selfish to let go of you. He wanted, no- needed to get you back. You were his love, his soul, his home. He wouldn’t be able to go on if you left.

He felt crazed, desperate, as he ran.

Giyuu would have been faster had he not have to follow Kanzaburo but he wouldn’t be able to find you alone. He felt as if he was racing against the time. Any minute now, you would be in a the midwife’s home, waiting for the release from his clutches; any second now, you would sever the only tactile link you had to him – your baby.

His baby.

He swore, his mind supplementing him with your argument. It had been all his fault, he’d just lashed out because of nothing, like a toddler throwing a tantrum. How childish he’d been – and he was supposed to be a father? No, he wanted to be a father. He’d fix himself and he’d support you and he’d even carry you your whole pregnancy, so you didn’t have to walk. He’d learn to cook more than the basics to feed you and your baby.

Please, let me be in time.

Then he saw you.

The whole world seemingly froze, grey and empty save for you.

You were a pearl amongst rocks, still as beautiful as the first day he saw you, as beautiful as you were on your wedding day.

Giyuu didn’t stop, even as you turned to him in surprise when he called your name. He didn’t stop until he had you in a soul-crushing hug, tight and near bruising – one he immediately eased up on, since he didn’t want to hurt you.

“Calm down, Giyuu! What’s going on?”

“D-don’t-“ he stumbled over his words, still frantic and breathing heavily, “don’t get rid of it!”

You were confused, “Get rid of what?”

His hands were heavy clutching onto your clothes, his frame nearly hanging onto you. “Our – our child,” he gasped out. “Isotani-san told me you were- she told me you were pregnant.” His words came out in a rush, eyes wide as he stared at you, his pupils darted all over your face for a sign of – of anything, be it forgiveness, anger, sadness, anything.

Looking at him in such a state, near quivering in his spot, you felt powerful. Giyuu was at your mercy for once. You could topple him as easily as a sandcastle, crush him under your boot and grind down to juice him of all that made him who he was. It made you realize you held just as much power over him as he did over you. Oddly, you felt reassured - of his love, of your love, of the relationship. 

Heart hammering in your chest, cheeks filling with warmth, the adoration you carried in your heart spilled over and pooled in your stomach. You hungered for more of this power, positively starved to sink your teeth into him and drain him.

But that could wait.

“I am indeed pregnant,” you confirmed, your hands resting on his arms, thumbs stroking soothing lines over his muscles. You paused, letting the seconds painfully stretch out, “I’m not terminating the pregnancy.”

His whole being sagged with relief. Giyuu fell to his knees in slow motion, his hands sliding down your yukata to rest over your hips, now clutching the fabric there with a weak grip. “Thank gods…” he rasped out, his breathing stuttered as if holding back sobs. “Please, love, let’s not- I apologize – I apologize for everything. I shouldn’t have lashed out. I was wrong…”

His impossibly blue eyes met yours, the surface glistening with unshed tears, his guilt bitter but his plea tasting sweet on your tongue. Saliva gathered in your mouth, wanting more.

Did that make you a bad person?

“You dismissed my concern,” you stated, fighting back any expression wanting to take over your face. “You said I nag you. You called me useless.” And pretty, your mind supplied. He’d also called you fat, so there was that. “I didn’t deserve that.”

Giyuu’s lips were downturned, “You didn’t. I was an oaf.” His admission did nothing to soothe the ache he’d given you. “I’m willing to take whatever punishment you deem worthy of my misdeeds.” He let go of your yukata, smoothing over the wrinkles he made. He didn’t know what to do with himself, trying not to fidget as you rolled his actions and words in your mind.

“There will be no punishment,” you told him. If possible, he became even more tense, the need for absolution great. Perhaps no punishment would be a punishment of itself. “But don’t think you’re entirely forgiven. I accept your apology; you however have to make up for it your own way.” You studied his earnest expression, brows slightly furrowed as he started thinking about ways to win you back. It shouldn’t be too hard. He did it once, he could do it again.

Giyuu slowly stood up, taking your hands in his. “I won’t disappoint you, love,” he said resolutely, kissing your fingertips softly. He adored you, with his whole heart, mind and body.

Everything would work out – just like the ice always melts and clouds disperse, a typhoon passes and the sea calms.

“If you pull this act again, I’m leaving.” You glared at him for a second to get your point across. Giyuu nodded and pulled you in for a sweet kiss.

He almost lost you and he wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

Thanks for reading! Reblog or comment if you liked it :3

Networks: @enchantedforest-network @themovingcastlez

[caparrucia]

I read your post about the Dead Dove Do Not Eat tag, and how you think people should take more responsibility for their own experience in the fandom sphere, and I very much agree with the points you raised. I just have a question regarding this one:

" "But what if I read something that wasn't tagged X?" Well, that's very unfortunate for you, but if it is genuinely that upsetting, you have a responsibility to yourself to only browse things explicitly tagged to not include X."

So, when I'm writing fanfics, and putting them on Ao3, should I tag their lack of things they don't include? Like, none of my fics include self harm, because I'm not willing to read it and even less willing to write it, should I put "#no self harm" in there, for people who have a worse reaction to it than I do and are following your advice?

Not asking "is it a moral imperative" because I know it isn't, but is it something you think would actually help anybody?

So, let's talk about context, because like all great spats in Fandom, this is about context.

Tags are contextual. They're flags that are trying to bring a specific demographic to your fic. Or, conversely, keep a certain demographic away from your fic. Tags are also never comprehensive. It is impossible to tag a fic comprehensively, because there will always be more tags. You can tag for the food that appears, the clothes, the political framework taken for granted. You can tag for gender or sexuality of the characters, even if the story is not about that per se. (See the large number of people annoyed when you write trans characters in stories and don't advertise it widely, despite their genital configuration having anything to do with the story at hand. Hi, Pokemon fandom. No, I will never forgive you the harassment and transphobia.)

The wording in the post, I acknowledge, might appear very dramatic at first glance. But that's because it's responding to a very dramatic, very aggressive statement. The way that certain people weaponize their trauma to try and shut down art they do not like. "This triggered me!" Is a really shitty comment to get, as a writer. Because it's usually a trap. If you extend sympathy, you will quickly find that the person yelling at you about this doesn't want platitudes or commiseration or actual resources to manage their triggers. They want you to take your fic down and remove it from the world, because "it triggered them." They want to treat your fic like a dog with rabbies: putting it down is the only conceivable solution, and no amount of polite rebukes (or, let's face it, annoyed snarking) will get you anywhere. They are not having a conversation with you. They have deemed you responsible for doing them harm (your work triggered them, therefore you, personally, set out to trigger them) and they're not willing to take anything less but the obliteration of your work as restitution.

The response "lol, that's a you problem, if it's so bad, you have a personal responsibility to not read anything that isn't explicitly stated to not include the thing that triggers you" is very mean. I acknowledge that. But it's not a response that comes from community, it's a response that aims to communicate clearly and concisely that you're not available to entertain any kind of overwrought nonsense and that you're not available to be emotionally blackmailed into removing your work from circulation.

