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good--merits-accumulated · 2 months ago

Note

This is for the ask game! 🥰

My favorite scenes from your fics and something that I think you capture really well are when two characters meet and have a moment of mutual attraction. I kick my damn feet every time!

↻ FLIP FLOP

I'd love to hear more of:

1. Neil's initial reaction/impression when Todd slides into the other side of his table in "Un Dernier Verre (Pour La Route)"

2. Todd's reaction to Neil's crazy (if well-meaning) friends very obviously egging Neil on after the play in "a book of words"

!!!! THANKS FOR THE ASK!!! And I'm glad you like those moments!!! I don't think my ability to write romance is so good so it's nice to hear people are liking it. :DDD

OK, so you get both! Under the cut let's go:

Todd through Neil's eyes in "Un Dernier Verre (Pour La Route)": in actuality, the way I always visualised it was that Neil would have seen him as he walked in (as he's facing the door) and been instantly intrigued! Sorry, it's not quite what you asked for. But this is what came out of the keyboard when I was thinking, and I only barely control where the words go, to be honest. T_T

It's strange, Neil thinks idly, how quickly you can tell someone is English in a foreign country. Take the man who's just come in through the cafe door: emerged blinking into the dim smoky interior of this not-very-touristic cafe. They both were lured by the music, Neil thinks, watching him, but the manner of the entrance is different - he remembers striding in off the street, ears pricked to the familiar falling trumpet and that voice, mournful like a balladist, only to be lifted by jubilant horns. He had bumped into some guy at another table looking for it, he remembers ruefully. The man just entered, now hovering undecidedly inside the entrance, by contrast looks like he's overstaying a welcome to which he's only just arrived. One hand grips the strap of his satchel like a schoolboy, the other hovers with the rest of him - worrying at his tie, his cuffs, his hair, the belt at his hip with the care label still poking out from underneath the leather. New, then, and he must have bought it in a hurry. Cute.

He blinks. That thought is new.

OK. Let's investigate it. New Guy is tall, around his height, and probably some kind of office worker. Overseas? Temp? Conference? A variety of options cross his mind. Marketing? Finance? Definitely not. Someone with that face shouldn't be working in finance, Neil thinks decidedly to himself. New Guy has a muse's face - a sweet face, a little square in the jaw but the squareness softened by dark golden waves of hair that look like they've been grown out a little. It's very '90s, which is to say it's very handsome. As he draws closer Neil sees more; the flash of light that plays on his bare neck as he cranes his head to try and catch the performance, and the corresponding flash of warmth, as shocking and unexpected as lightning, which goes through him at the sight. Faint dusting of golden hair like sugar on his forearms. A red mouth, redder as Neil watches and he bites his lip anxiously, and expressive eyebrows. And eyes which are unlike the rest of him: shrewd and entranced and slow, looking their fill, seeing everything, missing nothing. Somewhere between blue and brown, light and dark. A flash of playfulness goes through them, then melancholy. The eyes themselves are a painting. He can't be the muse, Neil thinks dreamily, he takes it back, he must be the artist instead.

In what is a personal record, he's so engrossed that he forgets that he's still on the phone. "Sorry?" says Céline into his ear. "What did you just say? Am I hearing you correctly? And is this thing on?"

New Guy looks in his direction. "I'll call you back," says Neil, and hangs up.

Sure. Whatever. Maybe he's been thinking about character work too much - after all, the past few days have been a whirlwind of rehearsal, how does Brutus enter a room, how does he walk out, hey, Jean, do I threaten Cassius with the blade like this or like this, and so on and so forth, forevermore, amen. It's natural that he would start to analyse the mannerisms of the people he sees on the street out of habit. But he can tell himself that all day and still know that this is beyond a symptom of overwork, or even just an idle entertaining thought. This is bad, Neil thinks to himself. Very bad.

He grins. Horrifically bad, actually.

New Guy tiptoes past Neil's table with all the delicacy of a ballet dancer trying not to be noticed - as if everyone is staring at him. Everyone should be staring at him. Neil has a sudden thought - what if he's part of the band, what if - but it's dispelled as soon as he thinks it, as New Guy inches closer, sees the camera, jerks back as if repelled with hot coals, and reels backwards several steps, landing neatly in the empty chair on the other side of the table. His table.

Neil stares open-mouthed. New Guy, breathing hard with embarrassment, doesn't notice him in the slightest. Face gone red to match his mouth he manoeuvres his bag into his lap, mutters something self-deprecating - Neil was right, he is British - and reaches despairingly for the menu. Neil puts a hand out to slide it towards him. Then the man looks up.

2. Todd's reaction to the "matchmaking" in "a book of words":

So. He can deal with having a crush on the guy playing Marius in the production, because it's stupid, and he's intimately familiar with stupid things. He can deal with the guy coming to watch the orchestra practice five out of six times, and the embarrassment of being caught staring, also five out of six times. He can even deal with the guy not remaining an unreachable stranger but apparently being a mutual acquaintance through Cameron. The universe is a sadist that way. Thanks, but he could have told you that one without having to have it proved to him.

Knox's (that is his name, right?) hand pops right back around the corner and gives Neil an impressively unsubtle, clearly-meant-to-be-encouraging thumbs up. Todd's not sure he can deal with this.

The thing is that having a crush on the unreachable actor is in his comfort zone because, by nature, he's unreachable. That's the point. Todd is free to dream, because nothing will ever come of it - that was the way it had been with, oh, Julio who had always sat in the row below him in his first year, and Anthony who had played oboe in the orchestra for one semester, and even that Finnish PhD student he had briefly met on that ill-advised night at the jazz club. The trouble is that neither Julio nor Anthony nor even the PhD student, pissed as he had been on some of the most lethal-smelling vodka Todd had ever borne witness to, had been looking at him with Neil's big brown melting eyes and his silly, sweet smile. And even if they had, they wouldn't have looked at him like that. As his phone chimes Neil looks away to answer the notification, and he almost sighs in relief. Then the screen catches his eye; a message with a link he clicks on, then hastily deletes, shoving the phone back into his pocket. Oh, God, now he's back. "It appears they've left without me," Neil quips, his voice so grave Todd double-takes before realising he's joking.

His eyebrows are raised in that hopeful way; his eyes are fixed on him. Fleetingly Todd wonders if he's actually interested; is it all a practical joke, some tamer version of Carrie? Is Neil only here out of the high of a successful performance or even a sense of duty, because his friends are doing... whatever they're doing? In the lobby before the dress rehearsal, when Meeks and Pitts had been filming, had they been ribbing Neil or gathering material to humiliate Todd? When he had been explaining Galahad's name to Neil - God, why had he done that - was that why they had been laughing? He frowns hard, trying to gather himself together. No, he knows better than that, to assume the world is against him. He's overthinking severely. Pitts is there; not necessarily his friend, but someone he knows to be a nicer and more honourable person than that. And above everything, they're Cameron's friends also. And he trusts Cameron.

So, that leaves the equally terrifying option; that Neil actually... reciprocates, in some way that Todd really doesn't want to contemplate right now. And maybe he doesn't have to. His heart sinks as he sees the familiar loping gait of Stick coming out of the theatre, and remembers promising he'd take a ride back in his car. "I do want to," he says wretchedly, "I really, really want to." As he says it he realises it's true - he wants to walk with Neil all the way back home, and keep walking after that, just to have him there. Christ, but he's far gone. "But I promised Stick I'd carpool with him. I'm sorry. Maybe you could - "

He never gets to improvise what Neil could do, mainly because he forgets how long Stick's stride is, and how quickly, therefore, he walks. “NO YOU DID NOT,” he yells, receding into the distance; Todd blinks and realises he's towing Mike behind him, holding his cello case to him along with his ever-present scowl. No, he doesn't want to get in the middle of whatever mess is happening there. “I’M TAKING MIKE IN THE CAR,” Stick shouts, waving a hand in a passable imitation of a wind turbine. “HE MADE ME. SORRY. HE’S GOT YOUR SEAT. YOU SHOULD GO WITH MARIUS. SORRY, MARIUS, I DON’T KNOW YOUR NAME.”

Never mind, he thinks promptly, feeling embarrassment flame up in his cheeks. If Neil has friends doing ridiculous things to push him closer to Todd, then Todd has friends doing ridiculous things to push him closer to Neil. They're both as bad as each other. He looks back at Neil, and this time he smiles.

(Hope you liked! Sidenote: I think this fic was the first of mine you ever commented on!! The memories :D!!)

#dead poets society #tristan writes #anderperry #ask #i write this with not much time to spare after a chore day so do bear with it haha #dps

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ticklish-touch · 10 months ago

Text

Decided to post my Backrooms chapter illustrations separately. The links to all the (SFW) chapters can be found here:

I really wanted to push myself not just as a writer, but also as a digital artist for this story.

You can read some rambles about my art process for each illustration below the cut.

Ch 1: For this chapter cover, I wanted to do my best to replicate the eerie, sickly vibe of Level Zero. And that resulted me in really playing around with the lighting and shadows in a way that I hadn't before. I also wanted to give it a bit of wonky perspective and feel a bit like an illusion-house.

Ch 2: Lookit this cheeky fucker. Totally isn't a Tower of Terror employee luring you into a false sense of security. 😁 My initial idea for this illustration was to make it look as if the Manager's cuttlefish head was really morphing & bowing out from within the wallpaper. I tried a couple drafts where I attempted to line up his tentacles and facial patterns with the wallpaper patterns. And idk, it just didn't end up looking as cool as it did in my head. (Also hallelujiah for Clip pattern brushes, they helped me make the trim around the elevator.)

Ch 3: Fun fact: This chapter was originally going to be the second half of my hotel chapter. But I'm glad it became its own thing, cause otherwise it would've robbed me of the chance to draw Rags acting like a supervillain in a construction helmet and flannel 👍

also Clip Studio Assets are a godsend, they prevent me from having to draw out an entire freakin warehouse floorplan. I did color it all myself though.

Ch 4: I remember this drawing taking me longer than I would've liked.Then again I've always struggled to draw somewhat realistic-looking water. The shadow off-shooting below the smaller cube pool into the deeper water was actually a complete accident.

And in case anyone was wanting to see a close-up of Lionfish Rags:

And again, Spike and Drake are temporary names for the sake of this AU setting until I think of actual names (for if and when I ever get around to making a Mer-Nautica AU like I've been wanting to). The silhouettes show how big they were when I first saw them in my dreams:

Ch 5: I had visuals in mind for a group of Wanderers/ Survivors since before I wrote this chapter, and grew even more attached to them as I wrote them. I was originally going to just have them depicted here, but I also couldn't get the stupid image of Rags and his megaphone out of my head and decided it needed to be shared 👌

Ch 6: When I tell yall that it was a struggle to get through drawing this. And not because of genuine art struggles; No, because of the pure Lee Panik that gripped my soul when having to zoom in close on Rags' sadistic unhinged Ler face hhhhhhfdhdfjgkfghl-

This was one of the chapters I was most looking forward to writing. It's still one of my favs in terms of pure unbridled ruthless gang-tickling, the culmination of my pred/prey/chasing fantasies revolving around laughter-hungry monsters, along with some good ol Mad Scientist roleplay.

...Oh and the first official introduction of the final antagonist, there's that too 😛

Ch 7: Yall have no idea the absolute childlike glee I felt when discovering that there's a freaking Bouncehouse/McDonalds Playplace level of the Backrooms. But holy hell, drawing the Toon Monsters was more of a challenge than I thought. There's a surprising amount of finesse in depicting that wacky, slightly-unnerving/uncanny toony charm. (Ballpit brush is best brush, change mymind)

Ch 8: Since this chapter was more or less meant to be a sort of mid-series Climax, a hint of what the battle with the Keymaster would be like, I really wanted to push myself with making this chapter cover truly stand out. It was fun to come up with a full-body design for the Court Jester (based on his Wiki interpretation of course), and it was fun to experiment with the ideas I had in mind for his magic visuals.

Once again, Clip Studio assets are a lifesaver, you can catch me actually attempting to draw a rollercoaster or carousel when I'm six feet under 👌

Ch 9: I was both excited about, and dreading, the chance to play around with various different light colors & sources. I wasn't sure how I was going to make neon blues, purples and magentas work in contrast to Rags' color palette, but I'm very happy with what I came up with.

The Dark Sovereign was also a chance for me to play around with chiaroscuro, an art technique that I've always admired (and actually really liked to do with chalk & pastel back in college). As much as I'm a slut for bright colors, I love stark contrasting black & white.

Ch 10: I went through about three iterations of sketches for this chapter cover. I felt like I just couldn't figure out how to angle the perspective of the treeline in comparison to the Giant. I'm still not even sure if I thoroughly pulled off the proper perspective of the greenhouse in the far distance. But once I added all the pretty, spooky fog effects, I became much happier with it.

Unfortunately I do not have a standalone drawing of Naga!Rags. It will definitely happen one of these days.

Ch 11: For this chapter, I wanted to draw a very cramped, stark, foreboding stretch of environment: Basically, a quintessential scene that one would see in the Backrooms if they were wandering through them alone. This is meant to be a much more down-to-earth chapter than the rest, with an air of melancholy and uncertainty. Turns out it actually lined up quite well with some of my own mental and emotional struggles that I was going through at the time.

Ch 12: For the final hurrah, I really wanted to push myself as a digital artist for this piece. (Though that doesn't mean I was about to draw all those goddamn keys from scratch, lmaoo you can thank Clip Assets for that key ring.) I wanted to try and find a way to make the Keymaster the more imposing figure in the piece, despite the fact that Rags is fully powered-up and closest to the viewer. I'm not sure if I entirely succeeded, since my end solution for making him stand out more was "MOAR GLOWY KEYS!!!"

But it was still fun, and very rewarding to get it completed.

Ch 13: I was very happy to finally get the chance to fully render Kenni for this fic. As much as shading his tendrils still drives me up the wall, it felt nice drawing the good soff boi. And I was happy to give an idea of how his Dream realm looks, with all its pastel clouds and close proximity to the Astral plane.

#backrooms #backrooms fanart #tickling #tickle fic #oc #original character #original characters #monster #monster boy #tickle monster #artoftt

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buggy-samaaa · 1 year ago

Text

S/I Part 1

Audience: *weakly applauding when Buggy enters the ring*

Me: *clapping wildly* *continues clapping and whoo-ing even after Mohji puts the "applause" sign down*

Buggy: ok who's the goddamn CHUCKLEFUCK that is MOCKING ME RIGHT NOW?! HUH??!

Me, yelling from the crowd: ME! I MEAN -- I'M NOT MOCKING -- I SWEAR -- I'M JUST A REALLY BIG FAN!

Buggy: Well! Finally, someone who understands their place! CABAJI! BRING THEM HERE

Cabaji: *does*

Buggy: What's your name, pal?

Me: *speechlessly grinning* *can't talk rn* *too overwhelmed*

Buggy: You're taking up precious time, kid, just tell me your name so we can get on with the show

Me: 😀

Buggy: Great thanks GIVE IT UP FOR THE ONLY ONE HERE WITH AN OUNCE OF TASTE!

Audience: *applauds stiltedly*

Buggy: *turns me around, detaches hands and pushes me back to my seat* *reattaches hands and wipes them on his shirt* Alright... anyway... ... ...Goddamnit I'M THROWN OFF, NOW! DO-OVER! PLACES, EVERYONE! FUCK!

——

Later

Buggy: You've been great, folks! Truly a CAPTIVE... audience! Hahahaha! See you again tomorrow! Buh-bye now! *Turns to leave the ring, sees me waving frantically and sighs* WHAT?

Me: Buggy-- Sir-- Captain-- can I have your autograph??

Buggy: Heh. Sure, sure. *he pulls out his wanted poster, signs it, then hands it to me* Anything else I can do ya for, kid?

Me: 😀

Buggy: You have a problem. *turns to leave*

Me: LET ME JOIN YOUR CREW!

Buggy: *slowly turns back around* Ha?

Me: 🫡 I swear my allegiance to the Buggy Pirates!!! 🫡

Buggy: HA?!

Me: Please!! 🙏 My captain!! 🙇

Buggy: *stunned* *crosses arms, grins and shakes his head* You've got spunk! But. It takes more than spunk to join MY crew. MOHJI!

Mohji: Captain!

Buggy: Take this one to the ship.

Mohji: *unfastens chains and pulls me along with him*

Buggy: We'll talk later, peanut gallery. Enjoy the brig! Bye-eeee!

——

Mohji: To be honest *walking me along*

Me: Yeah?

Mohji: We don't really have a brig. It's more Ritchie's room since he can be pretty destructive when I'm away. *continues walking me toward the ship*

Me: Well where are you taking me then?

Mohji: Captain's quarters.

Me: SO DIRECT--

Mohji: What?

Me: Isn't that... Buggy's... boudoir?

Mohji: Uh... yes?

Me: EEEHEHEHEHE

Mohji: He's going to regret this so much

——

45 minutes of being chained to a chair in Buggy's Boudoir later

Me: *at the end of the chain, trying to snoop in everything I can*

Buggy: *opens door, sees me, jumps back and shrieks, having completely forgotten me*

Me: CAPTAIN 🙇

Buggy: STOP THAT!

Me: SIR 🫡

Buggy: You're not a part of my crew!

Me: Yet!

Buggy: *sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose* Alright, babe. What can you offer me?

Me: 😳 I can offer so much

Buggy: Why are you drooling

——

Buggy: *snaps his fingers in my face* Hey, wakey-wakey. Answer the question. What can you offer?

Me: I, um… *frantically searching for a talent* I can… draw?

Buggy: *not impressed*

Me: Oh! I could be a caricature artist for your audience!!

Buggy: *strokes his chin with a detached hand* Hm… I guess I could see how that would be useful…

Me: Yeah, you could advertise it and lure people in! Then you wouldn’t have to force anybody to—

Buggy: “FORCE”? You think people are FORCED to see my show?!

Me: Um. Well you kidnapped everybody, so. Yes?

Buggy: They like it so it doesn’t count.

Me: That’s problematic but I’ll pretend I didn’t hear it

——

Buggy: You better be able to prove that you can draw, peanut gallery, or else.

Me: *curiously* Or else… what?

