#okay here come the many tags...wahoo

[futuresuntocrystal]

First of all, thank you sm for posting this!! I love the question and... I'm dumping all my OCs on here, as well as my main WoL, so...

To anyone who reads this, I hope you enjoy??

>Rhela [ WoL ]

Conjury was an easy enough start. During the days before and up to the Calamity, Rhela actually started their days as an assistant to chirurgeons! After a...mysterious five-year break, they returned to Gridania to work on their budding magical abilities.

This would be the way of things for a long time; dabbling a little in other classes, but hardly being very devoted to them. Rhela's preference was to support with healing, and being a White Mage was incredibly suited to their talents and abilities...or so they preferred to believe. (It was comfortable. Why change?)

...Funny enough, meeting Zenos is what changed that rigid way of thinking. Eventually moving deeper into Dark Knight. Learning the ways of the Rogues. Utilizing the skills of Archery, the physical might of Dragoons (recently inducted, even!) and even- as of very recently- trying their hand at being a Machinist.

That being said, however... The only classes that combat their comfort in the backseat of healing is gathering. Botany and mining quickly became a loved "activity," of sorts, for Rhela. The only one they struggle with is fishing... Though working alongside the Ixal have gently encouraged that along.

As for crafting, she also delves more into that by the day! Honing skills all around... Mostly to see what feels best, but also genuinely proud of what typically ends up leaving her hands, whether fresh from the cooking pan or carefully fitted as a leatherworker.

>Ajisai

Her magical abilities seemed to have come with the whitening of her hair. Originally, it frightened her...but after escaping from the pressure of her parents, instead seeking to regain some control over her life... It became an instrument for the better, under the tutelage of the Arcanists' Guild.

She's most comfortable as a Summoner, but has also- occasionally- taken up Scholar and Astrologian. They all channel her innate, and growing, magical abilities well. And it's always nice to walk around somewhere with a friend. (In terms of SMN & SCH, at least!)

As of recently, she's been trying Samurai- a class from her homeland- and Dancer, as well. The former as a continued effort to reclaim something she feels has been lost for a long time... Dancer has been more a way to destress, by comparison. However, the combat side quickly appealed to her, as well; now, it's decently common to see her wielding it or Summoner!

Crafting... She's primarily a Weaver; pushed onto her from family. It was seen as a "ladylike" thing to do and encouraged to the point of annoyance. Ajisai still picks up the needle now and then- it's good for taking her mind off of things- but she isn't thrilled with it. (Being a culinarian is much the same; seen as something a good bride should learn, and so she was forced into it. It's good food! She's proud! But it's also been an annoyance.)

These days, she's getting more into botany and mining, as well. Mostly in an attempt to be further self-sufficient.

>I'karus

"Unclassed" beforehand, I'karus would later pick gladiator as his path in life... At the time, it just seemed like it would've been a better move than living life how he had before. (In retrospect, a part of him wonders what on Hydaelyn he was thinking, back then!)

Now he's a Paladin, however, and proudly carries the mantle. To be a protector is a vast opposite compared to how he used to be; it brings him great pride.

(...Though a part of him picked up on being a rogue on the side. Not fully to serve the needs of Limsa...but unable to let go of the idea that his past may one day come to haunt him. Best to have an edge on that, in I'karus' opinion!)

>Kinara

Dancer! It best supported her way of life, and still does. As well... Some conjury on the side. Not super into dedicating her life to that kind of thing, but it helps look after friends in need.

(Crafts only slightly on the side; just enough to look after her own clothes!)

>Alexios

Bard! It fits his desire of being seen and putting on performances. At that point, the music is just a bonus... A lovely one that she puts her heart and soul into each night, when she practices.

They also are a rogue on the side, however... Not that anyone would know, or expect this of them. A jovial nature that easily hides the expert handling of their trademark blades...and you best believe what he can do with daggers just hints at what he can do with a bow and arrow.

>Valmir

Archer. Does a bit of barding on the side- mostly for self-amusement, as he's chronically awkward- but largely prefers the distance benefits that come with attacking from afar.

Is a botanist on the side, and tends to indulge when not doing other work for Gridania (or any other Twelveswood settlement). Gathering is their comfort zone, though is slowly taking up crafting to start being self-sufficient again.

>U'zahra

Back among the tribe, U'zahra used to be a pugilist and archer. An incident with the Amalj'aa (specifically those of Zahar'ak) destroyed said bow...but didn't stop her from trying to come back stronger.

Trained up to a Monk, and learned the secrets of Black Mages, as well. (Forbidden arts who?) Found comfort in Dancer, as well; the movements adjusted to her dances of the U Tribe, giving extra spice to the way she moves...and making this class and Monk her favorites. Conjury and being a Black Mage... The power is good; summoning energy, less so.

Also a fair crafting fiend, though perhaps best at cooking, weaving, and metalwork, like goldsmithing. Gathering is her second home, given how the U Tribe lives. (Perhaps second only to her hunting abilities!)

>Sinmara

A Dragoon, like her father and parent before her! (Though, one of many...) Being biologically a dragon to a Miqo/Elezen pair is an odd existence, but so is picking up the class that once slaughtered her kind...and was originally made during a time of friendship, between dragons and Ishgardians.

Sinmara considers it- much like the changed ways between her parents- as a "right the wrongs" kind of situation; preferring to think of it in a hopeful and good light.

...They're not sure what to do about crafting or gathering; for now, leaving it in the hands of their renny. Perhaps...one day, though? They may try botany and fishing.

(To explain the lore chaos: fanchild between my WoL, Rhela, and Estinien. Nidhogg is technically True Father to Sinmara, as his spirit influenced her development. Biologically, she is primarily a dragon, with Miqo'te [Keeper] and [Ishgardian] Elezen influences.)

>Circe

All-Rounder is the simplest way to put Circe's situation!! One would typically see them as a [White Mage], but has also run through [Dark Knight], [Dancer], and [Dragoon].

...Has asked for [Black Mage] training from Hades. Has been regretting it. He regrets agreeing, mostly for watching them sulk over the simplest thing(s). (Hythlodaeus just enjoys the show.)

Does botany on the side! Menace of a crafter, though...can't do anything with them, aside from displays or selling them as art pieces. (Can't be too individualistic in Etheirys, after all!)

>Moriri

A Dragoon, and that's the end of it. Almost considered doing gladiator or pugilist things in her youth, but being introduced properly to what a Dragoon could do... She was quick to learn the lance, and quicker accepted to their ranks during the Dragonsong War.

She's basically retired now, but will drag her spear back out if need be.

Otherwise, crafting and gathering is her day job, and how time gets filled. You'll likely find her gathering somewhere, out and about, crafting within Ishgard...or relaxing in Ishgard. (At least, post-Dragonsong War. Due to the chaos, she's been living in the Twelveswood, at present.)

>Altan

Warrior main, through and through. Proud of it, too...and won't admit he geared for it solely in a silent attempt to upstage that one kid from the Oronir. 👀

Really, Altan just likes the heavy-hitting jobs. Tanks are his zone, as well as classes like Dragoon and Monk.

...Isn't too fond of or great at most crafting or gathering things, but does love mining. It puts his strength to use.

>Rheza

Another all-rounder, but White Mage preferred type. Rheza- unlike the others- had to learn multiple classes to get the best of all of them... Though apparently these days, one doesn't need to do so. Eh, hasn't stopped them from freshening up old memories and doing their best to keep in tip-top shape.

...Crafting and gathering has been fun, though. Now that there's more free time to spare, Rheza fills the quieter moments with doing either of those. Definitely prefers carpentry and weaving, though. Along with botany... Honestly, Gridanian bias. The forest remains their home.

@unboundhavenn did a wolqotd and I wanted to answer it in long form

"why did your WOL/OC take up this or that discipline? not limited to combat classes, but crafting/gathering ones too.

Why Do They Do The Things They Do?"

[safe-from-sharp-teeth]

Ayo! I haven't answered asks in FOREVER, so it's time for some spring cleaning :) Also answering other stuff, like what I've been up to.

If you sent an ask and it's not here, sorry! I may have deleted it because the prompt required too much work of me and I wasn't feeling it, or I was uncomfortable.

Let's gooooo !

Firstly - where have I been? Work REALLY picked up in a way I wasn't expecting over the last...4 months? I was working double and often triple the hours I was used to. With work, vacations, random illnesses, and many video games I got a bit too obsessed with, this blog took a backseat. Plus, sometimes I get disinterested in vore when obsessed with something else. Sometimes, that lasts months, and it did this time.

But now I can confirm that work will FINALLY chill for a long period of time. I'm free! And more motivated than ever! Wahoo! Thanks for your support ALWAYS.

Next big question - when am I going to do more of my story? The one with Asyr? AHHHHHGHHGHH this story has consumed my life. I think about it daily. I dream about it. And yet I'm not as comfortable writing as I am drawing, so writing is a slow process that my perfectionist ass struggles with. I can assure you that there is a story in the works - and I am working on it at a snail's pace.

Okay, ask time...

@ponyluvesonic09 AYO maybe I'll make a full ghost pred pros/con list for you, because that sounds awesome! Kir//by is one of the silliest canon preds out there. Honestly getting eaten by him would be like getting vored by a vacuum, LOL. Galaxy tummy!! Imagine a prey floating around in one of those item bubbles all grumpy. Thank u for the ask, this is good stuff.

no. ( /・・)ノ

UWAGHHHHH I LIKE HER!!! Never played O/verwat/ch but what a gem!! I have a random fondness for centaur-like preds nowadays. She looks so cozy. THANK U I LOVE HER!!!

@tiger9o0 I have not played r//ain w//orld or know what it's about, LOL. Looks like a platformer? Man, I'm terrrriiiiibblleee at those. But whoever this is on the cover, I LIKE EM. A+. (That might not answer ur question shdjbghkjg SORRY)

@heimkoheimkofan LOVE THAT I GOT THE ROBOT ENJOYERS AFTER THAT ONE POST....YES yall are so right and I'm so wrong for just hard metal robot tums. I will rectify my mistake soon I PROMISE. Also oh! You were the one asking about stomachs other than elemental ones! IVE HAD THAT IN MY DRAFTS FOREVER IM SORRY AHHHH. I REALLY love your imagination with tums and you've inspired me to think of some awesome environments! THANKS

@fastfur07 BWAH?? Ugh I'm all over the place when it comes to art. Some pieces take 30 min (like the zangooc I drew at the top of this post), most take 2 days. Some really hard drawings like my wolf bat creechur from a few months ago and my shrimp from last year took a month. THANK U??

