#Can you believe it I was actually going to end the comic here lol

[mmiotw]

[genericpuff]

LORE | REKINDLED EPISODE 41 - TOWER 4

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Nothing quite sets in the holiday spirit like SPOOOOKY SHIT-

Can you believe it's been a year since Rekindled actually started? The way time flies when you're having fun. I had actually forgotten I had redrawn a lot of those first few episodes when I made it an official "thing" (i.e. when I put it on an update schedule and signed my life away foreverrr /j) so tracing back when Rekindled officially 'began' had me finding old versions of those first few episodes that were oooooof bro-

Okay, but for real, Rekindled's come a long way, and it still has a long way to go still which makes me so excited. As much as those who see what I do here like to assume it's purely out of spite and hate, I really do love working on this comic, and that includes the part of the process where I revisit old episodes of LO that, even after everything, I still love. The newer seasons may be dead to me, but what it used to be has a special place in my heart, and Rekindled has really helped me explore what could have been. It's made Saturday nights a thrill for me again - I get to enjoy two whole doses of LO content now, with a fun balance of flavors that makes being a part of this community twice as fun as normal. You could say it's really rekindled my flame for LO-

A very special thanks to @banshriek, who's helped me bring Rekindled to a whole new level that wouldn't exist without them. They've been an amazing assistant and a wonderful friend and I'm so thankful to have them in my corner <3

And thank you! All of you, for following along with Rekindled, reading my essays, destroying my ask inbox, and just being an awesome community full of awesome people. I've got a busy year ahead with lots of stuff planned, from art markets and expos to plot threads in Rekindled that I'm hyped af to get to; not to mention Lore Olympus officially ends this year, meaning I'll undoubtedly have loads to talk about (which fills me with both a strange sense of excitement and dread at the same time LOL) I'm gonna try and take it all in the best spirit that I can, I wanna come out of this shit sparkling like one of Hades' diamond golf balls.

Let's make 2024 a fucking banger.

[celaenaeiln]

Just how true do you think the sentiment of “bruce was still a child who didnt get to grow up/move on until he met dick”?

Very true! Actually-Alfred straight up says it-true!

This scene is when Dick was accepted by Batman to become robin.

I was actually going to use this for another Dick and Alfred post but let me just drop it here that Dick cares about Alfred so much!!

Like this boy is the sweetest, most caring person ever. He asks the butler if it's okay for him to become robin-who does that?! Who would think of doing that?! He's the most considerate, softest baby ever! The tiny, nervous, shy smile on his face in the second panel <33333

Here's the answer: "And while he most certainly became a man...I don't think he ever became an adult."

But Alfred says it twice!

"But Alfred always used to say Bruce would have self-destructed if he hadn't met me and learned some responsibility."

My other post about Bruce and Dick has a lot of images that talk about this idea too

That's why I love Bruce and Dick's relationship so much. They are so codependent on each other. While Bruce saved Dick (not from being angry. He wasn't an angry robin, istg.), Bruce also would have died without Dick.

Before Bruce met Dick, he was on a one way track to his own ending. He was reckless, didn't take precautions, and was on the verge of being consumed by the darkness of which he was fighting.

At this time, a boy came along that shined light down upon him (literally because of the circus stage lights lol) and he was taken by him instantly.

With a new partner-a child-by his side Bruce was forced to take precautions, learn how to operate as a human being, and was just happy to have someone who bright and cheerful. He used Dick as an emotional crutch from losing his mind.

"Still, the addition of Dick Grayson into the Master's crusade has made a difference in him."

"I do believe I saw him smile. There have even been occasions in the pantry when I could just discern the muffled sounds of laughter echoing up from the dreadful cavern beneath the manor."

There are so many occasions where Alfred talks about how extraordinarily important Dick is to Bruce.

Dick raised Bruce.

To borrow a lyric line that explains this:

"Take a broken man right in my hands And then put back all his parts"

Dick's "i can fix him" issues which are a massive part of his relationship with Deathstroke come from acting as a child parent to Bruce.

But the greatest part?

He still is.

Again and again and again. Dick is the only person Bruce relies on. He never tells anyone his secrets or worries unless that person is Dick. And often he bears the brunt of the work by his family. Both Tim and Jason have gotten angry at him for taking Bruce's side or supporting Bruce but the thing is, he's the only one who can next to Alfred. Tim has accused and praised him of being too much like Batman sometimes but when you raise a kid (adult-sized) I think you're bound to forgive them while also admonishing them for their mistakes.

They also use Dick as the unofficial spokesperson to talk to Bruce

"Hey. Tim told me about Zur. Are you alright?"

Side note: Tim tried talking to Bruce earlier but Bruce kept ignoring his concerns.

For each robin, Dick acts as the emotional go between Bruce and them.

Jason:

Jason's sad face :'(

That moment meant so much to him

Tim:

Another reason why Dick and Tim are so close is because Dick acted like the parent during Tim's robin era. It wasn't until recent comics that they had Bruce actually even caring about Tim.

Damian:

Also Dick and Damian father and son moment <33

Dick the fixer upper. Always fixing everyone's family issues. With each other or with Bruce.

Also the scene of Martha Wayne thanking Dick

There's a comic panel where Bruce says "Dick is the glue that holds the family together."

Dick is literally the light of his life. Without him Bruce would've lost it. It was the perfect combination of Dick's cheerful personality, strong ethics, and tragic backstory that caused Bruce to take him in and it was these same traits that helped him grow. Because Dick's distinguishable trait is that he humanizes people. And Dick humanized and raised Bruce.

[tblsomedoodles]

Why are you here? Comic

They're dumbasses, your honor. Like, at this moment, neither of them actually believe they're sibling. (Mikey and Leo are dead set on it but these two are skeptical.) Yet they spend two minutes alone and devolve into sibling bickering. something i had not planned on when i went to make this comic. They did this on their own lol!

Bonus Traximus Reaction to finding his ward bickering like a child with one of the newbies

Honestly, it's actually a pretty important moment for both Rafa and Traximus. Rafa because that's that's the moment they realize Donny has like no self preservation instinct, so if he won't protect himself, Rafa will, while he's around to do it at least. It's important for Traximus b/c for the first time in years, he's seeing his ward acting like a child and he pretty much decides right then and there that 1) They're definitely siblings, and 2) if these 3 strangers actually manage to escape this place, he is making Rafa go with them.

Anyways, here's my little experiment with limited color pallets. I'm not sure i'll do this again b/c it was kinda annoying to figure out the colors first (especially since i knew i wanted both variations of red and purple but couldn't find a good pallet for that. Thus i ended up with this one.)

ps. Donny's shoulder is a reoccurring problem at this point b/c he won't let it rest long enough to heal properly. The injury first happened during "shredder strikes back" events and since Donny decided to start his training pretty much immediately upon getting to the farm house, it hasn't had the rest it needs to properly recover. theoretically, it should be healed by now, but he keeps pushing himself and re-injuring it, a fact he's been hiding as much as he possibly can.

[gaycrittercentral]

Welp it’s not Halloween anymore (and actually these pictures are from last year hkkhljhl) but who give a shit y'all wanna see my goofy lil Sam costume :D if you were here for my Halloween stream then you already saw this but if not then LOOKIT MY SUIT BOY

Fun fact, I made all this last year and meant to post it then but I was just too lazy whoops. So I'm tryin to do better this time around, lmaoooo. Anyway yeah! Samb costume!! If you wanna hear how I made some of the elements for this and gathered up the rest, feel free to check out my ramblings under the cut :Dc

This was such a fun project. A lot of elements were of course just staples of businesswear, like I found the suit jacket at H&M and the pants at Target (and hemmed them because I love men's pants but they don't love my short-ass legs), but some parts were a bit more complicated. The hat, for example, I also found at Target, but it had the wrong kind of band, so I just took that off and hand sewed on a length of wide black ribbon in its place. I ain't no milliner or haberdasher or what have you but I feel like it came out pretty ok! And the ears were an element that I figured would be a fun addition lol, they are made of fleece I believe? I forget. I gave them a bit of soft stuffing so they're basically two soft pillows, and then safety-pinned them into the inner brim of the hat--that way I can look like a normal person if I ever decide to wear the hat in public lmao.

The tie was an absolute delight to work on. And also torture. Y'know, kind of a 'why not both' moment. I ended up reverse engineering a tie I already had and cannibalizing its inner fabric to make the new one, since I knew I wasn't going to wear the original. The new tie is made with a silky blue fabric that isn't silk that I don't remember what it is because I have a sponge for a brain. Sorry ^^; But basically I replaced the original outer part of the tie with my new fabric and sewed her up by hand (it's not really a machine job as far as I can tell), then painted on the stripes with watered down black fabric paint. I had hoped that watering it down would prevent it from making the fabric stiff, but that didn't end up working because it required so many layers to be opaque, oof. There's probably better ways to go about it, so if you're making your own Sam tie it's worth it to do some more research! Plus, they do sell regular blue ties out there that you could paint. I'm just insane. And tbh I wish I had just bought one but at least I can say I've made a tie now lmaoooo

And I suppose the last element of this is the paper bag Max puppet! I love him so dearly, he was a delight to make ^^ I'd tell you how to make him but why do that when obviously I learned from the original? Make sure to put one in your car ok it's really important

God I love this comic. And I also dearly dearly love how faithfully they adapted it in the cartoon <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3

Anyway that's it that's all I got!! Also because I've never worn this thing out of the house it doesn't have shoes to go with, I just got some brown socks. I figure it fits with Sam as a shoe-hating person lmaooo. ok that's all bye thanks for looking hope y'all had a happy Halloween!!!!

