#Blue Moon Ball Updates~☆

[wizblr-blue-moon-ball]

Hello Magical Friends~☆

The date for the ball has been confirmed!!

The Blue Moon Ball will be held in LATE MAY, on the week of May 19-25.

The official announcement post with details on the event and the prologue prompt will be released on the 30th of April!! That will give you all around 3 weeks to prepare for the event.

☆

A note, you are NOT REQUIRED to participate in all prompts, just do what you want and what you can. You can do one RP prompt for the week, a few sketches, whatever strikes your fancy.

It will be close to my finals week for this date and I will be moving out of my dorm soon, so I may not do much in terms of Roleplaying, but I will be making a few small art pieces for each day if I can :)

If you DO want to RP with me (I will only be RP-ing Lurien for this event), please organize with me (@the-necrobotanist ) beforehand :3

At most I'll probably do RP with 3 people personally, I'll get overwhelmed otherwise. But I will be sending asks to participants to see if they're having fun!

Thank you! We hope you're excited for the ball magical friends!

☆

Pinglist (tumblr is still making a few wonky, if that is you idk how to fix it I'm sorry ;;;)

@scuttling-comfuddlement @the-gnomest-bastard @kobold-sanctuary-buss-island @satyrs-apothecary @irving-the-pirate-wizard @morbingtime @justagingerwithredhair @chaos-familiar @these-detestable-hands @regina-the-sorceress @combustion-witch @slymewitch @yourlocalbreadenthusiast @mango-lord-of-poison @selldemapplez @agentldiddy @fractalkitty @wizard-island-trading-co @asheslab @good-wizard2 @the-illegal-wizard-council @ash-the-tiefling @mysticminion @blobbiedaykeeppcaway @blaster-fagot @life-is-okay-rn2 @skyethebisexualwolfwizard @thequeerwizardcouncil @dread-the-eldritch-wizard @f4y3w00d5 @profeshinul-wizurd @a-squirrel-wizard @the-mighty-dalob @amateur-wizard @chaos-wizard-nyehehe @bertskullhaver @transgender-wizard @flowers-the-sun-witch @the-silliest-sorcerer @wizard-ghost @a-goose-in-a-trenchcoat @flirtyambiguouswizard @paltering-peculiarity @parkyrtheelvishbard

@jesterofthelibrary @be-gentle-with-littluns-2 @thebookshelflord @ceeceelemons

[mimiri22-6]

oh fuck oh shit oh fuck no

my tumblr on desktop finally updated.

no, nononononono

it's a combo of twitter and facebook, i don't wanna be here. I just wanted to look at my gay fictional characters and now i feel sick

[13rurururi]

I'm Your Lover: Haganezuka Hotaru x Reader (SFW Oneshot)

in which Haganezuka thinks he lost the love of his life

Pairing: Haganezuka Hotaru x Female! Reader

Content: angst, hurt/comfort, you have an argument with Hotaru, near-death experiences, etc.

Synopsis: Seeing your long-term lover, Haganezuka, battered and bloodied — with gashes etched across his body — filled you with overwhelming dread. Unfortunately, the ever-stubborn swordsmith upholds his craft over his own health, and you exchange heated words neither of you truly mean. Hotaru thinks you overreacted, and he believes his fresh cuts and wounds aren't worth an ounce of worry; that is, until he saw you in the same state — on the brink of death.

The pain from a wounded heart is shared with one's true love.

Your night is sleepless and engulfed in excruciating dread. Pacing within the quiet gardens of the Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters, you try to steer your attention away from your pounding heart by listening to the crinkling leaves below the soles of your feet.

It was a futile attempt, for you inevitably return to the spiral of paranoia clouding your mind.

"The Swordsmith Village is under attack!"

You remember how your heart dropped to your stomach when you heard the shrill caw of your Kasugai Crow. It has been a few hours since the dreadful news, and no updates are yet to be shared.

As an esteemed Hashira, you are entrusted with protecting the fragile lives of humans against the evil deeds of demons. You act with honed composure and impressive calmness. However, in this moment, no sort of breathing can alleviate your clammy hands and panicked eyes. After all, in this moment, you are none other than the lover of a man who resides in the endangered village.

You blink away the tears framing your waterline as you internally plead for the safety of your betrothed — your soon-to-be husband — Hotaru.

You remember having your forehead touch the ground as you lurched yourself in a desperate bow, begging for the secret village's location to be revealed to you. You have to ensure your lover's safety, and you would never forgive yourself if he found himself in irreparable harm.

Oyakata-sama — the frail, sickly, and kind leader of the Demon Slayers — could only offer a gentle and genuine smile as he said, "I believe in the combined strength of Kanroji and Tokito. Please, raise your head."

If this were any other situation, his calming voice and presence would have reassured you, but the anxiety of whether or not Hotaru is still alive overwhelms any other thought. With that, you pace around tirelessly, restlessly under the glaring moonlight.

Soon, your body grew tired with the weight of your exhausted mind, and you curl yourself into a ball under a solemn tree.

Please, Hotaru — please be safe.

One shall traverse the universe to reconnect fragile hearts.

You vigorously clamp your sweaty hands onto the uniform of the Kakushi carrying you on their back. The sun is already brightly plastered amidst the blue skies, and you eagerly await your arrival in the — supposedly wrecked — village.

That morning, you awoke in an anxious jolt to your crow's pitched cries, "Upper Moon Four and Five were defeated by the Hashiras and slayers in the village!"

Without a doubt, you wasted no time in traversing the convoluted route towards the Swordsmith Village, heart nearly pounding out of your chest due to immense concern for the well-being of your beloved Hotaru.

Is he well? Did he get attacked? Is he alive?

Your crow thankfully delivered news that made you kneel and shakily sigh in relief: Hotaru is alive; however, he sustained injuries from an encounter with Upper Moon Five — that idiot, he can't even cease his work for the sake of protecting himself.

Your thoughts are interrupted when the Kakushi gently urges you off their back, "Here we are, Hashira."

You remove your blindfold and can't help but lightly gasp at the heaps of wrecked houses that initially stood beautifully in the serene village. All the masked swordsmiths are scurrying about, trying to recover whatever belongings they could find under splintered planks and crumbled concrete.

You feel your lips twitch in a concerned frown when you note how each villager appears to have bandages wrapped around various parts of their body — the attack was that bad, huh?

With a light shake of your head, you sprint towards the nearest familiar face — well, mask — that can inform you of Hotaru's whereabouts. He always had a tendency to hide himself away for days, and (at least today) you don't disregard the prospect of tearing down the decrepit village even further just to locate your beloved.

To your relief, you spot Kanamori Kozo, a close companion of Hotaru (even if the latter will never verbally admit to it). He spots you before you can utter a word, and as if he can read the desperate worry on your face, he says,

"Ah, if it isn't our beloved Hashira. Please, try to wipe off the worry in your eyes. Haganezuka-san is fine; he's his usual stubborn self, as always."

"Kanamori-san, thank you — but do you have any clue where he is?" Your shallow breaths are more of a testament to your suppressed worry than exerted stamina, and Kanamori gently places a hand on your shoulder as kind reassurance.

"The last time I saw him, his wounds were already bandaged, and he persisted in returning to his workspace in the mountains."

You don't outwardly react to this information, but you feel yourself swallow a lump of frustration. Hotaru's choosing to return to swordsmithing hours after the threat of death? Stupid, stupid man.

Kanamori flinches at the aura of infuriation emanated by your figure. He continues, "He will be healed fully in time," he appeases you. "It's a miracle he only lost his left eye—"

"What?" Your chilly voice rings through the morning air, and you hear a light yelp of fear from the man beside you. "His eye — what happened to his eye?"

Kanamori flings around his bruised arms, suddenly forgetting his dull pain amidst your bubbling rage. "He was too focused — it was both impressive and foolish — the Upper Moon wanted him to stop sharpening the blade, so he took out his eye." Kanamori's voice falters by the end of his sentence, a look of concern adorning his features behind the Hyottoko mask.

"I thought he would have sent you a letter prior to your journey here." His usually collected voice, now barely a whisper, is laced with bewilderment.

You feel your jaw clench as veins pop on your forehead. Stupid man — you're engaged to a stupid, reckless man! Suddenly, as if thrashed around by harsh waves, you feel your anger falter with sadness. Why hadn't Hotaru sent you a letter to inform you of his state? Is he unable to comprehend how stressful your night was while all he did was dedicate his whole being to a sword?

Turning away from Kanamori, you bid him your quiet gratitude and rushed towards the mountains where you are sure to find your tactless lover.

Behind you, Kanamori sighs to himself and mutters, "I started a quarrel, didn't I? Haganezuka-san, please be considerate to your one and only lover!"

However, cowardice shields one from facing their bruised, weeping soul.

You try to suppress the frustration from fully seeping through your figure, briskly stomping towards the collapsed pile of wood and dirt — Hotaru's work shack.

You instantaneously see your lover's bulky figure crouched down and digging for whatever tool he was searching for. Your body and heart react in a conflicting flurry of emotions: you feel relief wash over you, and you blink away tears that were beginning to pool; on the other hand, your head feels like it's overheating from anger — anger towards how Hotaru deliberately forgot about even sending a measly letter to the love of his life.

Perhaps it's the combination of heart-wrenching stress and sleep deprivation, but you find yourself grasping onto Hotaru's shoulder, making him aware of your presence as you twist his upper body to face you.

"Stupid! Stupid! Unbelievably stupid!"

Before Haganezuka can even express his bewilderment at your arrival, you snuck your fingers under the thin string of his Hyottoko mask, removing it to reveal his face: his wounded, cut-filled face accompanied by a left eye that can't even open to reveal one of his brilliant amber irises.

"Why — why didn't you send me a letter?" The lump of sadness sitting in your heart is veiled by stuttering annoyance; with that, Hotaru simply places his rough palms on your shoulders, slowly standing up to his full height (which prompted you to crane your neck to look at him).

"I was going to send you one, but I figured I needed to salvage some materials first. You see, that Tanjiro brat needs this new Nichirin blade and—"

"Enough with swords, for goodness sake! You lost an eye!" You cut him off as your lips trembled. "You're bleeding through your bandages because you're not supposed to work after being nearly killed!"

"Hey, it wasn't a big deal. I didn't even realize I was being attacked. Calm down," Hotaru's (limited) patience begins to waver, scrunching his nose to hopefully deter you from becoming too angry. However, Hotaru does not seem to understand that it upsets you more to hear him downplay his health after hours of you ruminating whether he was alive or not.

"I spent the entire evening mulling over your safety, and you're here casually rummaging through rubble because swords are your priority," your sentence stops before you could mutter 'over me.'

Rather than deciphering the hidden sorrow behind your words, Hotaru becomes defensive, misinterpreting your sentiment. "I'm a swordsmith; of course it's my damn priority," with an angry huff, he stared you down with his eye. "Is my work not flashy enough for you, Hashira?"

"That's not what I said!" You felt your heart crack with how distanced Hotaru is at the moment.

"These wounds aren't a big deal, alright? Stop worrying over nothing and go back to your Hashira priorities. I'm not the only one who has work to do," with a light 'tsk' of his tongue, Hotaru turns away from you, ready to return to the pile of discarded materials.

Although, you weren't pleased with his attitude, and the dam holding your tears and overwhelming emotions broke.

