#their noses are literally triangles lol

[themyscirah]

I WAS DOODLING COMIC STUFF ON MY NOTES BUT IM LEFT HANDED AND SMUDGED IT AND NOW KYLE LOOKS LIKE A VAMPIRE IN MY CUTE LITTLE KYLEALEX DOODLE NOOOOOO

[themetalhiro]

Your art is so SHAPED!!!!

I love it <3

Any tips on how you got it so shaped?

Thank you so much!!! Haha ive been getting this comment alot and i THINK i have a grasp on what it means! Ill try my best to explain- using some one piece sketches since thats what Ive got on hand.

My first piece of advice is, dont be afraid to go ugly first! When sketching, youre sketching, and every sketch doesnt need to be finished eventually. This is kinda hard sometimes but i believe if you over work a sketch trying to get the first one perfect, things can come out really stiff!

these are the sketches I was playing with when learning to draw sanji. The 3 in bold I used, but the other ones got tossed - either too stiff or too exaggerated or just didnt match his vibe!

Thats the first step. But when it comes to the literal *shapes* picking the right shape has to do with not only their personality, but how they move as a character. And I think this should be applied *after* getting flow down first. I feel sometimes when an artist tries to stick hard to drawing nothing but x character in x shape things come out sort of stiff. (NOT pleased with the way i drew Zoro in the bottom right.)

But the actual shapes… thats up to what you think works on a character! I went with triangles with rounded corners on Sanji. I felt it would flatter his hair nicely, as well as his slim build and pointy ass shoes. Usopp felt more round and oblong to better suit his nose and the curves in his outfit- and zoro is all squares baby! Sturdy and built like a brick shithouse. But these are just my interpretations!

Anywayssss,,,,,,, hope this was somewhat helpful and not just a huge wall of text, lol! Thanks for your support! :]

[hobiesdump]

How are you even cooler under your mask? (Headcanon edition. Canon's Razor version here)

Warning- i cannot decide what to do with Hobie's pronouns

Some context - I'm so here for the headcanon that Gwen was gushing bout Miles to Hobie while she crashed there. Totally accidentally hyping him up and getting um excited to meet him.

-First taking off the mask

'Ok. Keep it steady. Don't seem too eager to know what he looks like'

-Noticing Miles looking to final frame before Miles says it

Glancing over all chill and casual. Even adjusting the nose piercing with a potentially unattractive face (lol sorry, Hobie. Miles maybe thought you were winking at him)

-The first and last frame of Miles saying it with some well lit ones between

-The first frame and 3 after Miles says it

But then Miles has absolutely zero chill. Does not control his expression. Just straight up calls him cool. Not hiding a damn thing and Hobie cracks lol (Miles looks like 'it's literally not even fair how cool you are')

-In summary~

-Hobie's so upset to be going into the spiders' den without clear allies and then Miles thinks he's cool and e just lights up and it's so adorable

Some further headcanon context: I think Hobie tried too hard to be impressive, made Miles feel inferior and defensive, misread that defensiveness as playful teasing and reciprocated what was actually antagonism. This moment was a second chance for first impressions. Miles had really not been picking up on what icebreakers Hobie had been laying down so there was no reason to expect things to go so well so fast.

(And I have several additional notes depending on what multiverse we've stumbled into. I'll start from my least favorite so the post ends on the best note imo)

-Hobie clocked Gwen for the failed ally that she's being and came into this knowing e was going to be the only person actually looking out for Miles. This would make first impressions super important and Hobie probably had already realized a few mistakes were made while masked up. Of course it would be immensely relieving to know that things weren't already horribly damaged between them!

-Shipper Hobie. Especially if Hobie is actually older, e's just doing is best to be a good wing spider to Gwen. Hobie makes sure not to place emself between the two (ok once in the panic of Mumbattan and once to allow Miles to shove im). They even consistently walk ahead of them so they can be as alone together as is possible in a crowded place. The only time they walk without Miles is when Gwen hurried to catch up. (And this isn't because Miles is putting himself between them intentionally. I don't think that ever happens)

-Polyamory mission. Gwen is down for it and Hobie just needs to play it cool enough that they can build up to talking to Miles about it without freaking him out. The main focus would have probably been just making sure he didn't feel so threatened that Gwen seeing other people wouldn't be cool. But then Miles thinks Hobie is cool. And then oh no he's cute. Maybe there's a chance for turning that potential poly angle into a potential poly triangle and the plan has definitely evolved.

[starbylers]

How Mike, Will & El's season 4 intro sequences are all connected (and what that says about the love triangle)

The first we see of Will is him painting. We know how significant that painting is, it’s a representation of his love for Mike. Literally his entire story this season.

The first shot we see of El begins with her “Mike box”, also an expression of her feelings towards Mike, a large part of her character arc this season. I think it’s important to notice that unlike Will, El isn’t actually shown working on the box; instead the first thing we see her doing is intently painting her Hopper figurine and facing the opposite direction.

Both of their intros are clearly a nod to their emotional conflicts involving Mike:

Will's is showing that he's trying to hide and express his feelings for Mike simultaneously. He's very visually obscured in these shots, and we obviously only see snippets of the painting, it's meant to create an atmosphere of secrecy—but at the same time there's super close-ups of his eyes/face and hands, which also gives an impression of intimacy. So we've got secrecy and intimacy as themes pertaining to his feelings surrounding this painting aka his feelings surrounding Mike.

El's is showing that she's idealising and romanticising her relationship; having a sort of shrine to her boyfriend proudly on display meanwhile we know she's a) been lying to him and b) is actually upset with him. Also, the mini Hopper she’s busy creating may be a hint as to what she really wants/needs emotionally underneath the showiness of her “love” for Mike i.e. having her dad back.

El & Will's intros are both visual representations of where their heads are at concerning romance aka concerning Mike. They're both keeping secrets but choosing different methods to cover them up. Will is more literally hiding; hiding his painting from El, hiding his feelings in the painting, whereas El is sort of embellishing and overcompensating for the unhappiness she's feeling about Mike (and life in general, including Hopper's death). Also, the very first thing we see both Will and El doing is painting but while Will’s is about his feelings towards Mike, El’s is about her (familial) feelings towards Hopper. I just thought that was an interesting comparison.

And then we have Mike. The pattern should follow that Mike’s intro shot/sequence is also a hint as to where he stands in this triangle, where he's at emotionally and mentally concerning his girlfriend and best friend. Or more specifically what secrets he is keeping about them, just as they are about him.

There he is…reading El’s letter...decorated with rainbows. We are shown literal rainbows (!!) right before the camera pans to his face. Where he is framed perfectly in the open closet.

Of course this stuff is well known already and the symbolic implications are obvious, but thinking about it in relation to Will & El’s intro sequences just makes it's significance even more clear. A few things:

Mike's face, in fact most of his body, is extremely obscured by shadow. This would be an odd choice for the very first shot of one of the main characters in the very first episode, if not symbolising that something about Mike is being hidden this season. And we know it has to be related to El & Will—they're his entire plot. Also it just tracks with the theme of secret-keeping established not just with El & Will but literally every other character on the show.

It's a letter from El sure, but as opposed to El & Will's intros we don't have any overt indicators of how he's feelings towards her. All we have is him reading meanwhile there’s rainbows right under his nose and a closet at the back of his head. Lol.

It’s more telling what Mike doesn't do, the stuff you have to pay attention to realise. In the next shot we see that unlike El he doesn't have a trace of her in his room, only the letter which he promptly crumples up and throws on the floor.

We see El's feelings towards Mike. We see Will's feelings towards Mike. And then we see Mike thoughtlessly discard El’s expression of feelings to him, whilst having no expression of his feelings toward her to speak of. Along with the 🚪/🌈 symbolism? Oh I can't wait for season 5.

[briocheminded]

19th century rabbit hole

Digging around for unrelated info led me down a funny Detective Anna rabbit hole (or a rabbit hole led me to Detective Anna? idk).

In s2 ep11, "The Last Sacrifice", Krutin poisons Anton and leads Shtolman on a scavenger hunt for the antidote. An early scene starts with a beggar (to use a 19th c word) reading a book out loud in the barracks (?), poor house (?). The cover is hard to see, but you can kind of make out "лать," leading me to assume it was Lenin's "что делать" in a kind of intentional/tongue-in-cheek anachronism, since the real book wasn't published until 1901.

BUT, come to find out today there was an earlier book called "что делать" / "What Is To Be Done?" published 1863, by Nikolay Chernyshevsky?? (Look, I've heard of him, ok) Sure enough, a closer look at the book cover and I'm pretty sure the last letters of the authors name are "вский"??

Two fun discoveries in that:

s2 ep13 "The Living Dead" was probably at least slightly inspired by the plot of the Chernyshevsky book, in which a man fakes his own death in order to let his wife marry his best friend with whom she has fallen in love. Doesn't seem like a huge stretch since s1's "The Drama" is very obviously (and meta-textually) "The Seagull."

