#under a cut because it got LONG

[chanbig]

Big Kinnporsche and his uniform

i know the costume design dept gave the theerapanyakul bodyguards different versions of their uniform to make it easier to distinguish between them and make it visually more interesting (even though the point of a uniform is homogeneity) but i think it's interesting how they make big and porsche outliers

Porsche is out here in his slutty little vest and tie (the only one in his shirtsleeves because he is freewheeling, he is bucking the rules, we gotta show off that shoulder-to-waist ratio). he is new, he is special, he doesn't give a fuck. he is the Main Character.

pete, ken, arm and pol are in the usual blazer, no tie, shirt with a couple of buttons undone combo, with varying levels of undone-ness. (pete has the most buttons done up, intriguingly!!!! he typically only has the top button undone. what does this Mean. what could he possibly be hiding under there 🤫). this is what the typical bodyguard wears—most of the bodyguard extras are wearing a black suit and white shirt (one or two have ties, but most don't). they are integrated into the system. they are a team.

chan gets distinguished as head bodyguard by being allowed to wear all black, which gives him a very intense, no nonsense look. he stands out from the crowd when he first walks into frame—without words, you can tell THAT is a man with authority (😳 <- live me reaction)

AND THEN you have big over here in his closed blazer, shirt buttoned to the neck, perfectly knotted tie, and suspenders (!!) outfit. the whole getup. no one else on the main cast is doing it like him—literally. he is on the opposite end of the spectrum from porsche, even though they wear almost the same number of pieces. with the blazer on, big's outfit gives him the most buttoned up/rigid/follows the rules look, like he will wear the fullest version of the uniform because It Is The Correct Way. he has been at this job for years and he is still so strict about this. he is so strict about this BECAUSE he has been at this job for years. even with his ponytail and edgy eyebrow cut, he comes across as 'I am 100% on the job all the time'. he is All Business.

spot the suspenders 🧐

even when he's wearing the standard tracksuit, it's zipped completely up to the neck, sleeves all the way down.

we never see him in the pool. we don't see him in casual clothes. he is always SO closed off. he takes his uniform blazer off ONCE (making porsche crawl across the floor is hard work 😏).

spot the blazer thrown over the chair in the back 🔍

the only time we see him wearing a shirt with the buttons undone is when they're at the casino and he's being forced to 'blend in'. looking closer, though, even that outfit looks like the shirt and trousers he normally wears, just without the blazer, tie, and suspenders.

same slim-cut black trousers, same type of stiffened spread collar, same big pocket. his trousers fit him well—clearly the suspenders are just for the Look.

hmmm ive seen this shirt before.

the only time we see him in a short sleeved shirt is when they're on a SWAT-style rescue mission and everyone else is ALSO wearing that.

field trip time. everyone put on their outside clothes.

so arguably even both 'more casual' outfits are literally part of his uniform

where am i going with this... we see the others in their casual clothes. we see them disheveled, drunk, unbound from their jobs. they are allowed to be something other than just a bodyguard, even if just for a minute, even if they're still with tankhun at the bar—they are allowed that measure of freedom and personality. they drink, they laugh, they have fun. they have desires outside of their jobs (notably, we see ken in a hawaiian shirt when he is revealed to be the mole, i.e. have desires outside of the main theerapanyakul house)

we do not see big outside of his role as a bodyguard. he is this role and this role is him. there's something there about him scrubbing away all of his personal wants and needs to fit into this role as kinn's Head Bodyguard. giving up everything else so he can do this job, be of use to the theerapanyakul family—to kinn. not allowing himself to think about or want things outside of the compound because those things will distract him. no faltering from his role, or any vision of him as a person is allowed to come through. all he has is just a single minded pursuit of his goal and his focus (protecting kinn). he has dedicated himself and he is proud of that. he still gets up and puts on the whole uniform every day, suspenders on, shirt buttoned up, tie tight. he follows the rules and his orders even though he hates them sometimes, even though he might protest at first—one word or gesture from kinn or korn or kim and he falls silent. he will push down everything else he might have wanted under the role he has chosen for himself, that he has now become. he has already given up everything else for the theerapanyakuls—so, in the end, why not his life? what else does he have to offer? what else is left?

[queerdiazs]

some of my personal fav eddie hcs 🫶🏼

he's the oldest cousin and only boy so he doesn't know what it's like to have any older siblings, but when he met hen and chimney, he felt for the first time what it was like to be taken care of as a younger brother and he's never ever going to take it for granted

it took him a while to grieve his wife, but eventually he brings shannon's things out of storage and puts them out all over the house. sometimes it hurts, but it's all worth it when he gets to answer his son's questions about where the eccentric iron armadillo came from

when shannon found out she was pregnant, she told eddie and they decided to run away. it was fun while it lasted, but eventually they ran out of money and had to return home. he'll forever treasure those few weeks they had together; it was their happiest time.

shannon loved music, so when he's missing her he'll put on the songs she liked and dance all over the house with christopher

he LOVES watching movies at the theater and often goes alone in the mornings after he drops chris off at school. he stops at the dollar store first and get snacks and puts them in his boots to sneak them in

he's queer (it's easier than explaining the complexities of being bi and on the ace spectrum) and he's known since he was 20 years old. it wasn't a sudden realization; it hit him slowly, like snow falling one by one. he's comfortable in his queerness and he has support from his family.

he wore his wedding ring even after shannon died. he lost it, though, and he went to a pawn shop to buy another one, and then buried it next to her grave when he finally felt ready to let her go

what sold him on the 118 after graduating the academy was how hard bobby fought for him without even knowing him. he didn't have to prove himself. it was nice.

he doesn't want anymore children. he didn't even want christopher, honestly, but it takes two to tango and shannon was excited and he was, too, even though it took him a while to wrap his head around the idea of being a dad.

bobby and buck are his emergency contacts.

he used to wear his abuelo's boots because the man was a real-life cowboy and eddie wanted to grow up to be just like him

he used to love thunderstorms but after buck's accident he doesn't like them much anymore + listens to music when it's late and the thunder's too loud

he has his childhood dog's name tattooed on his leg

his favorite flower is magnolias. he likes dark chocolate covered strawberries and buys two dozen for himself every valentine's day. he brews his own sweet tea. he leaves his tomatoes on the windowsill to sun and ripen further.

