#which shouldnt be that bad but it actually pretty is and the world looks so blurry

[danielnelsen]

well that's just a lie

[aria0fgold]

So this is what it feels like to have a backward schedule where I'm awake in the evening and asleep during the day. I'm like a vampire and I don't know how to feel bout that.

[bonefall]

while i do agree with the sentiment that bloodclan should be more nuanced as an entity i still believe it is wrong to portray them as the necessary "response" to clan injustice (haven't read the books in years but i am pretty sure that bloodclan started with no connection to the clans) / an opposition to the clan's flaws. some of the thing scourge did was out of selfishness and bloodclan isn't the other colour of the black and white debacle with the clans. the clans are heavily flawed yes, but it isn't realistic to completely say that their structure had no redeeming qualities altogether and that all outsider groups is fundamentally better than the clans.

all clans and groups are flawed in their own way and i believe we shouldnt brush past the things that other groups (the sisters and what they do with their toms *cough cough*) did solely to be able to degrade the clans and their culture.

Buddy, you're setting up a strawman. I promise you that if you look into the reduxes I've made of BloodClan, Guardians, The Sisters, and the Tribe, you will see that I don't make any of them a "flawless" alternative to Clan life.

Nor do I say that the Clans have no redeeming qualities. In fact, you can browse the "Clan Culture" tag to see the various expansions I've made to show how these traditions, values, and technological advances make Clan life so alluring.

The overarching theme of BB is that the nature of culture is change. For better AND for worse.

With respect, I think there's something insidious in the wording of "the things the other groups did." We're talking about fan responses to a work that consistently demonizes and degrades foreigners to make the Clans look like the "best way to live," justifying xenophobia. These are not real groups, they are writing choices.

In the franchise with some pretty extreme examples of misogyny, the authors said "What if bizarro world where women rule and have no men... woag..." and only includes a single Clan-alligned member of this culture, with a BAD opinion of them, who can't even do his diplomatic job because he HATES them so much.

In the same franchise that shows Fireheart getting bullied, facing prejudice, and fighting a murderous tyrant who publically executes a mixed-race character, their endgame villain is an outsider, like him, but this one IS a godless heathen who HATES love and friendship and banned families.

In the VERY same franchise which made its first non-malicious group barely able to get through an arc without needing to be saved by Clan cats, totally unable to defend themselves, framed as "whiny" for not wanting their clearly 'inferior' culture to be forcefully changed.

And I'm re-stating all this because, again, no offense to you in particular Anon, but I've been seeing a few people with a sentiment like yours lately. Complaints into a vacuum that don't make targeted critique of anyone's fanworks, gesturing at this broad "woobification" which is apparently out there somewhere over the rainbow, saying things like "well Scourge is selfish" or "well Moonlight abandoned her 13 year old" as if we haven't BEEN knew.

As if we're not all directly responding to these choices. As if I haven't written ESSAYS on this topic.

Since this was about BloodClan in particular though, and you admit you haven't read the books in years, please go back and actually read Rise of Scourge before trying to make critique of the ways fanon rewrites its origin. It's EXPLICITLY a response to the Clans, in the text, that the Erins wrote, it is canon that fanon is working with.

And you want people to take that out and approach it a different way... why? Because it's so incredulous to you that a nation forms in response to a threatening neighbor? That a common enemy through invasions is a way that people might choose to unite, and encourage their new culture to value brutality? Because you don't like the idea of Clan Culture's XENOPHOBIC BATTLE CULTURE affecting surrounding communities??

Could YOU, maybe, be doing this "woobification" thing I keep hearing about? Can I play this stupid game too? What's our stupid prize? Can it be a lollipop? Do we get stickers

TL;DR, ok.

[pikasetism]

hi chat sorry for the wait ive been tired as fuck

did you know that the yamaha rgxa2 (guitar pikos design is based on) is kind of a weird ass fucking guitar and i really want one

from what i read yamaha wanted to revolucionize guitar making and make it as lightweight as possible (which is cool cuz these things ARE heavy)

they also wanted it to make it very futuristic and while i think it looks nice ive heard people say it looks like what people 50 years ago thought the future would look like which is very piko core

this guitar model also sold poorly and got discontinued which is also very piko core (it happened before pikos discontinuation. an omen if you will)

and my own personal greivace with it, it has 2 knobs one of them inexplicably being the pickup switch (which is usually a lever looking thing) and the other one is a volume knob which means for some fucking reason it doesnt have a tone knob, which is not actually weird at all but it was first ive ive ever seen a guitar without a tone knob so it makes this guitar feel like a fucking anomaly to me. i shouldnt even care about the tone knob because i never fucking touch the one on my strat but it jumpscared me anyways

both piko and this fucking guitar got fumbled hard. i want one so bad. please world let me own the instrument version of utatane piko (it also sound pretty nice imo. which is also very piko core)

bonus, if you go on the website i linked at the top you can see it has a dark mode version and i think its a crime that kurotane is just piko but red and black and not based on this guitar rip kurotane piko you could have had bissexual lighting installed directly into your eyeballs

[marcmorrigan]

finally delivering on the princess tutu headshots i promised... love these dysfunctional teens 🩰💖💕

LOTS of notes about headcanons/design choices under the cut! like. a lot. dont say i didnt warn you

starting with my specialest guy fakir:

i had a suuuper clear vision for fakir, and i couldnt be happier with how he turned out, he looks exactly how i imagine him! trying to translate his Bird-Shaped Hair into my style gave me SERIOUS homestuck flashbacks. my affinity for knights with Problems knows no bounds...

adding the hyperpigmentation around his eyes and his acne scars is what really solidified this for me-- i put those in and was like oh!!! there you are!!! my boy!!! and you can tell because i gave him acne scars + thick eyebrows that he IS my boy... there are very clear trends among my headcanons for my faves lol. big noses, thick eyebrows, skin imperfections, heavy eyebags, long dark hair... and fakir truly has it all 😤 he is so Ideal Character Design to me

i think fakir is actually pretty self-conscious about his appearance tho! we see characters like pike and lilie say hes handsome to ahiru, but i dont know how often he actually hears that? and im sure its hard not to compare himself to mytho, who is straight out of a fairy tale; being a regular teenager dealing with regular teen body stuff is hard enough without your roommate being a magically beautiful eternally youthful storybook hero. i think he probably internalises more that people see him as scary and angry, and that the girls who do have crushes on him always frame it in contrast to mytho, who is Good and Kind and Handsome, implying (or sometimes outright stating!) that fakir is Bad and Mean and... Well...