Per Wikipedia, Chernyshevsky's novel was written as a direct response to Turgenev's "Fathers and Sons," which also features a love triangle, where the young woman/subject of the son's affection falls in love with the son's radical best friend. Except Turgenev's love triangle is resolved when the radical gets what he deserves (lol) and dies. This is all only relevant because Anton reveals Shtolman is reading "Fathers and Sons" when he's arrested in s1's "The Prince".

It's kind of interesting they have Shtolman reading that particular book. Maybe it's just period appropriate and famous? "Crime and Punishment" would be a little too on the nose, lol. It's also a family/romance melodrama, which obviously DA heavily relies on.

But there are other novels they could have chosen... the show very lightly (very lightly) touches on themes of tradition vs modernity. The very first episode features the arrival of a bicycle! Kluyev is bringing electricity to Zatonsk! And a phonograph! And of course, much more so in s2, where I assume by 1894 it's basically impossible to ignore the very serious social/economic/political issues of Tsarist Russia? So it makes sense that between Shtolman and Anna, being diametrically opposed in almost every way, he would be associated with a more traditional/conservative perspective (he literally represents law and order), where Anna is constantly aware of the plight of the poor, and women's subjugated status under patriarchy.

Annnnyway, rabbit hole indeed.

In closing, sharing this amusing thumbnail from imdb. Between the cross-faded images and the title, it looks like Shtolman is dead and visiting Anna as a ghost. Of course, still grumpy af.

[concreteburialplot]

VIRALITY // 08

08 - Play Along

pairing: noah sebastian x fem!oc / nicholas ruffilo x fem!oc

word count: 5.3k

masterlist/intro: here | crossposted: ao3

warnings; irritating moody noah lol, angry/jealous nicholas, alcohol, noah teaching how to play pool, creepy guy at bar, implied past SA experiences, physical fight, blood, love triangle a brewin', 18+ ONLY MDNI

a/n: don’t be mean for no reason & let others enjoy things thnx :)

VALLIE

Noah somehow convinced me to drive us to a bar down the street from the warehouse where we were brainstorming with Bryan.

“So, remind me why you couldn’t have just driven here yourself?” I asked, looking over at him in the passenger seat of my rental car.

“I don’t have a car.” He replies flatly.

“You’re a world famous rockstar, and you don’t have a car?”

I hadn’t notice just how tattooed his hands are until I catch them moving up and down his thighs. The small action reminds me of ways I soothe my anxiety, especially in stressful work meetings.

“Not ‘world famous’, nobody even knew who we were til last month.” He’s quick to correct me and his grumpy tone makes it transparent that he’s still annoyed about getting kicked out by Bryan.

“Right.” I reply shortly.

I pull up to the small seedy bar Noah directed me to. It’s nestled within a larger strip of restaurants and shops. The random tiny city we’re in is not nearly as busy as LA and the buildings are all rustic and brick.

I’m not even parked a whole minute before Noah has already slammed his door behind him and headed towards the front door. At this point I should just expect to have to babysit every single grown man in this fucking band.

When I walk into the establishment, I’m smacked in the face by thick cigarette smoke and my face twists in disgust. It’s packed for 2pm on a Tuesday and almost every single patron is accompanied by a lit cigarette. I spot Noah at the bar already, just receiving his first full beer.

“A cosmopolitan please.” The words can’t come out fast enough, I need alcohol more than air itself right now. The bartender nods and starts curating my order.

Noah scoffs, “A cosmopolitan really? Could you get any more pretentious?”

“Oh my god.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Could you just shut up for literally like 5 minutes?” Right on cue the bartender places down a stemless martini glass with transparent red liquid. “At least it’s better that some basic ass beer.” I take a long sip of my ice-cold drink and alleviation begins the moment the alcohol meets my tongue.

He finishes the last of his beer and lands it hard on the wooden tabletop. “Fine. Whiskey and Coke please.”

“What is your deal huh, why are we here? What exactly are we doing?” I ask the obvious, finishing my own drink already and gesturing to the bartender for another.

He lifts his new glass, “You’re looking at it, Thornhill.”

My brows immediately scrunch together, “How do you know my last name?”

“You think you’re the only one who does their homework?” He asks ironically. “You do work with us after all.”

Both of our new drinks are halfway gone already with replacements on the way. Getting plastered midday on a Tuesday with my most infuriating client in some hole in the wall California bar was not on my bingo card for the week. But these boys keep surprising me, it’s almost refreshing. Almost.

Noah is quick to get started on the fresh drink in front of him, maybe too fast. The glass hadn’t even hit the table before it was half gone.

The numbing already growing in my fingers reminds me that all I had for breakfast was a green juice. Noah’s eyes travel over the bar and land on something across the room then back on me. His eyes are mischievous and playful, “You know how to play pool?” His lips spread into a competitive smirk.

I raise my brows at him. The man that was just 30 minutes ago arguing with me about music video lighting now wants to play pool?

“You want to play pool… right now?”

He laughs, which makes me realize I’d never heard him laugh. It’s nice. If I wasn’t already so exhausted by his bullshit already, it might’ve even made me smile.

“So, you don’t know how to play is what you’re telling me.” He slips off the stool and grabs my arm dragging me off my own.

“Hey, hey!” I smack his hand off my burgundy blazer, “This is designer, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t get your bourbon-y fingers all over it.”

His eyes roll so hard I think they might fall out. “Oh, so sorry princess.” He raised his hands up in defense. “Wouldn’t want to get your Prada dirty.”

While derogatory, the nickname makes my cheeks heat up but I’m not quite sure why. “It’s YSL actually.” I correct him, not that it matters but I guess when you pay almost $4000 for a jacket, it seems like it matters.

“See? Pretentious.” He points at me before going over to the table to set up the game.

I brought our drinks and my bag over to a wooden chair just behind the tables so I could keep a close eye on them. I decide that between the weak airflow in the bar and the sticky surfaces that it would be best to shed the jacket. I slip it off my arms and immediately remember that the blazer was essential to the look, since I only have a black lace corset underneath. But with the 4? 5? drinks I’ve had, I don’t care right now.

“Okay so since you don’t know how to-” Noah turns to look at me and seems to forget his words, he just blinks at me with a deer-in-headlights look.

I step closer to him, “Ya know, it’s not polite to stare.” I say in a hushed tone and poke his pointy nose. Whether or not he is actually looking at me like that, doesn’t matter, my confidence is boosted regardless. Surviving in an industry like the one we’re means walking a fine line between power and control. Men are easy to control when you know how to use assets correctly. And right now, he’s looking at the assets on my lace-covered chest.

“What were you saying again?” I ask, putting my weight on my palms at the edge of the table and leaning forward.

He clears his throat and diverts his eyes away from my cleavage. He directs me to a triangle filled with variously colored balls, some solid, some striped and all with numbers on them. “So basically, you want to get all your designated balls into the holes.” He hands me a long stick, “This is a cue, this is what you’ll use.”

“Got it.”

He perks up a brow above an eye, “You’ve really never played before?”

“Nope.” I take a sip of my potent drink without breaking eye contact with him. “Never thought I’d like it. I’ve watched exes play though. Seemed lame.” I say, sounding more apathetic than I actually am.

“Alright well,” He tugs at the hem of his long band shirt, “You might like it.” He knocks back the last of his drink and holds out a hand to me, “You want a refill?”

I drink the last bit of my own, letting the ice slide down the glass and sit on my numbing lips for just a second before handing it to him. “Please, thank you.”

The minute he leaves me, I become very aware that I’m the only female in the dark bar and every set of eyes is on me. I cross my arms over my chest and retract into myself.

Not long after Noah returns, we start playing. He explained how he “broke” the triangle and he ended up being solids which meant that I’m stripes. After a very bad attempt at hitting a ball, he decided I wasn’t doing well.

“No, no, no.” He waves me off before my stick touches the white cue ball. “Here, I can help.” He rounds the table and stands behind me. I obviously knew he was taller than me, but it isn’t until just now that I realize just how much taller he is than me – the top of my head barely meets his shoulders. And the boots I’m wearing have heels, making me even taller than normal. His sizeable hand runs down my spine and hooks it around my hip to readjust my position. His other arm goes to help adjust my arm that’s holding the stick. I can’t tell if it’s the alcohol, but my skin is burning anywhere he’s touching me and the way his hand engulfs my hip completely sends a buzzing between my legs. His fingertips are mere centimeters away from my core and I am extremely aware of it.

“See, not so bad.” He smiles, pulling away from me and it’s only then that I notice he actually helped me hit the ball.

My eyes linger on him longer than they should’ve. It must be this dim bar lighting and the copious alcohol I’ve had that is making see him through a new filter. His smile meets his eyes and he’s just so…bright. His chocolate eyes are so welcoming and kind, a stark contrast to how harsh and cold they are normally. He’s so much more attractive when he’s not scowling at everything I say.

“What?” He wipes off his mouth with the back of his hand. “Do I have something on my face or something?”

“No, no.” I shake the thoughts from my head. “I just don’t think I’ve ever really seen you smile.” I blurt out stupidly. “It’s pretty.”

He rolls his eyes walking over to the other edge, “Shut up.”

