#<- this one is just to keep it technically separate from artist's dog

[zipsunz]

state champs 🏀🏆

more omori OCs!! they were originally created for LM but have since wiggled their way into everything else. i want to make proper refs, but it's been… nearly a year now… so take these for now 🤲 a bunch of puppy jocks affectionately referred to as "the dog pack" as a whole 🐶

[roran01]

I'm bored and I can't find motivation to draw, have my headcanons for Romania instead, some of these are simping and cringe, enjoy:

(Also adding a image to be easier to find this post cause for some stupid reason tumblr only shows posts with images in my blog's search bar now, tags are useless)

♤♡◇☆

1) Three words for this guy: 🌟Tall, blonde and beautiful.🌟

2) He's a fashion genius or a fashion disaster depending on your view but he still got drip.

His color choices are black and red (like no shite), sometimes blue for the jeans and warm colors in general, white and grey from time to time.

3) I'd consider him quite mixed, with some ethnicities leaving a noticeable influence but latin conquers most of his bloodline nowadays.

The slavic tendencies come out whenever he gets drunk.

4) Folks see him as eccentric... they're right.

5) He's one of the few countries with particular traits that are uncommon to the rest of the nations and society in general.

I could say it's magic if I want to be basic about it, but I don't, so here's some of them:

His eyes can see supernaturals like spirits, fairies, ghosts and demons although they rarely make their existence know nowadays.

Technically since he's a vampire that would make him one as well. (Actually I'll make a post about this)

He can communicate with the animals and understand them but won't act on it to not look crazy. So he doesn't visit the zoo too often.

He's interested in dark magic so you can say he vibes with the dark side too. In addition he's way too casual about the creepy factor of some things.

He can poses fire because I said so.

6) Besides the quirks about paranormal, he's charming, both in looks and personality as well until you get to know him better, then he gets a little silly that could mean anything.

The only canon thing I adopted from him is that he's mischievous, but I could make him worse :3

7) He's good with kids, he'd be one of those cool parents if he had any. (I could make parent headcanons)

8) He likes traditional food the best, anything with meat and potatoes but to be frank no one can resist pizza from time to time. He doesn't eat too salty, makes him thirsty easily.

He like savarine as a sweet and usually buys them, but if he wants home made he would chose lemon cake (snow white).

To be honest he eats a lot but at least he keeps himself in shape.

"What do you mean this bread has sugar in it??" He doesn't like american bread.

9) And he definitely is lean build, someone who survived 2 empires and russia isn't gonna be skinny af just because he doesn't show it.

My vision says his body beats the twink allegations, his face not so much... he's a twunk.

10) Speaking of, I like to think he does gymnastics and extreme sports for the thrill.

11) His imagination is wild so if he'd have a modern job it should be something that expands on it.

Like a writer for books or movies. He can cook well too (and mix all kinds of potions) so maybe a chef at a restaurant, Fashion artist, Modeling... I go for the writer though.

12) He has some scars on his body, most are small and unnoticeable but he's too self conscious about them so he's not wearing a lot of revealing clothes, at least he doesn't sweat much during summer.

Two noticeable scars are on his shoulder blades and one besides the left lilac region to lumbar.

The ones on his back I like to think of them as a metaphor for broken wings. The one below his abdomen happened due to his separation from Moldova.

13) Cat person, cat behavior and cat lover. He has at least 2 cats in his house and a little bat because why not?

One of the cats is a lynx because that's his national animal, but also because it's like having dog size cat, a big pile of fluff to snuggle on rainy day, a purring machine against your head and belly (I'm projecting a lot I know)

14) His relationship with his slavic neighbors, mainly balkans, is very capybara coded. He's just chilling around and none of them has any business with him nowadays. He's considered part of the family despite Romania being latin. He may feel more accepted by them than his family from west sometimes.

15) His relationship with his blood relative is kinda mixed and they don't communicate often, assumingly because of his status but proly because of the land distance as well.

He used to look up to them and hoped to be accepted and recognized as a romance country in the past. One out of two happened, he's content enough with that.

16) He drinks a fuck ton of red wine.

17) His fangs are the only teeth that can still fall and regrow, he's able to move and retract them.

18) The pupils in his eyes are vertical stilts that expand and contract, the thinner they get the more blurry everything besides the focus point becomes. Sometimes he wears glasses for that.

Funny thing about his pupils is that they can expand so much it cover the whole Iris. His eyes can also glow in the dark sometimes.

19) In human age he's 23.

20) He loves parks, a lot.

21) Keeps his house clean except his kitchen, until he has guests over. If uninvited you're not allowed in the kitchen.

22) Sleep schedule worse than you've seen in college. Get him to bed or he gets grumpy af.

23) Coffee addict because of that.

24) He doesn't like cold, but there's melancholic beauty in the landscape whenever it's night time and only the tree lights give an ounce of warmth during winter. It's a bittersweet sensation he can't describe properly, it's the same during rainy days or stormy nights. He likes it despite the ache feeling it gives.

25) Sunny days are enjoyable for many of his activities but he's usually more active during the night, which is unfortunate because he ends up sleeping too much during daytime and feeling awful for "wasting time" in bed.

26) His eye color switches from black to red sometimes.

27) Sexually speaking, he's definitely swinging both ways and sideways.

28) If he'd be a yōkai then it's Kitsune (nine tails fox) fits him the most. Also because I like to think he'd have a double pair of fangs from it.

29) I main ship him with: Bulgaria and Norway. Side ships: Greece and Hungary. Crack ships: Prussia, Japan, Belarus. Platonical: Egypt cause I like their aesthetics together.

30) But talking about how compatible he is with other characters. I'd say based on canon he is with Bulgaria. Based on history he'll be with Serbia (dude barely exists). Based on his zodiac sign he's with Hungary (the irony). Based on his mbti he's with either Norway or Japan.

31) Speaking of zodiac signs, he's a Sagittarius. (Although it's hard to identify precisely the "birthday" of countries, so I just go with their national days and his is on Dec 1) if you're into astrology a lot then he also has his moon in scorpio.

32) He is inclined to be overprotective for his close ones ever since he lost Moldova to Russia. He does it automatically without knowing until someone points it out.

♤♡◇♧☆

This may get updated from time to time

[lilnuggettboi]

Okay, so my idea for a new Scooby Doo show is actually based on a lot of older media. Just not the ones you’re expecting (i.e, Not Mystery Incorporated)

The gang have been solving Mysteries since they were kids. (Ex: A Pup Named Scooby Doo) At first, they were going out to stop supernatural monsters themselves in an attempt to figure out why Scooby Doo can talk, among other things. But over time, they’ve kind of grown comfortable in just stopping greedy rich guys from trying to keep land. Why does Scooby Doo talk? Because he can

They continued just that for several years (Ex: Pre-Scrappy Doo Era) until after their final year of High School when the gang took a bit of a break

Shaggy and Scooby-Doo were the first to leave. Albeit due to family reasons. As they had to find their Uncle Albert while saving the world from a mad scientist hellbent on becoming “IMOOOOOORTAAAAAAAL” (Ex: Shaggy And Scooby-Doo Get A Clue)

Daphne and Velma followed. Daphne wound up winning a contest for a summer trip to Honolulu and took Velma with her. The trip quickly went awry, however. As their plane wound up off course and had to land in the Himalayas. They were thankfully given a place to stay by a man named Vincent Van Ghoul. Unbeknownst to all of them, a young con artist named Flim Flam snuck in to find something to sell. Accidentally opening a chest that contained 13 powerful ghosts of dark intention. As technical ghost catchers themselves, Daphne and Velma volunteered to help. Alongside Flim Flam (who didn’t have a choice in the matter) and a dog owned by Vincent’s Butler (Ex: The 13 Ghosts Of Scooby-Doo. With some major differences)

With the rest of the gang on their own separate ways, Fred just kind of drove around America to see the sights. Before he wound up working at a small but beloved diner. Unaware of the mysteries he’d be helping solve in a little town called Riverdale. (Ex: Archie’s Weird Mysteries but with more Fred. I know that’s not a Scooby-Doo Show but I can dream)

After their summer ended, the gang got back together to start their mystery business full time. Only this time with a new addition: Flim Flam. With no parents of his own, Daphne and Velma took him in.

Now even more determined than ever after finding out the Supernatural is real, (Except Shaggy and Scooby. Who ironically faced up against the most extreme you can take “Greedy Man”) Their first call brought them to a small island mansion somewhere in Louisiana. But things quickly took a turn when they discovered it was just a trap for them to get sacrificed. (Ex: Scooby-Doo On Zombie Island) Made even worse is that they were introduced to someone else they hadn’t seen on the island yet. A man who called himself Dr. Phineas Phibes. The same mad scientist who Shaggy and Scooby chased down. The man with one goal: To destroy them

This sets up the stage for our show. There are three kinds of plots here.

Stop the guy in the mask. (Think Be Cool, Scooby-Doo with how it formats it’s mysteries

Oh god, It’s a real ghost, Gang! (A soft reboot of the 90’s Direct-To-Video series)

Dr. Phibes Strikes Back. (The same plot as Shaggy And Scooby-Doo Get A Clue but with the rest of the gang. Uncle Albert also assists from his mansion)

[pixel1678]

wait a second 750th post i need to do a big lore drop-

Ok so this is gonna be an EXTREMELY LONG post so I'll put it under a "keep reading" but it regards Pixel, Byte, and Terri and why I group them all together so much

So, big lore reveal time: All three of them used to be the same person, someone named Veritas.

Veritas was someone that explored the Alchas region (aka played Monsters of Etheria) all the time. Just like the other creatures in Alchas, they had the ability to shapeshift and come back after death, like they were respawning.

The forms they took on the most were an unstable butterfly/bee, named Pixbee, a ghost wielding a large, living scythe, named Scarims, a small feline moth, named Florafluff, a very humanoid kitsune-like creature, specifically the kind that has harnessed the power of the moon and ultraviolet light, Aizune Violet (however both forms of Aizune are connected), and a small, artistic mix of a bunny and a dog named Sketchop.

Terri was the first to split off, as Veritas found out how to make a clone of themselves (which was just me making an alt account) and gave them the name Lexip, as many people called Veritas by a separate name, Pixel. We'll come back to Lexip in a bit.

So, after years of existing in Alchas, they made many discoveries about how unstable reality was there. Pixbee, Scarims, and Sketchop (technically) had the ability to instantly teleport to a certain spot around them, as long as it wasn't too far. This power was able to force Veritas outside of where you were intended to go, for example the space above a cave, or finding out their laboratory was floating in a void. Eventually, they got too curious.

They ended up near a black hole in a separate reality named the Torn Dimension, which was a very popular place since there was a large, mysterious orb that helped you grow, and plenty of people who were easy kills for those who were already their max strength. The black holes that appear here are very weak, but still have a gravitational pull, and touching one would be instant death. Veritas once got too close to one while in their Pixbee form, and tried to teleport away, however the moment they teleported away was the exact moment they touched the black hole, which had never happened before. This is when Veritas split into Pixel and Byte.

When this event happened, half of Veritas' spirit fell into the black hole, and the other half escaped, although now they are extremely unstable. For now, we will focus on the half that fell in, aka Pixel.

When they came back from their death, they didn't see the Alchas they were used to. They were alone in a large void of nothingness, floating aimlessly while their atoms were trying to tear themselves apart. They were terrified, however they had a way of movement; they could propel themselves forward rapidly, but only forwards. They did so, as staying still would do nothing, and started floating through the vast emptiness. And floating. And floating. And floating...

Eventually, something shifted, and now they could suddenly see a building, extremely close to them. They teleported in successfully, just to see strange creatures all around them. They looked like the Explorers back at Alchas, but none of them looked right. All of their colors were messed up, most barely had a typical form at all. But none of them were from Alchas, and all of them were staring at the terrified butterfly in the middle of the crowd that had formed.

Quickly, someone that looked like what they could only assume was a professional rushed over to them, sensing the butterfly's fear. They were taken to a room further in the building, which seemed much larger than before, and asked many questions regarding their identity.

Veritas was forgotten; the only name they could remember is Pixel. Their partner was forgotten; they were alone with no memories of the people they held dear to themselves. Lexip was forgotten, the past was forgotten, Alchas was forgotten, forgetting was forgotten, they were forgotten.

After a few very long hours, the professional helped Pixel get their shapeshifting, and they took a vaguely human form, with a screen for a face and a large "cloak" covering the lack of arms they have. The butterfly was forgotten. The scythe was forgotten, but not gone. Eventually, they were escorted out of the building, with a way of contacting that professional built into their new form.

Once Pixel left the building, they encountered an unfamiliar universe, with a few people walking around with laser pointers. They were aiming at the stars, making dotted lines between all of the glowing dots in the sky. One of them approached Pixel and greeted them, but Pixel was silent, and their screen was not seen, but in place of their form was a new body, that appeared as a cartoonish plague doctor. The stranger understood, and they continued talking, before they had to go. And Pixel left as well, through the same door that they entered, but the building was gone, and in its place was another new universe.

Over time, they would explore new universes, slowly learning what they were like. They remembered how to speak. But then they met someone strange, who called themselves Lulladora Burgers, who was extremely energetic and then suddenly they were friends, and met up constantly on their travels.

Years pass, and eventually Pixel discovers that they have a lot more power than they thought. They ended up finding someone from that original crowd and buying a small pocket universe from them, and making a little building in it. Once it was somewhat liveable, they invited their friends, and thus began their current journey. However, their past may be forgotten, but just like that scythe, it is not gone, and their instability isn't the only fragment left from back then.

Now, we travel back to the original event, but shift our perspective to Byte, the half that made it out.

Split. Splitting. Atoms splitting apart. Mind splitting apart. Soul splitting apart. Agony. Pain.

That was all they could think of. Their thoughts, gone, replaced by panic. They immediately left the dimension, to a spot few come to. To the shrine atop the mountain, overlooking the village of the dragon.

They lost their form, and had to give themselves the form they've been for a while recently, Aizune. It was the middle of the night, so they could become the form they prefer, Violet. But it wasn't enough. Everything still hurts, as if reality itself wanted them gone.

They climbed atop the large tree behind the statue that overlooked them and they cried. They cried for they could not move. They cried for they could not feel anything but pain. They cried for they knew no one would know, as those dearest to them have abandoned Alchas long ago.

