realistic-ai-art

[unluckylanterns]

New skill unlocked

Turns out I can read people now, yippee new skill!

Saw something in a certain chat today that validates every negative emotion I have towards someone.

The things stated were bad, and I’m not happy about that.

but I’m so fucking glad I wasn’t just hating on someone just because of a gut feeling.

trust yourselves darlings.

[youngster-monster]

i think my computer is possessed because there is literally no reason that it has to act the way it does, it is a Good Computer and yet i regularly have to sit down and wait for it to stop throwing a fit when i try to download my critically acclaimed mmorpg or in other cases Just Literally Anything Whatsoever. i have nightmares about the time that my monitors would periodically just turn black for a solid 10 seconds unprompted it’s ridiculous at this point

can we talk about the restarting issue i have been DYING to talk about the restarting issue it’s literally insane. prior to yesterday i haven’t been able to safely restart my computer because the last four times i tried to restart my computer it stayed in the ‘restarting…’ screen for over 3 hours and each time had to be turned off to cancel the restart, which, wouldn’t you know it, that means i can’t update anything that requires a computer restart to finish installing. these are not the worst computer issues i’ve ever witnessed but we won’t be unpacking all that. it is Ridiculous how many issues show up with this thing

i literally JUST want to play ffxiv i was sitting at my desk like oh my god i cannot WAIT to see what kinda character creator im workin with here i can’t wait to see ELVES and then my computer decides it needs to explode or something (a normal and reasonable reaction to a user attempting to download a god damn video game. it makes sense surely)

ANYWAYS. computer rant over if i talk about it more then i will inevitably reach the other issues and then we’ll talk about my freak computer’s other stupid problems that it has literally no reason to have

i await the day i am yeeted into the pool that is ffxiv with open arms and i will be trying to download it once again Today should time permit it

it IS robbing the youth from a crucial experience!!!! the children must lie on the internet about their age and give themselves lore that only other children would ever believe ever

and the lore.. ppl on that skinning forum i was on were crazy we just made things up as our irl backstory and would cover for eachother if a single soul said ANYTHING about how it wasn’t actually true. maybe there were a few people who were being serious but they sure weren’t on the same threads i was on!! ppl were making up characters in their real life that they’d tell you about and you just had to nod sagely at them and say you understand because you had some kind of bond with them. no there were no moderators or else none of what was happening would slide

i didn’t have the extremely crucial experience of helping grown men through divorces but this is good enough i think

My monitor used to do that as well! Turn black AND refuse to restart. 'you have to update your drivers' How.

Turned out to be water damage to my gpu though (on account of the Mold Incident) so I think yours being haunted is actually the better option

forum culture.... It's improv theater. To me. yes, and-ing the random teenagers saying 'this is X's brother speaking. They have died. Badly. because you were mean.' one of the childhood experiences for sure

[lyanro]

Like dont get me wrong I was still definitely a gatekeeper before but like… Tiktok has changed the stakes completely. This is not like, oh a song you love gets more well known by a lot of people and you hear it a little more often, maybe it was in a popular show or an advertisement or something, lil bit of a bummer but no big deal, probably won’t be forced to hear the song SO many times that it gets ruined for you.

But this is like… all of a sudden, a song you love starts getting blasted at you from all corners of any social media and most of the internet, dozens of times a day, for approximately 3-4 weeks straight. Relentlessly. Every single fucking person you follow is using this song in their tiktoks/reels/shorts/whatever, hundreds of thousands of people are using it and you can’t avoid it if you are on social media of any capacity, because almost all social media relentlessly pushes tiktok knockoffs now.

And its not even the whole fucking song. it’s like, 15-30 seconds of it. sped up, usually, for maximum attention-grabbing dopamine-grinding effect.

And maybe some people genuinely do like it. but ultimately, to the vast majority of people it reaches on social media, it exists solely as catchy background music for a 30-second video of them pointing at speech bubbles. It is not a song to them. It is not art. It is viewership and clicks. It is Algorithmic Microtrend Du Jour. It is something to be used relentlessly and obsessively and mindlessly for a few weeks, and then discarded forever. It is a Trending Audio.

And then inevitably everyone gets sick of it, dumps it, calls it basic and overplayed, never touches it again. All without ever even listening to the whole song all the way through. Music as a disposable product, single-use music.

And artists are now writing songs DESIGNED for that express purpose. songs baiting themselves to be snapped up, surgically whittled down to the catchiest or most exploitable 15 seconds by the masses, and brutally bludgeoned to death over the course of three weeks to a month. Artists intentionally prostrating themselves before the vampire of short-form video microtrends to be sucked dry and tossed aside like multipack plastic jello shots, if jello shots were made of catchy hooks and deliberately meme-able lyrics.

People are actually writing and recording whole ass songs in the express hope that 15 seconds of them will be used as background noise for people’s dumbass shortform videos for like, a month. That is soooooooooo fucking bleak and like genuinely dystopian to me

[mdhwrites]

“I Could Have Written This Better” And Why I Don’t Say That

It would be exceptionally reasonable for someone to expect me to say that ALL THE TIME. I mean, I am A: A white dude yelling on the internet, B: highly analytical and prone to hyperbole when I speak, C: an independently published author who has every reason to try to convince you that I am better than writers you already like because you have more reason to read my books then and D: a weird outlier amongst content creators in that I genuinely think I am good at my craft. I could always get better but I believe works are good and worth what I charge for them. BUT... No. I hate the phrase “I could written this better” and have only invoked it twice. Why? Because here’s the thing: It’s way easier to look at something and see its flaws than to see them when you have to create it from scratch. That’s why people have teams, prereaders, beta testers, etc. like that because what sounds reasonable and good to you may be utter horseshit, especially since you as the creator have the grand arc in mind and so may miss the minutia that is important in a specific chapter or episode. Content creation is a nightmare and it’s why I wish I didn’t struggle so much to even find pre-readers for my content, let alone sensitivity readers or editors. It’s... *sigh* I don’t want to lament about my craft though. Instead, I want to actually talk about why I’ve ever been willing to invoke this phrase if I’m willing to be kind to the fact that the creators will stumble and trip at times. Because there are moments where someone may be able to claim this. Moments where it’s fair. And that’s mostly when the concept is botched from go. When the writer shows literally no understanding of the potential that they have in front of them. A failure to understand the basic premise and what needs to be done in an episode that someone may have a better grip on it. It’d be like if someone fucked “A Christmas Carol” by making greed and isolation seem good. That is inherently not what the structure is good and you fucked up SOMEWHERE in the creation process if that’s what you have in the end. That is when someone could reasonably say they could write it better. So what are my two? I won’t go in deep but the first was back in my My Little Pony days. There was an episode that had the structure of the stages of grief because someone’s pet turtle was going to hibernate for Winter. A clever way to talk about death... In which they spend 80+% of the episode in anger and denial. The two stages that are the most infuriating and tedious from an audience perspective. They almost don’t touch on depression and have a very brief acceptance phase. So in other words, the character does some real heinous shit, doesn’t do the introspection needed to pull sympathy back to them, or to really explore their pain in a meaninful way, and the audience is robbed of the catharsis they should get out of the acceptance phase. If you just shift a bit of that time where we’re just waiting for the character to get over themselves already and to the really juicy stuff, you have a GREAT episode. Instead, most people hated it and for good reason because the writer didn’t understand what makes that sort of episode worth it for an audience. The other, unsurprisingly, is The Owl House. But it’s a beloved episode. I think Reaching Out is a trashfire though and the minutia is awful but the grand concept... Character A has a father who ignores her and discounts her potential and worth. This drives her to do something rash and dangerous when normally she is the one to pull others back and be reasonable. She is pushed to act out of character in a way that may get her in trouble or in mortal peril but for incredibly easy to follow reasons. Character B is being reminded of the death of their father and the potential of never seeing their mother again. They are normally the more brash and daring character and Character A normally has to pull them back or watch out for what could get them hurt. She is now given reasonable motivation to act out of character in a way that’s overly cautious and scared. And... None of this happens. Character A  still has to be convinced to do anything that would actually get their fathers attention by Character B. Character B shows a SHOCKING disregard for character A’s well being (they’re dating mind you) and complete disconcern for any amount of danger anyone may be in and it just wastes a setup that is a fucking gold mine. A new relationship being tested by sides of the other they’ve never seen before? Contrasting but complementary problems with their father figures? Conflict that causes both out of their comfort zone until they finally have to actually talk about their feelings? Nah. Why would we want any of that when we can retread ground literally walked less than a handful of episodes ago, in the same half a season, and not have any real character growth or development out of it? That would just be silly, wouldn’t it? Sorry. Reaching Out is so bad imo that it makes me want to break my normal rule against simply doing episode reviews. But yeah, that is how much it takes for me to say that I could have done something better. Otherwise, how the hell would I know? It’s not like any episode I praise I would have done just as well on so why couldn’t I do worse? It’s just an act of hubris, that so requires, if you say it sincerely, confidence in your abilities, that I just don’t believe when I hear it come out of someone’s mouth. I just can’t.

[herrlindemann]

Till and Flake in Musik Express - October 2004

This article is mostly about their difficult relationship with the press.  

There are greater pleasures than wanting to get into conversation with musicians who, in the band's internal vote, had spoken out against going on an interview tour at all. And here and now, above all, they have to struggle with their own professionalism. At the third interview, they down the second beer. The beer makes Christian ‘Flake’ Lorenz, the attentive keyboard grasshopper, and Till Lindemann, the beefy and thin-skinned frontman, who is usually saved from having to give interviews, at least a little smoother.

The delegation, clad in beige and brown with the charm of money transport guards, remains friendly at all times, constructively within limits. At Rammstein, the interview attitude is defensive. The fact that Lindemann never only sings about the animal in man, but also mimics sexual offenders, was exaggerated again and again, especially by the tabloids. The martial appearance of the band with reminiscences of the aesthetics of the Third Reich up to the Riefenstahl loan for the 'Stripped' video, on the other hand, challenged serious journalists. The fact that Lindemann is already, on the second day of the interview, moody and only moderately entertaining, giving in to his unsteady nature, wanting to run out of the place, which only more and more questioners storm, is due to day one. Yesterday in Hamburg. A dozen or so journalists came. They all asked the same questions. All the answers to which are already available on the Internet anyway...

Flake : and then you ask yourself: How long have interviews like these been around?

Lindemann : And then you considered: Hans Albers — did he give interviews?

In particular, the two were annoyed by a news magazine man who apparently simply did not want to give in to his request to once again convict Rammstein of gross political incorrectness. Until Lindemann and Flake threatened him with a beating.

That doesn't have to be the case. "Relax, scribbler!” is the unspoken message, waving the neck of a beer bottle, from the two tipsy ambassadors of Germany's most internationally successful band. In the meantime, however, it has washed down to a medium-sized company in which no one has been able to loosen up for a long time. It tries to control the media with all sorts of contracts and even fan homepages with the threat of copyright lawsuits, and whose equal bosses struggle with the constraints of position, image and expectations: "For example, we now have the problem of having to set up a new show again," reports Lindemann: "And we thought about how cool it would be to just stand on stage like the Chili Peppers and play music. That would be heaven.” Flake soars to the statement: “We would be ready for it. But not the fans. They would be bitterly disappointed. They would yell at us: Hey, nobody's burning here anymore!”

The masters of the rough and dark not only long for freedom, they demand comprehensive respect for their commercial success, following the logic of the market so to speak. They want a sedan chair with the Goethe-Institut stamp on it: 'Rammstein — cultural ambassador of Germany.’ And never again the old questions. Doesn't it occur to you that provocateurs can never deserve this respect? Even a backyard jester as successful as Marilyn Manson doesn't get it, over in the US, where almost everyone else is celebrated just for gilding themselves.

But why is Rammstein grieving and not just grinning as broadly as no one has ever grinned in German rock? As the former preacher Jakob says to his violent kidnapper Seth in 'From Dusk Till Dawn': "Are you such a stupid loser that you don't even realize when you've won?”

But maybe Rammstein are striving so vehemently for respect because they suspect that they won't have much time left to climb this highest peak. In fact, a certain despair can almost be read from the thematization of the most heinous crime of recent years in public perception, the Cannibal of Rothenburg, in the single 'Mein Teil'; and the associated video, desperately trying to disturb, would have been a better advertising medium as a victim of censorship — drawing mysterious paths on the Internet. The problem: The sledgehammer that Rammstein uses to give shape to their pictures simply doesn't allow for subtlety. So for the rough sculptor Lindemann a) the pictures run out faster and faster and b) the audience always just calls for a big hit, which also musically puts the band on a short leash. Of course, Flake is well acquainted with the image of the artistic dead end and can therefore settle comfortably in it: “When you get there, you can stand there relaxed, open the guitar case, and maybe someone will come, listen for five minutes and then throw ten cents in.”

Maybe Rammstein are secretly looking for a way out. With an "Oops!” the press officer of the record company conjured up an additional track during the preview of the new album REISE REISE before the interview. It's called "Los" and is said to be a random product, a Rammstein track that lost its heavy guitars during the mix. "Los", originally intended as a single encore, is a piece of music that cuts a fine figure in alternative rock far away from the ingrained industrial metal. In the text, Rammstein deal with themselves, the self-image of the band and the reactions to their actions - not clumsily at all, circling in the verses around words with the syllable "Los". Did Christian ‘Flake’ Lorenz and Till Lindemann want to hear expert opinions on this experiment without giving the matter too much weight by asking specific questions? It couldn't have been more cleverly threaded. Only: Are Rammstein brave enough to actually take this route? You would have to let go for that.

[korasonata]

Alright, here we are. Back by popular demand, I have favourite moments from Joe and Cleo’s paper model stream Part 3! Y’all asked for this so here we go. (Definitely not a short post anymore)

—

Cleo (singing): Excellent choices!

Joe (singing): Made by me! Made by you!

Cleo (talking): I mean, I wouldn’t say this is an excellent choice made by us. Just as a-

Joe (still singing): As long as we stream together! Nothing can ever stumble us both at once!

Cleo: I mean, I think you’d be surprised.

Joe: There’s nothing we can’t achieve! You and me!

Cleo: …Yeah.

—

Joe: Why’d you leave the cat up on the table?

Cleo: Because she won’t go away! She knows she’s not allowed on the table, but I’m here and therefore it must be awesome.

Joe: Mhm. Yeah usually when I climb on a table it’s because you’re there. This is why my viewers are always like “Joe, Cleo brings out such negative behaviour in you.”

Cleo: *cackle laughing* It’s true. It’s true.

Joe: It is.

