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falconfate · 8 months ago

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Hello ranger’s apprentice fandom can we talk real quick about the stupidest thing Flanagan ever wrote

It’s about the bows. Yanno, the rangers’ Iconique™️ main weapon. That one. You know the one.

Flanagan. Flanagan why are your rangers using longbows.

“uh well recurve arrows drop faster” BUT DO THEY. FLANAGAN. DO THEY.

the answer is no they don’t. Compared to a MODERN, COMPOUND (aka cheating) bow, yes, but compared to a longbow? Y’know, what the rangers use in canon? Yeah no a recurve actually has a FLATTER trajectory. It drops LATER.

This from an article comparing the two:

“Both a longbow and a recurve bow, when equipped with the right arrow and broadhead combination, are capable of taking down big game animals. Afterall, hunters have been doing it for centuries with both types of bows.

However, generally speaking and all things equal, a recurve bow will offer more arrow speed, creating a flatter flight trajectory and retain more kinetic energy at impact.

The archers draw length, along with the weight of the arrow also affect speed and kinetic energy. However, the curved design of the limbs on a recurve adds to its output of force.”

It doesn’t actually mention ANY distance in range! And this is from a resource for bow hunting, which, presumably, WOULD CARE ABOUT THAT SORT OF THING!

Okay so that’s just. That’s just the first thing.

The MAIN thing is that even accounting for “hur dur recurves drop faster” LONGBOWS ARE STILL THE STUPID OPTION.

Longbows, particularly and especially ENGLISH longbows, are—as their name suggests—very long. English longbows in particular are often as tall or taller than their wielder even while strung, but especially when unstrung. An unstrung longbow is a very long and expensive stick, one that will GLADLY entangle itself in nearby trees, other people’s clothes, and any doorway you’re passing through.

And yes, there are shorter longbows, but at that point if you’re shortening your longbow, just get a goddamn recurve. And Flanagan makes a point to compare his rangers’ bows to the Very Long English Longbow.

Oh, do you know how the Very Long English Longbow was mostly historically militarily used? BY ON-FOOT ARCHER UNITS. Do you know what they’re TERRIBLE for? MOUNTED ARCHERY.

Trust me. Go look up right now “mounted archery longbow.” You’ll find MAYBE one or two pictures of some guy on a horse struggling with a big stick; mostly you will actually see either mounted archers with RECURVES, or comparisons of Roman longbow archers to Mongolian horse archers (which are neat, can’t lie, I love comparing archery styles like that).

Anyway. Why are longbows terrible for mounted archery? Because they’re so damn long. Think about it: imagine you’re on a horse. You’re straddling a beast that can think for itself and moves at your command, but ultimately independently of you; if you’re both well-trained enough, you’re barely paying attention to your horse except to give it commands. And you have a bow in your hands. If your target is close enough to you that you know, from years of shooting experience, you will need to actually angle your bow down to hit it because of your equine height advantage, guess what? If you have a longbow, YOU CAN’T! YOUR HORSE IS IN THE WAY BECAUSE YOUR BOW IS TOO LONG! Worse, it’s probably going to get in the general area of your horse’s shoulder or legs, aka moving parts, which WILL injure your horse AND your bow and leave you fresh out of both a getaway vehicle and a ranged weapon. It’s stupid. Don’t do it.

A recurve, on the other hand, is short. It was literally made for horse archers. You have SO much range of motion with a recurve on horseback; and if you’re REALLY good, you know how to give yourself even more, with techniques like Jamarkee, a Turkish technique where you LITERALLY CAN AIM BACKWARDS.

For your viewing enjoyment, Serena Lynn of Texas demonstrating Jamarkee:

Yes, that’s real! This type of draw style is INCREDIBLY versatile: you can shoot backwards on horseback, straight down from a parapet or sally port without exposing yourself as a target, or from low to the ground to keep stealthy without banging your bow against the ground. And, while I’m sure you could attempt it with a longbow, I wouldn’t recommend it: a recurve’s smaller size makes it far more maneuverable up and over your head to actually get it into position for a Jamarkee shot.

