#while also trying to throw some of my elements to it ig

[amazingbananabread]

Yah uh so here's my ver for the c student challenge that I (kinda) created.

(Reference)

[seregios-seer]

Monster Review: Kecha Wacha

This guy is one of my first memories with Monster Hunter, and by god is that gonna skew my results! I always found Kecha Wacha to be a lively, exciting animal, and it really makes low rank in 4u stand out. This is a monster that really feels like a common animal, like something that a regular person would just see in the distance. Plus the first cutscene makes him look so goofy, and it still doesn’t feel less threatening for it, which is kinda impressive tbh.

4U (IG): So Kecha has a really unique movement system, especially in netted areas. This makes him a really different kind of fight from most others up to this point, and that definitely adds to the excitement in this fight. Maneuvering around some swiping attacks while Kecha’s swinging can sometimes be a bit of a challenge due to how fast they are, but overall don’t pose much threat if you’re cautious about them. The flips from hanging can really pack a punch, and I think it adds a good deal of character to this monster, makes him feel kinda all over the place. As one of the few water element monsters in the game, Kecha Wacha can also lob blight-inducing mucus globs from his snoot. It’s definitely an interesting attack, but honestly not the biggest deal because at long distance you have so much space to dodge and in melee you can’t really even be hit. The last big thing about Kecha (until we starting talking enrage) is his swooping attacks, which pose the most danger when you’ve retreated to use an item or when you’re right up next to him. The hit boxes on these always feel a bit bigger than they should be, but more often than not were still easy to dodge (I have some really nice kills from swatting Kechas out of the air during this). There’s also however a pretty big difference between regular and enraged Kecha. Seeing the ears fold over his face and form a mask was pretty damn cool the first time I saw it, and the increased aggression really sold the “rage” part of enraged. The circle slamming and quick, repeated forward swipes made it feel like a wild animal lashing out more than any other fight in this game really does. Unlike the hanging twist attack Kecha uses while climbing, the repeated turn and slam attack is however really easy to work around, and usually becomes a free attack opportunity more than anything.

GU (Various): This fight’s very similar to the original 4U fight, but being high rank exclusive was honestly kinda shocking, although not under appreciated. The big difference here is how this fight works with hunter arts, and I must say that movement-based arts provide a huge bonus and almost trivialize this fight sometimes, but slower, heavy-damage ones get pretty hard countered by the spastic movement patterns Kecha throws out constantly. Styles like Striker and Aerial usually fare pretty well, where Alchemy sometimes has issues trying to use the barrel without extreme retreats, and until you really practice the fight, Adept and Valor can be shockingly difficult.

Rating: 9.7/10

This monkey fight like a sugar-hopped 8 year old and can hit like a gorilla.

Ash Kecha Wacha:

This is what I’m talking about! Now in large part Ash is just a reskinned element-swap but it still hits so different for me. The extra flips it brings to the fight and the generally more threatening colors also make this such a strangely good subspecies. Plus farming the 10 star quest is a good way to farm frenzy crystals, so there’s that too.

4U (IG): So aside from the obvious speed, health, and damage increase, this Kecha also spends a lot more time in the air, which isn’t much an issue for me since I use THE aerial weapon. Hovering the air for close range fire blasts and flipping into and tumbling out of dives faster than ever before, Ashbos very good a mobility, and generally feels more controlled than the base species. There’s not much more to say about the enraged form that hasn’t been said already but really? Bouncing on purple sharpness? Are his ears really that strong? Ash is overall a much more challenging and rewarding fight than the regular species, and specializing into aerial combat was a neat choice!

Rating: 10/10

4th gen subspecies stay winning!

[kalgalen]

Can you tell us about screenprinting?

BUZZES. I SURE CAN!!

So I don't know how much you already know about screenprinting, but I'm gonna assume that it's not much so i get to talk about it more in details

Screenpriting is a printing technique that originated in China - can't remember the exact time frame because i'm terrible at dates but just know it's old as balls. At first the screen was made from a silk fabric stretched over a wooden frame (hence the full name "silkscreen printing") but nowadays they're made from more resistant plastic-based fabric (or sometimes from metal. I'll get to that later.)

Basically you're going to make a stencil out of your screen by spreading a photosensitive emulsion over it. Once it's dried, you can tape your transparency (aka a transparent sheet with the thing you want to print as an opaque shape) to it and you expose it to (ideally) a very bright UV light. I say "ideally" because technically you can also just throw it in the sun but it's gonna take aaaages. The bluer a light is the shorter your exposure period will be, because the emulsion doesn't react to red light (this is the reason why we use red or yellow light in the spaces where unexposed emulsion is going to be out).

ANYWAY once that's done you can develop your screen by spraying it with water - the emulsion that was under the opaque part of the transparency will have stayed soft while the rest will have hardened under the light -> the soft parts will go away with the water, leaving only the stencil behind.

Now what? Now you have what you call a printing form (or at least that's how we call it in french) that you're going to be able to use to print on - whatever you want, really. That's screenprinting's biggest strength: depending on the ink you have available, you can print on pretty much anything. The most common are fabric, stickers and paper, but you can also print on glass, tile, metal... with the metal fabrics I talked about earlier you can print stuff like circuitry or edible ink made out of sugar (you know the little patterns you find on fancy chocolates sometimes? that's screenprinting babey)

ANYWAY (again - sorry, I get very scatterbrained talking about my job lmao) you've got your screen-slash-stencil. You're also going to need: a flat surface on which to print (except if you're printing on like a bottle or a glass ig) your ink (depends on what you're printing) and a squeegee, which is basically a length of polyurethane with a wooden or aluminum handle - oh, and something to dry your ink with (some are air-dried, others need heat, some necessitate UV light, tho that's. Not something you can do at home i'm pretty sure). Then you place your screen, adjust the position if needed, try not to forget to add space between your screen and your table (usually when it's something you do at home you can just tape a coin between the bottom of the frame and the table.) Spread some ink on your frame, and you're ready to print!

(Note: each screen/transparency is for One color only, so you have to prepare as many screen as you have colors, which is why the palettes of screenprints are usually limited. Fun fact: you can totally print CMYK with screenprinting, it's a bit of a pain but it absolutely fucks.)

What else to say...... Oh yeah, for example, why hasn't that old as shit printing method died yet? First of all there's the reason I gave earlier - that versatility - and the fact that yeah, you can print on fabric or tile with other methods but it won't be as resistant as a good screenprint because screenprinting can deposit a bigger amount of ink and will be more resistant to traffic, light, the elements, washes and such. Plus, it can be an excellent industrial printing method while being pretty easy to do at home, which is sick imo.

Ok that's pretty much it for now, but let me know if you have any qs!! and thank you for askinggg

[kuroopaisen]

not to throw my two cents /now/ but for shows like aot (I personally stopped after s2 and i havent rly considered picking it up again yet), there definitely are problematic elements and depictions that should be called out when necessary—and we need to especially listen to those whose identities were unfairly treated. anime and manga aren’t innocent of problems, as are the artists behind it :,)

I won’t lie, japan still continues to be sketchy w how they teach and treat their history, but ig we as watchers/readers these media can remain critical of what we consume ? the act of watching smth w fascist elements doesn’t mean you condone it ! and choosing not to watch or support (i find these to be different things) bc of those problematic elements is also valid.

oH and I personally don’t rly like aot either from what I’ve been seeing LMAO as a person who dedicated 2 years of high school to extensive studying of history it’s just :\\\\\\ I think all the points have been made by ppl before me, and by you!! 

hello miss yuki!! first of all, i think the idea that people can’t consume Problematic Media is. is stupid because. humans are capable of critical thinking DJLSDALKJ that’s like... our thing. and just because something’s ‘problematic’ doesn’t mean there’s nothing valuable to draw from it? and by that, i mean... sometimes i specifically seek out things i know i’ll disagree with so i can actually talk about it properly, instead of relying on heresay. 

i guess it’s like the jk r*wling thing. do i think people who enjoy harry potter are militant transphobes? no! do i think it’s a bit shifty to spend money on harry potter merch that isn’t secondhand and is therefore putting coins in miss transphobes pockets? yes! there’s difference between consuming and supporting for sure. 

people have complicated relationships with media and internet discourse tends to make things too black-and-white. where do we draw the line? does resonating with shinji’s story in neon genesis evangelion mean you now support sexualising underage girls? does enjoying harry potter mean you condone fatphobia? does enjoying my hero academia mean you hate the lower classes? 

but at the same time, if someone wants to steer clear of something because of those kinds of things, they absolutely have a right to and neither them nor their intelligence should be insulted for that. a lot of people like to throw around “oh you just don’t understand” as an insult and honestly, Shut Up. leave people be.

ANYWAY aot 

yeah a lot of my problems with aot come down to isayama using a metaphor that isn’t even his to draw on. even if the pernicious aspects are unintentional, they’re still harmful. and also, it’s pretty obvious that isayama’s done his research? with how well the story emulates certain facts in history (and even referencing the madagascar plan hh), there’s no way isayama doesn’t know what he’s talking about. and you can’t really brush up on your knowledge of wwii without the whole antisemitism thing, so... 

but i think an issue i have with a lot of the criticism towards aot is that it comes from a very Western perspective; and i get that to a degree, but it’s also important to think about where the author comes from and who he’s writing for. that doesn’t exonerate any of the problematic aspects to any degree, but context is. well, sometimes it’s everything 

for example, i don’t think the question is so much “is isayama a nazi” as it is “is isayama trying to justify japanese expansionism” because while both are awful, one question is more relevant to what he’s likely to believe (even in the infamous twitter screenshots, he pretty staunchly seems anti-holocaust). i think ethnocentric criticisms muddy the water. 

i’m a dual major in anthropology and history, and while that absolutely doesn’t give me authority, it means i tend to focus more on this sort of thing? there’s no way isayama could’ve known that attack on titan would become so... global? and an issue with episodic things of any nature is that it’s almost impossible to analyse them in their whole until it’s finished. aaaand in most cases, that takes years.

so regardless of what isayama intended, that means there are still right-wing groups that love aot and see it as a metaphor for the great replacement, or there’s people who see it as a justification to abandon pacifism, and so on. but there are also people who see it as a staunchly anti-war story, or a narrative about the cycle of hatred. 

YEAH w the watching vs. supporting, i’ve actually been streaming aot on gogoanime because i didn’t know what i’d think of it when i started, even though i have an animelab and crunchyroll subscription. the question is, am i giving it social capital by discussing it online? some would say yes (i’ve got a platform, and just talking about it in general gives it affluence), some would say no (even if i have a platform, it’s small in the grand scheme of things, and how many people are actually reading my mini essays?)

ANYWAY this is largely incoherent i’m so sorry sdalkjfslfkdj look after yourself!!  

[unproduciblesmackdown]

returning the favor: do you have any hcs re: winston, past or present, that you haven't expounded upon before or at length or just feel like talking about again. whatever you like

Thank You.......yeah idk really what hc's i've like "officially" described here that often lol, but then also there's that whole complication where i don't really ever come up with ideas & when asked anything i'm probably going [???] like, classics like "what do you like out of [broad parameter]" & it's like damn....i dunno. what ideas do i have about winsotn who i've thought about every day for > 2 yrs??? that's tough.....& Then the further chaos of like, when i do have hc's or w/e it's less discrete, concrete invented ideas & more towards the end of the spectrum that's like "well i kinda interpret this part of canon vaguely this way" &/or "i have This vague notion that i haven't solidified into a pretend fact or that i'm not at all committed to or take that seriously" where it's like, not only is this not really nailed down but it's basically free floating / i might have other ideas that would contradict each other lol. seems like a more concise list of Stats that are fully/exclusively my ideas is more exciting, but instead i can offer vague "i dunno / what ifs" based on vibes that i verbosely describe lmao, plus i'll forget a bunch of ideas i may have had i'm sure but you know. what else have i ever offered; never really trying to sell this material to otherwise uninterested parties or only make posts that guaranteed more than one person might enjoy, why would i be starting now; and ig if i write a bunch of stuff here & go "oh & i forgot like a half dozen obvious things" i can add on to it if it's a big deal.....plus it's always tricky with billions in particular being vague abt its own characters lmao, we only see [outside of work] personal stuff if it's going to become directly tied to [definitely at work] professional plotlines, or Maybe glimpse some character contextualizing things for the more central characters....side characters have more blanks to fill but also that means. just more that's blank lol & kinda a mystery of Up To Interpretation.....i figured one way to have any structure for this at all is to have a part looking at each winston involving episode's info. well anyways, after this meandering intro that kind of illustrates how i'm sure the rest of things will go here lol, i'm just gonna throw a bunch of stuff down in general. thanks again for the prompt to do so, b/c why not

really the one concrete discrete idea i have which isn't in the canon text is, of course: he is autistic

does he Know? idk. either way, think he's pretty aware of how he operates (& how he Can't operate), but if he doesn't know that's probably more for the "also: he's self loathing, which was basically textually implied" stuff lol. just mentioned it but i do always enjoy the tayston idea that taylor's talking abt in the past having it floated by a therapist/s or whomever that they could be autistic, them considering it but it not applying; winston going "hmm" & doing his own considering & researching & then maybe exclusively sharing the news w/taylor....but of course, maybe he's figured it out himself at some point before. i do think he'd figure it out himself though rather than anyone else directly suggesting it (maybe out here being diagnosed with "just the guy who sucks who we don't like / won't act right or normal" sort of usual experience) & i think, if he knows, he's not about to want ppl at work to know, b/c not as though anyone (but taylor & other quants) particularly seems to be impressed by his quanting proficiency, but he sure gets some validation/affirmation through that route (more re: that of course) and knows that ppl going "oh he's autistic so of course he's better at Doing Math / computer stuff as a like, mechanical efficiency sort of thing" or whatever. and the fact that taylor can interact with him / gives him some leeway to generally do his thing means he's kind of already got space to operate how he operates, see the start of this section....and idk. transitioning into the next section ig

just an Interpretation Of Canon thing here but, re: how these characters generally operate & what their reason is for being around doing stuff in the first place, i guess it's that winston does genuinely like to do & is interested in the math/coding stuff involved here, was also genuinely interested in working for taylor specifically (whatever The Hype specifically was), then you have taylor having the "despite your demeanor, your skills are superior" stance & appreciating what he can do & letting him do it by hiring him for real & all, & here we are, Q is for Quantitative, baby......he must find it rewarding enough to be getting to do this quanting stuff and also, the potential for validation when anyone recognizes he's good at it & by extension finds something about him good & wants him around to any degree

okay just that Episode By Episode stuff for a section here

3x03:

kinda extra room for interpretation b/c this was written as a one off character and reintroducing him in 3x09, written to be recurring, feels like it kinda offers a Soft Reboot for what we got here, where i guess how i take things is that we can suppose in both 3x03 & 3x09 winston's putting on a deliberate Performance to some degree based on what he thinks the potential employer wants to see, but it's also not completely fake / inaccurate either time, & like, maybe the 3x03 vibe wasn't a type of performance he'd only just ever put on for this axe cap interview, & even if it was deliberately bold maybe he was sort of thinking he Could bank on his value as a quant meaning he holds most of the cards (or can get away with acting like it)

building on that & as a More General point of interpretation again: think it's easy to suppose winston could've had an existence w/many elements of frustrations & disappointments & Rejection, but where like, he did figure out these areas of interest & proficiency that seemed to be a more positive force in his life, & leaned into them / focused on them further for it, & i could see him focusing on milestones / graduating from one thing to the next & conceptualizing like, well, if i just get to This point by working on This thing then i'll have it together & be able to move through existence more successfully, like, there's winston going into undergrad & kind of disappointed he's not having that good a time socially / feels like he's missing out / being left out still, but he can be like, well that's fine (: i'm totally fine abt it b/c i'm focusing on the Education & Experience here & when i'm entering the job market as an amazing quant anyone would want to hire then ppl will be seeing me in a positive light & things will fall into place / go great for me / i'll feel like i fit in & am doing things right within some structure. & i think maybe he Did have all those other job offers / opportunities & he was at least partly feeling a bit "objectively" confident, & also maybe just hoping he Could be that confident & that, you know, if he goes ahead & acts like that's the case, it could be confirmed / become true....anyways then obviously disillusionment time

since his outfits are introduced here: more "just how i'm interpreting canon" stuff in that i do just suppose he is mostly focusing on comfort & it'd kinda get in the way of things if he couldn't. flipflops might've been a statement piece but also i figure at least in part about the comfort / lack of much opportunity for restriction or ill fit or chafing texture or anything, same goes re: pants & shirts. interesting he likes to wear the patterned layers but doesn't really wear like, stripes or plaid ever. plus it could well be that Just A Tee is too informal unless you're the formalest of all by virtue of position, i.e. the ceo, but also we sure often enough see him wearing hoodies &/or multiple layers, like, maybe that's just for warmth or weight or what have you, always considering "what if it's about being self conchy as well (different way of saying self conscious)"

