#you just liked reading about science stuff looking at bugs collecting rocks and having too many imaginary friends

[maxellminidisc]

I dont remember much about my childhood but it's so funny when my mom remembers shit and is like aaaah the signs the signs were there sodndkfkk

[hetalia-has-a-secretary]

allies + eje human au headcanons

I had to look up what eje meant, which was Axis in Spanish 🌮 (there's no sombrero emoji, and I'm mad about it). This is mostly a college Human AU, but there's still some future stuff in there. Enjoy the longest list of Headcannons in one post lol

Human AU Hetalia!

Allies:

America:

Has rich parents, but doesn't tell anyone, and somehow his big house that everyone parties at doesn't give it away.

The only person who knows is Japan, and that's specifically because Japan's dad works for America's dad.

Is a college student, hoping to go for some kind of music degree.

A first year.

Black T-shirt and jeans. Has a plaid button up for everyday of the month, usually has it tied around his hips.

Has like, one basic tux and refuses to wear anything but converse or airwalkers.

Space nerd #1, except he's more into what's beyond our boundaries, and loves the constellations.

One of the most popular kids, and no matter how hard you try he's not easy to hate.

Gives off dumb college kid energy even though he's one of the A+ students.

His glasses are for show. It was meant to be a rebellious thing since Canada use to get bullied about his own glasses, now it's just an esthetic.

Skate boards and plays the acoustic guitar in his free time.

Jeans are usually missing the knee section.

Once set off firecrackers in a metal trash can as a school prank.

England:

Last year of college, majoring in history after failing his cooking classes.

Graphic tee central. We are unsure how many he has but he's up to 43 different shirts worn on campus.

Usually has his earbuds in, listening to punk rock.

Has an ungodly amount of bracelets. His favorite one is a black snap bracelet with little pirate skulls.

Was practically raised by his older brothers.

Lives alone, but is secretly an amazing writer.

Has a Tumblr blog he writes spooky stuff on.

Top of his class, but can be a dummy if he's put on the spot.

France:

No one is sure how he's been allowed to take nothing but art classes. No English, or science, just art.

Is also a transfer student, he's probably the second richest thanks to daddy.

Is the school stud, despite not sleeping with a single soul, and is actually extremely nervous about dating, and is just more comfortable with playful flirting.

He wants to be a fashion designer, or Model. Mostly a Designer.

Loose shirts and tight pants.

Has a weird obsession with belt sashes.

Plays violin like a god, and is a senior.

China:

Another senior in college.

Had the unfortunate event of being in the same cooking class as England before Arthur decided to switch degrees.

Still hangs out with him and Japan.

One of the few who is taking advanced classes, and is literally everyone's tutor.

Going for a Degree in Cooking. Wants to be a head chef.

His parents are over seas, but he promised to get them to America as soon as he can.

He wears a lot of colorful shirts that is always tucked into his pants.

Most of which look like bowling shirts, but he likes to add little Chinese patches to them. Has a signature jean jacket that is overwhelmed with patches.

Has a panda beenie baby keychain, so everyone knows exactly who it belongs to when he losses his keys.

Very quick to panic, and hates to admit he's wrong.

Russia:

Third and final transfer student, along with Japan, and France.

Poor confused child is trying so hard.

He's kind of shy, and is fully aware his social akwardness creeps everyone out.

Almost cried the day America and Prussia adopted him into the cool kid circle.

His broken english is probably the biggest turn off for the people at school. It's why no one really talks to him, mostly because they can't figure out what he's saying most of the time.

Biggest sweetheart though, and is painfully smart, but do to the english thing he's stuck in the average classes, but China comes swooping in and his english gets almost fluent by his third year.

He doesn't own a single thing tech, minus a flip phone, but somehow knows all the hot keys on the computer to every program, and it's only because he's lazy about it and it's the funniest thing.

Space nerd #2 but knows more about the planets and can name every single moon, and knows the history of space discoveries by heart.

Secretly a hopeless romantic, and doesn't realize he reads England's blog.

Is pretty much a closet goth, but likes bright colors too much to be seen in all black.

Knows way to much about torture devices and learned very quickly that gets you out casted in a school setting.

Isn't upset that he doesn't have many friends, but somehow attracts all the little kids from the grade school.

He likes his northface sweater, and loose pants. But his shirts are pretty colorful, and he likes collecting shoelaces.

He spends a lot of time in the woodwork shop, creating amazing figures and such.

Canada:

I can feel the dissapointed stares of Matt not being a photographer. Welp, guess he also gets a degree in art then.

Second year, Because he skipped one year in college.

Clothing style is long sleeves and vests.

He likes feeling fancy, and owns an endless amount of beanies.

One of the few people who talks to Russia.

His locker has a snot ton of polar bear stickers that everyone stuck to it, and he loves it.

Is baby but can kick butt in the wrestling club after school.

Has a tiny white Pomeranian that he rescued from it's mother who wouldn't take care of it, probably because the puppy was the runt of the litter.

Has a Harley Davidson and it's been painted black with the aurora on it, making everyone think it was his non-existent girlfriend's or something. Now it's a running joke.

Axis:

Germany:

He's not a jock, but he's friends with them.

Military Dad.

Is usually found hanging out in the gymnasium on breaks. It's quiet and no one is going to bother him. Usually.

Senior, and so ready to get the heck out of college.

Ladies love him, but he really hates the attention, like please help him.

Style wise he's pretty basic, but really loves his camo print.

Has owned countless doggos, and only attracted so many girls the day he walked to school with a fluffy poodle that France Hijacked for the day.

Doesn't ever go to dances after the first one and everyone tried to get him drunk, to no avail.

Had out drank some of the dumber students to shut them up.

Can be mean if you persistently pester him for dumb stuff, especially if he's already said no.

He's into construction and is working on a degree in Construction Management.

Japan:

Exchange student number 3

Degree in technology is what he desires.

Style = Geek, but like a stylish geek.

Him and Canada are in photography class together.

Japan is also part of the cool kids, but only when they're about to do some dumb stunt, and need a camera man.

Doesn't mind, loves watching them make fools of themselves.

Has a rebellious streak, and tends to be a complete sass.

As soon as something seems to go bad, he gone. He's heading towards the door. Been in detention once, and that was it.

Why does everyone go to him for advice when china is literally down the hall?

Rich kid #3 and his parents are traditional and are having a crisis over their son's rebellious attitude.

Italy:

Is a first year, and is oddly enough, going for a degree in history.

Really likes antiques and old artsy stuff.

Has a few shared classes with France, and they pretty much own those classes.

Rivals America's charisma, but isn't as popular due to:

Being seen around France, and not doing dumb and entertaining crap like america.

Gets picked on a lot Because he doesn't understand you can't be nice to the Jock's girlfriend without everyone thinking your flirting, even though you just needed directions on your first day of school.

Germany is now his bodyguard and he was kind of like "???" But they get closer the longer they hangout.

Fancy shirt man, like hand me downs from his Italian father. So they're really nice, and a lot of eye melting patterns.

Gets attached to people easily, and is sensitive when he gets taken advantage of during assignments, but toughs through it because he has too.

Has two cats literally named Mona, and Lisa.

Has cried at least once at school because he's a soft guy, but he gets a thicker shell the older he gets and learns to just laugh off other people's stupidity.

Romano:

Protective older brother gooooo

Second year in school, and his first year made him want to eat brinks.

Doesn't know what degree he wants, but settled for a degree in cooking.

Shares his brother's shirts practically and it confuses everyone Because, didn't Feliciano wear that shirt last week?

Immediately thinks people don't know washing machines exist Because of this, so his sass factor is high up there.

Doesn't really have friends, and also does not care. He's a bit of a lone wolf and needed something to do.

The amount of not caring attitude contrasts his high grades and his teachers are painfully confused by it.

Will jokingly tell people to fight him at McDonald's, and almost fought someone but literally laughed, and suggested they got something to eat instead.

He's somehow, in a bizarre and unwanted sense, everyone's brother which is just...

No one understands him, but they like him, and he doesn't know why and it kind of bugs him.

He's usually in the front of the school daydreaming about, god only knows what...

Is the epitomy of the "she doesn't even go here" joke from mean girls, except he does go to that school.

