#why you gotta do me like this cel

[no1ryomafan]

Cel animation is that thing I use to hate as a kid bc my stupid child brain didn’t like the fact all old Animes or cartoons looked the same until I actually bothered to watch so many old shows to really appreciate it. How even if you can tell they’re all painted, that they all can have unique art styles but also the fact “wait someone had to draw this frame by frame on fucking paper?? Holy shit” And it is a absolute shame because of the tediousness and cost this genre gave its now gone completely.

It’s so sad it can’t be a genre like pixel art in games, where it’s considered outdated as no triple A games do it anymore but is still being kept alive through various indie developers. Cel animation simply because it’s on paper we won’t ever see many projects ever do this unless they are overly ambitious or really wanting to capture an old era. The only thing we have is cuphead and I appreciate it without playing it-I should but it looks hard as fuck💀-but I wish at LEAST we’d get more things where people would animate something digitally but use filtering techniques to make it look like Cel. Which is a thing, apparently for whatever reason The Simpsons tried to hide the fact they switched to digital for a bit so they used certain techniques to still come off as if it was Cel, even if certain things in the animation broke the illusion a bit.

And does this method have the same exact effect as Cel? No, you can still tell it’s digital by small details unless it’s pulled off super well. But is it less costly and more of the way the genre of older animation could come back without the project taking fucking years? Absolutely.

[rrenzwrld]

mama’s baby, daddy’s maybe

in which connie is a famous basketball player who has a secret baby with his best friend

final part! :( here’s what i listened to while i wrote and WARNING! it may or may not make you feel emotions idk.. read part 6 here! (the playlist only had like 10 songs but i just kept putting them on repeat so..)

tags: @beautifulalienslimecroissant @iikatsukii @neptunes1nterweb @yourrfavzxri @prettypink-princesss @nvvacanesworld @atinystaypixie @getoscrybaby

After the game last week, Connie didn’t even bother to call or text at any point. Naturally, I didn’t know if I should’ve been worried or angered. Even through the new week and into the start of the weekend, it was as if Connie had fell off the face of the earth.

“I think you should pull up.” Layla suggested. Of course she’d say that because she also found this just as fishy as I did.

“I don’t even know where he lives..”

“Oh we can find out. Call Armin.”

“No! Armin can’t solve all our issues, Lay. What if he’s mad at me?”

Layla raised a brow. “Armin?”

“No, Connie.”

“Oh, girl.. I dunno, I mean you didn’t do anything right?”

“No! I thought we were cool but he’s not answering my calls or texts so I don’t know what I did.” My voice hitched onto the loose tears that tempted to roll down my cheeks. I was starting to think we were building the relationship we once had again but everything was falling back just how I expected. Did he know? Was that why he was ignoring me?

“Bitch..” Layla snatched my phone from my hands. “I’m finna text him myself cause’ this is ridiculous.. got you cryin and shit.”

I reached forward to grab it from her. “Lay—“ The phone vibrated in her hands with a call from Connie.

“Speak of the devil. Saved his own ass..” She gave me the phone so I could answer it.

“Hello?”

“Hey.” His tone was steady and firm, which made me shake with overflowing nerves.

“I been texting and calling you—“

“I know.”

“So you been ignoring me on purpose?” The worry had subsided and anger consumed me. “For a fuckin week Connie?”

“I’m not in the mood for your attitude right now, Chy’anne. I need you to come over so we can talk.”

“You blow me off for a fuckin week and you think imma do what you say like I’m your bitch? What is there to talk about?”

“Celest.” He knew. But how did he know? Who told him?

“Cel..Celest?”

“I’ll text you the address.” He hung up without saying another word. And I couldn’t bring myself to say another word after that.

“He knows.. don’t he?” I just stared at the phone whilst everything inside me crumbled like cement towers.

I bit down on my lips. “He wants… I gotta go to..” I could hardly get my words together. “He wants me to go over there.”

Layla stood up from the chair at the island. “Need me to go with you?” Luckily Celest was at my mom’s house so Layla could’ve went but I spoke against it.

I shook my head. “No, I’ll go by myself.

“Got the address?” I nodded.

“Good. Send it to me so I know if I need to bust a cap inna nigga’s ass.” Her comment made me laugh a little.

“Okay, I’ll be back. If you leave, lock up.”

I put in the address and started on my way. Of course he lived up in the rich people community so it was a while a way from the inner city or any other normal neighborhoods. When I got there, I thought I had to pass by a gate but it opened automatically to my car which was weird. His driveway covered the entire front of his front yard but it was occupied with a bunch of other foreign cars. I didn’t know if they were his or if other people were guests. But it obviously wasn’t the time to examine his house.

Connie let me in without words as we walked over to what looked to be a den or living area and sat down on a soft black velvet sectional. I couldn’t even meet his eyes because I knew they were full of something other than the happiness or joy that they’ve been full of all this time.

“I know the baby’s mine, Chy’anne.” I finally looked up at him now though. “I just wanna know why.”

“..Why—“

“Why didn’t you tell me?” His voice was calm but he didn’t have to yell or raise it for me to know he was hurt.

I bit on the inside of my cheek as I fiddled with my thumbs.

“You don’t hear me talkin to you?” I stayed quiet but not by choice. I had stuff I wanted to say, I had stuff I wanted to scream, I had stuff I wanted to pour out to him but there was something stuck in my throat that I couldn’t choke up no matter how hard I wanted to.

“Hm?” He used his finger and thumb to raise my head to his. I turned away to look back down. I was afraid that what I might say next would push him away farther than before but maybe he just really wanted to know the truth, nothing more. I did owe that to him. “Chy’anne?”

“I was scared..” I mumbled.

“Fuck, you know I don’t do that mumbling shit—“

“I was scared, okay?” He moved back a bit. “I was..” My voice cracked and I was starting to cry again. “I kept her from you because I was scared. Scared of losing you, scared of ruining your dream, scared of you abandoning her, scared of.. everything.” I knew I had his attention when he didn’t respond immediately after that so I just kept going.

“When we had sex, I thought it’d ruin or friendship forever and when I found out I was pregnant right before you went to the draft, I knew that would be even worse. I knew that if I..” The tears rolled so fast, my hands couldn’t keep up. “I knew that if I told you that I was pregnant, you wouldn’t have got on that plane to California. You would’ve wanted to stay here and you would’ve never did what you wanted to do. I couldn’t let you do that. I couldn’t let you miss out on a dream you’ve had for years because of me.”

“Chy—“ He reached out for my hands.

“And I felt bad because everyone knew but you.” His face was unreadable now.

“What?” He was standing up now and I felt things would go left.

“Connie—“

“Fuck you mean everyone knew but me? I should’ve known—“

“You couldn’t know, Connie! If you knew, you wouldn’t have all this and you’d be sittin right up there with me, stuck. I couldn’t sit and watch that happen to you.”

His chest heaved up and down in heavy breaths of frustration. “Who knew..”

“Your family, my family, everyone. They knew what would happen.” He couldn’t fake the sadness or betrayal that was etched into his face. Nor could he stop the tears that escaped his hazel eyes.

“I could’ve helped you, Chy’anne. I could’ve been there.” He sat back down and threw his head into his open hands as he cried freely. “Feel like a fuckin failure..” I forcefully pulled his hands from his face.

“No no no, don’t say that. You deserve all that you have. You earned it, be proud.” I tried smiling at him through my stained cheeks but he didn’t respond to my words. I brushed a hand under his chin so he faced me. God, was he beautiful.. “I’m proud of you, Connie.”

His eyes wandered mine before he pulled me into his chest, softly cradling my head. “M’sorry.” My heart broke as I heard the tremble in his voice. “Sorry I wasn’t there, sorry I let you go, I—“ I shushed him. My arms wrapped around his back as we sank into each other, molding together like lost puzzle pieces.

“I love you.” He spoke again. “So much..”

“I love you too, Connie.” My eyes closed automatically, his touch feeling familiar to my fingertips. “I’ll never leave you again, promise.” He chuckled against my shoulder before pulling his body from mine but his hand still lingered on my cheek.

“C-Can I do something?” My head tilted.

“Hm?”

