#they’re pretty alright quality wise

[ohfugecannada]

Was out shopping with my mom and decided to take a few pics of the box art on this 5 Suprise Fairy Unicorn Squad box, since I haven’t seen this character art anywhere online and I just think they look cute and really cool.

[softxsuki]

Celebrating Your Birthday With Zeno

Pairing: Zeno x Fem!Reader

Warnings: little bit of angsty thoughts, nothing crazy though

Genre: Fluff

Post-Type: Drabble

Word Count: 860

Summary: In which you're in a field of wildflowers with Zeno on your birthday

[A/N: For the special birthday girl, @kyanma137!! Happy Birthday <33 I hope you enjoy this, I wanted to do one last little thing for your birthday so I hope this makes you happy <3 Enjoy :D ]

A gust of wind blows over the field of wildflowers you were currently sitting in. You squeeze your eyes closed as the breeze reaches you, blowing your hair wildly across your face. A small giggle escapes your boyfriends’ lips as his hair also moves with the wind.

“Cute~,” Zeno smiles, tilting his head at you, reaching over to brush your hair back in place, “You look like an angel.”

Heat reaches your cheeks, instinctively leaning into his touch, but feeling shy all of a sudden. Zeno was never low on compliments towards you, it was something you were still getting used to even after a year of dating.

“Stop~,” You shyly whine, hiding your face in the crook of his neck, now in his embrace as he holds you close.

You had both stepped away from the Happy Hungry Bunch for a few hours, just enjoying quality time together; talking about your hopes and dreams, your thoughts, your future. Zeno never missed an opportunity to have you all to himself so he was making the most of your time together in the empty field of wildflowers. 

Wildflowers–they kind of reminded him of himself. Left to fend for themselves in a field, no one to de-weed them or water them–just leaving it up to nature. But they turned out alright, and they were as beautiful as any flower you could buy from the local market.

Removing yourself from Zeno’s arms, much to his dismay, you lie down in the grass, staring up at the clouds as your boyfriend occupied himself with the flowers nearby, fiddling with a few of them. It was a fairly sunny day, nice and cool out–perfect weather, not too hot and not too cold. A beautiful day to be celebrating your birthday. Another year older…

You wondered sometimes what you would do the older you got. Would Zeno be okay? He can’t die, so what would he do? You hated the idea of leaving him behind to be alone again. You knew what he went through for almost 2000 years, you didn’t want that to happen again. But you had both come to an agreement–you’d make the most of your days together with a smile, enjoying every second you had with each other.

You sigh to yourself, trying to shake those thoughts out of your head when Zeno’s face appears above you.

“Hm?”

With one hand behind his back, he sticks his other hand out for you to take, pulling you up so you are now sitting instead of lying down. 

“Close your eyes,” he softly instructs.

You follow his instructions without a word, closing your eyes as another breeze blows over you. He shuffles a bit and you hear him plop onto the grass in front of you.

“Okay open them,” he sounds excited.

You open your eyes, blinking a few times, allowing them to focus on what was in his hands–a flower crown. Your mouth flies open, a tiny gasp leaving your lips.

“What’s this?” You ask in awe, reaching for the beautiful flower crown in his hands.

“Happy Birthday,” he smiles, excited from your reaction, “Zeno made it just now. They’re thunbergia alata (let’s pretend like these flowers grow in fields okay)! They symbolize encouragement; they’re super adaptable and strong, just like you. They remind Zeno of you–absolutely gorgeous.”

You were at a loss for words. You knew Zeno was smooth, he was beyond wise, and just always had the right words to say to you. “Thank you,” your voice wobbles, tears beginning to brim your eyes. No one had ever been so sweet to you, and you were beyond blessed to have a man like Zeno in your life now. Someone who always reminded you of your worth when you couldn’t see it for yourself. 

“Aww, pretty girl, don’t cry,” he coo’s wiping your tears away, “C’mon, put it on, Zeno wants to see how it looks!”

You laugh a bit at his excitement, placing the flower crown swiftly onto your head and turn to him again, “How does it look?”

His eyes could have been mistaken for stars at the sparkles that lit up in them.

“Perfect, just like Zeno thought,” He attacks you once again with a hug, the both of you falling back onto the grass as he peppers your face with kisses, repeatedly calling you his ‘pretty angel,’ not that you were complaining as giggles erupted from you. 

“Y/N, Zeno! Yoon finished cooking! The celebration is about to begin! C’mon birthday girl!” Yona calls to the both of you from the camp set-up not too far away, making Zeno pause his kiss attack.

“Coming!” You shout back, getting back to your feet with the help of your lover. 

“Shall we?” He asks, holding an inviting hand out to you.

“We shall,” you smile, interlacing your fingers together and rushing off back to camp where your friends were getting rowdy.

“Happy Birthday, Y/N!” They all shout as soon as you arrive, hand in hand with Zeno.

It turned out to be a successful celebration as you were surrounded by your friends and the love of your life–things couldn't have been more perfect.

REQUESTS ARE OPEN :D

Posted: 2/12/2023

[automaticheartcrusade]

I honestly feel bad for the Mandela catalogue, project wise. I feel like it started out so strong with a really interesting and terrifying idea that was executed well, the PSA videos in the beginning were where it was at it’s peak in terms of storytelling. But then I feel like…midway Alex decided to make it a character driven story instead of more world building focused like how it started out. And at first I was alright with the decision and looking forward to seeing what would happen next, I was a huge fan of this series. But then the controversy happened with the creator (which I will not get into but I’ll say it now, he’s not innocent in my eyes) and it pretty much ruined any interest or hope I had for the series, especially now since the writing and quality will probably dip cause 90% of his team left him.

And looking back, I won’t be the one to say “Mandela Catalogue was never good”- just because the creator turned out to be a problematic person. In my personal opinion, I think it was good, but after giving it thought for some time, I feel like it should have stayed how it was in the beginning, where it’s a series of PSA/informational videos on how the alternates are affecting the town, and each volume focuses on a different set of people or a different scary scenario the town faces. (So basically a bunch of mini stories that were in the style of Volume 1, aka Mark Heathcliffs). Because things like that was the drive the series had, even the small minisodes like “Interlude”.

We never really needed to know more about these monsters or the people themselves. Just hearing what they’re like and then witnessing the torment they can put on humanity before tragedy strikes is enough, less is more. And I have the feeling that’s why so many people thought the series fell off around the third volume, because it was slowly moving away from what made it popular and over analyzing/explaining, as well as opening many new threads that had yet to be explored, it just wasn’t simple anymore. But these are all just my personal opinions. If you still love the series, you’re valid. I’m just stepping away from it as a former fan, but I will acknowledge the positive impact it had on the horror community.

[goddessofroyalty]

Fandom: Arcane

Pairing: Vander/Silco

Tags: omegaverse, mpreg, overdue!Silco

Continuing on the “Silco trying to get this baby out of him attempts” fic - this time it’s spicy food (and taking a break)

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

“When was the last time you took a break?” Vander asks when he walks into Silco’s office above the Last Drop only to find his mate still at his desk where Vander is pretty sure he spent the whole day.

“I’ll be taking a long one once my labor starts and I’d like to have as little to catch up on when I have  a babe that needs tending as well,” Silco says, glancing up from his papers. “Getting up is too much effort anyway.”

Vander makes his way across the office as he mulls over his mate’s words. Silco’s right that they should try and get ahead before the pup of theirs is born and demanding even more of their attention than he already is. But it also feels like all they’re doing of late is working – even the walks Silco started taking to try and get the pup moving out of him always seem to end up at someone’s place where they need to discuss business.

It’s been too long since they were in each other’s company for company’s sake.

“I was thinking we both take the rest of the night off, order food in.” Not split a bottle of rum like they normally would. “Enjoy what time we have without a little one underfoot.”

“Just let me finish checking this inventory,” Siclo says.

“’course,” Vander says, going around to the back of Silco’s chair so he can rub his mate’s shoulders. The fact Silco actually relaxes into it instead of batting him off telling him just how much the omega needs to take a break and relax. “I’ll go pick up the food while you finish. Your choice.”

“Jericho’s is fine.”

Vander snorts where earns him Silco looking up at him, eyebrow raised.

“You hate Jericho’s food.” Hate might be a strong word but it definitively wasn’t on the list of Silco’s favorite foods even if he would eat it if Vander had ordered it to avoid it going to waste. “I can make you something if you want.”

It’s not that Vander’s against cooking for his mate. He just figured with how much Silco had been eating from the Last Drop’s kitchen it’d be nice to have something else.

“I would have said so if I did,” Silco says returning his attention to the papers on his desk. “Call it a pregnancy craving if you must but Jericho’s – whatever is the spiciest thing on his menu.”

“Alright,” Vander says before it ends up a mood ruiner and Silco calls off the whole idea to just work late into the night again.

Jericho seems as surprised as Vander is about the request for the spiciest thing on his menu, but he makes it with the same glee as he does all his orders. Vander getting Silco’s favorite in case his mate regrets his request.

He isn’t surprised that Silco is still in his office when he arrives back.

It does give Vander time to set up a table in the bar with the nice tablecloth and some candles though. Hardly date-night quality but something a little special for his mate to show Vander’s appreciate for everything he’s doing right now, both work-wise and growing their pup despite his clear discomfort.

Just as Vander thinks he’ll have to go get his mate Silco appears at the stairs. Making his way down them slowly and carefully, a hand braced on his stomach with the other actually using the railing to balance.

He raises an eyebrow at the table.

“Who are you trying to impress?”

“Thought I’d make it a little special – might be our last chance as just the two of us.” They’re gonna’ be a family of three soon enough. And while Vander is excited beyond words, he knows it’s bound to change things.

“One can only hope,” Silco says cryptically. “Did you get what I asked?”

“Yep.” Vander taps the container with Silco’s order. “Don’t know why you wanted it. You’ll be feeling it later.”

Silco smiles like Vander said something clever but he doesn’t say anything, just waddles his way over to the table to take a seat. Apparently happy enough to let Vander serve them both.

As weird as it feels not to, Vander doesn’t go pour himself a drink from the bar. Wouldn’t be fair seeing how Silco’s been abstaining for their pup.

Silco’s face scrunches at the first mouthful of his, his eyes threatening to water. It’s not that he can’t handle spice it’s that even Jericho’s mid-heat stuff is a lot for human tastes.

“Here, you can have mine,” Vander says, handing his plate over. He can always find himself something else to eat after. It more important Silco has enough.

Silco shakes his head and pushes Vander’s plate back over to him.

“I wanted what I ordered,” he says, despite how disgusted he looks at the food before taking another mouthful.

The disgust doesn’t stop him from continuing eating.

“I think you’ve had enough,” Vander says after Silco is finished half his serve and is gagging between mouthfuls as much as he’s trying to hide it. “We can put the rest away for later.”

Vander plans on disposing of the rest as soon as Silco’ isn’t looking but it isn’t a fight he wants to have.

Silco glares at him for daring to try and tell him what to do. But he does push the plate away, hand rubbing along the top of his stomach as he sits back into the chain.

Silco gets up from the table once Vander packs away the food, heading back to the stairs to his office.

“Where do you think you’re going?

“Back to get some more work done.”

“Not tonight – I’m pouring you a bath and you’re gonna actually take the time off.” The whole point was to enjoy his last chance at spoiling his mate before their pup was born. “Who knows they might be waiting for you to stop for a minute so they can actually come out.”

That earns him a glare from his mate but Silco does step down from the stairs.

“If I’m not in labor by the end of the night I’m going to be mad.”

[pearlidiah]

Heart Breaker 101 - Baby You Don’t Tripijaharda

This track is definitely not nearly as solid as Break It Up.

instrumentally it’s…fine? I pretty much have the same criticisms here as I did Break It Up so I’ll spare the long explanation. Short version: sound quality is rough.

Vocally, once again, it’s alright. There’s nothing egregious here but definitely could use some work. The “woah oh!” parts are pretty fun, at least.

My biggest complaint about this track is the lyrics. They’re not bad per se, but every rhyme seems so cliche rhyming wise. Like literally he just chose the first word that came to mind for the end of every line. It’s also just so generic. I feel like I’ve heard this song hundreds of times before, there’s nothing here to make it stand apart from the hundreds of other tracks about having your heart broken. Definitely not a strong track.

