#I feel like this looks like a fursuit design. oh well

[ragdolls-and-such]

hotblack desiato posting

i don't have my book on me + I completely forgot his book description so if this goes against that then No It Doesn't ❤️

[ct-multifandom]

Minisodes oh my lawd

I haven’t posted yttd since Kai’s island route came out, but wow that was some shit I just saw. I wanna talk about my thoughts. I’ll go in order of increasing sadness and rambling.

!!! spoiler warning !!!

Anzu

The least lore-heavy story maybe? It was cute, and I liked to see more of her since she’s one of the most minor characters in the playable cast, but I feel like there wasn’t a lot of deep stuff in this one.

Her school uniform is cute but seeing her de-clown-ified and normal is strange. It’s like when Nankidai draws Gin without the fursuit

I saw other people point this out as well, but it’s weird that Ryuu’s coworker got a full sprite while Anzu’s girlfriend was just a silhouette. Is the woman relevant somehow? mean if she and Samurai Yaiba can get sprites then why not the friend? Maybe it’s comparable to us never having seen Ryoko’s face in outside content or any part of her at all in the game itself, but Ryoko’s situation makes me suspicious. Does this mean something or is it irrelevant?

That bit about Kugie buying all the ice cream was a surprise. I wonder if it will be relevant to Kanna’s story, like she got her a ridiculous supply of ice cream to cheer her up when she was sad or something. Also confirmation that Kanna and Anzu lived in the same town. Did the cast all live near each other or is it just them?

I see people upset that Anzu found a guy hot but like. Her color scheme is the pansexual pride flag

I saw mention that she said she made her costume herself in the game, but the minisode says that it was a gift from Ryuu. Maybe he gave her part of it and she made the rest, or that she modified an old costume herself to be more her style? More likely that Nankidai just forgot tbh

The plaza where she became a clown is the one Midori was in last chapter, but we haven’t had a chance to be there in peace. I guess it’s just another memory location, but it’s interesting that it’s the setting for some very climactic scenes while the others aren’t. Of course, we haven’t seen every character’s room yet.

I feel like there’s something we’ve yet to learn about Anzu because at the moment she just feels like a wholesome, kinda incompetent comic relief character, and this game does not have those. Why is the survival rate of the girl who complains about extracurriculars being too much work so high? Is she such a positive force that people can’t help but keep her around? She dies immediately two separate times in the game and frankly doesn’t help with anything during puzzles. Is she secretly a good manipulator? She’s a self proclaimed good actor and learned slight of hand tricks and such from Ryuu. Does she have another side to her? If not for the logic route, we wouldn’t have known what Ranmaru is capable of, but according to the minisode, the way Anzu acts in the game is the same as how she acted to the people around her normally.

Alice

Why can’t we have nice things??? It was so cute and so heartbreaking at the same time. Like, if this was a scene in a linear, chronological story, we’d still have the hope and maybe expectation that Alice will still fix things with Reko, but we know that from this moment on he screws up literally every chance he can get until it’s too late. The good ending we want so bad is pretty much impossible.

The kid sprites are so cute. We already saw them in that one CG but seeing them as sprites makes them feel more alive, y’know

When Alice referred to himself by name and Reko was like I already know your name… this one’s going in my transgender compilation

Them having a secret treehouse fort is so baby

And I love the Samurai Yaiba designs. Looking camp right in the eye. Idc if people think it’s ugly, the girls who get it get it

It was nice to finally meet the other band members. I wasn’t expecting to ever see them have real screen time but hey. Although Stronghold turned out to be a creepy weirdo and Ursheen is nonverbal or mute or something?