We're going back so far that I think this is about my naga oc (which I'm in the midst of redesigning cough cough). For him, he would never tolerate being prey, extremely unwilling bahaha. In general, I haven't thought much about naga or snake prey! I get the appeal of slurping up a noodle, but I just prefer human prey :)

@fastfur07 you fiend, you always give me the best drawing ideas. UNFORTUNATELY, I didn't have time to draw something for this one. BUTTTT....

(i've had this next one in my drafts for forever)

then i had a silly comic. I'll post the wip here because I won't finish it, so enjoy bahaha.

@blizzaria123-blog THANK U im rapidly melting into a puddle from ur words

@mrpotatomanversionsix relevant. i will continue drawing them 4 u

?!??!!??!?!??!?!?!??!?!? how dare u enter my ask box with this blasphemy

@sfwsillynoms WAH!!! you!!! I'm currently redesigning my naga oc but when I finish I'll tag you, if you're still around! And he can 100% be drawn with ur preysona :)

@mystorl i am SO late to this, but SMART. I like it. I shall give my lil guy this friend. I just want to let u know that I see this and it's wonderful and I will do something abt it.

I remember this ask made me laugh a ton when I first got it. thank u. idk why I find this so funny

@sillylilprey IM CRYING RIGHT BACK AHHHH this is an ancient ask, but thank u! hope you're still enjoying!

@terrytheinsane finally, the last ask in my askbox. I love it. You have been wronged with how long it took me to answer you. I have gained knowledge from your ask. THANKS

AND THAT'S IT!! Thanks guys, I hope to make you proud! Feel free to send more asks, and hopefully I will answer in a TIMELY manner.

Goodnight! And remember: Nice Vore ᕕ༼⌐■-■༽ᕗ

[cerealmonster15]

🧃🍦🌸🌸🌸

🧃 ⇢ share some personal lore you never posted about before

HMM. tbh i feel like i say a lot about my personal self here LOL for people that read my tag rambles what i can i say that u dont already know... i feel like the only stuff i omit is like, to keep my identity a SECRET lol ummm.

ok i literally couldnt think of anything JSDKLFJDSKLFJSDKLJ. ask me a question if u want maybe ill share LOL

🍦 ⇢ name three good things about a character you hate

H. HEY. HEY. i dont wanna LOL JKFLDJKFLDS truth be told i dont actually HATE hate many characters. it's usually only ones that are like. token creep characters or REALLY super nasty and i dont WANNA talk about those so im gonna CHEAT and just do what i suspect im baited into doing and talk about a character i. hmm. Used To Strongly Dislike. i was a hater but i dont know that i ever really FULLY hated him. but i def disliked him for a while at first lol

and in terms of twst there are at least four characters this could be describing but i have to do leona bc ive had the most character development with my feelings about him kljsdklfjdsklfjklsdj

he really is so smart and perceptive. it's super interesting when i go back and reread stories and how he's shown to either directly or maybe heavily implied to know/suspect something that's going on far before most of the other characters do. he doesnt always. say anything about it to people 🧍 JKFLSDJFKLDS but it IS cool how you can see he's like, paying attention. he's got experience!

it's kinda sweet when he actually does, sometimes, show his care for the younger students. like in rook's lab coat story when epel accidentally bumps into him, and the npc talking to rook is like OH GOD!!! but rooks like nono, it's okay, leona knows not to just pick a fight with a random student for no reason. <- me calling it sweet when leona doesnt bitch at someone i guess LOL but!!! jfkdsjflds it is. and then in book 6 at the start when everyones getting ROBOT KIDNAPPED, this goes hand in hand with my first point - leona recognized the charon soldiers, clocked that they were dangerous, fighting was futile and risky, and just surrendered himself and told ruggie to not start a fight and to just look after the dorm while he was gone, if he ever came back. i was sooooo grumpy at that scene for so long bc of how COOL he was and i did not like admitting leona was being cool ever LOL JFKLSJDFKLDSJLJ but he was 😔 ive come to terms with it. AND in the jpn server's halloween event playful land, [mild beginning of event spoilers to anyone reading this i guess lol] the fact that he showed up late at night to bring everyone back so they wouldnt get in themselves trouble.... like he SAID it's bc he just didnt wanna get blamed for it later, but like, iirc he aimed his lecture at the ENTIRE GROUP, not just jack who he's dorm responsible for. he showed up early morning/middle of the night to do it too, when hes the king of I Love Sleeping. he probably coulda sent ruggie to do it but it was his turn to be in the event so he came and did it himself;;; dskfjdlsjfk listen i think leona is pretty straightforward and a bitch but i do think he still has some sense of care for people even though he'd rather die than admit it KFJSDKLFJSELJ

this might be cheating but i listed like three separate examples in the prev point so whatever. he's funny when he fights with vil and malleus JKLFJDSKLFJDSLFJ and i like when characters bitch at each other for comedic purposes. that is a positive point in my book i like LAUGHING at my SCREEN

i love when im asked a simple question and use ten thousand words to answer lol

🌸 ⇢ do you have any pets? if you do, post some pictures of them

DOES THAT MEAN THREE IMAGES

[WAHOO!!]

[aviiarie]

FURINA'S WIFE ANON!!!!! IS HERE!!!!!!!! with a long tangent of stuff probably ARGH MY CONDOLENCES IN ADVANCE

this is . Adding to the post about whose bed would be comfy becAUSE I SAW FURINA MENTION WAHOO MY CHANCE TO SHINE!!!!!!

10/10 comfiness from me (i am 100% totally unbiased! Entirely!) because i feel like she'd definitely have ten million plushies . and not just drowning her bed until you can't see the mattress but literally everywhere in her room. There Is No Way She Doesn't. the plushies themselves provide. so much. and she has tea parties with them and all and OHHH MY GOD I HAVE IDEAS ABOUT DATES WITH HER... SITTING AT THE TINIEST TABLE YOU'VE EVER SEEN WITH HER AND HER PLUSHIES..... TEA TIMING IT UP.... WAAAAHHHH WAAAAHHHHH STILL THINKING ABOUT THE ANGST YOU HAVE INJECTED INTO US WAAAHHHHHHHHH

i am a shriveled up grape shell of the untouched. innocent version. of myself before i read that fic. happiness no longer comes naturally.

ALSO ACK THATS GENUINELY SO UPSETTING THAT TUMBLR THREW IT INTO THE VOID. LIKE LITERALLY WHY. got a notif when you made a post about it and went to go check most recent under furina x reader and for sure, it wasn't there :[ ACTUALLY SUCKS SO BAD because reading it you can really tell how much work was written into it and just AGRGHHHHHH sucks sucks sucks... it's wonderful to know that we're any help at all, if that's possible in the slightest :'D so sorry that happened but but for whatever it's worth it was an amazing read and just. So. Fantastic. there's not nearly enough words of enough strength that could possibly describe it juust oohkh my god I STILL CAN'T GET OVER THE PEARL NECKLADCE HEART SNIFFLE SNIFF AARHRHGBGJNGNN

because she would want to do that. furina would want to house you, the most important of anything to her, right over the source of the blood coursing in her body. it pulses, and the first thing it meets is you before travelling throughout the rest of her. just as she would have no life without it, both literally and metaphorically, she has no life without you.

sorry sorry sorry again EEK it's my first time being like a. designated anon. if that makes sense. with like my own little name and signature tag ARGH DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S CALLED But The Name Tag Thingie. AND I'M SO EXCITED TO SHARE MY THOUGHTS WITH YOU HEHEHEHEHEH i feel very not judged here this is wonderful

THANK YOU SINCERELY FOR THE FOREHEAD KISSES!!!!! HUGS YOU VERY TIGHTLY UNTIL LIFE FORCE IS SQUEEZED OUT although not too much because that would be akin to exploding which we do NOT want AND THEN FINISHING BLOWS WITH A SEPARATE FOREHEAD KISS BECAUSE I AM SO SIGMA!!!!!! WAHOO!!!!!!

SIGNED . WITH LOVE . FURINA'S WIFE ANON. WAHHAHAHAHA

okay you've convinced me. i amend my previous statement, furina's bed is now a 10/10 in my books. YOU'RE SO RIGHT THOUGH???? she would have so many plushies, all in different sizes and styles just scattered across her bed. and every single one of them is named, and she never forgets what they're called; the little white swan is blanche, the big fluffy cat is mademoiselle chat, the blue otter is little neuvillette.... etc. etc. DATES WITH THEM WOULD BE SO CUTEEEE LIKE LITTLE PICNICS TOO WHERE SHE SETS OUT FOOD FOR ALL OF THEM.... imagine if she set up little puppet shows with them too, just making wild stories and acting them out with her plushies... that would be adorable :O

IM SORRYYYYY i'll write some happy fluff for furina soon. promise 🤞

BUT RIGHT??????? like damn, tumblr. i know pride month was in june, but that doesn't mean you have to throw a perfectly good lesbian in the void. the positive response i've got on it has made up for it though, so thank you again. at least it wasn't a total waste of energy :")

YES YES YOU GET IT!!!! that's exactly what i was going for with the fic, furina wants to keep you close, she wants you close to your heart, she just isn't ready to accept why. you are what is keeping her alive, the thing keeping her going. without you..... AUGHHHH YOU GET ME SO MUCH!!!!

and no no no apologies!!! i'm thrilled to see you in my inbox again :DDD i love all of my lovely designated anons, everyone is welcome to share their thoughts here!! there is no judgement, only incoherent rambling about our favourite characters HAHAHA

HUGGING YOU BACK!!!! WAHOOO!!!

[wackywheel]

c!connor fic rec masterpost!