A recurve just makes so much more SENSE. It’s not a baby bow! It’s not the longbow’s lesser cousin! It’s a COMPLETELY different instrument made to be used in a completely different context! For the rangers of Araluen, who put soooo much stock in being stealthy and their strong bonds with their horses, a recurve is the perfect fit! It’s small and easily transportable, it’s more maneuverable in combat and especially on horseback, it offers more power than a longbow of the same draw weight—really, truly, the only advantage in this case that a longbow has over the recurve is that longbows are quicker and easier to make. But we KNOW the rangers don’t care about that, their KNIVES use a forging technique (folding) that takes several times as long as standard Araluen forging practices at the time!

Okay.

Okay I think I’m done. For now.

#to be VERY clear. I Am Not An Actual Expert.#i AM however drawing from my own experience and research #and literally i can find Zero literature about recurve arrow flights dropping faster than longbows #all i could find was that recurve range is worse compared to compound bows #which. OBVIOUSLY. compound bows CHEAT.#(said lovingly. ish. if you use a compound more power to you but also It’s Doing All The Work For You.)#this article was literally all i could find from a couple hours’ search comparing recurves and longbows #anyway recurves are cool. flanagan why did you do recurves so dirty.#for that matter why are all your women blonde.#(i’m not including brotherband here sorry)#(but also why did it take a spinoff series for him to create a named female character that wasn’t a blonde)#(flanagan explain)#god these books have so many problems. truly this is my ‘i could fix him’#thank you flanagan for getting me into this special interest. now Tell Me Why You Did It Wrong.#rangers apprentice #anyway if you REALLY want to read about some bangin historical horse archers #look up the parthians :)#specifically how they fucking Decimated an entire roman contingent :)#crassus getting absolutely demolished by mounted archer parthians is definitely my favorite bit of roman trivia

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chaosduckies · 6 months ago

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Rising Tides (Chapter 2)

A lot of you guys liked the first one, so I quickly wrote this one just to clear up the cliffhanger on the first part hah~ (Sorry not sorry) But, hope you guys enjoy because I really like these characters and plan on actually doing more drawings of them!

Word Count: 4.3k

CW: Mentions of death, Description of Death (Doesn’t actually happen), I think that’s it but if not you guys tell me!

2- Nico

I didn’t know where I was going. The last thing I remember seeing were a pair of blue eyes and then nothing. Now, I was being taken somewhere in the fist of this giant freaking mer that’s taken me as a snack. How do I know? Oh well, what else feels soft and sort of squishy when you were just in a cave? A hand. So no here I was, in the midst of a panic attack while also trembling so much I was so sure that this mer kidnapping me could feel it. I mean, it wouldn’t be surprising.

The water around me was moving, which was the only indication that I wasn’t going to die just yet. Were they saving me for later? There has to be some way out of this. I couldn’t stop the panicking thoughts in my mind. I didn’t want to die. At least not yet. I didn’t even know how long we’ve been moving. Hours? Days? Something like that.

My tail fin was still torn, but I’d bet if I really tried I could swim. Just not as fast. Would it be enough to escape this mer? Probably not but it was worth a shot. I didn’t really get a good look at how bad the tears were in the dark cave, but I’m sure it’ll heal on it’s own in just a couple days. Hopefully. That’s if I can get out of here.

I felt us stop moving, making me press my back into the flesh behind me and try to make myself seem smaller. Where were we? I couldn’t see anything but the purple scales that came from my own tail.

“Haven’t seen you in a while-“ The voice stopped abruptly, “Want to explain?”

“A shark was chasing a mer, I couldn’t be there in time before the shark got ahold of the little guy, and here we are now.” It sounded like a tired voice. It was louder too. I held my breath when the hand opened up, leaving me entirely out in the open. My eyes darted all over the place. There was a tiny little reef in an underwater ravine looking thing, along with some things that looked like another mer was living there. Just some feet in front of me was a mer just a little taller than a human, with a dark green tail, eyes, and dirty blonde hair that somewhat covered his eyes. Who was this?

My eyes looked around, trying to find the face that connected to the mer that was still holding me (Oh my gosh please let me go I don’t feel so good right now-) But I’ve never seen a mer as big as he was. And that just made me all the more terrified. I was maybe the size of his fingernail, if I was lucky.

Dark blue eyes were trained on me, instantly making me bite back the scream I wanted oh so badly to let out. I stuffed my tail closer to my side, tryin got hide that I was hurt, but I’m sure he already knows. But does he know how badly? Maybe I can somehow trick him? It was a long shot, but I’m pretty sure I could.