Why did he need a degree? Oh yeah, Because work places don't care what kind of paper, you just need a paper.

Prussia:

Rival friendship with america, and Russia has had to step in to break up petty fights.

He's not sure why he's part of the popular kids since he's so fricken chaotic and obnoxious. Or so he thinks.

Genuinely a sweet guy in his last year, desperately wanting a degree in mathematics. Like, no one understands why mathematics until he starts pulling card tricks from his pocket that deals with it, and blows everyone's mind.

He is also head of the newspaper club.

Has the style of a teenage band member and will not apologize for it.

Has hijacked the schools speaker system to blast evanescence, which gave a huge boost to his friendship with Russia, since the big fellow shares Prussia's taste in music.

Can eat a whole ghost pepper without batting an eyelash, and this is only Headcannon and a worthy note because he became sick the day after and the whole school had "in loving memory of Gilbert's stomach" posters all over the place.

Teacher's are very much done with his harmless antics. They're noticably stupid pranks, but only to the point it's annoying.

Like he managed to make all the teacher's computer backgrounds as Brad Pitt wearing a sombrero. There's no joke, and no punchline. It's just a poorly Photoshopped sombrero?

Races his brother to school every morning, and afternoon. Cops have stopped them at least twice due to other bystanders getting freaked out.

Him and Romano don't mix well, but try to leave each other alone.

[ziracona]

Benedict head canons? How does he mingle with the rest of the gang

Benedict is an incredibly odd mix of “Polite and socially adept by nature” and “the world’s most awkward man due to the fact he’s stuck almost 200 years after he lived.” He’s fairly adaptable, and learned a lot from other survivors as the cycled in and out of the realm, and worked hard to be able to keep up to date, but he’s also been punched on many occasions in the realm for saying or doing something he had no idea was going to get that kind of reaction. This is left him uhhhhhhhh extremely cautious saying things, and it’s not unusual for him to pause mid sentence and check facial expressions with sudden concern, afraid he’s fucked up again, but it’s super funny the kinds of things that lead him to do this. For example: was afraid that he might be suckerpunched for saying “Things really have changed a lot. I would have thought four unwed adults of different sexes sharing an apartment to attend college together would be looked on as a little scandalous, since no one could know the situation.” (About Claudette, Quentin, Nancy, and Philip all sharing an apartment to go to college) and was also deeply afraid after he said it that saying “Wow! The idea of standard middle class transportation has changed so drastically. To think an automobile like this is considered average,” might be some kind of class-offensive statement, and stopped right after both with a horrified look on his face waiting to see what the damage was. Which, in both cases, was none, but a lot of amusement from the person he was talking to. He does have a tendency in past of accidentally putting his foot in his mouth, but honestly, he’s gotten pretty good at adapting to the times and was never that bad. Alex Lin really just liked putting him in a world of hurt for everything he ever did because she thought it was hilarious, and Benedict could never tell which things were partially jokes and which were sincere, coming from her. Got beat up the first time he met her, because he told her to stay behind a rock and let him run a distraction for her since she was a lady and it was his duty to protect her if he could. She broke his nose with one hit and told him she’d break his fingers with her platform boots if he ever called her a “lady” again, and to stick the sanctimonious crap up his ass, she could take care of herself better than he could, and he instantly fell in love. Has Alex to thank for his paranoia, but probably also for how little he actually does put his foot in his mouth anymore.

Benedict is very proper, and still kind of dresses like he’s from the wrong century. He thinks tech is fascinating, but he’s also kind of a grandpa at learning it. Kate and Jane both give him lessons on tech and just society and things that have changed, and it helps a lot. He is super intimidated by the American highway system and taking a tin can hurdling around at 80 miles an hour while other drivers shoot past you, and afraid of driving, but Kate gives him slow lessons until while still afraid to drive on highways, he’s okay with taking residential roads and driving a bit, despite the way American drivers can get in big cities even just on their way to the drugstore. Kate knew him a little in-realm, so she’s one of the ones closest to him, and enjoys him a lot. She thinks it’s kind of sweet how gentlemanly and polite he is, and how he’s so fascinated by like, cigarette lighters in cars and automatic supermarket doors, and her ancient handheld tennis ball sized electronic 20 questions game. Jane likes him too, and they’re research buddies a lot. He can focus for hours and hours over the dustiest old times, and actually, he can read a lot of the ancient handwriting on old historical documents before common spellings developed, and it’s kind of a godsend. She also greatly enjoys how casually (and often) he drifts into ethical discussions while he does even the most mundane shit like washing dishes.

While no one but Kate met Benedict in-realm, and he spends the most time with her, and with Jane, who he lives and works with, all of them feel like they know him or like he’s a living legend or both, since they’ve been reading and hanging on his writing for years in-realm. He’s accepted immediately, and has so many common experiences—even if not of the exact same trials—that he kinda just fits like a glove, and is extremely welcomed and a natural addition to the group. Philip and Sally are especially close to him, and it kind of helps bridge the intial, slightly awkward gap. After icebreakers, he drifts from house to house like everyone else, and is like, the weird great uncle to most of the younger survivors. Min loves absolutely bombarding him with tech stuff to watch his eyes glaze over while he drowns trying to keep up with her discussions of bitrate and solid state drives, becuase she’s a little cruel, but she does also help him figure out his first decent phone, so she can be your devil or your only slightly sadistic angel. Claudette loves discussing realm stuff with him, and helping each other on research. Also the only one with any experience with falconing, so he kind of helped Jake get some of his initial setup and gear for Alex the crow figured out.

Benedict collects things from the 21st century, especially simple electronics, and everyone thinks that’s kind of endearing, and start picking out simple gifts to get him when they know they’re gonna see him soon. Singing birthday cards, an old gameboy SP, boom boxes, a record player, laser pointers, magic 8 ball (this actually freaked him out, but he didn’t tell anyone because he was afraid of being made fun of), a Bop It, and all kinds of little lights and decorations that make sound or light or move. He has an ever expanding self of these gifts he calls his “Little Marvels” stand, and he really enjoys it. Has tried taking them apart to understand them better, but is usually overwhelmed. Jake took pity on him and helped him get the extreme basic gist of a circuit board once though, and since then, he has been fascinated. Jane soemtimes comes to the table for breakfast to find Benedict with one of those Kid Science kits on the table and potatoes hooked into wires powering a mini fan going, “Jane! Would you look at this. Isn’t that fascinating? Who knew the PH could have this kind of ability?” She finds this endearing and also weirdly relaxing to wake up to.

Benedict takes notes all the time. On literally everything. Is extremely poetic and writes poetry occasionally when he is overcome by the beauty of something like his first time seeing a park lit up with Christmas lights in fancy sculpture arrays on a crisp December night. Gets book recommendations from Adam and Jane and loves talking shop with them. Is constantly horrified by the news. He’s not used to global news being so all at once or so much. He has a really really hard time adjusting and not being thrown into wild bouts of depression. Jane talks him into giving himself more healthy doses of time away from news so he doesn’t kill his 1860s adjusted brain, and he finally takes the advice and is very grateful for the improved quality of his life.

Loves dogs so much. Not a fan of small dogs though. Not like he hates them, just thinks they’re kind of depressing and bug-eyed usually and feels bad for them. Wants a hound. Ends up getting a Yorkshire Terrier mutt instead because it’s the whimpering thing that follows him down a New Jersey street in a rainstorm after a long day of research with Jane. Doesn’t mean to get a pet period but it’s so pathetic and its foot has been injured by something, maybe a car, so he picks it up and takes it home to warm up and give food to before dropping off at a shelter or vet. It’s so wildly affectionate and has so much love in its disproportionately big eyes he keeps being like “...It can stay a little longer,” until he was wrong and it just lives there now. Names it Missy and gave her a little hairbow. Calls her his research assistant. Jane loves this dog. Benedict was already well accepted and friends with the other survivors, but bringing a pet to a party makes people like you more in this family.

Mostly, Benedict is kind of an old man of a professor. He enjoys chatting, but is hard to drag into the more physical activities, except hikes, which he quite enjoys. He mingled quite a bit more than he expected though, and is deeply happy about how accepted he’s become, and how much he cares about these people and they seem to truly care about him.

