#this is like 3x as long as part 1
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
diluc33rpm · 10 months ago
Text
astarion is so fucking funny as a character because conceptually he hits all the marks of a wet cat blorbo but in practice he's unbelievably hard to stand. i'll be on the bg3 companion guide and have to start CRYING from trying to find the shit under his section that gains approval. loses -15 points for gently suggesting we not massacre an orphanage in cold blood with the d&d equivalent of a nuclear warhead
5 notes · View notes
girlwithrituals · 1 month ago
Text
GLOW UP GUIDE FOR 2025⠀
Tumblr media
READ: On average, it takes more than 2 months before a new behavior becomes automatic — 66 days to be exact. And considering that 2025 is precisely these many days away, why not start with our glow up plan already?
Tumblr media
Physical Glow Up-
BODY
— 5-10K steps a day.
— 7-8 hours of sleep.
— workout everyday for 1 hr atleast- yoga/stretching/pilates/cardio. a workout may take one hour, but your mood will be boosted for the next 12 hours.
— posture training.
— sunlight exposure after waking up for at least 10 minutes.
NUTRITION
— 2-3 liters of water every day.
— limit your caffeine intake.
— avoid sugars as much as you can.
— high protein diet, pre and probiotics.
— more fruits and veggies (+ green smoothies if you like).
— no junk/processed food/trans fat.
— no eating after 8 pm.
SKINCARE
— be clear on your skin type (oily, dry, combination, sensitive).
— once you're clear, use these accordingly- cleanser, toner, targeted serum, eye cream, moisturizer, sunscreen (≥50 spf).
— keep your bedding clean as well.
— no picking of skin on your lips, cuticle etc.
— gua sha to help improve blood circulation and lessen toxins.
— cold therapy may take three to five minutes of being uncomfortable, but your energy levels will be boosted for the rest of the day.
— remove makeup before you go to bed.
BODY CARE
— shower every day.
— exfoliate 2x a week.
— use body lotion (shea butter/aloe vera gel/coconut oil).
HAIR CARE
— wash hair 2-3x a week
— oil your scalp 2x a week, at least 3 hours before shampoo.
— hair mask 1x per week.
— never brush wet hair.
— use silk pillow case.
HYGIENE
— brush your teeth 2x a day, clean tongue and the roof of the mouth daily.
— floss daily.
— cut your nails 1x a week, never remove the cuticles.
— glycolic acid under arm for odor and discoloration.
— never use soap on your coochie.
Tumblr media
Mental Glow Up-
MINDSET
— set clear goals- define and breakdown your aspirations.
— start your mornings with positive affirmations.
— surround yourself with uplifting content and people.
— be shamelessly selfish to your career and mental health, remove anyone or anything that doesn't align with your priorities and wellbeing.
— boost your brain health by these 4 neuroscience tools:
difficult first: start your day with the most difficult task (cortisol and dopamine are high in the body meaning that your body/mind is primed to work).
rest your eyes: introduce a micro-pause after learning by resting/closing your eyes - will help retain information better.
tomorrow's worries: write tomorrow's to-do list before bed as it is proven to be effective in helping you fall asleep.
find time to play: engage in low-stake play. can be anything you find fun but where the outcome doesn't matter (induces neuroplasticity + reduces stress).
MIND
— meditation might take as low as ten minutes, but your focus will be improved for the rest of the day.
— no social media after waking up and at least an hour before bed.
— keep aside 1 hr of time to read daily! reading a new book may take five hours, but you will keep the knowledge forever.
— journaling, gratitude.
— digital detox once a week or for 12 hours.
— limit unnecessary screentime, unfollow or cut off people you don't want to see.
JOURNALING
— choose a regular time each day to journal, making it a part of your routine.
— find a quiet, comfortable place free from distractions. light a candle if you want.
— allow your thoughts to flow without censoring or editing.
— write about your feelings and emotions to understand them better. write about things you are thankful for to boost your mood. write about your short-term and long-term goals. identify what triggers certain emotions or reactions
— set a timer for 5-10 minutes and write continuously during that time.
— reflect on both positive experiences and challenges.
— make lists, journal your thoughts on these questions.
— journal at night to clear your mind before bedtime, because emotions and thoughts lose their power once we acknowledge them.
— a gratitude practice may take five minutes, but your mindset will be shifted for the rest of the day.
AFFIRMATIONS
— customise affirmations to your needs.
Tumblr media
Personal Life-
WEEKLY TASKS
— initiate small changes: begin with small, manageable tasks such as making your bed or cleaning your room every sunday.
— celebrate your success: reward yourself when you achieve your goals or have a consistently productive week. consider treats like buying flowers for yourself or watching your favorite show.
DAILY WORK
— set achievable goals: establish realistic goals for the day, week, or month ahead.
— track your progress.
— organise your work space, declutter your shelves etc.
— embrace the power of lists: keep a list of tasks to be done and their deadlines. this way, you start each day with a clear plan. to make it visually appealing and motivating, consider using productivity apps like evernote, habit tracker, or notion.
PRODUCTIVITY TIPS
— wake up early.
— plan ahead everything, do scheduling. you can use:
google calendar / notion / tasks .
— if the task takes less than 2 minutes to finish, do it immediately.
— countdown rule, if you are procrastinating, count 1-2-3-4-5 and jump.
— start slow, don't rush and try to do everything at one time.
— follow a proper routine, use app locks based on screentime.
— pomodoro technique, 25 min work, and 5 min break.
— schedule longer break times as well e.g 30 min nap.
Tumblr media
5K notes · View notes
kaleldobrev · 1 year ago
Text
Shiny New Toy (1)
Tumblr media
Pairing: Demon!Dean Winchester x Fem!Virgin!Reader
Summary: You're Demon Dean's shiny new toy
Word Count: 1.8k
Warnings: Age Gap, Cursing (3x), Smut (Oral Sex, Fingering), Virgin Reader, Demon Dean (yes, he gets a warning), Bondage (kinda?), Forced Orgasm (kinda?)
Authors Note: I feel like I should apologize for this cause I wrote this when I was horny past midnight when I should have been sleeping but I'm not going to apologize | What I should be apologizing for is the fact that I wrote this knowing that it's gonna be multiple parts | This is the more tamer of the parts | 18+ only please | MDNI | If you liked this, don’t forget to like & reblog. I really appreciate it! Feedback is always welcome ♡
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Your eyes fluttered open slowly, trying to adjust to the unnatural red glow of the room you were currently in. Your hands were above your head, chained up and in thick cuffs. Your legs were spread apart equal to your shoulders; they too were chained up in similar cuffs. Looking down at your body, you almost didn’t realize what you were wearing at first, as you were too distracted by the cuffs on your wrist and ankles. You were wearing a thin layer of clothing; wearing something that you hadn’t bought yourself, nor would ever buy. You were wearing a matching set of lace see-through lingerie. And from the feeling of the cold metal against your ass, the panties that you were wearing was in fact a thong - something you hated more than anything.
Your stomach felt like it was in knots, and your throat was unbelievably dry, like you hadn’t had water in days. You didn’t know how long you had been in this room; the last thing you had remembered was being in the Bunker, you and Sam being chased with a hammer by Dean. In this moment, all you could think about was Sam, hoping and wishing that he was okay.
Tumblr media
The sound of a metal door opened behind you, and from the sound of it, it sounded heavy. You shut your eyes for a brief moment, trying to gather your thoughts and trying to lower your racing heart; but it was all a failed attempt. In addition to the door you heard heavy boots walking across the floor behind you, followed by a small chuckle. The heavy boots and that chuckle were two things that you instantly recognized. “Dean.” You mumbled, letting out a breathy sigh.
A hand touched your arm, and your body jumped and tensed at the same time from the contact. Dean finally coming into view, giving you the flirtiest of smiles; one that you had been so accustomed to getting from him. “Hey Sunshine.” Your heart picked up the pace at hearing your nickname that he had reserved only for you. “Your heart is going a million miles. I could hear it down the hall.”
He ran his hand down your arm, across your breasts, all the way down to your stomach, just stopping right above the hem of your panties. “Where are we?” You asked.
“We’re in Hell Sweetheart.” He said so matter of factly. You were fucked. One of his fingers started playing with the hem of your panties; a part of you was starting to get turned on, but another part of you tried remaining strong; but that part was failing as your body was reacting in a much different way. You were almost embarrassed, ashamed that you were getting turned on; and Dean had barely touched you.
He removed his finger from the hem and walked over to a small cart that consisted of an assortment of tools. He picked up one tool, that seemed like a knife of some sort. Your body tensed up again, afraid of what he was going to do with it. Dean chuckled, noticing that your body had tensed. “You afraid of this?” He asked, holding the knife up, a small grin on his lips. You nodded. “Aw baby.” His voice seemed very amused.
Walking over to you, he gently started tracing the point of the knife on your skin. He didn’t apply enough pressure to leave any marks, but just enough to feel the sharpness from the blade. He started at your legs and started tracing upward, stopping at the hem again. For some reason, he was obsessed. “So beautiful.” He mumbled. He looked at you, still grinning. “I picked this little number out for you. Needed to know if you would look just as good as I pictured you would.” He paused for a moment before taking the blade of the knife and cutting off the thong; quickly throwing it off to the side. “More beautiful than I pictured.” You knew he was no longer talking about the lingerie, but your bare pussy in front of him. Although you weren’t naked, you might as well have been.
“Dean.” Was all you could get out. You had wanted to say more, but your body wasn’t cooperating.
“If I touch you, are you going to be wet for me?” He asked. You weren’t sure if he had actually wanted you to respond or not. But before you could, one of his fingers was already touching your clit. You sucked in a breath at the sudden contact. He looked at your pussy for a moment as he slowly slide his finger up and down moving some of the wetness around. He looked at you, seeming satisfied that you were already wet for him. “Sweetheart, I’ve barely touched you and you’re soaked.” His face changed then, his grin almost turning into an evil like smirk. “Wait. That’s right. You’re a virgin.” He chuckled. “Virgins get wet so easily. I almost forgot what that’s like.”
You had told Dean in confidence a few months ago that you were a virgin. Upon telling him, he had practically offered to take it. But you had told him that you didn’t want to lose your virginity with a one night stand, that you had wanted to lose it to someone that you loved and someone that loved you just the same. You remembered briefly now, that he almost seemed hurt by your words.
“Now tell me.” He began, putting the knife back into the cart. “When you say virgin, how virgin are we talking here?” He asked. “Ever been fingered? Eaten out?” You shook your head. “Never? Not even once?”
“No.” Your no sounded so weak. It wasn’t like you didn’t want those things, you just never really had the opportunity. Hunting had taken up a lot of your time, and you weren’t one for one night stands. So getting fingered, eaten out, or having sex was something that didn’t happen for you. Although you were a little ashamed, you also weren’t completely upset by it either, given the fact that you had only just turned 21 a few weeks prior - it was perfectly normal for a woman your age to still be a virgin in all senses of the word.
“You know, when you first told me that you were a virgin, I gotta say Sweetness, I was very surprised.” He said, stepping in between your legs. “But, it gave me thoughts about you that…” he licked his lips before he started kissing your inner thighs. “Made me realize how badly I’ve wanted you forever.” More kisses; and more wetness started to form. A small moan had escaped your lips. “Cause baby, when I first met you, I wanted you, and wanted you bad. But, had to stop myself. You know why?” He licked a long strip of your clit. “Even though you were 18, a part of me thought that it was so…wrong to ruin you that young."
You shouldn’t have been turned on by his words but you were. You remembered the day you had met Dean. You had just turned 18 a few weeks before and you just graduated from high school. You had noticed the way Dean had looked at you, giving you his classic flirty smile. But you noticed how quickly his demeanor changed once you said how old you were. His demeanor going from overly flirty, to dad or friend. You had figured in that moment that he had no intentions of ever wanting to pursue a relationship with you given your age. You were a little crushed to say the least.
“You have no idea how hard it’s been trying to control myself around you.” He took one of his fingers and started to slowly push inside your cunt. “So many times I pictured what it would be like to just bend you over the counter and fuck that little ass of yours raw.” His finger was going slow, and you were thankful for that; but amazed at the same time. “So many times I’ve pictured having my head between these legs of yours and eating you out until your legs turned into jello.” He added a second finger now, and you tensed up, clenching around his fingers.
“You’re so wet for me.” He mumbled. “And you’re taking my fingers real good too.” He said a bit louder. Two of his fingers were now fully inside of you, knuckle deep. “I may be a demon, but that doesn’t mean I’m not gonna be nice and not let you cum. Especially given the circumstances.” The way he said it, it sounded almost as if you should be thanking him. His movements started going slow, as he started pumping his fingers inside of you. It was a weird sensation, but a sensation that your body had craved for such a long time; especially from Dean. You had wanted so much to lose your virginity to him; but not to this version. He was a demon, a cruel, heartless knight of hell. Not your sweet, loving, nerdy best friend whom you were in love with.
“Dean please…” You weren’t sure what you had wanted to say in that moment. You didn’t necessarily want him to continue or to stop; your body and mind were confused. You had felt like you shouldn’t have been wet for him, to be turned on, he was a demon after all. But all you saw and felt was Dean, no demon in sight despite what you had actually knew.
“Yes Sweetheart?” He asked, his fingers were starting to pick up the pace, every so often his fingers would hook and curl inside of you, trying their best to get the perfect angle. You felt yourself starting to get wetter and wetter, and you knew how much Dean was enjoying this. He had pictured you so many times. “Need you to use your words doll.”
