#was this too tryhard lmao?

[soupmanspeaks]

Now I'm just thinking what glamrock Freddy's reaction to the underground scooper would be, maybe he would see it, and stumble back. Maybe he'd quickly check his stomach hatch. He doesn't know why he did it. Maybe he'd glance over at the scooping room window in a quick pang of horror. Maybe he didn't know what he was looking for in the glass. But maybe the feeling occurs to him that he's been in this kind of situation before. Surprisingly, Freddy has a thought that the outcome of this weird dejavu is the same as it always was.

He is full of many, many, wires.

This time, he thinks, they aren't going anywhere.

[dipplinduo]

Scrapped Content for The Dichotomy In Our Hearts

Where have I been? Ah. Well. Would you believe me if I told you I have been writing and rewriting the same chapter across this past like...week? xD

I have been working through a series of ideas for chapter updates, but I've been very very stuck on The Dichotomy In Our Hearts.

When I tell you. I have written this one scene. OVER AND OVER. LOOOOL.

Ultimately, I've realized the voice of DIOH comes from a sweeter/reflective/"grow through growing pains" kind of tone. Not as much of a conflict-driven/angsty/"Kieran can you please chill the edge bc you're lowkey toxic chain'd" one, like with what you might see me write in Sweet & Sour Dipplins. And lemme tell you, it feels sooooo good to have this breakthrough, because one thing I've been actively trying to do with DIOH is distinguish it from S&S D across the board (but especially with Kieran & Juliana's characterizations & dynamics).

So that being said, I'm gonna rework the last two chapters. I was originally going to have them come out as part of a bigger update in general, but if you've been following this story you've honestly waited long enough, lol. So! I'm prioritizing this. Next update from me will come out within a few days with the conclusion of this story. <3 In the meantime, I figured I should share some of the scrapped work I had - it's a good scene on its own, but you'll see a different version of this scene play out in a more effective way within Chapter 4. :)

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Kieran huffed out a breath of the furious storm that had festered inside of him. He had hoped his time decompressing in the frosty woods would freeze over the raw cut to his already withering pride, but it proved to no avail as he walked along the cobblestone pathway to his home. He relished in what remained of the short-lived comfort he obtained through casting himself to the shadows as his home’s lingering lights began to expose his wounds back to the watching world. The rays were an anomaly for this time of night; his grandfather had always had a strict rule of dimming the house before bed, and Kieran was highly certain it was too late for people to be awake. 

He braced himself with a careful inhale as he quietly stepped up to the shoji before him, and the door felt like a paper barrier between the last of his solitude and judgment itself. They couldn’t have been waiting up to lecture him some more, could they? At this point, he didn’t need any punishment beyond the torment of his self-criticism. He knew he was rash and reckless. He knew he was lucky the little boy was okay. 

He just wished he was better. It was another moment he could’ve used to prove himself, but he blew it. Again.

 The guilt already gripped into him mercilessly. It seemed as if the history of his inexcusable failures enjoyed repeating themselves - no matter how hard he tried to remedy them by pushing himself - and it seemed as if the world would do anything but retire the spotlight from him while he dug his grave further into the lifeless ground. The real salt in the wound was the dramatic irony of how he had failed this time, though. 

Once again, his efforts were fruitless. Once again, Juliana had stepped in so effortlessly. Once again, she is showered in praise while he is showered in shame. 

And of course she bore witness to his humiliation.

Kieran clenched his jaw tightly as he slid the shoji. He remained stealthy, but still nonetheless moved swiftly to rip the band-aid off to whatever awaited him indoors. He squinted his sensitive eyes against the blaring, toasty lights - they were more powerful than what had seeped through to the front porch - and the illuminance from the lamps refracted warm hues off of the yellow-orange walls. Minus the scattered lights, the house was void of his noisy family members. They must’ve all retreated to their beds as Kieran would reasonably predict.  As Kieran’s vision adjusted to his bright and tidy home, his movements slowed to the sight before him. He stepped inside in a manner that was as Dedenne as he attempted to survey the situation.

Juliana was curled up against the kotatsu in an awkward position - one that looked far from comfortable. It appeared as if she had fallen asleep entirely by accident; she had donned her usual attire instead of the pajamas she was meant to borrow, and she was sitting up rather than lying down into the kotatsu’s blanket that poorly covered her lap. Her back was hunched over so she could rest her cheek against her forearms, which were somewhat sprawled along the wooden surface of the kotatsu. Her Deerling-like eyes remained sealed shut as Keiran inched closer, and there was a subtle droop in her parted jaw as she softly breathed. Odd touches of flyaways and frizz decorated her waved, somewhat messy hair, and Kieran noted slight creases that wrinkled in a hidden gray underneath her eyes. 

Was she waiting up for him? 

