#maybe it's because digital art gives you lots of alternatives to things

[moonisagremlin]

this is me struggling with digital art. i swear i'm 10000 times more confident when drawing on paper than on my tablet.

[draws a line] [tweaks it a little] [tweaks it a little] [tweaks it a little] [tweaks it a little] [tweaks it a little] [tweaks it a little] [tweaks it a little] [tweaks it a little] [tweaks it a little] [tweaks it a little] [tweaks it a little] [tweaks it a little] [erases the entire line] [redraws the line] [tweaks it a little] [tweaks it a little] [tweaks it a little] [tweaks it a little] [tweaks it a little] [tweaks it a little] [tweaks it a little] [erases the entire line] [redraws it] [undo] [redraws it] [undo] [redraws it] [undo] [redraws it] [undo] [redraws it] [undo] [redraws it] [tweaks it a little] [undo] [tweaks it a little] [undo] [tweaks it a little] [undo] [tweaks it a little] [undo] [tweaks it a little] [undo] [tweaks it a little] [undo] [tweaks it a little] [undo] [tweaks it a little] [undo] [tweaks it a little] [tweaks it a little] [tweaks it a little] [tweaks it a little] [tweaks it a little] [undo] [accidental undo] [redo] [erases the entire line] [redraws it] [undo] [redraws it] [undo] [redraws it] [tweaks it a little] [tweaks it a little] [tweaks it a little] [tweaks it a little]

[the-one-who-lambs]

uhh hello!! sorry if this is a tall order LOL but I wanna ask, do you have any narilamb fanfic recs? :D I already read yours and I really like bamsara’s and I’m waiting for epicaandk’s to update (that one is my fav ever <3) but idk what to read now lol

Tall order?? Naaaaah, I'm always happy to give recs. Oh boy, I'm gonna go in reverse chronological order.

If you've read all of my narilamb fics (have you seriously? I'm impressed, that's probably well over half the 150k+ I've written for this damn fandom. Also, to anyone seeing this from a reblog, my stuff is over at onethirdofimpossible!) then here we go!

You already mentioned it, but The Rehabilitation of Death is excellent so far! This one is by @bamsara who is new to the CotL fandom but apparently not new to fanfic writing; they have a really popular FNAF fic and I assume the well-deserved attention this fic's been getting is a byproduct of the popularity they've already gotten in other fandoms. :D Welcome, bamsara! Many of the fic writers in this fandom are friends with each other already, but we don't bite if you wanna say hi.

Feel No Evil and Language Barrier, both by @payasita. I always love how payasita portrays this duo (in both digital art and writing), with so much sass and repressed loneliness, knowing they're stuck together for eternity and making the best of it. (And maybe falling in love, depending on how dense Narinder keeps being.) What makes these come alive for me is how well thought out the setting is outside the Lamb and Narinder. The descriptions and weight of emotions really pop here.

LITERALLY ANYTHING written by pavi / @i-eat-deodorant. Depending on how spicy you want your fics to be he has even more here. Character analysis, diction, pacing, etc. are consistently 10/10. Top-quality banter between a sassy Lamb and tired old man Narinder. We constantly bounce ideas off each other and inspire each other a lot but I promise I'm not hyping him up just because he's my friend oh my god please just go bless your eyes.

It Was For You, O Death by blueberry-muffin-massacre (if they have a tumblr, let me know so I can tag!). An intriguing alternative ending to the final battle wherein the Lamb chooses a secret third option by refusing to give up the Red Crown and still observing Narinder as the God of Death. So many details are so well thought out and duality their relationship is nicely characterized-- both genuine care for each other and also quite unhealthy. A fine line treaded well!

Confessional by jusmove (again, lmk if they have a tumblr). Been a while since I've read it, but I love how the Lamb chips at Narinder's very carefully built emotional walls. Their personalities are very well fleshed out here, especially Narinder's cognitive dissonance at being able to process love.

Confession by @thewitchoftheweed. I didn't expect a part two to this one, but my god I was so thrilled when it did update. Narinder and Lamb with their unique and parallel loneliness and their fucked-up sense of everything. Their relationship is very rocky here, and I love how they navigate it: with tension and eventual, pained acceptance. Mind the rating.

Of Character Development and Being Dense by @calliecature. A short and sweet narilamb classic. They're both mutually pining and one of them is too emotionally repressed to realize it. Guess who.

Not An Offering, But a Gift by @checkplzjuliet. Small confession fic. I especially love how Narinder's descriptions twist the knife of his situation here, and how Lambert is a total foil for him! There are a lot of good things happening in such a short span, which is impressive.

Also, if you think you've read all my narilamb fics... I do have a secret one out there too. Just so you know.

Happy reading!

I'm already friends with many of the people here, but if any of the writers I've tagged have been kinda wanting to reach out for a while but feel a little anxious... Don't be. I've made my best friends in this fandom by literally just waiting for some of my readers to get over whatever assumption they have that I'm cool and say hi. Or being the more confident one first.

[genericpuff]

Do you have any tips for beginner artists? Also I love your art style

Reference lots! There's no 'learning how to draw', only learning how to study and reference things you want to draw. Even experienced artists are constantly pulling up references and tools to assist them in their process, it's not all drawing from imagination, there's research involved!

And keep in mind that no matter the style of the work you're studying and learning from, the core foundations of drawing - composition, structure, perspective, anatomy, lighting, and color - will usually always be present in some way. Learn to identify those foundations, even if you're not actively trying to learn them directly, because that identification process is part of referencing.

Keep your old art! Always! You don't have to save every absent-minded doodle or scribble, but any time you create a piece of art that feels significant to you, hold onto it! If you have sketchbooks full of old drawings that are taking up space in your home and you can't justify keeping, scan what's inside / take photos and store them digitally! Don't let hindsight after you've improved tarnish the joy you had making it! It just gives you something wonderful to look back on so you can see how much you've grown (even when you feel like you haven't; if you cringe looking at your older stuff, that means growth HAS happened! And that's good!)

As for specific learning tools, there's no single "one size fits all" approach to improving your craft. It's more like a patchwork quilt that you have to weave yourself from all the things you reference and get inspired by over years of trial and error. For myself, that quilt looks something like this:

That said, this is my quilt, for you, it'll look very different! Maybe online tutorials are a much bigger patch, or maybe some of the patches seen here are completely absent from others (and alternatively, maybe there are patches that I DON'T have that another person might!) The point of it though is to get across that getting better at art and "learning how to draw" isn't achievable through one single means.

I've said this in previous posts, but this is why I try to stay away from the blanket advice "just practice", because it doesn't truly convey how to practice properly - if you're exclusively practicing the same stuff every day, then there's a lot of other elements you don't even realize you could be missing out on that could benefit you. It would be like trying to become a world-class chef just by cooking omelettes all day - you'd be really good at cooking omelettes, but if you want to learn how to cook a perfectly-seasoned medium rare filet mignon, knowing how to cook omelettes isn't going to contribute to that at all.

I know all of that is both specific and vague, but I hope it can help you find your direction in your learning! Ask yourself what art you like, what you really want to learn, and how the art you like can help you learn it. Don't just look at an art piece and go "cool", really look at it and learn to identify the foundations within it, find the "why" in your praise. It can and will benefit you in your own art journey along the way because the better you get at analyzing the world around you, the better you get at analyzing your own work and where it can improve, and most importantly, how you can improve it ヽ(・∀・)ﾉ

[fleatomatosauce]

Meet my silly little Mimesona: Jux!

Alias: Mint

Pronouns: she/they

Mime Height: 6’9 (without ears)

Puppet Class: Balloon animal

Puppet height: 9’4

Class: Annoying Doggirl

Strength: Humor, Support

Weakness: needles

Jux is the embodiment of mint green. She’s a natural optimist, and tries to cheer her friends by telling them the good in each situation they face. Much like El Ganso, she has high empathy, and because of this, tries her best to support her friends…although she doesn’t always succeed in doing so. Jux likes to call themself “silly” and is reflected by their usually playful and happy nature. They have a strong sense of justice and isn’t afraid to tease those she’s against. Despite this, they’re still victim of feeling depressed and anxious at times. Don’t worry for them, though! They can easily find ways to cope. :3

Description

True form

Jux stands at 6’9, being relatively average height for a mime. Her hair is a dark

Mint green and consists of three long balloons-2 acting as “ears” that stick out and one going down in the center, like a ponytail. She also has long loose “strands” of hair at the front of non-inflated rubber. They have two pairs of facial markings, both in a lighter shade of mint than their hair. One pair is of circle blush marks on their cheeks, and the other is of outstretched diamonds vertically across the middle of each eye. Jux wears circular shades with mint tinted lenses. Her eyes are semicircles, with the straight line being on top. Her pupils are light mint with a white circle surrounding each. Their eyebrows are circular, and are the same dark mint as their hair. She has one fang on each side of her mouth. Jux’s carapace is black, as well as all of her arms and legs. These limbs can stretch and compress much like pop tubes. There is a string wrapped around Jux’s neck tied to a bow.

Puppet Form

Jux is a giant balloon dog-esque puppet whose midsection is a black pop tube that can stretch in and out to her own will. Other than that, the rest of her body is mint green. She retains her facial markings, but they are now colored black. The endings of her balloons are also colored black. The string bow necklace that Jux wears in mime form stays.

Bios

True form

“Haiii!!! My name is Jux, you know, like the word “juxtaposition”? Yeah, that’s me! Not like the name really matters or anything. I just think it sounds silly. Like me! I like to be full of joy and whimsy, and maybe I’ll give you some of it if you want! :3

Personality

Likes

* Stuffed animals

* Animals in general

* Alternative rock

* Using her limbs to reach stuff

* Helping those in need

* Sticking her head out of car window frames

* Baked goods

* Chocolate, surprisingly

* Messing with people she doesn’t like

* Carnivals

Dislikes

* Obnoxious, offensive people

* The fatty parts in meat

* Not being taken seriously at times

* Being rejected

* Needles

More

Much like TyVson, when Jux first came to Earth, she was very curious about the new realm she has entered. She had a mostly positive view on these subjects that she’s just recently learned about, but there are still things she hates with a passion. It’s just more good things than bad to her.

Jux also has a high sense of creativity. They like to make digital art and write stories. They’re also interested in creating music, but they want to find a band to play in. Or maybe they could just be a music producer and compose with a computer???

Morals

Despite her energeticness, Jux is neutral good. The logic is simple to her: see someone in help that isn’t a shitty person? Is nobody out there to help them? Then, go ahead and be the one to help them! The bystander is freer still applies to Jux, which can make her not do anything if she assumes someone else will help.

Thoughts on hosting

There are a lot of conflicting parts to the process of hosting that question whether or not Jux would like to host in the future. On one hand, you get to experience life as someone you’ve never been before, especially one as a different species than you. Jux has always wanted to be in a different form than her true of puppet forms, to this aspect of hosting is one that excites her. But on the other hand, the person your hosting has to be dead. That means if you see someone you really want to host, you must kill them. Jux does NOT want to do this, so they’ll just wait for someone that’s already dead to host. But how do they find them? They can’t just break into a hospital and crawl into a corpse of a patient. The process is hard, and that’s why Jux doesn’t have a host form yet.