The pressure inside of you was building, your pussy clenching around his fingers. “My little virgin gonna cum?” He practically whispered. You couldn’t help but nod. “You know how I know? You’re clenching so tight around my fingers.” He smirked. His free hand tilted your chin, forcing you to make eye contact with him. Your hips instinctively started swiveling trying to help yourself cum. He looked at your hips for a moment before making eye contact with you again. “Look at those little hips go.” He grinned again. “Want to look at your face the first time you cum. Need to see your O face.”
His fingers were aggressive now, his movements were erratic. Although you were close to an orgasm, it almost felt like he was trying to force one out of you; something that you didn’t think was possible. A moment later you started coming; your face contorted, and your eyes briefly shut. Your hips bucked up, and Dean continued to finger you through your orgasm. “Fuck.” You breathed out, your chest rising and falling. He removed his fingers from your cunt, and you already missed them inside of you. He brought his fingers to his lips and licked them clean.
“More delicious than I pictured.” He said. “Can’t wait for you to cum around my cock.” He smirked. This was going to be a long night for sure.
Tumblr media
Tag List: @roseblue373 @beansproutmafia @queenie32 @deanwanddamons If you would like to be added to the tag list, let me know!
1K notes · View notes
dnpbeats · 5 months ago
Text
Dan and Phil 2024 Upload Stats: Half a Year in Review
hi everyone! as we are officially halfway through 2024, i thought it would be fun to make a little post about some intersting stats from d&p's uploads this year! especially as things will likely start slowing down (or rather stay slowed down) during the latter part of this year due to the tour! as a reminder, spreadsheet can be found here :)
general stats
there have been 42 uploads so far this year. 13 of those are AP and the other 29 are DAPG, meaning they've uploaded over twice as much on the gaming channel
the average time between uploads across all channels is 3.9 days. looking at the channels individually, the average upload time between AP videos is 11.9 days and for DAPG it's 5.4 days
across both channels, dan and phil have helped edit 81% of the videos. they have only edited one out of the 42 videos on their own, which was on DAPG
100% of AP videos have had spons (capita£ester strikes again) and 79.3% of gaming videos have had spons (looking at both channels together, 85.7% have had spons)
their average upload time is 8:26pm
dan has been in (in some capacity) 46.2% of the AP videos this year
24.1% of the gaming videos have been non-gaming content
phil has been the one to tweet about the gaming videos 86.2% of the time
date/time stats
wednesday is their most popular day to upload, with 11 uploads (the majority of which have been DAPG uploads). sunday and friday are tied for second with 10 uploads each
saturday is the only day that they haven't uploaded on this year (this includes irregular uploads too, like ads and livestreams!)
average upload time for each day of the week:
Tumblr media Tumblr media
sponsor stats
nordvpn is their most common sponsor, having sponsored 7 of their videos this year (4 on DAPG, 3 on AP). their second most-common sponsor is dragon city, having sponsored 6 videos (all DAPG)
6 videos have had no sponsors (again, all DAPG)
data for all spons:
Tumblr media
editor stats
our queen superseizer had edited/helped edit 12 videos (11 DAPG vids, 1 AP)
seizer has edited 3 vids on her own (3x as many as d&p 🤩)
runtime stats
stats exclude poppy playtime chp. 3 bc it's so long lol
thursday uploads have the longest average runtime at 24:18. friday uploads have the shortest average runtime of 16:56
afk journey is the sponsor with the longest average runtime (29:56). the second-longest average runtime is videos with no sponsors (28:42). the sponsor with the shortest average runtime is headspace (14:54)
seizer on average edits longer videos! the average length of a video she has edited/helped edit is 25:11. for d&p the average length is 20:01
series stats
the sims series has had the most uploads this year, with 7. DvP has had 3 uploads and golf with friends has had 1 upload
on average there are 22 days between sims uploads and 65 days between DvP uploads
seizer is the only one trusted with editing sims vids 🙏🏻
so yeah! there are even more stats in the spreadsheet but i just wanted to include the more intersting stuff here. there's also a calendar if you want to visually see the distribution of days that videos have been uploaded (including irregular uploads!). also there's still the interactive bit where you can calculte the length between two uploads :3
lmk if you have any questions or want to see any other comparisons/charts i don't have!!
193 notes · View notes
everythingne · 11 months ago
Text
akin to a pride, mv1
[series, 1] - 'the lions come at night'
Tumblr media
Reina 'Little Lion' Matsumoto is known for her reckless driving on the track, earning her the nickname she partly shares with a certain 3x WDC. Off the track, however, she's known for being bubbly, bright, and kind. When she's reached out to by F1 about joining their new 'Siblings Mentorship,' a program that will pair her with a 'similar F1 driver' as her mentor for the upcoming season, she fully expects Daniel or Lando.
Her surprise comes in the form of Max Verstappen, and though she thinks they won't be that much alike off track, she's quick to find it's quite the opposite. Reina learns she needs someone who understands what shes going through to lean on, and Max learns that sometimes healing comes in breaking a cycle that's not your own.
(multipart series, non-linear in writing)
warnings/notes: mentioned/implied abusive father, father being manipulative and nasty via phone call, [word] used to show other languages being spoken, probably inaccurate/purposefully inaccurate f2/f1 information but its for the plot, also purposefully incorrect NASCAR information (RBR having a currently running NASCAR team being part of it), and probably incorrect Japanese culture (please correct me, I'm not Japanese myself!!), 5k words.
face claim: nina hillman
Tumblr media
MAX HAD ALWAYS ENJOYED MEETING YOUNG FANS. Especially the ones who were karting or just getting into motorsports, there was something strong and pure in their hearts--a full love for what they were doing that was so refreshing to him. The media could wear him down day after day, racing every few weekends and changing time zones over and over making him a bit of a husk. He and the people he worked around were always so drained and tired, but one meeting with a young fan, listen to their proud "I'll be just like you when I grow up" and a big grin as they snapped a photo with him would always set him right.
Victoria had called him soft but he didn't care. He was the go-to babysitter of her two sons for a reason, the so called 'baby whisperer' by her husband and the beloved Uncle Max who they cheered on every other weekend on TV. When Victoria's eldest had an F1 themed birthday party with his class, Max had shown up with some of his gear in his car just in case, and ended up being the life of the party as he let each kid try on some of his old helmets and gloves and such.
Max loved the few and far between meetings he had with kids because they always seemed to come to him at the perfect times. Like the day Christian asked him if he wanted to do a program a few other drivers were a doing. It was a season long 'older siblings' mentorship for teens in the F3 or F2 leagues so they could get insight into what being an F1 driver was like and how it differed from what they were doing now. It had been mentioned off hand, with Christian expecting Max to say no and that he 'didnt want to do that media stuff', but imagine Christian's surprise when the man instantly said yes. He said it with no hesitation, a small smile peeking on his lips as he asked who he'd be helping.
"Reina Matsumoto." Christian had said and Max's eyes widened with a mix of excitement and genuine happiness as a grin peeked at his lips as he looked through Reina's social medias. It was a face Christian hadn't seen much, typically reserved for Penelope or Victoria's boys.
"Oh, wait until I tell Kelly!" He'd laughed, following the driver and shutting off his phone as he'd crosses his arms and smiled.
Geri had laughed with her whole heart when Christian told the story to her that night, watching as she attempted to pack three school lunches, do the dishes, and clean up while he was making his way over to help her. He dropped his bag on the floor by the island, hands coming up to her back as he slipped behind her and into the kitchen.
"He's got a big heart," Geri said gently with a grin on her lips, pausing mid sandwich packing to press a kiss to her husband's cheek. Her nails scratched slightly as she pat his shoulder as she handed him the dishes she needed put away, "and look at him and little Penelope! He's practically her father."
"This is a teenager though." Christian emphasized as he opened the cabinet with one hand, the other balancing a stack of plates from dinner--porkchops, he'd missed it due to being in the office for the exact thing they're talking about.
He sets down the dishes in their respective spots and shuts the cabinet as he turns back to Geri, "She's seventeen, she’s Bluebell's age.”
"First of all," Geri zips closed the remaining lunch bags for the kids and turns to Christian as she points at him, "Teenager or not, Max knows how to deal with kids. We've seen that."
Geri then flicks her wrist to show a peace sign she points at Christian once more, "and second, she's from Formula Two and she? Is it Matsumoto?"
"Yep. The Reina Matsumoto, Miss Little Lion," Christian nods, the girls nickname being given due to her driving style being very similar to Max's when he was her age. Controlled chaos, slightly reckless depending on the day, but she almost always left unscathed.
"Her dad was one of Japan's top Tour Racing drivers," Christian explains as he moves to help Geri finishing wiping off the counters, "Her mom raced drift cars in the states, works in NASCAR now. Reina used to live with her dad in Japan. She just moved to England to continue pursuing racing."
"So she has two motorsports parents... how much pressure is on her?" Geri crosses her arms as she leans back on the kitchen island and Christian lets out a low whistle as he rubs his forehead.
"I don't know, they don't exactly brief me on her entire past, Ger. But from what I was able to dig up on her father? It's not good."
"Do you think they teamed her with Max because of how they were both raised?" Geri pushes off the counter to open the fridge and waves over Christian to help her stuff the lunch boxes inside with all the leftovers and other foodstuffs stacked in the fridge,
"I don't know. But looking at the words 'Project Matsumoto' as the third term when I looked up her name; and having it be an article where her dad says he pushes her to be her best 'no matter what he has to do to make her'? I can't imagine it's anything good."
Geri sighs, rolling her neck and then nodding, "But how's her mother?"
"Oh, Hana is a sweetheart. She owned the NASCAR side of Red Bull Racing until about... two years ago, when she took full custody of her daughter. Now she does engineering, she has nothing but good articles about her."
"So, dad who forces her to be the best in every race she does, and a mom who was in racing but doesn't seem to push her too hard. Parents divorced, she lived with her father, now she lives with her mother." Geri recounts and when Christian nods sharply she starts to laugh and rub at her forehead.
"So... literally Max?" She says and Christian just nods again. There's no other way to explain it, she was simply a younger version of Max. But maybe there was a chance here, to save some of the love for the world she had left, because while Max was a genuine sweetheart he was always a bit haunted in Geri's eyes.
If she could save Reina from looking the same way, that would be her own personal WDC.
Tumblr media
reinamatsumoto made a new post !
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
liked by biancabustamente, lilymhe, premaracing, and 15k others...
reinamatsumoto: winter break recap. whew. what a time. from my dad's place in fukushima to my grandparents home in washington state, to buying an apartment by myself in london :D!! (with my mom living there until I know how to adult because lord knows I can't be trusted by myself yet..)
also, big news! I am excited to announce ill be joining in the f2 to f1 mentorship program! I cannot wait to see which f1 driver I get to annoy with my useless knowledge of everything (and katsu…)
tagged: mrshanatanaka
mrshanatanaka: [my beautiful daughter] xx
user1: so pretty!!
biancabustamente: so i need your whole workout routine
⤷ reinamatsumoto: when are you back in london ?? I can take u to my trainers .. 👀
premaracing: so happy to have you back reina!
Tumblr media
Dear Reina Matsumoto,
I READ MY NAME FOR THE THIRD TIME, fingers dusting over the slight texture change from the ink on the white paper that slightly creases in my hand. René had handed it to me at Prema last weekend before I went home for Christmas. Inside was a little invitation from Formula One. I had assumed, and kinda prayed, it was some sort of contract for any team (my fingers had crossed briefly for Red Bull) but was also a bit more delighted to see it was an invitation to their 'siblings' mentorship program. I took my time reading the letter, glossing over the words asking if I would be fine being trained by a handpicked Formula One driver who matched my driving style and my personality...I was elated.
I didn't know many drivers who matched both, maybe like Lando as the closest, or if we pushed it a bit maybe Daniel but his driving was more reserved than mine. I had explained to my mother, and she had joked saying my closest match would be Max. But I doubted they'd put him with me. I doubted he'd even said yes to the whole thing, everyone knew Max hated media stunts that didn't involve him driving some weird ass vehicle or like, putting snow chains on an F1 car.
I roll over to slide the note back on my bedside table, sighing as I curl deeper into my blankets to try and fight off the chill I still felt after my afternoon run in the light snow. Probably my last exterior run of the year, I was lucky to get one so close to the end of December.
The heater fan is on high blast next to my bed, rolling warm air across my chest as I look out the window and into the setting sun on the snow tipped trees of Washington State. My mom had worked hard to get us here, to her parents home up in a coastal town, where I can faintly smell some sort of curry dish being prepared by my grandmothers nimble hands. My grandfather a fisherman, my grandmother a school treasurer, my mother a business owner and engineer, her only daughter an aspiring Formula One driver.
Quite a group.
My attempt at warmth is abruptly ended by my mother knocking on my door, waiting only a brief moment before entering. She's dressed from work, I can tell it was some sort of zoom meeting by the slippers she has on. Her hair is pulled back, makeup light on her face as the warm golden rays slip through into my room from the hallway.
"You got mail, Rei, did you not see it on the counter?" My mother asks with a slight huff, sitting on the edge of my bed and cranking up my heater with a complaint about how its still too cold in my little room. It was supposed to be an office, but when I visited my grandparents and moms side of the family (since my aunt and cousins lived with them here in the states) it became my room so I didn't have to share with toddlers.
"Jiji was cooking, didn't wanna disturb her." I say softly, looking over at my mother and noticing the giddy expression on her face. Her eyes are sparkling as her nails crease the edges of the letter.
"What?" I ask, looking up at her through the thick fuzzy blankets that cover me and basically cement me down to the bed with their weight. Another wonderful thing about my grandparents, they were always prepared.
"It's from Oracle Red Bull Racing." my mother emphasizes each word with a huge smile that only seems to grow. My mother had raced for Red Bull back when she was a bit older than me, and owned their NASCAR team for years, which she now was an engineer for. I think her excitement bleeds onto me as I throw myself up into a seated position and snag the unopened letter. I take it and nearly tear the damn thing open, my mom laughing as I hand her the envelope and flip the letter open to read aloud.
