#but if you are freaked out by bugs in general you will probably still get a little nervous around these little guys

[lightblueminecraftorchid]

My roommate and I had a conversation last night and I keep rotating it in my brain and I Don’t Like It

[plainclothesdisaster]

DPxDC Mechanical Engineer Danny

Danny caught the attention of Batman while studying at Gotham University for his alternative energy projects. He’s hired right out of college to work on the Watchtower.

He shows absolutely no tell of his abilities till there’s a dire situation- Flash’s electric discharge messes with one of his projects in progress and the whole base would have lost air pressure if he hadn’t done a quick fix using telekinesis and ice.

Of course Batman notices.

Batman assumes the worst- he suspects Danny’s a rogue of some kind, someone who has infiltrated the Justice League with an ulterior motive. But he can’t just fire Danny now- he’s the only one who knows how the new Watchtower energy source works. Plus, he’s not letting Danny go anywhere until he’s figured out his true motives.

Cue Batman subtly testing Danny- tossing things at him to trigger inhuman fast reflexes, having him lift too-heavy machinery, setting up convenient opportunities to steal or snoop or otherwise be up to no good. Danny does take advantage but only once, to use a computer terminal with unlocked clearance. He didn’t plant any bugs that Barman could find, and he otherwise kept up his powerless civilian act perfectly.

Still, Batman’s not satisfied. He brings an infrasonic sound emitter to Danny’s lab one day, and that, of all things, is what gets Danny to break.

“I know what you’re doing,” Danny admits with a sigh, finally. “If you’re really that suspicious of me, I can leave, but I kinda like my job so I’d prefer not to. The benefits are insane compared to what’s standard.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure. yeah. How about you turn off the freaking noise generator and we can talk?”

“Hm.” Batman obliges, and he takes the stool next to Danny at his gesture.

“Number one, I’m not a meta. Despite all the data and conclusions you’ve probably drawn otherwise. Number two, I’m on your side. I’m here to work on the base, that’s it. I follow your rules to the letter.”

“The-“

“The classified files I looked at? Yeah that was the one exception. You already know what I looked at, I’m sure, but maybe you haven’t figured out why. It goes back to point one- I may not be a meta, but I am something that organization, the GIW, cares about. I looked at your files on them to sus out your relations. Seeing as I don’t particularly love being the victim to twelve degrees of human rights violations if I can avoid it.”

“Hm.” The Ghost Intelligence Ward was one of many government agencies that the Justice League hadn’t worked closely with. But they also hadn’t been flagged for Justice League investigation. Danny’s comments made him doubt that call.

“Any other questions?”

“If you’re not a meta, what are you?”

“I’m an engineer. A pretty decent one. And I’d really, really like it to stay that way.”

Batman considers, and ultimately lets him stay. He likes Danny (everyone likes Danny), and it would be a massive pain in the ass to replace him. He really is a good engineer.

It’s only much later that his faith in Danny is repaid in spades.

Batman finds Danny on the Watchtower command bridge. Alarms are blaring, the station has been knocked out of orbit, out the window there’s shrapnel floating everywhere as a space battle rages around them.

On the station it’s chaos. Technicians run around, shouts from the med bay, sparks from the walls.

Batman and Danny stand at the main controls, watching the battle outside, stoic, unmoving.

Wonder Woman’s harried voice crackles through on coms: “We need backup.”

“There is no more backup.” Batman replies, while looking pointedly at Danny.

“What?”

Batman doesn’t move.

“What.”

“The impact from Darkseid’s initial attack should have sent this station on a terminal trajectory toward the planet.”

“Well. We aren’t currently plummeting to our deaths, so turns out it didn’t do that.”

“You did something.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You’re lying.”

“Maybe Superman nudged us back on course in all the chaos.”

“I’ve been watching the trackers. No one else with the capability has come near the station.”

“Can’t you just be grateful we got lucky?”

Sounds of peril screech over the coms. Danny’s face scrunches.

“Luck had nothing to do with it. As it is now, we are going to lose this fight.”

“Isn’t there anyone else you can call?”

“I’m asking you. You can help, can’t you?”

The glare-off lasts a long moment more before Danny breaks.

“Fuck. Fuckity fuck.” Danny runs his hands through his hair. “Shit. You don’t know what you’re asking.”

“I’m asking you to save this and countless other worlds from a genocide. I’m also asking you to save my friends.”

Danny looks at him, hard, weary, and with a kind of deep resolve that feels far too ancient to be on the face of a supposed twenty-something.

“Fine. Fine. Okay.” He steps back and transforms. If Batman is surprised when he shakes off his human appearance like an old coat, he doesn’t show it. But what’s undeniable is the being in Danny’s place has the unmistakable presence of power.

“No one else can know.” His voice echoes in a way that’s sonically impossible, both sounding closer and further away than he should be.

He pulls a gear-shaped medallion seemingly out of thin air and puts it over his head in one motion.

“If I get in trouble for this, I’m blaming you.”

He vanishes. Outside, the shape of the battle changes instantly. The stars seem to glow brighter as the arms of the galaxy flash with the colors of the aurora. Then it’s like the void of space itself comes alive. It moves the spaceships back like they’re toys, plucking them from one side of the field to the other. It finds Darkseid at the heart of the chaos and massive arms of nothingness and darkness wrap around him. He’s screaming as it swallows him whole.

His armies scatter. The battle turns. The JL deal with the stragglers, but the air of relief is palpable.

Danny reappears next to Batman, once again donning his grease-stained coveralls. Arms folded.

“Happy?”

It took all of five minutes. Less, probably. Batman tamps down a thousand questions.

“Thank you.”

“I’m gonna need two weeks off minimum.” Danny snaps. “One to deal with the bureaucratic nightmare you’ve just caused me, and another to recover from the headache.”

Batman blanks. “Granted.”

Danny sighs. “And I’m not fixing the station until I’m back. It won’t fall out of the sky as is. Make up whatever excuse you want.”

“Done.” He considers. “I would prefer to tell them the truth. That you saved us.”

Danny glares. “I���m not supposed to save you. I made a pact not to use my power to influence the mortal realm.”

“A pact with who?”

Danny rolls his eyes. “The embodiment of Time. The concept of Justice. Among others.” He smirks at Batman’s confusion.

“And what, exactly, does that make you?”

He stands, framed by the space window, haloed by the stars. “I’ll give you three guesses.”

Batman frowns.

“Look. I like you guys. I like working on your base. I like supporting the work you do. But you can not go factoring me in to any of your plans or contingencies. This was a one time thing.

“So to answer your question again: I’m an engineer.”

[bugdoppio]

OFFICIAL JJ INTRODUCTION POST! REJOICE!

my stupid yumeship .... guuhh !!! lore is down here if you wanna read it

they first met at joe's fantasy world, julie (my self insert! hurrah!) had just moved to eltingville and was checking stuff out, jerry was hanging back watching bill and josh argue over something, and she asked him if she could go over to joe and buy a first edition pokémon booster pack with her money for her, since joe was looking at her weird just for being there. he said sure, and when they went outside to open it together, they got two of the base set 1st edition holo zapdos. they both freaked out together and she gave one of them to jerry for helping her out. before he could say anything else, bill yelled at him to get back there, which he did, before noticing she stuck a post it with her number on the back of the zapdos card she had given him.

they started hanging out more and more, and eventually, with much sucking up to the guys and her drawing girls with big boobies for them, bill very very begrudgingly let her hang out for some of the eltingville club meetings, angrily kicking her out if she ever touched anything she wasn't supposed to.

other than jerry, her best relationship is probably with pete, with their shared interest of monsters and scary creatures, and he often makes her draw cool creepy stuff for him which she finds a little fun. although, she gets squeamish and is not too fond of actual horror movies, so they don't get that close, he thinks she's kind of a pussy for that. she's also kinda terrified of him after discovering he watches gore.

josh hates her, and she hates him too, probably. he kept bugging her about not being able to name any star trek characters, and when she asked her dad about them to tell josh, he dismissed her efforts as being a wannabe. though they bond the tiniest little bit over having watched akira and josh liking the same stuff as her dad (star trek, star wars, dr. who).

bill is fond of her even less, somehow. though he doesn't see her as a threat to the club as much as jerry's other girl friends (like agnes) were, he's still incredibly annoyed by her presence and tries to make up any excuse to kick her out of his basement whenever she shows up. the only times he doesn't complain is when she's drawing stuff for him or when kairo is around, since they're besties.!!!! (@ghiacci . farts)

jerry is the closest to her out of all of them (obviously), and, after getting over his fear of talking to girls in general with her, they got really really close. they very often had sleepovers together, hung out in the mall, had walks together, and more stuff, making it baffling to any outsiders to learn they weren't dating at all (yet). she torrented the first lord of the rings movie for him, and in turn he got her into d&d. they also watch ghibli movies and go to renaissance fairs together, and jerry almost passed out when he saw her in fake elf ears for the first time. they often draw stuff of each other (that one doodle of knight jerry and elven princess totally not julie i did), and they're both equally oblivious that it's supposed to be them when one shows a drawing to the other. jerry also always calls her over to open card booster packs for him, because she somehow has incredible luck whenever it's her that opens it for other people.

they all also sometimes make fun of her jojo's interest, calling it gay shit, but they do respect how much trivia and useless fun facts she knows about it. also, other than her drawing ability (and the fact that she's okay with drawing weird shit for them), they fuck with her music taste a lot (she listens to literally EVERYTHING). and whenever one of them is sick or unable to go for other reasons, she's happy to play d&d with the others as a replacement, though they get pissed off whenever she doesn't take it that seriously and jokes around a little (think perception check by tom cardy).