“Can I kiss you?.. Please?” My lips upturned into a smile before I nodded, allowing him to pull them into his. Kissing him felt natural and this time, it didn’t feel wrong. Being with him this time felt right, it felt just right.

the end :( anyways! i hope you enjoyed this small rollercoaster with connie and chy’anne and feel free to lmk if you want more of them in lil oneshots or something! i felt like i could’ve added more but for this to be the last part, i really didn’t wanna make it too long for y’all. but thank you for reading this series and the comments, likes, and the reblogs reallyyy mean a lot to me <3 i appreciate the support + luv yall fr🥹

[redstrawbluestraw]

I woke up in the middle of the night and now its your problem

Is the cel city suppoust to be a refrence to animation cels?

seeing felix is back to his og annoying self (we love you toxic king welcome back) I wanna ask if he's still a journalist/writer or if he's the unemployed friend at wendsday in the last call?

Oswald doesnt seem as depressed in your ver (thank you thank you thank you thank you i would not take well a total whiplash of his character randomly) so I gotta ask AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO ANSWEAR if ortensias still dead in here or if oswalds just single as in he and her didnt ever/seriously get together?

Also I wanted to ask if mickey has any dynamic with either felix or sheba bc bc funny bc you get it? can and a mouse yea

Have a good one o/ love ur stuff 🫶

INFERNOOOOOOO HIHI HI ITS ALWAYS A BLESSING TO HEAR FROM YOU!!!!!! <3333

IM SORRY I DIDNT ANSWER THIS SOONER FINALS WEEK WAS CRAZY But anyways let’s get cookin

1. YES ABSOLUTELY IT IS!!!! I’m hoping to have other puns for future cities and places heehee, but I’m so happy somebody noticed it!!!! <333 Cel City is essentially where “every” toon lives, so anywhere from bg toons, to toons that were drawn once or twice, or toons that aren’t relevant, hence Cel City!

2. As much as him being the unemployed friend on a Wednesday would be funny as fuck (reread this so many times it made my day fr) unfortunately I did make him employed. He’s still a writer, and still an archaeologist! Just bc Anthro is a huge passion of mine, and my favorite parts in the og babqftim were always whenever Felix locked in and used his knowledge. Wish there was more of that instead of ykno

Anyways, It’ll be explained more why he went down that path, but ultimately he’s still an annoying ass friend lol

Exhibit A (this doodle was done forever ago hence why it’s so ugly SORRY 😭😭)

3. I’ll leave this one kinda vague cause I don’t wanna spoil too much but first of all, totally agree, it pissed me off hella how he acted 😭😭

Ortensia and Oswald were married, madly in love but she did pass due to reasons. Oswald in turn processed his feelings a lot more aggressively than the og babqftim. While he is depressed, it’s definitely not going to be portrayed in the ways that we saw. Less nonverbal, more defensive and overly paranoid. He’s protective towards those he cares about and his walls are too high up for anybody to break them (doesn’t stop Felix from trying tho)

4. Mickey and Felix go waaaaay back!!!! They get along almost too well for a cat and a mouse!!

They get into all sorts of trouble, Mickey hates to admit it but he doesn’t get the hate Oswald has towards the guy. They both are their biggest fans, Felix has a soft spot for Mickey

For Sheba I like to think she teases him a lot, and Mickey is too nice and polite to tell her something. She’ll say something about eating him alive and Mickey would go “Oh! Well… golly, I can’t imagine I’d taste good!”

TYSM FOR YOUR ASK INFERNO THIS LEGIT MADE ME SMILE SO WIDE I HOPE YOU’RE DOING GOOD!!!!!! <333333

[noa-de-cajou]

Day 22 : Long distance/say goodbye

Celyan belongs to @thal-ent

____

“... What the fuck.”

“Well, hello to you too, Cel.”

“It’s seven in the morning, Cyane. Couldn’t you call me, like, an hour later?”

Aaah, the half-asleep, full-asshole greeting. My favorite. Celyan really hates it when I call them early. Well, it's already evening for me, so, let them suck on it. And I don't mean my dick.

“Well someone needs to get your horrendous sleeping schedule back on track.”

“And it sure as hell ain’t going to be you,” they groan. “Is being on the other side of the globe fucking with your head? It’s empty enough as it is.”

Heh. They know they're the only one who can actually make it empty. I hear shuffling sounds on the other side of the call, they must be getting their glasses. I guess they can’t put the camera on, which sucks ass because I kinda miss their sleepy face.

... I’m never saying that out loud.

“Nah, Jakarta’s nice enough. Just… You know, super rainy. It's messing up my hair.”

“Yeah, saw that on TV.”

“... You watched ?”

A silence.

“No. Just happened to see it on screen at the bar yesterday.”

Yeah, right. A texan bar broadcasting an indonesian program about politics. Let's pretend it’s plausible.

“Uhuh. You liked it?”

“Didn’t understand shit, even if the questions were in english.”

“I'll explain it to you later then.”

“Were they difficult? The questions they asked you.”

“Well, kinda? They were a bit wary about having an american politologist talk about their system, which, is, you know, fair. But I handled it fine, I think?”

“Sure hope so. Even if it would be hilarious to watch you mess up in front of the entire indonesian nation.”

“Ha, ha, very funny. I’m telling you, people are good to me here.”

“You going to stay there for a few months more then?”

Urgh. I knew this was gonna come up. This is why I called in the first place.

“No, but… I got an offer to go to New-Zealand after this, and, uh, I couldn't really pass it up. So I… won’t be in the US for Christmas. Or New Year’s.”

There’s a brief silence on the other side of the phone. With Celyan, it feels like hours.

“Your dad isn't going to like that.”

… Yeah. My dad. Of course.

“He already knows. He’s a bit sad but he knows that’s a good opportunity for me.”

“Sure sounds like it.”

Their voice feels really dry for some reason. It’s always dry tho. More or less. Just more than less right now. No use worrying about it, right?

“But I'll be back shortly after. Like… Second week of january. And I'll come by your apartment so we can, you know, catch up.”

“More like you want me to get your balls back to their original color.”

“Ha! And what if I do?”

“I’ll make you beg for it, you know, the usual.”

“Pft, like I'm the one who's going to beg! Anyways, I'll keep in touch about the dates.”

“You have the keys. Why bother telling me when you get there?”

“Wow. And here I thought you’d have enough tact to come pick me up.”

“Strategic error on your part.”

“I admit.”

I look at the time. Almost 8pm already. Shit. I’m supposed to go meet some people for dinner. But I don't wanna leave the call. But I have to. But I don't wanna.

“... I… kinda have to go, Cel.”

“Did the hotel catch fire?”

“No but my stomach is screaming and I have plans. Well. If you're not working when I get back.”

“I’ll make it work. And I'll put the camera on, if you behave well enough.”

“Bastard.”

“You want me so bad.”

“I hate you.”

“I know.”

“I really gotta go now. See you later?”

“Yeah. See you later, sunshine.”

The call hangs up as my heart jumps. Nearly thirteen years and still that damned nickname has the same effect on me than when they used it the first time. I just hide it better.

I should probably get ready.

…

My room feels really empty all of a sudden.

Can’t wait to go back home.

[ariadosanon]

🎙️: an audio recording

[Ro-to-to-to]

“Day… Fuck it was… Who cares anymore.”

The rustling of papers can be heard.

“Dear DIARY.”

The sound of a hand hitting a table.

“It’s hard to do this shit. It’s hard not to storm off into the nearest Pokefan club and start stealing Pokémon. It’s part of who I am— part of my fucking purpose. You know this.”

A pause.

“I know once Ibrahim and I get some cash from Juliette it’ll all be so much easier. I’ll have a place to go, be surrounded by Shadow Energy, hidden from motherfuckers who want to judge me for indulging in blessed agony— somewhere to hide myself. But why’s it gotta be in Sinnoh?”

A moment of incoherent of grumbling.

“Pastoria is on hard times. They can’t exactly say no. But I don’t know if being that close to Marcy will do my mental shit any favors.”

Pause.

“The only thing I even care about is my job. Helping the kids. And I know I’m gonna get fired soon. I shouldn’t have pissed off Miley’s mom so much— but what the Cel am I supposed to do when she’s fuckin ruining her kids entire battle career before it even starts!?”