Relationships

Foxglove

Jux and Foxglove are sort of “sisters”, since they both resemble canids. Because of this, the two have a closer bond than if this wasn’t the case. Foxglove is usually annoyed by Jux’s behavior, and Jux feels bad for this and wishes to be quieter around her, although it’s hard. That way Jux leaves Foxglove alone when possible: after all, there are tons of other people to be with, mimes or living.

Caela

Many mimes see Jux as a toned-down version of Caela. Due to their similar personalities, they are close friends and love to cause shenanigans together.

Ching

Since Jux is best friends with Caela, they were quickly introduced to Ching. They like how “chill” he is, and they develop a crush on him. The problem is that Caela and Ching are partners. This makes Jux very jealous, but being friendly, she believes that Caela deserves Ching, and tries not to think about it as much. Just get another partner, Jux.

Chickenstab

Chickenstab is what Jux considers their second best friend. They’re both chaotic and fun-loving, and the energy is doubled when they’re together…and yes, it’s tripled when Caela is around.

TyVson

Jux and TyV bond over the fact that they find Earth fascinating. They like to talk to each other about things they’ve recently discovered, and they even go out on adventures to learn about various subjects. TyV also has gotten Jux into television. Maybe she’ll host a robot in the future? She is still very unsure of who to host.

El Ganso

Because they both have high levels of empathy, Jux and El Ganso are close to each other. They talk about the best way to support people, and they then put it into action. El Ganso can get annoyed by Jux, though, but they still enjoy her presence.

Rachel

Jux and Rachel are both peppy by nature, so it’s natural for them to be friendly towards each other. Rachel is practically Jux’s living gossip machine.

Debbie

Debbie and Jux bring the same sort of chaos to others. They find each other entertaining to be around, especially with what Jux thinks of Debbie. She’s even allowed to call Debbie, erm, “Debbie” instead of D, but Jux just sticks to the latter “because it’s cool”.

Vilmr

Jux has a crush on Vilmr, but like the situation with Ching, she’s not asking him out because he’s with Debbie. Other than than, she likes how “silly” he is and she learned how to play Minecraft by him. They meow at each other because it’s funny.

Trivia

Jux is the “mimesona” of Lyn.

Jux is based off of a fidget toy that Lyn found of a plastic balloon dog with a pop tube in its center.

[ryuichirou]

Replies

Replieeees, mostly twst-related.

Starting with the one related to our Lilidia sketch from yesterday!

Anonymous asked:

I love how Lilia’s just like, “heheheh, legs >:3

And then Idia is just so confused

Poor Idia doesn’t know how to react lol Lilia’s legs are this powerful…

Anonymous asked:

Hello! I discovered your art recently after getting back to twst and I've been trying to learn to draw digital too. I really really like your art style, specifically the way it looks in the eyes. I just wanna learn how you draw! Do you do lineart first then color? Or color first then lineart? What art program do you use? I really like how you draw Idia and his hair, It's pretty hard for me to draw him because of his hair D: If you could give me some tips that would be great, thank youu💞💞

This is very sweet of you, Anon, thank you for your kind words! I am very happy you like my art style. And I love talking about drawing a lot, so ironically I have either posts or videos for pretty much every topic you’ve mentioned, so I’ll give you some links!

Firstly, to answer your questions: yes, I do lineart first and then colour. Sometimes I draw lineart digitally, sometimes I just colour a scanned pencil sketch (I wrote about this process in this post).

I draw in (pirated) Photoshop, and I do pretty much everything in there: clean scans, draw, do lettering, etc; but I think there are a lot of better alternatives to Photoshop now.

I also have a tutorial + speedpaint of Idia’s hair specifically, I hope it’s helpful! <3 And just in case, here is the post where I talk about how I colour regular hair.

I’ve also done a couple of speedpaints, and in the last two I sprinkled some notes throughout the video to explain what I am doing at any given moment.

I think this is it; if there is anything else you’d like me to talk about or if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Anonymous asked:

I know you don't ship them since they're both bottoms but we need to address the sexual tension between Vil and Leona during the Cloudcalling event. I know people joke that they're divorced but it really does feel like that right now. (Maybe the reason they divorced was cause the realized they're both bottoms lol)

I haven't seen the event, sorry. You can see the things I've watched in my pinned. As well as the request not to mention to me ships that I don't like, which wasn't there before because I either forgot or didn't feel it was necessary I guess, but now it is there.

We never talk about ships that we actively dislike, but I feel like Vil and Leona are one of the closest things I have to a notp. You had no way of knowing that particular fact though, so no worries.

Anonymous asked:

(links)

The links. Sorry

(It’s about Pinterest links). Don’t be sorry, Anon, and thank you so much for the links! <3

[cru5h-cascades]

Loosing my shit over Emio right now. What is this thing and why does the trailer give me the vibes the first Side Order teaser gave me when I first saw it times 1000? Also why the hell does smiling boy there's mask have an uncanny resemblence to Winnie's parallel canon mask? If I had a nickle for every time Nintendo made a character that looked suprisingly similar to one of my OCs I'd have two nickles, which isn't much but it's weird that it happened twice (the first time was with Shiver; she looks a lot like Hope, or at least Hope pre-Side Order).

Just look at these two!

These MFs even have almost the same freaky Flowey lookin' ass alternate masks!

Yeah I'm defo doing art of these two in some sort of situation together. It just makes too much sence. Did I really predict Emio with a random villain Agent 4 OC? Probably.

Anyways, now I got a crap ton of art to make the next few days. I'm gonna finish off the daily Marinas tomorrow since I have a dentist appointment on friday and won't be able to draw anything digitally then. After that, I gotta reunite Somnus with Sangre since that's what people really want, maybe do some fan art for one of the two characters we know of from Jorge R. Gutierrez's Kung-Fu Space Punch, draw something for a mutual that I had in mind, and then whatever tf I had in mind for a Winnona/smiling boi interaction.

Hope you guys don't think Winnie's parallel canon mask is too unsettling because I'm gonna be rb-ing stuff about Emio. Dunno about original art outside of Winne & smiling dude though. Probably theories though.

[alphaofdarkness]

Hi!

Just wanted to say that youre an amazing artist! You're really inspiring ❤️

Maybe you have some tips for an artist (who draws a lot of oc content) about how to develop his account or such?

Omg howdy there! I admit I was taken aback when I saw this this weekend (°ヮ°) I was admittedly very busy as family and friends were over to see me graduate with my masters! Still so,,, much in befuddlement but am extremely happy and proud of myself for making it! (◕‿◕✿) 🎓 I've gone and done it y'all! ✨

Me? Inspiring? (´°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥ω°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥｀) imposible ah （〃▽〃）

I went off on a ramble just based off information that came to mind, I hope this helps. My advice is always so scattered and everywhere, I do apologize if I have missed anything! Everyone does these things differently and this is just based off my own experiences and what I've seen over the years!

As for your question my friend, first of all! Amazing to know a fellow artist, I hope I have a chance to see your artwork and oc content some of these days ahead! ^^

Second of all, I had to think a lot about this because I've essentially had random bursts and moments when it comes to trying to focus on my personal stories and oc content. I have many Oc's and self inserts in different fandoms that kind of boost me in some relevance within those areas of interest and followers too.

However, for my own personal stories Ocs, I love posting and putting my content out there and I have been doing it for a fair amount of time since I started using tumblr; posting most, if not a lot of it, on this main blog of mine. I later started a side blog specifically made for that content to post and to look through aesthetics and inspiration for my characters and world building -> @wewillbelegendary. I will say it has been hard to keep up with posting directly there as it is like starting a blog from scratch and love using my main blog. Honestly, I tend to alternate a lot it just depends, I reblog it on there at as I have more traction on my main.

But I do highly recommend you at least considering having a separate oc blog, if you are still growing a blog in general, I highly recommend it as it will be a nice concentrated area for all of your art on oc content. That can grow into world building, character inspirations, art development, so on and so forth! Also using appropriate tagging system to help guide others to your content and so people can see it in those specific tags! There are plenty out there especially those like #digital art #artist on tumblr #original content #original characters, etc. I am sure there are many more that I have used or others have and it just depends on the subject of the content entailed.

You may have to reblog several times through your main blog to gain traction from your followers or audience, engage with other posts and other people content to gain some relevancy with them too! Follow other content creators like them too!

If you have been drawing them for a long time, post artist development of your characters over the years to show their initial concept to where they are at now! Post your sketches in all their bare bones (I fail at this sometimes~ but I highly encourage you!), you can be direct with your wording or give a hand full of sentences to explain the post to give others insight. Post about what inspired you to make that specific content for your ocs like song or quote inspiration.

Overall, a lot of it relies you posting consistently, if you really want to gain attention to your work! It won't all happen in a day or a week, even months. I don’t think there is a set time people post on here, I tend to do so in the mornings during the week to Saturday and tend to spread my posting after two days when I have a handful of art to post! Also double or triple reblogs in the afternoon or following day depending on interation!

You have to motivate yourself to post about your work and gain others attention to notice you! I have since calmed myself down from such a mindset though (sometimes I get anxious because I haven’t posted or done art and that’s okay, don’t stress or push yourself over if you haven’t!). I post my oc content because I am proud of it, if it gets noticed then I am happy, even by a few or handful of people. I am giddy when people reblog, more so when small tags are added in 🤍 sometimes my content isn't always liked or reblog and that is okay! There is no shame or worry about deleting and reposting again another time too. Hell, I know some people often tweet or repost on instagram their works again so others don't have to search all the way down to the initial post!

I also recommend posting on other socials as well! Instagram is such a good place for that! With similar tagging systems! Maybe on twitter too, but it just depends and you are also limited on the tags and characters you use. Everything kind of cumulates when you have more at hand!

Honestly, it has been a while since I have posted oc content in general, I had some burst inspirations earlier in July and recall rambling about it to my fellow mutual on here about it 🥺 she is such a dear friend and love rambling about each other's ocs, self inserts, and f/os. Make friends who will indulge in your creations and in theirs!

I sincerely hope that this information helps you some! Again, I have always been more of a self insert and shipping fandom artist with a healthy handful of oc content posted over the last,,, 12 years overall,,, oof (；・∀・) and more or less 4 years for self shipping content.. I, personally, have always just safeguarded my ocs because I wasn't the best at talking about it/them? I suppose? Gradually, overtime, got out of that mindset and became more confident about showing my characters and bits of information about them, at least in main story. Especially, with the encouragement of others I consider good friends here on Tumblr 😌

I hope you have a wonderful and blessed day and that you steadily grow your content overtime! I hope to see some of your oc content one day! 🤍✨

[da-birb-writes-sometimes]

Hi! I saw your matchups are still open so I would like to request a TWST romantic matchup.

Here's some of the basic stuffs about me~ I will be 🌻💛 🐸 anon!

• She/her

• How I see my personality: Introverted and reserved but loves to make some small talks with people I barely know if I feel like I am in a sociable mood! I am an overthinker and definitely overworrier 🥲 I worry and think a lot and can be veryy socially anxious but I tend to keep it in control and try not to show it. When it comes to following or leading people, I realised I tend to lead people instead despite being socially anxious and introverted.

