#got to be less of a perfectionist and just have fun!

[triplethreatsonic]

Hey proof that I still exist! Have some angst

[seventh-district]

not even gonna tag this properly bc i don't wanna get Involved but i do have some Thoughts i need to get out into the void so here we go

(aaa quick edit: CW for mention/discussion of Boothill leaks)

[celestie0]

hi friends, i won’t be posting or updating any of my works for an indefinite period n will be on hiatus from this blog as well.

i’ve unlisted kickoff & ihm on ao3 (haven’t deleted, they’ve just been made private) and i’ve unpinned my masterlist here on tumblr (again nothing’s been deleted so you could probably find the chapters if you searched my tags)

but the reason i did that is because i don’t want any new readers finding my works during my hiatus because i don’t want to potentially upset more people in the event that, during this hiatus, i decide that i would no longer like to write my fics

that would be an insanely sad decision to make. i put so much thought into my stories not because i am trying to make them entertaining, but it’s because they genuinely mean so much to me and are cathartic in ways i can’t describe. i have spent a great majority of my life self negating for the sake of others, and so writing was just a form of expression where i could talk about all the things i’ve suppressed over the years - anxiety, career stress, financial stress, avoidance, depression, loss, coming of age, navigating love, etc

but lately, and i do think it’s been a build up of just some careless words from a handful of people over the months, i find myself steering towards a practice of writing that is no longer asking the question “how can i put as much of myself in this piece as possible?” but rather “how can i make sure people won’t criticize this…i feel awful that it doesn’t have what they want it to have…other creators are doing xyz, should i be doing that too?…i’m just scared to share this”

not exactly sure when that shift in headspace began, but as of right now, it’s as strong as ever. and i understand that those questions may seem irrational, and i just have to try to not focus on the feeling, n i wish i was someone that could compartmentalize those thoughts better, but here’s the thing — the whole reason i started expressing myself through writing in the first place was because i’ve spent my whole life compartmentalizing. it would feel so ironic & untrue to the lessons i’ve learned in this journey if i just chose to “suck this up” and continue pushing forward until i reach a point of burnout simply because i don’t want to upset anyone

i’m really sorry i couldn’t focus on the positive. especially with all the insane n incredible amount of love n support i’ve received for my works. i’ve said this time n time again but when i started posting kickoff to ao3 back in january of this year, i had NO idea it would be this loved by so many people…i was like ok can’t wait to interact w these four readers for the rest of the year…and then BAM, i find myself fully sobbing after each chapter update because i was so touched by all the sweet n kind words. i don’t want this decision to come off in a way that makes it seems like i don’t love u guys sm or that i’m ungrateful — i’ve always taken pride in respecting my audience. even for a simple hobby, i try to put effort into my works. i proofread, i plan out, i edit in length, all because i am, well, for one, i’m a bit of a perfectionist LOL but also i think there’s a great deal of honor in respecting an audience that gives you their time n attention

but i already am struggling in my life to focus on the positive. medicine has been such an incredibly daunting career to pursue, i’m honestly only doing slightly better now because i’m just filled with relief that i got into med school to begin with lol it’s still surreal to me, so the stress has been kinda manageable so far on that sense of optimism, but dear god the shit i went through to get here…and the shit i know i still face ahead of me. i spend all of my serotonin on trying to stay positive in the face of my responsibilities. so all of this time i’ve spent trying to stay positive for the sake of my stories too has just left me with so much exhaustion — i just don’t see why posting my works should be anything less than fun and endlessly exciting when it’s a hobby that’s supposed to help me thru the actual brunt of life.

anyways, i’m getting a little carried away here. all this to say, i just need to take time away from posting my works so i can see writing as something for myself n not for others again. i don’t want the thoughts swimming in my head to be thoughts of anxiety over people potentially criticizing me n my creative decisions. i want the thoughts in my head to once again be positive, excited, and nurturing towards my stories. i don’t see how i can accomplish that at this point unless i start writing for myself once more, and not for others

i still have a great deal of passion to write, which is why i haven’t formally taken down my works. i anticipate that i may be able to come back in the future to share my writing again. but as of right now, i just want to heal the relationship that i have with this hobby, and i feel like that’s gotta happen in private (lmfao it sounds like im tryna freak my writing)

i’m sorry that i turned off my asks n my replies, i know so many of u care about me n want to support me n i just am beyond thankful. i don’t anticipate this is a forever goodbye, but i do just need some time rn away from all of this.

hope u all have a happy time!! and take care of yourselves :) much love

- ellie

[tomiyeee]

donnie had. SO. much concept art lol. i really enjoyed the whole design process though. his base design is very difficult to work with because of the battleshell, but it gave me a lot of chances to get creative and i'm happy with the results :)

(also as a disclaimer so i don't get asked about this: i don't have motivation to finish raph or the wish art for donnie, so i'm just posting what i've got)

i didn't annotate these as much since there'd be a lot to write, but i'll write out some of my thought processes and go into some detail about his final design below the cut if you're interested! (it's long. i'm talkative 😔)

1st row - first iteration; much more literal 1:1 translation of his design into a fantasy setting. very steampunk-y. ended up completely scrapping it because, simply put, he looked more like an npc than a playable character. obviously, several features did still carry over throughout the design process :3 also wanted to imagine his attack pattern cuz i thought it'd be fun to incorporate his spider arms.

this was actually the first design of any of them i'd come up with! i've definitely learned a lot about genshin's character design style since then and i think it shows 😂

2nd row - playing around with the idea of a floating battleshell (rather than a backpack-like one in the the show & first version), inspired by nahida's cape. also hard light constructs/attachments. was leaning too into the sci-fi and rectangular motifs with the design, but i liked the idea.

3rd/4rth rows - concepts for his final outfit and shell designs (the colored/more-detailed pics are the more finalized ones). took a lot of inspiration from sumeru this time around. it's a lot sharper, shinier, and less rectangular than his og aesthetic, but i think it's more in-line with genshin's design philosophies.