fakir is very sensitive but quiet about it, so i think its a very private point of self-consciousness. i think he puts a lot of semi-secret effort into his appearance; canonically he has a lot of very funny and clearly customised clothing, and he chooses to keep his hair long and in a very particular style (i have a whole breakdown in my mind of how he achieves that style and it involves a surprising amount of pins and an unsurprising fuckton of teasing. i think his hair is a little fried from heat damage!), and i think that probably extends to other things, too, like manicuring his eyebrows and doing a lot of very Teenage Skincare that doesnt actually help his acne much lol. i think he probably has a lot of self-injurious habits and BFRBs like skin picking and chewing, mostly at his acne and around his nails (both of which he hates, because he knows he shouldnt but does it anyway). i think if he does it enough that theres noticeable evidence it feels, like, world-ending for him, ESPECIALLY if anyone asks what happened lol. do not perceive him except in the very specific ways and contexts he approves of THANKS

on to the narratives favorite princess, mytho:

again, i had a pretty clear idea of the vibe i wanted mytho to have going into this-- i want him to have, like, extreme prince charming vibes, very Classically Handsome without necessarily being 'conventional.' i thought a lot about 'the happy prince' story while i was working on this, and really wanted him to look like a cross between how the prince statue looks in my head and a porcelain doll. and also a cross between jonny brown and brigitte bardot? lots of very direct influences for him lol. so! lots of gold tones, gemmy eye color, cute little tooth gap, quivering wide-eyed thousand-yard-stare doe eyes and big ol dolly anime lashes, which were the very last thing i added because i was NERVOUS about pulling those off lol. they turned out cute tho! ive only done a handful of pieces for this series and i can already tell princess tutu is gonna make me up my lash drawing game considerably, these kids all look like they blink and cause a hurricane from the gale force wind of their falsies

also wait i lied the very last thing i did was add his freckles/beauty marks because he needed that little extra oomph and those were It. i think he probably has some on his hands/wrists too 💕

i was a little unsure if my idea for his hair would translate with this flat-color approach but im pretty happy with it! its supposed to be afrotextured hair (somewhere between 3b and 4c i think? wide range of potential i knowww but im still kind of hammering out my headcanons okay, this is exploratory lol) thats been rolled and finger-styled into his little feather shapes. i think loose, chunky twists would be another fun way to interpret his hair and twists are one of my fave styles to draw do i might draw him like that at some point too...

i guess fakir is the one who styles his hair for him before mytho gets his heart back? i imagine fakir is pretty meticulous about maintaining mythos health and appearance, even at the worst stages of their relationship. i think itd be hard for fakir to frame the way he treats mytho as For Mythos Sake if he wasnt doing some level of actually beneficial care for him, so being really fastidious about things like mythos diet and sleep hygiene and hair care and such gives fakir an outlet for his 'you just have to do what i tell you' thing that helps him convince himself it really is helping, no really, hes doing this for mythos benefit and he just has to be strict with him because mytho doesnt UNDERSTAND he needs PROTECTING and fakir is the ONLY ONE who can do it so mytho HAS to let him because if he doesnt then why does fakir even EXIST, if he cant manage this then what is he good for, and--

yknow. the usual complexes. and their relationship is so complex!!! but also so simple, but like. in a good way. fakirs behavior is complicated but his motivation regarding mytho is SO straightforward which makes that downward spiral into harm really easy to map out... i wont go much into that in this post since this is about visual/appearance-related headcanons but just. augh. i love this show and i love these characters!!! and i hope its apparent in my work that i do love them so <3

im hoping to do a set of these for the girls next!!! i have some other stuff to finish first but hopefully... Soon... Some Birds...

[anzuhan]

Hello! I'm new to your account but I just want to say your art is suuuuupper pretty! I want to know Anzu's lore, have you written it down anywhere or have discussed it with a previous ask yet?

hello, thank you and glad you asked 🫶 anzu never really speaks about anzu's lore because its overly complex and anzu wouldve wanted to save it for later for when anzu could actually pursue vtuber & idol activities, however its been 4 years and anzu still couldnt really. manage to do that. so anzu will talk about it now 👍 ^ _^)👍

anzu just hopes youre ready for a VERY long post (under cut because. otherwise itll be a post the length of do you like the color of the sky and dont wanna take up peoples dashes 😭)

so based on anzu's current design you'd probably think anzu is a vampire. which isnt entirely wrong but also. WRONG !! you see, anzu isn't from this world, universe, dimension, what have you. anzu comes from a very distant place in its own right that cannot exactly be entered, not even by anzu anymore due to how anzu was exiled from it. 'us' that live there are not entirely a species that is documented by the ones here, so anzu cant exactly tell you what anzu is, but the closest word to it of the inhabitants of this world would be probably close enough to shapeshifter; anzu doesnt exactly fit all characteristics of one, but that is still the best word youve all got for it ! anzu in a way also works like a candle, though anzu isnt made from wax or anything of the like (´ﾉω；`) anzu's insides are hollow and anzu's 'life' is given by a flame inside of anzu's body. it is closer enough to the fire that exists in this world, but also not entirely due to how it can hardly go out. back in anzu's 'world' we all lived under something close to a high governance of 'elders', but anzu would also compare it close to what people tend to call cults here. anzu did not like it, and though its painted as bad to be kicked out of that realm, anzu is kind of happy to have gone out ☆

anzu was also lucky enough to come across another of anzu's kind in the first world anzu was thrown into after the exile that could teach anzu how everything works. we are not exactly built for battle, though maybe sadly for anzu, anzu loves combat </3 our kind can go through dimensions, time and space at will, so we do not exactly age the same as humans. anzu could be 99308 one day and then 193993 the next one ! if anzu did some time skips or dimension skips or what have you. anzu has also given up trying to keep track of anzu's age, though last time anzu's checked, it was around 102000s (this may become invalid even by tomorrow)

the way we see things are as all stories, tales and also things far unknown beyond your imagination are their own dimension; dimensions are split into timelines; there is always a main timeline that shouldnt be interfered with, the one that you may call 'the one with the given fate', where all things go as they should, whether that be bad or not. and then after this one, theres thousands of subtimelines where minor changes have happened in everyones lives; anzu is free to go and disrupt those with anzu's own ideas of how things shouldve went~ truth to be told, anzu tends to become attached a ton to the ones that have sealed fates that cannot be changed.. well. almost, until anzu'd come in, of course ! and sometimes anzu cant help it but want to interfere. to how dimensions also work, a copy of every single person existing in said dimension exists in every copy of the main timeline; though, because anzu does not belong to any dimensions anzu goes thru, there can only be one anzu at a time anywhere.

anzu, across time and looking over all tons of different universes, has fallen in love with idols in each and every one of them. so anzu's quest is to end up becoming an idol in every dimension anzu goes to ! all different looks of anzu you see also tend to be so that anzu can fit in better here or there ... though despite anzu's spent so long among humans from so many different dimensions, anzu still struggles to understand some pretty simple things sometimes. either way, because anzu wants to be not only just any kind of idol but a cosplayer idol as well (i.e like fuyume hanamura from enst), its also good to have huge variety, right? ♡

this is what anzu looks like normally, anzu usually refers to this as 'default' or just 'sumika', given that was the name anzu chose when anzu had come onto a dimension outside of anzu's own. you may see it from time to time, and they may not always look identical but anzu thinks its pretty usual to spot in most drawings whenever it is the 'default' !

