#i made this into a charm a while back... 10/10 i think its very cute :]

[sylveanh]

day four of oc-tober: underappreciated oc

olivia's friends missin, matcherie, and acacia !! bc despite all being a friend group together i mostly only show off olivia to others

[imraespace]

STREAMERS! ★ ˎˊ˗

..CHAPTER 8 || CHAPTER 9! || CHAPTER 10..

note: i wrote this when the barbie movie had first came out hehe

"Are you ready Giyuu?" You asked him through the call.

You thought it was wise to make a video out of it! Free content.

Anyways, you all planned to wear pink because who won't, its barbie.

"I'm not wearing pink." Sanemi answered back Mitsuri for the last time. Mitsuri wants everyone to be perfect for this gathing.

"Cmon! We will all be matching!" She said as she showed her outfit.

It was a simple white, long sleeved top and a pink skirt, a few inches above her knees. Seems very Mitsuri.

"I rather die than match with you all."

"You're lying. Just wear the darn pink man.." You mumbled as you looked through your closet for clothes.

Shinobu and Giyuu was in the same room, his room actually, she's helping him look for an outfit clothes while wearing her's already.

But your eyes wasn't on them, it was on Muichiro who's literally in your room.

"Y/N, I literally can't fit in your clothes."

"But you have no pink clothes so find something."

He sighed.

"And hurry! I want to do your hair." You said with a big smile.

.

.

A little while later almost everyone was finished! Besides Muichiro, because you're doing his hair.

And his hairstyle is barbies half up and half down hairstyle! Does he look silly? Probably but he didn't complained.

And now you all meet up!

"Sometimes I wished I never worked in a school." Sanemi mumbled, staring at his phone.

"That's the best part of it!" You said as you pat his back, he just rolled his eyes, silently curing you out.

You all finally got your tickets and decided to wait around.

But then...

You saw a classmate.

"Where is his shirt.." Muichiro whispered.

"I think he's dressed up as Ken from the movie." You whispered back.

"Hi guys!" The cheerful boy greeted both you as Muichiro, along with his sister and his friends behind.

"Hi tanjiro!" You cheerfully greeted back but eyes still on Inosuke.

"How are you even allowed to enter the mall without a shirt?" You asked him

"I hid my chest using this fluffy coat." Inosuke said with a confident smile.

"Oh.."

.

"Anyways, I'm guessing you two are also going to see the movie?" Tanjiro asked you both and got a nod in response.

"That's great! Nezuko wanted to see it so I invited Zenitsu and Inosuke." He said as Nezuko nodded in agreement. She's wearing the uniform from the princess charm school.

As soon as your eyes caught on to it, you was squeezing the life out of her, followed by small 'aw"s.

Safe to say that she looked cute!

Zenitsu was dressed up as Preminger! (im joking LMAO)

.

.

Tanjiro and the others left to buy tickets and the others went to get food which leaves you and Muichiro alone.

"Mui look." You said as you pointed at a crane machine game.

"No.." He sighed out.

"Please!" It was like a tradition, every time you see a crane game, you make Muichiro do it! That's why you have quite alot of plushies on your bed.

"No." He said but you ignored as your dragged him towards it anyways.

It had Hello Kitty, Pokémon and Sonic plushies.

"Get me that Pikachu one, he looks so cute." You said as you pointed towards it.

And just as you said, he was on his way to get tokens to play it.

But who said you wasn't going to play?

You also got tokens and decided to do the Hello kitty one.

A few minutes has past and you finally heard him speak up.

"Got it." He said as he shoved the plushie in your face.

"Hold on! I'm trying to get this Kuromi for you." You said as your moved his hand out of your face.

"You're gonna go broke."

"No."

"Yes."

"Shut up."

He sighed, then walked up behind you, moved the crane a bit to the back, then finally made you push the button.

And indeed you got the plush.

"Oh." You yet out as you got the plush and then finally, shoved it in his face.

"Here!" You said as he gave you the Pikachu as well.

A small smile was plastered on his face as he took the plush.

Part of the tradition was getting plushies for each other. Matching plushies actually, you had My Melody so you got him Kuromi.

"Thanks, now we're matching." He said.

"Yep." You responded and held the Pikachu.

"Now we need to wait until we get an Ash plush for you." You told him as he nodded.

"Uh sorry to cut this short but time to see the movie." Sanemi said, ruining the mood.

"Okay. Thanks for not ruining the mood or whatever." You said as you rolled your eyes

"No one should be happy if I'm not."

"Oh."

"Oh."

.

.

.

At last the movie! Safe to say that everyone of you all sat in the back row and it was a bit chaotic on Tanjiro's side. Inosuke thought it was fun to throw popcorn at those infront of him. It indeed inspired you! So at random times you too, will throw a bit of popcorn. Though on Muichiro's lap rest the plushies you both had won.

STREAMERS!

EXTRA!:

TAGLIST: @deezy12299 @s0uldarling @cherryblossomly @boogiemansbitch @delusional-mushroom @ashlovelys (OPEN)

[gabzilla-z]

ok quick thoughts, spoilers behind the cut.

Pros:

Halle. HALLE. H a l l e. Her voice, her face, her mannerisms. They took what made Ariel special in the animated movie and built on it and she was the perfect person to pull it off.

Her beauty was distracting.

So glad they finally got a singer for a live action, I couldn’t take another B&B autotuned disaster.

Made me want to get to the nearest rock and play mermaid ngl.

I had my doubts with Jonah but he did a great job with Eric, played the shy, kinda awkward potato prince charming to perfection. Loved that they expanded his backstory and his interest in adventure and the sea. Also A+ for the movie knowing he had a white shirt on while surrounded by water and using every chance it had to drench him.

Eric still being caring and worried about Ariel even under Ursula’s spell? 10/10 no notes.

He came to chew bubblegum and be dreamy and he was all out of bubblegum.

Halle and Jonah’s chemistry was insane, I need them to do ten movies making eyes at each other.

Seriously the movie could have been 2 hours of them interacting in that library and it would have been money well spent.

or just two hours of them being cute smol and tol in a boat idc

TRUE LOVE INDEED

Can’t wait for this movie to be out in D+ so I can reblog all the gifs.

Part of Your World and all reprises were ofc gorgeous. Vanessa’s Trick is haunting and exactly what one would want for a siren song. For the First Time is gorgeous and underrated, felt very Broadway-esque. Eric’s song was corny but in a good way.

The rest of the songs are adequate but are not as good as the original ones.

Gotta said, song aside, the Kiss the Girl scene was more endearing in this version. When she helps him figure out her name?

Melissa was good as Ursula and made the character her own, though I think she was not as scary as she could have been. Better than I expected, though.

The actress that plays Vanessa knew she had 5 minutes to make an impression and used them to the fullest. Delightful.

Cons:

The CGI felt unfinished and so did the color grading/lighting. I edited all the movie images in this post (just played with the saturation and the contrast) and I’m mediocre at best. HIRE TUMBLR EDITORS, DISNEY.

Halle deserved to wear more outfits, I can't believe Disney missed an opportunity to sell more dolls. Would have given her a dress for each day on land and the water dress. Mouse, I thought you liked money.

we could have had it all

Wanted more of her sisters tbh. And less Triton, Javier phoned it in imo. I know Triton and Ariel’s relationship is an important part of the original movie but idk if it was his half assed acting or me wanting more of the sisters, but I wasn’t moved.

Flounder's weird character design was saved by his stellar voice actor and Sebastian grew on me, he was hilarious. Scuttlefina was tolerable but gosh she’s always playing the same character, stop casting her in everything.

Less I say about Scuttlebutt the better. Kids are probably gonna love it, though.

The ending was kinda weird? It felt rushed and the battle with Ursula was disappointing. Which is a surprise because the OTHER stormy scene at night was wonderfully done. 

Up to Ursula taking Ariel back to the ocean it felt really cohesive but the second Triton appears to save her it was like they were trying to speed things up and it got... weird.

Didn’t mind Ariel being the one that killed Ursula, after everything she put her through.

Cannot believe the movie robbed us of Jonah screaming “I lost her once, I’m not gonna lose her again!”

Overall it was a well paced (up to the finale), entertaining, charming movie. Despite its faults, the only Disney live action I want to rewatch (outside MAYBE Cinderella).

8/10 Justice for the foam dress.

[nezebel]

♡ jojos + jobros doing black!readers' hair part 2♡

a/n: hello my lovelies! i'm back to make a part 2. honestly loved writing the first part so yk i had to double it 😝 sorry this took like a million years. I had state testing and i do have to prioritize so yk how it is

Part 4

Josuke Higashikata

Since you two do your daily hair care routines together, he has a decent idea of how he can at least detangle and part it. The first part of the braiding process is easy. However when it comes to actual braiding, you can tell he's confused.

"You said you wanted braids like Moesha? I don't know how to do that at all."

"It's easy. Haven't you ever braided something at least once? Like some string or something?"

"Nope! Sorry, babe."

You sigh as you explain how to braid hair to your darling clueless boyfriend.

He finally finishes your Moesha braids, and they look pretty good. However, he wishes you would've asked him to do something simpler. His hands are sore and his nose burns from the smell of shine n jam and shea moisture. At least he did your edges cutely (he made a little heart with them!). 9/10!

Okuyasu Nijimura

You are scared. Terrified, even. The minute he saw the same braids you wore on a girl in some MTV music video on the TV, he knew he wanted to help you out. So you let him! He has no idea what he's doing.

"Oku, do you know what you're doing?"

"It can't be that hard, right? Just cross those two strands of hair and make them look pretty."

"Oku, you're supposed to cross three strands. THREE."

"Oh..."

It's okay though. He eventually gives up and watches you do your hair yourself and learns a lot. When you're finished, he helps you put purple and black beads on the ends of your braids. Overall, 10/10 (for the beads lol).

Part 5

Giorno Giovanna

You two usually do your hair together like Josuke, so it's not too hard for him to figure out. That doesn't mean he doesn't have his fair share of difficulties, though.

"Amore? Yes, I grabbed the extension hair...gel? Hair gel? Let me check." He rummaged through his plastic bag, worrying just a bit.

"Giogio?" You say, slightly worried. He had been looking for quite a bit. "Giorno," you almost warn, an irritated tone in your voice. Finally you hear the sound of a plastic bag being put down.

"I'm sorry, dear. I got the hair gel. No need to worry."

He finishes your hair nicely. While he does cheat a little bit with his stand when taking out a tangle or lazily getting rid of a pile of extension hair that had a mind of its own, he gets it done well. He puts in blonde, of course, to match with him. You even figure out how to do little hair rolls to match his. He puts wooden beads at the end for a nice finish. Overall, 8/10!

Bruno Bucciarati

Very patient. Shockingly patient. You'd assume he'd try to take a little break, but he kept going until he finished the job (very like him). Although he was a little nervous about messing up your butterfly locs, he still did them pretty nicely.

