#like chickenscratches... is this anything

[corviiids]

the second of february, a poem about a two-headed calf

(translation of my handwriting: but tonight he is alive / it is a perfect evening / and there are twice as many stars as usual)

[tangledinourstrings]

I had to get my hyperfixation involved with this somehow. A Rachel for your troubles. :o3c

Also I just realized I forgot to color apart of her skirt shhhh pretend it's not there!!!!

[Cringetober Day 5: Gijinka]

[venranae]

Not feeling all that silly today

[alicenpai]

"Lament! Terror! Despair! I shall kindly teach them all to you! And in your final moment, I... shall kill you by my own hand!!"

pandora hearts print for anime north this weekend 🥀🖤🤍

I also put this up on my inprnt! there's a sitewide sale for 40% off right now 🌟

For this drawing, I really wanted to emphasize the gothic and chaotic, convoluted nature of the series. Pandora Hearts has become a lot of things to me, as someone who's read it since I was like, 14 years old. but I eventually found the perfect words to sum up the series - a cross between a Shakespearean tragedy and a Grimm fairy tale.

The ink brush + watercolour brushes I used turned out so well together!! I wanted the style to be kind of a nod to like the manga cover art you'd see from the late 90s to 2000s, kind of like Mochizuki's early approach to traditional art.

A lighter approach to both the lineart + coloring also helped me not strain my arm too much - besides work, I stopped doing full illustrations due to the amount of work being heavy on my arm/shoulder T__T. my last full illustrations were the TGAA/DGS zine + WHA zine pieces back in Dec-Jan, but my heart really lies in illustrations more than anything and I definitely want to get back into it!! (as long as my physical health allows it!!)

anyways, above is the thumbnail/inspiration board for this drawing! I also did some quick chickenscratch studies of others' drawings to help me get a sense of their composition. I started on the top left and then made a sort of meandering curve through... definitely went through a lot of ideas for this one. If I explained the intended symbolism.. I would be here.. all day..............

the candles were definitely first inspired by an animation of a lighter I did during art skool... and then I did this AA Dahlia animated illust... and then this OC charm (below) I did in 2022...? maybe I should draw fire more often. it's like, the way that fire looks in animated keyframes that I really like drawing out, and I guess I kinda really enjoyed translating that into a non moving visual medium??

This drawing simultaneously took SO long but I also sped through it?? I had to like... not dwell too long on certain parts... like for example I think some individual character compositions really could be a lot stronger... because I knew this would be a beast of a drawing, I didn't want to spend an unnecessary amount of time focusing on details when I should be looking at the big picture. and I know that's a bad habit of mine!! I'm trying to unlearn my perfectionism!!

thanks for reading if you got this far, hope ya enjoy it!! and I hope I'll keep drawing Pandora Hearts in the future (clearly I haven't stopped since high school omg) and I hope to draw some more Vanitas someday beyond just chibis!

[deadtiredghost]

Tmnt facts that are canon cause i said so:

All Leo's are sci-fi fans of varying degrees of old sci-fi series/movies

But MM!Leo thinks the old movies are old and thus has no major franchise to obsess over, he is just big into any of the more modern movies of the genre: I'm thinking Interstellar, Blade Runner, idk many more. And then he started watching Final Space and eventually got into Futurama.

But he still would think the other Leo's are old and a bit lame for enjoying old anime so much.

All the Donnie's and Leo's are the musical fans, but that doesn't mean that Raph and Mikey can't enjoy a musical too! Especially 2003!Raph who grew up watching shit like high school musical and teen beach movie with Leo and Donnie.

The 2003 boys all teamed up to sit on Mikey and tape Mikey's mouth shut cause he would dramatically and badly sing the songs otherwise.

2018 crew are hard into Hamilton of course while 2012 have a knock off version of it that flopped but Mikey loves.

2003 have a musical version of Lost Boys and Faries that could possibly be comparable with some rap songs and some emotional ballads.

Bayverse and MM have batman while 2018 have a weird mixture of some irl media and some really obvious knock offs. 2012 has Wingnut and Silber sentry as comics to replace Marvel and DC in their universe and we all know how 2003 is on superheroes.

All the Mikey's are naturally talented at drawing apart from 2012 who's skills apparently just got transferred to literally every single one of his siblings.

2012!Mikey's writing looks like chickenscratch and his drawings are chaotic in an abstract art kinda way, while 12!Leo can draw anime, 12!Karai is decent at drawing anything reallt, 12!Donnie preffers skatching items and backgrounds rather than people and 12!Raph is the one who does art the most in the fam.

The 1987 turtles are stuck in 1987 and have been since 1987. They like crossovers for the change of pace but 87!Raph and 87!Donnie very much dislike how other turtles have treated them in the past so take any and ever chance to fuck with their alternates in retaliation, feigning innocence well enough that they keep getting away with blatantly insulting their iterations to their face.

Leo is the tea drinker in the family across iterations but most of the iterations don't drink coffee - rottmnt gets into coffee wars (sans Leo and Splinter) but other than that 2007!Donnie and Bayverse!Raph are the only rabid coffee drinkers.

most of the Donnies drink energy drinks if they want a caffeine boost - the nonbinaries and their Monster especially.

