#but I'm also super lazy and rather not do either

[damnfandomproblems]

Fandom Problem #9692:

This is a really specific pet peeve, but when it comes to anthros, I just find breast removal scars super lame and lazy as a visual indicator of trans-ness. Like, dude, they ain't human. That's the whole point. You have a world of all these fun, unique ways to handle the subject you just settle on breast removal scars?? Lame, boring, there's a whole world of anthro specific visualizers, but you choose the most cliché human visualizer??

Give me a deer girl with two little scars where her antlers use to be that peek through her hair or bandanda or whatever sometimes, a deer boy with fake antlers, a duck girl where she dyes her bright feathers and the dye is a little faded, a duck dude with his brown feathers dyed bright but it's a little faded, girl lioness with a cut mane but it's grown back a little, a boy lion with a fake mane that's not a 100% perfect match, etcetera

Just show me some trans anthros altering their specific flavor of animalistic sexual dimorphism to either mimic the parts of gender the identify with and to mask/get rid of the parts of the gender they no longer identify with

Like, this whole new world of creativity has been opened to you... and you ignore it???

If I wanted some basic boring ass breast removal scars, I would be looking at humans, I'm here for a cooler and more creative visualizer man, yet the only thing I find is this lame ass human bullshit

(Also, I am referring to breast removal scars as lame and boring because all things human are lame and boring to me. They are not being called lame and boring because they're breast removal scars, but rather, they are being called lame and boring because they're a human specific type of scars, and the human-ness of them is lame and boring to me. This is a specific opinion I have of them personally, I do not think everyone else must think the same. Don't twist this into "oMG oP hATE tOP sUGErY!!!!!", it's just "OP wants people to lean into the anthro part of anthros and use anthro specific trans visualizers and stop relying on human specific visualizers")

[eufezco]

SUPER SHY - JOEL MILLER x FEM!READER

SUMMARY – when Joel's keeping you company while you're showering, he sees something he wasn't supposed to.

english isn't my first language <3 // this is pure SMUT

A/N – omg it's been so long but i literally have no inspiration so if anyone has any request... also, i've been writing for the walking dead, especially daryl, but that's still in my drafts because i don't know if there's anyone interested in that. ANYWAYS, i hope this isn't so bad

He didn't mind. He truly didn't care. He was sitting on the toilet, bent forward, with his elbows on his knees and one of his legs shaking out of impatience. It was true that he'd rather be doing other things but with a bit of luck you'd be done soon and he'd leave. Although he didn't have much to do either, he was sure they needed some last-minute people to patrol.

He had been sitting on that toilet every night for at least thirty minutes every time you took a shower. Since you lacked music, you needed some other type of distraction and Joel wasn't the best for it but it was your only option.

"What was the last movie you saw?"

"I don't know. I can't remember."

"I'm sure you do remember, you are just too lazy to think. For me, it was Spiderman, my brother took me to the movies but I don't remember enjoying it. What was yours?"

"I think it was Catch Me If You Can."

"Never heard of that."

Of course not, he said to himself. The sound of falling water made your voice sound fainter so he had to readjust his position to hear you better. His back was now against the toilet, he ran his hands over his face. It was starting to get a little hot inside the bathroom as well. Joel looked in your direction, trying to understand what you were saying but quickly looked away. Joel closed his eyes tightly and then opened them wide again without knowing what to do. When he leaned back and looked in your direction, he expected nothing, only the curtain that was hiding you, but instead, he found a perfect view of your round and wet ass.

Joel swallowed nervously and shook his head, trying to erase that image from his mind, but it was so perfect and the water slid so easily down it. No, no, no, fuck he mumbled, massaging his temples. The way his teeth would sink into your skin there, and they would mark your soft skin just right.

"Are you okay?" You peeked your head through the curtain. Your brow furrowed as you saw him looking away.

He nodded.

"Can you pass me the bathrobe, then?"

Fuck, you were doing this on purpose, he thought. He stood from the toilet and you waited behind the curtains. You went out of the shower wrapped in the robe.

"I'll leave so you can change." He announced. His eyes briefly looked away and moved down to your breasts covered by your bathrobe, he could see how hard your nipples were and how the drops of water slid down your cleavage. You raised your eyebrows and Joel never looked you in the face again. He tried to get out of the bathroom, ashamed enough already, when you blocked his way with your body.

"I saw you looking at me, Joel. You won't get away so easily."

He didn't know what to say. Should he apologize? Should he leave anyway? He'd been looking after you practically since this started, since you two met in the woods, the least he could do was apologize for looking at you in such an inappropriate way.

"When was the last time you saw a naked woman?"

Your question caught him off guard. Joel shook his head and took his eyes off you, knowing beforehand what you were about to do. The bathrobe slipped off your shoulders and Joel closed his eyes, not even daring to look at your reflection in the mirror. You couldn't be doing this to him, he was not like the boys you'd been hanging out in Jackson.

"Look at me."

He shook his head. You told him again and this time his eyes laid on yours. You flashed him a smile, how innocent sweet Joel.

"I want you to look at my body, Joel."

Joel called your name, shaking his head again and swallowing nervously.

"I know you want to do it, I saw how you looked at me before. I want you too, but this isn't going to work if you can't even look at me."

His eyes shyly moved from yours to your breasts. He took a glance and closed his eyes. You smiled victorious. You guided one of his hands to caress one side of your body. Joel dared to look at the path his hand was making through your body, how soft the skin of your waist felt against his rough fingers.

You led his hand to cup one of your tits. Your nipple immediately became hard on contact with his palm and your pussy was already clenching around nothing. You'd dreamed so many times about how would his touch feel, and he was barely applying any pressure, nor squeezing it or pinching your nipple, he was just holding your tit in his hand.

Your hand pinched his chin and made him look up at you. His eyes were bright, darker than you'd ever seen them before, and his pupils were big. You fluttered your lashes, inocently and your thumb caressed his lips. You came close enough to his mouth for your breaths to become one, you could feel his beard tickling your lips. You ran your tongue over his lips and he leaned in for a kiss, his lips were so soft and gentle against yours compared to the thick hair of his beard.

You pushed his shoulders and made him sit on the toilet again. His cock was so hard and ready for you, already leaking precum against the fabric of his underwear. He was still unsure about this, not because he didn't want to do it but because you were so beautiful and he was an old man that doubled your age, and his cock was so hard and already throbbing against his stomach, it was almost embarrassing.

Joel put both of his hands on your hips when you placed one of your legs on each side of his body. You wrapped your fingers around his hard cock, giving it a couple of strokes and getting multiple groans from him. You could feel him twitching between your fingers. He was big, some black hairs like the ones on his head decorated the base of his cock and a prominent vein ran down its length, but the most important thing was, that he was thick. You could barely take it all in one hand, and you knew the stretch was going to be perfect.

You lined up his cock at your entrance, allowing only his tip to go inside you, and then you gently lowered yourself. One of your hands moved down to your clit and rub it to get used to the sensation of Joel filling you. He gave you all the time you needed but you were tight and he could feel his cock jumping inside you. Every time your fingers rubbed your clit your cunt clenched and squeezed him even harder.

"You good?" Joel asked, caressing one of your cheeks with the back of his hand. You nodded. "You sure? Oh, fuck-" He moaned when you started rolling your hips against his. Your movements were very delicate as your fingers continued working on your bundle of nerves, helping you to get even wetter and making it easy for you to take him. Joel could feel you dripping down the inside of his legs.

"Yeah, that's a good girl, fuck-" His eyes were locked on where you two connected although he could only see how his cock had completely disappeared inside your pussy. He was enjoying the way your tiny fingers played with your clit.

"Still good?" He asked again and you nodded. You suddenly stopped the movement of your hips against his and he was afraid that you'd hurt yourself. You placed your hands on his broad shoulders, getting a firm grip there to help you lift your hips from his lap. You pulled him out of you, his cock glistening with your juices, and then you dropped yourself back down onto his cock.

A sharp moan came out of Joel's throat and his fingers sank into the flesh of your ass. You repeated that again and again, finally getting used to Joel's width and to the sting of him going inside you deeper and deeper each time. Your hands moved from his shoulder to his face, cupping both of his cheeks and guiding his lips to yours, the sounds that escaped your mouths became one. His hands massaged your breasts shamelessly this time, his palms rubbed your nipples while you leaned your head back, giving him perfect access to your neck.

"I can't- I can't anymore." You cried out, your movements becoming more and more sloppy.

"It's okay. You did well." He gasped, his hands on your hips slowly guiding your movements, giving you enough time to recompose. Joel helped you to wrap your legs around his body, so that when he stood up from the toilet, he could move you with him, his dick still balls deep inside you.

Joel sat you on the sink and he splayed your legs completely open. You sat up on your elbows, looking through your eyelashes as he was admiring how your pussy sucked him. His dick slid inside you easily, his thrusts were stronger than you thought they would be and they made your whole body shake with them. Your throat felt dry and the burn in the pit of your stomach felt warmer and warmer. You dug your nails into his shoulders and pulled him to you, chest to chest.

Your hips rolled involuntarily against his, and you nodded to everything he muttered at you through gritted teeth. Yes, you were a good girl. Yes, you were his good girl. Yes, your pussy belonged to him. Yes, you were about to cum. Yes, you wanted his cum, and yes, you wanted it inside. And who was he to deny you your wishes? With a groan coming straight from his chest and your legs shaking and closing around his body, you both came seconds apart.

Joel stayed inside you, his head resting on your shoulder as you played with the hair on the back of his neck. You giggled. "Look at the shy one."

[nialls-golf-putt]

I've Tried to Fight Our Energy (Back To You)

He's irritating. He's obnoxiously hot. He can't take a bloody hint.

He's also very determined. Oh, and your brother's bandmate.

OR

the brother's bsf AU that's everyone's guilty pleasure.

c/w : Dom/Sub dynamics if you squint, oral (m&f recieving), LOTS of Dirty Talk, Mild Degradation, a bit of a CMNF kink (on the authors part whoops) and just a very cocky niall, honestly.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

REQUEST: This is super smutty, so up to you of course if you want to do it. Niall (can be any au) is very, very cocky and he always gets what he wants, and y/n is very much not interested. But Niall decides he wants her and he's very persistent and very persuasive, and after a lot of cocky flirting and working her over, he eventually gets her. And when he does, he makes her get on her knees and beg for his cock, and he makes her choke and gag on him. And then he fcks her so good, she goes cock dumb and will do literally anything he tells her. And he's so arrogant and condescending about how she couldn't resist him. :D

A/N: Ty to the lovely anon for this request it is *chefs kiss* Hope you like it <3

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

Of course it was him.

Him and his bloody snapback and his barely-there tank tops.

Honestly, he might as well have walked around without a shirt on, for all those 'tank tops' did for him. And fuck, you weren't gonna pretend like you weren't looking, you were only just human, but you hated that he knew you were. And honestly, you'd much rather not, but, it wasn't like you could control yourself.

"Lou's not gonna be home for a bit. He's gone over to Harry's," you said, finally coming down from the stairs, standing a step back from the arched doorway leading to the living room where Niall was currently spread out on the sofa, phone in hand.

He looked up, the oh-so-familiar smirk on his face setting your teeth on edge as always. It was the smirk of someone who knew he was sexy, who knew he was wanted, who knew he'd get whatever he wanted- and you couldn't hate it more.

"I'm aware," he said lightly, his gaze lingering shamelessly on your face before he looked back down at his phone. "Louis said to wait up. So I'm here," he shrugged, as though that explained why he was sitting in your living room in the middle of the day like he belonged there or something.

You stared at him for a few moments as he resolutely continued to stare down at whatever was on his phone.

"What're you doing here anyway?" You finally blurted out, internally wincing a bit at how much ruder it came out than you'd planned but forgetting all about it at his reaction.

He rolled his eyes, slowly setting down his phone beside him, his actions almost lazy and theatrical. He pulled his cap off, brushing his hair back and putting it back on. Who even wore a snapback indoors? It made you want to punch him.

"Now, was there any need for that tone, honestly?" he said, raising an eyebrow with a smug little smile and ugh- "Whatever would Louis say? Besides, I'm not that bad, am I? And I'm not in your way either."

"Well, you are sort of in our living room," You pointed out, leaning against the doorway, arms crossed.

"Yeah, yeah. But it's not like I'm takin' up all of it. You could always come sit with me. Promise I won't complain." he smirked, patting the spot beside him on the sofa.

You rolled your eyes again. "It's really not a 90s rom-com, you know that, right? I'm serious, what are you doing here?"

He continued staring at you with a bit of a pout, his bottom lip sticking out the tiniest bit, but you really weren't going to give in. He sighed, slumping against the back of the couch. "Fine, fine. It's just band shit, sweetheart. Honestly, no need to worry your pretty little head about it, we'll be out of your hair most evenin'."

And it was the condescension in his voice that did it for you. "Must you always talk down to everyone? Honestly, and you expect anyone to give the time of day when you behave like th-"

"Oh, whoa. Darling, slow down. I was just kiddin', alright?" he interrupted, standing up and crossing the living room way too fast in your opinion. You did not want him that close. Close enough to see the trail of chest hair going down the middle of his pecs. To smell- whatever his cologne was. God, for all you couldn't stand him, even you had to admit, he always smelt good.

"-mean it that way. I was just playin' around. C'mon-"

And you just phased back in. Right, of course you'd missed what he was saying. It wasn't due to the proximity, no. You were a bit light headed but you were certain it was the anger. Or just, dehydration. Wasn't that why you'd come down in the first place? To get some water, yeah.

"I'm just gonna-" you said, walking into the kitchen without so much as a second glance to him, not caring if he was stilll talking.