"Ah, am I twisting these right?" He questioned himself, looking at the loc in his hands. The air smelled heavily of incense and hair product (both because of you).

You smile slightly. "You'll be just fine, dear. You're doing so well already, especially for you first time with faux locs," you reply, a hint of encouragement in your tone. He takes it as inspiration, hums in reply, and continues.

Your locs are gorgeous! Bruno even adds pretty gold charms to go with them. They're simply beautiful and he can't stop staring. Overall, 9/10!

Part 6

Jolyne Kujo

Jolyne has wanted to do your hair for a while. She's retwisted a head or two in jail, so she definitely knows what's up. When you finally say yes, she's ecstatic!

You and Jolyne had been thinking about what kind of hairstyle to do for a while, but she's finally got the best idea.

"Darlingggg?"

You turn your head to Jolyne. "Yesss?"

"Why don't you do jade braids? You can match your hair with mine!" she tells you excitedly.

You think for a moment. "I dunno, Jo...That's kind of a hit or miss."

She sags her shoulders a bit. "You'll be fine, promise. Besides, you and me matching will be sooo cute. Think of the photo opportunities."

You sigh, giving in, but give her a small smile. Moving in quickly, you give her a small kiss on the cheek. "Okay. I trust you."

"Then let me work my magic already."

And she most definitely did. Jolyne gave you crystals and gold accessories as well as lip gloss and mascara (if you're into that) to go with your hair. Surprisingly enough, she had made the yellow/dark green combo work pretty well on your hair. She just wouldn't stop kissing you. 10000/10!

Ermes Costello

Come on now. You know she'll hook you up. As soon as she asks to do your hair, you instantly say yes. The two of you decide to go all out just to prove her braiding skill with micobraids.

"I dunno, Ermes. Microbraids are most definitely not for the weak," you warn her. "Your fingers will be gone when you're not even halfway through."

She simply shrugs. "So? I'll make it worth the wait." She sits you down and begins to work on your hair.

She was, surprisingly enough, able to finish the microbraids in six hours. When you asked her how, she claimed she just had 'fast hands' (something you disagreed with especially when you were playing Mario Kart). She went through the additional pain of adding jewelry to some of the braids (which was hard since there were so many, like lord have mercy), but they looked amazing in the end. 1000/10, like Jolyne.

thank you for reading! I've had a recent spike of creativity. Another reason why this took so long is because my computer broke 😭 like literally, the entire screen is shattered. it's heartbreaking. fly high little chromebook 😞 on another note, if you guys have any ideas dont be shy to suggest them! I'm trying to improve my writing so go ahead! The content that is easiest for me to write for include JJBA, LOZ (BotW, TP), and KNY! I'm so obsessed with kny right now it's not even funny so help yourself! love you all dearly mwah buh bye

[sharpteethreviews]

"A Rival Most Vial" by R.K. Ashwick

🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 (3.5/5) (🌶️ Spice level: 0)

“Two potion shops, one heated rivalry…until hate bubbles over into something else.

Any adventurer worth their sword knows about Ambrose Beake. The proud, quiet half-elf sells the best, and only, potions in the city—until a handsome new shopkeeper named Eli opens another potion shop across the street, throwing Ambrose’s peace and ledgers far off balance.

Within weeks, they’re locked in a war of price tags and products—Ambrose’s expertise against Eli’s effortless charm. Toil leads to trouble, the safety gloves come off, and right as their rivalry reaches a boiling point…

The mayor commissions them to brew a potion together.

The task is as complex as it is lucrative, pushing both men to the limits of their abilities and patience. Yet as the fires burn and cauldrons bubble…they find a different sort of chemistry brewing.”

When you grow up with your only real chance for any sort of lgbt representation being fanfiction, you develop a fondness for its tropes and cliches. And “A Rival Most Vial” is like a full length novel of that nostalgia. I don’t know very much about R.K. Ashwick, but I don’t think it would surprise me too much if the trenches of fanfiction.net or AO3 were where she made her writing debut. The book is a love letter to everything safe and familiar, and even beloved about fanfiction. It’s a cute and very simple romantic fantasy read, and the world Ashwick sets it in feels very reminiscent of DND adventures- while I was reading it I actually couldn’t help but mentally compare the characters and world to “The Adventure Zone” (a dnd podcast hosted by the McElroy brothers). It’s cozy, the characters are easy to follow and the world is teeming with all sorts of people and creatures.

 I would honestly recommend it as a young adult or even teen fiction read. There’s things that adults can enjoy within the story, but overall it feels like a book meant to be enjoyed by younger audiences.

The biggest criticism I actually have for the book relates back to the comparison to fanfiction. Fanfiction is often shorter, a few thousand words with pre-established characters and often a simple plot or premise. “A Rival Most Vial” is about 340 pages depending on how/where you read it, but if you cleaned it up it could likely be about 200 pages of things that actually contribute something to the plot/characters, if not less. The writing feels unpolished and the plot feels jumbled and scattered, which short prose fiction often disguises better. When expanded into long form writing, those weaknesses are exposed

The book itself is rife with minor conflicts, snippets, and interactions that take up a lot of space, but add nothing to the plot. Actually, they tend to distract from it pretty heavily, constantly pulling attention from the problem at hand to explore a different conflict, usually between Ambrose, one of the co-protagonists, and one of the supporting cast. Unfortunately, few of these ‘side quests’ are actually finished in a satisfying way- most feel like empty filler that exist just to tick a trope off the list. At best, they feel confusing and distracting, and at worst they are actively disappointing side plots. Most could be completely erased and absolutely nothing about the story would change- and if 5/10/20 pages at a time can be deleted from your book with no consequence, then they either need to be rewritten or scrapped. It feels cluttered- and the primary plot is supposed to be a time sensitive quest that the characters are supposed to be anxious and flustered about, but somehow there’s always time for brunch. It diminishes any sense of urgency the reader is supposed to feel when even the characters feel distracted. In the end, it makes half the story forgettable.

The story also had a weird lack of focus on its own primary plot point, not just in how many sidequests happened, but in that very little of the actual problem was explained or solved. It felt a little like an afterthought, like they realized last minute that that was supposed to be the actual plot and they’d need to finish that to finish out the book. And even then, it was finished with something like, a quarter of the book to go.

The lack of polish extends beyond an inconsistent plot line, the character interactions are actually the weakest point of this book despite the vast potential it gives itself. Interactions between the characters tend to read as overly scripted- it’s as if they’re reciting something instead of talking, which leads to conversations feeling stilted. This is especially difficult during emotionally charged conversations, of which there are supposed to be dozens, being flat and ineffective. You don’t get any true sensation for how the characters feel about each other, and any idea of their relationship is told instead of shown… and even that isn’t spelled out until the end of the book. It’s supposed to be a world shattering realization at the end, but instead it’s just… words on a page. Which is a shame, the relationships that Ashwick was trying to write had amazing potential for an heart-wrenching story about found family and love, but it only reached about half of that potential.

Conflicts in this story were also very weak because of both the inconsistent plot and stilted character interactions. Nothing felt like it had high stakes as everything was solved by brushing it off and moving on.

A minor spoiler warning

The best example of this actually the most memorable moment from the book. The conflict arises with two characters getting into a heated argument, that winds up with one quite literally abandoning the other (who has a major fear of abandonment) in a particularly deadly situation- and the situation is solved with the abandoned character seeking forgiveness (for some reason), giving the abandoner a gift, and then they hug. 

The conflict had so much potential for character exploration and growth, for some truly gritty writing and a redemption arc. But in the end it’s brushed off like it was nothing, and neither character grew or actually learned anything. They just… go back to being friends.

Even the enemies to lovers aspect is handled like this. They simply hate each other until they don’t, and then despite a literal fist-fight they are in a codependent relationship with no build up. There’s not really any reason they should like each other. 

But, with all that said, the story was an enjoyable read and very cute! Ambrose and Eli have very sweet interactions with each other once they set their differences aside. Seeing Ambrose open up is rewarding, especially when the story is addressing its underlying message of found family. The older side characters were actually some of my favourites, as they try to help two young idiots figure out their shenanigans. I wanted to learn more about the characters as I read- because where Ashwick fell short in writing their interactions, she did an amazing job at writing the characters themselves. 

A particular favourite for me was Eli, who put into words that looming feeling of existential dread that comes with aging into an adult and realizing that you have to pick something to do for the rest of your life. He reads very ADHD-coded to Ambrose’s autism-coded. He’s tried half a dozen ventures and been moderately successful at all of them, but it’s his restlessness that ends up spoiling it for him and he has to move on. That’s a very recognizable feeling, I’ve left jobs because while I started off enjoying the novelty, the moment the newness wore off it became a chore that I’d be dragging myself through. To see Eli facing down that conflict, I think would make a lot of people feel seen. Especially since it isn’t given in a negative light, it isn’t his laziness or lack of motivation- it’s just how he is. A lovely contrast to Ambrose, who is content in his routine and has a deep distaste for change.

So, overall this book was still good! I did really enjoy reading it in all its cheesy glory. I definitely think it has a place with younger audiences, especially with its bounty of representation that many teens lack in their own stories. I’m excited to see more come out of Sidequest Row, and I hope to see the writing improve in subsequent books!

Cheers, friends!

[twilightmalachite]

Altered - Heaven and Hell 10

Author: Akira

Characters: Eichi, Hiyori, Nagisa

Translator: Mika Enstars

"Nagisa-kun, your innocence is your cutest charm, but the only ones who should find happiness in and be loved for being cute are babies and myself, okay?"

Season: Autumn

Location: Yumenosaki Academy Student Council Room

⚠️ This is an import from a unproofed Twitter Livetweet!

Hiyori: Anyways, what’s important is, what will we be doing now, Eichi-kun?

Eichi: What do you mean?

Hiyori: We fine made our spectacular debut the other day.

I mean, obviously we made our debut quite a long time ago, but that performance was like our first full-scale one.

Eichi: Yeah, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? Our first live was when the Five Eccentrics canceled on us last minute.

Hiyori: It’s really only been a couple months. Still, I had gotten fed up with how everyone was appreciated except for me.

I’m glad that situation’s finally been reversed and I’m getting some public attention at long last.

I’ve been able to make Valkyrie, whom I’ve never liked, finally bow down at my feet, too. Yep yup, this is exactly what I deserve.

Ahh, feels great.

Eichi: Unlike what your words may suggest, your eyes aren’t smiling, Hiyori-kun.

We’ve known each other for a long time. You can try to play the part, but you can’t fool or deceive me.

Hiyori: I can say the same thing right back at you.

You may be able to fool stupid students, but you can’t fool me, Eichi-kun.

We’re causing a revolution for a great cause. In order to restore the corrupt and rapidly decaying Yumenosaki back to good condition, we will defeat the root of all evil, the Five Eccentrics.