bobby's like a dad to him, the kind he deserved

he had a little crush on linda when he was at dispatch (and buck LOVED it)

he loves buck, like that, but his heart's big enough for more than buck buckley and he's enjoyed every relationship he's had that led him and buck to one another

when buck proposes and they start planning their wedding, he turns into bridezilla. groomzilla?

he is a sassy dude. his mouth gets him in trouble sometimes, but he says stuff so dryly and blandly people look over it. it drives chim up the wall.

he dances with maddie at her and chim's wedding, and jee-yun, too, who stands on his shoes

he tries really hard to be normal when christopher starts dating, but it's hard when it's the kid of abbie jean gentry, pta president and eddie's sworn enemy

he visits shannon's grave often and talks with her. she's dead but he isn't gone, not when he can see her in their son's smile and hear her in their son's laughter, and he likes to tell her what chris is up to even though he's pretty sure she's watching

he loves cartoons. LOVES them, i'm so serious. i can't stress enough how INTO cartoons he is, okay.

buck said kissed him first and decided they were going on a date. eddie went batshit, didn't go to the date because he was making a list of all the reasons why he and buck shouldn't be together, and buck finds him in his kitchen and he's pissy, and eddie shows him in the list, and on it there's 'buck keeps his loft on 68. cold.' and 'buck uses too much onion powder' and 'buck doesn't wear socks to bed and he sticks his cold feet on me' and buck just laughs and laughs and laughs because they're terrible for each other, kinda, but that's what makes them perfect for each other, too. losers.

his favorite color is green and when apple came out with a green iphone he was so excited he squealed

he's a fan of country music. not that new age, jason aldean, toby keith did to country music what pantyhose did to fingerfucking type shit, but the real country music, full of outlaws and rebels and rednecks. it's one of his roman empires.

his favorite movies are twister, titanic, without a paddle, dirty dancing, and dazed and confused

patrick swayze in roadhouse was his Awakening

he enjoys sex, even with the people he had one night stands with, and doesn't care whether he tops or bottoms because it feels good regardless. he does tend to lean toward the (soft) dominant side of things, which his partners respond to beautifully

he was born 31 october 1991

he was held back a grade in middle school to give him another year of eligibility of playing baseball in high school

he was a member of ffa, held office as sentinel all throughout high school, and supports the organization still. chris is in 4h, but the high school he wants to go to has an active ffa program and eddie's really excited about it

he's soft and so full of love he doesn't know what to do with it sometimes. it just spills out of him, splashing at his feet and flooding everybody around him. he doesn't hold it in anymore because he likes the way people respond to him when they realize he's sharing his love, all smiles and acceptance and unconditional love in response

[soulsxng]

Laisren Cynwrig Ris, life to current day, pt 1

Another fae born in the Unseelie, to two longtime advisors to the Queen-- a birth that coincided with that of the Queen's only child. Laisren grew up in a rather sheltered environment, with few peers his own age...aside from the young royal, that is, whom Laisren quickly grew rather fond of.

The two grew up closely with each other, and many thought that one day, when the young royal took the throne from their mother, that Laisren would come to be their top and most trusted advisor.

The young fae himself, however, dreamed differently. Having taken a rather grand admiration toward Bleddyn, his only dream was to one day become a royal knight. Someone that could stand by his best friend's side to protect him, as well as beside his longtime idol.

...Unfortunately, his lessons had little focus on combat, and for a long time, the dream seemed so far out of reach that it would be better to let go of. For Laisren to move on from it. It was the young royal that changed his mind, and encouraged him to speak with Bleddyn about becoming a student under him.

Though he was promptly turned down (Bleddyn couldn't risk compromising his duties by trying to teach a completely green student, after all), Bleddyn too, encouraged him to "hone his craft", and-- should he still harbor the same goal later on-- to ask again at that point.

It was then that, against his parents' wishes, Laisren forwent the path that they had chosen for him, and began to study the path of the knight, instead. He flourished in this new environment, where he had once struggled to keep up with the lessons he had been given before. In this time, he was able to broaden his horizons. Visit new places and meet people that he never would have had the chance to encounter before.

Years later, when he decided it was time to make his request to Bleddyn again, it was with his head held high and a confidence in his voice that convinced the older knight that now, finally, he was ready.

Laisren proved to be a quick study-- hanging on every last word and every action. If there was something to be learned from his mentor, then Laisren would give the matter his entire focus.

And it very quickly paid off as, at nearly the same time that his best friend took the throne, he was made one of the youngest royal knights in the Unseelie. He was always proud that he was able to continue standing beside his friend, doing a job that he felt he was meant to do.

The days passed at leisure, and in that time, the relationship between Laisren and the young ruler blossomed into something more. Along with a third-- a dryad healer from near the Mortal Realm's entrance to the Unseelie, whom the two met by little more than chance-- they fell into a love that endured even in the hardship of the days to come.

It was the dryad whom the young ruler eventually married. Their relationship with Laisren remaining mostly a secret, so as to allow the royal knight to continue on in his duties without being constantly bothered with other matters. And it was because of the relationship remaining a secret that Laisren eventually came to be the one to discover the first seeds of the coup within the young royal's own trusted allies.

The two in question being his very own parents.

He never did come to know their reasoning for siding with the coup-- be it that they didn't agree with the direction the young ruler wished to take the Unseelie, or that they had been planning such a thing even during the Queen's rule. Perhaps they had simply been too afraid to act against her, but that wasn't the case with the young ruler?

Laisren couldn't say. And though it pained him greatly, he showed them no mercy when he learned of their transgressions-- it was by luck alone that his mother was able to flee, where his father was struck down.

At first, he expected to be viewed with scrutiny by his lovers and Bleddyn alike...but not once were his loyalties questioned. As always, he was met with the same acceptance that he had been before. Something that only served to further his loyalty, and the lengths that he was willing to go for them.

When his son was born-- when Oleander was born-- it was simultaneously one of the happiest, and most terrifying days of his life. For the more his family grew, the more fearful he grew that one day, something would come to take it all away.

...It took two decades, but the time finally came. Bleddyn was sent away to bring Oleander to safety, and Laisren remained.

The coup invaded the palace undetected, which left Laisren and some small few royal knights against a force that quickly saw them surrounded. For each opponent that fell, he saw his family that much closer to safety. He held nothing back, even as he was met with familiar faces standing against him, he would cut them down without the slightest hesitation.

