#see previous post for more details lmao

[loststolenorstrayed]

ask thing:do you believe youd serve cunt if you got to play death

yeah I would I’d be sooo creepy and otherworldly with it. I’d be soooooo extra & detailed with the mannerisms. You have no idea.

[fashion-runways]

hi!! new pinned post, because the last one had gotten long again-- if you want to read previous posts, here's the first one, here's the second one. the tl;dr from those is that my dad got wrongfully imprisoned abruptly, our place was raided, the cops broke a bunch of shit and took a bunch of our things and still haven't returned them, they left all the broken things for us to spend money in repairing, we had to spend money on a lawyer, trips to visit him, new clothes, medicine and food for him in jail, etc. it was a mess, way more details in both posts. he's back home now, with an ankle monitor because technically his case isn't being investigated yet, they haven't done anything about it at all, the case hasn't moved one ounce lmao it's great, always trust the judicial system and cops!! ugh, anyway!

we found a therapist for my dad who can help her deal with all the stuff he had to deal with while in prison, all the bullying, the depression, the starving, the separation, etc. he needs to get a bunch of other medical appointments, has to get surgery, among other things, but for now things are much better on that front. that being said, he did lose his job and my old redbubble account got suspended without a warning months ago, plus argentina's economy is... really bad right now. food prices rise every day, public transportation prices went up like a 200% in a couple of weeks, salaries are low and stuck there, subsidies are gone, the local peso keeps falling, we have an absolute psychopath as a president who spends more time insulting or threatening anyone who oppose him than caring about people. it's a disaster. for updates on argentina in english, this person on twitter makes very good informative threads if you're interested.

anyway, i used to make around 30/40 dollars a month in redbubble, and that used to help adding up to the donations i got here, and it got suspended, so now i make like 1/2 dollars on teepublic monthly. so... it's a huge loss. there's a lot of things me and my mom are in charge of paying-- groceries, power and water and gas, medicine (she's diabetic, i have some sort of chronic sinusitis), our dog and cat's food and medicines, wifi, phone bills, public transportation, healthcare, my dad's new therapist... so, you know, i really need anything people can donate. even if it's just a single dollar, literally any amount helps. i love fashion so much and i love this blog, i work really hard on it even when my brain says no, and i really appreciate how much you guys love it too. i love seeing people discover new styles, new designers, new things to be inspired by. so, yeah... i'm never going anywhere, but i do need help to basically stay afloat.

as usual, my kofi link is this one: https://ko-fi.com/fashionrunways and my teepublic link is this one: https://www.teepublic.com/user/dinah-lance. thanks for being around and sharing and reblogging my posts, thanks for asking questions about fashion, and of course thanks for helping to the ones who can, and thanks to the ones who can't too, i know how that feels like, don't worry about it. love you 💖

[thankskenpenders]

Happy new year, everyone! Welcome to 2024, the year that will mark the 10th anniversary of Thanks Ken Penders. I'd like to go over my plans for the blog for this year.

First of all: in the very near future, I'll have a post with my thoughts on Sonic Dream Team, and I'm sure I'll write one last Sonic Prime review once the final episodes drop on the 11th. I've also been sitting on an unfinished piece about the Sonic LEGO sets. I wanted this to be longer and more detailed piece that not only reviewed the sets but also went into the weird disconnect between homogenized image of Sonic the Brand and the actual fiction it's based off of, but it'll probably end up getting cut down a lot just so I can put something out. Let's just say I did a fun little thing with one of the sets.

Second: yes, I would like to return to regular TKP updates this year. As I've said many times, I wanted to do this in 2023, but I've been suffering from creative burnout after finishing SLARPG and have generally been unable to focus on any of my creative goals this past year. I'm hoping that this year will be better and I'll be able to get back into the swing of covering Archie Sonic issues. Even doing one issue every week or so would be vastly preferable to continuing the hiatus. I'm still only halfway done!! But aside from burnout, my other main hurdle is that I need to reread my own archive to refresh myself on all these things after nearly three years away. This will take some time.

The thing is, though, this year I'll have an extra incentive to go back through my previous writing and brush up on all things Archie Sonic. Because you see...

I've decided that I want to make a video essay about Penders. The comics, the copyright battle, The Lara-Su Chronicles, everything.

The why

I've thought about doing this before, but I never committed to the idea. I was too busy with gamedev, or I thought it'd end up being too long, or I figured that there were already enough videos on the subject, or I just lacked confidence in my ability to put together a video essay. So I told myself it wasn't meant to be, and let the multiple YouTubers who have cited me as a source on their own Penders videos fill that void.

Recently, though, a few things have happened that have convinced me it might be time. For one, YouTube video essays/media retrospectives/etc. are just getting longer and longer. When Quinton Reviews is out here doing 21 hours of videos on Sam & Cat, a subpar Nick sitcom that only lasted one season, I don't feel so crazy for wanting to make a video about several hundred comic books and two lawsuits that'd be at least an hour or two long lmao. Admittedly, I've also been self-conscious about doing a long video essay like this as a trans woman who has yet to do any vocal training. But these days I feel like I see a lot more transfem YouTubers who have done little to no vocal training, and that's given me more confidence on that front.

But the big one was Hbomberguy's recent plagiarism video. As I sat there watching it, I kept thinking about the time I found a CBR article that was just a crude 800 word summary of my two previous articles on Penders, published by a CBR writer who's put out over 4000 articles since 2019. If I've already been plagiarized before, and my writing is so frequently passed around as a go-to source on Archie Sonic drama, then I wouldn't be shocked if there were YouTubers out there straight up just plagiarizing me. I don't watch other peoples' videos on Archie Sonic, so I'd never know! So if people are just gonna paraphrase me when covering these topics anyway, why not take matters into my own hands and make what I would consider to be the definitive video on the subject? If hacks like James Somerton and iilluminaughtii can churn out these shitty video essays and people will still watch them, surely it can't be that impossible to make my own, right? (And also, uh, Hbomb literally told me I should make the video lol. If you're reading this, thanks for the encouragement.)

The what, how, and when

So here's the plan.

Part of this video essay will be an adaptation of my Medium article on the recurring themes of Ken's Archie Sonic run, with its content touched up and expanded upon. There were a few things I skimmed over in the article because I didn't want it to get too long, but again, people are out here watching ten hour videos about bad Nickelodeon sitcoms now. I can get away with elaborating a little more. I can add a few paragraphs talking about the Chaos Knuckles arc, or throw in a little more historical context I've discovered in the years since.

After covering the comics, the back half(-ish?) of the video will be dedicated to the copyright battles and their ensuing controversies, trying to give an accurate picture of what actually went down, the sheer scale of how bad Archie fucked up, and what our takeaways should be. This will have some similarities to my New York Magazine article on the subject, but I'll be rewriting it from scratch. I REALLY had to keep things short for that article because I was already way over the expected word count, and my tone was a little more straight-laced than normal because I was trying to keep things Professional. I can riff more and insert more of my own opinions this time, like I normally would.

I'll inevitably have to touch on some of Ken's Bad Tweets when discussing things that have happened after the lawsuits, but I don't want the video to just devolve into a list of times people got mad at him on Twitter, so I'm gonna try to keep that to a minimum in favor of focusing on his actual work. Things like the Scourge the Speed Demon incident and his continued statements on certain characters' copyright statuses probably warrant mentioning, though. And finally, assuming that the book really does come out this summer, I would like the grand finale of the video to be about those first couple chapters of The Lara-Su Chronicles.

