#There's some mistakes but overall I'm happy with how it came out

[zealouselement]

Tired convict who just wants to fly and shoot without bitches in his ear telling him he sucks is very tired.

[showskanvas]

First original post for this sideblog! My contribution to the Monty and Foxy show PMV collab organized by @kenmarlenn ! You can watch it here! :D It was so much fun working on it and one of the first times I pushed myself to stop being shy participate in a project like this! XD Everyone did such an amazing job and should be proud!

[sunny44]

A baby here

Pairing: Charles Leclerc x Fem!reader

Warnings: pregnancy talks and

Summary: now it’s real, no mistakes on the ultrasound stories.

This was a request, hope it was what you imagined.

Previous Part

After that day, I kept thinking about how happy he was, believing I was pregnant even though I wasn't really. It made me more certain that he's the one I want to be the father of my children.

So, after that day, we decided that when we felt like it, we wouldn't use protection but it was all very laid-back—if it happened, great, but if not, that was fine too.

But eventually, it happened and I decided to do the same thing as last time, but this time, I made my stories visible only for him to see since I was going out again with my sister.

Yourusername Instagram stories

@charlesleclerc replied to your stories

Babe, you're posting your sister's ultrasound again 😂

I felt like responding, but I ignored it and showed it to my sister, who laughed too.

We continued shopping and I stopped in front of a baby clothing store, watching and thinking that in a few months, Charlie and I would be dressing our baby in those tiny outfits.

“Why not surprise him?” She said, stopping beside me. “He did it for you when he thought you were pregnant, so now that you are, it would be nice to put a little outfit along with the test.”

“I already have an outfit; I had a onesie made like the Ferrari overalls.”

“He'll love it.”

“I'm sure he'll only dress her in that.”

“Her?” My sister asked.

“I don't know, I have a feeling it's a girl.” I touched my belly.

“Regardless of what comes, you two will be great. But Charles was born to be a girl's dad.” I smiled at her.

“Yeah, I know.” I smiled, imagining the two of them.

“Well, I think we should go; Mike said he took Charles out of the house and they're on the boat organizing things for our day tomorrow so it's the perfect time for you and me to plan a surprise for him.”

...

We organized everything for the surprise, I made his favorite pasta, set the table with candles and prepared the little box with the surprise. When he came home, he was more excited than usual, hugging and kissing me all over my face.

“What's with all this excitement?” I asked as he looked around.

“What is all this? I'm sure I didn't forget our anniversary or anything.”

“You didn't and I just wanted to surprise you.”

“Thank you love, everything looks beautiful.”He gave me a peck. “And this excitement is because I stopped by your sister's with Mike, helped him with some things for the baby's room and got excited about when we're going to decorate ours.” I held back tears and didn't tell him. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I'm just hungry.” He laughed.

“I'll take a quick shower and be right down, okay?” I agreed, and he rushed upstairs.

I arranged our food on the plates, lit the candles and when I finished, he was coming down.

“Hmm, you even made my favorite pasta.”

“Come on, let's eat.”

After dinner and after declining the wine, we talked a lot until I decided it was time.

“I have a surprise for you.”

“Another one?” He asked as I got up.

“Yes.”

“I also have something for you.”

“Okay, do you want to go first?”

“Yes.” He took a deep breath.

“Okay.” I left the little box on the counter.

“You are the best thing that has happened in my life so far. You came into my life when I was at my worst after losing my father, and you helped me overcome and not get lost in grief. I honestly don't know what I would do without you, and I don't even want to think that this could happen someday. You are the love of my life, and I have no doubt about that.” I was already crying, and I cried more when he knelt in front of me, opened the box with a ring inside. “So, would you make me the happiest man in the world by marrying me?”

“Charlie.” I said, crying. “Of course, I'll marry you.”

He smiled, putting the ring on my finger and kissing me. He wiped the tears from my face and gave me a peck.

“What did you want to give me?” He asked after letting me go.

“Here.” I handed him the box, and he left it on the counter, opening it.

“I don't understand.” He said, taking out the Ferrari onesie from the box. “Did you want to show it to me before giving it to your sister?”

“It's not for her.” I said, taking the pregnancy test and handing it to him. “The ultrasound I posted wasn't hers; it's mine.”

“What?” He widened his eyes. “You're pregnant?”

“Yes.” And more tears streamed down my eyes, but now Charles's eyes too.

“We're having a baby?” I nodded. “We're having a baby.”

He said and hugged me tightly; I heard him sniffle and laugh with happiness, and when he let go, he kissed me.

“Did you like it? The little outfit.” He laughed.

“I loved it; it looks just like it.” He said, looking. “It will definitely be the outfit I'll put on our baby the most.”

“I'm 100% sure about that.” I smiled at him, and he folded and put the outfit back in the box.

“Can we use the guest room for the baby's room and turn the office into the new guest room, or can we move to a bigger place?” He started talking. “I heard there's a vacant apartment one floor below Max's building; we could be neighbors, and...”

“Charles, calm down; you're talking so much you're getting out of breath.” I smiled at him, and he gave me a peck. “We don't need to do anything now; we can think about it calmly.”

“I know, but I'm so excited, and I really want to buy things for the room, but we need to know where we're going to live.”

“Well, I love living here, but it's a bit small, and since we're starting a family, maybe living in a slightly bigger place would be good.”

“Well then, I'll schedule a visit to that apartment before the season starts.”

“Okay.” I smiled and gave him a peck.

“What do you think it is?” He asked, running his hand over my belly.

“I have a feeling it's a girl.”

“Well, I don't mind; whatever comes, we'll love unconditionally.” He said. “But I always saw myself as a girl's dad, so...”

“My sister said you look like a girl's dad.” He smiled.

“Well, I agree with her.” He hugged me. “How about we go upstairs and lie down?”

“I think it's a great idea.” He picked me up and took me to our room.

Bonus scene!

Yourusername Instagram stories

“This last few months have been the best ones in my life, I’m about to become Mrs. Leclerc and a mommy.”

[thefollow-spot]

'Merlin' and 'Lancelot' by Edwin Arlington Robinson

This is the first full book I've typeset and bound that is not fanfiction—which means I finally have something to show off to the normies in my life LMAO!

'Twas a Christmas gift for my lovely Misery (@whoawhataconcept), who has dragged me right after her into a fascination with Arthuriana ❤️

✨ Details below the cut! ✨

🤍 NEW METHODS 🤍

Printing at home: In the past, I've sent my typeset PDFs off to a local print shop to be printed, but with access to a home printer for the first time, I battled the fucking thing to print it entirely at home. I had a lot of trouble getting my printer to do the whole thing (I think it was so long that the printer's memory started giving up), so I eventually ended up sending the PDF to print in smaller signature groups at a time. Due to misprinting, I ended up with many good glue sheets & pages to protect drying boards and such

Leather-core for endbands: I finally splurged and bought some leather jewellery cord to use as the core in my sewn endbands and it was FANTASTIC!

Ribbon bookmark: 🤍🤍🤍

Backed papers: I purchased two large sheets of artisan paper for the endpages and the cover material. Both were too flimsy for my comfort, so on the advice of some folks at @renegadeguild, I backed some cut-down sheets with regular printer paper using a mix of 50/50 PVA and rice paste. I pressed them flat between protective sheets and they came out perfect!

Paste mix: I enjoyed working with the PVA-paste mix so much that I used it for the rest of the project for pretty much all of my gluing :)

Using an actual book press: Not much to say here except that I finally have an actual press and it made everything 100% easier haha!

Cricut stencil: My sister donated her time and cricut to help me title my cover and spine (under the dust jacket). We cut out stencils with cricut's stencil material & with stick-on vinyl (when we ran out of stencil material LOL). The spine turned out lovely but with some bleed; the cover was a bit of a mess since the stencil material started peeling up the fibres of the cover paper (which I had somehow not thought to seal). But live and learn!

🤍 BOOK INTERIOR 🤍

Copy-editing: Done by they lifesaving and gracious @highlynerdy, who saved me from agonizing over if the raw text source I took from had typos or mistakes. Thank you again, Gracie 💛

Typeset: I was inspired by the original typesets from when these poems were first published, updated to my own aesthetic sensibilities (as much as I had patience for)! The main body-text font is 'Lancelot' which seemed the only appropriate font to use for this project <3

Art: (Not pictured) I included some art by Edward Burne-Jones, "The Beguiling of Merlin", and "The Failure of Sir Lancelot"

🤍 EXTERIOR DESIGN 🤍

Cover: I originally wanted to do this book in blue, but when I went to the paper store, I could not find any marbled blue paper that wasn't wildly over-budget, so I ended up doing another red book. I tried to stick to a colour scheme of white-heavy monochrome + red + metallics.

Dust jacket: Much to my dismay, I realized that I've been lucky in the past, with access to a small nonprofit print shop where their ordering process involves emailing them and describing what you need. To print a dust jacket, one needs access to a print service with "large format" printing, and as I've discovered, that usually means an industrial printing service. Sorely missing my usual nonprofit print shop, I ended up going with a custom photo printing service, requesting a large photo print on their thinnest paper. Due to my special instructions, the cover came back almost-perfect. The edges were jagged, and the paper was a bit too thick, but it is perfectly serviceable and I'm overall happy with how it came out.

[chelledoggo]

i made a jumbo-sized perler Pomni today. (smaller perler Pomni for scale)

WHAT. A. NIGHTMARE.

like, i ran out of black beads when working on the outline, so i had to get my mom who was out doing errands to pick me up some more.

also when i was first ironing it, i pulled up the parchment paper and the beads got stuck and started breaking apart and going everywhere, so i had to painstakingly put them back in their places while they were already partially melted.

there's probably a lot of mistakes and imperfections, but overall i'm pretty happy with how it came out.

here's a link to the pattern i used for this. (i don't have a printer at the moment so i had to keep looking at my computer screen lol.)

over 1300 beads went into this.

wheeeeew.

[agi-ppangx]

I have a question…? Could u do a part 2 to the “finding put ur pregnant with minho” where reader and minho plan a fun way to tell the other 7 that they’re pregnant and the kids react in a happy way and how they’re gonna be amazing uncles and stuff?