It was yet another moment that felt stolen and improper. When he observed her, he could see nothing but a much more vulnerable aspect of his rival that he felt he wasn’t meant to experience.

It was yet another moment that felt stolen and improper. When he observed her, he could see nothing but a much more vulnerable aspect of his rival that he felt he wasn’t meant to experience. She was supposed to be unyielding and ruthless with limitless capabilities. An obstacle in his path that he could overcome to clear his conscience.

Kieran bit the corner of his lip and exhaled slowly - the bewildering tugs of emotions on either end only added to his already building frustration. He quietly snagged the patchworked, quilted blanket that was draped along the plush sofa nearby her - why she couldn’t just resign herself on that at the minimum, Kieran didn’t know - and carefully wrapped it around her narrow shoulders. As he turned to leave, a gentle touch around some of his fingers caused him to gasp. 

“Ki…Ki-”

Kieran’s mouth suddenly felt dry as his heart skipped a beat. 

“-eran,” Juliana finished, and the weird sensation in his chest rallied heat around him. Why was he imagining she would call him…?

The touch around his middle and ring finger became a soft grip as Juliana stirred and began rubbing her face. Now that she was awake, reality struck him back into his senses and he suddenly felt as restless as he was in the woods. 

Kieran tried to keep his voice even as he spoke. "Juliana, it's late. Ya’ should go to bed," 

Juliana blinked sleepily as she sat up, still holding his hand. "I was worried about you," she murmurs. "Are you okay?"

Kieran nearly pulled his hand away as the realization dawned on him. So this was what it was all about: pity.

She was the hero who looked down on him and pitied him before anything else.

The epiphany was a coarse grain of salt rubbing in his wounds, but it was somehow the easiest and most sensible thing to believe than any lingering alternatives. "Why do you care so much?" he snapped, immediately regretting his harsh tone but feeling unable to stop himself. "You don't need to pretend to be worried about me."

Juliana flinched as she became more alert. “Why would I pretend to be worried?”

“Don’t play dumb,” Kieran spat as he snatched his hand away. 

“Why are you trying to pick a fight with me?” Juliana asked firmly as she rose, a hint of anxiety in her defensiveness. “Is this about Peacharunt?”

“It’s about way more than that.” Kieran tightened his fists as he steadied his gaze on a chair cushion, readying his words like canons. “You won again. Ya’ always do. I don’t need your pity as a consolation prize.” 

“I’m not trying to pity you,” Juliana countered. “I just know that things have been hard lately, and I-”

Kieran turned to face her, his voice almost trembling as the pain in her face brought out some of his own. “That’s why ya’ came here in the first place, right? I just mess everything up left and right. Ya’ just want ta’ keep an eye on me and fix my mistakes. ‘Cause I’m so horrible.”

Juliana stepped closer and spoke softly enough to make the hair behind Kieran’s neck raise. “Kieran, you’re not horrible at all. But you’re acting like you are, and you keep pushing people away. You’re pushing me away.”

Juliana’s cries fell on deaf ears as the anger flared inside of Kieran, directionless. An ugly mix of self-loathing, resentment, and deep-seeded insecurity oozed uncontrollably as he spat out his words. "Stop beatin’ around the bush, everyone knows that I can't ever measure up to you!” His voice cracked with the weight of his emotions, and he turned away again, unable to face her and complete his thought. How even his own grandparents trusted her battle skills over his.

“This isn’t a competition. I’m not trying to compete with you,” Juliana breathed unevenly, as if there was something unsteady brewing in her.

Kieran's eyes narrowed, his frustration boiling over. "Ya’ think it's not a competition? It's always a competition! Everyone is always comparing us, and I always come up short. Do ya’ even know what that's like?” Kieran continued as Juliana opened her mouth in protest. “Ya’ don’t. ‘Cause you’re always the hero everyone wants and loves. You are perfect,” Kieran spat as an insult as he ran out of breath. 

A pulsating surge of shock struck Kieran as his rival’s voice grew uncharacteristically intense. "You think I'm perfect? You think I don’t have struggles? That I don’t actually care about you at all?” Her voice cracked before becoming small and hushed. “How could you say such a thing?”

His eyes danced between hers in anguish, and he messily attempted to somewhat soften his outburst as he recalled her smile under the fireworks. “If you had any flaws they’d just be a work of art.” (MAKE CONTRADICTION MORE FLUID)

“I thought you of all people would know that I'm anything but perfect!” Juliana cried out, tears bursting down her face. “After everything you’ve seen me struggle with.”

As he witnessed the seams of her composure become undone, Kieran felt as if he was sinking, too. The tension in his fists released as he was taken aback, rendered speechless. 