I don't currently know when this video will get done, but it'll probably be in the back half of the year, especially with me waiting for the book to either drop or get delayed yet again. But I've actually already started writing a bit of the script, and will keep chipping away at it for a while.

So, uh, yeah, look forward to that? Wish me luck?

[melodyglow-blog]

Why i think Dabi / Touya is still alive after chapter 430

#spoilers ahead

Ok first of all,this shit was so ass, i dont even wanna think about how the final chapter looks like it was set in a dark AU ending where nothing changes and rei looks older than ever, still pushing enjis wheelchair for the past 8 years🤮, shoto being a workaholic (and soon being num ONE). Shouldnt he be more focused on his friendships??

Plus, no mention of his siblings that his arc has been working on reconnecting him with. 🤮 So like...Enji won? Shoto will be number one after all wtff..

But id rather think about the fact that touya could still be alive after the timeskip. Here are a few reasons why..

No gravestone shown, no image of a shrine or a burial, hell..no mention of his death AT ALL unlike with toga or shigaraki, erasers friend and midnight...hell, deku even hallucinates shiggy. If touya was truly dead i feel like we wouldve seen a panel of his shrine or ANY indication if his death.

Society and tech have improved so much that quirkless deku can be a hero, so theres no way that touya, with a partial healing ice quirk isnt kept alive.

He was last shown to be 'slowly marching towards death' like BITCH thats literally what being alive is, we are all slowly marching towards death😭

This man is allergic to dying and i do believe that hori left his outcome ambiguous for a reason, if hori wanted to show touya dead he 100% would.

Shoto smiling..like bro would be smiling like that after his oldest brother passed away, like i said, intentionally hori is avoiding any mention of Touya, even natuso is not shown or mentioned, just that shoto has become a workaholic and on his way to being number one...

Plus the panel text is from Deku's pov. So its not todoroki's internal monolouge thats revealed, only his expression and hopefully thats an indicator that his siblings are ok.

Hori has 100% lost the plot lmao, the ending is so convoluted and out of character that theres simply no in universe reason why Touya would be straight up dead. Making shoto mention his father instead of his brothers or sister or MOTHER was certainly a choice🤮🤮🤮.

Old rei pushing enjis wheelchair is sickening and i dont wanna believe that shes still his maid if she has had to mourn touya a second time, its gross and literally a dark au cause wtf.

Since none of shotos siblings were mentioned, this empty space of detail lets us assume that shoto isnt stressing about them. If touya was dead we would see him visiting his shrine, in japanese culture, visiting gravestones and praying to shrines of the dead is symbollic.

I firmly believe that hori either got seriously sick (he said his ears were leaking fluid) or got pressured by his team (he said he cried when his management made him scrap an extra comic page he drew of dabi and sceptic on the past) , i believe that at this point, he didnt have a lot of creative control over his work and wasnt allowed to dedicate more panels to the LOV. HE HAD to prioritise enji and the characters at the top of the poll. When touya came 4th on the final poll, it was too late, his story became enji's story even though hori confessed that he had initially written enji to be killed off in the high end nomu fight.

The story is such a retconned mess, theres no way he wasnt planning shiggy and touya to be SAVED physically, literally touyas last panel is of him crying alone lmaoo.

IN BOTH of Horikoshi's previous serialized series the villains lived and got to reform and atone at the end..

But yeah, my end verdict is that hori intentionally didnt mention touya for the fans to theorise about him living💀

BONUS ~ i saw a post mentioning this, There is also a throwaway panel of the Doctor "curing the uncurable" - which could refer to Touya

[radiance1]

[Building off of these two posts. Idk man I've just been feeling in a writing mood lately lmao.]

"Pathos. Come in." Danny was leaned over keyboard, staring straight ahead at his screen. "Pathos. Come in. I know you can hear me."

Silence was his only answer.

He sat back in his seat, fingers gliding over his keyboard as he zeroed in on the energy signature of Phantom's last location.

Subject not found.

His fingers stilled as he stared at the message. Then resumed their movements as he instead sent out a city-wide search for Phantom's energy signature, rather than one location.

Subject not found.

Was the message relayed to him after a few minutes. Danny leaned back in his seat, drumming a finger against his desk as he contemplated what to do next.

He leaned forward and connected to a faraway communication device with a few clicks.

"Damian."

===

"Damian."

The cut cold cut through the silence of the batcave with relative ease. The occupants freezing, before slowly looking over to Damian, who, for the most part, was calm and collected as he lifted the arm bracer up his face.

"What." Damian spat out the word like poison, as a scowl appeared over his face. It was inconvenient that he called him now of all times.

Logos rested his elbows on his desk as he folded his hands. "My apologies, if this moment is inconvenient for you-"

"It is." Damian's scowl deepened.

"-But this is a matter of great importance, and you are the only one I can trust to handle this task." Danny continued, as if he weren't interrupted.

"And what could be so important?" Damian raised an eyebrow.

"I am unable to locate Pathos, and I suspect foul play is afoot." The others in the room tensed, with Batman slinking over and standing right in front of his son. "I will not ask you to do much, but I require your assistance nonetheless."

Batman's eyes narrowed, and Damian grit his teeth. "What do you want?"

"I simply need you to find any clues as to who-or what- took him, and preferably where he was taken, after that I will take the matter from your hands." Logos leaned away from the computer, leading back in his seat and crossing his arms. "Of course, if you choose to accept, I will most certainly make it worth your while."

Damian was silent for a moment, drumming his fingers against his leg as he considered his options, he grunted. "I have cleaned up after that mess you call Pathos more than I would have liked to, and while your items are certainly useful, I will need a more detailed description of what you plan to give me."

Danny nodded, as if he expected this. "One-" He held up his index finger. "-Item of your choosing. Ranging from anything I currently have-besides a few certain items- in my possession, or something you wise for me to create."

Damian narrowed his eyes. That was... an exceedingly better reward than he was hoping for, he almost forgot the others in the room as he drummed his fingers against his leg again. His previous opinion being swayed.

"I will see what I can do."

'Wonderful." Danny nodded his head in thanks. "I thank you for your cooperation, big brother."

Damian stilled, and everyone else's eyes widened.

Logos' call ended as soon as brother left his mouth, and Damian wanted to curse. That stupid-

"Damian." His father called out to him, narrowed eyes looking down at his youngest (but apparently that was now called into question) son that basically told him to explain right then there.

He knew he wouldn't be able to get out of this easily.