Do you think we’d really believe such childish fiction?

Nagisa: …Eh, was that not the case?

Hiyori: Nagisa-kun, your innocence is your cutest charm, but the only ones who should find happiness in and be loved for being cute are babies and myself, okay?

Unlike you, ordinary people are filthy. They think evil thoughts that’d make you feel sick. All without acknowledging they’re evil.

A perfect representation of such people is that man absentmindedly standing right there, Tenshouin Eichi.

Eichi: That’s horrible. Don’t put weird things into Nagisa-kun’s head like that, you know he’ll believe anything you say.

It is not my intention to make my companions dislike me, so I’ll at least defend myself. I’ve misled and exaggerated, but I never said anything untrue.

The Five Eccentrics are the root of all evil. It’s not right that only ones valued and get anything are those with inborn talent such as themselves.

Geniuses like them make up a very small minority, less than 1% of the human race. The remaining 99%—the ordinary or rather, inferior human beings—wander around at the bottom, getting nothing.

In this ultra-disparate society, this sort of thing is commonplace.

I vow to change that. I will change this situation, so that even that “ordinary 99%, below them” can taste the fruits of paradise that only the 1% of geniuses may taste.

Let’s lower the price of these fruits of happiness and turn it into a commodity of the world. Let’s mass produce it in factories, increase its distribution, and sell cheaply!

That way, everyone else will have tasted it.

Originally, this should have been done by the privileged 1% who had monopolized it all.

However, they’ve neglected to. Instead, as long as they have their peace and happiness, they’ve ignored the remaining 99%’s suffering.

That is their sin.

I will balance the books. Let’s redistribute the wealth and happiness by cutting those who’ve the monopoly out.

By defeating the Five Eccentrics, let’s take everything they’ve taken away from us back.

With fine being the majority, we’ll redistribute everything back to our “followers”—back into the world.

We’ll take from the pockets of the wealthy 1%, and give it to the less fortunate 99%.

That is what justice is, about bringing as much happiness as you can to the most amount of people possible.

Do you have any objections?

← prev | story directory | next →

[manonamora-if-reviews]

The Tin Mug by Alice E. Wells, Sia See and Jkj Yuio

============= Links

Play the game See other reviews of the game

============= Synopsis

The Tin Mug is a short illustrated children's story of around 10 minutes. Meet the Tin Mug and his friends, Colin the colander, Silvia the spoon and Stu the stew pot as well as several others. Find out what happens in the magic of the Mug's birthday!

============= Other Info

The Tin Mug is a Strand game, submitted to the 2022 Edition of the IFComp. It ranked 51st overall.

Status: Completed Genre: Fantasy, Children's story

CW: /

============= Playthrough

First played: 3-Oct-2022 Played: 13-Dec-2023 Playtime: around 15min Rating: 3 /5 Thoughts: But we investigate little...

============= Review

The Tin Mug is a fairly short choice-game where you play as a tin mug, on its birthday. It is a fairly linear story, with the binary choices leading to the same ending. The game is maybe more meant for children, but it's enjoyable nonetheless.

Spoilers ahead. It is recommended to play the game first. The review is based on my understanding/reading of the story.

Though it is your birthday - as a tin mug - you are faced with many challenges: fancier china and crockery looking down on you for being so cheep, rowdy children not caring much for things, and well... the lack of birthday wishes. Through trials and tribulations, things take a charming turn, leading to a well deserved send-off. It is simple but hits the mark. Good deeds always pay off.

And had cute illustrations to accompany the text!

While it was very cute, I struggled most with the program used for this game. Strand is a parser-choice hybrid format (though it uses only the choice mechanic here), where the formatting of the text leave to be desired. - For longer passages, the program would force you to scroll back to the top of the added text to pick the story up from your last choice. This was particularly egregious when illustrations were added through the new bits of text. - As for the illustrations, their scaling didn't quite work, covering often too much of the page, forcing you to zoom out to get it in full. - Often, the dialogue would be formatted in ways that made it difficult to distinguish who was speaking when, as the speaker would change multiple times within one line/paragraph.

It is an entry with lots of heart, but needs a little tweaking still.

=============

OG Review during the IFComp:

Among the swarm of serious, scary and strenuous entries, it is nice to find sweet and soft ones to balance it out. Like Esther’s, The Tin Mug is a short children story with a lovely heart. The Tin Mug uses his birthday to do some good deeds :slight_smile:

While it was very cute, I had some issues with it (I think most of them are related to the program used):

The way the dialog was formatted made it often difficult to distinguish between speakers (some line/paragraphs would change speaker multiple times).

After some options, the text would move so far up, that you had to scroll to catch up. It mainly happened when new chapter started and when an illustration you appear.

In a similar vein, I feel like the game would benefit from breaks between chapters by starting a new page altogether.

Aside from the last illustration, I think the pictures are too large. I had to zoom out for some of them to get it in full.

Your choices make very little difference. There is a slight variation in the text, but the story is very much a straight line.

Overall, a fun cute play.

[bahamutgames]

AFTERTHOUGHTS - ROUNDUP ROUND 3

April 2023

Nintendo Switch Online Edition!!

HELLO EVERYONE! Yes, you right that right, NSO Edition. This time I'm gonna split the round up into 2 different posts. In April I spent most of the month moving. It was a particularly hard move but we managed to make it through. And some days I wouldn't have a car so I would just be sitting around with my Switch, and even after the move was done I did a lot of just sitting around cause I injured my feet during the move! So, I found myself playing a TON of Nintendo Switch Online games. I've mentioned before that I can't afford the expansion pass, but I was actually able to get 8 people who could all send me $10 each, so we were able to finally afford the $80 family plan!

As such, I've been finally getting to sink my teeth into those other emulators and try out stuff that isn't just on the default version. So get ready for a lot of N64 and Genesis stuff haha

As always, these aren't reviews just thoughts yadda yadda yadda. If you wanna play any of these play them. They're all easy to emulate (I think? Idk how good N64 emulation is atm). Anyway enjoy.

Kuru Kuru Kururin (March 21, 2001) - Gameboy Advance

Of course, we start with GBA first. I'm obsessed with this console and it's actually insane how few games on this console is available on Switch! But one of them is Kuru Kuru Kururin! Which is a game I've actually wanted to play for YEARS cause it's an assist in Brawl. But it never made its way over here (but I found out the day I played it that it WAS released in the UK so... I could have been playing it the whole time. Oops.)

But yeah now that's I've played it, I think this game is pretty cute! It's short and sweet, only having around 30 levels or something around that range. But it can be TOUGH to make it through! The game is all about patience so if you're like me, it's tough to make it through. And if you're like me, you'll use rewinds a LOT to make it through this cause you suck at waiting. Regardless, yeah, this game is fun! Cute music, cute visuals, and you can customize your ship!

Only real complaints is that some of the levels are like straight up mazes, so they can be really hard to navigate. And also in general the game is a little frustrating but I think generally people will find it very easy. Again I'm just not patient. Glad I finally got to try this one out! Would have loved to see this get a sequel on DS or 3DS or something. Oh well. Look at my custom ship! The red parts blink on and off like a warning light :)

Yoshi's Story (December 21, 1997) - N64

And here we go with some games I replayed! Recently I said in my first attempt to do a podcast (shameless plug) that I don't have a lot of memories with the N64. But getting NSO just totally brought everything back. I never forgot how much I loved Starfox 64, Paper Mario, ect ect. But I completely forgot about just how many games on this console I ADORE! One of which being Yoshi's Story!

I was OBSESSED with this game as a kid, I played every level in the game and this also spawned my love for the Black and White Yoshi! And I'm happy to say that, yeah, this game still holds up. I see SO many people say this game sucks. But honestly, I don't agree. Maybe if you payed $60 for it back in the day it'd be disappointing. And while it is easy there's a lot of levels to play and trying to get the high score can be really really tough in certain stages like the piranha plant level or the level with the big fishes.

Regardless, I still think this game is incredibly charming and fun! Great music, great visuals, i ADORE the characterization of the Baby Yoshis. This game really makes them feel like puppies? They growl and act so much like little dogs and I LOVE it. The story book aesthetic rules. I think the gameplay is great. And honestly, this might still be my favorite Yoshi game if you can believe it! My only major complaint when coming back to it is that the switch version makes a lot of the graphics look REALLY odd. This game gets the 2D stuff messed up more than anything else on the service. Very odd.

Starfox 64 (April 27, 1997) - N64

Here we go! Here is one of my all time favorite games EVER! Honestly... I don't even really think I need to write up my thoughts on it as I'm fairly certain the last time I beat this game and talked about it was just last year aha. Without a doubt, Starfox 64 is one of my all time favorites and is easily the game I have played to completion the most. I ADORE this game. So, yknow a quick run of it again wouldn't hurt right? I have NSO now anyway so I might as well...

And now we're here. Yeah, I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. This game still absolutely RULES! It's such an amazing game and shmup (do on rail shooters count as shmups? I think they should... 3D Shmups). Even all this time later and after so many playthroughs the game never fails to scratch that itch. Great music, great levels, great characters, great gameplay. And that ending. Augh, gets me every time.

If anyone is curious my favorite route is

Corneria > Meteor Herd > Starwolf > Solar > Macbeth > Area 6 > Venom. Always my favorite set of levels to run through!

Pokemon Snap (March 21, 1999) - N64

Another all time favorite! I mean... This is basically an on rails shooter, if you think about it. Just with VERY different objectives and the bullets are, yknow, photos. So it's only natural I would love this Shmup classic! For real though, if you know me you know I LOVE taking pictures in game, so I love games all about taking pictures!

I used to play Snap a TON back in the day. And after I was absolutely madly in love with the sequel that took way too long to come out, I was interested in revisit the original for a bit now. I will come out of the gate and say it, New Pokemon Snap is better by leaps and bounds. It's got tons more content and things to do. But this only speaks to how good New Pokemon Snap is, because the original still holds up great! It feels fantastic to play, it's super cute, great music, lots of lovely scenarios to take pictures of. And it's made at that cute time period where the Pokemon brand was still figuring itself out. Honestly I think seeing Pokemon just living in nature is one of my favorite ways to see them and now I REALLY wanna play more NPS!

My only real complaints outside of just, not as much to do as the sequel that came out YEARS later is that the stages are SO short! I forgot how insanely short they are! I would love them to be a little longer with more Pokemon, but again that's what the sequel is for I suppose!

I had a bunch of really nice photos I wanted to show off but I deleted my save data before the final boss so I had to play the game a second time and didn't really feel so intense to take many pictures. eh.

F-ZERO X (July 14, 1998) - N64

I feel like I NEVER get to talk about it but I LOVE FZero! It's a series I totally adore and find super fun to play! And with the small amount of games in the series (crying and dying and coping and seething) it's also not very often I get to play a game in the series I've just NEVER played before! But here we are!