You filled up a glass with some ice, taking a deep breath as you filled it up with water, looking out the window at the backyard.

And of course, Niall followed you into the kitchen. You turned around as soon as you heard his footsteps, an unimpressed look on your face.

"Whatever it is, I don't wanna hear it, alright?" You said, ignoring how his face fell at your sharp tone, almost flinching away. "I just- I'm gonna be upstairs. Try not to need me unless there's a fire or something. You being deficient in attention isn't an emergency."

And as he moved to the side to let you go out the kitchen and back up the stairs, you didn't even look up from your glass. Even so, you didn't miss the look on his face, the way he put as much distance as he could between the two of you. You didn't know what to make of the feeling twisting in your gut at that.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

You really hadn't even heard a peep from them that evening. They'd been out back on the deck, and beyond the faint smell of Louis and Zayn's cigarettes curling in your kitchen, they might as well not have been there.

You'd fallen asleep before any of them could come say goodbye, and the next few days were spent as usual. Louis had a small break and you'd all spent as much time as you could together, bowling, watching stupid tv- the usual.

He'd have to fly out a few days later, and you'd said yes to come say goodbye to him. You usually got on well with all the boys, even Niall usually, despite his incessant flirting and a bit more than a little obnoxiously smug nature- But this time, you weren't looking forward to it.

You tried to convince yourself it was because you didn't want to see Niall again, to not be on the receiving end of any more flirtations. It was definitely not because you'd maybe overreacted a bit the last time. And it definitely wasn't because you felt bad about it.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

It didn't seem like it was as bad as you'd thought, however. Everyone still seemed the same, which was how you told yourself Niall still seemed normal.

Same big smile at you, the over the top expressions and hand gestures as he spoke.

"Be good for me, yeah?" Louis whispered, you and the rest of the girls piled around him in a big hug. Ernie wouldn't let go of his leg, and while everyone was busy convincing him to, Niall somehow found you standing a little off to the side.

"Do I not get a goodbye hug?" He said, holding his arms half open, but the goofy grin on his face told you he was just kidding this time. Maybe. Either way, you couldn't help but laugh softly, shaking your head.

"'M afraid not."

"Alright, yeah, it was worth a try." He said with a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of his neck before pulling his cap off and carding his fingers through his hair in a motion you'd seen him do a million times. You found yourself wondering why he even did that. He just made his hair even messier, and it wasn't like anyone could see them anyway, they were almost always under his hat.

"Probably." You murmured, giving him a small amused shrug.

He'd opened his mouth, assumably for another wisecrack remark, but Liam called out for him, and he twisted his cap again as he walked backwards. "Right, yeah, I should go before Payno bites my head off."

You nodded, waving to him, wondering what even was the right thing to say at the moment.

"See ya around, yeah? Reckon you'll be coming to the O2 show?"

And thank god for this boys big mouth. You nodded, smiling slightly. "Yep, 'm gonna be there."

"Cool," he nodded, staring at you for a bit too long as always before winking at you. And there went the first moment you thought he wasn't always insufferable. "Can't wait."

"Yeah, yeah," You shrugged, rolling your eyes with a soft laugh.

"What? Don't pretend like you don't wanna see me again. I'll be waitin' too," He was far enough that he had to shout a bit, and honestly, he was being so blatant about it. You could feel your sisters' curious stares on you and you knew that if Louis heard even Niall's little flirty comments there'd be hell to pay for both of you.

"Keep telling yourself that, Horan," You called back, biting the inside of your cheek as you shook your head.

"You keep telling yourself otherwise, babe," He said, winking at you one last time before disappearing inside the gates, leaving you sputtering in a mix of indignation and being flustered. Judging by the looks on your siblings' faces, the ride home was going to be a loooong one.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

It was a few weeks later, and the boys were back in the UK for the next leg of their tour. Your sisters had planned to surprise Louis at the O2 show (well, he must've known you'd all be there to support him but he did a good job pretending otherwise).

You'd ended up driving there in one big car, all of you, and booked the rooms in the same hotel as they were at. Made for some wild Mario Kart nights.

You thought all the boys must be out on some publicity thing or a rehearsal when you'd all checked in, but as your bloody luck would have it, Niall had shown up in the elevator when you'd all been waiting in the reception area for everything to be sorted.

And of course, the idiot had given you the biggest, most dramatic wink. And of course, your sisters saw again. You really were going to murder him.

He'd disappeared before you could give him a filthy stare back, because, of course, that's what he did. They'd been unbearable for a while, insisting you spill the beans, and that they'd keep it from Louis, when of course, there was nothing to. Not that anyone believed you.

You'd all ended up going out shopping that day, and it was soon dropped. Everyone was too busy picking out what to wear at the show that night, and you were too. For the most part. The only reason you were thinking back, was because you wanted to punch that stupid little grin right off his face, no matter how cute it looked.

Not that it was cute- Oh, who were you kidding. Of course he was. And he bloody well knew it but, ugh, you wished you weren't thinking about this right now,

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

The concert had been just as amazing as you'd have hoped.

You were so proud of Louis.

You'd all been rushed backstage just before they went on, and Louis had let out the cutest sound which he had insisted was not a squeal but a 'manly yelp of happiness', and that the tears on Lottie's shirt were just sweat. You let him have it. Just today.

"Knew you couldn't resist me for long-" You heard from behind you and grit your jaw, turning with the full intention to give him a piece of your mind but he had his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

"Whoa, sweetheart, I'm just kiddin'. Don't punch me. Atleast not before I go on stage-"

And of course he had to wink after that.

"What do-"

"-I want, yeah yeah," Niall interrupted, filling in before you could ask. "Nothin', actually. Just wanted to say it's nice to see you here. Be nice to know you're in the crowd."

For once, it seemed like he actually meant it.

You didn't really have much time to talk further before all the boys were ushered off for their final mic checks, and you even gave Niall a wave back as you guys left for your seats. You didn't quite know what you were thinking, honestly.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

They had one more show that night, and you'd hoped you'd maybe get to spend some time with them today- With Louis, you meant. But they had a radio thing to do, which, as much as you hated, but, of course.

Louis'd made y'all promise, though. One night, dinner at this low-key place, all the Tomlinsons, plus the boys, and even though it was unsaid, you knew you guys would eventually end up at a club somewhere. Or at least a pub. With Louis, it was a certainty.

Niall had been conspicuously missing from breakfast that morning, but you shut down that line of thought before you could even start down it.

You'd been lounging around in the hotel room, your laptop open. You were supposed to be studying, but it was kind of hard to focus. Especially when the view from the balcony was so amazing.

One of your sisters came to your door just then, pulling you along as you guys took some photos for your instagram pages in one of their rooms, and you had no hesitation whatsoever at leaving the laptop abandoned.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

You'd not taken that long. Or at least that's what you thought. Because it was clearly enough time.

The door had been locked. You'd had to use your keycard, as always.

Inside, though, on all the messy sheets with your laptop still lying open on it was one single white rose, a Dior ribbon on it. There was a card lying under it, and you didn't even have to open it to know who it was from.

But for once, the weird feeling in your chest wasn't the usual irritation. Had he been in your room, though, you found yourself thinking as you reached for the card.

Don't ask me why. X. Niall

And what in the name of god was this supposed to mean? Who gave out white roses just for the fucking sake of it?! This was so fucking typically stupid and try-too-hard-to-be-mysterious of him.

And a little sweet. Just a tiny bit.

You'd just been messing about, turning the card in your hands when you saw there was a small cramped line of text on the back too.

A dress would be too much. Plus u like ur jeans too much. Wear it tonight pls? closet.

What was he on about?

He really was taking this whole thing a bit too much to heart.

But even as you thought that, you found yourself walking to the small hotel closet.

And of course, there it was. A small white box, a thin ribbon tied around it. You opened it up, pushing the soft tissue aside and holding up what was inside.

And oh.

You had to give it to him. He had taste.

It was a cropped top. White, lacy. It wasn't much more than a scrap of fabric, you'd probably have to forego a bra with it, but it really didn't look trashy. And with the right pair of high-waisted jeans, you could get away with wearing it to both the restaurant and the club/pub/whatever place with alcohol you eventually ended up at.

You weren't actually thinking of it- Oh, fuck it. You were. Besides, it was too pretty to let it go to waste at the back of your closet back home. It was too gorgeous to not wear.

But you couldn't help but overthink about it all, but he had sent it to you. And he did ask nicely, that was something. And you really really did want to wear it-

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

Yeah, so...

You weren't sure if it was a bad decision or a great decision, wearing the top.

Your sisters had loved it, absolutely gushed about how pretty the ribbons were and you'd very conveniently pretended to forget when they asked where you got it from. Telling them Niall sent it would've been just disastrous. It wasn't like that, anyway.

But his reaction, oh jesus.

He'd been holding a glass of water, chatting with Zayn, all the other boys already sat on one of the tables, and you'd actually seen his eyes widen as they landed on you. You didn't know people actually did that.

Maybe he hadn't expected you to actually wear it. That gave you an odd sense of satisfaction. At least you'd won on that front.

You could feel his eyes on you all the way to the table, and you weren't quite sure why- but something in his gaze actually made your breath catch a bit. No, no. Fuck, no. Nope.

You calmed yourself the best you could, sitting down after everyone, and of course, the only seat left was next to Niall. At this moment you sort of wanted to wield that power over him, you really didn't mind.

"Jesus Christ, darlin', I didn't think you'd actually wear it," He mumbled as soon as everyone was settled the conversation picking up enough for him to be able to speak without being overheard.

"It's pretty. Wouldn't wanna waste it." You shrugged, trying to be as light as you could, but something in the way he was looking at you was making you shift a little more in your seat than usual. And you didn't mind the stupid little nicknames, either, for now.

"Oh, is that the only reason, then, princess?"

Of course he was back to being his cocky self. You would have rolled your eyes. Said something sharp back.

But oh, the way he said it. Something made you pause, heart rate picking up, and you could feel the burning in your cheeks- fucking body, betraying yourself.

"Thought so." He said, a small, smug smile on his face. "It's real pretty on you. Or, rather- You're gorgeous in it."

You stared at him, cheeks still burning, eyes flickering all over his face as you exhaled shakily.

"What? No quip? No 'none of your business, Horan'? C'mon, babe, where's the fun in-"

"Will you just shut up." There was no malice in your tone, though. You couldn't bring any if your life depended on it. More than anything, you knew it sounded like you were begging.

"Beg prettier, darlin'." He said, biting at the inside of his cheek amusedly.

"I'm not-"

"You're not begging, yeah yeah," He smirked, rolling his eyes. "Yet."

And oh, how that one word sent shivers through you.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

He'd let you get off at your own floor, but you'd barely made it to the door of your room before he was back, taking your hand firmly and all but pulling you into the elevator.

It had been hell. The whole night. The constant looks. The constant teasing. The flirting. You didn't know what changed, but something had shifted. And... It really wasn't as bad as you'd thought.

You knew there was a camera in the lift, it was conspicuous. But as soon as the gates had closed he was crowding into you and his hands were on your hips, and you simply let him back you into a corner, head tilted back, throat almost dry as you looked up at him, pupils blown.

Oh this was long, long overdue.

His lips were on yours, and they were demanding. They were biting and pushing and tugging and somewhere far away, you knew his hands were slipping around your waist; you could feel the warmth, the roughness of his calluses.

The next thing you knew, his tongue was pushing against your lips, not swiping, not gentle. He needed it. Demanded it. And you were happy to comply.

You could still taste the wine on him, faintly, his tongue sliding against yours, and you knew you were whimpering against him. For once, you wished more than anything you'd worn a dress, that you could lift your leg up and-

The door dinged softly, the lift stopping and before you could even process, Niall was in action, hands still wrapped around you, all but dragging you along to his room, hands smoothly pushing the card in.

"Pretty girl," He murmured as soon as you were in the room, his thumbs smoothing over your waist as he pulled you into him, his lips finding yours again, and you were whimpering in earnest now, his hands leaving behind stripes of warmth.

"My pretty, pretty girl-" He mumbled between kisses, his fingers deftly pulling at the ribbons of your top, swiping along your shoulder as it fell off. You let him push it down, your breasts spilling free, and he groaned as he saw that you hadn't been wearing a bra all night.

His thumbs immediately reached to tweak one of your nipples, his mouth closing over the other one. "Naughty, naughty little slut," He mumbled, gently biting and pulling at one of your hardening peaks before pulling off and blowing on them.

You whined softly, fingers threading in his hair as you tried to push him back down, needing the soft sensations, the smoothness of his tongue, the warmth on your skin.

But he shook his head, an amused little smirk on his face as he pulled the zip on your top down, letting it fall to the ground.

"C'mere," He said, hands running up and down your sides, leading you to the bed, sitting down on it and spreading his legs, letting you stand between them.

"On your knees, princess, what're you waiting for?"

You stared down at him dumbly for a few moments, feeling too drunk on his touch before it registered, and you sank down into the plush hotel carpet.

He tutted softly, cupping your jaw, his hand sliding to your hair and tugging softly.

"Off, sweetheart. All of it."

And it registered, you were still in your jeans. You stood up, a little clumsy and uncoordinated, fumbling with the denim, letting it stay in a pile on the ground before tugging your panties down.

Niall's eyes were on you every moment. You'd fully expected him to be undressing too, but he didn't seem to be in any hurry. You watched his eyes run along your hipbones, tongue darting out to wet his lips when he saw the string of your arousal snap between your underwear and you.

You knelt back down, a little confused as to why he hadn't undressed yet and, oh-

"Beg for it, princess."

You stared back at him for a few moments, a few shreds of your self respect still holding you back. This was Niall, for god's sake. Why were you naked and kneeling in front of him, let alone actually considering begging for his cock.

