#sort of a continuation of another fanart i did

[sysig]

Still normal don’t even worry about it (Patreon)

[amerricanartwork]

Oh my god, another one! They just keep coming!

At this point, though, the more the merrier! And this one looks like a jolly little fellow!

Oh, is that for me? How kind of you, little guy! Though I'm not hungry now.

Looks like the others are pretty hungry, though!

What a cute little picnic! I think I'm gonna like this new little creature...!

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Welcome to Rain Wool: Downpour! For the first entry in the series, I've got none other than the one, the only, the chonker of all time, the Gourmand!

Let me tell you, at first I wasn't sure how well this would turn out. Not only did I struggle to find an adequate soft orange-yellow color, but I thought it would be a bit hard to figure out the exact volumes and degree of Gourmand's chubbiness. I usually use a mix of in-game art, sprites, and certain fanart for reference, but even so it can be a little hard to translate them into a 3D form, especially with someone like Gourmand. But nonetheless, I'm really happy with how this guy turned out, and it seems to grow cuter every time I look at it!

For these characters, I also wanted to try something new. Some recent asks have really helped me realize that I honestly prefer making needle-felted figures as unique toys of sorts rather than traditional look-don't-touch art pieces, so I'll be designing the figures around that purpose.

And as such, to really act on that idea and further bring these slugcats to life, I thought I'd try making a few tiny props for them!

I've got a bunch of more game-accurate spears made from bamboo skewers, and for Gourmand in particular I needle-felted some simple food items! I would've done more variety, but alas I haven't the right wool colors yet to make other foods.

Regardless, I hope you enjoy this little guy as much as I do, and continue to stick around as the rest of the Downpour cast takes up woolen form!

[hanafubukki]

I Suddenly Became the Mother of the Red-Rose Tyrant?!

Summary: Well, fuck, somehow you isekaied and became the mother of Riddle Rosehearts

Characters: Riddle Roshearts, Reader, & Clover Family.

Notes: I have been reading way too many isekai Manhwas/Mangas. Not only that, but I saw a fanart of little Riddle and his mom and was inspired right away. This is a long fic, it’s been awhile since I wrote something so long so I am proud. 💕🥰💜

·      When you had opened your eyes one day, you had woken up in a bedroom that definitely wasn’t yours.

·      The room was…meticulous, and that was putting it lightly.

·      Even your bed, while comfy, had a feeling of order to it; daring anyone to mess it up.

·      You should probably be more anxious over your new surroundings but waking up well rested in a while just mellowed you out.

·      That is until you got up and looked at a mirror, finally seeing the truth of the matter.

·      Well, fuck, you really did isekai to another world.

·      Maybe reading all those manhwas and mangas were not a good idea.

·      You glance at the mirror one more time and this time your appearance caught and held your attention.

·      You reached up and pulled at your…bangs.

·      They looked to form two heart shapes.

·      It was kind of cute.

·      The person whose body you had, well, she looked tired and stressed.

·      Lady, you need to relax once in a blue moon.

·      Wait…a minute, no, no, no. Heart shaped bangs? The only character you knew that had heart shaped bangs were...

·      “Mother?”

·      You turned around and right at your door, dressed prim and proper, was a tiny Riddle Rosehearts.

·      Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

·      You were isekaid into Mrs. Rosehearts.

·      After you had gotten your bearings, you had told Riddle to go study and you would prepare him food. He had simply nodded and did as you asked. No protest against studying so early in the morning or any mention of hunger. You knew his past, of course you did, but seeing it firsthand was another experience all together. Seeing his response to the request you made? It burdened your heart even more.

·      As you made his breakfast, you had some time to yourself which you used to sort out your situation and feelings. Your memories before coming to Twisted Wonderland were still intact; you just didn’t remember how you ended up in this world, let alone in Mrs. Rosehearts body.

·      Of whom, her memories you had full access to as well. it was as if you lived two lives together. If it wasn’t for little Riddle in the next room, you would be tearing your hair out because, of course, you would be in this situation.

·      Looking through her memories, you can see why Mrs. Rosehearts had turned out the way she did. Generational trauma and unrealistic expectations seemed to run in the family. Which in turn led to her actions towards Riddle, and of which, led to Mr. Rosehearts walking out of their lives. He didn’t even fight for custody of his own child, the influence of Mrs. Rosehearts being too great.

·      Generation trauma that you could have prevented from continuing, Mrs. Rosehearts, but now it’s up to me.

·      You ended up taking a tray of food to little Riddle, with enough food that a child his age would eat and then some. At least with these memories retained, you also knew everything Mrs. Rosehearts did, and unlike the MC in Twisted Wonderland, you also had her powers as well. Which, given the game’s events, would come in handy in the future.

·      Right now though, as you opened the door to the study, you would do your best to raise your son right and well-loved.

·      One of the first changes you made was decreasing his study time and allowing him the chance to play.

·      It didn’t go as well as you expected…Riddle had frozen and started shaking to your horror. Mumbling about doing better and how he could handle extra studies if you wished it of him. You had a feeling that he thought it was to test him and his dedication.

·      You had to calm him down and prove otherwise.

·      Giving him a dedicated set time to study, and just as much time to play. You would even join him. Drawing with him, putting together puzzles, and even playing in the backyard. You had even gone out and bought him a ball that you two threw at each other.

·      What warmed your heart the most was when you baked him a strawberry tart and gave it to him with a warm glass of milk. Your tart wasn’t the best with the crust crumbling, and you should have probably let it cool a bit more, but the shining eyes and wide smile from Riddle was more than worth it.

·      You patted him on the head as he scooped another piece into his mouth.

·      You loved your son.

·      The next step in providing a healthy lifestyle for Riddle was making sure he had friends.

·      Which meant, you had to repair the relationship Riddle had with Trey and Che’nya.

·      It wasn’t easy, especially having to muster up the courage to look into Trey’s parents’ eyes and apologize for actions you did not commit.

·      But you were determined to give Riddle a good childhood and that meant him having friends his age and hopefully lowering his chances of overblotting in the future.

·      Riddle was quiet on the day you both went to the Clover’s bakery.

·      But you took a deep breath and patted him on the head.

·      “Everything will be alright, sweetheart.”

·      Riddle didn’t say anything and just nodded.

·      You had chosen to meet Trey’s parents at closing time, and you had given them a call ahead of time.

·      When you met them, you could tell they were nervous and bracing themselves.

·      Little Trey looked ready for a fight.

·      You had to hold your smile in.

·      You ended up bowing to them and apologizing, which you could tell freaked them all out.

·      Riddle was surprised and grasped at your dress, worried.

·      “I am very sorry for the way I treated you all before. I know my words might not make up for my past actions, but I do hope you will forgive me in time.”

·      Mr. and Mrs. Clover looked at each other before tentatively accepting your apology.

·      “Mrs. Rosehearts, might we ask why the sudden change.”

·      It was Mrs. Clover who had spoken up.

·      You smiled and put a hand on your son’s head.

·      “I have been trying to raise Riddle the only way I knew how. I had let my past and expectations I have lived through blind me. I realized that was wrong, and I want to change that. I want my son to be happy and loved like he deserves.”

·      The Trey family seemed to relax after hearing your reasoning, but you could tell they were still on guard.

·      You didn’t blame them, but you hope in time, they will trust your words.

·      You crouched down to Riddle’s level, looking at him with a gentle look.

·      “I want to show my little one that adults can be wrong, and they can change. I want to show him that I love him, and I am sorry. I am so, so sorry. I love you and I hope you can forgive me too.”

·      Little Riddle was trembling, and tears were dripping down his face.

·      You opened your arms before he rushed into you with all the force his little body can muster.

·      You hugged him just as tight, holding your own tears in.

·      You got up with Riddle in your arms, rubbing his back as he cried and clutched on you tighter.

·      You bowed your head to the Clover family once again before looking at Trey.

·      “I hope you, you other friend, and Riddle can be good friends.”

·      Trey looked a bit nervous before nodding slowly.

·      You thanked them before returning home.

·      Humming a song to little Riddle and kissing his head.

·      You were determined.

·      You would make sure Riddle Rosehearts grew up loved and happy.

·      And as thoughts of the Twisted Wonderland plot came into mind.

·      You would make sure he was safe.

How did you all like it? Would love to hear your thoughts 💕☺️

Tag List (open): @justeclem44​ @coraldelusiondaze​n @h0n3ysgh0st​ @thatdazaikin​ @strawberry-pie-thoughts​

[jennyandvastraflint]

Would love to hear more about your thoughts on the commercialisation of fandom!!

Ooooh, boy you've opened a can of worms. I took a Fan Studies course at uni for a module bc I could choose it, and I did a lot of research into this specific topic... I hope it's okay that I'm just putting in some of my slides and then summarising underneath each!

Now, fandom in, for instance, fan fiction spaces, works on the basis of a Gift Economy in which gifts rather than money are exchanged. However, these gifts aren't just meant for one person, but for many, and even when you for instance do an artwork or a fanfic for someone, other people can still ALSO read it. These gifts can (but don't have to) be responded to with another gift, be it a comment on a fic, or a fic in return. Now, I could go into much more detail here, but I recommend checking out for instance this text by Trisha Turk on the TWC for some more in-depth stuff about this. (I'll list all the sources I used in the presentation in the end btw!) The gist of it is that fandom is a very complex system in which the reciprocation of gifts - and therefore labour - is distributed across the community.