[lifeofmarvvel]

-insert bug pun here- Peter Parker x Reader

Summary: When a school project comes up, you enlist your boyfriend’s help.

Word Count: 2808

Warnings: Fluff. Literally just pure fluff. Oh, and if you’re afraid of bugs, this might not be the best to read...

A/N: Literally got this idea when this exact project was assigned to me. Disclaimer: I have never been to New York state, let alone city, so I have only a basic idea of Central Park. This is somehow mostly dialogue. IDK how that happened. So fluffy it’ll give you cavities. If you hate smiling a lot (and I mean a lot) or hugs or being happy, this fic is not for you. Literally, it’s just 2.8k of fluff. That’s it. 

You stared at the container your teacher had just handed you. Bugs!? You had to collect bugs!? Goodness gracious. There was no way you could kill bugs! Not only did it seem a bit cruel, you loved nature! This is not what you expected for the first month of AP Environmental Science. Well, if you had to do it, then you might as well drag your boyfriend into it.

The teacher finished up talking about the project, making sure everyone got when the due date was. You packed up, and as soon as you zipped up your backpack, the bell rang, signaling the end of the period. Following the class, you left the room, and headed down to the commons for lunch.

As always, your friend group was sitting together in the same spot. You walked on over and sat across from MJ. “Hey! How was class?” you asked her enthusiastically.

“Same as always,” she responded. The two of you then launched into a discussion of weird things you had seen during class that day. While you talked, you got out your lunch and began to eat it. MJ, already having gotten her lunch, started to eat as well.

After a few minutes, Peter and Ned walked over, lunch trays in hand. Ned sat down next to MJ, and Peter sat down next to you. “Hi!” he greeted with a smile, before leaning over and kissing your cheek.

“Uh-uh,” MJ protested. “None of that. I do not want to throw up before I even finish my lunch. You two are not allowed to be disgustingly cute today.” Peter blushed, making her laugh a bit.

“Hello to you, too, MJ,” he responded sarcastically. “I’m doing fine. Thanks for asking.” This got both you and Ned to laugh. MJ just raised her hands in protest, as if to say ‘I wouldn’t say it if it weren’t true.’

Your group started up the conversation that was happening before the boys arrived. Man, did high schoolers do some weird things. Eventually, it switched to what homework you had that night, and if anyone needed help. Thus the APES project was going to be brought up.

You decided this was as good a time as any. “Soooo, you love science, right, Peter?”  you asked, tilting your head towards him.

He raised his eyebrows at you. “Why do I feel like this is a trap of some kind?”

You shifted in your seat so you faced him completely and straightened your head. “Just answer the question, Pete.”

He gave an incredulous look to Ned and MJ. “Of course I love science, babe,” he said to you.

“Well, I have a project in Environmental where I need to collect bugs, kill them, and pin them to a thing of styrofoam,” you said cautiously. Hopefully he would take this well.

He nodded slowly. “Okay, and?” he prompted you to finish.

“You like science, this is just environmental science. So will you help me collect bugs this weekend?” You gave him your best puppy-dog eyes. If it was good enough, he’d agree. If he didn’t-well, you’ll cross that bridge if you get to it.

Peter laughed a bit. Your face dropped a bit. He saw and immediately stopped. “You’re serious?” When you gave an affirmative, he took a deep breath. “Okay, I’ll help you.”

“YES!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you, Peter!!!” you rejoiced. You pumped your hand in the air, and then leaned in and gave Peter a hug. A bit shocked by your joy, Peter took a moment before responding. Man, was he good at giving hugs. You would’ve tried to convince him to stay like that the rest of the day, had MJ not interrupted by fake gagging.

“Ahem.” She gave you and Peter a hard look. “This is exactly what I said not to do. Do it again, and I’m kicking you both out of the commons. Hasta la vista. Bye bye. No more, got it?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” you responded. With a grin, you added, “Though I can’t speak for him. Actually, most of the times you scold us, it’s Peter’s fault!”

“Hey!” he protested. “I can’t believe I’m getting attacked by the two of you like this!”

Ned butted in. “They’re not wrong, though,” he said with a shrug. “It usually is you.”

Peter put his hand to his chest and slowly sank off his chair. “All my friends have betrayed me. Goodbye, I’m going to spend the rest of my life as a pile of trash on the floor.”

“Ooo, self burn,” MJ commented. With that, Peter fully slide under the table.

“I hate you all,” came from the floor.

“No you don’t.”

“No. I really don’t.”

That Saturday, you waited around the Parker apartment, waiting for Peter to get back from the Compound. Of course, you knew that he was Spider-Man. You had been friends for a good amount of time before you started dating, and Peter trusted you completely. Actually, he even introduced you to Tony Stark, to which the man had said, “Oh, you’re the (Y/N) he’s always talking about.” The blush Peter got was absolutely adorable. You couldn’t believe that you were dating the softest dork alive.

You sat, talking with May, eating some cookies. They weren’t all that bad, her baking considered. One thing you learned from knowing the Parkers for so long was that May could cook, but try as she might, her baking wasn’t always the best. You admired her determination to practice to get better.

You explained to May just what you were doing with Peter once he arrived. She laughed, all for it. She asked you to stay for dinner, per your parents’ permission to do so. “Of course I will! I wouldn’t miss one of your meals for the world!” you replied.

“You’re too kind sometimes, (Y/N),” May said gratefully. “I’m really glad Peter is dating someone like you. You two are perfect for each other,” she commented.

You blushed. “You think so?”

May nodded. Before she could answer properly, though, the door opened. “May, I’m home!” Peter called. You could hear him rummaging around, clearly putting stuff up.

“In the living room!” she called back. After a bit more of thumping around, Peter came into view. He didn’t look like he was straight out of combat, so that was a good sign. They must have just been discussing Avenger stuff then.

When Peter noticed you, he did a double take. “Oh! You’re here already! I was about to go grab some stuff and then go get you.” He sat down on the couch next to you.

“Why are you sitting, then? Go grab it! That just means we get more time to do what we need!” You pushed him off the couch and into a standing position. He gave you a goofy smile, and left the room.

May chuckled at your interaction. “For someone so bright, he doesn’t always have the most common sense. Try as I might, that apparently can’t be taught.” Her comment got you laughing as well. A second later, Peter came back. He didn’t seem to be carrying anything new, causing you to raise your eyebrows at him. He gave a ‘you’ll see later’ look with a shrug. With that, you said your goodbyes to May and left for Central Park.

The subway was busy, as always, but it didn’t interfere with the good mood you were in. Soon enough, you reached the park, supplies in hand. A container to capture them in, a small thing of nail polish remover, some cotton balls, a notebook, and a container to put the dead bugs in were all safely stored in your backpack. “Where to?” Peter asked, glancing around the park and then back at you.

You smiled at him, think for a bit. “How about over there?” You pointed to one of the many ponds the park held. Peter gave it a look-over and agreed. He took your hand in his, and you walked over together.

The first thing you noticed was a dragonfly sitting on a rock. “Oh, this one’s easy!” you noted. “It shouldn’t be too hard to catch, right?”

“I think so,” Peter agreed.

You took the container out of your backpack, leaving the rest with Peter. Carefully, you approached the rock, as to not disturb it. As you got closer, you noticed that it hadn’t moved a bit since you arrived. That was odd. Dragonflies usually move their wings a lot, right?

When you reached the rock, you noticed why. As you hovered over it, you were able to see that it was already dead. Oh, goodness! “Hey, Peter?” you asked quietly.

Peter wasn’t sure if you called him over or not. “Yeah, babe?”

“It’s, uh, it’s dead already. And I don’t want to pick it up myself.” He understood what you were requesting and got out the ‘dead bug container’, which had a lovely label saying just that made by MJ. He came over, and scooped it up and into said container. “Thank you,” you whispered.

“Anything for you,” he answered, making you blush.

“I would’ve done it myself, ‘cause, you know, I’ll have to touch them later, but…..I’m just not mentally prepared for that right now.”

“Totally understandable. And hey, now you’ve got one down. How many more to go?” He tried to change the subject to help you feel more comfortable.

This you could work with. “Ten species total, so that means nine left. But it has to be from five different orders. And we can have extra if we find any cooler looking ones.”