Buggy: *hadn’t thought that far* You’ll… walk the plank!

Me: Right next to the dock? I could just get out of the water.

Buggy: Well obviously, I’d take you out to sea and THEN you’ll walk the plank where there’s no hope of survival!

Me: You’d be willing to put up with me for that long?? That’s so sweet :)

Buggy: Just— shut up! Show me you can draw! *shoves a paper and pen at me*

Me: Okay, fine. Jeez. *looks around for a surface*

Buggy: *sighs, turns around so I can draw on his back, but he flips his head backwards so he can see the paper as I draw*

Me: *ignoring how creepy that looks* *quickly sketches Buggy but in a caricature style, so his features are greatly exaggerated… especially his nose*

Buggy: Excuse me. What. Is this supposed to be. *he jabs his detached finger at the nose, which looks like a kickball glued to his face*

Me: A drawing of you

Buggy: DON’T PLAY STUPID!! *he turns his head back around, grabs the drawing and rips it to shreds, then stomps on it and digs his heel into the paper* *heaving breaths as he calms down* You’re lucky you’re cute. One more chance and that’s it. *presents a new paper, turns around again*

Me: *blushing a bit at his comment* *draws him again, this time with more realistically-sized features* What do you think?

Buggy: Hm. *he studies the paper and smiles a bit despite his recent outburst* *he frowns again, acting as though he isn’t actually as happy with it as he is* That’ll do. Welcome aboard, Resident Ar-teest!” *he claps me on the back, unchains me from the floor, then pins up the drawing of himself next to his mirror*

Me: YES!! WOO-HOO! Thank you thank you thank you!!! *I hug him tight, squeeze him and then let go to run around the room whooping*

Buggy: *blushes but covers up his emotions by looking angry about it* *releases anger and chuckles to himself at me* *laughs louder* That’s right! I’m the best in the East Blue! The rest of the crew could learn from your hootin’ and hollerin’!! *laughs triumphantly* *grabs my arm and tugs me toward the door, which he kicks open* ALRIGHT, MEN! MEET OUR NEWEST MEMBER… … *he falters, realizing he doesn’t know my frickin’ name*

The crew: *awkwardly watch him struggle* *a bird caws in the distance*

Me: *whispers to him*

Buggy: MO! I knew that. I was just waiting for a drumroll which NO ONE PROVIDED! *glares at crew*

Someone in the back: *starts a drumroll*

Buggy: IT’S TOO LATE NOW, DIPSHIT! *mutters to himself then turns to me* Mo, talk to Cabaji, he’ll set you up with a bed and whatever else. *he goes back to his room but stops and mentions this with a bit of embarrassment,* thanks for the drawing. *shuts the door*

——

Me: *lays down in the hammock Cabaji led me to and swings from side to side giddily* This is so awesome… I can’t believe I’m actually part of the Buggy Pirates! I’m in the Big Top RIGHT NOW! *rotates in the hammock like a high-speed rotisserie chicken* EEEE!! *stops* Wait. Something isn’t right…

Pirate failing to nap nearby: Is it that you’re talking to yourself when people are trying to sleep?!

Me: No *springs out of hammock and out the door* *runs to Buggy’s quarters and knocks like mad*

Buggy: *wrenches open the door, pissed* *gets knocked on the nose multiple times* *swats my fist away* OW! FUCK! WHAT IS IT *winces as he pats his nose, checking for blood (there isn’t any)*

Me: Ah, my bad!

Buggy: DON’T “MY BAD”—! Ugh… how does it look?

Me: It’s pretty red

Buggy: *sputters with rage at himself for walking right into that one* Just—Just—!! What do you need?!

Me: *suddenly very serious* I realized… I don’t have a clown motif.

Buggy: *straightens and looks distraught* You’re right. *grabs my shoulders* We need to fix that immediately. BOBO!

Bobo, the ship’s tailor: Oui?

Buggy: Get Mo something to wear! Quick!

Bobo: Oui! *hauls me away to his nook of the ship, which is filled with fabrics and notions of all sorts* *he gets my measurements in seconds, holds up various fabrics to my skin, finds a color he likes, and starts to drape on his dress form*

Me: *stunned as I watch him, in mere moments, whip up a bright teal jacket with jester horns on the hood*

Bobo: *puts the jacket on me and has me turn around for him* *he snips off a loose thread and nods* Oui.

Me: Holy shit! Wow! Thank you!!

Bobo: *beams*

Buggy: *saunters over* That’s Bobo for ya!

Me in Buggy’s eyes: *turns around in slow-motion, jester horns on the hood swaying a bit as I face him, I smile wide when I see him and my cheeks blush in his presence*

Buggy: *blushes too* Whoa.. *glances away nervously* Y-You look… Really good

Me: *reddens even more* Thanks…

Buggy: *clears throat* Yes, “thanks”… to Bobo! Thanks to Bobo you look good! Heh. Anywho. All set, now. So. *yells to the rest of the ship* LET’S CELEBRATE OUR FLASHY NEW CREWMATE! WHO WANTS BOOZE?!

Crew: *CHEERS RAUCOUSLY*

Buggy: *to me* C’mon. I’ll get us the good stuff. *grin and heads toward the ship’s store room*

Me: *chuckles and follows him down, looking forward to a fun night*

——

In the ship’s stores

Buggy: *grabs a few bottles and hands them to me* Here, this swill is for the crew. And this… *he opens a trap door and pulls out a fancy bottle of tequila* This is for us. *wiggles the bottle with a smirk*

Me: *sparkle eyes* Aaah I feel so special~ Captain Buggy~

Buggy: St-Stop being weird, don’t make me regret this!

Me: *shuts eyes but the light from the sparkles still shines through my eyelids*

Buggy: The fuck—

——

We go back up the stairs and Buggy has me hand out the bottles to a very joyful crew. I finish chatting with some of the crewmates and come back to Buggy, who has set up a couple of shot glasses for us.

Me: Alrighty, can’t wait to try this tequila! *reaches for a shot glass but Buggy snatches it away from me* Hey!

Buggy: Let’s play a game. *he has a glint of mischief in his eyes*

Me: …Were you planning this?

Buggy: *scoffs* No! *releases the shot glass and places it in front of me* “Answer or drink.”

Me: Answer what?

Buggy: That’s the name of the game. I ask a question, and you either answer it truthfully or you take a shot. And vice versa.

Me: Hm… Okay! You go first.

Buggy: Heh. Let’s start easy. How did you learn about me and my crew?

Me: *drinks*

Buggy: Wh—Yo— You can’t even answer that?!

Me: I just wanted to drink.

Buggy: THAT’S NOT HOW IT WORKS!

Me: I know. My turn!

Buggy: *grumbles* Fine!

Me: What’s your favorite circus feat to perform? *assuming he’s proficient in all of them*

Buggy: *can’t even juggle* Uh… *drinks*

Me: This is gonna be a short game.

Buggy: Are you leaving behind any family, joining my crew?

Me: Nope. I was on my own.

Buggy: No friends?

Me: Hey, it’s not your turn! Um… is this your hair? *pulls the long blue stuff coming out of his hat*

Buggy: OW! Yes! *lifts his hat to rub his pained scalp*

Me: Wow, it’s so long… *strokes it* And soft! Are these little braids? Aww…

Buggy: *stuffs hair into his hat grumpily, blushing* Shut up! Hmph. Why don’t you have friends?

Me: …

Buggy: *realizes he’s struck a nerve as I take a shot*

Me: *more serious* Why are you so curious about me?

Buggy: …

Me: *looks at him curiously as he takes a shot, avoiding my stare*

——

About three hours later

Buggy: Mmkay, it’sh my turn ag’in…

Me: Mhmm

Buggy: And thish time, you better not *hic* drink

Me: Yeh ho’kay

Buggy: *slaps table* Wouldjoo… ever… *hic* Hm.

Me: Hwhat

Buggy: Hmn. Heh. I’m too embarrasshed

Me: Hwhat??

Buggy: Nho. Nho nho nho

Me: HWHAT, D*hic*AMNIT

Buggy: Heh… wouldjoo ever… *shakes head, blushes and drinks*

Me: Huh?! ‘S zat a new rule?? Can’t ashk yew gotta drink??

Buggy: Captain sez.

Me: That’z shtoopid.

Buggy: Ashk your question alreddy

Me: Buggie… kin I…

Buggy: C’n yew… hwhat

Me: *leans closer* Kin… I… ‘m…

Buggy: *blushing as I glance at his mouth*

Me: *falls forward* Zzz

Buggy: HA?! *barely manages to catch me* *he tries to prop me back up but I just fall forward toward the table* *catches me again and gently lays my head down on the table* *sighs* *looks around the ship* *the rest of the crew is in the same state as me, all laying around and snoring* Heh… C’mon. *he manages to stand, and he pulls me off my seat* Oof— he’vier th’n I thought. *struggles and ends up dragging me to the room where my hammock is*

Me: Zzz

Buggy: *heaves me onto the hammock, which swings in an arc and plops me face-down on the floor* H’oh shit—

Me: *muffled snoring*

Buggy: *lifts me up again and is too scared to try putting me back in the hammock* M’kay, ah… *he sighs and drags me back out of the room, fumbles with the knob to his quarters, and pulls me inside, plopping me on his bed like a sack of potatoes*

Me: *smiles in my sleep and nuzzles into his pillow* Buggie…

Buggy: *blushes wildly, falls backward and scurries out of the room* *fumbles for the knob, opens the door and darts out, shutting it quietly* *exhales* G’night, Mo.

——

The next morning

Me: *stirs* Hm… Wha? *notices I’m in a nice fluffy bed* Huh?? *sits up and glances around* *face drops and I blush when I realize I’m in Buggy’s room* *leaps out of bed in a karate position, not sure what to expect next* *relaxes pose when I realize I’m alone* How did I end up in here…

Buggy, who slept outside the door: *is awoken by getting stepped on the face by Bobo* GAH *punches him in the nuts on reflex*

Bobo: HORK *doubles over and trembles* Je suis désolé, C-captain

Buggy: *stands up quickly, has footprint on his face* SORRY AIN’T GONNA— oof… *sits back down and grips head, hangover taking over*

Me: *slams open door, which pins Buggy between the door and the wall right on his head*

Buggy: GH—HRGLE—

Me: Oh no!! *closes door and rushes to his side* Are you okay?!

Buggy: *tears in his eyes, footprint on his face, cheeks red from being smacked, nose throbbing, missing a tooth* Yeah I’m good

Me: Whew

Buggy: I’M OBVIOUSLY NOT GOOD

Me: Oh!

Buggy: *turned away* So oblivious…

——

Ten minutes later, we’ve gotten up and have started drinking coffee, which Buggy demanded Bobo to make simply because he was nearby. We both sip our coffees and sigh happily.

Me: So…

Buggy: *serenely enjoying his coffee* Hm?

Me: Did you take me to bed last night?

Buggy: *chokes* NO! Well… Yes? B-but not like THAT! *blushing, tries to focus on coffee, slurping it awkwardly*

Me: Hahaha! Why are you so flustered??

Buggy: I’M NOT— *red as a beet* *grumbles*

Me: *grinning, pats his back* I’m just messing with you! I know you’re too shy to try anything.

Buggy: SHY?! I’m not shy!! I could do… stuff!

Me: *teasing* Oh yeah? Like what?

Buggy: *mouth is a thin line as he tries to talk but can’t. He just gets redder, grunts and turns back to his coffee*

Me: HAHAHA

Buggy: Tch… *leans away with his chin in his hand, trying to hide his smile*

#oc x canon #s/i x buggy #buggy the clown #mo x buggy #my fic

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clarktooncrossing · 2 years ago

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HELLO THERE PEOPLE OF TODAY AND ROBOTS OF TOMORROW! IT'S ME, CLARK!

Happy National Cartoonists Day, everyone! What, you didn't think my current computer crisis would stop me from celebrating the Holiday, did ya? Actually, it almost did. Y'see, despite this piece being drawn by hand, my computer's scanner wouldn't save the file onto my craptop. My computer's going through a processing error, meaning it's set to stop working any day now. Fortunately this hunk'a junk managed to work just long enough for me to upload the newest Sketch BOOM! Yes my friends, the Sketch BOOM is back! I figured if I could only post one thing for NCD it might as well be something covered head to toe with cartoons. Some pretty well drawn cartoons too, if you pardon me tootin' my own horn. It just feels so good to have drawn something, have it come out looking as good as it does, and to be able to upload it here on tumblr for you all to see. For the record though, screw tumblr's stupid@$$ upload size limit, I freak'n hate websites that do that! It makes me as mad as a blood-cursed Croczilla fighting a sentient mobile home, but we'll get to that in a bit. For now though, let's see what silly sketches managed to make their way onto the page, starting from the top left corner and making our way down.

Don't forget to be on the lookout for the Snow Conies, the tiny sentient species of snow cones that have invaded almost every part of the page! Can you spot all 8?

[1] DID SOMEONE SAY PIZZA? You wanna know what the downside is of drawing at the bottom of the page and working your way up is? You have tiny pockets of blank space that you're unsure what to do with. Such was the case was this corner, having been left blank after drawing #2. For a while I thought of filling the void with a cosmically charged Snow Conie in the same vein at Rosie, but the Cosmic Cutie was already part of the BOOM due to Discord shenanigans. Instead I opted for a Clarktoon that sadly hasn't been drawn in a while, that being the ever-goofy Pizza Monster. No doubt he was lured here by the scent of all the pretzel pizzas I've been eating lately. While he was here I decided to experiment with his expressions, adding more cheek to his smile. Honestly I think he looked better without them. Still, I'm happy to see him here as I hope all of you are. Now if only he'd stop hogging all the grub!

[2] EYE OF THE THERIAN Rosie isn't the only character here due to Discord shenanigans. At the beginning of every month my friend @Foxhatart opens herself up to sketch suggestions on her Kofi page. For the record, those of you wanting to help out another artist keep food in their bellies can click here. With a few of these Kofi slots still left open, Fox came to her friends asking if they had any ideas for pics involving her characters. Not knowing a ton about her characters, I joked that she ott'a draw her half-lemur girl Cath bench press a bus, her freakish strength having become a reoccurring gag via game nights. Funny as the idea was, I didn't expect Fox to actually do it. You can imagine my surprise when this popped up in my inbox a few days later. Consider this doodle a long overdue 'thank you'. Here we see the crazy Cath lifting weights with, of all peeps, Bumper! No doubt the little marshmallow's here for moral support since he can't actually build up any muscle mass. Ghost problems, am I right? Hope you enjoy this silly little sketch, Fox. Next time I'll have Cath bench-pressing your mortal nemesis; a train.

[3] TOOK ME LONG ENOUGH Despite what I said about Pizza Monster, he actually wasn't the last sketch to be included. No, that honor goes to the metal mercenary, the bodacious bot bounty hunter, the anarchistic anti-hero herself; Candy Banger! Much like the aforementioned monster I figured it had been too long since I drew Candy or really any of the robotic cast of 3K. Atop of that, Candy represented a good chance for me to use the stockpile of poses I've saved up from a thumb drive. Using one from a tumblr site called @posereference turned out to be surprisingly easier than anticipated, the only real flaw in the end being how I colored her. This is one of many coloring errors I made on this piece, Candy's hair looking more bluish purple than I had intended. Still, considering I drew her at all, I doubt Candy's complaining. Here's hoping I can draw more of her in the future, otherwise I might be riddled with bullet holes like that wall behind her.

[4] AN AVERAGE DAY AT WHIMSYLAND And thus we've arrived to the first sketch of this compilation given to me by a friend, this one coming from @jackieariane. She and I both suffered during the Chapek administration of Disney, Jart regaling me with tales of when she dealt with rude customers at Animal Kingdom. It reminded me of when my friends AnimatedTigerGirl and RigbyH00ves worked at the Floridan Park too, all three of my companions having a surprisingly miserable experience. All these stories started melting together in my brain until I asked the question; what would happen if Brooklyn Nine Nine was set at Disneyland? Thus Whimsyland was born, albeit originally out of spite towards Chapek. I already detailed all this back in the DUDELZ from the Dumpster I posted earlier this year, but I failed to mention the human protagonist of this story, Wendy. Having been to Whimsyland once in her life at a young age, the young Vietnamese gal with OCD was immediately smitten by the place, vowing she'd someday work there. Spending the rest of her life researching the park and watching Matt Whimsy documentaries on uView, you can imagine Wendy's disappointment when she returned to the Perkiest Place on the Planet to find nothing was as perky. Whimsyland had lost its whimsy. It's here where she met Freddy Fox, the cartoon mascot of the company living in exile over how the house Matt built is being run today. In other words, what I'd imagine Mickey would be doing if he were real. Together these two kindred spirits are set to bring magic back to this wonderland! Overall I'm pleased with how the sketch turned out, though Wendy's face reminds me of my character Sue the Game Genie more than I'd prefer. Also, Fred Fox is way bigger than intended, no doubt I'll be changing that for future depictions of these two. For now though, this drawing has just enough Whimsy for my liking.

[5] CROCZILLA: BLOOD CURSE More Discord Shenanigans! This time it's the result of a Dungeons & Dragons campaign that @burningthrucelluloid somehow roped me into yet again. Instead of robots and dragons set in a medieval fantasy however, this time it's elves and crocodiles in an approximation of the American south. One ruled by Jerimiah Strahd, a ruthless blood-sucking bastard that Alec based off Leonardo DiCaprio's character from Django Unchained. If that wasn't a sign of how crazy this campaign has become, here's an actual moment from the game. The heroic but hesitant human Jason (YoungSamurai18), the loud-mouthed scaredy cat Toby (Mr-Herp-Derp), and the silent but deadly Ed (void-android), and the equally hungry and adventurous Crocie (me, of course) were hunting for a witch named Bubba Lysiga when all of a sudden the witch brought her mobile home to life in order to attack our heroes. Worse still, she put Ed under mind control to attack his comrades. Croc got the worst of it, his HP dropping to 0 due to him falling from the house and getting stomped on by its gigantic set of wooden chicken legs. Did I mention this campaign gets strange? Well it got even crazier when a dark, shadowy entity housed in Croc's body suddenly gave him a recharge, the reptile taking the chance to mix a Heat and Growth potion he obtained earlier to become CROCZILLA! It was a moment Alec was hoping would happen in game and I didn't intend on disappointing. Same goes for this sketch, it mostly going just as envisioned in my head. The pissed off look on my green friend's face, the damage done to the rusty trailer that is the witch's house, the tiny silhouettes of Croc's teammates in said home, the heavy fog, the Earth-shattering roar in the background, it all came out great. Save for one detail. You'll notice that Croc's eyes are black with red irises in this pic. That detail's due to Croc having blood curse abilities, hence the dark entity sharing rental space in his body. As such, you'd think Croc's fire breath would be just as vibrantly red, but sadly that idea didn't occur to me until after I made the fire blue as well as the shine off every surface. Spam it! Still, coloring hiccup aside, I'm mighty proud of this pic! Hopefully so are the rest of the Barovian Bozos that make up my team.