Juliana continued to fall apart before him, using both of her hands to wipe her face repeatedly as her voice trembled. “I don’t fit in at the academy. I miss being at home. And the only person that really feels like a home is the one person I’m pitted against. You’ve seen me fail over and over again with all of these things. You’ve seen parts of me I haven’t shown anyone else. But you... you act like I’m this flawless person who just waltzes through life without a care. And it hurts, Kieran. It hurts because I care about you so much, and you don’t even see it.”

Kieran’s eyes widened as he was hit with a sudden sense of clarity. He began to blink rapidly as he recalled the intimacy and affection he had misread as a threat. Her giddiness, her eagerness to accompany him and cling to him, her interest in his thoughts and moods. A tingle ruptured inside him as he pieced everything together. 

She…liked him? 

It felt like a haughty deduction, but it was the only way he could make sense of such strong feelings. He wasn’t sure what to make of it - what he was even supposed to do with it. Kieran hesitantly reached out an arm around the shaking girl’s back and nudged her forward. His hyperawareness grew as she collapsed into him as she sobbed, curling her fingernails around arms. It felt as she was slipping down, and Kieran unintentionally dropped to the floor with her as she buried herself against him. 

It was a moment he was entirely unprepared for and could never predict. There was a part of him that felt good - as if his damaged ego was stroked and given value. There was another that raved about the attention he was receiving, to have someone fight because they cared. There was another part that was disgusted at himself for those feelings. There was another that couldn’t make sense of Juliana and her multidimensionality. Was he wrong about her? Does he have the right to be mad at her? Is he even mad at her? Why would she have a crush on him, if she even did? Kieran felt as if he was short-circuiting from the swirling contemplation. 

He was ages away from speaking as Juliana continued to blubber. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do! I don’t know how to make up for what happened with Ogerpon! And it breaks my heart to keep seeing you get so angry without knowing how to fix it!” 

"Juliana, I..." he starts, staring aimlessly at the wall behind her as his voice trails off. “I didn’t realize…” 

"Of course you didn't," she weakly replies against him to the point where it was difficult to hear. "You're too busy seeing me as this perfect person who has it all together, like everyone else. Well, I'm not. And it hurts, Kieran. It hurts.” She repeated, nearly nonsensical.

(Below are notes that follow the direction of the scene):

Kieran feels guilty and hugs Juliana awkwardly

I'm sorry/angry at self / feels disarmed by Juliana's crying

His thoughts eventually grow quiet as she sags further against him and nearly falls asleep 

“We should both go to bed” wanted to escape but didn't want to leave, conflicted 

(J) I’m sorry if I was being too much

(K): Thats the second time you said that/improved ability to observe Juliana

Was she afraid of taking up space? Starts to see how difficult that must be

Closes door abruptly, holds his hands to his face where Juliana touched him

~EMBARRASSED EMO ~ / Reflection on duality of relationship

[narwhalandchill]

the fact that of the high cloud quintet jing yuan is literally the only one that walked out the shitstorm that was their downfall in-lore impressively drama-free and with his professional and personal reputation intact is very funny to me when juxtaposed with the current state of what one could maybe very charitably call... volatile discussions relating to his kit in the more "meta" circles (in quotations bc the credibility of ppl spewing this stuff as fact is. Well)

since his release this man hasnt escaped the doomposting and being powercrept allegations and solo calcs taken out of context by random people and content creators flaming it further getting from the usual mid allegations straight up to a reputation of being spoken of in a manner youd think hes literally unplayable so fast its like hes literally rent free in these peoples heads 💀 physically cant keep his name out of their mouths and i guarantee 99% of these ppl never even considered pulling him

like i dont even have jing yuan and ik hes perfectly fine lmao. he has some issues with LC options and certain scenarios can hurt his performance more than most characters (+ lack of content favoring true AoE in general) which can feel bad to play but ppl are being absolutely ridiculous about him its hilarious

[ahalliance]

retired UHC tryhard player Étoiles dies in LG UHC because he tried to roleplay, funniest timeline ever

[pt78195]

Just a sketch! Hope you guys like it 😁.

[the-hype-dragon]

I used to really love ff13-2 and there are still things I really like about it, however when I replayed it recently I just remembered, oh yes, there is That Thing about it that even on my first playthrough that tarnished it for me

idk if it was rushed for whatever reason but it's among that handful of games from the era which had all this incredible build up for the first 80-95% of the runtime then just fizzled out at the end. it feels like it should have been a little longer if that makes sense lmao. I love everything up until you find out noel's backstory then the game just kinda ends and it's incredibly disappointing. which is a shame because up until that point the pacing is actually pretty good, the characters are fun (ilu Alyssa and Caius), the bonus content is great. the main story is good but the pacing of the last 10% of it kills a lot of the goodwill I have towards the rest lmao

ngl I also miss when jrpgs (may they rip in peace) had interesting side characters, like half the fun of FF7's and 8's fan spaces were the content surrounding characters like the turks or fujin and raijin... I cannot believe how massive 7's cast is and how many of the side characters not only get their turns in the spotlight but are also just very significant to the game in their own ways. the shinra execs all get their own boss fights lmao. modern ff could never :v

lol and rambling about all of this just makes me want to replay skies of arcadia and baten kaitos origins

[chisungie]

.

