#somewhere in between webtoon

[peculiar-reblogs]

More here [link]!

[bookwormsbutterfly]

[skylaryozora]

Sooooooooo...

I made something.

Not much of a big deal. More like just for starters. But I was given an opportunity to try my luck doing it for the first time, and I guess it worked out in the end.

I was worried that the quality might suck, but turns out it's not bad at all.

Behold, my very first webtoon:

AU RIVUSA ONE-SHOT

[seungsuki]

station cafe - romance between a soccer player and a webtoon artist (gn! reader)

warning: boring tbh (+ too many words)

note: wrote this during while my professor was yapping so hopefully it's okay

itoshi rin hated whenever his practice games were played for too long. he’d like to blame it on his teammates who couldn’t stop goofing around every minute. 

“last train for station 2 is leaving”, the loud speakers announced 

rin froze thinking he must have misheard the announcement but when it repeated again, his legs began moving without him even thinking. speed walking through the busy salespeople and students, he nearly made it to the train. he could see the gates of the train and he wanted to yell for it to not close but he didn’t. he stopped and slowed down as he watched the gates shut tight. 

the train had left for station 2

the last train 

he fished out for his phone to check the train schedule. he wasn’t too familiar with the train routes other than the one he usually took. lucky for rin, the next train for station 2 is set for 5 pm

“5 pm?”, rin mumbled to himself seeing that it was only 3:07 pm 

what was he supposed to do with all this freetime? he never gave himself that much time. he used every second to practise soccer and to be on top. to defeat his no good of an excuse brother and win the world cup. now what? it’s not like he had any friends nearby 

that’s how the younger itoshi wandered into a random cafe near the station. opening the door, he could smell the coffee bean aroma filling the room. he walked to the counter and was greeted by the cashier, who in his opinion, was overly energetic for no reason.

ordering his favourite tea and bread, rin settled at a seat beside the window of the cafe. there weren't a lot of people except for you, seated at the next table. while rin normally didn’t act like a busybody, he was curious as to what you were doing. he could see a lot of papers scattered around the table. they looked like… character designs? are you an avid fan of a series he’s never seen before?

he couldn’t help but notice how absorbed you were on your computer with a drawing tablet attached to it. oh so you’re marking papers? you did look rather young to be a teacher. well it was none of his business. he brushed away any lingering questions and silently enjoyed his tea. tuning into the latest soccer clip between bastard münchen and manshine city, rin booed both parties since he didn’t support any of them and took the time to criticise their play style 

he was watching the so-called ‘hat trick’ when a paper flew directly on his face, blocking the match. almost instantly, he heard a small worried yell and a hand reached to remove the paper that didn’t allow him to see anything. why did this remind him of a heavily scripted shojo manga? 

“i’m so so sorry! are you okay?”, a voice asked and rin looked up to see the you in front of him this time

“i’m fine”, rin replied short not wanting to engage in the conversation 

“they turned on the stand fan so my papers flew everywhere!”, you groaned 

that’s when rin looked away from his phone and looked up to you. or more specifically, the paper dancing loosely between your fingers. it definitely looked like a detailed study of a character. just how much of an avid fan are you? then again he couldn't say much himself as he was in his own obsession over soccer. seeing how hard he was staring at the paper, you moved it behind you, allowing your skirt to hide the paper 

“i’m a webtoon artist. i have a lot of papers because i came back from a small meeting”, you said taking a seat at the empty chair in front of him

“im [name]! i think i've seen you somewhere haven’t i?”, you asked going through the train of thoughts 

“i play soccer”, another short reply followed by a tsk 

“oh yeah!! aren’t you the captain for the eleven team against the national team? i watched your match on tv, you were pretty awesome”, you remembered 

even though rin didn’t want to engage in the one-sided conversation, he couldn’t help but hear more than the commentary of his discarded phone (which was turned off later on). 

itoshi rin picked up a new habit. after his everyday practice, he’d make his way to the cafe near the station. he would order his favourite tea and bread but this time, an extra iced chocolate for you. he sits in his usual seat beside the window and waits. not long he’d see the door open to see you enter. today was rather chilly so it made sense for you to wear your favourite red sweater with white stripes. scanning the room, your eyes lit up seeing a particular teal eyes locking contact with you. a comfortable walk accompanied with a small wave, you made it to your designated seat, in front of him. time would fly as the duo exchange conversations about random topics

rin never realised how he fell for you. maybe it’s the way his heart skips a beat when he sees you? or how he’s obviously less mean to you. in his eyes, you aren’t too bad. you definitely weren’t some lukewarm npc that took up his time. you was someone who he enjoyed talking too. the people around him (or more particularly his teammates) couldn’t help but wonder what made the striker less grumpy 

“someone’s in a good mood~”, a singsong shidou said slinging his arm around rin 

“right? leaving practice so soon? have a date planned?”, karasu joined in on the teasing 

“yeah i do” 

that one sentence froze the soccer players. itoshi rin going on.. date? sounded impossible to his teammates. they were dumbfounded at how rin even got a date. a familiar ringtone caught the attention of rin and he peeked his phone to see your text. he kept your ringtone different from the rest of his usual notifications. grabbing his duffle bag, itoshi rin left his obviously curious teammates to go see you at your usual spots

the cafe beside the station

© seungsuki 2024-25 -- do not repost, translate, alter, etc on any platform without permission. Any characters used in my work do not belong to me, they are created by their original creator

[gothwineaunts]

Nevermore sucks as a romantic comedy.

I said what I said. It’s occasionally romantic, occasionally comedic, but it’s absolutely shit at being a romantic comedy. The main relationship is messy. The characters do terrible things. I mean, it’s almost like it’s not even a proper romance at all! Where are all the kisses and cuddles!? Seriously, the creators must not understand what a healthy relationship looks like. Maybe they’re toxic, too. Otherwise they’d know better than to make a story like this with such bad representation. It’s a wlw. Where is the fluff?? Certainly I was promised fluff. I know it. Someone told me there would be fluff!! Somewhere in this dark gothic romance inspired by the works of Edgar Allen Poe. Somewhere in this death game of the damned. Somewhere in between the ghosts and the monsters. I expected most of it to be unproblematic fluff. For some reason. And now, I’m going to make it everyone else’s problem. /s (context: not aimed at tumblr, aimed predominantly at commenters on webtoon)

[cocogum]

Reassuring proof that the sadidas are very much alive and well in the Waven era:

In the Lance Dur webtoon, a sadida appeared in the 4th chapter called “The Sickness of Lance Dur”. Lance Dur is far older than the last time we saw him in Season 4, meaning that more than a decade had passed which was after the wave had happened. (Waven happens 10 years after the Wakfu era)

In Waven, if we look around on Astrub Island, we can see a female sadida gardener looking for some shrubs. Her quest info does not reveal her race but her skin complexion as well as her hair color matches the sadida race perfectly.

(this woman was looking for some sentient shrubs by the way...don't ask why...)

We also notice a male sadida and a female sadida eating together in an inn in Amakna.

One of Waven’s quests has Renate, an (iconic) sadida, asking you to help him with the smells of a temple. He is not only a sadida but is also a royal servant of Amalia.

Renate doesn't seem to be near Canar this time around but looks to be well. He’s even joined one of Waven’s four cardinal clans, which in his case, is the nature clan.

In Waven, we can see a small music sadida band playing in Amakna.

When we take a look at Waven’s emotes skin shop, we can see three Sadida god reaction stickers. If Sadida had lost his godly status (meaning if he died), then his stickers wouldn’t have been present in the shop. The emotes skin shop currently has three reaction stickers for Iop, Cra, Eniripsa, Ecaflip, Enutrof, Sram, Sadida, Xelor, Sacrier, and Feca.

*Reaction stickers are not available for Osamodas and Pandawa at the moment*

In the Bestiale teaser trailer, which is a show that will take place in Waven, two sadidas can be seen in the background when Yrehn, our osamodas main character, is visiting a market.

One of these sadidas, however, seems to be someone we already know: the one on the left is Chamberlain Thicktuft, the counsellor or advisor (?) of the Sadia kingdom. He appeared in every season (excluding Season 3) and has even been seen in The Great Wave manga attending the banquet for the male sadida and female eliatrope marriage.

So why is he in the Bestiale teaser? No idea.

Aside from the Sadida proof listing above, another thing people noticed were the cras in Waven. Or rather their weapons.

When we take a look at each cra and their types, none of their weapons remotely look like the ones we’ve seen in Wakfu or Dofus anymore. Back in Wakfu, the cras were in an alliance with the sadidas which is why their bows were primarily made of special wood. Evangelyne was a good example of this.

So when we compare Wakfu to Waven, the cras now have more than one choice of weapon :

Arcarius Paladir replaced their bows with a much more efficient trajectory leafy-like weapon.

Blunderbust have adopted a steampunk style and chose to use guns that shoot arrows.