SPOILER ZONE !!! WATCH OUT

her and jerry stop hanging out after this fan, this monster, due to jerry's mother thinking she was involved and forbidding jerry to talk to her, and julie's mom also forbidding it for thinking all the boys decided to burn joe's down and that none of them respected her at all (kinda true). and, due to none of them really admitting they had crushes on one another and not dating at all around that time, that did stop their relationship from evolving.

she met mandi in college, bonding over liking cosplay and other stuff, and developed a crush on her, becoming incredibly surprised when she started dating jerry, her old crush, of all people she expected. they started hanging out together as a group, regaining jerry's friendship, before she eventually worked up the courage to ask to be their third when drunk in a bar and, since both of them liked her back too, they agreed. (jerry + julie + mandi ship name is jumanji btw. because i love being silly !!!)

julie got a whatever degree and became a full time commission artist, mostly doing gigs for big companies and games (i like to think she did something for like. marvel once and when she says this in the epilogue, bill, josh, and pete all fucking freak out).

ALRIGHT THAT'S IT I THINK. have jj eating a pizza slice for your troubles

[mscherub]

Right, so…you’re transported to a new world, and me being the science geek I am, I can’t help but think of all the bacteria you wouldn’t be accustomed to in Twisted Wonderland…so imagine how bad flu season would be, or just the spreading of sicknesses around the school in general

You better have a good immune system cause oml would it be put into overdrive. Anyways…here’s my twist on what the Scarabia boys would do in order to be helpful in your recovery ❤️‍🩹

Heartslabyul, Savanaclaw, Octavinelle, Scarabia, Pomefiore, Ignihyde, Diasomnia

Warnings!:

Sickness, obviously

Mentions of vomiting, snot, etc

To start us off…

It’s flu season in Twisted Wonderland, well you call it the flu, they call it something else you don’t even bother to learn. With you’re immune so shot and not used to the illnesses that spread around, getting sick more often that you honestly should, you woke up with a headache. Ok…nothing too serious, but you thought it to be a good idea to just take some ibuprofen equivalent in their world and “thug it out,” which ultimately lead to your current situation. Currently, you’re in the infirmary, having passed out from a raging fever and a disgustingly congested respiratory system during PE and you’re bed ridden back at ramshackle, at least until your fever goes down. Sevens bless Grim and the ghosts as they try and get you things to feel better, but you need some sort of intervention, and here comes you’re favorite person at the right time. How do they help you out?

Kalim ☀️:

Ok, saying this and being as nice as possible, Kalim would try to take care of you, key word is try there, yall. It’s literally cannon that he’ll go to any extent if he puts his mind to it, and your his concern right now, so he’ll try

I mean, he has literally had everything handed to him on a silver or gold platter, probably both, so when he hears what happened and that your sick, first thing he’ll do is comprehend it, then he’s gonna freak out and he’s going to go and help you out through any means. Granted it’s not that big of deal, but to him it is. You’re a good friend and person :(

Safe to say he wouldn’t know exactly all of what to do. He probably drags Jamil along with him to Ramshackle to have him cook you something while he just sits and pouts at you. Great help

He’ll chill in your room with you and probably yap your ear off, but he doesn’t mind if he gets sick because of you, so cough and sneeze away. He’ll laugh with you, and hopefully make you laugh with him

He’ll remember to give you you your medicine on time surprisingly enough. I don’t think he’d forget, he’s still capable of that. He’ll ask Jamil to brew something or go buy other medicines that’ll help you get better quicker. Also…maybe buy you more blankets, pillows, emotional support animals—

Stop him from buying you anything extra, it’ll save you and Jamil the extra stress :)

Jamil 🐍:

He already has Kalim to watch and now he has to go take care of you? Well, at least you’re more tolerable so he won’t won’t complain, and he is doing this on his own, so there’s that for the excuse

Of course Jamil is going to cook for you. He’ll make you whatever you want, but if you don’t eat it I fear he may get a little pissed off…don’t waste his time if you're not hungry!

He’ll clean around Ramshackle, disinfecting, etc. but if he sees a bug he will stop and he will go grab grim, and just like those people with their cats, put him in front of the bug so Grim can get it

Now, he doesn’t want to get sick himself, so he will keep his distance while you stay in bed. He has stuff to do around his own dorm and he can’t afford to become ill because of you. Don’t cough or sneeze on him, he’ll walk out.

While you lay in bed, he’ll sit downstairs and he’ll write down his notes for you, a get well well token from him to you

He’s on top of medicines, very calculated with that, and since he’s kind of educated on the topics of remedies, specifically for Kalim’s sake, he’ll use that knowledge and maybe brew you up something to expedite the process of your recovery

Sorry for not posting for a day 💀

Anyways…I’m gonna try and finish up the bed ridden series tomorrow so I can start on a new one, and also post a Vil oneshot soon, hopefully, we’ll see if I have energy. ANYWAYS, THANKS FOR READING LOVELIES MWAHHHHH!!!

Master list

Please don’t steal or copy any of my work! You may, however, reblog if you’d want to!

Pictures belong to Disney Twisted Wonderland but are edited by me :)

[brainzzzeater]

After the spider bit him, Peter really liked eating bugs.

He found out by accident after he was gifted one of those novelty packets of dried crickets by MJ and thought it was the best thing ever all the while faking a grimace as she laughed. He still has some dignity so he isn't just catching flies out of the air or anything. But a secret guilty pleasure is buying dried bugs/generally acceptable to be eaten bugs to snack on when he is really craving it. Peter even swears he can taste the difference between the bug-red carmine dye used in candies then other forms of food coloring.

Once Wade and Peter started dating he started coming to Peter's apartment more often and getting accustomed to it's small layout. And really, it was only a matter of time before Wade started finding the variety of packages of dried larva, worms, crickets, and water bugs tucked away in the dark corners of his apartment.

The day Peter found out that Wade had discovered his embarrassing secret was when he came home to the smell of freshly cooked pizza and a hint of something else mouth watering in the air. With a peck on the cheek he scooted into his chair and Wade placed in front of him a large slice of pizza topped the largest grubs he has seen in his life.

"Improvised the recipe a bit," Wade said with a wink.

Peter sputtered as his face burned hot, "You found-- where did you..."

"Calm down Pete it's not like I found your porn stash, if I did it would probably be a bunch of spider polaroids considering this is how far your freak runs," Wade teased as he sat in front of Peter at their two-top table with his own grubby pizza in hand.

"You don't have to eat it! Ugh this must have cost you a shit load to find these-- It's gross. I know. You didn't have to,"

"I'm gross. Y’know. I'm ready to try anything once! And apparently these are a great source of protein," Wade stated before taking a large bite into his slice.

Wade started adding the high quality bugs to their meals after that and Peter couldn't help but fall even harder for the guy who started eating bugs for him.

[miley1442111]

back to chicago-c.berzatto

a/n: i'm probably going to make this two parts (or more) because I really like this idea so this is part 1. i imagined a fem reader and it's mentioned quite a few times but as usual, imagine what you like. SET AFTER SEASON 2

summary: a double date with your boyfriend at the Bear can only go well, right?

pairings: carmenberzatto x femreader (complicated relationship), platonicthe bear x reader, romantic oc x reader

warnings: general angst, mentions of mikeys death

You and Carmen had grown up together, living across the street from one another. Your childhoods were wildly different, his filled with family drama and personal independence. Yours filled with absent parents and the necessity of independence. You went to school together, went to prom together (as ‘friends’), and you were each other's first kiss. Then, you went off to college for law and business and he went off to cook. You vowed to never go back to Chicago, but stayed in contact with Mikey until he died. Then you came back. You felt a debilitating need to see Mikey off. Watch him be put into the ground. You had hoped Carmen would show up. He didn’t. 

You had stayed in Chicago, you had the time and money. Being a successful lawyer in New York was a great gig. Straight out of college you’d gotten a job at a top law firm, and just last year you were made partner. Taking time off for personal reasons wasn’t questioned. Even if it had happened a year ago. Even though you were in Chicago purely for the reason of nostalgia. You’d gone last year for the funeral and this time it was just because something in you missed it. 

It felt good to breathe in the Chicago air again as you walked down the darkened streets, ready for a date at a new Chicago restaurant, The Bear. It was where The Beef had been. Devastating how someone just came in and wrecked all of Mikey’s work. You thought to yourself as you opened the door and searched for the man you were meeting. Adrian, an accountant you’d met at a jazz club, was a nice man. He was sweet and reliable, funny and kind and you both got along well. He was never too handsy and always on time… but you still feared full commitment. He waved you over and you sat beside him as he pressed a kiss to your lips, you smiled, greeting his friends. This ‘double date’ thing had been his idea. This restaurant had been his idea, and as you stared Richie Jerimovich in the face, a shocked dumb-founded look on his face, you remembered why you left Chicago in the first place You remembered Carmen always wanted to call his restaurant ‘The Bear’ and you remembered that there was no getting out of this. 

Shit. 

“Do you two know each other?” Adrian asked, a hand on your shoulder, pulling you back to reality. 

“Fuck yeah we do! Cousin, how are you?” Richie smiled, forgoing the formalities and pulling you out of your seat and into a hug. 

“Richie, how are you?” You mustered up your best fake smile, trying to keep the gaze of Adrian’s friends unsuspicious. 

“I’m great Bug, how are you?” he asked, using the wretched nickname you endured for all those years. 

“Bug?” Adrian smiled. 

“Childhood nickname,” you explained quickly. “I’m good, Rich, real good.”

“You're a fancy lawyer now huh? What was it, New York right?” 

“That’s right,” you smiled. You couldn’t ruin this dinner. Adrian had flown all the way from New York to see you. This was the first time in a month that he’d seen you. Adrian’s friends had to like you. You had to make them like you.

“Sugar’s going to freak out when she sees you,” Richie smiled. You followed Nat on instagram, but refused to like any of her pictures, not wanting her to reach out. You knew she was pregnant. “You won’t believe it, she’s pregnant!”

“Oh my god! I must congratulate her,” you smiled, not realising what that tiny statement would bring.

“I’ll take you to the back now! I’ll give the rest of you guys the tour after,” he smiled at the rest of the table and they seemed to be excited by the prospect of seeing the kitchen so you plastered on a smile, kissed Adrian’s cheek, and let Richie lead the way. 

As you edged closer to the kitchen, you could hear voices, but thankfully not Carmen’s. You turned a corner, pushed through the door behind Richie, and you were led to a small office. Inside sat Natalie ‘Sugar’ Berzatto, ‘Uncle Jimmy’, and Carmen fucking Berzatto. You let out a breath.

