#also yes i do have designs for every team. yes they Are thought out. yes i Have spent Time on this Thank You For Asking

[cerastes]

Any thoughts on stronghold protocol?

I think it's very fun and an excellent concept, but it needs fine tuning if they want to make it a permanent mode.

The concept is solid and I love it: Familiar units work differently because 1) of the auto-battler nature of it, where you set up everything and then let the game do its thing, especially important in this being the fact that skills activate based on effective auto attack range, and 2) there's no distinction between melee and ranged tile, and the maps are linear, simple rows that are designed around you having to necessarily meet the enemy yes or yes.

That in of itself is fun thanks to the variety of units and restrictions placed on the usual rules of engagement: You need to make sure your unit can actually activate their skill in a meaningful way, so you can't put Goldenglow or Laptop on the far back and global snipe, they won't activate unless an enemy enters their range. There's also a fun team-building aspect, more micro and immediate than Integrated Strategies, since you know what you'll be fighting from second 1 instead of having to gimmickproof your party in case of X or Y, with X or Y perhaps never happening in your run (ie: getting an Anti-Gopnik setup ASAP in IS3 if going for Last Knight ending). The items, cost opportunity, and ability to deploy doubles or make a strong Operator out of having three of them all make for a fun time, plus, every Operator costs 3 Coins no matter their Tier, meaning there's a very explicit incentive for you to upgrade your Supply Level ASAP so you can start getting those Tier VI Operators.

Now, what are the mode's weaknesses? Well, it's very hard to bounce back from a bad hand. If you just don't get something decent in the first 4 rounds, it's VERY hard to come back from that. You do have multiple lives and some rounds you just gotta lose and try again later, but if you didn't manage to win against an enemy, your odds are Very Bad for the next round because now they are even stronger while you may not increase in power significantly; Rerolling the shop is very cheap at 1 coin, which is encouraged until you can get a unit or item you can use, but at the same time, the deeper you go into the match, the more necessary it becomes to be able to make triples to get enhanced stats and free high rarity recruits, because Beagle can only tank for so long before she starts getting Bloodline of Combat'd out of existence in three attacks. In other words, RNG plays a huge, huge role, which is to be expected in a game mode that is as auto as its ever gotten in a game that has always had execution be involved in its endgame, but at the same time, it wouldn't kill to add some more consistency to your matches, such as the ability to spend perhaps 3-4 coins for a reroll that guarantees a Supply Level Tier recruit or a Supply Level -1 recruit, making it so you can pay a significantly more steep price in order to get something that's more likely to start paying dividends back when you are already on the back foot.

Now, this isn't an issue with Normal Mode, because that one isn't overtuned. It's Hard Mode (or Core Protocol) that really needs some fine tuning. I'm lenient on it because, well, it's literally the Hard Mode, it's meant to be hard and I want it to be more difficult, but there is a huge disparity in difficulty when it comes to the possible factions you are fighting: Hard Mode Sarkaz + Convicts is way, way easier than Hard Mode Sankta or Icefield + Anything. Sankta are insanely difficult, FAR more than any of the other factions in my opinion, with an enemy that's bulky, needs 4 block, and restocks Ammo to enemies that can use it meaning the Bomb Car Carts can produce infinite Bomb Cars to nuke the hell out of your composition, when they express counter to Bomb Cars is to not block them in the first place... Which is impossible due to the way the maps are built, as mentioned before. The way the HP scaling works, you'll never be able to meaningfully kill the Bomb Cars consistently before you get nuked, made all the more difficult by the Sankta units also including the Stun Crossbowmen from the Schwarz event and the freaking Lost Colossus from IS2 for some reason, so you are constantly eating long Stuns while you get Zerg Rushed by Bomb Cars that explode for lots of damage if blocked, or take Lives if they get past you, either because all your Block is already taken, or because your entire line is Stunned. Mind you, not even having two S3 Lumen is enough to take on this onslaught, as once you start actually blocking the Crossbows, they will stun their blocked, making for just too many units for Lumen to unstun, even when cloned. The only counterplay is literally to just have gotten a broken set up before this escalates. Which is... Kinda ass from a player experience perspective. I understand it's Hard Mode, but losing to the game not giving you the perfect storm of things you need, a very unlikely molotov cocktail of Operators and Items, to meaningfully play against this raw amount of units and crowd control, can be very frustrating. It's like I'm really playing late Overwatch 1 with all this crowd control.

In many ways, it's very reminiscent of SSS 1.0 where it was just very, very unfun because you could just get absolutely shafted by bad luck and Physical Damage was worthless. Unlike SSS 1.0, however, this is a temporary mode that they can refine and rebalance for an eventual permanent addition, which I think would be very, very fun. Overall, I love the game mode, and I hope they make it permanent. Right now, I think Hard Mode should be taken as something truly difficult, and Normal Mode for general play, because Hard Mode is pretty overtuned to the point where even factions that aren't the Evil Two, like Sarkaz, can completely shit over you with their Lifesteal guys, and if you get to Round 13 and have no counter to Mudrock, good fucking luck.

[krockat]

false dichotomy. i need both

i can basically not hear what videos or shows n etc are saying w/out subtitles. i got bad hearing in my ears (esp one of em) and also bad audio processing.

and also. i got bad dyslexia and eyesight. so if i can only rely on reading.... then that is difficult or sometimes even impossible.

it also reallyyy doesn't help if it's something i find difficult to understand, or boring. and if it's both then i often don't even bother - as it just won't work, or take a tremendous amount of effort and energy.

my brain and body both get hella exhausted.

also i am often too tired and/or distracted to Only read for long, or Only listen for long.

so like..... school was very hard for me as they often didn't help me at all w my disabilities :D

[ffxivtranslations]

Why did Haurchefant have to die? Interview Translation

I translated part of an interview with Yoshi-P and the two main scenario writers of HW, Ishikawa and Oda. It's about Haurchefant's character arc and why he had to be sacrificed. At least Oda tried to save him, bless his heart!

Interviewer: In 2.x, Haurchefant appeared to be a cheerful character, but in 3.0 his role takes a serious turn. What was the reason for this change?

Ishikawa: In the 2.x series I was in charge of his dialogue as the Character Concept designer, but in 2.55 I felt I had properly written down his important points and position in society, so I could hand him over to Oda and Maehiro for 3.0. Because of this I don’t think anything changed about him from the start; how he cares about his friend, or his essence as a knight.

Oda: I agonised over Haurchefant’s fate right until the very end… over and over I suggested plots in which he might somehow survive.

Yoshi-P: Those plots were too contrived; I couldn’t approve them! LOL In depicting this war between humans and dragons, I thought it was wrong to only have the dragons’ side experience loss after loss and not have the humans make any sacrifices. So that’s why I told them to properly decide the fate of every character. The fate of every character should have been decided early in the development phase of Patch 2.3. So Haurchefant’s fate was decided by then too, right?

Oda: Yes, that’s right. That’s why in Patch 2.4 and 2.5, when I wrote all his un-voiced lines, I was already doing so conscious of the fact that he would die later on.

Yoshi-P: Haurchefant is a character that is not just loved by players, but also loved by the development team. But since we decided on the plot twist where he would become the Warrior of Light's shield, we were prepared for the worst. Because of that we were able to write the Patch 2.5 scene, in the Falling Snows, where he reaches out to the Warrior of Light in his time of need. I think that such a long build-up led to the deep emotional impact of Haurchefant’s final moments. In that way, I think the deciding his fate early on was connected to how much importance he had to the story.

Oda: However, seeing how warmly players reacted to him, I feared that having Haurchefant lose his life would cause some players to quit the game forever, and fought desperately against it to the end…

Yoshi-P: He kept giving me re-takes of the plot where Haurchefant is able to come back to life, and eventually I remember getting quite mad at him. At one point, the 3.0 ending ceremony scene had Haurchefant appear in a wheelchair and I yelled “Hey, isn’t that the same as Thancred in ARR?!”. I’m pretty sure I shouted at him LOL

[jellxzy]

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧.

|| 𝐂𝐡𝐨 𝐇𝐲𝐮𝐧-𝐣𝐮 𝐱 𝐟!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

|| 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬!: 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐠𝐮𝐧𝐬, 𝐫 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭, 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠

|| 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧, 𝐬𝐨, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫?

|| 𝐀/𝐧: 𝐒𝐨 𝐮𝐡𝐦... 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐇𝐲𝐮𝐧-𝐣𝐮! 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐬𝐨 𝐢𝐟 𝐢 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐢 𝐚𝐦 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲!! 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢 𝐫𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐦𝐥! 𝐈’𝐦 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐬! 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐢 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡, 𝐢 𝐚𝐦 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐟𝐟.

As always, your morning was filled with happiness and joy. Yes, you do feel sadness, though you'd rather get through the sadness by the help of staying happy. Even if it means getting beat by the loan sharks that threaten your life every single second of your pathetic life. Their words not yours, so that's how you ended up here.

Dress in a green jumpsuit, with the number 192. The big room was filled with people, with their own numbers displayed on the back of their jackets. Soon the first game started.

Deadly, yay!

Then the second, you walked around the room, your hands fiddling with the hem of your jacket as you searched for members. It was good that you were also confident (enough) and friendly, you thought at first that getting four other people to join you was easy.

But one look at you and they say no. You understood them, you're really understanding also yay? But you understood that they didn't want you in their group. By one mere look, it was obvious you were frail and weak, it didn't also help that the next game was a secret.

And just when you were loosing hope, you walk past a group of four, knowing they would probably say no to you too. Especially when most of them are women already, and the only man looks...

"Hey." A deep voice called out to you from behind. "Yes?" You turn around, an automatic smile came on your lips. "Do you want to be in our group? We're missing one more member."

And with that you put on a genuine smile, and with a nod you found your team. Your right leg was strapped with the tall woman's left, and every time you would mess up she would be there to comfort you and help you.

She's really sweet. And beautiful.

After the game ended, you automatically went to your designated bunk and laid there, starring at the metal bunk on top. Trying to calm your breathing as you had just witnessed multiple death and so much blood.

You were definitely new to seeing this, your life, which was once filled with sunshines and rainbows went away with a blink of an eye. You thought of multiple way to try and get over this, yet none could ever work.

You were snapped out of your thoughts by the same tall woman's earlier, which you now learn is Cho Hyun-ju, pretty name for a pretty woman. "Hey, do you want to go stay with us instead? It would be good to stay with people." She smiled as you did too.

With shaky legs you get up from your bed and walk with Hyun-ju towards the small space they occupy. The rest of the team talk with amongst each other and laugh of course, until they reach a certain sensitive topic about Hyun-ju.