Cleo: I am a bad influence on you.

Joe: I mean, you could have just ended that sentence after influence, but you know it’s fine.

—

Cleo (affectionately): Joe you are rude today! I think that’s the second time you’ve insulted me in like 5 minutes.

Joe (not even 2 minutes into the stream): What, already?

—

Joe: You know, you’ve had so many jobs in your career. Obviously night surgeon is going to be the next one.

Cleo (holding a scalpel menacingly): *maniacal snickering*

—

Cleo: *leaves for literally less than 2 minutes*

Joe: *singing The Wellerman at full volume*

—

Joe (reading chat): Is Cleo next to me? You know, I like to think that Cleo’s always a little bit ahead of me, but it encourages me to catch up.

—

Cleo: I mean, to be fair, most things could be me. For I am- for I am…(with drama) I am legion! For we are many!

Joe: Hell is empty! And all the Cleo’s are here!

—

Cleo (reading chat): “Does Joe know what you look like?”

Joe: No…

Cleo: I could send you a photo if you wanted Joe. If you really felt the need.

Joe: See, I- I- I felt like, you know, asking like, uh, women on the Internet to send me pictures of themselves might be a bad look, so I have chosen not to ask? But…I mean if you’re volunteering I am curious- especially because if I am in London and I do bump into you somewhere, it would be nice to be able to say hello.

Cleo: Fair enough. Hang on a second.

Joe: But I am hoping to get over there like next summer.

Cleo: Let’s see if I can find a pho-I don’t tend to take photos of myself because I don’t like showing myself-…ever. So…let’s browse some photos, see if I can show you.

Joe (panicking): …Oh! Are you gonna send it like right now so you can get a reaction, cause my fa-my face is on camera?!

SILENCE

Cleo: There you go. That’s me.

—

Joe (in response to seeing Cleo’s face for the first time): so you’re so- you’re so private about your appearance, I don’t wanna say anything that, like, that could be used to interpolate anything.

Cleo: You can just say I’m minging it Joe, it’s fine.

Joe: What does minging it mean?

Cleo: Ugly as all hell. That’s basically what that is.

Joe: What?! No!

Cleo: It’s fine! I know…

SILENCE

Cleo: *laughing* I’ve made Joe feel awkward now, that takes a LOT to do! *laughing harder*

Joe: No no! No! No! So the thing is I’m running through the, like, security mode threat model thing where I’m like “ok, so Cleo definitely benefits from people thinking shes ugly, so I don’t wanna like mention how attractive she is because then that gets that weird in multiple ways while also revealing that she’s very attractive which th- somebody could use to track her down” and I’m just like, eh I’m just gonna let this one slide.

—

Joe: I have tried a few adjustments Cleo, but in the end I never made it as a wise man.

Cleo: I mean-

Joe (singing): I couldn’t cut it as a poor man stealing.

Cleo: To be fair, you do strike me more as a- as a… (trails off)

SILENCE

Cleo: I was trying to think of a non-insulting…

Joe: Just go ahead and insult me, it’s fine.

Cleo: I- I- ah-

Joe: You’ve already insulted yourself enough this stream.

Cleo: I see you as a sheep is what I said.

Joe: What?

Cleo: As in not a wise man, not a shepherd, you’re a sheep in that nativity.

Joe (delighted): Awe!!

—

Cleo (reading chat): “Do you often lie to spare Joe’s feelings?” Umm…

Joe: N…no.

Cleo: Not often no. *giggling*

Joe: I mean, she doesn’t have to. I’m great.

Cleo: No, it’s alright, Joe doesn’t have feelings it’s fine. I mean, not that I’ve noticed.

Joe: if Joe had feelings we’d have to start acting ethically around him, so it’s in our best interest to ensure that research does not detect any.

—

Cleo (reading her chat): “I just wanted to say your voice is very pretty”. I don’t know how to take that.

Joe: Oh, thank you!

Cleo: I think Joes voice is very pretty. I appreciate that.

Joe: I was gonna say, they know that you’re not me, right? I know it’s confusing cause we’re both talking on both peoples streams.

Cleo: I mean, I think- I think they might know that you are the pretty one.

—

Joe (reading chat): “not gonna lie, I’m kinda jealous of those glasses.”

Cleo: Umm…in the fact that they’re on Joe’s face? Or just-

Joe: Oh yeah, you know everybody’s jealous of anything on my face, I get it.

Cleo: *wheezing intensely* Yes Joe… *cry laughing* No, I’m done… *laughing continues* Ok… *trying desperately to compose herself*

—

Cleo (about Scar jump scaring Joe): Again, if you haven’t seen Joe scream like an itty bitty baby-

Joe: I’m sorry, babies don’t have lungs this powerful. I screamed like a man. Screaming like, very loudly.

—

Joe: I’ve gotta do this 3 more times and what’s deeply deeply upsetting is I know I’m gonna do an equally bad job every time.

Cleo: No!! No! I believe in you Joe!

Joe (with heavy dead-voiced sarcasm): I’m sure the 4th one will be perfect Cleo, you’re right. I should’ve believed in myself all along. Thank you. For those words. Of affirmation. They mean so much. Coming from such a close friend.

Cleo: I dunno about you chat, but I definitely felt sarcasm.

—

Cleo: I’m crushing it right now! I wish I wasn’t. *dejected* Why do I always hurt the things I love?

—

Cleo (entertaining Joe’s chat while he’s away): Do you think Joe grants wishes? Because if he does grant wishes, I don’t think it’s the wishes we think he’s gonna grant. I mean, it would explain Joe, because he could grant wishes in the way that, umm…Hmm…I’m thinking…

Joe: I’m back Cleo if you need me to grant you any wishes.

Cleo: I mean, could you?

—

Cleo: Awe! Practical Magic was one of my favourites when I was growing up!

Joe (heavy sarcasm): I can’t imagine why!

Cleo: *snickering* I built my whole life around it. *laughing* shut up Joe.

Joe: *snickering* Surprising no one!

Cleo: SHUT UP JOE *laughing*

—

Cleo: To be fair, if Joe really didn’t like me threatening him I would stop.

Joe: Yeah no it’s fine.

Cleo: See?

Joe: It makes me feel important.

Cleo: You are Joe. You are very important.

[gunterfan1992]

Episode Review: ‘Wizard City’ (Distant Lands, Ep. 4)

Airdate: September 2, 2021

Story by: Adam Muto, Jack Pendarvis, Kate Tsang, Hanna K. Nyström, & Charley Feldman

Storyboarded by: Maya Petersen, Hanna K. Nyström, Anna Syvertsson, & Aleks Sennwald, & Haewon Lee

Directed by: Miki Brewster & Jeff Liu (supervising), Sandra Lee (art)

An episode focusing on Peppermint Butler’s dark side is something that the fandom has craved ever since the little guy demanded Finn and Jake’s flesh in season two’s “Death in Bloom.” While installments like season five’s “The Suitor” and season six’s “Nemesis” did much to scratch that itch, the story of the Dark One remained mostly unknown…

And after “Wizard City,” it still remains largely unknown. But that’s OK, because instead of focusing on the character’s history, this special focuses on Peps’ quest to relearn magic at a magic school. Put most simply, this special is largely a fun excuse for the show to riff on Harry Potter and The Owl House-style “magic school hijinks,” and it mostly all works.

The special follows Peps quest to go to WizArts (a definite play on CalArts, the school that Pen Ward and Adam Muto, among many others, went to) so that he can relearn magic and once again become one of the greatest dark wizards of his time. Initially, Peps tries to make friends with cool kid Spader and his posse, but once they learn that Peps is not as talented at magic as they had initially thought, they kick him to the curb. It is at this point that Cadebra, Abracadaniel’s adorkable niece who is fascinated with stage magic, enters the picture. Cadebra tries everything in her power to befriend Peps, but Peps pushes back, since she’s not “cool.” It does not matter, though, because both Peps and Cadebra are sorted into the same “house”—the “Skink House—and are forced to work together.

While Peps and his cohort begin learning more and more complex magic, a secret cult of school professors, led by the otherwise caring Dr. Caledonius, are scheming to resurrect Coconteppi, a powerful dark wizard whose putrid heart has been discovered underneath the school excreting a very powerful ichor. The school cult kidnaps Spader and gives him some of the ichor to drink; they hope that because of his talent, he will be able to house the spirit of Coconteppi. This does not go as planned, and Spader is graphically killed (albeit off screen). (In a more humorous moment, Bufo, the scam wizard from season one’s “Wizard,” also ingests some of the ichor, believing himself powerful enough to handle it, but it kills him.)

Eventually Peps and Cadebra learn what is going on. Dr. Caledonius welcomes Peps, believing that he is strong enough to handle the ichor. When Cadebra’s life is put in danger, Peps reluctantly gives the putrid fluid a swig, which infuses him with the power of Coconteppi. Coconteppi-Peps then kills all the cult members before Cadebra manages to remove the ichor from Peps body. For uncovering a heinous plot, Peps is promoted to the highest house, “Salamander,” but he decides to remain a Skink and learn magic “the hard way” with Cadebra as his friend.

As I mentioned near the start of this review, “Wizard City” spends most of its time riffing on the “magic boarding school” trope, with much of the episode feeling like a light-hearted parody of Harry Potter: The characters, after all, are “sorted” into “houses,” they learn various types of magic from skilled “professors,” and they bunk in different parts of a large castle-like campus. Of course, Harry Potter didn’t invent the idea of a boarding school, but when setting your story in a school for magic, it is very hard not to lean at least somewhat into the Hogwarts relation. And this really is a double-edged sword, for while Harry Potter references can be fun here and there, they can also make the overall story feel like a fanfic parody. This special does a good job focusing more so on the characters rather than the setting, but I won’t lie, at times it did feel as if they show was really trying to make you realize it was making a Harry Potter joke.

Of all the characters introduced in the special, the breakout star is easily Cadebra, voiced by Chloe Coleman. Radiating a sort of Mabel Pines energy, Cadebra is the beam of optimism who shines brightly in an otherwise macabre special. There is something about her plucky personality and sense of wacky individualism that charms the viewer. I appreciate how the show compared and contrasted her with her uncle, the one and only Abracadaniel: like her uncle, Cadebra is a good person who wants to help others, but unlike Abracadaniel, she has a sense of courage and fortitude that results in her taking on a Coconteppi-possessed Peps at the episode’s climax. (Say what you will, Abracadaniel stans, but our favorite custodian would never have done that!) Thanks to her bravery and dedication to Peps, Cadebra is easily the heart of the special.

The episode throws an interesting little curveball into the mix by having the ‘ghost’ of Past Peppermint Butler constantly haunt Peps in the here-and-now. Past Peppermint, it seems, was so determined to become a great wizard, he cursed himself, so that if anything were to go awry, his Past self could materialize and set him straight. It’s confusing, but I do think that mixing the “overbearing parent” trope with a curse is a clever idea; it gives the whole special some dramatic heft. The whole setup is made even funnier by the special’s conclusion: After Future Peppermint Butler is ‘defeated’ and the day is saved, Peps reveals to Cadebra that he still wants to be a great and powerful dark wizard… but he wants to earn that power through hard work and determination. (Peppermint Butler might commune with demons, but he would never sell his soul to one for power; Glob helps those who help themselves, ya know?)

One of the special’s strongest points is its background art. Adventure Time always had some beautiful set pieces, and this special goes above and beyond to give WizArts an ancient sense of grandeur and mystery. Ghostshrimp, a freelance artist who was the show’s lead background designer during seasons 1-4, return for this special as a “visual developer”—basically, he mocked up a bunch of rough designs for the locales, and then the episode’s background artists worked up the final pieces in his style. On his podcast, Ghostshrimp mentioned how hectic he found Adventure Time to be, because he was used to taking his time on pieces. As such, the decision to bring him on for just development was smart, as it allowed him to still come up with iconic background designs while also playing fast and loose with everything. Hopefully the show will continue this approach with the Fionna and Cake miniseries that is coming up. After all, Ghosthsrimp’s style is the look of Adventure Time.

Another strong point for the episode is its voice acting. For one thing, you have your regulars like Tom Kenny and Dana Snyder, and Duncan Trussell, who all give a solid performance. But to voice many of the special’s new characters, the show brought on a bevy of fun actors: Saturday Night Live’s Bill Hader, for instance, is now voicing Bufo, and he does a solid job hamming up his role as the old fogey. And then there’s Toks Olagundoye, whose British accent gives Dr. Caledonius a sense of knowledge and expertise. To my delight and surprise, SungWon Cho, an internet personality and voice actor perhaps better known as ProZD, was tapped to voice Brain Wizard, and he does an excellent job. And finally, Anthony Stewart Head, a very talented actor who I know best as Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, voices Con Wizard, and is even given a fun little ditty to sing. I can safely say that the voice acting in this special is likely the best of the bunch, and it’s obvious that the actors were all having a great time playing their parts.

What drags the whole thing down, in my opinion is the excessive murder. (I joked on Twitter that during the climax of “Wizard City,” it felt like I was watching an Adventure Time-ified version of Invincible!) Infused with the power of Coconteppi, Peps goes on a brutal killing spree, boiling Potable Wizard into steam, zapping Dimension Wizard into another plane of existence, smashing Berdzerd, and—perhaps most graphically—excerebrates (had to look that word up!) Brain Wiz. On Twitter, @sometipsygnostalgic​ argued that while, yes, the scene is startling, it does wonders to transmute “a poor Summer Camp Island knockoff [into] Adventure Time chaos.” The more I think about it, the more I think that’s a fair point; after all, this is hardly the first dark thing that has happened in Adventure Time. But the part that I cannot really stomach is the fact that Spader was murdered for no real reason, and the special ends without anyone really expressing their horror at the situation. Sure, Spader was a schoolyard bully, but he was also a child. And killing a child—either for the drama or the lulz—feels decidedly out of place in an Adventure Time episode. It’s hard to express, but it just felt unnecessarily nihilistic and mean-spirited.

All things considered, I think this was a fun episode, but it was somewhat underwhelming for a ‘finale.’ Much of this is because it had to air after the perfection that was the back-to-back “Obsidian”/”Together Again” wombo combo. But I can’t help but feel like this special just felt a little... off. A little too meanspirited, and it leaned a bit too much on standard tropes. Still, it was a fun spin, and I know that I’ll rewatch it.

Mushroom War Evidence: As Peps rides the bus to school, he passes a bunch of abandoned houses, some of which are buried in the ground. There is an unexploded bomb above the fossilized elephant in the school. Cadebra has a dream that takes place in the ruins of a city.