“What?” I ask walking over to where he’s lining up his cue to the ball. His tongue his tightly held in thought between his lips.

The cue ball clashes into a grouping and sends balls flying across the table, some landing in holes. “You’re still on your boyband bullshit.” His voice gained his usual attitude once again with a bit of drunken slur.

“What?” I shake my head, “No, no. I’m not talking about that.” I chase after him around the table. “I mean it.”

Though I should’ve taken the excuse he provided himself as to why I was even paying attention to his smile in the first place.

The long-haired boy holds his cue stick like staff looking at me with an unconvinced look. “Don’t say things you don’t mean, Vallie.” He says in a deep gravelly voice that almost sounds like a threat.

My eyes widen slightly when I look up at him. “I meant it.” I repeat softly, this time with a somewhat intimidated undertone.

He eyes me beneath a skeptical propped brow like I just told him something completely out of the realm of possibility. “Let’s just get back to playing.” He grumbles and walks over to finish off drink.

I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. Similar to Nicholas, Noah also has a sort of whiplash duality, just different. I see tiny peeks of a sunshine-y Noah hidden beneath his grouchy storm-cloud persona. It makes me wonder what it would take to see more of the Noah that was just joking and smiling with me.

After another round or two and various refills later, I’m winning. Again.

“How are you winning when you just learned how to play?” Noah asks, pushing himself off the pool table. “Are you conning me or something?” His voice now has a thick, noticeable slur to it, but I don’t think much of it.

I giggle, “No. I just like to win.”

He scoffs playfully and grabs his own glass with my empty one. “You sure you don’t want another?”

I bite down on my thumbnail thinking, but ultimately refuse. “Nah I’m good for now.” I’ve hit the fine line of if I have another, I could get sloppy. Sloppy mixed with what I felt earlier with his hand on my hip could get me in trouble.

He nods and heads to the bar. I pull my phone from where I tucked it in the waistband of skirt and rest against the table as I scroll through emails I’d missed. Suddenly, I feel a presence that definitely isn’t Noah’s. It’s larger, meaner, and darker.

“That your boyfriend with you darlin?” Speaks a low southern accent. His words seem harmless, but I can tell by his tone that he’s not.

My eyes rise to meet him, he towers over me about as tall as Noah maybe an inch or two more. He might be as tall as Noah, but he’s about double his size, wide and muscular. His face is angular and sharp, adorned with middle-aged wrinkles. My gaze glances down to notice that he’s holding two drinks, one that looks like the one I’ve been drinking all day.

I keep an arm around my waist, my phone open facing me and prop a brow at him. “Maybe. What’s it to you?” I neither confirm nor deny out of caution.

“Well, I was thinkin’ you could have a drink with me.” He holds out the similar-looking drink. “The bartender told me you’ve been drinking cosmopolitans.”

I analyze the martini glass within a quarter of a second – the red liquid is dull, murky and the ice is bobbing at the bottom. I’ve lived alone in big cities long enough to know not to take drinks from strange men, especially when they look suspicious. I’ve dated enough men to know what this familiar uneasy feeling in my stomach means. My thumb maneuvers slowly and discreetly to my camera app and hit record. I would send my location to someone, if I had someone to send it to.

I smile politely, “I’m okay but thank you.”

As I predicted his energy shifts and he steps towards me, “Oh c’mon pretty girl, it’s not very nice to refuse a free drink.”

The fear coiling around my spine forces me to fake a laugh, “I’ve really had enough, but thank you.”

He steps even closer backing me into the pool table, the curved wooden corner digs into my lower back. The bar is so busy that nobody is taking notice of what he’s doing.

“I don’t think you heard me, it’s not nice to refuse a free drink.” He says lowly within the small space between us. “We could just play a round of pool and have a good time.”

The walls begin to cave in on me and air is vacating my lungs. I’m paralyzed, panicking and my heart is racing so fast I fear it may tear through my ribcage.

From the moment he was just near me I knew, I just knew.

I always know.

“I’m just not interested, I’m sorry.” The words slip from me quickly and I brace for verbal impact.

He bridges the little gap that’s left between us and sets each drink at each side of my hips, caging me in with my arms wrapped around my body and my phone still recording. “You think you’re better off with that toothpick of a date you have?” He hisses.

Right on cue Noah returns, “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

I must’ve really been working off survival muscle memory because I had completely forgotten Noah was with me until just now.

The mystery man pulls back from me with the biggest bullshit smile on his harsh face. “Oh, I was just offerin’ your friend here a drink.” He raises the drink to him.

I chuckle nervously and wave him away, “It’s alright Noah, it’s fine, he was just being nice.” I scratch my arm anxiously. I want the interaction to be over and I’m not expecting Noah to defend me, he barely likes me as a person.

“No Vallie, I saw him.” He sets down his beer and points a finger at him. “You were being fucking creepy.” His drunken voice is rising, and I’m scared that it’s only going to make the situation worse.

The man chuckles at Noah like he’s a puppy barking at mountain lion. “What is this your girlfriend or something?” He asks as though that it’s something he hadn’t already suspected.

Noah briefly glances at me then back at him, “Yes, as a matter a fact she is.” He states assertively but his poker face isn’t that good. I’m surprised that he’s even gone this far to defend me but I’m appreciative.

He laughs even harder, “Oh you really expect me to think a girly twig like you can pull a girl like her?”

Noah doesn’t skip a beat, “You think a meathead asshole like you could pull a woman like her?”

While Noah is scrawny compared to this traditionally “macho man”, I think that was the manliest thing I’ve ever seen a man do for me.

However, it is painfully clear how drunk Noah is by the way he chooses to get in this huge man’s face.

“You’d better fucking watch it, Toothpick.” He growls in his face, then breaks eye contact with Noah to look over at me. “This pathetic joke of a man is your boyfriend?”

Noah doesn’t waver, doesn’t back down with tight fists at his sides but I can’t take it anymore. I may not get along with him, but he doesn’t deserve to be insulted like this on my behalf.

“Yes.” I say confidently with a straightened back, even though it couldn’t be farther from the truth. “Yes, actually, he is. And I’ll prove it.”

I instantly realize that I have no idea how exactly to prove it. So, I go with the first thing I think of within a split second.

I give Noah a brief look that says play along – though, I’m not sure he had enough time to understand the message because when I stand on my tippy toes, take his face in my hands, and land my lips into his, he freezes.

It feels like time freezes too as my eyes flutter closed and I melt into the kiss. Drunk in this shady bar, in this shitty scary situation, right now, it feels like it’s just me and Noah. In this moment, with our lips locked, the bar is quiet, everything is calm, and it feels really fucking good to win at pool. I can’t tell if the swirling in my tummy is from the panic or from something else entirely.

When I finally pull from him, my brows can’t help but furrow together in confusion. He looks back at me with a similar expression – though it’s hard to really decipher any real reactions in his glazed over eyes.

What the fuck was that?

The asshole is visibly over the charade. “What the fuck ever. Maybe next time you shouldn’t let your slut of a girlfriend leave the house looking like a whore.”

Before I even have time to process what he just said, Noah’s fist swings and crashes into Mystery Man’s face.

“Oh my god.” I gasp and bring a hand over to cover my mouth in shock.

It takes a second for the muscular man to react, his hand immediately going to his now bleeding nose. He doesn’t fully realize his condition until he holds out his fingers covered in blood.

His mean eyes then land on Noah like he’s a bullseye target. “You little fucking shit.” The man charges at him and in the blink of an eye, he’s on top of Noah on the ground just pummeling into his face.

“Noah!” I run over to him, not really knowing exactly what I could do.

Luckily, we’d already garnered the attention of the whole bar, so other similar sized patrons were able to pull the man off Noah before he had time to do worse damage. They drag him to the opposite corner of the bar and they fade into the background with my focus now being on Noah.

“Fuck Noah.” I mutter as I land on my knees near his head. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” I stammer frantically looking around at what I could use to help him. The workers near us must’ve read my mind because they brought over a huge stack of napkins. “Fuck, I’m so sorry.”

He says nothing and flutters his glossy eyes closed when I start to clean him up. He winces when I dab the blood gushing from his nose. “I’m sorry.” I repeat breathlessly, trying my hardest to keep a panic attack away. He flinches a bit when I try to gently wipe his busted lip. “Sorry.” I repeat again, because what else am I supposed to say to someone who just got beaten up because of me. I don’t dare go near his already swollen eye until I get access to some ice… or maybe some frozen peas.

“Should I call Nicholas? Or Jolly?” I ask meekly, folding the napkin within my hands.

Noah groans. “Nicholas.” He brings his hand to his forehead. “Don’t call Jolly. He’ll kill us.”

Us

There’s something about that word in that statement. I can’t explain it, but it seems so much bigger than just Noah and I.

Before he finishes his statement, I’ve already texted Nicholas. I’m surprised at how quickly he responded and even more surprised when he says that he’s not even 5 minutes away.

“Nicholas is here? He said he’s visiting a friend at a tattoo shop in this strip.”

“How convenient.” He grumbles sarcastically and uses his hand to cover his eyes.