I’m excited to see island routes for these two. Idk if their events together will be deep or anticlimactically goofy. I imagine Reko’s “good” ending will involve starting a band or something, but what would Alice’s be? Does he have his own ambitions? Imagine if it was the other way around, if managing a band or teaching music to beginners was his passion

It’s interesting that almost every account of this plot line is from Alice’s perspective, which makes sense because it has a much stronger emotional effect on him than on Reko who thinks she has more important things to worry about and overlooks Alice. I would like to see more of her take, though, because her whole situation seems to be deeply un-relatable to him. Did she prioritize her success with the conscious awareness that she’s hurting his feelings, or is she just so career-focused that she didn’t even think it’d affect him?

Lastly, I’m intrigued by fandom reaction to Reko’s behavior. People rightly find her to be complex and compelling, but they also just like her and seem to forgive or understand her. I often find that when a character, especially a woman, does something like this, people hold it against them pretty harshly. Yet Reko is widely loved and may even have more fans than Alice? Is it because we know she becomes a better person later on and starts to mend their relationship? As a member of the liked-Qtaro-before-it-was-cool-and-everyone-else-hated-him club I’m curious about the standards people hold flawed characters to. Is it because Reko has that badass punk rock pretty privilege, or does her story just resonate with people?

Kai

Oooohhhh my god dude. This one. Shitting and crying. Kai was allowed to be happy for five seconds ever.

Seeing Sei was a jumpscare

Seeing young Gashu was an even bigger jumpscare. Y’know how when a guy shaves, all you can see is the real estate where a mustache is supposed to be?

I can’t BELIEVE this shit made him somehow sympathetic. These sideplots have made every villainous character from previous chapters have a sympathetic side what the hell. We haven’t seen the full extent of Miley’s story yet, just little hints, which is exciting to me, obviously Safalin is grey all over, and Ranger was programmed to be the way he was, but Gashu?! Clearly he still sucks, but HRNNGGHR what’s next? Does Midori have a sympathetic side?

Gashu making brief, absolutely pathetic attempts at treating his kids as people with feelings between training sessions. These moments of empathy being seen as a failing on Asunaro’s end that had to be beaten out. Gashu not fully understanding what they were planning and turning himself into a total emotionless monster after he found out to protect himself for what was coming. He probably thought he was doing Ranger a favor by making him the way he did.

Sei’s whole thing re-contextualized Rio Ranger so grossly. People are upset that Kai didn’t live to meet him, but I’m kinda glad he didn’t have to see how his father desecrated his brother’s personality and image post-mortem.

Hated seeing the light leave their eyes after the visit from Asunaro lady

Speaking of her, huh? She looks way too unique to be a silhouette character? All the other ones were generic looking normal people but she looks like Miss dori. My theory is that the hair was the only part that mattered, that that hairstyle is a symbol of the figure the organization sees as “god” and its higher members perhaps try to emulate it, Midori included.

We got some more explicit information on the religious cult side of Asunaro. We already knew Gashu had these beliefs, but the other floormasters didn’t. We have hints that Miley and Safalin are actually exceptions, caring more about their scientific research and personal agendas than whatever the organization’s true beliefs and agendas might be.

Kai trauma-dumping on Mr Chidouin made me uncomfortable. It feels like Kai will trust anyone who’s nice to him, and is surprisingly optimistic or even naïve considering everything he went through. We don’t know what Mr C’s goals are, but man. He has the same poses as Meister. Come on. I hate the way he had that fake ass smile plastered on while Kai spilled his heart out. It seems like Kai never learned how to trust or distrust people, and both those things played a part in his downfall.

That Euphoria Rue Happy Moments compilation on YouTube that’s only one minute long except it’s Kai

I like how Sei really did have that bitchy, unserious personality Ranger ended up with, except he also had ~feelings~. I would have liked to see how his brash sense of humor plays of Kai’s bizarre one.

Does involvement with Asunaro immediately require you to upload your consciousness to their central computer or something? Where else would Gashu get the AI of a long dead kid for Ranger? I doubt he understood him well enough to have him replicated from scratch, fucked up liberties and all.