Final Grade: B+

[tenthgrove]

Yandere La Squadra: Poly Edition

Content Warnings: Stalking, Abduction, Mild Non-Con Touching, (Consensual) Pregnancy

For longer than you would probably guess, La Squadra has had a bizarre pact. Should anyone in the group find themselves in a stable relationship with a likeable person, they have to try and convince the individual to date the rest of the team as well. As comical and innocuous as this originally was, it soon morphed into a morbid acceptance that, should the right situation arise, La Squadra would abduct a civilian to become their joint romantic companion.

To La Squadra, this would only seem practical. It is only natural for them to desire companionship but, with the exception of Sorbet and Gelato, none have been able to find it so far. Furthermore, a partner outside of the team would bring risks, creating a 'back door' into La Squadra a rival team or gang could use to infiltrate them. For all those involved, the safest thing to do would be to make La Squadra's lover disappear completely, hidden safely within the walls of the hideout.

Regardless, after remaining in the back of the team's mind for a number of years, their pact is suddenly brought to attention again when one of them, it doesn't matter who, meets you. Taken at once by their attraction to you, they inform the rest of the team and, one by one, each of La Squadra's members take turns observing you. From the point that all nine of them agree they have a liking for you, your fate is sealed.

The task of taking you is kept for Risotto and Prosciutto. Between them, they are confident they can abduct you cleanly without causing you unnecessary harm or leaving evidence. They render you unconscious for the journey back to the base, thinking it would be best for them to deal with your fears after you're safely in your new home.

As you lie unconscious in Risotto's bed, he locks you in the room and calls a squad meeting downstairs. This is mostly to reiterate the rules: no crowding you, no touching you without your permission, and no giving you major extra privileges (e.g. time outside) without running it by him. After that, everyone is dismissed to their rooms, and told to wait until they're called before coming to see you.

After waking up in a panic, any attempts to run will be quickly stopped by Risotto, who is more than capable of keeping you restrained by himself. Once you've calmed down enough to listen, he explains to you very carefully why you're here, and that no harm will come to you no matter what. All they want is a companion, and in exchange, they will give you safety and happiness.

For the first couple of weeks, the only people allowed to be around you unsupervised are Risotto, Prosciutto, Sorbet and Gelato. Being the elders of the group and the most sensible, they can trust each other not to overstep your boundaries, or let their guard wane around you so you can slip away. You are traded between the three of their rooms from night to night. Later, you'll be switching between everyone's bedrooms on some sort of agreed schedule.

Risotto and Prosciutto are the first ones you bond with. Despite their intimidating appearances they were the ones to answer most of your questions early on, and ward off the others when they over step your boundaries. It's usually them you go to when you get overwhelmed and need a moment of quiet.

Sorbet and Gelato are the ones to take care of you. If you shut down and refuse to eat or otherwise look after yourself, it's them who calmly usher you into the kitchen to see what can tempt your fancy. You're a little scared of them because of all the stories you've heard, but to you, they are only ever gentle. It may seem strange that an established couple would show as much interest in you, but the truth is they love you as much as everyone else does.

Pesci and Ghiaccio are the friendly ones. They aren't as protective of you as Risotto and Prosciutto (it's this inability to stand up to the team that means you aren't allowed to sleep in their rooms early on) but they're always very calm around you. You find it hard to believe Ghiaccio supposedly has the temper everyone says he does, because it's never come out when you're around.

Formaggio, Illuso and Melone are the hardest to get along with. They bend the rules, always wanting to caress your arm or kiss your cheek without asking, and their 'jokes' always leave you blushing in the bad sense. The others always tell them off for this. On the other hand, these three are also the most lenient with your rules, always sneaking you gifts or even letting you use their phones before Risotto formally gives you internet access.

In the long term, La Squadra would very much like to have children with you. There are frequent disagreements about how many (ranging from Ghiaccio and Illuso's bid for 'one' to Melone's bid for 'ten') but everybody agrees they'd like at least one. If you aren't able to become pregnant or you absolutely cannot be persuaded to do it, they are okay with adopting a child, who will most likely end up being the first kid under 3 whose parent ends up on their hit list. Otherwise, they would very much like to get you pregnant for the experience of watching you go through the process.

If you aren't a particularly parental person, don't worry. With 9 partners to share your burden you won't have to take on any more responsibility than you're comfortable with, and will be supported in every stage of the pregnancy and childrearing. Honestly, they are just grateful to you for being with them and letting them have this family at all.

Don't be fooled, their pursuit of a lover doesn't mean La Squadra has abandoned their other goals. They still crave the power they're owed and, and whether it be through gradually rising through the ranks or taking the syndicate by force, they will obtain it. Soon, you'll find yourself sharing in their new lives of luxury, everything you've ever wanted now a request away. The best part of their newfound success is seeing you happy.

[ninacarstairss]

PARABATAI WEEK — day 6, underrated/fanon parabatai @carstairgray

i’m broken, torn apart, shattered and a couple more adjectives because of tftsa and it falls perfectly on the parabatai week so here are some simon x george parabatai headcanon

they place their parabatai runes on the back of their shoulders to symbolize they’ll always have each other’s back.

after the ceremony they go back to the new york institute and the rest of the gang surprises them with a party to celebrate.

simon places a stuffed rat on george’s bed before he shows him his new room, in memory of their days at the academy. the rat also has a tiny collar with “jon cartwright xxxv” engraved on it.

george jumps on the nearest chair when he sees it and his academy nightmares come back to him as simon is doubled over laughing near the door.

once the initial fear of having to deal with rats even at the institute passes, george keeps the stuffed animal and he adores it, it reminds him of their time at the academy, how he and simon met and became the brothers they are now.

they start having training sessions with jace and alec and they always end up on the ground with jace and alec triumphant over them but they put up quite a fight when fighting together.

they also like to train a lot with izzy and clary but that works way less for their skills because izzy and simon end up making out somewhere when one of them pins the other on the floor and clary and george just leave the room and go get a coffee before they can see something they won’t be able to forget. alec still talks about his nightmares regarding the time he walked in on simon and izzy in idris.

george gets to know the gang better and they all love him, but simon is especially happy when he notices him bonding a lot with izzy and clary and when he sees alec starting to trust him fully. jace ends up telling george so many stories about the first time he met simon and how he was when he first entered the shadow world, including the being-turned-into-a-rat part — george’s favorite ever since the academy — and that’s when simon knows jace really likes him too.

simon keeps schooling george in pop culture, movies, comics and the history of his band when he was a mundane and he drags george around the city in all the best places to find comics and the best film. soon enough george is making star wars references on a daily basis. though, he’ll never stop mocking simon about all the names his band went through, especially when he reveals the ones he though about during the academy that had to do with rats and other weird creatures, or grey eggs.

george often leaves to visit his family in scotland and he always takes simon with him. his parents love him and they always welcome him as a son. george couldn’t be happier and simon feels at home. he misses seeing his family every day, but he learned that for every loss there’s something to gain and this new part of a home is his own new piece of happiness.

once, though, the whole gang tagged along. george talked about the green fields and the sheep of scotland so much that they wanted to see for themselves. it’s a wild vacation and, between a hike and a tour of the nearby cities, jace gets not-so-gracefully swept off his feet by a running sheep and it’s a sight they’ll never forget or let him live down.

they have annual dinners with the group for the academy. no matter how far they’re all located from each other, they get a portal and meet in idris at least once a year and visit the muddy fields where scarsbury had them running and doing push-ups for as long as it took to kill them. beatriz and julie have also become a great pair of parabatai and jon manages not to be too obnoxious for one night a year.

simon also schooled george in the art of eating take out every day for basically all meals and told him to gently refuse every single thing that leaves the pan when it’s izzy cooking as soon as he stepped foot into the institute. surprisingly enough izzy and george find in each other some really horrible cooks who get along a lot and think they cook fantastic food while burning half the kitchen every single time they get close to a burner. simon’s desperate and he’s most likely going to loose his eyebrows in a kitchen fire soon enough. or worse, he might actually have to eat the stuff they cook one of these days. (credits to @icycoolslushie for the idea on this one)

when sizzy get married simon chooses george to be his suggenes and george cries his eyes out because his brother is so grown up and he’s getting married

once clary and simon convince the gang to celebrate halloween and they organize a halloween party at the institute for all their friends. george is the first to agree and he’s so excited. he and simon are planning matching costumes and decide to go as avatar characters — but with more covering clothes on, simon is stoic about this and george agrees it’s probably best not to risk finding themselves in the middle of a fight with a halloween night demon wearing only that little cloth around their hips — and they also kick it up a notch by dying their hair blue. except that they buy the wrong kind of dye and when the next day they wash their hair to get the colour off, it doesn’t go away. izzy and clary have to fix their mess with brown dye.

they are those friend that always do the craziest things you see on the internet and end up with the most aesthetic photos, like george in the middle of a parking lot with flashing lights surrounding him, sitting in a shopping cart and laughing, or simon naturally posing with his bow and arrow in front of a fantastic landscape and they become snapchat famous for these pics. izzy, alec and jace are pretty confused by this snapchat famous thing.

when simon moved in at the institute after the academy he installed a playstation in his room and most nights george is there with him, playing at 3am with snacks of all kinds surrounding them. izzy joins too sometimes but she’s not great at those games and has smashed a couple of joysticks after loosing multiple times, while clary kicks both their asses when she pops in for a game.

one night george entered simon’s room for a 3am game and instead found him with izzy, both of them half naked and in the middle of some sort of role play where izzy was calling simon “lord montgomery”. he never lets simon live that down and brings the name up in the most inappropriate moments — such as clave meetings — making simon choke on air every time. after that, though, george is very careful to knock.

simon’s pansexual and he’s a little afraid to come out to george at first, but he soon realizes he knows george and he wouldn’t turn his back on him, he wouldn’t leave. so when he does tell him he’s shaking slightly but he’s also happy and george clearly is too, he scoops simon into a tight hug and tells him he’s incredibly proud of him and reassures him he loves him no matter what, they’re brothers no matter what.

they’re not big on celebrations of birthdays or mundane holidays in general, but they do like to keep the traditions alive. both of them have been raised with no knowledge of the shadow world and they were observant of some religious and mundane holidays that shadowhunter don’t celebrate. so they like getting christmas gifts for everyone or organize parties for new year’s. they celebrate hanukah too and share other little traditions from their childhoods, like george’s family tradition of sheep’s wool-covered sweets and chocolates to find instead of eggs for easter or simon’s family tradition of taking a two day trip around spring to see the changing season and enjoy some free time, even if the trip is to the nearest town. they’re small traditions sometimes, but they like to keep the memories alive.

george becomes really good with max after that first encounter and the offer of raising him in his and simon’s drawer. he and simon often volunteer to babysit him, and rafe too afterwards, and they obviously use as bedtime stories the plot of star wars or comics, which the kids absolutely love.

sometimes when he’s stressed or tired george goes full on scottish and also switches to gaelic at times and simon is just there looking at him, torn between wanting to giggle at his usually contained behavior now unchecked and wanting to hug him and confort him. he always goes with the second, but he does love to hear george speak gaelic.

after the time at the academy when george was leading the mission to go after the faerie fruit vendors where simon got sucked into faerie he’s incredibly protective of simon in battle — or just all the time, actually. he’s thrown himself in front of simon more times than simon can count and he loves this kind of care, because of course he does the same whenever george is in danger, but it also makes him sad a lot because he knows george still feels guilty about that mission, even if nothing bad really happened, and he would do anything to make sure nothing similar ever happened again.

tag list @cordaisya @im-not-ruined-im-ruination @surrounded-by-exquisite-clutter @stxr-thxif @icycoolslushie @writeforjordelia @gabtapia @fair-childd @clarys-heosphoros @shadowhuntingdemigod (let me know if you want to be added or removed)

[staribon]

Everyone has the right to their own opinion for sure but since i’m seeing so many people hating on and bashing Heartstopper lately now that it's a live action Netflix show and really in the public eye there’s so much stuff I see these people refuse to acknowledge about it before going online and being so negative about it without even watching it or reading the source material. 

I for one am so so glad to see something like this become mainstream and popular. Like this is a show that gets actual young adult/teen actors to play teenagers AND gets real POC to play roles written for POC AND actual trans actors to play trans characters. That alone is actually pretty monumental and reason enough to support it even if it’s not your thing because if we don’t ensure that it does well these corporations won’t greenlight stuff like this anymore and we’ll have even less representation. 

It’s also really really amazing for a smaller content creator and not some big wig executive to be getting the chance to tell a story on a platform that can reach a lot of people! Again it’s important to support things like this! Support stuff made by small creators support artists who are queer and POC! 

Unfortunately, not every single piece of media was made to specifically cater to your life experiences. For me as a queer POC I relate to both the comic and the show a lot. To see people hating the show so much and calling it corporate, unfeeling, and unrealistic or whatever is so invalidating to my own experiences considering… I relate to it!! Like are my experiences any less valid than yours because I relate to and enjoy a light hearted Netflix show? 

I also feel like a lot of people are either not researching or forgetting that the original comic is literally made by an aroace nonbinary writer/artist, Alice Oseman, and that they were very involved in the creation for the show. Don’t we want these opportunities for creators?  Personally, I don't feel that anyone has the right to say something has no value representation wise when it's literally made by someone who is in the community they seek to represent. Not that you can't critique content made by queer people about being queer (or poc content made for poc people for that matter) or dislike it, of course you can and should, but this "all or nothing" mentality the internet seems to have developed in regards to rep is so frustrating to see. Not all rep is good rep to me sure but with Heartstopper it's literally just... what too happy and silly? Literally what is wrong with that?

I think our community has enough sad depressing media and enough stories telling us we're going to die in the end and enough stories telling us we only exist to be comic relief for haha funny jokes or to be fetishized through bizzare sex scenes. Like the fact we even have a silly romcom for teens is such a good step forward. I know Heartstopper isn't the pinnacle of gay rep, but nothing ever will be!! Nothing is ever going to be perfect with absolutely no problems or things to improve on nor is any piece of media going to be able to encompass every single queer experience on the planet. I just think it's unfair to write off a piece of media written from a genuine place of love and care made by someone IN the community for reasons like that. We can just appreciate it for what it is. Holding it to such high standards as if it's claiming to be some cinematic masterpiece makes no sense when that’s not at all what it’s trying to be. Having a few cute stories isn't hurting anyone. Just because you personally can't see yourself in something doesn't mean other people can't. Shouldn't you be glad kids are seeing themselves in the show even if you can’t...? 