[lixxqude]

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small blog moment since i just started this for whatever reason ....

so i’ve been thinking. and editing!! this is one of the rare occasions i pick up my phone and do something with it lol :) the next time i pull out alight motion and edit i will be playing through kotfe/kotet!!

velocity edits are actually really cool, they're simple and relatively fun if you have the right audio hehe

i'm a beginner editor (despite having 3-ish years of experience) so please be nice!!

i can't tell if it's off-timing but i swear to you when i was editing it was not like that,, instagram did the same thing it was awful

[floridazcrazy]

F1 drivers as american high schoolers

Lando Norris

Absolute Nic fiend

Underclassmen thats friends w/ all the seniors/year 12s

Kid that stays yelling "HES GOTTA GUN" smh

Loud af 24/7 365

Female teachers buy him and his friends food iykwim

Snap score in the millions (wyll warrior)

Asks to use the bathroom and doesn't come back

Chronic Virginity rocks hoodie wearer

plays lacrosse ofc

Illegally parks in the senior parking lot (probs got his shit towed a few times lol)

"Need me a goth gf"

D1 fight recorder

Nearly got his ass jumped during a football game lmao

Carlos Sainz

Took spanish all 4 years for an easy A

Ran through but still calls girls bops (6mill snap score)

niche tiktok celeb from posting thirstraps

P.E tryhard "ARE YOU FUCKING SLOW CATCH THE BALL"

Always has ISS or saturday school from skipping classes

Practically lives in a nike tech

Hoco king

Him and Lando have joint custody over a shiesty

girls get into fights over him at 6:45 am during breakfast

Buzzballs are NOT safe near his ass

Hes a lettermen (shirtless dudes who have their chests painted individually with a letter to spell the schools nickname during football games, found in the front row waving the school flag)

follows livvy Dunne, Breckie hill etc... on his ig and denies it when his gf confronts him about it

George

IB kid (just wait till that burnout hits lmao)

Dual enrollment king

"I took Algebra in 6th grade" nobody gaf lil bro

Ppl think him and Alex are dating

In NHS and MUN

"Mrs you forgot to pick up the ho-"

Probs got jumped for snitching at one point or another lol

The guy who pregamed too hard b4 hoco and prom then threw up everywhere (this happened at my prom bruh)

DO NOT LET HIS ASS NEAR PINK WITNEY LMAO

Probs going to Fsu or ucf on a fullride scholarship

Gets posted doing some embarassing shit on his schools barstool page smh

Almost ran over a underclassman (Lando) while trying to do donuts in the parking lot

Alex Albon

"Ay my friend over there thinks youre cute" (the friend is George)

Does not not deny that hes dating George if asked

Him and Lando stay screaming in the football game student section

Teachers love him

Got posted on the school's confession page once

In danger of not graduating due to his absences

Surprisingly takes multiple ap classes

Plays water polo

"Man this school food fucking dogwater"

Will later be seen fucking up said school food like always

Helps vandalize the rival school during football season w/ yuki and Pierre (This shit ends up on the news lmao)

[haveyouseenthisskeleton]

Hi! What would the main 10 skeletons favorite Thanksgiving activities be?

Undertale Sans - Sans likes Toriel's cooking too much and Toriel doesn't know how to tell his friend is full so uh, Sans eats until he literally passes out on the table, so happy. He can't say no to another plate because he doesn't want to hurt her feelings so... Yeah. He's pretty much in a coma for three days after that.

Undertale Papyrus - He goes to see a football game with Undyne. None of them really understand what's going on but everyone is screaming and they're screaming too! Also, they discovered that apparently, only certain people could run after the ball after Undyne got kicked out for scoring because the players were taking too much time. Human culture is confusing.

Underswap Sans - He participates in a turkey trot and does his best to win because there's no way he's losing. He doesn't mind if it is supposed to be a playful event, he's tryharding until he collapses behind the finish line. He's proud of him!

Underswap Papyrus - He goes to see some parades in big cities. He doesn't like the crowd, but that's fine, he somehow convinced Asgore to come with him and Asgore is so impressive people stay at least ten meters away from him. He's having fun!

Underfell Sans - His brother wanted him to do something with the random turkey he brought into the garden, but Edge was talking too much so Red didn't listen and now he's not sure what he's supposed to do with the bird. So, uh, he freed the turkey hoping his brother won't notice. That's only after the turkey left that a random spot of publicity reminds him he was supposed to cook the turkey. Well, shit. He runs to the nearest shop to buy another lmao.