They would stay there for years to come. The days passed by quickly at least. No one tried to comfort them, as no one knew their pain. They could not cry out. Eventually, everything went dark, and the land was no more.

They awoke in the darkness, now given shape. The pain has lessened, but they, still, had no voice to scream. All they could do is explore the darkness. They explored alone, but learned everything about the darkness. It wasn't the same darkness, it was a new one, given the form of a vast forest.

They eventually took a new form, one to fit in the forest better, with large moth wings, two bright white eyes, and a body covered in that same void color. They wore a dress to forget their body. They lost their mouth, as they needed to eat no longer. They grew content all alone.

Eventually, something showed up. It wasn't living, but it didn't belong. They decided to investigate, and found a building that seemed familiar, even though they have never seen it before. In there, they met some strange people, including a certain Lulladora Burgers who seemed awfully familiar, yet very much a stranger, almost as if they met her in a different life.

Now, what about Lexip? With Veritas now split, Lexip too became unstable, but they did not notice at first. All they knew is that they had the energy to perform.

With Veritas gone, they gained their own personality; a bit of a troublemaker, but all just to entertain. They acted as if they had an audience watching them at all times, laughing at their jokes and actions. But eventually, they did see an audience. A pair of eyes, staring from beyond their universe. But Lexip didn't question, it just meant someone was watching.

Months of performing later, they bumped into something mid-performance. The eyes jumped back, but when Lexip tried to see what they bumped into, nothing was there. But why did the eyes flinch back? Lexip could only think of one thing: They hit the eyes they've grown so attached to. No, they hit the barrier separating them.

Another month passes. All Lexip can think about were those eyes. They were their purpose, their existence, their everything. And they can't wait for when they bump into that barrier again, because when they do, it will be shattered. And eventually, they feel the barrier. And when they do, they shatter it, and get pulled out of Alchas.

Suddenly, they wake up on a cold, white floor. Immediately, something isn't right. They aren't who they were before, although they forgot who that was. They immediately get up, balancing on their two new legs, and look around. There they are, those eyes, now a whole person. Lexip immediately runs over to the person, needing to hold onto them to stay balanced, and start speaking excitingly, staring into their eyes.

Lexip is suddenly pulled out of the room by armed guards, but promises the person that they'll keep seeing each other. Lexip may have forgotten their name, and what they were like before, but they'd never forget those eyes; their audience.

A few weeks pass, and they find out more about where they live now. They're told it's a testing facility for things that don't make sense, like themselves. Their new name is now Terri, since they can't remember a bunch of numbers. Those eyes were one of the test subjects, that's now given the dedicated role to be with Terri, and they're both happy. This doesn't last very long though.

A month from when Terri got there, they managed to steal some flowers from one of the offices, and were gonna give them to the person, but they were nowhere to be seen. They asked the scientist (who was assigned to watch over Terri) where they went, and the scientist says they were killed along with the other people with orange clothing, and that it was standard procedure. Terri turned absolutely furious.

Terri went around the entire building, killing everyone she saw, until eventually she saw someone who felt oddly similar to her. They had large, crow-like wings, but had cat ears. But that wouldn't stop her. What would stop her, however, is that person snapping her spine immediately.

She woke up a few days later, just fine and now calmed down. She was brought into a new building, and immediately met someone new, which she thought had beautiful eyes. But she also knew that person would likely be killed, so she tried everything to keep that person safe, eventually keeping them in her room. But that couldn't stop the inevitable, and the person died, driving Terri to kill everyone once more, and then getting stopped by that strange person again.

This cycle repeated a few times, before Terri was offered a new place to stay with people that were just like her. She accepted it, thinking that those people wouldn't be killed, and so that person, who's name was something ridiculous to her, like "Pix" or something, took her to a place where she immediately got attached to, guess who, Lulladora Burgers. And, for now, that's all that has happened there.

damn this is a WAY longer post than I thought, but I hope whoever actually read this liked it, since I've been cooking this up for WEEKS

[fabien-euskadi]

R, T & X

R - For me to tell 10 of my curiosities.

Ten curiosities about me? I am not sure if all these curiosities are new for most (or any) of you, but let’s do this, shall we?

Curiosity number 1: I have zero tattoos and I am absolutely not interested in having one. But I respect anyone who does - it’s just not my thing.

Curiosity number 2: I have travelled so many times between both my places that I already know every inch of the road. Actually, I already know that, after crossing the Bridge of the River Vascão (the one that separates the region of Alentejo from the Algarve), there are 13 consecutive corners; all of them should be done in 4th gear, with the exception of the 10th, that requires a 3rd gear. I am not joking, by the way.

Curiosity number 3: In my farm, I have no real decorative objects with the exception of a small Sophocles bust that someone (who is very dear to me) brought me from Greece. I am not sure if the bust was bought in Athens, Rhodes or Santorini, but it was in one of these three.

Curiosity number 4: I refuse to wear a cap. It’s an absolute no-no for me.

Curiosity number 5: I have never fired a gun. To be honest, I am genuinely happy with that. I belong to the peace.

Curiosity number 6: When I was six, I cut my foot on a rock on a river (I should not be walking barefoot, but you know how children are…). I had to be stitched in cold blood, without any kind of anesthesia. And the doctor who stitched me even called me “a crying baby” for weeping while being sewed in cold blood. I was six, you bloody heartless monster, SIX years old!

Curiosity number 7: I’ve only visited my father’s grave once.

Curiosity number 8: I refuse to celebrate my birthday. Usually, on that day, I go on a solitary road trip to some interesting place.

Curiosity number 9: I never had COVID, and I am not interested in catching it. I am fine this way, thank you.

Curiosity number 10: I have zero patience or tolerance form smug people. Sadly, that also means I have zero patience or tolerance for most people (including, probably, many of those who will be reading these very lines).

T - 5 things I love unconditionally.

God.

OK, kidding. Now, let’s be serious for a while, shall we?

Thing number one: All those I consider to be my family. It should be noted that my definition of family is a touch unorthodox, since it includes several individuals I have not a blood tie with; at the same time, my family also excludes other people who, technically, are my relatives - I simply don’t consider them to be my actual family. Oh, my family also includes my dog (Duke) and my two cats (Lenina and Jiji).

Thing number two: Change, the only constant in life. Routine kills me, changes keep me alive.

Thing number three: Literature. And all forms of artistic expression. But the literature above all.

Thing number four: Traveling. It’s both a form of self-expression and a medicine for my poor tormented soul. And traveling also means taking photos (and you all know how much I love photography).

Thing number five: My future wife. Don’t be fooled by my tongue-in-cheek attitude, I know she doesn’t exist. No one could possibly want to marry me - someone had to be a perfect lunatic (or completely dumb) to do that… and no one is that crazy.  However, if she did exist, I can guarantee you all she would be loved like no one ever was in the entire Human History.

(Hey, I forgot to mention my friends, but let's pretend they are, somehow, my family)

X - If I’ve done something I regret very much.

I try not to have many regrets, for all my mistakes were, in the end, lessons learned the hard way. I may regret the things I haven’t done, but I don’t regret my errors, for they are all part of something called “being alive”:

However…

I regret every single time I said “I love you” to someone (and I have already done it countless times - once, I even did it in Urdu). I really meant it, for the bottom of my heart, every single time I have said it, make no mistake. But I also got hurt every single time I pronounced those damned words. I am better off when my mouth is shut.

Thank you, anon - I hope you are doing fine.

[pfreadsandwrites]

九つの命/9 Lives Translation

Hi!! So, @foxy-and-tales asked me to tell her what was going on in the comic mentioned in this post. After skimming through it, I thought it'd be good practice - and it'd be easier to answer her question - if I just went through it and told her what it all meant. I realised by that point I was doing a translation, and since I was going to the trouble anyway, I thought I'd post it publicly.

So, the full comic is here. It's basically a comic that has 7 little stories about Kakashi's ninja hounds and their lives with Kakashi. It's an adorable, heartfelt story and I absolutely love the personalities that the artist gave all the ninja hounds and the depictions of their relationships with Kakashi.

My translation will be this post, follow it as a script. I don't have the skill or knowledge to edit and typeset and change the images myself - and I wouldn't do that anyway, as it would involve reposting the art and changing it without the artist's consent. But I do think that not referring to the pictures as you're reading through the script really harms how sweet this story is, so if you can go through the comic slowly whilst referring to my (amateur) translation of it, I hope you can get a glimpse of that!

WARNINGS: There is a depiction of an already dead dog in part 4 😢, and some (human!) male partial nudity in part 6 (😉)

Tagging: @scaredlittlefoxy @lemony-snickers @backalleykat @whatshernameis @gwedosuns @topsyturvy-dream @ice-icebaby @cosmiclattes

This is also the artist’s note that follows after the comic, that I’m putting here:

(Artist’s note translation)

"This is a story about the daily life of Kakashi and the eight ninken.

The ninja dogs’ personalities etc mightn’t be faithful to the source material.

The dogs live free range in Kakashi’s house.

There is an illustration of a dog dying, though it isn’t any of the ninken. Please take note.

You don’t have to read it, but below this are the dogs’ personalities:

Shiba: Friendly and sensitive

Biscuit: Childish and Selfish

Akino: Calm and cool demeanour

Bull: Timid and Quiet

Urushi: Ladykiller. A little bit dim. (Note: Himbo!)

Guruko: Annoyingly helpful and naggy

Uhei: Pure-hearted and cheerful

Pakkun: Same as in the series"

Some notes and then onwards into the translation under the cut:

Please take heed before continuing:

I’m not a professional translator, in fact I’ve done very little of this, so there’s some guesswork and liberties taken, and I don't claim that that there’ll be no mistakes.

I’ve separated it out by sections and pages, so you should be able to follow the story from following the speech bubbles (right to left) and referencing the lines here by speaker

Each space between a line denotes that it’s the next speech bubble

A new line but no change in speaker will denote that it’s the same character talking, but in the next panel or speech bubble

Italics means the character is thinking or flashbacks. I'll try and make this obvious as I go but the artwork should make that clear too.

Brackets are my additions, or me translating things like signs etc, or brackets will have smaller background dialogue not in speech bubbles. I'll try to make this clear as I go.

Stuff surrounded by * denotes actions or onomatopoeic actions/words in panels

Ask me if there’s any parts that confuse you about the story!! The way I’ve done this isn’t easy to follow but it's the best my dumb brain could come up with

TRANSLATION:

Title page

(p.1)

ここのつのいのち

9 Lives

(p.2)

1. ‘I won’t tell anyone’

(SFX: dogs playing and wagging tails)

Kakashi: Hm? You’re not gonna play, Shiba?

Shiba: …No. …Hey, Kakashi’

Kakashi: Hm? What?’

Shiba: There’s a girl I like’

Kakashi: Ohhh… I won’t tell anybody.

I won’t tell ~ I won’t tell ~

(p. 3)

Shiba: She’s really cute…

Kakashi: That’s great ~

Shiba: But I haven’t even spoken to her once

Kakashi: You should go for it ~

(SFX: *happy dog panting*)

Shiba: I’ll come back as soon as I’ve talked to her!’

Kakashi: Yep!

Shiba: I’ll be right back, definitely!

Kakashi: Ok, ok (lit. Yes yes)

(p.4)

Shiba: She’s already got someone (lit. she’s already in a couple/has a mate)

Kakashi: I see…

Shiba: She said her mate hurt his leg and can’t walk so he's staying at home…

(p.5)

Kakashi: Shiba, you know.. have feet that can walk anywhere…

So maybe you’ll meet an amazing girl again, won’t you?

(*dog cries*)

Kakashi: ...I won’t tell anyone. (*Comforting doggy*)

I won’t say anything. I won’t say anything.

(Kakashi: Aw, Shiba is pretty sweet to me, huh?)

2. Biscuit’s Sausage (note: I know his name is technically Bisuke in Japanese, but Biscuit is his dub name and it’s too adorable so that’s what I’m going with here! Also suits the personality he has in this story. What a biscuithead this boy is)

(p.6)

Biscuit: -You’re so sneaky, Kakashi! I wanted to eat sausages!

*crying dog noises*

(Uhei: Sorry, Kakashi…

Guruko: I told you!!)

Kakashi: You know if you eat sausages, Biscuit, your tummy will get sick, right? I’m boiling cod for you right now

(*tantrum noises, pounding feet and barking*)

Biscuit: *angry puppy noises* I hate fish, you idiot! I said I want to eat sausages! Sausages! Sausages!

Kakashi: *sternly* Biscuit

Biscuit: *whimper*

(p.7)

Biscuit: Kakashi, you IDIOT!

(2. Biscuit’s Sausage)

Biscuit: *sniff*

(Sign says Konoha Pet Food)

Biscuit: This is the store that sells the dog food Kakashi buys! Wow, maybe they have sausages here too!

(p.8)

Biscuit: I wonder if I'll be able to eat as much as I want… *gulp*

But if I did that, Kakashi would get in trouble

No, maybe…

*heart pounding*

Kakashi kept it (this) a secret just from me, because I'll get sick...

(Apron says Konoha Pet Food)

Shop Lady: *shuffles*

Biscuit: I didn't do anything yet!!! * heart pounding*

Shop Lady: Oh my… you really just talked!

Shop lady: You’re Kakashi’s pup, aren’t you?

(p.9)

Shop lady: Kakashi got you to come here, huh?

(Shop lady: you’re a good boy!)

Bisuke: Oh, no-

Shop lady: Though, he shouldn't have made you come pick it up without contacting us, huh? Here, sausages!

Biscuit: Sausages?!

Shop lady: There’s a pup among you guys that can’t have normal sausages, right?

It was a request from Kakashi.

He said he wanted me to make some especially for the puppy who can’t handle meat.

(p.10)

Shop lady: Well, here you go!! You’ll tell Kakashi we’re sorry for making him wait, won’t you?

Biscuit: Oh, um… But I don’t have any money…

Shop lady: It’s fine, because it’s Kakashi!

Whenever he has free time, he comes to pay.

I have a deal with him, you see. And he can't get the food if he's not here...

Next time, come together with Kakashi, okay?

(p. 11)

Kakashi: *casually picks up Bisuke* Thank you! This is for you ~

Shop lady: Thank you, come again!

Biscuit: Kakashi…

Kakashi: Hm?

Biscuit: Sorry…

Kakashi: Yeah…

I’m sorry too. I gave everyone else sausages while keeping it a secret from you.

I thought you’d definitely want some if you saw…

(Kakashi: But I got caught.)

