#basically what's been hard is not even the actual fasting. I don't have trouble not eating / drinking. sure I get hungry but the fasting

[aoi1dee]

Alexander (Alex) Morello :D

Ah yes here is my very handsome olnf MC

also...

HIP HIP HOORAYYY 101 FOLLOWERS tysm <3333

okay now here he is...

This is Alex in step 1 !! he is a very shy and fear filled kid. Basically anything can make him overthink and believe bad things are going to happen. He's been like this since he was just a little boy :(

His fears also causes his social anxiety. If someone looks at him the wrong way, he's already walking away as fast as he can with watery eyes because he believes that that person hates him. Because of this, he grew up having a hard time making friends + no one really wanted to be his friend. According to other kids, "he is super weird and too much to handle. I don't want him clinging onto me when he's scared"

No one (not even his own mama) knows why he is afraid of everything he doesn't even know himself. Alexander wishes that he could be able to do fun things like all the other kids and not have his brain tell him all of the things that could go wrong.

Though when he meets Qiu and Tamarack, something flips in him. Though he is still scared of doing anything, he is willing to get over those fears if either one of them wants him to do it. He wants to make his two new (and first) friends happy!

(here is the full body design)

moving onto step 2...

Thanks to his two besties (and crushes) Alex is finally able to do the stuff he always wanted to do! Like go skateboarding by himself or order himself food at a restaurant (even though it takes him a little bit) But sadly that doesn't mean that those thoughts are still there. They are.

Alexander and his Ma were finally able to put a name to why he feels like everything is out to get him.. Anxiety~ So all of those thoughts about "what if this happens" "or what if I do this" are still there but they don't affect him as much as they used to.

Because of this, Alex was able to find some things that he was into. He realized that he really loved films and wanted to make some himself! He has a current obsession with horror movies though. If you asked him how many times he has watched Scream he wouldn't be able to tell you. (because he is embarrassed about how many times he has watched it.) But he has also taken Bass guitar lessons! He carries his bass guitar around everywhere (even if he doesn't need it).

As he grew older though, certain things start to bother him. He is always comparing himself to others. While his two neighbors have perfectly clear skin, his face his covered in acne. The way he walks is weird, the way he talks his weird. Everything about him is weird according to his own mind. He's just never pleased with himself. Even after all of these years, the thoughts about wanting to be normal still torture him. Why does he have to have anxiety? Why does he still have trouble with talking to others?

All of those thoughts fly away as soon as he talks to Qiu and Tam. He still will do anything for them but those feelings when he was younger starting growing into actual teenage crushes. Every single thing that those two will do can make his face turn red. Both of them are just so pretty!

here is the full body drawing of alex...

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ah yes.. if you compared Alex when he is 18 to Alex when he was 10 there was an absolute clear difference between them.

As Alex grew even older and went through those high school years, he was finally diagnosed with an Anxiety Disorder and is taking meds for it!! Now that his anxiety is finally at bay he started to realize a couple of things.. Why should he care about what other people think? Why does he have to dress for other people? Why was he afraid to be himself?

Though it took a little bit, Alex started to actually find himself. He already knew that he wanted to go to school for film and that he liked to play bass. But! He finally got the strength to join a band as their lead singer and bass guitarist! Even though this band is only planning on staying in Golden Grove, Alex is super proud of himself that he is doing this anyways.

Because of Alex slowly growing to be more confident about himself, it started to be seen by other people too. Other people started to see how beautiful Alex really is and he started to see it to!

And something extra funny, his personality ended up being a copycat of his Ma's. After being total best friends with his Ma his entire life, he ended up becoming exactly like his Mama with the way he stands, the way he talks, just anything is exactly like his Ma. (Though he is still a little shy)

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That's my MC!! If you made it this far tysm!! And I'm so sorry if it was difficult to read I was spilling all of this from my head to this post lol.

Byebye!!!

[kremlin]

"This event ends the moment you write us a check, and it better not bounce, or you're a dead motherfucker" -- Big Bill Hell

There was a time when you'd see little old ladies paying for the groceries with a hand-written personal check, holding up the line, causing an immediately-forgiven slight sense of annoyance with those behind her. Buddy. Those days are over. They've been over. What, did you think you were going to just pop a couple extra zeroes on the end of your paycheck there? Maybe scan your paycheck, open it in photoshop, make a template, print em out all nice? You think you're the first to think of that, dipshit?

It takes the law a long time to catch up with the state of the art. You're reading this on the internet, which means you never use checks. The law has caught up. Your ass will be going to prison immediately and you will see zero return.

You can't even kite checks anymore, and hell, nobody under 40 will even know what that means, due to the blazing fast, two day settlement on all ACH transactions. Let me paint you a picture.

You get paid on Friday, but it is Monday, and bills are due on Tuesday. And you're broke: $0 in the bank. Goose egg. Pop open your checkbook, go to a store, "buy" some things, write a check for the amount. The cashier takes it!

Now take those things you "bought", across town, to another store location, and return them for cold hard cash. Sweet. Bills paid. Friday rolls around, and you just make it to the bank to deposit your paycheck before it closes. After the weekend, the checks you wrote finally post, and they don't bounce! You've kited a check. You've surreptitiously taken a zero-interest loan. And we know your broke ass. The interest rate on that short-term payday loan should have been straight up usurious. We're talking 29%. That makes predatory fuckers like us horny for sex. We're so mad. Now you are going to Federal Prison. For a good minute. Fuckface.

COST: $0.10 (With banks offering free checking accounts + Bic pen)

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor sleet, if you fuck with the mail, we'll rip your nuts off" -- Ronald Mail (Inventor of Mail)

Many people have this misnomer that the most powerful people in politics are democratically elected. The president, of the United States, of America, is a stupid cartoon hotdog. All of them, I don't care. Way less clout than you'd think. Brilliantly, it is the people that the hotdog president appoints who are actually doing anything significant. The director of the CIA. The fucking chairman of the Federal Reserve. Probably the, like, most senior, uh, general of the military, and shit too. I don't know, we don't "do" army here at Bloomberg. You probably don't even know their names! I don't! These are the ones you should be seeing in your sleep.

There's another position like that. Appointed directly by the hotdog. The Postmaster General. That's a real title. He's the CEO of the mail, and buddy, what he may lack in political power relative to the director of the CEO, he makes up in raw sexual energy. Total Tom Selleck energy. Like an airline pilot. We're talking Donald Sutherland in Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I'm tentpoling in my black business slacks just writing this, and all my Bloomberg newsroom bros are peering over my shoulder and also tent-poling. We're not gay though, and especially me, I'm probably the least gay, but sometimes I just lay awake for hours at night what that mustache would feel like pressed against my lips, the unbelievable and utter, total sense of security I'd feel burying my head into his hard chest.

You get it. He's your dad. And if you fuck with the mail, you've fucked with the tools in your dad's garage. And dad's been drinking. You're in for it, bucko, you are in trouble. Do you think the United States Postal Service actually makes any money? Hell no. It costs like five bucks to mail a box basically anywhere I can think of and they give you the boxes for free. You can just walk in the post office and take them. I do that, and then just throw them away, I don't know why, some kind of compulsion. Being able to move shit around like this, quickly, cheaply -- Jesus H, I've got a huge amount of money in my bank account, probably tens of trillions of dollars (due to financial knowledge gained from reading Bloomberg articles) and I could probably mail every single person ever something and still come out in the black.

No way pal. They've thought of that already. The Postmaster General is going to know every time, and he's going to grab you by the shirt collar, wearing his cool as fuck hat, and you're going to get your pants pulled down, and your bare ass spanke...I need to go use the restroom real quick.

We rely on the mail system to get important shit done. It's not something to be taken lightly, and it isn't. Trust me. This is why, like almost every other person who receives mail in this year 2023, I just fucking put a wastebasket under my mail slot. I don't even shred that shit anymore. I just burn it. Takes less time.

COST: $0.63 (Postal stamp)

"Can call all you want, but there's no one home // And you're not gonna reach my telephone // Out in the club, and I'm sipping that bubb // And you're not gonna reach my telephone" -- Lady Gaga

I read something wild that the children of today do not know what a dial tone is, because of how fucked up and stupid they are. Isn't that super fucked up?

While it's not really our style, allow me to fill you in on some ancient, arcane knowledge about the telephone. You can turn it on, and then you can punch in numbers. Any numbers. Random ones, or maybe not random ones. If the ten numbers you punch in are the same as the numbers in someone else's telephone number, their phone will ring, and then you are talking to them. This is called "Phreaking".

Here's the kicker: You can tell that jackass anything you want. "Oh, Hi, Yes, I am Reginald Sumpter calling from Avalon Consulting LLC, we are just following up on the invoice we sent you. Please remit to ###### routing ###### account."

BOOM! Your name isn't Reginald whatever and that company doesn't exist, but you just received a deposit. It's fucking beautiful. What have you done wrong? It isn't your responsibility to handle who your business' clients/etc are, it's their's. If they want to just pay you money for no real reason, well, that's kind of on them, isn't it? I haven't stuck a pistol in your face and demanded everything in the register.

Well, it's too clever. It's too slick. This is the United States of America. It's one thing to commit a felony like armed robbery, it's another thing to piss off someone in charge of the accounting division who uses a special bathroom you need a key to get into.

You can do it on the computer too, I use a PC Computer at work and send email, so you can see how it'd work there. You can make a document that is indifferentiable from a real invoice and, straight up, 1/3 of the time they will pay that shit. Lmfao.

It's called wire fraud because, uhh, duhhhh, there's wires. What do you think that thing is strung between the telephone receiver and the dialer? And computers? Give me a break. There's so many wires with those.

COST: $0.25 (Coin for payphone)

"People calculate too much and think too little." -- Charlie Munger

It is insane how dumb the common man can be when it comes to our world of expertise. I hear this same sentiment, like, ALL THE TIME:

"Durr hurr I will buy an insurance policy for my car or house or whatever so that in case something happens to it I will get money". And then that same person proceeds to drive safely or not burn their house down. Dumbest crap imaginable.

Let me break it down for you. Insurance is a two player competitive game. There is a winner and there is a loser. Go take out an expensive insurance policy on your American sports car. Buy a neck brace, a football helmet, and pack that bitch with throw pillows. Then get in the left lane of a major highway at like noonish, let it rip and then SLAM on your brakes. Hit from behind! Your fault! Congratulations. You have won insurance. How this gets past people is beyond me.

You can only do this once or twice before the insurance companies catch on. Then they don't want to fuck with you. It is also..I don't know man...something feels off about taking a car or a house, which like, some guy had to build and just destroying it, but that is only a weird emotional thing, since you're making money, more than whatever the destroyed thing is worth, so in reality you've built that house plus some extra. You've contributed.

COST: $106.00 (Average monthly car insurance payment)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

SUBSCRIBE TO MY WHATEVER FOR PART TWO, COMING SOON. i'll post it later today probably. whatever time frame will juice the numbers. have a sneaky peaky

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[allwormdiet]

Sentinel 9.6

Well.

At least we're not as fucked as Brockton Bay.

"Ugh, how dare crime be prevented so I can't beat the shit out of the people doing the crimes for my own catharsis" - sentiments of the utterly normal

This glimpse into the inner workings of these two has not endeared me to them any further, tbh. I think the time in which they can actually turn these impressions around is starting to dwindle.

So. Here's Sophia's worldview laid plain, and it's about what I expected. Might makes right, violence and desperation and greed are the true nature of humanity, everyone can be divided between sheep and wolves and she refuses to be a sheep.

