#what is UP with me and characters who are associated with green and/or red

[heartbeetz]

I just realized his color scheme was ALSO green and red. Ok.

I NEED to get back into oc f/os. I just remembered my old casino themed anthro shark guy. He never got a solid enough ref sheet (or lore, really) for me to feel comfortable making him one of my f/os but maybe I should remedy that at some point. Big Jack.........

[pineconepie]

Parental yandere vampire!!

TW: Implied neglect, implied abuse, yandere, parental yandere, forced age regression, death of family (not main characters), light violence, kidnapping

If there's any more trigger warnings I should add, let me know!

...

The cold gnawed at your bones, breath visible in front of you as you made your way through the thick snowfall. The chill bit into your skin, but you pressed on.

"Monster!" "Witch!" "Cursed!"

Their words echoed in your mind. The entire village thought you were some kind of monster, all because you were different from your peers. You were used to the kind of horrible treatment you received at their hands, and had long since learned not to fight it; no matter what you said, they never listened.

It got lonely never having friends, though. Even the people who weren't scared of you were ridiculed for being seen with you, sometimes even being called a witch just because they associated with you.

Your own family became embarrassed and ashamed by your reputation, to the point where they would go days ignoring your existence.

Sure, you had thought of running away before, but given you had nowhere to go, that'd just be a dumb idea.

Only when you overheard the church speaking of burning you at the stake did you realize just how little you actually had to live for there.

Either way, it seemed like your chances of death were high, so either way, fuck it, right?

You could barely feel your feet beneath you, wading through the snow.

How long have you been walking now? Hours? Days?

It feels like years. You felt tears burn at the edges of your eyes as you tripped over a root, collapsing into the soft cushioning of the snow.

A snarling noise behind you causes you to get back up and run, stumbling blindly and weakly through the snow.

You could barely tell what was going on behind you, but all you knew was that a vicious growl from some sort of animal was definitely not something you should just stand around for.

In the distance, you see a structure, probably the first one you've seen in days.

With some sudden rush of adrenaline, you sprint towards it, almost rolling down the hill leading up to the old building.

The steel gate in front of it makes you curse in frustration, looking up to assess how likely it is you can climb it. Your hands curl into fists around the bars, shaking violently as you pull. Not a chance.

"Help!" you scream, hoping whoever is inside can hear you. "Please!"

When there's no response, you turn back, seeing glowing yellow eyes approaching you. Fear courses through your veins, paralyzing you as you look on in horror. The shadowy beast prowls closer, standing tall on its four paws and staring you down hungrily.

Just as it stalks forward, ready to jump, it pauses. You squeeze your eyes shut and prepare for the inevitable. When the sharp fangs never come sinking into your flesh, you hesitantly crack an eye open. The beast whines and scampers off.

Only when the sound of its footsteps disappear completely does a breathy laugh escape your lips. What a weird twist of fate.

"My goodness! Are you okay?!"

You whip around to see a tall figure with piercing green eyes and long dark brown hair. He's wearing some kind of old-fashioned clothing that looks like it hasn't been touched in centuries.

Before you can say anything, you promptly pass out from exhaustion.

...

"You poor thing. I wonder where you came from..." A hand reaches down to caress your face, the gloved fingers ice cold against your flushed skin. "Seems as if you were meant to find me."

When you finally stir awake, your brain feels like it's rattling in your skull. Blinking slowly, you bring your hand up to rub at your temple, sighing and looking around. You're lying in a large canopy bed, soft red velvet sheets encompassing you.

Sitting up, you take note of the grandiose bedroom, decorated in similar deep shades of red, gold, and black.

There's antique furniture lining the room, with a large painting above the mantlepiece directly across from the foot of the bed. An embroidered carpet is spread on the floor, its design weaving into the same complex, golden filigree that is the headboard of the mattress.

Your gaze drops, noting that you aren't wearing the same clothes you were before.

Now you're wearing some kind of tunic, reminiscent of pajamas but far too fancy and extravagant to be called something so simple. The silk hugs your frame, falling delicately across your lap as you cross your legs and take a look around.

Then you meet his gaze.

He looks surprised that you woke up already, pulling his hand back quickly from where it was about to rest on your shoulder.

He had been watching you sleep, it seems.

The man clears his throat and smiles down at you. "Oh good. I thought for sure you'd sleep through dinner." His voice is deeper than you'd expected, but still gentle. He gestures to himself. "I am Octavian. What's your name, precious?"

"Uh–" You hesitate, caught off guard by the nickname. "I'm (Y/n)."

"A sweet name," he says simply, the corner of his mouth quirking up even more. Octavian reaches down to brush a strand of hair out of your face before straightening back up again.

You watch him cautiously, unsure why he's so comfortable touching a complete stranger.

Then again, you suppose most strangers don't magically appear outside of someone's home, either. Besides, he did just save your life; he deserves at least this much courtesy after helping you.

"It's been a very long time since I've seen anyone out here, let alone gotten any visitors. What on earth were you doing out here all alone? You certainly aren't a traveler, you barely were carrying anything with you." He looks almost ready to scold you.

"Well, uh..." You awkwardly tug at the sleeve of your nightgown, thinking how best to answer his question without opening the door for him to judge you or ask more questions. But he did save your life... "My village doesn't like me. Thinks I'm weird. And when they started talking about killing me, I figured it'd be better to get out sooner rather than later."

Octavian sucks in a sharp breath, concern written all over his features. "Killing you?" He puts a hand over his heart. "You poor thing. You must've been so scared," he coos.

"Yeah... I was," you admit. "I'm glad I ran into your place, at least."

The tall man gives you a soft smile, sitting down at the edge of the bed. It dips beneath him under his weight. "I am too. Stay right there, I'll go get you some dinner."

Before you can say anything else, Octavian slips out of the room.

You think back to when he found you. That animal chasing you acted scared when it saw him. Why? Sure, he's pretty tall, but the guy clearly wouldn't stand a chance against the teeth and claws of that thing. So why was it so spooked by him?

He reenters with a golden tray in hand. On top of it sits a bowl of soup and some bread.

"I'm afraid that's the only thing I have available at the moment," Octavian sighs, setting it down next to you and handing you a spoon. "It should warm you up though." He watches you eat with an adoring smile, one you miss, too busy ravaging into the food. "My Gods, you must've been starving. When was the last time you ate, sweetheart?"

You scarf down a piece of bread. "I haven't been keeping track of time. Maybe three days ago?"

Octavian almost appears on the verge of tears. "You poor little angel..." He hesitantly reaches his gloved hand over to wipe away a stray droplet of broth dribbling down your chin. "You won't ever go hungry again, I swear it."

"What do you mean?" you mumble while chewing on another piece of bread.

He gently wipes at your cheek. "You got some on your face. Messy thing," he tuts. His green eyes glow brighter. Unnaturally so. "I'll go refill your bowl. More bread?" He watches you nod, then takes the tray from you.

It was weird how he avoided your question, but you shrug it off. Seems like he's a little weird too.

...

After having four bowls of soup and God-knows-how-much bread, you finally start to feel full for the first time in ages. Octavian watches with pride as you polish off each meal, praising you for cleaning your plate every single time.

In the middle of him gushing over you, you interrupt him.

"So... Do you think I could use your horse tomorrow morning to head back into town?" you ask shyly. "Assuming you have one."

Octavian freezes, brows furrowing as if in confusion. "(Y/n)... surely you don't think I'm just going to send you back to the people that are trying to kill you?"

"Well, not mine... just a town nearby," you shrug. "Anywhere with people, really."

He pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration. "There is no other civilization for miles. No. That'd just be a death wish."

You try not to raise your voice, reminding yourself it's thanks to him you're even alive. "Then what am I supposed to do?"

He opens his mouth to argue, but snaps it shut before taking a deep breath. "You need some rest. Let's discuss this later." You frown in frustration, knowing he's avoiding talking about it. Though he has a point. Sleepiness settles within you, a yawn bubbling past your lips. He bends down to kiss your forehead. "Sweet dreams, little love."

He's so weird.

...

The next day, you venture from the room he put you in, looking around. As to be expected, everything is beautifully furnished, from the wallpaper to the ceilings to the marble columns holding it all up.

In your searching, you stumble upon a portrait.

There's a tall man holding two children, with a woman standing next to him. It takes you a minute before you realize the man is Octavian.

He looks exactly the same in the portrait, except now his hair is slightly longer and he's wearing different clothes. Something in his appearance also seems happier.

You squint at the picture, wondering what's up with it.

"That's my family."

You jump, turning to see Octavian standing beside you, eyes glazed over as he gazes at the painting.

"Oh. They're beautiful," you whisper. You can hear him suck in a shaky breath. "Are they here?"

A melancholy smile pulls at his lips, though it doesn't meet his eyes. "No. My wife and my son and daughter... they're no longer here." His voice is far quieter than before.

Your chest grows heavy when you realize what he means. "I-I'm so sorry..."

The last thing you were expecting was for this to be so sad. Here you thought the picture was taken recently. Guilt pools in your belly for thinking that, especially now that you know the truth. Poor guy.

Octavian places a gentle hand on your shoulder. "Don't apologize. I think my loneliness streak is nearing its end." He guides you away from the painting and to the stairs. "Let's go eat. Breakfast should be ready by now." You're silent, not sure how to respond.

Walking down the ornate staircase, Octavian keeps his hand placed firmly on the small of your back.

Once you both reach the ground level, he removes it, walking ahead into the kitchen area. Following, you sit down across from him, watching as he places food in front of you both.

"It feels nice to cook for someone else again," he hums, beginning to dig into his own plate of food.

It smells really good, which you suppose you shouldn't be surprised by given the fact that everything else in this house seems to be perfect in its presentation.

"Thank you," you mutter, picking up the silverware and eating.

The two of you talk idly throughout the meal, Octavian being mindful of what you like and don't like to eat for future reference.

He asks you about yourself, appearing invested in every little tidbit you drop. Eventually, you're finally satiated, leaning back against your chair with a pleased sigh.

You watch him do the dishes and leave into what you presume is the living room. Curiously, you follow after him.

He's holding an open book, reading glasses perched on his nose.

The fire flickers and crackles, providing heat to the otherwise chilly space.

Sitting down next to him, you catch his eye. Octavian smiles at you and scoots closer, putting one arm around you and shifting his eyes back to his book.

Unsure of how else to react, you lean into the embrace. He's very cold compared to most people, you find.

The gesture is welcome though, regardless of the cool chill of his skin. Even through his gloves, you can tell his body temperature isn't normal.

If he came from your village, the villagers would definitely think he's some paranormal beast too.

Maybe that's why he lives so secluded from society.

...

A few more days pass. He gets a little more odd, but it just makes you more comfortable to show your own quirks too.

One morning, you wake up next to a teddy bear placed between your arms. He must've put it there last night.

It's almost like he senses you're awake, because he strides into the room not even a minute later.

"There's my sweet little angel," Octavian coos. "Did you sleep well?" You yawn and rub at your eye with a closed fist. He gives you a bright smile at that and sits on the edge of the bed. "Do you like your toy? I figured it might keep you company while I'm gone. Does it help?"

"Yeah, but..." You frown. "How'd you get it? There's no nearby shops, right?"

Octavian nods. "It belonged to my son." At that, you stare wide eyed down at the stuffed animal, moving to give it back to him.

"I-I can't take this from you–"

He grabs your hands and holds them in place around the toy, shaking his head. "Nonsense, I want you to have it." His eyes burn with such intense emotion, so much so that you're unable to resist the pull to listen to his request. "Keep it, please. When this winter is over, I'll go get you some of your own stuffies and clothing. Do you have any clothing preferences? Any favorite animals?"

"When winter is over, I'll be leaving," you correct him.

He stiffens. "Right. Of course. Silly me." His emerald irises flash with something unreadable.

The rest of the day, he becomes even more overbearing.

He pulls you into his lap whenever he has the chance, insisting you rest your head against his chest while he reads to you (all of which are children's books). He constantly is giving you random little hugs, or complimenting you for whatever little mundane things you do.

