#wanted to use a book picture instead of a show picture since they exist and actually managed 👍

[your-fave-is-christian]

Lockwood from Lockwood & Co

Anthony Lockwood from Lockwood & Co is Christian!

[eluxcastar]

The little sisterfication of Signora

── ୨୧：la signora & reader

୨୧﹑synopsis :: we're back with the little sibling headcanons let's GOOO

୨୧﹑genre :: fluff

୨୧﹑content :: gn reader, young signora, use of signora’s real name, it's more ambiguous how much older reader is, not proofread

୨୧﹑words :: 1.1k

this has been planned for so long, but I struggle SO bad writing Signora tbh Idk why it's not like I don't know how to write arrogant anguished women. I love arrogant anguished women 😭 while I'm on that thought I came to the realisation reader is probably dead with Rostam which was just what I wanted to think. BUT BUT I DID try to sneak some details in so it can still be cute cough witch's flower of blaze

it feels weird every time I use their real names but also calling them by titles when we know their names feels wrong because if it's from the perspective of their sibling who would know and use their name 😔 I think because I'm not used to it I'm like who the hell is MILBURN PENNYBAGS that's PULCINELLA (I had to look up the Monopoly man's name for that joke you BETTER laugh)

all little siblingification posts

Rosalyne was, as children are, young and interested in learning, eager but never quite aware. She loved to trail along by your side as you took her up the mountains to find a patch of flowers, at which point she would plop down in the grass and get to work making herself a flower crown with an extra one so you could match. Since your mother taught her the secret, she had happily taken to it and off to the races she was, linking flowers and matching colours in pursuit of the prettiest arrangement she could make to be her crown.

She long ago decided that Windwheel Asters are among the best, with an interesting shape and fiery red to contrast her blonde hair. Calla Lilies have a similar colour but a bad shape for flower crowns, and Cecilias are too pale to stand out the way she'd like them to. Windwheel Asters are bold and show off her hard work better than any delicate flower could.

Of course, that means she must also find the perfect flower for you, and that's hard work, but she'll never stop trying. Rosalyne read in a book about an extinct flower called the Padisarah, a beautiful purple flower that even the Dendro Archon couldn't perfectly replicate, and decided it would've been perfect for you if it still existed. You suspect that it's only because she can't have it that she wants it, the allure of something mystical that exists only in the imagination.

She settles instead on the legends of a Liyue flower that blooms at the sound of beautiful music—Glaze Lily or something to that tune. Each time Rosalyne makes a flower crown for you with the next best thing she can find, she claims that one day she'll travel to Liyue, and when she does, she'll bring you back one to see how pretty they are as if she has some greater understanding looking at the same picture in her book as you did. Maybe she does.

There is no dream too big, not for Rosalyne. She is desperate for your approval at every turn and wants you to think she's as cool as she thinks you are. She wants to hear you smile with her despite seeming so far away at times. Her phase of being petty and squabbling with you is over at last, and she seeks the comfort of the one person she looks up to more than anybody for a guiding star to turn to—you.

Your parents are both far away future ideals for an older Rosalyne to aspire to be, maybe with that boy she likes, but you are not so distant. You're like her, if only older and barely wiser. She sees all that she wants in you, and it makes her look up to your guidance above all else. Her parents are the annoying rule makers who preside over her life and ruin her fun; you're the fun troublemaker who sleazes the both of you past the city guards and takes her headfirst into the danger of the mountains just so she can play.

Rosalyne thinks of an ambitious future, and your parents tell her to be careful; you tell her to chase it. Become a scholar and do as she pleases. She's more inclined towards your indulgent way of thinking. You have yet to stifle the burning passion she holds but recognise it, and in your mind, it's about as cool as dragons could ever be. It is not the worrisome uncertainty of instability and hardship that your parents think it is.

Her heart is set in a far-off place—Sumeru, the Akademiya, where she feels everything will fall into place like a fairytale. Rosalyne has it all figured out, down to the number of boys she'll reject in pursuit of that boy she has had a crush on since she was twelve.

Even you're not privy to that, subject to Rosalyne quickly closing her diary or turning away from you, hiding the gifts she managed to get him and letters she wrote out but never could quite work up the nerve to send. It used to be only one of the many instances that would have her yelling at you not to snoop, though it has dwindled to being only one of the very few instances, save for accidentally discovering her in the process of procuring your birthday gifts.

It used to be that you would be searching for your missing things, a few of which had disappeared suspiciously close to your birthday and were found the moment you were proudly presented those very items as gifts from your little sister, sometimes with a daring tale of how she acquired it for you. Most of the time, you acted surprised and grateful, maybe even added a comment about how you were glad you didn't have to get a new one since Rosalyne had gone out and done it for you. You hid your annoyance at her habit of stealing your things behind thoughts of how cute your mother thought it was that Rosalyne didn't want to be left out of getting to give you something.

Rosalyne does, however, realise the possible benefit of asking for your help with this boy once she gets over the embarrassment-driven beet-red cheeks and yelling at you. You cannot find her boy and drag him by the ear to her, but you could help her write a letter to him or teach her to wrap that gift she was holding onto. You can do any number of things to help her chances— except talk to him. You can't do that, or you'll give it away with that big mouth of yours.

You're not quite sure how she came to that conclusion.

Her acceptance to the Akademiya came all too quickly. Years seemed to fly by, and her quirks evened out into a young woman your parents were more comfortable sending away to another nation. Their fears of her immaturity and fiery passion dragging her down settled as she did. By the time you were ready to send her away, the encroaching elegance you had seen forming in her younger self blossomed until she carried herself with more confidence and grace than ever. 

Like your parents, you are ready to watch her pursue that dream and come home to see the boy she likes still waiting for her. You make sure she knows you'll be there too, maybe even come visit every now and then and see Sumeru for yourself.

As she leaves, you reveal what you've been hiding for her—a single red flower. You're not as practised at the art of making flower crowns, but you found her this. This is all you can offer that she can carry with her until it wilts away.

CROSSPOSTED ON AO3

[real-fire-emblem-takes]

I got a break from work so I’m gonna write this.

Hi, I was the anon that wrote about dimidue and emblaskr (guess that’s the ship name) earlier and the problematic biases underlining both (moreso with Askr and Embla).

Also, I absolutely do not hate Askr, he’s my favorite character, but I did want to hide my identity in that previous take as much as possible since Embla’s a pretty popular character. But it was cowardly of me. The rest of this post is going to elaborate on why Emblaskr is problematic and reflects racist trends in the media.

If Embla truly loved Askr, she would have never tried to hurt him so gravely. Invading his kingdom, trying to kill everyone he holds dear…that isn’t love. That’s obsession, jealousy, selfishness. When he died, I believe it was less that she cared about him, but more that she lost the chance to have someone unfailingly caring about her again. It’s a matter of possession and satisfaction. She can’t have Askr. When she dies she calls out his name, but again that reinforces not her love for him, but her desire to not be alone. It is inherently selfish because even as she dies she thinks only of how she is affected. She laments being alone, not how she cares about Askr. If she cared about him, would she have ever tried to commit such terrible acts of violence and hatred against him? Never in the story do we see her atone, see her feel guilt.

Embla is all about control. Controlling her people, controlling those that go to Askr, controlling Askr even. Because she doesn’t want him to be happier than her. She wants him at her level.

TV Tropes has an article called the Black Best Friend. Askr isn’t confirmed as black, but he is a poc character, and this trope can affect non-black poc as well. The details of this trope are quite similar to how Askr is. For the sake of length I’ll only go through a few.

Askr “is used simply as a means to make the white character look better.“ Without him, Embla would never have received her Freudian excuse. She would have been the equivalent of Surtr without Askr’s existence.

Askr is “flawless to the point of being unreal.“ He is unimaginably perfect. He has no flaws, no deep seated issues to speak of. One can argue he may not have been a good listener to Embla in their flashback, but the problem is that this isn’t an issue that is talked about or delved into. He is also a bit oblivious, but again, this is ignored. It would have been great if Bruno called Askr out for his ignorance and seeming apathy, but it doesn’t happen. What about how he and his sister suffered due to Embla’s bitterness? I would have loved Bruno calling Askr out for trying to paint a sympathetic picture of Embla in front of him, since his life was ruined by and ultimately taken by her later on. And I would have loved if Askr reflected on that, apologized, and realized that he himself does not deserve to be the long-suffering supporter of a woman who hates him and wants to destroy everything and everyone he loves. But this doesn’t happen, and Askr is glossed over to be genetically perfect. We can brush him aside so we can focus on more of Embla. This isn’t good treatment of Askr. Actively ignoring facets of his character to make him bland and generic compared to the “deep” and “complex” Embla is just a symptom of racism, in trying to make sure he doesn’t overshadow her.

Askr “revolves almost entirely around a white character.” (Found in the laconic tab). As before, he is merely focused on the white Embla. He should have been a prominent character on his own, but he is instead quickly killed off (see another familiar trope on the website, Black Dude Dies First). Askr is the first prominent casualty of the book on top of having less screen time than any of the other ocs. We even see Letizia more than him, alive at least. The following times he shows up is in her memories. He provides even more development and focus for Embla!