[tiredsmashbros]

💯MEGA ARTFIGHT POST {kinda long}✨

oh boy oh boy, the fight of art has once again been finalized and wrapped up for the year. and man what a month this was. got more attacks then i've ever received AND attacked more than ever before vs my previous years!!! a sUCCESS i may say B^)))

met so many great new people + made awesome friends!!! seriously what an amazing and fun this artfight was, i can't express the insane amount of love i've received, and hopefully next year i can plan better to gift that love back just as much and mORE <33333

if you haven't please check out the amazing work everyone has done to take the time to make for me !! >> artfight defenses << THANK YOU TO EVERYONE SERIOUSLY I LOVE EVERYONE SINGLE ONE SO FUKING MUCH AND WHOLEHEARTEDLY AND I WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO UNTIL MY GRAVE YOU HAVE NO IDEA THE JOY AND SMILES AND KICKING FEET HAS BEEN EXPRESSED I LOVE ALL OF THEM SO MUCH HOLY SHIT 💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛

i legit could go on forever but for now, i must get to the actual meats of this post fvecdsx {will only be focusing on the SMG4 community of attackers on here, if you want to see the rest of the attacks i made check out my artfight @/smg4 !! yes i name claimed it LMAO}

IN ORDER : @strange0-0storm @yamperjellety @its-a-me-mango @aquaproductions @r3d2y hehe hi ako 💛

fr thought i was gonna be able to do detailed work for everyone but once again my style changed and i legit no idea i would get attacked so much i had to a big brain move and try a different strat to get back everyone as best as possible 👁👁📝

IN ORDER : @bluesbox @/xxnobodyxx_420

IN ORDER : @kittykibbl @libbytwq @bluestrawberrybunny

for my buddy, @/tinydragontoonz, not in the smg4 community, bUT he's a lover of mario and tons of other awesome stuff PLS go follow them they're aWESEOME RAWRRR FYUGD- ahem,,, and i made this comic... that... only he knows the real context to LMAO but uh uh lOOk tsb is there sooo :))))) UIGYFLUGCKHVBJCDWS

and lastly... if you're reading this... PLEASE GO FOLLOW EVERYONE IF YOU HAVENT OH MY GOD EVERYONE HAS SUCH LOVELY ART AND WORK AND IS SO COOL AND DOPE WOW WOW WOW IM STILL NOT OVER IT SRSLY DRAWING EVERYONES OC WAS SO MUCH FUN AND I AM DEF GONNA BE DOING IT AGAIN AFTER ARTFIGHT I LOVE DRAWIN OCS AAAAAAAAAAAA UIGHBEJWSA

[writingquestionsanswered]

Hi! I just wanted to say how much I love your blog and tell you that it's magical.

I have ADHD and autism, aka the "I Have to Explain Everything in Excrutiating Detail to Make Sure I’m Never Misunderstood™" disease.

So I've written multiple asks to you, but I've sent none of them. Because as I try to explain my problem and exactly what's going on in my story, I write like 20 paragraphs, and then I go "Well, maybe I should give them options for how to solve my problem, and then they can help pick which one might work?"

And then, since I've been writing for so long, I have to take a break to go to the bathroom or let my dogs out or something and then I come back, look at what I wrote, and then realize:

The "problem" was not actually a problem and I was overthinking everything and being silly.

By explaining Every Single Problem Ever in depth, I realize that now that I've written exactly what the problem is, it's so much easier to find an answer.

So thank you, you're answering my questions without me having to even send them in lmao

I feel this so much! ♥ LITERALLY me.

And, you've stumbled onto one of my favorite tricks, too, which is talking things out, even if just with myself or my pet or a stuffed animal. As I think I shared in a previous ask, I've even been known to pretend I'm being interviewed on a podcast. Today, I had a conversation with air on my cellphone in the car (hands free) to talk out a frustration I had at a store but didn't want to complain about, and just talking about it out loud got it sorted out in my head and let me move on from it. And this works for writing, too.

IDK... is it an ND thing? Maybe, but I'd imagine NT people can benefit from this, too.

So, YAY!!! I'm so glad the phantom of my looming potential advice was able to help you answer your own question!!! :D ♥

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

[zaahvi]

some more interesting stuff that stood out to me from the IGN video!

(previous post)

this set of dialogue options makes me think "spite" is the demon that is possessing lucanis! that's definitely not one we've seen before yet!

this looks like a red lyrium ogre, but it's also possible it could be a qunari based on the qamekmaster we see later and the fact that this is in treviso (based on the surroundings and the crow's road rooftops location tag). i'm sticking to ogre though as it just looks more like one! it's interesting that it has a name though...

the qamekmaster in question ^^ qamek is a qunari poison used on mages. this qamekmaster must've been a qunari 👀 i talked about this more in detail here if anyone is interested.

sticking to treviso for a bit, these symbols - which i assume belong to the antaam? not even sure what they're supposed to be honestly. but the top really looks like ghil's head shape.

there's also one in the crows hideout here. maybe taken as a trophy? and hey that statue looks so cool??? i wonder who it is...

viagooooo!! and "the butcher" was mentioned before in the short story as we fly!

it seems that the antaam managed to invade so quickly because a traitor let them in 👀

beloveds mentioned <3

moving on from antiva, the way i audibly gasped when i saw this 😭 i've seen theories about it being the regret demon and i agree!! i think the boss itself is a revenant (as mentioned in the video), which are corpses possessed by demons - in this case the regret demon probably, but who was the corpse?

at a different point in the video you can see this, it looks like a tear in the veil like in the prologue but red? and it looks like there's tentacles on the other side

this statue in the hossberg wetlands is elven, and judging by the map marker i'm guessing it's either a fast travel point or party select point. it's blurry so hard to make out, but the crown looks like it could either be mythal's or the "nib" evanuris head shape (which i think is dirthamen). also is that a hand in the top left wtf

had to include this because 💀💀 lmao yikes

this line from harding was used in promo for her vows & vengeance episode last week!!

who or what is a rathera 👀

this seems like it could be a personal quest for neve!! or maybe a sidequest you can help her with

elgar'nan symbol above the bookshelf in the lighthouse library :) it's right in front of the elgarmythal mural in fact.

pics aren't very good, but you can see two more of what i assume are the "regrets" murals. the second one looks particularly interesting, though i can't make anything specific out

[drenched-in-sunlight]

hello hi!!! grfhvhghr i am in love with your artwork so much you cant believe-- i wanna ask if you have any tips on how you lineart and colourpick?? no pressure to answer tho, have a great day/night!! again, love your art <33

hi!! thank you for your kind words!! since i got asked about these a lot, im answering this for all the other ask asking about lineart and colour tips too! You can see some previous post here.

also i could only give out tips that work for my drawing style - which is heavy lineart / colours pop up the line (believe it or not it's American comic book style. ppl cant understand why my art doesnt really look like usual anime/ Asian webtoon style, even though it is still clearly anime / Asian webtoon style, but when i told them it's because im drawing these by studying American comics, no one believes it either lmao.

i do study but i do my own things too, so most of my art inspo is really unexpected to ppl, but they r really where i learn things from, cuz i dont even go to art school TT_TT).

Changing the brush size will help you achieve thick/thin lines better without having to put pressure on your wrists. Keep your hold relaxed and let bigger brush size give you the thick strokes.