You only allow it because you feel pity for him.

Each time you even try to pull away slightly, he looks so heartbroken and hurt, as if you stabbed him in the chest.

And it's not like you dislike it. You're so starved for attention and touch that it actually feels kind of good, having someone hug you and hold your hand and read to you.

It makes up for all the times you've been neglected.

Each day, he gets even more coddling and babying with you. You wonder why he's like this.

Then it hits you.

His kids are gone. He's never going to have another chance to hold his babies again.

This behavior... is this just him projecting his loss onto you? Trying to relive the feeling of caring for a child?

It breaks your heart for him, making you feel more guilty for wanting to leave.

...

As the snow begins to melt, Octavian gets more antsy. He constantly holds you in his arms now, rambling about anything and everything, bouncing and swaying side to side.

It reminds you of how mothers soothe their babies.

One day, he stops to give you a serious look, gripping your face in his hands and kissing your cheekbone.

"Please," Octavian whispers, desperation seeping into his tone, "please please please stay." Tears drip down his pale skin. "You have no idea what these past few weeks have meant to me." The grip on your jaw tightens and he shakes his head with a dry laugh. "God, I can't imagine living without you anymore! Don't make me go through that agony again! Don't abandon me! You're happy here!"

Your hands hesitantly grab his wrists, not pulling him away but letting him know your boundaries. "These past few weeks meant a lot to me too. But I don't want to live alone out here, forever."

He sniffles and glares down at you. "What do you mean? You wouldn't be alone. I'm here. You'd have me!"

"But I want more people than that!" you cry out. "And in the end, you're still basically a stranger..."

That last sentence was the wrong thing to say.

All color drains from his face, shock freezing him in place.

"A-A stranger...?" Octavian scoffs, betrayal seeping into his broken voice. "After all this time together?! After all the things I've done for you, all the things we've talked about?!" You tremble and try to move away. "Why can't you love me back?! Your parents don't want you, but I do!"

You shake your head. "You're freaking me out..." Never before had you been so scared of this man. Never did you think he'd act this way, even with how affectionate and caring he could be. This is on a whole new level. "I'm not a kid. Just because you lost yours doesn't mean you can make me yours instead!"

Octavian doesn't say anything.

The silence that hangs thick in the air between you is deafening. It makes you want to scream, break it somehow, just so you don't have to endure how tense this is.

Tears pool in his eyes. He hesitates, then yanks off both of his gloves and drops them to the ground.

You notice his fingernails are long and sharp. Like claws. Not human.

"What...?"

"I've never been normal either." Octavian lets out a choked sob. "My wife died trying to protect our children from vampire hunters." He bares his teeth, revealing pointed fangs. "She couldn't. They all died before I could save them."

Your breath catches in your throat at the sight.

A mix of fear and sympathy swirls in your gut, making you feel nauseous and disoriented all at once. You step backwards, putting distance between you and him.

His eyes grow dull. "I couldn't save them. But I could save you." Octavian reaches out with those strange hands and cups the sides of your neck with a featherlight touch, holding your gaze despite your attempts at averting it. "You may think of yourself as big, but to me? You're just a baby."

A pitiful whine leaves your lips as your eyes begin to water.

"They said the same things about me. Aberration. Monster. I know how you feel; how lonely and awful it is. That's why you need to stay with me," he insists. "We understand each other. We're the same."

"No! You're crazy!" you exclaim, backing up further until your back hits a wall behind you. His form looms over yours ominously, casting a shadow across the floor beneath him. "Stop fucking touching me!"

"Maybe I am crazy," Octavian humorlessly chuckles. "But anyone would become unhinged from losing everything dear to them." Without warning, he moves quicker than lightning, picking you up and holding you close to his chest. He curls himself over you, shielding you from nothing as if to protect you. His body completely engulfs yours, swallowing you in his presence. It's unnerving. "Everything will be okay now. Papa will keep you safe. No one will ever hurt you again," he promises softly. "You won't be like them."

"No, no, stop," you beg pathetically. "Let me go."

"Shhh... this will hurt a tiny bit, but only for a moment. It's necessary for us to always be together," he hushes you. "I was going to save this for when you've settled in more, but I can't have you run away."

Octavian kisses the top of your head before pulling the collar of your shirt down just enough for his mouth to hover above your bare shoulder.

"Nonono, please, don't!" you cry. "I don't wanna be a vampire!"

"I know, sweetheart," he laments. "I hate seeing you in pain, too."

Before you can say anything else, Octavian sinks his teeth deep into the flesh of your exposed shoulder blade.

You shriek in pain as you feel fangs digging into muscle tissue and sinew alike. Tears stream freely down your cheeks now, uncontrollable sobs wracking your frame as blood runs freely down your back and stains your clothes crimson red.

"Shhhh..." he hushes again, caressing your hair even while he drinks away your humanity. "I love you, I love you, I love you..."

By the time he's finished drinking, you feel woozy from blood loss and adrenaline. Octavian lifts you up, grip looser now that you're too tired to struggle, and dampens a cloth under the faucet, using it to clean up the excess blood.

Then he takes you back to the bedroom, tucking you underneath layers upon layers of warm bedding.

You try to speak, but your throat hurts so badly and you can barely move. Everything feels heavy, including your eyelids which threaten to shut due to exhaustion.

"Get some sleep. It's bedtime for little ones," he murmurs giddily. He adjusts the blankets covering you. "Oh, I knew I was missing something." You hear him shuffle around the room before returning. Suddenly the familiar feeling of the teddy bear is pressed against your torso, its fur tickling your nose.

"Papa..." you croak deliriously, thinking of your own father.

"Yes," he says. His face splits into a manic smile. "That's right." Octavian crawls under the covers next to you, dragging you towards his cold figure. He combs through your hair and cuddles you tightly, as though if he lets go, he might lose you. "Say it again. Say 'Papa.'"

You don't reply, far too exhausted to even care anymore. All you do is slump against him and close your eyes.

Octavian squeezes you tighter.

He buries his nose into the top of your head and breathes deeply.

"My baby..." His words sound distant as slumber overtakes your mind and drags you into darkness. "You're back home where you belong."

[agirlwithglam]

📚 It girl's guide to school 📚

hiii girls! this is part of the big Guide to being the It Girl. this section will be all about school, studying and academics. i'll teach you how to tackle school, get the highest grades effortlessly, and look chic and gorgeous doing it! the rest of the ultimate it girl series is linked! 🎀

guide to getting good grades:

LISTEN IN CLASS. one of the best tips ever. if you would actually listen to what your teachers teaching in class, you’d get to spend a lot less time studying.

ask if you need help! these teachers are qualified for the job, they’re meant to be good at it. so if you don’t understand something, don’t be afraid to ask. and if you’re really too much of a chicken, ask once the class is over or email the teacher. but honestly? half the kids probably aren’t even listening tbh so u do ur thing!

participate in class. actually participating in class will help you so much in recalling the information. it’s a great way to actively revise. you don’t have to be a teachers pet or anything, but if you know the answer, put yourself out there. anyone who judges you simply judges themselves and their inability to speak up.

change up your environment so that you're still interested and excited to learn! you could go to a coffee shop, set up a mini picnic in the woods, go to a library, etc.

use alter egos!! i will never stop recommending this because it really is an amazing tip. either you can create your own alter ego who loves to study and gets high grades, or you could pretend you're rory gilmore or hermione granger!

revision/ study techniques:

feynman technique: teach it to someone else/ to plushies. try not to look at your notes too much, pretend ur a teacher.

use practice questions/ practice exams! trust me this can be so helpful! try and find past exams and go over them in exam conditions so you can see what u missed later. or, you can get all the info and ask an AI like chatgpt to write questions based on it and go through them!

BLURTING! love this method! basically, you write all the information you know about the topic on one page (optional: set a time limit) and then go over it with a different colour pen and add in what you missed. do this a couple times until you haven't missed anything! - you can do this by creating a mind-map, or literally just scribbling down everything you know.

SQ3R method: survey/ skim over the text, question- make questions on it, read- begin reading to find the answers to the questions, recite- summarise the words in a section in your own words, review- quiz yourself on what you just learnt

organise/ prioritise what you need to study using the traffic light method. first, identify the topics, then highlight them according to these 3 colors: red- struggling a lot/ no idea , yellow- okay ish, need to work on it a bit tho , green- good understanding & confident on the topic.

make associations. this is especially helpful for when you need to memorise things. the thing you need to memorise- link it to stuff that you already know.

⭐️ use mnemonics, songs, raps to remember! a couple years back, my science teacher made us create a rap on osmosis (a biology term). and not even kidding, i still remember the simple definition of what it does because of that rap! so create songs or rap and maybe even make a whole music video on it! trust me, not only is it so fun but it really does help keep the information in your mind!

more resources:

huge big list of studying and school

another big study masterpost

100 reasons to study

how to be a whole new student this year

ACE your exams -by me!

study icons:

as i mentioned earlier, channelling the energy of a character who already studies and gets good grades is an amazing way of getting yourself motivated! here are some of my favs & tips to study like them! (p.s i've also added links to the names for a more in depth guide on each person!)

♡ rory gilmore

she loves studying- develop that mindset! have a passion for learning more.

"i can go from 0 to studying in less than 60 seconds"

switch between different subjects when you get bored

ask someone to test you with flashcards

♡ elle woods:

study while you exercise- take care of ur body too!

"what, like its hard?"- i love her sm for this!! if anyone else can do something, of course you can do it too!

be ambitious + have strong source of motivation

get into study groups

♡ paris geller

have the discipline and ambition to do the things that will get you to where you want.

"i want to win, and i'm going to win." - love this, she's sure of herself and confident in her abilities.

prioritise & use to do lists

start early to be the top of your class!

♡ blair waldorf

honestly its so fun to embody her energy of high value, cares about her education, so confident and takes no sh*t from others!

"anything you can do, i can do better"

always have a plan

have flash cards, take notes

♡ hermione granger

always participate in class!

read more about the material. + learn more!

teach others & help them study

finish the hw/ work quickly and do the extra credit!

stylish in school 101:

SURVIVING SCHOOL AIR: here are some tips to staying/ looking pretty and refreshed all day at school bc u and i both know the horrors of school air 🙀 :)

DRINK WATER. stay hydrated - very important. always drink water. this keeps your lips hydrated, face hydrated, and just makes you look a lil less dead.

lip gloss/ lip balm to reapply throughout the day, esp for my girlies with chapped lips! i keep lip balm in my pocket so its always there when needed, but you can also keep it in your locker/ bag/ pencil case.

perfume. you can keep it in your locker/ bag/ pencil case to spray whenever needed and smell sweet and amazing the entire day <3

stop touching your face!! your hands have so much crusty dust and bacteria that can give pimples on your face.

keep hair away from your face. leave it out if you want, but try to make sure it doesn't touch your face too much- it also has tons of crusty musty dusty germs

keep a hairbrush in your locker. listen, i know how messy hair can get during school so keeping it in school is SO helpful to maintain the tidyness and cleanliness

waterproof makeup - if you wear makeup.

sunscreen!! keep. applying. SUNSCREENN!! i'm not going to elaborate further on this point.

ACCESSORISING YOUR UNIFORM!!

this is for the girlies who have a school uniform! i understand it can be so annoying so to have more fun and feel more confident, ACCESSORIZEE everything as much as you're allowed! here are some ideas!

♡ necklesses

♡ bracelets

♡ bows in your hair

♡ bows in your bag

♡ bows everywhere basically 🎀

♡ decorate your ipad/ pencilcase with stickers

♡ headbands

♡ rings

♡ cute earrings

♡ cute watch

♡ nails

♡ a cute clip!

the ultimate it girl series

xoxo, vanilla!