“Let’s get to it, then.”

After a few minutes, Peter was walking around the pond, turning up rocks. You were looking on the water, in the trees, and the surrounding airspace. Peter was softly humming to himself as he worked. Almost immediately, you recognized what he was humming.

“Are you humming the Star Wars theme?” you questioned your boyfriend.

“Uh, maybe.”

“Nerd.”

“Yeah, but I’m your nerd,” he answered smoothly.

You grinned at him. “Yeah. And if you’re my nerd, then I’m your nerd.”

He chuckled. “Of course.” With that, the two of you started back up. The only difference was this time you started humming Star Wars, too. Time passed slowly, due to the amount of work you were doing, but soon enough, you found an insect you thought was suitably big enough.

The moth fluttered inside your container, helplessly hitting against the sides. Your doubts started to creep back in. There was no way you could do this. “Peter,” you whined, your lip jutted out slightly. “I don’t wanna kill them now! Moths are so cool! And what if their families are expecting them to come home and they’re stuck to my piece of styrofoam?!”

He frowned, trying to come up with the right response. Unbeknownst to you, Peter was secretly melting on the inside at your words. How was it possible for someone so pure and cute to be dating him? He sure was a lucky guy. “Sorry, (Y/N/N), but you want to get a good grade, right? So you have to this. I’m sorry.  I can put the acetone in if you need me to, and we can cover it with the notebook until it’s dead so we don’t have to watch it.”

“Thank you,” you said genuinely. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.” You did exactly as Peter said, and continued that method for the other eight bugs. After they were all safely tucked away into the second container, Peter grabbed you by the hand again and started walking.

“Now we’re going to the thing I said I was grabbing earlier,” he announced.

“Oh! I completely forgot about that! Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.” You walked out of Central Park, and you quickly realized where you were headed. It was quite obvious. It was one of Peter’s favorite places to go.

“I think I know where we’re going,” you said in a singsong tune. You tugged lightly on Peter’s arm to make sure he heard you.

Peter looked at you. “Oh yeah? Where do you think?”

“I think we’re going to Delmar’s for sandwiches,” you said proudly. Of course you’d be going there. It was lunchtime, and where else would he bring you? It was common knowledge to everyone who knew him that he was a regular shopper there.

“Nope.” He smirked at you, eager to see your reaction.

Your mouth fell open in shock. You were so sure! How could you be wrong? “Do mine ears deceive me? Did you just say we’re not going to Delmar’s, known to most as Peter Parker’s favorite place to shop?”

He laughed a bit. “No, you heard correctly. And we’re going there only because I found someplace even cooler for us to get lunch.”

You raised an eyebrow at him. “Is that possible?”

“Don’t you trust me, (Y/N)? It is indeed possible.” He pouted slightly, his signature puppy dog eyes making an appearance.

“Yes, I trust you. Now hurry up and get us there. I’m starving.”

You sat side by side with Peter, grinning at him as he ate. The fries he was eating was making his hands get covered in salt. When he tried to grab your hand, you quickly snatched it out of the way. “Ah ah ah, mister,” you scolded him. “You are not getting away with making my hands messy today.”

“Oh yeah?” He pointed at the burger you were eating. “‘Cause I’m pretty sure your hands are getting messy without my help.”

You gaped at him. “Did you just call me a messy eater?” You squinted your eyes at him accusingly. There was no way he was getting away with anything today.

Instantly, he protested. “I never said that. I just implied that the way you’re holding your burger is going to end with you having meat juices and condiments all over your hands.”

“Meat juices? Ew! Peter, why did you have to say that?!”

“It’s true!” he protested.

“It’s gross!” you shot back. “You know what, maybe I should just get on social media right now. Post a picture of you and say, ‘this dork just ruined my day by saying “meat juices”” and everyone will question your sanity.” That was a good plan. But really, it would end up being MJ, Ned, and maybe one or two other people that would comment.

“Okay, okay, you win!” he gave in. You smiled triumphantly. You continued to eat your food in silence. Turns out, the “surprise” Peter had with him earlier was a gift certificate to a nearby food truck and he wanted to treat you with lunch as a celebration for completing your bug collecting.

When you finished eating, you watched Peter eat his fries. He looked deep in thought. Why was that? He looked up at you and swallowed the last of them, rubbing his hands together. Then, he opened his mouth, “Wouldn’t a few pictures of Spider-Man have worked?”

You couldn’t help but laugh. “No way, crazyhead. I know that you know that spiders are arachnids.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “It was worth a shot. And also kinda pointless, seeing how we found all ten bugs.”

“You just want proof that you helped with my project, don’t you?” you questioned. “Not that anyone other than a few of us would know that, of course.”

“No! Why on earth would you think that?” he answered sarcastically. Then he turned more serious. “I have memories of today, and that’s all I really need.”

You blushed at his words. “Thanks, cheeseball. “

The two of you continued your little bug adventure turned date happily. The date had gone a lot smoother than you had ever expected it too. When it got closer to dinner time, both of you headed back to the Parker apartment. May asked how it went, and you delved into a story-telling of the day.

Peter enthusiastically told her how you got some food to celebrate you being done with your project. “Actually,” you interrupted, “I still have to pin them to the styrofoam, remember?”

“Wait, what?” Apparently, he hadn’t heard that part of your conversation.

“Yeah, I told you that.” You rolled your eyes slightly, which May caught, causing her to chuckle lightly.

“Oops?” he looked questioningly at May, and then back at you.

“It’s okay. I can do it by myself,” you replied.

“Nonononono, that won’t be necessary. I’ll help you with that, too.” Man, what a dork (but a gentleman) your boyfriend was. You were glad to have someone like him in your life. And now you knew for a fact that he’d get to kill all creepy looking bugs from here on out in your life. He just didn’t know that yet.

[surveysonfleek]

512.

5000 Question Survey Pt. 27

2501. What image, scent, memory, etc. would you take with you into the dark/light, the land of dead, heaven, infinity.....? my whole existence tbh. 2502. Who is the most annoying musical artist EVER? that catch me outside girl lol. 2503. If you HAD to go to one of the following concerts, which would it be: Snow Vanilla Ice NKOTB Milli Vanilli BSB <----- easily NSYNC 2504. Do you believe in manifest destiney? what?