Triggers are like allergies. The people that have them have to manage them to their best of their ability, and the people who don't have those triggers could stand to do more to be accommodating, for sure. Current tag culture is in fact the result of years upon years of the Wild West Internet that us old farts are constantly talking about. See, in the old internet, there was no social expectation for tagging. You got a title, you got a rating (not always!), sometimes you got a pairing. Anything else was a roulette. Like literally anything. I used to be in FMA fandom way back before AO3 and tag culture was a thing and let me tell you, the amount of times I ended up mid-incest fic because the initial premise sounded like a cute brothers bonding scenario? More than once. There was no tag for incest. Someone threw a fic into an IRC channel with a generic "this one was good!" and it could be ANYTHING. Literally anything!

Here's where I disagree with a lot of The Olds who whine about The Old Days: the Old Days way of doing fic? Awful. Shitty. Traumatizing, legitimately. I love tag culture. I think tag culture is one of the nicest, most amazing things we as a fandom have come together to do. It gives so much freedom for the author to choose how much they want to spoil/warn form, and it also gives readers so much freedom of choice! It's a great system! Not a perfect one. No system is perfect. But it's a great compromise. I don't think people understand how utterly revolutionary the Archive Warnings are, in AO3. Just narrowing it down to those four! (Underage, Non-Con, Graphic Violence and Character death, for those uninitiated, as well as the opt out of Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings.) This system allows the most widespread triggers and preferences to be respected. If you don't like fic about people under 18 doing anything relationship related? Slap that Underage and the Choose Not To Warn archive warning in your exclude options and you're good. Same for non-con. Or Character death! The way the Archive is setup, this guarantees you will not see fic with that.

That's revolutionary! It's great! We should hype it more.

This is one of the reasons why I'm so testy about the Dead Dove tag. I know the ship has sailed, the tag has changed meaning and it is a completely different function now, than when it started. (This is also why I don't respond to the handful of people who insist that my history is wrong and the tag is useful actually! They're missing the point of the post and also I was there when the tag first came about. I'm in the reblogs of the original post.) The problem with Dead Dove is not itself, but that its a symptom of people - most commonly antis, but really, this isn't a group-specific behavior, stupidity is policy neutral - using tags not to find fic to read or to filter out fic they don't want to read, and instead using them to find people to harass. That endangers the whole system, because people stop using understandable, straightforward tags for their stuff and instead start making convoluted spaghetti tags that only make sense in-group to try and avoid getting caught in the harassment campaign. And that sucks! That kind of behavior should be publicized and blacklisted in fandom. Ostracize people who try to misuse categorization tools as weapons of abuse, and endanger the entire system in the process. Fuck them.

To your point, should you add "no self-harm" to your fic? I don't know! I don't know your fic. Does it make sense for you to add it? Do the rest of the tags in your fic paint a picture that might require that clarification? I think the underlying conversation is that people who fearmonger about their triggers and try to use their trauma to bully strangers on the internet are really very stupid. Most stories don't include a tag about self-harm because most stories don't include any self-harm at all. Same with sexual acts. Or crimes. Tags highlight content that might be expected based on the culture the fic is coming from. If you write fic for the alien incest show (Trigun) and your fic somehow doesn't have any aliens or incest in it, it would be worthwhile to tag it for it. Just because people might expect it! Or if you're writing about depression and spiraling and mental health crisis for a character but very specifically not about self-harm? Yeah, that'd make sense to highlight that.

Ultimately, as the author, you get to choose the tags you put in, and in doing so, you choose the audience you're targeting. This is where the triggers as allergies metaphor breaks though. Fanfic is not a necessity. It's a privilege. It's a gift writers give their fandom and no one in their fandom is entitled to it. That's why tags are optional. That's why you can still rawdog fic the way we used to, and read through "Chose not to warn" And all the stories that have a fandom and a pairing and a rating, and then nothing else. No one's life is being endangered, if they don't get to read any given fic. Does it suck to be excluded in a community space? Sure! But it's not life or death and treating it like such is the source of much of the headaches around this.

Fanfic is a gift. If you have very bad triggers, you have a responsibility to yourself to only accept gifts that are explicitly for you (tagged around your personal triggers). You can always ask, but an author is always entitled to decline to tag their work. And they're not being an asshole for it. Social media has poisoned people into seeing any interaction as a you vs them situation, but the truth is people are just trying to vibe.

[katescribblesabit]

I absolutely adore your art style! Do you have any tips? Specifically for the fairies cause I am struggling to draw them.

thank you so much! well, this is gonna be a long post.

Im gonna be real, the best art advise anyone can give you is to use references and to break complicated stuff down into easier shapes. for example:

this is my basic body skeleton! i always start with the circle of the head and work my way down to the feet. i have highlighted some part of the body which are actually just simple shapes.

the center line down the middle of the torso also helps me draw on collars, bra cups, ties, or any other more difficult clothing more accurate!

However i have to ask you, are you comfortable while you draw?

I remember when I first started drawing digital, i was really uncomfortable with the basic set up of my program. The white canvas and the light setting of the program was really bright and irritated my eyes. And the contrast of the pure black I used for drawing wasn't really helping. sketching and doing line art was my least favorite part of drawing because of this.

you don't have to draw on a white canvas, you can also use multiple colours for sketching if you wanted. Once I stoppend using a pure white canvas I noticed i stopped staring at a empty canvas not knowing what i wanted to draw anymore!

also sometimes when a drawing doesn't want to look right, i switch back to traditional. idk why but when my brain sometimes struggles with a specific pose or character design, it comes to me a lot more easier when I switch back onto paper. i guess the change of scenery opens up the creativity again haha.

don't be afraid to simplify stuff, you don't have to draw everything! As long as it still translates to the thing, it should be fine.

these two are a bit clip studio exclusive,

but Gradient maps! god how I love my gradient maps, it just makes the colours pop! I never draw without it anymore. I always pick the sunset gradient, put it in Linear light mode and put it on 10% (cus its really saturated on 100%)

usually i have it on while i sketch and line, and turn it off so i can properly colour and shade. i turn it back on at the end again

the clip studio assets has a lot of beautiful stuff in there created from other users. (a good amount for free too) for example I got the lace pattern of my shawl from there. and its really easy to import the downloaded stuff into the program.

now this is a drawing hack that blew my mind when I first saw it! i use it all the time and I just have to share this!

whenever you want to draw something random like sparkles, stars, bubbles, feathers, falling leaves, or anything that you want to float around your characters, position them in the form of a triangle.

its even better if you put two points of the triangle closer together and then the third further away. this makes it look random but still looking appealing to the eye, and not oddly placed.

now that thats out of the way! Fairies! The one thing i struggled with when drawing them first is their hair. I suggest looking through the fop tag to see how other people have drawn them and take inspiration from your favorites and make up your own. (do not trace tho! that should be obvious!)

when I draw hair I think of it separated in two parts, the front and the back. I usually start with the front hair pieces, then draw in the jaw, ears and rest of the head, then continue with the back section of the hair.

the only outliers of this are Timmy and Peri. when I draw Timmy (Ymmit as well) I start with his hat, before drawing his hair. Since I draw Peris hair-swirl over his hairline, i start drawing his upper back hair style first before drawing his head and then his mullet.

wings can also be tricky. the fairy wings i have given then have a more butterfly look. if you also want to base off the wings to real life animals or bugs you can use them flying as references to. Or you could even cut out the wing shape out of paper, fold it in the middle and take pictures in the angle you desire.