[ladystoneboobs]

since affc, there's been some mystery and debate about the state of loras tyrell. did aurane waters make up all his horrible injuries for some reason, and is he actually fine? or is he already dying on dragonstone as cersei wished? a secret third thing? for my part, i think it's somewhere in between, that septa scolera's interrupted words about him indicate he's still alive and could recover, but that the account of the battle is still mostly true, with loras simply surviving despite expectations. i just cannot believe that grrm, beauty and the beast lover that he is, would resist this chance for a new play on batb by having this tyrell beauty turned into another grostesque, complete with burn scars similar to another asoiaf beast known as the hound.

When the appointed night arrived, another of the Kingsguard came for her, a man as different from Sandor Clegane as . . . well, as a flower from a dog. The sight of Ser Loras Tyrell standing on her threshold made Sansa's heart beat a little faster. -Sansa I, aSoS In the dark, I am the Knight of Flowers, he[Tyrion] had said. I could be good to you. But that was only another Lannister lie. A dog can smell a lie, you know, the Hound had told her once. She could almost hear the rough rasp of his voice. [...] She wondered what had become of Sandor Clegane. -Sansa VI, aSoS If I close my eyes I can pretend he[Sweetrobin] is the Knight of Flowers. Ser Loras had given Sansa Stark a red rose once, but he had never kissed her . . . and no Tyrell would ever kiss Alayne Stone. Pretty as she was, she had been born on the wrong side of the blanket. As the boy's lips touched her own she found herself thinking of another kiss. She could still remember how it felt, when his cruel mouth pressed down on her own. He had come to Sansa in the darkness as green fire filled the sky. He took a song and a kiss, and left me nothing but a bloody cloak. -Sansa III(/Alayne II), aFfC

that's 3 times now (a magic number) since sandor clegane left her that sansa has thought of him linked with loras tyrell, her old crush that she fantasized about kissing and the scary weirdo that her truamatized pysche has wrongly convinced her she'd actually been kissed by. sansa doesn't mean much to loras, just another silly fangirl who may or may not be a kingslayer, but as she's the pov character and he's not his importance to her and association by her with the hound could well be clues to his future fate. just as sandor (likely) survived his seemingly fatal injuries in asos to return as the gravedigger on the quiet isle, so loras can survive his injuries against the odds to come back looking more beastly, beastly like this clegane not-a-knight he'd once named the champion of the hand's tourney back in the days when sansa first saw him.

[l0ouazvd]

Mouthwashing characters as plants/Flowers

J I M M Y :

[Venus flytrap]

It has a tiny “mouth” with sensitive trigger hairs. When a small creature passes by and touches the hairs, the mouth snaps shut. But what's pretty funny about them, is that they can recognise their pollinators and so they rarely trap them. Why trap someone who actively helps you grow stronger ?

The plant is green, which reminds me of him. The color green is often associated with : prosperity, luck, and health. But also, envy, guilt, and greed.

D A I S U K E :

[hibiscus flower]

I mean, duh. It's on his shirt. But if you're wondering, what does this flower represent, exactly? I'll tell you. Youth. The hibiscus flower blooms for a short time, often just one day, which reminds us of how temporary life can be. the hibiscus flower is often linked to delicacy and softness. Just like in color psychology, pink is associated with kindness, playfulness, but also immaturity.

A N Y A :

[white spider lily]

The white spider lily symbolises chastity, freshness, purity, innocence and new beginnings. They also symbolise grief or mourning, and so they are often used during burial ceremonies. These flowers represent a positive outlook on life. So, one can use these flowers to show that they embrace life's positivity despite what is happening in their lives at that time. I wanted to use the red spider lily at first, but the white one made much more sense. Innocence, purity, hope. But also a sense of emptiness, cold, and isolation.

S W A N S E A :

[iris germanica florentina]

Okay but why couldn't I find any great pics of swansea on pinterest ?? Anyway. Irises come in many different colours, so each one of them have their own meaning depending on the colour, or country. One of the profound meanings attached to the iris is wisdom. This association likely comes from the flower's link to the Greek goddess Iris, who was known for her wisdom and insight.

The iris germanica florentina has gray undertones which you unfortunately can't see on this picture. But, why gray ? The colour gray means many things; strength, authority, wisdom. But also : sadness, dullness, abandonment.

C U R L Y :

[Yellow daylily]

They're a symbol of wisdom and longevity. Meanwhile, Japan's Hanakotoba interprets these flowers as emblems of success and wealth, making them popular gifts to celebrate achievements or new beginnings. It reminds me of Curly, and, especially, how Jimmy sees him. A successful, fulfilled man that everyone looks up to.

Now let's talk about the color yellow. What does it represent? Creativity, joyfulness, optimism. But also, illness, danger, cowardice.

THANK YOU FOR READING :PP

[gleepatrol]

I've been seeing a lot of dunking on Chimera lately (deserved) so I decided to pitch in. I might have hyped this up already, but it's finally here. Welcome to...

A Serious Review of Meteorcare's Designs

by gleepatrol/Mod Rocket

Disclaimer: THIS IS BY NO MEANS TO SUPPORT CHIMERA! For many reasons. In fact, this was made to clown on him, but in a thoughtful way where the readers can get something useful out of it.

CW: blood and eyestrain, but you probably already knew that.

Under the cut because this is long.

First and foremost, let's introduce our victims. I will mostly keep myself limited to the worst designs of the bunch so we actually have something to talk about.

Meet Pepper, Fotoh, Bea, and Banger. And their parents because it will be relevant: Doom and Uni, unknown, Bec and Scratch, and Hemera and Uni, respectively. I will put those parent characters below so we have some context.

One last touch, I'm not touching the silhouettes or outfits except for color tweaks. They're fine. They're whatever.

Case 1: Pepper

My immediate thought looking at this character: where did half of these colors come from?

The purple is technically from Uni (Cometcare Uni's wings to be exact. But she can change the color of those at any moment? I don't think that would be genetic or end up being the main body color even if they were.) and the white is from Doom, but the green? The blue? The grey? No freaking clue! You could argue the blue and green are from Doom's ear stripes, but how is such a minor area spreading to their tail and eyes? They only make sense on the ears. On an extra note, this also begs the question, where are the fur patterns from? You can and should deviate a little from the parents, don't get me wrong. I'm not a fan of miniature clone children myself, but Pepper's patterns make him look more like a raccoon more than a dog/rat hybrid.

My second thought, what is the theme here? I believe it's supposed to be arcadecore or party themed but that's not clear from the name or design. I only glimpsed that information from their bio. These colors don't really read arcade or party. They feel random since they neither relate to the theme or very strongly to her parents' colors. If anything, Uni's original electric magenta read arcade better! It's the lack of intent that bothers me. I cannot see the vision!

One more minor note: the grey and purple blend in quite a bit. I would make one and/or the other lighter and/or darker. Don't believe me? Let's try the classic black and white filter trick.

Unreadable. As I said. But hey buddy, you genuinely look better in black and white! I don't have to look at those random colors! Here's Doom in black and white for reference.

You can still tell what's a different color.

But anyway. Enough yapping. Let me show you visually how I would change Pepper. Don't you dare use this if you are Chimera or any associate of his. This isn't a free redesign for you or your cronies. I will speak up if I catch any of you using anything I edit from here on out.

PS: I've heard some roasts of Pepper's arm, but I rather like it myself. It gives a new spin on Doom's multiple limbs thing and if you got a problem with that you have a problem with Smoky Quartz from Steven Universe who did this first. Anyway!

Doesn't this read better as a Doomi child who likes to party? The colors are simper and more intentful now!

I also tried to combine some similar colors such as making the blue on the shirt match the eyes and the red becoming pink to reduce the overall pallet.

Case 2: Fotoh

Need I say it again? What do these colors have to do with the theme? Also, too many colors! Her allotpun is photonegative which are those inverse color pictures like this:

Cool theme! We are barely using it though. Easy fix. Keep the blue colors and toss almost everything else! There were way too many colors with no apparent reason to have so many.

This is still ugly imo but it's justfiably ugly given the theme, so I can excuse it. Take it I guess. She actually looks nice when. Well, photonegatived (right image) so uh gimmick character. I couldn't think of anything better. I know she's still ugly. Feel free to improve on my edit because I'll accept that.

Case 3: Bea

Where. Do I even start. This is the opposite problem as Pepper. We are taking Too Many of the parents' colors. It's too much, very busy. Why are those pink spots there? Neither parent has spots of that color! My suggestion, pick some of the coherent colors of the parents that go together well, not all of them. I will respect this character being so neon due to lore reasons, but geeezzzzz neon doesn't mean complete eyebleed. Taking a look at Bec and Scratch, they both have blue as a prominent color, so we can play with that to start off the pallet. Bec also has yellow while Scratch is green. These could work as well since they are analogous colors to blue. Keep in mind analogous and complementary colors when designing! It's very helpful! While Bec also has purple eyes and Scratch has pink ones with pink elsewhere, I'm going to mostly ignore these colors since they would add too much to both be included.

(Aside note, I just noticed while trying to edit how many coloring and linework errors Bea has; goodness gracious. But that's not the point of this essay.)

You can see I also changed the scar color because they were just abrasively pink and colored as if they were fresh which I'll take a wild guess and assume they're not. Also, I snuck in Bec's purple into the shorts because "why orange?"

Base 4: Banger

Oh, no. It's the final boss. Is that One Winged Angel playing in the background? (Haha Banger only has one wing, two for one joke) All jokes aside, hoooooo boy. I. Yeah. Okay, first of all, why does he have stitched on parts? That shouldn't be inherited from Hemera. Those are not genetic! Those were part of her design because she was being tortured like a science experiment! By no logic should Banger have these unless he was also experimented on which would be weird since Sparklecare shouldn't exist anymore if it's a Cometcare kid. First tip, get rid of this. Second, the only way I can phrase this point is: "this is my son, he has every disease". Broken horn, torn ear, glows-a-lot (which neither Hemera nor Uni have), sewn on parts, only one wing. Some of these are fine in isolation but all of them just feels ridiculous especially with no reason given. I think the reason might be it's reckelss so everything got hurt so I'll keep the broken or torn stuff and the one wing thing because that's the most interesting twist I'll say: only having one wing. Also, why are there patterns on your wings? Where did that come from? That's an artstyle thing, you realize that right? Not part of Uni's actual design? Also, need I say this again, say it with me folks: too many colors! And where are they from? The only ones that seem to be from somewhere is the purple and yellow from Uni but I can't read a single hint of Hemera here except for the replaced limbs which I already explained how I don't understand that decision.

I think he's supposed to be beach themed? But honestly, it's giving random button on the Picrew instead.

So, here's what I have. I still kept the belly orange but this time it was for a reason: to have a sunset color. Pretend it's Hemera's yellow and Uni's purple mixed.

I also added some blue to make the Hemera part clearer and changed the glows-a-lot to hemophilia like Hemera to make his connection to her clearer. The wing is now from Uni's pink wing to go with the sunset theme as are the orange shorts.

And that's all!

Congratulations! You survived this essay! If you're Not Chimera, feel free to steal my edits. Fair game! I allow you to!

TLDR: Stop including so many unnecessary colors without a clear theme in mind and stop giving them every feature from their parents combined! Look at a color wheel for analogous and complementary colors, and use your black and white filter every now and again!

[stargalaxxy]

˚♡˚𖥔˖Insecure!Lloyd x Reader

𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅ Lloyd has me in a chokehold I SWEAR I CAN WRITE FOR OTHER CHARACTE- (๑•̀ㅁ•́๑)✧ I think I'm gonna try for a Zane fic but oml I have so many scenarios running through my head with Lloyd I'm not even joking ૮꒰ྀི⸝⸝> . <⸝⸝꒱ྀིა But on frfr this takes place after the movie Lloyd is still hated but that oki bcs we love himmm ( ˶˘ ³˘(ˊᗜˋ*)!♡ Garmadon comes for dinner bcs I want them to be a big happy family!!o( ˶^▾^˶ )o ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪

˚𝜗𝜚˚⋆Now Playing: Dark Red by, Steve Lacy｡☆

✧˖°Imagine…✧˖°

  Insecure Lloyd is tired of being the hated boy in public eye, both in school and in Ninjago media. He has his team helping him and his sensei to calm his mind, as well as loving mother and somewhat now supportive overlord father that tries his best. But the stares of hatred that he gets, his extra mile of politeness that he forces out to not have people hate him more. The roll of eyes and groans he gets when he walks by a group of kids at school, and the constant berate that his friends get for being associated with him is unbearable.