3x09:

so yeah with winston not having taken another job (at least maybe only like, temporary ones as these self contained gigs / just something to pay the bills) figure it's been a Depressive Period for him here lol & deliberately going on a journey of like self reflection / examination & going "haha yeah hated what i saw" is like, i don't think the self loathing is anything new, the confidence in 3x03 kind of an optimistic bandaid lol like well here's the new me as i understand / hypothesize / hope he could be, totally confident in being backed up by how valuable he is as a quant, then taylor kind of ripped that off and wound's open again but that wound was also not brand new or something he was unaware of / that didn't affect him before now

re: math meetup, i can see that being him presenting more evidence of his talent as a quant but also specifically going "see, i do this collaborative thing" to present this more conciliatory and cooperative approach to taylor, & am also taking it as evidence that he really does Enjoy math / coding stuff beyond it simply being a means to a professional end. i also like to think he has been / continues going to math meetup regularly, at least once a month, maybe every other week, and that it's this semi social event, like the relevant irl group you found back in the day that like, meets up for pizza before and drinks afterwards. i also like to think that, like, while he might come off as A Bit Much during said math meetup / just speak up frequently enough and often enough with some insistence lol, people Are there to meet up about the math and his contributions Are valued despite if his delivery/approach isn't always endearing or whatever. and even if he's not really popular / warmly embraced in the more [socializing event] bookends of the meetup, he's perfectly tolerated, and there's even a person or two or three (also regular attendees) who do vibe with him enough to like, invite / even want him to sit with them / talk with them outside that Math Setting. math meetup pals, maybe he doesn't meet up with these people outside these events but maybe they have each other's contacts and sometimes text. not these intimate personal relationships, but still something real and positive and refreshing. it'd be nice if math meetup could kinda be like what he hoped for from quanting, this way his math lets him "qualify" to access this group / activity, his aptitude "making up for" perceived lack of interpersonal / social charm & charisma & what have you, & having some reliably friendly people around even if of course that's not on its own going to mean he's totally socially fulfilled / not often lonely or anything. hc: he's often lonely & not totally socially fulfilled

he does, of course, want to work for taylor specifically, as long as they want him to, and this is sort of his second chance to find validation through working as a quant lol. think that yeah sure winston likes validation in general, who doesn't but also of course he's maybe a bit Above Average sensitive to / keen on it, but he'll also care about Affirmation if it's coming from people whose opinion he particularly values. think that it's easy to suppose he's also especially sensitive to taylor's assessments here thanks to the fact they really hit a (raw) nerve with him like, sure is the potential to get caught up in feedback loop city & say, have a few months mired in self loathing & an especial lack of certainty & confidence, if someone's kinda gone "i hate your self hatred" lol, but he also Did have this especial interest in / high opinion of taylor before that 3x03 interview, & so that's what continues to be part of it here

but then also interpreting that second 3x09 scene as like, he Does independently Know His Value as a quant and yknow not only has his pride but also can't and isn't going to first and foremost focus on trying to socially perform being peak Accommodating and Appealing here lol. but he still cares about what taylor thinks, wants to work for/with them, and i think it was Mutually Appreciated in the last scene that there was Mutual Effort to cooperate w/the other, giving him a Cue instead of just being mad & obfuscating it unless & until giving up on him completely or w/e is Constructive. interpreting winston as someone who sure can be a bit petty on purpose, especially in the face of some wounded pride (where he seems to take pride in his quant abilities & maybe not much of anything else: see the self loathing otherwise), but isn't really one to be deliberately antagonistic, especially not towards, yknow, the person he specifically wants to appeal to, but he also knows he can come off as grating whether inadvertently or not, so he might be testing the waters a little as well

3x11

he's using headphones even though no one else is in the room, that's a preference / he may also just like to block out other sound in general, as there's no audio of [winston's music faintly playing as / before he takes off his headphones] or indication he paused anything. does he like metal, what with the yngwie malmsteen reference? maybe, but that might just be a Billions Reference thing that isn't meant to indicate much / anything abt the specific character. i don't have any hcs about it anyways besides "okay" if so

first time we see his watch, it's not the calculator watch until s5 but i am a fan of said calc watch....gotta suppose it could represent him being here for the math of it all, what with how fancy/expensive watches are kinda the whole like status / power play thing, and a calculator watch is, afaik, not expensive, these casio calculator watch listings i'm seeing are all priced like, $15 to $25 range. so.

2nd scene is the first time we see sleeves pushed up, a frequent choice, maybe if he's focusing sleeves against forearms / Wrists & Hands can be bothersome. also not the first time he puts his hands in his pockets but i think that's a deliberate choice for winston's sort of Default Pose, equate it to the choice to have jared hang / hold on to his backpack straps.

guess he can also be a bit petty / rude / grating on purpose if ppl are getting in the way of his mathing / coding or otherwise thwarting it, at least probably taylor can relate / sympathize what with them wanting to Get It Right / being bothered if people get it wrong but could've avoided this

noticing all the caffeine and the fact he maybe didn't leave the basement / was powering through that project All At Once....just noting that down as a potential Approach, wanting to not interrupt focus &/or bear down & keep a fairly intense pace until it's finished / stay in the zone or what have you

definitely doing some deliberately cocky Testing / pushing back / amicable power struggle with taylor there, confirming he does have leverage due to that quanting ability after all, Despite His Demeanor / not being "sweet"

by this point definitely consciously kinda wants taylor to rail him.

4x03

i have no concrete hc's of instances inspiring winston to think he's "always seeing the future" but god i wish he did. he's right a lot though, maybe he just notices as much lol

talking mostly to taylor here, then concluding with "i only thought it but didn't say it; doesn't count....damnit." like he wants Their validation thanks, even if recognizing his Win here still wouldn't help them either way....also first time we see him w/coworkers for real, he's really freely Interacting.....time to go ahead and say he'd like to be work friends / at least have friendly interactions at work, might be a bit desperate for such positive social interactions, especially in this environment where he thinks the "objectively" good thing about him is most relevant, but it's cringe & fail (&/or vulnerable to Attack) to outright Want something, like validation / affirmation / a positive response or a simple "yeah you're right" "positive" response

first Space Shirt, followed by ones that are like, also &/Or Sci Fi Shirts. does he like space? i guess so

he's autistic

4x08

here & in 4x11, we don't know how he's gotten this info about taylor re: the arc w/their dad or with axe cap, but he's apparently mused on it on his own like this & isn't just quoting what someone else told him about how taylor must feel about xyz & how that might apply to the situations at hand, even though (unless he cassandra'd it) he wouldn't've had that much cause to suppose it'd definitely be relevant to have ideas about how taylor feels / is navigating a situation & why, maybe he just likes to be prepared like that / stay in the loop but yknow, maybe he's just also interested in them as a person beyond what's most immediately relevant to him doing quant stuff for them

he's already done the sort of kicking himself / wincing / apologizing or agreeing he fucked up an exchange thing before but, the genuine disappointment / momentary discouragement in it always lol....self loathing guy

love how he has these little like, clarifying explanations of things. "total control of the instrument," "always seeing the future," "because i win".....he's out here wanting to communicate to connect & to be understood, not so much as a potential for a power play / status climb and thus a conflict.....can see ppl who are used to / Do see interactions in that light to interpret winston yelling about having won as a like, rubbing it in people's faces show of superiority thing, but pretty sure he's just excited and wants a high five

4x11

having talked about the fact none of the desks in the tmc hq main floor seem to be winston's (& knowing that Could just be wroland not being reliably available to be in the bg of shots lol, analyzing s4 shots for some Consistently Empty desk) but it is fun to also consider that maybe tmc Could've had a secret extension in that that quant haunt in the basement was kept. a little more furnishing and it could be pretty chill, even though the lack of windows might not always be ideal. where's he sit!

also the whole "guy who'd be the first one smothered" moment like, guess i could've mentioned it in 3x03 more but yeah my Headcanon here is that winston maybe has a master's degree, not a phd though (him saying "50 phds" in 3x11 i think was meant to differentiate from him on both points, aka he's 1 guy, without a phd) & this is his first "real" job in any field. b/c i'm guessing like, people are here to get Paid, but as mentioned w/the watch (& just how winston acts in general, he doesn't really seem like he's raring to show off / really take advantage of having money or anything) it doesn't seem like he's, like, the "exceptionally focusing on personally making as much as possible" guy, and lauren's remark seems to emphasize / place the context on winston just not having like, savings from prior salaried years at a job or anything, more of a practical matter, maybe he's out here hoping for some more financial security, also they are all living in nyc, so. on that note, maybe he has an okay apartment but like, not without problems / not absolutely ideal, but it's okay. this would just be Convenient as an hc also lol

don't think the monologue was completely memorized, but it wasn't completely off the cuff either, he'd maybe been brainstorming scripts in his head / had some particular parts solidified word for word, but also hardly think he was guaranteed planning to deliver an admonishlogue at all, seems like it was some important factors that he was just kind of already irritated, nobody was listening / people Were social pressuring him to drop it or not interested in entertaining like "yeah i think you should talk to taylor about it" at all, think it was clear that talking to others was only going to lead to them telling him to drop it / trying to not have anyone say anything to taylor, and then that taylor just jumped in, which i hardly think he was hoping for

always Something that we can expressly see winston moving to sit down in that soon to be empty meeting room as everyone else is clearly filing out lol, like, can see how he might not be able to go "well, back to work" immediately and need some irritation / feeling like shit / guess who just got yeeellllllllllled aaaaaat to burn off, might need some time to absorb "well i guess i just deferred so no bonus as was probably expected," but can also suppose that maybe when winston gets majorly Shut Down he has shutdowns. saying all of four words in the wake of things, otherwise the fact he has this approach of tensing up, not talking at all, kind of just holding onto eye contact as his last way of "properly" participating in the exchange w/o bailing entirely, while also outwardly withering, like clearly these kinds of moments are pretty significantly affecting....feels like he could find it difficult to talk much, or at all, in the wake of some / need some time to recuperate a bit & have some distance & quiet & not just jump back into work like he's having a fine and normal time. sometimes pondering like, not only those notions like taylor insisting winston not be Interrupted when he hasn't technically started talking yet (giving him the buffering / latency time) but also like, fun kinda imagining them sitting across from each other having a texting conversation....or times winston would rather have an exchange via email......or make use of the sticky notes......or just have taylor talking to him and picking up on his nonverbal responses

winston's very Not present in tmc meetups / get togethers this season & again we know that this could be because his actor wasn't very available but it's still the case In Canon that there's only so many tmcers and they're all seeing each other outside work / market hours for varyingly formal or informal purposes & he's never included. & simultaneously hold the hc's that he could be choosing not to go or he could just never be invited in the first place l o l.....in either of these situations the reason for declining to go or being excluded could be up to "b/c other ppl don't like having him around" and idk, best case scenario is he doesn't want to go for some other reason, but he acts pretty okay with the All Hands meetups we do see / when in meetings with the other named employees he's pretty raring to interact with them, so :/

4x12

i do like to think it's fun to imagine What If Taylor Had A Phonecall With Winston Before This Monologue; someone once told me that explaining is an admission of failure, i'm sure you remember, i was on the phone with you, sweetheart.....just them both having a more sympathetic approach with each other and a sort of dialed back reconciliation, tbt 3x09, without an audience / roomful of other people

do think that his wearing a tmc logo tee into axe cap hq was a deliberate Statement Piece, like wearing flipflops into axe cap in his true first time being there lol

first time we see the backpack, & the headphones (in this season), like the point you (nothingunrealistic) made about the backpack possibly kind of exerting pressure / compression in a Sensory Way. let's see it again

as good a time as any to bring up how it's such a consistent pattern that it Must be a choice that winston smiles in this direction :/ and grimaces / winces / frowns this way :\ but a choice of the actor of course, was it ever a conscious thing on winston's end, would not put it beyond the realm of possibility he's ever consciously thought of stuff like "even if words fail me(tm) i Gotta hang on to eye contact".....i'm thinking of times he is smiling hard enough that you just gotta do it more symmetrically, like here in 4x12

5x01

he likes bagels

think that this could've been another case of "people who are used to interactions used for conflict / power plays / stepping on other people to status climb (axe cappers in general, maybe team ben having to be extra prone to be on the lookout for these strategies when they're more often on the receiving end of them) misinterpreting winston socializing as means of connection (wanting to talk about the common work thread / interest with coworkers)"

even if for some reason quants were cold shouldering axe cappers like, a sound strategy even if team ben are worthy exceptions. Winston Can Get Petty When People Blame Quants Talking About Being Quants For Axe Cappers Harassing Tmc & also when in the process of doing so everyone's like "also you're smarter than us but no you're not, any math quants could do fundamental analysts could do better" like, winston getting more deliberately antagonistic when ppl are going after his Math Aptitude / value as a quant when that's his "objective" point of pride & confidence & possibly like haha self loathing can't get me here

5x02

winston's decimal points being more precise here i think indicates that the show is not taking the stance of "yeah the quants are just any old analysts with an attitude of superiority" lol

do think he selected that particular seating placement b/c it's like, hey furthest away from axe cap, most aligned with taylor's desk & angled towards it, perfect.....what a letdown

guess this episode suggests he and mafee have chats sometimes, and winston maybe confides At All Sensitive Info w/the guy? bold

always just smh like well thank god we were given this subplot where winston was a plot device really for dollar bill's arc or whatever............what a gift

5x03

just noticing as always how winston is the one person saying they should go for it vs the other two's skepticism / trepidation, and taylor decides to go for it.....they do value his input / trust his judgment

i am also noticing how often winston, as the math guy who doesn't really fit in w/ the whole axe / caply approach & style, has this role in giving taylor these crucial opportunities to pursue their own direction rather than be mired down in the misery of axe cap determining everything....3x11 & his algorithm letting them break completely away from axe cap, 4x11 & his admonishlogue making some Points & then next episode taylor does decide to abandon the revenge jag & says they were wrong & they're sorry....5x03 & this nlp strategy plotline being the first thing taylor could actively pursue for tmc after 2 eps of being dragged painfully through axe cap nonsense, & the fact this, in the next episode, leads to the Impact Fund idea / mase carb

5x04

see that last point

5x05

guess that until confirmed, The Glances being significant is a Headcanon Interpretation lol. anyways i do like taylor giving him these discreet, nonverbal cues as a very deliberate method of communication titrated betwixt them

oh right and an Age Cue here, before that was nailed down i think i already hc'd winston as either the same age as, or a year older than taylor, and that's still true lol, think that's how it goes with the timelines (taylor's being kinda uncertain, and winston's as well, having prior just kinda gone "well if taylor's 22 when they show up as the typical post undergrad age, and each season spans approx a year, and maybe winston spent just a year or two post undergrad getting a master's b/c nothing nails down how long it would take & he could've kinda been ahead of the curve as it were, he could be, say, 23 thru 25 in s3 when he shows up, to taylor's Maybe 23" as the Idea)

just wants to work for taylor as long as they'll have him, but would also like to be openly valued / affirmed on a pretty basic level lol...

one of those matters that's like, i do think that this is what the material is Trying to convey but it's not concrete / explicit, in that i think winston somewhat Likes rian right off lol like. i mean he's also still annoyed on principle, this is maybe his replacement & that stings that it's even a possibility & of course he has reason to want to feel like "oh well this person Clearly sucks" lol, but then there he is trying to scope out the situation & get immediate intel & it's like, here's this fellow 20something you immediately think is pretty (the mental comparison to an A lister as a dunk, lmao) & you see her being perfectly friendly with your nice coworker you're also friendly enough with, that's one degree of separation, now here he comes talking about how cool & epic & smart & capable she is, again makes sense he's still first & foremost bothered by the situation & has cause to just be more jealous about how well everyone immediately thinks of her (see: winston making bad first impressions that may never be undone, the fact other coworkers were probably never going around openly impressed with / praising him after meeting him for 5 sec, or like, ever) but i suppose this immediate underlying sense of attraction / affinity hits in that First Sighting as well

love that we see the feet up on the desk show of confidence again, very funny & glad it's back.....a tool in his arsenal for when he's Very Bothered But (unsuccessfully) Acting Very Unbothered / when he's trying to pitch for his employment lol

when did he have a first gf? perfect time for an hc.....feels like it'd have been like, idk, older high schoolers at the youngest, that kind of emotional commentary....or in college. sometimes pondering the idea like, what if he had a bf first actually.....or not, & Feeling A Way around other guys sometimes like, hmm guess i think this guy is pretty cool &/or i'm kinda like "god i wish that were me" about, then some more noticeable Tension as he's older even if he can't really discern the reason b/c this person's pretty nice & cool actually, hmm. then one day you're doing hw together with a while for code to compile & Oh Hey Lol

meanwhile think clearly rian defuses the Reason For Rivalry (and also clearly immediately likes him / interacting with him & you know, outright sticks up for him & in this significant way) & then when they connect over Math it's all coming together very outright like Oh Hey Lol 😳

also he Gets Right Back To Work easily enough, & like, i think already there's a deliberate performance of "i'm now totally unbothered," but he's just pretty good at shaking things off apparently. & he kind of has to be, to not bail completely or else tamp down his own personality / avoid interactions, but you know. plus that like, he may get irritated when his pride's wounded but around here people can have a whole crisis & arc about it if their egos are bruised in the slightest, so like. pretty blasé

