#this is not at ALL how i thought this piece was gonna turn out

[saixria]

The ICHBW live stream animatic is hitting me hard hours after the fact I’m not a crier but I’m actually tearing up. Now I can fully articulate what I love about Athena’s part. Athena’s character came together so well I love it and I think the visuals combined with a day more of thinking + discussing with friends really helped me better understand everything. Those last 90 seconds of ICHBW was the BEST PART OF THE ENTIRE SHOW. Ridiculously long Athena character analysis under the cut which quickly devolves into thematic discussion lmao

First of all, the expressions they have on the animatic makes it abundantly clear that ody and Athena weren’t separated. HER SMILE!! HER LIGHTNING SCAR!! ODYSSEUS’ EXPRESSION SOFTENED TO A SMILE AFTER GETTING OUT OF QUICK THOUGHT!! Odysseus definitely pieced together what she did for her right then, there’s no other reason for Jorge to show Athena showing Odysseus that scar otherwise. It’s like they immediately slid back into place like puzzles pieces even after 10 years. They’ve been changed in completely opposite ways. Odysseus the mortal has been turned to be less human, more ruthless, while Athena the immortal goddess has been turned to be more human, more empathetic. The latter partially because of Odysseus. Tbh Athena ever showing her face to Odysseus after My Goodbye and saying “I can’t help but feel like I’ve led you astray” is as close to an apology as it’s gonna get LMAO. The unresolved WOTM melody in the end is actually because their story together hasn’t ended, it’s because Odysseus doesn’t have to be her warrior of the mind anymore.

I once said that open arms is more than mercy, but treating the world kindly to lead to kinder souls down the road, to change the world for the better, and it holds true even more now. Odysseus is too tired for this. He’s just a man, he knows a better world is possible but he can no longer be a part of it. He can’t witness the better world in his short mortal lifetime, he just wants his happy ending with his wife. He doesn’t want to be Athena’s warrior of the mind anymore, and that’s ok. And yet, and yet he knows it is possible. He needs it to be possible, and he needs Athena to make it possible. Athena accepts it with a soft “very well”. That doesn’t mean they won’t ever see each other again, just that they no longer have that obligation of mentor-student, they’re just two old friends. They can rebuild their relationship slowly but surely with what they have.

Telemachus is the Warrior of the Mind now (AHHHHHH HIS ATHENA CAPE AND HELMET I LOVE HIS UPGRADE). From here, Telemachus and Athena are gonna truly fulfill Athena’s mission of “making a greater tomorrow” except it isn’t to turn the world more logical and ruthless like she once thought, but to make the world more empathetic and kind — she’s finally found what she was fighting for. Perhaps this is why the WOTM melody in God Games ended with Legendary — Telemachus is the new warrior of the mind. Odysseus fought for a world where his son can be safe and grow up kind and he succeeded in that. Far from war, Telemachus grew up able to afford kindness and empathy while also retaining the ability to be ruthless in face of obstacles — and now he can use this to change the world to Athena’s new ideal — where people held each other with more empathy — as Athena’s new Warrior of the Mind.

Athena’s verse existing is a sign of her reconciliation with Odysseus (in character might I add! I don’t think they’re the type to express their affection so easily, they know each other so we’ll that they just know), so instead her verse is there to expand on the show’s theme as I will be talking about next.

I absolutely adore the depth Athena’s ICHBW verse adds to the thesis of the show. I’ve always thought of epic as mostly being about how it was best to strive for a balance between ruthlessness and open arms, but circumstances only allowed Odysseus to become ruthless which was tragic, while different circumstances allowed Telemachus to be both. But it’s not just that. Sure it’s good to have a balance between the two ideaologies but what if we could make a world where ruthlessness wasn’t needed at all? What if we could be unconditionally kind and be treated with kindness in return instead of taken advantage of or hurt? Where, when given the choice between open arms and ruthlessness, people would choose open arms? It wasn’t possible for these characters, but it could happen someday in the future. If Athena and Telemachus can work towards that future so can we. So should we, considering we’re in a much better place compared to them. A friend of mine said this was a call to action to us in the present and I just. Have not been able to stop thinking about it.