[little-cereal-draws]

ok i see everyone's "ballister and ambrosius as nimona's parents" stuff but i'm going to raise you this

Ballister and Dr. Blitzmeyer as nimona's parents

I know there's the Gay Dad au sanctifying ambrosis as nimona's dad but he seems to get frustrated with Nimona more frequently than Ballister and I kinda got the sense that adopting her was mostly Bal's choice. Don't get me wrong, ambrosius has moments where he enjoys himself and he loves her, but I don't think he's thrilled abt the idea of her being here forever. He gives "good at babysitting but needs to give the child back at a certain point" vibes and obviously he can't do that when it's his kid

However in the Everything Is Fine au (the one where they all live in the cabin in the woods) Blitzmeyer is Nimona's guardian and they move from the city to the woods together, eventually moving in w Bal and Ambrosius.

Besides this au I don't think Blitzmeyer and Nimona ever interact, but I thought it was very interesting how the one time they do, she's also Nimona's guardian (I believe that's the word ND Stevenson uses, not "parent.") Already in this one picture, they look happier than Ambrosius did lol

I'm sure movie ambrosius would be much more willing to try and get to know nimona but what if the sticking point is with her this time? She can't get over what he did to both her and Bal, he reminds her too much of Gloreth, she's still wary of anyone that was that ingrained in the institute, and a million other things. She knows he's really trying and feels bad about everything but bc of all she's been through, she's not quick to trust people who betrayed her. Especially if she's only had bad interactions with them until this point. She avoids/shuts down his attempts to connect with her and is generally closed off and angry when he's there. It's like a kid hating their new stepparent lol Both Bal and Ambrosius know it's nothing personal, just the defense mechanism that's kept her safe from people like ambrosius for so long, but it still hurts. Eventually, he gives up trying to reach out to her and figures maybe she'll come to him or maybe they just won't be as close as he hoped.

Now, Bal's weird science friend is someone more Nimona's speed lol Blitzmeyer has somehow remained almost completely immune to institute propaganda, doesn't really care abt breaking things (the law included) if it can further her work in some way, and is just kooky enough to appeal to Nimona. She lets nimona help in the lab and doesn't mind the million questions she asks because that's just another opportunity to talk abt her work. They go on some adventures getting stuff for Blitzmeyer's experiments and really bond. Eventually they become pretty close and Nimona frequently goes out of her way to see Blitzmeyer.

One night late in the lab, Bal mentions that Nimona really likes her and Dr Blitzmeyer is like "really? no, not that much." And Bal's like "no, really that much. About as much as she likes me actually." And then with creeping awareness they both slowly look at each other with the realization that they're co-parenting now and actually have been for a while. After the initial freak out, they keep going almost like normal but throw in an outing every other month or so. They'll take Nimona for ice cream or some other casual thing and she's none the wiser that they've figured her out. One night as they were coming home from a movie or smth Nimona says, "I'm so glad we did this, I love spending time with my two favorite people." Nimona keeps walking but they have to stop to silently freak out to each other a bit lol

The only problem is that they frequently get mistaken for a nuclear family on these outings. And it doesn't help that Bal and Blitzmeyer often refer to each other as "my partner." (They open a lab together at the end of the comic and I think they would as well after the movie, so they are literally business partners and lab partners. But I like to hc them in a queer platonic relationship as well, so the word "partner" has a double meaning here. Ambrosius is Bal's romantic partner and Blitzmeyer is his platonic partner. They all talked abt it, it's all good.) Every time this happens though, Bal has to explain that they're just friends and he actually has a husband back at home. Some people go "ok, 'just friends,' sure. wink wink nudge nudge ;)" or "ok... does your husband know...? That you... and her...? ok, ok." It makes Bal angry when this happens but neither him or Blitzmeyer cares enough to actually do anything about it. Nimona just laughs at the stranger's confusion at their unconventional family.

Anyway, they're just two friends who somehow found themselves raising a 1000 year old shapeshifter together lol Ambrosius is disappointed Nimona didn't like him as much as he hoped but now he can just stay home and vibe lol

[on-leatheredwings]

i've found your account only a few days ago but ever since then I've been STUCK here rereading your fanfics, especially ones with damian. i wasn't even a dc fan (heard about some stuf, watched some films and cartoons, but that's it) but now im reading comics since im Obsessed and need more batboys in my life (rip my productivity😔)

Anyway, after Sleepover i'm curious what will Bruce (and maybe even Thalia) think of batboys strange behaviour towards reader. He's smart, so he definitely notices it early on, but how he'll react....

I can see him being weirded out (like he was by Jason's anger issues, before his death), but he also can be an enabler, since Robin (literaly any of them) had a hard life, so if those relationships can help him why not pretend that everything is normal? you'll be safer in a Wayne's Manor anyway

All in all, thanks for a new hyperfixation 💞💞

P.s. About games:

1. Boyfriend to death 1&2 - since you're into yanderes you might want to check this game out. I prefer the second game, but the first is also fun. But beware the trigger warnings!!

2. Long live the Queen - more of a raising sim than dating sim but you still can romance some guys and girls.

,3. Hatoful Boyfriend - mostly a comedy, but there is a yandere.

4. The Royal Trap - it's been a long time since i played it, but it used to be one of my favorites so i'll just mention it.

5. Higurashi - once again not really a romance sim, but its an interesting horror mixed with a slice of life

;A; AWWWW THANK YOU IM SO HAPPY YOU LIKE MY STUFF.... THAT MAKES ONE OF US GIJSDOFAFGHFOJDSD

and yes yes get into DC!!! (girl who hasnt even read a full run since like. injustice)

damn now you got me thinking and excited. incoming spiel

i agree entirely about bruce just knowing how Bad things can get, so to make things simpler, he's like "yes, your darling(s) can stay in the manor, boys. 🙄"

mmm yes..... when it comes to bruce noticing the batboys are yandere, i think it's always sinfully delightful to just have him be reluctantly okay with it. 😈 it's also easier narratively ngl but i also like the idea that the batfam is all just corrupted.

bruce's thoughts are that they (his sons) fight for vengeance and justice but this is where they could use some leeway.... we all need our vice... they fight so hard for gotham, they deserve a little treat (getting rid of your human rights)... it's very "Dad who wants his sons to have happiness even if its not healthy" of him. in fics where bruce is a yandere, well, he's the exact same way so he can't judge. although if that's the case, i like the idea of bruce just being like "yes what we do isn't right. let's not talk about it. just don't kill <3"

still wondering what i like more. a yan!bruce who's self aware what he's doing is wrong but he just refuses to think about it. or a yan!bruce that justifies it all because of his paranoia, Tower of Babel style (if you don't know, that's when it's revealed batman has plans to subdue/kill the justice league just in case they go rogue.)

for the batboys depends on their personality... for damian, he's so resolute in things that i prefer when he just believes 100% what he's doing is okay, if not actually righteous. ^_^

hmmm talia.... I'M STILL UNSURE HOW I PREFER THAT AS WELL... i think talia being a you-arent-good-enough-for-my-son mom is a little cliche but also. she kinda would say that. you'd have to prove your worth somehow but idk how tf darling would do that LOL. in the end, i think talia is just relieved/comforted that her son indeed feels desire and wants love and will continue the family legacy (regardless if youre afab/can biologically have children.)

no THANK YOU FOR THE ASK!!! AND THANKS FOR RECS!!!! heheh yeah ive checked out btd and im not averse to the warnings its more like im not that most of into the designs ngl. fox guy seems cute? AND LMAO FUNNY BC IM ON A HIGURASHI REWATCH (never played it tho)

[circuscountdowns]

Hi! Wanted to start off by saying that I LOVE your cotl art its such a huge inspiration to me :D! I recently picked up drawing again and I've unfortunately been upset? envious?! of others' skills and just wanted to ask if you ever experienced this as a fellow artist and if so how do you not do that lol. Sorry for the weird question. I just thought some insight and advice from a fellow artist could helo. BUT I hope you still have a nice day and look forward to any more cotl art or anything you draw really :D!!! (also is okay if you don't answer it is a loaded question I just be in a silly goofy mood lately okay bye!)

oh wow being on the receiving end of a question like this is surreal, I’m honored my work inspires you! Thank u, you’re sweet, it’s not a loaded question at all! Here’s my long reply sorry

so unfortunately that comparing yourself to others thing doesn’t go away ever asdfgjkl. I suffer it every day, it sucks, feels bad. I’ve had industry people tell me they feel this way and they’ll have some of the most gorgeous visdev/boards/animation I’ve ever seen. Disheartening to hear, But! I’m a big believer that comparing your artworks with others is best used as a tool and not a punishment to yourself!

