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marlynnofmany · 2 months ago

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Singing the Return

(A followup to Singing the Approach)

Our ship touched down like usual, with the captain in the cockpit along with a pilot (it was Kavlae’s shift), talking to the locals about where to park. In a slight departure from usual, this landing pad wasn’t anywhere near the ground. It was on top of a cactus-tree-thing that thankfully (very thankfully) didn’t sway in the wind.

I waited in the cargo bay with Zhee. He was a little twitchy, flicking his antenna and shuffling his legs and generally not holding still. I wasn’t about to say anything about it, but I suspected Zhee wasn’t a fan of heights.

Luckily for him, the landing pad was broad enough that he didn’t need to get close to the edge. Unluckily for him, Captain Sunlight had suggested that he be part of the delivery crew today because he’d been there when we met the clients before, and they would be expecting him.

With the amount he was flexing his pinchers, you’d think he was the one the clients had offered to give a tour of their skyscraper cactus city.

As the bay door started to open, Zhee asked me, “Did you check if that belt has a full charge?”

“Yes I did,” I told him, pushing the button on my gravity belt to display a full line of power lights. “And Mimi even looked it over for loose wires or whatever. I’m all set.”

“Good,” Zhee said, angling his torso so that his front half was higher — the Mesmer equivalent of standing up straight. I was continually amused by how much praying mantises resembled centaurs, and how much this particular alien species resembled Earth bugs. This wasn’t the time to bring it up, though.

The door was open all the way now, and there was Captain Sunlight, come to lead the way out. I could see a cluster of many-limbed locals waiting outside in the bright sun. The landing surface looked like it was made of red rocks mined nearby. Hopefully they were stable on top of this cactus-tree. The captain waved us forward: Zhee with the crates on a hoversled and me singing my best approximation of the local greeting song.

I’d practiced it on the way here. It was high-pitched but slow, like a songbird in slow motion. Or, more accurately, like a songbird trying to sing like a whale. This particular culture interacted regularly with their ground-bound evolutionary cousins, who wouldn’t have made it past the first climbing spike on these cactus towers.

The Tree-grabber in front stepped forward, chirping a reply song, then switching to the more recognizable trade language. “Greetings! We are delighted to smell you.” He waved his mousy ears happily, all four arms folded in front of him.

“And we you,” replied Captain Sunlight, whose people actually said that kind of greeting themselves. Her yellow scales were extra bright in this sun. “Would you like to inspect the merchandise?”

They would. Zhee did his part by prying open the crates with his mighty mantis arms — I don’t know why the supplier of these fruits insisted on packaging them this way, but it was good we had him along — and the Tree-grabbers all made a big deal of sniffing the fruits. The antigrav belts in the other crate got sniffed too, though thankfully they didn’t stink.

I could smell the fruits from where I was standing; that sour smell made my eyes water even at a distance. But no one was paying attention to me, busy as they were with signing for the delivery on the tablet that Captain Sunlight held out. Zhee put the lids back on. I wiped my eyes and admired the view. It was a nice scenic desert scrubland out there, with only the other cactus-trees in the way. I could see the entire sprawling city where the Ground-grabbers lived, and just barely make out the buildings on the distant Air-grabber mesa.

“Are you still interested in a tour?” someone asked.

I turned back and smiled without baring teeth. “Yes please!”

The lead Tree-grabber was returning the tablet to Captain Sunlight while the others moved the crates onto their own low-tech wheeled cart. Behind them, a hatch slid open in the red stones of the landing pad. Zhee towed the hoversled back toward our ship as soon as it was empty.

Captain Sunlight looked up at me. “Travel with care,” she said, which was a polite way of urging me not to trip and fall off the cactus.

“I will,” I told her. “And I have my phone if anything comes up.” That covered a lot of ground. We’d already discussed keeping an eye out for possible delivery needs: offworld items that I might tactfully suggest to the locals. They wouldn’t have thought to ask about the antigrav belts if the subject hadn’t come up in conversation the last time we were here.

“Then kindly follow me to the handpath,” said the many-limbed monkey-mouse. Dang, what was his name? I thought. He had a name. It translated as just a sound. Chirp, right, that’s what it was. I knew that. Totally professional over here. I kindly followed Chirp in the direction of the handpath.