(more under the cut)

HOWEVER capitalism, as always, comes along and tries to ruin things for profit.

Fandoms continue to form because of the unrestricted movement and no one dictating what is well, "really" canon and what isn't. I'm sure you've witnessed some fans in more recent years refusing to ship things that "won't become canon anyway", positioning the canonicity of a ship or a scenario higher than... well, their own critical reflection and interpretation OF the media and their own creative endeavours. At the end of the day, canon for me personally is something to draw on, negotiate with, or reject if it's stupid, while more recent fandoms I've seen sometimes go about their engagement with fandom as a sort of... worshipping of canon almost, and where being noticed by the creators is sort of the ultimate goal.

Now, this is of course connected to corporations realising that hey, actually people engaging with our media and creating something about it bring in numbers, and with them being able to make a profit off of views on social media, they seek to drive certain forms of engagement with the content. However, they are of course seeking to police HOW you engage with things, and don't you dare stray from their vision too much. This, of course, harms especially marginalised communities who propose alternative readings of media, who subvert the show itself and who transform it into something else, adding themselves into the work and into a world where, by design, they were invisible. It's also an attempt to undermine fan activism and grassroots organising by fans (if you wanna hear more about fan activism shoot me another ask and I will ramble <3 edit: link to post about fan activism) by keeping them in line with a sterilised version of fandom. In this sterilised and controlled version, the forms most often encouraged are things like video edits (but don't be too out there, that's bad too) that can be consumed like content by fandom... They like video edits, sterilised fanart, and things that are easily consumed and bring numbers, but "don't you dare write that nasty Spirk fanfiction where they have sex in the captain's chair! Ewww, yuck yuck!"

Rather than having a fandom driven by community, you have one driven by consumption, and that has become increasingly clear in the past few years, with readers on fan fiction asking "When next chapter?", pressuring artists, writers, etc. for more 'content' for them to consume without a) participating in the Gift Economy fandom is built upon and b) realising that these fan works are gifts to the community in the first place, and not content... These are, by the way, often the same fans who will cheer on AI because now they can finally read a story they wanted someone to continue :D Instead of using their own fucking brain, they're asking a bot trained on scraping works to produce them some bad, surface level jumble of words just so they can consume, consume, endlessly consume without ever having to think.

A few years ago (well in like, the late 2000s), a site called FanLib wanted to profit off of the resale of fanfiction, but were quickly shut down. Their mistake was that they mistook the community of fandom for a commodity to exploit for their own commercial interests. I'm not sure you've seen it, but Wattpad has sent authors emails asking them to update their fics frequently because it would appease the algorithm (see Tumblr Post about this here), which leads me to my next little point!

Algorithms! If you have ever done fan edits and posted them on sites like TikTok, Instagram, etc., you'll have noticed that... unless you post regularly and frequently (like. one edit a day at least), the algorithm will NOT push your video at all and it will be buried. Algorithms are based on how well a post performs not in terms of actual community that is built, but of course on numbers. Wattpad also functions on an algorithmic principle, which is why you have some........ individuals coming to AO3 and complaining about the supposed algorithm, spamming their work and reposting it, yadda yadda. Basically, these fans are so used to being spoonfed by an algorithm by now, they are confused when they are actually left on their own and are supposed to learn some basic fandom rules. It's honestly frightening to see fandom not only be reduced to this surface level interaction and to number-based algorithmic systems, but also to the trend-hopping TikTokification of fandom.

A study done by Booth and Dare-Edwards published in 2021 that focused on school age children basically came to the following conclusions... Children still connect "fan" with the same stereotypes of obsessive and unruly individuals that were plaguing us thirty years ago. A whole bunch of children think fandom is a thing of the past and that it peaked in the early 2000s - and while fandom of course is different now and has changed with the spread of the internet, fandom very much still is A Thing. Further, children connected fandom and being a fan mostly with buying merchandise and collecting, and also with plain consuming content, echoing "neo-liberal associations of ‘emotion’ with ‘buying power’, but at the same time, seemed to pathologize those who practice fandom (as they see it) ‘too much’" (Booth and Dare-Edwards 230). The text concludes that while there has been an explosion of media and you are becoming more multi-facetted in what you are a fan of, lilypad hopping and essentially abandoning fandoms after a brief period of surface level engagement and consuming content is increasingly becoming more common. From my own experience, this is for instance the case with shows like Willow (2022), Good Omens(ish), etc. Pretty much anything more recent doesn't have as stable a fanbase and if you enter the fandom a month too late it's already fizzing out. It's really fucked up, honestly.

Right, after that long tangent about this, I want to bring up ancillary models, which is an attempt by capitalist companies to market the previously unwanted Gift Economy of fandom as something new and desirable, but something they are in control of.

Ancillary Content Models try to lure fans in with "free" Behind-the-Scenes content. The guise they have stolen from fandom of acting like a Gift Economy of saying "here, this is for all our dedicated fans <3 Consume :D" is used to downplay the commercial infrastructure these Content Models (honestly it's already in the name). The "gifted" content is more concerned with getting loads of people to individually consume as much of it as possible to create an alternative revenue on for instance social media through views, clicks, likes, etc. They're essentially trying to commercialise our viewing time and keep us engaged with that additional content as much as possible. Rather than having a community that comes together to share their ideas and stories around a metaphorical campfire, Ancillary Content Models want each person alone to sit and stare at the stuff they put out as much as possible, always placidly clicking "like" and demanding more. They also want to cultivate an "official" fan community (aka the ones most dedicated to consuming additional content) that they can monitor and control, and they don't encourage anything that's too... out there, too subversive, too queer, etc. Coined "re-gifting economy" by Suzanne Scott, capitalism with these Ancillary Content Models has warped the Gift Economy fandom functions on into a model that equates consumption with community, and which wants to profit off of fans' engagement and their free labour of making viral TikTok edits that adhere to the sterilised version of what a fan "should be". The example I used in my presentation for this is from The Dragon Prince, which, while I do love the show, has been pushing such Ancillary Content Models. They also have a Discord (which is regulated and monitored) as their "official fan community" place, and not only are the rules pretty strict, but it also just... doesn't feel like a community but just like a bunch of people wanting more content gathered in one place :/

Now, to conclude this, capitalism sucks and is trying to ruin fandom communities in order to replace them with something they can make some more money of, and rather than having a critical fanbase that questions things, they want one that endlessly consumes the "free" content they churn out. Stay active in fandom, remember we're a Gift Economy, learn the fandom rules, and keep hating capitalism <3

Fan Work: Labor, Worth and participation in Fandom's gift economy by Trisha Turk

Now, the sources I have used for this...

Repackaging fan culture: The regifting economy of ancillary content models by Suzanne Scott

Stanfill, Mel. “The Fan Fiction Gold Rush, Generational Turnover, and the Battle for Fandom’s Soul.” The Routledge Companion to Media Fandom, edited by Melissa A. Click and Suzanne Scott, New York, 2017, pp. 77-79.

"No one's a fan of anything anymore, this isn't 2002.": Surveying 7–17-year-olds on being a fan and contemplating the future of fandom. by Paul Booth and Helena Louise Dare-Edwards

[ace1diots]

you WILL look at my gay minecraft fanart

(Comic ID & Transcript of text under cut!)

Page One:

Panel one: Viking is large and on the left side of the screen, facing right, while avid is crouching to place a shulker box down. Avid says “Haha, you’re the worst!” and Viking replies “Oh yeah? Well you wanna kiss me sooooo bad it makes you look stupid!”

Panel two: Avid (large and on the right side of the screen) looks up and turns towards Viking and says “HA! Well maybe I do!”. The “do” is underlined.

Panel three: Viking, with his hands on his hips, winks at Avid and says “Prove it then.” as Avid walks towards him with his hands behind his back, laughing and saying “Haha, Ok!”

Page Two:

Panel one: Avid has cupped Viking’s face in his hands. Viking, who seems to have not expected this and has eyes wide in panic, says “Wait just a-“ before getting cut off.

Panel two: Vikings last sentence was cut off by Avid kissing him. Viking, who can no longer talk due to being kissed, just makes a “Mmf!” noise. The speech bubble has little hearts on the edge of it. Viking looks incredibly surprised and very flustered. His eyes somehow get even wider.

Panel three: A wide shot of Avid and Viking kissing. Viking has his eyes open and is pulling on Avid’s coat somewhat forcefully. Viking’s tail is pointed up, and he seems to still be somewhat in shock. Avid has his eyes closed, is still cupping Viking’s face with his hands, and has put his left leg between Viking’s legs. Avid’s monkey tail is somewhat shaped like a heart. There are several small hearts drawn around the two of them, and a somewhat long squiggly line with heart shapes at the end of it near the two of them.

Panel four: Avid and Viking pull away from the kiss. Viking is out of breath and breathing heavily, still looking shocked. Viking says “Avid?”, but stutters a little. He’s still very flustered. Avid has his eyes open now and is looking somewhat smug, but is still cupping Viking’s face in his hands. Avid says “Haha! Look who’s turn it is to be all flustered now! Ahah….”