"Miss Matsumoto/Matsumoto-san," I say and then whistle, "Someone did their homework."
My mom laughs and urges me to keep reading, and so, I take a deep breath and read the words that seem so powerful even with their tiny ten or so pixel statue.
"We at Oracle Red Bull Racing wish you well this holiday season, and it's an honor for me, Christian Horner, to welcome you to the family as the younger sister/mentee of three time world champion, Max Verstappen!--"
My mom squeals in excitement at the same time I do. The usually reserved side of her gone as she leaps off my bed and jumps around as I kick my legs in excitement. Seconds later I'm falling back as my mom is crashing into me in a bone crushing hug as she laughs with watery eyes I ignore for both of our sakes.
"Oh! Oh my god, that's so exciting!" She shouts.
"[Is everything okay?]" I hear my grandfather rough voice call from the base of the stairs in Japanese and my mother lifts her head away from my ear to shout through the doorway,
"[Yes, yes, everything is fine!]" My mother laughs once more, "[Just some very good news,] keep reading Rei, keep reading!"
"Okay, okay!" I laugh, grabbing the letter and continuing down the page, trying to keep myself from skipping ahead in excitement.
"We are very excited to get to know you over this season, and look forward to meeting you in person for the first time soon! In fact, we have extended an invitation for you to meet Max and the rest of RBR at our home base in Milton Keynes on January 5th-10th. We will provide you and one guest a flight over if needed, room and board at The Berkeley in London as well as transportation to and from our garage.
We eagerly await your response. Thank you and welcome!
Christian Horner."
But the letter doesn't stop there, in fact, there's a little hand written note that's been scanned to fit on the paper and I squint to read the scratchy handwriting.
'Reina,
Hello! It's Max, your 'big brother' or mentor for this upcoming season. As you may know, I'll be your right hand this season when it comes to advice with driving and media, but I wanted to extend an invitation for you to ask/talk about any of your interests or just life in general. I genuinely cannot wait to get to see how we get along (as I'm sure we will) and I hope you have a wonderful holidays with your family.
See you in January!
Max Verstappen.
(ps. I wrote my phone number on the back of this, feel free to send me a text/call and introduce yourself!)'
The exciting news brings my family to tears of joy as we celebrate with loud laughter and tight hugs. Max Verstappen. A three time world champion helping me of all people learn the real ins and outs of racing? It’s like a dream come true.
And even though I know it should be the absolute last thing I ever could even think about asking, he’d been raised similar to myself. I needed to know how he handled it, or the lack thereof.
Tumblr media
redbullracing made a new post !
Tumblr media Tumblr media
liked by gerihalliwell, reinamatsumoto, misshanatanaka and 674k others..
redbullracing: Introducing the final set of mentorship siblings for this season! Our @ maxverstappen will be mentoring @ premaracing 's @ reinamatsumoto for the upcoming season. Reina is known across Formula 2 for her bubbly bright personality and colorful disposition. Join us on TikTok Live, January 5th at 6pm BST to see them in action!
user1: sunshine x grumpy trope frfr
misshanatanaka: so excited for my little lion cub !
user2: they definetely picked her for her little lion nickname and yk what. respect.
reinamatsumoto: this is such an incredible opportunity, thank you so much red bull!!!
danielricciardo: soon we will have a whole god damn lion pride in RBR.
user3: unlikely duo actually?
logansargeant: and they wouldnt give ME reina???
⤷ maxverstappen: another L for logan sargeant
⤷ logansargeant: i'm gonna take your damn knees old man
⤷ reinamatsumoto: its ok logan i will never forget my first (and favorite) f2 teammate 💙
Tumblr media
WALKING INTO RED BULL'S HEADQUARTERS WAS LIKE A DREAM. My mom chats with the woman whose brought us in eagerly, and excitedly points to a photo of her on the wall from the early 2000s. I'm shocked to see Christian Horner's in the photo as well. Reading the little plaque under makes it all click, it's a photo of all the 'team principles' or their equivalents of each Red Bull Sporting branch at the time.
My fingers skim over the names, EHC Red Bull München, FC Red Bull Salzburg, Hansen Motorsport, JMB Racing, and eventually I find my moms name, 'Hana Matsumoto (neé, Tanaka) Team Leader: Red Bull Racing (NASCAR).'
"Ah! Glad you both could make it!" A voice calls and I snap my head to its source, making his way across the big expanse of the lobby is Christian Horner, Geri following close behind her husband with a glittery smile. My mother shakes his hand and the two begin conversing, immediately snapping back into some sort of old pals situation while I step back to admire it.
My mother, after my father abandoned us when I was twelve, refused to touch racing for years, except for when it came to me and my karting. When I advanced to rally, she got back into working for NASCAR as an engineer, and then when I was going into Formula Four she had become a head engineer for Red Bull's NASCAR team.
I had never had an opportunity to work for Red Bull myself, narrowly missing making their junior team due to my dad's interference. I had hated Red Bull due to my fathers influence, but once or twice I caught my mother reminiscing over old images of her in her glory days of drift cars and owning a NASCAR team, and it made me wonder...
I wondered about wearing navy blue, standing on a podium, racing a car that would rocket itself around a track with no issue. And then slowly my mind would shift and I would wonder what else my father had stolen from her other than money and her daughter for years. A stolen daughter for some sort of prize he could never get for himself. A Formula One racer. Something I could be, something he would beat into me.
"And you must be Reina." Geri's voice catches me off guard and pulls me out of whatever pouty moment I've found myself in. The smile on my face is real as I allow her to pull me into a tight hug, her warm hands settling on my back as she squeezes me. It's safety in two arms, immediately, and I relax into it as I place one hand on the center of her back.
"Geri Horner, it's such an honor to finally meet my favorite Spice Girl." I say into the hug and Geri laughs, stepping back to squeeze me shoulders in her hands as she looks me over with an approving grin.
"Good to know you have taste!" She teases, turning to my mother who nods and laughs as she makes her way over to where Geri has come to distract me. Christian grabs his phone out of his pocket, glancing behind him, but I miss what he calls out as my Mom starts to speak to Geri.
"Yep! God, we have so much Spice Girls stuff in our house in Washington you'd think it was a museum." My mother giggles, patting my back as she sends me a small grin, "I think you even have a replica of the union jack dress."
"It's in Fukushima, so who knows if it's still there." I hum, my smile dropping for half a second as I remember the cold home I had lived in for years, before I force it back up, "But I bet I can find photos of it!"
"Would love to see them." Geri places a hand on her heart, then turns to Christian as he approaches us. He brings us to a small room, two chairs facing a few cameras, interns and workers milling around the room as I'm instructed to sit down in one of the chairs. I sit down as told, crossing my ankles as my mom frets with my collar and sweater for a few moments, then presses a kiss to my forehead and tells me to be kind before slipping behind the lights that shine on me.
"Alright, we're gonna have you introduce yourself..." A woman starts to explain the protocols to me. The stream is running right now, people can see me, but the audio is muted. On her signal, I'll introduce myself, and then they'll start a QnA with me while they wait for Max to arrive. I nod along, smiling when she compliments me and laughing at her jokes with practiced kindness. I wasn't media trained, but rather trained by walking on eggshells and keeping peace for years.
Eventually, I'm cued in, and I wave happily.
"Hello!" I cheer, "I'm Reina Matsumoto, known as Rei or Little Lion, this is my third year racing for Prema in Formula Two. I finished my first season with them in second, right behind Oscar Piastri, my second season I unfortunately didn't complete due to personal issues and an injury, and so I'm looking to use this season as a comeback to finally get my hands on an F2 win.
"I'm going to be mentored by Max Verstappen, which is... just really incredible." I feel heat rush to my cheeks and I let a giddy smile cross my face, "So yeah! Let's get on with the QnA?"
A man steps up so I can see him, and holds up a phone, he scrolls before landing on a question he likes,
"Can you explain your racing journey to us?"
"Oh! Yeah! So I started karting in Japan with my father when I was barely three, and started competing on my fifth birthday. I kept karting, I won, I lost, y'know, and got into rally racing for a few years when I was around ten to fourteen, then I went into Formula Four when I was fifteen, did half a season of F3, and then jumped to compete in Formula Two the last three years." I explain, having to pause a few times to think and make sure I'm getting my age right. Trying my best to keep my voice happy as I recount the time spent with my father, "Around the time I switched to Formula racing, I also moved in with my Mom, Hana Tanaka, in the United States and lived partially in England."
"Do you race for Japan or for the States?"
"I'm racing for Japan since I'm technically a citizen of Japan living on a work visa in the UK. I lived in Japan for years, my mother traveling back to the states a lot for work, and--uhm," I swallowed, glancing down at my left wrist briefly as my hand twitched and my pinkie struggled to close up in the fist I balled up, "I lived with my father there when my parents divorced, from when I was nine to thirteen."
"Do you have a favorite F1 driver who is racing right now?"
"If I say anyone other than Logan or Oscar they'll be very upset." I grin, kicking my feet a little, "They're basically my older brothers! They took me in when I started racing F2, since we all raced together, and I'm really proud of both of them and all their hard work."
After maybe ten or so more questions, the man leans back as someone whispers something to him and he nods, there's a bit of a shuffle and then I see a door open. I know it's Max who walks in even if I can only see his shadow behind the lights. I try to hide my giddy smile as the same woman from before steps in front of me and begins to announce Max and I are meeting for the first time. I take a deep breath, swallow my nerves, and plaster on the most professional smile I can muster. Max is much taller than I am, that much is obvious when he dips under a light to come in front of the camera and I stand immediately to greet him. I expect him to go for a handshake, but I'm pleasantly surprised with a hug. We take our respective seats, Max gives his little introduction to the camera, and then we're off.
"So this is a drawing challenge." We're both handed whiteboards and I grin, looking at Max who laughs and looks down at the whiteboard being set in his hands. I can see a little playful gleam in his eyes, something I've never caught before in the hundreds of photos and videos I've seen of him. It's intriguing but I don't have time to stare, and this is hardly the place to do so.
"You guys are about to be amazed at how much someone can suck at art." He says, uncapping his pen.
"You both have to try and draw each other in three minutes," She says, "and then there will be a poll on who won."
The timer goes off then and I prop the whiteboard up and begin drawing. I had doodled as a hobby, so I make it less realistic (because lord knows I can't do that) and make it more cutesy. I giggle at my drawing as I add a little flare to it and when times up, we flip them around. The crew audibly awes over mine and Max laughs, tilting it so he can see it past the glare of the lights.
"Oh my god, I need someone to save this so I can have it. This is genuinely the cutest thing anyone has ever drawn for me." He looks at it in awe and I laugh into the back of my hand as he takes the whiteboard from me and just looks at it.
"Proud dad moment," I grin, trying to hide my obvious giddy attitude at the fact that Max fucking Verstappen was praising my shitty art skills. He nods, holding it up and telling everyone to look, which only makes me blush and grin harder.
We move on from that a few moments later, we're asked to draw each others cars, then we play a few rounds of pictionary where Max fails horribly the whole time. By the end of it, I'm laughing teary eyed as I lean onto his chair for support--and he's pretty much in the same boat as me as we both struggle to catch our breaths.
"How the hell is this a cat?!" I wheeze out, pointing at the oddly long cat he's drawn with a much too big head and much too small legs, "don't you have two? Do you not know what they look like?!"
"I can't draw! It's the thing I can't do!" He leans back in his chair, struggling to catch his breath and I have to pause to dot under my eyes so my makeup doesn't run. After a while we catch our breath, and move into QnA.
Max asks me, from a Twitter tag we both idly scroll on our phones, "What are some of your favorites? Racers, colors, TV Shows, etc?"
I look up as he asks the question and a big grin splits across my lips as I proudly announce, "When it comes to F1, I'm one hundred percent a Vettel girl,"
"Really?" He says, and I start laughing as I nod to him, adjusting the way I'm sitting as I lean on the arm of the chair a bit and wave my phone as I speak,
"I grew up watching him and Lewis Hamilton winning, y'know, so it was always like--my dad would always reprimand me and say stuff like 'you should race risky like Hamilton' or 'go fast like Vettel' so they're kinda cemented into my brain as the like--top drivers."
"My dad was the same with some older drivers, always had to practice like I was the best of the best." Max nods, but waves for me to continue on with answering the ret of the question,
"NASCAR is huge in my family, my mom works for Red Bull's NASCAR team," I explain, looking to where I think my mom stands behind the camera, "So my favorite driver from there? I'd say Jimmie Johnson or Kyle Busch. I've met them both quite a few times, since they both raced with Red Bull, and Kyle is one of my sponsors for racing right now which is so kind of him to do."
I continue when Max doesn't have a comment, "Favorite color, blue." He agrees, "TV Shows..? Right now I'm binging Doctor Who--I'm on Matt Smith's doctor right now."
"Oh, which episode?"
"Uhm... I just finished The Almost People. So I think next is A Good Man Goes to War?" I turn and watch Max's face light up as he makes a soft gasping noise in the back of his throat.
"Oh you have to tell me how you like that episode. It's so good."
My eyes widen, "You've seen Doctor Who?"
"Kelly watches it all the time. When I started watching them with her she made us restart at The Ninth Doctor and watch from there, and then we went back and watched all the older episodes but her favorite is The Ninth Doctor so she made me start there. I think my favorite is him or The War Doctor."
"My favorite so far is the eleventh." I smile, kicking my feet a little once again and Max nods.
"A solid choice."