Athena has always thought in “maybes” about her purpose. from WOTM to My Goodbye we’ll be fine to ICHBW. “Maybe one day…” -> “One day you’ll…” -> “maybe if I…” -> “what if…” it’s like she’s representing the future, the “greater tomorrow” of what could be, because as Odysseus said, she’s immortal and she will live to see it and change it. Circe saga has something similar — “Maybe showing one act of kindness leads to kinder souls down the road”, “maybe one day the world will need a puppeteer no more, or maybe one day the world will need a puppeteer more”. The connection of these hypotheticals “maybe one day” with a future world that could possibly be changed for the better by spreading kindness and open arms extends from Athena’s songs to There are Other Ways, one of the only times in the musical where, when Circe could choose between ruthlessness and mercy, she chose to show mercy and help them in hopes of spreading kindness to the world and making the world a slightly better place — aka a scenario that showed how unconditional kindness, “open arms”, could work, for kindness isn’t the inability to be cruel but choosing kindness even when you have the choice not to be. “Kindness is brave”, like Polites said.

Because of her immortality, Athena is the character who’s most connected to “time” in the musical with her time-related abilities like “time dive”, making people think quicker, having a domain essentially outside of time and space… She doesn’t just have a connection with the future but also the past. As someone who lives forever, she is the one who can connect the past, learning from past mistakes, to change the future: “To fall is to learn one way”.

Speaking of her connection to time, You can almost see that at one point Athena was the narrator of the story (see cut songs: full speed ahead demo and Ismarus) like Hamilton’s Burr: simultaneously an observer and a participant of the story. In the animatic of ICHBW she’s overseeing everything happening from her hour glass, wondering out loud from a meta perspective about the themes of the show, hypotheticals of what a different story, a different world could have looked like, and bringing everything to a close. It really feels like Athena is who’s gonna “live and tell their story” as per Hamilton, as always has been the case from burrthena narration days of Old Epic. She’s not just the bridge between the past and future but also between the story and the audience, by bringing up these themes on a meta level to directly tell the audience to make the world a kinder place, because we have the choice, unlike Odysseus who can only choose to accept his actions and move forward. Because she lives forever she can carry on their memories forever. She can keep telling their story over and over again to remind herself and others to change the world by showing empathy and open arms, and she will keep telling this story to us until ruthlessness is no longer needed in the world. The world where this is possible is not theirs but OURS. It is WE who have the chance to choose between ruthlessness and open arms and the show is telling us that, when we have this choice and aren’t forced to be ruthless, to always choose kindness and empathy. Like Circe, like Telemachus. So that we may impart some kindness unto the world and make it a better place.

“Maybe one day we’ll reach them and we’ll make a greater tomorrow then they’ll see I know we’ll change the world cuz we are the warriors of the mind!” — yes, they have reached us. We are all also warriors of the mind, doing our part to change the world for the better, to be kinder.

To me, one part of Athena’s character that’s never clicked for me was her motivation in WOTM. “Make a greater tomorrow” “we’ll change the world” why? How? What’s the point of including this in her song when it’s never come back up again? Now with the ICHBW verse, everything is tied up with a beautiful ribbon. She has always wanted to change the world for the better, and now she’s finally found out how — to spread empathy and Open Arms — and it’s inspired by the desire to help her friends, to prevent what happened to Odysseus from happening again, honoring him, just as how Odysseus tried to embrace Open Arms to honor his dead friends’ memories.

All in all, I’ve grown to genuinely really really like Athena’s verse in ICHBW. It’s so short but so effective at conveying so much. I hope that made sense bc it’s more a compilation of thoughts I had rather than a structured essay. Perhaps one day I will restructure this into a proper essay but not today for after all I’m- *gets shot

[midnight-mourning]

Comfy Cuddles

❄️❄️Midnight's DCA December Day 18❄️❄️

one last softy before beddy by, as someone who has felt the pain of busting their ass on ice, I had to do my best for all of us out there who've suffered the same fate 😔 this one's for y'all fr fr

Prompt: YO I GOT A PROMPT :DD So, it's pretty icy where I live right now and I recently slipped and busted my ass :( Could we perhaps get the boys comforting reader after hurting themself with maybe some warming and massaging cuddles (to alleviate the pain)? :3

Word Count: 1610

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It was completely your own fault. You'd been in a rush to get to the store and get back quickly. The last thing you'd wanted was to be out and about today, but you had no choice, having forgotten to grocery shop sooner in the week. Meaning if you desired to have a decent holiday dinner or two, you needed to get supplies for it. 