"I've got all night, you were the one in a hurry," Niall reminded, pulling you out of your reverie, leaning back on his hands on the bed. "You know you want it, sweetheart."

You could see his erection bulging in his pants, and you unconsciously clenched your thighs together at the thought, your clit sending a delicious jolt through you.

"Please-" You managed to breathe out, voice a bit hoarse.

"Come on, babe. You can do wayyy better than that," Niall smirked, and you would've punched it off his face. Except that you really were desperate for him.

"Niall, please. Please."

"Please what, sweetheart?" He smirked, clearly enjoying this, fingers threading through your hair and tilting your head back to look at him.

"Please, I- Your cock." You mumbled.

"Nuh uh. Couldn't hear that. Speak clearly, princess. Use your words. Spell it out."

"Wanna- I wanna suck your cock," You mumbled, voice trailing off at the end.

"It's not about what you want," Niall said, jerking his hand in your hair, tugging it sharply. "I said beg."

And the whimper you let out at that was pathetic. "Please- Niall. I- I'm beggin'. I need to taste your cock."

"Yeah, sweetheart? That so? Wanna choke on it, do you? Want me to use your pretty little mouth?"

You nodded.

"Words." He reminded.

"I-" You swallowed thickly, the ache between your legs way more important than what your brain said. "Please, I want to taste you, Niall, please. I want to feel you in my mouth. Need to choke on it-"

"Good girl," He groaned, spreading his legs a bit wider, tilting his head in slight permission.

Your hands were eager, fumbling with the button of his jeans, shaking slightly as you pulled the zipper down, the sharp snick the only sound in the room other than both your heavy breaths.

You licked your lips almost reflexively, pulling down his boxers just enough to free him. The clothes were obviously staying on and- It was kind of delicious, in a filthy way, kneeling here, naked, in front of a fully dressed him.

"Ask for it nicely, princess," He said, giving himself a few lazy strokes before letting his dick just rest there on your face. The weight felt heavenly, the warmth of his skin against yours and-

"Please, please let me suck your cock, Niall."

He moaned softly, nodding as he grasped himself, leaving trails of precum on your cheeks and nose before he pulled back.

You slowly wrapped your fingers around him, almost reverent as you pumped your fingers down. You could see his foreskin pulling back, the precum beading at his tip, and you didn't even think before leaning in and licking it off, letting the salty bitterness coat your tongue.

You could hear his soft groans, but it felt like he was miles away. His hand was still cupping the back of your head, but it was a reassuring presence more than anything.

All that mattered in that moment was his cock in front of you, an angry red at the tip, the heat emanating from him- You couldn't wait, hollowing your cheeks as you took him in halfway, pausing as he hit the back of your throat, pulling back off.

You took a deep breath, glancing up at him as you pumped his now slick length a few times, leaning in to suckle on just his tip, letting your tongue dart along his slit, eagerly lapping up any drops.

"Fuck, sweetheart," Niall groaned, his grip tightening in your hair.

That was all the encouragement you needed to duck down further, ignoring the burn in your throat, the discomfort as you relaxed your throat. You had the hand not wrapped around him, pressing into your thumb into your palm hard, trying not to gag.

You paused, taking a few shallow breaths to adjust, your nose almost brushing against his pubes.

"You're doing so- fuck- good, princess. Keep going," Niall hummed, his hips giving the smallest of thrusts upwards.

You slowly pulled back, before picking up a rhythm. Your other hand was braced on his thigh now, the denim of it grounding you.

None of it made sense. You were choking, it was wildly uncomfortable- you could barely breathe, and you were sure tears were streaming down your face. By all logic, you should've hated this. It was Niall, for fuck's sake, but in the moment, this was where you needed to be.

You looked up at him, meeting his eyes, the message in them clear for him.

use me.

"You sure?" Niall asked, and you blinked once slowly.

"Fuck me, look at you," He groaned. "All snappy and shit, one good taste of my cock and you're begging me to use your throat," He said, punctuating each time he paused with a thrust upwards.

You couldn't help but whimper at his words, and gag at the way he was thrusting into your mouth. Your nails were digging into his thigh, but it just seemed to egg him on further,

"Pretty little throat- There for me to use- Fuck, you feel so good princess. Should've given in long ago-" He said, panting as he fucked your throat.

And you could feel the tears streaming down your face, and you loved it. Loved how filthy you felt, how used. None of it made sense, and you didn't want it to.

He tightened his grip on your hair, bringing you all the way down and holding you there. His pubes were tickling your nose, you could barely breath, your throat burned, but oh-

You dragged your fingers through your slit, gathering your juices before shoving two unceremoniously into yourself, moaning around him as you hooked them forward, your own palm brushing against your clit.

"You touchin' yourself for me, sweetheart?" He asked, voice hoarse as he looked down at you, letting you lift your head just enough to breath before bringing you all the way down.

"Fuck, jesus. Turned yourself on sucking on my cock like a pretty lil' whore so much that you had to fuck your own fingers, hm?" he moaned softly. "Touch that pretty little cunt for me, then, princess. You deserve it, bein' such a good little cocksucker for me-"

And fucking hell, you knew he had a filthy mouth but this was beyond your filthiest dreams. You kept grinding against your palm, clit dragging along your skin as you pressed against your g spot. His hips sped up, thrusting shallower now, giving your already sore throat a bit of a rest.

You hollowed your cheeks again, looking up at him before humming softly.

"Oh jesus, princess don't do that I'm gonna-"

He barely even made it through that whole sentence before you felt his hips stutter, warm streams of his cum hitting the back of your throat, making you gag further. You didn't pull off, instead watching the beautiful expressions on his face, his eyes scrunched up, mouth hanging open in ecstasy- intently waiting till he gave one shallow thrust of his hips.

You pulled off then, tilting your head back and opening your mouth for just a second before swallowing. Just enough time for him to see his release pooling your mouth, and it had just the reaction you'd anticipated.

"Such an eager little slut," He murmured, his voice low and hoarse, his thumb pressing into your bottom lip as he held your chin. "Didn't even have to ask you to swallow, did I? If you'd just stopped pretending to hate me so much I coulda-" He broke off, giving you a small amused smirk.

"Your fingers still in your pretty little pussy, princess?"

You licked the final remnants of his cum off your lips, nodding slightly.

"Out."

You almost pouted, but it was almost like your fingers had a mind of their own, listening to his instructions. You whimpered softly at the sudden emptiness. Before you could place your hand back on your thigh, he caught your wrist, bringing it up to his mouth instead.

You gasped softly, way too gone to even form sentences as he wrapped his lips around your fingers, licking your essence off them in a way that reminded you of what you'd just been doing a few moments ago. It looked like the world's most dirty poetry in motion.

"You're starin', princess," He mumbled amusedly around your fingers, smirking as he pulled off. "It's very cute."

"I'm not-" You started, your voice hoarse.

"Don't even try and deny it," He chuckled smugly. "'S alright, it was long overdue, yknow. I knew you'd come around eventually. 'S why I waited," He broke off, exhaling deeply. "Anyway, all that aside. Up on the bed, sweetheart. Unless you're too comfy down there between my legs." He added with a teasing smirk.

You sort of hated yourself for how easily you obeyed, but you'd stopped fighting it as much. It felt pointless, he had too much power over you, and the main thing was, you wanted him to.

He shifted slightly to let you clamber on, waiting till you were sitting all the way up with your back to the headboard before he got off, slowly unbuttoning his shirt and pulling his jeans and boxers all the way off.

The absolute fucker was making a show out of it. He knew you were watching, and he was playing it up for you. You knew your cheeks were burning, but you couldn't help it.

You thought he'd get on the bed but he turned to one of the suitcases lying messily open in the corner of the room instead, going through it as he looked for something.

You couldn't help but stare at the curve of his back, wanting to run your fingers over his spine, the back of his neck, his ass and-

He stood up, a small foil square in his hand, an amused grin lazily spreading over his face when he noticed you staring. "It really is doing wonders for my ego, yknow, all this staring. I don't really mind,"

You blushed a bit more, mumbling something under your breath which you both knew was an excuse.

He slowly climbed onto the bed, but he'd tossed the condom off to the side for now, instead placing a hand on each of your knees, slowly spreading them.

You whimpered reflexively, biting your lip.

He didn't mention it, just chuckling with an extremely infuriating smirk on his face. The whole effect was offset by the way he was looking at you, though. And the fact that he was between your legs.

"You're absolutely drippin', princess," He teased, index finger swiping up your puffy lips. "All from sucking my dick, huh. Who would've thought you'd be such a pretty little slut for me?"

He leaned down, pressing soft, fluttering kisses along both your thighs, then at the top of your mound. His tongue darted out, drawing tight little circles on your clit and you didn't care that you were in a hotel with your brother and his other bandmates' rooms on the same floor. You moaned his name loudly, back arching, fingers tangling in his hair and pulling.

Your thighs tightened around him as he latched onto your clit, suckling with a pressure that sent your eyes rolling back, and he kept his eyes on your face the whole time. You genuinely felt light headed.

"Come on, baby," He mumbled against you, sending vibrations coursing through your body, his tongue dipping inside you now, licking along your walls, curling up into the perfect spot. His fingers were now on your clit, drawing quick little patterns, rubbing it in tandem with his tongue, and after all that teasing, you stood no chance.

"Niall I'm-"

"Give it to me," He all but growled against you and those vibrations were what sent you over the edge. You were sure you were crushing his head between your thighs, but his eyes still had the same look of pure lust. Everything tingled, from your toes to the tips of your fingers, and the waves seemed never ending.

You were out of breath by the time he finally pulled away, wiping his chin with his fingers, wasting no time in moving up and covering your body with his again, his lips finding yours.

The kiss was just like before, demanding, urgent- you could taste yourself on him, and it was hotter than it had any right to be.

His hands were all over you, tracing the planes of your shoulders, down your arms, threading his fingers through yours and bringing your hands up and pinning them by your head.

He looked down at you with an almost unreadable look, but you were way too distracted by his erection poking your thigh again. You shifted slightly, widening the space between your legs, letting him settle fully between them. His dick ended up brushing against your core again, and the soft gasp/moan combo that he let out might've been the hottest sound you'd heard from him.

"Someone's eager for my cock," He murmured, his lips brushing yours but not properly touching. "Y'know what to do, sweetheart."

You groaned, not wanting to beg again, instead wrapping your legs around his waist, making sure he was pressing up against you and could feel just how wet you were.

This time, however, it didn't work. He just tutted, sitting back on his heels as he unwrapped your legs from around him.

"You know you want it, baby, don't make me ask again," He said, raising an eyebrow as he reached for the condom, ripping it open and rolling it on lazily. He gave you a small look as he saw the obstinant expression on your face, that clearly said 'lets not make this harder for both of us'.

And honestly, a part of you- a bigger part than you were ready to admit just yet- wanted to, too.

"Fuck me, Niall. Please," You said softly, spreading your legs a bit more to let him get a full view of your pussy.

"Beg prettier, princess."

You pouted a bit, hips squirming as you looked up at him. "Please, baby. I need it. Need to feel you fillin' me up, Ni. Please."

He gave you a small amused look, leaning down to press a quick, rough kiss to your lips before he got one of the pillows from the bed, tapping your hip before sliding it under you.

You watched him, toes curled in anticipation as he placed one knee on the other side of your thigh, shifting you slightly so that you were lined up with him.

"Ready, princess?" He asked softly, waiting until your nod before rubbing the tip along your slit, coating himself in your wetness before slowly pushing in.

His hands were on your hips, fingers digging in. The stretch was perfect, and you moaned softly each time he moved forward. When he bottomed out and gave a small experimental grind of his hips, you let out a surprised moan. His pelvis was rubbing against your clit with each movement and you were eager for more.

"Move, please, Ni," You whimpered.

He hooked his hand under one of your knees, bringing it up slightly so it was bent before he started circling his hips. He went a bit too slow for your liking, even though you hadn't fully adjusted to how thick he was. He didn't listen to any of your begging, not this time- and the little considerate act should not have been so sexy to you, but it was.

He finally started moving in earnest, hooking his hips up every so often, pushing against your G spot in a way that had your hands bunching in the sheets, moaning his name out.

"Come on, princess, come for me," Niall mumbled, his fingers finding your clit and rubbing now. His voice was strained, and it was clear he was holding back.

"H-harder," You managed to gasp out.

Niall complied instantly, his hips pounding into yours, your eyes rolling back as you whimpered, clenching down on him.

"Just like that, c'mon baby, let go for me," He mumbled, pressing down on your lower stomach with his palm, hooking his hips up hard and you moaned incoherently, hips moving up to meet his as you rode out the waves of pleasure.

The look on his face as he came, the soft pants as he caught himself above you, pressing kisses along the side of your neck- You couldn't coherently remember any of it, and none of it made sense to you, but you'd never felt better in your life.

You were vaguely aware of whining when he pulled out, the sudden emptiness jarring, but he was back in bed in a minute, wiping you down with a warm flannel before cuddling up from behind you and oh- you hadn't taken him for a cuddler, but you weren't complaining.

"Princess, you still there with me?" He mumbled amusedly, tracing patterns along your sides.

You nodded slightly, not quite feeling up to answering.

"I'm gonna take that as a no," He said, and you could hear the grin in his voice.

You whined softly in protest, and he just chuckled, turning you to face him instead, hooking your leg over his waist. "'S alright, baby, you can accept it." He teased, kissing your lips softly. "No shame in going cock dumb every once in a while. It's a good look on you."

"Heyyy," you protested weakly, voice still deliciously sore from how roughly he'd treated you earlier.

"See, that's a total yes to being cock dumb,"

"Is not."