5th row - not entirely sure why i went through all the trouble of making a 3d model for this. i mostly just thought it'd be fun and good for reference. i was right, but i don't know what to do with it now lol. can't be bothered to be a perfectionist about it though, so don't look too closely at it 😭

6th row - incomplete thumbnails of his burst/wish art. not super sold on that "wing" design in particular, but i do like the idea of his shell splitting and deploying hard light weapons/rocket launchers/etc sort of like in canon.

battleshell/misc notes - i'm thinking his battleshell is controlled using the pink sensor on the back of his coat, possibly in combination with his headset. it floats behind him by default and is sturdy enough to protect his back, but he can also freely fly it around like a drone if he wants. the holes on the side are mainly for the spider arms and the banners(?) and handles(?) with the blue/pink gradient are made of hard light and only appear when the shell is in use.

i imagine like in the series, his tech here isn't necessarily very reliant on his vision/powers; much of it he likely made himself long before he received a vision and he just uses his vision to enhance it.

his burst is a barrage of missiles from his shell that lock onto an enemy and deal a large burst of electro damage in an AOE. not sure if i want his skill to be a deployable or some sort of electro-infusion/boost 🤔 maybe something that involves deploying his shell to boost his damage while leaving him vulnerable, like a glass canon? though i'm not sure he'd be that sort of risk-taker... 😅 dunno! his signature weapon would totally be his tech bo though.

that's about all i can think of. thanks for reading!

[24kmar]

𝐈 𝐒𝐄𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔 ( A. Donaldson, T. Ducan)

𝐁𝐎𝐑𝐍 𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐍𝐍𝐀 𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐄

𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: Art Donaldson x Fem!reader, Tashi duncan x reader

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: Angst, Standoffish Reader, female manipulator! reader (wolf in sheeps clothing), language, age gap! (Early 30's art, early 20's reader).

𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘: Art notices how much the pressure tashi is putting on you is changing you.

𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄: sorry this is short 😭

Art was the first to notice it.

There was no doubt y/n was different, soso different. Everyone noticed it, especially art. It was uncanny really, how much she was like tashi. They always knew y/n was like her, but she was still so different from her.

She was warm, compassionate, sweet. Thats why art fell inlove with her, she was different from tashi. He knew she loved him, and not in the way he knew tashi loved him. Until now, now he was reliving tashi all over again.

It worried him, how she ate less, slept less, every waking moment spent on tennis. He knew y/n was a perfectionist, but he didnt think it was this bad. He saw tashi in her. So much of tashi. He saw it in her eyes, how tired she was. But whenever he tried to express his concern, y/n shut him down immediately. Human endurance was on hell of a drug.

Now it got to the point where how she felt about him was determined by how he did tennis wise. Something she was always so understanding about. With y/n it used to be 'win or lose, ill always love you', now it was 'all or nothing'.

Even then, she was still different from tashi. When he lost, tashi would coach him harder, chew his ear off, make him better. With y/n, it was radio silence. She'd just ignore him, stay quiet, thinking. Somehow, that was so much worse. He rather her yell at him, tell him he sucks, than to just keep him in the dark, wanting to know what she was thinking.

Tashi was the second to notice it.

The way y/n became so hyper focused when playing tennis, but so distracted when she wasnt. Playing back videos of her tennis games. Analyzing her each and every move. Picking apart every flaw she had while playing.

Y/n was more anxious. Training harder. Now tennis wasnt a hobby. You know that saying "do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life."? It wasnt like that anymore. It wasnt play to have fun. It was play to win.

Tashi loved this attitude. Shit, she wished art still had it. But it was starting to scare her. The way y/n looked colder, the way she always seemed to be out of it, almost always spacing out, unless it was something about tennis.

She didnt mean for it to go this far. It hurt, it hurt to see y/n's spirit so broken. Seeing the woman she loves personality so dampened. But it also worked for her. It pushed y/n closer to her, farther from art and patrick. She liked that. She needed that. She needed y/n to be hers, and solely hers. But she needed to fix this. She knew it was her fault, the pressure getting to y/n.

What really got her was what y/n said to art the day of one of his games. The day he said he loved y/n. Waiting for her to say it back, needing that comfirmation before a game like he always did. To which y/n replied "prove it" walking away and sitting down. He couldnt believe what he was hearing. His sweet, warm y/n didnt even say it back.

Niether could tashi. It was like she was looking in a fucking mirror. Like she was watching herself talk to art. He knew what y/n meant. She wanted him to prove her love for her on that court. And he did. He won.

Tashi didnt have bad intentions. She just wanted to make y/n successful. She wanted to see the girl she loved thrive. She would fix this, no matter what. Tashi would do whatever she needed to get the old y/n back. That was a promise, and tashi always kept her promises.

[bokettochild]

Random Legend Headcanons that haunt my brain at stupid hours <3

He has a big sweet tooth, but less so for sugary things and mostly more for fruits

greatest seemingly "irrational" fear is dogs, he has never liked them even since childhood, and the only dog he can stand is the old sheepdog his grandparent's kept to keep track of the goats

Sky is his favorite. Sky is real with him and doesn't dismiss him as an asshole = automatic favorite. They also share a lot in common

he and Sky like gossiping when no one is paying attention to them. Not about the other heroes necessarily, they just both find it fun

oral stims: he likes his hands free, but chewing/sucking on things helps him focus better and stay calm. He refuses to admit how many times he's found himself chewing on his medallions

he loves puzzles. You'd think he'd gotten enough of them in his adventures, but nope! Hes been doing this long enough that going WITHOUT puzzles to solve actually makes him feel bored. He likes the challenge of it, it keeps his brain ticking

history nerd. A lot of Hyrule's culture/history/tradition was lost because the people were just trying to survive after Ganon killed the hero, so Legend really likes trying to hunt down the pieces of the past to put together what it was like. It's a big puzzle for him, and he loves talking about it if he feels he'll actually be listened too

he knits. He doesn't know many patterns, but he knows some basic stitches and the repetition calms him down

good at most needlework, sucks at embroidery. He likes it, it's just too stressful for him. He's in awe of the fact that Sky's so good at it.

he actually loves the sea I know most writers have him scared of it, but he's got far more happy memories than bad ones, so while it's bittersweet, he still enjoys being near the water (as log as it's not storming)

hates lightning storms with a passion. Storms in general make his arthritis worse, but the lightning trauma sucks a lot more

actually enjoys light rain showers. it still effects his pain levels, but not super bad, and it's worth it to him

has the most un-attractive laugh ever. He tends to snort and cackle like a madman. He does have a "polite laugh" but it's far less genuine.

he CAN cook, he just doesn't care to. Food is an annoying requirement and necessity for him most of the time, and more of a chore than he's willing to admit

he has the biggest soft spot for kids, partially because of Gully, partially by nature

the most susceptible to Baby Therapy (the effect of feeling at peace, content, happy, or relief while holding a small child) Ulli figured this out early on and now abuses it.

he loves stargazing. Stars are a constant no matter where he goes and they're like old friends (got this from the manga)

he's an artist and a perfectionist, his preferred medium is paints, but he does carry a sketchbook

loves physical contact, but is hesitant about others boundaries, so he rarely initiates or maintains it

I have more, but yeah, this is getting pretty long :')

[nicherayyy]

La squadra hc when they were in school (highschool) like their attitude, were they like academic achiever, delinquent, did they date anyone?? (They’re in the same school btw)🙏🙏🙏🙏 PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE AND THANKYOU!!