When I return my gaze to him, I notice his bloody and bruising knuckles. “Oh my god your hand!” I gasp and take his hand in mine. I urgently steal the condensation off a nearby beer glass to wet a clean napkin and use it to delicately clean each knuckle. An overwhelming sense of guilt fills my chest, and another even worse feeling wraps itself around my throat with thorns. My heartbeat begins thumping so hard I can hear it in my ears and I’m trying my hardest to steady my now trembling hands.

He peeks an eye at me while keeping the other scrunched closed. “Are you okay?” His voice is soft with an inflection reminiscent of concern.

My eyes begin to burn the minute he acknowledges my panic and only makes everything worse. I focus intently on where the napkin is meeting his skin. “Mhm.” I know the moment I open my mouth to speak any semblance of emotional control would disappear. I discreetly attempt to stabilize my breathing so that it might tether me back to earth.

“Hey,” His brows knit together and lifts himself up onto his elbows. I never let go of his hand. His other hand finds my chin and gently redirects my gaze to him. “What’s wrong?”

My eyes fill with tears but immediately screw shut in a last-ditch effort to keep my composure. I rarely cry and even more seldom do I cry in front of others. And here am I, about to cry in front of the person I least want to.

The lump in my throat is painful and I try to swallow it down in an attempt to keep my tears at bay. “I’m fine, just let me keep cleaning you up.” My cracking voice gives away just how close I am to unraveling. A tear escapes me and I’m quick to wipe it off with the back of my hand.

He sternly but gently grasps my wrist to stop me from continuing. “I’m not letting you keep going until you tell me what’s wrong.”

“I don’t know… a panic attack maybe?” A couple more tears escape, and I swiftly wipe them away. “You don’t deserve this, this is all my fault.” My eyes fall back down to his bloody hand in my own. “You look like this, because of me.”

He sits up more, analyzing. I can feel him dissecting me – even though we’re both drunk, it feels like he can see right through me. “I think it’s more than that Val. What’s up?”

That’s the first time I’ve heard my name come out of his mouth without some sort of insult attached to it. It sounds nice. I wouldn’t mind hearing it that way again.

My breathing is slowing down marginally, and I choose to ignore that his touch might have something to do with it. Surely it couldn’t have anything to do with it, right?

I take a deep inhale in preparation to speak without crying. I hold his bruised hand carefully with both of mine. I keep my attention on my thumb that is grazing across the black ink on his fingers. “Um.” I press my lips together and take another breath through my nose. He gives me my time, doesn’t rush or interrupt. “I don’t want to talk about it,” I hear my own voice crack and it feels like I’m somehow betraying myself by crying. “But, it’s not the first time something like…that has happened.” I blink some tears from my eyes and still focus on his hand. My voice is small and quiet, not the way I ever like to hear it. “It’s not even the second or third. And they’ve all been so much worse.” I let out a sad, sobby chuckle. “Which is why me crying about this is so fucking stupid because this was nothing. Worse things happen to people all the time and this was just some guy being a creep and–“

“Hey,” He rests his free hand on top of my own that were fidgeting more than I’d realized. “It wasn’t nothing. It was something. Something worth getting in a fight for. Okay?”

“It just shouldn’t be this upset over something so small.” My voice is not even a whisper. “It’s my fault.”

Weak

Is the only thing that is repeating in my head over and over.

I could’ve gotten myself out of the situation sooner.

I shouldn’t have frozen up.

I should’ve just taken the drink.

It didn’t have to escalate to that point.

I could’ve handled it on my own.

I shouldn’t be crying.

I was weak.

I am weak.

Weak.

Weak.

Weak.

He sits up and takes my chin into his fingers, titling my face up to meet his. The growing swelling all over his face only makes me feel worse. “You’re not stupid and it’s not your fault.” I know he’s trying to keep it together for me, but I can tell he’s struggling to form and deliver coherent sentences. “I don’t need to know any of the other instances to know that you were never stupid or that anything was your fault. Okay?”

I nod but it’s not enough for him. “I need to hear it.” The look in his chocolate eyes is one I haven’t seen in him before. Even behind his drunken daze and black eye, his eyes are genuine, kind, and concerned. A warmth blooms in my chest – it reminds me of when you’re running from the rain, and you rush into the safety of your car. That feeling of reaching a warm, safe place, that’s what I feel.

“Okay.” I reply quietly. “Thank you.”

While Noah is mere inches away from my face with his hand on my cheek, I hear a familiar voice. “What the fuck.” States an already irritated Nicholas.

Our eyes snap up at him and Noah instantly pulls away as if he has something to hide. Nicholas’ eyes shift between us, seemingly trying to decide which to address first.

“What the fuck did you do Noah.” His tone is immediately defensive.

Noah sloppily falls back onto the floor. His eyes go back to focusing on the ceiling. With Nicholas here, he looks unimpressed, maybe aggravated – definitely aggravated. For the person he told me to call, he seems quite unhappy that he’s here.

“No, no, it’s my fault.” I stop him before he continues to blame Noah. “He was protecting me.” I lower my voice into a whisper for the second half, “He helped me.”

“Bull fucking shit.” He sighs then the crouches down to inspect Noah further. He carefully pushes some bloody hairs away from his face, Nicholas’ touch on him is gentler than even mine. He gets a clear view of Noah’s face, it’s adorned with a black eye, a bruised nose covered in dried blood and a gashed open bottom lip.

“Do you think he’ll have to get that stitched up?” I bring up my thumb and chew on a freshly manicured nail.

He tugs at the injured boy’s lip looking at it closer, “No he’s fucking fine.”

While Nicholas is visibly angry, he seems oddly calm, at least calmer that I expected. I suppose it makes sense though, I’m sure this isn’t his first rodeo with a drunken Noah in a bar fight.

He lets go of his lip letting it harshly snap back into place earning a whine from Noah. “Hey!”

Nicholas stands up straight and offers me a hand to get myself up. Once I’m up in front of him, he gives me a once over, probably questioning my outfit of a lace corset and a skirt. “What were you guys doing here?” He questions angrily and closes a bit of the space between us.

“It’s a long story.” Between the alcohol, the fight, and my fading panic attack, I don’t have the energy to go through it all. He goes to argue with me, and I shut him down, mirroring his low grumbly voice. “I’ll explain later.”

His thick brows fall straight, evidently not liking my answer. He takes a moment, as if he’s trying to decide on the next thing to say without pissing me off. “He could’ve gotten you hurt. He could’ve hurt you.”

I scrunch my brows up at him. Sure, I’ve seen Noah storm out of numerous doors, and I saw him get a little abrasive with Bryan earlier, but would he actually hurt someone? Would he have hurt me?

“He didn’t, Nicholas.” I place my hand softly on his chest in an effort to calm him down. “Believe it or not… he saved me.” The sentence surprises even me as I say it.

Skepticism plasters itself across his face. “Saved you from what exactly?”

My eyes flutter to the ground and the same panicky feeling from before spins behind my ribcage. “It doesn’t matter.” I wave away the technicalities. “Point is, he didn’t do anything wrong. You should let up on him.”

He gives me a you’ve-gotta-be-shitting-me look.

The man from before – which I learned from the guys that pulled him away earlier, that his name was Mike – is being escorted out of the bar by two men who look like security guards.

“Oh, so you didn’t just need one scrawny bitch you needed two?” He practically spits at me while wiggling beneath the guard’s grip.

“Excuse me?” Nicholas snaps immediately turning to narrow his eyes at the man.

He laughs, “This one’s even more pathetic.”

I’m not sure why that, out of everything, fills me with the most rage of all. Anger spreads through me like electricity and every cell in my body propels me towards him.

An arm hooks around my waist and recoils me backwards before my fists can reach his body. Even though Nicholas is shorter than Noah, he still towers over me, and I must look tiny in his arms.

Mike mocks me while the guards try to urge him towards the door.

“Shut the fuck up! Don’t fucking talk about them like that!” I struggle trying to escape from Nick’s surprisingly strong arms.

“Hey, hey calm down,” Nicholas hushes me with a little chuckle. “I got you.” His hand gives my side a reassuring little squeeze. “It’s okay.”

Once Mike is completely out of the bar a heavy weight is lifted from my chest and I can finally breathe again. Whether on purpose or by chance, Nicholas’ arm is still wrapped around me, but I don’t mind it. His warmth is comfortable against the frigid air of the bar. It feels nice, like a shelter.

Only then does it occur to me that any sort of panic or fear I was feeling before was soothed by him. In his arms I feel safe, and it reminds me of the way I felt with Noah earlier.

“C’mon asshole,” Nicholas snaps at Noah who’s looking half dead, still laying on the ground.

Noah covers his mouth and squeezes his eyes closed, “I’m gonna need a fucking trashcan.”

“Enough with the dramatics.” Nicholas rolls his eyes, and I can practically feel the impatience and aggravation radiating from his body. “Get the fuck up so I can get us home.”

There is that word again: us.

Us.

It’s a just small detail of wording but for whatever reason, I cling onto it like it means something.