"So you're coherent?"

"Mhm."

"Cause that's how coherent people speak," He teased, raising an eyebrow as he carded your hair off your forehead.

"So am, fuck you,"

"Again? Princess, I don't reckon you can go again without me completely breaking you," He grinned mischievously.

"So can."

"Can not."

"Wanna try?"

"Oh fuck yeah,"

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

A/N: Not a clue how it ended up this long, but he's an absolute delicious bastard to write for so, here yall are. Reblogs and comments always appreciated <3

PS I made a cai bot for this one a while ago if you're interested <3

Feel free to request a fic/bot in my asks or lmk if you want to be on the taglist!

Taglist: @loverniallts @latedirectionerera @pansexualdarling @ohreyyy @dapimpisere13 @puzio19 @justagirlthatlovedtoread @sturniolosangel @mila-valdez @ihopenobodyfindsthisblog @cleargothfanpurse @purplepenguinsthings @tjwoldham

[vykodlak]

how did you learn to render realistic light/volumes so well? your work looks real to my eyes in a way i cannot wrap my head around

I mention having studied as a sculptor for 4 yrs a lot when I get asked about my process but I really do think it was extremely helpful to my 2D art progression (more than anything else, really - I kinda sucked at sculpting).

It hardwired my brain to think of everything I make in 3D terms. Even when we were doing figure studies on paper, it was emphasised that we imagine the figure in three dimensional volumes, and pay attention to how the light and shadows wrapped 'round each individual form. Now, when I paint, I think of "sculpting" the painting out with my brush - when I add shadow to a cheekbone, I imagine I am smoothing the form away with my thumb in order to make the plane of the cheek curve more towards the darkness, and I imagine the different values within that shadow area as well. When I carve out a piece of the nose to form its shape, I think of how this new shape affects the shadows it is casting on the cheeks or mouth. Knowing exactly where your light source is from the start is very important for this.

And I know "think of everything in 3D and imagine the light/shadows wrapping around an object" is super common advice, but I don't think a lot of people mention that it's not just a mindset you can slip into immediately, it's something you have to train up just like any of your other art skills. You kinda have to brute force yourself to ignore that you're working on a flat canvas, and let go of all shorthands (instead of only visualising the nose as a flat image, as it exists in profile in the image you're referencing, imagine how it might look if suddenly the model turned their head towards you. Think of how the planes of the nose are curving away from you to create that rounded shape of the tip, think of what you can't see but you know exists on the other side, etc.)

But of course, it's hard to do this if you've never studied what a nose looks like at different angles. You need to build your mental library so you can enter that space easier. So 3D reference in general is still very important to me; I work better when I can spin something around and see how the light changes or curves because it helps me understand it, rather than just copying what I see in flat 2D ref. I rarely guess at anything I'm not sure of - whenever I need them, I either take references of myself or someone I know, and sometimes I use a simple head sculpt I made in blender ages ago when I'm lazy/need to figure out a more complicated lighting situation. I treat every drawing as a learning experience and try to solidify more of my existing knowledge through it. I even had a small head I'd sculpted in real clay for a while. When I'm in the mood for doing studies I'll sometimes set up a bunch of different lighting scenarios with the 3D head or a 3D-printed skull I have and do quick micropaintings, to refresh my memory. One of the other things I do, for example, is take a flat reference imagine whose lighting I like, re-create that lighting in 3D, then turn the 3D head around to see how it would look under that light source at different angles.

I'm also constantly observing things in the real world. Whenever I'm watching movies my eyes and brain are immediately drawn to the lighting and colors, how the shadows change whenever someone retreats from dark into light etc. I make notes of these or screenshot to do studies later. Whenever I'm hanging out with people and I notice an interesting lighting situation happening I ask them to let me take a picture so I can study it later, or add it to the reference vault. I love to people watch, I look at nature, I'm probably the spaciest person to hang out with but it's helped with the art lmao. Again, this is also something that you can consciously train yourself to do, it didn't come innately to me.

And uhh, honestly sometimes I think it helps that I use a lot of dramatic lighting in most of my portraits. It's easier to sort of "cheese" three dimensionality when you have such a defined separation between dark and light. The first thing I do is paint in the darkest shadow on any painting, then work outward from that. You can use things like the shadow's penumbra, the terminator shadow and ambient occlusion to push the three dimensionality further.

Anyway in relation to this I think of painting more in terms of value rather than color. I don't paint in b&w but over time I've come to learn the values of colors instinctively, though I sometimes apply a black and white filter on top and toggle it on whenever I wanna check if I'm on the right track. Then on top of that, apply colour theory such as different coloured bounce light and sub surface scattering, the colors in different zones of the face, etc.

To summarise, it mostly comes down to studying a lot, training yourself to visualise everything in a 3D space, being observant, making every drawing a learning experience, and training yourself to discard what you 'think' an eye or mouth looks like so you don't fall back on those shorthands whenever you're drawing something more realistic. Grab some clay and make a ball, do some studies of it.

Hopefully this helped shed light on my thinking process in some way; explaining things is usually when I remember english is my second language, I never know if I'm making any sense haha.

[trainsinanime]

People keep trying to explain why the ML fandom is so relatively quiet right now, and I'll be honest: I have no idea. There are parts I get and parts I don't. (Some criticism of the show below the cut)

First of all, the end of season 5 - yeah, I don't think a lot of people dreamed of this particular way to conclude the Gabriel Agreste saga. I get it.

And more in general, the ML fandom has always focused more on potential than the actual show; on the open questions rather than the day-to-day. Season 5 has answered most of these open questions, and most of these in ways that were not super satisfying.

How will Adrien and Marinette get together? — Oh, he just asks her nicely.

What impact will the tension with their secret identities have? — None whatsoever, Ladynoir are just friends now and happy that way.

How will we both reveal the truth about Adrien's father while making it a happy ending for both of them nonetheless? — We won't.

There's been something going with Chloé, who has tried being a hero, sucked at it, backslid, got a little sister who loves her and might show her a better way, where is that going to lead? — She gets deported by her dad.

99% of ML fanfics are reveals, and now many feel the show has taken away the reason to care about that. Not me personally, I'm going to keep writing reveals and all sides of the love square and first kisses until I die. But I get why it's made some people less than fully enthusiastic; why there's less incentive to post theories and head canons than there might have been once. The show took most of the "wonder what happens" points and answered them, and not even in interesting ways most of the time.

Here's my problem with that theory: The finale of season 5 came out in September 2023, almost two years ago. We've discussed all this to hell and back already. And yet the numbers I have access to show a clear decline between 2024 and now. What changed lately?

The only thing I can think of is that season 6 came out, but, like… season 6 is fine? At least as good as seasons 4 and 5 on average. Do people actually dislike the new art style? To me it's better in every way, so I have trouble wrapping my head around that, but it is a take I keep seeing.

A related point I've seen is the idea that the discussion culture about the show has gone to shit, something I actually see in equal amounts both from those who are very critical of the show and those who intensely dislike the strong criticism.

Personally I am more on the second side of this divide (though maybe only 95% instead of 100%): I'm still having a lot of fun with this show no matter what anyone else is saying. But there is valid, potentially even interesting criticism. But also a lot of people who are doing criticism are going "<insert writer name here> sucks and is a lazy hack!", which is usually neither interesting nor fun to engage with. My long-standing policy is that you can safely ignore any hot take that mentions any particular writer by name, and that still feels as true today as it did back when season 3 aired.

Again, we've been having the same discussions since 2023, and it's not like there is a lot of new insight to be had. The angry people have either left the fandom or gotten angrier, the very invested people have stopped talking to them and gotten angry about the anger, and it's all gotten very polarised… but again, this isn't new. This doesn't explain a drop-off between 2024 and 2025. I think.

I'm probably missing something here, I just can't make much sense of it either way. I can find things to point to, but I have trouble forming a coherent theory. How about you all?

(Discussion, including strong disagreement, is absolutely welcome! But as I said, I'll absolutely ignore you if you mention any writer by name.)

[limeade-l3sbian]

Im sure you have noticed many radfems talk of how men will use their spouse/partner as basically a second mother, having her do all the chores, the emotional labour, the organisation, etc. And I agree with this take.

But can we talk about how a lot of women, especially trad adjacent ones, also see their male partner as almost a parental figure. The amount of times i’ve seen women use different versions of “I just want a man that can think for me” is too many to count at this point. And it’s common. It’s seen in so much romance media, where the man takes control of everything, all the big decisions. It’s become a whole trope in heterosexual romance books and stories, of a rich man with control issues who sweeps some woman off her feet and makes it so she basically just disappears in his embrace.

This is gonna sound super harsh, but please know it isn’t meant as a critique of them as much as something i’ve noticed. I really do believe a lot of women who crave old school gender roles are very lazy, “useless”(to themselves) people who don’t want to amount to anything in life. The idea of struggle and hardship, heck, even just working TOWARDS something, it scares them so much they would rather be shapeless blobs controlled by someone else. That’s why they fetishize that traditional life style for women. Obviously WE know the women of that time and current time too in those types of homes aren’t just sitting around all day doing nothing, but I really do think a lot of women use it as an escapism fantasy from life.

The way a lot of them describe their sexual fantasies is similar, it’s always what is done to them, like they aren’t actually active participants, like they don’t actually have to make any choices.

I think the reason a lot of men crave a parental figure partner vs the reason a lot of women crave one is very different but they seem to be extremely common nonetheless. And with women I also know it’s a very complex issue of both society telling us our worth, the fact that women nowadays even as the more educated demographic STILL do more housework and emotional labour in relationships, capitalism being horrifyingly exhausting to live under, I could go on. But the point is, I think certain women crave a life of no consequences so that whole “i’m just a girl” and “he thinks for me, he makes the choices” mentality thats unfortunately had a huge uptick in popularity in recent years, I do think it’s women craving a parental figure as a partner. Not to say it’s anything linked to incest, i’m not trying to make freudian connections here, but I think the role of a parent is to take responsibility for the child and they crave that floating consequence free existence of a child.

I dunno, is what I’m saying completely deranged? Let me know.

Anon, I'm gonna try to be respectful and hold your hand when I say this... YOU'RE RIGHT! Thought I was gonna get condescending on your ass, huh? 😎🤪

Firstly, don't undercut your words with "I dunno." You made a completely logical point and casually explained yourself so eloquently I wouldn't be surprised if English wasn't your first language.

Secondly! I have seen this too! This weird, "take care of me" emphasis from both sides of the camp. Is it laziness? I wouldn't cast that aside for a second. But I think it's also this strange reaction to the present world. At least in the U.S., the economy is shit and people kind of already know that shit is just going to be hard, no matter what. And as humans, we have a weird tendency to swing the pendulum completely to the left or the right. So our reaction to very real, economic hardship that requires frequent "grinding" is to desire a complete release of the wheel, and to have someone else handle the hard stuff.

For some reason, according to social media, you either need to be grindset girl boss or a trad trophy wife which is...yeah. But I don't doubt your point being more of a reason for this. It's bizarre, and you're not crazy.

[madeby-meru]

Episode 11 Review (Jason & Thomas)

I actually have rather little to say about this one, overall it was an okay-ish episode and it didn’t have much in it for me (still keeping it under the cut to contain the yapping lol)

beware of spoilers!

One of th few times I saw both routes fully, i usually only go see Thomas' special scenes and illustration but I was pretty curious about this one and I am starting to like him more and more, the scene felt so shooooooorrrrt I wish they had talked more and discussed his finger licking habits 👁👁 the ilustration was very pretty too, i LOVE his expression~ I was a bit sad when we couldnt go to the planetarium :c I hope its a hint for a future episode, maybe an actual date?

Now Jason's route... I am a damn broken CD repeating myself over and over but I really and i mean REALLY dislike Ysaline. She is such a brat and so rude and judgy for no reason.

The whole "uuuuggghh i dont want to have dinner with himmmmm but i gave my woorrrddd but i dont want to be with hiiiimmmm" was so silly cause... dont go? say no? whats he gonna do sue you for hurting his feelings? why are u acting like u have a gun to your head lmao and also why are you acting like spending time alone with him is a torture? the last few times you two spend time together he was sweet and kind, he opened up to you, he helped you and clearly showed you that he DOES like you as a person!! what is there to hate at this point i dont get it, and youre also obviously horny for him get your shit together

And just dipping from his house leaving the dinner there.... I'm sorry that is extremely rude I cant deal with that. The reasoning is, again, so stupid. No, she is not betraying her company because (like Jason says) the rivalry is between him and Devon, Ysaline is not part of the equation she is not even a variable to consider. And no, she is not betraying her "friends" either because she has none! the game is very focused on the route to the point of our MC not making friends, this is not HSL where you got to constantly interact with the cast, raise their LOM, get to know them, etc. Here Ysaline is alone with her LI (and I cant take the argument of "the friendship happens behind the camera" cause thats just lazy af and leaving up to the VIEWER to fill in plot holes, for all I know she could also be addicted to cocaine and thats why she doesnt have money to pay the groceries).

Anyway, her bullshit aside, I actually loved Jason this episode! He is funny, witty, bratty in his charming way, he is so gentlemany, he cooks for her, drives her in his car (sighs like a teenager). I really like his character these past few episodes (it does bother me tho that this ep is SO bland without the special scene :/) and i hope he continues this way !!

Back to bitching- Just to quickly comment on the whole cameo thing: I am not a fan. I dont really mind them per se and I am not bubbling with rage, the cameos are well placed and they make sense and dont feel super out of pocket (amoris is a small city after all) but... I want our own characters, I want our own NPCs to interact with semi-frequently, I looooved the introduction of Devon's brothers and that cap remains my fav up to date (i want to rewatch it on Thomas' route again just to see Tasha and the boys more~). I want more characters that Ysaline can befriend and forge friendships with :c

That's pretty much all, like I said a mid chapter, not bad but not good. Pretty curious about the next one and how Jason will fit there!