OMG YASSS! I have so many hcs with highschool la squadra tbh😭

La Squadra Highschool hcs

Okay so first of all

I'm pretty sure they won't become one big friend group at least for a few months

Mostly because of personality differences

For example Prosciutto prays to all the gods imaginable not to have classes with Formaggio

It's not like he hates him, but he definitely finds him pretty annoying

Poor Pros just came here to study some math while there's Formaggio trying to show a lightbulb into his mouth out of boredom

And I definitely see him annoy Pros in a classic class clown way

-Pros... PROS

-WHAT?

-*giggles* nothin'

And if the teacher notices he'd blame Prosciutto too😭

So yeah.. nobody really likes having classes with Formaggio

I'm pretty sure everyone sees him like a type of guy who constantly needs to date someone, although he only got a girlfriend once (in 5th grade and it lasted for two weeks)

Thinks that drinking energy drinks is cool, so he drinks them CONSTANTLY

If you look closely you might see his hands shaking from all the caffeine he consumed

He's like a big ball of energy

And maybe a ball of stomach and kidney issues, he's not sure, visiting a doctor is not his style

And since he needs to spend this energy somewhere the only class he never skipped is PE

Tries to show cool tricks with a basketball ball, but just ends up looking stupid

Well.. at least Illuso is amused

In the mean way

I swear he's like a school diva

A mean girl

Nobody really likes him for that, but he kinda has frienemy dynamic with Formaggio

I swear, one minute they're laughing together and the other they're trying to drown each other in a water fountain

Illuso would have a school gossip instagram account

(Mostly he just comes up with tea himself)

Somebody held hands? Yeah, they're getting a whole article about their dating life.

"Name three songs of the band on your shirt" type of guy

So yeah, he just goes to school to get some tea

But I KNOW that at the end of the semester he tries to hand in all his skipped assignments like nothing happened

-Hey teacher, I've got this essay you assigned us

-...It was due two months ago

-...Well I still did it, didn't I?

Risotto is a quiet type of guy

Not in a cool mysterious way, he's just mostly in his own world

But if you want to do a project with him, or sit with him during lunch he's totally fine with that

Has his own collection of band shirts

(Uh-huh he's the one who Iluso asks to name three band songs)

-Metallica shirt? Hah, name at least three of their songs

-"Enter Sandman", "Ride The Lightning", "Fade To Black"

-..Okay you're no fun

Randomly mastered piercing so now he has both of his brows pierced

Not really an academic weapon, he just does what he's asked to do

Literally, if you ask him to write an essay for 2000 words he'll write EXACTLY 2000 words. No more no less

I don't see him dating at all, cause he sees no point in it

Sometimes hangs out with Prosciutto

He just complimented his jacket once

Cause I literally see Pros being the most fashionable guy in school

So he likes his outfits/pieces of closing being complimented

He's the one big perfectionist

Has everything organised

School locker, notebooks, pencil cases you name it

Tried to become school president once

But wasn't so popular among voters for being "too serious"

He was, in fact, too serious

I don't think he ever skipped a class

(He'll feel bad if he does)

Besides, school is for studying so what's the poing of going there if he would just skip classes?

Took Pesci, as he calls it, "under his wing"

Mostly because Pesci thinks that Pros's really cool

Okay so Pesci is like the shyest but the nicest guy in school

Pros told him to be less nice cause some students take advantage of that

Yeah, some people are really mean to him

Gets so upset if he gets a bad mark

He's an average students, but tries to do better

I see Prosciutto using aggressive motivation on him

-We're graduating in two years and you're planning to apply to college with those results???

And Pesci gets a major scare from that

Also tried to be in school sports team, such as swim team, soccer team etc

Found out that that's not his cup of tea the hardest way possible.

Melone's a straight A student without even trying

He doesn't care that much, but somehow he's magically one of the best students at school

-Did you study for the test?

-What? No, I didn't even open the book *Gets an A+*

Teachers always ask him to help if they have some sort of computer problems

Still, some students think he's a creep

And well.. he is to some extent

Just don't tell him your zodiac sign and you'll be okay

I see him being in some kind of computer club

Or generally something related to electronics

You know, even if he's a good student, he still got suspended for dress code violation once or twice

But I know he's still teachers favourite because he knows how to make Excel Tables

And I also know for a fact that the same teachers don't like Ghiaccio

Especially literature teacher.

Ghiaccio is weirdly educated in literature, and he thinks that only his point of view is right

You don't agree with his view of some characters? Oh well, obviously your opinion is the wrong one

So the poor literature teacher spends like 45 minutes only to make Ghia stop try to argue with him

Also constantly tries to find loopholes in the school rules

And there's no reason to it, he just does that

School office secretary hates to see him coming.

Ghia is another perfectionist so instead of using eraser to correct a misspell, he just throws away an entire sheet of paper and starts again

(It's his 5th sheet of paper)

[crow-n-tell]

HELLO AND WELCOOOOME TO!

What kind of jellyfish is sun?

I got some requests about getting a lil layout of what jellyfish types I combined to get him the way I did for moon in this post. It’s not as fun and detailed as moons because, let’s face it: jellyfish are pretty straight forward but!! Here

Phacellophora Camtschatica

aka The Fried Egg Jellyfish.

This is the biggest and most obvious part of Sunny’s design, he‘s an egg boy and I love him for it. But also there’s an interesting bit about the relationship between fried egg jellyfish and larval crabs. See these lil baby crabs?

Yeah so they climb inside fried egg jellyfish and just. RIDE AROUND IN THEIR BELL? Consequences be damned lil dudes chillin in there getting a ride. Which makes this the second time I’ve seen other animals use jellyfish as transportation. Baby octopus, baby crabs, with sun’s size it’s safe to say reader could probably do the same.

Though maybe reader wouldn’t want to do that because the whole reason larval crabs are chilling in their bell is also because jellyfish, while not capable of being infected by parasites cause they… they don’t have the bits that help parasites do the meat suit piloting… are carriers of parasites! They just walk around with em chilling in there. Larval crabs love monchin on em.

Next up is!!

Chrysaora Fuscesscens

aka

Honestly pacific sea nettles don't have many interesting facts about them. What can I say? they are very very long - talking 15 feet long. Other than that there isn't much else to say, I wish I could list something insane off like, OH THEY’VE GOT LAZER EYES. Nope. These guys float around looking like beautiful undersea mushrooms and they need no special skills to do that.