[6] WONDER ZIGGY, CINEPHILE FROM THE PLANET GARBONZA EVEN MORE DISCORD SHENANIGANS! Cut to a few months back and I was restructuring my Discord server, cutting down the multiple move threads it had before merging them all into one. Being the story-driven bozo I am, I quickly wrote a backstory for this thread involving an alien named Ziggy falling in love with the Earth B-Movies he was picking up on his deep space probe. So much so that he came down to our planet only to discover there were even MORE types of movies for him to enjoy! It overwhelmed him so much that he blacked out, awakening the next day having purchased a since abandoned drive-in theater on the outskirts of Clarksburg. Faced with this new impulse purchase, Ziggy followed the oldest piece of wisdom known to man or alien; Screw it. After a refurb Ziggy reopened the drive-in, screening B Movies and cinematic shlock to an appreciative public. And if you can believe it, I typed all of that out after thinking about it for five minutes. My brain is weird like that. All that said, it'd take a couple of RP sessions before I got his personality down, that being an MST3K character if the show were written by Joe-Bob Briggs. In other words, a surprisingly well educated weirdo with a deep love of Hollywood history. It'd take me a while longer before finally sketching him, basing him off the titular villain from Robot Monster, an appropriate design for someone who loves old, cheesy movies. All he was missing was a pink Hawaiian shirt and a cowboy hat. If you think he's strange, you should meet his wife Wanda, though let's save that for a future BOOM...

[7] LOOKIN' SPAM GOOD! What better way to show my friends I care than drawing them in ridiculous outfits? This sketch, the first to be included in this BOOM, is a merging of two repurposed ideas I had for other pictures. The first would've involved the Swedish menace Finjix with a fish bowl on his head much to the confusion of Alec, the recipient of a kawaii make over. I can't remember where the fishbowl idea spawned from but Sir Alec the Adorable came from him scoffing at the idea that I could make anything cute, himself included. Just you wait Alec, I'll get you someday! For now though I swapped out making him uber-adorable in favor of dressing him up like the Wasp from Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the awesome animated show he finally binge-watched on my behalf. Granted I could've drawn him as Maria Hill, the character on the show he deemed the sexiest, but it wouldn't have been as funny. After all, all Maria's outfit is a blue jumpsuit. Far less interesting than Jart's leather jacket, an image that popped into my noggin following her telling me she's learning to ride a bike. That and me desperately clinging onto the back as she gave me a ride, but that would've been harder to draw. Instead I went for the jacket, a fashion statement that would be stupid in real life since she lives in the infamously hot country of Vietnam. Yet even in the face of logic, Jart not only humored me but encouraged me to include this in the final sketch. Thank goodness she did cuz I love how it turned out, minus the green stripes that were accidentally colored black like the rest. DRATS! Not only that but she informed me that she was no longer using her fursona, instead opting to draw herself as a human from now on. DOUBLE DRATS! Ah well, I have more ideas involving 'Trang the Tyrant' as I've nicknamed her, so chances are I'll get the chance to correct both mistakes in the future. It might also give me another chance to draw myself as Super Giraffe, which was what I originally intended to do with my own fursona. Sadly the costume still needs work so instead I opted for my classic Pagonian Wizard robes. Even in the face of all these snafus, I think we all look spam good!

[8] ROSIE STARDUST, SPACE WIZARD Turns out I'm always right even when I'm spewing nonsense. Don't believe me? Plenty of peeps have made that mistake before. Take my friend Alec for example. In the midst of him running the current Strahd campaign I mentioned earlier, I jokingly tossed out the idea of Rosie transporting our heroes out of Barovia and into another universe. A cute 'What If' scenario the Dungeon Master wasted no time in shooting down. Mistaking my silly suggestion as a legit one, Alec explained how unfair it'd be for a god to play a game with a bunch of mortal meatbags. Let the record show that I never declared the sentient Einstein-Rosen Bridge to be a deity. Some alien cultures have mistaken her from one, but Rosie herself would be the first to tell you she's no holy being. Not that any of that mattered. Alec held firm to his statement, Rosie was denied access to any dungeons. For about six seconds before my buddy realized how a depowered Rosie would make a wonderful wizard for a Spelljammers campaign. Fueling this fire was his recent watching of The Owl House, imagining Rosie rocking wizard robes similar to those worn by The Good Witch Azura. Before I could say, "NOW EAT THIS SUCKA," he was leading the charge on my server of peeps demanding I draw Rosie as a space wizard. At first I was floored at the audacity! You shoot down an idea that wasn't meant to be taken seriously only for you to turn around and do so anyway? MAKE UP YOUR SPAM MIND! Then I followed Alec's example and got over it, the idea of Rosie in wizards robes too tempting a sketch not to capitalize on. In the end the only aspect of Azura that made it into the final product was the hat, minus the cute lil' crown. Everything else took cues from the fashion of @cherrysdesigns along with a style @girlofhearts101 turned me towards called whimsigoth. All of which resulting in an costume that gave Alec 'David Bowie Ziggy Stardust vibes'. It's thanks to that comment that Rosie now has a last name. Everyone, say hello to Rosie Stardust, universal explorer and space wizard!

[9] DIREKTOR AND 3D1T0-R Is there a Hollywood equivalent in the Star Wars universe? Some sort of glamorous planet where overpaid alien celebrities are shamelessly rebooting beloved classics for a profit? All while amazing writers are getting screwed out of the earnings they deserve? This was what I asked Alec during his binge watching of The Clone Wars. Surprising me once more, the Masked Maniac revealed that he had asked SIM-N the same question before, the two creating a character called The Direktor for their Monova comics. Her whole gimmick was producing hypnotic propaganda for the tyrannical Twin Emperors, a cool concept that never went anywhere due to the robotroll cutting From Destiny's Ashes short. Being the character man that I am, I decided The Direktor couldn't go to waste. Especially when she'd make such a good villain in the world of 3K and a good addition to this BOOM. After asking SIM-N for the character's original reference sheet I set out to give her a Clarktoon makeover while watching cutscenes of The Second Sister from Jedi: Fallen Order. No doubt Elizabeth Grullon's intimidating vocal performance effected my outcome, the alien movie maker now sporting a streamlined outfit along with a smugly sinister smile on her face. As apposed to her boss, the Direktor's little droid 3D1T0-R hardly changed in the transition. He was a little creepy ball to start and he's still a little creepy ball now. One that was cooked up by Alec according to SIM-N, which makes sense given our pal's passion for film editing. Once the two were fully drawn I decided to test out my shading and lighting techniques in an attempt to make her look more menacing. If the response I got from the others on Discord is any indication, I succeeded. Indeed, this fem fatale filmmaker will fit in phenomenally as a 3K villain. Now the question is to who?

[10] JURAKISS Finally we conclude things with a sketch somewhat prompted by @zernna. Way back in August of last year she was commissioned to draw my cretaceous crusader Saura and her girlfriend Patricia enjoying a delightful day at the pool, a pic as charming as that description would imply. In my comment thanking Ze I couldn't help but laugh at how the two had already been declared a cute couple despite how I hadn't drawn the two together in my own artwork yet. The Alien Artist than demanded I draw 'moar art of them then', prompting me to ask if that was a challenge. She said yes. Though not from a lack of trying, it took me nine freak'n months to meet that challenge. Blame that on me being a picky artist since I have been meaning to draw references of these characters in the meantime. After all, Zerna got asked to draw Saura in other pics without having any color references for the Blue Beast of Fosslin. Fortunately Saura's shown up in a number of previous Sketch BOOMs, now getting to share the spotlight with Patricia here. A Patricia that would've been notably paler were it not for Alec asking if I had any markers that matched Patricia's skin tone. I didn't, but the local hobby store did! Who knew Sharpie made skintone markers? It not only helped me color in the cute Muslim girl here, but also Cath and Wendy later on. Talk about a perfect purchase! Now if only the colors of Patricia's outfit were as satisfactory. Ah well, there's always next time, since I'm pretty sure Zerna's challenge still stands. XP For now though, I hope you all enjoy this compilations of crazy scribblings fresh from my mind. If you didn't, worry not, chances are I'll be making another one soon....

MAY THE GLASSES BE WITH YOU ALL!

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headspacedad · 2 years ago

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I posted 15,807 times in 2022

That's 4,568 more posts than 2021!

182 posts created (1%)

15,625 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@damatris

@void-tiger

@edjectedly

@i-am-thornqueen

@ascendentashes

I tagged 3,740 of my posts in 2022

#sound on - 560 posts

#fic rec - 171 posts

#passing this along - 143 posts

#thanks for the tag! - 73 posts

#yes - 69 posts

#i don't go here - 48 posts

#okay to reblog - 42 posts

#beautiful - 42 posts

#but - 40 posts

#awww - 38 posts

Longest Tag: 129 characters

#i thought today was friday right up until my sister asked about getting together tomorrow and i realized that meant it was sunday

My Top Posts in 2022:

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86 notes - Posted October 15, 2022

it is best boi’s birth-month and yet I haven’t seen anything about it really. Which is Just Not Right. I haven’t got the time or energy to organize and push the much deserved ‘week of fic/art prompts celebrating him’ that I usually see circulating this time of year but if you can, reblog this to get the ball rolling and decide to write or draw something for his birthday this year. I’ll be dropping two short fics for him, one on the 28th and one on the 1st. Let’s show this guy some love this month!

96 notes - Posted February 9, 2022

okay, temporary real talk here

as much as I enjoy the ‘drive everyone that might come visit away’ tumblr shit posts and the way no one wants to be a popular site or a profitable one

look, the overlords have to make money on this site. Because if they don’t we go the way of LiveJournal and get bought out by a Russian conglomeration that’s going to turn us all into a site we’re not built to be (or something similar). Nothing exists in a vaccuum and it takes MONEY to run this site. Someone’s got to pay for the servers and buy the swivel chairs staff spends all their time twirling around in instead of fixing what’s broken. Even the money that pays the one lonely underpaid intern that’s obviously trying so hard to connect with the userbase in the new tumblr posts has to come from somewhere. Things don’t run for free and, eventually, if we’d stayed unprofitable, someone would have pulled the plug. And all of this, the years of it and the networks we’ve made on it, would have disappeared in the blink of an eye. Ask Yahoo!Groups.

tumblr needs to turn a profit. The trick is, we need to make sure it turns profits in ways that suit the site and us. There was a post a while back about tumblr reaching out to the ‘Big Names’ to lure them in and that’s fine - but they need to play by tumblr rules. Disney can’t come in and start slapping down all the Disney fan art and fanfic like Anne Rice in her glory days. It would kill what makes this site so unique (and so profitable). We’re on this site and not any other for a reason. This site is unique for a reason. We need to lean hard into those reasons and keep them safe. Our artists, our writers, our fan bases, our gif makers, our dreamers, content creators, scientists, current event followers, specialized fact spouters, our irreverent shit posters and the thousands of other niches that make this site tick.

And as for all the refugees from other sites that find us and want to check things out - good! Let them come. We’ve got blankets and hot drinks like the Carpathia for them. tumblr can offer them what they can’t find anywhere else (quite possibly things they may wish they didn’t find too sometimes). Its our strength - and its our selling point. Staff needs to make money. Let’s support the attempts at it that are true to this site’s nature and will keep us unique. No one’s more cantankerous than we are. Let’s be smart about which horses we let in our hospital (and how we decorate it. I recommend following color theory).

119 notes - Posted February 4, 2022

the Sea Beast (no spoilers)

Okay, so thank you Netflix for diversity and being willing to throw money at all kinds of strange ideas to see them made. Kudos for you and that’s why you get my money and Disney+ doesn’t.

So Sea Beast.

I’m going to start off by saying I really enjoyed it. The world building is super amazing and the design of both the world, the ships and the people is SO far above what I’m used to seeing from CG animation. These designers went to TOWN on creating their human characters! There’s amazing diversity in almost every angle of the ship’s crew and you can just tell that every single character on the ship has a whole ass story going on with them that we’re not being told. There’s a real attention to detail with how people that hunt sea monsters would dress, what their prosthetics would look like, what kinds of varied body builds they’d have. The first mate alone - phenomenal! And it caries over into their interactions as well. There are different personalities all working with the other personalities to keep the ship going and the crew really cares about each other - there’s a scene toward the end where two of them bolt for the Jacob to save him and its automatic and small and beautiful. Good stuff and you really feel like they’re a family.

Second - oh my WORD! Someone REALLY did their research and put some thought into how hunting sea monsters would go. I spent a lot of my summers on Nantucket Island which, once upon a time, had been the whaling capital for the world and there was so much in this movie that just rang true on small detail levels for me. Hell, they even put in a version of a Nantucket sleigh ride! But they mixed it up too, because these aren’t whales, they’re city sized monsters of the deep and hunting them would be entirely different in some ways. The mesh of ‘old’ and ‘new’ ideas for this really was probably my favorite part of the world building. Just so top notch, someone really put some THOUGHT into this. Also the touch with the sea gulls was awesome!

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156 notes - Posted July 15, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

hey new tumblr users

Welcome!

Now, I’m seeing a lot of posts about new arrivals to the site that are confused about the purpose and point of reblogging posts. I know that a lot of the sites you came from put a lot of emphasis on earning ‘points’ for your original posts and the only way to earn your own ‘points’ is to interact with others posts. Don’t get me wrong - we love it here when you add a comment, either to a post or in the tags, but that’s not the POINT of posts here (for the most part). The goal of a post here is to share.

You’ve got to think of tumblr less as a classroom where one person is teaching and more as a nature hike with friends.

You see a shiny rock you like. You pick it up. You show it to a friend. They like it and show it to their friend. Their friend puts a pair of googly eyes on it and passes it to their friend. Their friend runs off to share it with a group of their friends that are looking at bugs under a rock. You don’t HAVE to interact. All you have to do is share the rock with a friend because you know your friends might like to see the rock. Someone passes you a dandelion they picked. You think its cool and pass it to a friend you know likes the color yellow. They hand you a yellow leaf. You pass the leaf back to the dandelion friend.

The point of having a blog on tumblr is to share stuff that you think is cool with people that follow you. People will follow you because they think the stuff you’re scrapbooking on your blog is cool (or fun or weird or funny or heartfelt, etc). You can absolutely paint your own rock and share it with friends. But if all you do is pass on someone else’s painted rock because you think the people following your blog will like seeing it? That’s awesome too.

We’re not really about earning ‘points’ or ‘fame’ here - this is your scenic rest stop on the highway. We ARE about sharing.

So - share.

And if you want to add to what you’re sharing - that’s cool. But you don’t need to. As long as you’re sharing with your followers, you’re using this site the way its designed to be used.

See a cool rock? Reblog that rock so your followers can enjoy it too!

See the full post

2,466 notes - Posted October 12, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #that was fun

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macaron-palace · 24 days ago

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So I have been listening and watching a LOT of EPIC: The Musical (both animatics and just soundtrack) and while being in LOOOVE with the interpretations of different artists and the music itself (ofc) somehow, somewhere along the way, I ended up getting MAX inspiration for a kind of subplot that’s mostly just applicable to the musical, but could work as its own standalone “myth”/“epic” with no relation to the Odyssey, even if it’s not a real ancient tale…

Soooo who is this mystery character that leads the “subplot”? This character right here, who isn’t Polites or Odysseus, ofc, the name is Siope, a masculine noun meaning “quiet” (I do need to check in with the vocabulary I have at home tho!!!). Siope boarded the ship wishing to record tales o of Odysseus and his crew, all out of habit- the . Once rumours of Ithaca’s King going off to sea reached his ears during travels, the poet certainly knew that “The Odyssey” would not be an exception to the many already noted stories.

“Siope” is actually the fake identity of a young woman posing as a mute ship’s boy… AND she isn’t even Greek! < which could be why she didn’t pick a more regular name (But more on that later, maybe ;D) So many lies! I think it’d be funny for most of the Greeks she meets to just… assume she was abandoned by her parents/had awful ones (I even wrote a line for Odysseus here making a comment on how odd it is, can you find it? I’m actually pretty sure you can).

Musical gimmick: Being a “mute”, nearly all of Siope’s verses/lines in a song (if it existed in the musical…) would have effects that make it sound whispered, distorted, or anthing that reads as thought-like. The sound of the lyre or some other musical cue (which adapts to the song and mood) that represents the only thing the other characters would hear/recognise her by (she plays the lure) < maybe it could used in the story Gods like Athena that use quick-thought or can read minds tho I don’t think would have any issue with communicating with her

Things will get of course complicated (and there’s a lot of detail I left out! Please lmk if you’d like to hear more), but what I thought would be funny was having those first few drawings indicate either how she was introduced to the crew, or how she was found by Polites after following him and Odysseus to the lotus eaters to record the happenings more closely. I’m sure there aren’t exactly a lot of exams for cleaning decks, but I think if it ever came up in story it might be one the reasons she’s on the main ship, not sure how she’d prove it but, she has very oddly large knowledge of navigation and the Note > the name “Siope” was chosen for two reasons: 1. I couldn’t bear to scroll another 10 minutes on Behind The Name, and 2. it was hand-picked by Siope… Essentially… it isn’t “his” real name (a name I won’t reveal just yet!).ability to read and write, both text and cartography.