[artist-issues]

you're fun to talk to about media so I've got something to ask.

what do you think of this trope where a lie or misconception becomes commonly accepted as truth by the characters in story? especially as a resolution.

example: in the finale of "Kubo and the two strings", the Moon King(main villain) loses his memory, so when he asks who he is, the townspeople lie to him and say he was a kind member of the community, rather than the dictator he really was.

I don't like it. I see a falsehood being widely accepted as a tragedy, and I'm just left imagining what happens if/when the characters find out the truth. I can't really take something as a happy ending when it's.. y'know, fake. I imagine you feel similarly.

but hey, I could have totally missed the point of the ending of KATTS, if you watched it, you might have seen something I didn't.

I haven’t seen Kubo in a really long time; I don’t think I was thinking critically about it the first time I watched it, so my opinion now is an afterthought. I’d have to see it again to be fair!

…But I do seem to remember that the villain is defeated with some importance placed on memory. And the identity of the monkey and that beetle warrior also have to do with the sacredness of memories. So, if that’s the case, then yeah, taking his memory away as a “good resolution” can kind of hamstring the whole theme of the movie. Unless you tilt your head and squint and go, “no, see, if all you have is bad memories, then it’s just as powerful to take those away—the point is, memories have power either way!” But even that feels a little half-baked, gymnastics-brainy.

Basically, I agree with you. A story that resolves with a character, or characters, accepting a lie as truth is always going to be a fumble of the whole story…unless it’s intended to be a tragedy, a cautionary tale. I can think of three where that’s super evident.

1 ) A Streetcar Named Desire

In this movie the main character, Blanche, is lying about who she is, for the whole story. She even has this great symbolism thing with light—she hates bright light, on the surface because she’s vain and doesn’t want anyone to see signs that she’s aging. But under the surface, the character is really an immoral, lust-filled, broken person who knows she can be cruel and isn’t deserving of love. She doesn’t want anyone to know that side of her. She hides it all under vainglory and pride. So she pretends to her sister, Stella, that she’s upright and moral and has simply fallen on hard times. But her sister’s brute of an abusive husband, Stanley, who is always 100% his authentic, awful self, sees through Blanche when she comes to stay with them. In the end, Stanley rapes Blanche and then carelessly shrugs her accusations off.

The main point of this example is that Stella, the wife of the rapist Stanley, has been portrayed the whole movie as sometimes-leaving her abusive husband…but only as far as the apartment above their own, literally right above him, so that she can easily go back to him. And at the end of the movie, when Blanche is being taken to a mental institution because she’s broken-down after being found-out as a fraud, then raped, Stella lets them take her away. And then Stella goes up to the apartment above, where she always “pretends” to leave Stanley. It’s such a halfhearted, lazy way to end a movie that’s all about desire-versus-truth. Because what it implies is that Stella is leaving Stanley for now, like she might believe that he raped her sister…but she’ll eventually go back to him. And in the meantime, Blanche goes off to the mental hospital, with this iconic line “I have always depended upon the kindness of strangers.” By which she means, “strangers don’t know what a two-faced monster I really am, so I can con them into thinking I’m a morally-upright woman fallen on hard times, and they’ll take pity on me—so sure, I’ll go with you, strange doctor I’ve never met.”

The central point of the movie is “as long as nobody looks the truth in the face, everyone can go on getting what they desire.”

Of course, that’s true. But the other truth is that, if Stella accepted what her sister and her husband really are—her sister is broken and her husband is a monster—then she could choose to rise above “animal desire.” She could choose to take care of Blanche, and Blanche would see that “someone seeing who I really am” doesn’t always have to lead to ruin and damnation. Stella could then, also, choose to really leave Stanley, for good, and be at peace, while Stanley’s “desire” would be rewarded with ruin.

But instead the opposite is what happens. Blanche goes away believing, in her broken mind, that her womanly wiles and faking will protect her from further injury, even though they never have—Stanley ends the movie exactly where he began it, screaming for Stella to come back and knowing that she will—and Stella, too, ends the movie going away from Stanley…just for a little while, until animal desire convinces her to just pretend Stanley isn’t really a monster, Blanche must be crazy, except this time, when she goes back, she’ll be carrying a child into that abusive lie.

All characters wholeheartedly embracing hurtful lies so they can keep riding their desires. I hate that movie. You could see it as a cautionary tale. Most don’t. Most see it as a movie with “hot Marlon Brando” who “really loves Stella—all the characters ‘really love each other,’ they just don’t know how to express it healthily!” 🙄

I think the worst part is that the movie behaves as if it is true that every time Blanche reveals her own brokenness or is vulnerable, the world STOMPS on her for it, nobody loves her despite her brokenness. That’s the real mistake this movie makes. It has an opportunity to show unconditional love and it leaves the audience thinking Blanche was right, and there’s no such THING as “unconditional” love, instead.

Anyway.

2) X-Men Origins: The Wolverine

This one is less thematic. But it’s just dumb because the whole movie the main character, Logan, Wolverine, is being taught that “Giving in to Bloodlust Makes You an Animal—Compassion For Those Weaker Than Yourself Makes You Human.”

So in that context, the whole narrative is centered around the exploration of “Who is Logan/Wolverine?”

…Which makes it really stupid that the movie ends with him losing his memory. So…the movie asks “Who Are You?” and right after the character figures it out, he forgets and ends it with the answer: “I don’t know who I am.”

That’s just a waste. That’s silly. It allows you to take the character to real, hearty, coming-of-age, hero-forged-in-fire, a man-born-of-tragedy places…and then just shrug all that stuff off at the end. “Never mind. But it was a fun ride, wasn’t it?”

Especially because they built it all around the dichotomy between Logan and his brother, who’s little more than an animal—and Logan and his wife, who could be an animal, but chooses compassion instead, and reminds him of his choice, too. —and then she dies, and it’s implied that maybe his brother does too, but who cares, cuz he forgets. Who cares? Not Logan. So why should the audience?

I get that they “needed” to do this so that the end of this movie sets up the beginning of the X-Men Movies, which already established that Logan can’t remember “his past.” But like…then don’t make the point of the movie “Who Am I?” just to end on “…Okay, So WHO AM I?”

It’s a fine movie up until that point.

They should’ve made the movie center around “Can’t Change What You’ve Done; But You Can Be Redeemed.” And then show his memory loss around a moment of self-sacrifice. So that it’s still tragic, but at least when he wakes up from the self-sacrificial act, he’s “a new man.” Then later, in the third X-Men movie, when Logan chooses that mutant kid over “learning the secrets of his past,” it all comes full circle, because his “self-sacrifice moment” can stay where the Old Logan died.

Anyway. You didn’t ask me to re-tell X-Men Origins: The Wolverine. But it’s the same basic premise—a movie ends with a character losing their memory, or believing a lie—whatever.

You know, actually, this one isn’t so much “believing a lie” as it is “going back to considering the lie (that he’s an animal) because all the work done to convince him of the truth has been stupidly erased”

3) The Dark Knight

Saved this for last because nobody would read all that if they saw me scratching up the beloved Christopher Nolan Masterpiece.

But The Dark Knight is a perfect example of what you’re actually talking about.

The movie is awesome until the end.

It’s not hard to guess what I’m going to say. Harvey Dent is supposed to be a shining example of a good guy, and the goodness, that Gotham is capable of. The Goodness that will ultimately defeat Evil. And Evil is represented as Chaos.

Bruce sees that and that’s why he’s willing to give everything to make Harvey succeed as the hero Gotham needs. Because if Gotham sees that evil can be conquered by doing things the right way, the orderly way, that will get Gotham out of it’s “Justice is Broken, Vengeance is The Only Form of Justice” cycle.

Then there’s the Joker. He doesn’t believe there’s any such thing as Good—it’s all just Chaos (which is evil.) And his big mission is to prove it. It’s ironic that he twists Harvey’s sense of “justice” around to this viewpoint—where Harvey uses “chance” as just another form of “retribution.”

Anyway. All of that’s interesting.

But the movie both perpetuates a lie and does so by having the characters end believing a lie.

The lie it perpetuates is “The Joker is right, there’s no such thing as Justice or Good—it’s all just chaos, but pretending it’s not can get you through the day.”

That’s the lie it perpetuates!

And how does it do that?

By having the “city of Gotham,” and Bruce himself, believe a lie.

They believe Harvey Dent really was a good guy who died a hero. Bruce believes Rachel died still waiting for him, which symbolized her supposed belief in the good of Bruce and capability of Bruce to let it all go.

And why was it important that they believe those lies? Because the supposed truth is too harsh—that there’s no Good, it’s all Chaos. And if they believe that supposed truth, they’ll all turn out like Harvey or Joker. If Bruce believes Rachel chose Harvey, he’ll supposedly give up on something important in himself.

Okay but the problem with that is you have characters believing a lie because of a truth—that isn’t the truth. It’s the same problem with Streetcar.

The people of Gotham, the worst people of Gotham, aren’t always going to choose evil. There is such a thing as justice and good. And Harvey turning into Two-Face doesn’t change that. The movie could’ve shown that. It started to, with the prisoners on the second boat choosing not to kill the civilians to save themselves.

But it chose not to make that the point of the movie. It chose to make “The Joker was Right, Good is a Comforting Lie, & the Closest You’ll Ever Get to Justice is Vengeance & Chaos” the point of the movie. By having Batman convince the whole city to believe the comforting lie, what you’re saying is, Bruce believes that the truth won’t set Gotham free, only wrap it in chains.

That’s the problem with these movies.

And that’s why I think Captain America: The Winter Soldier licks The Dark Knight hollow every time, and is all-in-all a better movie, hands down. In this continued essay—

[dead-lights]

pathfinder -> tess the psychic, keisha the oracle, flora the sorcerer, ethren the wizard, and maria the druid

i was feeling nostalgic about my old tabletop group and couldn't sleep last night, so I made pathfinder versions of some premades. ADHD is giving me some trouble today and i forgot to take my meds until it was too late, so i got a little carried away while i was supposed to be doing other stuff >.>

This isn't really a workable party - aside from Maria they are all extremely squishy - but my partner is willing to DMan adventure with them, or at least a few encounters. tabletop groups are fun, but we do really enjoy just having him DM while I play multiple characters.

seriously this party definitely needs stronker friends tho just oh dear. A psychic, an oracle, a sorcerer, a wizard and a druid??? Tess, Flora, and Ethren are untrained in all armor, Keisha is only trained in light armor, and Maria is a good and loyal friend who would never abandon her party even though her medium armor and larger health pool might otherwise save her. They're all super dead, is my point.

very long under the cut - just me copypastoing parts of the rulebooks with info about their character builds. i might post actual character sheets later idk i'm kinda lazy and haven't filled out anything past level 1 for them.

tess // half-elf psychic (the one who sets shit on fire with her brain)

background: magical experiment (resistant skin)

At some point in your life, powerful people performed magical experiments on you that changed you permanently. You still bear the marks, as well as the abilities. The experiments rendered your skin tougher and resilient to cold and fire damage.

idea here being that Tess was badly injured in a potion making accident, and received an experimental healing procedure to save her life. hence the lack of eyebrows and vampire skin.

class: psychic

You rely on your collection of psychic cantrips as a mainstay, choosing where and when to amplify them for maximum effect. You weave your more conventional spells into the fray where more complex magic is needed, unleashing your mind's full potential in a blaze of power when the time is right.

you can play psychics as either an int- or charisma-based class. i went with int for Tess to represent her genius trait. i don't like dealing with spell slots, so I tend to favor cantrip-focused casters like psychics or dnd warlocks rather than idk wizards.

conscious mind: the oscillating wave

At the heart of all things is energy. Though it may change its form or resting place, it is eternal, fundamental, the purest of building blocks. Your powers let you shift energy - either concentrating it in a single point to explosive end or freezing objects by plundering it away - in an endless oscillation of temperature.

translation: her whole thing is setting shit on fire. also ice. very untamed of her.

subconscious mind: precise discipline

Determine intended outcome. Align thoughts. Identify and resolve distractions. Manifest. Intentional focus is the key to unleashing your abilities, whether that's because your power naturally tends to precise, discrete effects, or because you've adopted strict discipline to ensure your mind can change the world only when you intend it to. Your thought components are calculations you make to determine the forces you need to call upon. Perhaps you mentally weigh the mass of an object against the force of gravity to levitate it or you might determine exactly how much energy is needed for an object to combust. Calculation components tend to impart ordered visual and auditory effects to your spell manifestation, such as regular tessellations of light, mathematical spirals, or harmonic tones.

this is meant to capture her perfectionist trait. i also gave her the "natural ambition" feat just for good measure.

some spells associated with the oscillating wave go from powerful to devastating if you can cast them at melee range, replacing d4s with d6s and d10s with d12s. Psychics are squishy as fuck and there's only so much I can do to mitigate that, but I'm working on a build or strategy that will make at least occasional melee attacks feasible bc tess deserves to burn the world to the ground if that's what her heart wants :D

keisha // human oracle (the one who can kinda temporarily turn people into werewolves once she hits level 10, ish)

background: false medium

There are people in this world who possess the ability to pierce the veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead, allowing them to communicate with spirits. You… are not one of them. But you know enough about the occult, as well as cold reading tricks and various practices from local religions, to scam your way into people’s coinpurses. Unlike a through-and-through charlatan, there’s some real occult methodology behind your flimflam, but that’s likely cold comfort to the people you swindle. Whether you decided to take a more righteous path, were caught and pledged to make it right, or still slip in a few “séances” between adventures, you’ve taken to an adventuring lifestyle as you move from place to place.