Maybe my time with them won’t be as fleeting as I thought it would be.

next chapter -> 09 - Lavender Haze

tag list; @ladyveronikawrites @kingdomof-omens @persuasivus @strawberryruffilo [comment if you'd like to be tagged?]

A/N: The love for this story has honestly been so overwhelming (in a good way obv) and I couldn't be more grateful. I really thought this would flop lol so, thank you so much for every like, reblog, ask, or comment. It means the world to me truly. Thank you.

i love hearing your thoughts so feel free to share! (i'm really bad at responding to asks but i still love them 😅 i'm so sorry)

ALSO! Thank you so much for the love on my new series, Intertwined 💗 New chapter coming soon! 💗

[neonmetro]

HII ive been a huge fan of your art for forever and i never get tired of seeing it in my feed. you have this very specific style of design and composition (the fonts, the colors, the symbols) that scratches my brain really hard and i'd love to hear about the thoughts behind them!!!!

AHHH THANK YOU !!!!!!!!!! ofc :D i hope you don't mind the rambling

i'll be very honest most of my compositions just follow the triangle rule (making poses follow a triangle) and filling up the page (with text, icons, etc) and lots of going back and forth seeing whether or not smth looks good 😭 like spending literal hours on the placement of sparkles

i REALLY like using text in my art and i usually have a certain phrase or highly specific vibe where i'll then go and look for a quote that'll fit that vibe and i'll usually place it somewhere midway through lineart

i kind of use the same few fonts and i think its pretty noticeable (kozuka mincho std h, hanmingwang mainly) but its mainly bc i can use it for both chinese and english words, i think it gives off a really cool vibe to use both languages with fonts that have serifs

i also just. make shit up as i go tbh i usually draw the pose first and have to work a background around it and maybe add some sparkles to fill some more space

the ahab piece i just knew i wanted waves at her feet and the composition to feel like its at sea, with her hair mimicking oceans. once i was done rendering the fullbody i just looked up vintage ships line art for the bg and thought maybe the white circle/halo would look cool) and the outis piece i only had the half body and chibi drawn out and kinda framed everything around it

i usually pick text that's kinda on the nose references, the ahab piece's chinese text is "moby dick" and "WHITE WHALE HOLY GRAIL" is from blood and thunder about. well. captain ahab. the outis is again just more direct references, w. corp, her trailer quote, and her own name. there was some extra space in between the chibi and the halfbody i wanted to fill and originally wanted to do a train icon but it wouldn't fit in such a small space, so i decided to go for sign icons instead (thinking about it, if i didn't do the exit sign i might've done a wet floor sign or smth but i like the little detail of adding the X on the arrow leading out, giving her no exit)

i always feel something is missing from the composition so i spend a long time trying things out since i usually don't have this planned out but also backgrounds are uniquely weird because i want the characters to stick out but contrast is very important to me

i remember trying to figure out how to make the background of this piece both cohesive with the rest of the art and also make it not blend in together (so i opted to add shading to the leaves while also doing another gradient from the right corner up), the sparkles were also there to fill in space

most of my colors are just slightly more saturated vers of the character i'm drawing's canon colors and then i slap 48762793832 filters on top to make it even more saturated lawl

like this is a sneak peak of art that's queued up ^ and there's a pretty massive diff before gradient maps/filters and after lol

[ekingston]

Other than supercorp, would there have been any other kara romantic pairing you wouldn't have minded

lol anon that’s tricky again, because i honestly don’t trust the show would have handled any of them well! for a production that went to such lengths to pair off their characters, they really didn’t do so good with romantic arcs (it’s why i’m actually glad supercorp didn’t become canon don’t tell anyone)

i liked James, during season one (though i’m not a fan of love triangles unless they’re a leadup to a triad situation), but clearly the new showrunners did not. 

i could have liked Mon-El, if they had stuck with him being the comedic relief foundling from a conflicting culture rather than the immoral prince who needed to tear Kara down in order to feel better about himself. i remember rambling to a friend about how much more interesting it could have been if Daxam had turned out not to be the hellscape Kara’s parents had led her to believe it was—if it had been just another lie Kara took for objective truth, Kryptonian propaganda regarding a planet they were at odds with. it would have been another chance for the show to portray Kara coming to terms with the fact that her parents weren't perfect, paving the way for her to acknowledge that she doesn't need to be, either; but even better, it could have showed her dealing with cultural differences in a way that wouldn’t have been too heavy handed or on the nose for american audiences. it also would likely have made Mon-El come off as much less of an asshole, which, you know. bonus, if they wanted us to buy them as a romantic match, and to mourn along with Kara when she had to send him away.

(William was a mistake from the start. he literally feels like a guy shoved on stage during the final scene of the play with no instruction given beyond ‘you’re the romantic interest now, stand there and look pretty!’)

and, you know. this could easily be misconstrued as a vindictive sort of ‘if i can’t have supercorp i don’t want Kara dating anyone at all’, but honestly, i’m genuinely attached to the idea of possibly alloromantic, definitely asexual Kara Zor-El. 

i know it’s even less likely that the cw would have gone with an ace main character than it would have been for them to make supercorp canon, but yeah, in my mind—and this is absolutely shaped by what they actually showed in canon—both of those scenarios would have made the most sense. and—again, completely out of the scope of any cw show—how interesting would it have been to at least explore Kara’s attitudes toward the emphasis most human cultures place on sexuality vs her Kryptonian upbringing (not to mention her alien DNA)?

[tezzbot]

Happy early Christmas!

anyways i wanted to ask, how do you draw Sonic’s muzzle and eyes? You always seem to make it so simple, yet so expressive all the same time, i love it! They all look so goober and silly in your style!

(i can literally drawing anything but the eyes and muzzle pff)

Oh wow this is very sweet thank you so much!!! Happy holidays to you too!!!

This got a bit long so I'm putting it under a readmore lol

This is by no means a THIS IS HOW YOU HAVE TO DO IT it is simply me trying my best to explain my methods heehee draw however you like!! Art is meant to be fun first and foremost do whatever is comfortable to you!! ^_^

I usually just start w his goofy little nose, it's a teardrop shape so you gotta make sure it tapers nearer his snout, and it usually sticks up at the end!! Other characters will require... different noses... lol! usually a little triangle or circle will do for a non-hedgehog individual (world's most interesting image from a "tutorial" award goes to vvv)

Then, the front part of the muzzle is the part that, if you're drawing him profile, sort of sicks out so it doesn't really like. move? if that makes sense?? It's very round so I think it would help to picture it as a sort of orb? Like an oval behind his nose! It's a very similar case with most of the rest of the cast, with a couple exceptions ofc!

After that you get to do the fun part which is the cheeks!! They're very important when it comes to 2d art of a Sonic character's expression imo!!

When you want him so happy smiling, just like on a real person's face, the mouth pushes the cheek upward and into the space where the eyes rest, this is also generally how they rest on default in the 3D renders no matter the expression

But if he's frowning, or his mouth is small for whatever reason maybe he's going :o or something lol, I like to bring those down

The boy usually ends up lookin like this!! (resized the noses a bit they were bugging me, no shame in editing as u go lol)

Another thing is how I draw their mouths Open, what I usually do is draw the nose and mouth First, it's how I know how to shape the rest of the muzzle around that first oval I talked about lol

Sometimes when I'm drawing I feel it looks fine as is without much change needed,

But if it looks weird with the rest of the drawing, I stretch the bottom around it more (sometimes it does depend on the angle of your boy's face too)

Here's it highlighted in some art I've already posted!!! (sorry if it's difficult to see orz)

It even works on Espio!! lol

If you'd like me to go in more depth on anything, or maybe cover how I do eyes since I didn't really get to it in this one, don't hesitate to ask!! I love talkin art baybeee<3 Thank you for the ask!!!

[humblemediagenius]

DID YOU EVER TALK ABOUT WHY YOU DESIGNED THEIR HUMAN DESIGNS THE WAY YOU DID i feel like i remember you making a post saying you based it off things they said/did in the show or something but im so fail memory lawl

NOOO I NEVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT IT HONESTLY BC IM SHY (I know that's wild to say but I have so much art I've done but I've posted barely any of it) plus I haven't even posted all of the designs I've made and probably won't (bc . I'm shy) but I can not so quickly go over some of my thoughts LOL

for ruff i really wanted to channel his original design-- he's very rounded, which makes for an approachable character so i wanted my design to Also feel approachable and friendly :) he's also canonically fat so i really wanted to retain that, its an important character trait to me. Outfit wise, I gave him a suit just to keep that game show host vibe, but in the show he wears so many different outfits that I don't that it matters too much LOL. Visually I took inspiration from his voice actor, jim conroy, as well as other hosts from shows i enjoy (namely drew carey and sam reich) to also keep up that game show host vibe... I've seen a lot of different designs for him and I feel like for the most part there's a lot of traits ppl all use but i don't think ruff would be clean shaven at all (though it's implied in the show he is I don't care. put some hair on that beast) Color wise I literally just color picked from his original design, and the shades of blue are from the show as well. I wanted him and the other designs to have limited color palettes so they're more cohesive!