Thank you in advance 🫶

oh my god my first ask ever !! thank u so much for submitting ‹3 i wrote it in the middle of the night so please excuse all typos and grammar mistakes >< hopefully this is what you wanted, i tried to make it fun and chaotic :D please let me know if you liked it !

part one | part three

feedback and reblogs highly appreciated🫶🏽

you and minho found out you're pregnant a while ago. the past few weeks were really busy for both of you - going to the doctors, learning about pregnancy and reading about babies and overall implementing a new lifestyle. you've told your parents about the baby as soon as you have been confirmed by your doctor that you are pregnant. however, you decided to wait a while before telling anyone else just to make sure your pregnancy is safe.

now you were about to enter the second trimester and you and minho decided to finally tell the boys about the baby, since the bump was starting to show a little bit. but minho being minho didn't want to just say "hey, just so you know - y/n is pregnant and we're about to be parents" - no, he wanted to do it in a bit of a fun way. that being said, you two organised a little game night with the boys, wanting to share the news during charades.

when they arrived you started with some board games to set the mood. all of you were chatting and joking around, no one suspected anything. jisung and hyunjin asked you a few times if you wanted to grab some beer with them and you came out with some lame excuses, like "sorry, i'm not feeling well now" or "nah, i'm good, i have my orange juice" and they were looking at you suspiciously, but said nothing. after what felt like a hundredth question about beer, you announced that it's time to play charades. minho looked at you and smiled a bit, knowing whats about to happen.

chan went first, pretending to be michael jackson. you laughed a little at his impression since he didn't really know how to do the moonwalk but tried nonetheless. then there was hyunjin, trying to do an impression of bob ross, but it resulted in seungmin making fun of him for a good ten minutes. "okay, now it's my turn,'' minho exclaimed and stood in front of you. "i'm gonna make an impression of someone in this room," he added and he proceed to do his best at pretending to be you - he brushed his non-existent long hair out of his face and imitated your giggling. and then he started to show his non-existent pregnancy belly with his hands. you were trying not to smile, but then the boys started talking. "hey, you said it's someone in this room" jisung yelled and pointed a finger at minho. "he's right, no one ate so much food!" jeongin added at which you started grinning. "right? and the only person who could be pregnant is y/n and-" chan started, but quickly stopped in his tracks when he realised. he turned to you and stared at your face with disbelief, the boys following after him. "y/n, is there anything you wanna tell us?" the boys were staring at you, their bewildered faces making you laugh out loud. minho walked to you and sat by your side, giggling with you at how ridiculously funny the boys looked. when you calmed down a bit, you finally decided to answer their question. "i think you've already realised, but yes, there is something we wanna tell you guys" you started and took minho's hand, suddenly feeling a bit anxious. you took a deep breath and continued, "we are going to have a baby and no - we're not getting a fourth cat" you stated, squeezing minho's hand in yours. the boys looked at you two for a while and then the chaos began. they started yelling and jumping all around your living room. "oh my god, y/n thats amazing! congratulations!" chan said loudly, trying to shout over the rest. "we're gonna be uncles! yeah!" felix started screaming, visibly overjoyed by the news. he then proceeded to trap you in a tight hug, making sure not to squeeze you too hard. the rest of the boys followed him and soon after all of them were hugging you. you didn't see much besides their heads, but when you stood on your tiptoes you managed to take a glance at minho - he was standing next to all of you, his face lit up in a huge grin. "okay boys, let me breathe," you chuckled, feeling quite overwhelmed with their love. "oh my god, of course! hey, stop hugging her!" changbin screamed, suddenly protecting you from the boys. jisung was the last one to break the hug, which he did only because chan used force to get him away from you. "c'mon y/n, have a seat, you have to rest," felix exclaimed, leading you to the couch. you giggled again - you found it adorable how they became so protective over you in the span of ten minutes. "do you need anything? like baby clothes or a stroller? wait, we can help you to arrange a nursery!" changbin started to ramble. "and we can buy you all the essentials, like diapers and baby formula," seungmin added, getting his phone to write down a shopping list. "oh, can i teach your kid how to ride a bike? pleeeease!" jisung begged. "okay, slow down everybody," minho finally spoke, trying to control the situation. "y/n is fine, everything is fine, she's only like twelve weeks pregnant, we have plenty of time to plan everything and no - i will be the one to teach them that," he added, hoping that the boys would quiet down. "minho's right, we're fine by now. but im glad our baby will have such amazing uncles,'' you assured the boys, grinning widely. even though the boys' reaction made you laugh for the next few days, you were happy that you had their support. you and minho were nervous about the whole pregnancy thing, but their will to help and be there for both of you made you think that after all universe made a perfect plan for you.

[nanabansama]

119 Thoughts

The recent chapter was... good!! Great, even!! We got a lot of answers and the new developments felt straightforward enough to follow. Still not fully comfortable with my interpretation yet, but honestly I'm just happy to be along for the ride.

Anyway, I wanted to write my thoughts down just to make sure I have everything straight going forward. There's a lot going on and some of my older theories have been debunked!

First, I'd like to point out what I think is pretty obvious and say that Kou must be possessed right now. The specifics are unclear but in my head this is still Kou, he's just being manipulated by the Red House or something. One thing I find interesting though is that he's overall really innocent... he doesn't do anything to put Nene in danger that she doesn't do herself. Nene is the one who decides to risk it all and talk to Amane, after all. The only thing I can say Kou did bad is separate her from the group and take her to Amane. Whatever is controlling Kou might be aware that Nene would drop her defenses around Amane and use that to their advantage.

Mitsuba's part in all of this is still a mystery, but I have to wonder if he will try to trick the Akane/Aoi/Teru trio whenever we jump back to them. I'm suspecting that they won't convene with Nene right away, though I have no idea how Nene will fare in the next chapter... (could she join Mitsuba and Kou and become the Red House's puppet!? I could easily see her tricking Aoi!)

Anyway, moving onto Yugi-sensei, I loved the glimpse into his headspace we got in this chapter. It seems like he's under the delusion everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) is happier in this timeline, which is quite interesting. It almost makes me wonder if the Clock Keepers made him like this to ensure the timeline stayed this way. They told Baby Amane that the future changed, after all, which is... honestly quite disturbing. While I think it was foolish for the Clock Keepers' goal to be to get rid of Tsukasa in the first place, I don't think they'd make such a big mistake by telling Amane the future changed and traumatizing him. The possibility that the Clock Keepers made Amane this way for the good of the world would be a thrilling twist, I think!

I also think this could explain his other curious behavior. Many have wondered why Amane spreads rumors about Tsukasa-kun and why he smirks when school kids summon Tsukasa-kun, and it seems the reason is because he thinks Tsukasa is happy this way. The fact that this Tsukasa is the age Tsukasa disappeared, too, probably helps with this because Amane might still be under the assumption that the Tsukasa who came back after their 4th birthday was a fake. Now obviously, this Amane doesn't have all his memories yet, but it's extremely likely they're just buried inside of him and--unbeknownst to him--influencing his current actions. Either way, I think it's clear that Amane is under the delusion that Tsukasa is happy torturing kids at school. (...and who's to say whether he is or isn't!!!)

All of the souls trapped in the Red House might be in a similar situation, where Amane is under the delusion he's making them happy. I wonder if his parents are part of them...? I'm just thinking that Kou's cheerfulness this chapter is really relevant. He's so happy to just be with Nene and seems to have zero worries at all. It's honestly kinda creepy, when you consider how he was in the previous chapter!

Now hear me out. I'm not usually one to wish harm on Nene, but it would be interesting if Nene got captured and got to meet Amane's parents, assuming they got trapped in the Red House too. I proposed the theory that Kou has just been brainwashed but it could very well be a fake Kou, and if she got to team up with Kou and Mitsuba I think that'd make for an amusing trio. Especially since we have another trio in the house right now with Akane, Teru and Aoi. We could have Nene trapped and trying to escape while a fake evil Nene tries to trick them... that could be so fun!!! (Writing fanfiction at this point lol)

If we go along with the theory that Kou is fake, perhaps the souls trapped in the Red House also have fake body doubles? You'll notice that they are very obviously not happy, considering the way they urged Mitsuba to run away and escape. But I really cannot think for another explanation for Kou's behavior in this chapter. Amane's ominous line about everyone being happy plus Kou being so cheerful just feel so connected! Perhaps the happiness once instilled in the poor souls trapped in the Red House eventually wore off, proving how fake their happiness was in the first place. (Or perhaps I've gone off the deep end.)

In any case, I really wonder what the point of oddly cheerful fake/brainwashed Kou is. I can only assume it's to try and trick Nene into thinking this new world is better. The motives don't seem very malicious, despite all the harm it's bringing. Amane genuinely wants people to be happy, and I think the Red House is working with him to make his dreams a disturbing reality.

I just wonder where Tsukasa is... is he trapped in the Red House, too? Or is he trapped inside the school, inside Tsukasa-kun? What if he's trapped as a child, unable to grow up, because the innocent little brother that left Amane on their birthday is the only true Tsukasa in Amane's eyes? How well did the Clock Keepers do at getting rid of Tsukasa, anyway...? He can't really be gone, can he!?

Ahh, but anyway!!! Thanks for reading if you got this far. And if Amane really prefers Baby Tsukasa then I suppose I can't complain. I mean, just look at him!!

He is so freakin' CUTE!!!! Grahhh!!!! ♡♡♡♡

[crowdusk]

One Piece Chapter 1132: Adventure in Elbaph (thoughts & predictions for the arc)

Part 2 here.

[These are the feverish autism-fuelled thoughts I wrote out after reading chapter 1132 because I was overtaken by the urge to connect some dots (I did edit a bit to hopefully be more coherent). I didn't engage with any other reviews or theories on Elbaph apart from quite general ones before reading this, so it'll be cool to see if other people have similar ones. Wasn't sure whether to post this but I wanted to put it somewhere before chapter 1133 came out and next week's break so it doesn't just sit on my laptop for me to forget about, and more importantly so I can refer back to it and see if anything I said was even vaguely correct. It's a monster and I don't have time to do a proper editing process so please kindly look away from any mistakes and poor structuring. One of the really fun aspects of serialised storytelling for me is theorising and analysis, even if it makes a fool of me more often than not. I'm not expecting to be right but it's fun when that happens!]

This also ended up being, uh, Very Long. There is a chapter review part with some thoughts on the arc, and then there are thematic sections where I got more into detail about what I think Elbaph will explore. This whole thing will be split into multiple posts because of Tumblr's limit, but there will be links to the different sections/posts. Ok, end of intro.

Overall thoughts on the chapter

Firstly, this chapter was so fun. It had all the familiar thrill and excitement of a new island and adventure, with some wonderful panels (rainbow-sailing, Bonney and Robin, the Elbaph village). We had ‘Adventure in the Land of Mystery’, and the suspense was interesting, but I’m sure I wasn’t the only one extremely confused (especially because of the mistakes). From what I saw the whole fandom was essentially the when ur whole crew doesn’t know a damn thing meme. But I’m glad Oda had his fun with the fake introduction to Elbaph, which also helped set up Luffy meeting Loki and the delay in receiving Vivi’s message amongst other things. 

1132 really feels like quintessential early One Piece where we’re off to a running start now that we’re finally sure we’re where we want to be. Love to see the Strawhats get somewhere, play around, and immediately cause chaos. It’s somehow packed with new information and fast-paced, while feeling like we get a bit of a breather from plot-intensity after Egghead. 

I’m also, of course, incredibly happy we’re finally getting to see Elbaph in all its much-anticipated glory. The natural features of the island – especially the landscape, the scale, elements like the rainbows and the giant tree as a living support–  make it feel extra fantastical and wondrous beyond what I, at least, had imagined. Hats off to Oda and especially his assistants for the gorgeous Rivendell-Zelda-Skyrim vibes in the village introduction spread. I love a fantasy-style nature-based environment, and I don’t think we’ve had that in a while. Wano and Egghead had some incredible settings too, of course, but the story felt a lot more people-centric once they got to the islands. Here, the landscape really becomes a character of its own in the same way it did in say, Zou (quite literally). In fact, Yggdrasil is both alive and ancient, just like Zunesha. I’m looking forward to seeing how that feeds into the story. 

I'm also very glad that Oda is leaning into that and giving us those wide-angle shots. He doesn’t always get perspective and scale exactly right, but I personally don’t mind – the man knows how to draw an impactful double-spread. I can’t un-know the fact that the Sunny is supposed to be more than twice the height of Goldberg, who’s carrying it, but it doesn’t ruin anything for me. I’m used to Oda just doing shit like that because he wants/needs the Sunny to be carried around like a toy. It would be such a shame if we got to Elbaph and we only got smaller views or workarounds in order to avoid the challenges of scale and perspective. 