Like idk maybe let people enjoy something happy and low stakes for once (not that the show doesn’t have its fair share of teen drama). If you hate Heartstopper that's fine but literally why go online and complain about it and make people feel like they don't belong in the community because you don't like it or relate to it yourself? Literally just don't watch it, block the tags, and unfollow people so you don't have to see it? 

Maybe just ask yourself if you’re really angry at this little show about gay teenagers coming of age or if you’re actually angry at society for creating a system that erases our voices so much that we only have a fraction of the variety of content cishet people get and thereby there’s nothing custom made for you. 🤷

[jiminrings]

hellooo can i request a drabble of uni!au art major tae and biochem major yn? also part one of the would you series is AMAZINGGG seriously i cant wait to read more!! <3

rich kid kim

pairing: taehyung x y/n

wordcount: 5k

glimpse: tae’s cold and probably needs a friend more than he needs a model, y/n feels this nEED to take care of him, a term of enderment then a dash of emotional constipation and a sprinkle of jealousy :D

notes: thank you for the request babes!! writing this made my heart melt and aND!!! thank you omg i’m glad you like would you :((

if you squint or if you’ve read insufferable, this is most probably taehyung and his y/n!!!

taehyung is personally more than willing to pay himself out of this project

oKAY LISTEN

he’s not the proudest knowing that he comes from a rich family and he’s the only kid and he’s never really struggled for much

everything was just given to him without any hesitations whatsoever

and yeah he admits that he can nEVER admit that his pampered and luxurious lifestyle since birth has shaped him to be this way and it’s hard to unlearn these types of things

things were too easy for him and thAt’s what made it hard

tae is the farthest thing from an outcast..,.,.,.,

.,.,. but that’s him in his usual rich boi bubble of elites wherever he goes because he’s surrounded by people like him

hoseok and jimin have got to be his closest friends but of course they pursued business degrees and everyone must’ve probably saw that coming

nobody, however, expected the kim taehyung to pursue a degree based rootly on passion and even major in it

yeah that’s right what are yOU looking at???

he’s an art student and yeah he’s taking this seriously ://

do yOU have a problem with that?? do you?? no what did you say?? step the fuck up ky-

spoiler alert: people do have a problem with that

taehyung could tell that his parents did a complete 180 when they learned through jimin’s noisy-ass mouth (not even through their own son) that he’s gonna be getting an art degree

his dad’s the one who’s most especially disappointed at him because well he’s the only child and uhhhh.,.,.,, so who’s gonna inherit the company now.,.,,,

tae normally feels selfish and this time, he felt like he was being rational rather than being selfish!! this is what he passionately wants!! pls god can i be selfish oNE more time

eventually his parents had no choice because as their son explained,, having an art degree won’t keep him away from the family business at all and he could even expand it!! he doesn’t need a degree!!! 

lmao he’s been putting the money he gets on the stock market ever since he was ten years old

and they had to accept it eventually because this is what HE wants and if this is the only thing that he wants... then might as well help him through it, right??

now this is another dilemma

taehyung’s applied at a regular university in which everyone’s blended together and no one really cares about who’s who

it’s not exclusive to people like him.

he submitted his requirements and his portfolios by himself!!

and he got accepted!!

he’s nOT SURE if it’s purely because of his skills and himself and not his parents’ money nor influence

whatever it is, he doesn’t want to know because if it ends up being the answer he doesn’t want?? lol he’d crawl into a hole and mope for a week and would be doomed to wear three-piece suits for the rest of his life 

so anyways

yeah..,, this is one of the handful of times that taehyung is completely willing to pay himself out 

this project was supposed to be easy enough as what the professor said but uH he’d like to passive-aggressively decline pls and thank you

their final project was to make a portrait

right?? easy!!

a portrait of sOMEONE IN CAMPUS,,, regardless if you know them or not

(( well of course you’d get to know them by the end because yea they’re required to show proof that they indeed met and the model did agree to be painted ))

and by the end of the project, it’s either they keep it to themselves or give it to the model!!

that should be easy, right??

...

....

...... pls say right

oh my god tae should probably drop out now so he doesn’t get to do this

rich people don’t necessarily have to be educated, right???? maybe he’ll just settle into being a himbo 

he learned about the meaning of the word through urban dictionary that he tHEN only learned about like six months ago and now he gets so many things

taehyung’s not intimidated by the workload of it all -- in fact, he’s even excited about it because it helps him relax!!

what he’s intimidated about is the fact that he’s kim taehyung and there are only two possible options

either his model would be someone who knows him and would be taking every possible step to ensure that they climb the social ladder through him and they’re not even gonna be dISCREET about it

OR

his model wouldn’t completely care about who he is and in the process belittles him upfront and tbh his hart wouldn’t be able to take that and he’s probably wipe his tears away with dollar bills

there is almost no in-between, that one he’s sure of

so why are you like this?

why are you neither of the two and why are you sO kind and go against his expectations????

do you have an ulterior motive or something????

you who’s a biochem major and is actually another building away from his own

you who’s made the initiative that you become hIS model

you who actually oFFERED and almost begged to be a part of a project that would only be for tae’s benefit

... aha

that’s about -5 points from being a cool laid-back nonchalant gal

+10 for looking like someone who’s had a massively obsessive crush on him since day one and looking like you’d lay his life for him

no but lmao actually you just learned about taehyung in a magazine

you were bored at the dentist’s and scrolled through every possible outlet in your phone and it didn’t satiate you anymore!!! so how about reading a good ol’ magazine :D

then came taehyung

it was a whole issue dedicated to him and you were probably too dedicated into reading it that this time it was you telling the dentist to wait lol

that’s as far as you knew about him

and then you learned just some weeks ago that taehyung happens to study where you also study at and that was.,., inch resting

you never really saw him before around campus because it was too big and well maybe if you put in the effort, you’d actually find him

maybe you had a tiny lil admiration for kim taehyung just from one whole issue alone you read at the dentist’s or whatever

you’ve only known about this final project situation through changbin!!!

changbin, your neighbor at the apartment next to you, who’d crash over whenever his wifi feels the tiniest bit slow

yes you did spend a little more money to upgrade your internet situation (most times it’s the router who makes all the difference) because you were so tIRED of having things slow in the middle of researching for your projects in biochem)

no you will nOT have that <3

and of course changbin’s not having your that shitty wifi either so he pushed you to get that in the first place so he can use it too lmao

he’s told you just a couple of days ago about his final project and that maybe, just maybe, he’d make it into a move for this girl that he likes

nothing’s more romantic than pleading for someone to paint ur face right

and your grade and the decision to whether you’re gonna pass or flunk and graduate or retake are relying on you mostly

and in changbin’s case it’s also hIS heart on the line so yeah no pressure at all luv

“i kinda feel bad for rich kid kim, y’know?”

“what about taehyung???”

“eW do you have a crush on him??”

“addressing someone by their name equals to a crush??????”

your banters never stop because you’re as quick-witted as him and he both loves and hates it

he loves that omg someone can keep up with him and that way he gets challenged to always have the last say!!

he hates that oh god why is he friends with someone who reminds him of himself so much how is hE gonna deal with that??

sometimes he’ll purposely argue with you to fEEL something lmao

but there’s just something here that tells him you’re a little more interested now in this flow of conversation ever since rich kid kim was mentioned

“hm, nothing. i’m pretty sure he doesn’t have a model yet.”

he dodges you in the kitchen to look for peanut butter in your cupboard and oddly... you’re not berating him for decreasing your groceries....?

what does changbin mean by that? whAt model?? model as in taehyung doesn’t have the newest model of whatever car he wants? or maybe he has a model girlfriend and-

hold on wait wHAT

taehyung has a-

“m-model?”

he looks at you weirdly but you don’t even bat an eye when he gets ahold of your marshmallow spread so that he could make another one of his s’mores sandwiches

“uhhhh model as in he doesn’t have someone to paint for our project??”

is that what you wanted to hear or,.,

you and changbin share one (1) brain cell and it SHOWS

the two of you have to open your mouths, then close, then ponder, and then do that aGAIN until the both of you could finally grasp if you were in the same page

“oh cool!! i’ll be his model then!”

“yeah but did he ask”

“it’s gonna be easy!! i’ll just tag along with you to your building”

“yeah but did he aSK”

“we’re probably gonna hit it off instantly and then you’ll have to leech off from someone else for their wifi and food and every other necessity that you already have-”

“yeah but dID HE ASK????”

long-story short: no. taehyung most certainly did not ask you to be his model.

but here you are

saying that you came a long way is a bit of a stretch because taehyung mostly turns his head the other way around when you call out to him in public

progress is still progress :D

you’re eating lunch with him at the same table and this time you’re sat beside him!! when normally he’d just walk home to his apartment (lol that’s not allowed but you won’t be surprised to know that he has a free pass) and eat!!!

before that, taehyung would gLARE at you until you stop asking to sit with him in his table

yea he gets a bit lonely at time because jimin and hobi aren’t with him and hE’S the outcast but he won’t do anything about it,, just scroll through his phone while he eats and tune everyone out

you figured that maybe it’s changbin always linked with you in lunch because your schedules just matched up thAt perfectly like it does with tae’s

hee-hee so you might have elbowed him until he begrudgingly agreed to be tolerable, keep atleast four feet of distance from you, and not call tae rich kid kim

spoiler alert: taehyung doesn’t really care about whatever you do because doing those changes with changbin did nOT work at all

however

H O W E V E R

taehyung doesn’t know at all how you’ve wormed your way into his heart!!

what seem to be cold to you is his warmest he’s ever been in such a new environment and outside of his usual comfort bubbles!!!

it’s like you occasionally stealing the food from his plate when you have the same thing is the equivalent of h*lding h*nds with him

you putting your leg over his before he pushes it after five seconds mUST be the equivalent to marriage

wait he’s lying

taehyung does know how you’ve wormed your way to his heart

“hi! i’m y/n! :D”

ok u are a little bit sweaty and out of breath from doing all that fast-paced walking for the past ten minutes

your new shoes that you still need to break into further aren’t helping your situation in the slightest bit

honestly? this is all changbin’s fault <3

he unknowingly gave you the sign that you were looking for

if he says yeah five times with five minutes?? okay yeah you’re definitely looking for kim taehyung and offering yourself to become his model

you don’t wanna sound weird but you feel sorry for him and you wanna help him :((

he’s not helping you tho because he has long legs underneath those trousers and it looked like he wouldn’t budge at all not unless you jogged and stopped right in front of him

“hi! i’m y/n!! :D”

“...”

“.....”

tae’s a bit... perplexed

because who’s THIS entity and why are you standing in front of him

...

....

“bye y/n.”

:]

he wants to exit from this situation because oh my god??

why r u like this

he didn’t ASK for your name!!

and he doesn’t even know you and giving him your name honestly won’t do anything and he doesn’t get what’s your motive and-

“oh c’mon!! you didn’t even shake my hand :((”

he feels even more lost as he tries to wrap his head around that uh.....

you uh.... you wanted a handshake??

.....

tae doesn’t even hide his annoyance because it’s clear as day!!!

he’s blatantly tilting his head at you rudely with a blank stare omg take the hint pLEASE

realizing it now you mAY have came on too strong to taehyung that looks confused as ever

“hi, i’m y/n.”

changbin’s by one of the lockers taking pics of you beaming at taehyung and him scowling down to show you later how dumb you look and how you shouldn’t do this at all

okay LISTEN

his personality trait is to immediately assume the worst out of every scenario possible and that way when something slightly less worse happens? that’s a win babie ;D

he became ur friend in the first place because you heard him yelling since he’s at the door right next to yours and you could hEAR him throwing things around as he cusses his laptop

yeah he cusses his laptop what about it??

if you close your eyes hard enough, you could hear him throw his router against the wall (you later learned that he was so close to finishing his digitalization but then his laptop decided to die) before punching the air

(( the friendship started when you knocked vERY gently and offered him to borrow your laptop even if you aren’t done with all your homework ))

((( changbin thought at first that u were such an organized and too-friendly social butterfly who’s a kiss-ass to everyone but now he thinks ur the coolest person ever and he treasures you more than life itself )))

although, taehyung’s a lot more vicious and closed-off and critical than changbin

he narrows his gaze at you as you introduce yourself for the second time before merely clicking his tongue

“ok cool”

is that uhm

is that IT good sir

“you’re not,” you’re dancing around your words and being careful to not let a pout grace your lips at the sheer lack of enthusiasm, “gonna introduce yourself to me??”

you got a reaction alright

taehyung sCOFFS and that’s the loudest he’s ever been with you in the span of two minutes

“you followed me for ten minutes just to tell me your name. kinda seems like you already know mine if you do that, no?”

this is why you took up biochem instead of law

how do the lawyers not break down???

why does phoenix wright make it seem SO easy?? especially when he’s spoken to in a confrontal tone???

oh god taehyung broke you already

not to be rude but uh what do you wANT

can you get it over already??

“o-oh! uhm i was wondering if i could uHm,” you sound ridiculous now that you think about it and this is perhaps one of the only times you feel embarrassed, “volunteer to be your model for your project?”

hmm

was that a wrong answer,,,

sHOULD YOU HAVE SAID THAT??

“are you in my class?”

taehyung asks and he’s finally said a sentence to you!!! omg

you’re quite shocked so he had to click his tongue to get you to answer 

“no, actually!! i’m a biochem major and-...”

that’s all it takes before he hums and nods his head

and for some reason taehyung looks at you like you’re pREY

“are you a stalker?”

okay wait holy fuck wHAT

you know what

you took a sip from changbin’s coffee half an hour ago but why are you only choking on it nOW

you’re positively sputtering and now ur pressured bc tae thinks you’re a stalker!!! a damn stalker!!

“looked at you long enough. i don’t need a sketch artist and i could just-”

no no no pls no

this meeting is going downhill very quickly 

“oh my god taehyung i’m nOT a stalker okay!!!”

that shuts him up because your voice is so firm and okAY then how do u explain this stalker smh ://

throughout the whole time you’re talking about changbin being an art major and also your neighbor and everything in between, tae has such a neutral expression that you feel so intimidated

“-and that’s what!! i’m not taking advantage of you or anything, if that’s what you’re thinking i guess? i swear!!”

he listened and well if he’s being honest,,, okay yea you did make sense and he does know changbin

“okay then. i’ll think about it.”

“are you gonna give me your number???”

it’s either you’re so forward or he’s just not used to being caught off-guard

WHICH FUCKING ONE

“what for?”

it’s been so long ever since someone asked taehyung for his number

usually in galas and any other socialite gatherings you could think of, everyone’s number would just be in your phone automatically and you won’t even rEMEMBER how it got there in the first place

better yet, it’s been so long since he went back to his usual routine lifestyle of being himself 

his last gala was two weeks ago and tae had to keep looking at his phone to study pdfs and whatever clear pictures he can get of his reviewers back at home because he had a test tomorrow morning

“so you could text me where we’re gonna meet so you could paint me, silly!!”