4/10 - Not Good

[ghost-of-you]

I just came across your analyses of all the 5sos albums and can I just say: chefs kiss. amazing. from the way you approach them both musically and lyrically (are you a musician? you have a very good ear) to being able to tell who is singing which part of the harmony (when there’s more than 2 singing at once I have No Idea, and even when there’s just 2 I’m still a little hit and miss). so grateful you exist and did them!!! not only for my enjoyment purposes but also because of my crazy projects I’m about to tell you about just in case you’re interested

anyway, it started with the RAH version of teeth. I’m a classically trained violist, I’ve played in many orchestras, I looked and asked everywhere I could think of just to lay my hands on something like the score so I could maybe pull some musician friends together and play it. No avail. Then, sleep deprived and slightly manic and very unmotivated in the middle of writing my honours thesis I must’ve played that bass riff when messing around on my viola and was like ‘this isn’t even hard let me just open musescore’ and decided Luke’s voice best fit the cello and calum the viola and six hours later it was a whole orchestral piece with the riffs passing around the upper strings like the RAH version and also woodwind and brass instruments somehow and then the bass riff led me straight into thin white lies which quickly morphed into NITSW (and can I just say that bridge is the best thing ever when played by strings) and I was like, this is telling a story. That became the first movement of the concerto.

second movement had to start with the flutes playing the piano intro of lover of mine, then I borrowed ghost of you from youngblood and threw in lonely heart, all the ones in vaguely 3’s as far as timing goes went in, all satisfactorily longing (if mvmt 1 is Relationship Angst) ending on a reprise of ghost of you chorus a semitone up (I’m not even sure anymore tbh, it’s def less cohesive but pretty I think) and I tried to copy its RAH intro as an outro. By then I realised I wanted to make the third movement about self discovery that ended on red desert because the album is just SO SAD and it deserved a happy ending and I wanted to try fit as many songs from the album in as I could (no shame and kill my time didn’t fit thematically unfortunately and easier should’ve been in movement 1 but sonically it just didn’t go, at least not yet I’m open to attempting to incorporate any of those songs) so started with old me. I realised I could overlay it with best years. Weird choice I know but the chords and melody worked well enough (and I still don’t think best years has been brought to justice ngl). Then I overlaid wildflower with high which is surprisingly a combination that I love, and it worked music wise and I thought they offset each other alright?? I’m still not quite sure where I’m going with it yet. but then comes red desert and I did the RAH intro and the whole song with harmonies (does get repetitive and idk what to do with that yet) and it’s like. yay, I gave CALM a happy ending.

I guess what I’m asking is I want to do more of these for more of their albums or combination of them (like they’re genuinely so fascinating from a musical and storytelling lens I can’t get enough) and I’ve got some ideas but I want to hear if you have anything you can just hear coming after each other. like complete mess and red line or smth?? even moodswings and space between a rock and a hard place?? idk. just ideas. throw them all at me. I’ll do it and dedicate it to you

Okay, first, no, not a musician, it's just that my dad was a dj, so i grew up around a lot of sound equipment because he's very particular about sound quality and that totally developed my ear for that type of stuff and my interest for music is that much more intense because of it (i did teach myself how to play the guitar and i do sing, but, like, i don't have any real training) and I really appreciate you coming here to say these, because i have a lot of fun writing those. Also I saw your tags, don't know if you ever figured it out but the milf anthem is mrs all american lol

Second, I'm desperate to hear what you did with calm, from the description alone it feels like something impressive, I'm very interested to see how you overlayed high and wildflower because i can see it, but i can't really imagine how that would actually work sokaosksokas

And third, I actually have quite a few smaller combos i like to push together (i went through a mashup phase when i was learning how to play 5sos songs lol) but i usually go from lyrics and adjust the guitar to fit my voice, i have no idea how that could work for you, but one i always do is vapor -> lie to me -> why wont you love me -> bad omens (it used to be high at the end, but then they dropped bad omens and i liked the way that narratively bad omens closed the loop, you end up trapped in the relationship you know it's not working I like that a lot for this combo), i have a few weirder ones, that are mostly the ones that i never fully managed to make it work but i think they could, like moodswings into bleach, story of another us into close as strangers, i know you saw my post about rearranging 5sos5 to tell a story and for some reason i think you can overlay caramel and bad omens, and red line and you don't go to parties (this one i admitedlly don't really know, but i think the red line riff with the ydgtp riff could be something, just a feeling lol), there's the rhythm section mashup, tomorrow never dies -> babylon -> tears, that I think you can make something with the bass in all of them, for some reason vapor and me myself and i, talk fast -> not in the same way -> blender -> kill my time, this one i think its cool because of the 80s pop of the melodies and the progression of the story with the lyrics, lover of mine -> best years -> older -> ghost of you, again you have the narrative and i think the piano can work all of there to make this tragic love song. And this is everything i can think of right now, but i will probably think of more as soon as i hit post tho soaskookasas

But seriously, this sounds really cool, please let me know how it progresses <3

[commanderfloppy]

🥵, 😍, and 💐 for Tori!

Alright stuff for my favorite furry !

🥵 : Is your OC perceived as physically attractive to others? Is it at first glance or is it something that takes more time to reach fruition?

Tori has always been fairly average attractiveness wise, so I guess it depends on what you’re into. But they definitely get more attractive as you get to know them, they’re fun and goofy and chaotic but also have such a good heart. Just all around some attractive qualities.

😍 : What does your OC find irresistible in others?

Having strong principles about something, something to fight for, being determined. Also he’s pretty into people who are strong/a bit bigger than him. 

💐 : What is their courting style? How would they woo someone?

Obviously Tori will be doing a bit of flirting, I mean how else will you know they’re interested? He might also let her flirting get a bit less teasy and a bit more genuine, especially if it’s not seeming to click. Honestly though Tori kind of ends up flirting with a person they like before they even know he likes them, so it’s less of a courting and more of a prelude to their courting.

[safethaw]

Choosing Between A Concrete Or Asphalt Driveway: Factors To Consider

Alright, let's settle in and break down this whole concrete or asphalt driveway puzzle. It's like choosing between a sturdy SUV and a sleek sedan – both have their perks, but what's going to fit your lifestyle and your home's curb appeal best? Concrete Vs. Asphalt: The Main Event When you're weighing up a concrete or asphalt driveway, it's a bit like choosing between two great coffee blends. A concrete driveway is your premium, artisanal blend – it's got a bit more flair and customization options. You can jazz it up with different colors or textures, kind of like adding a shot of vanilla or a swirl of caramel to your latte. On the flip side, an asphalt driveway is like your trusty, everyday coffee. It might not have all the bells and whistles, but it's reliable, gets the job done, and has its own sleek, uniform charm. Plus, it's a bit friendlier on the wallet upfront. Talking Longevity And Toughness Durability-wise, concrete driveways can be like that high-quality pair of leather boots – they last longer if you care for them right. We're talking up to 30 years of solid performance. But just like those boots, they can get scuffed (read: crack) in extreme weather. In driveway asphalt vs concrete, Asphalt driveways are more like your comfortable running shoes. They might not last as long (think around 20 years), but they're flexible and less likely to crack when temperatures swing. However, they need a bit more TLC – resealing every few years is a must to keep them in top shape. Maintenance: The Real Commitment Now, let's chat about upkeep. With a concrete driveway, you're looking at less frequent maintenance, but it can be a bit tougher to fix if cracks appear. It's like owning a classic car – not a lot of day-to-day work, but repairs can be a project. Asphalt driveways need a bit more regular attention. Think of it as having a pet – a little bit of ongoing care (resealing, patching small cracks) goes a long way. Cost Comparison: Spending Now Vs. Spending Later Initial cost? Asphalt takes the cake. It's generally more budget-friendly at the start, but remember, those regular maintenance costs can add up. Concrete is more of an investment upfront, but with fewer long-term costs, it could balance out. The Style Factor: Curb Appeal Counts If you're looking to add a bit of pizzazz to your property, concrete gives you more creative room. It's the canvas of your home's art. Asphalt's sleek look is more about subtlety and elegance – it's the monochrome outfit that goes with everything. Eco-Friendly Aspects: Thinking Green On the green side of things, both materials have their downsides. Concrete production is pretty energy-intensive, whereas asphalt is a byproduct of petroleum. But, asphalt can be recycled, which is a feather in its eco-friendly cap. Winter Woes: The Ice Melt Conundrum In colder climates, taking care of your driveway in winter is crucial. Traditional salt or chloride-based ice melts can be tough on both concrete and asphalt. They're like using a heavy-duty cleaner – effective but harsh. Enter Safe Thaw: The Gentle Giant Of Ice Melts That's where Safe Thaw comes into the picture. This concrete-safe ice melter is a game-changer. It's like that gentle yet effective shampoo for sensitive scalps. Safe Thaw won't harm your driveway, your plants, or your pets. Its non-corrosive formula and eco-friendly nature make it a wise pick for any driveway material. Wrapping Up: Your Driveway, Your Choice So, there you have it – the lowdown on choosing between a concrete or asphalt driveway. Whether you go for the customizable charm of concrete or the sleek, reliable allure of asphalt, remember that proper care and the right ice melt can make all the difference. Here's to finding the perfect fit for your home and to many happy years with your chosen driveway! Read the full article

[vitaminwaterreviews]

Sugar - Secret (Single) and Sweet Lips (album)

Honestly they started off really well! Secret was nice, and the first three songs on the album were great, and then Sweet Day brought it all down and it never really went back up. Man of Man was definitely the standout, I really really enjoyed it. If their group has a dedicated rapper then I feel bad for her, she only got raps in like three or four songs. Like, Mr. Unnamed Rapper had as many rap lines as she did! I feel like they put all the creativity into the first songs and then just shoved all the rest into the end of the album. The guitar lines were great throughout though, whoever the producer is knows how to use guitar. Average score of 6.7 which is lower than M.I.L.K, but the songs that I enjoyed most from this album were better than my favorites from M.I.L.K

Secret

Apparently this song 1) has a MV and 2) won a MAMA which is pretty cool, that’s why I’m even watching it in the first place

The MV was nothing special by modern sensibilities, but the choreo looked fun

Styling was pretty girl crush

As usual, the intro for some reason is way better than the rest of the song

Still, the song was alright, I vibed, and this could definitely get stuck in my head

7/10

남 의 남자 (Man of Man)

Groovy

Whatever happened to this type of synth sound anyway? Did music just collectively decide to “grow out of” fun synths?

“Did you enjoy that?” Yeah, I did actually, this is fun

r&b tendencies, with that ridiculous synth in the background

Oooh this guitar is actually really good. This is a good song.

9/10

현명한 이별 (Wise Farewell)

This is the only one on the album with an MV, so I guess it’s the TT

Wait why do they look like they’re in a laundry machine and why are they so sad

I love the guitar

I’m torn between enjoying this song and not enjoying this song

The dance scenes are pretty cool

The vocals feel kind of anime outro to me, but the guitar is super classical

7/10, wish I had a better quality version

No Way

Dude how is every song so far totally different? This album is like a breath of fresh air compared to M.I.L.K

They do love their clean guitar plucks though

Pre-chorus is cool, chorus is fun

What is it with introducing a rock guitar just for the rap break? And why do they always introduce unnamed male rappers into a girl group song? This is exactly like M.I.L.K

Ohhh but we do keep the guitar around for the next chorus, that’s cool

And now he’s rapping over the clean guitar! I like the trade-offs

8/10, this won me over

Sweet Day

Here we go, this is the slow jam we were all waiting for

And as usual with slow jams, I have no comments, because I just do not find this style of music very interesting

I wonder if the album cover art is actually the members’ lips, that would be kinda cool but also a little weird

5/10, blindingly average

달콤한 상상 (Sweet Imagination)

I think she’s speaking English in the intro but I couldn’t catch what she said

Oh I heard that growl on the “oh baby,” that’s cool

I’m getting ‘Cause I’m Your Girl vibes from this song

The ad-libs are the best part of the song but honestly… I’m not convinced

6/10

Accident

Bassy

Yeah, you can tell we’ve hit the middle of the album when the songs start to blend into each other

Thing is, if you gave this an MV and put it at the beginning of the album I’d be like “yeah that’s title track material”

It does sound very Destiny’s Child to me for some reason

A purely instrumental bridge with vocalizations in the background? I guess that’s cool

And the synth continues into this verse, nice

6/10, mid, I want something creative and interesting to catch my attention. I just listened to Kiss of Life’s new album earlier today and every song was super distinct and had its own identity. I guess that’s easier for an EP to do though, to be fair.

The Boy Is Mine

Woah that title though haha

“Hey baby wassup?”

“How old are you? 21?? Girl you growin too fast! Nah I’m just playin with you babe”

Seriously though what’s up with introducing these random male rappers? I guess in this case though he’s just speaking

This instrumentation feels super broadway to me

Bit of vocal growl

Well this chorus kind of came out of nowhere

Strings? Don’t really fit imo

Mmm we love the whispers

Okay wait the bass with these strings in the post-chorus and rap section is great. Plus the vocalizing over the rapper? Good stuff

You can tell by my increase of comments that I’m liking this one more

Yeah I still don’t buy the chorus. It feels completely out of place compared to the moody verses

That outro was hot

8/10

Prism

Hmm

These vocals are very different from what we’ve had so far

Almost j-pop? Anime? AKB?

Nothing about the instrumentation sticks out to me though. The bass exists, the strings exist, the background exists, I guess it feels prism-y but it’s not doing anything special for me.

NMIXX CHANGE UP holy shit

Dude what the actual hell, at least Nmixx have the decency to try and make it sound cohesive

This song is so blindingly mid that even the nmixx moment was mid

5/10

The Way

Liking this guitar

Aaaaand there it goes, now we’re in slow jam town

I guess the harmonies are cute

The guitar is back, I like it

It feels a bit too loud in the mix during the chorus but I think I like that

Okay frfr though why does this remind me of Pomp and Circumstance

I guess the outro was okay

6/10

Only One

The chorus is not the same song as the verse and you cannot convince me otherwise

Oooh a proper girl group rap break, we haven’t had one of those yet have we?