I like messy sketch, to me the sketch is just an outline shape to fill details in when i do the line, it also gives more freedom to wriggle as i draw! cuz i dont really plan out everything from the start, just wing it as i go, so a lot of my work is actually very spontaneous.

that leads to this point: when you do the lineart you should start deciding which colour style you want from it to adjust the details amount. the ink shadow blocks in my art aren't there randomly, i adjust them to best complement the shape language and colours.

for piece where i want the line/shadow to...idk hit (?), the colours are almost flat with textured brush adding depth to them, so the inking is the shading, thus there are more details in the lineart / ink blocks.

for the video above and piece like this where i want the colours to be clear and pop out, the use of ink blocks are minimized and i do the shading during colouring process. but! the ink blocks can still make some places pop very nicely! just use in moderation!

when doing the base it's good to keep the colour on the left side of the colour wheel (low saturation), but as you do shading and lighting, try to spread out evenly so it won't look washed out.

toggle around with hue and saturation slider as you go! the key is always adjusting! you're making hundreds of decisions at once, being conscious of your choice in why a line or a colour should be in a certain way will help improve your process a lot! (i think you can tell which art i turned off my brain and just draw for stress relief ........ which is also a valid way to draw and sometimes the result might surprise you! but for more serious stuffs i try to be aware of most of the move i make. it's problem solving, yeah?)

i find that one way to keep your art from appearing too...yellow in the end (which is sth that haunted my ass for a long while) is always aim for cold tone, so if you accidentally make it warm either way in the end it won't be too warm (and yellow :cry:)

well that's all the stuffs i can think on top of my head. sorry i can't give more advice on colour picking cuz it's sth i don't really know how to give advice on???? i think my colours now are still pretty lame haha........ if there are still any questions i'd gladly answer within my ability, though im very slow to answer ask ( i do read and be happy at all of them tho!)

[cheezeybread]

American McGee Alice anon, back at it again [if I keep this up, I might label myself something cheesy like "Anon McGee." How does that sound?]

I was going to gather more to send your way regarding the topic of the last request, but I couldn't actually put much together today. So, instead, I'm delivering some potentially mildly incoherent ramblings and a lot of creative freedom to take them wherever you'd like.

I'm thinking especially of something along the lines of- likely post Riddle Overblot- a gradual shift into the MadAlice Reader becoming more genuinely comfortable with everyone in Heartslaybyul as they begin to create a differentiation between them and that which hurt them in the previous mental wonderland they'd retreated to.

Obviously there's still plenty of Rocky moments to be had- just because they're comfortable doesn't mean all will always be well- but overall, I'm just thinking of a bit of a fluffy-ish scenario that encapsulates the reader growing closer to the students of Heartslaybyul. Maybe hurt/comfort at best, but still comfort nonetheless.

Again, take as many creative liberties as you want here, I'm doing my best to balance being vague enough to allow wiggle room but also trying not to keep too many details out to the point it's just entirely unclear, lmao.

YEAAHHHH ANON MCGEE BACK AT IT AGAIN! Totally start calling yourself that now, it has such a silly ring to it!

Don't worry, I totally got you (unless I don't oops), so have this little sucker of a one-shot! I haven't written very many comfort fics lately, so I might be a taddddd rusty, sorry!

𝐅𝐭: 𝐑𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞, 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐲, 𝐀𝐜𝐞, 𝐃𝐞𝐮𝐜𝐞, 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫

..••°°°°••..

You had woken up sooner, rather than later, to the relief of the entire Heartslabyul dorm. But no one was more relieved than Riddle.

As soon as you woke up, Riddle was there, leaning his head down to read out of a thick textbook. You almost didn't recognize him at first...he wasn't wearing the attire you normally saw him in. Instead of the crown and wonderland-esque uniform, he had on a shirt that looked to be a size too big, and a baggy pair of sweatpants.

You sat up slowly, the movement sending a dull throb through your back. Geez, how long were you out? The shuffling of the bed made Riddle's head jerk up, and the tension on his face faded as soon as he saw your eyes opening.

"You...you're awake," He said, his voice in a whisper.

You couldn't think of what to say to this guy who was practically a stranger to you, so you made a small "mhmm" back.

Riddle looked back down to his textbook before closing it softly, setting it down on the ground beneath his chair. He took his time before looking back up at you, his gaze focused on your shoulder rather than your eyes.

"I wanted to say that I'm...sorry," He started, a bit awkwardly. One of his hands reached down to his sweatpants, idly pulling at the fabric "For everything. I wasn't very kind to you, which went against one of the rules of the-" He stopped himself, furrowing his brows "I mean, it wasn't nice of me. And I knew that you had some...issues with our dorm. But yet, because of me, you kept having to be dragged back there. Even though I could tell how much it was hurting you."

Riddle sat up a bit straighter, taking a deep breath before continuing "I was....wrong. It was wrong of me to treat you like I did, and I was wrong about so much other stuff, too. The Quee- sorry, her rules aren't everything, and since my accident, I've come to understand that the person with the most power isn't necessarily the most right, much less the most righteous ruler there could be." He folded his hands in his lap "I know that you have issues, I can see the burns on what little parts of your skin show. I hear from Ace, from Cater, everyone who's seen you, that you have something happening. Some sort of paranoia. And I cannot express how deeply apologetic I am for playing into your fear."

You swallowed thickly, trying your best not to remember the events that transpired just before you blacked out. You tried not to see the malice and hatred in Riddle's eyes now that you had seen before. But it was hard. "M'kay," was all you could manage.

"I won't disrespect you by demanding you tell me what's going on, or what had happened to you in the past," Riddle continued "I only wish for you to help me act better, for you to tell me how I can help. I wish to improve myself, and my dorm, to become a place where you can rest easier than you have in the past. Or, if you'd rather be left alone by us entirely throughout your stay at this school, I can do my best to ensure my students won't get in your way in the slightest."

He...he actually wanted to help you? After all that happened, after all that he himself went through as well? The thought brought a small smile to your face, and you reached out a shaky hand, resting it on top of Riddle's head

"That sounds nice."

Riddle gave a small smile in return, his relief palpable. He had expected you to blow up in anger, based on how he acted. To see you holding no ill will towards him was more than he could hope for. He stood up quickly, nodding his head towards you in a professional manner, before he walked out of the room.

It wasn't until a week later that you realized he had not worn his uniform so that you wouldn't panic at the sight of him.

★・・・・・・★

Things were slowly getting better. For real this time.

It wasn't easy, but no recovery ever should be. But with some baby steps, you were on your way to a better place, mentally and emotionally. You could tell that Riddle was healing alongside you, which made the path to happiness a little more rewarding.

You never did tell the Heartslabyul dorm what had happened to you in detail. Only offhandedly mentioned your scars coming from a house-fire. And they never asked for any more information, despite their intense curiosity that you could feel oozing out of them with every glance towards you. You suspected this was mainly because of Riddle's influence over them. You were grateful for it.

Speaking of, Riddle kept his word, true and deep.

You gave a text everytime that you were about to come over to their dorm, and Riddle would instruct his student to change into their loungewear, even if they were in the midst of doing work. He told Ace and Deuce, knowing that the two of them were around you more often, to warn you when there was an Unbirthday party at their property, so they could, in turn, warn you.

He even asked if you'd like them to wear makeup over the card symbols on their skin. It was an enticing offer, since the symbols still made your heart sink every time you noticed them...but you denied it. You had to learn to deal with some things, or else you may not heal fully. Besides, Riddle and the others were bending over backwards for you as it was, it would be unfair for you to make an obscenely large amount of demands of them.

You cooked with Trey, who always made a habit of telling you when he needed a "hand in the kitchen", even though you knew he'd be better off without your held. The two of you would talk about anything under the sun, except for cards, parties, and painting roses red. And in the end, you would get a slice of whatever dessert you two whipped up.