• How a friend would describe my personality: Cheerful and smiles a lot. Tends to joke and tease my friends, act like a younger sibling or act as the "child" in most cliques. Will be quieter and 'tamed' around people who I'm not close or don't know. However, I can be relied on because I'm mature, realistic and honest about my opinions. Open-minded and resourceful friend. However, can be very anxious and high strung when it comes to school and work and is quite a perfectionist.

• Hobbies and interests: fjfjf I have a lot of interests - animes and games like TWST and obey me. I love doing art specifically working with clay medium, traditional and digital drawings!! Also hoards cute stuffs like sanrio (i love pompompurin so much) and san-x plushies. Love animals a lot (regardless if theyre bugs or reptiles) - my close friends tend to associate me with frogs 🐸 and my fav colours are yellow and grey. I love learning new things so I tend to also research and watch documentaries even outside of my work gjfjjf I also love listening to more alternative music - indie artists etc!!

• What are I look for in a relationship: someone who respects boundaries. someone who's emotionally mature and respectful. Also I prefer committed romantic relationships rather than casual ones because I can be very selective with who I spend time with (trust issues and stuff sjdhf). Maybe someone who I can share domestic bliss with. I don't mind someone whos more adventurous; they can push me out of comfort zone reasonably and I can explore and learn more new things!!

• What I cannot tolerate in relationships: Being patronised, talked down, nagged constantly. Someone who likes to play mind games and tests my loyalty/trust/love towards them. Overly dominant and manipulation and all that stuffs fjfmjf

• How I show affection: My go-to would be quality time and parallel play but I am fine with other love languages - especially giving gifts (or making stuffs to gift them)

• How do you want to receive affection: I think imo I don't have a preferred style and I get really happy and grateful when someone makes the effort to show their affection in their own ways

Signs: Libra (Sun), Aries (Rising and Moon) and Scorpio (Venus)

MBTI: INFJ-T

Enneagram: Type 4, Wing 5

Appearance/Fashion sense: Cutesy style; Casual lolita styles, sanriocore vibes, cottagecore dresses.

Sexuality & romantic orientation: Demisexual

I hope that this isnt too much fjffjjf and thank you for doing this again!! 💛 I really look forward to your writing!!!

Hi there, 🌻💛 🐸 anon! Ah, domestic bliss, someone who will stand by you…

Trey Clover

Trey will stand by you, giving you gentle encouragement when you get stuck overthinking or overanalyzing things, and when the social anxiety spikes up. You may not show it outwardly, but he can tell and will squeeze your hand or give you a soft look. 

Really loves seeing your teasing and playful side come out, and may offer back some of his own teasing, but makes sure that he doesn’t go past of any of your boundaries. “Hmm? Ah, sorry, love,” he would chuckle.

Trey appreciates quality time, of quiet domestic moments shared in each others company. He also gets all soft whenever you gift him something, especially if you made it. You can also expect to have as many baked goods that you could ever dream of… He will make a Pompompurin cake for you with cupcakes themed after Muffin, Scone, Bagel, and Custard, Pompompurin’s friends.

He thinks your aesthetic is really soft and cute, just like you. He will match with you, if you wanted to do matching outfits; could be cottage-core, Sanrio, Lolita, or cutesy. He noted that your friends call you “frog” and got you and him matching Keroppi hoodies. Expect some awful frog puns, which I will not torture you with.

He would love it if you wanted to show any of your art projects, since he knows that it’s like sharing a piece of your soul. Loves seeing the look on your face as you’re working away on a slab of clay, sketching in your sketchbook, or staring at an art tablet... but please take some breaks to rest your eyes.

He wouldn’t really have the heart to tell you no if you came home yet again with a new animal companion. “Honey, is that uhhh,” he would point to the creature on your shoulder, but shake his head with a chuckle, accepting that there was a new member to the household.

Would enjoy just sitting on the sofa, wrapped up in a blanket, and watching a documentary you recommended, trying to focus on what’s playing but enjoying seeing you so happy more.

Overall, Trey is soft, respects you. He wants something that will last, and he know it will with you. He would love, cherish, and celebrate you.

“Hey, cupcake, I found you this, since you were talking about wanting that speciality clay.”

I hope you enjoy your baker, 🌻💛 🐸 anon. Please tell him whether or not you like puns because he will crack dad jokes and awful jokes that have you rolling your eyes.

*gives you fellow a-spec finger guns*

[otakween]

Digimon Adventure V-Tamer 01 - Volume 1

I'm doing things slightly out of order here, but I'd like to get to all the side stuff that came out prior to Tamers before I move on from Adventure. This is the first Digimon manga that came out (aside from C'mon Digimon which is contained within this release) so it'll be interesting to see those humble beginnings.

Ch.1

-So I guess this is some alternate universe version of season 1? (Or maybe like a beta version?) The plot feels a little similar to Digimon World where digimon are a battling v-pet IRL and the main character gets sucked into the digital world solo.

-In this version of the story, Taichi has a V-dramon. Unclear so far what level digivolution a V-dramon is or if it's related to Veemon. Zeromaru is a dumb name...

-Goggles AND a cape? That's a bit much Taichi...

-I like how doofy Gabumon looks in this. The digimon are way more cartoony and expressive so far.

-Full color and actual, red blood!? This manga looks fabulous on my tablet <3

Ch. 2

-More Digimon World vibes. The Holy Angel Castle looks a lot like the ice castle that you can only enter if you have a vaccine digimon in the PSX game...

-There's a "should digimon have human partners?" element here that we haven't really seen in the show yet. I feel like this question is inevitable for most mon series.

Ch. 3

-Okay, I'll admit, I didn't see the pun in "Zeromaru" (maru is another way to say zero) until this chapter. I hate the name slightly less now.

-A Tonosama Gekomon and a HolyAngemon are a pretty bizarre combo lol

-I really love the art style in this actually. Chibi-mode Taichi was adorable in this chapter and the colors are really nice as well. I wish we got more full-color manga releases like this one!

-So Demon is gonna be the big bad in this? That's kinda nice actually cuz he got majorly short shrifted in 02. Seems like his design is completely different here. Kinda looks like Ogremon...

Ch. 4

-I kinda like how the wild digimon get names in this. Since every digimon from the same species seems to be pretty much identical, giving them names allows me to become more attached to them.

-Only just realized that I don't really know why Etemon is called Etemon. I tried googling it and the Digimon wiki's explanation didn't really help...

-Pretty wild that Gabo said "God is gone" lol. Also, Digi-world creation myth confirmed.

-The manga's McGuffin was introduced: V-tags. I'm guessing the "V" is for "Virtual," but if you're going to call everything "digi" that seems to go against the branding a bit...

Ch. 5

-Okay Gabo's incessant "You guys need to act more concerned!!" gag is getting really annoying. He says it like every 3 pages!

-I had no memory of Deltamon so I thought he was new, but I guess he appeared in an 02 episode? He's really ugly. Also, how many samey dino digimon designs do we need!?

Ch. 6

-These chapters are super short and since a lot of them are battles, they take like 2 minutes to read. Perfect for young kids I guess!

-That triceratops with pecs was pretty cursed.

Ch. 7

-When the digimon are hurt their skin cracks like they're made of plastic or something. Kind of a weird choice...

-Another thing that differs between the manga and anime is that we see Taichi perform first-aid care after fights. The anime doesn't really show a lot of wounds in the first place and usually the digimon just rest to heal.

Ch. 8

-I was surprised to see MarineDevimon who doesn't appear in the anime until 02. I wish I knew more about which chapters of this came out when because it apparently came out over the course of 5 years (1998-2003) -- Edit: this info is thankfully on the wiki

-In this chapter Gomamon says that Triceramon being a data-type means he's a "good" digimon. In the anime they said that even virus-types can be good. So maybe that's more of a prejudice than a fact? (Or it's just different in the manga).

-Gomamon is so baby in this!

Ch. 9

-This manga reminds me of Yu-Gi-Oh! season 0 where everything is just slightly off.

-The digimon are more blatantly programs and apparently if you go inside them it's just a neon void? Also, I guess the 01 in the manga's title is a reference to binary.

-Let's see how much random stuff the digivice can do in the manga. So far it allows you to scan digimon for their HP and to communicate telepathically.

Ch. 10

-Already 2 out of 5 tags collected which means that this tag collecting thing is probably just one out of many arcs.

-For some reason the official release goes up to chapter 10 for volume 1 but the fan scans go beyond that? I'm going to stick to the official release because 10 is a nice clean end point.

This manga seems pretty typical for a game/anime-tie in for young boys. The chapters are very easily digestible and nothing too deep happens. The magazine it was serialized in, V-Jump was also home to things like Yu-Gi-Oh!, Dragon Ball and Dragon Quest, so the demographic is pretty clear. I'm really enjoying the artwork mostly. I wish there were more character moments but the reoccurring cast is pretty dinky at the moment. Let's see where this goes!

[lemliv]

You know what I’ve got time so uhhh here’s some basic art tips I’ve learned while at Art School™

This is gonna be long and I namely specialize in digital figure drawing but this can apply to traditional as well. These are also just 5 guidelines off of 2 years of knowledge so forgive me if they seem scattered these are just the ones that most impacted me.

quick definitions

Contour lines: These are the lines that define the outline of a shape. Think most cartoon line art - it gives you enough information on the features.

Cross contour lines: define the shape. Think of drawing a bottle with tape on it in a gridded pattern. The tape isn’t straight across - its curved. These help your drawings look more 3D

- Never reference other people’s art for poses

In fact if possible, work from life. That’s not an option for everyone especially now a days so just make sure you’re working from photos of real people. Whether you mean to or not your brain will pull from their style and whatever mistakes or decisions they made you will make. Drawing inspiration from others art is fine !! There’s just lines of befitting you in the short term versus the long term. That being said...

- Trace what you like. Do it. (Just don’t post it as if it’s your own)

This is like the one thing artists tell you not to do. It’s A LIE!!!! Kinda... Tracing over photos or art helps understand proportions and what makes them work. The kicker is you don’t want to do just do the contour lines - do everything and then some. Figure out how the limbs are connecting, the direction of the hair, if it’s a landscape figure out the vanishing point. Get some real information off of it to see how they solved problems. And then Do Not Post It. If you happen to post it directly credit the artist you drew and if they’re from the renaissance say it’s a (the artist) masterwork study.

- Fail fast and hard

This one is probably the most important, at least to me. Last year I did probably over 50 large scale figure drawings in a quarter long class and I think only like ONE. But they all helped me improve my speed, realize what was off with my proportions, and allowed me to be critical without destroying myself. Some of them I was only allowed 3 minutes to do and so it’s easier to accept what’s wrong and then work to not make that mistake when it takes you 3 minutes. Not everyone can work with charcoal from a model so the at home alternative that I still do today is going on to timed poses sites and trying to draw those in the time limit given. I recommend traditional just because it’s typically faster for this type of thing. You might not be able to keep up - that’s okay, allow it to be unfinished and continue. The sites at the end usually display the photos back to you so you can fix them later if wanted.The point is just for practice so no one has to see - and please don’t compare yourself to others. Instead compare it to the work you did yesterday and you’ll see the improvements.