Askr only exists to uplift the Embla, to carry her trauma and help her process it, and to no benefit of his own. She belittles him, threatens violence against him, and it’s seen as…romantic? The white female character actively engaging in war viciously attacking him and emotionally abusing him is…romantic? If this was a relationship that existed in real life, Askr would be considered a victim of abuse. And there are relationships like this in real life, sadly enough. Embla is capable of her actions and I’m sick of seeing her woobiefied by parts of the fan base. And it is her own fault that she refuses to see past her flaws. She is long past being a victim. It is not Askr’s job to handle her emotional maturity and make her better. Embla is trying to, once again, COMMIT GENOCIDE. Against HIS people! He absolutely does not need to show her kindness, nor does he need to coddle her when HE is the victim! And the audacity to imply that Askr gaining independence and being strong enough to advocate for his worth and safety is “selfish”? (Speaking to the anon whose take was a response to mine). That is wrong on so many levels.

Most of the time, nonwhite characters in media have to be paragons to be even remotely palatable to the fan base. But white characters (most often men, but sometimes women) are often given more excuses for their actions. They can be war criminals. They can be violent and petty and make mistakes. And it is absolutely problematic to DEMAND Askr be there for Embla at all times at the expense of his own mental health. What about his suffering? His pain of being cast aside? The stress he must feel over having to be perfect because if he makes ONE mistake, she snaps? Because that’s what happened! One little misunderstanding and she was lost to her own wickedness. That is frightening to think about, and shows she really was never good. She just had the privilege of being surrounded by goodness and allowed to hide in its light. It is unbelievably disgusting and unrealistic to expect someone to be unfailingly devoted as they are repeatedly broken down by someone who supposedly “loves” them.

.

[everybody-loves-purdy]

The thing is, they've really narrowed it down to 3 (arguably 2 because I genuinely don't think at any point have they honestly considered making it mothwing its just that shes the medicine cat and the only well established character so inherently important to this narrative about riverclan from a med apprentice's pov) options, and while there's a timeline out there where I could believe Frostpaw to bwcome leader... it really doesn't feel like this is it?

She's so far not showing ANY leader qualities in this, the final book, where you would think that's what they would do after she's gone on so many journeys. They had all of last book where they didn't seem to really know what to do to also establish it. And last book instead actually spent time... reestablishing her as a medicine cat? Unless this book throws out everything they've established so far and wastes her journey and has riverclan themselves choose her in a moment of bravery, I don't see her becoming leader.

The only realistic out of left field pick at this point is Dusk, though, and she is shown to be extra old and conservative, but I can see them pulling a character arc out of nowhere for her in this book since we haven't spent much time with her but have established her as existing.

I don't know if Icewing going away was so they could establish her as a character in ivypool's heart to make people root for her more and they just didn't think of the timeline, but I do think the preview has established this last book is likely going to be fast paced. (But they say the cats are only going to be gone a few days idk if thats another miscommunication between authors or setting up for the clans to worry about them not returning) or if it was to remove her from the picture? I think she'll be deputy if nothing else. I think she's the cat that they want us to think will be picked but the journey feels like it's removing her as an option.

I think that prologue, if the last chapter of last book didn't, and the comments about him so far have thoroughly established they arent gonna pull anything to say splashtail is the best option her just had to get over a bumpy beginning, though. Thats not actions they typically let cats recover from and theyre already saying he's just evil.

And the rest of riverclan have become the scared masses so unless a cat suddenly rises drom their rank I think all riverclan cats stoll in camp are being dismissed as options. Theyve certainly made sure it feels like frostpaw would never choose them evern if someone stood out among them with her even getting mad at the cats who got exciled for not standing up sooner.

Yeah I don't know, either this book's pacing is going to be insane and ignoring prior character development to get frostpaw where she needs to be, a mess to get icewing back in time, or to just pull a name out of a hat. It really feels like... they were super excited to make it impossible to guess until it happens but in the process have just straight up elliminated every option.

So I'm rooting for owlnose to get a second chance cause he feels as viable as anyone else at this point. Erins did their best to establish options but did even better at eliminating them as options and its entirely up in the air until we get to the choice on page.

It's by far my one major criticism of this arc, I feel like with 6 books either the options should have a stronger foundation for their possibility or we should already have such a strong idea its just a matter of showing them off by defeating splashtail at this point. It feels like they retroactively wasted the last book that was kind of filler in all honesty not doing this.

(And like i know you feel strongly about frostpaw being the winner but honestly itnfeels less like its because it makes sense as an option and more that there are no otherboptions as I said, imo)

This is a really good analysis on the whole thing.

I think the best way to explain my main reasoning behind Frostpaw becoming leader is through hope and also the quote

“Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”

Frostpaw is my number one leadership candidate largely because of a lack of better or eligible candidates. Icewing is close second but that is reliant on her being back from her Ivypool’s Heart quest in decent time. I do hope she becomes deputy at least though. Duskfur being antagonistic in the first half of the arc holds her back for me, although there is still time for that to be addressed and solved. And I really think Mothwing would be very unhappy with having to get nine lives and become leader and always have to answer to StarClan.

I think so far Frostpaw has shown herself to be suitably courageous and able to stand up for what she believes is right. She just hasn’t had many moments of displaying leadership yet, but she did organise the group at the start of Star, so I’m hoping, if she is to become leader, Star is used to establish her ability to take charge and actually lead cats prior to this. Maybe then and only then would Riverstar was maybe like “yeah I want you to be leader, I was just waiting for you to be ready”

I think it would be cool if she was always destined for leadership in her clan but her mother took a sledgehammer to that destiny and now Frostpaw has to develop these qualities quicker than she ever should have under normal circumstances in order to fulfil that destiny. But this is just purely a hopeful theory/idea and not at all established in the books thus far.

Like you say this whole thing is more of just “ok who is actually somewhat likely to become leader” rather than picking out a stand out candidate. Except Icewing of course, but again like you say, it looks like Star is going to move very quickly so I doubt she will get back in time, I saw someone calculate that the Ivypool’s Heart crew are gone about a moon. Which seems like a very long time. I feel like she could pop back up right at the end potentially, but I wouldn’t want her just to stroll in and get leadership almost immediately by default, I would want her to prove herself first.

[mykingdomforapen]

more adventures of Frog Guang

(a drabble from the universe of my fic, courage of stars)

-

Lu Guang had proudly named his pet frog Milk Toast. He cultivated a comfortably damp environment for him in his enormous tank and added new leaves almost daily for wont of something to do to spoil his new friend. 

The first day he went to school after his birthday was the most he ever spoken since the beginning of the school year. He told everyone who was willing to listen that he had a new pet frog. The girls shivered until he told them that the frog’s name was Milk Toast, which made them coo. The boys demanded proof of the frog’s existence, and then bombarded him with so many questions that he almost regretted telling them anything. What color was his webbed feet? How long was his tongue? Does he eat flies? Does he ribbit? How high can he jump? Ten centimeters? Fifty? 

He rushed home from school every day to spend time with Milk Toast, which usually took the form of reading books out loud to him. Lu Guang read his frog books out loud, in case Milk Toast was curious what humans liked to say about his kind. He charged Yeye and Maamaa to let him do all the feeding, so that he could choose the best-looking crickets to set into the tank. The crickets were a considerable match for Milk Toast, and Lu Guang stared approvingly as his tiny frog hunted viciously for the insect larger than the size of his head. 

During art class, Lu Guang drew pictures of Milk Toast every time. Whether they used crayons, marker, colored pencils, watercolor, or cut-out pieces of colored paper, Lu Guang created rendition after rendition of Milk Toast. Even when the art teacher asked if Lu Guang would draw flowers, he added Milk Toast on a leaf. When tasked to draw a portrait of little Mei, his desk mate, Lu Guang snuck Milk Toast onto her shoulder, which she did not appreciate as much as he thought she would. 

After school, Lu Guang showed the drawings to Milk Toast through the glass of the tank, as he was fairly certain that at least Milk Toast would appreciate the effort he put into his art pieces. 

“That’s you,” Lu Guang said helpfully as he pointed to the blueish blob with bulging eyes. Milk Toast stared ahead, his little throat puffing rhythmically. 

“This is you too,” Lu Guang said, showing another drawing. “And this is me.”

He pointed to a drawing of himself, who was roughly the same size as the frog and with skinny lines as limbs. Milk Toast shifted in his place, which Lu Guang took as interest. He propped it against the glass so that Milk Toast could continue to admire it.

“This is you with Qi Mei,” said Lu Guang, showing him the portrait of his classmate. “I asked her if she wanted to keep it and she said no, so I think you should have it instead.” 

“Guangguang, it’s dinner!” Maamaa called out. “Hurry and wash your hands.” 

Lu Guang added another new leaf into the tank as a treat before shuffling off to dutifully wash his hands while his grandmother set the table. He toddled to his usual place, next to Yeye, and saw that the table was set for three. 

“What about Ma and Ba?” Lu Guang asked. 

“Ma and Ba are very busy at the library right now,” Maamaa said. “They’ll eat dinner later.” 

“Can I eat dinner with them?” Lu Guang asked. 

Maamaa pursed her lips as she scooped a mound of rice into Lu Guang’s bowl. 

“They won’t be back until you’re getting ready for bed,” she said with a sigh. “Come on, before it gets cold. I worked hard to cook you a good dinner.” 

Lu Guang hid his disappointment by shoveling rice into his mouth. Yeye stroked the back of his head, his hand strong and ticklish. 

“Come on, have some fish,” said Yeye. 

He scooped a large portion of fish onto Lu Guang’s bowl, and a healthy helping of garlic pea sprouts. He tactfully did not offer the frog legs that Maamaa had cooked for the grown-ups, and Lu Guang avoided eye contact with them. He was convinced that Milk Toast would be able to see whatever Lu Guang saw through his eyes, and he would be sorely disappointed if he knew what was going on in the dining room. 

“When will Ma and Ba be done going to the library every day?” Lu Guang asked. 

Maamaa’s eyes flashed with pity. 