You went on walks with Cater, who kept you up-to-date on the latest trends and scandals going on both in school and in the world around you. He always found some silly story to make the two of you cackle and howl, and eventually, the conversations would drift from real-life stories to fantastical tales involving dragons, knights, and magical geese who could blow up the world with a single honk! They weren't the best made-up tales, but you two had fun with them.

You played games with Ace and Deuce, who were both masters at trying to one-up the other. Sometimes they would get caught in a prank war between each other, and each one would recruit you to prank the other, which led in a lot of back-and-forth banters and ended with them laughing about how you "betrayed" them by joining the enemy's side. Sometimes they would teach you how to play video games, and sometimes you would play a lame version of basketball with the mediocre players.

And you would hang around Riddle while he studied in the library. In return for your company, he would tell you stories about his own life- keeping careful watch of what he said so that he wouldn't slip and begin talking about the Queen- about his mother, his unhappy childhood, and how he had struggled throughout his life with feelings of being inadequate unless he was at the top of the list in anything and everything. He found comfort in telling his secrets, and it almost made you want to tell him yours. But he never asked to hear yours, and in the end, you were content to keep your own secrets.

You were getting better, day by day.

°°••....••°°

[gaycrittercentral]

I realized I make a lot of spelling mistakes, damn you autism!

Anywho can we see more of the virtues? I would love to see kindness more, like him on the couch like how you described

Sfhfhshsjhd y’know what’s funny, my autism does the opposite bc I’m a nerd whose special interest is spelling and grammar 😂 but yeah I completely feel that no worries bud

Oh and HELL yeah I love my guy Kindness!! and so it is my great pleasure to reveal to you all this, my first fully colored comic in probably years because uh. welp y'all know how art block be lmao

also since this is based on a scene I sorta wrote out in a previous post, I've included that snippet under the comic! And here's a link to the original post, where I detailed everything about the virtues.

and then he immediately pops out of existence lmaoooooo

Max tells him to sit on the couch and relax while he grabs some snacks and coffee. The whole time, he has to keep insisting that Kindness stay seated instead of jumping back up to help. Eventually he grabs Kindness by the shoulders to explain that having his partner as, essentially, a self-offered indentured servant is funny and all, but it’s making him uncomfortable. They work so well together because they’ve always been equal, and as high and mighty as Max likes to act sometimes, it feels bad to just keep taking everything from his best friend and to be unable to give anything back. In a dreadfully ironic twist, preventing Max (and others, by extension) from doing anything for him is sort of unkind in and of itself. “So just keep your ass seated and let me do what I need to do, okay? You’re stressing me out. Eat your donut and calm down already.” And Kindness, maybe a little starry-eyed, finally concedes and allows Max to grab a blanket and finish making them some coffee. Once that’s done they sit on the couch together under the blanket for a minute and watch some junk TV while they eat a much-needed snack. After a few minutes of that, Max ventures, “Sooo…can I get that heart now, or…?” “Aw, buddy. You know you already have it.” And with a final little side hug, which Max finally returns with only a little grumbling about how sappy it is, he poofs out of existence.

[tu-es-gegg]

untuk hari bahasa ini, saya cubalah mengajarkan semua tentang sikit budaya melayu dan berkongsi kosa kata juga (ENG TRANSLATION)

(for this language day, I will try to teach a little about Malay culture and share vocabulary as well)

i made the original post detailing some fun stuff abt my culture of being malay (specifically from perspective living as a Malay from Singapore), i want to do an english translation so its more accessible to those who don't speak malay. This isnt an exact translation (plus im adding mroe additonal info) so keep that inmind

FIRST, what is the Malay language? This is an Austronesian language, also the national language in Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore. Malay is usually written in Latin script, also known as Rumi. There is also Jawi script based on Arabic writing. If you want to know (most) letters in Jawi, this is a video stuck in my head from Andalus (I'm bad at writing in Jawi and Arabic too, even though I study, I don't know much;;;)

Malay culture is deeply connected with Muslim culture, that's why a lot of malay festivities and celebrations revolve around the islamic calender. one such celebration is Hari Raya. there are two ceremonies; Aidilfitri and Haji, I will talk about Hari Raya Aidilfitri only because it is close this year and most well known (for context, its litterally in april this year).

The previous month is Ramadan where we fast/puasa. We do not eat from Subuh (around sunrise) to Maghrib (around sunset) (these are two of the names of the prayer times, in Islam we are supposed to pray around 5 times a day during different intervals. it goes Subuh, Zohor, Asar, Maghrib, Isyak). Before dawn, want to eat Sahur and then pray. At Maghrib, want to eat to break the fast/ berbuka puasa (usually say "buka" for short). Also in this month before Aidifilti, the family will prepare by cleaning the house for visitors, buy new baju kurung, get kuih, etc etc.

aaaa there are a lot of kuih, here's anything I can name (many are from Singapore); kuih lapis, kuih salat? ondeh ondeh, kuih bahulu, kuih dadar, BISKUT CORNFLAKES OMG does that count?. there are many more lol.

ALSO! In Singapore, during Ramadan, there is a huge Night Market in Geylang. Not only in Geylang there is a night market but this is very popular. There are MANY stalls selling food. Everyone who buys from geylang night market knows Ramly Burger, deep-fried Oreos, vadai, KEBAB, DENGDENG. (I like to buy rolled ice cream and chicken kebab mmmm)

In Geylang too, they will buy traditional clothes to visit family. Baju kurung (ehh for traditional clothes, women wear baju kurung, men wear baju melayu but the names are the same anyway) is the normal clothing. Often, one household will choose to coordinate colors together (but it's not mandatory, lmao my family doesn't care)

For men, they wear songkok (that flat black hat) and samping (the long scarf wrapping around the waist)

For women, wear a sarong (skirt) with a long top. If desired, will also wear a tudung (type of hijab) (i should also clarify for muslim women its their choice whether they want to habitually wear hijab. its not just specific to just baju kurung. for example i have lots of aunties that dont wear hijab at all meanwhile i have a lot of aunts who do)

Baju kurung is also worn at other festivities, such as weddings

(my whole childhood I attended so many weddings, this is another topic lmaooooo)

On Hari Raya Aidifilti but before going to raya (this is what we generally call going out to see family), close family in will ask for forgiveness. (it's important the forgiveness is not one-sided, the adults will also ask forgiveness from the younger family members too). Usually this is when people start crying. After that, we go RAYA!!! When in someone else's house, if you are not working now, you can get duit raya! (because I grew up in singapore surrounded by chinese influence, I also call this "angpao" too)

OHHHH THERE IS A LOT OF FOOD;;;; My grandmother would cook a lot during Ramadan and Hari Raya. Rendang, lontong, KETUPAT OHHH KETUPAT, CHICKEN CURRY (my mother every aidifitri cooks green chicken curry, FOR HARI RAYA AIDIFITRI ONLY, ohhhhh that's my favorite part, ASBFKASB I'M HUNGRY.)

(theres also like way more cuisine than this, iu havent even mentioned nasi goreng and nasi lemak and briyani and FUCKIGN BEGEDIL;;;;)

ketupat is kind of icon to represent Aidifilti holiday, for example:

other icons of hari raya include: bunga api, neon string lights, bamboo torches, etc.