the idea of Keisha as a grifter-truned-oracle is very appealing to me. while she does have powers now, they have nothing to do with contacting the dead - she's more fortune teller than medium. doubt that will stop her running séances to earn a quick buck tho.

class: oracle

Your conduit to divine power eschews the traditional channels of prayer and servitude—you instead glean sacred truths and great mysteries embodied in overarching concepts, whether because you perceive the common ground across multiple deities or circumvent their power entirely. You explore one of these mysteries and draw upon its power to cast miraculous spells, but that power comes with a terrible price: a curse that grows stronger the more you draw upon it, which you might uphold as an instrument of the divine or view as punishment from the gods.

mystery: cosmos

Celestial bodies great and small exert influence on you, giving you sublime cosmic power. Perhaps you see the glittering stars as a divine blessing, or perhaps you feel drawn to the infinitely dark spaces between. You might uphold deities who represent the sun and the moon— or you might draw power from dark entities from beyond the stars.

curse of the sky's call

Your body is drawn toward the heavens, making you lighter and less substantial than you should be. Your eyes glow with starry light, and your hair and clothing float and drift around you.

flora // changeling sorcerer (the one with the asshole mom)

I think making her the daughter of a blood hag is a good alternative to making her a vampire. she could always take the vampire dedication at a higher level, but i like her as a changeling hanging with Tess and Keisha.

background: magical misfit

You don’t understand folks who claim that magical talent is some sort of burden or great responsibility; you’ve always used your magic to cause trouble and to escape the consequences. Whether becoming an adventurer is your attempt to make amends or just a new way to make some mischief, you’re excited to see where it takes you, and you still delight in using your skills to get out of trouble.

class: sorcerer

You didn’t choose to become a spellcaster—you were born one. There’s magic in your blood. Self-reflection and study allow you to refine your inherent magical skills and unlock new, more powerful abilities. The power in your blood carries a risk, however, and you constantly face the choice of whether you’ll rise to become a master spellcaster or fall into destruction.

heritage: changeling // bloodline: hag

Your mother was a hag. Your eyes' heterochromia is the most obvious signifier of this parentage, but you likely also have a slighter build, paler skin, and darker hair than most members of your other parent’s ancestry. You gain the changeling trait. You also gain low-light vision, or you gain darkvision if your ancestry already has low light vision.

ancestry: veil may

Born of a blood hag, a fiery blood drinker hidden behind a false skin, you have one blood-red eye and the ability to slough off your appearance in an instant.

I gave Flora the self-assured, genius, and mean traits in-game, so for this I put her in a charisma-focused class and boosted her int score, as well as giving her some mean spells. I played a smart warlock focused around intimidation in my last dnd campaign and think that sort of playstyle would work really well for her.

ethren // human wizard (the one with a real job)

class: wizard

You are an eternal student of the secrets of the universe, using your mastery of magic to cast powerful spells. You treat magic like a science, cross-referencing the latest texts on practical spellcraft with ancient tomes to discover and understand arcane magic. Yet magical theory is vast, and there's no way you can study it all. Most wizards learn through formal schooling, with their curriculum informing a specific rubric, although particularly driven researchers sometimes piece together their own theories.

arcane school: civic wizardry

You've learned that the fruits of arcane studies—like any other field—should ultimately help the common citizen. You’ve learned the humble art of construction, of finding lost people and things, of moving speedily among buildings and moats—yet these same arts can be turned to demolition, and the constructs you animate to build bridges can just as easily tear them down.

the civic wizardry thing comes from some specific headcanons I have about ethren - namely, that he was involved with the building of the tunnels under Forgotten Hollow/Glimmerbrook/Moonwood.

i'm strongly considering rebuilding him as a druid - i really like the association of mischief/charisma, untamed/intelligence, and practical/wisdom, so I don't love having him in an int-based class. i can have him kinda multiclass to let him keep some of the civic wizardry stuff. that would also let me rebuild Maria as a witch, since he could take over healing duty.

maria // human druid (the one who gets to wear real armor)

characters can become werewolves starting at level 2, but I think Maria would spend a little more time as just a spellcaster before taking that step - I thought about making her the oracle rather than Keisha because of the lunar aspects of Keisha's mystery, but decided against it because I don't want maria in a charisma-centric class. if i decide to redo Ethren as a druid, i will probably make Maria a witch instead - it's an intelligence-based class that focuses on the use of a familiar, so it seems kinda perfect for her as a familiar-owning untamed spellcaster. I'm not unhappy with her as a druid, though, and she can get a familiar like that too. and i like seeing her in scale mail!

class: druid

The power of nature is impossible to resist. It can bring ruin to the stoutest fortress in minutes, reducing even the mightiest works to rubble, burning them to ash, burying them beneath an avalanche of snow, or drowning them beneath the waves. It can provide endless bounty and breathtaking splendor to those who respect it - and an agonizing death to those who take it too lightly. You are one of those who hear nature's call. You stand in awe of the majesty of its power and give yourself over to its service.

druidic order: untamed

The uncontrollable call of the natural world courses through your body. You might have been raised by a wild animal, or you might have come to reject the artifices of cities after growing up in one. Now, primal magic grants you the ability to wear the form of an untamed creature.

background: astrologer

Astrologers look to the stars for signs and portents, using their positions in the heavens to chart courses for those living beneath them. As the celestial spheres move, so does fate itself. You studied the stars and learned to divine your path based on their guidance. Whether the stars directly called you to a life of adventure or you use the stars to guide your wanderlust, you're living out the stars' guidance in a life of adventure.

the astrology thing ties in with her mooncaster stuff. dnd druids have the option of the circle of the moon subclass, which I do like better than the untamed order she joined here, but ya know - this is pathfinder, she gets pathfinder powers.

[mysteriawrites]

Demon Slayer Matchup Trade!

Gender: Cis Lady

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Asexual In Real life, but otherwise Demisexual

Appearance: 5,4, Finnish soft chubby lady because of my medication, huge chest, past-shoulder-length brown hair with bangs. My favorite parts are my green eyes with thick limpal rings.

Personality: I suffer from depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia, but they are all under control, thanks to my medications. Without them? Damn, who knows?

I'm kind and always wanting to help other people and make their lives a little easier. Sometimes I'm really hardworking and sometimes lazy. I want to please people and make them happy.

I stress over things easily, and then I tend to blame myself if anything even slightly bad happens. I feel guilty a lot, and I apologize for everything that happens around me, even if I haven't done anything wrong.

I hate to admit it, but I am sensitive and can be easily upset. People say they can't talk with me without feeling like they are walking on eggshells because of how easily I can get upset.

I'm used to being afraid and scared of people instead of admiring or honoring them. I also cry super easily, and once I start, I cry HARD. Especially over sad things.

In real life, I'm a closet pervert, but here on the internet, everyone knows I'm naughty. I'm a Fujoshi, A Rotten Woman, and secretly a little proud of it. I just really love LOVE in all its types.

I can be outgoing and very talkative, especially about my interests, but there are days when I can't function like a normal human.

Likes: I love praises, I'm a sucker for them and I also love being spoiled. I like horror movies with happy endings. I love the idea of someday being a loving and supportive housewife, like "Okusan", who loves and cares for her beloved. I also love sleeping.

Dislikes: I hate shouting and yelling, especially arguments. They make me want to run and hide, and I get anxious when that isn't possible. I will rather submit and suffer than start fighting or objecting. I don't like sad things; as I said earlier, I cry easily, and I hate crying, it hurts.

Your life in Demon Slayer!!!

TW: blood, gore, self image issues, mentions of suicide, ptsd, survivor’s guilt

Backstory:

You remember the color red and the smell of smoke and iron running assaulting your senses as you witness the carnage that lays before. Body strewn about haphazardly and you walk the streets the flickering of roaring flames tearing down houses in the background. Everyone you ever loved is now is either charcoal and ash or in the stomach of some demon. Your mom, your sister, your niece, even your cat. All gone. You’ve lost everything. And all you could do was hide.

You were lucky to survive the attack but what was the point if you were the only one who had. Why were you such a coward hiding in fear while everyone else paid the price. Why was someone like you spared.

You asked yourself these questions over and over until you hit your breaking point. Just when you were going to end it all you were stopped by a tall man. He had a large sword and a black uniform. He told you that you had the potential to avenge your family: by becoming a demon slayer.

It was then all your emotions came rushing back to you, but this time they weren’t weighing you down. No, they were lifting you up, giving you the strength to press on the create a brighter futures for others in this life. You were done hiding and running away. In that moment you had begun your journey…

To become a demon slayer.

Breathing Style: Rainbow Breathing

Your breathing style is a completely original style you created by harnessing your emotions and turning it into power. Different Emotions have different abilities and your sword changes colors to reflect your mood (like a mood ring but as a sword.

For example:

Anger: raises your attack

Joy: raises your speed

Sadness: raises your agility

Jealousy: allows you to poison your enemies

Fear: raises your defensive abilities

Calm: allows you to analyse and think clearer and faster

Love: allows you to buff your allies

(There are others but you have to discover them on your own and abilities can combine when there are mixed emotions)

Your Gear:

(I know some of these dresses are hafu’s instead of kimono’s and demon slayer takes place in Japan, but these dresses matched the vibe better)

Your Match:

Kocho Shinobu!!!

I think you and Shinobu would be an interesting, but very strong pairing.

You’re both similar enough so that you can be yourself around her and yet different enough that it keeps the relationship interesting.

You’re both kind and cheerful yet very cheeky individuals to put it lightly.

She you two like to tease each other and flirt with one another all the time.

She loves to pamper you. Hugs, kisses, gifts, words of affirmation, etc. She just loves to give you love (maybe she should be the love hashira instead).

Shinoubu also has a bit of a thrill seeker/sadistic side so she very much enjoys watching horror movies with you. The gorier the better.

Shinobu can have a hidden temper but she will never EVER raise her voice at you. She knows how it effects you and never wants to hurt you.

You two met when you both joined the demon slayer core.

You were originally very nervous and shy about everything and didn’t believe in your own capabilities, until Shinobu became your best friend.

She lifted you up with her kindness and compassion, encouraged you with her optimism, and inspired you with her bravery.

Although you two were supposed to be close friends it seemed more like she was your idol. Someone to keep you going and who could relate to you since you both lost your families to the demons.

Little did you know that it was all an act.

One day you were looking for her. No one had seen her at all and you were worried. You found her in her room and were shocked at what you found.

Her hair was disheveled, tears streaming down her face, and her expression twisted into something unrecognisable.

She cursed herself out in the mirror, her looks, her body, how she wasn’t as strong as the other hashira or as kind as her sister.

And how much she hated the demons.

You couldn’t stand to hear her talk about herself like that, so you ran up and gave her a hug.

She was startled, but didn’t fight it. She just cried as you held her, neither of you saying a word.

When she was done crying you told her that no matter what she or anyone else said, that she was perfect exactly the way she was and didn’t have to be like anyone else.

After that day the two of you became exponentially closer and were on more equal footing than before.

And then eventually she asked you out and of course you said yes.

You two’s dream when the demons are defeated is to one day retire with kanao to a little cottage on the country side and just have a cozy slow lazy life together.

Relationship with other characters:

Tsuyuri Kanao

Being Shinobu’s little sister naturally you see her as your little sister too. It took her a bit of time to warm up to you, but she sees how much you make her sister happy and slowly came to accept and even welcome you into their little family as another older sister.

Kamado Tanjiro

You were there when Tanjiro and Nezuko first arrived. Although you were shocked and a bit scared of the pair at first, you were more accepting of them than most and Tanjiro is forever grateful for that.

Kamado Nezuko

After it was confirmed that Nezuko was indeed a nons hostile demon, you couldn’t help but fawn over how cute she was. You see her as your own little sister or even daughter and if anyone hurts her you will commit war crimes. I mean look at that face who could hate her (author totally isn’t biased).

Tomioka Giyu

Because you and Shinobu are so close naturally you run in similar social circles so you’re well acquainted with Giyu. You’re not as brutal with teasing him as Shinobu is but he just goes from being from stoic to flustered so easily it’s hard not to tease him at least a little bit.

[hangeuda]

Tom Kaulitz fluff alphabet

A mosquito bit my ass while I was writing this 😭

Activities-what they like to do in their free-time with their s/o:

He will usually just talk and flirt with you. If you want, he'll try and teach you to play the guitar. Or if you're in the band he'll practice with you sometimes.

Beauty-What do they love/admire about their s/o:

He loves everything about you. You're literally perfect to him. But, if he had to choose, he'd say either your eyes or the way you stand up for the people that you love/care about.

Cuddles- How they cuddle with their s/o:

Usually he's the big spoon or laying on your chest. If he's had a long day, he won't ever say it, but he wants you to just hold him and play with his hair.

Dreams-How do they see their future with their s/o:

He loves you a lot and definitely wants to stay with you as long as he can.

Emotions-How do they express their emotions around their s/o:

At first he won't talk about how he feels, but after he broke down in front of you and you comforted him ( I'll write a fic abt it, maybe.) He started talking to you about things more.

Family-Do they want one?if they do when?:

He wants a family with you, but when you guys are a bit older.

Gratitude-How grateful are they in general?Are they aware of what their s/o does for them?:

He is so grateful for you, like believes he is the luckiest guy cause he has you. And he's aware of everything you do for him and y'all's relationship.

Honesty- Do they have secrets they hide from their s/o?Or do they share everything?:

He tells you everything. If there was ever something he's hiding from you, it's either a surprise or a present.