“Look who came in to say hi,” Richie announced, stepping to the side to stop covering you. Sugar and Jimmy’s eyes lit up and they immediately started to hug you, yet Carmen stayed frozen to his spot against the wall.

“My love, how’s New York?” Jimmy asked, his arms around you. 

“It’s great, everything I wanted,” you smiled. Your life was something you felt you could be proud of. You loved New York and you loved your job. You had great friends, friends that were practically family. You had Adrian, he was great and he loved you. Yet you still thought about the Berzattos daily. “Congratulations Natalie!” You turned to her, hugging her side due to her large bump. 

You exchanged small talk back and forth with Jimmy and Sugar as Richie and Carmen whispered in the corner. You couldn’t make out what they were saying but it worried you. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

carmen

There you were. Standing there, fucking glowing. And here I was, a stained white t-shirt on and a pair of fucking jeans on. You looked beautiful, the type of beautiful that would make me jealous of the guy you were going home to if I saw you walking down the street. What were you doing here? Why the fuck were you standing in my office, looking so damn beautiful, yet so unattainable?

“She’s here with a guy,” Richie whispered into my ear. 

“What?” I scoffed. 

“She’s here with a guy!” He whispered louder. I felt my blood boil. So you’re here, in my fucking restaurant, with some other fucking guy. Awesome. I searched your hands for an engagement ring, or worse, a wedding ring. I saw none and my ears refocused into the room. 

“So?” I sighed, feigning disinterest.

“ ‘So’? Your fucking girl is with another guy. In your restaurant!” Richie snapped. 

“She’s not my fucking girl anymore, stop talking outta your ass,” I shoved him, making him leave me alone. My words were deflections. Of course you were my fucking girl, you always would be. You were perfection personified in my eyes, even with any of your flaws. And I wanted you to be my girl, but I got so fucking in my head about it I couldn‘t ask, and then we left and went our separate ways. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

You

“Look, I’d better get back to my table, my boyfriend’s waiting-”

“Boyfriend?” Jimmy cut you off. “I thought you and Carmy were dating?” 

“Yeah, when we were like 17-” You started but Carmen cut you off. 

“We never dated.”

There was an uncomfortable silence. Your smile faltered, then faded entirely and it was all Carmen’s fault. 

“Look, I’m sure my table is waiting on me to order, it was great to see you guys,” you smiled and left the room, walking back to your table, a sigh leaving your lips. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Carmen 

“You are such a fuckin’ asshole!” Richie shouted as Sugar and Jimmy sighed. “What the fuck are you talkin’ about ‘we never dated’? You’re still fuckin’ in love with her!” 

“Richie just fuck off ok! I don’t have to explain shit to you-” I started but I was cut off by Sugar. 

“That was such a shitty thing to say Bear! We haven’t seen that girl in fucking years and of course you had to fucking ruin it. We’ll probably never fucking see her again!” 

“I know that was shitty Sugar, I’mf fucking aware!” I started as I walked out of the office and into the kitchen. I wanted to make your food amazing. That was the only way you’d ever forgive me, right?

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

You

You walked back to your table and answered any and all questions pertaining to your relationships with the Berzattos, leaving out that you had a crush on Carmen. You allowed yourself to peek into the kitchen window and you saw him furiously moving. He was mixing something? You couldn’t see. Adrian’s kissing your shoulder pulled you back to reality. Adrian was great. He knew how hard tonight was for you. He knew about what happened in your childhood. He knew about what happened with Carmen. Adrian’s friends, Emilia and John both got up to take a smoke break and he turned to you. 

“Are you alright?” He asked, squeezing your hand.

“Fine, it’s just… messy, I guess.”

“Well you’re doing great. John and Emilia love you,” he smiled and kissed your cheek. “I wouldn’t have picked this place if I knew, I just wanted to see you-”

“I know,” you smiled at him. “I wanted to see you too,” You pressed a soft kiss to his lips and he grinned. 

“You look so beautiful tonight,” he flirted. 

“So do you,” you simply said and he chuckled. 

“Such a flirt,” he joked and you laughed, a real laugh. He kissed you again, quick and sweet. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” you said matter-of-factly and his face lit up. You truly had no idea if you actually loved him. Your commitment issues were constantly getting in the way of your relationships, so you had to do something, telling him you love him, I admit, might’ve been a crazy thing to start with but, you were running out of options.

He kissed you again, less quickly but still polite enough to not be seen as improper. John and Emilia started walking back in, so you pulled away to see him with a boyish grin on his face. 

That felt… good? Like it was right?

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Carmen

I walked out into my own restaurant, nervous as I was when I was 17, asking you to the prom. All you have to do is explain the dishes. I thought to myself. I know my dishes. Richie walked behind me with the other two dishes in his hands, and I took a deep breath. There you were, radiant as ever, laughing along with what someone said. I would do fucking anything to just have your number so I could just text you sometimes. 

I walked up, standing beside you and your smile flattened, looking fake. 

“Hey Carmen,” you greeted. 

“And how do you know the owner?” John asked, excited about all of the attention your table was getting.

“We were-”

“We dated in highschool,”  I said before you could finish and John chuckled as your boyfriend put a protective arm around your shoulder. I explained all the dishes and placed them in front of each of your table. 

“Thanks Bear,” you mumbled and my heart practically stopped. 

“Well, thanks,” your boyfriend gritted out. I smirked. 

——————————————————————————————————-

(PART 2)

[cozymochi]

Did any of your OCs have early designs that’re different from them now? If so, do you have any remaining pics?

Oh GOD of COURSE. It’s so fucked up. Had to dig through 2023 photos and one really old Medibang file that thaNKFULLy still had some original layers left that I didn’t trash.

HORRIFIC IMAGERY UNDER CUT, and me articulating my words poorly. I haven’t done much reading lately, it seems.

Starting from least drastic to most drastic, because. It’s so weird to look back on— this was Cecils first drawn image ever, next to his final.

He doesn’t exactly look any different from how he does now aside from… I guess me being more comfortable drawing him. Oh, and his nose is more pronounced now than my previous initial cowardice. He just hit the right vibes from the start 😩 There really wasn’t much to change at all. (Even if his current render imo is also somewhat outdated, but I still use it as a reference so I guess it does it’s job. Idk why I messed up his hand so bad later, it bugs me to no end.)

BAD NEWS! Most of Emilio’s initial drafts don’t exist anymore. He was the first guy made, so whatever headspace I had is just lost now, coupled with the whole “learning to draw twst” thing. HOWEVER! I did manage to see ONE weird layer that i happened to not delete on his original render file. Just look at him next to his current form.

I’m not sure what I was doing at that point, but considering this was the only “earlier” draft layer left, I was probably honing in on what I was going to end up doing. TBH in general he was just a face for a named guy in this fic, so there really wasn’t any strong personality direction in mind for his visual concepts (even in his final). He’s a little more fleshed out now I would hope, but much like his inspiration character he kinda gets muddy sometimes. He was probably shown too early for my taste but I sure do give into pressure.

Nyoka’s initial draft is SUCH a far cry from where he ended up. I drew it traditionally so there’s just this one single ominous photo of it that i never shared ever, until, like now I guess. He changed significantly compared to the others. At first I was veering much closer to a… sycophant snake henchmen type…? He was like, small, skinny and kind of a crazy freak.

LIKE WHO EVEN IS THIS GUY? WHO IS THAT! Besides, there’s already a crazy snake freak in a hoodie-blazer combo at school.

Either way, he had no progress until for whatever reason until a month later. I randomly had a “but what if he was like… an academic type in Savanaclaw?” then the floodgates just FLEW open (and was also just a better twst-energy parallel). Throw some glasses on? ✋Cinema.✋Even his second redo attempt, while it certainly was closer to where I would ultimately end up later that year— is still pretty different compared to the final, aside from stylistic shifts since twst wasn’t nearly as much of a hassle to draw by that point. “MAKE HIM HANDSOMER!!” *BREAKS IKEMEN BUTTON*

There’s a reason this stuff takes me a year to do (or more, even) 😭 SOME KNOCK IT OUT RIGHT AWAY, others take a second wind or more. I’m sure for everyone aside from Cecil there were MORE iterations, but I no longer have them. It’s weird. Cecil was technically made last chronologically, but Nyoka wasn’t in his “final form” until after he was made.

And even then because I’m fickle, I still end up adjusting and shifting minor aspects. BUT!! FOR THE MOST PART!! I think everybody is in a state of equilibrium. There was borderline no art of any of these guys beyond basic reference stuff prior to publicizing. So, that’s as deep as this goes 💀

Tia was made before all these guys of course, but I kinda showed that off a little on some other ask I currently cannot find.

BYE

[stunfiskz]

Rouxls asks! Feel free to only answer which u want to, I sent a lot to give you options!

● What do you think the deal is with his mouth stringy? Is it just a skin flap, or something else?

● Your Rouxls is built with a broad chest, skinny limbs, and a veryvtiny waist. Does he work out/diet to maintain that look, or is he just naturally built like an upside down triangle on a toothpick? Does he lift/jog, or is he sedentary?

● Is your Rouxls goopy? If so, what is his "default" consistency, and what does Max Liquid look like?

● If he's goopy, is his hair also just goop that just looks like hair, or is it actual hair? What of his teeth and eyes and junk? Is he 100% goop, or does he have some non-goop bits?

● If goop, does he have bones and organs or no?

● Does he keep worms as pets, food or both? What is his definition of "worm?" (like, are we solely talking earthworms, or do things like grubs, mealworms, inchworms and caterpillars count?)

● Is there a reason his clothes are the same colour as his skin, or is he just a freak who dresses like that on purpose?

● What is Rouxls's Roux made of? What does it taste like?

● Any clothing hcs? Worm/bug hcs? Backstory hcs? Lay them miscellaneous headcanons on me!