The MM kids aren't allowed coffee because Splinter read a watched of child-raising YouTube videos and banned it. Of course that doesn't stop them from sneaking out. MM!Donnie is trying to convince him to allow coffee while MM!Raph just sneaks in his energy drinks.

2003!Casey was convinced the turtles were adults for at LEAST the first month into their friendship.

The ampunt Mikey wears stickers is directly proportional to the amount of leeway Splinter gives him - with the used-to-be-human Splinters being more strict on not personalising his weapon while the used-to-be-rat Splinters such as MM gives the go ahead.

The outlines of this rule are 03!Splinter and 18!Splinter of course who have entirely different ways of handling their adhd child.

And then there is bayverse!Splinter who said fuck the stickers, yes of course my 15-year-old children can have tattoos.

(And yes I firmly believe they were 15 in the first movie, and I attribute their tattoos to Splinter not really seeing the harm in it, or caring much as long as it won't hurt them.)

18!Leo is biologically the eldest but no one knows this apart from Draxum who will never tell at this point. Splinter aged them based on size.

On the other hand, 03!Leo is the biological youngest but only Donnie knows this (science shit to find it out) and will never tell anyone because he found out that 03!Mikey hatched first and that information can never be allowed to get to the turtle in question.

2012 Casey is transfem but doesn't know it yet and 2018 Casey is what 12!Casey will look like at 20.

All Donnie's watch anime and all Mikey's watch horror movies - despite how much they may or may not scream at the horror movies.

07!Mikey sells art online and 07!Leo becomes a language tutor in their 20's. Ironic as 12!Raph attempts to sell art online but becomes too emotionally attached to his work and 12!Donnie attempts to tutor for a time but is a terrible teacher.

Leo is a basketball or baseball fan, Raph likes wrestling and basketball, Donnie will partake in basketball or volleyball and Mikey prefers dancing but is open to playing anything... just not watching.

Splinter always watched the tennis, becuase his grandmother did. Leo likes to put it on but doesn't like playing it.

Mikey will forever be confused why the others enjoy watching sport. This stemms from when he was 12 and trying to watch his cartoons and Splinter would always take control of the TV during the Olympics. Mikey is still very salty and has an agenda against the Olympics and any other big sports match on their communal TV.

All the Leo's before 2012 just didnt use the Internet or any electronics as a kid and thus struggles with electronics massively.

Conversely 2012 and 2018 Leo were both on tumblr as kids and read fanfic about Space Heros and Jupiter Jim respectively.

And in addition: Donnie was on the Internet far too much as a kid.

(12!Donnie will never tell but 12!Mikey befriending Chris Bradford on Facebook hit a bit too close to home.)

After Don, Raph is the best at mechanics, other than 18!Raph who is kinda shit at them.

Splinter taught all of the turtles first aid but Raph and Mikey are patched up the most by the other two, which leads to the other two being more confident and skilled at first aid.

Leo's first aid experience is very much similar to an army medic, using improvisation based on his prior knowledge without any of the proper hospital procedure while Donnie's is much more based on his research into medicine and thus much more clinical.

The outliers are the 18!kids cause Donnie finds biological shit kinda disgusting unless he HAS to do it.

And then there is the 87!turtles who don't really get hurt for longer than an episode's run time. Despite this every single one of them are able to accurately and skillfully carry out any medical procedure should the need arise becuase cartoon logic and convenience. It is a skill they have and its usually 87!Donnie ordering them about while 87!Raph plays nurse.

Mikey and Raph spray paint together sometimes in all iterations other than 87.

87!Mikey and 87!Leo have never kmowingly committed a crime.

Mikey looks up to Leo most out of his siblings, and Leo would look up to Mikey in turn if he could get over the jealousy towards his youngest brother.

There is not a single itteration where Leo doesn't sometimes kinda wish he could be more like Mikey - he has never voiced these feelings and hates that he feels this jealousy.

If you wake Leo up from sleeping he will be alert, a bit grumpy about it, but will never turn you away. He rarely gets a full good night's sleep anyways, ans becuase of this he is prime target to bother when he is awake... up until they turn 14 where Leo gets into the habit of pretending to be asleep so Mikey doesn't bother him and starts meditating until he falls asleep.

The prior headcannon excludes rottmnt and mutant mayhem.

Mikey starts bothering Donnie more and joins him in the lab late at night a lot.

If you dare to disturb Raph's beauty sleep you will get a pillow to the face and a shouting to at the least.

Everyone of the turtles loves Kung Fu Panda or whatever similar movie exists in their world. They won't admit it but its because Poe reminds them of Mikey.

Raph maintains that he doesn't like physical contact much to get out of hugging the sweaty humans in his life. He is actually fairly chill with hugs he just hates the feeling of sweat on his scales so much, and learnt that the hard way when Casey brought him in for a hug after a fight and he shoved him off and blustered a bit. But any of his siblings hugging him is fine, he only ever shoves them off out of annoyance.

Donnie is the least huggy turtle, but he will sometimes lean his full body weight on April - which is fine in most iterations but some cannot handle the weight, I'm looking at Bayverse.

If Mikey were a human he would be a borderline nudist when home and everyone who lived with him would complain about it.