So, you'd rushed out the door, telling the boys you would be quick so that you could spend the day together as you'd planned. This was their first holiday season outside the Plex and you wanted everything to be perfect for them. 

What you didn't account for, was mother nature herself fighting against you. 

It'd been the moment you locked the front door, starting to hurrying down your porch steps that you thought, you'd cleaned off earlier that morning. 

You were wrong. 

Your foot catches the edge wrong, ice causing you to slip, you fall back, hands going out to catch yourself. They help soften your fall, but now your wrist and your ass hurt as you drive to the store a half-wet mess. You turn the music on the radio up louder, trying to drown out your own stewing. 

You get inside and to your despair, it's even busier than you were expecting. People rush in and out, kids screaming and crying, couples arguing, senior citizens grumbling, it's a mess. Still, you won't be deterred. You adjust your hat, and begin your march inside. 

You have to fight an old woman for a cart—who, mind you, already had one and a basket, she was insisting on a third for some reason—but make your way inside. Shopping is a flurry, but you still are able to grab all your ingredients without much fuss. 

It's after you've checked out, and are walking out into the parking lot that nature targets you again. You're triple checking your list, when your feet come out from under you, and you fall again, this time, landing only on your left wrist, which was already hurting, and now is zinging bad. 

You let out a slew of curses, ignoring the looks you get from passerbys. Thankfully, some kind woman comes to your aid, helping you back up and handing you back your cart. 

On the drive home you turn the music up even louder, carols blasting at full volume. You know it's too loud when the car next to you gives you a weird look while you wait at the stop light. You just slink further down into your seat, white-knuckling the wheel. 

"It's all gonna be worth it. It's all gonna be worth it." You chant to yourself. "They're gonna be so excited, they're gonna have so much fun, you're not going to ruin this for them."

You know how excited both Sun and Moon have been for the holidays. They've had a blast so far helping you decorate, put up the tree, wrap presents, and so on. But you know in particular they've been looking forward to cooking and baking with you, as it's something they could never imagine doing back in the Pizza Plex. 

Furthermore, they see it as something they can do that entirely benefits you and your needs. It's important to them, the holidays and this meal overall are important to them. You'll pop a few pain relievers, and ice your wrist and you'll live. 

Oh, if only that were the case. 

You didn't account for one thing, and one thing alone. 

Mother nature likes to work in threes. 

You're walking up the steps, bundles on groceries in your arms, when she strikes one final time. While you're on the sidewalk before your steps. You slip, bags go flying, along with the last piece of your dignity, you think. 

You just close your eyes and wait to hit the ground. Landing this time fully on your back, the snow only barely cushioning your fall as you let out a pained groan. 

This one knocked the wind out of you, and you have to take a moment to catch your breath as you lay there, ignoring the scattered veggies and other items that surround you like the chalk outline of a crime scene. 

After a few deep breaths, you reach your hand up, ripping off your glove with your teeth and biting down. You let out a muffled scream, kicking your sore feet and ignoring how each hit against the ground sends pain shooting up through you. 

You're too busy having a tantrum to realize the door's opened and shut. Instead, when Sun's face comes into view you're very surprised to see him. 

His voice is soft, full of worry. "Starshine, what are you doing laying out here in the snow? Why are the groceries everywhere?"

You try to speak and remember the glove. You remove it from your mouth, trying to hide your pain as you speak. "Hi, Sunny. I, had a bit of a spill."

"Oh goodness! I thought so. Are you alright?" He starts fretting, hurriedly pulling you to your wobbly feet. "I'm so sorry I wasn't here to help, why did you say anything about there being so many groceries?"

You wave him off, bending to pick things up, even though it hurts like hell. "I thought I could get it all myself. It's fine, you can go back inside, you don't have a coat on and I don't want your internals freezing up."

Sun stares at you, gaze like a hawk as he sees you flinch while picking things up. 

"You're hurt."

You grab another orange, stuffing it into a bag, god your... everything, hurts. "It was just a little slip, really I'm okay—"

His hand envelops yours, gently moving you so you're standing straight, his other hand on your shoulder as he peers down at you. 