YAYAYAY QUESTIONS! thank you for indulging me in this lol

What do you think the deal is with his mouth stringy? Is it just a skin flap, or something else?

i think of it as a goop strand (& think it can change location due to this, it’s my reasoning for why its placement is inconsistent across his sprites lol) from opening and closing his mouth

when his mouth is closed it’s still there though. because i think it’s cute to give him a little drip

this is also part of why i think he defaults to grinning so often. embarrassed about his mouth drip  

Your Rouxls is built with a broad chest, skinny limbs, and a very tiny waist. Does he work out/diet to maintain that look, or is he just naturally built like an upside down triangle on a toothpick? Does he lift/jog, or is he sedentary?

i do think he works out- i try to draw him leaning like…somewhat twunk-ish but closer to twink due to clover & the rudinn calling him a hunk

i have a bunch of nebulous headcanons surrounding this but i think he has a very off relationship to food for a variety of reasons. i do not think he eats enough

in general, i think of him as very vain and focused a lot on his appearance. i think of all this as an extension of that.

Is your Rouxls goopy? If so, what is his "default" consistency, and what does Max Liquid look like?

yes and no? 

i think that the way we always see him- pretty much his default- is like. if you touched him it would feel pretty much the same as normal human skin, just a bit more slick & cool to the touch (in general, i think darkners would run cold as well)

in my head, for whatever made up species he is, they sort of like…firm up as they get older. hence why the baby rouxls i draw is just kind of a little goop blob. 

i also am very fond of the headcanon that rouxls is a card with printing errors, including ink smudges that may mean he’s still a bit more goopy than he’s supposed to be. hence the goop strand on his mouth. also means i think he’d leave ink stains on stuff he touches with his bare skin

i do think that he would melt if he were particularly overwhelmed because it’s fun. probably would feel good as hell to just turn into a puddle

If he's goopy, is his hair also just goop that just looks like hair, or is it actual hair? What of his teeth and eyes and junk? Is he 100% goop, or does he have some non-goop bits?

ummmmm. depends on what’s funniest. i don’t know

i do think his hair is just goop that looks like hair. i don’t know about his teeth. i don’t know.

i also really like the idea of him having a cardstock skeleton, like the armature of a clay figure. very easy to bend, probably what his teeth are, i don’t know. i’ve talked about this hc a lot though LOL

If goop, does he have bones and organs or no?

bones question answered above

as for organs. same as before, depends on what’s funniest. generally i lean towards him just being solid goop all the way through but i also like drawing his guts so it just kind of depends on how i'm feeling

also, vaguely related- he’s very, very loosely amphibious to me. i think he has weird amphibian “ears” that his hair covers. i think he would probably breathe through his skin regardless of if he has organs or not. 

also probably would have to open his mouth to smell things/have a not great sense of smell because i don’t think he has a nose

Does he keep worms as pets, food or both? What is his definition of "worm?" (like, are we solely talking earthworms, or do things like grubs, mealworms, inchworms and caterpillars count?)

i lean towards the thought that worms are food, bugs are pets

with this, i think that he would primarily eat earthworms/mealworms/other oligochaetes. grubs are basically puppies to him probably 

Is there a reason his clothes are the same colour as his skin, or is he just a freak who dresses like that on purpose?

he’s just a freak who dresses like that on purpose.

i think of dressing in clothes that look like part of your body is just a darkner fashion standard, considering you can compliment lancer with it

What is Rouxls's Roux made of? What does it taste like?

his roux is described as a dark roux. a roux is just a flour & fat base used for other recipes. a dark roux specifically is cooked for the longest out of other types of roux, and is primarily used in cajun & creole recipes (most often gumbo). i imagine it’s just the same as a regular dark roux just with worms in it in which case….i dont know what his reasoning in universe would be for just selling the roux with worms in it and not like an actual dish you would make with it. he’s a freak and not normal. horrifying to think about the concept of a worm gumbo though 

Any clothing hcs? Worm/bug hcs? Backstory hcs? Lay them miscellaneous headcanons on me!

i think he has like twenty different near-identical copies of his uniform, just with the slightest variations between them. sometimes he has whatever weird shoulder pads he has now, sometimes he has ones with a trim, sometimes he has epaulettes. sometimes he’s wearing normal pants, sometimes tights, sometimes none (probably depends on length of coat). sometimes boots, sometimes regular shoes, you get the idea. this is my excuse for drawing his outfit inconsistently.

i like to think card kingdom has a bunch of weird flora/fauna we never get to learn too much about because that’s not the point. i think he probably has different bugs than we do. which i am not good enough at fantasy biology to make up just imagine something really cool and badass 

i like to think he was the original tutorial guy- i think he started working at the castle in his early teens, but ended up leaving for a bit to try doing that. he was not successful at all. also, given the proximity between the tutorial area and seam’s seap, i like to think it would be funny if he like. briefly crashed on their couch during that time. i think it would be a really funny world to think about. 

[multifandom-nerds-blog]

Collection of Soren HCs/concepts/ideas mostly based on him having dark magic used on him in a, well, very permanent way (twice!). Cause I just feel like having dark magic inside of you like that must have some side effects.

I have more general HCs about Soren in another draft that I will post later.

He's constantly running cold. Like super cold, it wouldn't be healthy for anyone else but it's "just" a side effect from having dark magic inside him. This man is a block of ice. Most people don't notice though, even with how much physical affection he likes to show, because he walks around with full armor most of the time annyway, with only his head and fingers being uncovered. So no one really knows his body temperaturis so low. Especially since it doesn't physically affect him, it's just that it would definitely raise some questions if someone would take his temperature.

-> Claudia healing him from the full body paralysis made it more extreme. The low body temperature technically still doesn't affect him, but it definitely weirded him out (still does) when he noticed it after all the stress from the first arc wore off. He was used to it before, where he could still believably tell people he's just running cold, probably thought so himself, now his skin was really freezing cold. So he started wearing his fingerless gloves too so people don't freak out at his cold hands. (and pjs under his armor to maybe get the temperature up with some extra layers, because I'm looking at his new armor and he's wearing so many layers already wtf.)

-> The way he did notice was because someone did freak out. Ezran probably tried to drag him somewhere, not that he had to since Soren probably kept guard 24/7 of Ezran the first few weeks after the stormspire. (With the army and crownguard being still messed up and the whole political mess that first few few weeks must have been.) Anyhow, Ezran tried to drag Soren, probably to the kitchen, by taking his hands only to freak out by the icecubes his hands were. The next day Soren started wearing his gloves.

His sense of temperatures is also slightly messed up sometimes. Eats or drinks stuff often that is still way to hot and burns his mouth before noticing, while also taking the coldest showers known to mankind (he just says cold showers are healthy)

Unless he does his skin/hair routine obviously. He's high maintanence, cause lavender oils y'know.

It is extremly hard for him to get sick/catch a cold. This is a combination of having magical lungs basically/probably having had any possible bad sickness as a child you can get (me lmao)/and his general healthy lifestyle. When he does catch something it's mostly just like an annoying allergy. Or a stomach bug, cause those are nasty and get to everyone.

You can actually see traces of the dark magic on his body. On his chest and along his spine on the back, in the way of purple lines, patterns maybe. But their not always visible on first glance. It kinda depends on his physical and mental state on how visible they get. Aside from him only Viren and Claudia know about those, since he never really had a reason to go to people and be like "Hey guys I've got purple traces of dark magic on my body". (Cough Corvus lerans about it at some point cough)

Soren is obviously a bit self conscious about this, since he never really liked dark magic to begin with. But those feelings became worse after the stormspire battle and everything, with Claudia then suddenly gone too.

He usually avoids doctors too, which he doesn't need most of the time luckily, but everyone in Katolis army needs to get a mandatory checkup every 6 months. (Set in place by Sarai at one point) He has very allaborate schemes to get out of those, and succeded every single time so far. Being the head of the crownguard probably helps with it.

Also, sometimes his sense of touch in his lower body is a bit toned down (? I don't know the right word, in either language anymore). Though this is mostly a psychosomatic. Healed with magic or not, such an injury leaves it's marks. (Me? Giving my favs some of my chronical pain to cope? Never.)

He probably smells weird to dragons or other magical creatures with a high sense of smell. Not reeking like a dark mage, but it's physically still in him so it's definitely noticable. Some non-sapient wild magical creatures might avoid him because of it.

-> Zubeia especially noticed this after the timeskip, because they didn't exactly interact 1 to 1 before in S3, but kept it to herself. She likes Soren and clocked that he already has enough issues. She isn't gonna give him one more thing to be self conscious about. To Zym it's just kinda how Soren smells. Pyrrah still finds it a bit uncomfortable at times, but learned to ignore it.

Some more general Soren HCs/ideas are on their way.

Look at this doofus.

[eliotlime]

End of October Update

There's got to be a less clunky way for me to title these things but maybe I'll figure it out after a few posts.

Anyway at the top of the order I want to say that uh... the Abacelsus zine is not happening by halloween unforch.. I just started school part-time and it being part-time is still kicking my ass! So tentative release date will be on 11th November unless something else happens....

On the plus side I'm done with the cover so all that's left is the back page and cramming all 24 pages full of drawings 👍

-> As I've said at the end of my previous post I want to make more blog style posts so here's me trying to do that, more under the cut

🔐Abacelsus Zine

I'm still deciding on whether i want to print it A5 or B5 but I'm leaning towards A5, though for the digital release it doesn't really matter lol

As mentioned, I'm done with the main cover so I just need to fill this entire thing with stuff, I said 24 pages but really the total page count is 30. I'm just not counting the cover and the blurb stuff.

I'm half taking a break with this at the risk of burning myself out and half paralysed with starting it. Plus I've kind of been more into Axl & I-no hilariously but I'll always love A.B.A. I think the lack of any real info really lends her well to interpretation which is always fun.

I've never really been one to engage in fandom so I'm probably going to be doing my own thing. That being said if anyone has any suggestions feel free to drop them in my strawpage or ask box :)

🥤 Strawpage & General Socials

The bugs make my pages so decorative, I gotta draw more bugstyle guys.

Speaking of strawpage, I made one of those! It was really fun, I have a short OC info tab with descriptions of some of my main guys. I'd love for you to check it out.