The violins here feel super cheesy

The voice doubling on the “you are the only one” is cool

We love singing over a rap break

Yeah think song just gets better as it goes on I guess. Still not amazing but I’ll give it

7/10

Baby Boy

I don’t know what to make of this intro yet

This is quite the extended intro too

The guitar in my right ear is so pretty, can we get more of that in the mix?

Also they’re definitely taking advantage of the stereo audio here which kind of annoys me, I much prefer mono

Forgettable chorus

Okay for real though if there was a song on this album that was exclusively guitar, I’d vibe so hard to that. They do the guitars so well

Another proper rap break, I guess they just saved them for the end of the album lol

7/10

Temptation

Last song on the album, let’s see what we get

Not impressed by the intro so far

This feels almost In Love With A Ghost for some reason?

This song does not feel like it should be called “Temptation,” where’s the sultry and the seduction?

I guess there’s a bit of bow-chicka-wow-wow

Yeah I am not impressed by this as the last song

Oh, there’s our unnamed male rapper!

Random ballad section for the bridge

6/10

[obeiii-mee]

Hey! Sorry to bother you with a second ask but i thought this one would be cool. Fluffy headcanons of the demon brothers watching scary movies with MC??? Somewhere MC gets scared, and some where they don't? Thanks again!! :)

It’s no bother!! I love getting requests from you guys! The more, the merrier. I sort of hc that the brothers and MC do have movie night every week or so and with them being demons, they tend to levitate towards the horror genre. Thank you for sending this, this is really cute :)))

Without further ado—-

————————————

The Brothers watching Scary movies with MC:

Lucifer:

-Haha mf already knows how this is going to end

-He warned you, he really did

-The horror movies DevilDom has to offer are nothing, and I mean nothing, like the ones from the human world

-I’m not going to go into detail but imagine Two Girls One Cup, in a less kinky and more gorey way (then times that by 10)

-But you were adamant into giving it a go and he literally could not deny you in that moment

-Because you were giving him the puppy eyes

-That’s like, the finishing blow you use every time to get your way with him and as far as you know it’s the only one that works so-

-He expected your reaction to the last second

-You were traumatised for lack of a better word and you were basically watching the whole film through the cracks between your fingers

-Seeing you in that state was like a punch in the gut but he couldn’t stop himself from throwing in a subtle ‘I told you so’

-“I told you watching something like this before bed is a bad idea, MC.”

-He might be a bit condescending and judgemental at first, but he’s probably going to baby you a bit for the rest of the night

-Because he feels bad he allowed you to watch it in the first place

-HAHAHAHA SOFT LUCIFER HAS BEEN SUMMONED, USE HIM WISELY

-He will start muttering words of comfort to you later because he’s certain you’re going to have trouble sleeping

-Because of that one time, he’s very hesitant to let you watch another horror film anytime soon

-But he will relent eventually (especially if you want to watch a human horror film as those are technically less extreme)

-If it makes you happy, he will go through with it, even if he has to let you cling onto him for the rest of the day

-Besides, the way you cuddle into him while you’re watching a horror film is very cute and endearing to him

Mammon:

-Ah yes, the most effective method of waking up the entire House of Lamentation at 3:00 am

-Mammon screaming his own vocal cords out in his room as he tries to get through his human’s favourite horror movie without dying of a heart attack

-It was his idea because he’s definitely the type to go: “Yeah let’s do this, it will be fun. Don’t get too scared alright MC? The Great Mammon will be here to protect ya.”

-And then ten minutes in, he’s basically in your lap

-Half an hour in, he turned himself into a demon burrito with his blankets

-You were enjoying the movie, laughing at the stupid sound effects and poor quality while Mammon next to you has wrapped himself in like two dozen blankets and pillows

-“Mammon you’re going to overheat.”

-“Don’t be silly human, I’m a demon who lives in hell. I can take high temperatures the same way I can take this damn movie!”

-He doesn’t take either of them well

-Mammon and the horror genre don’t mix well together to begin with

-So even if you might enjoy horror, he doesn’t react well to it at all

-And he’ll be low-key relieved if you tell him you guys don’t have to watch any sort of horror film for your date night

-“Well I guess if you don’t want to, then we don’t have to. Can’t make my human do something they’re uncomfortable with eh?”

-But if you do watch a scary movie with him, be sure to show any sort of physical affection to him as often as possible

-You don’t have to say anything, just hold his hand or let him put his head in your lap or something

-It might stop him from screeching like a female sloth in heat

-The last time that happened, his brothers weren’t too pleased with him

-They about to recreate the horror film scenes onto him, bring the popcorn have fun

Levi:

-For some reason, I feel like he doesn’t get scared easily while watching stuff

-I mean, after decades of obsessively watching animes with brutal character deaths (like Attack on Titan style) and grotesque horror games that are pretty nasty even to demons, let alone humans;

-A horror film, from the human world or even DevilDom, doesn’t do much for him

-It will have to have very good psychological horror in it if you want the hairs on his arms to stand up in anticipation

-Tension is a big deal for him and he will immediately shut off the TV if there are any cheap jump scares

-But, if you manage to find just the right thing for him?

-You’ll both be hiding under the bed in no time under the bathtub more like

-Hell, if the film you’re watching is that good, he might even be holding onto you for dear life without realising it and getting flustered about it

-For weeks afterwards, any sound that is remotely similar to one from that movie will probably send both of you into panic

-You came to his room one night because you’ve had a nightmare about the stupid film and legitimately thought there was a fucking demon serial killer in your room

-So you wanted to stay in his

-“But what if there is a serial killer in your room and now you just led it to me MC????”

-It’s all jokes, there’s no question he would lock both of you in his room and then stay there with you wide awake until dawn

-You’re his best friend after all, he would have to be completely heartless to leave you on your own! (Besides Levi is terrifying when he wants to be)

-One time you were sleeping over and the sound of fumbling woke you tf up

-And Levi immediately turned into his demon form, like he was ready to throw hands with this fictional murderer that supposedly sneaked into his room

-“DON’T WORRY MC, I’LL PROTECT YOU!”

-“Ah never mind, it’s just Mammon breaking into your room again to steal your Ruri-Cham figurines and sell them on Akuzon.”

-“Oh OK.”

-“.....”

-“WAIT MAMMON WTF YOU FUCKING SCUMBAG, GET OUT OF MY ROOM-“

-I’m playing Minecraft

Satan:

-Believe it or not, Satan doesn’t care much about horror movies

-Don’t get me wrong, he loves watching his brothers shit their pants out of fear in the middle of one while he silently smirks to himself because watching other people suffer brings him euphoria

-Especially if someone actually manages to find a film that is excellent enough to spook Lucifer, because then he will be cackLING

-But, overall, he watches a lot of shows revolved around drama and crime

-That’s his thing

-However, he won’t turn you down if you’re up to watching a scary movie with him

-Any time spent with you is valuable time seeing as it won’t be long before his brothers start hogging you again like the cockblockers they are

-He is honestly surprised to find out you seem to be rather amused by those sort of movies

-So, even if it’s not inherently something he does on the regular, he would definitely watch a scary film with you if you enjoy them that much

-But in exchange, he makes you promise to read with him until bedtime rolls around (imagine Lucifer having a fucking curfew for his brothers and you lmao)

-So for the rest of night you guys just read together, ya know, like sappy romantics

-Tbh, this man will do almost anything with you as long as both of you are having fun

-He knows it’s not likely, but he insists on sleeping in the same room that night just in case you have nightmares and he needs to comfort you

- :)

-Satan is a gentleman. Idk how many people that don’t play OM expected to hear this

Asmo:

-Why would you want to watch a movie when you could be watching him???

-I mean, you would rather watch all that gory stuff on the TV than his beautiful face?

-He may get salty over a fucking movie tbh

-Horror films aren’t something he generally looks for while trying to pick a movie to watch

-He can definitely handle them better than Mammon but it’s not something he takes great pleasure in watching

-But the first time he ever sits down with you to watch one, he’s very intrigued to see your reactions

-You started feeling the sensation of absolute dread creep in at the very beginning and you were trying your best to act like you weren’t getting affected by what you saw on the screen

-But you were

-You went from “I’m grown ass adult, I can watch a fucking horror movie, no problem.”

-To “Welp, not enough of a grown ass adult for this-“

-And Asmo thought the way you tried to hide your nervousness was very mesmerising in a way

-He was planning on flirting with you during the movie anyway, but now that you were pressing himself against him?

-Oh boy, Oh boy

-“Darling if you wanted to touch me, you could’ve just said so. Making the excuse of watching a movie is unnecessary.”

-Nightmares? What nightmares? You won’t have time to have nightmares ;)

-haHAHA funny inappropriate joke

-It’s Asmo, it’s mandatory to have at least one of those added in here

Beel:

-Beel will show up if there’s food and that’s that

-He doesn’t care what type of movie is playing on the TV as long as he has a bucket of popcorn next to him at all times

-Horror films aren’t something he can’t handle, he’s a demon like the rest of his brothers and he is used to...violent deaths and such

-He doesn’t get scared but there are times where he gets attached to the characters

-Especially movies with actual good and not cringeworthy dialogue

-Therefore, when they die, he gets sad even if they’re just fictional and their death had no real impact

-He also thinks that the way you can watch these things without flinching is impressive

-I mean, he can watch it and so can his brothers because they are demons

-They’ve done worse things than the things you see in horror films

-But you’re a human! So it’s weird to see you watch a person get repeatedly slammed against a wall until their neck snaps without batting an eyelid

-Overall, he does not have an opinion on scary movies

-He gets a bit emotional when a character he really liked dies

-But other than that, he’s just focused on eating

-And occasionally patting your head affectionately

Belphie:

-He doesn’t really like horror films because there’s a lot of screaming and tense music and he’s just trying to nap in your lap (rhyme)

-He doesn’t really need sound effects like that in the background while he’s trying to sleep

-But one day he was like “Hey, what if I show my favourite human this particular scary film?”

-And he did

-And he’s internally dying and feeling guilty and yet so flustered because of you

-It’s like you suddenly turn into this very fidgety and anxious mess and he thinks you just look....cute

-At some point you were getting overwhelmed and sprung up on your feet to turn the lights on

-And he just grabbbed your wrists, pulled you down next to him and let you press your head against his chest

-As mentioned, he’s a little shit and will tease you for being such a scaredy cat

-“That was the most predictable jumpscare and you still flinched, wth is wrong with you lmao.”

-But at the same time....

-“Relax. It’s just a horror movie. You’ll be fine. Besides, I’m here. Like I would let something bad happen to you.”

-That’s sweet, even if the tone of voice may not imply it because he’s such a brat-

-He actually really likes holding you for once, because usually he’s the little spoon

-He’s still a bit of a sadist so I imagine him sitting there and watching this while giggling to himself

-Isn’t he the cutest, laughing at other people’s misery and their never ending suffering?🥺🥺🥺 UwU

-Ah well, at least he has the decency to spoil with affection afterwards and make sure you have no nightmares that night

-You know, as payback for the horrific shit he made you watch with no warning

————————————

OK, I think I made a decent job of this even though it took longer than it actually was meant to. Thank you for reading though. I’ve got so many requests to go through and I’ve been feeling motivated lately so yeah!

See you soon

Al~

[thefanficmonster]

Hy, Vy! 📚🌻 Here!

I read that you're having a busy week so I just came here to give you some reminders: Get up for a bit, drink water. Relax for a bit: let your shoulders drop, unclench your jaw and hands, take a deep breath. Better? Hope you are taking care of yourself.

Your three words of today are: Scratch, Silk, snarl.

Take all the time you need and hope you have a good week!

Love, 📚🌻

Hi 📚🌻!

So nice to be hearing from you again! My busy week has finally been put to a pause worries-wise so I can relax and write A TON of fics for you guys so I can make up for being absent for so long 😌 I missed writing honestly and, not gonna lie, your three word challenges bring me so much joy, I'm not even kidding. So thank you for sending me another, in return I send you a short fluffy fic with the pairing I keep using because I'm obsessed 😅 along with all my love, hugs, kisses and support. They're all addressed to you 💌💌💌

Worthy

Pairing: Chris Redfield x OC - Gwen Winters (y’all already know her by now 😅)

No warnings, just pure fluff, Enjoy! 🥰

“Wow, don’t you look presentable.“ 

Now, while the comment is not at all false and is completely fair and true, he shouldn’t have said anything at all. Not when the younger girl was glaring at him before he even opened his mouth.

She can’t be having it easy: baby food in her hair, a questionable stain on her shirt, some dark spots along her arms and what looks to be paint on her forehead and cheeks. Oh and hands too.