"A 'little slip' doesn't have you moving like you're 80, Starshine." His tone is colder than you ever heard. "You fell. Hard, apparently."

"Only for you~" You say, before you're suddenly scooped up. "Ow! Easy on the goods."

"You are hurt!" Sun tsks, marching inside. "We knew it, you're getting treated immediately, and resting the remainder of today. And tomorrow too!"

You try to protest. "It was just a couple minor spills! Come on, I'll take some meds and be okay. I know how important dinner tonight is for you guys, and today overall."

"You're more important to us than any silly tradition, you should know that by now."

Sun sets you down on the couch, snatching up not one, not two, but three blankets. He ushers you out of your outer wear and then takes the blankets, wrapping them around you in one giant, inescapable, cocoon. He pats your head a few times, then bends down to your eye level. 

"Now, what's this about a couple spills, you say?" His rays click to one side, and you gulp. 

You're sentence to couch jail. Length of stay? Indefinite. Conclusion based upon? The glare Sun sends you from the kitchen everytime you even consider getting up for something, including the bathroom. 

He makes dinner early, practically feeding it to you because your arms are trapped under blankets and the one is wrapped in a splint with ice. 

After dinner you're subjected to more torture, in the form of cuddles. An atrocity, that's what this prison is. You now sit in the sunny bot's lap, blankets around you both, as he massages your shoulders and back. You will not admit how good it feels. Both in relieving your pain, and in having such an extraordinary amount of affection hurled your way with such an act. 

A groan slips through your lips when his palm digs into your shoulder blade, and he chuckles. 

"It doesn't even hurt that much." You grumble, only to let out another noise unintentionally. 

His voice is soft and his head lowers to your neck, planting a kiss there. "Oh, I'm sure it doesn't."

Your ears burn, but you say nothing. 

"Why do you think you can't ask us for help?" He asks. "You know we care about you more than anything."

You sigh. "I just, wanted this to go smoothly today. You guys were so excited and I didn't want to let you down. I'm sorry. I'm mad at myself, not you two. Thank you for taking care of me today." You turn and plant a kiss to his cheek. 

Sun's arms wrap around you, snuggling close as he kisses your shoulder. "Of course, Sunbeam. Always."

Sometime later, when the lights have been turned down and you're now watching a movie, Moon takes his turn trying to ease your pain. 

"Silly, Star." He tsks, rubbing his thumb over your wrist gently, other hand kneading the side of your hip. "Next time, we're going with you. We'll even carry you if we have to."

You chuckle, humming as he works. "That sounds fun, but I'll pass. On the carrying that is. Maybe if you come with me one of you will also bust your ass, and I'll have something to laugh about."

Moon snickers, pressing his faceplate to your lifted wrist. "How mean of you. But if it'll make you smile, I suppose we can suffer through."

"Appreciate it." You snuggle closer to him, eyelids starting to feel heavy after being wrapped up and warm for so long.

As sleep starts to take you over you mumble out another thanks to the attendants, hoping they heard you. 

Well, you can always tell them again in the morning. Maybe show them too. A few more kisses should do the job quite nicely.

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Thank you for the cute request @kaprisvn!! Hope you're feeling better now, and at the very least hope this was a fun little read ^-^

captured the feeling properly :)

Masterpost link

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[miss-tc-nova]

With Reckless Choices - Leona Kingscholar x Reader Pt 10

Happy Starlight everyone! My gift to you! We're gonna switch POVs for this one. I just wanted to show a bit of how Leona's handling things.