among the usual white holographic hair and the usual characteristics, anzu's also had blonde hair for a while ... anzu does not really like to act as an idol like this, but anzu does that.. sometimes ! and for the blonde times, it was more a case of spicing things up.. ?

those are also just a very small portion of what anzu's 'default' looks like. below is a much much larger strip of looks, though not updated.

okay ! now that we've established that that is, what a normal person would probably call anzu's 'natural' look, next are two charts of anzu's looks anzu used to use and that anzu still uses sometimes ! you see there far more often than the default, due to the fact that anzu prefers to perform idol work and activities through them. the default from before is more of a personal and casual thing(＞＜*)ノ~~~~~

(x next to the name means they do not get used anymore; checkmark means they still get used; the time below the name in paranthesis refers to when they were initially active)

though they all have a bit of a different personality and characteristics, theyre still all anzu ! anzu is anzu no matter what anzu looks like, so please dont forget that☆ if you wish to know more about any in particular, or want to see more art of either, feel free to send a further ask about it ! theres tons of arts of every single one of them.

anzu had also not described every single little thing about anzu's backstory or things anzu is capable of, tales of things thatve happened in this or that time/space/dimension/etc ; so if you have anymore questions about any and all of them please ask as well ! anzu is happy if youre interested in anzu♡

[thatmooncake]

hi hi!! i saw your reblog of your therapist au art and noticed in the tags that you dont mind answering questions. i hope its alright if i ask you one or two!!

so, you mention in the background section of the au that moon was used to trap souls inside dreams (or something similar to that.) will that be addressed in the future?? i feel like thats prime material for angsty stuff and moon feeling bad about what happened in the past :< not to mention the whole fazbear entertainment thing lending you the therapy bots and them linked to dream experiments is shady (as per usual with fazent.)

(also not as important, but is the whole "trapping souls" thing a reference to somniphobia, the book in the tftp series?? i actually havent read the story personally, but from a brief summary, im getting those same vibes lol. could be entirely a coincidence, but if not, thats cool either way!!!)

and on a more lighter note, can they eat stuff in this au? if so, id love to know their favorite ice-cream flavors! its a weird question to suddenly ask but for some reason this au is giving me "its a summer night, im up way too late, and im eating ice-cream when i shouldnt" type of vibes

anyways!!! im sorry i think i rambled too much but i love your guys' au, and yall's artwork!! cant wait to see more of it, hopefully in the future!

(p.s. unrelated but i thought moon,,,had the bisexual colors in his irises,,,)

Ooh yay hihi I love AU asks!

So! The dreamscape is going to play a big part in the therapy bots AU, and the angst and drama is very much ongoing - it might seem like fun and games at first exploring the therapy themed concepts, but you’re absolutely right, there are massive Somniphobia style undertones there. Moon’s dreamscape is designed to pull you in and it can be addictive and …energy consuming. Or should we say life force consuming?

Moon meanwhile? He feels closer to you in the dreamscape than in the waking world …at first. All the souls he steals become a part of him, in a sense. Remnants of them continue to float around in the dreamscape if you look hard enough, like when you start peeling back the wallpaper of a new house that used to belong to someone else. For the longest time Moon has not really been able to interact in the real world, and honestly most people in the dreamscape very rarely interacted with him either up until the very end, being far too wrapped up in exploring the vast dreamscape which moulds itself around their wants and needs. He’s been kind of used to his role as a passive observer, or a creature without much identity at all. But this time around, because you think he’s a therapy bot, he’s a part of the action. He’s actually being played with. This is unusual for him, and his feelings get a little more muddied over time.

Sun and Moon can absolutely eat in this AU - it was one of their ill-advised “upgrades”. And as the three of you start sharing some soul energy - uhhh, bond with each other more closely, they start to gain the strangest senses too. Senses they’ve never had before, like smell and taste. And they do not know what to make of this. But they do know that Sun likes neapolitan flavour (don’t ask him to pick just one, they look so pretty together!) and Moon likes mint chocolate chip flavour (yep you heard me, mint is good). And that having ice cream late on a summer night is what it’s all about (well, ask Sun about that one - Moon thinks you ought to be sleeping, but he’ll allow it this one time).

Never apologise for rambling I love rambling :D (also everyone who’s mentioned all the pride flag colours you are absolutely correct Sun and Moon say gay rights)

[guardianofthestarz]

this year my goal was to read at least 25 books (which now seems too easy) and i decided to start with rick's books cuz i loved pjo

(i then realized i had actually never finished the pjo series - i didnt finish the LAST book... thats crazy)

i went on yt and found a vid that showed the RIGHT way to read all his books so my journey started.

anyway blah blah blah, i wanted to talk about the kane chronicles

obv spoilers if you havent read those and if you care

hell nah. that series was so bad 😭😭 (imo ofc and ill explain why i think so)

i should mention that i read the first and third book, but i only read half of the second book cuz it got very looooooong and boring to me (i just read the wikipedia summary for it)

also the only reason i read these books was cuz i knew there would be a collab between the magicians and demigods and that sounded rly interesting to me!

im usually not that picky when it comes to books/fics/anything so i was surprised i didnt like these books. first of all theyre so long, and for what.. the world ends in 3, 4, 5 days yet each book is 90k words at best and 120k-ish words at worst. it just dragged ooooooon and onnnnn and onnnnnnnnnn. i thought maybe its just the length that im not used to (even tho ive read way longer fics but i thought maybe its not the same..) then i started reading the heroes of olympus series which was a similar length and i sped thru those. which prob means that the kane chronicles were just boring. i was gonna say that it just felt like there were attacks and fights just cuz, but then again, thats kinda similar to percy jackson books. i cant put my finger on why some fights felt kinda useless and filler.. unlike in pj books. also when they beat apophis it felt too easy. there was so much build up to that final battle, and in the end he got destroyed in like half a page or smt.. not satisfying! and since we know the kane siblings are still alive (cuz of the recording being sent etc), it didnt feel like there was anything at stake.

the egyptian mythology was actually pretty interesting, i did like learning about it. however, at times there was just a LOT of info being dumped- so many gods/stories etc that i had a hard time remembering everything. i think w the percy jackson/greek mythology books there was just more time for rick to set the scene and build the world so it didnt feel that overwhelming (even tho it was still a lot, im ngl).

and now my biggest complaint... i thought rick could write powerful female characters butttttttttt maybe that was just annabeth LOL. SADIE WAS SO ANNOYING!!!!!! she was SO unlikeable but i think we werent supposed to dislike her??? yeah shes young but so was percy and annabeth and every demigod from the pjo series and they were much more enjoyable to read about. all she cared about was guys. more specifically, sadie, a 12yo, was head over heels for ANUBIS, a THOUSAND YEAR OLD god, who oh yeah,,, looked like a 16yo guy but idk if its just me, thats still a WEIRD/uncomfy AGE DIFFERENCE 😭shes so lucky that she ended up w basically both guys she had a crush on, but she still made it such a big deal when that happened.