"I am your lover! We chose each other, and you have a commitment to me that you should uphold!" Your voice wavers in inconsistent pitches, and you try to choke back your tears. "Right now, I'm in front of you as someone you are engaged to — worried sick because my beloved had his life at risk!"

Hotaru doesn't face you, and he doesn't respond with even a hum of acknowledgment. It is silent, and only after a few minutes of your flowing tears and his stubborn front did he speak,

"Right now, I'm a swordsmith, and I have work to do. Go home."

Hearts of fiery anger fizzle into hearts of dampened yearning.

Haganezuka regrets what he said to you. It has been a few days since your sudden visit to the ruined village, and he didn't even embrace you in his arms nor did he properly acknowledge your feelings.

He heard your hiccups and sobs, yet he rooted his feet on the ground and offered no solace. He feels nothing but guilt and a desire to see your lovely face again.

He rolls the quill on his fingers, unable to write anything but your name on the paper spread on his desk. He urges himself to write an apology — or even to bid you to visit him in the temporary village they were residing in — but his hands are stagnant and his mind is empty of everything but the throbbing ache of regret.

"Haganezuka-san, you really messed up," Kanamori was shameless in scolding him. In any other situation, Haganezuka would have angrily responded in a nearly comical manner. However, Kanamori is right:

He did mess up.

Just as he writes the first word of his letter to you, a Kasugai crow abruptly enters his hut, making him curse under his breath and glare at the raven-colored bird.

The crow intently looks at Haganezuka, making the man feel an eerie shiver of dread run up his spine. The crow then opens its beak to deliver a message that makes Hotaru drop his pen in sheer horror,

"The Hashira — your betrothed — is in critical condition after protecting a town from powerful demons."

To feel a lover's warmth once again,  one would relinquish everything.

Hastily running on the dirt path to the Butterfly Mansion, Hotaru's mind is tortured by the image of your body rendered immobile and weakened on a hospital bed. His rush to see you made him forget his Hyottoko mask, for he only bothered to bring himself and an apology at the tip of his tongue.

Soon, he rushes through the gates of the Insect Pillar's abode, ignoring the surprised stares of Aoi and the other girls of the mansion. Afraid that he might wreck havoc in his emotionally volatile state, Aoi yells, "Haganezuka-san, she's resting in one of the guest quarters! She's stable!"

However, it did little to quell his worry, for he continues to run through the wooden floors of the mansion with only one thought in mind: you.

He then hears the distant sound of voices conversing with one another in a relaxed manner. One of the voices he immediately identifies as Kamado Tanjiro, and the other — sweet, kind yet tired — is your voice.

With a desperate hope bubbling in his chest, he opens the door without an ounce of hesitation, and he sees you — adorned in white bandages all over your limbs and temple, small scars littered on your cheeks, and a dumbfounded look on your face.

"Haganezuka-san!" The bandaged Tanjiro yelps in surprise, eyebrows furrowing in a mix of concern and shock.

"Out," Hotaru spares no glance at the redhead, for his gaze is locked in your hardened one. "Get out, brat."

Haganezuka does not even pay attention to the boy limply scurrying out the room, muttering flustered apologies as he closes the wooden door shut.

"Hotaru, he was just keeping me company," you lightly scowl at your ever-so immature lover, huffing a puff of tired breath.

"Yeah? Well, I'm your company now." Hotaru brings his large figure closer to your bed, but you twist your head to avoid looking at him. Rather than becoming frustrated, Hotaru feels his heart squeeze with the same regret that plagued him for days.

"My love, I'm sorry." His voice was quiet, weak, and vulnerable — entirely opposite to the gruff, deep voice that angrily curses at any miniscule annoyance. Hotaru kneels by your bedside, taking your bandaged hand in his calloused one. You initially flinch, but you relent and relax in his comfortable, familiar hold.

"I want you to know that I regret what I told you that day. I am a swordsmith — that's true — and I pride myself on my role, but I also pride myself on being your lover." His genuine tone makes your eyes water, and you blink hastily to rid of the tears.

"I was so worried — so, so worried — and you were so mean to me, Hotaru," you can't suppress your sobs as you face him again, tears cascading down your bruised cheeks.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry," he gently shushes you, nuzzling his face onto your temple as he sighs deeply. "I didn't understand why you were so worried about me, but seeing you in this state," he swallows down a sob, his tone wavering. "I thought — I thought I lost you, and I realized how you must have felt when the village was under attack."

"Yeah? You got a taste of your own medicine, that’s good," you try to playfully tease him, voice tired and raw with emotion. Hotaru’s face contorts into a half-hearted smirk as he settles down on the foot of your bed, not once unlinking his hand from yours.

His expression turns solemn once again. " I mean it when I say I want to be a better lover to you and soon — a good husband." His honest declaration of love makes your heart swell in warmth, flaring brightly when he brings your battered knuckles to his lips. 

"I want to live a long life with you, and I’m not leaving you anytime soon — not even when we age into cranky old people with wrinkles and frail backs." He presses his tender lips against your knuckles once again, feeling himself relax at the sound of your quiet breaths of relief and contentment. 

"Let’s take care of ourselves and each other, yeah?" He bends down to kiss your quivering lips lightly, hand still holding yours as his other palm gently combs through your hair.

"Yeah."

Once you part, you can only stare at him with unbridled love — his scarred cheeks, unusable eye, and the damp locks of dark hair stuck to his temple; despite all that, he’s still Hotaru, your unbelievably handsome, reckless yet amazing lover.

Hotaru’s face holds a raw emotion reserved for you and no one else. Your scarred face and puffy eyes do nothing to hinder your magnetic beauty — your gorgeous soul — from shining so brightly, and he feels like he’s falling in love all over again.

You bask in each other’s presence for hours, making up for lost time as you share warmth, comfort, and hushed promises of a better tomorrow. By the time the room is painted by the moon’s grace, you whisper,

"Hotaru, don’t you need to restore Tanjiro-kun’s new katana?"

"That can wait. I’m not a swordsmith right now."

"Hm?"

"I’m your lover."

Souls can be healed, no matter how nasty the scar, as long as you give the right person your heart.

A/N: There's a shortage of angsty Haganezuka posts — hope you like this one.

[couch-house]

woe, updated fleet reference sheet be upon ye...

full transcript/description under the cut

TOP: Left to Right: Cropped panel of Fleetway Super Sonic. This guuuuy.

Merger AU Fleet is like 14-17 (the earrings are for 17). He's sustained on occasional doses of chaos energy from the grey emerald, but otherwise runs low. This keeps him fatigued, gives him some minor joint pain, and makes his quills pale and brittle.

Two drawings of Fleet in the same pose; one is short and round (classic-like) and one is taller and thinner (modern-like) surrounded by various notes. Features are stated here in brackets, followed by their note.

[Eyes] Eyes get slightly redder tint than other whites. [Fingertips] Bare fingers + palms. NOT paw pads. [Classic-like] (Not younger Fleet, I just like drawing him round) [Dark color at back of quills] Quill gradient optional [Earrings] Industrial on left, 2x studs on right [Eyebags] He's tired!! [Necklace] "Healing crystals" amethyst + 2 quartz necklace [Peace sign on shoes] Peace sign tied to top lace, flops around [Stud earrings] A moon with a gem I think. idc, I change my mind. Whatever is simple and purple. [Arms] Split yellow top/peach bottom arms is just my preferred stylization at this age. (Younger = solid peach arms) [Socks and fingerless gloves] Compression gloves and socks [Separate detailed drawing of shoes] The first and only time I drew all the details on his shoes

To the left is a single head, with more vibrant fur colors. Note: If he takes a big sippy of chaos energy, his fur darkens to a healthier color. His usual skin tones are a little paler than Sonic skin tones.

OUTFINTS [sic]

Modern Fleet drawn with three outfits of increasing layers/complexity. Far left is a yellow peace hoodie tie-dyed with orange, green, and blue. Notes: Tie-dye peace hoodie too big for him. If I ever draw it fitting, I'm lying. Quills poke out the back.

Middle is a black Thrasher Magazine tank top with the hoodie tied around his waist. Note: Thrasher logo.

Right is the middle outfit with the addition of green shorts and a bulky orange patch jacket with green trim. The patches are: The Groovy Train logo (with original comic reference), NINtendo (stylized like Nine Inch Nails), a grey emerald, a crystal ball, and a smiley face. [Back quills] idc abt quill consistency here; whatever looks better [Shorts] Shorts optional (sk8 gear) The green and orange match Dog and Bebe

[fallenclan]

Related to FallenClan designs! All your designs are super amazing, what’s your simplifying process/how do you decide design for cat pelts? Cause I always struggle with simplifying/deciding how they look especially bengals and cats with white patches… thanks if you respond!

I’m ADHD and struggle with consistency and simplifying lol, though more complex designs are pretty, I lean more towards what you do w/ you’re cats as they are simple but still super pretty + it makes it easier to consistently draw them all for stuff like this! (These comic like moon updates :])

(Also hope none of this came off as offensive, it’s all meant positively! I really really admire you and your designs :])

ty for the compliments!!! very sweet ask and I shall do my best to give a good response o7

generally my method with designing characters/drawing is to just wing it. fuck it we ball basically. but i DO take a lot of inspiration from other people's warriors art, taking the time to analyze what i like about their styles and what different sorts of patterns i can use

(i also regularly consult the Clangen Sprite Guide for better looks at white patches/tortie patterns and such, highly recommend)

the first thing i decide when i'm designing a new cat is what fur texture i want them to have. i have four that I pick from (pictured below, in order), wavy, spiky, curly, and square.

i decide the fur pattern based on the cat's personality (a more stoic cat might have square fur, while someone more bubbly might have curly, or someone more excitable have spiky, so on and so on), and also based on their parents/how many cats i've designed with that fur pattern recently.

after that is snout shape, which is probably my favorite part. i love to draw cats with a very pronounced snout, not unlike an oriental shorthair, but i generally slide around between that and a more typical, stubby snout, occasionally veering off into the very square snout of a maine coon. this is also a great spot to determine how sharp you want their jaw to be, which is something that can really help set a design apart! (a couple of snout examples below)

then i usually move onto colors. i like to pick an undertone for the cat first, so i know what sort of pallate to work with. as you can see in the pictures below, ravenstar has a purple/blue undertone, and toadbelly has orange/red undertones

this helps me make all the colors look nicer together, so i don't end up doing something like making a very warm colored cat with blue-toned white patches (which would make the white patches look super cold/too bright), which can be a really cool stylistic choice, but isnt what i tend to go for

once i've drawn out the cats fur shape and picked my colors, i'll move onto the base coat. over my time of having the fallenclan blog i've discovered that having a very simple pattern underneath the normal pattern can add a lot of visual interest to a cat, and make them look less plain.

here's a good example! one of the first cats i designed, oaktuft. their pattern was super basic--one base color, plus the inside of the ears, and then the color of their patterns.

and here's another cat that i designed a little more recently--Shiverspots! you can see that even just the small change of adding a bit of a lighter color to her underbelly made a world off difference. plus my style got a lot more defined lol

i have a couple of different base patterns that i use. here's a few more examples. i've even started to experiment with more than two colors!

once i've got the base done i move onto patterns. this part can definitely be tricky; trying to make a dozen brown tabbies with short fur be distinct can be . a challenge. i like to follow the steps of what i've already designed--a cat with spiky fur might have very sharp, angular stripes, and a cat with curly fur might have much rounder ones.

i think a good rule of thumb for if your pattern feels a little too basic is just to throw some more colors in there. another shade of orange, a more pale tint to some of them, whatever. and don't be afraid to erase it and start again! sometimes a design just won't work, and thats fine :)

the final thing i do is to add little design quirks. a particularly sharp jawline, downturned eyes, a crooked smile or a gap tooth, whatever! little things can really give your cats character.

i really hope that this helped!!!