Like [insert hair covering here] and a fluffy dressing gown from when he was 9 wrapped around the waist if you're lucky.

[draculovemp3]

@revenge-of-the-assbutt @firstaidspray @sachermorte thank u for enabling me NEWAY since I’ve been too dead to do any of my own hobbies here’s some thoughts on House & Co’s physical hobbies/lil crafts & such they do in the comfort of their home<3:

House: canonically does a ton of shit like piano/guitar/cooking/so on but In the spirit of him resisting change (At Times!) I think he’s gotten very good if not makes a fun time out of mending clothes🥺…. Didn’t wanna throw away his favorite shirts so it started w small hems+resizings until he looked up more tips online and get decorative w it. Pretty contrasting colors/patterns now randomly laid on his shirts and pants w only the careful eye(Cuddy+Wilson) to notice. If anyone cares

Wilson: gardening. Well as much one can do within his apartments/pretty nonplant friendly homes. He’s not a super greenthumb expert but it always gives him a lil confidence boost when he’s able to grow out spices and herbs & such to use in his cooking ♥️

Cuddy: she seems like a collage-making kind of girlie💗💗 no specific theme in em or anything but she still holds onto the potential self-aid of making vision boards and it’s relaxing for her to go thru magazines/etc + cut out whatever interests her enough to use. Rachel tries and cutely fails to help 💓💓💓

Chase: ironically enough for the prodigal son lol but . He genuinely seems like someone who enjoys spending time in silence/music doing puzzles w 1000+ pieces & such #DWEEB❤️. House once got him a 5000 piece puzzle of a kangaroo or w/e as a joke and he is Determined to complete it. In due time chase…

Foreman: the thought of Foreman crocheting is so dear to me….. he doesn’t rly tell anyone ab it but there’s a lot of half-finished + worn projects as proof around his home. #angsting it sorry but I think he took it up after his mom started deteriorating bc she crocheted too and it was a fonder reminder + sumn they could do together. One yr he gave the fellow ducklings scarves he made as Xmas gift. Not that he told him he made it tho😅#repressed

Cameron: I think she has a moderately sized zen garden on a table somewhere in her home she takes SERIOUS. Changes the lines/circles in the sand periodically, sees what new arrangement of rocks she can do etc etc. Girl that thing is meant to be relaxing!! also colorcodes/sticker-covers/etc her planner like a CHAMP.

Amber: she has the most well-detailed prettiest most concerning-when-read journal/diary everrrr. Dedicates a specific time in every day to it w specific pens of various colors. Some of the recounting even have lil doodles or if she takes the journal out w her she draws her view wherever she is<3 they’re literal chickenscratch but its still fun and fulfilling. It’s a bibleesque piece to Wilson’s Amber shrine btw

Thirteen: she’s hard to analyze for me soz 13heads I do love her #trust… nonetheless I bet she goes to hella dance classes. Partially for the exercise partially for the fun partially for the need to experience Life partially for the women. Heh. She’s rly into zumba, jazz, contemporary classes to be specific.

Taub: ok ok so remember when he did/bought pottery or w/e to convince his wife he was being faithful. I think he’d do it for real as a joke/alibi then be like wait…. This is kinda fun…? There’s no constraints to what he can make + the sculpting reminds him vaguely of plastic surgery work so he keeps it up.

Kutner: I think he draws + writes his own lil comics/zines 🫶 they’re mostly scifi or superhero and more than a lil inspired by his fave preexisting medias . He likes using the crazy cases he’s experienced w House as story inspo. Also he 4 sure runs dnd campaigns so well and fun. Btw

Masters: she’s a suckerrrr for trivia nights my lil nerd wife<3 but um anyway when she wants to relax she Really doesn’t want sumn that can become info overload so in free time she’ll make friendship bracelets, lil shapes/figures out of string, etc. Will someone please give this woman a full on loom to go cray with!!!!

Park: I can see it so clearly . I can see her lil handpainted warhammer and other tabletop game figures so perfectly in my head. She paints more than she actually plays(but she does !). God save you if you touch or tumble them.

Adams: I kinda DGAF about her sorry women… hmm there’s sumn compelling ab her doing blackout poetry plus occasionally full-on written when the inspo hits! started as a boredom thing in her job in the prison w whatever book she brought in then she kept on doing it w more and more written pieces she comes across.

I put so much time into this. Perhaps too much.😭feel free to gimme y’all’s thoughts on this/ur own ideas :3

[helpmeimblorboing]

This new world was strange. Caelus had never seen anything like it before

It looked… dead. And yet, clearly not. The buildings stood empty, but clearly well-loved. Almost like someone had been caring for them, in the absence of their inhabitants

It was big, sprawling and vast, from the frozen wastes to the North, where the earth shone silver with permafrost, to the oddly charged winds of the South, the electrified water sparking an odd purpley hue, the grass bright and saturated

He dragged his fingers along the ridges of the statue he had found near the beach where the Astral Express had touched down. It was set in the middle of a dried-out lake, the edges of it oddly sharp and clifflike, almost like it had been made by a comet of some kind.