Buneblade have abandoned long-range weapons of any format entirely and opted to use boomerangs instead.

Piven Bow might just be the only type we know who still uses the old cra style by keeping the bows. Their name even has the word “bow” in it.

Shaden Shiru just like the Buneblade, threw out the bows to use knuckle ring-looking weapons as their main source for fighting.

Zandiezer Zo relies on a stoned glove in the shape of a crossbow that can emit long-range shots.

Given that most cras have preferred using other weapons than the bow, this leaves us to speculate that the alliance between the cras and sadidas is indefinitely over and might have possibly ended after the Necrome war or a bit later.

Other than that, it’s reassuring to know that the sadidas have at least survived the great wave since the tree of life had to have been protected and now resides somewhere safe and hidden from the world.

Waven is currently in progress, so there is still a lot to discover and learn about what happened after the great wave struck. When more updates drop, there might also be more islands to explore which could reveal more about the sadidas’ situation.

[mindofcordyceps]

Stupid Poll Time

I have officially hit rock bottom with hiatus brainrot

[otakuworks]

❛ 𝐒𝐄𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑. reborn au

feat. Zhongli x Reincarnated!GN!Reader | FINALE | wc. 5.1K

Based on 'See You In My 19th Life' | overview. this webtoon follows the story of a woman who somehow can remember all her past lives.

sum. there's always a factor chaining you from falling in love, usually you can never be bothered, but with Zhongli in your life you may have to pin down the source of your hesitation and possibly unlock new secrets from the consultant

cw. spoilers for the recent 3.4 update and intended inaccuracy of the lore

note. tumblr is so high it auto posted this on January💀💀

main m.list genshin.mlist

PART I < PART II < PART III (finale)

Strange, Zhongli really is the epitome of an oddity. You don't know if he was previously a magician or he simply knows how to make Mora appear out of thin air. Either way, you get freebie whenever he accompanies you in your untimely stroll

Though every freebie means a reward for saving his ass from getting scammed. The amount of times he hands off Mora to a person, who clearly has insidious motives, without second thought pales in comparison to the age of the late Archon.

You thought being friends with Hu Tao has taught him something, but clearly he's an airhead at heart when it comes to money.

Then came a particular day when you and Zhongli stroll in the streets of Liyue, you both passby a travelling storyteller who's halfway of retelling the tale of the lone warrior who sacrificed their life to save a Goddess.

". . .they were heavily guarded and fought neither for the Seven Seats nor to survive. Lady Guizhong also wrote in her tale that they were buried somewhere in the Guili Plains to commemorate the Lone Warrior's good deeds."

Eons of living can grant you insurmountable patience and restraint from spitting unfiltered comments that a person may take umbrage, you thoroughly believed you've mastered those skills long ago, if you slip a crack then you'd almost be an oxymoron.

"Bullcrap."

. . .You are a moron, after all.

You gained an immediate reaction from the consultant beside you who perched an eyebrow, seemingly intrigued.

You cough between your fist, "I don't intend to vilify Liyue's folklore, but that was straight up flawed."

Coming out as a bumptious person is the last thing you want now that you've gotten a new ally, but they were talking about you, more precisely about your past life as a swordsman.

Who knows someone better than themselves? And for Achon's sake why do they have to dub you as the Lone Warrior? Ugh, now you can sympathize what Diluc feels being called Darknight Hero. Yes, you know about his alter ego, can't fool a master disguiser.

"Why do you believe otherwise?"

"Huh?" When you gaze up at him, you saw the same intensity in his eyes when you first met him as he reiterated the question.

"O-Oh. . . sorry, I just didn't expect you to be open-minded when I literally called a famous Liyue story bullcrap."

The corners of his lips tugged up in a curious smile, "Let's assume we share the same thoughts, and I want to hear yours."

You didn't understand what he meant but his compelling voice made you speak your innermost knowledge of history without a shred of a doubt, "Most content of the tale is accurate since it was written by the Goddess herself, from the description of their appearance, their background, and deeds before the spark of the Archon war, it's all veridical. However, the part where the Warrior is buried somewhere in the Guili Plains is what makes it erroneous."

"How so?" Zhongli queried almost immediately when you paused for a second to construct the proper words without offending the anyone who opposed your opinions.

"First and foremost, the Lone Warrior was never buried in the first place, for their body was nowhere to be found amongst the corpse of the warpath. Instead of saying they were buried, Lady Guizhong built a stone slab in the Guili Plains to commemorate the Warrior however, due to the circumstances of the Karmic Dept, the slab is most likely destroyed from the uncontrolled rampage of a Yaksha."

As far as you can reckon, the Yaksha who destroyed the slab must have died feeling guilty for eradicating the one memoir of the Lone Warrior. At that time, it was all a speculation from you who knows what the Yaksha must be feeling, but now all of it don't matter.

Saving Guizhong is a choice you've never regretted, Morax felt happy and contented in her presence, it's enough to suffice everything. A simple stone slab won't change your standpoint, even without one you'd gladly do it for the second time.

"What about you, Zhongli? You said we. . ."

Your voice slowly fades away with the wind to carry out amongst the trees and may Barbatos hears this conversation to let him know he had found his Y/N.

He had always imagine what sort of interaction happens between two bards, given the fact you've once told him you play the lyre when you were a child, he's eager to see you in action.

"Hmm, as I thought, we do share commonity in the matter."

That piqued your interest, "Pray tell."

You've never met anyone who's well versed in history like you do.

"I also believe the Lone Warrior never had their deserved burial, but Guizhong made it possible to tell the tale of the mortal who made saved her life. While I personally think they're righteous, it still baffles me why would they sacrifice themselves for someone they're not well acquainted with."

You awkwardly laugh at his astute observation, feeling the perspiration forming on your forehead. Historians often ask the same inquiry; why did they save Guizhong? The tale itself didn't hold any answer for that, and a handful of Liyue citizens doubt the honor of the Lone Warrior because of this— Zhongli is one of them.

"Regardless of their intention, the Lone Warrior has my respect, for their sacrifice has led for another woman's salvation, it is nothing to be easily disregarded." Zhongli added, taking a few steps ahead.

"I've noticed how you accolade the people of the past, especially their noble hearts and their contribution to Liyue. It almost sounds like it's what you do to your. . . umm, deceased loved ones."

His eyes bleaked, for a moment you thought you crossed a line, but he spoke in a solemn voice, "I have actually, I've lost so many good people over the years, but I've learned to move on and look back in the past with a smile."

Yeah, you definitely crossed a line just there.

Your eyes find purchase on your shoes, "You're a strong man, Zhongli. I can only imagine how you managed to do that. Is that one of the factors you decided to become a consultant?"

He seemed to hesitate to answer, as if contemplating his thoughts first, ". . .I wouldn't say it's a defining factor, but yes."

"Do you ever look back to your loved ones without. . . hurting as much as it did on the first time?"

"It's a good thing to remember someone who meant a lot to you, but if the memory of that person is making you suffer, you need to let them go. You might feel guilty at first, but after a while you'll be able to think of them again without hurting nor feeling guilty."

Just then, a fierce wind struck and swept through their bodies. The dry leaves that hung from the branches rustled loudly as moonlight illuminated. Zhongli, who silently looked towards the clamoring branches, murmured in a low voice only for your ears.

"Do not rush yourself to move on, everyone has different pace. It might take you years or decades, even centuries and I'll still be with you, so do not worry about going through this alone."

Did you hear that? It's the sound of your heart thundering.

Before you know it, you were giggling to yourself.

Your laughter bubbles up from between your lips like a clear spring, unrestrained peals of genuine amusement. The sound is so mellifluous, he almost can’t find it in him to comprehend that it came at his expense. It makes him feel special.

"It makes me think how old you really are, you sound like you've been living for thousands of years." You jested. "You're not wrong." He promptly followed. What...? That must've been a joke, eh?

"You sure do know how to do your job. I felt better after hearing that. Thank you, Zhongli."

One moment you were facing him, the next you're suddenly squashed against his chest as he cages you in his arms protectively. Not a good position to be in when your heart began to pump rapidly as his scent rubbed on you.

You were about to ask him what was the matter when you heard an audible and heavy thump behind you followed by a burst of the Geo element. Zhongli looked down on you.

"I apologize for my action, but your life was on the line, so I acted out of instinct." Yet he doesn't make any indication to let you go any time sooner, his hold on you only tightens.

You hid your flushed cheeks by coughing, "I'm not made out of glass, I can handle myself perfectly fine." Yet you didn't move from where you are and held onto his clothes.

"Correct, a few slimes are no big deal, but I can't take any compromises when it's comes to you, Y/N."

"I-If you have time to flirt then just get on with the slimes." You demanded with a huff. You should've seen how he had looked like a lost puppy, "But I wasn't flirting with you, I'm merely expressing my thoughts regarding about you."

