#for how important the system is in my brain they have so little art as a collective. oops

[luck-of-the-drawings]

[<==PREV PAGES] [NEXT PAGE==>(not out yet.wait a year.or maybe more.imagine.]

saw alot of comments on prev pages; saying 'i HATE that mean teacher! im gonna FIGHT HIM!!' & i LOVE the energy!! it WOULD be nice. to have that catharsis. but the story of young tidestrider is Not one of catharsis. it is a story of being so small and so special and sucking so bad.

[tillman]

this year old blanche. she is the most normal woman.

[mindfulstudyquest]

❥﹒♡﹒☕﹒ 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿 ( 𝗮𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 !! )

𝟭. improve your writing skills ( ✒️ )

i feel that not everyone has the perception of how important it is to know how to write. you don't have to be a poet, nor the new emily brontë, but fluid, conscious, rich writing makes the difference. really. you could write a page without saying anything at all, but if that damn page is written good and smoothly, then you can be sure that you will get extra points. take the time to improve your writing skills, the best advice i have for doing so is reading. read as much as you can. read novels (non-fiction in this case doesn't help because the content is preferred rather than the form), read contemporary authors – you don't necessarily have to read sophocles' tragedies, but read quality stuff. expand your vocabulary, your knowledge of syntax, learn to use punctuation! and then write, tell stories, write love letters, write reviews of films, books, cultural festivals, open a blog on tumblr and write to practice, reread what you write ad nauseam, until it is perfect, until the form of your essay is pulitzer prize worthy.

bonus some of my favourite authors (tell me in the comments about yours!): ian mcewan, banana yoshimoto, haruki murakami, george orwell, josé saramago, albert camus, khaled hosseini, hanya yanagihara

𝟮. develop critical thinking ( 💭 )

if you have always studied passively by absorbing information and vomiting it onto a test sheet then you have wasted your time. taking on information is not enough, you need to know how to rework it and develop your own idea about it. especially in the arts and literature one may disagree with certain information provided by a textbook. developing critical thinking is not easy, especially due to the school system that teaches us to standardize thinking. always consult all available sources on a given topic, compare them, analyze contradictions. it might be difficult and tiring – our brain spends more energy processing two conflicting pieces of information than processing two pieces of information that agree – but it will be worth it. by practicing critical thinking and improving your argumentation skills, you will not only be able to improve in your studies, becoming able to present complex topics and make interdisciplinary connections, but also in daily life, you will become much less influenced and manipulated by external information.

𝟯. find yourself an interest ( 🌷 )

it could be anything, but find an interest that excites you and you enjoy and do research about it. watch videos, documentaries, read articles. it doesn't have to be school-related, it must be an external topic that you are passionate about and that allows you to rediscover the joy of studying and learning every time school seems to suffocate it. sometimes i'm not in the mood to study for exams, so i dedicate myself to my personal research and finally find my spark, my seek for knowledge. for example, my interest is true crime, it has always fascinated me since i was little, but yours could be wild animals, makeup, comics, ships, planes, ocean flora, literally anything. there is no constraint.

𝟰. analyze your mistakes and recognize your wrongs ( 🫒 )

there is no shame in making mistakes. everyone makes mistakes, we are human, but the real sin is getting bogged down in mistakes, refusing to acknowledge them, and continuing to make them again and again. we should be continually growing, continually discovering ourselves, both intellectually and emotionally. how many of you were the "gifted kid" when you were little and then grew up into burned out high school / uni students desperately seeking academic validation? there comes a time when talent isn't enough, you have to put in the effort, and this doesn't make you less intelligent or gifted, in fact, quite the opposite. dedicating time and attention to your personal and intellectual growth also means having to ruminate on your mistakes. it's scary, but it's the most effective way if you really want to improve. take a notebook and at the end of the day reflect on the highlights and the wrongs, what you could have done better, where you would like to push forward tomorrow, what you achieved today. did you make a mistake? first ask yourself why and then look for a way to solve the problem, make every bad moment a lesson, a brick on which to build the version of you you wanto to become tomorrow.

𝟱. don't be afraid of doing researches ( 🧃 )

the amount of fake news and misinformation online is appalling. opening any app like tiktok or instagram we are inundated with information that is often (not always, but not so rarely) inaccurate. don't be afraid to conduct your own research, if you have time to mindlessly scroll through tiktok you will also have five minutes to read an article regarding that information provided. don't know the meaning of a word? look it up before using it. not sure about a piece of information? check it before using it in your argumentation. in the age of immediate access to data we have no excuse to be superficial.

𝟲. master communication ( ♟️ )

mastering communication is essential in both personal and professional realms. it's the cornerstone of building meaningful relationships, whether it's conveying ideas effectively in academia or fostering connections in the workplace. developing strong communication skills not only enhances your ability to articulate thoughts but also empowers you to listen actively, empathize with others, and resolve conflicts constructively. ultimately, honing these skills cultivates confidence, credibility, and success in all aspects of life.

𝟳. push yourself out of your comfort zone ( 🧸 )

build your confidence. confidence is uncomfortable. don't be afraid of it. you are young, this is the right time to experiment, take risks, discover who you really are. this is the best time for you to do those things that you would otherwise never do, you don't want to regret later in life that you didn't accept that scholarship, that trip abroad, that job opportunity, because you didn't feel comfortable enough. do things that take you out of your comfort zone until everything becomes your comfort zone. go on solo dates, be a social butterfly, tell the girl at the bookstore you love her t-shirt, go to the theater alone, eat at a restaurant alone, take that trip. if it goes badly, you'll only have one funny story to tell.

𝟴. stay informed about the news (but not too much!) ( 🌍 )

this might be controversial, but: stay informed about the news, just don't overdo it. personally, i am an easily influenced person and i realized that being constantly exposed to the bad things happening in the world had drained me and made me terribly depressed. don't get me wrong, you need to be informed about what's happening in the world and in your country, just being constantly surrounded by horrible news repeated ad nauseam on TV programs is of no use. be aware.

[actual-changeling]

Welcome back to Alex's unhinged meta corner, and today I have something surprisingly not kiss-related—though it is still about the final fifteen because hey, gotta keep the brand image.

I read this post by @goodoldfashionednightingale and began typing a small response. Then I made the mistake of drinking half a litre of coffee on an empty stomach right after taking my adhd meds and my brain began vibrating at the speed of light.

But oh, have I discovered parallels. This, my friends, is about the nightingale, where it comes from, what it means, and what the fuck happened in part 3 of 1941.

Ready? Let's go.

Now, as OP said in her post, s1e3 is important. In the script book, Neil himself says that these flashbacks are where the producers would tell him to cut scenes to save money. They suggested every single one—except for the one he ended up taking out, which was the bookshop opening scene set in 1800. The others are building blocks, you need them to see how their relationship progressed and what kind of important milestones they had.

(side note: author is very miffed that english does not have a separate subjunctive form like german which makes quoting lines way more confusing than it has to be)

The one I want to mention is neither 1941 nor 1967. No, what I want to talk about is 1601. This might be about to get a bit rambly but I will do my best to keep it tidy.

The focus of that flashback is on the Arrangement, yes, but it gives us a lot more information than that.

they both see Shakespeare's plays regularly, maybe even meet in the crowd

Crowley prefers the comedies

Aziraphale does not seem to have a preference, he enjoys the tragedies and presumably the comedies too

there is an oyster woman selling food -> reference to their meeting in Rome when Aziraphale tempted him to try some oysters

Aziraphale reflexively denies their relationship

Crowley might say he is not worried but circles Aziraphale the entire time, keeping watch

they both ask favours of each other and both agree to do them

What stands out to me in relation to what I am about to expand on is the line that Crowley delivers after Aziraphale's little 'buck up'—which Crowley finds adorable btw but that's a post for another time.

"Age does not wither nor custom stale his infinite variety."

Why would he say that? What exactly is prompting this? WHY say that specific line?

At first I thought it might be to tempt Shakespeare because he does commit art theft by just copying that line down, BUT I think there is more to that. So much more, in fact. I am wiggling now because I am very excited about this and my adhd meds are kicking in anyway.

First things first: the line itself.

It appears in Shakespeare's play Antony and Cleopatra, a romantic tragedy, which was first performed in 1607 aka six years after this meeting. Enobarbus is talking about Cleopatra and describing why Antony won't leave her. Her.

Ccrowley uses his—again, who is he even talking about? Hamlet? Shakespeare? Random poetic quote?

No, I think this line is about Aziraphale and it's a code. Right after, the next line from Aziraphale is "What do you want?", meaning that this is their code phrase for 'I have a favour to ask of you'.

Age does not wither nor custom stale his infinite variety

Age will not affect his appearance nor will he ever become boring to Antony. Crowley, who later chooses the name Anthony for himself, tells Aziraphale, an immortal, that he will never age and that he will never grow bored of him.

It's flattery, pure and simple, and it's code at the same time. This establishes the important fact that they might use more of Shakespeare's work as code/already have a system in place (even though he steals Crowley's line for later).

They play their little morality game of back and forth, Aziraphale agrees, Crowley probably manipulates the coin toss, and THEN we find out that the oyster woman is called Juliet.

Why? What is the meaning of that? Why give her a name and that name in particular? Why bring the sexy oysters back into it?

Romeo and Juliet premiered in 1597, so it is safe to assume they have both seen it by 1601, but this is mostly for the audience, not for us-or is it?

Aziraphale gives Crowley puppy eyes until he agrees to make Hamlet popular, and while I don't think Juliet itself is a code word, although it's very interesting that the OYSTER woman is the one with that name (especially adding what we now know about Job), Romeo and Juliet might be.

Yes, the Nightingale song came out in 1940 but the bird has been around for much, much longer, and, as many probably know by now, also shows up in Romeo and Juliet.

This is where I am starting to vibrate at the speed of light because listen to me. Listen.

Crowley is Juliet. Anthony J. Crowley. Antony Juliet Crowley.

(side note: I'm not saying that Crowley chose it based on that—though I am not not saying that—but that it is a clue for us at the audience.)

Why do I think that? In the play, Romeo spends the night with Juliet and then goes to leave as the night begins to end. Juliet tries to stop him and tells him that the birds they are hearing aren't larks, which sing at dawn, but nightingales, which sing at night.

Who is the one always pushing for more? Crowley. He is the one trying to convince Aziraphale it's safe, they're safe to spend time together.

Romeo disagrees with Juliet and says 'I must be gone and live, or stay and die'.

Leave and stay alive, or stay and hell/heaven will punish us. It gets even better though.

We all know how Romeo and Juliet ends: Romeo thinks Juliet is dead, kills himself, Juliet finds him and then kills herself too.

Hey, do you know how Antony and Cleopatra ends?

Antony thinks Cleopatra is dead, kills himself and dies in her arms, then Cleopatra also kills herself—by snake poison; Romeo also died by poison.