  Insecure Lloyd, trying to find some light at the end of his tunnel. He should be grateful that he has a handful of friends or a loving mother, father, and uncle who are there to support him. But whenever he feels an ounce of happiness, just turning on the tv or phone to check social media instantly pummels his mood. Seeing videos of him sitting by himself at lunch and people making fun of him. Or being painted as a villain when he finally sticks up for himself from Chen, or just constant name calling from peers on school newsletters.

Insecure Lloyd just wants peace, a day that people like him, or even see him as the normal joe and show him a bit of stranger etiquette. He comes home drained shuffling to his room mumbling a hello to his mom and a nod to his father, that comes home for dinner. Laying his bag on the floor and falling face first into his pillow hoping the bad day would sink into his bed. Sometimes he wishes that he could do the same. Just sink in and never come out, but he knows that people don’t hate him for everything he does.

Insecure Lloyd finds peace when he’s out on patrol with his team doing ninja duties, hearing people excitedly look up at him as he beats up the next big villain brings purpose to his dark world. Seeing people post about his good deeds on social media is what makes him come back on the app. 

Seeing people idolize the Green Ninja gave insecure Lloyd the reason to get out of bed and deal with the people out in Ninjago city. 

Until he meets you,

You’re a transfer student from an all-girls boarding school. Used to living in a village in Jamanakai you weren’t used to a big city. It was overwhelming when students your age would come up to talk to you asking what it was like being in an all-girl school or to live in a small village. 

You spoke nervously as you tried to answer everyone in your class, the teacher seemed to notice and gives the grace of saving you. 

“Settle down class, I know a new student is exciting, so how about we show her around? For the first hour we have a free period. Do I have a volunteer to show our new friend around?” hands come flying up causing you to jump back. “Well, it seems we have plenty of volunteers~” your teacher sings as she smiles to you, “why don’t you pick, dear?” she pats your shoulder as she heads to her desk.

Oh geez,

You nervously scan the class as you didn’t want to upset or offend anyone with your picking. “Uh-um…” your eyes land randomly on a boy wearing a green hoodie staring out the window in the back of the class. You start walking up to him not seeming to have his attention yet as Lloyd didn’t expect anyone to approach him. 

“Uh-um, hi, can you show me around?” the class audibly gasp as even the teacher drops her coffee, you look around bewildered as Lloyd finally shoots up at the sudden shift in atmosphere.

Finally realizing you he looks around and points to himself unsure, “me?” you take a moment then nod your head assuring his uncertainty. Lloyd quickly gets up almost knocking down his chair, he curses nervously feeling he’s already making a bad impression. But when he looks up from steadying his chair, he sees your smile and a small chuckle that you try and hide behind your hand. 

It wasn’t a mocking laugh, or a pity smile, or fake! It was genuine, it made his cheeks warm and heart flutter. Puppy love visible in his eyes as he smiles at you as well nervously, when he finally gathers himself and walks out the classroom with you.

He shows you around the school and different rooms. It’s clubs and after school activities, at times Lloyd has to stop himself from taking second glances at you just to see your pretty smile, he’s never felt like this with anyone. 

You’re the first person to show him genuine kindness, sure you didn’t know him for who he was and relationship to his father. But that didn’t matter to him he just wants to talk to you more, so he boldly asks for your schedule, you smile as you hand it to him, peaking over his shoulder to see him scan your classes and lunch periods. His heart was gonna jump from his chest if you keep pressing against him.

“Oh, we have the same lunch!” he spoke a bit too excitedly as he shuts his mouth, you giggle, “really! That’s cool! Maybe we can talk some more during lunch!” it felt more like a question as you weren’t sure if Lloyd would be up for more of you. As you did choose him when he didn’t volunteer so you were hoping you weren’t getting on his nerves.

“Y-yea! I-I mean sure I don’t mind, sounds cool” he gives finger guns as starts walking backwards giving a nervous smile, when he turns around to stop facing you, he face palms himself. “That sounds great!” you follow him back to class noticing as free period was about to end, “Hey what’s your name?” you tilt your head to look at Lloyd’s blushing face as he finally lifts his head to face you. “I-It’s Lloyd” he plays with his hoodies string absentmindedly as he looks away from the corner of his eyes, you nod as you play with his name on your tongue.

“Okay, Lloyd! My names (y/n) let’s be friends!” smiling you walk beside him to class in comfortable silence. Lloyd however was racing thoughts in his head, a friend, he has a new friend! His smile gets bigger as he happily walks with a pep in his step alongside you. 

He never wants this feeling to go away!

You two spend more and more of your time together, both inside and outside of school. Lloyd is surprised at the fact of how you still don’t know about his reputation of being an overlord son.

You guys have been hanging out for a few months and nothing, the odd glares and flash of media that goes over your head you don’t ever notice. Or do you just not care?

Whatever it is Lloyd wants to keep it that way, 

“Hey, (y/n)! do you want to go and get some coffee?” Lloyd suggests as he stands by your locker. The school day had ended early for the beginning of spring break, “yea, I’m dying for something sweet~” you hum as you shut your locker having the last of your belongings before heading out with Lloyd.

“Mmm, but what about your friends? Don’t you have plans with them?” you met Lloyd’s friends the same week you met Lloyd, he introduced you to them and you all got attached to each other. 

“Oh, I’ll meet with them later” he shrugs and continues, you smile and grab your phone. “Okay, well my mom is asking for me, but it’ll totally be quick, I can message you when I’m done, and we can head to the café!” you hold out your phone showing your contact. It took Lloyd a moment to register what you said until he connects the dots, “y-you want my number?” he stutters out in disbelief his heart once again coming back to life.

“Yea! I-is that okay?” you nervously retract your phone in fear of overstepping, but in lightning speed Lloyd pulls out his phone and lets it scan your contact instantly putting in your number and information. 

You laugh as you both continue to walk,” Okay, Lloyd, I’ll see you then!” you hop onto your bus as you wave to him at the window. Lloyd looks down to his phone seeing your photo and number his cheeks grow red as he turns around a beat of excitement rushes through his body as he jumps.

Not caring if people stared or grumbled at Lloyd’s happiness, he could care less. Because now he had the girl of his dreams number!

After exchanging numbers, you and Lloyd would text nonstop, either about comics and manga, or new anime. Video games that were coming out, and new movies to see, it would go on to late at night to the morning before you guys would make plans to meet each other. He was constantly glued to his phone when you guys were a part,

“Uhp, there he goes again..” Jay teases as his team watches Lloyd take down a bad guy and sends a quick text to you,

“What, It’s my mom!” Lloyd shouts as he dodges another attack.  “Oh, yea when my mom calls, I send kissy faces to her~” Kai puckers his lips under his masks making kissing noises as the team laughs through the coms, Lloyd groans and rolls his eyes as they finally take down the last guy. 

“But seriously Lloyd, you’ve been getting distracted” Nya pops up behind him making Lloyd jump at her sudden appearance before sighing in defeat.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to bring you guys down.” Lloyd apologizes as his team comes around, “No way man, It’s awesome!” Kai shouts as he runs over to Lloyd as well, “seeing you happy and not mopey is great!” Kai continues as the team nods, “Yes, I as well have noticed your increase in mood Lloyd.” Zane drags the bad guys together as Cole ties them up nodding along silently. 

Lloyd blushes under his mask as he thanks the FSM that his friends can’t see, “so, who is she~” Kai slides up beside him as he wraps an arm around Lloyd who huffs a smile at his friends teasing. 

“No one just someone I met.” Lloyd tries to play it off as if they didn’t know who Lloyd spends majority of his time with.

“It is (y/n)” Zane interjects as if solving the riddle, Lloyd groans as his team giggles and ooo’s fall from their mouths. “haha! Yes!” Kai hops happily as they walk out from the alley to drop off the bad guys at the police station, “I knew it!” Nya adds on to her brother’s excitement as Jay smiles and Cole laughs. 

“How’d you know?” Lloyd jumps along the roofs with his team, “it’s not hard to piece you guys together, I mean c’mon man” Kai looks back as he grabs onto a pole to sit on dangling his legs.

He then flips back to see Lloyd who was upside down, “You two are always together” Kai grins as Lloyd pushes past him Kai pulls himself up as he continues. 

“You guys are so cute~” Jay coos as he too joins in on the teasing making Lloyd roll his eyes,  “Alright I get it, I suck at hiding my feelings” Lloyd huffs as they finally reach the police station and drop the criminals on an unsuspecting cop. He jumps in surprise until he looks up seeing the ninja turn back to the monastery,

“Suck at it? Dude your terrible!” Cole finally speaks as the team laughs at his joke, “ahhaha, you guys are hilarious” Lloyd grumbles as they finally take a break when they got far enough from the city.

Kai grips Lloyd’s shoulder removing his mask, “when are you gonna confess?” Kai had on a smirk not seeing Lloyd’s face drop under his mask and heart sinking. 

“Wh-what, no. no way, I can’t confess! She’ll hate me and she doesn’t even know who I am” Jay stops Lloyd’s ramble with his own shock, “she doesn’t know you’re a ninja!” Cole then comes beside him and smacks his head. “No dummy, Lloyd being Garmadons son.” Jay rubs his head from the heavy hit as Lloyd looks back, “well that too,” Jay sticks out his tongue at Cole as the earth ninja raises his fist to hit him again.

“No way, she’s totally into you, you guys are like attached to the hip” Kai wraps his arm around Lloyd taking off his mask finally seeing Lloyd’s emotions,

“But what if she doesn’t!” his anxiety was at its peak thinking about you rejecting him as he’d be losing you as not a lover but as a friend.

Kai looks away to try and find the right words landing on Nya who looked just as lost as he was. “Well, Nya you hang out with (y/n) all the time in science. What does she say about Lloyd” Nya hums in a hiding tone, “sorry that’s classified girl talk, I’d be tarnished as a woman to share (y/n) secrets” Kai huffs as he walks to Nya, “couldn’t tell, your more manly than me~” Kai teases being an older brother again as Nya laughs with him then splashes his face with water with an unamused expression.

Lloyd looks to the ground as Zane shuffles his way into the chaos, “what do you think Zane, do I have any chance with (y/n)?” Lloyd asks as a last-ditch effort. He watches Zane’s eyes glow and his body convulsing as it finds an answer to Lloyd’s question. 

“Calculating…” after a short second a ‘ding!’ sounds off, stating that Zane was done calculating. A piece of paper files from Zane’s mouth as the ninja gather around Lloyd. 

99%

“Hey that’s great!” Kai shouts as Jay and Cole pat Lloyd’s shoulder in congratulations, “What’s wrong Lloyd?” Nya tilts her head as she noticed Lloyd wasn’t as happy as the rest were. 

“It’s ninety nine percent.” Lloyd states as facts, “yea, perfect chance to me” Kai smiles as Nya shushes him letting Lloyd talk,

“That one percent, anything can happen in that one percent of me confessing to (y/n)” Zane nods as he interjects, “Lloyd is correct, (y/n) can find many reasons to not share intimate feelings with you, she could find out your relation to Garmadon, she could have a hatred for ninja. Or she could be attracted to the same sex.” “Hey Zane?” 

“Yes Nya-“ 

“Not helping.” 

Nya quickly shuts Zane up as they notice Lloyds defeated look, “Lloyd of course anything can happen, but you gotta look at the positive. There are plenty of reason why she could accept your confession!” his team nods,

“you’re both reader dorks!”

“She talks nonstop about you!”

“You both are together all the time.”

“You both are very cute together.”

“Calculations do not lie, Lloyd.” 