Mostly I think I'm just curious as to what, exactly, shaped her to be this way. Like obviously whatever caused her to trigger is a factor, but I don't know if any parahuman has had a complete overhaul of their personality brought about by their power coming online; I suspect that she'd followed some version of this mentality before the worst day of her life (so far) proved her right.

I can't imagine Piggot would be thrilled that Shadow Stalker thinks so highly of her, or at least the why of it.

This is cool, though. Give Wildbow credit, he can make just about any sensation of using a power sound rad as hell.

*sighs* Fucking Nazis

At least Sophia is sensible about what to do with them

Another neat fight scene, this one is a bit quicker than the Travelers tussle so I kinda like it more. That and it involves beating the shit out of Nazis.

Ruh roh Raggy

hiimdaisy_adachi_murder.mp3

Oh yeah, why eliminate the villain who you know is a particular threat to you, specifically, when you can try to torment her first?

This isn't even me saying that Sophia should try to murder Skitter, bc obviously I prefer the latter to the former, but taking the whole thing of seeing her secret identity into consideration, the response to crossing paths should be "take her down fast and hard," not "put her back against the wall and make her panic"

It's gonna fucking break her brain when she realizes Taylor is Skitter, huh?

There's something really funny about how basically every outsider POV we've gotten on Skitter involves hating her ass. Truly cursed to be unpopular.

I like the logical weaknesses of Sophia's power so far. Things getting into her shadow form, like bugs, fuck with her ability to remanifest because she has to "shove" them out of where she's going to solidify. The electricity I'm less clear on, maybe just some quirk of what she's "made" of in her altered state, but it's a good way to explain why she can't just leap through buildings willy nilly. The thing with the gas/vapor absorption that gets mentioned in a second also makes sense and is pretty neat.

Hey Sophia do you maybe regret playing with your food a little bit

Also still cool to see Skitter's powers from the outside POV

God that's so cool

...Y'know, if these two could get over their bullshit for like, a minute, they could probably have some very cathartic hate-makeouts. More blood than normal for kissing but less blood than normal for their usual interactions.

Lol

Lmao

Nuts that what threw her off in this moment was looking for a secondary murder weapon to cover up her power's tell.

Also: get fucked Sophia.

And you fell for it hook line and sinker, because you're a petty tunnel-visioned sadist.

Got the whole crew doing the group pose, love to see it

Also: hi Aisha, glad you get to join the team, sorry you had a trigger event, hope the future scenes with you are less uncomfortable than your first one

Skitter is so fucking good at playing up the villain role, she really should be proud of the work she puts into it.

Not entirely sure why they're kidnapping Shadow Stalker, but I'm sure it's going to be another photo album moment for the Undersiders and their rise to prominence.

Concluding Thoughts

Y'know, a lot of trouble could've been avoided if Sophia just ignored that impulse to play with her prey. I'm not gonna be like "oh why can't she just rein in the violence" because every parahuman we've met so far is either a participant or facilitator of violence, but the cruelty is what's gotten her in trouble here. Not only did she only get baited into this trap because she refused to make an earlier attempt at the killing blow, not only did she take the bait of hunting down a lone villain while a PRT convoy was under attack by fucking Nazis, but the hostility might have been avoided if she hadn't gotten her kicks from tormenting and assaulting Taylor. If Sophia was just Emma's friend who hung back and watched as she tormented Taylor, things might've differently all the way back in the medical tent, but alas, she was a willing and gleeful participant.

Little concerned about what the fuck they're going to do to her, but there's nothing to do but wait and see.

Also, cautiously glad that Imp has arrived, she seems fun from what I've picked up via osmosis, again fingers crossed that her continued presence in this story doesn't involve nearly as much wincing as Tangle 6.3 because holy shit.

[didishawn]

The kylian fic is too good I want a part 2 with smut when she arrives in Paris pleasehdhdkdbsk thank you ❤️❤️❤️

Trouble in Paris (Kylian Mbappe x Reader) smut

Warnings: smut, Jude being dramatic

Pt 1 Pt 3 Pt 4 Pt 5

Masterlist

The shower is going off on the background as you lay comfortable on the big ass bed that your self-proclaimed boyfriend feels the need to have.

Your clothes have long since been on the floor, and after such activities and having shaky legs, you can only just lay as you scroll Tiktok, your tummy full of butterflies as you think of what will go down once he gets out from the shower.

Your phone rings, and you roll your eyes when you see the name on your screen, letting out a long sigh as you pick up.

"Where are you?" is the first think Jude asks, no greetings no nothing.

"What do you mean where I am?"

The water stops.

"I mean where you are? You haven't been around for days, your little brothers miss you, you know?"

"Well, I will make sure to pass by soon"

"Whatever you mean by soon? Come over now, we can watch a film or something"

"I can't"

"Why not?"

"I am not home"

"And where are you?"

"... Eating croissants?"

".... You can't be serious"

The door to the bathroom opens, the boy, the man, Kylian Mbappe coming out of it, his waist decorated with a towel only and chest wet with drops that make you want to lick them off him, he gives you a questioning look, raised eyebrow, you shrug your shoulders and he instantly knows it's your drama queen brother on the phone.

"You are in Paris?!"

"Yeah, well, I received a pretty good invitation, you know?"

"Is he there with you?"

"Right in front of me"

"Put me on speaker so that little French man can listen to what I have to say"

"Believe me, there is nothing little about him"

"First of all, ew. Second, I am so telling mum you told me obscene things, now put me on speaker" you comply "Hi, Kylian!"

"Hey, Jude, how you doing man?"

"Good until I learned you took my sister away to Paris"

"I told you I would be bringing her here"

"I just didn't think it would actually happen, you know? Supposed you would realise how annoying she actually is before she had the opportunity to go there"

"I still can hear you, you bastard"

"Another thing I will be telling mum you told me"

"Anything else, Jude" you ask, glaring at Kylian as he snickers at the sibling banter.

"Not really, just don't make me become an uncle just yet, Kyky"

"Asshat"

"I gotta go now, have to search for something else to do as my sister decided to abandone me for some French man"

The call is over, and it's just you and Kyky alone once more,

You glance at him with wide eyes, looking him up and down, hands inching to unwrap the towel that hides him from you. He must be a mind reader, as he lets the the piece of cloth drop to the ground, leaving him uncovered, all his glory for you to see, bouncing, thick cock standing high and tall, hard again pre cum coming out from his tip, basically calling for you to lick it off.

You are on your knees, mouth getting closer to him when his hand stops you, burying into your hair he gives you a cheeky look.

"I think all that happened earlier was already enough foreplay, sweetheart, I just need to fuck you now"

"Got clean just to get dirty again, you know?"

"Let's shower together next time"

He pushes you into the bed, your back comfortable on the soft mattress, legs wide open, he doesn't even have to touch you to realise how wet you are.

He crawls on top of you, cock pocking at your tummy, you head reaches down, thumb swipping over the tip, then licking the cum off it, he groans, lining up with your entrance, he doesn't take a moment to thrust into you.

His hips are fast against your from the go, hard, pounding, moving you with his strength up and down, the bed creaking as he lifts one of your legs up into his shoulder, he wants you wider, one hand going down to play with your clit.

This is no longer love making as before, this is pure and raw fucking, you both seeking out you releases and nothing more, wanting to blow off the sexual tension.

There are the sounds of skin slapping against each other, your moans, his guttural groans, you feel him fill you up perfectly, as if his cock was designed to pleasure you.

He leans down, lips meeting yours as you both are way too close to the edge, letting out your pleasure screams into his mouth.

His hips falter, you feel him throbing inside you, your nails digging into his back push him over the edge as he cums deep inside you, filling you up to the brim, this also making you reach your high as you let out a long moan.

Both of you are panting side by side, completely exhausted, tired, yet you both know the night is still far from over.

Minutes pass, and he turns to you with that cheeky smile of his, a special glint in his eye.

"Join me in the shower this time"

[teethstitch]

Since you are into TMNT I am curious what’s your opinion on each of the turtles in general since you seem to be into all iterations of them /gen question

ooh fascinating question. unsure if you mean each individual turtle from each gen or just each gen itself but i'll go into both!

so i actually have a tmnt powerpoint i'm working on right now, so i'll lift some stuff but obviously i won't lift it all, ill go in franchise order. shows and comics in order (show specific comics will go in the show sections) and then movies. spoilers for pretty much every single thing i talk about. if you haven't finished a specific iteration just skip the paragraph about it

Mirage

I havent read too much of mirage, though i'm sure its good i find it a bit visually noisy and actually struggle to read it- my vision is fine as far as i know and i don't usually have trouble with other black and white comics but man mirage is hard to read, whenever eastman would draw for idw annuals or issues i'd have a hard time getting through them because even though the style is cool i just can't see anything, so yeah, that for the time being kind of sums up my thoughts on mirage, i think the shredder worm shark is funny as hell though. i suppose the only thing of note i have an opinion on is the april race debate - wherein by one of them she was thought of as white and the other thought of her as non-white (i can't remember which ethnicity), so based on that i've seen people say that means she's white or the other ethnicity but since they're co authors i've just gone with the idea that mirage april is biracial. that's about the only mirage thing i can actually give my two cents on, moving on!

1987

I really like 1987, i haven't watched it all but trust me i'm slogging through it o7. i adore the animation mistakes, the way they give one turtle another turtles lines, and i think the characterisation is pretty solid. sometimes the show can feel tedious to watch personally, which is why i love saturday morning adventures, it's a much more concise, thought out version of the show itself and is a beautiful love letter to the show (they also finally sent usagi home :'D). obviously it went on for way longer than it realistically needed to, a majority of episodes basically mean nothing unless they introduce new characters, its the one piece of the franchise, lots of filler, i still think it's great though. i also love shredders revenge, it was the first tmnt game i've played since joining the fandom and similar to SMA it is a genuinely beautiful love letter to the community and franchise, i'm an avid cross stitcher as well so pixel games make me happy because i can stitch straight from the game sprites, which i've been doing :3. I love how the turtles are characterised, Cam clarke is iconic and i love shredder and krangs dynamic, irma has become the love of my life and much to my dismay i love the neutrinos which sucks because they're only present elsewhere in idw, i'm doubtful but begging Tottmnt to bring them back.

2003

2003 is by far my favourite of the shows, i actually enjoyed fast forward unlike much of the tmnt fandom, i thought it was fun, though sterling was meh to me, i just didn't like him - even though i liked fast forward i can personally admit the show dealt with similar issues to 1987 of just. extending itself. when they were able to focus on plots and do arc episodes was great, but the seasons could have definitely been cut down sometimes because the formula of an episode was beholden to ads, which meant every 5 minutes someone had to say something shocking or nearly die only for it to be dissuaded or continued after the ad break, watching it digitally now with no ad breaks was kind of funny though because i would be up late sometimes and delirious and the 03 singers yelling 'teenage mutant ninja turtles' at me while mikey or other did a cool move entertained me much more than it should have. I really love that the opening scene is recreation of the first scene in the mirage comics, even if i have trouble reading it i think thats cool and fun, i love all the turtles voices and characterisation, i never have any complaints about voice in any iteration but especially not here, they all feel perfect. the fandom is a big part of the joy of 03 for me, but i do still love watching my favourite episodes back from time to time, and like any good 03 fan i can scream about good genes and same as it never was like a banshee, though i do also have a lot of thoughts on other arcs dw. usually i find it easier to pick a favourite turtle iteration to iteration but man is it hard here, they all have their moments, i think the humour and the darkness are played really well (cough except for when leo got stabbed in the shoulder and i had no idea where he got stabbed until he got a scar next episode because there was no blood). I was drawn into the fandom by rise and it will always hold a special place in my heart but 2003 is far and away my favourite iteration. forever sad about the dreamwave comics being cut short and no one picking them up. we deserve more official 03 comics.