“And you look unwanted.” She snarls, “The Devil sent you to prevent me from catching a break today, didn’t he?“ She made her glare even deadlier which he didn’t think was possible. He should know better than to underestimate her like that, Gwen Winters always has a way of surprising him after all. “Well, go back and tell him I wasn’t planning on catching a break either way so you aren’t needed“

Chris rolls his eyes, “For the last time, please stop making me sound like your worst nightmare took a human form.” He scoffs, reaching out to remove a crumb from her shirt, “In fact, I’m here to help.”

“Ethan and Mia sent you then. They don’t believe I have it handled, do they?“ She sighs, walking inside the surprisingly quiet Winters home.

Her Captain, taking that action of hers as a good sign, follows her inside, closing the front door behind him. “No, they don’t know I’m here actually. I called to check up on them and they said they were on a date so I immediately knew who got stuck with the babysitting duty and thought you’d need help.” He gives her a quick once-over, grimacing slightly at the sight she is, “And it seems like you really could use and extra pair of hands.”

“Well....when you put it like that I wish you showed up an hour ago. That’s when this happened.“ She motions to herself. “Christ, I need a change of clothes...and a shower.“ A sigh leaves her lips as her arms drop by her sides.

“And a bandage.“ He murmurs when his gaze suddenly lands on a particularly bad looking scratch on Gwen’s arm. “What happened to you?“

Her eyes follow his to where a red line has marked her skin. She lets out a laugh, “Believe it or not, Rose’s got one hell of a grip. God knows I’d be covered in bite marks if she had teeth.” The look of shock and concern that flashes across the older man’s face makes her laugh, “Hey, don’t worry, the shower will be quick and she’s a pretty heavy sleeper so you won’t have to deal with her on your own.”

He nods hesitantly, muttering a quick ‘Right’ before the girl disappears down the hallway in the direction of the staircase with the intention of grabbing herself some clean clothes she knows won’t remain clean for very long after her sister wakes up. Maybe they’re not blood related, but Gwen still refers to Rose as her sister. Not rare are the times she’s accidentally referred to Ethan as dad or to Mia as mom when talking about them with some of her friends at the BSAA, hell even when talking with Chris. She doesn’t even appear to notice when she says it, but he does, and a smile always briefly graces his features when she does.

As he’s surfing through the TV channels, less than ten minutes after he heard the shower turn on, the baby monitor comes to life with the displeased whines of a child that’s awoken from its slumber.  Chris Redfield, previously a BSAA soldier and now a captain, one who has faced thousands of horrors in his life, each more threatening than the last, is now frozen in place.

One thing this man hasn’t had much experience with is dealing with individuals below their teenage years. Sure, he held Rose when she was still a newborn but even that lasted less than five minutes cause he was so terrified of dropping her or her starting to cry. And now he has to go tend whatever need she has without knowing what they are or how to tend to them.

Wonderful.

Seeing as how the whines are rather quiet and haven’t turned into wails just yet he feels a bit bolder about the whole ordeal, getting up from the couch and making his way towards the stairs, passing by the bathroom where he hears Gwen singing ‘Lovefool’ like she’s the only person in the house.

“Don’t worry, Rose, I’d be crying too if I were awoken by that.“ He murmurs, stomping up the steps.

Entering the nursery, he’s pleasantly surprised to see Rose has stopped complaining and is just looking up at him, intrigued by the presence of this man she doesn’t recognize. Chris scoffs, deciding to drop the subject but right as he steps one foot out the door, the crying begins.

‘No way‘, he thinks to himself, slowly inching back into the room just for the cries to be put to a halt again. ‘You gotta be kidding me.’

“Listen kid, I’m not in any way, shape or for fit for this. Just hold on, your sister will be out in a minute, ok?“ His mouth is saying one thing but his mind is on a completely different level of following instincts - the fatherly instincts he never even thought he had. And while getting his soul stared into by this baby, he can’t help but give into those instincts, “Alright, but you better give me a good review if your sister asks. She can be really high strung sometimes, though I bet you already knew that, having to live with her and all.“ He murmurs as he lifts the now giggling Rose out of her crib, gently cradling her to his chest. To his relief, she stays quiet, relaxing in his embrace. “You’re much less of a handful than Gwen.” He chuckles softly, not wanting to disrupt the quiet too much in hopes it would lead to Rose falling back asleep soon. “I mean, I complain a lot about her and her attitude, but I’d do anything for her, if I’m being honest. She doesn’t know, of course, I haven’t told her. Not that she’d believe me if I did. She’s gotta be the most stubborn yet selfless, most sarcastic yet loving person I’ve ever met. She saves her good qualities for people who deserve to see em, I’m not surprised I’m not one of them. I’ve done nothing but give her a hard time since we met, but can you really blame? She was death-glaring me before we even exchanged names, for goodness’ sake. I probably shouldn’t bother a less than a year old baby with my problems but I have no other listener...” Looking down, he realizes Rose has fallen asleep. He huffs lightheartedly, a smile on his face, “Guess I didn’t have you either, huh?”

“You had me.“ He stiffens his muscles, startled by the foreign whisper that fills the room.

Slowly turning around, he finds Gwen leaning against the doorframe her small figure wrapped in a towel, arms crossed over her chest, her smirking face framed by a curtain of wet hair. She looks smug, too smug, insinuating she’s heard a good portion of his speech if not its entirety. 

“Don’t I at least get an applause?“ He rolls his eyes, hoping the blush isn’t as visible as he feels it to be. 

“You really think you deserve one with the amount of cheesiness you just spewed, not to mention gossiping about me to my own sister.“ She shakes her head with faux disappointment, her voice smooth like silk.

“Ok do I at least get a response then?“ He needs to know, there’s no way he can leave this house or even this room without getting an answer, no matter how disappointed he might be by it. Better a brutal answer than blind ignorance.

She purses her lips, her eyes leaving his and landing on the sleeping baby he almost forgot he was holding. She takes a few steps towards him, reaching out and taking gentle hold of Rose, her movements so light and careful the baby doesn’t even detect she’s being moved. Gwen lays her sister down in her crib even more carefully straightening up and placing her hands on the railing, smiling down at the sleeping toddler.

Chris stands there restless, his gaze analyzing and overanalyzing each and every shift of her facial expression, the tiniest changes in her body stance and body language. He’s never seen her so at peace and so relaxed, out of her usual surroundings and gear. The rough lines of her face softened by the sisterly love she’s displaying, watching over the sleeping Rose. There’s so much grace and beauty within her and it never fails to shine through. Not in the battlefield, not when faced with literal death, not even when she’s holding a weapon twice her size, making her look terrifying for the enemy.

He said he wasn’t surprised to be excluded from the tight circle of people she has - those who see her at her best - and he really isn’t. He doesn’t deserve her kindness, her softness, her smiles and laughter. He doesn’t deserve her. He’s not worth of a membership

Or that’s what he thinks, at least.

Gwen suddenly turns to him, the smile still present on her face as she gazes up at him, her head tilted back so she can look him in the eyes which is proving pretty difficult considering their proximity and height difference. Leaning back on the crib railing she sighs, “You’re right, a response would be adequate. But what kind would you like?”

He scoffs, his muscles tensing even more despite the smile on his face, “The most honest one you can offer me.”

She hums approvingly, nodding as though she’s contemplating her next move. He’s on the verge of telling her to forget it, let it all fall in the water and hope she forgets about it soon. He can deal with a few sleepless nights but that ultimate rejection, he knows it’ll sting a lot and for a long time.

However, just as he’s about to cross over the verge and open his big mouth he’s physically prevented from doing so by the pair of lips that have collided with his. Her lips. She’s kissing him.

‘Holy crap, what is happening?‘ It’s safe to say his mind’s racing which is mainly why it takes him a second or two to respond but when he comes to, he’s kissing her back with passion and longing, as though they’ve shared this kiss before. His arms automatically wrap around her waist, pulling her closer, while hers find themselves wrapped around his neck, her fingers gently tangling in his hair.

To say he’s disappointed when she pulls away would be an understatement but seeing as how she’s not in a rush to free herself from his grasp, he doesn’t complain. Instead, he allows her to rest her forehead against hers. He closes his eyes, their proximity intoxicating his mind, the scent of her freshly washed hair and skin making his thoughts hazy.

“Next time you wanna tell me something...“ Gwen whispers breathlessly, “...my sister is not the one you should turn to first.“

Chris chuckles, reattaching their lips in relief and ecstasy. He can’t remember the last time he’s felt quite like this: so high yet so grounded, so intoxicated yet sober. She gives him polar opposite experiences at once and it’s simply magical.

He may not be worthy of a membership in her inner circle, but he’s damn lucky she likes him as much as she does.

[utau-signalboosts]

Gladly! Thank you very much for submitting~!

Geez, I haven’t seen these two in ages... It’s a shock seeing them take a sudden leap in design and backstory since the last I saw them.

Since they’re twins, I’ll just happen to slap em on the same post. I don’t quite like separating twins, since I think they should usually stay together when it comes to stuff like this... Kinda like Kanon and Anon.

Long post incoming, after the base introduction! You all know the drill here... If you wanna support and check out information, check out their channel or head to their website here!

Maria and Mario Fuwa are Canadian UTAUs created by KAFKA. They both have a few VCV voicebanks, all ranging in different voice types such as soft, strong, light... But they have multiexpression voicebanks as well. If I’ve read correctly, their voicebanks are the multiexpression ones (based off a description I read from a video). Did I mention they’re multipitch~? As a result, the type of voices they have can actually range very much.

I’m honestly very shocked to see them once again, especially with how much of a glow-up they’ve had compared to their 2018(?) designs! I actually very much prefer these concepts over the older ones, since they actually have a unique spin on the nonhuman blood species trope. It actually sets them apart more, aside from just being another pair of twins out there. 

They’re both genderfluid, just to specify!

Maria seems to be more of the chaotic one, given how she loves competing... Specifically in robot matches. Luckily, she’s no sore loser and accepts defeat when it happens. She has built over 150 robots with the help of her brother on some. Her pyromancy is described to be destructive, and can burn down an entire city if left unattended. You probably shouldn’t leave her in an antique store either, due to her habit of swinging around her tail and therefore accidentally breaking things. Though, despite her... chaoticness, she happens to have a more tame hobby, which is watering the plants in her room. The most important thing you should know? Don’t leave her in the kitchen at all unless you want your house to become an oversized campfire spot for all the kids to tell the horror stories of Maria Fuwa around. She’s also very easily irritable, so choose your words wisely :) She sounds a bit like she’d be my spirit animal, if you ask me

Mario, on the other hand, is a bit more tame than his twin. When we say “tame,” we mean that he simply works at a cat cafe but can never get a rest from Maria since she’ll sometimes come to the cafe just to piss him off with the most outrageous drink orders. In contrast to his sister, his pyromancy is actually meant to heal! He seems like the type of person you’d wanna get a drink with, as long as you don’t anger him. He’s actually hard to anger, but is described to be terrifying when he is. He is quick-witted and knowledgeable compared to his sister. Though, some don’t know it, he is actually very knowledgeable in mechanics as well. Simply put - He’s the polar opposite of his twin. If you don’t feel safe around Maria, you’ll probably feel safer around him.

Alright, essay time. More under the break, if anyone would like to read! My complete thoughts are gonna be written under here as well.

The voicebanks actually very much vary in tone and power! My thoughts would absolutely have to depend on which voicebank is being spoken about. Design-wise, I very much prefer the current ones compared to the previous ones, as they have caught my interest more than the previous ones have ever done. Their current concepts are also much cuter and interesting! Though, that’s my opinion so take it with a veeeery small grain of sugar (was that how the quote went?) when I say that about the previous design wwww

Moving onto the voicebanks, let’s take a look!

Their latest voicebanks, as shown on their release, are actually pretty high of quality just by hearing alone! They sound pretty energetic in this sample! I was thinking they could be very well done voicebanks with much effort put into them. However, the only concern I have is that I couldn’t tell who was singing in the mentioned sample just by hearing. There was only some subtle difference that could be heard, and some newer people may have to listen closely to hear. Perhaps different pronunciations, stress in certain consonants and vowels, as well as flags could be used to differentiate them? Again, take it with a small grain of salt or sugar since those are my thoughts about them! I believe Mario may actually sound different in a different register... Maybe a lower one? Aside from that concern, I believe these voicebanks are actually headed towards a good direction! Just by sound, I believe I don’t hear anything bad with the oto.ini file and they seem to be well-recorded! I’d say these voicebanks actually have a lot of potential! I especially like the amount of range the two can have.

I believe I’ve only faced this problem with the latest voicebanks that were released, which were mainly Pyrite and Albedo (very nice voicebank names by the way!). The other voicebanks actually have their own differences, such as their Calm voicebanks as well as some of the previous ones shown.

I must say, though... I actually lowkey really like this specific cover of Mario

I actually also like the Testament voicebank for Mario, as well as the voicebank that matches it for Maria. Though, I’m unsure if that’s the same name you’re using for it since I don’t see it on the UTAU wiki... Not only that, but I also seem to be stuck in the 2018 era... Please correct me if I’m wrong~ I prefer to have my info correct when it comes to these things! Hopefully, you’ll know what I’m talking about, but I’ll specify and accept any corrections if not.