[img id.] a row of melon blocks, filtered with a gradient of pale purple, blue, and green so that they look pastel. in the bottom left, text reads, “please read these fics they’re so good.” in the bottom right, a sign reads, “eat pant conar.” [end id.]

i talked about making one of these a while back and finally got around to combing thru the tags to compile fics for it so, yo! if you're a fan of c!connor, are looking to figure out how best to characterize him for your own works, just wanna read about him, or any combination of the former, you're in luck!

while the main criteria for stuff to make it on here is that it characterizes connor accurately, nearly all of these are also just fics that i personally like LOL so while i'll try to be as objective as i can for the sake of my fellow c!connor enjoyers, i must be entirely transparent w y'all that this is mostly just fics that i, personally, really like. ...which is technically the purpose of fic rec posts anyways, but i digress...

fics are below the readmore! ↴

ok the way ive ordered all of these is both in categories of.. sort of pseudo genres ? basically theyre just paired/grouped up according to their premise, as well as loosely chronological according to ao3's recently updated filter!

(also, fics with an *asterisk before them are ones that i personally am biased about bc of who wrote them LOL)

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"connor is a god" fics

basically, these fics primarily focus on the hc of connor being a god/immortal that was very popular back before we saw much of him, beyond his appearances in his two tales episodes! while i'm not a huuuge fan of this hc, nor do i really have much to say individually about each fic, i still wanna give these fics props for setting the bar very high when it comes to treating c!connor with respect, reverence, and most of all agency, especially so early on during the post-nov16th months!

There Are Answers Here by angeloncewas

the constant by diapason

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connor & some/all of benchtrio fics

exactly what it says on the tin, this group of fics focuses on connor's relationships with other characters, but primarily with one, more, or all of benchtrio!

Stray Italian Greyhound by akuli holy shit this fic is an absolute classic when it comes to early c!connor content... connor confronts glatt in a very unique way that, honestly? i've rarely seen depicted when it comes to the two interacting! following that, though, connor and tubbo sit down and talk about schlatt in a wholly honest and cathartic way.

*Here Comes the Sun by BeatrixGtheMaskedDogNoobsomeExagerjunk here it is! the first of many, many, of beatrix's fics i'm gonna rec to y'all! okay to be honest, clingyduo's inclusion in this fic is very very minor if we're gonna dig into semantics, but i otherwise had no idea where else to put this because of how genuinely unique it was for its time! (its time being pre-s2 finale) an indepth study of connor's hypothetical interactions with ghostbur here, flashbacks explaining schlatt's ties to the revive book there, this oneshot absolutely killed it, especially so early on in the lifespan of connor-centric works!

Ask No Guarantees by angeloncewas another connor & tubbo fic! there's an alternate reality where i became a devout c!tubbling i'm absolutely sure of it. to summarize it shortly, the two bond over their dead best friends! wahoo grief! there's also some very interesting discussion of in-universe religion which is always very fun imo!

*advice you’ve given other people that was really about yourself by antfrost ok here we go, first fic from beloved mutual connor timedeo lets go lets go character study of connor using conversations with benchtrio as a vehicle fuck YES sir this fic is great. i am an absolute sucker for character analysis, even when it's just little exchanges and acts of kindness from one hurt person to another (also in all honesty this fic was the one that made me change the section title to benchtrio instead of just tubbo/clingyduo LMAO)

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"connor showed up too late" fics

angst time bitches! despite how much c!connor's backstory is built upon angst, and how much i love the little guy, i'm honestly not a huge fan? anyways i fucking love these fics regardless so i think that must say something either about me or them. you decide

Brutus Is An Honorable Man by 2point5 if stray italian greyhound was a classic, then this fic is literally a loadbearing pillar of the c!connor fanbase. holy SHIT is she one iconic collection of words. the premise is pretty simple, connor shows up too late after getting a letter from schlatt asking him to come. he and quackity talk about schlatt. it does not go well. i cannot stress enough though. read this fic. like this is required reading this is canon its 100% canon cc!connor called me and said it is (lying) (theres just a lot of headcanons i like in it im biased) (not joking about the required reading part though)

People Die Every Day, I Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way by orojiratsu ...and if brutus is an honorable man was required reading, then this fic is extra credit! ...literally! as in it was actually inspired by the last fic! very similar premise, but the author gets much more into detail about the aftermath of nov16th, including tubbo's reaction to connor's past with schlatt, as well as lending connor a bit more agency when it comes to going toe to toe with quackity's reaction to schlatt's death.

Lay here with me until the years go by. by zrkk a very short oneshot, but really impactful all the same! one thing i really commend this oneshot for is that despite its length, the author manages to get connor's verbal reactions to schlatt's death nearly spot on. go give it a read!

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"connor reviving / rescuing schlatt" fics

yessssss we're getting into the good stuff, the struggles that end either happily or bittersweetly all the same. these are fics that i constantly find myself rereading when i'm missing c!connor, and cannot reccomend literally all of them enough!

*The Friends We Refuse to Abandon by BeatrixGtheMaskedDogNoobsomeExagerjunk ok this is what i meant before by many of beatrix's fics lol this fic is like. another one that's literally required reading if u like c!connor bc it has absolutely everything u could ask for. connor reviving and reuniting with his bestie? having agency in the narrative? helping people just for the sake of helping them? you name it, we got it here.

twenty thousand years of this by rosewitchx GOD this fic is so fucking iconic as well. i absolutely consider it required reading as well, bc both this one and the last one fill their niche incredibly well rosewitchx's writing and characterization of connor, as well as basically everyone else they write from what ive seen, is incredibly well researched and true to their characters, so this is definitely not the last fic of theirs im going to be reccing on this post lol similar premise to tfwrta, except connor wasn't the one to revive schlatt. regardless, he's still given the assertiveness and narrative agency when rescuing schlatt that makes this fic super cathartic to reread if you're craving that sort of thing! (also, this specific fic is from a series of the author's that explains certain headcanons much better than if you were to just read the fic in isolation. go give it a read over here!)

I'm Tired by Anonymous another short read, but still a very good one! props to anon! this fic emphasizes the 'bittersweet' point i made in this section's intro. schlatt has been revived, and he and connor have reunited, but at what cost of his own physical health?

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smplive-era connor fics

yessss fuck yes fuck YEESSS you people are NOT immune to me making you remember not only smplive, but that its CANON baybee its 100% CANON TO DSMP LETS GOOOOOOOOOOO

*Far In Time (we've got some catching up to do!) by connor6Silly wait hold on

*What Will Happen Will Happen by connor6Silly wait fuck these are literally all just my fics

bro did all of the good c!connor smplive fics all get purged or something ??? i literally cant find any that i like, let alone think characterized connor well bc they all do him so fucking dirtyyyy y'all its awful 😭 so uhh in lieu of that .. read my fics? pretty please? i have a whole promo post for the first one here if u wanna learn more :)

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syndicate/karl oriented connor fics

ok so if y'all know me, you know im a sucker for literally all of connor's relationships on the server that we never see actually explored canonically (s&c im talking about s&c) so to balance that out, here's his friendships that are like. actually fucking real! and tangible!

*THIS IS A PROTEST FOR YOUR HEART! by antfrost yessss another one of connor timedeo's fics this is sorrrt?? of?? an au? one where everything went a-okay on nov28th, and everyone in the syndicate is happy and alive and glad to be able to spend time together. connor especially! bc he has lots of people that are there to care for him now! very short, sweet, and fluffy!

*The Planet With a Thousand Sunsets by BeatrixGtheMaskedDogNoobsomeExagerjunk another beatrix fic!!! and GOD this one is a lot of fun, as well as a companion fic to tfwrta! this fic goes all in on connor and karls friendship, framing it as if it were an actual tales episode with a cast list and everything! as of me making this post (5/22/22) the fic is not complete, so if y'all want to read more of it, i'd really suggest commenting and sharing what you liked about it! (but Do Not pester beatrix about if/when shes going to complete it bc if i hear that shits happening y'all will have hell to pay >:(((( )

*all the broken can find hope (in the most unexpected places) by BeatrixGtheMaskedDogNoobsomeExagerjunk last fic of beatrix's, as well as another syndicate fic! yipee! now, technically this fic might be better suited to go into the final section of this post, but connor's inclusion is not only accurate enough, but also the setting is very much relevant enough for it to slide into here by means of relating to the syndicate. connor's role in this fic is mostly by means of an exploration of his friendship with schlatt, juxtaposing it with emeraldduo's own close bond. two bad bitches (close friendships that came long before the dsmp ever did) kicking ass together instead of fighting one another for relevancy you love to see it <3

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connor-centric au fics

so technically most of these fics could technically be classified as aus, but thats sort of just the state we're in when it comes to actual canonical content of c!connor. Anyways! here's some straight up 100% aus that very much are either in entire other settings, or diverge early on enough in the timeline that the result is completely unrecognizable from what actually happened in canon

god of arepo (series) by rosewitchx this next rosewitchx fic... isn't technically a fic, but a series! the god of arepo series is very much a product of its time (post-exile, pre-doomsday) but it's still 100% a classic in my eyes basically, this au shows the product of the world being entirely claimed by the egg, and how connor, with ghost sweaterduo in tow, deals with the aftermath. again, very much a product of its time, but i think that makes its state as a sort of fandom-time-capsule all the more appealing <3 break the cycle in half by rosewitchx holy shit this au is an absolute trip in the best way possible??? i've never consumed any of the madoka magica franchise, but you don't really even need to do that to understand the fic tbh after losing all of their loved ones to an unavoidable, inevitable disaster, connor and karl both become magical boys in order to go back in time and save those they lost or die trying

*and the universe said i love you by antfrost if i had a nickel for every c!connor centric meguca au there was on ao3, i would have exactly 2. which isn't a lot, but it's really funny that it's happened twice now! beloved mutual connor timedeo's take on the au is similar, yet still entirely unique on its own! after schlatt gets got during a mission, connor makes his wish to be a magical boy in order to save him. he does not know what he's getting into, to say the least </3

panacea by rosewitchx YESSSSSSS I GET TO TALK ABOUT THIS FIC again, technically it could be classified in the next section of this post, but i feel like the amount of canon divergence it features definitely earns it its place here! while the fic's actual author's notes give a better description of its context, i'll give y'all this quick synopsis- quackity figures out how to revive schlatt right after nov16th, but he comes back... a little different than he left the first time. thus, hijinks ensue.