Blossom is like the exact opposite of ruff, I wanted her to contrast him and be less rounded, so my design for her is made up of a lot of rectangles and triangles. Kinda represents how she's more stable than ruff is LOL since she starts off as ruff's assistant I wanted to give her a kind of secretary look, something simple yet professional compared to ruff's bright colored suit. (Not saying she doesn't have bright colors, but blues are less poppy than orange lol) I also gave her a bow to represent the cat ears... i really wanted to make that part of her design. I saw a lot of people use purple with designs for her, but to be honest i don't see it, her eyes and glasses are closer to the blue color palette in the show so I used a slight indigo for her jacket and then the in show palette for the rest of the colors. I also gave her a pink hair clip as a pop of color because her original design only really has a little bit of pink for her nose. However I also added an orange clip to her design after i got to season 3; my thought behind this was that after she comes back to the show getting an orange clip would represent her becoming true friends with ruff and a permanent part of the show :]

I wanted to represent the friendship and bond between ruff and blossom through the color blue being in both of their designs (as well as a bit of orange) even though they get back at each other a lot their bond is really important to me so I wanted to represent that in their designs. oupy and kity can indeed be best friends forever

Darn i wrote more than i meant to sorry for being insane I'll talk about the others some other day LMAO i think about them every day of my liiife

[e-adlirez]

Soo haven't read the thea sisters series for a while (Ive only remember reading the very old ones lol), but I have seen you (and maybe some people) complaint that the friendship stuff in the book is very on the nose or in your face. Is it... really that egregious in the newer books? Because I don't remember them being agresively friendship power in the older ones (aside from maybee ... the ice treasure? with the whole jealosy stuff tho they are not that aggressive).

Yeah the older ones were a lot more subtle with it, and even the most explicit example I could find (two scenes in the non-English translation of Shipwreck where Vi describes the friends as "friends worth a lifetime") was very wholesome and sweet and brought me to want to hold Violet gently in my hands and give her pats more than I already did. Ice Treasure was the girls maturely getting together to resolve a love triangle that would've torn the group apart had this been written in another series, and you have to respect that mature way of thinking.

But are they that egregious in the new books?

Boy do I

have

good

news

for

you

buddy!!! :D /s

I wasn't intending for this sequence to sync up perfectly, but here we are. Each group of screenshots is from one book each.

Also these are from the special editions because they're the worst offenders but I don't doubt that there are some in the main series and Mouseford series but I dun wanna go find them let me live my denial fantasies--

It started off mild in Cloud Castle, when Vi does a heroic sacrifice and explains why she did it

As you can see, despite the clunky Scholastic translation, it's very wholesome and cute and you can tell how much Vi cares for the girls and how much the girls care for each other

And it's realistic!! You care for your friends, naturally you don't wanna see them get hurt (like genuinely hurt) and you wanna make sure they're okay.

A-as you can see tho in the later books it got worse... Like so much worse.

The screenshots above are in chronological order, so we have special edition books 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, and Treasure Seekers 1 and 3 (thank god book 2 kinda doesn't have it overtly). Next part will just be rough context blurbs of each of the scenes so you have a teeny bit of context. (Context ain't savin' these scenes tho)

Book 5 is set in an underwater fantasy world where there's this Mariana's Trench-like bit of nightmare fuel called the Infinite Abyss, where you look down and magic literally sucks you down into the abyss. Because of uh... reasons that were very (and I mean VERY) poorly written in the book that I sincerely hope is just the Scholastic translators being Scholastic translators, Vi ends up looking down while crossing over it, and she and Colette get yoinked down. Yes the scene after they've recovered is the cringiest bit of dialogue I've seen in my life. There is this one cute loom scene in the book that makes sense since the loom basically allows you to make a tapestry of your happy memories and the happiness you feel from that memory, but uh friendship was tied into it so uh eeehhhhh... The happiness part already made sense, you didn't have to tie the power of friendship into it c'mon :/

Book 6 is uh, apparently even in the original Italian it was kinda meh, and I wager the scene got carried over to English about the same. They're fighting this witch wanting to conquer the Land of Flowers, and Flora does a heroic sacrifice that jus,,, the attack jus dissipates as soon as it touwches her,,, why,,? powew of fwiendship that's why,,

Book 7 is... good god I could make an entire thing about it, but I'm torn between wanting to make a Tumblr post about it or a YouTube video about this book and how underwhelming it is, because I could wax eloquent for about a half-hour about why it's so disappointing and arguably the worst of the special editions, and some cute little animations or doodles from me would make it so much more entertaining and could sidestep getting clapped by Scholastic or EdiPiemme, hopefully? I dunno, maybe when I'm less busy with school.

Anyway what's wrong with Book 7? First of all uh the dragon is a redeemed villain type of thing and even if you read the book the thing doesn't make much sense. They tried to make him a misunderstood villain thing, but too little was done to add detail to that? All the important stuff involving him was done off-screen, and the uh him freeing his fiance from her gemstone prison is yeah, you saw it up there, I'm sure. Paulina gives him words of encouragement, she rolls decently in her charisma, and boop now he's hooman again and his fiance is free, yippee

Also the fiance?

This woman right here?

Don't be fooled by that basic fairy design, this woman is the literal personification of the power of friendship trope. For what little time she spends with the girls and helps them with the obstacles they have to deal with. They need to talk to this antisocial wolf guarding the next checkpoint? That's fine, she and the wolf are childhood friends! They need to get past this impossible labyrinth cave to get a super-valuable gemstone that the inhabitants of said labyrinth cave hold very dearly? That's fine, she met one of the fairies and helped her, so they're friends! Literally power of friendship personified. Thanks, I hate it :D

Book 8 is the book that exists. It's one of the special edition books ever for me, and the only thing cool that happens there is Nicky pulling a Robin Hood archery trial. Besides that? Eeehhhh... this scene in that book isn't so bad since the characters who do the power of friendship thing are actual magic fairies in this magic world.... but at the same time the girls making comments on it is making me die inside, did I mention these girls are uni students--

Book 9 is eeehhhhhhhhh.... it's an underwhelming finale for the special editions for one, for many reasons that could garner itself a ramble here, but eeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhh.... I'm just mad at the Violet slander ngl wHY DO THEY MAKE HER THE FRIENDSHIP PROPHET I GET SHE VALUES HER FRIENDS BUT SHE'S STILL A PRACTICAL LOGICAL WOMAN IN PERSONALITY YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO HER--

I stand by the fact that Treasure Seekers as a hardcover series for Thea Stilton is really good for those who loved the older books as a kid and are coming back for nostalgia. You read the first book and it feels like you're being welcomed back to the Thea Sisters you knew and loved back in the days of seeing the cool girlboss covers of the books in your school library and spending hours reading the cool adventures they got themselves into around the world (and even outside it). I dunno if they meant is as a homage to the older books, but it felt like it when I read it.

Anyway literally the only thing sullying these books is the power of friendship monologues in book 1 and 3. The worst part of it is that Violet once again is the one saying or thinking these things and it feels so out of character and out of place, like HELLO??? Vi sweetie the only thing stopping that shady businesswoman character from holding Pam at actual gunpoint is the 6-10 age range of the books? This ain't the time for the power of friendship??? Also who gave her the friendship ball and can they please let Violet punt it at them? Book 3 is the same-- I mean in this context uh I dun wanna spoil it so uh yeah, but Vi is basically disagreeing with the villain in this conversation they're having, and literally the only thing ruining it is her saying "the power of friendship" straight up. If she said "my friends" or "my sisters", it would've been so much better-- same goes for the time Vi is talking to the girls again and they ask her what she said in the previous one-on-one convo, it would've been better if she said something cute like "friends like you"-- but we can't have nice things huh, Scholastic? (Dunno if the original Italian one has the "power of friendship" one but I sincerely hope not, and it doesn't sound like it since the original Italian intro letter of book 3 went so hard--)

Vi deserves better smh -m-

Anyway there's my rant. Yeah, it does get really egregious in the later books. Where did we go wrong :(

[warriordragonart]

HI! I'm literally inlove with the way you draw noses!! Is there a chance you could show me how you draw them?

Im still trying to develop a style lol

Ahhh thank you! I tried explaining it in text multiple times but I found the image speaks better for itself! That said, I’ll try and lay out some of the principles

Explanation beneath the cut

* Unless it’s a profile, the nose is made up of three lines. Two to represent the nostrils in the front view, and one for a nostril and another for the shape of the other side of the nose on the 3/4 view. These don’t vary much between characters.

* The nose bridge line in the 3/4 does vary drastically between characters because it depends on the shape of their nose, I’ll put some examples from my OCs to show the difference. For a more anime look, keep the nose bridge line curved.

* The easiest way to show form in this style is with the small shadow under the nose which is an upside down triangle, with the point between the space below the nostrils. When the face is turned, the shadow is still the same shape but distorted, just keep the point in the same place and it’ll look like it’s rotating.

Azurine (left) has got an anime-ish button nose like Killua, while Vermillion (right) has a nose bump and has much squarer features, so the shape of the line matters a lot for defining the shape.

I’m sorry if this is hard to understand and I hope it helps!