"Wait, you're trans?" You furrow your eyebrows in confusion. "Yeah." She nods with a soft chuckle. "I didn't know that." You mumble. "Really? With my deep voice? And adams apple?"

"Well, the adams apple thing, i thought that a rare percentage of women have it, and the deep voice was because you're a contralto or something." You shrugged your shoulders, and with that she chuckles once again. "And you're really pretty." You subtly add, looking down at your lap.

She blushes and gets flustered at that. The little moment was cut off by a loud noise, and the last players enter the bunk room.

Then the next game happened, and everything went to hell after that. Young-mi died. The only person that you thought was just like you, died. She was too young to die, every one here is too young to die. Except for player 100. He can drop dead anytime.

After her death Hyun-ju mostly kept to herself, you were there trying to somewhat cheer her up. "Hyun-ju." You say coming back to her with a roll of gimbap in hand. "Eat up." You say with a small pout as you bring a piece of gimbap near to her mouth.

"You're gonna need energy, Hyun-ju." You offer her a small smile. "Fine." She huffed giving in and eating the gimbap. "We can share this one. I can't really finish this." You tell her with a big smile as you eat a gimbap.

After a few minutes the two of you finish your gimbap, and soon enough it was time to close the lights.

You and Hyun-ju hid under the bed as the lights went out the killings started, you closed your eyes and covered your ears. Hyun-ju noticed that and instinctively wrapped an arm around you. "I'll keep you safe, i promise." She whispers to you.

And you fell, at that moment. You fell for her.

The lights went on, and then it was time for you guys to move. You acted as if you were dead for a distraction so Hyun-ju could grab a gun. You helped Hyun-ju kill the guards, though you weren't an exact pro at using guns, you still knew something.

"How are you good at guns?" Hyun-ju chuckle as she killed a guard, the two of you hid behind to reload. "My dad was an illegal arms dealer, he thought me a thing or two." You chuckle. "But you're so..."

"Bright? Joyous? Full of glee? Beautiful?" You giggle as the moment fully took over you, your eyes boring into Hyun-ju's.

Though that moment ended quick, by a gun shot sound.

Oh, and also a bullet entering only your arm, thankfully. "Hyun-ju." You mumble gripping the wound tight as she killed the guard. She carried you towards the nearest bed, carefully setting you down.

"Hyun-ju, i'm fine." You choke out a chuckle, as blood poured out of the wound, she ripped a piece of cloth from the bed sheet and wrapped it near the wound tightly.

Geum ja (i don't know if i got the name right) arrived helping you with the wound. "I promise, i'm fine." You smile widely even after getting hurt. "Now go, explain to them how the gun works before they kill themselves." Hyun-ju reluctantly walked away, her eyes glancing over to you.

"You like her don't you?" Geum ja teased you. "I don't." You mumble looking down at your lap as a pink blush covered your face. "You do. Don't lie to your elders." She warns. "If you do, you should go for it. Ask her out, the two of you are very beautiful ladies. You have my blessing to marry her."

That shocked you, a lot. "Woah, marry already? I haven't even asked her out yet." You laugh with Geum ja, and at the right moment Hyun-ju glanced at the two of you. The sight of seeing you laugh making her heart melt.

"Geum ja, please look over her." Hyun-ju told the older lady, whilst you raised a brow at that. "What do you mean?" You slightly chuckle. "Y/n, do you really think you're in the state to fight with us?"

"Yes, to be frank. I do think so. I've been through something much worse." You nod your head, your smile faltering. "Honey, don't." You fell even more at that.

"Don't, i can do this." You mumble standing up and walking towards the guns to get one. "Y/n, stop." She held your wrist tightly, halting your movements. She pulled you behind one of the fallen bunk beds. "Stop. I am not gonna let you die. I told you. I would protect you, right? And i am not gonna let you die."

"Why? Why do you think that i'm gonna die there?" You argue with her, (first argument with the loml!) "you have a gun wound. You can barely move your arm, do not test me." She points a finger to your face. "I'm sorry." She apologized soon after.

"I..." like you. Hyun-ju thought as she gripped your hands with hers. "Fine, i won't go." You mumble looking down at your shoes. "Thank you." She smiled lifting your head by pulling your chin upwards with her finger.

Hyun-ju and the others, grabbed guns and ammunition whilst getting ready to head out. "Hyun-ju." You called out to her. "Before you leave, i have to say something."

"What is it?" She asked with a small encouraging smile.

"I-I don't really know how to do this but, i like you. Like i really do. I don't care what people will think about us, i honestly only care about what you think. I liked since i first saw you, your dark eyes gazing into mine leaving me to feel completely hopeless. And whenever i'm around you i feel as if like i'm protected. And i promise you, when we get out i will treat you—if not better, than any person can. I will respect you, always. A-and.." You trail off as you grab a ring on my hand and put it on her pinky.

"This a promise ring, for both of us. I promise to treat you like the best girlfriend ever, and always love you through sickness i will always take care of you. But, promise me. You will make it out alive with me, or without even. Just make it out alive." You say, finishing your rambles.

"Shit, i accidentally proposed didn't i?" You cursed under your breath which she chuckled at. "What ever it was, yes." She nods, her head leaning down slightly to capture your lips into a kiss.

"I promise." She intertwines your pinkys before she leaves, you blow her a kiss as she closes the door.

In the end, the promise was kept. You two did get out of there alive and wealthy, the both of you went to thailand, got engaged, then adopted multiple cats.

Every once in a while, the both of your visit Geum ja and her son in korea.

And you both lived happily ever after!

[aamircoeur]

NOT GONNA LIE i always love thinking ab characterxdresser!lover

like ex ken sato and the person (secret lover) that makes his outfits, does his makeup, usually dresses him for every public outing etc etc

ALSO MAYBE THE LOVER HAS DESIGNED ALL HIS JERSEYS like they design the jerseys for every team he has

- 🍃 (hi im new)

Being ex-lovers with Ken Sato as his personal stylist ー hcs.

hi 🍃 baby happy to have ü here <3 thank you sm 4 the req!!!!!! ur asks r so so cute

sfw, gn!reader. UNEDITED

despite ken sato being your actual lover from the past, you had too much on your plate to give another try at your relationship

but he didn't

this time, instead of asking mina for his schedule, he memorizes it himself so he knows when he has the chance to text you

"hey baby you got my fit ready for the interview?"

"sorry typo i meant [name]" 🤨

"yes, ken"

"heyy so i was wondering, coach shimura asked the team if we could design a new jersey for the upcoming season so i thought if you could be the one to design for us?"

"hello, ken. i'm afraid i am busy having to prepare your outfits for your upcoming interviews."

"oh okay okay no worries"

"but like if i pay you extra will you be able to do it? like a thousand? or, i can add more"

"fine, ken. we can hold a meeting with your team for their fabric preferences and whatnot."

"what they don't need to be there"

he's not slick .

he never forgets to thank you every time that he's given the opportunity

he leaves you gifts like mini cakes or your favourite coffee to share with him when you were together

whenever you come to dress him up or to drop off his outfit for the day he'd have flowers at hand to give to you when you arrive

although greatly appreciated, you told him multiple times that it was unnecessary considering your relationship now was professional

he insists, saying that he does it for everyone he knows even coach shimura

🤨🤨 little liar

whenever he goes on vacation he always invites you

of course you decline

but he's so pushy and basically drowns you with his reasons

"ik we both need it"

"they have a great sense of style there we can get inspo from them"

"the food there is great maybe we can get outfit inspirations"

"the view from the hotel there is great maybe the hotel staff dress nicely too maybe we can get outfit inspirations from them"

what the hell r those reasons kenji

with enough convincing you come, with you insisting on staying in separate rooms but hey at least you're there with him

he always brags about how great of a stylist you are during interviews or press conferences

praises your creativity, your knowledge in color theory and body shapes that you always make him look so great

he's been told so much about how greatly his outfits complimented his body and he's so proud of you

but he almost killed everyone in the room including himself when you told him that other celebrities have reached out to have you as their personal stylist

he tried to convince you to stay as only his instead

i mean by convince is doubling your salary

which works btw

oh and during events he always has you as his +1

and if +1s weren't allowed he would simply not attend no matter how great attending at that event would be for his career && fame

"who cares" - ken2k24

he keeps you by his side and introduces you to all the people that he knows

which really confuses you because he told you that you were there for his touch-ups

but you didn't mind anymore

you missed spending time with him too.

[itsnevercasual]

Uptown Girl

pairing: fashion designer!harry x younger!fashion designer!reader

summary: you’re working in a designer boutique, and just so happen to have a late entrance when world-renowned designer harry styles visits for a collaboration. he seems to take a liking to you, and you aren’t sure if that makes you relieved or more anxious

warnings: some cursing, not edited as usual

-

harry styles was a well-known name. ceo and founder of pleasing, a nail polish and perfume company. he also owned many other companies, but really, there were too many to keep track of. he was also, most importantly, one of the biggest fashion icons.

you were very familiar with him— had saved up every penny when you were younger to buy a pleasing perfume and now owned a very small collection of their nail polishes.

so, of course, you lost your shit when you found out he’d be coming into your job.

you were a fashion design major at nyu, and had gotten a job at a very esteemed designer (not one of the name brands, but still). although you did expect the job to have more opportunities to.. actually design fashion, you were still grateful nonetheless.

it was just your luck that the day that harry styles was coming in, you were late. it wasn’t your fault! really, it wasn’t! you were always on time because you got anxious at the mere thought of being late.

by the time you parked, you practically ran to the store, silently praying you wouldn’t break a leg as you were running in heels.

“i’m not late am i?” you ask breathlessly as you finally enter the store, fixing your hair and outfit.

you had curled your hair the night before, so they were still pretty much intact. your outfit consisted of black heels, brown dress pants, and a black, tight-fitting turtleneck.

“yes, y/n. you are late,” your boss gave you a look, and you knew you’d be in trouble. “mr. styles, i am so sorry. our employs are.. usually punctual.”

your head snaps over to look in the direction she was talking, and your heart drops when you make eye contact with harry styles.

great.

“mr. styles, i am so sorry,” you apologize.

“it’s perfectly alright,” he gives a kind smile.

that makes you feel a bit better.

“y/n, a word in my office please.”

you deflate as you look back to your boss and follow her to her office

the second the door is closed, she’s chewing you out.

“how unprofessional can you be? i know you are in college, but jesus christ!”

“i’m sorry! there was so much traffic, and my car is so old it stops working if i go faster than 50, and—“

“i don’t need excuses,” she cuts you off. “i need you to be more professional.”

you inhale, “i am sorry, but it was not my fault. i have never once been late before, and you know that. it was a one-time mistake.”