- Art Styles are a solution to a problem

Technically I learned this online, but I was in art school so it probably counts. I think a lot of people online are obsessed with having a pretty art style or looking like their favorite artists. When what art styles are is basically you as an artist deciding what you want to draw and what you don’t. Think animation - typically it’s more cartoony / simplified because no one wants to draw all that detail for thousands of frames. So maybe you don’t want to draw every hair strand - simplify it into groups. You don’t want to draw a complex torso so you translate it into a square like shape. It’s all making decisions that help you ! Because sure, you could draw like Da Vinci did but why the fuck would you ??? (Unless you want to - and if so good for you I do not have the patience /gen) so when looking at other artists work see how they solved the problem of that complex forms we see every day rather than just seeing parts of a whole you want to take.

And this one is just a personal rule that I have myself

- Know when to be critical, and when to just have fun

I’ve seen so many of my friends stop doing personal art because they’ve forgotten how to not be critical of it. Not every moment is a race to make your best piece and for it to be perfect or even “correct.” Have art that helps you grow and learn more, the stuff that shows your technical skills. And then have art that makes you happy. That you do for yourself or for fun. Art schools often ask for both because they recognize that that detailed study of a bowl of fruit isn’t who you are as a person, but it does show you know your way around some value. Art is ultimately self expression! There’s the starting points and rules but they are there so you can learn them and then break them!

There’s so so much more I could say and I know this is so much !! But for now this is my knowledge for today !!! Also due to the nature of art, not everyone is gonna pledge by these rules and that’s okay. This is just what worked for me and kept me sane :]

I didn’t proof read this! Because my class starts soon!! I hope it’s comprehensive!!!

[flclarchives]

Amusing Himself to Death, an Akadot.com interview with Kazuya Tsurumaki (director of FLCL and assistant director of Evangelion) from around December 2001. In the article, Tsurumaki explains a few things about Evangelion, his mentality behind FLCL as a whole, and the meaning of the name ‘FLCL’.

Full article text is under the cut, or read the article in its original form [here].

Kazuya Tsurumaki was a relatively little-known animator when Hideki Anno selected him to work as the assistant director on Neon Genesis Evangelion. For the TV series, which became a smash hit in Japan and one of the touchstones of the current surge of interest in anime in the US, Tsuramaki served as the main storyboard artist as well as assistant director, and when Studio Gainax began production on a trio of Evangelion films Tsurumaki got his first directorial assignment.

As he tells the story, Anno came to him after Eva and announced that he was out of ideas and that it was up to Tsurumaki to dream up the next project because, "you are next." Tsurumaki let his imagination run wild, but by the time he had written a script, Anno - despite his declaration that he had no stories left to tell - was already several steps ahead of Tsurumaki and in pre-production for his next series, Kareshi Kanojo no Jijo, leaving Tsurumaki a chance to have complete and unsupervised creative control of his own series FLCL.

FLCL, referred to as "Fooly Cooly" (or "Furikuri" by its American fans), is unlike any anime series to come before it. Wild, maniacally fast-paced physical comedy; exaggerated, exuberant animation alternately pushing towards surrealist- as when mecha exuviate from a bump on young Naota's head - and deconstructionist - as when the animation literally stops and the story is told by a camera bouncing across a page of black and white manga art panels; and obsessively, often irrelevantly, referential to obscure Tokyo-pop bands and anime insider trivia; FLCL was hyperkinetic and disorienting, yet mesmerizing, almost transgressive, and undeniably original. It inspired enthusiastic admiration for Tsurumaki as a creator, even amongst the perhaps 90% of the series' fans who were absolutely baffled by much of it. One is tempted to refer to it as announcing the arrival of full blown post-modernism in animation, or perhaps as the Exploding Plastic Inevitable of the anime industry.

When Tsurumaki visited Baltimore to speak to American fans at the recent Otokon Convention, predictably, many of the questions were along the lines of, "Hi, I really loved FLCL [or Evangelion], but could you please explain this part of it to me?"

Tsurumaki answered all questions genially with a self-deprecating and often mischievous sense of humor. For example:

Why does Haruko hit Naota over the head with her guitar?

Kazuya Tsurumaki: Naota is trying to be a normal adult and she belts him to make him rethink his decision.

Why does Evangelion end violently, and somewhat unhappily?

KT: People are accustomed to sweet, contrived, happy endings. We wanted to broaden the genre, and show people an ugly, unhappy ending.

Why is the character of Shinji portrayed as he is?

KT: Shinji was modeled on director Hideki Anno. Shinji was summoned by his father to ride a robot, Anno was summoned by Gainax to direct an animation. Working on Nadia [Nadia: Secret of the Blue Water, one of Anno and Tsurumaki's earlier projects] he wondered if he still wanted to work like this. He thought that working on Eva could help him to change.

Is there any particular reason why so many Gainax series feature very anxious, unhappy young male protagonists with no parents?

KT: Yes, the directors at Gainax are all basically weak, insecure, bitter, young men. So are many anime fans. Many Japanese families, including my own, have workaholic fathers whose kids never get to see them. That may influence the shows I create.

Could you explain the mecha bursting from Naota's head in FLCL?

KT: I use a giant robot being created from the brain to represent FLCL coming from my brain. The robot ravages the town around him, and the more intensely I worked on FLCL the more I destroyed the peaceful atmosphere of Gainax.

Why doesn't FLCL follow one story?

KT: In the third episode Ninamori was almost a main character, a kid who, like Naota, has to act like an adult.  After episode three her problem was solved so we wrote her out.  She has many fans in Japan and we got plenty of letters about that decision.  For FLCL I wanted to portray the entire history of Gainax, and each episode has symbols of what happened behind the scenes on each of Gainax's shows.   Episode one has many elements of Karekano; episode two, a lot of Evangelion references, etc.

Where does the title FLCL come from?

KT: I got the idea from a CD in a music magazine with the title Fooly-Cooly.  I like the idea of titles that are shortened long English words. Pokémon for "Pocket-Monsters" for instance, and an old J-pop band called Brilliant Green that was known as "Brilly-Grilly."

Is there any reason why the extra scenes added to Eva for the video release were cut in the first place?  Did you think the story would mean something different with them intact?

KT: The scenes that were added to Eva for its video release aren't that important.  We added them as an apology for taking so long to get the video out.  Maybe they'll help people understand things, because the episodes were done under tough deadlines the first time around.

Can you explain the symbolism of the cross in Evangelion?

KT: There are a lot of giant robot shows in Japan, and we did want our story to have a religious theme to help distinguish us.   Because Christianity is an uncommon religion in Japan we thought it would be mysterious.  None of the staff who worked on Eva are Christians.  There is no actual Christian meaning to the show, we just thought the visual symbols of Christianity look cool.  If we had known the show would get distributed in the US and Europe we might have rethought that choice.

After the panel, Mr. Tsurumaki sat down to speak with Akadot.

Do you enjoy confusing people?

KT: I have a twisted sense of humor.  I'm an Omanu Jacku, a contrarian.  [Writer's note- Omanu Jacku is a folk character a bit like Puck, a mischief maker]

What do you see differently now that you're working as a director rather than only as a visual artist?

KT: As an animator I have only the art; as a director story is really big.  I still feel as an animator and I often have trouble putting the needs of the story first.

Did you intend from the start for FLCL to be as bizarre as it wound up?

KT: From the very start I wanted a different flavor.  To achieve this I had to re-train the animators to be as stylized as I wanted them to be because I wasn't drawing it.  I knew that not everyone would get it.  I deliberately selected very obscure J-pop culture and anime sub-culture jokes and references.  Because Eva was so somber I always intended to make FLCL outrageous and wacky.

Why the choice to break out of conventional animation and use manga pages? Was it at all a response to how many anime are using computers to achieve smoother and more realistic visuals?  Were you trying to go the opposite direction?

KT: I like manga, not only to read, but the visuals.  The pen drawings, the frame breakdowns and layouts . . . This is the first time I have used digital animation, and those bouncing manga shots wouldn't have been possible with cel animation.   Personally I'm not interested at all in using computers for realistic animation.  I'm impressed by it sometimes, but I'm interested in using computers to do what was once impossible, not to do smoother versions of what has already been done.  I want to be less realistic.

Has using digital animation techniques changed the way you work, or the way you feel about your work when you see it?  Does it still feel like it's yours if a computer did much of it?

KT: Before I got into digital animation I saw other shows that were using it and I felt that there was no feeling, it was empty.   As an animator, there's a sense of release when you draw a cel.  There's something there.  Working on FLCL, though, I learned that computers can do more, and, most of all, that they allow room for trial and error and revising, more freedom to experiment.  That is why I now feel that cel art cannot win against computers.  For actual animation everything is still drawn on paper.  That work hasn't changed.  It's the other stuff, the touchups, and coloring.  If we didn't use paper, maybe the feeling would change.

Earlier today you said that you were trying to broaden the genre by giving Eva a sad ending.  Does the sameness of much of today's anime bore you?

KT: First of all we didn't use a sad ending to annoy fans.  When they're upset, that really bothers us.  Personally, I think a happy ending is fine, but not if it is achieved too easily.  That's no good.

For all the fans that are confused at all, if you had to define in one sentence what FLCL is about, what would you say?

KT: FLCL is the story of boy meets girl.  For me it is also about how it's ok to feel stupid.  With Evangelion there was this feeling that you had better be smart to understand it, or even just to work on it. With FLCL I want to say that it's okay to feel stupid.

Even though it may be strange to us, do you have in your head a logic behind it?  Are you trying to portray a story that follows the logic of dreams, or is it supposed to make sense symbolically?

KT: I'd like you to think of FLCL as imagination being made physical and tangible, just as it is for me when I take whatever is in my head and draw it.

So what are you working on next?

KT: Right now Gainax has told me that they'll support anything I choose to create, but I'm having trouble coming up with any ideas.

Why is that?

KT: Releasing titles for market, I know I have to make something to please fans, but I'm not a mature enough person to accept that fact.  If I'm not amusing myself I can't do it.  I feel bad that fans have to put up with such behavior from me.  I apologize. 

[beholdme]

All the Many Shades of Gerry - Chapter 15

Chapters: 15/19

Fandom: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Gerard Keay/Jonathan “Jon” Sims | The Archivist, Martin Blackwood/Gerard Keay, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan “Jon” Sims | The Archivist, Gerard Keay/Jonathan “Jon” Sims | The Archivist

Characters: Martin Blackwood, Jonathan “Jon” Sims | The Archivist, Gerard Keay, Tim Stoker (The Magnus Archives), Sasha James, Gertrude Robinson, Elias Bouchard

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Library AU, Librarian Jon, Artist Gerry, Trans Male Character, Trans Martin Blackwood, Canon Asexual Character, Asexual Jonathan “Jon” Sims | The Archivist, Ace Subtype - Sex Positive, Polyamory, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Romantic Fluff, Falling In Love, Boys in Skirts, Kissing, Demisexual Gerard Keay, Minor Character Death, Past Character Death, Canon-Typical Child Neglect, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Flirting, Minor Jonathan “Jon” Sims | The Archivist/Tim Stoker, Adventures in Hair Dying, Happy Ending, Banter, Gerry has a lot of sass, Gerard Keay is Morticia Adams, Jon is a very grumpy Librarian, Martin adores them anyway.

Summary: In which Gerry is a kaleidoscope and Jon and Martin can’t help falling in love with him.

He happens to love them back.

Find it on Ao3

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]

Almost a year into their relationship, Martin's lease comes up.