5x06

this isn't really any hc or Interpretation by any stretch but this is the first time we've seen winston pull that particular attitude in that second scene with rian and it's beautiful.....if something's bothering him he's so often like outright indignant but this is like, i'm Bothered but i'm being so dignant about it, for like 4 sec

also the bright green hoodie / bright, high contrast, geometric blockbuster tee is so Vivid but like, always noting how he wears relatively colorful outfits. fun to go "maybe this one's deliberately extra eye catching b/c of this new crush" lol

5x07

the difficulty in reading that much into things when the lack of sobriety could be making any & everything an outlier, & can't even really read into "apparently down to take stimulants (beyond caffeine) on a dime" b/c well, so is everyone else, so that this situation can unfold, we knew he had a crush on rian (or i guess we didn't, but this is pretty direct about it), we knew he likes validation, taylor Knows him well enough that it's not just like "oh he's acting weird? well that's winston for you" to them, which we also knew but it's fun to confirm further lol

and now for some more free floating / general concepts

family? i have no idea. feel like he either has no siblings or several but yknow, anything's possible. we know what he's like Now, don't think he got that solid self esteem / self confidence as an emergent quality from [everything that happened to him before 3x03] & don't suppose he has this like, rock solid close warm familial relationship of understanding & unconditional love & support w/whoever he grew up with, parents or siblings or whoever he lived with....like, the relationship/s could be Fine but you know, still not all that close

i don't think he was every completely friendless (or if he was, it didn't last Too long) in terms of like, throughout school maybe he had some pals, no amazing close [fingers crossed Like That] ones where someone had like, grown up as his next door bestie and they did everything together & knew everything about each other, nothing all that close, but he had people to sit with at lunch or what have you, even if at times like, the table nobody else really sits at but the people who don't have anywhere else to sit lmao. maybe some slightly closer friendships here & there, but people often kind of got subsumed into other friend groups that he wasn't otherwise a part of / otherwise just kind of gradually distanced again...but also possible he had perfectly amicable occasions of like, maybe only having a class or two with certain people, not striking up intimate friendships but hitting it off well enough.........like, winston's out here Not having been stomped down into suppressing his personality all the time, he's still fairly earnest & forthcoming & eager to connect, just sort of vaguely going for "he maybe have always had this element of discouragement & disappointment re: socializing / connecting / forming relationships / sometimes just being accepted on a basic level, but he also didn't have his spirit totally extinguished either" although there's also the room for stuff like, yknow, him Holding Out Hope like "well nobody likes me now / i'm unhappy but maybe once i'm in college [gets to college & still isn't having a great time] okay well once i Enter The Workforce" lol. you know

but it's also like, hardly think he's Only Just Now experiencing the [winston: ___ everyone: get his ass] type stuff & pushback & punishment & disdain over not really doing anything but people hate his style & vibe, & feel like there's also still room for like, yep wow got burned sometimes / having had some pretty negative experiences......we do have to end up in this place where, you know, 3x03 happens and he doesn't just go "guess finance isn't for me!" & dust himself off & go get some Guarantees from some tech firms, & instead he's Really Glad [Taylor] Called & hasn't taken some other more desired job between 3x03 & that call & is immediately like "good news: i do hate myself" so like, can't see him having just thrived his way to this point....evidently not all dating relationships have been just epic highs & victories, maybe he has those math meetup pals now & maybe idk there's other people he's in sort of in contact with, maybe people from college / grad school or the like, still not that close, figure he's generally been lonely like, overall, despite regularly enough seeking out / striving for connections

oh yeah speaking of, the idea that he has a cat maybe lol, in part simply for company, a little guy that lives in your house / apartment....but also maybe he doesn't

always just some general notions like, also idk maybe he engages in hobbies, talks to people through that just like with math meetup....talked about the Embroidery idea, got that computers/programming connection, was thinking like, idk fuck it amateur photography, develop your own film, maybe he took a class in college or high school or something, same with like, maybe he plays a musical instrument, said "the cello, why not" about that as an early [shrug] idea lol. he does like space, maybe he does Anything with that....rip to any astronomy clubs In Nyc like, guess you're not seeing shit, but. 4x11 au, after deferring his bonus he goes to some cool cinematographic celestial occasion like taylor & the sea glass fish carousel lmao. taylor catches up & they have their [i'm sure you remember, i was on the phone with you, sweetheart] exchange lol.....except also not, b/c you wouldn't really want to have Parallels with m/any moments ft. wendy & taylor :/

recalled like a particularly casual / throwaway idea about like "lol what if he was somewhat thalassophobic" in part b/c once actor william dropped that lore abt himself in an interview, but. could have somewhat some other phobia/s. or not really any! what a world

maybe sometimes he's out here like, single & ready to Fuck like, focusing on just hooking up w/people sometimes rather than really looking to date at the juncture, although it could both be true like, he'd Like to be dating but also doesn't really currently want to do all the Putting Himself Out There & such of seeking it out / trying to consciously navigate it, but sometimes it's more manageable like, just wanting to have sex. looking out for himself when he can & how he can lol

speaking of, some vague sexy hcs

gets pegged

especial fan of Tongue Against Tongue texture, enjoys some Grounding elements to avoid being overwhelmed / narrow things to the more relevant sensory input at hand, like the weight/pressure of a partner leaning / lying against him / holding him tightly, if he's overwhelmed in a good way / kinda got some sensory overflow in a good way he might cry during sex In A Good Way lol, took some time maybe in his Personal Sexual Experience to figure out some general differences in "what he doesn't like at all" or "what's off the table / too unpleasant for him at some times but Not necessarily at all times & might be completely enjoyable sometimes," like, am i willing to perform oral sex, am i willing & Enthusiastically so, is that way too much actually, it can be all of them at varying times....maybe in more everyday general situations he refrains from stims in front of others unless stressed enough, but while having sex with someone especially if at all nervous it's like, there can be this transition between repressing stims & being more unfiltered / uninhibited where they kind of build up & then come through in kicks only to be reined back in, either like, he simply does go for a more reined in approach the whole time or anyone else is willing to ride this out with him / he kind of has the time & space to figure out more of a flow, in which case he might still stim but you know, not as though people aren't used to stims in this situation, i.e. reacting to stimulation with movement & vocalization is at least expected & it could once again be like "well he's a bit weird with it but hey" lol or you know, not that some partners can't be understanding or have had experience w/similar partners. hardly make or break but this can be a vulnerable interaction here / hard to shake the self consciousness & sense of "i Do have to filter myself and act The Right Way" all at once just b/c you'd want to

hey and let him sing karaoke or something lmao, winston is as Dramatic as he is, he would give a performance. work in a way to let everyone who sings sing around lol, could throw in some Affectations so that it's like yeah winston can sing without having to be like "wow winston, when'd you become a trained broadway performer" lmao. imagine. which reminds me of the time will joked about like, oh yeah winston Gets That A Lot re: people recognizing he looks like the guy in deh, aka will roland....the limitations of "this is set in real nyc" including occasional references to recent / popular shows, fuck it maybe will roland does also exist in the billions universe. well anyways it would be fun. the karaoke anyways, and that he'd give a top tier Performance whether or not people are first and foremost enjoying his technical / artistic skill at the art of singing, it'd at least be personality infused and engaging

taking it way back to the ideas about winston's social misadventures in general, i'm sometimes considering for fics i never end up writing if he might have some like, misgivings / anxieties about like, is this person i Like acting like they maybe Like me back as some kind of elaborate joke, & maybe the caution comes from experience like you know, classic over the line "pranks" like asked out As A Joke, kissed As A Dare that he wasn't aware of, think there could be like, would be Friendship / friendly acquaintanceship experiences in there where such "pranks" / "jokes" / "messing with him" (and not in a good way) could happen, or even just you know, more Spontaneously, don't even know this person & he's treated as a joke for other ppl's entertainment, realizing at the time or retrospectively like oh maybe i was more being bullied then having any positive social interaction / getting to feel at least "included" or what have you, like, the idea of getting to hang out with a group as The Funny Guy, but he's had these experiences getting to hang out with a group & realize it's b/c they thought he was funny / Amusing in a laughing At him, not with him way, which is easy also b/c winston isn't really out here trying to be funny that we've seen lol. only realizing he was still being excluded after some time / distance from the situation, or escalating open hostility / just more blatant meanness / over the line shit from some people, maybe some stuff that just immediately feels shitty but he figured was just like, well idk, maybe that's normal & still friendly, maybe it also felt more outright embarrassing / demeaning at the time but it's like haha yeah you got me :'] at the time just to save any face lol.....possible unexpected / spontaneous amicability in his socializing history, but also shittiness, whether it's coming at him all at once or he's kind of holding out hope like, well, i just keep at it / have a Friendly attitude here and surely i'll make friends b/c if people didn't like me At All why are they talking to me / letting me be here at all.....

always kind of pondering Fashion Variation, we haven't seen it but it could be possible, musing on "what would he think Looks Good On Him / how does he feel capable of like, dressing for romantic success or what have you lol" like, was the vivid 5x06 outfit anything, cue the drawing like, a bralette & short shorts is shaking it up and could be a Felt Cute outfit and could also be comfortable enough....not always That much room in men's(tm) fashion before you start having to be aware of [Gender] and dunno that winston out here has had the inspiration / motivation / opportunity to consider / try out / explore but hey. what are we here for

just remembered that post like "uhh i just saw a guy crying in the library & then his phone alarm went off & he stopped crying, opened his laptop & started typing / it's called time management" lmao like winston's not out here having the Most amazing time, he could have such Time Management experiences of like, letting it out some on purpose but then reining it right back in, and/or just like some spontaneous paroxysms of crying for a minute or two more unexpectedly in a "do you ever [experience a tiny inconvenience] & realize the thread by which you're hanging on is quite thin" way or otherwise, you know, oops experienced this frustration & now i'm crying over it, or idk, just feeling a bit more vulnerable for whatever reason & something has unexpectedly plucked some emotional string attached to another string attached to another & the resonance = i'm crying now ig. he can't be Thriving out here & i don't think he's all about having such a stranglehold on emotions that he's like oh tf i Never cry (aside from having sex, in a good way)

although speaking of like, emotional repression, maybe he's out here just "good at" compartmentalizing some experiences lol in that "well anyways, back to work" way & stuff like, sure he knew he was risking it in 4x11 but it also did not seem to affect his dynamic with mafee at all lmao like wow.....

think that him not really having anything on his work desk is a choice / preference but also am not sure that that really applies to anything else lmao. what if he had a little plant. that'd be funny

oh yeah and the idea that winston might literally have like prophetic dreams & they're just kind of a nuisance to him but sometimes they can be plot devices in fics (that don't exist) about him kissing people

well i'm just calling it a night there lol but like, it always feels Lacking writing out hc's like, plenty of ideas but also hardly any, and yet the fact that other individual ideas are so Vague / casual that it wouldn't be like "oh i gotta share this via post or manifesting it some other way" so then it feels like, oh no, if i don't list absolutely Everything on something that's specifically a list of hc's, i can never talk about whatever gets left out......and just that like, i ought to have a bunch of really specific, concrete, unique Factoids about winston here to be of any interest but hey lmao. that hypothetical set of concepts is never gonna happen, & the Ultimate Comprehensive List Of Everything I've Ever Pondered Re: Winston is also going to be difficult lmfao (not as though that's what you've asked in the first place) but you know, we took a swing at things here & covered some ground & the thinking about & talking about winston never ends, & this isn't really a post meant to have broad appeal / if you're not already having fun reading vague musings about the quant then i'm sorry you're reading this after having read all that and gone "wow, i'm disappointed" lmao but hey, weird choices made to bring you to this point......also god knows plenty of hcs are more filed away under specific like [Tayston], [Benston], [Riawin] sort of things (lol, [Mafon]) b/c on the one hand, i find it easier to kind of think in Scenarios and the details particular to the "scenes" therein, but i am also not good at thinking of those scenarios! out here operating on vibes, he's autistic and wants to kiss taylor (also now rian but that's kinda right in canon, not just my head) and that's really the crucial info here

[janaisvu]

— 𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐁𝐋𝐑 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎

hello writeblr !! i have abandoned this blog for almost a year & came back to 700 followers wtf. anyway i’ve decided to come back but i’m gonna focus on less wips cause my energy is limited. you might have seen this post before because this is a re-introduction so !

i’m jes, 16, she/her, gemini & infp ! i’m from hk, i scream about books & music, also your resident kpop multi. i'm also @k-ths , you might have seen me with my sideblog @scrivenshafts / @yicitys that acted as my writeblr. that blog originally had this janaisvu url but i moved it here! i love all kinds of genres but works that include fantasy, sci-fi, mystery or thriller elements are right up my alley!

ps i write poetry on ig so pls go check it out !! i’m spilledstardusts on there!

signal boosts are very much appreciated! do let me know if you want to be added to any taglist !! rb if you’re a writeblr & want me to check you out! 

template by tzxico on deviantart

— 𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐈𝐏𝐒

i. revolution  wip page ; wip intro post ; wip tag [ ya fantasy ; third person pov, multiple narrators ]

working title. after a brutal decade long war between the twin nations of wei and lai on the continent of xi, they call peace and in celebration they throw an airship race. tensions are still high, and whichever nation wins shall earn pride and honor after years of shame and violence. both nations call upon their best mages, warriors, mechanics, and pilots to audition to earn their spot on the crew of the airships.but what happens when a foreign force threatens the magic of their land? when the dead rise and people start to lose their lives when their souls are stolen? rivals become the heroes of their land, the only hope they all have.

A REVOLUTION IS NOT THE PEOPLE IN IT. IT’S AN IDEA, A BELIEF, A SPIRIT. AND YOU CAN’T KILL SPIRIT.

ii. existium wip page ; wip intro post ; wip tag [ mystery & thriller ; third person pov, multiple narrators ]

(working title) ‘just to be! hello, we are existium!’ in which five secret agents go undercover into the entertainment industry to catch a serial killer. not even a wip, just an idea,,, a concept,,, a self-indulgent little thing. everyone is gay. note: exist + exitium  (death, destrution, ruin, mischief) = existium

SHE WORE HER SCARS THE WAY SOME MIGHT WEAR LUXURY BRANDS, OR GOLD MEDALS — WITH PRIDE, WITH HAUGHTINESS, WITH AN ICY CONFIDENCE.

[ side wips are under the read more cut ! ]

— 𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐏𝐒  [ meaning i will probably never write them & let them marinate in my imagination ]

i. bulletproof [ mystery & thriller ; third person pov, multiple narrators ]

(working title) seven boys who have all escaped death, one way or another. they came together by some mysterious workings of the universe, trying to find out who sabotaged the racer in his competition, killing his sister and nearly killing him. In the process, they would find that something bigger is at work in the world they thought they knew so well.

“ STUPID PEOPLE GET STABBED. SIMPLE. ”

ii. singularity [ ?? thriller?? action?? maybe ; third person pov, single narrator ]

(also working title hahah i’m terrible at this) the future is a world where nothing matters other than mindless pleasure and endless greed for more time. it’s a world where this brain transplant technology allows the rich to live longer, but at what cost? ruiqi, a runaway knows there’s more going on beneath the surface while the privileged ones get to enjoy (almost) eternal life. but after her escape, the gang who saved her life makes it impossible for her to walk away.

“ WHEN YOU’VE LIVED IN SHADES OF GREY ALL YOUR LIFE, LIGHT GREY BECOMES ‘WHITE’ BECAUSE NO ONE KNOWS HOW WHITE LOOKS LIKE ANYMORE. DO YOU WANT A WORLD SO EVIL THE LESSER EVIL EQUALS JUSTICE, BECAUSE NO ONE KNOWS WHAT JUSTICE LOOKS LIKE ANYMORE? ”

— 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒

some lovely writeblrs: @melwrotethat @ikilledmyocs @tarttisms @endymions @starshots @sourrcandy @astralis-elysian​ @cheshawrites​

[idk-my-aesthetic]

The mystic power is from the bois not the weapons

Good evening y’all I’m putting together a bunch of random observations/evedence/my own ideas for this theory. I don’t have the energy to put in screenshots but if someone else would wanna rb w/ them I would love you forever

Ok so I’m trying to make a comprehensive list let’s start with the basics

Bois were meant to be weapons

Every other mutant has mystic powers

Raph usually his powers w/o his weapon in “late fee”

Raph also punches through a steel cage and seems to create an explosion. We know his strength has limits, so his tf is he able to do that w/o magic?