On top of that, one of my favourite parts of the One Piece experience is finally having puzzle pieces and references fall into place after arcs and years – like the architecture and landscape we recognise from Big Mom’s flashback. We've been waiting for this for over 20 years! More than 1000 chapters! I love this manga. I love it here. The sequence of the rainbow bridge leading into finally getting to see the village was lovely, and as a huge Skypiea lover, I am having a great time. Seeing our experience reflected in Luffy and especially Usopp’s reactions was also beautifully moving. I’m glad they were highlighted and we had the flashback to Little Garden to really drive it home.  

On the plot side,  we’re slowly building a picture of the variation in how different giants feel about humans. We have Gerd and Rodo, who both have strong feelings in completely opposing ways. Where Gerd infantilises humans in her fascination with them, Loki and Rodo clearly seem to think they are inferior. It remains to be seen what other perspectives exist in Elbaph. Is there real resentment or hatred from those like Loki and Rodo, or do they generally just think giants are superior due to their strength and size? Regardless, it feels like Oda is slowly setting us up to understand that there are different groups of giants with different beliefs even within Elbaph (we already know Saul is not from there and considers them ‘barbarians’). Just as in any society there are surely faultlines and disagreements, and their relationship to humans – and maybe even the world at large – might very well be a point of tension within the kingdom. 

Speaking of points of tension, it’s obviously very ominous that Luffy has made a promise to Loki, particularly since we don’t know the specifics of it. Oda has cleverly given us only a glimpse of the very end of that conversation in relation to Luffy’s famous difficulty with lying and we’ll see how long he decides to tease us with it. He could definitely give us that information in dribs and drabs to keep us guessing, but I also think most of us are probably right in guessing that Luffy promised to free Loki, even if we don’t know if he wanted anything in return. Honestly, the first time we even saw Loki in chains I thought oh Luffy’s 100% going to free that man, and I know I’m not the only one. 

Regardless of exactly how and when we see that conversation, I imagine we'll see Luffy’s actions start to confirm and clarify our suspicions. For example, if he did agree to free Loki and needs to retrieve the key, then he might well start making moves to do that soon (although after the feast, of course – nothing comes before a metric ton of meat). I also think it will be very interesting – and comical – to see Luffy try and execute a stealth operation, because as we’ve seen time and time again, that is the opposite of his forte. He’s bad at lying, he’s bad at keeping secrets, and he’s bad at doing things with subtlety. So I’m looking forward to seeing how Luffy deals with that – whether he manages to keep it a secret from everyone or if, as I suspect, he ropes in at least one of the other Strawhats, even if by accident. Take your guesses! There’s a whole range of options ranging from experts (Nami, Robin, Brook) to the sneak mission equivalent of throwing a grenade onto a presidential lawn (...Zoro).

My more specific pet theory when it comes to Luffy’s meeting with Loki is that I would not be surprised if in one of the upcoming chapters up we get a sort of split screen set up with Hajrudin or an equivalent giant on one side, explaining more about Loki’s deeds and why they imprisoned him, and the flashback to Luffy’s conversation with him on the other. We know from DorryBrogy (yes I’m using that now) that Hajrudin wanted to come and retrieve the Strawhats from Egghead himself, but ultimately couldn’t because of “some (Loki-related) trouble back on Elbaph”. It would make sense to me if Hajrudin explains in more detail what happened that prevented him from sailing to Egghead, and tells us more about Loki himself. At the same time that Hajrudin is talking about the terrible things Loki has done, we get the penny-drop of Luffy flashing back to his agreement to free said evil man. 

It’s a perfect storytelling device in this medium, especially when it comes to revealing important (and in this case stomach-dropping) information to us as omniscient readers. We saw something slightly similar most recently during Vegapunk’s speech, which Oda used to clearly signpoint us to characters and their links to mentions of important information in the speech, (e.g. showing Shirahoshi, Vivi and Momo when talking about the ancient weapons). Of course that was very different in tone and intention compared to what the Loki reveal I’m hypothesising would be like, but I’m mainly just trying to highlight the use of the manga medium and how it lends itself to this kind of layering. I’m sure Oda’s done something much closer to what I’m thinking of before, but in all honesty I can’t recall an example right now. Regardless, I could be completely off the mark (I am just a little jester honestly), but we know Oda loves his dramatic reveals and drumbeats so I’m willing to put this out there. 

I am also particularly interested to see how Luffy will react to the information about Loki. Will he dislike Loki but still go through with it? Will he disagree with Hajrudin and the other giants? Will it change nothing for him? I think Luffy won’t go back on his promise no matter what information is revealed, but knowing Luffy, he also might just not really pay attention or care what Loki’s done. It will mainly be for us as readers, and the rest of the Strawhats, to decide how we feel about it. We know that Elbaph has very strong values and rules, especially surrounding their warrior culture – ones like honour, strength, and probably truth/honesty. I’m waiting to see whether what Loki’s done is considered bad specifically within Elbaph culture, or whether they’re just terrible in general. This is why in my opinion Loki won’t be A Classic Villain, because I don’t think the central conflict in Elbaph will be as simple as just Loki vs the rest of the giants and Strawhats. There’s too much ambiguity present.

Plus, we haven’t seen Luffy’s instinct about people go wrong yet. The first time he met Blackbeard they immediately started fighting, even if it was about something as stupid as food preferences. He hated Doflamingo the minute he met him. Even Buggy couldn’t actually betray him, despite wanting to. If Luffy generally trusts someone, we know that means they’re trustworthy or at least even if not at the beginning, he wins them over or is able to deal with the untrustworthiness in a way that makes it irrelevant. 

Of course, Loki could prove the exception to the rule, but we know that part of Luffy’s strength is understanding and seeing through people. It would take a lot for Loki to fully trick or betray him, since Luffy just does what he wants and deals with the consequences as they arise. He’ll be more than happy to fight Loki if he threatens something/someone he cares about. To be clear, I’m not saying Loki is a threat at all – I do think his desire to “destroy the world” means mass violence, but Luffy doesn’t tend to care about larger villainous plans until they directly affect his loved ones. He’s also the first ‘evil’ character so far who’s been shown to have very obvious parallels and similarities with Luffy, so even if he is an antagonist, I expect it to be in a way we haven’t seen before (more on that later). 

Another possibility is that Loki and certain other giants have a strong dislike of humans, and therefore want them off the island as quickly as possible. This would also align with Louis Arnot’s warning about not overstaying your welcome. I imagine not everyone on Elbaph is inclined to be friendly to humans, and there might even be other people (other kinds of giants, or non-giants) living on the island. It feels like Oda has strongly emphasised that Warland is only a kingdom on the island of Elbaph, implying that there might be other groups of people – or even countries – sharing the land mass (perhaps on the Astral level?). To me, it feels like Elbaph is holding some kind of secret that makes it particularly dangerous. Maybe, like in Skypiea, there is a forbidden area in Elbaph that is off-limits to people (prime candidate being the Astral/Celestial realm) whether to maintain that secret or perhaps for spiritual reasons. Trespassing could incur serious danger or punishment, and we can probably predict exactly what will happen if a certain captain hears about it. 

And there are other ways I think Elbaph will parallel Skypiea. The Strawhats first connected with the Skypieans (Conis and her father) and were quickly thrown into conflict with both Enel and his forces (including the White Berets) as well as the Shandians who weren’t too happy about outsiders. They had to work with the different groups against Enel, and as part of that, prove to the Shandians that they were trustworthy. The Shandians, who had the crucial connection to the Ancient Kingdom and the poneglyph. We might see a similar situation in Elbaph where the Strawhats have to prove to a group of people (maybe outsiders to Elbaph’s society, maybe those who distrust humans) that they are trustworthy so that they can all unite to fight against a bigger foe like the World Government. It remains to be seen who that might be, but this would also be an opportunity for Oda to give the Strawhats even more people, groups and allies who believe in Luffy’s power. 

Additionally, both Skypiea and Alabasta were countries in the midst of internal conflict – specifically over natural resources – when the Strawhats arrived, and in both of those cases the actions of the crew helped end the wars. Elbaph might be similar. In both of those arcs the conflicts had roots in the secrets of the Void Century, be it because the Shandians were protecting their ancestral lands and the poneglyph after being persecuted by the World Government, or Crocodile’s desire to gain control of Pluton. The giants of Elbaph seem to be one of the only groups of people who have maintained a consistent sun god worship, probably not for lack of the World Government trying to wipe it out (their strength will certainly have served them in that regard). On top of that, I’m sure there’s other crucial information, not just from the Ohara library, that the giants have managed to protect regarding ancient history. If we think about their lifespans, the Void Century was only a few generations back for them, so there may be important oral histories that have been passed down from elders. It’s clear that this is a culture with strong links to the secrets of the past, like the Shandians and the royal family of Alabasta. Though the wars in those countries were exacerbated by many other factors, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see something similar in Elbaph – some tension that relates to events further back in history, and maybe even the Void Century.

Loki, Luffy, and the power of myth

My current theory on Loki is that he believes he is the new Joyboy, and/or an incarnation of Nika/the sun god from Elbaph’s myths (in the same way that King believed Kaido to be Joyboy). We don’t know yet whether Elbaph is polytheistic – Nika/the sun god might just be one of their deities – but if we use Rodo’s weird RPG cage world as a reference, he did create a bunch of different minor ‘gods’. Elbaph itself might have a similar system, with the Sun God being the most important deity. Regardless, we know that Nika is important in their culture, given Dorry and Brogy’s immediate recognition of Luffy in Gear 5 and the celebration of the Winter Solstice as the return of the sun in Big Mom’s flashback. We’ve also seen the painters being called sunstones, which is reminiscent of Vegapunk’s pursuit of solar technology and the Motherflame, and the giants live on the Sun level of Yggdrasil. On top of that, the Underworld – where people are sent for punishment – is specifically noted to lack sunlight. We already know that the sun in One Piece’s world is associated with Nika (liberation, joy), but in terms of general symbolism the sun is also linked to clarity, truth and perception. 

This is why I think questions of faith, belief and truth will be so important to answering what makes Elbaph’s giants such mighty warriors, what kind of devotion do they have, and how do their beliefs and worship link to collective liberation in the One Piece world, both historically and in the present? 

Oda is also going to get meta in this arc, I believe (even more obviously than he already does). I'll get into this more later, but the Lego kidnapping introduction already served to set up important questions. What is reality, and what is fantasy/illusion? Whose world are we in? Who are the storytellers and what are the different ways stories are lived and told? What is their nature, function and importance? There are going to be many layers in this arc and it's narration, encompassing past present and future, and I think Oda will play with form to achieve this (off the top of my head - the adventurer's log voice of Louis Arnot, to flashbacks, to legends told by the giants, to reading the texts of Ohara...). Contradictory stories, multiple perspectives on one narrative, and different but coexisting truths might well all come into play as important.

Speaking of one type of story, myths and legends are the vessels of belief, and it’s likely the Elbaph culture includes and centres many related to Nika and Joyboy. In fact, this was already mentioned by DorryBrogy (“they tell tales about this god in Elbaph”). I don’t think we’ve had direct confirmation yet, but I’m sure the giants had a connection to the Ancient Kingdom and may very well have preserved information from the Void Century by virtue of their fighting strength, passing stories down across generations, despite the World Government’s best efforts. I also think those stories handed down from the Void Century (maybe even from the first Joyboy, or Roger) may have included some kind of prophecy that Joyboy/the Sun God will destroy the world when he returns (similar to Madam Shyarly’s prophecy about Luffy destroying Fishman Island). If that’s the case, Loki could very well think he’s the chosen one to do so. 