Sei being older than Kai surprised me. How old do you guys think they were? Like 12 and 15 maybe? I have seen many fans in the past interpret Ranger as being an adult, but I always saw him as a kid/teenager. I guess a big part of it is his trauma-induced immaturity (and probably literally having the mind of a child), but he looks young to me too. He doesn’t look too much older than Sei, and his body appears strangely un-athletic looking for someone who underwent rigorous assassin training, thought he does look taller. Maybe 18-ish?

The whole murder island thing felt so impractical and unnecessarily sadistic but then again everything the organization does is like that. Also can’t believe Kai won the hunger games by doing nothing what a legend

I know Sei’s death wouldn’t have had nearly the same effect without CGs, but this minisode being the only one with extra art like that made it feel way bigger than the other two

The way Sei was capable of breaking down in tears and loving and being terrified but still had it in him to kill others, and be casual about it too

Kai growing up still wearing that same type of uniform every day symbolizing how he could never escape Asunaro’s grasp even when he tried running, ignoring it, covering it up with his apron which represents his individuality. Ranger wearing that black t-shirt and little yellow scarf representing him being freed from Asunaro’s expectations, not in a way that granted him autonomy, but rather that it gave them the OK to empty out everything that made him him and using him as a brief, disposable tool, represented by him stealing pieces of all the other humans who were similarly used and killed by Asunaro for himself.

What would Kai dress like if he could pick out his own clothes?

I would love an afterlife scene with these two like the one Nao and Mishima got

Or the normal version of a Sei AI in YTTS

Man getting to know Sei really changed my whole perspective of Ranger and I’m glad he and Kai not only knew each other in life but also formed a close bond. That for a brief period they both had somebody they could trust

Edit addition: omg how both of them became completely aware that they were going to die with no way out of it, and didn’t accept it per se, quite the opposite actually, but their final wishes were to at least not die at the hands of the enemy who doomed them

Can you tell this one was my fav? Yeah uh. Fuck. Anyway I love how Nankidai manages to keep everyone relevant as have us learn more about them so long and so consistently after their deaths. Nobody is just there for a plot device or shock value, they all have their own stories that don’t end when they’re gone. Can’t wait for more

[cyberdragoninfinity]

I'd love to know what the other Barians are up to in the college AU!

YESSS like i said when i was talkin about Vector, I rly wanna properly draw all these guys sometime this year, theyve been bumping around my brain for Months now. some tidbits about the other guys:

Shark/Nasch: MISTAH TRANS MASC HE/THEY OF ALL TIME. Has a really dense Carrd covered in sea predator gifs and dA stamps. I thiiink I assigned him Pursuing a Marine Biology degree, naturally--he spends a lot of time at the aquarium wishing he worked there (he works at a country club currently. he drives golf carts to go pick up errant golf balls. his little nametag says 'Reginald'.) Does really well in his classes but is becoming. a Little Bit Burned Out trying to deal with them And work And whatever bullshit his current and ex-roommates are entangling him in. Vector stole his Ikea blahaj plush and tied it to a ceiling fan. Frequents Not-Lawrence State University's esteemed Smogon Club (usually because Yuma begs and begs for him to come,) and runs a nasty Walking Wake led Monotype team.

Rio: I NEED TO DECIDE ON HER MAJOR WAHHH Atmospheric Science would be kind of insane... invested interest in meteorology and winter events. I know she's dabbled in a bunch of campus sports and ice skates at a very skilled level, probably is banking on maybe doing that professionally if she can qualify. She's also buddies with Alexis! :3 Works at a bougie gelato place not far from the country club Shark works at so sometimes she will come bother him on her break. Has a modest interest in birding and sometimes meets up with the town Birding Group. All in all just likes being active and stylish and is closing in on a date with Miss Anna Kaboom~ lord dont get me started on butchfemme annario i aint got no brakes