Leo is shown to move incredibly fast, significantly faster than others and visibly shocking others (see fight w/ him and splinter in the battle nexus) almost like he’s able to teleport

The magic responds to their emotions. (Portals not appearing bc Leo isn’t confident, raph unlocking a new power when his brother is in danger) that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s them, but it makes more sense for it to be them than the weapons. The magic in the weapons have no reason to attune to their emotions, i feel like it would be more likely to attune to their skill or movements or smthn

A big one no one has pointed out- in mystic mayhem draxum is surprised by Mikey’s use of magic. Plus he doesn’t look like he knew what Leo’s was gonna do. Why would he be suprised that his magical weapons are magic?? Unless they’re not

I’m guessing that the weapons are made to channel magic. Draxum is suprised bc he didn’t know the boys had magic to channel

Plus, uhhh why were there 4 weapons color codded to them specifically? Draxum thought they were dead and didn’t know about splinter’s color coding thing.

This is mostly speculation (and a bitttt of a reach) , but like what if they were made to channel magic, and when the boys walked in their magic like,,,, locked onto the weapons closest to their old ones and “claimed” them so to speak. So that’s why they were glowing each boy’s color. (And ok yeah they are also physically colored but shhhhh let me dream maybe they were made of like. Magic metal that turned the same color as their auras or smthn)

Ppl say that the fact that splinter can use Leo’s sword means that the power comes from the sword. But if Leo uses it a lot couldn’t it make sense that the power like,,,,, came from him but was left on the sword in a way? Like if some magic was left on it, in theory someone else could use it

Ok that’s also maybe a reach lol. Alternatively:

We only see splinter use the sword. He was mutated in the same experiment and has the same dna as the boys. Maybe we were all wrong about it being a mutant thing, and it’s actually a Hamato clan thing??

Bc like. We know there’s magic in the family (the scrolls). And it’s not like we saw April using the sword, or hell even one of the other boys! We have no clue if they can use eachother’s weapons. It’s been mentioned but never tried

Maybe splinter had magic all along, and when they were mutated it was passed to the boys? It’s possible he has like,,,, ig all 3/(maybe 4) powers, but it’s also possible that general magic runs in the fam and he had the same powers as Leo

Like. There’s a lot about splints we don’t know. And when he picked up the sword he opened a portal completely accurately, within inches of a teapot on a counter, using a completely different technique from Leo. Wouldn’t it make sense if he had practice??? Cus Leo can’t even be accurate to the right fucking country

Anyway. Yeah. Think about that.

I’m too tired to think of a segue. So.

If the powers belong to the boys ig would make sense that Donnie has a power. Probably a more idle/ non directly combative one (like warren’s regen and sunita’s squishy ness)

I propose spacial manipulation or time manipulation as like. Possibilities. Even if that stays purely fannon lol it explains how he fits so much in his bo + gets so much insane shit done so fast

Or it could be smthn related to the crystal. Bc his ability to read magic signatures doesn’t come up that much but I hope it does more. Also if reading magic signatures was a him thing it would make sense bc he was gonna make goggles for everyone else but never did

On a related note- Donnie having an idle sort of magic makes a lot of sense bc as the show goes on the bois are shown to be unlocking more powers, even if it’s shown more through the animation than the text.

Raph starts w/ just super powered punches, then is later able to make full body giant projections of himself, + almost like extra or prosthetic body parts??? (When he tickles shredder) + his powers sometimes seem to have an explosive/ electrical side effect (first time using them, silver fish in late fee, I’m pretty sure they’re are some others) which may be just artistic liberties but who knows?? 

Leo suddenly has a huge speed boost when he’s getting good w/ his powers. Sure, speed doesn’t = portals/ teleportation exactly but if he were say like,,,, teleporting a few times super short distances while running it would look like he was just running super fast. Also he has the ability to edit portals now??? (Shifts it during battle nexus fight) + the ability to have multiple open at a time when he could barely do 1 at first

(I’m very proud)

Also Mikey!! He’s shown to have both the fire and physics manipulation w/ his weapon from like day 1 (getting dragged around draxum’s lab, stopping the tank in mutant menace, throwing a fucking cargo ship) but his ability to just. Flip off the laws of physics grows exponentially

So if Donnie got some new powers it would still be balanced lol

Also I wouldn’t be suprised if the boys continue to find new ways to use their powers!! Both by just figuring out new shit they can do like raph w/ the projections, and by using their powers in creative ways like Leo and the helmets during the battle nexus fight

Also also, Mikey seems to have both a elemental and physical power, maybe the others do too?? Cus raph has his electricity details and shit Idk. This is like 97% me hoping and 3% evedence 😂

Ok so sorry this is a total mess. Like I said it’s part real evedence part my own bs ideas and theories,,,,

[popsunner]

Moonlit Champion: Part One, Fire

@cubedleo ITS FINALLY HEREEE (lemme know if y’all want on a taglist ig??)

A/N: I have finally managed to bs a first chapter to the Spirit Sokka AU are y’all proud of me. AO3 link!! 

Summary: Death by fire was a horrible thing to watch, and Sokka realized then that the raging element would take him one day too.

Sokka had imagined what dying would feel like since the day his mother was killed.

He used to sit by the fire at night and stare into the flames, wondering what it would be like to be engulfed by them. To feel the heat slowly inch up his body, smell his own flesh burning, taste the smoke from his disintegrating skin.

It was… never very accurate when he was little. His father never let him see his mom’s body, and Katara never talked about it.

Like everything else, that changed after he met Aang.

The first time Sokka saw fire kill someone, he froze. He could hear Katara screaming behind him, telling him to hurry, Momo tugging at his arm.

Death by fire was a horrible thing to watch, and Sokka realized then that the raging element would take him one day too.

When Katara asked if he was okay, he lied and said yes.

Funny, how things come back to a person in times like this.

Sokka sees the world in slow motion, his limbs too heavy to move in time. The only thing moving in real time are Katara’s screams, and the flames.

Sokka wonders what his mother was thinking about before she died.

Because all he can think about are the three little kids he’s leaving behind, and that just might burn more than the fire.

Well, not really. The fire burns a lot.

Sokka doesn’t realize he’s screaming until Aang’s hands are cupping his face, saying something Sokka can’t understand. For a second, cool relief sweeps through his body like dipping his blistered and tired feet into a cold lake after a full day of walking, and his mouth clamps shut. Just as quickly as it comes, it’s gone again.

“Not enough,” Katara says, and she sounds angry. Sokka tries to turn so he can see her, tell her that it’s okay, that she’s doing great, but his body won’t comply.

“Dad? What does it feel like to die?”

Hakota raises an eyebrow, eyes rimmed red. “I don’t know. And hopefully neither of us will for a long time.”

“Do you think mom was scared?”

“Get some sleep Sokka, we’ll talk in the morning.”

His chest. That’s where the fire bender got him. He’d meant to shield himself, but his brain sort of stopped working when he saw the fire on its way towards Aang.

It wasn’t the first time he’d been a human shield, but it’s probably the last.  

“Sokka?” That’s Toph, definitely Toph.

This time, Sokka manages to turn and find her, he pretends he does it on his own, and that it isn’t Aang’s hands guiding him. “Oh, hey guys, we win?”

“Always do,” Aang says. Which is, obviously, a lie. They lose a lot.

Sokka smiles, and his face crinkles and cracks like walrus jerky left in the sun too long. “Word to the wise, if you wan’ a tan, don’t ask a fire bender.”

Katara snaps at him to stop joking around. Probably, at least. He doesn’t really hear her. There’s an ocean in his ears, he thinks it wants him to sleep.

It’s loud, everything is loud. Sokka wants to sleep.

He closes his eyes, and the sounds stop.

“Hello, my love.”

Sokka exhales, and the burning fades to nothing.

“Mom?”

***

“Katara! I’ve been looking everywhere for you! Gran gran made dinner.”

Katara sniffs and wipes her sleeve across her face, turning away from her brother. “I’m not hungry.”

“Oh.” She can hear Sokka sitting down next to her, scratching the back of his head. “Well I’m not either.”

Scoffing, Katara reaches back blindly to shove him. “Liar, you’re always hungry.”

“That’s not true!”

“Yes it is. Go eat, Sokka.”

“Fine.” Sokka doesn’t get up. “After you tell me what’s wrong.”

Katara whips around to glare at him, hands clenched into fists. “Mom is gone, that’s what’s wrong. And now- and now dad left too!”

Sokka’s nose is red from the cold, but his eyes are red from crying when he thinks Katara can’t hear. She wants to punch him when he smiles. “You’ve still got me!”

“Until you leave.” Katara hugs her knees to her chest and huffs. “Everyone leaves.”

Sokka throws his arms around her haphazardly, almost knocking them both over. “Not me!”

Faking annoyance, Katara glares at the wide expanse of snow surrounding them. “Promise?”

“Promise.”

Katara’s hands shake with the water she’s pressing against her brother’s chest. He doesn’t move. “You promised.”

“Katar-”

“I need to focus!” Katara snaps, and Toph falls silent. Katara’s eyes sting and she prods deeper, further into the jagged burn that she’s trying not to think about while focusing all her strength on it at once. “Wake up, Sokka. You promised.”

Sokka doesn’t wake up.

Aang is staring at her desperately, his hands cupping Sokka’s face, sitting crisscrossed under his head. Katara realizes how young he looks. Like a scared twelve year old who doesn’t want to lose a member of the only family he has left.

When she looks at Toph, gray eyes wide and feet dug a few inches into the ground, searching for any sign of life, Katara sees the same thing. A scared child.

If she was brave enough to look at her reflection in the water under her hands, she thinks she’d see it in her own face too.

“Don’t make me lose you,” Katara whispers, and her voice breaks. The water falls from her control, and her brother doesn’t move.

Katara blinks and she’s home, and her mother is on the ground, and her mother is dead. She never told Sokka what she looked like that day, no matter how many times he asked.

She blinks again and she’s sitting in a puddle across the world from her home, and her brother is on the ground.

And her brother is dead.

***

Toph doesn’t remember how long they flew for. It’s hard to keep track of anything up in the sky even on a good day, and today wasn’t a good day.

Today was the farthest from a good day she’s ever had.

When they land, everyone disappears. Toph can still see them, still sense them. Aang is on a big rocky overhang with his back to the horizon, Katara is in a nearby cave with… with-

Toph props her feet up on a rock so she can’t see anymore.

“Hey, not that it matters to you-”

Toph inwardly groans. Whenever someone starts a sentence that way it usually ends with ‘you kind of stink’ or ‘your manners are terrible’ or even ‘your parents must be heartbroken’.

“-but I’m proud of you,” Sokka finishes.

Under her, the soft dirt turns to rock. “What?”

Sokka shrugs. “You grew up being told you couldn’t do anything, and look at you! You’re the best earth bender I’ve ever met, and probably will ever meet, and you did it all on your own. That’s pretty cool.”

“You’re a sap,” Toph says with a scoff, leaning over to punch Sokka in the arm. She smiles when he falls over.

They’re quiet for a while, and Sokka doesn’t sit up again. “I’m proud of you, Toph.”

Toph lays down next to him, and pretends she can see the sky. “Whatever. Thanks.”

A wave of hot air blows through her clothes and Toph doesn’t need to have her feet on the ground to know it’s Aang. She shakes her head. “We could all use some cheering up right now.”

Next to her, Momo chirps. Toph nods. “I know. Hard to do without him.”

Her eyes sting and she growls, clenching her teeth and daring the tears to fall.

They do.

Toph looks up and pretends she can see the sky.

“I’m proud of you too, Captain Boomerang.”

***

Aang runs.

There are still Fire Nation soldiers lining up to fight them, there are still burning buildings that need to be put out. There are still people watching, waiting for the Avatar to help them.

He drags his family to Appa and he runs.

The thing he’s running from -the person he’s running from- comes with them.

Aang doesn’t look back. At the town, or at Sokka.

When they land, he sits on Appa and stares at the fading sun until no one is around, and then he runs some more.

He’s hit with a wave of deja vu when he ends up on a cliff, his eyes scan the horizon like he’s waiting for something. Something that will never come again.

Air whips around him and he turns, falling to his knees with the sun at his back. He closes his eyes.

“Why don’t you ever stop to have fun with us?”

Sokka looks up from his maps, raising his eyebrow at Aang. The wind is wilder up on the cliff edge, and his hair threatens to fall from its ponytail. “What do you mean?”

Aang shrugs, counting off on his fingers. “Whenever we stop to go swimming or climbing or riding you always sit out, unless money or food or information is involved.”

“That’s ridiculous.” Sokka gestures to himself and winks at Aang, “I’m the fun guy!”

“Well… you give us fun ideas.”

“Exactly!”

“But you never do them with us.”

Sokka smiles at him softly and sets down the map. “Aang, what’s your job?”

“To restore peace to the four nations, defeat the Fire Lord, and master all four elements,” Aang says automatically, then adds, “But probably not in that order.”

“Yep!” Sokka nods over his shoulder, “What are Katara and Toph’s jobs?”

“To teach me water and earth bending?” Sokka grins at him like he won a prize, and Aang goes red. “So what’s your point?”

Sokka stands up and bonks the top of Aang’s head with a rolled up map. “Those are pretty high stress jobs for two twelve year olds and a fourteen year old.”

“I guess so?”

“So what’s my job?”

It takes Aang a second, but when he gets it he smacks his fist into his palm and nods. “To make sure we have fun!”

“To make sure you know you’re still kids.” Sokka shrugs, “And also plan all our attacks and travel. Plus keep you guys alive so you can actually do your jobs.”

“That’s a lot for a sixteen year old. You know you’re a kid too, right?”

That seems to surprise Sokka, and he frowns. “Well yeah, I guess. But sixteen is basically an adult.”

Aang stares at him, and then pulls a mock mature face. He jumps over Sokka’s head and sits down in the middle of his pile of maps, dangerously close to the cliff edge. “Come on! Let’s finish this together!”

“I thought I just explained to you why you don’t help with this stuff.”

“Hey, if you’re going to make sure we get to be kids, I’m going to make sure you get to be a kid-that’s-basically-an-adult.”

Sokka pinches his nose, and then sighs. “Okay, fine. If that’s what makes you happy.”

“It does, very much. Now! Teach me how to plan, and I’ll teach you how to surf a bear fish!”

“That sounds insanely dangerous.”

“We fought a whole fleet of soldiers six hours ago,” Aang deadpans.

“Okay, good point. But please don’t sit so close to the edge.”

A whole fleet then, and they couldn’t manage eight guards today.

Aang is never going to forget the look on Sokka’s face when he pushed him out of the way of that blast.

“You’re a kid too,” Aang grits out.

No one answers, and his stomach churns and bile burns his throat.

He slams his hands into the ground and screams, and a wave of fire engulfs the sound.

Aang stumbles back, staring at the burnt patch of ground in front of him. The dead grass he killed with his anger. The brother they killed with theirs.

“Why?” Aang whispers.

No one answers, and his stomach churns and the remnants of his fire burns his throat.

***

“Hello, my love.”

“Mom?”

The voice giggles, eerily familiar and warm. “No, silly. It’s me.”

“Yue?”

“You sound surprised, did you think I’d left you alone?”

The inky white around him ripples, Sokka had just meant to shrug. “You’ve been looking out for me?”

“How could I not?”

Sokka wants to hold her, wants to brush his thumb across her cheek and kiss her. He doesn’t even try. “I have to go back, Yue.”

“Why?”

“Are you really asking that?”

She giggles again, and Sokka thinks she sounds more confident than she ever did when he knew her. “Wouldn’t you like to see the people waiting for you? Wouldn’t you like to stay with me? Wouldn’t you like to see your mother?”

Ahead of him is a little house made of ice, and Sokka knows it’s his. “She’s in there?’

“We all are.”

“Mom?” Sokka whispers. He moves forward, then freezes.

“You promised.”

“Yue? Was that you?” Sokka spins in a circle, and the house stays in front of him the whole time. “Yue?”

“You promised.”

Sokka’s fingers move, and he jumps at the sudden control. “Katara.”

His surroundings ripple again, and he thinks he sees a flash of blue. He tries to take a step towards his house, but his feet aren’t there. Despite that, the igloo seems to move closer.

Katara.

That’s the face he pictures when he tries to imagine what he’ll see in that igloo. If he goes, he could finally see his mother's real face again.

“The burden I put on her was never fair,” he says to the igloo’s dark doorway. “Maybe… I could take it away.”

“Neither was the burden you put on yourself.”

Sokka wishes he could close his eyes. “Mom?”

“You could leave yours behind too.”

For a moment, Sokka considers it. Would it be so bad? Maybe if he was his sister, or Toph, or the Avatar, sure. But he’s just… Sokka.

His surroundings shake and he stumbles onto his feet, knocking pressure through his ankles. “I’m proud of you too, Captain Boomerang.”

If Sokka wanted, he could reach out and touch the igloo.

When they first met, Toph barely said anything to him. She dismissed him, didn’t give him the time of day. It pissed Katara off, it frustrated Aang, it didn’t bother Sokka. He’d been ignored his whole life. Not on purpose, but gran gran, most of the villagers, even his mom always gravitated towards Katara.

One more person was nothing.

Then one day she asked him if he thought he was weak because he didn’t have bending, and Sokka said no, and she huffed and punched his arm, and never ignored him again.

It feels like a lifetime since he’s seen her or the others.