Close...he had been so close, when he was run through. Having been met with a trap when they were mere feet from escaping, Laisren had leaped before his beloveds to protect against a blow that he otherwise would have had no hope of defending against. And just like that, he fell.

With the last shreds of his awareness, Laisren could hear them cry his name. With the last of his strength, he pleaded for them to run.

His last thought, a prayer that his family would be safe.

[front-facing-pokemon]

[tapestryundone]

constantly thinking abt the long quiet and the shifting mound and their relationship w humanity. because the two are very much not mortal and even in the what happens next ending its very ambiguous if they ever WILL be or Can be. but even still they have both felt what its like to be mortal

i feel like its vague if the entity the two used to be even percieved its own existence. the way the narrator talks about it makes it seem like the two only existed conceptually and as a result lacked a complete sense of identity, and didnt need to, and wouldnt want to. but in the same way a thought cannot be unthought, the narrator gave them a glimpse into what it felt like to be mortal and the two can never un-know it, even if it wasnt exactly the same

the long quiet in particular seems especially tied to humanity and in some aspects seems to want to BE human (which feels so potent given how decidedly Not human he is). the game tends to imply that every option you get is a thought he DOES have, and in the spaces between, the choices dont seem as influenced by a given voice, which highlights even more how much he feels conflicted on his own nature that he gets Multiple options to express discomfort with himself being a god

it just gets to me how one of the options during the fight is literally "appeal to your shared humanity". because even if the two are gods, their separation and reshaping has given them humanity that they can never un-feel. for how much the shifting mound grieves what she once was, she cannot will her humanity away. shes mourning what the two of them once was and is desperate to have it back at any cost, even though they can never be together how they once were.

even if the long quiet goes with her, theyre still apart and lack balance, because the two once just Were and werent two parts. they werent both halves, they werent two concepts, they were just one concept that happened to, by human eyes, consist of two halves. and the narrators insertion of humanity into the mix in order to separate them, separating them into concepts that humans understood, manually put into existence a struggle for equilibrium where that balance had simply Existed

but theyve already perceived what felt like reality and can never un-see it. they were separated and Need the other to feel whole and for reality to BE whole but the moment that either of them realized their own free will, the moment the two fully came to feel like people, they could never be together the same way once again

im struggling to come up with a metaphor that isnt silly but its like if you took a piece of fabric and cut it in two and made them both into shirts. youve added a piece of humanity into them and doing so cost its original form. to take them apart and try to put them back together would never get you the original, whole piece of fabric back, because theyve been completely changed by their own unique destruction and reconstruction

they were separated in a way that gave them humanity that they have such conflicting feelings on. both seem to have a deep love of humanity but vastly different ideas on what humanity needs to thrive, because its in their natures

in order to get one to kill the other the narrator let the long quiet interpret the both of them as mortal. and for a being of perception and an god thats being lied to, this became part of their limited view of the world, on top of all the other reasons that the two gained humanity. the long quiet couldnt be told what to do if he didnt have the ability to potentially act on the narrators desires, and the shifting mound could never die if the long quiet didnt believe her to be capable of death

the narrator gave the two humanity and the shifting mound is very reasonably distressed by this. because the two of them never asked for this but they cant undo it. it is her OWN subtle desire for things to be the same as they used to be, her own piece of that stagnation that also led to her experiencing humanity, that makes her so adamant during the fight. she misses the long quiet and wants to undo a change that cannot be undone in search of a constant state of being that was taken from her

and the long quiet felt so closely tied to mortality, both its existence and absence, that no matter what, he wants to aid humanity. but hes been lied to and denied autonomy to the point where he doesnt know what that entails. but he wants to be a part of it. he was given fake mortality and cant seem to figure out how he feels

the shifting mound is set in how she feels it best to aid in the existence of life. she is stagnant in her feelings because its all that feels right to her. the long quiet is ever-shifting in how he feels it best to aid in the existence of life. he is changing in his feelings because its all that feels right to him

getting to the heart of the shifting mound allows them a moment to discuss it as the closest they can get to mortals. the two care about their impact on life and what it means to be alive and what better way for the two of them to truly decide what they want to do about it, outside of the conflict thats been forced between them, than as the mortals they never were?

[cait-sith]

Day 19: Glass

Background details hidden by the bottle under the cut.

[acrobattack]

bliss redesign based off one I made in my teens

thought process + various other bits and bobs under the cut

I was 15 and annoyed by everything that moved when this character first came out, so in my own head I was very much making a Point with this redesign. Hence, I made very minimal changes. I wanted to work with what was already there and basically just make the existing design more thought-through. Little breakdown ahead (keeping in mind i myself am very much An Amateur who doesn’t know shit and am just ranting about my opinions and i also haven’t seen a single second of the 2016 reboot so i don’t know much about Bliss to begin with)

1. one of my Biggest pet peeves with Bliss is that the powerpuff girls each have bangs that are simple, memorable, and iconic while also being unique from each other and being reminiscent of irl little girls hairstyles. It’s very neat and clever and I like it a lot

and then Bliss has this confusing jumble of shapes that looks like it changes in style halfway across her forehead

i have absolutely no idea what the intent is here. My only guess is maybe it’s meant to look weird on purpose like she was trying to cut it herself or something (I suspect it’s something like that since she seems to have normal looking bangs as a little kid from what I can see) but it doesn’t really come off that way if that’s the case. It just looks like baby’s first PPG OC where you Understand that it’s meant to be hair and that it is made out of shapes but have 0 understanding of hairstyle or character design in general. Heck I might have put this exact hairline on a character in the past at the age of like 8

So in my redesign she’s got 5 even notches across her bangs, not thee most exciting change but it does the job I think. It is pretty reminiscent of Blossom but they look different enough from each other that I wasn’t too worried about it

2. low-hanging fruit time, Bliss’s hair color is horrible on the eyes. I’m bewildered at the decision to do this, especially since there is just so much of it, I struggle to think of how she could exist in any scene without hogging all the viewer’s attention constantly. That said, I understand they wanted her to have an unnatural hair color to really signal that she is a Fresh new Teen character from the late 2010’s, which is. Whatever, that’s fine, so she gets purple hair now. I kept the streak for the same reason, especially since she’s got a lot of hair, so no harm in a little extra interest in there.