like anubis had stabbed her in the back or smt lmfao. also should mention that in the pjo books for ex., percabeth didnt just happen when they were 12/13... a long time passed so that relationship could feel unrushed and natural.

dont get me wrong, liking a guy etc is all normal and very teenage-y (even tho sadie wasnt even a teenager when all this happened). but making that MOST of her personality, or smt she constantly thought about and prioritized during the END OF THE WORLD. she just seemed very irresponsible and immature (which makes sense cuz shes a child.... maybe i shouldnt be reading these books as an almost 20yo) (but i can still tell when some1 has annoying qualities objectively) (even if its still a kids book)

idk thats just annoying. carter was tryna save the day/world and sadie had other things in her mind. or when she wanted to go hang out w her friends for her bday even tho the world was ending VERY soon and they had to get going. yeah she wants to be a normal kid but rn theres more important things you gotta think about bbg (and yes i do understand that the dance or her bday hang out would help w morale but at least be on the look out for stuff and dont think that youre not still on the job and most likely putting every1 in danger..). save the world first, then enjoy your life. maybe take a cake to go while youre traveling. maybe call your besties and talk to them on the phone for an hour or whatever

carter wasnt perfect, but even his obsession w zia wasnt THAT bad. it felt more normal and smt the reader (or i) could get behind and not dislike him too much for.

(when carter said that i thought he was in my head cuz i was literally thinking that sadie always leaves him to deal w important stuff)

i feel like theres more i had to say but theres too much negativity in this post already LOL im sorry 😭 this trilogy wasnt a 0 or 1 star, it was closer to 2 or maybe even 3. i didnt mind ignoring most of these. the only thing i couldnt ignore was sadie's attitude sometimes and ofc the weird relationship between her and anubis, but when walt showed up etc i had hope and it did get slightly better!

ofc im not a writer and i couldnt prob never write anything half as good as any of rick's books, but this is just my experience as the reader. as i mightve mentioned , rn im reading the heroes of olympus books for the first time and im enjoying them quite a lot!

lmk if you agree or disagree w anything, i usually change my mind somewhat easily so id love to see this series from some1 else's pov

[rpfisfine]

For the gaming asks: 11, 24, 30!

HEYYYYYYYYYYYY win thank you so much and sorry for being so late smiles in a regretful and apologetic style

11. favorite game genre

answered!!

24. if you could live in one of the games you’ve played, which one would it be?

thats such a beautiful quastion i honestly remember having wanted to live in pretty much every single game ive ever played no matter the genre but probably subnautica..i literally don't care that i would be stranded on an alien virus infected planet completely alone with nothing but sea creatures ranging from adorable to mindbendingly horrifying to keep me company and no hope of a rescue i would literally be thriving i think...... i was born to live the faceless subnautica man lifestyle

30. favorite aspect of a game (e.g. exploration, combat, fashion/customization, environments, graphics, bosses, roleplaying, etc.)

(is it gonna be really really genuinely annoying and horrible if i say gambling......i know its not an actual aspect at all but i mean this completely genuinely whenever a game has a gambling mechanic or even just some kind of undercover mission where you need to win at poker or sth it immediately becomes a hundred times better in my eyes like there are only a few game worlds within which gambling wouldn't make sense otherwise you can only benefit from adding in like a weird guy who sits in the corner of a pub who allows you to gamble. you have nothing to lose)

but okay im gonna answer in a less lame fashion and go one by one in like a process of elimination so exploration = good but also becomes a stressful and tedious process when a world is annoyingly big bc you're always Missing something and at some point it always turns into only caring abt unchecking boxes and crossing locations off a list than genuinely caring abt what they have to offer. combat & bosses = depends on how finely tuned the combat mechanics are in the game obvs if they're horrible or have aged rly badly then i only thoroughly enjoy it like 50 hours into the game once i have bent the gameplay to my will but if it's good (like in current cyberpunk 2077 for example) then im literally attacking everything that moves bc its fun and awesome and im good at it. environments = sometimes face the same problem as the exploration aspect but when they are truly truly unique and distinct and feel completely different from each other i rly love just going around and soaking up the atmosphere of different locations. graphics = not that important to me i think liking a game purely because of its graphics is one of the shallowest things the human psyche is capable of obvs it sucks when a game is borderline unplayable bc its appearance makes you want to vomit (like this game called black and white does anyone remember black and white.....) but there are sooooooooo many gems that also happen to look like garbage but that shouldnt make you want to not play them... give old bad looking games a chance....... for me

and i think through the process of elimination i have arrived at the conclusion that my fav aspect is fashion / customization & roleplaying all at once i LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE roleplaying not even for like major game defining decision stuff but mostly when it allows you to do the most mundane things like having tea in the morning and making your bed and doing chores and petting dogs and picking up your hat when it gets knocked off and fashion & customization kind of ties into that as well im always like well michael gta wouldn't wear these sunglasses because he hates them (source: my mind)..... arthur would never wear this fancy dress shirt and top hat bc he doesn't bathe enough etc. like my preferences for what i would actually like to see a character wear come AFTER what i think the character itself would want to wear. but yeah to put this whole insanely long thing very briefly roleplaying is my favorite aspect

gaming asks

[ganondoodle]

okay, more thoughts- not really about the first point but the latter-

im pretty sure she lands somwhere on the great plateau, given that you see little but normal standard trees and the scene after that is her standing on the edge of botws opening (lets ignore that i hate how 1 to 1 the same the past is despite it being over 10 THOUSAND years, like at least idk make the model of the tres bigger so it looks actually different- i know this is fantasy mc fantasyland but do you know how different our world was that long ago?? ), i dont think it would make sense to get her all the way up there unless she already was in roughly in the same place-

anyway, my point is also that if you look at it twice its yet another plot convenience for the sake of convenience (again why not have a construct or another hylian find her and lead her to the others .. wouldnt that make more sense? and neither have to talk either- wouldnt that make the past at least a tiny bit more like theres other people but the royal pair and ganondorf + background no name no face sages bc rly do they count at all) AND ... huge missed opportunity to at least make it funny/more interesting by having her land in the middle of their tea table or something so its literally like she was dropped in their lap, funny, and also serve as a better connection bc rauru always has his enigma stone on him so why wouldnt his stone from the future bring her to it in the past huh?