One step. He has his feet now. All it would take is one step, and he’d be with his mom again.

“This is what I want,” Sokka tries to convince himself.

“Why?”

Aang's voice sends him to his knees, pain rips through his chest and he screams through his teeth, clutching the front of his shirt.

Tears prick at his eyes and he looks up, into the igloo, his home. One foot more and he’s inside, and the pain will go away.

If he does go, will he still be haunted by the look in Aang’s eyes when he realized Sokka sacrificed himself for him?

Doesn’t the kid have enough weight on his shoulders?

Don’t they all?

This time, when Sokka wishes he could close his eyes, he does. “Yue? I can’t… send me back, princess. Please.”

“My brave warrior, all you had to do was ask.”

When Sokka opens his eyes again, the igloo is gone, and the moon is all he can see.

***

They’re on the beach, and the sun went down an hour ago, and the remaining members of Team Avatar haven’t said a thing to each other since the battle. Sokka lays on the sand, and he looks so peaceful Aang can almost pretend he’s asleep.

He never thought he’d miss Sokka’s snoring.

“Are you sure about this?” Toph asks, breaking the silence, hands clenched at her sides.

Aang watches Katara set Sokka’s helmet on his head gently, her shoulders stiff. “We have to move on in the morning, you know that.”

Toph sniffs. “Yeah, I know.”

“Hey Toph?” Aang whispers, his voice still hoarse from fire bending on the cliff. “Can I hold your hand?”

Wind whipping through her hair, Toph looks like she’s going to say no, and then she reaches out and grabs Aang’s hand in both of hers, and presses her body against his side. “Sure, Twinkletoes.”

Katara stands and lifts her arms. Her stance is off, one of her feet too far behind her, her posture twisted and sagged.

“Do you want help?” Aang asks.

“It’s water tribe tradition for families to send off their loved ones.” Aang slumps, and then Katara’s voice switches into some resemblance of familiarity. “I’d love some help.”

Only using one hand so he doesn’t have to pull his other from Toph’s iron grip, Aang exhales slowly, and the two water benders convince the tides to lead Sokka out to sea.

It hits Aang that this is the last time he’s ever going to see his friend.

Something roars inside him. Roku, Kyoshi, any Avatar who’d ever lost a friend, who ever let their family die. It burns like fire and crashes through him like a landslide, swaying him like the wind and drowns him like the ocean that will be his friend’s grave.

Katara takes his hand, and the glowing he hadn’t even noticed fades from his tattoos.

“Don’t let anger be your last memory of him,” Katara pleads, her voice cracks twice.

Toph’s grip on his hand tightens. “This is it?”

Eyes fixed on Sokka’s limp form, bobbing up and down slowly, Aang takes a breath. “This is it.”

Everything goes white.

Is this grief? Aang wonders as the sand makes contact with his knees.

When he found out his people had all died, he was so caught up in so many other things that he only had time to feel the loss for a moment, and it sent him into the Avatar state. Now, with a full day to let the truth sink in before he has to let Sokka go, he can’t help but think that is what losing someone is really like.

“What’s going on?” Toph asks, and her voice is scared.

“There’s a light. Aang, what-”

Before she can finish, before Aang can process that he’s not the only one seeing this, a wave of calm washes over him, like the first time he tried water bending.

“Do not worry, just as you look out for the world, I have been looking out for you.”

“I know that voice,” Katara whispers, he still can’t see her. “Princess Yue.”

“Who?”

Just as soon as it came, the white is gone. Aang squints as his eyes adjust and focus on one thing.

The moon. More brilliant than he’s ever seen.

“Sokka!” Katara shouts, and she’s running, pulling her hand from Aang’s. She stumbles through the shallow water, sloshing forward instead of using her bending.

Aang tugs on Toph, “Come on. Let’s go see what she’s doing.”

He winces at his choice of words, but Toph doesn’t snark back like she usually does. Now is not the time.

Katara splashes around frantically, shoving water back and forth and soaking herself head to toe. “Where is he? The tide isn’t that strong, he should still be here!”

Toph closes her eyes, and after a few seconds, she shakes her head. “He’s not on the ground, as far as I can tell, at least.”

“Where is he?”

Aang feels dizzy. He puts a hand to his head, stumbling back. Toph holds him steady. “Twinkletoes?”

“Something’s happening.”

Katara stops looking for her brother, stepping back so she’s closer to Toph and Aang.

Aang isn’t sure what’s going on, he’s not even sure it’s bad.

His breath evens out.

The ocean explodes.

A boy bursts through the surface, silhouetted by the moon's light. Maybe it’s wishful thinking, or maybe it really is Sokka.

Katara takes a step forward, the water lapping against her hips. “Sokka?”

The boy’s hair is pure white, and even though he was just submerged in water, it doesn’t look wet at all.

“I think it’s a spirit,” Aang says.

“Who is?”

“Aang, it looks like Sokka.”

“Who does?”

“I know, but-”

“Can someone please explain to the blind girl what’s going on?” Toph shouts.

Katara shakes her head, “I’m going to get him. Even if it is a spirit, he looks unconscious.”

“Who does?”

Aang pulls Toph’s hands from his own, guiding her so she can latch on to Katara. “Let me go. Bridge to the spirits, remember?”

He needs to do something before he breaks.

Toph growls. “You guys suck. Sokka always tells me what’s happening.”

“Well he’s not here, is he?” Katara snaps, and then her eyes widen. “Toph, I’m sorry. I’ll- go, Aang. I’ll fill Toph in.”

Aang nods, reaches out to squeeze Katara’s hand, and dives into the ocean.

It doesn’t take him long to get to the boy, who’s still floating upright in the water despite being knocked out. When he finally gets a good look at the boy's face, Aang’s control of the water around him slips, dunking him underwater suddenly. He resurfaces, coughing and gasping.

It really is Sokka.

[madebycoffee]

OH ALSO I finished watching Legend of Korra and here is non spoiler thoughts: I really enjoyed it and just like atla I cried at every single season finale. I really like that the main cast while still young, is older than the lITERAL children of atla. atla still holds up watching it as an adult, but I feel like korra is a bit more my jive. There is only one episode that I won’t watch again (season 4 remembrances, when you are binging the show it isn’t necessary as it’s a recap and not as fun as ember island players which serves the same purpose in atla. Also I looked on IMDB, that is the lowest rated episode. I agree. Honestly, if you are binging you can skip it) but I can def see myself watching the whole thing again. Season 1 is my overall favorite of the series. 

Spoiler thoughts below the cut because WOW I HAVE THOUGHTS (it’s long)

hi spoiler time last chance to look away

Before going into LOK I had read a decent amount of spoilers beforehand since this aired back in 2012-2014. I don’t think I even knew about it after it was nearly done so the one thing I knew was that Korra & Asami get together lol. Anyway my point is I knew what was coming overall.

Season 1: My personal favorite, I think it’s a really strong stand alone season. I thought it was really smart to begin the series in the water tribe again, as well as with Katara as that’s how ATLA started. I also think its really clever that with Aang, he was very spiritual and a master airbender already, but needed to learn the other 3 element. Korra is the opposite. It helps it not be so repetitive. We already saw one avatar working to master fire, water, and earth. I also realized how used to the world of atla I was and was confused for a split second how Mako and Bolin were brothers but one was an earthbender and one was a firebender... Yeah I know I’m dumb and I forgot that its a different world lol.  -Another strong point was that no matter how in danger Korra got in season 1 she never went into the avatar state, because as she says in what ep 1? that she has never been good at the spiritual side of being the avatar. Part of me kept expecting it to happen, but even the final showdown with Amon it didn’t so I was like oh damn. The finale when she does go into the avatar state with Aang giving her the bending she lost back.... I was a wreck. Sobbing my eyes out it just HIT ME.  -Other moments that hit me hard: Hearing Dante Basco’s voice as General Iroh ow my soul, Hearing through Katara that Sokka is dead, The flashbacks to the trial of the bloodbender (forgot his name??) and seeing them get bloodbent HURTS MY HEART. And every time Aang’s statue was shown. ;-; Also, just like ATLA there isn’t a main character that I dislike. I genuinely like Korra, Asami, Mako, & Bolin as a team. Lin is my favorite which not hard being Toph’s daughter lol. Tenzin and fam are a delight (though Meelo can get on my nerves but eh)  TL:DR SEASON 1 IS GREAT I CAN’T WAIT TO WATCH IT AGAIN!!

Season 2: Alright so. A lot of Spirit World dealings. Unalaq being a GASP evil brother??? LOK has a thing about brothers lol. First with Amon and whathisname, now with Korra’s dad and uncle. Anyway, season 2 I really like too. Yes even the finale. And it’s been a few weeks (maybe months??) since I watched season 2 so the finale is really all that stands out. Other than that I do really like seeing the story of the first avatar. OH MAN AND IROH IN THE SPIRIT WORLD HAD ME ALL SORTS OF LEVELS OF EMOTIONAL. -SO. This was the big spoiler I knew going in, that the past lives of the Avatar are severed from Korra. I know that A LOT of people really don’t like it either. And upon hearing that plot point I didn’t like it as well. But when I sat down and watched the whole series. I actually thought it was the right thing to do. And I didn’t mind it as much as I thought. Korra can no longer call upon the past lives which is sad, but those Avatars still existed. And with Tenzin being so prevalent in the show, it really feels like Aang is still there in spirit. The reason I thought it was the right thing to do with the story, is that it let’s the show as a whole exist on it’s own. IDK how to properly explain.. I get why people don’t like it, but it makes sense to me. -And I do commend the show runners for sticking to this. There is no getting contact back with the past lives. Which, personally I approve of. Whenever you do something world altering like that it annoys me when the show takes it back. My main gripe is people dying but wAIT NO THEY’RE ALIVE!!! It lessens the stakes. And I think a through line of Korra is that actions have consequences. TL;DR I LIKE SEASON 2 AS WELL. DOESN’T LEAVE A LASTING IMPRESSION SINCE THE FINALE IS SUCH A BIG DEAL.

Season 3: I THINK this would be my second favorite season. I REALLY like Zaheer as I guess the ~big bad~ and the squad he has. SO much so that I’m actually upset that they all are dead by the end. I think P’Li is done the dirtiest. You see and know very little about her until an ~exposition~ line a few scenes before she dies. (But damn if the scene of Su throwing her metal breastplate around her head isn’t hardcore cool. I haven’t said yet but the fight sequences in Korra??? Amazing.) Bolin finding out he can Lavabend??? oh hell yeah that’s the good shit, same with lavabending in GENERAL. seeing what people can REALLY do with their bending is probably my favorite part about Korra. I do think Zaheer looks a little silly when he starts flying around, but hey that part is cool too. Also easily the most horrified I’ve been watching this show was the pulling the aiR OUT OF SOMEONE. JESUS. Up until that point Airbending still seemed like the least dangerous form but HOLY SHIT. I will say that the way Kuvira is if not introduced/ we’re reminded about her in the finale is a little bit more like “uhhh is Korra’s dad going to have an affair???” to me than “she gonna be the big bad next season” Also on IMDB the finale of season 3 is the highest rated finale. 

Season 4: Even thought this has the same number of episodes as season 3, it feels the most rushed to me. However I do appreciate the timejump and GODTDAMN I love me some old lady Toph. I also like that Toph says that she’s watching Su & Lin through the swamp, an episode or two later Su and Zaofu are attacked and captured, and when Lin, Opal, and Bolin go to Zaofu to try and rescue, Toph is there. It’s a nice payoff. As Su was getting captured I was thinking “hmmmm does Toph see this” And she does, which has her leave the swamp, so she’s not there when Kuvira’s army is cutting vines. Because cmon is Toph was there she woulda kicked their asses. -The huge mecha suit with the spirit weapon on it is HARROWING. I like that Baatar Jr. see’s that Kuvira was gonna kill him for thE gREatER gOOD and was instantly like “oh shit well i guess my loyalties were wrong then ok” Oh and out of order but I had a feeling that Zhu Li was telling Kuvira what she wanted to hear to be sneaky and I was v happy to be proven right by Toph. I ALSO like that things like Toph being able to tell if people are lying aren’t forgotten about. Also... Cried like a baby at Zhu Li and Varrick’s wedding. Haven’t mentioned Varrick yet but hot damn if he isn’t one of my favorite characters. What I wouldn’t GIVE to have Sokka and Varrick brainstorm some truly crazy shit. 10/10.  TL;DR SEASON 3 IS REALLY GOOD AND SEASON 4 IS GOOD BUT FEELS LIKE IT’S TOO SHORT.

But yeah. Overall I really enjoyed it. I looked through the episodes on IMDB and nearly everything is above 8.5 except for some of the first episodes in season 2 which I get. I can tell that this is by the same team that did ATLA. It feels so much the same. And I think there was the right amount of the original peeps or their kids but still was focusing on our core four. Other little things:

- I like that the “villains” or ig the conflicts of people weren’t anyone from the Fire Nation. (Although do we know where Zaheer is from??? Family lineage?) Well regardless, what we have is Amon: Waterbender, Unalaq: Waterbender, Zaheer: Airbender, Kuvira: Earthbender. ATLA we were fighting the fire nation, LOK has the range lol. - I do wish we could have been in the Fire Nation tho. I wanna see what’s it like over there :( - Adored seeing all the changes to the world. In ATLA we see the blimps/airships more or less being invented and then 70 years later AIRSHIPS AND CARS GALORE. And having radios/phones VERY nice. Don’t have to rely on letters or talking in person.  - I really like Korra. I feel like it needs to be said lol, but I thoroughly enjoyed her as the Avatar (maybe more than Aang??) - Zuko’s face after Korra says she talked to Iroh in the spirit world I’m not crying you are.

ANYWAY. I think that’s it. I just needed to get it all out somewhere. Not a perfect show (neither is atla) but damn if it isn’t some of the best TV out there. If you read all of that woW good job.

[avtonome]

hey y’all ! i’m kat and i’m super excited to open; i have two super clingy cats in case any of you ever need a visual pick-me-up, i’m a uni student in canada and a Big skincare and dark chocolate junkie, more than likely gonna be typing replies while indulging in either jsyk !

tried to keep it short since i’m a rambly bitch, but here is a link to tally’s currently basic stats, a wc page will be up soon though i have some under the read more, here is her messy as hell pinterest board, and i’ll be posting a little tracklist for her playlist later ! and if tumblr ims are as much of a nuisance for you as they can be for me, you can add me on d*scord at GENUINELY sick of this shit#2030 if you’d like to plot ! anyways, without further ado:

[  im jinah  .  twenty-three  .  cis female  .  she/her  ] just saw TALLULAH “TALLY” HONG dragging their suitcase up the steps to CABIN 4D  .  good luck living with HER  ,  word around campus is that they’re SUPERCILIOUS  ,  DARWINIAN  ,  ASTUTE  &  ALLURING  .  apparently they're the EVENT COORDINATOR.  let’s hope this new living situation doesn’t affect their SENIOR year of COMMUNICATIONS.

tw: drug mention

her parents’ only child together, tally’s the oldest out of her and her half-siblings

also, never call her tallulah. friend or otherwise, don’t take the risk DKLGSJDLK

grew up with a silver spoon, her dad being a wall street giant and her mother being an entrepreneur with a love for art ( so much so that her two partners after separating from tally’s dad were artists themselves sdlkgj )

basically could’ve been a main character on gossip girl with her reckless antics and partying as a teenager…. and now, even SGDLKF

drk how to elaborate on that, aside from stressing that from her teen years onward she’s presented her own take of a rich bitch, and is a socialite/fashion week regular type if i were to describe where she stands rn

is attending hollis at the behest of her father so he has at least one child who could take a senior position in his company simply to keep it in the family

isn’t the most studious person, but she’s gotten far enough to begin wrapping up her major in communications with a marketing minor

she reasoned that, with her reputation in nyc, she’d need the bit of knowledge in how to clean up her messes. even if she wasn’t the one who had that responsibility

though.. the entire time has been spent sleeping with some of her rich friends, drinking and smoking pot, with the occasional hit of whatever clean enough drug that one of her friends had on them

when she’s not getting an education, she’s pissing off her neighbours with her house parties back in nyc or at her beach house in malibu/the family’s new house in beverly hills.. something of the sort at least ( while getting a moment’s peace bc i already know this bitch hates sharing a dorm 90% of the time GDSFLKJD ), staying in the good graces of the media as a budding, fun yet classy heiress — despite doing dumb shit the second she’s inside of a gala or club

as for her time here as the event coordinator somewhere in wyoming ?? she ABHORS it !

she hates organized sports, she hates camping and being restricted ( to some degree in this case ) so why is she here ?? ..... i still haven’t worked that out, i just like to fuck with my muses DKFLGJGSDF

but fr, i thought it would be funny to watch her seethe in a rather unfamiliar element so ! she can have fun with that !