The parallels are THERE. They are jumping down our throats! Two tragedies, two sides, several familiar names and phrases, same fear, same ending.

I think by now you can guess how this ties back to 1941.

We do not see how that night ends, but we know it ends. One of them wants to stretch it out, maybe even quotes Romeo and Juliet because look at the setting!

Candlelight, wonderful night they spend together, the threat of Crowley's early demise, and, to quote the play once more, this time Romeo: I have more care to stay than will to go.

Crowley thought it was his last night on earth and went with Aziraphale to his bookshop, to be with him, because he cares more about that than the fact that he will be dragged to hell come morning. Do you remember?

"Expect a legion to come for you first thing tomorrow" THAT is the threat. They have until dawn, just like Romeo and Juliet, which is why she is so desperate for the birds to be nightingales. Fortunately for them, Aziraphale saves the day, BUT there is NO SECURITY. They do not KNOW if a legion will still show up or not. If dawn is a deadline and they will need to fight.

Sure, they improved their chances, but who knows? Maybe they will come for him anyway, it's not like hell is all fair and square.

The best part: it gets even better.

Juliet eventually panics and tells him to go, and Romeo drops a line that huh, sounds oddly familiar, doesn't it?

'More light and light, more dark and dark our woes!'

Remind me, what does Aziraphale say again? Ah, yes. Perhaps there is something to be said for shades of grey.

There is more. Yes, even more. We know the whole rescue relies on a magic trick, a switch. Guess what Juliet yearns for while telling Romeo to go save himself?

Oh, now I would they had changed voices too. While they did not for Romeo and Juliet—they kiss and part—they did for our two. One fabulous switch and we're good.

(side note: Toads? Associated with hell. Larks? Associated with the dawn, yes, but also heaven since Romeo says 'Nor that is not the lark, whose notes do beat the vaulty heaven so high above our heads.')

So, this was a whole lot of information, let's see if I can summarize my thoughts.

I believe the nightingale is a code word that has existed even before 1941 and gained a lot of importance over the years. In 1941, the song is added to the meaning and whatever happened between the two that we have not seen yet, it fundamentally changed their relationship. Maybe they kissed, maybe one of them tried to convince the other to prolong the night but they parted on not-great terms.

The nightingale and the song become a symbol of hope, a goal to achieve, another uninterrupted night, maybe, or an uninterrupted life.

When they part in the final fifteen, it's morning. Crowley points at the sky and says "no nightingales", which at that point has several different layers to it.

No nightingales because their night is over, just like with Romeo and Juliet, and please, please allow me to add another detail, because I am frothing at the mouth over this. The scene I quoted, known as balcony scene, do you know what it is preceded by?

A ball.

Star-crossed lovers defying their sides, falling in love at a ball, getting a hurried, wonderful night together but torn apart by danger of punishment, the nightingale as a dream, as a wish for unhurried time together. Family rejection, torn apart by parents, willing to die for each other so they can reunite in death.

No nightingales. The ball, the romance, is over, their dancing is over, heaven is tearing them apart, and Aziraphale returns to heaven while they are both stuck in a pit of misunderstanding and miscommunication, all bound together by fear for each other.

The thing is, Crowley hates tragedies, he never liked the "gloomy ones", and he does not want them to end in one—luckily, this isn't the end. Yes, they kiss and part, but the play keeps going. We have an entire act 3 to fix what Romeo and Juliet couldn't, to ensure that this is a COMEDY, not a tragedy.

Both Antony & Cleopatra and Romeo & Juliet died out of fear, hurried into making bad decisions because they knew what would happen if their sides were to catch up with them.

Crowley and Aziraphale can reunite heaven and hell with love, not death. This is THEIR story and they are writing the ending. No more day and night, no more deadlines, no more hiding and sneaking about, no more fear of larks and sunshine.

Good Omens will end the way it began: In a garden with two no-longer-star-crossed lovers embracing the song of a lark as well as that of the nightingale.

I hope this made sense to everyone who was no present while my mind started to vibrate itself into a puddle because the thing is I can see Neil doing all of this completely on purpose.

Thoughts? Questions? Additions? Come and join me in my insanity and until next time I have a mental breakdown over this show (probably in like two hours).

[spiderpussinc]

who you mind sharing some spiderdads headcanons you have, or do "the explain your otp in 5 minutes" meme? no pressure though! i love your art and fic too

im soooooo bad at this kind of question bc i kinda love thinking about a bunch of different/concurrent options like. you know how every fic is its own universe and you watch the same steps happen with little alterations so the same guys fall in love 101 times that's my brain... HOWEVER I've been thinking a LOT about ITSV Peter/Miguel lately --

Either comic-canon based settings where he's the usual single hero in his natural habitat OR directly /before/ ITSV itself; divorced midlife crisis spider-man who's always struggling to make rent is SUCH a good spot for Peter's stakes, and it sucks how people just want to make him rich or magically the avengers solve all his problems to basically erase what makes him compelling. I think its a good choice the spidey movies do -- to make it all a lot more ground-level, without outside interference -- so he has to make the tiny decisions.

Miguel getting stranded in the past!! HOW COME THERE'S SO LITTLE STUFF ABOUT MIGUEL AND PETER MEETING IN THE PAST? Doesn't need to be ATSV plotline compliant. A macguffin gets him there, or sends him to Peter's universe, come on! The important part is having them on a ground level sandbox.

THE REAL FUN STUFF: The cheesiest stupidest meetcutes you could ever imagine. Endless possibility. Spitballing: Peter/Miguel being unaware of each other's identities and renting the same apartment because neither of them has the funds to fly solo. Peter being suddenly spooked by the appearance of a brand new edgy spider-man in the vicinity. After all these years. Miguel not knowing how much he can say because Peter's sort of convinced this is a villain ploy of some sort to fuck up his public persona.

REAL-LIFE, both of them are suspicious about the other as a Weird Fidgety Roommate type. Neither can complain much because, again, it's rent on NY. You mind or business. or not.

Maybe Alchemax doesn't even exist in this universe, tipping Miguel off that this is an alternate timeline and he's really on his own. Maybe the ruling company here is Roxxon or Future labs or whatever; there's a lot of those in comics. He kind of HAS to eventually come clean about being universe-displaced to this world's Spider-man -- Peter begrudgingly accepting that there's a second spider-guy around on the condition that Miguel isn't gonna do anything catastrophic while he's here to completely blow up Peter's image, or give J.J. Jameson fodder to attack him.

Maybe they start working together. Maybe it's a casual partnerships thing where they happen to be tracking the same shady incident and decide to wrap it up as a duo; maybe they just agree to patrol the neighborhood together on busy weeks since they just.. suspiciously... seem to be around at the same place... at the same time... overly concerned abt the same shit....

Miguel has a superhuman investment in Not Letting This World Turn into a Future Dystopic Hellhole; Peter just kind of wants to live and solve problems as they come by but these two motivations really synergize. Peter doesn't even need to ask why, just damn okay dude!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Respect!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!1!!1!

Secret Identity investigations. Secret Identity mishaps. Secret Identity fumbles. Lyla accidentally busting out that Peter Parker is Spider-man via advanced facebook voice recognition fuckery. (LOL) Hell, maybe in THIS Miguel's version of 2099 it was already revealed Peter is spider-man, after he died. How'd he die? Maybe it was a bad end. How does Miguel feel about that? About meeting with a ghost? Endless possibility.

EVEN MORE FUN STUFF: both of these guys are *SO* intensely defined by a lack of support system around their secret identities. WALLOWING in guilt. Spider-man always seems to ruin their lives, in the worst ways. They're too proud to let normal people intervene, or the ppl themselves deeply resent the fact Spider-man exists. It's fun to think of a reversal scenario where Peter/Miguel have each other's backs, can help the other dress wounds, can show up in a pinch to prevent disaster from occurring with some supervillain 10 blocks away while Peter is trying to land a new job interview as a highschool teacher or science columnist. IDK It doesn't have to be constant uphill battle to get someone else to understand why they do what they do and what the stakes are; they're the same kind of crazy.

And okay, maybe you don't want the spidersonas falling in love before their real identities do..... still VERY ripe options around for Miguel sneaking home with a limp or a really fucked up arm and his healing factor isn't nearly as good as Spider-man Prime's, so Peter is like 'WHAT the FUCK happened to you?' And even though he can tell Miguel is lying. He is not going to bust him out for it. Because he's been lying for 20+ years. Instead, Peter just takes it upon himself to teach him how to get his shit fixed. Temporary armslings and icepacks and sprays and current-time medication that is different to what Miguel is used to in the future; friendly neighborhood Peter Parker who minds his business and will not ask you if you're secretly Daredevil for Reasons but that will, however, tell you to stop blocking attacks with your fucking head. He learned this lesson earlier than most superheroes.

(The reverse scenario is still sweet! Peter's taciturn roommate who wears sunglasses indoors and is weirdly secretive about everything seeing him come home with a busted out eye and hes like damn. Do you want to split a pizza or whatever. You look like shit)

Miguel is not actually as experienced as Peter! He /could/ use the tips!!! Peter has been Spider-man ever since he was 15 years old. Miguel became Spider-man due to a freak accident at MAXIMUM 4ish years ago. Probably less. Figuring out how to do it not alone would be genuinely a good experience for him.

Miguel moe x1000 as the future man who kinda doesn't get the weird counterintuitive way things work present-time 💔 flipside; Miguel seeing the beginnings of bad future patterns like musk trying to buy twitter and deciding to take matters into his own hands. sorry this is just hilarious to me. Even if he's not beating these guys up its still awesome to imagine him as an insane ranting tech essayist who goes on hour-long takedowns of NFTs on youtube or being like GOD WE NEED VACCINES TO BE COOL AGAIN FUCKKKK

Among all of this though, I think one of the most appealing aspects of having them as an unit is that they don't have to lone-wolf shit anymore. (and they Have been lonewolfing it for SO long.) Feels good feels organic

I could go on but I need to actually write and I just... think they can be so entertaining. We don't have to be so dependent on the movie here pulling from regular superhero shenanigans Really works. They sort of complete each other. Immediate productive boost on both of their morales. Get Peter/Miguel pilled with me rn

[bossbutch]

halfway thru chapter 1 of umineko. idk how meaningful it is to speculate this early, The Real Umineko hasnt even properly started. these arent fully thought out and organized it's just scattered thoughts

battler's gender politics are entertainingly weird. he's like "when i meet a woman, even if she's my cousin or my servant, i NEED to make a big show of grabbing her tits so that she can hit me and everyone will laugh at the Classic Gag and it'll lighten the mood" which is just ridiculous enough to be something a rich teenager in the 80s could convince himself is okay. and then he sees the dinner seating and he's like "damn my family's so patriarchal. thought gained: inexplicable feminist agenda". i'm assuming this is a genre deconstruction thing. also lol that he is right next to maria in grandpa's tier list

maria is awesome btw i hope she gets to infodump about magic a lot more. some goon in the SA thread said the umineko author was once a social worker, so like. even if they don't use the word because it's japan in the 80s she's gotta be Intended as autistic

kinzo's room is so telegraphed to be a locked room mystery. he's entertaining too but i kinda zone out when he's talking about how his magic system works. i get the basic of more risk = more magic power but i worry it's the kind of thing that has Important Clues that my brain autofills with [arcane rambling]

battler constantly gasses up how good george is with kids and then george sees a family member repeatedly hitting their 9 year old disabled child and says, out loud, "not my problem"

assuming the epitaph is a puzzle intended to be solved and not the kind of puzzle that frames all the other puzzles and isn't solvable til the end: until the first butterfly i thought all the death and traveling was metaphorical. it still could be. like the six chosen by the key could be objects. the hands of a clock may be involved because that's in all the promo stuff and chapter start art. kinzo acted like the riddle was totally solvable by the doc or kanon or any of his kids. but if it was unsolvable until People Started Dying, it seems kinda pointless to have put the painting up years ago? but beatrice is a Dramatic Bitch.