also something in mentioned before but had more thought tm, i dont like how there isnt even a slight hint of a language barrier, like you are telling me that the hylian language stayed perfectly the same over a time period of over TEN THOUSAND YEARS?? MUCH longer even since 10k was just the og calamity and totks past is way before that (if we keep wanting to lie to ourselves that they are connected bc it really isnt) and especially the sonau too, they came from the sky not too long before so how come they just speak that perfectly- but i can accept that, it would be hard to do with voice acting (which is still think they shouldnt do ... i like it without so much more and its quality is laughably bad in some cases), i get that ok BUT THEN you got the sonau research people that have to translate everything on ruins so ... its NOT the same? or is the spoken just somehow the same as modern hyrule but the written stuff isnt? (i can excuse it in botw with the monks more bc they got future vision and also beam their words into your head so they get a pass in my book lol--- also not having voice acting would have instantly solved that bc ... they dont have to say it)

-it feels like a similar disconnect to how every botw relevant shiekah stuff got snapped out of existence and no one gives a shit but then other stuff is just still there .. somehow and i dont think the words shiekah tech are used a single time in the game-

having something like communication problems or some part of hyrule that is just wildly different (again, like giant trees, we got those big stumps all over modern hyrule .. so why not use that to make it seem ancient ;O; a different SEASON?? no?? or make the color of the grass different, ANYTHING, the tiktok-esque glow filter is the lamest way to attempt that) even if it requires little change in itself (scale up model, change hue BAM done) would have done so much to actually make it feel like theres literally any time that passed between zeldas memories and the present bc it doesnt, and it doesnt help that sonia and rauru (AFTER HE ALREADY DID EPIC SAD UWU TURN TO DUST SCENE NO I WILL NOT SHUT UP ABOUT THAT) just .. come back to undo zeldas only action in the game, like at least let them stay dead/in the past so theres ANY disconnect

this game would make me so much less mad if it wasnt constnatly contradicting itself, if there wasnt anything good at all ok then i can forget it happend alot better but no theres stuff to work with and so many, hugely, missed opportunities and sometiems the dumbest choice taken out of a hundred and it wont let me rest so when i have thoughts tm i gotta spill them out before it starts to mold my brain

(been rewatching some of those totk critique vids i liked in the past and now seeing the cutscenes again, espeically when compared to botws, ......... the way the characters move and everything is so stiff?? like i didnt rly notice it when i played the game bc i watched each scene once and never looked back bc i was so bored but now i see just ... like sometimes it feels like all thats missing is the mouse someones using to slightly move the model on its rig in real time- or the way the characters talk feeling alot more like the classical mouth open mouth closed bwabwabwa- especially on rauru and mineru

i dont wanna sound like im literally trying to find something wrong with everything of that game but ... it looks so static- like the way the champions in botw moved while talking already gave you a bit of extra character but in totk they all just kinda .. do the basic movement and move their jaw enough to imply talking?? am i crazy?? like its not that extreme in every single moment but for most of them ... right?)

-not really the point in itself but also bc i just saw the first cutscene you get after zelda gets to da paaaast again ... how the hell do sonia and rauru even find zelda.. like, its possible she was lying on the ground for a while but even then, hyrule is so BIG what are the chances that the king and queen just where there exactly, its not like she was carried by a giant bird and dropped into a tree (ww), she just kind materializes and gently plops into long grass. like its not even a cosntruct that finds her, or some hylian, no its them specifically (couldnt you have used the lil heehoo look how rich in personality da king is actually bc he sneaks out to hunt sometime info for that? .. he was out on a hunt and found her or sth? no? another case of plot shortcuts or whatever you want to call it?)-

[alienbrainwave]

🍦

[seefasters]

Hello again! Anon who started watching mash cus of ur regina spektor amv. currently midway thru season 5. Margaret's development is so satisying to watch :'>). Shes currently in her hating on frank burns era, which is just so fucking good after seasons of being w him. And shes starting to loosen up w the nurses and stuff which i am soooo here for<3. Shocked that i love radar as much as i do. That bit where he cries seeing footage of his family made *me* cry. BJ hunnicut has already replaced trapper in my heart (srry trap). I dig the outwardly cleancut and easygoing vibe in tandem with his internal mischeviousness and stress. Love that hawkeyes starting to crack up a bit also. Other notes: a lot of the racial and sexual politics are pretty dodgy, but also its a lot more progressive than i thought it would be, wrt to margaret and some of the asian side characters as well as its antiamerican exceptionalism stuff (though nothing can wash the taste of that moose episode out of my mouth. No fucking excuse for that shit.) And its rlly good with the klinger stuff to, i was shocked at that. also as a jewish person i was rlly pleasantly surprised to see how the show interacts with jewishness and jewish characters, tho i suppose i shouldnt be surprised given that the showrunner was jewish. Father mulcahy is such an appealing, inclusive presence and i like how respectful and enthusiastic he is with all religions. That bit w/ the bris rlly got me too :,>).And hawkeye uses so much yiddish in his dialogue, his name and the way he navigates the world seems very gentile but his vibe tells me he hung out with jewish folks a lot growing up or in college if hes using those terms all the time. Having a lot of fun with this series and im so curious how its gonna develop in future. Thanks for introducing me to the series, im rlly digging it!

OMG ANON i really didnt expect to see you here again this is so lovely <333 i'm glad youre enjoying the show and i'm so happy we have another beejgirl (gender neutral) in our ranks

and yeah the treatment of women and margaret's development specifically gets only better from here on out imo, esp once loretta swit got involved. i can't wait for you to see "inga" lmao. and margaret in her frank hater era is so fun. some ppl say they feel bad for frank but tbh fuck him

yea the moose episode is absolutely the peak of mash's white saviourism and cultural insensitivity. its..... confused to say the least. they do get a bit better as the show goes along (as in, start using actual korean words and cultural elements lol) but overall it still aged poorly. i think the best they ever did was in "in love and war" so look forward to that

a lot of ppl hc hawkeye as jewish! i'm not jewish myself so i can't say anything for or against that but there's a bunch of really good posts on jewish hawkeye in the mash tag if u ever want to read them after ur done

again, i'm sooo glad youre enjoying the show and the characters <33 its so nice to see someone new discovering mash

i can't wait for u to meet charles lol. very curious to see what your thoughts on him will be

[vampkomori]

anyone else think neo’s reports are weird about composers i think theyre weird about composers. lets make sense of joshuas status as composer and hazuki as comparison

this is gonna be a bit long. so anyway the og reports are p straightforward about what Composers (specifically, joshua) can and cannot do:

- Joshua can only pick up Hanekoma’s vibe, because Angel vibes are too high frequency for him to pick up

- Inter-planar contact (so, communication between the UG and the Higher Plane in this case) is difficult, which is brought up because

- The Composer, Joshua, only resides in the UG.

- But the Producer, who is an Angel, mainly resides in the Higher Plane, and only occasionally lingers in the UG.