:D

okay wOAH there

“i didn’t even say that you’d be my model????”

“lol but you were thinking it huh”

that’s it

taehyung has nO choice but to paint you if he wants to finish this project and graduate and have something of a thicker paper to flaunt

it came as a shock to him that hE took your offer and he could only imagine its effect on you

not to brag but tae didn’t even have to sweat for a little because it’s yOU who came to him with this offer!! not him!!

tae lives in the classiest apartment here in uni and everyone probably knows that

much to his insistence that he doesn’t want anyone from uni going outside his apartment, he had to take an L and invite you over

he wouldn’t risk doing his work in any place else because he doesn’t want anyone thinking and getting the wrong idea!!

speaking of, he’s regretting it now because you seem to be too happy being in his space

you’re pointing around and being awed at every possible thing!!! 

what??? is this ur first time seeing a rattan hanging chair :// or a massive couch?? or a canvas painting of something so beautiful?? all of that in what’s supposed to be a student’s one apartment??? christ y/n get yourself together

“so what do you want me to do?? where do i sit oR do i stand instead?? i’m gonna need you to know that-...”

“nothing.” taehyung deadpans before he gets his camera so he could get digital shots as well if ever he needs an extra touch when it comes to his final product

the gears in your head are going bRRR and you’re gonna have to ask him to elaborate but taehyung already sets the pace

“nothing. just be your rEALLY annoying self and pretend i’m not here.”

normally you don’t take his words to heart but this one just hits a little close to home bc it’s early in the morning and taehyung already finds you intolerable

“by pretend, do you mean-...”

“up to you. are you more annoying around me or no?”

how did he read your MIND

tae got the thoughts in your head word per word and you’re so amazed at that because fUcK you originally thought that he’s good at bluffing his way up

click!

it’s you smiling at him

no you’re beaming at him

and you’re in front of his morning-lit curtains and you’re against the light

the portrait itself is already visually appealing and satisfying and man the shadows!!! the value!!!! they’re so raw and dreamy and this is exactly his style!!!

it was just a one-take wonder as soon as he took a picture of you!!! and he may have you to hold that position if he needs the push!! he just needs to translate it to canvas with his own language and emotions and then he’s dONE!!

you’re a pain in the ass

you laugh and you move too much

taehyung had you to to revisit that pose and hold it and you wouldn’t stop giggling bc you were too proud that you did THAT!

you also ask too many things that even hE doesn’t have the answers to

how is he supposed to know if red string lovers exist when you went into a spiel just because you saw a red tube of paint???? and why is he saying his opinions on such trivial things when he has his final project to take care of???

and how is he supposed to know why YOU’RE here hanging out with him instead of finishing your own final project

jk maybe it’s the L word but you’re gonna subdue that as much as possible since taehyung looks like he’d leave you by yourself with any chance that he gets

and you even call him terms of endearment!!! nicknames!! pet names!! names that you’d call someone who’s familiar to you and you probably l*ve!!!

angel

that’s what you call him :))

“why do you call me that?”

“because you look like one”

“and how would yOU know what angels look like??”

“because if they were to exist then you’d probably look like one!!”

“but-”

“ok that’s one minute no more questions taehyung <3″

tae just provides you with all the conviction you need to take care of him without even knowing

not in a maternal type of instinct type of way, but rather in a sPECIAL someone type of way

you find yourself caring for him mOre than you ever could for any regular friend you have!!

you just throw a whole loaf of bread to changbin and call it a day

but for tae??? you go above and beyond!!

“did it ever hit you that rich kid kim never really introduced himself to you?”

oh right....

changbin points out one day and you could see where he was getting at

for some reason he always knew what was in your mind at any given time and sometimes it’s to your disadvantage

you seem to be growing on taehyung though!!

he tolerates you better now!!

sometimes he’ll find you loveable even

he likes having someone around and you’re the perfect contender

if he decides to not talk too much, then you fill up the white noise!!

if he wants you to shut up?? then yOU shut up but of course not without babbling for a little

he’s opened up but with some reservations

some reservations that you don’t mind but it’s normal that you feel sometimes left out, y’know??

because it’s been a good month since you and taehyung properly interacted but he still resents you as much if you think about it

“hey angel!!”

“what is it-...”

taehyung looks up from his meal that he’s been poking at his fork because this has to be the fourth time you call out to him

so he turns to look at you and-

oh

uhm

there seems to be a misunderstanding

you weren’t calling HIM

you were calling out to some other guy that iSN’T him

that’s seungmin!!! omg you haven’t seen him in so long and he just happened to pass by your lunch table!!!

apparently he has something to talk to you about which is why you’re standing up and leaving tae all alone on the table

seungmin’s smile is adorable as always and he gets you in a pretty good mood!!

oh god

dear gOD

what is taehyung feeling in his chEST???

tae’s grip on his fork is starting to get pRETTY tight

and if he’s aware enough, his right eye’s twitching and he’s practically scoffing under his breath

why tf would you call him that

WHO is angel and why is it nOT him anymore????

what he’s feeling is just unexplainable and it tastes something like betrayal

“who’s he?”

he quizzes you as soon as you get back to your table and you don’t waver one bit because you know he’s been asking questions recently

“oh that’s just seungmin!! we were childhood friends then he just transferred here awhile-...”

there’s a bitter taste on his tongue and it shows up in his face and you’re not even paying attention to him!!

“really? thought i was him for a second.”

ok now that got you to stop eating

????

why is he acting weird

taehyung looks even more irked because you look sO oblivious right now

“do you call everyone angel?”

o-oh where is this going

“uhm-”

you’re not even finished and to be honest you’re quite lost and taehyung sCOFFS you to the next century

“‘course you do.”

taehyung angrily finishes his meal and you leave it at that because ok maybe he had a bad day?? and he’s just taking it out on you??

and well tae DOESN’T want you to leave it at that

he wants you to ASK him why he’s mad!!! he’s passive-aggressive and it’s getting unhealthy but he’d rather choke than have him spill whatever he’s feeling

the next few days, taehyung avoids you like his LIFE depended on it

you’re not really bothered by it because he has his days, but this one’s just getting out of control

“are you giving me a time-out or something??”

lmao what did u do now

you nudge him when you see him by changbin’s apartment to borrow an easel even though he’s already got it by his apartment

yeah he’s mad at you and he’s petty but maybe he wants to see you again

tae’s giving you silent treatment and you don’t even question him for it

you don’t bother!!

you’re letting him do whatever he wants as always and he dOESN’T like it anymore!!!

he feels like he’s gonna combust at any given time and you don’t give a shit and he feels like yOU should give a shit because you always do!!

you always hover and worry around him but wHY does he feel like you’re not doing it anymore??

why does he yEARN FOR YOU???

it’s quite an an early night for you

you love biochem but sometimes it kicks your ass and it makes you retch at the mention of all-nighters nowadays!! bc they used to be fun but now doing them because you nEED to?? no thx

you’re already in your pajamas and you’re all washed up!! what could changbin need from you at 9 in the evening??

there’s an urgent knocking on your door and you resist the need to groan because you were about to really knock yourself out!! you need to get back all the rest you’ve wasted over your own final project

is that-

“taehyung?”

the man in question is in his huge yellow hoodie that swallows him up every time and he looks positively spent

his hair’s shaggy and his eyes are glazed and there’s a pink tint to his cheeks :((

he’s holding a baby hydroflask in his hands and you’re pretty sure that’s alcohol in there lol

“don’t call me taehyung!!”

he immediately snaps and you’re lost as aLWAYS

did he really just walk all the way to your complex to snAp at you??

“i’m not taehyung,” he frowns deeply and that’s when you’re a bit more mesmerized, “i’m angel.”

is this what you think it is??

your no.1 deflection move is to laugH and you’re doing that rn

something about this whole situation tickles you funny and you’re not sure what to feel about it

“i like your bottle!! i should get one for myself!!”

he could see right through you though

he ignores your stOOpid statements and goes to hold your hands :((

“no, no. i’m your angel. i-i’m your taehyung, right??”

listen

taehyung is the most confusing being you know and he’s so emotionally constipated that he outperforms changbin but this one,,,

this just feels so different

he’s hugging you

he’s embracing you

he’s burrowing his face to your neck and you’d be lying if you said you didn’t ever imagine what this would feel like :(((

he positively 100% might be in love with you

and you positively 100% might be in love with him too

he’s fishing for your hand by your side to put in between your bodies as he shakes it and that’s because he doesn’t wanna let go of the hug 

:((((

you’re melting and this what heaven must feel like :((((

“h-hi. name’s kim taehyung and i’m yours.”

[shadow-sovereign]

I’ve got another Ashborn/Jin-Woo fic idea.

This one is an au world, though I’m still working out the exact details of the setting. I know that I want it to be a no electricity, everything’s run on magic world. No cars, internet, and phones.

The setting is a somewhat isolated town near the mountains and a forest with one dirt path leading to the next village, several miles away. It’s a town where the people have worshiped a death god (Ashborn) for as long as they can remember.

In return for sacrificing some animals and produce here and there, Ashborn keeps them safe from invaders. But unbeknownst to the townspeople, the temple priests in charge of the sacrifices have recently begun keeping the offerings for themselves, leaving them vulnerable.

Now, Ashborn isn’t being malicious about it, but without people actively praying/sacrificing to him, his attention begins to wander. Maybe it’s even harder for him to visit the mortal plane without the anchor of their worship. So, he doesn’t even notice when that town he used to protect is attacked.

The townspeople are able to fend off the invaders, but many are injured in the process. And they know that the retreating force were mostly just scouts, a bigger force to follow. Everyone’s frantic, wondering why Ashborn didn’t defend them.

Obviously, the temple priests aren’t willing to admit that they’ve been slacking on their duties, so they tell the people they’ll research the old texts to figure out what Ashborn wants from them. There, they find reference to what they perceive is a human sacrifice, made a couple thousand years ago. The texts say that the human woman gave ‘her mortal life and heart’ to Ashborn, and in return, he protected the town and helped them prosper.

The priests think this means a greater sacrifice gets greater reward. It also gives them an excuse to tell the townspeople, that the death god requires a human sacrifice every so often. They’d rather sacrifice a human than admit their mistake, knowing the townspeople would call for the missed sacrifices to come from their own wealth.

It takes them a while to convince the townspeople, but then it becomes a question of who to sacrifice. Not wanting a mob to form if they start fighting about who to sacrifice, the priests lie and say they’ll look for a volunteer. In reality, they look for someone who won’t be missed.

Thus, we have Jin-Woo’s family, living out in the woods. His father is a hunter, selling meat and furs in town. He’s often away in the forest, checking traps and hunting animals. His mother tends to their garden, along with Jin-Woo and Jin-Ah. No one in town would notice for a while if one of them went missing.

The priests find Jin-Woo when he’s in the woods and threaten his family to get him to come with them quietly. They make him write a note, saying that he’s willingly sacrificing himself to save everyone. Since Jin-Woo will be dead by the time anyone reads the note, they figure there won’t be a way to prove one way or the other whether his sacrifice was willing or coerced.

What they didn’t count on was Ashborn’s reaction.

Ashborn feels it the moment they kill someone in his temple, cutting out Jin-Woo’s heart and throwing it in one of the black flame torches next to the throne. He’s livid, the room growing dark as he appears inside.

His anger permeates the room, demanding to know what they’ve done, his rage only growing as they explain what and why. To have that ritual from so long ago twisted by their greed.  

The woman that gave her ‘mortal life and heart’ to Ashborn was never a sacrifice, but his consort. He replaced her mortal heart with one of his own creation, the ‘black heart’, so that she’d live for a long time by his side. And as his consort, he naturally took care of the people of her hometown, wanting to make her happy.

But now the temple that was built to house them both has been defiled, a seventeen year old boy sacrificed in his name. Even though it’s not his fault, he still feels guilty that Jin-Woo’s life was cut short. And so, he offers Jin-Woo’s spirit a choice.

He doesn’t have the ability to heal Jin-Woo’s body as it is, but he can create a new black heart for him. Not telling him the original meaning of it, but that it will extend his lifespan if he accepts it.

Jin-Woo isn’t quite happy about the idea of living longer than a normal human lifespan, but he’s unwilling to move on and leave his family behind. He accepts the heart, then asks if Ashborn will help him defend his family from the invaders.

Ashborn agrees, but says that he wants Jin-Woo to move into the Temple. With that Black heart inside him, Jin-Woo is now able to command his shadow soldiers, and he wants to get to know the person who’s essentially become his second in command. (Again not mentioning that the heart originally had that power because it was meant for his consort.)

Jin-Woo moves into the Temple while the Shadow soldiers start patrolling around the village. His family slowly moves into the Temple, too, packing up their stuff, moving the garden. His father has to go around collecting his traps from the forest, as the Temple is on the other side of the village.

While this is all going on, everyone starts getting to know each other. Jin-Woo and his family have conversations with Ashborn and get introduced to some of his most trusted shadow soldiers. Igris and Bellion are made the family’s guards, but Jin-Woo also becomes close to Beru, Iron, and Tank.

Jin-Woo and Ashborn slowly develop a friendship and eventually, Jin-Woo asks about the story behind that woman who was said to give her ‘mortal life and heart’ to him. Ashborn is a bit reluctant to tell him, but doesn’t want to lie to him either. After revealing that she was his consort and what the black heart originally meant, he’s quick to reassure Jin-Woo that he doesn’t have any expectations of that from him, but that he couldn’t just let him die when he was killed in his name over such a misunderstanding.

Jin-Woo is a bit embarrassed by the revelation, but knows Ashborn enough by that point to trust he’s telling the truth about not expecting such things from him. But it does get him thinking later, seeing Ashborn in a new light. It hadn’t occurred to him before that a death god could fall in love with humans. He assumed a god would see humans in a more distant way, a species that’s so much weaker and dies in the blink of an eye.

It makes him curious, wanting to get to know Ashborn better. He finds that they both value loyalty and family, are ruthless in the pursuit of keeping their people safe, and both enjoy the simple things in life. Family meals, stargazing, the first bloom of flowers in the Spring, petting an animal as it purrs in your lap, and many other things like that.

Slowly, they start to fall in love.

For Ashborn, this presents a bit of a moral quandary. It’s already an awkward situation with Jin-Woo having the black heart inside him, even with his promise of having no romantic expectations. He’s not sure if Jin-Woo will react badly if he confesses his feelings.