The mer holding me looked away and turned towards the other mer that was studying me. I couldn’t help but catch the white tuff of hair in his brown hair. That was weird. Not the thing I should be worried about though. The green-tailed mer swam up to me, catching sight of my torn tail fin and sighed, shaking his head.

“You’re not going to be able to swim for a long while, little mer.” He gestured for him to see more and I couldn’t help but listen. Why was this one helping? Did he have the big mer under control? Was he somehow controlling him into not hurting either of us? What was going on! Seriously!

I stared down at my torn fin, seeing really just how much damage there was. Nearly all the thin pieces of skin were torn off, and the webbing was almost all torn up. Only a few small pieces remained intact. That explains why it hurts to barely even move it. But I won’t be able to swim for a while? How was I going to get back home? I doubt that either of these mers would help me out. It looks to me like the green-tailed one was just going to help me out a little, but he wasn’t going to entirely. I was still frail that the big mer would try to eat me.

“Yup. This will take a while to heal. What were you doing all the way out here anyways?” The stranger asked. What do I even say? I don't’ even know why I was there. Because I saw something mysterious in the distance? Do I say that I was just exploring? Both were true. What do I say?

My mouth quivered before whispering a quiet answer, “I-I just s-saw a sh-ship…” I couldn’t finish the rest of my sentence when the big mer had his full attention on me like he could hear me. I doubt he would be able to. I was such a coward. No wonder everyone in the town wanted me gone. They would be all dead if I stayed and a mer his size came around. Though, I’m pretty sure this mer was huge even by other instances.

“Hmm. Well, I can’t really help you heal up a wound like this. It’s just going to take some time. I would say for you to go home, but I’m sure that’s pretty far from here, right?” The green-tailed mer smirked, crossing his arms. I couldn’t move, but he already guessed the answer. I didn’t even know where I was. For all I know I could be an entire days travel back to home instead of the one hour swim it had taken for me to get to that reef. Not to mention I’m sure this big mer was going to end up eating me as a not-so filling snack. I shuddered at the thought.

“Sorry, kid. You can’t stay here either.” Why couldn’t I just stay with him until I was healed and ready to head back home? I would prefer that over staying with the big mer that hasn’t said a word since he let me out. It kind of creeped me out. Plus it looked to me like he didn’t even want to here here right now. Yeah? Well neither do I. Actually, I wouldn’t even be here if he hadn’t taken me.

“So… what do I do with him?” The big mer asked, looking kind of annoyed now. I was still trembling, but now would be a good time to escape. Now that the green-tailed mer was up close to the big mers face. Otherwise no one’s attention was on me.

I forced myself up, noting that the skin below me didn’t seem to notice. I took my chance, pushing myself up and trying to swim off, but nothing. Only a burning pain every time I moved my tail, and I was back on the fleshy surface below, not even able to slightly move at all. I groaned to myself, realizing that even if I did manage to swim off, even if I stopped for a second I would slowly start flowing down to the sandy ocean floor. Great. Just great.

The two were arguing behind me while I stared out into the deep blue ahead of me. There was nothing out there except for a few large rocks and large pieces of seaweed that covered most of the floor. I wasn’t going home. Not anytime soon at least. I was going to die. These people weren’t going to help me, and when I do end up getting better, I would just be eaten, right? The big mer probably thought that if I was hurt I wouldn’t taste as good. I trembled slightly, looking back at my torn up tail. If I hadn’t came all the way out here maybe today could have ended differently? Then again, they were right about my tail being the death of me. They all were. Wow. I really am unlucky.

“Fine, he’ll stay with me until he gets better, but after that, he’s gone.” The bigger mer growled at the much smaller one, then I was wrapped in a tight fist once again. I’m dead. I’m so so so dead.

———Callum———

Did I care that a small mer was literally going to die if I didn’t help them? Yes, of course I did. Did I expect to have to take care of them until they healed up? No, no I did not. Who knows how long that would be! I couldn’t see the damn wound myself, but from watching the little mer try to escape earlier it looked like he couldn’t even swim a foot away without his tail stinging him. Of course I felt bad, but why did I have to take care of them? They got themselves into this mess in the first place.