The whole matter of jumping between worlds highlights the difference between their abilities even more:

- As Composer, Joshua is one of the beings who can jump between worlds, but isn’t meant to do so often. His vibe dipped too low, so Hanekoma had to come retrieve him, because as an Angel this sort of travel is simple for him.

the OG reports make it pretty clear Joshua isnt an Angel

*But. unfortunately its not that easy. because by clearing the final time trial joshua gives you an item called Angel Feather (天使のハネ in JP), of which the description says “Our buyer used divine means to acquire this mysterious feather that was once in the possession of Shibuya's Composer.“ (which some have interpreted as, “in the possession of” meaning “it was given to him” potentially by hanekoma, who actually IS an Angel)

and if things are vague, we turn to the JP to clear us up! but its. still vague there bc it says “バイヤーが特別な力で入手した渋谷エリアのコンポーザーが持っていた謎の羽根“ (The mysterious feather that was held/carried by the Composer of the Shibuya area that the buyer obtained with a special power)

so. we are none the wiser about whose feather this is. i imagine its up to interpretation whether its joshuas feather or hanekomas, who then gave it to joshua. but given how clearly the reports differentiate between the Composer and Angels in regards to their abilities, suffice to say theres two interpretations that are most likely

- Composers arent Angels, their power disparity is just too much

- Composers are Angels, but theyre so much weaker compared to the Angels who reside in the Higher Plane that they’re never referred to as Angels, just as Composers

which takes us to neo, and hazukis little lightshow

i think its notable that the reports dont comment on kubos so-called “exorcism”, and only on haz erasing his noise.

haz himself refers to his little stunt as “exorcising” kubo, while in JP he actually says haiki 廃棄, get rid of, revoke, invalidate.

i think its important that he clarified “i didnt erase him, i exorcised him”. because with kubo, the executor, being an Angel from the Higher Plane, a Composer shouldnt be able to erase someone of higher ranking than them. i think as the person who called upon kubo in the first place, haz could specifically revoke his services and send him back to the Higher Plane.

which means kubo wasnt erased, he was just sent back. hes still kickin

we could leave things right here as they are. Canonically, Composers are so far beneath Angels to a point where even if they were Angels themselves, they are so much weaker than them that they could hardly be referred to as such

this is where the facts end. but im gonna keep going and have fun speculating about things and include some i dont have physical proof of (yet)

its notable that in JP, hazuki says that kubo tried to purify shibuya probably because he wanted to be praised by Hazuki. which is weird if kubos supposed to be higher ranking than haz. (in EN, haz just says hes always been an overachiever) but lets put a pin in that for later 📌

which takes us to the matter of Shinjuku’s Producer. or their lack thereof

throughout all of neo’s reports, there is not a single mention of Shinjuku having a Producer. before neo, we kind of assumed every UG’s setup follows largely the same structure. a Composer, a Conductor, a Producer, and then some Reapers. but Shinjuku does not seem to have a Producer. and i think its because it doesnt need one.

its important to remember Who is writing these reports and Who theyre for. the reports are written by shibuyas Producer, and theyre written for the Higher Plane. and shibuyas Composer cant pick up the vibes of any Angel except hanekoma, so he cant be the one writing the reports for beings he cant even pick up the vibes from, especially since he only resides in the UG.

and yet, hanekoma comments that Hazuki should have filed a report, and that haz is disinterested in the lower planes.

in English its a little vague about who hes talking about, but the JP specifies Shinjukus Composer as the subject of this sentence.

throughout both reports, the UG and RG are considered part of the lower planes. its strange for a Composer to have no interest in the very planes they govern, plus for a Composer to file a report to the Higher Plane when its been established that Joshua, as a Composer, cant even perceive anyone from there.

so i think Hazuki may actually be a proper Angel from the Higher Plane, who was potentially demoted to become Shinjukus Composer.

though you can very much interpret haz “exorcising” kubo as simply “sending him back whence he came”, its of course pretty anticlimactic to see this massive laser beam essentially disintegrate kubo on a molecular level, only for it to have been a quick ride back to the higher plane with kubo being perfectly in tact after. if haz were actually much more powerful than an ordinary Composer, itd make sense why he would have been able to erase an Angel like kubo so. thoroughly.

this would also explain why kubo may have wanted to be praised by hazuki in the JP dialogue. with hazuki potentially being an outlier for Composers and being far Higher ranking than kubo, our executor may have wanted to sucker up a bit. maybe get promoted and away from his “basically a janitor” job if haz puts in a good word for him upstairs

theres also hazukis entire demeanor, and how Bad he is at acting like a normal person

we know of four paths that Players can take

they can choose erasure

they can choose resurrection to return to the RG

they can become Reapers

they can become Angels

and Reapers can eventually become Angels, though its yet unclear if the only way for that to happen is

for them to become Composer (potentially the Lowest Angel-rank there is) and thats it.

or if Composers can ascend and become Actual Angels and eventually reside in the Higher Plane, though how a successor for the seat of Composer is chosen in that scenario is yet entirely unknown since Usually the seat only becomes vacant when the previous Composer is defeated

or if they, as a Reaper, need to Ask the Composer who then asks the Producer to send a guy for evaluation or something

or if the Higher Plane has like, a talent scout guy somewhere.

potentially more than one may apply but at least the last point is the most likely, because

Conductors are invited to the Higher Plane (probably to become Angels) upon purification

(interesting to note that Composers are not mentioned as being invited, which would point to “theyre Angels, but like, weak-ass Angels”)

anyway, the point is that so far weve been told that Angels were Players or Reapers at one point. we know Joshua was a Player for sure, given the morsels of backstory we get from him and Hanekoma. but we dont know if All Angels came from the RG at one point, or if Angels that have always been Angels exist.

either way, the point is that for Hazuki to act so non-human like and to be disinterested in the UG and RG, he either must have been an Angel for a very long time, or he was never human to begin with.

this is relevant to how he interacts with joshua in the Secret Ending, though its a lot less obvious in English, in JP their dynamic is clear: Joshua is his senior, and as his junior, Hazuki looks to him as an example.

for one, thats hilarious. secondly, that recontextualizes like everything

‘course, you could keep the interpretation that theyre just Both weak-ass angels and hazuki just made kubo use a flashy dramatic elevator to the HP and nothing groundbreakingly powerful happened, but thats kinda anticlimactic

so. staying w the idea that hazuki may be a demoted Angel from the Higher Plane, then itd make sense for Joshua to have been Composer for longer than him, and for haz to act Like...That, since he couldve been not-human for a Very long time, or Never was one in the first place, but is still a younger Composer bc he got demoted like. 4 years back or something.

it also explains why Shinjuku may not need a Producer, and why Hazuki is the one writing his reports. its because hes still an Angel from the Higher Plane, so he does not need an intermediary to contact other Angels.

so to summarize what im tryna say here

Hazuki may have initially been a regular Angel from the Higher Plane, before he eventually got demoted to become Shinjukus Composer, despite how disinterested he is in the UG and RG. (he is considered to be “infamously unsympathetic”, a trait which is reinforced in the JP version to be something he is known for amongst the Higher Plane, which could potentially be the reason for his demotion)

Since hes Joshuas junior, that means he hasnt been Composer for as long as Joshua has, so Hazuki looks to him to know what youre even supposed to do/how to act/etcetera as Composer. With his Special circumstances, he does not need a Producer as an intermediary to interact with the Higher Plane, because hes already an Angel so he can do it himself.

whatever Angel Hierarchy there may be, Hazuki is at the very least a higher rank than an Executor, considering how kubo wanted to impress him, and how haz effortlessly got rid of him. with kubo being from the Higher Plane, joshua is decidedly lower ranking than kubo, and cant even pick up his vibe. which clearly positions haz into a unique circumstance as a Composer bc of this discrepancy in ranking and power. amen

<><><> <><><> <><><> <><><> <><><> <><><> <><><> <><><> <><><>

theres other things that back this up but i unfortunately do not have a source for them, so This section, take with a grain of salt.