Underfell Papyrus - Toriel insisted Undyne and him sit down and tell each other nice things because apparently, Thanksgiving is about being kind to others? Obviously, Edge doesn't like that, but Toriel makes sure that Frisk stays in the room so, if Undyne and him starts insulting each other, she will roast them alive instead of the turkey in the oven. Ew. He's disgusted and after a long two minutes of just staring, he tells Undyne she has nice fingers. Pfew. He did it. That was even more painful than fighting against Asgore. He feels sick actually.

Horrortale Sans & Papyrus - They organized a big Thanksgiving meal with all the monsters of the Underground on his farm. They do that each year, and it makes them feel a little better to see they are each year a little more than the precedent year. Monsterkind is slowly rebuilding and moving on. They also celebrate Gyftmas that day so they can all have more gifts at Christmas a month later. What, they're clever, don't be jealous.

Swapfell Sans - He prevents his brother from dying and that actually takes a lot of time. They are invited to share a meal with the Queen, but Rus... Rus thinks it's a good opportunity to tell the old bitch what he thinks of her, and alcohol definitely doesn't help. Toriel neither by the way, especially when she broke one of his brother's ribs because apparently, you have to break a wishbone or something on that day. Nox just wants to go home and sleep for three days, please.

Swapfell Papyrus - After Toriel breaks one of his ribs, Rus says that's ok because Thanksgiving is also about giving back. Then he punches her in the face. After that, he has to run the fastest turkey trot of his life because the Queen wants his head on a spit.

Fellswap Gold Sans - He's before all a business man so he goes shopping on Black Friday. Except he is merciless. Women, men, children, no one will stand between him and whatever he wants to buy. He's biting people's legs, throwing bones, and fistfighting everyone getting in the way. He doesn't need six televisions but he's still going to buy them just because he can!

Fellswap Gold Papyrus - He's all cozy in his room with the pumpkin pie he stole from the fridge, a big plaid and watching cliche Christmas movies in his bed and crying because that's so beautiful how Karen realized Jack-Sexy-Muscles was actually Santa Claus all along. He doesn't need more, really.

[real-fire-emblem-takes]

Finally. Here is me rating how good the Golden Deer are at sex.

Claude - this is a man who is solid at sex. Capable in terms of skill, probably reasonably versatile. Maybe similar to Edelgard in that unless he trusts you a lot he's not letting his guard down enough to bottom. 8/10

Hilda - Idk why but I feel like it depends on your gender? I just feel like if you're a woman you'd have more fun than if you're a man. Despite a lot of the shit she does she very much so feels like a girl's girl and I think that extends to having sex with women. 8/10 for women 6/10 for men.

Lorenz - LMAO so he's a tryhard. Like Ashe and Ingrid. And Ignatz, who will come up later. But he's a tryhard in a completely different way. He is SO annoying in bed like he will NOT shut up. It comes from a good place, it's a whole lot of "is this good? Do you like this? Do you feel good?" only phrased more elegantly, and he genuinely does care, but he's very annoying about it. Also he got all of his knowledge of sex from secret yaoi smut he keeps under his bed and only reads at the dead of night so he has somewhat unrealistic expectations. 4/10

Marianne - she's... fine? I think she'd be fine enough as a sub (but you better be nice to her) and I can see her domming if she's able to build the confidence slowly. 6/10.

Ignatz - he's a tryhard. Somewhere between Ashe and Ingrid on it-- I think he's reasonably stiff at first but he warms up eventually... and that dex growth lol... So once he's fully into it he's probably decent! I think he leans towards either subbing or like, no power dynamics at all, but you can probably get him to dom. He'll just need about 10 months to prepare for it. He also probably stops to stare at you a lot which is flattering but really annoying after a while. 5/10 I think.

Raphael - Really not my type so I dunno but I think he'd be decent! Very enthusiastic and cares a lot about how you're feeling. Might occasionally do things too hard even though he's being very very careful but no serious injury would result from it (L Dimitri once again!) so you'd both be fine. Afterwards he keeps you in his arms just kinda hugging you real tight. 7/10.

Lysithea - I feel weird making sex headcanons about her even though this is obviously all timeskip. But like. I think she'd probably have read on the subject and insists that she take the lead then fumbles like immediately. But she'd get it together I think. 6/10.

Leonie - she'd be solid! Quick learner, good enough technical skill, enthusiastic, maybe somewhat concerningly nonchalant about the whole thing. There'd be some mistakes but you'd both laugh them off and have a good time! 8/10.

.