(p. 12)

Kakashi: But…. Everyone’ll want some if they see this, too.

How about stopping by the park and eating it there?

We’ll keep it a secret from everyone 😊

Bisuke: *happy face licking and barking* When we get home, I’ll eat the cod too!!

Kakashi: Uhh… Well, Uhei and Guruko already ate it…

Bisuke: WHAT?!!!

(Flashback, Uhei and Guruko saying ‘Cod! Me too!! Me too! I want to eat some too!’)

3. Kakashi’s smile

(p. 13)

*paws thudding on ground/running away*

Kakashi: …Got you.

Akino: Ack!

It’s always only me that you brush so roughly, Kakashi!

Kakashi: It can’t be helped, can it? You have the thickest fur, Akino

*brushing softly* It’ll be over soon, it’ll be over soon…

Other doggies: That seems nice to me, Akino…

Kakashi: Hey, it’s falling out, it’s falling out ~

Akino: !!!

Kakashi: Look, it’s a mini Akino!! So much fur…

Akino: That’s too much hair off the bottom, Kakashi! Wha…

(p. 14)

*Kakashi continuing to laugh at his mini Akino*

Akino: There are times now where Kakashi summons us, even if he doesn’t have any business for us to take care of…

(Back then) he never ever summoned us outside of missions…

(p. 15)

Akino: He was doing all kinds of things, but he was the kind of person who never had a smile on his face…

Kakashi: If I had more time, I could make an even hairier one, you know

(Other dogs: *laughing* Akino: That’s a lie!)

Akino: Kakashi…. You're having fun?

Kakashi: *genuine smile* Yep, I am!

Akino: *smile* If you feel like it, you can keep going…

Kakashi: Oh?

(Later, Akino notices Kakashi has put sunglasses on the mini Akino)

4. Timid Bull (CW Animal Death)

(p. 16)

Bull: I’m the last ninja hound that came to Kakashi’s home.

Before that, I was living in a training centre for ninja hounds.

(4. Timid Bull)

The dogs I lived together with there… were all adopted when they were puppies.

But I still lived at the training centre, even as I became fully grown.

Ninja Hey, that dog looks tough, doesn’t he?

Centre manager: Yes, but… he’s not all that suited for battling…

Despite how he looks, he’s actually a timid dog.

Bull: I… I’m scared of insects. I’m scared of noises.

I’m scared of blood.

Centre manager: Because he can understand the stories of troubled humans, you see…

Bull: I’m scared of anything other than myself.

(p. 17)

Bull: Nobody would want a dog like me, right?

Kakashi: I found a good boy ~

Bull: *panicking* There’s no manager here!

Kakashi: Hello ~

Bull: …Hello… *heart pounding*

Kakashi: Ah, one that talks, huh…

Would you like to become one of my pups?

(p. 18)

Bull: Me…? Me, really? Quit it… That’s enough joking around.

Kakashi: What do you mean?

Bull: No-one wants me (😢)

Kakashi: No-one?

I want you, though.

Bull: What kind of a strange person would want me, I thought

(p. 19)

Bull: There were lots of dogs at Kakashi’s house

(Happy barking doggy noises)

Uhei: Woah, you’re huge! But among these guys, I have the fastest legs, you know!!!

Guruko: And I have the best nose!!

Biscuit: And I’m whiny!! (Note: lit. ‘I’m selfish!’)

Shiba: I have the sharpest bite!

Pakkun: I am the wisest. (Note: Pakkun I think uses Kansai-dialect Japanese lol so he sounds kinda... distinct. This is hard to convey for me lol)

Urushi: I’m popular with the ladies ;)

(Akino: I’m the fluffiest!)

Bull: I was so confused

You… you’re not scared of me?

I’m huge, and I have a scary face… So no one comes near me.

They all said they weren’t scared.

The reason, they said together, was…

(p. 20)

‘Because Kakashi brought you, Bull!’

Everyone was totally relaxed, as if they had no worries at all.

They all clung to me as if it was completely natural to do so.

I realised that there’d always be someone beside me.

(p. 21)

*sounds of paws scuffling against ground in first two panels*

*jumping to the ground noise in third panel*

Kakashi: …Bull, this way is a dead end.

Bull: …Sorry.

I couldn’t go back to where you were, and I thought so, but -

(p.22)

Bull: *looking at dog* He asked me to stay by his side.

…He was an enemy, but he was already dying.

That’s why, Kakashi….

Kakashi: …Yep.

Let’s give him a send-off together.

(Note: this was a tricky one because Kakashi says 送る, which means send, and is used with mail etc, but can mean to say farewells to the deceased, which is why Bull comments on it on the next page)

(p. 23)

Bull: He wanted to say ‘I want to bury him’

But Kakashi said ‘send-off’.

Lightly, as if his life force was still there

There… there are a lot of things that scare me.

When I was waiting for this dog, I was scared.

But I couldn’t refuse his request.

(p. 24)

Bull: …I’m spineless.

Kakashi: Everyone else has lots of things they’re scared of, you know.

That’s why they all stay by your side, Bull.

If you’re there, everything will be alright. That’s how everyone feels.

If you’re close by, everyone’s able to feel safe.

(p. 25)

Kakashi: ….This puppy, too.

Dying dog: …Please…

Bull: That dog…

Dying dog: Stay with me, until the end…

Kakashi: Because you stayed with him, Bull, he felt at peace, didn’t he?

Bull: I don’t think that dog was happy…

…Kakashi.

He was very thin, and he also smelt like he was sick

To protect themselves, his owner didn’t treasure this [this dog’s] life.

Kakashi, I…

Somehow, I..

I’m very…

(p. 26)

Bull: I wanted to cry out as loud as I could..

Kakashi: Yeah… (I’m not sure who’s saying this line)

Bull: For feeling guilty towards that dog, and for knowing Kakashi…

For my life being here now.

For my life, I wanted to cry it out until the blood came out of my throat.

(p. 27)

Bull: That dog…

I wonder, was that dog ever able to feel like this, even once?

(Flashback) Doggies: Because Kakashi brought you, Bull!

Uhei: Hey!!! Bull!!

Shiba: You’re late!!

I was worried, you know!

Guruko: (to others) Hey, Bull came back!!

Bull: I’m Bull. The dog that Kakashi found.

5. Urushi’s scales

(p.28)

Urushi: I think I’m good looking

(5. Urushi’s scales)

Girl pups: Ahh~ Urushi…~

Urushi: I’m popular with the ladies

(note: he uses メス, which means bitch in the literal sense - a female dog - and all the puppers use it to refer to human women too. So I just left it as ladies, as I don't think the pups mean it to be crass, they just use dog language and apply it to humans as well as themselves)

Sometimes I’m told ‘it’s probably because you’re one of Kakashi’s ninken’, but…

(Background lettering over the other dogs says ‘Unstylish/Uncool/Lame’)

But my other friends aren’t all that popular, really.

Still, I think it’s because I really am good-looking after all.

(Choruses of ‘Urushi~’, ‘Ahh…; and ‘Let’s play together, Urushi)

Urushi: Hehehe…

Being good-looking is a great thing.

Guruko: Hey, Kakashi!

(p. 29)

Guruko: You got hit by a girl again, didn’t you?!

Kakashi: *laughing* No…

Akino: Why were you hit by a girl? Do girls not like you?

Uhei: It looks like it hurts…

Kakashi: Nooo ~

Shiba: You’re so strong, Kakashi, why were you hit?

Biscuit: You couldn’t avoid it?

Guruko: *Steam from nostrils* I’ll fight her for you!

Kakashi: It’s fine, it’s fine ~

What are you saying?

(p. 30.)

Urushi: Kakashi said ‘I took responsibility’.

Sometimes humans say things I don’t understand…

Girl dog: Urushi… pair up with me.

Urushi: If Kakashi’s saying it, it must be important…

Be… Because I’m one of Kakashi’s ninken?

Girl dog: It has nothing to do with that. I like you, Urushi

Urushi: Wow… *heart pounding*

Girl dog: Pair up with me, and…

I want you to leave the ninken. (Lit. Stop being a ninken)

(p. 31)

Girl dog: I love you, Urushi, but what if, on a mission, you…

I can’t stand the thought of that!

Leave the ninken, and… always stay in the village with me?

Urushi: This girl’s a beauty, and has a kind personality…

I think that I might want to be with her…

Should I leave the ninken?

(p. 32)

Urushi: *perplexed*

Kakashi, Bull and Biscuit: *zzz, sleeping sounds*

Urushi: If I said I wanted to leave the ninken…

Kakashi: (in Urushi’s imagination) If that’s what you want, Urushi

It’s fine with me! (Background: It would be a shame, though…)

Urushi: I feel like Kakashi would say something like that…

Do I want to do that…? Not really, but… *sigh*

Hey, Pakkun.

(p. 33)

Pakkun: Something bothering you?

Urushi: Yeah, there is

I have to decide between two things, but it’s difficult…

I want both of them, but I can’t have them.

Pakkun: … Is it a girl problem?

Urushi: Yep ~

Pakkun: That’s just like you, Urushi. (Pakkun’s imagination shows two girl pups arguing:

Urushi!! Which one will you choose, me or her?! *indignant barking*)

When making a decision about something, one needs to think about what’s most.

...important to oneself.

Let’s say you balance both sides on your scales…

Urushi: My scales?

Pakkun: For example….

(p. 34)

It’s not the physical weight, but the weight of what you think is precious and important. It’s the weight of those feelings.

If you think about which is heavier, you’ll find the answer.

Kakashi: You guys are having a kinda complicated conversation, huh…?

Pakkun: Oh, Kakashi, you woke up, did you?

Urushi: *heart pounding*

Kakashi: My scales lean towards sleep, you know..

Let’s eat soon, okay? Please…

Urushi: Kakashi…. Are you happy that I’m here?

(p. 35)

Kakashi: Hm? Yeah, I’m happy!

Urushi, of course I’m happy ~

(Note: the word Kakashi uses is 嬉しい, which is ‘ureshii’ so Kakashi is making a pun with Urushi’s name here.)

Urushi: *blush* Okay!

Pakkun: What we were just talking about… Don’t talk about it in front of Shiba.

Urushi: Huh? Why?

Pakkun: Seems like he recently had his heart broken…

(p. 36)

Urushi: The thing that’s most important and precious to me… isn’t you.

That’s why I can’t be with you.

I can’t be with you, but… you’re a beautiful and amazing lady.

So, let’s meet again one day ~

Biscuit: Kakashi! Kakashiiiii! It’s awful!!

(p. 37)

(*throbbing pain*)

Biscuit: Urushi’s hurt!!

(*dogs barking*)

Guruko: Let’s go fight them!! *steam from nostrils*

Shiba: No way, is it a girl? Kakashi, you better tell him off!!!

Kakashi: Did you get into a fight with a dog from the village?

Urushi: No, it’s not that…

I took responsibility.

I’ve got a manly mark on my face, heh~

Shiba: You better tell him off!! *bark*

Pakkun: That’s it…

6. Kakashi’s Helper Team!

(p. 38)

Kakashi: I’m home~!!!

Guruko: ?!!! Kakashi, you stink!!

Kakashi: *sweetly smiling* Oh, stop it…

I saw Asuma after a long time, and we talked and ended up getting some drinks… It was nice to see him… *flops down on floor*

Guruko: Take a bath!!!

Don’t go to sleep!!

(*soundly sleeping*)

(p. 39.)

Guruko: Uhei! Uheiii!

Uhei: What is it?

Guruko: Let’s clean up Kakashi!

(6. Kakashi’s Helper Team!)

Uhei: Ehh… But if he wakes up, he’ll take a bath himself, won’t he?

(SFX: Heave-ho! Heave-ho!)

Guruko: We can’t leave Kakashi as he is when he’s this stinky! It’s fine, take it off!

Uhei: Uh, this is stuck half way, I can’t take it off

Guruko: Because you haven’t taken off his leg bandages!

(p. 40)

Guruko: Damn, this is stuck half way *pulling*

Uhei: Isn’t that because you haven’t taken off his headband?!

Guruko: This is enough, let’s carry him to the bath like this!

(*dragging noises*)

Uhei: Won’t his clothes get wet?

Guruko: It’s fine, because we’re going to wash them anyway!

Uhei: It’s amazing… Kakashi still hasn’t woken up!

Guruko: Okay, let’s wash him!

Uhei: Isn’t that… the shampoo that we use?

Guruko: It’s totally safe!!

If it’s fine for us to use, it’ll be fine for Kakashi too, right?

Uhei: I guess…

(p. 41)

Uhei: We can wash his body, but what about his clothes?

(SFX: *scrub scrub*)

Guruko: If we wash them together, it’ll be fine! Hey, pour some hot water over here ~

Uhei: Okay!

(SFX: *splash*)

Kakashi: *suddenly yelling* I’m gonna die!!

Guruko: *screaming*

Kakashi: Even with my face covered, if you pour hot water on me, I can’t breathe, you know!! You really can’t do that.

Guruko: You woke up…

(SFX: *heart pounding*)

Uhei: You really scared me…

(p. 42)

Kakashi: You’d started something, and I wondered how far you’d carry on… Ah, I’m drenched.

Guruko: Ah, I’m sorry, Kakashi!!

Kakashi: Well, anyway.. you guys ended up cleaning yourselves pretty good too. You’re all drenched, too.

Guruko: Then I’ll go get some towels!!

Uhei: Kakashi, Kakashi

Guruko acts the way he does, but he really loves looking after you!

Kakashi: I know.

Biscuit: I want to have a bath with Kakashi too ~

Guruko: That’s not it! It’s just all slippery (note: not accurate, but the gist is that Biscuit misunderstands and Guruko puts him straight)

7. I’ll always love you

(p. 43)

(Flashback)

Sakumo: Pakkun…

Pakkun…

I have a favour to ask.

(Present)

Pakkun…

(SFX: Snoring)

Kakashi: Pakkun..

(SFX: Gasp)

Pakkun: Huh?

Kakashi: It’s time to eat.

(p. 44)

Pakkun: Alright.

(Other dogs: Food~ Food ~

Kakashi: Yes ~ Yes ~)

(Flashback)

Sakumo: Pakkun…

Pakkun….

Pakkun..

(p. 45)

Pakkun: Kakashi?

Kakashi: Hm?

Pakkun: For the mission report before… You didn't need me, did you?

Why did you bring me?