Supposedly, in neo’s data files:

Joshua is referred to as an Advanced Angel

Kubo as a Junior Angel, and

Hazuki as a Senior Angel

i only heard this secondhand and have no way of corroborating this myself, but if this is true then that lines up with the super long super sexy little essay i just wrote up there

this “ranking” solidifes Kubos position as Hazukis underling. which, if he were an ordinary Composer, wouldnt even be possible.

Joshua is notably a different rank from Haz, though its difficult to figure out if “Advanced” is supposed to be Lower than junior, or Higher than senior. thats up to interpretation until its possibly ever acknowledged,

but my interpretation is that an Advanced Angel is lower than a Junior Angel. i think “advanced” in this case is meant to refer to the traditional evolution of players to reapers to the composer, advancing from one status to the next.

--

**Little post-edit, @/inkerii gave me the actual designation in the files! (so this ones backed-up!)

so in the files, theyre designated ranks are as follows

Joshua: 男、天使上級 ※前作  (Male, Senior/Advanced Grade Angel ※from the Previous work)

Hazuki: 男、天使上級 (Male, Senior/Advanced Grade Angel)

Kubo:   男、天使下級 (Male, Junior/Lower Grade Angel)

so haz and joshua are the same rank bc theyre both Composers! since thats an internal data text kinda thing it might not have any bearing on like, potential Technical exceptions since they Are both the same “job”, but mightve gotten it under different circumstances.

as for kubo potentially being lower ranking than even a Composer, i think unless we find out what a Producers ranking is, we cant say much abt whether an Executors lower or higher. i kinda mean it in the sense of,  Producers are a Composers subordinate bc they follow their orders and have to create the things theyre tasked to make by the Composer (pins, etc), but may still be “higher” in ranking because they reside in the Higher Plane/jump between parallel worlds, while a Composer cannot. an Executor may be in a similar position where theyre a Composers underling, tasked by Composers to purify things, but may actually be “higher” in ranking because they reside in the higher plane, etc!

i think regardless of whether kubo turns out to be lower ranking than joshua or not, hazuki could still be Even More Higher in a way where he actually has like, sway over whether he could get a promotion! if that was his intent. he could also just be a huge suck up. a real kiss ass. teachers pet for angels

---

theres also the ntwewy Official Guidebook, which has a small comment beneath hazuki that says

and i additionally remember an interview, though i dont have a source for this claim and i could very much be misremembering, but i recall seeing the reason for hazuki not being the final boss is because they did not think players could suspend their disbelief far enough to accept that the twisters would be able to defeat a being from the Higher Plane.

which is perfectly reasonable, but

Composers are meant to be able to be defeated by Players or Reapers. if hazuki really was so powerful that itd be impossible for them to defeat him, then hed be far too strong to be an ordinary Composer, since thats. how you take over in the first place. thats kinda the whole plot of og twewy.

anyway that concludes my case

[instantpansies]

alright DONE so ive already said most of the stuff i want to say but here are some final thoughts:

so i'm attempting to look at this both on its own merit and in its context as The Disney Movie Movie.

first of all, it's okay. it's not good by any means. it's tropey and floundering and hard to keep track of.

the characters feel underbaked. asha is fine, but overplayed and not super unique or memorable. magnifico is just a really boring and then very suddenly very cliche villain. all the hype around him is bad imo, he is not a better character than asha.

the animation isn't stunning, but it doesn't deserve the hate it's getting. it looks strange and wrong and it's super disappointing considering the absolute masterpieces of animation we've seen in the past several years (encanto, luca, raya, onward, say what you will about modern disney but their animation is absolutely beautiful). the backgrounds are pretty good. the character designs are relatively boring.

now, granted, maybe i shouldnt be defending the animation, since i watched this whole movie in a 3 by 4 inch window in the corner of my laptop screen while doing the world's most distracted research so. i'm sure it's different up close.

from everything i heard, i was expecting wayyy more obvious disney references all over the place, and while i definitely noticed some, it wasn't actually too bad.

the Sidekick Teens. there are like.. 7 of them?? i do not remember their names or really what they look like or much about them. extremely forgettable, too many of them, designs are boring, and there wasn't a good reason to include them tbh. they didn't even play a major role in the Final Battle!!

songs were not very catchy and like i said the lyrics were kind of uniquely awful. i've talked about this already. really bad music with no consistency or wow factor. they didn't fit together, they didn't seem fitted to any characters in particular, they didn't stick in my mind a bit. honestly it just felt like a chore to get through the song so we could move on. lyrics fucking blow, honestly i think the more poetic bits of this post are better written and im not even lying to you

the plot is kind of awful. ive said a lot already. trying to go for the Inspiring Truth-Teller Rebellious Girl Leads Her People To Freedom and yeah that did happen i guess but it was so muddy and so unclear in its own message. i completely understand the "written by ai" allegations because genuinely, it does feel disjointed and misguided in its intended principles, story, themes, and morals, about as much as it would if an ai really had written it. very disappointing, since i do think the premise could have worked if this movie didn't try so hard to be about wishing upon a star.

in a similar vein, the three different themes here - Following Your Dreams, Magic Inside Us All, and Wishes Are What Keep Hope Alive - are all fighting for the main storyline. the way the film resolves this is by pretending that those three things are actually the same thing. which they are obviously not upon any close examination. it also seems to be attempting to resolve societal issues through individual achievement, which sucks but also not unexpected. however - they do sort of stop doing that by the end, and societal change is brought about by a community effort to strive against the oppressor and rise up in hope/dreams/star-ness (stardom?). so that's cool. props to them.

i like to talk about voice acting when i do these as well. vas were overall relatively decent! asha's was quite good, her lines and expressions just pushed it over-the-top a bit. magnifico was fine. i mentioned i think dahlia's voice doesn't suit her. otherwise i didn't have any issues with the voice acting, good job actors! except for in the songs. asha in particular has that "cursive singing" voice that she's trying to keep down, and does a pretty good job of avoiding, but sometimes the pronunciation is unclear or oddly embellished. and as i said magnifico sounds like autotuned lin manuel miranda ai mixed with, like, hugh jackman or smth. did not enjoy their performances which just made the songs worse because THEY WERE THE ONLY ONES WHO SANG SONGS!!!! (for the most part)

so yeah. overall, wish (2023) is a forgettable, nothing-new movie with particularly bad musical numbers and unfortunately complicated writing.

ugh this took me AGES i got distracted throughout the movie and then i'd pause it for 5-10 minutes at a time to complain lmao. here i am we're finally done. it's over.

i rate wish (2023) a 1.5 out of 8 blatant disney references. not good. will not be watching again willingly. not very enjoyable, and that's disappointing because i often really enjoy not-good movies!!

okay whatever im watching wish. expectations are six feet under and im also writing a finals essay so this will be extra awful let's go

[jupiterartsuvu]

Storyline, character designs, Character names of the TIES THAT BIND AU all belongs to @artsy-hobbitses on Tumblr! Go follow them! All Their art is amazing.

Disclaimer:

I'm basing my story of their characters off of the information they wrote. None of it is canon to their story! I am just writing off of what they have given.

The Ties that Bind world building belongs to them.

—

Chapter Two

Ben walked onto his new highschool grounds. It was massive. A school right here in NYC for the classes to be taught. Manual and Military. He just hoped he would be assigned to Military just to get his father off his back.

He walked to the front of the school. All the students seemed to have gathered in the front of the school. Friends, New students who didn't know anyone. The military class seniors with their uniforms. Aaaand of course. The kids who bullied him in middle school. Great.

Ben sighed and walked to the doors and sat down on the steps. He pulled out a granola bar from his bag, having not eaten breakfast due to his fuck of a father. “Ayo! Look who it is~ the little bug.” Someone shouted. Not again. Not this early in the morning.

“What do you want Grim?” Ben said as he stood up. He could never match the sheer height and size of this dude. Man was fuckin tall.

He chuckled. “Just wanted to see how the little-“ He shoved Ben against the wall. “BUG was doing!” He saw a bunch of other kids laughing behind Grim. Stupid fuckers.

Ben glared at Grim before spitting in his face. He screamed ans dropped Ben as he wiped his eyes. “DISGUSTING!! WHERE DID YOU GO?!”

Ben smirked as he ran. “Big Lug-“ He laughed as he ran around the corner of the school. He has always had a talent for running away. Had a lot of practice… Which sounds pretty terrible..

Ben looked in front of him and saw a flash of red as he slammed into someone. “WATCH OUT!” He shouted. The one in red shried as Ben Slammed into him. He opened his eyes and looked down. The guy was pretty cute. “S-Sorry!” Ben said as he helped the guy up. He was wearing a med class uniform, which means hes at least a few years ahead.

“Oh, No its fine.” The red haired one said as Ben helped him up. He was at least a few inches taller than him. “I probably shouldnt have been back here.” The kid chuckled rubbing the back of his neck.

“What were you doing back here?” Ben asked, Knowing this med kid was probably sellin drugs to who knows.

“Uh- Studying. Got a placement test and didnt get up in time to study.” The red head smiled.

Ah, so he wasnt a bad kid. Good. “Oh! Um- Well good luck.. uh…” Ben said, not knowing his name.

“Kain. Kain Oalmann.” He smiled holding out his hand, his nails were long and decked out in red paint.

Ben smiled cheerfully. First day and it was already going pretty great. “Benjamin, But uh… Call me Ben or Benji!” He smiled. He didnt tell his last name, not wanting Kain to know that his father was THAT police chief.

“Benji. Thats cute. Fits.” Kain said.

Ben smiled, Actually smiled for the first time in years.

[calumthoodshands]

number two!!🤗

hMhmmm yes hey ana thanks for the muke i ammmmm interested okay lets see what we’ll get

At first glance they honestly just seem to judge me somehow and i’m not even mad bc who am i to tell them not to judge me right. I probably deserve it. Anyway. have a meet cute!!

the bg to me looks like a park kinda. and im listening to the boys right now (this will be relevant in a sec). i could imagine michael being like... one of those guys in parks who sell flowers. not that michael exactly strikes me as that kinda guy -- his parents told him to get a job if he wants to buy himself all that gaming equipment he so desperately “needs” (his words). so in the afternoon, he goes to the park around the corner, and tries to convince people to buy flowers and brighten up ‘a loved one’s day’. hes not bad at his job. but he could be better at it, definitely. people like to stop at his little stand surrounded by colourful flowers of all sorts all day long, smelling them, but rarely anyone buys them. and that fucking guy shows up -- luke hemmings, aspiring muscian and street singer. just a guy trying to make in the big, big world. except there are other people in that world, and michael really doesnt like to share his space. okay? that was his little square. this was were he was supposed to make a living (kinda.) (not really.) anyway. he ignores luke when he shows up for the first time. he ignores him when he puts his set up up. he doesnt look over once throughout the whole day, and when he packs his things up and passes luke by, he cant help but say “you suck.” knowing very well luke doesnt. not even at all. but he has to find a reason to hate this pretty guy that showed up out of nowhere and seems to actually be good at something, so he decides to just hate the thing he came here to do: singing. luke just shoots back “you suck” which is such a weak comeback michael cant help but hate him even less. it was just endearing. so the next time he decides to ignore luke completely and not even talk to him. but then, luke starts to gain an audience. which shouldnt be surprising, bc hes fucking good, but suddenly people also give him more attention. and suddenly people start buying flowers again. and michael knows its bc of luke. and maybe luke seemed to be pretty nice. so one day, when the park isnt as crowded as usual, michael decides to be kind. just once. his shift was over, and was all ready to go and luke was packing up too -- early for once, the park was just dead somehow -- and he looked so discouraged michael couldnt take it anymore. so he just told him “you were really good today” and quickly gets out of there before luke can answer him. the next day, michael listens. really listens. and he doesnt ignore luke, at least not all the time. and slowly, they start to work next to each other, every now and then glancing over, catching smiles. and then one day michael doesnt walk away but waits for luke, and from then on its a daily ritual. turns out, luke is quite nice, and really funny actually, so when one day day luke doesnt show up, michael gets worried. he doesnt want to, it just happens, and hes antsy all day until suddenly a guy with blond curls shows up and grins at him. “hey” he says, and michael has given up pretending not to care and smiles with relief to see lukes alive. “i was hoping to buy some flowers, but i have a problem.”

“What do you mean you have a problem?” - “i dont have any money.”

“oh.” - “yeah. do you think i could give you my number instead?”

it was so smooth michael could just laugh. he does give luke his number, and a flower too, a sunflower, bc shes bright and sunny and just fit luke. “ill make it up to you” luke promises, “if you want. just say how, anything you want.” - “how about a date then?” It had to be michael’s lucky day considering luke said yes without any hesitation.