#the creation of this background was so funny to me

[avathefur]

[jazeswhbhaven]

My Butler From Heaven...Full Service Included ❤ | Lucifer Butler Card React | SPOILERS

Okay so, this was shared with me recently and I had to jump on it and speak on this because let me tell y'all...if you're a hardcore Lucifer stan....this card will fulfill your needs in more ways than one because PHEW.

Not only do we get a side of Lucifer we rarely see, we get some background on why he even acts this way in the first place. Plus a little cameo from God himself? Well damn.

You know the drill, grab a snack, a blanket and let's get into itttt

🤍Story Details🤍

So I can actually talk more about this card because it's not exclusive and will be in the general pool in 3 months time. However I prefer doing the bullet points because I can be silly with the screenshots in the next part lmaoo

So we begin with Gamigin and Morax talking about the "Butt Contest" and that they got to see what Lucifer looks like in his butler outfit, but Gamigin was only really interested in what Lucifer's daily life as a butler would be like instead. (I love that he's so wholesome he don't care about no booties lmao)

But to their surprise, they see that Luci is still wearing the butler uniform??? HMMMM

So back when Lucifer was in Heaven, he would wear the wide shouldered robes we saw during his flashbacks. He'd also wear fitted suits that made him feel a certain way and basically his own form of being comfortable.

Wearing the butler uniform also brings back memories from back then. And he wanted to relive those memories in real time, thus writing a formal letter and sending it via carrier pigeon to "the one closest to his previous master"

And here comes MC! That's right, Ra-On gets a invite to come to Paradise Lost, which makes them nervous only because of Lucifer's behavior each time they visit.

It's interesting that what tracks is that MC is bothered that their connection isn't really all that deep like the other Kings at all. He's often distant, and when the deed is done it's like he never invited them over at all and just goes on about his business as usual. With this I think it's just because Lucifer likes keeping things professional and clear. He's also an angel, and much much older than anyone there and is used to being this way for so long.

However, his behavior is now much more soft, courteous and kind. He's waiting on MC like his life was made for it. Keeping a respectable distance, serving tea? I mean I'd kill for this kind of treatment from him and rightfully so, MC is confused as fuck.

But even so, they can spot that there's some kind of sorrow even behind that dazzling smile. He knows that they can tell too because he addresses it head on, stating that he will tell his story as promised.

Lucifer admits that his reaction to having to serve the customer's at that cafe was natural because he's served under a master before. So the "effects" of the talisman didn't really do anything to him at all. All of what he was doing was something that came natural to him. Because "Everything that happens on Earth was first enacted by Heaven. God his Master, and Lucifer his butler.

And this leads to another flashback when he spent time with God, his father and creator. It's revealed that God often changed his appearance and expressions based on his mood, so Luci's favorite was when he was relaxed and treating him like the only son he had. God has immense powers but he often held them back because he was choosing to live as if he wasn't omnipotent. I wonder though how this exactly...benefits him? Lol you know what I mean like I guess humbling yourself as a powerful being is alright.

So a funny little thing happens and God just randomly decides to give Lucifer siblings so he's not lonely. And whelp a bad omen was predicted on the table cloth from tea stains. YEA H about that lol

Thus ends the quick flashback but Lucifer goes on to explain his role at a butler, and the original creation and son of God 💀 (well no Jesus mentions so) He even brings up that the butler attire, the suits and everything were originally thought up in Heaven and then just influenced on Earth. I like this concept because think about it...just sitting around wondering damn I wish I had nice clothes for this gathering and some 8ft tall angelic being is like "here you go" and gives you a sketch of a suit

Well anyway, Lucifer stops the story not saying much more (boo I want more lore) and then he asks if MC would indulge him and his urge to serve once again. MC accepts and goes around Paradise Lost by Lucifer's side enjoying every minute of the special treatment.

They finally make it back to the Greenhouse, also to note that there are portals in each country so MC can travel quickly and safely between them btw! (I mean I think we've known this but pointing it out once again is really nice) Where the final "service" will begin.

So, MC did something here which idk if I can even fault them for because let's be real...they were assuming that since "the final service" was about the happen here that perhaps Lucifer did this with God too. Which that was confirmed quickly that this was reserved ONLY for MC. And if we remember from his other card stories, specifically his selfie one, he did not participate in any kind of orgies in Heaven and he did not have a chastity cage. So sure yeah it's heavily implied he did sleep with someone (coughI'm guessing either Adam/Evecough) but definitely not God himself.

The intimacy continues, that is when MC gives the consent to continue. Lucifer begins by undressing them and it's mentioned that they shouldn't be nervous since this has happened before. HOWEVER, MC clarifies that this particular kind of intimacy has never happened between them. The soft, gentle, Lucifer servicing them instead.

Now the question begs, why us? Is it because of being a descendant of Solomon who was the closest friend to God? Nope. Lucifer confirms that even if MC is Solomon's descendant that is not why they were chosen. They were chosen because he cares and cherishes them. I believe this entire time he knows about MC feeling insecure about their connection to Hell not being one of their own but because of their ancestor because that's all anyone ever talks about. (sorry Sitri you ain't helpin' with that affirmation either lmao) But seeing him confirm and say to MC that HE made the choice not due to proximity but because they are someone HE wants to serve personally is just...it's romantic as fuck, cute as fuck, I'm going to die from the fluff.

So now things are getting spicy...here are some important buzz notes about the love making:

+Lucifer gently kisses on MC's neck instead of biting too hard until MC tells him they want him to heavily make out with them +MC is positioned behind him so his ass is pressed against them the entire time +Lucifer assigns some "work" for MC to grope him while he fondles them with his fingers/hand +MC starts biting him all over and Lucifer loves the fuck out of it +There's a moment where MC forgot how big Luci is lmao +The perspective of the nipple is...off I think??? Idk I feel maybe I'm not remembering man nip anatomy +Ngl his dick has that torpedo thing going on because of the angle but that's okay I'm not here to stare at it 😌🙌 (I do that for Asmo) +There's a point where MC flips around, and the scene describes that MC is the one controlling fucking themselves on Lucifer +Though in the middle of it...hehehehehehe he takes over and well... +Let me also mention he takes MC's arm and wraps it around his neck +MC jerked off his horn too, and when he came? Well it was a lot +Unlike the other times, MC is relaxed and safe with him after +Their ass got sleepy and went to bed, now come on he's good for another 5 rounds or so like??? You only got 'em for 24 hours let's goooo +He was so sweet at the end here like it's so cute I'm crying

And he says something important after the romp fest: "You may not know, but my master commanded me to love him, too. So you who loves me without being ordered to, that makes you special."

omfggggg and it ends it there! PLS I was so sad that it ended :< like I wanna hear more of that Luci, fuckkkk

🤍Screenshots!!!🤍

bbyboi screamin' so loud poor Morax's ears were bleeding like goddamn

Mmmm tight suits, so tight the buttons can't even stay closed huh. Leave it to me to slutify an angel wearing robes and a suit 💀

PB...don't do this to me. Y'all know it's bad to do this to me. Cause let me tell you how he could be beneath me right now..

I swooned because this reminded me of....

my sweetie, my tea guru, my butler bae, twin tipped tail hottie with the bodyyyyy. I miss him so much he was my official comfort character when I was big into the OM stuff <3

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh he's so darn cute here

So if y'all noticed when they had the Zapar themed login screen he was covering up Lucifer's spot on the illustration. At first I didn't really question the design choice and once I started getting into the event I was like hmmmm and then I looked at the login screen again and started questioning things...turns out...Zepar's talisman's had no effect on him at all even on April Fools day!

God just out here havin' tea while humans are out here killing each other and actin' a mess huh? /j

The stain on the table from the sugar cubes creating a ominous face is sending me because not him knowing he was creating problems and yet still doing it 💀 true "I should have stopped at one kid" vibes from God rn I swear

Male and Female outfits for Ra-On. So cute! Very aristocratic.

He's so adorable. A pigeon and squirrel kept bothering him the entire time so it reminded MC of a Disney princess (hahaha the Disney part had to be censored in game which makes sense)

The greenhouse having a room in the back? Think about how the stars would look through the glass???? THIS IS ROMANTIC AS HELL HELP

Ngl I would be THROBBING, like...the bed is already fucking wet now sir thanks for being sexy as fuck

Waiting for consent? Yessss love that need ittttt

I'll give anything, everything, my soul, my body, my first born, my entire merch collection, my pc, just to see him smile in real time just like this omfgggggg his teeths 😭😭

Marry me. I can handle another husband or five...

Pls. I would tear that UP like slutty waist to grab, just feeling that tight butt, let me see that thong Luci

He's proposing clearly, and I accept /hj

My literal reaction

Wanna see the lewds?? -> Bam, here we goo

🤍Chats🤍

Chat 1 Summary: Lucifer goes over what happened during the card story events and asked if MC was requesting another day for him to serve them, depending on your choices you can either deny you mentioned that or say that Gamigin was the one who assumed you said it. After these choices and the sub choices, Lucifer rambles a bit about human life being fleeting, how he's going to cherish the next time he serves you, that sort of thing. No photo for this one! Chat 2 Summary: Lucifer gets his nerd on and rambles about how he knows a lot about tea. Buer makes his tea mostly and was taught by Lucifer, but Luci is more skilled and the best, he even shows his brewing set/setup and its so niceee. Reminds me again of a certain demon butler who's passionate about tea as well. Also he can tell that Sitri's style of brewing is mostly a Hades thing. (then I wonder if infusing your underwear like Satan did is....an original thing or 👀) Chat 3 Summary: Lucifer explains that angel's have a higher affinity to humans and animals and other beasts. This is why animals in Paradise Lost follow him around alot. Depending on your answers you can tell him he smells good, and he asks if you have characteristics like an animal and that he won't judge while he's your butler lol. But also there's a picture in another choice of him removing animal fur off his clothes. Chat 4 Summary: Lucifer talks about how he was teaching his siblings how to serve God and he talks about who was the best apprentice. For Gabriel we find out that he's better at being served, instead of serving, he was even envious of Lucifer sometimes, Michael was obsessive and well...that means he wouldn't do very well either as a butler. Raphael would be the best. Faithful and served God the best, though he's "violent" that's for anyone that isn't God (or MC it seems) and he becomes docile and seeks approval. SO there you have it! Chat 5 Summary: Lucifer maintains his body and control by clothing to uphold the best butler traits. This is when he shows his thong collection...hehehehehe. But depending on your answers though, he could either ramble about God not making things simple, so mastering the mind is...difficult. Though he does look forward to spending time with us again and serving us...it's really refreshing how he talks to us in these chats!

🤍Date Story🤍

I had to delete a reaction GIF to add this cute image with the forest critters, jjok and Gamigin in the back!!!

Speaking of Gami Gam for a moment, he's quite small for a dragon if he fits okayish on the picnic blanket but also this is probably just him chibified for the purpose of the image alone lol

But the date story was short and sort of somber! Here's some quick bullet points:

Lucifer is still in his butler's uniform when MC wakes up, he won't take it off until they leave. Though he does start thinking naughty thoughts and being caught off guard by MC which is a cute thing to see for him

MC wants to pay him back for his gentleness and care the day before so they try to give him a massage

The message was a bust, instead of relaxing him which did nothing and he was pretty much stone faced the entire time and confused about this action, it stimulates....other desires

Luci and MC bang a rang one more time for a few hours which is wild to me having the deed last for that long but hey when in Hell....

Luci starts reminiscing about how Solomon (of all people) felt about him too in relation to being around God/Himself and everything that happened before both of them disappeared.

From this small interaction of Lucifer mentioning this and that he only did the butler role to get out of his head about unwanted memories, it really did put a damper on the romantic aspect of his actions. They were true and genuine, however him being honest that he only wants to forget things by acting this way really has me think of how much trauma is in that head of his.

Like think about it...thousands of year serving a omnipotent being, being created by said being, having a very skewed approach to what love and devotion is, then being side swept by a human who gains your creator's attention just like that and then your creator suddenly just ceases to exist right around the same time this man left. His brother's causing havoc and destruction, it's...a lot.

Though the main story was definitely more of a feel-good moment, the date story reminds us that Lucifer is always going to have this part of himself he fights with constantly. While this is a huge step up from his usual dynamic with MC, it seems there are some things that even MC themselves cannot heal. Perhaps we will see more dynamic changes in the future that further develop between the two. I really like this vulnerable side of him.

🤍Overall Thoughts🤍

I rate this card 9.5/10!

the .5 was taken out because I was just sad that it was over....that's all lmaooo

When I explain that seeing this service top side of Lucifer set me on something good I meannnn it. Like it woke me out of my recent funk and I'm feeling the love through the screen from our fallen seraphim. he's just...ah he's just... t h a t g u y.

If you're a Luci fan I suggest you get this card for yourself to have in your collection! The story is great (well you saw my react so lol) and the adore mode is really fluid and the variety of things you can do to him is so worth pulling for. EYE though, am satisfied with just experiencing it through friends and moots sharing as it fuels my satisfaction just as much. If you want the Date story, buying the NP is the way to go as it's cheaper than trying to pull multiple copies with the solomon seals. (sadly so, huh?)

It's funny that I did this react way before I did a react for the damn event lmao. That's actually up next before the next part of the event releases. it will be more of a recap honestly since I'm sure everyone's read through it and seen others talk about it.

SO until next time, thank you for sitting through my react, thank you all for your patience and interactions, and for my reals ones for sharing their stuff with me; this admin is forever grateful.

[onlyhereforthestories]

Ours (Alessia Russo x Reader)

Day 20! My first Russo fic? This was another cheesy one to write, I think this time of the year gets me in my feels. Not long to go!

The glow of the Christmas tree lights filled the living room with a soft, warm ambiance as you placed a tray of paints and brushes onto the coffee table. The soft hum of holiday music played in the background, blending with the occasional crackle from the fireplace. Alessia, who had just returned from the kitchen with two mugs of hot chocolate, raised an eyebrow when she saw the collection of art supplies you’d gathered.

