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rotworld · 1 month ago

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17: Perfect Fit

art by @exorbitantsqueakingnoises

the ivarii are complex plant-like aliens that require hosts for mobility and proper sustenance. humans haven't been as eager as they'd hoped to share their bodies, so significant stipends are offered to encourage greater cooperation. you sit in a waiting room, considering how desperate and adventurous you really are.

->original work. basically explicit; contains dub-con, parasites, body horror, discussion of medical procedures.

MEET YOUR NEW ROOMMATE, says the pamphlet in a bold, friendly font with rounded edges. Under the text, a woman with a dazzling smile holds a polaroid-sized image beside her face. It’s eerie blue monochrome-on-black like a medical scan, smears and swirls of soft tissue of a human face in profile. Strings of something firmer thread up the spinal column and into the brain, a forking starburst like a giant dendrite. LIVING TOGETHER IS EASIER THAN YOU THINK, it claims with a curling arrow urging you to turn the page.

You glance around the waiting room nervously. It’s soothing like a therapist’s office, deliberate and almost cloying; speckled gray carpet, baby blue walls, a small collection of cushioned chairs and sofas arranged in not-too-close, not-too-far clusters. Landscape photos of shrub-speckled Martian canyons and clouds drifting over Europan oceans hang on the walls in wooden frames. A circular speaker on a coffee table plays wind sounds and birdsong at a whispering volume. There’s no one here but you and the receptionist who tears open a package of white, powdery Nutrisweet mix to pour into her coffee mug. When she lifts it to her lips, something in her neck twitches and squirms slightly.

The pamphlet opens into a four-page spread of bright colors, bullet point fun facts and upbeat testimonials. The “ROOMMATE OF THE YEAR” section says implantation is PERFECT whether you want company or like your space. One bedroom, one bathroom? NO PROBLEM! An ivarius only takes up as much space as you do. No need to drastically change your eating habits when you can just supplement your beverage of choice with NUTRIENT-RICH FERTILIZER MIX (and with so many flavors to choose from, it goes with EVERYTHING)! Did you know that ivarii can achieve PERFECT SYMBIOSIS with any sufficiently advanced, terrestrial lifeform? You have a FRIEND FOR LIFE when you sign up for implantation—

A door opens and a man calls your name. He’s wearing mossy green scrubs with the Office of Cooperation’s looping flower and stem crest stitched onto the shirt pocket. You must look ready to bolt because he gives you a wry smile like he gets it and comes to you instead, sinking into the chair beside yours. “Nervous?” he asks. “That’s pretty normal.”

You nod, staring at the back cover of the pamphlet. A man holds one of the medical scan pictures over his heart. Thin tendrils loop through his ribs and infest his organs. “Do you, uh…” You glance at him sheepishly. “Do you have…?”

“Yes. I can show you, if you want.” He waits until you nod reluctantly to unwrap what you thought was a bandage around his wrist, a length of thin, gauze-like material with a yellowish sap stain seeping through. There’s a small bump growing out of his skin—the earliest, sproutling stages of a flower bud. The sepals are flesh-colored, overlapping flaps of thin, vein-filled skin. It’ll bloom on top of his wrist like a corsage.

“Does it hurt?” you ask.

“Not at all.”

“And that’s…I mean, is that typical? I’ve seen some people who bloom from their spine, or their eye…”

“It’s up to you,” he says. “From the very start, it’s up to you. If either one of you decides it isn’t going to work, then nothing happens. Symbiosis takes two.”

That’s the slogan for the Cooperation Initiative. “Symbiosis Takes Two,” pasted on billboards and subway tunnels with smiling people tenderly holding vine-covered flower pots like they’re newborn babies. The brochure stand at the waiting room door has every possible approach covered: the humanitarian, the scientific, the pragmatic. Help a species in need; contribute to ongoing research; never worry about money again.

“Okay,” you say quietly. “Okay. I’ll try.”

The matchmaking rooms line either side of a long, quiet hallway. Each door has a small electronic screen beside it with a schedule displayed. You find yours at the very end, a time slot for your meeting grayed out. There’s a vertical line down the middle. Your name is on the left; the name “Sifril” is on the right. The door is open. Like the waiting room, the decor is purposefully unobtrusive and calming with muted colors and soft surfaces. The curtains are sheer to let in some natural light. Two armchairs sit facing each other on a floral rug, a round wooden table between them.

On the table, there’s a slim black speaker next to a strange vase. It’s not glass or ceramic but a shimmery material with a moving surface like foam drifting across water. Long vines spill out from the top and slink down the sides, tapping and poking at the table in searching, licking motions. A thick cluster of tangled stems and leafy growths sticks straight up, covered in alien flowers with colorful, curling tendrils atop spotted petals. Each blossom turns towards the door when you walk in, quivering slightly.

“Oh, hello!”

You look up in surprise. You were so distracted by the sight of an ivarius that you didn’t even notice one of the chairs was occupied. It’s a man—young, clean-shaven, a short, choppy haircut and a bright smile. He’s wearing a sweater with brown and beige stripes, long sleeves covering most of his hands. His jeans are rolled up to his ankles and his socks have little mushrooms on them. You know what the door says, but you start backing up to check the time table again.

“Oh, hey, no, come back!” he says, laughing. “You’re Sifril’s match, right? You’re in the right place. I’m here because your case is sort of special. Here, why don’t you get comfortable?” Reluctantly, you sit down across from him. He offers a reassuring smile. “I’m Andrei,” he says, placing a hand on his chest. “My co-inhabitor is Olanash. It’s nice to meet you.” He gives you his full attention, his eye contact intense and unwavering. “How much do you know about ivarii?”

“A little,” you say, sheepish. “I read the pamphlets.”

“Why did you decide to apply?”

You avert your gaze. “Well, I’m…I saw a poster that said, uh…”

Andrei leans over suddenly like he’s about to grab your hand. He stops halfway there, blinking like he’s just as surprised as you. “Sorry,” he says, settling back in his seat. “Force of habit. You’re giving off distress hormones and…look, I’m not trying to shame you. I signed up because I needed the money, too. But there are lots of ways to make money. This is a lifelong commitment and it takes a lot of trust. What I’m asking is why this, instead of something else? Is there anything else about it that appeals to you?”

You look down at the vase and the ivarius coiled inside of it. “I like the idea of never being alone,” you admit. “I was still on the fence about it, but then I got matched with Sifril and we talked back and forth a bit, and…” Now you’re wondering about that. How, exactly, does an ivarius message someone? Do they dictate to someone else? You really hope not. Your face heats at the thought of anyone else seeing those messages.

Andrei chuckles. “And now you’re here. Sifril’s definitely a smooth-talker, huh? That’s three for three now.”

“Three for three?” you ask, wary.

“Right, we need to talk about that. Do you want to say it, Sifril, or should I?”

A warbling, bassy sound flutters from the speaker on the table. You flinch when you hear a very clear, very human-sounding, “Go ahead, Andrei.” That definitely sounded like a person, but you struggle to identify pitch or tone, masculine or feminine, any particular cadence or lilt. That doesn’t make sense, unless you’re not really hearing a voice at all but something your brain interprets as one. “My apologies. I didn't mean to startle you,” you hear. It seems to echo, like you’re hearing it in a big, empty room.

“Sifril?” you ask.

“Yes,” says the voice. The ivarius in the vase rustles their leaves. “It’s wonderful to finally be in the same room. You’re even lovelier in person.”

“Can you see me?” you ask, suddenly self-conscious.

The speaker rumbles. The sound isn’t loud but it makes your ears tingle. “Hm. In a way. My senses aren’t the same as yours, but I know you’re there and I know you are lovely.”

“Sifril,” Andrei says, chiding. “Stop teasing them. You can tell they’re embarrassed.”

“I can tell no such thing,” Sifril says. For the first time, the voice has a distinctive feature you can identify: a purr of flirtation.

“You mentioned that you read the pamphlets?” Andrei smiles when you nod. “So you’ve seen the whole ‘roommate’ thing. It’s a useful comparison, but not wholly accurate. Symbiosis is very…intimate. Ivarii love their hosts.” He reaches out, holding his hand over the vase. Sifril’s vines move in slow motion, a shaky upward crawl, until they touch skin. Suddenly they become graceful, curling around Andrei’s wrist and palm. When he spreads his fingers, they thread through the space between and wrap around them in grasping, undulating motions that look distinctly sensual. You feel flustered when Andrei glances up and sees you staring intently, even more when he winks. “They love one another, too. It’s not uncommon for them to pursue courtship and even mate while co-inhabiting.”

“Mate? Like…” You’re sure you’re not imagining it. Andrei’s smile and wandering, half-lidded gaze are definitely showing interest. “While they’re…?”

“So shy,” Sifril says, their flowers swaying.

“Yes,” Andrei says, clearly amused. “While they’re inside us. Sharing sensory information means everything is a shared experience, including attraction and sex. They call that a ‘rebal pair’ when a human and co-inhabitor mate with another human and co-inhabitor. In Sifril’s case, though, they mated before being assigned a host. Their mate, on the other hand, got one sooner.” You glance between Andrei and the vines caressing his hand. Andrei sees you put the pieces together and smiles. “Yes. Olanash is Sifril’s mate. So whoever becomes Sifril’s host will be my partner, and together, we’ll be a rebal pair.”

None of the promotional material ever mentioned something like this. You’re not sure what to think. “That seems tough,” you say. “So all three of you have to agree on the same partner.”

“We’re in agreement right now,” Sifril purrs.

“I know it’s a lot,” Andrei assures you. “And you don’t have to decide right now. We’re supposed to have at least two more meetings to really get a good feel for each other. If you have any questions, I’d be more than happy to answer them.” You nod, not quite meeting his eyes. “Is there something specific you’re worried about?”

“Well…kind of the whole thing,” you admit. You watch Sifril’s vines uncoil from Andrei’s hand. They move like snakes, flexible and slippery as they sprawl across the table again. You can’t help but notice they’ve all gathered on the side closest to you, curled into grasping spirals. “What does it feel like?”

Andrei considers the question for a moment with a thoughtful frown. Then he smiles again, wide and serene. “Comforting,” he says. “You just know somebody else is there, even if they’re not moving. And when they do move around, it’s like…someone touching you. You feel it on your skin. Like a gentle tap, or a caress.”