personality and shit

her little blurb on my indie is: refined party girl still set in her ways with her future left uncompromised; detached and pretentious, she soaks up the attention that continues to roll in

which. we’ve basically been over already LKDFSG but still

if i were to use a label to describe her, she'd be the sovereign

she’s messy as hell, but puts on the façade of a poised woman who has some fun because she knows it bodes well

she’s not a complete dick per se, but she can be snide and boastful

Big superiority complex, independent and lives lavishly with reckless abandon 

probably jets back and forth between nyc and l.a during the school year a good bit, so ig she hates the environment if it means not having things go her way !

non-committal as all hell and will abandon girl code if she drops you FGKLJFS

.. fr, she’ll fuck an ex-friend’s ex if she Technically saw them first, so being spiteful And resolving some past attraction ?? right up her alley !

keeps her true inner circle small, but gets off on attention and likes to stay cordial with some people, so she’s got quite a few friends all the same

she’ll fight tooth and nail to protect her image and won’t hesitate to throw anyone under the bus to do so/in retaliation if they screw her over

which happens to mean that her family is to be protected as well. fuck with any of her sisters ?? you’re Done. try to compete with her father ? she’ll leak your suspicious investment history to the times fskgdljlsf

there really isn’t much to expand on tbh, though i will say that her emboldened nature and need for a good time however she can get it comes out more than her uglier side ( except her vanity. that’ll never go away KSFDG )

some quick plot ideas

a childhood friend or two that she made back in nyc or through events she attended when she was young, whether they’re still friends or not for x reasons can be discussed of course

could carry over into a trio type of thing depending on where she stands with either of them, or they’re a different couple of pals she’s made since coming to hollis

enemies are always fun ! probably rooted in a competitive streak more than anything else but i’m all ears for a more complex reason

ex-hookup(s), current hookup(s), throw it all at me klgfjd

a hateship/ewb would be fun with her too, oh my god sfdgklj

surely there are quite a few wealthy kids here, but that doesn’t mean that someone who’s using her for their fifteen seconds of fame, or just to get some perks out of their friendship, is necessarily a write-off — not that she cares too much about fake friends, face value hype and knowing they need her more than she needs them gives her too much satisfaction fkskgls

an ex-something, open to anyone.. who's fc was born earlier than like. '97 since jinah's on the higher end of her twenties dfsjgklsd and someone who's at least a junior. either someone her parents forced on her to straighten her out that she wound up liking…. after a good period of her telling them to fuck off sdglk or someone she’d been seeing for a while at her own accord. would’ve ended the same way: with her calling it off because she didn’t want to settle down, not even for a relationship ( and perhaps bc she’s scared of commitment with her cracked family dynamic that’s been a thing since age two, but that’s another story jsdfkg )

kinda relates to current hookups, but her designated event pal would be super fun ?? sdgkflj like they go to all of these big parties and galas together, then meet up in the nooks of the venue or head back to her place before she throws an after-party of sorts. they’d be decent friends beyond this though, them being someone she trusts a good bit compared to others in her circle

[sybcritics-blog]

( lee jooheon, cismale, he/him, 24. ) — CHOI JUNGWOO, better known to the authorities as VULCAN, has been working for the kumiho for around SIX YEARS as a JANITOR. rumor has it, they can be DARING & KALEIDOSCOPIC but also IRASCIBLE & SYBARITIC which is why blood-stained hands, all black wardrobes, crooked smirks, and weaponry makes me think of them.

hey  demons,  it  me,  ya  girl,  gem  ...  back  at  it  again,  only  this  time  my  character  is  worst  than  the  first  one.  which  is  saying  something  because  oof  minwoo  was  an  absolute  disaster  !  so  if  that  gives  you  any  idea  as  to  how  this  shithead  is  gonna  be,  that  should  be  a  clue  !  

again,  his  whole  backstory  isn't  completely  figured  out  but  i  have  what  i've  already  figured  out  below  the  cut,  as  well  as  his  basic  information,  personality  &  some  wanted  plots  i  have  for  him  ! 

if  you  want  to  plot  with  this  lil  pyro,  smash  that  like  button  &  i'll  come  to  you  !  or  of  course,  if  you  like  d*scord  better  than  tumblr  feel  free  to  add  me  on  there  (  @𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕂𝕃𝔼𝕍𝕠𝕊𝕊!#9330 )  &  we  can  plot  from  there  !

                                         BASIC INFORMATION.

full  name:  choi  jungwoo. nickname(s):  jun,  woo. age:  twenty-four. date  of  birth:  october  31st. birthplace:  daegu,  south  korea. current  location:  seoul,  south  korea. ethnicity:  korean. nationality:  korean. gender:  cismale. pronouns:  he  /  him  /  his. orientation:  pansexual. crew  position:  janitor. occupation:  instagram  model  /  youtuber.  (  eboy  basically  ig  ) language(s)  spoken: korean,  english,   chinese,  japanese,  spanish,  greek,  thai  &  french.

                                    PHYSICAL  APPEARANCE.

face  claim:  lee  jooheon  (  joohoney  )  of  monsta  x. hair  color:  changes  frequently,  currently  dark  brown. eye  color:  brown. height:  6  '  1  ". weight:  175. build:  athletic. tattoos:  far  too  many  to  count. piercings:  multiple  in  his  ears,  a  tongue  piercing,  nipple  piercings,  a  scar  on  his  right  brow  from  an  old  brow  piercing.

                                                       HEALTH.

physical  ailments:  alcohol  abuse,  drug  abuse  & lactose  intolerance. neurological  conditions:  back  pain  &  occasional  migraines. allergies:  pollen,  mold,  dairy,  shellfish. sleeping  habits: 3-4  hours  a  night,  restless. eating  habits:  mostly  junk  food,  fast  food  &  take-out  but  he  does  enjoy  going  to  fancy  places  every  once  in  a  while  as  well  as  cooking  meals  at  home. exercise  habits:  jogs  every  morning,  is  in  a  boxing  group  that  meets  every  week. body  temperature: hot  natured. addictions:  alcohol,  tobacco,  drugs  &  sex. drug  use: frequent. alcohol  use: frequent.

                                          PERSONALITY. ( PT 1. )

label:  the  cataclysmic. positive  traits:  daring  &  kaleidoscopic. negative  traits:  irascible  &  sybaritic. fears:  large  bodies  of  water. hobbies:  boxing,  card  games,  video  games,  reading,  cooking,  comic  books,  jogging. habits: tbd. quirks:  tbd.

                                                 FAVORITES.

season:  fall. color(s):  black,  red,  green. music:  isn’t  super  picky,  doesn't  care  for  country. movies:  mostly  action,  suspense,  horror  &  comedy. sport(s):  watches  baseball  &  hockey. beverage(s):  anything  but  sparkling  water. food:  fast  food. animal:  dogs.

                                                     FAMILY.

father: tba. mother: tba. sibling(s):  younger sibling, nineteen. children:  n/a. pet(s):  german  sheppard  puppy. family’s  financial  status:  upper  class.

                                                     EXTRAS.

zodiac sign:  scorpio. mbti:  entp-a.  (  the  debater  ) enneagram:  type  eight. (  the  challenger  ) temperament:  choleric. hogwarts  house:  slytherin. moral  alignment:  chaotic neutral. primary  vice:  lust. primary  virtue:  pride. element: fire.

                                                BIOGRAPHY.

born  in  daegu  sk  to  a  lawyer  and  a  police  officer,  jun's  life  was  always  pretty strict.

they  always  made  sure  he  was  living  like  they  wanted  him  to,  cracking  down  and  making  sure  he  was  behaving  &  that  his  grades  were  at  the  top  of  his  class.

little  did  they  know  that  their  son  found  ways  around  having  to  obey  everything  they  said,  sneaking  out  of  his  bedroom  window  to  roam  the  streets  of  daegu  in  the  middle  of  the  night  &  things  like  that.

that's  also  where  he  first  found  his  interest  in  fire,  seeing  people  mess  with  small  bonfires  /  fireworks  all  the  time  caused  him  to  grow  curious.

so  one  night  on  one  of  his  adventures,  he  approached  a  group  of  kids  that  were  probably  only  a  few  years  older  than  him  and  they  allowed  him  into  their  group  &  allowed  him  to  start  messing  with  the  fireworks  himself.

it  was  from  that  moment  on  that  he  started  to  rebel  a  little  bit  more  with  each  day  that  passed,  eventually  sneaking  out  &  staying  gone  the  entire  night  only  to  sneak  back  up  through  his  window,  get  2  hrs  of  sleep  and  then  head  to  school.

parents  never  figured  out  about  it  though,  he  was  good  at  lying  to  them  &  anyone  with  any  sort  of  'authority'  so  he  was  able  to  continue  pleasing  them  &  pretending  to  be  this  pefect  son  all  while  living  the  life  he  actually  wanted  to  live.

the  only  thing  that  came  as  a  shock  to  his  parents  was  him  moving  out  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  getting  his  own  apartment  and  whatnot  so  he'd  stop  having  to  hide  how  he  wanted  to  live  or  have  to  sneak  out  of  his  own  home.

however,  to  them,  they  just  thought  he  wanted  to  become  more  of  an  adult  &  so  they  never  really  questioned  it  or  checked  up  on  him  without  warning.

he  had  just  turned  eighteen  when  he  was  approached  by  the  mastermind  after  getting  into  a  fight  at  a bustling  club,  leaving  the  other  person  laid  out  on  the  ground  while  jun  barely  had  any  injuries  whatsoever.  

the  mastermind  offered  a  job,  keep  people  quiet  or  clean  up  after  the  ones  who  can't  and  you'll  get  paid  shit  tons  of  money...  who  was  jun  to  turn  that  offer  down?

a  few  months  after  that  is  when  his  instagram  persona  started  forming,  posting  his  outfits  on  the  app  started  to  cause  people  to  follow  him  &  ask  for  more...  n  before  he  knew  it,  he  was  getting  agents  messaging  him  offering  to  be  HIS  agent  &  allow  him  to  make  even  more  money  just  by  posting  the  simplest  of  things  on  a  daily  basis.

again,  who  was  he  to  really  turn  down  the  offer?  especially  considering  the  fact  he'd  already  grown  a  taste  for  all  things  expensive.

&  thus,  jun's  double  life  began  once  more,  though  this  time,  both  sides  of  his  life  were  things  he  truly  enjoyed.

                                       PERSONALITY. ( PT 2. )

the  Worst...

short-tempered  as  heck,  will  snap  on  people  for  breathing  in  his  direction  wrong  if  he's  in  one  of  those  moods...

loves  violence... it's  a  problem.  will be  that  asshole  who  starts  bar  fights  just  so  he  can  fight  someone  ksfjghsdf

.... if  you  haven't  figured  it  out,  the  boy  loves  to  play  with  fire.  constantly  burns  stuff,  always  tries  to  take  things  of  other  peoples  to  burn  them.  also  likes  to  ... possibly  set  empty  buildings  on  fire  only  to  watch  them  burn  down.  yike.

can  be  extremely  goofy  &  joking  one  moment  and  then  the  biggest  grumpy  asshole  the  next.  all  really  depends  on  his  mood  at  the  time.

when  he's  in  a  good  mood  though,  he  loves  to  mess  with  people  &  joke  around  or  just  go  explore  the  area.  day  trips  are  his  favorite  thing  in  the  world  even  though  he  won't  admit  to  it.

however,  when  he  isn't.... don't  mess  with  him  bc  he  will probably  try  and  snap  ur  head  off  or  yell  at  you  for  the  dumbest  shit.  probably  figures  out  he's  being  a  dick  a  little  too  late  but  will  still  own  up  to  it  and  apologize  eventually.

a  bit  of  a  wild  card,  honestly.  you  never  know  what  mood  he's  going  to  be  in  or  what's  going  on  in  his  head  at  any  given  moment.

a  heaux,  shock  shock...  but  like  actually  really  bad  abt  it,  constantly  has  some  new  hook  up  or  something  like  that.

this  is  a  work  in  progress  as  well  so  that's  all i've  got  atm

                                                   PLOT IDEAS.

someone  from  his  past  who  knows  that  his  father  is  a  police  officer  &  constantly  gets  on  his  ass  for  all  the  stupid  shit  he  does  bc  they  don't  want  him  getting  caught  let  alone  his  own  father  finding  out.

his  go  to  person  for  all  things  stupid  as  fuck.  getting  high  on  the  roof?  check.  getting  drunk  &  dancing  on  the  bar?  check.  walking  around  seoul  at  4  in  the  morning?  check.

the  fire  &  ice  combination  we  all  want  for  our  muses,  they  fight,  bicker,  try  to  throw  hands  w  each  other  even  but  at  the  end  of  the  day,  they  actually  care  about  one  another.

someone  who's  able  to  see  the  softer  side  of  jun,  either  by  just  being  around  for  his  'down'  days,  or  finding  out  that  a  sleepy  /  just  woke  up  jun  has  a  tendency  to  be  soft  and  a  tiny  bit  needy.

the  jokester  friend  who's  always  pranking  jun  &  jun  tries  to  one  up  them  &  get  his  revenge.

the  LOATHING  plot...  idk  what  it  would  be  for  but  they  just  literally  can't  stand  each  other  &  they  make  sure  it's  known  to  the  world.

someone  who  puts  up  with  his  instagram  persona  and  goes  on  shopping  trips  &  appears  in  the  dumb  videos  he  uploads  to  both  instagram  &  youtube.

speaking of,,,,,  the  'dating'  rumor.  basically  they're  really  close  friends  &  are  seen  by  the  media  together  a  lot  so  people  just  assume  they're  a  thing  &  start  getting  hashtags  about  them  trending  as  well  as  all  the  other  fun  stuff  that  goes  along  with  that.

will  add  more  as  they  come  to  mind  !

[houseofvans]

ART SCHOOL | Q&A WITH DAVID CHUNG (THE CHUNG)

Artist David Chung’s paintings, drawings and sketches are filled with colorful anthropomorphic characters from sword wielding pandas to rainbow spilling landscapes where skeletal heroes battle fuzzy cute creatures. Drawing from his own experiences and psyche, David’s uses his adorable and hilarious creations to help deal with the everyday stresses of life and as a form of catharsis. We’re excited to feature the work of David and talk about his art, his work as an Art Director at Dreamworks TV, and what new projects he’s got in the works! 

Find out more about David Chung by taking the leap below! 

Photography courtesy of the artist. 

Introduce yourself?   My name is David Chung, but a lot of people might know me as The Chung!! I’ve been living in Los Angeles for the past 11 years now, which technically makes California the longest place I’ve ever lived in my entire life. During the day I work in animation, currently as of this interview, I’m an art director at Dreamworks TV, but at night, I’m my own artist, free to do whatever I want!

How did you get into painting and art as a kid? What kinds of things were you influenced by? I’m not really sure how I got into art as a kid. I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember. Much like all kids, I’ve always just enjoyed drawing and making art. I realized early on that I could be as weird as I wanted to be in my drawings, and that was a really liberating feeling. Earlier in my childhood I was raised in Hong Kong and Taiwan but my highschool years were spent in Upstate New York, where I graduated from. I pulled a lot of my influences from growing up in Asia and having a Chinese background, but the subjects and humor mostly came from living in the States.

How do you describe your work to folks who’ve never seen it before? I might describe it like watching an animated kids’ movie with a lot of jokes your pervy parents would appreciate.

You have various creatures and characters throughout your work that we love. Storytelling and humor are elements in your works as well. Can you tell us a little about how each piece evolves? What is your general artistic process like? I’ve been finding myself creating new characters based off of new ways I need to deal with my life at the moment. The characters that are in my work are compartmentalized parts of my psyche or emotions. Being able to take the everyday stresses of life and make cute characters go through it in a more harsh and humorous way is a really effective form of catharsis for me. About 90% of the subjects in my work are autobiographical. The humor in my work is just another way for me to prevent myself from ever taking myself too seriously. If I can’t laugh at my own work, then what’s the point.  

Do you have a main protagonist in your work? And who or what is it? How did it come about? It really depends on what I’m going through at the time of my life when I paint my characters. For example, my XiongMao (Panda) character was created during some pretty rough times. He represents my persistent side to survive. Grimothy (the little reaper dude) and Xiaguai (his little chinese demon friend) are my two mischievous daydreamer characters that are all about ditching their responsibilities to have fun adventures. Pouty Pig is the side of me that throws silent tantrums anytime he is unhappy about a certain situation, which apparently is a lot. These are just some of the few recurring characters in my work depending on how I’m feeling. I even have a few recurring antagonists such as the Happy who are pink soulless zombie-like creatures who roam the earth seemingly always happy, but they feed off of people’s energy like vampires. If you ever let them get a whiff that you’re not happy, that’s when they attack. I think we all know people like this. Right?? They’re the worst. I hate them.

What was your last adventure that showed up in one of your work, thematically or just visually? I do these sketches in my Instagram feed called “Procrast-O-Sketches” that usually follow my most current adventures. The overall sketches can be interpreted however you like, but for myself, friends and family in my inner circle, the subject matter is pretty esoteric. 