Uh. Yeah it’s not a jellyfish. This specially has to do with Sunny’s electric ability. Maybe you were thinking, oh so he’s like electric eels? (Which actually aren’t eels! They are a type of knife fish) no no, I am a perfectionist! I aim for accuracy and I also aim for the fun of science. While jellyfish cannot actually 🎵 shock you like a electric eel 🎶, jellyfish can SORT OF generate electricity.

Via a green gooey substance in the bells of jellyfish, scientists have discovered that by exposing it to ultraviolet light it produces electrons. Layman's terms? SOLAR POWERED GOO. While jellyfish have not harnessed the solar goo, scientists have actually found a way of using it to make a new form of green electricity!

So while Sun isn't electric the way an electric eel is, he still has a way of using electricity to make him a pretty powerful lil taser. Enough to put something smaller than him in a cardiac arrest, and give something his size or bigger a good reason to scamper off.

SOLAR POWERED SUN!

Which leads to my finishing notes.

While sun uses his zapper stuff quite a bit, he does have a regular sting too. While relatively less lethal than his zapping for bigger creatures, it does function as a paralytic! For smaller creatures it’s Uh…. Its a lil more dangerous. Good thing neoprene is sting proof haha.

And I had something else…

I recently posted a magma with Sunny sleeping.

This is based around the jellyfish that scientist found out sleep, Cassiopeia.

They are usually just chilling like that, bell down. Looking at them like this it really makes you think about how closely related they are to sea anemones huh? Lil freaks.

Sometime soon I’ll post a eclipse version of this, which I’m excited about because I love sharks SO MUCH.

[rewritingcanon]

I just ADORE the idea of potter sibs learning lessons from their namesakes and being nothing like them :)

James being calm and studious and kinder than his namesakes

Albus learning how NOT to handle very specific social situations from his namesakes

And Lily is just like "FUCK them kids lmao"

YESSSSS literally.

james is more popular than his namesakes were (i like to think james and sirius were just impervious to popularity&they just gave 0 fucks, although sirius was default popular because of his surname and his attractiveness) because hes more welcoming and less of a dick and a nepobaby, but he’s emotionally distant with his peers and finds it hard to open up to others because he’s always a little suspicious of people (unlike james sr, who was an open book). he plays quidditch because he knows he should and it makes his mum happy and its kinda fun and hes kinda good but hes not that passionate about it. he gets amazing grades because hes studies a lot and not because hes a natural genius (unlike sirius, who didnt have to study hard for anything to pass comfortably). james a perfectionist, by-the-book person who struggles to think outside of the box, unlike his grandfather whos genius lied in nothing else.

albus reminds me more of his namesakes than the other two potter siblings, but he probably would appreciate the comparison the least. he’s quiet and lonesome and angsty with a ‘no one will understand me’ mindset, but severely attaches himself to the people he loves, and carries them with him throughout his life without ever moving on (all exactly like severus). hes cunning and always ready to martyr himself (both dumbledore and severus), but hes way more audacious and simple. he has a ‘1 + 1 = 2 end of story’ mind that he got from his parents that completely goes against severus and dumbledore’ long game of chess. albus does not care for such BS, hes still got that gryffindor dawg in him. he will go against every expectation set out for him on purpose (unlike dumbledore and snape, who will use their reputation to their advantage). also, albus is happy lmfao. its why he commits his life to himself and not to others like his namesakes did. he wants simple things like nicely-cooked dinners, warm houses, and to get married young and start a family. kind of like his dad and grandmother.

and lilyyyyy. she is all over the place. she is the quidditch star, the loud one in class, the person who fakes her report cards so her mum doesnt freak out at her. shes not studious like her grandmother, she attracts people to her and selects the greatest pick out of the litter for friends, and shes got a lot of friends (unlike lily evans, who’s love is so concentrated and loyal to very few, and luna who was socially repellent). she travels everywhere because shes a glutton for experiences, she doesnt plan ahead, shes will never be tied down— not even by true love and the prospect of staying with them forever. shes open like luna but her mind is more of a straight arrow than luna’s genius. lily grows up and never has any kids, not because she hates children but because she just never particularly wanted to. she never grew out of being reckless and impatient and impulsive, and she had always known that those traits would not be compatible with raising a child and she was okay with that (unlike lily evans who had always wanted to be a mother, and had dedicated herself to her baby).

[reidslovely]

being academic “rivals” with peter

rivals in quotes because you two obviously like each other but are choosing to hide behind witty banter till one of you builds up the courage to ask the other out

maybe you’re a total perfectionist and never really take breaks so you become really stressed out and finally reach a breaking point and peter is just like ‘baby :(’ and he just holds you + maybe takes somewhere to help you relax

I love this trope..because I am a perfectionist in my work. And though I have never really had an academic rival I do heavily relate to mirrorball by Taylor Swift. Anywho..I think this trope is so perfect for Pete! So picture this...

Riding the subway home from your last lecture of the day was the most exhausting experience. Your earbuds were shoved uncomfortably in your ears as you stared blankly out of the window watching the tiled walls of the subway speed by. Your professors voice grating against your ear drums, it was almost enough to make you cry.

It actually brought you to tears.

Finals were coming up, and not only were you competing with yourself and your need to be greater you were competing with Peter Parker.

Biochem genius, your academic rival, and your..boyfriend. It's a funny story, a long story but a fun story. Long story short, too many long nights in the lab working against each other turned into long nights working with each other and helping one another gain points against one another.

No matter how much you loved him, and his dumb little face you had to do better on your finals than he would. A very nice vacation was riding on it: if you got the better grade you two would break open your savings and head up to a cute little cabin you'd been wanting to stay at. If Peter got the better grade you were going to spend a week in Vegas..both were a great option but one was more peaceful and less overstimulating than the other. Your head dropped onto your hand for a moment staring at the dunks in front of you. Your eyes looked up at the lanky figure in front of you and Peter stared down, he was obviously picking up on something you weren't. The subway cart came to a jolting holt you scrambled to your feet, grabbing Peters hand as he led you both out of the cart and up the steps. He reached down slowly pulling the earbuds out of your ears.

"Enough of this, relax." Peter says kissing your head softly. He tucked the earphones into your pockets as you neared his apartment. You felt your gut sink, you knew that he had good intentions but it also felt like he wanted you to fail. Once in the apartment you sat on the couch cracking your book open finishing up rewriting your notes the lecture now playing outlaid from your phone. Everything sounded jumbled and like one big sentence, why was this not sticking what was wrong with you? Why couldn't you get your brain to work? "Baby, c'mere." Peter's body weight drops down over the back of the couch, kissing your cheek softly. "Enough you've prepared enough, no more of this. You're burning out." "I'm not.." You deny the tears already building up in your eyes. He climbs over the back of the couch pulling you between his legs. Pushing books off to the table, and turning the lecture off. "I'm backing out of the bet." He says. "It was stupid. I thought it would be fun but it's put to much on you, so here's what we are gonna do." He speaks softly rubbing patterns on your back. You look up at him, tears finally falling. "We are gonna take our final on Friday and on Saturday morning we are driving up to that cabin and you are not gonna lift a finger okay? No studying, no research work, no spider-man things. Just us. Okay? You just have to promise me one thing?"