“And the surgery, is that, um…”

His eyes light up. “Oh, I can tell you exactly what that’s like. Here.” He gets up and gestures for you to stand next to him. You hesitate for a moment before you follow and he beams at you. Sifril’s flowers lean forward in the vase. “First of all, they knock you out. You won’t feel anything. Second…” Andrei slips behind you, a hand landing on your shoulder when you start trying to turn around. “There are several possible methods of implantation,” he tells you. He’s standing way too close, practically pressed against your back. He speaks softly, close to your ear. “One is through the chest. The first incision is made here.” He touches his fingertips to your sternum and slowly, suggestively, slides his hand down the center of your body. “Alllllllll the way down,” he murmurs. “Some of them like to anchor to the ribs. Some don’t. You’d talk that over with Sifril beforehand.”

“The ribs,” Sifril muses. “I would like to feel your ribs. To fill them.”

“Another option is here.” Andrei’s fingers brush against the underside of your jaw in a soft caress. His thumb strokes the side of your neck. He chuckles at your slight shudder. “The neck,” he says, almost whispering. “It’s a really popular spot. Tight. Sensitive. Much closer to the brain. I’ve heard it feels good.” His palms smooth up and down your back, squeezing your shoulders. “Another option. From behind. Olanash and I picked this one. I can feel them right there all the time. Their warmth. The weight of their presence. Like they’re holding me.” His hands slide down your sides and then there’s no space between you anymore. Andrei’s hips rest against your ass and you can feel that he’s hard through his jeans.

You’re frozen, completely unprepared. Is this allowed? Are they supposed to do this?

Andrei’s lips graze the shell of your ear. “No matter what,” he says, “they end up here.” He presses two fingers to the nape of your neck. “All the way up. And all the way in.” He rocks his hips gently, grinding against you. His hand slides higher and he digs his fingers into your scalp. “And that feels so, so good. It’s hard to explain, because you don’t feel it exactly. But you feel what they feel, surrounded by you. And you know they’re there. Squirming…and slithering…like they’re fucking your brain.”

“Olanash told you to say that,” Sifril says, playfully accusing. “They like that sort of thing.”

Andrei chuckles. Emboldened by the little gasps you let out, he holds your hips tighter and starts grinding harder and faster. “So do you,” he says. “I know you whisper all the same filth. I can hear you both when you’re mating.” He pulls you against him, urging you to grind back and enjoy the friction. You let out a shaky breath when he kisses your neck. “It’s kind of exciting to think about, right?” he whispers. “Having someone where you’re most vulnerable. Fucking all the thoughts out of your head. I wish I could show you. Sifril could give you a taste, if you let them. It’s not quite the same as if they were implanted, but it’s like nothing you’ve ever felt before.”

Andrei moans when you start to move with him, pushing back into his humping thrusts. He rewards you with wandering hands and more hungry kisses, his fingers teasing your nipples through your shirt with light pinches and circular motions. His tongue traces the shell of your ear and he licks and nips at it, his hot breath making you shiver. Heats throbs between your legs and you want more than this frantic teasing.

Then it all stops. Andrei suddenly lets go of you, stepping back and leaving you shuddering in the middle of the room. You hear him casually sink back into his chair like he didn’t just try to make you cum in pants. He’s smiling when you look back at him, an elbow on the armrest, cheek resting against his fist.

“But you’ve probably got more questions, right? Don’t let me distract you if there’s more you wnat to ask.” he says. He sits with his legs spread, one hand tapping his thigh in a way that looks teasing. Inviting. He’s moved his chair slightly closer to the table and Sifril’s vase. You think about just how far you saw Sifril’s vines spread. If you sat there, you would be caught between both of them. Easily within reach. “You can ask me anything,” Andrei says, licking his lips. “Anything at all.”

The speaker shudders and rumbles. “You can do more than ask,” Sifril purrs.

This stops when you want it to. You can leave whenever you want. You can tell them you’ve changed your mind, that you’re calling the whole thing off. You can walk out of here and never come back. You have time, you tell yourself. Two whole meetings more before you have to choose. “When, um…” You swallow hard. They wait patiently, both of them—all three, you think—watching you intently. “When am I going to meet Olanash?”

Andrei’s smile widens when you take a timid step closer. He spreads his legs a little wider, leaving plenty of room for you on his lap. “If you want,” he says, “how about right now?”

#rotpeach writes #original #goretober

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exsiopicore · 1 year ago

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"MISTAKES" - AN ORIGINAL PIZZA TOWER COMIC

Before (or after) you read this little comic I made, I wanna say some things.

First of all, this comic was inspired by @gabaobab 's absolute masterpieces. She has been inspiring me since I knew her on Twitter. She gives her best into her animations, art, and even outside Pizza Tower. Knowing that she gives a bit of her living experience in some of her comics, characters and more, really inspired me making my own Pizza Tower comic based on how I feel. Absolutely worth it.

Second thing, thank you ALOT for stopping by and reading this Comic (and this text). I am not a great artist, but I try my best !! I really enjoyed working on this little comic, it made a little side project outside of work for me to enjoy. I am so proud of it :')

Finally, just wanted to say that I had lots lf fun working with the monochrome palette and the light effect with the firefly. It gives a little "more" that I love to bits. No regret. Would do it again.

Hope you will all have an amazing day.

-Exsio

#pizza tower #fake peppino #peppino spaghetti #pizza tower comic

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eldritch-nightmare · 1 year ago

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heyy!! can i request LJ and Candypop ( ,,if you write for him) sharing a fem!reader? (headcanons or something else) i don’t mind <33

a/n: I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT CANDY POP WAIT omg he's one of those creepypastas that i heard about but never really looked into so. first time writing him so i hope i did him justice for you! i wasn't sure if you wanted something more lighthearted or something darker so i did my best to keep it balanced.

LJ and Candy Pop sharing a fem!reader.

warnings: my knowledge of candy pop comes from the creepypasta files wiki page so just a heads up if i get something wrong, opted to make reader a creepypasta here but it's very vague, lj and candy pop are like frenemies in this i suppose, sorta hints that the reader might've been forced into this relationship, my hand slipped and i dropped a 'good girl' in here somewhere i couldn't help myself, possessive behavior from both of them, implied unhealthy relationship.

Man, what's it like having a 7ft tall imaginary monochrome clown that terrorizes children and a 7ft tall colorful Night Terrors possessed jester be in love with you? It's probably a strange experience.

They both argue over who caught feelings for you first. LJ swears up and down that he fell for you first, but Candy Pop claims it to be love at first sight. Honestly, you've just chosen to believe that they both fell for you around the same time.

The two of them were definitely hesitant to share you, though that was more on Candy Pop's side than it was LJ's. Listen, sharing a body/soul with the literal demon king makes you a bit possessive over things, okay?

You don't particularly mind either way, to be honest. They're both a bit... much to handle at times, but you guys make it work. Like... literally. You had to plan out an entire schedule and everything because they kept bickering about how much time the other spent with you.

LJ gets you on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays while Candy Pop gets you on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Sundays are days you spend alone because it's always good to have some time for yourself.

Of course, they don't... follow the schedule that often. Why would they? They aren't confined to the mortal chains of schedules.

They are both equally romantic in their own right, and you won't lie, you certainly have enjoyed a few of the spontaneous dates they've taken you on. Sometimes, they'll even get together long enough to plan out an outing for all three of you. They can get along, see?

Now, we can't forget that they are both murderous entities. One is an imaginary friend turned serial killer and the other is... something. A demon? A poor possessed soul of a jester? Whatever he is, he's deadly. Shall I provide some examples?

Example one: Laughing Jack was abandoned by the one person he was created to befriend, so trust me when I tell you that he has some deeply rooted abandonment issues. He's all fun and games until there's even the slightest possibility of you leaving him. Even if someone makes an offhand remark about how you should leave him, his entire persona does a complete 180.

Suddenly, his hold on you is just a bit more tighter than it normally is, and you can feel his nails digging into your skin, threatening to draw blood. It's a subtle, silent threat of what he could do to you if you ever tried leaving him.

Example two: Candy Pop, as a whole, is somebody you have to be wary around because his mood can flip like a switch. He'll be happily humming away about some random topic one moment, and the next he's pushing you up against a nearby wall and looking at you with such a crazed look that it's almost hard to believe that this is the same person who claims to be in love with you.

He's the type to remind you of where you belong. You belong by his and LJ's side, so don't you ever forget that, okay? You really don't want to see what'll happen if you do.

In the end, though LJ and Candy Pop have a habit of bickering with each other, they'll make one hell of a team if it means keeping you in their grasp. You don't fit with anyone but them, and you don't need to fit with anyone other than them. They're the perfect match for you, and you'll come to see that sooner or later. So, all you need to do is be a good girl and stay by their side, got it?

It's Sunday. Sundays are supposed to be your day. You had plans to hang out with the other girls, maybe even play dress up with Sally if she was up for it. So, why the hell were you currently stuck in bed, sandwiched between a clown and a jester?

You have no clue because you just woke up and they were already here. Sure, you could just… wiggle your way out of bed but then they would wake up. Do they even need to sleep? They aren't mortal like you are, so sleep doesn't seem like a necessity to them. But it's not like you can just stay in bed all day either. You had things you wanted to do!

So, with a very silent sigh, you slowly start to sit up, untangling yourself from the mass of limbs trapping you to your bed. You were able to sit up with relative ease, the hard part would be crawling over either LJ or Candy Pop to get out of bed. That would be… that would be difficult.

Even if you were to try and crawl over one of them, you weren't able to because before you could even decide which one to crawl over, you were being pushed back into laying down again by Candy Pop.

You let out a small 'oof' as soon as your back hit the mattress.

"Where do you think you're going?" You hear LJ ask, and with one quick glance at him, you can see a slight pout on his face. It was almost enough to make you forget about the feeling of his nails gently grazing your stomach.

If he just decided to dig them into your--

"She's not going anywhere." Candy's voice murmurs directly next to your ear, effectively cutting off your train of thought. You only belatedly realize that he had buried his face into your neck, his hair brushing against your face, "Right, angel?"

Well… it seems like you're not going to be getting rid of these two today, so whatever plans you had for the day were going to have to be put on hold until next Sunday. You just hoped the two of them didn't make a habit of this.

#anon #laughing jack x reader #candy pop x reader #laughing jack x you #candy pop x you #creepypasta x reader #creepypasta x you #creepypasta #literally slapped a photo of candy pop into pixlr and hyper zoomed on his eyes to look at the pixels to figure out the exact shade of them #and i didn't even mention his eyes in this so it was a pointless endeavor #i spent 4 hours writing this i think bc i kept getting distracted so if it's a mess im sorry

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imthepunchlord · 14 days ago

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Do you think that Claw Noir would be a better character than Adrien cause from what I'm remembering Claw Noir seems more involved with his plot than Adrien ever is.