When looking at art you like, try to turn thoughts of, “Man I wish my stuff looked like that, my shit sucks,” to, “What is it that I like about this piece? The line art? The perspective?” Sometimes I’ll see work with thin line art and I’ll get an itch, and I’ll draw something with thin line art. It’s a conscious effort of keepin emotion out of that itch, keeping it as, “I saw art with thin lines, I want to do that. Yay I did that!” Compartmentalize it, the itch was simply to do thin line work, not to remake the piece you were inspired by. And you got a piece of art out of it, and a single piece is progress no matter how small!

If you want to compare, do it methodically! Why does my work look different (never use the words better or worse)! Oh, I see my piece doesn’t follow the rule of thirds, so the framing is different, I’ll be aware of that next time if it bothers me. Or, Oh I see they shade by hatching along with the form, I’ve just been going horizontally, I’ll try that other way!

it’s a learning curve of training yourself, like all corrective behavior.

like, I kinda have the warning feeling of dread when I’m about to compare my work with something, so before the self-deprecating thought can even start I have to think What do I Like about this?

I’m no expert at it, though. Actually getting myself to think this way is a struggle, but I find when I make Thoughtful Observations I level up. Not by a lot most times, but yknow.

and this part is just my personal experience:

Fanart and the internet can be the biggest Art skill killer sometimes. Get offline and cater to the audience that Really matters to your passion: You! I improved the most by spending 2-3 years doing doodles/comics/models for my dnd campaign ocs because I was that obsessed and I simply wanted to have it for me!

and after all that, then there’s the hardest skill of just accepting your work as is.

like, to me, my work is just scribbles. I see other artists’ stuff and go “Man they’re so good at comics and colors, man, why can’t I color?” But do I need to??? I don’t like coloring, do I need to be good at it? This isn’t a career, this is supposed to be fun! I scribble because I like it! I’m glad this persons good at coloring, I don’t need to be! Yay!

if I Want to be good at it, I’ll take the steps to get there! But if not, my scribbles are just fine :) I love black and white and values

I’ve been having that one on repeat for a while. It helps

(acceptance and denial go hand in hand btw lol they sound the same)

I wish there was a little off button for envy, but ah well! I hope that you take comfort in knowing we are all feeling it, and find joy in even the smallest little doodle you make! Have fun stay goofy!

[dorkfruit]

i put this together using my computer's trackpad so the new year is already starting out . bad .

posts: J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D

template

reflections on the year, my plans for the future, some studies i did, and wips for the next year all down below for those who are interested

tldr; we will be ianthing next year so watch out!!

oh dear lord it's been another year. 2024! can you believe it! i don't talk much on this blog because i have a tendency to talk too much, but it's my little new year's treat, so here we go.

RECAP

i started taking drawing "seriously" in December of 2020, starting to do studies and stuff, and each year since i've ramped it up more and more. this year, i did. a lot of studies. there's probably like at least 200 more in my folder now (not including the 300 days worth of gesture drawings i did), with things like painting, faces, feet, poses, etc. anything i was struggling with, i went right into studying it. my art has been mediocre for a pretty long time now, and it's only the past few months where i feel i'm starting to get the hang of it, which is exciting!

more importantly, i started posting a lot more on this blog. i really like documenting my progress, looking on where i was before and seeing how i've improved. everytime i draw some fanart, im like, oooghh i can't wait to show my (: followers (: !! lots of locked tomb art of course. i've been trying to nail the energy of the different characters, which is why i enjoy books so much, because you get a lot of creative control. drawing ianthe is my fav of course, cause she's my lil nasty, but also i enjoyed doing designs for characters i hadnt thought about before, like judith.

in addition to the locked tomb, we had some new fandoms that got brief moments in between iantheposting: Fear and Hunger, Postal, Faith The Unholy Trinity, and a couple of old ones too, like We Have Always Lived In The Castle and The Merciless.

i posted about 115 times this year, although most of those are shitposts LOL i love posting stuff on my blog and showing people my stuff <3

THE FUTURE

my plans? do more ianthe art, of course. ill be working on more studies, probably going to work on developing a style, and figuring out how to paint. i'd like to do more actually finished pieces, but let's be honest, it'll still be mostly shitpost doodles. i'd like to do more weird stuff. i've been messing around with some gore and NSFW near the end of the year, and it's fun to draw for me. i like idk art that evokes some type of emotion, especially discomfort, and so i find that type of art fun to do, so if you don't enjoy what i've done thus far in that direction, perhaps this isn't the blog for you. i really like horror media, and so i want to do some stuff like that too.

for specifics, i like western type art, a comic book-esque style i'd like to aim for. but i'd like it to be a little more. weird with it. i find comic books often draw all the characters the same, and make all the characters traditionally attractive, and that's boring to me so i'll have to work on finding a way to keep things weird, while also appealing in a graphic sense. the worst thing my art could be is bland and forgettable.

locked tomb wise... more tridentarii art. need to be really weird with it. i have lots of wips planned, like i have a whole page worth of just thumbnails, so i wanna get some of those done. also i had a few animatics i wanted to do. mostly stupid shit, once i learn how to do animatics, then we'll do actual serious ones. id also like to do more comics. i have some comics storyboarded out with my girlies, i like telling a story so, need practice on that. id also like to develop a way to consistently draw them, for convenience sakes, so i'm not fighting for my life every single time i draw these characters. oh and i wanna do some outfit stuff. i draw them in like. generic clothes everytime but i'd like to come up with a few actual outfit designs, that i can just reference back to. and, of course, more shitposts. lots of stupid shit in 2024 for sure. there was something else i wanted to say here but i can't remember.

ART

oki enough rambling, here's some IMAGES for yall to look at i know everyone loves to look at images.

began this year by warming up with gesture sketches (almost) every day. i started with 20 poses (30 seconds each), and then in november i was like. ugh my hands suck i need to get better at hands, so i switched to doing 10 hand sketches (60 seconds each). i want my art to be very energetic so it's important that i do these !!

anatomy studies of extremities because i'm flopping at those -_- ive gotten better with hands but they're still a struggle. i hate feet tho still

need to get my painting game up. i joined an art forum to get advice, and the biggest suggestion i got was working on my values, so i did various value studies. also lots of faces because my faces flop !!

random doodles to work on drawing from imagination. on my "sketchbook" pages, as i like to call them, i'm usually pretty loose and messy, since the point is just to be drawing so often these will suck, but that's fine. i don't think very much when i draw faces on here either so they end up being in my Instinctive Style i suppose you could say

ianthe wip. i was planning to do a few drawings based on the idea of her having Missing Arm nightmares, but the lineart was intimidating to me so i haven't worked on this one more yet /: also there was going to be a toontown gay homosexual toxic yuri comic that i was gonna put here with it but the page is way too long so umm guess that'll have to wait.

...

anyways. thank you for reading if you got to the bottom of this! i appreciate all the support that i've been getting lately (extra big kissies for the same like 5 people who always reblog my posts youre the best). and we will be ianthing soo hard in 2024 so watch out!!

[thatturtleleon]

TFP Human Hcs Pt. 2

Note: I love this scene, just look at them LMAO, also here's pt.1

Raf

so this is a bit of a newer headcanon i have of him, but i feel like he's transmasc or genderfluid

raf never really cared about gender roles and things like that, but he overheard miko talking about how she didn't mind being called a girl or a boy or whatever people wanted to call her

he asked her about it and she replied saying she knew herself better than anyone else so it didn't matter what other people thought or wanted to label her, she knew who she was and that's the important part

miko then went back to talking about monster trucks or something and raf's just *cue the mind blown emoji*

lol i love them

he definitely went as the Dr Emmett guy from back to the future or as some mad scientist character for halloween

is actually pretty ok at drawing, just doesn't enjoy it as a hobby that much

LOVES learning about cybertron and its history and everything about it

at first ratchet thought all of raf's questions were annoying but grew to appreciate his curiosity

raf prefers asking ratchet any questions he has about cybertron because optimus goes on telling a long memory/story and trails off from the original question (raf's a sweet kid tho, he listens through the whole thing), while ratchet gives more straightforward answers

dog person

Jack

him and miko have "try not to laugh" challenges (raf's the judge) and usually wins

one time however, miko did something unintentionally funny while doing the challenge and jack let out the loudest screeching laugh they've ever heard, like the type of laugh that bubbles up and explodes when you're trying to hold it in

dated sierra for a little while, then sierra came out as lesbian, they still remained good friends though

(leon try not to HC every girl as a lesbian challenge, failed.)

considered going into the medical field like his mom did but decided it wasn't for him later on

in the future he eventually got a job with the government thanks to agent fowler

goes to drive-in theaters with raf and bumblebee but always ends up falling asleep

bought a mini blue motorcycle figurine and carries it in his bag

cat and dog person

favorite song is "roll on (eighteen wheeler)" by Alabama

discovered that he and optimus had similar taste in music (country music ofc) and plays some songs in the base if it's just him