I hope this somehow helped, I thought about what could have helped me if I had known it sooner. even if most of these were for generic drawing.

[iris-and-sillys-crossover]

Finding Frankie OC! (12-23-2024)

Do NOT use without giving credit or at least tagging me, please OCs I make do hold a special place in my heart, but if u make fanart (at the time of posting this) which I highly doubt- please tag me as I would love to see what u guys made.

GAME SPOILERS KINDA??? ALSO YAPPING CUS I CANT FUCKING DRAW- UR GOOD TILL THE GAME EXISTENCE

Meet Lucky Contestant! Number 4! [Season: 57] (My OC)

Name: Aussie Lewierd Wilson (ALW)

Gender: Male (He/They)

Sexuality: Bisexual

Age: 26-27

Physical Description(cus i cant draw-):

A short male whose body is similar to a female's, his skin is a fair tan-like color but also has splotches of pale white skin on his body, a huge splotch on his (your) right eye, a smaller splotch on the left corner of his mouth, and a few splotches on his neck, his hair is a mix of light and dark brown, similar to the color of dark and milk chocolate, swirled together but still being able to tell the two colors apart, his right eye (with the splotch) is a light blue (#ADD8E6) color, the other eye is a deep forest like green (#001b02) color.

His Frankie costume is a bit unique. When he does take the head off, the bunny ears and hat will, somehow- remain on his head. The rest of the costume will have stickers all over it, as he's a silly goober and felt it looked too bland, also the face mimics his emotions cus yeah, next to one of the bunny ears, either when he does or doesn't have the costume head on, he has a few feathers that are a nice yellow color with it fading into a more gold color on the top of the feathers, he also wears a small tan-like brown backpack.

He has a natural happy face, something is off about it though. . .

Special Skill - Mechanic & Technology Lover

He LOVES messing around with technology, his first thing he made being a robot spider to prank people, some other things, but he's working on a huge project as of now, having started making it with a scraped circuit boards and, unknowingly, data of AI that was lost in the scrap yard even though it's pretty well made. He made it it's own body and was still working on it before he joined the game show, he powered it off, thinking he was only going to be gone for maybe a day with all of the knowledge he knew ahead about the show, though it seems he'll be gone for a while longer. . .

Personality:

He is a silly fella who's a very hyper guy, he loves to play small pranks but can also be a little dense for a bit till he realizes what's going on if it's not obvious to him, often he's just being silly or happy, whenever he's mad, wait it out for a while and let him blow off steam, most of the time, depending how you made him upset and/or what u said to him, he'll probably be his happy go self around u again and think of u as a friend.

When he's just a bit mad, he'll be a bit wild, most likely wanting to throw something at someone, like a paintball or water balloon, or even snowballs, he will plan pranks to get back at u so watch out.

Facts:

Has been Crushing on Frankie ever since he was 19, this is not a joke-

Can sit in many ways like how females can sit in many ways that males can't. (further explanation in the future maybe?)

Always carries a small blue Narwal plushie that seems to be for a young child, it has an old blood stane, wonder why. . . "It was your fault, Lewierd. . ."

Is super athletic, always would play on the jungle gym, go swimming, and play in trampoline parks, often sneaking into those places even though he didn't pay.

Has many soft spots that if u put enough pressure on one of them, you could make him go weak and collapse, like when a kitten goes limp when they're held by their scruff, depending on how u press on it, u might actually cause him pain, so be careful.

He LOVES head pats and pets, if he trusts u enough (or ur Frankie-) he'll let u mess with his hair.

Always can be a creative fella and LOVES Arts and Crafts.

His backpack holds a lot of his prank items, a few sticker sheets, food & water, and other small trinkets he finds, basically the collectables you can find in game.

Past:

and why should you know? he wouldn't tell you unless he put his FULL trust in you, and I doubt he would put that much trust in you. . . shoo shoo. . . :]

Yes I do RPs with him, either on Discord or even on here if u wish, so here's how his existence will work into RPs and more kinda

Game existence:

So if you've seen someone play or played the game yourself, you will know when u first run past M-Frankie, if u look back, you'll see a contestant run back into the room where they got their costume, now my headcanon to fix Aussie in is this

Aussie ran back into his costume room and found a vent, crawling through for a while till he popped out, depending if the contestant the player character controls I wanna headcanon as dead or not, things can vary if u want it to be one way or another

If the original 'LC' Dies/Died

Aussie could take his place in a way, keeping the show going for the time being.

Other' (Real) Frankie doesn't realize that Aussie is alive still and ends the gameshow for this season, before seeing them alive on the cameras.

Can depend on also ur AU or so with how things work.

If the original 'LC' is still alive or ur Contestant OC as them

Aussie could run into them eventually, either in an in-game or post-game AU of the show

Depends on how ur AU may work so something, i don't know-

All elements can vary, may be edited at a later time, and might be scheduled to change

But this is Aussie! I hope u enjoyed reading about him as much as I loved bringing him to life in my own way! He's my silly goober I made for this silly fandom and will exist until this platform dies, the internet does, or my dumbass dies from a reckless way of getting myself hurt- Have a great day!

Dm me if u wanna Rp, and I'll probably send u my Discord username, I need some people to rp with as either 'Real' Frankie or their own OC, it's so fucking boring around here-

[rhetoricandsmalltalk]

I love 222 x 456 and I'm scared id get dragged for shipping this literally nobody ships this and honestly I can kinda see why LMAO just cus like I KNOW ITS SO CLICHE and I see why people would eye roll at romanticizing it instead of just appreciating them both as individuals like gihun for just wanting to save people and keep his promise and junhee for being so selfless and putting her faith in her baby's last chance before herself BUT IDK I COULDNT HELP MELTING AT THEM😭😭😭😭and tbh the only thing that makes me feel bad is like let’s say magic au they’re canon and gihun was a great dad to the baby uhhh what about his first fucking daughter 💀and honestly that whole aspect of his character further makes me feel like they wouldn’t be a great couple or that he’s be a good father figure especially outside of the games when gihuns not on this mission to literally try to save everyone. Idk I just loved them and melted during all the screen time of him holding the baby and him treating her so kindly ughhhh

ALSO 222 jumped facing forward and 456 jumped facing backwards and actually neither jumped they just stepped into their deaths LITERALLY canon

There’s only 2 222/456 works on the tag on ao3 I think it’s calling me

[amaraangelicus]

WIP game ♡

rules: you will be given a word. share one sentence / excerpt from your wip(s) that start with each letter of that word.

Tagged by @paprikadotmp4

Word: WRITE

W- From ‘On the Edge of Holiness’ ch3

WinterBones

“Whaddya mean, Buck?” Steve asked, feeling his heart sink to somewhere around his stomach.

