#This is my longest time on a single art piece ever
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roo-was-here-art · 1 year ago
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This took too long
Espen D. Akuji, circa canonical 2016
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poorly-drawn-mdzs · 6 months ago
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Thank you all for an incredible 500 days of love and support. I offer you: answers to questions that no one has asked.
(As always, more can be found in the tags <3)
#poorly drawn mdzs#mdzs#wei wuxian#a-qing#jin ling#wen ning#jiang cheng#“Hey wait this feels like there should have been way more content for questions” Yes. There was.#I was not strong enough to redraw *all* of what was lost. Rest in piece the original (lost to tea related accident)#But I'll tell you all the fun other things that would have been drawn out right here in the tags!#Did you know my longest posting streak was 61 days? And my longest hiatus was 6 days?#Did you know I missed posting on 92 days of those 500 days - meaning I posted 82% of the time on a daily basis?#I'm normal about collecting data. I have so much data on this blog for normal reasons. I'm also so normal about art. The normalest.#Honorable mention for the character rankings: Lan Wangji! for “Most improved in rank”.#Sorry Lan Wangji fans but until the audio drama I honestly was...pretty indifferent towards him.#I think a huge part of that was due to the fact he's constantly paired up with WWX; who has *so* much charisma and steals the scene#But I've really come to like him a lot more since starting this project. He rose from mid-tier to being in the top ten!#Dishonorable mention: Nie Huaisang. Who fell out of number 1 spot and out of the top 5.#He just hasn't shown up a lot! And my rankings are fickle! They will probably change once I finish the third season!#My favourite comics are: A lot of them! And the ones I have yet to make!#I'm very sleepy at the moment while writing this but I do want to give a huge shout out to YOU.#Yeah! you reading this! Thank you! If you've been here since the first week or just started reading: THANK YOU!#If you've only ever lurked and never even liked a single post but still read my comics: THANK YOU!!#In creating this blog - I have found 500 days of more happiness that I could have ever imagined.#Thank you for joining me on this journey. Thank you for giving me your time and your support.#It means more than any 'thank you' could say B'*)
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holmesianlove · 24 days ago
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Chapter 7 - Violin
A quiet night at home was in order after the busy investigations of the day.
John sat reading in his chair, by the fire, very quiet, and very still. Sherlock felt it best not to disturb him when he was in such a mood so he settled on some violin time on the other side of the room.
Sherlock played for a while, moving between a series of songs and not able to settle on any one particular piece. He was too distracted. The moment between them, in the snow, would not leave his mind. Being so close to John, touching him so intimately, had not been something he had planned, and now, he feared he had overstepped.
John hadn’t said a single word since they had returned home and it was unsettling.
Sherlock worked his way through some Mozart, Brahms, Beethoven and even an arrangement of a Beatles song he knew John tended to like, even him along to, hoping to elicit a response. Somehow filling the awkward silence between them seemed incredibly important right now. He was speaking through music to his friend.
But what exactly was he trying to say? He didn’t even know. John had been the one stable thing in his life, the rock he could rely upon. And strangely, while Sherlock didn’t agree with everything John had been implying in his rants about the case, he did agree with him about the devotion to one person. And hadn’t they been that to each other for the longest time already? The two of them against the rest of the world? Whatever John’s issues with men stemmed from, Sherlock understood that he had a devoted friend and companion in John Watson. Whatever it meant to his flatmate, he knew what it meant in his own head and nothing ever needed to change. He never expected it to. In Sherlock’s mind, they would live out their lives working together as they had been in a de facto arrangement that was ambiguous to everyone around them but perfectly natural to the two of them, so long as no one said anything about it. Sherlock never planned to make his feelings known to John. He could see it would distress John to hear it, or at least he firmly suspected so. Maybe one day, years from now, things may progress but he knew not to assume it would ever change beyond the happy situation they were in. John seemed happy, when he wasn’t moping and thinking, at least.
Sherlock wandered as he played, sometimes looking out the window at the street below, sometimes moving closer to the fireplace for warmth, drifting across John’s field of vision casually.
He felt John’s eyes on him often and wondered what was going through that mind of his.
The case was troubling John. Was it really just the four marriages? Or was it the fact that the victim was bisexual? Sherlock had wondered since the day they met, if John had been hitting on him at the restaurant. But then after that, he had maintained a steady stream of awful women who spent their time mocking John and Sherlock’s connection. John was incredibly quick to announce he wasn’t gay, and the dates felt like some kind of direct message to prove something to Sherlock and anyone else who spotted him out. John Watson liked women. But he never seemed happy with them, aside from getting off, obviously, which, if Sherlock was honest, didn’t even seem to improve John’s mood anyway. But even so, he understood it to be John making a point, and scratching some kind of itch which never abated.
Was it possible that the case bothered John so much because he saw himself in the victim? A man who couldn’t make up his mind where his heart lay?
Or was it truly the lack of respect and health and safety John felt was on display in being sexually and emotionally prolific.
Sherlock needed to gather more data. John Watson was a fascinating work of art that he never tired of looking at and learning from. So many contradictions and hidden messages. A code he was yet to break.
“That one,” John finally whispered softly with a little smile.
“Hmmm?” Sherlock asked.
“That piece. That’s my favourite.” He let out a contented sigh and went back to reading.
Sherlock added it to the catalogue. Bach. John liked it when he played Bach.
— —
Thanks for reading. Let me know if you want to be tagged!
@notjustamumj @lisbeth-kk @helloliriels @totallysilvergirl @221beloved @safedistancefrombeingsmart @givemesherbet-blog-blog @naefelldaurk @a-victorian-girl @phoenix27884 @peanitbear @starlitkeys @lumilama
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swedetastic · 4 months ago
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Hi tumblr people. Let me present to you... my Alex Horne/Josh Widdicombe ship manifesto.
(It's basically just a collection of shippy moments, or "evidence")
AKA the ship that nobody asked for but I'm gonna keep captaining the sail boat.
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This interview. (It's not that shippy, I just think they're cute.)
Josh being mock-offended, and Alex’s lip bite smile back. 🫠 
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Josh becoming one of Greg’s *cough* Alex’s special little boys.
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Josh sitting next to Alex during this task, sharing the meal together😊
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Popping the balloon near Josh like a schoolyard bully.
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Josh using “Alex Horne’s naked body” as a frame of sexual reference (Greg’s words).
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(and Alex's reaction)
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The blindfolding for no reason. (I mean it was part of the task, but why did Alex have to do it for him?)
The fact that Josh was brought in to do this task in the first place.
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The eyebrow raise and “hello, Alex” (really every time Josh says "Hello, Alex")
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Singling out Josh’s “nub” 😅
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Alex devouring Josh’s mask.
And the fact that Josh made a mask to look like Alex. (Which is hilarious, but also–why?)
Every time they’ve kissed. (that we know of)
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🥰
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Josh announcing their “incredible chemistry”. Again, for no reason.
This quote:
“He’s good at being enthusiastic. He is like a puppy. As he had the longest gap between series one and doing this, he was the most excited to be back and desperate to do a task. I think he has a ‘never say die’ attitude although he’s probably less good in the creative ones. His big weakness would probably be the hair. It’s just unrealistic.”— Little Alex Horne rating Josh’s Taskmaster: Champion of Champions performance (x)
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This task.
And finally, this story. Because it's the sweetest thing ever. 🥹
So yeah I'm writing fic of these two, and I've commissioned two art pieces of them so far. You can see it all here, if you want:
(None of the gifs or anything in this post are mine. Credit to all the original owners!)
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darkestspring · 2 years ago
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i wanted darkness, i wanted him.
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summary: once he had laid his eyes on the lady tyrell, how could he ever want for another? You melted his heart, so now you must take responsibility for it. you will be embedded in his bones for all eternity.
word count: a little over 3.4k words. my longest piece!
a/n: alright second attempt at writing this! this has been a work in progress for a while and i’m finally going to finish it! this is more or less a greek gods au with hades! aemond and persephone! tyrell reader. this has been such a fun project, im obsessed with greek mythology so! i recommend listening to persephone by tamino to set the mood, its what i listened to writing this. just a reminder, my requests are still open
warnings: aemond gets a little bit obsessive, slight yandere themes.
taglist: @gulnarsultan​ @dehnablume (would not let me tag!), @azaleapotterblack (would not let me tag either), @jiminie-08​, @weepingwitchofthewest​
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You had never been outside of highgarden, even as you were now nine and ten name days. It was your duty to stay there and tend to the plants, you had convinced yourself. Maybe you were just scared of what the outside world had to offer.
You despised cocky lords and entitled ladies, you were content here as you tended to your prized garden, you were content to keep your mother and your handmaiden, Arisa, company. Your mother kept you close regardless, sending away men and curious ladies from your company.
You stared down at the blooming flowers with a smile on your face as you watered them. “Grow strong and healthy.” You whispered to them gently.
“My, my. The goddess of spring strikes again.” Your mother teased you, taking the water canister from your hands as you pouted at her, turning away.
It was a silly name, ‘the goddess of spring’, they had even given you a nickname.
Kore. A nickname meaning maiden. A innocent maiden always with her duties and her flowers. In charge of bringing spring to highgarden. It was silly.
“Do not say that, mother.” You remained turned away, conflict haunting you. You didn’t wish to remain Kore forever, you wished to be more. “It is my duty, you have told me many times.”
“What you do is a work of art, my flower.” Your mother spoke softly, hand cupping your cheek as she smiled at you adoringly. “But it is not highgarden that needs you at the moment.” She sounded displeased at that. “I must leave to King’s Landing in the morrow, you are to come with me.”
Your eyes glimmered with curiosity that your mother refused to sate. Why were you coming with her? Why now? What could there be for you?
You were so excited that you could not find it in yourself to sleep. Was the capital as beautiful as highgarden? You dreaded the people that resided there. What if the queen and the princess hated you? Your mother had seemed displeased.
She was displeased, she was very displeased and irritated. She could not refused her cousin, Queen Alicent’s request to meet you but her daughter? Her daughter who brought spring with a brush of her fingertips? Hades resided there, as her son.
Hades is what they called Prince Aemond, rumors spread of how he spread death as easily as he breathed. His dragon, the ancient vhagar, had been responsible for many deaths. He was called the god of the dead, in contrast to her beloved daughter’s goddess of spring title.
Morning had not come easily and both ladies had not slept a single wink, finding easy sleep in the carriage they took, not that either knew.
King’s Landing was pretty, you thought but lacking true beauty. The same beauty you found in flowers and the fruits that grew all around you.
“Cousin.” Queen Alicent had greeted Lady Tyrell with a big smile, her hands linked together. She had never been close with her cousin as she was always here but they needed support more than ever. Alicent was determined to succeed above all foes.
Lady Tyrell did not outwardly react, she only bowed deeply to her cousin, shielding you from view. Prince Aemond wasn’t there, that was one big relief to her. “My Queen.” She greeted, reaching behind to reveal her daughter. “At your request, I brought my daughter.” Her voice made her displeasure noticeable.
Alicent was enamored by you immediately upon seeing you. Your hair was decorated with flowers. You were a soft looking girl. Perfect for her Aemond, he needed soft but her cousin would never allow this, she would have to go over everyone else.
You curtsied lowly for the queen, too nervous to even look at her for fear of messing up as you tucked a strand of dark hair behind your ear. “I am pleased to greet the queen.”
Your voice was even soft, almost melodic. You were a true lady, what a maiden should be.
Her cousin’s long staring irritated the Lady Tyrell who cleared her throat, her hand resting on her daughter’s back. “Will her majesty excuse my daughter, she need not be present for our discussion.”