Miko

makes fun of jack for liking country music

cat person (canonly has cats i believe) but she loves dogs too, except for the crusty tiny white dogs that old people have

drew bulkhead and herself together fighting some decepticons and framed the picture for him as a gift

he cried lol

speaking of gifts, she told the bots about birthdays and all of them immediately wanted to know when all the kid's birthdays were

bulkhead and some of the others took her to a monster truck event and she had the time of her life it was amazing

actually got jack into some of the music she likes, and they like going to smaller concerts around town

she bonds with raf by getting into comics and graphic novels, they both enjoy sci-fi ones

definitely doodles all over her desk at school, especially when she's in detention

although she's VERRYY extroverted, whenever she gets a crush on someone or thinks they're pretty, she gets a little quieter/shyer; not a lot but you can tell

jams out to metal music with bulkhead (canon)

i don't remember if this is canon or not, but she has a bag with pins and stuff she's collected over the years

her bookbag has doodle marks all over it, like little stars and swirls and stuff, very much a miko bookbag

[genericpuff]

Why is the art so unappealing in lore Olympus now Persephone looks like a highlighter and maybe it’s just me but the proportions like the fingers in arms are soul over the place I don’t think they used to be this bad. Am I just looking at it with nostalgia or am I crazy ?

Honestly, nostalgia does play a huge part in it, even to this day there are times I look back on old S1 panels and go-

Actually here's a great example that literally just happened yesterday in the ULO Discord that nearly had me on the floor LOL This is from Episode 70:

Like I didn't even believe that that was real until I was told what episode it was from and I was just. Astounded and flabbergasted. The over-shading of the blanket that just makes it look like a really bad edit. Insane.

And yeah, there are a lot of old panels that hit different now that the rose-colored glasses have been removed, crushed, and thrown into the trash compactor.

I think that's why it makes it all the more amusing when people come into my inbox and ask me "wait, why did you like LO to begin with?? It's always been ugly as shit, I think you're just romanticizing it" because like... there's something to be said about art and subjectivity, even if something is ugly to one person doesn't mean it isn't beautiful to someone else. It's why I try not to be too mean towards the fans of this comic for still enjoying it, because while I definitely have strong opinions about how "LO has gotten worse" and what kind of following Rachel has cultivated (cough cough), there are also just as equally valid arguments that LO has never begin good to begin with that I can't necessarily disagree with now that I'm looking back on it with a more critical eye.

That said, there's tons of media that I enjoy that is objectively awful. Like y'all, you don't need to take my opinions about a dumb pink x blue fantasy romance comic seriously, I like Starfox Adventures-

Like yeah it's a badly made rushed piece of shit that was developed right on the ass end of Rare's glory days and was really an original IP (Dinosaur Planet) that got Frankenstein'd into a Starfox game so it could "sell better" for Nintendo, but I don't give a fuck, I love Starfox Adventures and some day I wanna be in the top 10 speedrunner leaderboards for it, which I know doesn't mean much because no one is speedrunning Starfox, but I do and no one can take that away from me dammit-

Anyways. Lore Olympus has, in many regards, always had "bad art". But "bad art" can and should still be enjoyed by those who find joy in it.

And in LO's case, the world it existed in when it launched was a lot smaller than it is now - more specifically, the world of Webtoons. We can look back and see how 'bad' LO looks and reads now because there are genuinely way better comics surrounding it. It was unique and refreshing and experimental back then... now it's just "that stupid blue and pink comic for horny teenagers".

In most cases I would consider that "cringing in hindsight" feeling a good thing because normally it means something has grown and that it seeming "bad" in hindsight would mean that it's outgrown itself and moved onto bigger things. But LO has the more unique problem of "its current stuff is shit and it's making us want the old stuff more, even if the old stuff wasn't good either". In that regard, LO is closer to being like Harry Potter. Remember when The Cursed Child came out at the height of Rowling being exposed for being a TERF and even people who liked Harry Potter didn't like The Cursed Child because it was just objectively worse overall (with or without Rowling's bullshit attached)? It made a lot of people go back and re-read / rewatch Harry Potter with a more objective lens and go "wait a minute guys, I think we only adored these books so much because we were 12 when we read them". Often times it's the good memories we have surrounding certain things that make us have the opinion about them that we do.

Of course, LO is definitely not as politically weaponized as Harry Potter is, so that's where that comparison ends. But my point is that LO is definitely in a situation where it's been riding off the same privileges it had back in 2018 - having an 'experimental' art style while also utilizing tropes and characters that were VERY popular at the time (remember that 2017-18 was when Tumblr was at its height of H x P "Hades was a chill accountant guy who wore socks and sandals and didn't cheat on his wife like Zeus did" fantasizing) - and thinks that those same tricks and tropes will still work today.

Because of this, the art in LO really, really hasn't aged well, even the stuff that we look back on fondly. But I think it's the panels that we specifically think of when remembering "old LO" - the ones that stuck in our memories the most - that are the ones that make us miss or just not care about the panels that don't look good (the panels that make people question why we ever liked it to begin with).

We liked it because of how it made us feel to look at panels like these-

Those genuinely wonderful panels that we think back on the most don't exist separately from the bad panels, they exist in spite of them. Even if we can look back on panels like these and pick out problems in the lineart or the proportions or the color travelling outside of the lines, that can't and shouldn't change how those panels made us feel at some point or another. And that's why when people ask me "why were you even into LO in the first place" I don't have any one answer, because I can't fully explain how something made me feel to justify why it's good to someone who can see from the outside - without rose-colored glasses - that it evidently isn't. It's very much a "you had to be there" type of thing.

Unfortunately, nowadays even the 'best' LO panels in S3 still don't come close to what the S1 panels accomplished - because for many of us, the rose-colored glasses are gone, we can't appreciate the good among the bad because we know now how bad it truly is and so the good just feels like wasted attempts at trying to recreate something it can no longer be. It "came back wrong" so to speak.

LO came back just regular. But our journey to resurrecting it changed us to such a degree that even its closest intimacies are now foreign to us. Sorry dude.

This is still probably one of my favorite panels out of the entirety of S3 for being as close to "old LO" as I've seen since S2, and even it feels like a mistake, an accident, how could a panel like this exist in S3 when so much of it is a dumpster fire? It's like a flower growing in the ruins of an apocalyptic wasteland.

But wasn't that always the case? Isn't that 'always' what LO has been, since the very beginning? A poorly cobbled together mess of writing and panels that, every now and then, manages to leave an impression that makes you feel something? Did we ever truly know LO? Or have we just been relying entirely on an idea of it that we've built up in our heads that when it does do exactly what it's evidently always done (even if not made apparent until looking back on it in hindsight) we think it "came back wrong"?

[gunilslaugh]

i know everyone tells you this but you do literally carry the xreader fandom on this site…i love you so much… also i would like to request how you think ot6 would be in a ldr? especially with a big time gap, like “good morning” “why are you awake so late” type time gap

Thank you! Hearing my reader say they love me kinda makes me shy lol...but I love you too....

All members (` • - • `)

Summary: Xdinary Heroes in a long distance relationship, with a large time difference.

WC:~1k

Warning:grammar

photo not mine credits to owner.

Gunil

Long distance relationships weren’t exactly ideal in the first place, but you and Gunil made it work. Even with the addition of a huge time difference between the two of you. The time difference actually made your relationship a bit comical. For instance, when Gunil received your “How was practice? Did you eat dinner already?” and he responded with “Why are you awake? It’s like 2am for you go to bed!”. The roles can be reversed too. You’ll receive a sweet good morning text from him, “Good morning love 💘” and you respond with “Goodnight love 💞”. You guys still find plenty of time to talk, it’s just on opposite ends of the day for each of you. He’s having breakfast and you’re having dinner over a video call date. Some days the distance and time are rough to handle, but you and Gunil muscle through those days together. You and Gunil share the start and end of your days together. They may be flipped from one another, but you and Gunil make it work.

Jungsu 

Jungsu can watch the sunset and only a few hours later you can watch the sunrise. The end of his day is the start of yours. It’s a bit hard to believe that the two of you are able to make your long distance relationship flourish with such a large time difference between you. It’s completely possible though you and Jungsu found out how to beat the distance and time. The two of you call eachother often.

“Wait, why is it so dark where you are?” Jooyeon asked as he walked by while you and Jungsu were on call. 

“Because it’s nighttime here.” You moved your camera to show the darkness outside. Complete opposite of the daylight they were having. 

“Yeah they need to go to sleep soon.” Jungsu gives you a bit of a stern look. Jungsu was always concerned about you sleeping well. He loves how thoughtful your morning texts to him are, but at the same time he knows that’s really late for you and you should be sleeping. The same can be said for you.