“You're gonna be upset,” Bucky responded, still calmly as though he wasn't confirming all of Steve's fears. “You can't act on it. Got it?”

“Buck….”

“You are not allowed to try to ruin this for me!” Bucky snapped. “It won't work, and it'll just piss me off. Understand?” Steve jerked at the sudden flare of anger, but it did relax him some. If Bucky was this willing to defend what he wanted, then maybe it would be alright.

“Okay, Buck. I won’t try to stop you.” Bucky relaxed with a slight smile, darting in for a hug that was over almost before Steve had registered he was being hugged. He followed Bucky into the house with a bemused smile.

R- from my as yet unnamed Halloween fic

WinterBones

‘Rumlow, the Asset has left containment. We’re hoping it’s heading to you.’

“What the fuck do you mean ‘the Asset has left containment’? The Asset was in cryostorage! What the fuck did you dipshits screw up now?!”

‘There’s a video clip in your email, sir.’ Brock grumbled to himself as he cued up the attachment, but quickly fell silent in shock as he watched the perfectly functional cryostorage tank explode open from the inside. He’d verified that tank when they’d put the Asset into cryosleep, and from the image it looked like it was working just as well when the clip started as when he’d left it.

“What the fuck is that?” he demanded, feeling almost hysterical at the sight of the icy apparition that he could barely see his Soldier in even before it was shrouded with fog.

‘We don’t know, sir. Something’s happened to the Asset.’

“You fucking think?”

I- from my as yet untitled IronSoldier fill

Tony Stark/ Bucky Barnes/ Jason Todd

‘I'm glad you guys are learning to work together.’ Oracle’s voice was painfully neutral, and Jason knew that no matter what she said she didn't approve of him being around Tim. It was understandable. He'd tried to clip the little bird's wings once, and there wasn't any real reason to think he wouldn't do it again. It was a good bit of why he avoided all the bats as much as he could. They said they wanted him around, but they were always afraid he would fall back into the violence of the early days of his return to Gotham. Honestly Tim was the one who talked to him the most, and he only called when he needed help. Tim trusted him to get the job done at least. It was more than he got from anyone else.

T- from ‘Blame it on the Pollen’ ch2

Dick Grayson/ Jason Todd/ Tim Drake

Tim woke slowly, luxuriating in the unusual warmth surrounding him. Gentle hands were stroking lightly across his torso, making him smile. He was pulled up against a warm body that he thought he would recognize even if he were dead.

"Dickie, that tickles," he murmured, too content to actually try to move away.

"Tickles, huh?" Dick murmured into his ear. His hands slid softly to settle on Tim's stomach, and then over to take Tim's hands in his, letting Tim thread their fingers together. Tim gasped as more hands slid up his sides to pluck gently at his nipples, l his eyes to see Jason smirking wickedly at him. He leaned forwards as far as he could to press his lips to that smirk, enjoying the way Jason immediately softened to kiss him. The Red Hood may be harsh and violent, but Jason was so… soft. Gentle. Tim could hardly believe they were the same person. It was hard for him to believe that his Robin would kill, despite the logic of his arguments. Though, given how annoyed Robin had been at the revolving door policy at Blackgate and Arkham, maybe it shouldn't be so surprising.

E- from working title ‘MultiRobin’ DC/ Leverage/ Criminal Minds crossover

No ship

Elliot shook his head fondly as he listened to Parker and Hardison squabbling amicably over whatever it was that they'd found. He wasn't sure what it was, didn't think they knew either, but they were both interested. That was rare enough that he was headed up to look. The building was completely empty anyway and he was bored. He walked through the door and his heart almost stopped.

“Hardison, Parker, get out of there!” He rushed to the zeta tube the other two were standing inside. Harrison looked up from his tablet, taking in the panicked expression on his friend's face.

“Elliot, it's alright. I've almost got it.”

“It's all- It's not all right! Get the hell out of that thing, now!” Parker dropped from the ceiling of the tube, looking at Elliot curiously. Elliot had almost reached the door to drag them out when it activated. “Damnit Hardison!”

Elliot approached the zeta tube cautiously, eying the control panel wistfully. Surely they'd removed his zeta access by now. It has been almost two decades since he'd last had contact with anyone from the hero world. It would be beyond careless for them to have left his access, and if there was one thing Batman wasn't, it was careless. He stepped into the zeta, putting his hand on the pad automatically.

‘Welcome, Honeybadger. Destination?’ He reached out with his other hand to tap the screen, looking for where his friends had been sent as he tried to find his voice through the rush of emotion. He sighed. 

“Watchtower.”

‘You are cleared for Watchtower access.’

Tagging @gyokujyn @thepiper0fhameln @illogicalkat with the word COMFY

[dameronspector]

Get to know your mutuals

thank you so much my friend @djarinwidow for the tag <3

i am honoured you tagged me in this 🥹❤️

What’s the origin of your blog title?

It's a quote by danny ramirez and I just loved how unserious yet heartfelt it was

OTP(s) + shipname:

HMMM sambucky, peppertony, petermj, kanthony, percabeth, reedsue, that's all i remember so far

Favourite colour:

i actually love all colours but lately i have been gravitating more towards pastels and browns

Favourite game:

i have the attention span of a goldfish so i don't like to play games especially the stressful ones but i love playing avatar makers/dress up games. (lame, i know)

Song stuck in your head:

DtMf- Bad Bunny and Luther-Kendrick Lamar, SZA

Weirdest habit/trait:

i am pretty weird but i don't like to sit in open spaces...like i will prefer the corner of a room or the back rows in a classroom or a seat that touches the wall instead of being in the middle.

Hobbies:

dancing, singing, writing, watching movies, travelling, trying to get back into drawing.

If you work, what’s your profession?

i am not working but i have worked in the marketing department for a company before.

If you could have any job you wish, what would it be?

i wish once i finish my higher education in psych i can work as a clinical psychologist/psychotherapist

Something you’re good at:

i am a trained dancer so yeah...can't live without dancing and i can sing as well and im also good at history, a bit.

Something you’re bad at:

ohh boy. math, expressing myself, trusting people

Something you love:

watching movies and just escaping in them...love getting obsessed by something new everytime i watch a new movie. Also i love travelling--that feeling of exploring a new city and staying in a hotel is dear to me for some reason.

Something you could talk about for hours off the cuff:

lmao. my faves, marvel, star wars, bollywood, cartoons, music and dance.

Something you hate:

mean people, inconsiderate people, liars, i have misophonia so i hate sounds like someone chewing and all that, unorganised and people with poor time management (those who are neurotypical)

Something you collect:

earrings and unique clothes tags

Something you forget:

to be kind to myself

What’s your love language?

acts of service and gift giving. I am really good at gifting.

Favourite movie/show:

im gonna skip this cus i have a loooong list

Favourite food:

indian food + pasta

Favourite animal:

cats/dogs and bears

What were you like as a child?

smart, obedient yet playful and talkative

Favourite subject at school?

english and history. i would sit with encyclopedias in the school library to learn abt the world

Least favourite subject at school?

and fuck math, physics and chemistry (i did love the chem lab work)

What’s your best character trait?

ohhh my...well, i am very loyal, honest and fiercely protective of the ones i love. and im also a very hard working person, had to put in the extra work through out my life and it has made me more efficient and adaptable now. also my ability to stay calm in serious situations.

