#age you should probably think about such stuff a bit more seriously especially if you want to continue doing it seriously

[leatherbookmark]

i get that llsip, and other anime/franchises centered around High Schoolers Doing Activities, and them being high schoolers is important, because a/ Youth but also because b/ graduating high school, going to different unis and being apart from their friends is people’s first Big Thing in their lives, but also i think it would be an extra tearjerker if there was a series about a group of girls who try to be idols in university

the sheer POTENTIAL for angst! university is the last moment for being yourself and fooling around freely; pretty soon you’ll have to go get rid of your piercings/funky colored hair/fun make-up, clean up and go to those company recruitment meetings. if our characters genuinely love being an idol, it’s definitely a bummer! but also:

oops! i dedicated my life and my years in uni to this university/off-university idol club, but my friend(s) are very into having boyfriends now! at all costs! ://

the rare drop outs. whether they have to get a job that makes it impossible to continue being an idol, or go back to their hometown, or some other reason -- the frustration!

those who got a job and intend to drop idol activities together! bonus points if they were incredible as idols, super stylish and brimming with personality, but are now going to be OLs in some kinda boring ass corporation. bonus bonus points if they’re not even a little bit sad about it; you’d expect them to fight to retain some of what made them so amazing, but they’re like “yeah, what can you do! sorry, i need to shop for some more traditionally feminine clothes and make-up ^_^”

those who didn’t get a job, and have to keep trying, and the stress is eating them so much they can’t even think about prancing around on stage. bonus points for “can’t you see how stupid your idol thing is?! this is real life! grow up!” “this is real life for me too! it made us both so happy, why just drop it?!” shouting matches

actual idol companies/talent agencies kindasorta Gazing at these amateur idols. bonus stress points: they’re almost too old to debut as actual pro idols! oh fuck! bonus bonus points: a girl has to choose between running from one audition to another And the amateur idol club activities. bonus bonus bonus points: the dreaded scenario where a passionate amateur idol goes to an audition, her pretty friend is just there to support her, and... you know what happens

the more i think about it, the more i realize how unwatchable/unmarketable such an anime would be, lol. these are all painfully realistic, and you can’t really pull a “but they teamed up together for one last time and everyone was so happy!” ending to slither out of shoving your audience into a pit of depression. especially if we go a step further and make the main character a gnc lesbian crushing on another kindasorta gnc girl (the one who drops it like a hot potato for OL skirts, tights, soft feminine make-up and a bland-ass boyfriend from company mandated after-work hangouts)

yeah i can see why there’s no such anime

:’0

[tennessoui]

hello miss kit! loving all your responses to the asks everyone got such interesting thoughts!! I know you love all your children equally but which gffa au do you love just a bit more than the others? (excluding counselling au lol)

what a hard ask oof

good thing i have a glass of wine and a lot of time on my hands! so i just rated all my fics set in the gffa

(i had a LOT of time on my hands)

a fish hook, an open eye: 7/10 - it's hardly set in the gffa at all tbh i love earnest evil puppy anakin & conniving obi-wan who gets more than he bargained for. needed more cody, tbh a more perfect union: 10/10 - i'm biased obviously cause i just finished this fic so it's fresh on my mind but it was so fun to write! i loved trying to balance the humor and the seriousness and the council scene (both of them!) was just so great amort & amor: 6/10 - i just think anakin would probably not be that cool about obi-wan getting another padawan lol but it's fluffy and cute and i'm glad i wrote it! bed warden, bed warmer: 8/10 - obi-wan would be the worst patient in the history of the world. he's such an asshole which i love writing but he's also so clearly very smitten with anakin. he's just going to be an asshole about it building a boat with no blueprints: 7/10 - i know yall dont know how it ends but i know how it ends ;) burn every bridge but please leave me a boat: 6/10 - my first attempt at reverse master&padawan au which is a dynamic i really love. i would rate this fic higher, but i wish i had started it in a different place and relied less on mental flashbacks but a number: 9/10 - happy almost one year to this fic! i had to get someone to cheer-read this fic for me because i was worried that i was being too hard on aging/obi-wan's body falling apart and anakin feeling old and tired at age 40 but then i saw a bunch of gifs of obi-wan jumping off stuff and i was like yeah his body probably does feel like it's falling apart foolproof, foolhardy: 10/10 - i literally have not has so much fun with a cliffhanger since i last updated time & tide. no notes, just stupid oblivious padawan obi-wan trying to seduce master skywalker into his bed, unaware that master skywalker would crawl over burning coals to kiss his hand. hand in unlovable hand: 6/10 - not my favorite adaptation from tumblr fic to ao3 fic - i used too much of the original ficlet and always feels clunky to me. i do like sith vader manipulating obi-wan into falling!! yes baby, you twist and ruin that jedi master and make him yours haunt me then: 8/10 - i love non-sequential storytelling and also padmé loving anakin so much that she sacrifices a child to bring him back only for him to come back solely to live and breathe for obi-wan hold me fast or kill me quick: 3/10 - would be a higher rating but this fic haunts me. i want to finish her someday and until i do i will not rest peacefully at night. get these stupid soulmates to communicate! i pray the same, but my gods have changed: 10/10 - i love writing this fic, i love watching the polls as you guys vote for what should happen next, i love catty sith obi-wan working to seduce senator skywalker because he's hot lol but it's the voting aspect that makes this fic a 10/10 for me if you love me, let it remain unnamed: 9/10 - it surprised me how much i loved writing set as an actual character. one day i want to explore the universe that set's in, where he meets his own kenobi and falls in love with him. i really liked the outsider perspective on how absolutely wild obi-wan and anakin are - especially since the main scenario is that they're having a threesome, and obi-wan and anakin have to?? share?? each other? with someone else? unlikely! let’s get your fingers tangled in my hair: 6/10 - i wrote this in a fever state; it was fun and i enjoy a king kenobi as much as the next gal! do i actually think anakin could last that long without talking? no not the way i usually write him lol like saints, like monsters: 8/10 - i love the way the chapters are set up, with them going back and forth between the actual plot and the worst parts and darkest moments of the recovery lost to a sea of troubles: 7/10 - it will never not be funny to me that this fic is in response to the prompt "knocking on the wrong door". it could have been anythinggg. it became this instead, featuring light stockholm syndrome and an obessive, evil obi-wan

[ask-commander-arild]

OOC Post:

Hi, there! I'm @jnix-2006 and welcome to my ask blog, ask-commander-arild!! I made this blog for @pkmoth's @motherbound-askapalooza, and I plan on participating the entire month of August, but if it does well, I may continue it!! But, bear with me, because I don't use tumblr much, so this is all very new to me, haha. Before we start, I feel I should give a little bit of introduction to what exactly this is. So, firstly, what exactly is an Arild? Well, Arild is an OC I created for the game Mother 3 (Heavy spoilers btw)! He can be seen below!

Art done by @pinkalliums!!! Go check them out!!

Say hello to Arild Eskildsen! A young Norwegian lad of 15 years old who, through a series of unfortunate events, was once a pigmask. I know his design may look a little... 2015, but the design quite literally came to me in a dream, and I would've been stupid not to use it. Now, as much as I'd love to go into detail about his backstory, I wanna save most of it for the asks. I guess the most basic gist is that he was taken from our time, currently in the 2010's but may change later, from a very young age, and made to be a pigmask. Yippee, child soldier! He goes on to be promoted to captain. But after yet another unfortunate event, he ends up being chimera-ified and he gets promoted to commander, but not of the pigmasks... Of what, you ask? Well, we'll get there. For now, here's him as a captain!

Art also by @pinkalliums!! Seriously, go check them out! >:)

Few things to keep in mind for this blog:

1. I don't have many artistic abilities, unfortunately, so this will be a text only blog. Some friends have kindly made a few pieces for Arild, and I will show them off, but for the most part, there won't be much in the way of visuals. If you feel like making art of him, feel free! I would actually love to see it!!

2. Quite a lot of the stuff here is going to involve my own headcanons for the Mother series, especially post-game Mother 3. For example, in my headcanon, Claus survives and becomes the leader of the army, rebranding it in the name of peace, and that is why Arild is a commander. Basically, since everyone has unique headcanons for the series, you can just consider this an AU.

3. There will be mention of a couple real life places that will have Mother-ified names. With any mention of Norway, the name will changed to Fjordland, on account of its many... fjords. Canada is also an important place within the story, and that I have decided to call Mapleland. Creative, I know. I figured I would bring it up to avoid confusion

4. Feel free to ask whatever! Though, obviously, just make sure it's on topic, of course. Silly questions are easy to answer and will usually be answered quickest! Lore relevant questions are a little trickier and may take me just a bit longer to respond to, but I will be happy to get to them!! Also, RP is okay with me, if you want to!!

5. When it comes to asking questions, please don't be weird or anything. Like... being a former pigmask, Arild is a plus-sized character, so a comment about his weight would not be great. More importantly, absolutely NO NSFW. This character is a minor, and that stuff is not okay to ask. I don't think any of this will be an issue, but it's good to mention just in case

6. I do not speak Norwegian, so if I want to sprinkle it in a little bit, I have only on option. Google Translate. I know, I know... it's not the best, but I will try my best to avoid mistranslations or misuse of phrases. I wouldn't want to be the new version of that one post about the Norwegian Butter Crisis, haha.

If you're still here, thank you for reading until the end!! As said, I've never done something like this before, so this intro is probably super chaotic in comparison to other blogs, haha. I am really excited to get started here! I've always wanted to do an ask blog, and I really needed an excuse to flesh out my OC, so I'd say this is perfect! I'd like to give thanks to all the friends, and my bf, who helped me out on this!! Thank you to Moth for setting this event up! Thank you to Hal and a few others for the art! And also thank you so much to my friend Red who helped me create this character in the first place! He didn't tell me what his tumblr was, but he is @/Doc_Glowstick on Twitter!! Alright, I think I've rambled enough now. I'll probably go through this and change it later, but for now, let the blog begin!!!