I also learned recently that her hair glows sometimes? which i did Not know when first drawing her but well i think the darker color helps anyway. It adds some contrast for when she’s normal vs when she’s glowing and makes the latter appear more,, idk threatening or powerful or whatever the mood generally is when she’s doing that.

I did re-add that toothpaste blue to her eyelids though. I like to think it’s also the color of her lasers. It’s a cute color, just not as like 70% of this character’s palette

3. real talk I was drawing this from memory and didn’t mean to change the way her hair flares out from her head. realistically I think the original is fine, maybe just a little boring but fine, so that part of the redesign was an accident. Only thing is, it’s in the exact same position in every screenshot I’ve seen? It doesn’t seem to whip around when she’s flying or anything which looks weird and probably looks weirder in motion, especially since it takes up so much space onscreen. Idk it’s a strange decision, esp since the original show liked to use the ppg’s hair to emphasize their movement, so I’d just bring more movement into her hair. I mean if nothing else it’d make her look cooler.

very very rough little visual of what I mean

I also ended up making it shorter in my redesign—again, not really intentional, but I think it’s better that it eats up a little less of her silhouette

4. Her headband is largely the same, I didn’t hate the idea of her having an accessory, so I just toned down the colors. I’m not personally a fan of the powder blue and that pink heart is very bright and just doesn’t go with the rest of her (once again the color of her hair is doing it no favors). I also moved the heart over. Not necessarily needed I think, but I feel like it reads quicker as a headband and not a weird crown that way+introduces some asymmetry into her design that I think is nice.

5. my biggest gripe other than her bangs are her hips. I’m not against adding anatomy to this character design to make her read visually as older than the girls, but it’s so awkwardly done and distracting. I feel like it even interferes with her line of action more often than not (which is not helped by her unmoving hair).

Part of the issue is she still has the teeny tiny torso, just… with those square-ish hips slapped on, which makes her legs look all gangly and stretched out. I tried to balance out the proportions more in my redesign, as well as change the hips to a flared skirt. I think it helps differentiate her from the girls and still implies hips underneath, it just also functions as a less clunky transition from her torso to her legs.

Lengthening her torso also allows the stripe to look more like a belt above the skirt, which I think helps to sell her as “similar, but not the same” from the ppg

6. Her leggings(? Idk Im not a fashion person) aren’t a bad idea I think. like a more mature version of the girls’ stockings, but I think the white makes them look really distracting. It would help to make them a darker color I think, but since I wanted to keep them reminiscent of the girls’ socks I kept them white and just shortened them.

7. Not really sure what Bliss is wearing on her feet. I think they’re Mary Janes, but they’re drawn a bit different from the girls’ and I honestly think it’s too babyish a shoe for her to wear. I’m not sure what she’s actually wearing in my redesign either honestly, but the goal was just to make them look like the girls’ Mary Janes while clearly being something different.

8. Uh her signature color is something I’ve contemplated changing a lot but to be real I think it’s fine. I feel it was a very bad idea from a marketing standpoint because people were hype about Bunny and would obviously be mad they didn’t get her once the character actually dropped (and in the long-run she would just end up being overshadowed by the character everyone has already assigned that color to) but I’m personally not bugged by her being purple beyond that. If I were to draw them together though I think Bunny would have a more pinky shade of purple and Bliss leans more blue.

Loosely on the same topic, because of Bliss I’ve had a running headcanon that “only child” types of powerpuffs tend to come out purple. Kind of like how trios tend to have a red, blue, and green. It’s a fun little piece of fake lore to rotate around in my brain

Anyway with all that out of the way, here’s some redesigns I decided to have some fun with. Wasn’t being too precious about recognizability or simplicity or anything like that, but I did run out of steam partway through. There’s also one based off Whoopass Bell bc idk, why not

Finally, here’s some OCs I only ever drew once before out of a desire to give Bliss her own teen girl archetypes to form a team with. This is Bee and Beetle, who I’ll probably definitely forget about again immediately after posting this

[foxdrabbles]

Red and co. visiting the convalescent garden together? I really like your stuff with them!

A knock. Then another, more confident. Perfumer stretched, slipping a ribbon between the pages of her book, standing from her armchair and stepping lightly over to the door to her office.

"Hello, Frostleaf. Please keep your voice down, she's asleep right now."

"Oh, um, ok." Frostleaf tucked her hands back into her jacket pockets. "Hi Miss Lena."

Perfumer smiled, turning and beckoning Frostleaf in to her office, who stepped nervously past the threshold.

"So, um. How did things... go?"

"About how I expected them to." Perfumer sighed. "There's only so much that can be helped along with perfumes and medicines. Working on yourself isn't something you can shortcut."

"Mhm." Frostleaf nodded solemnly. "I know."

"I know you do"

Together they moved, inch by inch, over towards the couch were Red was sitting limp, arm in a sling, head rolled back into her hood, lightly snoring.

Frostleaf softened, her entire body shifting, and Perfumer smiled gently.

"She's trying her hardest for you, I hope you know."

"I know." Frostleaf leaned her hands against the back of the armchair, not breaking her gaze towards Red. "I just... "

She trailed off, and Perfumer laid a hand over top of hers.

"You want to be good for her."

Frostleaf nodded, stonefaced.

"You are. I can hear it in the way she talks about you." Perfumer gave a gentle squeeze of her hands. "You don't need to be perfect. She doesn't need perfect. She needs you."

Again, Frostleaf nodded, but her lower lip trembled just a bit.

"She loves you more than anything."

The tears that had been welling in Frostleaf's eyes began to spill, and she blinked them away, pulling her hand free and wiping at her face with a sleeve.

"Sorry. I'm sorry. I just -- "

"Here, dear."

Perfumer offered a tissue box, and Frostleaf took it, dabbing at her face.

"And don't you dare apologize for crying. Everybody does, it's how we process intense emotion."

"frost... leaf?"

A voice whispered from the couch, and Frostleaf snapped to attention, swiftly moving to the couch.

"I'm here, Red."

"mmm." Red gently pressed her forehead against Frostleaf's arm. "frostleaf needs to rest too. frostleaf should come. next time."

"Red, I don't know if -- "

"frostleaf will like. lena is nice." Red reached out, grabbing on to Frostleaf's jacket sleeve with her free hand.