What’s your worst character trait?

lmao...many...my short fuse would be first, i can be pessimistic, i overthink a lot, i critique myself harshly and i can't express my emotions freely.

If you could change any detail of your day right now, what would it be?

i wish i was a lil bit more productive ngl and i would love to be on vacation lol

If you could travel in time, who would you like to meet?

oh man...tony stark cus thats father or irrfan khan, he should've been here with us.

Recommend one of your favourite fanfics (spread the love!):

AAAA i love them all this is so difficult but i read one recently and it's Homesick by @bru5678

made me cry and miss joel so bad :'(

___

Thank you!

[dead-end-street]

How do you make your gifs so beautiful? I really want to learn how to do this with the J dramas I watch. I'm in love with your tumblr.

omg thank you!!! my first reaction was wondering if you actually meant to send this to me or if this was a mistake but i'll take the compliment cus that's so incredibly sweet of you and really took me off guard

Thank you for your kind words about my gifs. if you look at the dates posted you can see I rarely make anything and mostly only make gifs/graphics for userdramas events (which you should join if you haven't already).

I would say one of the main factors to making gifs look good is the video quality. there's some gifs I've made where I didn't care about downloading the highest quality and it's evident in the way the gifs turned out (ie. grainy/blurry or kinda pixelated once i tried to sharpen it a bit) so then you're already starting at a loss. I'll put the rest under the cut.

once you have good source material, the rest kinda depends on your level of patience imo. taking the time to figure out your colouring preferences/style and playing around with different adjustment options and techniques can really help you get better and make things that you can envision in your mind and make it a reality. all this to say, i've been doing this for close to 20 years 👵🏼 (off and on) and I think I tend to get inspiration from others who are far more talented and adventurous than me. so i would definitely recommend looking through other creator's blogs and seeing what stands out for you and see if you can take elements of those to put into your own work :)

in terms of more technical aspects of gifs, i'd recommend checking out the resources section of our tags here. again, i feel like patience is key here. there's lots of advanced gif techniques I know how to do in theory or have done them once or twice before, but i'm personally too lazy nowadays to do them cus it's a LOT of work and effort. i really admire people who make gifs and really complex graphics regularly cus I know how much time and effort goes into it (which is why i make stuff so infrequently lol)

Thanks again for your lovely comment and good luck! 💖

[arcticsilver]

NEW BIG BOY INTRO

How many I'll do? That's for time to decide

Information

Hello, Hi, I'm Silver! Silly little artist guy that is constantly creating! I cosplay, draw, write, game, and more! I'm 19 and taken by my wonderful honey biscuit @its-fucking-draggo

Dos!

Interact in any way you feel comfortable! I'm not much for learning algorithms so if it gets out to you and you enjoy, that's all I hope for.

Feel free to redraw my designs! I love seeing interpretations however I do ask you credit me ^^;

Be kind, I'm fairly sensitive to negative comments however I don't mind criticism as long as you state that beforehand!

Use tone tags! If the tone is questionable, use tone tags

/j(joke)

/srs(serious)

/gen(genuine)

/pos(positive)

/neg(negative)

/lh(light hearted)

Credit me when showing my work! This also means don't use it for AI or you may have an unpleasant surprise...

Don'ts

Steal my work! Obviously dont edit out my signature(i sometimes forget so if you notice theres no "JJ Art" signature let me know please) and if I was an inspiration in writing or cosplay please credit me!

Don't bring up shit about CC!Wilbur/William, I'm fairly triggered by it because I'm a S/A Survivor to someone who used manipulation to keep me quiet

If you know where I live due to being a fellow cosplayer, please for the love of fuck don't dox my exact location(I do constantly state I'm a Texan critter so that's fine)

Do not color over my work to make it some other character or make fun of the character used in a /gen/neg way... I know this sounds silly but I've seen this happen to other artists and it's very disrespectful to the work they've put into it

Don't compare my work to yours(if you're an artist, cosplayer, or writer) whether your more or less experienced, I do not want to hear anything negative about your work or mine in that sense, as said before, critiques are fine but do not give criticism that cannot be fixed.

Taglist cus I also need a reminder to use them and what I had set for them

#my love <3 is @its-fucking-draggo

#CatGoBrr is @cats-thoughts

#ryemacncheeze is @ryemackerel

#ChocoStarMilk is @starrixle

#septiccesarsalad is @septic-salad

#vinegarjesus is @someone-named-rod

#pastelcucurucho is @pastelpurpled

#emilibrarian is @emi-writings

#jaybringsjoy is @jayysnotjoyful

#lilwarvet is my cat Mei Mei

#lilshitpooper is my cat Pearl

#weirdlookinsquirrel is my cat Susu

#hotdogdoggo is my dog Piper

#jaysmp - a silly little smp I'm on :3

#anon - will be used for anonymous asks or requests

#reply! - is for user asks or requests

#ArcticSilver / #art / #animation / #writing - Past works may or may not be actually what they are because but should be finished works in the future

#art help / #animation help / #writing help - I use it for helping me decide how I'm gonna get there but in the past I've used the ones above ^^;

#personal reblog - something i want y'all to look at again that's already on this blog or look at that was posted on my reblog account

Links

Main Carrd

Tumblr centric carrd

[another-dra-anew]

So asking what ifs is a thing now? Yamaguchi couldve chosen either Kobashikawa or Mekaru to kill, what if he chose Kobashikawa?

A/N: Whoops. In my defense, I wrote like... thirty incorrect quotes, so this got buried in drafts. Also, it's chapter two- you expect my brain to do anything other than try and forget it exists? Also, fun game; look at how easy it is to see what was written back when I answered the ch1 version of this ask, and what's more recent.

~*~

asking what ifs is totally a thing! being so genuine, it's any question that comes to mind- worst thing that'll happen is i'll go "WOW good work you stumbled onto something i actually can Not elaborate on whatsoever. congratulations. here's a celebratory (song from someones playlist/doodle of a relevant character/etc.) to make up for my silence"

~*~

reason:

feeling sympathetic for mekaru. remember, yamaguchi made his choices based off what he remembered from the motive videos. mekaru was charged with a lot of child-rearing, and yamaguchi isheavily downplaying his role in his household. he could have empathized with her and understand the importance of her role in the orphanage, and would want to leave her alive. kobashikawa does have siblings- but they're both older. yes, killing someone else's little sibling for his own is Hard, but it's easier when he doesn't know the older siblings, and when the youngest is his peer.