Other dogs: We want to come too!!

Kakashi: It’s just Pakkun for today

Kakashi: Hmm…

Hey, let’s relax here for a little while.

Pakkun: What’s this…

Kakashi: Come on…

Well…

(p. 46)

Kakashi: I want to talk about Dad.

…No. Maybe it’s a confession?

Talking about Dad…. Felt like something we couldn’t even broach. Ever.

I think you felt this way too, right, Pakkun?

I couldn’t tell you earlier that ‘it’s all right now’. Even though it was.

It was just a matter of timing, I guess…

Pakkun: But I wasn’t waiting for you to say that… Even if you’d have said it earlier, that’d have been good, but..

Why, out of the blue like this?

A change like that… Just like…

Just like…

(p. 47)

(Flashback)

Sakumo: I have a favour.

(Present)

Kakashi: The day Dad died…

Ever since then, for a long time, now… I became strange.

I’ve been nothing but trouble for you.

Pakkun: Kakashi-

Kakashi: Even though… you were hurting over Dad not being here too.

(p. 48)

Kakashi: Dad was your first master, right?

You really were precious to him.

….The other day, when you were having a nap, I woke you up, didn’t I?

It might have been because of the food, but your nose was twitching.

At first, I thought you were growling.

When I woke you up, you had a really startled expression when you looked at me.

I understood right away.

You were thinking about Dad, right?

(p. 49)

Kakashi: You were having a dream about Dad that time, right?

Thank you for always being considerate towards me…

But it’s alright now.

From now on, I want you to tell me…

The things about Dad that only you know.

(p. 50)

Pakkun: Sakumo…

(Sakumo: Pakkun…)

Pakkun: …really was a loving, kind man.

Kind, and…

(Sakumo: Pakkun…)

Pakkun: Kind, and…

…Kakashi.

I’ll tell you about Sakumo.

The things I’ve always wanted to tell you

I’ll tell you now.

Kakashi: Okay.

(p. 51)

Kakashi: Thank you for telling me about Dad, Pakkun.

Pakkun: …Don’t you dare die.

(Pakkun…)

I’ve had enough now.

Yeah. Enough.

(p. 52)

(Sakumo: I’m asking.…)

Pakkun: Sakumo…

The two of you are exactly alike.

Kakashi: Oh, really?

Pakkun: Everything’s alright now.

(p. 53)

“Kakashi!”

(p. 54)

(No text)

(p. 55)

Kakashi!

(p. 56)

Kakashi

(Note: I think the favour Sakumo asked of Pakkun was to take care of and be mindful of Kakashi always. This isn't outright stated)

[ravenadottir]

what do you think the characters would be doing after the show/how would they be using their platform? for example, i think lottie would be using hers to give people astrology readings and stuff and i think the season 3 mc would be sooo problematic online

ok but you know what? definitely! s3 mc would be causing the stir she wanted to in the villa and couldn't. i'm almost certain she would be raging and saying absurd things to get attention, something like gabby hana you know? BIG YIKES.

one thing is certain... all of them (purposely or not) would be making thirst traps... and definitely supporting masks and registering to vote. so that's a certainty for almost all of them.

lottie. witchtok constantly. not necessarily giving readings but she would be an apologist and majority on that tag. her instagram would be split into two accounts: one for her personal endeavours like thirst traps and *looks of the day*, and a second for her brand as a makeup artist/personal stylist. cause i think that would be so fucking cool! lottie knows how to perpetuate her personal brand and would use social media for that as well. here's some edits i did in the past to explain it better. i headcanon a collab with elisa for wigs that they would both wear on social media, so that's something i really like! plus, advocating for women's rights, especially when a male politician says something dumb, so you know, EVERY SINGLE DAY.

bobby. in the middle of the pandemic? can't help thinking he would be doing some humorous videos, but in my head they're not the funny type. just some cringey ones... don't get me wrong, but bobby is only funny when he's not trying to, and in social media he strikes me as the type that not only makes videos but also puts the towel over his head to play a girl, so that's probably the majority of his content. some food of course, and DEFINITELY some *cute* selfies that he knows it works as thirst traps. i think he talks about registering to vote and blm, but doesn't give his opinion on anything else, politics wise. here's bobby's feed for the rest.

gary. i'm not thrilled to inform that gary would be thirst trapping all the time. now that he's relatively famous there's no reason why not posting those pics and videos. between tik tok trends to show off his muscles, and instagram to... well, do that exact same thing, he might take some time to show nan and the soup kitchen, but overall... thirst traps. possibly being blunt about masks and registering but his content is very closed off. also, he will get a dog and encourage people to adopt. there's a lot of pranks on dicky and vice versa, so that's something i thought for his social media, just couldn't find a good faceclaim that has a variety of pics.

lucas. mostly bringing awareness about covid and the use of masks, probably pointing it out a couple of political disputes, and definitely advising people to be careful about their votes all around the world. i like to think he's a huge advocate for legalization of a certain practice that women have to beg to have (you know the one), and i think he knows exactly how to make a thirst trap without making one. stop asian hate and blm carrds present, and often giving his followers the incentive to donate. DEFINITELY 'look of the day' for at least the weekend, and lots and lots of landscape from the places he's been visiting or wishing to.

henrik. he's everywhere and he takes his phone to talk about it. no doubt henrik is having the time of his life by travelling alone, or with his wife, and doing lives at all times. i think you would see him doing lives in the middle of the night, or watching the sunset/sunrise with his followers, besides making his *questionable* forest foraging and recipes. survival videos? MOST LIKELY THAN YOU THINK. here's his social media, where i covered mostly of what his relationship would like on instagram. (heavily based off "beyond the hill").

carl. the amount of rpg on his stories? immaculate. chess? you bet! lots and lots of carl's launchings for his company, which does have a separate account but he can't quite separate himself from it and it shows on his feed. his relationship would be discreetly displayed with cryptic captions since he's not so sentimental. here's his feed with some personal things he would be encouraged to post and boost that confidence of his.

anon that asked for more hannah stuff, this is for you:

hannah. i have one for her because i do like her aesthetic. don't mind the faceclaim, it was the only one i could find in so many situations. horses, books, some *cute* selfies, travelling pics and more. on tiktok definitely booktok, no doubt about it. she might do a lot of the "telling the story of my book as a story time" trend to promote it and say "technically it's real life."

elisa. it's all about branding and she knows how to do it well! some influencers might not get political because of how they can be perceived but i think elisa doesn't give a flying fuck about that. she talks often about blm and vaccines on her stories. i get a jackie aina vibe from her when talking about brands that support/encourage dark skin models and influencers, so that's a plus. she will give shit to a makeup brand that doesn't care for shade range and won't hide her feelings about it. here's her usual feed, with looks and tours (that i'm certain she would do a lot). i also think she'll eventually cave and have a brand of wigs, clothes and makeup, AS SHE SHOULD.

hope. there's no question about her activism on social media and i like to imagine she would be speaking up against anti-vaxxers and racism, mostly. just like yewande, she would probably talk about every time she felt the show might've favoured people that don't look like her. we would be getting the hot tea on everything since she's so honest. there's also lots of looks and promoting her friends' products because she supports them so much. priya's clothing line, elisa x lottie collab, etc. here's the feed i made for her a while ago.

chelsea. she might not be that deep into politics but she'll talk about covid and how people should be more careful about it, "wearing all these cute masks my babes lozza made for us!". LOTS of *look of the day* and tours on the spaces she decorates, besides the behind the scenes of parties and weddings (of ex-islanders) that i know she would throw. her feed also includes her closet, supporting her friends' endeavours and promoting them, besides some random mug collection shots and FOR SURE a pug selfie with mc.

priya. there's not much to say except for the occasional thirst trap (with those amazing thigh, ffs she should), lots of vaccine warnings, definitely political anecdotes and her clothing brand. i love to think she would have an actual boutique once things get settled after covid, and she would use social media to promote every line. her feed consists mostly of her travelling, designs, supporting the girls and her photoshoots.

kassam. lots and lots of backstage photos and that *prickly* way of demanding people to use their brains and wear a mask, besides getting the vaccine. in studio or just before the stage, selfies with a clothing line with his logo and definitely pics with islanders he didn't get to meet but is now friends with. during covid he would be using his lives to play for his followers, like lots of dj's and musicians i've seen doing on reddit and tiktok, probably called "late night music" or something like that. encouraging followers to donate for causes as well.

noah. not so huge on social media, might be the most discrete of them all. there would be lots and lots of pictures of the mornings before he opens the library, because i sincerely think he would keep his job. not the most outspoken about certain matters but carrds like the blm's and 'stop asian hate''s are on all of his bio's. i do like to imagine him taking selfies with the boys from the show, like ibrahim. he would be so present in noah's feed it's not even funny. the casual "cute unintentional" thirst trap too. family photos from ages ago and lots of his siblings as well. he does love to write long captions for whenever he posts his girlfriend. one thing though, during the first few months on the outside, he wouldn't be so present, afraid of facing the bashing on him if he got with mc in the show. that could be a reason for him to stay away until people "forget" about it.

marisol. SO - MANY - SUITS - SELFIES it makes me cry happy tears. between advocating for women's rights in a more technical way, she would definitely be using her platform to also talk about lgbtq+, especially after the realization she had during her journey. lots and lots of activism about those things, and i think she would be doing a fine job. definitely promoting the girls' products/services and an occasional thirst trap with a braless suit look.

rocco. covidiot. (i just wanted to use this nickname one more time). he might get a hard time from followers and villa buddies because of his stance on vaccines. i just hope he reads some articles instead of sharing bibity-bobity-bullshit on facebook and instagram. there's lots of vaccine memes on his comment sections no matter what he posts though. it's gonna take a while for the public to move on.

[elprupneerg]

Ok so some of the personifications are furries/furry adjacent. Definitely more than just this list but these are the ones i’ve thought through

Alfred: Very much a furry. Multiple fursonas, but usually some sort of dog. Commissions art regularly, and his profile pictures on social media are a rotating assortment of pics he’s bought. Everyone knows he’s a furry, but he’s so nonchalant about it that nobody bothers to make fun of him outside of some lighthearted teasing. Doesn’t own a fursuit (yet). Doesn’t usually see it as a sexual thing, but it can be occasionally. Tries to go to at least one convention a year and has an absolute blast.

Lovino: Also a furry, but nowhere near as open about it. His furry fandom accounts have pseudonyms and he never shows his face. Maybe 5 other personifications know about it because he’s embarrassed (not embarrassed enough to stop commissioning art though). Sees it as more sexual than Alfred, but that’s not the Only reason he enjoys it. Would like to go to a convention, but doesn’t want to show his face or wear a mask, so he���s conflicted. Thinks fursuits look too expensive and uncomfortable to bother with.

Francis: Not really a furry per se, but literally every furry he’s interacted with on the internet has been nice to him or good at art or just generally pleasant. Has commissioned art, as well as had it gifted to him. Doesn’t have a fursona, instead asking furry friends to pick an animal for him whenever the topic comes up. Will absolutely defend furries with his life, but probably would never go to a convention because he’d feel like he was intruding.

Feliciano: Not a furry, but does art on commission. The first time someone commissioned him to do a renaissance-style painting of their fursona he almost refused, until he saw how much they offered to pay him. Is now famous among furries for 1) how highly technically skilled his paintings are 2) how much commissioning him costs (to cover the costs of paint/canvas/brushes/shipping the finished art) and 3) getting mad at anyone who calls him a furry. He doesn’t have anything against them (they pay his bills!) but he hates inaccuracies. Keeps his furry art account separate from his other art and his socializing accounts. 

Ludwig: Also not a furry, but everyone thinks he is one. Alfred keeps inviting him to conventions and he keeps having to decline and it’s getting awkward. Francis once commissioned art of them together (he picked a dog for Ludwig and the artist chose to make Francis a cat) and gave it to him for Christmas, at which point Ludwig gave up on trying to get anyone to think he wasn’t one. Is one of the people who knows Lovino is a furry, but keeps quiet about it.

Herakles: Doesn’t know about the furry community but if he did he’d 100% join in. He just really fucking wants to be a cat y’all. Fursuits are expensive as hell so he’d probably never get one, but he likes to wear cat ears and a tail to costume parties.

Gilbert: Got assigned a fursona (feather-sona?) by one of Francis’s artist friends, who drew them together as pigeons. For a bit there he and Francis had matching twitter icons made from the art. Knows about the furry community and knows Exactly what people think when they see his pigeon-sona, but he’s a troll and doesn’t care. Once got sevewal othew pewsonifications to bwock him on twittew aftew tweeting wike dis for an entire week uwu. Doesn’t consider himself a furry, but finds it entertaining to request pictures of his pigeon doing skateboard tricks or flying a rocketship.

[reptilian-angel]

Darkwing OC Month Day 14: Meeting a St. Canard Villain(s)

Since Chroma Lyn herself is technically a villain, she’s certainly had MORE than one encounter with a fellow lawbreaker and megalomaniac, a few of which are more notable than others:

Splatter Phoenix: On one particular heist where she and her partner were supposed to lift a one-of-a-kind priceless statue from one of the most prominent museums in the city, just as Steelbeak was about to lift it off its podium, Chroma Lyn stopped him as she instantly saw signs that it was a fake. As she pointed out the signs to him, she listed a brutal amount of criticisms and picks at the design and style of the fake piece, ending it with a simple “To sum it up, whoever made this thing was definitely trying WAY too hard to make herself feel good.”

Which finally prompted Splatter to leap out from the paint she was hiding in, surprising them both with a deeply affronted “HOW DARE YOU, YOU PLEBIAN?!” before promptly attacking them with her brush.

It was long and slippery fight, with Steelbeak more concerned about avoiding keeping the deadly paint off his freshly cleaned jacket and Chroma Lyn only making matters worse by continuing her critics as she dodged the attacks which only made the law-breaking artiste more angry and sloppy, which didn’t help the dove since the paint fumes were screwing with her overly sensitive nose. Eventually, Chroma Lyn had enough and promptly ended the fight by quickly grabbing a pair of matches from a crudely painted Steelbeak’s pocket and setting them alight, throwing them on one said painting that housed the REAL statue which was released when the canvas was set ablaze.

The fire alarm system quickly activated as the smoke hit the sprinklers drenching both parties with water, ruining Splatter’s paint and giving the FOWL Agents enough of an opening to escape before the police or S.H.U.S.H. appeared, unknowingly smacking Darkwing Duck hard into the back alley wall as they burst out of the museum’s back door and ran back to Steelbeak’s car.