This kind of acts as my ask box for twitter since there's not one there and apparently it's basically my main social media site these days so I'm just mirroring my experience here over there too.

Hilarious timing considering that it's basically collapsing on itself once again, I'll probably still be on that damn site until it implodes but I also have a Bluesky account for those that care about it.

The sky follower bridge extension is really useful for bulk following people from twitter to bsky

I'd love to post there more but there's not a queue function and that's very important to me as someone who is not American and lazy to remember optimal timings.

Did you see? I also have a new pinned for this blog! Wanted to make a new one for a while now, always thought the old one was so freaking long. All the old info is still on my about and faq page though I don't know who actually looks at those.. a relic from years past..

☹ School

Sigh, like I mentioned earlier I'm doing school again! At my big age, but I'm having fun so far! It's part-time but it's still kicking my fucking ass! It's the main reason why I'm a little disoriented this month honestly.

Do you like it? I spent an entire Sunday making my class miro board look niceys and then proceeded to get nauseous from cybersickness afterwards LOL

I'm doing a UI/UX course and I have to say the funnest part about it is making personas, it's like making OCs. Don't particularly like writing though.. but also that's a lie considering the numerous amount of paragraphs in this blog post alone haha

🎁 Merch

I've also gotten confirmation that I'll be boothing again next year in Febuary! So I gotta start locking into making more stickers and general merch. I say this a lot but I do need to look into opening an online store because I just have tonnes of stickers and stuff lying around waiting till the next time I do a convention which is kind of a shame.

Oh, but I will say that if you are from Singapore and would like anything from my previous convention catalogue feel free to shoot me a DM on instagram and I can mail it to you locally, shipping's $2 SGD.

➰Closing Thoughts

All in all, been kind of busy this month with school and various loose threads from September but overall I think I'm doing better! I've also been cooking lately and truthfully that's my biggest achievement this month haha, been also getting really into canned fish. Yummy!

Oh and a last thing is that I've been itching to animate again so I'll end this post with a WIP of a gif I did last night/morning. I almost always never finish my animations but here's hoping this one actually makes it to the colouring stage haha

No prizes to anyone who can guess who these two because of course.

Thank you for reading! I know I can't expect everything to be done in a single month but I just wish I could do everything without getting tired or cybersick! If you'd like to support me, here's my ko-fi page and my itchi.io & gumroad as well.

If you have any questions or just generally want to talk to me, my DMs and askbox is always open! Any professional enquires can be sent towards my email as well: eliotlime@gmail.com

XOXO, Stay weird!

-Eliot :)

[princelylove]

Sometimes I forget my interpretations are not canon. For my freaks who are into hyper specific body parts, like I am, here’s the first batch of my body interpretations for part five. 

I can’t count how many full body shots or slow pan downs we had of Giorno- with a rightful emphasis on his hips and legs. Giorno’s muscle is that of a ballerina’s- slender, but has lots of stamina. He has a small waistline, like majority of the Joestars do, and his limbs are all rather lean, but his thighs provide an adequate amount of support for his ‘hips.’ He’d prefer terms like ‘full’ or ‘shapely’ over ‘thick’ or ‘well-rounded,’ but all apply. He’s shy in comparison to his father, who prefers the inverse to be said about himself. It’s generally best to not mention how attracted you are to his ass his broad hips, he's a bit embarrassed of his curves.

He stands comfortably at a nice 177 cm, or 5’8”. He’s often teased by Guido for being ‘so small,’ despite Narancia being the shortest. (Guido doesn’t want to get stabbed at nine in the morning.) His hands are slender, and delicate-looking. He has long fingers that he lets bugs and small animals crawl all over. He prefers not to wear nail polish at all, and dislikes wearing rings. 

Giorno is such a pale white that you can see the blue of his veins on parts of his chest. There’s little bits of pink towards the tips of his fingers, but the rest of his skin is almost pure white. It would be concerning if you didn’t know he gets plenty of sun- how he manages to stay that shade and practically live in the sun is beyond you. 

Giorno has a bit of a baby face still, he has very round features, besides from his eyes. He's a victim of that phenomenon where strangers trust you because of your ‘welcoming’ face, despite the fact that Giorno rarely smiles unless he wants something. His hair is naturally somewhere between wavy and curly, and falls down to his hips when it isn’t in a braid. After he becomes the don of passione, he wears it down more often. He thinks it helps attract new recruits- and he’s right, it does. If you’re attracted to full, heart-shaped lips and long eyelashes, Giorno will have you wrapped around his finger. 

He smells like flowers, white jasmine and roses to be specific.

Don’t talk to me about Bruno’s hourglass. He has a bit more shoulders, so I’m tempted to say he has a different body type, but it’s so slight that you wouldn’t notice unless you were taking his measurements, so I won’t count it. 

His muscle is from hard labor rather than consistently working out- habits from when he was just a baby helping his father- Bruno doesn’t exactly have time to do a real routine, and he neglects himself too much for it to work. While he does have a good bit of muscle, he isn’t as well-defined as someone like Leone or Risotto is. He can’t do a calorie deficit, he needs that food to keep working as hard as he possibly can. If he stops eating as much, he can’t work, and then he couldn’t protect you or his family (same thing), and, and, and, and. He eats well, he just doesn’t sleep enough. He’d probably stop worrying if he did. Most of his muscle is in his arms, back, and legs. 

Bruno is a strong man, he prides himself on being able to physically protect his darling. His looks aren’t a big deal to him, but he does enjoy taking care of himself. He wouldn’t have such a high maintenance haircut otherwise. He dislikes makeup on himself, but he grooms himself excessively- he isn’t one for long routines and expensive skincare, but he appreciates a nice cleanser and moisturizer, which he also uses on his hands. Bruno will sometimes put clear nail polish on just his hands, if he remembers it. 

Bruno is 183 cm, or 6ft. His height isn’t overbearing- in fact, he just makes the cusp of what most people would call ‘tall’ for a man- but he isn’t small, either. He’d love to share clothes with his darling, but if he cannot fit into yours, he’ll settle for giving you his. If you make him seem small, he’d happily wear some of yours, too. 

His skin tone is a light brown, although it pales slightly in the winter. He spends a lot of time in the sun, on top of his natural complexion. His undertones are warm.

Bruno's only tattoo is the one on his chest. It covers part of his stomach, as well.

Leone has lots of birthmarks scattered all over him. He stands at 195 cm, or 6’5”. I tend to think of Leone with more shoulders than hips, but he has a small waist, and it isn’t like his hips aren’t grabbable.

It makes him feel better about himself to work out consistently, so he kept his morning habits from his younger days. While he wishes he could say he works out for his health, it’s just because he doesn’t feel good unless he looks good, and that’s how he’d like himself to look. He has very prominent iliac crests, and a well defined torso. Most of the ‘fat’ in his body is in his tits. (Author’s note: Although it’s more appropriate to say muscle, since building muscle is how men get a larger chest, I’m using ‘fat’ for a better visual. When pectoral muscles relax, they appear squishy and pliable like most women’s chests do, so it isn’t entirely outlandish.) 

He has a thorough routine for his skin- he even has a separate one for his hands, which doesn’t work very well. Leone’s hands look smooth, but they’re a bit rough from work. His nails are fairly long, and natural. Painted either black or a deep red. He shapes them into coffins. They break easily. 

When he’s stressed, he tweezes his eyebrows. He makes them thin, and follows the natural small arch he has. Leone’s eyes are actually brown, he just puts contacts in to match his makeup for the day. He puts eyeliner on his waterline, like how you’d put kohl on.

I’ve mentioned briefly before that Leone has darker skin than in canon, but I specifically meant a dark brown complexion over just a tan one. He has cool undertones. 

While he doesn’t have any tattoos, he has a few piercings. His nipples, belly button, and nose are all pierced. The side of his nose, not a septum. 

Narancia gets pretty pissed when you mention that he’s 164 cm, or 5'3”. He’s still got some years before his body hits its limit, alright. He’s horribly jealous of Guido’s physique, he doesn’t understand how he’s doing the same things but Guido has way more mass than him. It just so isn’t fair. 

While he does have very distinct muscle, I wouldn’t call Narancia big. He cuts without realizing it- he has food right in front of him, but hasn’t fixed his eating habits from living on the street. If you praise his abs and arms, he’ll let you feel.

Narancia’s a light tan sort of beige. He tans every year without fail. It makes him sad to see himself pale, as it reminds him of his mother, who had the same complexion. 

He has a few tattoos, all of which are stick-and-poke, and done by himself through boredom. The designs are nonsensical and don’t mean much to him. He has tons of piercings, done by Pannacotta in a bathroom for the promise of not having to do household chores. Both his nose piercing and eyebrow rejected, so he settled for torturing his ears. 

He hates makeup, nail polish, and skincare routines. Narancia's skin is somehow perfect. It's debatable if he cleans his piercings out every once in a while or not. Narancia's hands are very square, and his nails are so short that them growing past his finger tips is a miracle.

Guido stands at about 190 cm, or 6’3”. I’d give him a smidge more at most, but he just isn’t as tall as Leone. Guido has a tendency to slouch when he sits, but loves to straighten his back out when he’s standing next to someone shorter. The first thing he did in purple haze feedback was check if Panna had him yet- and was secretly overjoyed that he wasn’t even close. 

Guido’s normally smiling- the only time he isn’t is when he’s truly alone, working, or genuinely pissed off. He’ll have deep smile lines when he’s older. It’s more of a grin than a smile, really- he finds amusement in the oddest of things. 

The only word that comes to mind is how big Guido is; Guido’s sizable nature is one of the first things you’d notice about him. It’s almost criminal to focus more on his chest- the man has ass and the thighs to back it up. Guido has a very full figure, he prefers bulking over cutting by far, and he doesn’t work out just to look good. He wants to be strong, and his job is very demanding. It just works. (It makes him feel useful.) Guido gets up when the sun does to work out, every day, probably for the rest of his life. He has a visible Adonis belt, but not a very deep, defined one. While the crease is there, he’d never intentionally lower his body fat percentage to match someone like Leone’s.  