We run through another twenty minutes or so before signing off, and the energy in the room is light and almost electric as we begin to pack up. A phone call ends up with me slipping out into the hall as everyone mingles, my mom loudly laughing with Kelly and Geri as Christian brings Max over to introduce to my mother. I catch Max's eye fleetingly as I whisk around and slip out into the much quieter hall, pressing my phone to my ear.
"[Hello, Dad.]" I say into the phone, the ten missed calls from him already enough to make my blood icy and my hands shaken.
"[Why weren't you answering me? Am I not important?]" His voice is hard as it always is when he thinks I've wronged him. It makes my heart pound a little bit harder, makes me swallow, makes my hands twitch.
"[I was doing work with Red Bull, Dad. I wasn't with my phone, I'm sorry.]" I say into the phone, crossing one arm over my chest as I look out into the little track behind the building from the windows, walking up to lean against a pole that separates the panes of glass.
"[Oh, about that, you didn't want to tell me? Hm? That you even thought of signing up for that? You're going to waste the talent of a three time world champion on yourself? On the lack of talent you have? You couldn't even beat that Australian boy, now you expect Max Verstappen to want to help you?]" My fathers voice grows harsher, the insults digging deep into my chest and ripping at my confidence and my heart. I hear the door next to me open, but I can't even spare a glance as my fathers hateful tirade continues. I lose track of what he's saying, his voice louder, and when I don't respond he claims I'm 'losing my heritage' and switches to English to mock me. I feel someone behind me, eyes glancing up in the reflection to see Max leaning on the wall on the other side of the hallway.
"[Dad--]" I try, but he cuts me off with more ramblings.
"A waste of talent, a waste of that mans time!" He shouts, "You are nothing but--"
A hand comes to grab the phone, a thumb thats not mine pressing to end the call. I flinch at the touch, but it's warm, and when I look up Max just watches me before slipping my phone back into my hand and sighing. Nothing is said, he just turns and nods over his shoulder. Max moves like a ghost back to the doorway, eyes peeking over at me from under his hat and his voice carries down the hall to me.
"You're not wasting my time. I picked you."
And then he slips into the room where I can hear my mother replaying some story of my early racing days to someone, and I blink back the tears that well up with my shaky sigh. Then something hits me, eyes widening as I stare after Max's retreated form.
Max had picked me to be his mentee.
He picked me. Me.
And a giddy smile crosses my face before I can try and suppress it.
Tumblr media
formulaupdates made a new post!
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
liked by user1, user2, user3 and 359k others...
formulaupdates: Reina Matusmoto (Prema, f2) joined Max Verstappen (Red Bull, F1) to welcome their 'siblingship' this season during a livestream on Red Bull's TikTok wearing the teams signature color in a vintage Ralph Lauren sweater! (+ a scanned version her drawing of Max for everyones icon needs)
tagged: reinamatsumoto, ralphlauren, premaracing, redbullracing, maxverstappen
view 189k comments...
Tumblr media
tag list!
(open !)
250 notes · View notes
cogentranting · 1 year ago
Text
Ranking Animated Horse Designs Take 3
This time I really am back by popular demand because the other two posts have been getting a steady trickle of notes for over a year now.
(If you're looking for stuff like Disney and Dreamworks there are two other posts. Here we've got mostly random cartoons and also the Pokemon horses)
Tumblr media
Starlite (Rainbow Brite) 6/10 Little weird that he seems to be drawn in a style that's like 3x more realistic than any other character in this show but hey sometimes you just ascend to a higher plane of existence. (2014 Reboot Starlite gets a 3/10. I do not trust him.)
Tumblr media
Skydancer (Rainbow Brite) 7/10 I bumped Starlite down a point because he wants what Skydancer has. Skydancer doesn't need rainbows to fly. Skydancer has a lightning bolt. Skydancer has the Drama. (The one wiki page said he's a Shire or a Clydesdale and um I don't think so. Maybe a Friesian.)
Tumblr media
On-yx (Rainbow Brite) This is a rocket powered balloon animal. 2/10
Tumblr media
Sunriser (Rainbow Brite) 5/10 Eh. I like her hair though.
Tumblr media
Swift Wind (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power/ She-Ra Princess of Power)
Right (older version) 8/10 I don't understand the wing physics going on here. Also not sure if the horn is part of the mask or just attached to the mask. Diggin the bib though. Also love that he's a ginger.
Left (new version) 4/10 If the older version wasn't there this would score higher because just as a character design I don't think it's bad but if these are supposed to be the same character he seems so cutesy and I do not vibe with it. I don't know either show. So maybe that works. But it feels wrong.
Tumblr media
Amalthea (The Last Unicorn) 9/10 They gave the unicorn the split deer hooves, and the lions tail and that is automatic points from me. Bummed they didn't go all out and give us the goat's beard. Rude. Any distance shot, I love. Close-ups of the face creep me out with the giant doll eyes and tiny nose.
(Pokemon and more below)
Tumblr media
Honey Pie Pony (Strawberry Shortcake) 8/10 Adorable. Fantastically chunky design. The others from this... show? book? brand? are like 6s or 5s depending. But Honey Pie has the It factor. (The It Factor here apparently being that recurring pattern of only the main character's horse being able to talk?? This is the third. Swift Wind, Starlite and Honey Pie have dark secrets about how they come by this knowledge).
Tumblr media
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic "ponies" Just as characters they're cute in a "trying so hard to be cute that they almost miss the mark entirely" way. But this is about how they are as HORSE designs. And these are magical gremlins not horses. 1/10 (WHAT is happening on the far right of this set. I do not approve. Zebra is fine though).
Tumblr media
My Little Pony: A New Generation Like if the MLP: FM ponies and the Trolls characters somehow had children. Somehow the main character of Bee Movie was also involved. The one on the left makes TikTok thirst traps. -2/10
Tumblr media
My Little Pony Tales 3/10 I can almost tell they're meant to be horses. Plus that one has a tattoo of a comb. So. Full extra point for the comb tattoo.
Bratz Horses I can't tell if there's an official video game or cartoon design for these but in ANY given version I found the conclusion is the same: if you look into the gigantic distended eye you will be put under the horse's curse. 1/10
Tumblr media
Boxer (Animal Farm) 4/10 All horses are equal but some are more equal than others, but Boxer is not one of them because his mouth is not okay.
Tumblr media
Marvin (Marvin the Tap Dancing Horse) 5/10 I mean. Dude's got spats. Come on.
Tumblr media
Ponyta (Pokemon) 3/5 The armpit and middle thigh flames were a choice.
Tumblr media
Rapidash (Pokemon) 8/10 Look at his face. The angst. He has seen things.
Tumblr media
Mudsdale (Pokemon) 8/10 The classic mohawk, dreadlocks and legwarmers trifecta. Love it. Would love to hug him.
Tumblr media
Galarian Ponyta 3/10 It's giving sheep, and it's giving dog. Very little horse.
Tumblr media
Galarian Rapidash (Pokemon) 4/10 He's angry because his hair is too long and he can't walk and also he has not eaten enough somebody feed this horse.
Tumblr media
Origin Palkia (Pokemon) 6/10 A built-in hoola-hoop AND thigh high Boots?! what fashion.
Tumblr media
Keldeo (Pokemon) 1/10 Clown goat.
Tumblr media
Spectrier (Pokemon) 10/10 Beautiful goth girl horse floating around like a Victorian ghost who's too modest to show her ankles.
Tumblr media
Mudbray (Pokemon) 5/10 He has passed through the depths of existential dread and returned world-weary but unshakeable and with a snazzy bowl cut.
Tumblr media
Glastrier (Pokemon)
20/10 ICE HORSE ICE HORSE ICE HORSE. I love him so much. He's punk rock
Tumblr media
The Fat Horse (Looney Tunes) 10/10 Queen.
383 notes · View notes
thegnomelord · 9 months ago
Note
was thinking about drawing Ifrit from "Hell has a basement floor" and had some headcanons on his appearance.
on one hand i was thinking to make him tall and burly, built big to store all the mana and power he has, make him built like a volcano.
on the other.... what if and hear me out.... Ifrit.... skinny. tall and gangly, long limbs, underfed, outlines of bones poking out from underneath the skin, sunken eyes for that extra unsettling factor. besides magic does have a cost. maybe it's just your body that needs to be exchanged.
now i thought of the second hc because tall and skinny isn't exactly associated with the kind of brute force Ifrit has but he's still strong even if his lifestyle is gonna put him in an early grave. now imagine when he's finally part of tf 141 they notice that he's not very well in the food and weight department for his height and the amount of energy he spends so... they start feeding him (especially Price and Soap because protect and care hoard/pack)......
i've also been getting into the trope where characters gain weight as a sign of health and living a better life. so yeah tell me what you think
and maybe share your hcs on Ifrits appearance because i don't want to butcher your creation on accident
Okay 1: you have no idea how happy it makes me when I hear ppl want to draw fan art of my stuff :DD, internally I'm like that dog video where the dogs happily tapping his paws lol bc he can't contain his excitement lol. And also yeah, I'm a huge sucker for the trope and your little idea with Price amd Soap tickles my brain.
And 2: man you did some mind reading bc your hcs are actually very close to what I've made up for the lore of the whole au. While I want to overall leave Ifrit's body type ambiguous to give readers some space to imagine themselves in Ifrit's place, Ifrit is 100% underweight with more of a volleyball/basketball player type build, as mages focus on stamina and endurance rather than raw strength bc that can be augmented with magic. Also has stretch marks because their weight fluctuates a lot lol
Okay lore spoilers so if y'all want to find out through the story skip this-
Okay so— magic is increadibly taxing on the body, not just by eating away flesh and creating mage marks as a Mage's power grows, but just by simply existing inside the body magic stresses the body. Because fundamentally magic is toxic to humans, and even mages who have the needed adaptations to utilise magic are no better than our ancestors when they were first learning to stand on two legs.
The best metaphor I have for magic is chemo drugs. They're used to kill a cancer but they also damage healthy cells. Magic, similarly, damages the body by existing inside it, but also is used by mages to heal the damage as soon as it happens. This uses a lot of calories and also why mages have really irregular weights, losing 10kg in a week isn't an uncommon thing.
Someone possessing even half of Ifrit's capabilities would need to eat 3x that of a regular human of the same height and weight. Mages are literally Shaggy from Scooby Doo lol. And that's only to get the bare minimum their body needs, caloric need becomes much bigger if they're active like Ifrit is. So you'll find that many mages, but especially military ones, are underweight and need to regularly get Iv fluids and nutrients to help their body recover from using magic. They also need to eat a lot of highly caloric food, which isn't easy when one of the most common side effects of magic use is puking your guts up.
Most military mages don't reach 30. The average life expectancy is around 25, with active duty (i.e. constant missions and daily magic use) mages lasting on average 3-4 years before their body basically breaks down, but they can last longer depending on how conservatively they use magic.
Now, knowing all that, Ifrit has been actively using strong magic on par with military mages since they were 14-15 years old and while they're not the healthiest, they're healthy as a horse when compared to most mages. The reason behind their continued survival — their mage marks.
68 notes · View notes
lpsotd · 1 month ago
Text
important announcement part 2: electric boogaloo
Tumblr media
greetings tumblr! i haven't made an original post in (i believe) over a month, and i actually didn't plan on making an announcement about my absence at all, for no real reason honestly, i just didn't want to. however, i think i'm correct to assume there's at least a handful of people who have been my curious about my absence, or perhaps wondering why they've noticed a lack of daily littlest pet shops on their dashboard.
this post is going to be long, personal, and serious. i'm going to be talking about myself, my life at the moment, and what i'm going to be doing moving forward.
you can read everything under the cut. i'm providing trigger warnings for suicide and familial death. the first half of this post is where the warnings apply, the other half is about what i'll be doing with this blog and also relates to my internet presence in general.
the latter half of the month of september was extremely taxing on my mental health, the main reason for my mental decline is not something i'm going to touch on here, as it's too personal and there's no reason for me to air out my private business on tumblr.com of all places. all you need to know is that during late september, i was at my worst. i had been trying to push through and continue my life as normal despite the constant turmoil i was in, and i never had the motivation to do anything with myself besides taking a shower, and even then i was rather neglectful of my hygiene. i had plenty of support from those close to me. my mom in particular did her absolute best to make sure i was comfortable and felt loved and cared for, and i did feel that way. however, at this point in my life i was a ticking time bomb and i don't think any one person would've been able to cut any cords to put a stop to the timer.
on september 26th at around 1:45pm, i made an attempt on my life. i'm not sure what it was about that day in particular, but it was then that i decided i didn't want to deal with anything anymore. fortunately for me, i was stupid enough to post what was essentially a suicide note to my main tumblr blog, which friends of mine took notice of. this, of course, worried people and one of my friends called the police to my house. long story short, i spent a day in the hospital and was sent to a psychiatric hospital the following afternoon.
i was in the psychiatric hospital for little less than a week, and if i were to detail my experience here it would make this post at least 3x longer than i intend it to be. (and i do plan on dedicating a large post to it someday) in short, it was an eye-opening experience and i left with a better view on myself as a person. i was discharged on october 3rd and i'm currently in therapy and looking for other methods to help myself.
the doctor at the psychiatric hospital diagnosed me with adjustment disorder with depressed mood, although i'm made to believe i have borderline personality disorder as i get unhealthily attached to people and my entire mood depends on how they interact with me. due to this belief, i'm hesitant to get too close to people because i don't want to risk becoming emotionally attached/dependent on one (1) sole person and my entire mental wellbeing collapsing due to something like us parting ways. so at this moment i'm not sure if i'll ever be able to pursue a romantic relationship.