There's brief romantic talk of them all moving in together, but they're all attached to their own spaces, especially with Gerry needing to keep his art studio, and it trails off without any real resolution.

When Martin's landlord doesn't want to renew and he essentially has no choice but to find a new place to live, he panics.

Jon is with him when he opens the letter, and witnesses the heartbreak on his face, a look far more appropriate to the death of a loved one than to having to move house.

He understands though. This is Martin's first home. The first rent he paid, the first freedom he claimed. The first place he had whispered 'I love you' to Jon, and the first place Gerry had pressed his lips to Martin's.

Jon is settled in his own flat in a more practical way. It's close to the library, Gerry's bar and also to Martin's bookstore, but he still understands Martin's heartache, even if it is detached from his scope of personal attachment.

As Jon takes the time to think things through, he knows they're being silly. When was the last time he had commuted to work from his own flat? And if Martin had to move anyway, why shouldn't the three of them be living together? Gerry would happily spend every spare second with them and frequently tells them so.

At their knock, Gerry opens the door in a pair of leather pants and not much else, hair faded out from navy to a soft violet.

He physically reacts to see Martin tear-stained and Jon frowning intensely at his side.

"Why tears? Who do I need to murder?" Gerry mutters darkly as he draws Martin inside and into his arms.

"He has to move out of his flat," Jon tells him angrily, still standing in the doorway.

"Oh, love." He whispers, rocking Martin gently.

"It's so stupid to cry about it. It's just a shitty little flat." He hiccups into Gerry's chest.

"Fuck that. We all know better than that. That flat was important to you," Gerry retreats further into the studio, dragging his weepy partner with him and leaving Jon to shut the door. "And you're important to us, so here's the plan. Gertrude and I are gonna dig up some dirt, we're gonna have a little chat with your landlord, and he's gonna agree to sell you your flat. Problem solved."

Martin laughs wetly as he is deposited in the cushion pile and Gerry follows him down to sit in front of him and take his hands.

Jon strips his jacket and scarf off and tosses them on the couch (the biggest indication of his upset, really, as he normally always meticulously hangs things up), before flopping down on the floor with them. Martin and Gerry offer a hand each, and they sit in a triangle, connected.

"Gerry, you can't blackmail my landlord into selling me my flat." Martin starts, voice still choked with tears, "Not least of all because I can't afford to buy it anyway. I already have a business loan, not to mention all the debt from before my mother died."

Apparently able to sense any great excess of emotion, Luna and Saturn wander in and both attempt to curl up in Martin's lap. Jon takes Saturn, leaving Luna to her tearful human. Martin smiles gratefully and disentangles his hands to pet behind her ears.

There's silence for a moment as they consider Martin's words. Gerry opens his mouth, closes it, then decides to say what he wants to anyway. "I could lend you the money. Or give it to you. Whichever you prefer."

The look on his face could be accurately described as casually angelic, and he reaches out a hand to stroke Saturn benevolently.

Martin and Jon stare at him, stunned.

"What do you mean?" Jon eventually prods him, incredulously.

Gerry opens his mouth to respond, but Jon senses the sass coming and adds, "A real answer please," rather firmly.

"Fine then," Gerry mutters, rolling his pretty teal eyes. "I have some money in savings. And in investments and stuff, I'm not actually irresponsible, despite what my appearance might imply. And the years I spent galivanting about the county. And Europe." He shrugs, rambling on, "Okay, maybe I am irresponsible."

His partners stare at him for a moment, then exchange a look.

“Define some money?” Jon says, poking him in the ribs. Gerry tells them.

“What!?” At Jon’s exclamation, Gerry blushes from the roots of his hair, and all the way down his bare chest.

"Where did you get it?" Martin finally asks.

"From selling my paintings?" Gerry responds, but it comes out as a question, and he rubs his burning neck in embarrassment.

"And," Jon says, voice carefully neutral; having regained some sense of composure, "why do you keep your job at the bar if you have enough money to casually offer to buy Martin a flat?"

"Don't feel left out Jon, I'll buy your flat too." Gerry offers, smiling at him beatifically.

"Gerry…" Martin lets out his name in the significant tone of voice that lets him know this is a 'serious conversation'™ and to get his shit together.

"Okay, okay," Gerry flaps his hands uncomfortably. "At first it was just because I was convinced that the painting money was gonna dry up and I didn't want to be left in the lurch. I've always operated anonymously and that made it hard to make money as an artist, it was only when Gertrude joined the crusade that I found any success. She insisted that people would buy prints online, and she was right. The digital art and prints were really popular, and it led to people wanting the originals." Gerry pauses and shakes his head in disbelief. "And Gertrude always has to be extra about everything, so she sold them at fucking auction instead of pricing them, which made me seem edgy and exclusive."

"You are edgy and exclusive," Jon interrupts to insist, a slight petulant edge staining his voice.

"Thanks," Gerry mutters, still blushing. "Anyway, so then I had all this money, but I was convinced it wouldn't last and now it's been years and it's only gotten worse and I was panicking so Gertrude took half the money and helped me put it into investments, which have mostly been pretty successful too, so now I have all this fucking money that I don't know what to do with, so Martin, would you like a flat?" Gerry ends his monologue slightly hysterical and Martin laughs out loud at the slight desperation in his voice.

"Do you even own this flat? I've been wondering how you could possibly afford it." Martin asks him, gesturing around at the massive space in one of the most up-and-coming parts of London.

"Yes, it's one of the only significant things I've ever actually paid for with the art money. You know, to do art in."

"And were you ever planning to mention this?" Jon queries, sounding slightly put out. He frowns down at the cat, instead of his ridiculous boyfriend. Saturn decides at that moment that he's had enough belly-rubs, and without warning, sinks his claws in, bites Jon's hand and then scurries off. Jon glares at his fluffy black tail as it disappears up the stairs and Gerry tries very hard not to laugh at him.

"Jonathan!" Martin scolds him, pushing his shoulder gently to regain his attention. "Gerry doesn't have to tell us about his finances."

Jon pouts even harder.

"Jon's right, I should have said something. I just didn't want it to be a big deal." Gerry responds, voice quiet and unusually reserved. He looks a little adrift and helpless, and they can see just how uncomfortable the money talk has made him.

Jon sighs and dislodges the stick from up his ass. "It's not a big deal, love, I'm only surprised. I'm glad it's out the way now." He collects Gerry's hand and presses a kiss to his knuckles.

Gerry relaxes and tugs Jon closer to kiss him, before offering the same to Martin.

They all sit in comfortable silence for a few moments, digesting the day's many revelations.

“Not that I’m not incandescently happy to see you both, but why did you actually come over?” Gerry asks eventually.

“Oh,” Martin sits up straighter, remembering their original objective. He looks down at the cat in his lap, stroking its back in an effort to distract himself. “It’s a little awkward actually.”

Gerry raises his eyebrows, thinking of what could make Martin feel awkward after all the things they’ve done together, occasionally right where they are currently sitting.

"Do tell." Gerry urges him. Martin and Jon share a look. Gerry rolls his eyes at the pair of them. "Come on, guys, whatever it is, just tell me. It can't possibly be that bad. Unless you're breaking up with me? Because fuck that."

"No, Gerry," Jon says, sounding amused. "The opposite."

"The opposite?" Gerry asks, frowning.

"Yes, the opposite," Jon tells him more firmly. "We were thinking," Martin makes a small nose at this, "that is, I was thinking, that since Martin has to move anyway, the three of us should finally take the plunge."

"You know," Gerry mutters peevishly, "I love riddles as much as the next overdramatic goth with a young adult book obsession, but could you please spit it the fuck out."

"Jonthinksweshouldallmoveintogetherhere." Martin finally rushes out, breathlessly.

"Martin, baby, those are separate words."

He takes a deep breath and tries again. "Jon thinks we should all move in together, here, with you."

Gerry sits up taller abruptly, a wide grin spreading over his handsome face. "What, really? You actually want to."

"Well, yes," Jon says, although his voice still sounds nervous.

"Okay great. Luna and Saturn are gonna love this." Gerry jumps up excitedly. "So I know you guys like having your own personal space, and I always have my art shit everywhere, but I've been thinking and I think we can make you both comfortable here too."

Martin and Jon share a perplexed look at Gerry's sudden frenetic burst of energy.

"We'll be comfortable here no matter what," Martin rushes to reassure him.

"Hush," Gerry speaks over him. "We both know you're just saying that because you feel like an inconvenience. But you're not and we all have to make this our home. Come, come on, I want to show you."

Gerry grabs a hand from each of them and drags them behind him and around and under the wide stairs that lead up to the loft space.

He leads them to two doors under the stairs, leading them into one. It's a large storeroom, technically, and Gerry has filled it with extra paint, canvases of many different sizes, and a plethora of other painting supplies. There aren't any windows, and the industrial light makes the space look stark. The scent of oil paint and turpentine is pervasive, but homey since those are things they associate heavily with Gerry himself.

"They're both the same. I've been thinking that if you two ever did want to move in here, you could take one each. A creative space just for yourselves, or your own bedrooms if you need some space once in a while. If you want them." His typical self-confidence is slightly lacking, the nervous twist of his fingers belaying his nerves at the admission.

"Oh Gerry," Martin says with something akin to wonder in his voice.

"But aren't you using them?" Jon asks, never one to let romanticism come in the way of practicality.

Gerry shrugs, "I've been thinking of having cupboards installed in the studio space and moving all this in there anyway. It will be more convenient for me when I'm working and it will be worth it to have you here all the time."

Gerry pauses, brow furrowing. "I've also considered moving the art studio in here so you two don't have to trip over my art stuff all the time."

Martin and Jon both understand the significance of that offer, knowing that Gerry's favourite things about this place are the high ceilings, giant windows, and natural lighting at most times of the day and even at night.

"You would be willing to give up your art space for us?" Martin asks in some wonder.

"Well yeah, of course," Gerry says as if it's obvious. "We'll all have to share the bedroom then, but the living space will be bigger. Whatever you would prefer."

"Just like that?" Jon's blunt incredulity finally tips Gerry off to their shock.

"Oh come on. I obviously haven't been a very good boyfriend if you two don't already know that you're more important to me than painting." It was the most romantic thing Gerry could say to anyone, really.

Martin kisses him, tearing up again.

"What did I say? Don't cry, love." He reaches up to wipe the tears away, and Martin offers him a wobbly smile.

Jon goes over to kiss him too. "You love us more than art."

"We're going in circles here. Yes, I love you both more than literally anything." Gerry is starting to wonder if they're being obtuse on purpose.

"We love you too," Jon tells him emphatically.

"Of course you do. I'm delightful." They all dissolve into laughter at that, the weighty mood breaking with it.

"So do you think you'll both be happy here?" Gerry asks when the laughter has faded.

Even standing in the mildly dusty storeroom and breathing in paint fumes, Jon knows the answer already. "I think we might be able to make it work."

[stahlop]

Making a Memory (3/?)

Once again, a big thanks to my betas @profdanglaisstuff and @thisonesatellite. This chapter was a bitch to write.

And thanks again to @gingerchangeling for her amazing artwork above!

Chapter 1 2

Ao3

The next two days felt like torture for both Hope and Alice. They had been told by the directors that they were lucky to be allowed to go into town and that they’d better behave themselves as they were representing the camp, to which Hope and Alice solemnly nodded. Henry had sent a text through Lori’s phone (another extra dollar to deliver the message) to meet at a coffee house in town at 11:00 to which Hope replied that she and Alice would be there (another dollar to text back).