He looks up to his friends as he finally breaks for a small smile, “thanks guys, I guess, I just feel like. I finally have someone that I like outside of friends and family, it feels different when I look at them. I want to be by their side, and I want them to feel the same way that I do. I just don’t want to lose the only outside support that I truly have with her.” Lloyd’s friends start to hug him, “aww buddy” Jay squishes himself into the hug as Zane even joins in hearing the groans and heaves from his tight hold.

“But thanks, you guys. I really appreciate the words.” Lloyd huffs out as he was caught in the middle of a group hug. His friends laugh at his struggle as they finally loosen up, “no problem, man!” Kai pats his shoulder with a grin as Cole nods, “yea, we’re here for you!” “Always Lloyd.” Nya smiles kindly as Jay nods.

“Alright let’s head back before sensei gives us chores to do for being late.” Kai starts walking as the group follows,

“I’m hungry” Jay huffs at Cole, “You’re always hungry!”

Later that night Lloyd continues to text you when he got home, when he sits for dinner, his dad was with him. Garmadon coming home for dinner wasn’t new, after settling some things Koko felt comfortable enough to let him back into their lives. If he promises to not try and take over the city,

They negotiated once month takeover attempts.

Lloyd takes one last glance at his phone as he swoons seeing the last text of the night from you,

“’Goodnight! : )’”

Of course it wasn’t much to the average person, but every time Lloyd saw your good morning texts or goodnight texts. He’d feel so happy that you would take the time to wish him a good night.

It was obvious to Garmadon that his son was in his own space calling it la la land to Koko thinking his son was possessed when he would come home with a huge smile. But his ex-lover would only shake her head and grin at him and state he was in love, 

Garmadon squints his eyes at his son who was mixing his food with that same smile on his face.

He was glad that his son was happy, he just didn’t know how to communicate with him that was appropriate. Being out of the loop as a father for seventeen years has had him catching up on some things.

Garmadon whines to Koko stating his son wasn’t cool anymore going on as now all he wants to do is be on his phone, Koko puts a hand on her hip as she watches the feared overlord pout under her as he laid on the tile floor.

“You should talk to him then, get to know the girl he’s talking to and give advice, y’know like how a dad would.” Koko turns to cut vegetables for dinner as Garmadon hums as if pondering on Koko’s foreign words. He instantly gets up as if have a eureka moment. 

“Hmm, Yea, I’ll give him advice!” Koko hums as Garmadon looks for something else to do, she finally snaps from her trance, “w-wait, Garmadon no you suck at advice!” 

But too late, his mind was set as when Lloyd came home from patrol he would talk to him during dinner,

And here they were. Lloyd in front of Garmadon still playing with his food, Garmadon clears his throat causing Lloyd to look up arching a brow over his cowlick. 

“So, your mother has told me you’re interested in someone.” His bottom hands fold together as if having an important meeting with one of his generals, Lloyd groans, “ugh, mom dad’s bothering me!” Lloyd calls as Garmadon stands over the table in shock, “wha- nu-uh!” Lloyd squints at his father as he sinks into his chair as if to get away from an embarrassing conversation.

“Garmadon, don’t make me get the broom.” Koko calls from the kitchen, “Wha-but I didn’t do! He-“ Garmadon huffs as he flops back down on his chair giving up as he looks to his son again who was now eating quickly.

“I just notice how…happy you seem, that’s all” Lloyd stops shoveling food in his mouth as he swallows, taking in his father’s words, seeing Lloyd stops Garmadon takes the chance to continue. “I…enjoy it when I see you happy, I hope you continue to feel this way.” Garmadon peaks to see Lloyd’s smile. Lloyd knew his dad was trying to make up for lost years, and every effort he made caused Lloyd to want to be near him. 

“Thanks dad” Garmadon takes a moment to process as a smile grows on the overlords’ lips, it was a toothy happy smile. The genuine enjoyment of his son thanking him and calling him dad.

“y-you’re welcome…son” Garmadon looks down at his plate as he scratches the table his smile still big.

There was a comfortable silence between the two, the only noises were the scrapes of Lloyd’s fork on his plate. 

“So, was that her texting?” Garmadon breaks it with more questions Lloyd sighs “yea, it was… she texted me ‘goodnight’” there was that la la land smile again as Garmadon hummed as if thinking of something that was upsetting him. He wanted to keep the comment to himself, but it slipped out,

“hm, probably to text other guys.” He mumbles out sassily,

And down went Lloyd’s mood plummeting, Koko wasn’t far as an audible gasp sounded from the kitchen fueling Lloyd’s sudden appropriate change of mood.

“Garmadon! Why did you say that you idiot!” Koko instantly got her spatula and smacked the back of Garmadon’s head. 

“Ack! What it’s true! It’s 7:30pm what person goes to bed at this hour?” Garmadon rubs his head as he squints at Koko, 

“People that have lives and don’t spend all night scheming to take over a CITY!!” Koko screeches her frustrations at her idiotic ex-husband as Lloyd slips under the table hearing another thwack and a groan from the overlord.

Later that night Lloyd sat in his room staring down at his phone, the ‘goodnight’ stared right back at him.

He sighs as he turns over, staring up at his ceiling, he drags his hands down his face with a groan thinking back on his dad’s words. He really had no filter, knowing this Lloyd probably should’ve expected something like that to fly out his mouth.

But damn did it hit hard.

Were you really texting other people?

He wouldn’t blame you if you were though, Lloyd thought about so many reasons as to why you would.

He could be boring you,

Annoying you, 

You might’ve wanted to talk to someone that didn’t have red eyes,

Or sharp teeth or was the son of an overlord.

Insecure Lloyd being insecure again. He forces his hands down as a tired sigh escapes his lips again as he rolls over one last time to go to sleep. 

Closing his eyes, he thinks of anything that would be better than this, anything that will take his mind off his constant worrying and sinking pit feelings.

Or the anticipation in his heart for you to text him again. But those were only thoughts, so he decides to sleep to continue his bullishness thoughts-

‘briing’ ‘briing’

Lloyd’s eyes shot up as he lifts his body up to search for his phone that was under the covers, looking down at it he sees your contact. He pauses for a moment as he ruffles his hair squinting at his phone as if the bright light was lying to him about who was calling. 

He clears his throat, he has never spoken to you on the phone before, but he knew his phone was ringing a bit too long so instead of worrying he slides the green dial and answers the phone.

“…Hello?”

“h-hey, Lloyd” it’s like Lloyd could hear your smile, as in turn he as well, the dark clouds disperse as he lays back down.

“Hey.” He couldn’t say anything else but a greeting, so happy that you called him, you giggle on the other line sending him soaring to cloud nine. 

“’m sorry for calling you, I didn’t know who else to call.” Lloyd could hear something moving in the background, were you now getting into bed?

“No no, it’s fine. I thought you were going to bed?” he inhales deeply as he turns over putting his phone on speaker, but still low enough so it didn’t wake his mom who was next door.

“I was, but I couldn’t” it was too vague for Lloyd to understand,

“What?” he asks as he hears a soft sigh fall from the other line, once again he hears fiddling in the background. Were you nervous about something?

“(y/n), is everything okay?” Lloyd asks unsure if he should be worried about your sudden call.

“n-no! everything is fine. I’m sorry, I’m just being stupid” you laugh softly, 

“Don’t say that, you’re not stupid, at least, you can’t be more stupid than me~” he jokes as you both quietly laugh.

Your laughter dies down, “…you’re smart too, especially in history” Lloyd’s face turns pinks as he hums. “You’re not bad at science” he compliments as well, 

You huff, “I tryy” you whine as Lloyd chuckles. “So, why did you call me again?” there was a pause on the other end.

It was long to where Lloyd thought you had hung up,

“I just, really wanted to hear your voice.”

It was simple, your voice quiet to where if Lloyd hadn’t paid attention, he would’ve missed it. But he heard it, and so did his heart. 

“Oh.” Was all he could say, his face red and heart stuttering, butterflies running wild and head spinning. 

“S-sorry, I don’t sleep well by myself, I used to call my friend, but she isn’t available. S-so I thought, maybe you’d be up. I just really wanna talk to someone, I don’t want to be alone.”

Like a river it came flowing down, your face completely red as you squeaked out each word. Wishing that Lloyd had that on recording just so he could hear each word repeated.

“Oki, let’s talk” Lloyd spoke so calmly as if his face wasn’t about to explode if you said anything else his heart might explode with it. 

“Oki” your smile grows bigger, “how is your night?” you ask starting conversation, Lloyd grins,

“It’s better now that you called.”

You guys have been talking for hours, mainly Lloyd leading with things that he likes, it got deeper as you both spoke about fears. Even Lloyd shed some light to his insecurities, it made him feel better to confide in someone to talk about what he worries about and for them to do the same. It was as if you two were taking each other’s garbage and throwing it out together, soon Lloyd is quiet for a little bit a comfortable silence hits the both of you. 

It was going on for a while as Lloyd assumed you went to sleep, your phone then hangs up. Lloyd had heard feet walking into your room and an older women’s voice presuming to be your mom stating how you must have fallen asleep on the phone.

Lloyd smiles down at his phone as he too closes his eyes, warm and fluffy feelings enter his chest. Falling asleep he decides to call you tomorrow morning to wish you a good morning text this time.

AAAA I finisheddd hehehe ( ◡̀_◡́)ᕤ oki but frfr I hope you guys enjoyed I love seeing you guys like my other posts like it said it really motivates me to continue ᯓᡣ𐭩 ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ Love, ⋆˚࿔ Karrots 𝜗𝜚˚⋆

[agentem]

Another thing about Agatha All Along I have a question about is the colors of magic.

Each of the witches in the Coven have a different color of magic. This is a good idea so visually you know who is doing things when characters fight.

But it's also implied by the trials and the ballad that different types of magic are associated with different colors. Like green witches have green magic. But I would like to know if the color is because of the type of witch they are or just, like, the color of their soul--who that character is.

Like Wanda has red magic. Alice is also associated with the color red, but it is slightly orange-r, if that is a word. Hers is more like a flame, than a straight bolt of red. The show is purposeful about that. The leaves on the way to the fire trial are orange and red too, whereas the leaves on the rest of the road are varying shades of blue, purple, yellow, and green. But they are all one color, you know?

Most of the covens that are shown all have the same color: the Salemites from WandaVision have blue magic, the first Coven Agatha kills (with the woman who barged up to her at Nicky's grave, fuck that lady) have yellow magic, the murdered Victorian coven has orangey magic, the murdered 30s/40s Coven has blue magic, [i can't see the color of the magic of the 80s Coven)

But "our" Coven is many different colors. They are a rainbow. Are they unique? Or are most covens of all the same type of magic user?

There is something about how Agatha's magic is purple and the Salemites have blue, that makes me think that is how they know she is the "wrong" type of witch. Or Agatha did something to make her magic purple? Or did they just want to kill her because she was (naturally) different?

And, if Billy has blue magic, does that mean his magic is similar to Agatha's mother? (Billy's is a darker shade so we might be in the Wanda's magic vs. Alice's magic situation. Maximoffs are just so special they get their own magic?)

But then if Agatha learned blue magic--or whatever it is called--growing up, is she a good person to teach him? Or is his a darker shade of blue so it's not the same kind of magic? Or is this just a visual language that says nothing about the type of person or magic the person wields?

Can we assume the yellow coven, with the bitch who interrupted Agatha's funeral for her son, was a coven of divination witches? Maybe she was bopping around time and didn"t realize how rude it was to interrupt a funeral? Wow now I am the bitch.

Jac Schaeffer called Agatha a "spirit witch." Are there other spirit witches with purple magic? Or is it just Agatha? Can Agatha tell by looking at them what kind of magic they have or would have? Can she tell HOW MUCH power someone has? She doesn't seem to recognize a lot of power in Billy until the Door actually does open? But she also seems to show deference to Lilia by telling her about how to not get killed? Or is that deference just because Lilia is older?

I want to read into this but I am not sure I should.