IDW

I'm also still reading idw - don't kill me its long and also theres just a lot of turtles stuff to get through, okay? I really have enjoyed it thus far, i jumped for joy when the neutrinos were revealed, i hated chet with a passion and they somehow wormed me back in with the fugitoid reveal, i will say similar to watching 03 digitally and just getting hit with the before ad and after ads cutaways back to back, there's a bit of an annoyance in trying to find and read everything in exact order, because missing a micro/macro or short side story like the secret history of the foot can kind of screw you over, so when someone says they're reading idw its not actually the 150 issues, its well over 200, though i haven't counted specifically. if you read the powerpoint pictures you'll see the artist death match, basically i was just going to pit them against each other by choosing the best design of reoccurring characters and the artist would get the point, there are some great artist who had a hand in this series, i can't deny all of them are talented, but man some of them are just not for me, getting through an arc with a style i don't like is a breath of fresh air, right now my main example of a style i like is Mateus Santolouco - not all the character designs are my favourite but the secret history of the foot clan was gorgeous, especially karai, she's always been one of my favourite characters. i enjoy idw, i think the worst thing i can say about it really is sometimes theres styles i don't like and akin to other comic series it can be stupidly difficult to figure out the exact reading order when you're not there from the beginning.

2012

possibly controversial (definitely, i'm lying to myself), 2012 is probably my least favourite of the franchises shows (no, its not below next mutation, just talking animated main shows). just to explain myself, I do LIKE the show, but of the shows i find its the least in line with my humour, the gross out humour is a little more uncomfortable for me given the 3d style, i can't deny the story is probably the most well done of any of the shows thus far, i do enjoy the story and i think even non relevant episodes to the main storyline do a good job of serving some kind of purpose to character development or giving the viewer a look into the world, it is by no means a bad show, i would never say it is, i do like it, but for myself personally i struggle to sit down and rewatch because of some of the things i pointed out and some other things like the way apritello is written, leorai (shudders), idk why but 2012 splinter just annoys me, i will say the turtles and april are really enjoyable characters, i find most of the characters (karai, casey, some of the minor villains even) pretty engaging, everyone feels really fleshed out and similar to 03 the voice acting is on point, though this iteration isn't my favourite in terms of rewatchability, i audibly cheered when i realised shelldon was greg cipes, when he said booyakasha i was on the floor weeping. 2012 is a show that i would watch on occassion when it was on, its the one i technically grew up with, though i wasn't really into tmnt as a kid, but greg cipes was pretty much my childhood as a big teen titans kid, as well as mae whitman, i was a big tinkerbell kid, so those 2 are a huge highlight of the show for me. my feelings on 2012 are pretty confusing, but i still do like the show, its just if anyone (like you) asked, i would have to say its technically my least favourite, but again, by no means means that its bad, because it isn't, it's just not really as for me as the other shows. the '12 comics i enjoy, i haven't read too many but the batman crossover was sick as hell, style wise the 2012 comics are solid, while i don't think 2012 looks bad as a 3d show i would personally be more drawn to it if it was 2d like the comics, i just prefer 2d.

Rise (2018)

As previously mentioned, like many others rise was my formal introduction as a teen/now adult into the tmnt fandom, for a while it kind of stood out as my favourite before 03 topped it, but still i love it with all my heart and i rewatch episodes frequently. i think the voice casting was on point, i had recently finished ducktales so ben schwartz and josh brener were welcome surprises, kat graham was in perth for a con recently and i was so sad she wasn't scheduled for the melbourne run of that con and was heavily tempted to go just to see her, rise april is definitely my favourite of all aprils, while i think its a fun dynamic when April is an adult and sort of an aunt figure to the turtles, rise april really killed the older sister thing, every episode she's in is a treat, omar miller and brandon smith (am i meant to put middle/second names i have no idea) were stunning choices for raph and mikey, rise raph is so brotherly and silly, he just brings so much heart to raph, Mikey is so much fun in rise, i can get caught up in inflection and the way a line is said and there's a lot of variety with Mikey's lines, its funny and i couldn't ask for better delivery, i think they're all good at it but brandon knocks it out of the park with mikey. So, partially the blame goes to 03 but rise was also what got me into usagi yojimbo, it's kinda funny how the only show without a canon usagi is the one that kinda goes the hardest in adding him into stuff. the format of the show not getting to focus a lot on plot and mostly just being one off episodes obviously isn't ideal, but for what story we got i really enjoyed, i also just liked the one off segments, the majority of them i really liked and found funny, for me this is probably the show that makes me laugh the most out of any of them - while i tend to participate nowadays more with the 03 section of the fandom, i still love rise to my core and still interact with it here and there.

Ronin

As i said before, theres a lot of tmnt to go through, but uh. everyone talks about the last ronin, so i detoured my regular watching and reading to dive into it. I liked it, there are things i would love answers to but i might just need to reread to know because middle of reading my cat threw up and i had to pause to clean it up, so yeah- there are things i'm worried to have possibly misunderstood, like the dissolution of their treaty of sorts, misremembering or misunderstood that part of the story is a possibility but if its not that i'm still desperate to know who actually betrayed who first, what actually did the turtles/foot truce in? i haven't gone into re-evolution or lost years yet, i've been meaning to but occasionally i'll get a new shiny hyperfixation and when i return to turtles i tend to dive right into the shows or long running comics first compared to stuff like ronin. i am very excited for the game and the film, little nervous at the idea the film will be live action but i'm mostly just going to wait and see, no sense hating it before i even know what it looks like.

Mutant mayhem/tales/2023

i know i said movies last but its kind of different since the movie was before the show- so deal with it ig. mutant mayhem is a great movie, emotional, funny, i really like it, and the style translates beautifully into 2d animation for the show, i don't have much to say on the movie itself, i really liked it, i watched it with my mum who really liked it and she can be pretty hot and cold when it comes to movies. Tales is a fun show, i similarly don't have too much to say, i struggle to rewatch things i've watched semi recently because i get burnt out on it quicker, but i'm super excited to watch this iteration continue, i'll miss rise like hell but i think tales shows great promise and i'm looking forward to more of it!

Bayverse

if you're wondering why i skipped the 2007 movie its because i haven't watched it, semi similar to mirage the style is a lot, but not similar in the way that i can actually tell whats going on in 07, i just. don't like the style. bayverse is pretty controversial but i like it enough, i don't really rewatch it because the 3d models freak me out, but i love the fanart people make, i do think the character designs themselves are very good, peoples fanart definitely helps you look at them more clearly as well. I still don't visually get leo's bone necklace placemat thing. splinter in the first movie is too furless and he needs to be shot. the movies themselves i don't find too special but i don't dislike them, i remember watching the second movie because some cousins and i went out with our nan and my younger cousin wanted to watch it so we did. i had very little turtle exposure as a child but out of the shadows was part of it.

Original trilogy

I quite like the original trilogy, it's very campy but i think its a fun watch, similar to mutant mayhem i watched these with my mum, we really only watch the movies together and we had a good time, we both struggle to really take them seriously. we had to pause the first movie for a WHILE to laugh at the bathtub scene, i still laugh about it frequently and remind her of it just as often, 'i'm coming....... tO A DECISION' also was funny, the third movie is there also.

Batman vs tmnt

Holy crossover, batman. i really like this movie, as a tmnt fan and a batman enjoyer this movie is just so good, many have said it before and i will continue to say it. the movie is so full of easter eggs, i'm still trying to figure out if that portrait in the turtle van is of mikey or jennika - everyone is characterised so well, the dynamics between the batfam and the turtles is done amazingly, alfred and mikey as a duo is delightful and as always the voice acting is so good, i would sell my soul to hear kyle mooney and baron vaughn as mikey and donnie again. eric bauza is always fun to see given his history with tmnt, so seeing him actually be a turtle for once was great, i really enjoyed his performance as leo, i still can't believe darren criss is raph. i'm a gleek and a huge starkid fan and i can't hear it but i know its true. its fucking insane. the movies story and pacing is just really good, and is one of the few animated tmnt iterations to actually let people get hurt, have visible injuries and get fully murdered on screen, when i saw that foot ninja DIE die i was fucking pumped, a lot of the other video iterations lack actual tension because yeah shredder wants to murder a guy but this is family programming, so he wont and can't. but you watch people die and suddenly that hologram the foot tried to kill doesn't just feel like a 1987 thing where the one time the villains are able to do real damage its a decoy, it feels like a truly necessary precaution, had batman not done that, someone would have died, no doubt. i've spent an extended period of time analysing the easter eggs in this movie, especially when it comes to the turtle van itself, i LOVE the van design, the fact its an old rv, the call back to 87, the spare tire being an anti-foot symbol, the grafitti saying 'Foot Stinks', the April calendar with a picture of a turtle on it, its all a genuine treat. I love this movie, i think it's the best tmnt film ever, i love rise's film but to me nothing holds a candle to this. rarely do i only ever have one criticism for a movie but the only issue i have with the movie is the fact they clearly imply mr freeze DIED and that mutated batman killed him but they NEVER TOUCH ON IT AGAIN. i need directors commentary, i need a script, i need SOMETHING to tell me what happened. anyways. the fighting is so much fun, i love it, it's delightful to watch a tmnt fight and to be fully dialed in because it feels like a real fight, 03 had some pretty good fight scenes but in essence they were very cartoony in the way they won a lot of the time, i just think the batman vs fights are golden, especially the penguin fight, but again, all of them are really good.

so yeah. i have a lot of tmnt opinions, there's more i could say about each iteration individually, especially the shows, but i'll leave it with a list of my favourite characters and their iterations.

IDW Karai, 2012 and 2003 karai, they mean the world to me, i'm a big karai fan and i think they're great. of course the neutrinos, as little as they appear they mean the world to me. 2003 casey is definitely my favourite casey, second is probably idw casey. Batman Donnie is so much fun, his lack of social awareness is really played up but it feels natural and very donnie and i love the think he does where he moves his head like he's going to hide it in his shell but doesn't so he's just poking out. Rise april has my entire heart, she's the best and i'd die for her. 03 and 24/MM Leo, they're both great. really the entire rise cast has my heart. also the 03 cast but special shout out to 03 splinter he's just very sweet. i have to stop now because i could yell about even more characters forever, so last one i would say Alopex, i think she's a great addition to the franchise and i hope more people adapt her.

in case you weren't wondering because i'll tell you anyways, i do have oc's, i just don't really draw that much or particularly well so i don't post about them, i do write about them but i don't publish it bc i don't think anyone would care much, i don't really dip into oc fic either so.

so yeah. general thoughts on most of the franchise! if you want me to expand on any of the thoughts i shared here i'd be happy to but for now my fingers ache from typing so bye :3

[britt-kageryuu]

Not so much a content warning, but fictional politics mentioned.

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

Donnie is working on some programming on stream again. They told the audience that it's for some minor upgrades to a something he was working on. Some of the chat is trying to play a guessing game, on what it's for based off of some peoples programming experience.

Donnie is only seen from the waist up so he's only visibly wearing his oversized purple hoodie, but this one appears to have an effect where everytime they type a sparkle effect happens somewhere on the hoodie, and of course his mask.

As Donnie chats with the audience while typing fast (looking like a disco ball), they ignore a notification sound that kept going off. But since there were no effects or messages appearing on screen the audience knows it's not from the stream, so there are some curious as to what Donnie is ignoring, with how many times it's gone off during the stream so far.