That’s all I can think of with these two for now. In short: I think they’re actually clean af voicebanks, but my opinions up there still remain. I actually really like their designs and the ideas behind them, too! Hope I didn’t come off as rude with this entire essay, since I wanted to give an honest opinion ^^; Thank you very much for submitting, and please continue to do what you love. I saw the description of your video, so I suppose a warm “Welcome back” is very much warranted~! Your excitement to continue the development of your own voicebanks and show them here is, in fact, cute, wholesome and admirable to a degree, given how you must’ve had the confidence to submit them. Honestly, I wish I could see more people have that same excitement for their own creations. Always show your creations the love that they deserve. Hopefully the flames of your motivation don’t die once again.

[script-nef]

Interview Time | Oikawa Tooru

Category: fluff

2k words; an eventful interview with Oikawa and his girlfriend

Today we are joined by the phenomenal setter of Club Athletico San Juan, Oikawa Tooru, and the manager of the team, [Name] [Surname]. They are the iconic couple who have brought laughter and joy to many matches by their interactions. 

“Hello, [Name] here!”

“Hi, I’m Oikawa! And [Name]-chan, is that a reference to Zuko?”

“It most certainly is. It’s good to see you finally recognise some of my pop culture references now. I was wondering when you’d finally get a hobby outside of volleyball.”

“I have one!”

“Searching for alien conspiracy theories is not a hobby. Tooru, you’re weird as hell.”

“But you still love me.”

“Unfortunately.”

“Hey!”

You guys are so cute and lively together! Today’s interview will be focused on your relationship, but feel free to reject some of the questions if you’re uncomfortable. Is that okay?

“Sure!”

Q. How did you two meet?

“Oh, I was working for San Juan as one of the managers when he was brought in. Since I’m fluent in Japanese, the head coach asked me to help him around because his Spanish and English was atrocious.”

“Eck, [Name]-chan! I wasn’t that bad!”

“You were terrible, who are you trying to kid? Literally no one could understand half the things you were saying. I was basically your translator for the first year.”

“[Name]-chan!! You’re breaking my heart!”

“As long as your body works for volleyball I don— Okay, okay, I was kidding! Don’t pout, Tooru. You learnt it quick enough and now you don’t have any problems! Besides, it’s thanks to your previously horrible language skills that we got to spend more much time together, right?

“I guess that’s true… Was I really that bad though?”

“Absolutely horrible. Everyone can back me up on this.”

Q. What is one quality about each other that you admire and love the most?

“Tenacity, I guess. In volleyball and everything else. He stays behind all the damn time for hours, none of his teammates can keep up. I once had to conk him on the head and drag him out so he would rest.”

“It hurt! You’re stronger than Iwa-chan sometimes, I don’t even understand how that’s possible.”

“You think I’m stronger than the arm-wrestling champion Iwa-chan?”

“Yes. Anyway, what I love most about [Name] is her perceptivity. Did you know that I once had a small kink in my leg muscle which was uncomfortable and she caught it in a second? No one else noticed except her! And this was before we started dating!”

“Yeah, well. I did spend the most time with you and you constantly tell me things about yourself. Even when I didn’t ask.”

“[Name]-chan is so shy. It’s okay, I know you loved me since the moment you laid your eyes on me.”

“Eh…”

“Hey!”

“I didn’t fall in love with you at first sight, I don’t believe in that. You slowly grew on me because you incessantly hit on me.”

“That’s the best kind of hitting!”

“...hm. Do you, um, like any other sort of hitting—”

“[Name]-chan, we’re on camera! Stop that!”

I’m sorry, please keep this PG, there are young fans who might be watching. Moving on!

Q. What was your first date like?

“First date, huh? It was like, ages ago…”

“It was 6 years ago, in August. We went to the Tango festival in Buenos Aires. I had such a fun time with you then!”

“You had fun stepping all over my feet. It’s honestly appalling how much you sucked at dancing back then. You were bad at a lot of things, huh.”

“She complained about it all night, but even then she was so cute and brilliant. She led me for the second half, stating that she had enough of her feet getting trampled on.”

“Thankfully you picked it up fast. You’re pretty fast at learning new skills.”

“Aww, is the ever-so stoic [Name]-chan praising me? How rare!”

“Well, if you don’t want me to, then…”

“Wait, no don’t stop! I was kidding, praise me more!” 

“Ah, don’t latch onto me, this is on cam— Tooru!”

Now, now, please calm down. Straight onto the next question!

Q. Do you have any memorable dates or events?

“Oh, there was this one time.”

“I already said sorry for that!”

“That doesn’t mean it never happened! My jaw still hurts when I think about it!”

“I said sorry every single time!”

“Still! Okay, the story is that I wanted to surprise him when he came back home but it went horribly. The first part, at least. “He didn’t know I was coming over because I wanted it to be a surprise, which in hindsight was a bad idea. I made dinner and turned the lights off when I heard the door unlocking. In my head, it was like ‘pop and and surprise him’, but when I did, he got spooked and hit me in the jaw.”

“It was reflex! [Name]-chan, you popped out screaming ‘surprise’ right in front of me!”

“Yeah, but still. That’s how I now know he has a great right hook. Nearly knocked me out. But his crying and screaming stopped me from falling unconscious.”

“I thought I really did knock you out!”

“Yeah, but you kept on screaming even after I said it was okay. You’ve probably heard of it too, there were news articles about how he came into the emergency room crying his eyes out.”

“I really am sorry about it, [Name]-chan…”

“Hey now, no need to be sad. It’s just a funny memory to tell everyone now.” 

At least you can laugh about it now.

Q. 6 years is a long time. You must have a lot of anniversaries. What do you do for them?

“Nothing special, we just get presents for each other and spend the day together. I used to just tell him what I wanted but he can figure out what I want now.”

“That shows what an amazing and observant boyf—I mean fiancé I am! Have you ever been disappointed with anything I gave you?”

“Well, no, not yet.”

“See? And you get me all the things I want and need. We’re a perfect couple.”

“We sometimes go on trips to neighbouring countries, visit some tourist spots. I bought him a camera for the anniversary last year, and now he takes tons of photos everywhere we go. There’s a huge stack of polaroids in our bedroom.”

“[Name]-chan, don’t ignore me! Aren’t we a perfect couple?”

“I think we’re the best we can be. Perfection doesn’t exist, but we can strive to be the best we can be, right Tooru?”

“Yup! You’re so wise when it comes to things like this.”

Q. What do you do in your spare time?

“We recently started watching TV shows like Umbrella Academy and Doctor Who. Tooru likes them because of all the aliens and superpowers.”

“They’re all so creative! Like the Weeping Angel, that makes me freak out whenever I see a statue now. Some of them give me nightmares.”

“Weeping Angels are messed up. Wait, why do you watch it if it gives you nightmares? You need to take care of your mental state as well, national representative!”

“But you hug me when I sleep if I have night terrors! I would sit through a hundred horror movies if it means you would hug me.”

“…”

“Are you… blushing?”

“No.”

“Aw, [Name]-chan, you’re blushing! I love you so much!”

“Tooru, stop! I’m going to fa—”

*Technical difficulties please hold*

Q. You recently announced your engagement, congratulations! How was the proposal, if you don’t mind me asking?

“I took her to her favourite restaurant! It’s this fancy place in a building near the training centre and she loves the pizza there.”

“It is delicious. He can’t see how good it is, this uncultured child.”

“It’s not my type! I like other pizzas, just not that one. Her face absolutely glows with happiness when she takes a bite but I can’t understand it. They have those really salty fish—”

“Anchovy. And I usually don’t like it either, but they make it taste amazing!”

“No, it still tastes like clumps of salt. Thankfully I like other dishes on the menu. We go there so often that the owner has a special spot reserved for us. It’s by a window and since the restaurant is in a tall building, it looks over the lights of the city. It’s very beautiful.”

“He was looking skittish than usual, so I was worried for him. I actually thought he wanted to break up with me. But instead, he showed me the ring and asked me to marry him.”

“Why would I ever break up with you?”

“Couples split apart! It’s what happens to a lot of them, I have never heard of someone who lived forever with only one person.”

“Tobio-chan did!”

“Are we considering volleyball as a person now?”

“[Name]-chan, we went to their wedding!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m just kidding! He was pretty cute, all twitchy and red. His wife was even cuter though, so shy and embarrassed. Very beautiful as well.”

“You’re going to be even more radiant at our wedding. I can see you in your dress already.”

“Wow, you must be able to see into the future, since I haven’t even looked at the catalogue.”

“It’s a figure of speech!”

Now, now, please calm down! Onto the next question.

Q. You guys had been dating for quite a while before getting engaged. When did you realise you wanted to spend the rest of your life with each other?

“Oh, you never actually told me this.”

“It was actually when I was away for a game! [Name]-chan couldn’t come because she had to work back in Argentina, so I was all alone in a foreign country.”

“Literally everyone else on the team came to the game, you weren’t alone.”

“But none of them were you! Let me be romantic and tell my love story!”

“Alright, alright, no more interruptions. Proceed.”

“Thank you. It was the first day there. I finished the practice for the day and did our daily night call, because we always talk before falling asleep. I dozed off to her talking, so I thought she would be there when I woke up. But when I opened my eyes in the morning, and she wasn’t there, this wave of panic came over me until I realised I was overseas. “That moment was probably it. I thought there, lying on the bed, that I would never be happy unless I wake up next to her every morning and see her sleeping face. Unless I could start off my day by kissing her and holding her in my arms.”

“…That— that’s what you thought when you woke up?”

“Yeah? And I thought that every morning since the— wait, are you blushing?”

“No, shut up and go away, Tooru.”

“AWWWW [NAME]-CHAN IS BLUSHING AND TRYING TO HIDE FROM ME!! YOU’RE SO CUTE AND I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! I WANT TO SQUISH YOUR WIDDLE FACE AND CUDDLE YOU FOREVER MY AMAZING AND PRECIOUS WIFE!”

“Ack, Tooru, I’m going to fall agai—”

*Another technical difficulty, please hold*

Well, I think this has been a very cute and informative session. Quite eventful as well.

“If by eventful, you mean him trying to hug me so tight my ribs break and I get concussions from falling all the time, then yes, eventful.”

“Sorry, [Name]-chan, you were just too cute!”

“Not another word, volleyboy.”

Well, I’m sure your fans will be thrilled to see how cute the two of you are!

“His fans do seem to like knowing little stupid stories we have.”

“They’re our memories and I wouldn’t ever trade them for anything else.”

“…Me neither.”

“Aw, you’re so affectionate today, [Name]-chan. Maybe we should come again next time so I can see you blushing even more!”

We are completely on board with tha— 

“Okay, this is the end of our interview and I hope it was fun for the viewers! Bye-bye now!”

“Ah, she’s escaping! Wait for me, [Name]-chan! Thanks for watching! Bye!”

[shimmershae]

My thoughts on Episode 6--On the Inside

Very appropriate title by the way.  Works in a multitude of ways.  

As always, my randomness is going beneath a cut again to spare the eyeballs of those of you that don’t want to see it at all and also?  Help those of you that have somehow stayed spoiler-free in this brand-new age of early release episodes.  It is still so wild to me that I’m a full episode ahead of half the fandom.  I don’t know what I’m going to do when we get to the final episode and they decide to make us all suffer together--because somehow I do feel they will do exactly that after spoiling us for the first 23 episodes.  It is going to be agonizing.  

Anyway.  Without further ado, Shae’s stream of consciousness review (of sorts).  

Not fair, Angela.  Opening the episode with that shot of that big ass spider.  I hate those suckers.  So naturally, they’re an easy sell for setting the horror scene to me, lol.  

Okay.  Who the hell’s chasing Virgil and Connie?  Walker No-See-Ums?

Barely a minute in and the atmosphere for this episode is moody AF.  

What is this?  Tara Jr. The Walking Dead?  LOL.  Where’s the Scarlett for this mini plantation house?  Anyway.  First three minutes of this episode?  Just as attention grabbing as the first five episode openings this season.  I don’t think people out there are giving our writers enough love for that.  Every episode so far has opened like a mini movie.  

With the way the Walking Dead logo keeps crumbling away with each successive episode, somehow it wouldn’t surprise me at all if the Carol and Daryl spinoff was eventually titled The Living and had flowers growing out of each letter, lol.  I mean, there would be a certain sort of life-affirming symmetry in a show that’s been promised to be much lighter in tone doing just that.  

More Carol and Aaron?  Yes, please.  I don’t necessarily like Carol staying at home and sitting the sidelines like a figurative happy little homemaker in the B story while the rest of the mains are trying like hell to sell the A story, but if she’s going to be totally prohibited from the main storyline until it’s time to blow shit up?  I’m going to continue enjoy getting to see her do what she should have been doing for seasons--interacting with others in the community, especially Aaron and the ladies.  

Truly.  I really am loving my girl getting some quality Aaron and Rosita time.  It’s so long overdue.  

Bless sweet Kelly.  Riding off to her sister’s rescue.  