Gaon/Jiseok

Jiseok often jokes that you’re living in the past due to the big difference in time between you guys. He says things like. “I remember the nineteenth like it was yesterday” because it was yesterday for him, but it’s today for you. So you’ll joke that he’s living in the future. Jiseok does’t scold you for not sleeping. He’ll happily receive your good morning text, he does wonder why you’re still awake at such a time though. 

“Good morning ☀️ 😁” you sent him.  “Thank you! Why are you still up?” he responds back. “Work : / ” you replied. “Bad work 😑” he texts back, making you smile. The large time difference somehow doesn’t really affect you or Jiseok, it’s the distance that creates some difficulties. 

“The close-est I can get to cuddling you is holding my phone to my chest” Jiseok pouts. He’ll do just that until he can hold you in person and doesn’t plan on letting you go for a very long time once he does. 

O.de/Seungmin

Sometimes Seungmin looks back at your shared texts and laughs. Specifically the ones where you say “Good morning” and he says “Goodnight” or vice versa. The time difference made your long distance relationship more interesting. You ask him what he’s eating for dinner and he asks you what you're having for breakfast. Your days are basically revered from one another, but that won’t stop the two of you from having a happy relationship. It took some adjusting at first to get used to the big time difference, but now that you have it’s just another thing about your relationship. 

“Why are you calling me? It’s late for you,” You ask Seungmin as he called you in the morning. 

“I wanna talk to you,” he states simply. 

“You should sleep,” you tell him. 

“Then talk to me while I fall asleep,” he bargained. You agreed, talking to Seungmin until his eyes fell and stayed closed. His soft snores coming through over your speakers. 

Junhan/Hyeongjun

Multiple people have asked both you and Hyeongjun what was the point of being in a long distance relationship. Especially when there was such a huge time difference between you two as well. The point was that you and Hyeongjun loved each other. Loved each other so much that you would find how to deal with the distance and the time difference. 

“How was practice? :)” you texted Hyeongjun. “Why are you awake right now? :(“ he responded. You could imagine the pout on his face. “I was binge watching a show next thing I knew it was 3am” “Go to sleep” he tells you. “Ok” you replied. “Goodnight ✨” he sends you. Hyeongjun often worries about your sleep schedule because you often contact him at times when you shouldn’t be awake. Although he can’t say that his sleep schedule is always better than yours. He too will contact you when he should be sleeping, but his desire to talk to you is stronger than his desire to sleep sometimes. 

Jooyeon

Jooyeon manages to find a way to be a menace even with the big time difference between you both. “It’s finally the weekend! Oh no wait it’s Friday for you lol” is a text you received from him a little too much. He will also say things like “My yesterday is your today. What’s it like living in the past?”.  You usually retort with “Yes, and my tomorrow is your today. What’s it like living in the future?”. Jooyeon actually finds the time difference kinda cool. He thinks it makes your relationship more interesting. Not only are you physically so far apart, but you’re also not even always living on the same day. Jooyeon loves to call you when he should be sleeping. Even when you scold him about it. 

“Don’t hang up. I like falling asleep to the sound of your voice. It makes me feel closer to you,” Jooyeon said. You couldn’t really hang up on him after that. It almost becomes routine for you to talk to him while he falls asleep.

[iraprince]

hi idk if this is a weird question but like. how do u Make Art with adhd? you mentioned in your comic that you struggled w various other creative hobbies, but like drawing feels to me always like the Big Bad Thing I Cannot Ever do. even tho i want to make it my career LOL

how'd you get past that?

not a weird question at all! this is actually a question i ask myself pretty much every day, bc generally my answer to "how do i make art with adhd" has always been: With Great Difficulty, lmfao.

it's hard! i am not always good at it! i made art my job bc i realistically couldn't imagine being truly happy with anything else; if that wasn't the case, i'm not sure i would be doing this. like, that ends up being a big divide between the hobbies mentioned in that comic vs art, which is something that it seems (according to viewing my online activity) i do "Consistently;" it is my career, so there's a level of like, urgency and necessity there that my hobbies don't have. which, like, obviously my advice is not "make it your job so that you HAVE to OR ELSE :)" because it doesn't work like that. i am spending an amount of time OR-ELSE-ing that i think might surprise ppl, and i am frankly very lucky that my wife is the primary provider for our family, because it gives me a safety net for when my brain makes a loud grinding noise and then belches a big cloud of smoke and i have to spend a week hitting it with a wrench.

ANYWAY. this is going to get long bc i have a lot of thoughts abt it. there's really no one answer to getting past it, and i am not "past it," i don't know if i think anyone ever can be! we can just try really hard to keep going in ways that won't burn us out. if i had to pull out the absolute #1 most important thing i've learned over the past few years, it is -- and i know this sounds like dumb corny bullshit but you really have to stay with me here -- being kind and patient with yourself.

i'm being so dead serious. if beating yourself up and freaking out and constantly agonizing over how much more you Could be drawing worked, you would be drawing right now. if beating ourselves up over our output worked, EVERYONE would be drawing ALL the time. it doesn't fucking work! it does not! do literally anything other than yelling at yourself. it's bullshit. it's fuckery. it does not work.

on the other hand, cultivating as much kindness and patience and compassion as i can muster -- saying, "well, it looks like i just don't have it today. that's okay, let's try again tomorrow," even if i'm saying it through clenched teeth and i don't really believe it -- THAT works, because it chips away at the idea of drawing being life or death. it's probably a very similar feeling to you describing art as The Big Bad Thing. of course if you hang all your self worth on it and let it become immense and dominating, it's going to be hard to interact with it! it's scary! it becomes easier to avoid it than to try to tackle it and then feel disappointed in yourself in a more active way (vs. just disappointed in yet another day where u didn't try). but every time i sigh and say "okay" when my brain is screaming and crying bc art just is not working, and i decide to rest and try again tomorrow, 1. it is easier to do a little bit of work the next day when i'm rested than it is to do ANY work when i chain myself to my desk for 9 hours and demand results, and 2. i learn that it is not the end of the world. it just isn't. and so art gets smaller, and less frightening, and it can just be my job (something i have to wrangle my adhd around just like anything else, like grocery shopping and keeping the house clean and keeping up with my friends) instead of some huge destructive boss battle with my identity hanging in the balance.

sometimes you have to talk to yourself like a little kid. if a little kid came to you upset and was like "i wanna draw but i just can't. i don't know why." you would (hopefully) not be like, "whatever, i guess you're just not cut out for it then!" or whatever other mean shit we say to ourselves when we can't draw. you would be like, "well, okay. do you want me to sit with you? how do we start? where's some stuff we can draw with? hm, i can't really think of what to draw either. did you see anything pretty or cool today? let's just draw some shapes." etc etc. and if the kid got frustrated and it still wasn't working you'd be like, you know what, that was a good try. let's have some lunch and try again later. and you deserve that same level of patience, and that level of CURIOUS problem-solving ("what can we try? what might be easier?") instead of, like, adversarial/blame-assigning problem solving ("what the fuck is the matter with you? why can't you just do it?")

also, shaking things up!! one of the most frustrating things abt adhd for me is i'll find a new strategy that Works, but it only works for like, two weeks or whatever, and then it stops working and i have to do something else. i have had a way better time just accepting that that's how things work vs thinking of these cycles as "failures."

if i start dreading working at my desk, i throw a block of printer paper onto a clip board and work on the couch for a few weeks. when that stops working, i get back on drawpile and do all my warmup sketches on an interactive canvas, with strangers around me (virtual coffeeshop lol?). when i get tired of that, then maybe i'm ready to be alone with clip studio again. nope, still not working? okay, let's stream while i'm working for a while then. let's start drawing differently. let's change the background color i draw on. just, like, i keep shaking things up to see if maybe i can trick my brain into feeling like we're doing something totally new for a while, and a lot of the times it works, and when it does not work i am not an asshole to myself, which is, as i keep reiterating, super vital.

when i make the most art is when i get super excited about something and i let myself go apeshit. (there's a reason my guild wars 2 stuff is corralled on a sideblog lmao.) when commissions start grinding to a halt for me, a lot of times it's bc i've let them become Tasks on a to-do list instead of remembering that each piece is a DRAWING; it can help for me to sit down and go through each piece in my queue and really look at it, and remind myself that these are DRAWINGS and i LOVE drawing, and to point out to myself stuff in the wip that i like, and stuff i'm excited to draw the next time i work on it. it's very easy to flatten stuff into just An Obligation if you stress too much about it, but it's very helpful to slow down and step back and remind yourself WHY you care that much. it's not just bc you have to.

i don't really want this to get much longer than it already is, especially when i don't really have concrete tips so much as rambling opinions and examples of stuff that Kind Of works for me Sometimes. i think the tldr is: relax, be nice, keep it fresh. i hope at least some of this is helpful!

[amethystina]

Oh man!! The latest chapter!!! The angst was angsting, pain was paining, heart is wrenching, tear is falling, it was soooo mean, but do it again!!!

It was the longest chapter and ironically the most painful chapter as well. Have I said how much I love slow burn and angst and this fic hits home everytime?? Likeee woah I just LOVE how this fic is LOOONG , nowhere near close bc that means I get me read it longer lol.