[grimfurbybitch]

Zestious is great and I love all the fanworks surrounding it but I feel like we're ignoring the funniest possible way for this to go

Zestial having a FAT celebrity crush on Sir Pentious and being too nervous to say anything to him. Cuz like Sir Pentious, I love him but he is a fucking loser that no one respects

He cannot flirt to save his unlife, like is this really the best he could do? Yes because he has NO rizz

This is genuinely the picture that the news uses of him and the worst part of this is that he truly believes he looks good in this picture

Sir Pentious is a lame tryhard and fucking Zestial of all demons has a crush on him

Zestial the oldest overlord

Zestial the overlord that people literally light themselves on fire at the mere sight of, is in love with THIS GUY

THIS GUY

THIS IS THE MAN THATS GOT THE OLDEST OVERLORD IN HELL DOWN BAD!!!!!!!!

and you just knoooooow that Carmilla is suffering because her bestie esteemed associate is pinning over a fucking loser.

Zestial won't just talk to Sir Pentious because he's scared of getting rejected lmao lacking intelligence and Zestial refuses to rush into anything. She has to bully convince him to give up and move on to someone better (ideal) or actually fucking confess to the man (less ideal but at least he won't be as lonely)

She'll warm up to Sir Pentious when they eventually start dating but until then she'll just be judging Zestial's awful taste in men

[allwormdiet]

Sentinel 9.2

Hey Flechette, glad to have you aboard, please mind the bloodthirsty coworker

Interesting way of greeting people, Sophia. At least she has the decency to apologize, eventually.

Also crazy good reflexes on Flechette, holy shit.

Somehow I doubt she's going to only be stuck here for a month

Also God, Sophia is such a tryhard, it's kinda funny when she's not trying to kill somebody about it

Fascinated by the idea that you can tell whether a cape is the type to run across rooftops by vibes.

More exposition, this one to explain Flechette's power and the associated power ratings. With this, I get how she was able to wreck Leviathan's shit better than basically anyone else, "borks physics on projectiles" is a massive benefit. Girl's busted.

Describing Brockton Bay as jerky, awkward, and demanding feels appropriate lmao

Also oh no why do the out of towners keep thinking they should connect with Shadow Stalker, she's like the least friendly one

"Gotta wait for them to obviously commit a crime so we can swing in and kick them in the teeth" - definitely not a cop

Oh yeah, no threat from tranquilizer bolts, except I guess the fucking broken glass that can get embedded in the flesh, Jesus Christ

This fight feels harsh, swift, these guys are going down fast and hard and there's already two nasty blows to the neck.

Speaking of harsh and brutal, Jesus. Sophia really likes to make people hurt, huh?

The restraint thing is cool, very Spider-Man, although hanging people upside-down for an extended period of time feels... dangerous.

Also yeah no kidding Sophia is too comfortable with violence

So, I'm going to sidestep the ethical dilemma of "should someone who was very nearly victimized be allowed to kick the shit out of the people who almost did awful things to them" because I think that's a pretty delicate and complicated topic

What I'm going to focus on instead is "should government-employed superheroes deliberately allow the above to happen," and I'm pretty sure the answer is no? This is an interesting glimmer of sympathy from Shadow Stalker but it's coming at the cost of the physical health of people she's responsible for taking down; even if they're shitheads, even if they were going to try to rape that woman, it doesn't look any better for Shadow Stalker that they're brutalized any further than what it took to incapacitate them

So how's it going trying to make a friend out of the girl that's your age

Shadow Stalker literally calls herself a cop! She says it! And then she throws on "judge, jury, and executioner" just to really drive the point home! Protectorate heroes and Wards have the room to treat themselves as goddamn Judge Dredd in times of emergency, either because of tacit approval by their superiors or because of insufficient oversight! Both options are bad!

Flechette is smart enough to distance herself at least

The only real rebuke against Shadow Stalker's whole deal is that nobody who knows her especially likes her

Let's not shame a man for knowing things about dolls, hmm? We can do better than that

The detail about what a parian doll is is kinda neat though

Also very neat that she's a fashion student using her superpowers to make herself stand apart from her peers

That could've gone really poorly, holy shit

Goddamn, Parian takes this seriously.

Well, glad she's finding someone to connect with at least, for all that Shadow Stalker was a bust.

Being a conflict-avoidant parahuman has to fucking suck, good lord. No wonder Parian's on edge, she's acting as muscle for an entire group of survivors and probably on call the entire day, and she hates every second of it.

And so a spark is struck.

Wonder why Parian is dressing up to look white. Further obfuscation of her identity? Makes as much sense as anything.

At least Flechette is wringing some kind of benefit out of this ass assignment

Current Thoughts

Nice to more officially meet the both of these characters. Flechette seems nice and has a neat power, Parian seems nice and has a neat power. Wild to me that they're gonna be like, the token wlw couple in this story, there's already so much tension involving Taylor and other girls.

