#this joke post inspired by the movie I'm currently watching

[teddy-stonehill]

Based on their ages, I think a lot of people online would say that most of Jane Austen's leading ladies should have been at "the club."

Unfortunately, in Regency England, ladies were not permitted to join (or even, generally, to visit) the almost ubiquitous Gentleman's Clubs that served as a hangout spot, gambling hall, and crash pad for the uppercrust men of the era.

On the other hand, it's highly likely that every single one of Austen's leading men was frequenting "the club" every time they were in London.

[m1ssword]

My favourite retro animes with their perks and perils

Let's start straight away!

1. Lady Oscar / The Rose of Versailles

(70s)

Such a lovely manga/anime series. The story follows the life of a military general's daughter Oscar and Marie Antoinette. Oscar is raised like a boy to succeed her as the commander of the Royal Guards at the Palace of Versailles. The story is set in France before and during the French Revolution.

Perks:

Strong multidimensional female lead

Surprisingly historically accurate

Interestingly captures the large scale of femininity and being a woman

Cool soundtrack

Interesting fact: this anime inspired the makers of Berserk (1997)

Perils:

You'll cry

2. Lady Georgie

(80s)

Lady Georgie tells the growth story of a girl named Georgie who lives in peaceful and pittoresque Australian countryside. Georgie doesn't know the secret about her origin while the rest of her family knows it.

Perks:

absolutely endearing setting

the storytelling of their childhood is beyond cuteness

reminded me of the book "The Little Princess" by F. H. Burnett

Perils:

I was a bit weirded out by the love square (?) which included her two adoptive brothers

The ending is not satisfying and the manga is even worse

The love between Georgie and her main love interest is quite bland

3. City Hunter

(mainly 80s)

City Hunter is a humorous anime classic from the 80s. The story focuses on Ryo Saeba, a famous underground sweeper in Shinjuku, and his partner Kaori Makimura. They together help different customers - which are all beautiful women, since Ryo is also well-known for his lecherous habits. Kaori keeps Ryo in check with her hammer.

Perks:

fun anime with a lot of seasons and movies

interesting characters

pictures the city life of Japan in the 80s

Perils:

the love story between Ryo and Kaori is sometimes frustrating

The fetishism of women in almost every episode starts early to feel like a worn joke (notice the time context)

Episodes follow the same plot almost every time, may start to feel repetitive

Tsukasa Hojo, the maker of City Hunter, has also done an another manga named Angel Heart which shares the same characters with City Hunter but isn't it's continuation. I don't yet have a full review of AH, since I'm currently watching it. Thus far, I have cried during every episode, it's good but different. (Please tell me in the comments would you like to have full review of AH)

And a lot more...

There is a lot more retro animes that I didn't mention in this post, like Candy Candy, Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, Utena, Ranma, Akira, Lupin the III, Neon Genesis Evangelion and Berserk (1997). This is just my list of favourites and I hope that you would like to share your favourites in the comments!

With love,

Jessica

[theycallmeratt]

12, 14, 17 for fic writer asks! :)

12: trope I'm really into

I did a stupid laugh reading this question. I'm really into the "they asked for no pickles" trope. Heists, I've been trying to figure out how to write one forever and I keep getting paralyzed, but watching heist movies is my comfort. The one where you apply modern technological/programming ideas to fantasy worlds. The sunshine and storm cloud couple.

14. Where do I get inspiration?

1) Daydreaming. Whenever I do anything physical I daydream and a lot of that is "what if this character did this?" Most of them are silly but if I get a scene I like I'll write it and that might turn into something. I try to not dismiss any idea.

2) I get it a lot of inspiration from other people. Shadows of the Lost came from a post about imperialism and the Gerudos' relationship with death/zonai came from a post about lore theories. Flowers was based on a tumblr post about flower language. Arcanus Fisticuffus was from the MMMay posts, Wine, Iron and Other Damnables from a post about enchanted weapons. Stranger Flames have Burned was from a @naughtybg3confessions post. I always try to link my sources in fics!

3) Talking with people, especially joking about things. I feel like I'm always taking my jokes to absurd levels, but in Arcanus Fisticuffus the idea for Liam and Cal to be filling everyone's heads with stories about Rolan came from a bit where they were going to make sure he won (as well as the incoming cobra kai jokes). Honeypot came from a joking demand for a thirst fic. Hornoscopes from joking about horoscopes. Sometimes an individual inspires a fic and I usually gift that fic to them.

4) Going off that, writing absurd stuff and trying to make it work, like when Astarion and Minthara crash a patriar party to make sure Wyll is getting the respect he deserves in Dance, or when I explain the "fade to black" sex scenes at Sharess's Caress... and then involve shovel (Sharess's Mess).

5) Exchanges! I've written a lot for exchanges.

6) Fixing problems I have with the story or finding solutions to things that make me uncomfortable. Like, I don't want to write overly gendered language/insults. That led to my current fic-canon (which I don't remember if it made it into my published fics but if not, I'm going to fix that) where Ganondorf being male doesn't make him the leader; it's that he's Ganondorf, the same guy, reincarnated. And that led to Gerudo having a huge reincarnation culture that lined up nicely with the lore post I linked above.

17) talk about your writing and editing process

I write on my phone, in google drive. I'm not stoked about this set up but it means I can write while waiting in line or on a walk so I do it.

I make a new doc for each fic, put in the prompt or idea I have, and then let it sit until something hooks me. Rarely am I'm writing at this point, but I might be researching or brainstorming. All links, ideas, notes, etc, go into the doc. Everything stays in the doc until I'm finished.

For long fics, I have to break it out once the total work count is around 30k because drive gets wonky. For short fics I do not do all this prep haha

I often make a list of character beliefs, lore, vocab for me to reference. Examples (sorry for the photos of text):

Dialogue patterns:

And body language (or kinks, erogenous zones, etc):

I usually write a few scenes I like first, or a bunch of random lines. Those might not make it into the story, but I'm the kind of person who has to do something to figure it out? I can't think my way through it (or, at least, I haven't tried to build that skill).

I often pick a "voice" scene, which is the scene I read to remember the voice the rest of the story should be written in. If possible, I read that scene before I write new stuff.

I edit as I go, normally. I usually make notes of what I want to add at other points so I don't forget

I also make a timeline:

And I try to note any plot holes, any points where I can put hooks or foreshadowing in, etc.

Once a story is done I go back through the "to add" list and make sure it's in the story, try to patch holes, make sure it matches the timeline, make sure the characters match my notes, etc.

I also break it out into chapters that are about 3000-5000 words long (if it's not already there) and rewrite the endings of each to feel nice.

I write up my fic breakdown (for long fics) and link my resources.

Then I make my partner read it. They do it solely to amuse me/hype me up and they are amazing.

Then I post it! And the moment I post it I notice 5,000 errors.

[k-martins]

While my simp ass is back, I've been brainstorming Itafushi fanfic ideas (I write things other than stupid, self-deprecating jokes, okay? I might get the pronouns wrong, but I really write! I swear I'm smarter in my native language).

And, because this is my personal diary, I'm going to share it with you (you're welcome). now listen to me:

Mangaka! Megumi x Freelance Artist! Yuji.

Because that makes total sense (it doesn't)

I've been kind of obsessed with the manga development process and in that GG interview saying something like "my dad asked me if Papaguro and Yuta are inspired by him" and I'm like, "Oh, my fangirl ass needs to write this. Take it as a hit of bills, you one-eyed cat."

Okay, this is a little confusing even for me. But it's something like:

Megumi is a successful mangaka, but he's super unapproachable and a total emo weirdo who trash talks his own characters because he doesn't have very high self-esteem (cough, cough, GG, cough, cough), and is currently going through for a serious crisis of writer's block and he's also anxious because he thinks he's boring fans of his manga. Meanwhile, Yuji is a freelance artist, but thanks to Nobara's super cool girlfriend (Maki Simp here), he gets a job on Megumi's team who, lo and behold, is also his favorite manga artist! So join him on the long-short journey of trying not to act like a fangirl around his idol.

It sounds like a dumb idea when I write it down here, but I swear it has potential.

Like, picture with me.

Afternoons drawing together in silence, having snacks together, talking about their favorite anime/manga, watching studio ghibli movies together on a rainy night, buying Megumi's manga/anime merchandise, Yuji praising everything he loves about Megumi's story and highlighting his genius, Megumi creating a new character that looks a lot like Yuji, the two posting photos together and the internet freaking out.

Anyway, this has been on my mind for some time. Maybe I write? Who knows… Reblog if you want to embark on this absurd idea with me, LOL (you don't have to do this if you don't want to. Honestly? I'll end up forgetting about this idea if another one comes along)

[theamateurartistblog]

The Sad Tale of an Artist's Burnout

I have been burnout over a lot of things but being burnout because of art hits differently. Art burnouts are the worst. Imagine just losing your passion for something or having to force yourself to do so. If this sounds like something you’re going through have no fear, I’m here. Imma tell you how to prevent a burnout and some tips that will help you get back into shape in no time.