Of course, we know that the final war will likely involve some form of physical destruction (Fishman Island amongst other things) – and there are many theories around that – but to me, the idea is most importantly metaphorical. The world as it is needs to drastically, fundamentally change (including materially), which requires the destruction of things as they are so that the dawn can arrive. Loki’s interpretation, in contrast, could very well be a literal and narrower one involving setting everything on fire Ragnarok-style, hence the other giants imprisoning him to stop him. The way they’ve referred to him as having “a few screws loose” also suggests they think he’s mad or maybe delusional, which makes sense if he’s claiming to be an incarnation of their sun god. His belief may in fact be so pure that it is extreme. As Oda is making clear over and over, you cannot choose to be a god – myths and gods are made by people’s collective belief. I don’t think we’ll ever see Luffy declaring himself to be Nika or even Joyboy for that very reason. 

Luffy is god-like sometimes, but he isn’t one (“Luffy’s not a god, he’s just an idiot!”) nor would he want to be treated as one. Luffy doesn’t even know he’s the new Joyboy, or who Nika is, and what his Gear 5 powers are. If the giants try to project any kind of divine responsibility or title onto him, Luffy will absolutely not care – he refuses to be anything other than himself in all his freedom. However, he does have a great amount of care for friends and is willing to go to any lengths to help them, so we’ll have to see which characters act as those anchors for his desire to fight during this arc. 

I think we’ll see a lot of complex and interweaving traits with Luffy and Loki, as characters who have many similarities but also fundamental differences. Luffy pretty much can't lie, whereas I'm guessing Loki is pretty good at it. Luffy is selfish in his words but his actions help the collective, whereas I could see Loki causing widespread harm but claiming selflessness and doing collective good (e.g. cleansing the world via Ragnarok). Loki claims his godhood fully, demanding respect and imposing obedience, believing fully that he is fit to command others. Luffy doesn’t demand faith, he inspires it.

Indeed, Oda has clearly set up Loki to parallel Luffy in the past few chapters. They had very similar childhoods where they spent a lot of time alone in the wilderness and befriended beasts – in Loki’s case, in the frozen outcast space of Elbaph. This is particularly interesting given he’s a prince – we have to wonder why. Like Luffy, he seems to have humorous and silly traits like getting people’s names wrong, which is an exact copy of what Luffy does. He also has an older brother in Hajrudin, like Luffy with Ace and Sabo, although we don’t know the nature of his relationship with Hajrudin. Were they close growing up and then there was conflict later because of Loki’s actions? Were they always at odds? I wouldn’t be surprised if Loki’s strength wasn’t in his physicality but more so in his cunning and intelligence, which might not have been celebrated or seen favourably as what was expected of an Elbaph prince, in contrast to Hajrudin better fitting the mold. This theory is mostly based on Norse mythology, where both the god Loki and the jötnar Utgarda-Loki are associated with trickery and illusions. It would also mean Loki flaunts the rules of Elbaph warrior culture, making use of strategy, intelligence, language and mischief to win his battles. If Loki was seen as strange or not quite fitting into society and expectations, he may have just chosen to isolate himself and spend time in the Underworld with his animal friends. Alternatively, maybe he was sent down there by his father to get stronger, in the same way Garp threw Luffy into the jungle. 

With all that said, I’m particularly interested to see what his devil fruit is – initially I thought it could be a mythological zoan, which I believe is still very possible, but I could also see it being related to these themes of magic and illusion. The one thing I’m unsure of in this regard is Loki referring to himself as the strongest in Elbaph. Is it because of his devil fruit? Does he mean something different to strength in combat? Was he just lying? That remains to be seen. 

We also don't know what Loki did yet, but I think a lot of the themes of this arc are going to be about the values of Elbaph and how different people come up against them. I’m particularly interested in our dear captain Luffy, of course, and how he relates to those rules, because Luffy’s whole character is about pure freedom regardless of what’s happening around him. The only form of bond that Luffy accepts is those of love, friendship and connection with people (often conveyed through food, as we know). Of course, it could be that Luffy doesn’t particularly come up against Elbaph’s rules (we didn’t really see him in tension with the samurai code in Wano) but I have a feeling that the challenges of this arc will be a complex set of tensions – buried information, the overarching evil of the World Government, the consequences of history, the values of a war-based society, and how those have shaped the people of the island they’re on. 

Even Luffy’s embodiment of something Nika-like in Gear 5 goes against stereotypical expectations of a ‘warrior’. He is a warrior, but the epithet isn’t complete without the liberation aspect. He doesn’t follow any rules but his own when he fights – in his freest form he can literally bend the rules of space and material (maybe even time). He is so strong not just because he can smash things, but because he is completely unpredictable, silly and joyful – only limited by his own imagination. I also think it will be really interesting to see what Elbaph’s version of Nika is like, because people and societies shape gods, and they can evolve over time. It would be fascinating if Elbaph’s version of Nika is more of a stereotypical kind of war(rior) god. We’ve had mentions of their warrior god before, with the belief that the winner of a duel is the one chosen by that deity, so fighting itself – and the glory of victory – is clearly sacred to them. It may well be that their warrior god is a separate being to Nika, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out to be a version of Nika that has been shaped by their society’s dominant values. And maybe that is also the version that Loki thinks he is or has warped to fit his desire for violence and destruction.

Part 2 here (ft. strength???, summoning a princess, gay technology and shadow the hedgehog)

[ramblingsfromthytruly]

"You'll not always be motivated so you have to be disciplined."

day 29+30+31/50 productivity challenge - condensing 3 days into 1 post cuz of 2 all nighters in a row i- dw tho cuz i did sleep a couple of hours in between here & there.. still genuinely dunno how i survived. learn from my mistakes & don't procrastinate cuz that's the only reason i was stuck in this mess

23rd September 2024, Monday

[almost nobody from my class actually went to school (& i'm not an exception) cuz tuesday's a study break & wednesday's our chem exam]

💤: 8 hrs - i mean ig at least that's one plus side of sleeping in?

🕒 1 p.m.- *sigh*

afternoon morning skincare

duolingo

practiced playing keyboard

did some college-related research

gradblr intro post

took bath

studied + made notes chemistry ch: structure of atom (not fully)

did so much planning fml (not good, not good at all, i procrastinated a lot!!)

did an exercise video

🚰: 4 glasses

24th September 2024, Tuesday

[study break day]

🕒 6:30 a.m. - my "night" is over & the day has begun

morning skincare

revised chemistry ch: some basic concepts of chemistry

🕒 12 - 3 p.m. - napped

duolingo

had a mental breakdown, pathetically cried, felt like a failure, etc

studied chemistry ch: structure of atom

took bath

night skincare

packed bag for tmr

🕒 10 p.m. - 12 a.m. - napped

🚰: 3 glasses

25th September 2024, Wednesday

[chem exam]

studied chemistry ch: classification of elements and periodicity in properties

studied chemistry ch: chemical bonding and molecular structure

morning skincare

quickly wrote down all formulae + important values

🕒 8 a.m. - left for school sleep deprived asf but caffeinated & motivated to get through the terrible exam

chemistry exam: i will be in deep shit when results come out *sigh* obviously i'm not happy when my friends do bad but only one comfort is that we're in shit together (they're literally the only 2 ppl i talk to in school). i NEED to do well on all my other exams, like somehow make an extraordinary improvement to show that i'm good with the other subjects and will just prioritize studying chem in the future. also made a deal with my mom that if i get above 83% overall then i'll finally get my own tab and headphones. we've been meaning to buy it for some time now, and my mom agreed only because my first tests' marks was at 64% (cuz i didn't study..). not exactly an "academic weapon" just yet.. only yet hopefully..

🕒 1-5 p.m. - came back home & slept like a log (no one's surprised)

(re) planned my day

took bath

ate my first meal of the day (how did i survive till here with just a coffee before school??)

played chess online (lost once, won once)

planned week after dussehra break

night skincare

decided to take a break today & wake up early tmr to start anew; i.e. operation proper sleep every night is green!

🕒 12 a.m. - went to bed finally

🚰: 4 glasses

🎧: a beautiful ravenclaw-themed playlist on youtube

[nerdierholler]

It's done! Attempt number two at book making is complete! It's still just Ethan's Wayhaven Book 1 run. I did a big overhaul of the typeset compared to the first one, which I was trying to make small to minimize the page count. This came out about 130 pages longer and the text seems to breathe much better now. I also added a couple of basic graphics, a moon in the chapter headings and little moons as section headings. I used variegated red embroidery thread for sewing the signatures for just a pop of ominous color between the pages. It is a game about vampires after all.

Working with paper instead of cloth for the cover was a mixed bag. It looks gorgeous in a way I couldn't do with cloth but it was harder to get just right and I'm not sure it will hold up the best long term. But as a second attempt, that's ok. I tried new things and learned new things this one which was the goal and overall I think it's a more attractive finished product, or at least more visually interesting.

The breakdown on mistakes is under the cut. It's mostly for my benefit so I can remember later but please learn from my learning if you would like!

First off here's a comparison of my first and second attempts.

The paper I used for the first wasn't exactly 8.5x11 as noted before and I think it was even narrower than I realized before I tried to trim the pages. It is a significantly shorter book! Also the typeset differences. I'm really happy with how the new one came out.

Mistakes and improvement for the future.

Paper, Paper, Paper - I didn't even attempt to use interesting paper for this, just regular printer paper. Not needing to worry about trimming was so nice. I bought 9x12 sketch paper thinking it would fit in my printer, it did not, and I wasn't going to trim every single page to size so I have that now in my crafting pile. Maybe I'll make some blank journals with it. I do like the slightly off white color and heavier weight of the paper I used the first time and if I put in a fancy paper order I'll take that into consideration.

Paper: Part 2 - I want the scrapbook paper I have to be heavier and the cardstock to be lighter. Once I put glue on the paper it was so hard to work with because it wanted to wrinkle but also felt like it might tear if I tried to smooth it too much or reposition it. I ended up backing the piece on the front cover with a piece of printer paper and that seemed to help.

Mull - I've been using cheesecloth. I didn't starch it last time so I tried that this time but also saw something about putting glue over the whole piece of mull first then attaching it instead of holding it over the spine and dabbing/brushing glue on top. Bad choice. The mull is a mess and it isn't flat on spine, it was weird and stiff and there's slight gaps in between signatures as a result. I couldn't rip it off though so it is what it is. Won't be doing that again in the future though. Minus the mull issue I was really happy with the textblock though.

Endpapers - Again fighting the thinner craft paper. I should have sewn these on but I didn't. However I couldn't add them later because of the mull issue once I realized that so they are fully glued to the first page for added strength instead of being tipped on. Making them then and sewing them on takes more time but might be the better route to go in the future.

Gluing - I feeling like have terrible gluing technique. Things feel too wet but then if I use less or add some water for easier brushing on it doesn't stick as well. I think this is just a practice thing but considering how much gluing there is, it is a little frustrating.

Labels - Tried that for the first time with paper. Not sure how I feel about it . I think it looks alright but mostly it was about the paper quality and durability. Story of this build.

The Casing In - It was not great.

The back is alright but I really messed up the front cover. I think I pushed it too far back into the hinge so the cover doesn't quite close all of the way and is why there's such a large fore edge wrap space. I also think I made my spine piece slightly too narrow so that didn't help either. Ah well. Warping could also be from needing to glue the extra backing paper to the cover paper first and it's just too much glue pull in one area with nothing to balance it.

She's done though and once again I'm carrying over lots good knowledge for the next one. If I saw it sitting on someone else's shelf and they told me they made it I would be super impressed so I should give myself that credit as well.