Panel five: Vikings face (with Avid’s hands on it still” is large and in the left hand corner of the wideshot panel. He still looks to be shocked, nervous, and catching his breath. Avid, for the first time in the comic, has a shocked expression, like hes only just processed what he did. In the middle of the panel, Avid and Viking can be seen still sort of holding eachother, though Viking’s hand has moved fully to Avids waist, and they are looking into eachothers eyes. Neither of them says a word until Avid says “Huh? Oh.” While stuttering a little.

Panel six: Viking and Avid have moved apart from each other, looking in the other direction from one another and both clearly very flustered. Viking has his right hand over his mouth and his left over his chest, and is facing the left side of the screen. Avid has fully burrier his face in his hands and is running to the right of the screen. Avid sputters saying “Oh my gosh I’m so so sorry um um I’ve got things! To do today!”. Avid continues, saying “I’ve got to go to my base now!”. Viking replies “Yeah, um. Me too.” and then follows up with, “Do you want to um. Do this again sometime?”. Avid responds “Yeah yeah, um of course!”

[freesia-writes]

Chapter 4: A Shop Visit

Enjoy a warm and fuzzy tale of romance, suspense, adventure, and self-discovery as Hunter finds his path after the events of TBB. Banner/dividers by @pinkiemme ~ Master List ~ Previous Chapter

Chapter 4 - Word Count: 2.2k - FANART BY @nika6q!!

Hunter wiped his hands on the rag before tossing it on the counter, scrutinizing the rows of neatly-trimmed filets spread across the butcher block in front of him. It had been an oddly quiet day, aside from a very boisterous group of women from the school who had stopped by on their lunch break. Why they were in search of raw meat at an hour when most people would be eating prepared food, Hunter had no idea. But he had a sneaking suspicion, after recent conversations, that there was some sort of challenge going around the office that involved his attention, and their enthusiastic questions about his sausages only furthered his increasing need for caution. 

It was nearing time to close, although he wasn’t in any hurry to get home to the empty house. Omega would be home the following day, so he’d busied himself with extra hunting time as well as some organizational tasks around the butcher shop that he’d been putting off for a while. He found it strangely cathartic as he wiped the counters after putting everything away, enjoying the smoothness of the stone surface as his mind wandered across the various aspects of life on the island.

The gentle tinkle of the bell hanging inside the door caught his attention, and he ventured out from the back room. It was another one of the office ladies, the one he’d spoken to about the emergency beacon for Omega. She was wearing a long brown skirt with a plain blue shirt tucked into it, and her brown hair was tucked into a loose braid at the base of her neck. He wracked his memory for her name, surprised that he was coming up entirely blank, but was saved from speaking by her gentle greeting. 

“Hi,” she said, offering a halfhearted wave as she carefully closed the door behind her. Her eyebrows lifted slightly as her eyes flickered around the shop. “Man, I’ve never seen any place so clean,” she admitted with the faintest chuckle that was oddly endearing. Or perhaps it was just the most emotion he’d seen from her. “Also… We Meat Again? Did you come up with the name?” She was fighting to keep her face neutral.

“I lost a bet.” He grinned at the memory, shaking his head fondly.

“Ah, well… It’s fantastic. I’d like to open a cheese shop next door and call it… uh…” she faltered, clearly not having thought this far into her own joke. “Something cheesy…” She cringed, then continued, “Are you all wrapped up for the day?”

“Just about,” Hunter said, leaning on the counter opposite her. “But what were you looking for? I think your coworkers bought enough sausage to go around for quite a while…” 

“Yeah…” Her gaze found his face for a moment before returning to their leisurely perusal of the signs, glass cases, and other elements of the storefront. “They have a bit of a herd mentality sometimes.” Her tone was hard to discern, and Hunter tilted his head, assessing her body language. She seemed a little bit sheepish and a little unsure of herself, and he didn’t get the sense that she was part of the whole office debacle, which put him at ease a bit. “Anyway – I’ve been telling myself for weeks that I was going to stop by and check the place out, so… check,” she said with a small smile, moving her index finger in the shape of a check mark in the air. 

“Can I get you anything?” he pressed, rubbing his hands together slowly as if itching to make himself useful. 

“I don’t want to make you undo all your tidying,” she answered, eyeing the slabs of meat in the case.

“It’s alright; it’s a quick clean-up if you’re not asking me to butcher an entire caraboose,” Hunter said, smirking at the resulting shock on her face that quickly melted into mildly enthused humor.

“I’m not sure I’d want to see that,” she said with a smile, pointing toward the thinly-sliced fambaa fillets. “But if you wouldn’t mind wrapping up a pound of those bad boys… perhaps then my mouth will stop watering.” He nodded, a courteous grin of his own passing across his face as he moved into action. 

“They were bad boys,” he mused, laying out the butcher paper before fetching the steaks. “Took advantage of some nearby stampeding kod’yok to try to sneak up on me. Probably would have taken a decent chunk out of my leg if I didn’t have enha… If I hadn’t been paying attention.”

“You… uh… You hunt this all yourself?” she said, eyes widening slightly as he gave a curt nod. “That sounds intense. How do you do it?” 

Hunter shrugged, folding the thick brown paper in careful layers to create one neat little package, “I was trained from a young age… had lots of practice… And it seemed to address a need around here, so I’m glad to have a place to apply my… skills.” 

“You’ve been a butcher all your life?” she asked, shifting her weight to her other foot to pull her shoulder bag into reach, digging absently for her wallet. 

“Not entirely. Did some other stuff here and there. Whatever it took to get by at different stages of life,” he answered evenly, weighing the package and printing a small label. “How about you?” he continued, shifting the focus.

“I know how that goes,” she said, delicately placing the money into his hand and taking the package from him. “Um, I had a few different jobs on Coruscant. The last one was an administrative aide for a senator’s office. I thought it would be glamorous,” she admitted, again letting out that quiet chuckle as though laughing at herself, then turning somber. “Needless to say, it was decidedly not what I expected.” 

“So you came here?” Hunter asked, tucking the money into the drawer beneath the counter. 

“Yep,” she said. “The thrilling adventures of Lyra. Coming soon to a holoscreen near you.” He chuckled, running the towel across the counter again as he committed the name to memory. “But really… It’s wonderful here. So peaceful and quiet. It’s like closing a door on the chaos of the Core Worlds.”

“Been here long?” 

“Not really… Almost two years now. But long enough to feel pretty settled.”

“Hm. Any inside info I should know?” 

Lyra laughed again, almost nervously this time, shrugging as she looked at the counter, “About what?”

“The island. The planet. The comings and goings. We’ve been here for a number of months, but it seems to be almost too quiet. I guess I have a hard time believing that anywhere could be a perfect little safe place.”

“Ah,” she said, nodding slowly. “I know the feeling. But as far as I’ve seen, the Empire doesn’t seem to know nor care about anything out here, so that keeps most of the issues away. Not a lot of conflict otherwise. Haven’t even seen many pirates. There aren’t any valuable natural resources other than what sustains everyone on the planet itself, so it just doesn’t get much attention. It’s been a nice change of pace, for me at least.”

“Sounds like the sort of place the unsavory type might go to disappear…” he mused, brow furrowing slightly. Crosshair often accused him of seeing threats anywhere and everywhere, which was ironic coming from the snarky sniper, but the sense of responsibility that had rested heavily on Hunter’s shoulders for the entirety of his created life so far was hard to shake. He sensed an immediate wave of discomfort emanating from Lyra, and he turned to face her more fully. “Sorry,” he said, realizing what it may imply. “I just mean… You haven’t seen any shady types lurking around, have you?” 

“Just that tall, scowling, gray-haired man with the eye tattoo,” she said, keeping her face carefully neutral. The flashes of humor and wit were so fleeting that Hunter questioned whether they happened at all. She must have known who he was from the school’s initial orientation day, or from Omega’s enrollment paperwork, where all of her brothers had been listed as emergency contacts and trusted guardians.

“Mmm,” he agreed, tightening his lips to hold back a smirk. “Yeah, we should watch out for that one. Anyway… Sorry if that’s an odd thing to say. Just trying to get a feel for a new place, you know…”

“I get it,” she said, in the same gentle tone she’d used in her office when he’d asked her to keep the emergency beacon. He couldn’t tell what it was about her that created an air of compassion, understanding, and quiet assurance, but it had a settling effect that he appreciated. “It’s nice to feel safe,” she finished, simply and quietly. 

“It is.” 

They stood silently for a moment, pleasantly surprised by the sense of agreement and the notable lack of awkwardness, then Lyra took a step back, tucking her bag behind her shoulder and lifting her chin slightly to give Hunter another tiny smile. 

“Thank you so much for these,” she said, nodding toward her purchase. “I’m excited to try out a dry seasoning rub that I haven’t used in years.” 

“Sounds fancy,” Hunter commented, his interest piqued. “You like to cook?” 

“I do,” Lyra admitted, running an hand absently up and down the outside of one arm. “Maybe too much,” she laughed, a little self-conscious. “I love being home. I have a little garden with herbs and vegetables, way too many pots and pans, and a disproportionate love of food. So I enjoy coming up with new recipes and trying new things.”