Premise: Leona after the break up

Words: 729

Music Inspirations: Monsters - All Time Low Feat. Demi Lovato & blackbear

~~~Vices~~~

               Leona glares at the ceiling, his empty chest keeping the lion from escaping the waking world. Cold morning light rains through the window onto his lonely bed. A savanna breeze whispers through, bringing with it hints of the world he never wants to see again.

               Nothing has been the same since the event that led to the biggest blowup of his life. He finds no light anymore and barely finds the motivation to even breathe. Even the naps he used to escape the world bring him no solace. Instead, the world just passes by as he confines himself to his room waiting for the moment all this pain will finally end. Having tasted life, he finds no reason to go on without.

               A jingle pricks at his ear. Lazily, his head lolls to look at the device he’s surprised still has any battery left. Reaching out, his hand acts without his head’s permission.

               That’s Ruggie. Heaven knows how he’s still on the team with how much practice he’s missed.

               Still…

               How dare his heart still hope.

               It’s been nearly a full year since he last saw his love—on the day of the Briar Prince’s wedding. He made the mistake of thinking he found someone that genuinely cared about him. He thought that, for once, he would be the first pick. Leona Kingscholar had fallen so deeply in love that it blinded him to the real world and now he’s paying the price. Reality firmly put him back in his place and snubbed him for even daring to think he could be happy.

               But no, he never had a chance. Instead he was insulted, screamed at, and told to stay away. Right in his face, his heart was torn to pieces and stamped into the ground even though he wore a snarl the entire time. Leona was never meant to win. Especially against that damn dragon. 

               Despite all the pain it caused him, Leona kept his mouth shut about what happened. He could’ve spilled the truth and thrown the illustrious Draconias under the bus for all the heartache caused. Yet every time he so much as considered revenge, his heart quashed the idea. He couldn’t bring himself to destroy their reputation, all because of his stupid feelings. No matter how he cursed himself, there was no changing his decision.

               To make matters worse, his family insists on trying to help him through a problem they’re grasping at straws to understand. He wants none of it and acknowledges no effort—hell, he barely even acknowledges their existence anymore. Leaving his room is a rare occurrence, so they often sit with him. Sometimes they have their own conversations or talk to him without answers, sometimes they simply sit in silence as they go about their own tasks, but the worst of all is when they turn on the television. Oftentimes, it’s his nephew watching some silly show. However, Falena and his wife like to watch the news. The news is always filled with ridiculous stories that are easy to ignore. It’s the ones that mention the Draconias that always stab at his chest. Where they were seen dining, where their honeymoon had been, the event they attended, what they were wearing. Of course he can’t help peeking at the screen when that happens, but even just hearing about them brings fresh lashings against his wavering stability.

               Those are the nights the sand grates against his skin. He doesn’t know any other way to drown out the grief.

               “Unca Leo! Unca Leo!”

               His door bursts open without even a knock. The mattress shifts beneath the excited jumping of the cub despite the lack of response from the elder prince.

               “Guess what?!”

               The family chamberlain is quick to follow.

               “Prince Cheka! Don’t bother your uncle!”

               That does nothing to deter the young lion from shaking his family by the shoulder.

               “Papa says we’re going to a birthday in Briar Valley!”

               Leona’s body tenses.

               No.

               “Cheka!”

               Faster than he has in a long time, the elder lion reaches for his phone. Scrolling through messages he shamefully re-reads, he feels the vice in his chest. His grip creaks around the device as his hand shakes.

               No.

               He knows better. He knows he shouldn’t. But he’s so pathetically helpless.

               “When are we leaving?”

               Fuck.

~~~~~

Part 11 (Coming Soon)

Nova’s Twisted Wonderland Masterlist

[genderlessghoul]

Hey so remember when I wrote a small fic about trans Phantom using tape to bind for the first time and it went like shit?

Anyway, I wrote a tape redemption arc and it's under the cut! It's just around 600 words-ish.

“Come in!”

Dew calls out after hearing a shy knock on his door. He doesn't need to look up to know who's on the other side, the faint scent of lavender and woodsmoke betrays Phantom before he even walks through the door. The quintessence ghoul walks in sheepishly and closes the door behind him, something nervous about the way he carries himself that immediately catches Dew's attention.

“What is it?” the fire ghoul asks with a cocked eyebrow as he sets down his book (something about mermaids that Rain suggested to him) and sits up in bed. Phantom holds up a roll of kinesiology tape and a pair of scissors, his tail wrapped around his leg in worried anticipation. He doesn't even need to say a word before Dew's on his feet, taking the roll from him and leading him deeper into the room. It's been months since Phantom's first attempt at binding with tape and it didn't exactly go well. He knows the younger ghoul still has some scars on his back from the experience. Dew leads him near his desk so he can work while standing up. He takes off the other's shirt.

“You took a shower?”

“Yeah.”

“You didn't put on any kind of body butter?”

“No.”

“Good.”

As he starts cutting strips of the tape, Dew notices how the quintessence ghoul opted for black, this time. He can't help but think that, at least, it won't stick out like a sore thumb, this time. Phantom seems to read his mind and lets out a dry chuckle.

“It fits my colour scheme better.”

“It does. You sure you wanna do this? We don't have to.”

“I know… But I figured I'd go back to it sooner or later. And if I don't do this now, I feel like I'm gonna chicken out forever.”

“Fair enough. Just don't go ripping it out raw again, okay?”

Phantom laughs nervously at that.

“Been there, done that. Never again.”

“Good boy.”

The quintessence ghoul melts a little at the praise and Dew gets to work. He instructs the other to lift his arms so he can lay the first pieces of tape.

Phantom keeps his arms up while the fire ghoul works on him. He finds a lot of comfort in his warm fingers and the ease with which Dew applies the strips. He wishes now more than ever that he'd gone to him the first time, instead of experimenting all by himself in his cold bathroom. At least, he'd learned what not to do. His eyes find Dew's mirror and he watches him work, trying to commit the techniques to memory, although he could get used to the pampering.

“How'd you figure out how to do it right?”

“Lotsa practice.”

The fire ghoul finishes his work and pats Phantom's sides a couple times.

“Lots of asking around, too.”

To which the younger ghoul rolls his eyes.

“I get it, I should come to you more…”

“It doesn't have to be me, baby bat, I just don't want you to mess up your body.”

They stay silent for a moment while the quintessence ghoul puts his shirt back on. He stretches his arms out, relishing in how comfortable the tape is this time around. He even finds himself smiling at his own reflection.

“You don't have to take care of me so much… I'm not complaining at all, I appreciate it more than I can tell you, I just… Thank you.”

“Don't mention it, Ant. I um… I remember what it was like to be in your place. And I wish I had someone back then to show me a thing or two, to tell me it was gonna be okay.”

Phantom doesn't quite know how to react to Dew's words. As long as he'd know him, the fire ghoul hasn't talked much about his own experience, only ever spoken with his actions. The moment is short lived, however, when Dew turns back to him and claps his hands together.

“Alright, loser, down for a game of Mario Kart?”

[ghostnotoast]

I'm having withdrawal symptoms from waiting for the new episode to come out, and this has been buzzing around my head since this part came out (also I wanna talk about my wife Lily)

Relistening to this part twice made me cry I'm not even gonna lie but weirdly enough it made me think of the end of season 1 where John gets a taste of being the king for a split second but then chooses to go back to Arthur. After he returns, he says:

"But it was in that time in the hospital, that month alone. Trapped in this body without you, when something changed"

"I found meaning. I found that the challenges of life within the boundaries of death were not only acceptable, but could be meaningful. That without a purpose I could forge my own. Is that humanity?"

Don't get me wrong, I don't think it was Lily who was fully responsible for giving John humanity - if anything, that's the mistake Arthur makes in season 3 when comparing John to Yellow (which John calls him out for). It was Arthur who laid out the pieces, and Lily was basically the one to make it click.

Buttt I think reducing John's reason for humanity to only one thing is almost a disservice- because developing a sense of self is so much more complex than that.

It was Arthur's love, it was the stories and thoughts he would share with John, it was being in awe of seeing trees and nature again after so long of living in the dark, it was hearing music, it was listening to the radio, it was the joy he felt after they complished something and he was finally able to feel something other than fear, it was seeing the wraith help them, it was holding a cute baby and picturing her future as a pianist, it was seeing her mother and recognising that she had just lost something priceless, it was having to hold onto hope that anyone is capable of redemption, it was defending and having empathy for the widow despite what Arthur had said.

The last moment is paralleled in season 3 with their conversation about Yellow. Listening to all these makes me realise just how much Yellow missed out on.

Arthur no doubt played a massive role in helping John find humanity and meaning, but honesty? I don't know if purely being with Arthur is what made John who he is. John himself has a conscious and had to make decisions on his own and, on multiple occasions, fights Arthur about ideology with basically little to no outside influence (e.g, their infamous first divorce).

Despite all that though, I still do think Arthur was one of the biggest reasons, I mean just look at Yellow 😭 I'll write an entire essay about him one day

But this entire yap session was basically me trying to imagine what exactly was so special about that month at the hospital because let's be real if I were John I would go crazy BUT sometimes i just imagine John being there, in a hospital without Arthur, being able to do nothing but think

He thinks about the bright clear blue sky he saw, a bird that landed on the windowsill when they were at the library, he thinks about how alive this world is compared to where he came from, he thinks about the radio that's playing, he thinks about the piano, and then he thinks about Arthur

And I imagine he looks at Lily, at her tending to them, at her chatting to them, at her turning on the radio for them so they're not bored and even though people would call all these extra bits of care pointless - she does it anyway, and she does it for them, and John is there to witness this, and that's the moment where it clicks.

I imagine it sort of being like being moved back to see a finished puzzle and finally understanding what you've been making this entire time after spending so long up close looking at individual pieces

And I think that's what the witch didn't understand about John's story. Lily's care was the climax of John becoming John, and even though John acknowledges that for her it was probably another Tuesday - it still doesn't dampen the fondness and love he has for her, he just loves for the sake of it

[mewtillidae]

sharp angles and all.

[im-smart-i-swear]

can you remember being born? were you born at all

[raiiny-bay]

kiddos!

(used this old render as a ref)

[keeps-ache]

i think i tapped on the explore page by accident some minutes ago, i've been scrolling for a good sec like 'why is this on my dash. i don't know any of these people. what's going on' lmfsvh

[coconut530]

Bump in the Night & Sleeptober & Nevertober Day 24: Wrong Way Home & Saturate & Garden

Kayne design by @little-the-rat :)

[ayyponine]

not to be a milennial but harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban really is that bitch....

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

You know, I'm glad that some of us take the step to embrace things that we like even if they're "cringe" or "objectively bad"

But perhaps we could take the next step forward and embrace the idea of reading into books/shows/movies/etc even if they don't seem deep. Perhaps we could understand that the two kinds of media aren't either "shallow and meaningless so you're weird and brainrotted to read into it" or "incredibly and profoundly deep in every way so if you don't analyze every single angle of the thing then you're brainrotted". Some media is deeper than others, but all I propose is that no matter how deep it seems it's acceptable to dig into the thing and take the media seriously instead of just assuming that because of ____ thing (such as target audience or how cringe it is) the media not deep and will never be deep and everything good about it happened on accident.

[obsessionstate]

Ok so back on my opla hdjskajzhz bc I got the screaming out but I’m gonna watch it again later in jp BC I HEARD ITS THE OG VOICE ACTORS??? (jk screaming isn’t out)

ALSO

ZORO????? So slay

And they way him and sanji interact is fucking delicious, and him and nami too omg the zoro nami bonding time was so fucking bdsjksksbjsjd drinks drinks drinks

I’m not even mad that they changed some of the story so there could be more Koby like everything that got rearranged still FIT yk? Except buggy was way meaner and smarter until he got put in the sack then he went back to normal buggy lmfao

I’m disappointed in the length of both usopp and arlongs noses- I find it funny that usopps Jolly Roger nose was also shortened lol

Garp seems a lot meaner to luffy here tho- like they make him seem so mean in the flashback!

I’m ALSO sad about no hatchi or Django or the veggie kids

“Hey haircut” 🫠

We got so much more packed into this!!! Skypeia!!! There was more but I forgot already

Oh right the idea that Morgan is the one who “caught” kuro UGH

SO MANY of these actors were casted so freaking wellll

Idk their names but maybe I will for once in my life learn actors names

They had like everyone’s flashbacks too that was slay

No ace/sabo :<

WHICH IS FAIR like they weren’t part of romance dawn or anything

When garp called luffy stubborn I almost expected him to say “like your father” which idk why I thought that but ok

(Let’s not deny it tho dragon gave garp a hell of a hard time)

I want to watch it again alr it’s been like 30 minutes

Also the whole time buggy had his hat on I was thinking about how oda said his hair looks underneath it bc it’s fucking hilarious

[hauntingblue]

NAMI HAS TAKEN ACTION!!! LETSGOOOOO

[starryluminary]

Hey wait a minute speaking of WTBNATOOK. I have a question.

The next real comic after The EX Files is in the Niagara Brawls episode, so there’s a three episode gap between comics. I have notes about those episodes that build up to the events of the Niagara Brawls episode. Do you see my dilema.

I am NOT drawing a digital comic for each episode, so I’m polling the audience to see how I proceed:

[pepprs]

STILL wide awake! i did not put down my phone! and now im hungry. so i will not be sleeping tonight ♥️