[isa-ghost]

OKAY UM MORE HC WITH THE EGGS IF U GOT ANY (ANY OF THE EGGS)

I'm gonna do Richas because he's my favorite after Chayanne and Lullah :D

qPhil headcanons masterlist

Richas scares Phil a little bc he's a brand of wildchild he's never encountered before. And his parents?? For the most part are just fine with that?? Survivalist man is screaming.

If the Cellbit and Baghera rescue mission had actually happened, Phil would've seen a whole new side of Richas and it'd change his perspective a bit. Still an unhinged gremlin, but also fearless, determined, full of endless love and loyalty. He knows what he's doing and he does it well, he just needs adults to trust that he can do it.

This goes for Pac too, but any jokes Richas makes with his prosthetic leg make Phil lose it, they always take him by surprise and they're always the right amount of out of pocket to make Phil reel. It's even better if Richas removes the prosthetic and does some wild ass shit with it. He's made Phil screech before. It was a mistake on Phil's part, now he tries to make him scream on purpose.

A lot of "peak qsmp era" horrors felt centered around the Brazilians and goddamn does Phil think Richas is so unbelievably resilient bc of it. That kid is so happy go lucky and comes off so carefree despite everything that's happened to him or his myriad of parents and Phil just cannot fathom it bc he would've broken by now.

Which btw Phil thinks it's rlly fucking funny that Richas was collecting parents like Pokémon and every now and then he'd try to come up with a funny convoluted way to Also become Richas's parent purely for the bit. Never came up with one good enough though, being previously FWB with Fit didn't feel like a good enough pipeline. Richas totally would've accepted that reason though.

Be it through his usual brand of unhinged fuckery or genuine persuasion, I think Richas could've gotten Phil to try any Brazilian food or snack, even if Phil was like "there's no way I'll like that." I'm truthing Richas would get him addicted to smth besides Guaraná.

GOD Richas would've loved to spar with Phil. Phil would be far too nervous to go all out on the kid but Richas would absolutely love it.

Richas's tiny arms never fail to make Phil laugh. He just can't. All Richas has to do is Orange Justice and it's all over, Phil's dying until he gets the hiccups.

Richas would be the motherfucker constantly badgering Phil to go fishing if he was able to go back to the Hardcore World with him.

He's, like many others, is in the Phil Take Me Flying When Your Wings Work club.

Tbfh more accurately I think Richas is impatient to hatch in the hopes he'll have wings so he can be taught to fly himself. (And the heart attacks he'd give Phil then.... MAN)

I don't know where in the deep recesses of my brain this came from but I need them in a laser tag fight on the same team because Richas would THRIVE watching Pro Halo Sniper Tío Philza Minecraft absolutely obliterate motherfuckers.

Phil feels a teeny bit bad about it but he's genuinely surprised Richas didn't perma-die with how reckless he could be.

Phil 100% noticed a change in Richas post-Purgatory and isn't sure if it was because of that or because of a death he had around then. Whatever it was, he picked up on Richas seeming a lot more Fuck It We Ball but in a kinda,, maybe needs to at least talk about it to someone way. Not his kid so he didn't want to butt in or overstep, but he still felt worried about it.

100% thinks Richas is overall underestimated though. Or maybe Richas intentionally fools people into thinking such. But Mr. Angel of Death can see it, that kid's TNT in a shell.

[aley-nag]

Bumpy road, pretty result

Whoaaaa. This one...

The next fanfiction I bound was Cinder and Smoke by @thelittleblackfox. I lover their work to pieces. They write incredible thought out Stucky!AU's with a lot of fantasy aspects or really good scifi and I wanted badly to do one of their fics, but waited til I was a little happier with my results and could make a pretty cover. We decided together on this one and I started formatting... And then I stopped for a long while because Word is the devil.

Cinder & Smoke is a western!AU and just about the most romantic thing I've ever read. It has yearning and a little angst and a very distinct vibe that feels like Fernweh and wilderness and change. Go read it!

I worked on it between June and December 23 and Christmas was the only reason I finished it this quickly, but I did not want to leave it unfinished for the turn of the year.

Sadly I don't have a lot of pictures, but when I'm finished with my copy I'll post some more.

Now we'll come to the journey it was to finish this!

It started out rather uncomplicated, because I thought I had gotten the hang of formatting and then, when I tried adjusting the font and overall look of the text body Word kept killing the italics. And I googled and tried and experimented and I just couldn't get it to stop. I was so frustrated, oh god. It put me off a little and I had to leave it for a while. When I came back around to it I found a slightly butchered solution, that works though so I won't question it. After that formatting went smoother and I was able to bind it. I used paper from that same supplier that fucked up my paper order for the covers from the notebooks. But only after I had it printed I noticed that it was cut crooked and wouldn't cleanly fold in half. I despaired a little, said fuck it and hoped it wouldn't be to noticeable. I think it's alright.

Binding went really well and I think that's the cleanliest job I did to this date.

Did the endbands by hand to match the color scheme I was aiming for. Because of the title I wanted to invoke fire and used primarily black and red for the coloring.

Then came the cover. First of all, don't use black bookcloth. You will see every. single. mistake. Also dust and glitter... I brushed this thing so often, you wouldn't believe it.

And I tried different vinyl. I couldn't find the right shade of red I wanted, it's a little hard to source it around here so I went an entirely different route and used golden glitter vinyl. What I didn't know until after I plotted the design: The glitter has texture. I couldn't see a single cut-line. I had to keep the picture open to work along the edges and not rip the letters. Still lost all of the i-points 😭

The flower was pretty easy though. Glueing it on was also quite hard because it just wouldn't hold and I got glitter everywhere. Which let to more brushing but I'm afraid mailing it destroyed all that work :D

Anyway. I am sooo happy with how it turned out I instantly forgot about all annoyances and was able to mail it before the end of the year and that was a really satisfying last project, so all is well :)

This was also the first time I had the idea of choosing a little icon for the author's penname because most of the time I don't have enough space for the entire name. I reworked all of the other books to accomodate that.

Binding Details

Body Text: Garamond, 11

Half Title/Chapter Heading: Gold Lines Trial, 20

Full Title: Carnivalee Freakshow, 48

Word Count: 57.197

Pages: 232

Paper: publishing paper A4, 90g, 1,5x volume (from the retailer from hell :/)

[eteisvalssi]

i promised to post some thoughts from both of the concert days at kulttuuritalo so i'm gonna be putting them under a read more :)

saturday 2.3.

i arrived at the venue some time before 9 am

i feel like i always say this but the people that i hang out with at concerts and while queueing are always super nice. i got to know new people, meet mutuals and hang out with so many people i'd gotten to know at previous gigs i'd been to

just remembered that i think i forgot to thank @king-krisu for letting me tag along to their apartment to warm up my pizza that tasted like cardboard so i'm doing it now, kiitos!

buying hand and foot warmers for the queueing was the best purchase ever

when we were let inside, the staff was apparently not informed on where the cloakroom was actually open and if people who were over 18 but didn't have the ticket could go to the +18 side and everything was just a mess and ppl were running around and didn't know where to go

i did get front row on kris' side and it was actually my first time there, i'd always been on jan and nace's side before that

i've listened to pilvet pilvet for a while now and i was so happy to actually see them live, couldn't ask for a better opener

jc stewart was also very good! i'd never heard of him or his songs before but i tried to learn some of them before the gig lol

i feel like we've all seen so much from the soundcheck and gigs from videos and photos that i don't really have that much to add

when kiki came to put the setlist right in front of us we were like no it can't be this short they're definitely gonna play more songs. and they didn't 🥲

it was so nice to see them all actually move around a lot more now that they could

kris kicked straight towards me multiple times during the show and i kept thinking what have i done to deserve this

i completely fell in love with šta bih ja and bluza was so good too!!!

jan and bojan playing the piano <3

as the first gig on tour i kinda felt like they were still warming up after not performing for a while but still it was so good and i loved this concert so much

after the concert i went out with some friends i first met at the gig in tampere on the nordic tour :)

sunday 3.3.

i was supposed to go hang out in the queue for the day but i slept so bad and i was honestly in a bad mood because of that so i just stayed in bed for the whole day until it was time to leave to the venue with my friend and we were there just before the doors opened

i already posted my friend's thoughts from the show as a non-fan and you can find it here

i have a lot of thoughts that i wrote down on monday about going to a concert as a fan with a non-fan vs. alone but i'm not gonna be yapping about it in this post

i was kinda far back and i'm short so i didn't really see that well and i made the mistake of wearing a hoodie instead of what i was planning to wear so it was also extremely hot

this setlist was more to my taste with barve oceana and padam

the new song took me straight on a cruise ship to sweden

when they announced ruisrock the response of the audience was so loud!

i had a fan with me and i was fanning myself during vse kar vem and i just saw bojan looking at me kinda worried but when he saw me singing along he smiled and i almost started crying

i feel like they were more relaxed during this concert and that's understandable with the first concert being more of a rehearsal as the first concert of the whole tour

when we got out literally everyone was freaking out about everything that happened and saying how much better it was than yesterday

i was so tired and felt kinda sick that we just went to get some food after sitting down for a while and then i went back to my hotel room and that was it

overall i had a such a fun weekend! thanks to everyone who i spent time with <3 would've loved to talk to even more of you guys! next up is london and of course ruisrock in the summer :)

[gachawolfiebloom]

SMG4 Tale

Chapter 3: Moving Forward

"YOU DID WHAT!?"

Mario could definitely tell by the upset expressions on their faces that he had really messed up. He had done a million stupid things in the past, but nothing compared to being the one responsible for losing his best friend.

"Mario...Mario's so sorry."

Meggy placed a hand on his shoulder and said to the others "I'm sure he didn't mean it guys, but maybe if we hurry, we can save him!" Saiko sprung up from the couch and said "Well then what are we waiting for!? Let's go get him!" Mario felt a little better when his friends gladly would help fix his mistakes until Smg3 asked "Get him? We don't even know where he is! For all we know he could be dead!" Mario felt his breathing speed up. "D-Die...?"

Boopkins tugged on Three's overalls and asked "That's not true right? Smg4 isn't really dead is he?" Meggy came over to comfort her Italian friend and said "Of course not! I'm sure he's fine Mario."

"BRUH YOU SAID HE DROPPED FROM LIKE OVER A 5000 FOOT DROP! HE'S DEFINITELY DED!"

Saiko slapped Bob hard as he rubbed his head and said "WHAT? THE IDIOT SAID IT HIMSELF." Mario felt even worse like he was having a panic attack while Meggy pulled him closer for comfort. "We'll save him Red. Don't worry." She was running out of things to say to comfort Mario so she directed her attention to Three and gestured him to help. He sighed and awkwardly patted Mario's back. "Uh....there there." He scratched his beard before turning back to Mario and said "How about this? I can use our meme connection to locate Four when we're up there."

Once he heard that, Mario lunged forward onto Three, knocking both of them into the ground as he cried happily into his chest "OH THANK YOU SMG3! MARIO'S SO HAPPY!" Three heard some snickering from his friends as he pushed Mario off and yelled "Get off me idiot! I'm only doing this for Four's sake."

Once the crew were all in agreement with the mission at hand, they all packed their bags with supplies and set out towards the mountain that Mario had said Four was now trapped in. As they ran out the door, Bob quickly called out "IF HE'S DEAD THEN I GET DIBS ON ALL HIS STUFF!!!" ...

Four sat patiently and waited for Melony. By now his heartbroken sobs had turned into quiet sniffles as he wiped his tearful eyes with his sleeve. He really was a crybaby wasn't he. "Heh...if Three was here right now, he'd be laughing at me." His weak smile turned into a frown as he thought about why he was crying in the first place. "I miss you guys so much...please save me..."