"Mhm?" You ask wiping your tears away. "You just do your best and show up. Can we do that?" You nod your head slowly resting your head against his chest, he lowered his head kissing your forehead softly. "Besides, I was gonna let you win either way." He laughs, the vibration off his chest bouncing joy into yours causing you to smile.

[timmyrx2000]

"WAY TO GO, PRINCESS!"

Wendy messes with Pacifica after she has an amazing at-bat by Seb.arts24

Part of my Gravity Falls Baseball AU continuity

Pacifica's always been a perfectionist in everything she does. Whatever she does, she HAS to be the best and has to do it perfectly. As a young kid just learning to play mini-golf, her parents had drilled that in to her head "You are a Northwest. You MUST be perfect. Anything less is an embarrassment to you and, more importantly, our family name!". It's no surprise then that Pacifica has set unreasonably high standards for herself in everything...even Baseball.

Pacifica knows that her parents would never approve of her playing a "filthy commoner sport" but ever since she's joined Dipper, Mabel, and Wendy, she's had the time of her life. However, Pacifica's frustrations get to her when she particularly struggles to perfect her skills. Just like every beginner, Pacifica struggles to perfect pitching, catching, and base-running. Her one Achilles Heel, however, is Batting. Hitting a baseball is NOTHING like teeing off at Mini-golf which sends a shock in her system. She struggles with it trying with all her will and determination to get it perfect but she simply can't. Pacifica tells herself that she is an absolute mess and thinks she is the worst without realizing she's actually a decent, if not, a good hitter. She loves baseball but can't help but feel her frustration at herself piling up over her (perceived) inability to hit a baseball properly.

Wendy, being the team's coach, sees Pacifica's frustration. No matter how good Pacifica tries to hide it, Wendy knows it. She's more than Pacifica's coach. In a special way, the two have become like sisters: Pacifica looking up to Wendy and leaning on her has her solid support and Wendy genuinely caring for Pacifica and feeling a sense of responsibility and affection for her knowing she's become Pacifica's rock in a way the Northwests have never been for her.

At one game, with Pacifica still feeling the weight of her struggle batting and her at-bat looming, Wendy comes over and encourages her. Pacifica couldn't help but spill her guts when Wendy about her frustrations. Wendy reminds her that baseball isn't about being the best, its about having the guts to step up to the plate and to face your fears head on and, more importantly, having fun with the people who love you the most. Though Pacifica smiles, Wendy still feels her apprehension. With abit of mischief she leans in and tell her that she just knows Pacifica's got this in the bag, no matter what.

Pacifica steps up to bat, feeling a rush of confidence and determination from Wendy's pep-talk. As the pitch comes in, she wheels in to it, powered by the sounds of her team's cheers, most especially Wendy's loud cheers from the dugout. With an loud clang, Pacifica sends the ball flying, not a home run as she'd hoped, but an incredible line drive that earns her a triple and lands her safely on 3rd base. Soon enough, Pacifica is hit in from 3rd and crosses home plate and sure enough, the first to meet her in the dugout is none other than Wendy, her big sis who never once doubted her.

Wendy meets Pacifica as she runs in and, before Pacifica could even say anything, Wendy playfully yanks down her helmet smugly telling Pacifica "Way to go, princess!" as Pacifica playfully acts annoyed trying to get Wendy to stop. Wendy doesn't buy it and continues to playfully mess with Pacifica, ruffling her sweaty hair under her batting helmet. Pacifica did it! She faced her fears with headstrong determination, but more importantly, she learned the power of letting others' faith in you power her through her struggle. More importantly, Pacifica learns that Baseball isn't about being the best, but simply, its about having fun and stepping up to the plate. She's still got a long way to go but these were the moments she lived for and she knew, no matter what, she'd have Wendy by her side to push her and support her. Wendy couldn't be prouder of her little sister and she knew, whatever challenges they may face, whether in Baseball or in life, they'd have each other to lean on no matter what

[grannanna]

In Defense of Carlotta

So I was rewatching the Royal Albert Hall version of POTO and I kinda came to a realization: Carlotta didn’t entirely deserve what was going on.

I’m not saying she wasn’t a jerk. She is a primadonna for crying out loud. She’s got the ego of a peacock, but she’s still human.

At the beginning of the musical during her rendition of Think of Me and the bit between that version and Christine’s version, she gets attacked by the phantom. Of course everyone knows it’s the phantom but the managers all kinda just blow it off. We see her get upset and leave the opera cause she’s pissed.

You could frame this as her being a perfectionist OR you could see this as a woman finally breaking after years of abuse from a ghost of a man.

She says that “for three years these things keep happening” and that the previous manager never did anything to stop them. He simply paid the phantom and then kept casting her in the lead roles.

The phantom wants two things and that is to get Christine on stage and then into his arms. So, he sees Carlotta as an obstacle and has probably been attacking her for all those three years.

And what happens when she complains? When she gets scared and looks for someone to aid her? She gets either one of two responses:

The person is too scared of the opera ghost to do anything.

The person doesn’t believe in the opera ghost and acts like she’s crazy.

Both result in someone telling her “these things do happen.”

So can you blame her for leaving after she got close to dying AGAIN?

And then less than a week after leaving she finds out that they replaced her already? After all that talk about how she was the best of the best, the crème de la crème, her years and years of training, they replace her. And not only do they replace her, but they replace her with practically a teenager who has been getting trained by the very man that keeps trying to murder her?!

No wonder she was so angry when she stormed into the letters scene! Those she trusted had replaced her, sent her a taunting note, and then had the gall to ask her to come back!

I think this also recontextualizes the majority of Primadonna. These jerks are asking her to come back and of course she’s hesitant, she doesn’t wanna get almost assassinated again, but that tiny bit of vanity and pride comes up in the back of her mind.

Furthermore her “public needs” her. This could be the pride but I like to imagine her thinking of a little girl in that audience that wants nothing more than to be like her. Music was one of the only arts and ways to make money open to women at the time. Shes an example of how women can be independent in this world.

And ya know what? This man is trying to ruin her life. He doesn’t know her, but he keeps tryin to intimidate her and make her give up on something she clearly has a passion for. If you watch the recording of the 25th anniversary version of Primadonna, after the phantom gives his good ol “imma mess up the show” threat, she cocks her head and gives a little smirk. Shes saying “screw you. I worked hard for this. I spent years of my life, hours of my time, all of my energy, to be the best of the best and not you nor any spooky ghost can stop me!”