Which was over the edge, because of course it was. Metal handrails like the kind I usually saw at swimming pools waited next to the steps. Chirp led the way.

I set the gravity belt to “catch me if I suddenly plunge downward,” and followed.

I like climbing, right? Big fan. I was all over the playground as a kid, and I never really stopped. It’s particularly fun when I get to be “the one who can reach things high up,” or otherwise be appreciated for climbing a tree or a spaceship or what have you. Occasionally I’ll meet someone else who enjoys being above the ground. Most species seem to prefer being on a safe, level surface.

Not these guys. Wow. I was glad that Captain Sunlight had insisted on the gravity belt, because this was intense. The entire city street system were basically ladders on the outside of skyscrapers.

“This handpath is designed with elders and the occasional visitor in mind,” Chirp called up to me. “Artificial steps and platforms placed regularly.” When I looked down, I saw that he was indeed standing on a platform already, which even had a railing around it. There were more ladders on either side, and other platforms that could be reached with the help of metal handholds.

“That’s very considerate,” I said. Other cactus-trees were close enough that I could watch the agile citizens scurry along the surfaces, using only the natural cactus spikes and small branches. Wild. “Do you have any handpaths inside?” I managed to make it sound casual as I stepped down onto the platform with a perfectly normal heart rate. There was a door here that I hadn’t seen from above.

“There are some,” he said. “Mostly for emergencies.”

I had to laugh. “That’s the opposite of where I’m from.”

“Really?” He perked up in curiosity. “How so?”

“We have tall buildings like this that we made,” I said with a wave toward the towering plants. “Nothing on Earth grows this big, but we can build it. And we do all our travel between levels inside, except for emergency escape ladders on the outside.”

“Fascinating!” Chirp said. “I suppose if you make the whole things yourselves, you can make sure the inside is strong enough to support as many rooms as you need.”

“Yeah, definitely,” I agreed, laying a palm against the smooth cactus wall. “These are pretty soft at the core, huh?”

“Oh yes, that’s why the rooms are kept strictly to the outer layer,” Chirp said. “Come in; let me show you.”

He opened the door and I got ready to duck, since it was just under human height, then a rapid succession of shadows passed over us.

Chirp made an irritated click. “Air-grabbers, come to get in the way again!”

I looked, curious to see what they actually looked like. Both the Tree-grabbers and the Ground-grabbers had complained about them last time.

They looked a lot like I expected: bats with skinny arms held close while they flew. Everybody seemed to have six limbs on this planet.

And varying opinions about personal space. The Air-grabbers fluttered around the cactus towers, inspecting anything that caught their interest. They circled people carrying groceries. They poked their heads into open doors, only to get shooed back out. They arrowed in on the spaceship parked above. And they flew past me repeatedly, almost enough of them to run into each other. High-pitched voices floated on the breeze, but none of them addressed us directly.

“Inside,” Chirp said, opening the door. I followed him in. He shut it firmly, leaving the squeaking cloud of bats outside.

The ceiling was a bit low here, but at least this was a proper civilized room, not something carved directly from the wet cactus innards. Multiple desks, counters, and couches made it look like an info center, or some other kind of “just arrived from above” hub. I wondered if there was a lot of travel between cactus cities here. Several locals waited in line.

Then someone else rushed in after us, complaining in her own chittering language, and she pulled up short when she saw the tall alien bent over by the door.

“Hello,” I said.

“My greetings,” she said, edging sideways. “Pardon.” With a quick arm gesture that was probably polite — one to her chest and three outward — she hurried off to stand in line. Everyone else was staring.

I’ve been stared at plenty in my time, so this was only a little awkward. I waved. Small windows that I hadn’t noticed in the walls flickered with passing shadows.

Chirp said, “I apologize for the Air-grabbers. They hardly make a visit pleasant.”

“Is there any way to ask them nicely to leave?” I asked. “I assume you’re tried discussing it with their leaders?”

“Many times.” Chirp looked tired. “They don’t care. As far as they’re concerned, the air is their territory, and it’s our poor luck that we have to breathe it.”

“How rude,” I murmured, not wanting to cast judgement on an alien culture. But my present audience more than agreed.