"That's even worse!" You exclaim, having no courage to look at him.

That night felt like some distant memory, some dream too far for him to grasp. He thought of your eyes, shimmering in the light of the moon, of your laugh, loud and joyous.

He could picture you perfectly, the warm orange of the lanterns lighting half of your face while the cool light of the moon illuminating the other side.

And it's not a secret he's enamored with you. Even Xiao can deduce the subtle smile everytime your name is mentioned. He hasn't seen an ardor look on him for hundreds of years, it felt anomalous to see him blush like a teenager.

The Traveler and the floating emergency food didn't seem to mind the two, but Paimon has been really curious about it.

If Zhongli likes you then can't he just straight up confess that in your face? Life would've been so simple if people are straightforward🙄

Rough representation;

There's no concrete answer for it yet, liking Zhongli more than what you two are amidst the process of your healing would seem like he's taken you out of pity.

You don't want that type of relationship. You opt to sort yourself before consulting your mixed feelings you have with the consultant.

And by that literally means;

"You want to accompany the traveler in Jueyun Karst?" You responded with a resigned sigh.

Each day spent with him only shows a fraction of how ridiculous you probably sound to a youthful man.

Everyone in Liyue knows no mortal can get in Jueyun Karst, even if they did there would be no merit to achieve unless you're seeking for a beautiful view of the clouds.

"Yes, the adepti Ganyu had gone missing for days, the traveler asked me if I know the shortest way to Jueyun Karst, and I proposed to be their guide."

Lies.

The traveler is capable of navigating their way to Jueyun Karst.

In fact, they already left this morning and it's noon as you speak.

You only used that excuse to skedaddle your way out of the dilemma you got yourself into. You need the cortisol to die down. And that won't happen if the said dilemma is with you (e.t. Zhongli)

"Hmm. . . so, you've been in Liyue before yet you still accepted my offer to give you a tour." His statement gives off an accusatory tone, but his lopsided grin tells you otherwise.

You shot him a sheepish smile. "How can I let the opportunity of conversing with a handsome man go to waste? There's a reason why I'm an adventurer, Zhongli."

He shakes his head, "How long you'll be away?"

"Not that long, I'd say only a few hours. Why? Are you going to miss me?"

You only meant it as a joke, you didn't think he'd take it seriously.

"Yes."

You see, this is the reason why you want to avoid him.

Hah! In the end, you found yourself winded up somewhere in Yujing Terrace. You heard Glaze Lillies bloom in this area, it reminded you of My. Tianheng where a field of Glaze Lillies can be found everywhere.

"Another flower is blooming, such a beautiful sight, if only life can be as beautiful as these Glaze Lillies." You nearly yelp at the sudden voice speaking near your ear and reeled back.

"Oh, dear. I'm sorry if I had scared you." An aged lady with her gray hair tucked in a low bun spoke. "I'm fine. . ."

"Call me Madame Ping. You look quite familiar to me, child. Are you perhaps the adventurer the Wangsheng consultant was talking about?" You crane your neck at her question.

"U-Uh. . . if you're talking about Y/N L/N then yes, that would be me. May I ask what made you so certain it's me?"

"Ah! He hasn't stopped talking about you since he visited this place. That man is so stoic looking, but when he hears your name it looks like he's a different man all of a sudden."

You closed your eyes, inhaling deeply through your nose in any attempt to bring your nerves down. You had heard those words on multiple occasions— that Zhongli was different around you, that he cared for you like he cared for no one else. There had been a few times where that statement rang true. Some that don't.

Zhongli felt like a breath of fresh air, a sunshine on a cloudy day, a tall mountain summit from afar. You loved the way he listens to your beliefs, you loved the way he trusts you with his secrets and experiences, you loved the way he deeply cares to others, you love the way he seemed to brighten up every room he walked into.

Goddamn you love everything about that man!

Even his stupidity to pecuniary is lovable.

Somehow he managed to bring joy to the same place you always associated with agony— every corner of the place was happier with him around.

It's no wonder you feel something that can only be named as infatuation— a feeling you once harbored towards Morax, but failed to realize it until your death.

But that had been so long ago, back when you were a little kid determined to become an adult. Now you're an adventurer with a thousand adventures under your belt. Now you were strong and experienced and prepared. And yet, you're still hesitating. Why?

"What seems to cause your inner turmoil, child?"

Your breath hitched and your intake became shallow, it feels like being reborn again. An advantageous thing about reincarnation is that you get to experience love in many forms, mainly familial love.

It was your gateway from the gripping anxiety you feel whenever you overhear hearsay in your town about Morax.

But not once did a family ever asked you for your problems, it's not their fault being unaware of your curse and if they did ask you would've probably non the wiser— it was because they don't share the same sentiment having to live for thousand years.

With Madame Ping, you feel so inclined to relay your thoughts as if you're indeed a child ranting problems with your mom, something about her just puts your mind at ease. And you only just met her not too long ago.

You took a deep breath and tore your gaze from the Glaze Lillies, "There's this man that I fostered feelings for, since I started liking him. . . I always felt like I'm standing over burning charcoal. Do you know what that feels like? Not being able to stop my feet from moving even for a moment. I can't run. I want to, but there's something holding me back."

"Hmm, that sounds too complex," she sighs, "then again, being young has many complexities just as we adults have. With the way you're describing it, I won't say it's holding you back, child."

You lifted your gaze at her, confusion now painted your features.

"If I were to put it, you're simply tangled up in your past."

"W-What—"

"And you need closure if you want to face your feelings head on."

A closure? Is that what I'm missing? Should I vent my pent up feelings? Ugh. . . Will that really help?

Sensing your dubious demeanor, Madame Ping smiled, "You do not need to heed my words. I'm simply offering a suggestion."

"No, I'll consider it. In fact, I think it's the best course to deal with this. Thank you, Madame Ping!"

And so you dash from the place in search of something.

You run pass the vast greenery of viridescent grasses and colorful wildflowers— a meadow, where you'd usually go for meandering while accompanied by the evening breeze or gilding sunlight. It was perfect setting of tranquility for a maladaptive daydreamer like yourself. You'd imagine yourself laying down and naming the constellations that coincidentally appear in the sky, or count the exotic birds that flew by, or hum a tune that's been lost in history.

Looking at you now versus your past self equates for hypocrisy.

An amalgamation of both morose and agitated countenance now marred your features. Any person who sees you would imagine how tumultuous your life has been, it's nowhere near nirvana.

Trembling as you arrived at your destination, you stand in front of Morax's statue and traces the meticulous handwork with the pads of your fingers. The entire place feels like him, as though you’re with him at arms reach, but too far to actually hold him.

"It's really pathetic how I try so hard to move on, only to come back to you when something is amiss in my life," you murmured, "but I'm not here to endlessly whine about every misfortune in life, I want to release this feeling in order for me to be appeased."

You heaved a deep breath.

"I love you, Morax. I still do. No amount of flowery apologies can fix the damage I made for stalling my confession to you. I was young and had a plethora of uncertainties that made me second-guess myself. I guess. . . the guilt of leaving you pushed me to the brink of watching over you throughout my consecutive reincarnations, I wanted to make sure you were happy. And now, I want to be happy too. I feel happy with Zhongli and I don't want to make the same mistake of hesitating then later regret on it."

Some days your sadness was a mild lisp. It barely scratched the surface of your voice, but today melancholy had waged a full scale assault on your vocal chords.

"I've decided I'll confess to him, not today, I still need to build the courage to face him. I'm thankful for the time we spent our earliest days together, truly I am, but it's time for me to move on. One day I will look back on our childhood and say 'I love you' once more without the lingering ache in my heart. I'll never stop coming back to you, Morax. . . so, instead of bidding farewell, I'll see you later."

It felt good to vent your feelings out that you nearly cried that day as you walk back in Wangshu Inn and now you're ready to confess your feelings to the consultant whenever you're ready. And whether he'll accept it or not is entirely up to him.

"Are you free this , Y/N?" A strange look obscured the consultant's face, what's even more strange is the fact he's not even looking you directly.

"Yes. . .?" Something tells you he's not in a good mood.

Crap. . . someone give him Mora! ASAP!

"I wish to speak with you alone. Will you come with me in Mt. Tianheng?" Asked the consultant who seemed a bit on edge this evening after you came back. His spurious stone cold expression obnubilated akin to the look of a man who's gearing up for war.

His ominous mien warranted your logic to say no to him, but you're too far on the line of sanity to even refuse the man you like. "Sure."

>> TIMESKIP. . .

You thought not confessing early to Morax before your death was the worst decision you've ever made. Think again, 'cuz this is most definitely the worst, baddest and stupidest decision ever.

You never made it a point to come back to this place— it brought back a storm of memories, some of which were more comfortable being shoved to the recesses of your mind and be kept there for eternity. But for whatever reason, you feel inclined to follow him and disregard the uneasiness of returning in Mt. Tianheng.