And I feel like I would never be able to appreciate how much hard work you put in Who Holds the Devil.

I am guessing it is now Ga On's turn to pursue Yohan and Oh man I can already imagine how much he is gonna suffer while doing it 😭 or maybe not (bc he tends to be pretty straightforward at times and impulsive as well) but I believe it's gonna be pretty hard bc Gaon has so much shit to get together and Yohan, my man, already gave up (poor him) so gaon trying to persue him or rather seduce his sugar daddy would look very suspicious to him. Nevertheless I am exited to see Gaon try and miserably, comically and hilariously half fail bc he will succeed eventually as Yohan is too much of a loser for Gaon lol. I am excited for future chapters and definitely wouldn't complain about more angst lol.

It was necessary for this to happen, otherwise the story would go nowhere and most importantly Gaon and Yohan would go nowhere, their problems will never be solved. Sometimes hitting rock bottom is crucial to develop in life BUT I would hate it if it happens to me, hope I will be able to get my shits together before that happens ( or maybe it already happened but I am not relizing it or not acknowledging it much like gaon but he is better than me ngl at least he has the courage)

This became a rant about me naur 😭

Lastly I hope you have a great day and things work out for you 💕

Also idk if it's your cup of tea but My Happy Ending kdrama is sooo good and worth giving it a try. It's a psychological suspense drama hehe. I am soo invested in it nowadays so couldn't help recommending you as well 💫

It was a painful chapter, yeah. And I'm both relieved and heartbroken to finally have it out there. As someone who doesn't actually like angst, this chapter was a struggle in more than one way. But it's necessary if I want their relationship to move forward, so here we are.

At this point, writing Who Holds the Devil has sort of turned into a second job, not going to lie. I still enjoy it, make no mistake, but I have to plan all of my other hobbies around it since I feel an obligation to post somewhat regularly. Like, I've been postponing drawing for the past two weeks because I wanted to get this chapter out (that's how long it took to edit, yes) but drawing is the thing that helps the most with my depression symptoms (that have made an unwanted reappearance due to my burnout), so I've been struggling quite a bit. And now all I want to do is draw for a couple of days.

So yeah. I can't lie and say it's not a lot of work, both in terms of planning, writing, editing, etc., but also how it affects the rest of my life. BUT I just love it too much to give up on it ;)

And yes, Ga On will have to be the one to pursue Yo Han now ;) Or, well, eventually. He has to wallow and overthink things a bit first because, well, Ga On. If overthinking things was an Olympic sport, he'd win the gold for sure. But he WILL give Yo Han what he wants in the end, I promise.

In short, the "the only way after hitting rock bottom is up" saying is pretty apt in this case.

There's still hope, so just hang in there :)

I looked at the plot for My Happy Ending but I admit it didn't really catch my attention. But that could be because I don't really watch much right now? I'm too busy writing and drawing. I'm also trying to finish a drama I started ages ago called Mad Dog. Which, let me tell you, it's disorientingly gay for a drama about insurance fraud. But unlike The Devil Judge I'm not sure if they're actually AWARE of how gay it is? (especially since it's from 2017)

But, like, if I had a penny for every time I've watched a drama in which a traumatised, older man brings home a reckless, bratty twink after said twink got injured — under the pretence of protecting him from more harm — only for the twink to start snooping around his house before deciding to charm the dude with home-cooked food and then just doesn't leave I would have two pennies. Which isn't a lot, but it's still weird that it's happened twice.

Also, what the heck do they want me to think when they have these kinds of angles when the two dudes are arguing?

That looks questionable both in and out of context. BUT that could also be because Woo Do Hwan could have sexual tension with a goddamn rock. Rarely have I seen a man with so much "fuck me and find out" energy as his character in this drama.

But the twink also has a romantic plotline with the woman on the team, at the same time as he's living in the older dude's apartment and giving this poor dude all kinds of conflicted feelings because he's a widower who's lived alone since his wife and kid died and suddenly there's someone in his apartment cooking him food, nagging at him when he comes late and drunk etc. etc. Like, bruh. It really sounds like the twink is his new wife? And I am SO CONFUSED because the drama plays it so straight (without the "hint, hint, nudge, nudge" winks that The Devil Judge had) that I'm about to have an existential crisis.

Fellas, is it gay if this is the face you make when you're told you're not actually living with the man who took you home to keep you safe after you almost got murdered but then you accidentally behaved like his concerned and doting wife?

Asking for a friend.

(and don't even get me started on the whole "Bring Your Twink to Work Day" scene)

At this point, I'm half convinced I'm gaslighting myself into thinking this is gay when it's actually just a really heartwarming story about a really deep bromance that I'm too queer to understand.

ANYWAY. Thanks for the rec! But I'm not sure if it's my thing and I'm really bad at watching things right now. But I'm thrilled to hear that you're having so much fun with it! I'm happy for you! :D

And thank you so much for the lovely message 💜

[brambleghastblast]

i think a depressing truth of the internet ill always hate is that negativity is what leads to success

negativity, in forms of content creation, leads to comments of people arguing or saying "but i like that thing". comments lead to the algorithms of social media boosting said piece of comic. algorithm favoring your stuff leads to more views. views get you money

often times, i think most youtubers and tiktokers and people on twitter and whatnot actually force themselves to be negative out of necessity. because its the quickest and easiest way to get a post out there. and its really become a norm in social media thats made the internet suffocatingly bad lately

like.. take pokemon for example, youtubers and tiktokers and twitter users such talking about pokemon will complain to no end about graphics, taking the worst possible screenshots they can get or setting up elaborate glitches so they can take a picture, put it next to another game with the prettiest picture they can get, and then go "WOW CAN U BELIEVE GAMEFREAK MAKES STUFF LIKE THIS" which then starts arguments and spreads like a wildfire because people are pointing out "wow you really took the worst picture you could huh" but then random people desperate to argue go "UHHH GAMEFREAKS NOT GONNA MARRY U DUDE LOL" blah blah blah

or take some specific youtubers for instance, like videogamedunkey is a critic who usually lies about video games he dislikes, makes up stuff or complains about really little stuff, or tries to get glitches to happen to pretend the whole games like that. a reallyyy scummy youtuber but thats literally what he has to do to make money and that sucks! or like... alpharad whos kind of just an obnoxious jerk all the time and thats how he gets his attention because being a jerk gets you comments and comments get you views etc etc

the youtube channel gamexplain got exposed for not paying employees and fell off HARD.. but they made a full recovery and comeback. they used to post informative nintendo and other games news, but lately theyve just been posting negative memes or complaining about really little things or posting negative news with a clickbait title. like.. nintendos doing some reconstruction at their headquarters. so gamexplain posts this

its... just reconstruction. but the big letters, the sad mario, it looks Worrying and causes clicks and comments. its literally just reconstruction. but oh wow with a thumbnail like this they can fearmonger and milk it

it stinks too because generally positive youtubers are... Rare. most positive youtubers fall really hard and barely get any views compared to the big bad youtubers out there, cause theres not a ton to comment on without negativity. and thats so.. sad. (bumping a youtuber i love a lot here; nekolacey is a really great and positive pokemon youtuber and i love her videos!!! but her videos dont really get a lot of views compared to other channels which i find so sad. shes awesome!!)

i think the only generally positive gaming youtuber i know of who actually had a big following was chuggaaconroy, and he was making videos on youtube for MANY MANYYY years to even just get 1 million subscribers.

and then he got cancelled because of... uh... a chatlog from 2009. and... uh...... some out of context discord messages from some youtuber whos been known to falsely accuse autistic people to get allegations on them. and.... apparently some randos named antdude and missfushigaming made up allegations to get some clout but they got proved false... uhh... and also chuggaaconroy went to therapy, apologized a ton, asked everyone to please not harass the accusers, and has been deeply working for years to work on himself because he did have a geniune falling out with masaeanela over him not following set boundaries.

but.... yeahhhh its. uh. when you point out "wow did anything bad happen beyond a falling out with masaeanela" you're kind of just quickly hushed by a bunch of random people and to accept it and quit. they can't afford for that positivity to change the way things are, they need negativity to thrive.

its.. the internet trying its hardest to push down one positive creator who made it so they can hype up a dozen negative ones.

i think the internet has always awarded negativity but it was never really bad. like.. many youtubers back in the day would make top 10s, listing something like "zelda bosses" or "gen 4 pokemon". these were great because they got to gush about something they like, BUT they'd get comments and arguments because of things like "well i would've put ths boss over that boss" or "why isnt crobat on this list!". it worked great because they got clout from comments, but they weren't being actively negative

or, talking about an internet show i LOVE, death battle! this is a fun show where they take two fictional characters and make them fight! and they research to see who wins and have really great animation!

it thrived because not only is it super good, but it causes arguments. most viewers dont care about the real reasoning and numbers, they just want their prefered character to win. so if there preference loses, even if its right, they will get mad and argue, causing comments which cause views which causes success.

unfortunately, the positive ways to get comments just... hardly last. its sad but in the modern internet, being mad and angry is literally how you succeed. its near impossible to make it online if you arent angry or doing stuff to upset people.

it sucks. so much.

and it sucks even more because people trying to make a living on the internet Have to be negative. thats how they make a living. they literally have to complain to make money and survive and it sucks!! so much!!!!!!!!!

i think overall success on the internet always depended on causing arguments and negativity, but its really become suffocating in recent time. everyone tries so hard to be mad they've geniunely become mad. positivity is rare and out of style, negativity is what everyone wants. its.... so....... miserable honestly

[eleni-cherie]

a thief's end ✨ || bts • myg - chapter 1.7

"so eager to be in a headlock again?" "only if it's by you."

he thought he was done with the criminal life and ready for some peace and quiet. but his plans collapsed in the form of a strange girl who was in trouble. © 2023 | eleni_cherie

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masterlist: here

— genre: thief au, gangster comedy, adventure, romcom, humour, angst, fluff, sexual tensiON, slowburn, mutual pining, strangers to lovers s2l

ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE. CHARACTERS NOT NECESSARILY LIKE THE REAL PERSONS. ALSO VERY UNREALISTIC PLOT LOL - JUST PRETEND READING A MANGA/COMIC OR WATCHING A FILM, REALLY.