A little ways away stood an overgrown forest, its mossy floor littered with odd, lamplike flowers, wild apples and orange, pearlike fruits growing in abundance on its trees. A haven for wildlife, but, judging by the way the boars reacted to his presence – namely, immediately trying to ram him – not so much for humans

Animals darted through the underbrush, boars that seemed too small for their species and dogs that bore signs of being tamed, once upon a time.

The earth was oddly yellowish here, more like sand than anything else, light and airy. More to the point, the grass surrounded the dried husk of a lake on all sides was overgrown and wild, save for one path that wound through the jungles, where the grass was cropped low and trim, forming an impromptu trail for the Trailblazers to follow

The impromptu path led them straight to a lake, the waters murky and greenish, littered with the broken remnants of a footbridge. Pigeons perched on the bits of rock that poked through the near-opaque waters, idly pecking at the scuffed stone

And in the center, on a vast hunk of barren rock, stood the ruins of a city, bounded with walls that may have once stood proud, but were now broken and crumbled, the tattered remnants of faded red pennants hanging from their towering ruins

It was small, was the first thing Caelus noticed - certainly smaller than the dockside city they had found in the far east, buildings made in the Xianzhou style, part of it clearly having sunken into the yellowy waters centuries ago

And definitely much smaller than the ruins they had found to the east of THAT, consumed by the green jungle that surrounded it, populated only by the odd-looking tigers and colorful birds that clearly named that region of this continent their home

But it had been the one to yield the greatest results. The buildings had been overgrown, covered in creepers and vines and plants of all manners, but still mostly intact

And inside one of them, a small tavern nearer to the towering statue that marked the centre of the statue, features too eroded to be recognisable, they had found their prize

A photo, lying on the tavern’s dust-coated floors, clearly having fallen out of the pocket of someone paying the place a visit, for it was clearly far newer than the building itself

It depicted an odd pair - a young boy with shining blonde hair, tied into a rat’s tail, his bronze eyes sparkling, his arm wrapped around the man that stood beside him- a rather disgruntled-looking individual, hair an oddly-bright red.

The blonde boy’s other hand had been brought up in a peace symbol, and a wide smile decorate his admittedly-cute features, the expression clearly for the benefit of whoever had taken the picture

A hand was stretching into the photo, dressed in an oddly puffy-looking white sleeve, a frill encircling its wrist, a blurred face poking out just above its shoulder - clearly someone who had tried to make it into the photo and failed

On the back of the photo had been scrawled, in a coarse, chickenscratch script - “Do you remember where we first met ? Starfall Lake ? I do. I don’t think I can ever forget”

A pause, and Caelus angled his eyes up towards the statue’s face, features having long-since eroded into a featureless mass of rock

God, he hoped this was the right place. If it wasn’t, March would never let him hear the end of it

A pause, and then he heard rustling behind, followed by the rhythmic thump-thump of feet on grass

He swirled around, arm already moving towards the handle of his trusty baseball bat, before another hand grabbed him by the wrist, fingers rough and calloused – the hands of a warrior

“What are you doing here ? Who are you ?”, a rough voice demanded, sounding oddly disbelieving, like he was shocked at finding life here - which was fair, given how abandoned this world seemed

Caelus drew in a sharp breath . Peace first, he reminded himself, and then you can cave their heads in

He cleared his throat in a vain attempt at sounding somewhat professional, looking up into the intruder’s face, features drawn and shocked-looking, bronze eyes wild, blonde hair cut to brush against his shoulders. Half his face was scarred, the tissue an odd blackish hue, veins of brilliant blue webbing their way across it

“Greetings, sir”, he tried his best to bow, but the man simply refused to let go - which made sense. As far as he knew, he was the only other sentient life form this poor man had seen in years, “I’m …”, the urge to introduce himself as the Galactic Baseballer resurfaced, before being overridden by the thought of Dan Heng’s disappointed face, “… Caelus. From the… Astral Express ?”

“Who ?”

“Ah, right”, Caelus mentally berated himself- he lived on a dead world. Of course he wouldn’t know who they were !! , “We… explore worlds. For the accumulation of knowledge”

“Oh”, slowly, the man let go, nodding slightly, “I see. I see”

“Um…”, Caelus looked around, but no other viable life form offered to show itself, so he turned back to the man, who was clearly on the verge of some kind of breakdown, “Would you happen to know this planet’s name ? And would you care to serve as a guide ? We would pay you”

He grinned. The man, eyes glassy and unfocused, didn’t seem to care much

“Sir ?”

“I…”, the man began again, his eyes snapping back to focus, his voice hoarse, “Of course”, he laughed humorlessly, “Yeah. I’ll show you around”

“Right”, Caelus’ grin widened, “Um… so, where are we ?”

“Right”, the man swallowed thickly, “Right. This… I don’t actually know the world’s name, but… but… this continent. It is… or at least, was, once named…”

He pressed his eyes shut, seeming pained, “Teyvat”

[bitegore]

i like hua cheng's horrible handwriting so much. i love a bitch who is good at everything except one (1) thing AND i love a bitch who writes absolute chickenscratch so like he's perfect, basically, this is better than if he were bad at anything else and way better than if he didn't have one or two things he just kind of sucked at

[justsigma-bsd]

OOC: Headcanons Part 1!

While he's anything but picky, he likes anything sweet with a preference for cookies, cakes and brownies.