Girag and Alito: THE BESTIES. THE ROOMIES OF ALL TIME. They actually live in the same apartment complex as Primo and Claus so they hang out and shoot the shit sometimes. Alito I feel is majoring in something like English, he's not super attached to it, what he really is banking on is a boxing career (whether or not that pans out for him remains to be seen.) He goes and spars at a local gym frequently! Girag is a history major with a focus on feudal Japan and he's also a furry. The boys' r/malelivingspaces ass apartment is a haven for the other Emperors if they dont want to be in the Nightmare House for a hot minute. Don't mind the giant knockoff red panda squishmallow taking up half their couch. Also Ponta is still there he's still a little spirit guy that Girag is nebulously aware of but Alito isn't.

Mizar: OH MIZAR..... one of my favorite zexals in the College AUverse tbh. my failwoman. Tentatively out transfem overdramatic fake blond trying out she/they pronouns for the first time. Has a big expensive gaming desktop that lights up (it looks vaguely like Tachyon Dragon lol) and uses it primarily to get into heated furry drama online and write extensive papers and lab reports for her Physics degree, usually while under some degree of white knuckle meltdown stress. She and Dumon were dating for a while but broke up and truth be told Mizar's still got a couple hangups about it. Gets into a LONG, STUPID beef with Kite over their fursona designs "being too similar" that culminates in them having a brawl on the roof of a hotel mid furry-convention. Yes they were both in fursuits. No you can't tell anyone you saw Kite in a fursuit keep you voice down shh!!!!!!! They end up having some kind of t4t qpr-ish situationship i think. not avoiding the mizakai allegations i fear HDFHSFGF

Dumon: WHO UP STUDYING THEY MEDIEVAL TEXTS. god. I love college AU Dumon. little library dyke. dweeb he/him butch kind of sort of dating clark's Paula From Earthbound and they are having In Depth discussions about a podcast they just listened to. Medieval lit major who knows more about knights than you ever will in your entire life. He was born in Utah. Organizes the finances of the Barian Rental House and takes it all dead seriously and Vector still owes like three months of back rent and he kind of wants to strangle him over it. Type of guy who spends all day at the campus coffee shop nursing the same matcha latte for five hours. Mizar is his best friend and they still hang out post-break up and they're both just kind of constantly putting up with Vector's bullshit. i mean all the Barians are but STILL.

Shark, Rio, Dumon, and Vector also all have the distinction of having known each other when they were kids, before they all moved off on their separate ways (until reconnecting in college) As you can imagine, Vector and Shark's playground wars would get. Violent. 🥴 Dumon has had a bit of a crush on Shark since they met but has absolutely never disclosed this. Because I think it is funny.

The funniest detail about them as a whole in college AU to me is theyre all transfer students from NLSU's sister-campus in Barian, Indiana. WOE! Midwestern be upon ye! And also the previously mentioned nightmare queer housing situation they live in under Don Thousand The Dogshit Landlord (or, well, at this point it's just Mizar, Dumon, and the Kastle twins living there. The situation has improved Somewhat after Vector got kicked out HHDFDF he still loves fucking with all of them though in true 🥕 fashion)

[contrastparadoxx]

What was the initial idea for perse? How has she changed over the course of making her?

Oh this is actually SUCH a fun question, because as only some of you guys will know, Perse actually started out as a different character entirely. My friend at the time had a story in the works called Brothers, and while the characters were actually human they were always drawn as furries. I made a joke about a furry wearing a “Ask me about my Skinsona” shirt and that paired with another then friend complaining about brightly colored eyesore furries resulted in this

She was married to one of the main characters, Lucifer, which is why she was named Persephone, or Perse for short. She was immune to a poison that could kill even gods, she stabbed first asked questions later (met her then husband for the first time because he tried to grab something and she pinned his hand to the table with a knife and he was smitten), and she was by virtue of being married to Lucifer, the queen of heaven. She was also a royal guard before she was queen, and I loved her! There were a few relatively minor design changes to her during this time period, none really worth showing