Frostleaf glanced over to Perfumer, eyes full of conflicted emotions.

"Only if you want to. But my door is always open."

"...I'll think about it."

Perfumer smiled warmly, and Red hummed, pressing her shoulder to Frostleaf's. "now dinner?"

"Yes, Red, we're going to dinner now."

Together they made their way to the door, Perfumer trailing just politely far enough behind them, watching as they paused at the door, turning to wave together.

"Thanks, Miss Lena."

"thank you."

Perfumer smiled, returning the gesture. "Of course. Take care, you two."

[moonfromearth]

On Repeat - an oc tag by @elderwisp

"rules are pretty simple, pick as many (or as little) oc's as you'd like and find a song that you relate to them the most! feel free to mention why too! o and tag some more ppl too! that would be cool!"

I may have gone a little overboard 😅 To be honest this tag came around at just the right time! I'd just gotten a new song association and have been working on schoolwork so much that I really needed to do something creative 😆

Originally these were all going to be in similar editing styles (more like Corey's) but somewhere along the way that stopped because I had different ideas that I really wanted to do. Also I cheated a little and a few got more than one song... 🤫

I'm really proud with all of these in the end, and if you want to read more about the stories behind them you can check below the cut! ❤️

I know I'm pretty late to the party now buuut I'll tag: @igglemouse @swiftviolets @stargazer-sims @auspexsims and @seniorpollinationtechnician. Feel free to ignore though if you've already done it/don't want to! 😁

[deep dive under cut!]

COREY ALTMAN

"Holiday" - Green Day:

This song being here is random song association at its finest. The trail pretty much goes "Holiday" by Green Day > Surf's Up > Beach Vibes > Sulani > Globetrotter Challenge > Corey Song. If that makes sense... 😂 Pretty much, you can blame the Sulani round of the Globetrotter Challenge for it, plus the fact that I feel like it's the type of song/genre Corey would use in his own music.

"Catch Me If You Can" - Set It Off:

Now, it would be a crime to talk about songs and Corey without a song by Set It Off. Corey was created when I was listening to their songs a lot, and it definitely rubbed off on him. From his aesthetic to the songs I imagine him playing, a lot of it came from Set It Off. Even his name was derived from the band's lead singer (although changed from Cody to Corey because that's the route my mind took with it idk). So, this song in particular specifically reminds me of Corey for... Honestly probably obvious reasons 😆 "Catch Me If You Can" was pretty much the theme of his Globetrotter Challenge, where he was constantly moving on the run from the law. A line I really like though for him is the part that says, "I only feel at home when I'm on the run," because I feel like that leads into the deeper aspects of Corey. He really isn't at home anywhere, he's always on the move, even when he's not evading capture anymore. There's a certain non-permanence to everything he does. Something funny about the image itself is that it originally wasn't going to be edited to look like the back cover of a CD. When I took the picture of Corey with the guitar I kind of thought "this looks like the back cover of a CD" and when editing I just needed a way to fill the space at the bottom and it turned into a CD back cover edit 🤣 It actually kind of fits though since both of these songs are the sound I associate with Corey's own music so it worked out in the end.

LIZZY ALTMAN

"Unopened Windows" - Set It Off:

So this one is the context behind this post lol. It's been like two years since I started working on this plotline I have to finish it eventually 😆 Anyway, Lizzy's been teased in many tag games so far, but without a name or much information (note: and this name's not final I'm not sure yet). Here you can probably guess based on the song choice how her story goes 😅 Going back to the epilogue of the Globetrotter Challenge, we see that something is going on, and it leads to Lizzy and her dad being separated. So, the entire song lyrically I really felt spoke to them and their situation (more in a future gameplay 😉). Bonus points for it being a Set It Off song, who I associate with Corey, and thought music could have been something that they bonded over and enjoyed together. I have a few things to say about the image itself because it was a struggle but I looooove how it turned out! It turned out essentially how I imagined it with Lizzy playing guitar in the foreground with a sort of memory of her time with her dad in the background. I probably had about five or six different poses that I put in the background because I couldn't decide which one I liked the best 😆 This was the last image I had to work on out of the four, and I was having trouble with how I wanted the song title to look. While I was browsing for overlays and stuff I came across a lot of cutout style poems and ended up adding in some of the lyrics because I thought it would help explain the concept behind the image. In the end this one is one of my favorites which is unbelievable considering how much I thought it was not going to turn out like I imagined 🥰

*UNNAMED*

(Sorry I don't have a name for her yet and don't want to commit to a temporary one 😭)

"Little Chaos" - Orla Gartland:

In a wonderfully serendipitous coincidence, this was the song association I was very into when getting tagged, and was already planning what became this edit! I rarely have song associations for sims/sims stories (despite how many ended up coming together here) so that's why I'll never get over how well timed this all was (thanks again elderwisp!!) On to the song, it has to do with my upcoming gameplay story centered around the For Rent game pack, and starring the pictured sim (who doesn't have a name yet sorry! 😅). She's going through a bit of a tough time where she's very lost and I thought the lines, "And it's a good day for a meltdown. All my thoughts getting too loud," fit really where she's at, especially at the start. Plus, the vibes are perfect. The image itself was inspired by the song's MV and one part in particular, but it looks a lot different now (I was limited by the poses I could find because I refuse to sit down and learn to make my own yet). I liked this idea of the torn pages framing the image, especially because it plays into the plot, which sees the main character do a lot of journaling throughout the story. So, the lined paper had to do with that, and it doubled as being good for making the letters stand out, which I wanted to be big and misaligned to be more "chaotic," though I think that could have been done more/better. Aaaaand the background is a picture of Tomarang, where the story takes place. To be honest this will probably be the cover image once I finalize a name and get started on playing it 😉

GHOST COWBOY

(no he also doesn't have a name yet same as above 😆)

"Ferryman" - Schafer James and Will Wood:

I've actually been having a lot of fun with this character since initially creating him back before the Horse Ranch pack came out (more on him coming out in a few days for the outlaw challenge 😉). So this song.... The entire concept of our ghost cowboy is that he, being somewhat half dead and half alive, winds up being a good source of convincing "unwilling souls" to cross over, and works with the character Death to do so in exchange for finding out why he's not entirely dead. I'll explain it better another time, but I also really love this song and just thought that the concept of the ferryman and the ghost cowboy as ferriers of the dead.