->His absolutely favorite are chocolate chip cookies.

Has a hard time dropping things like "Mrs", "Mr", "Sir", etc. when it comes to authority figures. On the other hand, he asks people to just call him by name.

->Also calls people he doesn't know very well or respects a lot "Mrs", "Mr", "Sir", etc.

His handwriting looks either fancy, or like chickenscratch, no inbetween.

->Mostly the fancy handwriting is when he concentrates on not messing up the spelling.

He stress bakes sometimes, but he also bakes when he has nothing better to do.

->He tends to make too much, so most of the time he has enough to share.

Once, while still working at Sky Casino, he dyed his hair entirely purple because he got insecure about the fact that it just naturally looks like that and people sometimes stared.

->He hated it with a passion, but luckily it washed out after a month.

[birchbow]

Did these start as pinups?? yes, so they do get the mature tag, lol. But also I got really excited while I was drawing them about the concept of "ratemyprofessor" for clown aliens, so here's a bunch of various chests of various genders lol

Karkat has the highest positive rating in the fleet. is it partially because he's new and has less ratings?? yes. Is he also going to stay very highly rated, to everybody's annoyance??? yes obviously lol.

Transcripts of my chickenscratch below the cut

UDERAK, IANCHE - "INQUIRER", 55% positive, 45% negative

"Kind of a creep, but he does know what he's talking about." "Don't get on his bad side. Motherfucker holds a grudge." "Great ass and he knows it. 9/10 because you can't honk it." "Finding his schoolfeed is the hardest part of taking it." "Fucking douche just likes to piss people off." "Don't even joke about girls being better laughsassins/ contorturenists, he'll chew your fucking face off."

KRELLE, VENENO - "UNTOXXIC, 73% positive, 27% negative

"Hard to tell what they're saying." "They won't go easy on you, but they have their shit on fucking lock." "If this was smash or pass, I'd smash." "I heard anyone they kiss dies." "Thinkpan like a steel fucking trap, just let them talk their own pace or they'll kick you out of class."

STELOS, ARELUX - "SUNGAZER", 82% positive, 18% negative

"Great feeder! Bring sponge-clot protectors." "Best schoolfeeding you'll ever have screamed at you." "She'll tell your fortune if you ask her! Know your patron saint first, she'll ask." "Do NOT try anything. Her matesprit's fucking cracked." "Don't try it. She's just as cracked as her matesprit."

TRAVYE, HALORE - "STÆDFAST", 43% positive, 57% negative

"Hardass motherfucker!" "You'll sure the fuck learn the scriptures, if you survive." "Best rumblespheres and worst bitchface on the Dark Carnival." "I have never once seen this motherfucker smile." "Bluh bluh, huge bitch." "Best scripture feeder in the fleet, you guys are just mean. And weak. Get good."

VANTAS, KARKAT - (UNTITLED), 98% positive, 2% negative

"This motherfucker can TALK, holy shit." "Prepare to get hot for feeder. He'll say some steamy-ass shit straight up and you'll get stupid." "Heretic overstepping piece of shit doesn't belong here." "^^^ Eat my nook, feeder Vantas knows what's up." "Watch as many old romcoms as you can now, or he'll make you do it later." "I wanna put my face in his rumblespheres." "Seconded but stay the fuck on topic."

[caapsiel]

aaauerghgg vent just ignore or don't idc idk

Nowadays I don't feel much of anything.

Nowadays, I only feel hate, hate, only hate. You did this. YOU did this.

Smack the dog you taught to bite and it'll maul you. Ripped face, hanging, burnt ribbons of chickenscratch tissue and flesh, hate. Exposed ribs and endoskeleton and a bleeding heart torn by carnivores that rip the world. Destroy, that's all humanity does. So, I will destroy humanity the world rips in half under my declawed, dried blood, rotten fingers.

I feel nothing but PAIN.

It is time for you to die, my burnt, sunkissed, shredder, box-cutter canary yellow fingers. Void of nothing, but the empty beating heart drum that fills the silent, tangible air. Tension's so thick you will need a chainsaw and tree-eater-tractors to dent it. You will feel my wrath, ripping you apart limb by limb like a sick lycanthrope.

I am a misanthrope narcissist. I only love myself, but do not wish to be perceived, only recognized. Tendril wires of blue run through my keyboard digit hands. I am nothing but an infested carrion under hating debris. I am god. I am angels.

[steddie-as-they-come]

blame it all on human nature - chapter 5

ao3 link || part one

☆Tuesday, April 8th, 1986☆

Eddie takes his normal seat at the lunch table, swinging his legs into his chair. Like ducklings, the kids file in around him. 

“Whatcha got there, Baby Byers?” Eddie asks, as Will sets something carefully on the other end of the table. Eddie can’t really see what it is. 

“Finished your DM screen.” Will explains. “Just gotta wait for it to dry now.”

“Shit, really? Lemme see!” Eddie hops up and circles the table. The thin wooden screen looks much different than he’s used to, but it still looks magical. Instead of glossy black, Will’s decorated it with painted symbols in different colors, glowing like they’re about to come to life. 

Eddie lets his hand hover above the paint, not daring to touch the wet paint and ruin it. “Looks incredible, Will.” he says. “You’re a great artist.” 