“What’s all this?” she asked, handing you a mug and taking a seat on the floor beside you.

You grinned, reaching for one of the plain, round ceramic ornaments from the box. “I thought we could make some decorations together. Something special for us to hang on the tree every year.”

Her lips curled into a soft smile, and she took one of the ornaments from the box, examining it thoughtfully as if planning what she could do with it. “You mean, something for us to laugh at in five years when we remember how bad we were at this?”

“Speak for yourself,” you teased, grabbing a brush and dipping it into the paint. “I’ve got big plans for mine.”

Alexia chuckled, leaning closer to inspect your work. “Oh? Big plans like what? Scribbling our initials on it?”

“Very funny,” you shot back, though you couldn’t help the laugh that escaped you. “Watch and learn, Alessia Russo.” You said as you turned your back to her slightly.

You began painting in earnest, starting with a simple heart shape in bright red at the centre of your ornament. Alessia, meanwhile, selected her paints with a surprising level of focus from someone who laughed this idea off a second previously, furrowing her brows as she considered which colours to use.

“What are you going for?” you asked, glancing over at her.

She smirked, tilting the ornament in her hand to show you the start of her design. “A masterpiece, obviously.”

The “masterpiece” in question was a series of uneven lines and smudges of green and gold, but the pride in her expression made you smile.

“You’re so modest,” you quipped, nudging her shoulder playfully.

As the evening went on, the two of you fell into an easy rhythm, dipping brushes into paint and laughing over your attempts to create something meaningful and cute. Alessia’s focus wavered quickly; every time she made a mistake, she would throw her head back and laugh, claiming it added “character.” At one point, she accidentally dipped her sleeve in the paint, leaving a streak of gold across the table.

“Oops,” she said, holding up her arm with a sheepish grin.

You couldn’t help but laugh, grabbing a cloth to wipe up the spill. “At this rate, you’ll have more paint on yourselves than the ornaments you are making.”

She shrugged, grabbing a smaller brush and adding a blob of white to her design. “It’s abstract. I’m an artist. Don’t all artists get covered in their artwork.”

Your evening continued like this for the next 30 minutes, you and Alessia exchanging playful comments or sharing your attempts at art on the decorations you were making. All your ornaments slowly took shape, bright, cheerful designs, one for which featured the date of your first Christmas together and a little snowflake on the back as created by yourself. Alessia, on the other hand, had abandoned any pretence of a cohesive design. Her ornaments had become a chaos of colours and swirls, one was all green with a tiny football painted near the top.

“You’re going to hang that on the tree?” you teased, gesturing to her mess of a creation.

“Of course,” she replied, holding it up proudly. “It’s a reflection of my soul: messy, colourful, and full of love.”

You laughed, reaching over to add a little star to the edge of her ornament. “It’s perfect,” you admitted.

When both of you finished your next ornaments, you set them aside to dry and reached for the next blank ones. Alessia surprised you by grabbing your hand, stopping you mid-motion.

“Wait,” she said softly, her expression suddenly serious.

You raised an eyebrow, wondering what had shifted. “What is it?”

Alessia hesitated for a moment before taking one of the blank ornaments and handing it to you. “Let’s make one together,” she suggested.

“Together?”

“Yeah. Like you know, both of us working on one. Something that’s really ours.”

Your heart warmed at the suggestion, and you nodded, a smile spreading across your face. “I love that idea.”

You scooted closer to her, holding the ornament between you as you decided on the design together. It started with a big, bold heart in the centre, with your initials inside. Around the edges, you added tiny stars while Alessia painted little footballs and a small Christmas tree. Every few minutes, your hands would brush, sending sparks of warmth through you.

At one point, Alessia paused, holding up her brush with a mischievous grin. “Hold still,” she said.

“What? Why?” you asked, narrowing your eyes at her.

She didn’t answer. Instead, she swiped a quick streak of red paint across the tip of your nose.

“Alessia!” you exclaimed, laughing as you grabbed a brush of your own.

A quick, playful battle ensued, with streaks of paint finding their way onto your cheeks and Alessia’s chin. By the time you called a truce, both of you were a mess, your faces streaked with colour and your hands covered in smudges. You had placed your shared ornament down on the table before you retaliated so that it wasn’t part of the faux war.

“Okay, okay,” you said, still laughing as you leaned back. “I think the ornament’s supposed to get painted, not us.”

Alessia chuckled, wiping at her face with the back of her hand. “It’s a work of art either way.”

When the shared ornament was finally complete, the two of you held it up to admire your handiwork. It wasn’t perfect in its own way, the lines were a little uneven, and the colours had smudged in a few places, but it was undeniably yours.

“I love it,” Alessia said softly, her voice filled with genuine affection.

“Me too,” you agreed, setting it gently on the table to dry.

You spent the rest of the evening cleaning up the mess you’d made, trading kisses and light hearted jokes as you worked. When the ornaments were dry, you carefully hung them on the tree together, stepping back to admire how they looked amidst the twinkling lights.

Alessia slipped her arms around your waist from behind, resting her chin on your shoulder. “These are going to be my favourite decorations each year.” she murmured.

You leaned into her, your heart full. “Ours,” you corrected gently.

She smiled, pressing a kiss to your temple. “Ours,” she agreed.

[literallys-illiteracy]

Oh boy time for me to do my thing and watch closely: New HTP episode released

When discussing the Regent of Great Yarmouth (referred to in the scene as "The master"), we see the background use the same silhouette as the figure credited as "The Monk" in the final scenes of the first episode.

I think that the theory of Kevin actually having telepathy, still screaming at D about the blender every so often (assuming he hasn't had time to meet Kevin since purchasing it) is very funny so I'm going with it. Kevin's dribble while going off script says "POWERFUL WIZARD LAZER".

-

The symptoms that Spit displays line up heavily with those of the Delirium (note that there are many many different effects that the Delirium may take), with one of the most common reactions being catatonia (essentially becoming unresponsive in shock/fear), also implying that Spit has a willpower of 1.

-

Crossing off the supposed kindred from being a "Vampire Wizard" (presumably not only relating to Tremere but we don't know how the family classifies them), Kitten proposes them to be a Sludge Lad (Nosferatu) or Humanimal (Gangrel), also making a joke about La Ghostra Nostra, which I believe is mean to be a pun on La Cosa Nostra (The Sicilian Mafia).

As the group is still going by the assumption that this IS a vampire, they are treating it as if Simon (Spit) has been dominated (See previous HTP post for Domination). That AND Matilda posits that he could simply be faking it I Wonder Why.

Also yeah I ship it.

Brok is genuinely pissed at the idea of Spit being the ghoul for basically no reason bar the fact that they are/were friends for a long time.

Now we get to the part where I get to talk at length about the Irish man.

to start off with, I haven't actually the best guess as to what Occam fully is (other than being a hedge mage). The amulet he is wearing has a sigil which is common in Celtic circles called the Triskelion, this also has ties to Hellenistic history (most specifically in Sicily, which being the second mention of Sicily sent me down a weird rabbit hole, allow me to elaborate:)

Basically, the triskelion is linked to Sicily, Hellenism (used as a common symbol during the period) and the god Hermes (Hermes helped Perseus fetch the head of Medusa). This isn't the important part but by God if I did this research it isn't going to waste. (also there is a theoretical link between the fact that the symbol is not too distant from the god Hermes and the Order of Hermes but I don't think that's important)

In Sicily, in WoD, there are pretty much only two things of note: In Syracuse (city within Sicily for those unaware) is the old centre of the Clan Lasombra, however it has not been in major use for roughly 600 years by this point (1400's-2000).

The second thing is that there is a Cairn there which... Werewolves I guess.

There was a third section which started talking about the Ars Goetia and how that could also relate back to Occam's sorcery but I cut it.

-

Back to the murder at hand(s) (claws?):

We can continue seeing Matilda be aggressive and defensive, we can also see her hands become visibly claw shaped when agitated:

Foreshadowing is-

Even while locked up, Matilda continues to direct attention towards both Spit and Git. Note how the episode consistently draws attention towards her, being the only non hunter who has more than a few lines (Non hunters being Spit, Git, Amanda, Matilda) and being the only one to directly point blame at any single person.

The time out box is back and with a full clear view of the symbol on the side.

The first thing I thought was mercury, due to the crescent shaped open top and the crossed centre line, however most depict mercury having a full circle and half stacked on top.

Then I realised that it was the symbol for the magic sphere of Matter. I then also found where/what the symbol properly was.

The only proper source I can find for this symbol is this researchgate proposal about unicode.

The fourth image lists the symbol as "amalgam", but oddly enough both figures 1 and 3 disagree with fig. 4 and with each other as to what the proper symbol for amalgam is.

Alchemy is weird like that sometimes, anyways I spent way too long on this moving on.

Referring to spit, the obvious odd behaviour he displayed throughout the last episode.

Funnily enough, this can be explained through the excuse Git gave before, his Ritalin (ADHD medication) wearing off. For those unaware, there is a side effect of prescriptions stimulants, specifically when they are wearing off, in which one becomes extremely tired, irritable, agitated, hungry, or anxious when their medication runs out of their system. This can be worse with children or those with comorbid mental health problems such as anxiety or depressive disorders; crashing or rebounding in extreme cases, like seen with Spit, can be a sign that the dosage of medication is wrong (too high), or simply that your body doesn't vibe with the stimulant, in which case you should consult your psychiatrist and change medications. Speaking from experience, it's never fun to crashland from being relatively normal into being a prick.

Uh considering that Git also has a nicotine dependency (seen through his desperation for getting his smokes back), I can't help but wonder what substance Brokham is using. Honestly looking at him? Anabolic Steriods.

Which is to say that... uh. Spit goes in the box.

Ok so I want to let HTP be its own thing for the most part but there is a 0% chance this isn't an intentional reference so i'll note it down:

these two paintings that mark the archive: the left is a reference to Ephrael Stern, a Sister of Battle known as the "Thrice Born" or "Daemonifuge". We can see this from the fact that she has the same blue lipstick and a cross-tattoo on the same areas as her TTS depiction.

For similar, design correlated reasons, it is safe to assume that the portrait on the right is inspired by Aurelia Malys of the Dark Eldar, whose TTS portrayal is below:

There's probably some sort of foreshadowing going on here related to Markus seeking entrance to the Archives, Magnus seeking the Black Library, and Ephrael being in the Library for most of TTS.

final note about the door, I cannot be bothered to try and find the meaning of the alchemical symbols on the door but they are there and unimportant if anyone wants to check it out.

-

These two books have visible writing.

"Immortal Divorce Court (1)" and "Vamp Dictionary"

Please skip to the next red texted note if you don't want to read Latin lessons.

"Oculus Empyrean".

When I was first watching this episode, I misheard this as "Oculus Imperium" and got very confused because that would mean "Eye control(er)" (or more strictly it would be "Eye's control")

Oculus Empyrean (sort of) translates into "Eye of Heaven". The "Sort of" comes from the fact that Empyrean comes from medieval latin/early middle english, and also because of inflection.

Taking Oculus Empyrean at face value means "Eye Heaven" (unless my Latin is finally slipping as I go senile). This is because both Oculus and Empyrean are in the nominative case.

For non inflection-language speakers: The nominative case is used when a noun is the subject of an active verb, eg.

"The Ball was kicked into a tree" where "The Ball" is the nominative noun.

"Good Girl" for example would have nominative singular Puella (girl) and genitive singular version of Bonum, Boni, (Good) to create the phrase "Boni Puella".

However, that being said, unless listing nouns (the door, the wall, the shelf, and....-) or making a direct relation between two nouns (Jon is a farmer = Jon agricola est), I don't remember a case for multiple nominative inflections in a row; This is why it is more accurately translated to just Eye Heaven.

To actually write "The eye of heaven" in Latin, inflect both Eye and Heaven in the genitive case to indicate a relation between the two (as neither noun is the subject of a verb):

Oculi caeli

(I just swapped Empyrean for Caelum because they both mean heaven) (also, if you check this on google translate, due to Oculi being both the nominative plural, and the genitive singular of Oculus (as is the case for second declination nouns) it will probably translate as "eyes(plural) of heaven")

ok back to the actual episode because ????

The newburgh group is one of the members of the Coalition (Second Inquisition), which heavily backs the arcanum.

Ok so back on the eye real quick

This isn't an alchemical symbol, believe me, I've done multiple hours of research about alchemy today alone (if I had a nickel for every time I researched alchemy in depth for a media series I would have three nickels-)

the closest I could find in any of my sources was

Attramentum Vitriolum (Black vitriol), which lacks the central dot, and Auripigment (Arsenic Sulphide, literal translation is "gold coloured"), which lacks the central dot and is tilted to 45%

We can see here that the eye projects some sort of "red beam" from its... iris? I guess? which then connects into Markus'.

The red beam may relate back to the concept of the Empyrean. We've had our alchemy lessons, we've had latin lessons, time for a mythology lesson for an esotericism trifecta.

Beforehand, when I said that Empyreum means Heaven, I wasn't lying, just simplifying. The Empyrean, in ancient european myth, is the heavens beyond our terrestrial spheres; the empyrean referred to the spheres of existence permeated and constructed from, the element of Aether, the fifth element.

This may explain the symbol of the eye itself, having 5 nodes on a cross representing the 5 elements, but that's conjecture. The important part of this potential connection to the aether is the fact that, in the 5'th century, there was an alchemical theory of "Quintessence", being a similar conceptual "fifth element" of which the heavens were made of.

Quintessence in fact literally means 5th element. Quintessence is also present in World of Darkness lore:

in essence, in Mage the Ascension, Quintessence is basically the fabric of reality. The entire tapestry of reality, all things within, are made of quintessence.