To my knowledge, that's not true. They gave very little details on Shadybug and Claw Noir's world, and what's given is just... conflicting. But I don't remember it's revealed that Emodrien is more involved in his own plot, he's just playing villain instead of playing hero, acting out his frustrations instead of bottling them (like despite being good, Gabriel is still a terrible father? Apparently?).

Either way, to get to the answer, it depends on if you want a changed dynamic for the leads and your preferences.

There is some merit to doing Emodrien over Adrien.

Adrien, by narrative set up, is meant to rebel against his father. He should reach a point of "enough is enough". Why, in Origins, he's rebelling against his father, running away twice to go to school. And then there's Simon Says where he's not so welcoming of his father's hug and relief for his safety.

But it never bears fruit.

To do Emodrien would work off Adrien rebelling against his father at the start, to show that he's had enough, he's going to do his own thing.

Emodrien would also work off Ladybug having a dicey partner. Adrien cares enough to help out as a hero and work with LB, but clearly not that much given he'll be a brat during a fight when she upsets him and won't shape up until he receives an apology, will detransform during a flood to demand answers instead going about and helping those caught up in the flood waters, actively checking to see if someone's going to be akumatized so he can see his crush, will prank her in the middle of an akuma fight, and won't go out to help in fights because he's bummed about his partner working with other heroes.

It really shows the Miraculous it meant to be used with duty, goodness, and responsibility in mind, it's meant to be used to be a fun outlet for him, to exist outside his father and pressure in civilian life; which would've been fine at the start but it would also need to be addressed.

It wasn't.

So Claw Noir could better work off Ladybug having an unreliable Cat as a partner. He's here to lash out, pull pranks, mess with her and Hawk Moth, and just be a neutral wildcard who will help Ladybug when it suits him (as Hawk Moth is also after him), otherwise he's not into this hero business, too much work. He doesn't want more work or pressure on him. No thank you. But he'll take pleasure in ruining his own face cause that's not his look anymore. Extra bonus it pisses his dad off.

If going a route that characters are expected to have growth and evolve, Emodrien has a more defined path to take for himself than Adrien does. Not to say Adrien doesn't, but it's not well defined. Like, Origins set ups wanting friends, but we never see him engage in friendship, or with others that's not Nino, Chloe, or Marinette, and then Party Crasher everyone is just friends with him. He could have a route of learning to be a hero, but they never take that path. You got the set up of his father being the villain but he's just not involved in plot. So Adrien's just kinda aimless.

Now for Emodrien, he's at a stage learning to live for himself, but it's more centered around his grief, anger, and frustration, so his path is learning to get past those emotions, to expand the world outside of himself, to bring color and warmth into his life and not the coldness of monochrome.

And there's the bonus that he's more set up to be involved in his own plot, because he's more against Gabriel, so when he finds that book in Volpina, s2 would definitely be more around the truth that Gabriel is Hawk Moth. And Emodrien may have a decent enough reason to drag this revelation through s2, cause he's pissed at his dad, but he also still loves his dad. So, what does he do with this information? However it goes, s2 would probably be a reveal between Agrestes, and the crossroads they'd find themselves at.

Another big appeal is how this would effect the Love Square.

For one thing, for those that don't ship it, this is in the realm of possibility to just have it not be, cause Emodrien is in a bad spot emotionally and Marinette I don't see all that impressed or happy with either side of him.

For those that do, you're hitting the breaks and set up to get a more gradual and cohesive romance. Marinette is set up, at some point, to learn the reason behind Emodrien/Claw's actions, and because she's empathetic, will open her up to trying to bond and connect with him.

And Emodrien is still Adrien at the core, he's just Adrien letting all those ugly and frustrated feelings out instead of bottling them. And you can set up that he's going to be drawn to her still, and thanks to the Special, we can go either route.

He could come to like Marinette because she's animated and spirited, literally a source of color to his monochrome life. I can't say how Emodrien is as a civilian as we don't get to see how he is, but assuming he's at least brooding and not going out his way to pick on others, Marinette should be open minded, friendly, and inclusive. And Emodrien is still a lonely boy, so he appreciates the gestures.

For Claw Noir, you can work off that he does have fun messing with her, but there is some admiration to her passion and resolve, and he doesn't want to see her fail or hurt. And for all of her annoyances at him and nagging, she does keep a look out for him, helps him with needing to be asked, and will just have his back. And just to be decent, he'll extend his own claws to help, as needed. And gradually, he becomes the shadow that follows light.

#ask Punchie #adrien salt #ml salt

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reginadraws · 11 days ago

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CSP brushes & assets

hello people! i decided to remake my long-gone twitter thread of some of my favorite CSP brushes & assets with some new favorites! each will have the direct link to the CSP asset website

🖼️monochrome texture pack | link good for throwing noise over top of a drawing. i like the cardboard and steno paper ones. i literally use this on almost everything

🖼️abstract seamless 01 | link mmm. squiggles. i love me some ambient squiggles

🖼️risograph texture | link it looks good. i like the papery look

🖌️filbert dual | link i like how loose and scratchy this one can get. it lays down really well

🖌️tiger brush | link these 3 are color changing ones with different brush shapes. i like tiger bite cause it has like rough edges

🖌️ square texture brush | link i love this for just laying down big color. nice and square

🖌️lazy brush | link i use this thing all the time. multifaceted legend

🖌️ flashito | link nice subtle color changy brush with a little roughness texture

🖌️ MYNQZO brushes | link a brush set with 5 - i like them and they work together well. 2 inky smooth, 3 chalky

✒️ sambfen | link this is a pen brush i've been using lately. it's nice and smooth and quick

✒️little ink | link jittery little pen! comes out loose and globby i like to set it on a small size and use for small details

✒️wiggle brush | link i have been using this one so much. i love the scratchy texture

✒️hhh 2 | link similar in look to wiggle brush but more spiky? almost chalky

✒️ MUGZ BRUSH COLLECTION | link this is a set of 5 - i like the pens in there

⚫️simple retro halftone | link i like to sprinkle this on top of stuff to blend one color into another, or erase something into a fade

⚫️grunge dot | link i use this in background or same thing as ^that one to blend stuff together. good size variation

⬛️ ez mosiac | link easy way to get some fun color / shape details

#reginadraws #reginadraws talks #brushes #csp brushes #csp assets

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tailsdollr · 4 months ago

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hi everyone. This is a story I have been working on for a while. I begun working on all of this maybe a month or two ago. So here it all is.

◇ Details of Monochrome Ink ◇

Monochrome was created due to one of Ink's arms being separated from him. It grew into a separate, unstable entity. Since they were made from only an arm, their time is limited. They bleed due to their body collapsing slowly overtime.

Their design is based off from Ink's own desires and thoughts. His love of colors being obvious in how colorful their deisgn is. Which is ironic since Monochrome as the name implies has full color blindness.

Ink didn't have good first impressions of Monochrome. An extension of himself, someone to finally relate to, someone like them. They couldn't see colors, but they could feel. They were like them but weren't.

Ink didn't know how to react to this. He was never able to actually create life despite being an artist. Only creators could. And now he did. It was him but the mirror was warped.

Monochrome was created with no previous memories. No clue what the world is around him and can't see the world for all it's beauty. Despite this and his limited time, Monochrome had fun. He loved seeing all the AU's he got to see. Even if he didn't truly grasp the art behind it.

When his body finally collapses, he turns back into the ink that makes up Ink's body. And by definition, doesn't exist anymore.

If you have any thoughts or questions please share. :) I have more OC's and AU stuff to share. But this is one of the first I've done since I haven't really interacted with this fandom since 2016 ??

Ink has always been a special character to me. His entire existence depends on us creating and loving art. I wanted Monochrome to represent those who love and support art. As humans our time here is limited. Whatever we can create in our time is important.

To those who see our art and are inspired. Whatever it sparks in us. Whether it be our own concepts or just that we love the art. Art is a beautiful form of expression.

Undertale came from a place of love. For love for RPG's and art as whole. And I think all the AU's this fandom has created shows how much we love Ubdertale. We saw art, were inspired, and created something of our own.

Ink - Comyet

Error - CrayonQueen

Dream - Jukoblog

Monochrome- Me

#my art #art #doodles #undertale #undertale au #oc #ink sans #error sans #dream sans #dreamtale #original character #Monochrome ink #Monochrome ink sans #long post #ink!sans #error!sans #dream!sans #utmv

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mushroomjar · 1 year ago

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Did you think I forgot about it? The Halloween vocaloid playlist is done!! I'll include the links in a reblog so Tumblr doesn't bury the post, there's a YouTube playlist and a Spotify one, the YouTube one being the longer one with nearly 100 songs... yeah, I got carried away lol Reminder for those who have forgotten/not in the know, this playlist starts with cute lighthearted songs about Halloween and monsters, and gets darker in tone and sound the deeper down the playlist you go

I don't want to make the post too long so I'll just include a general content warning for the songs in the playlist, and under the cut I might list all the songs and ramble a bit about what it was like to make the playlist. I hope you enjoy!^^

Content Warnings: flashing lights, bright images, loud sounds and jumpscares, disturbing images and noises, death, body horror, gore, cannibalism, abuse, stalking, potentially paranoia-inducing songs/lyrics

The playlist has been done for days, I've just been procrastinating on actually making the post until now lmao sorry! I had a lot of fun making the playlist and going through the suggestions, it also made me fall in love with some producers I hadn't paid much attention to before (shout out to all of the people who sent in Babuchan suggestions, as you can see I went down a bit of a Babuchan rabbit hole and added tons of his stuff to the playlist, same for machigerita lol)

I'll admit that one of the reasons the playlist kept getting longer was because I'd look at other creepy/scary vocaloid playlists on YouTube for inspiration, and every time I was nearly done I would write down 20 more songs to check out, which is why it took me a whole month to get this playlist done lol. I hope it was worth it! I'm very pleased with how it all turned out

There were also many songs/producers I really liked but decided not to include in the playlist, for example I found DaijoubuP, who I really like, but I didn't think it fit the vibe of the kind of Halloween playlist I wanted to make, so none of his stuff is in the playlist. Same goes for SEIKAI, his songs sound very creepy but I found the lyrics a bit too dark and I wanted to try to keep the playlist a bit more lighthearted. Maybe I'll make a more general vocahorror playlist sometime to highlight all of these producers' work! Who knows

Something else I realized because of this playlist is my standard for creepy vocaloid music might be a bit different than other people's. I got many Maretu suggestions, and I love the guy and completely understand why some of his music was suggested (such as Coin Locker Baby), but it surprised me just how much I'd see him suggested in the notes of my post or in Spotify playlists, he's never really given me the creeps even with his darker lyrics. Not judging! Just an observation I had