"then, why kill mekaru in canon?" few reasons, mostly coming back to her catching ill. first, it makes her easier to kill, and second, it makes her easier to get alone. mekaru was only put onto yamaguchis radar because of that first detail, and for the second, he had no way of knowing kobashikawa would tag along. he was very much so following guidance for his murder plot, so it didn't cross his mind to reevaluate once there was a second potential victim. works out better in his favor, since mekaru is an easier kill (again, sick), so if he had chosen someone else, it would've tipped the class off that something else was driving the blackeneds choices, cuing them into his motive more. Also, if Mekaru's sick... how strong is the argument that she could've struck down Yamaguchi and Kobashikawa?

case:

would've happened largely the same. he whacks them both, makes it look like he got hurt too, then slices kobashikawa up. very specific detail, but i think maeda would've watched kobashikawa die, same as how he watched mekaru die, even though he would've gotten their sooner? mekaru would've been able to scream for help as soon as she was awake- but kobashikawa is thinner, so even though yamaguchis weapon wasn't too long, it could have managed to pierce vital organs. so, he could've died from some sort of blood flow issue, stomach acid getting to the rest of his body... etc etc. mekaru getting him medical attention could help him hold on longer- but not long enough to live. though, seeing as mekaru could call for help asap, i wonder if we wouldn't have seen a different crew of people witnessing the death? ultimately, the only people with medical knowledge were busy treating an injury (maki, tomori) or being injured (tsurugi), so poor luck prevails.

I will confess that I'm currently gently retooling chapter 2. I say gently not because it's light changes, but because it's such a background thought in my mind. I don't think I'll get around to rewriting chapter 2 before I finish BTBB, but I do want to post a detailed outline of how I'd fix it. So, this is a bit hard, because I know I want to change the case so there's more evidence, and we don't ultimately solve the case by just going "oh, the venn diagram of people who could access the storage room, and people who were found in there and are still alive is exactly one person". I have issues with that for so many reasons, but one in particular; if we look at it from that angle, we know exactly who the blackened is before the investigation even starts. I don't know. Maybe I'll find a way to implicate some more kids... Anyways, having Mekaru around means we get more of an active second suspect, since Kobashikawa was out of commission in chapter 2 deadly life. I can see Yamaguchi sticking around more, trying to keep an eye on Mekaru so he can track her arguments, and keep her from swaying people too hard.

trial:

Hmmm. Again, comes back to the issue of "well, second trial sucked". I'd be worried about it getting too long (coughing... don't look at Chapter 3), but it might be fun to have it seem like it was neither Mekaru or Yamaguchi for a moment? It could be a good way of demonstrating Yamaguchis lawyer skills by having him decide to dismantle the argument that it had to have been someone else in the room, and letting him redirect the class around to then suspecting everyone except himself and Mekaru. Except, as he progressively pushes for this, and tries to "help Maeda work it out", I can see him accidentally creating a hole in his argument that doubles back around to pointing him as the suspect. It's hard to do that sort of thing without having a blue tracksuit (THH CH2) moment, but it's definitely do able. All you really have to do is have the blackened provide a certain way of seeing the case, some perspective that makes the most sense for them to have. Sudden insights are suspicious!

Returning to Mekaru being around, I can see her suddenly softening up on Yamaguchi, and being a bit "...wow, maybe it really wasn't him" after he starts to defend them both. I think she'd be... more suspicious of him than she lets on. All she says to the class is that it wasn't her, and she doesn't know who did it; she doesn't even implicitly state that if it wasn't her, it was probably Yamaguchi. Mekaru is so averse to making a stance, she's not doing anything that could lend itself well to debate. She doesn't want to be a crazed emotional frantic accusatory witch hunting bitch! So she just gives her side of things, and lets the trial progress as it does.

...But, Mekaru doesn't want to die. She likes being alive! There's a lot of things that make her pretty happy! So, I can see her going from mentally distrusting Yamaguchi, but chastising herself for thinking that, to having a strong event horizon moment for her characterization. After it starts to look bad for him, I can see him going in on accusing Mekaru, as sort of his last stand? It's such an overt negative framing of her, and it's during such a tumultuous moment, when Mekaru's already reeling from suddenly being one of two suspects again, that she just can't compose herself. No biting her tongue, no kicking herself with her heel to remind herself to be quiet- because, are you serious, Yamaguchi? Throwing her under the bus goes poorly for him; I can see us getting our first strong Mekaru argument moment, where she lays out all the ways the evidence points to him. This could be our blue tracksuit moment, with some detail that Maeda overlooked; when Mekaru incorporates it as part of her argument, he's able to go "wait... go back to that?", and learn the actual right angle of seeing things. Having Mekaru's reasoning skills save her and the class the second she's pushed hard enough to use them would be pretty nice, I think.

losing koba:

Hm. I mean, immediately, there's some clear stuff in Chapter 3 that would go differently... Sorry, this is so out of left field, but to be completely honest, we might be seeing Ōtori committing murder, like... before the rec room event. I still remember someone theorizing that Maeda was in danger of being poisoned at that event, and I can see Ōtori gunning for something like that. I mean coughs. What. Clearly he's being so real and unbiased in trial, and we really can't say for sure that he poisoned anything the night of the murders. His guilt is still unproven!... Anyways, that aside, Maeda and Ōtori would both be hit a good bit by Kobashikawa's death. Maeda would feel guilty, thinking he should've offered to go with Mekaru and Yamaguchi instead of Kobashikawa. On the other hand, Ōtori wouldn't feel guilt, but Kobashikawa's death would be more of a moral event horizon for him. Which is a bit funny because, of the two, Ōtori is the one with more link to Kobashikawa.

Also worth noting, I wonder how Higa would react to Kobashikawa's death. I can see him making a comment about how if Kobashikawa didn't "insist on being mute," he could've stayed alive. Honestly, I should think about making a post talking about how I wish I'd written Higa. He was hard to right early on; it's difficult to make characters that are mean because they're bigoted, and I think the ways he was used often came across as me proselytizing/"see how cool the other kids are!" which led to Higa not being seen as the threat he was, with it seeming like both I and the kids were undermining the weight of what he was saying via not taking him seriously. Back to Kobashikawa though, Higa had moved on to other things by Chapter 3 anyways, so not too much of a difference.

Which, that was definitely a tangent, but it's hard to talk about what Kobashikawa dying would change! Most of what we're seeing of him is his relationship with other students; he isn't a plot pusher the way Tsurugi is, he's more used for tone. Going into Chapter 3, Maeda would be more melancholic, and would have a harder time perking up for events; but things would largely stick the same. Biggest change is that I would be so sad to have lost my little guy. My best boy. My favorite son. The only child I have who has not stabbed me in the spleen and never would. (Talking about him put me in a mood it seems.

gaining mekaru:

I think the trial would serve as a big kick to Mekaru that would spur her into action a bit more. Depending on how long she stuck around after, she can either be somewhat disturbed by what happened, but end up receding into herself more about it, or, we could see genuine growth! Either way, I think the close brush with death would really throw her off. Baby’s first “I could have died. I could have died. That could have been me. I was unconscious, I was right there, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it. Someone else made the explicit choice to not snuff out my life.” Sorry baby, that isn’t fun to deal with. I can see her having a harsh spiral immediately after the trial, then, by the time of the next morning meeting, she’s worked herself out a bit more. She probably didn’t sleep much that night.