The seconds turned into minutes and the minutes turned into hours. Four desperately wanted to go searching for Melony, but his thoughts kept telling him "Don't bother. You don't know what else is out there. Just stay put as you were told." Eventually, Four felt a longing hunger rise up. It seemed barely noticeable at first, but as the time went by he felt more and more hungry. His stomach began to grumble and Four held his arms over his chest to ignore the gut wrenching sounds.

He was practically starving himself now. When would Melony come back? Did she even know where to find food? His stomach growled louder as Four finally gave in and stood up. Odds are that even if Melony came back, she wouldn't have any food on her.

"Guess I have to continue by myself..."

He walked down the path to the next room and wiped the last drops from his puffy eyes so nobody would see that he was crying. He looked around and noticed more of those red leaf piles and vines. Apparently, it was a common decor choice here. "Okay then...where to find some food?" He then heard his cellphone ring and noticed it was Melony calling. "About time..." He picked it up and a voice on the other side said "Hello? This is Melony."

"Hi Melony!" Four replied back in a chipper tone of voice.

"Listen...I'm sorry about what happened earlier. It's just hard for me to be stuck here without my friends."

"I understand. By the way, you haven't left the room have you?"

Four looked back to where he was told to wait and noticed how she had just called him when he only took a few steps out. "Uh....no?"

"Oh good. There are a few puzzles ahead that I have yet to explain. It would be dangerous to try and solve them yourself. Be good, alright?"

"I will."

Melony clicked off and Four stood there, slowly lowering the phone with guilt. He felt bad for lying to Melony about this, but he just couldn't take it anymore. Besides, she wouldn't want him to starve to death. "Alright, first thing's first, let's find something to eat and then I'll try to find a way out of here. That cliff is way too steep so I guess I'll have to keep going if I want to escape."

Up ahead there was a familiar turtle that looked identical to the one that tried to scare him earlier. Four cautiously approached when it spun around and started talking in Koopa language, but thanks to his handy subtitles, it came out as "Excuse me pure one, but I have some advice for you about battling enemies."

Again with this "pure soul" speak. Is this how these guys addressed newcomers? "Uh...great! What is it?"

"If you ACT a certain way or FIGHT until you almost defeat them...They might not want to battle you anymore. If your opponent does not want to fight you, please use some MERCY pure one. Thanks!" Four raised an eyebrow as he said "Okayyyy...Also weren't you the Koopa trying to scare me earlier?" He tapped his chin and said "I don't recall, but there are lots of Koopas here in the ruins. Please SPARE my brothers and sisters."

Four smiled and said "Of course. I'm a very friendly guy." He patted the turtle's head and asked "Do you know where I can get a bite to eat?" The Koopa warmed up to him and pointed to a small room behind him. "There's some candy in there. I hope that helps pure one."

"Thanks...and you can just call me Smg4. Although, my friends call me Four." He scratched the back of his head as the Koopa said "You're welcome...Four." He gave the helpful turtle a farewell wave and went inside the tiny room.

Inside was a bowl sitting atop a pillar that was filled with different colored candies. Four's eyes instantly lit up as he couldn't wait to try one. A hastily scribbled message under it read "Take one." Four snickered as he said "Whoever wrote this has never met trick or treaters before."

He took a bright blue candy of his favorite color and unwrapped the covering, popping the sweet treat into his mouth. It was actually really good. The sweet sugar combined with the delicious flavor was like his own little slice of heaven. "Oh my god...this is...AMAZING!" He still felt quite hungry as one little piece of candy was not nearly enough to satisfy him. "Eh...nobody will mind if I take a few more." He excitedly grabbed a red one this time and ate it, gushing how he couldn't get over that sweet taste. "I can't believe I've gone my whole life without ever having these before!"

He took a yellow one, then a purple one, then a pink one. For some reason his mind kept telling him that he was being disgusting and how he should feel like the scum of the earth, but Four didn't care. He kept stuffing his mouth with candies until he grabbed too much too fast and the candy bowl spilled onto the floor. "Oops..." This hunger must have been a lot more unbearable than he thought. His stomach was no longer rumbling though. Four decided to put a few candies in his pocket for the road and went back to finding a way out.

He spotted another star in the pile of leaves. "I guess I was right. These things are important." The helpful Koopa said "That's a save point. If you die or get hurt, you can return back here." Remembering what he did last time, Four went over to see if what his new friend said was true. The crunching of the leaves with each step was satisfying. Four didn't really pay much attention to the scenery, probably because he was having a panic attack, but it certainly was amazing. "The ruins are really beautiful huh?" The Koopa said as Smg4 replied "Yeah...you're very lucky to live here." Four touched the save point and the same chime ringing sound echoed through his ears.

(Playfully crinkling through the leaves fills me with determination.)

It seemed like Four would have to leave his new friend behind, but then he wondered what other creatures might be ahead. "Hey uh...can I ask you something? Just how many people will I have to battle?" The turtle shrugged and said "Oh not that many. Like there's my friend Shy Guy right there!" He pointed behind Four as he curiously turned around as a frantic Shy Guy was cowering in fear.

Four's soul began to glow bright red again as he was now in a fight with this poor paranoid guy. The Koopa waved a flag and cheered Four on as he rolled his eyes and said "Guess that answers my question." Not long after, his mind once again absorbed the character information of this new opponent.

(Shy Guy - ATK 5 DEF 0, This enemy is way too much of a coward to fight...)

Now what should he do? Shy Guy hadn't done anything wrong to him in this universe and he looked kinda terrorized. "I should just talk to him like I did to Marty." He slowly crouched down and began to speak. "He-" Halfway through his first word, Shy Guy burst into tears and ran away. "Come back!" Four shouted as he reached a hand out to stop him, but it was too late. He felt bad for spooking him, but the Koopa said "It's okay! He gets scared real easy. We've tried boosting his confidence, but newcomers really freak him out."

"Oh...I'm sorry to hear that. If I see him again, I'll check to see how he's doing." The Koopa smiled and said "Thanks Smg4! And I hope you find your friends!" Four waved goodbye and followed the path. "This place might not be so bad after all. I should try to make friends with all the folks. That way they might help me get out." It was a good idea. Even if Four could be a little stubborn, he loved making new friends and it would take his mind off the fear of losing his old ones.

He stumbled and almost fell when his thoughts were interrupted by a suspicious looking floor. There were hatch marks all along it, making Four think this could be a trap. "Okay...not a problem." He fidgeted with his hands as he tried to think of a way to cross to the other side. Jump over? Too far to reach. Scoot around the edge? Too wide. Call for help? Too pathetic. It seemed the only thing Four could do was try to cross and hope there was something safe underneath to break his fall. He took a gulp and shut his eyes as he carefully put one foot on the surface. Nothing happened. Four squinted his eyes open and breathed a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, he let his guard down too soon and planted his other foot firmly down. That caused the floor to break under him as he fell and he landed in a soft pile of leaves.

"OOF!" He got up and looked down to see he was now below the path. He plucked a few leaves out of his hair and got up, noticing two doorways he could go through. "Huh?" He went to the one on the left and peaked through. It looked dark, but there was a sliver of light coming from the ceiling. Four ventured in for a closer look and climbed up, finding himself on the same side he entered. "So...if this leads to the side I was on, then the other must lead to the other side!" Four quickly dropped down and rushed to the right doorway. Just as he suspected, he was now on the correct side and still in one piece.

"Melony was right. There are a lot of puzzles here." Just as he said that, the phone rang again with the topic of discussion on the other end. "Hello? This is Melony." Four snickered and said "Hey Mel. What's up?" She suddenly sounded rather nervous when asking a random question. "For no reason in particular...which do you prefer? Cinnamon or butterscotch?"

"Um...they're both pretty good I guess, but I like the taste of cinnamon more."

"Oh I see. Thank you very much!"

"Uh are you good Melony? You seem kinda nervous?"

He didn't get an answer as Melony hung up before saying anything. "Melony? Why did she ask me that? Is she planning a surprise for me?" That certainly would explain her strange behavior on the call. It was a nice thought as Four giggled to himself, imagining Melony decked out in party gear and bringing out a cake with candles on it.

He entered the next room when the phone rang again. "Hello? This is Melony...again. You do not DISLIKE butterscotch do you?"

"No..? I told you I like both."

"Yes, I know what your preference is, but would you turn up your nose if you found it on your plate?"

What was with all these food interest questions? Was Melony actually planning a surprise for him?

"It's fine Melony really! I don't mind either one."

"Right, right. I understand. Thank you for being patient, by the way."

She signed off as Four stood there in bewilderment. "Is she really making me something? How sweet!" Melony could be a bit silly sometimes, but she was also one of the kindest people Four had ever met. He happily went on his way to see a rock in front of him and a sign on the wall. He went up and studied it as this one said "Three out of four grey rocks recommend you push them." What did that mean? Rocks can't talk, much less recommend stuff to you. Then again, these signs were a little far fetched, but they did speak the truth. Four went over to the rock and tapped it lightly. It didn't say a word. "Probably just some trollers." Four dismissed it and pushed the rock over to the pressure plate in front of it. In times like this, Four wished he exercised more. Even a simple rock was heavy to push a few inches.

The spikes went down and the path was clear. All of a sudden, another Koopa jumped out and landed on his face, startling him. Four began screaming and running around as the turtle just laughed and said "Weeeeeeee!" Finally, Four ripped him off his face and panted heavily as he entered another fight.

(Koopa - ATK 4 DEF 5, Life is difficult for this enemy.)

This Koopa seemed a little bit more rowdy than the others as he shouted "Surrender now pure one or face the wrath of the fearless Koopa!" Four put his hands up and said "Wait hold on! I don't want to hurt you!" He didn't listen and threw his shell at Four as it knocked him into the ground and his soul flickered for a few seconds. He held his head in pain as the Koopa approached. Four backed into the wall, trying to quickly think of a solution. He ran out of time as the Koopa lifted his shell and got ready to strike as Four covered his eyes and blurted out the first thing he could think of. "Ithinkyouhavereallyniceeyessopleasedonthurtme!"

The turtle's mean expression turned to happiness as he held his head and hearts floated around him as he said "Realllyyyy!?" Four opened one eye slowly and stuttered "Y-Yes?"

"Nobody has ever said that to me before! Thank you!" He offered out a hand to Four as he gladly took it and the small turtle helped him up. "You're welcome, but I better get go-" He started walking off when the Koopa stopped him and said "Wait wait! Give me another compliment!"

"What?"

"Pleasseee?"

He begged with desperate puppy eyes. Four sighed and mumbled "I like your...shell or whatever." The Koopa didn't really understand that all too well, but he was still flattered anyway. He blushed deeply and his foot bashfully kicked around. "Awww you're sweet." Four slowly backed away from him while saying "Well thanks for not killing me and all that so I'll just be on my way now." The Koopa happily waved "Byeeee!" As Four gave him an uncomfortable look while leaving.

"Well not everyone here is an improvement..."

After that awkward scene, Four rounded a corner to see another one of those fake floor coverings, but it covered up the whole room this time. "Are you freaking kidding me!? How do you expect me to get through THIS!?" He noticed a sign up ahead, right above a little patch of leaves. Maybe that would give him a clue? Four took a few dainty steps across the hatch-marked floor and so far it hadn't broke. He then tried taking a step to the right and instantly fell down below, once again on those crunching red lifesavers. "I've never been so grateful for so many leaves." He noticed they were scattered kinda out of the ordinary...sort of deliberately. Another sign was posted on the wall as Four read it out loud. "Please don't step on the leaves." A little too late for that.