Zhongli has been strangely quiet all the way here, at this point he'd be randomly stating facts, not be a complete mute-walking pillar.

Thus, you suck up your inner turmoil and deal with it instead of fleeing right off the bat.

"You're strong for keeping your head up this far." He accolades suddenly to particularly no one, except if he was referring to you.

"Me?"

He comes to an abrupt stop and finally, FINALLY faces you. And shit do his visage screams he's not playing around. He's not here to be buddy-buddy with you. He looks genuinely distress.

About what though?

. . .

. . . . .

. . . . . . .

Oh. . .

Oh no!

Did he see through your lies earlier? That you're supposed to be with the traveler in Jueyun Karst? Double shit! Not good!

A thin sheen of sweat accumulated on your forehead as you try to come up with an excuse, "U-Uh. . ." but came up with nothing.

You mentally prepared yourself for a parade of admonishing words from Zhongli, you genuinely thought he's going to nitpick on why you shouldn't have lied to him and probably question the motives behind your action. At least that's what you thought.

"This guilt is unbearable even for an immortal."

"Yes, I know I lied about going with the traveler in—. . . Huh?"

What?

His eyes seemed to shine brighter than the stars as he stares deeply into yours. You sense an underlying promise in those determined orbs, it instilled the feeling of anticipation and anxiety.

"I am Morax."

The air suddenly became suffocating for YOU. Breathing gets hard. There’s this feeling in your chest that’s gnawing through your body, affecting your every movement.

Conflagrated flames and scalding ice, the physical feeling tied up in all the emotions that seem to leak from ZHONGLI'S features— fear, hope and adoration churned his guts.

An unkempt strand of your hair overshadowed your eyes from Zhongli's standpoint. It seems as though he made the decision that'll compromise the friendship he had built with you.

Being the bearer of the knowledge of your reincarnation didn't come easy for an immortal who's supposed to be imposing as a mortal.

Ever since he saw you paying respect for his passing, his instinct is blaring at him to tell you his true identity. Though he has to admit it's not entirely his gut-feel that added a major factor of what he had done now— it was his selfishness, yet again.

He had gone through multiple scenarios of what your reaction may be; Would you laugh at his face? Are you going to dismiss his claims and think it's a prank? Will you run away from him?

Not like it matters to him.

You can do all of those and he'd still want to be with you.

Heck! He knew you were telling a fib about your involvement in the Traveler's quest and it didn't change his feelings for you.

". . ."

As crickets filled his ears, he takes a feeble step forward and spoke in a solemm voice, "You must have a lot of questions, I can guarantee to answer all of them but know that it was never my intention to prolong your suffering by hiding my identity."

He knows.

He GODDAMN knows!

Your words broke up and all you could mutter were stuttering sounds. Hot tears streamed down your face, and squeezed your eyelids shut in the hope the tears would stop. Your choppy breathing and watery eyes remained for quite some time as stand there unmoving. What else is there to say?

Before you know it, both of your shoulders were grasped in a firm but gentle grip of gloved hands. There's so many mixed feelings stirring in a boiling pot, and you can't make out a definite conclusion until you arrive in some sort of resulting point.

Are you angry for his decision to play dead? Betrayed he kept this from you? Pained that he didn't trust you? Relieved that he's really alive in the flesh? Happy that he knows it's you and you don't have to pretend around him? Which is it?

Amidst all the chaotic thoughts, you still feel safe in the presence of Zhongli— Yes, Zhongli. You hate how it feels so warm, you hate how you want to bask in his embrace, you hate the solace you find yourself in when he's around even in your worst time. Just then, similarly back in Inazuma, the sky shed tears to empathize your mourning heart. The heavens really find your suffering amusing.

In your haze vision, he was moving his lips but the words fell on deaf ears, your sense of hearing refuse to comprehend the meaning behind his statement. It's probably for the best.

Zhongli, the ever so keen who promptly took notice, snaked his arms around your shoulders and pulled you in a somber embrace and gently placed your head in his chest— an act of shielding you from the dangers of the world and offers you a safe haven.

The veil dropped and walls crumbled.

Your feeble hands grasped his flaunting waistcoat like a helping hand. Your scream synchronises with the thundering and the minimum space between you muffled the cries. Your undecipherable emotions echoes with the storm like a reflection on the mirror.

And everything leads to the man desperately clinging to your bare fingers on the cliffside of a bottomless pit you dug yourself into.

"Look at me."

Compelled to do so, you lifted your blurry gaze. A Geo Archon known for his wisdom and strength, is standing in his barest version. The version of a man who weeps only in the presence of whom he loves and trusts.

[ source: Pinterest. please comment if you know the artist so I can credit ]

"Z-Zhongli. . ."

A single index finger met your quivering lips, "Shh. . . The rain isn't stemmed from sadness. So get drenched, and be refreshed. I hope it washes away the hot bitterness felt by your heart. When that hurt washes away, let's return home together."

". . . Together? It sounds surreal. . . I don't want to believe it."

"May I kiss you for proof?"

You're too absorbed in the heat of moment that every rational decision flew out the window, but maybe the most rational thing to do is to indulge yourself.

You nodded, with your permission Zhongli has never been the happiest till this day.

His lips descended on yours with fervor, immediately you can feel his desperation, his love, his determination, his grief— it's overwhelming it almost knocked you on your feet. Quite fortunate he has his hand on your back to keep you steady while the other is on your cheek as he drowns you in his presence.

You feel hot, it's unusual during the rain shower, but the hypnotic intimacy he applies in his action takes your breath away.

Heat pooled in your stomach, the prospect of kissing Zhongli is something you didn't know you'd be craving for more and your heart skipped a few beats.

Your whole body tingled, the feel of his towering frame leaning on you as he encased you in his arms felt like you're ascending to Celestia.

Albeit slowly, you felt yourself gradually being pulled up to the surface accompanied by the hands of your savior.

It still wasn't clear if he's dreaming this moment, but there was raw emotion in the way you weave your fingers through his free tresses and caress his scalp. Zhongli kept his eyes half open, sneaking a guilty glance at you every time he comes back for air to assure himself this isn't a product of his imagination.

He doubts the authenticity of it all. He's not sure if nature rooted for this moment or if Celestia tricked him into this perfect present to appease his guilt, but every passing second makes him want to stay in this illusion and for the first time in eons, he felt like a little dragon discovering new treasures— he discovered you yet again.

Slowly, the pull apart, chest heaving and face flustered.

Zhongli suddenly felt more guilt, he had acted out of the line and kissed without properly courting you, not so gentlemanly. The smile on your face, however, eased the guilt in his heart and subconsciously mirrored your smile, it was simply contagious.

"It's really you, huh? I can't believe I didn't realize it was you." You placed your palm on his cheek as to reassure your sanity, in response he leaned impossibly closer to your hand.

"Words cannot describe how much I want to expose myself to you, and how apologetic I am for staging my death. Had I've been aware of your existence and your knowledge of the past, I would have come up a different solution and not cause you more pain."

Yeah, it really is him. No other man can look after your feelings like he does, and there's no other man lovable as him.

"I really want to ask how did you know, not only of my reincarnation, but also my awareness of my previous life. Is it because you were a former Archon?"

Heaving a deep sigh, he pressed his forehead on yours, his fingers traverse down the corner of your lips until it wipes away from what it looks like the remnants of your tears.

"I don't need to be an Archon to know it's you. Your kindness, compassion and everything beautiful will always attract me no matter what form you may take. No other being can impersonate someone so precious as you, Y/N. It's why I knew it was you the moment you wear your heart on your sleeve."

Times like this always reminds you why you fell for him so hard.

"As for your memories of the past. . . you weren't exactly being cautious of your words when you were speaking to my statue. No normal mortal has ever called me Morax other than you."

Oh. . . you were rather grateful for it.

"So, you're saying I'm not normal to you?"

"Y/N, reincarnating while retaining your memories is not exactly a trait of a standard normal mortal." He does have a point.

"Hey, look. The rain has stopped."

Hands adorned of scars, bruises and wounds that once grasped the pointed end of every sharp edged rocks are now held by the calloused hands of another fighter.

You watch as the lustrous moon rose up the sky, pride was balm from its full fledged form, exuding sufficient fulguration for the inky night and the prodigious number of stars turned into extraordinary bright white hued after the rain. For the first time, the deepest somber night just came out of its humble abode.

He kept his eyes on you and his forehead glued on yours, it looks like he's not planning on letting you go any time sooner, "Indeed, it seems like your heart has eased up too."

"Yes, and I have you thank for that." You gently grabbed the wrist caressing your face and rubbed figures of eight. "Thank you for having the courage of revealing your true self, it have me the right to courage to fess up what's on my mind."