You'll notice that I've been using vocaloid as a bit of an umbrella term, since there are a couple of songs that use UTAU and even Synth-V voicebanks^^

I think that's all I have to say for now, so I'll just list all the songs in the playlist and hurry to put the links in a reblog! Thank you so much to everyone who helped with the playlist, all of your suggestions were really appreciated, I would not have as good a playlist if it wasn't for you^^

The song list is mainly because I tried to link back to the original producers whenever possible, and also sometimes the songs were very hard to find, so a lot of the titles are in Japanese, so I figured having the songs and producers written out here would make it a bit easier for you to navigate the playlist^^ Anyway, songs:

Happy Halloween - Junky

SLASH/ER - Circus-P

Ghosts Play To The Audience - PinocchioP

Kikkai Kettai - Meddmia

Zen'yasai no akuma - mayuko

Furaan Furaan Zombie - nem

Fake-Cryer Pumpkin - CycleP

Zen'yasai no kuroneko - mayuko

Halloween Patisserie TrickaTorka - machigerita

Halloweenya - Chinozo

Dream-Eating Monochrome Baku - nem

Creepy Toast - CircusP

Pumpkin March - momocashew

Selfish Princess - fujiwo

Pumpkin Head Spooky Dance - machigerita

Dream Meltic Halloween - machigerita

Giga giga witch - Kurosawa Madoka

Trich, Trach, Trick Parade - sasasaP

Happy Hollow And The God Club - Nanou

Saa, Docchi? - HINATA Haruhana

Propaganda! - Crusher-P

What Gave It Away - R.I.P

Shadow Shadow - Azari

Splatter Party - Camellia

Who? - Azari

Pandemic - YuugouP

Twilight Homicide Song - Kiraboshi Hikaru

Greedy Halloween Candy Nights - machigerita

Gochisou - Xitoo

Spiral-Luvox - Tune Tonic/Switch

Mrs. Pumpkin's Comical Dream - hachi

trick and treat - OSTER Project

Strange Masquerade Halloween - machigerita

Oxidation And Dream Monsters - Ghost

Oz no Kaitai Show - Ankoku DouwaP/Joruzin

Sadistic.Music Factory - cosMo@BouSou-P

Hourglass - HiiragiKirai

Dance With The Dead - Ghost

Alice of Human Sacrifice - Yugami-P

Candy Addict Full Course - machigerita

The Boy Who Went To Hell - SHUDDER

Crazy Clown - Intro-P

Ideal Picture - NanoritaP

Serial Contraption of Malice - Ghost

Twins - Babuchan

Not As It Seems - Creep-P

Amydgala's Rag Doll - Ghost

Hyouhon Shoujo - Kiyozumi

Rotten Girl, Grotesque Romance - machigerita

Grotesque Love Song - shoutarouP

That Woman - shoutarouP

Musunde hiraite rasetsu to mukuro - hachi

Hide And Seek - Ho-ong-i

Tokeru Sakana - Yuzuri_Hal

Greetings From The Bottom Of The Well - machigerita

Color & Electricity - mushiP

Patchwork Toxin - machigerita

Bacterial Contamination - Kanimiso-P

Song for Great Satan - Nanka-P

Taiyou-sama - Abuse/Abuse-Ken

Fear Garden - Chaa

Despair The Burguer Factory - Groy Anderson

The Cyclops - David K.

Tears of Artificial Flowers - Babuchan

Moon Prescription - Babuchan

Rugrats Theory - Crusher-P

Monochrome Ward - Yugami-P

Bone Dead Mansion - Babuchan

50/50 - Risshuu

Dark Woods Circus - machigerita

Wide Knowledge of the Late Madness - machigerita

Tell me you'll love me - Babuchan

After School - Okashi-P

Lavender Town - neku

???????? - SocialPhobiaSynaps

behe-laino_hotza-bihotza - sakizakisaki

In A Rainy Town, Balloons Dance With Devils - hachi

Sand Gum - MOL.

Nodoka na Kyuujitsu - HikkieP

Broken Toy Mania - Babuchan

Red Flower - Babuchan

Cry Baby - Babuchan

Fuzai - MondaijiP

Boku Yaranai, Kimi Itooshi - nicol

Ant Observation - Healing-P

A 13-Year Old Killer - Sunazame

0 People's Waltz - Babuchan

Varicella - Babuchan

Kagome Kagome - Zawazawa-P

potatoman - MondaijiP

Okaasan - machigerita

VOCALOID UTOPIA - dennoko-P

Hyperpnea - Hikkie-P

Crushed Mary - Mondaiji-P

Nakazu to mo Rokkaku Wrench da Hototsugi - MondaijiP

Complex - Watashi no koko

#vocaloid #vocal synth #vocahorror #halloween #utau #synth-v #vocaloid horror #vocaloid halloween #vocaloid playlist #playlist #halloween playlist #cat rambles #musicposting #now to post the links in a reblog faster than lightning #three... two... one... go!!

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loveselenade · 8 months ago

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Madoka 1.5

Since I’m watching PMMM for the first time (with a lot of it spoiled due socmed lol), I figured it’d be fun to write my thoughts so far, 1.5 episodes in. It goes without saying, but don't send me any further spoilers, as this is only fun if I can manage to remain as ignorant as I am now.

Things I knew before hand:

-Kyubey is a bastard.

-It has Shinbo Akiyuki's artistic sensibilities all over it (reason I started watching, tho I'm unclear what exactly his involvement in this is lol). Also, Urobuchi Gen is the main writer for this lol

-Madoka dies.

-Madoka is the paragon of good.

-Lesbian Satan.

-Homura has catholic guilt??

-Someone's backstory involves a brother or something.

-Guns

-Time loop.

-Jewel seeds but evil (this only makes sense if you've watched Nanoha, sorry lol)

-Witches

-Madoka saved a cat

---

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Illusory motion.

[image id: top view of a monochromatic, distorted staircase that looks like a spiral.]

An upwards climb or a downward spiral? The irregular curving of the stories and the pattern alternance sure makes it look like it's spiraling inward. As our lace curtain lifts so the play can begin, this is our first look at the kind of world that awaits us.

[image id: gif showing a close up to Madoka's legs and then a panoramic top view as she runs through a monochromatic hallway with a chessboard pattern]

I don’t have a lot to say about the witches’ labyrinths yet, but I’m always a sucker for dreamscapes (I loved them dearly in Flip Flappers, where they had the incredible work of Studio Pablo strengthening the storybook look), and I’m assuming the labyrinths symbolize something about the interiority or the difficulties the witch in question faced. I don’t have a lot to go by with the two labyrinths in episode one, but I did love the glimpse of the one we get in the opening sequence. I love the effect that it creates when alternating between panoramic shots or extreme close-ups to Madoka’s legs and back as she runs—respectively making her look too small against this overwhelming set piece or claustrophobically trapped in her impotence. As the camera moves along, there’s a sensation that the different patterns in the floors are moving. Because of the way we perceive depth via ascertaining the apparent parallelism or convergence of lines and value/color contrast, among other things, the pattern alternance in this monochrome set piece creates illusions of either motion or that each row is a step more elevated than the other. It’s a properly trippy place. I enjoy it. The straight white for the lighting and tiles creates an artificial and alienating atmosphere. The uniformity of its looks is disorienting. Is Madoka going the right way? It’s really a fantastic introduction to the world of Madoka Magica.

The path you must follow has been prepared for you.

[image id: A green, flourescent exit sign is centered in the screen, hanging above a dark path framed by silver chain fence]

Despite the disorienting feeling, Madoka follows mostly straight paths and there's a clearly labeled, correct exit. This brings to mind the predetermined paths present in Revolutionary Girl Utena's imagery.

Additionally, I find the way Madoka’s run is boarded reminiscent to Utena’s chase after Anthy in Adolescence of Utena:

[image id: gif showing a panoramic view of of landscape shwoered in sunset lighting and red, square pillars towering over the space. Utena, looking tiny, runs further into the place.]

[Image id: gif showing a top down view of a long monochromatic corridor with chessboard pattern that Madoka, a mere pink dot in the screen, crosses running. The corridor is right in the middle of the screen and surrounded by different equally black and white mandalas that turn slightly.]

We get panoramic overhead shots emphasizing the disorienting, geometrical maze and the impotence of our heroines' tiny figure against them.

Before reaching their destination, they both cross a stairs-bridges of sorts; Utena, towards the dueling arena where Anthy waits for her to continue the dueling cycle with Utena as champion; Madoka, towards the foyer where she can find her exit to where Homura is struggling against another hopeless, fighting cycle, one which Madoka choses to perpetuate when making a contract with Kyubey…

[Image ids:

The image to the left shows shows a stich of two Adolescence of Utena's screenshots: the one on top showing Utena crossing a bridge; due the top down angle and the inclination of the bridge, the planks on the bridge look like stairwells. The image on the bottom shows Utena crossing the bridge against the creamy, pinkish sunset sky. The bridge railing is shown a black silhoutte in the foreground.

The image to the right is a stich of two monocrohmatic Madoka Magika episode one screenshots: the on the the top shows Madoka crossing a corridor, the foreground is dominated by abstract geometric shapes. The one on the bottom shows Madoka going up an ample stair well, and the surrounding walls have a similar geometric patterning.]

Absolute Reality.

[Image id: Predominantly black and white screenshot showing a dark tree on the foreground and black debri flyaing around. A little to the right of the middle line stands Madoka, with Kyubey sitting on top of some fallen pillar. The subtittles are Madoka's dialogue and read: "Can I really do something to help?"]

The offer that tempts Madoka into a contract is the promise of agency. She can’t stand the reality where there is nothing she can do, thus it's the promise she does actually have power to influence the narrative and help others and stop their suffering what Kyubey dangles in front of her. Madoka feels deeply moved by the pain of others and has a strong empathetic response that makes it very easy for her to be preyed upon by our resident ugly cat here. It’s detrimental to her. Maybe Homura has a point in reversing her wish to be the divine embodiment of Goodness.

It’s then interesting that she expresses disappointment upon waking up not only in the premiere but in episode 02, as well. Her waking up animation might as well become bank during this introductory arc (I’m betting it does, can’t wait to be wrong). When confronted with the thought the world her senpai Mami introduced to her, one of great danger but also apparently fulfilling and actualizing, Madoka expresses disappointment. Even though she has a happy, easygoing life full of friends and family that love her and that she loves in return, there is something else she is looking for.

Confronting your own humble plainness again.