[doesntmeanitsmeaningless]

Ailooooooooo!!!! How was your show???? I'm so happy for you. What were your favorite parts? How was the crowd? Tell me whatever you want to share please. Sending you a hug.

CC!! Aaaaaahhhh! It was so good!! I’m still processing!! Louis started off a bit cool and distant and didn’t say much but the energy, enthusiasm and adoration of the entire crowd soon saw him in a hilarious mood. He had so many interactions, and seeing Louis giggle while singing is something I’ll always remember from last night. My mom and I were at the back of pit, right in the middle 3 persons away from that central barricade. The whole crowd was into the music and while it was a festival, I think everyone was there for Louis - so his comment that it’s not his show was an interesting reminder. It felt like a Louis concert, with a festival set list. What a set list. Banger after banger! HOTH as the fourth song was a fun surprise. I looooved the energy of Drag Me Down (the 1D songs were definitely a hit with the crowd but this one in particular), straight into JHO and then High in California. It was such a fun ride! I had a little giggle myself at “this is Face the Music” and thought of you 😇. Copy of a Copy was emotional and the crowd was loooud. The seamless transition to Walls put me through the wringer. And after that it felt like a whirlwind of jumping, singing, not wanting it to end but knowing the end is coming. I will keep this Saturdays in my heart, it was beautiful. And for Silver Tongues it felt like he didn’t want it to end either, he was on stage kicking the beach ball just before he came down to barricade. And eeeeeek, he really did come down the super narrow path in the middle of the crowd, right to the back. It was pure chaos, with red streamers and fireworks happening too… and it wasn’t a barricade he could jump up, so I just saw his head bop by and a flash of an arm. It must’ve felt like a car wash in there with arms from both sides. 😂 My bracelets found happy new owners, making me happy too. VIP Angie @persephoneflouwers and her sister were integral to my experience too, providing updates from a bird eye perspective of the fest throughout the day. 🫶🫶 And our fun times prior to the fest will remain favourite Istanbul memories too! I absolutely loved the visuals on the big main and 2 side screens. I knew some of them from livestreams but some felt new to me or hit differently when the are massive and in front of you. The 1-second lag was unfortunate but ultimately ok. It was warm with a breeze, Steve didn’t have to wear a tshirt, the site was seaside and Louis had a fabulous view of the illuminated Blue Mosque behind us. Crowd size felt smallish, pit (officially called front of stage) had about as many people in it as general admission. I’m glad he said he was pleased with the turnout… I was worried he might not be. Oh and Louis calling some dude giving him the middle finger dickhead and daft wasn’t on my bingo card… he was in full Tommo form, quick and biting. He never did end up doing his vodka shot with the good girl. And the moon, a tiny sliver of it was out, as were a few bright stars. I could go on and on. I DONT FEEL LIKE GOING HOME!!!

[jbucb]

Chapter one: Cygnus

A/n: I hope you enjoy this, and please let me know how you felt about this chapter.

(Small update this was slightly revised without a writing aid.)

Chapter warning: self-deprecation, talks of virginity, some angst. Mentions of divorce, marriage, and military

Series masterlist // Main masterlist

 

I just couldn't believe it... My best friend just got married, and here I was sitting in this fold-out chair around the fire pit at a get-together, holding a glass of Moscato d'Asti. I should be happy for Samantha and Eli. I'd known them my whole life, and of course, I loved the updates that she sent her dad and others. But here I am, just a post-grad living with my parents while Samantha and Eli are in Italy on their honeymoon.

I watch the flames flicker and crackle. Chuck, the German shepherd, knudges my foot. That is all it takes to get me out of my thoughts. Chuck holds a ball in his mouth, his tail wagging slightly as he tilts his head. Chuck's eyes are the epitome of expressiveness, as if he holds all his feelings in the hues of his puppy dog's eyes, just like his owner's eyes.

I look up and around to see what the others are doing.

Sam, Bucky, and my father Steve are talking. My mother and Sam's wife share a conversation separately.

 

I decided to place my wine down and sneak off out of the fenced yard, with Chuck the shepherd following me up into a large field up behind the limewashed house. The hills roll for miles, some tree lines scattered across the valley, patches off it darkened by the banks of creeks, but it wasn't the view that took my breath away as I threw the ball for Chuck.

It was the stars; they were beautiful. The only light that wasn't from the moon came from the house at the bottom of the hill. Eventually, I sat down in the grass, and Chuck lay beside me.

I was so lost in thought that I didn't hear the footsteps coming up behind me, and only out of my peripheral view did I see him sit down beside me, but I still didn't look at him. I kept my eyes on the stars.

"That star right there is Vega." He starts his voice, gruff but not harsh; he sounds calm. "Below it is Deneb, it uh makes. " There's a slight pause—no more than a nanosecond—but I picked it up. "Cygn-the Swan," he cuts off the original name he was going to say. I move my head in his direction, but my eyes linger on Cygnus for a moment before my eyes meet his.

As I look at him, all I can think about is how beautiful he is. I shouldn't be thinking of him this way. He's my dad's best friend. I've known him for the better part of my life.

But how does the moonlight refract off his blue orbs so beautifully? The way it highlights the pale skin while keeping his faint freckles that faintly dust the bridge of his nose, fading into the apple of his cheeks, is so prominent, unlike how the sun fades out the star-like marks. But soon, my thoughts yet again fade into how I'm falling behind all of my friends. Everyone I've ever known is falling in love, and I'm falling behind—behind on a relationship, behind on my life, behind on losing my virginity. God, I would have been behind on my first kiss if it wasn't for that game of spin the bottle in my senior year of high school.

The bad part is that he can read me like a book, whether I like it or not. "What's on your mind, kiddo?"

God, why does his voice have to be that caring and his eyes that gentle? "You've been quiet all night. That's not like you, sneaking off, especially before finding a way to tell Sam and I your newest joke." Again, in a way, I find myself asking why Bucky Barnes has to be so perceptive.

"It's nothing, Buck," I say, but I just could tell that my tone wasn't cutting it.

"No, it's not." He doesn't sugarcoat his words. "Somethings bothering you, Dol-Kiddo; you can talk to me. You can always talk to me." He cuts himself off again. I knew what he was going to call me, and I couldn't help but wish he'd call me Doll and not just Kiddo.

We sit in static silence for a while before I say anything.

"I just feel as if I'm falling behind." I'm messing with my fingers as I speak.

"You're taking it all in," he pauses. "I wish I had taken it all in.".

I take in his words before responding, "You do?" I know about his marriage to Dotty, the military, and then some of the divorce. "Yeah, looking back, I wish I would've," he replied to my question before I could even take in what I asked. "I think if I took my time with all the big things, I would've been way happier than I was. That's in the past. I rushed and regretted it, but there's nothing that I can do about it now."

When I glance over to him, he is looking up at the stars and resting back on his elbows. He starts to speak again as I face him. "I don't know what's on your mind, and I sure as hell can't tell you that I do, but whatever it is, take your time."

"If I take my time, I'm sure I'll die a virgin."

I wish I could've stopped the stupid words that spilled out of my mouth, but it happened so quickly that I didn't even register what I had said until I saw the expression on his face.

"I'm so sorry." Oh, um," "I didn't mean it." "No, it's ok." We went back and forth for a few brief moments.

 

"We should probably head back before they notice we're gone." I start to say, It's almost like I didn't hear what I'd said, but as I start to stand,

"I could fix that." That stopped me dead in my tracks. "Y/n.. shit," he breathes in. "I didn't mean to say that," he says, starting to ramble as he stands. "God, Y/N, I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to."

"You really mean that." I didn't even hear him start to ramble. All I could hear was I could fix that, repeating in my head—my thoughts.

"Yes, Y/N, yes, I really apologize for saying that." He touched my arm briefly, and that snapped me out of my thoughts.

I look up at him, confused as to why he is apologizing. I arch an eyebrow. "So you're saying you'd take my virginity? I'd let you." I crane my neck back but then briefly look at the group's near the firepit, making sure nobody has glanced over.

It seems Bucky has the same idea, but he looks back at me, his eyes blown wide and his eyebrows raised. "What?" He sounds skeptical, but also like he's playing off the fact that he didn't hear what I said.

I match his tone and parrot his "What?" We stared at each other for a few moments.

"Y/n, if you're just pulling my leg, tell me, but don't joke about that shit," Bucky breathes out.

"I'm not joking." My tone is much quieter. "Before you say anything," I pointedly say, "I'm not a kid anymore. Buck, I can't stand being treated like one" or called one, but I'd never say that to his face, "especially because I'm not experienced." I use the palm of my hand to rub my eye.

"Believe me, sweetheart, I know, I know," he says, his tone gentle as his eyes try to catch mine as he speaks. "We can talk about this later. It's getting late, and I'm sure your folks want to go home."

"You promise we'll talk?" My tone clearly holding disbelief.

"I promise." 

[moonsanoverthinker]

Songs I think fit The Magnus Archives (It’s mostly character vibes)

(There’s some for a JonMartin type of vibe but there’s some for other characters but that’s more subjective than anything) // (I love seeing these when other people do them so thought I’d add some to the mix)

Also this will (hopefully) be updated when I think of more

All Things End - Hozier

Francesca - Hozier

I Always Knew - The Vaccines (For the romcom office flashback sequence we never got)

Family Jewels - Marina

Just Take My Wallet - Jack Stauber’s Micropop

As The World Caves In - Matt Maltese (ouch)

Burning Pile - Mother Mother

In A Week - Hozier/Karen Cowley

Fourth Of July - Sufjan Stevens

Persephone - Daisy The Great

One More Hour - Tame Impala (to me at least it’s kind of end of series 3 Tim vibe…)

Vending Machine Of Love - The Stupendium (On the contrast, before/during series 1 Tim vibes)

The Stand - Mother Mother

Problems - Mother Mother

Like Real People Do - Hozier

The Fine Print - The Stupendium (Always get your contracts checked)

Do It All The Time - I Don’t Know How But They Found Me

Ramblings Of A Lunatic - Bears In Trees

Absinthe - I Don’t Know How But They Found Me

Mary On A Cross - Ghost

Saint Bernard / Saint Bernard 2 - Lincoln (same song but different music)

Alien Blues - Vundabar

I love you so - The Walters (JonMartin vibe but also Tim and Sasha, again ouch)

Will We Talk - Sam Fender

She Wants Me To Be Loved - The Happy Fits

Rises The Moon - Liana Flores

Sunflower - Michele Leigh

Last Words Of A Shooting Star - Mitski (Someone on TikTok used this for a Sasha cosplay and it was nothing but pain)

Two Birds - Regina Spektor

I Know The End - Phoebe Bridgers

This Is A Life - Son Lux, Mitski, David Byrne (The movie Everything, Everywhere, All at once has a weirdly fitting title in this context)

Fred Astaire - Jukebox The Ghost

The Main Character - Will Wood

Wrecking Ball - Mother Mother

Little Dark Age - MGMT

The Loneliest - Måneskin

[rotten-c0rps3]

•𝙼𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝙼𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛•

Masc list

Updated: May 27th

A list of my male/masc monster characters. I will be adding more in the future. I will do Character x reader with them, so don’t be afraid to request if one catches your eye!