SUGGESTIVE THEMES. MENTIONS OF VIOLENCE & BLOOD (BUT NOTHING TOO GRAPHIC, IT'S STILL A COMEDY!)

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Seoul, South Korea

"Here, see?" The golden key was shining under the light of a street lamp as Soyeon held it out for Yoongi. With furrowed brows, he took it from her grip. Inspecting it from all sides. "And you sure it got something to do with your grandfather's secret double life?" Shrugging, she took it back and shoved it into her pocket. "Most likely, it was hidden behind a photo after all." "But you don't have a clue where the lock is.." She shook her head disappointingly. "No, but I'll visit my grandma again next week and hopefully I'll find some clue." He hummed, peeking at her. "Don't do something irrational though." "Like what?" she asked puzzled. "Like going after it on your own." She scoffed at his grin. Getting the implication. "Don't worry, I learned my lesson."

The sky was tinted a dark blue shade when they reached Soyeon's apartment building. It had thankfully stopped raining awhile ago, the clouds having cleared up enough to reveal the crescent in the night sky.

She yawned, rummaging her keys out of her jacket's pockets. "Suddenly I feel so tired, probably 'cause you woke me up so early," she whined, hearing Yoongi laugh behind her. "Don't make such a fuss out of it, it was just once," he said then with a straight face, "Just go to sleep early." "Oh, I will. I'll probably crash as soon as I step foot inside." He smiled softly. It was fascinating how someone so short like her was able to contain so many facettes in her. She could be so strong and fierce, confronting and calling him out and then, then she was also this sweet, almost childlike person who was terribly grumpy in the morning. "Goodnight, Soyeon." He stepped back, walking backwalks. "Call me if there's anything." The cool night breeze made him shiver lightly, and he dug his hands further into his pockets. About to turn around when Soyeon's hand tugged on his biker jacket, making him stop in his tracks. He looked over his shoulder, seeing her eyes sparkling at him with imploration.

"Stay." He huffed a breath, knowing he'd only get more attached to her than he already was and it'd be unfair to both of them. "I don't think -" "Then stop thinking," she deadpanned, her grip becoming firmer along with her gaze. Only for her eyes to soften again. "Just for a day. Stay." Her quiet, pleading tone making his chest clench. Her voice almost cracking at the end as she feared he'd just slip through her fingertips again if she let go. "On monday we'll part company, me going to work and you to Japan, pretending as if nothing had ever happened. So just for one day.. for one day let's pretend being normal.. so you can see how overrated it is."

Yoongi's eyes filled with a strange mix of sorrow and longing at her words. A delusion, nothing more, he thought, but still tempting. To be normal for a day with her, doing things normal people did together before parting ways the day after tomorrow. "And besides.." she spoke up, lips curling into a playful smirk when she came up with another reason, "What if the bad guys show up again?"

He laughed under his breath, knowing very well she wasn't actually believing her words. It was her simple attempt to convince him, the same way she had done back then in Taiwan. It was their little inside code. When she used it, he couldn't deny her anything. That was the unspoken rule between them.

"You said normal, huh?" A rueful smile grazing his lips then, seeing her eyes beaming with hope. And he couldn't refuse anything when she looked at him like this. So he eventually nodded, grabbing her hand that was slowly loosening its grip on him, holding it tightly. "Let's be normal for a day then."

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The next morning Soyeon woke up in the same position she had fallen asleep in. Only Yoongi was missing beside her. With a sigh, she propped herself up on her hand. Rubbing her eyes as she pushed the covers away.

Of course he didn't stay, why was she surprised?

However, 'surprised' wasn't the right word, perhaps 'disappointed' fit better. She was disappointed, but not surprised.

Her eyes fell on the clock on  her nightstand. 11:46am. Well, at least he hadn't made any loud noises when leaving, allowing her to actually sleep in this time and rest. With a grunt, she made her away out of the bedroom, trying not to dwell too much in her self-pitying. It was alright, no big deal. The only man she ever had feelings for, would never let her get too close because of his commitment issues. Cool, cool, cool.

Scratching her cheek, still dizzy from sleep, she made her way to the kitchen. Taking a seat on a chair, she mindlessly picked up a tangerine from the fruit basket in front of her and unpeeled it, sliding a wedge into her mouth. Followed by another.

Maybe she should simply accept things instead of trying forcing something that couldn't be.

She began unpeeling another tangerine when her thoughts got interrupted by a clicking sound. Startled, the tengarine almost dropped from her hand when seeing Yoongi suddenly appearing in front of her. Droplets falling from his wet hair, rolling down his face and bare chest and a towel wrapped around his hips. Lowering her polaroid camera with a grin. "Now I also got a memento."

Her eyes grew round as she was trying processing what he was talking about, taking in the view in front of her. How did he manage coming so near without her even noticing? "You.. are still here?" He frowned at this as he waved the photo in his hand. "Where did you think I was?" She shrugged, slowly munching on another wedge and looking away. "I don't know.." Taking a look on the photo of her morning self mindlessly eating a tangerine he smiled, resting his eyes on her then. Understanding what she was implying. And it'd be a lie to say he hadn't actually contemplated leaving when waking up. However, then he looked down at her sleeping self drooling onto his shirt and he'd realised he didn't want to be anywhere else but there with her in his arms. Even if it was for just one day. The only reason he'd slipped out of bed after all was because he'd needed to use the bathroom.

"No, there wasn't anywhere else I needed to be," he truthfully said then while taking a tangerine himself, unpeeling his fruit and slipping several wedges between his lips. "Good to know," she smiled shyly to which he smiled as well. He coughed then and pointed at her shirt which was another way too large and baggy shirt that looked more like a dress on her small frame and which was secretly driving him insane of how great she looked in it. "You got another one of these?" She looked down, realising he needed something to wear since he didn't have anything but his clothes from the previous day. So she got up and walked out of the kitchen, hearing him trailing behind her towards the bedroom.

"I got a few actually," she giggled and opened her wardrobe, revealing her neatly folded clothes. She stretched herself then, getting on her tiptoes to reach the higher shelves where the large t-shirts were. Managing pulling one out, only for several others to drop on her head. Making Yoongi chuckle amused, picking them up from her face. "Why does a short person like you have such high shelves?" he grinned teasingly causing her to scoff. Playfully shoving the shirt she had drawn out onto his chest. "Got many clothes. And besides.. I'm not that short," she mumbled, his grin only growing wider. "You're tiny." Before she could retort something, he pecked her pout taking her aback. "But I don't mind." Her pout only grew at this, pushing him aside to leave the suffocating presence of his half-naked body. Hearing him laugh behind her and she paused, ready to counter a smart remark when her eyey caught something else instead.

"What's this?"

Her voice small, almost a whisper behind him when he felt her fingertips tracing over a specific spot on his shoulder. Causing him to briefly grow stiff under her touch. Having forgotten about it as he wasn't able to see it there. Out of sight out of mind. 

"It's.. an old scar." "I see that.. but from what?" He shook his head, dragging a sigh as he looked down at the shirt in his hands. "It's dumb and nothing to worry about. I.. I was just young and careless." It was embarrassing to admit it out loud or even look at her. Her fingers retreating from the unevenness on his shoulderblade, sensing it still laying heavy on his heart. "I get it. You don't have to tell me more." He shrugged, fumbling with the shirt in his hands. "It was when I first joined the guys on heists. I didn't pay enough attention once and the opponent took advantage of it. That's it. It hasn't happened again ever since, I made sure of it." She swallowed, her eyes still fixated on the light streak on his pale skin. "Is this why you insisted on Cassandra taking care of my wound?"