[Image id: Screenshot of Madoka's room dimly lit. Madoka is drawn towards the bottom left edge, hunching and hugging her huge body plush with a beleagered expression.]

Appearances, facades.

Trained confidence.

[Image id: Screenshot showing makeup labelled with numbers, as if to indicate the order of steps.]

Following Madoka’s "dream", we learn about her homelife anchored around her interactions with her mother as they talk about the love lives of the people around Madoka, contrasted to Madoka's own assertion that no one has an eye on her. Their whole bathroom conversation could be characterized as "girl talk": they go on about love and the need to maintain an appealing image as means to reach it. I could easily accuse this scene of being sexist (and it did rub me the wrong way initially), but the dialogue is naturalistic enough to paint a trusting, warm bond between mother and daughter; plus the repetition of the make-up motif in the second episode while interspersed with Mami's explanation draws attention to themes of appearance and desire.

A remark that can easily be taken as reinforcing gender essentialism lol

[Image id: Screenshot showing the sinks at the foreground barely visible at the bottom edge, with Madoka and her mother in front of them. Madoka is holding her red ribbons with her left hand hesitantly, while her mother has her hands over her hips, talkig matter-of-factly: "A woman's appearance is the one thing she can't afford to get looked down at."]

The contrast in the way mother and daughter carry themselves is apparent. When Madoka relays her reports about her homeroom teacher's love life, her more experienced mother offers keen observations about the possible state of the relationship. Where Madoka takes things at face value, her mother can see deeper. The same applies to the image they project to the world— where her mother has a set (numbered) method to achieve her ideal image, Madoka fumbles and fusses about her ribbon choice and not being seen as too much. The frame pan showcasing the end result has Madoka standing timidly with her hands folded over her lap and her back reflection shown in three different angles in the background mirrors, as if she's being thoroughly scrutinized. While her mother confidently observes her reflection in the mirror, Madoka shrinks at being observed.

[Image id: Screenshot showing Madoka in the middle with a dopey and hesitant expression and her arms drawn close. Her reflections are shown in the mirrors in the background.]

I can't say that Madoka’s self-confidence is worryingly low given what we’ve been presented with—while she lacks the self-assurance her mother possesses, she doesn’t seem particularly self-deprecating. While her affirmation that no one looks her way reflects that self-consciousness, Madoka doesn't further put herself down. Instead, it could simply be that she's a teenager only now discovering her identity, what she's comfortable with, what she wants and what place can she carve for herself in this world. Her mother advises her to train the image and behaviors of someone confident as a first step to grow more certain of herself. The scene places emphasis on the process of purposefully building the image you project, which becomes relevant as episode two's layouts play with a reflection motif around talks of desire.

While thinking back on Kyubey’s proposal of granting them one wish in exchange of risking their lives, Madoka ponders about what she wants. Her waffling contrasts to her mother’s immediate, cutting response concerning pragmatic concerns from her work life when Madoka echoes the question to her. Although, of course, her mother lacks the whole context that makes the decision heightened, Madoka’s roof talk with Kyubey and Sayaka reinforces that there isn’t anything she wishes for that strongly. Yet.

Additionally, when Madoka proposes a bigger ambition to her mother (“Wouldn’t you rather become CEO yourself?”), the image her mother projects into the mirror changes drastically into a more fierce and dangerous look, complete with the repetition of her labeled make-up symbol. This ties a connection between the image people project and what they desire. And just like Madoka has a rather inhibited persona, so do her desires appear mild.

This takes us to Mami, their helpful senpai.

A slightly distorted image seen from below the glass table totally screams trustworthy.

[Image ID: Screenshot of Mami drawn in a low angle, showing her sitting with her legs neatly folded under her backside and her hands resting on her lap. Despite the sunset light filtering through the windows, she's very dimly lit. Most of her image, from the waist up, is shown slightly distorted as its filtered through the glass of the table. The table legs curve outwards and frame her the image in a strange way. The subtitles present her offer: "You should see for yourself what it's like to do battle with witches."]

Knowing the spoilers that Homura is trying to save Madoka from death via time loops and preventing her from forming a contract with Kyubey has an interesting effect— that is, it casts suspicion over other characters. Mami is the helpful senpai that shows up in the nick of time to save them from the witch, heals Kyubey, explains the situation to them and even promises to protect them from Homura at school. She also offers to show them the fieldwork so they can make up their mind about whether to become contracted! The earlier, careful portrayal around purposeful appearances and the reflection motif repeating during their talk can’t be coincidence. Clearly, she wants to be seen as someone who’s dependable, and whether this has more sinister implications or is stemming from personal wishes is unclear to me yet. Mami feels more like Kyubey’s sales associate than anything else. “You can come observe” it’s the pitch you give someone unsure whether to join a club so you can lure them further in. She’s encouraging them to take on a responsibility that can have rather grim outcomes, despite her early assertion that magical girls don’t necessarily work together to reap the rewards of fighting witches—a statement that further reinforces the narrative of Homura as an antagonistic force to our young heroines. Mami either is very upstanding and thinks it’s a duty they should take on since they were chosen or there is something deeply fishy going on here.

For all intents and purposes, Mami is a completely separate entity to our young heroines, not unlike Homura. She’s the one who’s a magical girl already, they’re the uninitiated. They sit on the same side of the table, opposite to her. This shot emphasizes their separation through the black leg of that foreground furniture.

There’s clearly a lot we don’t know about her.

[Image id: screenshot showing Mami's living room. There's sunset light still filtering in, but the room is mostly dimly lit. Mami is on the side of the wall, so she's in the shade. They're sitting at the table, Madoka and Sayaka together on the same side and visually opposite to Mami. The black legs of a furniture are shown in the foreground, creating a strong visual barrier between Mami and her juniors.]

Isn’t it just so fun how this reflection shot obscures her face? Like she’s covering it with her hands in sorrow. Seems charged that it coincides with her explanation about witches causing suicide and murder, does she know of someone who was a victim of them? OR better yet, someone who became One?

I know that magical girls become witches in this series, which also poses interesting possibilities…

[Image id: Screenshot showing Mami's lap with her hands resting on top of it as she sits in front of the table. Because of the top angle, the reflection of her face shows dimly on the glass table. Her face overlaps her hands. The subtitles read: Many of the inexplicable suivides and murders that occur..."]

Are my suspicions on Mami’s intentions totally off-mark? I have no idea, but it’s incredibly fun to doubt her lol

Speaking of despair lore, I usually raise my eyebrow—think it’s full of shit— when there’s worldbuilding that links suicide and violence to supernatural entities; it’s a run-of-the-mill battle shonen explanation, Noragami also uses it with Ayakashi as amalgamation of negative feelings and energy from the people of the places they haunt. Now, this could still work on an allegorical sense of how oppressive environments lead to such emotional outcomes, since most stories don’t engage with the structural causes of such problems… It can be that, or end up attributing a metaphysical cause as the source of all darkness without even so much extending understanding and sympathy to the people who suffer from it. Where does Madoka Magica fall, I wonder…

Blessed fools.

A pained smile framed behind by bars, a surefire sign that someone isn’t totally trapped.

[Image ID: Screenshot showing Sakaya's back with her face turned in profile towards the right. She's smiling ambigously and her right hand is holding to the white chain wall that dominates the background against the bright daylight sky. The subtittles read: "Well... Maybe the pair of us are just fools?"]

Given our young heroines lack of direction, ardent ambitions or anguishing desires, Sayaka muses that perhaps the fact they don’t have anything they’d die for is a sign they’re blessed fools. This rings true for Madoka. She’s a happy kid with a supportive family and friends. Despite her longing for something more—her own agency? confidence? Romantic love?—, there doesn’t seem to be anything that is making her actively miserable. Her mild adolescent ennui is not necessarily something pernicious and would’ve likely resolved itself as she experienced and tackled more challenges in her life with the guidance and support of her family. This whole business paints more ill-fated for her (and I mean, I know it is. What a tragedy, hers).

But is this true for Sayaka? This brief shot with its ominous red sky and its bedridden figure shrouded in darkness begs to differ… The fact she feels guilty over being chosen, thinking there’s people who’d make use of a miracle much better than them makes me think it’s rather someone she knows… Is this her motivation to get into Kyubey’s magical girl agency? I don’t have a lot to go by…

[Image ID: Screenshot representing a short-haired person in bed shown facing right . Most of the shapes are represented as black silhouttes, sans the translucent curtains and the ominous red sky framed by the window. The subtittles read "We've been so blessed.."]

Sayaka and homoeroticism.

Welcome back, Shinohara Wakaba.

[Image id: Screenshot showing Madoka, Sayaka and their irrelevant friend Hitomi at the park. Sayaka is hugging a slouching Madoka from the back, saying "You must be my bride, Madoka!".]

The Girl Talk in episode one continues as we follow Madoka’s commute to school with her two friends: the blue one, the to-be Magical Girl, Sayaka and this one random girl that I'm surprised it's even there. The banter and physicality to Sayaka and Madoka’s interactions is fun and warm, selling their chemistry as friends. And near the end, Sayaka playfully proclaims Madoka must be with her, which immediately brought to mind Revolutionary Girl Utena’s Shinohara Wakaba's own ambiguous, very physically affectionate date-play with Utena.

Rather than being a maiden in the sidelines, however, Sayaka is positioned as Madoka’s protector against Homura. Given Homura is fighting to be Madoka’s silent protector herself, this is unbelievably funny to me. When Madoka finds Homura's staring off-putting during P.E., she hides behind Sayaka. When Madoka— with Kyubey in her arms— is alone facing the inscrutable, darkness-shrouded, threatening Homura, the one who shows up to save her is Sayaka. When they're alone within the creepy labyrinth, Sayaka protectively embraces Madoka. When Madoka is worried that Homura might try to attack them at school, Sayaka offers to punch Homura. This antagonistic placing of Madoka's two protectors is hilarious, and I'm curious to see if the dynamic fizzles out as we delve into Sayaka's innermost wishes and struggles or if the tension will boil over into something interesting.

'Get behind me, Madoka! I got the fire extinguisher!'

Such a hilarious way to break the tension.

[Image id: Screenshot showing Madoka and Sayaka in a dark parking lot, with most of the background shrouded in shadows. Sayaka is holding a fire extinguisher that she's shooting towards the left, and Madoka stands behind her, holding Kyubey.]

Even their sitting order in class positions Madoka behind Sayaka lmao Does Sayaka have a thing for Madoka or just a hero complex?

[Image ID: Screenshot showing Madoka and Sayaka sitting in their classrooom. Sayaka is shown sitting a row in front of Madoka, a column to the left. Madoka is holding Kyubey in her arms. The subtittles read: "If she tries anything on you, I'll punch her lights out!"]