You pulled away from his embrace and took his hand on yours, you can feel his burning eyes fixated on your actions, "I never got the chance to confess everything when I was dying in your arms. I thought it was for the best, but I'll say it now."

Watching you straighten your spine, Zhongli couldn't hide his anticipation. He has vague idea what you mean, but he didn't want to keep his hopes up, so he remained calm and let you continue.

"I love you. Whether you're known as Morax, Rex Lapis, Zhongli or any other names, I'm hopelessly in love with you because to me you're the dragon who kept me safe from the dangers and prioritize me over your own happiness. You're my first friend, my first confidant, my first partner in crime, my first protector, my first crush and most importantly, you're my first love. You're my every first, and you'll be my very last."

Every joyful feeling known to man hit Zhongli like a meteor and he couldn't help himself to claim your lips once again. This time he was more gentler and more on conveying his overjoyed expression. The kiss was brief as he pulled away immediately.

"I have always adored you, Y/N. Your death nor your lack of reciprocation doesn't make my feelings any different. Do you remember the promise I made? I will take you at the highest peak of the sky, I meant it literally that time, I'm more willing to fulfill that promise both literally and figuratively.bI'm grateful to have met you in my life, and I'm more grateful that you feel the same as I do. I will do my best to keep you happy, Y/N."

"Dummy! I should be the one saying that." Your eyes began to feel moisture yet again. "Would you look at us. It took us a couple thousands of years before getting to this point, it's almost laughable and I— ACHOO!"

". . ."

". . ."

"Let's head back. It almost slip my mind humans are quite fragile even just a few drops of rain, and your drenched clothes are not helping."

"Aren't you the one who told me to get drenched and be refreshed?" You replied sardonically, though the lovesick smile on your face betrays you.

He chuckled, "Let's continue this back home."

Home with him. It sent the elephants stomping in your stomach. Forget the fluttering butterflies!

He intertwined your fingers with his as you both walk back with goofy smiles, "Yeah, let's head home."

An idyllic hilly meadow greeted your sight as you stand tall after an arduous journey. Beside you is the prize worth of every gems in the world. As your blood-soaked hand held his, the two of you embarked a new journey towards tomorrow.

And this this time, you won't be alone. Mazes may seperate you two along the way, you'll always find your way back to each other's arms. A farewell between star crossed lovers doesn't exist, for they will meet later on at the end.

─ 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃. werp that will wrap up this series, I'll be working on with all of your requests and if I can insert the Xiao version of this then it's considered lucky. thank you everyone for supporting this fic, for encouraging me to continue more than one part and sharing your thoughts about it. i value comments more than anything so pls tell me what you think, I don't reply to all comments but I read all of them 💙💜

─ 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 / 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐒. @itsyourgirlria @shizunxie @elsoleil @cherlynono @slzaar @katsuissus @tikitsune @useless-potatho @chimsblogg @lemonlimesocks @multifandomvoyage @malt-rants-and-stuff @jameineliebe @angelkazusstuff @eissaaaa @beezgobuzzbuzz @towos @atsukawolfcat @sunflowers1970 @avery-needs-more-fics @angstylittleb1tch @bigcandlesmolbrain @lxmine @imk1ra @chihawari @bishishbored @yuuki4646 @sunsethw4 @princeabomination @alexiris @chocolateneapolitan @ayra2452008 @ittosoneandoniwife @alatus2716 @thetwinkims @sweetbills @nanami-s-tie @rain-and-a-nice-nap @a-rose-byanothername @swirrley @lasignoramybeloved @magicalnaturenerd @boundedbyfate @extremelytoastybread @vvyeislazzy @dear-dairiess @crowleysthings @imafatpug @tjjjrsj + kokomisimppp alice4wonderland2184 quereespf haru-tofuu vv3ntii and others that I can't tag for sum reason tumblr won't explain •_•

©OTAKUWORKS | FEB 2023

[doraambrose]

Hey! What do you think about friendship between Roy Harper and Jason Todd? I'm not a big comics nerd, but recently started diving deeper into the dc fandom and reading more comics, I really enjoyed their friendship, but I read a post somewhere another day saying that their friendship doesn't really make sense because they didn't really interact before rhato and have a significant age gap... and even had a fight or something? Just was wondering if you could recommend comics that give more info on their relationship? And what's you personal opinion?

Hello friend! Thanks for the ask.

I have to warn that I have some pretty strong but kind of ignorant feelings about this (I don't know much about Roy harper pre n52)

So comic wise- yes, they're friendship was very random. Pre n52, my very limited knowledge of Roy is that he was a justice league member, did drugs, had a baby with Cheshire named Lian, and was a member of the og teen titans with Dick as Speedy. Jason was robin and then redhood, but the redhood who was definitely more antihero and not basically a batfam member like he is now. Then out of nowhere in RHATO, jason is talking about how Roy is the best friend he could ask for with absolutely no context whatsoever. The Outsiders #46 is the only pre-n52 panel with the two of them together:

In terms of age gap, I'm pretty sure jason and Roy have about the same age gap as jason and dick. But the age gap is something that should bother anyone. I am 20, but most of my friends from work and school are in their mid 20s and even 30s. We get along great and age hasn't been something that has ever impacted our friendship. In terms of a fight, I don't know much about that. They had a falling out at the end of redhood/arsenal, but they seemed fine in RHATO rebirth.

For recommendations, all their comics together are pretty shit tbh. But All RHATO new 52 has them together, but it sucks ass. Redhood/arsenal should be skipped. RHATO rebirth annual 2 is probably the best you're gonna get next to the webtoon.

Okay, my personal opinion, I HATE Roy and jason. I can't stand Roy Harper from what I've seen. And even what I've seen pre-n52, he's kind of a dick.

In New 52, I know his character was stripped from him to make jason look good and that's a whole other discussion, but, he's a fucking idiot. He's selfish, impulsive, and he started listening to Jason's phone. And he was even worse in redhood/arsenal, SO SELFISH and so controlling and he would make decisions, including pimping jason out as a rent-a-hero and spending all their money, without any discussion but couldn't understand why he would be upset about that. He's just an asshole. I have no idea why he and jason would be friends at all. I despise JayRoy. Its so toxic.

Anyway, thanks for the ask!

[wilderness-of-thoughts]

Before:

You should be asleep. You should be rolling over right now, drooling on your pillow, dreaming of a romantic evening with some hot alpha male from a webtoon, and quietly farting (with glitter and rainbows, of course). But no. Of course not. Not when Satoru Gojo has a drama moment and demands an explanation from you.

"Gojo, I beg you, have mercy. We get up in the morning." You grumble, Gojo was just standing astride your sternum dressed in a pink nightgown. You both pretend not to see the little fashion show that Satoru is putting on for you. He has to try on all the doll clothes that will fit him. Women's, men's, unisex, classic, normal, festive or fancy - he has to try them all.

“You have a boyfriend?” His tone was like a parent who had caught his child smoking.

"Nooooo? I guess? It's complicated. Although I think he's already my fiancé." You frowned, thinking that this answer would calm him down, you simply closed your eyes.

Gojo felt his legs give way under his weight. In order not to show it, he simply sat cross-legged on your breastbone. Somewhere in the background, far, far away, he heard his tiny little heart breaking. He didn't know why. He didn't understand. When others said they were seeing someone, he didn't give a damn; when his sex friends said they were ending things because they were getting into a relationship, he responded with a shrug.

"Do you love him...?" He asked quietly, not looking at your face. He was afraid of the answer, but his ego effectively suppressed that fear.

"Hmm.... No." You replied firmly almost immediately. The vague constriction in his throat disappeared as soon as he removed his hand, and his heart began to beat more calmly. Why? Feeling his unspoken question, you sighed. You felt the light weight of his body against your chest. "Before you ask, I've known him for years. We met on some now-defunct manga-fucker forum. We share common interests and general clumsiness in life." You smiled to yourself. "we slept together a few times and stuff."

"Is he good?"

"He is nice, helpful..."

"in bed."

"Oh... Um... I don't know?" You blushed slightly.

".... What do you mean you don't know?"

"eh heh... You know.... I get more aroused reading fanfiction and watching hentai than... I mean, it's not bad... Is it normal? Ordinary? Without fireworks?" Gojo looked at you as if you were speaking to him in a forgotten dialect of ancient Aramaic. You watched him as he sat between your breasts on the print of the T-shirt you were sleeping in, with a serious expression on his face. "Sex in a relationship is not everything and that's something you should know best. For you guys it's more like a biological need."

"And fun."

"Okay, and fun" You smiled slightly. This was the first time you had this kind of conversation with Gojo, or with anyone really. You didn't have many real-world friends that weren't somehow related to jujutsu.

"Why don't you know if you're his fiancée?" Satoru asked further, being unsure whether one is in a relationship or not is something he has encountered in his life. More times than he would admit. Women often conflated sex with a relationship and he was introduced as a "partner" without even knowing it. So yeah. Gojo understands that you might not be sure.