The sound of a fist hitting the table.

“I miss my old life. You’re probably sick of hearing me say that, diary. But I miss just killing shit. I miss the screams. I miss the feeling of prying a life from a still living body. I want to fucking drink in the agony of all the Pokémon around me. I’m like a Lycanroc left to tend the fucking Mareep.”

“Except instead of eating the fuckers I want to tear their spine out through their tails and hang them on it. Listen to their stupid little bleating get softer and softer until it finally screeches to a blood gargling stop.”

Heavy breathing. Wet with drool.

“I’m going to get lunch.”

[The recording ends here.]

[vidreview]

VIDREV: "Why Did Link's Cel Shading Disappear?" by Jasper

[originally posted december 2nd 2022]

when i was in college, i worked in the oklahoma film industry for a few years as a grip-electric swing. in simplest terms, an electrician sets up the lights and a grip shapes the light. the swing's job is to, naturally, swing between both departments depending on what they need. this gave me an intimate understanding of all the ways a set is fictionalized by skilled workers so that it might appear real on screen. that experience colors much of how i approach creative work both practically and critically, because i very much dislike how the labors of so many talented technicians are conglomerated to one of a handful of names on the poster. there is an art to carving light into a proper shape. you can spend hours lighting a room just to make it look like night. it's not easy and it's not automatic. it is exactingly technical work that requires measurement and precision (if you want to do it right).

i say all this to say that video games are impossible. you can't just write some random symbols and numbers and then seriously expect me to believe that creates an immersive triple-a gaming experience. how do they do that? how does a horizon zero dawn exist? math is the devil's playground. my nvidia gtx 3070ti is the apple of eve, and i partake with reckless abandon on a daily basis (especially now that the associated credit card debt is almost paid off). it's sorcery is what it is, and i will never understand it. those wizards whose tongues have been trained to fork in C++, fingers long and spindly with wretched computational vigor, are sinners in the eyes of god, and i have nothing but respect for the thankless work they do to create the vile abominations we all know and love.

this video, nominally about an obscure graphical glitch in the legend of zelda: breath of the wild, did not convince me that video games are "real" as such. but it did give me a momentary glimpse of what it would be like to be a me who, instead of working in film, had worked in video games. i felt for a second like i had a real appreciation for the kind of labor that goes into making a game, beyond the popular imaginary of "some folks sit at computers and type." i don't think i've ever appreciated just how ruinously complex even the simplest of digital visual expressions can be to produce in real-time, and i appreciate how patiently Jasper lays it all out. i may be a digital native of the world wide web from the age of aol instant messenger, but i'm still a poetry animal who has to do basic math on her cloven hooves. talk slow and i'll get it, but you gotta talk slow.

i understand some things about how various mediums treat the film frame. celluloid is a physical surface with depth, a lumaphilic topography of the universe as visible to a piece of glass. digital sensors, however, capture raw signal data and either store it in RAW files or process it through the manufacturer's proprietary algorithm to create a suitable recreation of the universe as visible to a piece of glass. i just think it's interesting. i like to understand the rote physical processes which produce the raw materials of art, and i find it endlessly fascinating that the constituent parts of a medium are so often the realm of highly skilled technicians, and yet the final product is somehow produced by an artist who is not necessarily expected to know a single solitary thing about those processes. think of taika waititi just sorta casually throwing cgi effects artists under the bus in a press video for the bad thor sequel he didn't want to make. i know he knows a lot about the technical production of cinema because he's been a hands-on guy his whole career, and by all accounts he seems to care a lot about his crew (often making sure maori and indigenous film workers are on set and getting real experience). alas, solidarity is an elusive quality even among the decent ones.

besides having an interesting premise with a surprising amount of depth, this video reminded me that in games as well as movies, nothing you see is an accident. also light is magic no matter what medium it's captured in. anyway it's a good video and you should watch it

[astronomic727]

Ngl I've been feeling a bit burnt out for a while, so I figured this may be a good time for me to start periodically posting old stuff from my Instagram and Twitter accounts that I've moved on from. There will of course be new drawings/posts in between too! Just gotta recharge is all. I guess for a bit of insight, and also story time I suppose, for the past few months I've been having driving lessons and I had my test a few days ago. Thankfully, I managed to pass but I think the stress of the journey coupled with pushing two videos out a week apart, and everything else that had happened in those months took some sort of toll on me overtime. So yeah, not taking a break or anything per say, just will be posting old stuff more often so it's all archived somewhere, and to take pressure off feeling the need to upload something here and there. With these old doodle dumps I'm also probably gonna give some insight into how I feel about them from an artistic standpoint. I may have not much to say, or I may have a lot, who knows lol. Anyway to begin with the stuff in this post, it's all fairly recent. Some were Insta posts, others were Insta stories. We have Via messing with a cranky Kayleigh, the sister's parents when they were young adults (Evelyn is dirty from working on her motorbike, and Vance is working towards his degree in Astronomy), sleepy Via helping Kayleigh get ready for school, young Via and Orion, and the duo again but in 2 memes lol For how I feel about these, it's complicated... this technically goes for like most doodles I've done up to now too, but I'm not fully satisfied. I'm happy with my full illustrations, but I feel as though my doodles miss the mark. It's like a weird perfectionist mental block or something, these are only meant to be sketches but it takes me forever to do them for some reason, and also (what is probably the reason why it takes so long) that along the way my sketch lines somehow turn into lines of line art quality. But I feel this over cleanliness sucks the soul out of my doodles and makes them feel flat. More recently to combat this, I've tried to give slight shading to these doodles whether it be cel or gradient shaded, like the Fortnite or Streetview meme posts I did, but I feel like I need to embrace sketchiness more, for both time saving sake and for appeal. Maybe I also need to do some experimenting with new brushes too, idk. Maybe I'm being overdramatic lol but that's just how I've felt for a long time, and just felt like getting it off my chest. Anyhoo, enough rambling... boy, you thought I had a lot to say here? Just wait till we get to the older stuff lmao, but anyway, I'll ponder on these thoughts, but see you all until then :)

[goddamnwebcomics]

I noticed Kathy started using some sort of cel-shading with her art in the recent pages you’ve been posting. I gotta admit, I used to like that but eventually it started to feel like “van art”; Way too smooth. Granted, Kathy hasn’t employed the technique that much compared to someone like, say, Connor…But in my opinion, I feel like it was always too smooth an art style.

Maybe I’m just too used to gritty styles like that from Juanjo Guarnido or Masami Suda, but I’ve come to find that grittier art styles actually make it easier on the eyes when reading. Probably explains why you don’t hear from me too much when it comes to Carry On, if my lack of objections and interest for the comic aren’t what leaves me with almost nothing to say about it.

Eh I don’t think Carry On is that bad when it comes to smooth shading, as far as I’m concerned Las Lindas mid-point and that one scene from Roommates are the worst of smooth shading.

That does leave me with a hot take of sorts, I do actually prefer black and white comics styilistically over coloured comics. Black and white comics when full of detail like Dominic Deegan and Gene Catlow, do force you to pay more attention. That being said Carry On looked terrible when it was black and white, and the smoothiness is more easier on the eyes.

I think black and white helps with the grittiness too. Kit n Kay Boodle’s artstyle feels like its way too kid-friendly because of the bright colours, while Gene Catlow is drawn by the exact same person using almost exact same designs, but the realistic backgrounds and the lack of colour make it feel more gritty. Of course the actual script can often be extremely childish. Also remember when Spinnerette didn’t have coloured art and it never had any uncanny shitty faces? Maybe it’s a credit to Walter Gomez as an artist too.