“Well I’m sure your family members aren’t complaining. Or whoever gets to eat it,” Hunter corrected, realizing he still didn’t know much about her situation. 

“Just me,” she said with a small shrug. “Well, that’s not true – I take some meals to neighbors at times. But it’s just me and my cozy little cottage. And the critters in the garden, I suppose. I’m not very exciting.”

“Excitement isn’t always all that it’s cracked up to be.” 

“Very true,” Lyra agreed. “Well, if you ever need some fresh herbs for all your steak adventures that Omega talks about, I’m happy to share. I’ve got a trick or two up my sleeve in the thrilling realm of meat marinades.” Every word of hers felt somehow self-effacing and unapologetic at the same time, and Hunter found a small smile on his face. 

“And you said you weren’t exciting,” he said dryly, earning a little snicker from her. “Although, to be honest, I’ll take all the help I can get… As grateful and appreciative as Omega and Wrecker are, I think we’re all getting a little sick of the same three meals. I wasn’t really made for… domestic life.” His tone grew somewhat sad at the end, echoes of his creation and purpose surfacing above his efforts to find his way in a new stage of life. 

“I think we all find ourselves thrown into situations we’d never would have guessed, at some time or another in our lives,” Lyra mused, a nearly imperceptible ache in her own slightly husky voice. Her gaze grew distant for a moment, caught only by his sharp senses before she shook her head minutely and seemed to return to the present. “Feels like getting a new pair of shoes. Awkward and clunky at first, then you wear them in until they seem to fit perfectly. You know?” Hunter’s hum of agreement was lost in her words as she continued, “Unless they’re high heels. Those are just cruel and unrelenting.”

“Now that I definitely wouldn’t know about,” he said, ducking his head to run an idle hand over his hair, most of which was pulled back near the top of his head. 

“You’d be wise to keep it that way,” Lyra said with a smile, feeling the conversation coming to a close. “Anyway… Thanks again for this,” she said, patting her bag, “And I’ll see you next time!”

“See you,” Hunter echoed, watching her slip demurely out the door. He sighed, casting a glance around the shop and mulling over her words. The only shoes he’d ever known had been combat boots, made as much for him as he had been made for them. It had been simple, in a way… And then his singular, straightforward trajectory exploded like a firework into a million different paths, leaving him scrambling to try to choose the best one for him and his squad. It was hard to believe that now, after years of chaos and tumult, he could settle into something like a simple island life. 

He finished the few remaining clean-up tasks and turned the sign on the door before locking it behind him, taking a deep breath of the fresh air before starting his walk home. Part of him wanted that sense of autonomy and freedom that nat-borns took for granted, and yet part of him balked at the thought. Why? He had no idea. But he shrugged off the thoughts as much as he could, resolving to continue on, one step at a time… while remaining prepared for anything.

.

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[irkimatsu]

@monstrousvoice sent me fanart of Husk in a muzzle: https://www.tiktok.com/@zammyx0/video/7330695414468988166

And it's my favorite form of Husk art, the sort where I'm not sure whether to cry or be horny. Curse how hot this man looks in bondage, despite his unfortunate circumstances...

For fic purposes, though, I went strictly for the crying. Husk is being punished for disobeying Alastor, Reader finds him after a few days, hurt/comfort but mostly hurt ensues. 1.8k words. No sexual content but still emotionally rough, with mentions of alcoholism and withdrawal.

---

“Niffty? Can I ask you something?”

You try not to make any startled movements as the small Sinner slowly turns her head and looks at you with her one large eye. She continues smacking her feather duster at the wall as she looks up at you. “Yeeeees?” she replies cheerfully.

“Have you seen Husk?” you say. “He hasn’t been at the bar for a few days, and no one else knows where he is. Not Charlie, not Vaggie, not Angel…” It’s not unlike Husk to disappear every so often, usually due to errands from Alastor, but it’s not like him to not warn you before vanishing for this long.

“Ohhh.”  Niffty giggles as she turns back to the wall and continues dusting. “Husker is being punished. He was a bad boy.”

“...punished?” Dear god, what did this little gremlin do to your boyfriend?!

“He’s supposed to do what the boss says! That’s the deal!” Niffty continues. “But he said no, so now he’s being punished! Those are the rules!”

“Do you know where he’s being, um… punished?”

“He’s in his room,” Niffty says casually. “He’s not allowed to leave until Alastor isn’t angry at him anymore.”

Alastor is mad at Husk, and now he’s being kept in his room like he’s a naughty child? The more you learn about Husk’s predicament, the less any of it makes sense. “You have a master key so you can do housekeeping, right, Niffty? Is there any way you could let me in there?”

“Nope, not supposed to!” she says. “Supposed to go in there to clean, that’s it! Don’t talk to him, don’t give him anything he asks for, nothing else!” 

“Please, Niffty?” you beg. “I’m worried about him…”

“Hm…” Niffty looks back up at you with her eye, giving no hint as to what on Earth is going on in her head. “Well… he is your bad boy, isn’t he? Maybe if I let you in, you’ll… punish him further?” God, her laughter about that is fucking creepy.

“Um… yeah…” You can’t be more committal about it than that, even if it’s for the sake of seeing Husk.

“Okay, I’ll let you in!” She pulls a key out of her pocket and hands it to you. “Don’t lose that! It works on all the doors in the hotel, so losing it would be very bad. And don’t let Alastor know I lent you that, or see you using it!” Her voice lowers to a menacing pitch. “Make sure you punish that bad boy real good, okay?”

You nod slowly until she turns back to her cleaning tasks, and as soon as her gaze isn’t glued to you, you immediately flee to the stairs.

—

The reek of booze assaults your senses as soon as you open Husk’s door. You don’t know the last time Niffty has cleaned in here, but in that time, the floor has become littered with shattered glass and puddles of drink. You shut the door behind you and gingerly tiptoe around the mess as you look around for your boyfriend.

“Husk?” you call out quietly. Are you in here?”

Another full bottle rolls to the floor and shatters as the lump on the bed starts to squirm.

“Husk…?” you repeat, more concerned than ever, as you approach the bed. You slowly pull the blanket back to reveal Husk curled into a ball, his whole body concealed by his wings. They’re in a terrible state, with feathers pulled out in clumps that left behind bloodstains. His tail is curled around himself, and the plumage on the tip has been equally tattered.

Even more concerningly, now that the blanket is gone, you can see the metal chain tying him to his bedpost.

You gently stroke at his wing, only for him to growl and shrink back from your touch.

“Fuck off…” he groans, his voice muffled by what remains of his feathers.

“Husk, it’s okay. It’s me,” you assure him.

He slowly lifts one of his wings and stares at you with pupils blown wide. Now that you can see his face, you can see the chunk of metal fastened against his mouth with a series of leather straps. Only the extreme sides of his mouth are visible, just enough for you to see sharp teeth bared into a snarl. His only other attire is the metal cuff around his neck for his chain; the rest of his body is exposed, revealing deep claw marks and bald patches all over him.

“Husk!” you cry out in horror. “What happened?!”

“What are ya… doin’ here…?!” he asks in turn. You get the feeling he’d sound a lot angrier if he had the strength to. “Get out of here… he’s gonna... be pissed-” He interrupts himself with a groan and a series of dry heaves. “Fuck, fuck, fuck…” he grumbles to himself between heaving.

“I’m not leaving you like this,” you insist as you sit beside him on the bed. His body begins to spasm, and his heaving soon turns to sobs. You gently stroke one of his ears, knowing it won’t provide him any meaningful relief, but if there’s any sense of comfort you can give the poor man…

“...drink.” His groaning and mumbling finally manages to form a coherent word. “Haven’t… had a drink.”

Normally, the last thing this man ever needs is more alcohol. But as you put the pieces together, you begin to realize how he got into this state, and how this was done intentionally.

Niffty’s words echo in your mind. “Don’t give him anything he asks for!” All you can see is Husk desperately pleading with his friend for a drink, just one drink, even while both of them know she can’t risk that sort of mercy…

But you don’t owe Alastor any promises. “Where do you keep them?” you ask.

Husk weakly lifts a claw and points, and you follow the trail of glass and puddles he’s indicating to a cabinet pushed against his wall. You open the cabinet, and it’s just as much of a disaster as the floor, its shelves lined with more shattered bottles and puddles. Thankfully, you manage to find a miniature bottle of whiskey that’s survived the carnage. You take the bottle and rush it back to Husk’s side.

“Open it for me?” he asks weakly. You nod at him.

“I’ve got you. Don’t worry.”

You position yourself cross legged on the bed, then gently pull Husk’s shaking body into your lap, careful not to touch any of the bloody gashes in his skin. You balance the back of his head against the crook of your arm, then unscrew the cap on the bottle.

“I’ve got you,” you repeat, your voice much softer now, as you position the opening of the bottle against the exposed side of his mouth. “Are you ready?”

You’re not sure if his groaning response is a yes or no. All you can do is take a chance. You slowly tip the bottle up until the contents begin running out. Some of it runs down his chin and stains the panel over his mouth, but some manages to drip to where his tongue can reach. You finally find a position that gets most of the drink into his mouth, and he gulps desperately until the bottle is completely drained. Slowly, his tremors begin to cease, and his breathing becomes much less labored.