"About half a year ago he proposed to me with a KFC set. I will never say no to food. I treated the proposal as a joke and ate the chicken. But ever since then, um... His mother asks about grandchildren, his grandmother tells how much money she has set aside for him, and he says something about a prenuptial agreement." You were now looking at Gojo as if he could explain your maybe-boyfriend's behavior.

Gojo didn't know what to say. He wanted to laugh, but at the same time he was so shocked that he could only look at you in equal consternation. If this guy took your "yes" seriously, it was the laziest proposal in the history of mankind. You deserved more. A perfect sunset, a violinist, roses, candles, a week-long spa. Gojo may have been a little romantic, but only a little. At least that was in the movies he watched because what does he know about true love? He would sooner sink into the ground than propose to you with a KFC nugget.

"Have you talked to him about this?"

"Yes?" Seeing his look you continued, "He said he was serious."

...Oh.

"Did you correct him?"

"um..." So no.

"Why?"

"do I have to answer?" You have to. You sighed heavily and hid your eyes behind your hand feeling the sleepiness demanding that you go to sleep. But you knew that Gojo wouldn't let you. "I assume that we are all alone. You are born alone, you die alone, no one will live your life for you. You are alone in the bag of bones that is your body. Precisely because, at a fundamental level, we are all alone, people seek others. Some people pair up, others join groups, associations, sects. They look for answers in religion, science. And the truth is that.. we are alone. All together we are alone."

Gojo could write a doctorate with distinction on loneliness. From his perspective, at the top you are alone, while the others were together. But when you told him that everyone is alone at the bottom... Paradoxically, he felt less lonely.

"But I wouldn't mind being alone with you." You mumbled, placing your hand on his. Gojo practically clung to it, craving your touch, your warmth, your body. He was now lying on your sternum. He felt your heartbeat beneath, your warm breath moving the strands of his hair. His cat tail curled around your ring finger.

In addition to the determination to return to his normal size, another feeling appeared in his little heart. Treat this lame guy with Purple. Then buy you a kids' set at McDonald's.

He dreamed he was kneeling before you at an anime convention, you were wearing a sexy version of Agumon's outfit. You agree.

It was one of the few beautiful dreams he had recently.

Next:

[yellowocaballero]

I'VE FINALLY STARTED READING THE SSSHUNTER WEBTOON AND IT'S AMAZING BUT THERE'S ONLY 115 CHAPTERS?? I CAN'T FIND MORE??? did you read the novel because i thought you said you didn't go that far or am i missing other chapters somewhere? or did you not finish it?

i am insane i will be reading it thank you for introducing me i have never understood suffering as a tool forward before quite like this

YEAH YEAH YEAH DID I SPREAD SSSCSH PROPAGANDA?!

Yes, unfortunately we're only at 116. Honestly, for a manwha that's pretty long so far - and it feels uncommon to even find a manwha that's finished. I should have warned that it was unfinished, but I'm so used to that :/

I haven't read the webnovel yet! It's on Woopnovel, I think. Unfortunately it's not an official translation, but it doesn't seem awful.

And yes, I love how the work can give such a different perspective into suffering! I feel like it's not just Buddhist, but that it talks about Buddhism a bit: the journey of Buddhism is to reach Nirvana, which is freedom from desire and suffering. This includes accepting suffering as condition of life. But Buddhism talks about how differences and barriers between living organisms are artificial, and cause suffering - SSSCSH proposes that we can achieve understanding of others and break down these artificial barriers by utilizing the shared human experience of trauma.

It's good. So good. I'm glad I spread the propaganda.

[allidrawscomics]

How do you approach writing/pacing for webcomics? Do you plan the story as you go, or is there an established story and/or ending before you even start drawing? Or maybe a mix of the two?

I pull out a little sketchbook and write down events that I KNOW I want to include and then try to number them based on what order they should happen chronologically. There are always going to be gaps in character and relationship development, and introducing the audience to world building elements so that later events make sense. I do my best to fill the gaps and think of a conclusion that I would be satisfied with if I was a reader. Then I list everything out chronologically and script individual scenes. I can do enough scripting in a day to make pages for like a year, so I get started on thumbnailing as soon as I can. In terms of pacing, webtoons and traditional webcomics are going to be moving at different speeds but ultimately I want the audience to understand what the goal is at any given time and everything between now and the goal should move us closer to the goal or be enjoyable to watch if I were to snip it out and put it somewhere by itself. Character development, eye candy, vibes.

If I don't tell the audience what the goal is they will make up a goal in their head and think nothing is happening because their goal isn't getting closer.

Silly little beach episodes are my favorite part of any show. I love seeing characters fuck around together! But I still want to avoid that thing that some webtoons do where we spend a whole chapter talking in circles or picking out a dress that doesn't matter. I don't want a situation where I've spent hours upon hours on scene that someone is going to barely glance at because they're trying to speed their way through to the interesting parts.

If you want to be one of those super cool artists that just draws the interesting parts for social media because who has time to make a whole ass ongoing comic then that's perfectly valid and I love that for you. Might try that out myself because I'm 32 and tired.

[stillfrownyclownlol]

The writing is not writing so um

*Bursts into tears*

Aidlyn ship question thingy because they are the only thing keeping me alive at this point 🙃 BTW this thing is EXTREMELY long so be warned.

Questions from @jennystahl

PRE-RELATIONSHIP

1. How did they first meet?

On the school bus during their first day of freshmen year, obviously :)

2. What was their first impression of each other?

Ash: ... ... ...well. you know. she thought he was a creep- which, to be fair, is a little bit true. Annoying, pushy, borderline stalkerish...she also thought his contacts were weird.

Aiden: He thought she seemed really interesting :) he was very excited to talk to her and he thought that her sitting in front of them was a sign she wanted to start a conversation. Thought her hair was pretty.

3. Did any of their friends and family want to get them together?

Taylor thinks they are super cute together! So does Logan, one time he offered to check their star sign compatibility ^_^ Ben is totally supportive of whatever Aiden wants to do, will be his "wingman" if he asks. Tyler thinks they should just suck it up and get together already. Her parents...ehh...they trust her to make good decisions, even if they think Aiden is "eccentric" (they're still on good terms with him tho!), Jessica and Daniel are just happy he found somebody.

4. Who felt romantic feelings first?

Aiden aiden aiden aiden.

5. Did either of them try to resist their feelings?

Hahaha hahaha. Yes! Of course- Aiden didn't think Ash would ever like him like that so he kinda just buried his feelings since he DEEPLY values his friendship with her. Ash is not really good at distinguishing her feelings between romantic and platonic so it took her a long time to realize. At the beginning she was kinda freaked out about it, but she accepted it pretty quickly.

6. If you had told one of them that the other would be their soul mate, what would they think?

Depends when, but I assume this means when they just met.

Ash: "what kind of sick joke is that?"

Aiden: I don't think the idea would bother him or anything. Would probably get a good laugh out of it though.

7. What would their lives be like if they had never met?

No phantom dimension at least, but Ashlyn would probably be coasting through life alone struggling to make connections, and Aiden would probably keep spiralling if he didn't make any real friends. I think he'd be a lot more unhappy than her.

GENERAL

1. Who initiated the relationship, and how did it go?

Ashlyn. She told him kind of bluntly that she had feelings for him and that she wanted to get that off her chest (Taylor gave her the advice). Aiden was ecstatica to say the least.

2. Did they have an official first date? If so, what was it like?

Not really...they'd already hung out together alone so they just went out again and did what they usually did. They just like to go somewhere quiet like the graveyard and spend time together, Ash's love language is quality time <3

3. What was their first kiss like?

*kneels* Red...I'm praying rn because i hope this will happen in the webtoon...

BUT FOR NOW

Probably a heat of the moment kind of thing. Specially if it was Aiden that was injured. It takes a lot for Ash to take initiative lol. If they weren't dealing with the phantom dimension anymore, I think Aiden would just ask her if he could kiss her after a date or smth. Either way, it's probably very awkward on Ash's part lmao :"D they probably knocked their teeth together haha

4. Were they each other's first anything?

Aiden is pretty much Ash's first...everything. he's the first guy she's kissed, her first relationship, and, technically, her first friend. Ash is Aiden's first romantic relationship. He's had friends before tho and he's kissed some other people, but nothing serious.

5. Height difference? Age difference?

Aiden is 174 cm and Ashlyn is 155 cm, so...7ish inches? I don't know how to convert-

Aiden was born in October 2000, and Ash was born in June 2001, so they have about 8 months between them 👍🏽

6. What's their relationship with each other's families? Do they share a friend group?

Ofc they share a friend group lol.

