#the preview is half of a page lol

[furiouskettle]

so! working on that fallout 4 Long Time Coming rewrite fancomic i mentioned the other day and I'm wondering how I should post the pages when I'm done. I've got the script p much done and half the thumbnails are ready to go (looks like it's gonna be about 25ish pages long whoooops)

[transguyhawkeye]

not really interested in the pacific rim comics kickstarter* but its so funny that one of the backer tiers is literally the "pay $1000 for your oc to appear for one panel and then instantly get killed off" reward from the hiveswap campaign lmao

*its a sequel to uprising so makos still dead, they still havent changed lady dangers official name to not be a literal slur, and im not familiar with the writer but they worked on netflix avatar so. not super convinced about the quality there

[holy-reference-in-a-username]

if you have paid any attention to my ramblings on my process, you know that i tend to rethink my comics and toss out a lot of work if im not satisfied with how it turned out. so i thought id share some previews of comics that have gone unseen, and why they havent been posted (yet?) in order of how likely i am to finish and/or post them :)

(under cut bc long post)

Be nice to each other: Main 4. Tomtord/Polyworld, angst. 4 pages. Matt confronts Tom and Tord on how have been acting, accidentally compelling them into saying how they really feel.

Status: abandoned.

I drew this one quite a while ago and i still really like the dialogue and character interactions i wrote for it! vampire hypnosis is a super cool concept and im definitely going to use it in the future, but this ultimately didnt pan out how i wanted it to.

Why it's not posted: while the buildup and climax are really good, this would be a huge mess to clean up. this would require some serious work both between the four of them and on my part for writing and drawing all of that!! plus, it would totally change the relationship dynamic between Tom and Tord, possibly ending it altogether (and i still have so much i want to do with them!!!)

Ed and Edd: Eduardo, Edd, Eduardo's mother. No pairings, angst. 3 pages. Eduardo can't wait to introduce himself at school, but he's got competition for the name he chose.

Status: abandoned.

Trans Eduardo is such a good concept. imagine figuring out who you are only to find out someone else already is that. of course you're going to hate them.

Why it's not posted: two main reasons. one is that i couldn't figure out how to end the comic (a recurring theme lol), but another is that i'm still not super confident with writing Eduardo yet. ...or writing children. so kid Eduardo is a challenge.

Can't tell where you're looking: Tommatt, fluff. 3 pages. Tom isn't as sneaky as he thinks he is.

Status: on my list!

Tommatt fans, i have heard your pleas i have received your asks. it's on my list.

Why it's not posted: i had a great idea, drew several pages, thought about it, and decided it sucked, actually. it can be reworked, but my motivation did not get out unscathed.

Bad (?) Dream: Tomtord, uh.... yeah thats just smut huh. 2 pages. A bad dream for one and a good dream for the other.

Status: ???

I'm not saying SHIT.

Why it's not posted: originally, it was because i didn't want to post suggestive stuff on this blog. now, it's because i found better ways to cover the concepts in this comic. Y'all will simply have to wait and see ;)

Matt figures it out: Matt, Tom. could be Tommatt. hurt/comfort. a collection of random sketches. Matt figures out how to turn into a bat! It sucks!

Status: on my list!

I've been wanting to talk about this SOOOO BAD!!! because why would you transform in a second via a poof of smoke when it could be an hour-long painful disturbing process?! honestly could be described as hurt/comfort/hurt.

Why it isn't posted: well for one it barely counts as a comic, just random sketches and a general idea. to be fair thats how most of my comics start, but... you know. i havent worked on it in a while mainly because the characters need to solve some personal problems first.

Not tonight: Tordmatt. fluff/suggestive. 2 pages. Matt's got pointy ears again, and Tord knows what that means!

Status: on my list!

TORDMATT FANS I HAVE ALSO HEARD YOUR PLEAS! Also, yippee i get to infodump about my headcanons via a comic

Why it's not posted: unfinished, and i hit a bit of a road block. usually its in writing, but this time its in the art half! so i have no idea how to get around it yet!!!

Puberty sucks fr. imagine losing an eye: Tom, Tom's mother. no pairings. angst. 3 pages. When did Tom's eyes change?

Status: on my list!

You all remember the soul-crushing existential grief that started at the same time as puberty, right? No, just me? Huh.

Why it isn't posted: layout isn't quite what im looking for :/ also, a half-naked child on tumblr, even in a completely non-sexual context, is something i am slightly apprehensive about!

Something's wrong: Main 4. Polyworld, angst/suggestive. 20+ pages. Tom doesn't feel well. Edd, Matt, and Tord try to help.

Status: actively working on it

Oh, you guys remember that poll? Haha thats funny. Yeah i'm still working on this one.

Why it isn't posted: uh its not done yet. and also i am unsure of whether or not it will be allowed on tumblr. or whether or not i want people to speculate on my entire deal.

...and while i'm here:

Communication comic part 6: IN PROGRESS!! these idiots need to establish boundaries. all of them. i believe <3

Zombie Tord part 4: ON MY LIST! i want to get through the communication comic first :3

thank u for reading all my ramblings :D! i am so fucking excited to continue working on all of my dumb shit and i am so happy that ppl like said dumb shit

[powerfultenderness]

something similar happened to me so i had to send an ask LOL könig receiving readers mail.... he'd just knock and give it back to her asap, but he notices she ordered lingerie 🤭🤭

Parcel

Rated: Mature Word count: 744 Notes: Let's take it back to earlier in their friendship :)

König grabbed the package sitting in front of his door before he made his way inside. He wasn’t expecting his order to come in so soon! He flipped open one of his pocket knives and was half way through one of the taped sides when he froze.

Oh no. This wasn’t his mail at all! He spotted your name and address on the shipping label instead of the alias he used for online orders. 

Shit. Good thing he noticed before he opened it all the way. He really didn’t want you to think he was snooping through your mail. Because he wasn’t! It was an accident! 

He shook his head, you weren’t even here and he was already trying to defend himself. Calm down. 

He checked his phone next, you should be home, he thought. Usually you slept in on Saturdays. 

And before he even realized it, he was typing in the company name into a search browser. He figured you ordered something for your new flat and hoped it was something he could help with. 

Turns out LuvMe was not home decor! 

König’s face burned as he looked at the page full of women barely covered in sheer fabric and pretty lace and ribbons. 

He nearly just…opened up your lingerie (and god, could he help with that!)

He was about to close the tab, when the image on the screen flashed and a model who was similarly built to you appeared in a sheer flowery set. His hands acted on their own as he clicked the image and soon he was looking through the product previews, more accurately, he was looking at the women modeling the products, until he found one that looked enough like you that he could picture you as the scantily clad woman in the photo. 

You were so pretty, would be so pretty with cute little flowers swirling around the soft plush of your breasts, with black sheer mesh and red silk against your skin. 

He swiped to the next picture and was suddenly imagining you with a garter of blue satin ribbon holding up lacy stockings. Would you wear this under his favorite dress that you wore, with the tiny piece of fabric and lace that could barely be counted as underwear? 

It’s only when he absentmindedly brings his free hand down to his crotch to adjust himself that he stops his overactive imagination. Quickly, as if someone might catch him looking at lingerie models, he closed the tab and dropped his phone face down on the counter. 

He sighed and looked at the box sitting innocently on his counter. Obviously he had to return it to you, he just hoped he could act normal and not like a weirdo pervert that would scare you away. 

Don’t be weird. Don’t be weird. 

Even as he nervously knocked on your door, he realized it wasn’t that he was being weird. He was being dumb. He could have just dropped the package right in front of your door and left. Instead-

You opened the door as he was mid thought, “hey, König, what’s up?” 

He awkwardly thrusted the package towards you, “this was delivered to me by mistake.” 

“Oh, thanks!” 

König panicked when he saw you inspect the parcel as you took it from him (you weren’t really inspecting it). “I-I almost opened it. But I didn’t! Just one side!” 

“Huh?” You looked down at the box and sure the tape was partially cut through on one side. “Oh. That’s not a big deal. At least you noticed!” 

HIs heart started to race when you smiled so sweetly up at him. Oh he noticed alright. 

“I don’t know!” 

“What?” 

“What’s inside. I have to go!” 

“O…kay?” You blinked as König turned and took a few giant steps to retreat back to his flat. “See you later?” You tried, raising your voice.

He stopped at his door and waved at you, you think he nodded his head but he may have just been ducking through the door. 

König sighed as he closed and locked the door behind him. Great. That went real smooth. You probably thought he was a weird pervert now. 

-

You didn’t even notice as you opened the package that the company name and logo were printed on the top. König’s weird behavior is completely forgotten as you put your new set of basic underwear (that sale was too good of a deal to pass up!) in the wash. 

[Neighbor!König Masterlist]

Neighbor König taglist: 

@warrior-of-justice  @cumikering @ihateuguys @rand0m--fangirl @keiva1000 @dtftheavengers @takeyour-pants-off @aeeliy @milenko115 @sodonuthideout @onegami @nadiauddincrafts @nadiauddincrafts @grizzersmamma @flooftoof @techs-ass @virginalsacrifice @s0rc3r3r @sleeplessskeleton @introvered-violinist @tizylish @romula96 @peach-habibitch @mitchlow @queenotaku27 @fenixnegras @emmbny @love-dove-noora @lesbianmitsuri @supergirl16 @wybwtjmiadz @ghonigsloverbabe @thatmusedhatter @grassclippers @skystreamchan @lordlydragon @luvecarson @thetestsubject666 @mafer383 @darkangel4121 @puppylikethedog  

[nalyra-dreaming]

The writers have said that they are sticking close to the second half of the book this season, which is why I don't see the trepidation that you see in the final Loumand scene. Because if any part of Louis feels like he has to sleep with Armand to keep Claudia safe, then what is the point of the missing diary pages? What is the point of Claudia yelling at him for picking another man over her? Why does Louis look 100% turned on in the preview we got of his sex scene with Armand?

The fatal flaw of the Louis/Claudia relationship in the book is that Louis is so blinded by his love for Armand that he can't fathom that he would be a threat to Claudia. This doesn't work in the show if Louis knows from the beginning that Armand is a threat. I know Jacob said that Dreamstat is Louis' inner voice, but he also said that he's his guilty conscience. Let's face it; Dreamstat singing "Come to me you little whore" isn't Louis' subconscious telling him that Armand is evil. It's Louis' guilty conscience trying to prevent him from moving on. Louis could have fallen for literally anybody in Paris and he would still have Dreamstat insulting his love interest and telling him not to go for it.

And before you accuse me of having Loumand shipper lenses on, let me just say that the only ship I'm invested in is ArmanDaniel. I enjoy Loustat and Loumand and Armandstat, but I'm not attached to any of these romances. So this isn't bias talking

Okay. All of that plays into all of this as well, of course.

However, book canonically Armand also put spells on Louis to make him do things, literally influence his actions. Makes him turn Madeleine, for example.

It is no wonder Armand comments on Louis as he does in his own book.

"Louis, my companion, dried up of his own free will, rather like a beautiful rose skillfully dehydrated in sand so that it retains its proportions, nay, even its fragrance and even its tint. For all the blood he drank, he himself became dry, heartless, a stranger to himself and tome."

I mean... the show has been very clear wrt to the "golden cage" Louis is in. It has been said so as well by Hannah.

Of course it's a complicated beast. Of course there was attraction. I'm not denying that.

But the show has also made clear that they would go the gaslighting route since the SDCC posters. Like, they never even promoted Loumand.

Given that Jacob said it would go darker from hereon... ????

DreamStat is more than a guilty conscience though, "he" says what Louis will not say out loud. I think that will come across more directly in the upcoming episodes, since we've seen some of it in the trailers already.

And, you know, sex can be fun even if you entered a relationship under difficult circumstances.

Lust was never the problem, lol.

[boxturret]

The Adverse Affects of Pre-Release Materials

I usually post big rambling posts about bionicles, but today I'm going to do a big rambling post about one of my favourite movies, Steamboy.

And like...themes and stuff.

Have you heard of themes? Things can have them, they're pretty cool.

I know no one will read this but this is for me okay.

In 2005 I was watching the Space channel, now rebranded CTV Scifi, and they had an awards show called the Spaceys where they ranked and awarded media from that year. I recall when Stargate SG1 won one they had a clip of the Thor puppet being controlled by Richard Dean Anderson thanking everyone who supported the show, and that their voices sounded like "tiny farts". I wonder if that's available anywhere or if its lost media now lol.

In any case, they had an animation category and they mentioned several films that released that year, the winner was Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, but one of the nominees was a film called Steamboy, it was just named and they had a tiny clip from the trailer. It was literally just this part:

Really stuck in my mind and I went and looked it up and found the English website, which has been partially archived:

Unfortunately not documented is the previews and clips page, which had several short videos from the movie, notably, I recall, with incorrect character names. It called the main two characters Jay and Miss, instead of Ray and Scarlet lol.

One of the scenes on this page was from around half way through the movie, when the fighting breaks out in the Great Exhibition grounds, and Scarlet decided to stroll across the battle field to talk to the queen.

(I love all the shots where you can actually see the artillery shells flying through the air)

These men in armour come out and engage the British Tanks and one gets thrown by an explosion.

She goes to look at him and sees that he's dead, but she's surprised there was a man in there.

This being my first introduction to the "Steam Troopers" as the dub calls them, would prove a bit problematic for me and my understanding of the film for years to come.

This was 2005, it was harder to find things like this, by some luck after weeks of searching I did find the movie on DVD in a store and could finally watch it.

So now I could see the introduction of the Steam Trooper, which is quite ominous. The London Constabulary comes to break in to the O'Hara Manufacturing Company's pavilion in the exhibition grounds but the doors open and you see one standing there, menacingly.

And as a kid I thought "imagine being the guy told to just stand there all dramatic as the police storm in", thinking it was kinda funny really.

But something always bugged me about the Steam Troopers. They didn't really make sense, mechanically.

Steamboy is a steampunk movie, featuring all sorts of incredible machines with copious amounts of gears and belts and rivets and pistons and they all look very cool, but also there is a lot of thought put un to their designs.

In fact the British steam powered tank is actually based on a real world vehicle, the Hornsby Tractor.

Just stick a little gun turret on the front and you've got it lol.

You can see their power source, how they're propelled, their mechanisms make sense, they're crazy complicated and not really feasible or practical, but they're fun and make sense In the world established in the film.

But Steam Troopers don't!

Now from my point of view, from seeing the preview and seeing it was a guy in a suit, I just looked at it as a suit, so therefore, in my mind, the linkages and wheels and tiny boiler on the back must all be some sort of Victorian power armour, enhancing the wearer's strength in some way.

But it just doesn't make sense, nothing's connected to anything properly for that.

When you see the dead guy some of the wheels are still spinning and all they're doing is making some of the linkages, which aren't positioned to do anything, move around.

It really bothered me for years, everything else in the movie makes sense to me, but not them.

Then a year or two ago I did a little experiment. I watched this movie, which I've seen dozens of times at this point, but really tried to empty my mind of all my prior thoughts and knowledge. Just come at it fresh. And it was really fun! I highly recommend it. You'll never be able to really experience a movie for the first time again, but looking at it through this lens can make you notice things you may have missed.

Watching Steamboy in this way, when I got to the Steam Trooper scenes, it finally clicked. They don't make sense, because they're not supposed to make sense. They're fake. Its all fake.

They're supposed to be automatons.

The scene where Scarlet sees the dead man is supposed to be a big reveal that no, these are just men in suits.

This whole battle is a weapons demonstration orchestrated by Simon, the person in charge of this branch of the O'Hara Manufacturing Company. There are representatives from all over the world here and he spends the entire latter have of the movie trying to sell them stuff even when things start to go horribly wrong.

The whole ominous scene with the Steam Trooper standing there menacingly was for their benefit.

The O'Hara Manufacturing Company has so many amazing machines, they've got submersibles, blimps, actually functional airplanes, all in the 1860s, but its not enough.

They're so driven by greed they're not content to simply sell the amazing machines they have, they have to try and scam even more out of everyone.

It leads to them strapping some tiny engines that just wiggle around a bit and shoot out steam on the backs of some guys in full armour and have them march in to battle pretending to be clockwork soldiers.

This realisation also gave new context to this scene, which is one of the more humorous scenes in the film.

*bonk*

You can actually see these suits much earlier in the film, off in the background in a maintenance area. The Steam Castle, the true form of the O'Hara Pavilion, is massive and much of it was constructed in secret, under water, so they'd require many things like the submarine seen in the same scene and these diving suits with manipulator arms. But in their greed they're trying to sell these clumsy maintenance suits as amphibious battle suits, yet in reality they can't even climb stairs.

The O'Hara pavilion itself is a very clear example of this, its trying to look like a fancy stone building but really its all painted metal, and the shell breaks off to reveal the dark and dirty weapon of war it really is.

The Steam Castle started out as an idea of a mobile funfair and greed perverted it in to become this. This part was plainly laid out in the movie, but its fun to see how the theme was repeated in different ways throughout the movie.

So in conclusion, one of the major thematic elements of the movie was hidden to me for years because of the pre-release media that gave a away a twist before the set up, ruining the impact of it.

Its a tricky thing, seeing those preview materials were what made me excited to watch the movie, yet seeing them directly harmed my understanding of the movie for years to come. I've always loved the movie, its gorgeous, has an amazing sound track and sound design, it taps directly in to the gear obsessed part of my brain, and there's other themes and messages in the movie that even as a kid I noticed, but now I feel I have a much more clear understanding of the movie that I lacked before.

I've had my enjoyment of a few other things be tempered by overdoing it with pre-release materials, so in general once I've decided something is interesting to me I basically block out everything until I've finished it. I don't even read the blurb on the back of books anymore lol.

I highly recommend trying to go at something fresh, with an open mind, even if you can quote the movie from memory and every frame is etched in to your brain, you can learn something!

Some other quick notes:

Compressed gasses being released making things cold is an actual thing, if you've ever sprayed a can of compressed air for a bit too long and felt the can get colder, that's what's going on.

The two main henchmen in the movie are named Freddy and Jason, get it?

Canada is represented in the movie even though that flag didn't exist yet! :)

The PS2 game has an ending where you fight a pair of giant Punch and Judy robots.

The trailer and DVD menu for Steamboy is a song called Full Force, which is a cool song. The first half at least. I edited it a few years ago to remove the end bit which gets weird, and then found that several people also did that, independently. So that's neat.

I like my edit more, but its secret. Its mine.

I can't promise this won't happen again.

[midnight1nk]

well, dear fellows, I've spent days on blinding spectrograms and the song stuck in my freakin head for it being on loop. And with the next episode just dropping hours away, I thought to share this.

Did I really do this? Yes.

Was this completely pointless? Oh, absolutely—

Picking Apart the Flareglow Audio

⚠️ DISCLAIMER IN INTRO POST ⚠️

CONTEXT

if you somehow did not see what was going on and probably questioning "what the hell is flareglow?" (exactly like Cube tweeted), I'll give a quick rundown:

News of a new song "Flareglow", appearing on the official SMG4 artist page on multiple platforms (spotify, apple music/itunes, iheart radio, amazon music, and others) on Jan 4.

The song itself (here's my basic analysis) sounds nothing like the Team has done before in every way you can imagine, from the gmod-made cover art to AI-sounding lyrics

fans started to speculate rather or not this was another hack or if it was an intentional by the Team, who have not confirmed anything about it. y'know it's bad when casual viewers are pointing it out

then there's people like me that suspected that the Team was scheming for some future thing

Ben tweeted about it (the first one by the Team as far as i know)

Cube was the next one to bring it up AND on that same day, the song gets slowly taken down by the multiple platforms it was on

a week later giving out a comment to clarify (quote on quote) this as well as the SMG4 Steam strangely changing its username (ft. Shadow reposting)

Now, you are valid in what you want to believe here while i suspect Cube with every inch of my mind palace. and since you're reading this...

AUDIO INVESTIGATION

Clues and codes can be hidden in multiple ways and one of those is through audio files, most commonly found in video games.

If you play a coded audio file, it might sound distorted and weird. But if you manipulate it as easily as putting the audio in reverse, you might've found a clue. Images can also be hidden and be seen through a spectrogram. This is considered one of the more fragile ways of coding since any small alterations to the file could change the image.

Before it got taken down, i managed to snag a copy and send it through a visualizer. ofc the image can't be seen right away and have to toy with the settings for it to work.

Admittedly, this was the most frustrating part of the whole investigation, constantly zooming in and out of the spectrogram preview, going back and forth to some classic photoshop photo manipulation. Hours and hours. So here's what i got:

zoomed in i found what looked like an "e" in 39 seconds (yeah not sure what past Ink was thinking there)

having it squished kinda forms a word but it's not clear enough to distinguish

(take it with a chunk of salt that it said "Princess", well i found the letter "P" ok)

photo manipulation cleared to "a image" of a series of almost identical corridors

honestly it could just be nothing lol

yeah i might be reaching at this point, starting to see things too. I really did try everything, including using a backwards copy of it to use it as a filter on top. Like I said, it may not be nothing and that's okay. At least I gave it a shot. i know it must be disappointing.

But it's not over just yet. Have you found it strange that the title "flareglow" isn't in the lyrics itself? Even knowing what the lyrics may be about, it doesn't make sense. "A glint of bouncing light, can be captured on camera" hmmmm.

"But some songs are like that?"

True, but knowing the Team and the Steam mystery going on, yeah no. Not to mention the song being a one-sided convo perspective AND a theory that 4 may turn out like Leggy and be pushed to be an assistant to Mr Puzzles due to a grudge. Clues based on 2 of Ben's tweets,

4 being the second minion. Hence doing the idea of the copied spectrogram.

Then there was the other idea, what if there's 2 songs? we got one half of the code, there might be another.

I guess I should clarify: maybe "Flareglow" is the title for song 2 while the song 2 title is the true title for this one.

Anyway, it would be too early for us to figure it out.

if there is, we need to be on the lookout for that one bc overlapping them might show the full image.

Two halves of the same coin :)

close enough, welcome back 4 & Puzzles being narrative foils

.・-: ✧ :--: ✧ :-・.

well uh this was something.

But for real tho, I have absolutely no idea what's gonna happen and this is just for the sillies 😋 either way thanks chat for listening to my ramblings for the past couple of days, I must've looked insane.

Now, that's a lesson to learn: sometimes it's okay to overanalyze stuff as nourishment for theorist brains and for me to morph into matpat

If anything does come up, I'll be there with everything I have and can totally count you guys being there too 💙

and on that note,

oh my god i'm never gonna listen to that song ever again not even a single second this better be a joke bc i swear i will crawl through the screen and into my spotify account and burn the entire platform on sight and maybe strangle that fuckin cover art while i'm at it as my body's decomposing into pixels watch me—

[allmightskitten]

Ao3 is down??!!! Well, sounds as good a time as any to post another instalment from the abandoned WIP graveyard!

🦩🐊❤️‍🔥

Abandoned WIP Graveyard:

do you think you'd like to buy me diamonds?

- a modern doflamingo/crocodile/corazon fic

- abandoned possibly temporarily, something to return to in the future if there's time

- was going to be E rated and nasty, but the preview I have for you today hasn't gotten there yet lol

- dofcora, dofuwani, both those things together AND corawani 🫣 also the crocodad theory is a thing here because of course it is ☝️

Extract below the cut:

It meant one of two things if he wasn't responding to their shared code of knocking thrice slowly, and thrice more in quick succession: one, he was neck deep in work, hunched over pages and pages of scattered drawings that had built up over the course of half a day, and hundreds of scrunched-up sheets in the bin, on the bed and floor, everywhere– or, two: he was pouring over images and information that he really shouldn't have.

Doflamingo was holed up in his room again, and Rosinante knew from prior experience that that was never a good sign.

Images and information that, Rosinante was quite sure, would be classified by most as 'creepy' to own or at the very least 'illegal'.

He tried the knock again. There wasn't anything terribly important to bother his brother about, but he needed to know as early as possible if Doffy would be free to drive him to Law's school play later this evening. He had got his own license suspended a few days back for reckless driving, which in his defense was more so bad driving than recklessness as his general clumsiness unfortunately translated to that aspect of his life as well.

"Come in," Doffy's voice came muffled through the door, unexpressive and distracted. Rosinante braced himself and let himself inside.

Yeah...

This was what he was afraid of.

The bedroom he set foot into was like a folder of evidence needed for a restraining order. Blown-up photos of him– 'Crocodile', the 40-something-year-old casino owner Doflamingo had become fixated on– lined the walls, stuck to them carelessly with kraft tape. Splayed out on the bed in front of Doffy were printed news articles and magazine clippings, every one about the same subject. Piled on the foot of the bed were an assortment of various items including brand new cigars, ties, bottles of wine and flowers.

Rosinante cleared his throat pointedly, drawing a pair of pale crimson eyes in his direction.

"I thought we agreed that stalking that man is dangerous." Crocodile had ties to the underworld too, ties that were very much not in line with their own. "It would be a lot less dangerous if you just visited his casino and started speaking to him organically."

Doffy slowly set down the magazine clippings he was stuffing into a transparent folder. He observed Rosinante for a moment, like he was reading his body language and all his tells he wasn't aware of himself, before a sudden snort-laugh escaped him loudly.

"Aw, don't tell me you're jealous, baby brother!"

Rosinante's cheeks felt hot.

"I'm not jealous," he sputtered, like the very notion was ridiculous. 

"It's okay," Doflamingo said placatingly, knowingly, sugary-sweet. He made space on the bed beside him and patted the sheets. "I've been neglecting you lately, haven't I? Let me make things right."

Rosi bit his lip. There was nothing remotely right about what Doffy was offering to do, and all the other things they had started to get up to in recent times– things one certainly shouldn't be doing with one's own family member, nevermind one as close as a sibling– but he knew Doflamingo felt no guilt and remained completely unapologetic for it.

Why the hell not? he'd whispered in Rosinante's ear a fortnight ago, when he had grown stiff in Doffy's arms, chilling realization hitting him like a freight train after evading him the entire time Doffy had been kissing him, jerking him off until he came. We're closer to each other than anyone. What does a little more closeness matter?

Oh, but Doflamingo's touch was addictive. His attention doubly so.

His body moved on its own to take the space Doffy had cleared for him. Short, cropped blonde hair was immediately in his lap as Doflamingo stretched his long legs out on the other side of the bed, grinning devilishly up at him as he slid his fingers into his big brother's hair.

It probably had something to do with their messy upbringing. Their years of separation before they found their way back to each other. The way Doflamingo spoiled him rotten with all the wealth he'd built up in the time he'd been gone, in stark contrast to the impoverished lifestyle Rosinante led until then.

Doflamingo really had no qualms about anything, and nothing was a step too far in his book, but Rosinante wasn't like that. He had principles and morals and knew right from wrong, usually.

Doflamingo brought out the worst in him.

Rosi cleared his throat, not wanting to go down that avenue right now. For his own sanity he'd have to avoid Doffy for another fortnight if today's interaction ended like last time.

"I need you to drive me somewhere tonight. Law has a role in the school play."

Doffy snorted, his expression immediately souring.

"What, is he a tree? Or perhaps the backstage help who moves the set pieces?"

Rosinante swatted him on the head for that, indignant at the implication.

"He has a speaking role, asshole!"

"Oh, does he now? So they managed to pull him away from his books enough to get him to audition?"

Rosi dug his massaging fingers into Doffy's scalp a little aggressively. "Stop being such an ass. He's eight, you can't keep having beef with an eight year old."

"He always starts it!" Doffy protested childishly. "I have never, ever started the fight."

"Right, like I'm gonna believe that."

"I swear!"

"Because your word is so honest." Rosinante rolled his eyes, but he relaxed his fingers, and Doffy immediately melted into his touch. "So? Can you drive me there tonight? You don't have to stick around and watch it."

"Mm, I was thinking about your advice, actually." Doffy reached up to touch his cheek. "About interacting normally with Crocodile, at his casino. I was thinking of doing that tonight."

Rosi squeezed his hand. "Dof, I'm glad to hear that. I really am, but I don't want to miss Law's play." Law hated Doflamingo. And the kid was very perceptive, scarily so– the last time Rosinante had missed the chance to be there for him because of Doflamingo, he'd automatically known who to blame. Rosinante wasn't keen on disappointing his kid either. Law had no one but him. 

Doffy narrowed his eyes at him, studying the expression on his face, the quiet plea to allow him this. It was unhealthy, it was wrong, just how much control Doflamingo had over his life, but he could be reasoned with if it was coming from Rosinante...

"Fine," Doflamingo said finally. "I'll drive you to the play. But I'm only dropping you off. I can't leave the casino early to pick you up after."

That was fine. He could take a taxi. The Donquixotes weren't supposed to be taking civilian taxis, that was dangerous and Doflamingo didn't allow him especially, but he didn't have to know that. "I can get a lift from one of the parents."

"And have you vetted these people?"

Rosi sighed. There was that paranoia again– though more than being paranoid it was probably being controlling.

"Yes, Doffy, I have. Having a kid in Law's class whom he recognizes is quite a difficult cover for one of your enemies to fake, you know."

"You never know," Doffy said darkly, seriously, but he seemed placated with the answer. "You don't have to go that far, anyway. I'll send one of my men to pick you up. Bellamy's schedule should be free today."

Rosi nodded, grateful and disappointed at the same time. He wasn't a huge fan of the life his brother lived and actively benefiting from it didn't always sit right with him. It wasn't like Doflamingo's underworld business that made him filthy rich was without victims.

Doflamingo patted his cheek, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Not even a thank you, Rosi? Come here and show me."

Rosinante tried to pretend he was only placating Doflamingo when he leaned down to kiss him on the lips.

[allthatmay]

I am waiting so patiently for Ch 4 🥺 Do you have any snippets to offer in these trying times? You started my ShanksAce addiction and now you’re the only one who can feed it. I am struggling lol🙏🏻.

Glad I'm not alone in my Shanks/Ace addiction! These are trying times for us all 🙏🏻 I do appreciate how patiently everyone's been waiting for the chapter. I can't help that it's taking its time getting finished, but I am sorry for the wait!

Here's a teeny, tiny, wee, little preview for you all! (But for you in particular, Anon. 😉)

Maddeningly, even in the rain—perhaps especially in the rain—Shanks is devastatingly handsome. He looks particularly lovely out by the sea like this, mired in the growing fog. His hair’s all tousled by the wind, his shirt blown open, his sabre hanging incongruously against his floral-patterned trousers. He must be able to read Ace’s mind with the way he inclines toward him, satisfaction written into the features of his face.

“Do I get a proper welcome?” he asks.

In lieu of a reply, Ace steps right up against Shanks and pulls him into a kiss, wet lips meeting warm breath. Tenderness slips between his ribs like a knife pressed up against his heart. He can feel the whole shape of Shanks, the heat of him, the strength in his hard muscles. The rain is beginning to soak them through, but it’s the sensation of something being nestled atop Ace’s ear that has him pulling away.

“Another flower?” he asks, carefully reaching for it.

Shanks nods, smoothly adding, “Though I’m yet to find one as pretty as you.”

“Suck up,” Ace says.

It’s a beautiful flower. The petals are silken beneath Ace’s fingertips, as red as the hibiscus he’d last been given. They’re round and layered enough that they collect the falling rain between them like morning dew, bringing out their refreshing scent.

“Camellia,” he recognises, twisting the stem between his fingers.

Shanks smiles. “Do you know what it means?”

“Naw. Well, a little bit. Depends where you go, doesn’t it? Makino taught me some of the common meanings in the East Blue but not much else. Don’t think she knew.”

“Makino, hm? She’s a shrewd woman, that one.”

“Yeah. She's always been good to me.” Ace squints at the flower, trying to remember what Makino said. Once he does, his eyes flicker up to meet Shanks’, skirting past his smug smile. “Do you know what this means, old man?”

“Hmm, well, let’s see…” With an air of drama, Shanks reaches into his pocket and withdraws a small, well–loved book. Heedless of the rain, he cards through the pages until he reaches the right one, at which point he loudly recites: “‘The red camellia historically symbolises a noble death to the samurai of Wano—’” He blinks, then says, “Hang on a minute.”

Ace cracks up, having to put a hand to his hat when he folds forward with the force of it. “Shanks!” he gets out between breaths. “The look on your face!”

Shanks carries on, flipping to the previous page. “Ah, here we go! ‘Throughout much of the world, the red camellia symbolises passion, romance, deep desire, and resilient beauty.’” He snaps the book shut, returning it to his pocket. “All of which I relate to you, angel.”

Just like that, it's not so funny anymore. Ace clears his throat, caught off guard by the sudden sincerity.

“So… not the death thing?” he half–heartedly teases.

“Not the death thing,” Shanks agrees, grinning. “Compelling though it may be.”

[woodbrook-wanderer]

🙏for the people who were not at the convention, can you give a rundown on what Pradulum was about?

Hello again! Sorry for not touching the blog for months, I've been in and out of it lol.

I didn't attend SDCC nor NYCC to pick up a copy of Praludium myself, but my dear friend Lucy did! As far as I know, no panel was held specifically about it but this Ashcan is about the first time Sam killed. Please read it before continuing to read my thoughts and my analysis of it.

general BTTWNS trigger warnings but also (animal) abuse and eating disorder mentions.

The logline is essentially what you get- the first time Sam ever killed. From the title and cover released at the time of its announcement alone, I was wondering in what context or situation would Sam choose to start killing? This takes place of course during her travels in the 1960s, specifically Germany 1962. We only had these 3 preview pages to go off of and I was worried it would be because of sinister implications.

But it just turns out to be a fairly innocent camping trip.

I want to immediately talk about Otto first because he makes a very interesting first victim. I don't like him as a character but he is well written enough to be believable and real. Unlike Daniel who's a friendly stranger who wants to help, Otto is a local who offers Sam a private spot to camp in with him at the Black Forest. He's a friendly hippie and is immediately so accommodating almost to the point of talking over his guest. He also seems to have a crush on Sam.

But he's selfish. He doesn't fully understand Sam's situation of course to be more sensitive but he only half-listens, and diverts conversations to himself when Sam begins to open up about her problems and needs.

Am I saying he deserved to be killed for talking over Sam? Of course not. However, his behavior towards her could be a contributing reason as to why she chose to kill him now. The things he told her followed her far into her 40s and I would understand the kind of mark that made on her emotionally but it's not a reason or justification for murdering him. Everyone's selfish and insensitive, especially if we're trying to impress somebody we like.

As I mentioned in my Lola analysis, I believe Sam was abused at a young age or pressured to be good because of an unknown family incident that caused them to earn a negative reputation in the present. Perhaps the easiest way to make amends and to gain rapport back in Woodbrook is to be useful to the community hence the shop. She HAS to be that pillar of good because she was never given an option to be anything else. This burns her up emotionally to the point of suppressing her own desires. This could have been another career path, another life outside Woodbrook, friends, and the suppression even leads her to developing an eating disorder.

Although this could be interpreted too as a metaphor for the apatite to kill and I believe that as well but also considering the social climate in the 1960s it wouldn't be a stretch either. To be abused so much to the point you've learnt to deprave yourself until somebody corners you and tells you to take what you want anyway.

But to have Otto who she could have considered a friend and perhaps being the only other person (other than Lola) to open up about her frustrations could have meant a lot to her but to just be fawned over like an object instead of reciprocating the emotional support she needed, killing became her outlet and in turn made her emotionally mask and throw back the same uncaring or neutral reassurance she was told 24 years ago.

AGAIN, OTTO DID NOT MEAN TO HURT SAM OR TALK OVER HER. THIS IS NOT A JUSTIFICATION FOR HER ACTIONS MOVING FORWARD.

Praludium is also an interesting side story to me as it reinforces Sam's fondness for Nature (as well as her being Nature). She's had nobody to rely on emotionally her entire life that Nature as a being and a force is her only comfort. She looks up to wild bears and talks to them with a sort of reverence, meaning that the way she lives (in isolation, in selfishness and dominance) closely mirrors them because all she knows to live among people is through shallow observation. She's not gonna bother really socializing and having a life outside of Nature because what is there if everyone's out to get her or step on her.

So it's best to act like a bear. Take what you want because you have the power to do so.

Praludium is just an incredibly bittersweet short story that adds a lot more nuance to Sam as a character. I mentioned in my Lola essay that I do not fully agree with the statement that she's always been a blank slate or a cold person because this story opens up a what if. Yknow? What if Otto did listen and actually sorted it out fully instead of flirting? Would that have changed anything? What if Sam rebelled or took earlier? What if she just asserted herself in the first place? Would that have changed anything? Probably not because again, Sam was conditioned to not want. And that pent up frustration translates into violence.

I've said this on my main blog but I've come across a zoo's account that's fairly popular on tiktok, youtube shorts, and instagram that posts baby brown bears dressed up like toddlers, in cribs, on swings, or in tight, small enclosures with tiger cubs. They've posted videos of the zookeepers throwing around the bear cubs, hitting them, or filming them when they're in distress. One particular video stands out as a cub charges at the camera, splashing themselves in milk when they see a zookeeper then biting another cub out of frustration. It's a fear response. What else can a bear do but bite?

The ending is just very bittersweet to me. Of course, Jesus Christ, this is the FIRST of a 20+ year run of murdering people horrifically and a drastic, tragic heel turn and yet.

The comfort of Nature follows you as well.

[kogameh]

"Angelic Lullaby", aka the supposedly recurring song in AGKokoro

Uh, I figured making a Twitter thread on this would be annoying (word limit/format-wise) so let's talk about it here instead.

You see this page from the first prologue? Yeah. Notice them singing and the music notes around them?

The speech bubbles were supposed to have proper lyrics, written by me. But long story short, I was REALLY under a time crunch and couldn't write one by the time I started the lettering process so I ended up resorting to the "gibberish" text as seen above.

You might also notice some music notes on these two pages---they're intended to play the same music as the page shown earlier.

But obviously, it's difficult to know that by mere texts and images (of course lol), so I'm mentioning it here.

The point is; yes there IS intended to be a recurring song in AGKokoro. You can't hear it. But I HAD plans on making you hear it.

How?

And now the long story:

The initial plan was not only to have the music and lyrics but to release a completely vocalized song with a Vocaloid and even a lyrical MV/PV to go with it, lol. (Yeah I do fuck around with Vocaloids [the software] too if you don't know)

I DID commission the music (since no way I can learn composing within that short of a deadline lol) but the lack of lyrics is the entire reason why I couldn't proceed with the rest of my initial plans.

Unfortunately as my deadline approached fast, all of these ideas had to be canceled and I didn't want to half-ass on any of these so o)-(

So yeah, I ended up laser-focusing on the comic and scrapped the rest haha.

I really meant it when I said my intention in doing the first prologue chapter was showing an amalgamation of EVERYTHING my "useless piece of shit" self could do. out of spite :')

So... yeah! That's how we end up here!

In the end, I still haven't written the intended lyrics for the song. I DO want to get back to it someday and WILL update the pages with the intended lyrics at the very least, haha.

The song is meant to be plot-relevant so I really don't want to half-ass it and prefer the lyrics to sound, well, good, y'know? The only problem is just finding the time for it orz

***

BONUS:

While drafting the pages, I imagined the songs to be something along the lines of Tsubasa wo Daite, Meru's song or Ashita Kuru Hi lol. The commissioned music piece ended up pretty different compared to all of these but it still sounds AMAZING!!

Here's a preview of it if you want to idk, listen with the pages or something.

(It's composed by Enokido-san, thank you for doing my comm!!)

Here's the original artwork intended for the MV/PV. I don't like this art anymore (the anatomy sucks and why is the hair drawn like that) so I really need to draw something new if I end up redoing the PV :3c

"What makes me mention this?"

Apparently Webtoon can put music in their comics and I'm jealous of that but its Webtoon Creators program only so like hell I'm giving the rights of my OCs to them :////

"WHY all of this matters, if at all?"

Because uh, it WILL be mentioned again and it WILL be an important thing to Kureha's character and his....uh. what was his "misfortunes" in the plot again? idk

"WHERE did the music come from anyway?"

Oh you've seen these pocket watches? They're actually music box-inside-pocket-watch kinda thing! Pretty cool, right?

Wow idk if you've read through that but, congrats if you do! Because this WON'T be my last long rambling post about OCs (idk why I haven't done more of it aside from the fact I'll be talking to a wall 99.9% of the time lol)

ANYWAYS YOU CAN READ THE FIRST TWO PROLOGUES OF AGKOKORO HERE IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY

[night-market-if]

I agree with your DAV take! I was really really excited. Pre-ordered deluxe, finished in about four days, and was left with mixed emotions. I'm curious what your opinion will be once you reach the third act, because imo that was the best part of the game. But, yeah, this is the first DA game where I've been more interested in continuing the main story than doing any of the companion questlines. Which is both a bad and good thing. Mostly a bad one. Once you finish the game, I definitely recommend taking a look at the veilguard art book. Google Books has about 50 or so preview pages, and @/felassan has posted them on their tumblr as well. There's a lot of art from the original concepts the dev team was brewing immediately after Inquisition. Before execs were like "fuck that we actually need live service games", and before David Gaider and other DA veterans left or were let go. It feels so much more like dragon age, and I've just been mourning what we could've had lol. But it's interesting to see the concepts that made it into the final product after all that, and how much ended up sanitized in that distinctly corporate way. But, yeah, I just wish the dev team had been given the resources and freedom they needed. Also sorry for rambling in your ask box lol I'm just obsessed with DA

I have still yet to finish it. I've literally been choosing Supermarket Simulator and Sims 4 over the game. Which is just such a sad sign to me. I want to like it so very badly. I really do. And I will finish it (no spoilers) but it's just one of those things where I think the only reason I am playing is for Solas content. Because I love him so much. But I remember when Inquisition came out. I called off work and played it like crazy for days. When the end twist came, I literally called my husband at work to scream.

The opening of Origins with the dragon flying by still gives me chills. It transports me right back to my first apartment that I shared with my mother. To steaming mugs of tea that I would drink so I could stay up and play it just a bit longer. Me surviving on eggs because it was the quickest thing to cook so I could get back to playing.

I don't know if I'm just not in a stage of my life anymore that allows me to immerse myself or if the game was just that uninteresting. And like I said, I will finish it, but I just don't care about any of the characters and half the time, they start talking about something, and I zone out.

Though, this is a case and point to the fact that writers and developers just need to be free to do their own thing without the higher ups intervening.

[moonstone-on-tblr]

Gahhh I have a wattpad page with a story here is a preview of the first chapter!! ^^

TW: the main character references suicidal thoughts and tendencies/Slight ED references in rest of story

“I was a normal kid. I had a life and a family. I had friends and hobbies but as I looked around I found myself trapped in my bedroom. I'm mercury and this is my diary. I woke up this morning to find that I couldn't leave my room, I'm trapped. If I try to leave through my room door it just brings me back to my room, it's an infinite loop. I have two doors in my room, and exit one and one for my closet so when I walk through one it brings me through the other door. I can't leave. I'm keeping this diary to try and not lose track of time. I have no service on my phone; the tv in my room just shows static and makes a horrible static noise when I turn it on. I'm so scared and tired I feel sick. I need to get out of here. My head is spinning, there's a horrible buzzing noise coming from outside. I checked my window but nothing seems to be happening outside, I haven't seen anyone drive by. This has to be a dream right? I'll wake up tomorrow morning right? I have a half empty water bottle by my bed but other than that I don't have any sources of water. My pet rat's cage is still here but Penelope (the rat) seems to be missing. I guess for food I could eat her food if I'm too hungry. Anyways i think i'm just going to sleep for now. I hope I'll be able to write tomorrow.”

(This was originally an English assignment but I just wanna continue it lol)

[ivorydragoness44]

Maul Monday Update

The second update for the Darth Maul Adult Coloring Book is here! And with it, a preview of another coloring page~

Did I rotate the image and only show half?? Yes, I did. That tricep of his though...it gave me so much trouble. There were at least 3 to 5 variations before I settled on one. Phew. I didn't forget his earring though :)

I have been working on Maul in his spider form, aka spider!maul. 😅 I have maintained my sanity so far. There is no character sheet to help, I have him posed so strangely, but it works for him lol

If he looks like a hot mess, it's accurate, right?? Wires everywhere. But I have kept it more 'simplified' because I still want him to be colored and not the cause of someone running away screaming at the sight of the page.

If you're interested in supporting, and inturn receiving this coloring book, please check out my post here for more details ✨

[dbfandom]

Hey, I'm back!!

I wanted to show you guys how the ship or character centric stuff can be signaled, and how to read adverts by doujinshi people.

Here's an ad for nijidama's available books for this week's event.

How to read: Top: date, name of the event, booth number (aka where this person will be selling their books)

Title of the book (the words between those strange brackets, those are Japanese quotation marks); here it roughly says "Get together! Goten's day" (Goten is written in Hiragana and not with his kanji)

Format, page count, media, medium. Japan, like the rest of the civilized world ( ;-) ), uses international paper systems. (A5 is roughly half an US Letter and B5 is roughly comic book size)

By "media", I mean whether it's a manga, a novel, an illustration book / artbook of sorts... (in this case they're all manga).

By "medium", I mean the type of physical good. They're all Ondema except for the last one which is Copy. Ondema means on demand, which means ordered through a printer with a special binding (aka this was printed offset). Copy means it's stappled (copy magazine).

Characters and restrictions.

Here it's "Goten centric" (literally: Goten (kanji) - middle/center - heart) and it's "all ages" (all of these are all ages. Other otherwise see R15 or R18)

Price (in yen of course) + a little blurb about what's inside (this one in particular is about Xeno Goten yeeting across timelines to grab other Gotens lol I can't wait to buy it)

You can check previews of that book here if you want.

Now let's focus on these on the bottom row:

This is Trunks & Goten (non ship)

This is Trunks x Goten (ship, i mean, they're holding hands!!! )

This is Tapion & Minoshia (transcribed as Minotia) (non ship)

If you get to follow people who sell their doujins, you'll sometimes see "there's no CP element". CP in this case means Coupling (aka ships), not child pornography XD

Cat for scale:

Like what I do? Consider buying me a ko-fi! One kofi buys me one or two doujinshi actually!

[justawrites]

Preview lmao that feeling when you discover the Bishops still have their magic-

Tragically I've had to stop after a page and a half bc my pen and my tablet are both almost dead, but! I am giving you a sequel because I've wanted to share this little story of mine for ages now lol

... Also yeah it's important that the Lamb is not listening to what past!Nari is saying here-