“Thank you,” he whispers, his voice little more than a ghost. “Thank you… thank you…”

Surely that one little bottle won’t be enough to fight his symptoms for long, but you’re not ready to leave his side just yet. You set the bottle down on the sheets and wrap your now-free arm around him to pull him closer to you.

You know you shouldn’t start crying. You’re supposed to be the one comforting him. And yet…

“Hey… doll…” he murmurs as he wipes a tear away with his claw. His paw is still trembling slightly, though not as badly as it was before you got him his drink.

“What happened?” you ask. “Niffty told me Alastor was upset with you, but that’s all I know…”

“She the one who gave you the key?” he asks. You nod in response, and you can just barely see  him smiling behind his muzzle. “So she figured out how to help me after all…”

“She told me I’d be in trouble if Alastor saw me in here,” you say.

“Yeah, you probably will,” he says. “Though I’ll be the one in real shit for accepting your help…”

“Why’s he this upset with you?” you ask.

“Refused his orders,” Husk says simply. “I don’t wanna do what he wants, so he’s drying me up until I’m desperate enough to go through with it. He’s done it to me before, he’ll do it to me again.”

Before? Again? You knew Husk and Alastor’s deal was heavily unbalanced to Husk’s detriment, but before now, you hadn’t fully grasped just how dire Alastor’s treatment could be.

“What is it that he wants you to do?” you ask.

He averts his gaze. “You don’t need to know that,” he says simply. “It’s just something I don’t wanna do. No matter what he does to me.”

“But what if he hurts you even worse if you keep refusing?” you ask. “I don’t want you to have to do something you’d hate! …but if it’s the only way… I couldn’t stand losing you, Husk…”

His next words are so quiet, and the muzzle doesn’t help you hear him any better. “...that’s how I feel about it, doll…”

You hold him in silence for a while, your only movement a continuous light scratch behind his ear. He returns the silence, only responding with a faint purr. As you hold him, you can’t help but look over the injuries to his body and his wings. Did Alastor do this to him?

On closer inspection, you notice that the tips of his claws are caked in dried blood…

“You should go,” he says. “I don’t want you to, but if he finds out…”

“I understand,” you say, trying your hardest not to imagine how badly Husk might be punished for daring to accept comfort in a time like this. “Just… whatever it is that Alastor’s asking you to do… I’ll understand if you do it, okay? I won’t blame you, no matter how awful. I just want you to get out of this…”

“...I can’t,” is all he says in response.

You lift him up so you can kiss the plate separating his mouth from yours; never before have you missed the taste of his alcohol and tobacco so much. He wraps his arms around you and cuddles close, and you can feel his tremors starting to return.

“I can get you another drink before-” you start.

He cuts you off. “Go,” is all he has to say. “Please.”

You kiss his forehead, desperate to feel his warmth somehow, before gently laying him back down on the bed. As soon as you let go of him, he returns to his earlier position, tucked in by his own tattered feathers. You give his wing a few more strokes, and this time he doesn’t flinch; he doesn’t do anything at all.

The only thing you can do now is leave, give Niffty her key back, and hope with everything you have that even Alastor is capable of some level of mercy for the man you love so much.

[vesteneris]

I'd adore any finnick hcs you have!! i love how you draw him

awwww, thank you Anon, I'm really happy you like it, I'm very happy with his design too

and here some headcanons, like I don't really have much, but I'll put some!

He can't read well. I think career training is like special schools and doesn't focus on things like reading, writing, history, etc. as much as they do on physical training. I would say like (polish) ballet schools. I also believe that in most districts that allow what is basically child labor (D4, D8, etc.) you only have to go to school until you're 16, you can continue it if you want until you're 18, for example, to become a teacher, clerk, or do other white collar jobs, but most kids leave school as soon as possible to go to work. So combined with the fact Victors don't really need to continue school after winning, he never really taught how to read very fast and correctly.

He didn't mentor Annie, and he doesn't really mentor very often, nor does he like it very much. He also gets some sort of guilt as his older with just interacting with any male tribute from D4 bc he feels like bc of him any other boy can’t really win bc they are not as good looking or skilled or have the personality good for entertainment or are not as young as he was, so they really don’t have good chances to begin with.

When I did that old comic, I had a storyline for him that he had a conflict with another D4 victor, mainly about the fact that the other winner was mentoring a D4 girl who went to the games with Finnick, and he was sure that they (he and Mags) should put all the support and choose to help the girl win, and because of what Finnick did in the arena, the girl died. So the old victor is still a little salty that Finnick is not the winner he wanted (connected with how much D4 is career district)

his family lived with him in victors village, but bc Annie’s family wasn’t allowed to move in with her (according to Capitol psychiatrists, "their presence increased her hysteria and mental instability") to her new house he moved to her house to live with her after less than year of dating

He’s not that much taller than Annie, I headcanon that she is like 1.78m and he is like 1.86m

He was the one who cut Johanna’s hair short when it was most styled after her victory (I'll post that fanart someday when I'll be done with all that school bullshit)

he has 3 ways of dressing: dressing just for himself (very baggy, oversize clothes, not shaving at all, looking kinda messy), dressing himself for capitol (still more of an oversize fit, skirt over pants, more creative than previous one, but kinda modest and trying to „hide” himself, face shaved and hair combed) and totally capitol (mostly see-through clothes, no visible body hair, makeup and nails done, hairstyle)

He didn’t really had a real hobby before started dating

He’s annie-sexual. Like maybe it is my romantic soul speaking, but I can’t really see him attracted to anyone beside her. He would be like this one guy on TikTok answering „my wife” after any question. What’s your type? My wife. How would you rate this person? 0, cuz they’re not my wife. If you could be with anyone who would you choose? My wife. He would love her if she was a worm, he would love her in every lifetime. She was his first real girlfriend and first real everything.

Remember when I first get into fanfics after reading books for the first time and seeing that he is usually described as the person who has to do everything and is involved in so many things (especially the 2QQ plan) my reaction was like „oh he for sure does drugs to get all of this shit together” and I still kinda like that headcanon, but now I would say that he is taking aderall as if they are gummy bears

He was such a brat, but eventually grow out of this around his early 20s

[avaantares]

Wait, Zhao Yunlan's gun is actually a...?!

(I've never claimed production meta for @guardianbingo before, but after the amount of time and research I put in on this, I feel like I've earned the "Zhao Yunlan's Gun or Whip" square, haha)

SO. GUYS.

Maybe this is something fandom as a whole figured out back in 2018, but I, who didn't hear of Guardian until 2020, did not realize until now and I need to share the knowledge because when I finally noticed, I made an unholy sound.

I've tracked down where Zhao Yunlan's gun came from -- or at least, what it most likely started as. Not the in-universe dark-energy-maybe-uses-bullets-maybe-doesn't-device-that's-best-not-thought-about-too-long, but rather the actual fake-steampunk-revolver-that-is-best-not-looked-at-too-long-because-it's-awful prop.

Y'know, this disaster:

I was actually working on a different Guardian Bingo fill and needed to look something up for continuity, so I'd flipped through a couple of episodes at super high speed trying to find a scene. As luck would have it, one of my skips forward happened to land on the scene I screencapped above, when ZYL confronts Zhang Shi.

Normally we don't get this clear (or this stationary) a shot of the godawful gun prop. I'd assumed all along they had just taken a plastic gun, glued some extra bits and bobs on it to make it look fancy, and hit it with some dry brushing (fun fact: you can watch the paint flake throughout the series; check out the top of the barrel and the side of the cylinder in the above screenshot!) to make it look #steampunk like the abandoned aesthetic of 25% of the show (as I've said before, I have theories about what happened in preproduction, but that's another post). This sort of thing is exactly what I've done for cheap cosplay weapons or background props for film work that aren't going to be seen at HD detail range.

Anyway, since the detail showed up better here than in other shots, I paused the video to look at the random screws and hex bolts (why??) they'd glued on it, since I recalled that I had the aforementioned gun/whip bingo square to fill.

That's when I noticed a detail that had eluded me before: An inverted V shape at the bottom of the grip.

Only looking more closely, that's not an inverted V. It's a symbol that I've seen a whole series of variations of over the past 15+ years... every time there's a new installment of the Assassin's Creed video game series:

So I started hunting. The principal weapons in each game turned up no matches, but eventually I found a gun that looks almost exactly like ZYL's:

It's not a perfect replica, but the details are certainly all there: The stylized logo; the leaves and swirls on the grip; the feathers up the back; even the Victorian scrollwork beneath the barrel.

Now, what's really interesting is that this gun isn't actually from the AC game series. It's part of an elaborate fan project by artist David Paget that started as a class assignment back in 2014. Even though it gathered a bit of steam in the AC fandom and generated a couple of forum role-play groups, OCs and the like, nothing about this artwork was ever connected to a real Assassin's Creed title. So why would there be a physical version of a gun that was only someone's fanart?