Eventually Donnie let's out a loud spoken, "Groan Of Annoyance. Does this person seriously have nothing better to do with their time! Yes I know it's all the same person, who needs to get an actual life!" They basically yell towards the device that is sounding of multiple notifications, "My dear siblings and I have been getting multiple messages, under different names, from the same person, and if it wasn't for a few loopholes in laws about cyber harassment, I would have sent the authorities after them!"

Donnie grabs the device and quickly takes Screenshots of the messages, before mass deleting them from all his siblings devices. Only for more to pop in shortly after, which likely meant the Annoyance on the other end was using a program to send these, or help 'disguise' their identity. Not that Donnie didn't already know who they were, but they needed to keep things legal, as annoying as that was.

"I know some of you are curious, what is this person sending us with such frequency, is it very important? Well it's not really, depending on your point of view." Donnie says seeming to be tempted to yeet the device, "This person is persistently asking us about our thoughts on politics. If only because we've strictly said to never bother us about topics such all those."

Donnie takes a moment to stretch before continuing, "Before anyone asks, we're not actually registered to vote, and even then one of the candidates, Mr. Jamieson, made our lives a bit difficult in quite an important way. How you may ask?" He holds his hands and leans forward on them, "His policy on obtaining identification when you technically didn't have any, made it hard for us to get our paperwork through."

"What do I mean by that? Well when Papa gained custody of us, there was a bit of an Error that made it near impossible to find our legal papers. Thus made it hard for Papa to be able to get help for us. Since he himself immigrated to America and not very familiar with getting such in the US." Donnie explains this as calmly as possible, trying to not get worked up, "So we couldn't do much, for some likely racist reason we guess, about that until a few years ago, when we found someone in a government position who could help us, though even they had trouble getting blocked by some policy or other by Mr. Jamieson."

"Our wonderful friend was able to help us, and now we have our identification and passports if they don't want to believe those are real." Donnie says with a lighter tone, "But going past that, the other candidates are not very interesting to us, we know some are pushing for better things, but the current debates have not been as clear as we like."

He gets annoyed by the notifications going off again, "If the person who's doing this is watching right now. I do know who you are, well there are a few others in your location, but either way, you will not like what I plan to do if you do not cease and desist!" Donnie says the last part with a growl in his voice coming through loud and clear.

They then clear their throat, take a drink, and get back to programming, not saying anything. The notification sound has not gone off since.

"On a much lighter note, we have some plans to go to a convention, though we haven't been invited at guests, so no meet and greet stuff. Just you might find us in person, if you're lucky." Donnie jokes, "Though we can't say which one just yet. There are a few happening around the same time and we only have time for one right now. Thus you might be lucky to find us."

Donnie continues to talk to the chat while working, giving a broad range of which conventions they're might go to, talking about possibly having a booth in the Artist Alley, but things were not set in stone yet.

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

Masterpost

This idea got stuck in my head, because in universe there would be some questioning about politics, plus I can say that they met a Nice Agent Bishop who helped them get legal identification. It's just the 'Mr. Jamison' is anti immigrant or along those lines, thus tried to stop or slow the process, without actually knowing who the paperwork was for, or caring.

I also don't want to include real world politics in my fictional Turtle world, but I kept being tempted too.

[getvalentined]

1, 4, 8, 15 for the ask game - SEPHESIS

1. Which one is the better cook:

Genesis, hands-down, but only because Sephiroth was never given the opportunity to do much of his own cooking. His diet was strictly regimented by Hojo for basically Sephiroth's entire life, so while he was "home" his meals were delivered in carefully marked packages that he kept in the fridge, and while he was in the field he mostly had MREs like everyone else. Meanwhile, Genesis' biggest contribution to the planet is related to food processing, so he definitely knows his way around a kitchen.

In a better world, where they get their slice-of-life epilogue at some point, Sephiroth helps Genesis in the kitchen often enough that he eventually more or less catches up—although he plays a little fast and loose with measurements and ingredient substitutions, so Genesis will always be better at baking.

4. What they do on date night:

Sephiroth and Genesis are really into movies, although they have to be a bit careful in preparation because of issues with volume—they both have enhanced senses, so they have little specialized earplugs that they wear when they go to the theater. Live shows are easier on both of them, so they go see stage plays when there's something interesting going on. Sephiroth finds it's much easier to suspend his disbelief with a film than a play, though, so they tend to lean more for movies.

They also both like watching competitive fighting, specifically live, never professional, expressly to snark at each other about the poor form in competitors of the amateur scene. Lots of wincing and "Oh, that could have been handled better." They basically never refer to this activity as a date, but they do always go out to dinner after—even if it's just dropping in at some hole in the wall local restaurant and sharing an appetizer—so it is undeniably a date.

8. What they argue about:

While I could say "what don't they argue about?" the fact of the matter is that they actually get along really well. Genesis' snarkiness rarely breeds any kind of argument, and Sephiroth is quite agreeable when it all comes down to it—he's been brought up to do what he's told, and doesn't have a particularly dominating personality when he's himself.

The thing they do tend to argue about, which they've always argued about, is the other's willingness to advocate for himself. Lots of "I can't believe you let them talk to you that way!" and "You know better than to agree to something like that!" and "What possessed you to do something so dangerous?!" The response is generally something along the lines of "What choice did I have?" and that turns it into an argument. They've done this since they were teenagers.

15. What they would change about each other:

There is nothing about Sephiroth that Genesis would change. Nothing. Even the things that annoy him, even the things that break his heart, there's nothing about him that Genesis would want to be any other way—he'd like to change the world around him to keep the worse things from happening, to him, but Sephiroth himself is untouchable. It's not even that Genesis sees him as perfect, either, it's that he loves him completely, flaws and all.

There's one thing that Sephiroth would change about Genesis, but only one. When they were in their mid-teens, not long after they'd first met, Genesis realized that Sephiroth getting into any kind of trouble or engaging in any misbehavior for which he got "caught" would lead him to getting pretty fucked over by Hojo in response, with the Professor attempting to condition the poor behavior out of him by any means necessary. Hollander was never as hard on Genesis as Hojo was on Sephiroth, so Genesis took to making sure of two things:

If Sephiroth ever got into trouble, Genesis would get into trouble with him;

Any trouble they got into would be very clearly indicated to be Genesis' fault in its entirety.

So whenever they got caught being the menaces that they were, Genesis would talk himself into taking the fall, and thereby talk Sephiroth out of it. This eventually led to Sephiroth receiving praise for ostensibly always being there to try to keep Genesis out of trouble, even if he could be caught in the crossfire. What a noble young man! Such a sense of responsibility! Truly, a leader in the making!

This continued on into adulthood, clear up until the point that Genesis defected in Wutai, and Sephiroth hated it. Not because he didn't appreciate being literally tortured in Hojo's lab less often, mind you, and not because he didn't realize that Genesis was protecting him; because there was nothing he could do to make him stop, no way to pay him back, and no way to explain to anyone that Genesis wasn't the only loose cannon in the firsts, he wasn't the bad seed everyone thought he was. Even if he tried to tell the truth, which he did on multiple occasions, the assumption was always that the heroic Sephiroth was just trying to fall on the sword for his horrible friend's sake, and it never amounted to anything.

If Sephiroth could change anything about Genesis, it would be to make him stop that.

(For the ship asks game.)

[corvidcircus]

If you're still taking requests maybe how vergil and dante's s/os react to them coming back from hell eventually after the end of 5? :) I don't know how long they spend there but I know I'd go crazy if it was more than a few months... Love your writing! ❤

The Return

(post-DMC5, by roughly ten months)

Vergil's S/O-

you've been outwardly calm, and internally screaming

you were actually V's S/O

V told you about the whole situation just after he told Trish

the qliphoth was the first time you met Vergil, but he looked at you adoringly, just like V did

he softly assured you they'd be back, and leapt into the underworld within seconds of ending his bout with nero, leaving you scrambling to understand what was happening

you've been working to distract yourself from the fact that he's gone, and the fear he may not come back

you never really got to meet him, and he might be gone for good

it hurts

you hate it

the crew have noticed

you dont sleep well, you wont eat much, you're irritable and distracted

10 months later you are very close to giving up hope

youre on a job and suddenly both twins are just... there?

it throws you off balance and if it weren't for them covering you, things would've gone very poorly

you finish destroying the portal and the stragglers

you stop and actually see him for the first time

you don't remember moving, but you blink and you're across the room, crying, face shoved into his chest, clinging to him for dear life

he stiffens and then slowly returns the embrace

it takes a minute for you to get your breath back

you recognize pieces of the poet you knew, enough to gently tease him

"You're late, and in a lot of trouble," he winces apologetically

"but goddamn did I miss you."

that earns a small smile

("And I, you, my dove.")

Dante's S/O-

you're pissed, at first. mainly because before the Vergil fight you told him not to do anything ridiculously stupid.

mans had 1 job: he failed

after about 5 weeks, you start getting a little worried

the tree is mostly gone, so they must have succeeded in taking out the roots

the longer that goes by the more you think about something Nero said when he told the crew what happened

that they never said they had a plan to get back, in fact he seemed to think they may not be able to get back out of the underworld

the whole arcane research thing is not typically your go to for dealing with demons

why bother when hitting them with a sword is more effective

but without yamato, portals are hard to create, and even harder to control

you spend months running down any option you can think of to at least get to or from the demon world

it takes another 8 1/2 months to finally find something that you think might work

it doesn't

then after passing out, upset and exhausted, you startle awake at the sounds of the doors flying open

you must still be dreaming, because that looks like your devil

who's trapped in hell

right?

cue a dante patented stupid joke to diffuse tension

you quite literally vault over the desk into his arms and just feel that hes back

*hug*"I'm so happy you're back!"

and exactly 4 seconds later

*hitting him repeatedly* "Never fucking do that again!"

Bonus Nero's Reaction-

he's super fucking pissed off

ah yes lets leave the kid (with severe familial abandonment issues) suddenly without his family

remains fairly angry when the topic of either twin is brought up

but the longer that goes by, the more anger becomes distress, and eventually resignation

concerned, but unsure how to help Vergil's S/O

very bothered by the 'empty look' when he does jobs with VS/O

confused, exasperated, but not surprised at Dante's S/O's actions

a little tiny bit scared of the non-stop manic energy DS/O is embodying

first time seeing the twins back, he has way to many emotions to deal with so defaults to anger

likely throws down with either/both

the rage burns hot and fast this time, so the fight is messy and short

basically ends in him storming off and giving them the cold shoulder until someone makes the first move

(probably nero or dante lets be honest here)

*this is the headcannon version, there may end up being fully written one shots later

[writteninlunarlight-years]

Hey I saw you were doing matchups and I've never done one so I was curious :) plus you seem nice

This is mainly for bg3 but I'm super into Hazbin as well if you feel like doing both 🫶

Gender- woman

Pronouns- she/her

Sexuality- pansexual

Appearance

Basically the best I could get without just putting a picture of myself. Keep my hair short, I love dyeing it, I've had it tons of colors but pink is my favorite. (having it up in two buns is my favorite style) I'm 5'2, curvy, my eyes are kinda downturned and brown. I have a freckle (mole? Kinda? Beauty mark?) above my lips on the left.