for the week i've been home, i've been trying to readjust to normal life again after becoming used to the static routine present in the psychiatric hospital. i've found myself becoming easily irritated and overwhelmed by even the slightest bit of noise in my home because the hospital was always so quiet and calm. i'm unsure if this irritability will go away as i become re-accustomed to the semi-chaotic nature of my home.
on top of all of this, my grandfather passed away yesterday and, as of writing this, i'm in a state of emotional numbness and i've somewhat disassociated from the situation. as it stands currently, life doesn't feel too real and i'm uncertain of how i'm going to deal with this when my emotions finally come to the surface.
that's it for the depressing portion of this post. everything from here will be pertaining to the state of this blog, what i'm going to be doing with it, and also my presence on other social medias among other things.
for the past three or so months i haven't felt very compelled to post to this blog. when i went on hiatus a while ago, i thought time away from this blog would reignite my passion for it and i'd be able to come back and do things like i used to. and while that was the case for a while, i quickly lost interest again and sometime in mid-late july i let my queued posts do everything and i barely posted or reblogged anything aside from gofundmes.
while littlest pet shop is still one of my special interests, i'm no longer as fixated on it as i was when i first started this blog. i once debated turning this blog into a catchall for my toy interest and no longer posting daily lps, however that idea no longer appeals to me and i think i'm going to be calling it quits for this blog.
i'm not happy about this decision, but i no longer get joy from logging on and posting to this blog anymore.
i find it foolish to delete this blog and never use it again, though. i still have over eight thousand followers and i believe i should use that to share and bring awareness to donation posts. so this blog will not be going anywhere.
if you want to follow me elsewhere, my main blog is @joplinspiderz and my art blog is @mushyspiderz. i'm trying to put more focus on my presence in art spaces, as i want to get attention for my art and earn money doing things like commissions, as i'm looking for other sources of income so that i can pay for things i need and can stop feeling like a freeloader in my mother's house (that is half of a joke. but i do really want to help my mom with her bills and such as well as my personal things.)
i also have an instagram, threads, and twitter where i will be posting my art as well. the audience i want for my art is people in my age range (18 and older) as i tend to draw things and characters that are suggestive/sexual in nature. all three socials are currently bare (that will change, of course.) the handle for my instagram/threads is joplinspiderz and my twitter is mushyspiderz.
the person i have been portraying on this blog has been a somewhat sanitized version of who i actually am, as i wanted to create a safe and comfortable space for those who age regress because i noticed a good chunk of the people interacting with my posts were age regressers. i'm 18 years old and i enjoy consuming media that is sexual in nature as well as horror movies. i like to include sexual themes in my artwork and my writing as well. you will not find anything outright pornographic on my socials, however sometime in the future when/if i'm able to, i would like to create a patreon where i post nsfw locked behind a paywall (profiting off of horny fools sounds like so much fun /silly)
i sincerely thank everyone who followed this silly little blog of mine and interacted with me. the littlest pet shop community is one of the best fandoms i've been apart of, everyone i've met and spoken to has been so kind. running this blog was also the reason i encountered two people who i consider to be some of my closest and best friends. if i didn't create this blog i'm not sure if i would've met them.
i've always felt joy when opening my inbox here and seeing messages from people who say things like littlest pet shop was a part of their childhood, and that my blog brought them back to their childhood and made them happy. i'm so very glad i was able to give people a sense of joy and nostalgia. running this blog has been a big part of me getting over being seen as "weird" or "cringe" by societal standards. i embrace being seen as "cringe" and i have my rare lps on full display in my bedroom.
again, i thank everyone who followed me here, and if you wish to support me you can follow any of my social medias where i will be posting my artwork. i will be logging on here every so often to boost palestinian gofundmes and donation posts, and i encourage everyone who comes across those to share as well.
that's all for now, farewell. 🩷
28 notes · View notes
macgyvermedical · 2 months ago
Note
What type of diet and/or exercise regimen would you recommend for a trans dude working to build a more muscular and masculine figure?
Different things work for different people, but personally I used Nerd Fitness, which was different 10 years ago when I started it, and personally I like the original NF better than the current one.
So here's a brief overview:
Bodyweight circuits for exercise. Do these about 3x per week. Look up videos on youtube for anything you don't know how to do:
Warm up by doing some active stretching that works every body part you plan to use during your workout. This can include arm circles, monster kicks, front bends, cat/cows, butt kicks, anything that stretches you with movement. Try to avoid a warm up that has you doing static stretching (stretching without moving the body part in question).
Then once you feel nice and warmed up,
5 Push ups (if you can't do a push up, do knee push ups or chair push ups, or wall push ups, and work your way up to standard push ups)
10 Squats (hold onto a chair for balance if you need to)
5 Sit ups (use an exercise ball if you need to)
5 Lunges each side (hold onto a chair if you need to)
10-Second plank (if you can't do a standard plank for 10 seconds, do a knee plank)
15 Jumping jacks
Take as long as you need to do these exercises, and pause for a break/go on to the next exercise if your form starts to slip. Try to keep breaks to less than a minute. It is better to do 5 wall push ups well than 1 standard push up badly.
If you haven't exercised in a while, try doing this 1x through for three times the first week, 2x through for three times the second week, and 3x through for three times the third week, and then start increasing the number of each exercise you are able to do for subsequent weeks. For example, try 7 push ups/12 squats/7 sit ups/etc... per circuit. Adjust to your needs and always strive to do a little more each week.
Once you're done with the workout part, cool down with static stretches of any muscle you used during the workout.
For diet, I did a modified paleo diet. The following is a good shopping list for 1 week (back in 2017 this was a $5/day shopping list, but it definitely costs more now).
Protein:
Eggs- 2 dozen
Meat- 2lbs of either chicken breast, stew meat, or sausage
Tuna: 2 cans, packed in water
Vegetables:
Sale veggie- 2 pkg
Cauliflower- 1 large
Broccoli- 1 bag
Stewed tomatoes- 2 cans
3lb Onions- (every other week)
3lb Sweet potatoes
10lb Russet potatoes- (once per month)
Fruits:
Sale fruit- 2 or 3 pkg
Canister Prunes or Raisins
Frozen fruit of choice
Nuts:
Whole raw almonds- 1pkg
Other:
Dark Chocolate- 1 large bar
Tea- 100 tea bags (once in a blue moon)
Instant Coffee- 120 cups worth (once in a blue moon)
Olive or sunflower seed oil- (once per month or so)
Salt- one large canister iodized or box kosher, (literally once per lifetime)
Condiments (I excepted these from paleo rules for my own sanity) mayo, ketchup, pickles, mustard, etc…- (once in a blue moon)
Dried spices- (once in a blue moon)
Vinegar of choice- (once per month or longer, depending on how much you like vinegar)
Bouillon cubes- (once in a blue moon)
Meal Prep Tips:
Boil most of the eggs, leave a couple for if you like fried eggs occasionally or want to make banana-egg pancakes. You can easily take boiled eggs in a lunchbox or eat them with prunes or raisins for a quick breakfast.
The prunes/raisins and almonds were and still are my go-to easy breakfast.
Grate the cauliflower- steam it with salt, oil and spices as a side later or mix it with the crumbled sausage for a 1-bowl meal
Cook the sweet potatoes and regular potatoes ahead of time. There are lots of ways to do this and they are all delicious. They are also easy to pack in a lunch box.
Hard veggies like carrots, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, and broccoli are AMAZING when tossed in olive oil, salt, and spices and roasted or broiled.
Cook and pull the chicken (easiest in a pressure cooker but you can also boil the crap out of it too). Makes it super versatile. You can make like 10 different things with it and they will all feel different. No more plain chicken boob for you!
Stew with the stew meat, any veggies (including onions and potatoes) and spices will give you many easy future meals and can be made with just about anything you’ve got (throw the stewed tomatoes in this too).
Tuna salad (with oil and vinegar and spices if you’re really feeling paleo or mayo, onions and pickles if you’re me) and leftover roasted veggies make a great lunch.
30 notes · View notes
novashelby · 5 months ago
Text
Little Evie things that probably won't make it to the fanfic~(or will, but just elaborated)
Part I
Tumblr media Tumblr media
TW: There are mentions of abuse(all) and a tough childhood.
Evie doesn't know who her biological father is, but there was a man when she was little that would go to her mother and give her money. He'd look at Evie, but would never say anything. Just hand over money and leave. She believes this man is her biological father, but her biological mother refuses to tell her.
Evie has a minor allergy to different types of fruit; strawberries, nectarines, peaches. She will break out on her cheeks in a red, itchy rash.
Because of her mother, she doesn't warm up to mother like figures very easily.
The first time Tommy left her with Polly, she hid in the closet. Polly sat on the floor on the other side and told her about Cinderella.
Tommy is the only person she 100% trusts. Even when she is married or with another man, she will always love her father 10x more(not in a weird way). She is genuinely scared for when he dies and she no longer has him.
Though they bicker like siblings, Evie tells Finn everything. When Evie's first boyfriend broke up with her, he was the one to comfort her and hold her. Though he betrayed the family, Evie still loves Finn very much. She secretly checks up on him from time to time.
She loves Uncle Arthur and Uncle very much, but for two different reasons. Uncle Arthur covers for her when Tommy doesn't want to let her out. Uncle John picks her up from parties shes not suppose to be at.
John and Esme are her godparents. Despite being Catholic her whole life and Tommy being an Atheist, she had to go through the whole Baptism and communion process again. Tommy wanted to forget about it, but Polly wouldn't let him. Evie is actually very religious in the sense she prays a lot.
Though, Polly is next in line if anything were to happen to Tommy. If not Polly, Ada.
When she was with her biological mother, she would ask God every day to give her a set of wings like an angel so she could fly wherever she wanted. When she was five, she made some from paper, but her mother used them for the fire.
If Cindy(her biomom) was born today, she would be diagnosed with bipolar 1 and BPD and narcissistic personality disorder.
Her maternal grandparents actually have money. They were a well off family in Boston, but Cindy kept running from home for no reason. She is of Irish descent. It is speculated that Evie is half Irish-half Italian.
Unknown to Evie, there was a man who did come forth to Tommy about Evie. But Tommy said the adoption was closed and that Evie didn't need anymore confusion in her life. They did cross paths once when Evie went to the Garrison after school to give Tommy a school paper. She asked who that man was, but Tommy said it a work friend.
Her maternal grandparents attempted to reach out, but Tommy denied them as well. They came to England, and only Polly was home at the time. Unknown to Tommy, Polly gave them a photo of Evie. It was a copy of her school portrait from when she was 11. At the time, Evie was 16.
Some time before Grace was shot, Evie went to the shops for sweets. She was a pence short. There was a man behind her in line and he gave her the pence. It was Luca Changretta
Despite being bubbly and happy, Evie struggles a lot of the inside and has chronic panic attacks. Only two people can calm her down; Tommy and Finn.
Evie is the 'biggest' girl in her class, weight wise. She struggles a lot inward with her confidence. When she was 14, the brother class(boys in the same grade at the boys school) at St. Michael's ranked all 8 girls by prettiness. Evie was number 8. That hurt Tommy more than anything and unknown to anyone, he cried in his office at his daughter's pain.
If born today, Evie would be diagnosed with ADHD and dyscalculia.
Peter Novak, Evie's first long-term boyfriend, asked Tommy 3x before he agreed to let him take Evie out. Tommy liked Peter the first time he walked into his office. Just wanted to see how serious the boy was.
Actually, the whole Shelby family really loved Peter. Even after they broke up, he'd be invited to family functions.
When Grace died, she cuddled Charlie to sleep every night for months. When Ruby died, she held Lizzie to sleep.
She would braid Ruby's hair every day.
Every single morning before school, she would hug and kiss Tommy on the cheek and say, "I love you, Daddy". The day she didn't and just said, "Bye, dad, I have to go to school..." He paused, feeling his heart sink. He quickly got up and ran to the door, calling her back in the house. "Oi, what the fuck was that?!" After that, she never called him dad. It was always daddy.
She hit Finn three times with a car. Once, when she was 10 and fooling around behind the wheel. The car rolled forward and bumped him. Once, Uncle Arthur was trying to teach her how to drive and he was telling her back up, but she rushed forward and hit him. Arthur simply got up and said, "Eh, you're fine, Finn...get up!" The time she backed up into him.
She's also whacked everyone's car at least once. Every time Evie drives to a family function, they give her a designated spot away from everyone's car. They either make sure to leave before her or wait 30 minutes after she leaves to avoid being on the same road.
The only reason she got her license is because the instructor fell asleep. No one was happy that day.
When Tommy was afraid of his tumor diagnosis, he wanted to marry Evie off. There was Gypsy boy named Elias, but Isaiah stepped forward instead.
When Evie learned that Martha's(her best friend) first boy was hitting her, she told her Uncle John and together, they drove to the boy's house and smashed the family car.
Evie is a sore loser when it comes to games.
John's wedding was Evie's first family function.
Esme taught Evie how to take care of her curly hair and do her make up.
She has lived in 3 countries; US(Boston), England(London, Liverpool, Birmingham), and France(Paris).
It was a French whore that taught Evie how to dance when she was six.
Tommy first saw Evie when she was in his stable trying to pet his horses. He fell in love with her right there. When she saw where she lived, he took her home-no questions asked. Her adoption was easy. He paid Cindy ten pounds and gave her a ferry ticket to Amsterdam. She signed the papers and Evie was his.
Tommy teaches her one word in Romani every day.
Tommy's favorite photo of her is her first school portrait when she was 8 years old. She has a wide smile. That morning the photo was taken, she lost her second front tooth.
Evie doesn't know her actual birthday, but it's estimated early-mid October.
Evie's gotcha day is September 3rd, 1918.
Evie always looked young for her age. She never reached above 5ft. and her face stayed babyish until middle-aged. However, she was always developed which made her very self-conscious. When she was 14, there was an older man who made a comment to Tommy(not aware that he was her father) in regards to Evie's body. Tommy silently looked at him before punching him.