[dearweirdme]

hi! first of all, i hope you're doing ok, it was really interesting reading some of your posts / analysis. since most of the questions regarding other ships are about jkk, i wanted to ask you about vmin and what do you think about their relationship. there's this account (@btsandvmin) that has some really interesting posts as well, if you have time maybe you should check them out! i dont take the ships seriously tho. i honestly dont care about their private / love life, i just hope they are happy and well, no matter what. have a good day / night ♡

Hi anon!

I normally don’t tag blogs I don’t have permission from to do so, so if the blog you mentioned wants me to remove their name.. please let me know!

I think Jm and Tae being same age has been both a blessing and a struggle to them at times. A blessing in the way they had a person with whom they could just be without having to hold back because of age, but a struggle because their characters (especially early on) can clash easily. I think these days they don’t clash as much.. or at all, but when they were younger.. I can totally see it. I think Jm’s seriousness and Tae’s freespiritedness didn’t match. Being as young as they were and especially under mountains of stress.. at times they probably just took their pent up anger out on each other… just because with each other they could. I think there was a huge lack of misunderstanding, with Jm being able to set aside his physical needs better than Tae and with Tae being more prone to be mischievous (none of this is meant to say either one was wrong).

I think a lot of what they told us is actually true. I think they fought a lot. I think for Jm it might’ve been hard to have been the last to be in the group, the others had already bonded, Tae and Jk were probably already very close, elimination still hang over his head before debut. We’ve heard how Jm hardly slept, and I think Tae just probably got to him a lot. I think Tae (and Jk combined) could be very annoying 😂. When Tae and Jk say they got scolded a lot.. I think that’s true. I recently said that I feel that Jm also has a tendency to hang with the hyungs, and I think he was part of the ‘scolding Taekook’ brigade. We just heard Jm and Jk talk about this a bit, and how Jk had to meditate between Tae and Jm often. I think that’s probably very true. From how I understand Jm’s words.. he thinks of Tae and him early on as complicated.

Things got better ofcourse. Who knows exactly why? I think they just got to know each other better, and perhaps through conversation with others they built an understanding. It could just be as simpler as admitting that perhaps you see the differences between you and the other, but you can accept those differences and still feel the other is a good and nice person.

It’s possible they got to understand that they were also similar in certain ways.. and that they both went through some of the same things and just reacted differently. I believe that Jm and Tae shared intimate stuff and became a source of comfort to each other. Jm comforting Tae isn’t fake and I think Tae really needed someone who was able to give him that physical comfort. Of just being held and being listened to.. and I think Jm is really good at that in general.

I don’t think there’s romantic feelings there (obviously 😊) I think Tae really liked Jm’s body 😅. But I’ve not seen them look at each other in amazement or something. I think they’re just really close and are connected through having gone through a lot together. Theirs is a basis of trust, of that I’m sure.

[whatudowhennooneseesyou]

LMFAOOOOO RUBYYYY that ask ab ur mommy!hwa series 😭 i mean i kinda get that there might be lots of people like that person who may be uncomfortable about 18+ fanfics but like????? idk why they take those seriously, tbh. it's literally a FANFIC. i dint think those that u write fanfic for would even take their time looking their name up especially here on tumblr. it is very easy to scroll away and let other people enjoy the things that they do.

is it invasive to write stuff ab how he is in bed according to his birth chart? not really but quite? however, i dont think it's something people should take too seriously. astrology is fun. his chart is literally out there for free lmao. u're doing us (whose knowledge ab astrology and stuff isnt broad) a favor. it makes us curious.

and if it's a genuine concern, idk how hard it is for that person to use a tad bit nicer language. fuming mad for something they put themselves into ijbol like plsssss do urself a favor and as per their language, scroll the fuck away???? bahdhshshsh

GENUINE QUESTION THO: what does "mommy" mean when u use it to hwa? is it also like daddy but since hwa is intuned to his feminine side, he's more of like a mommy than daddy? LMFAOFI3IJRKGJJT SORRY I JUST DONT UNDERSTAND ITTTTT : (((( coz i havent read such fic w the same theme— using mommy to a male subject. hope i dont sound rude. ><

and.. pls post more about seonghwa's natal chart observations because i enjoy yours so much. they're very detailed and i resonate with it well since i almost have the same chart as him (as i was born 8 days after him) so yeah!

LOVE UR BLOGS SO MUCH! <3

Hey! The response to this ask is legit over a year late but better late than never and I have been excited to reply to this one for awhile.

For context, this was sent after I was sent a hate anon ask in my inbox stating that I was gross for calling Seonghwa 'Mommy' and analysing his kinks in my natal chart reading.

I just don't understand why ppl won't take the easier route and just scroll, like you're expelling unnecessary energy writing and I'm expelling unnecessary cognitive energy by reading it.

The 'should ppl write smut about real life celebrities' has been a question asked for literal DECADES now and i'm always on the belief that if you don't take it srsly- it's all good.

I just watched an interview with Ryan Reynolds who admitted to reading the smut ppl have written about him and loving every second of it-

If the celebrity I wrote fanfics for actively said 'I'm uncomfortable with ppl writing smut about me' then I would respect their wishes and not do it but until then, I'm going to keep doing it.

Besides, the members of Ateez know about the fanfics written about them from that time San googled actual fanfiction on Naver in one of his lives.

And so I think they're all probably okay with it and too worried about being an idol to care about atiny's writing smut about them

I personally think my smut fics and readings are on the same level of invasiveness as 'the way I would let this man *redacted* *redacted* me'- like it's okay to say to Atiny's but maybe not so much to the members.

(although if the members read my natal chart readings I would love to get their opinion).

MOVING ON!!!

'Mommy' is just another authority title you would use in the same way as you would call someone 'Daddy', 'Sir', 'Master' etc.

It's not an age-play/age-regression thing at all and ppl confuse the two, I'm personally not into age-play/regression- it's not my thing.

For etc, my fics all use the term w/o de-aging the reader in anyway.

I wAsn't the first person who has affiliated 'mommy kink' with Seonghwa, that title goes to @hongism when I read her fic many moons ago and was in love with the concept.

I just found that the title fit with Seonghwa in such a beautiful way with his caring but dominant persona and I found it's a great way of dismantling gender norms and expectations surrounding masculinity.

In terms of not finding other male idols who have been called 'Mommy', there are a few Mommy!Hyunjin ones (I've written some too) and he's a popular idol for the concept too but there are other idols I've seen such as Lee Know and Mingi.

If you go on my blog and type in #mommy!may there are SO many fics I've reblogged where the mommy kink is used for all your smutty needs.

That's so cool you're born in 98 as well! I was born in April too so I completely resonate with parts of Seonghwa's natal chart as well.

In terms of more 18+ observation...uhh I'm not 100% certain that Seonghwa is low-key an exhibitionist but with his Aquarius Venus and the fact he looks at Atiny's with such a lustful gaze when he performs...

The chances are pretty high.

[starfruitgirlie]

guide for highschool to not suck

HEY GAMERS! I catch myself a lot looking at people younger than be and being annoyed or thinking "wow I know so much more than you" but when I was the age they were at I desperately wanted to be older and I wanted to know what I was doing and I sucked at life. Im 17 so I can only give life advice up to that point. I was absolute garbo at age 13-15. I was cringe, fowl, thought I knew everything, was experimenting with my identity and style, had acne, had access to the internet when I probably shouldn't have, the works. Instead of looking down on a reflection of myself I want to give advice on how to make things a bit better. Unfortunately, you can't avoid being cringe. However I was mentally ill and had adhd, and there are things you can do to make those things less sucky. (disclaimer I am not a professional and you should always reach out to a trusted adult or a therapist for help and not the internet!)

So highschool sucks it's awful it's absolute doodoo. I changed school districts so I went into my freshman year not knowing ANYBODY. I was also a cringe gender non-conforming queer kid with a bad haircut and bad fashion sense so I know what it's like to be picked on. so this is for anybody already in highschool or going into it or just wants to know what to prepare for.

I can't sugarcoat it highschool is so bad. It's not all bad, you can have nice experiences but ultimately it sucks because when your entire social atmosphere is insecure teenagers everything sucks. I just completed my junior year and I feel like I have made a lot of realizations just in that year alone. I'm not a senior yet so I'm just dipping my toe into college prep stuff so I am no where qualified for that so if that's what you want go somewhere else and if you get good advice tell me I need it. so this is starfruit's guide on how to NOT SUCK HIGHSCHOOL! (from someone with no friends and is lazy)

no one is looking at you as much as you think they are. I don't mean this as a "you're full of yourself" statement, it's an anxiety thing I still deal with. Embarrassing incidents are going to happen unfortunately. You forget deodorant, you have your period, you trip in the hallway, your pants rip, all the sucky stuff. There are going to be some assholes who laugh and make you feel bad but most people are going to understand. everyone knows what it is like to feel embarrassed and it won't be a disney-channel bully type scene if you mess up. even though social media doesn't show it, people make embarrassing mistakes and have accidents. It took some time, but I had to learn to laugh at myself and not take myself as as seriously. I don't spend my whole day hyperfocusing on other people or going out of my way to laugh at someone. It can be tough especially if you're as shy as I am but there will always be kind people who will offer help in situations like that. As you grow things will be less embarrassing. i am not at the point where that feeling is completely gone but I yearn for the day.