Why isn’t Lydia shown as part of these plans?  For someone that could barely read last season, I doubt that big ass map was a piece of cake for her and it’s all just guesswork anyway without her guidance.  I mean, why does it feel like they are cutting some of this stuff that might not seem like much plot-wise but would go a long way toward establishing different character beats?  Personally, I would have loved to see her involved in the search and sharing scenes again with Carol and bonding with Kelly. 

Virgil be having that “I always feel like somebody’s watching me” feeling.  Don’t you hate that, lol?  

“You haven’t slept in days.”  But how many days, Virgil?  I’m going to need a number because I’m confused AF about this timeline at this point.  What we’re seeing and what different pieces of dialogue is telling us is not exactly lining up.  I’m going to find it awful hilarious if it hasn’t even been two weeks since the cave in.  For reasons.  

Connie’s spidey senses are clearly tingling.  

Alrighty, then.  She’s clearly got PTSD.  Understandable.  They’ve all had it.  Some have been treated more sympathetically than others, though.  

I mean, it never seems to cross anybody’s mind how Carol probably sees Henry’s head on that pike, Mika’s pale and bloody body, Lizzie crumpled face down in a bed of yellow flowers, Sophia with a smoking bullet hole through her undead head whenever she closes her eyes but whatever.  

Okay though.  But what if Connie had really shitty, impossible to read handwriting?  AKA doctor’s  handwriting.  What then?  

Leah’s face honestly twists my insides whenever I see it, lol.  It’s quiet a visceral thing.  No, that does not make me a horrible person.  Not everybody wants or has to drink the awesome, great, redeemable villainess Kool-Aid.  IMHO, she’s got a face meant for a Walker.  Perfect makeover idea.  Eh.  Mostly it’s her expression and the deadness of her eyes.  

Anyway.  Why is it always the fingers?  Eff that.  

Listen.  If ya’ll can’t tell Daryl’s conflicted AF with the situation he’s landed in, you don’t know how to read NR’s face and eyes.  He’s not a masterclass like MMB but he’s pretty darn good when he wants to be.  

I honestly feel sorry for Redshirt Frost.  

“You do what you gotta do.”  Frost knows what’s what and he’s willing to walk the walk for Maggie.  Impressive loyalty.  I’m left wondering how the current, colder incarnation of Maggie inspired it because I’m still struggling to see it.  Anywho.  My point is the dude knows the score and just gave Daryl the okay.  

Daryl taking off his angel vest before stepping into the role of torturer/interrogator=him shedding the persona/the man Judith and RJ and Lydia and Carol know him to be.  Pushing away his man of honor status so he can just survive somehow.  

Pope never quits chewing whatever the hell he’s got in his mouth.  It’s kind of distracting.  

Ohhh.  We’re back to the Haunted Mansion.  I mean house.  Where are the Hitchhiking Ghosts?  

All the eyes scratched out of those creepy pictures=spooky.  

The good old fogged up bathroom mirror shot.  Somebody’s been watching and studying their horror movies, lol.  Not gonna lie though.  I’m legit bracing myself for the jump scares I know have to be coming.  

I’m loving the music/score in these scenes.  

Truthfully, I could care less about these Reapers.  But they are hella attractive, lol.  Listen.  Angela knows what she’s doing.  

Kelly’s horse is so pretty.  Prayer chain for that baby.  

More dead horses?  Why?  

Connie’s slingshot?  Sorry.  I maintain, no matter how much I like these two, that they have the lamest weapons ever.  Endless supply of Virginia rocks or not.  

So.  Did Virgil and Connie enjoy a little equine for dinner?  Did they kill it before the Walkers fed?  What monsters!  Yeah, no.  Not if they were starving even if I personally could not have.  The more probable story is they fled the camp in a panic and left the horse behind and then it went down.  Sorry.  I didn’t exactly study the wounds on the poor animal because it is so traumatizing to me to continue to see them meet such dastardly ends on this show.  I don’t know who the hell has such a score to settle with horses but stop it.  

Days.  It’s only been days.  Not weeks.  So many times with all that Daryl and Company have had to contend with since the cave in?  Those do not exist, lol.  They’re just a convenient, appeasing piece of dialogue thrown at a fanbase primed and ready to read everything into not much of anything.  There’s just not been enough time for it to happen unless Daryl has literally been up 24/7 for all of them.  You know, strategizing how to attack the remainders of Alpha’s horde, figuring out how to defend Hilltop before it fell, healing from the wound he sustained at Alpha’s hand, sitting on that log all damn night with Negan waiting on Carol to come home, having a lover’s quarrel with his best damn everything, taking care of the Grimes babies and Lydia, being the reluctant leader.  Kang, why you playing them like that?  Daryl’s a super guy but he’s not a superhuman with clones.  So many times my ass.  

Seriously.  Who been watching Connie and Virgil?  The MIA Oceansiders?  Beta’s Fee Fi Fo Fum Ghost?  

Nice.  A Michonne mention.  Maybe the truth will start to trickle out.  

LMAO at Connie’s “I’m not staying here.”  Me neither, girl.  I would be outta that house so fast.  

They really “Quiet Placing” this episode.  Honestly?  I’m kinda loving it.  

WTF was that?  I know she can’t hear but you telling me all the little hairs on her arms, legs, and neck didn’t stand the fuck up and say fuck this shit, I’m gone?  Pardon my language, lovelies, but that moment had my heart kicking up several beats.  

Okay, okay.  To be fair to Connie, every hair on her body been doing that since the front door closed.  Maybe they’re desensitized.  

Gollum’s chasing Connie!!!  He/She wants their Precious!!!

The knee jerk reactions about this episode sight unseen are OTT, honestly.  And I mean no disrespect by saying that.  I can understand completely where they’re coming from because we’ve been burned so long in this fandom.  But it’s obvious the spoiler source has their particular biases and reads into things in such a way that don’t line up with what’s actually being shown onscreen.  Daryl’s loyalty in this episode and all along quite clearly lies with his family and his community.  He’s been playing Leah since the start and is truly just trying to survive somehow.  

Awful thought.  The Reaper that’s so suspish of Daryl--haven’t quite caught his name or really cared to.  I feel like he might try to get to Daryl somehow.  When he realizes that Daryl cares no more for Leah than any human would care for somebody (they thought) they used to know?  He’s going after Dog.  Or Carol should she finally join this story. 

I refuse to believe Carol isn’t going to be a part of this story.  Because they messing with her mans, lol.  

“You’re ever with us or you’re not.”  Now where have I heard those words before?  I wish I could find that Daryl gif because that had to be one of the funniest things ever, lol.  

Unrealistic suggestion to Daryl, Leah?  Breathing oxygen seems to piss off Carver.  Oh look.  He finally has a name for me, lol.  

I love how all three of the ladies--Carol, Magna, and Rosita--look at Kelly with such indulgent, adoring “little sis, you alright?” eyes.  

They are seriously the most beautiful quartet of characters.  I mean all of them are lovely but Carol and Rosita this season?  Ugh.  The unfairness of the pretty.  

Human bones.  Terminus callback, lovelies.  How it all would have eventually gone down if Gareth and Co. hadn’t met the business end of Rick’s red machete.  

So many horror movie homages in this one.  

Virgil’s like “let’s leave this Texas Chainsaw Massacre behind.”  

Connie and Virgil have obviously bonded, ya’ll.  I’m surprised by how much I’m enjoying their scenes together when the character mostly got on my nerves with Michonne.  He’s a good actor and the core of his character is sympathetic, but I’m not going to lie.  I wasn’t super enthused when he was the one that rescued Connie because I didn’t know how their scenes would play out. But there’s a nice synergy there.  

Okay.  Does Carver want Leah for himself?  Because I’m sure Daryl at this point would love to scream “take her, I know where I fucking belong!”  

Daryl’s digging in deep because Carver has shown him Leah’s potential weak spot.  Nuance is truly lost on some people, LMAO.  He cares about Leah as a human being probably.  He’s Daryl, after all.  The sweet one.  But he sees her as his way outta this and he’s going to exploit it.  

It’s nice to have a silent Negan for once, lol.  I can pretend he didn’t take my baby Glenn away from me and enjoy JDM’s pretty.  

So.  These cannibal people were the watchers?  Hmm.  

I’m really digging Virgil 2.0.  Yeah.  Nobody’s surprised more than me.  

Sweet, sweet scene between Virgil and Connie.  His determination to reunite her with her family brings back the sympathy I felt for him when he told Michonne “I promised her flowers.  Every day.”  

Damn.  How many of those creepy crawly cannibals are there?  

How brave of Connie to confront her fears to save someone she’s obviously grown to care about.  

The Kelly/Connie reunion gave me chills and made me cry.  Thank fuck Angela didn’t cheapen that moment by having it focus on literally anybody else.  Kelly is the most important person in the whole world to Connie and vice versa.  Just like Carol is the most important person in the whole world to Daryl and vice versa.  Angela fucking knows.  Everybody does.  Except the people busy building castles out of sand while the waves of Carol’s and Daryl’s converging stories keep crashing closer and closer to shore.  

Such a beautiful moment given to us by Angel Theory and Lauren Ridloff.  So authentic and sweet.  Kelly and Connie are home to each other.  

Poor Frost.  That’s all I gotta say about that.  

WTF, though.  Was Mel just not available or what?  I want to see more of the ASZ characters that I care about, not the Reapers.  Like I’d be fine with the story if all the characters not named Maggie, Negan, or Daryl weren’t surviving on crumbs during it.  Especially the 2nd billed actress on the entire show.  Angela.  Please.  Fix this.  

One last WTF.  Seriously.  WTF has Maggie done to inspire Pope’s obsession?  It better be juicy after all this shit.  

Overall impression of the episode--

One of my favorites of the season so far.  The horror aspects were fantastic, IMHO. I truly didn’t expect to like Connie and Virgil’s scenes as much together so that was a nice surprise.  She got the reunion that felt most true and earned for the character and her story and I thank Angela from the bottom of my heart for that.  

I would have loved more Carol but I always want more Carol.  I’m okay with her taking a backseat because ultimately?  This was Kelly’s moment with her sister.  Carol and Connie will eventually have their time to sit down and talk.  And pick back up their blossoming friendship because I truly do not feel Connie blames Carol at all.  

I do wish Lydia had been included with the girl group.  Last episode felt like it was leading up to that.  

The Reaper storyline continues to be the weakest link because every time we see them the dialogue and interactions feel totally recycled from the time previous.  I feel like it would have totally been helped by a tighter focus and less stretching out because 8 episodes of this is really diluting what I feel like Angela and Co. are going for.  I’m not here for Leah being redeemed or being a bigger focus in any of the episodes because she does nothing of interest for me.  I’m just peeking in on that story for the Daryl of it all.  

Speaking of the Daryl? You lovelies out there gotta stop taking that spoiler source’s recaps at face value because it’s obvious to me at least that there’ some bias at work.  Every action and word coming from Daryl is coming from a place of loyalty to his family and wanting to protect them, no matter how he has to dirty his hands.  Leah is just a means to his ultimate end.  She’s not his future.  She never was.  His future’s already spoken for and 2023 can’t get  here soon enough.  But like Daryl, we have to just survive somehow.  

Oh goodie.  More Maggie and Negan next episode and looks like no real follow up on Connie and the ASZ reunions.  Hopefully, this is yet another instance of the previews being deceiving but I’m not holding my breath.  

Until later, lovelies.  

Hope my word vomit didn’t bore you too much.  

[fantasysamsclub]

so the adventure zone was recently picked up for an animated series.

hooray! good for the mcelroys. i’m glad they’re getting more mainstream. i’m glad they’re able to financially support themselves and their family with this fame. i’m glad taz has a chance to get new fans! i’m glad fans get to see some of the most iconic balance moments animated!

i also think it’s a monstrously bad idea.

(this is long and this may seem pretty mean and radical, but please read before fighting me on any of this. also this isn’t an attack on anyone that’s excited for any of this adaptation stuff! it’s good to be excited for this success. but also there are some things to consider.)

okay! so, up front: i think the taz animated series is a bad idea. i also think, retrospectively, the graphic novel was a bad idea. also i think the vox machina origins comic and animated series are bad ideas.

okay so this is going to get. a little long and rambly. but i’ll try to keep it organized.

1. TAZ Graphic Novel

now, when the first book was announced, i was excited! i’m still excited for the next one. aside from the blue/green elves thing, which i won’t ever forgive, carey’s doing a great job adapting this piece. i’ve met her before and she generally does know what she’s talking about, comics-wise, so i do think she was a very good choice to pick up the graphic novel

there are still problems! oh, are there problems. for example, i think everyone in the novel is characterized in a wildly different way than the original podcast. i can also get into this later if people want to hear about it, but! people have picked at that one before.

out of all the adaptations i’m going to talk about, this one is the best!