[randomameteur]

Y'know, for all the fandom tomfoolery around sans's heehoo glowey eyeball, I don't think I've heard anyone bring up anything truly plot-relevant or thematic about it, so here are my observations:

In UNDERTALE, virtually all battle sprites (save for the healthbar and battle options) are black and white:

This applies consistently with virtually every monster battle sprite as well.

When a monster's fight features some kind of color, it's usually a really big deal: When you first see the color blue in battle, it signifies the beginning of the blue attack and blue SOUL mechanics, when you see green, you get the green SOUL mechanic, when you see purple, you get muffet's signature purple SOUL mechanic, Yellow is also a SOUL mechanic etc, etc. Characters that introduce new SOUL mechanics are usually the more important ones: Papyrus, Undyne, Mettaton/Alphys, and Muffet.

Additionally, colors have thematic implications, and this is the part that actually starts connecting to sans' sprite.

As far as memory carries me, the first time you'll ever see a consistantly colorful element of a battle sprite is against Asgore.

Asgore sports a trident worthy of a fight against the devil himself, and it's the same ruby-red we come to associate with the player, Frisk's SOUL, and by extension DETERMINATION. In a way, this fits. Asgore has been the most (naturally) determined being in the underground for as long as until Frisk arrives. His drive to free his people, though not fully put into action due to his guilt and ineptitude to handle responsibilities on his own, is IMMENSE, and only someone essentially made of determination can overpower that.

However, the red player soul is not the only one to bear any kind of meaning. Thanks to "ball game" in snowdin, we know the virtues the other SOULs embody as well:

Red signifies DETERMINATION

Orange signifies BRAVERY

Yellow signifies JUSTICE

Green signifies KINDNESS

Cyan signifies PATIENCE

Blue signifies INTEGRITY

And Purple signifies PERSERVERANCE.

Green shows up all the time in healing projectiles, no questions there as to why, but ONLY ONE CHARACTER has not one, but TWO of these colors present in their battle sprite: Cyan and Yellow.

Now tell me, who in UNDERTALE's main cast is A: Willing to wait all fucking day for something to happen and B: Willing AND capable of actively judging you the ENTIRE time?

Sans the motherfucking skeleton.

(Best gif i could find, my phone really doesn't like the gif selector!)

Sans's left eye.... eye socket? His eye thingy rapidly flashes Cyan and Yellow whenever he uses his strongest attacks. If we're to assume a SOUL color appears where its corresponding attribute is at its limit or highest prominance, then this makes a lot of sense.

Sans is the living definition of letting things be, he'll wait as long as humanly possible to so much as pick up a sock.... and then wait some more. His patience is perhaps TOO great, and largely manifests in a sort of apathetic complacency so thick that he won't even fight you until there's literally no other option left. When sans DOES fight you, he's not even remotely determined or anything, rather he knows that his only shot--monsterkind's only shot-- at survival is not merely killing you, but in making sure the experience sucks so much for so long that you decide to stay dead and quit the game. Sans is not determined, he is desperate, and he'll have the patience to wait forever if it means stopping you.

Sans is also very observant, like.... SCARY observant, he does NOT remember you're genocides, but he certainly can extrapolate that they've happened after a good long look at your expression every time you're forced to reload your save. This observance plays into his incredibly strong sense of justice, which is likely why he's the royal judge. Sans' way of things is very "what goes around, will eventually come around", and this even manifests in his battle mechanic literally being called Karmatic Retribution, or KR.

Sans knows better than anyone (other than flowey) that he cannot possibly send you to the hell he knows you deserve, but he can absolutely build one of his own for you, and if he had the energy to do so he'd keep you there forever until you, the player, make the one good remaining decision to quit the game.

TLDR: Sans's glowing eye is not only intimidating and fancy, but also a direct reprisentation of his core virtues at their absolute strongest.

[gremlinataneasel]

Colour Gang as the species that invented the stick figure!

Some explanations for designs below:

Red: they’re a very physically active character, so they would cover up to minimise small injuries, but nothing baggy. small clothes + bodysuit means that they can still engage in freedom of movement without getting grazes every five seconds. they’ve got the frosted tips because they like to imagine a scenario where they so super saiyan and all the hair becomes red (also cause it makes them stick out from the others with the two colours). i stand by red being an angry birds fan, and also a fan of tank tops, ecetera. they Will Not wear shoes cause they think it unfairly separates them from the animals, and also barefoot more suits their style of combat. i wanted to keep the body type slender with bulk in the upper limbs, going into small extremities.

Blue: go to my headcanon post to see my thing about their boots, and they also like to have baggy pants tucked into them, further reducing risk of dangerous contact with substances. the bandana is pretty much always there, but it keeps the hair back to varying degrees depending on what they’re doing. i am a firm believer in big hair with loopy curls for blue, think rose-quartz style, and it’s sometimes used as ‘emergency storage’ (where do you think they keep all the netherwarts?). classic apron with massive pocket for goodies, pretty self-explanatory, with an undershirt that’s mainly for coverup. when i saw others making blue stockier, my life was changed for the better, so they’ve obviously got a rectangle build in my brain, and i’d argue this body type + breakdancing is so so cool. burn scars from the lava, not as much, though, cause i reckon the sticks’ scars kinda reduce in area when they respawn, cause the physical consequence doesn’t exist, but they Still Remember.

Green: i see your ‘little top big pant’ green and raise you ‘big top little pant’, purely cause i reckon they like to keep their leg movement largely unrestricted but like to maintain fashion from the waist up. the huge jacket would have an adventure setup in the middle, with the sleeves attached from a letterman jacket, aka the jacket attributed to those who take pride in their (many) achievements. i think despite it all, green is still one of the more sentimental ones, showing off their friend’s colours more obviously and associating each article of clothing with a special time in their life. big sneakers are a go, specifically ones that seem to have large unnecessary puffy shapes on them, looking borderline inflatable. i mention his constant hair change in the headcanon post as well, but he more or less sticks to the faded top with a slight mullet, and a box braid at the side for fun. i went the opposite of red and, still going for a shorter than average, the limbs bulk up at the extremities like in the panty and stocking style, showing how he represents a flashy era of internet.

Yellow: truly a character to wear big and baggy pants, with lots of hidden pockets for Odds and Ends - the waist structure keeps them in place. they definitely know about the dangers of carpal tunnel, so this pair of gloves is one in a set of different ones designed for minimal strain in various activities (these ones are for casual combat). they definitely have a supply of different t-shirts cause they’re easiest to work in. building on their ergonomic attitude to literally everything, the corn rows into tied-up braids keep the hair out of their face whilst still looking flashy and ready for anything. the sandals are inevitable, trust me when i say that yellow would wear sandals. especially ones that look like they were found at a charity shop. didn’t quite know what to do with yellow’s body type, so i just did a bunch of small and special things, including the most consistent tall and lanky stature of the group and slightly rounded features.

[anyplaceisparadise]

The Use of Colour in Gladiator II: Black, Part 1

Once again before I get into it, here's my copy and paste from previous iterations of this: I referred quite a bit to some of my favourite books, The World According to Colour: A Cultural History by James Fox, The Secret Lives of Colour by Kassia St. Clair, and Emperor of Rome and SPQR by Mary Beard while working on this. I highly recommend all of them! These are definitely not mind blowing ideas here, just stuff that came to me because this movie has given me a severe case of brain rot. If you disagree, that’s cool. If you’ve mentioned any of this before, I love that we’re on the same wavelength. If you think this is ridiculous and I’ve gone off the deep end, you are correct.

Past Colour Posts: White Yellow Purple Brown Black Pt. 2 Red Blue Green Honourable Mentions

Black can be used in Gladiator II to represent exposure.

Black is most obviously associated with darkness, with hiding, with secrets, or evil. It's often the colour we connect with villains, or the "bad guys" in stories.

James Fox writes, "Just as we can only 'feel' a hole by touching the edges around it, so we 'see' black by observing the lightness that surrounds or precedes it. Black, in other words, is made by light" (The World According to Colour, James Fox, pg. 24). When characters wear black in Gladiator II, I argue that they are exposed, either for what they truly are deep inside, or their thoughts and ideas.

The first character we see in black is Geta, at Thraex's party.

One thing that is interesting to me about the twins wearing black is that every time they do so, it is combined with a metallic colour. Geta, with the silver here, and Caracalla with gold. Other characters that wear black do not get that same colour combo, and I'd argue it's because the twins are emperors, with gold and silver being used to represent wealth and power.

Arguably, Geta's outfit here is more silver than it is black. But I think that works well here, because at Thraex's party, Geta draws attention to himself after the fight by standing up, walking around, clapping, yelling out. All eyes are already on him and Caracalla, but he brings them even more attention, even more exposure. This is where the silver comes in. He's an emperor after all. He's flashy, he's important. However, he doesn't anticipate Lucius embarrassing him in front of everyone by reciting the poem. Geta's shortcoming's have been exposed for all to see. He is not the great, scary, imposing emperor he portrays. And this is where the black comes in, his weaknesses and failures peeking out for everyone to see.

Geta also wears black (and silver and gold) in the deleted adoption scene.

Geta and Caracalla ask Lucilla to adopt them, thus securing legitimacy for themselves and connecting them to Marcus Aurelius. Their weakness, their lack of authority, and their tenuous position as emperors is exposed in this scene, and it's a shame it never made it to the final film.

Lucilla also wears a black cloak when she meets with Lucius for the first time and exposes herself as his mother. Her vulnerability is on display, and she is open to hurt. And she is hurt, Lucius isn't receptive, he's angry, he denies her. But her secret is out there, and she speaks it aloud for the first time while wearing black (the blue dress is for another post).

Lucius and Acacius both wear black as well.

It's definitely a practicality thing (as I wrote about in the post on brown), to wear dark colours while in battle, but for the sake of the post, let's look at it again. In the opening of the film, Acacius is wearing dark armour to capture more land for Rome and for the emperors. He is exposing his role as general and conqueror, but he also exposes how he truly feels about it all with the rather sad way he speaks about his actions.

It's fitting that Acacius wears that same armour in his final fight. He is fighting Lucius, who even if we ignore the entire coup plot, is from the place Acacius just raided and captured. This is the first time Lucius and Acacius have spoken or even really been close to each other, and Acacius' actions in the raid are exposed to the very person that was impacted by it.

He is doubly exposed in this fight, as the entire point is that the coup plot has been revealed and his transgressions against the emperors is exposed to the entirety of Rome (or at least, those in the colosseum).

Lucius wears black armour that belonged to Maximus at the end of the movie. The symbolism is pretty obvious, it's a full circle moment here. His true identity is exposed, his birthright is right there for the taking, and he wears his deceased father's armour to defend his mother. The cat is full out of the bag by the time Lucius puts this armour on.

Caracalla also wears black (and gold). The first time is at the second round of games:

This entire scene is super interesting to me, mostly because of Geta. At this point in the movie, Geta is seen as in control, the more stable twin and emperor. However, he is really losing it here. He rubs his gums, he rocks in his seat, and is generally twitchy and fidgety. In other words, he acts the way we are meant to view Caracalla.

Caracalla wearing black and gold here exposes him via Geta. He looks to Geta in this scene for reassurance. He fiddles with his fingers and straightens up in his seat as he looks at Geta. His role as an emperor is on display because Geta is acting so much not like an emperor here. Geta becoming a little unglued shows Caracalla's usual behaviour, but also exposes their lack of control. If Geta is rocking in his seat, where does that leave Caracalla?

This is also the scene where Lucius shoots an arrow into the emperor's box seats. No one is hurt, but it's a direct display of how their roles have impacted everyone in that colosseum, even themselves.

Caracalla also wears black once he is sole emperor.

This is his darkest outfit. We know that he doesn't remember what happened to Geta, nor does he realize the implications or consequences of what is happening. He is ill, he is mad, and while Rome probably already knew that, he doesn't have Geta to hold him back anymore. He full exposes his illness in this scene by naming Dondus as first consul.