Creatures added: (2) angels, (2) shapeshifting parasites, (1) zombie, (1) siren,

Ｈａｌｏ

Species: Angel

Gender: Male (but only once he got down to Earth, Angels don’t have genders in Heaven)

He/They/It (Couldn’t care less about what people refer to him as, just doesn’t want to be perceived as feminine)

Backstory: Nobody told Halo it’d be quite so… lonely being on Earth. I mean, up in Heaven, Halo knew everyone. Thats how Heaven was, basically one big office building in the clouds, full of friends. Now, even though being a “fallen Angel” isn’t as bad as humans described it, it’s still pretty sucky. Maybe he’ll find some human to keep him company. Why would the other Angels care? He’ll just say he’s doing his job up close!

Personally: You thought Angels would be interesting? Ha! Nah, just kidding. He’s interesting, just has some boring interests and hobbies. If a causal guy isn’t for you, Halo isn’t either! He’s quite chill once to get to know him, it’s up to you if that’s a good thing. Also, he might be chill, but he’d give you nothing than utter devotion. He will expect the same back from you.

Looks: Well, picture the most beautiful man you can. Then erase that from your mind, because Angel beauty is so much more intense. That being said, he’s a little scary in his Angel form. He’s as white as the moon, with only three fingers on each hand and skin the texture of soft sandpaper. He was no head, a ball of bright light where it would be. Despite his brightness, his light doesn’t hurt human eyes. A single blue eye sits in where the center of the light seems to be. He’s not often in this form, unless at home.

Human form: Halo has very short, black curly hair. He’s pale, with the complexion of the moon, but not sickly looking. He does have two eyes in this form, but his left eye is heavily damaged-looking. This happened because when he transformed for the first time, his one eye had trouble splitting correctly and made one of his eyes bonk looking. He’s beauty beyond your comprehension, but he dresses like a loser.

Likes: Human food, TV, sleeping, taking baths, his Angel colleagues, when God gives him easy tasks, being in his angel form, cherry slushy, platonic intimacy, babies, praise,

Dislikes: Rude people, perverts, eccentric religious people, people being able to tell he’s an angel, not being able to watch TV, being forced to be fine with the fact he’ll never be a parent (specifically a mother) because he’s an angel and they don’t reproduce (I smell angst 😼),

Relationships: Doc (Colleague, great friends), Lili (Colleague, quite close)

Doc

Species: Angel

Gender: Male (But only after getting to Earth since Angels don’t really have a gender in Heaven)

He/Him (Uses pronouns as a way to “blend in with humans,” doesn’t really care)

Backstory: After hearing his fellow Angel friend Halo got put on Human-Watching duty, he quickly made a deal with God to go down to Earth with his buddy. Doc is a prepared man, too prepared most would probably say. So, before his little vacation down to Earth, he made sure to read all the info on humans he could find in Heaven. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a lot, and most was out-dated too. The only interesting thing he learned about was human doctors, which he may or may not of named himself after. Maybe a certain human could teach him some new things?

Personally: Truly a loser, but in a totally hot way! A little bit obnoxious about the things he likes. Total “glass half-full” and “Life is beautiful” type guy. If you don’t want a man who’ll obsess over everything he likes, including you, Doc might not be for you.

Looks: He never really leaves his house, ONLY because he’s strictly against changing out of his Angel form. A lean, clean man. Decently hairy, but well dressed and mannered. Usually dressed formally. Despite his Angel form being on the human-looking side, it is very easy to tell he isn’t human. This is because where his face should be, is a large mouth. Kinky, if you’re into that.

Likes: Reading, human medical supplies, the idea of human doctors, history, the way medicine tastes, surgery supplies, sharp things, blood, pain, human emotions, seeing human organs in books, learning about human anatomy, human touch, hygiene, the idea of soulmates,

Dislikes: Accidentally drooling on things, when people are angry at him, when people are scared of him, having to leave his Angel form, rude people, ignorance,

Relationships: Halo (Colleague, great friends), Lili (Colleague, friendly acquaintances)

Percy

Species: Shapeshifting parasite (Made up parasite names are “Happy Tick”, “Paradise Parasite”, and “Pleasure Pinworm”)

Gender: Male (Fluid, can present as anything it wants)

He/it (Presents as male to blend in with humans but “it” would be more accurate to what he is)

Backstory: Once upon a time, a man and a parasite, mimicking a woman, fell in love. Then, they had three beautiful, healthy children. Er… wait, sorry, no. That’s incorrect. Sometime a few decades ago, a parasite found its way into a male host. Then, three little parasites were born from their mother’s corpse, living inside their host father’s stomach. They had their very first meal, eating their way out of the male human before devouring him entirely. (Read Luis’ backstory for more) Sadly, one little parasite only got the scraps. Because of its early malnutrition, whenever it goes into a human form, it never looks quite right. But, you’d love him regardless of looks, right?

Personality: It’s hard to say whether starvation gave Percy his… eccentric personality, or if that’s just how he is. It’s hard to say, mostly because he’s the only one of his specific type of parasite. Percy is a lot of things. Creepily always happy, easy to find annoying, easily excitable, easily harmful, easily manipulated, easily teachable. There are no words I could put to describe the boyfriend Percy would be, but he wouldn’t be a very good one. At least not without a lot of teaching and punishments first. If you like kinky things that specifically have to do with your blood, you’ll like Percy. If you like guys who’ll be on their knees begging one moment and then bitting the hell out of you the next, you’ll like Percy.

Looks: In his natural state, one he’s really only in when inside a host, he’s basically a big glob of black goop.

Human form: Tall, inhumanly so. His limbs are just slightly too long for his body. Percy is sickly pale and uncomfortably thin. He smiles almost all the time, which would be cute if he didn’t look like a rabid dog when he smiles. He has long oily looking black “hair”. His “skin” is impenetrable, making him basically unable to be hurt. This, however, makes it so he does not at all understand human pain.

Likes: Drinking blood in a definitely not erotic way, seeing blood, tasting blood, smelling blood, blood. Also inflicting pain, not because he’s a bad guy, but because he genuinely doesn’t understand it and just likes peoples reactions to it.

Dislikes: Being starved, not having a host, his sister most times, being bullied, when humans can tell he’s not human, when humans don’t enjoy the pain he gives them, not understanding things, not knowing things, being compared to vampires,

Relationships: Luis (Brother, decent relationship), Sylvia (Sister, strained),

𝕃𝕦𝕚𝕤

Species: Shapeshifting Parasite (Made up names are “Fluster Flies”, “Love Bug”, and “Kissing Bug”)

Gender: Male (As close to cis as a genderless parasite can get)

He/she (Unlike his sister, he could not give two fucks about what people see him as)

Backstory: (Read Percy’s backstory for more) Growing up, the three parasite siblings were the human equivalent to orphans. Their species was made to be like this, of course. But that fact didn’t make their life easier. The siblings had to do all sorts of terrible things. Such as, steal, scam, assault, kill, kill, kill… Okay.. in their defense, a parasites gotta eat something! It was merciful to spare all those people having to live as unwilling hosts.

Personally: Unlike his… certainly interesting brother and strict sister, Luis is much calmer. He’s quiet, but that’s just because he’s used to blending into the background of his siblings. Very causal, but not with dating. Dating is serious for a parasite, it means they have to be willing to let their faulty humanity slip in front of their host. Luis is ready for commitment, let’s hope you are too.

Looks: Nobody knows what his parasite form looks like. Human form looks nothing like siblings because of their species differences. About average height, looks pretty short next to Sylvia and Percy, though. Luis is the most meaty out of the three, mostly because he’s the best at catching hosts. The guy is pretty cute, especially for a parasite. Especially next to Percy. Agh, anyways. He usually keeps his hair pretty short, also unlike the other two. Definitely more human-like compared to Percy.

Likes: When his siblings don’t fight, when Sylvia’s in a good mood, the relationships human siblings typically have, feeding on people’s lust, feeding on people’s human emotions, being alone, being outside, being compared to vampires,

Dislikes: Crowds, touchy people, fights, blood, perverts, being poor, having to kill for food, his “father”, death,

Relationships: Percy (Sibling, fine relationship), Sylvia (Sister, neutral relationship),

𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐰𝐧

Species: Zombie

Gender: Nonbinary (Doesn’t understand human gender but is fine with whatever he’s seen as)

He/she/they (Doesn’t really care)

Backstory: Long ago, a woman found out she had the misery of never being able to have children. Fortunately, she knew a little magic. When about twelve men and women died, Shawn was born, sewn from their flesh and filled with salt to slow the process of decay. Unfortunately, since his “birth”, his mother was killed for her actions and he’s now slowly rotting away. Maybe you and him could go dig up his mother’s old spell book.

Personality: Shawn was once as happy as a kid could be. He danced, and sung, and did everything a normal kid would. Then his mother died. He was left alone for years. He’s been adopted by a new caregiver, but he’s not the same. He’s quiet, he’s a shut-in. Maybe you could bring some of his happiness back.

Looks: Shawn is pretty handsome, for sewn together corpses anyway. His hair is choppy and different colors, ranging from blonde to black. Since his mother’s death, no one has been able to treat him properly to slow the process of rot, so he’s missing his right leg. He has a wheelchair, although he much prefers to use his crutches.

Likes: His mother, animals, being alone, the forest, nature, old houses that smell a little weird, TV, reading, art, poetry, old things, cooking, cleaning, helping out,

Dislikes: Insects, rotting, death, having to rely on other people, old people, being forgotten, the people his mother killed, the people who killed his mother,

Relationships: Jane (Caregiver, neutral), Linsey Abigail (Mother, very close)

Gᵣₐₙₜ

Species: Siren

Gender: Cis male

He/him (Lol he’s one of the few actually cis characters I have)

Backstory: Grant was like any other siren. Growing up with no parents, he had no one to lead him. He had to watch humans just to figure out how to live! This, perhaps, is what gave him a superiority complex of thinking of himself like a god. Man or god, Grant is terrible. A true fixer-upper, if you will.

Personality: Although Grant is selfish, apathetic, and quite frankly stupid, the title of “Grant the God if Greed” he gave himself is quite appropriate. He ain’t no god, but he loves to be greedy. It’s really sad, though. Being so heartless means no one likes him, and that means he’s alone all the time. Maybe he’d share his riches with you, but you gotta at least entertain his pathetic ass first.

Looks: You know the human tale of half-fish, half-human? Well, that is true for mermaids and mermen, but not sirens. Sirens are pretty human, actually. Well, except the gills, and discolored skin, and fins, and fish tail sticking out of their backside. For a siren, Grant is pretty human looking. Which helps when he has to blend in to steal. He has rich, golden eyes and choppy brown hair. He’s not a young siren, so don’t expect Prince Charming. His clothes are usually dirty, and no amount of stolen jewelry he wears covers that.

Likes: Eating fish, stealing from pirates, getting away with stealing, jewelry, being viewed as superior, shiny things, gold, the ocean, his cave, his treasure, how simple and fragile humans are, raw meat,

Dislikes: When his plans backfire, getting hurt, humans finding out he’s not human, being out of water too long, when it’s mermaid breeding season, mermaid/mermen,

Relationships: None (He’s a loser)

[wizblr-blue-moon-ball]

Hi everyone!