2505. Have you ever fallen for an email forwarding hoax (send this to 13 people and old navy will send you a $200.00(100 pound) gift card)? Do you ever think 'well, maybe...' and actually forward those damn things? never. i haven’t forwarded a chain letter in years. 2506. Let's say there are 2 schools. one for boys and one for girls. They are both supposed to offer the same facilities so that the girls and boys get equal education. Would you take this to mean that the same courses should be offered to both girls and boys or that the same amount of money should be spent on each school? i’d take it as if they’re both being offered the same courses. Imagine that in the boys school fifteen boys sign up for calculus. In the girls school only five girls sign up for calculus. Should the girls calculus class be dissolved and replaced with an easier one? no. if they have the staff they should conduct them both. if not, they should combine them. 2507. Would it bother you if you found out that the fruits, vegetables, and meat that you eat is genetically altered (in lots of cases it is!)? i’d have to research it to understand. 2508. What does this world need? love. 2509. Is there anything you do just because you want to even though it has no redeeming social value? yup. like surveys lol. 2510. If you drink what kind of drunk are you? a loud one. 2511, Do you ever 'conveniently' forget something you don't want to remember? nope. 2512. If you have any cousins are you close? none of my cousins live close to me but we all get along really well when we’re together. 2513. Are you in love with yourself (your beautiful self)? haha no. 2514. What was the first movie you got on dvd? bug’s life i think. 2515. If you're sexy and you know it clap your hands. Did you clap? nope. 2516. have you ever called a: psychic hotline? suicide crisis line? sex line? dating line? none. 2517. Have you ever placed a personal ad anywhere? nope. 2518. Do guys look good in make up? some do, it all depends on skills. 2519. What are 5 things you don't care about? soccer, golf, working, drugs and my future lol. 2520. wHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO UNTIL YOU DIE? i don’t knowww. live. 2521. What 'issue' do you think your opinion is so right about that you end up trying to sway others to your point of view? i don’t try and sway people tbh. everyone is entitled to their own opinion. i hate it when people get all preachy to me. 2522. What age do you hope to live until? over 80. or at least to see my grandkids grow up. 2523. Do you like to tie others down during sex? nope. Have you ever been tied down? i don’t think so. 2524. Do you own any "toys"? no. Do you ever use them? no. 2525. Have you ever been spanked in that sexy way? maybe a couple times. it’s not a usual thing. Have you ever spanked anyone else? no. 2526. Do these questions make you uncomfortable? no. Do you like that feeling? what feeling? Does it turn you on? no. 2527. You know those ___ for dummies books (COMPTERS FOR DUMMIES, SURFING FOR DUMMIES, GOLDF FOR DUMMIES, WICCA FOR DUMMIES)? yes. Which one do you need to reaad? life for dummies lol. 2528. What do your socks look like? they’re mostly all black. 2529. Which of these really famous music artists started their career as a mime: Alice Cooper David Bowie Bruce Springsteen Moby Jewel Frank Zappa no idea. 2530. Does love float away if you let go? i don’t think so? it probably sinks lol. 2531. Do you think that most people in today's society are: kind? calm? humble? peaceful? helpful? happy? spiritual? creative? friendly? independant? intelligent? having fun? coming up with new ideas? no to all except this. able to think for themselves? able to really connect with others? If you answered no to any of the above, why do you think that is? the world sucks, let’s be real. there are some brilliant people out there but since the question said ‘most people’, it’s a hard no from me. 2532. Do you believe that every action has a sexual motive (think Freud)? nahhh. 2533. Speaking of Freud, did you know he was on drugs (think cocaine)? i don’t know enough about his life and studies. 2534. Do you trust psychology as a valid science? to an extent. can’t comment much since i don’t know enough abou tit. 2535. ID: In Freudian theory, the division of the psyche that is totally unconscious and serves as the source of instinctual impulses and demands for immediate satisfaction of primitive needs(sex, food, agressive behavior, drugs, alcohol, yelling, anger, fighting). SUPEREGO: In Freudian theory, the division of the unconscious that is formed through the internalization of moral standards of parents and society, and that censors and restrains the ego. So, which one do you express more, your ID or your SUPEREGO? idk. i’m too tired to think right now. 2536. Do you think that people who are alone and depressed are depressed because they are alone or alone because they are depressed? it can go both ways. 2537. Can you complete any of the following lyrics: I stop and I stare too much, afraid that I care too much... You're a new and better man, he helps youtounderstand,He does everything he can, he's.... Took the needles from my arms and put them to the sky... Top Gun shut down your Firm like Tom Cruise.... Don't you take it so hard now, And please don't take it so bad.... i don’t think i know any of these. 2538. How about these? From around the way, born in '73, Harcore B-boy named... And this feeling shivers down your spine, Love comes in colors I can't deny.... Before he hung up the phone he took a deep breath, stopped, and replied.... When I want you in my arms, when I want you and all your charms, whenever I want you all I have to do is... Silly games that you were playing, empty words we both were saying... 2539. Have you ever been to see a ballet? nope. 2540. What is the differance between Satan and Pan? i have no idea. 2541. What should a poem be or do if it is a sucessful poem? evoke thought or emotion. 2542. When you interpret a poem can each line mean anything you want it to? yes. 2543. Are you an orgasm addict? haha no. i love it but i wouldn’t say i’m an ‘addict’. 2544. Are you a sugar junkie? no. 2545. WHAT are you DOING? this. WHY aren't you marching in line with the rest of them? ooookay... 2546. Do you only hear what you want to? nope. 2547. Are you anal-retentive? i don’t think so. 2548. In and Out Over and Under Around and ??? about? lol. 2549. What was the last thing you returned to the store? a candle. 2550. Why ask why? why not? 2551. What is your favorite song or artist that is: jazz: metal: rock: new wave: psychedelic:  eh, idk for all. 2552. What are your feelings about: Picasso? love his style. Van Gogh? good paintings lol. Michaelangelo? incredible attention to detail. Da Vinci? cool. Einstein? smart. Tesla? cool cars lol. tbh i don’t know much about the inventor. 2553. Who else can you think of that made a MAJOR contribution to art or science? anyone and everyone who contributed to everything we have today. 2554. Who can you think of that made a major contribution to modern thought? idk. 2555. Why is it called 'coca cola'? no clue. 2556. Would you ever buy a Ford car? i used to have one. 2557. Donald or Daffy duck? donald. 2558. What is the most memorable thing about Pee-Wee Herman? never watched his stuff. 2559. Lease or buy a car? buy. 2560. Have you met Real Talkin' Bubba? no. Do you love him to death? - 2561. Have you ever been in a situation where you weren't sure if you were seducing or being seduced? nope. 2562. Can you 'pinch an inch' on your belly? yep lol. 2563. Have you ever been to: a temple? yes. a bar? yes. a massage parlor? yes. 2564. Would you ever want to visit Thailand? i wouldn’t mind it. 2565. What culture are you fascinated by? japanese. 2566. Have you ever worn a cape? probably. 2567. What is the difference between 'nude' and 'naked'? haha i’m not sure. 2568. What can you get for a dollar (.59 british pounds)? a soft serve from maccas. 2569. What makes you who you are? my dna. 2570. How do you search for meaning in life? idk. 2571. If your partner collected internet porn pics of celebs s/he thought was hot would that bother you? yeah, it would be kinda weird if he collected it. 2572. You are alone with your lover's diary. What do you do? flick through it hahaha. 2573. You read some and find out that a whhhiiillle back your lover had a crush on someone else, but you two were together. You both still hang out with this person. What do you do? question him to clear the air. 2574. Are you an old fart? no. 2575. What were your favorite things to do in the yard as a kid? ride my bike, pretend my yard was another world, play with a ball, jump rope etc. 2576. Why don't people have more fun? idk, maybe they have other things to worry about. 2577. Have you ever wanted to have a pet skinned and turned into an article of clothing? hell no. What pet? What article of clothing? 2578. Do I come off sounding normal, mildly irrational, blatently insane or completely certifiable? none lol. 2579. Did you ever feel that you were unable to function in society? not really. 2580. Is it nap time yet? very soon. 2581. Do you have to have the space next to the door or can you walk from the other end of the parking lot and still be okay with the world? let’s be real, the closer the parking spot to the entrance, the better. 2582. Do you like trains? i hate them. 2583. What's in Hungary? budapest. 2584. Have you ever felt like you were holding someone else back? no. Has someone ever held you back? kinda. 2585. What do you think of the term, 'organized religion'? nothing really. 2586. What do you think of the name 'Orson'? sounds very old timey. 2587. What frustrates you? people. 2588. Winkin, Blinkin and Nod, one night, sailed off in a sea of dew.. cool. 2589. Is ten dollars (5 pounds) a good price to pay for one lipstick? yes. Does anyone else remember when lipstick was, like, 2 or 3 bucks? no. 2590. Are you ill? no. 2591. Where were you the night of.....oh hell, last night? working. 2592. Do you pronounce the 'er' sound at the end of words(lookER or lookA)? the australian way. 2593. Do you drink only 100% juice? nope. 2594. Do you remember the bills you have to pay...or even yesterday? yes. 2595. What duck? donald. 2596. Do you collect coins? no. How about stamps? no. 2597. wHAT'S the best way to learn a new language? duolingo or a class. 2598. Is god in you? maybe. 2599. Are you in god? maybe. 2600. Do you know which fork to use at a formal table setting? the most outer fork first lol.

[beneathmyboughs]

Yuji Final 30 Facts!

[TW for mentions of child murder/Slenderman, PTSD, animal death, emotional manipulation and endgame spoilerish stuff! Wanted to get this out while we still had time, read at your own risk!]

All of Yuji’s Part 1 Endgame posts are lyrics from his character theme, Sakura Nagashi. 

The symbol on his jacket is obvious, but the red symbol on his pants is very reminiscent of the slenderman symbol--a figure notable for taking it’s preferred victim, children, and pinning them to trees.

Piney was stated to be a Japanese Black Pine. Black Pines tend to have their weaker sibling, the white pine, grafted onto them for ensured survival. No guesses about who the white pine is to Piney’s black pine.