2. Vox Machina Origins

alright. context. i don’t know if i’ve said this on this platform before, but i’m a comic book artist (my big project is coming out this year, i’ll announce it on here, that’s not the point of this rant). and i bought the comic on a whim! it was a christmas present to me.

now, i know a lot of people read it and enjoyed it! and that’s great. i’m happy you got joy out of the book, really. i think every piece of art means something to someone, no matter its popularity or quality. and it did well, as far as i know! so that’s very good for CR and its fans. also i think pike is hot.

all that aside, the comic does suck very much.

i could go into a deep analysis of it (i CAN, if enough people actually want to see that?) but tldr: it’s rushed, both in production and story pacing. the character art is good! but you can see the shortcuts. the lettering is. awful. (that’s mostly a problem of modern comics in general though)

and i’m not blaming anyone at CR for these problems! really, if dark horse wants to pick up an adaptation, any writers from the original project should be heavily coached on how to write for a new medium. i’m not blaming matthew for that one! i know from firsthand experience that comic writing is different from anything else you will ever write, and is so difficult to get correct. as far as i knew, matt had never written for comics before! it would be really nice if he had some more resources to get this done right.

but that would cost money.

and that brings me to--

3. The Vox Machina Animated Series

wow! look at all that money everyone raised for this animated series. this animated series that the creators said they were raising money for so they could do it independently. hope they don’t go pitch it to a bigger company to do m--

and, it was sold to Amazon.

like, it didn’t even take them a month.

and in the current climate of how animation is bought and sold, i understand the need to sell it to a streaming service! you need a platform to let people view it, and youtube is in the shitter with its copyright stuff lately, so it makes sense to go private to keep your show safe. and then, you can maybe make more episodes after you run out of kickstarter money. i don’t hate that idea!

but amazon...hm.

it’s probably fine, right?

3.5. Wendy’s

haha remember when CR got sponsored by wendy’s and played their shitty rpg that wasn’t even balanced properly and then people called them out for it and then they donated all the money to a cause wendy’s hated to make up for it (good on them!) and then deleted the VOD off youtube? gosh, good times.

money makes people do strange things.

4. TAZ Animated Series

so, peacock has taz. sure! that works. it’s not the best company to pick this up, but it’s also not the worst. i’ll take that. i looked up the guy that’s slated to direct this and i don’t think he’s ever directed an animated show? which isn’t great, but that’s not what i’m worried about.

you know what i am worried about?

these big corporations don’t care if these adaptations are any good. they just want to cram as many iconic moments from your quirky, small-owned d&d podcasts to get you to give them money. for the mcelroys and the CR crew, it’s a passion project. to amazon and dark horse and NBC, it’s an investment.

you’re going to buy the book to see vax and vex bicker!

you’re going to tune in to watch magic brian!

you’re going to want to read pike meeting scanlan, of course!

you want to see “phantasmal and resplendent” animated!

here’s the other thing. when i see people talking about the animated series, this is exactly what they’re looking for.

“i want to watch merle dirty talk the plants on screen!���

“i want to see the taakitz date!”

“i want to see magnus do the julia scene...”

now, this mindset isn’t bad! no, if you’ve been thinking this, that’s okay! it’s really not my personal thought (i think adaptations are best when they DO change things in the story to better fit the new medium they’re going on) but it’s fine.

we might get tom arnold!

but you know what we’re not going to get?

we’re not going to get apologies and revisions when something goes wrong. we’re not going to get cute extra scenes because that would require more writing. we’re not going to get the same respect for the LGBTQ+ characters on screen. the people working on this show will not get paid what they’re worth.

we’re probably not going to get a trans actress for lup.

we’re probably going to see less of carey and killain.

we’re probably going to see even fewer black and brown characters than we already have.

why’s that?

because it’s a money project. they’re doing it for money. and they want to reach as wide of an audience as possible, right? “really, we need to cut back on this gay stuff so that straight people aren’t uncomfortable. we need to stay more moderate on this project so that more people will watch it!”

(that was sarcasm)

now, NBC has had some good shows! but that’s really the responsibility of their individual writers, and it’s usually in spite of the companies they work for, and not because of them.

once an author or an artist sells their project to a company for adaptation, they often lose all rights to input from it. i don’t know what the mcelroy’s or CR’s contracts are, but unless they have better lawyers than NBC or amazon.....they probably got shafted somehow.

it’s not a mcelroy product. it’s not a CR product. don’t pretend like it is.

you can enjoy it, but please be cautious. this is just a pile of money in a cheap taako costume. don’t trust it as much as you would the podcast.

tldr: individual creators are always going to make more genuine content than corporations that buy those creations for larger adaptations. it’s okay to enjoy these adaptations, but please be aware that it’s not going to have the same spirit or heart as the boys talking about masturbation on a filler show they did quickly so justin could go support his wife in labor.

[kyberphilosopher]

Tʜᴇ Cᴀɪᴍ

“ Caim (n.) sanctuary; an invisible circle of protection, drawn around the body with the hand, to remind one of being safe and loved, even in the darkest times. “

Word Count: 3893

Requested: no. i saw the idea requested by anon on another account, but the writers requests were closed. 

     .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

It seemed that the days were growing longer and longer, but unchanging in what they contained and offered. Time was distinguished to the fullest extent, dragging on in a rhythm-like march that followed you around wherever you traveled. 

It may have been a sort of depression, but the word did not come to mind when you thought about your condition. Stale, angering, stuck, dragging- these words were the ones you thought of instead. Your feelings felt numb, like you were bored of feeling whatever it was. Everything was the same, even when it was different. 

Anakin and Obi-Wan had been tasked with leading their battalion to retake Umbara for what felt like the hundredth time. They had a fair enough plan, strategic though patient. In the early stages, however, Chancellor Palpatine had called the both of them to Coruscant, leaving them to wonder who would move forward to replace them. 

Obi-Wan had initially thought of Plo Koon, who was unflappable and more than capable of commanding troops in a methodical plan. But the General was unavailable. Anakin insisted Rex and Cody could handle it on their own, but upon further thought realized Rex may not have taken well to it. The man was capable and sturdy, but seemed faltered without orders from someone he trusted so much. Granted, he had become less rigid as the war progressed, but he had also become more anguished at times. Ever since that General Krell... Nasty business on Umbara...

Obi-Wan was glad that you had accepted his request.

You were a bit of a mystery to everyone in the Jedi Order. Not in the worst way, by any means, but in the way that made you more observant than others. You spoke when spoken to, and while you didn’t often, when you said something people listened. You were a wise person with a brilliant knack for battle strategy, a stunning way of using your lightsaber, and of course- you weren’t Pong Krell.

So when Obi-Wan asked you, you accepted. You explained you had to finish your mission to fly over Ryloth with your battalion and that you would arrive shortly. The two Jedi explained to you the plan, Anakin with a bit of a charismatic nudge, and then they were on their way. 

It was fine enough. There were times when you wondered about your own Clones, but you knew they were in good hands. The 501st was under your command for the time, you had them to worry about them instead. 

For a month, things were as well as they could’ve been. The plan was on schedule, the clones respected you. You respected them in turn. But as described above, it was all slipping together in the worst way. Your feelings felt like they were aching and sore, cracking like dried dirt. Your muscles twisted in dull agony, eyes becoming less and less impressed with every experience. 

It was terrible. Your theory was that the guilt of the war and the atrocities birthed from it had climbed so high in your gut and your mind that your body made itself numb to everything. There was nothing to be happy over, not much to appreciate. But with the numbness came the blocking of all the bad things as well, and there was nothing you could do but drown in it. 

You felt exhausted, strained, overwhelmed and underwhelmed at the same time. 

So, the days were the same. There was no point in keeping personal track of time. There was no point in having memories. No point in having standards, even. You woke up, you pushed the battalion forward, made progress, checked on the troops, and went to sleep. Sometimes you would train or give a quick report to Obi-Wan, though last time an explosion had stolen your attention midway through. 

Then, one day, it wasn’t the same. It was different. Funny how even something so small can cast a large shadow like that. 

ɪ ʜᴏᴘᴇ ʏᴏᴜ’ʀᴇ ᴏᴋᴀʏ. ʏᴏᴜ ʟᴏᴏᴋ ᴛɪʀᴇᴅ. 

It was written in tight letters, a little messy but still straight and clear. The second period was spaced a little too far away from the letters, almost as if the person had nearly forgotten it. But they wouldn’t have done that. No, they wouldn’t have. The letters, however italicized with sloppiness, are still written carefully. They might’ve been filled with anxiety just to say the words to you, more or less. 

Your thumb rolled over the scrap of paper, admiring the crispness. Someone was looking out for you. It wasn’t an accident, it was outside of your temporary room back at the base. Just by the door. 

Someone was looking out for you. Who would do that? One of the Clones? You knew they respected you. That Captain Rex was always polite enough and continued to prove his worth as an impressive soldier. Commander Cody was more than worthy of his title. And while there was a divide between the Clones and you, perhaps it was possible that one of them had cared about you enough to check in. 

Such a tiny, simple thing it was. It would’ve been silly to obsess over forever, so you didn’t. You obsessed over it for the night. 

Carefully, as if not to damage the little slip of paper, you placed it beside the shelf you slept on. Then you went to sleep after thinking about it, ready to go back to things being the same. 

It wasn’t the same. After you finished defending the perimeter of the base from some aggravated Umbaran’s, you switched your saber off with a twirl. All the same, all the same. Drowning in boredom and dull frustration, circles under your eyes as it all dragged on without the good. 

“General, are you okay?” Rex asked from beside you. You stopped your walking to turn and look at him and Cody, who were standing and sitting at the ready, still dressed in armor head to toe. It looked especially good on them, though you thought the blue fit Rex better. “You’re bleeding,” he said, nudging his head a little. 

You followed his eyes down to your arm. On your left one, around your shoulder but just above the elbow, was a long, scarlet slit. It looked almost purple in the Umbaran light, but it was dripping down nonetheless. One of the opposing soldiers must’ve nicked you. 

“Yes, I’m alright,” you said, still observing the wound. 

“It looks pretty bad, sir,” Rex continued. His arms reach up to remove his helmet and reveal his face. “Maybe you should get that checked out.”

Something brewed in your tummy, something warm that reminded you of your childhood. It felt nice that someone wanted you to be alright, even with something as minor as a scratch. This, and whoever had written you the note last night. While you weren’t so comfortable and felt a bit too tense for your liking, it was nice to hear Rex’s simple words. 

You look back up to meet his amber eyes. They’re golden, sort of brown and shining copper. “Are you two alright?” you venture to ask. Your hand comes to rub your arm, as if brushing fingers against it will wipe the injury away. 

“I thought I was a goner for a second,” Cody sighed. “Would’ve been if not for Rex.”

You looked back to the blue painted soldier with questioning eyes. Rex seems almost flustered for a second, like he’s uncertain about collecting praise. 

“Just doing my duty, sir,” he decides to say after a moment. 

A soft expression overtakes your face. “Experience outranks everything, right?”

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.☆.*｡･ﾟ✫*.

The note was under your door this time. Not beside it. 

ɪ ʜᴏᴘᴇ ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ᴛᴀᴋɪɴɢ ᴄᴀʀᴇ ᴏꜰ ʏᴏᴜʀꜱᴇʟꜰ. ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ꜰᴏʀɢᴇᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴅɪꜱɪɴꜰᴇᴄᴛ ʙᴇꜰᴏʀᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ʙᴀɴᴅᴀɢᴇ. ɢᴇᴛ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʀᴇꜱᴛ.

Your eyes soften as you look over the words. It meant a little more to you this time, lingered a while longer, because you honestly probably would’ve forgotten to disinfect the cut. So while you wrap your gauze around the wound you replay the kindness in your head. 

But it didn’t end there. 

ʏᴏᴜ ʟᴏᴏᴋ ʀᴀᴅɪᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏᴅᴀʏ. ʀᴇᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀ ᴛᴏ ᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʙᴀɴᴅᴀɢᴇ.

Again, your thumb rolls over the paper, across the ink. It was dried already by now, but it still felt new and clean. Crisp. 

You tucked the third slip of paper away in a metal box. The other two from the nights before stayed bright and meaningful inside. 

The pattern continued. About 48 hours later, another note arrived. Instead of under your door, it was folded like a tent outside of your door. You noticed the quality of the paper was a bit different, almost better and more thick, but you didn’t mind. You hoped whoever was doing this hadn’t felt you needed such a royal kind of paper, for the words inside were what had mattered most. 

ɪ ꜱᴀᴡ ʏᴏᴜ ꜱᴍɪʟᴇ ꜰᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ꜰɪʀꜱᴛ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ᴛᴏᴅᴀʏ. ɪᴛ ᴡᴀꜱ ʙᴇᴀᴜᴛɪꜰᴜʟ. ɪ'ᴍ ɢʟᴀᴅ ᴛᴏ ꜱᴇᴇ ɪᴛ. ɪ ᴄᴀɴ'ᴛ ʜᴇʟᴘ ʙᴜᴛ ᴛʜɪɴᴋ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ɪᴛ ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜᴏᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀʏ.

Your lips turned upward slowly. Your thumbs ran over the paper lovingly, as if it was someones hand and you were appreciating it. It almost felt like a hand. The words were veins. Crinkles were knuckles. Shiny ink was little scars and flecks. 