I've already gone on too many tangents so i'm stopping myself from going deeper into Mage.

I can't be fucked looking for another one, also im 90% sure that i'd be barking up the wrong tree because I do not recognise those triangle ones.

Technically one could interpret the boxes with circles inside them as being the sign for urine.

***

Update because I'm dumb:

as people have pointed out, these symbols are Hunter marks, symbols used by and recognisable to Imbued (mildly supernatural hunters).

In my defence, I'm not a hunter, so I wouldn't know.

The three symbols seen are "imbued" (on the eye), Danger (the rectangle one) and "Puppet" (Triangle)

-

as was very predicted by ms WILD who was always wearing gloves.

also from the sheer brutality, the delirium symptoms, the pinning of blame on others, the antisocial personality, claw marks all around the arcanum, and complete lack of surprise at the reveal of vampires existing.

Foreshadowing certainly WAS a literary device-

also would?

-

in the ensuing fight, D is fairly easily overpowered, gains a large neck gash from claw marks, and cuts off matilda's left arm

Remold also shoots with his... cane gun? a phosphorus bullet. Phosphorus is known for like one main thing and it is that it burns like crazy, hence why "no vampire could survive that"

-

I don't think that the reactions of each cast member are meant to actually reflect their willpower scores, except for Git and Spit who totally fit willpower 1.

That being said, time to organise each reaction into the different delirium reactions/willpower's:

Note how Grimal is strong enough to scratch into the tiling of the walls out of sheer fright.

That being said, every character in this scene, including D and Remould (which is why I'm saying that this probably doesn't fully reflect accurate stats) takes little to no action for this first section.

Also, immediately after we see the two elders, both clearly afraid, but still maintaining composure and fighting smart, think back to what D said back in the first audiolog:

"Trust your wits, not your fists"

probably somewhere around 9-10 range. 10 is defined as no reaction, and both are clearly afraid of the situation, but no matter your will, a werewolf running at you is scary.

Willpower 4, the berzerk reaction. As D put it "some may attack with extreme vigour"

In this scene here, we can hear the wound of the knife hissing after it has cut: either this is the knife "enchanted with death magicks" from the Guy Chapman audiolog, or the knife is made of silver. Either way this is called aggravated damage. Unless they changed something in W5 i've not played it.

Also this is probably just like a moth spirit or something, potentially this could be that one auspice that allows you to transport something from the umbra at will? unlikely though

willpower 4, berzerk.

Willpower.... 10? I don't think that this was an uncalculated action, I just think Markus is bad at math and doesn't know the strength of a werewolf.

I mean he had some of the shortest time between sight and thought out action, so at the very least a 7 (afraid but rational).

Also STAKE JACKET IS THE BEST IDEA.

We can assume that these are the spirits that Tilda (who from this point forward I will refer to as Tl;dr) has gifts from. Can't say which gifts, hard to say most things about spirits in general, so yeah.

in Audiolog one, we discussed: Vampires/Ghouls (which we have fought and met) Werewolves (just now fighting) (specifically Black Shuck) Witches/mages (Potentially seen?) Ghosts (wraiths); (Potentially seen?).

The mention of wizards was a specific tale of a witch, which remains unseen, and the "ghost" was that one with the well.

This marks the first named foreshadowed character appearing except for the fiddler/monk at the end of episode one.

Willpower 4: berzerk.

seems the spirit's name is Jambles? even more terrifying, the spirit might be french.

[therookerydatv]

This is a non-Veilguard post but it is a Solas post and a Varric post so buckle in.

Background: I joined a Veilguard Discord server because I'm insane, and we were discussing Cole and the whole choice to make him a Spirit or more Human, and it almost got into an argument but thankfully it figured quickly, but I was still thinking about it because something about it all rubbed me the wrong way. A lot of people lamented their choice in making Cole more Human or cheered that making Cole more Spirit was the correct choice because of Solas' own regrets and pains that came about from him gaining a mortal body.

Subjectively I have always chosen to make him more human, but I guess me choosing as a player is different from within the context of Inquisition. In DA:I every choice you make has consequences, sometimes trying to backpedal out of a choice once you're far enough in will result in you not getting your way because that's what it all is, Choices and Consequences. As much as the result of Cole's change is on you the player, it's really a Consequence of your favoring Varric or Solas' method.

Solas' entire view of Cole's predicament is colored by his own negative experience of having a body and living in the physical world, waking up to a physical world where the Veil was created just amplifies that regret in pain, every instance of him trying to help with his Wisdom becomes something worse to him personally (All that Wisdom and he can't help himself) but with Cole he actually can help! He can fix this, with not only Wisdom but experience! He's become a person, he doesn't like being a person(and then he does because of the Inquisitor, I feel this is true romance or friendship), so Solas knows that Cole can 'return'(made) more Spirit and the confliction will end.

Varrics positions, his view, I feel is colored by the people he couldn't help, the ones he couldn't help get their revenge or solve their problem in time in a way where no one could get hurt (Cole literally reminds him of Anders just in reverse) And this time, Varric knows better, he knows how to fix this, he knows how to not blow up the Chantry, he can fix it this time. (This time the love will be enough!!)

Objectively, both are answers, I don't think either of them are right, because it's one influence over the other, but a choice has to be made otherwise he'd become a demon.

Solas and Varric are having their idealogical battle(custody battle) over which direction Cole needs to go in to avoid binding or demonhood(which college to send him to). The added layer VG adds to this and every banter Solas and Varric have is also fascinating, because outwardly it's an Elf and a funny Dwarf fighting over the tall awkward Human child, but after VG??? After those regrets??? Girl...

But I feel that reducing that scene to Solavellan at times is... disingenuous, when really, it's a Solvarric scene of we're being objective.

This is THE custody battle of all time. (My weed kicked in bear with me)

Solas' version of his world doesn't exist anymore, the world with no Veil and spirits essentially pillaging the bodies of the Titans to gain bodies doesn't exist anymore, the first victims of what the Elvhen did calls him Chuckles, a demonym in true friendly jest to him, it's the first thing Varric calls him when he reaches out to talk to him at the beginning of Veilguard, up until that point he calls him Solas, the Dread Wolf, Fen'Harel.

Varric is a result of years of time happening to the version of the World Solas brought about. Its...it's like God is talking to a creation of his that has every right to hate him, to want to desire to go back before all the bad shit, and instead Varric says, okay, get the anger out, how do you feel now? Empty? That's okay too, take your time.

Solas is a weary traveler ready to end it all and Varric is the equally weary traveler who says, tell me about it, and then talks your ear off so much you start believing in the world again.

Basically, Varric's method is to embrace the history and the scars, embrace the hurt and once it's done, get something to eat. Varric forgives but doesn't forget, his plan has Cole let go of his anger in the end, but Cole will remember the hurt he felt, and inflicted and so will the people he inflicted them on.

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

Spidersonas are the perfect exercise and I recommend everyone try -

Quick-Spidersona Exercises

How I use new Spidersonas as Artistic Practice

[A MEDIUM length post where I share ideas and exercises to create Spidersonas quicker and easier, while practicing your writing/art]

Spidersonas can be a great tool for any artist!

If you're a writer looking for a way to get better at character creation, research, and world-building - Or an artist looking for a way to get better at character design:

Consider trying out Quick Spidersona exercises as a fun way to do that! I use them all the time, because seriously, who says you can only have ONE Spidersona?

(I think I have at least 15-20 now - counting the eight named kids I gave Miguel & Moche)

I usual end up making at least one a week - and I find they're amazing for learning how to make characters quickly and in a really fun way.

Everything can be canon in the Spider-verse, including a sentient piece of Lego-Plastic and a Pre-historic Spider-saur.

Plus, with the Spider-Society being full formed, and canon events at your choosing, you have a loose template for a background - making it easier to throw them into the story.

I use a couple different exercises on making Fast-Sonas, and I thought I'd share some.

Here's a couple of my favorites! If you find this helpful, let me know!

1 - Hour Sona Challenge

Ever have a half-baked Spidersona Idea or come up with a funny crack Spider?

Give yourself an hour (or two) and go at it.

[This challenge is good for quick practice, Character Creation & Design]

Design them a suit as quick as you can, coming up with abilities and a rough personality.

You don't need to go into backstory if you don't feel like it, and it's a great way to get started

This is something you can do routinely - I do, I usually do this once or twice a week; And soon you'll have a full cast of sonas that can interact with each other!

It's great practice, and the more you do it, the easier it gets.

When you're doing it on the fly, or know it's just one hour - it can produce characters that are more natural, because you don't have time to second guess. Plus, since it's only an hour, you can get as silly as you want!

Stoner-Spider is an example of a 2-hour Sona Challenge.

Adapt-A-Spider

This challenge is good for Character Design

Make your own cross over!

For something a bit easier - Take a Non-Spider character and make them a Spider-person.

This could be anyone, from other Marvel characters, to Disney Princesses, Celebrities, and characters from your other fandoms. You can even make some of your old OCs into Spider-people!

For Artists - this can be a real fun challenge - try and blend the characters original outfit and design into a suit suitable for swinging.

For Writers - try to adapt their current background, and shift it around so they have 'canon events'. If the character you like has lost someone, the person they lost could stand in for their Uncle Ben or Aunt May.

Example: If you're looking to adapt Ellie from The Last of Us, losing Joel could be her Uncle Ben canon event.

This works for every character (basically). What if Black Widow ACTUALLY got bit by a black widow? Now Nat Romanoff is on campus. (Every Peter thinks she's an MJ cause the red hair at first).

No matter how ridiculous, you can stretch it. In Spiderverse, everyone is Canon.

If they can write a SpiderCar - you can write ANYTHING.

Some ideas are:

Celebrities, Animals (like SpiderCat or the Dinosaur), Princesses, Greek Gods, Historical Figures, Fandom Characters,

Mundane Spider

This challenge is good for: Character Building & Design

Not everyone is extraordinary. SOMEONE has to flip those McMiguel burgers goddamn it.

If making a huge story and traumatic canon events send daunting - just... Don't do it. Challenge yourself to make a Spidersona that's literally just a person.

Like a Target employee who got bit by a spider that came out a shipment. And now they have to work at the Society AND target. They wear the Target polo over their suit.

Pick a normal type of person, and challenge yourself to make them super.

Maybe a stay at home mom that got bit by a house spider, or a college student that got bit at the library. Any one could be a Spider-person! So don't worry that they're 'boring'.

Ideas for this:

A person based on your town/city, Random Professions, Teachers, Therapists, People based on hobbies you like to do (ex: Margo is eSports. SpiderCanada is hockey based),

History Spider

[This is good for Research]

History Buffs WHERE U AT?????

If you love a period of history - GO ALL IN.

Take the SpiderNoir and Hobie route.

If your Spidersona was from Ancient Egypt, what would they wear? If you really like the Medieval Era, would their city want to burn them at the stake?

For Artists - What would they wear? And how would the fashion trends of their time period effect their suits?

For Writers - What would be their real name, if it were time period accurate? How would they act and speak? Consider how they would adjust to things like 2099, and how their time period would effect their fighting style.

Culture Spider

If you're from a interesting culture or place, make a Sona for that!

[This is another great one for Research, as well as Character Design too]

I've seen it all, from my own IncaSpider, to Korean Spider-people and Romanian Spider-people.

For Artists - It's REALLY fun adapting traditional dress and colors into a Spider-suit, and you may even find yourself falling down a research hole.

For Writers - This can go DEEP. You can pick any time period of your culture and home. Things like their accent, their behaviors and traditions, and their backstory can all be reflections of your culture.

With HUNDREDS of years is material to pull from, using Culture as a back drop for a Spider can help them seem deep and natural. Plus, you can just Google clothing and use that as suit inspo

Ben Reilly - Mary Sue Spider

Arguably my FAVORITE. Not for the faint of heart.

[This is the best for everything - Literal SELF CARE I MEAN THAT]

BE CRINGE. DO IT ON PURPOSE.

Write a character that's super strong and effortless about it. Pavi is. And he's still a great character.

Write a character who ALWAYS looks kick ass and rides a cool motorcycle or plays a rad guitar - Jess and Hobie are literally THAT.

Want your character to be big and super smart with deep trauma that haunts them? - Ben Reilly and Miguel. The three of them can be a trio.

Challenge yourself to make the COOLEST MOST FLAWLESS DRAMATIC SONA YOU CAN.

Every time you draw something or write something that makes you cringe, or feels to OP or too much.

Good. Leave it in. Turn it up to 11.

Go all out. Draw your Instagram dream outfit. If you want your Sona in 12 inch heels - have at it!

'Oh but that's impractical and stup-'

They're literally a Super-Human. If Gwen can catch a helicopter like that, I think a Spidersona can manage stripper heels or Final Fantasy Hair.

What's the worst that can happen? You're doing it on purpose.

At the best, you'll make someone REALLY REALLY rad - like Hobie.

At the least, you'll make someone REALLY REALLY funny - like Ben Reilly.

Disco-Spider Diane is an example of this. She was probably supposed to be a completely self-indulgent, unhinged Sona.

So much so that she thinks she's perfect, even though she's a little bit naive, lazy, and in her own world. But because she doesn't care.. it's all good :)

No Logic Whatsoever Spider

[This one is just funny. Great one for Character Design and getting out of your comfort zone.]

Spider-Ham, Spider-Car, Spider Cat, LegoSpider, Spiderplush and SpiderPopsicle all have a club. The No Logic Whatsoever Club.

Challenge yourself to make a new member.

Break all the laws of logic. If something can be Spiderman, then it is or duty to make it so.

What's your favorite animal? Make that.

Can they put on the suit themselves? No? Who cares they're a Spiderperson-thing now.

Is there a funny art style you like - make a Bendy's style 1930's black and white silent cartoon.

For Artists - This is a great one. It can be as simple as drawing Spider-man merch and making it sentient. Or as bizarre as drawing a Dinosaur in a Spider-man costume.