There’s a whole Hermes thing (and a “byssus” sub-subplot) cause I am addicted to the animatic of “wouldn’t you like” by Ximena on yt (doesn’t have a tumblr sadly) and put Siope “in place” of Odysseus in my mind, she is easily enticed by power but still prone to worry and not exactly trust gods.

#epic: the musical #epic: the musical oc….?#I can’t believe I made an odyssey oc man #I really liked making up this myth tho #hopefully there’s no overlapping with existing ones #I’d ramble on forever about what I made #So much lore

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studioninilong · 1 year ago

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*WORK HAS BEEN GLAZED TO PROTECT FROM AI--SO QUALITY IS LOW*

Woke up needing something, so i’m posting something instead.

Here’s #Jimin of #BTS if you hadn’t guessed. Billboard top 100 #1 for Like Crazy and the man who i happen to be listening to now as i type this post. Ha.

Flowers are a thing he’s heavily associated with. That and the moon. So i think this piece makes me think of an old Victorian house…a veranda possibly overlooking a rolling backyard full of flowering trees and bushes.

The beiges of this piece speak to my mood for 2023 i think. I’m waiting for something so i think beige is the colour of waiting…what sitting alone in a couch feels like.

14 years is a long time to wait for an answer to something but i’m hoping that it doesn't become 15 yrs. Sheesh. Depressing thought.

This piece inspired me to do another of Jimin i’ll be uploading soon. He has a tendency to inspire artists then REinspire them once they’ve completed a work. Way to go, guy.

This one was inspired by something he asked #ARMY for. So as a good #PurpleBlood, i obliged.

This piece reminds me of the last week i was in Japan. I wish i was back in Asia, really, but i’m in the US now so here i will be for a while.

The rose thorns on his neck had me cracking up…cuz so many ppl didn’t know what that was on his neck in the photos. I immediately knew, mainly cuz he’s a walking flower anyway but also because i ‘ve draw rose thorns (prickles) before. It was nice concept i thought.

I recently played a game called bramble and it reminded me of a time when i, myself, was caught amongst the thorns. I don’t learn significant lessons very well unless they HURT deeply. I should have taken heed when i was caught in thorns as a child that ppls words can also be like thorns. Luring you in with pretty phrases but all the while twisting and turning around you until you are unable to leave without getting torn apart. That is the lesson of my life kids.

Childrens fairy tales are important to learn from.

I’m listening to #FACE-OFF by #ChimChim (that’s one of the many nicknames ARMYs call Jimin)...it’s evident he was, too, caught in the brambles at one point. I feel for him.

In my posts from now on I’ll be addressing 3 souls none of you know. I call them My Three Thunders. When I was in the 5th grade I decided I wanted three children. Two boys and a girl. I do not have said children now. I hope by some miracle i do someday, but for now…i’m using the internet as somewhat of an open letter to them. “Hey, kids, mom was a hack artist” HAAA…noooo. Ppl use the internet for many things…i’ll use it for prophecy. : wink :

You all take care of yourselves…these days on Earth are trying. Mind your words and the words of others. Be kind and tough. Persevere and remember humility.

#HUMANARTY my fledgling initiative for Artists of all Disciplines to support our OWN COMMUNITY “buy Human Made Art”

https://www.humanartistrycampaign.com/

https://glaze.cs.uchicago.edu/index.html The Glaze Project!

Disclaimer Bits:

I draw, write, paint, and produce my own everything, so hyshh!

I use Adobe almost exclusively.

Yes, I am VERY for hire! [email protected]

#patreonartist #instaartist #blackfemaleartist #thefullarmourproject

Philosophies:

-Stop Exploiting our creative industries! Just because you can doesn't mean you should! Regulate AI or shut it down! Stop the Violations to the public! Stop the damage to our creative platforms! Stop the damage to humanity! #SupportHumanArtists #TeamHuman #RegulateAI

-Humans come in all colours, shapes, and sizes…lay off others just because they don’t look, talk or act like you. If you shut up, maybe you will learn something useful from someone else. #humanrights #stopasianhate #blackandasiansolidarity #blacklivesmatter #loveisamovement

-Take yourself out. By your own flowers. Pat yourself on the back. Talk healthily to yourself.

#speakyourselfloveyourself #trustyourself #cultivatewisdom #godmadenomistakes #youwerebornonpurpose

-I put feet to my faith, bro…

#creatorevidencedbyourcreativity #winnersfocusonwinning

—-------------on the other tentacle—----------------

Krakens of the World, Untie!

#Illustration #art #bts #bts jimin #jimin

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flowers-and-literature · 2 years ago

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Which Les mis character is most likely to be Banksy

Javert- 0%, absolutely no chance are you kidding me dude lives for the Law(tm)

Jean Valjean- 10%, I feel like he'd probably be Banksy for the purpose of making Cosette happy and/or luring in Marius. Otherwise, he wants nothing to do with anything that could make Javert suspicious of him

Enjolras- 98%, he's an obvious contender but. Mans can't draw. He'd definitely need help from someone who knows what they're doing

Grantaire- 100%, dude was born to become Banksy like hello

Combeferre- 90%, he'd be a perfect Banksy because like no one would suspect him tho like he's the least suspicious person ever

Courfeyrac- 25%, I feel like he'd love spreading political messages whilst making art but the dude is so clumsy he'd definitely get caught straight away I'm sorry

Jehan- 70%, this doesn't need an explanation just Jehan as Banksy supremacy

Bahorel- 60%, dude would make an incredible Banksy and the messages would work so well but he'd get caught straight away you know he would

Feuilly- 50%, okay this can go either way. Firstly, I can't see Feuilly being Banksy at all but on the other hand maybe that's exactly why he'd be Banksy

Joly- 20% it's probable but... Eh ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Bossuet- 1% he'd be an incredible artist but a bird would probably shit on it/he'd get arrested/he'd pick up the wrong paint by mistake and fuck up the whole thing

Marius- 0% Marius is too wimpy I'm sorry

Cosette- 95% yes Cosette would rock as Banksy are you kidding me she's be perfect

Eponine- 40% she'd probably do her artwork with someone else like R but idk

Gavroche- 100% the real identity is known and it's a feral 10 year old

Montparnasse- 12% he'd definitely be up for some crimes but, like enjolras, dude can't do art to save his life

#les mis #les miserables #les amis #les amis de l'abc #this has been sitting in my drafts for ages lmfao #feel free to start discourse about this guys

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cathartes-aura-shitposting · 2 years ago

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controversial opinion that currently i have that i feel like i want to rant about:

man, i'm gonna sound offensive (and i'm trying not to be here, please read it all), but something has been bothering me and i feel like i need to share this.

in terms of drawing cartoon anthros, it is OK to give SOME stereotypical feminine/masculine traits to female/male characters (respectively speaking), and especially when anthropomorphizing things that otherwise do not have any significant gender differences or even gender at all.

i and surely many others are guilty of doing this as well.

HOWEVER, there is a thin but also rather blurry line when it comes to HOW extreme these gender differences are. there is a difference between...

.. "yeah, they're male and female, but still are clearly the same species of the same world"

...and..

"dear lord, i get they're supposed to be male and female but they look like two completely different creatures altogether"

and, let me make this clear before continuing: i get such extreme difference between sexes happen in nature as well (ask about peafowls, betta fish, ect). I'm talking when you add features to something that doesnt have such diferences.

taking my own anthro creatures, for example:

these guys are the elkinets, my own aeromorph ('humanoid' aircraft) species. this post specifically is the best example i currently have; they're the "intercrosses", and you can read a bit more about them here.

but that's not my point. my point here is that i, too, am rather guilty of doing that sort of cartoon logic. females have eyelashes and slightly curved chest, males do not. also, in the lore i have for them, females are supposed to be slightly larger than the males.

however, this in my option, is really all one really need to pull the while "this guy male, this gal female": eyelashes and maybe some kind of "Boob"-like structure. it's clear that they're still very much supposed to be aircraft.

IRL aircraft do not have a gender. in the grand scheme of things, aircraft are genderless. they do not adhere to standard gender expectations. what artists and other people see as "feminine" or "masculine" or "Genderless/gender-neutral" in aircraft is purely subjective, though perhaps the media could be to blame.

anyways, where was i? oh, yeah. weird gender designs.

NOW, If you're going to cross than line and make the gender differences exaugurated/extreme, the least you can do is make it interesting in a good way.

a "good" example of extreme differences "gone right": seton academy (which i haven't watched yet, so feel free to grill me for this)

notice how the male characters have animal heads while the females are just kemonomimis (human w/ ears + tail). there's no explanation of this.

alot of people seem to have problems with this, to which i understand as to why. but, at the very least, it's somewhat "unique". it at least

and if anybody where to pull the whole "Man=more monster, women=literal humanoid female" one of the best things you can do is to have it "Make sense". maybe the reasons for the females to look more human is that the males are so scary/unnerving (Lovecraftian/cosmic horrors, i guess) that it's easier to have the females make contact with humans because they're "less scary". maybe perhaps the males uses the overly feminine females as "bait", luring in unsuspecting human travelers into there doom.

but the deer from open season are fucking inexcusable.

something about this just didnt seem right. sure, yeah, they're not THAT BAD from intitial glances (especially adding the "It's Just A kids' movie!!1!!" excuse) but there are literally two things that bother me about this beside the exaggeration between the gender difference:

1-elliot is bipedal while giselle is quadrupedal. that for me didn't quite make sense. Elliot could've been quadrupedal too and it wouldn't effect the narrative because you can still have him be bipedal at times like a lot of cartoon animals are. though, granted, their children in the later movies are bipedal too, so I guess there's some though put into it.

but, also, something which bothered me EVEN MORE (because i recently realized this).

2-they're deer. and, while it does specify the species, i presume they're supposed to be white-tailed deer. do you wanna know something about white-tailed deer?

males. have. antlers. female. do. not.

let me repeat: their is already a difference between the two genders, and that's the fact that males have their trademark antlers while females do not. and that's with the most obvious differences. adding some slight masculine/feminine trait is ok, and especially since antler's are a seasonal thing. but if they're already a noticeable difference between the two sexes, the what's the point of going to such extreme lengths like this movie did?

but guys, while doing research (because i haven't seen the movies in a long time), i came upon something even worse about the character designs in this franchise.

i learned that Ian is also a deer, and again, presumable the same species as the other two. you wanna know what he looks like?

this:

now, i do SOMEWHAT get where the movie was coming from, since he's supposed to be Eliot's main rival in the first movie and of course he's gotta look more "Tougher" and "manlier" than him, not just in attitude but design as well.

however, do you wanna know what i thought he was when i first saw the movies, and continued to think right up until doing research for this rant?

an elk. i though he was an elk. which, in all fairness IS a deer, but a completely difference species at that.

and for comparison between elk and white-tailed deer:

now, look at Ian, and then look back at Elliot and Giselle. now look at this image i pulled up.

now, maybe, JUST MAYBE, he is indeed an elk, and the movies never specified that he is an elk. in which case, yeah sure. but if so, WHY NO FEMALE ELK? all of the deer that look like elk in the movies are all male, so where's the female elk?

that is, unless of course they weren't thinking when they made the designs and thought that all deer species where the same and that nobody would notice.

now, boog and ursa have a similar issue in desgin:

they look like they're from two different series, but they're part of the same movie franchise. clearly the designers were, again, not very good with their designs.

however, it is excusable to some extent because both of them still are brown bears. both clearly are meant to be the same species, and while yes the design is distracting (and doesnt make too much sense) it at least works.

TL:DR: if you're male and female characters look like two difference species, you better try coming up with a good explanation for it.

#why the fuck did i make this god damn post??!!#why?!!

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legendsoffodlan · 4 years ago

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The Unwritten Supports: Bernadetta and Ignatz

Anonymous requested: Bernadetta should have had supports with the other house archers Ashe and Ignatz change my mind (C-A) and hopefully paired ending

So, here’s Bernie and Ignatz

C - Support

Location: Outskirt Ruins

OST: Funny Footsteps

*Bernadetta is tucked away in a little corner of the ruins with her paints and canvas.*

Bernadetta: Ah, alone at last! Just Bernie, her paints, and the sun.

*Bernadetta hears something moving around*

Bernadetta: Huh?! What? W-who’s there.

*She hears a familiar voice murmuring to themself*

Bernadetta: Huh? Is that... Ignatz?

*Bernadetta moves through the brush to see Ignatz at his own canvas*

Ignatz, to himself: Hmm, I think blue would create a better contrast... but the again green would create a better overal tone...

Bernadetta: Is he painting? Wow, that’s gorgeous!

Ignatz: But Aquamarine might overshadow the foreground by making the background pop too much...

Bernadetta: No! Use Saphire! It would be perfect.

Ignatz: Of course! Saphi- BERNADETTA!?

Bernadetta: WAAGH! *she falls out of her hiding place*

Ignatz: B-Bernadetta?! What are you doing out here?1

Bernadetta:I’MSOSORRYIWASN’TTRYINGTOBERUDEIJUSTSAYYOUPAINTINGAND-

Ignatz: Bernadetta, calm down. Take deep breaths

Bernadetta: *deep inhale* *deep exhale*

Ignatz: Look, Bernadetta, you can’t tell anyone about this, I’m beginning you!

Bernadetta: Y-you’re th-threa-threatening me?!

Ignatz: N-no! I’m not-

Bernadetta: AAGH! I KNEW IT! AWAY FROM ME FIED! AAAAAHH! *she runs off*

Ignatz: ... ... ...I think I handled that poorly.

B - Support

Location: Bernadetta’s Room

OST: A Gentle Breeze

*Ignatz knocks on Bernadetta’s door*

Ignatz: Bernadetta? Are you in there?

Bernadetta, hiding under the bed: Oh Goddess, he’s here! He’s going to kill me and use my blood to make the perfect shade of red!

Ignatz: Look, Bernadetta, I wanted to apologize for scaring you earlier.

Bernadetta: Pretending to apologize to lure me out?! A tactic worthy of a demon!

Ignatz: N-no! Bernadetta- I-I’m not very good at this. I- sigh* I’m sorry I shouted at you. It’s just, I was- you kind of scared me.

Bernadetta: ... *pokes her head out from under the bed* Scared... of me?

Ignatz: I’m not supposed to be painting, and I thought you’d come to tell on me.

Bernadetta: Not supposed to be painting? But he’s so good at it!

Ignatz: I know I scared you in turn. I didn’t want to. I-I’ll leave you alone from now on.

Bernadetta, fully emerging from under the bed but not opening the door: W-wait!

Ignatz: Huh?

Bernadetta: I- I’m sorry I was spying on you too. A-andIthinkyou’repaintingisreallygood!

Ignatz: Oh. Uh, thank you Bernadetta. I- I’d like to see one of your one day! *he walks away*

Bernadetta: He- he wants to see one of mine?! One of Bernie’s?! Oh no. OH NOOOOOO! *dives back under the bed*

B+ - Support

Location: Outskirt Ruins

OST: Respite and Sunlight

*Ignatz is at his sketchbook, murmuring to himself as he goes*

Ignatz: No no... too much on the eyes... her hair is wilder than that...

*Bernadetta pokes her head out from behind a rock*

Bernadetta: Okay Bernie, there he is! Just go over and say hi! Easy as can be!

Ignatz: Hmm, is someone there?

Bernadetta: AACK! NO ONE HERE BUT US ROCKS!

Ignatz: Bernadetta? Oh, I’m sorry. Did I scare you again?!

Bernadetta, falling out from behind the rock: NO! *stands up and brushes herself off* I- I’m n-n-not scared. I- I just came t-to say hi!

Ignatz: Oh, well, hello Bernadetta.

Bernadetta: A-and u-u-uh- w-what are you.... *gasp* drawing?

Ignatz, suddenly self-concious: N-nothing. just sketches of ideas right now.

Bernadetta: Oh, um, well, I-I j-just wanted to say Th-that... you’re really good at painting. You- you should do it!

Ignatz: Oh, uh, well thank you Bernadetta, but painting is only a hobby for me. I have to focus on being a knight. It’s what’s best for my family. My father says so.

Bernadetta: Oh... well getting married rich is what my father says is best for my family.

Ignatz: Wha- but you should get married because you love someone!

Bernadetta: And you- you should keep painting!

*There’s an awkward silence before Ignatz speaks again*

Ignatz: You know what, Bernadetta? Okay. but, on one condition.

Bernadetta: Wh- what is it! NO YOU CANNOT HAVE MY HAIR YOU SICK DEVIANT!

Ignatz: Wha- NO! N-no. Nothing like that.

Bernadetta: Oh. Uh, then what is it?

Ignatz: I- uh- I want you to use these. *he hands her her paints and canvas back*

Bernadetta: O-oh! I dropped these on my run away from here.

Ignatz: Y-yeah. I wanted to return them, but you never left your room. So- uh... I want you to use these to paint something. Something you want to. And then, at the end of the year, we’ll show each other our paintings.

Bernadetta: Y- really? O-okay! Let’s do it!

A - Support (Only available Post-Timeskip)

Location: Chapel

OST: Somewhere to Belong

*Ignatz is standing before the ruined front of the chapel when Bernadetta comes up behind him*

Bernadetta: Ignatz?

Ignatz, turning to face her: Oh, hey Bernie!

Bernadetta: We- uh haven’t had a whole lot of chances to chat. What with the war and everything.

Ignatz, laughing: Yeah, that does tend to put a damper on one’s social life.

Bernadetta: And, uh, since we didn’t get the chance at graduation, we oughta exchange paintings now!

Ignatz: You... you remebered?

Bernadetta: Y-yup! A-and we’ve had five years to work on it!

Ignatz: Heh, I hope you like mine... I’m not sure how good it is.

*he hands it to her*

Bernadetta: ...Ignatz... is- is this me?

Ignatz: I’m sorry! It’s awful. I wanted to show you what I saw when I looked at you- and I’ve overdone it and-

Bernadetta, crying: It’s... it’s beautiful Ignatz...

Ignatz: I- you think so?

Bernadetta: This- this is how you see me? All- all bright and happy?!

Ignatz: I- I see a flower, blooming against all odds. I see someone who’s brave even when they’re terrified. I- I wanted to show you that.

Bernadetta: Oh, Ignatz. H-here’s mine. It’s a little embarrasing now and I

Ignatz: You- you painted me?!