A pretty straight forward Procrast-O-Sketch is from Sept 21, 2018. We just moved into our new house in the beginning of September, and about 2 weeks after moving in, my 2 year old kept crying that there is a monster living in the house. He keeps saying it’s a shadow man that “kind of looks like Daddy” but sometimes it turns into a dog-like creature. He’ll be playing and being super happy, then all of a sudden he’ll see his shadow man, then will let out a terrified scream, scramble over to myself or his mom and cry that “The man is back!!” We’ve been trying to turn it into a game now by going monster hunting together, which seems to be helping. At least helping him... I’m terrified as shit now.

What is your favorite thing to draw or paint? I love drawing or painting creatures and characters in familiar situations that are way worse than my own.

What are your favorite tools?  Currently, I always have my little Pentalic Traveler Pocket Journal, a kneaded eraser and a good clutch pencil with me just in case I need a quick therapy sketch session to take out any frustrations. I feel like brands and mediums change all the time, but a good ol’ fashioned pencil and a sketchbook are always constant.

What’s a medium you have yet to try and would love to take a stab at? Oh man, there are way too many mediums I’d love to try one day. I would really like to try oils again. I haven’t messed around with oils since I was in college. I also really want to try out ceramics and bronze casting.

Not only do you draw and paint, you also work as an art director and designer at DreamWorks by day? What’s that like and how did you find yourself working for such a cool company? Dreamworks is a pretty awesome company to work for, and I’m not just being paid to say that. They’ve made me sign a contract to say that. But you know, overall it’s pretty awesome because of the people. I love being able to collaborate and riff off of other artists every day. All of whom are working toward the same goal of making the best looking product possible. I’ve been working in the animation industry for about 10+ years now, and over the past decade, I’ve met some really great people who I know I’d work with again and again like I have in the past. So when a lot of those people who felt the same about me ended up at Dreamworks, I was brought on over, and I’m super grateful for it.

How do you balance your work life with your artistic life? Or are they sort of one in the same? It’s actually pretty easy and difficult all at the same time. I deliberately try to separate my work-life from my art-life because what I do after work, is mine and mine alone. This keeps me from taking anything too personally when there are ridiculous amounts of notes and revisions to be made at work. Nothing is personal, and I’m totally okay with that. My job is to provide them with the work that they want. It’s a lot easier to make revisions when I know that as soon as I go home, I can start working on my own personal stuff that nobody can say shit about. 

The hard part is finding the time to have an art-life after work-life. It usually  means eliminating good health. Fortunately passion usually wins out over sleep, but unfortunately, “usually” isn’t always. Typical days at work can last 10-14 hours, and when I get home, I still want to be able to hang out with my wife and kid, which means I won’t even be able to get started on my own stuff til around 12-1am. Especially lately, due to the monster keeping my son up all through the night.

What are you constantly inspired by? And who are some of your early and current art influences? I’m constantly inspired by life and all of the little idiosyncratic behaviors we have. Human life is so interesting even at its most mundane moments. There’s always inspiration to be pulled from who we are. When I was in the second grade, I saw Alien for the first time in my life on TV. It fucked me up. I needed to know what this monster was. Then I found out about H.R. Giger when I got a little bit older. It wasn’t necessarily the style that inspired me, but the way the he created. It seemed like an obsession that he turned into a profession. I didn’t even know being an artist for a living was allowed! Lately I’ve been super digging Travis Millard (IG: @theotherfudge), Alex Solis (IG: @Alexmdc) and I was recently introduced to Kamila Mlynarczyk’s (IG: @Woodedwoods) work which is pure insanity and I love it so much.

What do you do when you are not painting or drawing? Lately it’s trying to spend as much time as I can with my family and soak as much of it up as I can before it slips away. While doing that I’ve been messing around with photography and filmmaking as a hobby. Filming my son doing weird shit is super fun. He makes a great subject.

What advice would you offer to an aspiring artist who might wanna follow in your footsteps? You gotta want to do it. And not just because you think it’s a good way to make money. You have to want to do it because you love it. That’s really where it all begins. Next step is to just go fucking do it.

What’s your best Art School tip that you want to share with folks? Could be technical or just advice. This is a continuation of my previous response, but it’s important, after you “just go fucking do it” expect to fail. Don’t even just expect it, LET yourself fail. As long as you learn something from it and never stop trying, you’re totally allowed to fail all the time!

What do you think you’d be doing if you weren’t an artist or doing anything art-related? This one is difficult, everything I can think of that I’d possibly be doing is art related. I’ve always wanted to be a fiction writer or a filmmaker, but those can be very creative. The other thing is to start my own business producing products for creative enthusiasts.

What are your favorite style of VANS? Every time I end up buying a new pair of VANS, I always end up getting the Authentic style. You can never go wrong with them!

What’s coming up for you the rest of the year that you’re super excited about? I’m super excited about two new toys that are currently in production with Martian Toys and Wetworks. Also there’s a bunch of new stuff I’m trying to launch on my own that I’ve been pretty excited to work on, I just need to find the time!

FOLLOW DAVID | INSTAGRAM | WEBSITE

[siren-darkocean]

If I'm honest rewriting the Ice Toa series in brand-new books is a pain when you actually have to plan the chapters and then motivation wants to be against ya'

Wattpad link to the first book:

Changes Include:

Sapphira and Mata Nui's relationship is actually slow burn (so there's a grace period of them being friends before lovers like an actual healthy relationship should be)

Removed the whole Pokémon aspect (idk why I added it, but it's gone now. Ig this is what happens when you don't plan shiz for fics, you add in fandoms willy nilly)

Sapphira has SOME fighting skills (so she can fight just not as good, she gets lucky with fighting Strakk when trying to help Mata Nui and Ackar by managing to give a kick to his Solar Plexus)

Charm of Ice is practically no longer a thing (at one point the Charm of Ice was basically a disguise version of Irene's Kanoi Mask and it speaking to Sapphira as like a semi couscous to her mom/Irene)

Sapphira and Kiina have some past meeting (At one point I planned for the OG Sapphira and Mata Nui had been introduced to each other as kids from their parents, this also adds in the Elemental Lords from the lore before Bara Magna became the barren desert wasteland it is and the Toa Celestial know of, Irene being more close friends with the most)

Ages Change (Sapphira and Mata Nui are both seventeen, Kiina and Gresh are both sixteen, Berix is thirteen and Ackar is thirty four in the first and second books)

Toa Celestial team having actual logical interrogation to the lore (So there's some references that grow more frequent until like book 5(Reunions) or book 6(Unity, Duty, Destiny) where their background mentions including an aspect of mainly Irene and Hyria with the Vortixx species)

Roodaka having a background with the Toa Celestial team (So it's not a random throw in and actually has 'lore' and background along with some events she had been in)

Side Story redos (For some redoing side stories like How Roodaka and Clara met & Ella/Midnight and Makuta meeting to fit the new 'lore' and background (plus for Ella/Midnight one to replace the Pokémon aspect)

Proper double Toa elements introduction for Sapphira (OG wise Sapphira discovers her Darkness element from her dad near the end of book 2(In Your World) so I decided to add it in as an always thing but only more noticable until the near end of book 1(An Ice Toa But Human) regarding Berix and Toa element wise along with Book 2 to introduce more of her element and her Toa Tool for that element)

Sapphira getting two Toa tools (Sapphira will have two Toa tools to better fit her two elements, both combined together will better use her elements easily at once)

Kanoi Mask Abilities (I forgot for the longest time of the Kanoi Mask abilities so I planned for the ending/beginning of books 5 & 6 the Toa-Glatorian team to get Kanoi Mask abilities without needing a mask(similar of how the Toa Celestial use them even without their masks)

Actual Background for the characters (Ackar, Kiina, Gresh and Berix will have family and backgrounds with them as well. Kiina and Ackar are only childs like Sapphira while Gresh has siblings(being the eldest of ten kids(three singles counting him, a set of twins and the quints) and Berix being the middle child)

Entire Redo of You're My Strength (It's getting retitled to Destiny, the whole storyline is changing(from The Journey to One storyline to a whole new one) while still keeping the Elemental Creatures and Ekimu(I have special plans for him))

Turaga & Toa Ignika added in (As many knew I had zero clue the Turaga Metru existed especially the Toa Ignika team so I decided to add them in as their introductions fit their respective books in the series (Turaga in book 4 & Toa Ignika in book 5) and better blended to the story line)

There's honestly a LOT of changes bc let's be honest it needed it (I'm surprised it was so popular if I'm honest)

Covers so far (will edit when new covers are made)

ATTENTION! COVER ART IS NOT MINE! ART GOES TO THEIR CREATORS! I JUST USE BING SEARCH TO GET THE PHOTOS! IT DOES NOT GIVE ME THE ARTIST'S NAMES! ALL CREDITS TO THEM

Book 1 An Ice Toa But Human

Book 2 In Your World

Book 3 In Your World

Book 1 Dialogue

"They say every story has its beginning, and every hero in that story has their reason for their actions. Try telling that to a teenage girl who teamed up with a power stolen god, three Glatorians and a thief to save villages from the brink of destruction when she just wishes to go home."

Book 2 Dialogue

"A new adventure begins in a new world for the Glatorian and Mata Nui but an old and familiar world to Sapphira, where the Glatorian must hide and Sapphira has to keep an act to help hide her friends as love begins to blossom and Sapphira's past comes back with a deadly vengeance that might kill her."

Book 3 Dialogue

"Through the hardships of it all, the adventure of the Toa-Glatorian is far from over with the last living Toa of the Toa Celestial team and Sapphira's aunt and an ex-follower of a corrupted brother to Mata Nui in the mix"

[unproduciblesmackdown]

some genius pt Musings i’ve been having this time around

1) the question of “is mytho’s hair white just from unknown decades of Time Passage within the paused story, like, his hair pigmentation Aged but nothing else lol” or “That, but his hair is white from the stress” (it’s that one lol. plus fr why would only his hair change due to Time) but i wanna introduce a Third Element: i think we can suppose in-the-story tutu’s appearance / disappearance happens just before or v shortly before the interrupted non-ending of prinz und rabe, and it sure seems like some or all or some Version of tutu’s Essence & part of the prince’s heart are like, truly Merged, and what if it’s that the prince got white hair from That b/c it was more swan-esque. a la the white feathery part of ahiru-tutu’s (& that one design of seemingly-prinz-und-rabe tutu)’s hair

2) again w/the matter of how at least part of Original Tutu seems to exist on in the prince’s physical heart: there’s the brief mention that fakir and mytho dance b/c Mytho Likes To Dance, which like, would be one of those Traits that transcends his emotions, like how he protects everything (so does tutu? emotionally? while the prince protects everyone physically (against a Metaphor for Despair so is that not also, in a way, emotionally too) like thank you power couple) but there’s also the brief mention that tutu is a Spirit Of Dance maybe so it’s like, again, did tutu becoming part of mytho pass something along in that way which imbues him with that proclivity to dance (although you’ve also got neko-sensei saying his dancing was not that Emotional earlier, which makes sense, but also seems like tutu protecting Feelings happens via dance. by “seems” i mean “this is a key aspect of literally every part of this series” s/o to me) or on another note: maybe drosselmeyer just wrote prinz und rabe For Adaptation lmfao. he was like “fuck yes they’re gonna make this into a ballet.” what with this series’ implication that like....the nutcracker is one of his stories where he just so happens to have a full self-insert who textually uses that power to make stories become reality. and that sure is a ballet. and from looking it up just now i’m learning that it was Based on a preexisting story, and, reading the wikipedia summary, i’m also remembering i’ve read an adapted-into-another-book version of this story, and it sure has another layer of “story interwoven with / becoming Reality” to it. anyways my point is i suppose, Watsonianly Speaking, prinz und rabe involving Ballet could’ve been Written Into It throughout all the characters, or maybe it’s just tutu who dances, which then becomes part of mytho’s character when her sacrifice like, bonds (part of? all? whomst can say) her to his heart. bless. doylean reason is this is a series about ballet and stuff

3) Another Briefly Mentioned thing when mytho talks about how he apparently could just naturally draw birds to him. and ahiru having that happen in the first episode/s is like, could be b/c she’s a bird or could be because she has part of the prince’s heart, as is emphasized like, immediately during the Bird Visit in ep 1. so i just had the thought like, a duck who cares about mytho gets to become tutu, but what if it was any other bird, surely it Could be. that fledgling canary he’s saving in episode 1 gets to become tutu mid-fall

4) i had some other Thought and i’ve forgotten it. well in the meantime thinking about how everyone dunks on Prinz Und Rabe Textual Lohengrin as the useless loser failure knight lmaooo but then like, that was just re: the One mentioned fatal raven encounter & also specifically about that lohengrin can’t protect the prince with his sword. but like, sure Behearted Mytho can probably exercise a little more discretion in risking his life to save whatever needs protecting, vs unsupervised heartless mytho diving out of windows, but can we really suppose he was That much more careful about staying safe vs impulsively throwing himself into a situation to save something at all costs. how much work did lohengrin do simply making sure the prince didn’t die in that sort of way. thank you lohengrin

5) oh right. i was thinking about Magic i think. s/o to the person who had the idea that when tutu sacrificed herself and turned into Light she might’ve merged with Good Magic in the story’s world, which the prince also had access to, and that’s how she kind of literally becomes part of him / they share powers / they share their Swan / Dance visual themes & stuff. & i was sure at one point wondering about the Forbidden But Granted Only To The Prince (own...?)-heart-shattering ability, like, maybe at some point an implicitly more specific verb was used like “taught,” or did the prince simply just Have the power by virtue of being the prince, or did it like, come from tutu who has the tie to the prince & Loved him & has those abilities to protect people’s Feelings, although maybe that’s just like, a choice and not inherently part of the magic lol. and then the Real World Magic we see is just like, inherited. but wait then there’s that bridge & ghosts & stuff, although there’s Stories about those too apparently. nvm this one’s really vague i’m just wondering if the Prince alone has that heartshattering Magic Technique through tutu or what. could be anything

6) but no really i think i had some other Thought, i’m sure it was great & ig i’ll reblog if it reoccurs to me, but i got distracted down another mental track so, you know, rip. in the meantime just thinking like, i have no imagination but was trying to muse on some sort of big Attack power the prince could have, b/c the classic thing to happen in the story (whether mentioned in its text or not) is for mytho to go ham with some such Power Surge [Magic Thing] to drive the raven away after lohengrin gets Got. even after he gets his full prince Abilities back he mostly only seems to Attack with his sword. damn wait a second and when he just like crashes Into the raven the big Swan Made Of Light appears first like hang on like is that Him? was it part of his Transport, can he like, Also turn into a swan of light or is it just how he Appears, was it tutu’s Hope Manifestation again since he’s being That to rue in that moment, oh my god. a lot to consider. anyways, but then the thing is, some sort of like Energy Blast move would go outside the realm of [fighting with the sword alone] and the prince’s Magic mostly seeming to be like, a mobility Boost, and how everything abt the prince is centered around Defense and Protection rather than going on the offensive. but then, who’s to say the Heart Shattering technique couldn’t be used as an Attack but was used by the prince only as a self-sacrificial protective thing, and who’s to say the prince Doesn’t have other powerful Attacks to draw from but refrains from using them if there’s others around to be hurt or whatever. i’m just trying to think of how the prince could just really go tf off and Immediately get the raven to fuck off after lohengrin is ko’d because that’s appropriately Tragically Dramatic & Emotion-Fueled Magic, not to mention the best case scenario vs still having to continue like 23 hours of battle when your boyfriend Just died. i mean like boom Light Blasts type situation i guess. or maybe he could just land a really good sword hit like Right Away. thinking about it. anyways

7) oh wait shit lmfao idk if this was The other thought but it was Another thought. that everyone in The Story (Within Reality) is like, locked in The Town (although they can leave if they’re not a Character / if they entered from outside? presumably) but in episode one this all kicks off b/c mytho was at The Lake which is Outside the town, right? i’m pretty sure. which like, is that something he Can and has been able to Do.....is this a. a liminal space. or did/does drosselmeyer like drop him over there sometimes For Some Reason, like having “stages” available around here, a la the s1 finale.....like, didn’t seem like he Knew if he put mytho in front of waterfowl that one would become devoted to restoring mytho’s heart. probably Does Not Matter, Actually, but it sure happened and much to Think about there. shoutout to mytho dancing en pointe whenever it’s magical and he can do so, e.g. when dancing naked on the surface of a liminal lake, or midair with tutu. iconic

8) the point is i’m sure just Thinking About Him (mytho)

[rocky-alex]

A Hunter’s Life For Me

Word count: 2235

Warnings: a lot of anger, almost violence, gun threat

Pairings: OFC(Jules) x Dean, Reader x Sam

A Hunter’s Life Masterlist

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Chapter 13: This is the life, it’s do or die

Previously

“What is she?”

“You need to know that both heaven and hell will come for her, she’s not safe here, and you’re not safe with her.”

“What is she, Cas?!” Dean was twitching by now, wanting to grab Cas and shake his feathery ass.

“Something we haven’t seen since the dawn of angels and demons.”

Dean POV

“… What the hell is that supposed to mean?!”