Stop Drawing

Mcutie are you serious? Yes, I’m not joking. Stop drawing. Your brain is tired of doing the same thing over and over again, give it a break. Find another hobby, play a game, watch a movie, catch up on a comic or manga (if you want some recommendations I got you;) maybe then you will find inspiration to draw.

Ease your mind a little. What always helps me is ASMRs, find a channel you like and relax to them or put on some Lofi tunes, whatever it takes for you to get your mind out of the sketchbook. Don’t think that when you stop drawing you’re gonna lose your talent, you can’t lose talent but you can lose passion.

Stop looking for likes and views

They'll come eventually, I'm still in the baby stages myself and sometimes it's disappointing not to see any likes or views but that just takes the fun out of art. Social Media is tiring especially with the algorithm doing whatever it likes. If you run an art page why not give it a break a little, maybe the stress of putting out too much content is getting to you.

Also, the self-declared “art critics” don't help either (baby artists please ignore these people, pay attention to the ones who really give you solid advice) so drop social media for a while and post your art unless you want to.

“But Mcutie I need to advertise to get commissions!” (in a future post, I'll give you tips on how to make money with your art). I hear you, but the posts you have in your feed are already enough to tell your audience about what you do and which commissions you’ll take. My advice is to shake it up a bit, instead of Instagram try Twitter maybe art station or deviant art, they have some nice communities on there.

Or better yet create your little website and build a community around it (I'm currently trying this one on Tumblr so follow me on my journey if you want) who knows maybe you’ll find people who respect and admire what you do. ^^

Don’t Compare Yourself!

HA! I need to take my advice. It’s easy to compare yourself with others and let’s be frank there is always gonna be a better artist or athlete or dancer but there is never gonna be another you. The way how YOU draw is different from other artists, no two people are the same and no two artists have the same style unless one artist copies from another. However, it's good to try out new styles and see how you can implement them into your drawings. You may find something that can add an extra spice to your art.

Find Inspiration - Outside!!!

AHA! You thought I was gonna tell you to take up Pinterest and browse huh? Nope! I need YOU to TOUCH SOME GRASS! Look at the clouds find shapes in them, take a walk in the park or something. “But what if it is snowing?” Who cares?! Sit at your window and watch the snowflakes fall you may just find something that inspires you. Doing this motivates you to take up that pen and paper or tablet or whatever kids use these days and draw.

Sleep!! - Please Sleep...

Once again…….I need to take my advice. But let’s face it have you ever gone to bed and suddenly at exactly 3:00 am you get the urge to get creative? That’s what you want! Therefore, get some rest, take a nice bath, rub on your favorite lotion, put on your favorite PJs, and sleep it out. “I suffer from insomnia….” So do I but if it is chronic go and see the doctor maybe you need medical assistance, if not try playing rain sounds or as I said earlier find your favorite ASMRist and just close you’re eyes and fall asleep.

In Conclusion....

At the end of the day, something is gonna burn us out whether it is work, hobbies, or just life in general but the thing is we do not want to stay in a burnout. Besides if you stay in a burnout you’ll just shrivel up and die. So try my tips and if you have anything to add say it in the comments so others can benefit from them. Until next time stay healthy and stay cute.

(〃＾▽＾〃)

[writebackatya]

1. Currently my favourite fic of yours is "I Think We're Alone Now." It's funny, everyone feels in character, and I'm excited to see what happens next!

12. I've reread "The Three Caballeros (And Della)!" and some chapters of Indiquack.

2. Speaking of Indiquack, my favourite chapter so far would be "Ground Control to Della Duck." So many great things about it. If I remember correctly, Webby, Lena, and Violet end up in like a Jumanji type board game and appear out of it in the middle of Della smoking weed. pretty funny. and then when the boys catch her. yeah, its a good chapter and I think this was the first thing I ever read by you.

1. Thank you so much!! I really love writing that one. I just love writing the adult characters be able to do adult things when the kids aren’t around. Someone like Della should be able to let loose and have fun with her friends every now and then. And always happen to add more Fendra stuff cause frankly Gandra deserves more love! As for what happens next; gonna have some more DuckTales characters make their cameos and this:

12. You don’t know how badly I wanna write the next chapter of The Three Caballeros (and Della)! If it’s the next thing I post that’d be great. The plot hasn’t even truly begun in that one!

Also happy to hear that some chapters of Indi-Quack! are being re-read! First DuckTales fic so it’ll always be near and dear to my heart.

2. And Ground Control to Della Duck! is your favorite!? Thank you! I’m still proud of that one because I really think it does a great job starting off Indi-Quack! and showing what I wanted to do with that series

One of my favorite tropes ever is when an adventure is going on and/or happens off-screen and DuckTales did that a lot so I wanted to do that! And yes! Their adventure was indeed inspired by Jumanji (except it’s called Quack-A-Rooney!) I did that little bit of meta humor where Della recalls an adventure she and Donald had when they were kids was similar to Webby’s cause DuckTales is a reboot and Jumanji had its reboot! Also! I really wanted to imply that Della and Donald’s adventures were like the 80s cartoon and Webby saying “A baby elephant” was a reference to my first ever DuckTales media I ever watched, the DuckTales Movie. I just thought that line was so funny as a kid

And funny enough, the boys catching Della smoking weed was the inspiration for the entire story. I was joking around with my bro while we’re getting high of course saying that the boys catching Della getting high

I think we originally joked that Dewey and Louie would be like “Oh boy that means we’re allowed to get high too!” while Huey would be like “Oh you must’ve heard about the legalization of marijuana” and then Della would respond with “Weed’s legal now, huh? Cool.”

[duhragonball]

Reign of the Super Saiyans!

It's still kind of surreal that I'm here, posting the part of the fic that I'm currently posting. I guess I should explain the significance of "The Kid Goes Wild" while the moment is fresh.

So in 1990, they made a little movie called Robocop 2, and the trailer captured my imagination and never really let it go. I was only 13 at the time, so I hadn't seen the first Robocop, but I had seen his crappy animated series, and I knew enough kids in school who just got to watch R-rated movies whenever they wanted, so I had some general idea of what it was about. All that mattered to me was that in the sequel, they introduced a second Robocop. The characters in the movie acted like it was easier to just replace the guy with a new model, except Robocop 2 was built with a criminal brain, so now it's up to original Robocop to arrest him. So the movie was promoted as this awesome fight between the classic original and the upstart succesor, and this badass song plays through the trailer, like all hell has broken loose.

Decades later, I finally sat down to watch all the movies, and it doesn't quite live up to the hype. The whole movie sets up this inevitable fight, and then it finally happens, but there's really only so much you can do with these two characters. Robocop 1 isn't exactly what you'd call "nimble" and Robocop 2 is depicted almost entirely in stop-motion. Just getting both of them in the same shot is a logistical challenge. Most of the fight is them chasing or shooting each other.

Much of the early 90's was spent having various powerful characters get into fights with newer versions of themselves. Batman broke his back and appointed a new Batman, then came back to fight him. Terminator 2 turned the villain from the first movie good, then pitted him against an even deadlier Terminator. Superman died and then four new Supermen showed up to take his place, and then all five of them fought in what might as well have been a tournament. The original Superman won, of course, but only through the combined power of mullets, partial nudity, and vibration...

... I'm sorry, did you think I was joking? No. This is why Goku can never beat Superman. Saitama who? What good is one punch if you never vibrate your arm afterward?

Obviously Goku was no exception to this phenomenon, as Vegeta turned into a Super Saiyan shortly after him, and Cell was introduced as a superior version of both of them, and then Broly was introduced as a more "worthy" claimant to the "Legendary Super Saiyan" title. Of course, I didn't know about any of this going on in Japan, but once I did find out about it around 2000, I got on board very quickly.

When I came up with Luffa in 2004 or so, I was trying to think of fanfiction ideas for Dragon Ball Z, and I decided the one avenue left unexplored was the ancient Super Saiyan that Vegeta spoke of in Episode 66. In a lot of ways, defining that character was sort of a critique of Z-Broly, who was presented as a sort of realization of the Super Saiyan Legend, but never quite checked all the boxes for me. My biggest gripe with Movie 8 is that Goku needed help to defeat Broly, when the point should have been that Goku is the true inheritor to the legend. Basically, I wanted Goku to crush Broly and expose him for the impostor he was, the same way Superman demolished the Cyborg Superman in 1993.

My aim with Luffa was to make a Super Saiyan who could be in the same throughline as Goku. Not a carbon copy of Goku, but also not a dark reflection like Z-Broly either. For a lot of years, I never got serious about actually writing the story, but I thought about her a lot, and imagined the sorts of things I could do with her, and I couldn't help but imagine how she and Goku might react to one another.

I suppose that's why Xenoverse 1 inspired me to actually write my fic, because the game provided me with a way to get the two characters in the same scene together. It wasn't just the time travel in the story, but the way both characters had to team up to complete the same mission. And then at the end Goku challenges your CAC to a friendly match, except when it's my CAC, with all this unspoken emotional connection to Goku, it takes on a whole new meaning. I soon realized that Xenoverse 1 could function as the basis of my story. All I had to do was write the stuff Luffa was doing before she exploded and got recruited into the Time Patrol. How hard could that be?

So it took me a lot of years, and I was always looking ahead to this moment, where Luffa and Goku finally fight. He doesn't know her well at all, but he still has this interest in her. And she knows him mostly by reputation, but this her literal dream opponent. Luffa sees him as her heir. For everyone else, this is Goku vs. another fan OC, but for her, this is Luffa vs. Luffa 2. She has to see how she stacks up against the new model.

And that's why I've had the song from Robocop 2 stuck in my head for so many years. I've been looking forward to these two characters slugging it out for a long time, and I finally wrote it in November and then I had to put it away for a while because I found that I couldn't stop writing it. Like, I kept thinking about cool spots I should add to the fight, except I had already written it all, and there really isn't room for everything. Eventually, I managed to get some distance, and I was able to edit the thing. It may not be perfect, but like Robocop said, "We're only human." The important thing is that I got it out there where people can see it.

I hope you enjoy it.

[280dpi]

Interview with Hisashi Kagawa + Yoshihiko Umakoshi from the "Drawing Fantastic Female Fighters" Art Book

An interview with the masters of manga

To start off, we'd like to hear what inspired you both to become animators in the first place.

Kagawa: it was the animation boom on television that triggered my interest. Influenced by the imagery, I started drawing and copying pictures. I ended up copying largely a lot of the anime works. Then I showed those pictures to my sister and my friends and thought, "This makes them happy, which makes me happy."

Umakoshi: I was inspired to become an artist and animator by manga too, and the layouts and frames created by the true pioneers, drawn with color pencils, were just too cool!

Gundam had a huge influence, didn't

Umakoshi: It's the drawing and design techniques for battle heroines, isn't it? It's interesting, seeing as neither I nor Kagawa drew female characters to start with.

Kagawa: As an animator I was heavily influenced by Junichi Hayama, so I'd learned hot to draw bone structure and the like from series featuring very manly men. But I'm applying what I learned from them to female characters as well.

Are your methods and thought processes behind designing female characters different from other animators?

Umakoshi: Oh yes, they're very different.

Kagawa: We've been drawing from a time before the current moe boom, so it's difficult to understand some of the more recent methodologies.

Umakoshi: yes they're incomprehensible, aren't they?

Kagawa: But they say that the start of moe was "Sailor Moon." Having said that, the girls in "Sailor Moon" that I drew had quite masculine personalities and mannish poses. I drew them with the thought that I wasn't one of those moe-type animators and was reacting against all that. Apparently drawing those young girls with such physicality worked for the people who liked that sort of thing.

In the Pretty Cure series that you've both worked on, Kagawa's design have smaller faces and a more realistic feel, don't they?

Kagawa: That was from a request to make them taller looking over all. But there was also a wish to put in more jokes and gags, so there are humorous expressions, "funny faces" in it that hadn't been used previously in the Pretty Cure series. It's pretty reminiscent of early "Sailor Moon" actually.

You can see a lot of differences just from studying the design of a single eye.

Umakoshi: Because I can't do any of that stuff where you add lots of lines and shadows to a young girl's eyes to make them sparkle.

Kagawa: I can't either. It's just so difficult. I only draw the pupils and highlights.

Umakoshi: I can understand that, as our characters have to see, right? Those complicated eyes.

How do you make a character appear cute without drawing over-the-top eyes?

Kagawa: Through their poses and movements.

Umakoshi: We're artists, after all. We look at the situation, the context and adapt and mold their mannerisms and their movements accordingly.

Kagawa: Even the way a character sits, her pose, can be revealing, the off moments when a character's in a contemplative mood.

Umakoshi: The way a small child sits is different from how a highschool-age character sits and so on. The details reveal the character.

How do you realistically depict gestures and mannerisms?

Umakoshi: I don't have children, nor can I really spend much time going out into the streets to observe people, so I tend to use movies and television shows as references.

Kagawa: Watching actresses on screen, you can work out what they do in their performances that catch your attention and captivate you.

Are there any things to pay special attention to during a character's transformation?

Kagawa: We figure out each character's post-transformation/fighter look first then work back from that to develop her alter ego or student avatar, her point of origin. Making her hair shorter, drawing her as close to a simple junior high schooler as possible, designing an original costume or uniform.

Umakoshi: It is easier to work backward, but remember it's a free-flowing, two-way process, each persona is reflected in the other, the battle heroine shows in her everyday persona and vice versa. Oh, and one last thing: have fun with it. It will show in your drawings and the stories they tell!

Do you take special note of those movie scenes?

Kagawa: It's not that I actively try to make any special note of them.

Umakoshi: At the end of the day, our work is to replicate what it was that we found especially good about them. We don't remember the scenes totally in their details, but we try to replicate what we felt it was like. We've had times where afterward we might go back to the original and find it was completely different. But it does come down to wanting to replicate the impressions those scenes evoked.

Do you often have directives as to how character poses should be drawn?

Umakoshi: It's different on each occasion. Sometimes we're given total free rein. With Pretty Cure, didn't we decide things after a discussion with the director and producers?

Kagawa: We did. We had notes from the director about the positions of the characters in scenes and who or what to put in the center. In the copyrighted official illustrations, there were seated poses, as well as standing, and there were some very specific requests about those poses.

Are the costume designs decided form the very start?

Umakoshi: Template patterns tend to be decided from the start quite often. It was decided for Ojamojo Doremi.

Kagawa: Costumes tend to be redesigned by the merchandise department to make them more suited for toys after the animation side has decided on its designs. Also, fairy-character designs tend to be decided before they come to us, and we draw proposals of what they might look like moving int he animation.

Are the antagonists' character and costumes designs decided from the start?

Kagawa: The antagonists aren't decided at all- for toys or costumes- so there's an element of freedom with them. For one of the additional Cures, there's one who changes sides from the antagonists to the protagonists (Eas becomes Cure Passion), and in her case nothing about her design was fixed, so we proposed all her designs. There was input that they wanted to make a toy from part of that design, so then we adjusted accordingly.

Are the magic items' designs already decided with toys in mind?

Kagawa: The items they carry are already designed by toymakers. In Pretty Cure, the costumes were also designed by the toymakers to be changeable in lots of way. Considering that, we made changes to the silhouettes and some of the positions of the costume parts.

Are there any things to pay special attention to from pre- to post-transformation?

Kagawa: In "Fresh Pretty Cure," we decided the main girl's post-transformation design first, then we worked back from that to her pre-design. Making her hair shorter, drawing her as close to a simple junior-high schooler as possible, designing an original school uniform. The first three girls all come from different schools, so we designed their uniforms with the image of their respective schools in mind, such as, "This girl goes to a private school and is a little lady" or "This girl goes to an ordinary public school."

We discussed copyrighted official illustrations earlier, but are there any particular points to be concerned about when drawing those?

Umakoshi: I draw them with the feeling of being able to represent the series with a drawing that says: "This is it!"

Kagawa: "Fresh Pretty Cure" had dancing as a main concept, so I drew the characters in poses that were similar to dancing.

For dance scenes and the like, what do you use for your references?

Kagawa: There's nothing that I specifically use. I go more for images or feelings, like female kung fu motions. Maybe I've drawn some influences from Chinese martial arts, which can look quite balletic. Umakoshi is probably similar to me, since we're both of the Jackie Chan kung fu generation.

Umakoshi: We had a lot of influence from Daisuke Nishio to start with too.

Kagawa: Nishio was a big kung fu fan, wasn't he? Pretty Cure's concept was based on the premise, "What if pretty young girls like in 'Sailor Moon' were to engage in 'Dragon Ball'-like action?" That's why we went for a more refined and elegant style of action over the brawly stuff.

Do you have any particularly memorable moments from your times working on Pretty Cure?

Kagawa: The call to work for "Fresh Pretty Cure" came to me when I'd left Toei Animation to work at another company, so it was the first time in a while that I'd worked with them. I didn't know why they were calling me (ha ha). It was probably because they wanted to expand the age of their viewing audience, so decided they wanted more adult-looking characters, and they called me in because I'd done "Sailor Moon." Because I'd left Toei, I was quite scared to work with them again, but there was the nostalgic feeling of returning to an old roost too. As "Fresh" was the first series that I worked on in a Toei production as both animation director and character designer, it had a big impact for me afterward. At the time, I was a complete novice when it came to the Pretty Cure series, so by taking on board and digesting lots of different people's opinions, I think I was able to get a favorable result.

Umakoshi: The memory that's stuck with me is how happy I was when the character that I just came up with on a whim, Coupe got used in the show. Even though there was some chaos at the studio because of it, at the point of discussing whether to include or not to include the character in the cast, the director approved it. To me, it was a character I'd created because it was fun to "Just have it there," but then it could turn into a beautiful young man, and then it had a mysterious connection with the main character's grandmother. In the end, it became quite an important character (ha ha). Probably the only person who was happy about it was me, but I really was so happy. And the toymakers actually made a model of him. Having said that, when it came to the opening credits and the climax scene and he's rampaging about in them, I took responsibility and drew all the principal frames for his sequences myself (ha ha). My other fond memory is that I was able to be animation director for the last two episodes. The final and penultimate episodes were really tough, but I am so glad that I did them.

[moonauta]

9 people you'd like to know better

Ok, let me tell you: If I had seen this notification on any other site I would have panicked and run away, but these few days I spent on Tumblr got me feeling more social and less scared to post than ever! So thank you very much @herbgroom for tagging me! I did get startled by it, but am excited to give it a go!

Last song: Currently listening "They'll Find You"  by Griffinilla ft. CK9C. My FNaF phase is back, could you tell?

Currently watching: I don’t watch much other than YouTube unless I want to see a specific actor buuuuut I just got around to watching Novecento today. People told me the protagonists looked like the boys from Pathologic. They were not kidding. Even Olmo’s posture reminded me of Artemy and De Niro kinda ruined daydreaming about who to cast in live-action Pathologic to me so… Also it was a weird, old but good movie. After the “hehehe Pathologic” wore off I was actually hooked on the plot. I cried. Heavy movie in some parts.  

Currently reading: Does an online course count? I’m going through the Drawabox free stuff because I spent years without drawing and have to relearn, so I figure I should go back to the basics! Also took Scott Roger’s Level Up out of the shelf for a rereading this week because I think I didn’t really absorb the content the first time. *cof* *cof* because the jokes about Lara Croft’s ass bothered me *cof* *cof*

Current obsession: Do anyone go through that period where is hard to choose wallpapers because nothing is rotting your brain too much? That’s me right now. I’m grinding the Good Christian Boy achievement on Faith and being on Tumblr inspired to seriously design and post about the most random MCU Variant OC that has been living rent-free in my head since What If… So in my free time, I play Faith and overanalyze MCU costumes, but is not really taking the entire of my brain power like my previous obsessions. :(

Let me add the fun fact that I talk too much! In case it wasn't clear. 

Now... I won't be able to tag people because I don’t know many people here and I feel like I’ll bother people if I tag them. I'm very sorry, I'm taking it one step at a time... T_T

Once again thanks for tagging me and thanks to anyone who read through that gigantic me post/Novecento review.

[zetsubobu]

orchid ⇢ what’s a song you consider to be perfect?

I would probably say "where are they now" by emily jeffri, I like the spooky feeling I get when listening to it and it doesn't even have much lyrics

cactus ⇢ something you’re currently learning (about)?

can't pinpoint anything specific but I always end up learning something new whenever I research something for my ocs or my danganronpa fanfic

bamboo ⇢ do you change into a different outfit when you get home?

I always do

abelia ⇢ do you have a particular piece of jewelry you always wear or can’t part with?

I actually don't wear any jewelry. Rings, bracelets or necklaces are always itchy to wear despite looking pretty fancy

daffodil ⇢ do you have siblings? if yes, in what ways do you think you’re similar to or different from them?

yes I have two younger sisters, one 3 years younger and the other one 6 years younger. I would say we are all similar when it comes to our ways of thinking and a lot of people tell me that either of them look similar to me. Our differences are our hobbies as they are more sporty while I'm artistic and they aren't exactly the type to be into games or anime overall. Their fashion styles are also different from mine

mahonia ⇢ what place, thing, activity inspires you most and how do you express yourself when it does?

My main source of inspiration is whenever I listen to a song that I think fits well to my ocs or a character. I also let other people's art or aesthetic posts inspire me. Pinterest is like a goldmine of inspiration to me and I often create moodboards for my drawing before I draw it

chia ⇢ what’s an inside joke you have with someone else?

Akina and her 100 siblings with @t3tch0

sage ⇢ what ‘medium’ of art (poetry, music, fiction, paintings, statues etc.) is the most touching to you? why do you think that is?

Can I answer all of them? I can't pick just one because my opinions tends to swing. Most often it's paintings though because I myself am painting (digitally)

edelweiss ⇢ how’d you think of your url/username? what’s it associated with to you?

I like my username. Story behind is that when I created it (zetsubo_bani in this case) I wanted something that was a reference to danganronpa (since that was my main fandom at the time) so I chose zetsubo (japanese for despair which is the whole theme of that show) and bani is in reference to the word bunny because I thought it was cute. The one on this account (zetsubobu) was created after I tried creating an email and zetsubo_bani was already taken so I took one of the suggestions it gave me as an alternative and somehow I liked that one more than the previous one

camellia ⇢ what were you like when you were younger? do you think you’ve changed a lot?

not at all tbh, I've always been obsessing over my favorite shows from a very young age. Back then it was ninjago (still is) and harry potter. Now it's black butler, ninjago and moriarty the patriot

jasmine ⇢ do you have a movie or book you loved but will never watch/read again?

hmm I can't think of anything right now. I used to love yandere simulator before I found out about the creepy dev

ivy ⇢ what are your ‘tells’ for your emotions and moods? how can someone tell you’re happy, annoyed, upset or tired?

honestly I don't know. I'm autistic and unless I'm excited or really annoyed about something, a lot of people say they can't tell how I'm feeling as I look pretty neutral most of the time

chamomile ⇢ what kind of things do you like receiving as gifts?

art of my characters or anything related to my favorite shows/characters is like the best gift you could give me. I will be so happy

aloe vera ⇢ what’s something (mundane) you really want to experience in life?

I really want to go visit certain theatre performances and meet some of my online friends! Also go to an art con

palm tree ⇢ do you have a fictional villain you shouldn’t like but love regardless?

harumi from ninjago haha. I just love her, both the design and personality. In my opinion the smartest villain this show ever had

nutmeg ⇢ how’s your room/home decorated? do you have a specific theme or style going on?

I don't think I have a specific theme but my room is in a nice lavender + white color. My furniture is also in that color. I also have a wall in which I hang all the fanart of my ocs that I have received!

papyrus ⇢ if you put your ‘on repeat’ playlist on shuffle, what’s the first song that comes up? what do you like about it / associate it with?

I don't know honestly

taro ⇢ if someone called you right now to catch up, what’re the things you’d tell them about?

whatever happend in the fandom I'm in or show I liked. My life is honestly pretty boring but I like it as I rarely have any problems or trouble. Maybe about school once I start college in march but I often don't have topics to talk about

 ﹟random get-to-know-me ask game  !! 

orchid ⇢ what’s a song you consider to be perfect?

cactus ⇢ something you’re currently learning (about)?

bamboo ⇢ do you change into a different outfit when you get home?

abelia ⇢ do you have a particular piece of jewelry you always wear or can’t part with?

daffodil ⇢ do you have siblings? if yes, in what ways do you think you’re similar to or different from them?

mahonia ⇢ what place, thing, activity inspires you most and how do you express yourself when it does?

chia ⇢ what’s an inside joke you have with someone else?

sage ⇢ what ‘medium’ of art (poetry, music, fiction, paintings, statues etc.) is the most touching to you? why do you think that is?

edelweiss ⇢ how’d you think of your url/username? what’s it associated with to you?

camellia ⇢ what were you like when you were younger? do you think you’ve changed a lot?

jasmine ⇢ do you have a movie or book you loved but will never watch/read again?

ivy ⇢ what are your ‘tells’ for your emotions and moods? how can someone tell you’re happy, annoyed, upset or tired?

chamomile ⇢ what kind of things do you like receiving as gifts?

aloe vera ⇢ what’s something (mundane) you really want to experience in life?

palm tree ⇢ do you have a fictional villain you shouldn’t like but love regardless?

nutmeg ⇢ how’s your room/home decorated? do you have a specific theme or style going on?

papyrus ⇢ if you put your ‘on repeat’ playlist on shuffle, what’s the first song that comes up? what do you like about it / associate it with?

taro ⇢ if someone called you right now to catch up, what’re the things you’d tell them about?

[magicalcrystalsproject]

An old Loki drawing from December 2021

At the time I liked this drawing I thought it was amazing!! Loki in this Art was inspired by the style of Nikki Sixx and Damiano David and I tried to capture some of the traits of Mick Jagger and Conner Kent in the 90's comics but it seems that only I noticed!! someone offended my drawing saying that he looks like John Lennon even though Loki was once considered a villain and committed crimes he doesn't deserve to be compared to John Lennon No human being deserves to be compared to John Lennon and Jair Bolsonaro!!🤢( At least they didn't call him Justin Bieber because that would be so much worse!!) jokes aside I just don't like these guys and I wanted to write something that sounded funny and now it looks like it was offensive!! you who are a fan of these guys forgive me! after I read Agent of Asgard and other comics (also the movies!) I have a slight impression that Loki is a punk, emo, goth, metal guy who darks Heavy Metal, Death Metal and Classic Rock and who is also super fan of Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande and dances in the mirror to Black Pink songs when no one is looking!! I need to immediately draw Loki with a plaid skirt dressed just like Arvil Lavgine but a little androgynous and masculine!! Loki is a rocker for sure the guy was emo in his teens!! I'm sure he dresses like a goth! he looks so much like Damiano David (both are so hot! Ew hot? I mean cool!) I liked DC better until I watched the Loki series last year because of a certain alligator and now I like Loki! These things happen directly to me!! does anyone read the crap I write about my art? no no kzkzkskz!! I really liked this drawing at the time and I was learning a painting technique that I don't use anymore because I think it's too simple!! my painting has evolved a lot!! I always make Loki's horn crown different from the original!! Is Loki a rebellious punk without a cause who scowls like an angry goth? who dances Britney Spears wearing a skirt when no one is looking!! I think that about Conner Kent too!! two gay punks mean hot not gay!do you notice the pansexual pride flag on Loki's Bracelet?? an acquaintance told me that I invalidate Loki because I'm heterosexual and I make him "date" my oc who is heterosexual!! that's why she's never read any of the crap i write and draw because he's totally queer in my art! he only goes with a straight girl that doesn't invalidate him at all!! yes my OC is Heterosexual because I am heterosexual and my OC is inspired by me so she is heterosexual!! Loki is more Queer in fanfics and fan art than in Marvel itself!! Conner is also queer in my "universe"marvel confirm my theory that Loki is a rebellious goth emo guy who records tik tok to Lady Gaga or wearing skirt or gothic clothes please!! he is a fan of death metal and Britney Spears for sure!! maybe this is the only "old" drawing I'll post here I just want to post current art!!HE IS GOTHIC AND HAS SEX WITH HIS GIRLFRIEND TO THE SOUND OF MÅNESKIN (AND ALSO ONE DIRECTION!)

[dp-marvel94]

For the "40 Questions - Meme for Fic Writers"

(I have many, just pick a few if you don't feel to answer all - though I am curious :) )

8, 9&10, 15, 17, 18, 21, 23, 29, 37, 38

8) Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it. From Face to Face, chapter 13

[Jazz said] "I didn’t even believe in ghosts until thirty minutes ago.”

Phantom raised an eyebrow, amused. “But you boo-lieve in me now?”

Fenton snorted. “I think it ghosts without saying.”

“Oh stop it.” Jazz waved a hand.

“Come on. These puns are ghoul-den.” The ghost grinned, white teeth sparkling.

“Positively spooktacular.” His human finished and both laughed.

Jazz rolled her eyes, though she couldn’t hide her smile. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this.”

Anytime I come up with puns or jokes, I'm really proud of myself. Humor isn't my strong suit but I do love Danny's puns and him bantering with himself so much

9) Which fic has been the hardest to write?

Face to Face has been a long exercise in planning, patience, and persistence. Setting up things and making sure they pay off is hard with a story this long. And just writing sometimes, when the inspiration is waning.

10)Which fic has been the easiest to write?

That's hard. I'd say "Mom makes Everything Better." It's short so I managed to write in one sitting without too much agonizing over what I was going to write.

15) If you could choose one of your fics to be filmed, which would you choose?

I don't really have an answer for this one. :/ Most of my stuff is very introspective so it wouldn't work very well as a movie. I'm going to say, "Hope can be a Heavy Thing to Hold." There's a good number of fight scenes in it and the ending would be absolutely heartbreaking to watch.

17) Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order?

Start to finish. I feel like, things would get really jumbled and confusing for me if I tried to write scenes out of order.

18) Do you use any tools, like worksheets or outlines?

I have a Google doc with fic ideas and the outline for whatever story I'm currently working on. According to my outline, I've got 13 chapter left in Face to Face. But then again, that outline's very flexible. I mostly have it to write down ideas so I don't forget them.

21) How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

Maybe once? I write really slowly and tend to agonize over my words. Whenever I sit down to write, I re-read what I wrote the last time before starting on the new stuff and I normally make small changes then. But by the time I got over it with the beta, we just look at grammar and spelling. At the most, she'll make minor suggestions to a few lines.

23) If you were to revise one of your older fics from start to finish, which would it be and why?

I don't think I'd revise any of them, actually. Some of the older stuff could stand to be re-edited for grammar and spelling but I'm happy with the actual content, I think.

29) If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?

This is really hard! I'm trying to think of stories that I commonly day dream about a potential sequel. The top contenders at the moment would be Smokescreen by Nylah and Masquerade by Five-Rivers. As I said in the endnote of my Invisobang story, I am you (and you are me), Smokescreen ended very similarly to where that one began. And for years, literally years!, I'd been thinking about what would have happened after that story, with Danny coming to accept his new self and his loved ones learning the truth. I wanted to see it, so I finally decided to write my own version, damn it! But with the actually events leading to that shared outcome being so different, I'd still love to see what happened after that story, especially with the romantic plotline. I don't write romance but that would really be interesting, to see Sam's reaction to the fusion, especially with Danny trying to argue that his clone dating her wasn't an act. The clone really did love her and Danny knows this because he remembers being him. That's a heartbreaking conversation I've been thinking about on and off for a long time.

And Masquerade, after that story came out, Five-Rivers and I did DM and brainstorm about what would happen in a sequel for a bit. I would never trust myself to actually write a sequel for that but daydreaming and hoping is fun :)

37) Talk about your current wips.

So I'm still working on Face to Face. I'm hoping to finish by February which will be the two year anniversary of the story. I'm to a part in the story that's supposed to be fluffy with a lot of family bonding and very little angst so... it's really dang hard for me but I'm getting there. I'm really excited about a bunch of scenes that will probably be in the last five chapters or so. I've literally had some of these things in mind for years so I'm excited to get to them. But I've still got a lot of work before the resolution can finally come.

On another note, @magicalmonsterhero submitted a post recently asking about some AUs, including one where Vlad and/or Danny's powers were not the result of an accident, which led me to what I call "The happy version of Danny was an experiment created by the GIW (and Jack and Maddie are scientists contracted to the project)" I wrote out an outline one the post but decided to expanding it into an actual story for Ectober. I hope to have to done for Nightmare vs Sweet Dreams on October 24th.

38) Talk about a review that made your day.

Well, my lovely friend @mymadmedleyw getting reviews from you always makes my day. :) You always say so many nice things and are so encouraging.

On a funnier note, a few days ago, a long time reader on Fanfiction.net left a review saying they could tell my grammar and spelling had definitely improved which got some out loud after from me. XD

[maysbanks]

she moves in her own way. (jj maybank)

due to the ASTOUNDING response to my first jj fic which i have to say a huuuge thank you to everyone that liked, commented & reblogged, it honestly means the absolute world !! i couldn't wait much longer to start writing for my boy again, i have so many fic ideas and cannot wait to get them out to y'all. this one is shorter than the last, & the title is inspired from the song 'she moves in her own way' by the kooks (lol) but isn't necessarily based off of it, it's just something that i wrote up quickly bc i was in my feels™️ . also i feel very unoriginal with the whole plot and aspect of this but im gonna post it anyway bc i love jj lmao. anyway hope u enjoy !

warnings: swearing, underage drinking, drug use, violence, jj with a gun™️

summary: reader walks the fine line between either pogue or kook, though technically a kook, she ignores all social standings of the obx and jj maybank cannot stop himself from getting caught up in her whirlwind.

( gif isn’t mine! please let me know if it’s yours so i can credit you. )

Everyone seemed to have a different perspective of you, unsurprisingly. You weren't really much of a social butterfly, you kept yourself to yourself, really. Nobody in the Outer Banks knew much about you at all, other than what they had come up with in their heads. And while you tried your best to stay in the shadows, that only seemed to make you stand out more.

You were known for being the best of both worlds - not really a Pogue, but not really a Kook either. While your social status and family wealth suggested you to be a Kook, your free spirit and reckless behaviour fitted you better towards the Pogue style. If anyone were to ask you, you told them you were neither.

Why should a name define you anyway? You thought it was all bullshit, the stupid territorial arguments and the snide comments from both sides. You thought it was ridiculous, you weren't living in The Outsiders, for fuck sake.

You moved in your own way, simple as that. You wouldn't let anyone tell you what to do, where you can't or shouldn't be, it was a free country you'd say, middle finger salute ready to aim towards anyone who dared cross you. You were an enigma, wild and careless, unforgiving and unforgettable. You didn't necessarily like the attention, but you got it. And you knew it, and you played on it, too.

You had used your irresistible charm more than enough times to bail JJ Maybank out of trouble, despite your parents' protest. They didn't have a problem with the Pogues, persay, how could they when your dad been one half of his life before meeting your mom and marrying into the rich lifestyle; they just had a problem with JJ, as many of the parents on the island did. He was an unstoppable force to be reckoned with, weed smoking, knuckles constantly torn, skin bruised, quick wit, sarcastic humour, daddy issues, you know the type. Kids loved him, parents hated him.

You were friends with JJ, you supposed. You spent your time with him talking about your days and smoking a joint, meaningful conversations turning into joking and general tomfoolery within seconds. With JJ, you were simply unapologetically you, and JJ never judged you. He never made you choose a side, seemingly content with the fact that you were a little bit of everything, though there was times when he teased you relentlessly about the Kook life, but that was just JJ.

And despite the social differences, him being a Pogue through and through, you technically a Kook, you were drawn to each other pretty easily. Not that you hung out all the time, but you loved every second when you did, usually joined by his group of best friends - John B, Pope, and Kiara. With Kiara a Kook herself but drawn more to the lifestyle of the Pogue's, she understood you more than anyone. You'd bonded a lot, and with each of them too.

JJ loved that you fitted in with them, like a missing puzzle piece. So perfectly, it shook him to its core. The pair of you were close, but he had no idea where he stood with you, like most people never when it came to you. You were like a rollercoaster, taking people for the most exciting ride of their lives that lasted a full three or so minutes before they returned back to solid ground. You'd given JJ a ride a number of times on your non-existent metaphorical rollercoaster, and he'd returned for another ride time and time again. You couldn't say no to that damned boy.

It was a blessing and a curse, the unspoken relationship you shared. A blessing because JJ was the best thing that happened to you, and a curse because that was your downfall. You never got attached to people, never given yourself the chance. But then JJ Maybank had come along, blonde hair and blue eyes, split lip and sharpened teeth, words cunning. You saw him as a challenge at first, the name Kook Princess haunting you as he spoke them, stood in front of you at the keg upon your first real meeting. He'd held a drink out towards you, smirk perfect on his pink lips.

You'd attended over a hundred kegger's in your lifetime, the Pogue parties more inviting than those of the Kook's. You danced and talked to anyone that came across your path, whether it be unknowing Tourons, unjudging Pogues, or unforgiving Kooks, you drew them all in. You didn't fit in with any of them, JJ had realised. You really did move in your own way, he thought. He liked that, he'd decided. And hey, you were pretty cute too.

On that particular night, he'd spoken to you directly for the first time in a long time. "Would the Kook Princess like a drink?" He'd asked, holding the red cup out towards you. You'd eyed the offended object, and subsequently him, too. He smirked at the attention. You had rolled your eyes.

"Don't call me that," you'd said simply, but taking the cup from his hands regardless. You took a sip, relieved to discover that he hadn't tampered with it in any way. You were still considered a Kook to most people, after all. You could never be too careful. "Thanks, Maybank."

And he'd blinked at you, lips suddenly raising to a sly smile as he shrugged, dimples winking at you as they appeared in his cheeks. "Anytime," and he'd spoken your name back to you and you couldn't get enough of the way it sounded coming from his mouth, and you realised hey, this guy is pretty cute, and the rest, as they, is history.

You were in the midst of another infamous Pogue kegger at the current, months after your first introduction to JJ Maybank and his friends, and you stood off to the side, listening to JJ intently as he ranted about the events of the day he'd endured. Starting from finding a Grady White sunken in the marsh, "A fucking Grady Marsh, they're like 500 G's man!", to discovering that the boat belonged to Scooter Grubbs, who had coincidentally been found dead that same day, to getting chased by two guys with a gun, to the finding of the motel key from the wreck and breaking in that same motel room, finding a safe full of money and a gun of all things, to their best attempt at laying low which, unsurprisingly, resulted in the kegger in the first place.

JJ was wild in his recite of the events, hands gesturing every which way as you watched him with your lips curled into your mouth, resisting a smile at his antics. When he finished he retelling, you raised an eyebrow and chuckled dryly. "So, complete and utter boring day for you, huh?"

JJ chuckled along with you, shaking his head as if he was still in disbelief from everything that had happened in the past twenty four hours. "Man, it was crazy," he muttered. He looked at you then, eyes sincere. "I wish you were there with us. It was like something straight from a movie, I'm telling you. I feel like such a badass with that gun."

Your secret joy at his confession of that he wished you were was short lived, as the last of his words sunk in and you felt dread build in the pit of your stomach. You stared at him, him so excited that he hadn't even realised your face had dropped, before you reached out and grabbed his arm, effectively halting his movements and stopping the hurried flow of words that were leaving his mouth.

"JJ," you said carefully, eyes trained on his as he stared, clueless. "Please tell me you did not take that gun from the safe."

Your heart dropped as you saw him falter, his lips helplessly moving but no words coming out. He held a hand up, as if to hush you, though you hadn't started to speak again, and then his hand had dropped just as quick as it was raised, his teeth biting down on his chapped lip as the realisation dawned on you.

"JJ Fucking Maybank," you spat, hands slapping gently at his arms, because you could never really hurt him, you just wanted him to know you were pissed. "Do you realise how fucking careless that is? How much trouble you could get into, if anyone knew you had a gun-" your voice trailed off, your eyes closing as you exhaled. "JJ, please tell me you don't have it on you right now."

His lack of reply was the only answer you needed, and your stomach churned as you stepped back from his figure, suddenly feeling sick. He followed you, though, not letting you get too far as he took your arms in his hands and tried to drag you closer to him once more. You shook your head, arms slipping from his hold as you glared at him fiercely.

"That's so fucking stupid, JJ. You could get into serious trouble with this, trouble I won't be able to get you out of." You warned, because you knew it was true. Your charm and looks could get him out of some trouble to its extent, but it was more so your parents wealth and status that got the both of you out of shit when you managed to get into it, and you also knew your parents would literally throw a fit if you got involved in something like this - carrying a gun was no joking matter. You stepped back once more, hand finding its way to your forehead. "And from a crime scene, no less. Fucking hell."

JJ licked his lips, standing back roughly as you watched, his jaw clenching. "Well I'm not asking for your help here, Princess," he taunted, the nickname sending a wave of annoyance through you. JJ knew it would. "It's not like I ask you to help me, you're just there. Thinking I need help, like I'm some fucking charity case, a fucking doll you picked up from the thrift store that was gonna be thrown out the next day."

You tried to protest, but JJ didn't give you the chance. "I don't need your help all the fucking time. I don't need your pity. I get that you won't understand because why would you? You're a Kook, you get everything you want handed to you on a silver platter. And you can argue and fight me about it all you want, but I know you know it's true."

He sighed heavily, hands running down his face in a sign of defeat. You watched him all the while, thankful that you had ventured off the outskirts of the party so that hopefully nobody had heard JJ shouting at you, your heart wrenching as his blue eyes settled on you. "I'm sorry, JJ," you said finally. You refused to cry, though the desire to at the sight of him being so mad at you tore you apart. "I'm just trying to look out for you. With the gun thing, with everything that I help you with. And I know I'm a Kook, and I know that my parents could afford to buy half of this fucking island if they pleased, but that doesn't define me. I care, okay? And I know I care a lot more than a lot of people in your life."

It was probably a low blow, and you knew it. But JJ took it in, let the words sink into his brain where they stayed there, his fists clenching at his sides. You crossed your arms over your chest, defeated.

"I'm gonna go back to the party," you whispered. "I'll see you around, I guess." You eyed his pockets, unsure of where exactly he held the gun. "Be careful, okay."

And even when you were angry with him, you still tried to make sure he was okay, that he stayed safe. There was multiple occasions you'd showed up unannounced, simply asking how his day was, if he okay, if he had eaten that day, stayed hydrated. At first the attention startled him, he'd never really had anyone look out for him in that aspect, and yet there you were, like an angel sent from the gods themselves, smiling down at him.

You cared, he realised. You cared so much that sometimes he couldn't take it, because he didn't know how. The most family he'd ever gotten close to having in his life was the Pogues, after losing his mother and subsequently losing his father too as he turned into the monster that he was, cold and distant, fists always poised ready for an imaginary fight, and he knew that someday the Pogues would even slip through his fingers. He couldn't let that happen with you. He wouldn't.

He'd started off in your direction, truly, he had. But then John B was grabbing him and averting his attention to him, and he focused on his friend, promising only a minute of his time. You were in his sights, stood a bit away, and he recognised the couple you were talking to as Sarah Cameron and Topper Thorton, Kooks through and through. He held his distaste back, and even held a drink out to offer to Sarah as she and Topper made their way past where he and John B were standing. Big fucking mistake, he realised quickly.

It had all happened in a blur of events, each little bit leading to big finale - as he watched his best friend being held down in the water, powerless to Topper who kneeled over him, hands forcing John B to stay put in the sea. Sarah was screaming at Topper, Pope was holding JJ back with all his might, Kie beside them as she screamed along with Sarah to let John B go. And there you were, suddenly beside JJ, gripping his arm tightly as you took in the sight with a horrified glare. JJ didn't even hesitate; the gun had been pulled from his shorts and was directed at Topper's head in the blink of an eye.

The fury in his veins was red hot and ugly, tearing through every part of him like a vice. This was the Pogues land, their side of the island, and yet the Kooks still thought they could get away with anything and everything - including, apparently, attempting to drown his best friend.

"Your move, broski," JJ uttered through clenched teeth. He could hear the screams of the crowd behind him, and he pulled the gun away from Topper's head and into the direction of the sky, firing two shots towards it as the crowd of people quickly dispersed, screeches sounding from all over. "Now everybody needs to get the fuck off our side of the island!"

He was shoved to the side as Sarah rushed to her boyfriend, telling him he was fucking crazy or something like that, he wasn't really listening. The shots rang in his ears, and the adrenaline of the moment soured through him. Kie and Pope were screaming at him, he could hear their voices distantly. His blue eyes were unfocused for a second, before they looked up, and there you were.

Sent from the gods themselves, once again. You looked vibrant, so insanely alive, lips red and cheeks flushed, eyes bright. You let out a shaky breath as you watched him. JJ clenched his jaw.

"He was going to drown John B," he thought he'd said, but he wasn't sure. He didn't really know what to keep track of at that moment, Kie and Pope's obvious disapproval at him literally doing the one thing they swore not to do, Sarah and Topper stumbling away from the scene in the distance, John B getting up and muttering something along the lines of he wasn't going to drown me, or you, simply staring at him.

Before he knew what he was doing, JJ had made his way towards you. The gun was still held in his hands, and you swallowed thickly as you eyed it. "You should put that away," you muttered. JJ seemed confused, before he caught on to what you meant and he shoved the gun back to the spot of in between his shorts and his hip. "You literally did the one thing I said not to, you tool."

JJ cracked a smile, small and uncertain as he gazed at you. You stepped closer to him, eyes glancing over his shoulder. "You really pissed them off," you said, meaning his friends.

JJ shrugged, because he didn't care about their opinion, he cared about yours. And if you hated him now, hated the fact that he was just some dirty Pogue who held guns against people's heads now, apparently. "I don't care about what they think," he spoke softly. You looked at him confused. "I care about what you think."

You smiled softly, shrugging one shoulder. "Topper was going to drown John B," you replied, matter of fact. "If you hadn't stepped in when you did, who knew what could have happened. Nothing could have stopped him." You bit your lip, hand reaching out and touching his face gently, thumb soothing over the worried line between his brows. "You did the right thing, J. A fucking crazy and stupid thing, potientally dangerous, but the right thing nonetheless."

"Yeah, that's kind of my go-to, if you haven't already noticed," JJ smiled, tongue running over his bottom lip. You rolled your eyes, though playful. "Look, I'm sorry about before, okay. I was a dick. I know you care, but sometimes that's what scares me."

Your eyebrows furrowed, a confused expression on your face as your hand dropped from his face to intertwine with his own hand, his gaze suddenly becoming fixed on your linked hands, his other absentmindedly playing with your fingers that held his hand.

"It's like, you're this untouchable thing. I mean, you don't belong to anyone, you refuse to go by anything other than your name, and you're like this perfect mix between Pogue and Kook even if you do hate it and everyone knows who are you and they make these stories up about you, like that's how popular you are," JJ chuckled. "And then you hang out with me, you look past all the dirty Pogue shit, see me for who I am, and you care. And you care so god dammed much that it fucking terrifies me because nobody's ever cared that much before about me, so why should you?"

His hand left yours to remove the hat from sitting atop his hair and then run his hand through the blonde locks. You could see his tongue running along the outsides of his bottom teeth, the action causing a bump beneath his skin. He looked nervous than you had ever seen him before, and you'd both gotten into enough nerve-wracking situations together to compare. You sighed as your hands reached for his face, gripping his cheeks and forcing his eyes to gaze down at yours.

"JJ Maybank," you started, grinning softly. "You listen to me while I tell you that you deserve the fucking world and more. All this shit that you're going through, all the crap you deal with on a daily basis, you carry it so well that nobody would even know. You fight through each day and I don't even know how you manage it half the time. I admire you so much, J. And I can't help but care about you, even if you don't want me to. I care about you so much, that you wanna know a secret? It scares me too."

JJ gazed down at you lovingly, his forehead moving to rest against yours. You welcomed the embrace, his arms wrapping around your waist and squeezing you gently, as if reassuring himself that you were actually there.

"JJ," you whispered as you were stood in silence for a precise minute, neither of you daring to break the silence until you had. His blue eyes stared into yours, awaiting the next part of your speech. You swallowed your nerves down, figuring fuck it. "I'm so in love with you."

He grinned, his head swooping down before you knew it and his lips pressing against yours in a heated embrace that sent a sensation of butterflies to fly wildly in your stomach, bashing against your ribcage and taking your breath away. Shivers flew up your spine, and every hair on your body stood on edge as the kiss grew heavier, tongues brushing and teeth clattering, bodies pressed against each other as much as they could manage.

When JJ's lips left yours, you almost whined. JJ grinned cheekily, hands digging into your hips. "I love you," he breathed against the skin of your neck as he buried his head there, lips tickling the flesh. "I can't believe you just macked on me while I have a gun in my pocket."

You rolled your eyes and tugged gently on his hair, spurring a laugh from him as you shoved him away and grinned despite yourself. "Do not remind me, please," you warned him, allowing him to pull you into his side as you made your way down the beach. "I still can't believe you took that thing."

"I knew it'd come in handy though," he grinned, pulling you closer with the arm thrown over your shoulder. You wrapped yours around his waist, face squished in his chest as you shook your head.

"You're an idiot, Maybank."

[ecwrites]

OKAY BUT TAYLOR SWIFT??

So, I love Taylor Swift. That's not a joke, I genuinely love her songwriting skills and her vibe in general. I know Taylor has become popular again on social media, but I still hear lots of not so nice things when I say that she's my favourite singer. At this point I don't really care anymore, because people hating on her is nothing new, but what I'm really bothered about is their reason why.

When I ask people why they don't like Taylor's music or why they think her being my favourite singer is weird, they respond either one of 2 things.

1. "Her music is just too mainstream and her songs are cheesy. Idk, I think it's like the typical heartbroken teen girl music".

2. "Her songs are so repetitive and she only writes about her ex'es".

Most of the time, the people who say this have only listened to Shake it Off, but that's not the point. The point is that they think that just because Taylor Swift has certain songs referring to heartbreak and her ex'es, her music immediatley becomes cheap and not worth listening. Also, I was quite surprised when people used the term "teenage girl" music. I didn't even know that was an actual genre that people have invented, but it was used by way too many people I asked. However, I'm not going to comment on that, because that would take me an entire post. What I am going to do is show everyone how most of their reasons don't make much sense. Before anyone says anything, I am talking about the reasons I listed. It's very different to say one of those things than to say "her music is just not for me", which I totally understand and respect. With that said, let's start.

1. People take the evidence that they want

When I hear people say that her songs are all about her ex'es, they usually use the songs on the Debut album and the Red album as an example. I'm just going to list quickly some of the songs so you can go check them out for yourself.

-Should've Said No (Debut)

-We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (Red (Taylor's Version))

-Dear John (Speak Now)

-All Too Well (Red (Taylor's Version))

-Style (1989)

-White Horse (Fearless (Taylor's Version))

And I agree that there are many more, and however, I have never seem them acknowledge all of the other songs that aren't about breakups, or even romance, for that matter. I will leave a playlist here with all of the songs and just a few written down, if you are interested in hearing them separately.

This isn't my playlist, it's of someone who's username is Cella, but they put all of the songs I'm talking about all together. Just in case you are wondering, there are 60 songs in this playlist and it's about 4 hours long. Just in case you still want to know my favourites, I'll let you in on my top 5.

-cowboy like me (evermore)

-Nothing New (Red (Taylor's Version))

-Death By A Thousand Cuts (Lover) I specially love this song because it isn't about her personal life, it's about a movie Taylor watched on Netflix called "Someone Great". I'll leave a link to the interview where I get it from.

-Exile (folklore) A song about a fictional breakup she wrote with her current boyfriend. (Source here too)

-mad woman (folklore)

You can make your own reflexions, but if you are going to say that Taylor Swift only writes songs about her love life, you might just as well mention the other 60 songs you are missing.

2. Cheesy songwriting

The amount of times I've heart that Taylor's songwriting is cheesy is unpleasent. That's funny to me, because one of the main reasons I love Taylor so much is her lyrics.

Now, I know that some of her songs might sound childish or mainstream to you, but, as always, there is a bit of everything.

Let's start with songs from where she was younger, in specific All Too Well. I leave it here just in case you haven't heard it. If it doesn't sound like a 22 year-old to you, is because this are the re-recordings, which basically means that most of her music is owned by another person, so she's had to record the songs again. However, this song was on the original album with the same lyrics.

I didn't put the 10 minute-version just yet because I don't want people to start saying that she didn't really write that in 2012 and things like that, so let's focus on facts.

All Too Well is a song about one of her relationships, and it's amazing in an insane amount of levels. The bridge goes like this:

Well, maybe we got lost in translation

Maybe I asked for too much

But maybe this thing was a masterpiece 'til you tore it all up

Runnin' scared, I was there

I remember it all too well

And you call me up again just to break me like a promise

So casually cruel in the name of bein' honest

I'm a crumpled-up piece of paper lyin' here

'Cause I remember it all, all, all

Apart from the amazing music, let's talk about the lyrics. The "maybe we got lost in traslation" part may look easy to write, but the amount of things it's referring to makes it incredible. First up, it's talking about their relationship in general, the misscomunication when she tried talking to him and how he never understood her. It's referring to how whenever she said one thing, he interpreted it another way.

This could also be referring to that the "translation" was needed because of their diferences. There was a huge age difference between them, Taylor wasn't even aloud to legally drink yet. But, most of all, I think it's talking about an important thing that the song revolves around, remembering things differently. They both remember it all too well, but for different reasons and with a different meaning, and that's why they got lost in translation. Don't even get me started on the "you call me up again just to break me like a promess, so casually cruel in the name of being honest", because we would never finish.

And, if you are looking for something even more sofisticate without looking at folklore or evermore, we can easily go to lover, where we find The Archer.

The Archer is a beautiful song that talks about change and betrayal and guilt. Maybe, if I feel like it, I will actually make an entire post talking about this song. Even with just the first lyrics I can explain a lot.

"Combat, I'm ready for combat. They say I don't want that, but what if I do?"

To start off, this is referring to a situation many of us can relate to, when we really want to do something that will get us in trouble, but people don't see us capable of doing such thing. People used to see Taylor as your typical blonde, dumb girl who spent her nights crying because of one of her many boyfriends. This is absolutley wrong, but Taylor was always pressured to keep that image of herself, which must have been hard. I also want to comment on the "awake in the night, I pace like a ghost, the room is on fire, invisible smoke".

This is a recurrent theme on many of her songs, the idea of being awake late at night and thinking. In this case, I understand this part of the song as a crisis. Like seeing the room on fire but being the only one who can see the danger. This could apply to several aspects of her life, so I don't really have a conclusion.

The beauty of her songs is that they can be applied to anyone, so you can perfectly relate to what she is saying.

This is getting veeeeery long so I have to go. I am far from done, so I will be back. English isn't my first language, so excuse any grammar mistakes. I hope I proved my point, and, whenever I can, I will keep analizing her songs fully.

Thanks for reading!!!!

[thefreelanceangel]

Tagged: Getting To Know You

NAME: Crystle

NICKNAME: Angel / Pooka / "Oh god"

FACECLAIM:

PRONOUNS: She/her

HEIGHT: 5' 6.5" (YES THE HALF INCH IS IMPORTANT)

BIRTHDAY: December 9, 1983 (You're all toddlers to me.)

AESTHETIC: Morticia Addams' 8th Grade Lisa Frank Phase

LAST SONG YOU LISTENED TO: "Daze" - Poets of the Fall

FAVORITE MUSE(S) YOU'VE WRITTEN:

...oof... There's... a LOT of characters to sift through to answer this one...

I'll keep it fairly tame and limit it to JUST characters I've written for MMOs. (20+ years of RP both online and tabletop means I have written... a lot of characters... LOL)

Neverwinter Nights: Heathern Ferne is still one of my darlings. A dumb-as-rocks fighter with a heart of gold (and Chessi's first distant incarnation) she ended up becoming a competent fighter, learning some rogue tricks from the ninja she fell in love with, teaching him to view himself as a person instead of a disposable tool, having a child and overcoming some really impressive obstacles.

WoW: Zorayas, the draenei mage, was a spur of the moment character I ended up greatly enjoying because of just how gods damned seriously she took everything. A joke wasn't a joke, it was an offense. A mistake wasn't a mistake, it was a mistake. She was fiercely loyal, extremely suspicious of people who acted free and easy and determined to use her magic for the benefit of herself and the few people she cared about.

GW2: Capricia Vetrov, oh my darling how I love you. While her story never came to a complete conclusion, I've drawn my own mental end for it and honestly... ugh, my heart. My elementalist was vicious and hostile and sarcastic, lashed out at everyone, struck first before anyone could strike at her and had absolutely every reason to be so guarded and bitter. She's still one of my favorite characters, perhaps my absolute favorite, and maybe I'll get around to finishing that novella I started to give her a happy ending.

FFXIV: Having only played the game for about two years, I'd have to say my favorite RP With People character is C'allie Kyho, that outrageously confident, Certified 100% Trauma-Free™ miqo'te. C'allie is a bit of a chameleon, shifting the personality she displays depending on who she's engaging with and why, but I genuinely like the growth she's had and where her story currently is. My favorite character is Annalei d'Latu. I love that thrice-damned bitch. She's vicious and arrogant and brilliant and just downright nasty. I adore her.

--Getting to know the account

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO TAKE ON THIS MUSE:

C'allie Kyho was my first FFXIV character, made on a trial account just to see what the game was like. Anything with a bow tends to be fairly easy to learn in a new MMO, so I started her off in Gridania and built a vague story about her wanting to see the world and singing her way across it (for the BRD class.) The more I learned about the game's lore and the astounding flexibility of it, the more I started branching out with various characters that I used off and on, depending on who seemed to want what kind of story.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE ASPECTS OF YOUR CURRENT MUSE:

C'allie Kyho: Being 100% Certified Trauma-Free™ and the fact that her arrogance isn't even arrogance; her self-esteem is just that unshakeable. (True fantasy roleplaying.)

Annalei d'Latu: The development of her marriage to Seifer d'Latu and the fact that she's a mortician, poses as a therapist and would happily bring another Calamity onto Eorzea if it meant more power for her.

Summer Bellmayne: Il Mheg (having an IC tie to it is just... -chef's kiss- dream come true) and the fact that a deranged romance novelist gets some fascinating reactions from people.

C'esti Kyho: Having a fairly stable Kyho (the tribe is very... interesting) with a skill I deeply admire (aerial hoop performances oh my god) who loves coffee as much as I do and who is actually... pretty normal?

Chessi Eder: She is my favorite punching bag, and it's legitimately sweet and heartbreaking seeing how she will absorb pain without question and then find absolute delight in the simplest things.

WHAT'S YOUR BIGGEST INSPIRATION WHEN IT COMES TO WRITING:

Reading, honestly. I just... cannot be bored, it's like physical agony for me (yay ADHD!) and since I'm lucky enough to have no problems comprehending language or typeface, I read CONSTANTLY. Like... if I'm not RPing or watching a movie, there is an ebook open on my phone or a physical book in my hand. I am almost always reading. [I average a book a day and yes, people who know me IRL can vouch for this.] So reading as much as I do and reading SO MANY THINGS means I'm constantly seeing ideas or plot threads or character traits or combinations of things that feed my own creative spark and make me eager to explore.

My biggest inspiration to write is because I just damn well love a good story and if I can make one happen in RP? Yessssssssss... GIMME.

FAVORITE TYPES OF THREADS:

Honestly, anything but lengthy combat threads with constant dice rolls. I don't mind combat as long as I'm writing with someone who can agree "we both take hits and if I win this fight, you win the next fight" but I get bored very very quickly when it's just a "roll... determine outcome of roll...post appropriate physical action...wait for a roll...wait to determine outcome of roll...wait for post of appropriate physical action..."

I'd almost rather just talk it out OOC, agree to who wins the fight and skip ahead to the aftermath.

Tagged: @bek-sc (Thanks hon!)

Tagging: @luck-and-larceny; @dumb-hat; @eorzeanstarlight; @kich-rp; @miqojak; @ketsuchikotetsu; @mirugaidoesthings; anyone who feels like it! [And feel free to skip the non-RP-related questions if you're not comfortable answering those. ^^]

[impatentpending]

Hey!! I've been wanting to get back into writing (Its been about a year with only two finished one shots and a few wips for me), but I'm h e a v i l y lacking the motivation (Depression's a bitch) so, by any chance would you have tips to help with that? I do hope this isnt a bother!

Oh, no problem at all!

Now, I’ve got to say it’s probably different for me because I don’t have the types of lack of motivation, but here area a few things I do when I’m struggling to get through a piece:

Skip ahead to the fun part!

You know how in a story there’s bla, bla, bla, COOL THING!! bla bla bla... yeah, just skip the blas.  If you don’t want to write it now, don’t!  Progress on any part of your story is still progress, and there’s no pressure to write straight from beginning to end

Post a bit of it

Sometimes, if I’m dragging on a piece, I’ll post a line of it, and seeing others reactions makes me feel motivated to get it out and share more of the story with everyone

of course, if you don’t get any feedback it can be discouraging, but y’all have been generally kind to me in that area.  If you don’t feel comfortable posting it to tumblr because you’re unsure what the reaction will be, share it with a friend or send it as an ask to someone who you know likes that sort of thing.  It’s really motivating to see that, when your fic comes out, there will be an audience for it.

similarly, if you’re working on a multi-chaptered fic, it’s good to go back and read old comments

Read similar works

Listen, borrowing ideas from others is a very Cool and Valid thing to do.  As long as you don’t plagiarize, it’s fine to take inspiration from other sources and put your own spin on things!

For example, I watched a ton of classic noir movies and read books for Kill the Lights, and they motivated me by making me aware of what general mood I wanted to go for

go absolutely bonkers.

i’m literally not kidding.  write whatever the HECK you feel like.  I don’t care if you change tense, mood, speaker, tone, whatever in the middle of a sentence.  Sometimes you just gotta get the writing jitters out, and randomly switching to a crack fic in the middle of a sentence can help with that

i mean of course edit it out later, but you never know if the random act of silliness may knock loose another creative burst.

You think I’m joking?  Look at this line from one of my current WIPs (contains intrulogical and murder mentions):

Anyway, that’s all I got for now, but I hope this helps, dear friend!  Good luck with the writing, we’re all rooting for you!!!