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fics that aren't fully connor-centric, but still characterize him accurately enough that i'm reccing them

again, exactly what it says on the tin; these fics really don't focus too much on c!connor, so i won't go into much depth about them, but his cameos still pass with flying colors imo, so i'd absolutely reccomend em!

the definition of a dwarf planet by WreakingHavok a short and sweet pre-nov16th sweaterduo fic that recontextualizes a lot of their interactions with smplive as a focal point

when i’d make you oh-so afraid by rosewitchx charlie and connor, but the former especially, both grapple with schlatt’s death and how they feel about it.

I never, never want to go home by rosewitchx a look back at l’manberg, set a year since the 16th.

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aaaand there you have it, folks! a collection of the best of the best when it comes to c!connor! if y’all have other fics you really enjoy centering on mr eatspants, please feel free to send them to me in an ask! i’m sure there’s still just a little bit of gold hiding out in the swathes of badly mistagged fics that are flooding connor’s main tag atm -_-

but yes! i’ll probably update this within the next few months if any new, notable c!connor fics pop up, so keep an eye out!

[rockabye-rinzler]

.

so, i wasn’t expecting so many to agree with me when i made that text post! wow! and just like i said in those tags, here’s the separate post explaining myself and my actions :3

First and foremost, I have nothing against any of the other characters this franchise has given us. Sam, Quorra, Alan, even Flynn and Dyson even though I would strangle them both with my bare hands. But when the franchise is called “Tron”, it sure would be nice for Tron to actually show up lmao. With that being said, lets get into it:

Overall I really think the movie should be about Tron overcoming/learning to live with his trauma (being Rinzler, betrayal all around, crisis of faith, all that jazz)

He emerges from the sea of simulation and throughout the movie he keeps flashing back and forth between memories from both Tron and Rinzler,

Naturally he’s horrified bc he’s the “hero of the grid” yet here he is having memories of doing some fucked up shit (aka show me what happened during his time as Rinzler)

Have the movie be about his journey back to Tron city, and his journey about returning to, not the hero he was, but the hero he wants to be

Give him more agency, give him c h o  i c e s

I want this movie to be heavy in terms of its subject matter. Show us a hero who lost everything, including their own mind and free will

OOOO let this be an opportunity to give me more of Tron with a temper.  Uprising gave us a lil t a s t e, but I want more, you feel me?

How did all this affect his view and relationship with the users? “I fight for the users”, and yet where were they when you needed them to fight for you? hm???

GIVE ME TRON MONOLOGUES (okay maybe not "monologues" but let me hear him talk about what's going through his head or s o m e t h i n g)

Speaking of Uprising, that and Betrayal are really the only time Tron gets any real characterization. And yet, not even the fucking comic book could make him the main character, smh

Anywho I want a Tron vs Rinzler fight, send tweet. end of post.

But seriously, I know they wouldn’t be able to physically fight bc obviously, but it’s still a fun thought

Throughout the movie he comes to realize and accept what happened, and this is a part of him that he has to live with

Give me like, a phantom Rinzler in Tron’s head. How he’s terrified that he’s going to become him again, especially when he gets angryyyy. Like his eyes and lights flash orange or some shit. v sexy

hm, i hate to say it but give me something similar to bucky barnes/winter soldier. those kinda vibes

Yet, while man vs. self is a fun conflict,,,let’s have a guest villain appearance by none other than Dyson! Wahoo!

So alongside Tron’s own internal conflict, someone is trying to gather what is left of Clu’s forces to become the new system admin. As Tron is figuring out himself, he’s gotta uncover who’s behind this dastardly plot! 

Lo and behold, it’s Dyson

“But Bec!” I hear you cry, “Why Dyson? I really like Dyson!”

In conclusion, while yes beating Tron with the trauma stick throughout this movie is a neat idea, I do overall want this movie to be about his growth. What it is he’s fighting for. What it means to be a hero. And not just for the grid, but also for himself 💖

Listen, listen. I thought about other “villains” like Cyrus, or maybe the return of another virus, or even Dillinger Jr, but Dyson feels like a much more interesting foil to Tron (this post is already long enough so i’ll spare the specifics)

They fight, they yell about what's become of them and the grid, they fight some more, Tron wins bc of course he does lmao (Dyson couldn't beat him in Uprising, sure as shit can't do it now)

Tron looks at his hands (similar to that ONE flashback in Legacy) to see himself holding his blue and orange discs. Realizes he's stronger now than he was before 😌

(I forgot to mention he has 2 discs this whole time still, whoops)

[duckymcdoorknob]

duckY I WANNA REQUEST BUT IM NOT CREATIVE!!! So like. Uh. You can use the example prompt from the event post 🤠. The one about hemophobic Kageyama. HAPPY 300 GOOD JOB!! -Anon Palm

HI PALM THANKS FOR DA REQUEST THIS WORKS FOR ME!!

THANKS FOR BEING PART OF THE SQUAD

ENJOY!!

Hemophobic

Ships: Tobio Kageyama x Shoyo Hinata

Warnings: TW!! blood, Panic attack, Kageyama actually cries.

Prompt: When Kageyama gets cut at the Tokyo training camp, the last thing Hinata expected to see was his partner crying hysterically

Tags: General list! @lisiwalker, @rebloging-everything, @fushigum, @koushismatchalatte, @littlebbyleesfw

“C’mon Kageyama!” Hinata cooed as he led his friend up the hill outside of the gym.

“Hold on, Boke! Gimme a minute!” The jet black haired boy replied in annoyance.

“Hurryyyyyy! We gotta talk strategy!” Hinata chomped into his watermelon slice with a sweet grin on his face.

Kageyama couldn’t help but to grin himself at the sight of how cute- his friend!! Yes!! His best friend Hinata looked so silly eating that watermelon! regardless, a grin was seated on his face as he climbed up the hill.

“Wahoo!” Hinata chimed upon seeing Kageyama reach the top. He grabbed the setter’s wrist and led him to where he was seated in the shade.

“Okay so...”

The two boys talked about how they were going to complete the game, which attacks to use, etc.

“Alright let’s head back in to see Daichi! We can talk to him and Suga-san about what we planned.” Hinata flashed his partner a closed eyed smile and kneeled down to put the notebooks and pencils back in his backpack, “Go on without me, I’ll pick all this up.”

“Sure.” Kageyama replied, turning to begin his careful walk down the hill. Carefully, he thought as he trudged down the grassy incline.

His exorbitantly cautious stepping was still not enough, he managed to lose his footing and topple downward, only being stopped by his bare knees, and bare hands, meeting the rough blacktop.

“Ngh-“ he winced as the pain suddenly washed over him like a wave. He stayed in his laying position for a few seconds before the realization kicked in.

He had just scraped his knees. Pretty badly too. Maybe his hands as well.

“Kageyama! I’m coming down!” Hinata’s cheery voice echoed.

“Shit!” Kageyama whispered and somehow yelled at the same time. He pushed up on his sore hands and looked completely forward as he attempted to stand. He couldn’t make it alone though, the pain was just too much for him.

His curiosity was his own dismay as he begrudgingly looked down at his hands.

They were bleeding.

The hands he uses to win so many games are painted with splotches of bright red blood.

Blood.

The sight absolutely disgusted the setter, and also freaked him the hell out.

“W-wait! Hinata Don’t c-come down yet!” Kageyama begged in a strained voice.

“Wha-? Kageyama are you okay?” Hinata’s bright orange hair was visible from the top of the hill.

“F-fine! Just stay where y-you are! There’s fire ants!” Kageyama shouted in return as he looked at his hands once again.

The bleeding had worsened as the pink scrape had become more pronounced.

“Oh okay! Tell me when it’s safe!”

The setter choked on his breath as he turned his head to the side. Not here, not now. He sighed harshly and forced himself into a seated position, unfortunately catching a glimpse of his knees in the process.

Boy did they look scary. They were completely covered in deep cuts and bleeding profusely.

Poor Kageyama couldn’t handle the sight.

The jet black haired boy’s chest began to heave, signifying his labored breathing. The boy’s tongue felt like an anchor in his mouth, where it sat uncomfortably. Sobs slowly bubbled up in his chest until they finally released. The setter screamed in agony as the sight was branded into his head.

“Kageyama?!” Hinata cried worriedly as he scrambled to the incline in the hill. That’s when his eyes met his partner’s.

They were widened and had tears leaking out of them.

Kageyama looked terrified.

“Wh-what?! What happened?” The spiker ran down the hill and squatted at Kageyama’s side.

His friend, however, couldn’t answer. His boisterous cries were unending. His breaths were more like raspy squeaks as his chest continued to contract more and more. He was dying, and he hated that Hinata had to witness it.

“Kageyama, talk to me!” Hinata cried as he went to place his hand on his partner’s knee.

“DONT TOUCH!”

The orange haired boy retracted his hand immediately, noticing the open cuts on Kageyama’s knees that were seeping blood. He immediately turned to comfort his panicking friend, smiling patiently.

“Oh, It’s okay! It’s nothing to be scared of! It’s just a little cut, you’ll be able to play ag-“

“There’s- it’s- i- the- there’s-“ Kageyama sputtered over his words as he squeezed his eyes shut at the upcoming word that must leave his lips, “knees- hands- they- I’m- it’s-“

“What’s up? What are they doing?” Hinata asked gently, brushing a stray hair out of his partner’s face.

“Blood! Bleeding!” The setter finally choked out.

“Y-you...” Hinata cocked his head like a confused puppy, “You can’t handle blood?”

That’s when the spiker came to the realization.

“You can’t handle blood...”

Hinata sat behind Kageyama and wrapped his body around his partner’s much larger figure. He buried his face into the crook of his neck and began to breathe gently in and out, just loud enough for his friend to hear. “In and out. Focus on me, just on me. It’s just you and me right now.”

Kageyama nodded gently, loosening his closed eyes. He shakily tried to match with Hinata’s breathing pattern, slowly calming down after about five minutes.

“I’m really sorry.” A weak voice muttered in shame.

“Kageyama” Hinata said gently, “You have nothing to be sorry about.”

“I just-“

“Nope. Nothing matters right now. Like I said, it’s just me and you. We can worry about everything else later.”

Kageyama had never felt so cared for... so appreciated... so loved. Tears leaked from his eyes once more, as he silently thanked the gods that Hinata was there to comfort him.

“Hey you’re okay, no need to cry anymore. When you’re all done, I’ll text Suga-San to come with some baby wipes, to get you patched up okay?”

The setter nodded, “Thank you... for everything.”