I was in my first AP class this year and at first I was super super self-conscious. I am a good student, but the people in that class made me feel stupid sometimes. They all took like 6 ap classes when that was my first one. reality check!! it doesn't matter. your future employer isn't going to go "So did you take 6 ap classes at once and get 5s on all of them?". highschool doesn't matter as much as you feel like it does. don't get me wrong, still try but be kinder to yourself. Don't compare your grades to somebody else's. A big part of this too is not asking people for what they got on a test even if you think they got lower. It's not done out of malicious intent, but I know for a fact a lot of good students ask other people for their scores to feel better about their own when someone answers a lower grade. When people ask I say "I don't tell people my grades, it's just a personal thing I guess" and people will move on. A big thing for juniors is the ACT. the day those scores came out it was awful. I had to delete instagram for a week when someone I knew posted their super-good score just to brag. everyone was asking what I got and everyone was comparing scores. "Oh I got a 34" and when somebody said "28" I heard "that's not that bad!". that is a phrase I hate. "it's not that bad!" SHUT UP!!! You can avoid this by not telling anyone your scores. the only people who know my act score are me, my therapist, and my parents. and I intend to keep it that way forever. I'm grateful that a lot of aspects of school come easy to me but this is applicable for students at any level. my grades don't make me any better of a person. What is important is to try your best and only compare yourself to yourself. if a C is your best effort, that's good! You tried and you put in hard work. school is not a true judgment of how smart you are what matters is you are trying and learning.

don't be on snapchat. my school used it for a long time to spread nudes and take pictures of alt people and make fun of them. and to also send threats. "what's yo snap" is not flirting. it makes me want to hit you with a metal bar. I can't really explain all that much but I just hate snap chat and I will never use it.

don't spread information you aren't sure is true. big and small highschools both can start rumors that get out of control. a kid who I never knew was talked about so much and the rumors kept spiraling I have no idea what is or isn't true. it's also just not that fun to talk about?? I mean there is a certain enjoyment in gossip but if you're just making fun of someone behind their back it's not cool and even if you're laughing in the moment that's not healthy behavior. and if your friends shun you for not wanting to do that and being uptight, get new friends.

ask questions. if you are confused in class, ask. even if it's a dumb question. I admit I have thought before "are you dumb" when someone asked a question but at the end of the day I'm just a hater and that person benefitted from hearing an answer and learned. if you can, email your teachers and go in during your study halls or lunch hour for individual help. I never would have passed ap calc without all the days I spent in my teacher's classroom during my lunch period.

set boundaries with your friends. you can still show your friend you want to talk to them and value their friendship and express you want to listen in class. also you're just annoying if you talk the whole time. that's the hater in me coming out I'm sorry.

stop following made-up social media teen rules you hate. that makes me sound old when I say that but I can't describe it any other way. an example of this is instead of asking for someone's snap, just say "hi I really like you do you want to go on a date and can I get your phone number?". have real human interactions. Just because Brady Smith and his friends always sit at that table at lunch doesn't mean you can't sit there if you get there first. just because it's "cringe" doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. Be polite. shake someone's hand instead of dapping them up or whatever the hell. high five unironically. read a book in class instead of being on your phone. it doesn't mean you're trying to be quirky. it just means you want to read a book and people who make fun of you for reading probably should be the ones reading.

which leads me to: read more books. doesn't have to be something profound like a classic. it can be shitty YA vampire love triangle. it can be the series you loved in middle school about dragons. it can be something super long and profound. it can be non-fiction, it can be manga, it can be whatever!!!!! just read!!! just because someone to your left is reading jane austen doesn't mean you can't read warrior cats.

this might be more of an american thing but participate in dress-up days. this helped me overcome a lot of my social anxiety. even if no one else is doing it, I am going to dress like a cowboy because god damn it, it is dress like a cowboy day. i guarantee nobody cares. There's this kid at my school that regularly shows up in different costumes and I think its awesome and I also don't care. It could be some random tuesday and I could see Goku in the hallway and go "That's weird" and go about my day. Dress like Goku. End up on the school snapchat story with popular kids putting comments over it with a skull emoji. be free. The same kid also dressed up accordingly for holidays. Kids like that make you smile and you remember them fondly. my sister had a classmate who brought a toy thor's hammer to school everyday. i guarantee people made fun of him but thats awesome dude. nobody cares and if they do they need to get their priorities checked.

do your work in class so you don't have to do it at home. it saves time and you have more time to be lazy. if you have to work at home make sure to keep a planner. It's not cringe you're just being responsible. write it down or it will be gone from your brain in an instant and it will be 3 am and you will be writing a last minute research paper and not remember how to do citations.

make accommodations for yourself at school. for me this looks like dressing comfortably even tho I want to be stylish. It's also always bringing my headphones to school to have music on so I can focus. There's no reason to make school hard for yourself, bring things you might need, you don't need to raw dawg the day.

if you can, utilize time before school and after school to get help. I know so many people are busy so this might be tough but most schools will have resources like saturday school or they open early and have teachers who come in to tutor. at the end of the day though, prioritize you over your grades. You should still try but if you need the day to play video games and sleep, play video games and sleep.

to sum it up: stop comparing yourself to other people, compare yourself to you. only you know what you've been through and your level of growth. it's easier to be a happy teen when you arent worried what other people think. I hope this was useful!!!! thank you for reading if anyone made it this far.

[poliwhirl42]

Hi! What is your opinion on every pokemon season (by region) or at least the ones you have watched?

Oh man, a great question! I'll try to condense my thoughts about each into a few sentences but you should probably prepare for a novel haha:

Kanto: Honestly, when I watch the Original Series, I actually prefer watching the Orange Islands and Johto over the first season (I'll get to why in the next section). I think the first season is incredibly nostalgic to watch and has some of the most iconic moments in the entire anime, and the rest of the Pokemon anime wouldn't exist without it as a foundation, so I have to give it credit. Aside from most of the gym battles being kinda stupid, I do wish they'd followed up on lore they introduced that could've been incredibly interesting to explore, like Ash's childhood/his father's whereabouts, Jessie's mom, the Mewtwo/Mew stuff and other Team Rocket history from the CD drama, etc. But I also realize that the writers were just getting their bearings with making an anime adaptation in the midst of a rapidly-growing cultural phenomenon based off a video game, so I recognize the challenges and uncertainties that came along with that. Also quickly adding I highly enjoyed Orange Islands and my Pokeshipping heart revisits certain episodes from time to time as well.

Johto: Those who know me well know I LOVE the Johto series. I'm actually in the middle of a rewatch of it. Definitely rewatching it in full nowadays though, has definitely made me recognize that this series was far from perfect, but looking past its writing flaws, it's just purely entertaining for me. The English voice actors really found their voices and added so much to their characters, especially with the dialogue and the creative liberties they took in creating the dub. I like how certain backstories like Jessie's were explored a bit more in Johto as well, and I definitely think the gym battles were taken a little more seriously than they were in the first season. There were also some GREAT Brock episodes which I highly appreciated, and I never tire of watching the Butch and Cassidy episodes (aka the fortune telling one and the Lugia Arc). Also, Gary and Ash's battle in the League is my second favorite League battle of all time behind Ash VS Paul. Johto is also not only my favorite region but is also home to my favorite Pokemon opening song/OST of all time, and I generally just loved the vibes with this series where not every episode or scene had to be jam-packed with action every single second. It was nice to have episodes of them helping out a Character-of-the-Day or visiting a city or just laying in the grass taking a nap after camping out or having lunch. When I think of a Pokemon journey, those in-between moments are for me just as special as the action-packed high stakes moments. I definitely recognize the downside of this, though, because I do recognize that the constant repetitive pattern of Johto's plotlines in many episodes was fatiguing for many fans who wanted to see something different, and as much as I enjoy watching it, I agree. Johto itself is so RICH with its history and traditional Japanese roots and culture and it really felt like the writers shied away from integrating Ash's journey with a lot of the Johto game lore. It would've been cool to have characters like Jimmy and Marina interact with Ash, perhaps have Silver be introduced, and I also think they really dropped the ball on having characters like Casey and Ritchie be rivals in the Silver Conference. This is getting long though lol so onto AG next!

Advanced Generation: AG to me is like the underrated gem of the pokeani series. I think sometimes it slips through the cracks because it's not as "nostalgic" as OS but not as "hyped up" as XY or DP are. I really like AG a lot even though I don't talk about it much, but I do admittedly feel like several episodes or arcs at least in Hoenn are kind of forgettable to me or lackluster- the two major ones that come to mind are the Hoenn League and the Aqua/Magma arc, both of which should've been FAR more exciting and entertaining. DESPITE THAT THOUGH, I thought the group of four- Ash, Brock, May and Max was incredibly entertaining and brought a whole new dynamic which was different from the OG trio's. I also loved May assuming the role of dual protagonist and absolutely loved the concept of contests! I love Contestshipping and adored every moment May's rivals appeared on screen with their quips and banter. Her growth in this series was fantastic and her battle with Drew at the end of Battle Frontier was chef's kiss. Ash himself, this is actually my favorite portrayal of Ash as he's such a little egotistical brat in Hoenn- other people don't like this as much but I still eat it up, like you just wanna punch him but he's so funny. The battles were also SO MUCH BETTER in AG; I loved little scenes where Ash was teaching his pokemon new moves and actively training alongside them; really showed he was getting more and more serious about being a Pokemon trainer.

Diamond and Pearl: Aside from Johto, DP is my favorite series and is actually the series that was currently airing when I first became fully invested in the Pokemon anime (I did not watch it much as a child), so it's very nostalgic for me. I love almost everything about it, between Dawn continuing the dual protagonist role, contests still being included, Ash's entire team, Paul being an amazing rival, the Sinnoh League being amazing and still my favorite League, rivals like Conway, Zoey, Kenny, Ursula, Nando, and Barry all being awesome in their own ways, so many fun arcs like the summer camp arc, Wallace Cup, Hearthome Tag Battle, Team Galactic's major involvement, Brock's development leading up to him becoming a Pokemon Doctor...I can't get enough of this series. The only thing I don't like is probably the giant amount of filler episodes they really didn't need at certain points and the gaps between Ash's gym battles; even though I love it to pieces like I do Johto, I agree that similarly both did not need to be drawn out as long as they did.