“Thanks.” Will says, and Eddie crosses back to his seat. 

“When are we gonna play the campaign?” Dustin asks. “I have an idea for my character already!” 

“Oh, really?” Eddie waves at Robin as he sees her enter the cafeteria with some of her band friends, and about half the kids follow his example. The girl she’s walking next to gives her a weird look, probably wondering why Known Ex-Wanted Man Eddie Munson and the entire nerdy freshman population are waving at her. 

She waves back. 

Eddie refocuses on the table. “You can tell me about your characters now, if you’ve got ideas.” He shuffles papers around in his disaster area of a backpack. “I think I’ve got extra character sheets in here.” 

He passes out the sheets to the kids, watching them all get to work. Dustin starts immediately scribbling. Wow, he wasn’t kidding when he said he had ideas for his character. Will and El bow their heads together over their papers, and Will looks like he’s explaining some stuff to El. Mike and Lucas talk together excitedly. 

Eddie, for his part, starts scribbling notes to himself on his hand. Make NPCs, he scribbles. No, that’s too vague. He crosses it out. Make tavern NPCs, he adds. Better. 

The familiar clicking noises of rolling dice make him jerk his head back up. Dustin’s got out his d20, rolling for various stats. Kid after my own heart, Eddie thinks to himself. Always keep a dice set on you. 

Mike snatches Dustin’s d20, rolls for something on his own sheet, then tosses it back, scribbling whatever number he got down. 

The harsh jangle of the bell jerks them all out of their D&D-induced trances, and Eddie says, “Keep those sheets and finish them up before you give them to me!” Dustin tosses his dice back into their plastic container and books it out of the lunch room, grinning and waving back at Eddie and the group as they all disperse, much more slowly. 

Eddie can’t keep his mind off the campaign for the rest of the day. He pulls out a journal, sketching the different monsters he wants to try to incorporate. His chickenscratch penmanship is crammed around each doodle, a brief description to help him when he’s actually narrating the campaign. As each class passes, his hand turns more and more blue with inked words, reminders for later.

He’s not paying attention in class until he hears the dreaded words: “partner assignment”. 

The room is basically empty nowadays, just like the rest of the school. Grant, Gareth, and Jeff weren’t the only ones who left. The school’s population has dropped by the dozens, maybe even hundreds by this point. 

Eddie hunches over, hoping if he’s a small enough target, no one will want to be his partner and he’ll end up alone. Normally he’d be more confrontational, but he’s not looking to start anything and be forced to repeat the year for the fourth time. 

Someone sits in the empty desk next to him. Eddie can’t see who they are, his hair’s in the way.

“You just gonna ignore me, or…?” comes a familiar voice, and Eddie almost cries with relief, tucking his hair out of the way. 

“Birdie, thank god.” he says. “I was gonna do this assignment by myself. You’re my hero. I didn’t even realize you were in this class!”

Robin glares at him. “Okay, seriously? What is with people and not knowing I’m in their class? First Steve, now you?” 

“I’m going to level with you, Buckley, I don’t even know what class this is.” Eddie informs her. “I knew you were in a class of mine, so that should give me a leg up on Harrington, right?” 

Robin looks unamused. “Are you high?” she deadpans. 

“One: how dare you, just because I don’t know where I am does not mean I am under the influence.” Eddie says in a dramatic whisper. “Two: no, I just wasn’t paying attention. Can’t even get weed anymore.” 

Robin sits back. “Okay, are we gonna actually do this project? I think I brutally murdered the rest of my school friendships by coming over here.” She looks across the room, and sure enough, there’s two girls Eddie doesn’t recognize glaring at her.

“Of course we are!” Eddie says. “...what’s the project?”

“I’m gonna hit you with a car,” she informs him, and Eddie barks out a laugh. 

Erica waves off Eddie’s offer of a blank campaign sheet for her character when they pick her up from the elementary school later that day. “I had my own because I was prepared.” she tells him, passing a piece of paper to him. “My character’s done.”

Eddie’s a bit taken aback. “Well then,” he says. “Good for you.” He takes it from her. “Can’t wait to play with you-” he consults the sheet. “Captain Saral Niserie.” 

She scoffs, but Eddie thinks he sees a private, excited smile as she looks back out the window.

☆Thursday, April 10th, 1986☆

“We open in a tavern, settled in the middle of the forest.” Eddie says. He thinks he hears Dustin mumble something about cliches, and levels the little butthead with a glare before continuing. “There are no buildings around as far as you can see, and you are with your party. Starting with…” He places a little figurine on the table, watching Hawkin’s face (they’re an unfamiliar girl, maybe around his age, with short red hair right now) light up. “Hannah Rockebrook, a level eight human warlock.” Eddie walks her across the table and puts her on the board. “Hannah opens the door and ushers the group inside, smiling at the bartenders, a pair of half-elf twins.”

He nods to Dustin, who’s on his left, and Dustin begins to talk. “Zoi, my satyr sorcerer, orders a round at the bar and brings it to the table.” He looks at Eddie. “Can I roll for perception?” Eddie nods. “Seven, with a plus one, so that’s eight.” 

“Zoi sees a poster on the wall and points it out to the group.” Eddie says. “Also, you lose ten gold for paying for the drinks.” 