“Yes, they are very rude,” Chirp said, working up to a proper rant. “Shouting at them does no good, since they just find it funny. Bad weather will make them leave, but that’s a problem for us too, and hardly something we can conjure up on a whim. Though they did seem to dislike the sound of the wind through the observatory when half the windows were left open; that we could probably do on purpose. Not very helpful here, though.”

“What kind of sound was it?” I asked, half an idea forming.

“A very high shriek,” he told me. “Almost too high to hear. The wind did some strange things with those windows.”

“I wonder if you could ward them off with noise,” I said.

“Maybe,” he said, not sounding terribly optimistic. “Like I said, yelling doesn’t help, and that’s loud too.”

Somebody else scrambled through the door, complaining. This guy didn’t even see me, just slamming the door and hurrying forward like he was ready to have words with whoever was in charge here. Maybe he was. More shadows passed over the windows.

“Can I try something?” I asked. “A quick loud noise? I’ll do it outside.”

He looked curious at that. “Go ahead. Just make sure not to startle anyone on the handpaths nearby.”

“Of course,” I said. Then I turned my back on the staring eyes, opened the door, and stepped out to where I could stand up to my full height.

No Tree-grabbers nearby. Perfect. I put two fingers in my mouth and let loose with the most ear-piercing whistle I could muster.

Startled bats changed course in midair, flapping and diving to get away, a cloud of chattering alarm and confusion. Judging by the shadows, some of the ones from above had lifted off as well.

I watched for a moment to see that they kept their distance, then I ducked back inside.

“That seemed to work,” I told Chirp.

Chirp was rubbing his ear. “I’m not surprised. Very loud. How well did it work?”

I waved him outside to take a look for himself. He perked up when he saw how far the Air-grabbers had moved back. “That’s the best result I’ve seen yet! I’m sure some of it might be from the surprise of it all, but even so.”

“You said the wind shriek was almost too high to hear,” I said. “Do you think the Air-grabbers can hear sounds that you can’t quite pick up?” Their ears were bigger, but what did I know?

“Now that,” Chirp said decisively, “Is an idea worth pursuing.”

“So there’s this animal on my planet called a dog,” I said. “And a certain kind of whistle that only they can hear…”

By the time my tour was over, I had a representative of the city very interested in having us deliver some offworld noise-makers that might help them keep the peace.

(The rest of the tour was nice; they had some impressive architecture inside those cactuses, and everyone greeted me politely. I didn’t fall off the side once.)

When I climbed back up the ladder to the landing pad, taking care not to focus on the long drop behind me, I was surprised to find a handful of Air-grabbers perched there in conversation with the captain.

Chirp made a disapproving grunt, but said nothing as we walked over.

“Ah, welcome back!” Captain Sunlight said to me. “It looks like our next visit will involve a delivery of fruit to the other above-ground city in these parts.”

The Air-grabber in front smiled with sharp teeth. “Ours is the best.”

“As you say,” Captain Sunlight agreed politely.

“We will need the items delivered directly to an entrance,” said the Air-grabber. “Not to the high ground. Is that something you can do?”

Chirp muttered something that sounded like “Knew it.”

“I’m sure we can manage that,” Captain Sunlight said. “Our ship has some very stable thrusters, and talented pilots. And, failing that—” She looked at me. “Someone experienced with antigrav belts and high places.”

I chuckled and turned off the safety. “That you do.”

~~~

There's an exciting mini-project coming out next week! Details here!

~~~

These are the ongoing backstory adventures of the main character from this book.

Shared early on Patreon! There’s even a free tier to get them on the same day as the rest of the world.

The sequel novel is in progress (and will include characters from these stories. I hadn’t thought all of them up when I wrote the first book, but they’re too much fun to leave out of the second).

#a few people wanted to see what would happen when the crew came back here #maybe learn more about the aliens #whyever not #they're interesting #ALSO check out that link about the mini-project #I'll post more about that soon #very excited #my writing #The Token Human #humans are weird #humans are space orcs #haso #hfy #eiad #writeblr

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chatlote · 2 months ago

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It's my birthday again!

A year ago I started working on this comic about Akechi's birthday post-canon, and now I am almost done with all 18 pages!