Yuji Matsumoto never had a fear of thunder. What he DID have was a crippling fear of loud noises, specifically explosions. He also had claustrophobia and aversion to heat like smoke or steam.

Murders or deaths of Parelthon classmates were all extra hard for him, but specifically Yuka Kagome’s death struck VERY close to home and at times threatened to render him immobile in fear or flashback.

During Yuji and Chou’s times getting to know each other she made a point of establishing her dominance from the very start, including eating whole unskinned pineapples while making eye contact to scare him. It worked.

Yes, they did use DDR to learn how to drift with each other a la Evangelion. Yes, they wore the matching 80′s dance leotards for it. Yes, with the neon spandex tights.

Yuji’s Paranoia (Including rigging his room with indicators in case anyone got in and messed with stuff, his mini traps any time he went into a new room, his general paranoia) predate his Mastermind status. He’s been toting that around since before Hope’s Peak even, having become Piney only due to said paranoia.

The reason Piney even exists in the first place is due to Yuji trying to outrun Yakuza enforcers, thus his immediate fear of anyone related to Yakuza business that he knew of, like Yuka.

Piney lived so lightly, from hotel to hotel with no discernible home address, because he was consistently on the run from both home (so no place to go) and Yakuza (despite them probably having long given up chase). Yep. THAT paranoid.

Yuji took in and cared for Mimi, Ryouji’s cat, after the class’ deaths. She passed away peacefully at a ripe old age while Yuji was grunt soldiering for the Collective. She was a well known and liked fixture of the barracks, with soldiers often feeding her when she came around.

Many of the stranger editions in the second half (The Overwatch statues, the updates to the student logs, ect) were a result of Yuji actively committing to portraying the character of the Collective’s ‘mascot’ as viciously as possible, and keeping the programmers busy coding in new and useless resource drains as opposed to active framing. Making him look like he was actively trying not to be caught was just a bonus.

Yuji genuinely did not know any of the codes aside from his own notebook’s code, nor did he himself have access to the monitoring system Topside had. Figuring out the MM room code was a genuine effort both ooc and ic, though he felt like shit getting congratulated for it.  

Yuji’s habit of rubbing at his face with his hand when stressed is in fact him covering up what he reflexively knows is a giant scar over his eye, as if to conceal or massage it. 

The tiny scar on the left side of his face where Ryouji’s shot grazed him in-game matches his real life scar on that exact same spot where a fellow soldier was shot and killed trying to drag him off the field when he had a flashback and couldn’t move. It further enforce’s Yuji’s belief that ‘These are not Accidents, it’s Fate.’

The giant v scar across his eye and nose, along with the smaller scar on his left cheek, are meant to look like the roman numeral 6 for a DA6 easter egg!

Yuji’s strong rose-tinted nostalgia mixed with the reality of seeing their actions in the murder game after 6 years split his opinion right down the middle. He used Piney to portray his fondness, and his class logs to vent his simmering disappointment. By the time he was shedding the suit the opinions had balanced out, portrayed by Yuji himself, though he still laid it on thick in the logs for the sake of the ‘character’ he was trying to portray.

While circumstances made it so that the room was not used as much, the sim in the steak house had Charmayne as a preset but included everyone on the Parelthon roster with applicable data. Yuji’s spent his steak-night ‘evenings’ pre-death game with hologrpahic Tomokas, Hanakos, Ryoujis, Tadashis, Ryans and more, all with a friendlier tint to them than reality to honey trap Yuji into continuing his resolve to start the killing game.

Should just note this: no account of Yuji speaking to having a crush, in his self narration or otherwise was real in this game. At most he may have had a crush on them back in the day, but Yuji’s level of affection would have been seen as odd for someone without an express reason (like the fact they’d all been his cherished classmates for a year). Crush was used as a stand in, but Yuji’s only nostalgic and not interested in anyone in this class. As he’d say “I’m a Mastermind, not a creep.”

Many of Yuji’s likes and dislikes from his 30 facts are direct references to military superstitions that he started to hold in his 6 years as a Collective soldier.(Numbers 8 and 9)

 The exceptions are disliking Elvis (Club Elvis was the Yakuza run bar he went to to make his payments), hair (he just thinks it’s neat that people can have natural beauty like that despite income), and bugs (he lived with em fine being poor, and grew to like them with Chou’s influence)

Piney starting to act weirdly just before merge was a result of Chou having started communicating with him after getting out of her side of the sim, and making him laugh with their communications that he checked out inside his suit to avoid being seen. Father and daughter bonding time! 

Yuji will continue to insist Piney had nothing to do with the Mastermind business. Often times, AS Piney, he’d flat out forget he was the Mastermind for bits at a time. Yuji didn’t have as much of a luxury once he got out of the suit, since that was by that point the turning point in him believing in the system.

Yuji’s ‘friend fiction’ was a direct continuation of his self-therapy he was using before the killing game went live, where he wrote down either memories or edited daydream versions of said memories to record  his time spent with his classmates.

Yuji’s ‘ulterior motive’ for the game, sans getting his classmates back for admittedly his own sake of mind, was tied in/hinted at with his shrine to the dead in his room. Yuji’s spiritualism is heavily balance and karma based, a give or take, and while usually it’s only supplemental to his way of living the deaths of all his classmates kicked it into overdrive. He considered such a farce as himself surviving an event that had killed everyone else he’d ever grown close to some act of destructive ‘fate’ he’d have to be selfish to attribute to only himself. While he knew the belief would never be accepted as solid science by any of the project team, he was deathly fearful that not addressing the matter would only result in the kids getting revived just to die off again should the matter not be addressed. Therefor, trying to find out what made each of the kids tick and from there pinpoint what element may have played into their deaths wound up being Yuji’s OWN experiment while the death game was being planned. This quickly fell to the wayside as the true intentions of the game became clear, but it has been addressed at least once by Morishige in her videos as she herself utilized the belief he revealed during their therapy sessions to further spur Yuji into accepting the full blame for the murder game.

Yuji’s original name was Yuiji Hatsumoto, but when it was checked with my IRL Japanese friends it was vetoed as ‘just plain not a real name.’ Yuji Matsumoto, however, is so utterly common it’s almost laughably plain. Just the way I wanted it.

Azura sent me over half of the music I have on Yuji’s playlists. My music taste is trash, guys. I’m sorry I never returned the favor Azura, you probably knew all the songs since middle school already.

There were lots of hints thrown in about Yuji being MM, subtle things about how when he panicked he’d start to feel choked and too hot, or the phrasing on the very first post. Going back and reading it all over is an ADVENTURE and what I’m currently mid doing, my dudes.

The FULL list of Yuji’s inspirations are Vincent from Catherine, Shaggy from Scooby Doo (down to the theory of him being a veteran) and Adachi from Persona 4. The last was too much of a spoiler to say, but ‘Lanky and questionable loser’ pretty much chalks it up. His Mastermind/Collective Mascot persona, specifically, was Adachi based.

I only made it this far and did this well thanks to the wonderful mods, back up mods, mini mods and unknowing support of fellow players. I’d  been looking your stuff up and admiring like a fan researching a movie franchise for a year before all this, and it was an unbelievable honor to both enter your world and get to be your guys’ Mastermind. I hope you guys had as fun of a game as I did! You guys rock, and I’m so glad I met you all. Take a breather everybody!

[astral-glass]

Do you have any headcanons for when the mercs were younger or when they were kids? For example, I headcanon that Spy was actually a rather clumsy child, but nobody would ever guess that now because he's worked so hard to be the proper and articulate man he is today.