[having-conniptions]

Love In The Air episode 6 live reaction under the cut (long post) (now with updated spelling!)

Very curious where this show will go since the lead couple is already together - probably mainly throwing angst at the lead couple while developing the second lead couple's relationship ayyyy let's go PrapaiSky

Rain hiding behind Phayu awww bbyyyy

"This is Rain, my boyfriend" hehehe I know you've been waiting so long for the moment when you can finally introduce him as your bf

That poser is getting on my nerves

HI PRAPAI BABYYYY

Not Prapai trying to ask about Sky lmao wait what if they had some fun that night but didn't see each other again after that? I thought they'd been hooking up this entire time but maybe it was a one time thing? Feeling like a detective rn I think I'm on to something

Kick that poser out or at least kick his teeth in pllleeeease

Oh godddddd Rain is so adorableeeee trying to make Phayu smile

And the kiss aaaaaa

"Why is he in such a hurry?" because his baby is waiting for him to come home

THE NOSE KISS AWWWWWWW

The poser is stirring up trouble againnnn

"You'll see how enviable you are to have a boyfriend like me" hahaha Phayu

Why does Rain's shirt have a piece of a sweater vest attached to it lol

Mmmmm Phayu in racing gear, Rain can't compute

"I'm starting to want you to rip this suit off me" SIR I- honestly props to Rain for not having his head explode after that line from Phayu

The way Rain immediately gets ready to throw hands when the poser starts to insult Phayu - I'd almost forgotten Rain wasn't always this docile, he's actually a rude little shit lmao

The pinky promise awwww

Of course Phayu won yayyyyy

The way Rain almost tackles him xD I love how they just ignore the poser and leave bc they're too eager to, uh, get Phayu out of his suit

Daaaaamn the way Rain took charge there for a second 🔥🔥🔥 the way he grabbed Phayu's chin

I'm surprised they made it up those stairs holy moly

The lip bite?? The tongues???

Rain: "P'Phayu, you said you're happy when you're with bikes but I'm happier to spend a moment like this with you" see, what he meant to say was "you like riding bikes but I prefer to ride you" considering that's literally what he's doing rn

OKAY HE LITERALLY SAID "THIS IS ALSO RIDING" I GUESS I'M PSYCHIC AND ALSO I'LL BE GOING NOW BYE

The forehead kiss I am meltingggg

Sleepy Rain is babyyyy

"Does this mean I like you, P'Phayu?" HAHAHA RAIN DO YOU?

"It's more than like." AAAA IS HE GONNA SAY IT

IS PHAYU GONNA GET COLD FEET OR IS HE GONNA SAY IT BACK

Awww Rain fell asleep before he could confess and Phayu said "me too" THEY LOVE EACH OTHER I'M GONNA CRY

That glass on the table looks exactly like the ones I have at home they're from ikea

THE POSER HAS BEEN BANNED AYYYY

"We're more like a married couple" UHAUL LESBIAN SPEED AGAIN

Malewife Rain ftw get it girl

Uh oh something's fishy with the delivery guy

Called it

Bonus scene: AYYYY HE REALIZED THE NOTE AND THE TRIANGLE WERE FROM PHAYU

[its-short-for-jackalope]

Jack's Big Rambly Nonsense Theory Post About Episode 3 ✨️

I am a merciful fella so the rambles will be contained under the cut.

hey! what's up? this is the only thing I care about for the time being so I'm gonna ramble about it! I don't know what I'm doing! all of this could be wrong! I'm very excited!

Please feel free to reply/reblog or like.. idk, y'all can tag me if you wanna make a separate post jumping off of, responding to, or completely annihilating (in a friendly way!) any of my theories here.

What The Heck Is Antikythera?

i didnt know what this was and it seemed somewhat important since it's in the title (lol) so I looked it up.

one of the first things I found was the wiki article for the Antikythera mechanism, which is basically a computer/calculator from Ancient Greece that predicted astronomical positions and eclipses. It was found in a Roman shipwreck in the Mediterranean in 1901 and might have been constructed as far back as 205 BC. (it had gears and everything! cool!)

Considering this device is related to astronomy and approximately, oh, ALL of our protagonists are interested in and have connections to astronomy, I don't think that's a coinkydink! additionally, since this is fictional and there are no limits, mayhaps the Antikythera mechanism is a part of the story and it can do (and does do) more than predict celestial events...? 👀

Now, I admit I read about this one interesting thing and kinda just ran with it, but in case there's anything else about this itty bitty little island, I did look into it more. According to the Wikipedia, Antikythera was settled and abandoned several times throughout history. This is also where the wreck with the mechanism was discovered (hence the name), and apparently lots of birds use the island as a pit stop during migration, but that's about it. It's enough for me to laugh shrug and carry on with my mechanism theories, lol.

The Ellen Austin, The Bermuda Triangle, & Maybe A Ghost Ship

Since our beloved quartet is confirmed to be aboard the Ellen Austin and they're en route through the Bermuda Triangle/Sargossa Sea where the Ellen Austin is said to have encountered a ghost ship, I'm gonna continue with my previously-held theory that we're getting a ghost ship encounter! (In one story about the Ellen Austin, they had some of the crew go onto the ghost ship to bring it back to shore with them, and the crew ~mysteriously vanished~ which is... interesting. 👀)

I have a few ideas about what this potential ghost ship might be:

An Ancient Greek vessel straight from Antikythera, with or without a mechanism, but probably with. [squints at map] I mean, the Mediterranean isn't that far from the Sargossa Sea/Bermuda Triangle area. And/or maybe there was some time-and-space nonsense happening that could land it on the other side of the Atlantic. If our quartet could get poofed from a satellite in 1835 back to Earth in 1881(?), then a mysterious ship could plausibly get zapped to another place and/or time. Might be a bit too on the nose but c'mon, the name is in the title, there's gotta be a connection to Antikythera, and who says it can't be this? Could also have ghosts!

A slightly less ancient Roman cargo ship like the (shipwrecked) one that had the Antikythera mechanism. (Please see above for hand-waving about date & location.) Maybe the ship has a mechanism on board, and maybe it's also got ghosts—both of the Ancient Greek variety via the mechanism, and of the slightly less ancient Roman variety via it's their dang boat. Bonus points if the Greek/Antikytheran(?) ghosties were scaring the daylights out of the Romans and are responsible for the ship becoming a (double) ghost ship. Of course this also hinges on how literal the "ghosts" in The Ghosts of Antikythera are, but I'll ramble about that in a little bit.

A much less ancient ship from whatever eras make it more likely to be in the Sargossa Sea, but it has an Antikythera mechanism somehow. This would take out a lot of fuss about how the ship got here or how it could have survived this long without being wrecked or discovered, AND it would bring up new and fun questions such as "why does this random ship have an Ancient Greek mechanism" and I call that a win-win. Could be a classic pirate ship, could be a newer vessel that'd be more familiar to the crew of the Ellen Austin... idk im not a boat guy but I think there's some fun possibilities.

bonus theory: the ghost ship has "witch" in the name or has a name related to witches, or maybe literally just has "wicked" in the name, purely based off this tweet:

thank you @man-down-in-hatchet-town for being my Twitter scout, lmao

Just 'cause, you know... wicked, witches. The waves could be just part of the water theme since (i assume) the episode takes place predominantly at sea, or perhaps the ghost ship is literally carried "this way" by the waves.

Ghosts — Like, Literally? Or Do You Mean Metaphorically?

We already know that Pulp Musicals will be exploring multiple genres—sci-fi, horror, mystery, adventure—so I'm betting episode three will add some horror to the mix, especially after Matt's delightfully ominous words in the trailer:

In this web of mystery, Margaret has begun to unravel her own... but she is not the only one awakening. And soon, our heroes will find that the light of discovery can bring forth shadows darker than anything they could have ever imagined.

...Yeah, sounds like horror and/or ghosts to me! So maybe the ghosts of Antikythera are real actual spooky scary spirits, in which case I am very excited to pull up a chair and listen to Herschel scoff and try to find a rational, scientific explanation for any spooky happenings. (Idk if he believes in ghosts or not, but in this case I hope he doesn't because that will make it much funnier for me. <3 )

On the other hand, "horror" is incredibly vague, so maybe we won't get jump-out-and-say-boo ghosts at all. Maybe the ghosts of Antikythera are more unsettling because they aren't an active, supernatural force wreaking havoc on the open sea—maybe they're just an empty vessel, forgotten memories, and the lingering consequences of the actions taken by people who are long since dead. What's scarier—the dead staying behind to screw with you face to face, or the dead abandoning their troubles & mistakes and leaving clueless strangers to get stuck with the deadly fallout?

Honestly, tho? I'm excited either way, and I'm very curious to see how scary Matt plans to go.

Theories That Don't Have A Ghost Ship, Because You Never Know

I am 100% behind the ghost ship theory, but making theories is fun so why not throw some other ones out there. Full disclosure, I don't think these are that likely, and some are mostly gonna be for laughs.