Mother Superior(Catholic school headmistress) called Tommy once when Evie was 13 to talk about her school blouses. They fit fine and covered her, but she just had more breasts than the other girls. She told Tommy it would be wise and more comfortable if Evie wore a sweater vest over her blouse. "It would be more comfortable for the male teachers." Tommy responded, "if you are worried about an adult male being distracted by my 13 year old daughter's breasts, I advise you to hire new teachers."
She was sexually assaulted by a group of older boys when she was fifteen. She never told Tommy, but she told Finn and Isaiah. Isaiah the next day went into their class while the teacher was teaching and beat the shit out of one.
31 notes · View notes
random-chaos-and-stuff · 2 months ago
Text
Fourth actually drawn Wings of Fire OC here guys! This is Hemlock, a Leafwing/Icewing hybrid!
Tumblr media
She’s a bit more simplistic than some of the others, but I like how her face turned out.
Just like always, backstory and lore, abilities, the no background and the outline, and the generation method I used for her under the cut!
Hemlock is a hybrid, her mother being a Leafwing and her father an Icewing. She is often seen as cold or rude, but in all reality that is just how she was raised, and towards those that gain her trust she is very supportive and loving. She grew up in the poison jungle for the most part, with occasional trips to the icy outskirts of the ice kingdom. Her mother was a poisonwing Leafwing, and very protective over her only dragonet as a result of the harsh environment of the jungle, training her how to hunt and be self sufficient from a young age. She is also rather adventurous, loving to explore new places, often coming home with stories and trinkets to share with other dragons. 
She has a reputation for being dangerous and powerful, one that is well deserved, with her Icewing sharp claws and unusually sharp for a Leafwing spines, and the spikes on her tail. She can withstand fridged temperatures, though not as well as her father, and is an excellent climber. She got most of her build from her Leafwing mother, but alongside the traits mentioned above her Icewing side shines through in the indented webbing on her wings and the end of her tail, her pale coloration, and her grey-blue eyes.
She is also, surprisingly enough, an animus. It is believed that her father carried the long dormant gene, passing it down to his daughter, where it for some reason became active. She often uses this ability to help herself and her community, with a special love for one young hybrid, Cactus, who has eagerly deemed Hemlock her best friend, despite Hemlock being a grown adult. Hemlock also used her magic to give herself an ability. She had hatched without leafspeak, or any real abilities other than her magic, and often longed to have something like it. So, she gave herself a new ability, similar to leafspeak, allowing her to grow plants wherever she pleased, including the fridged arctic where they should have frozen solid and died, as well as manipulating the ice to grow like plants with leafspeak. She also once used her magic to imbed into her face, three on each side under her eyes. The rubies had been a gift from her father, a higher ranking Icewing in the ice kingdom, as a symbol of status.
Yeesh, that was a long one, but at least it’s properly spaced now to an extent. I named her for her colors, and the fact that Hemlock can grow in cold temperatures, and is a poisonous plant. I had trouble with the name for a while, until I basically rubber ducked at @spookys1fan for a name, and some research on cold growing poisonous plants, thank you for tolerating my yapping messages!
She is a good example of why I like drawing hybrids, because I can play with the features more, and pick and choose how I want different features from each dragon to interact.
Here is the no background version and the outline, as promised!
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Tumblr fried the quality on these, so click for better quality and all of that. I went at this with a basic idea for her colors, but it took me a bit to get them just right and make them interact well.
And finally, as promised, the generation method I used! I used a generator sheet made by HoneyBeest, which is really fun, and really helps when I get art block and want to make a new OC.
Reblogs are appreciated, but please don’t repost on other websites without credit! Also, feel free to use her/draw her if you like her design. Writing, drawing, ect. as long as you give me credit as her original creator.
21 notes · View notes
juliasgoodusername · 2 years ago
Text
Ley Lines Map for All the Gansey-core Girlies
Tumblr media
Have you ever wished there was an interactive map that not only graphs the ley lines described in TRC, but also has layers full of possible spiritual points, arranged in loose categories and sloppily curated by sheer force of mental illness?? Okay baby here you go:
FAQ under the cut 😘
Was this necessary?
Genuinely it was not. My investigations uncovered that Maggie Stiefvater does not really care about geography, nor does she remain consistent about the ley lines, so I can't even really say that it's book-accurate.
Example 1 - There are multiple understandings of ley lines. Some are circles, patterns, connect the dots, etc. but TRC goes with the definition of "perfectly straight" lines "that crisscross the globe" (The Raven Boys Chapter 2, Chapter 15). One of the big three lines connects Boston to St. Louis (The Raven Boys Chapter 22). And the main line also passes through Boston (see example #2)! But half of all the Pynch drama in Call Down the Hawk specifically blames Boston/Harvard for not being on the ley line. Hello?? It's on TWO of them!
Example 2 - Maggie makes it clear that the connection between D.C. and New York, which also connects to the UK and Pilot Mountain, is the main line that Glendower's squad traveled on (The Raven Boys Chapter 7, Chapter 22). The weird part is how after defining this line, all of Adam's ley line adventures place it directly along the Shenandoah National Park/Blue Ridge Mountains (Blue Lily, Lily Blue Chapter 2 + many other quotes I don't feel like looking up). There's no way to connect the DC-Pilot Mt line to Shenandoah, but I can totally see how Maggie Stiefvater would think it connects when looking at a flat map.
So yeah. It doesn't really matter, but thanks to my research we can CONFIRM that it doesn't really matter. You're welcome.
So why did you make this?
For fun...it wasn't exactly worth it. But by sharing it with y'all, hopefully no one else will make the same mistake.
What about line #3?
The third line never has specific connection points in the books so I basically made it up :) but I narrowed it down to 2 candidates, with my chosen line based on Ronan's mention of the "Pando thing" in Greywaren's epilogue.
How did you decide on/find points?
Honestly it was a lot of vibes. You can read in the description of the map how I started from certain resources, like all the stuff in the books, and other people's Google maps. My big discovery was realizing that UNESCO World Heritage Sites covered a lot of territory between history and nature, but before that I was literally googling things like "strange places Kentucky" and pouring through articles. If a place seemed weird and magical, I added it.
Yes this took forever. Easily 3x as long as the 300 Fox Way floorplan, if not longer.
Is this map complete?
I had other ideas for things I should add to it but I got tired, so nah.
You've put down everything from urban legends to alien sightings, but why don't I see many hauntings on the map?
Blatant author bias; I firmly don't believe in famously haunted houses! The vast majority of "haunted" places operate as tourist attractions, so if I took them at their word I'd have to also log Disney World for being the most magical place on earth, wouldn't I? Also Re: I got tired.
Can I copy this map / add to it / use it for reference?
Please please please please
I found a typo
I bet you did! I'm not even proof reading this post bestie.
392 notes · View notes
ottiliere · 6 days ago
Note
Im in love with how vinyl and celofane-covered items look in the cameday house. expecially on pages 9 and 16, it really adds to the mood of the story. Everything outside has an almost dissasociative quality in how nonconforming it is- stunning!
Other than that, the added touch of detail on lynn's face, whilst cam has more blunt shadows, is very interesting. Where lynn needs some definite lines to show his nose, eyebrows, etc-,, cam with his smuppet nose and lemon eyes doesnt really need much more detailing. The nuance of the shading and facial expressions is such a nessisary detail in works like this, and I'd say its masterfully done <3
thank you very much 🙂 we have had many discussions on how to bring in assets and we decided we wanted a more "fuzzy" quality to them in contrast with how we've observed people usually incorporate assets into their projects (sharper/aliased, like homestuck) specifically because it gives more of a nebulous feel to the scene & clashes a bit with the sharper blocks of color that make up the characters/drawn environment. the shading/detail of their bodies+faces is something we have similarly routinely discussed and I'm a bit touched it was noticed so quickly... it's part of what we were going for! unfortunately however, for this reason lynn typically takes 2-3x as long to draw than cam... i can bust final pics of cam for the book out in under 15 minutes while a Lynn can take 45min-2 hrs depending on the size. time efficiency=📉
side note: funnily enough cam's nose was not based on smuppets. it was originally much more squat and triangular but after drawing him over and over it just continued to elongate. we've finished the drafts/art of each page of phase 2 as of this weekend and even now when I look back at the cams in phase 1 his nose looks too shortly awkward... here are some of my initial cam sketches before we started working on tgc proper (about a year old now...?) vs. some cams from p2 for contrast:
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
11 notes · View notes
iffeelscouldkill · 20 days ago
Text
Lost in a Familiar Place pt. 7 (of 7!)
(Aka the ‘Nicholas never applied to Kings Row’ AU)
In which Harvard finds Aiden, Nicholas gets a visitor, and things are set in motion.
Previous chapters: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6
A/N: I know I've traditionally serialised this fic on Tumblr first and then posted it later to AO3, but this chapter will be different. This is because this chapter is a bit (a bit) spicier than normal and I don't trust Tumblr at all, given that I'm pretty sure the reason part 4 wasn't visible in the Fence tag is that I used a word that rhymes with "corny" (and starts with an H) in the tags.
So, I'm posting the first part on Tumblr, and then the rest can be read on AO3. It's also longer than normal chapters (almost 3x as long!), so I think the reading experience will be a bit better on AO3 anyway. It's already up on AO3, so you can also go straight there if you prefer!
Harvard tore across the darkened Kings Row campus – and then stopped abruptly. He suddenly had a feeling that Aiden wouldn’t be waiting for him back at their dorm room. It wasn’t really Aiden’s style to sit around twiddling his thumbs; it also wasn’t like Aiden to make things easy for him.
So, Harvard would need to find him.
Harvard thought about the places in the school that they liked to go together. After more than three years at Kings Row, there were quite a few, although (he thought with a guilty pang) he wasn’t sure when they’d last frequented one of their old hideouts.
He considered, and dismissed, the fencing clubhouse – they’d had a lot of fun times there, but only as part of a bigger group. There were some good trees on the grounds that he and Aiden had challenged each other to climb, but that didn’t really seem practical. But wait– climbing–
It sparked a sudden memory, of being fifteen and gangly and laughing as he followed Aiden up a narrow, rusting fire escape bolted to the corner of the Music and Drama building. The building itself had a sloping roof that didn’t look climbable, but if you were intrepid enough to try, you could scramble up the fire escape and then wriggle onto a nearby ledge, and from there you suddenly found yourself in reach of a flat rooftop area that was almost completely concealed from the ground.
Harvard knew it was where Aiden would be.
He had more co-ordination now than he had done at fifteen, but also more bulk, and the fire escape creaked ominously as he hauled himself up. Harvard held as much tension as he could in his core and moved as smoothly and quietly as possible. If not for the fact that he wanted to keep this spot a secret, he’d assign it to new team members as a fitness challenge. Up to the top, and he saw the ledge now – wow, it was further away than he remembered. How had they done this?
He stretched, grasped the ledge, flailed and kicked a bit against the wall and then he was up, with only slightly scraped palms to show for it. He edged along it, crouching slightly to keep his centre of gravity low, and also to hide the movement from the ground. Helpfully, no-one was stirring on the campus at this hour. Harvard carefully straightened up as he came into sight of the flat rooftop – and the figure sitting at the far edge, shoulders slightly hunched, facing away from him.
Harvard would have liked to climb gracefully up onto the rooftop, maybe attracting Aiden’s attention with a slight sound, or maybe he’d wait until he was standing there and then say, “Aiden–” urgently, and then Aiden would turn and see him–
Instead, he scuffed his knee as he scrambled up onto the rooftop and flopped inelegantly onto the surface with a little “oof” noise. When he managed to get up, Aiden was staring at him like he hadn’t expected Harvard to actually be there.
“That was a lot easier when we were fifteen,” Harvard said dryly, dusting his hands off. Aiden gave a tiny grin, climbing to his feet.
“Speak for yourself,” he said, and then the smile faded. “So…”
“I figured it out,” Harvard blurted out, quickly, before he could overthink it. “About what you meant when you said – I mean, I figured out-”
Crap, he was already overthinking it. Harvard started again. “When you told me you joined the team because of me – that you started to love fencing because I love it – I was really surprised, because I didn’t think that you felt that way too. Us fencing together means a lot to me, Aiden. It always has done.”
“Just fencing?” Aiden asked, his tone brittle. Harvard shook his head quickly.
“Let me finish. Look, I was – mad at you, because it felt like you’d stopped caring about something that was really important to both of us, or at least, you didn’t care enough to really show up for it. You’d pulled away, and I didn’t get why. Then I realised that it’s something you do when you actually do care about something, but you want to protect yourself.”
He took a step towards Aiden on the rooftop. Aiden looked a bit panicked, like he was considering fleeing from Harvard and this conversation, and Harvard knew he had to get to the good part quickly, before Aiden pulled away again.
“Do you remember when we fenced against each other during the team try-outs?” he said. “And I said… uh… We were joking around, and I said, ‘I miss this you?’”
Aiden nodded, a blush creeping down his neck. Not many people knew that Aiden blushed that way when he was caught off-guard (Harvard wasn’t completely sure that Aiden knew it). He felt like his own face was aflame, although mercifully it was too dark for it to be visible.
“I thought I’d misheard you,” Aiden admitted.
“You didn’t mishear,” Harvard told him. “I guess I was – starting to realise something, subconsciously, that I’ve felt for a long time. It shouldn’t have taken me this long to put the pieces together.” He gave a lopsided, self-deprecating smile.