Best Wishes: Besto Wishes!!! So aside from me blabbering on about how much I love Burgundy, gosh I absolutely love BW. There are some things about it I will unfortunately never be able to forgive- like the confirmation of Ash being 10, the Rocket/Plasma arc being canceled, and basically the soft-reboot essentially making all of Ash's development pre-BW for naught. But gosh was this series so refreshing in other ways. Iris and Cilan, both amazing characters, offered a new dynamic with Ash that the previous characters didn't and I will die on this hill disagreeing with everyone who says that Misty and Brock are just like Iris and Cilan. I think Iris out of all the Pokegirls actually had the BEST portrayal of a backstory and I like the development she received. I also love that Ash rotated between pokemon that he caught, aside from his DP team I'm also very attached to his BW and loved all their starkly different personalities. BW was just so much FUN to watch. I go back so many times to rewatch the fun Battle Club arcs and I definitely think the rivals made the series so entertaining. I wish they had explored the connoisseur thing more and wish that Cilan had gotten way more episodes than he did. I wish his rivalry with Burgundy had been explored more as well, and honestly I think they could've done without the Decolore Islands arc. I really wish they had just stayed in Unova and had characters like Georgia and Burgundy return at least one final time since they weren't present for the Unova League. I could say a lot more of course but again don't wanna make this a novel so moving on...~

XY: XY is unfortunately the series I've seen the least of and it's known to be well...not one of my favorites lol. I have a lot of issues with the way Ash is portrayed which is why it's taken me so long to watch it. I have, ironically, seen all of XYZ though, and think the Team Flare arc is the absolute greatest villain arc in the entire series. But I'm still working through all the previous stuff! I was in college when XY aired, so I had unfortunately missed a lot of parts due to being so busy, but it also has its own layer of nostalgia for me, mainly because it was between BW-XY when I first came into the Pokeani fandom on Tumblr and was introduced to a variety of incredible friends, many of which I've now met in person and am still close with to this day. One day I hope to sit down and just power through all of it, because despite some of the issues I have, I know that it has so many good moments and is absolutely gorgeously animated. Also Sawyer is best boy he's my fave and his battle with Ash was one of the best things I've ever seen (my 3rd favorite battle ever).

Sun and Moon: Sun and Moon is simultaneously hilarious and depressing as hell, and I absolutely love it. I don't know if I can say too much because it's been a VERY long time since I've watched SM. It was the first series I watched consistently as it was airing but I also had a lot of stuff going on IRL so by the end I had dropped off just a little bit against my own will. Nonetheless I love so many things about it, between the humor, Ash's found family in Kukui/Burnet, Ash's team, the TRio's team and being so entertaining in this series, Team Skull/Guzma (I find Guzma very attractive lol), and of course Ash winning the Alola League which was amazing to experience and be part of that moment! I love the concept of family in this series and it's just so incredibly heartwarming, hilarious, AND heartwrenching all in one. I really need to do a rewatch of it though.

JN: I'm biting my tongue but I really do not like Journeys lol. I don't really wanna talk about it haha it makes me sad that everything I wanted to happen in the future didn't and it was just so poorly written. The only episodes I like honestly are Lillie/Gladion's return and Paul's return.

I KNOW A LOT OF THIS IS KINDA ALL OVER THE PLACE AND DISJOINTED BUT PLEASE ENJOY MY THOUGHTS and feel free to add yours as well!

[neonseperatedau]

Leo’s Log Entries 234 to 345

It seems you stumbled across a broken control pad. As it boosts up, the label reads ‘Property of Leo’. Most files are corrupted. You take a look at those remaining. (Cass, @somerandomdudelmao thank you so much for creating such an inspiring, wonderful and heart-breaking story. Like many others, I was deeply moved by the latest updates. I hope you don’t mind the few creative liberties I took to tell bits of the comic from Leo’s perspective.)

Log entry 234: Man, this feels weird. It’s been ages since the last time I did an entry. The previous one dates so far back that I had both of my arms still. Sweet innocent Leo with two arms, I want to slap that idiot as soon as we got time travel. Donnie told me I should make it a habit again. I guess I kept zoning out during dinner because it was sometimes difficult to process every single crazy thing that had happened within a day. So, here I am, talking to this log and letting it record me. And Dee, if you are eavesdropping, I ate our final package of froot loops, probably the last one that remained on Earth. I needed to stress-eat after you had turned me into a tangerine-sized turtle tod. I only thought it fair to be somehow compensated for that unwanted experience…

Log entry 255: Case is pacing around all night. He had returned from a mission with Donnie being seriously hurt. You would think we’ve been through stuff like this so often it doesn’t bother us anymore. Nope. Each time, I see one of my family injured, I share their pain. Not in any physical sense. More in the ‘I wish I could have done something to prevent that’ kind of hurt. I long gave up on ‘what-if’ scenarios. The present moment doesn’t give two fs about your guilt. Mikey once told me that he envies me for being so focused on the present and that he sometimes struggles to be really here with us and not be torn between the spiritual realm and the physical. I laughed like a crazy person, and I think he misunderstood me. To me, it was the other way around. I miss Dad so much and I had no means of reaching him. Kinda ironic if you ask me that his ‘least favorite’ son was the one to lose his Ninpo and because of that was forced to let him go forever. Log entry 283: I can’t believe this really happened. I always knew Casey was like a good luck charm but that he would be the one to find Raph and bring him home! Raph is back! He is really back! I haven’t realized it until that big machine picked us all up and pressed us tightly into a hug how much I had relied on him and missed his presence. It was like taking that first breath of fresh air after staying underwater for too long. Our family is whole again. Well, as whole as it can be. Log entry 284: Today’s moral of the story: Things cannot go back to how they used to be. Raph refused to take up his old position, especially with some of his programs malfunctioning and Donnie not able to repair him entirely, he told me he doesn’t want the resistance to rely on him and that I had done a great job in taking up this role as leader. I totes understand him and yet…some part of me hoped I could revert to second-in-command. Spend some more time with Case. Go on my own missions. In the end, duty calls, and there’s no easy way out of it. Log entry 294: My big brother’s return was a miracle and even so, Dee found a way to grant us another one. I don’t want to know what that grenade is made out of, and it doesn’t matter. It can REVERSE the effects of Mikey’s quick aging and that is all that counts! Seeing Mike running around, messing with his abilities, and full of energy…I’m so happy for him. Between an ageless robot and a renewed younger bro, I’m the one who’s doomed to feel like an old fart. Second chances are rare. I always regretted that Mikey had to give up so much of his life for our cause. Let’s hope Donnie can continue to produce these anti-aging bombs for a long time. Log entry 301: It’s raining with the lowest levels of sulphur dioxide in the last ten years. It’s not like it’s super safe. That hadn’t prevented Case from running around and enjoying himself within the rain simulation that Donnie had created afterward. He wrapped us all up in his shenanigans and forced us to stop what we were doing and enjoy the little things in life. That’s…not a bad thing. Log entry 303: We lost Boston. Casualties approximately 200. A ceremony for the fallen is scheduled for the day after. April had intended to inspect the Boston branch and I’m somehow glad she got delayed and hadn’t managed to reach it in time. Otherwise, I’m pretty sure, she wouldn’t have returned. She’s on her way home and I can’t wait to see the look on her face when she hears about Raph. Log entry 314: Our scouting teams record higher rates of kraangified humans and yokai. It’s commonly considered a worse fate than death and yeah sure, we had figured out a way to reverse the process. Even so, it was dangerous for everyone involved and I forbid Mikey at one point to ‘treat’ anyone further. My brother would have crumbled away like overcooked toast if he would’ve cured every kraangified being there was. The instant I realized Casey had gotten infected, I was ready to beg my brother on my knees. Everyone’s selfish in their own ways, huh? Log entry 315: Casey shows great signs of improvement. Dee switched to ‘casual’ surveillance, aka his dozens of cameras whose locations nobody knows for sure. I’m doing my best to make the boy feel less responsible for what happened. We cannot blame ourselves for these things or else we would have lost our sanity long ago. Log entry 322: Hey, Dad. I know I cannot talk to you, but I really wonder if you felt the same way whenever we called you that: Dad. Case used that word to refer to me today. Well, to be honest, he also meant Donnie and Mikey, and Raph. It was one of those stupid ‘my dad is better than yours’ competitions, which makes it even better in my personal opinion. Back when I had promised Cass to look after her son, my first thought had been that this human baby was going to be a burden and I would surely mess everything up. But look at him, look at us. I would do anything for him. Heh, you surely had something similar on your mind when you went ahead and protected us at the cost of your own life. Log entry 343: Things have been busy. With April joining our team, I can allow myself to make more ballsy plans and we sure as hell need those victories. The Kraang continually pushes us back. It’s time to return to favor. Log entry 356: Man, my twin is the smartest person on earth. How did he manage to accidentally spill some of the anti-aging serum on himself? And how can such a small creature be so angry? We all haven’t slept for over 30 hours, afraid that if we take our eyes off him, he either ends up killing someone or gets eaten and I’m not thrilled about both options. Log entry 357: Casey is a genius. He built Tiny Tello a pair of custom glasses. He seems to recognize Mikey and me. Raph is too…changed. That human boy has a heart of gold, to do something so kind for someone who shows him no gratitude whatsoever. He insists it’s payback for everything ‘Uncle Donatello’ built for him. Long story short, my twin’s living in my scarf and it’s only the third weirdest thing to ever happen to me. The way he sometimes pads me with his small hands is adorable (note to myself that I should never mention that to Dee) and it makes me nostalgic for days long gone. Log entry 359: I shouldn’t be surprised that the base can’t exist long without Donnie’s maintenance. Occasionally Mike and I liked to make fun of him for merging with the place and being a true shut-in. Jokes on us that we realized how MUCH we are dependent on him once he turned into a small vicious turtle ball. We need to find a solution fast. Log entry 361: Not sure if it was sheer luck and honestly who cares. Dee is back and we need him now more than ever. Raph sustained some grave damage that isn’t fixable. The same goes for yours truly. They can berate me on how I need to be more careful all they want, I will never regret prioritizing Casey’s life. The longer our resistance continues like this, the more I believe this isn’t about me. They could easily replace me, but everyone in my family is so damn special and irreplaceable. I’m going to hold on to them for as long as I can. Log entry 378: Mikey was such an airhead when he was a teen. What happened? Like for real? He had developed an almost uncanny ability to know when we need someone to talk to or hug or, in Dee’s case, rest. And with his mad abilities, he won’t take a ‘no’ for an answer. I think I need to tell him more often how proud I am. Log entry 379: Casey called me in the middle of a meeting, that was already suspicious. The fact that Dee has been sleeping longer than six hours? Also, unusual. We’re currently taking turns, waiting for him to wake up and explain what’s going on. I’m recording this during my shift. My brother looks smaller and frail. He sinks into his bed almost as if the mattress is about to absorb him. His health was bad when Dad died. He had grieved through overwork and constant exhaustion. I couldn’t see a reason he would fall back into this old pattern. Maybe our injuries had made things worse for him. I should take over most of his work and redistribute it for a while. He won’t like it, but I don’t like seeing him like this even more. Log entry 380: Donnie has been infected. Even he doesn’t know when or where exactly. One thing is for sure, it rendered him weak for a while now and he had refused to let us know. It’s worrying that it’s a variant we haven’t dealt with before. But it’s okay. We’re going to figure something out. We always have. Log entry 385: Mikey and I had sat down late to discuss our options. His hair had turned mostly grey again, a sign my younger brother had done everything he could. Nothing worked. Good thing, the mystic isn’t our only trump card. There’s science, too. Donnie must be close to finding a solution, he has been working non-stop. Log entry 386: I just can’t understand why he would make an excessive list of things we’re supposed to take care of instead of focusing on himself. He’s supposed to be the smart one. So, what if the means to cure himself don’t exist anymore? There must be alternatives. Something even he overlooked. For the time being, we try to let him rest as much as possible and survey him. April’s visiting other resistance groups in the hope of answers. I’ve been contacting Draxum and he assured me to let me know when he found anything. Log entry 389: Casey asked me if he could sleep at my place for the night. He’s upset because Donnie made no effort in hiding his calculations of his own death. He might not act that way, but it must bother him as much as it did Casey. Dee just never expresses his emotions the same way others do. I tried to explain this to Casey. He didn’t say anything in return and quietly sobbed against the back of my shell. Log entry 399: We’ve returned to some form of normalcy, though everyone stays at the base for longer periods to hang around Donnie. He notices and refrains from commenting. Denying makes it a bit more bearable. He’s right here and we’ll be fucking damned to let anything change that. Log entry 415: I had no other choice but to move out on a mission myself. We recently lost fights we should’ve won and there are rumors that it has to do with Donnie’s health and our absence. I blame it on my lack of sleep that I stumbled into one of the Kraang’s traps. One mistake might cost your life, that’s how it has been for the last 20 years, and I was ready to pay the price. Then from nowhere, Donnie appeared in his slabby pullover and summoned the greatest arsenal of mystic weaponry that I’ve ever seen. Casey had surely been with Dee as a crutch. Though, it appeared as if it was the other way around and the boy held on to his uncle while he pushed back the entire Kraang army. It's been…a while since Donnie had gone all out. Witnessing what he’s capable of reminded me of the time we had full access to our Ninpo and had gotten extremely cocky. Even then, my twin had been the rational voice of the team. Choosing to be flashy on special occasions and focusing on providing us with the necessary support and firepower. It had never been anything personal. This time, when rockets flew over our heads causing grand explosions, I could see it in his eyes. He was free at that moment. His mind was consumed with revenge for what the Kraang had done to him and enjoying their screams and demise without a thought wasted on efficiency or greater purpose. Fearing he would collapse from over-exerting himself I had to grab him, and we retreated. He seemed in good spirits afterward. I’m telling myself that if he’s strong enough to pull something like this off, he must be okay. He must be. Log entry 422: A week after Donnie’s all-out attack, his health worsened visibly. As he huddles through his lab to take care of business as usual, we cherish the small things. Drinking tea together. Throwing bad puns at each other. The four of us are often sitting down, reminiscing about the times before this whole mess started. Sometimes April or Casey join us. We would like to show our concern and ask Donnie how he’s feeling, if he needs anything, what we can do for him, but we don’t. Life continues on. Log entry 435: I’m tired. I haven’t slept in a few days. Can’t tell exactly how long it has been. I don’t want to miss anything. Every second is precious, even writing this feels like a waste of time. But I also can’t hover over Donnie, he wouldn’t want that. He’s already mad at me since I denied taking over some of his tasks as if he’s already gone. He’s been trying to explain a few of his inventions to me that keep our base up and running, but it’s been difficult to focus. My mind drifts off to repeat the same few sentences over and over again. Please don’t leave us. Please stay with me. Please. Don’t go.