They find a shipwreck. I'm really only considering this because the Antikythera mechanism was found on a wreck. I don't think the Ellen Austin would stop to investigate a shipwreck if they happened upon one, and I also don't know if they'd even have the equipment to safely or effectively investigate it if they wanted to. Then again, maybe they would stop if they saw the wreck go down, and also who needs to go down in the water if you have a passenger with magic powers? If Margaret could launch the Sagitta, she could probably fish up a wreck easy peasy. Maybe she wouldn't even need the ship to stop, she could just see (or sense?) something in the water and reach out with the Radiance. And if whatever she brought onto the Ellen Austin was haunted, then that could kick off the ghost stuff... huh. I actually kinda like this idea!

Atlantis? I think someone mentioned this in the chat for the trailer's premiere. I'm inclined to say "probably not" though... unless the quartet gets poofed or otherwise summoned closer to Greece. But I think they'll probably be sticking around the Sargossa Sea, since there isn't a lot of time for them to be traveling all around in a ~90 minute episode, and the previous episodes kinda picked a place and stayed there. Doesn't necessarily mean we couldn't get an underwater city (or formerly underwater city), of course. It just probably wouldn't be Atlantis.

...I actually don't have any other ideas right now, lol. I really think it's gonna be a ghost ship. And that the Antikythera mechanism has something to do with it.

Oof okay, for the sake of my eyes and brain, I'm going to stop staring at my phone and thinking for now, lol. I will probably come up with some more thoughts & theories as time goes on, but I think I have used all my batteries for today.

Again, if anybody reads this and wants to contribute or comment, feel free! 💫

[janeblr]

body hcs that nobody asked for, I’m just articulating them so it’s easier for me to visualize my silly little scenarios

vanya: biiiig guy. 6’5 of well insulated muscle. thick thighssssssss tree trunk arms tits and belly. High cheekbones and the quintessential big ass nose. Used to keep his hair really neat but now it’s kind of shaggy because he’s too cheap to go to a barber and just cuts it himself. Dirty blonde. AUGHmy big man 💗💗💗

al: college quarterback after three years in a frat. Lean, strong, but a little soft around the edges. Ass is 10/10. Tan skin with freckles, still a bit of a baby face. Bottle blonde to fit in with his European family lol. His hair is a little floppy but with some gel it sits nice. He has a poppy tattooed on his inner wrist!

Gil: saddest most pathetic frail little man. Literally looks like he’s dying because he is! Silvery hair is kind of thin and lifeless these days, there’s not much warmth in his cheeks, and he’s constantly covered in bruises from falling or whacking himself into things by accident. Crooked nose from fighting so much. He’s too shaky to shave himself and Erzsi is the only person he trusts to pt a razor to his throat so if she’s not around he gets kind of scruffy. And fine I’ll say it he was in a Camp and has a tattoo to show for it.

Erzsi: r/fit lady… does CrossFit and jogs like 10 miles a day. Killer muscle definition and abs of steel. A bit lacking in the boob department but nobody’s perfect and Gil has always been an ass man so it’s okay. Gorgeous dark brown hair and a prominent nose. Sculpted cheekbones and thinner lips. All in all a pretty angular appearance that’s still distinctly feminine.

Katya: STRONG GIRL! FARM! She’s a lot of woman…. Yes she is tall. Yes she is strong. Yes she is fat. Hourglass figure with body for dayssssss. Her face is pretty round but she’s still got those high cheekbones and rosebud lips. Prominent nose but not like Ivan’s. She has nipple piercings! Her hair is a pretty silvery blonde and she keeps it short so she can just put it back with a bandana.

Mattie: Big guy. Think hockey player in hibernation. Im so tired of people twinkifying Matthew and I will not stand for it!!! Also a bottle blonde but more vigilant about his roots than Alfred. Also tan skin but not as warm as his brother. The wavy hair was a gift from his papa but his curl pattern has been fried by bleach over the last few decades. Blessed and cursed by hockey player ass

Ber: built for endurance! Strong and stocky, like he could chop up firewood like a breeze AND keep you warm at night. Second tallest nord!c. Not glaring but squinting 24/7 because he needs new glasses but he’s too cheap to buy them lol. Stick straight straw blonde hair that he can’t do much with besides brush back and pray it stays. Little rainbow tattoo behind his left ear. Keeps a neat beard in the winter.

Ti: hurhfhfjdkjfkdjfj plump. Like there’s no other way to put it the guy is just fat. Still very strong but you wouldn’t know it looking at him. Built like a moomintroll. Very proud of how he looks except that he’s got a round face and can’t grow a beard which makes him look like less of a threat like no motherfucker I’ll kill you!! Pretty blonde hair that can do this nice swoopy thing to stay out of his face. Tits >>>

Mads: triangle man!!! Broad shoulders, defined muscle, taper down into a small waist. Strong arms and legs. Freckles aaaaall over that really pop out when he gets some sun. Strawberry blonde hair that sticks straight up so he’s learned to embrace it. Nose is crooked from being punched in the face a few too many times. Sharp defined jaw so he doesn’t like to hide it with facial hair.

Lu: *deep breath* CHUBBY LUKAS SUPREMACY!!! Stop Kate Mossifying my boy he takes Thorazine and it made him fat. He’s on the indoorsy side so although he does exercise some he’s not as muscular as Mads, Ber, or Ti. Platinum blonde hair he straightens and pins back because otherwise the waves are just too much. He would have defined cheekbones and jaw if his face wasn’t chubby lol. Thin lips and a thin, sharp nose.

Eirí: scrawny lil kid. The shortest nord!c. Not much substance to him at all so he dresses in somewhat baggy clothes to make him look bigger. Silvery blonde hair that he straightens like his brother. Occasional issues with acne and miserable volcanic pimples so he’s got some ice pick scarring. Same sharp nose and thin lips as his brother.

Feliks: Skinny queen, fairly toned but generally model-type thin. Soft blonde hair around his shoulders. Prominent nose and thin lips. Scarred up a lot over the last millennia.

Vi: Also scrawny, but you can tell that he used to be strong.

Sorry ladies the klonopin is hitting hard I can’t finish the post

[footballshowrot]

season 3 ted lasso, just pissing some thoughts after watching the finale. talkin about things they fumbled unbelievably hardcore this season jsyk.

- the unrelenting force of forgiveness and tying everything up with a pretty bow extending to both the sam's restaurant being destroyed storyline and the james tarttt sr storyline. just wooooooof... Terrible. sam and jamie i'm literally gonna get u out of there.......

- keeley's plot this season was So disappointing. she used to be a driving force and here she felt like an afterthought, and i don't know if it was because KJPR was separate from the club, but she was just so disconnected. they dropped shandy, they dropped jack, hard. thank god for barbara because i liked a lot of her and keeley's scenes [snow globe :)]. and then in the finale relegated keeley to role of object of affection for jamie and roy to fight over👍awesome😐 love triangle plotlines suck ass majority of the time, and maybe jamie and roy in the finale could have been played funny for me [sorry to royjamie brain it for a sec, but they alone still are. intricate rituals and all that. that ripped shirt, bloody nose combo etc etc lmaoooo] but because the show has continually fucked keeley over this season it leaves a bit of a bitter taste. her kicking them out her house like yesssss literally. get their asses outta here. idk, romantic relationships aside, it just felt shit that for keeley's last episode she didn't even get to reap any positives of the platonic relationships she has with roy or jamie. [at least we have rebecca. society if keeley kissed rebecca in the finale] lol not really but u knooow. just after the shoddy love bombing plotline with jack, and the way her relationship with jack concluded and this in the finale, i hope she stays single for a while, and i think the show settled on that at least which okay.👍 she's literally keeley fuckin jones waaaaoough....

- the fucking locker room information PSA's........ maaaan i Know the show is cheesy feelgood tv but season 1 was not just morality lesson central with characters talking like npcs delivering do good greeting card messages one after another.

- ted's marriage plotline was dogshit 👍 just yaaaaaaawns all round idk. rewatching scenes from season 1 and bein like? this dude used to make me chuckle! what happened..... thank god they didn't fumble the bag on sending him back to kansas to be with henry. [henry having the same strip number as jamie was a nice touch]. i just wonder that if this season had some more jamie ted scenes [that weren't him telling jamie to forgive his father 😐] that it might have strengthened that ache to get back to his son even more, as opposed to reopening a perfectly concluded plotline with michelle because oh no....she's... dating?

- naaaaaaaate. my guy nate waaaaaaahh. they sidelined you so fucking hard. did not know what to make of nate's plot this season with jade. i think they had sweet scenes together but concerning the actual footie of the show [the football show in question] they made nate a fucking afterthought too. some episodes it was like and uhhhh... yeah... quickly !! show the west ham building and get a reaction shot from nate!! we forgot we set him up at the end of season 2 as an antagonistic force for richmond to go against. like come onnn man. think that international break was nate's strongest episode outta the whole season, what with his depression slump, attic rummaging, family photo album reminiscing, violin playing, father reconciliation, will apology with lavender, just a really solid nate episode all round. its just sad it came so late in the season.

yeah that's the main thoughts spinning right now i guess lol. BOSH.