"Hold on a second..." Four looked back at the leaves, then at the sign, then back to the leaves, the sign, and so on. It occurred to him that these leaves were set up like the flooring above and the parts not covered by leaves must be the way through, like a maze! Four immediately climbed back to the top and tried it again. "Let's see if I memorized this." He walked straight forward and took a step to the...left? Nope, he fell right into the leaves again. He picked himself up again and studied the solution another time. "Alright, let's try that again."

A while of this ensued as Four kept falling through the floor and trying again. It was really starting to get on his nerves that he couldn't remember a simple pattern. He kept going and going until Four stomped his foot hard and said "THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GET OUT OF HERE IF I CAN'T EVEN SOLVE ONE LITTLE PUZZLE!?" He clutched his head and leaned on the wall, whispering "Guys...what do I do?" Four was at the verge of tears again as he just wanted this to stop. To be back at the castle, hanging out with his friends and making videos.

"What would they do?" He thought about that question for a second and observed the flooring once again. "Well...Mario would just run around in some random direction." Four got up from the wall and picked a spot to start at. "And Meggy would say to keep your head up and walk with confidence." He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and took one step forward. "Tari and Luigi would probably be careful of their surroundings." Four kept walking, but with a much slower pace. Rushing things would only complicate it more.

This was working! Four had still not fallen yet and made it over to the patch of leaves near the end. "You're doing good Four. Just got to make it over to the end." He looked to the sign next to him that said "Didn't you read the sign downstairs?"

"Ugh..." These signs were really testing his patience, but Four reminded himself that having beef with an inanimate object would be stupid. Now he could just continue on the path to the end, but Four felt lucky. There was enough distance for him to jump to the other side, but he wasn't Mario. Still he got a running start, took a leap of faith, and jumped, feeling the wind through his hair. That was a main character moment if he ever saw one. He safely landed on the other side, catching himself on his hands and knees and looking back. "I...I did it!" This feeling. Being able to make it through because of the desire to see the ones who cared for him. This really was the true power. The power of Determination.

Four felt proud of himself and bravely walked into the next room to be met with a pair of Goombas. They were chatting with each other, unknown to who just walked in. "Yeah, so I got to pick my son up from soccer practice this afternoon."

"Oh that's nice. My son plays a sport too."

"Really? What kind of sport?"

"Dodgeball."

The other says derpy eyes as he imagines a flashback of his kid being pummeled by balls. Four stares at them in confused silence until they turn and instantly go into high alert. "Hey! It's the pure soul!" One shouts. "Get him!" The other one responds as Four now enters a 2 to 1 fight.

(Goombas - ATK 6 DEF 0, Stereotypical: Curvaceously attractive, but lack of brains...)

Okay Four. Just do what you did beforehand they'll let you through. As the Goombas inched closer, he plastered a fake smile and said "Heh...you're some real hip mushrooms." The two raised their eyebrows as Four bushed embarrassedly. He was not the best at flirting. "Did you...just...ASUME OUR SPECIES!!!" The two m̶u̶s̶h̶r̶o̶o̶m̶s̶ Goombas took out guns as they began rapidly shooting and Four began running for his life. He tried to run away, but more spikes were blocking the path. "Oh come on! How many spikes does this place need!" A gunshot fired his way as he dodged it and ran into a corner, trapping himself. The Goombas came closer as Four squeaked out "Wait wait! I'll do whatever you want!" They stopped for a moment and asked "You'll do whatever we want?"

"Yes! Just please let me go!" The two of them nodded at the other and said "Dance for us!"

"What!?"

"That's right. Dance."

"Bro you've got to be kidding me..."

The Goombas readied their guns as Four got the message and awkwardly began swinging his hips. "I'm going! I'm going! See nananana!" The Goombas lowered their guns and began laughing as one even took out his phone. "HAHAHAHA! Oh I got to record this! My kids will love this!" Four groaned and said "Kill me." This was probably the most downright ridiculous thing he ever did, but at least the Goombas weren't trying to kill him. "Can I go now...?" They kept laughing and said "Oh yeah yeah." They ran off, cackling as Four erased that memory from his mind.

It seemed for this puzzle, he had to move all the rocks onto the pressure plates. Seemed simple enough, except that these rocks weighed like a thousand pounds! Four heaved the first one onto the plate, feeling tired already. He pushed the second one and began working up a sweat as he hunched over the rock, catching his breath. Just as Four stumbled over to the third rock, it backed away and spun around, catching Four off guard. "WHOA there, who ever said you could push me around!" He was wearing a warlock hat, held a magical staff, and had a scribbly drawing of a face. "Wizard Rock!?"

"Yes genius. Who else?"

"But how did you even get down here!?"

"Well since I've barely been used for videos anymore, I wanted to go on adventures on my own. I heard this story about a magical cave, but this place sucks. Doesn't live up to the hype."

"Oh well...can you move over. I'm trying to escape."

"Ha! Good luck with that! Even my magic doesn't work!"

Four sighed and said "Look just move alright. I don't need you to remind me that I'm trapped here."

"Fine, because you asked sooooo nicely." He inched over a little, but not far enough. "Uh...a little more." 

"Ugh fine."

He then moved in the wrong direction as Four retorted with more annoyance "Forward! Just onto that pressure plate!" The Wizard Rock rolled his eyes and said "You could have just said that at the start." He scooted over to the pressure plate as Four huffed an aggressive "Thank you!" He was just about to walk over the bridge when the spikes came back up. "I meant until I cross!"

"Geez make up your mind."

Four gritted his teeth and muttered under his breath "You know what I mean." The Wizard Rock, feeling a little intimidated, slid back onto the pressure plate and waited until Four crossed this time. As he left, the Wizard Rock shouted from the other side "YOU'RE WELCOME!"

The next room was much smaller with another one of these stars, seemingly called save points. Off in the corner was a small, round table with cheese atop it. Not even the decency to put it on a plate. "How long has this been here?" Four looked at it in disgust as he daintily reached out and touched it. Something felt firm about it.

"What kind of cheese is this?" He pulled on it, but it was stuck to the table. Four jumped up on the table and put one foot on the cheese as he tugged on it with all his might, but nothing would make it come off. It was like super glue. Eventually, Four gave up and crossed his arms. "Whatever. It's not like I wanted some old stinky cheese anyway." He saved his progress and went back to the task at hand. Although, what was in that next room gave Four quite a shock.

Blocking his way, laying atop a pile of leaves was some kind of ghost. It wasn't a boo or another enemy from Mario games that Four had encountered so far. It was some guy with a white cloak and a curvy, transparent tail instead of feet underneath his rags. Four narrowed his eyes as something seemed familiar about this guy. He looked very similar to...

"BOB!?"

Four blinked in disbelief for a few seconds before being overcome by sheer joy and ran up to his old pal. "Bob! You're here! It's me Smg4!" The ghost's eyes were closed shut as he said out loud repeatedly "ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ" Four's happiness slowly faded away as a perplexed expression stared back instead.

"What the-"

The ghost kept saying 'z' out loud repeatedly, pretending to sleep. He peeked one eye open and then immediately closed it. "ZZZZZZZZZ(IS HE GONE YET?)ZZZZZZZ" Four sighed and rolled his eyes once he understood what was happening. "Bob. I can hear you."

"ZZZZZZ(NO YOU DON'T.)ZZZZZZZZ"

"You're not even doing it right!"

"ZZZZZZZZZZZ"

Four facepalmed and said "Fine! If you're just going to be a jerk then I'll just get you out of the way myself!" He tried to push Bob with force, but his hands phased right through him. "GAH!" The ghost's eyes shot open as he flew up into the air and stared back at Four in anger. "WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM!? I WAS JUST TRYING TO SLEEP IN PEACE!"

Four couldn't say anything as the look of terror in his eyes had brought him to a loss of words. "UH HELLO? BRO ARE YOU BRAINDEAD OR SOMETHING!?" All he could stutter out was "Y-You're a g-g-gh-ghost?"

"OH YEAH. PRETTY COOL HUH?" He demonstrated by clipping through the floor and coming out of the wall. "B-But how!? Did you fall down here too and die!?" Bob stared at him with a "WUT?" and slanted eyes before explaining "OH I'VE LIVED IN THE UNDERGROUND AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER."

"Which is..."

"5 YEARS? 100 YEARS? I DON'T KNOW. WE GHOSTS CAN LIVE AS LONG AS WE WANT." He laid back in the air while Four came down from his panicking. Even if Bob was a ghost, he was still Bob. He couldn't hurt Four even if he wanted to. "WAIT A MINUTE...YOU'RE THAT PURE SOUL THAT I WAS WARNED ABOUT!"

"Uh...no? You're thinking of some other guy."

"UH...THIS IS AWKWARD BUT I HAVE TO KILL YOU NOW."

(Bob - ATK 10 DEF 10, This guy doesn't seem to have an appropriate sense of humor...)

He took out his samurai sword hands and spun in a circle, hurdling towards Four. "AH!" The blue eyed man shut his eyes and held out a hand to stop him only for Bob to phase right through him. "I...I'm alive?" Four checked his body and sure enough there was no injures. Bob saw the lack of damage he caused and got annoyed. "HEY! THAT ONE DIDN'T COUNT! THIS TIME FOR REALSIES!" He kept spin dashing and throwing out all his moves on Four, but every time he would just pass through his body, giving the man nothing but a chill through his spine.

"URG! I FORGOT I WAS A GHOST! THESE TRANSPARENT SWORDS CAN'T DO CRAP!" He folded his arms as Four began laughing and said "You really are like him aren't you?" Bob started getting really pissed off and retorted "NO! DON'T YOU DARE LAUGH AT ME!" He noticed tears of joy slipping down Four's cheek as that gave him an idea. "AH HAH! YOU THOUGHT I DIDN'T REMEMBER MY ACID TEARS! WELL THINK AGAIN!"

Four put his hands up in innocence and said "Sorry sorry. You just make a really funny ghost." He gave Bob a patient smile when he said that and it made his anger slowly dissolve. "HEH...I DO? WHAT NO! I WON'T FALL FOR IT!" He began throwing non existing stuff while yelling "GO GO ACID TEARS!" Nothing happened as Four looked at Bob like he had AIDS or something. "GOD DANG IT! HOLD ON!" He began coughing violently as his eyes bulged out of his head.

"Uh..."

Drops of acid began to rain down as Four screamed and jumped out of the way. One drop burned his eye as he clutched it in pain. "HAHA! FEEL THE WRATH OF BOB BOBOWSKI!" Four thought to himself on how Bob started warming up to him, but still needed some convincing. "What if I told him a joke?"

"Hey Bob!"

"WHAT?"

"Why did the ghost go to the bar?"

"FOR BEER?"

"No. For the booos."

A rim shot played in the background as Bob snickered a little bit, but quickly covered it up and pretended like it didn't bother him. "I MEAN....BRO THAT'S LAME!" Four noticed Bob wasn't attacking anymore as his plan was working. "Look at this funny meme I found!" He showed Bob a cringey meme about boos as his eyes lit up and he ecstatically said "WAIT WAIT WAIT! LET ME SHOW YOU SOMETHING!" Four crooked his head as Bob made his acid tears appear again and they started flying upwards. All of a sudden they began forming a white top hat on top of his head. "I CALL IT LITTLE DAPPER BOB! DO YOU LIKE IT?" He awaited Four's answer as Four replied "Yeah Bob! It looks great!"