“I… I was thinking about how you are when we fence together – it’s like I get to see a side of you that no-one else gets to see. I’ve always seen that side of you, but I thought it was just because we were best friends, and now I’m realising maybe it’s… something else. Or maybe it is because of that, but I want it to be something more.” Harvard was babbling a little bit, but fortunately, it didn’t matter, because Aiden was looking at him like he was saying amazing.
“Aiden, I really like you,” he said, and then laughed a little at himself. Why had he taken such a long time to say something so simple? “Uh. Yeah.”
Aiden gave a shaky laugh, and took a half-step towards Harvard. “Just to be clear,” he said, slowly. “You mean that in a more-than-friends way. Right?”
“Yes. Definitely,” Harvard said. Even though it had only been ten minutes since his revelation, it felt like he’d known this whole time. The feelings had crept up on him so gradually that he hadn’t realised what they were until Aiden had all but laid things out for him.
But Aiden had been self-aware enough to know what he was feeling. And that, Harvard was sure, was what had freaked him out. “I really, really do.”
Aiden’s breath whooshed out of him all at once. “Oh, thank god,” he said. With two steps, he’d closed the remaining distance between them.
“Do you-” Harvard began, but that was as far as he got before Aiden kissed him.
(Okay, Harvard had been pretty sure, but it was nice to have confirmation).
Harvard breathed in through his nose, inhaling soap and the cocktail of hair products Aiden used daily (it probably said a lot that the scent had become something like ‘home’ for him), and tilted his head to press more firmly into the kiss.
He’d never kissed a guy before, but the basic principles were all the same: reaching out to tuck golden strands behind Aiden’s ear, cupping the side of his face with one hand, exploring the shape of his mouth. Aiden made these little humming noises of pleasure that Harvard didn’t think his best friend was consciously aware of.
Harvard had been expecting Aiden to have – moves, maybe, born of his much more extensive experience, but he seemed content to let Harvard take the lead. Not that he was tentative about it – no, Aiden kissed like he knew he was a fantastic kisser, and well, he was. But Harvard felt as though Aiden was holding something back, enough that he broke the kiss to say, “Are you okay doing this out here? We can move inside if you want–”
Aiden smirked at him. “I’m not shy about this sort of thing, in case you didn’t know. Besides, we’re really well-hidden up here.”
“Okay,” Harvard said, reassured. “You just seem like you’re… waiting for something.”
Aiden looked away, flushing down his neck again. “No, I just thought– well, I wanted to see what you liked, first. And I figured you’d want to take it slow.”
A smile spread across Harvard’s face, first because the consideration was sweet. But secondly, because he felt like Aiden had, for once, mischaracterised him a little. Oh, Harvard would never rush anyone into anything, and he tried to be a receptive and respectful partner. But his past romantic partners had all liked it when he showed enthusiasm, and Harvard had always been happy to oblige.
“I think we’ve been taking it slow for a while now,” he replied. “So, as long as you’re on board with moving ahead…” Harvard fitted his hand again to the side of Aiden’s face, running a thumb along that sharp cheekbone, but he waited until Aiden had given a nod before leaning in to kiss him again.
Harvard had one move, but it was a pretty good one, so he used it now, moving a hand down to the small of Aiden’s back and applying pressure. Aiden raised his eyebrows at Harvard but allowed himself to be dipped backwards and then lowered down onto the rooftop (which was smooth tarmac and not uncomfortable, though there were a few leaves on it at this time of year). Harvard braced himself on his hands and leaned over Aiden. “How’s this?”
For a few incredible seconds, Aiden seemed lost for words, running his tongue over his bottom lip and staring up at Harvard. Then he came back to himself. “No complaints at all,” he said, one side of his mouth quirking up. “Let me just–”
Aiden was wearing a light jacket, and he reached up to his throat and unzipped it, letting the material puddle around him. With one hand, he balled it up and then tucked it behind his head. “That’s comfier,” he said, smirking up at Harvard. He was wearing a thin white shirt underneath, which in typical fashion was unbuttoned so that a deep V of pale skin was visible. It was Harvard’s turn to stare. Aiden’s blond hair was messy, wisps escaping from his ponytail and curling around his ears. Shadows played about his face, sharpening his smirk and giving his green eyes an almost otherworldly intensity. He looked like a siren who lured men to their doom on a rocky island. Harvard was a goner; always had been a goner.
Aiden arched his head back ever so slightly under Harvard’s gaze. “Like what you see?”
Harvard shook himself. “You know I do,” he said, his voice sounding uncharacteristically rough, and Aiden’s eyes widened and then darkened. “But–” practicality was winning out, still– “won’t you be cold?”
Aiden visibly rolled his eyes. “That’s the last thing I’ll be. Now get down here-” He fisted his hands in Harvard’s shirt to pull him down, and when that didn’t happen fast enough, used his legs to hook around Harvard’s waist.
“Okay, okay, hnghhh– Jesus. Okay-”
Continue reading on AO3
7 notes · View notes
empressofmankind · 11 months ago
Text
BEGGARS SHAN'T BE CHOOSERS - Part I
[Crocodile x F!OC]
SFW
Tumblr media
(A/N) Better known as the 'Impel Down' fic, I kept mentioning the past two weeks. This is Part One. Of five? Of ten? I've given up. The total draft was > 12k. So, I split it in 3x 4k. And then, I noticed today the 'first part' had grown to >7k. So, I've split it again. I have a clear end in mind, but how long it'll take me to get there...
Originally, this fic was meant to focus around Buggy, but then a 2.53m unit of absolute bullshit got in the way. Shivs and her world class plans, good gods. Post-Alabaste, the mens are stuck in Impel Down. Shivs is dead set on springing the clown from prison. However, she'll first need to figure out where they're keeping him. On account of his devil fruit powers, she suspects level 6. And she has an excellent alibi to demand visitation to level 6. For once, the legal quagmire of technically still being married to Crocodile is going to work for her. Right? RIGHT??
In this first part, we'll join Shivs and Benji (and Mani!) as they get ready to, and make their way for, Impel Down. That's it, that's all that happens, and it took me near 4k. I am so long-winded. It's a terminal condition, I know.
Tag(s): Considering this is the entré, there isn't actually much to tag for? There's fluff and humour. There's a 10-year-old running around saying the absolute funniest shit as things go straight over her head. We got Mani the scaly golden retriever Bananawani along? Oh, and one (1) good marine.
🐊 🐊 🐊 
Beggars Shan't Be Choosers - Part I
“They're stupid clothes,” Benji said, her brow wrinkling with petulant annoyance. She was wearing a crispy white dress shirt, a green-on-ochre striped vest and grey slacks. She'd refused a dress of any sort. Her flame orange hair was neatly brushed and her small face wasn't covered in grease paint for once.
“I think you look handsome,” Shivs said as she pinned her own red hair up with a two-pronged kanzashi fashioned with golden lotuses whose inlaid blue diamonds had not seen the light of day in years.
“I look stupid.”
“Look. I am not comfortable in my clothes either,” Shivs said and indicated the mid-thigh sheath dress of black lace on dark grey broadcloth she wore. She'd decided on sheer stockings to go with it, but no gloves. 
“You look pretty in them.”
Shivs turned back to the mirror to finish pinning her hair and adjusting her bangs to fall neatly from under the strings of her eyepatch. “That is the idea, yes.”
Benji put her hands in her pockets, kicking her foot, making squeaky noises against the deck boards. “What am I supposed to look like? I don't want to be pretty.”
“You are supposed to look like the most capable and well-behaved child to ever grace the Blue.” Shivs pinched her cheek, gilt bangles jangling. “And you do when you don't stand with your hands wearing out your pockets like that.”
Benji took her hands out of her pockets. They idled a moment, undecided, but then she clasped them behind her back. “Your neck looks naked.” 
Shivs laughed at that because the bateau neckline of the dress could certainly use something. “Yours too.”
She plucked one of Buggy's patterned neck scarves from a drawer and tied it around her daughter's neck, tucking the ends into the vest. “There.”
“You should wear a pretty necklace,” Benji said, though her eyes were on the scarf. She seemed to like that, at least.
Shivs didn't have all that many necklaces conventionally considered ‘nice’. Going through the few she had in her thoughts, she picked up her modest jewellery box. Then paused as her gaze lingered on the bottom drawer of her vanity. Maybe she should… She pulled the drawer open and reached among clothes she rarely wore, patting around until she found the old music box.
Its silver had blackened with age and negligence, but even so, its delicate engravings of waves and tall ships were fine. If she polished it now, the oxidation remaining in the fine creases would help pick out its details better than ever before. She didn’t, of course. And she didn’t open the lid either. She couldn’t remember if it was wound up, and didn’t want to hear its melody if it was.
Instead, she held it with both hands and turned its engraved body as if removing a lid from a jar. With a click, the top section came off. Within the tiny compartment revealed lay a small, gold hoop with a bent hinge. She’d long since let the earlobe puncture it used to occupy close. Taking a thin string from her jewellery box, she suspended it from that instead.
“Like so?” Shivs asked, drawing Benji’s attention as she fastened it around her neck.
“Don’t you have anything sparklier, like your hair thing?”
Shivs brushed the kanzashi. Though the era of having such things aplenty was long behind her, she was loath to detract from the last one that remained to her with lesser gems. Besides, he’d notice.
“Sadly, no.”
“Oh?” Benji gave her the thumbs up. “Gold is pretty too, I guess!”
Part of the reason she’d picked it was that it was 24-carat gold. Just like the kanzashi.
“Can I do your makeup?”
“Only if you do not turn me into a clown,” Shivs said as she sat down at her vanity so the girl could reach her face. Benji grinned and set to work.
When Benji declared she was done, Shivs turned to the mirror and had to admit the little girl was now officially better at this than her. She’d gone for a dark burgundy smokey eye with a flawlessly thin line of gold right at the root of her eyelashes and a touch of white on the waterline. It made the hazel of her good eye pop like nobody’s business. She was pretty sure the dark red lipstick was Buggy’s favourite to use himself.
“I like it,” Shivs said and Benji beamed. “Now, I just need shoes.”
“I'll fetch some!” 
Benji was up and running out of the cabin before Shivs could protest. It was only a few minutes before the girl returned, clutching shoes in her arms. And not just any shoes, either. She held up gold-tinted, faux leather gladiator sandals with six-inch stiletto heels that would be a trick and a half to walk on. Where had she even found those?
“These will look awesome with your hair thing and necklace!”
She didn’t disagree as she put them on, but hoped the floors of Impel Down would be neatly packed concrete and nothing else. She hadn’t walked on heels like these in half a decade. Throwing a long bridge coat the rosy beige of dunes about her shoulders, she turned to the floor-length mirror.
Benji looked her up and down with the pinched expression of a critical, pint-sized costume designer grading their latest creation. “You look very pretty.”
Benji wasn’t wrong. She did look nice. Her mood sank, settling like an anchor in the pit of her stomach. She looked like his wife.
“Why is it OK to lie today?”
“It's not a lie.” Shivs shook the morose feeling and picked up her small black bag, its gilded chain rattling as she double checked its content. “More like, hm.”
“Make believe?”
“Yes. Yes, I suppose it is,” Shivs said as she snapped the bag closed and hung it from her shoulder. “It will be easier to convince them to let us visit if we look the way they’d expect.”
“Why would they let us visit uncle Crocodile? Aren’t those visits for, like, if you’re his mom or sister or baby or something?” Benji’s small face was filled with healthy scepticism, hands in her pockets once again. “We should pretend he’s my dad.”
Shivs flinched and struggled to keep her smile from faltering. “Well, only if we have to.”
“They’d have to be pretty bad people to stop a kid from visiting their father.” Benji took her hand. “I hope uncle Crocodile knows where dad is.”
“I am sure he knows.” Shivs gave Benji’s hand a squeeze. She’d no idea how she’d find out where Buggy was if Crocodile didn’t know. She couldn’t exactly demand that information on legal grounds like she had done with him. “Is Mani ready, too?”
“Yes! I scrubbed her squeaky clean and even picked her teeth and scales. She’s eaten and done a big poop.” Shivs tried to let the girl’s bubbly chatter lift her spirits. “I borrowed one of Richie’s sparkly collars and she looks flashy in it!”
“Sparkly? That sounds amazing.”
“It is! She likes sparkly things.”
“Let’s fetch her then and go before we are too late.”
Benji glanced up at her as they left the cabin. “How can we be late for an appointment we didn’t make?”
“We can be late for the only ship going there today.”
🐊 🐊 🐊 
Benji had wanted to stand upon the prow as the government ship approached the Gate of Justice out of Enbies Lobby, because the skipper had said the Tarai current that would see them to Impel Down was chock full of sea kings. Shivs sat on a deck chair with a glass of wine, watching the girl run back and forth with binoculars she’d weedled from a matelot. On account of the seastone laminated hull, she doubted they would see any. However, there was no need to dunk on her chipper mood.
They were not the only visitors, more had trickled aboard to form a modest but motley company on the deck. She’d caught snippets of conversations as they walked by: a mother visiting her son; a brother, his sister. And she had a good guess what some of them were whispering about as they stole glances her way. She’d neglected to list any details regarding who they’d be visiting, but, in hindsight, she supposed the pony-sized bananawani lounging beside her gave it away. 
She’d tied Mani’s rhinestone-infested lilac leash to her chair leg, to discourage the reptile from wandering or - worse - deciding to take a swim. Not that she had any illusion as to its ability to pull the chair straight from under her if it wanted to go. But Mani was a creature of habit and minimal effort. A minor inconvenience such as this would be enough to keep her snoozing on the deck.
“Spotted any big ones?” Shivs said when Benji came towards her for a sip of lychee ramune.
“Not yet.” Benji plopped down beside Mani, putting her skinny arm around her scaly neck as she slurped lemonade. “Did you know bananawani hunt sea kings?”