"Toss A Coin To Your Witcher (Epic Version)" - Samuel Kim and Black Gryph0n:

Liiiiisten... My family made me watch three seasons of The Witcher I had to get something out of it 😆 I joke a lot that this character gives off Geralt vibes but honestly they are definitely super similar just based on their overall aesthetic and horse companions. I wanted to be special though and chose this epic cover instead of the original... Just for fun 😁 There were some cool piano covers too that almost made the cut. This is probably a good place to talk about the actual image (yay!). I hope the visibility on it isn't too bad because it ended up waaaay more cluttered than I originally intended, plus the mist effect definitely makes it harder to see the characters. I made his (also unnamed) horse a little more transparent to try and give off this ghostly see through effect so I hope that comes through. The font isn't the kind of "wild west wanted sign" font that I wanted, but I think it's close enough lol.

Credits:

Image by rawpixel.com on Freepik

[badgopher]

Google Maps: In 200 feet, merge onto highway 69 South Me, under my breath, to myself, every gd time: nice

~~~

"Oh my god I’m sooo sore! Wait, the guy that I watch every night Is using MY stream"

"So you can’t put it down?"

"No, I can’t put it down, I gotta do it for Ammir"

(40,602 watching)

~~~

Lawrence feels like a big small town. Overland Park feels like a small big city.

~~~

Cashier: Do you have a phone number with us? Me: Nope Cashier: Do you want to sign up today? Me: No thanks, just the receipt Cashier: Okay, I'm gonna need your first and last name Me: *shrugs* Cashier: It won't let me give you a receipt without your name Crickets: *chirping*

~~~

Me, deploying the emergency nail clippers: I wonder how many monsters have trimmed their toenails on this carpet

[game-weaver]

Unraveling

Yugi didn't often use his sleep dust on himself, he usually could fall asleep relatively easily, and since he lucid dreamed more often than not, he didn't need help much with that. But sometimes when he needed a deeper sleep, something to bypass even his own mind, he would sprinkle the dust into his tea and wait for it to drag him under.

It was like sinking in quicksand for him. Laying there, the sleep curling around him and slowly pulling him down, down, down into the dark. Drifting to realms only he would see, places he was looking for.

One place he wanted to return to.

Within minutes or hours, he was sitting on the edge of the bed in silence. There was no gentle breeze through the trees this time, no soft grass underfoot, there wasn't even a window for that warm sunlight to filter through. Sitting in the dark, eyes lowered, he just slowly took in the feeling of the room. There was a familiarity to it, and it wasn't entirely from the dream he confirmed with Atem he had had.

It was different now. The floor was now hardwood, old and creaky. The bed with its moldering blankets was dull under the layer of dust. Even in the dark, he could see the shapes of games scattered on the floor, a chess board with pieces knocked about. Shards of a broken mirror were scattered on one side of the room, glinting in the shadows. He could almost hear the cricking of the wallpaper peeling as time and pain took its course.

His eyes flicked up, the light turning on as he did so despite Yugi still not having moved. He stared it down, the door still partially covered in a sheet, as if it were a beast that could attack at any moment. More time passed, seconds, minutes, days, just staring at the door, contemplating. Slowly, he touched his feet to the floor, eyes never leaving the door, gaze unblinking. His footsteps were soft, gracefully stepping over what toys or items might be in his path as if it were a practiced motion.

Grasping the sheet, he pulled it off the door, the chewed and decaying fabric billowing and fluttering to the floor, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake. Yugi stared at it. At the hammer dented boards, thick nails, some flush to the wood, others bent and twisted as if he had been in a hurry to get the boards in place. The rusted chains were thick and heavy, smelling of oxidation and iron.

He could almost hear it. The screams of agony, the broken sobs, could almost feel the bite of the splinters. Echoes of the grief and bitterness it took to weave these kinds of barricades. To not just lock a door, but try to be entirely rid of it. Of building walls, burying the pain so it can be pushed away.

A desperate attempt at self preservation.

That weight crushed his chest again, like red hot fingers closing around his heart, threatening to strangle the life out of him. But he clenched his jaw, staring the beast of his creation down, despite the way his heart began to beat rapidly, despite how it felt like the room was closing in, making it hard to breathe. It felt like everything was spinning, waiting for what might happen. What was going to happen.

Kneeling, he picked up a hammer and lodged it under a nail. Pulling and prying, he started to creak loose the rusted metal. At first, he was methodical, just thinking about it one nail at a time, one board. The only sound was the hammer sliding into place and the creak and groan of the nails and wood as he pried them apart, nails falling to the ground with thuds as if far too heavy for their size.

But his movements quickened, faster and faster, spurred by the first board falling heavily to the ground. Tears began to fall down his face, emotions overflowing as he piece by piece undid the past mistake made out of heartbreak. Emotions that were too strong, too much as with a great heave about halfway through, the handle of the hammer snapped and with it…

It was like the final thread fraying after spiraling too long, too tightly.

Yugi just discarded it with an angry cry and instead continued with his hands. Tearing, yanking, the wood planks seemed to groan and keen with his own cries as he put all his strength into tearing them from the wall.

Bit by bit, he tore at the barricade. He didn't care that fingernails were broken, that splinters buried themselves deep in his skin. The pain just fueled his rage as he threw shards of wood out of his way, kicking the debris out from underfoot until all that was left was the great looping chain.

Grasping the linked metal with bloodied hands, he pulled and yanked, the only sound was his own grunting, cursing and screaming in frustration. Heaving with all his might, he twisted and put his whole weight into it, the most anguish filled scream tearing from his throat until… Rust crumbled and broke.

He was thrown to his knees in the woodrot and decayed iron strewn around the floor when the chain suddenly shattered, the metal crashing down all around him. Panting, he sat there on fall fours for a moment, body trembling from the effort and adrenaline it took to get to this point. The taste of copper was on his tongue as he finally lifted his head to see the door that had been beneath the planks.

Exhaustion was starting to settle into his bones as the adrenaline started to fade, but he pulled himself shakily to his feet. He couldn't rest yet, he still had one thing to do before he could leave this place again. Taking a breath, a quivering, blood-slick hand grasped the door handle…

And he threw it open.