[aroaceofthesea]

Anyways a bit of a recap of my life these last few weeks bc its crazy how much stuff ive done what do you mean its only the 14th of july it feels like summer should be ending soon and ive been very inactive on here:

Starting with sant joan lol (aka 24th of june) some friends came over and we hadnt really seen each other in a couple years (like yes but not really really like it was always super awkward but it was super cool this time😋😋)

Then the next day when they left one of my best friends came home too :) he was at the town next to mine and we spent the afternoon together :)

Then we did diving classes with my mom and also some family friends im now an open water diver that was pretty random ngl

Then after like. 2 days. chilling with just my mom (my sister was like 100% of the day every day with some friends that were around) some friends from a summer camp i did last year came over😋😋

They spent like 4 days i loved every day ngl we played cards a lot we went to the beach we did so many things how did we have time to play mao so much thats crazy lol (also so many crazy rules @ ppl that i know irl i have so many great rules to add when we play again weve gotta do iit)

When they left it was sad :( but i had no time to mope bc i had exactly 15 minutes at home so i kust took a shower and then went with another friend to canet rock (catalan music festival) it was super coool :) had the opportunity to see oques grasses live again♠️🪿 (though they didnt play bancals😭😭 one of my fave songs ever)(they have too many epic songs to play them all they need an extra hour at least ngl) anyways it was crazy loved almost all of it (not miki nuñez why did they put that guy in there) and yeah it was super cool

Then i went home arrived at like 9:15 am and proceeded to sleep almost 25h until 10 am the next day im told i missed a sushi lunch with family friends :(

The next day some friends were like who avalon :) so ofc i was like meee (usually during summer im not in the city but i was that say so ofc i was like i gotta go) (just so you gt an idea i couldnt talk like at all like half my sentences were whispered bc i had lost my voice at the festival and that game is like. you gotta talk or why are you playing lol) anyways luckily they guy i had gone with to the festival was also there and also couldnt talk so at least i wasnt alone😅😅

Then i was going back home and on the way home i met one of my only remaining childhood friends lol she went with me to elementary school (or idk what you call it until 6th grade whatever) and plays the trumpet with me and we spend a lot of the summer together and it was nice to see her she had also gone to that festival (its a very very popular festival and ppl my age could go basically for free so a lot of ppl went) and also had no voice lol but it was nice to see her

Then with my parents we went and had a pizza :)

Then i spent the week in barcelona (were talking about this week already) and tuesday a friend came over bc hes from outside but had a play in barcelona like every night that week (he plays the trombone hes reaaally good) so we spent the mornings together and then the afternoons he went there (i wish i could go they were playing with fucking dagoll dagom (catalan company that made famous musicals in catalan like mar i cel and they are closing the company this year😢😢) like hoow i wanna go😭😭)

Then friday i went to my summer home and there were my mom and also that friends brother and father lol so anyway weve spent the weekend together and it was rlly fun

And also like i was looking for cool concerts around here this summer bc festa major concerts are just 🔝🔝 you get to see your fave groups for free and like even if they are pretty popular when it isnt in a big town or a very well connected one maybe you have 100 or 200 ppl to very known bands like its crazy anyway i was checking (using the very efficient method of looking where each concert of each group was and putting it on google maps) and i was getting kinda depressed bc there werent any of the bands i like most and then i was like ok whatever lets check buhos AND THERE WAS ONE YESTERDAY (THE DAY I WAS LOOKING) AT LIKE 20 MINS so obviously we went and like even though i was basically alone (bc the guy i was with is like 14 and he knew some friends that were also close and went too so he spent most of the time with them and i didnt have any friends close) it was a buhos concert so obviously it was super cool also rlly cool bc they are like one of the only bands i like that didnt play at the festival from last week so rlly cool that ive gone to concerts of all my fave bands in just a week i love this (also i was like. 3 meters away from where the tahirt they threw fell😭😭 i wanted a buhos supporter tshirt thats sad)

OH ALSO yesterday too we went to the beach and we played volleyball with random ppl and it had been a whilr since we did that bc they usually see my sister who is very good and they are intimidated but my sister wasnt there so ppl kept coming and asking us to play (we have a net which is like telling ppl pls comee if youre less than like 7 or 8 ppl) and it was rlly fun (even though that one guy was very very annoying but the rest were rlly nice lol)

So yeah now you know basically everything about my life the last 3 weeks

[hellmasterphibrizo]

Copied/pasted survey thingamibob

weird asks because i’m bored

if you have a lighter, what color is it? You know I think I have one kicking around here somewhere back when my friend wanted to have a bonfire but I have no idea where it went...

pepsi box blue or cheetos bag orange? Blue

do you like pasta? I like pasta *too much*

how often are you on tumblr? Daily

are you only doing this because you’re bored? Of course

what blogs do you mostly interact with? I don't really interact with anyone, just reblog

can you swim? Nope

have you had water today? Yup

which do you prefer, cotton candy or funnel cake? Cake

have you ever [insert question]? n/a

bass or drums? Man, you can't choose between those, you need them both

favorite tv commercial? Uhhh...

can we be friends? No because I stole this off a stranger

do you admire the clouds and color of the sky? Yes but I hate that tumblr post when I'm on mobile because you can't skip it

what’s the weirdest thing that’s happened to you? Can't really think of one specific thing

a netflix series that’s your favorite? I had Netflix waaaaay back when I used my Wii to watch it I mostly watched nature documentaries

an earliest obsession you remember? probably Mario Bros

do you play video games? Yup

zombies or vampires? All undead are amazing

have you listened to [insert musician/band]? N/A

your first celebrity crush? I don't think I ever really had any

do you have a collection of cool rocks? Somewhere

five words that describe you? Meh, pass

what have you learned about yourself? More pass

can you tie a cherry stem with your tongue? I doubt it

do you believe in aliens? Yes, I technically am one

books or films? Books

an unusual song that’s your favorite? if it's catchy I'll like it

the last thing you ate? Ice cream

do you have a favorite [insert question]? n/a

have you gotten bit by a dog? Yes

do you write better with a pen or a pencil? It doesn't matter

a song that gets stuck in your head? ALL OF THEM

when you hear “ peace ” what do you think of? I will get a song with the word "peace" stuck in my head. This time it's "Give Peace A Chance."

a school subject your good with? English, which apparently you were not. (it's "you're"). I also did very well in Biology.

how many alarms do you have set? just the one on my phone on work days

do you shop at thrift stores? not often

what’s the meaning behind your url? It's me

is there wise words you live by? Not really

what’s your favorite [insert question]? N/A

you gotta have a favorite beatles song, what is it? You expect me to pick only one? They have lots of good ones

earphones or a speaker? Earphones (RIP my hearing)

what do you remember from your childhood? Uh, a lot?

do you collect anything? used to collect cels, back to Monster High dolls now

favorite tea? I don't like tea, but I like the spicy that comes with chai in like, the vanilla frappe at McDonald's if that counts

a christmas song you secretly like? I don't like any, nor secretly. If you make me choose a Christmas song I'm going to say either a heavy metal cover like Psychostick's or Trans Siberian Orchestra's

book stores or record stores? Why not both?

how weird were these questions? Eh

what scents do you like? Vanilla, citrus

is there [insert question]? N/A

[theradioghost]

so @vfdbeatrice is inexpressibly talented (at breaking my heart) and came up with the most amazing AU?? part one, probably

It’s not that Nureyev doesn’t understand how he was found. He hasn’t changed his patterns, his habits, because as far as he is concerned, Juno had made it abundantly clear that he would not be looking for him. So why bother? After all, Juno Steel is the only person in the galaxy left alive who had learned enough in those months on Mars to track him down.

Nothing else has changed. It had almost been enough to let him pretend that he hasn’t changed, either. Back to the old ways; skipping from planet to planet, stopping just long enough to rifle through a pocket, to slip into a locked case, to wine and dine, then smash and grab. New names, new minds, and if these ones were plastered over a new kind of tiredness, then only he noticed, and he tried his very hardest not to. And he is very, very good at making himself disappear.

And yet, here is the proof, inescapable as it could possibly be: Juno Steel, standing in the doorway of Nureyev’s hotel room, soaked to the skin, looking about as pleased to be there as Nureyev is to see him. Juno Steel – not, as Nureyev has believed he would always remain, on dry, icy Mars, in that city he belonged to more than he’d ever belonged to Nureyev, but here on stormy, tropical Laocoon, deep within the inner reaches of the Orion Arm. Here, again, within arm’s reach. And that name on his lips (only his; never mine; never mine again. Let him have it, him and Brahma. For one a curse, for the other – well, maybe the same. Maybe a souvenir. It wasn’t Nureyev’s concern).