Please reblog or reply to this post if you want to be added to the pinglist for updates!

LIKES DO NOT COUNT!!! I need written confirmation of your interest.

Thank you magical friends!

[pykxz]

hi.

you're on a rock floating in space.

pretty cool, huh?

some of it's water.

fuck it, actually most of it's water.

i can't even get from here to there without buying a boat.

it's sad.

i'm sad.

i miss you.

how did this happen?

a long time ago, actually never, and also now, nothing is nowhere.

when?

never.

makes sense, right?

like i said, it didn't happen.

nothing was never anywhere.

that's why it's been everywhere.

it's been so everywhere you don't need a where.

you don't even need a when.

that's how every it gets.

forget this.

i wanna be something.

go somewhere.

do something.

i want things to change.

i want to invent time and space.

and i know it's possible because everything is here and it probably already happened.

i just don't know when to start.

and that's exactly where it started.

whoah, i paused it.

i think there's a universe now.

what's it made of?

quarks & stuff

ah, that's a thing.

in a place.

don't like it?

try a new place.

at a different time™.

try to stick together, because the world is gonna get bigger.

and emptier.

but it's not empty yet.

it's still very full, and about a kjghpillion degrees.

great news!

the quarks are now happily married, in groups of three called a proton or a neutron

and there's something else flying around too that wants to join in but can't cause it's still too

HOT great news!

the protons and neutrons are now happily married to each other.

and some of them even doubled up.

great news, the electrons have now joined in

congratulations, the world is now a bunch of gas in space.

but it's getting closer together.

and it's getting closer together.

and it's getting closer toge-

it's a star

new shit just got made!

some stars burn out and die.

bigger stars burn out and die with passion, and make some brand new, way crazier shit.

space dust

which allows newer, more interesting stars to be made, and then die, and explode into

even crazier space dust

so now stars have cool stuff around them, like rocks, ice, and funny clouds, which can make some very interesting things.

like this ball of flaming rocks for example.

holy shit, we just got hit with another ball of flaming rocks.

and it kind of made a mess.

which is

now the moon

weather update:

it's raining rocks from outer space.

weather update:

those rocks might have had water inside them, and now there's hot steam in the sky.

weather update:

cooler temperatures today, and the floor is no longer lava.

weather update:

it's raining.

severe flooding alert:

the entire world is now an ocean.

volcano alert:

that's land!

there's life in the ocean

what?

something's alive in the ocean

oh cool, like a plant or an animal?

no, a microscopic speck.

it lives at the bottom of the ocean and eats chemical soup, which is being served hot and fresh, made from gnarly space ingredients left over from when it was raining rocks or whatever.

oh yeah, and it can do that.

it has secret instructions written inside itself telling it how to build another one of itself.

so that's pretty nifty, i would say.

tired of living at the bottom of the ocean?

now you can eat sunlight!

using a revolutionary technique, you can convert sunlight into food

taste the sun

side effect: now there's oxygen everywhere and the sky's blue.

then the earth might have been a snowball for a while, maybe even a couple of times.

it's a sponge.

it's a plant.

it's a worm, and some other types of weird strange water bugs and strange fish.

it's the Cambrian explosion

"wow, that's animals and stuff"

but we're still in the ocean, hey, can we go on land?

no

why?

the sun is a deadly lazer

oh okay.

not anymore, there's a blanket

now the animals can go on land.

come on, animals, let's go on land!

nope, can't walk yet.

and there's no food yet, so i don't care.

ok, will you learn to walk if there's plants up here?

maybe, said some bugs, and fish.

ok, so i can go on land, but i have to go back in the water to

have babies

learn to use an egg.

i was already doing that.

use a stronger egg.

put water in it.

have a baby, on land, in an egg.

water is in the egg.

baby, in the egg, in the water, in the egg.

works for me.

bye bye ocean

and now everything's huge.

including bugs.

wanna see a map of the land?

sure.

oh fuck, now everything's dead.

just kidding, here are the survivors.

keep your eye on this one because it's about to become the dinosaurs.

here's another map of the land.

yeah, it broke apart, don't worry about it, it does that all the time.

here comes a meteor.

and the dinosaurs are gone

it's mammal time, here come the mammals.

look at those breasts.

now they're gonna dominate the world and one of them just learned how to grab stuff.

and walk.

no, like, walk like that.

and grab stuff at the same time.

and bang rocks together to make pointed rocks.

"ouch"

and set things on fire.

"yeouch"

and make crazy sounds with their voice.

"gneurshk"

which can mean different things.

that's a human person

and now they're everywhere.

almost.

ice age

what, you can walk over here?

cool.

not anymore

well i guess we're stuck here now.

let's review.

there's people on the planet.

and they're chasing their food.

fuck it, time to plant some grass.

look at this.

i control the food now.

now everyone will want to be my friend and live near me.

let's all build houses except mine is bigger because i own the food.

this is great, i wonder if anyone else is doing this.

tired of using rocks for everything?

use metal.

it's underground.

better farming was just invented, in a sweet dank valley right in between these two rivers.

and the animals are helping.

guess what happens next

more food.

and more people who came to buy the food.

now you need people to help make the food and keep track of the sales.

and now you need houses for people to live in and people to make the houses, and now there's more people and they invent things, which makes things better and more people come and there's more farming and more people to make more things for more people and now there's business, money, writing, laws, power.

Society

coming soon to a dank river valley near you.

meanwhile, out in the middle of nowhere, the horse is probably being tamed.

why is all my metal so lame and lumpy?

tired of using lame, sad metal?

introducing

Bronze

made with special ingredient tin from the far lands of tin land.

i don't know, my dealer won't tell me where he gets it.

also, guess what?

egypt

meanwhile, out in the middle of nowhere, they figured out how to put wheels on a horse.

now we're getting somewhere.

also

china

and did i mention

indus river valley civilization

norte chico

the middle east is getting more complicated, maybe because it's in the middle of the east.

knock knock, er, clop clop.

it's the people with the horses.

and they made an empire.

and then everyone else copied their horses.

greeks

ah look, it must be the greeks, er, a beta version of the greeks.

let's check in with the indus river valley civilization.

they're gone.

guess who's not gone?

china

new arrivals in india, maybe it's those horse people i was talking about, or their cousins or something

and they wrote some hymns and mantras and stuff

you could make a religion out of this.

there's the bronze age collapse.

now the phoenicians can get down to business

also, can we switch to a metal that's a little easier to find?

thanks.

look who came back to israel, it's the twelve tribes of israel.

and they believe in God

just 1 though, he's got like a ten step program.

here's some huge heads.

must be the olmecs.

the phoenicians make some colonies.

the greeks copy their idea and make some colonies.

the phoenicians made a colony so big it makes colonies.

here comes the assyrian empire.

never mind, it's the babylonian- median-

it's the Persian Empire

"wow, that's big"

ah, the buddha was just enlightened.

who's the buddha?

this guy, who sat under a tree for so long that he figured out how to ignore the fact that we're all dying.

you could make a religion out of this.

oops, china just broke, but while it was breaking, confucius was figuring out how to have good morals.

ah, the greeks just had the idea of thinking about stuff.

and right over here, alexander just had the idea of conquering the entire persian empire.

it's a great idea.

he was great.

and now he's dead.

hopefully the rest of the gang will be able to share the empire evenly between them.

knock knock, it's chandragupta, he says get the hell out of here.

will you get the hell out of here if i give you 500 elephants?

ok thanks, bye

time to conquer all of india

or

most of india

but what about this part?

that's the tamil kings, no one conquers the tamil kings.

who are the tamil kings?

merchants, probably

and they've got spices

who would like to buy the spices?

me, said the arabians, swiftly buying it and selling it to the rest of the world.

hey, china put itself back together again, with good morals as their main philosophy.

actually, they have three main philosophies.

out here, the horse nomads run wild and free, and they would like to ransack your city.

let's check the greekification levels of the greekified kingdoms.

greekification overload!

bye, said the parthians.

bye, said the jews.

hi, said the parthians, taking over the entire place.

heyyyyyyyy, said the romans, eating the entire mediterranean for breakfast.

thanks for invading our homeland, said the jews, who were starting to get tired of people invading their homeland.

hi, everything's great, said some guy who seems to be getting very popular and is then arrested and killed for being too popular, which only makes him more popular.

you could make a religion out of this.

want silk?

now you can buy it from china.

they just made a

brand new road to the world

or you can

get there on water

sick! new trade routes! said india, accidentally spreading their religion to the entire southeast.

hmm, that's a good place for an epic trading kingdom.

there goes buddhism traveling up the silk road.

i wonder if it'll reach china before it collapses again.

remember the persian empire?

yep, said the persians, making a new one.

axum is getting so powerful they would like to build a long stick.

has anyone populated madagascar yet?

let's do it together.

china is whole again

then it broke again

still can't cross the sahara desert?

try camels.

hell yeah! now we've got business

said the ghana empire, selling lots of gold, and slaves

hi, i live in the roman empire, and i was wondering

is loving jesus legal yet?

no.

actually, ok, sure, said constantine, moving the capital way over here to be closer to his

main rival

don't worry about rome, it won't fall.

it's the golden age of india

there's the gupta empire, not chandragupta, just gupta.

first name chandra.

the first.

guess who's in rome?

barbarians

what's a barbarian?

non-romans, said the romans, being invaded by non-romans.

r.i.p., roman empire, er, actually just half of it, the other half is just fine, but it's not in rome anymore so let's give it a new name.

the mayans have figured out the stars

oh and here's a huge city, population: everyone

the göktürks have taken over the entire eurasian steppe.

great job, göktürks.

how's india?

broken.

how's china?

back together

how's those trading kingdoms?

bigger, and there's more of them

korea has 3 kingdoms.

japan has a kingdom, it's the sunrise kingdom.

deep in the arabian desert, on the top of a mountain, the real god whispers in muhammed's ear.

so he goes down to the cube where everyone worships gods and he tells them their gods are all fake.

and everyone got so mad at him that he had to leave town and go to a different town.

you could make a religion out of this.

and maybe conquer the world as well.

the roman empire is long gone, but somehow the pope is still the pope.

plus there's

new kingdoms all over europe

i wonder if there's room for moors.

here's all the wisdom.

in a house.

it's the baghdad house of wisdom.

just in time for the

islamic golden age

let's bring stuff to the coast and sell it, and become the swahili on the swahili coast, said the swahili on the swahili coast.

remember this tiny space you have to go through to get from here to there?

someone owns that now.

wanna get enlightened in the middle of nowhere?

the franks have the biggest kingdom in europe, and the pope is so proud that he invites the king over for christmas.

surprise! you're the new roman emperor, said the pope, pretending to still be part of the roman empire.

then the franks broke their kingdom into what will later be called france and not france.

but the northerners, or just norse if you don't have much time, are exploring.

they go north, from the north to the northern north.

and they find some land.

two types of land.

and they name them accordingly.

they also invade some other places, and get called many names, such as vikings.

there's the rus.

the kievan rus.

are they vikings?

i don't think so, said the kievan rus.

ok, fair enough.

the pope is ready to make some more emperors.

of the "roman empire".

the holy roman empire.

it's actually germany but don't worry about it.

new kingdoms.

christianize all the kingdoms

which brand would you like?

mine's better.

mine's better.

mine's better.

time to conquer england, said william.