I've wanted to try this game for ages but just never could really get my hands on it for one reason or another. But now I didn't really have any reason not to try it! I'd still say it's not as good as GX, but it's still REALLY good! And it's crazy to me that they were so close to the insanity of GX on the N64. Game feels AMAZING to play and has TONS of characters, alt colors for each of them, and lots of tracks! And of course the OST is SUPER GOOD but that's not surprising for FZERO. I'm not a music guy but the guitars in this game sound really good and cool. And it has the fantastic cover of Rainbow Road if you've never heard that.

Off the top of my head the only issue I really have are kinda nitpicky. it's not amazing looking, but I totally understand that it just kinda can't look crazy good on N64, it's a big game with a lot going on and it's not gonna look as good as GX I'm not stupid. But a larger problem I had is that there are SO MANY KILL PLANES! I was trying to jump around the track and kept dying super high up or the collision for the road wouldn't load in cause I guess I skipped checkpoints. Frustrating. LET ME GO NUTS!!

But yeah, good game. I played as Pico and did every track in the Novice Class cause I suck

Dr. Mario 64 (April 8, 2001) - N64

Another game I've been interested in for a while but never got to play before. This one is very odd. it's Dr. Mario so of course it's good but it actually has a story mode with 2 very slightly different stories between Dr. Mario himself and Wario! Yeah this game actually features TONS of Wario Land 3 characters which is so weird and was a big reason I wanted to check it out.

Not much to say on this one. It's Dr. Mario so it's good. But it's just Dr. Mario. Story is cute. Although I didn't have the energy to play through both stories on higher difficulties so I didn't see the true final bosses. It plays fine, looks cool, has a good amount to do. I think the game is a little brutal though. I've never played VS Dr. Mario believe it or not. And I actually think trash blocks in this game are totally detrimental to you if you're not the best at it (like me) so the enemies had a pretty easy time just filling my board with garbage. Ah well. Still neat. Wouldn't mind a new Dr. Mario with a Story Mode and maybe more stuff like Miracle Cures from Miracle Cure on 3DS.

Kirby's Dreamland 2 (March 21, 1995) - Gameboy

Random Gameboy Jumpscare! Yeah last time I played Dreamland 1 so... Why not run through Dreamland 2? Yeah, this one is a LOT better than Dreamland 1. It's got copy abilities, and a whole game set up more similar to Adventure (or Nightmare in Dreamland if you're like me aha) and it has some animal buddies from Dreamland 3! Who, of course, all have different ways of using the copy abilities so there's LOTS to see and experiment with!

Cute sprites, some really honestly very cute and nice looking environments. Good soundtrack. It's honestly pretty dang good feeling and looking for a Gameboy game! I think something that really surprised me with this one is that there's a LOT of unique and cool boss battles in this that I've never really seen before as a casual kirby fan? Nruff, Sweet Stuff, and Ice Dragon are monsters I've seen before but never as bosses. It was neat and actually surprising to not only fight whispy and stuff. I know a lot of Kirby games have new bosses. But still!

Only complaints are stuff like. Ah not enough copy abilities or animal friends. But it's still gameboy there's only so much you can jam pack into it. No, my biggest issue is easily the final boss. Which, if you've played this game you might see the screenshot and realize I didn't fight! Every game in the Dark Matter saga (DL2, DL3, 64 as far as I'm aware?) all do this annoying thing where you can only challenge the final boss after 100% completing the game. This doesn't bug me all the time as I did this for Super Princess Peach and Demon's Crest, but I wasn't like ecstatic to do it in those even though I adore those games. And while I really like these Kirby games. I'm just not crazy enough about it to sit down and try to do EVERYTHING in them at the moment. But that's just me I'm sure Kirby fans could probably 100% this with their eyes closed. And if I ever do sit down to play the entire franchise, I will make an effort to try and grab everything and finally fight the true final bosses to these games.

Pokemon Stadium (April 30, 1999) - N64

Ah now here's a game I have a lot of nostalgia for! Despite not ever doing a full playthrough of the original RBY until last year, I played Stadium a BUNCH growing up! The minigames of course, everyone did, but I actually played Free Battle with Rental Pokemon a LOT for some reason. I was really into it and I remember really wanting Stadium 2 and whatever the GC and Wii ones were called but I never got them.

And something I tried as a child but never managed to do was beat Gym Leader Castle! And now I'm happy to say I did! Did it all with Rental Pokemon of course because they... dont have RBY on Gameboy Online for some reason which is a HUGE mistake by the way. I'll just come out and say it. With your own team I feel like this game would be REALLY exciting. But looking back, with Rental Pokemon. It's REALLY boring. It feels so slow to get through and I totally understand why I just didnt have the energy without save states as a kid.

BUT this game is still nice in a lot of ways. Very charming little title and I ADORE the animations made for all 150 Pokemon. They all have tons of personality, are fun to watch, and are just plain cute. I know Pokemon Company has said there's no reason to make a game like this now that Pokemon main series games are 3D but I disagree because a game like this really allows them to showcase unique emotions and quirks in the personalities of the different species. If that makes sense. Game looks good, music is nice, and of course the announcer is LEGENDARY.

No I am not unlocking Mewtwo, I thought you got him for clearing Gym Leader castle. You do not. I looked it up, you have to do EVERYTHING. I am not doing that.

Also if you wanna see the team I took on Gym Leader Castle with. All rental Pokemon of course. But still neat! (x)

Pokemon Puzzle League (September 25, 2000) - N64

Gosh now here's a REALLY weird game. For years I've seen people say this game is absolutely awful and... honestly it's not. It's just Panel De Pon so it's good objectively. But it still sucks but like, in other ways? Like. I don't know how to describe it the game is just really weird. It's fully based around the anime, which is rare. It has one or two original animations made just for the game (I think they're made just for it)? Which is neat. And it has covers of music from the anime which is neat! I was particularly blown away by the inclusion of Catch Me If You Can from the first movie which is a song I liked a lot in highschool lol. (no Free Up Your Mind or Brother My Brother though 0/10)

But I'dunno even though it plays fine and it has a lot of stuff to do including making your own boards for people to solve which is neat. The game just feels so lame? It looks like a PowerPoint presentation and while you can pick a Pokemon to bring into battle as far as I can tell it has 0 impact on the actual battles which is a HUGE waste because the blocks have type icons on them so I feel like there's a huge missed opportunity for a Panel De Pon game with like elemental weaknesses? Idk how to describe it but it really feels fake, or maybe like a flash game you would have played on the official Pokemon website back in the day. It's not bad but even playing it for free, I'd rather just play Panel de Pon lmao. Sorry Puzzle League.

THAT BEING SAID, I did randomly beat it twice so I could get the better ending. Which I didn't bother doing for Dr. Mario 64, so that's gotta be worth something.

Pulseman (July 22, 1994) - Genesis

Speaking of Pulseman, here's a game with no Pokemon in it! I'm sure I don't have to tell anyone this at this point but Pulseman was made by Gamefreak and even has a lot of the art done by Ken Sugimori which is very neat! This is a game I've actually enjoyed for a bit as I bought it on Wii Virtual console a loooong time ago. But I could never beat it sadly. Thankfully I finally managed to get through it!

Pulseman is VERY cool! I like the character designs of Pulseman and his sidekick girl a LOT. Pulseman also has a lot of really interesting abilities, I think the ability to run fast and build up static to super charge your moves is SUPER cool! There's even some voice acting which is REALLY neat. The game feels very advanced in a lot of parts. And the game has a lot of impressive visuals and looks very good for the most part!

For the most part though. I honestly can't help but feel a little disappointed in Pulseman now that I've played it? I think a lot of the levels don't play to Pulseman's cool abilities enough, I think a lot of the levels in general kinda suck. A lot of the game looks kinda headache inducing with tons of flashing lights instead of focusing on the REALLY nice sprite art if that makes sense. I don't really remember most of the enemies and bosses. And I don't recall any of the music. Idk I hate to say it cause I love Pulseman's design and a lot about the game. But I can't help but feel like this game didn't bring out the concept's full potential.

PERSONALLY I think Pulseman REALLY could use a sequel and honestly, it's not too late. I know Gamefreak is kinda eh on not doing Pokemon every year or so but I really think Pulseman is a game that could go SO nuts nowadays with some cooler levels and expansions on Pulseman's abilities and giving him new tools he can use and upgrade using the static electricity stuff. Ah well, it's still worth playing as an interesting piece of history!

Street Fighter II - Championship Edition (March 18, 1992) - Genesis

Can you believe I've never beaten this game before? Yeah despite how much I love fighting games I only really got into Street Fighter during covid when I played Street Fighter 4 and really found myself loving Juri Han. And while I've been REALLY wanting to get the Capcom Fighting Collection, which includes this, I've just been kinda strapped for cash so I'll have to go with the NSO for Street Fighter II!

Yeah it's fine. Not mind blowing but it is REALLY interesting to go back and play this and see how much of it is still accurate to modern day fighting games? Either the genre hasn't changed much or this game just hit the nail on the head so well (probably a bit of both) but yeah it's neat that it has a lot of modern day fighting game trappings and while it feels outdated, it doesn't feel as outdated as you would expect such an old console port fighting game to feel? Idk how SF2 feels in general though cause I've barely played it. But yeah it's neat. Looks good, has good music, stuff you would expect for Street Fighter. I played as Blanka cause Cammy isn't in this version. Neat :)

Super Fantasy Zone (January 14, 1992) - Genesis

Ah never a bad time for Shmups! I have a little bit of history with Fantasy Zone as I used to LOVE playing my bootleg NES cartridge of it as a kid! Fantasy Zone is very reminiscent of Twinbee with its cute bullet hell stuff and also having a living ship. I love OpaOpa.

This game pretty good, feels great to play, looks adorable, has great boss fights, nice music. And I especially LOVE how many upgrades you can buy for OpaOpa! I just wish they were all permanent or at least lasted longer? I also appreciate that it had a kind of out of nowhere ending with a really cool and edgy dark matter concept and villain, I guess I need to research more Fantasy Zone lore!

My only problem with this game, and while this may feel stupid, I think it's fair to bring up. This game feels like it would be impossible without rewinding? It's 1 hit and you're dead, and it's a bullet hell where it can be really hard to tell where everything is including your ship (which is REALLY important to tell where that thing is during bullet hells aha). With rewinds it wasn't a problem, but I genuinely don't know if it would be possible without them. Still, it's fun so if you have NSO (or an emulator which is free btw) it's a great time!