Who Took The Rose?! no idea, but i'm sure it's important. if there's a 19th person, definitely them. totally possible the wrapper fell off but they'd still recognize the withered rose i reckon

Who Gave Maria The Umbrella?! again, if there's a 19th person, it's them. if not, natsuhi was my prime suspect because her alibi didn't have any witnesses but everyone else's did (if you really count grandpa and the doctor, like doc could easily say "i was with kinzo" and no one would verify that with kinzo). but then there was a scene right after from natsuhi's pov (migraine and can't sleep without meds, literally me) where she speculates who did it. so either the narrative is heavily fucking with me, it's gramps or the doctor, or it's someone with an accomplice

the narration is from battler's pov except when it's not and it's strange. it even isn't from his pov in some scenes that he's in, like the letter reading scene. this is the type of thing that could Mean Something way later but is just a little confusing sometimes right now

kyrie saying there's a contradiction in beatrice showing herself to maria but hiding from everyone else, failing to consider beatrice may be a Dramatic Bitch. i think there's probably a 19th person even if they are not necessarily a witch with magic powers

the furniture being totally able to break promises but can't disobey orders is the kind of exact words semantic sillies that umineko memes made me expect

goes w/o saying that the way the servants are treated is supremely fucked up. going to servant school and then working in the mansion at age six... george proposing to a girl that he has so much power over is lol. it's nice that umineko cares who the servants are and why they're there, and other logistical human things like how kinzo made his money and what they're all doing with it

at midnight, where was the doctor?

they drop some hints that the non-shannon, non-krauss bodies have their faces disfigured and Could be other people but that is pretty ridiculous and there's no reasons to consider that yet

i wish the LP used the doughy original art but that's the price i pay for convenience

[davycoquette]

Questionnaire~

Thank you for the tag, @drchenquill!

1. Is writing a hobby or way of life?

I always call it a hobby, but almost always prefixed with some form of, "greatest," "most important," or "favorite." I think way of life fits a helluva lot better. I've been writing since I can remember.

2. A journal full of writing notes or a clean, completed manuscript?

The journal one. I have like 900 I'm actively writing in at this very moment.

3. Who (or what) is your writing inspiration?

Cormac McCarthy. The love I have for my shitty characters. The agonizing unignorable need to put words on paper or screen.

4.Which is worse: someone you "idolize" reading your first draft or listening to you sing?

The singing one. I am not ashamed of my writing, but I have been taught to be ashamed of my singing lmfao. Which is weird and dumb because singing isn't something I go around telling people I can do decently - I don't tell people, "Oh, I sing," or, "I'm a singer." So, I have nothing to prove on that front, yet... I don't think I could make a peep of noise if someone said, "Sing me a song." Meanwhile, even when my writing's not at it's best, I'm like, "Yeah, I'm a writer. Here's some shit I wrote that isn't good. Sometimes I write good stuff, though."

5. Has writing from someone else's POV ever changed your own perspective?

I mean... in the literal sense, sure. A story looks different from the eyes of a character. By the same token, it helps me "understand" when people make choices I've not personally made. I think, for this reason, it's important to write about characters with different belief systems than we have - to write about them as sympathetic people with complex emotions. Not just to villainize or cathartically punish them, but to explore why people do the things they do and what life events might drive them in that direction. But cathartic character murder has its time and place, and who am I suggest what others write? Y'all do y'all.

6. Tumblr, AO3, LiveJournal, or FFN?

I have not used LiveJournal since I was a teen - is it still a thing people use??? That sounds nostalgic and fun. Not sure what FFN is; something to do with fanfiction? I only write original fiction, so that rules it out if so. AO3 is very cool, but the interface isn't my favorite. Also fanfic-heavy, so I never know if I've got a place there. Tumblr always freaked me right the fuck out, but the Writeblr community has proven to be my favorite writing community I've discovered online. And in a very short timespan, I might add!

7. AO3 wordcount, and are you satisfied with it?

I do not use AO3 but wordcounts can never be high enough 😎

8. What movie/book/fic gripped you irrevocably?

Probably too many to count. Little House on the Prairie A Separate Peace The Road Fight Club (recently rewatching this was humbling because it showed me how much of my writerly personality seems to be inspired by the way it rearranged my brain chemicals) Bullet Train (I fucken love this movie) Lawn Dogs Box of Moonlight Harold and Maude (book & movie) Pride and Prejudice (book & movie)

9. What’s the highest compliment you’ve ever been given, and have you been given it?

I've received some absolute banger compliments, and I don't want to dismiss any in favor of others. My favorite compliments are often ...questions? Just things that let me know people really did read, absorb, and are interested in things I wrote. Also, my love language is when people think about me of their own volition. So, any time people come to me apropos of nothing or say "this reminds me of you/your characters/your writing, I giggle and kick my feet and do a lil' happy dance.

10. What defines your writing style?

Gritty, casual. If it was art, it'd be the kind with the sketchlines still visible. Deep, silly. Visceral, I hope.

Taglist and blank template under the cut!

@albatris

@capnmachete

@harmonic-melodii

@illarian-rambling

@michellekarnold

@nathaniel-zellos

@sableglass

@saturnine-saturneight

1. Is writing a hobby or way of life?

2. A journal full of writing notes or a clean, completed manuscript?

3. Who (or what) is your writing inspiration?

4.Which is worse: someone you "idolize" reading your first draft or listening to you sing?

5. Has writing from someone else's POV ever changed your own perspective?

6. Tumblr, AO3, LiveJournal, or FFN?

7. AO3 wordcount, and are you satisfied with it?

8. What movie/book/fic gripped you irrevocably?

9. What’s the highest compliment you’ve ever been given, and have you been given it?

10. What defines your writing style?

[postal-ech]

Hunters Lore: Because I am feeling powerful and must exude my autism more

Thanks to a recent reblog, I have never felt this more powerful as a fucking metroid fan

and given all that's been posted here is autism, some deltarune and undertale fan art, alongside metroid and lisa fan art, It is time I flex my shit even more, once again underneath a dreaded break

This is gonna cover the Hunters from Metroid Prime: Hunters. Why? Because shit's sake SYLUX IS BACK, and we need some context to cover why he (or she [or even fucking they at this point, we REALLY don't know]) is going to be so important, alongside other hunters that could play a role in Metroid Prime 4

Venture forth, if ye dare.

So to begin, let me start by giving you all this happy family photo here of the hunters all together, moments before they proceeded to get into a bar fight with one another and resulted in several broken bones and mixed feelings between each other:

So from left to right, you have:

Weavel

Trace

Noxus

Samus

Kanden

Sylux

Spire

We'll skip over Samus because this autist assumes you know here if you know Metroid, and we'll start with one of my favorites and heavily biased hunters:

Weavel

So who in the metric FUCK is Weavel?

(Image may be shit because the background, bear with me here, its the only ones I could find that weren't already on the hard drive of metroid images)

WEAVEL is a cybernetically rebuilt Space Pirate General. What do I mean by cybernetically rebuilt? I mean this mother fucker is essentially a brain in a jar piloting a power suit. The most notable thing to understand about Weavel is that he had an encounter once with Samus

Once

It ended so badly, so terribly for him, that the only thing they could recover from Weavel's broken and mangled body was his brain and spinal cord, stuffed into the most advanced custom suit the space pirates had at the time, and sent him off to do his shit.

He made his way out as a bounty hunter, except primarily taking contracts with the Space Pirates - kinda like how Samus primarily takes contracts from the Federation, he's more or less Samus' figurative other half in the narrative of Metroid.

His role in Hunters was much like any of the others, he came to the Amblic Cluster to obtain the "ultimate power", though it was a bit unknown as to if he was there on behalf of the Space Pirates, or if he was just gonna steal this shit for himself.

Because like any other space pirate, Weavel is an untrustworthy bastard. Power hungry, too.

Weavel is equipped with a multitude of weapon systems, one energy-grenade launcher known as the Battlehammer, one Energy Scythe similar to that of the pirates' energy blades you see in Prime 1, and his morph form known as the Half Turret. The Half Turret is essentially as the name implies, a turret from the waist down, and Weavel just crawls on his fucking arms at mach speed at you while his turret covers from a distance, both of which are a dangerous combo if you fuck around and wish to find out.

Currently, the whereabouts of Weavel are unknown, and get used to this answer because its gonne be applying to a lot of the other hunters, but if we're gonna be getting into PRIME 4 SPECULATION:

While I don't have high hopes for him showing up knowing Tanabe's own hyperfixation of Sylux, one could assume that he could be employed by the space pirates much like Sylux himself, though given the tennuous relationship of space pirates he could have very well been ousted between Dark Samus' take over of the homeworld in Prime 3, and the destruction of the Space Pirate mega base of Zebes in Super.

Now that ISN'T TO SAY there aren't any remnants left, lets be real - they're space pirates. Though their homeworld is under Federation Occupation, they always find a way to regroup, reorganize, and fuck around some more - especially given how diverse they are species wise.

My guess is that if Weavel DOES show up, he will either be:

Working for Sylux and his little branch of Space Pirates as a contracted Bounty Hunter

Working with his own splinter group of Space Pirates that, while potentially unfriendly with Sylux, gameplay wise will just be more space pirates.

I do hope we get to see Weavel working together with Sylux though cause god dammit, a tag-team boss fight with both of them like its some Hunters type shit would be god tier.

Fun fact too! He is the ONLY OTHER HUNTER in the Hunters game apart from Sylux to have his own ship shown off. We do not know the name unfortunately.

NEXT UP ON THE LIST WE HAVE:

Trace

Trace is another interesting fellow, given the entire Kriken Empire being a thing in metroid to begin with.