“When you go into the fourth grade, little one,” she said.

Lu Guang’s shoulders sank lower. Fourth grade felt like an eternity. The fourth graders towered over him in the playground at school. They were so big and mature and they knew what fractions were. Lu Guang was right now in the first grade. Was he never going to have dinner with Ma and Ba again? 

Maamaa, snapped her chopsticks as she added tomato egg to Lu Guang’s bowl. 

“Eat more, Guangguang,” she ordered. 

He obeyed. After eating more than his fill in dinner, Lu Guang sat at his desk to finish his homework while Yeye walked him through the mathematics. Milk Toast had changed positions during dinner time, which cheered Lu Guang up. He spied on Milk Toast while the frog basked in low light. For the rest of the night, he rested his head in his arms as he watched Milk Toast up close, starry-eyed.

Even when Maamaa ushered him to bed and switched off his lights, Lu Guang crept back to the tank and spied on Milk Toast, watching the frog breathe, sit, and occasionally swim. By the time Ma and Ba came home, and Ma peeped open his bedroom door to spy on him, she found Lu Guang fast asleep at his desk, cheek pressed up against the glass. 

[prescriptionfiction]

            This is my favorite series of all time. I don’t say that lightly. I’m not exaggerating, lying, paid by the author, or faking it. This is my favorite book series. Out of all of the series I’ve read, this is it. So take this review with a grain of salt.

            The book, Cradle, follows a young man named Lindon, as he forges his own path through the Sacred Arts after being essentially treated as a major source of shame by his family. See, the magic system is pretty unique to western novels. It definitely draws a lot of inspiration from Wuxia, or the Chinese sword fantasy genre. Everything in the world is filled with Madra, the vital essence of existence itself. Fancy words but it all just boils down this: Madra is pretty much just mana. Fire Madra is the magical embodiment of fire. Fire-affinitied sacred artists can throw fire madra around like fireballs, burn stuff, you get the picture.

People follow a “Path” to practice the Sacred Arts, basically the techniques they practice and the madra they use. Simple enough. The real component that separates this from normal fantasy is that getting more powerful is a semi-linear path. Sacred Artists progress in stages, which denotes roughly how powerful they are and what advanced arts they can wield. A child with only pure, unaffiliated madra starts at the Foundation stage, then progresses to Copper, then Iron, Jade, etc. etc. This is a staple feature in progression novels and serves to be a very tangible method of scaling the characters. There’s a real sense of satisfaction to see characters grow measurably more powerful instead of just gaining some abstract abilities or whatever.

            The premise of the first book is pretty simple: Lindon is a resident of Sacred Valley, a large, secluded valley in the shadow of several mountains. No one comes in or out since the outside is overrun with terrible dangers, monsters, stuff like that. The valley is inhabited by 3 major factions, a few scattered people living alone in the wilderness, and several schools (sects) of the sacred arts on nearby mountaintops. Lindon was born into the Wei clan with next to no madra affinity, essentially meaning that it would take many resources (pills/elixirs/etc.) to boost his growth to that of a normal child’s, resources his clan doesn’t want to spend when they could use them to boost a normal child. Even his own parents see him as worthless at this point, forever doomed to be a source of shame to their family.

            I won’t go into much more detail than that for obvious reasons. I can say, though, the progression in this series is phenomenal. With character power progression, authors can fall into several types of pitfalls. If they make the character too weak or unimpactful, the reader gets bored. If they boost the character’s progression too much or too quickly, the conflict loses a lot of meaning and it overall just feels unearned, unrealistic, and just… easy. If the author mismatches two character’s power levels, it feels cheap and fake. For example, if an average city guard single-handedly fights off a dragon, you don’t really believe it, ya know? The power progression in this book is masterfully done. To keep things moving along, characters are given boosts outside of the norm but it never feels unearned or unrealistic. The gradual climb up the path is incredibly satisfying as a result.

            The characters are the final selling point before I quit rambling. The story occasionally switches perspectives, which is nice since it allows us to connect much more with the side characters. Everyone feels real and well thought out. They have goals, ambitions, hate, love, and more, and it shows. They feel believable and easy to connect with.

            Overall, I’m not even going to pretend this is an unbiased review. I really love this series, full stop. It has some issues but nothing can bring it down from the easiest 5-star rating I’ve ever given. Give it a shot. If you think it’s too slow, give it a while longer. It’s worth it, trust me.

[hellishattempt]

angst superache songs as relationships with the batboys pt 2

eee okay so the last one did really well so here's tim + damian !! you can also find part one here

sorry i'm late, loves! i know i said 10pm, and it's 11pm, but life happens. send requests, i'd love to write them <3

just like last time it's a gender neutral reader / no pronouns used.

memories - tim drake. your relationship with tim drake was never perfect, but it was exactly what you wanted it to be. but, things started to get rough. you two became the constant on again, off again couple. his disappearances and distance became too much to handle. you were exhausted from his "i'm sorry's" and poor excuses. although you loved him, you couldn't stay with him. now, it's been a couple months, and that's just about enough time for you to stop crying over all the pictures. now, you kinda... smile. you haven't felt like this in a while. all those pictures of you two in gotham's museums, wandering the same halls you knew like the back of your hand; of tim, hunched over his laptop on a desk full of papers, his hair ruffled and an empty cup of coffee next him; the ones with you lying in his lap at that same desk; the ones of him laying on top of you after long days. you broke up in february, and now it's april. it's late, and you hear the doorbell ringing, and it's pouring. the rain never stopped in gotham. opening the door, you see his blue eyes at the entrance. the irises are dark and vibrant, just as they always are. the whites of his eyes are still tired and bloodshot. he hasn't slept in four days, you can tell. "i just wanna talk," he says, and you can't turn away a wet dog. now you can't say goodbye, and he stays the whole night. it's hard to find the end to something that you keep beginning over and over again. "the ending always stays the same, tim! there's no good reason in make believing that we could ever exist again. i can't be your friend; i can't be your lover; i can't be the reason we hold back each other from falling in love with somebody other than me." you sound exhausted. tim starts to mumble another apology, and you can smell the alcohol on his breath. oh. he's drunk. great. you cut off the apology. "i just wish that you would stay in my memories, but you show up today just to ruin things. i wanna put you in the past, 'cause i'm traumatized, but you're not letting me do that!" he's drunk in your kitchen, curled in the fetal position. the alcohol not letting him see reason, instead, too busy playing the victim to be listening to you while you scream "i wish that you would stay in my memories!" he's not paying attention, and it's too late for you to deal with this. dragging a hand down your face, you help tim off the floor and lie him down on the couch. since he came, you have to let him stay. but only for as long as it takes to grab his books and his coat and that one good cologne that he bought when you were fighting. it's still on your clothes, and everything you own. "you made me feel like dying, tim. i was barely just surviving. we can't keep doing this." tim grabs your hand as you turn away, and mutters three words. "i'm red robin." you press your lips into a line. it made sense. all his disappearances. his distant words. the bruises. you can't make sense of anything right now, so you just leave him on your couch, muttering "i wish that you would stay in my memories."

people watching - damian wayne. damian was always the quieter of his family, and you tried not to let that bug you. he was in his head a lot, but that's how he dealt with things, so who were you to judge? you just wanted him to notice you, wanted him to talk to you and be interested in you, like you were in him. he never really did though, he was too busy being in his head. little did you know damian's thoughts centered on the very thing you wanted with him: a relationship. being the observant child he was, damian constantly stalked his older brother dick, in his pursuits to court barbara, aka oracle. her current situation of paralyzation didn't stop dick. he really loved her. damian pick up on certain things, like the way dick would say something that wasn't funny, but barbara laughed so hard she almost cried; they're counting months they've been together, almost forty nine. he makes fun of the way she acts around the holidays. she wears a ring, but they tell people that they're not engaged. they take a class together, metaphysical philosophy. dick says he likes her, 'cause she's so much smarter than him. they have talks about their futures until four am. and dami's happy for them. damian watches them with envy. he wants to feel all that love and emotion, be that attached to the person he's holding. someday he'll be falling, without caution, but for now? he's only people watching. he's watching dick and barbara, while you watch him. as much as the youngest wayne acts as though he doesn't notice your existence, he does. damian has chosen you to be his experiment of love. you're completely unaware of his intentions, but your obsession with the boy only grows as he actually attempts to make conversation with you. two days of awkward talks turn into two weeks of flirtation; two weeks of flirtation turn into two months of inside jokes. two months becomes six. six months become nine. soon, it's nearly been a year since you and damian began talking. you've spent eight of your eleven months as a couple. recently, however, damian's attitude towards you changed. something was off, and he was closing up in response. he was back in his head again. at the moment, you are on the couch in the titans tower, rewatching the first season of your favorite tv series. damian storms in, and stands in front of you, blocking the television. "i have a confession." that's the most words he's said to you since he started acting like this. immediately, you perk up to listen. "i'm only looking to live through you vicariously. i've never been in love, not seriously." damian's words are as distant as you are hurt. "what?" your voice broke. "i don't understand." damian sighs. wait, is he mad at you? he's trying to break up with you, and he's upset? "i don't love you. you were part of an experiment. i grew envious of grayson's attachment to gordon. i wanted something like that. you were so obviously infatuated with me that you were an easy target. you fell in love quickly, and it wasn't hard to fool you that i, too, attained the same feelings for you." you were sick at his words. how could he treat you so callously? like you were not a human with human emotions? that certainly wasn't a concept damian understood. "that's real shitty of you, damian. i had a dream about a house behind a picket fence, and i thought you were going to fulfill that dream." the wayne nearly shrugged. "next one you choose to trust with your heart, you should hope you'll use some common sense. i cut people out like tags on my clothing. you should've expected this." damian left without another word. he had such high hopes for you and him, but it just wasn't meant to be. people are nothing but itchy tags. sure, he ends up all alone, but inside, he still keeps hoping that he won't be scared to let someone know him. not like you did. life feels so monotone, but he still keeps hoping. that was the end of damian wayne's first and final relationship.