I will release it both digitally and physically, and do an interest check about it soon <3

#my art #shuake #wont tag it as anything else for now but I'm very excited about this project #i wanted to release it already on my bday but welllll #i have high standards for the art since im going to print it

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owl-bones · 3 months ago

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one of the greatest temptations i feel is to write a mafia au nightmare x reader fic

but i am held back by the sheer number of scenarios i've developed in my mind about that and which i would want to commit to

#i have. SO many different meet cutes in my brain just for mafia nightmare #but also. so many other ongoing projects sDFKJDSLJFDSL #but also......... yolo..... write all the fics you want........ follow the motivation and inspiration where it leads you..............#but anyway this haunts me #i want to write it but. WHICH ONE #also vampire au. and other aus. i have. so many things i want to write about this man #(also i am currently writing the next chapter of hiraeth. i am being. so slow about it though. BUT I AM WRITING IT!! and i am very excited #to get to post it with the chapter cover val drew <3)

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mbohjeezart · 1 year ago

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Courtesy of Gem calling them the Arizona Dad Trio in her first HC10 stream

#art #hermitcraft #hermitcraft smp #fanart #hermitcraft fanart #tangotek #tango hermitcraft #impulsesv #hermitcraft s10 #skizzleman #hermitcraft tango #tango tek #geminitay #I only tag gem because I know she has tumblr and this is a tribute to her saying that XD It's very true too #this is also a very quick thing in between a bigger project I can't talk about yet!#Very excited for that one

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amy-issen · 24 days ago

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[divinity says "destiny can't be earned or returned" / i feel when i question my skin starts to burn]

xi. the hanged man. upright: perspective, contemplation, martyrdom reversed: standstill, selfishness, needless sacrifice

here's part 1/8 of a 911 tarot card project i'm working on!! i want to make a card for each main character :) started with bobby because the image of him being the hanged man was really clear in my mind

#911 abc #bobby nash #911 fanart #tarot art #my art #very excited about this project!!! eddie is being worked on as we speak #would love to hear guesses on who's gonna be what card lmao

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sysig · 1 year ago

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Simon Petrikov is a service top and you can fight me about it (Patreon)

#My art #Adventure Time #Fionna and Cake #Winter King #Simon Petrikov #Winterkov #Shitpost #Only the highest tier shitposts around these parts lol #I mean really he's a switch but those two are not mutually exclusive so it's fine lol #Just wait til you hear my Winter headcanons I am playing 5D chess with him lol #I did write a scratch comic about it but hmmmmm Hmmmmmmmm #Lol anyway ♪#This was meant to be a warmup project for me to pick at while I worked on Requestobers and then I finished it by Day 3 lol #So uh - excitement and all that lol #I did have a lot of fun with that BG tho lol which I like never say! But I did I had fun!#The colours are some of my favourites so that helps and all the sparklies ♪ Very enjoyable :)#And making Simon's reflection was easy-peasy too so just! It all fell together smoothly :D #The fact that people are already making BDG as Winter King videos and the like delights me so much #There's just so much to draw from! No pun intended lol #Winter just completely baffled as to why one of them - but not him?? - would take the lead over the other #Aren't they both Simon?? (Are they?) Or if not that - he's Winter!#All those cheeky waist-grabs have to count for something don't they!#Of course they do ♪ Hehehe

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ferronickel · 2 months ago

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So I uh... had Looking Glasses Parts 1 & 2 printed.

I've always intended to print out the comic, and as I was recently in a position to show it to a number of comics professionals, I thought now was as good a time as any. (Alas, it did not arrive in time for my trip, but it's here now!) It's so cool to be able to hold two years worth of work in my hands, I'm so happy with how it turned out!

I also made some other LG prints! I've really wanted a print of the B-movie poster ever since I made it. I'll have to set up an etsy or something if anyone wants some Looking Glasses art for their walls.

Here's the deal with the book. I printed fifteen copies, ten of which I'd like to give away to readers. I can't sell them, because they're fanfiction, and I can't ethically sell fanfic. Currently my plan is that if you're interested in a copy of the book, please fill out this form. I'll randomly pick from those people and ask that they pay for shipping (because this has already been an absurdly expensive endeavor). If you're sad about missing out on a copy of the book, don't worry, I will be doing a much larger print run when the comic is finished.