“Of course. My mom always told me to take care of my loved ones, so I couldn’t just walk away.” The smaller boy replied sheepishly.

“Is this your way of telling me you love me?” Kageyama asked stoically, however his insides were about to explode.

“Heh. Yeah.”

“Good. I didn’t need another thing to worry about today.” The setter replied with a small puff of air.

“Ah, you never fail to humor me, Kageyama.”

——————✞♡︎✞♡︎✞♡︎✞♡︎✞♡︎✞♡︎✞♡︎✞♡︎✞——————

[kutiebug-kuddles]

Free Day! (Pt.2)

Platonic / GN / Mikey

Warnings: none

A/N: wahoo, part two baby. I realized as I was writing this that if I included all of them in one post it would be like a mile long, and I would only have one post out. So @kokokatsworld I hope you don’t mind that I used your ask for extra content, lol. I’ll tag you in all of them as they come out, so don’t worry!

Mikey groaned, “I’m so booorredd.”

The normally energetic turtle sat deflated, stomach-down on a bean bag, his foot tapping the ground.

“Have you drawn yet today?” You said slinking into another beanbag next to him. He turned his head to you.

“I’ve tried, but it’s like all my mojo juice is gone— Even a pencil feels like.. like one thousand pounds!” He sighed, smushing his face into the beanbag, “and I really wanted to practice some more today too.”

“Hmm,” you thought aloud, “maybe you just need some variety. What about baking something?”

“I looked through the kitchen. Someone -ahem Raph ahem- forgot to restock our pantry so there’s basically only cornstarch and food coloring left...”

There was an air of silence as you looked around hoping to lock onto something that might give you an idea. Hmph... what can we do with cornstarch and food coloring?

Like a switch flipped in your mind, you looked to Mikey who was staring back with the same wide-eyed expression. “Omigosh, are you thinking what I’m thinking?” You and the little Box jumped out of your beanbags and bounded off to the kitchen.

Within seven minutes twenty different colored cups of chalky, pastel liquid covered the countertops. Oobleck paint! The perfect idea. Easy to make, easy to wash off...

“Oh wait- one last thing!” He ran off, grabbed a handful of paintbrushes and threw them into the cups. And super easy to fling at your friends. “And now we’re ready! Who should we hit first?”

“Hey Mikey, have you seen my flash-y drive?” Donnie walked in absentminded, typing away at his tech brace. “I can’t seem to locate it- which is pretty ironic considering I designed it to literally fla- OHGOD”

Mikey whooped as you both pounced on him, slinging the paint and covering him from head-to-toe in pastel yellow and pink. “Oh come on, not again!” He groaned out, “You know pastels aren’t my colors!”

In his nonchalant-but-totally-not-regretting voice, Mikey said, “Relaaxxx, D. It washes off.”

You could practically see the veins popping out of his massive forehead. “Oh yeah, I’m sure it’ll just wash out of all the crevices in my DELICATE TECH easy peasy. So Easy Peasy that— that there’s not even a need for Lemon Saueezy!” The way his voiced peaked at the end had you and mike holding onto each other for dear life to keep from doubling over.

Clearing your throat, you walked up to Donnie and slung your arm around his tense shoulders. He was glaring straight lasers through your head, sure, but you didn’t care. “Jees,” you said to Mikey, “you’d think a guy who prides himself on his genius would remember to add a mess-proof layer, huh?” At this point Mikey was close to collapsing on the floor. He smacked your arm off.

“OOHKAY, that’s it!” He launched two paint cups in your directions. One, completely drenching you in green, and the other hitting Mikey square in the face. “HaHA. Take that!”

“Oh it is ON, baby!”

Before you knew it you and Mikey were crouched behind a turned over table, furrowed brows and markings painted on your faces. You can’t remember when they joined in, but you knew Leo and Raph were hiding out as well, ready to strike. Now, it was a war zone.

“We attack on my count, okay?” Mikey nodded as you both turned out. You held up your hand holding your brush; slowly your fingers lifted. “One.”

“Two.”

“THREE!”

War cries erupted from every corner of the kitchen, colors flew everywhere striking makeshift armor from pots and pans. You don’t know how long it went on for, nor how many times you were hit, but it ended with each of you exasperated on the floor, still trying to weakly fling what was left of the paint at each other. “No!! I’ll... I’ll never let you get away with this!” Donnie feebly reached out for a paintbrush only for the snap! of the smack of tail to send it flying.

“What did you do to my kitchen?!” Splinter shrieked.

“Uh.”

“Well-“

“It wasn’t me! Mikey and Y/N started it. See-” Splinter held a finger to his mouth.

“All of you will clean this mess up, now!” He turned, mumbling something as he walked out, “and the countertops better be shiny enough to see my handsome face in!”

“Way to throw us under the bus, Donnie.” Mikey sneered.

“You were already in the road, dear Michael. The bus had just arrived per its due course.” He cleared his throat, “... and also with a little bit of help from my ‘Everyone But Me Is Doing Something Stupid’ alarm.”

“Donnie!” You sighed, “Fine, let’s just get this over with.” Grabbing the supplies, you all set to work.

Mopping up next to him you said, “Sorry it had to end this way, Mikey.”

“Nah,” he smiled, scrubbing at a counter, “I’m having fun!”

“Really?”

“Yeah, besides it was both of our ideas, and we would’ve had to clean up sometime anyway. I’m just glad at least you’re here!”

“Hmm, I dunno... a pastel paint zone seems like like it would be an interesting change in décor.” You chuckled, “What a shame.”

“Well.. it’s not entirely a waste.” He flung his rag over his shoulder, “I think it helped get some of my mojo back, and I’ve got juuuust enough for one more thing!”

You finished up with cleaning, and frankly, it was due time for the kitchen to get a pampering. After chilling on the couch, you went back to Mikey’s room to collect your stuff to leave, but before you left he said he had something to show you.

“Tada!!” He held up a small banner flecked with pastel yellow and pink. On it was a drawing of you two posing victoriously atop his pile of brothers, heroically brandishing paintbrushes.

You couldn’t help but light up at the sight. “Mike, this is awesome!!”

“Well that’s good, because it’s yours.” He folded it up and tucked it in your bag before you could protest. “May today be now forever known as the day that Mikey van (Y/N)burg won the Great Oobleck War!” He saluted, jokingly.

You laughed and thanked him as you said your goodbyes, and that late afternoon when you got home you tacked up the banner by your bed. After all, what better way to start a day than to see you and your best friend taking on the world (or his three older brothers) together?

[ifishouldvanish]

Editing tips, I guess?

Hey uhhhhh, so I've gotten lots of new followers over the past few weeks and wanted to do some kind of thank you?? Also, I have seen a fair share of "omg HOW" in the tags on my edits (which??? always make my day?? my week??? my life????)

Anyway, I thought I'd share some of my ~techniques with y'all? So here goes:

(lmao this got really fuckin long so cuuuuuut)

1. Make EVERYTHING a Smart Object

Okay, maybe not EVERYTHING, but seriously. Do it. It will save ur editing life. You ever shrink something down and then an hour later change your mind and decide you want it bigger? If you're not using a smart object, it’ll get blurry when you scale it back up and you’ll be fuCKED!

To make a layer/group a smart object, just right click on it in the layers panel and select "convert to smart object". This makes Photoshop store the layer's original data in a separate space for safe keeping (an embedded .psb file, to be exact) -- so you can shrink it and enlarge it as many times as you want without any lossiness.

As soon as I paste/place a screencap, texture, or whatever into my document, the first thing I always, ALWAYS do is convert it to a smart object!!

Why, you might ask?? Continue to item No.2 :)))

2. Harness the POWER of Smart Objects!!

The reason I am obsessed with Smart Objects is because I am obsessed with making any edits as non-destructive as possible. If you use “Image > Adjustments > Levels/Selective Color/etc” on a regular layer, that’s a destructive edit. Same goes for any Filters (such as blur/sharpen) and transforms (Warp, distort, perspective). You lose the original data that was there and the only way it can be undone is with ctrl+z. Might not seem like a huge deal at first, but if you keep chugging along for an hour and decide, “hmm, maybe i went too hard on that levels adjustment after all...” your only options are deleting the layer and starting over, or uh... hoping it’s still in your history panel.

However, it's really easy to avoid destructive edits when you use smart objects!! Because all those adjustments, filters, and transforms become “Smart Filters”. Smart Filters have all the non-destructive advantages of performing these adjustments via adjustment layers, but have the added bonus of ONLY effecting the layer they’ve been applied to, instead of cascading down and effecting all the layers beneath. (Which can be a good thing sometimes, but that’s a whole other topic)

Smart filters are attached to their ‘parent layers’, and can be hidden, deleted, or modified (by double-clicking their names) at any time:

Can I hear a wahoo???

Other cool things about Smart Objects:

You can copy a Smart Filter with all its settings to another layer by alt+click+dragging it over

You can change the order in which Smart Filters are applied by clicking and dragging them around

You can edit a smart object independently/in a sort of 'isolated' mode by double-clicking on its thumbnail!! I like to use this for edits that are specific to a given screencap-- like cutting out the background and any initial adjustments, like levels and selective coloring. Once you’re done editing the contents of the smart object, hit ctrl+s and it will automatically update in the main document!

But really, the biggest thing for me here is psychological. I know I’m much more willing to try things and experiment when I know that I can easily go back and tweaks things at any time. Otherwise, I’d stick with adjustments I don’t really like all that much simply because it would take too much time/effort to redo them.

3. Don't even THINK ABOUT using the eraser tool or I will STOMP YOU to death with my hooves!!

Use a layer mask instead. Please I am begging you. It all comes back to making your edits as non-destructive as possible. If you erase something, it's gone forever. When you mask something, you can make changes to which parts are visible/not visible as often as you want.

For the newbies or the otherwise unacquainted, a mask is a greyscale ‘map’ attached to a layer (or layer group) that controls its opacity. Black areas give the layer 0% opacity, white areas will give it 100% opacity, and you can use shades of grey to achieve partial transparency. You ‘draw’ on these layers with the your trusty brush and paint bucket tools.

You can create a mask by selecting a layer and then clicking the little mask icon at the bottom of the layers panel (it’s the one with the little circle inside the box). Draw black on the parts you want to hide, and if you erase too much on accident? Just paint back over it with white!