[twomiddlefingersforthehaters]

_Art Book of Naruto Uzumaki_ Part-3

This appeared on the front cover of the issue of Weekly Shonen Jump in which the serialization of Naruto began. I mainly wanted to establish that this character is a ninja and convey his personality by doing things like putting a leaf on his head, having him make a hand sign, making him look cheerful...but putting all these elements into one picture ended up making it appear jumbled. Also, I used a coloring pen called a COPIC marker here for the first time, and because I wasn't used to it yet, I colored little by little as if I were using a brush. As a result, the coloring came out oneven.

Here's another one I drew for a shonen jump commemorating the second anniversary of the Naruto series. Naruto's making peace signs, but holding up two fingers also represents the number 2, for the second anniversary (laugh). When I was drawing this picture my schedule was so tight that my editor suggested, "Maybe it'd be easier to do a design where Naruto is appearing out of smoke!" As it turned out. It was difficult drawing the right amount of smoke to cover Naruto's body (laugh). I just couldn't decide how much of Naruto should be hidden or visible, or how to show him emerging from the smoke. The bluish color of the smoke was used to make Naruto stand out. I usually use this kind of color scheme so that Naruto's orange outfit will "pop".

In this volume, Tsunade appears along with Jiraya and Orochimaru, and Naruto gets tangled up with them. So I drew those Three Legendary Ninja on the book cover. I put Naruto on the cover became I had to, more than for any other reason (laugh).

I wanted Naruto in some kind of pose, so after some agonizing, I had him make the formal greeting of the yakuza from the movie Jingi. I've seen many of the flims in the Jingi movie series, and I like those kinds of Japanese modes and customs. [ Jingi is a Yakuza series that describes humanity, justice, and moral relationships between a boss and his henchman, or a master and his pupil. ED]

This dragon head actually exists in China.

There's a dragon on top of the roof tiles of the wall of a house or something.

That image was so impressive to me that I wanted to put it on top of a roof, not just a wall.

The top of the roof tiles form the backbone of the dragon, and it connects the dragon's tail and face. Naruto and the other three on the roof are wearing sashes. Naruto's sash ties his sword to his back, and the wind is making all the sashes float on the air.

I created this piece based on the catchphrase "Hide your appearance, but don't hide your dream" (the winner of a catchphrase contest held by Weekly Shonen Jump in 2003). Naruto is hidden but his dream is not... I had a really hard time coming up with a composition that would express this idea while sticking to the Naruto style. Boy, this was a handful (laugh). [Naruto's banner reads "Number one under the sun! Hokage Naruto." -Ed.]

I wanted to draw Naruto's hands creating a sign, so l designed this to emphasize his hands. Also, I wanted to show the sign from the side instead of straight on. I like drawing hands, fingers and toes. But they're difficult...and I can't do them very well. Actually, I could've chosen at the beginning to have Naruto wear boots instead of sandals, but I picked sandals because I really wanted to draw toes. It's a major headache for the animators (laugh).

I actually like drawing animals, too. Partially because of Akira Toriyama-sensei's influence on me, I've always felt that a manga artist has to be good at drawing animals. So I've practiced them since junior high school. In this picture, I paid close attention to balancing the layout of the animals. I also wanted to draw some small object to spice up each animal, such as an apron for the dog, a hat for the tanuki (raccoon dog), a bandage for the monkey and a scroll for the weasel. But actually, the bird doesn't have anything... (laugh).

I spent a lot of time drawing this because it was for the cover of the first volume of Naruto. It took me a week just to do the rough draft and about a day and a half to color it. One reason it took so long to color is that I used gouache (a kind of opaque watercolor paint) I had had since college. I personally like gouache because you can use it to give a lot of depth to the colors. I ended up having to redraw the main lines with a precision pen because the paint covered them up. How's that for double work? (laugh).

[tnc-n3cl]

Zora Biology Headcanons

I've been meaning to do this for a while and here it is! In my fanfic, The Realm Walker, the Zora exist as a collection of closely related species, much like the Rito. These different species are denoted by the term Tribe. Like with my Rito Tribes, most Zora Tribes names come from taxonomy of various fish. Here I'll be talking about Zora Tribes and why Zora rulers get so damn big. Keep in mind that I'll be using screenshots from TotK which may contain spoilers. So if you don't want to see the spoilers, stop reading. [Yes I know it's been over a year since it came out, but I know there's some people out there who haven't finished it yet.]

King Dorephan, an example of the Balae (Ba-lay) Tribe. Notable for being rather sizable among the Zora, the Balae Tribe can be distinguished by the horizontal lines running across their body.

I didn't want to include non-fish, but it's clear just by looking at him that Dorephan is based on a baleen whale of some kind (and the Creating a Champion book confirms this) Balae is derived from Balaenoptera, the genus containing Blue Whales (cause Dorephan is blue and so damn big).

Sidon, a member of the Spyra Tribe. (Yes I know, Yona's in the picture, I'm getting to her, hold your horses.) Members of this tribe can be distinguished by the hammerhead protrusion on their forehead. All Zora possess the ability to sense the bioelectric fields of living creatures, and the Spyra Tribe possesses an enhanced version of this sense. Spyra is derived from Sphyrna, the genus of 8 out of 9 living hammerhead shark species.

Fronk and Mei, silly goobers these two. Mei disappearing for five days and Fronk not telling anyone. Their poor kids... (Like the reverse of Kass flying all over Hyrule while Amali's home alone with the Rainbow Fledglings. Nintendo what did you do to Kass?! Where is he?!?!)

... I'm okay now... Anywho, these two are members of the Zo Tribe.

[According to my fic, The Amnesiac Hero's Quest, it's five days between Mei running off the day before Link arrives in the Domain and when Fronk finally asks Link to go look for her. Gruve was stuck on top of the Lanayru Tower for a week!]

Here have a few more members of the Zo Tribe, one of the elder Zora and a couple guards. Most examples of Zora are of the Zo Tribe, like the Orni Tribe being most of the Rito we see in the game. Zo is just shortened Zora, unfortunately there's not a cool alternate name for the Zora unlike the Rito (Orni being one of the localizations of Rito).

Okay NOW I'll talk about Yona (and that old geezer Muzu). They're both members of the Mobu Tribe, notable for their wide heads and ray-like features. Some like Yona have horns, others don't (like Muzu). Mobu comes from Mobula, the genus containing Manta Rays.

Look at Muzu calling Harth, "Master Harth", he's gotten nice after all these years.

I love Yona, so here's some more pictures of her!

And her two attendants. Notice anything different about them? You may recall from the game that they're from outside the Domain... You may also know about the TotK Master Works revealing that Yona started off as a swordswoman...

A sneak peek of her sword that I'm working on based on said concept art. We don't have much to go on other than the handle, and I need to refine a few details, but when she shows up in my fic Yona will be kicking ass and taking names.

You can note that their jewelry has gold and purple instead of silver and blue like the Domain dwellers. Previously I've made mention of a metal used for Zora arms called Silvite, so the Other Domain likely uses... Goldite? No that's no good. Some other name, we'll see when I finish the sword.

Okay back to Zora biology... There's two more tribes that I don't have photo refs of cause they're mostly made up (maybe). The Pime Tribe and the Goga Tribe. Pime comes from Pimelodidae, a taxonomic family of catfishes known as long-whiskered catfishes. Goga Tribe comes from Gogangra, a genus of Asian catfishes. The Pime Tribe at least is what is commonly known as the River Zora. I'll ah... get into that whole thing later...

(I have plans for a catfish-esque Zora OC I'll introduce once I get into the Pre-TotK/TotK arc of my fic, originally envisioned as something of a bodyguard for Yona, but as it turns out she may not actually need a bodyguard...)

Now for the last thing we have to talk about how damn big Dorephan is...

You may or may not remember this part of the Zora Regional Phenomenon Quest. You have to fire a King's Scale through a symbol to do... something. Activate the waterfall that gets you to the Water Temple? I forgot...

Anyway you get these from Dorephan himself with the flavor text: "Zora kings bear this scale on their foreheads. It sparkles in different ways depending on the angle from which it's viewed. They were once used in ancient Zora ceremonies."

Why would Zora kings have different scales? Could there be a biological aspect to Zora leadership? Let's take a look: OoT's King Zora, Queen Rutela in Twilight Princess, Queen Oren in ALBW. Notice anything? They're all huge!

Well Queen Oren specifically gets larger after someone steals a smooth gem from her...

Now look at Sidon and Mipha in comparison to Dorephan. Now look at Prince Ralis from Twilight Princess in comparison to his mother. They're not huge, in fact Mipha's rather short for a Zora...

So what's going on here? Clownfish! Clownfish have a strict hierarchy, where only the dominate male and female reproduce. When the top female dies, one of the largest and most dominant males becomes female!

So... Zora rulers become larger once they take over and the previous ruler dies. Once Dorephan kicks the bucket, Sidon will get huge! (Prince Ralis is an interesting case since he's still young, maybe it took him until reaching maturity for the growth spurt to hit?)

One last thing, not really biology but culture... In my fic the Zora, expecially royalty, are polygamous. Mipha and Sidon are biologically half-siblings (different mothers) although the Zora make no such distinction. And in relation to the Tribes above and how I had hybridization rules for the Rito Tribes, I'll just say that Tribal appearance is determined by the mother's side. (So Sidon's mother was Spyra Tribe and Mipha's was Zo Tribe.)

[vivataurus]

I've finally finished the book in the series I was so scared of reading because someone wrote to me of how much of a dick D would act in it. After the last disastrous book, I was worried about reading another flop in the series. With that being said, here's my thoughts on Vampire Hunter D : Pilgrimage of the Sacred and the Profane with a shit ton of spoilers...

My fears were for nothing, since this is now one of my favorite books in the series I've read so far.

I love how each book paints a picture of the locations of places relevant to each story in their own preludes. Although hesitant to compliment the book in any way at first, I appreciated how short and sweet the introduction was. A little questionable with the bugs and pink petals, but nonetheless efficient in piquing my interest.

The first chapter was extremely enjoyable with the exchange between the best of the best on the Frontier including Granny Viper (the Frontier's greatest Finder), and the Bullow Brothers (the greatest warriors on the Outer Frontier). Their interaction perfectly captures how mind-boggling the whole scene was for the desert townspeople in the bar/brothel. Their heated argument and fiery prides were portrayed like a ticking time bomb, and just as things can't get any more shocking, fucking Vampire Hunter D shows up and everyone is floored.

Now I won't say that the person who warned me about the book was completely wrong, because D was indeed a bit of a grumpy pants in the beginning. To be honest, I couldn't blame him for it. He was sent to do a job by a questionable employer that randomly involved crossing this crazy ass desert that he had to find notes about from a dead guy! Meanwhile Granny Viper sinks her claws into him as soon as the Bullow Brothers refuse to help her and her "precious merchandise" across the desert. She literally pulled a Stewie from that episode of Family Guy where he goes "MOM. MOM. MOM. MOMMY. MOMMY." Her pestering was so bad, she literally just walks into his hotel room at night and triggers his dark Nobility aura that seeps into her very being. Dude literally said "no" "get out" "leave" so many times in not even 3 pages, and the lady would NOT take no for an answer. Then Bullow Bros who were acting fake as hell 'nicey-nice' to him at the bar were on his ass about crossing the desert with them after they pinned him for a 'biting incident'. It's like damn, can't a dude just exist without someone wanting him for something all the time??? I digress...

What the story really excelled in was characters and their interactions. Unlike the last book, I actually enjoyed all the characters that were written about. Everyone was interesting, down to the dead guy with the notebook in the middle of the desert! Viper's precious merchandise being one of The Hidden was interesting for someone who's delved into the world these books revolve around. You wonder what happens to those who get snatched up by the Nobility and never come back. And the whole time I fucking knew she was pregnant with a dhampir baby; I felt it in my bones as I was reading! It was so wholesome to have Lance the emaciated stranger turn out to be a genuinely good dude instead of some backstabber traitor, even though he had done so much in the past in his captivity with the mummies. Hell, even Clay Bullow and his hot-headed antics were enjoyable to read with his childish nature. In some strange way, although D never agreed to be part of any party, all of them came together and grew close with one another.

What the story lacked was explaining the main antagonist of the plot. Now after reading the end, it was meant to be that way, but as you're immersed in reading, you're kinda like "wtf that's it?" The desert they are traveling on is sentient, and is using people who travel on it as experiments to better understand people. Our party of main characters had been attacked by just about anything and everything,; including butterflies, undead mummy vandals, tornadoes, spider people, ...shit even a whole ass moving forest! And the final blow out with the heart of the desert ended in barely a page and a half...? Bruh.

When you get to last 20 pages of the book it makes sense why what you think is the 'big bad guy' and their last interaction is so short. Because in the end, there was an even bigger badder bad guy. You find out the Bullow Bros were hired to kill Vampire Hunter D by the same man who hired D in the first place! Him crossing the desert was just a ruse to have the bros kill him! I think D knew the whole time, but like damn! And when they get to their final destination of Barnabas, poor Tae the Hidden gets rejected by her remaining family so harshly! Literally her sister-in-law speaks for her brother and tells her to fuck off. And even after all that talk of "I just do my job and bounce" that Granny Viper talks about, she was so upset that Tae was rejected like that!

In the end, Barnabas was the true test for the whole desert-crossing party. Granny Viper is revealed to be a dhampir herself, and that's why she has hatred for their existence and why she wanted to kill Tae's baby so she doesn't have to face that kind of hardship of raising a dhampir. Then the Bullow brothers have to reluctantly face off against D after their employer kills Granny Viper and they hold a funeral for her. It was an emotional end, but ended in a heart-warming way regardless.

I loved how Tae is resolute in taking care of her baby and won't let anyone talk shit about it even if they're her family. I loved how they did a funeral for Granny Viper. I loved that D took care of Tae and sent her on her way to raising her new family. And I especially loved how D was able to genuinely smile at the end of this book.

VHD 6 Rating: 8/10

[mimzaucracks]

Silly little Oz AU

I wanted to create something silly for Spooky Season, so I did.

(Click for better quality)

Leonardo is not Dorothy. The idea is that this would be like an actual episode of the show; he'd get Wizard of Oz'd into, well, Oz, and the episode would play out like an abridged and heavily toned down version of the The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900). Which in turn means that the others are not the other three Turtles, either. They are, however, styled after and voiced by the other three. So, instead of saying something like "Donatello", I'll either use "Donatello-as-the-Tin-Woodman" or simply "the Tin Woodman" (which of course also applies to the other two).

The idea of the Scarecrow, the most intelligent character in the main cast in the book, speaking like Michelangelo does in the show was too funny not to implement!

I imagine the dialogue in the scene where Leonardo and Kiki meet him would go something akin to:

“I'm going to the Emerald City to find the wizard to help me back to New York.” “You suppose that wizard dude could give me some brains?" "Yeah, I'm sure he can!" "Mondo tubuloso!”

Not sure if I want Leonardo to be outed as knowing the fact that the wizard is a fraud, though...

I put Leonardo in the silver shoes from the book, since I heavily doubt anyone would've cared for fighting MGM for the rights to use the ruby slippers. On Discord while sketching, we did joke that I could put him in silver Birkenstocks or ruby Crocs. Sadly, Crocs weren't invented until 2002 😔

I debated a lot who to cast who as. Leonardo in the role of Dorothy and Raphael as the Cowardly Lion were easy enough, but which one of the other two brothers to cast as the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman? Both Michelangelo and Donatello work for either, since the book characters' main traits are intelligence and empathy respectively, but I finally settled on the casting that I did. Like mentioned above, the Scarecrow with Michelangelo's speech pattern is absolutely hilarious, but I don't think that Donatello-as-the-Tin-Woodman's hilarity should be understated, either; especially since his canon name when he was human (turtle?) was Nick Chopper, which does fit Donatello's general strategy of repairing things in the TV show by hitting or kicking machines strangely well.

While sketching, I also joked that Raphael-as-the-Cowardly-Lion looks like Raphael just finished a Cats the musical rehearsal but hadn't told anyone and just got busted sneaking back into the Lair. I also accidentally coloured him piss yellow when I coloured the flats, which I suppose is fair. Yellow is actually a colour associated with cowardice (even though the Lion wasn't actually a coward at all, but we'll set that aside).

Speaking of colouring mishaps, when colouring the Tin Woodman's base colour, I decided to look up images of tin to find a good rough match. Well, it then hit me to double check whether tin actually does rust or not. And guess what, it doesn't. Thus, I got around the problem by making his bolts, screws and joints made of iron instead. He has to rust somehow; you cannot have a Wizard of Oz "adaptation" without [Dorothy] and the Scarecrow oiling him upon meeting him.

The Toto situation was a tricky one, since TMNT isn't really known for its prevalence of dogs. The only actual noteworthy canine characters I can think of in any iteration are Rahzar and Dogpound, and as funny as it would've been for me to cast Rahzar as Toto, truth be told I had honestly forgotten him and Tokka even existed in the cartoon. I briefly considered having April be Toto (somehow), but I refused to entertain that idea even more than I already had. Instead, I got around the Toto problem by just drawing a dog (here a Scottish terrier, like how I pictured Toto in my head) and then renaming it. And thus, Kiki! And I love her.

Also, fun fact, the Scarecrow actually wore blue in the book!

[crystalstarpaws3011]

Decided to make headcanons for Clover and Warren cuz why not?

Clover:

-Being the youngest and shortest among the gang,she usually gets tease because of it.But sometimes the gang feel bad so they wanna make her feel better by pretending they're shorter or just gave her piggy rides(you have no idea how light she is)

-Her nickname is Luck Charm,given by June when Clover joined them.Her enemies call her Black Charm,of course.

-She doesn't like sweets,but she likes sour stuff like sour gummies,especially the ones that looks like worms.

-Clover has ADHD,which is obvious lol

-Sometimes has anxiety attacks,but with her friends' aid she's okay

-Her full name is actually Clover "Draco" Oliclive,but she throws away the middle name because that's her zombified dad's name.

-Clover can eat insects,somehow.The gang are trying their best not to let her eat those too much.

-Have bad school memories,always getting locked in strange places like in the locker.Her dad decided to home-school her instead,before the apocalypse.

-A fan of Pokemon,because she thought they are cute and strong

-Has a lizard pet names Licks(rarely draw it because not good at drawing lizards)and a monster ride named Spike(a komodo dragon-like monster with spikes,lol)

-Yeah....forget horror movies.She'll be the first to faint to the jumpscares.

-She likes getting pets(only if she's in her kitsune-dragon form!)