Ristar (February 16, 1995) - Genesis

Last, but absolutely NOT least, is Ristar! HEY!! RISTAR ROCKS!? WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME THIS GAME RULES ACTUALLY!?!? I've seen it around a lot but idk the game just never really looked like something I'd enjoy. But I figured, why not? Let's give it a go. And I can safely say I was WRONG! Ristar is a FANTASTIC platformer I'm sad I never sunk my teeth into before (well, I never owned it I dont think. But still)

First off, Ristar is ADORABLE. I didn't like how he looked on the boxart but he looks GREAT in game and has some lovely animations (him making snowmen in the ice world killed me.) The music is also fantastic, the bosses are cool, and the whole game is full of really cool ideas! It's even got a neat albeit small story. But particularly, the visuals. Oh my god. This game is GORGEOUS! Ristar has such AMAZING sprite art I was honestly totally blown away by every part of the game's visuals! A part that really made my jaw drop when I first saw it is when you beat a world, the cutscene that plays when Ristar flies to the next planet looks AMAZING and also has some really beautiful music! Honestly, Ristar looks like an indie game trying to look like a Genesis game, but massively overshooting what the Genesis could actually do. And I mean that in the best way possible!

I have some nitpicks with it, I think the final boss had some attacks that were really stupid to dodge? And there were some stages that just... Weren't hitting. But I think my biggest issue with the game is similar to Pulseman's issue. Ristar has cool abilities. He can stretch his arms out and launch things around by bouncing into them like a sling shot. But, this just kind of never gets used? You use it for the spinny things but that's it? I feel like I should be able to angle enemies when I grab them to sling them into eachother, or just be using these abilities in ANY additional ways. Also the game is SLOOOOW, it's REALLY slow game. I think Ristar is another game that REALLY could use a second go around. Ristar 2 could really add to Ristar's abilities and turn up the speed! I think there's so much you could do with grappling and slinging with this character that hasn't been explored yet. PLEASE GIVE US RISTAR 2!!

[uwusenpaiuwu]

Sleepovers At The Baji Household feat. A Fed-Up Chifuyu

Summary: Chifuyu just wants to sleep, man, but Baji wants to be a jealous crackhead at 2 AM.

Pairing: Sano Manjiro | Mikey x Male Reader

Note(s): I had a little free time and wrote this. So, please enjoy! ALSO, to the anon that sent me a request a few days ago, I saw it and have it filed on my to-do list!!! I will definitely get to it as soon as I get a break in my schedule :)

"Chifuyu, ya wanna see some real discrimination?"

No. No, Chifuyu does not want to see what Baji means by 'real discrimination.'

Does he tell him that, though?

Yes, actually, because it's 2 in the fucking morning and, as much as he respects the other boy, he wouldn't put it past himself to smother him with a pillow after having his dream of cuddling with a sea of puppies suddenly destroyed.

Unfortunately for his sanity, Baji either doesn't hear him or, more likely than not, doesn't give a fuck, because he's already flopping onto his belly and whipping out his phone to do God knows what.

The dial tone that sounds from the speaker a few seconds later makes Chifuyu cringe, especially since it's only ever been a calm silence fit for a good night's sleep prior to Baji bulldozing through it with his absurd question. (At the very least, he's thankful that the latter has half a mind to keep the brightness on the lowest setting, otherwise, Chifuyu would have had to fight.)

On the far end of the row of carefully-laid futons, you shift in your sleep, eyebrows furrowing together at the noise. Rotating onto your side, you unconsciously reach for Baji, and just when he thinks you're being cute and trying to cuddle him, you smack him in the head.

Baji doesn't flinch, instead, takes his pillow and shoves it in your grasp to keep your unconscious self occupied, so that he can focus on getting through to the person who reuses to pick up (understandably so).

Releasing a frustrated groan after being redirected to voice mail for the fifth time, he dials the number again, muttering an impatient, "Pick up already."

Chifuyu feels sorry for the poor soul on the other end. He would've blocked someone following the first call, because again, it's-

The blond has to squint his eyes up at the digital clock on Baji's nightstand, which confirms that it's already 2:22 A.M, further solidifying the fact that he shouldn't be awake right now. And this also applies to the ever persistent first division captain, who insists on bothering who Chifuyu soon discovers is Mikey from the contact ID that flashes across the screen.

Why Baji is so keen on bothering him is a question he doesn't have the mental capacity to ponder over. The most energy he'll expend is to listen in when the call miraculously connects.

"What...?" comes a muffled voice from the receiver, tone laced in an irked grogginess birthed from a slumber rudely interrupted.

There's an absurdly loud, almost angry, roar of Mikey's name, one that has Chifuyu curling in on himself in a futile attempt to escape a sound that should be illegal at this hour.

But you know what else should be illegal?

The fucking whiplash Chifuyu gets when Baji's deep voice takes an abrupt 180°, switching from its normal gruffness to a squeaky, ear-piercing shrill as he screams, "I love you, love you, love you! Do you love me, too, Mikey-kyun~♡?!"

The room is dead silent.

Not a word. Not a murmur. Not a breath.

Just pure, unadulterated silence as both Chifuyu and Mikey process the words that hang in the air, permeating it with a goosebumps-inducing eeriness from having heard such a...a girly, overtly cutesy screech from Baji.

Then-

"What the fuck? He hung on me!"

Chifuyu opens his mouth, thinks better of reacting to the cursed scene he had the misfortune of bearing witness to, and promptly closes it.

Other people may have sleep paralysis demons.

But Chifuyu?

Chifuyu has Baji.

With both hands partially raised in prayer, he begs for the shenanigans to be over and done with.

They are not.

While his eyes remain closed in a last ditch effort to convince himself that it's all a bad dream, he hears a lot of grumbling happening on your side of the room, courtesy of Baji, who's scrambling around in search of...something. One quick peek reveals him fiddling with a phone - yours, to be exact, as evidenced by the distinctive phone charm of your favorite anime character hanging from it.

"(Y/n), wake up for a second," he hears him whisper. It takes a bit of prompting, until he's able to successfully rouse you enough from sleep to elicit any kind of response, which is, essentially, nothing short of an incoherent, slurred mess. Although, Chifuyu is pretty damn certain he heard you call Baji a 'dickhead' for the trouble.

Unperturbed, he continues shaking your limp form, coaxing you into wakefulness with, "Repeat what I tell you, and I'll let you go back to asleep. Deal?"

You squint your eyes at him, only able to make out a vague outline of his visage in the lightless room. "Promise?"

"Cross my heart, hope to die," he automatically responds with the same phrase he's become accustomed to saying whenever you two made a promise, something done purely out of habit, formed when the two of you were just kids and he wanted to get you to do something absolutely ridiculous either for him or with him. And just 'cause he knows you're more susceptible to complying if he does it, he also interlocks his pinky with yours.

"...Fine."

The approval is his cue to proceed, and it's as he's putting the phone on speaker that he turns back to a regretfully wide awake Chifuyu, mouthing a wordless, 'Watch.'

The phone rings, loud and clear, precisely once and only once.

"(Y/n), what's wrong?" It's important to note that even though Mikey still sounds tired as hell, his tone is much lighter, much happier really, than when it was Baji, which is an offense in itself to the said teen that's off to the side, attentively listening to the conversation unfold.

Then, it strikes Chifuyu, what Baji is trying to do, and fuck does it give him an instant headache.

Meanwhile, your mouth morphs into the dopiest of smiles with the pleasant surprise of hearing your boyfriend's voice, chest instantly overtaken by a warm fuzziness that never fails to make an appearance whenever he's involved. Sappy, you know, but it's true!

A light but firm nudge to your shoulder reminds you of your mission. It's too bad that, teetering along the edge of sleep as you are, the words Baji whispers are barely repeated correctly.

The initial phrase from before, the one Baji greeted Mikey with, is shortened to a simple, "You wuv I...?"

But, without missing a beat, you receive Mikey's confident reply of, "Mhm... I wuv you a lot."

There's a sleepy giggle then - a fucking giggle - before your voices drop to sweet whispers that the third and fourth wheels can't fully comprehend from where they are.

"Where the fuck was my 'I wuv you,' huh?!" Baji whisper-shouts, considerate of your conversation even when ranting and raving. "Shit, I would've taken a simple 'I love you,' too! I've known that bastard way longer than (Y/n), and this is what I get?!"

Okay. Toman's president answers his boyfriend's late night calls faster than he does anyone else's and openly expresses his love for him. So what? Chifuyu wouldn't exactly call it 'discrimination,' per se. 'Favoritism,' maybe if you wanna stretch it, but using as strong a word as discrimination, especially taking into account you two are dating; it's normal? Nah.

"You wanna say 'bye' to them? Mm. Baji and Chifuyu." A pause. "Fuyu, Mikey says 'bye.'"

"Bye, Mikey-kun."

The other person in the room waits, and waits, and waits, and when it's clear that there is no intention to address his presence whatsoever, Baji turns to Chifuyu with an almost scandalized expression, making wild gesticulations with his hands, clearly distressed. "See?!"

Blank blue eyes stare back at him, unblinking. Honestly, it's a common occurrence - Baji spiraling in a nonsensical rage - so it's easy for Chifuyu to block out the muted, jealousy-driven temper tantrum as he takes his pillow in both hands, raises it as high as he can, and-

Sigh.

-lets it flop right back onto his face.

He can't suffocate Baji. Shouldn't. Wouldn't. Couldn't. After all, they're best buds, meaning he has an obligation to put up with shit like this once in a while. (Plus, he'd probably get his ass kicked before he succeeds anyway. Totally not worth the beating.)

"Did you hear? Mikey said he wuvs me," he hears you drawl dreamily as soon as you hang up, sounding very close to clocking back out for the night.

"Yeah, yeah. Cute shit. Happy for ya, dude," Baji huffs. Thankfully, he sounds like he's in a similar state to yours, if the yawn that follows his sarcastic comment is anything to go by.

"...He soooo ignored you."

That warrants a punishing punch to the arm, dulled only slightly by the combination of the thick quilt you're swaddled in and the raven-haired boy's fatigue.

"I'll fucking throw you out right now, (Y/n). Don't test me."

"You won't."

"I will."

"Won't."

"Will."

The conversation gradually dies down shortly after, the exhaustion that took its sweet time getting to both of you having reached its peak with the help of the childish bickering. It takes 10 minutes, maybe 15, before two sets of light snores fill the room.

Finally.

Let it be known that there is a lesson to be learned from tonight's events. Really, there is. Y'know, something along the lines of 'Don't agree to a sleepover with Baji, if you plan on actually sleeping,' or whatever.