I groaned, swimming back to the cave I’ve called home for a good while. It was surprise to wake up to someone screaming. I had thought it was just my imagination, but when I saw the shark- I thought something was up. Why was the mer even there anyways? Did he even stop to think that something else could be living in there? Or even if there wasn’t what if he was just cornered by the shark that looked about three times his size. Then he’d really be dead. He’s lucky I’m not some sick psycho who’ll eat him.

To be honest, I really did feel bad for the little guy. I mean, if I were that small and something like that happened to me, I would be terrified. I can literally feel the slightest little tremble in my hand coming from him right now. I’m not a heartless monster like most mers my size. It’s just… I don’t really want to be around someone so afraid of me. Which was why I wanted Archer to take care of him and not me, but of course he can’t.

After swimming back home for about an hour, I looked for a place the tiny mer could stay at comfortably. I decided on a small little platform with a little seaweed growing. There was some sand too and a few coral bits. I’m pretty sure there were some small little caves he could fit himself into as well. Not too bad honestly.

I opened my hand, revealing a shaking little mer. I bit the inside of my cheek, tilting my hand slightly to let him down on the rocky platform that seemed all too big for him. I wonder what I looked like to him… Probably huge, intimidating. Exactly what I was expecting. Oh this is going to be a long couple of weeks. I would take him home, but I’m sure that would only bring him more problems if I just came to wherever small little community he was a part of and just left him there. Especially when I’m about 80 percent sure that tail of his doesn’t make it easy to talk to many people already.

“If you need anything, yell. Don’t try swimming off, you’ll only make my job a million times harder. Otherwise, you’re stuck with me until you can swim on your own again.” I crossed my arms, looking for a reaction, but only seeing shock on the littler mers face. Should I get to know his name? No. There was no point when I’d only remember it as just another person who was afraid of me.

I swam off, leaving the mer by himself. I doubt he’d try to swim off. If he did he’d just sink right to the bottom of the floor anyways. Plus, it wouldn’t be hard to track him. It’s not like I’m trying to keep him captive here, it’s just I’ve never done this before, and I don’t know who this mer is. I don’t plan on finding out either since this will all just be over soon anyways, right?

I wrapped in on myself, going back to sleep since I was abruptly woken up. I can just go get food later… and eat away from the little mer.

——————

A couple hours later I woke up, the water felt just the slightest bit warmer, which meant it was a little after midday. I should probably check up on the little mer. I wasn’t all too worried about him escaping, much less him getting himself into another situation, but still. Checking wouldn’t hurt.

I swam, rubbing my eyes and yawning when I get to the spot I left him at, not seeing any sign of him there. I searched for a while, gently moving away some of the small stalks of seaweed and still not seeing the little mer. Wow. Did he actually try to swim off? I chuckled a little, but I was still the slightest bit worried. I brought my face closer, spying something purple hidden under a tiny rock. How the heck does he even fit under there? Oh well. I wasn’t about to rip off the rock he’s somehow found a little home under. If it makes him feel safe, then I won’t bother. But I still have to ask him something.

“Are you… hungry? Just come out of your little hiding spot if you are.” I watched for any kind of movement, but nothing. When was the last time he ate even? I guess I’ll leave him be for now. If he doesn’t eat anything tomorrow then I’ll just get him something. I’d hate for him to starve to death just because I didn’t get him anything. I feel like that would be the worst way to die in my personal opinion.

“Alright. Don’t leave.” I ordered, swimming off to go get myself some food from my usual grounds. It’s been a while since I’ve eaten myself really. I kind of wished that he came out though. Just so I could get a better look at him. The only thing I’ve really noticed was his tail and just how small he was and that was pretty much it. Though, that was kind of my fault for just leaving the second I was able to.

When I came back, no longer hungry, I saw something small sitting down in the open sand area of the little area. Oh. He was out? I was gone for a good while though. I swam silently, not trying to scare him. What was he doing? It kind of looked like he was just messing with something in his hands. A shell?

He turned his head slightly, letting out a yelp of surprise when he saw me and rushed to go back into his hiding spot. My heart fell, but I knew this was going to happen. It’ll be over in about two weeks. Then he’ll swim off and forget about you, maybe tell this story to his future kids or something. I didn’t know what other mers did when this happens to them. Though, I doubt this specific thing happens.