Bernadetta: I’M SORRY! I just- I just wanted to thank you for being my friend. And- and this was the only way I could think of doing it!

Ignatz: Bernadetta, this is the best painting I’ve ever seen.

Bernadetta: Oh. Oh... Ignatz...

Paired Ending: The Eternal Loner and the Worldly Artist

Ignatz and Bernadetta, together, created a new renaissance of artistic innovation in Fodlan, a movement that grew even greater after their marriage. Together, they converted Varley Manor into an art school where they could nurture young minds and ease them gently into the world. Bernadetta came, bit by bit, out of her shell and by the time she bore her first child she had little fear of the outside world any longer. Ignatz, for his part, started a new order of Knight, the Order of the Stained Brush, who went into the world to learn new art forms and spread beauty to the masses. But besides all that, they were happy together, until their dying days.

#Legends of Fodlan #Fire Emblem #Three Houses #Fire Emblem Three Houses #incorrect quotes #Unwritten Supports #The Unwritten Supports #Ignatz #Bernadetta #Ignatz Victor #Bernadetta von Varley #Ignatz x Bernadetta

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alwaysthinkingoutloud · 4 years ago

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Hannibal Episode-by-Episode Meta/Analysis: Episode 1, Season 1 (Apéritif)

The series start with Will Graham in a crime scene doing what he does, which is resurrecting crime scenes for further evidence and possible insight into the criminal’s mind and motives. What is interesting about this first scene is that for a first-time viewer, for the first a few minutes, it is not clear if what we are watching is a possible reenactment or it is actually a memory. That doubt gets cleared in a minute but until then, we don’t know if he is imagining or is he remembering. Is he a guy with a powerful imagination helping FBI who literally puts himself into the killer’s shoes or is he the killer itself, hiding in plain sight? To my thinking, the very first opening to the story does say a lot about the end of it all as well.

“This is my design”

Why not say plan, but design instead? Planning is something mechanical, strategical. It is the result of motive and effort of a rational brain rather than an acted-on urge. There is no much room for subjectivity or creativity since efficiency is the ultimate goal. However, design has a more artistical ring to it. It is like, its prior aim is not to be useful, but to be beautiful. Designing is done when aesthetics is of concern. We would say, Michelangelo designed David, plan would not look right there. It would be accurate as for explaining the mathematical part of it, the disciplined and patient hours that has been put into it, but it would not do justice to the inspiration, passion, and desperate need of the artist for his creation to materialize. A planner would not adore his work, but a designer would. And Will understands the difference a bit too well.

Later, talking with Jack Crawford, we learn that Will finds the name of Evil Minds Research Museum “hammy”. I do not think there is anything hammy about the name, it’s quite literal. It is not an ennobler name but why does Will find it so though? Does creativity and originality need to be perceived as abhorrent just because it was given birth by someone evil? This all-cautious way of approaching and overthinking things is a reflection of something dark within. Afterall, what is seen has at least a little to do with the seeing eyes, if not more.

Jack exhibits a disturbingly dominant way of communication with Will. He corrects Will’s eyeglasses, the guy who he knows is not comfortable with any kind of interpersonal interaction, within the minutes of their chat and holds down his bag to slow down his moving on. He is trying to make sure that Will feels Jack is the alpha and also that deep down, Will does not have the option to not cooperate. And more Will gets convinced to help for one step, stronger Jack drags Will into it for one more.

The first time we see Will interacting with any victim-related people, it is confusing. Being an empath and claiming that he can not only relate to narcissists and sociopaths but anyone, he does not seem to empathize much with the victim’s parents, cutting into the conversation about parents’ doubts on their daughter’s likelihood of being alive with a non-emotional, case related question. It almost makes you question if his ability to emphathize is just stronger with the dark side of the force than it is with the light one. Yes, the primer focus is to catch the killer and stop whatever malice is going on but after all, Jack came to Will with the need of help, so Jack must care about the case resolving more than he does. Yet, Jack seems more understanding of the parents’ feelings than Will, although Will is an ultimate empath. We even see Jack’s disapproval when Will cuts into the conversation. It is a brow mover.

Next, we get more insight about Will as he meets Winston. He finds him on the road roaming, tries to get close to him but cannot, so he drives all the way to his home to get something to lure him with and comes back to the dog. He is willing to go lengths to add a new dog to his pack, to his ‘family’, to his ‘social circle’. Something he is not willing nor comfortable to do for a person. Will's preferring an animal's company to a person's may say more than obvious. Afterall, he chooses Hannibal over Jack too, doesn't he?

Will who has already started to get traumatized by the case, is ambushed in the bathroom by Jack with an unforgiving mobbing, forcing ideas out of Will and stirring him up in the expense of his stability. Later on in his little chat with Alana, Jack’s intentions and priorities are further put into perspective. The way he talks about Will shows that for him, Will is more of a means to an end than an actual colleague. His insistence about “putting Will out there” despite Alana’s warnings and his admission of not being absolutely capable of protecting Will’s mental health just crowns that he does not genuinely care about Will. In fact, he even knows the risk of what he is doing, and he is trying to draw Dr. Bloom in to share, if not all together blame it on, the responsibility if something may go wrong.

We finally meet Hannibal in his office in a therapy session with his patient. The look Dr. Lecter throws when Franklyn blows his nose and places the dirty napkin onto the table… Up to this scene, we were not given any clue to suggest that Hannibal Lecter is a killer but after all, we do know who he is. And him being the first actual predator in the series we meet, we do not see him acting on brute violence or inelegant butchering. His first reaction depicted is unrest against rudeness. So the audience is welcomed into the mind of Lecter with an easily apprehensible act that can be shared by almost anyone. Almost to suggest that, this act of Franklyn’s may be enough to justify a wrath that may come upon him.

Jack shows up in Hannibal’s office unannounced and mistakes Franklyn with Hannibal. Hannibal, of course slightly annoyed, tells Jack to wait in the waiting room and invites him in with his own timing. Being a bossy and dominant guy he is, this takes Jack by surprise and it also tells us that there is an even stronger alpha here. So Jack realizes he cannot dominate Hannibal into his will like he did with Will. He may have to try something else. As Jack asks questions that are getting more specific and personal as they come, we see Hannibal getting cautious. Taking his scalpel into his hand and eyes widening. He lowers his guard only when he learns that he was referred to Jack by Dr. Bloom, his eyes visibly getting smaller, which are almost the only window to his thoughts anyway. So after seeing the sophisticated aura leaking not only out of Hannibal but everything around him, Jack chooses to sweet talk him into cooperation.

When Jack, Hannibal and Will first come together in a room, it is the first time in the show where Will makes such a long, non-blinked eye contact with someone, that being Hannibal. And we see mixed emotions and thoughts on Hannibal’s face. He is amused, intrigued and curious at the same time with the way Will thinks. He makes a quick analyze of Will which results in making him fling out of the room. Being the controlled, non-impulsive, strategic guy he is; even Hannibal himself is a little surprised with the sudden blurbing of his perception of Will. So maybe this first scene having Will and Hannibal together is another kind of first as well with both men doing something not typically them.

Hannibal, telling Jack that “he may help Will see the cannibal’s face”, he copies the crime of Minnesota Shrike. At the first look, this looks like an attempt of toying with the FBI and confusing them. But considering Hannibal’s last conversation with Jack, this feels more like a tribute, a helping hand for Will. Hannibal knows that Will would know that this is not the same killer the second he sees the crime scene. As Will later says to Hannibal, this was done to show Will a negative so that he could see the positive. So, we see from this point on that Hannibal’s wit does not focus on FBI, it does on Will. We see Hannibal eating and smiling, joyous of the fact that he now has an object of interest. Will imagining of a stag right after this, as stag will be the subconscious symbol of the Chesapeake Ripper / Copycat Killer before Will knows who he is and later when he does, of Hannibal; it shows that Hannibal literally entered his life and mind in more than one way.

Hannibal shows up in Will’s house very early and obviously very impatiently. So he does not only plan to interfere Will with being the Copycat Killer but through his ‘person suit’ as well. Feeding Will the meat of the girl he killed is also exciting for Hannibal as this manipulation game he has set to play with Will gets to be sicker for a normal human perception.

The breakfast scene is also the first time where Hannibal is looking for some ill-intent or killing inclination in Will, while Will denies having so. He wonders how much being able to empathize with killers say about Will’s own potential to do so. Hannibal suggests that Jack is treating Will as he is “a fragile little teacup, only used for special guests”. And that he himself sees him as “a mongoose that he would want under the house when snakes slither by”. He suggests that Will is not a pray that should be afraid to get hurt, that he is the predator. By that Hannibal does not only encourage the destructiveness Will may be trying hard to keep buried to come alive, but also the false perception that Will’s mind is strong enough to take any challenge Jack may throw his way.

Hannibal warning Garret Jacob Hobbs is literally setting the pieces in position of his will to get Will where and how he wants. He does not know what will be waiting in Hobbs’ house for Will but in the end, it does not matter so much since he just wants to see what happens.

When they arrive at the house, seeing Hobbs leaving his wife on the threshold her throat cut, Hannibal stands still. Is it because he is so confident that Will will be too frantic to ever look back and notice that, or is it because deep down he just does not feel like putting his person suit on in front of Will? I think both. When Will shots Hobbs and tries to tend Abigail on the floor, Hannibal walks in and sees Will caring hard for the girl. Hannibal’s face looks curious about what is going on but more than that, again, his focus is on Will more than it is on anything else. He sees all these humane emotions that Hannibal himself has always been somewhat stranger too on Will, those emotions that he thought, cannot come in a package with all the destructive ones. But maybe they can. And those emotions may even look nice. Because it almost does on Will. Although how the events would turn out Hannibal did not know, it was certain that the way he pushed things, there would be blood and there would be Will doing something that will change him one way or the other. After all, they have undergone a traumatic (for Will) and exciting (for Hannibal) circumstance together and it is a known fact that people who experience a significant situation together tend to develop emotional bonds. Maybe this was the least of what Hannibal hoped for. If that was the case, he got more than he wished. Will got to kill someone even if it was for a just reason and there happened to be an orphaned girl that Will desperately bonded the moment he killed her father, who maybe a manipulative tool for Hannibal in his game. The last scene where Will finds Hannibal holding Abigail’s hand in the hospital room highlights this perfectly. Now, Hannibal and Will has a mutual asset that Hannibal may use to draw Will closer to himself despite of Will’s initial reservations to do so.

#hannibal #hannibal lecter #will #will graham #hannigram #brian fuller #nbc hannibal #hannibal meta #hannibal analysis #hannibal and will #mads mikkelsen #hugh dancy #murder husbands #will and hannibal #jack crawford #hannibal loves will #will loves hannibal #aperitif

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lazaefair · 4 years ago

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Has anyone done the Disney Princess AU yet

Part 1 - written by me, @poemsingreenink, and @iwritesometimes

poemsingreenink: Like, if anyone has big, soft innocent eyes it's Marwan who I swear to god looks near happy tears in most intense scenes. I at one point during Aladdin in theaters thought "You know Jafar's maybe just not had a great life. He's really having a day here." BECAUSE OF HIS BIG SOFT EYES.

lazaefair: LUCA MARINELLI HIMSELF SAID IT

sarah: HOWWWWW DID HE EVEN GET CAST AS JAFAR LIKE THOSE ARE DISNEY PRINCESS EYES

lazaefair: I...I need somone to draw Joe in a Disney Princess dress

sarah: but WHICH PRINCESS i feel like belle's off the shoulder gold ballgown has promise

lazaefair: Ariel’s pink gown would really drive the point home, though Although you’re right, Belle is a literate, dreamy brunette who loves poetry, so she’s closer as an archetype

sarah: i'll be honest: i was mostly thinking of getting his shoulders nude

lazaefair: Nicky is Ariel. Big blue eyes, otherworldly, utterly uncivilized.

sarah: YES

So imagine: Prince Yusuf, who had a giant statue of himself gifted to him on his birthday, and who hates it because his best friend (and immortal general of the army) Andromache is NEVER GOING TO LET HIM LIVE IT DOWN.

Also imagine: feral merman siren Nicolò who bites off fishheads and communicates through weird clicking noises, when he’s not singing men to their deaths. He’s not one of those useless pretty koi mermaids, no. He’s a motherfucking creature of the deep. Lamp eyes that are used to distract fish prey. Claws and pale fins and an intense stare and fangs.

Now imagine: Prince Yusuf going overboard in the storm that hits his royal yacht. Struggling, swept away, half-drowned and losing hope fast when an unearthly song fills the air, low and sweet and compelling. He’s swimming towards the singing before he realizes it, delirious, until something closes around his ankle and drags him under. The thing under the water kills him quickly.

And then kills him again, when it doesn’t take. After the third killing, Nicolò’s on his way to being well and truly mystified (“Okay, don't panic. They all die eventually, maybe...maybe I’ll just need to do it again?”) and gives up after the fourth and fifth killing. He drags his (attempted) prey to a little sheltered island he knows about, kills it one last time just to make sure, and then watches, resigned, as the flesh heals up and the lungs push water out until it’s coughing its way back to undeniable life.

“You rescued me,” is the first thing Yusuf says to him. “Your song – it is the song of my heart. My soul.”

Nicolò...has no idea what to do with this, coughs awkwardly in reply, and leaves before he can think too hard about the warmth in his chest answering to the warmth in the human’s expressive, grateful eyes.

(He doesn’t tell Yusuf the truth about their bloody first meeting until years later. It’s too goddamn embarrassing, to be perfectly honest.)

Of course he comes back within a day, almost shamefully quickly. Unable to help being fascinated by this gorgeous, well-spoken, kind and generous human who cannot die. He starts bringing things to Yusuf: at first just fish, then interesting-shaped fragments of rock and coral, and then bits of treasure he’s collected over the years, just to hear what new poetic turn of phrase Yusuf will spout on the spot when he’s given something.

“...this is my family crest on this treasure chest, Nicolò. How strange.”

“It is the chest you said your great-great-grandfather lost,” Nicolò says, the words coming out dry and halting from long years of disuse. Watching Yusuf’s hands as he traces the elaborate lines engraved on the lid, now blurred with rust and coral.

“That’s amazing. Truly. I am at a loss for words,” Yusuf says, smiling.

“No, you aren’t,” Nicolò says, and keeps watching so he can see the moment when the smile turns into a laugh.

Another day, he brings to Yusuf what Booker had told him was called a ‘dinglehopper’ and was what humans used to keep their hair in order, as they did not have the ocean to spread it out like beautiful seaweed in the waves. Yusuf takes it, mouth twitching in a way that makes Nicolò doubt the accuracy of Booker’s explanation. Yet Yusuf does not correct him, but in fact solemnly thanks him before offering the dinglehopper back and asking him to help untangle his riot of curls.

And so it goes. Days pass. Fascination becomes infatuation, turns to desire and then into love, until neither can imagine living without the other, and yet—

Eventually, Nicolò has to give Yusuf up. The prince is too noble and good to just abandon his people indefinitely. And because Nicolò loves him, he goes out and once more lures a ship in with his song, but not to dash it to pieces on jagged rocks this time. He leads them to the island. Watches from a distance as the astonished shouting begins, then back-pounding hugs and joyous celebration as Yusuf boards the ship and sails away. Watches Yusuf turn back more than once to scan the beach, clearly looking for Nicolò, but Nicolò does not follow. Instead, he watches until the ship is lost to his sight and he cannot feel the ship’s current or smell, and then he dives deep and goes to visit Merrick.

Meanwhile, Yusuf arrives back at the capital, where his other best friend, Quỳnh (immortal admiral of the navy) feels terribly guilty about the prince going overboard on his birthday. Which is why she uncharacteristically doesn’t give him shit when he comes back babbling nonsense about mermaids. Or when he spends the next few weeks moping around, writing mermaid poetry and drawing mermaid pictures.

To be fair to him, the particular mermaid he sketches over and over does look pretty striking. Otherworldly and all that. Good cheekbones. Nice pearly scales. “Fucking...giant anglerfish eyes,” Quỳnh mutters while she and Andy look over the latest pile of sketches Yusuf’s left abandoned on a library table. “Our prince has been fucking bewitched by a fucking fish.”

“Mm,” Andy agrees.

So when Nicolò arrives at the palace one fine summer’s day – naked, his fangs smoothed away to look perfectly human, a giant emerald in one hand and a silver fork in the other – and walking, on legs, it causes a bit of an uproar.

“You still smell like the sea,” Yusuf says hoarsely into Nicolò’s neck, the two of them wrapped around each other as closely as two bodies can be.

“Oh, fuck,” Andy says, lowering her axe. Quỳnh looks more closely at the dirty naked wild man their prince is embracing as if his life depends on it. Angular face. Skin encrusted with salt. Absolutely enormous piercing blue eyes. Naked, did we mention naked.

“Oh, fuck,” Quỳnh says.

“You get them separated,” Andy says. “I’ll go...get them a bath.”

The price Nicolò paid for his new human shape:

His siren song.

His immortality.

What he gets in return:

Yusuf teaching him what a dinglehopper is actually called, and what humans actually use it for.

Yusuf teaching him how to read and write his native tongue, and a few other tongues besides.

Yusuf reading poetry to him or sketching next to him on long lazy afternoons in the gardens.

The immense pleasure of intimidating the fuck out of any remaining would-be suitors for Yusuf’s hand in marriage who are still hanging around the palace for some reason.

“I am Nicolò di Genova,” Nicolò replies to the marquis’s indignant demands – predator’s smile still frightening even without endless rows of needle-sharp teeth. “You have seven days to leave this place forever. Get your affairs in order.”

Friendship with Andy and Quỳnh.

“Holy shit. Did he just—”

“—stab the marquis with a fork, at dinner, in front of the entire court? Yep.”

“...”

“New best friend.”

“Obviously.”

Yusuf writing poetry about him and to him. Nicolò likes them all. He wouldn't know a good human poem from a bad human poem, but nothing Yusuf touches could be bad, so ergo it's good.

Sightseeing throughout the kingdom with Yusuf’s strong, gentle fingers twined around his.

Yusuf breathing blissful curses into Nicolò’s ear, exactly like he used to do on their island, as they move together on his enormous bed.

Yusuf. Yusuf. Yusuf.