I DO I DO I DO I DOSoldier: Jane’s father was in the US military when he was a kid, leaving him parented mainly by his mother. He respected his father’s efforts a lot and idolized becoming a soldier for his beloved America. He always made forts to hide and shoot behind, wore tupperware bowls and pots over his head as a soldier’s helmet, wore tons of bandaids since he always got hurt SOME how, and overall had a lot of fun! Also, kind of unrelated??? But I headcanon that soldier suffers from a frontal lobe disorder that results in emotional dysregulation (which explains his emotional outbursts ha ha)Scout: Most of scout’s childhood has already been given to us, with the wild pack of brothers and single mom family. So, just some stuff to go along, I imagine that scout has a small collection of baseball cards that he holds VERY dear. One ( a rare one ) was given to him as a gift in the mail from an anonymous sender. His mom was a bit suspicious but Jeremy didn’t care he LOVED it and still has it with him in his base bedroom (take a guess who had enough dough to buy it off someone and send it?)Pyro: Who???? Knows??? I personally have barely any headcanons about pyro’s life or appearance because I like them as an adorable little mystery! All I can say is that their love of fire and light sparked from a young age.Heavy: Always ALWAYS felt responsible for his sisters, whom he loves very much. Was sometimes a bit too authoritative, but mainly out of worry. When the poverty of the Soviet Union struck his family, he gave up his meal to give his sisters just a bit more sometimes. I actually like to think that a lot of heavy’s love of food is due to his trauma of starvation from the USSR. Heavy was always a bit hefty like his family and looked strikingly like his father. He takes much pride in that.Demo: HAVE YOU SEEN CHILD TAV HE IS SO CUTE IM GONNA,..CRY! Anyway lil Tavish was veeeery focused on his demolition studies but he was a major adventure seeker! During breaks he would look for ol Nessie and hunt frogs and run around chasing imaginary crooks and pirates. He loved bedtime stories, because his adoptive parents were stellar at stories before they died and he was handed over to his real parents…shit poor demo his story is so sad man.Engie: Dell has always been a chubby lil bean! He grew up on a farm with his full family and always played his part! He liked putting wheat between his teeth and named every horse and cow and pig and never forgot who was who. His dad used to squeeze the cow milk out of the udders into his mouth sometimes as a little game. He also learned to play guitar from his pa and he loved to go play it to the farm critters and his ma.Sniper: Omg little Mundy… He was quite the kid. Mundy avoided the other kids most of the time and went off to climb trees, shoot rocks, and collect little bugs and critters! He attempted to name and remember every sheep on his parent’s farm but he usually mixed them up. His father taught him to use a gun and his mother taught him to knit (he can still do it). Sniper was kinda shy, but more so quiet. He loved his parents dearly and fell asleep out under the Australian trees a lot. Used to laugh and smile a lot more.Spy: Dude I love the idea that spy was clumsy awww. Lil spy wasn’t a gentlemen yet. He tried to act all uptight and perfect, but he tripped over his own feet, laughed at dumb jokes, and really liked some nerdy things like comics (see where scout gets it?). Spy worked very hard to be who he is today and sometimes he misses that free youth.Medic: I’ve seen some hcs that he was a formal scholarly child and I see some where he is a goofy nerd so I give you…BOTH. Medic took school and science VERY seriously, but he loved to goof around and pretend. Medic would collect bones from roadkill and would read his science texts outside where he could hear birdsong. His little hair curl was something he always had as a kid! He still liked it growing up, so his 50-something year old head has a hair curl+ Seeks: Seeker was a ball of happy energy. Wore overalls and sometimes little gowns and did nothing but explore the forest and get injured due to being reckless. She collected flowers and stones and little critters and brought them to her mom!!! She was a small little thing, no one expected her to grow up so tall and stocky (and mean)

[iammyownteacher]

AN INTERVIEW WITH SHAUN TAN

There aren't many artists who have the ability to both write and illustrate their own work; but Shaun Tan is an exception. The Australian artist began working as a freelance illustrator, collaborating with well-known authors, Gary Crew and John Marsden before eventually turning his hand to writing his own books which include: The Lost Thing (1999); The Red Tree (2001); The Arrival (2006) and his latest work, Tales From Outer Suburbia, a collection of stories set in the remote Western Australia, where he grew up. Filled with magical realism, humour and poignancy, it is also the longest book he has written and comes after his acclaimed and controversial The Arrival, a 128-page picture book documenting the migrant experience, without using any words at all. See http://www.shauntan.net/.

To start with, could you tell me about your background as an artist? Have you been drawing and writing since you were young? When did you decide that you wanted to be writer/book illustrator?

I think I'm like most people, I don't remember when I started drawing: most likely as a crayon-gripping toddler. I think everyone starts out as an avid drawer, it's just a primal kind of instinct, and raises the more interesting question: "When do people stop drawing?" I guess the interest wanes, or is replaced by other skills. Some people, like myself, just keep doing it as a form of extended play from early childhood, using this simple craft to express complex adult concerns.

But - to answer the question! - I did exhibit some early talent as a child, or at least found a way of drawing 'convincing' images by the age of three, so that a bird really looked like a bird, rather than a bird-ish scribble. By five I think I understood a set of techniques and tricks at a basic level, that drawing was about finding simple elements in things. My parents, while not artists themselves, both had an interest in the visual arts (my Mum could draw quite well and my Dad is an architect), and I think their encouragement of drawing was far more important than any innate skill. It was always fun to draw something and then show it to them - they would always act incredibly surprised and amazed! Part of a parent's job description, I think. My brother's talent at the age of six was to collect, identify and label rocks: he's now a very successful geologist. I'm sure it's because of that same unqualified encouragement.

The interest in writing probably came from being read to as a child, both at home and school. I think I was quite a late reader and writer, but did find books fascinating, both as stories and physical objects, so I was compelled to create my own. Some of these ended up in the school library, being quite good imitations of real books, which other kids could borrow. They were usually stories about adventurers travelling to another world, finding treasure, and blowing everything up, inspired mostly by movies and TV, with titles like 'The Land Beneath the Sea' and 'Mission to Mars'. One or two went missing from the school library, which may or may not be a good thing as far as my artistic reputation goes.

I had no serious intentions of becoming a writer or illustrator, even though I thought that would be a fantastic job. Growing up in the West Australian suburbs, it simply did not seem like a real occupation. It was only in my late teens that I became very focused on two things: painting landscapes and writing science fiction short stories. I always thought I might end up as a painter or writer, but for a long time saw these as completely separate practices, somewhat incompatible. Generally, I did not know what career I might pursue, and going into university, it was a toss up between biotechnology (another big interest), and an arts degree. I chose the latter.

As a student I funded my studies in part by picking up various small illustration jobs, such as brochures for campus departments and the university's graduate magazine. I was also having some success illustrating stories in science fiction magazines. When I finished my degree, I still did not have any career convictions, but decided to try doing this kind of freelance illustration full-time for about a year, and see if I could make a go of it. It turned out that I could, especially illustrating children's educational and trade books, and fantasy novel covers. That eventually led into picture books, which is where I am at currently, with some recent forays into theatre and film.

A lot of your work deals with displacement. The Lost Thing and the main character in The Arrival: travelling through a foreign land and learning a new way of life. Many of your illustrations also show the characters as miniscule in comparison to the landscape which they inhabit. Where does this interest come from? Do you, like your characters, share a general sense of disconnected-ness from the world?

That's an interesting observation: I'm not so consciously aware of my preoccupations until they resolve into stories and images, so it's a complex one to answer. A psychologist might have a better crack at that! I just find myself strongly attracted, in an empathetic way, to images of isolated figures moving through vast, often confounding landscapes. My intellectual self would say that this is a metaphor for a basic existential condition: we all find ourselves in landscapes that we don't fully understand, even if they are familiar, that everything is philosophically challenging. There is also an idea that any creative thinking carries some problem of identity and meaning, that individuality needs to be endless negotiated, that we are always trying to figure out how we connect to the things around us.

I also always have this sense - perhaps gleaned from science fiction - that our current time and place is quite accidental, one of many possible alternatives, and also that humans are not at the centre of the universe. I grew up in a peripheral suburb of metropolitan Perth, one of the most isolated cities in the world, surrounded by the Indian Ocean on one side and flat, semi-arid bush on the other. Our world was (and still is) a small human incursion into something enormous, ancient, quiet and mysterious: small houses surrounded by dunes and dark, tangled trees; parks and schoolyards populated mainly by crows, parrots and prehistoric-looking bugs. That's since changed as huge malls and carparks have moved in, but the basic fact of a 'transplanted' world remains, one with an unclear sense of place or history. It's full of stuff but it's all somehow insubstantial.