I love masks, and sometimes i will throw an already masked layer inside a layer group and apply a second mask to said group. This way I have two masks that can be edited independently from each other. Like layer mask-ception.

So anyway, yes. Eraser tool? Don’t know her.

4. Try using channels to create masks!

This is a technique that works REALLY well for cutting out complex shapes, such as wispy hair (or feathers!) -- provided there's strong contrast between the subject and the background, and the background isn't too busy.

This is also a fantastic method for capturing alpha transparency. For example: If you have a neato paint stroke/splatter/watercolor texture you want to use as a mask, but has a solid background that’s getting in the way of things. This method will capture all the semi-opaque areas flawlessly!!

While editing your image (which you had better have made into a Smart Object!!!) do the following:

Switch from the "layers" panel to the "Channels" panel.

Toggle through the R, G, and B channels, and decide which one has the most contrast for the areas you are trying to mask.

Ctrl+Click that channel's thumbnail. This will create a selection marquee.

Switch back to the layers panel

Click on the target layer/group (the one you are trying to mask)

Click the mask icon at the bottom of the panel (the one with the circle inside a box)

Release the selection and invert the mask if necessary

If you're using this method to cut out a subject from its background, you probably won't want alpha transparency. In this case, select the mask thumbnail and use a levels adjustment on the mask itself to bump the contrast until you have more of a cutout effect!

It sounds like a lot of steps, but it’s really simple! So I made this handy GIF: (click to view from beginning)

Sometimes you won’t want to use this method for the entire image, but just a specific part. For example, if you’ve cut out a character with some other method (magic wand, manual brushwork), but are having a hard time with their hair in particular. Use this method to create the selection, but instead of converting the whole selection into a mask, use the brush tool to apply the mask only where you need it! You can invert the selection itself with shift+ctrl+i.

5. Outlining text

The font I used here is Salomé, which is actually a solid typeface with no outlined version. But you can make virtually any font into an outlined version if you so desire!

There's two possible methods here, actually:

The Easy Way:

Add a stroke layer effect to the text layer (by selecting the layer, clicking the little “fx” button at the bottom of the layers panel, and choosing “Stroke...”)

As far as settings go, aligning the stroke to the inside usually yields the best result/maintains the integrity of the letterforms.

Make the color of the text itself match the background.

If necessary, use the lighten/darken blend modes to create the illusion of transparency.

If you need true transparency (which I didn't until I decided I wanted to apply a gradient over the text), you'll have to try something else-- The Also Easy But Less Than Ideal Way:

Right click the text layer in the layers panel and select "convert to shape".

Now you can edit the fill/stroke the same way you would any other vector shape.

Again, you’ll want to set the stroke alignment to ‘inside’. For vector shapes, those settings are a little hidden. You’ll wanna open up that little dropdown in the toolbar with the line in it, and click “More Options”.

This is semi-destructive, so if you're working with a lot of text you might have to edit later, consider duplicating and hiding those text layers first so you'll have a 'backup' of it.

And while I’m on the topic of text...

6. Try breaking up your text layers!

I know a lot of people like to draw a neat little text box to put their text in, and then they center it all nice and neat and probably use a small font size to make it subtle and stuff... and that’s cool. Everyone’s got their different styles and things they like to emphasize in their edits and there’s absolutely merit to that sort of thing (case and point: the bulk of my dear @herzdieb’s work), but. Listen.

I love typography. I love a good typeface. The stroke widths, the letterforms, the ligatures, the serifs... I get like, horny on main for a good typeface. I like to make the text on my edits BIG, so that those details can shine. I also like doing interesting things with the text. Jumbling words/letters around, distorting them, deconstructing them and just...  letting the text really ~interact with the rest of the composition instead of just kinda politely floating on top of it.

I’m not saying you have to do that kinda stuff. Or that I think neat little floaty text boxes are boring, or lazy, or whatever. It’s just... personally, I get really inspired by type. Fun type treatments are one of those things I LIVE FOR, something of a ~signature of mine, and I encourage everyone to just... try it? To use text as more of an integral Design Element and less of a... idk. A caption?

So if you have a quote, or even just a word... put each word (or letter) on its own text layer. And then: make ‘em different sizes. Make the words so big they don’t fit on the canvas. Rotate each one at a fun angle. Scatter them around. Go nuts. Use masks to chop parts of the letterforms off. Make ‘em overlap. Just have at it. Or, as the kids these days are saying: go absolutely fuckin feral.

If that really just isn’t your style, or doesn’t work/make sense for the edit you’re doing, fine. Delete all the layers and just do a text box or whatever. But. I’m tellin u.

Give it a try.

At least once.

Just... a lil taste.

7. Understand the difference between lighten/darken vs screen/multiply

For a while in my photoshoppin' youth, my understanding of these blend modes basically amounted to "darken makes things darker, and multiply makes things really darker", and vice versa for lighten/screen. But there's an important difference between how these blend modes work, and if you understand them, you can use them more... strategically? I guess?

Darken and Lighten are kinda misnomers tbh, because they technically don't really darken or lighten anything. What they actually do is make it so that only the areas of the layer that are darker or lighter than the content of the layers beneath them are visible. This produces some pretty nifty layering effects that you can't achieve with screen and multiply.

Here’s an example: (if you’re reading this on a phone with the brightness dimmed down you probably won’t be able to see the differences)

Without any the texture applied, you can really see the noise/graininess of Crowley’s jacket in the screencap. You can also see the ‘seam’ where Crowley fades into the background-- the jacket is a green-ish black, while the background it’s fading into is more of a purple-black.

With the texture set to ‘Screen’, the whole image becomes lighter across the board. Crowley’s jacket gets lighter, and so does Aziraphale’s jacket and the pink cloud thing. This does little to nothing to obscure the poor image quality and disguise that ‘seam’.

But with the ‘Lighten’ blend mode, ONLY the dark parts of the image appear lightened, and not only do they appear lightened, but they get kinda equalized. Notice how the patchy jpeg artifacts on Crowley’s jacket disappear, how that color seam smooths out, and how the brightness of Aziraphale’s jacket and the pink cloud doesn’t change at all.

This isn’t to say that lighten/darken are better and that you shouldn’t use screen/multiply. They each have their uses. But most often, I find myself using lighten/darken because the way they work is honestly really helpful? And just cool af?

8. Masking individual frames on gifs

If you ever feel like torturing yourself by making a gif that has frame-by-frame masking, my advice is don't try to mask each frame from scratch. You'll get patchy/wobbly results from the masks being slightly different on each frame.

Instead, mask the first frame, then alt+click and drag that mask onto the next frame. Make any minor adjustments to the new mask as needed, and repeat for each frame. This saves time and more importantly, keeps the masking consistent on areas with little to no movement, which makes a HUGE difference in how smooth the final product will be.

If you look at the edges of the animation, they’re nice and steady and consistent. It’s only the parts that have a lot of movement (like the back of his neck) where you can see any ‘ghosting’/wobbly-ness happening.

Sometimes the mask will move when I copy it to the next frame. Like, for the whole document. It gets nudged 20 pixels down or to the left or s/t every time. I have yet to figure out why, but I’m betting it has something to do with shooting myself in the foot with the frame 1 propagation settings at some point during editing?? ANYWAY, when this happens, just unlock the mask from its layer (click the little chain icon between their thumbnails) and move it back into place.

In these cases, I also like to pick a spot with a hard edge (such as the shoulder in the above gif) as a reference point of where it needs to be moved to. It kinda sucks having to do this for every frame, but you already signed up for some suckage when u decided to mask every frame of a gif, so I mean... 👀

9. Don't be afraid/too intimidated to do manips as needed!

Manips can be tricky if you're really striving for realism. There's light sources and color grading and perspectives to reconcile!! But when you're doing an artsy Edit with a capital E, odds are those kinds of discrepancies will be thoroughly camouflaged by all the levels, black and white, etc adjustments you're doing!

Something I run into often is, "I like this screencap, but the top of their head/hair is chopped off :(" But if I go back through all the screencaps from the scene, there's usually another frame where the camera is planned/zoomed out enough that I can steal the rest of their head/limb from it! And since it's from the same scene/shot, the lighting and color grading should already be a perfect match!

A super simple example:

So I wanted to use this picture of David and Michael for this edit, but 1) They’re standing on the wrong sides for their characters, and 2) part of David’s arm is covered up by Michael’s.

Of course, the easiest course of action would be to just mirror the photo so they’re on the correct sides, but 1) mirroring faces tends to yield wonky results, and 2) that still wouldn’t give me a perfect, free-standing cutout of Crowley to place wherever I want in my composition (as opposed to being forced to awkwardly position him off the edge of the canvas to hide the fact that the other arm is missing)

Fortunately, it only took all of like, two (2) minutes to draw a crude selection around his good arm, copy and paste it into a new layer, flip it around, and add any necessary masking to get the shape right.

My point here isn’t to teach y’all how to do manips, or to pass this off as an impressive example of one. Because it’s really, REALLY not. My point here is to demonstrate that even something as tiny and simple as this can really open up your options for what you can actually do with an edit/composition.

So next time you’re feeling limited/inconvenienced by the crop of a screencap, just... you know. Consider whether or not it’s worth attempting a quick and dirty manip to fix it.

Another Example:

Sometimes you’re torn between two screencaps. You like one element from Screencap A but also want some other element from Screencap B. What to do? Just frankenstein ‘em together. Layer one on top of the other, get them lined up, and mask out the necessary parts.

It’s easy to get hung up on stuff like “Uh... should Crowley’s shoulder be doing that?” but let me assure you that like... the people looking at the final product are none the wiser to your butcherwork and will not notice. Especially if you’re going to add a bunch of contrast and color adjustments later on. (in fact, sometimes I’ll apply those adjustments first so I’m not distracted by any discrepancies that are going to come out in the wash anyway)

“I dunno... 🤔🤔 doesn’t seem anatomically correct... 🤔🤔🤔🤔” thought no one.

Point is... point is... dolphins you can get away with a LOT more than you think you can. Don’t let the desire to make these kinds of manips perfect get in the way of just... making them good enough. The bar isn’t that high, I promise.

10. Know what inspires you

What types of edits get you EXCITED? What kind of work do you see on your dash and go, "oh, I'm reblobbin' THAT!!1!"