There’s also the difference in their status. Some humans would feel pressured if a god admitted interest in them or worry about retaliation if they refused. He doesn’t want Jin-Woo to accept his feelings out of fear or obligation.

On Jin-Woo’s end, he wonders if Ashborn would even be interested in someone like him. He’s fairly young, seventeen when they met and eighteen by the time he realizes his feelings. But surely every human must seem young to someone so ancient.

And even if age isn’t an issue, he doesn’t know if he’s Ashborn’s type. What was his human consort like? Does Ashborn prefer women or does gender even matter to gods?

Jin-Woo would probably start by asking the shadow soldiers if any of them were around when Ashborn’s consort was alive. Asking them what she was like and how Ashborn treated her. They’d end up having a conversation about Jin-Woo’s feelings and maybe give advice. At least one of the summons would know that Ashborn liked to take his consort stargazing or that she sometimes cooked his favorite food. Things like that.

Ashborn, meanwhile, is thinking of ways to subtly get across his feelings. Courting Jin-Woo without being obvious about it. Starting with making sure Jin-Woo at least thinks of him as a friend, not as his patron god.

So, they’d both be thinking of activities to do together. Finding gifts that the other would like. Ashborn would also try to get closer to Jin-Woo’s family, so that they wouldn’t feel concerned if the two of them started dating.

It’d just be both of them trying to show that they can be a good partner, hoping that the other person will start seeing them in a romantic light as well. Eventually, they’d start to catch on, maybe the shadow soldiers and Jin-Woo’s family giving them hints that the other person likes them. Then someone will clue Jin-Woo in that he needs to be the one to confess first, as Ashborn is worried about their difference in status making things awkward if he expresses interest.

After confessing, they start going on actual dates and live happily ever after.

And Ashborn figures out a way to extend the lives of Jin-Woo’s family, too. A way that’s less traumatic than literally cutting out their heart and replacing it with one of his own creation. And thus, they all get to live long, happy lives together. The end.

[alfredosauce50]

You’re gonna go far, kid [Punk! England x reader]

Synopsis: Ever since coming to England to study, you haven’t had the time to do what made you come in the first place--tourism! The only friend you have is an exchange student from Russia, Ivan, so why not kill two birds with one stone? He schedules a little playdate with Arthur, a local, so he can show you around the hottest spots in London. You two immediately hit it off. Ivan is quick to notice his interest in you, so he starts teasing the poor man and making things hard for him. Camden is the last destination, and there’s no saying when he’ll ever see you again. Will he be able to get over himself and ask you out before the night ends?  Note: Attractions are italicized and have a link to a picture. Wordcount: 4,641 The reader is referred to as she/her.

This was the day you had been dreading, and yet, looking forward to. The first part was easy to explain. Picking up your hot latte, you set it down after a quick sip. You didn’t even have time to enjoy it. Not when you were typing away at your keyboard like a speed demon. You promised your friend you would finish your assignment before today’s meet-up, but your procrastination habits were a bitch. Nevertheless, you were eager to uphold your side of the deal, even if it meant stressing your hair out to get it done. 

So long as he didn’t show up before you were done, right? 

After burning your tongue for the second time that morning, you let out a small groan at the sting you felt but gasped at what you saw outside the window. It was a sound made from genuine terror--rather than the quiet streets of London at seven AM, you spotted a man pressing his face right up to the glass. And he was staring at you, menacingly. 

Anybody would’ve been creeped out by the sight, but you knew the guy. “Aha--Ivan! Hey! Morning?” You began rather awkwardly. 

He waved in response, and his glower melted away in exchange for a childlike smile. “Dobroye utro, (F/N)! I hope that’s not your assignment you’re doing.” He hummed, placing two hands on the glass to peer at your screen from outside. Oh shit. Glancing briefly at said screen, you turned it away before clicking the upload button. 

“Of course not.” You grinned, shutting your laptop immediately after. “I was just... Surfing the net. Checking Instagram. You know?”

“Is that so? I’m gonna check.” He made his way inside. And in no time, he was looming over your shoulder to start browsing through your internet history. You, on the other hand, were sweating balls. 

“You’re so funny, (F/N). Who checks Instagram on their computer?”

It seemed like only yesterday he was the oblivious exchange student from Russia who had no concept of social media. He had been a country bumpkin through and through, but a few semesters after befriending you, your influence rubbed off on him. Even you had no idea what went through your head when decided to talk to him, the intimidating new kid who spoke broken English, but there was no turning back now. He was attached to you by the hip and picked up on your habits faster than you could deal. 

He only became more of a menace when he discovered Twitter.

A displeased expression contorted at his expression when he saw that there was no evidence of you ‘surfing the net’. Google Docs couldn’t possibly count, after all.  “... Hm... Apparently, not you. Why didn’t you finish this yesterday, sunflower? Remember our promise?” 

You sighed. “Look, I’m sorry. I passed out last night. But hey, I technically finished it before you came, didn’t I?” 

He craned his head from side to side in thought. “Maybe. But if you hadn’t, you know what that means.” Ivan coiled his arms around your neck and a sickeningly sweet smile curled up at his lips. 

“You will come with me to Moscow for Christmas!” 

A chill ran down your spine at the thought. Going to Russia was bad enough. But during Winter? You were never good with the cold. If you could barely handle London, Moscow was out of the question. “Oh God, please no.” He nodded giddily. “I’m never going to Russia. Maybe I’d consider it during Summer, but--anyway, that’s not the point here! I didn’t break any promises so I won’t be turning into a popsicle this year. Got that?” 

He pouted. “Aw...” 

“You damn sadist.” 

“Hehe.” 

“I wonder how you even became friends with him. Arthur, was it? Poor dude.” You mumbled, but he didn’t look all too offended. 

He tapped his chin and hummed. “Now that you mention it.” Then, he let out a short laugh. “It’s a long story. Let’s just say it was a happy little accident.”

“Unfortunate.” 

“But don’t worry! I don’t plan on bothering you as much as him today.” Ivan clarified, earning a slow nod from you. Phew. The clock was inching closer to eight and you weren’t much of a morning person, so hearing that was like music to your ears. “That’s why I wanted you to finish your work yesterday. I want him to be the only one making mistakes! It’s interesting to see him mess up and get embarrassed.” 

You had to wonder if he was using ‘interesting’ as a synonym for fun because he was clapping. “... Ivan, you really are a sadist.” 

The two of you stayed in that café for another hour or so, ordering some breakfast during your stay. Once the table was cleared and the bill was paid, you and he caught a bus to the London eye. You could marvel at the iconic ferris wheel for a few minutes as you walked up to the London aquarium next to it, your first stop. The building was huge to start with, and it didn’t look like they’d be storing fish in there considering how fancy it was. But wasn’t everything in England fancy? 

“He should be waiting in the front. Look for a short grouchy man with a bad taste in fashion.” You shot him a weird look, beckoning him to elaborate. 

“... And blonde hair.”

“Alright. I guess I’ll try my best.” Glancing around the sea of people filled with tourists, couples, and families, you skimmed the crowd for someone who fitted the description--but to no avail. It was only when they walked up to you both did you find the guy. He had short and choppy blonde hair that framed a heart-shaped face, and under his fringe was a pair of lime green eyes staring on with a neutral expression. And did Ivan say he had bad taste?

You couldn’t agree. Yes, his charcoal pants were ripped and he had a bandana tied around his neck with a Union Jack on it. But he still had a kind of style you liked. Under his black leather jacket was a gray shirt, and combined with the piercings in his right ear, you couldn’t help admiring him for a second. 

“Arthur! I was wondering if you were trampled because we couldn’t find you.” Ivan began, causing the said man to furrow his brows. And boy, were they thick. 

“You just arrived, so don’t start now you twat.” He grumbled. Ivan never teased you for your height, even when you were a little shorter than the Brit. He always found it cute, but you figured it was only because you didn’t care. The Russian always found amusement in poking fun at others, after all. “Anywho, I’m glad I won’t be spending the whole day alone with you.” 

Turning to you with a soft smile this time, he held out a hand for you to shake. “Kirkland. Arthur Kirkland.” 

You shook it, but not without a laugh. It hadn’t even been a minute since meeting him, and his personality seemed to clash violently with his appearance. He sounded so prim and proper, but his outfit screamed punk rock. 

“(L/N). (F/N) (L/N).” 

He released you from his grip. Placing his hands on his hips with an accusing stare, he felt a grin upturn his lips. “Are you copying me, (F/N)?” 

“I don’t know. Do all British people introduce themselves like James Bond?” 

Arthur clicked his tongue. “... Not all of them. Just a force of habit.” 

“Mhm. Right, right. Well, it’s nice to meet you, Arthur. I’m a student here too and I could only imagine how busy it gets for you--so thanks for coming out today!” He didn’t respond to those comments and simply nodded. 

Ivan stayed quiet in the back, but he was probably reading the atmosphere like he always did when he didn’t speak. 

“It’s nice to meet you too.” The blonde turned on his heel and closed his eyes. “As much as I’d like to stay out here and chat, we can do that in the aquarium. Wouldn’t wanna waste our tickets, do we?” 

While the group of three wandered slowly through the establishment, Ivan lingered in the background while you walked in the front with the Brit. For the first ten minutes, you’d look at him expectantly, gesturing for him to join in the conversation. As the mutual, wasn’t he supposed to be the icebreaker? He’d shake his head every time, offering you a smile as if to say, go and make some friends. But soon, this brief spell of irritation morphed into gratitude.

“I’ve been here probably a hundred times, so don’t take it personally when I don’t seem as excited as you.” Turning to him to watch his face as he spoke--which was filtered through a bluish tinge from the Antarctic setting-- you only caught a brief glimpse of it before he turned away. Huh. Maybe it was just you not paying enough attention. 

Either way, what came out of your mouth next would surely grab his. 

“Don’t worry about it. But hey, this is the first time you’ve been here with me, so look alive, won’t you?” It happened to be a slip of the tongue, something bold and improvised, but luckily, he reacted fairly quickly before the regret set in.

“Oi, you better not be flirting with me already,” Arthur grumbled, feeling another smile come as he heard you chuckle. Since when was he this expressive? He pinned it on the fact that he was starting to have a little fun himself. 

“Couldn’t imagine it.” Before he could add anything else, you hopped in front of the penguins and started waving your friend over with great gusto. “Ivan, c’mere. Arthur, mind taking a photo of us?” Once he joined your side, the two of you held up peace signs for the Brit to snap a photo. 

“Ivan, change your pose. We can’t have both of you doing the same thing.” 

The said man moved his peace sign to the back of your head so he could stick two fingers over it. “Is that better?”

“... Better.” Trailing his emerald eyes to you, he felt his cheeks heat up a touch at the sight of you grinning ear to ear. What the fuck, Arthur. Just take the damn photo. And that was exactly what he did, showing you both right after. Whatever just happened, he boiled it down to him idealizing a stranger. That was right. He had yet to get to know you, so his perception of you couldn’t be any better at this stage. 

But there was one thing he couldn’t deny.

“Damn, I look really ugly in this. You two better not post this anywhere.” You settled a hand over the screen to lower it with a nervous laugh. Then, you looked away, and what was that? You looked a little flustered. 

You were cute.

Hanging his head to look at the photo, he knitted his brows together. You? Ugly? He couldn’t imagine it. 

“... I bet I could take an even uglier one of you.”

Spinning back to him, you folded your arms. “What did you say?” 

“Nothing.” He shook his head slowly, and the amusement in his voice made it blatantly obvious he was lying. 

“That’s what I thought.” 

Walking off at that, Ivan followed. Because he was behind him, he could brush his shoulders against his. Arthur looked up at that, but almost wished he didn’t. Ivan was smiling down at him so shrewdly, it was threatening. Then, he raised a hand to his mouth so he could laugh softly. “Huhu. You like (F/N)~” 

His eyes flew open and blood rushed up to his face. “What the hell gave you that impression? I literally just met them!” As adamant as he sounded, he knew deep inside he liked you, but only platonically. Your personality was refreshing, and talking to you was as easy as breathing. Even if it wasn’t platonic attraction, he was endlessly frustrated the other figured it out earlier than he could. 

Whatever it was, he was certainly more sociable than usual, even to the point of being a tease. And not to mention the rosy cheeks. Maybe he should’ve just kept his trap shut--otherwise, his huge outburst let Ivan milk the obvious. Fuck. He even started to giggle like a schoolchild. 

Giving him a rough shove, he muttered a string of curses under his breath.  “I bloody hate your arse, you know that?” He hissed, his face now redder than a tomato. God, why he did have to be born so pale? Every slight change to his complexion was jarring, and it was embarrassing. 

“Don’t hate me because I’m right,” Ivan hummed, joining his side as your back came into view. “Once you realize, it’ll be too late. I’m not letting you have (F/N). I will always be (F/N)’s number one.” Lighting up at that, he skipped off to you in the front. “Wait for me, sunflower! Don’t leave me alone with Arthur!”

Arthur stopped in his tracks and clenched his fists. How annoying. If he was going to continue being a little tyke, then he figured he’d up his game as well. He didn’t know what that exactly entailed yet, but he’d do it. Ivan didn’t even sound like he wanted anything more than friendship, so what was with that? Pointing a finger at him as he walked off with you, his face scrunched up. 

“What did you even call me out for then, you idiot? I’m supposed to be guiding you both!” Picking up his pace at that, he slotted himself between you and him. Flashing you a brief smile, he gave Ivan another push without breaking eye contact. “It’s a tight fit for three, so he’ll stay in the back.” 

“Hey, no fair!” 

By the time the whole aquarium was toured, you and Arthur were laughing to yourselves while leaving through the exit. 

But the joyful atmosphere was short-lived. 

The Ferris wheel just outside was the next stop, and the Brit offered to splurge a little to have a carriage without strangers. That way, you could run around as much as you wanted, even if that meant leaving the two men to sit in their lonesome. While Ivan was sitting on the bench in the centre out of his own volition, the same couldn’t be said for him. 

Sitting back to back to the other, he pressed his legs firmly together and leaned over in a hunch. Then, he dug his hands through his hair, all while keeping his round eyes fixated on the ground. His heart couldn’t stop pounding, and his head was spinning like a carousel. What was he thinking, taking you here? That was right. This was an iconic destination you couldn’t miss, that was why. He was initially planning on staying back there on the ground, but you were so excited, he couldn’t help but hop on with you. 