Interior shots of the books under the cut

#looking glasses #deltarune #ferrousart #utdr #Some of you already saw these on my stream #but I finally decided how I want to handle distributing these so I figured it was time to post about it #this was a very exciting and frustrating project for me #the printer I used was perhaps the least communicative it is possible to be and getting any information from them was a nightmare #but the product turned out great!#it looks truly lovely and is so cool to hold in your hands

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centaurianthropology · 25 days ago

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Things I Will be Obnoxious About: Project Ghostlight

Hi all! Remember a few years ago (or maybe you don’t; maybe you’re new or maybe you have retrograde amnesia) when I spent a healthy while banging on about a Vampire: The Masquerade live-play series called ‘New York by Night’?

Yeah, I still love that show, but unfortunately for me and for the team that made it, the real world very much happened, and they weren’t able to continue the series as they had planned. That show is now on a more-or-less indefinite hiatus. From what I’ve gathered, the will is very much there in both the cast and crew to return to do season 3 (and fingers crossed, maybe more!), but not only are schedules hard to wrangle for four busy players, but the show was initially budgeted to have the first three seasons filmed over the course of a month, something which didn’t happen. So now spinning it up would necessarily require an increase in funding first just to get it off the ground again. So, yes, complications. Unfortunate, unavoidable complications.

Oh, and by the way, how did I know about that tidbit about funding?

I learned it from the very first large drop from ‘Project Ghostlight’. This is a now-forming new Vampire chronicle (a long-form game for folks who aren’t as up on the terminology specific to this series of TTRPGs) that formed when the cast of season 1 (my beloved) desperately wanted to keep playing together, but didn’t have a venue or the time to do so without making it a more formal thing than a get-together at someone’s house once a month. Named after the single light always left burning in a theatre when all other lights are out and the building is empty between performances, Ghostlight is four people who ended up being close friends just wanting to keep hanging out and making spooky things together. And they are bringing in friends!

We don’t know about setting, characters, or much of anything yet, as everything is still early days, but the cast and crew are currently as follows:

Alexander Ward – Storyteller (that’s GM to those folks in the D&D world)

Joey Rassool – Director and Producer (and hopefully also sometimes player?? I thought he was one of the big breakouts of season 1 NYbN, and was hugely impressed with his playstyle)

Aabria Iyengar - Player

Mayanna Berrin – Player

Xander Jeanneret – Player

Gina DeVivo – Player

Luis Carazo – Player

For those in the TTRPG space, I don’t need to tell you that cast is stacked, and it’s stacked with veterans of both NYbN and its predecessor LA by Night. These are the announced players so far, and it’s not clear (maybe not even to them) if they’ll bring in guests or keep to this main cast, but no matter what this is the sort of cast and crew that made me sit up and notice. This is a cast and crew made of some of my favorite people in the TTRPG scene, and clearly people selected for their ability to really lean into the terrible choices and darker tone of VtM.

And even before they’ve fully spooled their new chronicle up, we’re getting treats over on their Patreon. The first, which I have already watched through several times and makes me so very happy, is essentially a postmortem of season 1 (and a little 2) of New York by Night by all four players, moderated by season 2 player (and Ghostlight player) Xander Jeanneret. They clearly love the show and their characters, and clearly want to get back to it, but there also seems to be a not-unwarranted concern that season 3 simply might never happen.

So this panel gives us a LOT of information about their characters, motivations, plans, and behind the scenes peeks at how the players were going about the game in season 1. There are spoilers for a lot of stuff I had sort of suspected, and plenty of stuff I hadn’t, which was thrilling. I was definitely wrong about certain character motivations! What fun! It’s an hour and a half long, and such a lovely look at how these four met, became friends, made a lightning-in-a-bottle season of a TTRPG show, and never lost the itch to play again. It’s an immensely satisfying and somewhat bittersweet revisit of one of my favorite TTRPG projects. It’s so wonderful to see all four of them together again, and how well Xander meshes with the group.

So, yes, this is a warning that I’m going to very likely be obnoxious about this show once it goes up. This is also encouragement for those of you who enjoyed NYbN, Vampire: the Masquerade, spooks, goth shit, or even just TTRPGs and you’re interested in a new system, to throw a little bit of love toward the Patreon, and if you can’t do that, to stay tuned for Ghostlight and get hyped with me.