(Booker is also there. He insisted on being turned human, too, and coming along to make sure Nicolò doesn’t totally fuck this up, but he’s really mainly there for the entertainment. And the booze. Andy asks him at one point about losing his immortality. He shrugs. “Look, if we die, we die,” he says, then offers Andy another pour of fine French brandy. The two of them get along famously.)

It’s all going great until one night on the beach, while they’re walking along hand-in-hand under the stars and idly discussing human and merfolk constellations. Someone approaches them, dressed splendidly and moving with arrogant grace. He is also angular, also fair-haired, also possessed of unsettling eyes. And he has Nicolò’s siren song, gently humming from the shell that adorns his neck.

“Merrick,” Nicolò hisses as Yusuf’s eyes grow glazed and blank, and he tightens his hand on Yusuf’s, afraid for the first time. “Our deal—”

“He can’t bear the idea of living forever without you, can he? And so he hasn’t proposed,” Merrick says, smiling cruelly. “You’ve missed your chance. He’s mine.” And he extends his hand out to Yusuf—

Who stirs, suddenly, and turns to Nicolò. “Limpid, or shimmering?”

“What?”

“Shimmering,” Yusuf decides, peering into Nicolò’s eyes. “Yes. Limpid would be too pretentious, I think.”

And that’s pretty much that – we don’t actually get the plot with Merrick the Sea Witch because Yusuf only has eyes for one weird-looking white guy. Also, his one artistic failing is that he's tone deaf.

They do eventually kill Merrick because true love wins out and we are all about those happy endings, Grimm’s can suck it, etcetera, so Nicolò gets his immortality and his siren song back. He’s also back to being a merman, but Yusuf does not care. “I could paint your beautiful tail for the rest of my life, my love, and still fail to capture the luminous iridescence of you,” he murmurs, stroking said tail with tender fingers. The last person to touch Nicolò’s tail got his hand bitten off. Here and now, Nicolò runs his claws through Yusuf’s hair, clicking deep and happy in his throat.

(“This is weird, right?” Quỳnh asks from where she and Andy are busy scraping evil kraken guts off their armor, a prudent distance down the beach from the lovers. “I’m not the only one who thinks it’s weird?”

Andy says nothing, just offers Quỳnh the rest of her bottle of vodka. This is why Quỳnh loves her so.)

(The wedding is a nightmare, at least according to the palace chef charged with cooking the wedding feast. “What is this, this, abomination? What in heaven’s name have you brought into my kitchen!”

“Tubeworm,” Booker says. “Considered a fine delicacy among our people. Don’t worry about it.”)

#the old guard #joe x nicky #immortal husbands #kaysanova #disney princess au #by lazaefair

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trulivin · 5 years ago

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On the Job

Golden Eyes Part 2 | Part 1

A/N: SURPRISE SURPRISE. Here it is! (Finally). One down, seven more to go. Sorry it’s taken so long, but I hope you enjoy this! As always, send feedback! Enjoy! I figured you guys would like this better than another update. I got a lot of this done last night so I did my finishing touches tonight. Hopefully I caught all of my mistakes!

Also I’m thinking about doing a tag list for whenever I post imagines? Lemme know what you think.

P.S Let me know if the link works for Part 1. My computer is being janky right now.

Kaz Brekker x Reader, Six of Crows

Warnings: Slight abuse, cursing

*Hopefully my gif works this time*

Y/N went straight to Jesper after she left Kaz’s room. “Well hello there Ms. Sharpshooter,” Jesper bowed, jokingly as she approached. Y/N shot him a grin before asking, “So Kaz says you have a job to do and I was wondering if I could tag along?” Jesper thought for a moment, but the mischievous look on his face told her she was already allowed.

“Hmm? Let’s see you could take anyone’s eyes out in a moment or shoot them in the head. I think you can,” Jesper replied. “Besides, we need someone to draw our target out anyways. And with those golden eyes of yours I think you can do it.”

Y/N’s face faltered a bit, but she nodded refusing to let the idea of playing the seductress ruin this. “Great so I’ll come get you tomorrow and fill you in before we go,” Jesper smiled before heading off to the Crow Club. “Awesome,” Y/N muttered, sulking again. Of course it had to be this type of job, she thought to herself.

“There’s the girl I was looking for!” Inej exclaimed, dancing gracefully over to Y/N, snapping her out of her thoughts. Y/N gave her a small smile and Inej’s face dropped. “What now?” she asked. “Nothing,” Y/N said as innocently as she could. “Bullshit,” Inej pursed her lips. “Nothing I swear! Kaz finally let me go on my first job with Jesper,” Y/N said.

Inej narrowed her eyes and prompted, “But.”

“But,” Y/N huffed, “Jesper said they needed someone as bait. And I’m said bait.”

A look of sympathy flashed across Inej’s face, before she grabbed Y/N’s hands, leading her to her room so they could talk in private.

Once the girls were settled, Inej said, “You don’t have to go you know. Kaz wouldn’t think anything of it.” But Y/N shook her head. “I have to go. I just got everyone to shut up,” Y/N said. “But Y/N, we both know you got the worst of it at the Menagerie,” Inej said quietly. Y/N sighed recalling all of the horrible memories.

“Look,” Inej started, “I’m just saying, you don’t have to do this type of thing.”

“I’ll have to at some point. Might as well be now. Besides I’ve practically been begging Kaz to let me go, and I told him I’d be fine. Do you know how embarrassing it would be if I went to him now and said ‘oh wait I can’t do this cause I’m afraid a guy is going to try and feel me up’?” Y/N mumbled. Inej gave her a funny look but said, “Kaz wouldn’t blame you. He’s not one of the nasty men. I mean he doesn’t have a conscience I swear, but he still has some respect for women.”

Y/N snorted, “It still makes me look weak.”

“You aren’t.”

“I know. It’s just time. I can do this Inej. I’ll be okay.”

Inej sighed and eventually nodded in agreement. “Okay, try and get some sleep. Jesper is a hyper one to work with so you should be fully prepared,” Inej smiled, standing up. “I wouldn’t doubt it,” Y/N laughed. “Goodnight!” Inej called before floating out of her room.

Y/N laid awake for a few more hours telling herself she was going to be fine. “It’s been over a month and you’ve been doing great,” she muttered to herself in the dark. At last, after a long while the restless girl eventually fell into a deep slumber.

The following morning, Y/N was immediately met by Jesper. Big Bolliger was lingering in the hall behind him and Y/N assumed this was the other guy on the job. Great, she thought to herself. The guy that absolutely hates me now for almost shooting his manhood off.

“So, you ready?” Jesper asked with wide eyes. Y/N noticed how his leg seemed to be shaking and one hand rested on his pistol, tapping on the side of it. “Uh, sure,” Y/N said. Jesper’s face split into a grin and he rushed by her. “I’ll fill you in when we get to the spot!” he called over his shoulder.

Big Bolliger shoved past her, obviously still unhappy over the previous day, following Jesper out. Y/N felt a pair of eyes on her and turned to see Kaz making his way down the steps towards Per Haskell’s office. His impassive expression was back, but his eyes were burning with something else. Anxiousness? Concern? Anger?

No not anger. He’s always mad at something, Y/N told herself. Catching his eye for a moment, she silently told him she was going to be okay before hurrying after Jesper and Big Bolliger.

Kaz stopped on the landing in front of Per Haskell’s office, finding Y/N’s eyes. Quickly, he found the girl staring at the entrance where the two boys just went through. He could tell she had doubts about going, but he knew she wouldn’t back out much to his dismay. As if she could sense his presence, Kaz saw her turn around and her golden eyes met his. He sucked in a breath and silently wished she would come up to him and say she wasn’t ready and that she changed her mind.

Unfortunately, the look in her eyes told him the opposite. He saw her eyes soften at the sight of him, but just as quickly as they found his, they pulled away, and Y/N flitted out the door and into the sunlight.

Unbeknownst to Kaz, Inej saw the whole exchange and grinned at the thought of Y/N and Kaz.

Y/N eventually caught up with Jesper, having to walk at a very brisk pace. “Saints! Slow down Jesper,” she exclaimed, finally reaching him. “Keep up golden-eyes. I’m in charge today and I set the pace,” Jesper snickered. Y/N glanced around nervously. She felt too exposed weaving in and out of the hustle and bustle of Ketterdam.

“What exactly is the plan?” She asked. “Wait no, what exactly is it we’re doing?”

“We need to get this slummy little Ravkan trader to cough up some coins he owes Kaz,” Jesper said, “But he is smart enough not to travel by himself because he knows how Ketterdam is. A real con artist if you ask me. Not a very loyal Ravkan considering he hoards most of the kruge for himself instead of actually giving it to his boss.”

Y/N nodded, trying to dodge more bodies. It was already hot enough with the sun beating down on them. How in the world does Kaz wear a tie everyday? Y/N thought to herself.

“So,” Jesper continued, “Your job is to get the guy away from his little friend.” Y/N looked around as her, Jesper, and Big Bolliger made their way to a table in front of a little bakery across the street from some club. Y/N was tense. It felt ten times hotter already, and she was very unnerved at how quiet Big Bolliger had been this entire time.

“There’s an alleyway, just over there,” Jesper pointed diagonally across the street to the left, a few buildings down from the club. “You need to get him over there where I’ll be covering the backside. Big Bolliger will cover where you enter the alley and we’ll handle it from there. Easy peasy,” Jesper concluded.

Y/N didn’t say a word thinking about how she would have to lure him away from his friend. Tante Haleen’s voice rang out in her head, “Be a serpent girl. Draw them in with those eyes and then strike. The men love it.”

“You know,” Jesper’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts, “If you aren’t comfortable with this you don’t have to do it. We can find another way.” Y/N glanced at Big Bolliger and he was eagerly waiting for her response. She would not give him the satisfaction.

Y/N shook her head, “No, I can do this. I’ll be fine. Easy peasy, like you said.” Jesper gave her a wary look but nodded his head. Big Bolliger, however, had a look on his face that ran shivers up Y/N’s spine. He was betting on her to fail so he could chew her out and get her back for yesterday. Y/N gulped and sunk in her seat watching the crowd roll by and trying not to vomit all over the table.

After about thirty minutes of waiting, Jesper nudged her arm, “There he is.” He pointed to two fairly pale, slimy looking school-boys. The target was the taller of the two, but almost sickly like. The boy had absolutely no muscle on his body, but had a slight gut popping out from his stained shirt.

“That’s the con artist?” Y/N asked in complete shock. She stifled a laugh as Jesper rolled his eyes. “Yes he doesn’t look like much, but that guy is pretty good at what he does. His friend on the other hand is just along for the ride,” he said.

“Jesper, this guy is like our age,” Y/N burst out laughing. “Yes yes I know. But Kaz needed him to run something to another guy. Then the other guy made the mistake of telling him to take money back to Kaz and well you get the idea,” Jesper said.

“Let’s go,” Big Bolliger snapped, interrupting their conversation and standing up, walking away before the two could say anything. Jesper and Y/N then stood up and he turned to Y/N one last time. “Look it’ll be ok. We’ll be just around the corner and will be on the guy as soon as you get him in the alley,” Jesper smiled at her before disappearing in the crowd.

Y/N took in a nervous breath before making her way towards the two guys in front of the club. Putting up her best facade, she waltzed up to them, eyes on the taller one. “Win good, boys?” Y/N smirked, batting her eyes. Everything inside of her was screaming to run.

The two Ravkans eyed her curiously, but the target took the bait. “No not today, sadly,” he said with a thick accent. “Oh that’s too bad,” Y/N pouted, resting a hand on his shoulder. The guy reeked.

“I’m sure there are other ways to make up for it though,” she whispered, biting her lip. Gag. The man liked where this was heading, and allowed his hand to slip over her back, grabbing her waist and pulling her close. Y/N stiffened as his hand slid dangerously low.

She pushed aside her fear and said, “Why don’t we go somewhere a little more private? I’m sure your friend won’t mind.” The guy smirked and turned to his friend, speaking something in their native language. She only understood bits of Ravkan, but this was surely something she didn’t want to hear. The two guys shared a disgusting look and high-fived before he said, “All set.”

“Wonderful,” Y/N muttered as she turned her back to him, pulling him towards the alley. The guy stayed very close behind her. Y/N felt the weight of his hand on her lower back, slipping ever so slightly lower. She suppressed her shutter and kept telling herself, just a few more feet. Memories of slimy men flipped through her mind like a movie, and Y/N felt as if the walls were closing in around her.

Every step she took, Y/N heard the comments about how such a little girl was so beautiful, but along with that Tante Haleen’s words echoed through her mind as well. Every beating, every client who made her cry, everything terrible.

But one voice kept her walking, ignoring the man’s hand, ignoring his breath on her neck. I don’t want to see you get hurt like that again. You don’t deserve it. Kaz’s voice was the loudest of them all. She didn’t know why, but she didn’t care. He kept her from drowning, and his voice gave her that sense of hope that she could make it through this.

Y/N felt a wave of relief rush through her as she could see the alley maybe six feet in front of her now. She turned towards the Ravkan and gave him a mischievous grin. He took the bait yet again, grabbing her waist and pulling her close. His head found the crook of her neck and started placing wet, nasty kisses. Y/N had to physically hold back her puke.

Just as they were about to stumble into the shadows, a very familiar voice rang out, “Is that my serpent?” Y/N froze. Tante Haleen was staring directly at her with an ice cold glare. “You bitch!” she shrieked. The Ravkan pulled away from her and gave her a confused look. “You know this girl?” he asked the Peacock as she was approaching them. “Oh I know this one all right,” Tante snapped. “She wanted out of my house for the longest time. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s playing you right now! She doesn’t like when men touch her,” she sneered.

The Ravkan glanced around nervously. Y/N couldn’t move or speak. “If you’re going to act like this then I’ll just bring you back to where you belong!” Tante Haleen screeched pushing through the crowd. The Ravkan took one more glance at Y/N before bolting. Before Y/N had known what happened though, Big Bolliger’s body slammed into the Ravkan and dragged him into the alleyway, not before shoving Y/N onto the ground. Tante Haleen reached the girl on the ground and yanked her up by her hair. Memories of the night Y/N took the beating in public resurfaced.

“I told you I’d take you back in chains,” the woman snarled in Y/N’s face. Tante’s hand ran across her cheek and Y/N could feel the tears burning in her eyes. She slapped her repeatedly and threw the girl back on the ground. You don’t deserve it.

Y/N’s head cleared as soon as she heard Kaz’s words echo through her mind. They were as clear as day. “No,” Y/N mumbled, finally able to form words.

“Excuse me?”

“No,” Y/N said more firmly, meeting the woman’s gaze. “I will not!”

Instinctively, Y/N kneed the woman in the stomach and sent her crumbling to the ground. She knew how to fight back. “I’m not scared of you anymore,” Y/N hissed, kicking Tante square in the face. The woman was knocked out cold. Y/N shook herself out and ran into the alley.

Big Bolliger had the Ravkan pinned up against the wall as he was struggling to get something from his pockets. “Thank you, thank you,” Jesper said as the guy handed him two pouches. “Alright I think we got it all,” Jesper said after counting. Y/N let out a sigh of relief as Big Bolliger let the man drop. The Ravkan immediately took off in the opposite direction and disappeared around the corner.

However, Big Bolliger then rounded on her. He came storming at her, shoving her against the wall. She felt his hands close around her throat. Everything was starting to cave in on her again and her mind went back to awful times when men pulled stuff on her like this. “Whoa whoa!” Jesper exclaimed trying to pull him off, but he just shoved him out of the way. “What the hell was that?” Big Bolliger snarled in Y/N’s face. Y/N found herself at a loss for words again, partially from being strangled at the moment.

“You try an act all tough, but I see right through you. And you just proved it! You could’ve ruined the whole job, bitch,” his words cut through her like a knife. “All you’ll ever be is some whore that Brekker decided to pull off the streets for himself.” Ouch.

“Dude, let her go, she did fine,” Jesper interjected. Big Bolliger glared at Y/N for a moment longer before releasing her. Y/N collapsed, coughing and gasping for air. Jesper knelt down beside her placing a hand on her back, but she flinched away from him.

Big Bolliger snorted, “I guess I was wrong. Can’t even take a man’s touch. Looks like you can’t even be a whore right.” Y/N felt tears start to fall. Why did Kaz pick her? She thought miserably.

“That’s enough!” Jesper snarled at Big Bolliger. “Let’s go.”

“Whatever. It’s your funeral when Brekker finds out what happened,” Big Bolliger shoved past Jesper and disappeared back in the crowd. “C’mon,” he said gently, but did not touch the shaking girl. Y/N slowly stood, feeling the throbbing in her neck from his fingers. She still felt like she couldn’t breathe. There were probably marks left too.

Jesper and Y/N made their way back to the Slat slowly. Big Bolliger was already back by the time the pair came in. Kaz’s jaw locked as soon as he caught sight of Y/N’s face. He was not happy. Inej was by her side in an instant, “What happened?” Y/N just shook her head and made her way over to where Kaz and Big Bolliger were sitting. Jesper laid the bags down in front of Kaz as Big Bolliger said, “We were lucky I got there in time. What were you thinking sending her on a job?”

He felt pretty confident with Kaz. “I mean, she froze and almost lost the guy cause what?” Big Bolliger faced Y/N again. Kaz noticed how she physically shrunk away from his gaze, her golden eyes wide with terror again. Kaz also saw light bruising around her neck and her face stained with tears and red marks.

“Cause the woman from the Menagerie came to talk to her,” Big Bolliger answered before Y/N could. If she could even speak. Kaz got the sneaking suspicion that the bruises around her neck were not from the Peacock though. His hard gaze turned back to Big Bolliger.

“What happened to her neck?” he growled. Big Bolliger’s face went pale, but he didn’t answer. “What happened to her neck?” Kaz repeated, his anger rising. When no one answered, Jesper stepped in, “This lunatic grabbed her and threw her up against the damn wall! We got the job done didn’t we?” He exclaimed.

Y/N had never seen it before, and she was sure no one else had either. Kaz completely lost it. The table was flipped in front of him and Kaz’s cane collided with Big Bolliger’s face. “What the hell!” He cried in pain. “I stepped in when she froze up! She needed to be put in place.”