Trace is literally just a young member of the Kriken Empire, whose coming-of-age ritual is to be exiled alone to search out for a viable planet in order for the empire to expand and conquer. Kriken are biological entities despite what their appearance may look like, with tech comprable to the space pirates, probably even the Chozo given their own bodily modifications which allow them to morph into the image above, the Triskelion.

Trace is equipped with an energy sniper known as the Imperialist, as well as a biomechanical cloaking field that allows him to become invisible when standing still, even in his Triskelion form. Essentially, this implies that the Kriken's main strategy of expansion involves assassination from long ranges given the cloaking field and the sniper, and this is very much needed given despite their build Kriken are spindly, fragile critters (at least the one's we've seen so far, nothing has been revealed about other weaponry or kriken soldier types, so the only basis we have to go off of so far is what's been provided here.)

I HIGHLY doubt Trace will show up in Prime 4, even speculation wise the Kriken haven't really been expanded outside of Hunters, but who knows! We could very well get them as a potential antagonist in a future metroid game - though more likely it'll be a prime game over a 2D metroid game.

It is ODD that we don't really hear about the Kriken post Hunters, especially given their well-known status and threat to the galaxy, but that could be explained in future material - perhaps while they're constantly expanding, they're also constantly shrinking as a result of other factors, thus leaving them in a perpetual state of growth and decay in the empire - which is why they haven't gone so far as to attack Fed strongholds like Norion or the outer rim areas like Aether and what not.

Then we have Trace's hated mother fucker (at least imo, judging from the time you encounter the both of them in one go):

Noxus

Now this isn't his morph form but don't worry, we'll get to it eventually.

Noxus is a Vhozon (no relation to Phazon) from the planet of Vho. Vhozon are essentially space paladins of a sort, very similar to Samus actually in their philosophy of administering justice across the galaxy. Noxus is one such Vhozon who came to the Amblic Cluster in order to use the Ultimate Power for the greater good - and if he couldn't, then destroy it so that no one else would.

Noxus, if you ask me, is more akin to a very LAWFUL, elitest-tier kind of alien - where its more akin to "you will do this shit for the greater good or die" whereas Samus is more akin to helping those in need, which is what I feel like separates these two and why they would come into conflict in Hunters. To help paint the picture, think of it like a generic Fantasy Elf - someone who thinks they know what is best for the "lesser races" and will intervene or crush them if they stand in their way.

However that's more speculation on my part, we don't really know the FULL motivations of the Vhozon or even Noxus for that matter, if he's more akin of a Vhozon loyal to the philosophy, or a bounty hunter that adheres to it but still takes bounties from other parties.

Noxus comes from a freezing cold planet, so his weaponry reflects that too. He is equipped with one Judicator which can freeze people - Samus included - right on the spot, very similar to the Ice Beam actually. His morph form is the Vhoscythe, which is more akin to a biological and evolutionary adaptation rather than a technological defense.

Essentially he just spins around like one of those wooden spin toys and extends his arms out to beat the shit out of people that get too close to him.

Much like Trace, I don't really expect to see him to show up, though it WOULD be nice if he did, especially considering the reputation of Sylux and the Space Pirates as sort of a neutral allied party. Again though, we'll just have to see if Tanabe is cooking up any of the other hunters' appearances or if it'll just be his baby Sylux.

Though I WILL Add: Some people speculated the Vhozon may be related to Rundas given their similar cold tech, but that remains to be proven given the lack of evidence and the morphological differences between Rundas and Noxus

Now comes my second favorite mother fucker:

Kanden

Kanden is a fucking biological freak of nature, again similar to Samus' condition but on a more fucked-up scale.

Where as the Chozo engineered Samus with the ability to survive on Zebes, Kanden was made with the intent to make an immortal super soldier enhanced with insect DNA, but the process essentially turned Kanden into a bat-shit unpredictable god damn menace to society. Resulting in the lab that enhanced him being blown to fucking smithereens and him escaping the planet it was on.

Kanden is an Enoma, but we don't really know who they are or what they really look like, as Kanden is just a biological experiment - we don't even know if the Enoma are just the name Kanden was given on his enhancement, or if there's any more as a matter of fact, but the enhancements - while they failed in making him immortal and damaged his sanity, made him into an effective killing machine with a killer instinct to boot. The Insect DNA allowed him to thrive as a Bounty Hunter, granting him a very notable reputation to those looking for someone that can get the job done, and his very alien-like appearance is pretty god damn unsettling too.

Kanden is equipped with the Volt Driver, which is essentially a powerful electromagnetic blast, like Prime 1's wave beam except its a single shot that can still fuck someone up pretty good. His morph form is known as the Stinglarvae, which just further proves how absolutely fucked up his genetic code ought to be where he essentially morphs into a slug-like creature that drops homing bombs on a mother fucker.

Kanden's goal in the Amblic Cluster was to get that Ultimate Power essentially just because he wanted to, just to prove he is THE bounty hunter to have it, almost obsessed with being the most powerful bounty hunter in the galaxy. Of course its a pretty shallow reason, but when you're an unhinged escape biology experiment from a hellish planet, do you really need any other excuse than "fuck it, we go Vergil on this bitch"?

He is truly my beloved, and I doubt he will show up in Prime 4, but I fucking want him to just so he can be a pain in the ass for Sylux, Samus, whoever he encounters. A true wildcard in every sense of the word.

Next up is the one we all know and love, the one that's featured on the front page, the ultimate hater, hyperfixated rage incarnate:

Sylux

Sylux, my beloved. The greatest hater in the galaxy right next to Kanden the insane bastard.

We don't know a god damn thing about Sylux's true origins.

All we know is that he is from the planet of Cyclos, and he has an intense hatred for the government.

He's made a name for himself as an excellent scout and saboteur across the galaxy. A genuine menace to government bureaucracy if you will.

His equipment is all stolen Federation Prototypes - from his ship the Delano 7, to the Suit and his signature weapon, the Shock Coil - even his morph form, the Lockjaw - which has led to some issues, like a design flaw preventing the on-board weapons of the Delano 7 being unable to fire after taking a few hits from infantry-based weaponry - or in Samus' case, her god damn missiles and arm cannon.

Sylux's only goal for obtaining the Ultimate Power was to use it against the Federation - and also Samus by extension - and that's about the most of it

What we CAN predict from his appearance in Prime 4 is simple enough - chances are, with the mochtroids he has in tow, alongside a contingent of Space Pirates and given his weaponry is almost eerily similar to the way metroids harvest energy from their prey, Samus is definitely gonna take a beating from the combined ambush and I don't doubt she'll suffer from Physical Amnesia yet again because of it.

As for what he's after? We don't really know. All we know is that it could be big enough to really fuck up the Federation, especially if he's involved in a Space Pirate assault like this, with tamed mochtroids to boot too. It could be something that'll enhance the mochtroid program he's potentially involved with further or - and there is a bit of further speculation to this - it could be something that allows him and the space pirates to teleport far beyond the galactic rim, judging by the portal we see at the end of the trailer leading to this Talon IV-esque planet.

Who can really say what'll be in store there, but it sure as shit won't be pretty.

FINALLY, HE'S HERE FOR YOU, ITS THE LAST MEMBER OF THE METROID CREW, IT'S:

Spire

Spire is another beloved of mine, as he is the Last of his race - the Diamont, an entirely silicon-based species of rock people.

If you ask me he's essentially the Knuckles of the Metroid games, except instead of sitting on an island all day guarding a big ass emerald while occasionally helping ya boy Sonic out, Spire became a Bounty Hunter specifically because it was to figure out what the HELL happened to his people - kinda in the same vein as Samus almost, except where she manages to stumble onto Chozo ruins and learn of her adoptive people's history, Spire is actively looking for it with no sign of them anywhere in the galaxy.

Spire is a rock based dude, no other mechanical enhancements - its all stone and lava in this bitch, and he's even the only character that can just outright walk on lava whereas Samus needs a Gravity Suit or something similar to withstand such extreme temperatures. Spire comes equipped with the Magmaul, which essentially throws out bouncing projectiles of super-heated rock/magma that can also set people on fire. His Morph form is actually very similar to the Morph Ball, called the Dialanche - where he slams into the ground causing damage to anyone nearby, and becomes a SPIKY ROCK BALL.

Said spiky rock ball functions similar to Noxus' morph ability where attacking sends out orbital rock projectiles to the closest enemies. He also has the ability to WALL CLIMB with the Dialanche, making it objectively superior to the base morph ball and the prime spider ball modification.

Spire's goal for obtaining the Ultimate Power is a little bit more depressing in that he hopes it'll lead to answers of his race's ultimate fate, but even then its essentially a small stepping stone towards his ultimate goal of finding out this mystery - whether they're still alive, and if not, then what the hell happened to them.

Again, I doubt he'll show up, but I really hope he does, cause his story is so god damn compelling and interesting that I feel like we're missing out on something good here. I don't care if its through a video game, like a spinoff exploring some of the hunters and their own missions, or if its explored in a comic or manga, I really just wanna see my boy get his story resolved here god dammit.

AND THERE YOU HAVE IT! The Hunters!

Now granted there's plenty of more hunters out there like Rundas, Ghor, Gandrayda, but this post is already long as fuck as is. Hope you all enjoyed the read, cause god dammit I enjoy talking about the Hunters SO, SO MUCH.

They need more exposure god fucking dammit, fan art too.

[imagine-darksiders]

Hello! Hopefully caught you in a restful time. I just wanted to let you know that your writing is amazing! I neither knew what darksiders was nor cared until I stumbled onto your blog. I never played the games but the way you write the personalities of each person makes them feel alive! Like I'm talking to the people myself!

The way you write trauma is realistic and it pops up at random but amazingly along the flow that it feels both out of place and not! Reminding the reader that yes, this person is brave but they're still hurt and in no way in the optimum of sanity. Even though they're holding themselves together the way a realistic person does!

I got hooked! I never knew these characters and yet you made it so that I'll feel like I knew them all my life! I'm honestly itching to buy the game yet I'm scared that the creator of the game won't be able to reach your amazing characterizations.

Is the game truly that good? I'm a little scared to buy it then find that the game devolopers rushed it. If so, which game should I start with? Does it require a strong pc? X-box? I'm still unsure of using technology.

In all honesty, I'm trying to stop myself from writing a fanfic based on your fanfic. Though, it wouldn't be the same. I still have assignments to finish and I haven't been writing stories that much. Do you have any advice for new writer? Even ones about writing-work-life balance? Or, how to bring a character to life?

I'm mostly fantasising about the storyline in my head, and drawing doodles of it on whichever paper is closest to me.

Which brings me to your fantastic art! Your anatomy is amazing! The way your draw facial expressions makes it feel like they're talking around me in real life! The body types have a wide range that I don't see often and oh so thankfull to see!