it's a bird, it's a plane

it's the seljuk turks

aah! said the byzantine empire who's getting so small and almost doesn't exist anymore.

we need help!

they need help, so they call the pope.

hey pope, can you help us get rid of the seljuks?

maybe take back the holy land on the way?

come on, i know you want to take back the holy land.

yes, i do actually want to do that.

let's do a crusade.

crusade

they did many crusades, some of which almost didn't fail.

but at least the italians got some sweet trade deals.

goodbye mayans.

hello toltecs

goodbye toltecs.

hello mississippi

look at those mounds.

there's the pueblo.

i always wondered how to build a town in a cliff.

guess who's here?

khmer.

where?

here.

and pagan is there.

vietnam unconquered itself, korea just became itself, and japan is so addicted to art that the military might have to take over the government.

china just invented bombs, and typing.

and the mongols just invaded most of the universe.

nice going, Genghis!

i bet that will last a long time.

some of the islamic turks were unaffected by the mongol invasions because they were busy invading india.

is it tonga time?

i think it's tonga time.

i just found out where the swahili gets all their gold.

look at this chad.

means "lake".

there's an empire there.

right in the middle of

Africa

the king of mali is so rich he's going on tour to let everyone know.

wow, that guy's rich, everyone said.

the christians are doing a great job reconquering iberia, which will soon be called spain and not spain.

please remain christian.

we will check in later to see if you're still christian when you least expect.

whoops, half of europe just died.

ming

china's back, yay!

hey khmer, time to share.

new kingdoms here and there.

oh, look who controls all the islands.

it's the mahajapit.

majahapit.

mapajahit.

mahapajit.

mapajahit.

majapahit?

oh, italy's really rich, time for them to care a lot about art and the ancient classics.

it's kinda like a rebirth.

here's a printer.

let's make books.

so you think you can conquer the byzantine empire?

yep, said the ottoman turks.

nice job, ottoman turks.

whoops, you missed a spot.

don't forget to ban europe from the indian spice trade.

what? that's bullshit, said portugal, spiceless.

well i guess we'll have to find another way to india

wait! said christopher columbus, probably smoking crack.

if the world is round, let's go this way to india.

nah, don't worry, we already got this, said portugal.

so chris goes to spain.

hey spain, wanna hire me to find india by going around back of the world?

no.

please?

no.

please?

no.

please?

ok.

so he sails into the ocean.

and discovers more ocean.

and then discovers the indies.

and japan.

let's draw a line to decide who gets which half of the world.

the aztec and inca empires are off to a great start.

i wonder if they know that europe just discovered their continent?

the habsburgs are marrying into so many royal families they might have to start marrying each other.

move over lithuania, here comes moscow.

ivan wants to make russia great again.

move over timurids, maybe go invade india or something.

persia just made persia persian again.

let's make it the other kind of islam.

the one where we thought the first guy should have been the other guy.

hey christians!

do you sin?

now you can buy your way out of hell.

that's bullshit.

this whole thing is bullshit.

that's a scam.

fuck the church.

here's 95 reasons why, said martin luther, in his new book, which might have accidentally started the protestant reformation.

you know what would be magnificent, said suleiman, wearing an onion hat?

what if the ottoman empire was really big?

which it is now.

what if russia was big? said ivan, trying not to be terrible.

portugal had a dream that they controlled the entire indian ocean, including the spice trade.

and then that dream was real.

and spain realized that this is not india, but they pillaged it anyway.

damn, said england and france.

we gotta start pillaging some stuff.

then the dutch revolt and all the hipsters move to amsterdam.

damn, said amsterdam.

we gotta start pillaging some stuff.

question 1: can you get to india through north america?

no, but at least there's beaver.

question 2: steal the spice trade.

that's not a question, but the dutch did it anyway.

sugar

guess where all the sugar's made?

in brazil.

stolen

and the caribbean.

and it's so god damn profitable you might forget to not do slavery.

the next thing on russia's to-do list is to get bigger.

britain and france are having a friendly discussion about who should control the entire world.

more specifically, ohio.

then it escalates into a seven year discussion, giving prussia a chance to show austria who's boss.

but what about britain and france, did they figure out who's boss?

yes they did.

it's britain.

guess who's broke?

also britain.

so they start taxing the hell out of america.

fuck you, says america, declaring their independence, and fighting for it.

and france helps them win, now france is broke.

and britain'll have to send their prisoners to a different continent.

wait, if france is broke, why do the king and queen still wear such fancy dresses?

let's overthrow the palace and cut all their heads off! said robespierre, cutting everybody's head off until someone eventually got mad and cut his head off.

you could make a reli- no, don't.

haiti is staring to like the idea of a revolution.

especially the slaves, who free themselves by killing their masters.

why didn't we think of this before?

wait, who's in charge of france now?

me

said napoleon, trying to take over europe.

luckily, they banished him to an island.

but he came back

luckily, they banished him to another island.

there goes latin america, becoming independent in the latin american wars of independence.

britain just figured out how to turn steam into power.

so now they can make

many different types of machines and factories with machines in them so they can make a lot of products real fast

then they invent some trains.

and conquer india and maybe put some trains there.

hey, china! said britain.

buy stuff from us!

nah dude, we already got everything, says china.

so britain tried to get them addicted to opium.

which worked, actually.

but then china made it illegal and dumped it all into the sea.

so britain threw a hissy fit, and made them open up five cities and give them an island.

britain and russia are playing a game where they try to stop each other from conquering afghanistan.

also, the

sultan of oman lives in zanzibar now

"that's just where he lives"

india just had a revolution, and they would like to govern themselves now.

nope, said britain, governing them even harder than before.

technology is about to go crazy

the united states finally figured out whether slavery is good or bad.

it's bad, they decided.

and then they continued manifesting their destiny, which is to kill the rest of the natives and take their land and maybe kick out the mexicans too.

i know, let's rape africa, said europe, scrambling to see who could rape it the fastest.

they never got ethiopia

britain and france are still hungry.

they never got thailand

the united states ran out of destiny to manifest, so they're looking for more.

hawaii

cuba

wait, spain controls cuba.

well, blame something on them and go to war!

what should we blame on spain?

let's blame the maine on spain.

so they blame the maine on spain.

now we're in business.

to celebrate, they kick panama out of panama and make a canal, connecting the two oceans.

britain just found oil in the middle east.

it makes cars go

china is so tired of being bossed around that they delete their old government and make a new, stronger government, which is accidentally weaker and controlled by a guy from the previous government.

europe hasn't had a war since the last war.

so they start world war 1.

look at those guns.

it's gonna be a great war.

so great we won't need a second one.

after it's over, they blame germany.

russia went on strike and the workers overthrew the government.

now everyone's paycheck is the same.

communism

in the soviet union

the arabs revolt and britain helps.

now the ottoman empire's gone so we can give the

jewish people a place to live

hopefully the arabs won't mind.

let's cut the cake, said sykes and picot, carving up the remains of the not-so-ottoman-anymore empire.

except turkey, turkey makes a brand new turkey

and then the saudis conquer arabia.

it just seemed like the right thing to do.

hello?

yes, it's the 1920's calling.

let's get in the car and drive to a party and listen to jazz on the radio and go to the movies.

the economy's great and it'll probably be great forever, just kidding.

germany's back, featuring hitler, the angry mustache model.

and he's mad at the jews for existing.

japan is finally conquering the east, and they're so excited they rape nanking way too hard.

they should probably just deny it.

hitler's out of control.

so the international community tackles him and then tries to explain why killing all the jews is a bad idea.

but he kills himself before they could explain it to him.

that's world war 2

bonus round!

pacific showdown.

united states vs. japan.

fight!

finish him

let's unite all the nations and have some

world peace

seems legit.

hi, i'm gandhi, and if britain doesn't get the hell out of india, i'm gonna starve myself in public.

wow, that worked?

bonus, now there's pakistan.

actually two pakistans.

one of them can be bangladesh later.

the jews and the arabs finally figured out which one of them should live in the holy land.

me, they both said at the same time.

let's divide up the land so everyone's happy.

sike, they both get angrier

look out china, there's a new china in china.

what's on the menu?

communism!

no thanks, said the other china, escaping to an island.

i wonder which one is the real china?

there's the korean war, korea versus korea.

nobody wins, then it's on pause forever.

let's meet the sponsors.

oh, it's the two global superpowers.

they're having a friendly debate over which economic system is good, and which one is an evil virus of Satan.

and they both have atom bombs.

fight!

wait, no, that would be the end of the world.

let's just keep it cool and spy on each other instead.

and make sure we have enough atom bombs.

i'll race you to space.

now let's make some more countries fight themselves.

europe is tired of pillaging other continents, so the continents they were pillaging are tired of being pillaged.

so here's a new map, with new countries.

now you can't tell who they're being pillaged by.

the united states finally decided whether racism is good or bad.

they decided it's bad, and the world agrees.

south africa might need another minute to think about it.

let's check the world population.

whoa.

okay.

technology's better too, that might keep happening.

the soviet union decides to relax a little, and accidentally falls apart.

europe makes a union, so now they can all use the same money, except britain, because they don't feel like it.

let's check the mail.

surprise, it's on the computer.

whoops, someone just attacked america.

i bet they'll remember that.

phone call.

surprise, it's in your pocket.

wanna learn everything?

surprise, it's on the computer.

now your phone's a computer, which is in your pocket.

whoops, the economy just crashed.

don't worry, the big banks won't fail because they're not supposed to.

surprise!

flying robots.

with bombs.

wanna print a brain?

some people have no friends.

some people have no food.

the globe is warming

and the ocean is full of plastic

let's save the planet! said everybody, not knowing how.

let's invent a thing inventor, said the thing inventor inventor, after being invented by a thing inventor.

that's pretty cool.

by the way, where the hell are we?

[bluelockhalloweek]

Blue Lock Halloweek 2023 Prompts are here—can’t wait to see what y’all create!

👻 Reblog with your favorites prompts & share with your Blue Lock crew!

👻 Find the event on Twitter @/BllkHalloweek

👻 See below for more info, typed-out prompts, & prompt examples if you need clarification or inspiration

👻 Feel free to mix and match, and take prompts as literally or as tangentially as you want!

👻 Work doesn’t have to be specifically Fall / Halloween themed as long as it fits a prompt. (If you’re writing a superhero fic for “Mask,” don’t feel like you have to stick a 🎃 in a corner unless you want to.)

👻 Work can be as lighthearted, scary, or spicy as you want as long as you follow the updated guidelines!

👻 Thank you to everyone who submitted prompts, & credit to the anons who suggested The Witching Hour & Mischief Night! A lot of suggestions were already on my longer list or were very similar, or might be better saved for next year. If your favorite isn't on the list, the “Free Prompt” finale is your day!

👻 Find event Archive of Our Own here!

👻 The event is on Tumblr, Twitter, and AO3, so share your contribution on all three!

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Blue Lock Halloweek (+ 2!): October 23 - October 31, 2023

Monday 23: Pumpkin spice + Do you believe in magic?

Tuesday 24: Masks + Heartbeat

Wednesday 25: Things that go bump in the night + Festival

Thursday 26: Firelight + Dark Waters

Friday 27: Paranoia + The Witching Hour

Saturday 28: Monster’s Ball + Hunter’s Moon (actual full moon date & name!)

Sunday 29: Angels & Demons + Castle

Monday 30: Spirit + Movie / Mischief Night (actual night)

Tuesday 31 🎃: Sweet Tooth / Sucker + Free Prompt!