Kaz kicked Big Bolliger in the stomach causing him to hunch over in pain. “You know damn well the job got done and was successful. She got the guy over to you. I don’t care if you’re the strongest, the biggest, the whatever, you do not lay your hands on her again if you want to keep them. Suck up your pride and get over what happened yesterday,” Kaz hissed, leaning over the quivering boy, with a fistful of hair in his hand. “And get the fuck out.”

No one dared utter a word as Kaz lifted himself up from his squatting position. Big Bolliger’s face was swollen and his eyes were now swimming with fear. Y/N had never seen Kaz so angry, and the worst part was that his eyes burned with fury much like Tante Haleen’s did whenever she disobeyed.

“Don’t you all have other stuff to do?” Kaz snapped. The crowd broke apart as everyone scurried away like mice. Inej clung to Y/N’s arm as Kaz turned to the two girls. “Go, Inej,” he said through gritted teeth, obviously not trying to yell at his Wraith. They stared at each other for a hard moment as if she was challenging him. Eventually, his eyes narrowed and he huffed, “I’m not going to hurt her.”

Inej still didn’t budge.

“It’s okay,” Y/N said quietly to her as Kaz glared back. After a moment, Inej dropped her gaze and muttered, “You have a real bad habit of saying everything is okay when it isn’t.” “I know, but this time it is,” Y/N managed a strained smile before removing her arm from Inej’s and moving silently over to Kaz. For the first time in the entire day, Y/N finally felt safe.

Too many of the wrong hands had been on her and she didn’t want to feel suffocated anymore, and with Kaz, that’s exactly what she could get. He glanced at Y/N before heading back up the steps.

Soon enough, he and Y/N found themselves back in his room just as they were the previous day. This time Y/N finally broke down as soon as the door was closed. The horrible memories of every beating came back to her, and the stench of the Ravkan filled her nose again. Before she could stop it, she finally spilled the contents in her stomach.

When it was all out, she felt sufficiently better and stared at the nasty puddle of puke on the floor and realized what she had just done. “I am so sorry,” Y/N looked up at Kaz who seemed to be grimacing a bit, refusing to look at the floor. “I--” Y/N’s voice died in her mouth.

“No, no, it’s uh fine. I’ll make someone else clean it up. I’m honestly surprised you lasted this long anyways,” Kaz groaned a bit motioning her to move away from the puke. He moved her to the window sill and pushed the window open to let some fresh air in. Y/N sat down as Kaz rested a hand on the frame of the building above his head.

The fury in his eyes were gone as he studied her tired looking features. There was a prominent bruise forming on her face and a little cut under her eye. His jaw locked again as his eyes wandered down to her neck, where an outline of Big Bolliger’s fingers bruised her neck.

Y/N squirmed under his gaze as she felt her face heat up. But he still said nothing. He honestly didn’t know what to say.

Finally, Y/N locked eyes with him, and she saw him take in a sharp breath. It was her eyes, gold as ever.

“Look, I know what you’re thinking. I’m fine now. Yes I almost lost the guy, but I mean that damn woman,” Y/N started. “I don’t blame you,” Kaz interrupted. “You don’t have to do that,” Y/N hissed. Kaz seemed a bit taken aback at her outburst, but let her continue.

“You don’t need to baby me. I know I screwed up, but you babying me isn’t going to fix anything. We got the job done, I froze. That’s what happens to people like me. I’m broken, Kaz. I still don’t get why you picked me!” Y/N declared, standing up. “I’m broken. It’ll always be like this for me! Maybe I’ll get better but that pain will still be with me. I haven’t seen my family in years, I’ve been beaten, raped, tortured by the hands of disgusting men. I am completely and utterly--”

“Your eyes,” Kaz said softly, interrupting.

“Wh-what?” Y/N asked, caught off guard at his response.

“It was your eyes. That’s why I picked you. There was something about you that night. It,” he paused for a moment, taking a hesitant step closer to her. Y/N could feel her heart pounding out of her chest.

“It reminded me of myself when I was younger,” Kaz admitted. They were chest to chest right now, and he was looking down at her with dark eyes. He closed his eyes for a moment and said, “It reminded me of when my brother died and who the person I was then. I--I used his body as a float. His dead body. All the way back to the mainland,” Kaz took a shaky breath, but continued, “But you. You were me. You were the little boy fighting to survive under the worst conditions. You were that person who didn’t deserve what the world threw at you. The person who didn’t have anyone to protect him. The person who had absolutely no one.”

“Kaz…” Y/N whispered. He opened his eyes and saw tears running down her face again. Kaz brought a hand up, pausing. Taking a deep breath, he pulled his glove off revealing his slender hands. Y/N had always seen them from far away whenever it was just them, but never this close. She noticed the little scars that decorated his fingers and palm. Just like mine she thought.

Kaz brought his hand back up to her face and she noticed he was slightly trembling. Y/N wanted to move because she knew he was uncomfortable. She didn’t want to put him in this position. But another part of her wanted to see what he’d do next. Her skin began to itch where his fingers hovered.

Kaz wanted to do this. He knew what he did and that sick feeling began rising in his stomach without his gloves. Images of Jordie’s corpse flashed through his mind, but he stared into those liquid gold eyes. They were filled with warmth, not the cold water that nearly killed him. His mind screamed, begged him to put his safety net back on, but he wanted to feel her. And he wanted her to feel him. Not the mask of cool and rough material that could have easily reminded her of the rough hands in her past.

Y/N didn’t dare move. She just let Kaz do what he needed. The next thing she knew, his fingertips were tracing the little scar next to her eye and down her face. For a moment, he allowed her cheek to rest in the palm of his hand while his thumb wiped away a stray tear. His hand was warm on her face and surprisingly soft. She had seen what those hands could do to a person, but with her, they were gentle. He wasn’t the Bastard of the Barrel right now. He was Kaz Brekker.

Kaz Brekker. The boy, Y/N had fallen hopelessly and completely in love with.

And she was the girl with the golden eyes who he had, and would never admit to anyone, fallen head over heels for.

He was pleased that she didn’t flinch under his touch, but as easily as those eyes melted away that drowning feeling, they still weren’t enough. He let his hand trail down to the bruises on her neck before letting it fall to his side.

Y/N felt cold air rush around her and she longed for that feeling of warmth. But, she didn’t want to push it.

“It’ll take time,” Kaz said quietly. She knew what he meant. And he knew she would. “Me too,” she whispered, a small smile on her face.

Kaz’s mouth quirked up a bit as he saw the brightness in her eyes return.

And for that moment, they were content in each other’s presence, neither asking for anything more than what they could give in that exact moment.

_______________________________________________

I hope you all enjoyed this! That last scene with them I was listening to ‘A Thousand Years’ by Christina Perry when I was writing to it, and that LITERALLY made it ten times better so I recommend going back and reading it while listening to that song lol.

#six of crows #six of crows imagines #kaz brekker #kaz brekker x reader #kaz brekker imagine #kaz brekker fic #imagines #fandom imagine #multifandom #multifandom imagines #request #inej ghafa #jesper fahey #grishaverse #grisha #nina zenik #wylan van eck

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appleb18 · 5 years ago

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I Wanted Believe in Steven (A Critical Steven Universe Post)

Steven Universe, a popular show that has won the hearts of so many people. It had good songs, talks about mental health and relationships, a lovable cast of characters and it’s revolutionary for representing LGBT. As the show finally wraps up with Steven Universe: Future being the series finale, I want to say this… I used to believe in Steven Universe. I truly got into it when it first came out and then I started to appreciate it more as the show progressed even with the flaws. However, as time moved on, the show’s flaws have outweighed the strengths, making my enjoyment decline and become critical and nitpicky towards it. So I believe it’s time to point out the many problems with the show.

The Glory Days of Steven Universe

Before I begin ranting about the show, I want to talk about when I actually liked Steven Universe back in seasons 1-3. It was when everyone actually enjoyed the show before it went downhill.

- So before Steven became really annoying, I actually liked him when he was developing in season 1. He was very immature at first but he gradually grew. He became a member of the Crystal Gems and finally summoned his shield.

- Peridot’s redemption was handled very well and I enjoyed her character throughout the whole show.

- The show once balanced filler and plot.

- I enjoyed the Crystal Gems chemistry back in seasons 1 - 3. They acted like a family with Garnet being the wise guardian, Pearl being overprotective, Amethyst laidback and Steven maturing.

- The songs are great.

- The messages are relatable such as “Love Letter.” Garnet tells Jamie that love-at-first-sight doesn’t work. It takes time and a lot of work. You must know the person first before you begin to love someone.

Those are the reasons why I enjoyed the show back in the day. Now it’s time to talk about how the Crewniverse messed up everything.

Inconsistencies. Are. Everywhere

Steven Universe is well known for having no consistency and that’s one of the major problems with the show. While I can forgive season 1 animation because let’s face it, not every show has good animation like Phineas and Ferb. Though having characters go off-model consistently gets really irritating to watch. It’s irritating because most of them are professional storyboard artists and yet they’re doing a very sloppy job.

The reason behind unprofessional animation is Rebecca Sugar wanted her crew to have artistic freedom and have their own stylistic choice. They can draw whatever they want as long as the viewers can recognize the characters. There are many problems with this.

While it’s nice to see the artist's own style it doesn’t work with a cartoon that’s story-driven. You’ll probably argue that some shows like Adventure Time and American Dragon go off-model. However, it’s just redesigned and they stick with it till the very end of their respective series.

Also, shows like Ren and Stimpy and Flapjack go off-model because for comedic effect.

So stylistic choice doesn’t mean artists can draw whatever they want. It means that a character has their own style.

Terrance and Philip from South Park

Elmore characters from The Amazing World of Gumball

Each of them has a unique character design. It’s not the Korean animator's fault for it, they’re given what the Crewniverse drew, trace it and just animate it and they can’t fix their errors. What makes it upsetting is that animation pilots and shorts made by a single person or independent team with very little funding have more consistent and appealing animation than Steven Universe.

I ain’t an animator, but I know when animation goes off-model. Sadly, it’s not just inconsistent art that the show suffers from, but inconsistent writing and discontinuity as well.

Such as in “Are You My Dad?” Aquamarine and Topaz knocked out Steven and then she abandoned him while they took Lars, Sadie, Onion, Jamie, and Connie. Then in “I Am My Mom” they lure him and The Crystal Gems out for information to find Greg. So if you wanted to get information to find him, why didn’t they just grab him when he was knocked out?

Also, why did Aquamarine agree to Steven’s terms? Her wand is the most broken weapon in the show. She could’ve grabbed everyone including The Crystal Gems.

Garnet couldn’t tell Steven about her future vision because it wanted him to go more? If she just told him about Greg's capture, he would have understood. Also, she gave him future visions in “Jailbreak,” “Snow day” and “Future Boy Zoltron.” Why didn’t she do that for that kind of situation?

The Crystal Gems, who have special abilities, summon weapons and powers that fought Gems and Corrupted Gems and yet they were beaten by a freaking Steven Catus, Really?

We saw Lapis control the freaking ocean in “Mirror Gem”, “Ocean Gem” and “Why So Blue”, so why didn’t she use that to remove the injector?

After 6,000 years of waiting for Pink Diamond, Spinel got news about her Diamond and that she gave up her physical form to give birth to Steven. It changed her appearance from happy go lucky to edgy. Now she wants vengeance. So I’m wondering how was she able to get an injector and a scythe, then go to Earth in under a few hours?

In “Giant Woman,” Pearl explains that two gems have to decide to fuse together and they have to sync with each other to do it. In “Change Your Mind,” Steven fuses with the Crystal Gems midair while they are in their gem state.

How the hell did Connie get affected by Blue Diamond’s pathokinesis when Lapis Lazuli arrived in “Reunited”?

She was fine when BD did it the first time.

Mean Lapis and Bluebird are still on the loose. I know most shows leave things unanswered but you can’t leave two villains out there. They can still do harm to others

I really wish the Crewniverse showed more professionalism because there are so many errors in the show and some of them are so simple to fix, yet they don’t and that’s what I call lazy.

The Cast of Characters Don’t Do Much

I used to like the cast of characters, even the humans I enjoyed watching. When season 4 - Future came in, they got ruined. Most of them don’t do much in the show. I feel like they got sidelined because the Crewniverse had no idea what to do with them.

Let’s first talk about The citizens of Beach City and how they are the most boring characters in the show. At first, they weren’t so bad because they did have a role to play in the story like when The Cool Kids talked to Steven about his mother when he found out that she was a war criminal and he blamed himself for his mother not being around anymore. They also helped him not get scolded by The Crystal Gems when they found Peridot’s escape pod.

There’s even some slice-of-life episodes that I did enjoy watching such as

“Sadie’s Song”

And “Historical Fiction”

But now they don’t react to any Gem situation anymore. They just stand around and serve no purpose to the plot. Look at “Future”, throughout the whole epilogue mini-series, the humans didn’t do a dang thing in the series. For example, The Cool Kids, Lars, Sadie, and Shep don’t talk to Steven about his mental health when he was about to crush them with his force field. It just makes it feel that they don’t care about him or oblivious about that experience

Then they didn’t do squat when Steven became a monster and I know they're just humans but their friends and the show focus on them a lot, so they have to use them. It made me wonder why they even focus on them in season 4 and season 5 if they're not going to serve their purpose in the story.

Now let's talk about the more interesting characters and how the Crewniverse wasted them. Many Gems and few human characters (Lars, Greg, Connie) get them characters to grow, face struggles and have moments that can make a character likable. After all that, the Crewniverse had no idea what to do so they just left them.

Peridot’s redemption was well written. from season 1 - season 3. From a villain that has unknown technology and feels more alien than the Crystal Gems to a member of the Crystal Gem. As much as I love her development and she’s my favorite, however, she doesn’t do much in the show. Most shows that give a lot of development to a character are part of the main cast but in Steven Universe's case, she gets put in the barn with Lapis Lazuli and does nothing. She’s never involved in major story arcs such as she didn’t come along to help Steven to get his dad back in Zoo Arc and didn’t help with beach city citizens getting kidnapped in Wanted Arc.

Even in the Pink Diamond Arc, she has no part to play. All she was in that arc was a punchline and a hyperactive character with no defining moments. While it’s nice she has a new outfit, it doesn’t change anything.

Peridot had the potential to be a really great character but she got wasted because they had no idea what to do with her.

Pearl and Garnet never got their own character arc. When they fused with Steven to become Rainbow Quartz 2.0 and Sunstone it was rushed. I know they didn’t have time to do their arcs but if they cut townie episodes and focused on their bond it would’ve felt more impactful for him to fuse with them. Season 4 could’ve been Garnet and Season 5 could’ve been Pearl. Just look at Amethyst where she finds mutual respect and love for Steven and that’s really great to see. With them, we don’t have a moment like that.

A good example of using characters is Regular Show. They used their characters pretty well, giving each of them a good amount of screen time.

Benson’s drum solo

Getting to know more about Skips history

Muscle Man setting his ashes free at Great Trucker Graveyard

High Five Ghost reunited with his love interest

Pop’s proving that he’s part of the guys for Guys Night

Rigby graduates high school

Mordecai painting for Benson

And what I like the most about is they all have a moment together as best friends. Such as in “Parkie Rewards,” although Benson doesn’t win an award, the gang made their very own award and paper trophy. Benson made a speech about how he appreciated his staff workers.

I really wish Steven Universe had something like that and I really wanted to see more of Lapis, Garnet, Amethyst, and Bismuth but sadly the writers aren’t giving them much to do anymore.

A Shift of Pacing

Steven Universe really wants to tell a story like most cartoon shows are doing such as Over the Garden Wall, Adventure Time, Owl House and many more. They keep adding episodic episodes in the middle of unresolved conflict and have the concluding rushed. An example of this is the Cluster arc.

Peridot tells The Crystal Gems that the Cluster will emerge at any time… AT ANY TIME! So the gang planned to create a gem drill to destroy it to save the Earth. So instead of working on the drill, they kept delaying it like

Garnet told her story to Steven of how Ruby and Sapphire met

Celebrating Steven’s birthday

Peridot processing on becoming a “Crystal Gem”

I know Peridot was working on the drill and I like Peridot’s redemption but it’s a life or death situation. You can’t do other things when the Cluster can emerge at any time. The way they resolved the arc was really rushed. The Crystal Gems finally locate the whereabouts of Malachite and so Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl go to Watermelon Island and fuse to Alexandrite to defeat her. Then the Cluster emerges and it’s up to Steven and Peridot to deal with it. Instead of destroying the Cluster, he talks to it and it stops itself from emerging by bubbling itself. The way the writers conclude the arc was so anticlimactic and rushed. It ended two major plots, Malachite and Cluster in two episodes and Steven just talking to it was ridiculous. The Cluster arc should’ve at least had two episodes and Malachite should’ve come after the event because she was briefly mentioned in three episodes.

Adventure Time has a mini-series that primarily focuses on plots. It resolves conflicts and it doesn’t waste any time such as Islands, Stakes, and Elements.

People tend to blame the network for the inconsistent schedule and hiatus. While it may be true, however, it’s not really a big issue with the show. Gravity Falls isn’t consistent with its schedule but it has better pacing than Steven Universe. From Nov. 26, 2014 - Feb 16, 2015, the ep “Northwest Mansion Noir” was released, another month of waiting for “Not What He Seems.” Then we have to wait for four months, July 13th, 2015, for “The Tale of Two Stans.” Then there’s Steven Universe where we have to wait for six months for the next episode and it is just Towney episodes and it doesn’t even matter to the plot. So I pretty much don’t understand why people are complaining about the Steven Universe hiatus when Gravity Falls, a well-written show, has a hiatus as well.

They could’ve had a well-written story if only they weren't so focused on the human side of Steven and cut most of the filler out.

Action Doesn’t Have Consequences

In most shows, movies, and video games, characters will make rash decisions that have other characters disagree and even have a bit of a falling out.

Look at Gravity Falls “Land Before Swine.” Stanley doesn’t like Mabel’s pet pig, Waddles, and he left him outside when there was a Pterodactyl in town. Stan left Waddles unattended and caused him to get captured.