From darksiders Death looking like death ran over him to darksiders Fury and the female maker twin looking like what one would expect a fighter and weapon maker would look like! Even the reader character looks amazing!

Would it be okay if I ended up following your timeline? I still don't know much about the game and most of the information I'm diffusing into my brain is from your writing.

I hope you well. With care, Illya💜.

Ah jeez, ‘are the games truly that good?’

I’m biased, so I’m going to say hell yes they’re good. They’re all so different too. I got the first game when it came out in 2010 and fell in love with the style and characters, so going into 2 I already had that love for the franchise. My advice is always to start with the first game. You get an introduction to the world, the story and the characters and it just feels more meaningful when you play the sequels. I had it on the Xbox 360, but it runs perfectly okay on any system. I don’t know if it runs on Macs though.

Alternatively, you could watch the cutscenes, but I personally never get as attached to the story if I’m not playing the game myself.

I’d be so unequivocally excited if people wrote fics based on my stuff. So long as it wasn’t like word for word, you know.

Advice for new writers? Obviously focus on your studies, they’re far more important. Which is rich coming from me, I’d write during lectures all the time. But I still managed a 1st so lol. Otherwise: Get a notebook and a pen, I write so much faster when I’m not doing it at a computer. Also, don’t get hung up about making the characters too oc, you’ll forever be fretting over that, just write them as naturally as you can and love doing it. Most of my writing I do in the evening when nothing is expected of me and I can get stuck in without getting distracted.

Use simple language in your first draft. Repeat words, don’t worry about saying the same thing for the first draft, so long as you get the chapter written out, you can fuss out the finer details later. I’m guilty of getting hung up on vocabulary.

Dude. I need to see those doodles.

You can follow my timeline, no worries. Darksiders isn’t mine, all I’ll say is I’d prefer if people didn’t try to write ahead of where CHWH is currently and claim that’s how the story should/does continue.

I’m so pleased you’re enjoying my writing and art, I’ve noticed your username popping up in my notifications a lot, and it gets me all excited like ❤️ 🌟🌈🥰✨💫🫠

[trans-ace-lee]

That Darn Cat

Author's Note: So sorry for the very, very, very late upload and me being almost nonexistent on this website. In short, a bunch of life changes happened, and I 1000% don't get paid enough to do as much work as I have to do.

Thanks for being so patient with me. This a sequel to Wow Fantasstic Baby and is a product of my brain just going feral. If that what it takes to write fics, then that's what it is, I guess.

Tagging @myreygn @otomiya-tickles @ticklishfanart and a special shoutout to @parker-fluff for being my test subject to @italeean (I hope this is a nice wake up call Elle).

It was no secret that Tsukishima was an observant person. Both on and off the court, his teammates and friends know that although he doesn’t say much, he’s always watching and thinking. Thus, it came to no one’s surprise that he had picked up on a substantial amount of Kuroo’s likes, dislikes, routines, and habits in the few months they had been dating.

Despite the latter’s mess of a hairstyle, Tsukishima had found that he loves running his fingers through Kuroo’s hair and scratching at the base of Kuroo’s neck; his boyfriend, of course, loves it too. He adores the way Kuroo melts into his touch and how Kuroo hums under his breath, recording these little moments in his heart to be played over and over again until the day comes when he can’t remember.

Tsukishima isn’t the kind of person for grand gestures. He shows his love through small, handcrafted gifts made from the leftover scraps from Yamaguchi’s many art projects, daily updates about what he’s doing, sending pictures, finding scented candles that remind him of his loved ones, and reminders about important dates like quizzes and doctor’s appointments.

But lately, Tsukishima notices that the third year’s replies to text messages and phone calls decrease in frequency. It’s not as if he doesn’t understand. Third years have college entrance exams, plus his duties as a volleyball captain with a team going to nationals. He has his own exams and volleyball practice to attend to. Sure, he wants Karasuno to beat Nekoma if given the chance, but he plans on giving his boyfriend a needle-felt cat and maybe a kiss, no matter the outcome.

Instead of mourning the time he’s losing and whining to his boyfriend to pay attention to him, he finds himself worried about Kuroo because he knows that trying too hard not to let go is like trying to hold onto wet sand. And, yet part of him is still insecure because this is his first relationship, and he’s terrified of messing everything up. He has a small but strong support system, but they’re people who know the deeper parts of him that he hides behind walls.

After blurting these fears out loud on accident while talking with Kenma to double-check if his observations are correct, Tsukishima finds himself with a free bus ticket to Tokyo. During the many hours it takes to get from Miyagi to Tokyo, he can’t help but think he’ll see a side of Kuroo that he’s never seen before.

Regardless, he wants the latter to open up to him and show him every side, the bad, the sad, the ugly, the calm, the cheerful, and everything in between. In time, he hopes to do the same.

This afternoon, on the rare day that Kuroo takes a break from studying, his boyfriend is practically sprawling on top of Tsukishima’s lap while Tsukishima runs his fingers through the former’s hair.

“I want, uh, want to do something for you,” Tsukishima says, his face heating up a little as he breaks the silence in the room.

“Hmm?” Kuroo mumbles in response, “But you already do so much for me, love.”

Tsukishima debates hiding his face behind his hands. He absolutely adores how Kuroo still makes him feel like a giddy little kid, as surprising as it is to imagine him that way (Yamaguchi won’t stop making fun of him, not that he minds).

“I know…” He takes a deep breath and leans down to plant a kiss on the back of Kuroo’s neck. “You’ve been really stressed lately, and I just want to help relieve your pain in any way I can.”

Kuroo pushes himself up on his forearms so he can look Tsukishima in the eye. Kuroo’s gaze is filled with such warmth and understanding that Tsukishima falls in love with him over and over again. No matter Tsukishima’s limited and feeble attempts to comfort his boyfriend, Kuroo always treats him with such kindness and grace, letting him warm up at his own speed. He admits that opening up again is hard, but he’s willing to do it for Kuroo.

“All right. What do you want me to do, then?”

Tsukishima bites his lip. Okay, maybe he hasn’t thought this through enough. He tries to think of something, anything that he can do to erase the tension lines in his lover’s face and the stiffness in his lover’s shoulders, until a small voice in the back of his mind has him fighting back a smirk. “Can you lie down on your stomach?”

“Like this?” Kuroo asks, stretching himself out on Tsukishima’s bed with his arms crossed over his head.

Tsukishima slings his right leg over Kuroo’s body and sits down on his butt.

“Ooh. I think I’m going to like this.”

This time Tsukishima actually smirks now that Kuroo can’t see him. He expects his boyfriend to squirm or even at least twitch when he squeezes Kuroo’s sides. What he doesn’t expect is to hear a loud shriek followed by rapid giggling. “I’m just trying to give you a back massage, darling. Won’t you be good and stay still for me?”

The only response he gets is a shaky fuck off.

“Tch. I guess someone better teach this naughty cat a lesson.” He grins at the way Kuroo immediately starts squirming at his words. “Oh? The flirty tom cat can’t take what he dishes out. Don’t worry, I’ll teach you to behave.”

Okay.

Tsukishima knows he should feel a little guilty, but his boyfriend’s squeaks and snorts of protest as his drums his fingers on Kuroo’s sides. But he loves the way the latter shakes his head from side to side, making his bed hair even messier than usual. Scratch that, he kind of loves everything about the figure cackling even harder than Tsukishima had been before when he skitters up Kuroo’s ribs.

“Naaahaahahat there,” the latter begs, trying to grab Tsukishima’s hands.

Kuroo fails every time.

“Hmmmmm?” he says while alternately poking each side of his lover’s ribs just to see him jump. “Then…how about here?”

The cackling gets replaced by a long howl that’s almost painful to his ears.

Good.

He snickers. “Attention neighbors of this small apartment with hopefully thick walls, I need to report a murder. Cause of death some fingers resting on a set up very, very, very ticklish underarms.”

Leaning down next to Kuroo’s left ear, Tsukishima asks, “Left, right or both.”

And he thought his boyfriend was a little sadistic when Tsukishima was getting tickled the last time.

“FUUHUCK,” Kuroo screams, his arms clamped to his sides.

“Oh, it can’t be that bad. I’m not even doing anything.” Tsukishima squints at the shiny dot on his lover’s face. “Wait? Is that a tear I see?”

Kuroo whines.

Tsukishima, with some strength he didn’t even know he had, flips the latter over and pins Kuroo’s hands over his head. “Nope. That absolutely won’t do. I want to see that cute face of yours.”

It takes everything in him not to coo at his boyfriend on the spot as he looks down with a soft smile on his face. Kuroo’s face is flushed, more so than any match he’s seen him in. He relishes the way Kuroo tries in vain to hide his face in his arms. Even the bright red color of his ears matches his face.

Kuroo is so hot like this.

Another squeak of protest breaks the silence.

Tsukishima’s smirk returns at the sound. “Sounds like someone is a fan of that.”

“Nohohoooo.” Kuroo replies, now giggling and squirming from anticipation.

“Now, raise your arms above your head and keep them there.”

“WHAT,” his lover squawks, mouth agape.

He plants a kiss on Kuroo’s forehead. “You heard me love. Or…do I need to do something a little more drastic?”

“I-Ihii…whaaa…?” Kuroo replies, his face growing redder and redder by the second.

“Cat got your tongue? Don’t worry I have an even better idea for you.” He uses one hand to pin both of his lover’s wrists and uses the other hand to grab the latter’s chin so they’re looking at each other. “Please move dow-no, you will move down so I can sit on those pesky arms of yours.”

Somehow Kuroo’s face grows even redder at the command but scoots down like he’s told, albeit while glaring at Tsukishima. Nope. Tsukishima is definitely not proud of himself for that one. Not at all.

Turning around, yet still keeping a strong grip on Kuroo’s wrists, he uses his right leg to pin his boyfriend’s right arm and his left leg to pin his boyfriend’s left arm until he’s more or less just kneeling on them. “Yes…Yes, this is much better,” he says with a low hum that rumbles in his chest.

Kuroo pouts up at him. It’s so fucking adorable that Tsukishima wants to take a picture, so he does as the former only pouts harder at the action. “You don’t want to bully your poor boyfriend, do you? You wouldn’t do something like this to him, would you?”

“Sorry, dear.” He uses his right hand to massage circles onto the base of Kuroo’s neck. The all-familiar hum follows as he moves up the back of the latter’s head and kneads on his scalp.

Once Kuroo is sufficiently relaxed, he digs a single finger into the center of Kuroo’s right underarm. His lover almost leaps off the bed with a high-pitched squeal. It’s music to his ears.

“SHIHIIT,” Kuroo screams before breaking into desperate laughter and flopping around like a fish out of water.

“Now you’re just being dramatic,” Tsukishima teases, “It’s just one little finger. How bad could it be?”

“IIIHIIT’S BAAHAHAD." His boyfriend’s legs wave back and forth in a frantic matter, reminiscent of something straight out of a horror movie.