[moni-logues]

The ~engagement 'issue'~

I feel like I'm seeing more and more posts about readers' lack of engagement with writers on here and I now want to say something. I don't say things short so buckle in lmao

TL;DR: idgaf if you, readers, comment on my shit or not. I care that you enjoy it and, if you did, job complete, mission accomplished, well done. I want to be part of a community, not a service provider/'content creator'. I write because I want to and getting to hear people's thoughts and feedback is just a huge fucking bonus to that. Also, readers I love you.

I love my readers. All of them, loud and silent alike. Readers who comment with long reviews, pulling out quotes or bits they liked, reacting with predictions or responding to the characters. Readers who just comment that they really liked it! that it was good! Readers who like. Readers who read and leave no mark at all. Readers who follow me and readers who come across something I wrote another way, who didn't follow me before and don't after. I am deeply grateful that anyone takes the time to read the things I write, whether you've read everything I've ever posted or just one drabble.

I know that all writers are similarly grateful to have this space and to have people here who read their work. I do, to a certain extent, understand the frustration with regards to like:comment ratios.

However.

I know that reviews take effort. I am a chronically unenthusiastic person and it takes a lot for me to summon the energy to respond how I feel I should, in a way that I think would make the writer happy, in a way that I feel is befitting how I actually feel about the fic I read. There are other reasons I have been reading less recently but one of the reasons is that I feel pressure to review every single thing I read. So I just don't read!!! Isn't that stupid???? Sure, I'm putting imaginary presure on myself by thinking I need to respond in a particular way and that is very much my problem (and I'm trying hard to address it and read/review more anyway), but I feel like readers are taking a bit of a bashing right now and I don't ever want readers to stop reading or to have the reading experience spoilt by feeling a pressure to respond.

I write because I enjoy it. When I first started writing, I had no followers. It took me months to get 100 followers. It took almost a year to get to 1k and then I started over with a brand new blog. I wrote all 60k of A Fine Line by myself, with absolutely no one else reading it because I wanted to. I love getting comments from readers; I love hearing people's thoughts about the shit I write; I love this little community here... But that's what it is: community. This is not transactional! or at least, I don't want it to be! I am not writing fics as a service for which I am paid in reblogs. I am being a fan of BTS with other fans of BTS and we are making up little stories and imagining scenarios and having all kinds of fun with each other, whether you write or gif or edit or just consume. We're in this together!

I saw once, I don't remember where or when, a thing that said, if you are feeling miserable, do something nice for someone else and it will lift your mood. This is, in my experience, absolutely correct. Writers, if you are feeling miserable about your engagment, engage with others the way you want people to with you, write a review for someone else's fic that would make your day if you received it. We writers are all readers, too, and we are not exempt from these ~criticisms~ just because we write.

I am not trying to ~call anyone out~ or, in turn, criticise writers. I'm not. I understand. I do. But every time I see one of these posts, it upsets me, because if I were an active, engaged reader, it would make me feel bad. If I were a silent reader, it would make me feel bad. I don't ever want to make anyone feel bad for enjoying something. Readers don't owe us anything! If this issue is ruining the writing experience for you, it is on you to examine that; it is not the fault of your readers. If it means that you no longer enjoy writing, stop writing. Our time on earth is short and precious! Let's spend it, as much as we can, doing things we enjoy! Not doing things that make us miserable!

Fin.

[14dayswithyou]

Listen to me, I don't have a specific taste, I like all the fiction man all the time. But one of my all time favorites is similar to Redacted/Ren.

Saeran/Ray from Mystic Messenger. OMG I WOULD DIE FOR RAY AND I WOULD KILL FOR SAE.

So, what if Redacted/Ren notices that. Like every now and then the MC loses sleep to play with their route bc they just love it.

What if the MC said "I really love Ray but imagine having a hacker bf, that'd be so cool!" While infodumping Ren about every lore piece of Mystic Messenger.

✦゜ANSWERED: Ironic because Ren was slightly based off of 707/Saeyoung (though he's changed over time) 💀 I kinda dipped from the Mysme fandom before Saeran's route came out, so I honestly have zero clue about them skjdgksj

But if it was a lasting fixation, then Ren might be willing to slowly ease parts of his real self into his Haruko/"Ren" persona. He won't ever tell you about his affinity for hacking (more-so out of safety), but he'd definitely let you know about how tech savvy he is.

Ren is also willing to hack into your Cheritz account to give you more hourglasses — so long as it means that you'll finish Saeran's route faster and spend more time with him afterwards.

He might even get a but prickly and pouty with how often you talk about your fictional crush, though he won't ever act upon it or do anything rash.

[pjwilliams]

more tidbits on pj's powers and history of witch doctors in his family.

pj's powers:

necromancy - the true basis of his entire power system. his healing, divination, sympathetic magic, and curse invocation ( and resurrection ) all derives from this one way or another.

healing - his starting ability. it was the first power that manifested in him after his grandfather's abilities are passed down to him. he can heal any organic life with just his touch. ( this magic also only applies to other people. if he tries to heal himself, sometimes it will not work or it won't be as effective )

divination - the power he mastered alongside healing, almost coming as second nature to him. usually, he uses this to gain insight on the ailment that the other person is experiencing. but he can also use it to locate something or find answers for anyone.

sympathetic magic - the more sinister part of his power system, he tries his best to not use it at all. but with this power, he can invoke hurt, disease, injury, or torture to someone even if they are not in the same vicinity as he is.

curse invocation - another sinister magic he tries not to use at all. pj can invoke curses to anyone, both good and bad curses. some could simply cause disease or injury, but others can cause death.

resurrection - this power has not shown itself in their family in generations, to the point that even pj doesn't know he has it. but with this, he can bring any dead thing back to life ... at a price.

the family history:

pj's maternal family ( caharian ) came from a long, long, long line of witch doctors, who began their work hundreds of years before the spanish colonization of the philippines in the 1500s.

no one in the family is sure of how, or why they even got the power in the first place. most of their family history has been passed down through oral history among family member-- which has become more muddied at every turn of the generation.

but the most believed origin story is this: due to a fit of desperation and love to protect an ailing family member, the first witch doctors made a bargain with an ancient god. the god will give them the power they desired to keep their family and the people around them safe. all in exchange for their souls, which they will deliver to the god when their family line finally ends.

there were three of them who asked for the gift, the three elder brothers of their family, and all three of them were given it.

the black pearl-looking jewel he wears all the time? that's his soul. before that, it was his grandfather's soul, and before that his grandfather's father's soul ... and so on, originating from that deal.

before the colonization of the spanish, his family's powers provided them a respectable place in society. they were known as faith healers and spiritual doctors. their touch could instantly, and their words can ward off any curse. they never practiced their magic for anything bad until they were demonized.

since then, that's what they have become to the people around them. their world and society moved with the influences of the spanish, then the americans, and then the japanese. further and further their influence as holy healers are diminished, until they are considered nothing more than witches. monsters.

pj is the youngest to hold the full power of a witch doctor in the history of the family. it was expected that he would learn about this for years, until he is ready to take on the mantle. the youngest before him was 45 years old.