Warren:

-Just like Quint,he has autism

-Kidnapped by Koreans,rescued by another Korean kidnapper somehow and raised in Korea for 9-10 years(he was around 7-8)

-Used to help Evie getting Ghast to Earth without even knowing the truth,but now he's one of the good guys hehe.

-After Ghast exists,Warren hates Evie ever since(they have a fight at the cinema before going separate ways)

-Protective to her little sister Clover,cuz that's what big bothers do,right?He cares about her too,so sometimes they have some sibling bonding together

-A freaking screamer,screams at everything that scares him(and geezs he's very loud,so no horror movies for him)

-Since he was raised in Korea,Warren knows Korean and a bit of Japanese and Chinese

-Warren loves birds so much!He always wanted one as a pet,but sadly her foster parent doesn't have enough money for one(birds are very expensive...)But eventually he found a young blue jay around Book 6-7 and named it Blueberry.

-Unlike Clover,he likes sweets and spicy stuff but hates sour stuff.

-Gained phoniex powers when he found a weird stone that glows so bright around Book 7-8.He's still learning how to use his fire powers without burning anyone,especially Blueberry.

-He can't freaking read lol

-Show him a picture of a bird,he answer right away!He used pictures instead of words to understand things around him.

There you go,all of their headcanons,almost.There's a possibility that I might add more so...yee

Imma do their references later on if Im not too busy with school lol

[dracimexidae]

I was tagged by @sirtadcooper - thank you!! 😃

Tag someone you want to know AND/OR some of your besties.

(mandatory under the cut because I'm an idiot who can't keep it short to save her life 😅)

Favourite colour: this is an easy one, I'm in an established relationship and still madly in love after so many years with practically every shade of violet/purple that exists! 💜 Maybe I'm slightly more drawn to colder hues, but I'm not really that picky when it comes to this family of colours!

(This is a picture of a portion of wall in my bedroom I have asked to be painted with this shade of violet - which is a bit darker in reality but y' know, artificial light, that corner is way too dark to photograph otherwise... the whole room has various hues of purple scattered around: curtains, decorations, blankets, pillows... here's a special appearance of my beautiful boat lamp! ⛵💕)

Last song: thanks to a suggestion from Youtube, which probably hates me, because I'm still recovering from a flu and generally weak so it would be wise to avoid any kind of unneccessary emotional outburst:

Not technically a song, but still... I'm not sure if I was crying while watching this because I haven't had the chance to listen to them live yet, since they made a European tour twice but never touched my country and I couldn't travel abroad to see them, or because of... whatever it is that is going on with this performance and these artists, "epicness" to me barely covers it, I know I'm exaggerating but that's how much I love Two Steps From Hell, what can I say... In any case here I am being even more of a mess than I already am, you'd think I have had enough of using handkerchiefs these days! 😭❤️‍🔥

Last movie: I think it was Imagine me & you, which I finally watched after seeing a lot about it here (unpopular opinion no one asked for, I thought I would have enjoyed it more... ☹️)... It was either that or Bros (which I actually enjoyed it more than I expected instead 😁), at the moment I don't remember exactly which came last...

Currently watching: Fellow Travelers as for new shows (fuck me, seriously, what am I doing to myself 😭 - I'm crying quite a bit in this post 😅), rewatching Blackadder after having finished A bit of Fry and Laurie 😆, and sports as well, mainly tennis, padel and basketball atm!

Other stuff I watched this year: Oh my, I didn't watch an awful lot of things, but I'll surely forget something - I'm terrible remembering this kind of stuff (if only it was just these things 😅)! Let's see, in no particular order, I can recall Minx (so far this year the most pleasant surprise in terms of TV series I've watched for the first time, silly [affectionate] little show), Wednesday (it was a bit meh for me, not sure if I'll watch next season), Red, white & royal blue (likely one of my favourite movies this year ❤️... yeah, it's not certainly a big deal of a movie ofc and I'm not even a rom com gal, especially for those Hallmark style movies, like this kinda is, but idk, it was cute and warm and brought good feelings and probably I watched it in the right moment for me, or one on which I just needed good vibes, what can I say), Call me by your name (even more than watching the movie reading the book was... quite an experience - I'm not saying it an entirely bad way, but I'm still so utterly confused about my feelings about this novel), What's love, The kissing booth (don't ask me about this one, the things I do to watch an actor I like 😅 - there's a whole trilogy of it but I only watched the two movies that had in the cast the actor I was interested in, really can't be bothered to do more than that, it was enough suffering I endured 🤣), Only murders in the building, The witcher, National treasure: edge of history (I don't care what anyone says, this show deserved at least another season, it was far from perfect but there has been way worse that still sticks around, and I'm speaking as a fan of the movies foremost, especially the first one, which is one of my comfort movies, as absurd and silly as it is 😊), Shadow and bone, The witcher (as for these, I'll probably keep watching an eventual next season only for some of the cast, because both were an utter disappointment and I wouldn't bother continuing otherwise), let's see, what else, oh yeah, Smiley (this was another nice show tbh, and in this case I could also train my ear a bit on the language since it's in Spanish and I'm trying to learn and improve it 😝) and two other Spanish shows (guilty again for watching mainly for an actor I wanted to see ah ehm), Merlì/Merlì: Sapere Aude and Alguien tiene que morir, and Érase una vez… pero ya no, all pretty much forgettable... I don't know what else, probably there is something more, but I'm making it lenghty already, I should stop anyway!

Shows I dropped this year/didn’t finish: damn, I should make a sheet about tv/movies as I do with books, it's honestly hard remembering what I watched or dropped! I can recall not going through the second episode of Warrior nun: again, another show I was curious about having seen things here on Tumblr, but I didn't feel it after the first episode, I'm not even sure exactly why - it's possible I'll try again someday, it's way too early to have an opinion after only one episode! I also didn't finish Lockwood & co., this one wasn't really for me tbh... I'm not even mentioning something I've been watching only and exclusively because it's a sort of joke I have with a friend of mine... All right, I'll say, it's High School Musical: The musical - the series 😅 Truth is, my friend likes the movies and low key also the series, whereas I hate them all, and she knows they piss me off and she has fun hearing my comments and teasing me about it... I have a bit less fun submitting myself to this "torture" but whatever! 🤣 I try to watch the series when I'm particularly willing to waste my time, because the only reason I'm doing it is to have a laugh with said friend, anyway rn I'm at the last season and it's so bad, sooooooo bad (mind you, meaning it's just not for me, I'm likely too old and too millennial to watch this kind of shows anymore), I don't know how I am supposed to endure any more of it lol!! I guess at some point I'll force myself to finish it to end my suffering and hoping my friend and I will finally close this questionable chapter of our watching experience, but damn it's hard! 😝 As for shows of which I completed a season but didn't watch the next, I could say one was Abbott Elementary: pretty bummed about it because it was actually cute and was enjoying it, I finished the first season when the second didn't air yet and when it did, I had moved on and lost interest a bit and wasn't in the mood to continue my watching (happens to me a lot)... I think at some point I will resume this one, just have to find the right inspiration! 😛 (I'm rather complicated and picky about my watching/reading experience in general, ops) And I have to mention as well, even if it will surely grant me some disapproval from the person who tagged me in this game 😆, I couldn't pick up Our flag means death after the first season as well, and for now I don't think I will resume it: I didn't really feel this show, I don't know what to say... 🤷 Should I mention that I also tried rewatching The Terror but I was like "oh hell no!" after the first episode?! 😅 In my defense I watched it at night, and the show is A LOT and nearly killed me the first time, yeah ok I'm making excuses but I have to be in a certain state of mind to watch certain things and The Terror is one of those cases - I already mentioned I'm complicated with my watching experience, yes?! 😜 Anyway it was a rewatch so it shouldn't count sssshhhh 🤫😁

Currently reading: more like, the books I've put on hold atm, ouch! True that this year, especially in the first half, I've read way more than I expected and definitely way more than I usually do, but that's not an excuse to make a pause - still, I'm realizing that it's been few weeks since I've picked up my readings! Anyway, what I've been reading is Mercanti avventurieri by Attilio Brilli, which collects stories about merchants and their travels and trades through the centuries; Columbus by Lawrence Bergreen, the account of Cristoforo Colombo's voyages in America - not happy enough of ending up horrified and outraged by the chronicle of Magellano's expedition (by the story and events, not the author's writing, which I actually appreciated a lot), I decided to educate myself more about another so called "pioneer" who thanks to his hubris committed terrible atrocities in the name of "progress" and "religion" and "civilization" and so on 😡 , since the little knowledge I have about Colombo comes mainly from my years at school... Despite the fact that my respect for this man is nowhere to be seen, I'm still somehow fascinated by the narration of sea voyages, which in the end are actually my main interest when reading this kind of stories; Atlante delle fortune di mare di Cyril Hofstein, an account of tales about (mis)fortunes at sea, involving incidents, lost treasures, mysterious events, discoveries, disappearances, disasters and so forth - btw, in the book there is this particular chapter:

The disappearance of the Erebus and Terror is the title - the real story is terrifying enough even without creating a fictional horror show inspired by it jfc!