Shadow Stalker basically told on herself this chapter and will continue to tell on herself for the rest of the arc

[v-avav]

Minthara my wifeeee <3

my 6th try overall, I should practice drawing faces more often, I like the progress I've made

but still, I want to have a more stylized... style, tho I have a feeling it's gonna be harder for me than the semi/quarter/something realism style I got rn

click here for speedpiant!

colored ver + previous tries under the cut

so yeah, I'm not too great at coloring, tho I think I should've used more than just the airbrush for this one, it doesn't look too bad tho, but could use more hard shadows

and the first tries

this exercise was supposed to just be quick sketches like these, drawing my fav bg3 character so I could have more fun drawing, but also learn how to better draw faces

now I went more into detail, it's better but messy, especially the right one look so stiff lmao

now it got A LOT better, the left one was me tryharding a lot lmao (although the eyes made her look like a completely different character), so yeah, really went off with the quick sketch plan...

now I made a sketch, and then thin lineart on top of it, and gradually added more lineweight, and it the right one some shading

here's also the ref I used <3

my biggest takes from this one are to carefully study the main features that make her recognizable (sharp eyes, nose shape etc), list out the mistakes you've made to keep them in mind in the next try, and to use photoshop tools more often to quickly fix small mistakes, instead of trying to redraw them 50 times lol

also to use flip canvas more, really makes you spot mistakes right out

[kairiscorner]

hellooo,musta po kayo??. is it ok if you could right one of those Filipino!reader but hobie? if you can,,, thank youu!!

HI ANON, OKAY LANG PO, SANA OKAY LANG PO RIN KAYO /pos :>> MAAAAAAN YES, PLEASE, hobie would be the nightmare of all conservative filo parents frfr YES LET'S DO THIS 🫂🫂🫂

hobie brown x filipino reader

ngl, i think he'd intimidate a lot of your family members into silence if you bring him over to family dinners or get-togethers LMAO. like just seeing this tall boy with a bunch of piercings and unconventional clothing for guys his age would, yes, earn him a lot of stares, but he'd also kind of intimidate those tryhard male cousins you might have (you know the type, the wanna get jowas and emo sadboys ueueue).

despite how hobie looks like, he's actually super friendly to all your relatives, he doesn't judge by how they look, in fact he doesn't judge, he observes and bases his opinions of them from there. he always has something nice to say to your relatives, even if they might have a lot of criticisms to say about him.

that's the other reason you got together with him, actually. even if you have a lot of negative things to say or think about yourself, or internalized bad thoughts about who you are or look like from your family or peers, he always has kinder words that you deserve to hear and will consistently inconsistently (through other words, actions, and gifts) remind you of who you, the amazingly wonderful individual who came into his life, really are all the time.

i think he'd also be a wonderful cook. if you were assigned to take care of cooking for your family, he'd wordlessly just saunter over to you by the kitchen, lean against the door frame of the kitchen like the rizz master that he is, raise his eyebrows, smirk, and ask you, "need any help, mahal ko?"

if you say yes, he'd get right to work, doing what you ask of him in the most unconventional ways possible. he'd chop vegetables and meat so freaking fast man, and in SUCH NEAT SLICES. if he were on rice cooking duty, he'd probably make rice with the kawali in the traditional way because he doesn't believe in rice cookers when he has two functional and capable hands, a kawali, a fire, and you to watch over him. and surprisingly, the rice he makes is FUCKING AMAZING, IT HAS FLAVOR?????? A REALLY GOOD ASS FLAVOR????? LIKE YEAH???????

after dinner, he'd do the cleaning up with you, even if your parents will insist upon him not to do anything because he's a guest.

"pasensya na po, tito at tita, pero hindi po ako naniniwala na porket ako'y isang bisita, i'll be leaving all the work to my beloved. cheers."

he'd be fluent in tagalog or your local dialect, and when he talks to you, he loves switching up his accent from the dialect you speak to speaking in a cockney accent in fluent british english chockful of slang.

OH AND IF YOU HAVE LOUD ASS NEIGHBORS WHO SING KARAOKE EVERY NIGHT, MOFO WOULD GET THE HELL UP, HOOK UP HIS ELECTRIC GUITAR, AND AS MUCH AS YOU TRY TO DISCOURAGE HIM, HE'LL JAM THE FUCK OUT AT THEM TO RETALIATE TOWARDS THEIR LOUD KARAOKE SESSIONS LMAO

he also lives, breathes, and is lato-latoing. like when he caught you playing with the toy, he got interested and made one for himself. it's much louder than the plastic lato-latos being sold, so it makes a lot of racket. he plays it in the spider society HQ when things are too quiet or boring, he just whips it out and brags about how you're the real lato-lato master, not him.

he lato-latos when miguel is chewing out the members of the spider society after a bad mission or someone did something to piss him off. OR EVEN WHEN MIGUEL'S JUST ANNOUNCING SOMETHING OR ISN'T EVEN DOING ANYTHING, AS LONG AS MIGUEL IS THERE, HOBIE WILL LATO-LATO, THAT IS HIS ROUTINE (of inconsistency).