“it better be.”

she walks out and slams the door to the office, leaving you alone in there.

you look up to the ceiling as you bite your lip and try not to cry.

after taking a few minutes to collect yourself, you walk back out into the otherwise empty store and slap a smile on your face.

you do your usual tasks of tidying the store and fixing the mannequins.

mr. styles, his team, and your boss (her name was diane but she was more like satan) were all working on sketching designs and throwing some fabrics onto the mannequins to get a rough idea of what they wanted.

“i don’t know if i like it,” mr. styles murmurs, staring at the mannequin. you glace over at it and have to force yourself to not make a face.

no shit, he didn’t like it. it was bad.

the sketch was good, but the color combination was all wrong and the whole thing was too.. chunky. in the way that everything was flowy and baggy, so it had no shape.

“well, what do you not like about it?” diane asks.

“i’m not sure. it doesn’t look quite right.”

“you have to fix the shape,” you say to yourself as you fix the files of custom orders to be done.

“what was that?”

your head snaps up, and you realize he heard you.

“oh. uh.. i was just—“

“talking to herself,” diane interrupts, glaring at you. “she’s an intern. don’t mind her.”

“no, i’d like to hear what she has to say. might have the answer to our issue. let’s hear it— what was your name again?”

“y/n l/n,” you squeak out.

“well, y/n, what do you think is wrong?”

you hesitantly walk over, “well.. i can see the idea. but it’s just not.. executed well. the whole thing is too flowy.”

“isn’t the point for it to flow?” he asks, raising a brow.”

“it is,” you answer quickly, “but.. there has to be something that isn’t as.. baggy, i suppose. something has to be tight-fitting. it doesn’t have any shape. it just kinda.. looks like a box.”

he stares at you for a moment, and diane clears her throat.

“y/n, this is time for the professionals. get back to—“

“no, diane. she is.. she’s right. it does need shape.”

at his words, the people around him begin to pin it differently.

“and the colors,” you rush out. “the colors don’t.. it’s supposed to be a statement piece, right?”

“that’s the goal,” he nods.

“well.. the colors are too.. light. they’re more pastel, which is fine, but for it to really be a statement, it’s better to use brighter ones. or at least make one of them brighter. i would.. i think make the base the brighter one.”

diane looks ready to kill you.

mr. styles laughs, “well, don’t you know a lot? diane, where did you find her? wish my interns knew half as much as her.”

your face grows hot.

“she’s a student,” diane sighs.

“a student?” he asks.

“i… uh.. i study fashion at nyu. fashion design— i’m in my last year.”

he seems to sense that you're damn near about to shit your pants, because he grins at you (slightly patronizing, but also kind), before turning back to diane.

"i'd like her to be with me for the rest of the project. y/n, darling, how much are y'makin' here?"

your stutter, "uh--... $15 an hour."

he tuts his tongue like that's horrible, "i'll pay.. ten times that while y'workin' with me."

your eyes widen, "wh-- that's not-- you don't have to--"

"nonsense. it's what most people i work with start with. i'll up it if needed, of course. and you obviously don't have to, but i'd love your insight."

"i-- no, i-- i'd love to, i.."

"great," he grins, and you're extremely dizzy. what the hell was going on?

"uh.. mr. styles, if i may give my opinion," diane pipes up.

"you may," he eyes her skeptically.

"y/n is a student. she's still learning, and she's never worked on anything here. it's very risky to--"

he cuts her off by asking you a question, "have you designed things? sketched 'em out and all that?"

you nod.

"i'd hope you've also done the whole... actually sewing things together and really making them?"

you nod again.

he turns back to diane, "seems like she's got experience," he looks back to you, "do y'have photos of any of those?"

"yeah-- they're.. i think i left them in my car. i have photos on my phone."

"we'll meet later to look at all that, then. i'll give you my number later. for now.. i'd like your input on our other ideas."

-

for the rest of the day, you follow harry around, and you sort of feel like a lost puppy just following him around and answering when he asks something of you.

after a while, you got more comfortable giving your input without being prompted, but you always tiptoed around what you were really trying to get at in fear that you'd anger him.

at the end of day, he put your number in his phone with the promise that he'd text you later about more details.

-

the text came three days later.

From: (Maybe): Harry

Hello, Y/N. This is Harry. Would you be free to meet tomorrow at noon to discuss the details of the project? Please bring your sketches and any photos of designs you've done, and anything else you feel necessary.

To: Harry Styles

Hi! I should be free tomorrow, yeah. Where do you want to go?

From: Harry Styles

I'll let you decide.

To: Harry Styles

There is this one coffee shop named Maman?

Sent Location: 239 Centre St, New York, NY

From: Harry Styles

Alright. I'll see you tomorrow, Y/N. Have a nice rest of your day.

To: Harry Styles

You too!

-

you spend the rest of your night fretting about what to wear. you were stuck in between classy but not too fancy, but also not too casual. comfy, but not so comfy that you looked like you didn't give a shit. but also not so uncomfortable that you were, well, uncomfortable, and looked like you were trying too hard.

you'd eventually settled for something simple. long, light-wash denim skirt, a plain black top, and some mary janes. you tied some of your hair back with a white ribbon, did some natural makeup, and called it a day.

you got to the coffee shop at 11:45 and ordered your drink, as well as a chocolate croissant.

harry walked in at exactly 12:00, and grinned when he saw you sitting at a table, scrolling on your phone with a manilla folder and sketchbook beside you.

-

really, you can't blame him! you were pretty, he'd have to be blind to not know that. and really, you weren't that much younger than him.

he's 29, and you're 23. he's not a stalker, he just did a background check like any good business person would do.

so what he finds you cute? the relationship would be strictly professional. besides, you deserved a break from your horrible boss. contrary to what diane thought, the walls were not soundproof, and he could hear her chewing you out.

sure, he'd done that to one of his employees once or twice, but it was always deserved, and never on the first time of being late. that was ridiculous.

"good morning, y/n," he greets. your head snaps up to make eye contact and he has to force himself to not laugh. he wasn't laughing at you, per se. it was more so the fact that he found it amusing how jumpy you seemed around him.

"good morning. did you order?"

"not yet. never been here, so i've got no clue what's good."

you open your mouth to respond, but the barista calls out, "large iced honey lavender latte with a pain au chocolat for y/n!"

you give a sheepish smile and run up to retrieve your food and drink. when you come back, you take a sip of your drink and set what looks to be a chocolate croissant down on the table.

"well, i'm more of an iced coffee girl. and i also don't really like the taste of coffee, so i've got a bunch of sugar in mine. what do you usually drink?"

"'m more of a black coffee, to be honest. iced is fine, but hot's better."

you wrinkle your nose, "i don't know how you stand the taste of coffee. it's so bitter."

"better than what you've got!" he laughs, "might as well just down a sugar packet."

you giggle at his teasing, "only psychos drink plain black coffee. this," you hold up your drink, "is so much better."

"oh, is it now?"

"yes, it is," you cross your arms proudly.

"lemme have a taste."

you hand over the drink, and he takes a small sip before coughing, "christ, y/n! that cannot be good for your health!"

"hey, i'm still alive, aren't i?" you shrug.

“that you are.”

“well… just ask for an americano, i guess. the rest of their drinks are kinda sugary and fun.”

he got his drink, and once the both of you were sat down, he got to business.

“so, how long have you been designing?”

“i’ve been doing it since middle school. i.. uh.. i saw that one american girl doll movie. where she was a designer. and i just got obsessed. obviously they weren’t good, but…”

“so you’ve got a lot of experience then?”

you nod. he grins.

“may i see the sketches?”

you grab the folder off the top of the sketchbook and pass it over to him.

he flips through it in silence for a few minutes, and you anxiously nibble at the skin around your fingernails.

“..so?” you ask.

“they’re great. really, you’ve got talent. i can’t draw for shit, so you’ve got me beat,” he laughs.

you laugh with him, “most of those are just ideas, i’ve never made them. but i have photos of the ones i have made. i printed them so it’s easier.”

you pass over the manilla folder, and he opens it to look at all the photos you’d printed out. there was around fifty— those were just the ones you actually liked and were confident showing.

he holds one up, and your cheeks flush. “why’s this the only one where you’re the model?” he asks.

“that was.. uh.. that’s my senior prom dress.”

his eyes widen, giving you an impressed look, “you made your own prom dress?”

you nod, “i just wanted something very specific, so.. i figured i’d just make it myself.”

“y’look great— the dress looks great,” he coughs. “you’re very talented.”

“thank you,” you blush.

“so tell me why someone as talented as you is working in diane’s shop not designing a single thing?”

“i didn’t realize that was the job. i just got excited when my professor told me they were interested in my work, so i took the job. i thought i’d at least do a little designing, but.. it pays.. decent, though.”

he scoffs, “darling, 15 bucks an hour is not decent pay. that’s what you make being a hostess. you’re an artist. someone would pay thousands of dollars for just your sketches.”

“i don’t think i’m that good—“

“you are,” he’s firm. resolute. there is no room for argument with him. “i think you’ll be a great asset to the project. i could use your… talent. i’ll send you an email with the nitty gritty details. i’ll see you soon, y/n.”

and with that, he stands and leaves, leaving you to sit there, dumbfounded, confused, and grinning.

-

a/n: guys i have too many series going on 😭😭

[celestialalpacaron]

Ayo, someone by the name of Curly-B-Blog is redlining art of yours from 2020 (while pretending that it's actually Sai Scribble's work), and kind of being a dick about it. just thought you should know.

You know, originally I was just gonna brush it off, but then I went back to look at my old SU art from 2020 and did so much self reflection from then till now.

I think this was around the time I was just learning how to do perspective and tried to use the perspective tool on Procreate for the first time? :0 and I remember telling Sai “Sai I have this STUPID idea, I CANT believe it this stupid joke it’s so DUMBBBB, it’s living rent free in my BRAIN I SWEAR THIS IS GONNA BE SO STUPID DCIUWHEFIUWHIRFUIW4F” and being super excited to show her the finished product. People still think Sai created the Cursed Skin Gloves comic and I think it’s hilarious wjhwnuhwijwuiw

The comic was received very well and it made LOTS of people laugh and I’m still proud of this comic to this very day! :D and tbh if it wasn’t for my obsession for Sai’s Switcheroo AU I never would have found my passion in comic work! (love you you stinky hoe @saiscribbles 🩷)

HOWEVER…. I definitely still had lots to learn! I wasn’t very good at perspective at the time I’ll admit, but I was definitely having lots of fun learning :3

And throughout the past 4 years, ALOT has happened.