To this day, Steelbeak swears to never again go anywhere near artists without a hazmat suit and Chroma Lyn can still smell the fumes from the crazy painter’s “artistic” materials.

Bushroot: She didn’t necessarily see him when they first met, but she definitely left an impression on him after she stumbled upon his temporary lair by random.

She and Steelbeak got separated after a botched mission due to unexpected interventions by Darkwing Duck, his sidekick and his “girlfriend”, whom Steelbeak simply gawked at until Chroma Lyn smacked him back into attention; seeing the numbers were against them, they haphazardly agreed to separate and take off in different directions to shake off their pursuers, Chroma Lyn taking the high road and Steelbeak taking the low road.

Leading Darkwing and his Pilot-dressed sidekick on an elaborate chase that included the FOWL Dove consistently knocking over and throwing multiple objects, one of which including a heavily armored car that had been transporting diamonds at the time that successfully squished the caped crusader flat, she took cover in what she first thought was just a large, empty garden house and took a minute or two to catch her breath as she waited for the heroes to pass. Once they were gone and she got her bearings, she was more than a little breathless at the sight of a near-perfect forest thriving inside the decrepit structure.

As she was someone who was always fascinated by nature both as a child and an adult, Chroma Lyn decided to take look around the massive garden, observing the plants and trees that almost looked like they had a life of their own. Coming across a living Venus-flytrap wearing a collar and tag named “Spike”, he quickly took a liking to her when, after noticing how his manner was very much like a dog’s, gave him a placating scratch on his petals. Once the beast plant was complacent enough, Chroma Lyn found herself killing time by having a one-sided conversation with him, commenting on how lovely Spike’s home was and how he seemed to have it good for a “big slobbery plant experiment gone haywire”, to which thankfully he took no offense.

During the whole time, she never once took notice of the pair of curious and nervous eyes watching their interaction from a hydrangea bush.

After a while, a contented Spike fell asleep which gave Chroma room to calmly leave, careful not to disturb him as she went. Navigating her way back to entrance with ease, she bid farewell to the little oasis and ran off to meet up with her impatient, irritated partner who had been waiting for her at a local bar.

A couple of weeks later, much to her surprise, she found of bouquet of Wisterias, her favorite flower, set neatly on the edge of her balcony with a small messy note reading, “Thanks for not making a mess of my home. And Spike says ‘hi’.”

Taurus Bulba: He was the one villain Chroma Lyn hated from the very second that they met; and for good reason, since he was a conceited, pugnacious, thick-headed cow who never should’ve been brought back in the first place.

She was against High Command’s plans to make what remained of the original Taurus Bulba into the “Ultimate Agent” from the start, but begrudgingly held her tongue because she knew as, only an agent regardless of being partners with the Cheif Agent, her word meant nothing in the matter - although surprisingly, Steelbeak DID agree with her, albeit it was because he was secretly jealous and concerned about being replaced. This left both agents nothing they could do but simply oversee the project and see that it was done.

In the end, every dark suspicion Chroma Lyn had regarding the “Agent Bulba” project was correct as not even ten minutes into being brought online, an enraged Bulba went berserk, laying siege to the lab and venting his unchosen fate towards the Eggmen and her partner, getting ready to rip him in half after singing him to a crisp. Chroma Lyn leapt to his defense, knocking back the mechanized bull with a kick and swearing a second more painful, brutal death if he didn’t stand down.

Bewildered and insulted at the woman who managed to actual dent him, Bulba only began to mock her, belittling her strength and Steelbeak’s for needing a “pretty little woman” to protect him when he was supposed the Chief Agent of a powerful criminal organization. Infuriated, Chroma Lyn charged towards him, starting a thunderous fight, landing hard, denting punches onto Bulba’s body with him only getting in a few painful shoves and smacks that nearly sent her flying each time. The fight came to an abrupt end when a cowering Steelbeak blurted out how “this guy’s worse than Darkwing Duck!”

Instantly, Bulba threw away Chroma Lyn who he had caught in his grasp at that exact moment with the intention of crushing her and began questioning Steelbeak, his anger overheating him to the point of temporarily “freezing” his systems and shutting down briefly before rebooting. Promising to “deal with him and the dove later” Bulba stomped out of the lab, beginning a search for the “hero” responsible for his fate.

Once he was gone, Steelbeak turned to see Chroma Lyn, who had just succeeded in getting back up on her feet; she was banged, bruised and utterly pissed OFF . This sparked a vicious arguement between the two that left Chroma Lyn limping away with a dark thirst for vengeance hanging over her head and a emotionally wounded Steelbeak to trying to preserve what was left of his dignity with a barrel.

They refused to speak to one another for a solid month.

[just-benni]

Muse

-

Pairing: college student Bucky x college student Y/N

Summary: Y/N is discouraged about her photography assignment after turning it in, Bucky is there to cheer her up

Warning: none, pure fluff

Author’s Note: be nice pls, this is the first fic I’ve ever posted on Tumblr. Thanks.

-

[not my gif]

Muse

|myōōz| noun.

(def.) person or personified force who is the source of inspiration for a creative artist

Critique day, Y/N’s least favorite day.

She would walk into her class high hopes, thinking maybe this time her classmates and professor would praise her work. And every time, with everyone else’s work magnetted to the whiteboard, Y/N would see that her work was not in fact the best, nor was it remotely close to the level of creativity that others were at.

And it doesn’t help that the professor pointed out all of what she did wrong. Either the lighting was off, something could’ve been further edited in photoshop, placement wasn’t correct, or the subject wasn’t in crisp focus. Anything and everything you could possibly imagine, Y/N presumes she’s been called out on it.

Today—as predicted—was not a good day.

“Y/N,” Bucky called after her when she walked right past him. She continued walking, though at a slow pace, waiting for him to catch up with her. He did with two or three hurried strides, “What’s wrong?”

“Were you waiting for me?” Y/N changed the subject slyly. “Did we have something planned?”

Bucky stammered, “No, no, we didn’t. That’s actually what I’m here for,” he offered a reassuring smile. “I wanted to see if you maybe wanted to go get some lunch?”

There was a pause before Y/N mustered up a response. “I would love to but I’m just not that hungry, thanks though.” Her voice had that usual innocence to it, it was hard for Bucky to come back at her and call her out on the bullshit.

“Then you can watch me eat,” Bucky joked but Y/N didn’t budge. That’s when he knew that something was seriously bothering her because even at his worst and effortless jokes, she would laugh or let out that adorable giggle he loved.

Bucky let out something in between a groan and a sigh, commenting further, “Come on, doll I wanted to spend time with you today. The next few days are busy for me, and for you, too.”

“I just wanna go home, Buck.”

“You mad at me for somethin’? Or just not interested in me anymore?” They stopped in their track, face to face, people passing them by. Y/N sighed and leaned forward to press her forehead into the crevasse of Bucky’s chest. “What is it?”

“I’m a failure,” her voice was low and muffled.

“Doll, don’t be saying that crap. You’re not a failure, not one bit.” She finally pulled back and glanced up to Bucky with glazed over eyes. “Want me to come over and cook? I make great hot dogs.”

“No, no hot dogs.”

“Okay, well I’m sure I can figure out something to make.” Bucky cut her off just before she rose her head to speak, “And don’t say you’re not hungry. You just had nearly a three hour class.”

“I just wanna be alone, for now Buck,” Y/N let out with probably too much force.

“Alright,” his voice was delicate. “If that’s what you want.”

“No, I’m sorry,” she reached for his hand, keeping him still. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that. I’m just so stressed over everything.”

“Here’s what we’ll do,” Bucky rested his hands on her shoulders. “You’re gonna go to your apartment and decompress from today. Okay?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing. I’ll come over at six-ish to cook us some dinner. Deal?”

Y/N leaned up on her toes to press a kiss to his cheek, “You’re the best.”

“Get home safe,” he held her briefly, leaning down to press a kiss to her temple, feeling her close her eyes on cue.

“Yup,” Y/N chirped with a much brighter smile, and happier persona overall, than before. “I’ll text you when I’m home.”

Hours later the two were on the couch, Y/N telling him about her downfall of that day, Bucky staying quiet and just allowing for her to vent every bit of stress out. Occasionally, he would place his hand on her knee or grab ahold of her hand and tangle his fingers with her, all in a reassuring manner.

“So you were upset today because you didn’t like the way your photos came out?” Bucky’s flat voice sounded the room over the movie they were watching, long forgotten now.

“That’s the gist of it,” Y/N let out a long sigh.

“Can I see them?”

“Um, I’d rather not.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t wanna think about it. I thought you came over to distract me.” Y/N cupped his cheek with one hand and brought him in for a short kiss.

Bucky nodded with a smug smile, “I never said that.”

“Well you could, you know?” Another kiss, trailing longer than the previous. “Distract me.” He pushed back on her shoulder with a gentle touch, ultimately, separating her from his lips to which she responded with a pout. “Why won’t you?”

“Let me see your photos.”

“My god, you’re stubborn.” Y/N nudged him as she passed by him and grabbed her laptop from the other room, typing in the password with one hand so she could get through with it as quick as possible. She stopped in front of him, gazing down sternly at him, “Whatever you say, don’t make fun.”

“Y/N, I’m sure whatever you show me is a thousand times better than what I could ever produce.”

“Here,” she handed him the laptop, “just use the arrows to go through them all.”

“What’s so wrong with these photos that you don’t like them?”

“They’re shit.”

“These are amazing, Y/N. You need to give yourself more credit.” Bucky continued through the collection of photos that she turned in for her assignment and with each and every one, he was blown away at her creativity.

“What’s the final verdict?” Y/N questioned when he reached the last photo.

“That you are an amazing photographer, and everybody who says otherwise about your work, they’re all idiots.”

“You’re biased.”

“I mean it. I might not know the technicality of whatever it was you were trying to achieve but I think your photos look great.” Y/N grinned up at him, growing timid and hiding her face into his shoulder. Bucky pressed a kiss to her head, “And I’m not biased.”

“I guess I’ll have to believe that you’re not. I know what you are, though.”

Bucky hummed in question, wrapping his arm around, maneuvering her closer. “What’s that?”

“The best boyfriend.”

“Considering your long list of boyfriends, that means a lot.”

“Shut up,” Y/N laughed, her fingers attacking his ribs making him jolt up.

“So I’m your boyfriend now, huh?” He was teasing her back, Y/N trying to block herself.

“Well if you want to be. You’re over all the time, we go on dates, we make out and do … other things. I mean, it only makes sense. We just have to make it official.”

Bucky nodded in agreement, taking her words into consideration. In the seconds following, he stood up with a dramatic groan, still holding Y/N’s hand as she sat up on the couch. “What are you doing?” Y/N furrowed her brows.

“You wanted official. This is gonna be official as it gets, babe.” In the teeny floor space between the couch and the coffee table, Bucky went down on one knee with that same award winning smile Y/N was occasionally met with. With a squeeze of her hand, he questioned, “Y/N L/N, will you do me the great honor of becoming my girlfriend?”

Y/N’s body fluttered with warmth and in that moment, she was just about certain Bucky was the one. That maybe one day he would be on his knee again asking her a different question.

“You gonna leave me hangin’?”

“Yes, I will be your girlfriend.” She plastered her hands on his face, moving forward to kiss him. “My muse.”

[taliesin-bell]

8, 9, 22 & 29? 🌼

Thank you for the ask! 🌼☀️

8. What musical artist have you felt connected to over your lifetime?

Stevie Nicks/Fleetwood Mac are my favorite artists of all time, and their songs have made me feel happy, sad, understood, and sometimes just groovy. And especially as a teen, I needed that. I’m glad to still feel that now at 24.

Similarly, I grew up when Taylor Swift was just starting out. I know some people don’t love her stuff, or think it’s too mainstream and that’s fine! But she’s one of the only artists that I feel like grew up with me. Songs about high school and crushing on boys made me feel seen when I was in school. Now, her newer songs cover a lot of subjects. And as she and her music have matured, so have I. Being able to now listen to songs about losing family, pride, and some of the harder emotions in relationships from the same artist I related to 12 years ago is just really really cool to me.

9. Are you an artist?

Ahhh I wish I was more artistic. I work in the entertainment industry (technical stuff so not like acting or costuming), but I think even that is art in its way. Plus I’ve had to learn how to paint and draw and have been able to translate those lessons into smaller projects and with different tools and mediums. Lastly, I sing and write songs and poems sometimes, but nothing super exciting. It also makes it harder since I never learned an instrument 😭

22. List the top five things you spend the most time doing, in order.

- Spending (too much) time on my phone. Sometimes games and social media, but also I don’t have a computer so all my work is done from my phone too.

-Caring for/spending time with my dog :) She’s been an emotional support for me, and while I live with other people, she gets anxious as well so I tend to her the most. Walks, baths, exercise, training. She’s a good pup though so it’s totally worth it.

-Working and/or around the house chores. These are kinda on the same level, and if I’m not doing one I’m doing the other so... two sides of the same coin kinda.

-Independent projects. So like painting or writing or practicing singing. Stuff I know I’ll probably never make a living from but I still love doing and using as an outlet.

-Keeping in contact with friends. Separate from socials; this is more the in-person or Zoom meeting events. I’m lucky to have a lot of great people right now from several areas of my life, so scheduling and checking in with them is very important to me!

29. Three songs you connect with right now.

- Dreams by Fleetwood Mac

- Liability by Lorde

-If the World Falls to Pieces by Young Summer

Thank you again so much for the ask!!!! Sorry if this was long-winded. I am trying to work on brevity, but sometimes it’s hard to keep it short and sweet 😅

[tss-grimmverse]

Chapter 1: Clematis

i walk a lonely road

the only one that i have ever known

Virgil stepped into the strange apartment.

It was quiet. Not a mere absence of sound, but a quiet that breathed deep and blanketed the senses like a nighttime pillow. It was a quiet that examined every scuff and rustle and soft exhalation with cool curiosity. It listened, with the hush of trees in the night.

It watched, with the perilous regard of faeries.

Virgil let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding; probably had been holding since leaving Ohio two days before. After multiple bus rides across multiple states and hours and hours of strangers and suitcases and stress…despite how it put his paranoid senses on edge, he was glad of the quiet, away from open spaces and curious eyes.