Alas, Chifuyu's consciousness fades before he realizes what it is.

~~~

"Mikey, be honest. Who do you love more? Me or-?"

"(Y/n)."

"But-"

(Y/n)."

"I-"

"(Y/n)."

Baji is only momentarily discouraged, sharp eyes glaring at the blond that lays his head on your lap after hi-fiving you. He didn't want to do this, but he's left with no choice.

"(Y/n) or Babu?"

From the way Mikey stiffens up, refusing to look at either him or you in the eyes, Baji knows he has him right where he wants him, has him torn between a cute face or a sweet ride.

"Oi! Don't pretend to be asleep! Answer the damn question! OI!"

(After hours of serious contemplation - even though you told him it doesn't particularly matter - it's revealed that, of course, Mikey loves you more. Babu just happens to trail behind as a very close second.)

[purupurple]

since there’s a lot of talk about ingo’s concept art in the PLA strategy guide and his hair (lack thereof) i actually started pondering the subway bosses and their hair and drew a bunch of hairstyles. thoughts under the cut

1. from concept art that was apparently showcased at an art exhibition 10 or so years ago. there has been a version of it shared around without the hatless subway boss in it, from what i understand. this hairstyle is also confirmed by the plushies. as for the lack of eyebrows, this was confirmed in several cases (anime, plushies, figures and PokeMasEX/PLA) so it's not very new information for those who have been around for the early days (i first saw it in a screenshot in corocoro, i think. it was ingo as seen from slightly below and he had no eyebrows. i was surprised! but i got used to it after a while.) i guess they keep their hair short, almost a buzzcut. convenience, methinks. 1.5. hat time :3 2. this is how i personally draw their hair. these are somewhat inspired/based on some pixiv art from a long time ago, but i didn't want to outright copy the art so i changed the way i drew ingo's hair a little from the way i initially drew it a little while ago. i can't find the art (its been almost 6 years i think...?) which is unfortunate, it was very nice. although this is the hair i usually use, i like to use the "buzzcut" look as well because i prefer sticking to the original art style because that's like 90% of their charm. i suppose i'll just use them interchangeably because hair does grow and maybe they don't always have the time to visit the barber ahaha 3. the PLA strategy guide was released and for the first time we saw a hatless subway boss-- well, warden, i guess... however it seems like ingo is very aged here and has a receding hairline. memes aside, many people agree that this is... depressing. is he stressed? are his genetics bad? has he been in hisui for that long? it's been a topic of debate that i won't touch on here because pokemon has really bad storytelling held together with string and packing tape anyways (timeline who? i don't know her and neither does game freak) 3.5. hat time :3 4. i suppose if he wasn't so seemingly adamant about keeping it so short (he is still wearing a hat most of the time after all) he would be able to look a little less ancient. or y’know, rookie hair dresser... (sorry for roasting you, arezu.) 5. i saw a post at some point about how warden ingo's 3d model was closely examined and it seemed like people were curious about the back of his hair, which had a noticeable "ridge" on it as if the developers had decided against giving him what's possibly a bun or ponytail. i think it's a cute idea. i like it when people draw him with a tiny little pony tail lol, its so cute 5.5. ...he lost his hair tie. kinda weird looking but i just prefer the nape of their neck to be very neatly trimmed and smooth since that's where the hat doesn't really cover besides their GLORIOUS sideburns BONUS: a few of the ways other artists tend to draw their hair, though with some slight variations here and there. maybe the least common is the bottom left, which is weird when it's actually pretty close to the concept art. i kinda just made it up to have an even number lol

hmmm i think i like just about all of these but it’s because i just like the subway bosses in general. serotonin machines

[gothamcitycentral]

Top 10 Bug types?

10. Orbeetle

While this is definitely recency bias (not that their bad or anything, just it being a part of the top 10) thanks to me using it in my current Shield nuzlocke. Their inspirations are very layered which makes them such an easy mon to appreciate. They’re also fun to use. Despite the fact that they’re designed like a alien supervillain, I can’t imagine them actually being mean? Maybe it has to do with it’s pre evolutions, but they seem more like an asocial team member who hangs out in the corner than something that do anything actually villainous.

9. Parasect

Enough with the creepypasta shit! Do you know why Parasect doesn’t eventually die after evolving? Because the Paras you nicknamed isn’t wholly separate from the mushroom that grows out of it. The time you spent training and loving that little bug is time spent with that mushroom. Your care for the bug through its suffering isn’t unfelt by the mushroom. That’s why it doesn’t die, why it doesn’t become a husk, because (let’s say) Enoki is just as much the mushroom as it is the bug. It doesn’t want to not be your Pokemon anymore.

8. Genesect

Normally I don’t vibe with Mythicals, but Genesect is on it’s own level. They’re a physical embodiment of Team Plasma’s hidden hypocrisy. Despite their goal of liberating Pokemon, they dragged a Pokemon back from the dead to convert it into a living weapon.

7. Galvantula

They are fuzzy little guys and they are causing a city wide power outage.

6. Venomoth

Venomoth is one of those causes of Gen 1 simplicity being rather charming for me. They’re sorta of a mix of cute and kinda creepy. I like how surprisingly good they are in later generations and in general I just like moths.

5. Centiskorch

Literally just a funky guy. I love how it combines centipedes and stove tops really well despite how just, unconnected those ideas are to each other. It’s strong, cool, and has a mustache made of fire.

4. Heracross

I feel like Heracross and Scizor are the blueprint for all the following ‘cool’ Bug types. I think beetles are rlly cool, and Hera is such a well put together design. Simple, but cute and looks as strong as it is.

3. Leavanny

Leavanny is just, such a Pokémon?? The design is slick as hell and is so surprising strong. Like you expect a bulky healer that’s practically useless because of its Bug / Grass typing, but no. There she goes sweeping teams with naturally learned Swords Dance. They have such a seamless personality and are so expressive.

2. Scolipede

Nostalgia is definitely playing a part of it, Scolipede is the first Bug type I’ve ever used, but I’d still love them without that. Their design really makes them look incredibly strong. Venipede looks like a little scamp, Whirlipede is my favorite and also probably one of the funniest cocoon pokemon, and Scolipede is a millipede as a horse and that speaks for itself.

1. Golisopod

Golisopod is so insane oh my god?? It almost doesn’t look like a Pokémon it’s so cool. It has such character and it genuinely make me proud it see it evolve from something so little and scared. And how it’s Guzma’s Ace just says so much about both of them instantly. Despite Guzma’s short time in the anime they incorporate his character arc so beautifully with Golisopod’s Emergency Exit, especially since his Golisopod was just as much of a character with development as he was. I just?? Love them so much

Honestly this was hard to put together. I really like so many Bug types.

[kumkaniudaku]

Prompt Request : “I’ve never wanted to lick the buffalo hot wings sauce out of someone’s mouth but here we are.” Reader x Damson Idris 😊

Dating for Damson was complicated. Star power had its drawbacks, and not dating like a normal 30 year old was at the top of the very short list.

He wasn’t afraid of the often talked about gold digger or meeting an overzealous fan. He was terrified of not living up to the expectation many women had concocted on internet forums and in his private messages. As charming as he usually was, the pressure to always entertain was stifling. He just wanted a good time. A chance match on an dating app had him hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.

She was a cute girl. The prompts on her profile painted her as an ambitious geek with a passion for baking and Call of Duty. He doubted the last one, but struck up a conversation solely based on a pair of Prada heels in one of her photos. The words flowed effortlessly for two weeks until she extended the invitation to a mini golf attraction. Standing in front of the building while a Spring chill in Atlanta tried to cool off the muggy evening, he was starting to believe that she’d pulled the greatest vanishing act he’d seen thus far.

“Damson?”

A pleasant Southern drawl caught his attention before bringing him face to face with the woman of the hour.

“Oh wow,” he uttered louder than intended. When her expression showed a bit of confusion, he straightened up and extended his hand. “I meant, yes. Damson. Alicia, right?”

“Yeah. Sorry to keep you waiting. Did you get my text?”

Confusion came before his embarrassment. Had he carried both of his phones, he likely would’ve received what ever explanation she’d sent. But the absence of his business phone killed any chance of that.

“Uh, no. I left my other phone at my place and-”

“Damn, I’m in the fake phone? We startin’ on the wrong foot already,” she laughed. When Damson let off an awkward chuckle in response, she gave him a reassuring smile. “I’m joking. If we’re gonna be out tonight, you gotta loosen up. I didn’t touch up these braids for nothin’.”

“Oh so, that’s why you were late? And here I was cancelling my hair appointment to be on time for you!”

Their shared laughter rang out in the crowded parking garage, drawing attention that only made them laugh harder.

Easy energy kept the conversation light as Damson and Alicia rolled through rounds of indoor mini golf. Her competitive streak led to back and forth tales of their days as athletes between lessons on British slang. For the first time in over a year, Damson felt comfortable enough to drop pieces of his public persona and slip into a more comfortable version of himself. Talking to her felt like second nature. Each corny joke and song lyric reference had him wondering what she’d be like on date two, three or more.

“So, how you likin’ the city?” Alicia asked after wiping hot wing sauce from her mouth for the 100th time.

“Eh, it’s alright. It’s not Peckham or LA, but it’ll do.”

Alicia studied Damson’s sideways grin before rolling her eyes. “You like seeing me fired up, huh?”

“What makes you think that?”

“Because ain’t no way you’d blaspheme my hometown and not think that I won’t pipe up.”

“Ooh, pipe up. I’ll add that to my Urban Dictionary research list.” He watched her roll her eyes again with a laugh. “One thing I will say is that wings here are top 10 in the world.”

“If we don’t do nothing else, we gone fry and sauce a wing! Stick around long enough and I’ll take you for some at one our local gourmet establishments.”

“Local gourmet? Is this a steakhouse or…”

“I’m sure they can throw a steak on for you down at The Flame or Magic.”

“The Fla…” Damson’s voice trailing made Alicia giddy with anticipation while he slowly came to a slow realization. “You’re trying to take me to a strip club.”

“And a couple other places if tonight goes as planned.”

The pair shared bashful stares across the table before diverting to get a look at their surroundings. Damson felt the long forgotten flutter or butterflies in his gut and chuckled at himself. Feeling for a random dating app link wasn’t in the plan. But Alicia felt like a change of pace that he was willing to explore.

“So, we sh-”

“Is it cool if I-”

Laughter took over the conversation to cover their embarrassing blunder.

Damson nodded to give Alicia the go ahead. “Ladies first.”

Alicia released a shaky breath to steady the words on the tip of her tongue before speaking. The corners of her mouth turned up into a flirtatious smile.

“Look, I don’t believe in beating around the bush. I’ve been thinking about kissing you all night. And I feel like we’re on the same page about that the way you keep looking at my lips, but let me know if I’m wrong about that.”

“I have been looking at your lips,” Damson admitted. “But mainly because you are smashing those wings and you have sauce all over your mouth.”

Alicia’s face morphed into a horrified expression while she rushed to get a look at her lips in her phone’s camera. Before she could finish the motion, Damson carefully gripped her wrist.

“I didn’t say entirely. I’ve never wanted to lick the buffalo hot wings sauce from someone’s mouth before, but here we are.”

The world around them seemed to slow as they searched for reassurance in each other’s eyes. A tentative move forward from Alicia led Damson to mirror her actions until there lips met and electricity made them tingle from head to toe.