I graduated from college with TWO fancy pieces of expensive papers in Visual Development in Animation and Illustration learning from Will Kim and Jeff Soto, and as a I was working with the funny voice man Cougar MacDowall as a comic/story artist and reached in total around 7 million views for my fan series FNAF Security Malware Breached (it was even #21 on the trending list around the time of my birthday 🩷 what a lovely gift), had an insane opportunity to work with Mike Geno and with the voice cast from The Amazing Digital Circus for a fan song as a background and character asset artist, Vivienne Medrano liking and sharing my silly Overlord Husk AU comics, currently on my route to getting my certificate from Aaron Blaise’s Character design program and graduating from Marc Brunet Art School, and now I am completing my first year as professional colorist and art assistant for my storyboard and comic mentor Michelle Lam, aka Mewtripled! (Also I’ll be heading out to Lightbox Expo 2024 on October 26 with Michelle and the team so if y’all ever wanna meetup hahahajaj wink wink wink wink wink)

So you can say I learned ALOT and I enjoyed every minute of what I do :D I try to be humble about my accomplishments because blah blah being humble good yes yes but this time I wanna be selfish and say HELL YEAH I DID ALL THIS!!! AND IM SO EXTREMELY PROUD OF MYSELF FIUGEIURGERGGRS

Now here’s my most recent comic page that I posted like 2 days ago without the text.

That’s pretty freakin wild to me, I can’t believe I used to draw Steven Universe art like that back in 2020 LOL LIKE GUYS I DREW THIS!! WITH!!! MY HANDS!!! IS THAT NOT INSANE!!!???

Anyways moral of the story:

Learn from everyone and everything! Yes, even then mean ones too! If you can learn to work with anyone, I promise you’ll get to where you want to be faster. People can be a little mean on the internet, but that shouldn’t stop you from being where you want to be in the future. I’m so EXTREMELY grateful for all the opportunities and to all the kind professionals who were willing to give me a chance. Seriously, I’m so graciously thankful for everything, and I hope everyone here will support me and my silly little comics I will do now and in the future!

And one more thing:

Don’t be a jerk. Be to be nice to everyone :D nothing good comes out when you’re bad to everyone.

[macknshift]

THE ONE WHERE . . . I INTRODUCE Y'ALL TO LEO!

SOOOO…i have mentioned leo in like, 90 different posts atp and never actually made a "leo intro" (mainly bc i have weird feelings ab sharing him heavily to the rest of the world lol) but! i figured now would be the best time to get into explaining him to y'all.

LEO , commonly given the last name SCOTT (depends on the dr!) is actually originally the main character's love interest in a hockey romance book i've been in the process of writing. after getting #sickandtired of annoying ass book men i gave up and began drafting one of my own. the main character is literally me (i mean, for christ's sake her name is sloane mackintosh,) and eventually, i began thinking of him in other "au"s (i used to do this a lot on wattpad - i mean DRs but the term AU is usually more digestible to ppl that may not be aware of reality shifting. Anyways.) and began kind of placing him in everything. a list of the drs he is my love interest in is follows;

BETTER CR : (fc silasj2004*) the hockey romance book pretty much as a dr. small changes occur but basically he's the exact same as leo in the book lol

PARENT DR : (fc jack schlossberg. yes. i am one of those girlies. i am not ashamed! at least he has morals + a backbone y'all this could be much worse) the "backstory" is my better cr dr. i'm now a mother of 3 (amelia or mimi, aged 5, giselle or gigi, aged 4 and i'm pregnant with vincenzo, our final kid,) and it follows our life after what would be the events of the book. i sort-of made it also as like a WAG dr in a sense bc leo is a professional hockey player! (but he retires 2 years before this point in time so idk where my thought process is w this lol)

FORMULA 1 DRIVER DR : (fc pato o'ward MY!!!! mclaren man ln4 U ARE NOTHINGGGGGGG) leonardo dempsey, son of actor patrick dempsey (my forever celebrity crush ugh he's so fine) and driver for aston martin aramco f1 team under #99. i essentially took l*nce str*ll's daddy's boy backstory and gave it to leo bc he is indeed a daddy's boy. the only dr leo and i are enemies to lovers bc i'm too obsessed w him otherwise LMFAO

MARVEL DR : (fc marcello hernandez (MY MAAANNNN)) leo scott, secretly the speedster superhero 'comet'. hired by my dad as essentially a bodyguard (leo's not intimidating AT ALL idek how the hell this is supposed to work LMFAO) as comet and knows me out of costume as his sister's roommate (mj is also in every dr ever and actually is here in this cr. i can never leave her out i love her DOWN) basically marichat vibes (god i miss marichat)

POP STAR DR : (fc marcello hernandez, again) leo sinatra, nepo baby great-grandson of frank sinatra (there's a whole, incredibly large bit of lore ab this LMFAO + he's also a great-grandson in my better cr dr too bc i need my man RICH!) and Saturday Night Live cast member. basically i go on snl and immediately fall in love. i've stolen the 'unlikely couple' weekend update sketch for us & he does domingo, which is my song lol we're funny for it idk

THE FCS, in color photos:

i'm missing like, 18 other drs that i can think of but some important info about him;

he's half oaxacan mexican. i've tried my damnedness to find a way to make it obvious but when i was 'designing' him (aka drawing him out) i used jack, silas (*NOTE: he is leo's typical fc if i don't have an designated one for him) and marcello as references to make him look the most like him as i can. the fcs are kind of loose for him but i need a way to like fully visualize him. so. yeah. his 'color palette' (weird way to put it but idk how else) makes him tanner than all three of them i fear. all of the fcs i use (other than jack schlossberg but like. idk his main celebrity lookalike in the better cr is him so i kind of had to) are latino, but i feel like it never ever properly translates when i talk about him bc his name is fucking leopold scott. like. huh.

he's also tall AS FUCK lol and built like a tank lowkey (think tom welling clark kent GOOD GOOGLY MOOGLY) but it's mainly bc he's a hockey player. in every vers he's like. 6'3. shortest he is is w marcello as his fc and even then he's 5'11. (note in pop star dr he gets a lot of comparisons to jacob elordi for some reason??? idk my fans are weird)

he's got big brown baby cow eyes. every. single. time. like that is this man's defining trait and you know what? i would not change that for the world lol

his position in hockey is a goalie! he uses the number #29 and plays for our college and later for the new jersey devils before being traded to the anaheim ducks. after he retires he becomes a firefighter!!!! (which is sooo hot btw)

[countjesterrr]

My Personal Gordie Makuwa Headcanons:

To start off, personally, I’d like to think that all the Gym Leaders of Galar are queer in some fashion— besides the kids, they all scream a bit homosexual in some way…and Gordie, that’s no issue. He’s definitely a strong bisexual character. In my GUT I can feel it.

I don’t know if GameFreak ever came out with age ranges for the characters in Galar, but I think Gordie is around early 20s or early 30s. This is mainly because he’s the eldest child of Melony’s and that bro got siblings out the wazoo, older brother shit

For some more sporadic and random ones, he definitely does holiday photoschoot specials for his special league cards!! Not the same kind of modeling that Nessa does like high production and glam shots, but small photos to give out during rare meet and greets (especially how he has fan card albums stated in his league card).

Very confident in his body!! I hate when people or show media always illustrate plus size ppl either as nerds or insecure ppl, like yes that can happen BUT not all the time. Like Gordie exudes confidence in the way he stands and battles on the field! Plus, he does backflips! Bro got some balls to do that every. single. time.

He doesn’t mind Ice Type Pokemon, just likes being petty to upset his mum. Also to prove a point against her and that he personally just loves Rock Type Pokemon

Definitely that kid that collected cool rocks and put them in some kind of box/jar for safe keeping !

With all the media attention he gets and the huge fanbase he has obtained over the years, he definitely has some sort of ego. NOT LIKE EGOISTICAL LEMME BE CLEAR— like he knows he’s good at what he does but it’s slightly amplified when there’s fans around. That’s why he feels shitty when he does lose a battle; cause in the back of his mind, he thinks it’s only proving his mum right and that he’s not strong enough yet

Shuckle is definitely his first pokemon/companion! Why else would this little guy just be on his team when Gordie has literal BOULDERS as teammates? He fucking loves Shuckle

Wears designer clothes and the type of mf to dress up even if it’s to go to the grocery store. He loves to impress ✨

Has that cool dude attitude on the outside, but behind closed doors and a few people he’s comfortable with, will be the dorkiest and goofiest guy around. Pulling up with snarky remarks and stupid photos on his Rotom phone.

A really cool older brother; as much as he isn’t home a lot, he does try to make up for his little siblings by playing with them, taking them out around Circhester/other cities, or making sure they have someone to talk to especially if it’s about their mum

Truth be told, he is a Mama’s boy. He does love Melony but he just wish she would support his drive to be the Rock Type Gym Leader. Just a bit petty towards her (a lot)

That’s it for now since I’m tired from worksjsjsjs hyperfixations do save lives cause I was about to tweak out until I thought of pokemon and Gordie in general :333

[kometqh]

𝐂𝐨𝐰𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐬 𝐈𝐧 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐫𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐫

Captain Rex x f!reader

When Skywalker assigns you and the 501st boys on a mission, he thought nothing could go wrong. After all, you were one of the best Jedi around. In the flurry of a quick, excitable night, you couldn’t have proven him more wrong. Word Count: 3,238 Warnings: Alcohol consumption, pining Rex, sad Rex, affection (🤯) A/N: SURPRISEEE!! I'M ALIVEEEE :D This piece has been sitting in my WIPs for months now, all because I didn't think it was good enough-- Coming back to it after months I’ve realised I love it the way it is for the first chapter ;)

Golden grains of sand brushed past the group in a chorus, whistling under the amber glow of the setting sun. It'd been hours at that point, hours since the squadron had been dispatched on their mission and they were already running low on water rations and energy. Clone troopers were specifically designed to be able to withstand all sorts of environments and situations, yet even they felt exhaustion after a continuous trudge through the dusty, ruby sandstone canyons. That paired with the constant threat of starved creatures ten times the size of their group lurking about, it was surely enough to keep anyone on a fine line between mind-numbing exhaustion and crippling fear.

Looking up, Rex sighed quietly as he listened to the quiet complaints and grumbles of his men. His feet were aching from a full day of travel, and his throat had been parched for what seemed like millenniums after he'd given Jesse the last remains of his water. The constant scorching heat had also been, unsurprisingly, anything but helpful.

Jedi General nowhere to be seen, Rex urged his men to continue their miserable shuffling pace, until she'd return to them. Until she'd relay information, or let them rest, or reassure them. Until then, he had to maintain composure, never let his men down.

It was shortly after the sun had dipped beneath the horizon, when the skies turned into a canvas of magenta and rosy pink splashes that the General returned. Wearing khaki shorts, a sandy top and a beige cloak, she blended in perfectly with the sunset dunes. Her lightsaber had been safely tucked away, attached to her hip so it was easy to reach for.

"There is a small town just a few clicks South, I believe there might be an inn that we can make a rest stop at. Any objections, Captain?" She eyed Rex up and down, brows furrowing at the sight of his sand-worn helmet and sweaty complexion. In one hand, she held a paper map, in the other she held a flask.

"N- No sir." He responded quickly, posture stiffening up under her scrutinising gaze. She wasn't exactly keen on being alone on a mission with his squadron; not after the last one. He looked down to her flask, feeling the arid desert air clawing at his throat with every breath he took.

"Apologies, it took me a while to realise where the town was. I hadn't seen a paper map in years, nevermind used it." She sighed, feigning some sort of annoyance as she reached out to Rex, head turned away, offering him her water. "Now go, tell the squadron we're leaving in a moment."

"Yes, General. They'll be up and running in no time." Slowly, he carefully took the water, shooting one last look to his general before turning in the direction of his squadron, who'd been impatiently tapping their feet and awaiting further instructions.

As he made his way over, a small inkling of hope settled deep in his gut. She still cared for him, for the others, even when she did her best to avoid them. Rex knew he needed to get to the bottom of this, but for now he had more important things to do. Fives and Hardcase seemed to turn into a team of unbearable jesters each time a mission involved too much walking and not enough action.

—————————

The inn was nothing if not dusty and run-down. It survived hundreds, if not thousands of sandstorms, and its' exterior spoke of those memories as if they were ghost stories told by a campfire. The entrance consisted of a pair of faded, walnut saloon doors, which squeaked and groaned with every brief gust of wind that'd swerved past their hinges.

The exterior of the inn was a sand-tarnished, foamy green wood with a large sign that read 'The Smoker' in fancy letters, but the interior contrasted it with deep, velvet ruby walls, candle lighting and a golden-rimmed bar that extended into the parlour in a half rectangle.

Rex had never been to such an establishment, and he even felt a tinge out of place in such an old-fashioned, un-modernised place in his armour and trusty blasters.

An older gentleman was stationed behind the bar, polishing a glass. Black streaks ran through locks of grey, and his moustache was carefully trimmed into two, twinning strands which curled up at the tips. His cheeks were chubby, brimming with rose colour over a small smile. His attention was redirected to the group, as their entrance was proclaimed by the chime of a small, golden bell.

"Welcome to the galaxy's finest ranch inn, the Smoker, how may I be of service to you all?" His voice was deep and husky as an aftermath of too many smoked pipes, croaking against the smooth tune of a saxophone in the background.

"A couple of rooms, as well as whatever these lot want. Put it all on my tab please." The General spoke quietly, leaning against the countertop. The man eyed her up and down, giving a small grunt in response. She turned to the rest of the group, exhaustion tugging at her features. "Don't go too wild, we've still got a mission tomorrow." And with that, she was off, swirling a room key on her finger.

A few mutters floated between the men as they spread out across the bar, ordering drink after drink.

Rex felt his headache worsen as he rubbed at his forehead. For the life of him he could not figure out how to get his General to act normal with them again. Her behaviour had entirely shifted since their last mission together, and he couldn't blame her. His face still felt hot whenever he reminisced, however she'd become distant and cold towards not only him, but also the others. Parts of him regretted that night whenever he was met with her cold shoulder and distant gaze.

"What's on your mind, Captain?" Jesse's voice interrupted his thoughts, placing a hand on Rex's shoulder. Jesse was a smart cookie. His eyes quickly followed Rex's line of sight, humming in understanding. Jesse had also found himself on the receiving end of her new behaviour, no matter how sugary and honey-coated his words were.

"She'll come around, Rex. She needs some time to figure things out, she's our general after all," He paused, gently tugging at his vod's shoulder, "Let's go, you clearly need a few drinks in you Captain." And with that, the two men joined Fives, Hardcase and Echo at a faraway booth, the men nursing some cowboy whiskey and shots.

Rex was in for a long night.

———————

It didn't take long for the boys to stuff Rex with drink after drink, someone always ready with new rounds each time Rex had thought his glass was empty. Fives took a liking to the music, though he had commented on the lack of civvies in the area, or the lack of their beloved general. Him and Tup were the only ones who, in the past few weeks, had managed to carry out some form of conversation with the general. Rex tried everything to make them spill the beans, from bribes to begging, but the two had sealed their lips shut, their loyalty almost astonishing the Captain, but he knew they were good men, loyal men. So, he didn't push anymore.

Somehow, Hardcase had managed to get his hands on a few 'cowboy' hats, as the bar owner explained, and the boys seemed to love them. Rex was the only one who seemed to be listening to the bar owner's stories, his eyes glazing over and a fond smile gracing his lips as he recounted his favourite memories. The one that had caught Rex's attention was peculiar – it was to do with women, or cowgirls, to be exact.

"If a cowgirl takes your hat, or any other woman for that matter, it means she's interested in seeing more of you," The bartender paused, chuckling to himself as he watched Fives and Hardcase engage in an arm wrestle, "And if you let her, you're essentially telling her you're also interested," After that, Rex seemed to forget to listen to the rest of the story, his thoughts flying to you immediately. As he sipped on his iced whiskey, an idea came to mind. He adjusted the hat atop his head, downing the rest of his drink. He stood up abruptly just as Hardcase won the wrestle, cheering and celebrating in his drunken state. He'd definitely had too much to drink, but Rex would entrust Jesse and Kix to look after him when he'd be throwing up.

Now, Rex had a mission.

He received a few curious glances from the troopers around him, but no one questioned it as he walked towards the stairs, a small wobble in his step.

The hallway seemed to be swaying just a tad as he climbed up with a death grip on the golden rail, praying to the force not to fall and make a fool of himself. The stairs seemed to go on and on forever, taking him up higher into dimly lit hallways, and he wondered just how big this inn was. It didn't seem to be much from the outside, but the inside was certainly a maze.

Many doors lined the hallway, and he realised he didn't actually know where his General was staying. His last sober memories were of Kix joining their table, an annoyed expression tugging at his features as Jesse seemed to regret drinking a tad too fast. Shaking his head – which turned out to be a mistake – Rex stumbled down the hallway, groaning as bile rose up to his throat. Kriff, what was he thinking?

Maybe this was a bad idea after all. Maybe you wouldn't even think to entertain his drunken antics and banish him straight to bed.

But Rex had to try.

The absence of your warmth and kindness was searing a hole directly through his chest. It worsened with every mission, with more distance that you added between the two of you, building a bridge littered with thorns and shards, making it impossible for Rex to cross. You were all he thought of each night, your gentle touches, adorable laughter, your sweet smile and song-like voice. He refused to acknowledge it for a long time, but eventually he realised he was completely and utterly enamoured with you. Ever since that night, far before it even, you had stolen his heart. Hidden it away so deep within your grasps. He knew he was a fool, but he couldn't help it.

A sober voice screamed in the back of his mind to go to bed, to leave you be, and a drunken part of him seemed to accept defeat. He looked like a pathetic drunk, dressed up as a cowboy, stumbling around hallways, desperately trying to find you.

Kriff it. He should go and sleep instead of bothering you further. His drunken antics would only drive a further gap between the two of you. If you needed space, space was what Rex would give you.

Huffing, he placed an unsteady hand on the nearest doorknob he could find. Twisting it, he didn't even bother looking into the room as he rose a hand to rub at his head. The hangover would hit him like a brick in the morning, he was sure of it.

As the door opened, he frowned. It was dark.

How long had he and the boys been drinking? The General wasn't going to be impressed with them for sure.

Rex closed the door with a soft 'click', his arms automatically, but lazily, unclasping his armour. It was muscle memory by now; shoulder pads first, then the chest, arms, legs, so on and so forth.

There were small, fuzzy spots dancing in his vision, the room before him swaying side to side, his feet stumbling over one another as he reached the only bed in the room. Exhaustion suddenly weighed in on his shoulders like a stack of bricks, and he felt himself sluggishly fall into the soft, comfortable mattress. He struggled to twist his body to the side, grunting as the duvet beneath him refused to budge. He pulled at it, his bones turning into slurry and his muscles losing all their strength as alcohol continued to circle around his system.

Finally, something seemed to shift.

The blanket slid out from underneath his bare back, and Rex sighed in relief as it draped over him, the cold material comforting and easing his tired muscles.

His eyelids drooped over, sleep reaching out to him in strong waves of drowsiness as Rex sunk further into the bed.

It was probably from the drowsiness he was slowly beginning to feel, but his heart leaped up and into his chest as he realised – the bed shifted.

He wasn't alone.

His senses kicked in and Rex leaped up from the bed, cursing in the meantime as his legs got tangled in the sheets and his body tumbled to the floor like a sack of bricks, eliciting a loud 'thump' that may have been noticeable all the way downstairs.

"Kriff- I'm so sorry," He began apologising, swallowing down the momentary fear and panic that flowed through his veins, "I didn't realise there was someone in here, I-"

Foreign hands travelled to his shoulders, their warmth seeping into his skin as they sought to comfort him, "It's okay Rex, there's no need to panic," A soft, smooth and caressing voice spoke out into the darkness of the room, and Rex's brows pulled together in confusion. That voice, it was familiar. He knew-

"General?"

"Yes, it's me Rex. Let's get you up now, shall we?" You were quick to help your Captain get to his feet, noticing that a large, dark brown hat resided hung from his neck. His skin was burning hot against your palms, and your hand wandered to his forehead as he laid back down. "You're burning..." You paused, scrunching your nose, "You reek of alcohol, Captain. How much did you drink?"

"Not enough apparently." Rex grumbled out as he pulled his newly acquired hat over his face, hiding his scowl from you.

Your brows furrowed at his response, surprise and confusion flooding your veins simultaneously. Was he upset with you? If that was the case, you could understand why. You hadn't been the friendliest or kindest over the last few rotations, and guilt did eat away at you whenever you were the cause of that dejected look in Rex's eyes. But he was nothing if not patient. He gave you your space and didn't try to break your boundaries. Maybe the alcohol stumped the patience that Rex never seemed to run out of.

"Are you upset with me Captain?"

He gave you no response, no hint as to what he was thinking or feeling.

"Rex?"

A deep huff left through his nose.

"Rex, what's-"

Suddenly, he was sat upright, a hand swiping the cowboy hat back onto the crown of his head. His gaze was piercing, even in his drunken stupor, as his nose remained just inches from your face, "You really do make things difficult, don't you, mesh'la." His voice was a murmur as his hazy honey eyes stared deeply into yours.

Before any words could leave your parted lips, he cupped the side of your face, a coarse thumb tenderly caressing your skin.

"Please don't make this difficult, General." Begging words barely above a whisper, your Captain slowly, carefully, leaned in. His eyes held the utmost adoration as his lips stopped just a kiss away, his presence overwhelming and freezing up every muscle and nerve in you all at once. The smell of whiskey was strong, but that familiar scent of seawater and pine lingered, stopping your breath short as your eyes fluttered close.

His movements were slow, calculating and considerate as Rex hesitantly teased the gap between your bodies.

Blood pulsated loudly in your ears, the hairs on your body tense as goosebumps flushed your skin in waves, the intensity of his proximity to you silencing any stray thoughts you had. In that moment, it was just the two of you. It was just the sound of his shaky breaths mixing together with your own, the slight tremble in his hand as his grip tightened and then eased, as if he was uncertain of what to do, the smell of whiskey and the taste something sweet familiar, something that had you wanting to reach out for more and never let go. And there was also the sight of him. Those golden irises, those thick lashes fluttering over his eyes. The pinkish hue that dusted over his cheeks, the heat emanating from his body as he struggled against every instinct within him that screamed at him to just kiss you, to just hold you and to just love you.

He made his choice.

His fingers dwindled downwards, tracing slopes down your nape as he eased an inch to the left.

Soft lips pressed against the corner of your mouth, pouring all his thoughts and feeling into that one, simple kiss, his nose gently scraping against yours as he took in a slow, steadying breath.

"I'm sorry, mesh'la," He muttered sweetly, voice broken and barely breaking above the confines of a whisper as he stilled against you.

Taking a sharp inhale, the imaginary shackles dropped from your body.

You pulled away slowly, your hands enveloping Rex's as you pressed it against your chest.

"It's okay Captain," You shifted away from the bed, feeling as his fingers entangled with yours and tugged, quietly pleading for you to stay.

Looking up at you, Rex knew deep down that you couldn't do what he wanted. He knew he shouldn't even try, and yet his body seemed to act on its own will whilst he remined watching from behind a glass prison. His chest tightened as he noticed the way your eyes seemed to droop, your lips drawing into a fine line so as to not betray your thoughts and feelings. Time stopped as the two of you remained frozen, yet again, gazing at one another, savouring the last moments before your fingers trickled from his grasp, falling in tow with your other hand as you reached for the duvet.

"Sleep, Captain, we've got a long day ahead of us," You whispered out, pulling the covers over his chest as Rex gave a small nod, resting against the soft pillows beneath him. Your movements came to a halt as you took notice of his hat, yet again, and an idea sparked in your mind.

Your fingers reached nimbly for the material, gently pulling it away from your captain.

With heavy fingers, he reached out for it, his eyes already struggling against the weight of his drowsiness.

"What are you..?"

Lifting a finger to your lips, you let a small smile tug at the corners of your lips as you placed the hat atop your head.

"Goodnight, Rex," And with that, you were out before he could even blink.

Rex remained frozen in his seated position, his mind struggling to balance the feeling of drowsiness and shock at your actions. The alcohol flowing through his blood wasn't any help either, and he soon found his head hitting the pillows as his muscles seemingly turned into jelly.

A small smile blossomed on his face, even as the events of the night slowly blurred and faded under the whiskey and the rush of his feelings..

[ad-astrah]

Finally Watched Cinderella's Castle Digital Ticket (Twice) and I Gotta Get My Feelings Out Somewhere, Somehow (Part I)

Feel free to light up my DMs to chat about it!

And now, for my personal highlights/live reactions:

immediately I'm drawn in by Nick Lang's silly narrator voice and the way he warns us of what's coming. Especially the "muRrrDder!"

Jeff Blim cut his hair. JEFF BLIM CUT HIS HAIR. Not that I didn't like the long locks, but something about his Aladdin Era short hair gets me, man.

Jeff Blim literally getting to own the stage like the man was born to

Jeff Blim's slutty bard getup with the artfully messy hair and the heavy guyliner. That sinful bastard.

"Let's go." I'll follow you anyway, slutty bard.

Okay 80s rock jam! Hell yes.

idk why but I just love the line "There are tales in those walls, are they true or are they tall?"

THIS SET, THO. 80s vibes. Muppets vibes. Princess Bride vibes. Spooky, ethereal fairytale vibes. I love it! Props to the team who designed and built it.

prance, slutty bard boy, prance around that stage.

Jesus Fuck, I've only seen Joey's puppet but I'm already SOLD. Nick and Matt Lang and whoever else had a hand in making these puppets fucking OUTDID themselves! Did they use the Black Book and resurrect Jim Henson?

Throughout the show, the muppet vibes just absolutely amaze and delight me. Makes me feel like a little kid, spellbound by this fairytale. Except it's much darker, more gruesome, way more explicit, and extremely horny.

Oh look, it's Joey's Jingle/Jangle (whichever elf he was) voice from Black Friday.

Love me some o' dat non-binary representation from Ragweed. Starkid once again screaming GAY RIGHTS bitches.

I'm getting some of Jeff's Aragog from AVPS in this Narrator. Anyone else?

Stupid STUPID butcher!

Jon Matteson's accent. *giggles madly*

Angela IMMEDIATELY having to pause for applause before she finishes her first freaking line. The queen deserves it all, though.

The foreshadowing of the Stepmother cutting off Ella's feet. O_O

"It's furryyyyy and fouuuuul and full o' maGOTTTSSaaaaaggghhhh!"

Angela doing the little spinny finger thing in a guy's face to fluster them just like Max did to her character in Nerdy Prudes. I love these physical running gags. My fave being the Smoke Club, though.

OIIIINK oinkoinkoinkoinkoinkoink

Sir Preston asking for help from the audience. His "ELLAaaaaa....nooooo....."

The lighting in this entire show is SO COOL.

Again, Jeff just louging like a whore about the set like its his bitch. I live for it.

James' COSTUME. He looks SO FUCKING GOOD. Props to the costume folks...and to James' rockin' genes.

"But nothing compares to the juice and the hairs..." Oh no. Ohhhhh no I see where this is going. Don't say it, James, don't-- omg he said it.

er ee er ee er ee *window rolling down*

I thought the Prince drawing bewbies on the frosty window was funny already, and then he goes WAH WAH WAH and pretends to pinch them and I fucking lost it.

The Prince checkin' out DAT AZZZZZZ XD

"I'd wager she's wetter now than when I first found her bobbing in the river." OH MY GOD. PRINCE. THAT'S HER NOT-MOM.

If his highness has had every STD and beaten it, that's so fucked up but also damn, that boy's immune system is killin' it. Literally.

"Poor mad EllaAH"

"This is one thirsty FUCKING house." For real, omg.

"The offer stands firm. Come calling if you are!" *screams*

Jeff miming being crew and pulling the ropes for the curtains.

*audience member sneezes* "Bless you."

Angela's diction is next fucking level. PUNY. PINK. KIND.

The epic troll reveal! The puppets are SO GOOD.

THE FROG FUCKING TURNING AWAY AS SHE ASKED FOR IT TO DO SO SHE COULD KILL IT. CHRIST.

This bayou boogie song of Ella's is an absolute KILLER BOP. Holy shit. And it's SO perfect for Bryce's funky, sassy voice.

Speaking of which, BRYCE'S VOCALS. I'm gonna scream about them for forever and ever and ever. I love her voice SO FUCKING MUCH. I could listen to nothing else for the rest of my days and die a happy little gay.

"ohhhh woah woah waohhh" *flips the bird* She's such a queen for that.

"It needs oregano" WORK BITCH

Bryce's stage presence is fucking INSANE. I dunno how she's not on Broadway, but thank goodness we got her!

SIRE MANY TADPOLES!

GOD I love this absolutely depraved, horny little bastard of a prince.

It's amazing Tadeus hasn't murdered the prince yet. The man deserves a medal for the literal shit he's put up with.

Bugette?! I thought you choked on shit died and were consumed by the Hive Queen?

Rancilda being a typical troll and loving lurking under bridges and telling riddles.

Schuyler Sister vibes from the song with Justine and Lucy. So cute.

Justine and Lucy are SUCH real ones for IMMEDIATELY believing Ella about her family being trolls and for saying "fuck the ball, we're leaving NOW."

Shake dat ass, Mariah!

Lauren's physical comedy as Rancilda is NEXT LEVEL. I'm wheezing over here!

iSNn'tT it A BiiIItTcH?!

I LOOK GOOD IN THIS. What an absolute fucking BANGER. This song is gonna play in my head on repeat for the next decade. What a next level villain song.

Also this gives me some strongass Joan Jett vibes. "I love wearin' the skin of dead girls rock 'n' roll!"

and I hEEeaARr yoU'Re RiiiCCHhH

Seriously, is this the next Top Chart breakup revenge song? It should be.

"I really LIKE that song!" XD Putrice. I love how much of an absolute BIMBO she is.

Rancilda singing the song again. "SHUT UP STUPID BITCH, THE SONG'S OVER." "Okaaaaiiii"

Matt Dahan's ability to riff off the main songs and create motifs is otherworldly.

General MacNamara? Is that you?! Oh wait, nope. Still my slutty, slutty bard.

I LOOOOOOOVE this badass electric guitar intro, holy shit.

Kim Whalen, the queen, getting the bitchin' entrance she deserves.

Starkid is so, so good at their sound design to help immerse you in a scene without blowing a big budget or doing anything elaborate.

...Kim. My girl. Your arms must be tired.

She's just standing there, but Kim's stage presence is still so strong.

I can't get over how Jon's Sir Hops-A-Lot's voice is just a small...ahem. Hop, skip, and a jump away from Wiggly's.

JOEY. THAT ACCENT. You ABSOLUTE genius idiot. I love you for this stupidass voice.

Joey's bowl cut makes me giggle like mad.

I love these two puppets SO much.

GIT IT, KIM.

The call and response bit with Ella and the Goddess reminds me of Hamilton when Washington is dictating his Farewell Address. I know it's gotta be in other musicals, too, but that's the clearest comparison for this nerd at the moment.

Jeff sneaking in the "castle on a hill" song reference in this song.

Kim and Bryce dueting together is just Power incarnate. Holy cow. It's so good.

"You shall be as radiant and terrible as I." Ooooooh. Yes. Gimme.

The Narrator sneaking out from amidst the ensemble to finish off the song was really neat.

That fading spotlight before curtain for intermission with just Ella's face in view is so beautiful and haunting. What an epic close to Act I.

Also, it seems like this was also a strategic way to imply Ella's outfit being transformed there on stage during the song without actually having to do the tricky costume designing quick-change theater miracles of an ACTUAL outfit transformation. Which is really brilliant. Leave the audience to wonder until post-intermission about what Ella's starlight dress will look like.

[koifsssh]

So I made a whole brand haha

Okay so to preface, this was part of an assignment that was for my finals for a class, and i kind of really liked how it turned out over all, mostly because the concept itself i had made i treated it rather lightly- which ended up being a lot of fun!!!

So, this is my informal presentation of that! Mostly because i put a lot of work into it and i want to share!

SO... lemme introduce you to...

Periwig!

(long text post ahead btw)

OK, so how do i start off?

As previously mentioned this was made for class, so anything here is actually not real and a lot of images are taken from pinterest or just google in general and put together, so whatever you see in regards to photography is not mine! Everything else IS. (like buttons and designs and the like)

So, what's Periwig? As the name suggests, it's a wig making brand!

Ah yes, very silly. Or that's what i had initially thought when in the concept stage. I didn't take a very serious approach in regards to this mostly because i wanted to focus on having fun with it.

The brand itself also takes this approach, since i imagined it being led by a small team, so the brands voice and tone more so speaks like a friend! Here's an example, since i know in screenshots the scroll boxes are going to cut off text:

"Periwig started as a college assignment.

No, really — what you’re looking at right now literally began as a basic web-making project for a design class, built with more caffeine than sleep and a very chaotic amount of glitter.

It wasn’t meant to be a real brand at first. But the idea — something playful, cute, and deeply personal — wouldn’t leave [koi] alone. She kept sketching wigs, silly characters, colorful layouts. It felt like something bigger was quietly growing behind the scenes… something she couldn’t ignore.

With the help of a few amazing online friends (you know who you are 🫶), Periwig slowly started to bloom. They brainstormed late at night, shared doodles and silly color palettes, and imagined a little world where creativity, self-expression, and cutesy weirdness were celebrated. That’s when Peri was born — our little puppet girl mascot, stitched together with love and used as the main model and spirit of the brand. She’s bubbly, curious, and maybe a little unhinged (in a good way).

Periwig isn’t just about wigs (though, yes — we love wigs).

It’s about art, character, and style — the freedom to become who you want to be, whether that’s through a new hairstyle, a colorful character design, or a puppet dancing in a product video.

Our brand blends animation, design, storytelling, and fashion to bring a bit of whimsy into your everyday routine. Every wig, brush, accessory, and campaign is created with a strong love for playful expression and handmade charm — and a lot of laughter behind the scenes.

This is a place for people who like to experiment. To perform. To dress up, go bold, be subtle, be strange, be dreamy, be loud, be soft — be whoever you want.

Whether you’re here to find your next favorite wig, fall in love with Peri, or just vibe with the art — we’re so happy you’re here. 💫

Thanks for being part of our story,

with love,

The Periwig Team (and Peri, too!)"

but wait, who's Peri? I'm glad you asked!!

Originally i had no intentions for a mascot or any sort of representative figure for the brand, but after looking at the color palette and the logo i had designed, i had thought of making a character off of it! and thus, Peri was born!

Peri... periwig... peri's wigs... yes yes i laughed about it and yes i know it is very dumb. I had actually made Peri after i had already started making the website prototype, only till i got to halfway into the homepage did i realize having one might help me "take up space" and help with the overall design, while also being a "voice" for the brand.

here's the description about her, since it also is caught off in the scroll box:

"Our wig fairy guide & fashion-loving friend!

Say hello to Peri, the official face (and heart!) of Periwig!

She’s a bubbly little puppet girl with a big imagination, an even bigger closet, and an even bigger love for wigs, makeup, and playing dress-up.

Peri lives for fashion in all its forms — she’s not tied to any one style, and she loves mixing things up. One day she’s soft and pastel, the next she’s bold and dramatic. To her, fashion is about exploring who you are and having fun with it, not following rules.

She’s always collecting accessories, trying new looks, and experimenting with makeup. You’ll never catch her in the same outfit twice if she can help it!

Every time we drop a new collection or announce a collaboration, Peri gets a whole new makeover inspired by the theme — it’s her favorite part of the job.

Peri’s mission is simple:

To encourage everyone to embrace their creativity, be playful with their style, and express themselves however they want — especially through wigs! 💖

She hopes you’ll join her in making fashion feel like fun again. ✨"

she's essentially this brands version of Barbie, except well... puppet version. and the funniest thing, i hadn't thought that her hair and skin colors matched Wally until after the fact, t'was unintentional! but the color combination works, so it stayed.

As for the actual website itself... well... i did a lot to try to make it nice. Especially since Adobe XD was such... a piece... of... interesting software.... (in terms of using it for the first time, haha!)

here are some screenshots of what it looks like at the current moment when looking through the save file!

of course this is just looking at it design wise... it is a *prototype* so all the buttons and links actually do work!

that's where you get funky wires like this, since all the buttons link back to pages and such... honestly, i had believed actually linking everything to together and making it functional would be the time consuming part, but you would be SURPRISED. The actual DESIGNING of the website is the part that takes the most time, which i had... definitely underestimated it.

These pages and closeups are honestly the parts i like the most, and the ones the most finished So i thought some closeups might be appreciated!

But yes, i hope you liked my informal presentation of the brand! There's more i have, but i thought to only just show the designed parts, since the rest is just technical information like target audience, and audience habits and the like.

but yea this was the main reason as to why i was just... dead... among other things as well, but hopefully with the small break im on i'll be able to post more!

[kitkatopinions]

The thing about RWBY volume 10 is... I don't even want it anymore.

Like, when it was first announced that Rooster Teeth was shutting down, I admit that although I was very happy that the company could no longer abuse its employees, I was still kind of disappointed that we might not get more RWBY. Yes, I kind of hate RWBY (I hate and love it,) but I personally never was out to 'destroy the show' or something, and I legit wanted to see where they were going with it and to see what I could get from it.

But it's been a while since then, and I feel like every time I even get a hint that RWBY might be coming back for season 10, my reaction is:

Because the thing is, I know - I just know - that whatever they decide to do is going to be bad and near incomprehensible. But even if they somehow sort of manage to make the next volume somewhat good... There's literally no way to salvage the show without an entire reboot with all new writers, and I truly believe that at this point. I watched all of volumes 1-5 for the first time practically in one setting, and boy the whole thing had some rough parts, but I thought they had a chance to come back stronger and try to fix things, and then every season since, I've thought the same and have come up with tons of things they could do and all the good directions they could take characters and events. But it's been nine seasons, and season nine was the worst written season yet and really just gave the writers a whole host of new problems they have to address and new corners they've backed themselves into and at a certain point and after V9, there's just no fixing it because after nine seasons, it would feel weird to backtrack and there's nothing they could do going forward that would fix this bad show.

To bring up a minor example, if they made a new season where they acknowledged that Blake and Ruby have barely talked since the first season, it would retroactively make the 'you inspire me' 'meaningful moment' in volume eight feel really weird, and it would be really weird that they were only starting to be friends in the tenth volume after more than a decade. But if the writers continue to write the occasional 'meaningful moment' between Blake and Ruby without actually trying to establish a friendship and bond between them, it'll continue to feel forced and unearned, and if they're written to just ignore each other completely instead, it'll continue to feel like they don't even really know each other and aren't at all friends, and therefore the show constantly being like 'Ruby's friends love her, they have the power of friendship, I'll defeat you with the power of friendship and this gun I found' will ring hollow when what's being marketed as a team of four feels like two people dating and then also two other people who walk near them that are friends with each other.

They're literally in lose-lose conditions of their own making.

And last season, I remember repeatedly saying that there were some good concepts and moments here and there, but by the last episode, anything that had been good had pretty much been ruined. Neo? Ruined. Ruby's season 9 journey? Ruined. The Curious Cat as a concept? Ruined. All the theories I had about how the Ever After could have tied back into the plot somehow? Completely untrue. The lessons I thought there was the slightest chance of the characters coming away with? Wiped out entirely. The somewhat interesting ramifications we could get from what had happened to Jaune? Removed. The possibility of changes to character design even? It came to nothing. I have no faith that the new season will be able to fix things especially because the writers don't seem to want to fix anything, or even pay that much attention to what they're writing, so even minor good things can easily stop mattering or turn terrible just like with the entirety of volume nine. I was full on invested in Ruby's journey, only for it to be essentially brushed aside with no real consequences and seemingly no impact for the characters.

If there's a new season of RWBY that eventually comes along - a very big if - I'll probably still watch it. But honestly at this point, I hope they just leave it unfinished or reboot completely. Because I'm sure that everything I'm coming up with as a 'where from here' concept that isn't even good because I don't think a good story can be salvaged after V9... Whatever I do come up with is going to be better than what we'd actually get, and I'm actually sure that's true most of us and even megastans.

I feel like I would rather have an unfinished badly made work that I can imagine might have at least some semblance of a halfway satisfying conclusion then wind up following this project to the end on a hope and a prayer despite knowing I'd wind up even more frustrated and disappointed, because at this point I know I'm just gonna be disappointed. I literally feel like the best thing the current writers attached to RWBY could do is let the RWBY fans imagine up their own ends.

[lordoftheempty]

Aren't they supposed to be on different teams?Are they dating?

They may seem sweet and cute to the outsider but actually they're insulting each other in a very passive aggressive way.

This is volleyball AU! It wasn't even on purpose just a fun pose I found. But I am so hyped up about this dynamic I was thinking about when I was drawing..

I was thinking about the positions they could have and for Dongsik I was almost sure in making him a hitter but then I thought about libero(defensive position) and YES it fits so nicely with his character! He would be a fundament of the whole team, saving them every time they make a mistake, also lifting the mood of the team with his smiles and intimidating the opposite team with his unhinged laughter. (Yes he has long hair again but he looks like Asahi tho:( And the manbun!)

He's also the eyes of the team, noticing everything everywhere and quickly reacting. He would be known outside of the team as this man who sees your every move. And his insane strategies and plots would always confuse other teams. So making him the team captain makes sense. (I couldn't find out if liberos are allowed to be captains, they seemed to review that rule but idk, we just imagine he can).