If I were keeping Mekaru around, I’d definitely want to go the visible growth route for her. With survivor Mekaru, this’d be more gradual, to give her room to continue to change post-game, but if I were keeping her for a bit, but not forever, I’d want her to have made a lot of progress with her. Mekaru’s still very smart, and I think she’d start to pick up on a lot of subtle threads going on in the killing game. If I were killing her off late-game, I’d try to incorporate her getting close to uncovering some stuff in her death. Maybe she’s trying to investigate something, and someone misunderstands what she’s doing, and offs her? I don’t really see Mekaru being a blackened; while I do believe the “accidental murder” trope can be pulled off well, I don’t see myself being able to make it fit with Mekaru. She’d be upset, but would try to face her execution with her head held high, and that isn’t quite the emotional angle that matches up with an accidental murder, it fits better for a… like, canon dra ch3 “the motive outweighed not committing murder” type of kill, where she Made That Choice. So, yeah- late-stage death Mekaru would be a victim Mekaru.

God, tangent. Anyways, alternative option with survivor Mekaru, I’d just give her less plot beats/successes. It’s hard to get into survivor roles without getting into general Chapter 6 going-on’s… so hey, let’s talk more about general Mekaru character arc, if she’d lived longer! I’d definitely have to establish some friendships for her… her strongest relationship in canon btbb was her and Hatano getting into disagreements, and there’s only so much that can happen there. Unlike canon, the reason people don’t want to hang out around Mekaru is because she thinks so poorly about herself, and they can clock that it’s because of a… icky mentality. If she were staying around, I think I’d honestly write in Maki getting closer with her. Both are girls who are struggling with some internalized issues, and while it’s easy to throw on a Tomori-sized bandaid onto that, I think it’d be nice to have Maki and Mekaru be working on things. Mekaru would still be fairly independent, and fairly isolated, so including Tomori wouldn’t work too well, imo… Maki and Mekaru would have a situational friendship, I think. Mekaru would be a bit Maki-averse, and Maki wouldn’t feel too great being around Mekaru, but Mekaru is emotionally strong + intelligent enough to sidestep her misgivings about Maki, and recognize her as a valuable ally to be keeping in the loop. Mekaru would want to work alone, still being unsure of her thoughts on the game, but she’d also be very very very aware of how easy it is for someone to kill her post Ch-2, so she’d tell Maki about what she was noticing to keep her discoveries from potentially dying with her. I can see her trying to step a bit closer to Ōtori, due to being there when Kobashikawa died… but, who really knows. Mekaru is so… her mentality has screwed with her so bad, she needs to have a good amount of growth before she can really connect with the other students. I could get into a funny tangent about how this is true of Higa and Yamaguchi as well, and how I’m actually not the biggest fan of that aspect of how things are written, but I also want to ramble about Maki now, and this isn’t about either of those subjects.

If I were to knock Mekaru off early… hmmm. This is really more about character than anything else- like, I can’t start thinking about how I’d make this work. I also couldn’t do this for the matter of how I’d keep her alive. I don’t have it in me to think about how this would change the death order; for the Chapter 1 what-if, it was so obvious to me, and this is… so not. Literally what change would Mekaru have. Hmmm. Anyways, about what I actually know- to make Mekaru dying in Ch3 satisfying, I think I’d go the potentially-scorned route of having her regress with her faults. She’s not growing! The guilt is getting to her, and this manifests as screwing with her self-esteem. The blow to her self-esteem means she continues to isolate and try to pathologize away her pain into something she deserves, and she doesn’t get anyone who helps her work through her new trauma. She becomes flighty and stressed, while probably getting more sick from the mental wear and tear. The lack of sunlight starts to really bite her; most of her interaction comes from Tsuzuna bringing her a plethora of supplements to try and get her brain and body functional again. Everything is going poorly, and it’s just… not working out for her. I think Yamaguchi’s justification of the case would start to screw with her too. Is that… who she is? She’s… only alive because of the kids. Because she’s a caretaker, a provider. She needs to stay alive, because Kobashikawa is dead, and that could’ve been her, except Yamaguchi wanted the people in her life to not lose her, because they’d be lost without her. The grief and the stress and the nausea (physical and mental) gets to be too much. I know I said I couldn’t think of how the death order would change, but I can actually see Ōtori starting to put a murder plot into play, and Mekaru just… not really resisting. The train is coming, and she doesn’t try to get off the tracks- she didn’t step onto them, but all she can do at this point is close her eyes and brace herself. (This isn’t the most accurate to what Ōtori’s deal is… but again! Not about him!) Mix of exhaustion and learned helplessness would get her.

Conclusion

Taking so long to write this is really biting me. Yamaguchi totally could have chosen to kill Kobashikawa off instead, it just wasn’t what he banked on. So much of his motivation for committing murder was what he heard in his dream, so he was sticking with his plan. Because it wasn’t really his original thought, he didn’t adapt to the changing situation. But, who knows! It’s totally possible that he’d have taken Kobashikawa coming along as a sign that he wasn’t supposed to kill Mekaru; blind faith leads to blind acceptance.

Depending on what I wanted to do with Mekaru, there’s different ways she could’ve been affected by what happened. Either way, we’re seeing a crisis in purpose, as she questions what she’s doing with her life, and what she wants to do now that it nearly got snuffed out. She won’t have a complete abandonment of everything she’s ever known, but just being around is enough to start to foster a change in her. Of course, it’s also feasible that she’d recede instead of growing, and that’s part of why she got killed off in the first place; get moving, or get offed, Mekaru! If she manages to stick around though, she’d definitely start making strides towards contributing to the groups understanding of the game. She’s a valuable asset, so long as she’s willing acknowledge and utilize her skills.

The impact of losing Kobashikawa would be really subtle; everything Kobashikawa’s doing is things that Maeda isn’t seeing. If he wasn’t ever there to hang around Maeda in Chapter 3, we wouldn’t know that he would have hung out with him if he were still alive! Etc, etc. Maeda feels horrible about it, and things will happen… differently with Ōtori’s involvement in the group, but it isn’t as drastic of a loss as losing Tsurugi in the other What-if. Oh my god, every time I talk about Kobashikawa for this ask, I start to feel so sad. I think that’s a sign I should be done with this.

~*~

So, no excerpts to give, but! I scoured Discord to find times I’ve drawn Mekaru/Kobashikawa. These are both… I mean, they were already old when I first found them for this ask, and then I took weeks even after that to actually finish writing this. So, forgive the image quality/the fact that… actually yeah, these were both drawn when I was testing one thing or another. Beggars can’t be choosers, you guys! /t

They both look so stupid i love them both. I hope they get hit by a car… no I don’t I want them to live happily forever. Koba go take her to get a smoothie.