In the next opera, Carlotta and Christine are clearly having fun playing opposite each other. You could argue that this was just for the opera to go well, but I can tell you as an ex-actress myself that feelings towards your cast mates can get past you and the audience will see it.

(For instance, in high school I was playing opposite a guy I had a crush on and he had a crush on me, so when we went to a clinic (judges giving you advice on your show before competition) the judge basically told us to decide whether or not our characters liked each other or not cause it was making it too complicated for the stage. (For context we were playing Jo and Laurie. Laurie likes Jo, Jo doesn’t like him like that) Once the play was over we started dating. TLDR the audience will know if actors do or don’t like each other)

So Christine and Carlotta are having a good time because I think Carlotta realizes this isn’t Christine’s fault. Someone was going to have to take on the roll and it gave this young artist a start. Plus, it’s not Christine’s fault the Phantom became obsessed with her. He could have chosen literally anyone and Christine just happened to be the (un)lucky girl. I don’t see any evidence of Carlotta holding any grudges against Christine in this scene.

Also, this is just a minor thing, but I think that this was the right casting for this specific opera. Carlotta is much more voluptuous than Christine. She can’t exactly Mulan herself but Christine is younger and smaller and therefore can. This isn’t a talent thing this is basic casting. The entire opera is more important than the phantoms obsession. Also, the page boy is still a good role! If anything it seems like a pivotal role that just happens to be a mute one! The phantom should be excited that they’re not just throwing Christine back to the ballet dancers!

And then, when everything is going well, when she thinks that maybe the opera ghost has given up, that terrible voice announces that she and the mangers have pissed him off. You can see in her face she’s trying to be strong but she is scared. Shes not angry. She’s not petty. She’s scared.

She only gets mad at Christine when she reacts to the phantom. Yeah she acts like a jerk, calling her a toad. But the man trying to kill her is talking and the girl he is obsessed with his looking around for her “angel” which is Carlotta’s angel of death. So she’s gonna get mad. She’s gonna yell at Christine even during the show cause that’s her only outlet at the moment.

I would like to note here that that is a dick move on Carlotta’s part. However, we just had the two having a good time and we don’t know for sure that Carlotta didn’t apologize afterwards. We have a whole time skip between acts. The two could have made up.

But back to the show, the phantom seems to magically curse her to croak like a toad. In the version I saw in high school she took a sip of water that had something the phantom put in it to make her croak, but in the 25th version, you don’t see that. For all she knows this is no longer just a creepy guy but a literal ghost that just cursed her to sound like a frog! Getting rid of the thing she holds most dear! Her voice! No wonder she’s scared! Hell she starts crying! And Christine even tries to comfort her! Further proving that Christine is an angel and that the two could have developed somewhat of a working friendship/relationship.

And in her moment of terror what do the managers do? They replace her again! After all that talk about how they needed her the minute she becomes an obstacle they throw her out of the way.

She probably doesn’t have any time to process that before seeing that the phantom ACTUALLY KILLED SOMEONE! Any of that little hope she had that it was all just threats and taunts is out the window when the master of the fly ACTUALLY DIES! Hes killed and the phantom laughs and parades the corpse around like a piñata!

After that he manages to make a giant chandelier explode?!? If Carlotta doesn’t think that the phantom is an actual ghost before then she does now!

But a long while later, everything seems to go back to normal. We don’t know what happens in the meantime but we skip ahead to Carlotta managing to attend a masquerade party back at the opera. She’s all in black and back in her “don’t f with me I have the power of god and opera music on my side” vibes.

She doesn’t get much screen time here but we get three major lines from her.

“What a delight”

“Watching us and watching them”

“May its splendor never fade”

And “no more notes”

We can glean three things from this. Life has been good. The ghost has finally left her alone, and she’s got her art back. Her passion back! And I like to headcannon that she’s become a better person in this time and that’s why she’s dressed like she is.

If she was really still vain and conceited, she’d be wearing the most elegant angelic or queen-like dress she could find, but she’s instead a witch.

She’s dressed as who she used to be. She may have evolved and come to terms with sharing the spotlight hence why she says “watching US” She’s in a better place now that death isn’t breathing down her neck.

(Unrelated but also anyone notice Madame Giry with a young handsome dude? Is Giry a cougar and we just never noticed?)

And then, as everything is going good again, THE PHANTOM SHOWS UP AGAIN! And he’s literally LITERALLY dressed as the red death! A literal manifestation of Carlotta’s fears surrounding this monster of a man.

Yes Carlotta then becomes a jerk when she gets only a tiny part, which I will say she should have expected. The guy who wants you dead writes an opera and you expect him to give you a large role? Girl? You on the same planet as the rest of us? Once again, pride and vanity are kinda her big things.

Yet she still agrees to do it cause people are in actual danger now. And as she says “the things I have to do for my art!”

And yet she jumps back down the hole that she and the phantom are both in: blaming others for their problems. She thinks Christine is in line with the phantom and therefore blames her. She isn’t as… shall we say croaky about it but she still does point the finger. And yet she does seem to get a little worried when she thinks Christine is completely backing out. I mean after what happened last time Christine didn’t play the lead..

And then the phantom sends his note and once again you can see the horror and then also embarrassment when the phantom insults her acting.

Another headcannon is that yeah she does have an amazing voice there is no doubt about it, but she seems nervous about her acting. Maybe she knows her acting isn’t as good as her singing and realizes that if she messes up this time let’s just say she won’t get another chance.

(Also did the phantom really have to fat shame Piangi?)

And as the phantom addresses Christine in the note, I think Carlotta flops sides again when she hears that Christine has basically left the phantom. Hes not training her anymore. She had no idea of this. And if you can zoom in on her face in the background, you can see that Carlotta looks guilty for just yelling at this girl that’s just as terrified of the phantom as her if not more so!

And then she smirks again when Christine says no so then there goes that argument. And then again she goes back to pointing fingers but this time at Giry. Granted Giry does have some blood on her fingers so she has a point but once again EVERYONE IS SCARED OF THE PHANTOM! What makes Giry any different?! And when that pointing doesn’t work it goes back to pointing at Christine cause she can’t take into account anyone’s suffering but her own.

Then Christine had her break down and Carlotta comments “she’s mad.” But look at how she says this. Shes not making fun of her, she’s not belittling her, she’s worried about her. She sees the madness she’s experiencing is happening to others too. I think this is the final time she flips back to sanity. She realizes she’s not the only woman cursed by the phantom.