His eyebrows are thick and straight. He cleans them up as best as he can, but hates doing it himself, so he makes Leone do his for him, in exchange for doing the dishes that night. (Leone normally turns the television up so he doesn’t have to hear Guido whine about how much painnnnn he’s innnn.) He doesn’t cut his own hair either, but doesn’t trust anyone on the team to get his curls right, so goes to a professional for trims. He started wearing hats because of a bad cut, but the pressure was comforting. 

Nothing irritates me more than when people take away Guido’s color. You are out of your MIND if you think he’s any lighter than a medium brown- and that’s being a bit generous. He has warm undertones, and gets as much sun as he can year-round. 

He doesn’t use cologne, and uses an unscented bar soap. Guido understands the importance of a good conditioner, but body soap? It’s all soap, man. Bar soap is fine, costs less, too. He tries to take care of himself, but isn't excessive about it. His nails are short and clean, but he doesn't trim the hair on his knuckles until Trish points out how noticeable it is.

Guido has a few tattoos, all of which he whined through getting. He decided to have the majority of them on his upper arms. They’re all biblical. He has a tendency to grab the bicep with Saint Mary on it when he’s nervous. He thought about piercing his belly button, but pussied out when he saw the needle. 

After the events of vento aureo, he got an orange on his upper back. 

Pannacotta is 180 cm, or 5’11”. He used to be the same height as Giorno, but gained some height over the course of Purple Haze Feedback, and now has to look down at his boss to make eye contact. He’s rather lean, and a bit ‘flat’ all around- he lacks a prominent waist as well.  

His complexion is very fair, and sort of pinkish. He doesn’t tan well at all, and is often teased by Narancia for it. His hair is entirely white- it's common to hear that it's because of stress, but he was just born like that.

Most people would describe Pannacotta as ‘pretty’ rather than ‘handsome.’ He wouldn't consider himself so, as he’s not actually all that feminine he just hangs out with two very masculine types and seems it in comparison, but he doesn’t mind. Well. He does. He hates feeling people stare at him when they obviously have intentions, but a little compliment is just a little compliment. 

He takes care of his hands and feet, but doesn’t like colored nail polish. He borrows Bruno’s clear polish. Pannacotta likes strawberry scented soap, and would buy a body spray that smells similar, if he was aware it existed.

He only has his ears pierced, and no tattoos. He almost trusted Narancia enough to give him a tattoo, but decided against it when he realized Narancia had the freedom to not listen. 

Trish doesn’t really have any muscle, but she is skinny. She looks significantly more like Diavolo than Donatella, which is horribly ironic. She’s slightly above average height for a girl her age, just shy of Giorno’s height, although seemingly short in comparison to the ridiculously tall cast of vento aureo. 

Trish’s complexion is (exactly) sort of like Diavolo’s- a light brown, with cool undertones. She tends to avoid the sun, and will slather on sunscreen to avoid getting a tan. She’s afraid of ‘aging early.’ 

Trish makes a lot of the same expressions as Diavolo- her annoyance, joy, even her anxiety all bear some resemblance. Before he left, Donatella would joke about using him as a blueprint. 

She gets her nails done professionally, and tends to go for acrylics over her natural nails. Trish prefers small, almond-ish shaped nails, with a lot of designs or charms. She just gets solid color on her toes. 

Trish is the type of girl to use five different washcloths in the same shower. She has an extensive hygiene routine, and all of her soaps are chosen to complement the smell of her favorite liquid body soap- which is a nice vanilla in winter, and coconut in summer. 

While Trish is a “You wouldn’t put a bumper sticker on a Bentley” kind of girl, she does have a few piercings. Her ears, nose, and belly button are all adorned with the shiniest, blinged-out piece of jewelry she could find. 

[chibimui]

The Apothecary Diaries LN3 Thoughts - Ch3 - 5

LN 3: Prologue-ch2

We get to learn a lot more about how the rear palace runs in general from these chapters, especially from a more grassroots level. It's really interesting, and one of the things that makes LN3 probably my most favourite volume so far.

(Warning: These thoughts may contain spoilers from later light novels all the way up until LN15.)

---

Chapter 3: The Caravan

Rereading these chapters, I do very much miss Maomao's interactions with Gyokuyou's ladies-in-waiting. They're such a fun, caring, but also a bit of a silly bunch.

Yinghua's feelings of betrayal are fair. I for one will never forget how she was willing to thrown down for Maomao's honor way back during the first garden party days. We got your back Yinghua!

I really do enjoy how this chapter dives further into explaining how the rear palace works (even down to the sanitation!), and the different benefits associated with each person's role whether you are simply staff, or a lady-in-waiting, or a consort of varying degrees. I feel like all the mysteries Maomao ends up solving later in this novel also do a good job at further highlighting these dynamics that get explained to us in this chapter.

Maomao and Xiaolan's relationships is SO CUTE!!! T-T You guys. I love her. I absolutely am on board with fan wishes that if Maomao ever does become a proper noble lady then she can somehow figure out where Xiaolan is and have her be one of her ladies-in-waiting pleaaaase. Maomao just buying Xiaolan this hairband without any fanfare is just... ugh, she's so nice you guys.

This moment as well? Maomao could have bought all of them for herself and swiped it under Shisui's nose, but no, she buys all the remaining Jasmine tea and then gives the other two to share. And it doesn't even end here, because then she brings them to the doctor's office to make the tea and share it with them too???

Maomao? With friends? Willingly hanging out with friends? We love to see it.

Also Maomao the cat is Maomao the human's #1 archenemy for real.

Things to note for later..

But more importantly about Shisui, Maomao has finally met another person who is just as much of a freak as her, except this time it's about bugs. And unsurprisingly they get along very well (in the venn diagram where bugs can be used as medicinal ingredients).

Chapter 4: Perfume Oil

I cannot wait until this chapter gets animated. Specifically the entire first half of it. I just know it's going to be absolutely hilarious in animation because even reading about it was already funny as hell.

I do love how at the very end, Maomao is like "Okay I have learned these lessons, yes, okay, aaaaand regret over - back to business". That's our girl. Also hilarious that what she actually picks up as being "wrong" isn't even the sniffing itself, but how she went about it. It's more "oops, I chose the wrong test subjects" and not "maybe I should've done a different test?"

Jinshi is right about Maomao typically being a person of restraint though, because it's interesting to see how much she is restraining herself in this entire conversation. As Maomao continues to get involved in little mysteries like this (and keep in mind, this is a mystery she involves herself in and brings to Jinshi, not one that Jinshi has asked her to investigate--something worth noting), I feel like she internally struggles a lot more with where the line is between sharing her thoughts, and keeping things to herself to avoid causing harm.

It's a gray area Maomao is learning to toy with, but it's still quite a dangerous one. She asks leading questions to get Jinshi to come to the conclusions she wants him to (or hopes he will), and refuses to assert anything of her own. This is to protect herself, and often times the lives of others whom she is aware could be punished, but the reality is still that if Maomao inadvertently leads Jinshi down the wrong path the consequences could still be dire. And Maomao is aware that she was doing a lot more leading this time than she typically would.

First of all, yes Maomao, we know you find Jinshi attractive. =P

Second. love how Maomao is just like... I'm off the clock, I don't need to treat you even though in reality it's not like Jinshi stops being a person of importance--as Maomao notes, and Maomao likewise doesn't stop being lower class after 5pm. Like, there is her job and then there is her status. If this were another person her behaviour could be considered downright rude, if not outright insulting. And the irony is Jinshi is literally one of the few people in Li who should never be treated this way (not that Maomao knows this... yet).

Thirdly, and more importantly, I really wanted to highlight this JinMao scene because I feel like it encompasses a lot of their dynamic up until the moment the LN5 epilogue, and I'm setting the stage for how I'm going to approach that chapter when I get to it.

A lot of KnH readers often say they were very shocked and surprised by the events of the LN5 epilogue because it just seemed way out of character and wildly out of place for where Jinshi and Maomao's relationship seemed to be developing and I want to say - actually, as I re-read through the novels, I am starting to see how LN5's epilogue makes more and more sense in terms of why things turned out that way.

This is a light example, but in this very chapter you have four things that occur that are the general pattern for when Jinshi and Maomao are at odds with each other.

Jinshi asking for something and Maomao refusing to give it to him (typically because she actually doesn't want to do him a disservice/is trying to protect herself; she doesn't voice any of this).

Jinshi acting put out that Maomao won't just give him what he wants, which she notices, and either attributes to him being a baby or purposely annoying.

Maomao doubling down on her decision and nitpicking at his disappointment (in this example: flaunting her tea and making a sarcastic remark at Jinshi's expense).

Jinshi getting back at her by being a petty little shit because he assumes Maomao is just being difficult for the sake of being difficult and taking what he wants anyway (or trying to).

Remember this pattern. It will come up again. In fact, it's low-key a bit of how many of their interactions have gone up until this point, but often done in a humorous way. As their relationship intensifies, the humor also lessens and we see how negative this cycle can be.

Ch 5: Corpse Fungus (Part 1)

I just want to say, this mystery is one of my favourites because it's... so dark? It's pretty gruesome. A concubine dies due to her own petty revenge plots and her ladies-in-waiting hide this fact, have someone play body double, and then kill THAT person when they realize they can no longer keep the charade up. Like. Yikes.

LN3 really does take us so much deeper into how spiteful and vengeful folks can become as a result of being stuck in the rear palace. A lot of these mysteries, while still sad, also have a very conniving, almost hateful, edge to them that wasn't necessarily the case in many of the mysteries in LN1 and 2.

Before we get to the reveal of all that though, we have the beginning.

I always love these individual descriptions of everyone when Maomao walks into a room and is going to have to deal with Jinshi. They're just always so funny to me.

Something about this line stood out to me. It's like in the back of my mind I can hear a 3rd person narrator saying "And he was right!" I guess it's just this overt acknowledgment that by this point, Jinshi knows Maomao pretty well, and knows what type of information she will pick up on. This understanding Jinshi has off Maomao (which again I will emphasize, he is correct about) will also play into a lot of the arguments they have later on.