Damson was the first to break the kiss and smile.

“Okay so, there are two things I like about Atlanta.”

[adazzlinggirl]

ADazzlingGirl's 2021 Top Anime

There have been some excellent anime airing this year even if I feel like I haven't watched as much since I got into vtubers and have basically dedicated my waking hours to watching them oops, but I'm here again to blab about some of my favourites that I think are worth a watch from this year! I’m not including new seasons of Anime that have already aired (like Fruits Basket) or Anime based on games (like The World Ends with You) or any movies, only new Anime.

Wonder Egg Priority

This anime is so so good, although if you do watch it PLEASE read the trigger warnings as it handles some VERY heavy topics. I actually used this anime as the basis for one of my university essays because I liked it so much, although the OVA that they released after the series finished airing was disappointing. Wonder Egg Priority is basically about 4 girls who are trying to save other girls who died by defeating monsters in 'dream worlds'. The topics go into heavy discussions about the trauma of young girls in Japanese society, including abuse from teachers, sexual harassment, and transgender issues so please be careful when watching.

Odd Taxi

When this anime was airing I would not shut up about it and tried to get all my anime society members to watch it, and when they did they also really enjoyed it. At first it just seems like another furry anime, but it is basically a mystery story where all the characters have intertwining circumstances that all come together in a sort of heist. The reveal during the final episode is... Chefs kiss. 10/10 would absolutely recommend also the op is a jam.

Vivy: Fluorite Eye's Song

I didn't actually watch Vivy while it was airing, and I went back later to watch it because someone convinced me to and... I regret not watching it earlier. First of all the art is STUNNING. The story is also great - it's about an AI named Vivy who is shown the future in which AIs take over the world, and she has to try and stop her own kind from doing that. There are some awesome battle sequences, and also some Violet Evergarden-style sort of 'Going to see a 'customer' to help solve their problem' vibes so I think if you like Violet Evergarden you'd like Vivy.

Blue Period

This anime surprised me because I thought it was just going to be about an art student doing... Art stuff, and as someone who hasn't studied art for over 10 years, I thought it wasn't going to be for me. But I was so wrong. While it is definitely about art, the main premise of Blue Period is that Yaguchi, the main character, is a sort of delinquent-looking boy who actually works really hard and gets inspired by his senpai to try to get into a prestigious art school. While the anime does explain art techniques, the focus is more on Yaguchi and how he handles being a beginner to the art world trying to prepare for the university exam in such a short time, realising how far behind he is in terms of experience, and how he handles the stress of it all.

(Other mentions under the cut)

Other mentions:

To Your Eternity: I really wanted to put this one in with my favourites but... I think as the anime went on, it lost its charm. The first few arcs are REALLY good, and I really loved the structure of this unknown entity learning about humanity and the world and gaining friends. I loved the characters as well. However, after Gugu's arc, I really found myself losing interest in it. I didn't care about the new children characters, and there was an uncomfortable, completely unncessary sexual harrassment storyline that really put me off. Even with that being said, I still would recommend watching the first few arcs.

Horimiya: I read the manga for Horimiya a few years ago, and it was nice to see it made as an anime! It's a cute high school romance story but without some of the more annoying cliches and really lovable characters.

Gokushufudou (S1&2): Another popular manga adaption! About a yakuza man who settles down to become a househusband for his beloved wife. Even if you've already read the manga or seen the manga floating around, the anime is still hilarious.

(This is long already but finally other mentions include: Komi-san Can't Communicate, Heikei Monogatari, Sk8, Bishounen Tanteidan)

What anime have you watched this year? Are there any you think I've missed?

[derpygirl-draws]

More Runaway AU drabble!

Au belongs to the amazing @paper-lilypie

Featuring mine and @daunsun ‘s self-inserts hehe

“Hello Jacquelyn, a pleasure to meet you!” Your boyfriend William greeted your youngest sister with his usual courtesy.

You winced, looking for the 10-year old’s reaction. Jackie hated being called Jacquelyn by anyone who wasn’t family, and she always made a point to set that boundary. There was a twitch of her little nose, like a bunny on its guard. You don’t think you have ever seen her give anyone such a look of contempt like she had with William in that moment, all while still forcing a cute little smile.

Before you could intervene, your second younger sibling, Alex, did so for you by picking up the rather peeved little girl by her armpits. “Great to meet you too Mr. Afton, please excuse us, Jackie is in a bad mood today.” Then leaving with the child, but not before sending you a rather disapproving glance.

It was later in the day as you wrote out a report for the paper, due to the public becoming more invested in your new relationship with the famous Mr. Afton Himself. William was still visiting, as he insisted it was important to get to know your family more. Your parents, as expected, absolutely loved him, his charms were irresistible, you knew from experience.

Well, maybe his charms weren’t always effective, you concluded when you heard your partner yell out in pain from where you assumed was the playroom that resided next to the dining room a few rooms over. You got up immediately and quickly made your way to the scene. And wow, it certainly was quite a scene. 

William stood defensively next to the colorful kids table that Jackie often used to color on. He was gripping his wrist that brought attention to his rather bloody hand, the source of the blood being a clear-as-day bite mark between his thumb and index finger. You looked over at your siblings, Alex looking a mix of startled and slightly amused as she kept a grip on the younger’s shoulders. 

Jackie paid you no mind as you entered, her death glare on William persisting, but you could tell from the blood around her mouth that she was the culprit. Usually when Jackie did something bad, she would be quick to apologize once she knew she was caught, but there was no apology, she meant to do what she did.

“You little-!” William sputtered out before finally acknowledging your presence, “Dear! Look at what she’s done to my hand!” He looked understandably upset as he looked for your support in the situation.

You huffed and sent a very disapproving glare at your youngest sibling, her face beginning to scrunch, and lips pursed in a strange way. “Jackie, what in the world were you-”

Jackie didn’t give you a chance to finish your sentence as you and everyone else in the room, including your parents who arrived soon after you, watched the child spit sharply, sending a mouthful of saliva mixed with foreign blood right onto your boyfriend's shoe.

William, you and your parents gasped, Alex slapped a hand on her mouth, trying to cover up the short laugh she let out in response. Jackie remained cold in her demeaner. You gave her a shocked and perplexed look, wondering ‘why does she hate him so much??’

“I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve this treatment, Dear, I think Jacquelyn needs serious help, a young lady should not act like a feral dog.” William said to you as he glared back at the young girl with annoyance but also unease.

“Choke on an apple you good-for-nothing old fart-” Jackie shouted, anger and fury in her voice before being interrupted by a booming voice.

“JACQUELYN THAT IS ENOUGH!” Your father bellowed, frustration and disappointment lacing his loud angry voice. Even though it wasn’t directed at you or her, Alex and you flinched while Jackie finally looked away from William and locked eyes with her father, a nervousness in her conviction slowly became evident in her expression.

You heard your mother huff, “Mr. Afton, I am so sorry about Jacquelyn, I have no idea what has come over her today, she’s usually very well behaved. Come with me, let's disinfect that.” The woman beckoned your boyfriend, who for a moment was still, before humming and following your mother out of the room.

It wasn’t a moment's wait after they left that your father charged at your sister and grabbed her by the wrist, force her to give him her full attention. “Go to your room and think on what you’ve done. You’ve embarrassed me, your mother and sisters and yourself with your little… I don’t even know what you were thinking, just go to your room. Now.” he demanded and little Jackie, tearing up, followed his demand and ran out of the room, sparing you a quick look that felt like a warning, the sound of footsteps on the stairs soon following.

It’s a good thing Jackie is the youngest, acting out growing up for you and Alex often led to more severe punishment. This was tame despite the severe reasoning. You never found out why Jackie did that, why she hated William so much when he didn’t deserve it.

Until now, as you run, bare-footed, in a wedding gown that is getting more and more ruined as you make wild twists and turns to lose your ex-husband-to-be’s goons in the streets of your town. You now understand why. That man's charms blinded you from how cruel a person he really was. He deserved the anger your sisters gave him. You just wish you had taken their side sooner.

[angelic-jeonghan1004]

Seriously? || Hwiyoung

This is a request/work for a group I now also don’t write for but I find this piece super cute so I’m redoing it for a different idol. For the groups I have in my masterlist you can always check if they’re still there but if you don’t see a title there anymore there's a good chance I either don’t focus on the group enough anymore to have the motivation or it’s just a lot of members and I already write for groups with average of 6-10 members which is already a bit stressful. Hope you all understand!! I also edited this and made it better than the original haha

Synopsis: y/n and Hwiyoung have been friends for a while, there is obviously some chemistry yet it's always dismissed. How much longer can Hwiyoung take?

Pairing: Hwiyoung x year older! Female Reader

Warnings: angst if you squint but mainly fluff!

  ☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ♡ ☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ ♡ ☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ ♡ ☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ♡

You and Hwiyoung became friends through your mutual friend group, you had become close to Inseong so he introduced his group of people and hit it off really well and became super close. Everyone started to expect some sort of chemistry to be going on between you and Hwiyoung, with the flirting always finding its way into your interactions but you always seemed to brush it off. You always saw it as his playful/charming personality especially since most boys don't want a girl a year older than them, at least that's what you thought. One of the most prominent times you weren't sure if he was just doing it playfully or not was 2 months back at the dorms; everyone was playing video games and you decided not to.

"Are you sure you don't wanna play?" Hwiyoung said with his signature smile covering his face holding a controller out to you.

"yeah I'm fine don't worry, I don't think I'd do the best in this game either" you said with a small smile creeping up your face from how cute he is.

"What if we made a bet?" He said, sparking an idea.

"what would that be?" You said in a teasing but still curious tone.

"hm I don't know, maybe the loser gives the winner a kiss on the cheek? Pays for a dinner together?" He said with a small laugh as the longer he went on the more red your cheeks got. Before you could even get a word out Chani interrupted.

"Would you two please get a room? '' This time it was both yours and Hwiyoung’s turn to get red at the face. That was one of the most ambitious Hwiyoung has gotten in the playful flirting back and forth.

Most of the time it was small stuff like hyping them all up for an award show when getting ready, Hwiyoung walked out looking handsome as ever and you were not able to take your eyes off of him. His presence and aura is intoxicating; you could never get your mind off of it even if you wanted to but you had to push those feelings down and keep them out of the way to keep the friendship afloat.

"You're staring cutie" he said with a wink.