"OH GEE..." He floated down until he was hovering just a few inches above the ground and spoke to himself, unaware that Four could hear every word. "I USUALLY COME TO THE RUINS BECAUSE THERE'S NOBODY AROUND, BUT TODAY I MET SOMEBODY COOL..." Four cleared his throat and Bob spun around. "OH I'M RAMBLING AGAIN. I'LL GET OUT OF YOUR WAY NOW." He flew into the ceiling with nothing else to say as Four waved goodbye. So there were other replicas of his friends down here.

Now that was really shaping this adventure into something worthwhile...

[brainrotqueen]

If I may make a request,

Junker Queen x Trans!Fem where JQ learns the other is trans and helps them through dysphoria? So angst then fluff?

Ahhhh great request ofc I'll so it!

Junkerqueen x Trans!fem!reader

Warnings:angst, misgendering/tramsphobia (not by Jq) ,dysphoria

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You and Jq have been together for a few months at this point

You became fairly well known in Junkertown because of this which came with both some fame and those who hated you which made you kind of keep your head low when you could

This didn't work well as Junkerqueen loved showing off you and how much she loves you almost like a trophy

Because of this coming out to her became hard, you've known for awhile now that you were trans and you stayed closeted about it as you didn't want to hurt your own or hers repersebtation

You tried to bear with it but it was becoming too much and the dysphoria overwhelmed you and that night you were crying in bed suddenly as you ans Junkerqueen layed there much to her shock

At first she worried she made a mistake and was a bit worried but you began holding her closely and she held you close

"Whats the matta' babe? Did some fucker try upsettin you again?! Just tell me who and I'll make sure Gracie tears them a new one!"

You noticed her anger rising a bit not at you but at this hypothetical person and tried calming her

"N-no Odessa! It's just ... I have been keeping this from you for awhile but ..I think I am transgender it's just my body my voice my everything doesn't feel to allign with who I am on the inside..."

She was a bit confused at first not by what being transgender is but why you haven't told her before

She was wondering if she hasn't shown enough support to you? Or if she has been giving off signs you would hate her for it?

You continued your explanation about her reputation she had to upkeep and she scoffed

"Mate, I don't give two shits if people don't like it, you are what matters to me.. if it makes you happiest then you can be out, I'm sure I can find someone to get ya those..um you know those ... transgender chemicals?"

You giggled a bit by what she called it and smiled "Estrogen?"

"Yeah! That stuff, and trust me I know a doc near the other side of Junkertown who does alot of surgery stuff in case you want any surgeries to like your body better, if you really want I think he can even do body mod stuff with it if you want it"

You hugged her tight as she wipes off your tears which some have begun to dry

You tell her the preferred name you want or if you don't have one yet you can ask for her thoughts for one though alot of her suggest while interesting sound more like gladitorial arena names

With your permission she would announce to the town that there would be a new queen in junkertown which had people talking and qhen she announced your new name you came out smiling shyly , it has been a week since you started estrogen so not really any change yet , but you also had more gender affirming clothing and felt happy

Overall it was a mixed opinion but in the end nobody deeply cared and just saw it as a small thing

However some people had alot stronger thoughts on it

Later after her daily duties as queen the two of you were at a bar relaxing with eachother and she stepped out to use the bathroom

You watched her drink and kept drinking yours until someone approached harassing you

You had tried to ignore him hearing slurs thrown at you , misgendering, trying to get a reaction, other people are the bar whispered about it but not getting involved but they all went quiet sudden

He kept throwing insults at you to the point a couple tears rolled down your face

While beginning to say another one he was stopped and fell face first into the floor, he was shoved down there by the queen herself

After that Odessa came to comfort you hugging you and asking if you could to tell her everything that he said to you and though it was hard you did

As you were telling her the man now a bit weak got up and tried walking quietly away but she grabbed him by the collar before he did get away

"Now listen here mate , for every insult amd slur you threw at my girl I will throw 1 punch to your face, got it?"

You turned around as it happened unable to watch as she beat him pretty roughly making the final blow the hardest knocking him out , she then turned and looked around seeing if anyone else had anything to say to you and people put there heads down

"See babe? I told you we would be fine now cmon let's head back already"

Done!! I hope it was ok

Also side not I didn't know how to include this bur I imagined if the reader is tall and has dysphoria about it and tells Junkerqueen about she would snort laugh and tell you it doesn't make you less of a women and remind you she is 7 feet tall.

[duckies27]

My boys lost the poll and therefore you will get hurt/comfort to mourn

Spoilers for Season 2!!

Trigger warning for PTSD attacks, death, guilt, mentions of jail time, and overall issues with recovery

It was early in the morning and Normal still hadn't stopped shaking. Taylor and him had been married for only a few months, he still didn't know how nasty these attacks could get. He was just so broken, so violently broken. No way for him to know, no way they can talk this through. Taylor was finally clean, he was finally free from all three monitors and the officers. Why drag him back down?

His eyes looked over to his sleeping husband. Taylor resting with his tail switching and horns resting against the pillow. He seemed so peaceful. So happy. Normal pushed himself off the bed and headed to the bathroom. Looking in his reflection he just saw an empty man. The only scars he was proud of were the top surgery ones. Others were just painful reminders.

Every failed attack, every bad heal, every mistake. The failure of a man, who's own father isn't proud of him unless he saves the damn world. He ruffles his hair, messy curls falling around his cheeks. "I...I look like my father, I should get a hair cut." He mumbled, going through the normal routine. Make sure all the scars were still closed, all the new nicks and scratches from his clumsy behavior weren't anything serious enough to warrant a healing spell. As he moved his hand to check his horribly scarred cheek from the flame walls that almost took him down, his eyes glanced at his wedding ring. Instead of diamond, it was made of obsidian. Taylor insisted, have a piece of hell with him. Be together always. He turned from the mirror, rubbing the stone softly. His mind went to Taylor's vows, their wedding day.

"I promise to love you through the good and the bad. Through the heavens and the hells. When we got married in space, I didn't really mean it. I mean it now. I want to be your husband, I want to be yours. And I want you to be mine."

He weakly sighed, tears pricking at his eyes. "He has to be lying, right? At least a little, no way he would take all of this-" he motioned down to himself, almost to an invisible camera. "I'm more than just a little broken, I'm a whole bag of shattered glass waiting to burst out!" He sat down and hugged himself tightly. Single tears turned into rushing waterfalls. He couldn't stop crying, everything quickly came back, all of it rushing back. Lark's angry cries after he let out that thing, code purple, Sparrow's eyes as he said he wasn't proud, Willy, Hermie's death, the battle in hell, both times falling unconscious, the last battle, years alone and struggling. Even therapy could only do so much.

Taylor shifted awake to an empty bed. A cold, empty bed. He sat up, his tail swishing. "Norm?"

No response. He sighed, getting up. Maybe he left, maybe he was in his office. Grabbing his cane, he carefully fumbled to his feet. Lately his hip had been worse, maybe because he was up and about more. It was hard to explain how strange things had become as of late. Normal and him dated for 2 years, and then he suddenly proposed. Cut a few weeks later and they were wed! Yet they were so separate. Normal was quiet the majority of the time, he kept to himself. He normally smiled most after work, but it would fade after a few hours. It has taken him this long to just get Normal to actually sleep in the same bed as him. It was as if he was afraid.

Who could blame him? After his high school crush was shot, then brought back, then disintegrated right in front of his eyes. The rest of his high school career was miserable. He hated everything, he hated the people, he hated the world. Before the reunion, he literally didn't talk to anyone. He shut off, he shut down. Then again, so did Taylor. Jailed in 3 separate dimensions isn't easy. Thankfully Nick pulled some strings and got him working instead of on house arrest, saved his life.

After a moment of thought, he carefully started moving out of the bedroom to take a quick check around the apartment. The only light on was the bathroom, and he could hear heavy sobbing on the other side. "Normal?"

The sobbing stopped for nearly a moment, almost hoping he would leave, before resuming. Once you start, it's hard to stop. Taylor carefully sat on the other side of the door. "You don't have to talk to me but I'm here. I married you for a reason, I love the good and the bad." He set his cane down, twiddling his thumbs. "The really bad. Even if I don't know it all, I know you're worth it." He gently knocked his horns on the door, a weak smile on his face. "You're real fun to cuddle, much better than a body pillow."

Soft footsteps were followed by the door swinging open. Taylor would've fallen if Normal wasn't there to catch him. The half elf was sobbing, uncontrollably so. He dropped to the ground quickly and wrapped tightly around Taylor. His face was shoved into Taylor's shoulder and just kept sobbing.

"I-i-i-i'm so b-b-b-broken, Taylor, W-w-why am I so broken?!" He squeezed the demon under him, completely lost in his pain and fear. Taylor carefully shifted so they were hugging chest to chest. They sat for a while, just letting Normal get everything out. His hands gently ran through the blonde curls of the shaking elf.

"I mean...you did almost died...I almost died." He gently cupped Normal's cheeks. "In that flame ring, pitted against each other...when I got out and I watched you go down so many times..." He sighed, kissing his forehead. "I hated it. I hated all of it. We spent 6 months fighting and hiding and putting our all into attacking and hurting. But you...you were made for love." Taylor felt tears pricking at his eyes. "And someone tore it away from you. Your father, Willy, even me...I don't know. All I know is that you didn't deserve any of it." To hide how hard he was about to start crying himself, he pulled back and held his hands nice and tight. "I want to make you feel safe again and loved and like you deserve love. Even with the scars and the burns that never fully healed. Even with the stupid mascot suit and all the issues, I want to love you and take care of you!"

All Normal could do was weakly sputter in response. At this point, his glasses were fogged up and he could barely see. He couldn't see the warm smile on Taylor's face. Warm, demonic hands reached up and gently cupped his cheeks before little horn nubs pressed against his forehead. He melted, especially on his burnt side. Anyone else who touched the scar got shouts of frustration or a guiding bolt to the hand, but Taylor always got a melty kitty. The few tears that were left were gently wiped away as the pair shared a short kiss. More of a peck that Normal quickly pulled back from.

"...too much?" Taylor quietly asked, ready to pull his hands away.

Normal shook his head, quickly wiping his eyes. "I-i-i'm tired...and thirsty. Plus, I have work in the morning..."

Taylor pouted. "No you don't, you're taking care of your disabled husband!"

That seemed to catch Norm's attention, his hand shooting to Taylor's hip. He felt around the bone, then the joint, then around the general area. His hands started to glow with magical properties, but Taylor stopped him.

"Hey now, you know that doesn't work. I just have a doctor's appointment in hell and I hate going alone." He smiled warmly. "Plus gets you out of state testing~"

For the first time since the wedding, Normal smiled his smile. The dopy one he always had after doing Teenie routines or after a spell fired how he wanted. Before everything with his father. It was crooked now thanks to his burn scars, but he looked just as happy that he used to.

"Fine, fine. I'll call out." He carefully stood up, hands out to help Taylor back to his feet. The demon was shtakey, but he managed it with his cane. "...it's worse than I thought." They slowly shuffled to the bedroom, getting water for both of them in the process.

Taylor was first down, setting his cane down. Head first into the pillow with a pained groan. Normal followed, gently sitting while chugging down a water bottle. He set it down before resting a hand on his husband's back.

"Come cuddle meeeeee" Taylor giggled, reaching to grab at Normal's hands.

With a soft giggle, Normal fully laid down and wrapped around Taylor for the first time in their married life. He finally was fully there, fully safe.

He may not be all better, but he sure as hell feels less broken with Taylor by his side.