And while we can’t see much of her after Raoul’s solo we do see her almost run after a terrified Christine.

Yes she’s still jealous of Christine, we see that with the looks she gives during the rehearsal for Don Juan, but we also see something else I’ve been neglecting.

She’s an amazing friend to Piangi.

She gets upset when people correct him. He gives her support after almost being murdered and walks out with her. He pumps her up, she pumps him up. She compliments his skills and never once gets mad that he gets a role and she didn’t. I mean she’s mad she didn’t get a role but she’s still happy for Piangi! She’s willing to stand up to the phantoms writing not for herself but for her friend Piangi. And she backs down not for herself but for PIANGI. And she gets mad when he gets stressed and she gets stressed when he’s stressed and she’s a dick to everyone else but at least she’s a good friend to the few she has.

Which is why it’s probably for the best that we don’t see her react to Piangi’s death in this version.

Carlotta is definitely not perfect. But I don’t know if she’s entirely evil. She has been hurt by the phantom as much as anyone and deserves a future of peace just as much as anyone else does because that could allow her to grow.

Anyway rant over.

[thisgirlsophia]

HC’s for Bernard the Elf dating a Sweet!Reader

(gifs not mine)

I wrote this all the way back at the beginning of August during Summer vacation and just waited till now, since Bernard season was back

CW: GN! Reader, Pure Fluff 

You two are complete opposites. You being the upbeat, positive, sweet one. Him being the sarcastic, grumpy, overthinker one. But opposites attract! You do occasionally have a few sarcasm battles with each other though.

Him being 2 inches taller than you.

I feel like he only uses nicknames when it’s just the two of you. Ex: Love, Sweetheart, dear, darling, (very simple but sickly sweet).

You use a few sweet ones too, but you also like to make fun of him sometimes so Mr. perfectionist, and grumpy it is.

If you use a sweet one in public, he will get embarrassed.

“I told you not to use that in public!” 

You smile and laugh mischievously.

“Seriously, this is a work environment! Be professional!”

You lean in and kiss his cheek.

“Whatever you say sweetie.”

You walk away leaving behind a blushing annoyed Bernard.

Having snowball fights. 

Him winning and you insisting it was a tie.

Making snow angels together.

Sitting by the fire and cuddling while drinking hot chocolate.

Ice skating together. That boy is one great skater.

You help him have more fun.

Stealing his hat (Doesn’t matter if it was on or off his head).

“Hey Y/N, have you seen-”

He didn’t even bother trying to get it back, you just looked so adorable.

Oh, and when you see him genuinely smile or laugh for the first time-

“Hey, love?”

Bernard waves his hand in front of your face.

You were just so lovestruck!

“Oh! Um I just never thought- you should do that more often.”

Being close with Charlie.

Coming with Bernard whenever he visits him.

Charlie looks up to you two.

He was so happy when you two got together.

And Bernard was so embarrassed-

Calming him down when he gets angry.

“It’s okay Bernard, we can figure it out together.”

You give him a comforting hug, linking your arms around his waist, leaning your head on his collarbone.

He hugs you back, puts his head in the crook of your neck, and sighs.

Kisses are full of love and adoration.

Him letting you play with his curly hair.

You two have definitely kissed under the mistletoe before (Scott & Charlie 100% had something to do with it).

Maybe when you two were just friends you only gave him a kiss on the forehead.

(Probably really blushes whenever you kiss him on the forehead, since it reminds him of that moment).

But when you became a couple.

You two had the sweetest most beautiful kiss ever!

Scott/Santa thinks you are one of the best things that have happened to Bernard.

He’s less uptight and seems to be happier at work now that you’re in his life.

When cuddling, if you are facing each other, your head will be in his chest and his head will be on top of yours.

Holding you like the teddy bear you are <3

If you’re spooning he’s most likely the big spoon.

But sometimes when he’s had a rough stressful day *cough* Curtis bugging him.

He loves for you to be holding him.

It’s very comforting and gives him the hope that tomorrow will be better.

Getting him to take breaks (ones that are longer than 5 minutes lol).

And possibly a vacation. 

Might take a lot of an effect but it will be worth it.

“But Bernard-”

“No! Too much needs to be done!”

“Christmas is 360 days away! Can’t you spare 15 minutes?”

“I-”

He looks down and sees you with pleating eyes, and a small pout.

“Fine.”

You smile wide and you give him a great big hug.

“Thank you.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

He blushes and smiles ever so slightly. 

He always tends to over work himself.

Sometimes he falls asleep in his office.

You'll come home and he won’t be there.

So, you head over to the workshop and open his door.

You find him slumped over his desk with his pen still in his hand.

You smile and walk over to him, removing the pen from his grasp.

You slightly nudge his shoulder.

“Bernard honey, you can finish that in the morning. Let’s go home.”

You make him eat a little bit of dinner before he goes to bed.

He falls asleep in your arms <3

You just care and love this elf so much, and as stubborn as he may be you wouldn’t want it any other way.

I really enjoyed writing this at the time, so I hoped you enjoyed reading them.

[nico-di-genova]

why does alexs childhood actually sound so sad 😭 and where did you hear this info.. cause respectfully i want to now pull up go the rossi household and have a little chat..

James and Tim have referred to his childhood as sad and depressing multiple times on the podcast. It sounds sad because it was :(. From Off Track we have learned:

The last “normal” birthday Alex had was when he was ten. He went to a water park with two friends from his school. Most of his other birthdays were spent at dinner parties with his parents and their friends, where everyone was his parents age or older. These were often dinners where they were trying to secure Alex sponsors, so they were called “birthday dinners” but really they were just business dealings. As an adult, he says the best birthday he remembers is where a small group of his friends (James and Tim included) came over for dinner and they made a lasagne. I think they lost power, so they ended up cooking it on the grill. So small intimate affairs are what he prefers, James has mentioned offhand throwing him a party to make up for all the ones he missed as a kid and Alex has straight up told him not to. He’s uncomfortable with the attention now/doesn’t see the point.

When he was a teenager he won a scholarship. This scholarship was typed on a computer, and done so professionally the guy reviewing it thought Alex was bullshitting him. He met every criteria of this scholarship to a T, to the point the guy said it was “Harvard level”. Turns out it was perfect because Alex’s dad had made him sit down and work on it until it was nothing less. “You know how Peter is,” he said to Tim/James when they were like, “oh so you’re just good at everything Alex.” So he’s a perfectionist because his dad was, he gives 110% because that’s what’s always been expected of him.