I know for herzdieb, she's all about emotional pieces. She likes matching words/lyrics/poetry to on-screen moments and punching you in the feels with both. She hears a song, or reads a poem, and the lightbulbs go off for her, and she does her thing.

As for myself, I just live for the aesthetics of an edit. The colors, the fonts, the composition. I almost never know what text/screencaps I'm going to use when I start an edit. I just see a font I like, or a color palette, or a texture, and think, "I wanna use that!"

And once you know what inspires you, collect that inspo! I hoard textures and fonts. I have them organized into neat lil folders. When I wanna make an edit, that’s where I start. I just browse through them all until one or two start calling my name. Herzdieb collects songs and quotes and poems. Maybe your thing is color palettes, or aesthetic-y photos. Or whatever.

The point here is make the kinda stuff you like/want to see. Not the kinda stuff everyone else is making or the kinda stuff you notice gets the most notes.

11. Be able to let go of things that aren't working

I often begin an edit with a rough idea of the style, colors, or layout I'm going for. And I almost always end up doing... something totally different.

So don't get too fixated on what your initial ideas are. Be open to experimenting and just let the edit be what it wants to be. If something looks nice, do it. If it doesn't, don't try to force it just because, "well, I was inspired by this piece that did xyz and I wanna try it too".

When you see a certain effect that inspires you, just keep it in mind as a possible solution for the next time you make something-- don't make it into a benchmark, or some imaginary 'goal' you have to meet for This Edit You Are Working On Right This Moment. In fact, sometimes the elements I end up ditching are the very ones I started with, that initially sparked my inspiration. And that's okay. Inspiration can be a moving target, and if your vision for something changes, let it.

You wanna know what inspo reference I was looking at when I started that “Temptation Accomplished” edit?

Fucking this: https://search.muz.li/YTdiNjkwN2Rh

You might be thinking, “how the fUCK was that the inspiration??!! Your edit looks nothing like that at all!” ...and you would be 100% correct, and that is 100% my point. I spent a good hour or two trying to incorporate that cutout text layering effect before finally accepting the fact that it just wasn’t working for the edit I was making. And it wasn’t until then that it actually started to come together.

12. Be patient, and take the time to explore all your options!

I’m not gonna lie, y’all. I spend hours on my edits. I usually complete them over the course of 2-3 days/sittings. I rarely have a plan. 99% of the time I'm just throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks. When I get stuck (when, not if), it helps to step away from it and come back later with a fresh perspective/set of eyes.

Every single edit I've posted, I have at some point felt like giving up on because I thought it looked like garbage (and not just because I was being self-deprecating/doubting myself, but because at those points, they simply weren't finished/something about the composition just wasn't working for me)

Work through those moments, and if necessary, take a break/sleep on it. It's always after I've exhausted my early ideas that the really good ones start to come to mind!

Here’s how the character poster edits I did progressed:

In Classic Me™ Fashion, I literally started off with just... textures I liked, and a font that I liked. Now, there were obviously a lot more ‘steps’ involved in both designs, but hopefully at the very least this gives a sense of how things get from point A to point B.

So uh... thanks 4 comin 2 my TED talk. I hope u learned at least one (1) cool new thing or maybe just feel vaguely inspired by this rambling mess?

[gaillaffxiv]

Pros and Cons of Dating ~ Dallia Akita

Pros:

   +Am jsut a pubb..y..... Dallia, under all her layers and layers that you’ll need to dig through to actually get her to date you (earnestly, at least,) is incredibly affectionate. And she’s not picky. You want handholding? You got it. You wanna make out? Done. You wanna do something that should probably stay between just the two of you?- Well that one she’s actually a little hesitant on, if only because she’s the woman here. But she really loves to be smothered in attention, and will absolutely return it.

   +Nonjudgmental- Really! Whenever she is saying something to bash on something trivial, it’s just teasing. And even if it’s someone she’s not dating, she tends to be conscientious about these things, so long as she actually knows you’re sensitive about it. You don’t get out of teasing just because you’re dating her, but there probably isn’t a single dark secret that can surprise her, at this point.

   +Don’t threaten me with a good time. She’s the kind of girl that can make do with any situation. She is never bored, because she is the party. Although she’s a rambunctious and potentially unlawful party, there will never be a dull moment with her around. Because assuming you’ve made it far enough to date her, you find these things fun too. Otherwise? Doomed. Goodbye.

   +You want that? With the spoken love language of gift giving, Dallia will likely overload your shelves with everything from (stolen) food that you need to live, to (also stolen) knick knacks that made her think of you, or she wanted you to have. Sometimes this is useless junk, though, like a rock. But it’s a really cool rock, okay?! Just look how shiny it is!

   +She’s doing her best. If she really, truly cares for you as a partner, she’s going to do her damnedest to treat you right. She’s not going to be good at it, and is going to fumble in multiple ways, as she’s inexperienced in, as they say, ‘giving a shit,’ but she really will try. Of course, what this looks like is likely crafted after her own ideals. Which are surprisingly considerate!

Cons:

   -Instropection- Too deep. If she’s comfortable actually sharing her thoughts with you, you’re about to find out she has too many. All the time. She’s trying to figure out the ulterior meaning behind everything, she’s trying to view an the picture of life, she’s trying to peer into the souls of those around her, she’s trying, trying, trying to understand everything for what it is- Or what she wants it to be. She’s more “pragmatic” than most, and oftentimes this makes her cynical.

   -Please stop thinking already. That pragmatism and cynicality is either the source or the result of her incredibly skills at being a conspiracy theorist. Being a conspiracy theorist, she will make many assumptions. The majority of those assumptions will be that you or someone around you is out to kill her. There’s a good reason for this, but she’s not going to tell you what it is. 

   -Insecurities? We got those. By the powers of similar things to the source of her “everyone’s out to get me” fear, she is both instable and insecure. She will need near constant reassurance that you do not hate her, aren’t going to leave her and are not out to kill her- And if she believes that? Then she’ll need to check in regularly, maybe even daily, to make sure you’re not dead.

   -Invisibility potion, go! So! Dallia is affectionate, earnest, trusting and adoring, right? But, and still by the same coin as the rest of her cons, whether or not she’s convinced you and nobody around you is out to kill her, someone’s gonna come along who wants to, right? But as a conspiracy theorist, she’s thinking ahead about how to deal with that- And she’s not gonna wanna get you hurt. The best way to do that? Nobody knows she cares about you. All her love is in private. That way they don’t know they can use you against her.

   -What’s yours is hers. What’s hers is also hers. Despite being an eccentric gift giver, she is very protective of her personal resources. If she loses anything in the process of giving it to you, you’re probably not going to get it. For the most part this is just going to mean lunch, booze or the like, but it also means if there isn’t enough blanket for both of you? You’re going to be cold. If she wants to say hi to her friend passing by while you’re on a date? She’s interrupting quality time for it. If someone is threatening to kill one of you and the other one can walk free? Well, she doesn’t want you to die, but if things are truly bleak, she’s looking out for herself.

Tagged by @saerumii and @cherrytart-ffxiv!! This got. A lot wordier than I was expecting. But there it is.

Tagging: @infiniteleftdoesffxiv, @keeper-of-the-lilacs, @kitsune-kirei (I think you didn’t do this on her?) aaand. That’s it. wAHOO

[maiji]

“If you could pick 5 members to be on your team in the dark tournament, who would it be?”

So while I was going back through my archives trying to see if I had any incorrectly flagged content (I scrolled all the way to 2015, found three, and gave up/went to bed lol), I kept getting distracted and rereading old posts out of amusement. One of them was this 21 Questions Yu Yu Hakusho meme - and one question in particular made the gears of my brain clank so I thought hey, why not? Let’s answer it.

I'm going to tackle this question from two angles.

A) If I could pick ANY characters in Yu Yu Hakusho to form a team.

B) If I could only pick characters who appear during the actual Dark Tournament.

As soon as you see my first list, you'll understand why I was like, “oh.” and opted to do it again from B lmao.

(Oh yeah my tags spoil everything but oh well. Hope the rationale makes up for it hahaha)

VERSION A: Fun times

Raizen.

I'm sorry, the tournament is over now, thank you for coming. Seriously though, he's Yusuke with a million times more firepower and brains/experience. Also, one of the appeals of Yusuke is that he makes fighting fun, which is why everyone wants to go up against him. Raizen's friends express the exact same sentiment repeatedly. Raizen in his prime in battle would be a sight to see. He'd be all DID SOMEBODY SAY FIGHTING?? YEAH I'LL FIGHT ALL THE FIGHTS WAHOO and nobody would be able to get him off the arena platform. If there is an arena platform left. Or an arena. Or anything.

Enki.

Jolly uncle/all-round good dude, I love him. He also loves fighting, so he is also lots of fun. He seems much more cool-headed and practical than Raizen, and definitely takes the lead in coordinating the rest of Raizen's pals. Thus, he's a great wingman for Raizen. If you somehow actually manage to defeat Raizen- haha, what am I talking about? OK, if Raizen slept in or something, then you can fight Enki. And in that case the tournament is still over.

Kokou.

LOVES FIGHTING AND WILL KICK YOUR ASS. Even Enki was relieved he didn't have to face her. I firmly believe after Raizen she's the strongest - or at least one of the strongest - out of all of Raizen's already insanely powerful friends. Honestly, between Raizen and Kokou they'd probably just take everybody down, including each other, and have a blast. 

My perfect noodle husband Hokushin.

Obviously no one is surprised at this pick on my blog. Also loves fighting, plus super duper reliable, he's perfect support for anything. Along with Enki, he'd help temper Raizen and Kokou's wild party. And somebody needs to clean up after all the mess and make sure everybody gets first aid and whatever. Well, first aid for the other team they just massacred, I guess.

One more Raizen friend: Natsume.

We could put another one of Raizen's friends here, but I pick Natsume because we know a lot more about her and she's so badass and we should have more women. Also, because she's very clearly another great mashup of LOVES FIGHTING and NOT STUPID, as a fifth member, she can easily step in to fill any of the others' shoes, whether it's happily beat the crap out of everything in sight or be calm and strategize. If anybody ever actually needed to be filled in for some reason.