And lastly, this is definitely the less "serious" reading, The Lawrence Browne affair by Cat Sebastian, one of my first attempts at reading "proper" (meaning they're not fanfictions, not that I don't consider those "proper" literature, on the contrary many of them are written far better than some published books I've read, so yeah, I should say "published" instead) erotic novels lmao 😝 This was a whim really, I felt I wanted to read something light, "wicked" and not to be taken seriously (it also was probably some sort of "knee-jerk reaction" to many of the queer books I read this year, which were sad, depressing and/or tragic 😔)! Romance novels are not really my jam in general, but every once in a while they don't hurt, since I'm doing it just for fun! This one is actually the second book of a trilogy, more disappointing than the first book I have to say, which was more "juicy" and entertaining! 😁

Currently listening to: ah, this is a tough one to pinpoint, because lately my Spotify is on shuffle most of the time (I have a folder literally called "Miscellanea" that keeps a bit of everything, it's a glorious mess lol), and my music preferences are rather varied... Let's say that if I have to consciously choose something at the moment, there would certainly be Poets of the Fall, Gaelic Storm, The Irish Rovers, Santiano (in general celtic folk/punk songs, especially if inspired by sea and sailors stories- those are good for all seasons 🥰), Two Steps From Hell, J2 and "epic music" in general, and dance-pop music from '70 to '00, original or remixes, especially when I work out in the last case!

Currently working on: do crosswords count? It's my newest pursuit lol 😆 Because otherwise I'm afraid I'm not working on anything in particular at the moment (and I should start, since I had a couple of ideas for gifts for Christmas that alas, have to be handcrafted in order to be created, and if I want to have them done I am the one who must work on them, ugh can you believe it, outrageous, what has the world come to 😂)... I occasionally do a bit of calligraphy, create costume jewellery or create little macramè things, again usually trinkets but this summer I bought thicker yarns so I could have a go at something a little bigger like coin purses, wallets and little bags, and all in all it didn't go that bad:

The problem is, at least with the purses, that with these dimensions I can't fit half the things I usually bring with me when I go out because "you never know what might happen I might need this thing", so these purses were more like first tries and will likely not be used by me very much because they are too small for my necessities! 😅 In any case, I had to put this activity on hold for a bit because I lacked some time to dedicate myself to it!

Oh, wait, does trying to repair a porcelain ornament that fell on the floor (not because of me, I want to clarify, for once that I don't accidentally bump into stuff and make a mess - which happens more often than I'd like 😅) count? Hardly but whatever, anyway it's going to be complicated to glue the pieces back, some have shattered in such tiny fragments, sigh...

Current obsession: I'm almost shocked to report that at the current moment no particular obsession has consumed my every waking hour 🤣 I mean, even the flame of padel, which I've been following almost religiously all year, has dimmed a little, but it is the end of the season/year, everyone is tired and so am I apparently, rooting for couples who almost never have significant results (story of my life lol), so I guess I'm recharging the batteries for another round of hopeless cheer next year, yay! 🥳 For the rest, in terms of media I believe there is nothing of significance to report in terms of proper "obsession" for the time being, so yeah, that's it 😌 (the times of Black Sails or even Agents of SHIELD are far behind me, I miss being that "obsessed" tbh ☹️)

Tagging @thelifeinmyshadesofgrey , @whitestnoise , @lives-ruined-and-bloodshed, @valentinaonthemoon , @mednay , @tirairgid (ofc if you want to and haven't done it before) and whoever wants to give it a go really!

[lonesomedreamer]

SNW Liveblog: “The Elysian Kingdom”

This episode? Messy af. Spock in a wig? Sexy af.

The scene with M’Benga and Rukiya is precious, as always—though the subtext of it (her desire to change endings and rewrite stories more to her liking) is a little on-the-nose, considering that the writers of SNW are basically rewriting a classic television show to suit their own whims.

If Rukiya is running out of time, in theory all M’Benga has to do is stop materializing her so frequently…assuming that, while her pattern is in the transporter, she’s not conscious/aware. If she IS, that’s an entirely different (and horrifying) can of worms.

The exchange about superstitions between Pike and Spock is nice.

“Drinks are on me.” This is why Pike’s crew seems so undisciplined, imo. We know that Kirk would, and did, drink with his crew. But he wasn’t casually offering to buy them drinks from the captain’s chair.

“You gonna say the thing?” “Hit it.” Thanks, I still hate it.

I miss TOS’s buttons and tactile controls so much. They’re just more visually appealing (and frankly, more practical) than touch screens.

“Perhaps you did, indeed, jinx it.” I love Spock, lmao. (Also, as someone who calls out sports announcers and coworkers for jinxing things regularly…Pike totally jinxed it.)

People falling out of their chairs during turbulence is a real Trek classic!

Great, M’Benga is what, hallucinating?

These kinds of zany episodes on TOS/TNG took place either on a strange planet—like in “Squire of Gothos” or “Shore Leave”—or on the holodeck. Setting this on the Enterprise instead was…well, a choice.

La’an’s princess costume is delightfully ridiculous and sparkly.

It’s kind of a bummer to see that Christina Chong has real acting chops (even if “Princess Thalia” is intentionally way over-the-top), but is denied the chance to do much acting thanks to how flatly her character is written.

Ethan is hot. No notes.

“Maybe I can get us out of here with the help of some powerful magic called science.”

I vastly prefer hammy/possessed Kirk to hammy/possessed Pike. Sorry ’bout it. (Maybe it’s just the actors, or maybe it’s because regular Kirk comes off as so much more sincere than Pike to me?)

Why is Hemmer, an alien with inherent telepathic abilities, immune to whatever’s happening on the Enterprise, whereas Spock, an alien (well, half-alien) with inherent telepathic abilities, succumbed to it? I can hand-wave most plot holes…this one’s just lazy writing, though.

Worth it? Worth it.

I would watch THIS show.

“Truthfully, I should have known it as well…since that’s what he does in the book.”

“Don’t beat yourself up about it.”

“There’s no such place, my queen, he’s bluffing.”

All those lines were funny and delivered well!

Even though classic tricorders look pretty out-of-place on this redesigned Enterprise, I still love seeing them.

The resolution of the Rukiya subplot reminds me a lot of the end of The Motion Picture.

The moral quandry of it is enormous, way bigger than “storing your daughter’s biological pattern in the transporter to keep her alive,” which raises plenty of ethical questions of its own. M’Benga tells Rukiya that “it’s up to you”—but how can such a young child make such a huge decision: to exist in space as a disembodied consciousness for an infinite amount of time or to wait in stasis for a cure for her human body?! It’s uncomfortably reminiscent of the “willing” sacrifice made by the little boy in Episode 6…not really the comparison you want viewers to be drawing, given how that one ended. Children that age can’t give meaningful consent.

Besides, what does M’Benga know about this entity? How do either of them know that they can trust it? It’s been using the Enterprise as a dollhouse for hours out of boredom/loneliness! What might it do to Rukiya’s energy? And how will becoming said disembodied consciousness impact a nine- or ten-year-old human girl? There are actually a number of great science fiction (horror) stories about this, the premise being that human minds are ill-equipped for that kind of existence. For all M’Benga knows, he could find the cure next week. It was teased in Episode 6. All he needs to do is keep Rukiya safely the transporter—which really shouldn’t be a problem unless she is, in fact, conscious in there. But the writers obviously just wanted to wrap this problematic subplot up and move on.

A grown-up version of Rukiya appears to comfort M’Benga and tell him about her many “adventures,” because it turns out time exists differently for her now even though it’s been ~30 seconds of real time…? It cheapens the scene before and makes me feel belittled as a viewer. I’m okay with feeling uneasy about M’Benga’s choice! I’m not okay with being cajoled into thinking that it was the correct choice. When Kirk let Edith Keeler die, her ghost didn’t reappear to assure him that she understood why he had to! He—and by extension, the audience—just had to live with it.

“She’s safe.” He doesn’t and can’t know that for certain. He let an alien consciousness he neither studied/analyzed nor communicated directly with spirit his daughter away after two minutes of deliberation! Anything could be happening to her out there. Though, to be totally fair, she’s not going to die, so…there’s that?

So yes: this episode is messy. I rewatched it after seeing the ending and reading a lot of reviews/commentary and actually revised this liveblog. It’s not as bad as I initially thought! However, I’ve come to think that the Rukiya subplot itself was a poor choice, one full of troubling implications, dubious decision-making, and questionable ethics. I understand why the writers scrambled to get rid of it. And conveptually, this episode wasn’t even a bad send-off for Rukiya! The execution was just lacking. It could’ve been so much more.

But hey…at least we got La’an’s princess dress, Uhura’s evil queen ensemble, and Spock in that wig.

The Good: Gorgeous costumes—the actress playing Rukiya was a delight; I’ll miss her—Spock in general—some very funny lines/delivery—Christina Chong gets to act!

The Bad: The writing, pacing, set design, and some of the acting was all pretty clumsy—for an episode that turned so heavy, the campy fairy tale stuff was too light and took up too much time. Too much of Ortegas and Pike; not enough of La’an and Spock. (I think there’s too much Ortegas on the show, period. She just doesn’t work for me. No judgment towards other people who may feel differently.) Some truly WTF parenting choices made by M’Benga—huge unresolved questions/plot holes by the end.

But the beauty of SNW returning to Trek’s episodic roots is that it’s a standalone episode. Hoping for better (and more Spockstine!) in the next installment.

[witchhazelevesque]

More Spider-Man!Leo HC's

@sugar-r-rush whoop I had a bit of writer's block on this but here's some more thoughts!

Okay SO

Lemme start with this Hestia idea

I love her and I've always thought she'd love Esperanza. I just thought of her having a place for demigods while I was typing that lol. But actually, that would make a lot of sense, because Hestia's always done what she thinks is right by her family even if others didn't understand her choices.

Plus, I think she'd play dumb if Zeus ever caught her, but like, she's got the mindset of 'pssh, what's my little brother going to do about it?"