“What did you see just before she woke up? What made you run from her?” Dean fell silent. The vision of the wings and horns showing up around… on Jules was something he was trying hard to not think about. It wasn’t something he wanted to think about, but instead wanted to forget. He knew it had something to do with her powers, and her powers, whatever they were, scared him. Now Cas was here infront of him, knowing the answer and wanting to give it to him. Just in a way that was anything but direct.

“I saw… Wings. Wings and horns. They showed up around her, made of this weird shine, like it was light and dark at the same time…” Cas gave him one of his patented looks, one that Dean knew well.

“What is she, Cas?” Dean’s tone had dropped to a desperate whisper.

Dean walked out of the library in a confused rage. He didn’t know why the answer to his question had pissed him off like it did, it’s not like it was anyone’s fault, least of all Jules or Cas. But Dean needed something to be pissed at, so he was. Coming out of the library he walked right into his brother, who caught him by the arm, making him stop.

“Dean?” A frown creased Sam’s brow. “What’s wrong?”

“Do you know?” Dean could hear the edge of crazy in his voice. “Do you know what she is? Because I didn’t. I had no idea. But she is.”

“What are you talking about?” Sam’s hand had dropped from his arm, and Dean felt like his anchor had left him. He needed Sam in this, needed his brother to find a solution, like this was any other hunt. Except it wasn’t.

“Cas told me what she is, what gives her these… powers.” The look on Sam’s face told Dean that his brother already knew it was something to be filed under the “worst thing we can imagine” column. “She’s… The reason the demons, and apparently also the angels, are after her, is because she’s a descendant of both sides.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“Centuries ago both a nephilim and a cambion… mated, with humans. Their powers were ‘watered down’, dormant in their human descendants. The bloodlines met in Jules. She has angel and demon blood in her, Sam.” Dean felt hopeless. How the fuck could they beat this?

Sam looked like he was about to open his mouth when suddenly Dean’s phone rang. He took it from his pocket, ready to throw it against a wall, because what could possibly be more important right now? Sam caught his hand, taking the phone.

Sam POV

When he saw the name on the screen Sam wanted to do what Dean had meant to. Y/N’s name was like a punch right in the gut. Swallowing any remaining resolve he might have had, Sam answered and held the phone up to his ear.

“Y/N?”

“Open the door, let me in!”

“Whoa, hold up. What’s going on?”

“Not the time, Winchester! Open the fucking door and let me in. Crowley’s on my ass and if he catches up I’m done for.” The call cut out and Sam stood frozen for all of two seconds before turning on a dime and bolting through the bunker to get to the door. He wrenched it open and Y/N tumbled inside, falling flat on the floor, like she’d been using any and all bodily force she could to get the door open from the outside. Sam slammed the door behind her, sealing up the bunker with every ward it had, and knelt by her side. Peeling her face off the stone floor she looked up at Sam, and both of them went still.

“Sam…”

“What the hell is going on?!” Dean bellowed from the main floor. He’d followed Sam to the war room and seen him go for the door at breakneck speed. Sam stood, reaching out a hand to pull Y/N to her feet.

“I’d like to know too. Why is Crowley after you?”

“Crowley? You brought Crowley to the bunker?”

“Oh believe me, if could’ve avoided it I would. Good to see you too, Dean.”

“Enough!” Dean pulled his gun and aimed it right at Y/N’s head. “I’m done with the cryptic non-answers. You’re gonna tell us exactly what’s going on or I swear this time I’m gonna pull the trigger.” This time?

Sam wanted to step between Y/N and his brother, but the look on Dean’s face told him there was only one way Y/N was getting out of this alive. Dean had reached the end of his tether, so Y/N better start talking because Sam didn’t doubt Dean would keep his word.

Reader POV

This had been your very last resort. Every sane thought in your head told you to stay away from the bunker and the Winchesters, but circumstance had forced your hand. Taking a deep breath, you started talking.

“When I left a year ago I told you I had to take care of my family’s organisation on my own. And I thought I could. I found the base, found out everything I could about it. But it was too big. I refused to call you because risking your lives again was something I promised I’d never let happen. I was out of options, and decided to make a deal. Crowley was all to willing-” “You sold your soul? Your fucking soul? Do you have any idea what that means?”

“No, Dean, I did not sell my soul. I sold my services. Crowley, apparently, had been watching me for a while. Remember the demon at the motel? That was one of his.”

Dean’s face lost some of the previous anger, but you could tell he was still a twitch away from firing, and the gun was still aimed at your head.

“Crowley offered to take care of the organisation, with proof that it was completely dismantled. In exchange, he asked that I work for him. That’s why I was on the case where Jules was kidnapped. That’s why I didn’t come back. He said that should I ever run into you again your lives depended on my silence.

“I knew he wanted Jules, but I didn’t know what for. I knew why so many people were being killed by demons, and why it had such a specific pattern. Crowley was working a heavy weight ritual, and he needed Jules to complete it. His plan still depends on catching her alive and get her on his side.” Dean’s mask was cracking around the edges. It looked like he wanted to believe you, but your betrayal had hit him hard. You turned and looked at Sam, who looked so broken hearing your story, why you’d stayed away from him. It broke whatever heart you had left to see tears running down his cheeks.

“I swear,” you said, turning back to Dean. “I have no idea what Jules is, or even what Crowley’s plan entails. He knew all along that I wasn’t on his side, but that I didn’t have a choice. He said if I betrayed him he would get custody of my soul. Permanently. So I was never told the good stuff.” “And when Jules was kidnapped? You ‘helped’ her.”

“I did what I could under the radar, though now I suspect he knew what I was doing. I hate that I had to try to keep her away from you, because if anyone could keep her safe, it would be you. But with all those demons after her, and her powers… I couldn’t risk you and Sam.” Saying his name made you turn your head again and look at Sam. You wanted nothing more than to wrap yourself around him and never let go.

“It’s not good enough,” Dean growled. “It’s not enough, you should’ve done more, you should’ve told us sooner.”

Just when you were sure he was actually going to kill you, Jules burst into the room and, to your utter shock, stopped right in Dean’s line of fire. The look on Dean’s face right then… Utter terror. He dropped the gun and stumbled back.

“Jules…” “Calm down, Dean.” She held her hands up, showing him she was unarmed. You just now realised how unhinged Dean really was, and how dangerous. You went to run down the stairs to make sure Jules wouldn’t get hurt, but a hand on your shoulder held you back.

“Wait,” Sam said. “Just watch.”

Jules slowly walked up to Dean, who didn’t move an inch, just stood there and looked Jules in the eye. When she was close enough she brought her hands up to his face, holding it gently. It was like a curtain rose from his face. The anguish and rage lifted, and he stepped forward, grabbing hold of Jules anywhere he could, as if he were anchoring himself. Dean’s whole body was shaking, but all that seemed to matter was the girl in his arms.

Dean POV

“Y/N? Whoa, hold up. What’s going on?” Sam’s face paled and he took off running. Dean followed close behind and saw Sam bolt up the stairs in the war room and rip the door open. In fell Y/N. To Dean’s joy, however small, she landed flat on her face. But that small joy was quickly overshadowed by anger. Her witty one liners became the last straw and just like last time, Dean pulled his gun and aimed at her head.

Her explanation, about how she’d ended up working for Crowley, practically his bitch, and how she’d known nothing about Jules, did little to assuage Dean’s rage at her. She couldn’t risk him and Sam? Didn’t she understand how important Jules was? Y/N said herself that Jules was the safest with the brothers, so why the fuck did she try to keep her away?

“It’s not good enough.” Dean felt his body shaking with the strain of holding back. “It’s not enough, you should’ve done more, you should’ve told us sooner.”

Dean had just reached the point were he was ready to fire when Jules appeared in his line of sight down the barrel of the gun. The sheer and utter dread that filled him was indescribable, and he dropped the gun like it had suddenly become burning hot. He didn’t register how Y/N tried to run down the stairs, or how Sam held her back. All he saw was Jules, hands held placatingly infront of her.

“Jules…”

“Calm down, Dean.” She came closer, her hands gently landing on his cheeks, and every weight on his shoulders lifted. He reached out, taking hold of any part of her he could. She was there with him, which was all that mattered.

Jules POV

After Sam had led me away I’d gone to my room, defying every instinct telling me to stick around to eavesdrop. This was serious, and I decided to trust Sam. Dean clearly knew Castiel, they had history, and this was something he had to deal with without an audience. It killed me a bit, because I knew that the angel held the answers I needed. But everything I’d been through had given me more… wisdom, you might call it. Given time, I’d learn what I needed to know.

Sitting on my bed I suddenly felt absolutely crushing anger, anguish and betrayal. It completely gutted me, and I fell to the floor in a heap. The feelings consumed me, so much so that I was almost convinced they were mine. With immense effort, I managed to separate myself from the storm of emotions, and got up from the floor.

“Dean!” I gasped. He was in so much pain. My feet started to run before I’d even realised where I had to go. They led me to the war room, and I only had a moment to take in the scene before me. Dean was aiming his gun at… Y/N? His face told me he was one twitch away from snapping, and I followed the first thought that popped into my head.

Not stopping to consider what I was doing, I ran to the middle of the room, putting myself between Dean and his target. His reaction was instant, and he dropped the gun.

“Jules…” I held my hands out, trying to show him I wasn’t dangerous.

“Calm down, Dean.” He stumbled backwards, in shock at almost having shot me. I walked forward, barely noticing how Y/N, in concern, went to go down the stairs to the main floor to stop me from getting to Dean, or how Sam stopped her. My focus was on the man infront of me. When I reached him I cupped his face in my hands, looking into his eyes. As soon as I touched him his hands flew up and gripped me tight enough to bruise. I didn’t care one bit. Dean was here with me, which was all that mattered.  

@carryonmyswansong

Note: I’m curious, did anyone catch the reference in the previous chapter title? If you did, kudos to you :P So what do you think about Jules? A long way from the naive little girl she was when Sam and Dean first met her, ain’t she? Let me know what you think of this chapter! :D 

[theatremarketinginsights]

What I Discovered About “Rethinking” Theatre Marketing in a Pandemic

By Roger Gonzalez  

This past week, I spoke at the TRU (Theatre Resources Unlimited) annual Marketing panel. This is the second annual panel I’ve participated in, and I love that it forces me to rethink what new, hot marketing topics theatre marketers should be thinking about. But a year is a long time, and this year was remarkably life-changing. I don’t need to tell you about the pandemic, the recession, the quarantine, the stay at home, the racial unrest, the political upheaval, and generally the dozens of things that changed so dramatically in the past year. In fact, when TRU’s Bob Ost reached out to me, he was uncertain if there was anything new to really talk about, given that live-theatre was still vaguely in the future. But my feeling was, and is, that we can always talk marketing even when it seems that the whole world is on shut-down with no major changes in in the horizon. In fact, that’s the best time to talk. That’s exactly when you need marketing the most. So I said, yes, let’s do it, even if we don’t have all the answers, which maybe I don’t (don’t hate me for not having a crystal ball).

And just as we agreed to move forward, just a few weeks later, changes began unfolding. Within days, a few public press conferences, and announcements from government officials followed, and we learned that venues would indeed begin the opening process. For Off/Off and Off-Broadway, the dates seem to loom closer than the Fall 2021 dates being thrown around for Broadway. And on the day of the panel (March 25th), it was announced that theatre workers would soon be getting their vaccines. The conversation was all over social media, even though details were still mostly lacking. For me, the challenge was to talk on subject with what TRU described as the theme of their marketing panel for 2021: Rethinking Marketing Strategies to Reach the Wider Virtual Audience.

Rethinking. That word stood out for me. I literally sat down at my sofa one afternoon and started thinking, er, rethinking.

The more I thought about it, the more it occurred to me that  little had actually changed. Sure, performing live-theatre is going to be a major safety challenge as we reopen and  that won’t satisfy everyone. Audiences are still very much split on returning to live venues, with some saying they won’t return for some time, and others anxious to don a mask (or two) and sit in a theater and start watching anything.

A year ago, digital platforms like Zoom were unknown. Now everyone seems knows how to use it. Restaurants survive on takeout, retailers on e-commerce, and mask-wearing became political. So how is it possible that "little has changed,” you may ask? 

Allow me to explain.

As a marketing consultant, a producer, development consultant, publisher, actor, and stage-director working with hundreds of theatre companies, playwrights, and other marketers outside of the entertainment business, as well as being a college professor teaching marketing, the realization surprised even me. That’s because while the way we do marketing may have shifted,  marketing principles have not changed that much. After some “rethinking,” it occurred to me that if you apply five basic principles to your theatre marketing that existed a year ago to today’s approach, you will always have a better chance at succeeding than if you panic, complicate the process, and jump into a reactive mode of marketing. You still need a marketing plan and strategy. You just have to update it to accommodate all the external and internal changes that have happened. 

So, here they are. Give them the attention they merit, and spend time doing your own “rethinking.” And please, don’t hesitate to share or discuss. Here goes:

5 Things about your pre-pandemic Theatre Marketing that remain exactly the same one year later.

1. You still must offer a good product, meaning your show, event, or whatever you are presenting or trying to sell. Whether it’s a workshop, class, online course, online symposium, or conference, quality is paramount. Why would anyone want to pay anything (even if it’s free which involves investing your time) for a bad product? A playwright friend of mine says he hates Zooms and so do I...bad Zooms. Another playwright I know also hates Zooms and says she’ll wait for theatre to reopen. Bad idea. The reason we may hate Zooms is because they are not often well-executed. But if you set your mind to creating a great Zoom presentation, or even a better Zoom presentation than the other gal, then you are elevating the platform. To me, that’s worth it. Zooming is not live-theatre and never will be. But shit is shit, and gold is gold no matter what platter you serve it on. Sure, I prefer live theatre, but I’ve walked out of a few live shows in the past because they were awful. If you can provide good production values, great acting, excellent direction, and all the things that make a story worth seeing, people will see it and enjoy it. Give that some thought before you throw some actors together on a live-stream with shaky wifi reception, give them minimal direction, and a script that they can barely read, much less perform. Make your story, and story-telling as great as possible.

2. Find your audience(s). This is still the biggest challenge we face. Even before the pandemic, identifying, finding, and serving the right audience for your show was a mighty challenge. Getting them into the theater was even harder. But now you may find that you actually have some advantages on both the live and virtual platforms. Whereas live theatre restricts your audience to geographic limitations, virtual theatre can be enjoyed by anyone around the globe with access to wifi, a device, and a link. This means you can brand your work, your company or yourself, and build a following bigger than ever before. Last year, you might have been struggling to “put fannies in your seats,” a phrase I’ve always despised for being so narrow-minded. This year, the world is your oyster…identify your ideal audiences, talk to them, embrace them with the story behind the story, and present your product. It’s a different type of targeting, but the principle is the same. Identifying audiences is still a priority, but now the net is larger, requiring a slightly different angle of approach.

3. Figure out how to reach/engage those ideal audiences. If you’ve identified them, where are they? Are they in Facebook groups, on Instagram under a particular hashtag, on a certain website, or other platform? Can you identify that audience because they are following a certain influencer? And if so, what are some ways you can engage them in the conversation and generate interest in you, your theatre company, and your show, or event? Once you matched your product to the right audience, you must decide on the best way to reach those audiences and hook them. Post, talk, engage, and bring them into the fold. Make them life-long followers. You can choose to do it with no-cost organic posts, or low-cost email marketing, even paid advertising. You will need to determine what works best, and what you can afford. And remember, don’t always be selling...engage with stories, and conversations first. Repetitive selling is desperate and annoying. 

4. What does that audience would want or need that you can deliver. Why would they see your show? If you can put your finger on that want or need and deliver, you’ve won half the battle. That aspect has never changed. Maybe the need or want has changed, but your ability to connect and deliver is still the same challenge. Think about this, maybe your audience no longer wants to see your show live, but is willing to see it online. Maybe your show fulfills something that can only be delivered in a live show. It really depends on your ability to understand this challenging attribute. Follow that lead. Do your homework.

5. Deliver with a communications strategy that engages that specific audiences’ needs or wants. Make sure your message is clear and convincing. Make sure you begin communicating early enough to hook them when  you’re not selling. Then find the right way to communicate your message and proceed to deliver a good product.good product. To do this, you will need to think, plan, strategize, and execute. You need to start the process early...maybe even months or years before. Very importantly, you will need a new, updated marketing plan. (another article coming soon).

Sure, this still may not answer every question you have, but trust me, this is exactly where to start. Human nature hasn’t changed all that much, good story telling is still good story telling. Many little elements have changed, but at the core of all your theatre marketing, these simple 5 principles still apply today and tomorrow. Audiences may have also changed; how you deliver your show is now constantly evolving, ticket pricing could be reconsidered, the competition is different, casting, union requirements, safety issues, media coverage, and what we define as the theatre experience has undergone huge shifts. This is all true (Coming soon, we will touch on these subjects). But if you root yourself in sound marketing principles, the rest falls in line. 

Let’s get started here.

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