Mike and Emma like Aiden ^_^ they're pretty close with all of Ash's friends, but when they found out they were dating they didn't spare him the "parent-boyfriend" talk lol. Ash's relationship with his parents is...pretty awkward, she doesn't like them all that much, but Aidens been working on their relationship so she doesn't say anything. Same with his aunt and uncle. She likes hanging out with Lily tho, even if she's awkward around kids :)

7. Who takes the lead in social situations?

Depends on the situation, but usually Aiden will, he basically has no filter when it comes to talking with people lol. Very much the "Excuse me sir, she asked for no pickles." Meme 🤡 (Ash would just be annoyed and scrape them off)

8. Who gets jealous easier?

Aiden absolutely. It's the BPD + ADHD rejection sensitivity. Can spiral into irrationality ngl. Thankfully he doesn't get aggressive or gives her the cold shoulder, if anything he gets clingier.

9. Who whispers unsuitable things in the others' ear?

Aiden 100% 🫠 will say the most out of pocket shit ever at the worst possible time and Ash just has to fight back her laugh because oh my god, this guy.

LOVE

1. Who said "I love you" first?

Aiden. She got kinda awkward and couldn't say it back, but he didn't take it personally because she hugged him afterwards.

2. What are their primary love languages?

Ash is quality time as mentioned above. She doesn't need grand gestures, or gifts, or him reassuring her constantly, she just wants to...be around him.

Aiden is definitely touch. It's easy, it makes him feel good, and he feels like it expresses what he wants to say better than words. But he really likes it when Ash reassures him with words of affirmation anyways.

3. Who uses cheesy pick-up lines?

Do you even have to ask? Aiden pretty much greets her with one every day and Ash still hasn't understood a single one. There's also like, a 25% chance he will forget the pick up line half way through delivering it so he'll just bungle the whoel thing up.

4. How often do they cuddle/engage in PDA?

Aiden kinda hovers around her in public so PDA is a given. She's got a pretty strict "no pda at school" rule tho. She's okay with him putting his arm around her or putting their heads together, but no kissing. Cuddling at home? That's fine, she likes napping with him.

5. Who initiates kisses?

Ash if it's on the mouth, Aiden if it's anywhere else.

6. Who's the big spoon and who's the little spoon?

Neither, they sleep facing each other. Aiden moves around in his sleep a lot which drives Ash nuts. They usually end up tangled together, to Ash's despair.

7. What are their favourite things to do together?

Ash isn't super picky, she generally prefers something they can do at home. She really likes watching documentaries about her special interests while they lie on the couch together.

Aiden likes doing puzzles with her, they get to talk together while doing one of his favourites activities :) he likes to go out too, but he doesn't want Ash to get overstimulated, so they'll usually go out to some deserted place at night.

8. Who's better at comforting the other?

They both suck at it lmao 💀 but Aiden calms down a lot faster than Ash does, so technically Ash is better.

9. Who's more protective?

They both are extremely protective. And like in a feral way ngl. They WILL choose violence lol.

10. Do they prefer verbal or physical affection?

Ash likes physical affection because she doesn't really know how to respond to verbal affection. Aiden is fine with either, a cuddle or a compliment is good for him :) Slight preference towards physical touch tho, and verbal is like a little treat for him since Ash almost never does it.

11. What are some songs that apply to their relationship?

I let you go to Red's playlist for that :D (But I recommend "High on Life", good song that explains Aiden's view on Ash)

12. What kind of nicknames do they call each other?

Ash doesn't use nicknames a lot, she just calls him Aiden, or something like "stupid, idiot, dumbass, imbecile" when he's annoyed her. Mr. Durable is the closest thing to a pet name she will give him lol.

Aiden will call Ash every single freaking thing you can imagine. Baby, babe, Bae, my love if he's feeling dramatic, Red because he's obvious like that, "wifey" is he's feeling fearless lmao. And then there's the *weird* petnames; "my sweet ketchup packet", "my favourite little rubix cube", "my beautiful princess with a disorder". All of these make Ash want to rip her hair out.

13. Who remembers the little things?

Neither of them do in on purpose 🤡 Aiden will just hyperfixate on stuff Ash tells him and remember it for special occasions. Ash is more about the every day little things, reminds him to drink water, sends him food in case he forgot it, asks how he's sleeping.

DOMESTIC LIFE

1. If they get married, who proposes?

Aiden had a whole thing planned before Ash asked him for the tax benefits.

2. What's the wedding like? Who attends?

They prolly got married at city hall because they're not religious and also a big wedding in front of a lot of people stresses Ash out. The squad came and both sets of parents 👍🏽 They prolly had a small party afterwards to celebrate.

3. How many kids do they have, if any? What are they like?

Probably just one...I think they'd either talk about it for a loooooong time or have one on accident haha

4. Do they have any pets?

A big rescue dog, breed undeterminable. :)

5. Who's the stricter parent?

Ash absolutely, somebody has gotta keep everybody in line! Not afraid to go into "Sargent mode" if necessary >:)

6. Who worries the most?

Aiden, but like in a private way where he can't even sleep. The BPD hits and he sees the world as very dangerous. Ash is better at rationalising her worries.

7. Who kills the bugs in the house?

Aiden, bugs don't really bother him, so he probably catches them if he's bored and finds one. Ash isn't afraid of bugs either, but she dislikes spiders. Too many legs :p

8. How do they celebrate holidays?

They'll usually meet up with the rest of the squad and their families! If they can't, Ash likes to keep it lowkey ^_^ Aiden WILL go all out for Halloween tho. And Christmas. And New Year's, and...yeah, they both have different ideas lol.

9. Who's more likely to convince the other to come back to sleep in the morning?

Aiden pretty much sleeps for like 4 hours every night and gets up at like 5 in the morning just to do crap, so if they don't need to do anything, Ash will call him back to cuddle for a bit. Helps him sleep <3

10. Who's the better cook?

Ash, her parents taught her the basics. She's not a master chef or anything, but she won't set the kitchen on fire like Aiden.

11. Who likes to dance?

Ash is way more passionate about dance (specifically ballet) than Aiden is, but they both like dancing. Sometimes they slow dance at home if they're feeling romantic :)

[genericpuff]

Hello. I wasn’t the anon from last time but I realized my question came off as rude and standoff-ish. it was actually just a genuine question of whether you think all webtoon original creators are/should be held to the same level of scrutiny as LO is. You said before that its okay for indie comics to look messy or unprofessional because they’re passion projects. But I was just thinking of all the webtoon originals that are overworked and under paid. Kind of makes me feel bad because webtoon presents them as professional works— yet treats them like indie projects. And its throwing them under the bus because they dont have any of the same resources as traditional print. When rachel gets called out for reusing panels/artworks, adding filler, and taking shortcuts it sets a precedent that all webtoon originals shouldn’t do that.

Oh you're good!!! Sorry if I came at you like a flying monkey, it was just very similar to the last set of asks so I made a faulty assumption LOL

I do think there's a lot of responsibility on WT's shoulders to do better by their creators. A lot of them are burnt out, underpaid, overworked, as you said, and I'm definitely not looking past that. The only reason I get on Rachel's case as much as I do is because she has WAY more assistants than others, people who are literally industry professionals (seriously, look up their socials/art pages sometime, some of these people literally work in the larger entertainment industries like movies and gaming, it makes it feel like their skills are being SEVERELY wasted on LO with how bad it looks week after week) and there's just a lot of evidence that points to how much Rachel lies about how much she contributes (she's also definitely one of the top earning creators on the platform, at least here in NA). That's not even getting into how much WT carries Rachel and LO on their shoulders, from giving LO extensive ad space every week (ad space that's constantly being fought for by other Originals creators who are lucky to get even a couple hours per season in the ad roulette) to outright paying for awards and articles to be written about it. Like, far be it from me to make assumptions as an outsider looking in, but I don't get the sense that Rachel is in the same ballpark of struggling that a lot of Originals creators are. If anything there are probably creators struggling to be seen right now because of WT constantly giving her and her comic preferential treatment over others. And yeah, that's on Webtoons, but you don't exactly see Rachel doing anything to lift up her peers or talk about her experiences with Webtoons the same way many other creators are and that says a lot IMO.

And, speaking as a creator and as a reader, I'm definitely not against the notion of webtoon creators using whatever shortcuts they need to use, but I still feel like there's a line you gotta draw somewhere before those shortcuts become definitively "lazy" low quality crutches. Those kinds of shortcuts can become a very slippery slope between "doing the best you can" and "making no effort at all". If I can use a creator who's not Rachel as an example, Let's Play has a LOT of this kind of thing going on.

I can totally empathize with needing to use shortcuts, I use them all the time and I'm not being burnt at both ends the same way Originals creators are, but while there is the concern that criticizing them sets a precedent that people shouldn't use them ever, there's the opposite concern that not talking about it when it's very obviously cheap sets a precedent that it's okay to give your audience garbage and still expect them to stick around and pay money for your work.