But the apartment was also dark, and a little cold, and its owner was painfully conspicuous by his absence.

The place belonged to a half-faery named Logan Ursae: who, according to the Youngstown Grimms, was a friend of the organization that they trusted to provide pursued changelings a place to run to and start over.

Changelings like Virgil.

Virgil, who would rather be with his Ren Faire troupe back in Ohio. The reappearance of his old faery master had brought his scarce two years of freedom to an abrupt end.

The Grimms were a loose organization of former faery thralls; humans kidnapped as children, who’d lived in Arcadia for so long that their bodies had absorbed faery magic and made them something not quite fae, but more than human. Blessed…or cursed, depending on who you asked…with strange and erratic and often dangerous powers. Those that joined the Grimms used those powers to help other humans escape and integrate, as best they could, back into the human world.

And, occasionally, they worked to protect said thralls when their former faery masters came looking for them.

Now here Virgil stood, in some ordinary human apartment, owned by an absent half-blood with a human name, in some middle-of-nowhere city in hot, muggy Florida, a thousand miles from everyone he knew.

Figures, the guy isn’t even here when I show up. He tugged his oversized black plaid hoodie tighter around himself. It’s not like I’m ever anyone’s top priority.

“Uh, hey?” he called, flipping a light switch. “Anyone home?”

Silence.

Virgil rolled his eyes.

Despite his relief at not having to answer questions or make small talk with a stranger, Logan’s absence unsettled him. What kind of person apparently regularly took in changelings on the run, but couldn’t be arsed to actually be around when they turned up on his doorstep? If Virgil’d had any other place to go, he’d have turned around and walked right back out the door on principle.

Instead he huffed out a sigh and let his ratty duffle bag slide to the floor. He’d meet this mysterious Logan eventually; assuming, of course, that his pursuer didn’t track him down in the night and finish what he’d begun years ago in Arcadia.

It would be no more than I deserve.  

Logan Ursae’s apartment was spacious and clean, making Virgil uncomfortably aware of his own travel-mussed, unwashed state. Hopefully the half-faery wouldn’t care if he used the shower…well, if he wanted to lay down rules, he should’ve been here to do it.

The foyer spilled into a modest living room, with a navy sectional couch and a low coffee table, several standing lamps, a hallway presumably leading to the bedrooms, and the dining space off in its own niche to the right. Practically every wall in the place housed a heavily-laden bookshelf or three; an inconceivable number of books to Virgil, who’d lived either on the road or on the run his whole life. He wandered to the oval dining table, trailing fingerpads across classy pale wood and a dark blue runner.

A half empty water dish with ‘Nic’ spelled out in neat cursive sat against the far wall…but there were no other signs of pets. If Logan did have a dog or something, it was as absent as its owner.

A low counter separated a small galley kitchen from the rest of the apartment, navy towels hanging evenly from the oven handle and blue, galaxy-themed pot holders hanging under the cabinets.

The guy clearly had a thing for the color blue.

Even the curious scent that hung in the air smelled blue to Virgil’s changeling-sensitive nose, tickling at his senses in an explosion of color. Dark teal skies and rich bronze bark against a background of earthy brown, a combination that made his mind hazy in a pleasant way. Subtle and masculine, but more middle-note than the patchouli oil Virgil himself liked to wear.

He inhaled slowly, unconsciously imagining that scent against a warm masculine neck, and wondered where the hell that thought came from.

Maybe you’re just gay, Virgil, he groused to himself.

In place of a television, Logan’s living room held a large, intricately carved wooden cabinet; the antique kind, waist-high, with drawers and two swinging doors. On top of this sat an old fashioned record player with a huge brass horn. The setup could have easily graced a 50s movie set; both cabinet and player were heavy and solid and gleamed with care.

Virgil idly pawed through the impressive vinyl collection on the shelf above, recognizing a few artists, and then knelt to see if there were any more inside the cabinet.

“I’ll thank ye not to touch that,” a voice said.

Virgil’s heart skittered up into his throat. He whirled.

A creature no more than two feet tall leaned against the coffee table, tiny brown arms folded over a sturdy brown chest, covered by a tunic that looked to be messily stitched from several colored hand towels. Their feet were bare and covered in brown wispy hair. Gender was impossible to determine.

Their face was framed by a mop of more wispy hair and a tall hat that, weirdly, looked like it had been made from burlap and a Starbucks cup. A pair of black sunglasses sat on a red, upturned nose, nearly obscuring a pair of black, beady, glaring eyes under expressive eyebrows.

Fae, Virgil’s mind whispered. Fae, Fae, there’s a Fae in the house they’ll tell Deceit where I am what do I do…?

No. He was overreacting. It was just a house brownie. A solitary. Generally harmless.

Virgil took a breath and relaxed his shoulders, which had tensed up at being startled.

“You always sneak up on people?” he asked, mirroring the small faery’s crossed-arm stance.

“You always go poking about in people’s houses?” the brownie countered in a high, sassy voice, the faintest hint of a baroque staining the syllables.

“I’m not poking; I have a key. S’not my fault Logan’s not here—”

“I meant what’s behind you,” the brownie nodded toward the cabinet, “ye daft changeling. I know the Bear is expecting company. Do what ye want in the rest of the apartment, but keep clear of my house.”

Oh.

Virgil shuffled away from the cabinet, trying to recall what little he knew about domestic Fae. Don’t insult them. Leave gifts; never leave them payment. Don’t watch them do chores. Don’t give them clothes.

Nothing about trying to make conversation with one; unfortunate, since Virgil sucked at making conversation in general.

“Sorry,” he grumbled. “Just…don’t like being surprised.”

The brownie peeked over their sunglasses…why would a Fae wear sunglasses?…and ran beady eyes over Virgil’s faded purple hair and messy eyeshadow, his ripped jeans and faded black hoodie, seemingly content to let him squirm under the scrutiny.

“Um, no offense,” Virgil muttered, rubbing his neck. “But your kind don’t usually show themselves to humans.”

The brownie plopped onto the coffee table.

“Well, I see no humans here,” they quipped, leaning forward. “Do you, changeling?”

Virgil instinctively ducked his head, letting his bangs obscure his eyes…eyes that, like all changelings, held a narrow ring of color around each pupil. Worse, Virgil’s changeling eyes were heterochromatic, setting him apart even from his own kind. Besides his natural dark brown, he bore a dark green ring around his left pupil, and a striking purple one around his right.

Wearing his hair long in the front helped, but they still drew attention.

He hated attention.

If there was one thing Fae were good at, it was needling at your insecurities. Brownies and hobgoblins and other solitaries, like all faeries, enjoyed their little games.

“Technically changelings are human,” Virgil grumbled. “We’re just kept in Arcadia for so long that the magic just kind of—”

“Bleeds into ye?” The brownie swung their legs, making their mop of hair sway. “Soaks into your teeth and sinew until ye can alter the Contracts same as they can?”

Virgil frowned. “If that means ‘do magic’, then yeah.”

“I live with a half-blood, lad,” the brownie pointed out, still in that sassy tone, licking their knobby teeth. “I know of your Grimms. I know you’re here for the Bear to keep safe, because your master tried to snatch ye back up. What’re you called, then, eh?”

“Um,” Virgil stalled, swallowing.

It was never a good idea to give a Fae one’s real name, but if Logan and the little Fae had a close relationship, Virgil didn’t dare insult the brownie by lying to them. He suspected if this one knew why he was here, they knew his name already.

“Virgil,” he admitted softly.

The brownie smiled, removing their sunglasses to bare their face properly.

“Mmm. Then you may call me Remy,” they said with a small nod, flourishing the glasses and parking them back on their nose. “He/him pronouns.”

Virgil nodded, guessing he’d passed some test.

Remy folded his arms again.

Neither spoke for a long, uncomfortable minute…long enough for Virgil’s skin to crawl. Logan’s brownie seemed friendly enough, but Virgil wasn’t too keen to start befriending every faery he happened across. He also despised awkward silences, and small talk, and making nice with a stranger when he was worn down and grimy from travel and ready to curl up somewhere and just sleep.

“Look, uh, Remy,” Virgil said at last, picking at his sleeves. “Did Logan know I was coming tonight?”

“You want to know why he’s not here to meet ye?” Remy shrugged. “I could explain, or,” and he gestured to a neatly folded sheet of paper on the coffee table, “you could hear it from the Bear himself.”

Virgil rolled his eyes and snatched up the note.

He could’ve have led with that, the little bastard. He ignored Remy’s knowing chuckle and unfolded the note with a little more force than necessary. Delicate, slanted script covered the paper, the lines so straight they looked like they’d been made with a ruler.

‘Salutations,’

Virgil raised an eyebrow. Really? We’re leading with that?

‘If you are reading this, Virgil, then I extend my sincerest apologies for my absence upon your arrival. An emergency has called me away. Though I advised your Grimm sponsors of this as soon as I could, you had already begun your journey, and, as you have no phone, there was no way to inform you.

Remy was right about this note being enlightening. Virgil hoped the guy didn’t actually talk like this.

‘(We must remedy this issue upon my return; due to the circumstances of your relocation, I insist upon having a reliable means to contact you.)’

Patronizing, too. Great.

‘The room on the left is yours. There are clean sheets on the bed and towels in the bathroom. I trust you have brought your own toiletries.’

Virgil frowned. Either Logan was one of those people who believed not brushing one’s teeth after every meal was barbaric, or he was afraid Virgil would steal his shampoo or something.

Whatever.

‘Also, please do not move the bowl on the counter, and if you find it empty, if you could fill it with the cream you’ll find in the fridge, I would much appreciate it. The house brownie may or may not choose to introduce himself to you; he tends to spend most of his time sleeping. If he does come out, please be polite.’

Virgil glanced up and was unsurprised to see that Remy had vanished. Brownies generally came and went as they pleased and stayed out of sight; he already knew he was fortunate Remy had shown himself at all.

‘I advise you to stay inside the apartment until my return. You will find both the fridge and the pantry stocked; please make yourself at home. I expect to return sometime the night of the 12th, and look forward to meeting you then.

Logan’

‘P.S. Do not touch the Crofters.’

Well, August 12th would be over in about an hour, so it didn’t look like he’d be meeting Logan that night. Virgil refolded and pocketed the note, sighing again. He found Remy’s bowl and refilled it as instructed, but figured he probably wouldn’t see the little brownie again until Logan returned…if then.

Meanwhile, he might as well get settled.

The room mentioned in the note held a twin bed, a nightstand with a lamp, and a small deck with a chair. Not much, but the bedspread looked new and he had his own closet. Virgil, having lived in a tent before this, was very much not complaining.

After unpacking his clothes (black, very dark gray, more black, a little purple…what, so he had a certain aesthetic), he carefully unearthed his two most valued possessions: a beat-up tackle box full of smushed, well-used acrylic paints, and a roll of brushes and palette knives. In his escape, he’d had to leave his all sketchbooks and paintings behind…but he knew he was lucky to have saved any of his art supplies at all.

Virgil sat heavily on his bed, the last seventy-two hours finally starting to catch up.

The sheer terror of seeing his former faery master strolling through that Renaissance Faire like he owned the place.

Him bolting to his tent and throwing everything he could into his duffle.

Running, with no real plan, nowhere in particular to go, just away.

He was lucky that a Grimm had stumbled upon him at that farmer’s market and taken him to a safe house, one of many, set up all over the country. He was lucky those Grimms were in contact with the Founders…the original Grimm team…and through them, Logan.

He was lucky.

He’d already escaped hell once. He wasn’t sure he’d survive under Deceit’s thumb again. Working until his fingers bled and his eyes burned with exhaustion, second guessing every word, every gesture, every silence, never knowing day to day if he’d be slapped or fed, coddled or tortured…

Virgil shuddered, wrapping arms around himself and exhaling carefully. He’d endured over twenty hours of traveling without having a panic attack. It would suck to fall into one now that he was, for the moment, safe.

At least, he hoped so.

For lack of anything else to do, Virgil showered in the guest bathroom (with his own shampoo, thank you very much, Mr. Bring-Your-Own-Toiletries), and dressed for bed. , It was barely midnight and his eyelids already felt heavy, and normally he considered 2am “early”. He read through Logan’s stilted, precise note again, frowning the odd post script before setting it on the nightstand and switching off the lamp.

What in the Arcadian hell is a ‘Crofters’?

Clematis: rest, safety

[dragons-bones]

Where They Stand - Synnove Greywolfe

Bold what applies, italicize what sometimes applies

PLACE IN SOCIETY

✖ FINANCIAL – wealthy / moderate / poor / in poverty ✖ MEDICAL – fit / moderate / sickly / disabled / disadvantaged / deceased ✖ CLASS OR CASTE – upper / lower / middle / working / unsure ✖ EDUCATION – qualified / unqualified / studying

As a long-term professor and now Vice Chair of the Aetherophysics Department at the Arcanists’ Guild, Synnove technically qualifies for a place in Limsa Lominsa’s tiny middle class. Most of her salary, however, gets donated back to the Guild to assist with student scholarships; leves, specific commission work, and hunts, plus some savvy investments made on her behalf by Rereha, give her the budget to maintain her home (and kick more gil into scholarships).

FAMILY

✖ MARITAL STATUS – married, happily / married, unhappily / engaged / partnered / divorced / widow or widower / separated / single / it’s complicated

Yes, Synnove and Aymeric keep getting asked in roundabout but not-so-subtle ways from Ishgardian nobles about when they’re getting married. No, they aren’t discussing it.

✖ CHILDREN – has children / no children / wants children / adopted children

The carbuncles are absolutely Synnove’s children and you can fight her about it.

✖ FAMILY – close with siblings / not close with siblings / has no siblings / siblings are deceased / it’s complicated

Faramund is eight years older than Synnove, and they don’t talk. As Faramund is basically a male, slightly less business-obsessed version of their mother Isolde, this is for the best.

✖ AFFILIATION – orphaned / adopted / disowned / raised by both parents / other

Before the Fall of Ala Mhigo, Synnove was mostly in the care of a nanny. After the Fall and the remainder of the family fled to Ul’dah, Aunt Angharad was essentially the one who raised her; Isolde was too focused on re-establishing the Greene Shipping Consortium and Havardr on earning coin for the family and assisting her cousin Eydis with becoming a proper Greywolfe weaponsmaster.