First of all - this is just funny. Second of all, Maomao outwardly appreciating Jinshi and his skills and efforts! She is impressed by him! She likes what he is doing! Jinshi is finally getting some brownie points!!!! (In the most elementary school voice I can muster - guuuuuys, she liiiiikes hiiiiiim).

Doing a bit of reflection, it's funny how earlier in the novel Maomao assumed Jinshi just kinda told her about his literary plans "just because" and not because he actually values her input, and now he's literally coming directly to get her opinion as he continues along with this project.

And as readers we can see why! She offers some really valuable input! I also like how, as the conversation with Jinshi continues Maomao begins directly offering her own suggestions without prompting - like when she gives advice on how to entice people to the "training" with snacks, and not calling it school.

While I totally understand Maomao's thoughts here, a part of me wonders if Maomao realizes Jinshi... can't really ask others? Like yes, Jinshi could go around surveying the other palace workers, but I wonder how many of them would actually be able to give honest or even helpful answers. Not even due to intelligence, but I imagine for most rear palace staff simply being asked to provide advice to someone of Jinshi's status would have most folks absolutely tongue-tied. As Maomao is often concerned about - that would be punching above one's station! So it's kind of amusing that Maomao doesn't really consider that here (and a sign of the blurring boundaries/growing comfort).

Oh Maomao, the stuff Jinshi let's you get away with that you don't even realize =P

And ending off my thoughts with this paragraph here:

Remember how I call this the Jinshi novel? This novel spends a lot of time actively painting Jinshi in a much more favourable light than the first two - it really goes out of it's way to present Jinshi as truly competent, hardworking, thoughtful, and good at navigating the court.

Even from Maomao's perspective, I feel like it's the novel where her stance on him really begins to shift into something much more appreciative and even somewhat admiring. She likes these qualities about Jinshi. That he is able to come up with a credible plan to increase literacy rate, that he is able to maintain fairness and remain objective to his job.

While he may come across as a bit petty, childish and immature at times, he knows his place and how to maintain the balance between private and personal relationships. He understands boundaries--or he should. That's something very important to Maomao, that she recognizes that Jinshi knows this. This novel will also highlight how much monarchs and rulers who don't know this (or don't care about this) can effectively ruin the lives of others--breeding hatred and resentment.

Anyway, that is a conversation for another time. For now, we end on a very dramatic funeral and we will see the conclusion of this mystery next chapter.

[ch6-8]

[ghostie-in-wonderland]

Rides I think the Obey Me! Characters would dislike

Tw: motion sickness is mentioned

---

Mammon: Manta at Sea World Orlando

I think his voice box would be definitely strained afterwards from screaming. Definitely don’t think he’d enjoy the whole like laying parallel to the ground part. He seems like the friend who would pretend to not be scared of a ride, while actually being terrified and at the end of the day has no voice from how loud he was screaming. 

Lucifer: Tower of Terror 

I can’t explain it, but he gives me the vibes of someone who has definitely freaked out about getting trapped in an elevator, but he plays it off because of his pride so he would never let anyone know that the ride spooks him. He’s also a 1000% someone who’d go on the People-mover all day, which is definitely a mood sometimes. 

Leviathan: Thunderbolt at Kennywood

It legit causes someone to pretty much sit on someone else’s lap. I think he’d be freaked out by that. If he rode it with the MC, instant nosebleed. I think he’d prefer to play the games or do rides where he’s not sitting directly against someone. 

Asmodeus: A Bug’s Life at Disney World 

The seats make it feel like bugs crawl on you. I think he’d hate that. Plus, you watch like a little Bug’s Life performance thing and it’s freaky (I also hated this attraction as a kid). 

Satan: It’s a Small World at Disney 

Somehow, he would get stuck in there. The ride would then be closed for the next five years because of how angry he’d get about the song. It would be entertaining though for MC if they’re chaotic. 

Beelzebub: Mission: Space at Disney World 

This ride is motion sickness devildom (lol see what I did there). He gives the vibes of the family member who has to sit in the front seat or next to a window because he gets really bad motion sickness and feels guilty the entire time. 

Belphegor: Black Widow at Kennywood 

I don’t think he’d vibe with the swinging and the spinning. I think he’d get really dizzy and annoyed by it. Especially because it’s longer than it needs to be. He also seems like the type to get headaches from rides that spin too much. 

Diavolo: Raptor at Cedar Point

This man is beefy. Truly I don’t think he’d like rides that have over the shoulder harnesses because they squish him. I think if you asked though, he’d still go with you on any rides because you asked. Also, I feel like if you’re plus size/chubby and nervous about fitting on a ride, he would 1000% make it seem like he was the problem if you don’t fit on the ride. He is a 100/10 character to go to a theme park with. 

Barbatos: Exterminator at Kennywood 

This is the entire reason I thought of this idea. I love this ride, but Exterminator with it’s OG theming (pre-making an express lane when it had good theming) would have freaked Barbatos out because it’s all about rats taking over a city. Like the whole ride is rat themed and you’re in a car that looks like a rat “trying” to escape exterminators. 

Simeon: Pipeline at Sea World Orlando

I think he’d dislike the whole standing while on a rollercoaster. I think he’d just dislike Sea World in general because of the ethical issues with it. I feel like his least favorite part would be getting off the ride and his legs being all shaky because of it. 

Luke: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at Disney World 

I think it would mostly be the jokes the brothers would make at his expense in line. 

Solomon: Invertigo at King’s Island 

I think he’d hate the possibility of going backwards on a rollercoaster. I think he’d also hate rides like the Music Express at Kennywood or Matterhorn at Cedar Point because it only goes in a circle. 

Mephisto: All of them

He just gives those vibes. I’m sorry he just does to me. I feel like he would be one of those people who are there for the vibes, probably go on a couple of the chiller rides like the Merry-Go-Rounds or join Lucifer on the People Mover (which would be amusing to watch). 

Thirteen: None 

A 10/10 character to go to a theme park with if you want a ride buddy, she’ll go on everything with you. 

[thinkingisadangerouspastime]

good things about ep. 7:

this episode was by far the best at working with film as a medium. there were still issues, to be mentioned soon, but this ep did a lot of things that impressed me on a level of cinematic structure and format:

some actual tension!! simply showing the trio running from cerberus created investment and stakes for me in a way no monster fight or other obstacle had before (a matter definitely enhanced by the music)

the use of flashbacks!! now, i have some issues with the content of those flashbacks, but since im basically getting two degrees in assessing media i know how to give credit where credit is due lmao. these flashbacks were doing interesting things cinematically, creating parallels with percy's experiences in the present, especially that last flashback where they continued poseidon's voiceover into the present moment. fuck yes!! use the medium of cinema to your ADVANTAGE!!

related to the use of flashbacks, the match cuts!! they were so good, as they helped make visual those narrative and characterological parallels being constructed through the flashbacks. film is an inherently visual and auditory medium, and it was so refreshing to see the show experimenting and making effective choices with those tools

some issues with ep. 7 and the series as a whole:

i'll admit it. im tired of the trio already knowing everything about every obstacle they face (having to improvise in the fight with cerberus was so refreshing and retained more of the spirit of the book as opposed to uh. every other obstacle). and i think this connects with show's overall struggle with writing, adaptation, and the medium of film. these writers have committed the cardinal sin of assuming their audience always needs explanation. in any writing class (fiction and screenwriting are my personal expertise), you are told to assume your audience is smarter than you think, bc a writer's instinct is to assume they need to be clear about action and themes out of a fear of confusing their audience and the end result of that situation is a boring, overly explanatory piece of work. (an re the young viewers, kids are freaking smart!! i literally teach kids of the age range these books are directed for and they are so quick-witted. kids don't need stuff handed to them on a platter, they know how to put puzzle pieces together.)

example of the aforementioned "too much knowledge" issue: the pearls. (people have already explained the issues with medusa, the casino, procrustes, etc., so im going for a new one that's been bugging me a bit.) after percy received four pearls, the general conclusion people came to was that one pearl would break, forcing them to have to choose three people to go/one to stay and thus making the choice more "meaningful" (i.e. bc the opportunity to save everyone had been stripped). it's a fair choice, a fair reason, a fair analysis, and this is a change that bothers me but much more minimally than other changes to the show. here's the deal: the reason they had to give four pearls in the show was bc the trio already knew exactly what the pearls would do. there was no reason to give only three pearls bc that would force a character (probably percy) to raise the question of like "hey, that's not enough to save four people!" so where am i going with this?

in the books and the musical, we get the alluring line of what belongs to the sea can always return to the sea. percy gets three pearls in the book and a seashell in the musical, where he doesn't know right away the specifics of what this gift does (the seashell is an excellent example of adapting a story to a new medium, as a low-budget theatrical production can't afford the effects of smashing three pearls and causing people to vanish from the stage, so blowing the seashell to open a portal was a great move that worked for the new medium and retained the spirit of the source material - percy having an epiphany well after receiving the gift about what, exactly, the gift did and how it would help him). in the show, they issue is that they already know, thus creating the dilemma of there being no reason not to give four pearls. again, not the worst choice the show has made, but it's another example of how the show's most pervasive issue is over-explaining and giving too much information to its characters.

in short: the pjo show doesn't understand "show don't tell." they love telling even though "showing" is Most Important in film as a medium, like it's even more important to show what's going on in film than it is in prose because cinema is an inherently collaborative medium that generates a visually-dominated product. the show clearly lacks a fundamental understanding of the medium it is working with!! and that is bad!!

another issue: the lighting. this show suffers from the current trend in film to make dark scenes impossible to see in.

more characterological problems: the gods are not imposing. just to speak of ep. 7 alone, why was hades so... banter-y? in the book he literally makes percy's hand "move... against [his] will" to show him the pearls. there was none of that power and domineering energy in the show!! the pjo show keeps hammering us over the head with what should be a series-long revelation about the gods' flaws and pettiness and spite and misuse of their incredible power, and yet all of the gods seem almost like... caricatures. where is their ability to be charismatic and threatening. to be lax and powerful. to remind us that they can, have, and will kill demigods.