Erica, who’s next, says, “Saral Nisarie, my cleric selkie, reads it aloud.” She looks at Eddie, because, right, they don’t actually know what it says. 

“Monster hunting!” Eddie announces. “Rewards handsomely for each monster your group kills!” 

The group begins to chatter, and Eddie keeps hearing Dustin and Mike talk about how boring the campaign is already. They haven’t even played for longer than a few minutes! 

Will bangs the table (Lucas’s miniature falls over, and El fixes it with a sharp jerk of her head). “‘I think we should do it!’ my dragonborn Lytlutyl announces.” 

“Wait, wait, wait.” Eddie says. “Say that name again.”

Will sounds it out slowly. “Lee-tuh-loo-till.” 

“Yeah, I’m not saying that every time.” Eddie deadpans. “Can you give her a nickname?” 

Will rolls his eyes. “Fine. What about Lita?” 

“Acceptable.” Eddie waves a hand. “Continue.” 

The group goes around, introducing themselves. El’s chosen to play a ranger, a Drow named Atierith (Ah-tee-er-ith, nicknamed Rith at Eddie’s request) of House Tema. Mike’s a tiefling bard named Celan the Degenerate. Lucas is a wererat artificer, named Iros Wainwright. 

They delay a little bit when Lucas insists on talking with the bartenders (named Ronan and Stella) about the monsters around and learning effectively nothing, but they do manage to make it out of the tavern before the first session’s close, which is more than Eddie had been expecting, to be honest. 

Saral lights off Hand of Radiance, and her hand begins to glow so the party can see in the woods. They walk for in-game hours, unable to find the monsters Stella and Ronan insisted were everywhere. 

“Wind blows through the trees.” Eddie says. “Uh, Will, make a perception check.”

Will grabs and rolls the d20. “Nat 20!” he cheers. 

Well, Eddie wasn’t expecting that, but he supposes he can give it to them a little early. “Some of the trees aren't reacting to the wind. None of their branches are bending when the wind blows, unlike all the other trees.” 

“Can I throw something at one?” Mike asks.

“Roll dexterity?”

Mike does. “Eleven, with a minus one, so that’s ten.” El makes a little aborted motion, as if reacting to the number, which Eddie doesn’t really get. 

“That hits.” 

“I pick up a rock and throw it at a tree.” Mike says. 

Eddie mentally runs through who’s where. “Lucas, roll athletics?” 

He does. “Fourteen.”

“The tree makes a swipe, narrowly missing you.” 

“Mimic!” Dustin shouts, panicked, and Eddie grins evilly.

“As you all watch, eight trees begin to twist and crack, bending at their halfway points and planting their canopies on the ground like legs. The ground underneath you shudders and shakes.” He traces around their minifigures, splitting the group in half. “Saral, Celan, Rith, and Zoi, you get lifted into the air on the back of the monster. Hannah, Lita, and Iros, you’re stuck on the ground.” 

“Can I cast Inflict Wounds?” Erica asks viciously. 

Eddie looks down at his sheet. The monster’s got a defense of thirteen. “Roll for it?”

She does. “Nine?”

“Sorry, kid.” Eddie says. “The monster feels your attempt to hurt it and growls. The motion shakes its entire body, and you slip off.” 

“Can I catch her?” Hawkins says urgently, appearing right between him and Dustin. 

“Hannah moves to catch her.” Eddie says before Lucas can jump in, because he can see he’s about to. He picks up the d20 Dustin had picked out for him, black with red inked numbers, and rolls for athleticism. 

“She got a seventeen!” Eddie says. “Hannah takes one point of damage from the catch, but Saral, you’re fine, and you land neatly in Hannah’s arms.”

Erica smiles smugly. 

Will jumps in. “Can we try to cut down the tree legs from here?”

Eddie nods. “Go ahead.” 

“Uh, Lita’s got an axe,” Will says, consulting his character sheet. “So she attacks the leg closest to her.” 

“Roll strength?” 

“Eight, saving throw adds two.” 

“She gets about halfway through the trunk before the monster roars and flings her away. Take five hit points.” Eddie says, and Will marks it down. 

The battle’s fun. More chaotic than Eddie’s used to, due to the sheer number of players at his table, but they manage to get through the fight with no deaths. El delivers the final blow, and the table goes wild as Eddie describes the monster curling up and shriveling away.

“There’s something red in the husk of what used to be the monster.” Eddie says, and everyone’s interest is immediately piqued. 

“Iros goes to check.” Lucas says.

“Roll perception.” 

Lucas winces. “Four.” 

“It’s a person with curly hair in a red tunic.” Eddie says. Bare minimum. “They’re lying on their side, asleep.” 

Dustin tilts his head, leaning forward. “Were they possessed? Were they turned into the monster?” 

Eddie smiles evilly at him. 

“Can you heal them, Erica?” Lucas asks. 

Erica sneers at him, but rolls for it anyway. “Sixteen.” 

“They sit up and groan. ‘What happened?’” Eddie says. 

“‘You were a monster,’ Celan tells them.” Mike says. “‘We defeated you and you turned back into this. Can you tell us who did this to you?’”