TRAITS & TENDENCIES

disorganized / organized / in between close-minded / open-minded / in between cautious / reckless / in between patient / impatient / in between outspoken / reserved / in between leader / follower / in between sympathetic / unsympathetic / in between optimistic / pessimistic / in between hardworking / lazy / in between cultured / uncultured / in between loyal / disloyal / in between faithful / unfaithful / in between

Synnove tends to fall neatly into categories...but she’s only human, which means she has her exceptions, from situations to people.

SEXUALITY & ROMANTIC INCLINATION

✖ SEXUALITY – heterosexual / homosexual / bisexual / asexual / pansexual / omnisexual / demisexual ✖ SEX – sex repulsed / sex neutral / sex favorable ✖ ROMANCE – romance repulsed / romance neutral / romance favorable ✖ SEXUALLY – sexually adventurous / sex experienced / naive / inexperienced / curious / uninterested

Synnove has a healthy libido, but sometimes her sex drive just crashes into the negatives: stress, an epic research binge, a really epic research binge, sick as a dog, did I mention an epic research binge?

ABILITIES

✖ COMBAT SKILLS – excellent / good / moderate / poor / none ✖ LITERACY SKILLS – excellent / good / moderate / poor / none ✖ ARTISTIC SKILLS – excellent / good / moderate / poor / none ✖ TECHNICAL SKILLS – excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

Excellence in combat is related strictly to her abilities as an arcanist; as that has been her magical specialty for half her life now, she can do things with arcanima the average adventurer can only dream of. Otherwise, her skills tend to average out to ‘good.’ And as she’s built most of her own lab and testing equipment and helps the Guild reverse-engineer Allagan tech for their use, she’s essentially a self-taught engineer.

Tagged by: @punchelf​

Tagging: anyone! Answering this rather late and so don’t know who’s still done it or not. :)

[jflashandclash]

Tales From Mount Othrys

Ajax: Birth of the Triple A Chimera

 Warning: cute fluffy creature death. I tried not to make it graphic. :/

             The fall splintered your body. It ruined your mind.

           Like Lucifer grasping at the heavens, wondering, But you said you loved me, your hand extended towards her, clinging to a snapping string, to your love, admiration, and respect. To the world how it once was. To a world how it should be.

           But she let you crumble into oblivion. That angel of Justice. Your Michael. The slick-fingered Azrael. She condemned you to be lost forever.

           Banishing herself into the bosom of a merciless moon queen, she left you there, on the cliff’s bottom, a scattered mosaic with nothing but Achilles’ curse keeping your meat suit together. Your eyes stare out like the exit of a well. Blank.

           Dead? No. I trembled to think you dead.

           Your injury is hidden behind a sheet of skin, but I can see your mind break. She betrayed your trust and betrayed your love. Your eyes gaze to the heavens as I cradle you, and you think you are lost.

           I won’t let you fall apart. If God doesn’t want us in his court, we shall build our court up to him and make him love us.

 --Jack, The day Thalia kicked Luke off a cliff

            “Can you babysit Ajax this Friday?”

         Pax wasn’t supposed to be eavesdropping on Axel and Alabaster and probably wasn’t supposed to hear that question. He was supposed to be moving boxes from the front of the new laboratory’s atrium to the center of the laboratory. This is where he hoped he would be turned into a variety of rodents (or mustelids, as Alabaster had corrected him: otters, minks, weasels—and that one time Axel was turned into a wolverine—were all part of the mustelid family).

         Technically, Pax was still doing his job. He just slowed down when entering the central hub of the laboratory, where Alabaster and Axel were talking.

The two had dragged in a massive crate of magical artifacts from different colonies of Greece. Really, Axel had carried his side while Alabaster was cursing and swearing over a hand that had been smashed in the doorway. Axel pulled the box open with a crow bar. Alabaster withdrew a lion mask that he said had mislabeled from Numidia, grumbling that he’d need to fix the labels once they were ready to put things on shelves.

         Between grumbles and devious chin strokes—which Pax thought made Alabaster look quite esteemed—Alabaster nodded. “I can watch him. Same time as your normal matches?”

         Axel’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He set the crow bar atop a stack of unsorted wooden boxes with a thunk. He undid his hairtie, shook the mane of braids and locks out, and went to retying his hair. Recently, Axel had quarter-shaved one side when he found a wad of gum in his bed. Pax knew it was Mercedes. Would anyone else believe him? No. Pax got blamed.

         “Thirty minutes earlier. Jack and Luke want to add in a pre-show. Apparently, they’re going to be recorded and sent to Antaeus. Luke… thinks he’ll like them.” Axel puffed up his cheeks and popped them. The motion made the shadows under his eyes look like a pit of Cocoa Puffs.

         “Ajax mentioned that you haven’t been sleeping well,” Alabaster said. Although he held the mask up, like he was examining it with the aloof expertise of someone that Indian Jones would rob, his gaze narrowed at the older boy.

         Pax hoped Axel would listen to Alabaster.

         Instead, Axel glared at the door entrance, where Pax hovered with another box. Pax thought he’d been inconspicuous. He’d been wrong before though, like the time he tried sneaking into the girl’s bathroom with Matt. Their wigs and fake boobs had taken Pax a full ten minutes to assure they weren’t lopsided.

         “You little snitch,” Axel snapped.

         Pax gave him an innocent grin. “That’s literally my job.”

         Alabaster sighed. “Get out.”

         “You told me to carry in boxes,” Pax complained, setting his atop another with a huff. This box was, in fact, full of various bird feathers and did not warrant a huff, but he relied on Alabaster and Axel not to check the label.

         “Yes. To carry boxes in. Not to eavesdrop. Take a camou blanket and go find Sphinx.” Alabaster pointed to the door.

         Sphinx was Lou Ellen’s Mist cat, one that (Pax was disappointed to discover) could not sprout wings or a tiny human head. Alabaster often pretended Sphinx had escaped to give Lou Ellen and Pax busywork. Pax loved it. They could pretend they were hunting through the savannah. Shoddily-made safari hats included.

         Today, Alabaster gave him a meaningful look. After Axel’s last match, Alabaster had agreed to talk to Axel about the nightmares. If nothing else than to get Pax to shut up for thirty minutes. Pax agreed to fifteen and they had themselves a deal.

         Pax knew the real solution was to end Axel’s arena fights. Killing legionnaires for sport in front of a live audience? Good for super villains. Not good for secretly-squishy older brothers.

         Axel always had nightmares, but he could hardly get through a few hours of sleep without waking up screaming. The nights that he carved a new scar into his cheeks—one for each person he killed—were the worst. “They deserve to be remembered,” he had explained. His morbid collection of trinkets from the dead had grown too large for their room (and too much like a “ZOMBIE VENGENCE HERE” sign for the inevitable apcocolype). Scarification was Axel’s new method.

         Apparently, Luke wasn’t about letting Axel stop his fights; Jack said the ratings were too good.

         As such, Pax hoped Alabaster could magic the nightmares away. That seemed like a healthy way to repress trauma, right?

         “Ajax,” Alabaster said in his Don’t Make Me Remove Your Mouth voice.

         Pax scrambled to a box with some of his, Jack’s, and Axel’s band equipment. Prometheus—likely in attempt to gain Alabaster’s eternal hatred—had suggested the boys do band practice in the laboratory while it was being set up. The lab was out in the middle of nowhere and non-disruptive for anyone but Alabaster (a hermit who loved silence). Luke thought this was a grand idea.

         Pax’s fingertips found the cold, stretchy fabric of the camou blanket. They hadn’t figured out what to use it for, but Jack was sure some inspiration would hit while they were practicing.

         In the meantime, Pax tossed the blanket over his shoulders and slunk out the door.

         There were only a few rooms in the building. Boxes littered the front atrium and back entrance. His fingers twitched to think of all the magical ingredients mishmashed in the cylinders resting on walls and various, mysterious jugs. Supposedly, Alabaster had labeled everything. Unfortunately, Matthias was in charge of dropping off their stuff from the Princess Andromeda and had taken the courtesy to do artistic renderings over each label. To put it kindly, Matt was a genius of ideas, but would starve as an artist.

Alabaster’s new laboratory was a pioneer project—the first land-based operation center, functioning almost independent of the soon-to-be self-built Mount Othrys. Pax had ignored most of the politics involved in asking Kronos for the separate space (an area Alabaster, Lou Ellen, and Lamia didn’t need to worry about blowing up the Princess Andromeda while experimenting with magic of mass destruction). All Pax cared about was why they weren’t wearing pioneer hats if this was a pioneer project. He had even offered to reenact dying from cholera a la Oregon Trail, though no one paid him much mind.

         This was super top secret. No one knew where it was. Not even Axel and Pax knew where they were going until that morning. Pax wondered what Matt knew about it and how Alabaster had managed to commandeer Axel and Pax during would-be band time. From what Pax had heard, Jack was conspiring to visit as a surprise (which meant he, and by extension, Flynn knew the location). If anyone could puppy-dog-eye information out of people, it was Jack. Pax aspired for such unassuming, devious cuteness.

         Pax crept over a Styrofoam box he could only assume contained dry ice and perishable ingredients where Matt had sloppily etched a Yeti. Or those spiky bits could be a crown of thorns for a stick-figure Jesus. Pax would have to talk to Matthias about blasphemy later.

         At the front, there were pillars on either side of the entrance, and a low wall between the two of them, forcing anyone advancing to pick one side or the other to enter. Alabaster explained this was in honor of Hecate and there were—in fact—three different paths to take. This led Pax and Axel to energetically vault over the low wall. It warmed Pax’s heart. Alabaster pretended he didn’t care about them, but, for whom else would he personally design an obstacle course?

         A tail flicked on the other side of the wall.

         Pax crawled up against it.

         The front had a concrete patio with no walkway, just long grass, scattered trees, and rolling hills. Soon, the children of Hecate would make runes around the place to ward off attention. They had already put some in place to make it so no one could stumble upon it unless they knew to look for the laboratory. Pax called it paranoid. Alabaster called it preparedness.

         The stone wall felt cold against Pax’s back as he flattened himself, keeping the blanket wrapped around him. This gave him a good view through the doorway—in case he could spot Axel or Alabaster for more eavesdropping—and a narrow view outside.

         There, curling around the end of the low wall, was Sphinx. Her black hair bristled. Pax assumed she had see him and was lazily coming his way for pets.

         However, her head wasn’t turned towards him. Her ears were alert, gaze surveying the tall grass.

         Pax opened his mouth to chirp at her.

         Something thudded into Sphinx’s neck, pinning her to the building. It happened so fast, Pax didn’t register that Sphinx was dead.

         He was accustomed to seeing violence against humans in his favorite gore movies, his father’s “entertainment nights,” and the few cage fights he’d seen Axel do. He was used to it against mythological creatures.

Seeing the thing protrude from her scruffy fur made Pax cover a scream.

         An arrow. It had been an arrow.

         “Bryce, what the fuck!?” someone hissed, only a few yards away. “It was a cat! You could have given away our position.”

         Pax froze, keeping his hands clamped over his mouth. Had he made a clapping sound when he covered his lips?

         “A witch’s familiar, Centurion. It might have alerted the leader of Hecate to our presence. It wasn’t a real cat.”

Not a real cat. Pax thought about the times Sphinx had chased him around the ship’s laboratory when he was various rodents, the times she’d snuck into the Pax brother’s room to curl up on Axel’s chest as a space heater, the way Lou Ellen giggled with glee to see her “baby girl” lose all her grace and elegance to the superiority of a laser pointer.

Her Mist body crumbled and collapsed, leaving the arrow pinned into the wall.

         Tear burned the rims of his eyes. The urge to sob reminded Pax that he hadn’t been breathing. He couldn’t tell if the world was spinning from a lack of air or from panic. A warning slithered in the back of his head, if you breathe, they’ll know you’re here.

         The camue blanket had fallen to his shoulders when he grabbed his mouth. Hands trembling, he clutched the edges.

This voice drifted from the other side of the low wall.

         They’re surrounding the building. Pax swallowed. Centurion. Romans.

         “You’re fucked up, Bryce,” a third mumbled. “We weren’t supposed to move until Cahoon cut the power.”

         If they cut the power, all the phone lines would go down. Unlike other demigods, Kronos’ men didn’t fear drawing monsters with technology; they welcomed new recruits. But, Iris wasn’t exactly cool with delivering messages for the opposing side. If they lost the power lines, they might not be able to get word out.

         Pax’s breath went from nonexistent to ragged.

         Alabaster had wanted privacy and quiet to set up his lab. Matthias was only supposed to do one drop off that morning. They didn’t know when Jack would show up.

         They were alone.

         “I can’t wait to mount a lion’s head on my wall,” the second guy, Bryce, muttered. His voice had a bouncy energy to it. Pax had heard of pre-battle jitters. These sounded too light.

         A Lion’s Head. Pax choked on a whine. They’re talking about Axel.

         “The lion’s head is mine,” a feminine voice stated softly.

         “Alright, Ari. Sheesh, we get it. You’re mad that that cannibal ate Julian after he killed him.”

         A tiny, detached part of Pax wanted to squeal a protest. Julian? Praetor Julian? The first person Axel had killed. He hadn’t eaten him—Axel fought to get Julian a proper funeral so he would remain uneaten.

         Everything felt like it was tunneling to the arrow on the wall. How much time had he wasted cowering here? His brain fumbled. This was it. This was his job. He was the recon guy. That’s what Mercedes had been—

         What would Mercedes do?

         Pax fumbled to his belt, to the mirror she had specially made for him. It was reflective, but the surface was dulled to minimize glare. He forced himself to take two regularish breaths, to not picture Axel’s head on a wall.

         “Damn it, Bryce. How did you get put on this mission? Just remember we’re not supposed to kill the younger kid with the two colored eyes. You heard command. He’s their spymaster’s assistant and a whole wealth of information.”

         They know a lot. They know too much.

         With as little noise as he could manage, Pax shifted the camue blanket up his arm, so he could hold the mirror with a covered hand. He leaned against the edge of the wall, tilting the mirror to see into the fields.

         Memo to self: request magical one-way camue blanket that he could see-through but others can’t.

         “He needs to be able to talk. Doesn’t mean he needs to be able to walk.”

         “I reiterate: you’re fucked up, Bryce.”

         “Quiet,” the feminine voice, the centurion, growled.

         There they were: not people, but ominous divots in the grass. They might have been wearing camue blankets too, though Pax doubted it. These weren’t professionals. Pax could tell from the loud chatter. He wondered if they’d been gathered in a hurry and hadn’t been able to vet out people like the cat-killer, Bryce.