-

-

Now for Prompt Examples + Explanations 

I’ve had people ask for prompt examples in past events I’ve hosted and this event is open to any language, so here you go! These are the quick brainstorming notes (now expanded with links & definitions) I took while narrowing down the list to be sure the final prompts were unique enough / without toooo much overlap, and covered enough areas. Only some of maaaany interpretations—go wild!

Your host is a fic-writer with ADHD, so…you’ve been warned.

Day 1: 

Pumpkin Spice: Cozy Autumn vibes. Putting up Halloween decorations, carving Jack-o-lanterns, coffee / tea shop, pumpkin patch, scented candles, baking, fall sangria, sweaters and beanies and flannels, momijigari (Autumn Hanami 🌸, basically) / admiring gorgeous fall foliage, fresh hot apple cider in an orchard. Itoshi Bros and their love of turtle/mock-neck sweaters. Pumpkin Farmer Aiku and Karasu scarecrow!

Do you believe in magic?: Revealing their magical powers for the first time. Crystal ball, tarot. Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, etc. AU. Non-literal magic in relationships (feeling understood, chemistry, humor matching up perfectly, etc). Wands, spells, magical objects, magical creatures, etc.. Making a wish. Alexis "The Magician" Ness.

-

Day 2:

Masks: Costumes, super heroes, putting up a front, acting like something you’re not, classic masked Halloween meet-cute, secret / concealed identities, spies, ninja and samurai and assassins (Karasu and Otoyaaa!) Niko hiding his eyes / face.

Heartbeat: Racing heart from excitement, fright, romance, spice. No heartbeat like undead, zombie or vampire, etc.. Skip a beat, beat faster, beat slower (calm and comfort). Chigiri on the run from zombies, zombie Lorenzo!

-

Day 3: 

Things that go bump in the night: unexplained (scary or otherwise) noises in the night, whispers or voices, ghosts and other supernatural entities, haunted house / place, anything scary, …spicy. Spooky Owl outside Rin’s window. 

Festival: String lights illuminating festival stalls, costumes, traditional attire (Aryu looking stylish!), food and drink, games, Isagi devouring fried fair food. Fall Music festival. Mid-Autumn Festival (with all the pretty lanterns and mooncakes 🥮), Harvest / Fall Fests in general. Bobbing for apples, caramel / candy apples, carnival rides and games, Ferris wheel. Oktoberfest; Kaiser and/or any Bastard München player in Lederhosen—please, I’m begging!! Fun house / haunted house. Day of the Dead festivities. 

-

Day 4:

Firelight: Cauldrons, brewing potions. Candles, rituals, bonfires. Autumn camping trip, s’mores, spooky firelight shadows outside the tent, got lost on a hiking trip & have to make a fire to keep warm! Torches, candles, lanterns lighting the way in a definitely not-haunted place. Hell, your favorite circle (Dante’s Inferno) 😈

Dark Waters: merpeople, sirens, sea monsters, kraken, pirates (Kurona and Raichi, Bachira 🐬!), sharks, shipwreck, ghost ships, stranded on a deserted island, haunted lakes, lake spirits, Autumn fishing trip, swamp monsters, bogs and marshes, willowisps, alligators, snakes. Loch Ness Monster

(Fire and water, light and dark)

-

Day 5:

Paranoia: Fear and suspicion, feeling like someone’s watching and you just can’t shake it (...Ego and his cameras), feeling like you’re losing your mind, etc.. Doesn’t have to be all bad! Maybe there was a misunderstanding before a fun surprise. 

The Witching hour: Wiki / dictionary. Depending on whom you ask, the hour is either midnight or 3am - 4am. Supernatural entities / practitioners of dark arts are the most active and powerful. These entities might feel compelled / drawn out into the world. Magic and danger, inexplicable happenings! Humans ought to be at home and safely tucked in bed at this late hour, or else... Fun fact, the Orionid meteor shower peaks juuust before this event starts (in my hemisphere, at least) but continue until November, and the best time to view meteor showers is generally around the witching hour (after midnight / 3-4am). Can also mean the time in which people get up to no good or questionable stuff. 

-

Day 6:

Monster’s Ball: Monsters, creatures. Bachiraaa. Halloween party, masquerade, nightlife (going out in costume—or not—to bars and clubs). Reo buying a round. Literal ⚽ ball (Lil Isagi trick-or-treating in Noa’s kit), Halloween Practice (like in high school or college when your coach let you have a fun practice in costume before a holiday—absolute chaos and so fun!). Whatever chaos and debauchery y’all can imagine. Just follow the event guidelines and tag accordingly! Green eyed monster (jealousy), Cinderella’s Ball (Sae and Shidou!)

Hunter’s Moon: The date of the actual full Hunter’s Moon—lucky us! Sometimes called the Blood Moon. Full moon, werewolves, moonlight, on the hunt or being hunted, spells and rituals, Tsukimi / moon viewing + Tsukimi dango 🎑, moon myths and gods. Celestial things, Kurona and Isagi planetary hotline / astronauts, aliens.

(Monster vs Hunter day, ha)

-

Day 7:

Angels and Demons: Demon and priest, hell, listening to the angel or the devil on your shoulder (making a questionable decision because it’s tempting), devilish fun or spells, sin, temptation, a deal with the devil. Ohhh, Sae and Shidou, your night has come! 😈

Castle: fairytales, knights, vampires, dungeons, Royalty (King Barou, Emperor Kaiser!). Also super Sae and Shidou.

-

Day 8: 

Spirit: ghosts, haunted houses, GhostBusters, spirit entities like yokai, Ghost Adventures. Gagamaru as a friendly Yokai! Shaman. Possession, possessed or cursed objects. JJK. Ouija board game! Monk Igaguri. 

Movie Night: Watching a scary (or not scary) movie, series, anime, etc. So many movie/show Alternate Universes. Sendou living his Hollywood dreams. Barbie please!!! Nagi nodding off halfway through. The guys as a character from their favorite movie listed in the Egoist Bible.

Mischief Night: Wiki page. The night before Halloween for hijinks, pranks, scaring each other! Toilet papering Ego’s house. Can be more sinister, too. 

-

Day 9: Halloween!

Sweet tooth / sucker: Trick-or-Treating, candy corn, so much candy, caramel corn, vampires or anything with fangs, bite, ‘sucker’ like 🍭 or vampires, or…

Free day / AU (alternate universe) Palooza!: 

Whatever Halloween stuff you want that doesn’t quite fit a prompt! Just listing some of the things I would draw (if I could) or write (if i had time):

Video game au for Hiori! Pokemon! Ego as a gangly cowboy, ⚽️ bolo tie and all. Barou as the "Cowardly" Lion in the Wizard of Oz. And finally, artists, if you're reading this, please, please consider Noel Noa (of the 🇫🇷 French National 🥖 Team!!) dressed as Bonjour Man from Life Lessons with Uramichi Onii-san (clip, manga cap). Please Omg. This image has literally been haunting me since starting this event and the manga/anime (even the dub!) is soooo funny. And technically, Bonjour Man is a cursed spirit sooo 👻

Okay, that's it. Hope y'all have fun. Please reblog and spread the word 🧡🖤

[kafus]

hi! i really love blue moon falls, and it's been really helpful for me with getting a team together to take on stadium 1 and 2, as well as trying to complete everything i can in gen 2. i was curious if you had any advice for taking on all the cups in the stadium games? i have experience with vgc and i've been largely going based on smogon's guides for rby and gsc for team ideas, but actually preparing all the pokemon in game is daunting, to say the least, not to mention how many i need to raise and train due to the different cups level restrictions and whatnot. if nothing else, it's really nice seeing someone else as into gen 2 as i am who didn't grow up with it!

hey, i’m really glad BMF has been helpful for you! unfortunately it’s true that i haven’t gotten around to a lot of battle related articles (i want to in the future… i am working on an endless amount of projects all the time)

as for team ideas and building teams, i wouldn’t sweat it too-too much, especially for round 1, in which completing will give you a lot of hands-on experience to make team changes for the harder round 2 if you need. if you already have VGC experience and are navigating smogon, you definitely have enough background knowledge to build teams that are good enough to beat the stadium games. whatever ideas you have right now are probably already good enough, and it’s up to you how much you want to minmax those ideas/tilt the scales in your favor. if you don’t mind spoilers, it’s worth noting that stadium trainers aren’t random like the battle frontiers of gens 3/4 and teams are predetermined, so looking up some of the round 2 teams might also give you some ideas for your own teambuilding!

as for actually building those pokemon… yeah, it’s a lot! like anything johto, it’s good to take it at a bit of a slower pace, treat it like a bigger project that you can pick at over time instead of a rush to the finish, will make it more enjoyable.

for stat exp grinding, despite the E4 having bigger gains, i definitely personally prefer grinding on wilds which is why i made that stat exp tool (that i still need to update haha), it just feels faster even if it actually isn’t and it doubles as shiny hunting because of how many pokemon you see (it is also worth noting that in many cases you can get away without maxing stat exp!)

as for breeding, the easiest way to get started with that is spend an evening or two catching dittos in pokemon yellow if you have that game, in cerulean cave where they’re a high level and DVs are instantly recognizable. the chances of getting a ditto with a defense DV of 10 and a special DV of 7 or 15, which is the perfect breeding ditto for gen 2 standards, is a simple (1/16) * (1/8), or 1/128. not terrible, especially if you make party space to catch multiple at a time and clone glitch master balls or something. from there on out you can just pair that ditto with anything to start rolling for the best DVs possible, and you even get the boosted egg spawning odds from the different OT. you really don’t need all 15s across the board, just generally high is usually fine.

hopefully something in here was helpful and i hope you have fun! i feel like gen 2 enjoyers that weren’t there at the time are such a rare breed. nice to meet another!

[best-tv-theme-song]

Polls will start to be posted within the next week or so.

Bracket list under the cut!

UPDATE: LIST CANCELLED

*Starred shows have multiple theme songs or I have combined shows in a franchise in an effort to include as much as possible. These will have preliminaries built-into their polls on the first round. This is how it works: 1. all of the songs will go into a poll together against one other show; 2. the COMBINED votes for those songs will determine which show wins that poll; 3. only the top voted song for that show/franchise will move on, if the show has won the poll. (If you are confused it will make more sense when we start, I promise!)

The 100

30 Rock

9-1-1*

The Addams Family

Adventure Time*

The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

All That

The Amazing World of Gumball

American Dragon: Jake Long

Animaniacs

Arcane: League of Legends

Arrested Development

Arthur

Assassination Classroom*

Austin & Ally

The Backyardigans

Barney & Friends

Barry

Batman*

Bear in the Big Blue House

Ben 10*

Better Call Saul

Beverly Hills, 90210

The Big Bang Theory

Big Time Rush

Bill Nye the Science Guy

Black Sails

Bluey

Bob the Builder

Bob's Burgers

BoJack Horseman

Bones

Boy Meets World

The Brady Bunch

Breaking Bad

Bridgerton

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Buffy the Vampire Slayer*

Captain Planet and the Planeteers

Charmed

Cheers

Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers

Choo Choo Soul

Code Lyoko

Codename: Kids Next Door

Cold Case

Community

Cory in the House

Cowboy Bebop

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend*

Criminal Minds

CSI*

Cyberchase

Danny Phantom

Daredevil

Dawson's Creek

Death Note*

Desperate Housewives

Detective Conan

Dexter

Dexter's Laboratory

Diff'rent Strokes

Digimon*

Doctor Who*

Dora the Explorer

Downton Abbey

Dragon Ball*

Dragon Tales

Drake & Josh

Ducktales*

ER

Ever After High

The Fairly OddParents

Firefly

The Flintstones

Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

Fraggle Rock

Frasier

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Friends

Fringe

Full House

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood*

Futurama

Game of Thrones

George Lopez

George of the Jungle

Gilmore Girls

Glee

The Golden Girls

Good Omens

Gravity Falls

Grey's Anatomy

H2O: Just Add Water

Hannah Montana

Hannibal

Happy Days

Hawaii Five-0*

His Dark Materials

Horrible Histories

House, M.D.