And maybe, if you haven’t, to check out New York by Night in the meantime. It may be on indefinite hiaitus, but it’s really fun. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I fully intend to rewatch season 1 of New York by Night with the information I now have about all the characters. I’m excited to see if I catch nuances I missed the first time through.

#Project Ghostlight #New York by Night #NYbN #alexander ward #joey rassool #aabria iyengar #mayanna berrin #xander jeanneret #gina devivo #luis carazo #so very excited about this #and yes #the Patreon is well worth it even just for access to the retrospective #support the creatives you enjoy

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knockknockknockingonhootysdoor · 2 years ago

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if the hexsquad need anything from hunter while he is at work, amity is the only one allowed in.

#the owl house #toh fanart #hunter toh #willow park #huntlow #gwen clawthorne #sketchbook #my art #luz and king are banned bc they tend to explore the shop. distracting hunter while he tries to wrangle them #gus is banned bc hunter gets excited about showing him around and talking abt all of his projects #willow is banned for very obvious reasons. she is a menace (affectionate)

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secriden · 3 months ago

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Everything about Style is just driving me feral with want to have THK right now, immediately.

The way he's all big, bold gestures and confident swagger; the way his introduction includes a literal arms-wide-open welcome. The overalls unbuttoned until nearly the middle of his chest and how he's the only one in the main cast to be (literally) this uncovered (everyone else has 2-3 layers on).

I wonder if this hints to how vulnerable his character is, narratively speaking: how he potentially is the one that starts out with the least information (apparently Kant doesn't tell him who Fadel and Bison are when he makes that deal with Style?); how he may be the least physically familiar with violence because he's just a mechanic (vs Kant's background with crime/the police. Also the way in the trailer Style is constantly in shock when Fadel does something violent around him); how he chooses with his heart even after he finds out the full truth about Fadel ("You know I know everything").

When he describes his life, it's so... innocent? We get a snapshot of what he thinks his life is about and it's: fixing cars, collecting vintage cars, bowling and hanging out with his best friend. Every other character's answers are layers of subterfuge and double meanings but Style's answers create such a contrast by being so unfiltered. This is a character that (at least at this point) is guileless and without agenda.

I'm so excited to see Style pursing Fadel. I'm so excited to see Fadel try to remain stoic and unmoved in the face of Style's unabashed interest and enthusiastic flirting. I'm excited to discover why Style goes from attraction to being willing to risk it all for Fadel.

But also -- in a very different way than what Kant will doubtless be to Bison -- I'm excited to see how Style will become an escape for Fadel. Fadel, who just wants to sleep for 25 hours (he's so exhausted) and live a normal life, maybe open a restaurant that isn't just a front and a cover for the illicit job he maybe no longer wants, who enjoys solitude but wants to find someone to spend it with (he sounds so desperately lonely, my heart breaks for him).

Someone uncomplicated, who lives life fully, who isn't afraid to go for what he wants and who wears his heart on his sleeve.

In less than 5 minutes, this interview shows us the ways they could fit together like missing puzzle pieces, and I am so, so excited to see it fall apart and come together.

#the heart killers #thk interviews #style sattawat #fadel #fadelstyle #style sattawat meta #thk meta #hui talks thk #hui talks thai bl #also can we talk about how well both joong and dunk embody their characters??#dunk doesn't normally SIT this way when he's in interviews #he's much more relaxed and calm overall and doesn't use as much inflections unless he gets really excited #but all his mannerisms feel in character (or at least true to the Style we see in the trailer)#joong too -- the way he slouches and the almost disinterested air he's projecting #like Fadel doesn't really want to be doing this interview (bc ofc he wouldn't)#the way he keeps defaulting back to linking his hands together like he's got something to hide #his body language is so defensive and all his answers look like they're extremely calculated and thought through #joong is rarely this still in a real interview so this feels very distinctly like a character choice #joongdunk #joong archen #dunk natachai #and even if i wind up being horribly wrong about all of this i'm still so grateful for what we got already and what we will get in THK #as long as they don't end broken up although thats what fanfics are for so even that wouldn't be the end of the world to me xD #also someone please yell with me about how pretty the tiny bit of eyeshadow they added to dunk's eyes makes him look AHHHHH

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