A lot of my early work, whether paintings or stories, have at there core some issue of disconnection between the natural and built environment, which I think is actually a defining characteristic of our time. It's most clearly stated in The Rabbits for instance; and implicitly in The Lost Thing with its awkward and depressing world-by-numbers. That same feeling filters into all sorts of other ideas and themes, a sense of disconnection between people in relationships, issues of cultural misunderstanding, gaps between ideology and reality, intentions and results, language and objects. These things are all great fuel for the imagination too. I would go so far as to say that all art and literature is about some kind of disconnection, brokenness or discrepancy.

Do you like to travel and explore different countries/worlds, or are you happier creating worlds of your own?

Well, both really. I get plenty of inspiration from being in unfamiliar places, and being reminded of the different ways people can think and live, that nothing is 'normal'. Interestingly, though, I rarely feel the urge to draw when travelling, as if travelling alone offers enough weirdness. Likewise, I find it much easier to do creative work 'in tranquillity,' back in my studio which feels very plain and prosaic, working best when little else is going on. Travelling and drawing are very similar activities, in that they force you to look at everything carefully: one is an outward adventure, the other an inward adventure. They are both equally interesting and enjoyable, as well as sometimes being difficult pleasures.

If you could visit any fantasy world, what one would it be?

As a younger person, I would have loved to enter a Tolkien-esque world (and could easily pass for a hobbit too!), and some of the imaginary worlds I was drawing as a teenager, but I don't really have those kind of escapist longings any more. More and more I see fantasy worlds - as in The Arrival - as a way of tapping into the real world, of trying to understand reality better through a speculative lens. If I was to visit that world, I would immediately lose my bearings, like entering a metaphor without its real-world anchorage. I prefer to visit using only a pencil on paper.

A lot of the fantasy worlds that fascinate me the most are ones I would not like to visit at all, like Orwell's 1984, Swift's Gulliver's Travels or McCarthy's The Road. Once again, I'm interesting in places where things are somehow broken or disconnected.

Many of your illustrations are montages of scraps from the everyday that might normally be disregarded or thrown away: stamps; receipts; notes; newspaper headlines. Are you a collector? Do you have an interest in highlighting and preserving these transient objects?

Yes, I do. I'm very interested in things that are overlooked, and in trying to find value in things that are not considered valuable. Collage also introduces an important element of random chance into an image, much like a good brush mark, it's not entirely controlled. It's also a good way to break the 'surface tension' of a blank canvas - just start sticking things on, almost without letting conscious decision-making get in the way.

I do have a tendency to collect things, which I have to control a little bit, limiting it to things that are actually useful to avoid being a pack rat. I have a large cardboard box full of small papery bits, which are always useful. I also have a collection of disposable books and magazines that I use as collage material. The less this material has to do with anything aesthetic, the more useful it seems to be - hence lots of physics, maths and engineering textbooks. In my picture book The Lost Thing, this collage helped develop the central theme of the story, of what happens when playfulness enters a world that only knows calculated certainty.

There's also a lot of optimism in your books, particularly The Red Tree. Similarly, some of the stories in Tales From Outer Suburbia are critical of the paranoia that exists as a result of the 'War on Terrorism'. Do you like to assure your readers or at least let them know that the world is really not out to get them?

I feel no need at all to reassure readers or myself of anything, I'm just trying to be realistic. I don't have a message as such, just some recurring observations, which leave me feeling a little ambivalent actually. The story 'Amnesia Machine' [from Tales From Outer Suburbia] really laments the way mass media can degrade an otherwise good democratic system - and that people fall for it every time, without seeming to learn any broad lessons. But just after that is the story about how citizens find a way to cleverly disarm an absurd government policy (by literally disarming missiles) and being compassionate and conscientious, by refusing to be afraid. I feel that both of these are realistic representations, that there is a constant tension in the world between ignorant acceptance and a higher consciousness (which requires effort). This is also a tension that exists within us as individuals, competing forces of darkness and light, both of which need to be acknowledged.

Many of your characters have no names: the main character in The Lost Thing is referred to merely as "a thing," for example. Do you not name your characters on purpose? Do you think that not naming gives the work a greater universality?

Yes, I think that's it, trying to find the best universal metaphor. Though it's not really a strategy, it just always feels right to me to have characters that don't have a specific identity, to the point of not even being recognisable creatures.

Your most recent work, Tales From Outer Suburbia, is also your most text-heavy book to date. Did this come as a reaction to your previous book, The Arrival, which featured no writing at all?

I don't see Tales From Outer Suburbia as having any real relation to The Arrival, as they seem to me to be quite different books - it might have been good to produce them under pseudonyms! But as far as creative process goes, you are right, there was a certain reaction going on there. I was often sneaking off to write the stories in Tales in between the long hours of rigorous pencil shading that went into each page of The Arrival, so it became a kind of outlet for pent-up words and conceptual playfulness, as well as humour.

I was keen to try something that was very fragmented and varied, grabbing whatever tools I thought might best do the job, mixing words, images and layout designs. Before being a full-time illustrator, I used to write piles of (unpublished) short stories, so it felt as though I was returning to fairly comfortable territory, and finding a good balance.

Could you ever imagine writing a book without illustrations?

Yes, I can't see why not. Some stories don't need illustrations, and are in fact much better off without them. However, because I tend to use visual images as my starting point, I have a feeling they will always infiltrate anything I do one way or another.

Tales From Outer Suburbia was inspired by your childhood growing up in Western Australia, but you also manage to transform a suburban setting into a place of magic and miracles. In some of the stories, Water Buffalos take up residence in vacant lots and Dugongs appear in backyards. A lot of people imagine suburbia as banal and generic; do you believe it has the potential to be something else?

Yes, anything has the potential to be something else. As a child and teenager, I used to think that the place I lived in was far too boring to comment upon, that all the good, interesting stuff was somewhere else. It was only when I started painting local suburban scenes in my twenties that I realised the subject was not so important, it was how much thought and imagination you applied to it. So a painting of a simple suburban footpath could be as fascinating as the most exotic landscape, given enough emotional investment (I often think of Van Gogh's paintings of a chair for guidance, or Morandi's little groups of bone-coloured bottles, brilliant paintings of banal objects).

Of course, I do introduce a lot of exotic, surrealist elements into my suburban visual stories in a seemingly artificial way, as a kind of 'what if?' exercise, but the initial inspiration for these comes from observing pretty ordinary things; like looking at an overgrown vacant lot, for instance, and asking 'who lives there?,' or a walnut shell and wondering if it would make a good little suitcase, or a TV aerial and imagining people decorating for some special occasion. Suburbia is definitely bland and generic, but there's also a suppressed strangeness there, a culture foreign to itself. And the fact that it does, on the surface, seem uninspiring, or escapes creative attention, means that it's an excellent canvas to be painting (or writing) upon; it's blank, quiet and opens up quite easily to absurd intrusions.

When you are working on a story what tends to come first: the words or the pictures?

It's hard to say, but generally a story is triggered by a visual image, either vaguely sketched, or vaguely imagined in my mind. Words may follow, then another image, then more words, so it's backwards and forwards - each element plays with or against the other, prompting new ideas. Words are good for playing with abstract concepts, summarising storylines and outlining structure. Images seem to bring a kind of mystery and atmosphere that can greatly expand a written idea.

Yet the main thing for me is that one does not 'explain' the other, but more often questions the ambiguities of both word and image. In hindsight, many of the stories in Tales are to do with the slipperiness of understanding or naming things, hence a nameless holiday, a Japanese diver who cannot make himself understood; an exchange student with a name that nobody can pronounce; a water buffalo who points without speaking, and so on. Images build upon the mystery that's already present in language, realising that all these sounds and symbols are quite provisional, and can mean different things to different people.

Finally, what are you working on at the moment?

An animated adaptation of an older picture book The Lost Thing, with a production company based in Melbourne, Pasion Pictures Australia. It's 15 minutes long, and due to be completed at the end of the year; animated digitally with hand-painted textures. I'm responsible for writing, directing and designing much of the film, which has been an interesting learning curve over a period of some years - it's all coming together quite well thanks to a small, dedicated team.

I'm also trying to do a little more painting of large canvases, which use to be my main pastime before illustration took over as a profession. These are not for exhibition or sale, rather a means of keeping in practise, and learning how to see and paint, something that you never really accomplish fully. I still feel very much like an art student every time I pick up a pencil or brush, not entirely knowing how things will end up.

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