He doesn’t look good. He looks thin, haggard. He wears a glass eye now, which surprises Nureyev; from Juno, he almost would have expected the drama of an eyepatch, though evidently he’d been ostentatious enough to choose one of a color conspicuously paler than the dark brown, near-black, of his own eye. It doesn’t make him look any less eerie, less half-dead-on-his-feet, less like a ghost.

He breaks the silence. “Nureyev.”

Nureyev is not in the mood. (He is. He wants to be. He doesn’t know what he wants. This is a new experience for him.) “If you like.”

Juno moves a little – impatient? Anxious? Unsure? “Listen, I need to��” He lets out a breath. “There’s something I need to tell you. That’s why I’m here.”

Conflicting emotions, says the part of Nureyev’s mind that takes over when things go wrong, that goes smooth and composed and finds a way out. Fear. Excitement (either could be what is pushing his heart rate through the roof). Anguish (the memory of waking, of the silence in that room). And a cold anger, which, unlike the others, he can use.

“I’m afraid it’s not going to be quite that simple, Steel,” he says, turning away, moving further into the room, away from Juno.

Nureyev can feel Juno hesitating, uncertain, behind him. “Nureyev –”

“No, I still want to hear it,” Nureyev says, cutting him off. “Go on. Grovel. Do your best to explain what you did. I want to hear what you have to say.”

There’s a long silence. Too long. And then he says, “Nureyev, I –”

His voice chokes, and he stops for a moment. Nureyev waits. And then Juno says something that really, truly does surprise him.

“That’s not why I came.”

The cold feeling washes over him.

“Of course.” Nureyev’s voice comes out sharp, tight, with knives in it. He can make himself turn around now, look at Juno impassively, coolly. If this isn’t an affair of love, then it’s work. And Nureyev is nothing if not good at compartmentalizing. “Well, then, I think you’d better get down to business, and tell me why. It must be quite something, to have brought you all the way out here.”

Juno takes a deep breath, and his whole body shakes. (That body, pressed against mine in Miasma’s cells, in the Triad’s back rooms, in his apartment, in that hotel, shaking underneath me–)

“Someone recognized you,” he says.

Bad news. The worst news, Nureyev once would have thought. “How?”

“The Kanagawa streams.” Juno, too, is brisk now, speaking in clipped tones. “Some doc that made its way to the Outer Rim, months late, about Cassie’s arrest. They saw you, and they knew who you were. Your name, your real name.”

The Outer Rim. “Brahma?”

“No.” His voice falters again, and something flickers over his face that is too quick for Nureyev to place – anger? Pain? He never did quite puzzle out the mystery of Juno Steel, and he can’t decipher him now. “No, it’s – surprisingly, no. No. Nova Alexandria.”

“That’s a trading hub. Anyone there could be from anywhere. It doesn’t tell me who’s looking for me.” Nureyev pauses. “How do you know about this? If they were putting it about that an AWOL Dark Matters agent was Brahma’s most wanted, I’d have heard.”

“No,” Juno repeats (I wish, just once, he would give me a yes, and mean it). His voice drops, and finally, he takes another shaky step into the room. The door shuts on the outside world, and it’s just the two of them, alone. “They came to me to ask who you were. Since I was with you in the video. It’s a lot easier to track me down, I guess.”

The pieces begin to fall into place, though they’re hardly landing in a pattern that quiets the maelstrom inside of Nureyev. Of course. How very like Juno. Whatever his feelings about Nureyev, when he became involved, he felt compelled to come and tell the thief that his anonymity was threatened.

At least that means he doesn’t hate me.

But why leave, then? The response to himself, acidic. If his feelings amount to concern, but not love, why not say something?

“I hope you were careful,” Nureyev says, affecting nonchalance, pretending not to be thrown by him. “Your coming to warn me doesn’t do me much good if you were followed here.”

“They didn’t follow me,” Juno says.

“You sound very certain.”

“She didn’t just ask questions,” Juno says, and Nureyev noted the change in pronouns – they could have been an individual, but also could have been a group, a corporation, a government, a deliberately distancing choice. But she had to be a someone. “She hired me to find you.”

“Of course. You’re the only person in the galaxy who could. You took the job to distract her?”

Silence again. An eternity of silence.

“Nureyev,” Juno says, “I felt I owed it to you. After what –”

“After what you did, you made it perfectly clear that there are no debts between us, Juno.” He can’t deal with it anymore, not with this. “I gave you the offer, didn’t I? If you wanted, we parted ways. No questions asked, no return policy, no looking back. And you made it eminently clear what you wanted, in the most – well, the most you possible fashion, didn’t you?”

Juno flinches at these words, putting a blaze of sick satisfaction in Nureyev’s heart, as well as a knife of regret.

Then something snaps.

Steel crosses the room in a heartbeat, ending only inches away from Nureyev, anger burning in his remaining true eye. “Damn it, Nureyev, do you think I want this? Do you think I – ” His voice breaks, and he swallows. “I can’t do that right now, Nureyev. Maybe that’s a conversation we’re gonna have to have now. Maybe it was always gonna happen. Maybe we’re just meant to keep circling this stupid event horizon until one or both of us falls in. Maybe it’s fate. Maybe it’s karma, making me pay up for what I did to you, because I’m not going to pretend that that was – that I don’t – shit, I don’t care what it is anymore. But yeah, I felt like I owed this to you, because whether either of us likes it or not, this got dumped into my hands, and I’m the only person who can do anything about it. I’m the only person who can give you this chance.”

He swallows, and Nureyev can almost feel the air move around his throat. They are close, too close, and Juno must know it, but he doesn’t move away.

“For anyone else,” he says, “I would have done what you said. Taken the job, spun some lies.”

“Good to know I mean so much to you.”

“Not anyone but you,” he says. “Anyone but her.”

“Who is she, then? This mysterious client for whom you’ll go so above and beyond?” The words are bitter, maybe even jealous, but it isn’t as though Nureyev cares at this point. He doesn’t care if he hurts Juno, if Juno has betrayed him, if it ends here.

Juno goes still, and then, finally, he pulls away, just a few inches. “Nureyev,” he says, “I think she’s your sister.”

[earthstellar]

In the G1 episode “Trans-Europe Express”, we are given this incredible map of the Europa 2000 race.

Now, I don’t often call out animation fuck-ups, especially not relatively minor ones or one-off errors; Especially in the 80s, it’s just a fact of the way these shows got made that you’re going to have errors at a much higher incidence rate than any modern animation, for a lot of different reasons.

But I love this map. LMAO 

Spelling Words Good, or Not: Language is, in fact, difficult

I don’t know which element of it is my favourite; I like how the slight shadow on the misspelled “I” in “Ciech” seems to suggest that it was spelled another way before they rubbed it out on the cel and then wrote over it with another letter.

Which means that there is a non-zero chance that at some point, it may have been spelled at least somewhat more correctly, but then made incorrect in someone’s self-doubt around their spelling skills.

Special shout out to “Rumania”, which historically was actually a correct spelling of Romania in English for quite a while-- Just not in the 80s when they were making the show! :’)

I can understand having a hard time trying to draw an outline of Europe if you have about 15 seconds to get a cel done and just have to put it through to get the show made, but the spelling is something that could have likely been checked in a dictionary or encyclopaedia (this was the 80s, so no Wikipedia yet) fairly easily-- But that’s assuming they had one nearby, and had the time to mess with it if they did. 

(I’m aware that some studios/individuals did have a stray dictionary floating around in order to help check English words that needed to be added to background elements like store signs etc., but not all studios did this, and who knows what the situation was when this map had to be made.)

To be fair, it is worth noting that the letters themselves are legible, and although I can’t remember which animation studio handled this episode specifically, they are absolutely writing letters that they may not be super familiar with writing out, so I definitely give this some points for being fairly easy to read, errors and spacing issues aside. (It’s hard to write in a language you may not be all that familiar with, using a writing system that is very different from your native language!) 

The rubbed out “I” shadow in “Ciech” also tells me that someone was at least trying and considered it long enough to try to fix it/doubt their spelling, so there was effort here. It’s just unfortunate that the end result is somewhat chaotic, but I do respect that someone at least sort of tried! 

Time Constraints: Much like the race itself, they gotta goooo

I think the biggest issue here was most likely some kind of extreme time constraint in getting this done, because this feels more rushed than actually half-assed to me (the shadow on that “I” tells me there was at least an attempt made, lmao, I have to believe that someone was genuinely trying to get this right), but the end result inevitably gives the same feeling as someone drawing a map on a napkin for a tourist quickly while standing on the curb outside a café.

That having been said, this map is a shit show, and I love it.

I like to think that this map was made by a spectator of the race for a non-local friend of theirs so that they could have a general idea of what the race route is, which would explain why it looks like a napkin map and why the country names are all in English. 

I have to say, I also loved the mixed capital cases on “BuLGAliA”.

The “Switz” crammed into the tiny space but then “Albania” being fully spelled out and just written across borders is also extremely funny to me, for some reason.

Regardless of anything, this had to get made at lightning speed and it was only intended to be on screen for a few seconds, so that’s worth keeping in mind; At a very brief glance, a kid who has never been to Europe and has no understanding of geography would probably take this at face value without any issues at all, and G1 was a toy advertisement for children, after all. Kids in Europe may have very well gotten a good laugh at this, so it might be one of those errors that ends up being win/win. 

But I love this map so much. Just look at it. Hell yeah. 

Geography is Probably Important to Note Here: History Matters 

Also, for those less familiar with European geography, it’s worth noting that this episode went into production in 1984/85, so maps of this region might look a liiiiiittle bit different nowadays compared to the mid-80s, lmao. 

For comparison, here is a map of Europe circa the 1960s, which still isn’t the mid-80s, but for some reason this is the best map I could find that isn’t hyperfocused around one sub-region or the other and it’s generally more accurate to the mid-80s compared to a map from today: 

So they had the general idea more or less right, it’s just that the Europa 2000 map is what happens when you don’t give animators enough time to fully reference stuff! (Or even enough time to trace an actual map outline.) 

Anyway, Tumblr crashed on me twice while I was trying to make this post, so I’m leaving it here-- But shout out to those of you who live on or near the Europa 2000 race route! :) <3 

[happy-peppermint]

ok so i do commercial salmon fishing, right? and i was thinking during this fishing season about what positions rqg characters would have as part of a set-net gill net salmon-fishing crew so i present

RQG Player Characters’ Positions in an Alaskan Salmon Fishing Crew

First a few definitions:

Lead line = picks most of the fish (picking fish = getting fish out of the net by detangling them, pulling out of net, etc.) doesn’t require a lot of physical strength, but requires good problem-solving skills and dexterity

Cork line = keeps the boat going straight and pulls the boat along the net using the help of hydraulic rollers (or without the help of hydraulic rollers if you don’t have ‘em, but is a Lot more physically taxing without) still picks a few fish but not Nearly as many

Picking from shore: wait until the net goes dry (the tide goes out so that the net can be waded to) and picks fish then. harder than picking on a boat, but more relaxing/ less intense usually though it does take longer since you’ve gotta wait for the tide to go out

Zolf: Captain. Owns the set-net operation and it was passed down to him from his dad (this is a pretty common thing that happens). Been picking fish most of his life, therefore really good at it. Usually on the lead line. Prefers picking on the boat bc he’s a bit short, so has to wait longer to wade out and pick fish than someone taller. Main cook and makes a Damn good goulash

Sasha: Lead line. She’s an absolute natural at picking fish, despite not doing it growing up. Tbh, I think she’d use a fish pick (a metal hook sorta thing) instead of her hands bc it would remind her of thieves’ tools

Bertie: Cork line. Strong and I don’t think he could pick a fish to save his life. Also he’d fucking Hate fishing. Minimal access to non-canned food, living in a lil cabin without running water and electricity? Lil shit would die upon entering an outhouse I think, and it would be funny.

Hamid: Would also have a hard time adjusting, similar to Bertie, but I think he’d be Slightly less insufferable about it. Would try to argue to sleep more and not go out on tides at 2am. Regarding boat placement, the middle guy on the leads or floater watch I think, mostly bc I feel like he’d be sorta useless on corks. Middle guy on leads picks the least fish on the leads bc standing between 2 other people. Floater watch = watching for rotting fish that have been caught in the net so you can avoid them getting on the boat and stinking it up.

Cel: Interchangeable between leads and corks. They have the dexterity and smarts to be able to pick fish alright, and also are physically strong enough to be able to do corks so long as they aren’t the only one there or it’s a nice day. Also would spend most of their free time working on projects around camp, and would probably be the main person driving the atv on-shore to deliver fish. Oooo bc they’re tall, also would be Great picking from shore. I think Cel would have an absolute Blast

Azu: Corkline, but prefers picking from shore. Idk why she gives me that vibe. Would have named the ATV and be, along with Cel, one of the main people to go to the cannery to refill the water

Grizzop: Terrifies everyone while picking from shore because he somehow goes almost to the top of his waders but has yet to get wet (waders are like waterproof overalls with boots attached to them. the kind we use go up to mid way up your torso). That being said, he strikes me as corkline leadlike neutral (works ok with both, but not superb with either), but prefers lead line. Just going off of vibes tbh

if people want, I can make a part 2 with NPCs

[camodielsart]

Hi Cam, been a while; hope you're doing ok.

Anyways, have you gotten around to watching the Cuphead Show? The art style needs some getting used to (if you haven't watched it yet) but the comedic timing is amazing. If you have, though, who's your favorite character and why?

( fhaeoiaehsf sorry for taking so long)

i love the cuphead show!! the little details like the shadows behind every character to simulate them being on cels is a very nice touch. the style reminds me of ren and stimpy, which I wish more cartoons did that kind of bright and colorful style. it's very eye catching and expressive. and I also agree with the comedic timing. my friend and I quote the baby bottle too often than we should haha

and for my fave character, it's gotta be the devil, cuz he's so extra XD and also a dumbass pfff

[mypoisonedvine]

Love, Theoretically | Sebastian Stan x reader (Chapter 7)

(chapter 1) (chapter 2) (chapter 3) (chapter 4) (chapter 5) (chapter 6)

series summary: having lost your husband, sister, and best friend all to the same extramarital affair, you ran away to a secluded villa in the Hungarian countryside to write and get a little time away from the life you’d left behind.  you were only looking for peace and perhaps some inspiration for your novel, but instead you found an unlikely connection with the immigrant repairman-- even though the two of you don’t speak the same language.

word count: almost 3k?

warnings: slight breeding kink (but only if you speak romanian aksjghakgjhg), angst, violence (in the form of a fistfight, which the reader isn’t involved in)

Just as you always did, you woke up to sunlight streaming in through the lace curtains, and a cool breeze blowing by.  What was peculiar was Sebastian next to you, sleeping peacefully as his chest rose and fell with relaxed breaths.  You let yourself watch him for a moment before you decided to try to sneak out for a cup of coffee.  Problem was, the bed was sort of creaky and it was very difficult to move without making sound.  Your plan was to move as slowly as possible, keeping your weight evenly distributed over the mattress, and it worked rather well— right until the last second, of course, when a loud shift of the boxsprings beneath you made Sebastian stir and blink open his eyes.

You were about to apologize for waking him, but he grinned and slipped his arms around you, bringing you back to where you started and surrounding your body with his warm, muscular form.

“Bună dimineata,” he hummed as he pulled you closer, his voice even deeper and more gravelly than normal.

“Bună dimineata,” you did your best to repeat it back, making him smile even though your pronunciation wasn’t great.  “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” he replied softly, heavily accented and clearly more a recreation of the sounds you’d made than real English, but still intelligible and so painfully adorable as well.  “A fost uimitor aseară.”

“Last night…” you began, but you didn’t even know where to begin.  What could you possibly say about that?  Would it even matter, if he can’t understand it.  “God, you’re fucking amazing,” you blurted out with a soft laugh.

“Sa o facem din nou,” he growled as he pulled you closer and kissed you, slipping his tongue into your mouth instantly.  A more self-conscious you— as in, you yesterday— would’ve worried about morning breath, but you now couldn’t taste anything but him and couldn’t feel anything but his lips on yours and couldn’t do anything but weave your fingers into his hair.

You moaned when his kisses trailed down your neck, and you wanted nothing more than to melt into his body one more time, but you had other things to attend to.

“I need to get up,” you announced as you tried to escape from his grasp, but he held you tighter and brushed his lips over your shoulder.

“Nu, nu, nu te dice,” he cooed, making you laugh and squirm.  “Stai in pat, fă dragoste cu mine toata ziuă.”

“I have to get up, I’ll be right back,” you tried to explain but he stayed ever vigilant as he held you tight and licked over the shell of your ear.  Finally you managed to get him to stop, as much as you didn’t really want him to, allowing you to slip out from under the covers and find your robe where it had been discarded on the floor.  

He watched you as you crossed the room and popped into the bathroom for your bag, pulling your birth control pack out of it and using a handful of tap water to wash down your morning pill.  “Ah,” Sebastian seemed to have a realization from the bed, and you giggled.

“Told you it was important,” you grinned.

“Probabil cel mai bine să nu ai un copil cu un străin,” he nodded, “dar nu sunt sigur că m-ar fi deranjat atât de mult dacă te-aș fi însărcinat.”

Following suit, he stretched briefly before getting out of bed and searching for his discarded jeans and boxers.  You made no effort to hide your ogling as you watched his cock swing between his legs.  Even soft it was thick enough that you couldn’t figure how it ever fit inside you (the delightful soreness between your legs reminded you that it was no easy feat).  He took note of your staring and grinned devilishly, leaning against the wall to give you a better look.  “Îți place ce vezi?” he purred.

“Should’ve known this would all go straight to your ego,” you chuckled.  “I’m gonna go downstairs for some coffee.  Do you want some?  Cafea?”

“Da,” he nodded, as he slipped his clothes back on, “mulțumesc.”  Funny how his idea of getting dressed still left him half-naked.

Foolishly, you expected him to let you pass, since you were both going to benefit from your trip to the kitchen; but of course he had to slip his arms around you from behind and give you just one more embrace, making you sigh and relax your head back against his shoulder.  He kissed the top of your head and you hummed happily, letting your eyes open to look up at him before taking a moment to look out the window you happened to be standing right beside.

You were just hoping to appreciate the countryside scenery, meaning that you were rather shocked and confused to see a car pulling up.  When it stopped and the driver stepped out, your eyes went wide and your back suddenly straightened itself.

“...Michael?” you gasped.  You wrenched yourself out of Sebastian’s grasp and started to run down the stairs.  He called after you but you ignored it.

Barreling down the stairs and out the door, you found your husband walking up the driveway.

“Honey,” he frowned when he saw you, “I’ve been trying to find you since you left— what the hell is going on?  Why are you wearing a robe?”

“It’s hardly nine in the morning,” you defended before you realized there were much bigger topics at hand: “Michael, what are you doing here?” you asked, after a few seconds of confused stuttering.

“I’m taking you home!” he replied, as if it were obvious.

“Oh my god,” you groaned, “don’t play stupid.  Do you think I’ve been here against my will, or by accident or something?”

“No, I saw your letter,” he sighed.

“And you saw the part where I said not to look for me, and that all future communication would come through my lawyer?”

“You’re my wife,” he replied coldly, “I think I’m within my rights to talk to you directly.”

“You shouldn’t have come here.  I was actually happy before you showed up.”

With perfect timing, Sebastian stepped out the door behind you, looking to you and to Michael, and back.  “Ce se întâmplă?” he asked you.

“Who the fuck is this?!” Michael asked accusingly.

“I’m gonna give you a chance to ask me that again, in a way that doesn’t make it seem like you have any place to judge what I might be doing alone with a man,” you hissed.  “He’s just the groundskeeper, Mike.”

“Then why is he shirtless?” he exclaimed.

“I don’t know!  He… does that a lot!” you exasperatedly shouted back.

“Look, I’m not angry,” Michael sighed.  You laughed bitterly.

“Good, cause you have no right to be.”

“But I think it’s fair if I’m worried about you spending months alone with strange men.”

“Oh, strange, is that the problem?  Strangeness?  Would some more familiarity— perhaps a familial relationship— between you and these men make it easier on you, Mike?”

“Honey, please—”

“Don’t call me that,” you grimaced.

Michael stormed towards you, and you felt Sebastian step closer to you as well, wrapping an arm around you.  Having him by your side made this significantly more awkward, but it made you feel safer, too.

“Hey man, get your hands off my wife,” Michael growled, pointing a finger at Seb.

“He doesn’t speak English,” you rolled your eyes.  

“Well, I’m not sure you do either— otherwise you would realize that we’re still married, and you need to come home.”

“Just because you won’t sign the papers doesn’t mean we’re still together,” you reminded him sternly as shook your head.

“I’ll end it with your sister, is that what you want?”

You laughed, because you were afraid if you didn’t that you would cry.  “Jesus, Michael!  Are you hearing yourself?  This sounds like a greek tragedy, or fucking EastEnders!  Next I’ll be discovering I have an evil twin, and you’ll bang her too!”

He was a lot more offended by that than you expected.  “It was never just sex.  I love her.  But I love you more,” he clarified, suddenly getting serious.

You chuckled weakly, hardly believing what you were hearing.  It’s not that he was ever particularly nice, or romantic or anything, but at some point in his life he had been incredibly intelligent… and now he barely made sense at all.  “Wow, you sure do know how to make a girl feel special.”

He frowned, clearly losing what little cool he’d had at first.  He had always had a bit of a temper.  “For better or for worse, we’re still legally married— damn it, we’ve been together for how long now?  And you’re ready to throw that all away?”

“No, but you were,” you spat back.

“But I wasn’t, and I’m still not.  You’ve gotta hear me out—”

“I don’t have to do anything—”

“No, you’re not listening to me—” he talked over you, again.

“I don’t owe you any more of my time—”

“Damn it, why won’t you just listen!” he growled, grabbing you by the arm suddenly.  Instantly, Sebastian stepped forward and pushed him back.

“Sebastian, it’s okay,” you tried to soothe him.  

“Hey, could you maybe tell your boytoy to keep his filthy hands off me?” Michael demanded at the same time.

“Mai bine ai grijă,” Sebastian hissed, also at the same time.

“I literally can’t,” you answered Michael.  “I told you he doesn’t speak English.”

“Yeah, well, I think some things transcend language,” Michael bit back.  “Tell me something, pal,” he addressed Sebastian, “did you fuck my wife?”

“Sper că nu spui ce cred că ești,” Sebastian shook his head, clearly on the end of his rope.

“Mike, leave him alone,” you demanded, but it came out sounding so much weaker than you meant it to.

“Did you,” Michael pointed to Sebastian, going so far as to poke him in the chest condescendingly, “fuck—” he mimed thrusting his hips, and you grimaced— “my wife?”— finally, he pointed to you.

Sebastian certainly understood that; and, in lieu of an answer, he socked Michael right in the jaw and sent him straight to the ground.

“Oh my god!” you yelped, dashing over to where your husband was crumpled into a ball on the gravel and kneeling beside him.

“What the fuck?!” Michael gurgled, holding his face in shock and pain.

“Are you okay?” you asked anxiously, spinning to look at where Sebastian was standing and looking much too proud of himself, shaking out the hand he’d just hit Michael with.  “Sebastian!” you scolded, making him give you a defensive look.

“Ce?” he shrugged flippantly, though he clearly felt a little guilty when it became obvious that you were irritated with him.

And that was how you ended up here, standing in the living room and tapping your foot quickly, staring at the couch where Michael sat with a bag of ice held to his jaw, Sebastian beside him (though as far away as possible) resting with another on his hand.

“You had no business coming here,” you informed your husband coldly.

“You wouldn’t know about this place if it weren’t for me,” he reminded you.  “Did you think I wouldn’t find you?”

“I thought you wouldn’t care,” you corrected.

His silence was stern, and he gave you one of those looks that used to scare you but now just made loathing and pity sink down in your chest.  It was ambiguous if he was too angry to reply or if he really had no defense.  After all, what reason did you have to believe that he would care about your leaving?

"If you're here to make me rescind the divorce order, it's not going to happen.  I'm not leaving with you.  I'm not forgiving you.  Please just go," you sighed.

"That's not why I came.  None of that is why I'm here," he mumbled.  "I came here…" he straightened up slightly, raising his voice confidently.  "I came here to tell you that I love you.  I need you.  And I want you back."