core thematic issue: the show lacks the humor and fun and adolescent spirit of the books. i've seen a lot of people insist the show is directed for young readers of the book, which i don't disagree with, but the lack of humor and energy and vitality is undoubtedly turning off a lot of younger viewers. in a lot of instances, everything feels so gritty and angsty, lowkey like the winx adaptation (but on a less severe scale). we have moments of sass/sarcasm, moments of levity, but it doesn't feel like a core trait of the show (much less of percy) like it does in the book. and honestly, i think that's a loss! if rick wanted a grim pjo adaptation, fine, but i wish the show hadn't been advertised as something perfectly attuned to the spirit of the book bc it's just not. if it was, i'd be laughing a lot more.

now, let's talk about sally...

i don't love how they've characterized sally in this show. i respect that they wanted to "modernize" her character and more accurately demonstrate the struggles of a single parent raising a child with learning (and in percy's case, also magical) difficulties. i genuinely do respect that choice, and i can follow the thorough-lines created in the show that illustrate this revamping of her character. similarly, i can respect that they didn't want sally to seem like a stereotypical "passive" victim of abuse re gabe, hence her explicitly pushing back at him. that said...

i still don't think these are effective or necessary changes, because i don't think sally was portrayed as overly passive or as a perfectly equipped parent in the book. i understand the argument that gabe is still presented as abusive, i.e. that he checks her phone without permission and controls access to the car, but those moments feel so technical. when i rewatch those scenes and examine the acting (both line delivery and bodily cues), sally is outwardly derisive toward gabe ("who's yancy?" / sally sighs and shakes her head, exasperated, has the long blink to give an extra beat before responding: "the school."), yet at the same time there's a banter between them, where sally insists that she's going to go to montauk no matter what, and if gabe disagrees then she won't bring back both their sandwiches for the knicks game that they apparently watch together often (implied by "you know i hate watching the knicks alone!" "so do i!"). sally holds herself confidently in this scene (hands on her hips). gabe is forced to actually ask politely for his sandwich order (and notably holds his shoulders slightly inward, visually closing himself off in a physical representation of surrender). two of my friends, diehard pjo fans who are not literature or film scholars, were both confused as to why sally and gabe seemed to be bantering within a seemingly standard relationship dynamic - not necessarily the happiest of couples, but a standard married couple (as opposed to clear imbalance of power between them in the book).

to be clear, it's not that sally needs to be a "passive victim of abuse," and it's certainly not that the show needs to explicitly depict gabe hitting sally or percy for us to understand that he is abusive. my issue is that the show seems to have not understood what made sally a strong character initially: her willingness to endure anything for her son, including marrying an abusive man who smelled so rankly human in order to prevent monsters from finding them. like, sally resisted gabe's abuse in the book! the reason blue food is a major motif in the first place is because sally and gabe had a fight where gabe insisted blue food wasn't a thing, and thus percy observes that "ever since, my mom went out of her way to eat blue."

in other words, verbally standing up to one's abuser is not the only way to demonstrate that a character is not a stereotypically weak, helpless, passive victim. it's definitely an easy choice with regard to cinematic staging (and the show has a pattern of taking the easy way out of conflicts and nuance), but i think the real issue is that sally's vocal protests come in tandem with the defanging of gabe. why does his body language and tone falter in arguments with sally? does he not have the upper hand? where is the evidence of an imbalanced power dynamic? there is no one way to write abuse bc the tragic reality is that abuse happens in an infinite number of ways, but nonetheless i am frustrated with the route the show went down in the first ep bc it feels reductive to the core of sally's character and her strengths: her endurance, her implicit but present rebelliousness, and her love for her son.

im also not a fan of some of the flashbacks we're getting with sally. it's not that sally shouldn't be "allowed" to get frustrated ever, but a major element of her characterization in the books is that she didn't take that frustration out on percy. i just don't see sally jackson getting upset that percy doesn't want to swim (beside that, i can't imagine percy not wanting to swim lmao). i just don't see sally jackson almost aggressively telling percy that he is the one making their goodbye ugly (because he's being a kid?? who doesn't want to leave his mom?? you're telling me sally wouldn't recognize the root of his anxiety immediately??). i just don't see sally speaking vaguely to percy about there being things she has to do that he doesn't understand instead of doing her best to meet percy where he's at with her explanation. if someone is coming to this show without having read the books, i genuinely think they might be starting to question sally's parenting, i.e. if she was really as wonderful a mom as percy insists or if he simply sees her through rose-tinted glasses. bc here's the thing: percy does see sally and his mom's struggles through rose-tinted glasses, and it's because sally bottles up and hides her struggles and frustrations from him. she doesn't let percy witness those frustrations. as such, there's an incongruity between book!sally and show!sally that doesn't mesh for me.

in short, show!sally feels like a new character to me. that's fine if that's the route they wanted to take, but again: why advertise it as a faithful adaptation if you're not going to be faithful to the core elements of central characters?

im also disappointed by how much the show has stripped annabeth of her character besides her intelligence. i have some thoughts about the adultification of young Black girls and the fact that annabeth is Black in the pjo show, mostly that i can't tell yet whether the show has the self-awareness to offer commentary on this reality for many Black girls through annabeth's character being seemingly defined by her intelligence and maturity or if they're simply unwittingly replicating this circumstance. i need more material before i can make a concrete assessment here, but all the same, i wish they were allowing these kids and especially annabeth to be kids - to make mistakes, to fall into traps, to have little crushes and get flustered, and to not know everything about every monster/obstacle before they come to face it.

people have talked to death the issue of the pacing so i won't belabor it but in general this show has terrible pacing. the first two eps are rushed (we got so little luke that im concerned his betrayal won't have much heart/meaning/oomph in the final ep), the constant unnecessary exposition creates periods of narrative drudgery, most of the fights lack tension bc the choreography is effectively nonexistent, them missing the solstice deadline has so far sucked the wind of the energy of their quest (of which there wasn't much in the first place bc the show did a poor job establishing the looming threat of a globally destructive war being on the horizon), and in general there's no sense of stakes. sigh.

i probably have more thoughts, but i'll stop for now bc i've got a shit ton of assignments to work on. in sum: the show lacks an understanding of how film operates as a medium, and while the merit of the show as an adaptation can be debated, it's simply a poorly constructed and lackluster piece of tv.

(but on the bright side? the trio is killing it even with the weak material they've been given, and their acting talent is the only reason i and many of my friends have kept watching)

[pupcarisi]

How would a potential friendship with Sonny start, and how does it develop into a proper relationship? What would the dynamic (sexual/nonsexual) look like?

being friends with sonny would be easy, considering his personality and how keen he is to get to know others (see: him buying food for the squad as a way to break the ice). so regardless of whether you're someone he met at work, or just someone he bumps to regularly in the neighbourhood, you'd have an opportunity to make conversation with him. even grumpy ada!carisi still has that sweet guy underneath that stressed frown he carries on his face. i see him as a general knowledge kinda guy who likes a variety of things, so it'll be easy to find something in common with him to strengthen that bond. (*coughs* as compared to being friends with rafael. THAT would be abit harder i imagine) so how your friendship goes depends on what's that factor and how your personality meshes with him (are you as easy going? or shy? or maybe a bit of a bitch?). regardless, he's the kind of friend who would coax you to spend him with him using his cooking skills, especially when you're having a bad day, so you won't spend it all holed up alone

i think what they did with his canon relationship with rollins was fitting. he'll prefer a lover who can be his bestfriend too. BUT he's also afraid of sabotaging a great friendship, if the relationship doesn't end greatly. he'll need something strong to motivate him to take the risk. perhaps like you going on dates with other people (in hopes you'd stop crushing on him) and him feeling unfulfilled as he dates other people that aren't you. and mix that with a couple of drunken nights playing stupid drinking games... you got a recipe! he'll sit so close to you unnecessarily, his knee rubbing against yours and his arm brushing against your body whenever he uses his hand to talk animatedly. maybe when he feels a bit more bold, he drops his hand and places it on your thigh, giving you that dimpled grin of his before going back to the table's convo. i believe he's actually good at reading subtle behaviour, so he can tell the way your body tenses and your breath hitches whenever he gets close. the breaking point would be a kiss, you two so tired of dancing around and just thinking—fuck it let's just get together.?

relationship dynamic wise... ofc he's gna be sweet but you'll still see that little piece of shit (/affectionate) best friend persona. he's a big tease and a mega yapper, so i hope you're ready to handle him. here's a small list of random headcanons i have of him as a boyfriend:

- can't leave out mentioning my acts of service king. he would try to give you a helping hand, in the smallest of things—even if you INSIST him not to

- if you eat out, u two would be quiet at the table during your meal. why? because you would be way too busy eavesdropping the conversations of the tables next to you

- complete cuddle bug. he'll use his long lanky limbs and trap you in like a koala, his head snuggling on your chest

- he'll fart in bed and trap you underneath the blanket

- he will also send u the most unflattering pics of animals he sees on tiktok and say 'this is so u ❤️'

sexual wise... *adjusts my glasses* as much as he's sweet and respectful, i'm a believer that he's a FREAK underneath all that. so he's always wanted you. thought and fantasised about you. if you were best friends with him before dating, the conversation of sex and preferences probably came up before—finding it fun to discuss about it candidly. but now it's like. 'god, we are dating now and i know you had a ___ kink and i've always been so fucking turned on about it. but how do we—'. so maybe it's a little awkward to suddenly act on it but once you do? strap the fuck in!!!!! (i mean. like get ready, but this man would also take the strap let's be real) infront of friends, you two wouldn't be the biggest pda people, preferring to maintain decorum. but once you're just out of sight? this man is going to ravish you with any opportunity he gets. he is hungry and he will Get it. that man fucks nasty!!!!!!!

also one of my all time sonny x established!reader series of fics is Keeping Young Talent Coming Our Way by MegasaurusRex & theroseofthereach (fem!reader focused btw). boyfriend sonny is sooooo ugh. sex with him would be rly fun and hot at the same time i imagine...