Fuck. Maybe Ivan was right about him. But he wouldn’t let him know it. Speaking of the guy, he didn’t know if he was sitting there by choice, or just rubbing it in. While he was incapacitated by fear so he couldn’t even stand, he was sitting there because he wanted to. 

“You should’ve stayed on the ground if this was going to happen.” 

Arthur screwed his eyes shut and tightened his arms around his stomach. “... Shut up.” 

“I was just saying.” Ivan murmured, looking at him over his shoulder. Poor guy. He really was down bad, wasn’t he? Down bad for you, that was. Too bad Arthur was hoping he wasn’t convinced--but it was too obvious. So all Ivan wanted was to prove his point, and later on, keep you away from him. But maybe he’d save it until after the ride was over. “... This ride is thirty minutes long. You’ll live.” 

He heard the other groan. “Thirty minutes? How long has it been?” 

“Mm... Ten.” 

“Fuck me.” 

Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be long before you would pull away from the railing and return to the company of the two. Arthur had been praying that somehow, you’d leave him alone sitting there, pathetically, but he couldn’t expect something so cold from you. So while he hung his head, he wasn’t surprised to feel your hand on his shoulder. 

“Hey, you okay?” He heard you ask, but he never looked up. 

“... Yeah. Just give me a minute.” 

“I have. Ten, actually.” Taking a seat beside him, you leaned down to peer at his face, which was a few shades paler than normal. He didn’t even have the energy to respond, and kept his eyes fixed to the ground. Concern immediately contorted at your features, especially when he looked so shaken. “Arthur, you look a little sick. What’s wrong? Can you talk?” 

He shook his head slowly before managing a weak smile at you. “Sorry, love.” It didn’t even faze him he just called you that. He was far too uncomfortable to feel the embarrassment from a nickname he should’ve saved until a little later. 

“I’m not... Too good with heights. Never have been... I was hoping you wouldn’t notice.” His voice was slow and faint, and you were beginning to suspect he was having a panic attack. “... Sorry if I seem a little lame.” 

“No, of course not.” You frowned. “Things like this happen. Just breathe with me, okay? You can do it. Just count to ten.” 

Arthur took a deep inhale. “... Okay.” 

Around ten minutes later of these exchanges, he calmed down some, especially when you kept on reminding him that the carriage was finally descending. Once the ride was over, you had to help him up and walk him out. Now that he had his two feet planted firmly on the ground, it didn’t take long for him to recover. Even then, you remained rather cautious and stuck with him on your journey to Soho. By the time everyone took their seats in Circolo Popolare, a beautiful Italian restaurant Arthur so kindly booked, you were still looking out for him.

Leaning over to rest your head on the table, you glanced up at his face with a soft smile. “... You okay now?” 

A light blush dusted his cheeks and he nodded. You didn’t need to be this observant with him considering he was well now, but he loved your attentiveness. It wasn’t something he was used to. “Yeah, I’m fine now. Thank you. Now quit worrying about me, alright?” Rubbing the nape of his neck at that, you couldn’t help lingering on his body language for a moment.

It didn’t matter what he dressed like, or what his personality was. He could be endearing when it came to it, and a total softie too. And the thought made you smile even wider. If he thought you were cute, then you thought he was adorable. “Fine. I’ll leave you alone.” You slowly turned to Ivan, the action making Arthur tense up a little. 

Reaching out to your hand, he took it. “I didn’t mean it like that.” 

The feeling of his warm fingers around yours made your heart skip a beat. Did he just? Your thoughts manifested into your look of shock, and you darted your eyes over his neutral expression to try and decipher it. Before you could come up with anything, there was a phone in your face, followed by a flash. 

“Wha--?” 

He turned the screen to you to reveal a photo of you, and in your opinion, it was the least flattering picture anybody had ever taken of you. “I said I’d take an uglier photo of you, didn’t I?” Arthur grinned, the words acting like a cold splash of water to bring you back to reality. 

“... You sneaky little shit.” You growled. “Delete that right now!” 

“How about no?” 

“I’ll never forgive you for this, Arthur.” 

“I think you already have, love. You’re smiling right now.” 

You stared at him wordlessly for a few seconds. Then, out of nowhere, you reached out to snatch his phone right out of his hands. Tapping furiously on the screen to get rid of it, you heard his chair scrape back violently as he tried to retrieve it. “Why, you--” 

But it was too late. Gone forever. Lost in the abyss of cyberspace. And so, he immediately channelled his frustration by jabbing his fingers into your sides. “If I can’t have that photo of you, at least let me do this!” You burst into a fit of laughter so loud, nearby patrons turned their heads. Only then did he pull away, leaving you to recover through breathless wheezing. 

“Fuck you, Arthur.” You whispered, but it was on an affectionate note more than anything. As you glowered at him from your seat, you never noticed Ivan doing the same thing, but he was glaring at the Brit for an entirely different reason. Arthur had to be the most self-aware person out there, and to make a scene in a restaurant like this? He really fell for you, didn’t he? 

When he realized Ivan’s scorching gaze burning into him, he froze. 

Not just out of how intimidated he was, but the epiphany that he was right all along. Why else was he acting so out of character? The only explanation was this--in the short time of being with you, he may or may not have developed a little crush. But that was no problem, right? 

All he needed to do was to ask you out. 

But that would prove a task easier said than done, especially when Ivan decided to attach himself to you by the hip after that stunt. That cunning bastard knew what he was doing. After a little window shopping around Bond street and Mayfair, he stuck to you like a tattoo, and kept it up until night fell. While the group walked around Camden, Ivan kept you by his side with a firm grip on your hand. 

When you asked why he was suddenly so clingy, he simply justified it with, “It’s dangerous for small people like you to wander around at night!” 

But Arthur called bullshit. Especially when the other went ahead and smirked at him right after saying it. Maybe he liked you too, but was refusing to admit it. How hypocritical. If not, then he probably didn’t want you making friends when you were the only friend he had. Whatever it was, he wasn’t about to back down so easily. Camden may be the last destination for the night, and perhaps, the last time he’d see you again for God knows how long, but it was his trump card.

If this didn’t sweep you off your feet enough to get you to pull away from Ivan, nothing would. 

As a town famous for its thriving nightlife and punk culture, it encompassed everything he was passionate about, and he’d give anything to show it to you. So he included a visit to the bar here on the agenda today, one that hosted live music. While you and Ivan got comfortable in your seats, Arthur never made a move to sit down. 

It was already dim inside, so you never noticed him leave. The next time you saw him, it was a few minutes later when he was on stage with a few other musicians. Leaning forward with surprise, you watched him strap on a bright red electric guitar. Walking up to the microphone, he adjusted that. No way. 

You were still trying to process him being a professional performer, but a lead singer as well? 

The second he strummed the strings to start a guitar riff, he opened his mouth to start singing.

Play this while you read

Show me how to lie, you're getting better all the time

And turning all against the one is an art that's hard to teach

His fingers never stopped moving as he belted out note after note. His voice was so different to how he talked, you had to do a double take. He sounded a little more rasp, a little more punk. To say you were impressed was an understatement. 

Now dance, fucker, dance, man, he never had a chance

And no one even knew it was really only you

While he jammed out on stage, he was electric. The energy in the bar exploded, and he had everyone singing along. You could almost see the confidence in him shoot up from the excitable crowd, because he was smirking. 

Nice work, you did. 

You’re gonna go far, kid! 

Turning his head to you as he sung that line, you raised a hand to your mouth. Whether he did that on purpose or not was a mystery. But no words could describe how attractive it was. Hell, it even made you mind blank for a few moments. This was Arthur? He was like an entirely different person! Needless to say, you were completely star struck. 

You couldn’t even make out what Ivan was telling you when the music was blaring in your ears. But you didn’t care. Arthur had you caught in a trance with his voice and guitar all until the end. When the song finally ended, the band bowed graciously and threw up hand signs as the audience erupted in applause and cheers. 

When he stepped off the stage, you didn’t hesitate to run up to him. There, you practically pounced on him for a tight embrace. “Oh my god, you were amazing! I didn’t know you could play so well! And sing, too! Why didn’t you tell me!?” You exasperated, pulling away to be met with his dazzling smile. It was the first time you’ve seen him so energetic, as if performing sparked a fire inside him that burned with youthful intensity. 

“I was dying to show you all day. I wanted it to be a surprise, and I had to save the best til’ last, didn’t I?” He grinned, feeling his heart swell up with warmth as he watched you light up. 

“Well, good on you! I loved it!” Squeezing him again, you felt his chest shake under his laughs. When you pulled away, you reached up to cup his face. But it felt so natural in the spur of the moment, even he didn’t seem to care. 

“Thanks again for today, Arthur. I really appreciate you taking us out today. You completely blew me away.”

The way how you phrased it reminded him of why he was here in the first place. That was right. He still had to ask you out. And with Ivan watching on from afar, this was his chance. The thought reddened his cheeks, but while you had his face in your hands, he couldn’t feel more comfortable. “Is that so? If that’s the case, how about I take you out again?” His expression grew serious. “A proper date, I mean.” 

It was your turn to blush, but you managed a quick answer. 

“No need to look so serious, love. Of course I’ll go on a date with you.” 

He chuckled and leaned in to peck your lips. “Stealing my vocabulary now, are we?” 

“Stealing kisses now, are we?” 

“Touché.” 

Now a third wheel of the group, he breathed out a soft sigh and rested his cheek on his hand. “I guess my job here is done.” It didn’t really look like it, but he had been trying to play the wingman all along. Arthur was always one to go a little crazy when he wanted something, and only more so when he was desperate. So all he gave him was a little push in the right direction. 

Maybe he would thank him later, but for now, he’d leave you two be. 

This is a request. Thank you for requesting.

[akaluan]

The thought of kisuke building wings for himself is stuck in my brain for reasons beyond me or my control. Please take it from me

Kisuke frowns at the mess of mechanical and magical parts scattered across his workbench, trying to make the bits and bobs resolve into something logical; when he’d started this project, he hadn’t expected it to be so… so convoluted, but maybe he should have.

There’s a reason humans rely purely on magic in order to fly, instead of crafting themselves actual wings, after all.

But he’s set himself upon this path and he’s not going to give up just because it’s hard. He’s pretty sure that he can figure it out given enough time — hopefully without resorting to using reiatsu in the process — and then he’ll have actual wings to play with!

And if he can do this then… then…

He doesn’t know.

Maybe he’ll sell bespoke wings to people who want them? The extra funds would be nice, but the idea of having to deal with commissions is a strange thought. Truthfully, the idea that anyone would want anything that he makes is an even stranger thought, but he’s spent more than enough time on the internet to know that there are people out there who will pay absurd amounts for actual working wings. He just has to offer proof of concept in the right places, to the right people, and things will fall into place.

Kisuke sighs and reaches up to tug at a lock of hair, trying to refocus on the present instead of a potential-future. Nothing matters until he can finish up this set for himself, of course, which means he has to actually finish it. Not stare blankly at the pile of parts and hope vaguely that it takes form by itself.

He hums. Leans in.

Gets to work.

\\\

He doesn’t work on just his wing project, of course, so a day turns into a week turns into a month turns into months with no end in sight, but he’s making progress. Slow progress, but progress none-the-less.

It’s actually a pretty rewarding project, if he’s being honest. It’s fun, fun in a way that things haven’t been in decades. Fun in a way that he never thought anything could ever be again.

It’s challenging and intriguing and logical, but it also requires that he dive into research fields that he’s never touched before in his life. There are so many Living World sciences to learn that he’s never quite known where to start, but this project… this project is giving him the opportunity — and the reasons — that he’s never had before.

He researches how birds fly, researches how air moves, researches metallurgy and magical manifestation and robotics and so many other bits and bobs that sometimes it feels like he’s drowning in information. Sometimes he has to set the project aside in order to build something else, just because a thought won’t leave him alone once his brain has put the pieces together.

He never really shows anyone those side-projects — doesn’t think anyone will be interested in them, to be honest — but they’re fun and they do have a use.

The more Kisuke puts together, the more he learns and the better he gets. His first efforts are… crude, to put it mildly, more mess than use, but even his failures are fascinating; Seireitei doesn’t have magic per-se, not to the same extent that the Living World does, so he’s never put any effort into researching it before now. Seeing all the ways it can fail is like discovering kido-crafting all over again, and sometimes he can’t help but shove magic types together just to see what happens.

(Explosions, usually.)

(But sometimes something else, something new, something fascinating occurs instead.)

(He lives for those moments of discovery.)

By now, he’s, ah… renowned in certain circles. He has five mages willing to supply him with both standard elemental crystals — a dime a dozen online, but he’s starting to trust these mages and their abilities — and with rarer, more expensive set-spells. They’re even interested in the results of his experiments, sometimes to the point of offering him extra crystals or new set-spells to experiment with.

(Apparently, not many people are willing to risk explosive experiments.)

(That’s fine.)

(More fun for him!)

It’s not his original project, but Kisuke doesn’t believe any research to be wasted research, so it’s fine.

He’ll find his answer eventually.

\\\

Somewhere along the way, he ends up… accidentally stumbling across his answer while shoving different combinations of set-spells together to see what happens.

It’s a complex, delicate piece of work when spun together into a single spell; its carefully balanced elements make its structure as beautiful as lace and stronger than steel when crafted just right, and it takes weeks for his mages to figure out how to cast it correctly. There’s plenty of explosions in the process, based on the mishmash of notes he finds in the shared research document, and it makes him abruptly cognizant of exactly how lucky he is.

(He would never have been able to reach this moment without his favorite mages supporting him and working together.)

(As talented as Kisuke is, he’s no mage and never can be.)

(Magic is for the living and for the spirits of those who were mages when alive.)

(Kisuke is neither.)

Of course, the just right bit is important, because the slightest disturbance during the initial casting can turn the set-spell into an explosion waiting to happen, as Kisuke learns while experimenting with the first one he’s sent.

It’s fine, though, it’s fine. The mages are worried-apologetic-dismayed when Kisuke reports it, but Kisuke doesn’t care.

They’re working through email and shared notes and the occasional live chat, not side-by-side. Kisuke doesn’t expect perfection in these cases — wouldn’t expect it even if they were working side-by-side, considering how experimental this whole thing is! — so a little unexpected explosion every so often is fine.

(Not that any of the mages seems to agree, considering how much the others chide him about being careful with brand new spells.)

(The concern is… strange, but also… nice?)

(Weird.)

Still, the next several set-spells Kisuke experiments with work out better, and he quickly learns how to tell which ones are viable and which ones aren’t. There’s a sort of… hum… that set-spells have, he’s realized, not so much audible as something felt while holding the crystal, and if he focuses closely enough he can sense which ones are unstable and which aren’t. It’s a useful skill, though apparently a rare one? At least according to his favorite mages, it is— something about it meaning he’s extra sensitive to magical energies, even though he isn’t a mage himself.