he loves opm rock bands. he listens to eraserheads, itchyworms, AND ASIN. BRO, HE'D COLLECT ASIN CDS AND LISTEN TO THEM WITH YOUUUUUU.

you'd tell him he could just listen to them on spotify or youtube, but he says, "nahhh, i don't believe in spotify or youtube," and just listen to music with you, one earphone in the other's ear as he holds you close :>>>

HE LISTENED TO LIGAYA BY ERASERHEADS, AND WHEN YOU CAME INTO THE ROOM AS HE WAS BLASTING IT, HE TOOK YOU BY THE HAND AND STARTED DANCING TO YOU AND SINGING ALONG TO THE LYRICS <333

he isn't really very big on tradition, but if you wanted, he'd bust out his skills at the acoustic guitar and in a good old fashioned loverboy manner, HARANA YOU TO FALL IN LOVE WITH HIM ALL OVER AGAIN <333

he has tried jollibee before per your request, and he liked it, but he made his own twist on it from food he's scrapped together that jollibee makes, and THUS HE SERVES YOU JOLLHOBIE. it tastes so good man fr, i'm a living witness.

i think the filipino foods he'd like a whole lot would be pork liempo, taho, leche flan, and halo-halo (the different kinds of ingredients in the halo-halo really makes me think of hobie bc of how versatile that dude is). but tbh, he doesn't really claim to have a favorite food, he just loves all the food you have to offer him and make him. YOUR VERSIONS OF LOCAL PINOY FOOD ARE HEAVENSENT TO HIM, HE EATS THEM UP SO QUICKLY AND CRAVES FOR MORE <333

he's super inconsistent, so it's not a surprise he'd call you all kinds of nicknames ;> like earth 42 miles, HE'D CALL YOU NICKNAMES FROM OTHER DIALECTS BC HE THINKS NO SINGULAR NICKNAME IS ENOUGH TO EXPRESS HOW DEAR YOU ARE TO HIM <333

he'd use multiple nicknames in one sentence when talking to you. "mahal, wanna go out tonight, pangga?", "aking sinta, i'd like to some attention right now, beh," "ang sarap ng lahat ng niluluto mo, mahal ko, i can't get enough of it, iniirog ko"

also if you had younger siblings or cousins, HE'D BE THEIR NUMBER ONE FAVE BABYSITTER. he lets them get away with a lot of things, but he never, ever endangers them. he promotes their learning and good behavior, but he doesn't teach them blind obedience.

if your younger siblings or cousins did the mano po to him, he'd appreciate it, but would rather prefer to be casual around them. but if it's in the kid's nature to do mano po, he'd let them do it all the time, he really respects your culture and wants to let you know that he loves it as a part of you, too.

a/n: in short, ginoong hobart brown is a green flag po <333

tags !! @thecoolerdor @k4tsu3 @luvstarrstruck @ii01vq @maxoloqy @pixqlsin

[starlight-lesbians]

Me! I'm gonna ask questions about the taco bell au!

What do they do on their off days?

OOH OOH OK

so during the day they’re all students at the local community college, so they see each other a decent amount outside of work already!

Dinah and Pearl are roommates and they’ll take nights off together to have movie nights and go get free taco bell from their partners/crushes

Belle and Tass are similar, they also live together and they’re neighbors w Dinah and Pearl. They have quiet study nights when they have time off together usually. Belle likes experimenting with different tea blends at work to find which one puts them to sleep the fastest after studying

Dinah and Greaseball super rarely get days off together since they’re like the de facto shift leads at their respective shops, but when they do, they’ll normally go out to a bar or something rather than stay home. I get the vibe they’re both pretty into parties

When Dinah has nights off to herself she makes herself margs and does her homework (cooking, she’s a culinary major) at literal lightning speed while listening to Kesha

Greaseball’s solo nights off are normally spent at sports practice or the gym, she’s a tryhard(/affectionate)

Pearl’s time off is mostly just studying at the Taco Bell to flirt with Rusty or the coffee shop to flirt with Electra (she’s an adorable menace, neither of them can focus on work)

Electra avoids everyone but Pearl and Rusty when they have time off, they’re like a ghost lmao. (They’re at the library working on electrical engineering homework or something)

Lumber and Porter literally always take their days off together bc they’re attached at the hip, they’re usually at the skate park

Hydra spends his days off getting high and annoying Tass at the coffee shop if he’s working

Slick does essentially the same thing except she’s bothering Belle and drinking way too much caffeine (she’s like two weeks behind on her schoolwork)

Belle just goes to bed early on her nights off, nuff said

Tass hangs out in the library quiet floor and reads usually

Rusty probably hangs out in the cafe most nights, partly on account of Electra and Pearl but also because Momma is there