I didn’t say anything at all when I swam back in. I didn’t plan on talking a whole bunch. I’m pretty sure the little mer didn’t either. I’m only here to make sure he has everything he needs to survive, that nothing won’t try to eat him either.

———Nico———

This was the same cave I was in not so long ago. Just a different part. It seemed more like an open cage where I was at right now. A platform that held a few tiny fish that somehow survived here, some snails, there were some small anemones, rocks, a seaweed patch. I also found some small caves I could fit into hidden behind some of the seaweed, but I didn’t really want to stay there. It really felt like a prison if I were being honest. Like he’s had other mers there before. The worst part was that he already knows about all the hiding spots, so if he were mad at me he knows exactly where to look for me. That’s always great to know. So, there was no possible way for me to get out. It would take me too long just to swim out of the cave, and even if I did, he could just track me down.

I’ve already accepted my fate. I was going die here. Whether I liked it or not. My best bet was to just avoid him as much as possible, which I think I’ve done pretty well so far for it only being a couple hours. What can I say? I was terrified of dying, and that guy is pure death to me. I feel like he’ll just rip me up into pieces at any point, and that’s what really gets me.

So here I was, hiding underneath a rock where he could very easily take it off. I’m surprised he hasn’t already. I’ve found that the place I was in wasn’t all that bad. It was comfortable, easy for me to move around. Not too bad, but I would really like to go home. I miss it already. I just want to go back to my little home inside the coral and sleep peacefully on the soft sand. What would my parents do when they realize anyways? No one would want to look for me. It was sad actually. What was I even supposed to here? Just wait to be eaten? I’m pretty sure that’s what was going to happen anyways.

I recently found out that the big mers tail was a pretty dark blue color, which explains why he was so big in the first place. Most mers with a blue tail grow to be pretty big, but I’ve never seen one his height before. I think I’ve only really seen one where I was a little bigger than their fist, but this is an entire different thing. I mean, who wouldn’t be when someone fifty times your size was supposed to “take care of you?” How was that even possible?

I crawled out of my little hiding spot, picking up the colored rock I had found earlier and continued to fidget with it. Everything would be fine… right? He’d let me go eventually. I wound’t be eaten, and then I can forget all of this ever happened. Oh who am I kidding? I was unlucky, nothing would ever work out for me. It always takes a turn for the worst. I sighed, too tired to even bother with going back into my hiding spot, and made myself comfortable in the sand. I just have to hope it’ll all work out in the end.

——————

When I woke up, the giant mer was laying on his stomach, head resting on his arms as he stared out into the deep ocean. I tried not making a single sound as I pushed myself up, glancing over at my tail and seeing that it was still torn up. So it really wasn’t a dream. Or nightmare I should say.

I held a hand over my mouth as I made my way to underneath that rock, but something caught his attention to make him look over where I was. He glared at me, watching me go still and hold my breath. He rolled his eyes before swimming closer to me, the fast and effortless movement making me dizzy as his face took up most of my vision. Please don’t eat me. Please don’t eat me. Please don’t-

��Are you hungry yet?” I shook my head, not wanting to make him do extra work just to keep me alive. There’s also the fact that he might just want to to eat more so I taste better. Well, no thank you. I’d rather die of hunger than die while inside his mouth. The thought made me slightly gag, earning a confused look from the mer.

He let out a sigh before swimming off, fast water hitting me in the face from his careless movement. Yeah… I did not feel good. Neither did that fact that I didn’t even know his name yet. I feel like I should know the name of my future killer. Wait- don’t think like that.

The mer came back with something in his hands, dropping a few small fish in a pile in front of me. I bit the inside of my cheek, hard. I can’t tell him that I don’t eat fish. Then that’d start a new problem, which I can’t really afford considering the situation I was in. Then, he did something I completely unexpected. He propped his head up with his hand, elbow on the platform he had me on, and watched me with an annoyed look on his face, “I’m staying here until you eat. And I know you’d probably prefer me as far away from you as possible, little mer.” He smirked.

He wasn’t wrong.

What do I do? I was hungry, and I suddenly regret not eating that plate my mom made me the day before. I don’t even remember the last time I ate. Great. I don’t want to eat fish I though! But I have to unless I’m really about to just stay this close to someone who could swallow me whole without even trying- STOP THINKING ABOUT THAT!