The show acknowledges the homoeroticism between the two in a tongue-in-cheek manner during their commute in episode 2, when their normie friend feels put off by the apparent intimacy of their silent (telepathic) communication:

"You've been staring so intently into each other's eyes… What on earth did you do after I left yesterday?!"

This girl is too homophobic to become a magical girl, smh.

[Image ID: Screenshot showing Sayaka, Madoka and their friend Hitomi drawn in profile at the park. Sayaka and Madoka are positioned on the left side of the screen, with a tree in the background subtly serving as visual barrier between Madoka and Sayaka. Madoka is slouched and halfheartedly reaching to Hitomi. Hitomi is positioned on the right side of the screen, with her hand to her heart and running towards the left. Her dialogue reads: "Don't you see that it's a love that can never beeee?!"]

Madoka points out that their normie friend's remarks sound a lot like what Sayaka tells to her on a regular basis, lending credence to my Wakaba comparison lol This gag could simply be an acknowledgement of the charged homoeroticism present in the series, but it still amuses me so far a lot of it has circled around Sayaka and Madoka.

Akemi Homura

Her soundless, despaired scream as she catches sight of Madoka with Kyubey was so cinematic ❤️

[Image id: gif showing a zoom out of Homura's face as she screams. She's resting on a tree branch that's represented as a black silhouette, with debris floating around represented in the same way.]

Speaking of homoeroticism, it's time to talk about Homura. I actually felt a little sad that I already know about her motivations because she's so incredibly off-putting, I'd have had a lot of fun speculating about the meaning of her actions, the way she's framed and the meticulous way her micro expressions are portrayed. However, it's not like there isn't still some room to have fun reading into them. She enters the picture via the classic transfer student trope. From her introduction alone, she creates an awkward atmosphere with the way the standoffish silence lingers due her laconicism.

Despite her aloof demeanor, and in pure transfer-student fashion, Homura still stands out both in academics and physical feats (she even breaks the regional high jump record lol!); as such garners the attention of her peers. Nonetheless, she couldn't be more uninterested in them, as the one she can't keep her eyes off is Madoka. Her taciturn, blank-faced and cutting demeanor can paint her staring as downright aggressive. This is further reinforced by being color coded with the darkest values in the cast so far: black and purple are her signature colors, classic villain palette.

Her conversation with Madoka as she rehashes the "could you show me where the infirmary is" routine is the big standout of hers in episode one —the tropey nature of this encounter makes it very easy to imagine how their first interactions went down the first time—. The low angle that emphasizes her head tilt and the accentuated shadows on her face and body make her look haughty and intimidating.

She's literally staring down Madoka lol Worth noting this same framing is repeated as she warns Madoka in a few minutes, complete with rotating animation for gravitas, contributing to Homura's bad vibes.

[Image ID: Screenshot showing Homura's face and shoulders slightly turned to the right side of the screen. The right side of her face is heavily shadowed and so are her shoulders. She's looking down on the viewer. Her dialogue reads: "May I ask you to accompany me?"]

While one could think that the reason she approached Madoka was to issue her warning, I'm actually not that certain. It could be due the way her anguished reactions to being around Madoka make her look quite erratic as she tortures herself with these distorted echoes of her memories—but I also have to point out the abrupt way she brings the interaction to a halt, stomping and suddenly turning. The way she behaves through the whole interaction feels quite impulsive, which gave me the impression of Homura purposefully trying to recreate the past (whether out of indulgence or to torture herself, I'm not really sure).

It's really fun the way this obscured close-up to her profile hiding her eyes— making it difficult to parse her emotions— paired to how the next highlighted extreme close-ups have her clenching her teeth led credence to the "Homura is a hostile party" narrative. Personally, the timing is what gets me. She reacts deeply upset to the fact Madoka politely yet impersonally addresses her as "Akemi-san" lol This girl was in the trenches.

[Image ID: Screenshot showing Homura's shadowed profile facing left. She is holding her face up, seemingly imperious and her mouth is tightly shut.]

The way the timing makes it seem like she's really pissed at Madoka’s remark that her name is weird + subsequent fumbling is very funny lol I wouldn't say she's not upset from it, but mostly in the "it's painful to be around you" way.

[Image ID: Screenshot showing a extreme close up to Homura's clenched mouth, as she lowers her face. There's heavy shading on the left side of her face and lens flare coming from the right side of her face.]

There's a lot of natural verticals in the panels of their classrooms and the windows they transverse that create visual divisions between the two. I found it particularly noteworthy that while there's a natural sense of distance and awkwardness between the them, Homura is the one who accentuates it and fully brings herself to the other side of the threshold when she suddenly skips forward ahead from Madoka. The idea she's intentionally cultivating a distance between the two is very intriguing and appealing…

[Image ID: Screenshot showing Homura and Madoka facing left as they walk through the corridor with blue window panes. There's a particular wide vertical division in between Madoka and Homura, placed more or less in the middle of the screen. Homura is on the left side of the screen, but closer to the blue vertical division. Madoka is falling behind, with more white space between her and the middle.]

Their sitting order reinforces this idea, situating Homura all the way to the front, completely out of reach.

[Image ID: Screenshot showing Homura sitting in the front row, looking back at Madoka's seat.]

They look fully at odds with each other thanks to the high contrast between the bright windows and the shaded frames. The dark values to their visual barriers fully bring out the tension brought by Homura's sudden halt-and-turn as she issues her warning. Homura is framed as thoroughly oppositional to Madoka, and she herself doesn't bother to correct any misunderstandings. It's pretty interesting she's fine with being vilified if it might grant her any slight chance to get what she wants.

[Image ID: screenshot showing Homura and Madoka drawn in a symmetrical composition, separated visually by the regular window panes. Homura is drawn towards the left edge of the screen, facing right and standing imperiously. Madoka is drawn on the right side of the screen, towards the edge as well, slightly slouched and in a timid pose. Subtittles show Madoka's dialogue: "Yes, really! I couldn't lie about that."]

Homura's dead-eyed ominous warning vs Mami's personable, smiling offer of support, fight! But this is truly why I can't trust Mami lol Should you really be tacitly encouraging them, Yellow Senpai? A cutting warning really seems more befitting here…

[Image ID: Extreme close up to Homura's blank left eye with the right side of her face being heavily shaded. The subtittles read: "Because if you do, you will end up losing all of those things.]

Odd ends.

There's a lot of small gestures that really bring out charm to the interactions and feelings, but if I pointed out absolutely everything, I'd never finish this lol

There's one thing from the Madoka-wakes-up Bank I do want to point out, though: the odd feeling Madoka’s head turn with the hard shading gives me. Now, I know it's a Shaft™ thing, I've watched another TV series directed by Shinbo that was produced there and I've heard of it. But I still find the timing peculiar— after the opening sequence with her running to the rooftop in episode one and the brief recap with Mami's transformation in the second, just before she wakes up. Of course, this reinforces that sense of being at the verge of waking up from an odd dream, which Madoka fully believes, but it can also get a sense of deja vu. Typically, one would assume that Madoka’s run towards the rooftop is a glimpse to an event that will happen later down the line. But given the nature of this being a time loop and Homura's insistence on preventing Madoka’s death via preventing her contract altogether, which it's implied to happen in that sequence, I don't think there isn't any reason to think that it's not something that didn't already happen. If this ends up being the case, I'm curious how that'd affect further loops.

Tell me your secrets, you pink little one.

[Screenshot showing a extreme close up to Madoka's eyes facing towards the left. Her face is drawn almost facing front, leaning towards the right. There's heavy shading on her face and a black background.]

Expectations for the rest of the introductory arc:

-Second half of episode 2 will end in a cliffhanger that'll destabilize routine while they fight a new witch.

-Said cliffhanger will involve Mami (I HOPE IT DOES). I'm suspicious of her and hope she does something terrible, but I think it's equally, if not more, likely that something terrible happens to Her lol

-🤷🏻‍♂️

Hmm that's it. I'm not very good at imagining scenarios lol

I'm also half-expecting to be wrong about nothing making Madoka miserable, mostly because I've been obsessing over Takamachi Nanoha, another seemingly well-loved, normal kid who turned out to have Important Baggage lol

#pmmm #puella magi madoka magica #madoka kaname #Homura Akemi #Sayaka pmmm #Mami pmmm #so this post made me discover that the image limit is 30 pictures LMFAO #anyway i'm dead and i'm tired. I get it now. I need to save a back up of my file and images and write the img ids as i go #i'm dead #long post #like extremely long post #Mami Tomoe

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syrupyyyart · 2 years ago

Photo

finally, finally finished the ~definitive~ designs for my main Motley girls :’)

Extensive design notes under the cut (mostly for documentation purposes, but also because i like talking about my ocs lol)

In my last post, I introduced the idea of giving each character multiple colors, rather than being one uniform color throughout the design. The idea is that the characters can earn up to 3 new colors as they age+experience new things.

For each color they earn, they’ll wear a new ‘evolved’ version of their previous outfit.

For comparisons sake, here’s the initial pass I took at trying to give my characters more colors:

(euhg. theyre really really ugly. im honestly embarrassed i ever posted these at all lol)

Fact: it’s actually incredibly difficult to design monochrome outfits for characters without the designs looking extremely unfinished (to me, anyways lol). In an attempt to break up the monotony of the monochrome outfit designs, I found myself over relying on the outline colors to fill in their outfit pieces (cherrys pants, limes turtleneck, etc). This hypothetically works, but it ended up causing a lot of confusion as to how many colors the characters had actually earned, especially when the outline color was vastly different from the intended color. Basically, the tl;dr is that over relying on the outline colors felt like cheating, looked bad, and caused a lot of issues.

All of this explanation is to set up the 2 design rules I gave myself for the New Definitive Designs:

1. Outline colors MUST NOT be over relied on, and should be used as sparingly as possible

2. Nothing is sacred. If it looks bad, throw it out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I also decided to shift around their body types slightly, since I realized that practically every character had the same build with a different height (with the exception of Banana). Marshmallow is a bit curvier, Watermelon is slightly more muscular, etc. And, while you cant really tell because of their baggy outfits, Lime is much boxier and Blueberry is lankier and has wider shoulders than the others.