For Writers - HARD MODE. For pure crack fanatics. Enjoy trying to make logic of this. Or don't. They are what they are.

----------------------------

So here are just some exercises and ideas for those looking to strengthen their writing/art skills with Spidersonas.

They can be really quick to make, and you can always build on them over time, do a '1hr Sona Update' Challenge, run them through canon events and see them change.

Having multiple spidersonas can be fun, make writing easier, and it's great practice that translates everywhere - into world building, character design, research, and a lot of other creative skills.

Literally theres no need for just one! The Spiderverse is open to any Sona, no matter how bizarre, mundane, or self-indulgent!!

If this gave you and ideas or inspiration, let me know. If you try a challenge, I'd love to see too!

And as per usual if you've read this far: Here take this as a token of my gratitude

Go forth, create, and kill cringe with your bare hands. Smash it into a moving train. That usually does the trick.

Bye.

[beesmygod]

I'm actually bummed about YouTube as a whole bc We're in Hell and Channel 5 both turned out to be rapists and just kept making videos so now when I need inoffensive background noise at work my eyes glaze over and I type in "bossa nova" like literal elevator music is better

tumblr is fucking with me and wont let me post the whole post without telling me why but i think bc of all the links i put its getting flagged as spam lol. bear with me as i update this post

oneshorteye: speed run history vids about sierra games and their ilk. interviews with the creators. https://www.youtube.com/@OneShortEye

anomaly documentaries: short form docs about weirdness in the world mostly prior to 2000. delivery and presentation like a 1990s educational video. not edutainment. https://www.youtube.com/@AnomalyDocs

atrocity guide: similar in tone to the above. not as dark as the name would suggest. https://www.youtube.com/@AtrocityGuide

anyaustin: seeks out mundane, odd, tranquil, haunting, or idiosyncratic areas in video games. sometimes roleplays as a census taker to determine the unemployment rate of video game citites https://www.youtube.com/@any_austin

drripVHS: a hero, a legend. uploads rips of VHS tapes he picks up from thrift stores in the portland oregon area. soooooooo many RLM wheel of the worst picks can be found here. https://www.youtube.com/@DrRIPVHS

taskmaster/bbc shows: a shocking amount of british tv shows are uploaded in full on youtube by official accounts. taskmaster fucking rips lol https://www.youtube.com/@Taskmaster

bobby fingers: irish artist who creates dioramas of famous people and events while collecting an oral history of the event and everything surrounding it. this is underselling his production quality by a lot. subjects include mel gibson's drunken arrest and steven segal getting bodied by gene lebell https://www.youtube.com/@bobbyfingers

danooct1: computer enthusiasts who runs old, weird viruses from the 1990s-2000s on his machines. its funny how many of them were little pranks. https://www.youtube.com/@danooct1

primm's hood cinema: funny guy reviews hood movies. simple as. https://www.youtube.com/@PrimmsHoodCinema

treytheexplainer: history nerd (history student?) explains really, really, really, really, REALLY old stuff. but funny stuff. https://www.youtube.com/@TREYtheExplainer

ann reardon and how to cook that: an aussie mom who creates frankly astoundingly beautiful confectionery creations. started to debunk dangerous 5 min craft vids after becoming alarmed at their proliference. also shows how to fix your busted ass cakes and explains why they fucked up. https://www.youtube.com/@HowToCookThat

MEpearl: i love georgette i would move heaven and earth for her and her opossums she rescues. shes insane (strongly positive) https://www.youtube.com/@MEpearl

tara a devlin: some aussie who translates and plays obscure horror games of varying quality from japan. VERY obscure and weird stuff. fun. https://www.youtube.com/@KowabanaJapan

[hivemuthur]

You’re actually wild. Like the first fic you posted on AO3 was in December and since then you have 33 fics up?? You’re insane! And most of them being Viktor/Reader?? You’re feeding Viktor Fucker Nation.

I have some questions for the ask thing! 10 and 14. And then I’m curious about stuff related to the questions 12/13 - like what your writing history is, what kinds of stuff did you write pre Arcane, did you write fanfic before, etc?

I’m curious about how you like writing /reader? I know the first couple things you posted were OCs with Joe and Renly. But OC stuff doesn’t get as much attention as /reader - is that why you switched over to that kinda stuff? Sometimes I don’t love second person POV and it took me a bit to get used to so I’m curious as to your thoughts.

You are so right, insane is what I am :v I just checked my AO3 and it says I wrote 270K words (after subtracting the doubled ones). Lol I need help I think.

Honesty being fed by requests makes it so much easier to write. I was actually very nervous at the beginning (and still am when I deviate from the subject because I get struck by a severe case of brain death in the middle), but it only helped me to formulate my thoughts better. I had no idea how much power is in prompting. And the ask game:

10. Is there a character or ship you'd love to write for, but haven't yet?

14. What makes you happiest? New fic comments, kudos, bookmarks, user subscribers, story subscribers, or Tumblr asks?

Interactions, like, beyond anything. Comments, asks, anything that people want to say to me. I was on the reading side for a long time and rarely brought myself to commenting because of some weird shame and this fear that I might be disturbing the author. Now I’m beating my chest and coming back to all those fics I loved and commenting, because finally, FINALLY I know how it feels when the void answers and I never ever want to lose this feeling and I want to give it back to the authors I love. Once, I received an art for my fic and it made me stop in the middle of the street and miss my tram, legit tears in my eyes. People saying that they’ve read something of mine and they got back to writing. I mean, it just feels so good I’m almost ok with the fact that Viktor is fictional :’)

12/13. First fandom/Do you have an 'official' creative writing background such as a degree or previous experience publishing?

Arcane is the first one I’m writing for in terms of fanfiction! And background hmm… not for the works that contain plot I would say? I write a lot for TTRPGs so I’m familiar with plot mechanics, pacing and character creations. I wrote my own tabletop game some time ago (like 2 years?). But it’s very pagan so never published it, Slavic mythology focused :v I used to write film reviews and music reviews during my uni times. But most of my writing before this was character creation for tabletop games. I also write down a lot from the books I like, I read quite a lot.

And regarding Reader/ or 2nd person POV: in the beginning I felt STUPID writing it, I have no idea why, despite the fact that I actually enjoy them as a reader myself (now I think I have no preference, I just like good stories). And because I’m a classified masochist I HAD TO TRY. So I went slow and rewrote the story from 3rd person to 2nd person POV at first. Then I wrote first Reader one-shot and now it feels natural. Same deal with present tense - completely alien at first, until I HAD TO because my sorry ass wanted coherent flashbacks. So I forced myself to learn and now I prefer it, adds to the urgency and reinforces the feeling of starvation when I’m writing sex :v

Hihi it feels so funny to know you’ve been there reading my shit from the beginning in the corners of AO3, like kicking my feet, twirling my hair funny, thank you 🖤

ask game

[atamascolily]

Puppets Imitate Art

Pili employees are strong contenders for the funniest people on the planet and nowhere is this more apparent than their social media posts where they use Photoshop wizardry to put those puppets in situations. Here are some of my favorites, all referencing/parodying famous works of art:

Rembrandt: The Night Watch (1642)

The gang's all here in this recreation for Mie Tian Hai's birthday, complete with a cake for the birthday warlord. Shout-out to jester!Lin Xue Ya from the first movie as the drummer on the right.

Raphael: Tempi Madonna (1508)

Raphael did so many Madonna and Child paintings, it can be difficult to tell them apart but the castle in the background on the middle right gives this one away. Given what happened in canon, this one's kind of painful, but the parallels are undeniable.

Leonardo da Vinci: The Last Supper (c. 1495–1498)

The cast of Bewitching Melody of the West settles in for a recreation of this iconic piece, with Pili character Baili Binghong, the "father of Thunderbolt Fantasy", standing in for Christ.

me: hold on I gotta look something up real quick me, a few seconds later: yeah this is funny actually

It turns out Baili Binghong was Gen Urobuchi's favorite character from the Pili main series, and when Pili killed him off, Urobuchi was stunned, which in turn led to the creation of Thunderbolt Fantasy. RIP, Baili Binghong; thanks for taking one for the team!

For additional emphasis, Pili originally dropped this one on Thanksgiving, which is why there's turkey and pie... except for Baili Binghong, who has a bento (Pili slang for character death) in preparation for his ascent to Puppet Heaven.

There's so much going on here, it's hard to pick a favorite, but I love that the good guys and bad guys are on opposite sides of the table, and also Lin Xue Ya's pose is especially funny.

Gustav Klimt: The Kiss (c. 1907)

Lou Zhen Jie embraces Seven Blasphemous Deaths with fervent devotion surrounded by gold and flowers. This is less of a direct recreation than a reference, as evidenced by the golden halo around Lou Zhen Jie's head, which would not be out of place in a medieval manuscript (one of Klimt's influences/inspirations for the original piece).

Alphonse Mucha: F. Champenois Imprimeur-Éditeur (1897)

There are a number of different riffs of this Mucha print featuring different characters, all of which are variations on the same basic theme, but I picked this one with Mu Tian Ming because it was originally posted to promote an exhibit on Mucha's influence on Japanese manga artists, thus bringing the conversation full circle.

Michelangelo: The Creation of Adam (c. 1512)

Huo Shi Ming Huang desires god-like powers and here he gets his wish, bringing life to.... Lin Xue Ya?? No way this won't backfire on him, hahaha. Shout out to Xing Hai, Ba Wang Yu, and Hua Wu Zong as the attending "angels".

(As an aside, this is at least the third time this particular painting has been referenced in media originally written by Gen Urobuchi, the first two being Madoka Magica and Rusty Rabbit, where they are mentioned directly in-text as opposed to extracanonical material. I can't decide if it's funnier if Pili did this on purpose or if it's just a coincidence.)

[moosh2727]

I FINALLY GOT ACCESS TO ISSUE 71 OMG

this took forever but finally i get to see him!! spoilers ahead :3

first of all, amazing cover. jet and the gang look amazing just in that one snippet

extreme gear dodgeball... thats interesting, reminds me of the multiplayer modes in riders zg that was not racing but fun!

HOW DARE YOU MAKE MY BOY ANGRY wave helping jet focus is nice like in zero gravity 💚

the rouges being in shock is always so funny, im glad to see wave and storm join in on the fun 💚

WOAHHH LOL dang sonic's going hard!!

i now headcannon wave has a mindfullness youtube video she makes jet begrudgingly watch LOL 💚

i love seeing them using their gear more, it fuels my autism 💚💚💚

THIS IS SO FREAKING FUNNY I LOVE IT, AND HOW DARE SHE CRASH IN JETS GEAR!! anyway love him /p 💚

AMAZING I WANNA SEE HIM ANGRYYY, BEAT THEM UP JET!!! 💚100 gonna use this part for art ref because it looks so good

the silence is so loud in this picture i love it, i wonder what jets gonna do? 😊

oh my gosh this is so heartbreaking actually what the heck- ALSO WAVE TELLING JET TO RUN IS SO ON POINT

the story telling via art is on point, theres not much words needed to convey the emotions the characters are feeling

THEY HAVE A NEW ROOM, I REPEAT THEY HAVE A KITCHEEEEEEEEN, storm being the cook fits so well i love it.

the food (curry im guessing) fits their background and double points for looking extra yummy.

jet's first sentence fits him so well, im really glad they're doing good depiction with him and everything relating to them, considering the idw special where jewel broke her wing SUCKED because of idw ppl not thinking about where jet lives on the ship, so they made it SUPER inacurate.

it makes me happy to see storm contributing and not being a stupid fat joke like in free riders. we need to appreciate this silly guy who got brain damage from amy hitting him many times, and he still manages to fulfil jets orders.

storm doing this with his eyes is as good as his eyes in free riders, but way better than his weird blink in the zero gravity black hole cutscene

jet being ahead of the game and i love it!!! NEW MISSION LETS GOOO!!!!!! 💚💚💚💚

these riders designs are really helping me in the future with my own oc 🫶

OMG THE WIFE OF THE TRAIN CONDUCTOR FROM MURDER OF SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!!!

ouch my heart

oh gosh thats so sweet but sad ugh

jet has become more thoughtful! i just hope he doesn't lose his edge, but even if he does i'll love him anyway /p 💚

i love how much talented ppl are in this community, im so glad for more jet content via idw and fan creations. jet needs all the praise and love. 💚

Overall i loved this idw issue, i can always make the excuse " use more jet content!" but they did a really good job with expressing all the characters fairly. (still, i still want more jet tho :P)

i waited so long for this issue its crazy, idk why it took so long to come out digitally since i don't have the money to buy them in person.

knowing more rooms, might create an accurate layout of their blimp soon!

anyway, i got a gaming pc and not a stupid mac earlier this week, meaning that i can finally play free riders yayy!!!

[joannerowling]

tbh i just view the strike tv adaptations as separate, as being parallel stories to the books, which i love on their own merit even if they fall short of the books. those books are 800+ pages and have a lot of characters (often characters who appear like twice and yet feel so well fleshed out) and side plots and all of their background cases and we’ll get the same scene rehashed from both robin and strike’s perspectives etc etc, like they’re not easy to adapt, which i understand! and unless they were prepared for at least 10 episodes per season (which i would love, but that wasn’t in the cards) they were never going to have space for everything. there are parts i think it fails on — especially with downplaying or excising the shitty male characters (though i will say in matthew’s case it makes sense, because in the early books he’s shittier but it’s balanced out by robin’s very positive view of him in the narration, which is of course lost in tv), as well as some of robin’s shining moments, especially ones that were probably just expensive to film, like saving them from the car crash in the silkworm — but i can appreciate that the show usually says “okay, we want to tell this story for tv, but we can’t tell the whole thing, so let’s make something we can” rather than trying to poorly cram things in where they could never fit. lethal white struggles more than the others because you can’t really simplify a political plot without making it fall apart …

Yeah, agreed, but it's still interesting to see what they keep and what they leave, you know?