He is also out of Geta's shadow. Throughout the film, Geta has been the one to make decisions and to speak for the two of them. Geta holds Caracalla back from gutting Lucilla and Acacius in the night scene (where the darkness of the night exposes the coup). Geta is the one that makes the mercy/no mercy decisions (although he does ask for input the first time around, I'll give him that). Geta is running the show because it is necessary; Caracalla is ill (does Cara even realize he is ill? Debatable). We also know that Geta has been this way their whole lives as mentioned in their final moments together. It was Geta that took the blows from their father to spare Caracalla.

But here, dressed in black and gold, Caracalla is in the driver's seat so to speak. He's the one in control. He's sole emperor. And when you are sole emperor, you also become the sign of the times. There is no one else to shift the blame on to, no twin left to shoulder the consequences for you. Geta protected Caracalla all their lives, till the very end, but he can't protect him anymore. It's all on Caracalla now.

So ends part one. Part two is a piece of absolute brain rot that is related to the idea of exposure but it veered off course so it gets a separate post.

[canary-prince]

Poems I Associate With Various Yellowjackets Characters

I'd make edits of them if I was motivated enough. I can't find one I like for Mari and I have a single stanza I like for Akilah but wish something more substantial and had showed up for her. If you guys are into poetry, feel free to make suggestions.

Shauna: deeply-rooted, Spider Perry, full text

mugwort and the water boils red willow and the sickle harvests pennyroyal and the sun dries juniper and the tea steeps wild carrot drink deep, drink up silphium we will hold you through it black cohosh until you rise from your bed of blood Natalie: To The Young Who Want To Die, Gwendolyn Brooks, full text

Sit down. Inhale. Exhale. The gun will wait. The lake will wait. The tall gall in the small seductive vial will wait will wait: will wait a week: will wait through April. You do not have to die this certain day. Death will abide, will pamper your postponement. I assure you death will wait. Death has a lot of time. Death can attend to you tomorrow. Or next week. Death is just down the street; is most obliging neighbor; can meet you any moment.

You need not die today. Stay here–through pout or pain or peskyness. Stay here. See what the news is going to be tomorrow.

Graves grow no green that you can use. Remember, green’s your color. You are Spring.

Lottie: Crepuscule, e.e. cummings, full text with modified formatting

I will wade out until my thighs are steeped in burn- ing flowers I will take the sun in my mouth and leap into the ripe air with closed eyes to dash against darkness in the sleeping curves of my body Shall enter fingers of smooth mastery with chasteness of sea-girls Will I complete the mystery of my flesh I will rise after a thousand years lipping flowers and set my teeth in the silver of the moon

Misty: Me Up At Does, e.e. cummings, full text

Me up at does

out of the floor quietly Stare

a poisoned mouse

still who alive

is asking What have i done that

You wouldn’t have

Laura Lee: Queen of Swords , Judy Grahn, brief quote

She is veiled You can only see part of her at a time-- a crescent, like the moon. Even so, she is so luminious she hurts the eyes.

Van: Death Comes To Me Again, Dorianne Laux, full text

Death comes to me again, a girl in a cotton slip, barefoot, giggling. It’s not so terrible she tells me, not like you think, all darkness and silence. There are windchimes and the smell of lemons, some days it rains, but more often the air is dry and sweet. I sit beneath the staircase built from hair and bone and listen to the voices of the living. I like it, she says, shaking the dust from her hair, especially when they fight, and when they sing.

Taissa: Let July Be July, Morgan Harper Nichols, full text

Let July be July

Let August be August

And let yourself be

Even in the uncertainty

You don’t have to fix everything

You don’t have to solve everything

And you can still find peace and grow

In the wild of changing things

Akilah: Tea, Leila Chatti, single stanza

I can barely get out of bed. So I make tea. I stand at the window while I wait. My feet are cold and the radio plays its little sounds. I do the small thing I know how to do to care for myself. I am trying to notice joy which means survive. I do this all day, and then the next.

Jackie: a girl is asked about herself for the first time, Spencer Wollan, full text

i was at the dinner table the first time someone told me, “God does not exist.” I haven’t had a dream since then.

sometimes, i imagine dying like it’s a good magic trick—sometimes, i imagine dying and it feels like driving home

often, i want to pry open the mouth of a lion cut out her tongue, and wait for her to fight back with just teeth

what i mean to say, is i’m nothing to scream about. nothing to shine a light on or give a pair of hands to.

what i mean to say, is i’m just another way out of the ocean.

what i mean to say, is i drove home from my own baptism fully believing i had just narrowly escaped drowning.

Mari:

Travis: If I Never See You Again, Charles Bukowski, full text with intact formatting

If I never see you again I will always carry you inside outside

on my fingertips and at brain edges

and in centers centers of what I am of what remains

Melissa: Her Kind, Anne Sexton, full text with slightly modified formatting

I have gone out, a possessed witch, haunting the black air, braver at night; dreaming evil, I have done my hitch over the plain houses, light by light: lonely thing, twelve-fingered, out of mind. A woman like that is not a woman, quite. I have been her kind. I have found the warm caves in the woods, filled them with skillets, carvings, shelves,    closets, silks, innumerable goods; fixed the suppers for the worms and the elves:    whining, rearranging the disaligned. A woman like that is misunderstood. I have been her kind. I have ridden in your cart, driver, waved my nude arms at villages going by,    learning the last bright routes, survivor    where your flames still bite my thigh and my ribs crack where your wheels wind.    A woman like that is not ashamed to die.    I have been her kind.

Callie: The Girl With Antlers, Ansel Elkins, First stanza

I tore myself out of my own mother's womb. There was no other way to arrive in this world. A terrified midwife named me Monster and left me in the pine woods with only the moon. My mother's blood dripped from my treed head.

In a dream, my mother came to me and said if I was to survive I must find joy within my own wild self.

When I awoke I was alone in solitude's blue woods.

[whatwasimadefor13]

Prison

A/n: there are like no fan fics for natasha lyonne, so i decided to write some, cause why not? :)

Nicky Nichols x Fem!Reader

Warnings: prison, reader's pet peeve is people cursing, sex contest hints of a bad life outside of prison, car theft mentioned, nicky is called a junkie, lorna is hinted at being crazy but that's normal

A/n: also this is a mix of the first episode and the sex contest between boo and nicky in like season two. i saw someone do something with that before and wanted to do my own take on it.

Imprisoned for grand theft auto, your first day of a five-year sentence had arrived. You knew how you looked; you were considerably different from most other inmates, having a normal aura around you. You realized your freedom disappeared the second the bus let you off. The guards directed the other transfers to line up at the side of the bus. You followed as the other inmates lined up.

You were observing your surroundings, and you took note of how serious the other inmates seemed. The way they carried themselves made you shiver. You noticed another girl who looked very out of place, even more than you, but you tried not to associate yourself with her, as you knew she would probably be the first one to be picked on. You had been described the prison dynamic by your fellow car thieves as they had been in a couple of times, but it felt so different from how they described it.

Following the guards’ intake and processing of the inmates; You were given an orange uniform and sent, along with a group, to a ‘residential’ inmate who was in a tan uniform. You noticed that everyone else was wearing the tan uniform, but before you can ask, the lady introduces herself in a Boston, mixed with Brooklyn accent, “Hello there. My name is Lorna, but if you want, you can call me Morello, cause that’s my last name.” You take notice of her enthusiastic rambling, as your sister would do the same thing.

Lorna was quite gorgeous, you thought to yourself, she had beautiful curled hair with a bold red lipstick, kinda had this crazy look in her eye, but you liked it, it added character. She gave a brief tour of the place, and you felt some eyes staring at the back of your head. You turned around to see two inmates, one was a blonde woman with unkempt curly hair and big brown eyes, the other was a butch-looking woman with short black hair and what looked like green eyes but you couldn’t tell from so far away. But you noticed they both had lots of tattoos, and they seemed to be chatting to each other about something while looking back and forth at each other and me. You just ignored it and continued listening to Lorna. After she brought you to your four-bedroom cell, you kinda chatted to her by yourself as the others settled in.

“Sorry for being a bother, but what is this orange and tan uniform deal? Do you have to pay more for the tan ones, or did they run out and give us extra?” Lorna had a small chuckle before stating, “The new inmates have orange uniforms for a while before they give you the tan ones. They are understaffed and under-funded, so it takes a while to process stuff around here.” Lorna smiles. She saw you taking a small glance at the two still talking and watching you. She then stared at the other two with an irritable glare.

The curly-haired one seemed to groan as she turned to the other one and gestured to leave, and both started to walk away. Lorna turned back to you and picked herself up with a smile, “Sorry about those two, they have no manners.” You were still curious, so you asked, “Who are they?”. Lorna kept her smile, “The curly hair one is Nicky, and the other is Boo. Be careful, they might be my friends, but that does not mean you should be friendly with them,” Lorna said, confusing you. You just nodded and headed to your top bunk. Your bunkmate gave you a stare as you headed for the bottom bunk, so you decided to go for the top one.

You lay there until you noticed people headed to dinner, so you followed some other inmates. As you got in line, you noticed the curly-haired lady, whom you thought was Nicky, got in line behind you. She was staring at you for a while before she spoke up. “Hey there, sweet cheeks,” she said with this raspy voice that kinda sounded like a smoker.

“Nicky, right?” You replied, just trying to make this line go by faster. “Yep, but the guards call me Nichols cause they are special or some shit”. Your eyes raised at the curse. Nichols noticed, “Don’t like me cussing?” You bit your lip, trying to make the subject pass and not comment on it. Nicky squinted her eyes, “Are you gonna answer, hon?” You roll your eyes, “Sorry, just a pet peeve of mine.” Nicky’s eyes widened as she laughed, causing the people in front of us to look at her weirdly. You mumbled something that got Nicky’s attention. “What did you say, love?” You rolled your eyes again. “None of your business.” You quickly fixed your eyes in front of you again, tapping your foot, waiting for the line to hurry up.

“Come on, you don’t find me entertaining,” the inmate whined. “I don’t know if you haven’t given me anything to work with.” Nicky gave a small nod. “I guess I haven’t, I can change that. What are you in for, anyway?” Nicky asked curiously. You turned back to Nicky, debating telling her you decided what’s the harm, “grand theft auto”. Nicky snorted her nose. “You don’t look like the stealing cars type,” she says while looking at you again. “Is that supposed to be an insult?” You asked, annoyed at Nicky’s bluntness. “Nah, don’t worry, hun you look good.” Nicky smiled with her flirtatious grin. You felt a brief flutter in your stomach, but you ignored it. “Mhm, I know,” you said, trying to seem confident.

As you got to the front of the line, you began getting your food. It might not have been the best, but it was better than not having the money to eat. Like you did outside. As you got to the end of the line, you realized you would have to find a table to sit at. They all looked aggressive. Approaching them would likely start a fight. Nicky noticed and smiled, “Why don’t you sit with me, sweetheart? You can be with the ‘popular’ table like I’m sure you sat with in highschool.” You debated it and sighed in defeat, “Fine.” Nicky smiled wide at your submission and led you to a table which you noticed had another new inmate wearing orange. Nicky lowered herself onto the table, making her presence known, and you did the same right next to her.

”Piper, you can’t be taking advice from a nun and a hippie”. You sat down next to her as the older lady that was very skinny and built at the same time retorted, “By all means, seek out the supreme wisdom of the junkie philosopher”. You take note of the use of the word junkie, noticing that Nicky fit that description very well. “I pray for you, Nicky,” the lady with short red hair who had slightly grown out said. Nicky responded with “Aww, I pray for you too, sister…I lust after you, Yoga Jones, those sinewy arms.” Nicky joked and laughed, “You have got to love a yoga body.”