Breaking the rules for her niblings :)

Anyway, she probably has multiple of these types of homes around the world, and she doesn't spend too much time there because she doesn't want to risk the other gods finding out about them. They're kind of like the Way Station and the Chase Base (side note, she also loves Magnus and Alex, it transcends pantheons), but normal houses.

So some kids stay long term, some just use it as a rest stop, it's all good. It's a nice little community where they're all demigods, but it's not about training and serving like the camps.

It's mostly a normal life, which is something Leo wants after the Gaea.

Well, somewhat normal.

IDK, maybe Piper joins him because she's also done with the demigod game and she loves her dad, but she doesn't feel that California is her home.

Something I've wondered about for a while is whether Leo ever got to visit his mom's grave. Did he get to go to her funeral? What was the situation immediately after the fire?

Either way, he hasn't been in years, if ever, and that's the catalyst for him returning to Houston. It's a clear, definable, concrete goal, which is anchoring him to reality since he's still getting over you know, dying. And even before that, he'd never had a moment to just. exist.

It terrifies him.

Piper does come with him at least for the beginning, and that is indescribably comforting.

Leo's tired, is the thing.

He's tired of the gods dictating his life, of needing their approval and their mercy.

But most of all, he's tired of running.

So he's not going to do it anymore.

And he goes back to the first place he ever ran from.

He doesn't bother with his biological family. He's long since learned what real family is.

He's got his real family with him when he sets the bouquet of sunflowers on Esperanza's grave.

Piper booked them a hotel, but when they're turning to leave, they spot a small figure at the end of the pathway.

Leo's demigod instincts tell him that this is not a mortal, but that they're also not in danger.

Hestia appears as an older woman instead of her usual child-like appearance, just to achieve that aunt look.

Leo's wary, though he doesn't think she's ever contributed to any of the problems he or his friends have had.

When he looks into her eyes, he's washed with this understanding of her approach to fire. It's nothing like what he's experienced. Hers is warm and comforting and protective.

But showing him that isn't what she's actually here for.

Leo wasn't expecting what she actually came for.

When she passes him the bundle of fabric, he stares down at it blankly.

The navy and gray wool and leather feels warm against his hands, and Leo remembers his mother wearing this, in pictures from photo albums of her youth, sometimes when she'd take him to the park on the rare days when it was cold enough for a jacket and nice enough to be outside.

He remembers her picking him up and holding him against her chest, remembers the slightly scratchy material of the wool, the smooth, cool leather, how it smelled of their laundry detergent and his mom's shampoo.

He lifts the garment to his nose and somehow, after all these years, it still smells exactly the same.

He doesn't even mind that he's crying, the sort where the tears well and flow seamlessly.

He's in a bit of a daze as Hestia asks them to join her for dinner. Piper puts a hand on his shoulder to get his thoughts, and he nods, because she just reunited him with a piece of his past that he never thought he'd see again.

The thought of wearing the jacket hadn't crossed his mind, so when Piper asks if she can help him into it, he takes a minute to process the question.

But he nods again, and when the weight of the jacket settles over his shoulders, he feels a comfort that he hasn't since the last time his mom smiled at him.

Leo can't remember the last time he had a home cooked meal that he didn't have to make himself.

It's odd.

It's… making him feel some kind of way.

The house Hestia brought them too is warm, in color, in atmosphere, in the way it’s lived in.

They both realize that other people must live here too, but no one else comes out, and Leo's relieved.

Eventually, Hestia brings up a topic Leo wasn't really expecting.

His mother's will was… a complicated matter, to put it lightly. She had started making more money than she expected in her career at the end, more than she had ever before, and the whole… spider situation could have changed the game in a ridiculous way, but the research was lost in the fire. Her assets were willed to Leo, but the rest of the family contested that, and with his age, the circumstances surrounding the fire, the accusations throw around, the company's shady business practices- well.

If Leo had had the choice, he would have picked having his mom back, and the money brought out the worst of his extended family. That he could at least understand, even if it disgusted him, but Rosa seemed bent on ruining any chance he had to stay with anyone he knew. Now that he's older, he can see she did it because she was grieving her sister, but Leo's not going to forgive her.

As the situation stands now, a large portion of his mother's assets were eaten up by legal fees, her contract with her company is a legal gray area and they took advantage of that to keep her research and inventions for themselves (maybe this could be part of a plot idk). "I'm glad to be made aware of this," Leo says, and he thinks he means it, this is all a lot to process. "But why were you involved?"

Hestia smiles sadly. "Money was always a violate aspect of the home," she says. "My sister had a hand in shaping your future, but she did not consider this matter. I believed it fell in my jurisdiction. I managed to save what was irreplaceable-"

Here she gestures to the letterman that Leo still hasn't taken off.

"-along with some other belongings of yours and hers. There is also a small amount of funds left that I have managed to retain for you. It is not much, but it will help you establish yourself should you choose to take that path."

Leo's familiar with the talk of paths and senses that there's more to discuss her. "As opposed to which other path?"

Hestia smiles, her warm eyes flickering.

She explains this house, how it performs the roles of the camps but doesn't focus on training but providing a safe place for demigods. "Not all are fighters," she says, and smiles almost wryly.

She gives them a tour of the place and it's... normal. It doesn't raise any of their alarm bells, which is such a nice change of pace.

The Valdez's were a special case for Hestia. Esperanza always understood what truly made a home. Hestia took notice of her even before Hephaestus did, and when Esperanza had Leo and they had their little family and home, it was a true beacon of everything Hestia valued.

So, it was particularly heartbreaking to watch it all fall apart. Esperanza lost her life, Leo lost what truly mattered, but the goddess couldn't let everything waste away.

Leo decides to stay, at least for a while, and he spends his days trying to unlearn his bad habits of pushing away his feelings. Hestia recommends a therapist who knows about the mythical world, and that starts to help Leo process his years of trauma.

I'm not sure where it could go from here, maybe he takes it slow but gets drawn into a different world of heroes, maybe it's a big plot or maybe he just wants to do good in small ways for his community.

[faceglitchsworld]

It's the 24th of November here, which means that Pingu Hyungu is another year older today 🥹

Happy birthday Kanghyun 🥳

I can't believe that I'm finishing covering Onewe and the WeUs family as a whole with him this year. But don't worry, there's still some dates to cover and I'll make sure to do this next year for sure 😁

And now have the collage I made for him 🥹

I love, love, looooove so much how it came out really. I'm just a little sad that maybe the pics where he performs are...not the best, I guess?

But I needed to show you how talented this man is in one way or another.

But I'm just wasting my time right, it's time for the letter.

Dear Kanghyun,

it's been a while, huh? It seems it's been ages since you said to us that you have enlisted, even tho I know that you'll come back very soon.

I must admit, when you told us the news I wasn't into the best mood to be honest. I was still elaborating Yonghoon's news and then you came to us, telling that you would have enlisted too.

I know you did it because Yonghoon can't do nothing without you looking up to him. We know how he can be dangerous if he goes alone on any taks 🤣 Bit still, it was so unexpected, it was so fast, that I really thought that I would have suffered a lot during these almost two years without you.

For me, Onewe has three voices: Yonghoon, Dongmyeong and you. We can't have a Onewe song without your guitar riffs. And you have no idea how much I'm still missing those riffs from you. I'm missing your melodies, I'm missing your songwriting, I'm missing the moments you have with Harin, I'm missing everything from you.

During this long time, I discovered some traits of you that probably I would have never discovered. Like your new obsession with keeping your hair short and complaining that Yonghoon keeps growing them instead. I got the feeling, Hyungu, you're the good soldier and Yonghoon is the reckless, rebel one. The typical administration in Onewe's Leader Line.

Sometimes I search the posts you're sending to us on the fancafe. They look so different compared to the letters you sent to us during the first months. You told us that you weren't liking that place, that every time you had the occasion you went to rent some book. The books were a sort of comfort to you. I even thought for a while that you were mistreated.

And now you're here, telling us that you're now training the freshmen in your division. I can't say anything, except that I'm proud of you, Kanghyun. You went from this scared man who was unsure to make it, to a new instructor who's teaching the others how to behave and what to do.

You always told us how your mom is archiving and keeping all the letters Weves are sending to you so you'll read them calmly and in order. I admit that, while I'm writing this letter to you, I thought about which argument or words I should put here. I know you'll never read this letter, you don't have the time and probably you don't even know this site exists. But I had you in my mind, trying to read my letter and noticing if I gave you all the love possible.

There's so much stuff that I want to tell you. I wonder, when you come back, if you'll recommend some books, if you'll turn the stories that you've read into songs. I wonder if you made some friends there despite the first hard times and if you'll keep those friendships. I wonder if you'll miss those times despite everything you went through.

But I guess you can tell all of this to us only when you're back, am I right?

I'm still keeping in my memory the concert you did with the military last year. I cried when I saw you. Your shy smile, your short hair, your big round eyes, your first picture with Harin after months. I was so happy to see you again.

I don't know if you'll do it again. Meanwhile I'll keep all the videos and the pictures of you playing the trombone. Even tho, mind you, I don't allow you to betray your guitar. I'm glad that you discovered that your lips are perfect for the trombone but your guitar will never leave you. And if you dare, I'm gonna send Minji haunting your dorms 🤣

I hope this day will treat you well and that you'll celebrate your birthday happily with your colleagues. I already know that you'll read all the messages and the letters Weve sent to you, I can't doubt that.

My birthday wish for you is that you'll keep a very important experience you gained while you're there and that you'll turn that experience into a beautiful song of yours.

Happy birthday, my little bookworm 💞

Also if you hear a very loud NOOT-NOOT it's probably me, trying to free you from the camp while wearing a Pingu costume.