Injury-How would they react if their s/o got hurt:

He loves you a lot and would be so so upset if you got hurt. Even the tiniest scratch freaks him out.

Jokes-Do they like to joke around or prank you?

Yes, he loves pranking you. Him and the band pull pranks on you. Dw you always get him back 🫶🏻

Kiss-Are they a good kisser?What was the first kiss like?:

Obviously he's a good kisser. Y'all first kiss was very needy and shi. (y'all def did the hanky panky 😔🙏)

Love-How do they show you they love you?:

He does literally anything for you. Need something all the way across the city? He's alr on his way.

Marriage-Do they eventually want to get married?If so when?:

I think he wants to get married, but again, when y'all are a bit older.

Nicknames-What do they call their s/o?:

Baby and any other cute German nickname (I'm too lazy to write them all out sorry)

On cloud nine-How are they like when they are in love?Is it obvious to others?How do they express their feelings?

It's so painfully obvious. He stops sleeping and flirting with other girls when he realizes he loves you and he's so sweet to you. Tom and the band def noticed quickly.

PDA-Are they upfront about their relationship?Do they brag with their s/o in front of others?Or are they rather shy to kiss etc. when others are watching?:

Yes, he loves letting people know you're his. Like "yeah, all this is mine. You can look but I'm the only one who can touch". The paparazzi has so many pics of y'all making out or being close to each other. He always has a stupid grin on his face too.

Quirk-Some random ability that they have that is beneficial to the relationship:

No matter how busy his schedule (I nearly had a stroke trying to spell that) is he always makes time for you. He's also super understanding.

Romance-how romantic are they?What would they do to make their s/o happy?Cliche or rather creative?

He'd do anything to make you happy and he can be romantic when he wants. But, imma be honest, he's not very creative.

Support-Are they helping their s/o achieve their goals?Do they believe in them?:

He will support you no matter what you want to do. He's your hype man and #1 fan.

Time-How long did it take for you to get together?:

It took y'all around a week to get together officially.

Understanding-How good do they know their s/o?Are they empathetic?:

He knows you so well, he is so sweet and patient with you. Yes, he is empathetic.

Value-How important is the relationship to them?What is it’s worth in comparison to other things in life?:

He loves you a lot and your relationship means so much to him. Considering it's one of the few long term, serious ones he's been in. But, if he had to choose between you and the band, he'd choose the band.

Wildcard-Random fluff headcanon:

Sometimes when you guys are eating together, he'll wait for you to look away then he'd steal some of your food and act like he doesn't know where it went.

XOXO-Are they very affectionate?Do they love to kiss and cuddle?:

He is extremely affectionate, his hands need to be somewhere on you 25/8. He loves kissing and cuddling you.

Yearning-What they do when their missing their s/o:

Mans fr acts like it's the end of the world when he starts missing you. But, he'll look at your pictures together or listen to a song you like. If his guitar is near and he can play at the moment he might play it.

Zeal-Are they willing to go to great lengths for the relationship?:

Yes, he'd do pretty much anything for you and really wants y'all's relationship to work.

Holy shit that took fucking forever and I had like 2 strokes while spelling shit, us stupid people out here suffering frfr 😔

[marubien]

How would you rewrite Mulan 2?

I'd just begin from scratch really. I tried to come up what would I keep from the existing sequel and I think that's maybe just the yin-yang necklaces. Which were a deleted idea from the first movie anyway.

Easy and lazy answer would be to go with whatever idea they had in Mulan 2's deleted scene, battle sequence, (check it out, it's super cool). It's like spy-ninja-duo of Mulan and Shang working like a badass couple. Mulan 2 concept arts (part 1, part 2) are not too bad either, and although they definitely have some usual Disney sequel cliches(eg. having the girl Mushu dragon), I'd still think I could enjoy it a bit more than what they ended up with.

Then there's Barry Cook's draft, aka the co-director of the original movie wrote synopsis for the potential sequel when he heard that Disney was considering of doing sequel to Mulan. In fact there was going to be Mulan 3 as well, apparently Mulan 2 ruined it as it was too badly received. There's hardly anything known of Barry Cook's draft details, just that soon-to-be-married Mulan and Shang are sent to north since things are happening there, and at the end there would have been an epic battle between Mulan's ancestors and Shan Yu's deceased army.

Actually I lied earlier what would be easiest and laziest. That would be just doing the visual novel The Palace of Secrets. Seriously I wouldn't change a thing.

There's many directions where one could go with the sequel really, some fanfics have done pretty amazing job exploring different options. I have made a post where I put up some fanfic recommendations, but some are like one-shots so they could hardly be sequels.

Personally, rather than a sequel movie I really really would like to see Mulan tv-series. Something like Tangled: the Series. It could have the sillier filler episodes but the main plot could be epic. Series could also make possible to explore side characters' character arc in more detail. I have played with this idea before too, with my friend @mulanxiaojie.

I'm quite satisfield how the first movie ended, but I'll list some pointers that I and I think most would like to see in a continuation story:

Mulan getting a career

Mulan and Shang getting together

Chi Fu x Matchmaker :P

And then some that are not really necessary but would be really interesting to see, just to list some of the potential sequel tv series could have:

Fa Zhou's past

Mulan's and Granma Fa's relationship

seeing the other guardians besides Mushu (and the Great Stone Dragon)

developing Gang of Three as invidual characters

exploring historical China

an actual villain (should be basic but the sequel didn't have that)

[tyunclouds]

Classical trained (college) musician here to roast the ever loving fuck out of SEVENTEEN defiling classical instruments. Let's begin.

JIHOON THE SOLOIST:

It is extremely obvious to everyone (hopefully) that he's not actually playing. His right hand never changes notes, his wrist is completely collapsed, and his hand is angled in a very directionally odd, extremely stiff position. Looking at this, he seems to have no idea where his 1st through 4th fingers should lie. His bow is slightly above the finger board, aka where you PLUCK using your FINGERS, which is not where it should be to get the sound you're listening to, and his bow grip is not the worst I've seen, but his pinky is straight and not on the bow, meaning he will likely be stiff and have no control. I can't see if his hand was too high or low on the bow from this specific screenshot, but I'm too lazy to check further for risk of having another stroke. Anyways, what I do remember is most of the notes are on the higher two strings, A and E, and he is continuously changing strings all the way down to G, the lowest string, while we hear high notes in the recording. Overall, this is a complete hot mess. Elementary schoolers can hold and fake playing a violin better than this. 2/10.

Here's Hilary Hahn as an example of how violin soloists should look while playing. Notice the difference in how she holds the bow, where the bow is hitting the strings, and her left wrist not resting on the violin itself (aka not collapsed), but rather is in a place that would allow her to actually play notes and shift up and down the string significantly better.

MAESTRO ENSEMBLE:

When playing in an ensemble, instruments are not randomly assorted like this, they're supposed to be layered by how much they can project (aka how loud they are), which is why the strings are usually in front, as they're much quieter than the VERY LOUD PERCUSSIONIST, as well as grouped with the same instruments. SO WHY IS WONWOO IN THE FRONT?! WHY IS JEONGHAN SO FAR REMOVED FROM THE OTHER TWO VIOLINISTS?! Jeonghan should be in the front, where his playing can be heard, Mingyu somewhere in the middle, and Wonwoo should be in the back next to Jun, the other percussionist (yes, cymbals by themselves are also percussion, as are triangles and xylophones). As I'm not super familiar with clarinet or drums, I cannot rip into Mingyu and Wonwoo the same way I can Jeonghan, so I will simply target him for giving me an ulcer. His bow grip is literally a fist, his bow is completely crooked, his right wrist is collapsed and his fingers are too close together. I'm also 90% sure he doesn't have a chin rest. Come to think of it, I don't think Woozi had one before either and that's just terrible posture. (Once again, you can look at Hilary Hahn, above, for comparisons.)

Seungkwan just hurts my entire soul here and I forced my friend to pause on it from sheer disbelief. Violins are only ever played on your left shoulder with a right handed bias, whether you yourself are right handed or not. Seungkwan's violin is on his right shoulder making him look straight out of a piss poor stock image. He's playing on the wrong side of the bridge, which will only ever sound screechy because you're not supposed to play there ever, his first finger has been separated from the rest of his hand, making playing notes other than open strings impossible, and his bow grip is the worst of the violinists so far. Hoshi and Minghao have their fingers on multiple strings at once, which would sound terrible when you're not trained to play chords, their hands look very stiff which would be terrible for vibrato, and their bows are on the finger board, which, again, are where they shouldn't be. I can't see Minghao's bow grip, but Hoshi's bow grip is, I think, the worst bow grip of all the string players I can see. He's holding it how first graders attempt to fist a pencil when writing their name.

Now here, we get back into the organization of the ensemble members. But first, I would like to point out that I've asked all of my classically trained roommates (3) what Dino is playing and none of us can figure it out. What we can figure out, however, is that Vernon is playing a flute and, as one of my roommates was a flutist, can confirm he is playing it backwards and rather than the more common incorrect posture of holding the flute too high, which typically gets corrected when actually playing, he is angling it towards the ground. They have no idea how one would even begin to play it the way he's holding it and got so passionate they demonstrated it to me on a pen.

So on their organization, as I touched on earlier, instruments are mainly sorted by their projection (general volume) and grouped by shared instrument. They're assigned "first" and "second" typically based on their proficency in their instrument, with "first" often being the "soloist" if the piece requires it. I've included a helpful chart to demonstrate how this would possibly work out in an actual ensemble based on their instruments (minus Dino as I cannot tell what he is playing).

Key: WZ (Woozi) -> presented as main violinist / soloist, JH (Jeonghan) -> he held the violin the right way, SK (Seungkwan) -> he held the violin the wrong way, VN (Vernon) -> flute and clarinet can most likely be interchanged, but I based this on how my university orchestra is set up, MG (Mingyu), HS (Hoshi) -> this is an assumption, but because his bow grip is so terrible, I wanted to hope Minghao had a better bow grip than him, MH (Minghao), JN (Jun) -> Cymbals are usually not placed in the center as they're generally not the main percussion instrument, JS (Joshua) -> his drum is less bulky, therefore placing him in the middle is more likely than having a bulky drum in the middle, WW (Wonwoo) -> he has a bulky drum, therefore him being on the side is more likely for the percussion section, DK (Dokyeom) -> the conductor should be a lot closer than he is in their ensemble, but far enough away that all players can see the conductor to be able to properly keep time as well as watch for any artistic expressions being encouraged.

Additionally, I don't think I need to point this out, but Dokyeom's posture and conducting are just not right. He's also extremely far from the ensemble and should not be that far away as he needs to be able to cue entrances, influence dynamics and musicality, etc. It is very hard to target a section from that far away.

Overall, I'd give this ensemble a 1/10. I gave them a point to be nice, but it honestly deserves a 0/10.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk and listen to their new comeback: Maestro.

[thatguythatdrawsalot]

Ruby - Atlas Design Critique.

I'm ending things off with a post about Ruby, now I do love making these kinds of posts but I don’t want to make it a top priority because, of course, I wanna draw other things especially since I start college around the corner. These posts tend to take more creative juices from my small brain. Until then, just consider critiques/redesign posts on a hiatus. 

RWBY Archives

I’m glad you guys were able to see me talk about outfits in a negative, negative, neutral-positive, and now POSITIVE way, mainly due to being biased. The archives say pretty much the obvious in her having a new style and being more cutting-edge with the look aka more stylish. I think they nailed it as she looks more mature and better yet her corset is way more reminiscent of Pyrrha. You know? The friend Ruby wants to honor since she saw her die right before her eyes- I can keep gushing about how cool she looks but uh, again I’m being biased, she’s cool-looking but not… practical. As in this outfit isn’t necessarily good to wear in Atlas, or rather the tundras. I wouldn’t mind this if she was solely stuck in Atlas/Mantle but she goes on outside missions, why on earth is she wearing a mesh? If anything this outfit would serve better if she was in Vacuo. The outfit had an alternative version of No Sleeves and even her presumed Volume 10 outfit looks so identical to her Atlas design.

Amazing how even the best outfit in Team RWBY still doesn’t make her look warm for the climate.

Hair

Remember back in my Blake Critique post on how I said I hated the ‘Spitting-Image of Parent' trope in fiction? They could’ve given Ruby a ponytail to look similar to once again; Summer, but they didn’t they got Ruby’s messy bang out of her field of vision and swooped it to the left! She looks 100% cuter and combat ready and while everyone was excited at her for looking more like Qrow, I was excited cause her hair looked more like Taiyang’s hair in being swooshed to the left. Though I wish they gave a reason as to why Ruby changed her hair all of a sudden, when characters change hairstyles it’s usually to show a display of growth with a ‘Show Don’t Tell’ reason but I’ll be biased and assume Ruby just wanted to look more mature ever since stood her ground in Argus for a reason I don’t wanna rant about.

Primary Color - Red!

Ruby doesn’t fail in representing her color of Red. The long red cape already does the job well plus her red skirt, she’s a gold star for being a red-themed character. But when it comes to her sleeves, blegh. I’m sure people have noticed this by now but Ruby’s sleeves are light gray which is so similar to her skin tone, which puts more emphasis on her arms. I swear the first time I saw the teaser trailer and saw Ruby’s model, I thought they decided to ditch the sleeves but no. The sleeves are just super light like her skin. I think it would’ve helped the design if they either made Ruby tan like her sister or made the sleeves a darker gray.

Negatives?