Now that he was looking right back at you, suddenly you couldn't take it anymore and turned your gaze away again.  

"Whatever you need me to do to fix this, I'll do it.  We'll get through this.  Isn't that what marriage is?  Fighting for each other, struggling together?"  He stood up and approached you, reaching out to rest his hands on your shoulders; you almost flinched when you felt his touch, but resisted the urge, glancing up at his face before looking over at Sebastian whose injured hand was twitching as he looked away with a tight jaw.  "Tell me how to make this right, please."

You tried not to look as Sebastian as you processed Michael's request; similarly, it seemed he was trying not to look at you.  But even if you ignored this new, peculiar romance in your life, your marriage was still broken beyond repair and you couldn't imagine anything that could change that.  "I'm sorry," you finally whispered, watching Michael's face fall, "I don't think there's anything you can do." 

He released you from his grip, less angry than you expected; more somber.  "I want to stay and work this out," he explained.  "Better yet, I want you to come back to London— come back home— so we can be together and discuss everything there.  But I'm only going to ask you one more time before I leave: stay with me.  You don't need to forgive me, or even love me again, at least not yet… just give me a chance to try to earn everything I took for granted."

You'd imagined this moment so many times: cursing him out, making him grovel, kicking him to the curb.  To be completely honest, you'd even imagined potentially taking him back.  But now that you were here and it was, somehow, real, your desire for vengeance was fading along with your desire for reconciliation.  

"I have something I need to give you," you whispered, walking upstairs and going back into your room, getting on your hands and knees to search the floor.  Finally, discarded in a dusty corner with slightly uneven floorboards, you found the ring you'd tossed aside the night before.  Fighting back against the tears welling in your eyes, you picked it up and came downstairs, holding it outward for Michael to take.  

"I'm not taking that back," he refused, shaking his head.  "You keep it for a while longer, until you're sure this is really what you want."

"I'm sure.  I'm moving on.  Take it back," you demanded.  He sighed but reached out and plucked it from between your fingers, pocketing it though still wearing his own golden band.  "Besides, my sister might want it."

He scoffed, turning as he began to walk away.  "You're cold."

"Frozen solid," you agreed.  "Goodbye, Michael… drive safe."

He shook his head and made a sharp exhale as he walked away, nearly slamming the door behind him.  You stared off into space as Sebastian silently watched you; you didn’t want him to see you cry, but it was starting to seem unavoidable as your lip quivered and your eyes grew wide with tears.

“Shhh,” he soothed gently, standing up and stepping forward to pull you into his arms.  “Nu plânge, e în regulă.”

"God, I'm so stupid," you whispered between sobs muffled against his chest.  "I'm so fucking stupid…"

He whispered to you and kissed the top of your head, repeating one thing over and over that you couldn't make out well against the sound of your own crying filling your ears.

But even without knowing what he was saying or what it meant, it made you feel better.

As evening approached, you realized a new predicament had arisen: would Sebastian stay in your room again?  Would you go to his?  Or would you sleep separately, maybe even drift back to just being essentially housemates after a unique one-night stand?

Your questions were answered suddenly when Sebastian suddenly came to the couch and scooped you up into his arms, making you squeal a little before you relaxed and let him carry you to his room.  He all but threw you onto the bed, climbing on top of you and kissing you deeply as you reached up to wrap your arms around his neck.

Already you felt more comfortable with him than you sometimes felt with people you'd known most of your life; you didn't feel self-conscious when he ran his hands over your body, you didn't try to suppress your moans when he kissed your neck for fear of sounding ridiculous— and maybe that was just because it was such a fantastical situation, so unlike yourself and so far from home, that it was easy to feel like a different person with him.

Or maybe it was that you'd spent so long trying to be somebody that people liked, and now you were being yourself for the first time in decades.

You couldn't really be sure.  And since your brain short-circuited every time Sebastian whispered something in your ear that just sounded filthy regardless of what it actually meant, you didn't have the time to think about it.

[sleepymorningmumbles]

Collection of some character quotes that I love very much.

(Mostly consists of season 4 because that’s when I started actively taking notes)

“Sometimes you have to try.” - Brock 50

“I don’t think I’m powerful I think I’m powerless!” - Zolf 54

“If you expect me to fear death you’re going to be sorely disappointed.” - Zolf 61

“I’m not undead. I’m just, vitally challenged.” - Sasha 73

“... this is not a great time for vague threats, how about you make an explicit one.” - Hamid 86

“You can’t clean something up in the darkness, you have to bring it into the light, you have to face it. You have to tell someone, you have to let people help you.” - Hamid 90

“You are more important than a thing!” - Grizzop 112

“I think I broke Apollo.” - Edd 120

(season 4 under the cut because it ended up being very very long)

“I don’t want to get used to losing people.” - Hamid 129

“There are very few problems that explosions cannot sort.” - Cel 131

“I’m very good at building one-use machines. Two-use machines, much harder.” - Cel 131

“I’m saving my panic for later” - Azu 145

“PRONOUNS ARE THEY THEM!” - Cel 151

“I’ll always have faith, I just don’t always know what to do with it.” - Zolf 152

“If you're mates with mercenaries, you go to alo- well, you don't go to a lot of funerals, usually, cause there isn't much to bury, but you got to a lot of memorial services..." - Cel 152

"Y'know, I just want you to know that whenever I refer to you as "Little Buddy" I'm not referring to the size of your heart" - Cel 152

"It wasn't a good choice but I  think it was the right one"  - Zolf 153

"Sometimes you can't save the world, but you can save a person."  - Sasha 156

"I did not try to kill you... I, enabled the means for you to die."  - Shoin 156

"Being in charge doesn't mean that life gets easier cause you have more people to help you, it means that life gets harder because you've got more people to help" - Skraak 157

"Just um, when I open this door, I might be shot. Don't worry about it." - Zolf 159

"I'm not going to tell you that grief gets better but, like Zolf said, it gets different." - Azu 160

"We all make mistakes, and choices that don't go very well. But there's always the opportunity to make better ones,..." - Azu 160

"This isn't about getting back what's lost, it's about defending what's here… We're not getting back what we've lost, but there is still a world to save, Oscar" - Hamid 164

"Some of those losses you live with, and you grieve, and some of them are just happy lessons, and like, it's up to you to decide what kind of relationships you are open to" - Cel 165

"I'm not trying to die Zolf I'm trying to live" - Wilde 166

"By kobold standards you're a terrible tailor… A pocket without a button is a broken shelf" - Skraak 170

"It's okay to not be okay right now" - Azu 174

"I know I'm not always gonna be the strong one, but right now I can be" - Azu 174

"Healing and patience are often as one." - Aphrodite 175

"I'm saying, that right now, you can depend on me to protect you, and I'd quite like to see you stand up." - Azu 177

"Sometimes things don't get finished, and that's okay." - Cel 177

"I don't remember our conversation, but I remember what it meant." - Wilde 179

"Do not seek lessons where there are none." - Sumutnyerl 182

"Yeah we live or die together we ain't leaving anyone behind." - Zolf 185

"My turn." - Hamid 187

"If you're trying to guilt trip me you gotta up your game." - Zolf 188

"Because you gotta try." "Why?" ['Feryn'] "I mean, I don't think you actually need a reason. Because you do. Because that's what people do. Because if you don't try, things can't get better. For you, or for the people that come after." - Zolf 189

"You're not so much a "man on the floor" as a petty little dictator with a, sort of,  kink for obfuscation." - Wilde 193

"Well, if I had to pick a group of people who I'd end up, y'know, facing the end of the world with, you are who I would choose." - Wilde 194

Why would I kill him. He wouldn't know how angry I am if he was dead." - Sumutneryl 195

"Solitude is not always punishment" - Sumutneryl 205

"I think a lot of people do very terrible things thinking that they're doing good... - people think that they're doing the right thing, that can do the most harm, driven by riotous zeal" - Cel 205

"Not leaving you!" - Cel 207

"Get the others out of here and stay safe… right it's your turn now" - Zolf 207

"You don't belong in the next world" - Zolf 210

"To absent friends. To the best people I have ever known. To a world that doesn't yet deserve, the caliber of heroism we're about to bring it." - Wilde 212

"To what comes next." - Hamid 212