I call this amazingness Team Old People. IMO this team is flawless because they would just be so damn entertaining on so many levels. You have five extremely powerful and smart warriors with centuries of experience who have nothing to prove aside from sheer enjoyment of battle. Every one of them has expressed a passion for fighting because it's simply a joy for them, which means they wouldn't be playing it safe/boring. Seeing a master in action at practically anything is awesome, and not only that but they’d be willing to experiment and take risks and do things that are out there. A tournament is also a form of entertainment for the audience (both the real life audience and the one in the show), and that combined with their expert level combat skills means that I think they'd be so fantastic to watch. And all of them have distinct personalities that balance "I am an ancient demon with wisdom and stuff" VS "I love punching people (or getting punched) in the face!!" in different enough ways that they still offer really interesting character dynamics and interaction opportunities. And they would also be incredibly supportive of each other while still allowing for plenty of snark.

That said, FUN FUN FUN aside, the very obvious problem with this team is that they seriously break the question. And everything else. Even if they don’t intend to flat out obliterate everything, that’s what would probably happen, and that unfortunately can easily head towards its own kind of boring. Everyone would be like "why are we having a tournament, we're going home". So, we must leave Team Old People behind and move on to version B.

VERSION B: Serious business

Dark Tournament characters only. I will exclude members of the Toguro Team from my selection for obvious reasons. NO MORE FUN TIME. This is me pretending that I'm some rich underworld dude or whatever putting together a team I'm betting on to get through the tournament. You're going to see a clear pattern emerging from my picks.

Genkai.

The veteran. Intelligent, experienced, very powerful and pragmatic. I'd shell out big bucks to get her to come back to be my team's captain. No question for me, she's a must, even if all she does is sit on the sidelines and coach the rest of the team. With a group of serious, motivated and talented fighters, she'd be the best mentor and my team would be well-positioned to MAKE ME LOTS OF MONEY SO IN YOUR SMOKY SCARRED FACE SAKYO

Hiei.

Those who know me may find it shocking that I'm including Hiei but not Yusuke, Kuwabara, or Kurama. Hiei doesn't appear on my tumblr very often, and of the four main characters he's probably the one I'm least emotionally invested in. But if you're assembling a team for the Dark Tournament, you're IN IT TO WIN IT!! And Hiei is the best bet. I shall explain.

Hiei is efficient and effective, and his success ratio is the highest out of all Urameshi Team members - the most number of individual fights without a single loss or draw. Granted, he sits out for a chunk of the tournament, but he rarely appears worn out at the end of a fight. The only time he overexerts himself is against Zeru; after his recovery, he never seems to break a sweat. Even against Bui, he had no real issues. From a betting perspective, his odds are very, very good. Kuwabara and Kurama both experience multiple losses - Kuwabara often because he's young and overconfident or becomes so personally involved that he cares more for a positive outcome for other people than for winning; Kurama often because (as Hiei notes) he tends to overcalculate the situation and draw things out so long figuring everything out that it turns into a disadvantage. Yusuke's very strong and has huge potential, but he's also focused far too much on the experience. This makes his battles fun to watch but would give a strategist heart attacks. Many of his fights involve near-misses or less-than-ideal situations stemming from amateur errors. And finally, he gets dinged with a draw in his match with Jin, in part because his dawdling on the field made the deception feasible. Yusuke's great for drama and storytelling, not great for the comfort of my pocketbook. Having him on a team is risky when I know the other underworld bosses I'm competing against are not above using underhanded tactics.

As a result, based on a purely practical evaluation, Hiei is the most reliable choice. He's very focused on, and very good at, the one thing I want - DEFEAT THE OPPONENT UNEQUIVOCALLY. He comes in and tears people apart and there's no chance of an ambiguous referee call. He just needs his team members to be people he can respect to keep him in line. With Genkai as captain, that shouldn't be an issue. Nor with the rest of my picks.

Ryo (Kai in the anime) / M-3.

This is the Dr. Ichigaki member with the invisible claw powers. After their fight, he offers to be a replacement for the seriously injured Kuwabara (Yusuke appreciates it but has to turn him down because it's against the rules unless Kuwabara actually dies). He seems to be the strongest of the three students who were brainwashed by Ichigaki, and without Genkai's intervention and his own struggling against Ichigaki's mechanism, he would very likely have wiped out Kuwabara and Yusuke. He's extremely serious and dedicated, and with someone like Genkai steering the helm I think he'd go far. I'd be comfortable putting money on him. I also like him a lot and wish he had more involvement in the story - I've always felt that if Togashi didn’t need to get Koenma in for story purposes Yusuke hadn't been so freaked out and completely lost mentally when Genkai died, he probably would've asked Ryo to be the replacement fifth member. SOMEONE WRITE THIS

Touya.

Stronger than Gama, less arrogant than Risho, more reliable than Jin (who has many of the same problems as Yusuke), and Bakken sucks and will never be considered by anybody. Touya's powers are also very flexible. Somebody just needs to tell him to NOT TALK TO HIS OPPONENT. Don't talk to them, don't listen to them, don't let them distract you, don't let them get into your head, JUST GET IN THERE AND EYE ON THE PRIZE AND BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF THEM OKAY lol. I also think when Genkai was training everyone for Kurama, Touya was probably the one who gave her the least hard time. I mean, out of Touya, Jin, Chuu, Rinku, Suzuki and Shishiwakamaru who do YOU think would bellyache the least? I thought so.

The fifth member is actually a backup/alternate who doesn't necessarily see action (if you recall, this is why Chuu was mad). For my final pick, I took a while to decide, so I'll tell you about both of the last two people I was considering since I enjoy any excuse to talk about characters I don’t usually see mentioned.

5a is Zeru. 

OK, partly I considered him because nobody remembers him lmao - he was Hiei's first victory, obliterated into a shadow by Hiei's training-wheels Kokuryuuha. But if you look at my other picks, I think you'll appreciate why he's on my radar - he fits the profile of what I'm looking for very nicely. I want someone in control of themselves; who is a reliable, consistent, focused fighter unlikely to get distracted by other things; who clearly demonstrates power and is committed and has potential to grow really fast with the right direction/team captain. The only thing is that with Hiei already on the team, this may be duplicating the skillset and the mental profile a bit too much. And I think it's clear Hiei already has the upperhand in baseline power. So,

5b is Suzuki. 

His strength isn't fighting. It's his ingenuity in adapting, augmenting, and outfitting his team members with really good, really creative tools. He's honestly more a tinkerer and an inventor, imaginatively tweaking things to be even more useful, and whenever he realizes and accepts this about himself instead of trying to be just another fighter in the limelight, he'll be rich lmao. Anyways, this skill makes him a hugely valuable asset. I don't need him to be in the ring, I'm fine having him support with cool gadgets to amplify the rest of the team.

I HOPE YOU LIKED MY PICKS lol

[i-am-a-closet-fanfic-fiend]

25 Fics of Christmas - Day 3

A/N: Okay, so I tried. I really tried, but I’m officially moving the daily post time to 11 PM EST because I just cannot get these fics out in the morning. Any time is a good time for fluff though am I right? 

Also, just a note. If you are on my On Your Right, Bucky/Seb, or Steve/Chris tag lists, but you would like to be tagged in all of the holiday fics just shoot me a message. Otherwise you’ll only be tagged in relevant fics. :) 

So Day 3! Wahoo!

Title: Tasty Traditions 

Summary: Ever notice how many decorations are made of food at the holidays? Thor did... 

Characters: Thor, mentions of the rest of the team (No pairing) 

Rating: K+

Warnings: Zero 

Word Count: 491 

“These are delicious. I like it. Another,” Thor boomed as you helped Cassie with her gingerbread house.  

You looked over in time to see Thor munching on your building materials.

“Thor, you ate my roof,” Cassie whined at the god.

“What do you mean, little one? These treats are for building?”

He cocked his head in confusion, eating the fourth wall.  

“Yes, Thor,” you sighed at him. “The pieces are used to make gingerbread houses.”

“My apologies, y/n, Cassie. I assumed that the delicious cookie was for eating.”

“It’s okay, Thor,” Cassie shrugged.

“What is the reason for making this structure? Does eating elaborate construction improve their taste?” he pondered aloud.

“They’re not for eating. You use them for decoration.”

“This is a strange custom. Where does it come from?”

You thought about it but couldn’t come up with anything.

“I honestly have no idea,” you admitted with a soft laugh.  

“Midgard will never cease to vex me.”

“Y/n?”

“Yeah, hon?” You turned your attention to Cassie.

“Since we can’t finish the house, can we eat it instead?” she pleaded with you.

“I suppose that would be alright.”

You each grinned as you took a wall and slathered it in icing. Thor followed suit with the final wall. And all three of you raised your cookies in a toast.  

“Cheers.”

When you walked back into the living room after refilling the giant popcorn bowl, you did a double take. You were certain that forty-five minutes before, there had been almost thirty five feet of popcorn garland, but they were nowhere to be found. All that was left was a knotted pile of thread.

“FRIDAY, who’s been in here since I left?”

“Just Thor, Miss y/l/n.”

“Of course,” you groaned. “FRIDAY, order more popcorn kernels.”

“Yes, miss. Anything else?”

“Yeah, where’s Thor?”

The next night, after you’d restrung the popcorn garlands Thor had eaten, the whole team had gathered to decorate the tree.

“The tree already looks great, sunshine,” Tony complimented you.  .

“Well I had some help,” you smiled at Thor.

When you’d told him what he’d done, he automatically offered to help redo them.

“Only because he ate all your work from yesterday,” Loki pointed out.

“How was I to know the movie night food was a decoration?”

“Well the thread that it was on was a clue,” Steve sassed.

Thor genuinely felt terrible about eating all of the garlands, so you didn’t want everyone hassling him.

“It wasn’t a big deal. And they’re up on the tree, so let’s get decorating,” you insisted.

“Yes, let’s,” Thor agreed.

“Where are the candy canes?”

Everyone took a quick look around before you noticed Thor focusing on the ceiling with his hands tucked behind his back, avoiding eye contact. You all simultaneously burst out laughing. You eye started watering when the god apologetically pulled out a single lonely candy cane.

“Okay. Next year. Everything is going to be plastic,” you gasped out.  

A/N: So there you go, a quick little Thor drabble. Hope you enjoyed! 

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