Alicent knew that if she wanted to, she could have commanded the young tyrell to stay but she needed time to plan, so she agreed with a smile. “There is a beautiful harden here. I am sure you’ll enjoy it.” She smiled at you sweetly and you took that as your queue.
“Wait for me there, my sweet.” Your mother brushed hair from your fade before walking away with Alicent.
You wandered for a while, almost lost before you came upon flowers. It was wonderful. Flowers, and threes and shrubbery. Fruits and greenery. It was peaceful.
You choose a spot under a tree after you had finished gathering flowers and sat so that you could work on making flower crowns.
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It had been another exhausting day for Prince Aemond. More training, more studying, more running after his idiotic older brother to ensure that he did not dishonor their mother or sister. All he wished was to for once to have to clean up the messes his older brother made.
He had been walking past the gardens to seek solitude in his private study before a soft voice caught his attention.
He had met many ladies, and yet none had caught his attention this quickly. It was his duty to marry but none dares to approach, the rumors of his nickname the courts gave him spread far and wide.
“-If I could begin to do something that does right by you, I would do about anything, I would even learn how to love.” Your voice rang out softly, your soft pink dress flowing around you as you weaved flowers together absentmindedly.
Aemond had never seen anyone like you. None of the ladies could compare to how you look before his eye. You were like the flowers that existed around you, soft, sweet, beautiful.
Aemond stood there, stunned, as he watched you with a feeling akin to the one he felt with vhagar filling him. Exhilaration, pride, possessiveness. He wanted to hear your voice forever, he wanted to see your eyes on him, he wanted for you to be as obsessed with him as he already was with you.
A twig snapped under his foot and your head snapped over to the sound as a single purple eye connected with warm hazel ones.
You stared at him like a startled deer before you scrambled up, dropping the half finished flower crown as you hid behind the giant apple tree. You held a hand to your chest as your heart raced
Aemond couldn’t help but find you adorable but he quickly tried to calm you down. “I am sorry, I startled you.” His voice was deep as he tried to restrain his excitement. He had found you, the girl he wanted to make his wife. His father had been making a fuss for him to be married, this would solve all problems would it not? “I’m-” he couldn’t tell you his name just yet, not until everything was final. “I’m Hades.”
You peered out from behind the tree to gaze at him with caution. Hades, that name sounded familiar. “I’m Kore.” You had refrained from giving your name out of embarrassment. Your mother would surely scold you if she knew the truth.
“I am deeply sorry for startling you, fair maiden.” Aemond hoped he didn’t sound awkward or too excited. Kore did not fit you at all, would not do justice to just how brightly you shined in his eyes.
He cursed Lucerys Velaryon for taking his eye, for keeping him from having two eyes to gaze at you with, to admire your beauty with. You were truly a goddess among mortals, fitting of every title you could possess.
You suddenly felt childish, hiding behind the tree from him, and you moved yourself out from behind it, your hands clasped together in front of him.
Aemond couldn’t help but admire kore with his darkened purple eye. From your hair, dark and luscious, decorated with all kinds of flowers. To your dress, a pale pink that gave Aemond the sense of innocence, something he couldn’t help but wish to ruin, wish to see your reddened face as he kissed and worshipped you as you deserved.
You felt unnerved as he seemed to study you with a look you couldn’t decipher, it made you all the more nervous.
Aemond had come to realize that he had spent too much of his time with you and sought to retreat so that he might ready his request to his father. “I anticipate our next meeting, my lady.”
No, Kore did not suit you at all. Aemond concluded as he walked away and left you to stare after him with a tilted head and flower crown forgotten.
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Just as he could not leave your mind, you did not leave his. Aemond thought of you constantly. He knew very little of you but still you managed to capture him in a way no one else had.
You had chosen to not tell your mother of the encounter, knowing how she worried for you with men. You knew she could be a little overbearing but she only meant well, so you kept it to yourself but Hades was carved into your memories.
You found yourself anticipating your next meeting as you remained in the red keep for longer, at the request of the queen. You spent most of your time in the gardens, hopeful of meeting him once again. To your knowledge, he never came.
But then again, Aemond made sure to stay out of sight when he watched you in your peace in the gardens. He couldn’t bring himself to ruin your peace, so he watched you.
Most would call it stalk but he had no ill intent on you, he wished to make you his bride. He wished to bury himself in your bones and always feel the way he did when he was with you. You brought him peace.
That’s why he brought it up to his father and mother. “Please allow me to marry Lady Tyrell’s daughter.” He stood in front of his parents with his request and refused to show his irritation at their shock.
Aemond was not known for enjoying the companies of ladies as Aegon was renown for. Aemond preferred the quiet library and his practices with Ser Cole too much to do other things.
It did not shock Alicent too much, she had hoped that he would take to her cousin’s daughter but where had he met her and why did such darkness exist in his eyes? She brushed it off easily and smiled at her son. “Of course, you may take her as your bride.”
Viserys nodded along with his wife, still sluggish from his medicine as he leaned into his wife. “Yes, it is time for you to have a wife, my son.”
Aemond was satisfied as his wish was granted and he nodded to his mother before stalking away. Lady Tyrell was notorious for her protectiveness over her daughter, if he was to marry the lady he wanted, it must be done quickly and in secret. He won’t allow this wish to be denied.
Aemond, in the middle of making his way to his room, turned the other way to make his way towards the garden where undoubtedly you were. His rage, always just simmering under the surface in him, seemed to calm once he saw you.
“Oh Hades!” You gasped in surprise as you saw him making his way towards you and you smiled at him, holding a finished flower crown in your hands. “We meet again, at last.” You giggled softly, the sound sending his heart soaring.
“Indeed, we do.” Aemond held his hand out for you and you smiled at his once more before placing a hand in his. Aemond lifting your hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it. “I’m honored to see you once more.”
Warmth filled you at his actions and your cheeks turned red. “I’m happy you’re here.” You reached up with your free hand and placed the flower crown on his head. “It’s a perfect fit!”
Aemond blinked in astonishment for a few seconds before letting go of your hand and humming. “It is.” He knows he should have told you of his intent to marry you, to take you as his wife in the way of Valyria, but instead all he said was. “Come take a ride with me on my dragon.”
You had already known he was a targaryen, it was very obvious to everyone who had eyes but you had never seen a dragon before. They both mesmerized and terrified you. “Will it be safe?” You asked him, furrowing your brows.
“You will always be safe with me.” He assured you and you nodded, still filled with caution as you allowed him to take your hand.
The corridors were empty, not a servant in sight. It confused you, you had always seen them. You brushed it off easily as Aemond guided you to a nearby place by the sea, and there laid a dragon.
Aemond whispered to Vhagar quietly in High Valyrian for a few moments before turning back to you and guiding you forwards. He let go of your hand only to guide it along Vhagar’s scales gently.
“It’s.... warm.” You murmured, taken aback by not only the size but also the warmth. “Your dragon is so... beautiful.”
Vhagar seemed to huff out smoke at that and Aemond laughed quietly. “Yes, she is. Come, I’ll help you up.” Aemond helped you climb onto her back and secured you in tightly before situating himself behind you and securing himself. “Vhagar, Soves!” He commanded and a gasp came for you as she launched herself up.
Dragonstone wasn’t far away, a short flight and when Vhagar landed, Aemond was certain his sister and uncle already knew he was there but he didn’t care about them. All he cared about was marrying his lady.
“How do you feel?” He asked as he helped you down from his dragon. Your feet trembled with pain as you landed on the ground.
“It was exhilarating but it was also a little scary being so high up.” You spoke before looking around. “Where are we?”
“Dragonstone.” He answered you, reaching for you hand. “I must admit to you, I have deceived you somewhat.”
You blinked at him before tilting your head at him in confusion. “Deceived me in what?”
“I didn’t just bring you here to sight see, i brought you here with then intention kf marry you.” Aemond looked at you with the slightest bit of guilt. “You haunt my dreams, even awake you never leave my mind. Since our meeting, I have never felt such peace in my life.” Aemond breathes, like he had just lifted a weight from himself. “Please, I beg of you, have mercy on me.”
His confession struck you like no one ever had and she stared at him with a parted mouth as he sunk down on his knees. “Please do not do that.” The words left your mouth before you could stop them as you reached out for him. “If you plead with me in such ways, how am I to resist the temptation of carving my name into your heart so that you may always remember me.”
In all of you memories, you were always alone, or with only three people by your side. You had never been aloowed to see the world outside your home, you had never been able to have friends or even meet other ladies. No one had ever treated you with the kindness that he had. Of course, you thought it was all too fast, too much but had you not craved for this? To stop being Kore, a sweet maiden, the only child of Lord and Lady Tyrell. Had you not wanted him?
“I will always remember you, how could I ever forget a person like you?” Aemond wanted to press himself against you, he wanted to live in your bones, to be one with you, so that he might always bathe in your gaze.
If he always spoke such words to you, how would you ever cease to love him?
The kindness that he spoke to you with was nonexistent as he spoke to the septon, demanding that he wished to marry you. They had agreed to his wishes as he held your hand.
You didn’t wince as he cut your lip gently with dragonglass. The septon guided you on what to write on Aemond’s forehead and you followed with gentleness. Your blood mingled together and you held bloodied hands together.
“One flesh, one heart, one soul, now and forever.” Aemond murmured to you softly as the ceremony ended with him kissing you, his free hand clasping at your cheek.
Once he pulled away from you, you could identify the look in his eyes. Devotion. Triumph. Darkness.
All your life, maybe this is what you had wanted. Freedom, Darkness, Love. Him.
“Kore never fit you at all, my Persephone.” Aemond had whispered into your hear and you had shivered with delight.
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It had been nearly a month after your wedding to Aemond that a letter came addressed to you. It was from your mother, you could tell by the handwriting.
“Darling, what is it?” Aemond sat up from beside you in bed as he sensed your distress.
Three days after the ceremony, you and Aemond had returned to King’s Landing. It had been chaos, Alicent was happy for the both of you but your mother had returned to Highgarden and refused to continue the alliance with the Targaryens and Hightowers until her daughter was returned but you were now married.
“It’s from my mother.” You handed him the letter as you rubbed at your face to lessen your tears. “She had cut off the Hightowers and King’s Landing until I am returned to her.”
Aemond placed the letter on the nightstand before moving closer to you and comforting you. “She will not take my wife from me.” He spoke like a promise as he wrapped his arms around you. “We were up all last night, you need sleep, sweet girl.”
“How can I sleep when things are as they are. My mother believes you kidnapped me and forced me to marry you, she doesn’t know the reality of it.” You frowned at him, pressing your hand to his face, thumb tracing his scar gently. “I have to tell her the truth.”
Bards and Poets have already spun the tale of Aemond forcing his will on you. Persephone’s kidnapping. You grow tired to seeing it. No one knew that you had wanted him too.
“We know the truth, my love.” His words were soft as he closed his eye and leaned into your touch. “We could not live without each other, I went against everyone’s wishes to marry you in Valyrian tradition because I knew your mother would never allow me to have you. You have brought me peace, for that I will never feel guilty.”
Your face was soft as you pondered over how to solve this matter. How to bring peace to everyone involved.
it was a week before your mother came to you as you were sitting in thr same garden you had met Aemond in.
“My sweet girl.” She murmured, tears in her eyes as she hugged you close. “What has that man done to you?”
“Nothing I did not want.” You smiled at her, you were now dressed in black instead of the light colors from before. “Mother, I was not kidnapped by him.”
Your mother did not say anything in return as she sat down, she could tell there was more you wanted to say. She always knew but still, she wanted to cling to you for a little longer.
“I asked him for it. For the blood, for the rust, for the sin. I did not want the pearls that other girls talked about, or the fine marble of palaces, or even the roses in the mouths of servants.” You looked at her with a pleading look, begging her to understand.
“I wanted pomegranates, I wanted darkness, I wanted him.”
You would never regret that.
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what-is-fanart · 2 years ago
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Requim (1976) reimagined as the daedric princes
(From left to right: Barbas, Clavicus Vile, Meridia, Sanguine, Boethiah, Azura, Mephala)
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Plus some bonus close ups. I started this drawing in Febuary, it’s now April. I’m literally astonished that I actually did it, and here’s the specs.
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NEARLY 22 HOURS. Not to be dramatic but this is single-handedly the most complicated piece of art I’ve ever made. Not only that, but I have never spent this long on a drawing in my life. 8ish hours is like the longest I’ve ever spent on a drawing before this. Thank you to everyone in discord for all the help and encourage,ent!,, and for listening to me whine about it the whole time <3
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soyouareandrewdobson · 1 year ago
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Asians are all the same, right? The racism of a company cock gurgling moron
Like herpes and unlike the Dobbear, I am back baby.
At this point, deepest apology for my long absence. Personal issues over the last two years prevented me from writing anything and also destroyed for the longest time any desire to really continue the blog.
However, I don’t want to let things unfinished and seeing how the hypocricyofandrewdobson still manages to get some rise out of old Dobson related stuff, I wanted to just return, in order to properly contribute a bit more critical thinking in regard to his old comics.
And while I will not immediately return to my retrospective of SYAC, here is at least (for a start) my opinion on one comic of his, that in my opinion just proved hilarious and controversial in hindsight, and rather racist even back then.
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I admit, I don’t know anymore what the title of the comic here is. All I know is, that it came out around 2018, shortly after the release of his “Black Panther” comic, another malignant piece of Dobtrash that has made the rounds online ever since. However, unlike the Black Panther comic, which became the center of a lot of discussion regarding Dobson’s racist assumptions about comic book fans while ironically trying to present himself as woke, this one was weirdly drifting off into obscurity. Which is kinda weird, cause in my opinion, it is way more racist and actually kinda insulting to the very craft Dobson supposedly “dedicated” his life to.
Let me explain.
First, over the course of three panels, Dobson comes essentially off like he is considering the medium of comics as inferior to the medium of movies. Making it look as if comics are unsuccessful because they cannot rail in the same amount of money than certain flics and calling them at best nothing more but a pitching ground for corporations to create new shallow mass product.
Now I am a bit of a realist and I know that, especially in the world of mainstream American superhero comics, this is kinda the case. Most comic book characters, stories and franchises are owned by multibillion dollar corporations, who either have a direct hand in the creation of the product (via corporate mandate for example) and/or use the likeness of the product to make profit in additional, more valuable revenues than the printed medium. Such as cartoons, merchandise and movies. One example I can think of, to show that it isn’t just an American issue: Yugioh. The card game wouldn’t have come to be if there hadn’t been a manga starring a little boy putting together an ancient Egyptian puzzle, but while the original manga ended way back in March of 2004, the card game makes millions globally still after 25 years and counting.
But that doesn’t change the fact, that comics as a medium still have value. Without the stories told within their pages, we wouldn’t have characters such as Captain America, Superman, the Mask, the Ninja Turtles and so on to begin with. Don’t get me even started on stories that aren’t falling into the American mainstream comic trend, but still succeeded in the printed comic medium partly because of genuine artistic and profound value such as Maus, Barefoot Gen, Watchmen, V for Vendetta, TinTin and a shitton of (other) stuff from Europe and Asia.
So when Dobson, who always acted like he is proud to be a cartoonist and that comics are a superior medium to others, suddenly reduces them to just being a “pitch ground for better stuff down the line” at best, I as a fan of the medium and just the art of creating stories in itself, get kinda pissed.
Additionally, the way how he compares movies to be better than comics, is severely flawed.
He brings up the fact, that “Captain America: Civil War” made over one billion dollars at the box office as an example, while pointing out the fact, that most single comic issues barely manage to sell 100.000 copies, while holding up a copypasted “Civil War” issue.
Already, Dobson essentially compares apples with bananas, while also giving both false and incomparable data, that also ignores many aspects to be considered.
For starters: He compares the earnings of both movies and comics with two different values. For movies, he goes by the monetary profit a superhero movie could possibly make, while for the comic issue, he goes by the total number of copies sold.
But here is the thing: Assuming the average selling price of a comic is at 4 dollars for a single 30 page issue, selling 100.000 copies would ring in like 400.000 dollars. And considering that producing one issue likely costs a company less than 20.000 dollars (obvious costs for mass production and distribution not withstanding) they can still make a decent profit this way from ONE issue alone. One issue. Not multiple issues of a long running, but sadly underperforming series. All of that by the way doesn’t even account for the fact, that most single issues at best tell only a quarter of a decent short story nowadays and ignores later “long term” factors, such as reprints of the issue, late term buying of the issue, tradepaperback sells of the issue, the longterm effect and cultural impact the issue may have on the actual series or plot continuity  (such as Amazing Spiderman 122, aka “The Night Gwen Stacy Died”). Don’t get me even started on the fact, that many of these issues get first sold in the US and only over the course of one year or longer may then additionally be sold in other parts of the world, therefore bringing in even more money for the publisher.
Example: The Duck comics by Don Rosa, which earn more than four times more in Europe, than they ever did in America, despite the guy being from California. Finally, a a little add addendum: that example Dobson gives indirectly via the “Civil War” issue? A quick google search revealed, that Civil War issue 1 sold over 300k copies in May of 2006 alone. Sure, not necessarily the best numbers ever for a single issue (as evident by the following list: https://bookriot.com/bestselling-comics-of-all-time/ )but still nothing to be ashamed of.
And yes, I know that we live currently in a time, where comic book sells have dropped significantly for a variety of reasons, one of them being an overall lack of decent stories. But as long as other stuff still manages to run freaking circles around American superheroes (*cough* One Piece *cough*) I wouldn’t say the medium itself is dead. Just a specific branch of it is suffering from a lack of quality and the customers are jumping ship.
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A superhere movie meanwhile is a completely different beast. Ever since “The Avengers” came out in 2012, most superhero movies are 150-250 million dollar behemoths, that get overhyped by advertisement campaigns that are almost equally as expensive and try to trick the audience into believing, that they all are somehow the next big mindblowing thing on the big screen. Plus there hasn’t really been a superhero movie in the last 10+ years, that didn’t release simultaneously worldwide, instead of only coming out in the USA, and then a few months later, in other parts of the world.
So is it any wonder then, if a superhero movie that got advertised like the second coming of a saint, makes 1 billion, when there are already billions of potential customers worldwide all at once when the product launches?
That number btw becomes actually less impressive, once you start to think about how it came to be. Something our blue bear obviously didn’t.
See, on average every movie theater demands like what, 12-14 dollars per movie nowdays?
If we divide the box office of Civil war (1.152 billion btw) with 12 dollars, that makes on average 100 million people worldwide who watched the movie. A bit more than one or two percent of the worlds population. Not to forget, that of the box office success we have to substract such things as production cost of the movie, advertisement, the earnings of the theaters… so suddenly the movie may at best have had only earned one quarter of its box office for Disney as actual profit.
Not to forget, Dobson made that comic in 2018, when superhero movies on average did ring in so much money, because of the hype machine. But now we have 2023 and within the last five years (and especially 2023 itself) we have seen how superhero movies can also utterly fail to make money or even earn just enough to make back the production cost. Birds of Prey, Eternals, Ant Man 3, that Secret Invasion streaming show that still cost over 200 million… Do I need to get on?
Bottom line, Dobson’s indirect jab at comics as the less profitable revenue doesn’t hold that much water really in the real world, where once the hype dies down, comics may actually prove themselves as the more valuable longterm medium. Even if it may just be for the fact, that they end up staying longer relevant in the popcultural subconscious than the current movies, which tend to lose relevance with each new hastily produced and released installment in the franchise.
But where this comic really shines and shows Dobson’s ignorance on a cultural level, is in the last panel. When all off sudden it turns “racial” by claiming that Asian people, unlike “traditional” comic readers (aka white, in Dobbear s eyes therefore instantly racist people), would eat a Marvel character like Amadeus Cho up.
Question Dobson: Why do you assume, they would eat him up? You give no real argument based on anything the character does storywise, that the “target audience” may find admirable. So I can only think, that your reasoning is, because he is ever so slightly east asian coded.
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Boy, do we have to unpack not just a can of worms, but a whole package of cans now.
First, the chosen language by saying “eat it up”. When being a writer, you should know that you need at times to choose your words wisely, because of the sheer implications they can carry. And the statement “eat it up” sounds way to close to a negative statement like “suck it up”. Making it come off as if Dobson considers Asian people to be mindless cattle that will consume the grub the House of Mouse will give them without question or any desire for actual quality to it.
Second, it recks of a certain mind set I hate within the American entertainment industry and some of its creators and consumers. That mind set being, that “non-traditional” American cultures supposedly don’t know better than Americans in what is okay for the sake of representation and entertainment or not. It’s a mindset that goes beyond the necessity of e.g. localizing a foreign product to the national market, by e.g. creating a sterilized, corporately mandated and rather unrealistic depiction of another culture within their product, that will fall apart as soon as the people who are supposed to be represented get a proper look at it and realize, how pandering and often times badly researched, if not outright offensive, it is.
Only recently did we see in the world of animation how that can backfire, when Disney released the trailer for “Primos” an upcoming animated show supposedly about a half Latina girl spending her summer vacation with her annoying cousins, people calling it based on the intro (and a leaked pilot) pandering towards a latino audience in a racist manner. And guess what: currently, Disney shelves it and tries to bury its existence like Dobson his old inflation art.
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Dobson himself has actually indulged in that sort of shit kinda, back with his infamous Nintendo comic.
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Essentially calling the “true”, Nintendo corporation approved depiction of his childhood Nintendo heroes disgraceful, for not falling in line with the late 80s depictions he saw in localized, made in America products such as the DiC cartoons. That and minor homophobia mixed with misogyny by calling Link “girly” for having longer blond hair since Ocarina of Time and blaming fangirls for it.
Third, and that is kinda related to my prior point, the reality of things is, that “Asians” actually did not eat up that sort of thing in the last couple of years. Sure, there is always that thing about a Chinese market. the big movie companies try to pander to and may succeed with some dumb action flics featuring big robots.
But the reality is, that not even people living in a dictatorship will eat up every trash you give to them, just because it comes from Hollywood or is supported by their glorious leadership. Disney tried to create two pandering messes of movies for Chinese people to watch, called Mulan (the live action adaptation) and that Shang Chi movie. And how did they do there? Oh right! The government did not even allow Shang Chi to be released and Mulan was released but supposedly didn’t do so well, considering (COVID not withstanding) it only made 70 million globally!
Don’t get me even started on every human right controversy in relation to the later, starting with filming in China near a concentration camp and ending with the main actress being essentially a Chinese propaganda puppet.
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So, if those movies flopped, why would Chinese people for example flock for an Asian Hulk? A hulk that is not even Chinese but Korean.
See, this is another issue that fails with the example: The actual choice of character Dobson name dropped is actually kinda terrible.
For those unaware: Amadeus Cho is a supporting character in the Marvel comics, created in 2005 by American writer Greg Pak and artist Takeshi Miyazawa. The later, despite the name being very east Asian, sounding, actually being from Canada. Now both do have east Asian roots so to speak (Pak  e.g. is the son of an Korean-american man with a Caucasian woman), but they also have grown up within a society that taught them both western social values more so than we would see in east Asian countries. So with the creators already not necessarily having the most real life experience with the average mindset of a Korean citizen, can we really say that their actual creation helps “represent” those people of a foreign, non-american culture?
And that is not even covering stuff like the actual story of the character itself.
See, in the comics, Cho is supposed to be an American-Korean genius (wish fullfillment much, Greg?) and one of the smartest people in the Marvel Universe. His parents named him after Amadeus Mozart (a pretty white motherfucker as far as I remember) and he grew up under Methodist beliefs. So basically the “Korean heritage” of the character has already been thrown out of the window. Now I don’t expect the character to act stereotypical Korean, listen to K-pop, declare bulgogi to be his favorite dish or any of that shit. But when you want to sell me the character as being in some way or another connected to his ancestral culture, shouldn’t he engage at least in some “Korean coded” things?
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I mean, the character of Anne Boonchuy in Amphibia is a Thai-American who acts more like a 13 year old girl that learns to be less selfish and impulsive over the course of the show and whose “heritage” isn’t thrown at us, the viewer, most of the time. In fact, Anne herself acknowledges that she e.g. can’t really speak thai, despite her own mother being fluent in it and a season 3 episode reveals, that Anne is “begrudgingly” a part of the L.A. thai community. And yet, in connection to the shows story and as part of Anne’s characterization, her heritage is acknowledged and plays a part of who she is. Even if it simply means she knows how to cook certain thai dishes, loves her parents and their customs, helps out in their restaurant, can speak a few words thai and knows the basics of Muay Thai, a form of martial arts (and fighting sport) from Thailand.
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Amadeus doesn’t even have Korean parents anymore, because they were killed as part of his tragic hero backstory. Nor has he ever visited an Asian country. Oppps.
To build further up on it, Amadeus becomes for the longest time simply a major supporting character in the Marvel universe for the likes of Hulk and Hercules, two white coded characters. Sure, he plays a major role in the defeat of some cosmic horror level villains (such as Mikaboshi in the Chaos God storyline most people forgot even existed) but it takes a long time for him to become a “A-lister” so to speak.
In fact, according to Wikipedia, it wasn’t till after “Secret Wars” in 2016 (eleven years after the character was created), that Amadeus thanks to a chain of events eventually got his chance to Hulk out. And then they still had to kill Bruce Banner to make Amadeus “stand out” initially (don’t worry, Bruce came back. I mean, characters actually staying dead in comics, so that heroes can learn there are consequences? Preposterous) In fact, Amadeus hasn’t really proven himself as a decent “solo” act. Instead he became a member of the Champions (among Miles Morales, Mrs. Marvel, Vision’s daughter Viv. Nova and Cyclops), essentially creating yet another superhero team for teenaged vigilantes. Despite the fact, Cho himself should be by now in his mid 20s.
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Now look, I do not want to shit talk the character. Partly because I haven’t read everything he was in myself and partly because in the few things I did see him in (both pre- and post Hulk) he was okay. He is a decent hero and person, who tries to do good, even if he screws up here and there. That is something I can admire in a character in general. But he is not a good “representation” of another culture, because his complexion and minor physical features aside, he is NOT embodying even minor values or traditions of that foreign culture. He is simply a Korean-American (or technically Canadian), who falls more on the American side of things.
So essentially, Dobson who virtue signaled on multiple occasions how bad it is when companies he didn’t like tried to speak on behalf of other cultures, would have no problem at all to ask for Asian people to swallow this obviously “Made in American” product. The “Made in America” line actually working both on a metaphorical and a storytelling level, cause trying to google what “east Asian coded” heroes in the Marvel Universe actually come from an Asian country instead of being simply born on American soil, is pretty damn small.
After 20 minutes I only found Shang Chi, as he was born in China, and that character was created as part of kung-fu exploitation in the 70s by white dudes.
Yaiks
However, none of that tops the next two points that really sell Dobson to me as an American centralistic racist. Or at least a twat who doesn’t understand how through bad wording he comes of as ignorant of other people’s cultures.
The way he generalizes Asian people in his statement, while also ignoring the actual accomplishments in the creation of entertainment in multiple Asian countries.
If you’ve read closely what I typed, you may have seen that I used the term Asian at times in tandem with the term “east Asian” to e.g. describe Amadeus Cho.
And that had a very deliberate reason. While I was not a fan of geography in school, even I know that Asia as a continent is not “nationally” as homogenous as let’s say Australia or North America. In fact, Asia is the biggest continent on the planet, hosts more than half of earth’s population and consists of at least 47 internationally acknowledged states.
States such as Turkey, Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, China, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, North- and South Korea, Egypt, Israel, Iraq, Iran and so on.
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Now what all these states have in common, is that they have their own unique historical, social and “racial” culture and background. Heck, religiously speaking, Asia is the cradle of the world.
As such, Dobson stating that a “Korean coded” character such as Amadeus Cho (who is only Korean on the most surface level and would technically just be a legacy character of yet another white person) would be an immediate hulk smash hit with all these different people of different backgrounds…. Yeah, it sounds like condescending, colonization inspired shit, a smooth brain would come up with.
To Dobson “Asia���, at least based on that comic, is only defined as the “yellow skinned” people from the far east, who like rice, noodles, spicy food and give us anime, Godzilla, fireworks, buddhism and communism. It does not include anyone from the middle east or of more European ancestry. And if you are even remotely familiar about history, you would also know that Japanese, Koreans and Chinese all around do not e.g. like to be thrown into a pot with the others for a variety of reasons. Many of them political.
Or to sum it up even shorter: Dobson insinuated that a very shallow, “east Asian” coded American comic character would be an immediate hit with more than 47 different countries, ignoring that not all of them share the same background despite being part of the “same” landmass. And in doing so, he simultaneously generalized and denounced entire groups of people based on their racial and cultural background, which in as far as I am aware of, is considered racist.
But the “racism” is supposedly justified, because “representation” matters, it would be giving the middle finger to “traditional” comic fans and those nations and their culture are underrepresented globally.
Which is baloney.
Don’t get me wrong, I myself think that representation does matter. But the world does not necessarily rely on the good old US-Ayy only to give it to us.
Cause a lot of the Asian nations I brought up here? They have their own entertainment industry and stories, which again, get ignored by Dobson to make a dumb and false point.
I mean, manga is currently dominating the international comic market, all while Japan has also a booming animation industry and some of the most iconic heroes in modern popculture with the likes of Son Goku, Kamen Rider, Super Sentai etc.
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China has a prominent -if propaganda driven- movie industry.
India has Bollywood and delivers some of the most ridiculous but awesome musical movies on the planet.
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Russia had authors such as Tolstoy and movie directors, that redefined the “art” of filmmaking.
Korea had a few years ago one of the biggest streaming hits with Squid Game, while also earning an Oscar for a movie titled Dobs- I mean “Parasite”.
Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Turkey… even nations that have not entertainment living up to “western standards” still produce stuff in some way or form to entertain the masses and their people. Just google up the character Kara Murat aka the avenger of Anatolia.
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And don’t get me even started on the sheer ton of mythology, stories and history each of their cultures have provided the world with. Journey to the West? Baba Yaga, the entirety of the Gilgamesh epos...
And yet, there is this indirect assumption by Dobson, that all of them would be so deprived of “heroes” in their media and folklore, they would letch on second hand shop Hulk? Fuck off, Dobbear. I know you like to suck corporate cock as long as you think they are woke and you have childhood nostalgia for them, but this is pathetic. Take Amadeus before A Rama Raju comes around and roundhouse kicks him back to Canada. Then get the taste of mouse smegma of your Disney cock gobbling lips.
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kitkat-the-muffin · 1 year ago
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*drum-roll*
*louder drum-roll*
*even louder drum-roll*
*loudest drum-roll*
GUESS WHO? IT’S WEBTOON!!!!
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Here's a quick little bio for you:
She/Her Pronouns
Obsessed with Drama (default skin)
Verified Sword Lesbian™️
Wields a one-handed cliché anime sword using the upper body strength of a Mary Sue
Has terrible taste in everything (movies, character design, advertising methods, friends)
Enjoys Amino's presence (disrupts a canon event)
Exchanges cryptocurrency with Amino on a regular basis
Creative, artsy, and colorful
Jumps to conclusions easily
Not immune to propaganda (will believe ANYTHING)
Easily susceptible to clickbait
Overconfident gambler and gold-digger
Optimistic Derse Dreamer
Unhealthily invested in the romance lives of other people (and fictional people)
Constantly forgets to renew her Spotify subscription
Doesn't know what an adblocker is
Forgets to use trigger warnings sometimes
Probably has an ongoing feud with TappyToon
"How can you read this? There's no pictures!"
Her genre changes depending on her mood and the topic of discussion
Her skirt and bow change with her genre
The bell on her zipper rings whenever her genre changes
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I will make a separate post of all her genres for easier access later and put the link [here].
Funky little rant under the cut as well as a single progress-shot at the bottom
I've been working on this character for a few months now and I'm happy with how she turned out. It was a lengthy process of trying to make her look the way I wanted her to and part of that was changing aspects of her design and allowing my friends to help and support me. At one point one of my friends told me the drawing was too stiff and ordered me to doodle ugly things until I felt confident enough to break out of my comfort zone, and that really helped Webtoon feel more personalized I think
To be honest, Socialstuck has pulled me out of my artist's block. For the longest time I had no motivation to draw anything at all because I wasn't confident enough in my abilities and art style to even try. I'm still not good at drawing poses, and even now this drawing is an imitation of Cloutchase's art style. However, the simplicity of that art style inspired me to draw, and suddenly I found myself creating more and more drafts. Whether those drafts will ever be completed is up to the future, but it's a big step for me to finally try again
This piece may be in Cloutchase's art style, but it's also got a little bit of me in it as well, and I'm more than happy to contribute to a fun community of people making stuff together by adding my own OC into the mix
Funny addition: At the bottom of my Webtoon notes is a small section of past-me complaining about how hard it was to draw with my dog staring at me. I got peer-pressured by my dog XD
Anyway here's the progress shot and also Webtoon's beta-design I made with a picrew (I beta all my character designs in picrew lol)
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And here’s a vertical draft of her final design in HD as a treat:
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eccentric-nucleus · 8 months ago
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so, i finally finished (posting) my huge, novel-length teenage mutant ninja turtles fanfic. i just posted the final epilogue over on ao3!
here is my director's commentary on it, if you want to read even more about it. this contains spoilers for the whole thing. maybe read the epilogue first and sit with that for a minute. also this will probably be pretty incoherent if you haven't read the whole thing. it's just a disconnected series of thoughts i have about the story, really
man, this story. this is maybe the longest thing i've ever written? like 'the new hive' and 'hell game' had more words (i think) but they were mostly a disconnected series of sex scenes with thin connective tissue between them. this is ~200k words of a single, linear, mostly-plot narrative. i'm writing scenes that aren't just about getting the two leads to fuck!! that's weird. it's definitely the most ambitious thing i've written. kind of weird that it's tmnt fanfic. that's just how it worked out, i guess.
so back in 2022 i watched the rise of the tmnt movie because people kept talking about the animation quality of the fights and that got me into a spiral of actually paying attention to the ninja turtles. i had never been into them & genuinely i think a huge part of getting into tmnt stuff was that rise actually varied the design of the turtles so that they weren't all basically identical save for color-coding. turns out visual design was the missing mystery ingredient.
also in 2022 i was burning out on writing 'goblin cave', when what i had intended to be a fun little writing exercise ended up getting algorithmically surfaced and getting me hundreds of comments on each chapter. that got a little stressful and i wasn't really enjoying that, so i stopped. but i was like, hmm you know i mostly just write weird porn but maybe i should write something a little more ambitious. with a plot, and everything. 'goblin cave' was (in my mind) all about a character who was created for violence deciding art was a much more worthwhile pursuit. but the main character of that doesn't know what art is. because it's a magical dungeon core. and i was still thinking a lot about dead zones of the imagination, by david graeber. so i was like, okay, let's do this again but in a slightly more self-authentic way and make it weird gay porn with weird animal dicks. let's give michelangelo ninjaturtle a monologue about how the powerful are utterly insulated from any consequence.
(also early on, after watching most of rottmnt, i stumbled across this blog post about the tmnt comics and the end of the world. that ended up being deeply influential on the fic too. i've been kinda in a state for the past few years and this fic is absolutely a part of me working through a lot of complicated feelings about the world and the future. lol people talk so much about people writing dark fic 'to cope' but this was pretty much the first time i've outsourced my emotional processing by having bad things happen to fictional characters.)
so uhhh where to start here. the setting of the fic is this complicated messy mashup of a half-dozen tmnt continuities. it's very rise-heavy, since... that was the only series i had watched(/read) when i had determined the major plot points, but there's a lot of bits and pieces from all over.
to roughly outline the characters here, a huge influence on mikey's personality in this is... mikey's 'dr delicate touch' persona in rottmnt. in the sense that... okay yes yes that is a kid's show and all of his dr delicate touch lines are, you know, setups and punchlines. you think he's going to be nice but actually he's mean! etc. but in-universe it's like, wait hold on a second. mikey is like the most emotionally-intelligent of the four. he absolutely knows when people are on the edge of flipping out and need a calming out to a stressful situation. and instead he freaks them out more! mikey's hobby is: being mean to his friends & family, for fun! what a fun character trait.
i was thinking about this tweet a lot, too. i read some writing advice once that people tend to make characters who are supposed to be likable too squeaky-clean. nothing but positive character traits for them! but actually every 'positive' character trait is exactly the same as a 'negative' one; it's just a matter of focus and degree. a character is light-hearted and comedic? they can never take things seriously, even when they really should. a character is willing to do anything to protect the people they love? so they're violent and threatening and scary if they happen to decide you're something that they need to protect against. etc. i was really dedicated in this to bringing out the worst characteristics of everybody's personalities.
mikey was also very deeply inspired by: all the garbage progression fantasy stuff i've been reading. i've complained about this several times on this very blog, but a constant theme in most progression fantasy is 1. the main character will constantly get more and more powerful and 2. the main character will never really have their relationship with the rest of the world changed via that power. it's just stat-ups. they just have higher stats so they're more powerful. mikey is the most powerful person on the planet and it's fucking ruining his life. he knows that there's nobody capable of actually checking his behavior, & he's in this constant state of thinking he's maybe a few bad days away from murdering half the planet and incredibly aware there's not really anything he can do about that aside from constantly worry. he's kind of an anxious mess.
mikey absolutely thinks it's more ethical to murder somebody out of the sheer glee of seeing people crushed before you than murdering somebody for something as tedious as mob orders. you're satisfying a deep, raw desire felt from the heart! that's good!
what he'd like to do, in some sense, is just hang out in his studio and chill with other artists, but he knows the world is not gonna let him do that. things will come up. a lot of his being a creepy bystander thing while people get murdered is b/c he's very much formulated his morality to be like... it is not his responsibility to fix other people's problems. other people will do what they want and that has no bearing on him. is that a pretty cowardly and self-serving morality? sure! but he was kinda designed to rule the world & his flinch away from that pretty much defines him as a character in this. that's kinda the morality he needed to end up on to convince himself not to be a genocide machine.
he's incredibly aware he could basically be a superhero, & all it would take is... giving up on all his hopes and dreams and constantly engage with his abilities. and being a superhero isn't that many steps removed from living up to his full design spec and just taking over the world and ruling as god-emperror. idk how well i hit all those notes in the actual fic, but, that's what i was going for. mikey as the narrator clearly doesn't want to talk or think about it so it's never really directly confronted.
raph is... okay so i guess a fairly common piece of fanon, for rise especially, is to characterise raph as having multiple personalities? whether that's him just having alters or him having full-blown MPD depends on the fic. my fun little nod to that is that he's kind of a disassociative mess. he has kind of failed to reconcile the disparate aspects of his personality and he switches between one of several different facades depending on the situation. also, you know. the trauma.
(i didn't really mean for it to be as such, but there is this theme in the story about names? despite everything else mikey has a crystal-clear self-conception of himself and has one name, which he gave himself. raph, who has kinda failed to build his own personality, has a collection of name other people have given him, none of which he feels actually fits him. donnie has a more fluid self-identity and also has roughly a million aliases and false identities & constantly slips in and out of character when it's convenient. leatherhead still going by the name mikey gave him goes hand-in-hand with that bit where mikey meanly thinks about how maybe leatherhead's entire self-conception is hung up on something mikey said to him once, etc. this is one of those things that i'd go back and make more present if i did go back and clean up the rough draft, b/c as it is it's there, but it doesn't really do a whole lot.)
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this fic was inspired by... i had read a few big aus that were just like, taking the characters and loose bits of setting and going off in completely different directions. some of NeiNing's aus were a definite influence, plus like, this one au where raph is an ex-con mechanic, etc, etc. just like "i am going to play out a completely unrelated drama using turtles as the dolls". maybe most directly influential was Of Knights and Thieves, where donnie & mikey are corporate espionage hacker/thief types and raph & leo are do-gooder vigilantes. the original concept for this was much more heavily focused on the art forgery. in a very early draft the idea was leo would get involved much more actively in trying to track down the creator of the false takenobus. then i was like, "i am going to crash a completely separate story concept about the dark armor into the side of this art-forgery story". the filename for the story is still 'lol grindr hookup art thief'. that is not really where the story went.
oh man, the art stuff. i made some posts about this at the time! that are now several years old. here's one! i did end up getting a traditional woodcut printing of Tokaido 53 stations, no. 11, Hokone. in a lot of ways doing all the art research was more satisfying and fun than writing the extensive downward spiral that was the latter half of the fic. but, hey, that's life too i guess.
also raph in this is... okay, so, i don't mean this in a mean way. i really liked the fics! but cndrow has written several raph/donnie fics where raph is just like... like a repeated theme in them is raph confessing eternal love & talking about how he's like, mentally planning on them being together forever. on the first date. and sure sure everybody has different tastes; i'm absolutely sure that my interest in guys who are mean leads to some stories that are extremely offputting to some people, etc. but it's like, oh man, raph, please slow your roll a little. if somebody said they were planning our future wedding all of ten minutes into talking to me i would flee the room. & the raph in blinded by the summer sun is very much inspired by that. sadly, i never fully committed to that. originally i even had a line in chapter 9 where slash was like 'please tell me you didn't drop the 'i love you forever' on this guy already' to imply that that was, you know, a theme for raph, but i chickened out and cut it. raph as a kind of rolling series of bad relationships characterized by him falling forever in love w/ his latest crush until the relationship detonates and leaves him not really understanding how things went wrong. but i don't think that's expressed well like, at all. but that ideally should characterize a large part of why he keeps chasing after mikey even well after the point where it would be reasonable to disengage. also to convey some of the downsides of a character believing in true love. it's rough out there in the world.
also thank you tumblr user averyterrible for writing this goncharov post. that was the point in the story where i was like, actually i have been writing raph as way too much of a sad boy. if i want to play in the space of crime drama, there needs to be some crime! he's a yakuza assassin. he needs to chop off somebody's fingers with bolt cutters.
--
to me, the central question in the fic isn't really 'will the mikey/raph relationship work out' or 'will mikey succeed in his plans', it's 'why is mikey doing these things'. & i think the leatherhead chunks in chapter 23 finally give enough context to what's going on with mikey to let people answer that? like oh, mikey is a mess.
(lol the initial setup for the early chapters are supposed to give an audience response of like, "oh no, raph has some dangerous secrets" "oh no, raph is a violent yakuza murderer! i hope mikey is going to be okay interacting with raph" "...oh no, i hope raph is going to be okay interacting with mikey")
a lot of the story really is about how... mikey & raph's relationship is in a lot of ways very adolescent? they have not had a lot of prior experience with healthy relationships, and they're trying, but, uhhhhhhh. mikey likes to act like he's so cool and above-it-all and unaffected by things happening, but that's actually just b/c he doesn't really care about most things. when something happens that he genuinely doesn't like he immediately snaps and has a giant meltdown. (we see this once with raph, when mikey has a panic attack and throws up when raph blows him off wrt warning him of bishop, and once with donny about the armor, where mike immediately starts tantruming and threatening to kill himself. mikey is very bad at resolving conflict. he's kind of a brat, actually.)
like every character in this is in some way their worst self. they're all pretty awful people. but they're all also trying to... grapple with their place in the world and try to be better people. to even figure out what 'better' means. this is a story about how 'being a good person' is a constant struggle, not to 'do the right thing', but to even figure out what's 'right'. it's about picking yourself up again after a bad period and going, well, let's keep going. like mikey has a lot of traits but one that i, the author, actually think is fairly admirable is his ability to get back up and keep going after a really bad period. which is funny b/c characterwise that goes hand-in-hand with his callousness. just shrug off all the misery you caused other people, i guess! see above about positive/negative character traits.
(also uh there's another tmnt fic author whose work has a lot of... a Bad Guy is constructed/identified. then helpless children (or teens!) are rescued from him. then the bad guy is ruthlessly & violently murdered. sometimes onscreen, sometimes offscreen. and then it's nothing but chapter after chapter of people being happy and cutesy to each other. and like, i get it. but the, like, recurring theme there of the Bad Guy having done something fundamentally unforgivable that separates from all understanding & mercy, to which the only justice is a violent death, just strikes me as... simplistic. sometimes people do really awful things and part of grappling with that as an adult with an adult moral conceptualization is realizing that you gotta look past your initial reflex to punishment.
or like, mikey's whole childhood in this really fucked him up but a huge part of his identity is him having to form an identity from that. having to make the determination of which parts of him are 'him' and which parts were done to him. lol @ him aggressively and extensively rejecting everything about what draxum made him to do & then blithely being like 'we were engineered to eat humans anyway' as a defense for all the corpse-eating. mikey you just like eating people & have decided that part does align with your self-identity. mikey would really not appreciate anybody being like 'i'm sorry nobody saved you from that' b/c that (to him) would basically be the same as them saying they thought he was fundamentally, irreparably damaged & was going to be forever incapable of being anything other than what draxum made him to be. he wouldn't take it well.)
uhhh what else. i mean there's a lot. fun fact pretty much every time mikey gets mad at somebody else he's hugely projecting. even his pacifism is like... hmm maybe he should have killed draxum. a lot of his talk @ raph about splinter is secretly mikey relitigating his feelings about draxum. oh what's that mikey you think that splinter is only playing happy family b/c he's immortal and he has infinite time to spend humoring somebody's illusions but that when push comes to shove he'll drop all that? gee i wonder if that might apply to any dynamics in mikey's own life. lol at mikey being like "wow red your life is kind of a fucked-up nightmare of weird psychopaths playing like they're happy family" and then two chapters is like "hey come meet my family. we live in my genocidal dad's bombed-out lab and we're treating him like a weird racist grandpa". i kinda wanted something that would complicate mikey just being like "i am a pacifist now and i don't kill anybody"; mikey that's all well and good but like half his inner tension comes from not being sure if he should've left draxum alive. that's kinda the mirror to him debating whether or not actually killing leatherhead would've been better. (in a few years shelldon is gonna go through a period of not wanting to talk to any of them. mikey & donnie are better parents than draxum but that's such a low bar.)
(likewise at the end when mikey is like "this is raph's healthiest relationship so far!" to leo, like, this is more mikey projecting. really the raph/casey relationship was probably better for raph & casey, idk, who can say. but is mikey's relationship with raph the healthiest romantic interaction he's ever had? yes, absolutely. we don't get to see the mikey/leatherhead relationship really up-close and personal but it should be pretty clear that it was pretty awful for everybody involved. compared to that, the mikey/raph is absolutely mikey's healthiest relationship so far. just. low bars.)
lol i am a little concerned that mikey's tendency to monologue, & especially his whole political monologue near the end, will get people to think he's just acting as an author's soapbox. i mean, okay, the little author's note where i'm like "as always, mikey is a perfect role model and everybody should do what he does" was a fun little joke. but, oof, the number of fics i've read where the authors feel the need to loudly and repeatedly disclaim that This Story Contains Things The Author Does Not Condone In Real Life is pretty disheartening. way to have absolutely no faith in your audience. but likie, the part where mikey is pretty much flat-out like, "actually i think my moral framework is whatever is necessary to justify my actions" is meant to be pretty damning. maybe not of mikey specifically as a character, just of, you know. the whole world where that's a pretty common outlook among people with power.
--
lets talk about the rape. part of it is that it felt like it would be inauthentic to go through the entire story without mikey seriously violating one of raph's boundaries. part of it is that mikey here kinda has the trifecta of ASPD, ADHD, & bipolar, and the thing with that is it's very easy to just say that but a little more difficult to convey the personality traits involved. this isn't really something ever stated as such in the fic, aside from various people calling mikey crazy + raph calls him a sociopath once. it's kind of too didactic to just flatly state "and this is what's wrong with mikey!" imo. but. this is a story about violent people. imo you can't just gesture to a character with the background level of callousness for the genre and go "okay this is a clinical sign"; you kinda gotta do something more direct. 'wow mikey sure is CRAZY and WEIRD good thing it only shows itself as him being slightly mean to people'. no. mikey has done some pretty horrible things in the past and clearly isn't fully done with that.
(i did pretty much go straight down the list of symptoms there. impulsive, suicidal, aggressive, violent, risky sex, arrogant, limited empathy, no regard for other people or social norms, difficulty with relationships, arson, etc, etc, etc. but it's not like he's a 'realistic' portrayal here, since... i mean, he is a super-powered ninja. there's a level of 'superficial charm' here but we do get enough of mikey's interiority to be able to tell he's a total mess in a way that's not particularly constructed.)
also it's like. raph graphically tortures several people to death & i didn't really feel the need to disclaim that here. murder is usually seen as a lesser crime in fiction than rape. people love their violent blorbos but the second there's the implication of sexual violence people freak out. the usual line people say is that the threat of murder is a little more removed for most people than the threat of rape, which idk if i fully agree with. but part of it is also to draw a line between raph's violence and mikey's boundary violation. like mikey says, well, raph tried to non-consensually murder him a few times too.
anyway i don't think i really stuck the landing with that either, in part b/c raph's response to it. he's a little too pathetically accepting of things at the end instead of being angry + violent. that could use a rewrite or two.
--
honestly i'm kinda sick of this story now? which sucks a little, since i kept realizing things about the story all the way up to the very last moment of editing. if i had waited to post any of this until i was done with the first draft... well, it'd be a very different story if i went back and turned this rough draft into something more complete. i never really did manage to hit the character beats with raph i was hoping to. oh well. like, i still like it. but i can definitely see all of its weak points. i guess that's just part of the process of writing. it'd be worse if you wrote a giant novel and came out on the other side not more aware of your failings as an author.
i feel like raph isn't super well-realized in terms of character motivations. or... his relationships aren't shaded in as well as they could be. if i were redoing this whole thing i'd definitely include some chunks of raph pov just to lay out more concretely what he's doing & what his life is like when he's not in the same scene as mikey. i kinda included that raph+donny conversation at the very end just for jokes, but actually ending every chapter with a little section of non-mikey pov would've helped ground a lot of the characters. raph isn't super well-developed and leo is pretty much incoherent absent external familiarity with his character's deal. they're not conveyed super well, in part because, well, any time mikey is onscreen everybody is having to deal with mikey. it's a problem.
but something that absolutely could have worked as a secondary narrative to the story is the whole thing with raph working w/ the oroku. that was a bit of a late addition to the story. it's meant as a reference to, you know, all the times raphael ends up being compared to/assuming the mantle of the shredder in the comics. but as it is since we don't get any real looks into exactly what's going on in yakuza town when mikey's not around none of that got developed very well, imo.
--
it was very important to me that mikey not learn any lesson here. where things are at in the end are pretty much the exact same as where they were in the beginning. the bit in the pizza scene where he's like 'you guys get to live and i get a boyfriend' is very accurate. literally the only change in mikey's life through this entire thing is that at the end he is in a relationship w/ a guy who he can tell some of what his life is like to. not that it's a super healthy relationship, but it is there.
well, that, and also now he's maybe out of time. (uh, so the laughter at the very end of the epilogue is mikey realizing he's out of time. the whole epilogue really is about how he's got all these conflicting tensions of who-knows-what in his life, & then right in the middle of the tension it's like, whoops, the utrom aren't coming in 10 years or 20 years, they're coming now. and in a week you're gonna be getting some really pointed questions about how you know the utrom envoy. and in a few years, well, there's gonna be some planetary evacuation) like the whole story is about... anxiety. mikey feeling the weight of the future on him in every moment. actually seeing things collapse would be a relief; you'd get the release of all the potentiality collapsing into an actual problem. the moral of the story is you get what you get and in the end all mikey's actions, good or bad or otherwise, have bought him is nine more months of ignoring his problems.
anyway sorry to all the tmnt fans who were expecting a happy cheerful mikey/raph story. this is actually about the fundamental injustice of existence. whoops!
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momocicerone · 4 months ago
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has tumblr ruined me for discord?
so i am not very active here, but ... i'm not awfully active on discord either? and i've found it very hard to find new social circles on discord over the years. i've tried everything under the sun: fandom servers, friends servers, anime servers, gaming servers, girls only servers, support servers, chilling servers... nothing sticks.
fandom servers, they are usually big and .. um. no. just no. controversy and gatekeeping hub is not my place. friends servers: ppl get lives, and the chat dies, that simple. anime servers is fandom server on steroids, plus always a 15 year old creep trying to get in your pants (sometimes the 15 year old is 25. sometimes he's 35. it matters not, nor it makes any difference). gaming servers are, um first of all there is 1% game talk, 45% who wants to join for a game rn?? and 54% feet gifs and waifu sexy art.. i did not sing up for -- this is not what i,, . girls only servers are very good, very mindful very demure but also no vent rule and i'm sorry i'm a bitter bitch who needs to moan about my work sometimes. chilling servers are way too chill like hello anyone active??
there's an (imo) obscure type of server which is adult servers (hold up NOT adult as in XXX or anything like that but like, grown up people servers who chat about their jobs, hobbies, cats and spouses or lackthereof )and i've joined a handful of them but i can tell you right now that 90% of them feel like high school. and i didn't even have that kind of high school experience growing up so it's kinda ironic witnessing these popularity contests and gossip happen in real time. I think i'm used to fandom hierarchy and BNFs and i understand the logic of people with talents who give for a community being popular so the whole... using pretty privilege to build up relationships is absolutely bizarre in my eyes. I am an adult, i do not understand other adults.
Needless to say I feel like 98% of the new relationships i managed to forge in the past years, since i joined discord in 2017, are desingenuine. Granted, almost every single one of them has fallen apart as expected.
I review my friendships and I realize the longest and most meaningful started here on tumblr and some of them on the fanfiction community, even when we have long lost our shared interests, the friendships remain intact, if no stronger.
perhaps what im trying to say is that through tumblr and writing we were able to accidentally find more alike people than by entering social settings which intended purpose is to make friends. is it because blogging to the void is infinitedly more personal and lets us show ourselves more? i've gotten in so much trouble because of my tumblr humor getting misunderstood in discord chats, i stopped making self deprecating jokes altogher. I am also kind of morbid, ngl, which i guess doesn't help my case.
am i just a weirdo in denial lmao?
i don't feel lonely, per se. I could catch up with a handful of people if i wasn't the lazy mf that i am. but i am bored. i am bored to death. to oblivion. and i refuse to engage in conversations with people with clearly disengenuine intentions, even if it's to entertain a joke.
will i ever meet another one who matches my energy, or learn to break that energy apart into moderate pieces that i can hand out of my friends?
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jimothystu · 1 year ago
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Talk Hockey To Me
Tagged by @david-reinbacher - thank you Alek!!
1. The thing that got you hooked on hockey
So I was kind of assimilated into the hockey world through Blue Jays moots (ty <3), and it was a slow progression for me to 1) start watching 2) pick teams I liked and 3) regularly watch. BUT what really made me be like holy fuck was the final game for the Habs in the 2021/2022 season where they had 10 goals and Cole got his first hattie and people chanted Guy's name. That was insane and just gave me chills the entire time.
2. Your first ever fandom friend
Like I said, I was assimilated through Blue Jays moots, so all of them!! But probably specifically @donttelltheelff <3
3. The jersey you would most like to own
I'd love any jersey tbh. They're so expensive and I have none - so any for my favourite players would be great.
4. YOUR player (you only get ONE so choose wisely)
Jimmy Stu. James. Timmy. The wettest rag in the league. My beloved floppy piece of bread.
5. A pairing that deserves more fic
There are a lot in my humble opinion. Juraj Slafkovsky/Arber Xhekaj, Cole Caufield/Nick Suzuki, Thomas Chabot/Josh Norris (though Jeh and I have been going a lil crazy with them lately...), Quinn Hughes/Josh Norris.
6. Your favourite on-ice moment
When G got his 1000th career point and the entire Sens bench went onto the ice to hug him mid game!!!!!! Vibes per 60 were through the roof!
THEN
link someone else's art/fic/etc that you love & think everyone should check out
Anything @canadian-as-puck writes for Chabs and Josh! These fics keep me sane.
AND
link something you made & are proud of & want people to see
Honestly 99% of the fics I've written the last sixish months have been ones I'm really proud of and loved writing and rereading. But here are my top 5:
Intoxicated: Tim Stutzle/Brady Tkachuk; silly fic where Timmy's high and drunk and can only speak German
Don't break the dam or you might drown in the current: Tim Stutzle/Brady Tkachuk; my longest single chapter fic in which the weight of being the Sens captain finally gets to Brady
You don't go to parties anymore: Thomas Chabot/Josh Norris; Josh stops going to Thomas's house parties and Thomas is desperate to know why
Desperate times call for desperate measures: Tim Stutzle/Brady Tkachuk; Brady's an idiot and has to win Timmy back after not realizing they were dating
Do's and Don't's: Tim Stutzle/Brady Tkachuk and Thomas Chabot/Josh Norris; G is sick of their pda
Tagging @donttelltheelff @canadian-as-puck @gordiemeow @graves-makar @may-the-puck-be-with-you @kylesdubas @lam-ila - no pressure + sorry if you don't wanna do it!!
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inventedfangirling · 1 year ago
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Nanon + Khao in 55:15 Never Too Late appreciation post
I had been wanting to watch "55:15 never too late" for the LONGEST time. For several reasons not least among them was that it featured two of my most favourite thai actors - nanon & khaotung. And pls the premise of five 55 year olds returning to their younger 15 yr old bodies in order to make some changes to their past selves and the hijinks that ensue is interesting enough. But ofc the prime reason i was there was to watch the acting masterclass that i knew nanon and khaotung would deliver. I'm only 3 episodes in but im already bowled over.
Nanon especially. I don't know if there is any role that he can't do. he just becomes the role he is doing. It's virtually impossible to see nanon in the role he is playing.
This scene where he is hiding from prim. What shook me was just how much of childishness nanon was able to convey in this scene. He's playing a 15 year old after all. And he does an excellent job of it. Not at all in a forced caricature sorta way. In fact he was so convincing i had to replay several scenes multiple times. It was so very impressive.
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And look at that. That's pining personified and you cant even see his face. He is just THAAAT good.
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His body language, his micro-expressions, the delivery of dialogues, everything is just pure perfection.
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Look at him absolutely nail the look of a lost hurt child who doesn't know who or what to turn to. He really has no business being this good!?!
I was in a bad mood when i was watching that episode. But Nanon is just so good at his job that by sheer force of his acting brilliance he turned my mood around.
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His dimples helped for sure. of course.
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i mean LOOK AT THEM.
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This scene was especially fantastic. Really fun to watch.
But i meant something much more intangible.
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You know that feeling when you feel better just by seeing certain works of art, a painting or a sketch, or if you're looking at the sky, or listening to a piece of music, just knowing that such beauty exists in the world by itself enough to lift you up?
Watching Nanon do his thing in this episode felt more or less like that!
Especially this scene that took my breath away.
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How was he just 20 when he did this??? it's so mind blowing!
I'll never not be beyond grateful that i decided to watch bad buddy, cos 1. it gave me patpran and 2. it gave me nanon! one of the finest actors i have seen in my entire life. EVER. And he's just 22? I really can't wait to see what all he does over the course of his acting career!
Episode 3 follows the adventures of Khaotung's character "Songpol". I loved his story the most out of all 5 of them. No surprises here. How it's about an adult closeted gay man decides to stop suppressing his identity and live out a life he had denied himself all along. How he has known that he was gay for decades but because he hid that part, he still remains a sorta baby gay at the age of 55, and how this time/body reversal situation gives him a second chance at a more free life.
And while there were fewer opportunities for moments of acting brilliance, he did amazingly well in whatever there was.
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And more importantly there wasn't a single second where he was on screen where my heart wasn't brimming with affection.
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I especially am LOVING this gay uncle and supportive niece dynamic. We usually see it the other way around so loving this twist on the usual trope. Also khaotung does SO well in this scene where he is occupying his 15 yr old body but his facial expressions reveal the maturity of a 55 year old uncle of his niece who he is talking to.
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Also LOVING the way he fanboys over "Jaya".
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His devotion is so visible. It's unbelievably endearing. I would make a home for him in my pocket if i could.
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Like that's MY baby. A whole cutie patootie.
And also he is SO so handsome i could just watch him just existing for hours.
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Gorgeousness🤌
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I'm so excited for him to be living out his happy dream gay life. He deserves it so much. Pining for decades and then finally going to confess and then finding out he has found somebody else yet again, just next level of pain. He needs his happy ending. And he better be getting it. I am really looking forward to it.
What i'm not looking forward to is how the multiple love triangles the show has already set up is going to blow up in everyone's faces. It's such an annoying trope. But ANYTHING for a show featuring Nanon and Khao. And for the most parts i am LOVING this show, hopefully i will love it till the end :')
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loriache · 6 months ago
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D F and/or K for the ask game, if you're still doing it?
Thanks! I'm totally still doing it. :]
ask game
D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t.
Hmmm. If I want to like a pairing, I usually like it - I'm just that good. (⌐■_■)
I guess I wish that I was more passionate about some smaller femslash ships, I feel like niche yuri warriors are some of our strongest soldiers. I'd love to be hardcore into Cithis/Flamela, but instead I'm like, lightcore into them.
I suppose KB/MS is one that I kinda can't get into.... but I don't really wish I liked it. It doesn't seem to have a lot of the stuff that draws me to a pairing, usually. Oh, but if I was closer to neutral/positive there's a lot of art I've seen which I could enjoy more I guess?
D - What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom?
Depends how you define "in". I mean, I've been a discworld fan since I was about 9, but not ever properly in the fandom. I'd say I was in homestuck fandom for most of my teens, if passively. And Dunmeshi is the first fandom where I've consistently engaged with other fans rather than occasionally dropping a single piece of art and lurking.... so arguably that's the longest? And I wasn't even keeping up with the manga for a while there, but I wrote my undergraduate dissertation on it in like 2019-2020, and had been reading for a bit before then. So if you call that my first bit of fan work you could say it's been like 5 years. That's a very generous estimate though, lmao.
K - What character has your favorite development arc/the best development arc?
Marcille without a doubt. I love Laios' arc very much, but it's a gentle and consistent growth arc where he slowly acquires the wisdom to handle the demon appropriately. Kabru's also has that wonderful moment of vulnerability and bravery, in seeking out his own desire - which is very beautiful.
But I just adore the arc from nightmare to Marcille becoming dungeon lord, this bit of negative character development where Laios accidentally pushes her towards denial and desperation, while at the same time she's also building up the foundations to step back from that edge when her friends call her. Then culminating with accepting Falin's death. It's good.
ask game
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snzysimper · 2 years ago
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FINALLY!! I haven’t posted a fic in AGES. Apologies for that. This is probably the longest thing I’ve ever written. I’m really proud of how this turned out. It took me a while, but I hope it was well worth the wait for everyone. This is the re-write of this fic. I tried to keep it loyal to the original, but also make it better.
Note: I had everything italicized and shit, but tumblr is stupid and doesn’t keep it when it gets copy pasted from a google doc so I’ll go back and fix it later. For now, you can just use your imagination because I am to lazy to do it rn.
Another note: not that this really matters, but Security Breach doesn’t exist in my AU, so first of all, no ‘Burntrap’ and also no SB Vanessa. I much prefer the fan made version from Help Wanted, so that is who I use in my fics and such, but feel free to portray it however you like. She just looks better. Feel free to look at some fan art else where.
A Warm Surprise
A Will/iam x Van/ny Snz Fic
Written by SnzySimper
Word Count: 1950
TW: Spray, Snz (ofc), mentions of deceased children (only briefly)
| I am allowed to write what I want and I would appreciate if you keep whatever rude comments you may have to yourself |
It is about 11 o’clock at night. The pizzeria was far past closing, which was 8 o’clock. One would generally expect for the place to be empty. Isn’t that how this works anyway? Starting in only one hour, the haunted robots spring to life and, well, you know the rest. But, no, not right now. We are far beyond that point. Long story short, after the closing and re-opening, new animatronics were made, and the Fazbear brand was re-started after someone bought the name. As of the current moment, a new man owns the name brand. Well, not quite. After escaping his presumably eternal hell, William Afton put his consciousness inside of a game, making himself nothing but a piece of computer code. With the help of an innocent bystander, he was set free into the world again and, under a new name, bought his company back. Who’s his partner in crime, you may ask? A young woman named Vanessa, or Vanny, as William usually calls her. His little reluctant follower, although she has become less reluctant as time has gone by. In fact, she had become much less of a follower and more of a friend. The two did most everything together. Were they themselves together? Well, no. Not right now, anyway.
Sitting down on a table, Vanny looked over towards the animatronics. They were powered off, as they should be. She and ‘Dave’ planned to keep it that way. No more vengeful ten year olds wanting to damn your soul. And hopefully not ever again. He didn’t have any reason to make it happen again. He had obtained his immortality, so why would he need to kill more children. It’s not like he needs the remnant. She glances around the pizzeria, not used to it being so empty and quiet. No sounds of children giggling and screaming. No music. Only the hum from the air conditioner. A bit creepy and unsettling to most, but she had come quite accustomed to it. She found it almost peaceful. It was silent, and peaceful, and not a single sound to-
“-gGGes’SSHHhss!!”
Slightly startled at the broken silence, Vanny looks up. She was alone in the pizzeria, minus her ‘boss’. It had to have been him. Come to think of it, had she ever heard him sneeze before? Being a computer code, she didn’t really think he could sneeze. Oh well. Who cares? A sneeze is a sneeze. No skin off her teeth. She pulls out her phone, not paying it anymore mind. “Hh’gGG’shhh!!..’Ggsshh!” Well, this was certainly interesting. It was strange enough for this to happen once, granted that it had never happened before. But three times? Curious to what could possibly be happening, Vanny hops off of the table to go and find him. It was getting to be time to head home, so she should go and get him anyway.
~~~~
“Hhhh…”
Sitting at his desk, William breathes heavily. He was happy that the day was finally over. He could just go home and fall asleep on the sofa. He crosses his arms and lowers his head, about to fall asleep in the chair. In front of him are blueprints for trying to fix SpringBonnie. Trying. Although he may as well just start from scratch. The suit itself is beyond repair, but the internal parts, or at least the springlocks, could possibly be salvaged. It would take a good bit of effort though. As the AC turns on, he shivers, wrapping his arms tightly around his chest. Was it usually this cold in the pizzeria? Or maybe someone had just messed with the thermostat. Who knows. Giving William the benefit of the doubt, he is a TWIG. The average weight for someone who is 7’2 is around 230. William is 190. One could say that this is due to him not eating much. He doesn’t see a reason why he should. As we have previously established, he’s already immortal. It isn’t like he can starve. Although, the occasional meal is nice. He slowly raises and tilts his head back, his breath hitching slightly. “hhHh’GGschh!!” Damn. Why is he so cold? Wiping his nose on the back of his hand, he sighs. Was it possible he could- no. No, no. He’s a piece of computer code for crying out loud; barely even able to be classified as a human being at this point. Being sick is completely out of the question.
Right?
It had been a long day of listening to the same 6 songs on repeat, children's laughter, and, worst of all, the smell of shitty cheap pizza. He was more than ready to go home by now. Vanny walks in the room, softly knocking on the door. “Mr. Afton?” She walks up behind him, and gently places her hand on his shoulder. Having completely zoned out, he jumps at the touch of her hand. She jerks her hand back. “M-Mr. Afton-! I’m so sorry, did I wake you?” While they were ‘friends’, Vanny’s voice still trembled whenever addressing him. She knew all that he had done in the past, and was terrified of what he would be capable of doing now that he was immortal and essentially invincible. William, however, didn’t respond in his usual manner. “Vanessa,” he gives her a small weak smile. He doesn’t face her directly. He simply looks back at her using only his eyes. His piercing, icy blue eyes. “It’s nearly midnight.” She wrung her hands. “Shouldn’t we be leaving soon?”
“Yes. Worry not, we will be heading out soo-”
He abruptly stops speaking. He looks a bit dazed for a moment before quickly bringing his hand to his face, pinching his nose. “Ht’nnt-!” It is almost silent. “Ht’nxxt!! ‘nxxT -nnt!” And again. “hhHt’nkkt!!”
“Bless you,” Vanny says softly. He lets go of his nose, which is now a warm pink, and sniffles as he wipes his nose on the back of his hand. “Hhh, thank…thank you.” At last, he turns in his chair to face her. Vanny is worried by the sight of him. His cheeks are a touch of pink, and so does his nose, although his nose is a brighter shade. The parts of his face that aren’t flushed somehow look even more pale than they usually do. The dark circles under his eyes are more noticeable than normal. Tiny droplets of sweat are present on his forehead. Almost by instinct, she reaches up and gently presses the back of her hand against his forehead. “Mr Afton, you look awful. Are you feeling alright?” Realizing that she literally just reached up and touched his face without any sort of warning, she panics and quickly tries to jerk her hand away. Before she can fully pull her hand away, William reaches up and presses the palm of her hand against his cheek, sighing happily. Vanny blushes, shocked by the intimate gesture. He closes his eyes and lowers his head. He looks very happy to say the least. “Your hand,” he says quietly. “It feels really warm. It feels nice.”
“Your face is very warm, too. And not in a good way.” She lets him hold her hand and uses her other hand to feel his forehead again, now assuming that he doesn’t mind her touching his face. “You have a fever. I’m sure of it.” She removes her hand from his forehead and moves his hair so it isn’t covering his eyes. “Mmhm,” he hums in agreement, although she is quite sure that he isn’t paying all that much attention to what she is saying. She laughs softly. “Come on, let's go home.”
Vanny helps walk him into the house. Leaving her side, William walks away and flops face first onto the couch. He looks pretty comfortable. Vanny giggles. She isn’t used to seeing him so relaxed. Usually when he interacts with others, he lacks much emotion and is very curt. Any time someone tries to care for him or assist him with something non-work related, he snaps at them to leave him alone. With her he is usually a bit more friendly, but not much. Tonight, he had been everything but that. He even smiled at her. Vanny walks over to the couch and sits down next to him. William helps himself and rests his head on her lap. She lets out a small squeak, shocked at the fact that he is being so affectionate. She sighs and begins gently scratching his head. He smiles. “We should probably get some medicine for you.” William hums softly. “I’m fiiine.” He closes his eyes, sighing softly. Vanny sighs. “Alright. If you say so.” She didn’t want to challenge him on anything, so as not to take his gentle and chill attitude for granted.
They are silent for a good ten minutes before William starts sniffling. Vanny looks down at him. He is rubbing his face with the back of his hand, his nose clearly irritated. William eventually gives up, deciding that his efforts to relieve the itchy tickling sensation in his nose are fruitless. He looks adorable, Vanny thinks. She gently presses the tip of his nose with her index finger. “h’EHshhSS!” Vanny jumps slightly. “Oh. Bless you.”
“Mmm..what was thah for?” He grumbles sleepily. “Sorry. You just looked so cute. Your nose was twitching like a little bunny.” Vanny giggles. William rolls over to face up at her, his eyes still closed. “Could you..do it again?” She is a bit surprised, and pretty confused. “What, why would you want-”
“My nose..it’s still itchy. I need to sneeze. Please…” He opens his eyes looking up at her, his eyes practically begging for her to do something. Vanny can’t help but feel bad for him. “Alright.” She takes her thumb and index finger and begins gently rubbing the sides of his nose.He sniffles a few times as she continues to gently touch his nose. “I-is this helping? Is it working?” He sniffles once again. “Y-yeah, snff, sorta.” Vanny moves from the sides of his nose to the base, just below his nostrils. “Oh- hihh right sndff there..” She continues rubbing his nose, a bit harder this time. William’s breath is hitching. He tilts his head back, before inhaling sharply. “Hh’Gggshhs!! HGg’essh!! EH-shhiis! Ht’chh ‘chtt!!” He tries his best to avoid spraying Vanny, although he still gets her a little. Vanny lifts his head off of her lap. “I’ll be right back. I’m gonna go find some tissues.” She quickly rushes out of the living room to go and search for tissues.
William sits up, holding his nose shut as he continues to sneeze wetly. “hMP’tchh! Ht’CHH!! T’chh k‘chh -gSHH!!” Vanny comes back with a box of tissues and sits back down on the couch. She hugs William, leaning him back in her arms. She holds the box of tissues out in front of him. He quickly grabs one and holds it up to his face. “H’ppshh!! Hh’IISHH!!” He sighs, having been able to finally catch his breath. He rubs his nose with the tissue. His nose is revealed to be much more pink than it was before. He sniffles, draping his arms on Vanny’s shoulders, holding on to her like a sloth. He rests his head on her shoulder, closing his eyes. “ I’mb sorry sndDF for..snff sneezigg on you.” Vanny chuckles softly. “It’s alright. I don’t mind.” She rubs his head and begins playing with his hair. Laying down, she holds onto William and hugs him close. “Try and get some sleep, alright?” William hums in response. It isn’t long before she hears him softly snoring. She smiles, kissing the top of his head. “Sleep well, Mr. Afton.”
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noys-boise · 10 months ago
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literally every single question for fuckin zombie saga and/or &j idk if it's meant to be specific to a fandom but whatever
for &j
list 3 positive things about your current fandom(s)
clever writing, great characters, banger music
a headcanon you weren't sure about at first but have come to like!
yeah trans Romeo as well
a character that fandom has helped you appreciate
Romeo, i liked him before too but i mean i think we really made him more better
say something nice about a ship you don't ship (it can be another ship in your fandom, a mutual's OTP, etc)
hmm tough. i guess Anne and Angelique could work. like in another universe. love gay people.
something you see in fics a lot and love
i mostly read your fics and you write maycois dialogue so arorably
something you see in art a lot and love
shapes. &j fanart always has fun shapes somehow
your favorite tropes to read/write/draw
this is going into zombie saga territory but if focused specifically on &j uhh i love to write Frankie being soscared because i mean he always is
you hope more people will come to appreciate ___ (a ship, a trope, an episode, etc)
hmm idk. just like the show in general. if i were to say something specific i guess Anne, she's kind of the hidden main character to me this has nothing to do with my Betsy bias /hj
a ship that isn't your OTP but that you enjoy
langelique. I'm very casual about them
a blog (mutual or one you follow) that has made your fandom experience brighter
well. yours. also just like the rp blogs
if you're a writer or artist, what fic or piece of art are you proud of making?
all of it, duh. for non saga because I'll get to saga after these, the one where i drew Juliet and May in those them coded clothes
compliment someone else in your fandom
you! you're the amperstan ever
the ship that always makes you smile
maycois and jumeo, they cute
the character that always makes you smile
like all of them? but i guess I'll day Frankie rn
a tiny detail in canon that you want more people to appreciate
okay not to be negative in the positivity asks but i want more people to do the opposite of appreciate for the ue ue ue ue you KNOW what I'm talking about. no one else talks about it.
the thing in canon that everyone loves and that you also love
the "it's super dope" quote let's be real we all say it all the time now
the fandom friend you've known the longest
of &j definitely you
how has fandom positively impacted your life?
honestly it's seeing it live that did most. it was lifechanging
and now for saga in general:
list 3 positive things about your current fandom(s)
it keeps my creative thinking active at all times, it's deliciously angsty and it's so self indulgent
a headcanon you weren't sure about at first but have come to like!
like saga related? i guess in brighter timeline Del's whole arc. I'm glad we did that now because the character exploration of it is very fun. also lesbitaly (it really grew on me)
a character that fandom has helped you appreciate
i feel like all of these characters grew so much more on me than ever before. special shoutout to Fletcher for being lifted higher on my list of characters i care about
say something nice about a ship you don't ship (it can be another ship in your fandom, a mutual's OTP, etc)
is there any valid saga ship i don't personally ship? i doubt it
something you see in fics a lot and love
well these are our fics. Caroline's continuous agonies though. love torturing my fave
something you see in art a lot and love
there's barely any saga fanart so the mere existence of it
your favorite tropes to read/write/draw
i love writing conflicts that are not even zombie related it's just people being mad at each other it's fun
you hope more people will come to appreciate ___ (a ship, a trope, an episode, etc)
maroline!! I'm spreading so much maroline propaganda all of you are obligated to like it now
a ship that isn't your OTP but that you enjoy
delbed and lesbitaly. I'm casual about both (still love them)
if you're a writer or artist, what fic or piece of art are you proud of making?
weirdly it's all my most fucked up chapters. the one where zombie Richard killed Frankie. the one where Caroline killed Frank. the latest opposite deaths I wrote
compliment someone else in your fandom
i have to say you, this whole series wouldn't exist if it wasn't for you
the ship that always makes you smile
at the end of the day it'll always come back to richaline in brighter timeline. as much as i love these other ships for them
the character that always makes you smile
Caroline, Mary, Richard, italiAnnie in the timelines they're in. at the end of the day you can always tell I'm biased towards them
a tiny detail in canon that you want more people to appreciate
the fact that I've referenced a Betsy Wolfe character in my last chapter for every timeline. also that I've been putting Harmony references all over the place especially in brighter timeline. you could miss some of them
the thing in canon that everyone loves and that you also love
just. all the angst
how has fandom positively impacted your life?
i feel like I've explored my favorite pieces of media in a unique new way through the saga and it keeps productive and creative which is important to me
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heldenraider · 9 months ago
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Tags and something what I like. Photo ‎ | Pseudo-Art Tag | Screenshots | Archive If you want to describe a person, do it through media. I really adore video game soundtracks and want to share these as they are a huge, formative part of my life. Post just by myself to yourself .・゜゜・   ・゜゜・..・゜゜・   ・゜゜・..・゜゜・ Celeste has an incredibly appealing vibe and an enticing story, the appealing characters and smooth gameplay gave a great experience, and the music threw goosebumps every single time. .。*゚+.*.。   ゚+..。*゚+.。*゚+.*.。   ゚+..。*゚+.。*゚+.*.。   ゚+..。*゚+
Avicii Invector gave me a new musician in playlist, and more familiarity with his history, racing rhythm style was perfect, and over the years the game has become better, getting rid of bugs and visual problems. Rest in peace Tim. ⭒❃.✮:▹   ◃:✮.❃⭒
Milk outside a bag of milk was in the right place at the right time, made me think about many moments of anxiety and shyness, stepping out of the circle of sad thoughts and lighting up my room in blood red color… The music in it shares a similar enveloping experience, so foreign but pleasant and relaxing. ⋆┈┈。゚ ❃ུ۪ ❀ུ۪ ❁ུ۪ ❃ུ۪ ❀ུ۪ ゚。┈┈⋆
Minecraft, Pigstep… Lena Rain again? Did you ever play minecraft on your phones on LAN in school? It was a great time, we showed each other buildings, farmed together, sometimes skipped school to do something in minecraft….. But why this particular soundtrack, since those versions didn't have it… I really like C418's music and I respect his work, but among artists in the genre of video game soundtracks, Lena Raine is my favorite. And the jazzy version by insaneintherain reminds me of those very atmospheric school days more than any other. ・‥…━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆☆☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━…‥・
Dying Light, first scary game that I met on a friend's computer, soundtrack from menu was in my head for a long time. And what a moment, get out from the shelter at night, knowing about the hunters was very unpleasant. We moved very carefully, tried to avoid any danger, and then everything turned into stealth…. A city plagued by contagion, with no big buildings, a city that not going to get any help…. Soundtrack picked up on all the drama and spun the emotions to a new level. ‧̍̊˙· 𓆝.° 。˚𓆛˚。 °.𓆞 ·˙‧̍̊‧̍̊˙· 𓆝.° 。˚𓆛˚。 °.𓆞 ·˙‧̍̊‧̍̊˙· 𓆝.° 。˚𓆛˚。 °.𓆞 ·˙‧̍̊‧̍̊˙· 𓆝.° 。˚𓆛˚。 °.𓆞
Saya no Uta / Song of Saya, Longest novel I've ever read… (yes it's short and?) a strange experience, but extremely repulsive and at the same time attractive visuals, old age and uniqueness of style… The soundtrack bouncing from aggressive, to the calmest of compositions, is exactly the frightening experience that was needed. ⋆ ˚。⋆୨୧˚  ˚୨୧⋆。˚ ⋆
TheFatRat, and music pack from *sigh* Dota 2... Was chosen because he's my favorite musician, and it's his only work for video games…. Sad choice of course, and the best music pack in the game? I have a negative attitude towards competitive games, but Christian's work makes me happy and I've been waiting for every piece of his art since 2021. I'd like to see more of his music in video games ♩♬♩♪♪♩♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩    ♩♬♩♬♩♪♩ 
Katana Zero - The game features many musicians giving many different emotions, and only the Designer, Programmer, Scriptwriter in one person gave the best and most dramatic soundtrack in the whole game, wonderfully constructed scene, selected written soundtrack. I cried for the first time from a video game at that very moment. I will definitely wait for the DLC, but for now all that's left to play is fan works that try but fail to reach the level of the original.
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