I love Hari Raya even thoug my feet hurt ALOT after visiting LOTS OF FAMILY AND FRIENDS OH MY GOD:;; it's okay if you take your shoes off in the house somehow your FEET WILL HURT at the end of the day;;;;;;

uhhhh others about malay culture? we have art! A martial art is silat melayu! I don't know much about this but it's great

there is performance art: one example is dikir barat

juga ada permainan, ada yang terkenal ialah wau (kite)

and congkak (like that one club penguin game, mancala, im not kidding)

there are many malay cultures that are also from indonesian culture because of its influence. (Mainly malay culture was influenced by its neighboring cultures such as from Thailand, Sumatra, Java. Malay culture were from Hinduism before then converting to Islam) That's why we have wayang kulit (natively from Java) (a lot of indonesian culture and malay cultures share similar things because of kinda their similar roots and their spread of their own culture, hence why we also have similar dishes, traditonal clothes, even our language is kinda 70% the same)

Do you know; Singapore was discovered by Sang Nila Utama and was originally Malay kingdom (at that time the island was called Temasek before it was owned by the British) (the original indigenous of Singapore are called Orang Laut, litterally translated to "people of the sea"). That is why in Singapore, the language and the national anthem (Majulah Singapura) is in Malay. Singapore is not only for Chinese people, we Malays and Indians are also here;;;

(and im not at all from malaysia god please none of my relatives are. Malaysian is referring to the country, Malay is the language and the ethnic group)

There's a whole lot more I haven't even touched on, like lmao there's a whole thing about weddings and a whole baby shower thing.

theres also a lot of singaporean stuff i want to share i haven't even mentioned singlish but thats a post for another time

[mikesgaylittlethoughts]

'when blue and yellow meet in the west' pt.2

I reached the image limit in the first post so season four will need it's own post.

First part is here!

⭑ Season 4:

Ah, yes, the lying, hiding and miscommunication season. This should be great.

El's outfit at the start has a lot of red, but still with some blue. Mike isn't around now, and she's being mostly true to herself at school, but that's the issue. People are mean as hell and don't like her for who she is.

She wants so badly to be seen as normal, to live the life of an ordinary girl, but even now she's seen as weird and unusual. At least one sweet detail i noticed is that the flannel she's wearing might have been Joyce's.

I also find it sweet how red has been incorporated into Will's outfits, too. It happened a few seasons back, and it's a nice detail considering how undeniably close he and El are.

Mike's in his Hellfire shirt. With El away, he doesn't feel the need to perform so much anymore, and feels more free to actively enjoy his interests and be himself again.

The day Mike came to California, El was, once again, wearing mainly blue.

And then there's.... Michael's outfit....

Mmhm. Yellow over purplish blue. This is the outfit for the awkward ass airport hug, and the entirety of Rink-o-Mania, until they get home.

After his s3 realizations, he went straight back to repression. Acting totally weird around Will and forcefully happy around El again.

While Mike wears yellow, Will wears blue.

Oh, also, the flowers Mike picked for El had "too much yellow", and "vomit green socks".

Mike's fight with El here is a super important scene to mention. He's wearing mostly blue with just a few yellow accents, but he's still lying to El, isn't he?

Oh, he's lying, alright. It's just not working.

El isn't running with it like usual. She's crying, confronting him about not being able to tell her he loves him and Mike's trying to convince her but even then, he can't say it. Eleven can see right through him. And the yellow... Well, I think we know why Mike can't say he loves her.

The monologue scene is the same case. About 0% of what he said in it was true, but El knows that. That's exactly why it didn't work.

This is when the pink starts showing up again, but there are still layers of blue to remove before it's free.

Mike and Will switch back to their respective colors again, and make up from their previous fights. Will wears blue and yellow, and Mike wears that blue shirt with that godforsaken sideways pocket.

These are the outfits they're forced to stay in for the rest of the season cause everything goes to shit afterwards.

Throughout the season, El sheds her blue layers, until finally, she's all pink.

She realized she doesn't need him and they're definitely going to break up next season. She's finally free and will finally get to be herself without molding her image to fit into what others think she should be like.

Now it's Mike's turn to free himself.

────────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──────────

Okay, that was a lot! Once again, thank you @62percentmaplesyrup for all the help !!! I'll leave her posts linked down here if you guys wanna look for yourselves, it's a super interesting detail.

Here and here!

If any of you actually read through all of this, i really appreciate it. I worked on this for days on end lmao.

anyway byler endgame stay gay losersss

[goingsunnythousandmerry]

Hiiiii, I'm a new follow who got absolutely smitten with your work!

I saw your last post anddd I just decided to drop by this ask!

So, umm, I really crave this man named Marco I love so much like fr I'm crazy about this guy lmao 💀 anyways can I possibly get a Marco x F!reader idk just some fluff stuff with this man I really think he's super affectionate and smitten with his partner sooo can I get morning with him or something like that? Like reader waking him up for some coffee and then him taking maybe a shower and shaving while maintaining his mini beard (stache is that what its called? Idk) while reader watching him admiring him and then marco notices her and sooo you know the idea! Could be SFW or NSFW you choose the best thing you see coming up eith the plot please!

Hopefully, I didn't make this hard for you but really I love your fics so muchhhh like literally you really share the same way of thinking of the characters personalities and actions as me so I'm loveeeeee!

Anyway call me strawberry!

thank you!

Stay safe out there!

XOXO

Hey Strawberry! Here is my go at your request. Thanks for the suggestion, I had fun writing it! It kind of ties in to my Marco x Reader fluff I posted earlier today, but if you didn't like that or don't want to read that I'll give another short scenario here. It's short and sweet. I'll do a Marco NSFW hopefully in the next couple of days. Plan is to have it fit in with this fic and my earlier posted marco fluff fic. Hope you enjoy! If we want more Marco or someone else, like, comment, request below! Thanks friends!

Warnings: Suggestive, Fluff, SFW, petnames, spoilers for WANO, I do not own these characters

Scene Set up: Either follows my previous post Falling for Marco the Phoenix or You, a former member of the Whitebeard Pirates, decide to go with Marco to Sphinx Island to help protect Pop's home Island. After living on the island awhile, you and Marco confess your feelings for one another. This fic takes place the next morning as you begin to go about your routines as a couple in the same house.

A Morning with Marco

The next morning, you rolled over in bed to find Marco’s side empty. You lifted your head and looked around the room. You noticed the door to the bathroom was closed and it dawned on you that you could hear the sound of the shower running. You smiled as you realized besides the sound of the water, you could also hear Marco humming in the shower. You laughed as you heard him break out in song. You rolled on your back and listened to him for a few minutes, before finally deciding to make some coffee. You crawled out of bed and found Marco’s purple dress shirt still on the floor. You put it on and buttoned the two middle buttons, knowing full well it showed off some of your cleavage and cut open just above your mid-thigh.

You walked to the kitchen and measured out the coffee grounds and poured water into the pot, then hit the power button. You reached into the cabinet and pulled out two mugs. You noticed you heard the water stop running. You still heard the faint sound of Marco humming and singing. You still couldn’t believe yesterday had been real. Marco had feelings for you, he had kissed you, then, well you had last night with Marco… you smiled as you thought back on the details. You were hoping for a reenactment as soon as possible. You heard the bathroom door open and were immediately broken from your daydream. 

You looked at the coffee pot and noticed there was enough for two cups already brewed and quickly poured them. You returned the pot to the stream of brewing coffee and picked up your two coffee filled mugs. You walked back into the bedroom and smiled as you rounded the far side of the bed, which allowed you to see into the opened bathroom door. Marco was shaving his stubble in the mirror, wrapped only in a towel that covered his waist. His tattooed chest still glistened with water droplets as his wet hair lay messily atop his head. You walked to the bathroom doorway and leaned against it, a giant smile plastered on your face.

“I kind of liked the full stubble look.” You said.

“Oh.” Marco asked as he turned his gaze from his reflection, to over his shoulder to look at you. “Well how about half of it?” Marco asked as he set down his razor and came towards you.

He wrapped his arms around your waist and rubbed his half shaved neck against your cheek. You laughed as you held the full coffee mugs away from the two of you in one hand and grabbed his arm with your free hand.

“Marco, I’ll spill the coffee!” You gently yelled.

“Coffee? Is one for me?”

“Of course.” You said with a laugh.

You handed Marco the mug and he brought it closer to his lips, still holding onto your waist with his other hand. You moved your hand to his chest and brought your coffee mug to your face. You hoped the mug covered your blush as you admired the build of the man before you. Marco’s lips parted around the rim of the mug and he smiled at you as he took a sip. As he lowered his mug, he looked down at your body and noticed what you were wearing. 

“Well you win. That shirt looks better on you than me.”

“You think so?” You laughed as you played with the collar of the shirt that hung near your cleavage.

“Mhhmm.” Marco said as he took another sip. “Thanks for the coffee, babe. You make it way better than I do.” He added as he pulled you closer and kissed your forehead. 

You pushed against his chest as he kissed you and laughed.

“That’s because Thatch never taught you guys how to make coffee. Anyways! Finish shaving! It tickles too much!” You cried and Marco laughed in response.

Marco let go of your waist and returned to the sink. He set down his coffee mug and returned to shaving. You stayed leaning against the doorway and watched him as he finished up. Marco returned to humming as he worked. A wide smile rested upon your lips. He stopped in the middle of his razor swipe and looked over his shoulder at you once more.

“What are you smiling about? Is my performance that good?” He asked with a laugh.

“What? Oh yes, it is.”

“Hmmm… well what’s your favorite part?” He urged as his eyes narrowed studying your expression.

“Hmm…” You took another sip of coffee and studied your surroundings trying to pretend to think hard. “The outfit. The towel only. I like the look.”

“Yeah. Is that what has you smiling?” He asked with an eyebrow raise.

Marco gripped the counter tighter as you took another sip of your coffee. You looked at the ground between the two of you, then scanned up his body until your eyes met.

“No.” You said as a devious grin formed on your face. “Knowing what’s underneath has me smiling.” You added with a blush as you raised your coffee mug to cover it. 

You raised your eyebrows and backed out of the doorway.

“Is that so..?” Marco asked curiously.

Marco grinned at you then picked up his razor and finished shaving. You moved to sit on the bed to finish your cup of coffee. After a few minutes Marco exited the bathroom. As he entered the bedroom, still in his towel only, you set your coffee mug down on the table beside you. He jumped on the bed and rolled on top of you, where he slammed his soft lips against yours. Your arms wrapped around his neck as his hands began to roam your body. You stroked Marco’s bottom lip with your tongue. His lips parted allowing you to intertwine your tongue with his. Marco’s hands started undoing the buttons of your shirt as your hands rifled through his hair.

His lips separated from yours. He looked into your (E/C) eyes warmly. He tucked a piece of hair behind your ear. 

“You can make coffee, taste like coffee, and you’re beautiful. How’d I get so lucky?”

“I don’t know, if I had to guess, it was the singing. I hope I get a show like that every morning.” You replied with a laugh as you pressed your lips back against his.

Suddenly, there was a knock at your front door. Your lips separated and the two of you panted as you looked towards the main room where the front door was. He looked at you and sighed.

“Marco!” A voice called. 

“Coming.” He replied. 

Marco climbed off of you and the bed. He quickly grabbed some boxers and a pair of pants from his closet and tossed them on under his towel. He threw the towel back in the bathroom and headed towards the doorway of the bedroom. As he did, you started to get out of bed, but Marco stopped you.

“I’ll be quick I promise.” Marco whispered sweetly.

Marco, kissed your forehead and walked out of the room, cracking the door behind him. As he headed towards the front door, you laid back against the pillows in the bed and decided to wait for him. A smile grew upon your lips as you hoped  every morning going forward would be like this, except without a neighborly interruption. Marco opened the front door and you heard him gasp.

“Cat Viper? What are you doing here?” He asked.

[yanchive]

I got permission to expand on this idea, so I'm gunna share my thoughts and what I came up with regarding this cool idea. I got the concept of this from the OP of the previous post, @coveredinsoot , so credits goes to them. I used he/him for the Yan, and they/them for the Darling so all readers can enjoy. I haven't written something like this in ages. Forgive me.

TW: Yandere themes(obv), mentions of drug use(non consentual), minor mentions of sexual themes, not proofread very well I wrote this first thing in the morning. I hadn't even gotten out of bed lmao

-A recap of my tags in the previous post, my idea followed the premise of a yan whose darling is an employee working under the record label/idol agency(whichever one you prefer) he is signed onto. They could have a position working somewhat in the same sphere as their Yan. My first thought was maybe a touring staff, but I felt specifically that they could be a photographer who was hired solely to work under Yans label.

-They do the shooting for promos, they participate in the creation of music videos, go on tours to get photos at concerts, etc. They work alongside Yan, but rarely interact outside of the professional setting. Darling has a job they have to do, and getting personal with the artist they're assigned to work under is a risky thing, so they choose to keep their casual interactions to a minimal to avoid scandals.

-While Darling is putting their attention all into their career, Yan is forced to get his unrequited feelings out via music. Filling notebooks after notebooks with sickingly sweet words, turning them into lyrics that get pumped out to fans, who all imagine themselves as the reciever of such romantic tales of woe.

-Yan constantly sneaks details about his Darling into his music, from mentioning small physical traits on their body like the color of their hair and eyes, to maybe even scars and birthmarks no one would or should know unless they've seen them partially or fully naked. They would constantly bring up traits revolving around the Darlings personality most of the time, but no matter how many details they place in their songs, it just seems to go over Darlings head

-Yan constantly asks Darling what their thoughts are on his new music, hoping to one day see their eyes light up and realize they were the center of all his music and finally return his feelings, but Darling only ever gives vague compliments to him, telling him his music is great but really never delves to deep into the lyrics or sound.

-Yan finally comes to terms, after watching over his Darling for months, maybe even years, the Darling just never gives his music an actual proper chance, and that's why they never pick up on all the lyrics that would eerily describe them to a T. Yan decides to be a bit more risky, and take his lovey dovey songs into more darker territory.

-Its an obvious switch. Going from themed albums that would have him in more colorful attire and poppy beats, to more darker fashion and seductive tones. Clearly the Cloud 9, cutesy romance didn't do the trick, so maybe he could lure his Darling in with a more mature persona.

-Lyrics become much more sexual in nature, singing of long nights underneath the covers, decorating each others skin in marks, all the things that gets the crowds riled up. He isn't afraid to drop hints/details about kinks he picked up that his Darling seemed to be interested in(well at least that's what Darlings search history says).

-His fame skyrockets after the new change, and he sees his Darling has started to pick up a bit of an interest in his music(fucking finally). They notice a little bit of how Yan seems to keep a certain image of someone within his lyrics. Mentions of the same hair color(and if Darlings one to dye their hair, will even mention the change in hair color in the song(s), same eye color, same attributes both physically and personality wise. But despite that, Darling still hadn't gotten deep enough into the music to put the puzzle pieces together. Though they did make a joke about how much they related to this mystery person from the small amount of details they picked up.

-Yan definitely had to bite his tongue and hold his hands behind his back to keep from exploding after hearing that. So damn close, his Darling is right fucking there, the density this Darling had was driving Yan up the wall, but he'd be lying if he said he didn't find a little excitement in it. At this point he done already turned it into a game.

-The music just gets darker from there, and while the crowds of unwavering loyal fans eat up each word like its their last meal, Darling is finally becoming suspicious. Not just from the odd lyrics Yan has been singing, but also behaviors being exhibited behind the curtains. Around the first change in sound, when Yan took his music down a darker route, Yan had begun being more pushy with spending more time with his Darling. Following them around like a lost puppy between photoshoots. Trying his damnest to get Darling to hang out with him outside of work. Throwing parties just in an attempt to get Darling out of their professional persona around him. Constantly buying them things, showing up out of no where to chat with them, it was overwhelming.

-It was only getting worse, especially since Yan was beginning to slip up and say things about Darling that he shouldn't know. Afterall, Darling never told him such things. Coupled that with the fact that his lyrics in his new album sing of kidnapping and basements and a whole bunch of stuff that aren't at all romantic anymore, Darling is getting wary. They can't seem to go anywhere without this nagging feeling they weren't alone and something was wrong. They even begin looking into changing to a different label or becoming an independent photographer just to get away from overwhelming nature of their Yan.

-And Yan picks up on it. He realizes he isn't winning them over like this anymore, and he's now down to his last resort. He's always been a tad sadistic, even in the beginning he had a bit of joy daydreaming about kidnapping Darling and having them caged in his awfully large mansion, only having Darling ever see and hear from him. He's spent many hours in bed imagining ways to condition and brainwash Darling into relying on him, maybe even getting them so reliant on Yan that he'd be able to have them follow him once again on tours just so they could always be together every waking moment of their lives.

-But to get to that point, he was going to have to start at step 1.

1. Throw a party. At this point they had become common, as this was something he used in the past to get Darling to come out and spend time with him. He'd use the same excuse he's used in the past. He wants his favorite photographer to come and take amazing photos of the party so he can put them on his Instagram for bragging rights.

2. Get them chilled out. Darling never drinks alcohol at these parties. They have an expensive camera they need to protect, and taking decent camera shots require a steady hand. So Yan will make his own concoction for Darling. Darling only said they won't drink alcohol, they never mentioned anything else...

3. Take them out of the crowd and into a more quiet... secluded area of the house. They were never big on parties, its so easy to get overwhelmed, and now they're drowzy and stumbling over themselves and their words. Can't even stand up let alone walk. They clearly need some rest. Luckily Yan has everything they need to keep them comfortable. Now that they've finally made it home they can rest easy on their new bed while Yan finishes up closing down the party for the night.

4. Now a new life can be started. One much more suited to Yans taste. A life his amazing music has sung tales of since the day Yan fell in love...

[fluffle-writes]

1). I may have a few ideas for Jamil since we are dealing with gems, gold, jewels, and such. But I am also adding a bit of a snake theme idea for him

2). Imagine Yuu and Grim in the Cafeteria eanting to make an announcement among the school about their birthday. Would the reaction towards this vary or would Yuu be coddled like crazy based on how they see Yuu based on one of your previous posts?

Ooh, I'd love to hear your ideas for Jamil! I kinda want to give him a cobra hood behind his head and torso, but I'm not sure how well that would work,,, if it does work well I'd probably add gold and silver details in some places... I think I kinda want him to have a more human-y face like Epel does, but I also don't know what texture I would opt for - maybe a gemstone overlay with silver patterns on his face partially inspired by his OB form...

As for a birthday announcement!

I feel like it'd spread through the college like a rumour (Cater's fault) and Yuu would be the recipient of an odd approximation of human birthday traditions if they've explained how they work, or Weirdcore traditions if they haven't. I'll put my elaboration on both of these scenarios under the cut since it's gonna be pretty long lmao

If they've spoken about human traditions enough for it to be known of by their friends, then they'll wake up to a fair number of gifts left at their door from various friends and some other students who they're on the good side of (like some other flower-head students they helped get out of Azul's contracts giving them little pots of eye goop)

They end up needing Vil to go through any beauty products they receive to make sure they're safe enough for more fragile skin types, and they end up asking Ace and Deuce about what various items they were given are meant for (which is met by some teasing if they ask about something that are believed to be obvious in their world)

Some of the odd items they may receive are various ornaments that stick in corners of rooms like cobwebs, a one-way window film that makes it look like a galaxy is inside the house instead of letting people see inside, and some odd item like that plumbus thing from Rick and Morty. Aside from that, they might also be given assorted food items that may not be found in their world, or clothing items tailored to fit them.

As for a birthday party, it would be somewhat similar to the unbirthday parties in the Weirdcore AU - with odd desserts that seem to have faces or whimper when you go to take a bite to boot! (Don't worry, there are sweets and foods that are a bit more normal too! Trey even figured out something that's more like the cakes back home!)

If their human friend follows the Brazilian birthday tradition of giving the first slice of cake to the person they love most, everyone's gonna be trying to subtly or not-so-subtly convince them to pick them as the person who gets the first slice of cake. An Australian human may get an odd type of fairy bread from the faefolk students at their birthday party (Silver didn't let Lilia bake it, don't worry) and Lilia may sneakily use butter to grease the nose of a Canadian human on their special day! They're eager to attempt any traditions the human may have spoken of!

If you teach them the happy birthday song it will sound like some kinda fucked up cult is singing it. Just for funsies. All different voice types (glitching, echoey, rasping, floaty, etc.) singing a dissonant melody as they stumble through. A lot of them are earnest about it though, they're trying.

They're all so eager to try these new traditions and give their human friend a sense of familiarity - even if they don't get stuff 100% right I feel like they'd get an A for effort

Now, as for Weirdcore traditions, I'm not actually 100% sure about how they may go about celebrating birthdays in their world - although chances are they'll have different traditions depending on the part of the world they're from...

Maybe there's a special type of fruit pie that's baked in the rose queendom for birthdays, which is supposed to predict how their luck will be in the following year. Depending on the colour of the jam inside the pie after it's cut, you can make a vague prediction about what your future will hold! It's pretty much impossible to control what colour the filling turns after baking, so you'll only know after it's cut!

I can't think of any more Weirdcore birthday traditions right now... I may try brainstorming for a bit and if I come up with something I'll make a post later!