This is where the smoking gun (*rimshot*) goes missing, because I can't prove any of this, and it's been long enough that digging through the archives of the internet to find answers is going to take way more time than I can afford to spend on a project I'm not getting paid for. But there are two likely possibilities:

Scenario A: Some employee in a toy factory somewhere in China got told, "This Assassin's Creed franchise is really big, so we need to be producing replicas from those games to sell. Work up some designs." So the employee Googles "assassin's creed gun," finds David Paget's very professional-looking art, and whips up a replica to mass-injection-mold without realizing it's not actually from a game. Later, someone on the cash-strapped Guardian production team needs a gun to mod, and finds a cheap toy revolver on clearance after several years of sitting in storage because there was little demand for a replica of a gun that was never in a game. They buy several, glue hex bolts on the cylinder for reasons unknown, and poof! Instant pseudo-steampunk!

Scenario B: Other fans were involved in the design. Someone did build a 3D model of David Paget's design that's still available on Sketchfab (screenshot below), and it's not unreasonable to assume that other fans could have thought it looked cool and built 3D printable models. Later, someone on the cash-strapped Guardian production team needs a gun to mod, and acquires the 3D print file of one of those models from the interwebs. They mod the file a bit, print some, glue hex bolts on the cylinder for reasons unknown, and poof! Instant pseudo-steampunk!

Personally, I find Scenario A far more likely than Scenario B, for two reasons: First, the hero prop looks more injection molded than 3D printed, especially given the technical state of 3D printing back in 2017-8. And second... Budget-challenged dramas do have a history of picking up bulk video game replicas and using them as cheap props. I made a post back in 2019 about the WoW Horde shields we spotted in a different drama...

Anyway, no firm answers about the source of the hero prop -- the world may never know! -- but we have now confirmed that in some alternate universe (possibly one of the first eighty?), Zhao Yunlan and/or Zhao Xinci is an Assassin.

Wait, wait, wait... *recalls mechanics of how the whole Assassin's Creed frame story is supposed to work* Uh... so... who wants to write a genetic memory explanation for the whole Kunlun -> [lots of lifetimes] -> Zhao Yunlan thing?

.

(I did actually check the catalogue of a friend of mine who makes replicas of props from various media franchises to see if he'd done a commission of the David Paget design, since a surprising number of his custom pieces actually do end up on film and television, but while he has a gorgeous replica of a revolver that actually appears in an AC game, it appears he has not done the Zhao Yunlan gun. I didn't really think it likely, since he's in the U.S., but you never know.)

[lily-alphonse]

what if... shane and mr. qi

Bro what 😭 I know absolutely nothing about Mr. Qi. BUT I have like 2 or 3 more asks with him in it so it looks like Im gonna have to build a characterization for him real quick lol. I love him though. Love a weird little cryptid man and the fanart is so good.

What interest would he have in Shane I wonder? Maybe it's an AU where Shane is the one to take over the farm and everything so he's secretly special. OR... Mr. Qi just enjoys watching a dumpsterfire. There's no TLC in Stardew Valley so what better reality TV content than to watch the town drunk? Maybe even make things a little worse for him sometimes just for funsies.

You know how in the Sims, if you have an unlucky Sim they can cheat death because Grim either pities or is amused by their shenanigans? That's the dynamic I think. Shane is so unlucky that Qi finds him endearing over time.

Qi would start to leave notes for him, trying to send him on adventures or test him. Shane would have none of it, crumbling the weird notes and suspecting someone was playing some kind of prank on him. Qi gets annoyed about it. Enough to even reveal himself, but he picks (what may or may not be) the best time because Shane is so drunk he doesn't even care.

Mr. Qi almost blends into the darkness by the dock, except his cape shimmers with moonlight and catches Shane's eye. He approaches him when he's discovered.

"Shane," he says in greeting.

It makes Shane wonder if he knows him. Then he wonders if he should be worried about this random shady character approaching him. But he also looks kinda silly, a wide hat and sunglasses obscuring his face, and the most obvious answer is that he’s finally snapped.

Shane narrows his eyes at him, trying to decide what to name this odd figment of his imagination. "Mr..." he starts, and Mr. Qi is almost ready to be impressed until Shane settles on "Hat."

Qi isn't sure whether to laugh or disappear in a rage.

A sort of scoff comes out instead and he sits next to him on the dock. 

"Where did you come from?" Shane asks.

"I come from everywhere." 

"Figures," Shane mumbles into his beer can. He downs another drink. "You're not gonna be some kind of like... conscious that talks in riddles or something are you?"

It feels appropriate, almost making them equals, for Shane to see him as an imaginary friend. It makes up for the way Qi had started to see him as a pet. 

"Not a conscious, though I might speak in riddles occasionally."

“Dammit. Tracks I guess. Can never make sense of any of the shit up here,” he mumbles, gesturing to his head.

Qi had been planning to ask him about the notes, maybe even scare him a little. But here he was being handed the golden opportunity to see into Shane’s mind, and that was even better.

Actually, being an unknown, an enigma, had always been the goal. Short of that,he was forced to keep a carefully curated reputation of mystery, which was not at all the same. Meeting in this way turned out to be a blessing.

“Why do you think you’ve summoned me here?”

“I'm drunk.”

“I can see that.”

“I dunno, I'm pathetically lonely," he says with an exasperated sigh, "Obviously.”

Qi feels a twinge of something unnameable at that, though it's still pretty amusing. He likes the blunt way Shane speaks, especially when he puts himself down, its pure dark-comedy gold. It feels different when directed at him personally though. Like some long-dormant human urge within him makes his heart ache to match Shane’s.

“Are you?” he asks simply.

"D'you have eyes under there?" Shane slurs, looking at him more closely.

"Would you have made me without eyes?"

"Good point. The fuck are we talking about? Who are you?"

"Mr. Hat, apparently."

"Right."

Anyway, they continue to meet like this, with Mr. Qi as his supposed imaginary friend, and Mr. Qi begins to genuinely enjoy the connection they have because no one has ever treated him like this. Everyone he meets is intimidated by him, afraid of him, or looking to screw him over. And beyond that, when he was younger and more human, it was always people wanting to know him. Always so many questions.

His goal was always to be unknown.

He gets that with Shane, under the pretext that he does not exist. It’s freeing, and paradoxically allows him to open up. Any perceived oddity about him only gets turned into a reflection on the darkness in Shane’s mind. In this way, Shane might know him in a deeper sense than anyone else has in a long time. Plus, Qi doesn’t laugh this much with anyone else.  

Shane wants to be unknown too, in his own way. But he starts to hate himself a little less, after these late night talks to ‘himself’. Weirdly he starts drinking less and the hallucination stays. 

I think there would be quite a dramatic falling out when he finds out the truth, but in a way, Shane would also be relieved that this was a real person he could potentially be with.

This ask is a part of the (now closed) SDV Rarepair Challenge! Check out the other answers here, and make sure to boost your favorite so it can appear in the final fic poll! More info on that here.

[acaplaya-musings]

A random assortment of Geoff Castellucci pictures - Part 1

I have a folder that is filled with screencaps of Geoff, some of which are/were for art references, and some of which are just because I think they're good pictures, and I asked in a recent post if any of you were interested in me showing you some of them. A few of you did very much express interest, and so here we are. This post, part 1, is for screencaps from videos on Geoff's solo channel, and part 2 will be for screencaps from VoicePlay videos.

They're just listed alphabetically by video title (because that's how they're sorted in the folder), and this assortment certainly has potential to be expanded upon, but it's just some/most of what I've got right now (plus some thoughts/comments from me about most if not all of them)

Everything below the cut!

This one I was considering as a potential fanart reference at one point - I was tossing up between this and Wicked Game for a sketch fanart, but I ended up going with Wicked Game

I mean come on sir please this is ILLEGAL /j

Look, Folsom Prison Blues is one of my top 3 favourite Geoff videos, emphasis on the word "video", so sue me!

h-

I know it's a habit of Geoff's to have at least two top buttons of a button-up shirt undone, but like in this video, (if you don't count the button that's probably right up at the collar), he's got three buttons undone and oh boy it shows And I Am Looking Respectfully

I grabbed this screenshot when I went looking for pics for my Geoff playing the piano photo compilation, but I ended up keeping this one because I just think it's a really nice pic <3

I actually don't have a lot of screenshots from Jack's Lament, but mostly because the whole damn video is so amazing and practically all of it is screenshot-worthy!

This was another one I was considering for fanart, but it would be quite hard to get right, even with my "tricks" for get outlines near-perfect

I mean yeah what can I say

Mele Kalikimaka really holds a special place in my heart, and I can't wait to watch/listen to it again come December (or late November if I get impatient, lol) (as if I don't have the whole dang song memorised in my brain already!)

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen may be the most impressive/stunning arrangement of Geoff's 4 Christmas songs, but Mele Kalikimaka is probably my sentimental favourite, deep down (and yes, he's very pretty in this one!)

I mean we all agree he looked dang good in this outfit right?

I actually low-key would love to do fanart of Jaime!Geoff (maybe standing up so I wouldn't have to include the Iron Throne), but that's a lot of brown, and I'm not sure I have enough variety of shades/hues to get it right

I know I included this one fairly recently in my visual analysis post for Song Of Durin, but I saved this one to my folder and so I'm sharing it again!