Like i didn't care for the way they portrayed my girl Kea. She was supposed to be this manipulative little pest who lowkey reminds Strike of Charlotte, is probably faking ME (unlike Inigo, who is a shitty person for other reasons, but is a real sufferer), who has convinced herself that her ideas were plagiarised even though she had nothing to do with the Ink Black Heart's creation, and is, from Strike's peak into her internet history, interested in finding new ways to get attention online (the "ten signs you might be non-binary" search, or whatever the exact title was).

Instead they portrayed her as a sympathetic real ME sufferer, and even let her plagiarism claim ambiguous. That was so unecessary! The original Kea is such a funny, ridiculous, real character. We all know someone like her! I accept that not all nuance can be kept, but sometimes the changes feel a bit too deliberate to "soften" some of Jo's sharper edges as a writer. But it's a terrible decision because THOSE sharp edges are what make her writing so efficient where she gets soft and compassionate instead. Imho 🙌

[fangirlwriting-stories]

Universal Constants

Summary: Sam makes a stupid wish without thinking during a fight with Danny, and in the aftermath, discovers she wasn't as necessary as she thought for the creation of Phantom.

That doesn't, however, mean she wasn't just as necessary as she thought for Danny.

...

“Danny I swear, there are days, I wish I had never even met you!”

Sam wasn’t really thinking when she snapped the words, just reaching for something she knew would hurt Danny.  Not her proudest moment to be sure, but she’d figured she would give them both some time to cool off and apologize tomorrow.  That’s her goal when she walks up to Danny’s locker and aims for a casual “hi.”

Danny’s response, however, just proves he’s way pettier than she thought, and she clearly hasn’t give him enough time to cool off.

“Do I know you?”

Sam scowls.  “Oh, very cute.  I said I wished we’d never met, and now you’re pretending like we didn’t meet.  You’re hilarious.”

“No, seriously, do I know you?” Danny asks.

“Seriously, Danny, cut it out, okay?” Sam says, crossing her arms.  “I was trying to apologize.  Where’s Tucker, is he here yet?”

But Danny just continues to stare at her like she’s the one being weird.

Sam opens her mouth to either ask what the heck is up with him, or snap at him some more about his sarcasm not being funny, when from off to the side she hears “I wish somebody would show you what this feels like!”

She glances over momentarily and sees Dash shoving Mikey into a locker.  But just as she’s about to turn her focus back to Danny, who’s being weird and is clearly the priority here, a very familiar ghost appears, especially dangerous considering the situation.

“Desiree!” she and Danny exclaim at the same time.

But then a second later, Danny turns to her in surprise, like that was some kind of big deal.

“You know her?” he asks.

“What are you talking about, of course I know her!” Sam exclaims.  “You have to do something before she—”

But they’ve wasted too much time talking, because Desiree blasts Mikey with a pink beam that turns him into a much larger green monster.

“Danny!” Sam exclaims, but when she turns he’s already started running off, and he jerks upright before spinning back around to face her.

“What— why are you running?” Sam exclaims, as Mikey grabs Dash in the background.  “Desiree’s right here!”

“Uh, why do you expect me to do something?” Danny asks, looking around desperately like he needs a place to hide.

Sam stares at him.  “Why— duh, because you’re half ghost!”  She still keeps her voice down, but everyone behind her is screaming or running loud enough that she feels pretty safe just saying it.

But then Danny’s gaze snaps right to her, wide-eyed and… scared?  What on earth?

“How do you know that?” Danny snaps, running right up to her and grabbing her arms a little too tightly.  “Who told you?”

“What?  Nobody told me, what are you talking about?  Why are you arguing with me when Desiree’s right—”

She twists around, but it’s far too late.  Desiree’s gone, and Mikey has shoved both Dash and Kwan into a locker, not that she cares much about the second part.  Especially as Mikey changes back into his normal self and slams the locker shut with a bright smile on his face.

“Great,” Sam says, turning back to glare at Danny.  “Why’d you let her get away, dumbass?”

But Danny’s still staring at her in confusion and fear, and Sam doesn’t have time to figure out what’s going on with that.

“Come on,” she says, twisting out of Danny’s grasp so she can grab his arm instead.  “Maybe if we hurry we can still catch her.”

She starts to pull him down the hallway, but Danny stops her firm in her tracks.

“Absolutely not, we are talking about this first,” he says, and before Sam can ask what “this” means, he turns them both intangible and pulls them through the door to the janitor’s closet.

“Okay, seriously, how did you know I’m— that?” Danny hisses, leaning right into her face.

“What are talking about?” Sam asks, leaning away from him.  “How would I not know?  I’m your best friend!”

Danny scoffs, and crosses his arms.  “That doesn’t mean anything.”

“What do you mean that doesn’t mean anything?  I was there!”

“I think I remember who was there, and it wasn’t you,” Danny snaps.  “I’ve never even seen you before today.”

“Of course you have, we met in—” Sam stops, as horrified realization strikes her.  “Desiree,” she says, looking back towards the door, where Desiree must be out there somewhere.  “That stupid fight.  Danny, we— we had a fight, and I said something stupid, I— I wished we’d never met.  And Desiree made that happen!”

Danny narrows his eyes.  “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Danny, come on, think about it,” Sam says desperately, reaching out and grabbing him by the shoulders.  “I know who you are.  I know you’re Danny Phantom.  I knew who Desiree was.  I— I’m wearing a Specter Deflector.”  She gestures down at the metal belt still around her waist.

Danny looks down at it, and his eyes widen.  Then he looks back up at Sam, and she can see his eyes widen further as he processes each point Sam made.

“Oh god,” he says, leaning back and bracing himself against one of the shelves.

“It— it’s okay!” Sam says, though it feels anything but.  “It’s gonna be okay, we’re gonna figure it out!”

Danny looks warily up at her.  “We?”

“I mean, yeah.”  Sam looks away, rubbing the back of her neck.  “This is sorta my fault, of course I’m gonna help you fix it.”

Danny shakes his head.  “You could get hurt.”

Sam rolls her eyes.  “Yeah, no duh.  Come on, I know what I’m doing.  Even if you don’t think I do.  We can figure this out.”

“I don’t even know what I’m supposed to be figuring out,” Danny says.

“Yeah, that’s why I’m here.  Look, Desiree did this, so she can probably undo it, right?  We just have to catch her.”

It doesn’t cross her mind until a second after she says it, but then it does cross her mind— what if Danny doesn’t want to undo it?  What if things are just a million times better for him here, and Sam just screwed everything up and lost her best friend and she can’t undo it because Danny would hate her for it anyway?

She doesn’t voice the thought out loud, because she doesn’t know what she’ll do if it’s true.  Thankfully, after a second, Danny nods.  He still looks hesitant and unsure, but he says, “Okay.  Yeah, we can do that.”

Sam lets out a breath of relief.  They can.  This is going to be a weirder ghost fight than usual, but they can do this, and they can fix things, and then everything will go back to normal.

So she smiles as best she can, and holds o it her hand at Danny.  “Sam Manson,” she says, even though it feels weird.

Danny looks at her hand for a moment, seeming uncomfortable, but after a second he does reach out and shake it.

…

Danny seems unsure about her hanging around, but he doesn’t object, and Sam needs to anyway.  But for the first half of the day, they’re stuck in classes anyway, and she doesn’t see a good chance to grab Tucker and explain what’s going on.  She does manage to explain a couple things to Danny— how she was there when his accident happened, how they’ve all been doing their best to figure out this ghost fighting thing, and how Danny’s gotten to be pretty good with his powers at this point.

Danny doesn’t say anything to her throughout her explanations.  He doesn’t even look at her through most of them, which Sam supposes is fair.  It has to be a weird experience, even with the bar for what qualifies as “weird” having raised a lot recently.

Either way, Desiree doesn’t show up again before lunch, and so Sam just walks down with Danny like usual— or, almost like usual, with a significant memory/reality caveat.  Danny’s lagging behind her, so Sam scopes out the lunchroom and finds Tucker sitting pretty far from their usual table, though given this morning, that’s not that weird.  So she starts over, and makes it almost all the way there before Danny grabs her by the arm and hisses, “Wait, Sam!”

But whatever Danny’s holdup is, it’s too late, Tucker’s looked up and seen them.

“Hey,” Sam says, because it’s rude to just ignore him now that they’re all staring at each other.  “So, I’m guessing you don’t know who I am either.”

“Uh,” Tucker says, looking very confused.  “No?”

“So,” Sam says.  “We’ve got some things to catch you up on.”

“No, we don’t,” Danny says, grabbing Sam’s arm and yanking her backwards.

Sam turns and gives him a baffled look.  “What do you mean no we don’t?  If I explain it the way I did to you I’m sure he’ll get it.”

“Uh, Sam,” Danny says, giving a nervous and guilty look towards Tucker.  He pulls Sam further away, out of earshot of Tucker.

“What?” Sam asks.  “What’s going on?  Why are you being weird?  I mean, other than the obvious.”

“Okay, so there may be uh, information, that you’re privy to that Tucker… isn’t,” Danny says.

“Information?” Sam asks.

Danny gives her a look.

“You—” Sam’s mouth falls open slightly.  “You haven’t told Tucker?”

“Haven’t told me what,” comes a sudden voice, and both Sam and Danny whirl around.

Tucker looks angrier than Sam’s ever seen her, and Danny looks like a deer caught in the headlights, and Sam feels like she’s playing ten different kinds of catch up.

“Are you telling me you told a random girl you don’t even know what the hell is going on with you and you haven’t told me?” Tucker snaps.

“Okay, it’s really not like that,” Danny says, holding up his hands.

“Well then what the hell is it like, Danny?”

“It’s like a conversation I don’t want to have in the middle of the lunchroom?” Danny says, looking anxiously around.

“You don’t want to have it at all,” Tucker says, reaching out and jabbing Danny in the chest.  “You know, if you’re that sick of being friends with me, I’d rather you just drop me than drag things out like this!”

“I never said that!” Danny exclaims, halfway between angry and desperate.

“You don’t have to!  Anyone with eyes can tell!”

“Can we please go somewhere else?” Danny says, looking very self-consciously at the eyes that are now all on them.

“You can,” Tucker snaps.  “I’m here to eat lunch.  And you know what, you’re not welcome to join.”

And with that, he turns around and storms back to the table, then sits down with his back facing them both and drags his tray over in front of him.

Sam turns a baffled look on Danny, who’s very intentionally avoiding her eyes.

“I’m gonna go eat lunch in a classroom,” he mutters instead of saying anything relevant.  Sam watches him leave and then turns back to Tucker, who’s very angrily shoving chicken nuggets in his mouth.

This feels like an abysmal idea, but then, Sam’s ideas haven’t exactly been stellar the past couple days.  So, she walks hesitantly over to Tucker.

“Hey,” she says hesitantly, drawing an immediate glare from Tucker.  “I’m sorry.  I wasn’t trying to, like, start something.”

Tucker looks at her for a moment, but then his glare fades and he sighs, and gestures at the seat next to him.

“You’re new, right?” he says.

Sam nods as she sits down.  It works as well as any other excuse.

“Well, just so you know, don’t expect Danny to be super reliable as a friend,” Tucker says, taking a bite of a chicken nugget.  “You’ve got better options.”

“Uh,” Sam says, looking away.  “Look, maybe it’s none of my business, but did something happen between you two?”

Tucker sighs again.  “It’s your business if he’s gonna try to be friends with you,” he grumbles after a second.  Sam winces.

“Okay, so, Danny and I have been friends for a long time,” Tucker says, turning to face her.  “But a couple months ago, he just started randomly coming up with excuses to leave, like almost every time we hung out.  And he was clearly hiding something, and he wouldn’t tell me what was going on.”

Sam doesn’t say anything, and after a moment, Tucker narrows his eyes at her.  “You do know what’s going on.”

Sam bites her lip and nods.

“Oh, great,” Tucker says, glaring down at his food again.  “So he really did tell a random nobody.”  He winces and looks up at her.  “Sorry.”

Sam still doesn’t say anything.  She doubts saying that Danny didn’t strictly tell her anything would help.  And something tells her if she just blurts out what happened to Tucker, Danny won’t be so thrilled at the idea of still helping her fix reality and making them friends again.  Though why Danny hasn’t said anything to Tucker yet is beyond her.  Especially if they’ve gotten to the point of failing friendship.

Finally, Tucker just moves on, and picks up another chicken nugget.

He pauses a minute before eating it and turns again to face Sam.

“Is he okay?” he asks quietly.

Sam doesn’t know if she can answer that as confidently as she would have an hour ago.  She also definitely doesn’t want to lie to Tucker.

So after a moment, she finally admits, “I don’t know.”

That doesn’t seem to make Tucker feel any better.  And, well, if Sam is going to fix everything, she doesn’t necessarily have to wait until they get their hands on Desiree.

“I’ll talk to him,” she says to Tucker, standing.  “And I’ll get back to you.”

Tucker gives her a wary look.  “I don’t know if you can fix this.”

“I think I’m in a good position to try,” Sam says.  “And I’ll get back to you anyway.”

Tucker doesn’t look like he quite believes her, but that’s fine.  Soon enough Sam will have fixed the issue with Desiree anyway, and none of this will be a problem anymore.

So for now, she gives Tucker a reassuring smile, and gets up to go find Danny.

…

“So are you going to explain to me why you’re being such an idiot, or am I going to have to guess?”

Danny turns in the classroom desk he’s sitting in and glares up at her over his lunch, seeming very unamused with her appearance.

“Why didn’t you tell me Tucker knew too?” he asks.

“I said we were there, didn’t I?”

“No, you distinctly said you were there.  Had I known that meant Tucker too I would have told you to keep your mouth shut.”