Kuroo has many sides, sides that Tsukishima has yet to see, but he thinks this might be his favorite. In everyday life, both on and off the court, his lover is calm, cool, and poised. This side of Kuroo is a wild beast he can’t wait to tame. He wants to learn which buttons he can push, and perhaps what his boyfriend will do in return.

“Hmm? I don’t know. I think you can get more desperate than this. I guess we’ll just have to see, then.”

“FUUHUCK OFFF!” Kuroo tries to hiss but it ends up sounding like the high-pitched sound of a tea kettle going off.

Tsukishima settles into a rhythm. Alternating between left and right with a single finger right in the center has Kuroo practically wailing. Spidering around the edges until little hiccups and snorts start to filter through his lover’s laughter. Raking his fingers from the middle of Kuroo’s ribs up to the bottom of his biceps makes him blubber and babble like a brook filled with rocks of all shapes and sizes.

And, once Kuroo almost gets used to the pattern, he wiggles all five fingers into each underarm which has the former straight up screaming like he’s being murdered.

After the nth round of this routine, because Tsukishima has all but forgotten…oops, Kuroo’s begging and pleading becomes incoherent.

“FUUHUHUUU! NGHHHH! NAAAAA MOHORE!”

“Really, more?” Tsukishima asks. “Don’t forget, you asked for this.”

Tears stream down his boyfriend’s face as his laughter finally goes silent. “I…c…an’t…”

“Okay. Okay. I think you’ve had enough, silly,” Tsukishima replies with a chuckle, crawling off Kuroo’s arms and helping the latter sit up. Biting his lip, he says, “I didn’t take it too far, did I?”

“What!” Kuroo squawks, waving his hands in front of his chest and then covering his face with his hands. “No. no. I…uh…kindoflikedit.”

Oh.

Oh.

“Say it again.”

Kuroo tries to hide his face in his hands again. “Nooooo,” he whines. “You already heard it once. I’m not saying it again.”

“Oh come on,” Tsukishima says, bending down to give his boyfriend another kiss, “Be good and tell me again, clearly this time. I want to hear every word.”

Another sound akin to a wheezing kettle comes out of his lover’s mouth. “Oh. My. God. You can’t just say stuff like that.”

 “But I can, and I will,” Tsukishima replies. He could get used to this. Kuroo all flustered for him. “Now say it.”

“Nooooooo.”

“I’m waiting.”

“...Fine.” Kuroo takes a deep breath. “I. Liked…it.”

 “Well…I guess that makes two of us, then,” Tsukishima peppering Kuroo’s face with kisses until his boyfriend is giggling. 

“As long as I get to get my revenge, of course.” Kuroo reaches over to squeeze Tsukishima’s thigh just to hear him squeak.

If he was a different person, he would be pouting, but he settles on prying his lover’s hands away from his face and planting a kiss upon his lips.

“But…We need a safe word or something, so we know for sure if we go too far,” Kuroo says after their lips part, his voice coming out more breathy than normal.

“Mhmm. Yeah. I don’t want to actually kill my boyfriend.”

Kuroo glares back at him in a playful manner. “Based on today, you’re sure as hell going to get as close to that as possible.”

“You love me anyways,” Tsukishima replies while pulling Kuroo into his arms.

“Yeah. Yeah, I do.”

[bestanimatedmovie]

Choose your favorite!

Vote in the other polls!

What fans say:

Inside Out:

Besides the fact of "being a Pixar movie", this movie is a masterpiece, and it has really impacted me. Its message about accepting that "bad" emotions such as sadness are part of life and have its positive side and that "good" emotions like joy can be negative and toxic is really important and one that I'm still trying to internalize 8 years since I first watched the movie.

Wolfwalkers:

The animation is absolutely gorgeous, with a unique style. The music is wonderful, the story is touching. What's not to love!!!!!!

It's beautiful! If I'd watched this as a young girl it would've done something to my brain, in a good way. It's about being stifled by England and those in power, in 1600s Ireland. It's about little girls becoming best friends. It's really sweet, and wonderful. I love the scene where Robyn gets to really have fun and play as a wolf.

Wolfwalkers has beautiful stylized animation. The story is about conflict between the oppressive English colonizers of an Irish town, and their old ways of living in harmony with the forest. When the main character Robyn is in the town, the style she and the backgrounds are drawn in have an angular style made up of flat shapes that don‘t turn in perspective, similar to a woodcut print, showing the limitedness of the town worldview. When Robyn is in the forest at first she is drawn in the town style, but as she is introduced to Mebh, the style shifts to a loose, pencil-lined style with soft shapes and forms that turn three-dimensionally. Later, at key points in the story, Robyn shifts between these styles to reflects whether she is conforming to or breaking away from the town‘s rigid system. It‘s a beautiful way to subtly tie animation to storytelling. I also of course love the story for its queer, environmentalist, and anticolonial themes. It‘s an excellent movie and everyone should see it.

It has some wonderful animation, especially in the wolf scenes, and tells a story that pulls from the history of the English colonisation of Ireland.

The art style is gorgeous and the story is lovely.

It is the most beautifully done 2d animation I've ever seen, beautifully drawn and with such interesting stylistic choices for the backgrounds and the character design, the best shapes. Perspective is really played around with in wide shots that show the town, giving it an even more boxy and closed-off feel to it! My favorite scene would have to be when the song Running With The Wolves by AURORA plays. It makes me cry like a baby they're so beautiful and playful and free and learning to have strength and courage.......

It tells a really beautiful story about identity and friendship and being brave enough to stand up to your oppressors

The animation is gorgeous and well-utilized to convey tone/mood and also little wolf girls are valid and the scenery is [chef’s kiss]

The animation is really stylized which I like. The art style is one-of-a-kind, changing slightly depending on what's happening in the story. Like, for example, Robyn, one of the main characters in the story, started being drawn using cleaner lines when she was still "civilized", in contrast to Mebh, a girl from a tribe that lives in the forest and can turn into a wolf. As Robyn started becoming "wilder", spending time w Mebh, the lineart becomes more sketchy. It's just a really really pretty film. The story is also really really good. The characters are complex and develop throughout the movie. You can understand why Robyn's dad acts the way he does, but still allows him to see the errors in his ways. Also Mebh and Robyn are just fuckin adorable. This movie made me cry so hard and I hardly ever do that Also the soundtrack? MYGOD. perfect. Favourite scene is definitely Mebh and Robyn's wolf scene where Robyn was learning how to be a wolfwalker. The music and animation in that is so good. Idk i really i really love this movie bc it feels so... ALIVE. It uses the animation medium really well, doesn't shy away from the 2Dness and stylizeness of it, which I wish more animated stuff would do.

The animation !!!! Is so gorgeous !!! The art style is so gorgeous, in some places super details and in some moments mimicking medieval styles with symbolic (rather than realistic) perspective, it's so so so beautiful. The music is also amazing, and the story is beautifully put together, it will make you weep.

[chosos-mascara]

Dad's Best Friend- Kento Nanami

cw: age gap (kento is 40, reader is in 20s), blowjob, reader is called 'good girl' at one point, alcohol but neither are drunk

You decide to take action on your attraction to Kento.

minors+ageless dni. 2.3k words

"Will he be there tonight?" Your friend, Maki questioned as you fiddled with your thumbs beneath the table, watching her scribble words onto the pad before her. You shrugged, letting out a sigh as your lecturer had entered the hall.  "I think so, my dad mentioned beers." You flattened out the pages on the desk, pen in hand. Glancing between the smirk on Maki's lips and the presentation being cast onto the wall, you wondered if tonight, you'd have the confidence. 

Nanami and your father were close friends, the blonde often sharing dinner with the pair of you, coming over after work for lighthearted laughs, despite his hardened exterior. When you'd first met him, he'd immediately caught your eye, body heating up as he'd side eyed you through his glasses, a short introduction via your father. If he'd have asked for your name directly, you were sure you would have stumbled over words, unable to use your brain as your eyes met with his. Maki was immediately called, having to listen to you gush over the male your father had brought home; her initial reaction had been disgust, but after she'd visited, she had to agree with you. He was insanely attractive. 

Nanami's closed off personality added to his alluring demeanor, a mystery of composed modesty. Every time your father had mentioned his friend's past and you'd tried to push a little for more information, but even he hadn't known the extent. Nanami had even left the job a year ago, and neither of you were entirely sure what the new career path was, something to do with a highschool. But with the amount of overtime he'd had to do, you'd wondered what sort of position he'd held - and how he'd managed to become an important role with only a history of office work. 

Sure enough, as you'd set your bag down following dinner at Maki's, your father and his friend had been sat around the table, laughing. The warmth of your home had encapsulated you in contrast to the cool winter air outside, face feeling flush as your skin had contradicted the environment around you, an itch from heat on icy flesh. 

 You'd walked through to the kitchen, laying your eyes upon the beer bottles between the males, walking to the fridge to grab a can of soda before you'd retreat to your room and leave the men to talk.  "Wanna drink with us, y/n?" Your dad's jolly voice pierced your ears, stomach churning as you watched not only his, but Nanami's eyes fall onto you. You shyly shook your head, hoping to avert the attention elsewhere. "Come on, you're old enough to have a bottle with your old man." He pulled the seat from beside him, patting on the worn out cushion. If it hadn't been for the warm smile he'd presented, a gleam of hope in his eye, you'd have declined the invitation - only due to the company you'd held, but instead you found yourself sitting beside him. He popped a cap from one of the beverages before you, and you'd taken it from his hands. 

They kept conversation casual as you'd sipped, asking about university, Kento inquiring about the details of the subject you'd chosen, your father spouting on about how intelligent you'd grown to be. It was a wholesome encounter, an enjoyable way to spend the remaining evening. You couldn't deny the way your heart raced every time Nanami's eyes had landed to meet your own, the soft pink tint across his cheeks as he'd felt the alcohol in his system, maybe a little tipsy. 

Your father had decided to end the night, stumbling up the stairs to his bedroom, while you and Kento had carried a conversation. You'd asked about his job, as to which he gave a vague description of being a teacher, mentioning some form of martial arts - it had been confusing to you but you'd nodded along nonetheless, a bashful smile across your cheeks as you'd listened to his voice, allowing it to caress the insides of your ears, your brain going somewhat fuzzy from having an actual conversation with the man you'd silently admired for the past year. 

He spoke with intellect, composed through each of his words, despite the liquid courage bringing forward more slip-ups on information he'd previously keep to himself, like a recent break up he'd gone through. The mention of romance had your chest fluttering.  "So, you're single now?" You questioned, fighting to maintain eye contact through your own trepidation. He nodded, a smirk swiping across his skin.  "Why, you interested?" It was a joke, one he had said without thinking - you were the daughter of his closest friend after-all. He went to apologise, but you'd beat him to it.  "What if I said I was?" Your tone had been teasing, almost unable to believe the opportunity had arisen in the conversation so casually. Something you'd imagined you'd have to push for had fallen right into your hands. 