 Hope had told Alice that Henry had confirmed they were sisters but nothing else, citing that this wasn’t something he could tell them over the phone. 

 “Maybe they both got amnesia and only remembered the last relationship they’d been in and that’s why they think our other parent is different?” Alice had suggested. Hope had thought that could be a possibility but then…

 “But what about the fire? Or is that where the amnesia came from?” 

 “Could be?” Alice said. “Maybe they both got amnesia from the fire and forgot the other and we just went with whichever one saved us.”

 “But that doesn’t explain Henry.” Hope said, which was also the fly in the ointment to every theory they came up with. Henry was the outlier. The only thing that didn’t make sense. As far as Hope knew, she and Henry both had the same father and Henry had never said anything different. Why would he lie to her for so many years about having a sister and potentially a different father?

 “I definitely think their memories have been altered or erased in some way.” Alice said. “My gut usually tells me if a person is lying, and Papa hasn’t lied to me once about thinking Milah was my Mama.” She frowned at the prospect that her gut could have been wrong about her Papa all these years.

 “Is it always right?” Hope asked. “I mean, you told me that it seemed to hate me on sight when we first got here, but it’s calmed down now, right?” Alice nodded. “Wait! Did you say it mainly tells you if someone is lying or not?” Hope asked, realizing what else Alice had said. Alice nodded. “My mom has that same thing. She can tell when someone is lying. I’ve always chalked it up to being able to read people well, but maybe it’s something you’ve inherited from her!” Hope got really excited about that prospect. Another piece of the puzzle being put together.

 “What was it like growing up with a brother?” Alice asked, changing the subject. Her whole world had been turned upside down and hearing about things she may have inherited from a mother she never knew existed still felt a little weird.

 “It…” Hope paused looking for the right words to describe it. “It was different. He’s 15 years older than me so we weren’t close. I mean, we were close, but not the close that two siblings would have if they were only a few years apart. I know he tried to help out mom with me as best he could. He lived at home during college when he could have lived at the dorms, and he lived at home until I was around 10 before mom kicked him out. He only lives a few blocks from us and he’s been real busy with the book writing lately. But he always makes time for me when I need to get away from mom for a little bit. In fact, he paid for me to go to camp this summer because I’ve wanted to go for forever.”

 There was a bit of silence after that. Neither one knowing what to talk about next. They’d exhausted their theories and both of them were a little leery about learning about the other one’s parent without finding out why they’d been separated and potentially lied to for their whole lives.

 Hope spent the next day reading through Henry’s novel, as if it might hold potential clues for her, even though it was a work of fiction. Alice spent them drawing pictures of various things, everything from characters in the book to things that had happened around camp. Hope was a little jealous at how good Alice was. 

 Finally, the day to go into town arrived. Alice and Hope had woken up early and were the first ones on the bus. They’d be getting into town around 10:00 so they’d have a little time to shop around before meeting Henry. They were both so antsy the entire trip there. As they got off the bus, Mrs. Hatfield remarked about how well they were getting along with a knowing look. If she only knew her initial assumption of them being sisters had been spot on, and that was the reason they were getting along, not because of the stupid Get Along Cabin.

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Henry had not been all together surprised when he had received the phone call from Hope. He had been expecting it after all, just not so early. He’d thought he’d have another 4 weeks, once camp had ended to figure out how to explain the situation they had all found themselves in. It wasn’t every day, after all, that one meets their long lost twin sister that they never even knew existed (although Disney would have people believing it, but they messed up most of their retellings of fairy tales, why would this be any different). But here he was, with only two days to figure out what he was going to tell his sisters, one of whom he hadn’t seen since she was two.

 He knew the situation was a mess.  It had been a mess since the twins were born. It wasn’t as if any of them had wanted this situation to happen, but it had and they’d been living with it for the past, almost twelve years. Well, Henry had, anyway, it wasn’t as if anyone else involved in this knew what the hell was going on besides him.

 The whole situation was bittersweet. He had checked up on Killian and Alice over the years, not that they knew that. He’d been discreet. Just happening to be in the same park as them even though it was nowhere near where he lived; jogging near Alice’s school as she grew up to be able to see her during recess. It had pained him to see her playing by herself in a trove of trees near the back of the playground away from everyone else. As she got older, she had the drawing pad, and he was happy that she had something she enjoyed doing. Henry had even gone to a few of her art shows and seen just how much like Killian she was in the drawing department.

 It was a lot harder to check up on Killian, as he worked at the docks and it wasn’t like Henry could just hang around the docks for no reason. He’d thought about getting a job there when he was old enough, but his mother would’ve thrown a fit. She would have given him a talking to about wasting the scholarship money he’d been given for his fancy Creative Writing Bachelors to go work, what she would have considered, a dead-end job at the docks. He had to make it part of his morning run, except that when Killian moved into management, he couldn’t get a look at him at all.

 Deciding to go into Creative Writing in college was a no-brainer. He knew he needed to get his story out, but he needed to do it in sections. Become one of those writers that had a book series instead of just one book. He wouldn’t have been able to get everything into one book as it was. The problem that he hadn’t anticipated was that no one wanted to publish it. He thought the alternative fairy tale genre would have still been a big seller, but it seemed that book publishers were more into dystopian societies again (a resurgence from when he had been a kid). It had taken him a lot longer to get Once Upon a Time out to the masses than he’d intended. The sequel would just barely be released before Hope and Alice’s fourteenth birthday and that was cutting it really close for what needed to happen.

 Henry had done the best he could in helping his mother raise Hope. He knew it was not the life she had imagined when she’d found herself pregnant. He still remembered with distinct clarity when she’d come rushing out of the bathroom waving around the pregnancy test. Explaining to Killian what the two lines meant, and then forcing Henry to go buy her a digital test just to make sure the cheap ones she’d bought over the internet weren’t faulty.  They’d been so excited to start their family together. And when they found out they were having twins, well Killian had practically spun Emma around in excitement (a little hard because they didn’t find out about the twins part until she was almost five months along and she was already huge. Alice had apparently been shy even in the womb as she was hiding behind Hope in the ultrasounds; their heartbeats always perfectly in sync with each other). And then...everything happened.

 Maybe it would be better if Henry tried to write what he wanted to say down. He’d always done better with an outline, a plan, an operation. Operation Gemini was on!

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 The girls were already waiting at a table in the coffee shop when Henry arrived; three hot chocolates set at each place, all with whipped cream and cinnamon Henry noticed. As soon as Hope noticed him, she immediately stood up and ran to give him a fierce hug. 

 They stood there, hugging at the entrance, for what seemed a long while. Had it really only been two weeks since she’d gone off to camp? It felt almost like a lifetime. Even though Henry had moved out of the apartment, he still came by to see his mom and Hope every day. It was just the kind of family they had. Very close. 

 Henry had moved them off to the side so as to not block the entranceway, and he felt Hope shuddering in his arms. She was silently crying Henry realized as he stroked soothing circles on her back, something that always calmed her down as a little girl. He looked over to the table and noticed Alice sitting at the table waiting for her world to drastically change and all she looked like she was feeling awkward while she waited for them to finish their emotional reunion.

 “I don’t even know why I’m crying.” Hope wailed softly. “I just have so many questions and emotions from discovering that I have a sister, and it has finally hit me now that you’re here, Henry.” He was making this all real. And no matter the answer, no matter what he told her, Hope and Alice had to keep an open mind, because Henry knew the reality of this situation was going to change things forever.

 “It’s okay, Hope.” Henry whispered into her hair, something else he’d always done when she was younger. “I promise, everything is going to be okay.” He kissed the top of her head for reassurance. Hope seemed to snap out of it, and she broke away from Henry and dried her eyes on the back of her hands. Henry pulled a handkerchief from his back pocket and gave it to her.

 “Always a gentleman.” Hope said as they walked over to the table. Alice, who had watched the whole exchange, looked at Henry with wide eyes. Henry wasn’t sure how either of them were going to handle what he was about to tell them, but Alice, despite the wide eyes, seemed overly calm about the whole situation. 

 “It’s nice to meet you, Henry.” Alice said, putting her hand out for him to shake it as he sat down at the table. Henry could tell she wasn’t quite sure what else to say. He could only imagine how she must feel, having grown up an only child and now she supposedly had a twin sister and an older brother.

 “We’ve met before.” Henry said sadly, taking a good look at her while he and Hope took their seats. It was like looking at a punk rock version of Hope and it was a little strange. “But I haven’t seen you since you were two and mom and Killian were still dressing you in matching outfits.” He laughed, remembering how their mother, of all people, liked dressing them the same and Killian absolutely hated it. They’re individuals, Swan, not dress up dolls! Everyone nervously took a sip of their hot chocolate.

 “Can we just cut to the chase.” Hope said. Henry chuckled at how much like their mother she was. Besides looking like her, just with a fuller face that he chalked up to still being a child, she had inherited her personality, and was always straight down to business. No pleasantries, no small talk, just get straight to the point.

 Operation Gemini hadn’t made it much past the notes phase when Henry tried to figure out how to explain things to them. Giving a speech was not the way to go. This wasn’t a book that he could plot out an outline and hope that everything went the way he wanted it to (at least not yet). And he knew these two girls were much too smart to not ask questions about everything he presented to them. He needed to know what they knew or had hypothesized for themselves before figuring out what and how to tell them about their pasts.

 Alice,” Henry said turning to her, “tell me what you’ve been told about your mother.” 

 “Uh,” Alice had not expected to be put on the spot, “her name was Milah.” Henry nodded in agreement, since he already knew that was who she thought was her mother. “She and Papa were together for about five years before they got married and had me. I’m named for my Papa’s mother. She died in an apartment fire when I was two which is also how Papa lost his hand. We…” Alice’s voice drifted off when Henry took out a notebook and started writing everything she told him down. He wrote at a very alarming rate, and it would look as if the words were magically appearing on the page, or at least, it would look like that to Alice, if she believed. 

 ‘H..how are you doing that?” Alice asked, fascinated. The pen he was using looked like an old fountain pen, the kind that required ink. Alice looked around but she saw no ink. He saw her look closer at the notebook which was an old, leather bound notebook with parchment inside. Henry held his breath. Could she see? Henry looked at Hope who was looking at Henry intently the same way Alice was, but he could tell that all Hope saw was a normal pen and notebook.

 Henry looked up at Alice with a quizzical look on his face. “How am I doing what, Alice? What exactly do you see?” From his tone, he hoped that Alice could see he truly wanted an honest answer. She looked hesitant for a moment, took another gulp of her hot chocolate, but then drew a deep breath before telling him exactly what she saw.

 “You have an old fashioned fountain pen, but it seems to not need any ink. And it’s putting the words on the parchment for you.” Alice gulped. Henry knew that what she had said would sound crazy to anyone else, but not to him. She looked over at Hope who was looking between Alice and the pen and notebook. She definitely was looking at Alice as if she just said the craziest thing ever. A wide smile crept over Henry’s face and tears sprang to his eyes. He wanted, more than ever, to just wrap Alice up in his arms like he had when she was a baby, and give her the biggest hug imaginable. He put the fountain pen and notebook aside.