It's not really a battle that sits squarely on the shoulders of the creators, though, a lot of it does come down to Webtoons. But I think there are also creators who are just sorta like that. See Snailords as an example, they use WT underpaying them all the time as an argument/excuse for their behavior, but they're a genuinely shitty person with a nasty attitude who very blatantly manipulates their young audience (literally made up of children!) and they've been like that since before they joined WT as an Originals creator, so it doesn't matter if WT is in the picture or not, Snailords is just like that.

When it comes to Rachel, I genuinely believe that she wasn't always like this with her work, there was a time when she put actual effort into her art - but that time has been long gone since 2019/2020. And I don't think WT paying her more or loosening the strictness of her deadlines is the solution, I just think LO should have ended a long time ago before it got to that point. When LO's art and writing started to turn, there was that initial concern that it was her taking these shortcuts out of necessity for her health and work/life balance... but then there's a point where it becomes abundantly clear that the creator just doesn't care anymore and I think that's a point Rachel crossed a long time ago, probably around the start of S2 if I had to try and guess exactly where.

When it comes right down to it, Webtoons Originals is still a form of publisher, and if you sign that contract, you're going to be held to higher standards than creators who aren't because you're no longer a hobbyist, you're doing this as your job. That's not to say you don't deserve empathy ever, especially in the working climate that WT demands, but if you're gonna be working as a professional in an industry that's begging to be respected among its peers, you gotta hold yourself to higher standards. To really get across what I mean by that, if the webtoon/webcomic industry wants to be taken seriously, especially here in the west where it's competing with DC and Marvel, maaaybe it should at least have some modicum of quality control to ensure there's a mutual level of respect between the audience and the creator. I think that's something WT needs to be taking more seriously and, by extension, they should be doing more to both provide assistance and accommodations to their creators as well as quality control to ensure they're holding these works to a standard they expect people to pay for. This is especially true for a comic like LO which they're insisting still has a show in development (they aren't but that's another topic lol), of course people are gonna have higher standards for a comic that's won as many awards as it has and has gotten television and merch deals.

And aside from all that, I don't think anyone gets mad right off the bat at a comic that isn't "perfect", usually they'll just go "oh okay, this is what the comic is, it's not for me" and move on (Religiously Gay is an example of a comic like this, there was already a lot of controversy surrounding it when it came out but it was pretty clear that was just what the comic was so I didn't bother reading it further). It's when a comic starts off on a good note and builds that rep and then becomes a cheap reproduction of what it used to be that audiences tend to get more upset - because the creator has built that rep with them and set those expectations, which they're now failing. Look no further than S8 of Game of Thrones. It's often WAY more disappointing than a project just never improving in quality in the first place because you're seeing, in real time, a project you know can do better fail at that and even get worse.

I'll also mention, on a personal note, that I've found shortcuts that I tried and ultimately didn't end up liking, even if they technically improved the output of my work. I started using 3D models last year for my main project, and while they improved my anatomy consistency, now they're making my poses feel very stiff, lifeless and boring, and my characters just don't feel alive anymore. So I'd MUCH rather have expressive art that's a little messy sometimes than stiff art with an accurate hip to torso ratio. I still aim for consistency as best I can, obviously I don't want my characters' appearances to be morphing from panel to panel, but in practice, most people don't care or notice if an arm or leg is a little out of place.

All that said, when it comes to LO, I don't call that stuff out as like, a genuine legit criticism. It's more just because it's hilarious and I often can't believe I never noticed those things (which is exactly the former point I just mentioned at play, most people don't notice these things). So that's where I'll repeat, don't confuse my shitposting of LO and how silly it can look in hindsight with like, legitimate criticism that I would blanket apply to every project I read. Apply common sense where necessary. Don't ever punch down.

And maybe also just don't use me as a monolith for these things, I'm literally just a guy talking shit on the Internet and participating in some of the worst that fandom culture has to offer LOL Time will tell if I will ever pay for my crimes（；´д｀）ゞ

[jennyyyeeettt]

I update this post every now and then 📰

21-girl-classical studies grad. 🤓

I promise I'm not ignoring you, I just have a lot of queued posts 😵‍💫

I don't get a lot of asks but when I do I tag them #ask or #asks (in case they got lost between the billions of reblogs) feel free to send them 💌

I'm a Christian, u may expect occasional Bible verses or reflection or explanation or something -.- not all the time but sometimes. ⛪

Currently watching: young sheldon (season 5) its taking time

Currently reading : the Hobbit by J. R. R Tolkien   // Corinthians (the bible) // the iliad by Homer //re reading: after-school lessons for unripe apples on webtoons (i adore it 🩷🤍💚🩵💙🖤)

done with uni, having a tough time deciding what to do next :> 😅

.. Still dk what to do with my life but I'm taking a step somewhere.. Sometime! 👍

[sylveaugust]

SPOILER ALERT FOR Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint Ep 7. Landlord and a teeny part of This Savage Song

I have like seventeen memos of brainstorming a crossover between Monsters of Verity and Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint that I wrote last year and now that I look at them they're just... uhm.

I was thinking that since August is technically a monster, I could probably insert him somewhere during the third scenario where those monsters get summoned through some portal... to be more exact the precise moment at the start of Landlord (6)(webtoon-wise; in the webnovel it's a little after the start of Landlord (5)) which is a little after KDJ turns into a ghost. And then it would be because some entity from above(which is me, as the writer; this was serious fourth wall stuff ngl) meddled with the fabric of reality for fun asdfwoeuriowejfilsj

I ended up postponing that idea for after I finished the actual ORV novel(and those side stories that are keeping on updating these days), but now that I read it it's like brainrot. I'm gonna put one single excerpt here in case you're curious. I have this first scene in like five different memos probably now... I'll rewrite it someday probably idk

Yoo Joonghyuk stared at the place where Kim Dokja had just been in disbelief. He couldn't have been that foolhardy. He wouldn't have dared. But Kim Dokja was now a ghost indeed. In his arms, Gilyoung screamed two words over and over.

"Hyung! Dokja Hyung!"

Of course, the kid didn't know exactly what happened, but Yoo Joonghyuk decided it was useless to try and explain. Yet.

But there was something else that caught his eye. Among the flurry of monsters coming from the portal, there seemed to be a figure of... a boy. He was certainly outside the green zone, simply standing there, but the monsters weren't attacking him, which was odd. And after most of the monsters passed the tunnel into Chungmu Station, Yoo Joonghyuk could see the boy clearly. The boy looked like a teenager, but he didn't look Korean. Although his face was extraordinarily smooth, Joonghyuk could clearly read confusion in the boy's dark grey eyes. Which soon met his. And narrowed.

A flurry of questions rose in Joonghyuk's mind. Who was he? Why hadn't the monsters attacked him? Would he come in handy? Was he a threat? Was he... a monster?

The last question was because Joonghyuk had seen monsters that looked human, more than once. It was also the best answer he could think of, since the boy most likely came from the same portal as the other monsters. But he didn't remember such a boy appearing in the tunnel in his previous times here, so anything was likely... Joonghyuk would have to read the boy's answers carefully.

Gilyoung noticed the newcomer as well. "Hyung?" he called. It was probably the first logical answer that came to him. He wouldn't have known what happened to Dokja, and this boy appeared right after Dokja vanished. But Gilyoung soon noticed the lack of recognition in the stranger's eyes. "You're not Dokja-hyung..."

The boy raised an eyebrow. "Who's Dokja-hyung?" he asked.

Before Yoo Joonghyuk could ask who the boy was, Gilyoung answered the boy's question. "He saved my life in the subway. He was protecting me until he gave me to this ahjussi," he pointed to Yoo Joonghyuk, who made a mental note to tell Gilyoung not to call him ahjussi, "and he got surrounded by monsters. Then he disappeared. Have you seen him?"

"No," said the boy. His brow had subtly twitched at the word "monsters"...

[This statement is true.]

Before the boy could say anything else, Yoo Joonghyuk asked his question.

"Who are you?"

The boy hesitated for a second, then answered. "Frederick Gallagher. You can call me Freddie."

[This statement is partly true.] Hmm...

"You don't look very much like a Freddie. An alias?"

The boy looked at him strangely. "...How did you know?" he asked.

"I have a skill," said Yoo Joonghyuk before he could stop himself. Dammit. He should have said something else.

"What skill?"

"Lie detection," he blurted once again, and silently hoped that Not-Freddie would think he was joking. The boy didn't seem to know anything about the skills of this world, which, depending on how he thought about it, made either total sense or no sense at all. "I don't suppose you'll be telling me your real name anytime soon?"

"Not yet." Of course not. Yoo Joonghyuk would have to use his Sage's Eye again.

[Sage's Eye is activated.]

[This information is currently inaccessible by the Sage's Eye.]

'Who are you?' he thought. Was this boy like Kim Dokja?