Finally, here’s some specific design notes for each character, how they changed, and why:

Cherry Pit - Cherry may not have had the most drastic changes, but hers were definitely the most important. She’s had the same hairstyle ever since the first time I drew her (back in ....... middle school lol), and as attached as I was to it, it caused a LOT of problems. It gave her an ugly silhouette, the sharp edges kind of ruined her circle motif, etc. So it had to change. I decided to give her a fluffier hair style to incorporate more round edges into her design, and I truly cannot tell you how many hairstyles I cycled through before I landed on that one. It was major development hell. But I think the new style is much much cuter! Due to story reasons, I also decided to give her 2 outfit colors instead of just one, and she seriously looks so much better because of it. Big fan of Cherrys new design lol

Blueberry Cobbler - Ohhhh where to start with this one. Blueberrys design has always been a headache to me. I found it difficult to draw consistently, and even when I got it to look how I wanted, it still didn’t look very good. So, my goal for her redesign was to overhaul her design while keeping the general idea behind it; most importantly, she needed to be Fun To Draw. So, I changed the silhouette of her sweatshirt by giving her a more exaggerated hood, replaced her bulky zipper with the hanging ties (idk what theyre called lol), and Changed Her Ugly Ass Tights into baggier pants. I also crimped her hair to make it more angular. In the context of this universe, cold colors have naturally colder body temperatures, so they have to wear insulated clothing to stay chilly; the overall baggier clothes really just fixed all of my issues with her design honestly. Better for her personality type, prettier silhouette, in-universe reasoning, etc. Scrumptious.

Lime Pie - I decided to swap out her cargo pants for a long skirt, and let her hair down. This was mostly because, with the monochrome outfit she needed to wear, the turtleneck+cargo pants combo just wouldnt work without looking Pretty Bad. It also helps her outfit stand out a bit more, as she’s now the only character in the main cast that is wearing a skirt. She’s meant to be an inversion of the “nerdy girl lets her hair down and puts on a dress and Now She Is Popular” trope, so the idea is that when she earns her 2nd color, she will start wearing her hair up again, and the cargo pants can come back. Maybe.

Marshmallow Fluff - I honestly hit the nail on the head with this one in the initial batch of concepts I did, so I didnt change much lol. The biggest change is that I made her hair light again. This was because shes obviously meant to have a cloud motif, but her sister (who I rarely post about lol) has a thundercloud motif-- basically, I’m just saying that the darker hair is gonna go to her sister instead.

Banana Pudding - Again, she looks almost exactly the same. I just changed the red outline of her original dress to be less contrasting, since I got a lot of people asking if she’d earned two colors or not. Hopefully, its more clear now that she’s only earned one.

Watermelon Sorbet - As much as I liked her original design, many many people told me she looked like a ‘cool yoga instructor’ character. Which, while not terrible, wasn't exactly what I was going for; she’s meant to be more of an ‘edm dancer’ kind of character. So, I decided to change out her pants for bigger legwarmers that I’m hoping make her look a bit more hyper active.

Thats all my notes lol. I have no idea if anyone is gonna read this far, but if you do, thanks :’) I fully realize that making so many notes about this looks silly, considering theyre OCs and not like ..... widely known characters. So Im sure a lot of what Ive said just sounds like gibberish. But its fun to ME!!!!!!!!

I’ve got more character designs to post over the next week or so; namely, the 3 Antagonists (Grape Soda, Orange Custard, and Angel Cake) + the parents (which includes 2 characters Ive never shown before, but Im very excited to share lol). Those posts wont be accompanied with longwinded notes like this one is; Im just the most excited about these designs and wanted to talk about them.

#motley #cherry pit #blueberry cobbler #lime pie #marshmallow fluff #banana pudding #watermelon sorbet #i am terrified to post this lol #my art #ocs #original characters #original character #oc #idk how to tag oc posts

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spockandawe · 7 months ago

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Hello! I've been thinking about binding some danmei novels in my native language, but I don't know where to start. I found your blog recently and find it very inspiring! I was wondering if maybe you could share with me what tools and materials would be good to get started with?

Sure!!!! So, I'm on mobile and don't have links at hand, but if you go back through my bookbinding tag, there are other replies I've got about the materials for making a book specifically. The renegade publishing blog also has resource documents that walk through the bookbinding process and include links to educational materials, etc. So for here, I'll focus on the danmei side of things!

So, a fun feature about these books is that they tend to run LONG. I've seen a number of people try to take up bookbinding in google docs, and honestly, it's doing things on hard mode. For many danmei, it's basically impossible. I think my EARLIEST earliest attempt at svsss began in gdocs, and that's not a super long novel, but gdocs was choking on it. A word processor on your desktop is going to be your best bet. Personally, i invested in a microsoft office license, because it was familiar and i could afford it. But the free parallel to that will be libre office, which does basically everything word can do, with just minor differences.

On the fancy end of bookbinding software, affinity, indesign, and microsoft publisher are also names you may hear tossed around. These can do fancier, more artistic layouts, but also come with a heavier price tag. And because i had webnovels on my radar from the start, i wanted something ROBUST. I wanted to be able to dump all of the husky and his white cat shizun into a single file and work from it. And i did eventually do that! Being able to typeset a single file rather than repeat each step across several is great, especially since i tend to tweak design choices as i go.

For danmei, you're also going to want a robust printer. I have a color laser that's been an absolute beast of a machine, but a black and white laser can get you a long ways, and monochrome designs can be very elegant. You don't want an HP brand printer, their toner subscription practices are downright predatory, but Brother and Canon are names I've seen recommended highly. You probably don't want an inkjet printer, because long books take a LOT of ink. The one exception would be if you can find an affordable ink tank printer.

And the last major thing i can think of is that if your main computer is a laptop, consider typesetting with an external mouse and keyboard! Danmei novels are split into lots of short chapters, frequently split across just as many web pages, with lots of footnotes to format, and laptops are convenient but not ergonomic. Doing too much on there is just asking for a repetitive strain injury. I've done it, but often paid for my sins in pain! And your laptop keyboard may start complaining too, I'm almost certain my first typeset of mdzs was the nail in the coffin for my last laptop's keyboard, haha

I hope that helps! Best of luck to you! Ive found binding cnovels to be EXTREMELY rewarding, even though my original reason was because these things would NEVER be licensed in english 😂 I'm delighted to see people experimenting with it for other translations in other languages, I really hope it goes well for you!!!!

#spock replies #bookbinding

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chaoticevilspacewitch · 9 months ago

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Objectively Correct Opinions on Inter-RWBY Ships

Bumbleby: I mean, do I really need to say anything? They're soulmates, they're destined for each other, in every life. They're the incarnation of the faunus princess and her human lover. Their arc is amazing and they deserve all the happiness in the world.

WhiteRose: There's a reason almost every piece of spinoff material goes heavy on WhiteRose subtext. One of my few gripes about the storytelling in RWBY is that I wish they had laid the foundations of this so that we could get a dramatic payoff for it in the final volume. The 'Ruby's friendly affection helping Weiss through her damaged upbringing -> Weiss being there for Ruby when the weight of the world truly crushes her' dynamic could be *chef's kiss*. My dream delivery would've been Ruby leaving a piece of her cloak behind when she drank the tea, and Weiss picking it up, sobbing into it, and making it a scarf... followed by a Vacuo scene where Weiss confesses that she didn't have the courage to admit her feelings for Ruby until she thought she'd lost her. And then they kiss.

Monochrome: Obviously not going to happen now, but the enemies to lovers arc could've been fantastic. Plenty of antagonism, if not outright hatred, at the beginning, that slowly blossoms into grudging respect, friendship, and affection. Maybe some climax where Weiss gets captured by the White Fang, Jacques of course refuses to pay a ransom or concede anything to save her, but Blake goes to rescue her. The symbolism of Atlas and Menagerie coming together to stand against the Grimm would be so powerful.

Freezerburn: If Monochrome is the angst-loaded E2L path, Freezerburn is the fun and fluffy one. A frenemy relationship full of light-hearted antagonism that overlays growing affection. They both feel it, but Weiss is too proud, and Yang can't imagine it's reciprocated... until some dramatic even like near-death or major loss pushes Weiss to confess and throw herself into a very surprised, but happy, Yang's arms.

(at this point, I'll just add that BeesSchnees + WhiteRose / Everybody Loves Weiss is probably my favorite RWBY romance configuration)

Ladybug: Honestly the hardest for me to see, although I'm enjoying my attempt to write it. They don't have the natural chemistry for me that the others do, but I definitely think it *can* work with a little effort. I think there's a great dynamic there of Blake being something of a 'cool aunt' figure to Ruby, who desperately needs her pure-hearted affection when her past catches up to her.

Pollination: (Without Enabler. Whenever I reference it, it's presumed to be without Enabler unless otherwise stated). Controversial since it gets used for a lot of purely pornographic smut fantasies that, sadly, frequently cater to male gaze. But I do genuinely feel like all of RWBY harbors a great deal of platonic affection for each other, and I think it's interesting to push that a little bit further into romance. ESPECIALLY if you're willing to go the extra mile of exploring how their inter-group dynamics might work, and their feelings for each other clash. Say, Yang and Weiss being very protective of Ruby, while Blake believes in her ability to take care of herself. Occasional tension still ongoing between Weiss and Blake causing distress for Yang and Ruby, particularly if Yang tends to pick Blake's side and Ruby backs Weiss... OR, the opposite, with Yang having a 'toughen up' attitude that aligns more with Weiss while Ruby's pure compassion leaves her more empathetic to all Blake has been through. All on top of their genuine love for each other. It's *such* a fertile playground for the imagination!

#rwby #rwby ships #ruby rose #weiss schnee #blake belladonna #yang xiao long #bumbleby #whiterose #monochrome #freezerburn #ladybug #pollination

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sparklingdemon · 2 months ago

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take care!! i really hope we can figure out how to start this thing up.. ive been trying to finally go and read thru the whole thing to get a grasp of the full image of the story thus far so i can better puzzle thru it but its taking me a while 😭 hell hyperfixating on it def rubbed off on me hshfsjgz they kept bouncing their theories offa me

either way, im excited for whatever it'll be! but also more than willing to wait. updating blogs daily in any capacity gets really taxing (i keep having to learn that the hard way.. it was always insane to me seeing how often monochrome updated at times), so please take as much time as you need- ik it'll be more than worth the wait!! its kinda scary to know thisll be a big event but it makes it more exciting :O

and of course, best of luck!!

thank you starry!! i appreciate you taking the time to go back and reread everything! speaking from experience, it's a LOT of posts to go through, so feel free to chip away at your own pace. i hope that with everything fresh in your mind, it'll make the upcoming parts hit even harder for you. glad to hear you and hell both have been having fun with it though! i love hearing you guys' thoughts on it <3

i'm excited too! this plot point has been TWO YEARS in the making, so it's crazy to think it's fast approaching. i wanna make sure it's the best reading experience it can be, so i promise to work as hard as i can to get it ready as soon as possible! i know it'll be worth the wait. thank you!!