Nanami had been too stunned to reply, jaw tensing as he'd watched over your expression. Leaning forward, you planted a kiss on the hardened cheek, hands trailing over the disheveled shirt that had been left untucked from his trousers, stopping at the belt he'd worn. You unclasped it, undoing the button and fly to slip your hand over the fabric, lightly squeezing the area. His hips had pushed into you a little, though concern had been written across his face at your actions. 

You smiled in attempts to ease his doubts, palming the growing bulge in his trousers, dropping to your knees. You hooked your fingers around the beige trousers, pulling down a little. He shifted to allow his garment's movement, cock springing from the fabric. You traced over the hardened member with your fingers, bringing forward to your lips as you took him into your mouth. 

He groaned, bucking hips upward as he'd felt the warmth of your mouth encapsulate him, wet saliva coating his shaft with a flick of your tongue; bob of your head. As you massaged him within your cheeks, he brought a hand to entangle through your hair, guiding your movements half-heatedly through his gratification. It hadn't been controlling, more of a place to rest his hands, a way to feel a little more of you as you'd pleased his aching member. 

Nanami tilted his head backward, closing his eyes as soft groans had grumbled through his broad chest, lightly squeezing his hand within your locks as he'd hit the back of your throat, of hollowed out your cheeks. You'd brought your hand to work at his shaft as you'd flicked your tongue over the head of his cock, pumping over him to bring him closer to orgasm. 

"F-fuck, good girl." His encouraging words had brought a ripple through you, tightening your thighs as your body had shifted, hoping to give yourself a little friction as you'd felt your arousal spike, hips rolling. You'd gotten into more of a rhythm, drool rolling down to meet your hand. His groans had grown a little louder, but you were confident with the amount beer your father had put back, he would sleep through anything the pair of you had done within the confides of the kitchen. 

He hadn't given warning, as he'd been oblivious to how close he'd been, abruptly thrusting forward with a sigh as you'd felt the salty liquid pour into your mouth, maintaining the tempo you'd been going at until you felt his hand tremble against your head, the man heaving for oxygen at the orgasm you'd gifted so eagerly to him. 

You removed your lips, wiping over your face with the back of your hand, looking up to watch the disarranged male lull back into reality. 

[bluginkgo]

Debunking Old Theories

As a fun way to see what was wrong and what was right, I decided to go back to all of my old theories and see which ones are the craziest XD

Spoilers duh, oh and gore warning? Kinda?

I mean... that scary *ss mother facking thing towards the end- you know what I'm talking about if you watched the ep 😅

This theory was me going into a long chat about who the double x'ed eyed person could be on the poster that was teased waaaay back when. Although I did not out right say who it could have possibly been, I did notice I had some interesting thoughts going on.

"What if the double x'ed character is someone we already know... but is dead? A character that is confirmed/somewhat confirmed to be dead can return back to life, and their body forced to move by the absolute solver."

So the idea was sort of there. That the solver basically took the body of someone presumed dead and forced it to move.

I suppose it kind of works. Tessa, at this point, seems very much so dead. And her skin was used to get a drone through the security system.

This theory was made in a random fit of craziness I think. And basically talked about how Uzi's admin program could allow for DDs to tap into the Absolute Solver powers without becoming fully corrupted (based off of @/jazzstarrlight's concept art). Thus, turning into Uzi and Doll with solver powers. Although this might happen in ep8, I'm highly doubtful. But I was right about this:

"Uzi did SOMETHING, who knows what at this point, but her switching the admin program is important. Given that N and V haven't turned into the gooey flesh monsters quite yet like we see in Home, I'd say absolute solver string is still blocked to a certain degree."

And sure enough, the admin program holds out. Preventing the Absolute Solver to corrupt DDs and force them to become mindless murder drones that they were back on Earth.

This theory was taking a jab at the figure we saw in ep4.

And I attempted to reason as to who made the image. First shot was Doll, and that's a hard no lol. Second shot was the double X'ed person and well...

I guess I was right? The thing that Tessa is now, is just a solver drone wearing human skin. And she has all the solver drone powers, being able to call forth the claws and teleportation powers seen with the Absolute Solver. So for her to create the image, or it IS the entity wearing Tessa's skin, is not too far fetched. @brookiedaaroacecookie I saw your tag, and realized I had attempted something similar a very long time ago... 😅

This theory had me going crazy over solver's laughter. Easily debunked. It was aesthetic choice. Also the line "Hahahaha, thanks for giving me the planet. Fricking idiot." Never made it into ep7, but I will not put it past Liam to use this in ep8 instead! Addressing either N or Uzi.

N: Thanks for giving me yet another planet. You unintentionally lead Uzi straight into her demise, and thus set off the second core collapse.

Uzi: Thanks for giving me the planet. You dummy who jumped in to sacrifice yourself and save N.

This theory had me going in to how Tessa was suspicious. Debunk this little sh*t real quick, most of this was wrong :3 J was sent out to "mind the ship" to destroy the escape pod that Uzi has been working on. It's still unclear to me whether J is siding with Tessa entity because she believes that's the true Tessa, or simply because she knows that it is the Absolute Solver wearing skin of a human. Something I did notice as well was I mentioned Tessa's hand injury. It never came up in this episode. But you know what my crazy brain did? Made another theory!

So the Absolute Solver did tell Tessa "You will not have to discard your pets, and I will not discard you." But hang on a second. The Absolute Solver appears to have skinned Tessa and used her, how is this not discarding? To back this up a little, the solver did in fact keep its promise. It allowed the main DD trio to keep their personalities. The "pets" were not discarded. Now as for Tessa, she was not discarded either- Ginkgo you crazy idiot, she's dead, that's her skin. But that's exactly it. The Absolute Solver, like any good villain, is capable to playing with words. It never specified what "discarding" meant, or to what degree. Just like with the DDs, Tessa was also not discarded. She was repurposed. Her skin used to further the Absolute Solver's plans just like the DDs were. Could I be wrong and could this skin actually not be Tessa? Sure, there's always that chance! But with how Tessa entity looked and acted, I'll stick by the idea that she's very much dead.

Back to the hand injury though, here's the theory I came up with. The Absolute Solver may or may not have kept Tessa alive post the gala massacre.

After all, the image is still redacted, and we do not know if by then the solver already had used her to create the monstrosity that is 1001. But if the solver did keep her alive, it kept its promise. Tessa was not discarded. But perhaps a condition of hers caused her body to slowly wither away. In a fit of fear, she might have gone to the solver for help. So the solver gave her purpose. Crazy idea? Yup, nothing new here XD

This theory is also very out there XD The summary of it is that I believe Cyn is on the good side. Because why send out DDs with a way of blocking out the Absolute Solver instead of fully corrupting them? Why send out DDs to a hub that had two very powerful solver drones? I'll put this theory to rest I believe. Because at this point, Cyn appears to be very much so dead. Whatever corporal body she may have had back at the manor is now gone, basing it off of the massacre that was on Earth. Another quote that made me realize that this was all just the Absolute Solver playing around was this:

N was the main reason that the Absolute Solver allowed the DD trio to keep their personalities. This means that the administration CYN was in place to keep the solver from corrupting the trio just to keep their personalities. All of this just because the solver enjoyed watching the trio run around believing like they can do something to fix this huge mess. Now, are there chances of Cyn still reappearing and helping the gang? Sure! I don't see why not. And I'll be pleasantly surprised if Liam does pull that route.

This theory has Cyn! To summarize this one, I basically took another attempt on figuring out how Liam's drawing of Cyn in the sea of red could be relevant. Of course, it did not show up this time around, but I noticed a couple things that I said kind of lined up.

"I can imagine it, N and Uzi fighting whatever the thing is in the Cabin Fever labs. Uzi somehow ends up either being knocked out or full possession occurs, either way, her subconsciousness is transported into this realm of red." Well uhh...

Not quite red... but somewhere!

"This might be the place where all the hosts' minds connect- the hive mind/cloud based system. Here, Uzi might meet Cyn and even Nori- I know I'm stretching it, but this is just me rambling my own thoughts. And keeping on with my belief in good Cyn theory, Cyn might help Uzi out. She might tell Uzi the origin of the absolute solver- how the AI error came about. Uzi might end up chatting with Cyn or directly with the Absolute Solver, all the while her body is posessed by the said Absolute Solver. She'd be going on another rampage, probably fighting N."

So we do find that Nori is still in fact alive, though after getting punted like a ball into the Absolute Solver hole, I'm not quite sure. XD But I will keep this theory for ep8 for now. The idea that Cyn's mind may connect and chat with Uzi is still quite appealing to me. And well, I guess Uzi did fight with N. And I will keep that theory too and simply carry it over to ep8. We know the last mural is of N, and he will most likely be fighting the very last Absolute Solver form. Uzi's consciousness may connect with that form and work together with N from the inside to get rid of the solver on Copper-9 for good.

This theory had me going crazy about Uzi's core. Because up until now, we don't really get to see her core very well. Perhaps its the design, but at times when the angles are right, we ought to see the WD hat picture poking through... but we don't. There's two routes from here still:

Either its just an animation detail that is unimportant. This is just simply how she was designed

Something is still hiding there. This one, I'm quickly losing faith on. Because when we saw Nori, her symbol was normal- turned yellow when possessed of course, but that is understandable. There was nothing that was off about Nori, Yeva, or Doll and their cores. I do not see how Uzi's core will be any different. Instead, I wanna know WHAT THE FACK THIS IS XD

This theory was a chat about Tessa's three ships. And this one still stumps me. Because Tessa was there for the sole purpose of getting down into the lab, finding out how many more of the hosts were left, kill them, get the crucifix, destroy it, and maybe send Copper-9 off into another core collapse. If that's the case, and with how she has been engineered... WHY DOES SHE NEED THREE SHIPS??? Most of them were filled with junk, unless they do hold something important that we have yet to see. For now, this one is gonna be burning in the back. Because this was either a diversion and a way to make us believe that this Tessa may have been real, or they actually serve a purpose.

This theory was regarding the teaser and how maybe Uzi would have to go through an exorcism. Ahahaha, yeah, so there was exorcism! IN FORM OF SLAPS FROM NORI XD and uhhh... a "sacrifice" on Uzi's part ;w;

This theory was on the teaser that was released. And it is this one that will be the most FUN to gut >:3

First, the corridor with the sentinels never made it into the actual episode. Which makes me leave V as MIA still. Delusional? Perhaps, most likely. But like I said. I will not call her dead until I see a body or an eldrich version of her. The one that was in the cathedral was a mere hologram.

Concerned N... AHAHAHAHAHH I WAS SO WRONG LET'S GO!!! N was very upset, yes, but not about something he saw ahead, but about something the gang left BEHIND: V. That entire scene is gonna be on my mind for a bit too long.