It's pretty rare for me to feel attraction to any "iteration of Geoff" (Geoff clone?) with thick facial hair, but man that smile... It's a similar deal with "Jeoph" in Unshaken, and frankly my attraction to him in that video continues to baffle me. You're not supposed to look that good with a handlebar moustache and not even a beard to go with it!!!

I call this one "Heart Eyes Geoff" and it makes me melt in love and affection every time <3

Geoff and Kathy had to refilm a lot of shots for Til Then, and they were completely by themselves in the studio when they did so. So yeah, she might not be on screen, but you just know he's looking right at her 💜

I really really love Way Down okay. I call this image "flirting with the camera" (got that from a comment on a reaction video to this I think?)

And finally, this is just the Wicked Game video thumbnail without the title text (got it from Patreon - Geoff sometimes asks Patrons to help vote on video thumbnails and will give us jpg downloads of each option), but still, it captured me from the moment I first saw it appear on YouTube. Like he's just! So! Pretty! And the wispiness of his hair (which was a deliberate styling choice, apparently, based on the BTS footage), and the way it's at this point long enough to reach his shoulders, just UGH man

So yeah, hope you enjoyed this; part 2 with VoicePlay video screencaps will be coming at some point soon! Seeya!

[indigo-creates-chaos]

So I drew stuff-

I was bored at a meeting type thing two days ago so I did a lil bit of rough sketching.

These are the results! I like Rae and Momboo the most. I don't know what went wrong with Icarus though lol, we'll just ignore them-

I also just did some rought coloring bc I wanted to, here's how that looks.

I don't know whether I prefer the uncoloured or the coloured versions but I am glad I did the sketches in the first place.

This is my first time drawing any sort of specific fanart for a fandom and I am a little sad that it took me until days before the finale airs to draw anything related to fable smp, but it is what it is.

I kinda want to do a bigger, digital lineup with more characters but knowing me that's gonna take a long time (if it gets done at all). I'm posting about it here so I have more incentive to actually do it. I did want to get that finished by the time I watch the finale (not when it airs bc that's not possible), but I don't think that's going to happen, no matter how much I want it to. But I guess we shall see! For now, thank you for reading and have a lovely [timezone]!

This section is optional and mostly just an update.

About the finale. I will not be seeing it live and I will not see it when its posted since a) i'll have a guest over for a few days and b) its airing at 1am my time. Its probably gonna take another week or two for me until I can watch it because I am behind. I do know about Sherbs summary vod but now I might as well catch up by watching the other vods... all this to say that if you see me posting about old vods after the finale is aired, don't worry about it lol, just let me vibe in blissful ignorance. You'll know once I've seen the finale, trust me. I'm also going to continue being pretty inactive in terms of reading other posts on here since I don't want to spoil myself. Once I'm all caught up I might just spend some time reblogging a bunch of posts and talking about the acting and all that good stuff. But anyway! Thank you for reading the additional stuff lol and have a nice [timezone]!

[demon64]

So... continuing my thoughts on crossover ideas again, I had this thought after seeing some fanart... Devil May Cry/Marvel/Shin Megami Tensei crossover. Maybe have it be something like Nero is contracted a mission to test the Nahobino similar to how his uncle was contracted to test the Demi-Fiend, all while a different force, I'm thinking from the Marvel side of the idea, is looking to stop the Nahobino and/or take the Throne.

One idea I had for the Marvel side of things is maybe making Loki a sort of behind-the-scenes mastermind, maybe not in a bid to take the Throne but to find someone who can. Maybe he shows up to Lucifer and is like "Hello, old friend. Say... How about a little wager?" I only posit this idea because something tells me, even though I have not gotten very far into SMTV Vengeance, that Lucifer kinda likes that the Nahobino have returned. And going with Marvel's Loki, the God of Mischief is not above making things into a spectacle. Who would Loki put his bets into? I like to think he would bet on multiple horses in this race, as while not always the brightest, Loki can be pretty crafty. The ideas I have for who Loki would put stake into, and in all honesty most of my choices are some of the semi-known and some of the semi-obscure favorites of mine.

So far, for Loki's "champions," to put it one way, I'm thinking: Daken, Eric Masterson, Ben Reilly, Luke Cage and/or Iron Fist. Or maybe instead of those last two, I'll go with Victor Alvarez, who has taken on Luke Cage's hero name of Power Man but has chi-based powers like Iron Fist.

I also did just have the idea while writing this of maybe some Marvel characters are also now workers of the in-universe Devil May Cry business, so maybe they would tag along with Nero. I'm thinking that two of those Marvel characters that would are Robbie Reyes and Laura Kinney. Both have some experience with fighting demons, and I think it could be a fun dynamic to write for Nero, Robbie, and Laura. Maybe I could have it that they start by testing the Protagonist but as things go along start having some doubts and maybe start doing their own thing. I also had this idea of making Laura the Knowledge of Amaterasu, using her connection to the Uni-Power as a bit of inspiration. Also, thinking about it, Nero having a teammate who, unknown to them all, has the potential to take the Throne is a fun idea.

Another idea I had while typing this out is say making Nico Minoru into a Panagia, a Goddess of Creation, as the protagonist, with two Nahobino as the ones to sway her in choosing Order or Chaos. I don't know why this popped in my head, but I think it could be be a pretty cool idea to try writing.

[flightfoot]

hello! i dunno if you were accepting fanfic recs asks but - might you have any fanfic recs about chat noir angst with the rest of the superhero team?

Yeah sure! I'm not entirely sure what you mean about having the rest of the superhero team, but I'm assuming it involves them having at least some sort of role in the story? Anyway I'll do the best I can.

---

Dr. Walker & Kitty Hyde series by @pearl484-blog

Summary of the first fic, Rain Falls, Everybody Lies:

Chat Noir loves the rain. He loves the danger. He loves the excitement, and he especially loves how much Catwalker hates it. 

Jekyll and Hyde AU

Adrien AUGreste Entry 3: Rain

So like the summary says, and the title indicates, this series is inspired by the popular conception of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - not how the book actually goes, but how it’s portrayed in popular media, with Jekyll splitting himself in two, with a “good” side and a “bad” side. 

During Kuro Neko, instead of just changing his appearance through changing his mindset, Adrien took more extreme measures, sealing off his “undesirable” characteristics, his anger and sadness and all his sharp edges, into the ring so he could assume a more placid, genial persona that’d be more accepted - Cat Walker. 

But Chat Noir’s still there, taking over whenever Adrien gets too testy, and desperately trying not to be pressed out of existence entirely. With embodying Adrien’s sealed anger and snappishness and rebelliousness, he’s not too kind to the other heroes - he already felt looked down upon and ignored before this, and seeing them accept Cat Walker while he’s fighting for his life doesn’t endear them to him either.

The series isn’t unfair to them - this isn’t a case where one party is entirely in the wrong and another’s entirely in the right. Marinette, Zoe, Nino, and all the others - they did wonder about what was going on with Chat, but he wasn’t in a position where he could see it, and he did have legitimate questions about how much Ladybug would budge on things, if he’d told her what he was going through. It’s a series that emphasizes characters hurting and lashing out in some terrible ways, but that hurt still being respected, and working things out, trying to get everything to a better place.

---

drowning (in plain sight) by @buggachat

Everybody had expected Monarch's defeat to be a moment of triumph. Nobody had expected Gabriel Agreste, unmasked and mind frayed from continual abuse of the miraculous, crying out to all who would listen and making Paris certain of one thing:

His son, Adrien Agreste, is one of his sentimonsters.

And now he's missing.

Nobody can find him— not even the superheroes, and not even his closest friends. But Marinette, Nino, and Alya aren't ones to give up so easily. They'll find him, no matter what it takes.

(But, geez, would it kill Chat Noir to lend a hand?)

I’m sure everyone saw this one coming. If there’s one thing buggachat’s good at, storywise, it’s capturing raw, tumultuous emotions, frantic breakdowns as the characters desperately try to navigate bad situations. This was a real treat to read, as I’m betting most people reading this will agree, given just how popular the fic has been. It also has a ton of fanart, both by buggachat and by random fans, if you go looking for it (there’s a drowning in plain sight tag which I’d advise perusing). 

---

one does not love breathing by @wackus-bonkus-maximus

All of Paris watched as Hawkmoth murdered Chat Noir, taking the Black Cat Miraculous for himself. Ladybug swears revenge, but her enemy—and every miraculous in his possession—disappear without a trace.

Six years later, a new team of villains launches an attack for the last remaining Miraculous: Volpina, armed with new powers; Queen Bee, with questionable loyalty; Argos, the new holder of the Peacock Miraculous; and Cat Walker, who Ladybug hates the most.

Takes place after S4 - Strike Back.

This is a simply phenomenal fic. You get to explore a lot of different perspectives, like Felix, Kagami, Marinette, and Adrien’s, just to name a few, and see their different thought processes and plans and priorities, and how it can cause their plans to collide with each other, even when they all ultimately are aiming for a good outcome for everyone. The characters are pretty complex and can mess up at times, even when they’re doing things (or not doing things, looking at you Luka) with the best of intentions. It was a joy to read and a real nail-biter the whole time, I actually wrote a fic for it halfway through just to resolve some of the tension for myself, One Does Not Love Shadows.