[teomodo]

i decided i'm gonna copy @/tincansamurai and crosspost oc monday posts from pillowfort cus i liked the questions this week (here's my tag for it on pifo)

1. Did [x] go to university or receive some other tertiary education? What did they study?

val: val went to umass with bede for like one semester before he dropped out. he was an english major

bede: bachelors in architecture from umass amherst. i haven't decided if she's working on her master's too? maybe?

shoni: double majored in computer software engineering and drama & theater production at NYU

2. Describe one of [x]'s dreams or nightmares.

val: he's got this one nightmare he's had a couple times that's just him lying in his childhood bed, facing the wall, and it's either just after dusk or right before dawn, low light but not entirely dark. he hears the door open and footsteps approach the bed, but he knows he's not allowed to look, so he pretends to be asleep

bede: she has this one nightmare where she's lying on her back on top of a lot of scaffolding in a building that's got this high ceiling like a chapel but crown molding like a family home. the ceiling is sectioned off into religious paintings, and directly above her is one of those obi-wan catholic jesuses. the closer she looks though she realizes that the eyes are cut out like a scooby doo painting and someone is looking at her from the other side. she wakes herself up trying to call out

shoni: she has variations on the same theme of pets or babies being harmed in her care. in one her room is full of cages with little exotic pets, like weird little birds and hedgehogs, and she's trying to check up on them, but whenever she tries to count there's always more. she tries to feed them little treats but they're asleep/nonresponsive

3. Does [x] have any tattoos?

val: nope

bede: yes! she has a wheat stalk on her left forearm, a tiny yin and yang behind her left ear, and a drunk stick and poke on her right thigh from a friend at a frat party that says "BE ERS?"

shoni: nooo but i think she has considered getting a fandom one. like a word in gallifreyan or a quote about the one ring i could see her getting

4. How does [x] most often use expletives?

val: he doesn't like to swear so he'll say stuff like friggin and what the eff and what in the world

bede: just all the time. any mild annoyance is a dumb fucking cunt

shoni: she doesn't swear much, mostly just when she's working on code or drinking

5. Is [x] envious of anyone? Why?

val: the first person that comes to mind is actually bede; as much as he's sort of philosophically opposed to her step-on-everybody attitude he wishes he could be capable and independent like her. when she's at college and he's home he goes through her stuff and gets a little fixated on this idea that her makeup has like, these magic powers that let her be like that

bede: her brothers, mostly, literally just for being born male. in general she's a poor sport about people doing better than her, too

shoni: i think she makes kind of a concerted effort not to get envious of people, but it does really get her to see coworkers and stuff being treated de facto like they're worthy of respect/being listened to where she feels she has to prove it to get the same treatment

6. What does [x] like least about themselves?

val: that he's such a coward

bede: that she's not her dad

shoni: that she's "too much"

7. How would you change [x] for a Victorian AU?

val: god he would fit right in in victorian times. i think if he could hack it victor hugo/charles dickens style and find a newspaper to publish stories he writes he could live in a tiny overcrowded tenement and die of consumption at 30 and it would be not that different from how he lived now

bede: she would probably have arranged married her horrible college bf heath who i haven't posted about here and browbeat him into submission so she could mastermind some kind of scheme in the wings. i know she's intimidating people behind closed doors and putting arsenic in the food of specific guests when they host to try and weasel heath into some kind of magnate/baron position

shoni: she works at the moulin rouge!!! she LOVES CABARET!!!!!!

[penbwl]

WAIT WHAT IDEAS DO YOU HAVE FOR AUs I AM SO INTRIGUED. I LOVE YOUR ART AND I BET ANYTHING YOU DO FOR A POTENTIAL AU WILL BE EPIC :D

Aw Tysm!! This will probably be kinda long so I’ll put my ideas under the cut!

I’m thinking along the lines of something sweet like Luigi is maybe a chef or something? He doesn’t go with Mario on as many adventures anymore since he’s busy with his restaurant and in all honestly Luigi is tired of being brother number 2, always following at Mario’s heals. He’s also low-key kinda traumatised from all the shit he’s been through so he decides to take a rest and pursue something a little slower paced. (He still love’s adventure,, he’s just having a little midlife crisis of sorts). Bowser would come to the restaurant investigating, thinking the brothers are up to something. He falls in love with the food ((as well as a certain green someone)) and he’d eventually become a regular using his original suspicions as an excuse to keep seeing Luigi. Luigi hides this from his brother for obvious reasons,, especially when they start ‘hanging out’ outside of the restaurant (they absolutely start dating without even realising). Bowser takes Luigi on adventures and he begins to kinda come back from the slump he had- he’s more confident and he loves spending time with bowser and his kids. Mario catches them together one night at the restaurant and is immediately in protective brother mode. There’s a huge fight with bowser that eventually gets broken up by Luigi who is both upset and angry at the two of them for starting a brawl in his restaurant and not being civil. Both Mario and bowser begrudgingly form a truce in favour of Luigi and they eventually work things out.

Another idea - Luigi is an inventor/mechanic type person. He found Jr one day after he crashed his vehicle and helped him repair it, after that Jr kept coming back because he thought Luigi and his gadgets were cool. Bowser catches on and eventually goes to meet Luigi and eventually they become friends. (Luigi and Bowser haven’t met before this as Luigi works behind the scenes on the gadgets instead). Luigi helps out bowser with his tech as well but mostly as an excuse to hang out, eventually Bowser finds out that Luigi works for Mario and feels betrayed but later finds out they’re brothers and kinda just comes around after that (there’s probably some drama including Mario there like the first one).

Another sweet one that doesn’t really have much plot but it’s kinda cute,,

WARNING: This is sickeningly sweet and sappy and not at all canon compliant😭

florist au!! Bowser is secretly a big softie and has his own secret flower garden,, he loooves flowers. One time when peach is captured and they go to save her Luigi accidentally stumbles into the secret garden and is completely in awe,, bowser is humiliated and gets kinda angry that luigi found out. The next time they go to rescue peach,, Luigi leaves a little potted plant in the garden with a note saying how he thought it would look nice there. This keeps happening and eventually Bowser catches him in the act and isn’t even mad,, he’s confused as to why his enemy is gifting him flowers (because he’s a bi disaster that’s why). They get to talking about the flowers and Bowser learns that luigi actually has his own little flower shop back home and was amazed when he saw how beautiful Bowsers garden was. Bowser explains he’s trying to impress Peach, he wants to find the perfect flowers for her. Luigi talks him through what flowers he recommends for Peach and they meat up again so luigi can bring them. (They talk a lot and are very gay and cute) ,, a while later Bowser gifts the flowers to peach instead of capturing her and asks her out. (She absolutely recognises the tag on the bouquet and something and shes kinda sus of Bowser,, cus did he actually buy these from Luigi??) She politely declines and Bowser… doesn’t really care? He doesn’t really feel a whole lot for her and he’s not sure why. He tells Luigi this and when they go to meet again Luigi brings him another bouquet. Bowser is confused cus Peach already declined his offer so there was no point in giving her more flowers but Luigi says the flowers are for him!! Anyway they hangout more in the garden,, they sit there and sip tea as they watch the flowers in the sun rays. Eventually peach does catch on and she sorta manages to get the two to date because they’re morons in love and blah blah blah Bowser helps run the flower shop and it’s cute. Shit the end —- I’m so sorry this is overly sweet. ———-

anywayyyy I do have more ideas but these are just a few,, they’re very wholesome but I would love to also dabble in some angst maybe? Perhaps something involving Mr L. ?? Idk,, perhaps part of the reason Luigi had his little crisis in the first one was because he was traumatised by the brainwashing or smthn. But thanks for listening to my shitty ideas 😭