“What’s wrong with you?  You know he wouldn’t care.”

“No, I don’t know that.  Why would I know that?  If my parents want to cut me open and most of the town thinks I’m a menace who kidnapped the mayor and the only other half ghost in existence wants the two of us to be some kind of fucked up evil family, who’s to say that Tucker wouldn’t have a brand-new way to ruin my life and expose me to everyone?  Something like, oh I don’t know, exactly what you’re doing?  Ugh, I’m such an idiot!  Why did I even let you help in the first place?”

“Danny, you don’t have to be alone in this,” Sam says.  “I’m not going to just blurt out your secret.  I wouldn’t have done that with Tucker either if I knew you hadn’t told him.  Even though you should.  He’s worried about you.”

Danny just glares at her.  “Look, I know you’ve got some weird reality thing going on, but I still just met you today,” he snaps.  “I didn’t give you permission to butt into my life and start making decisions for me.  I’m fine being alone.  It’s safe and I can handle it.  I don’t need Tucker, and I definitely don’t need you.”

“Oh, puh-lease.  Do you know how many times we’ve saved your butt?  You’d be dead like six more times over without us!”

“Well,” Danny gestures wildly at himself.  “Evidently not.  Just back off.  I’m fine.  I’m great.”

Sam, looking at him, feels inclined to disagree.  She can’t exactly argue the fact that Danny is still here.  But the Danny she knew yesterday was admiring monster trucks with Tucker, excited about going to a party as Phantom, and casually using his powers to get milk off his clothes.  This… does not look like that same Danny.

So, though she feels a little like she’s pulling a dirty trick, Sam crosses her arms.  “Don’t you miss Tucker?”

She sees something break in Danny’s face, and she almost takes it back.  But then Danny just glares at her.

“What kind of question is that?” he snaps.  “He’s the only friend I’ve ever had, Sam.”

“Well, if we figure this out and everything goes back to normal, I can promise you that not only will Tucker know without you having to work up the courage to tell him, but he’ll be super cool with it,” Sam says.  “We’ve been with you from the beginning, Danny.  We’re not gonna dip because Desiree pulled a dumb memory trick.”

Danny doesn’t say anything, but she can see he’s thinking about it.

“What if you get hurt?” he asks eventually.

“Sometimes we do,” Sam admits.  “I’m not saying it’s all glamorous.  But we’re not just gonna make you deal with protecting the entire town by yourself.”

Danny ducks his head, and Sam’s chest aches.  She hadn’t spent much time before now thinking about what it would be like if Danny had to deal with all of the ghost fighting on his own.  It clearly isn’t very fun.

“Hey,” she says, stepping forward.  She sits at the desk next to Danny, and he looks hesitantly up at her.  “We really love you.  I really love you, you know that?”

Danny shakes his head.  “Obviously not,” he says, his voice fragile.  Sam decides to cut him some slack and doesn’t acknowledge it.

“Well, I do,” she says.  “I promise.  I’m sorry about the miscommunication with Tucker.  But we can still do this.”

Danny doesn’t look at her.  “I don’t know,” he says quietly.  “Maybe it’s safer for both of you this way.”

“Oh, don’t start with that,” Sam says, rolling her eyes.  “I’m not leaving you by yourself, Danny.  If we don’t fix things then I’m just staying here with you anyway.  It’s not like you can get rid of me.”

Danny looks up at her, and Sam can’t read the look on his face.

“What?”

“This is weird for me,” Danny says.  “I’m not used to people… fighting this hard.”

“Yeah, that’s cause you’ve been without my impeccable companionship,” Sam says, sitting up so she has space enough to put her hands on her hips.  Danny snorts.

“What, you don’t believe me?” Sam asks, raising an eyebrow.

“No, I just,” Danny shakes his head.  “I get why I’d want to be friends with you.”

Sam grins at him.  “Yeah, cause I’m awesome,” she says.  “Come on, we’ve dealt with harder stuff than this before.  I have, and you have to have too.  We got this!  Let’s go kick some ghost butt!”

Danny’s smiling again, a definite improvement.  Then he nods.  “Okay,” he says.  “Just— let’s leave Tucker out of it, okay?”

Sam gives him a look.  “Alright, but then you’re apologizing to him when things go back to normal.”

“We’ll see about that,” Danny says.

And Sam lets the topic drop for now, even if she has a feeling they’re not done.

…

Sure enough, Tucker finds her after school, when she and Danny both head to the mall to scope out potential wish-makers.  There aren’t many places you’re more likely to find dissatisfied teenagers than in a mall after school lets out, after all.  They haven’t had much ghostly luck by the time they decide to stop and get food, though.  Sam’s used to her usual afternoon snack after all, and she’s definitely done enough to earn it today.

But it’s while they’re there that they get their first whiff of actual ghosts, as Danny’s ghost sense goes off while he’s in line to order an ice cream cone.  He looks at Sam, seeming unsure, and Sam waves it off.

“I’ll cover for you,” she says.

Danny doesn’t seem to know how to react to that for a second, but he eventually runs off.

Just after he does, Danny hears, “Hey, it’s… Sam, right?”

Sam turns around and sees Tucker walking up to the side of the line.

“Hey Tucker,” she says, though she’s not sure exactly what she’s going to say to him.  She promised Danny she’d uphold his secret, even if it was stupid, and she’s not going to break his trust.  He doesn’t seem to have a lot of that right now.

Thankfully, her needing to answer is spared by a loud crash from the other side of the room, and both of them whirl around to see a ghost that looks suspiciously like Nightmerica has cut a hole in the wall, which— what?

“Paulinaaa,” it says, with very clear malicious intent.

Sam hadn’t even noticed Paulina before now, but she jumps up from a couple tables over, screaming in fear.

Thankfully, Danny shows up before the ghost can reach her, this time as Phantom.

“Uh hey, why are you just staring?” comes Tucker’s voice, and Sam turns just in time for Tucker to grab her arm and yank her behind a table.

“Wha- hey, what was that for?” Sam says, pulling her arm from Tucker’s grasp.

Tucker stares at her like she’s crazy.  “I don’t know about you, but I don’t tend to stick around when two ghosts want to have a boxing match,” he says.

Sam rolls her eyes.  “Okay, one, not what’s happening, two, I can handle myself in a ghost fight.”

“What?  I thought you were new here.  They have ghost fights where you’re from too?”

Sam ignores him and jumps out to find Danny tangling with Nightmerica-ghost on the other side of the room, holding her back from a very frightened Paulina, who’s pressed against the wall.  His thermos is on the ground just a little too far away, so Sam goes for that.  She grabs it, spins into a crouch, and fires it up, sucking up Nightmerica-ghost and then shutting it off before it can get Danny too.

Danny turns to face her, maybe surprised that she meant it when she said she could handle herself in a ghost fight.  Behind him, Paulina screams and runs.

“Here,” Sam says, tossing the thermos casually to Danny.

Danny opens his mouth to say something, but is interrupted by, “Okay, seriously?  What was that?”

They both turn as Tucker leaps out from the table he was hiding behind.

“I thought you said—” Tucker stops when he sees Danny, and takes a step back.

“Uh, how exactly did you miss one?” Tucker asks, taking another fearful step back.

“Oh, stop being such a baby,” Sam says, crossing her arms.  “Phantom’s not dangerous.”

Tucker stares at her like she’s crazy, and all Sam can think of is Danny insisting Tucker would find some new way to be awful and ruin things if he found out who he is.

“I’m gonna go,” Danny says behind her.  Sam turns to look at him, and she knows he’s thinking about the same conversation.  “Thanks for the help.”

He vanishes, likely flying through the ceiling, and Sam gives it a couple seconds before turning and crossing her arms at Tucker.

Tucker, however, is staring at the spot Phantom was just a second ago.

“He,” he says faintly.  “He talks?”

“Uh, yeah, obviously,” Sam says.  “Little too much if you get him started on space.”

Tucker looks at her like she has two heads.  “You’re friends with a ghost?  Who the hell are you?”

“Someone infinitely more badass than you, apparently,” Sam says.  “You’re telling me you’ve never even tried talking to Phantom?”

“No one’s tried talking to Phantom!” Tucker exclaims.  “I didn’t even know he could talk.  It’s not like he ever does anything but show up and fight other ghosts!”

Sam raises an eyebrow.  “Does he ever show up first?”

“What?”

“Has he ever hurt anyone who isn’t a ghost?”

“I don’t think so?”

“Has he ever done anything intentionally malicious?”

“He kidnapped the mayor that one time—”

“Mayor was overshadowed by a ghost trying to frame him, that wasn’t his fault.”

“How on earth could you know that?”

“Because I talk to people,” Sam says, because she can’t exactly say “I was there in an alternate timeline that doesn’t currently exist.”

“He’s a ghost.”

“I don’t see how that’s relevant.”

“Do you have a death wish?”

“Nope, I just know what it looks like when someone needs a friend.”

That seems to catch Tucker off guard, so Sam leaves it hanging there.  She’s not entirely sure why she’s pushing this so hard.  The plan is still to fix the world and get everything back to normal, she doesn’t strictly need to fix things for this Danny and Tucker too.  She just isn’t sure how she’s supposed to deal with the look in Danny’s eyes when he talks about Tucker, or the obvious way that Tucker’s bitter about Danny while being scared of Phantom.  And then, of course, there’s the other question.  The “what if she and Danny can’t fix things” question.  It’s not like she can leave things like this if they can’t.

“Anyway,” she says, after neither of them speak for too long.  “Danny isn’t sick of being friends with you.”

Tucker blinks, obviously surprised by the sudden topic change.  “What?”

Sam shrugs.  “That’s what he told me.  I believe him.”

Tucker doesn’t seem to know what to say to that, which Sam can understand.  It’s hard to come up with an alternative excuse for why someone completely stops hanging out with you if you don’t know the “ghost protecting everyone every time another one shows up” part.  She gets why he went with “Danny doesn’t care about me anymore,” even if it sucks for both of them.

Tucker crosses his arms.  “Well, okay then,” he says.  “What did you do that I didn’t?”

Sam blinks.  “What?”

“Why did he tell you what’s going on?  What did you do that I didn’t?”

“It’s— it’s more complicated than that,” Sam says weakly, which feels like the lamest excuse in the book.

Sure enough, Tucker gives her a very unamused look, and Sam winces, looking away.

“Okay, so you’re clearly not going to tell me what’s happening either,” Tucker says.  “Awesome.”

“I promised Danny I wouldn’t,” Sam says.  “I don’t want to break his trust right now.  It’s… he’s not… doing great.”  She looks back at Tucker and sees his gaze has shifted closer to concern.

“Doesn’t he know I’ll help him if he lets me?” Tucker asks.

“I’m working on it,” Sam says, in lieu of an answer.

Tucker just looks more distressed at that, and Sam can’t blame him.  But eventually, he nods.

“Is there anything I can do, then?” he asks.  “Stranger who apparently knows my best friend better than I do?”

Sam sighs.  “Maybe next time, try talking to Phantom,” she says, because it’s the best idea she’s got right now.

Tucker gives her a baffled look.  “What does that have to do with anything?”

“You asked for an answer, I gave it to you,” Sam says.  “I have to go.  I’ll see you at school.”

…

“Okay, so Desiree is being weirdly absent, right?” Danny asks the next morning in class, whispering to her during a break.  “This isn’t a reality shift thing, is it?”

Sam shakes her head.  “No, when she’s around, she’s usually around more often then this,” she agrees.  “Maybe she’s gearing up for something really big?”

“Like what?” Danny says.

“Mr Fenton, Ms Manson, this is not the time to chat with new friends,” comes Lancer’s sudden voice, and they both spin to the front of the classroom.  “You can speak to each other at lunch.  Now as I was saying, the meteor shower will start shortly after midnight tonight.  There will be a short reflection assignment about your experience, so make sure you watch.”

Groans start around the classroom, but Sam looks right at Danny, and she can tell they’re both having the same thought.

“Paulina’s having a quinceanera party tonight,” Sam hisses.

Danny nods.  “I know,” he whispers back.  “I guess we’re crashing.”

The bell rings overhead, and they both stand and quickly make their way out into the hall.

“Okay,” Sam says.  “So she’ll definitely be there to hear a bunch of dumb teenagers making wishes.  All we have to do is find her and catch her so we can undo the wish.  That can’t be too hard, right?”

Danny gives her a look.  “How many ghost fights have you been a part of exactly?”

“I’m kidding,” Sam says, giving him a look right back.  “Obviously we’re coming up with a plan.  How do you usually take on Desiree, in, you know, this reality?”

“I mean, last time, I caught her trying to grant one of Tucker’s wishes and wished her back inside the thermos.  But if that didn’t technically happen, I don’t know what she… expects from me, this time.”

“No idea,” Sam says.  “But no matter what she expects, she’s probably not expecting me.”

Danny raises an eyebrow.  “Meaning?”

“Come on Danny, you know I’d love to be a secret weapon.”

“No, I don’t know that.”

“No, but you will after tonight!” Sam says with a bright grin.

Danny rolls his eyes with a fond smile, and Sam gets the sense that he’s rather alright with that fact.  For her part, she’s very glad things will be back to normal soon.

“I’ll meet you at your place at 10,” Sam says.  “If the meteor shower starts at midnight, that should be enough time to get there and be prepared, right?”

“Yep.  Especially if you’re cool with me flying us.”

“Oh hell yeah, flying is badass,” Sam says.

Danny, rather than laughing at her being ridiculous, gets a slightly fragile, definitely soft smile on his face.  “Alright, I’ll see you at ten,” he says.  Sam does him the courtesy of not commenting on the look.

…

They both end up sitting on a hill overlooking the Quinceanera, as opposed to trying to mingle among it.  It gives a better view, and allows them to be wholly focused on the reason they’re here.  It also allows them to not have to avoid both Paulina asking why they’re there when she definitely didn’t invite them, and people potentially running from Danny, who’s floating next to her as Phantom.

However, it has the unintended side effect of meaning they don’t have much to do for a couple hours other than talk.  And Sam isn’t surprised that Danny has questions.

“Were you really,” he says quietly, and then stops for a minute.  Sam can tell he’s not done, so she waits while he thinks.

“Were you really there for the accident?” he asks eventually.

Sam nods.  “Me and Tucker,” she says.  “I… kind of goaded you to go in.  I’m sorry about that.”

Danny shrugs.  “I mean, clearly I would have done it either way.”

“Yeah,” Sam says.  He’s right.  But if this was one of the options, she’s glad she and Tucker were there.  He obviously needs them.  And not in a self-important, he’s-lucky-to even-be-my-friend way.  More in a struggling to trust people, clearly not handling superhero responsibility by himself very well way.

“What do people there think of Phantom?” Danny asks.  “I mean is he— like does everyone still—” he stops.

“Are you asking if it’s better there?” Sam asks quietly.

Danny nods.

“I mean, I’m definitely biased,” Sam admits.  “But I think so.  Phantom still isn’t beloved by the town, but we were all taking it on together.  We were doing a pretty good job figuring out ghost stuff, and Tucker and I can kick some ghost butt too.”  She ends it with a grin, but lowers her voice as she keeps going.

“We all really got closer after the accident,” she says.  “We were navigating so many new problems together.  I think it brought us together too.”

Danny doesn’t say anything for a minute.  Sam lets him think.

“It’s just,” he says finally.  “It’s hard to believe anyone would be okay with it.  I’ve never seen it.  Most of the town thinks I’m evil, or not sentient, or dangerous.  My sister doesn’t think ghosts are real.  My parents talk about wanting to dissect me at the dinner table.  Why would Tucker be any different?  Yeah, he was my best friend.  But that doesn’t mean anything.  He’s still scared of Phantom.”

“Danny,” Sam says.  “He doesn’t know anything about Phantom.  Before yesterday, he didn’t know Phantom could talk.”

Danny turns to her in surprise.  “Wait, seriously?”

Sam nods.  “We had a whole talk yesterday after you left.  He just wants to help you, Danny Fenton, his best friend.”

Danny looks away.  “Yeah?”

“That’s what he told me.  I believe him.  I think if you explain to him that helping you means helping Phantom too, he’d adapt really quickly.  But you have to give him that chance.”

Danny doesn’t say anything, and Sam leaves it at that.  If they have to, they can talk about it again later.  But hopefully everything will be fixed by then and Danny and Tucker will just need to debrief on what happened and move on.

For now, she glances down at her watch, and notes “It’s 11:55,” to Danny.  He nods.

They both keep eyes on the party below them, and the sky above them, and before long, Sam spots the first falling star.

Just as she’s about to mention it to Danny, however, she hears, “Hey!” in a very familiar voice.

Both her and Danny spin around and find Tucker running up the hill towards them.

“Tucker?” Danny exclaims.  “What are you doing here?”

“Uh, your friend told me to be here?” Tucker says hesitantly, stopping a decent distance away from them pointing at Sam.  Danny turns and stares at her, and Sam holds up her hands.

“No, I most certainly did not!” she says.

“Yes you did!  You said if I wanted to help Danny, I should try talking to Phantom!  So I tried to make a ghost tracker thing, and I found you both here!”

Danny gives her an even more incredulous look.

“Tucker, that’s… not what I meant,” Sam says weakly, as it processes what he took her statement as.  “I meant like, if you see him around… we’re kind of busy here!”

As if to prove her point, Sam hears Paulina calling faintly from below.

“Hey look everybody, falling stars!” she says.  “Close your eyes and make a wish!”

Sam looks anxiously down at the party, and Danny looks angrily between her and Tucker, and to cap off the rapidly spiraling situation, from the hill behind them rises Desiree.

Danny groans in frustration, then glares at Sam.  “Keep Tucker safe,” he snaps, then flies up into the air.  “Desiree!”

Desiree seems surprised when she sees him.  “You?  You’re still here?”

Danny, in lieu of answering, fires a plasma blast at her, knocking her back.

Sam turns in order to run back towards Tucker, who’s staring at Danny and Desiree in obvious fear, when suddenly two of the bushes next to her leap up and wrap around her arms.

“Ugh, who the heck wished for evil plants?!” she snaps, trying to kick the bushes away from her.

If nothing else, her yelling seems to snap Tucker out of it, because he runs over towards her and grabs her arms, pulling hard enough on them that they’re both yanked away from the bushes and land sprawled on top of each other on the ground.

“Tucker,” Sam says, sitting up and pushing him off of her.  “Seriously, get out of here!  You can do this another time!”

“What— I’m not leaving you here, you’re alone with two ghosts!”

“I’m fine— ugh, Danny was right, this was a terrible idea,” Sam says, burying her head in her hands.  “Okay look, you want to stay?  Put this on.”  She pulls her Specter Deflector out of her bag, and straps it around Tucker’s waist.

“What’s this?” Tucker asks nervously, looking down at it.

“It’ll keep you safe,” Sam says.  “Now come on!”  She grabs Tucker’s arm and yanks him over towards where Danny’s still fighting with Desiree.  But Desiree’s clearly more powerful than she usually is with all the wishing happening right now, and Danny’s struggling to hold her back, pushed up against the side of the hill.

“Hey, Tucker,” Sam says.  “Do you trust me?”

“Me?  I don’t know, I barely know you!”

“Great!  Hold on.”

Sam runs up to Desiree’s side, and throws Tucker directly into her.  Immediately, the Specter Deflector lights up and starts buzzing, and Desiree cries out, letting go of Danny.

Then, however, she smacks a huge hand right into Tucker, knocking him off the side of the cliff.

“Tucker!” Sam screams, leaping after him.  When she looks over the side, she sees Tucker’s managed to grab onto a ledge just out of her reach.

Thankfully, the next second, Danny darts over the side of the hill and grabs him, flying him back up to the top and setting him down.

Tucker drops to his knees, shaking, and Danny turns a furious look on Sam.

“You idiot, this is exactly what I meant!” he screams.  Sam takes a step back.  “Tucker almost—”

“Danny, look out!” Sam screams, pointing behind him.  But it’s too late, and Desiree smacks her hand on top of Danny, holding him down against the ground.

She laughs, looking down at Sam.  “Oh, I see,” she says.  “He’s here, but he doesn’t know you.”

Sam balls her hands into fists at her sides, but before she can say anything back, Tucker climbs shakily to his feet, runs back over to Desiree, and leaps on top of her hand.

Desiree cries out and pulls her hand up, but this time Tucker wraps himself firmly around one of her fingers, squeezing his eyes shut and holding on for dear life.

Desiree, obviously in pain, keeps trying to shake him off, but Tucker’s got a vice grip on her, so Sam looks over at Danny, who’s climbing to his feet.

“Hey,” she calls, running over and pointing at the thermos around his waist.  “I got Tucker.  You catch Desiree, okay?”

Danny looks down at the thermos, then back up at her, and though Sam can tell he’s still angry, he nods.

So Danny turns and points the thermos at Desiree and it up, which sucks her into it but leaves Tucker hanging in mid-air.  So Sam runs over just underneath him, and he drops right into her arms.  She falls to the ground with an “oof.”

Sam glances over at Danny, who’s putting the cap on the thermos, and lets out a sigh of relief.

“You okay?” she asks Tucker.

Tucker’s clearly still shaken, but he nods.

“That,” Danny snaps, and both of them turn to face him.  “Was the dumbest thing you have ever done!”

Sam holds up her hands.  “Look, I—”

“Not you,” Danny snaps, glaring at her.  “I’ll deal with you in a moment.  You!”  He points an angry finger at Tucker, who scrambles a couple of feet back.

“Do you have any idea how hard I’ve tried to keep you out of ghost fights?  To keep every human out of ghost fights?  I can handle them on my own, I don’t need people butting in and potentially getting hurt!  What on earth were you thinking?”

“She,” Tucker says, still scrambling backwards and obviously scared.  “She called you Danny.”

Danny stops dead in his tracks, and Sam’s eyes widen.  She thinks back on the fight in her head.

“Oh god,” she says, putting her hand over her mouth.

Danny turns to face her.

“I— I’m sorry,” Sam says, sliding back herself.  “I’m not used to having to hold my tongue around Tucker.  And Desiree was right there, and she was coming for you, and—”

Danny buries his head in his hands and laughs, and Sam stops talking, though the feeling of desperation doesn’t go away.

“No, no, it’s fine,” Danny says, pulling his head up and dragging his hands through his hair.  “This is on me.  I just fucking forgot that I can’t trust anyone with this, the second some random girl comes along and makes me feel like I don’t have to do everything alone.  God, I’ve been so fucking stupid.”  He buries his head in his hands again, really looking like he’s beating himself up for forgetting something obvious.  It makes Sam’s chest hurt.

“Danny,” she says weakly.

“Stop calling me that,” Danny snaps, glaring at her, a fury in his eyes she’s never seen before.  “I’m not Danny right now, and we’re not friends.  You don’t get to act like you know who I am!”

“Hey,” comes Tucker’s voice, and Sam’s surprised to hear a decent amount of anger in that too.  He pushes himself to his feet and takes a couple steps forward, glaring at Danny.  “Don’t blame her for your dumb decisions.”

“Excuse me?” Danny snaps, turning his own glare to Tucker.  Tucker’s eyes immediately widen in a “oh shit what did I just say and who did I say it to” way, and he backs up again.  Danny doesn’t seem to notice.

After a second, though, Tucker takes a deep breath and keeps talking.

“Dude,” he says.  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Danny stares at him, and gestures wildly at the cliff behind them all.  “You almost died.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t.  And she seems to know what she’s doing.”  He gestures behind Danny at Sam, who wants to disappear.  “So clearly you’re not averse to working with people.  Do you not think I might be a little more able to handle myself by now if you’d let me help you from the beginning?”

“She’s not here because I let her be ,” Danny says, glaring back at Sam, who shrinks down on herself.  “She’s here because of reality changing bullshit.  And you are not here because I let you either, you’re here because she doesn’t know when to back the fuck off!”

“I— I’m sorry,” Sam says, looking down at the ground.  “I’m sorry, I— I didn’t mean for this to happen.  I just didn’t like seeing you hurt so much.  I wasn’t used to it and— and it felt like my fault.  Because I was the one who made that stupid wish without thinking.”  She sniffs and wipes at her eyes.  “I didn’t want Tucker to get  hurt, I’m just not used to being careful around him, but I didn’t like seeing you guys fighting and I— I didn’t want to be alone.  You’re all I’ve got.”

There’s a couple seconds of silence, but Sam doesn’t look back up.  But suddenly, she feels arms wrap around her, and she sees, to her surprise, Danny’s black hazmat suit.

“I’m sorry,” he says quietly.  “I don’t want that for you either.  It’s the worst.”

“Yeah,” says Tucker, and he sits down on the ground next to them both.  “It really is.  I don’t really know what any of that meant, but if you need a friend, we’re available.”

Sam laughs wetly, and smiles up at Tucker.

Danny gives him a wary look.  “We?”

“Oh, don’t you start,” Tucker says, crossing his arms and leveling a firm look back.  “We’re not doing this.  You’re gonna teach me how to fight ghosts and we’re gonna kick some butt together.  Along with Sam, who seems to know who we both are somehow.”

Danny looks down at Tucker’s hands, which is when Sam notices they’re shaking.  Tucker clenches them into fists and sets them on his legs.

“I’m serious,” he says to Danny, with no room for argument.

Danny sighs.  “I’m not getting rid of either of you, am I?”

“Nope,” Tucker says.  Sam still feels shaken, but she manages a smile.

Danny sighs again, but he smiles a little himself as he looks up at them both.

“Well, then it seems like she’s the easiest way out,” he says, with a nod down at the Fenton thermos.

“Are you okay with that?” Sam asks.

“Yeah,” Danny says.  “I am.  I mean, if we word it right we’ll still remember everything, right?  It’s not like this version of Tucker and I will just vanish from existence.”

“Uh, sorry, you’ve both lost me again,” Tucker says.  “Who’s vanishing from existence?”

“I accidentally made a dumb wish,” Sam says.  “We all knew each other before, but I yelled at Danny during a fight that I wished we’d never met.  And uh, this happened.”

Tucker’s eyes widen.  “Woah.  That’s… okay, this is a lot of world changing information all at once.”

“You ready for it to change a little more?” Danny asks.  “We think we can fix it.  You know, while also keeping our memories and general senses of identity as real things that happened.”

Tucker looks at Sam.  “How long have we known you?” he asks.

“We met in second grade,” Sam says.  “Dash was picking on you both on the playground, and I yelled at him until he left.  He also said he wouldn’t hit a girl.  Last time he said that.”

Tucker smiles a little.  “I take it I like you then?”

“Only when I’m not bugging you about how you eat too much junk food and meat,” Sam says with a smirk.

“Ugh.  Okay nevermind, we can’t actually be friends.”

Sam laughs, probably harder than the comment necessitates, but she’s had a couple very long stressful days.

“Alright, I vote we take Desiree home so we can wish while she’s locked in the lab, and then I can send her immediately back to the ghost zone,” Danny says.  “You guys good with that?”

“I don’t have any opinions yet on how best to do ghost fighting,” Tucker says.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Sam says.  She smiles warmly at them both.  “Let’s go home.”

…

In the following days, they talk a lot.  Danny explains a lot of what the reality he remembered for those couple of days was like.  The struggles that came with having no one to help him lead a double life, and how hard that was.  Tucker and him talk a lot about things Sam can’t quite understand, but they fill her in on as much as they can, and she can imagine the kind of reality that would come from the fears she felt those couple of days extended in their natural course.  What it would be like having no friends, or knowing her friend is hurting and there isn’t anything she can do.  It hasn’t ever been something she’s had to worry about.  For as long as has been important, she’s always had Danny and Tucker, and they’ve always had her.  She’s lucky that she wasn’t the one to lose any of that, not in any kind of long term way.