He folded his lips, biting down on them when remembering that day. It felt like an eternity ago when he had found her in that restroom stall covered by cuts and bruises. A hot range rushing down his veins at the memory. "I didn't want you to get such a scar as well.." She subconsciously touched the skin under her bangs. Not really able feeling anything, but she knew it was there. The light streak, smaller but similar to his. "Did you also get stitches?" He laughed dryly. "Yeah, but only after a day. Cas was so pissed I didn't tell her earlier. Perhaps if I did it wouldn't have been as visible.." Soyeon hummed. Cassandra's words back then finally making sense to her now.

He felt her arms wrapping around his torso then, holding him tight as her cheek pressed against his spine. And he smiled at her warmth, covering her hands with his. "It's fine. I forgot about it anyway." She quietly let go again. Ready to go back to her tangerines when he suddenly pointed at something in the corner of the room. "Why you got a microphone?" Her eyes followed the direction his finger was pointing at, seeing her little set-up in the corner. He was changing topics, shifting the attention to her. She knew that and still played along. "Ah, to record demos after writing the lyrics." He turned around, shooting her an inquiring glance. "So you can also sing?" "A little bit, maybe," she shrugged, "Just enough for demos."

Yoongi pulled the shirt over his head, slipping it over his torso. Pushing back the strands of black hair that had fallen in front of his eyes. "If you can sing, why didn't you become a singer then?" he wondered out loud, not hiding the genuine curiosity. And it only grew when he saw her acting weird. Her eyes avoiding his as she let out a forced laugh. "Guess I just wasn't pretty enough to become one." Yoongi's brows furrowed at this, lips slightly parting since only more questions arose from her words. "Said who?" Clear irriation in his voice. Soyeon shrugged, pretending being nonchalant about it as she quickly turned around and headed to the door before he could manage looking through her facade. "People, I guess. It really doesn't matter anymore."

And a lump formed in her throat when she sat down at the kitchen table and she grabbed another tangerine. Unpeeling and shoving it between her lips in an attempt to swollow that lump. Although she had overcome it by now and knew the opinions and comments of those people back then didn't matter, it still hurt whenever she was reminded of those times.

She didn't need to look to know Yoongi came closer, eventually taking out a chair and sitting down beside her. The two remaining silent as she passed him a tangerine. Him wordlessly accepting it. He knew he must've hit a nerve when making her bring up this old story. But what upset him more was the thought how it seemed to still trigger something in her. He could tell by her usually sparkly eyes staring dully ahead.

"You know.." he slowly began then, peeking at her before focusing back on his tangerine, "That night back then, the night we met for the second time.." The girl perked up at this and she looked at him, questioning why he'd bring this up now. Watching him slide a wedge between his lips, waiting for him to continue. "You had that black dress on and then you turned around and you looked at me with this intense glare. You know what I thought?" The ghost of a smile appeared on her lips. Feeling warm at that memory. "What?" "That you looked quite different from what I remembered you from our first encounter." She laughed under her breath, shaking her head when remembering her running through the streets of Tainan in 40°C in nothing but her pyjama shorts and shirt. She must've looked insane. "That's what make-up and different clothes do, you know? Make you look different."

The guy huffed a smile at her smartass remark. Glancing at her side-profile then, he took in her every feature that was peeking behind black strands of hair falling onto her pixie-like face. The big brown eyes that resembled those of a curious cat, the cute straight nose that got hidden behind her hands whenever she got shy, the plum pouty lips where she'd stick her tongue out by habit.. How'd anyone think of her of not pretty enough? "You know what else I thought though?" She hummed, munching on the last piece of tangerine. "I thought you looked insanely beautiful." Soyeon almost choked on the fruit in her mouth, coughing frantically. And he patted her back to help her before she eventually managed swallowing it down. Taking a deep breath then, she shot him a lopsided smirk. "You really liked that dress, huh?" "It haunts me in my dreams." His serious tone followed by a wide cheeky grin made her fall into a fit of giggles.

She completely forgot about her gloomy mood, not able to contain her bubbly laugh and he laughed along with her. It had seemed worth confessing this little secret after all, she was smiling again. 

Soyeon bit down her lips then, her laughs simmering down. Giggling lightly to herself then, she stretched her hands over the white table top. "You know what I thought when seeing you that night?" "No, what?" "Well, first of all I thought 'fck, I hope this guy doesn't plan to mug me'." It was his turn to burst out laughing and she smiled widely at this. Enjoying the sound of his laughter and the way his eyes formed crescends before he'd screw them shut. When he wasn't this serious and concerned guy, but just normal and carefree Yoongi. "And what was your second thought?" he asked with amusement. "'Fck, he's hot'." And an anew fit of laughter errupted from his lips and he threw his head back as he held his stomach. And Soyeon playfully hit his arm, stifling a laugh.  "I mean it!" "I know, I know," he said in between as the chuckles became deeper and quieter. Pinching his nose they eventually dyed down and he held her gaze with a gentle smile then. "And I meant what I said as well." Nodding, she gave him a smile as well. Thankful of him reminding her again that those comments from back then didn't matter anymore and perhaps never had. "I know."

And for the rest of the day, they did what they had intended to. Spending the day together, just like normal people would. They played cards, arguing over who won as he kept winning. Making Soyeon complain that he'd be card counting to which Yoongi promised he didn't, although he could. Mentioning the countless times the gang had gambled in casinos around the world. And she'd listen to his stories in awe, asking for more. And they cooked or rather he did and she was just assisting. And they watched a film cuddled on the couch. And they kissed. And they laughed some more. And they kissed some more. And they made out. And eventually, they fell asleep in each other's arms only to wake up again from the nap and do it all over again.

They did everything two lovers would. But they weren't lovers. It hurt. But that was how things were. For the moment, at least. So they were happy about having that one day, where they could at least pretend.

And at the end of the day they laid in bed and he held her in his arms, fingers dancing over her smooth skin in an attempt to sooth his thoughts running wild. Pensive eyes resting at the dark ceiling above them and focusing on the warmth her body was providing under the covers. Feeling her heavy eyes fluttering close with her cheek pressed against his chest.His heartbeat in her ears lulling her. And as she drifted off to sleep, her smaller hand subconsciously gripped his shirt to prevent him from disappearing the next morning, although she knew he would.

"Goodnight, Yoongi." "Goodnight, angel."

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When Soyeon's alarm went off on monday morning she woke up to an empty bed. Only now she knew he wouldn't appear with nothing but a towel and a polaroid camera again. She knew he had indeed left this time. And her chest ached, despite her knowing he had to.

The only evidence of the past weekend not having been a delusional dream was a piece of paper from her notepad she found on the nightstand. Her lips curled into a sad smile when picking it up. Heart full and yet so empty.

"I'll come back, I promise."

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Kyoto, Japan

Jimin opened the door with a beaming face when seeing Yoongi standing there in front of their hide-out. A known tired look on the older guy's face after hours on the road and that in disguise. Even after so many years he still despised it because of how warm it could be under those masks. And then having to take the plane to Osaka and  from Osaka the train to Kyoto. And on top of that he had to leavd Soyeon behind.

Naturally, he wasn't on his best mood. And Jimin could tell but that didn't keep him from giving him a welcoming hug and pulling him inside where Taehyung was currently slurping on a big portion of instant ramen. Brows raising from over the cup when seeing their friend.

He quickly stuffed the last noodles inside his mouth before swallowing and throwing him a wide grin. "Took you long enough, how was it at your parents'?" "Good," Yoongi simply nodded, letting his bag and katana slide from his shoulders he left them aside before joining him on the couch. He didn't feel like going too much into detail but overall it had been good. The whole weekend, in fact. And he had to bite back a smile. "So what's the plan?"

"Well," Jimin appeared from behind them, jumping over the couch's back and landing next to him in a swift move, "We already checked out that dude's mansion last night." "Quite the fancy place," Taehyung mused nodding, "Newest security systems and stuff." Yoongi hummed, tapping his finger on his knee. Nothing that they hadn't expected already. "I'll go check it out tonight as well. You guys got the blueprints?" "Not yet, I'll get them by tonight though," Jimin assured him while picking up his own cup of warm noodles that he had left on the table. Digging into it. "You know I ain't going there on Friday if I don't memorise every corner." Yoongi's gaze wandered between his two friends for a moment, dragging a sigh then. Maybe it was simply his mind being tired, but from the information they had gathered on the men inviting them, this might be a whole different level of their previous adventures. "You think we can make it?"

Jimin and Taehyung simultaneously paused eating, frowning at him. "We always make it." "And besides, we got an advantage." The older guy arched a curious brow at this. "Which is?" Jimin smirked with a wink. "They only know of me and Tae since we were the ones crashing the party." The noodles slid from his chopsticks as he pointed them at Yoongi. "They don't know about you." Taehyung leaned forward, joining in with a smir. "So we still got an ace up our sleeve."

Yoongi's eyes widened, not having thought about that. "You sure about this? They might know about me after all?" "I'm always sure about the things I say," Jimin huffed with mock-offence. Redirecting his attention to his ramen.

And Yoongi smiled with a nod. His eyes falling on the polaroid photo he slid out from his pocket.

Perhaps he'd be able keeping his promise after all.

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next chapter: 1.8 here

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