Soos messed up a lot in the episode. Without thinking, he barged in as Dipper developed the film which ruined a good picture of the dinosaur.

He tries to be optimistic when Mabel finds out Stanley left him out however it ineffective when he ravels the yarn back up and thus cut the clear path and accidentally break the lamb

To prove their worth is by Stanley fights the pterodactyl to save Waddles

And Soos and Dipper make up when he apologizes and he admits he made mistakes. Dipper and Mabel then took Soos advice to follow his lead and walk in a straight line as for dinosaurs' eyes are so far apart and that it can’t see in front of itself and the plan went well.

So with Steven Universe, most characters in the show have done pretty terrible things and the show never atoned for their actions.

In “Island Adventure”, Sadie trapped Lars and Steven on an island by hid the Gem portal with leaves so she can hit on him. Although she saved his life by poofing the gem monster with a pointy stick, it doesn’t help the fact that she trapped them for a month! It is also idiotic that the show treats Lars as he’s the bad guy where in reality, Sadie is!

Amethyst, although I do like her character development in the show, however, she did pretty a messed up thing and they never resolved it. In “Maximum Capacity”, Greg finds out that he’s missing the fireworks and Amethyst shapeshifts from Steven to Greg to cheer him up. She changes back and gets mad at him for not spending time with her. So she shapeshifts to Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond which causes Greg to look away and it’s the second time she has done it, and then Steven comes in to stop and question both of them. Amethyst feels guilty and left. So in order to make things up, she came up with an idea to clean that the Crystal Gems can clean out Greg storage. So this is really messed up. She shapeshifted as his wife and not only it scarred Greg but Steven as well and yet the writers never decided on how they can properly make it up. That’s so horrible.

Lapis Lazuli took the Earth's water, almost killed Connie, broke Peridot's tape recorder and called it garbage, and she took the barn. When she finally comes back to help the Crystal Gems to fight against the Diamonds. Her response to everyone was “hey”. She never apologized for anything she has done. I know she has PTSD but it doesn’t excuse her actions.

The only character that actually feels guilty and has to make amends of her wrongdoing is Pearl. She deceived Garnet by keeping rebuilding Gem communicator so she can fuse with her to form Sardonyx to make herself feel better. Steven and Amethyst find out and spill the beans which gets Garnet mad and Pearl feels guilty. In the last episode of the Sardonyx arc, they get trapped by Peridot. When they were about to get crushed, they two finally talk and Pearl apologizes to her and calls herself “just a pearl” and Garnet tells her you are your own gem and that makes her feel better and fused to Sardonyx once again.

Now it’s time to talk about the second major gripe with the show that everyone has and it’s the Diamonds being redeemed. The Diamonds are tyrannical fascist dictators that caused genocide many species, colonized many worlds, corrupt gems, shatter gems that don’t obey, have an army, gems that are off-color are put to the underground, and force fused shattered gems into a Cluster. After what they have done, you think they need to pay, right? Unfortunately, since Rebecca Sugar said ``there are no villains' ' and the show is about empathy, the Diamonds, especially White Diamond, get a clean slate. So it’s fine to have a villain be sympathetic and have a sad backstory, it makes them more human but having them redeemed is something you should never ever do, especially what they’ve done. They have very little screen time to show their development and have doubts about their empire.

Then they made them worse when in Steven Universe: “The Movie” and “Future”

In Steven Universe: “The Movie”, The Diamonds become clingy aunties to Steven and tell them don’t do evil things anymore like calling other species “equal lifeforms”, disband their arms and not shatter gems.

In Steven Universe: “Future”, The Diamonds abilities have a completely opposite effect towards Gems such as

Yellow Diamond’s ability to change from poofing gems to fixing

Blue Diamond’s ability to change from sad blue orbs to happy blue clouds

White Diamond's ability changed from manipulation to control her for a brief moment.

Having them become good and having emotions won’t cut it. They can’t atone for what they’ve done for the past millions of being fascist dictators and just saying “I’m a good Diamond now” can’t wipe away their past actions. It doesn’t work like that!

My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, A SHOW FOR LITTLE GIRLS, have a better-written villain redemption than Steven Universe and I ain’t kidding. Discord was the main antagonist for “Return of Harmony”. All he wanted to do is cause chaos. He was defeated by the mane six at the end of the second part of the episode.

In season 3, “Keep Calm and Flutter On”, Discord was reformed by Fluttershy because Princess Celestia believes he can be a good ally and knows that she can do it.

Throughout season 4, everyone still doesn’t trust him even though he’s friends with Fluttershy.

In the season 4 finale, he sided with Tirek and he betrayed them because he thought he’ll be rewarded for it.

Then he was betrayed by him. After Tirek and Twilight fought, she gave up her magic to save her friends, including Discord. It made him realize that friendship is more precious than anything of what he’ll give him and that’s when he’s been fully accepted as a friend to the mane six.

I also want to talk about Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond. While many fans in the community and the Crewniverse always point that she’s terrible and I agree she is. Such as leaving Spinel for 3,000 years, cracked her first Pink Pearl, abandoned her Diamond duties to be free, started a Gem war that cost many Gems to shatter to pursue her own goal, bubbled Bismuth, gems got corrupted, and left Steven with the burden. It is indeed bad but when compared to the Diamonds, she’s more of a saint than them. At least she does develop, doesn’t shatter gems and save the Earth from the Diamonds.

With story pacing being all over, villains and even characters aren’t paying for their actions and a cast of characters aren’t doing much, what’s the most problematic of the show? Well, it’s a combination of all my problems into one and that is…

Steven “Center Of” Universe

The major problem with the show, the one that brings down the show a lot and it’s Steven Omnipresence. First off, I don’t mind when a show has a protagonist point-of-view like Ben 10, Phineas and Ferb, Over the Garden Wall, etc. As long as it's written well and keeps the story moving, it’s fine but with Steven Universe, it has tons of problems. Steven's point-of-view is the cause of all its flaws and I can’t stress it enough about it.

So let’s first talk about the obvious one and how it’s only Steven's perspective. The problem with this is we only see things if Steven is there to witness it. The show introduces a fascinating world of Gems and yet the show doesn’t dive into that because Steven doesn’t care about and all he does is hang around Beach City. Steven will never explore unless he chooses to and some major plot points are offscreen which you should never do, especially it’s a story-driven show. An example of this is “Wanted Arc’” and yes I’m using it the third time as my example because it really is a terrible arc. When Steven comes back home, he had some information about Homeworld, discovered that there’s a mystery about Pink Diamond shattering, Off Colours, Steven can bring back people from the dead and Lars in space. With all that, what does Steven do? Nothing. Throughout his adventure in space, he never mentions it to the Crystal Gems and instead of that being the main focus, it’s townies and Connie. While Steven is doing Beach City fluff, Lars is actually progressing the plot by him developing and escaping Homeworld with the Off Colours. I truly wonder why the Crewniverse believes that Beach City is more important than Gems?

They got interesting lore and I truly want them to explore it more but they had to waste all that and have the most major plot points be offscreen for Steven's perspective.

The second problem with Steven p.o.v is his contestant presence. The show will always be about him, no other characters get the spotlight or do anything unless he’s there. There’s rarely a scene that doesn’t have Steven and it’s frustrating when there’s a well-rounded cast of characters that I want to see more than him. We’ll never see them interact with other characters nor explore different parts of the world. Other shows have done it such as

Amazing World of Gumball - “The World”

Adventure Time - “Varmints”

Avatar: The Last Airbender - “Zuko Alone”

Rick and Morty - “Tales From the Citadel”

Imagine how great it will be if explore more of the cast like

Uncorrupt Gem characters and Curley Lapis going by their day in Little Homeschool.

Lars becoming a space pirate

Lapis and Peridot becoming friends

Pearl meeting up with Mystery Girl

Volleyball recovering from her trauma

Ruby and Sapphire being their own individuals

They got a lovable cast of characters that I want the show to further explore and yet the Crewniverse don’t do anything with them and that’s such a missed opportunity.

Then the third most egregious problem with Steven p.o.v is he’s the communicator. The show tries to message that talking things will work but no one really talks to each other unless it’s Steven. Characters barely make their opinion or a chance to speak for themselves while Steven's opinion will and shall always be in the right and we barely see characters talking to one another. Examples of these are…

When Steven bubbles Bismuth, Pearl and Garnet don't say a thing and just let him. They don't question why he did or lash him out for it. They just went along with it. Steven decided to unbubble her in “Made of Honor “ for a wedding without talking to anyone else about it and again, they still haven’t asked questions and they just went along with it.

In “Reunited”, instead of Crystal Gems look at each other to find their strength like Garnet telling Pearl she’s her own Pearl, Pearl telling Amethyst she’s isn’t an accident, and they tell Garnet that she’s a great leader, Steven has to remind them what they are supposed to be.

Blue and Yellow had issues with the Gem Empire but too afraid to say to White Diamond. Until Steven arrived and that’s when they tried talking to her.

The Diamonds become good because Steven tells them being a fascist dictator is bad and they agree. They disbanded the Gem Empire and changed their abilities to help Gems under two years.

Steven made Pearl talk to Amethyst.

The message the show tries to tell that people should communicate is completely flawed because rather than have other characters improve their lives by talking to one another, they made Steven the messiah that every character looks up to. Steven will change your mind and you have no choice in the matter.

Conclusion

With the end of Steven Universe, I want to say that this show could’ve been better. Steven Universe was created by Rebecca Sugar, a former storyboard artist for Adventure Time and the one who mainly writes episodes about Marceline and wrote songs for the show. When she announced that she's left AT to make her show, I was excited and had such high hopes for it. I really want this show to succeed and it could’ve been the next Adventure Time, My Little Pony Friendship is Magic or Gravity Falls but sadly it failed to do so. The show flaws outshined it the strength by it was handled unprofessionally, wasted their characters, the pacing is all over the place, no character pay for their past actions and Steven’s point-of-view. I don’t think it’s the worst show I’ve ever watched nor a masterpiece, it's just a disappointingly average show in my personal opinion. I hope Rebecca Sugar and her crew not just see this as their progressive show by representing LGBT and messaging but also see what they would have approved of on the show and how they could’ve made it better. I had a lot of good memories when I first watched the show. It had the potential to be better but it never filled the promises they made.

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monochrome-in-madness · 4 years ago

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My Top 10 Favourite Horrors

Within this top 10 list, some will include the prequels, sequels and any other follow ups as 1 ranking number. Some may be considered thriller, sci-fi, suspence etc, however, I do regard these as horrors myself.

I have take many aspects into account, such as videography, actor quality, SFX makeup quality, soundtrack, directors, CGI etc.

Note : this is my personal opinion. You do not have to agree with it, though if you haven't seen these, I highly reccomend them.

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1. The Conjuring

(1 & 2)

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The Conjuring 1 :

The Perron family moves into a farmhouse where they experience paranormal phenomena. They consult demonologists, Ed and Lorraine Warren, to help them get rid of the evil entity haunting them.

The Conjuring Trailer :

youtube

The Conjuring 2 :

Peggy, a single mother of four children, seeks the help of occult investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren when she and her children witness strange, paranormal events in their house

The Conjuring 2 Trailer :

youtube

My Opinion :

The Conjuring was the start of an incredible series of horrors that beat any other horror to the ground. It is absolutely fantastic and I basically worship these films. James Wan is my favourite director and he never ceases to amaze me.

Paranormal horror is my favourite and as someone who actually believes in the paranormal and who has had paranormal experiences, I can confirm that The Conjuring is much more realistic than any other paranormal films, which just makes it extra spooky.

The actors, camera angles, music, sfx makeup and storyline is just - chefs kiss -. I've been waiting for the 3rd one for so long, but they keep extending the release date. (R. I. P)

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2. Annabelle

(all of them)

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Annabelle :

John and Mia Form are attacked by a Satan worshipping couple, who uses their doll as a conduit to make their life miserable. This unleashes a string of paranormal events in the Forms' residence.

Annabelle Trailer :

youtube

Annabelle Creation :

Samuel and Elle embed their daughter's spirit into a doll, only to realise it is a demon. Years later, they open their home to a nun and six orphan girls, one of whom finds the doll.

Annabelle Creation Trailer :

youtube

Annabelle Comes Home :

Judy and her babysitter are left alone in her house after her parents leave to investigate a case. However, an unexpected guest sets Annabelle free, unleashing demonic activity in the house.

Annabelle Comes Home Trailer :

youtube

My Opinion :

Another great film series that was birthed form The Conjuring. Definitely less realistic, with many more jumpscares and spooky characters, which is appreciated in the horror world. Many people find dolls far more creepy than ghosts, myself included, so that's another perfect aspect that adds to the suspense.

I prefer Annabelle 3 over the others, mainly because I found that one to be more scary overall, even though Daniela is an idiot and she makes me so frustrated 😂

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3. Saw

(all of them)

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For the totally unindoctrinated, the Saw movie franchise revolves around the Jigsaw Killer (a.k.a. John Kramer), who tortures victims he believes are complacent or guilty, in order to make them appreciate their time on Earth.

All Saw Trailers :

youtube

Obviously I'm not going to list every Saw movie, because there are 7 (Jigsaw aka number 8, does NOT count. It is a disgrace).

My Opinion :

A classic for horror and gore lovers of all kinds. Of course I need to list this as number 3. I simply adore these movies. I even have the DVD set, so I am definitely a long term fan haha.

The obstacles and creativity regarding Saw as a whole needed a lot of thought put into it, plus it has a happy little side note of "make sure you don't cause harm to others in life and don't take anything for granted" which some may have not even noticed while being overwhelmed by the amount of fake blood.

Yes, a lot of characters are annoying, but that just makes us enjoy seeing them tortured even more (shh it's not real). Some of the blood doesn't look very realistic, the sfx can lack attention, BUT... It's still great and I can overlook these few flaws to appreciate the movies to the max.

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4. Blair Witch

(2016)

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A young man and his friends venture into the Black Hills Forest in Maryland to uncover the mystery surrounding his missing sister. Many believe her disappearance 17 years earlier is connected to the legend of the Blair Witch.

At first the group is hopeful, especially when two locals act as guides through the dark and winding woods. As the night wears on, a visit from a menacing presence soon makes them realize that the legend is all too real, and more sinister than they could have ever imagined.

Blair Witch Trailer :

youtube

My Opinion :

I love the camerawork. Not because it's perfect, because it's the opposite. It's a documentary style and this makes it feel more realistic, as if you are within the film yourself. I enjoy how they skip to the action at just the right time after a mild buildup.

The visuals are great as well and there were definitely some parts where I was disgusted and claustrophobic, which is good to experience while enjoying these types of films.

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5. Under The Skin

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Disguising itself as a human female, an extraterrestrial drives around Scotland attempting to lure unsuspecting men into her van. Once there, she seduces and sends them into another dimension where they are nothing more than meat.

Under The Skin Trailer :

youtube

My Opinion :

I would classify this as horror, but many won't. Either way, this is an amazingly artistic film with beautiful imagery and silent awe. It definitely makes you feel the suspense in a calming manner and it has some really dark moments. Without reading the description, one might be confused as to what is going on, but how art is supposed to be interpretated is by the imagination of individuals.

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6. Veronica

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During a solar eclipse, young Verónica and her friends want to summon the spirit of Verónica's father using an Ouija board. However, during the session she loses consciousness and soon it becomes clear that evil demons have arrived.

Veronica Trailer :

youtube

My Opinion :

A Spanish masterpiece, to put it simply. It's hard to find proper horrors like this in English. I really enjoyed this one and I watched it subbed not dubbed, because I feel like voiceovers tend to ruin the art of the original film. The buildup is perfect and unlike many horrors, it barely shows you the face of the "monster". That leaves it to the imagination, which in general makes it far more scary.

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7. Underwater

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Disaster strikes more than six miles below the ocean surface when water crashes through the walls of a drilling station. Led by their captain, the survivors realize that their only hope is to walk across the sea floor to reach the main part of the facility. But they soon find themselves in a fight for their lives when they come under attack from mysterious and deadly creatures that no one has ever seen.

Underwater Trailer :

youtube

My Opinion :

This movie was released quite recently and I didn't know what to expect. I was definitely blown away by how good it was. Being trapped underwater gives most people a sense of anxiety. Add being trapped underwater and being hunted by creepy sea monsters and you've got yourself a good horror. Kristen Stewarts general anxious personality definitely suits this film well.

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8. Split

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Kevin, who is suffering from dissociative identity disorder and has 23 alter egos, kidnaps three teenagers. They must figure out his friendly personas before he unleashes his 24th personality.

Split Trailer :

https://youtu.be/84TouqfIsiI

My Opinion :

An incredible film with phenomenal acting on the part of James McAvoy. You can get lost within his character and almost feel as if you are the character itself. Suspense is built up slowly and the climax of the film is released rapidly. People I know who do not enjoy horror, love this film themselves, which is saying something. It's definitely one of the best modern films that draws you in from the start.

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9. A Quiet Place

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A family struggles for survival in a world where most humans have been killed by blind but noise-sensitive creatures. They are forced to communicate in sign language to keep the creatures at bay.

A Quiet Place Trailer :

https://youtu.be/WR7cc5t7tv8

My Opinion :

As you can tell by now, I love anything alien related. This film has some of the most amazing looking aliens I've seen, I was honestly in awe by how great they looked. Another silent film, but in a different sense to the previous one. Instead of being the hunter, this family is being hunted and this adds more to the fear factor.

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10. Unfriended - Dark Web

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When a teen finds a laptop with a cache of hidden files, he and his friend discover that the previous owner has access to the dark web and is watching over them.

Unfriended - Dark Web Trailer :

https://youtu.be/XenTM_C9fxM

My Opinion :

A modern take on horror. Involving the actual dangers of the dark web and the use of technology and turning it into a horror was a magnificent idea. It definitely had me at the edge of my seat.

Due to another film type that is not often explored (thus being that most of the movie is equal to what it would be like to look at your computer and video chat), it makes it different and therefore more compelling than the usual videography styles.

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Thank you for reading, if you've made it this far! Feel free to share your top 10 in the comment section, I am definitely interested in your opinions and finding new movies to watch myself. Any questions are also welcome.

Until next time, take care and stay spooky!

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