Joowon on the other hand... I think his strength would be technical stuff, like his technique is really precise, because of how determined he is with his training. Because of how long he perfected it. Setter fits him so well idk. He's really similar to Kageyama if I think about it, cannot work with other people for the life of him, really heated in the game, determined. He will be the one with endless energy running around the court, always emotional and because of that always getting caught in Dongsik's traps and tricks, so doing a lot of dumb stuff basically.

But when they're both on the same team.. Dongsik would calm Joowon down, get him more focused, set his determination on the right path.

Joowon on the other hand is such a skillful player not only as a setter but also at any other position he plays in. His skills would maximize the potential of the team when he learns how to work with other people. He would be the force of the team.

Dongsik being a libero would be that one person who's got your back, always behind you, and for Joowon that person who will always be there to catch him.(Yes, as in him catching him when he falls to the bottom of hell).

And obviously flirting in front of their team like everyone genuinely doesn't get if they're dating or not.

And that's so perfect for them I got sentimental while drawing this😭😭 I was sitting there and grinning at my thoughts like a madman. Like I felt so happy I thought about designing the whole team, bye- How can I be so obsessed with these two freaks that they make me so happy?

[yukirayu]

These I've also shared on Twitter, but I thought I'd share them here before someone tries any sort of libel.

You know what's funny about this whole discourse about the Slow Damage patch ? The whole discourse reminds me of game mods, in a way.

Game mods are made by fans, for free no less, for you to download, and only if you wanted, to help improve your experience with a game.

Whether it's improving the aesthetic (character or background design) or tweaking some of the gameplay elements itself. Or adding new elements, or even changing things purely for shits and giggles.

That way, mods are akin to patches. More often than not, mods are made because the base game had flaws in their design (technical or otherwise) that the mod intended to fix or improve.

But these mods are optional. And naturally, most mods are going to use preexisting assets from either the game they're modding or from another game, assets that they'll either refine or combine with other assets to make something better.

While some mods earn a raised brow, if the mod isn't to one's liking, most generally just ignore it.

Except in this specific instance, some don't like the mod that is the patch and feel that it doesn't sit right with them for whatever reason, believing that its existence would be "spitting" on the original game or because it no longer sounds as snarky as they themselves would like to read it as.

But instead of ignoring the patch, which they were explicitly advised to do if they take offense to it, they decide to make their dislike everyone else's problem, and by poisoning the well, no less.

And one quick way to ensure that is to accuse the patch of bigotry towards the LGBT community.

I'm already aware that this same accusation is spreading like wildfire, both in Reddit and especially in Twitter, and in some Discord spaces, most likely.

But did anyone, and this includes the accusers, even play at least 40% of the patched version, and intensively at that, before making that claim?

Oh, I'm all too aware that bigotry is a real, serious and widespread issue.

But in most online circles nowadays, accusing something of bigotry right off the gate is also one surefire method of turning people off of it before they can even check it out for themselves.

I mean, what better way of publicly dragging something you don't like through the mud than to spread accusations/misassumptions that are quick for others to believe before anyone can even try and personally fact-check anything?

Especially in a place like the internet itself.

The note stating the avoidance of using a specific pronoun for some characters to not assume their identity could've been phrased better, yes, and the patch team did clarify their stance on the matter. Alas, anything can still easily be misinterpreted and used as flame bait.

But what's odd is that the people who first touted this claim (either here or in other platforms) have one thing in common: they never checked out the patch (let alone played through one certain route in full) to personally confirm if that really is the case.

Taking all this into consideration, I think that no matter how the patch was presented, it'd get backlash.

Even long before any of us knew this patch was even going to be a thing, even giving constructive criticism about the localization and any mistakes/goofs it made already drew ire, and it's those same people who took offense that are spreading the hate about this patch.

It all really boils down to the matter of the patch even existing, since - as some detractors point out - it's what they call to be a disrespectful spit to the face, even without factoring the false accusations of transphobia and plagiarism.

Let's say they used the JP game files instead and have the patch work with that version. They'd get decried for copyright infringement and they risk a C&D order.

Use the EN files? We already get the claims that they barely did anything to the text, among other things. Why?

Because they didn't adjust every single syntax and change every single word in every single sentence… when English isn't exactly the most versatile language and there's only ways you can translate something, especially in the simpler sentences like "Who are you?".

Using a thesaurus on everything would make it sound weird. Heck, the patch being more verbose and detailed and impersonal (which is what's to be expected when it's third person and in a visual novel, no less) already got it accused of being no more than a fancy MTL.

And it doesn't help that many already assume that the statement that MTL can be a helpful tool is also the same as "MTL being the superior translator of all time", and people will find anything and I mean anything to hate on something and discredit it.

And as for the preferring 1st person over 3rd person and vice versa? It's a matter of preference, yes, and that can't be helped.

But let's get one fact out in the open: Out of N+C's 5 main VNs, only one is told in first person POV in the JP/original version, and that's DMMD.

The other game that used 1st person narration is Slow Damage's spinoff game, Clean Dishes, but not the main/parent game itself.

And even years before they got licensed, the fan patches followed the intended narration viewpoint of the first 4 VNs. Third person for Togainu no Chi, Lamento, and Sweet Pool, and first person for DMMD.

Their respective localized versions (except Lamento), also followed the intended narration viewpoint, and nobody complained because that was all they knew.

But because Slow Damage's localization took the creative liberty of changing the narration from third to first person, with people exposed to it, it's not really surprising some have gotten accustomed enough to end up preferring it.

Even when another version that retells the game in original narration comes up, for the past two years, the localization has been what they knew, and that is what many usually then decide to stick to.

In the scenario where the localization - even if it would still be a mess - never changed the narration, would people still say "Oh but they should've changed it to 1st person since it would've enhanced the story"?

It's telling that it never happened with Togainu no Chi, Sweet Pool and DMMD, no?

And before anyone tells me that I just hate localizations overall, you don't hear me complaining about the official translation of any of the BLVNs that Mangagamer licensed, do you? I also have plenty of gripes with DMMD's fan translation over what it did to Mink.

[lilghostiequinni]

Not the Only One

Main Masterlist Lestappen Masterlist

Pairing: Norris!female oc (Lea) x Max Verstappen x Charles Leclerc

Warnings: Fluffy,

Summary: She comes to Formula One as a photographer. Well, kind of. She's something else but a photographer nonetheless, but for three teams, she takes photos.

Requested: NO / yes (Saturday Poll)

The better part of all 10 teams was gathered in one of the many conferencing rooms in the F1 headquarters; every team had its own little section.

"Alright, well, we have a new member joining, she is a photographer to all teams, partially and three teams full time," Stefano says to the group of teams in the room as he walks in, a woman following behind.

"She is already assigned to one team of her choice. The other two will be determined via her terms," Stefano says, moving to the side for the woman to come forward.

"This is Lea, Lea Norris. She will also be taking team photos and the grid photo for this year's beginning," Stefano says, pointing to the woman as he does.

"Hello, I'm Lea. The team of my choosing was McLaren. I brought it up to Stefano about how to determine the other two teams I will be working for, and that is a charity race for what ever charity you choose. Any questions?" Lea asks the grid, and a few hands go up.

Lea pointed to Alex Albon, "How are you related to Lando? He never mentions you."

"Well, I'm his twin sister, his more successful little twin sister," Lea walks over to Lando and wraps her arms around his neck, and he holds her arms with his hands.

Carlos raises his hand next, "I would like to point out that I knew of you, just not what you do?"

Lea smiles, and Lando shakes his head, "She co-owns Quadrant with me because she can do the behind-the-scenes better than I can. She also owns her own clothing brand, Leona & Odan, also owning the multi-million dollar company Leletics, the company that makes many parts of the liveries and other things. Let's not forget her athletic ability," Lando says; he does an eye roll at the end but still has a smile.

"That is all true. I own the fashion company Leona & Odan, along with the company Leletics, which is also a design company not just for livery parts and 'stuff.' I also co-own Quadrant with my brother, but I am never on camera because I don't want to. I am also athletic. I do ballet and a few other sports myself. I am terrible at golf, though," Lea says, letting go of her brother to walk back to the front of the room.

She stands at the front of the room, watching the drivers.

"Why are you doing this?" Comes from the Mercedes team.

"Because I need a change of pace. I do what I love every day, but there is only so much I can do about my hobbies, such as photography. Also, I may have punched one of the chairmen to Leletics because he was there for a few years and still thought I was an assistant and not the CEO. He tried to do something that shouldn't be done, and I may have punched him a little too hard," Lea says with a fake smile on her face.

"Someone tried to touch you! Was it that asshole Brason?" Lando demands in big brother mode.

"It's fine, Lando, later, please," Lea begs her brother; Lando clenches his jaw but backs down.

For the next hour, she answers all the questions on what she is to do before she gets a question from one Max Verstappen, "So, what are we to do for this race?"

"The race is to determine what other two teams I'll technically work for, and for charity, the two teams to win will get to give 1 million dollars to a charity of their choosing. McLaren will also be competing because they don't want them left out, but they won't get anything if they win; a charity of their choice will still get a million dollars, and the charities of the rest of the teams will still get half a million dollars, each." Lea says before she continues. "Listen, I know it sounds bad because you don't even know what I can do, but I just want to give back, and I... I don't really know how to explain myself to you. I just want to do what got me started, talking pictures of racing."

It was basically a mock race in Silverstone; liveries were provided to each team, so everyone was on the same playing field as the racers; there was a single level of qualifying and a single free practice to get familiar with the car.

In the last laps of the race, it was pretty clear that the two other teams would be Red Bull and Ferrari, but Mercedes was still in the running for the third team, attempting to over take Ferrari.

But in the end, it was Ferrari that just barely beat Mecades as Carlos passed Hamilton.

Later that day, Formula One announced the addition of a three-team photographer, and the day after, McLaren, Red Bull, and Ferrari announced themselves as the three teams for the newest photographer

Lea proved herself, too, to all the teams, not just the three that had become her job, that she was capable of taking the necessary photographs in the sport of Formula One.

It was no surprise to her brother, though, when she showed up at Woking with a helmet for her brother, one he sort of forgot about. Just barely remembered a helmet design he told her for the 2024 season, so she designed it but did not tell him she designed it, giving it to him before testing as a surprise.

A/N: So, Lestappen won, but I will check later when the poll ends and post a thing about which two get one shot in a week. There will also be a part two posted in Week 3, it will take place in Maimi, Imola, and Monaco of the current season. This didn't have much Lestappen content, but in the next one it will.

Tags: If you want to be added to the lists or a single list, let me know