I do love Ruby’s Atlas look but as I said I can’t be biased. As cool and cute as she looks it isn’t a proper outfit for the cold environment she’s in, she even shivers in the show canon. The sleeves matching her skin look weird. An open skirt is silly and what’s sillier is a belt holding it in place. I also really hate how Ruby’s cape was just… replaced. Back then I thought her cape had significance as she continued to wear it even when it was withered and tethered, but even back then I thought her Vale cape held more significance- but anyways it was just replaced. Whatever I guess- oh my god it’s the same cape with lazy fabric around her neck. They couldn’t give her a different styled cape? One where it’s held together by a string? Buttons? Pins? No?...

Redesign

Okay, I know it’s crazy, but I ditched the cape and emblem. I know, I know! I just used the canon logic and since the cape didn’t mean anything to Ruby for it to be replaced, she could just ditch it for now. I know the cape is an iconic element but I couldn’t find a way to incorporate it. I also ditched the metal emblem, I know it’s a ‘mother’s promise’ and her mom’s emblem but uh… she didn’t wear it in Volume 2, I didn’t think she would care to wear it now. I wanted the look to be different but I think I just made Ruby unrecognizable now. I know the formula is to have Ruby wear a cape and the metal emblem but I just… couldn’t. I’ll confess to you guys about something, the main inspiration for this outfit was Ruby’s Ice Queendom design. I love it and wanted to try to get Ruby with that similar vibe, but I can understand if everyone may not like this. No cape, no metal emblem, and looks a little more childish when Ruby is supposed to be mature. I get it, but I wanted to show you guys that you shouldn’t be afraid of drastic changes to designs. It can sometimes work and sometimes not. 

Conclusion

Ruby’s outfit is still arguably the best amongst her team even when it’s not climate-appropriate, as much as I nag about her sleeves being too close to her skin color and the decision of her cape being repaired I still do love it. It isn’t perfect I can admit that but she is on the top best Atlas designs for me. If this outfit was instead held off for Vacuo or a return to Vale, it’d be top fifteen at the very least in all of the designs we’ve seen across the show. 

But of course it’s just my opinion. If you love this design or hate the design, please share your opinion. I’d love to hear it! :D

[marshallpupfan]

Marshall Merchandise Update! (Jan. 2025)

The new Air Rescue toys still haven't arrived in the United States (granted, I'm not sure they're available anywhere yet), but that doesn't mean I haven't managed to obtain a few items in the meantime!

Without further ado, here are the new additions to my collection!

Again, I tried to spruce up my pics with an image on my monitor. I figured why not pick something with snow, since Indiana's been getting hit with plenty here lately (and ice...). 😅

To start things off, here's something I received for Christmas! Not too long ago, a friend went to that indoor Nickelodeon Universe theme park, and when she seen this cup, she knew I had to have it. It's really cool! She'll likely read this, so once again, thank you for the gift!

Next up, another Christmas gift!

Another friend of mine, who lives in the United Kingdom, found this at a store called "Primark". She figured the United States wouldn't get any, so she sent it to me to add to my collection. And... I don't believe these are available in the USA at all, so she figured correctly! Actually, until I got this in the mail, I had no idea it even existed! What a wonderful surprise! I believe she'll also read this at some point, so once again, thank you!

Oh, she also sent me a Christmas-themed Marshall drawing, too! It's really awesome! I need to take this, as well as the other drawings people have made for me, and put them in a frame and hang them on my wall. Seriously, I'm honestly touched by all the folks who've done this for me. You're all awesome. :)

Yet another gift! This one was well after Christmas, however.

As you might recall, I was looking for one of these the other day, but my local Walmart either sold out quickly or didn't get any in (or, again, Marshall was disguised). I figured I'd have to wait until they got some in stock again, but much to my surprise, I didn't have to wait for too long, as my aunt visited another Walmart and found one! Funnily enough, she had no idea I was even looking for one. lol

Oh, and if you're curious, Bowser's back there to hold the plush up. Thanks for being a pal, koopa king! He's the best party member in Super Mario RPG... there, I said it! lol

Last, this "Booksy"... thing! I'm not entirely sure what to call it, but it's rather cute! Admittedly, I'm not sure if I'll take it out of the container or not. I might just leave it in there to keep it safe.

Now, why is it called Booksy? It's because this thing actually has a tiny book inside of it! Just unscrew the head and there it is. And from what I've seen, going by this Instagram post, each book is based on an episode of the TV series (not surprising). Assuming every Marshall booksy is the same, his is based on season 6's "Midnight at the Museum". I do recall that one being a fun episode, and it ended with Marshall helping out near the end, so it's not a bad choice!

Fortunately, the other pups got one of these, too. Even Rocky and Zuma! Everest and Liberty joined in on the fun as well (no Tracker, I think). In any case, if you want to buy one yourself, you can find them at Walmart (in the states, anyway).

And that's all for now! Oh, I should update you all on something I talked about a while back. I said I was reorganizing my whole Marshall collection, and once I finished, I was going to post some pics of it. I never did, and I have a reason.

.......I got lazy. 😅

Well, that, and I became a little too consumed with fixing that New Nintendo 2DS XL, which I also mentioned back then. Thankfully, it's fixed now (we don't need to talk about how much of an ordeal that was...), so I'll eventually get back to my collection... once I stop procrastinating. It's mostly finished, other than a few shelves. Hopefully I'll get some update pics up soon... soon-ish... someday!

[kevlarcrack3d]

I'm gonna write headcanon pasts for the One Piece admirals! They're just so damn interesting and I love their mobster/rebel/yakuza theme! Kinda reminds me of the games lol.

BEWARE OF ANGST!: MENTIONS OF CHILD ABUSE, VIOLENT CRIME, UNDERAGE DRINKING, AND SELF-HARM

So, I looked at the childhood images of Akainu, Aokiji, and Kizaru and made what I could make out of what I can see in the images. No kid photos of Fujitora and Greenbull yet, do I used canon events as refs.

Akainu (Sakazuki) 🐶:

He had a turbulent childhood in a crime-riddled place. His father was a crime boss who abused him for seeing Marines as his hero, because his dad knew more that the Marines and WG were corrupt and shit. After all, the dad was a criminal, while Akainu genuinely wanted to serve in the marines and stand for his "justice".

A Marine he idolized gave him the tattered cap shortly before he killed his father because that Marine brainwashed and gaslit him into believing in his twisted justice during his stay in that area while searching for pirates. Akainu saw the battle and was instantly INSPIRED. He would become like his hero and blow up his shithole hometown.

Akainu has seen crimes, vices, violence, and all sorts of moral decadence in his place, so it's not surprising his views on justice got fucked up. He learned street smarts and how to fight due to his environment. He met Aokiji after killing his dad (it's anime logic where the young kid can kill an adult with fighting experience) and both had a rocky, love-hate (yes, I used to ship these two) relationship while wandering and doing odd jobs before being taken in by the Marines.

Since both grew up in turbulent, violent environments, they had the physical and mental strength (and fuckedup-ness) to fight in the Marines, and it'd be a waste to just let them toil while doing household chores, right?

So, they were taken in and trained. All the time, even until they were admirals, Akainu and Aokiji were arguing, always. Their opposing views, personalities, and justices didn't help either. Sometimes, they'd even be petty, like, Aokiji just moves Akainu's bonsai vase a little and Akainu is in a real foul mood and then shit hits the fan. It's very hilarious to see, especially when they were kids, they always had to be disciplined because they were always fighting 😂.

Akainu always had to deal with Aokiji's apathy and laziness. Akainu was the kid always angry and serious, so he was a rather amazing student - always "upright" in the Marines' eyes. Aokiji was the lazy but smart one, as in, super lazy. During teamwork training, Aokiji was kind of a slacker at first and Akainu would fight him always. It kinda died down over time as they became adults, but Akainu is still pissed about it, as always 😂.

Soon, Akainu burned down his pirate and criminal infested hometown. Fuck the innocents and everything. There are criminals there and he will send them to hell. And he succeeded.

Akainu also had a rather romanticized view of the Marines as a child due to his circumstances. Anything about spreading justice, order, and punishing criminals, and he'll be pumped up. This is the shit for him, and he's quick to plan and act when it comes to these. Despite his angry, wild nature, ever since he was young, he was ever so PASSIONATE about being a ROUGH, STRONG Marine man. Hence, the rose of the fuckin' lady killer sheesh 🥵. Something here's burning hot and it's not just the lava!

Yah, yah, I just spent over half the year creating yakuza/boryokudan OCs and well, I guess the dashing underworld outlaw prince swept me off my feet 🤩🤩🤩...

Aokiji (Kuzan) 🐦: Aokiji had deadbeat parents who always let him get beat up. He lived in the same area as Akainu. Due to his family being deadbeat, he picked up vices and began to drink at an early age. He decided to wander away, doing odd jobs. Despite his apathy towards most of the world and anger towards criminals, helping people with chores kind of softened his heart. This has helped him develop a sense of compassion, unlike Akainu, who did these chores as a way to work towards being accepted by the Marines. Sometimes, Aokiji would be dog tired and sleep a lot in his free time.

Soon, he met Akainu and they accompanied each other. Being alone was boring, and besides, they were kids. They'd argue a lot, even while working, AND especially when sharing a sleeping space. Oh boy, they'd get violent when one starts pressing agains the other.

And that's the definition of true love according to what my shipper brain said

The Marines soon took them in and they began to train. Aokiji was rather apathetic to this at first, but then actually began to warm up a bit to his job. Sometimes, it was even entertaining, especially arguing with Akainu or simply bullshitting his fiery frienemy. But, as Aokiji became an adult, cracks began to show.

Aokiji began to see all the misery and corruption. The causes of poverty and crime, a lot caused by the WG. He saw innocent people hurt due to the WG. Soon, he fell back to his apathetic ways. But, despite being so jaded and weary, he still had that kind-hearted side for those with benevolent intentions, regardless of them being pirates or otherwise. Soon, he wanted to be free to do this and resign from the Marines. Deep down, he had a heart like the snow, cold, and yet beautiful.

Dagnabbit, I'm crying why the fuck do I do this to myself 😭😭😭?

Kizaru (Borsalino) 🙈: Kizaru's family was the type that placed all their hopes on him to achieve their broken dreams for them, so they encouraged him to learn and study. He was rather pressured sometimes, but he did truly enjoy his studies and reading. He'd happily skip to the library sometimes and told them his stories. A light to their world, if I must say. Aaaand the feels are back 🥲.

Kizaru then decided to join the Marines, a decision his parents supported, seeing he could finally give them an ego boost, like "HOLY SHIT MY SON IS A MARINE, NOW, CLAP, GUYS". Not really his dream or what he wanted, but he just went with the flow. He was an easygoing, cool, chill dude anyway.

Soon, he met Akainu and Aokiji in training. He ALWAYS had to be there to calm these two down if they started arguing. One mean look from Akainu to Aokiji or vice versa, "woah there, now stop my dudes" Kizaru was the pacifier between them. He was also the quiet, cool, but very smart kid who always was in the topnotchers. However, he was the type to suck up to the government's ideals and decisions of the majority of the top brass and whatever view a certain faction of theirs chooses as right. He was like a ship bobbing on the waves without someone to steer it.

Soon, he got to meet Vegapunk due to his knowledge on some certain machines thanks to his childhood of reading. He would keep a VERY CLOSE EYE ON THE SCIENTIST. That's what he was tasked to do. He had no problem with that anyway. Then, he met Sentomaru, Kuma, and Bonney, and maybe, just maybe, his nonchalant, neutral personality slipped away, having seen the innocence of a kid who viewed him as an uncle and the sweetness of a father and his daughter. He found himself having fun for the first time, but maybe, he just didn't know it. But the memory stuck.

To thisbday, Kizaru is still nonchalant as ever, but maybe, I hope, something might happen in Egghead arc now with him. Could be good development for someone so dull, yet so bright.

Dammit. Them 2D cartoon seamen making me cry.

Fujitora (Issho) 🐯: Oh God, this is a dark one. Fujitora was a very unfortunate lad. He had an, abusive, overpopulated family who hated him and beat him to near death. They saw he was durable when he fought back and decided to sell him to the Marines. It wasn't fair. But the world's not fair. Always, Fujitora saw poverty and very VILE bastards in his place. It was not surprising to him. But, his hell was just going to begin.

Fujitora had a strong moral compass (besides his gambling) and trained hard to spread justice in the Marines. But, as his rank got higher, the more horrible things he saw in the WG. Corruption, slavery, hatred, and all things unpleasant. Ugh, he wanted to leave. Why? Justice is for everyone, right? So, why can't he bring it to those above him, who abuse their power? That's right, it was the world being unfair.

All the shit he has witnessed made him sick to the stomach. Are these the people he was working with and working for? Yuck. He decided to resign last minute before a promotion.

But, before he left, Fujitora reflected on his life before being sold to the Marines and after being sold to the Marines. Just the same. It was just the same back there. It was just unfair, so unfair. Wherever he went, there were always bad people oppressing the lass fortunate like he once was. Fujitora was unable to take the gravity in that moment and cut his eyes. He decided to cancel his resignation and return to the Marines. That way, at least, he can rise up to a position where he can stand for fairness. But if any sign of humanity comes before him, Fujitora will be unable to see it clearly again, despite his kind heart. He may feel it, but never see it, so he can only partially feel it. A prize to pay for justice.

This one was sad. And when kindness did come to his heart genuinely in the form of Luffy, he couldn't see those kind eyes 😭.

Ryokugyu (Aramaki) 🐂: This dude seems to have sucked according to the fandom, but screw that.

So, since he's quite the simp for the WG, Aramakiwas bought as a baby by the Marines, so all he knew was the WG's ideals.

Though unruly and wild, he was valued because he was loyal, even when he did things outside anything approved, like not asking permission to deal with certain peeps. He was also very destructive as a child, so he needed lots of discipline, too. In fact, this wild boy has been chided more than anyone could count they stopped scolding him altogether 😂!