But, as Danny and Tucker both seem to agree pretty quickly, they didn’t lose anything long term either.  That even if they had ended up stuck in another timeline without any memories of the one they came from, it was clear nothing there was unfixable either.

In the end, the whole experience is just another thing that brings the three of them closer together.  Which, as far as how things could have gone, is a pretty good outcome.

[overtheimaginationwall]

I didn't expect that a mental breakdown would make me draw out a redraw of "Fallen Angel" with N Harmonia...

Here's some funny progress trivia about the image:

My first inspiration was a song by Alex G called "S.D.O.S". The lyrics reminded me of N's story of being treated as a chosen one and a king. I was thinking of making a video at first but then it resulted in finding the famous religious imagery to inspire from and make a big artwork instead. Need to study the anatomy from time to time, yk?

I had to choose between Birth of Venus, Creation of Adam, and Fallen Angel. You can see already which I ended up drawing-

The flowers that are growing along the fallen pillar aren't just yellow random flowers but actual flowers native to California and a genus of Asteraceae family and they are all named Harmonia! Sadly, there aren't many left as they are at a high risk of extinction but I hope I bring recognition about this simple yet beautiful flower to the masses!

Surprisingly, the background ended up being the hardest for me to manage since I wanted to be more original and I couldn't really repeat the initial set of angels cause there wasn't much I could reference from the Black & White with the same composition but eventually I made it work as I remembered that Unova was inspired by America and so, I looked up mountains and forest scenery that could fit the background which worked out really well at the end as I was able to blend in N's castle and the two legendaries to symbolize the theme of the game he is coming from and his journey of self-discovery.

Mount Blackburn & Mount Rainier Reference Images

[konaiiro]

★ Art Tag ★

thanks for tagging me to play @doshiart @spookygingerr @michellemisfit

Have you always been interested in creating art? Kinda? No? Not sure. I think I've always been interested in art in the 'wow, thats cool' way, not really creating though.

What's your favourite medium to use? If digital, what programs do you like? I taught myself to draw on digital (wacom intus medium i still use) and have the free program firealpaca - im too lazy to change now. I've owned sketchbooks to take with me and it's good but I don't think I'll ever really get over not having the command + z tool.

Do you create outside of fandom? A little, I've got ocs who I draw occasionally.

Share something you haven't finished and/or never got around to posting OH so many, its not funny. But here's a more recent piece which was initially for AFTG pride zine. It was so good, I just couldn't make it work for WEEKS. I ended up switching up and doing something else.

Favourite piece you've made? OH well, i've got a few but this would be my pick for 'konaiiro wrapped'.

Draw your icon in a minute or less - pass!! :,)

An underrated piece you've made in your opinion

you lads slept on this one (forced to screenshot from instagram bc its old and i can't find the file and, as established, im lazy). So much wrong with it and yet i fuck with the vibes and texture and expression and pose- UGH

Do you do art in a professional setting? No, not really. I've done comms in the past and I was going to go do animation in uni, but found that i like to keep my creating up to me. I would be open to run comms again, but under a different structure I think.

A piece you don't like but did really well on social media

yall flocked over these two idk. i like them enough just,, i'm so aware about all the mistakes lmao.

Post an old piece and compare it to your most recent, what are the similarites? I've done some redraws so NOW is a perfect time.

Ian and Mandy (March 2022 vs September 2024)

i think from a creation perspective, i know my base lineart is much cleaner and rendered.

Background is,, actually there lmao. It kicked my ass to draw but it happened.

Style has changed a tonne to more realistic (?), proportions are less all over the place.

effects are just better

I can actually draw hands huzzah!

They actually have a skin tone (+freckless!!)

Have you ever collaborated with another artist/s?

Yeah! A tonne; for events, challenges, zines, charity art calendars (hint hint aftg 2025 calender sales end 31st of Oct, all profits go to help those access gender affirming care.)

What piece has the most notes? Are you surprised?

I've been active on tumblr from around the start of the year, but I think its this one?

Who/What is your favourite subject matter?

honestly i think my blog name summarises better than I ever could.

Show us something not from fandom you've made

old oc art

Where do you like to create?

Desk in my bedroom! I like facing my window so I can look out like some tortured artist when my eyes need a break.

Give yourself a shoutout, where can we commission/buy/follow you for more pieces?

I'm on twitter, tumblr, instagram all are @konaiiro !!

Any mutuals, if you've made it this far, this is me tagging you lmao

[oldiesstationlover11607]

Spookyface - Tyler Joseph x Reader

Warnings: Crazy fan art

Word Count: 1110

A/N: Bandito battle prompt 3! Not gonna lie, this one was so much harder than prompt 2 bc I don't really write Joshler so it took me a while to figure out what I was gonna do. But I think I pulled through – despite it being shorter. Enjoy!!

Every morning when I woke up I scrolled through my social media. Instagram, Tik Tok, and Twitter (because no one ever calls it X), no matter what platform I loved being tagged in things the fans made and posted. Except this morning I’d been tagged in a particular piece of fan art that caught my eye.

“Uh Tyler what is this?” I pushed my phone into his face. We’d decided to sleep in that morning, wrapped in between the soft sheets of our bed. The late night out we’d enjoyed had completely drained us. Unsurprisingly I’d woken up entangled between Tyler and the wall of pillows I’d built in the middle of the night. 

“Huh?” He rolled over to face me, taking the glowing phone from my hand and bringing it closer to his tired face. “What the–” 

The drawing flashed into his eyes. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the ridiculousness of Tyler’s Blurryface character, his signature red beanie perched on his head, locking lips with Josh’s alter ego, Spooky Jim, who was sporting his unnerving red eye makeup. Tyler’s finger guns added a layer of ridiculousness that made the whole thing more bizarre and funny. My initial shock was quickly replaced by laughter, though, as I processed what I was actually seeing. 

“Wait, I've seen this before,” he passed the phone back to me, laughing to himself. 

“Sorry what?” My brows furrowed as I chuckled, almost in denial. 

“Yeah the fans were super into this ship between Blurryface and Spooky Jim back in the day. This piece of fan art was really popular so we saw it all over social media, I guess it’s trending again.”

It wasn’t the first time fan art had left me speechless, but this one was a whole new level of absurdity. 

“Fans shipped Blurryface and Spooky Jim? Seriously?!” I couldn’t stop the giggle that bubbled up.

Tyler shrugged, still chuckling as he stretched his arms, yawning lazily. “Yeah, you’d be surprised what they come up with. It’s been happening since we started.”

I sat up in bed, crossing my legs beneath me, still holding the phone and staring at the image. It wasn’t the art itself that was unsettling—actually, the quality of it was impressive. The lines were clean, and the shading gave a certain depth to the figures. It was more the concept. 

“Okay, but finger guns? Really?” I snorted, shaking my head. “You’re not that bold.”

Tyler propped himself up on one elbow, grinning as he rubbed his eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

I rolled my eyes. “Come on, there’s no way you would ever be doing finger guns while making out with someone.”

“Absolutely I would,” he said with mock seriousness, giving me a playful smile.

We both dissolved into laughter, and I fell back onto the pillows. It was so absurd, but it was also kind of sweet in a strange way. The fans had always been imaginative, but this took it to a new level.

“Do you remember the first time you saw something like this?” I asked as I wiped a tear from my eye, still giggling.

Tyler raised his eyebrows, thinking for a moment. “Oh yeah, it was ages ago. One of the first pieces of fanart we ever saw was of me as Blurryface, like, in the Stressed Out video and Josh was playing drums in the background. It was crazy good. But hey, the fans love it. They’re super creative.”

I nodded, remembering the countless times we had come across these little gems online. It was flattering in a way. The fans cared enough about Tyler and Josh's creations to build entire narratives around them. Still, seeing them depicted as romantic interests was a curveball I hadn't expected this morning.

“Should we… post about this?” I asked, holding the phone up. “Maybe the artist would love that.”

Tyler shrugged again, a smirk playing on his lips. “If you want to fuel the fire, sure. People love it when we acknowledge this stuff, especially the weird ones.”

I grinned, mischievous thoughts swirling. “Oh, I’m definitely fueling the fire.”

I opened Twitter, found the tweet where I’d been tagged, and hit repost.

“Oh no, what are you doing?” Tyler said, watching me over my shoulder.

“Reposting it,” I laughed, typing in a caption. ‘According to Tyler he hasn’t seen this in a while 😂’

Within minutes, the notifications started pouring in. The tweet was being liked, shared, and commented on at lightning speed. The fan base was having a collective meltdown, and I couldn’t help but smile at how excited they were. The artist themselves replied, clearly thrilled that we’d noticed their work, even if we were poking fun at it.

Tyler glanced at the chaos unfolding on my screen and chuckled. “Oh, they’re gonna be talking about this for weeks.”

“Good,” I said, grinning. “It’s fun to interact with them like this. Plus, it’s harmless.”

Tyler nodded in agreement, though I could see the gears turning in his head. He was always thinking about how to connect with the fans in unique ways. We spent the rest of the morning scrolling through the responses, occasionally reading some of the funnier comments out loud to each other.

“Okay, look at this one,” I said, stifling a laugh. “‘Blurryface and Spooky Jim confirmed endgame.” Tyler grinned. 

As the morning passed, it became clear that this little interaction had made the fans' day. More fan art started popping up—some of it equally ridiculous, some of it beautifully serious. There were drawings of Blurryface and Spooky Jim doing everything from solving crimes to baking cakes. Each one was more absurd than the last, and it was hilarious. At one point, I looked over at Tyler, who was lying beside me, scrolling through his own feed now. His smile was soft, almost nostalgic. I could tell he was thinking about how far they'd come—from playing tiny venues to this global fandom that cared enough to create entire worlds around their music.

“You ever think about how weird it is?” I asked quietly.

He glanced at me, raising an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“That all these people feel so connected to you guys that they create stuff like this? Like, it's not just about the music anymore. It's about the stories they build around it.”

Tyler thought for a moment, then nodded. “It’s also kinda beautiful, you know? It means we’ve created something that resonates with them on a deeper level. And if that means Blurryface and Spooky Jim making out, then... I guess that’s just part of the deal.”

I laughed, nodding. “Yeah, I guess so.”

//

REQUESTS OPEN

Tags for bandito battle:

@banditobattlemotherfuckers @the-paladin-gay

[loafthecat]

Now I don’t have any drawing or anything planned for the anniversary-

But I do wanna express how much this game means to me personally-

Honestly, I don’t even remember what drew me into ctm, lol- I just remembered the series from some old play throughs and thought to give it a watch but- something about the game just made my brain want more of it-

So- I watched more playthroughs and comic dubs and animation memes, (even vine comps too-) I just- loved it- and from there it’s led me a lot of places-

Thsc was how I joined discord and met some of my best friends and some of greatest people I know! All my mutuals are really creative and nice- idk what I’d be doing without @emperorcandy or @rubianarosevine or @toxsradioactivelocks and ESPECIALLY without @randomgasleak because Leaky is one of the bestest, nicest friends I have- and I would seriously miss out on every fun lil conversation and infodump we have with eachother, getting to share my ocs with him is some of the most FUN I’ve had in my life- and i am seriously thankful to EVRYONE in Tox’s server for just- existing lol-

Also no I didn’t forget about- @kean-thebean or @savagepotat or @cybercypress24 or @lynplaque or stormy love yall too-))

Thsc led to me learning about more lgbtq+ identities that I didn’t even know of- in fact it helped me figure out my own identity and realise I was AroAce! So thanks for that-!

Thsc also helped and inspired me to improve my art!!!! Seeing the talent in this fandom made me wanna improve and develop an art style I truly love to draw with- and well- I did it!!!! I finally have an art style I LOVE to use and which actually looks good!!!! I can finally draw necks!!!! And no that was not something I could do before thsc- hm, funny because sticks don’t have necks technically so who would’ve thought-???

Continuing on from that, thsc is directly responsible for the creation of some of my FAVOURITE ocs!!!! Ollie, mitzy, mavy, Kapper, Tulip etc. heck- even ocs that while they ain’t sticcs or direct thsc ocs were INSPIRED by and influenced BY the game!!! (Lookin at you, Opal and Angus-) I especially have to gush about Ollie because I just LOVE him so much- who would’ve thought a BACKGROUND oc for a rp would become one of my main ocs today-? Not me that’s for sure-, I especially didn’t expect that I’d cry over how invested I am in him lol- I just love my lil gae sticc so much!!!!! He’s brought me so much joy, he’s helped me to vent out my problems- I just- I just- LOVE Ollie- lol- and I’m sure I’ll continue to do so even in future-

Thsc also introduced me to Dave panpa’s existence so everything is 100% worth it. I would die for this man, I want to platonically hug him and him and Rupert kiss kiss, I should know- I am the loaf of bread on their countertop!

And I guess last of all- I wouldn’t be on tumblr if it wasn’t for thsc. Thsc gave me the confidence to branch out and actually start using over websites aside from YouTube- it’s also how I joined discord and as I’ve said meet all my closest friends- sure- tumblr hasn’t always been the best at times but- I enjoy being here and while yes I’m not the most popular person here or even of note to some people- I’m still here right-? And I gotta thank thsc for that-

So in conclusion-

It is 23:24 pm at night- and my WiFi really didn’t like me finishing this- (it f^cked up THREE drafts of this that I had like wtf WiFi-????)

Now. Is this normal-? No, it probably isn’t normal to have a extreme obsession over a silli game about a sticc figure stealing shi- but shush I’m weird- and autistic it’s fine-

So yeah. Thanks thsc, and thank you puff for making the game.

You changed my life- for worse or for better take your pick-