“Really?” 
Shivs remembered the way the casino halls would darken as they swam by, their shadows passing beyond the glass as they glided towards the feeding platform. The unwitting sea king never stood a chance.
“They are their only known predator and totally hunt them,” Benji babbled happily while enjoying her drink. Mani’s eyes were still closed, but she’d shifted to lean into the little girl’s petting. “Do you think sea king tastes good?”
The water would run red but only for a short while, only until the currents whisked it away. Theoretically, the creature could make it out for the Rainbase oasis connected to the Sandora river.
“I bet Mani would prefer sea king chow,” Shivs said.
“I don't think they sell that at the pet stores.” Benji pouted as she hugged Mani. “She won’t be able to have a sea king snack until she’s big enough to hunt them herself.”
Hopefully, that would take a while yet. Bananawani could grow to colossal sizes, dwarfing mid-class tall ships. Shivs had no idea what they were supposed to do with a fully grown one. Or how to afford feeding the beast if there was no prey for her to hunt on her own. Rain Dinners’ bananawani never hunted alone.
Benji emptied her bottle with a big, noisy slurp, waking Mani. “Maybe we should have brought something?”
“A deck would have been nice,” Shivs said as she watched them. “We could have played slapjack.”
“No, I mean, for uncle Crocodile?” 
Shivs flinched.
“You always say that it is nice to bring something when you visit someone. Especially if you want something from them in turn?” Benji scrunched up her face, rubbing Mani’s thick scaly neck. “I have, like, half a bag of marshmallows, but I didn’t think to bring them.”
“I have something for him, don’t worry about it.”
🐊 🐊 🐊 
Impel Down was a fortress as ugly as it was unimaginative. It spilled onto the rapidly approaching horizon as a grey stain overtaking the limitless freedom of the open sea. And as they drew near on the Tarai current, its squat towers and crenellated battlements came into ever sharper focus until they dominated their entire surroundings. Curiously, there were no cannon embrasures, machicolations or any such defences one might expect from a proper bastion. 
A fleet of warships rested at anchor along the approach to the underwater prison. The modest passenger ship they were on was dwarfed by the marine dreadnoughts they passed as the current pulled them inexorably towards the prison’s colossal gatehouse.
Benji had returned to the prow for the approach, and Shivs joined her there.
“It’s so huge!” Benji stared wide-eyed at the thick walls as they sailed under the barbican and into the secured harbour proper beyond. Mani sat beside her, holding her own leash.
“The vast majority of the complex is actually underwater.” Shivs counted the cannons peeking down at them through the embrasures, out of habit more than anything. She wondered if they had a standing firing crew to man them.
“Are we going underwater?” Benji hopped from one leg unto the other. “The Calm Belts are supposed to be full of Sea Kings! Maybe there will be a window, and I can see one? Maybe there will be wild Bananawani too!”
“It is a prison, so I don’t think there will be windows,” Shivs said in an attempt to calm the girl’s excitement and avoid utter disappointment if that turned out to be true. “It does reach quite a ways below the water surface. A few kilometres, perhaps? Yes, I think so.”
“Wow.” Turning to Mani, Benji added: “Let's find a window, I bet there will be wild Bananawani! You can say ‘hi’!”
Shivs took her by the shoulder when she saw the other visitors disembark. “Come, let’s not be late.”
Benji glanced up at her as they walked to the gangplank. “For the visit we didn-?”
“Don’t say that,” Shivs interrupted her with a quelling look.
“Right.” Benji smiled again and took Mani’s leash. “Come on Mani. Can’t be late!”
They were funnelled through the gatehouse and into a courtyard patrolled by marine sentries. Here, too, cannons peered through embrasures on all sides. Evidently, the prison was more concerned about threats to its security rising from within than without.
“Visitors for level 1 and 2 inmates, that way,” a young marine officer said as he gestured to a colleague. “Level 3 and up, with me.” The few people that joined them as they went to the marine officer gave the juvenile Bananawani plodding beside them a wide breadth. 
The officer led them up steps and into an wholly uninviting lobby. With its worn plaster walls and dirty grey linoleum floor it did its very best to make you want to leave as soon as possible. No seats, no plants, no windows, no nothing. 
“Registration check.” The marine officer motioned them towards the looming concrete counter on the other side of the unpleasant space. “In an orderly manner, gentlefolk.”
Benji put her arm around Mani, leaning into the large reptile and putting her nose against its scales as she eyed their casually hostile surroundings.
“What’s his name?” The marine officer’s tone was amiable, conversational.
“Hers!” Benji said, holding on tighter to the Bananawani.
He tried to catch her gaze with a smile. “Big girls, both of you.”
“Her name is Mani.”
“Ah, ‘she who averts harm’,” he said, and Shivs appreciated his attempts to make Benji feel comfortable. “A wise choice for such a hardy animal.”
“She’s very sweet and tough,” Benji agreed as she snuggled Mani. “I love her.”
“I am sure she loves you very much too.”
“What is your name?” Benji asked. “Mine is Benji!”
“Nice to meet you, Benji,” the young marine said. “Mine is Toby.”
By then it was their turn, and Shivs approached the desk. It was higher than such things normally were, for she was not a particularly short woman and yet she need not bend down to meet the registrar’s gaze.
“State your name and purpose?” the woman said, hands poised to take down the information.
“Figarland Seonaid. Conjugal visit,” Then added when she saw her transcribe it as ‘Sheona’: “That is without the H, and spelled with N-A-I-D.”
The registrar gave a sign of neither interest nor recognition. “Visiting?”
“Crocodile Niall.”
The woman paused when she heard that name. And Shivs ignored the whispers she could not quite catch from those behind her in line.
“Niall. N-I-A-L-L. Not ‘Nile’.”
The registrar flipped through a thick binder, finger running down a table packed with dense handwriting. “No visitation registered.”
“Preposterous,” Shivs said, overacting an affronted tone. “A signed request for visitation has been approved weeks ago.” 
“There is no record of it, ma'am.”
Benji let go of Mani to fling her arms around Shivs’ waist instead, and gave the registrar and marine officer her most watery of wobbly baby looks. “Mommy, I want to see daddy!”
Shivs rubbed her shoulder, giving the registrar the pleading look of parents the world across trying to desperately manage a child on the brink of wailing. Benji's little sob into the fabric of her dress was very convincing. Mani paced around them, uncertain but riled by the sudden change of mood.
“Can't you put in an expedited request?” Shivs suggested, trying her damndest to sound sincere. “She'd been looking forward to it, and we get so few chances.”
“No registration, no visitation,” the woman said as Benji took in a breath to start a wail.
Toby shook his head. “Let me see what I can do,” he said as he produced a small, earpiece Den Den Mushi and put the sea snail against his ear. A few transmissions later, he turned to the registrar and held up his hand. “Two visitor badges, please.”
With due reluctance the registrar handed them over to him and he turned to Benji. “There you go, kiddo,” he said as he gave her one, and then Shivs as well. “Courtesy of the vice-admiral making the curator see reason.”
“You're the best!” Benji beamed. “Look, mom, I am number 17! What is yours?”
Shivs looked at the scuffed 13 on the badge. It reminded her of a poker table she used to deal at, and the memory settled in the pit of her stomach like a fetch of cannon balls. “Not as high as yours, sweetie.”
“Come, I will see you two down to the right level,” Toby said, and led them to the elevator room beyond the lobby. There were four, two on the left and two on the right. He took them to the far right one, the doors opening as they approached.
“Awesome!” Benji said as she rushed inside, Mani hot on her heels. For the elevator was made entirely of armoured glass and provided a grand view of the ocean sprawling all the way across the horizon. The afternoon sun kissed the waves, setting sparkles to the white-capped water. And Shivs felt it beckon in her bones. 
Benji gave him a hopeful look. “Are we going underwater?”
“We are,” Toby said as he put a key in the control panel and turned it.
When the doors slid closed, Shivs suppressed the sudden and overwhelming urge to get out, to leave and never look back. To stay at the surface, where they belonged. I have to, she told herself as she clenched her hands into fists around the chain of her handbag. Bugs is down there, and he hates the dark beneath the waves.
The elevator jolted to life and Shivs closed her eyes, ignoring the sound of the lapping waves against the glass as they submerged, focussing on Benji’s excited noises instead. When she opened them again, they were enveloped in blue. Sunlight still penetrated, sending curtains of light through the water. Less so with every foot they descended, as the blue grew deeper, darker.
“A Sea King!” Benji screamed, spooking Mani as she glued herself against the glass. In the far distance, blurred in the shifting hues of the blue, swam a long, serpentine creature, its body undulating as it made its way from somewhere to elsewhere. 
“It could be the Prince of the Deep,” Toby said as he came to stand beside her. “It has about the right shape. Colour too, perhaps.”
Benji glanced at him, her eyes large and eager. “Prince?”
“Yes, because he is a prince among his kind. The largest Sea King in this part of the Calm Belt,” Toby said. “Ten times larger than Coral Grove, our largest dreadnought.”
“Wow.” Benji pressed her face against the glass. “Mani could snack on that for years.”
“Wouldn’t it be tough for her to hunt such a large creature?” Toby said, not without humour.
Benji rolled her eyes. “Not right now, she’s a baby. But she’ll be big and strong one day! Bananawani hunt Sea Kings, did you know?” she said and babbled the poor marine’s ears off about the large reptiles for some minutes.
As the armoured glass elevator descended to deeper water, their surroundings became steadily darker. Shivs put her gaze on the glass floor and the pitch black abyss below. It was easier to face the darkness approaching than the light receding, the sparkle of the sun on the water surface dwindling as you sank. The sea has never been friendly to man.
Beside her, Benji had put her arm around Mani as she looked up. No more sea kings down here.
“The 6th level is also called ‘The Basement’,” Toby said, making the girl glance away from the ever more distant sunlight. “Do you know why?”
Ghosts in the attic and monsters in the basement, Shivs thought as she recalled the sailors’ idiom about grief with its haunting memories and stowed feelings.
Benji eyed him, holding on to Mani still. “Because it's dark and far down?”
Because nobody goes there if they can help it. Shivs stared at the watery dark beneath their feet. The sea floor might never come and she'd not be surprised.
“Nope!” Toby said, his smile bright in the dimming light. “Because it is where all the cool people stay.”
Benji’s mood lit up. “My unc- Dad, is super cool! He's actually made out of sand, like, for real.”
“Are you made out of sand?”
Shivs gaze snapped onto him like a hawk. He was looking at Benji, fondness soft on his youthful face. He couldn't be much older than 20 or 22.
“I don't think so?” Benji let go of Mani to brush at her clothes, then glanced at him. “Do you want to pet her?”
Toby smiled. “Absolutely.”
🐊 🐊 🐊 
Horny hell seat reservations - @tiredemomama @smut-goblin @ruledbyproblematique @momodwriter @littlemountainwolf @fanaticsnail @feral-artistry - except there's no horny. Croc isn't even in it either. I feel like a cheat.
37 notes · View notes
monkey-d-ezekiel · 1 year ago
Text
I totally understand why manga readers hate the One Piece anime. like, the anime borderline ruins a lot of the important aspects of the show. I see so many one piece anime watchers who are frustrated with so much stuff in the anime, and like. please try the manga. for your own good. it'll take some effort getting used to, but once you get in the groove you won't be frustrated in that way at all. i promise. Oda has created what is more or less a masterpiece, and here's some ways in which Toei botched it and watered down the experience.
1. Art + Animation
the OP manga has some of the most consistently good art compared to a lot of other series. The shading conveys emotions well, the atmosphere is well built, and Oda makes pretty good usage of the 2D page in conveying 3D movement. The biggest difference is that while the women are still not the most accurately proportioned, there's a lot more emphasis on their facial expressions and overall aura and demeanor.
the anime spoils all this by giving us sloppy character design and lazy animation. since the episodes are still weekly and not seasonal, they have to pump out fast and cheap animation, which makes them overuse still frames, motion blur and overall just not give the source material the effort it deserves. the women in the show have zero detail paid to their facial features, and they all seem to have had their breasts artificially endowed to 3x the size of their head by the ever generous toei animators.
Honestly, the One Piece anime is on par with shows like Dragonball Super when it comes to bad art and animation. Especially post-timeskip.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
2. Pacing
pacing is always a big issue that anime watchers point out, and at this point bringing up this issue is like beating a dead horse. it's still extremely important though, because the manga is most definitely not this badly paced. 1 chapter worth of content is animated into 1 full length episode. the length of all the impactful scenes is elongated with reaction shots, exclamations of "woah! a very obvious thing is happening in front of us! unbelievable!", as well as stare-offs, wide shots and unnecessary flashbacks that all seem to last for an eternity.
there are 2-5 minute recaps in every episode as well, just in case you lost track of everything that has happened so far in the story you're following with interest. the manga has none of these issues, and the best part is that you can decide your own pace. if something is boring, just read past it quickly. if it's dense or interesting, slow down, take your time and savor it. the emotional impact of scenes is not lost simply because of how often they're repeated/elongated, as often happens in the anime.
Tumblr media
Tumblr media
In conclusion, the pacing and art quality of the source material is far superior to that of the anime adaptation, and while I do find it very epic when my favorite manga scenes are animated in the show, I don't think it's reasonable for anyone to put themselves through the grueling ordeal of watching the dragged out episodes of this anime simply for those moments/fights.
If you like the anime, that's great, im happy you're following the story of one piece in the way you find most suitable, and i don't wanna demean you at all because these are all just subjective opinions. but if you're an anime watcher who finds themselves to be frustrated with some of the issues in the anime, i think you could give the manga a try. it'll take some getting used to, but you won't have any of the frustrations that will persist as long as this anime is airing.
126 notes · View notes