I pushed myself towards the little place under the rock where I currently call home, only to be stopped by a fleshy surface in front of me. I backed away so fast I’m surprised I didn’t trip over my hands. I heard a quiet chuckle above me, like he was having a good time.

“Just eat. It’s not poisoned or anything.” I couldn’t help but catch the slight tone change. Like he actually sort of cared about me? I don’t know how to describe it, but it didn’t stop my heart from beating rapidly and my body start malfunctioning (Like literally I couldn’t move even if I wanted to it was too busy trembling so much)

I scooted closer to the fish, a shaky hand holding one that was about the size of my entire arm. If it’s the only way to get him to leave me alone… I took a small bite, hating how the fish didn’t even taste bad, it’s just I don’t like seeing dead fish. I dropped the fish back into the pile, forcing myself the crane my neck up at the mer, who, for a split second, had a sympathetic look on his face before he just fixed his position. I did what he asked me to… could he please just leave me alone?

Instead, he waited. I don’t know how much time had passed, but this guy is extremely patient. Doesn’t he have better things to do? Like… well I have no idea what he does but it’s obviously not waiting on some insignificant mer to eat something. I didn’t eat another bite, and I guess that’s when it clicked in his head.

“You… don’t eat fish, do you.” He sighed, closing his eyes. At least I didn’t have to tell him. I didn’t do anything but hide my torn-up tail and fidget with my hands while staring at the sand.

“What do you eat then?” I couldn’t answer his question. And I guess he realized that too because he just started listing off things he could find until I finally nodded my head. I was scared if I didn’t at least answer him like that he’d do something to me. So then he left, ordered me not to leave (Which I couldn’t do anyways but I still listened because I was scared of what he’d do if did end up leaving) I quickly glided over to my little makeshift home under the rock and stayed there, shaking. What would I have done if he didn’t realize that? What would happen if he wasn’t willing to wait? Would he just have eaten me there and then? I curled in on myself, mindful of the many loose pieces of thin fin on my tail.

He came back a couple minutes later, dropping some kelp and taking his same position again, making sure I actually ate. It was uncomfortable, but I knew if I didn’t he’d just force me to one way or another. Threaten me. Yeah, I’m okay. No thank you. Instead, I ate what I could in case I wouldn’t get a chance like this again and watched as he just grabbed the rest and placed it somewhere. I hate everything about this.

———Callum———

I wasn’t surprised that he didn’t eat fish. He’s practically on himself if he were just a tiny bit smaller… It’s sad to think about really. It wasn’t even that hard to gather any of the kelp, so I don’t know why he forced himself the first time. He could have at least told me. I didn’t mind going out. Then again, I didn’t exactly make that clear to him either.

I left him alone like I had promised, watching him hide in the seaweed, but it was easy to spot him in the green with that bright purple tail of his. I found it to be nice really. It wasn’t really a hazard to me like other mers probably find it to be, but it’s really a nice color. I don’t think he thinks that though.

Meanwhile, I tried to figure out just what I could do in the meantime. Usually I just go out and explore, but I don’t think I can just leave the little mer all alone for so long. Something might actually come, then I’d have to deal with that guilt. I don’t think taking him with me is an option, because I’m pretty sure he’s terrified of me and the last thing he would want to do is be around me. I sighed, looking back out in the ocean, feeling my eyes become heavy. This wasn’t so bad. Maybe I should actually learn his name.

————————

Wowwww. Y’know, rereading this chapter, I don’t think I like it, but oh well. Yes, I know Callum is just sarcastic and hard to get used to, but he’ll warm up to Nico. And yes, he’s just taking care of Nico because he feels bad for not being able to help out in time.

Hope you guys liked it (I kind of didn’t) and I hope I can get you some drawings of these two soon! (I love them sm aghhhh) Thanks for reading!

#g/t #g/t writing #g/t community #sfw g/t #giant/tiny #mermay #rising tides #Oc: Nico #Oc: Callum #Oc: Archer #I swear these two are so fun to write with #The drawings are coming together alreadyyy #again #im not an artists so just stick with me TwT #But I hope you guys are actually enjoying this piece #I wasn’t so sure about it tbh #But thanks for reading!#love you guys ❤️

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