[ay-miphae]

Watered-down analyses of 01011001 songs that are basically things for which I was like “Hey yeah I’d like to point that out. That’s cool”

Yeah so I started these awhile ago but. Haha

First of all, symmetry. In individual songs, throughout the entire album, everywhere. This chiastic structure is potent in all kinds of literary works, and Arjen knew what he was doing.

Age of Shadows/We Are Forever, The Fifth Extinction, and The Sixth Extinction, along with being the three 10+ minute tracks, are the beacons, the most significant plot points. Age of Shadows follows a very clean symmetry like I overanalyze here, The Fifth Extinction has a split nearly perfectly halfway through the song (between the Forevers deliberating and actually having put their plan into motion), and The Sixth Extinction. Oh yes The Sixth Extinction. More on that in a bit.

But yeah. Overall there’s a buildup from “oh no we lost our emotions we should Do something about it” to the act itself  (sending a comet with human/presumably Alphan DNA on it to Earth and living vicariously through humans) to humans similarly falling prey to the same overreliance on machines/Forevers intervening too much and ending exactly where they started. Almost.

Obligatory discourse on The Sixth Extinction but no seriously I'm obsessed with this song

That’s the brilliance of The Sixth Extinction, which has, again, a very clean symmetry for ten minutes (“for nobody heeds the echoes on the wind” -> “do you hear the sirens” -> “the meaning of life is to give life meaning” <- [flight to Mars instrumental that follows the same melodies as “do you hear the sirens] <- “and soon he’ll set free his spirit on the wind”). Like. Symmetry over you’d expect it to end right? But no! The music climaxes in a way that legitimately made me emotional the first time I actually listened to this -  “Make us whole, Migrator Soul, follow me home, complete the circle.” We see how it was supposed to end - the Mars colonist, the last in the chain (Futureman quote) was supposed to return to dust. But the narrative flips! Due to Universal Migrator level timeline wibbly stuff the Forevers have their lives restored and, ambiguously, don’t have to end with some massive tragedy? Honestly it’s a bit open-ended ESPECIALLY with the finality of the “dum-dum dum-dum dum-dum” soundbite at the end which uh. Kind of brings the arc back to where it started again. Like there’s hope and tragedy both, perhaps.

Also discussing the funky grand piano section in the middle, what would be the crux if the final chorus wasn’t. There’s a juxtaposition between Forever ⛧'s (Jonas Renske) doombound “It’s Over” realizations and the other Forevers being like “Hey wait we gained something from this after all!” most importantly “The meaning of life is to give life meaning ... Restore the balance between thinking and feeling.”

Okay yeah I need to unpack this some.

“The meaning of life is to give life meaning” sounds very profound if not a bit circular upon first glance. But here’s my take on it - in a cold and often aimless world, striving to do something to make the world a better place, to make living more meaningful for others, for yourself - that’s the most good someone can do. There’s probably more concise or better ways I could have stated that but hey. That’s just a personal interpretation and I’d love to hear others. Kind of a theme of altruism, even a cyclical nature of the universe and metaphysical meaning. Lots of completing-the-circles happening in Ayreon.

“Restore the balance between thinking and feeling” really underlines the thesis of Ayreon - retaining one’s humanity amid ... technology? I.e. technology in excess causes Bad Apocalyptic things (The Final Experiment, 01011001, The Source) but emotions can be Overpowering and Hard To Deal With (Electric Castle (in which the “most successful” characters learn to overcome and embrace), The Human Equation, even The Theory of Everything and Transitus to some extent). And it’s all in the balance.

Okay but what is the circle

Like, okay, we have the aforementioned cyclical nature of “the meaning of life” being “to give life meaning,” “follow me home complete the circle” (The Sixth Extinction), “our tale’s not over, the circle’s incomplete” (The Human Compulsion), the Mars Colonist reincarnating as the New Migrator - but what is the circle in question? Is it a matter of human nature? A mythos for the origin of life? A thesis on purpose?? Please any insight into this at all would be appreciated

Wow there sure are a lot of parallels between Connect the Dots and The Truth Is in Here

Sudden change of topic yeah but quick list: 

The introductory sound effect to indicate that this takes place on Earth (the car engine/the door slam)

A very similar introductory melody (no seriously)

The presence of Mr. L in a conflict with someone who seems well-intentioned but ignorant about the nature of existence (not to blame them!! I don’t want to spend all my waking and sleeping hours constantly aware of how humanity is screwing itself over I want to be happy too!!)

The presence of pills as a sedative or to curb the Thoughts

The way Connect the Dots is happy and upbeat and The Truth Is in Here takes a more serious turn as apocalypse draws nearer

Other random things??

River of Time is awesome and has some very cool lyrics, one of my favorites being “slow down time faster than light” which. Doesn’t make any literal sense really but sounds cool. Also “unite the forces” could be referring to the four fundamental forces?? Wow it’s almost like Forever 🕈 was a physicist in a past life or had some kind of physicist-adjacent profession oh wait. (Source reference and for the record I do think Forever 🕈 = the Astronomer and Forever Ω = the Biologist because wouldn’t that be cool)

Character-wise (God I’d love to analyze the characters but idk if I have the brainpower. Maybe in another post.) Forever Ω and the Biologist share the same emphasis on progress and Forever Ω refers to the DNA samples as “beloved sons” so that’s kind of biology coded I guess. Forever 🕈 doesn’t express many opinions (like the Astronomer) but probably experienced “don’t want to live in a world that’s dying / I’d rather die in a world that’s living” on a personal level (because you know. The Source.)

Brilliant The Final Experiment tie-ins throughout E=MC² (I mean. Time telepathy origin story) - “I have sent it but nothing changes / just a line in some ancient lore.” Okay cool but how did you know that?? Did you like meticulously pore through every tome in the library and and tediously cross-compare that to what was before to realize a grand total of one line had changed?? I don’t get it but I’m overthinking probably

Anticlimactic point to end this on I know but. Wow I love this album so much it’s brilliant on all levels and I am constantly having thoughts about it, but I think I’ve covered a lot of the thematic points that I’ve been dying to share. So yeah! Enjoy my self-indulgent ramble and Arjen’s musical brilliance and overthinking your mortality and human nature <3

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Hey @ay-miphae are you working on the source character designs

...Very slowly! Will probably be starting with the Astronomer, Captain, Opposition Leader, and TH-1 because they're my favorites and I'm biased because they're everyone else's favorites too <3

[digitalduelist]

Ok, like, imagine Gojo Vs Sukuna, but it gets interrupted. It's the smackdown of the ages, but now that everything is public knowledge and they know wherever the fighting is, the giant robot freedom fighter from space gets involved, because let's be honest, I can't think of many versions of Optimus that wouldn't.