You thought of the hands of the Clones. Perhaps because they were the ones you had seen the most over the last few weeks. But you could remember one specific set of hands so clearly, even though it was almost the same as his brothers. 

Captain Rex had a white scar across his right palm. Faint and thin, surrounded by callouses from holding his blasters so tightly. You’d seen his palm the one time you’d shook his hand and remembered it from the others because of the little mark. Rex stood out from his brothers. 

You weren’t cruel enough to think all Clones were the same. They were all individuals, with individual brains and personalities and thoughts. Treating them as anything less than people was wrong, and General Krell had payed the price for it. But Rex still stood prominent in your mind. You weren’t sure why. 

It was kind of like he was typed in bold when everyone else was typed in italics. 

You showered that night, which you hadn’t bothered to do in a while. Rinsed your hair with a smile on your face, ran your fingers over your long eyelashes as they dripped with water. You felt more bare than usual somehow, all because of a group of words. It was almost comforting. 

The next morning, your aura was different. Your posture was more straightened, eyes softer, hair shinier and clean. You still felt that same dull tension and thickness in the air, but it wasn’t as harsh today. You had woken up feeling brighter. 

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.☆.*｡･ﾟ✫*.

“Good morning, General,” Rex greeted as he approached you. His helmet was tucked under his arm, with Commander Cody at his side. Both their faces were pulled into stern frowns as always, as if they were programmed for seriousness. The few times you had seen these two specific Clones smile had been a bit of a relief to you. 

“Captain. Commander,” you returned. 

“We’re supposed to move out of here soon, right General?” Cody asks. You nod your head. 

“We’re just entering phase 3. We should be done in the next few weeks.”

“Anything you need from us, General?”

You look around, gazing at your soldiers in the indigo light of the system. You could feel how tired and strained they were. It was different from your own strain, more physical. You felt guilty for this, as you were responsible for them, but you knew it would’ve happened with Skywalker and Kenobi anyway. 

“I’m mostly concerned with keeping the men in spirit,” you say with a sigh. Both the men swell with satisfaction at the sound of your voice saying ‘men’. Not Clones. Not numbers. Men. “Anything to try and help that is enough.”

Commander Cody nodded, appreciating the sentiment. “Right away, General,” he said. He turned on his heel and marched off, respect in his identical soldier heart. 

“He’s a good man,” you say as you watch him. The white and golden streaks walk further and further away. 

“He is,” says Rex as he watches him over his shoulder as well. “I’m proud to call him my brother.”

The corner of your lips raises in a flash. It’s a brief wave of warmth coming from the sincerity of people. It’s difficult to find as a Jedi within yourself, only because of how forbidden it is. It’s difficult to find in other people at a time of war, but here is the best. Between Rex and Cody, between Rex and his men. 

The smile disappears before Rex turns around. He turns to find your eyes already on him, observing. 

“Something I can do for you?” you question. You had expected him to leave with Cody, but you can feel the heat radiating off of him, even from the distance between you. You’re not close by any means, but he feels... warm. 

Rex’s shoulders raise as his mouth opens, then closes. Like he wanted to say something. He shakes his head a little, fumbling. “Did you sleep alright, General?”

You’re not as close to the 501st as Kenobi or Skywalker. Not close enough to talk about something outside of the war or planning. This takes you off guard. “Better than I have in a while,” you say, almost tentatively. “You?”

“Don’t worry about me, General,” Rex chuckles. “I’m alright. Just tired of being here is all.”

You agree wholeheartedly. Before you can vocalize this, someone calls you. You nod politely towards Rex before walking off. He watches as you go. 

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.☆.*｡･ﾟ✫*.

ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ᴀᴘᴘʀᴇᴄɪᴀᴛᴇᴅ ꜰᴏʀ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴅᴏ. ʏᴏᴜ ʟᴏᴏᴋᴇᴅ ʙᴇᴀᴜᴛɪꜰᴜʟ ᴛᴏᴅᴀʏ.

A shaky sigh escapes you. This person was serious about doing this for you. After the guilt, the boredom, the frustration and the slow, agonizing burn from being where you were, this one wasn’t giving up. You could almost... relax. Relax into the notes like one might in a lovers arms. 

Little by little, you collapsed in on yourself with every new note. 

ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ᴅᴏɪɴɢ ᴀ ɢᴏᴏᴅ ᴊᴏʙ. ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ᴀᴘᴘʀᴇᴄɪᴀᴛᴇᴅ.

ʏᴏᴜʀ ʜᴀᴘᴘɪɴᴇꜱꜱ ᴍᴀᴋᴇꜱ ᴍʏ ᴅᴀʏ, ɪ ᴡɪꜱʜ ɪ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ꜱᴇᴇ ɪᴛ ᴍᴏʀᴇ.

ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏꜱᴛ ʙᴇᴀᴜᴛɪꜰᴜʟ ᴛʜɪɴɢ ɪ'ᴠᴇ ᴇᴠᴇʀ ꜱᴇᴇɴ.

ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ꜱᴛᴜɴɴɪɴɢ ᴛᴏᴅᴀʏ. ɪ'ʟʟ ʀᴇᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀ ɪᴛ ꜰᴏʀᴇᴠᴇʀ.

With each note you received, the more your heart shook. 

You could feel... calm, when you got these. After being a protector and guardian, someone was doing the same for you. Alleviating tension and stress from your shoulders. The knots of your back were untwisting slowly, the strings of your heart pulling. Sometimes, in the dead of the Umbaran night, if you thought too hard about it, tears would prick your eyes. 

It was so... kind. Doing this for anyone at all, but especially you. 

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.☆.*｡･ﾟ✫*.

During the last week of the mission, you were returning back to your room. Rounding the corner, you bumped into none other than the famed Captain himself. 

His army was bulky and sharp against you, but you didn’t mind. You were too busy running into it to really notice. You bumped back before anything could happen, blinking a few times. 

“General!” the man gasped in a slightly high voice. His hands reached out to steady your shoulders, although it wasn’t necessary. “I’m sorry, General. I didn’t see you there,” Rex said quickly. Nervously. 

“It’s alright,” you promised. “There’s no problem.”

Wait a minute. Rex had no business being down this way. He slept with the other troops in the nearby facility. He had insisted on it. “What are you doing here?”

Rex swallows, confirming his anxiety. His hands drop away from you and he takes a respectful step back, keeping his posture upright and formal. “I was just... just running an inspection sir.”

“Running an inspection... in the hallway to my quarters?”

“Yes! Ah, Cody requested it.”

An eyebrow raised. “Cody requested you to run an inspection in the hallway to my quarters?”

“Yes.”

Your shoulders shift. Arms come up to cross as you look up at the Captain. “Why?”

“Just... general inspection stuff.”

“Hey, Rex?” you continued, leaning forward. 

“Yes, sir?” Rex replied, stiffening like a true soldier would. 

“You’re a bad liar.”

His amber eyes widen for a moment. You can feel his heart rate pick up, the sweat begin to form on his palms. His throat goes dry as his brain struggles to stop and go at the same time, somehow working both a parsec per minute and not at all. 

“You’re dismissed,” you decide casually. “Go on.”

Rex opens his mouth to say something more, but then closes it. With a slow nod like an ashamed child, he moves past you and continues down the wall. 

You watch his back. He turns to get a final look at you as he goes, but this makes your heart jump and you surge yourself forward. 

There’s another note at your door. Folded again, clean and proper. A relaxed smile graces your lips. Finally, after all the combat of the day, you were where and with what you wanted. The notes had become the highlight of your life. 

You reach down with outstretched fingers and open it. Your body is letting go of the anxiety already, more than happy to welcome the new words. 

ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ꜱᴘᴇᴄɪᴀʟ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴇ. ʏᴏᴜ ᴍᴀᴛᴛᴇʀ.

The love and appreciation fills your heart in place of the anger and frustration you’d been feeling. All the feelings of being trapped or drifting away as you succumb to the kind ones words.  

You can’t help it. It’s like melting into the words as easy as falling into a soft mattress. It felt like all the blood of the stress and pain was evaporating as you gazed at the words. Like an ocean that carries everything you’ve been feeling away from you with the waves. The tide takes the weight from you in the simple stroke of a pen. 

You’re special. You matter. 

You turn your head back down the hallway, to the point where you had bumped into your Captain. You knew he hadn’t come down this way for an inspection, but what if he had come down this way for you. Solely you. A note for you. 

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.☆.*｡･ﾟ✫*.

You don’t drop your gaze from his eyes. 

They’re flickering around, almost looking for an escape. He feels the pressure you’re putting on him from just a look and a stance. He feels the weight of your words, however passive they may be. But you don’t dare buckle or shiver. 

“Find anything interesting during your inspection, Rex?” you asked. 

Cody looked over at his comrade, who was visibly disturbed by the situation. Rex was looking between your eyes, his own skirting back and forth between left and right. “You ordered an inspection?” he asked his brother. 

Your lips twitch into the faintest of smirks. Rex knows he’s done for. He knows you know now, and he’s watching the intelligence dance in your eyes from the situation. Oh, he should’ve known better than to not only overstep his bounds, but attempt to deceive a Jedi as well! He’s ruined himself now! What will you do to him now? 

Rex struggles to form words. “Ah... I-”

“You misunderstand,” you said quickly. Your eyes didn’t leave the Captain’s, almost like a dare. “The Captain and I share many inside jokes.”

Cody sighs humorously. “I didn’t realize you two were so close, General.”

Rex didn’t remember what happened next. He may not have wanted to. 

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.☆.*｡･ﾟ✫*.

ʏᴏᴜ ꜱᴀᴠᴇᴅ ᴍᴇ ᴛᴏᴅᴀʏ. ᴛʜᴀɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ, ɢᴇɴᴇʀᴀʟ. ʏᴏᴜ ᴛʀᴜʟʏ ᴀʀᴇ ᴀ ʀᴇᴍᴀʀᴋᴀʙʟᴇ ᴡᴏᴍᴀɴ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏꜱᴛ ʙᴇᴀᴜᴛɪꜰᴜʟ ꜱɪɢʜᴛ ꜰᴏʀ ᴀ ᴍᴀɴ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇʜᴏʟᴅ. ᴛʜᴀɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ.

You smile softly at this one, solidified in how it makes you feel. All the notes- no he- he has done this. He’s the one who saw your invisible suffering, and softened it for you all on his own. Not because he had to, but out of the sheer kindness of his heart. He wanted you to be alright, for one reason or another, and he had done what he felt was right to get there. 

It made you feel safe, protected. Calm. 

You tuck the note away with all the others, in the little metal box by where you rest. You don’t receive anymore for the rest of the week, limiting your interaction with the Captain. You talked only when necessary on the battlefield. 

You led the troops to victory, pushing your final assault. Retaking Umbara had proven a lengthy and difficult task, but you had of course prevailed. It was partially owed to Kenobi and Skywalker, for conceiving such a wise plan, but your praise was not hindered. When you had alerted Obi-Wan of the success, he was glad his faith in you was not misplaced. All was well. 

That night, while the troops celebrated and you returned to your quarters, you found the last note you would receive on the system. You hadn’t expected it, but you were overjoyed to see it. 

ᴜɴᴛɪʟ ᴡᴇ ᴍᴇᴇᴛ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ, ɪ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ꜰᴏʟʟᴏᴡ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀɴʏᴡʜᴇʀᴇ. ᴛʜᴀɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ ꜰᴏʀ ɪᴛ ᴀʟʟ ᴍʏ ɢᴇɴᴇʀᴀʟ, ᴍʏ ʟᴏᴠᴇᴅ.

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.☆.*｡･ﾟ✫*.

“I’m glad it was a success,” Obi-Wan said with a relaxed smile. Anakin folds his arms, an eyebrow raising. 

“Don’t sell yourself short, Kenobi. Your plan was responsible for the victory,” you say in turn. Your eyes catch your soldier- your favorite soldier- walking in the background. His blue painted armor is chipped, and he’s waving his hands around for effect as he speaks under his helmet. 

“How was Rex?” Anakin asks. “I hoped he behaved himself. I was worried he wouldn’t feel comfortable working under any Generals he didn’t know.”

You watch Captain Rex from behind them. You can imagine his golden eyes lighting up as he hears his comrades laugh. The careful way he had written his feelings out for you in any attempt to provide you with a circle of protection. Ironic, considering you were the one tasked with the protecting. 

“He’s proved himself useful,” you say. You watch as the man slips his helmet from his head and tuck it under his arm. 

“He certainly is a good man,” Obi-Wan agrees, him and Anakin turning to watch the Clone. 

“Yes,” you whisper, a soft smile creeping over your face as you commit the Captain to memory. “He is.”

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.☆.*｡･ﾟ✫*.

I didn’t check this for spelling errors. I’ll do it later, I just want to put something out. And if this gets enough asks for it then I’ll make a part two, because I think it might work idk.

Taglist: @haztory​ @omg-we-really-doo​ @chokemeanakin​ @anakinswhore​ @.drunk anon (i know you said you liked rex) @fanficsforheartandsoul​