It also features the version of Luka I’ve connected best with to date, as he feels like Luka, but also is a lot more fleshed out, and can make some major errors while simply trying to avoid missteps. It’s helped me get a better handle on a character who I’ve generally had a lot of problems with really understanding.

It is an M-rated fic, though I think Wackus is being overly cautious on that front. There’s no sexual content and I wouldn’t put the violence or gore above a T-rating, so I wouldn’t let the rating scare you off.

---

Chat Walker’s Trial by @pearl484-blog

Instead of Catwalker showing up to serve as her new Chat Noir, Ladybug is stunned to find that Chat Noir has returned to her, having “improved” himself by repressing his emotions, memories, and willfulness. Deciding that this will not stand, she organizes her teammates to convince Chat Noir that giving those traits up and becoming the perfect partner was not the right move, but how can she argue against perfection?

Adrien Augreste 2022 entry for the day 23-24 prompt: Swap

This is a really intriguing fic. Instead of becoming Cat Walker in Kuro Neko, Adrien instead runs across a mage who helpfully provides some spells to make him into the “perfect” partner for Ladybug, magically suppressing his emotions and urge to rebel, as well as his memories of being Chat Noir, in order to make sure he doesn’t love her anymore. Ladybug, naturally, is distraught about this, but since Chat did all of this of his own free will, she needs to actually persuade him it was a bad move, which isn’t as easy as it sounds. It’s exquisitely painful at times with the amount of self-hatred Chat has for his previous self, and how the Miracuteam is divided on how bad these changes actually are, since he does seem more focused now - though the holdouts are a lot less on board when they think of someone who’s closer to them going through this process.

---

I hope that these scratch your itch!

[ask-the-totally-real-peppino]

(I have been trying to write this post for a while, but it keeps coming out like a sob story, and it is really not that deep jkfdgkj

So I am just going to say it, bc you guys know I love to ramble for ages, and I need some opinions

1 year of this blog is tomorrow (or today depending on how long I take to write this kjldfg), and I really do appreciate you all being here - if you have been here since the beginning, or just followed recently - if you've sent an ask, liked, reblogged, shared with a friend, theorised, made fanart, or followed me to my art blog and watched me make (and continue to make) a billion clones, anything; thank you

I made this blog on a whim, only like a week after getting into Pizza Tower, and I had no idea it would turn into what it is now

Of course, in the beginning there were a lot of actual posts, like with backgrounds and multiple characters, and I'd post several times a day if I could - and while I was having fun, it was not ideal - I'd frequently post at 7am after spending all night working on a post then I'd pass out, I'd forgo eating or showering just to draw, and I had wrecked my wrist several times, and continue to push pass the pain just to post

It wasn't just hyperfixation, it was obsession - much easier to realise that in retrospect

I was also medicated at the time, I had been on antidepressants for 3 years, so around April (I think) I ran out of meds and was unable to get more due too third party issues/unable to get in contact with my doctor/etc (and unbeknownst to me at the time, the last two packs I had were expired) - so I am sure you can imagine the sort of affect suddenly going cold turkey on the med that make you not wanna die has on a person - I was not doing great to put it lightly

But I still wanted to continue - so many people had praised me on the frequency of posts, and how excited they were and all this validation - I couldn't let people down! (Also I was, and still am, a disabled shut-in loser with no friends, posting is like the only social interaction I had/have kdfgkgfd)

But I think I did - I intimidated myself out of drawing main posts with how much work they were, started the intermission even though I said I shouldn't, had no script or direction and that I was not 100% invested in to try to motivate myself back into main posts, and it was just easier to draw silly ooc posts than do the thing I really wanted to do instead

Of course, this is not any of you guys' fault - I have always had this issue of starting something, it getting way bigger than I can manage, crashing and then just unable to get going again - I have so many unfinished comics, half-done projects and abandoned askblogs it's not even funny - but it's also like, not the end of the world, if I don't finish things I start for fun - sure, I'll feel guilty as hell for a while, but life moves on

So that being said, I would still very much like to continue the story here - I have been working on some stuff in the background (I even updated Pep's reference in the last few days, with a ton of new stuff), but I still don't think it's gonna be soon - I am doing somewhat better than I was, and I actually have an appointment for with my doctor finally (I will probably have to do some reassessments since they can't just put me back on the meds, after not having them for almost a year, and then I'd have to probably get reaccustomed to side effects etc), so despite it all I am still here

I am not sure if I want to continue the intermission with Bean and Fiend at this time - I know a few folks enjoyed it (mostly bc Fiend kjsdfkj) - but as mentioned previously it was unplanned, unscripted, and I was quickly not feeling it, as I am sure some of you guys were too - the intention was for Fiend to give you guys another hint to the main story, but getting to that point was not fun - I might do a poll on this in a separate post

I also mentioned a while back that I would be cutting down the Big Post into smaller posts, and posting as and when parts were done - but once again, do not expect these soon - (although there is a very late Valentines post coming hopefully soon)

And I think that should hopefully be it for now - I know this is a huge post, and probably still a bit sob story-ish, but oh well - I also know that the hype for Pizza Tower had unfortunately died down significantly, but I'm still working on PT stuff on my art blog @smalltimidbean if you wanna see more silly things (and maybe some lore for here hehe)

It is also the first now, so happy birthday Pep

Okay, thank you, and see you later)

[akfelpsrecaps]

Recap of Vod 12 — Golira

the recap here is quite short! mostly just a lot of mining of the cube + irl sorts of discussions. they find a lot of things \o/!!

recap under the cut, also reblogs are appreciated so more people can find these recaps \o/!!

(quick note that nothing I write here in quotes is verbatim + accurate translation. I will try to be as accurate as possible, but it’s more about quickly conveying vibes)

-this vod continues on from vod 11 \o/

-“hey matt. The moon looks strange. What did you do.”-Meiaum (it’s just a new moon)

-Felps kills a zombie and knocks it off the cube. Then jumps off after it to get the loot bag pfft. it gives him crystal horns which he puts on!!

-he goes back up to the cube to mine and they find a small room that only has a photo of Felps in it (the one he puts on his vod thumbnails)

-“this is lore, I’m certain”-Felps

“do you think this is the mayor without a mask? or is it the other (meiaum’s photo)?”-F “prefeito jelps”-M

-felps asks if the cube was always here or if it appeared, and Meiaum said it appeared. felps says it doesn’t make sense

“you have horns”-M “Yes. They shine”-F “Beautiful”

-felps gets some creepers that spawned on the cube to blow up and destroy some blocks

-finally they go back to talking in a group while mining pfft

-they talk about Twitter a bit, which leads to talking about meiaum’s subathon timer. felps googles how many hours 5 billion minutes would be to see how long Meiaum would have to stay if he was donated 5 billion dollars (at least 9000 years)

-they talk about liking bluesky and seeing the Felps updates blog + the fanart + Meiaum updates blog

-some kind of lore is happening tomorrow morning according to Meiaum?

-they spend a bit of time talking about chats \o/ (Felps’ chat for example, but others too)

-Felps is talking about the paradox of the Time Machine

-felps and Meiaum get distracted from mining because they hear a noise. they start digging to try and find the source of it

-after a lot of digging around they find a small house with a gorilla in it (appears to be two rooms—a bedroom and a main room)

-felps takes a photo of the gorilla and sends it to the groupchat with him matt and Meiaum 

-felps wonders if this is the gorilla’s house or if someone else lives here and takes care of the gorilla. Meiaum suggests maybe someone lived here the gorilla killed them

-Felps is confused as to how the gorilla even got here because there’s no path to the house + it doesn’t even have a door

-felps irl leaves to go get food. Meiaum continues mining + tries out some shaders. felps has towered up near the corner of the cube so you can see Meiaum moving around

-the video cuts here to when Felps is back.

“I broke five plates”-F “I heard!”-M

-Felps finds another room \o/ it has a gaming chair + desk. with a screen that’s playing Felps’ livestream I believe? Meiaum broke the screen accidentally so they didn’t really get to see what was on it

-there are holes in the walls and floors…? Ant nests

-the screen is put back by an admin. it is playing Felps’ livestream \o/ I think this cube wants to give akfelps and akmeiaum an existential crisis

-the screen is now playing meiaum’s live

-like with the pictures, they say they don’t know the stream versions of themselves

-felps calls the person streaming (Meiaum) um menininho and Meiaum disagrees pfft

-Meiaum stays staring at the screen for fun visual effects (stream in stream in stream in stream, etc)

-“it’s worth noting this room was full of ants”-F

-Meiaum sounds/acts like he’s in physical pain when he gets high amounts donated and added to the timer. every time this happens Felps runs over to the screen to watch his live 

-“i can do something funny to Meiaum if you give me permission”-a felps chat member—And they sent Meiaum $1000

-felps found a room with nothing

-just when Meiaum recovers from the $1000 someone sends $600 bringing the timer up to 400 hours

-“don’t support your streamer”-M

-Felps found another room—this time it’s an aquarium. there’s a shark with a name \o/ thúbaraum

-vod ends with Meiaum suffering. It continues on in the next vod