(Apparently, if he’d been a mage, he’d have instinctively blocked the sense out when he was young in order to not be constantly overwhelmed by it.)

(He wonders how many mages can’t do that, and are therefore constantly on the edge of over-stimulation because of it.)

(He wonders if he can find a way to help.)

(Hmm… a project for later.)

Regardless, now that Kisuke’s pretty sure he has the set-spell necessary to support flight, things go faster. He builds and tinkers and tears apart and rebuilds, slinging the exo-skeleton on and off with growing ease, the magical connection becoming smoother and cleaner with every iteration. Kisuke doesn’t want there to be a menu or buttons or anything of the sort to control the wings, not when magical prosthetics are already capable of interfacing with the brain and translating intent into action.

He just… needs to adapt it to work with limbs the body’s never had.

Somehow.

Somehow.

Except the brain is an incredible thing on its own, and it ends up being less about teaching the interface to work with extra limbs as teaching his brain to consider the wings part of his body. Which is a bunch of trial and error — lots and lots of error — but eventually the stuttering, twitching mess slung across his back starts to smooth out, starts to flex and shift and spread, and the interface—

The interface does what it was built to do.

Kisuke can feel it as his new wings spread. Can feel it when he accidentally bumps a wing against his workbench. Can feel it when he runs a hand over bare metal struts and magical feathers. Can feel so, so much—

It’s a bit too much, if he’s being honest, especially when he takes the wings off and suddenly loses all that extra input. It doesn’t hurt, at least, but it’s weird and leaves him feeling unbalanced for a while afterward.

(A side-effect he’d never considered, but one his mages are quick to point out is expected if he’s going to use that method of connecting the wings to his mind.)

(Ah well, he’ll adapt.)

(It’s what he does, after all.)

From there, it’s just a matter of refining the wings, both in looks and in function, and then… and then—

And then he can finally fly.

\\\

His first flight is less ‘flight’ and more ‘uncontrolled tumble’, but Kisuke isn’t bothered by that.

(He maybe trying to run (fly) before he can walk.)

(Just maybe.)

He gets up, brushes himself off, and tries again.

And again.

And again.

Until he finally figures out how to coordinate his wings to gain lift, and then it’s almost like everything just clicks into place; not that it becomes easy as such, because it doesn’t, but things start to make sense at last.

(His dreams become weird, tangled messes of extra limbs and feathers and darting flight.)

(Even his normal dreams start to be invaded by wings.)

(It’s weird, but apparently normal?)

(How do brains even work?)

It’s fun though, especially as soon as he stops face-planting as often! Soon he manages to take off, fly for a bit, and then land without falling, and if that’s not an accomplishment he has no idea what is.

(Landings are hard okay?!)

It gets even better when Kisuke has Tessai record one of his short flights and then send it to him, so that he can share it with his favorite mages. Almost instantly he has five very, very interested mages who want their own wings to play with and, well, who is he to deny them when they’ve helped him so much?

They give him suggestions on what to try, too, and while some of them work out terribly, other suggestions actually help. They’re basically writing the whole manual from scratch here, which seems to excite everyone, and Kisuke… Kisuke sometimes can’t help but stare wistfully at his screen, wondering what it would be like to work alongside these five in person.

(He bets it would be incredible, bets it would be like nothing he’s ever done before—)

(But this is still more than he’s ever had before, so he’s going to treasure every moment he gets.)

(He’s learned not to look a gift horse in the mouth these days.)

(Besides, now he has wings!)

(And that’s enough for him.)

[hisomachiweek]

About the recent drama going on...

I didn’t want to address this issue anymore because I think fandom drama is just pointless and tiring and I have better things to do but since I have been accused of some things that don’t make sense at all, I think I have the right to respond.

Of course people can believe whatever they want and yes, I know there are some chess pigeons in the middle, this is why I won’t discuss it individually with anyone, especially those who are harassing me. If you want to know my point, I’m grateful, if you don’t, you have all the right to ignore me and do your thing.

So, the fact is: when I created the HisoMachi Week account on Twitter, I quietly searched for “hisomachi” there and blocked people who:

expressed dislike/disgust/hate towards the ship;

interacted with said expressions.

That’s it, nothing else.

My reasoning is:

I have been in this fandom since 2016 and I know how much people spread hate against this ship. As a shipper, of course, I’m annoyed by it, and you would be too if it was your ship people were talking about the way they talk about HisoMachi. Since:

I don’t like fandom drama;

I want to be able to search for the ship without coming across the hate;

I wanted to run an event for the ship without getting haters involved;

I thought people who expressed their bad feelings towards the ship or could relate to it enough to interact with it wouldn’t want to come across this event just as much as I didn’t want to come across their negativity;

I thought it would be reasonable to preventively block those people so everyone could stay unbothered in their lanes.

I do block people who I see expressing hate towards HisoMachi / Machi / Hisoka in every fandom account I have. I’m just curating my space and avoiding uncomfortable interactions. I just naturally did the same with Twitter, especially because I know Twitter is a harsher social media than any other I’m in.

So this is not something personal against anyone. You’re entitled to hate the ship, I’m entitled to not want to see the hate. Twitter block button is a free feature and it’s not against its policy to block people who have never interacted with you -- it may be against a Twitter etiquette I wasn’t aware of, my bad. But the reactions I saw about this issue just showed me I wasn’t exactly wrong blocking some people.

If you do ship HisoMachi or like to see fanarts of them and I’ve mistakenly blocked you, I’m sorry. If you don’t ship HisoMachi but felt personally offended by the block, I’m sorry as well, it wasn’t my intention. But after years of hate and discourse against a ship I’m only quietly shipping, I have my point too.

Now, to some particular accusations I’ve seen:

“You have only blocked people who ship X or Y because you’re a X or Y hater”

No, as I stated before, I’ve blocked people who have already tweeted something against HisoMachi. If they happen to ship X or Y it’s just a casualty. To say “you’ve blocked this user and this user ships X, hence you hate ship X” is a fallacy.

“You’re copying this other ship event”

I have a whole timeline on my part on this one.

I've wanted to see a HisoMachi Week happening since 2016 when I got into fandom. I’ve been away from fandom for a while and came back last year in October. The first time this year I have mentioned wanting to run this event to anyone was on May 28th:

I have talked about it with other people too early June:

At the beginning of July, I did a public Interest Check form and spread it on Tumblr:

And all the event’s accounts were created in July, as I got the results from the Interest Check:

Julho is July in Portuguese btw, my native language, but anyone can access the Twitter account and see for themselves. Also, note that my first post with rules and prompts on Twitter is from Aug 2nd.

The first time I ever heard about the other ship’s week was on Aug 4th when @/hxhevents shared the event’s post on Tumblr. I don’t hate this ship but I'm not invested in it either, so I don’t follow anything about it and I know only what my mutuals who ship it post or share.

Objectively, what happened is: two ship weeks, in which the ships involve the same character with different characters, happening some weeks apart.

“You’re saying HisoMachi is canon”

I have never said that or expressed any doubt on other ships being canon. Besides, people can run events for any crack ship, so… yeah.

“You’re trying to push your het shit on us”

First, I don’t headcanon either Hisoka or Machi as het. I just don’t headcanon them as gay and lesbian either. And I’ve never called anyone out for headcanoning them as such. I’m aware there can be homophobic people who do use the ship to say Hisoka is straight but I’m not one of them.

Second, how blocking people can be read as me pushing something on someone? I was minding my own business until someone got offended because I'd blocked them and decided to expose me to their followers.

“You’re just proving how dumb / insecure / childish / trashy you are by blocking people”

Maybe I was oblivious to some unspoken Twitter fandom etiquette, that’s ok, I understand it now. But blocking someone without causing any drama is just… me curating my online experience. And yes, even if the event is open to others, I still can decide the rules to it and I don’t want haters or people who are uncomfortable with the ship around (honestly, I don’t know why they would want to be around either). You can still think whatever you want about me, I don’t have to prove who I am to strangers on the internet.

“You’re pushing people who could be supporting the event away”

I’m not new to this fandom so I know for sure people who hate this ship would never support the event. Again -- if I mistakenly had a shipper blocked, I’m sorry, but you did interact with ship hate before so how could I tell. If you’re a shipper, you’re probably gonna understand my side here and I’m sure you’re also tired with all the illogical flame this ship gets. There are other ways to reach me. And if you’re a shipper and still don’t understand my side, that’s ok. Shippers can disagree with each other’s opinions and actions.

In the end, there may have been some confusion or miscommunication and again, I’m sorry about it and about people who got caught in the middle and were offended by it. But I have no obligation to leave a door opened to haters and I’m ok with burning bridges with harassers and drama stirrers.

[carmen-sandie-go]

100 Reasons Why You Should Stay Alive

1. Your friends, your family, and your pets would miss you.

2. It's not worth the regret. Either by yourself if you failed or just simply left scars, or the regret everyone else feels by not doing enough to help you.

3. It does get better. Believe it or not it will eventually get better. Sometimes you have to go through the storm to get to the rainbow.

4. There's so much you would miss out on doing.

5. There is always a reason to live. It might not be clear right now, but it is always there.

6. So many people care, and it would hurt them if you hurt yourself.

7. You ARE worth it. Don't let anyone, especially yourself, tell you otherwise.

8. You are amazing.

9. A time will come, once you've battled the toughest times of your life and are in ease once again, where you will be so glad that you decided to keep on living. You will emerge stronger from this all, and won't regret your choice to carry on with life. Because things always get better.

10. What about all the things you've always wanted to do? What about the things you've planned, but never got around to doing? You can't do them when you're dead.

11. I love you. Platonically. Even if only one person loves you, that's still a reason to stay alive.

12. You won't be able to listen to music if you die.

13. Killing yourself is never worth it. You'll hurt both yourself and all the people you care about.

14. There are so many people that would miss you, including me.

15. You're preventing a future generation, YOUR KIDS, from even being born.

16. How do you think your family would feel? Would it improve their lives if you died?

17. You're gorgeous, amazing, handsome, and to someone you are perfect.

18. Think about your favourite music artist, you'll never hear their voice again...

19. You'll never have the feeling of walking into a warm building on a cold day.

20. Listening to incredibly loud music.

21. Being alive is just really good.

22. Not being alive is really bad. And boring.

23. Finding your soulmate.

24. Red pandas. Just… THEY ARE SO CUTE!!

25. Going to diners at three in the morning.

26. Really soft pillows. Or blankets.

27. Eating pizza in New York City.

28. Proving people wrong with your success. Take that!

29. Watching the jerks that doubted you fail at life. Take that!

30. Seeing someone trip over a garbage can.

31. Being able to help other people.

32. Bonfires.

33. Sitting on rooftops.

34. Seeing every single country in the world. And not being ignored. Because, y’know, if you were dead everyone would run into you… it would suck.

35. Going on road trips. Have fun doing that as a ghost, or whatever.

36. You might win the lottery someday, who knows! How would you enter while you’re dead?!

37. Listening to music in your own special place.

38. Going to the top of the Eiffel Tower, staring down at everyone with the wind in your hair.

39. Taking really cool pictures.

40. Literally meeting thousands of new people.

41. Hearing crazy stories.

42. Telling crazy stories.

43. Eating ice cream on a hot day with your best friends.

44. More interesting books or episodes could come out, you never know. It’s gonna be hard to get books or watch Netflix/Hulu/Etc while you’re dead.

45. Travelling to another planet someday. It’s gonna happen.

46. Having an underwater house.

47. Randomly running into your hero on the street

48. Having your own room at a fancy hotel.

49. Trampolines.

50. Think about your favourite movie, you'll never watch it again.

51. Think about the feeling of laughing out loud in a public place because your best friend has just sent you an inside joke.

52. Your survival will make the world better, even if it's for just one person or 20 or 100 or more.

53. People do care.

54. Treehouses, you won’t really be able to have a treehouse while dead.

55. Hanging out with your soulmate in a treehouse

55. Snorting when you laugh and not caring who sees.

56. I love you. Platonically.

57. I care about you.

58. Because nobody is going to be like you ever, so embrace your uniqueness!

59. You won't be here to experience the first cat world emperor. You won’t even be influenced by it. 60. WHAT ABOUT FOOD?! YOU'LL MISS CHOCOLATE AND ALL THE OTHER NOM THINGS!

61. Starbucks. Or caribou coffee.

62. Hugs. The kind that makes you squeal because of how tight they are, the kind that you really love.

63. Stargazing with your favourite person in this universe at 4am because you can’t sleep, the grass brushing against your toes as you snuggle together.

64. You have a purpose, and it's up to you to find out what it is.

65. You've changed somebody's life.

66. Now you could change the world.

67. You will meet the person that's perfect for you. Maybe you already have.

68. No matter how much or how little, you have your life ahead of you.

69. You can’t look at any more memes if you're dead.

70. If you end your life, you're stopping yourself from achieving great things.

71. Making snow angels.

72. Making snowmen.

73. Snowball fights.

74. Life is what you make of it.

75. Everybody has a talent.

76. Laughing until you cry, with your stomach screaming and your lungs flaring in heat. Rolling on the floor, grinning ear to ear.

77. Having the ability to be sad means you have the ability to be happy.

78. The world would not be the same if you didn't exist.

79. It’s possible to turn frowns upside down.

80. Be yourself, don't take anyone's crap, and never let them take you alive.

81. Heroes are ordinary people who make themselves extraordinary. Be your own hero.

82. Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections.

83. One day your smile will be real. It will, I promise you.

84. Having a really hot, relaxing bath after a stressful day.

85. Lying on grass and laughing at the clouds.

86. Laughing insanely hard with your best friends.

87. Eating weird food.

88. Staying up all night watching your favourite films with a loved one.

89. Sleeping in all day.

90. Creating something you're proud of.

91. You can look back on yourself 70 years later and being proud that you didn't commit. And if you did, feeling regret that you did.

92. Being able to meet your Internet friends.

93. Coffee.

94. The new season of your favourite show.

95. Staying up late with your best friend.

96. Being stupid in public because you just can.

97. If you are reading this then you are alive! Is there any more reason to smile?

98. Being able to hug that one person you haven’t seen in years

99. People care enough about you and your future to come up with 100 reasons for you not to do this.

100. But, the final and most important one is just being able to experience life. Because even if your life doesn't seem so great right now, literally anything could happen.

I didn't come up with these but it don't make it less important. Just remember to smile at life, have a great day and be kind, love yourself : )