His family never really celebrated Christmas, he never saw extended family during the holidays, because him and his parents would stay home and just spend the time with each other. He never did “milk and cookies for Santa” or did any of the “fun” holiday stuff, because his parents raised him to believe the “true meaning of Christmas” - I.e. Jesus’ birth. He didn’t get a lot of Christmas presents, and the ones he did get seem to be predominantly from family. His parents would give him a legal pad and as he opened gifts he had to write who they were from and then he’d have a send a thank you note to them afterward.

For Halloween, his parents would make him count each piece of candy he got from trick-or-treating and they would only let him have 1-2 pieces a day. Which, teaching your kid discipline and self-control is good and all, but making a kid count how much candy they got… he also couldn’t dress any anything from “secular film culture/anything scary” hence the battery and traffic light costumes.

Overall he seems to have been raised in an overly strict, highly religious household where he was expected to be a mini adult and didn’t necessarily get to enjoy just being a kid.

[signanothername]

Sooo... I'm back from the dead after dying from the overflow of too many positive emotions yesterday... (thanks for all the kind words 🩷)

And I'm back with another ask! Cool.

My question is not something necessarily related to the topic of the blog or anything, but rather about your artistic process?

So, personally I think many artists have those moments, or maybe specific paintings, that may just be emotionally draining. Like you're drawing a piece, and you don't like it for some reason, you try to change it, but you still don't like the painting, and you keep trying, but it's just something that's missing and you don't understand what it is and it just becomes frustrating and you start to get angry and-

Well, at least I seem to have such moments quite often (I dunno, maybe I'm just a perfectionist), and as far as I'm concerned different artists have their different ways to cope with this, so I wonder - do you have such moments sometimes and what do you usually do about it?

I'm sorry for the long ask I just can't keep things short and I'm just always curious about such things and the way different artists do stuff 😅

Hello!! Amazing to see you again! <33333 (of course!! Thank you for your kind words as well aaahh 😭❤️✨🌷)

As for your question, oooh boi, yes actually I have these moments A LOT, it’s cause i’m a perfectionist myself jdhdhdh

In fact, these kinda moments is why i sometimes give up on certain artworks or comics I make, and that’s why my wips just always seem to pile up, here are some examples of two artworks and a page of a comic I gave up on cause I just couldn’t for the life of me make them into what I wanted

And I will be lying to you if I said I have a solution for it or that I know how to deal with it

But I deal with it in two ways, I either completely delete the sketch i made and start over again

Or what I usually do is that I actually stop if i find the piece I’m working on emotionally draining, let go of the artwork and work on something else that i find fun, cause “giving up” doesn’t necessarily mean i will never get back to them, I see it as “taking a break” from the artwork till I get inspiration or motivation back to work on it again

Generally I’ve learned that in art, it’s ok to take things slow, I don’t always need to finish the artwork that I started before I start working on something else, in fact, taking things slow is how I made art much more enjoyable to me, cause it means I actually enjoy the process instead of treating it like there’s some sort of deadline above my head

To give you an example of what i mean, this artwork right here? Took me over 2 weeks to finish, not cause i couldn’t finish it quickly (in fact i can easily finish the same artwork in less than an hour) I just taught myself to take my time when making art, take things slow snd enjoy the process bit by bit, i worked on the quick sketch, closed it, then got back to it to work on cleaning it up multiple times, closed it again, then worked on coloring it and so on

And that’s also how i deal with artworks that make me frustrated, i take things slow, if i get frustrated then i simply close the artwork and work on something else till i have the motivation to work on what frustrated me again, that way i took a little break, and sometimes actually while working on something else you might get an idea on how to fix the artwork that frustrated you, but ultimately art is supposed to be fun not frustrating, so it’s ok not to finish artworks, it’s ok to abandon artworks if you don’t like them or if they emotionally drain you

That’s how i deal with it at least, but i say try to find your own path to how to deal with it, cause my way might not work for you, so i say experiment and find out :D

And nah don’t apologize i love long asks actually dychchch

[chewing-drywall]

What I think of metalocalypse ships

Skwistok- it's. Okay? I can see why it's a thing as they're the most conventionally attractive, they have a funny dynamic and they technically do work well together but it's just bland. Personally they really fit the rival siblings sort of vibe, skiwsgaar bullying toki because that's what older brothers do and they just seem like very close friends that mean a lot to eachother then anything super romantic/sexual (or if anything i love a solid qpr). IF ITS DONE CORRECTLY and you actually flesh out both charecters I've read a couple fantastic fanfics but otherwise it's a 6-7/10 for me.

Nickles- fuck yea, pre-klok snb pickles and young Nathan? Fuck yea. Late deth-klok emotionally constipated co-parents? Fuck yea. They already care about eachother so much from contributing so much to the band, and they've known eachother forever. Love it 👍👍👍👍 10/10

Dickface- kind of what happens when fandoms don't want to include the less attractive charecter, and as someone who does like murderface this isn't the greatest ship BUT I see why it exists. The Christmas special? Great! 6/10

Nategail- eh. It could've been SO GOOD GUYS I LOVE ABIGAIL!! But unfortunately it just was NOT fleshed out enough and if they gave us reasons to care about the ship then sure but CMON that proposal scene was so fucking awkward. 5/10

Now we get into the rair pairs

Natecharles- fuck yea any creations I've been surrounding this ship have been very high quality and I think it's sweet. 8/10

Skwisgaar/murderface- I actually really like this one WHEN. Skiwsgaar is the one that first starts liking murderface not the other way around. It can be used to show that regardless of appearance it turns out that people will like you for being YOU and it's generally pretty nice.

7/10

Nategaar- aha yea give it to me, it's like. Yea. This ship shakes my head like an etcha sketch. It's the most musically driven people in the band, the most most likely to pursue music afterwards if the band ever ended, both perfectionists when it comes to their creations and they both have a tendency to work until they drop. Yes. 9/10

Magnus/Charles- the only reason I even mention them is because @feeshies wrote the most in-depth fic I've honestly read to date surrounding this paring and the characterization of both of them has honeslty made me like them as a whole. I love the idea of the DRAMA when magnus got kicked out to also lose another person he cared about and Charles choosing the band over him, as a tragedy enjoying YUM

Pickles/toki- ehhh, there's just too many parental caregiver vibes for it to really work. They both deeply care for eachother and they obviously are very close but yknow it's not like a actual relationship type thing. 3/10

Tokigail- not my fave but honestly not horrible for a show with like a single female charecter. I don't think their good in like an actual relationship but I love the idea of a very closeknit friendship forged from sharing horrible experiences. 4/10

Hammertooth- such a landmine I'm not even going to talk about it

Poly klok- yes. Just, as a queer person who is also aromantic I get such joy seeing them all together and happy, no matter the dynamic they all have lovely chemistry and i love scenes where their all just hanging out and having fun