The vortex around the cathedral took place during the flashback scene... but still doesn't really explain why there's RAIN in a CAVE. But oh well XD

So I was somewhat right about the sequence of events with "Dr. Chambers" and Uzi watching the tape. More so on the fact that whatever Uzi watched on the tape made her solver go haywire.

Welp, Tessa did help Uzi in this scene ;w; My poor soul, the NUzi angst is delicious but dangit it's still angst.

And I was wrong about Khan being there... KIND OF. Cause he still showed up XD But yes, the gravity did take a quick break because the Absolute Solver in the core is starting to act out.

Feral N was not killing Nori, at least not in this scene XD Man, that entire sequence had my jaw on the floor. It was amazing.

Uzi's eye did burst, from strain of using the solver to... *sobs* protect from N's mindless rage and attempts to clear the elevator. ;w; UGH that scene is gonna be stuck with me for a long while.

Well, the theory that Doll is fighting with Tessa did come true- but I also theorized using all the characters, so it wasn't quite fair.

Omg it's that math meme XD But hey, I had the Nori part! This was Nori and she was being contained in this manner because the new patch of the Absolute Solver was making her go haywire.

And finally this theory. "Now, as for the crack theory: I think the absolute solver is now the center/core of copper-9."

Well... Kind of I guess? But we don't get to see the extent of it. We simply shown how deep the hole truly is, and it can easily reach into the core of the planet. "But what if you take 10, or 50, or 100 corrupted cores and fuse them together? Sure, a single solver drone may not make that big of an impact, but we don't know how long the list of drones that were experimented on down in the labs was." Answer is at the very least 129 drones XD

Let me know if I missed any of my old theories. I've been doing nothing but typing out theories for the past 2 days straight. ;w; What hyper fixations do to you, am I right? XD But in all honesty, this was ridiculously fun. And kind of surprising that some of my stupid ideas did have bits and pieces that were right!

Want more of my stupid rambles? This has 3 other parts! ;w;

[portraitoftheoddity]

Don't Drink The Paint Water

Ok, the title is a little misleading since a lot of the paint I'm gonna talk about in this post would have been tempera or oil, and not water-based acrylic, so there would be no paint water. But as someone who worked in acrylic and definitely accidentally drank their paint water more than once, the warning is what rings in my mind every time I think of this topic.

Art is great for the soul. Art supplies, however, are not always great for the body.

Humans love smearing ourselves and our stuff with pretty colors made of shit that will kill us. Lead facepaint in Queen Elizabeth's court; Arsenic Green Wallpaper in Victorian parlors; uranium in glassware and wristwatches. And of course, all kinds of heavy metals in paints.

I talked in my post about Caravaggio about how a lot of his balls-to-the-wall batshit insane behavior may have been a result of chronic poisoning from his paints. Many artists through that whole era of history suffered from lead poisoning, to the point that "Painter's Colic" was a term for the intestinal constipation caused by chronic lead poisoning.

Now let's talk about that a little, and the various toxins that some of your favorite historical painters may have had in their systems from the creation and application of their paints...

White Paint: Lead

Lead white has been used as far back at the 4th century B.C.E. by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, and was THE white pigment in western art up through the nineteenth century (and also appeared in works from China and Japan). It's important to note that through much of history, you didn't just go to the store and buy a tube of paint -- you made your own by grinding up pigment and adding it to a medium such as oil. To make lead white paint, artists would grind a block of lead into powder, releasing toxic dust particles into the air. The pigment's popularity largely stemmed from how thick and opaque it was, allowing for dense applications of radiant, warm white.

Lead poisoning resultantly affected a great many artists who worked extensively with lead white paint, with gastrointestinal, neuromuscular, and neurological symptoms. Chronic lead poisoning resulted in abdominal pain, nausea and constipation, as well as neuromuscular issues such as tremor, loss of coordination and numbness. Neurologically, sufferers could experience loss of short-term memory or concentration, depression, fatigue, headaches, stupor, slurred speech, and difficulty with emotional regulation, which may have contributed to the enduring stereotype of artists as erratic tortured geniuses.

Lead white would eventually be replaced by zinc white and titanium white.

Vermilion Paint: Cinnabar (Mercury-Sulfide)

Cinnabar is a form of mercury sulfide (HgS) that can range in color from bright scarlet to brick-red. It is the most common source ore for refining elemental mercury-- and from both its mined form and creation via synthetic alchemy was used to create a range of red 'vermilion' pigments. Cinnabar was used decoratively dating back to antiquity due to its color, appearing in fine craftsmanship and artworks ranging from China to South America, and was the primary source of red pigment in European painting from the Renaissance to the 20th century.

And of course; it came with the fun fun experience of mercury poisoning! While ingesting cinnabar isn't nearly as toxic as other forms of mercury since the chemical composition is less reactive, cutting and grinding cinnabar to create paint pigment would lead to inhalation of particles, and the more it was ground, the brighter the red it would produce. Plus, heating cinnabar would result in the release of highly toxic mercury vapor which would damage the lungs. Long term cinnabar use would lead to renal failure, and likely other symptoms of mercury poisoning such as damage to the brain and nervous system.

Vermilion would eventually be replaced with the less-toxic cadmium red.

Naples Yellow Paint: Lead + Antimony

Here's a two-for-one poisoning deal! Naples yellow -- a saturated, thick yellow that could range from pinkish orange to an almost green lemon-yellow -- is derived from lead antimonate. Inorganic and synthetically created, the pigment itself dates back to ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, making it one of the oldest synthetic pigments (it was predated by the Egyptians' use of the yellow pigment 'Orpiment' which was made with arsenic, for even more fun!) It was first referred to as Naples Yellow in the 17th century, and became particularly popular in European painting from the mid 1700s to mid 1800s, used by artists such as Délacroix, Jacques-Louis David, and Goya.

In addition to the joys of lead as discussed above, Antimony can cause vomiting, headache, dizziness, and sleeplessness, with effects similar to arsenic poisoning.

While there were a number of holdout artists who continued to use Naples Yellow up to the 20th century, Naples Yellow was largely replaced by Chrome Yellow and Cadmium Yellow by the late 19th century.

--

These are just a few of the more popular culprits in western art history -- and not counting fabric dyes such as Scheele's Green which experienced brief and deadly popularity in the Victorian era (made with Arsenic), or Uranium Yellow pigment used in ceramics and glass, which... I think you can guess where the problem with that lay.

All of which is to say, Art Was Hazardous, and a lot of artists through history quite literally died for the dyes, sacrificing their health, sanity, and years off their lives, knowingly or not, for the colors in their masterworks.

[canonkiller]

health stuff update for the new year

this is an update that I'm gonna crosspost in a few spots, so sorry if you have to pass it multiple times. I'm not going to go into super detail (I appreciate some degree of privacy) but it is medical talk that relates to my art + online presence

For the physical: The long and short of it is that I have a neurological degeneration that is, at present, affecting almost all of my spinal cord. At this point, the specialists I've seen believe that it is the cause of my vision issues, as well as the loss of sensation in my legs and chronic pain. There is no expected recovery for this - it's either going to stay as it is, or get worse - in part due to how long it took to discover (thank you, Canadian medical system delays!). This, along with nutritional deficiencies related to it, is causing the bulk of my physical issues and is the expensive part to deal with as I try to accomodate a lifestyle with little movement and less sight. "Polished" art in the usual definition is something I simply can't do any more. Looking at screens hurts, especially if I have to look up towards them, as does daylight. I hurt, a lot, all of the time, and so far the treatment plan suggested for that has been to cope, which I am trying to do.

For the mental parts: I'm excluding neurodivergence from this summary, because while I've made some important discoveries in the past 12 months I don't feel as though they're impacting my work dramatically, at least not in the completion way. Unfortunately, separate from those, I've been experiencing a metric Fuck Ton of brain fog; basically, every other week, the concept of time is quite literally beyond my perception. I know things are happening in the moment, but the actual durations of things just disappear. This, of course, makes my queue backlog long as hell and my communication spotty, as the time I think everything is taking is doubled to everyone else. My current care provider has been neglecting to address or investigate this, so I have been trying to find a replacement, but that takes time, and time is difficult for me to keep a handle on right now. I have been doing everything I can to ensure I always have a list somewhere if the things I need to get done; know that if I owe you work, it is likely not forgotten, but just unknowingly delayed. I am trying my best to stay on top of things, but I am doing all of it on my own, and it's been a lot to deal with lately as things continue to worsen.

I'm sharing this more for understanding than sympathy; I don't want to be pitied, but I also want it known that I am not trying to con people or maliciously avoid completing work. All I ask is that if you have questions or concerns, about owed work or otherwise, to reach out rather than assume I'm avoiding it intentionally, and to let me know if you want refunds or compensation for subscriptions or paid work that you feel are justified.

Here's to surviving another year.

[clumsiestgiantess]

@showrunnerihardlyknowher I know you said Anthony isn’t canon to the story.. but how could I pass up the opportunity to draw more humanoid creatures?

so have some art ig

Firstly, the more human-looking stages

Then the more monster-y forms as bro matures

Also, due to his human DNA, he can stand slightly upright! He’s much faster in bipedal form. BONUS: My headcannons on how Anthony just kinda showed up:

(my speculative biology brain making up cool things, none of this is canon) (unless showrunner approves it ig)

AB299’s species utilizes its inter-reality dimensional plane as a means of reproduction. It’s actually a large basis of the species’ survival; the location also serves as a secondary safe home and a fast travel system. At some point in time, while Serena was disoriented in the void-like place, it took a bit of her ‘genetic material’ with her completely unawares. (This phenomena only seems to occur while a being of interest is in that species’ specific dimensional plane, leading my research to the theory that AB299 can trigger the event somehow, or at least tries to by dragging her in so often). Later on, it adds its own DNA to the mix.

The beginnings of a new creature begins as an egg-like embryo forms around the newly growing body. The little child is left to grow and mature floating inside the void, where it is constantly checked upon by AB299. Some time later, (I’m not quite sure how long it takes for the child to grow, because I don’t know how time works in that dimension. I assume it’s much shorter than human time, though) the child is ready to ‘hatch’ at about the human age of 7 or 8 years old.

Tearing its way through the embryo, the child is deposited into the void. However, similarly to how newborn sea turtles know how to find the ocean the moment they hatch, an offspring of AB299’s species can sense where it’s parents are, and will follow that scent out of the void. AB299 will stay very close to Serena once the child is close to ‘hatching’, so as not to confuse which parent’s scent it should follow. The offspring will immediately imprint on whoever it sees after exiting the dimensional void, so it’s important that they’re together.

Thus, when Anthony comes crawling out of the void — seemingly from nowhere — Serena becomes very confused about how the child came to be.

BONUS BONUS: some lineart