As they were talking, you were taking note of what they were saying. Jasper felt her self lose focus for a second before Nicky interrupted her thoughts, “You like pussy, love?” Your cheeks flush up. “If you’re asking if I’m a lesbian, then yes,” you respond after pulling yourself together. Nicky smiled and turned to Piper, “What about you, Piper? You like pussy? Or do you prefer pipe like your name suggests? I’m getting sapphic vibes from you.” Piper didn’t respond and the nun lady told Nicky to stop. Nicky came back with a quick comeback. While they were chatting, you noticed a darker, short-haired redhead coming over to the table. She had impeccable eyeliner, and you kinda wanted some tips, as you can only do your waterline. She passed over a yogurt, from what you could assume, to Nicky. She replied with, “Thank you, mommy,” but it didn’t seem to be sexually. She then passed one to the nun and yoga lady, and they both said their thanks.

I saw Piper leaning over and asking Nicky, “She’s your mom?” You looked at Nicky with an expression saying you wanted to know, too. “Ah, Maternal figurehead. My actual mother lives in Brazil with her boyfriend, Paulo, who destroys rainforests and collects photorealistic art. She is a cunt. I am an embarrassment.” She said before turning to you and muttering an apology for the curse. You roll your eyes as the other girl with Nicky from before comes over to the eyeliner redhead.

“Red, can I get one of those?” She was talking about the yogurt Nicky got. Red replied, “You got what I asked you for?” Boo responded, saying something about she’s working on it. Red rolled her eyes and even you felt her displeasure, “So am I, Treat comes when I sleep better” Boo looked to Nicky and Nicky looked away. Boo got up in defeat and almost left, but had to wink at you before leaving. You flared your nose in disgust, not liking the wink. Red talked about how hard it is for her to get what she asked for before asking, “Who are they?” talking about me and Piper. Nicky responded “Chapman, some self-surrender, thinks she fancy. And that is y/n hottest car thrive I’ve met to date.” You roll your eyes again, but a little more playfully, beginning to enjoy Nicky’s presence. Red gets up and gives both of you yogurt cups. You smile politely and thank her, while Chapman asks, “What do I have to do for it?”

“You both are new, you’re one of us, consider it a gift,” Red responded. You thanked her again and began to eat it even though you don’t like yogurt. Chapman also says thank you before saying, “The food here is disgusting.” You gave her a weird look as everyone else looked down. “What?” she said. Nicky bit her cheek before responding, “Did I mention Red runs the kitchen?” Piper muttered a “shit…I’m sorry” as you shuttered at your pet peeve. Nicky looked at you with a worried expression on her face for Chapman. Red got up and said something to Piper, but all you were paying attention to was how Nicky’s hand was slightly touching your side, rubbing circles. It was a nice gesture, but you still gave her the side eye. She didn’t stop, and to be honest, it was comfortable.

You focused back on the situation when Nicky stated, “Holy shit. That was an epic fuck-up” You looked at her weird again and she mumbled an apology. You then noticed Lorna headed over to the table, she sat down next to you, “Ello there again, L/n.” You smiled at her, “Hey Lorna”. Lorna peeks at Chapman, who is just staring at the yogurt, “You gonna eat that, Chapman, because I’ll gladly take it.” Nicky clicks her tongue, signaling to not talk to her. Lorna rolls her eyes and continues talking to you about a Christopher. You nod your head as she talks and smile.

Nicky interrupts at some point, “We should head out soon, it seems people are leaving bout now.” You nod and say your goodbyes the group and head back to your bunk. As you approach your room, you hear Nicky from behind, “Dang, you’re a fast walker,” she announces, changing her normal swear. You nod as you climb onto your bed. She follows you into your room and watches as you get on your bed. She moves to the head of your bed and rests her head on the railing, smiling at you. You saw her standing figure and raised your eyebrow, “What do you want?” Nicky grins, her brown eyes meeting yours, “Come on, I can’t just hang out with you?” You gave her a side eye as you look up at the ceiling, “What were you and boo, I think that’s her name, talking about anyway?”

Nicky looked down for a second before looking back up at you and responding, “Just something stupid, you don’t need to worry about it.” You did not feel reassured at all. “I don’t like liars.” Your eyes squint, seeing Nicky’s unease. “Fine, me and boo have a… hookup contest… inmates are ranked on a scale from 1 to 10 and whoever gets the most points wins.” You were confused how that had to deal with what you were asking but you let her continues. “Guards are an automatic 10 but I haven’t got any of them,” You nod to her words, “So who is winning?” Nicky then let out a smile, “me obviously but Boo is very close, she is only a point behind and I think she’s close to getting a 4. But the reason we were talking before is that we were gonna make you a 8 on the scale.”

You thought about it for a second and smiled, ”Well, thanks Nick, I appreciate it, but you won’t be getting those 8 points.” Nicky smirked, “We will see about that, sweetie. I’ll leave you alone for now. Don’t go cheating on me with Boo.” You stared at Nicky as she left, watching her confident presence leave the room.

A/n: I def want to make another part idk when, but I'll try.

[malfiora]

Dick Grayson headcanon

To set up for really stupid jokes, very cool references, and super deep cuts I want to make later:

He is both Romanian and Romani. (Yes, I learned only eight months ago that these words are false cognates of each other, and yes I am doubling down on my ignorance rather than admitting fault and moving on.) Here's how it works:

Mary (nee Lloyd) Grayson is Romani. She grew up in central/western Europe, traveling with her family and the circus.

John Grayson is of Gaelic descent and his family split and moved out of Ireland/Scotland – some went to the United States (settling in and near Gotham; this is documented by the Court of Owls), while others traveled east to Romania. This is where he meets Mary. This Gaelic lineage plays out in two ways: one, the surname Grayson derives from Middle English, and two, people of Gaelic descent often had dark hair and blue/violet eyes (as opposed to later Ires who are associated with red hair and green eyes).

Why this matters (to me):

We get to retain Dick's Romani identity and highlight a connection between the Romani people and Romania. For example, this fact that I love: The lăutari who perform at traditional Romanian weddings are virtually all Romani (Wikipedia). Romania is the country that has also the fourth largest Romani population.

We see this bear out in the comics a bit. We get Mary's backstory through Raptor in Nightwing (2016), and we get Dick being set up as a Dracula stand-in in DC vs. Vampires. See below (For context, Dracula is based on real-life Romanian ruler Vlad III, nicknamed Vlad the Impaler for his tendency to put his enemies' heads on spikes. Did I intentionally choose a panel of Dick impaling Bruce's chest with his fist because of this? Yes, yes I did.)

(And here's another tangent to underscore the ties that the Romani people have to Romania – in both Dracula and Nosferatu, the Romani are the ones who try to warn the main characters not to go to the castle because they know it's evil.)

[Rebirth] Nightwing (2016) #1

Text:

Raptor (narrating): She was young and full of fire. She didn't trust authority. Didn't trust anyone who thought there was more to life than jumping off something high and laughing. We went to the Hotel De Ville. We found what they'd been hiding there behind toothy smiles and empty promises. Vials of antibiotics and inoculation intended to be distributed to the poor unfortunates in the Cirque Romanes. We took what was ours. And then went to the mayor's home and took whatever else we wanted. She said he owed us. She said it was justice.

Raptor: I wasn't one to make oaths. But I made one that day. To her. To Marie the Skydancer. Mary Lloyd. Thief. Outlaw. Your mom.

DC vs. Vampires #6

Text:

Batman: [pained noise]

Nightwing: I think it's time we both stopped lying to our family, Father.

---

And we get to highlight cultural hallmarks (hopefully without stereotyping) from both communities. For example, Dick being a world-class gymnast makes a lot more sense when we remember that Romania consistently takes home gold medals for gymnastics; it is the country's top sport.

All of this to say:

This is how my brain makes sense of two seemingly contradictory pieces of information: the Grayson lineage being connected to Gotham as told in 2011 Nightwing versus Mary's backstory as told in 2016 Nightwing. While these are different canons, combining them actually makes Dick's identity more rich and realistic.

And of course I have to save face and say that in my jaydick fic Tongue Tied, I very intentionally made Dick a Romanian language instructor. (This is the first time I get to explain the rationale behind that – better late than never?)

[crepes-suzette-373]

Ichiji being "secretly a thug"

Even though he acts the most emotionless and really stiff, I get the impression Ichiji is kind of meant to be that trope of someone who looks like a statue and super elite normally but when nobody's looking they're either the biggest slob or just a gangster.

Look at the boys' clothes:

Yonji and Niji wear their shirts tucked in with belts like nerds. Ichiji doesn't.

Same thing with their "party clothes". Niji and Yonji wears fancy formal stuff like Judge, Ichiji kind of looks like he just rolled out of bed and put on a cloak on top. And plus his tattoo??? Tattoos are typically seen as "rebellious".

Well. Credits to @sangerie for mentioning that Ichiji looks absolutely pissed when they got stuck in the candy and he was berating Judge for looking really lame when they were at gunpoint. This prompted me to check the raws again, and... yeah, he absolutely broke character and his thug came out.

So I once mentioned that the way you can tell Ichiji's the one talking is because he's the only one with more polite speech, while Niji and Yonji talks more casually. In this one scene, he "broke" and talks thug.

The parts I marked in the speech bubbles are typical identifiers marking informal or crude speech.

The one marked in red is the ending particle -ze, usually used for emphasis. -ze is considered rough and almost rude, and based on what I saw among Japanese fans, this is usually associated with Niji (who most agrees talks like a thug a lot).

The fan translation got this slightly better, as they had translated that as "you look pathetic". 見苦しい is "unsightly". Added with the -ze ending, yes, translated as "you look pathetic" is appropriate.

The part marked in blue, that says "we're stuck in candy". He says "stuck" with gachi gachi ガチガチ. This is a "sound effect" of something freezing (or "turning solid" in general). Describing things with sound effects is also informal speech.

The one marked in green, translated as "there's no hope for us" (the original phrasing is "absolutely can't be saved"). Here he's saying "can't be saved" as tasukaranee 助からねェ. The formal form should have been tasukaraNAI 助からない. Ichiji doesn't usually use the rougher sounding -nee ending.

Example Yonji using -nee (green), and also Niji using the -ze (blue):

Ichiji don't normally do that.

I cannot 100% confirm for sure that Ichiji said anything in this drinking scene, so I will not present it as a concrete "proof". However, I am personally of the opinion the last bubble in the bottom left is Ichiji talking, because it's the only one without the "casual speech" markers.

Also, I know I'm always saying I try to be careful not to jump the gun when it comes to visuals, but Ichiji's face here does not look like a smile. That's a sneer. A smirk, at best. Coupled with how he talks in a way that's completely "breaking character", he appears to be so angry that he's just not even bothering to hide is inner thug.

We did see that he seems pretty temperamental as a kid. He's probably putting up the polite act as "the crown prince", and his "true nature" is actually the gangster one.

[poppitron360]

Sorry if this is kind of a random question but re: the fankids, what color/style of clothing do they prefer to wear? (I’m garbage at art but I have maybe been playing around with the Sims character creator a little bit)

- Finley wears quite oversized, relaxed-fit clothes that are comfortable and don’t hug his figure. He does look AMAZING in a suit, though. He usually wears something black to conceal his curves and layers something lighter-coloured on top. His colour palettes are quite light and summery, but with cooler tones of blues and greens. Idk if this is relevant but he wears some vintage Naomi Solace merch at some point on the quest.

- Olympia is almost always pictured in her CHB t-shirt or her armour or both (as much as she tries to break from the shadow of her parents, she can’t seem to shake it) but her colour palette usually consists of blues, greys, and bronzes. I associate her with deep ocean colours where Percy is more beachy. Her palette is darker to differentiate her from Finley who also wears blues.

- Isabella likes fashion but rarely dresses up. She mostly just wears hand-me-downs from her dads. I picture her in warm tones- reds and oranges and browns- but usually wears quite muted colours. In the forges she wears tank tops and short-sleeves shirts (she doesn’t have her papa’s fireproofiness) but almost always has some sort of flannel tied round her waist. She’s wears quite practical clothes. She’s the only one I haven’t fully figured out the appearance of yet so feel free take some artistic liberties it might inspire me to come up with a design. I know she has dark hair that she wears in messy updos and has dark eyes.

Above is some basic colour palettes I came up with and below are some that I found on Pinterest:

Finley:

Olympia:

Isabella: