#it's so entirely different from when i was last on here!

[petermorwood]

The modern ads are excessive, yes, but Piccadilly Circus would look really weird without at least some, because illuminated ads have been a feature of the location for well over a century.

This (colourised) photo dates from sometime between 1910, when those B-Type open-top buses were introduced...

...and WWI (1914-18) when the statue of "Eros" was removed for safekeeping elsewhere. Illuminated ads are already in place.

1925.

A combination of closed NS-Type (1922) and open B-Type buses are in use (but withdrawn at the end of 1926), while "Cochrane's Revue", Noel Coward's first hit show, ran at the London Pavilion in 1925.

Styles of car, bus and pedestrian clothing are good for dating decades, but what's showing at the theatre or cinema can help pin down a year.

This is maybe 1936.

I think at least one black taxi (small rear window, no spare wheel) is a Beardmore Mk 4, introduced in 1935. The cream-coloured taxi is an Austin HL (1933), and the buses are AEC Regents (1929).

This is 1947...

...based on that ad on the extreme left for the film "Jassy".

1953, and the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

Look closely, the statue of Eros is in a birdcage (!). By the time this photo was taken, the Bovril and Schweppes Tonic ads have been in position for more than 40 years.

1964. The Pavilion cinema is showing "Goldfinger".

The Bovril / Schweppes ads are gone at last, replaced by newcomers, but "Guinness Time", redesigned, is still there, as is Coca-Cola and Wrigleys Chewing Gum.

(Interesting side-note: British fiction of the 1930s-50s portrayed stereotypical Americans as habitual gum-chewers, but the presence of a Wrigley's ad above Piccadilly Circus for nearly 30 years - which can't have been cheap! - suggests gum was being chewed quite a bit over here, too.)

*****

You get the (literal) picture: Piccadilly Circus WITHOUT ads would look incomplete.

However, one criticism I kept seeing while assembling these images is that Piccadilly's modern LED screens are "bland", "soulless" and "impersonal" compared to the custom-made-for-product neon and bulb signs of yesteryear.

Here are a couple of comparison shots, 1960s on top, 2000s beneath.

IMO the older stuff really does look better - not just because they're "personal to the product" rather than whatever's on-screen just at the moment, but perhaps because bulbs and neon have a different, often warmer, colour temperature to LEDs.

So maybe not removal but retro, by programming those huge screens to show old-style ads in (if that's possible) temp-correct colours? It's not the same as individually crafted ad lights, but might be a bit more "people-friendly".

Of course, who gets to pay for all that is another matter entirely... :-P

[hotshotsxyz]

where else but here, who else but us?

(8x06 coda) (buddie) (986 words)

Eddie wakes to the smell of bacon frying and coffee brewing, and for the first time in maybe his entire life, he lets himself luxuriate in it. If he’d actually made it to bed last night, he might even go back to sleep.

He stands and stretches, then shivers a little bit as the cool morning air tickles his bare thighs. Eddie grins. He just—

He did something for himself, and the world didn’t end. He did something for himself, and not only did the world not end, it got a little bit bigger and a little bit brighter. He did something for himself and Buck showed up, and that joy he was feeling burned a little bit hotter.

Eddie scoops his phone up off the floor and finds that it’s completely out of juice. He huffs a soft laugh and plugs it in. It’s a silly thought, but—Eddie can’t remember the last time his phone died. How could it, when he’s been so damn determined to avoid anything that might bring him a little joy. Hell, he hasn’t even been letting himself text Buck unless Buck texts him first.

He pads down the hall and into his bedroom and pulls on the softest pair of sweats he owns. He changes into an old, threadbare t-shirt, leans against the wall and exhales.

In his kitchen, Buck is making breakfast. In Texas, Christopher is safe and probably still asleep, and that’s a whole lot more than Eddie’s been letting himself acknowledge.  Here in LA, Eddie is alive and healthy and, if the priest that was maybe hitting on him is to be believed, allowed to forgive himself. He’s not there yet, but he can let himself join Buck in the kitchen.

On his way, Eddie makes a pit stop in the living room. His phone, up to an impressive 8% battery, has already reconnected to the Bluetooth speaker that’s tucked behind one of the photos on the mantle. He queues up a playlist that he and Buck have been curating together for years. Soft music fills the room and Eddie kind of wants to cry.

This is what he’s been denying himself. Easy mornings and raucous evenings and his best friend filling all the empty spaces he’s always been too afraid to try to fill himself. Eddie walks into the kitchen and finds Buck already looking for him.

“Morning,” Buck says, a little rough, like it’s the first word he’s said today. It probably is.

“Hey,” Eddie replies. He steps into Buck’s space and pulls him into a hug, just because he wants to. He feels Buck exhale and melt into him. “You okay?” he asks softly.

Buck pulls back from Eddie’s embrace and bites his lip. “I, uh—honestly?”

Eddie nods.

“I don’t really know,” Buck admits. “I think I just—or, I thought—I don’t know.” He lets out a frustrated huff.  

Eddie slides his hand down Buck’s arm until his fingers are circling Buck’s wrist. “You don’t have to,” he offers.

Buck’s head tips to the side. “You seem different,” he observes quietly.

“I am, I think,” Eddie says.

“What does that mean?” Buck asks

Eddie considers for a moment. “I think I’m just… ready to let some things go,” he says. “Maybe let some new things in.”

Buck smiles, small but genuine. “That’s—I’m glad.”

“Me too.” It’s incredible, but Eddie’s pretty sure he actually means it.

Buck’s gaze slides away from Eddie and hits the floor. “I, um. Me and Tommy. We—or, he—he broke up with me,” he says.

Something clenches in Eddie’s chest. “Then he’s an idiot,” he says.

“Maybe,” Buck says with a kind of hopeless shrug.

“He is,” Eddie says with conviction. “You’re—“ Sunshine. Joy. Perfect. Everything. He lets go of Buck’s wrist and twists their fingers together. “You’re the best person I know,” he says. “If Tommy couldn’t see that, that’s on him.”

Buck blows a disbelieving breath out through his nose. “He said I was going to break his heart.”

“Getting his heart broken by you would be a privilege,” Eddie replies before he can think better of it.

Buck lets out a pained noise. “But I wouldn’t—or, I didn’t want—” He cuts himself off with a frown. He looks up through his lashes and Eddie and Eddie—

Oh, Eddie wants.

“Anyone who’s lucky enough to be loved by you, even for a second, should know it’d be worth it,” he says.

“Eds,” Buck breathes.

“I mean it,” Eddie says, squeezing his hand. “And if you don’t, I’ll believe it enough for both of us.”

Buck laughs wetly. “You make it hard for a guy to wallow in a breakup, you know that?”

Eddie grins. “Good.” He steps back, tugging Buck’s wrist as he goes. “Come here,” he says, and Buck follows easily.

The coffee and bacon are quickly cooling on the counter, but there’s music in the air and Buck’s in his arms and Eddie’s pretty sure he wants to kiss his best friend. And he thinks that might even be a good thing.

“Eddie, what?” Buck asks breathlessly as Eddie puts a hand on his waist and spins them both.

“We’re dancing,” Eddie says, smiling.

“O-okay,” Buck says, clumsily following his lead.

Eddie can’t help the laugh that bubbles from his chest. A small grin spreads across Buck’s face.

“Maybe I would have,” Buck murmurs quietly.

“What?” Eddie asks, spinning him again, just because he can.

“Broken his heart.”

Warmth spreads from Eddie’s chest to his fingertips. “Yeah?” he asks breathlessly.

Buck hums but doesn’t clarify further. Eddie, though, Eddie’s pretty sure he gets it.

He and Buck—well. It’s hard to imagine a world where they don’t choose each other, over and over and over again. It’s them. How could they ever end up anywhere but here?

Eddie wants. He tightens his grip on Buck and keeps dancing.

[madlori]

Sometimes the delulu IS the solulu.

After some thought, and reading a lot of really insightful thoughts here and on Discord, I think I've reached a conclusion.

I'm going full tinhat. Not in an unhinged way, though.

I don't think this is the end.

I'm not going to count on it. I'm barely going to hope for it. But I am going to...keep an eye out for it.

The one common refrain we've heard from each other is that this did not feel like a permanent breakup. It felt so obviously and blatantly like a setup for Buck to fight for the relationship. It was that "one partner freaks out a bit and the other has to show their commitment" relationship hurdle which is so common it's a trope. In fact, most of us assumed that's just what it was...until those interviews

Now, I do not put Tim Minear up on some kind of pedestal of writerly greatness - far from it. And he did not write this episode, but the plotlines all go through him.

BUT.

He has always been very attached to Tommy as a character and to this relationship. He loves it. He loved red string theory so much that he wrote it into this episode. And I'm about halfway convinced he's in love with Lou but that's beside the point. (I mean, we get it, Tim.)

Tommy's what he always said he wanted to get for Buck. Firefighter, integrated into the 118, yadda yadda, we've been over this a lot. Someone he chooses, someone he works to build something with. Someone who shows up for him. He had Buck SAY in this episode that he'd never felt like this since Abby.

The thread of Tommy wanting a found family like Buck's. The intense settled/caregiving vibe of 8x05. It all felt so...purposeful. And yes, I agree that this could have been done just to punch up the angst for Buck when it ends. But that's not the only explanation.

The many, many comments of wanting to move Buck along in his personal life. Oliver wanting to do settled, domestic storylines with him. Giving Tommy the big hero romcom entrance in that hospital.

And what now? Cycle Buck through another love interest? It's hard to imagine recapturing what he had with Tommy with anybody else, or for the GA to embrace it as much as they did. What little we can see of the GA reaction (because the official socials are weirdly quiet and have not posted) is that they're not happy about this. Tim knows this.

I can buy Tim making some dumb writing decisions but he's not stupid. I find it very hard to swallow that he'd voluntarily toss away all this, and this potential, and what they'd already established, and a pairing/character/actor he loves, for what? For nothing.

So I think that it's not for nothing.

I think the plan IS to reunite them...

...they just don't know when, or how.

For some reason he wants to give it a break for awhile. I don't know why. There could be off-camera reasons. But I think it happened recently. Two weeks ago we got interviews talking about hurdles being overcome, relationships deepening, etc etc. It's a great episode for them, came out of Oliver's mouth. Not important, not consequential - great. And hey, what happened to that very important Bobby conversation where he gave Buck important advice? It wasn't there.

I think a change was made in the last two weeks. And yes, I know the loft stills were dated 9/17.

Two weeks is plenty of time to reshoot one scene, between when those interviews came out and last night. The stills could be from the first time it was shot, in September. Put the guys in the same wardrobe, we'd never know the difference, or that those stills weren't from the scene we actually saw.

OR

The scene was always the one we saw, but was always meant to be temporary, and the change was in how they talked about it in the interviews from last night. That is a simpler explanation, as it doesn't involve reshoots, but it doesn't explain those very incongruous interviews we got two weeks ago that do not match the scene we saw. Now, they have always vagued it up, and talked around things in interviews, but this was an entirely new level of misdirection and outright lying that isn't typical.

I'm really tinhatting it up now, but hey, what have I got to lose? I'm not investing anything in this. It's just...a thought.

If you think the network interfered (I don't, at least not for plot-related reasons, see below) or Oliver demanded the relationship be cut (I don't - I know lots of you are mad at him but I'm not), whatever it was...I just get a vibe. It could be as simple as money. It could be a ratings thing. Honestly? It could be that they've found out they're getting cancelled, and were ordered to cut bait on guest stars. They could be kicking the can down the road to goose ratings for spring when they do bring it back. There are lots of reasons I can think of and probably more that I can't.

I read a thoughtful and reasonable post about how it was more or less a mercy killing to post those interviews - most showrunners like to keep viewers guessing and coming back, so for them to say definitely BT was dead meant it's really, really dead (although how definitive they actually were is another question).

They might be right about that. I don't know.

Or they just might not know themselves. Even if the plan IS to reunite them eventually - if they don't have a plan for how or when, the safest course is to shut it down. No guarantees they can make it work, so play it safe. Oliver and Lou might not be looped in on this.

It's pretty thin. They probably would be, although we have ample evidence of actors not knowing stuff until the last minute. The other option is that they are looped in and are intentionally lying but I think that's very unlikely - although Lou has demonstrated a keen skill in keeping his mouth shut when necessary.

I'm not going to get nuts about this and neither should anybody else. I'm not going to be scouring socials or the internet looking for support or clues. I'm not going to be holding my breath waiting for a sign.

The only thing I'll keep an eye on is how they handle any flirtation or dating Buck does in the near future. How they handle it might be telling.

This is ALL very unlikely, let's be real.

I'm still tinhatting, though. Why not? What have we got to lose?

But if I'm right, I expect that red dodgeball in my inbox toot sweet.

(And Buddie still isn't going canon, btw.)

[themeraldee]

Can I get a wholesome little thingy of homie comforting his s/o that's like depressed what would he do? And give them snuggles? And although of course s/o giving homie headpats and caresses are top tier this time I want him to have to give headpats. Not because I'm depressed rn or anything (yes it is)

~1k | Homelander x gn!Reader | Established Relationship. Dealing with depression. Homelander's POV. Fluff. Just fluff really.

Something feels off when Homelander enters his penthouse. While he used to welcome the quiet of his home after he came back from events, this has recently changed. Ever since you’ve become a part of his life, any second spent without you feels like something’s missing. So it’s definitely out of order to get the same empty feeling when he's home. Usually you greet him with open arms or at least a ‘Welcome home’ shouted from another room.

“Babe?” Homelander calls out into the penthouse, the questioning tone reverberating through the open plan of his home. He knows you’re here. His question acts more as a reset, giving you a chance to play your role.

At your lack of response he quickly scans the room, seeing you in the bedroom. Very much awake but hidden under the sheets. So why wouldn’t you react to his presence? Shouldn’t that be something you look forward to?

You always do.

His mind runs at a hundred miles a minute. Even with the overwhelming positive effect you’ve had on his life it’s easy to fall into insecurity and despair, worrying about the worst possible outcome.

Homelander stops himself from rushing into the bedroom. But the slow one step at a time sinks the weight in his gut lower and lower. The anxiety of something being wrong has thrown him off-kilter. He doesn’t really know how to approach you when you’re distant like this.

So his over the top bravado will have to do.

“Heyyyy there sleepy head! You know it’s waaayyy too late for a lie in, don't you think?” He waltzes into the bedroom, hands on his hips, acting as if he was addressing a crowd. His voice is loud and clear, carrying a jovial tone that sounds a little too insincere even to his ears. 

He doubles down anyway. “If I knew you were planning to spend the entire day in bed I would’ve never left.” But, you don’t respond. He can hear your heartbeat, the slight rustle of the sheets and even the thud and glide of your finger scrolling down your phone screen.

When the silence gets too awkward for him to bear he peels the blanket from over your head, revealing you down to your waist. Immediately you squirm at the light coming from the outside after having your den of doom broken into.

Over the time that your love has blossomed into a relationship he’s gotten used to receiving comfort from you. You were there to listen to his countless rants and concerns. From the simple work related complaints to the horrors plaguing his nightmares. 

He should be able to do the same for you, right?

“Hmm… I’m just resting.” You sound dejected, empty. 

He swallows at the sound of you being so different. You’re missing the light that usually fills out the dark space in him. Homelander doesn’t know how to approach you. When’s the last time he’s had to comfort anyone? Truly comfort someone. Has anyone ever asked or even trusted him to be there for them?

Whether you’ve asked or not, he needs to be there for you.

It’s the least you deserve.

“Yeah right.”

He unzips his boots, setting them neatly next to each other before sliding under the sheets right behind you. He hooks his arm over you, pulling your back into his chest. And although you’re not reciprocal to his affection like you usually would be, the warmth he feels is enough to ease the anxiety in his gut.

He wedges his head in between your head and shoulder, watching with you as you mindlessly scroll through social media.

“How long have you been doom scrolling now?” He clicks his tongue, shaking his head lightly against your shoulder.

 “I don’t know. A while I guess.” While you squirm in his hold your tone is still just as impenetrable.

“You’re not even looking at the screen!” When you don’t even react he frowns. “Alright, that’s enough of that.” He plucks your phone from your hands, turning and placing it on the bedside table away from you. He acts as a barrier between it and you, giving you no chance of getting it back. He rolls over back to you, greeted with the sight of you facing him.

Instantly he pulls you into him, both arms tightly around you with heavy comfort. It’s what he would’ve wanted in times of despair. It’s what you do when he seeks comfort. The whole body embrace where all he can focus on is you. It always grounds him.

He hopes it has a similar effect on you.

“What’s wrong?” He says. This time in a soft, low voice. No longer trying to put on a show. He’s meant to be there for you, not for a crowd.

“I don’t really know how to talk about it… Or if I even want to…” While you don’t sound like yourself, part of him is glad to hear your sadness. It’s better than the dejected empty voice. The closer you are to revealing your true sorrows the closer he is to getting you to feel better.

“Okay. You can… I don’t know, at least try to tell me something about what’s going on. Orrr, I will be reciting all of the amendments to the Constitution of the United States.” He’s gambling with the teasing tone of his voice but it pays off when you groan and giggle.

“Oh god no, not again!” 

“Welp, it’s your choice.” By now he can’t stop the smile from spreading across his lips. He gives you a soft squeeze.

“Alright, I can try.” You concede with a calm defeat.

“Good. That’s a start.” He kisses the top of your head, still holding and caressing you.

But most importantly, actually listening to you.

Taglist (you can add yourself to be tagged anytime I publish a new Homelander fic):

@rafecamsgirlll @hom3landr @mrsdesade @littlegaaby @jokesonyoupup

@nommingonfood @infinetlyforgotten @nervoussystemss

[eye-in-hand]

There's a serious issue with men running towards hate groups or gangs because it's hard for men to find community with other men. I'm not educated enough to explain possible reasons why in a lot of detail, and I'm sure there are multiple things happening here, but I really do think men aren't loved as much as women are. Toxic masculinity hurts everyone, and in men's cases it means you can't show emotion, you can't experience intimacy with other men without it being "Gay" (let alone actually being gay), don't expect genuine compliments on your achievements or appearance, and the only thing society sees from you is what you can offer everyone else.

Men aren't allowed to be people, they just have to be robots with no feelings and no intimate relationships or community. They're supposed to just save the women and children, and then die.

And so a lot of men run off to join gangs and shit because they crave a community that will support them. Gangs, the military (which is a gang), the police (also a gang), etc. Tends to be the only way men are allowed to have friendships. That or sports. Which is also just. Group of men being competitive against another group of men, so same fucking difference.

I grew up around gang culture bullshit, both inner city and other things, and the boys in my class were literally told that most of them were going to end up dropping out and joining a gang by the staff. "85% of you will probably drop out and join a gang, so we're going to try and keep you in school to keep you from doing that" and you expect teenagers to think you fucking value them?

That's what men are expected to do. Drop out and join a hate group or a gang that makes you feel valued in a way you aren't getting at home. Boys grow up without feeling valued, and turn to each other, and that fosters communities that feel slighted (incels are another good example of this), and have no where to direct this rage but at the rest of the world.

I have always hated the "fuck cis heteronormative white men" shit because two reasons: it's wrong to generalize entire groups of people and we can't have honest discussions about privilege if we just sit there contributing to the problem by alienating people. Men deserve to know that they matter, that they're loved, that they're valued as human beings.

There are genuine problems with toxic masculinity, toxic whiteness, toxic heteronormativity in western cultures (and others, but I can't speak on that myself). And constantly telling people that they're the problem, when it's not individuals that are the problem, it's the system itself, does nothing, helps no one, and further drives men into thinking that the only place they can find love is with other men who also feel slighted, angry, and alone.

The left needs to understand that the way privilege has been discussed the last couple decades is not helping. Trying to subvert the hatred marginalized people feel onto the majority does not help marginalized people, or making the majority give a shit more than before. It just causes further division. And this division and devaluing of masculinity as this inherently evil thing, and that men deserve nothing, just makes them feel less valued and more likely to engage with violence. This isn't that hard to fucking understand.

I love men. I value masculinity in all the healthy ways it can be expressed and experienced. Men deserve to feel beautiful, and to feel loved, and to feel like they're a complex human being like anyone else is.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

[seriouslycromulent]

The Math Ain't Mathing

So I'm sure people are going to accuse me of being a conspiracy theorist, but the more I think about the results of this US election, the more it's clear that things aren't adding up.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm well aware of the US's long history of racism and misogyny, and it is totally possible -- in theory -- that more people voted for a moronic straight, white male who is an ajudicated grapist and convicted felon over a more-than-qualified, intelligent, results-driven woman of color for a position as leader of the wealthiest nation on earth.

I'm not saying that couldn't happen. But did it? Legitimately?

The more I think about Trump's campaign, the more fishy this result seems.

So here was a man with ...

virtually no policies (that he could talk about openly),

no ground game,

no door knocking apparatus to urge folks to get out the vote,

no phone banking,

he was constantly running out of money and had to shill products to raise more,

stole money from down ballot candidates, putting their marketing strategies at risk,

found liable for SA,

found guilty of millions of dollars in fraud,

constantly rambles and shows clear signs of being mentally unwell,

invokes violent and hateful language against specific communities as well as individuals,

bragged about being a dictator on Day 1,

had over 40 former cabinet members declare him unfit for office,

was called a fascist by his own former chief of staff,

was not endorsed by any reputable economists,

saw a flood of lifelong Republicans -- literally millions of them -- abandon their party to vote for his opponent,

has been impeached twice,

has seen sharply, dwindling crowd sizes at his rallies for the last 6 weeks,

... and somehow he won the popular vote by 5 million?

Even though he never won the popular vote in 2016? Or 2020?

Suddenly he "found" a bunch of votes from people who liked him?

Um, no.

Just no.

One of Trump's biggest failings is that he and his team tell lies like children. That is, they've never learned how to keep things believable. Like a misguided 10-year-old who is desperate to impress someone with his whopper of a tale, he always exaggerates to the point of hyperbole and insults our intelligence.

For example, he told us his rally at Wildwood, NJ, this past summer had 108,000 even though the town itself only has 80,000 residents and the venue he held the rally in only held 20,000 people.

Or how he kept insisting that American kids are going to school and somehow receiving gender reassignment surgery over a couple of days and without parental consent before being sent home.

Each lie is so over the top and grandiose it makes him look infantile while at the same time insults our knowledge of reality.

And that's exactly what this feels like.

There is no way this man won the majority of the votes and the popular vote after only winning due to the electoral college the first time and not at all the second time. More people vilify him now than they did in 2016 and 2020, and that's saying something.

There just aren't enough voters in the US to give him a clear path to victory here no matter how committed his sycophants are to white supremacy. MAGA voters are not the majority of the voting electorate.

Also the fact that the exit polling data is suspiciously similar to the same tall tales Trump's been selling for the past year about how he had a ton of support in the Latino and Black communities, despite there being no data to support it at all. He was polling damn near 0% in some majority black communities like Detroit and Atlanta.

Yeah ... no.

This math ain't mathing.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I know when something isn't adding up. And nothing about these results add up at all.

On top of that, they ran their entire campaign like they didn't care about people getting out to vote. They kept insulting different segments of the electorate over and over again, as if they didn't need the votes of single people or people without children.

Plus, we saw record voter registration leading up to the election. More people voting early in state after state, and millions of people voting for the first time in their lives. But somehow there were fewer votes cast in this 2024 election than in the 2020 election?

Hell, Georgia alone tripled its early voter turnout. So how is this election getting fewer votes than 4 years ago?!

There were historically longer lines than ever before in parts of the country that never saw long lines, and yet there were millions fewer votes counted so far this year? Are we really to believe that all those long lines and so many new voters managed to only add up to 136M versus 158M who voted in 2020?

I call bullshit!

Also, a number of folks are commenting on how quickly the states were called. In all my years of voting, I've never seen a US election turning around so fast.

Yeah, the math ain't mathing.

Sure, he could've eeked out a win via the Electoral College without the popular vote like he did in 2016, but given her momentum and the majority of the polls either favoring her or having had them tied, none of these results pass the smell test.

Meanwhile, Harris had a multigenerational, multiracial, multiethnic, multigendered coalition of enthusiastic supporters who volunteered, phone banked, door knocked, and fundraised in every state plus D.C. Her media strategy was savvy, her interviews were sharp and intelligible, and her demeanor was inclusive and congenial. Again, not putting anything past good ole American racism and misogyny, but all the data showed that her supporters were clearly larger in number and more enthusiastic than his.

Long story short --

I do believe we are witnessing the American government being hijacked and a dictator installed right before our very eyes.

[kittynugg]

awww look its fo.. hey why does he have that hat? wasn't it like the sixties when he was ten which one of you gave him that hat??

who the fuck time traveled and gave him dipper's ha-

anyway bit over reblogs are appreciated bc they help little artists grow while likes are just a little brownie point but do whatever idm!!

insanity is under the cut like my last post (again its long i actually went through the timelapse since this was all on ibispaint)

for some reason it took me three minutes just to draw this circle

perfect bean head right here

the eyes were a nightmare to size and orient i fucking hate eyes

figured it out!!! yeahhh!! i actually started this drawing with a vision, there's this one shot of freckle in lackadaisy i took inspiration from

ohhhh shit things are getting crazy now we're bringing in a reference

drawing the hat killed me it was so difficult wHY

luckily your intrepid artist pal connor (me thats me!) figured it out. sort of

this was incredibly overwhelming and a nightmare to deal with look at all those lines everywhere

but i fixed it as always! also you may notice that the hat has been enlarged significantly

also you may notice that the hair has been enlarged significantly (drawing the hair was awful. someone please give me hair drawing tips for like ruffled hair or hair being pressed down PLEASE HELP ME)

was originally gonna steal dipper's entire look

then i decided the coat would be better for reasons beyond me

here he is mid-coloring, you get to see a bit into the process of my lineless style (last drawing was different because it wasn't originally intended to be lineless)

aaaaaaaandddddddd without lighting/shading

all in all this took me about two hours total, i think like an hour and forty five minutes you can probably look at the first image for the exact time

which means it took TWO DAYS BECAUSE IBISPAINT HAS A FUCKING LIMIT FUCK YOU IBISPAINT FUCK YOU anyway thanks for lookin i'll do a solo drawing of stanley later on

[goldsnek]

So, I saw the question about tips for aspiring comic artists and it actually reminded me that I am curious about the topic as well😅

I like to write stories and I like to draw so it seemed logically for me to try my hand at comics as well but I'm struggling extremely with the layout.

It's seems very daunting when you sit in front of the empty page and you have to consider how to arrange the panels.

I'm the kind of artist that sometimes does big changes to almost finished works, so the idea of having to make a final decision before I even start with the actual drawing process, is kind of terrifying for me.

Long story short, how do you put your drawings into panels?

Do you really have to make a final panel layout at the beginning, the way I've been attempting to, or are there other possibilities I simply haven't thought of?

Last but not least, I want you to know that I absolutely love your comic, both because of your spectacular art and the amazing story! ❤️

Hello! Okay this is going to be long but I'll try my best to explain and be concise (and truly sorry for the english!) So, the first rule you need to have in mind is that you don't imagine the scene PER PAGE but PER SEQUENCE. What I mean is, you don't have to imagine a comic (like ''what I'm putting in this page'') but you have to imagine it as a video in your head, like you're directing a movie ( movies and comics are a lot more similar than we think as a media) For example, try to imagine someone waking up and going to open their window, that's a full sequence. it can be done in various ways, depending on what your character is doing and what's the ''mood'' of the scene. Remember always that your character emotions sets the mood for the entire scene. A thing that helps me a lot is ( like I said XD) watching movies, I focus on the mini sequences, a kiss scene, a fight, I pause the movie and rewatch that scenes various times, trying to understand the mood of the scene and how is shot. A sequence can even take 3 or 4 pages or even 10, it depends from whats happening, even more if it's a fight! But like I said the number of pages comes later. another importart thing to remember is that your characters needs ''a place to live'' If you make a story and never show a single panel with a background, the story is gonna lack something 100%; and I know... backgrounds are hard (I hate them) but you need at least 1 panel where you show the places your characters are living in. That is called establishing shot and it needs to be used when your character are moving to other locations. (or if you're talking about other characters in your comic and they are somewhere else) I'll show u some establishing shots now:

Took 3 different comics (narratively and stylistic speaking) Bone, Batman and TinTin to show you that even if the setting of the panels is extremely different, they still all have an establishing shot. Now, of course you don't have to put this in EVERY page, but like I said at least at the start of your comic, or when the characters are moving somewhere else, it's very important to show that. Also remember that the biggest panel you need to have in your sequence is the one where the most important action is happening. For example, if two people are fighting and someone gets slapped, that's the most impactful scene, so that's the scene that will need the biggest panel on your sequence, because it's the most important. Another rule is to make the camera breathe. Let me explain this properly, you, as a comic artist, are like a movie director with a camera. You need to turn the camera in various ways, up and down left and right, but always remember this : Never make a page of faces only. example, here are character A and B having a conversation, a page like this is extremely wrong, because the camera is basically attached to the character face and the viewer/reader is going to feel like they're suffocating in the room with the story characters :

You as an artist have the power to zoom the camera in and out, showing extremely tiny details or making a big panel that shows how Idk... beautiful or eerie or mysterious the background is. The biggest advice I can give you is to read a lot of comics, try to find series you love and study them, see how they make the panels, how the sequence are shown etc. The last rule (there are a lot more so if you have more specific questions just ask) I can give you and this is about your question in specific is that: Yes. Unfortunately you have to make the structure first and that has to be your final decision, if you make a 10 pages comic for example and you decide you don't like some stuff anymore and decide to change all the pages, you're just gonna end up in a endless cycle of always fixing and fixing and never be satisfied. Remeber this: The sketches and layout of the pages are the MOST important thing in a comic. The coloring, lineart, etc... it's just decoration. So hang on and start making layouts, and focus only on those for a period of time and then when you're 100% satisfied with the structure, you go and start adding the ''decorations'' Hope this helps! I'm not very good at explaining , especially in another language, but I tried my best XD

[river-neurodivergent-willow]

As an autistic person who uses and supports the puzzle piece as a symbol for autism,

I have not had ANY issues using it from allistics, but here's some things autistic people have done about it:

•been told I'm not apart of the autism community

•been told i support a hate symbol and am ableist

•been told I'm not autistic

•been told to delete my accounts and never come back online

•been told I'm a horrible person

•told I have never been told I am a problem before/made assumptions about the way people have treated me

It's the "educated" autistic people, who think you are more educated than people who use the puzzle piece. I am bullied for using the puzzle piece by my own community and told I'm not even apart of it. I'm fake claimed and invalidated.

The main harm that the puzzle piece causes. Is ignorant autistic people bullying the parents and carers of autistics or autistic people for using it.

(In detail explanation about this under "read more")

Did you know the 🌈♾️ rainbow infinity symbol was popularised by aspie supremacists? on "autistic pride day" a day that https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspies_For_Freedom aspies for freedom, a group of aspie supremacists, created, was represented by a rainbow infinity symbol, this was the start of the rainbow infinity symbol being associated with autism. Aspies for freedom believed autism isn't always a disability, and called themselves aspies.

I don't use it, because why the heck would I want to associate myself with aspie supremacists? It's still very common amongst aspie supremacists to this day.

The puzzle piece was agreed to be a symbol for NAS, an autistic person was in the room whilst they decided this, this was 60 years ago. It was intended to represent autism is a puzzling conditon. Which is true. Let me list some more things it can represent:

•a diagnosis was the last piece in the puzzle

This can be especially relatable for people who when they where very young doctors spent years testing them for different things wondering about their developmental delays, and a diagnosis finnaly making sense. This can also be relatable to people who spent their entire life undiagnosed until their 20s or 30s etc and a diagnosis made their childhood all make sense.

•autistic people are all different but we come together as a community

•an autism diagnosis helps the puzzle of your life

•an autism diagnosis helps you find the other missing pieces of your life for example other diagnosis or services

And more!!!

Helping the puzzle piece become more popular, directly helps the nonverbal/nonspeaking, level 3, HSN and BIPOC autistics in the autism community such as rivers brother who is black and level 3 and nonverbal. He uses is a puzzle piece top to represent to police in America that he's autistic so they don't (consciously or unconsciously, mosr people have internalised racism, wether pepple want to or not behaviour they would label as simply innocent in a white person they will label violent in a black male) perceive him as violent and potentially cause serious harm, or even shoot him.

You using the puzzle piece helps it be more common, and more widely known, which helps autistic people like rivers brother be even more safe out in public.

Autistic people like rivers brother will never EVER need to stop using the puzzle piece this idea of "phasing out the puzzle piece" is not safe, it puts people like rivers brothers lives at risk. You will not be able to successfully phase it out when there is so many people who rely on it and can't risk spending a few months-years waiting until you have successfully re made all the government plans with the infinity symbol instead and not the puzzle piece (because yes, they exist, in some places people with a nonspeaking or a child who elopes put a puzzle piece sticker on their car window so emergency services are aware) and you have made it so people world wide know about the rainbow infinity enough so pepple can rely on it.

"Just use the sunflower lanyard!" It's only really a big thing in Britain, it's also a sensory issue for many to wear the lanyard, it's also not as well known as the puzzle piece. If someone out in public wore a sunflower top would you think they are autistuc or would you think they are just wearing a sunflower top? It's also for all invisibly disabilities.

[black--sun]

His brow furrows when Shiro doesn’t immediately deny that he’s going to be killed. Even though Ichigo started the conversation down this road, he’s come to expect certain things from Shiro—like his inability to accept that someone is capable of getting the better of him. Not denying it sounds too much like acceptance. But then Shiro distracts him and he huffs a soft breath. “You think you had to tell me that? I know you would.” Because he’s atrocious at letting anyone go, never mind someone he’s been in love with for years. “Ghost…sex? I don’t know, I might be—” He blinks and looks over, and then squints and changes his answer. “I guess you’d better not die, because I don’t know what that entails. I’m gonna need some guidelines before I agree. Maybe a demonstration.”

Ichigo scoffs. He’s so tempted to punch Shiro in the arm for being a shit. Or bite him. He gives a dry, “You didn’t sound like you had any doubt five seconds ago.” But Ichigo doesn’t believe him anyway. That quick answer was far too certain. But he waves it off. Shiro looks a little freaked out and that’s not what Ichigo intended. He didn’t intend anything really. “I’m not trying to take it back.” Besides, Shiro let him keep the knife, and he’s far more attached to it these days.

Ichigo narrows his eyes again. “Like I’d give you my work details.” Shiro can put in the leg work to find out himself. He’s more than capable. “I give more exact and detailed information about obscure texts in other languages. Particularly archaic pieces if you really want to know.” He suspects Shiro is just trying to give him a hard time. He does modern stuff too though. “You know exactly what I was in last night.” Shiro mostly, but also Yuu. And now he’s thinking about how perfectly his hands seem to fit around Shiro’s hips.

Shiro sounds like he’s disagreeing, but he just confirms Ichigo’s suspicions and Ichigo snorts. Maybe he should try that. His life might be less boring during the day. Except he’s not entirely sure how to lure someone into a dressing room. Besides Shiro.

It’s pretty hard for Ichigo to argue when he just asked to go through Shiro’s closet and he’s standing in Shiro’s clothes now, he manages it though. “That’s exactly what I’m saying, Your regular fashion sense is as good as your drunk and high fashion sense. I’m just using a different tone.” Except it’s not even true, he likes Shiro’s slutty outfits more than could possibly be considered healthy. Shiro’s shirt literally looks like it’s about to fall off. All Ichigo can think about is how much of his shoulder he could get into his mouth.

Ichigo’s brows raise. “Are you coming back here afterward? That seems like a bad idea.” Once the head is off Shiro’s snake, he thinks it’s best to clear out until the writhing stops and Shiro can pick the reins back up. But Shiro is in charge and on top for a reason. He must make the right decisions. Ichigo starts for the garage. “I’ll check your cars.”

"About my- ?" He almost says boyfriend, but stops himself and shrugs. "I dunno. I guess I did. It's hard not to wonder if the cop you're bangin', who clearly knows who the biggest drug dealer in town is, is just being a cop. Under cover or whatever. Maybe it just looked less suspicious to be upfront about it when I asked him if he was a cop. You were worried about that girl in my bathroom, but the cop would be the right way to do it." Shiro's aware of his own weaknesses. A hot guy with that added element of forbidden and dangerous that being a police officer brings certainly got his attention.

He tosses his phone onto the bed after sending Ichigo the lady's contact info. He knows Ichigo would treat her right if he contacts her at all.

That laugh sounds uncomfortable. Part of him wishes they could dispense with the trying they're both doing, the other part of him is grateful for the efforts. "It's true, I been bad at not giving you what you want from the very start." Shirt? But it only takes him a second, because when he moved out of his apartment he found that shirt. He thought about giving it to Renji to give back to Ichigo, but he couldn't quite make himself do it. "That was your favorite?"

He gets his answer the moment Ichigo looks at him. They know each other well enough for him to read Ichigo just fine. It's flattering. Then the verbal answer Ichigo gives is weirdly touching. It's very sweet, and maybe too honest, but he finds himself liking it anyway. If they can't be together, maybe they can at least be on good terms. Even not being partners, he likes Ichigo's company.

He snorts. "Of course I did, I look good in or out of anything." But being put to bed sounds nice. Warm and cozy and comfortable sounds nice. He is tired, mentally at least. He offers up a little half smirk at the reassurance. "Let's get outta here. Where do you wanna go?"

[austinramsaygames]

Put an opera in your campaign!

Put an opera in your TTRPG and make a reason why the player characters MUST attend. There are many reasons to do this!

It's fancy so the PCs have to come up with formal wear that their characters would bring to the opera (this is one reason it should be an opera). Let them wear whatever weird shit they want so long as their character LEGITIMATELY believes the outfit is appropriate. Let them get Met Gala with it. Other guests may stare and make snide remarks, but the staff should only offer token resistance if the outfit interferes with the performance or audience, or is dangerous to the people around them.

It forces the PCs into a social situation they may not have the mechanical skills for. Fish out of water stories are lots of fun, especially during the intermission when they have a chance to mingle with the NPCs. Make part of their task at the opera to get to know the wealthy folks in the audience, either generally or specific ones. Even better if they have to get *something* from them (political support, a specific item, information, etc). If things seem to be stalling, here are two tricks to help keep things flowing: a) have someone powerful pointedly insult the most hot headed PC in a very upper class manner. Comments about their outfit and upbringing are classics. This heats things back up as the hot head tries to get violent while the other PCs try to keep the peace, and can lead to a duel the next morning when the dilettante turns out to be a renowned duelist. b) once things have completely stalled or if you need to cut things short (in or out of character), have the intermission end and the audience called back into the auditorium. This can be used as a cliffhanger for whatever was about to happen!

The opera house can be a very interesting location! There's the lobby, auditorium, and possibly concessions, but if the PCs start going where they shouldn't, there's a lot of behind (and under) the scenes spaces for them to explore. Do they go to the changing room and harass (or even replace!) the actors? Maybe they go to the props department and replace a stage knife with a real one! There could be a weirdo living in the basement who is obsessed with the lead actress and plans to kidnap (or rescue?) her. There are all kinds of interesting spaces for plots to happen!

The opera itself is an opportunity to tell the players about the past, present, or even future! What is the plot of the opera? This is key information! The opera will be telling a story that is important to the majority of the audience. It could be about the past of the nation (mythical or historical). Maybe it's about events the PCs witnessed themselves but told from a different point of view than theirs and this might be unflattering towards them or those they care about. You can even foreshadow future plot points by having the play be a fiction that thematically or narratively parallels later parts (or even the next) of the story arc. If there's a great evil that's going to return, you can combine the past AND the future by describing the terrors of the "defeated" evil, then later show those signs happening as hints that the evil returns!

There are some great examples of how an opera (or play if you must) can be inserted into a story to great effect. The Ember Island Players episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender recaps the entire show from the perspective of the antagonist Fire Nation.

Final Fantasy 6 has a famous opera scene where one of the heroes has to replace an actress who has been threatened with being kidnapped by the mysterious man whose help they need! The hero must then remember her lines while the rest of the party protects the show from getting derailed by monsters.

These are just a few ways that you can use an opera in your TTRPG campaign and I highly recommend giving it a whirl!

[locomoqo]

Please could we get the fluff prompt of buttoning their jacket for gun please☺️

જ⁀➴ GUN PARK (prompt: zipping or buttoning their jacket for them)

જ⁀➴ prompt list here!

The wind whipped through the street, biting at your skin as you both walked side by side. Gun, as usual, didn’t seem to care much for the cold. He was dressed in his usual sharp attire, but you couldn’t help but notice that his coat was hanging slightly open, as if he didn’t even bother to button it up properly before heading out.

You sighed, shaking your head. “You’re going to catch a cold.”

He barely glanced your way, brushing it off like it wasn’t even a concern. “I’m fine.”

“Wait,” you say, stopping him mid-step. He raises an eyebrow, curiosity flashing in his eyes as he watches you move closer. You buttoned up his coat, making sure each button was placed right.

Gun stood there, silent, watching you with that same unreadable expression he always wore. But there was something different in his gaze this time—something softer, almost curious, like he was trying to figure out why you cared so much.

When you finished, you gave the lapels a quick pat for good measure, your fingers brushing against the smooth material. “There,” you said, looking up at him with a satisfied smile. “All set.”

“Hm,” is all he says, a sound that could mean anything, but the way he doesn’t step back right away—letting you linger just a moment longer—tells you he appreciates it, even if he won’t admit it. “Thanks,” he finally mutters, voice low, as he looks down at you, his eyes lingering on your face. 

You just smile up at him, satisfied to see a hint of softness in his usually stoic features. “It’s no big deal,” you say with a shrug, but the way he watches you, as if you’ve done something far more important than buttoning up his jacket, makes you feel like maybe it was a big deal—at least to him.

and now the other way around!

Gun stood beside you as you fumbled with the buttons on your coat, your fingers a little clumsy in the cold. He watched you quietly, and you couldn’t help but remember the first time you’d done this for him—a moment of unexpected closeness when you buttoned up his jacket.

Now, without a word, he steps closer, his gaze softening in that subtle way only you could notice. “You’re taking too long,” he mutters, but there’s no bite to his words. Before you can react, his hands are already at your collar, his fingers deftly start fastening the buttons, one by one.

His movements are precise and careful, his face so close to yours that you can see the rare warmth in his usually sharp eyes. There’s a sense of familiarity in the way he buttons up your coat, almost like he’s mirroring the moment when you had done the same for him not too long ago. You bite back a smile, feeling a soft warmth spread through you despite the cold.

“You could’ve asked,” you tease, your breath visible in the chilly air. He raises a brow but doesn’t respond, his focus entirely on getting each button just right. When he finishes, his hands linger for a second longer than necessary, brushing against the fabric before he finally pulls back.

“It was crooked,” he says gruffly, as if that’s the only reason he bothered. You can tell he’s trying to downplay the gesture, but the way he adjusts the collar of your coat one last time, making sure you're properly bundled up, tells you otherwise.

“Thanks, mr. perfectionist,” you reply softly, your tone teasing but warm. He huffs, rolling his eyes, but you catch the slight upturn of his lips—a barely-there smile that’s for your eyes only.

a/n: tbh my stupid ass just didnt understand the ask so i did it from both perspectives #worksmartnothard

[u-reblogged-a-scam]

Do not donate your money to, or reblog any posts from, @/sublimedestinybird bc they are a scammer. Take down any of your reblogs if you haven’t already done so.

Ok so I'm usually certain of my claims when I accuse people of being scammers, but there are a few times I'm not 100% sure if I'm right

This is one of those times

So, like those other times I was unsure about an OP, I'll share what I found that caused me to doubt their validity, and I'll leave it to you to decide for yourself if you still feel confortable enough to support them. And if I’m wrong about this one, please let me know and I’ll take this down.

It started when I saw this in my inbox:

I received this ask today, which triggered my suspicions for reasons I’m not entirely sure how to pinpoint; after receiving dozens of daily messages from real Palestinians over the past week or so, this ask just didn’t feel… genuine? Ig? Idk how to explain it, but when you get messages from both real people and scammers alike, tend to notice when something isn’t right.

But like many people who tend to share scams without knowing they’re scams, I don’t like the idea of ignoring a cry for help in the event that it turns out to be real, so I did what I usually do when I’m unsure if an ask is real or not: I looked into the OP

In this case, I used reverse image search to see if OP’s pfp could be found anywhere, and lo and behold, the pfp led me to another tumblr post, where that person received an ask very similar to the one I got, from “pleasantcollectionlove”, and they couldn’t tell if they ask was a scam or not. In the notes of said post, someone else confirmed that the person who sent the ask was, indeed, a scammer, and they used the same pfp that OP is currently using

So, that would mean these two scammers are one and the same, right?

Well, normally it would (scammers tend to stick to one pfp; not always, but man, have I gotten familiar with certain selfies over the past few months), but I didn’t wanna rely on that alone, so I kept looking. While looking for exact matches for the pfp through RIS, I also found a Twitter account with the same pfp; this person is also asking for money, though the reasoning for the money is notably different that what OP provides in their own posts:

It should also be noted that the Twitter account has been around since last August, while OP has only been posting on this blog since September

Does this mean that OP stole the pfp from the Twitter account of someone who honestly needs help? Are OP and the Twitter user the same person? I honestly don’t know, which is why I said at the top of this post that I’m uncertain about this one

However, what I am certain about is a common red flag I recognized that hasn’t proved me wrong yet: the link in OP’s linktree (in their pinned post) leads to an empty PayPal account. If you’ve seen/been tagged in any of my previous call out posts, you know that empty PayPal accounts are ALWAYS included in online scams like this. In this case, the PayPal belongs to “Luciamkira”; this could be OP’s name (or at least the name they actually use for their personal PayPal), but then who’s “Aska”?

This might very well be a scam, which I believe is the case, but whether or not you decide to donate or share the post on the chance it might be real is up to you

If you’ve seen any of my previous posts, you know what I’m going to say next: Never trust a donation post linked to an empty PayPal account unless said link has been verified by a trusted source

Here’s an additional resource to help you spot the red flags of scams moving forward:

And here are some posts that go a little more in depth about the scammers that have been repeatedly spotted:

Tagging as many people in the notes of OP’s fundraiser post as I can; if anyone who sees this can reach out to those in the notes I didn’t tag and let them know this is a scam, that’d be really helpful not just for me, but for them as well

@ibontheweirdwitch @not-a-bot735 @sexywafflecuh @issues-oclock @velesej @alittleprincex @katie-wants-donut @alwaysmellowkryptonite @starsalot @shhoup @darklylovely @dontstoptalkingaboutpalestine @sunnysidefries @fangpunk @sunny-satellites @moonmothbroth

[kaeso4ka]

A titan falls from the sky, but not the one you expect to see

Pairing: yandere Optimus Prime x reader

You saluted silently as you passed the captain. He looked gaunt: the last sortie had brought the Survey Corps a lot of corpses. Mutilated, chewed up. Dead. With a look of pain in their eyes that was forever frozen.

Here, for a long time, the dead were not counted: everyone knew they were expendable. To do anything, for the victory of humanity; to give their heart - sometimes literally.

You didn't know how you got into the Survey Corps. Or rather, no, she didn't. You knew why you were brought here in the first place. You were too weak for police or wall guards. Not the best of the best: they didn't allow them to keep the bigwigs and civilians safe. But how did you get into the army, with your temper...?

The answer was simple: you had nothing to lose. In a world surrounded by high walls, it was hard to find happiness. While the struggle - the eternal struggle against a huge, terrifying enemy - led you forward.

Toward freedom.

***

The fifty-eighth Survey Corps foray beyond the walls turned out to be another bloody feast for the Titans. Your wing was completely shattered: you were the only survivor. The horse beneath you was bucking, galloping fast. The horse was wounded: one of the five-meter titans, obviously a deviant, had swung at you minutes earlier, but only caught the animal.

Your heart was beating somewhere in your throat, and your sweat-wet hair blocked your view. You had to find survivors from the other squads and then make your way to the walls: it was too long before nightfall to wait for it.

A bright flash in the sky to your right caught your attention: something was falling from the sky. A bright ball of fire cut through the blue, and afterward flashed even brighter, blinding you for a moment. The horse beneath you spooked, reared up; and you flew down. There was a terrible crashing sound.

“Stop, you vile brute!”

You fell face right into the mud, miraculously not breaking your neck; you froze. There was no one around you. The Titans seemed to have gone to where the people were most numerous; and the rest of you was forgotten.

But not for long. Oh, and then there's that... Flash!

You looked up at three o'clock and marveled. Something huge was towering where the bright fireball had fallen. Was it... Titan? You weren't sure: it wasn't the tallest individual, but he was different. Very different! There were so many differences in him, from his appearance to his behavior. And how did he end up in that ball falling from the sky...?

You spit on the ground, the taste of grass in your mouth. Wiped her face with the sleeve of her torn uniform. Well, I wonder, if you finish off this titan and bring the remains back to the base, will you be promoted then?

Pulling your swords out of their sheaths, you jerked forward and then took off. The 3DMG, fortunately, was not damaged in the fall and was working properly. The trees were sparse and small, but it was enough to fly above the titan and aim for his scruff.

The wind whipped at her face, but it didn't make her feel any better. You always lost control of yourself when you were flying at full speed on the UPM. Flying is a beautiful thing. And yet, even with your UPM skills, you've never killed a single titan in your entire service.

It was time for the first one.

As you spun in the air, you swung downward, straight for the neck...

... and was immediately grabbed by a metallic grip. Literally metal.

The palm that gripped you was like stone. It wasn't the usual rough titanium skin, no. And the titan itself... Bright, red-blue, with luminous blue eyes....

You braced yourself for death. Right now, this thing's gonna squeeze your hand and crush you. Or bite your head off, like its kin like to do?

Neither of those things happened. The fingers that were clutching you relaxed. The titan opened his palm, and you were surprised to note that you were still... Alive. And healthy. And sitting in the palm of this strange creature's hand... Not a titan! In stature and size, yes, but now you could clearly see that it was not their kin. Not an insane killing machine that wanted to devour all humans in its path.

You looked at the 3DMG. It was definitely broken now: this titan hadn't calculated its power to keep the device normal. It was too high to jump, and you wouldn't reach the walls on your own feet.

You swallowed, and then looked at the blue lights that replaced the creature's eyes. Oh, now you could get a good look at it. And you could have sworn he was looking at you... Mockingly? No, condescending! And interested.

And... Reasonable?

The Titan opened his mouth - so unusual! - and a strange mixture of crackles and clicks filled the space. You bowed your head. Were you being spoken to? You're the first person to be spoken to by... This?

“I don't understand,” you smiled confusedly, and the huge titan fell silent.

Loud pops caught your attention: the red lights of smoke flares were rising to the sky. The recon corps' sortie was a failure.

But that was for the others. You had a new mission to accomplish.

***

You didn't know what it was, but it was… Cool.

That day the titan took you to the forest of the Big Trees. The unexpected guest from the sky was not afraid of titans: no deviants, big or small. The red-blue one could shoot fire - or what was that blue stuff? - could change his body with a strange mixture of sounds, and was also extremely comprehensible.

When the titans saw you in the palm of a giant's hand, they tried to attack. They didn't react to the red-blue man himself, even when he turned his hand into a blade and began to slash at them. Then you attracted his attention with a shout and hit yourself on the neck, saying, Watch where you hit.

And you were understood!

The red-blue was easily destroying titan after titan - destroying technically - while managing not to drop you to the ground from a decent height.

You, meanwhile, were delighted. You still didn't fully understand what was happening, but... Who cares what! What matters is that you're with you.

***

You were sitting on the giant's shoulder. He was making strange noises, unlike anything you were familiar with.

You were... Afraid. The creature was strange, but not aggressive to you; it was deep night now, and all the titans were asleep.

You wondered what to do. Take it outside the walls? Would he go? And how would people react? No, there had to be another way out of here.

You should have gone home alone first, thought it over, reported back to your command. Then decide what to do about the red and blue guy.

You fixed the 3DMG. A broken 3DMG. You sighed. It seemed it wasn't fated to come back. At least, not like this.

You sat on the strange titan's shoulder again and fell into a restless sleep.

Only then Optimus Prime allowed himself a smile full of adoration that you could recognize without any words.

He had found you, and he wouldn't let you go.

[chateautae]

hi everyone 🥺

[skunkes]