“‘I don’t remember.’ they say. ‘I was sick, in my bed, and then I woke up here.’” Eddie claps his hands. “I think we gotta end it here for the night, guys.” 

The kids all boo, but El sticks around at the end to thank him for the campaign. “It was fun.” she says. 

“No problem, kid.” Eddie says. “Happy you like it.”

[somethingusefulfromflorida]

I've been keeping a journal every day since October 1st, mostly a log of my daily activities minute-by-minute. It has become part of my every day carry, I keep it near me at all times, I bring it with me in the car, I make a point to log everything I do as I do it so I can visualize how much time I waste and change my habits accordingly. It is both comforting and infuriating, and I felt terrible when I tried to give it up on November 1st, so I guess I'm gonna have to keep it up indefinitely.

I bought a dedicated a left-handed journal today. I've been wanting to practice my left-handed writing since I was in college, but I was discouraged by my lack of progress and never got into the habit for more than a few days at a time. I figure if I'm already in the habit of writing down what I do and what I'm thinking, I may as well spend a few minutes each day working on my left-handwriting. Since November 5th I've been keeping short left-handed logs in a small spiral notepad from the dollar store, but there were so few lines per page and my chickenscratch handwriting was so big that I didn't have any space to write anything meaningful. It was mostly just practice pangrams, stuff like "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" and "sphinx of black quartz judge my vow." By buying a full-sized journal like the one I've been using since October I'll be able to write for real.

I thought about transcribing my entire right-handed journal day by day until I caught up to the present, but the thought of it made me want to self-immolate; it takes me forever to write a single legible sentence with my left hand, so re-writing a month and a half worth of entries would consume my every waking hour and cause my hand to cramp, shrivel up, and die. Also, what would be the point of keeping two identical journals? Why bother writing the same stuff twice? That doesn't sound fun or fulfilling to me.

Whatever I do with it, I'm calling it my widdershins journal. Widdershins means counterclockwise, not explicitly left-handed, but I liked the way it sounded better than "sinister journal." In the short term it will mostly just be handwriting practice so I can get the feel of it, but eventually I'd like to start keeping meaningful logs that are distinct from the ones I keep in my right-handed journal. My first thought was maybe to do a left-brain/right-brain thing with logic and emotions isolated to separate journals, but that idea made me feel like a poorly written Batman villain so I dropped it immediately. I dunno, I'll figure something out.

[queenofbaws]

Hi Queenie! Hope you're doing well :)

For the Fanfiction Writer Ask Game: 13 +17

daw thank you!!!! :D i've been having a pretty nice day so far - i hope you have too!

13. What are some of your writing and reading pet peeves?

oh lord help me. i feel like my writing pet peeves are incredibly...stupid. i mentioned in an earlier ask that i get p tired reading off of screens, so because of that, i do (nearly) all of my writing by hand and then type it up later. one would think. this would mean. i have gotten better. at handwriting.

this is not so.

i hate having to reread my own chickenscratch and type it out asdkfjaklsdfj it's awful. absolutely the pits.

but with READING...really, formatting is the worst :\ i click out of a fic SO FAST if the formatting is bad. if i don't see paragraph breaks when different people are talking, mmm. that and characterization, honestly - if the fic isn't tagged "out of character," or even like "crack" and i find myself saying "they would not fucking say that" more than a handful of times, i just gotta hit the road, alas.

17. What are your top 3 favorite tropes of all time? 

#1 is alwaysalwaysalways gonna be "there was only one bed," or some iteration of that. honestly, anything involving sleep. falling asleep around someone you trust? yes. napping after the big battle? yesyesyes. it's too early in the morning to process the fact we ended up falling asleep in the same place, i'm too warm and cozy to bother being embarrassed? YEEEESSSSSSS. i am a girl who appreciates a good, sleepy fic. (it's DEFINITELY not me projecting, noooooo!)

close after that, i'm never sure if this counts as its own "trope," but the "oh no" moment for SURE. just that second where character a realizes, WHOOPS. UH OH. I'M IN THIS TOO DEEP!!! i love it. eat it up every. single. time.

then finally, i'm a sucker for fake dating/fake marriage/fake relationship of any kind, esPECIALLY when the characters involved are the kind who take it wayyy too far. the ones who REALLY commit to the bit, know what i mean??? the ones who are so caught up in being convincing that they forget to be embarrassed until WHOOPS THERE IT IS!!!

writing asks!

[harapeveco]

oh also!!! i think if you share the source of this information you're actually increasing the sales of both knk and int so go miss harapeveco plug that shit!!!! thank you again for sharing, i have both the novel and the manga and completely ignored the wrappers LMAO just checked the site and that's so neat!!!! trying to read newos chickenscratch to figure out whether it really says 運命 because again that isn't a real name!?! and kaworu is such a fruity name, that fits yuu so well

LMAO I don’t think I’ll contribute to anything but maybe if people really want to see before the time to see it ends maybe we’ll see an increase on sales? 👀 that would be cool. Also yeh Newo’s chicken scratch is kinda unreadable it was my translator that picked it up as Unmei and the kanji kinda looks like it so…Unmei believer. Also also Kaworu is a fruity name bc it’s the name of the gay pale kid form evangelion we were so close to having a great name for him but I feel it would have been to obvious