Mbti- INTJ

Personality- So I'm autistic, have trouble with certain social queues and expressing emotions. It actually caused a lot of problems growing up but I've gotten better about it now. I'm still really blunt at times and have been told my resting face looks really sad/upset 😅. I'm an optimistic realist, and generally difficult to upset. I cry when I get mad because I never learned to express being angry in a healthy way. I try to be sweet with people I'm familiar with, like making jokes and complimenting people, but I can be pretty mean/cold to people I don't like. I'm a writer, and an auditory learner, so I've always been told I'm an amazing listener. Which I do love listening to people, but I hate interrupting so I usually go entire conversations without saying much even if I have something to say- because I won't interject and by the time I get a word in the subject has changed. I'm a fast learner academically and like to think I'm open minded. Arguments annoy me, but I'm not above admitting I'm wrong. I am very passionate about the things I like, as well as morality based subjects. I also go somewhat nonverbal when I get overstimulated which happens mostly when I'm around a lot of people.

Likes:

-Storms are my favorite weather

-Rabbits are my favorite animals, I grew up with a bunch of them they're super misunderstood from what I know and make amazing pets

-Word association games for some reason? Also puzzles. They're just fun

Dislikes:

-Meat. I have trouble eating certain foods and most meat is in that. I'm not vegetarian but anything with bones or skin or chewy bits I just can't do 🥲

-Yelling. It just makes me upset even if it's not directed at me.

-When people don't think animals have feelings or make jokes about killing pets cause they think it's funny :(

Fun fact: I have photic sneeze reflex which means when my pupils dilate really fast due to a light change (usually going from inside to outside) it makes me sneeze!

Race: I'm a human obviously but I think I'd be a half elf (maybe a drow half elf even, just cause I don't prefer sunshine) in faerun just cause my ears are kinda pointy. I have connected earlobes so it makes them look somewhat more elfy.

Class: Probably an abjuration or conjuration wizard. Sorcerer would be cool but they're charisma based and I'm not very charismatic

Alignment: Lawful good? Or maybe just chaotic good I'm not sure, cause the law isn't always right funnily enough

Thanks, even if you don't get to this. I started posting on Tumblr recently and I know how difficult it is to get to a bunch of asks so no worries if you can't get to it.

You are so sweet, I am sorry it took so long to get to your request, but it is finally time to get your match out!

~~~~~ MATCHUPS ~~~~~

BG3

Halsin

~~~~~ HEADCANONS ~~~~~

Halsin is one with nature, so he enjoys all animals and people no matter what.

He finds your reserved nature interesting. As you are the leader of your misfits, your timidity doesn't quite match your fearless leadership of lives.

He realizes how sweet you are once he joins you in the hunt for the ones behind the illithids.

He struggled to determine if you were sad or if your face was just reading sad.

Halsin is just as awkward himself. Though he has lived for hundreds of years, it is hard to keep up with all the changes that come with that.

When he started developing feelings for you, he was very timid about expressing them. Though love is natural and part of nature, he didn't want to frighten you.

When he found you crying one day because a villager upset you, he was as wild as a bear at that moment.

He stayed back to comfort you but gave a piece of his mind to spare you the argument when you were elsewhere.

Halsin tries hard to help keep the peace among the others, especially after seeing you get overwhelmed by a fight that broke out between La'zel and Shadowheart.

When he confesses to you, he rambles. Because you don't say anything, he thinks you now hate him, so he rambles more. Once he lets you get a say-in and you confess back, he's the happiest ever.

~~~~~ BLURB ~~~~~

You had been tending to the animals near the camp. Though you were soon to leave this area and venture further through Faerun, you wanted to make sure the little friends you made would be okay. You heard giant footsteps approaching behind you as you doled out nuts, berries, and some dried meats for the creatures. Turning gently so as not to frighten away the creatures, you find Halsin also helping tend to the animals.

His love and care for the world around him was so sweet to you. He was a fantastic man who flawlessly met your and the group's needs. Sometimes, you wondered about letting him lead as the new group's leader. Halsin had already turned that notion down since you were more than capable in his eyes.

Once the creatures were tended, Halsin walked up to you. He gently placed some fallen hair back in its intended spot before gently cupping your face. He was always so warm and protective, which helped put you at ease through this whole ordeal with the mind flayers. Nuzzling into his hand and smiling up at him, Halsin gently placed a kiss on your forehead. You two embraced this soft moment before the next battle took place.

~~~~~ EXTRA ~~~~~

(You had just finished a battle; only Gale came out scathed because he didn't listen to a call out from you or Shadowheart.)

Halsin: My Gale, how did you get so beat up?

Shadowheart: Maybe because he's a lunatic who doesn't listen to instructions.

Gale: Hold on, I don't know how this is my fault when you could have simply healed me on the field.

Shadowheart: Why would I heal you when you blatantly didn't listen?

Halsin: Everyone, you don't need to worry about fighting. It's okay. I will tend to the wounds.

Y/N: I also called out to him to move from the spot where he got shot.

Halsin: Never mind, Gale, figure it out on your own.

HAZBIN HOTEL

Charlie Morningstar

~~~~~ HEADCANONS ~~~~~

Charlie is the embodiment of chaotic goodness. She just wants to help everyone and make the world a better place.

She loves animals, people, and really everything. If she could express her happiness and love any better, she would.

She was taken aback by how reserved you were when you came to the hotel. Usually, people in hell were brazen.

As she got to know you, she enjoyed the wisdom you offered.

She did everything to put a smile on your face, mostly because she enjoyed your happiness and because she couldn't tell when you were sad or just thinking.

She goes full momma demon mode when someone upsets you, with no hesitation the claws are barred.

She tries really hard to be a listener for you instead of you listening to her. Though Charlie tends to ramble, especially about her ideas, she always wants to hear your input.

When there is violence or issues in the hotel, she makes sure you are first safe and far away. Once things have calmed down, she will come and get you.

She didn't really confess to you. One day, you two were friends, and the next, she was talking to you about being in a relationship.

~~~~~ BLURB ~~~~~

Charlie had been diligently working at her desk on her next big plan to rehabilitate sinners. While she was working away, you had taken refuge on her bed, writing in your journal. You enjoyed the monotony of your growing relationship, where even if you two weren't actively doing the same thing, you still chose each other. As you got to the climax of your story, a frustrated groan was heard next to you.

Turning your attention to the princess, you noticed she had scrapped another idea of hers. Sitting up, you slowly made your way over to her to see what seemed to be causing the hiccup in her mental process. Charlie was full of amazing ideas; just some were far harder to attain than others, and you both knew that. So sometimes, just offering your own insights helped her reimagine an idea she was having.

Taking your spot next to her, you noticed that instead of working on sinners like you thought, she was working on your next birthday. You laughed gently at her, causing her to snap to her senses and look over at you. Knowing she had been caught, she gave up and let you look at what she had been working on. You smiled and gently took Charleis's hand in yours, "You know I would be happy with just spending the day lounging around with you, right?" This was enough to spread a giant smile across the princess of Hell's face.

~~~~~ EXTRA ~~~~~

(The new hotel had been built, and Charlie was eager to welcome new sinners. However, no one showed up the first day, making her sad.)

Y/N: Charlie, it's okay. I am sure there will be some tomorrow or the next day.

Charlie: But how will we beat heaven if no one gets rehabilitated.

Y/N: We can't force people to stay; we need them to come on their own.

Charlie: but I made cupcakes.

Y/N: How about I eat one with you?

Charlie: ( sniffles ) Okay.

[janaknandini-singh999]

Chapter 5

"Isn't that the same girl you knocked out in that reception?" Shlokaa's father slyly looked up from his newspaper and chuckled

It's usually brown aunties and moms who are into gossip but in their house it was Shlokaa's father. Shlokaa's mom would be too busy and uninterested to bother but her husband would take out all the drama and masala to relish.

On her father's comment, Shlokaa just wanted to pull his cheeks so hard until he got the sign to be quiet. Just like aunties do when some kids pass cheeky replies to what they say. Yeah, weird brown folk tendencies and urges.

Jaya uneasily shifted on the sofa, sensing the tension to turn into a storm anytime now

"Shlokaa! Did you really do that? Please don't, I don't want any kind of trouble here!" her mother fumed "Come on, you people are in 11th grade and half the year is already gone! Even if you don't like Vilasini, it won't hurt to tolerate her for just over a year now. Besides, you have to prepare for the head girl post, too."

Shlokaa argued "Mom! My tournament is during that time, you know I can't miss it. I've been practicing for it since so long now!"

Shloka's mother glared at her and that was her cue to listen now. Her rage came from her mother, she knew it. She admired her for being so independent but hated her for ironically not letting her own daughter be so when it came down to taking decisions, even though she knew that her mother only wanted the best and she was trying as hard as anyone could. A fierce mother raising a fierce daughter. Volcanoes did erupt.

"Ok," her mother quietly said "you can do the tournament."

Shlokaa finally felt her breath come through and nodded, silently thanking her mother

"But only on one condition. You will start attending anger management classes from Monday."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Vilasini Ramakrishnan."

"Present."

Vilasini was sitting on the front seat, she had occupied it as soon as she had reached the class, which was earlier than anyone. She wanted to roam around her new school until the classes began on her first day. She liked doing this anyway, getting some alone time before she would charge headlong into her hurdles and life.

The class teacher (Vilasini thought she looked familiar) wished her, briefly nodding and that was it. No grand introduction to the class - this was no primary or middle school, after all. Vilasini felt relieved again. But it was short lived. Soon, Aditi and Shlokaa came running to the class.

"You girls are late to the class. Don't repeat this again or you will be standing out of class. Sit down fast now."

"Sorry, mom- I mean, ma'am." Shlokaa didn't even meet the class teacher's eyes as Aditi rushed to sit beside Vilasini

And that's when Vilasini saw it - their class teacher was Shlokaa's mother. Anyone could've guessed it. The same fixed, undying expression and way of carrying themselves, like a careful flame ready to dance and engulf.

Aditi mouthed a quick "I'm sorry, I have to be with Villu and help her with work or you'll have to" to Shlokaa, who she nodded and gave a terse thumbs up before settling herself on her seat far behind them.

Vilasini was quick to realize Aditi and Shlokaa's plan and arrangement. If they had come to the class early then the class teacher would've made Shlokaa sit with Vilasini to help her personally for catching up with work as she was a new student in her class.

Fair.

She didn't want to interact with Shlokaa either.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The interval bell rang and people, mostly boys, ran outside.

Vilasini sighed and opened her tiffin, continuing her discussion with Aditi who listened intently.

"So, Krishn ji is basically the Supreme Godhead and-"

"Actually, Ram ji is more of the perfect God."

Vilasini looked up to catch the one who had interrupted her. Shlokaa. Upon their eyes meeting, Shlokaa stirred ever so slightly, Vilasini thought she might've imagined it. But she held the gaze firm and so did she. She had never noticed it before but from this up close, how angular Shlokaa's face was.

"So calm, so gentle. Never a trickster or a thief." Shlokaa eyed her and continued

Aditi opened her mouth in horror - such talk of Shri Krishna in front of Vilasini!? Her cousin might just- but Vilasini quietly patted her hand to assure her.

"Meanwhile Krishn ji? He didn't even fight, he let the Pandavas and Kauravas do their thing and suffer in anguish." Shlokaa's eyes burnt silently

"It was their fight. Ram ji also only fought when it was his. But you know, what? Sita ji should've killed Raavan instead. Why let someone else fight for you, even if it is your husband? Didn't Durga defeat demons on her own? Didn't Shivshakti also fight side by side when the time demanded? If Ram Sita were equals then why should the man here just do? And then in the end even after rescuing her, he left her-"

"Guys, guys!?" Aditi came in between "We are literally talking about the same God, how does it matter? It was an epic of those times but in some version, Sita ji killed Sahasra Raavan too. It's all stories that we need to learn from and not fight over, right? They legit taught us how nobody wins in a war and here are you both ironically fighting. Y'all are missing completely the poin-"

But they weren't listening. They hadn't brought up this topic to rationally debate about it in the first place itself. In fact, they didn't even want to talk by throwing their faith and opinions on the other. They were talking to each other, this was just an excuse to do so.

"Big Krishn bhakt, huh? Well, your maakhan chor is big on giving people a second chance. Maybe you should, too." Shlokaa whispered

"And your Maryaada Purshottam never attacks people who haven't done any harm. Maybe you should learn a thing or two from him, too."

Clap, clap.

Somebody laughed behind them, clearly amused.

Manika emerged next to them, giggling "Wow, ladies. Nice talk! But I didn't know abnormal people could talk about Gods? Isn't it blasphemous or something? What ya say, lesbo?"

At that, whatever girls had been talking and eating their tiffins in the class looked up and turned towards them. "What?" one of them asked, incredulously

"Ahaha, that's right! Our new friend here is one of a kind! Won't you thank me for introducing you so amazingly to everyone, Villluuuuu?"

"Says the one who is a cheater." Vilasini spoke

The girls gasped louder and came closer to them.

"What the.. what the heck are you talking about?! Girls, don't listen to her! Just because her image is tarnished, she's dragging me into this. Ha, classic but unoriginal petty drama!"

"Oh, really, girliee?" Vilasini imitated Manika's accent "You don't remember Raman? The poor sweet guy you dated in your previous school while hooking up with countless other dudes?"

Manika became quiet. She wasn't expecting this. She could defend aggressively but they'd all see through it now.

"You.. you think you can get away with slut shaming me?"

"Oh no, darling. I really don't care about any of it, I'm a very liberal and sick bitch myself as you have already introduced me so thank you for that!" Vilasini winked and walked away as the crowd laughed and cornered Manika.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At dispersal after everyone had left the school, Manika escaped to that banyan tree where she often went and broke down.

She missed her little sister so much. The flashes. The-

Suddenly, she saw this small girl stuck above on the tree. No, not stuck. One hand clutched desperately on the branch, her body dangling, she was about to fall any moment. She let out a cry as Manika rushed reflexively and catched her. The girl started sobbing in her arms, still terrified from the shock.

"Shh, you're safe now, little one." Manika soothed her and caught herself crying too

"Sneha, where are you? SNEHA-" a deep voice called out and a boy in khaki pants and a messy man bun ran towards them. He was an inch shorter than Manika but appeared the same age.

Sneha jumped from Manika's arms to the boy's, saying "Bhaiya!! This didi saved me," she pointed up to the tree "I almost fell."

"Thank you. Thank you so much. I would've never forgiven myself if anything had happened to her." the boy said

"No, it's alright. She reminded me of my own sister."

"Ohh, didi?! Aapki bhi behen hain?? Meri age ki hain kya??? Can I come and play with her?" the little girl smiled her tears away

"Umm no.. she died in an accident last year."

The boy looked up, unsure of what to say. He couldn't imagine a day without his sister. This girl was so brave.

"I'm so-"

"Yeah, right. Thanks." Manika looked away, lifted her bag and turned to leave, clearly not in the mood to talk about it

"Ved."

"What?" Manika turned again

"The name of the person whose sister you saved the life of and because of which you saved him too." the boy made somewhat of an attempt to smile but it came out just as a stern but kind look. He held out his hand.

This boy clearly had no idea how saving worked, Manika thought. If it did work then Manika would have not thought of saving anyone else but her sister. But she couldn't. She refused to shake his hand and turned away again. One simple name enough to indicate a simple no.

"Manika."

Far in some distance, Shlokaa walked across with her mother with files in her hand. She saw the little girl in the boy's arms and Manika with them. She just rolled her eyes and moved on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Shlokaa Sharma. Everybody welcome our new friend!" the bald man held out his arms

Nobody in the lot put as much effort to say hello, few smiled, few just stared.

Great, they all looked more or less as screwed up as her.

Her mother's idea of these anger management classes had instantly repulsed her, but she'd do anything for the tournament.

"Sir, why are you beating around the bush and being so formal? The earlier she gets used to this the better. So, Shlokaa? Mommy issues or daddy issues? Or whole family issues?" someone leaned and asked dramatically

A roar of laughter burst. Shlokaa darted the eyes to the one who had asked such a question. It was the same boy who was with Manika. But how dare he make fun of her family? What ensued and what didn't was her personal thing. Nobody needed to invade and remark like it's the most casual thing in the world. She would've banged the chair on this boy's head but she just clenched her wrists instead and breathed.

"Now there, Ved. No need to be rude. And everyone, HUSH! But he does have a point, Miss Sharma. I don't mean to intervene, and healing is an individual process. We are just here to help each other. But the trigger is a valuable point to identify and-"

But Shlokaa wasn't listening. She had seen someone else in the room sitting in a round table fashion with everyone here. Another boy. A slender, well built one. His face somehow seemed awfully familiar but Shlokaa couldn't place it. She was carried away into thoughts for trying to recognize him but couldn't. Soon the class got over and everyone started leaving.

Shlokaa quietly went behind the boy. He went near his bicycle and jumped on it. Shlokaa quickly started her scooter and followed him.

[bluegekk0]

In a modern setting how good would each of the family members be at a fighting game? Also related but not really related but Holly and GG Strive Faust have similar vibes

oh i love those modern setting asks. i've been thinking a lot about a modern au so this is very helpful, thank you

i'll start with fpk. i think he would be pretty bad at them. or, more precisely, i think he'd memorize all the different moves and combos relatively fast, but he'd struggle to put the knowledge into practice. his reaction time is a slower than it used to, so any game that requires very quick reactions or predictions would be difficult for him. and i don't think he'd just mash all the buttons, again, he would memorize the combinations without much trouble, and he'd want to put them to use. but it's very hard for him

grimm, on the other hand, would be a pro. he's exceptionally good at reading others' behavior and psyche, he's had hundreds of years to study them after all. and what this means is that he can read his opponent very quickly, which together with his general mechanical skill in video games means that he's able to predict their next move and react accordingly, nearly without flaw. he can use it in other ways, not just to defeat them. if he's playing against fpk, he'll go easy on him and intentionally play poorly to make him feel better about himself

but usually he's a scary opponent, which, of course, infuriates hornet every time they play together. she's good at video games, very good, but she tends to rage very often. she wants to win, but against grimm she finds it impossible. and because she's petty like that, she doesn't want to give him the satisfaction of beating her, so she'll keep trying until she either gets too angry to play, or until grimm lets her win on purpose (and if she finds out he did that, she gets even more annoyed). but generally she's really good at fighting games. she's smart, she knows the most optimal combos, and unlike fpk she's able to react in time. her rage is what usually brings her down, she gets too tilted to play properly

holly would be decent at fighting games. not too good, but not awful either. they understand the basics and can do quite well, but they don't find the concept of fighting as engaging as the others do, so they don't bother learning all the combos and strategies. they're more of a stardew valley type player, they prefer to relax in their games as opposed to beating opponents for a dopamine rush. whenever the family plays, they tend to just watch

zote sucks at these games. he mashes all the buttons and then starts acting like he's a pro if he manages to get a lucky win. he refuses to listen to tips and believes he knows better. on the upside, he doesn't give up, which is quite admirable. he may be bad at it, but he still keeps going. i think it would be hilarious if he ended up actually beating grimm once thanks to his unpredictable, random playstyle. i can already imagine grimm's genuinely surprised face, and hornet tossing the controller and leaving the room, cussing as she walks away

lewk is too young to get any good at games like this, but i think he would be very interested. grimm would definitely let him practice and teach him his secrets, though i think the fact that lewk is still a baby and barely understands it would be mildly disappointing to him. his dreams of teaching his offspring to be a fighting game pro will have to wait, unfortunately. though lewk is smart and definitely has the potential. he would definitely love to watch the adults play, maybe he could be the overly excited commentator of the family hahaha

---

as for the second part, i sadly can't comment on this since i haven't played any of the gg games, but after skimming through the wiki page yeah i can see some similarities!

[numetaljackdog]

what i'm listening to 8/5/2023 (SKAUGUST SPECIAL) (song notes under cut)

spot. link⬛⬜⬛⬜⬛yt link

bonjour tout la monde :3 i see you're all working on that first course...... perhaps you'd like another? :3c

now. this is no ordinary WILT. bc as i've mentioned i have been absolutely INFECTED by the skaucous skanking energy of SKAUGUST!!!! i might do a mini-WILT later in the month with some other stuff i've been listening to, but for now this is an ENTIRELY SKA playlist ^w^ well...... almost entirely. there is one exception, of course....

Laura Les - Skaunted: it's skaunted. by laura les. i really did try to find a ska cover for this but as far as i can tell there is none. get on that, people.

Streetlight Manifesto - Everything Went Numb: very likely my favorite ska song i've ever heard, this one's been with me for a good few years now. there's just such a drama to it, lots of storytelling gravitas rather than just a fun pop song. and the HOOKS they cram into this thing, good lord. the rapid-fire lyrics and layered horn section and difference in dynamics all work so well together.... i always find myself running through the part "i don't wanna hear, i don't wanna be near, i do what i gotta do, just to keep my nose clean" over and over and over again. that and the quiet part "a little something like this, na na na na na na, na na na na na na na" i've never heard a band that made na na na's work as well as these guys, and you can take that as an insult to whichever pop punk band you like if you really want, but one way or another this is a fucking golden track and you HAVE(!!!) to listen to it at least once okay?

No Doubt - Just A Girl: probably one of the most if not just the absolute most commercially and culturally successful moments that ska has had..... and it's not hard to see why. this song is a fucking ALL TIME crusher, it's got hooks for days, the little synth part is all crunchy, it's a bona fide feminist pop anthem, and, if we can all take a second to be real with ourselves here, gwen stefani is an excellent performer for stuff like this. i have no trouble imagining young teen girls in 1995 seeing this shit on mtv for the first time and having their lives and brain chemistries irreversibly changed. this and spiderwebs but there's only so much room in the playlist, folks

Madness - One Step Beyond: considering what we still have yet to get to in this list, it's a real testament to how much i instantly loved this one that it's placed so high. it's goofy as shit but it represents so many things i love about 2 tone. first of all, the just intrusively obvious british lameness of it is quite charming, and also just really interesting from a historical perspective. as we'll see, a lot of 2nd wave ska bands hailed from the uk, likely bc of the genre's connections with new wave, which began largely as a british export. and then with third wave ska, the usa became the new hub of ska music, but i feel like that british influence remained a crucial part of the way ska presented itself even then. very interesting, if you're as big a nerd as me. i feel like this is also a tune where you can hear some of ska's jazz influences, which is awesome to think how this revival movement for jamaican dance music not only preserved its basic rhythm structure but also some of its influences. i ALSO like that it hardly has any words - they were just like here's some of the tastiest fucking riffs you've ever heard and a guy yelling "ONE STEP BEYOND" what else do you need? and i was like nothing 😌 you've given me all i need you bunch of goofy suited skanksters

Catch 22 - 9mm and a Three Piece Suit: i see this one as sort of a companion to everything went numb, which makes sense bc streetlight manifesto actually covered the entirety of keasbey nights at one point. 9mm predates streetlight's stuff by a good number of years, and i do prefer the roughness of the original version. it's more of that very fast-paced storytelling type of songwriting, and i've had this song with me for several years as well. not really much i can say about it that wouldn't be repetitious, but definitely love this one to death as well

Choking Victim - Crack Rock Steady: coming from a background of hardcore heavier music, it makes me so happy that people saw the rise of ska punk and said yeah man we need a way to make this all heavy and nasty too. and we'll sing about killing cops. and they did! ^w^ and so enter the creators of a genre named after this very song (though by my understanding of its influences it could have easily been called "crust ska" - but that wouldn't have been a fun pun now would it?). i just love that you could easily get up and skank to this song, it's very upbeat and lively, but it is also VERY about killing cops. like there is no mistaking that this is cop killing song from first lyric to last. so that's dope. or i guess it's crack

The Specials - A Message to You Rudy: the specials cover an enduring jamaican ska classic... it's a tale as old as time. i love the arrangement on this soooo much, and the pretty and subtle harmonizations. this is almost kind of a dreamy song to me, the way it just floats through the air. that has more to do with the base melody itself, but i do like the dandy livingstone original a lot as well! once again, only so much room on the playlist. the specials join madness as the two bands that i would deem most prominent and influential in the second wave, but i think the specials were a little less new wave and had some more of the original ska spirit in them. not a dis on madness, of course, i've already expressed my enjoyment of them. just an interesting difference between the two

Rancid - Time Bomb: just a girl might be ska's big moment for a lot of people, but for ME, it was time bomb. i heard this one on the radio as a kid, and it was one of the first ska songs i was exposed to, and i LOVE IT. it's definitely a little basic but it just epitomizes the phrase "ska punk" to me. so guitar-forward and with super rough vocals but also so fun and real and bouncy with an absolutely endlessly repeatable chorus. i love you time bomb

We Are The Union - Morbid Obsessions: oh, i'm sorry. did you think i was gonna make a list of my current ska favorites and NOT include a selection from we are the union's 2021 album ordinary life which documents the lead singer's journey and self-discovery? well you thought fucking wrong, dumdum!!!!!!!!!!! this was such a big album for me when i was. uh. how old was i in 2021. when i was like seventeen. i would almost go so far as to say that this album was my "transgender dysphoria blues" if not for the fact that i was also listening to that album a lot around the same time. there were some discoveries happening. but anyways this is such a great little album, i really recommend the whole thing. chewy tasty indie pop with a delightful ska base. and the band even has jer (of skatune network fame) on trombone!! how cool is that!!!! also AGAIN i kept it to only one song but if you only check out one other track from this record, listen to the closer "december." that shit makes me cry

Smash Mouth - Walkin' On The Sun: I'LL ADMIT IT. THIS IS ONE OF SEVERAL TIMES THAT I'M GOING TO CHEAT ON THIS WILT. in the sense that this isn't really a ska song - it's a song by a ska band, and has some ska flavor in there as an influence. can you evar forgive me 🥺 but also like. look. it's fuckin smash mouth, okay. and this song is Loaded with them fucking HOOKS babeyyyyy. and it really is interesting, how smash mouth managed to be so commercially successful that they really existed as a goofy corporate pop rock band that had a couple big all-quadrants hits. but like you can feel that they have background in "The Scene." you can practically smell the punk on these guys, the same way you can smell the nu metal on sugar ray. these are always bands that used to be Something Else and that Something Else is undeniably cooler than what they are now, but what they are now is definitely catchier. so. walkin' on the sun! i like this better than all star, for the record, but it could also be a matter of overplay on the latter's part

The Selecter - On My Radio: this and one other song we'll get to are like the epitome to me of how second wave ska had huge crossover with new wave. the first time i heard this one i was kinda like ehhh yeah it's cool i guess. and then after a couple more listens i realized how well constructed of a song it is, and how great the performances are. the lead vocalist here is a real treat, apparently some people call her the "queen of ska" which is fucking awesome. also i love a good song about a radio, especially in retrospect now where it's like eh yeah you darned kids had better learn about what's what on the radio bc back in my day-

Operation Ivy - Sound System: this is like, the birthplace of ska punk/third wave. okay maybe not this particular album, but you could certainly make an argument for that early op ivy ep! point is, they were on the ground floor, and sound system is definitely the catchiest song i've heard from them. and, not dissimilar to songs about radios, i can get behind a song about a sound system! love it! honestly, despite being rough and punky, this song's almost... cute? like aw :) the sound system is the one thing he can depend on. i'm glad he has that kind of relationship in his life!

Less Than Jake - Nervous In The Alley: LTJ is the first ska band that i really became a fan of, probably bc of how accessible they are, particularly to the typical pop punk or skate punk enjoyer. they have three songs in this playlist that i have enough history with to warrant including but i don't have much to say about any of them. the fast part of this song is the best part, obviously

The (English) Beat - Mirror In the Bathroom: it's so funny to me that they're called the english beat but only sometimes. sometimes it's just the beat. i understand why but it amuses me. anyways THIS is the total new wave song i mentioned, and like with on my radio i didn't really "get it" at first. but man, what a track. not only does it have great composition and a delightful balance of new wave polish and ska beat, it's also just kind of a unique concept for a pop song. self-obsession pushed to the point of madness, framed entirely through the listing of different common objects one can look at themselves in while carrying out everyday business. just an interesting little chune :3

Less Than Jake - Bomb Drop: honestly this one could probably go higher i fucking love bomb drop. but once again i don't have much to say about it. i will say that i didn't realize until watching the music video while making this list that this is apparently about like, cyberbullying? the video's kind of lame honestly, but the intentions are good. i've had this song so long i forgot how recent it is, but i guess it's a testament to how consistent LTJ has stayed, and perhaps as a consequence, how little they've changed. you could send this song back to 1998 and apart from the slightly slicker production nobody would bat an eye

Derrick Morgan - Tougher Than Tough (Rudie in Court): had to get at least one first wave song that wasn't a 2 tone cover in here, right? this is another classic that earns the title of "rude boy anthem." without getting too serious, i do think there's something to be said about rude boys' existence as a subculture and the way that blends with the punk ethos later but also how the term exists more in isolation in jamaican ska. as the title suggests, there's definitely an element of getting into trouble here - was that something that inspired the revival of ska at the hands of rock bands later on? i can't say. but i think about it

The Aquabats! - The Shark Fighter!: if i'm 100% honest i don't tend to really like the aquabats. i wish i did but i don't. but this song is sooooo catchy. i did watch the full episode of the super show that the song appears in (which is in the youtube playlist btw) and it was some campy fun but not anything that made me want to watch more. what i will say is that not long ago i was rewatching robbydude's vods of reel fishing: road trip adventure, a vod series that contained a lot of ska references (not the least of which relate to the title and the continued botching of it to instead say "reel big fishing"). but one of the bits was that every time he went to catch a hammerhead he would play this song. so now it's lodged in my head forever. go make the same happen for yourself

Less Than Jake - Goodbye in Gasoline: some b-side action for you. the video for this one that i have in the youtube playlist is so funny, it's from SUPER early youtube and it's just a bunch of stupid random pictures over a low-quality mp3 of the song. there's only two comments and they're both people being like "this is dumb why did you make this." as far as i'm concerned this may as well be the official music video for goodbye in gasoline

Rancid - Hooligans: HOOLIGANS! rancid! RUDE BOYS! rancid! HOOLIGANS! rancid! RUDE BOYS! rancid! on a loop forever in my mind

Lazy Town - We Are Number One: once again i am super cheating bc this shouldn't count as a bonus track really, it's just not on spotify anymore. so whatever there's 20 songs, sue me. i don't need to introduce you to this song but what i do have to say is MAN is this a banger or what?! like yeah it's a kid's song and yeah it's a meme, but i really do love it! i've never seen an episode of lazy town in my life! i remember a tomska & friends video where they did a meme review of the 2010s and tom (who, as you may guess, is a noted ska fan) picked this song for 2018 or whatever fuckin year this blew up, but he noted that while he didn't really have very strong feelings about it one way or another, he had to take the opportunity to be excited that a ska song had become popular online. i can respect that. rest in peace of course to the actor who played robbie rotten, he seemed like a nice man and i'm glad we all are preserving something he worked on so passionately :)

wouaghhh. so that was the skaugust special!!!! thanks for reading, i hope your love of ska is improved by the work we've done here :3 i feel the need to give thanks to the wonderful violet of the gec (hi :3), fellow musicgirl and the creator of skaugust, because. oh man. i have not felt this energized to listen to and talk about music in MONTHS. in case you were confused about the thing i said about a first course earlier, go check out vi's batch of songs for some more certified bangers. do it NOW. okay thankies see you next month ^w^

[iwishiwasrichasfuck]

Hellooo, I'm going to tell you about the original character in my enhypen story so you have some background information and a little about myself while I'm at it 😊.

Her name is Esmeralda Adel. You can probably guess from the name that she isn't English or Korean, but in fact, Mexican and Arabic. I'm not Mexican, but I am Egyptian. I was always fascinated with Hispanic culture, so I decided to write a story where the mc is half half. I'll do my best research, but if there are any Mexicans out there, I welcome you. Pls help if you don't mind?

Her appearance and personality are based on me and the people I know. She's a med student, my sister is a med student. She has curly hair, me and my sister have curly hair. She's not very slender, but not very chubby, she has curves, like me. I have taken a long time to come to term with my body, because I always compared myself to thinner girls, who ate what they wanted and stayed like that. I envied their fast metabolism. I have come to terms with the fact that I need to work hard to be healthy, and even that maybe those girls I compared myself have problems too, that I'm not struggling alone. Now I am trying to become fit, so even if I'm not the thinnest, I'm healthy, because that's all that matters. I have a pretty thin waist compared to my hips but a heavy...cleavage, so you may think I'd be happy about it because it has been an "ideal figure" for women (which is stupid because all body types are beautiful 😤) but you won't believe how much I struggle to find clothes that complement me.

Anyways, I'm ranting, let's get back on track. She is smaller than enhypen (especially next to Niki because let's face it that dude's a giant) but not that small, she's actually 170cm, so my height. She is very generous, and very patient. She's really smart. Like really smart. She graduated school at 16 years old because she skipped the two grades when you learn out to read and count and basic math, she already knew it (her mother taught her). This is based on a friend of mine who actually did skip two grades when she was young. Um, what more.

She has the most random thoughts sometimes, like me. She's very pretty, and she knows she's attractive, so that makes her even hotter. She's pretty fit, and actually works out alot muscle mommy.

She's lived in both Egypt and Mexico for about four years each when she was young and came to France when she was ten. She has a great relationship with her mother. The two are very close, they're best friends and confidants, they tell each other anything. This is based on my relationship with my own mother. I love her more than anything. She's arabic (both of my parents are) but she isn't really like I've heard arabic parents are. She's cool with anything as long as I'm safe, happy and have good results scholarly. She's someone I can gossip with, and I've learned a lot from her. You can probably tell that I really admire her 😅. Esmeralda's father is also someone she gets along with great (but not as much as with her mom). Her parents divorced when she was in middle school, but they did so on good terms. They fell out of love and decided it was best to separate. They get along, and Esmeralda's mom actually loves her ex's new wife, the two are good friends!

Also, if Esmeralda seems unrealistic because she doesn't seem to have any bad sides, then you're both right and wrong. She's learned what to do and how to act through trial and error. She was raised right, and has had an excellent role model that encouraged healthy habits (mental or physical), so she wasn't "perfect" from the bat, her personality right now is a product of her past environment and the people she frequented or knew. She also has a few bad habits. She stays up all night and has trouble accepting help, she has trouble relieving stress and tends to push away people when she's sad or angry. She's working on it though! And growing up she's always wanted to make her mother proud, so she worked hard and tried to learn as many things as possible. Her mother loves her and is proud of her of course, but now Esmeralda thinks that if she fails to do something then she will lower her mother's image of her (which isn't true, but is a product of always trying to be better than her past self): she's an overacheiver. She happens to be extremely petty 😅

But she is also a projection of how I wish to be. She is the person I long to become in the future, and I decided that if I can't write about a perfect character in fiction, where am I going to do that? That's what fanfictions and fiction stories are made for! So there you go, a bit about me and and my character. ;)

(Ps: I hope the followers I have are excited for my first fic!)

[herrscherofmagic]

I think I might take a break from making fanart for some time; or at least, I'll try and make it less of a priority.

This thought came to me just now, and while I don't really have a concrete plan or process in mind I figured I might as well share it anyways

Of course, I do intend to still make fanart soon, and I still have an insane amount of ideas on future projects. Just take a quick glance at that project overview thingy I posted a while back, and you'd see just how much I still have to do!

But honestly, art has been really stressful for me recently. Not because of art itself, not because drawing is difficult. It's just that I'm dealing with a lot of anxiety, exhaustion, and stress from other life stuff, and I already have really low self-esteem when it comes to my art, so trying to force myself to work on these various fanart WIPs hasn't been helping at all.

So I think I want to experiment a bit and start posting more of my practice work. Gesture drawings, studies, anatomy notes, scribbles, and whatever else comes to mind. I want to try and do more with drawing from life both with pen and with pencil, too.

One of my biggest issues is that it's incredibly difficult for me to focus and commit on anything. This isn't an art issue, this is an issue I have with nearly everything in my life. So I can't really "solve" it, I just have to mitigate it to the best of my ability.

Recently, I think what's been giving me the most trouble with art is that I struggle with line quality and mark-making. I'm starting to understand anatomy more, I've gotten decent at gesture, I'm even taking a live drawing class as part of my college studies; but none of these things matter if I can't even move the pen(cil) across the paper or screen to make the mark I need to convey form, shape, value, and so on.

I'm also not just talking about lineart in the sense you usually think of, like in manga as one example. This is about all sorts of marks, whether it's using a brush to show value on the side of an object, or making lines to show the position & orientation of a limb.

I tend to draw really quickly and roughly, basically drawing at the same speed that I think- which is way too fast. Sometimes it's good to draw quickly like that, but I'm running into an issue where I'm spending upwards of one hour on rough sketching and "planning" when I should be taking less than 30 minutes on that, and using the rest of the time to actually draw the damn thing T_T

And because I rarely get to that later stage in the drawing, I've constantly hit roadblocks with my more complex works because I have so little experience there. That disconnect between my ideas and execution is really demoralizing, but I don't think I realized what the exact issue was until these past few weeks...

Instead of trying to worry about these large illustrations or comics and whatnot, I think I want to try and focus on some drawings that will help me really figure out my mark-making. Things like drawing a scene from life, such as plants or buildings or people on the street. Drawing more studies of clothed people instead of only doing anatomy. Drawing 3D forms in simple perspective, and then repeatedly adding more onto these forms to try and add complexity without muddying up the drawing with inconsistent and shoddy linework.

I've always wanted to add those kinds of drawings to my social media, but my ideas for fanart fill my mind 24/7 and I've been trying so hard to realize these ideas- and failing miserably. At the rate that I'm going, we're gonna experience the heat death of the universe before I reach a level of artistic skill that would actually let me make a living and survive off of my work. So I need to seriously address these concepts, and I need to (mostly) detach it from my fanwork so I don't get too emotionally attached to the countless shitty drawings I'll be making >.>

So I'll try and worry less about making all these cool fanarts and instead pick a single or handful of simpler fanarts to seriously work on, and surround those few works with lots of other practice that will help me build the skills I need to execute these ideas.

I also think I'm going to go back to writing more fan fiction in the meantime, since my writing skills are pretty well developed; far more than my drawing, at least. So I can try to present more of my fan ideas through writing instead of only through art, that way I can still share these thoughts with the world.

Plus I have some ideas that can help combine my fanfics with simple fanart in the form of illustrations- like one or two drawings per chapter of a fic, for example. Not full scenes with lots of detail- rather they'd be simple drawings with more rough linework and simple shading, which focus on conveying a key idea of the text instead of trying to convey all the meaning within the artwork itself. Like if a chapter introduces a new character, then having an illustration of said character in a simple scene. That kind of thing!

No clue where this'll take me, but hopefully it'll at least let me continue to improve my art skills without feeling miserable, while also giving me time to catch up on other work that I've been neglecting, including some huge life stuff I need to sort out if I want any chance of surviving on my own once I graduate.

I'll still have a lot of stress and anxiety from other places, but I want to at least take art and transform it into something I can do for fun and to relax, instead of being stressed by my art because of the pressure to make things "look good" instead of building up the skills I need to do that in the first place. If I can learn to enjoy making art, that'll go a long way in helping me get to a better frame of mind ^.^

[lightleelandslost]

Just anxious and wanting to put this out there

Hey, I don't post here ever. Though I probably should, I feel like it would help me be my authentic self. Anyways I am kind of in crisis mode. This is long but, I need to put it somewhere.

So recently I've triumphed in my Insta account, successfully removing homophobic family and friends so that I could have a social space that felt like mine. I've finally been posting what I want to post, without really worrying about who would see it and how they would react. I've also joined LGBTQ+ friendship groups and have slowly building up the confidence to comment and post occasionally.

I was comfortable, I felt safe and so when a random friendship request came in that didn't immediately raise red flags, I accepted. We talked for a couple days and though a couple things stand out now, they didn't in the moment. We had some things in common and she was easy to talk to. When she sent private photos, I reciprocated even though I wasn't quite ready at that point. But I was lonely and uncomfortable with my body, but the fact that someone wanted to see me made me happy.

Now she threatens to expose them unless I send money.

I, of course, immediately blocked and reported that account and then spiraled into a storm of anxiety that makes me want to delete social media altogether. I think (hope) that they are empty threats. She says she'll send them to my boss and my family and days later nothing has happened. Today she stared a random group chat (under a different account) with strangers (???) and claimed she was going to send them with threats to add more people after she'd already sent them. I've blocked and reported this account as well (which again is passable as a real account at first glance). I took screenshots of those threats, just in case I need them in the future. Insta has not reported any change in their account status, but i'm not expecting much help from them.

I spent 20 minutes searching in a panic trying to find advice for what to do in this situation. Trying to find reddit threads, insta advice, anything advising what to do in this situation until i finally found this very basic advice.

I knew that paying them wouldn't help at all (a. I'm poor, there's nothing in these pockets, b. they'd probably just ask for more down the line) also they never sent demands, just threats and devil emojis. I figure that if this person was going to do anything they would've done something more meaningful by now. So that leaves me to play whack-a-mole and how much anxiety till my heart gives out until they finally give up. If they do send them out I will explain myself, it will be uncomfortable but if they're actually decent people/friends they will be understanding and hopefully supportive.

I do not wish this sort of thing upon my worst enemy. I can't put into words how fast my heart rate and anxiety rise when an insta notification comes through my phone. I hope that this is over soon so that I can build myself up again to where I was before.

I was vulnerable, lonely, looking for a friend, and trying to fit in. I am trying to be kind to myself in this situation but it is hard. I want so badly to shut myself completely out and never try this sort of thing again but I know that this stuff would find its way through anyways and how social media can help connect people with true friends and family. In the future I will be more vigilant and cautious. In the same breath I hope that I am able to be vulnerable again, I have trouble with this, and learn that setting boundaries is okay.

I'm sharing this to A. put everything into words and talk myself through everything that's going on (therapist's on leave, nobody else to talk to) and B. to let others that have gone through the same situation know that they are not alone, this stuff happens sometimes.

All the love

[cherrydippedkisses]

oh love...it's something isn't it. i'm going through a difficult thing too. it's sort of different and a lot different at the same time. but i feel like there's some common threads. the man i love lives nearly 2000 miles away from me and we've never met physically. i met him on a dating app last november. over a year ago and we still haven't met in person. he was going to come out and see me over the summer but got to the point where we cared and loved each other too much to where if he came out and we spent time together, it'd only hurt more when he had to go back...because we can't really be together for real. and we knew this from the start but we connected so instantly and cosmically that we just couldn't let it go. he's a lot older than me. and the odds are just against us in a lot of ways. but we fell in love. i have felt loved and seen and heard and understood by him more than i have by anyone in my life and it has been the best thing. a dream. and i've continued to hang onto the fact that we will in fact still meet at some point. because we can't just not after all this time and all we've been. until a couple months ago another woman came into the picture...she reached out to him (she's someone he's known for 6 years and they've even dated a little before but it was as bad timing) and basically he couldn't tell her he was in a relationship because..well..we've never been legitimate. we've always been hanging on a maybe. but let me tell you the feelings and emotions and all we've shared together ARE legitimate. they are Real. but apparently not enough for him to deny this woman. and, as bad as it fucking hurts, i understand. i had to go along with it, there was nothing in my power i could really do about it. i knew we could never REALLY be together. and how long is he going to keep being single just for me. i was crushed when he told me about her. shattered, completely torn up in a million pieces as he progressed with her. and it hurt him that i was hurting to bad about it. to shorten it up, he's still with her, but he's learning she's not exactly what he wants and she has some red flags..but he's kept us going to the best of his ability, because he still hasn't told her about me. because he said if he did, she'd leave. it's fucking hard. he's been making sure i'm okay through the whole thing and he still loves me and i still love him. we've built a bond really strong that i'm finding is bigger and strong enough to hold fast through this situation. but it's hard because we don't talk nearly as much, i can barely text him. it's just a bit different but i've never doubted his love. in fact a couple weeks ago when she and him had a fight, where she blew up at him out of nowhere and then walked out and slammed the door, leaving him in anxiety, and you know what he did? he called me, venting and letting it out while he went for a walk outside. he needed me. and i was there for him. and he told me "thank you" i said "for what" he said "for being there" and i will always be there for him. even when it involves her. because i don't want him to have any more trouble in his life. he's already been through so much shit. and i can't tell you what it gives me to be a soft and sweet presence for him. i just don't want to lose him. it hurts i can't be together with him. every day. that i've never felt his touch or looked in his real eyes. i dream about it every. single. day. but i take comfort in knowing we will always be special in each other's lives. even if the romance of us subsides..that fucking hurts... but at least we will still have each other. hopefully this guy you are going through your pain about, i hope that you can come to a peaceful resolve and that you will both see the value in having known each other. i actually don't know much about the situation but i am sending you love and good thoughts and strength to get through this. you're not alone in pain in love. even though the situation might be different, it even comforts me to know i'm not alone. we will be okay. 🤍

I can’t tell you how much THIS message has meant to me. it’s taken me a little bit to reply but.. thank you. thank you for your sweet words and for your encouragement. I’m so so sorry that your heart is yearning for someone to such an extent.. I do not wish the pain of this type of love on anyone. though; your understanding of the love and adoration I have for this guy, because you, too, hold the same love for someone; it means more to me than you know. I don’t think anyone could come close to understanding the special place we hold in our hearts for these individuals.. with some type of hopelessness that the places will be filled with the requited love that we feel. I wish you healing and strength to move forward with this situation. I’m so relieved to know that you’re aware that you deserve more than pining for someone that you may or may not be able to love to the fullest capacity, just because it is such a difficult situation. it’s so hard to let go when the feelings are incredibly strong, and I think its difficult for just anyone to understand that.. even the men that are involved with us currently. I’m sending you so much love you sweetheart.. I do hope things ease up for you soon because I can’t imagine how you’re feeling when another woman is involved. I thought just clinging onto hopelessness with this one was difficult enough but you’re far more strong than I could ever credit myself for. thank you, again, you sweet angelic soul.