 “Alice,” Henry said as he took both her hands into his, “I need to ask you something, and please answer honestly. No false modesty for my sake, please.” Alice nodded. “Now, I know Hope hasn’t read my book because she says it’s not her style,” Hope rolled her eyes at this statement, crossed her arms and mumbled “I've read some of it,” Henry gave a small laugh at that and focused back on Alice, “but have you read it?” Alice nodded, unsure of where Henry was going with this. “And tell me, my dear Alice, what did you think of it?” He continued.

 Henry watched Alice closely as she tried to figure out where to begin.  

 “It felt like I was reading about people I’d imagined my whole life. Like they’d been living in my head with no way out and then, bam! There they were on the page in front of me. And then I started drawing. Oh, I’d drawn mostly landscapes, places that were right in front of me, but I’d had these images in my head for so long of people, that about a year before your book came out, I’d started drawing them as well. And then there they were in your book. I have sketches of Snow White and Red from before your book even hit the shelves, and at first it scared me, because Papa has always said I might be psychic, just knowing little things here and there, but there it was for me to see. These people who I’d been imaging. I’d never known their story, and here it was laid out for me in the pages of your book.” She took her hands away from Henry’s and put them in her lap as a few tears, Henry couldn’t tell if they were happy or scared tears, slipped down her cheeks. Henry was still staring at her intently, his smile even wider if that were possible. He watched her put her one of her hands under her hair and rub the back of her neck, just like Killian always did.

 “Why did you ask her that?” Hope asked breaking the silence that had enveloped them after Alice had finished her revelation. Alice almost looked embarrassed about Hope asking. She’d just bared her soul about all the thoughts that had been in her head, probably for years, and how Henry’s book had opened the floodgates, and Hope’s only response had been to ask why Henry had asked that particular question? Of course Hope would be the non-believer. Like mother, like daughter.

 “That’s actually a very good question, Hope.” Henry said, his smile never fading. He beamed something that he hoped conveyed pride at Alice before looking over at his sister. 

 “I was going to start out telling you something different. I went over this in so many different ways the past two days, but I think I’m going to have to start with the storybook.” Henry said as he went to grab something out of his satchel. Hope rolled her eyes and scoffed.

 “Henry, you cannot tell us we are sisters and then just go off about your fairy tale book. I get that she’s a fan, but there are more important things going on here besides your book.” Hope said, exasperated. Henry paid her no mind. He placed two books on the table. One was a much bigger, much older looking copy of his book, made from what looked like real leather and gold leaf. Like something the publisher might sell as a collector’s edition. The other looked like his current book, only it was white with a picture of an apple tree on it in a golden frame. It also said Once Upon a Time, but not as ornately as the last book. The O was in red while the rest of the letters were in brown. Underneath the title read the words: Emma’s Story.

 “Is...is that the new book?” Alice squeaked out. Henry’s smile grew even wider if that was possible.

 “It sure is, Alice.” He said quite happily. “And, actually, Hope, these books will tell you everything you need to know about your past.” Both Hope and Alice looked at him. Hope’s expression was one of disbelief. She’d always held their mother’s belief in the practical, everything had a logical explanation, even if lightbulbs tended to pop when one of them were angry, or they’d find random candles lit without any explanation for it when they really needed to relax. Alice’s eyebrows were practically in her hairline for how high she had raised them. Henry could see that she was more open to what he was trying to tell her.

 “They’re all true?” Was all that Alice could get out.

 “Yes, Alice,” Henry nodded, “they’re all true.” Alice smiled with tears starting to form in her eyes. 

 Hope looked from Henry to Alice completely confused. He could see she was trying to comprehend what he was trying to tell her, that the fairy tales he had written about were supposed to be real, but her brain did not compute that. Fairy tales weren’t real. They lived in the real world and magical things simply did not happen. And now Hope was getting angry, because Henry still hadn’t provided any explanation to how she and Alice had become separated and why they had been told lies their whole lives about who their parents were.

 Henry sighed. “Look,” he said, running his fingers through his hair nervously, “this book here,” he pulled out the larger copy of his book and placed it on the center of the table, careful not to knock over any of their half drunk mugs, “is not just some fiction I made up.” He couldn’t believe he was in this situation where he had to explain this all over again. “Every story in this book actually happened. It’s the story of our grandparents and what they went through to eventually end up in this world.” Alice took in a breath of air while Hope looked at Henry like he was insane.

 “Henry,” Hope started, “fairy tales aren’t real. What you’re saying is ludicrous, and you’re beginning to really scare me.”

 “So, the Emma at the end of the book,” Alice said in barely a whisper, “she’s your mom? She’s actually the real daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming and the savior destined to break the Evil Queen’s curse?” Henry knew it was a lot to take in, he knew it sounded insane, but he could also see that Alice believed every word that Henry was telling her. Hope just stared at both of them with a look that said she felt like she was the only sane person at their table. 

 “She did break the curse!” he said excitedly. “That’s what’s in this book. How our mother broke the curse and the various things that happened afterwards until she came to the Final Battle. And then….” Henry took a breath trying to stave off the catch that was starting to form in his throat. “We were separated. That’s how this book ends. With our separation.” He grabbed the almost empty mug in front of him and drained the last dregs of hot cocoa that were in there, grimacing at the grainy texture of the chocolate that had coagulated at the bottom. When he looked back at his sisters (he had never been so happy to add that extra ‘s’) he could see that Alice was thoroughly convinced that he spoke the truth, but Hope was still looking at him with a mix of incredulousness and a slight hint of murder. He could see her wanting to object again but cut her off when he continued with what he had to say. 

 “The final book. The final book of my series has not been written. I have no idea how it will end. Both of you need to help me write it because it’s about us, all of us. You two, me, mom, and Killian. It’s about what happened to us and a terrible danger that we will have to face.” Hope���s face immediately tensed at the word danger; Alice’s face lit up intrigued. He continued. “It won’t be easy. I am putting us all in jeopardy, but I don’t have a choice. This is something that we’ve known about since you two were born and I’m the one who has had to carry the burden of it for the past almost 12 years.” Tears were falling from his eyes and Alice handed him a napkin as Hope had never given him back his handkerchief from earlier. Alice also had tears falling as she had listened to what he had told him. Hope just looked frustrated.

 “Henry,” Hope said, breaking in again, “are we ever going to get any answers, or are you just going to parade your books around to Alice and let her fangirl over them. We’ve been here,” she checked her watch,” for an hour and you’ve given us nothing but fairy tales. Not even that, you’ve just given us the books to decipher an answer out of! We have to meet back on the bus to camp in an hour. Are you going to be able to tell us everything we need to know by then?” She gave Henry the look, the look he’d seen too many times on his mother that showed that he wasn’t telling her the whole truth and she was getting tired of it. If she’d been standing, Henry was sure she’d be stomping her foot like the tantrums she used to throw when she was younger.

 Henry thought for a minute. There was no way he could tell them everything he needed to in an hour. Hell, would they even be able to function at camp after everything he needed to tell them? Would they even believe him? Alice definitely seemed open to it, but Hope, she was so stubborn. It was like trying to convince their mother all over again. And that’s when he made the decision.

 “Look, Alice, do you trust me?” He asked, holding out his hand to her. She didn’t even hesitate, she took his hand and answered yes. “Hope, Alice, you are sisters. I am your half brother. Emma and Killian love each other very much, they just don’t remember, and I need your help to bring our family back together. But to do that, you’re going to have to leave camp and come with me. Can you do that?” 

 Alice nodded with no hesitation. Henry probably should have been a little more concerned that Alice seemed so willing to leave camp and go off with a perfect stranger who had just told her that he was her brother with no other explanation except that fairy tales were real and she needed to somehow get their family back together, a family that didn’t even know they were broken, but he saw the belief in her eyes and the trust she had toward him and Hope, and he looked past that concern. Besides, he was her brother, just because she didn’t remember him didn’t mean they weren’t blood. Both he and Alice looked over at Hope who was still looking at them like they were the craziest people she had ever met. Henry was about to apologize for ruining her camp experience when she finally spoke.

 “Well, I guess you two don’t really leave me a choice. I gotta make sure you crazy, and yes, I mean the literal meaning of crazy, people don’t get into too much trouble. Someone has to make sure that when mom and Alice’s dad, ...our dad, whoever he is, find us that we have a sane person to explain we went willingly and Henry doesn’t get arrested for kidnapping or whatever.” Hope flipped her ponytail behind her shoulder as if she didn’t really care either way if they got in trouble or not, but Henry knew better. He knew she was coming along on this crazy ride to make sure Henry didn’t do something stupid and to be there for Alice.

 Henry held out his hand for Hope since he was still holding Alice’s from earlier. She hesitated only a moment before grabbing it. Alice and Hope both gave a slight jolt, something most people would not have noticed or thought they had just had a shiver run through them at the same time, but Henry knew, he knew that was the sign that everything was starting. It was the sign that their family was coming back together.

Tag List: (Let me know if you want to be added or removed)

@profdanglaisstuff @thisonesatellite @mariakov81 @hollyethecurious @winterbaby89 @jennjenn615 @kmomof4 @superchocovian @lfh1226-linda @ilovemesomekillianjones @cssns @itsfabianadocarmo @xsajx  @qualitycoffeethings​

[blazehedgehog]

Thoughts on Nintendo making the Super Mario 35 game and 3D All Stars limited physically and even digitally?

It’s legitimately surprising how blind Nintendo is certain things. And even if they aren’t blind, they’re... ignorant, in a sense? Frugal to a fault? They’re dumb. Amazingly dumb. Let’s go with that. That's a nice way to put it.

I tweeted that I’d recently finished replaying Super Mario Sunshine a year or two ago (it took me roughly four years!) and that I’d burned through the PC port of Super Mario 64 not that long ago over the course of a single weekend. And that, because of this, I found it hard to justify paying $60 for the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection.

I don’t want this to sound like “because I played them for free, I don’t want to buy them.” I already bought and paid for Super Mario Sunshine on the Gamecube, and I own at least two, maybe even three copies of Super Mario 64 (original cart, Wii VC, Wii U VC). That's because Super Mario 64 is also one of the most influential games of all time. I know I say that a lot, but I'll repeat it as many times as I need to. Any third person action game made in the last 25 years owes something to what Super Mario 64 figured out -- analog character movement, how to set up the camera, all of it. Even if Super Mario 64 didn’t invent everything about 3D character movement, it probably still figured out a better way to do it. All modern game design roads lead back to that game. I will absolutely buy another copy of Super Mario 64.

But you have to do it right.

If you aren’t matching or or exceeding the work that fans are doing for free, then you are asking me to pay money for a worse quality product.

I can play Super Mario 64 at wide screen, in 4K, at 60fps, with modern camera controls, thanks to the PC port. It sounds cleaner, and it looks better than the N64 game did. Even if you subtract the recreated textures and the high-def models and just play the game with the original assets, it’s still running smoother and plays tighter, but still feels like Super Mario 64.

A case could be made that these enhancements to Super Mario 64 are pretty big and would require lots of new work and testing (as if Nintendo couldn’t just account for that). But, then, what about Super Mario Sunshine? Now, the All-Stars version has been updated to run in widescreen, sure, but even more could be done without messing anything up.

Super Mario Sunshine as it shipped on the Gamecube ran at 30fps, but that’s not always how the game was shown. For a large portion of its development, Super Mario Sunshine actually ran at 60fps. At some point, Nintendo decided to cap it at 30fps, likely because it couldn't maintain a stable 60. Using the emulator Dolphin, and the right Gameshark/Gecko code modifier, it’s possible to restore Sunshine’s original 60fps framerate.

All the game logic under the hood was probably always running at 60fps, it’s just they capped the rendering at 30 for the final game. And yet, the All-Stars version seemingly retains the 30fps cap, even though the Switch could probably do 60fps in this game with both joycons tied behind its back.

For a company that constantly oversteps their boundaries when it comes to fighting the threat of piracy, they sure seem to be making an excellent case for why people should pirate their games, because they’re lowballing things like this and expecting consumers to gobble it up. Thank you Mister Nintendo, sir, for this generous offering of reheated table scraps.

No other extras, no other bonuses. You get these three games and a soundtrack player. Development history? Alternate versions, like Super Mario 64 DS? What about archival material? Concept art, or anything like that? A lot of people are over the moon about Nintendo history right now thanks to the Gigaleak. No? You’re not going to provide anything interesting or cool? Just a bare bones collection of three games presented basically as-is? Not even Super Mario Galaxy 2? Can't be too generous, after all. It's only been 35 years, and Mario's just one of the biggest, most important franchises in all of gaming. Gotta save Galaxy 2 for the, uh... next 3D Mario collection...?

The whole release date thing is just the final slap in the face. It’s Nintendo creating their own artificial scarcity. This is something I’ve picked up on regarding t-shirts -- I run a Redbubble store with shirts I’ve done, and the sales have never been stellar. In four or five years, I’ve made something like $18. Total.

Why? Because they’re always available. The few times I’ve actually encouraged sales a little bit is when I suggested some shirts might be getting retired, eventually. And when you think about it, that’s the entire crux of something like The Yetee. Either you buy this shirt right now, right here, today, or it goes away and may never come back. Limited edition stuff boosts sales because it forces people to make a decision.

It also boosts a festering aftermarket, where, because people know this is a limited edition thing, they can effectively “buy stock” that will effectively collect interest over time. Buy them at $60 now, mark them up for $80, or $90, or $120+ in a year or three. But then all that does is create a scenario where legitimate customers aren’t going to be able to buy the product, because the people who flip these in the aftermarket will have spent $1500 hoping to make a return of $2500-$3000.

You saw this with Amiibo. You saw it with the NES Classic and SNES Classic. It is TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY and every store front worth a penny allows “third party sellers.” Everything is Ebay now. Wal-mart, Newegg, Best Buy, Amazon, Target, whatever. You name a major retail brand, and they probably let some random goober scalp aftermarket products out of their garage. In many states, scalping tickets is banned, but online this is just “business.” I’m sure Jeff Bezos is elated you spent $230 on a Squid Sisters Amiibo double pack (original MSRP: $30). You don’t get to be the richest man in the world by forcing your best moneymakers to play fair.

Nintendo has taken many notes. The bare minimum of effort, for full price, and “oh, gosh, you better buy it now! It might not ever come back! The faster you give us your money, the better!”

Go jump in a lake. I get better and more features in an emulator and I can play these games right now, today, if I really wanted to. If you aren’t going to offer competitive features and business, then our conversation is over.

[analyzingadventure]

Psi episode 32 reaction let’s gooo

(And for the record I do go on a long ass tangent at the very end, discussing alternative evolution trees and speculating on crap, so if you wanted to see more from me than just screaming in caps lock about nonsense THEN YA GOT THAT HERE!)

(And yeah the speculation is LONG)

Giff me the hoarse Toei つ( ◕_◕)つ

OOO the babbies arE RUNNING AWAY FROM FANGMON!! BASTARD GOTH WOLF!!

EVOLUTION?? SURELY NOT

Did Patamon just poop

I love Megumi Han so much...... I love you.....

HERE’S THE DOGGOMON (Confession, I honestly kinda hate the term “doggo”, like there’s nothing wrong with it but it just makes me so annoyed for NO reason when I heard that word. That said, these Digimon are like, Peak Doggo for me. If you asked me to explain what a “doggo” looks like, these guys are what I’d describe) (And no, I don’t remember what these Dogs were called anymore, I forgot and can’t be bothered to look it up)

GOOO TOGEMON, KICK GOLEMON’S ASS

I love that the Gotsumon are just cheering on this boxing event

STOP HARASSING JYOU WHILE HE’S TRYING TO BATHE FOR FUCK’S SAKE

ALSO HOW IS HE STILL BATHING, IT’S BEEN AT LEAST 30 MINUTES SINCE THE LAST EPISODE IF NOT LONGER

Patamon and Lopmon are so cute, fuck

Oh god Angemon looks so fucked up, oh god, it hurts my heart

Patamon is so fucked up and tired oh god nnnooo ;__;

Seriously tho, Megumi Han’s Takeru sounds so precious that everytime Takeru speaks up I take 1000 points of cute damage

I can’t handle it, her voice is so precious

Delighted by how unbothered the doggomon is by the weight of Greymon on their back

WHOMST

OH IT’S THAT FUCKER WHOSE NAME I FORGOT

CERBERUMON! AND IT’S HUGE, HOLY FUCK

Like maaan, Cerberumon is huge (/MetalGreymon has shrunk since they first appeared)

OH FUCK Patamon was like Black Seraphimon for a while?? Oh fuck, man, yeah, fuck yeah (I wonder, if we see Black Seraphimon in Psi, will they use the Frontier!Mercuremon version or the goth version that appeared in one game? Y’all know I love Frontier and Mercuremon but I feel like that version of Black Seraphimon is super Frontier-specific so I would prefer if they used the game version)

LET’S GO, EVOLVE INTO THE HOARSE!! つ( ◕_◕)つ

YYEEEAAAHHH

PEGASMON!!

Now the implications this has for Armor Level, Digimentals, 02-Content and Alternate Evolution trees- yeah there’s a lot here, so many questions--

OH GARUDAMON SLAMMING ONTO CERBERUMON’S HEAD WAS SEXY

Man, Pegasmon is pretty... Always loved Pegasmon (and Nefertimon), they have such cool designs yo

Oh the episode just ends there, huh

Okay next episode preview (I know Tailmon finally shows up because, y’know, DigiTwitter keeps on giving us new LOVELY art and I don’t wanna unfollow because I like the art, even if it’s spoilers)

Ko-Komondo have EIGHT legs?! Spider dogs....

Aaand nothing of value showed up in this preview- the Twitter did share some extra screenshots though, including this one which made me laugh outloud

Hikari has the exact opposite energy of the Obama “then perish” meme and that’s fucking hysterical to me

(Also the Twitter art did seem to confirm to me that SkullKnightmon is Tailmon)

Anyways, yeah, uh so.

What does this mean for DigiMentals in Psi’s DW? And Armor-Level?

I mean I guess most of those questions would be answered with some data from the next episode’s Encyclopedia entry but I’m an episode behind so I MUST WAIT I GUESS. That said, yeah, I will be interested if they’ll classify Armor as its own level as it’s usually considdered or if Pegasmon will be classified as an Adult-

If the latter happened then I don’t think Digimentals would even exist within this Digital World/continuity, and “Armor” Digimon would probably mostly all be just Adult level Digimon (with maybe some exceptions like Magnamon?). But if Pegasmon is still Armor, well, we shall find out eventually

That aside... When we first went into Psi, the one thing I was hoping to see arguably the most was branching evolution trees (in the same vein Zero Two had with the Digimentals in the first arc) and utilizing those alternative forms for different situations etc. And so far it has really felt like Psi wouldn’t do that all, instead sticking to the familiar evolutions we already knew and loved (except for Ofanimon because Psi says Ofanimon Rights) (OR DO THEY)

BUT THEN WE GOT THIS

Now, since Patamon’s alternative evolution here was caused by Patamon being weakened by the damage from the dark powers, so it’s likely that we won’t see all the Digimon get alternative evolutions (Agumon’s Mugendramon not included, esp. ‘cause there’s no quarantee we’ll see Agumon evolve to Mugen again (though Mille is in this story so I would be kinda shocked if we didn’t see Mugen come back but this is a whole different tangent)).

Like, by these soft rules Psi has just set for us, unless the Digimon all got drenched in Darkness and weakened by that, so much so they couldn’t evolve to other forms, then I don’t think we’ll see alternative evolution trees for them    UNLESS THEY’RE ALREADY WEAKENED and just need to be re-powered up so that they could evolve into more powerful Adult/Perfect forms! :O Though this does seem unlikely since Psi has been building up the Warrior 6 (WarGreymon and co), so unless they decided that the OG Warrior 6 wasn’t The Solution to the Milleniummon Problem and wanted to have the Digimon evolve to 6 other Ultimates instead, yeah, this whole scenario seems unlikely to me.

If Psi will be 66 episodes like we originally heard rumors of, then we are basically half-way through the series now. And my constant “worry” with this series has been how they threw all the Adult and Perfect forms at us so fast within the first 20-or-so episodes. Now indeed, we have only seen one Ultimate, we don’t have Tailmon in the party (as of episode 32, IDK how exactly she’s introduced in episode 33), and Patamon can barely evolve to Adult(?) now. So we do have at least nine evolutions to go, to get everyone to Ultimate.

Like, IDK man. To be fair, aside from HolyAngemon, Adventure had given us all the evolutions they had to offer by the end of episode 38, but also that series was also 12 episodes shorter than what Psi’s supposed to be.

Like... what I’m trying to get at is that Adventure for the most part spaced out the new forms pretty nicely to give us new evolutions to get excited about but not throwing them at us too fast (at least with the Perfects, the Devimon arc was kind of an exception). But Psi’s philosophy has been kind of different, throwing the new Digimon at us at a super high speed for the first arc or so... I’m trying to put together in my mind how plausible alternative evolution trees could be at this point in the story, with 33 episodes left?    Because either they are going to treat the remaining unseen evolutions kinda like Holy Angemon was in Adventure, or we could possibly see alternative evolutions to fill out the remaining episodes now that Pegasmon has proven alternative evolution trees plausible?

I dunno man, I have NO idea where Psi is fucking going

I am super interested in seeing how they’ll treat Patamon’s evolutions from here on out though- like will Pegasmon just be a temporary Adult form for Patamon so he can evolve to something but will regain his ability to evolve to Angemon -> HolyAngemon ->Seraphimon later on? Or will Pegasmon get its own evolution line? IDK what the Perfect could be but Ultimate could be Goddramon, right?

I am pointing this out because. Y’know.

Psi has been showing us Ofanimon in the flashbacks so far.

But we’ve only ever seen Tailmon evolve to Holydramon (Ofanimon: Falldown Mode not included).

And if Tailmon’s gone through what Patamon went through but had a more severe case (which is what “SkullKnightmon is actually Tailmon” would seem to imply to me), it does beg the question; if Patamon can’t evolve back to Seraphimon anymore, will Tailmon be able to evolve to Ofanimon either?

Will Psi actually just taunt me with Ofanimon Rights, only to give us Holydramon at the last second? Is that what they will do?

I GUESS WE’LL FIND OUT

WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU GOING PSI

[rootcut3]

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