#ask #100nebulas

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i-drew-a-dog · 5 months ago

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More Doctor Who confusion I guess

There's a lot in the last few episodes of Doctor Who that I don't really get?

The dust? Everyone gets dusted in 2024. They go to 2046 everyone is STILL dusted but now there's DNA data. How did they gather the DNA if everyone was killed in 2024??? Did Sutek dust everyone simultaneously?? Like all throughout time?? What???

The time window? We are told it's rudimentary and they "only saw the colour of the quill that signed the declaration of independence" but it's monochrome? You didn't see the colour of it?? Also it's all holograms and yet they treat it as if it's real? Why do they have guns?? Why is everyone afraid?

The snow? Why does Ruby have this power? I know we've established that her mum is some Eldrich being through the power of believing in her or some shit but why can Ruby do that? Also can every foster kid do that? If so that's really funny.

Suteks death? Why did dragging him around behind the TARDIS and smashing him into space potholes like some mafia hit kill him when literally sending him through time to the moment of his death didn't work?

Idk if these are pointless questions but the writing recently has just been overall baffling to me. Out of this whole season, I think the only episode I genuinely enjoyed was Rogue because it was just taking the piss out of Bridgerton the style of that big brother episode back in 2004. It was fun and understood the assignment of a silly villain that still posed a threat.

I know the vibe in the fandom is always "the worst Dr who writer is the current Dr who writer" but I haven't really enjoyed this season as much as I thought I would when they announced Russel was coming back.

Rewatching Bad Wolf is just a slap in the face after this like what happened??

Sorry for the rambles but idk I just have a lot of thoughts about this season but the fandom seems to be in the "look at all the references to old who" phase

#doctor who #15th doctor #dr who spoilers #the empire of death #Sorry for the rambles but idk I just have a lot of thoughts about this season #but the fandom seems to be in the 'look at all the references to old who' phase #so idk if any if this is an unpopular opinion or like if any of my questions have been answered by the fandom #but like if i have to rely on the fandom to answer these questions then whats the point on asking them #might rewatch them just to make sure im not a dumbass but hey

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whitepeachrum · 4 months ago

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Desk to Dinner: A Shift in Priorities

Fandom: Hetalia (personified) Pairing: Arthur x Kat (EngUkr/UkrEng) Content Length: Solo Chapter (~1700 words)

With all the paperwork he’s been tackling and all the shifts he has been covering for his colleague, Arthur was up to his nose in meaningless work. He was tired of seeing numbers race across his mind when his eyes were open and when he tried to them close at the end of the day. It was one peculiar morning when Kat noticed that he had looked exhausted. Not that he hadn’t looked exhausted the whole time. It just seemed to be extra prominent on this particular morning when he decided to have coffee.

Arthur didn’t really like coffee, but she knew that it was often reserved for times when he was restless and needed a break from the monotonous day-to-day life. She wasn’t sure if he would be in the mood to talk this morning. So, she kept quiet until he was ready to chat. Unfortunately, Arthur needed her to say something. He was falling asleep at the kitchen table. Kat watched worriedly as his head barely managed to stay up.

“Arthur?” Kat put a hand on his upper arm to gently wake him up. Arthur sharply inhaled and looked at her, coming back to reality.

“Mm? What?”

“You’re falling asleep asleep at the kitchen table.”

“Oh. Yeah?” He wasn’t even forming full sentences!

“Honey, you have to take a break.” Kat took the delicate cup from his hand and placed it on the table so he wouldn’t accidentally break it or hurt himself.

“Yeah…”

“Could you take the day off?”

Arthur yawned and crossed his arms. “..Yeah.” He nodded off mid-breath and fell asleep in his chair.

“My poor baby.” Her fingers gently pet his hair and she spoke softly again to him. “You should go lay in bed. It’s more comfortable there.”

“Mm.”

“...Arthur?”

“Mm?”

“Are you going?”

“Mhm.”

He lied.

Kat finished breakfast on her own and cleaned up the table. The sound of the dishes being cleared out signaled Arthur that he should migrate to the couch in the living room. Kat sat by his side in the armchair and decided to share a peaceful morning crocheting. Or as peaceful as his light snoring would allow it to be.

By the time evening came around, Arthur had felt guilty for wasting a day doing nothing but catching up on sleep. He thought working from home for the rest of the day would help him get back on track, but this was a decision Kat greatly objected to. If he was going to take the day off, he needed to rest. She walked over to his desk, gently pushed some of his papers aside, and sat on the sturdy wooden table, hoping to sway his mind.

“Hi, my love,” He placed an affectionate hand on her knee as his eyes remained glued to the confusing mix of words.

“Arthur?”

“Yes?”

“I was thinking.”

“Mm? What about?”

“Maybe we should go on a date.”

Arthur’s eyes focused out of the text and onto her face. The confusion remained, but at least this time his eyes were looking at something much prettier than a monochrome Times New Roman on a bland canvas. “A date?”

“Yeah.”

“What do you want to do?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she looked into the distance for a moment, playing coy. “Maybe some dinner, a stroll through the town. Maybe we could even check out that new karaoke place that opened up.”

“Do we have time for all that? It’s getting pretty late.”

Kat sighed dramatically and even pouted a bit. She was setting the trap for him and he was slowly making his way into it. I mean, how could he say no to a face like that?

“Well, I wasn’t going to say no, but I just wondered if it would be too much to handle in one night.”

“Should we just go to a bar, then? Or a club?”

Arthur debated on her suggestion. It did sound like fun to get plastered and just unwind after all the stress from work, but he didn’t want to be surrounded by people who were also plastered. They created a type of chaos that Arthur had difficulty shielding Kat from.

“Are you drinking tonight?” Arthur asked, gauging to which degree he was allowed to be drunk. If she said yes, he’d need to be the designated driver. If not, he had to make sure they both got home intact. Arthur frowned, realizing that neither situation would allow him to let loose to the degree he wanted. Actually, there was no degree of drunkenness he could allow himself to be with Kat present. When did he become so lame?

Kat glanced at his face and smiled, happy that her distraction now occupied his thoughts.

“Maybe I’ll have a glass. We’ll see where the night takes us.” She slid the paper from his grasp and put it beside her.

“Well, I need to know, Kat. Do I drive? Do we take a cab?”

“We can take a cab for safety. That way you can drink more if you’d like, and we won’t have to look for parking either.”

“Hm. Right.” That made sense. He was fine with her reasoning, but what did he want to do tonight? Arthur contemplated his choices. Maybe karaoke would be fun…

“You know what? I will go and get dressed and then you can tell me what you think our plan for the night should be. Okay?”

Arthur sighed, frustrated that he had to decide at all. He got up and placed himself in front of Kat, putting his hands on her cheeks, and giving her a tender kiss. She smiled at him, feeling her heart thump with excitement about their night out. He then held onto the edge of the desk, leaning slightly into her bubble and looking thoughtfully at Kat.

“I am thinking..” he began, “that we skip dinner. Pass on the bar. Take a rain check for the karaoke place. Save money on cabs. And just go straight to dessert. What do you think?” Kat crossed one leg over the other, leaning into his face to assert her position on the stance.

“I’m thinking..” She said as she perfectly executed the triangle method. Arthur took note of it quickly and gripped the table tighter, his knuckles turning white as his face turned pink. “I’m thinking I have a new dress I’d like to wear out.”

“Oh, a new dress you say?”

“Mhm.”

“Couldn’t you just wear it at home?”

“And have it come off as quickly as I put it on?” She kissed him and chuckled against his lips. “I don’t think so.”

“Damn.” Arthur put his head down in defeat and she chuckled again at his reaction. He was so cute when he was flustered.

She knew she was getting under his skin. And she was right. Arthur was suddenly tempted, baited, and trapped in a situation where he had to make quick decisions to accomplish everything they wanted to do that night. He had considered the shortest path he could take to his happiness but knew that Kat would make him work for it. He had to think of her happiness as well. As a matter of fact, the decision was never really his to make. He just needed to pick what she wanted to do and hope it would satisfy their desires evenly. He realized that he was just standing around and wasting time. He sighed, gently tapping his foot in frustration.

“So, what’s the plan?” she asked again.

“Alright. This is what I’m thinking: Bar. Stroll. Dessert. Leftovers.”

Kat considered his proposition and added, “And no more work until tomorrow.” He looked at all the paperwork. Looking at the pile of papers, he realized how miserable it had been to be enveloped by work that wasn’t even challenging. It was all just mindless and never-ending. It had gotten so bad that even his wife thought about his work when it wasn’t even her job. He would be willing to put it all on pause for a night. Maybe even two.

He nodded, finally caving into her suggestion, and looked back at her beautiful ocean blues. “No more work for a lifetime.”

“Hm.” Kat hummed as she put her arms around his neck. He placed his arms around her waist, finding more joy in holding her in his arms than holding onto a desk for dear life. “Maybe I should reward my hardworking husband for all his efforts.” She ran her fingers through his hair, teasing him a bit more. Arthur pulled her hand away from him and gave it a gentle kiss. He knew what she was doing and could not afford to lose control this early in the night. His heart felt like it was going to pop out of his ears and it took every bit of willpower to keep his word to her.

“Not yet, my love. Dress first.”

“If you let me go, I can go do that.”

“I can never let you go.”

“Well then. Maybe I should help you with that.”

Kat untangled her arms from him. She pushed all the paperwork around her onto the floor and leaned back on the desk, proud of her accomplishment.

“Whoops.”

Arthur smiled and looked away, shaking his head at her attempt to get him to let her go. “Unbelievable.”

“I think you dropped your papers, Mr. Kirkland.”

"I dropped them? I believe this was your doing."

"They're your work papers, aren't they?"

“Not for tonight.”

“But right now, there’s a mess in the house.”

“We can’t leave the house a mess before we leave, now can we?”

“Nope,” she smirked at him.

He sighed and slowly let go of her, ushering her towards the door.

“Go. Go change. I’ll clean it up.” She happily got off the table and walked towards the door. He knelt to pick up the trash from the ground and snuck a cheeky glance at her. Arthur’s eyes watched the curves of her body exaggerate on each side as her hips swayed further and further away from him. He couldn’t help but smile and deeply blush at the ways of his flirty wife.

#hetalia #aph england #aph ukraine #engukr #ukreng #whitepeachrum #wpr snippets #oh i forgot to mention that i also think this duo is constantly flirting with one another #and that there is probably never a time where I don't think these two are married #the domestic life chose them. i don't make the rules 👀

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