How I Met Your Mother

How It's Made

Hunter × Hunter

Huntik: Secrets & Seekers

I Dream of Jeannie

I Love Lucy

iCarly

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

The Jeffersons

Jeopardy!

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure*

Jonas

Justice League

Kim Possible

The Last of Us

Laverne & Shirley

Law & Order*

LazyTown

The Legend of Vox Machina

Leverage

Lilo & Stitch: The Series

Little Einsteins

Lizzie McGuire

Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies

The Love Boat

M*A*S*H

Mad Men

Madoka Magica*

The Magic School Bus

Malcolm in the Middle

The Mandalorian

The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Merlin

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood

Mob Psycho 100

The Monkees

Monster High

The Muppet Show

Murder, She Wrote

Murdoch Mysteries

My Babysitter's a Vampire

My Hero Academia*

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

The Nanny

Naruto*

NCIS

Neon Genesis Evangelion

The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

New Girl

NFL (various network themes)*

Ninjago

The O.C.

The Office

One Day at a Time*

One Piece

Only Murders in the Building

Orange Is the New Black

Ouran High School Host Club

The Owl House

Parks and Recreation

The Partridge Family

Phil of the Future

Phineas and Ferb

Pinky and the Brain

Pippi Longstocking

Pokémon*

Power Rangers

The Powerpuff Girls

Pretty Little Liars

The Price Is Right

The Proud Family

Psych

Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure

Reading Rainbow

Reba

Red Dwarf

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Riverdale

Rugrats

Sabrina the Teenage Witch

Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat

Sailor Moon

Sanford and Son

Saturday Night Live

Schitt's Creek

Scooby-Doo*

Scrubs

Seinfeld

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Sesame Street

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Sherlock

The Simpsons

Smallville

Sofia the First

Sonny with a Chance

The Sopranos

Spider-Man

SpongeBob SquarePants

Star Trek (instrumental themes)*

Star Trek: Enterprise

Star vs. the Forces of Evil

Stargate*

Steven Universe

Stranger Things

Succession

The Suite Life of Zack and Cody*

Suits

Taskmaster

Ted Lasso

Teen Titans

Teen Wolf

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Teletubbies

That '70s Show

That's So Raven

Theory of Love

Thomas & Friends

Tokyo Ghoul

Total Drama

Totally Spies!

Transformers*

True Blood

The Twilight Zone

Twin Peaks

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

VeggieTales

Veronica Mars

Victorious

Voltron: Legendary Defender

W.I.T.C.H.

The Walking Dead

WandaVision*

Welcome Back, Kotter

The West Wing

Westworld

What We Do in the Shadows

The White Lotus

Wild Kratts

Winx Club

The Wire*

The Witcher

Wizards of Waverly Place

Wonder Pets!

Wonder Woman

Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!

The X-Files

Xena: Warrior Princess

Yellowjackets

Yu-Gi-Oh!*

Yuri on Ice

Zoboomafoo

Zoey 101

[revasserium]

Hello sweets

How are you? I really hope you are doing well!

Can you please if I'm not bothering you have number 8 with Wakatoshi?

reqs are open :)

8. larger than fiction

ushijima; 1,283 words; fluff, one-sided love, but it's literally not angst. just trust me on this one lol.

when you think of superheroes, you do not think of him.

you do not think of the way his raw strength and power might be a blessing from the gods. you do not think of how his absolute trust and knowledge in his own abilities might be thrust upon him by some careless divinity. you do not think he was chosen or birthed into this world with his one purpose already pressed into the curves of his body, the lines of his hands.

“uwah… wakatoshi-kun is really blessed, isn’t he?”

you blink, looking up from your sideways phone, propped up on your desk, playing the newest mv of the latest boyband debut.

“he is?”

this time, its your friend who blinks back at you, stuttering.

“you… you don’t think so?”

you quirk your lips, eyes sliding back to the mv, where a boy with cherry lips and fire-engine hair is winking at the camera.

“no. not really,” you say, taking a long sip of your half-finished strawberry milk, thinking back to the events of the past summer.

b-bam! thump-thump-thump. b-bam!

“out,” you say, squinting at the place where the ball had landed, just a hair’s-breath beyond the line. by the time you look back up, he is already standing back, another ball in his hands.

“one more,” he says, as he tosses, his heels rocking back for a second before he takes his first step, and then another. you watch as he jumps, his entire body a defiance, a motion against the pull of the earth, the laws of gravity — he reaches up with a hand drawn behind his head and when he swings it forward to meet the falling arc of the ball, you swear the earth beneath you shudders.

b-bam!

ushijima lets out a breath, looking up at you from the other side of the fluttering net, and you wonder briefly if you were to map out all the different parts of him onto a gridded scale, parse him out into perfect squares, which bits might be the ones that contain all that strength, all that perseverance. and then, you laugh to yourself, nodding as you shoot him a thumbs up to signal — good, this last one was good.

he smiles, nods, and walks back to the baseline.

what a stupid question, you think, because the answer is, and has always been, obvious —

all of him.

in the hallway, the bell rings.

“ah… isn’t it a little sad?”

“what, that that volleyball-idiot ushiwaka doesn’t even realize that the prettiest girl in our year is in love with him?”

“yeah… i mean, really — how thick can he be? poor girl.”

you finish your strawberry milk and click off your phone.

“nee — you wanna come watch a movie with us tonight?”

you flash your well-meaning friend a smile, but you shake your head.

“sorry. i’ve got plans.”

b-bam! thump-thump-thump. b-bam!

“again,” he says, already picking up another ball.

outside, the sun has long since set, and the moon and stars have shed their cloaks of silver-kissed clouds. the night is deep and dark and laden with the sweet promises of youth — out there, teenagers just like you are laughing, eating popsicles, trading texts, watching movies, chatting about the latest manga updates, but here, it’s just you and him and one more ball.

briefly, you think of the walk home later, of how he’ll diligently walk on the outside of the sidewalk, of how he’ll watch to make sure you close the door before he’ll turn and leave. you think of how the following morning, he’ll be there at 7:45am right on the dot, and how he’ll bow to your mom as she thanks him for taking care of you.

b-bam! thump-thump-thump. b-bam!

“and… that’s one hundred!” you say, smiling wide as you reach out to pick up the scattered volleyballs around you, tossing them at him one at a time, watching as he diligently returns each to the large blue ball-bin with a dig. the ones he misses, he picks up to toss back to you, so he can try again.

“thanks,” he says, when the two of you have finished locking up the gymnasium, turning towards the main road where the bus stop is. out here, girls giggle in pastel pleated skirts, lips glittering with strawberry-flavored gloss. out here, boys gather in clusters to hype each other up before shoving one of them towards a group of giggling girls. out here, the summer ebbs and flows, crests and crashes against the jagged reefs of oncoming adulthood, and ushijima walks beside you, one hand on his sports bag, the other tucked into his jersey pocket.

“no problem,” you say, as you get to your front door and he stills to wait for you to walk away. you grin, waving a hand over your shoulder, “same time tomorrow?”

“un.”

you do not turn to check if he’s still watching.

months later, when they lose to karasuno, you don’t tell him you’re sorry, or that he did the best he could.

because both of you know that his strength and power comes not from the gods, but from uncountable hours of condition-training, and that his absolute trust and knowledge of his own abilities comes not from divinity, but from an entire lifetime of trying and failing, and trying again until failure is no longer a word in his dictionary.

because neither of you think that he was chosen for this, because you know that this is the choice, and that he is the maker. and that every morning, he wakes up to make it, again, and again, and again.

because he is not a superhero, so this losing is not a tragedy.

because he is not a superhero, and this is just one more tally on the calluses and tick-marks that mar his hands from the number of times he’s fallen and gotten back up again to find that you were right there by his side.

“tonight,” he says on the bus-ride back to school, where goshiki is sniffling next to a perplexed tendou, where shirabu is methodically un-taping each of his fingers, he turns to you with a steady, hard-lined look in his eyes.

“we practice a hundred more spikes.”

you nod, leaning against the back of your seat with a soft smile.

“alright,” you say, you don’t need to look to know that he’s smiling too.

“thank you,” he says, when, after some unnamable hours of spike-practice, you’re finally locking up for the day.

“yeah, of course,” you say.

“you… you’re my best friend,” he says. on your usual walk home, the main street is quiet for once, because it’s so damn late. you wonder if your parents will be worried, but then again, they know who you’re with, so they’ve no reason to be anyway.

“yeah,” you say, “i know.”

you turn to find him looking at you, and you wonder if you were to parse yourself into perfect squares, which bits of you ushijima would be most afraid of losing. and the answer comes, obvious, as the stars that shine bright in the night —

all of you.

because he is not a superhero, and you have never needed anyone’s saving.

because he is just a boy, who’s first and only love is the sport he plays. and you’re just a girl, who wouldn’t have him any other way.

[watery-melon-baller]

Hi! I'm wondering why you chose to share a blog, as two people. Which of you uses it more often? Do you tend to post different things?

this is a great question with a long answer! also tumblr deleted my first answer to this because it's a shit. also this is all lilac speaking

so way back years ago aru wrote a silly little crack fic. i was immensly entertained by this and was like you should post it online. so i made an ao3 acc called watery_meln_baller bc "our fics are so bad they make you want to water melon ball your eyes out". we used to have a whole taglline about using the kudos as a dislike button it was great. over time aru wroye a few more crack fics and i would post them for aru.

then i decided to take a crack (ha) at writing crack fic and was nervous about it, and since th waterymelonballer acc was for crack fics i just uploaded it on there instead of making my own. i had never written fic before and then it blew up and i was like oh damn. im famous. and then i started getting FANART for the fic and people were like do you have a tumblr so i can tag you?? and i was like okay. time to make a tumblr! i did not excpect to actually use it for anything besides being a place where i could post updates and behind the scenes stuff for fanfics

after identity fraud i went back to barely using the account. around the same time aru got into like, danny phantom n shit and then they started using the account a bunch. and began posting podfics, and non-crack fics. so aru used the tumblr for a while, and then they abandoded around the same time i started getting into toh and writing WAB. then i took over the account, started posting shit, and now i've been using it conistsently ever since! oops, sorry aru. ive got a whole circle of mutuals its a great time we are all buddies. aru will pop on here and post occasionally its great. tthere was a bit of time where we weren't talking as much bc of life but now we're back to regular texting and being buddies. but tbh if i had to share a tumblr account with anyone, aru would be the best :]

i do have a seperate art accoutn i made a while back. i want to use it more but. ah. im lazy and forget to use it regualry so i just post fanart on it once in a blue moon. its here if u wanna check it out