This would probably be the climax of an entire fic, which is good because it's thematically probably not wise to just drop "oh yeah these transformers also have cursed energy and cursed techniques, they just call it dark energon and stuff". Like, it's vitally important that when Ryomen Sukuna and Optimus Prime are facing off, it's not a surprise to see Optimus's CT equivalent in Super Mode or the Convoy or whatever makes sense. When you see his DE, maybe it's a surprise because he'd never needed it before, but it's not weird that he'd have one, right?

Anyway, so they fight, and they keep turning the tables and it's as intense as the original Gojo Vs Sukuna, but also similarly, neither one of them are fighting as seriously as they maybe should be. Finally, Sukuna is like "this was fun, but you're not Gojo" and hits him with the classic Minecraft flame 2 arrow, but Prime is just kinda standing there, like "neat attack, but like, I'm made of metal? And I'm from space? I don't know why you thought that would work", which is funny and a reasonable thing that Sukuna wouldn't anticipate (and heck, maybe it's a bluff too, no sense in killing all the drama).

So this makes him angry and he starts fighting seriously because it's no longer fun now that he's been embarrassed, and it's a bit more even, but eventually Prime is on the back foot in a big way, and he simply can't keep up. Sukuna starts monologuing, maintaining the temp of the fight but using it to try to get his aloof smugness back, mocking Prime until he says something to the effect of "This is the extent of what such an advanced alien race is capable of? You're it's most elite? Pathetic that you can't produce stronger fighters." And blah blah blah about his philosophy of destroying everything to bring out your best. Right as he's about to take the killshot though, Prime has him right where he wants him and calls for "Cyber Key Power!", which is cool and blasts him away and stuff

Like, is this anything? It feels like it's just smashing action figures together rn, but it also at least feels like it could be a thing, especially since Sukuna could easily be a Megatron foil/Unicron cultist or something to that effect.

[lenievi]

because SNW is allowing me this reading and because it’s something I’ve always headcanoned (way before SNW and Kirk/La’an), I’m just gonna ramble and muse a bit

spoilers for snw2 episode 9

(if you wanna read more Kirk/La’an thoughts related to the episode, here. I’m probably going to muse about this a lot in the upcoming days, and make more coherent posts)

Kirk isn’t in love with Carol. He likes her, but he isn’t in love with her. His and Carol’s relationship was always casual; if the Farragut was close to Starbase 1, they were on, if they were away for a longer period of time, they were off. 

And now Carol is pregnant, which was unplanned, and caught both of them off guard. But Kirk’s loyal and serious, so he wants to be there for her and their child. Even though it complicates a lot of things. He might even think it will complicate his career, unless he wants to become his father and take his child through the galaxy, never having time for him.

TOS tells us that Kirk and Carol weren’t together by 2261. TWOK tells us that David met James Kirk and that Carol asked Kirk to stay away and never told David who his father was.

So there are two options. Carol tells Kirk to stay away quite soon after David is born, and he does, but years later, they reunite, but also they don’t get romantically back: “Were we together? Were we going to be?” and Kirk doesn’t really try to befriend David

OR they simply break up, but Kirk is allowed contact until a certain age. And after that Carol tells him to stay away. “You had your world and I had mine. And I wanted him in mine, not chasing through the universe with his father.” That could literally be after the 5ym, even. Or shortly before, but David remembers “that overgrown Boy Scout Carol used to hang around with”, so after seems more plausible. (but again, they don’t get back together) (which is something I did mention in this post some time ago)

[most of the stuff above is just my original HC tweaked a bit to fit new info from SNW]

Before SNW seriously introduced a potential of Kirk/La’an, I expected SNW to give us Kirk/Carol story. But last week, I was thinking and realized that SNW isn’t a Kirk story - he isn’t a main character (I know people tend to see it that way, but he’s not). We won’t see Kirk centric episodes (or at least we shouldn’t for a pretty long while imho or at all tbh) - his every appearance should be tied to the main cast. That doesn’t mean - as we’ve already seen - that we won’t get his backstory, but it might mean that a lot of Kirk’s life will just happen off screen.

(I’m not saying we won’t see Carol. They cleverly put her on Starbase 1 where the Enterprise returns to often. There’ll probably be an episode where the Enterprise will need to do something with the scientists at Starbase 1. Spock will probably meet Carol there as well, so they can also tick off another “canon” point. But it won’t be a Kirk story.)

I do tend to see Kirk/La’an from Kirk’s POV a lot because that’s just what I do (and because in the long run, it’s heartbreaking), but the story is written from La’an’s POV. She already lost Kirk once, she lost him twice. From the storytelling POV, the story should eventually lead toward something more positive when it comes to Kirk and La’an as a relationship. Not having them eventually get together (even if they part after or La’an dies) would just feel hollow and ??? Especially since Kirk confirmed that he had feelings for La’an, but he can’t act on them because he has a gf and a baby on the way. (and as viewers, we know that Kirk/Carol just won’t last even though the characters don’t know that)

(But also like, Kirk, pls, you have a gf and you’ve still kind of led La’an on.)

From Kirk’s POV, I can see the “it was a lost potential that never happened”. If Kirk was the main character (and not La’an), I’d probably even expect that. Kirk made his choice and La’an moved on. But not from La’an’s POV tbh Not giving La’an her chance at being vulnerable and happy with Kirk would be too bleak. But I’m also known for liking the “wrong couples” lol 

Using her experience with Kirk to find that elsewhere would of course work in RL, but as a story, it’d be disappointing.

Well, I might change my thoughts after I see the finale and what they do with Pike/Batel and Spock/Chapel lol I don’t believe Kirk is in the finale but maybe I’m wrong.

in any case, if Kirk doesn’t appear in the finale, I’m totally using this when I figure out what kind of Kirk/La’an fic I’d like to write. I just want to give both of them happiness. Even if it’s temporary. 

anyway SNW still giving me everything I want. when will it end? when will they disappoint me? lol (probably with McCoy LMAO)

[saucerfulofsins]

Are you okay with minors interacting with your blog? Asking because I don't want to violate your boundaries by accident.

Hi! Thank you so much for your message 😊

Before I answer, I want to talk about some stuff.

I was 14 when I first entered the magical realms of fandom. This must have been around 2005 or 2006, I don't remember exactly when. It wasn't on a site dedicated to fic, but a forum that was entirely dedicated to talking about Paul McCartney. The thing is, this meant there were people of all ages on that forum. The median age was probably around 40 and while cis women probably made up the largest number of users, a fair amount of users were cis het men. Regardless, no one was ever creepy or weird or gross to me; the most they did was be a little bit annoyed by me and some other teens occasionally spamming discussion topics with emojis (which was definitely in part because my English wasn't that good at the time and using it cost a lot of extra energy).

The forum allowed some gen-rated het fic, which gave me the information I needed to discover m/m fic on LiveJournal (yeah, John Lennon/Paul McCartney). I was 15 by then. Fandom wasn't as mainstream at the time (and less so in non-English speaking countries), it definitely wasn't on any Massively Popular Websites or Out In The Open. The fourth wall was very much still in place, and the group of people who were writing stories on LJ was fairly small (especially compared to some of the big big fandoms nowadays).

Guess what, though? I talked to many people, and the majority of them were adults. Some of them had children older than me! There was never any discussion around whether that was improper or not, because everyone was treated equally. Of course age factored in to some extent in personal conversations... but in fandom takes? Why should it?

For me, I was always grateful there were people older than me, with more life experience than me. Their fics were awesome, although I didn't read everything. Why I didn't? Because I was 15 and entirely aware that not everything was for me. I didn't enjoy reading anal sex... so I didn't. I usually shied away from NC-17 (/Explicit), not so much because the rating implies 17+ but because I just... didn't want to read it. I knew people my age and younger who did read those stories because they wanted to and were okay with it. I don't think I've seen anyone ever throw a fit over reading something that upset them, and blame the author for posting it in a space minors could see. At most, people lied about their age so they could get access to some stories (because LJ would block explicit stories for minors... I think. Don't quote me on the details, things are a little fuzzy).

So no. I don't mind minors interacting with my blog, because I once was a minor directly interacting with many of the adults in the fandom I was in. Being taken seriously by them was actually really important in how I came to see myself as a fandom member and as a fic author. I especially don't mind a minor who asks me about my comfort interacting with my content, which is less about me and more of a sign I am willing to bet you're equally or more aware of your own boundaries and willing to assume responsibility... which reminds me of myself when I was a minor.

I don't mind minors interacting with my blog, because I think perspectives from people with a different age than you are very important (I have flatmates that are 25 years older than me!). Simultaneously, I know teens who want to read smut will find their way there. Who am I to stop them? All I can advocate for is to stick to your own boundaries, and take care of yourself, and to read stories and interact with blogs (however you shape that interaction) as long as you feel your boundaries are respected.

To close: I know the internet now isn't the internet it was 15 years ago, and I know that was a vastly different internet from the web in the early 90s. So again: no, I don't mind minors following me for the above reasons, and I don't need to be asked. I also don't mind adults curating their online presence by including a DNI in their profile.

Sorry, that was a bit of a rant. I just carry a great fondness in my heart for the many "fandom aunties" who took me under their wing, way back when, and I'm sad that the format of Tumblr discourages the same types of interaction that shaped my experience and view of fannish culture.

[throped]

Never Glory - Chapter 1

Tom riddle x reader

TW : blood, death gore and all that stuff

My breath quickened and my heartbeat rose as I suddenly jolted awake, feeling not in the slightest mood to get up. You see, I've been having these nightmares? One would call it nightmares but I consider them as visions. They somehow predict the future and tell me what is going to happen next. The weird part is that I haven't had visions like this since the year 1900 when Grindelwald rose to power. Quite infuriating really, I couldn't help anyone from death because my stupid self didn't know whether they were reliable or not. 

If I went into graphic detail as to what series of events exactly occurred in my 'visions', one would be horrified. The scene of blood, gore and death appeared right in the back of my mind and it was hard to believe that this was my life.

I swear on the gods that Salazar Slytherin had something to do with this. That pathetic excuse of a wizard cursed me for eternity in hell just because I didn't follow a few of his rules. Slytherin should of died before he ever even laid eyes on muggleborns.

Oh well, I can't really do much about it now, especially since it's been centuries since he died. I'm alive and well but it just seems as though I'm here for a reason, not just because Slytherin cursed me. 

I got up as the bed creaked underneath me. Mental note to myself about getting a new bed. The fact that I had a dream about someone killing a boy with a scar on his head. I wouldn't necessarily say 'someone' though.... He was more of a monster with only his body shape making him look the slightest bit human. I looked beside me to see the newspaper, 'Hogwarts: School for young witches and wizards'.

I had been to Hogwarts once and it wasn't the best experience but definitely not the worst either, I just didn't feel the need to re-make new stories about how my parents died and how I was born and where I was born. I couldn't risk being revealed to be immortal. They would throw me into Azkaban and make me rot there. 

If I however did go there, I would get amazing grades and top the class, considering me being centuries years old but still looking young. It would be quite the win-win situation if you really thought about it. 

I may even be able to make a future for myself, not being stuck as an auror for the rest of my life. 

I felt as if I needed to go back to Hogwarts. It may even be different for me, I might be able to find someone to love me if I failed at the prevention of that monster I saw in my dreams. Oh! And not to mention my changing of identity tomorrow! Happens ever 40 years, I reset to the age of 15, looking like a child but having the knowledge of a wise wizard. 

"Alrighty, so it's set. Y/N, your heading straight to Hogwarts!" I said to myself. I must admit, I didn't have many to talk to so it was quite the habit of mine to talk to myself at times. I grabbed some papers and started filling out my new identity for tomorrow's change. 

"Hmm, Daena is a nice name. And L/N sounds promising...." I said to myself, "that's it then,

Daena L/N."

Quite a pureblood name in fact. I indeed am a pureblood, born to my mother and father which of whom I never knew the names of. Saddening really. You're probably thinking about how I'm going to get into Hogwarts. Well, you know Dumbledore, that professor at Hogwarts? Well, he knows about my existence and knows how I've been hexed by Slytherin as I had trouble lying to him at a time we met at Three Broomsticks. He agreed to put a good word about my application and let me join the school whenever I wanted. I'm not exactly quite sure why he would help me out but I guess I might be saving him in the future or something. 

Who am I kidding though? No seriously. That old man knows quite a lot and just maybe I might play part to whatever he's planning. 

-----------------------------------------------------

Thanks for reading so far, I have pretty inconsistent posting times so I post whenever I can lol. Oh and also, that monster you dreamed of? Yeah, that's Voldemort if you didn't get the references! 

[darkx-the-dragon-kn1ght]

Chapter 9- Part 14

I do apologize for this being a less-than-ideal first impression for Popplio, but Xera’s got pride to uphold, especially against a rival. 

Let’s start by putting the Nidorino to sleep with Sing. Luckily, Sing hits, but Nidorino gets a lucky crit with Poison Tail beforehand in return.

But now that it’s asleep, we can start Zen Headbutting! We get one, and- what do you mean it woke up this time?? And what do you mean Zen Headbutt missed?????

Well, this isn’t good at all! But it’s not impossible to get out of this- first, we heal Whiskers with a Potion-

And then we attempt to put it to sleep again with Sing! Whiskers will live Poison Tail as long as it doesn’t crit again- we just need Sing to land…

And it does! But…we’ve run into a different problem now. Whiskers could go back to spamming Zen Headbutt, but if Nidorino wakes up early again…well, that’d be really bad. No- the safer play is to switch in to someone else. 

It’s your turn, Prong!

You guys know what time it is, right? Start with Charge…

And with the power of Charge and STAB…FIRE THAT LASER, GIRL!! FINISH THE-

…You all can see that, right?

(Future edit: I don't know if I should "thank" Tumblr or YouTube for the random age-restriction and messing up this video addition, but whatever, go off I guess, heavens forbid we have swears on this website-)

I think I’m losing it, I think I am actually starting to go insane- how does this keep happening!? How, seriously!? It can’t be because I keep getting unlucky with damage rolls, right? Once or twice maybe, but- look at how many times this has happened throughout this playthrough so far! In this chapter! In this battle alone! Are you serious!? 

Never in all the years I’ve been playing Pokémon has something like this happened, where enemy Pokémon survive on actual slivers of HP without Endure, Sturdy, Focus Bands/Sashes, or the like. Just…in general, and in multiple different battles in the same game! Not in the mainline games, not the spinoffs, not even when I played Insurgence, I don’t even think this has happened as often when I play on Showdown! So what’s happening here?? Why now, when I’m playing through Reborn, is this happening so often?

It can’t just be luck with the damage rolls and ranges, even I wouldn’t get that unlucky this often! Is it my Pokémon’s EVs and IVs? The enemy Pokémon’s EVs and IVs? Is the RNG programmed to be biased towards the player’s lower-damage rolls no matter what? That third one is a bit conspiratorial (though not unfounded- look up how the fifth Fire Emblem game, Thracia 776, handles the survival of one of its vital characters, Eyvel, it’s very interesting), but at this point I don’t have many ideas for what it could be!

Oh and of course, Nidorino wakes up on the next turn and hits Prong with Poison Tail- it’s not a crit or anything, but it’s still adding insult to injury!

THAT’S IT, FIRE THAT LASER AGAIN!!

Was using a +2 and STAB boosted Charge Beam a bit overkill here, considering Nidorino was probably at 1 HP? Yeah, probably. Would Mud-Slap or Bug Bite have finished the job just as easily? Certainly. Do I care at this point? No, not really- besides, Cain could have used, like, a Super Potion or something, and at that point the Charge Beam would have been even more justified!

Hah- he says that and he doesn’t even know about Xera’s vigilante arc or the stuff with Team Meteor…

…That stuff with enemy Pokémon surviving on slivers of health is going to cost me a battle one day, I’m calling it right now. One day, during a tough/tense battle, an opposing Pokémon is going to survive an otherwise lethal attack with one or two pixels of health left, and it’s going to ultimately lead to Xera losing the battle and forcing me to reset.

That’s…certainly one way to describe the battle that just happened, and Xera herself.

The Wasteland? Why would he have business there? What, is he from there or something? From what that old man said, it doesn’t sound like the kind of place anyone would live in or want to live in…

Well, the horrors of numbers aside, I am glad we got to see and battle Cain again- which is something I did not think I would be saying several chapters ago.

Yeah, the lake looked pretty big on the map, so the fact that it’s all polluted and grimy…yeesh.

Oh, right- the sidequest from Florinia that we went through all of this for! The TMX! If we don’t get that Cut thing as soon as possible after all of this, I will actually lose it-

Previous

Next

[trashcanwithsprinkles]

hhghgnm i am back. again. for a different thing. i hope you don't mind, i feel like i've talked a lot lately and yet here i am again :'] this will be a bit of a ramble, if i need to apologise at all, then i am doing so now (if not, thanks for your continued patience?? i know my tendency to ramble probably too much too often)

so. you've awakened the dormant single braincell dedicated purely to pokemon stuff. specifically with that one art for childe and zhongli (no surprises there). congration you done it. i thought it might be more considerate to collect my rambles into an ask here rather than leave a hefty tag ramble on a reblog so here i am, because i desperately need to talk to you about it- or at least ask,, no really i would love to talk about it more but that's very up to you

before anything else i want to let you know how much i internally screamed and cried that you gave childe a lantern. tears of joy. no jokes there. you're absolutely right it's perfect for him. also, it's been ages since i read pokespe especially gen 3 and 6 (if gen 6 is relevant? bc gen 3 remakes? my memory is too hazy so i have to include it just in case,, and beyond that i may not be caught up at all, as i haven't had the opportunity to play the games beyond gen 6 and so kinda fell out of stuff since then except for clinging to the stuff i already knew,,) so i need to reread those, but at least personality-wise the thought that struck me was... childe has some gold vibes?? is that. is that just me or. their general attitudes- i can't unsee it,, anyway, i also love the attention to detail with the pokeballs and alternate colour gigalith. thank you. if you apologised for pokemon nerd shining through, this pokemon nerd is rejoicing in what it sees. however dormant it may've been, pokemon was basically the thing that dominated my childhood interests so hahah,,, it's quite strong. also with the titles aside ace trainer and gentleman so true, so true indeed.

so uh.... here's the thing where i ask.... you gave them 5 each, but.... 6 is a full team, so.... :) :) :) any thoughts on, if they had a 6th, who/what it'd be (this question of full 6 pokemon teams also extends to the twins and xiao, not just childe and zhongli. should i be sorry?? i am sorry?? i would hate to think of such things mostly bc i would have a hard time because of overthinking it but i don't know what it's like for you for things like that-)? and eheheh,, can i ask permission to try teambuilding the teams for real. do you know of/use pokemon showdown? i semi-casually use it (with a hint of seriousness, but like. nothing compared to some people) every now and then mostly because testing teams is much easier there,, not that i have anything to stop me from making a team in one of the actual games, it's just. slower. and more of a process. but i really want to try it for them,, if you wouldn't mind, of course. the only thing that would annoy me in such an endeavour would be that shiny gigalith isn't actually amber-coloured. sigh. i don't even have to include not knowing gen 7+ things on that note because it's nothing a lil research and experimenting wouldn't fix, but alternate colours? sad that i can't do much about that one. ah, while I'm at it, not to be super finicky with details or anything,, haha, but hypothetically, for teambuilding, just as a question in general, what would their battle format preferences be...? just the usual singles, or...? if there would be any different preference, i am curious about

hopefully i didn't miss anything but then again, this is probably long enough as it is,,,, whoops

my dear we're on the EXACT same boat holy fuck.

i'm going to put the rest below a read more to spare everyone else's dash, bc you kinda enabled my pokemon floodgates lmao

i too followed pokespe up till the start of gen5 and then kinda lost track of it, but since i'm a hoenn sucker i went back to read the oras chapters (for steven. it was all for steven). if you're wondering- i remember the story being quite decent? take it as an extra chapter for the rse arc, that's basically what it is. sadly nothing will ever top everything surrounding the first 3 regions + dpp (they get extra points for the giratina ordeal), but it was aight.

and you're absolutely right, childe has gold vibes. not an exact 1:1 but there's some things that are just too similar to overlook. alternatively, he's like an unholy mix of red and gold.

i honestly can't remember why i only gave them 5 each- i think in my mind 6 has always been far too many creatures, but 4 too little, so i always fall somewhere in the middle;; as for showdown,

that's where i planned the teams. that's literally where i went to sort thru all pokemon and pick and choose the ones that better fit. i'm a bit of a random team match enjoyer, never been one for building functional competitive teams but i do like playing so random has always been the go-to option.

if i had to give them a sixth slot, it'd probably be: for childe either a pawmot, luxray, or gengar. i feel like his team needs a bit more electric to honor his delusion beyond lanturn, or alternatively some poison or ghost to represent the Abyss. i'd also lowkey give him a nidoqueen, he seems like the kinda guy who'd have one. for zhongli it'd be either rhydon, tyrantrum, aggron, or maybe bastiodon? steel types would fit as steel comes from the earth, ultimately. claydol i could also sorta see, like some sort of living relic. if i allowed myself to pick from the starters, torterra (bc azhdaha). as a joke i'd give him drampa. i feel like almost no dragon types would fit and it lowkey frustrates me lmao for xiao i feel like another flying type would be overkill, so maybe something like an umbreon or a mightyena? he has an absol already, he'd absolutely have a mightyena. if not, then maybe a crobat? if childe has gold vibes then xiao most definitely has silver vibes, although i don't think he'd really mistreat his pokemon at all. i could also see him having an ariados or shedinja ngl for aether and lumine i gave them five bc eevee was like their childhood shared pokemon and then they sort of got matching duos, so they kind of share all five? but strictly speaking they're two different trainers. idk. if i had to give them like another shared pokemon, it'd be castform. or maybe something like a kecleon, sawsbuck, or togekiss. if we count them as separate trainers then i'd give them a pair of indeedee, to follow tradition with the meowstics and ralts line. that'd make it seven mons but it'd still be possible. i honestly don't have the brain rn for six for each tho lmao plus since they kinda share them i think they'd stop at seven. like three each to make six + eevee. if not then i lean towards castform. aether would dress it up like those images where the cloud bumps are boobs and lumine would hate him for it.

as for their battle performances, the twins would absolutely fight doubles. like you could catch them one on one but most of the time it'd be either both or neither. xiao and zhongli would be used to fighting doubles as team partners, but it wouldn't be like their main mode. i think both would've kinda gone their own ways and now fought singles, but wouldn't be against doubles on their own. childe would be singles all the way, OR triples, if only for the chaos. also childe would lowkey go into contests. i mean he has milotic, he kinda has to have been there at some point. maybe tonia wanted to see it so he agreed for his princess. or like- tonia was being bullied by mean girls for it and he decided he'd curbstomp them with a feebas.

anyway aaaaaa,, i went on a ramble again, this is really just my pokemon nerd speaking. i hope that was useful! it's nice to know i'm not the only one on this bandwagon hahah;;

[a-ladyman-in-waiting]

A Lady in Waiting (1)

[A story in the works]

I don’t know about you, but I think that some, if not all of us, want to be someone else. 

Especially in the realm of fantasy, where anyone could be as powerful as they could be.

But in this case, we just got to know the fellow before their transformation.

Otherwise, she’ll have no context.

Or us in that sense.

A Lady in Waiting

Chapter 1

“What a day.”

“I really want to buy something to eat”

“But I already ate, so why do I feel like buying snacks?”

“I traveled through whole crowds to get a limited edition Bakugan. That was the whole reason why I came here all this way for nothin, was to buy a special toy.”

The complainer over here is Brendon Rivera.

A college student, aged 22.

He often complained about stuff that happened to him.

Like the time he dropped a card onto a puddle of water.

[NOOOOO]

Or the time that he has to help out at work despite having no classes over the weekend.

[maaaaaaannnnnn]

Or the time that two buses passed by him.

[you absolute {beep-beep}, pieces of {beep}, {beep-beep}, I swear to lord I will {beep} {beep} {beeeeeep}.]

I’ll give him a pass for that. The bus system is a total mess.

Anyways, Brendon is walking around town moping about losing a toy that he didn’t need.

Until…he noticed a sign.

“Huh. That wasn’t there before.”

He takes a moment to read the sign.

Garage sale today. From 4/7 to 4/12.

Over on Gallon Road.

“Huh. A garage sale. Wonder if they have anything.”

This is where it began…ok maybe not.

It took Brendon five minutes to get there, mainly because he took his time walking.

But when he reached Gallon Road, he noticed a bunch of boxes, a couch, a few TVs, tables with several shirts, old big toys, shiny objects and oddly shaped objects.

“Huh.”

When he got closer, he saw a collection of toy cars, remote control cars, gold chain necklaces, even more shirts of different colors.

He also found lamps, vases, plates, a dark green couch with a patch of worn out red, a brown coat rack behind a pile of boxes and paintings.

“Oh dang.”

Then one object in particular caught his attention.

Two necklaces.

A pearl necklace fit for a lady.

And a necklace with a strange looking design, holding an egg-shaped white gem surrounded by six red gems.

Brendon found himself drawn to the large pearl.

He was bending over to get a closer look.

He developed an urge to buy them.

So he looked up and said,

“How much for these two?”

An elderly woman came over and told him,

“$120.34”

“Oh.”

[I mean…I was going to blow $250 on a limited edition Bakugan…]

“Ok”

[Welp, at least mom might like the pearl necklace.]

Brendon handed over 6 $20 bills, a quarter, and a dime, where he received a penny in return.

[I still have some money left over…but I better save it]

“Thanks!” Said Brendon.

“No problem!” The elderly woman chimed.

Brendon walked away with two pretty necklaces. An action that would change his life forever.

Now it begins.

It was a relatively uneventful evening at home.

After Brendon showed his mother the two necklaces, she was awestruck by the fancy necklaces and thanked him for the pearl necklace. Brendon put away his necklace to try on later because he has a lot that he should be doing.

Brendon helped with his sister’s homeworks (reluctantly I might add).

The family ate their dinner, took showers, and generally went to bed. However, Brendon decided to stay up a bit longer to check up on his necklace.

“Ok, let’s take a closer look.”

He picked up his necklace and studied it.

“Hmmm…oh dang…the white egg pearl is pretty big.”

“Like almost bigger than my thumb…”

“The shape of the gold looks like a fire fighter sign. There are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 rubies.”

“They’re also egg shaped.”

“It’s pretty heavy for a necklace, so I probably shouldn’t run with this.”

Brendon put on the necklace and looked into the mirror.

“Hmmmm….”

“Mmm…”

“I guess it’s nice.”

“…mmmm”

“I uh…”

“Umm”

Brendon doesn’t have any idea of what he bought.

Seriously, he has no fashion sense.

“I’ll keep it on for now. I might have an idea later on”

“Such as a plan for pumpkin spice latte.”

“Like how much pumpkin sauce should you use to keep it sweet but not too sweet.”

“There’s a coffee shop down the road, but it’s pretty expensive. But they do have croissants and pan dulce.”

“Man I could go for some pan dulce, maybe I can get some when I come back or such.”

“But I really don’t want to bump into Renaldo.”

“He’s rude.”

“Like the time that he sprayed me with water and I then slipped and fell from trying to catch him.”

“Or the time that he bumped me while I was dribbling the ball. Making me fall down.”

“Or the time that he put gum in my hair and I got in trouble for punching him.”

“Just unfair.”

That was years ago, Brendon.

“Like I’m just still mad over this.”

“Like I just don’t like him.”

“I hate him, honestly.”

“I hate his little goofy face.”

“I hate how he gets attention from everyone.”

“I hate how he gets away with shit.”

“I just don’t. Want. To. See. Him.”

He covers his mouth. And looks around.

“Oh shoot. I must’ve been pretty loud.”

“Sorry guys.”

He walks into the kitchen and looks at himself in the mirror.

“I honestly don’t like how I look like. I mean I’m messy. I stink. I’m generally the face of gross things…I wish I looked pretty. Like a dragon lady, with sexy clothes, a long tail, beautiful wings, and a voice that everyone goes ’Mama Mia’…”

Brendon snickers to himself.

“hehehe”

Then he takes a deep breath.

“Besides, I’m always the “quiet one.” Like I have stuff I want to say as well. Like for example, I like leotards….shit no…anything except for what I draw.”

“Never mind, I’ll probably just never mention that at all.”

“I sound like a pervert.”

“Ignore the part about the dragon lady stuff…”

Brendon sighs.

Then he went to the kitchen to clean the table to make space to draw his character.

He set the sketchbook down, opened up to a blank page and picked up his pencil.

He then put on his headphones to listen to his playlist of random songs that he liked.

“Ok, time to draw Madeline.”

Brendon proceeded to draw his character.

He drew the figure (body), he drew an overall leotard shape, he marked where the gloves and thigh highs would end, then he hurriedly drew a tail with fins.

Brendon stopped for a moment…

He started thinking…

Then he made quick shapes for wings, then sketched the fingers, the horns, the hair…

Along the way, he made a few mistakes.

Then he erased them.

Then he drew them again, made a mistake and erased.

This was how he usually draws…

He sketches the long skirt. Gotta have cover, I suppose.

He sketches the top part…

A…boob window…and a choker…

Oh boy.

The gloves…they’re baggy around the shoulders and tight around the wrist…

And he gave her a…rose…on the waist…

And…oh my…he’s drawing a vine pattern around the skirt…

how…complicated…

Anyways, Brendon’s eyes began to grow heavy. He stood up from his seat and began to yawn and stretch.

His piece remains as a sketch…

Smudges, furry lines, an overly simple face on top of a detailed body.

A front facing figure, hands that may not remain the same, multiple fabric folds.

Need I go on?

“Alright, that’s enough…” Brendon muttered.

He packed up his sketchbook.

Packed it into his backpack.

Brushed his teeth and tongue.

He hates the taste.

Then he went to bed.

OK…Now it begins.