"Are you telling me not to be jaw dropped by how good you look? I'm swooning right now and you can't stop me." You said with a laugh, his ears becoming burning hot.

"Will you ever stop being so cute?" He said with a quick sigh, causing you to giggle. Everything was always very tame but you knew something was there between you two but you'd suppress the thought since you may just be overthinking the situation. Probably just your heart telling you what it wants and not what’s logical.

Let's fast forward to now, you're heading to the arcade with the members since you all just wanted to let loose and have fun. You arrive a little late but they all immediately rush to you excited to play games together; while Dawon and Inseong had a different idea, Hwiyoung had expressed how he has feelings for you to them and they couldn't bear to see this weird tension anymore. Chani and Hwiyoung were playing a basketball game far off, not able to be seen or in hearing distance; Dawon and Inseong got everyone to circle around to be sure.

"So y/n, you obviously have feelings for Hwiyoung right? There has to be something there right?" Dawon said to you, causing you to go white in the face.

"Perhaps, but it's not like he'll like me anyway. I'm a year older than him. What if that sets him off the idea, like a pride thing? My feelings aren't the ones that are at question, they are set in place but his preference maybe." You said choking a little on your words, Youngbin put a hand around your shoulder for comfort seeing you get down about the situation.

"I'm gonna go for a breath of fresh air I'll be right back, I'll just be at the front." You said walking to the front of the building leading everyone to confusion and immediately on a mission to find Hwiyoung. After a quick search they found him and Chani and explained the whole situation to them. Hwiyoung balled his fists not being able to understand what they were saying, did you really not think he'd like you because of that tiny difference?? He quickly stormed to the front before anyone could speak another word. Once he saw you outside the arcade looking at the ground playing with the hem of your shirt he made his way in front of you, grabbing you by the hand and pulling you close.

"Do you like me? Do you think I wouldn't like you back? I legit have liked you for so long. You think that minor age gap would care for me? Seriously?" Before you could even get a word out he crashed his lips to yours, causing shock to erupt in you but also at ease you quickly kissed back and held him close to you. The kiss only ended once you needed air.

"Well now I feel like an idiot for suppressing these feelings for a factor you didn't even care for." You said with a laugh.

"Well as long as you're my idiot now I'll let it pass."

[frosted-night]

Jack Frost Designs Review

Yes it’s finally his time. This is going to include his book designs including previous incarnations in said books. There are more movie concept designs than book so, let’s dig in shall we?

This was in fact the first ever Jack Joyce designed while he came up with The Guardians Of Childhood. He even comes with his own backstory! (Which was cut. Sorry Joyce posts walls of text so it’s a girthy read.)

So instead of a young mischievous trickster, we got a much more depressing story of Jack. (Jack by default is sad obviously) but this one... It kind of hits differently and almost reminds me of the story he crafted for Pitch. A dad who tried to defend his family but through tragic events was ripped from them and changed completely. Design wise, he’s a lot more tree than snow. There doesn’t exist a colored version of this so we’ll never know if he sported winter and dull dead leaf colors rather than grassy greens.This Jack has a weird presence to him, I can’t put my finger on it. Rating: 6/10 He’s really neat! Just a little too Autumn feeling rather than a blend of both Autumn and Winter.

Nightlight feels like the baby evolution if Jack was a pokemon and that's what I’m gonna stick with. Below is a more recent version of him colored.

In all honesty that one is easier on the eyes proportion wise because sometimes Joyce has ‘interesting’ anatomy choices but we aint going into that today. It’s interesting how his hair somehow looks shorter and longer than Jack’s at the same time. Could be because the longer strands float seamlessly but star boy hair physics what can ya do. It’s a little hard to tell what is his skin and what is his armor, so that is a casuality in making a character only have one or two colors in their color scheme. I love other artist’s depictions of Nightlight but the canon one feels a little weak color wise. Rating: 5/10 Sorry, get some better LEDs and then come back.

Here we have a book Jack but I can’t entirely recall if this was used in the books or not. I digress. This design looks like him still wearing very Nightlight-esque armor/clothing and slowly growing into his new persona as Jack Frost. The intricacies are hard to make out but we’ll work with it. This one is very interesting to me because he very much looks like an older teen close to young adult. His hair looks very fluffy too. Not many complaints about this one but not much praise either.

Rating: 6/10 Not great but doesn’t stand out that much.

Remember when I said Joyce had ‘interesting’ anatomy decisions? Jack looks like he has half a head here and it bothers me GREATLY. This is the adult Jack design he went with. Supposedly he likes the opera and he sure looks it. This! Exists!! Kind of wish it didn’t. The outfit is nice but it just doesn’t fit Jack as a whole. This just screams to me that it’s someone else with a similar-ish hairstyle.

Rating: 3/10 Guess he’d be the...Phantom Of The Opera. (I’ll go home and so should he.)

And finally the final Jack. This is the one that almost exactly resembles the Jack we got in the movies(Probably because it was made after the movie but w/e) but just add a cape on him. I can’t really tell if hes got a hoodie and a cape, or just a cloak+hood on top of a sweatshirt. It isn’t too important because my thoughts on this one are obvious. Rating: 10/10 Edna Mode would have a field day with you boy.

MOVIE DESIGN TIME

Joyce claims this is a design he drafted when Leonardo DiCaprio was considered to voice Jack and I can kind of see that with how his face is drawn here. This Jack looks a lot more like a warrior and less of that trickster look. I can’t say I’m a fan of the weird antenna his hood has but his sword is really cool looking.

Rating: 4/10 Nice bow and sword but it can’t save your fashion choices.

This looks like a lanky 11-13 year old who would put rocks or slugs in my shoes and relish in my disgust. He has the exact look of a snot nose kid and I’m unsure how to feel about it.

His various hairstyles drafted here sort of make him softer looking or just more of a snot nose, no in between. Maybe even an Anime Protagonist.

The top right one almost looks like Hiccup from How To Train Your Dragon if you squint. It’ll be a little hard to rate them all as one individual but why not.

Rating: 5/10 I don’t hate them but they aren’t my cup of tea.

AH- IS THAT A FUCKIN GREMLIN?

Oh wait no it isn’t he looks like a 10 year old. Whatever don’t feed him after midnight. The staff’s design of not being shaped like a G is an interesting tidbit but the whole design looks like he’s really young or like a troll etc. This Jack looks like he thinks girls have cooties uses outdated slang.

Rating: 4/10 This is me being generous.

It honestly looks like he hiked his pants up all the way to his chest. A late teen with horrid fashion choices once again. Not many other thoughts here.

Rating: 2/10 Get a sweater on or something.

This is one is very interesting looking to me. His clothes looked a lot more leather based and very human-like. The tatters, tears and frays all make him look like he was a victim of an accident that never changed his clothes. It makes me wonder if this Jack had the same death as the final movie Jack or something else entirely. Either way, this one looks like hes a mid to late teen which really adds to my intrigue.

This was another image that greatly resembled the design so I included it here. It almost looks like his skin is blue here which is pretty neat to me at least. He’s also got leaf motifs here, which from the first Jack design Joyce made, we can see a pattern here.

Rating: 8 /10 I was originally weirded out by his head but now its not so bad.

This Jack is definitely dressed more like a nature boy rather than him having human influenced fashion and it’s an appealing touch. The tiny leaf sprouting from his staff is also kind of cute since the designers seemed to want to put leafs somewhere on his designs. His hairstyle is also very cute but it reminds me of Sasuke Uchiha in a sense. (Not a setback for me at least)

Rating: 7/10 13 year old Jack is going thru a phase.

I thought this Jack didn’t show up again in story boards but I was wrong!

They look a little different from each other but just similar enough to pair together, so bare with me. The first one obviously has looser pants, slightly longer sleeves and got his leaf motif going. This second Jack is a VERY green. It gives the impression that this Jack made his clothes out of plants and natural materials. Again I’m not wholly sure if greens fit his color scheme but they sure went for it for a while. I can’t say I’m a fan of it because it heavily reminds me of Peter Pan.

However a very similar looking Jack could be found in this storyboard. It doesn’t look as green as the other storyboards made it out to be and looks more like dead grass. Which is a pretty nice touch.

Rating: 5/10 I don’t hate it but it just doesn’t vibe yknow.

Speaking of a vibe...hoo this certainly has one.  This Jack isn’t old but certainly doesn’t look very young, maybe in the 20-30 range, thats just me. He has facial features that remind me of Pitch but resembles the Jack Frost of Santa Clause 3

That being said, I wondered if him looking similar to Pitch was in the storyline of them being brothers.(Which was a scrapped thing, who knew.) He’s a bit more menacing in this design but certainly seems like he relishes in his work.

Rating: 4/10 I’d make it a lower score but I gotta give it props

NOW THIS JACK IS KINDA INTERESTING. This one looks like he’s 16 and going through a grunge phase. He’s gonna play Nirvana loudly and not turn it down even if you tell him too. His staff itself has mini icicles hanging off of it and leafs look stuck to his shirt. Did you glue or staple those on Jack? His hair also looks much longer than his other designs and I kind of dig it( Shut up I’m bias.) I’m not wholly sure why else this design has stuck with me but it just has something about it that I just love. I wish there was a full body drawing of it.

(He also kinda has the same hair as the Jack Frost in Runescape but I wont go on about that hoo hoo)

Rating: 9/10 *Bad Boy by Cascada plays in the distance*

This one definitely feels like middleschooler trying to be in a band. His sticks just resemble drumsticks to me what can I say. I’m a big fan of his shoes and his color scheme screams a hibernating tree in winter. His hair also looks like it’s covered in frost rather than it being wholly white, which is very neat!! He looks like he wants to fight but has slight hesitance. Overall a very balanced Jack.

Rating: 8/10 He’s ready for band practice

Not many thoughts here, I just found these tiny Jack designs cute. His hoodie being a jacket instead just adds to the charm of this one.

No talk to him he angy.

Rating: 6/10 fun sized boi

Now this Jack resembles the one earlier that dressed entirely in leather brown colors, however he clearly is different than that one. I’m gonna say it, he looks like a zombie or undead in this design and its pretty fucking gnarly. I don’t know whats going on with his hair but I’m gonna assume it’s just the wind making it look like that. He just has the vibe that he was once human but was turned into something else entirely. It isnt in uncanny territory but borders that. This version of Jack meeting Pitch and the others would have been *very* interesting. Rating: 7/10 Eat a twinkie Jack you’ll feel better.

The final design! I can’t complain much about this one. The way his staff subtly has a G shape and a hexagon(his signature shape) is a wonderful touch. Additionally, the way the frost is gathered mostly where his hand is such an intricate detail. His signature hoodie is iconic at this point so I can’t bad mouth that either.(I can’t anyway because there's no complaints from me here.) Although, I never understood the leather straps that his pants had or their functions. I couldn’t find any colonial outfits that resembled Jack’s pants so its a total mystery to me at least.

And I can’t go on about this design until I mention the snowflake pattern in his eyes

Pure beauty. It’s at a hue of blue that almost looks impossible to have, combined with the electric blue color of the snowflake in his eyes. The amount of detail in this movie amazes me to this day. Rating: One Great Blizzard <3/10