         About thirty feet away, beyond the long grass, two people stood by the power line in construction workers outfits. From what Pax could see, something glinted under the bright orange reflectors: armor. The perfect, quick cover. Alabaster even said they’d been struggling with power and relying on backup generators. Would the Romans know to cut the backup generators?

         One thing was certain: there was no referee to yell at the Romans for bringing too many players onto the field. If Pax had to guess, the back door and windows would be covered too. He shivered to remember Mercedes’ fingers glide across his shoulder. Pax Two, I will give you a piece of candy if you can tell me how many doors and windows we passed in this building.

         He wished she were here, barking orders about the obvious things he had missed. But, then she’d be in danger too.

         If Pax made it out of this alive, he vowed to write a Hey Mr. ADHD song that promoted concentration and calm. There was a back exit, a front exit, and several windows in every room except the very center of the building, where Axel and Alabaster were unaware of their plight. Pax puffed up his cheeks, barely catching himself before he popped them. He didn’t know if there were any secret exits. That would be prime information.

         As he crept back through the atrium, he tilted his mirror out the window. Maybe thirty feet away, he caught sight of movement: snipers. The Romans had scouted the building. They would be watching every exit, and likely had attack forces at each entrance.

         Panic later. Move now.

         The Romans were far enough away that they wouldn’t be able to hear missteps past the atrium, but Pax focused on the memory of Mercedes’ bells strung at his neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, and feet. If one of the imaginary bells rang, the Romans might know. They might come in here, skewer Axel, shoot Alabaster in the head with an arrow, and drag Pax off, kicking and screaming.

         By the time he reached the central lab, sweat trickled off his face, threatening to make a plopping sound onto the floor. Axel and Alabaster’s voices echoed amongst the boxes. Although they spoke at a normal level, each word made Pax’s ears ring like a cannon.

         He couldn’t decipher what they said. The boxes, tubes, and wayward lab and band equipment blurred as he stepped up to Axel, his feet knowing where to go while his mind was numb with fear.

         His hand was on his brother’s arm. Axel and Alabaster froze, mid-talk, staring at Pax in worry. There must have been something wrong with his face.

         “There is a Roman hitsquad outside. I counted five in the front. There are likely five in the back and there are snipers at every window. They want to kill Axel and take me alive for interrogation. Unsure on their intentions with Witch Boy.”

         Once the words were out, it became real. It wasn’t his turn to keep it together. It was Axel’s, the planner.

         Which was good, because Pax felt himself tremble with panic.

  Thank you for reading! Stay tuned next week to see how well three teenage idiots panic over being surrounded. I hope you guys are staying safe and healthy!

[alatismeni-theitsa]

answering anti LO anon asks:

(1) LO is going off for 2 months before starting again in August. Problem with that though is that it is on a Fast Pass meaning it'll need a month's worth of content (so 4 eps) up when it's back meaning that Smythe will get about 2 months off while the artists are MOST only get about 2 weeks off b4 having to do more work. If she didn't make them not work the week off for the last year and a half they wouldn't be on such a time crunch, but hey, as long as SHE gets a break that's fine, right?

(2) LO would have been so much better if S1 (the last two years) was them secretly dating with some hijinks thrown in to keep them on their toes. S2 would be them getting married & her adjusting to her new role as Queen w/ building pressure when Demeter realizes what's going on, and the final season would be them having to deal with the fallout & end on a hopeful note that despite the separation they'll always come back to each other, instead of this crap (The pomegranates are literally SODA. Cmon!)

(3) This is copy pasted so: “Have you ever thought you were looking at a LO fan art but actually your just looking at something from the first couple chapters because of how beautifully Rachel drawing style has evolved and softened?” You mean how she stopped doing proper line work??

(4) Hi, I'd just like to say I enjoy reading your analysis about Greek mythology (particularly Hades/Persephone) and as someone who's read Greek mythology as a kid, I try to keep an open mind to modern retellings but Lore Olympus strips away all the traditional and accurate aspects for the Greek mythologies (and I'm not sure ancient Greeks would like their god's become degraded to Rom-com drama characters). I prefer Punderworld and Hades and Persephone as they still respect and follow the sources

(5) It's ironic everyone praises how "ingenious" hades and persephone are in those stories where they don't tell demeter that they elope like? am i the only one who sees it as cowardly? being upfront/honest with her would at least show they respect her, but instead we get demeter disrespected then demonized for being upset at the disrespect she receives. plus hades looks pathetic if he can't work up the courage to just talk to demeter. how is that the feared king of the underworld? he's spineless.

(6) "I know is has been talked about before that the pomegranate seeds are not literal. Do you think Pomelia is one? Maybe it’s too early to tell." This is legit a theory I read in an LO fb fan group. Pomelia is a fucking DOG. I'm telling you man!! The fans are stupid as fuck.

(7) LO fans are so goddamn stupid. Have you ever seen their discords? Apparently they think Hephaestus and Athena were simply "made out of nothing" (see what you get when Smythe tries to be clever and removes Metis from Athena?) so Persephone too will just "exist" from like, a rose or something. I know they desperately want there to be no incest and technically there are stories of gods being "made", but this is just stupid.

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(1) Let’s hope she had those episodes prepared beforehand so her artists get some rest! If she doesn’t let them rest that will be just mean

(2) That’s a good plan, actually. I would like to see that! I know it’s kind of difficult to rush the pace when you have to work in comic panels but maybe she could find a way to make it work. I don’t know what to think about the soda tbh... It’s “modern” so I guess the pomegranate now must reflect our capitalistic society and be a product :P But it would be just as good if he was just sharing a pomegranate with her. Because... pomegranates exist in modern times too - just as Greeks xD

(3) “Smother lines”? “Evolved”?? Where did they see that? And yeah it’s probably the line work 😁

(4) I think many Greeks like imagining their old gods sometimes in the modern world - as many people around the world. But I think even in those scenarios the gods must have a certain weight to them? Casual, but still full of wisdom and power or maybe just normal human beigns (if you just want to keep the personalities). I am not sure, I am not a creator in this way. But I am sure there are ways to be completely graceless and that is what LO is very close to doing. 

(5) Indeed, with the position Hades has I would exoect him to talk with Demeter and not be afraid. Although, he probably knows that Demeter can starve the whole earth so maybe that’s why he avoids it. Let’s hope there is some logic to this decision.

(6) You don’t know how much I laughed with this 😂😂😂 Deep theme of the day: “The dog was the pomegranate seed all along!!” 🤣🤣🤣🤣

(7) I SERIOUSLY hope they don’t take LO as canon for the creation of those gods!! And yeah, this system doesn’t make sense!

[woolishlygrim]

Winter Weebwatch #6

Infinite Dendrogram is the lone late-in-the-week show that always makes me late posting these. If it wasn’t around, I could get these done on Tuesdays.

Anyway, kind of a mixed week this week, from the highs of ID: Invaded (now firmly cemented as the best show of the season, nobody’s coming even close to beating it by now) to the lows of Darwin’s Game (still incredibly forgettable).

ID: Invaded.

★★★★★

Another five star episode this week, as the gang decides to enter Narihisago/Sakaido’s Well, sending newly minted serial killer detective Hondomachi in, where she takes the identity of Miyo Hijiriido. Their goal is to discover whether John Walker, the mysterious red-coated man who has appeared in multiple killers’ Wells, and who might have supplied both the Challenger and the Gravedigger with video equipment, also influenced Narihisago to become a serial killer.

While what they find is fairly in line with what Wells have been like so far (in this case, Narihisago’s Well is a numbered board where lightning strikes seemingly at random, somehow never striking the same place twice), things start to go distinctly strange once Hondomachi investigates further: She eventually comes across a perfect recreation of the device for entering Wells, registered as active and diving into the Well of a woman who was the last intended victim of the Challenger, who escaped after Narihisago killed him.

This, we quickly learn from Momoki, is impossible: The woman in question wasn’t a serial killer, so how could she have a Well; the same woman wasn’t important to Narihisago, but rather to Momoki himself; and most importantly, the technology didn’t exist at the time Narihisago’s Well would have formed, so there’s no possible way he could have imagined a version of it.

Things get much stranger when Momoki is immediately arrested, with officers informing him that not only have they traced access attempts from the video equipment to his computer, but they also found John Walker’s distinct red frockcoat and cane in his home, and the body of the Well technology’s missing creator buried in his garden. 

So, this is officially the point where things have gone extremely weird, and the fan theory that’s been going around that the whole show is actually taking place in someone’s Well is growing … ever more plausible, as the show floats the idea of entering Wells within Wells and separate layers of unreality. The evidence that Momoki is John Walker is all a bit too neat for episode seven out of thirteen, so it’s doubtless not actually him, but beyond that, it’s impossible to predict where this show will go from here.

Any episode that is both technically perfect and which totally upends your understanding of the series is deserving of five stars.

In/Spectre.

★★☆☆☆

Here’s that tone problem again.

The episode opens on a fight scene of sorts between Steel Girder Nanase and Kuro, before segueing into a flashback to Kuro’s backstory (which I didn’t think we’d get this early, but sure) and then into an explanation of what Nanase actually is.

It’s … not as jarring as the tone problems in other episodes, but the flashback to Kuro’s origin is far, far darker than anything else in the episode, to the point where it feels staggeringly out of place. The story of Kuro’s powers, in which he is fed the flesh of intelligent beings without him knowing about it by his grandmother, only to then watch his siblings all die before, as the seeming lone survivor, his grandmother decides to begin experimenting on him, is the kind of sequence that wouldn’t be out of place in a much grimmer and more disturbing anime. It clashes hard with In/Spectre’s generally more comedic tone.

The explanation of the identity of Steel Girder Nanase is also a little disappointing. After setting us up for some kind of reveal that the real Nanase is still alive, this episode tells us that no, no, Nanase really is dead, Steel Girder Nanase isn’t her but rather a spooky meme of her that has come to life. I’m not generally fond of ‘mass human belief changes the nature of the world’ stories anyway, and this comes over as a rather weak plot twist.

It’s an enjoyable enough episode (although, man, are we really doing the Steel Girder Nanase thing for the rest of the show? After three episodes, it feels like that arc is almost done), but it’s riddled with all the problems we’ve seen before from this show.

Pet.

★★★☆☆

This episode should’ve been a four start one, but it gets a little bogged down in its own terminology and worldbuilding to really make it. There’s a lot of talk of peaks, valleys, locks, and images, and since the show has never really adequately explained what all of those are, it’s difficult to shake the feeling that these are things we’re meant to full understand, but can’t because the show hasn’t deigned to give us all of the details.

It doesn’t ruin the story or anything. We know enough of these things to get a basic idea of how they work: The peak is the best memory they have, the valley is the worst, the image is the form they take when traversing memories, and the lock is the guard they have on their own memories. It’s just not clear how those all interact. Why and how is the peak hidden by the valleys? Why does having a weak lock make an image stronger? Why is it necessary to find someone’s peak in order to change their memories?

Since the bulk of this episode relies on understanding those things, though, as Hayashi races to find his way to Tsukasa’s peak, only for Tsukasa to reveal a trick with his image that allows him to link their peaks and crush Hayashi’s mind by flooding it with his own valley, it means you do spend a lot of the episode just kind of … along for the ride, not quite lost, but also only really having a surface understanding of what’s going on.

The end of the episode, which sees Hiroki save Tsukasa from his self-inflicted mindcrush by performing the same trick in reverse, sharing his peak to ‘clean out’ Tsukasa’s, also relies on knowing those things, and so also falls a little flat.

There are some solid emotional beats here, though, and some really vividly disturbing imagery, and that’s nice. We also get formally introduced to the guy who I assume is going to be our next villain, a higher-up at the Company who wants to tap one of the three main characters to keep making ‘babies,’ psychics who are mindless automatons. 

Darwin’s Game.

★★☆☆☆

Honestly, it’s still tough to remember anything that happens in these episodes, even with notes, and this episode, which is decisively a ‘setting things up’ episode instead of a ‘things that happen’ episode, is not helping with matters.

This episode is mostly here for introducing the next two members of our main team, neither of which are given names yet (or are they? I wouldn’t remember if they had been): A man with a lie detector ability and a lot of guns, and a kid with a split personality who has water manipulation ability.

Given that this arc is leaning towards our main team coming together as a clan at the end of this treasure hunt game, it seems to go almost without saying that the Florist isn’t going to survive. He’s the only one on Team Hotel who isn’t also in the opening, and with it having been several episodes since anyone last snuffed it, someone has to die if the show wants to keep its death game cred. So the Florist is, to put it nicely, doomed.

This episode also floats the idea that collecting the rings isn’t the point of the treasure hunt game, but it gives us no reason to care about that. Our protagonist is motivated by just surviving, so all he or any other character needs to do is get three rings and not get killed, with the actual goal of the hunt being … I don’t know, an afterthought, I suppose.

Not exactly compelling material.

Infinite Dendrogram.

★★★☆☆

So, I watched this episode when I hadn’t slept for … I think it was thirty-two hours, at that point? It was a few hours before I actually got some sleep. So I think it’s fair to say I wasn’t exactly watching it attentively.

That said, this episode was okay. Most of it is taken up by another big battle with a monster, with Ray and Nemesis trying to figure out the best way to maximise the advantages their abilities offer them, versus a seemingly impossible foe. Where it falls down somewhat is that, just like the previous huge battle, this one ends exactly the same way -- with Ray gaining a new ability and using that to win the day.

But we do get a nice little flashback with his brother Shu, who we see outside the game is a martial artist who enjoys winning impossible fights. This … might actually be the first time we’ve seen Shu in a very traditionally Anime Big Brother role, instead of as a dorky guy in a bear suit making bear puns. 

The episode even has something of a twist, as it’s revealed that Penguin-Suited Doctor Guy, the one who tricked Ray into getting temporary dog ears, is actually Hugo’s older brother a part of the plan for Dryfe to take over Altar, and the dog ears were a way of him listening in on Ray. I said last week that nothing was really done with that plotline, and the whole thing about Ray randomly being given dog ears by a mad scientist was pointless, so colour me wrong, I suppose.

All this together, along with Penguin’s suggestion that they can defeat Altar without any casualties, makes it seem like the show is gearing up for a Penguin vs Bear Battle of the Big Brothers, which is an interesting prospect, at least.