[front-facing-pokemon]

[castlebyersafterdark]

There's a lot in fic as well that I think only works in fic. Certain phrases are fine on paper and get a pass but if I ever heard in real life I'd bust out laughing or cringe really hard.

now THIS interests me. cos i definitely read all written fiction as if it's happening in real life or visually happening in my brain including sound, setting, etc. unless its a book that feels very theatrical, then i'll imagine it all on a stage and sort of design the set and lighting etc too.

its why i started writing fic, cos lots of what i read didnt feel like the show and i wanted something that tricked me into thinking i was watching stranger things in my mind's eye lol. when i started writing i wasnt really inventing what they were saying, but just listening to the characters going about being people in my head and transcribing what they said and did. the characters feel real to me so picturing what they do in between seasons and episodes is so fun to imagine.

but yeah... with smutfic, i dont know, i think praise could be realistically written for me. i like what you said about combining physicala and emotional feelings. depends on the compliment maybe. sometimes you can tell someone is just praising you in bed so they can get the pleasure they want from the situation. so i'm always a bit distrustful of whether its honest praise or manipulative praise i guess. but one of the best compliments ever is "youve got the nicest touch i've ever felt" - how sexy is that????

(and maybe because we've heard so few direct compliments from mike to will in the show, i think im waiting to hear him compliment will in s5 and see how he frames it! i think he might just go all out, having realised what will means to him, and start being more accepting and overt, wanting to finally get things going with will because theyve waited long enough and now the world is literally ending lol)

Gathering this theme together! Now, in reverse order. To non-plussed: I think the thing with it being a praise kink specifically, instead of just reacting to praise and compliments and feedback in general - it's all about the context, the person delivering it, the situation. Personal and slightly graphic, but where are we: if I did a really good job at work on my assignments and my boss called me in to praise me and let me know I did a good job, I'm probably not gonna blush and get turned on (I mean, unless you're attracted and into your boss - but my boss is a 50 something year old woman sooo not my type haha). But If I'm in bed with my man and I'm doing something he likes and he starts giving me really detailed, complimentary feedback, talking sweet in particular reference to myself and/or what I'm doing to him - yeah, that'll do it for me. That's kind of what I want, what I'm into. Sure, there's an element of give and take, action and reaction, it's definitely in a sexual context - but that doesn't also mean it's insincere.

Continued:

Not all conversation exchanged during sexual/aroused situations is manipulative, even if the goal is to to elicit a reaction or get something. Can it be disingenuous or manipulative - sure, anything can be!! But, not in the instances I'm describing.

But to that point - I think the best demonstration of praise kink that I want to read/write/engage with, switching here specifically to fic writing rather than real life (which is even more nuanced and complicated, so I will more focus on fiction), is when it is more sincere. Certain tropes are typical to classic erotica and smut writing technique. I recognize the style but I personally avoid it and don't write that way. A lot of praise and feedback based dialog in fic sounds out of character because it's very stock phrase for generic sex cliche situations, watered down sometimes. Like the master, servant dynamic. Where one party is giving and serving and obeying commands, a goal might be receiving praise and compliments over how good a job they are doing, what a good boy, look how well you suck cock, look how well you take it, etc. - and this dialog doesn't always match the character. Takes me out of it dependingon situation. It's less praise kink and more dom/sub and I've made it known time and time again (not an invitation to reignite this in my inbox ssshhh sorry) that it's not my jam. So, that's where the insincere angle might come in? Tropes rather than molded to specific character?Often times it's just a line or a phrase that does it, not the entire dynamic, so the entire fic is fine, but I might be scrunching my face at a line of dialog that I think was going for really sexy and to me - not so much.

"You've got the nicest touch I've ever felt" - ooooh that's a good one! See, these are the types I think work really well. Specific rather than generic. Good boy/girl is the most generic. I also don't think it sounds like something a teenage boy would say, you're right. I write all ages Byler and I probably wouldn't write the good boy dynamic for any age, but that's also a taste thing. Not my writing dynamic. There's nothing wrong if someone writes it or likes it - as I've said, what's hot for me might not be for you, vice versa. I'm just giving the background to my mindset. Never want to alienate anyone!!

I think one of my recent drabbles could be traced back all the way to a praise kink kinda thing, or at least what spawned Will to react the way he did, where thinking about Mike admitting he "could kiss him forever" was the thing he fixated on and what ultimately took him over the edge. That's physically reacting to a compliment. I explore a decent amount of what could qualify as praise kink in my early relationship exploration "staying at the Wheeler's" fic (always comes back to this one, doesn't it? But so much that I'm interested in can fall under a new relationship and also it's a long chaptered fic so it's gonna cover a lot) because that deals a lot with body image and self esteem and that early on stage where you and your reciprocated crush are shy and bold and fluctuating between both, learning how sex works (in general and with each other) - so the praise and feedback is actually really important.

Imagine two insecure boys who are wrapped up in their own personal issues, getting together, so into each other, how sexual situations would go with them. The shy compliments and guiding instruction as they try stuff, learn how different activities go, what they each learn they like. I'll be sure to include a lot of sincere dirty talk and more sweet talk, through that one. Demonstrating how a natural dialogue might go in the bedroom and not sound like it's cliche erotica or a prno. Also - very true, re: hopeful thinking in the show. Compliments between the two! Will gave Mike so many veiled ones in the van speech, and Mike is capable of giving Will so much in return. They always have these dreamy heart to hearts with sweet words - take it to the next step. It would make so much sense. Also, want to see either of them flustered around the other. Please.