Then the friend and I kinda drifted apart. Originally they were going to purchase Perse from me for $50, but that fell through and she just gathered dust because I was ashamed for some reason. Another ex friend made an alien species that was very furry esq, and I was like oh I can rework Perse for this! And then this version of her was born

I still like that outfit ngl. She was similar in this iteration, still very stab happy, and I accidentally pissed the GM of a game off by playing her being flippent and having fun in a horror situation. Oops. This version of her did not last long because that “friend” got really nasty about me because I “hoard characters”, among other things. Do I eventually left that community and was once again left with a character I used to project on feeling like she and I just don’t belong. All of this is before I even knew the FTC existed.

And then I came here. I wasn’t going to make her, at first. I made a few trolls, I messed around, I was having fun! Then I was like lol what if I made an OC who is a human who hides by wearing a fursuit. That led to me going “oh wait I could use Perse for that, since she’s always had that Skinsona shirt! Wouldn’t it be ironic!” And so Perse the human on alternia was born. I eventually connected her to a few other furry OC’s, which led to her getting her best friend, Ashter. He was her handler at con’s before he was her moirail, you know.

And eventually I went you know what, I want her to be a troll. I had a few ideas for how I was going to do that, but the one I ended up going with involved her making a deal with a demon to get the body she wanted. Her troll form actually originally looked way different too! And I might revamp the old design and make it a different character

I would change at least some of the colors and probably the horns. But while I love this design it never quite fit right. Eventually I decided to just go you know what how about I design a troll version of her fursona (which also has a slightly different design now, but I do not currently have a ref of, I’m working on it) and that THAT finally hit correctly. Technically her design has changed slightly since then as well, but the final version is the one shown in her sprites as made by Roetrolls!

She’s slightly (slightly) less stab happy now, and instead of being immune to a poison that is deadly to literally everyone else, she is technically venomous/poisonous (it’s both), with a toxin that shuts off psionics, chucklevoodoos, anything like that. She’s a gamer now, which was honestly very close to her vibes originally, and still insanely loyal.

I’m sorry if this wasn’t what you were asking about and I’m happy to explain anything further that I need to!

[spirallingstarcases]

i’d love to know about mask au!! is it like jim carrey’s the mask???

not exactly! this was supposed to be my peterick halloween fic but. life. yeah. it’s a masquerade/trickerella au where pete drops a sheet of poetry at a party patrick’s performing at and the next day (the party is like three consecutive days) the band is playing songs with GASP pete’s words??? and then pete sets off on a mission to find out who made music out of his poetry and yeah. i love love love this concept but i was in such a slump when i started it that i don’t rly like looking at it anymore rippp OH AND PETE WEARS A FOX MASK AND PATRICK WEARS A BUNNY MASK the prey/predator dynamic makes me cccrraaaaazy

ssssnippet

Pete’s dad spared no time for his responses. “I brought your costume.”

That’s when Pete noticed the large white box in his dad’s hands. It was like a shoebox, the ones with the lid you slip off and on. Unblemished and unembossed, so it wasn’t designer, but it was special. Or expensive.

“But I brought my costume.” Pete pointed at the black garment bag on the bed. On top of it was a small box that held his mask. “Remember it? I wear it every year, been wearing it for, like, four years?” Gold mask, black suit, the works.

“It’s time for a change.”

Pete’s curiosity was piqued. He reached out for the box, grunting in surprise at its weight as his dad placed it in his arms.

“Jesus,” he said. “What’s in this thing, chainmail?”

“Don’t be foolish,” Pete’s dad said. “I got it tailored for you, so it’ll fit. Try it on, I’ll be downstairs waiting for Andrew.”

Andrew was his older brother, heir to the immense Wentz fortune and therefore all the fuckery that comes with it. Pete didn’t envy him. Andrew didn’t particularly yearn for Pete’s life either, so it all worked out. Pete wasn’t built for the corporate life of New York, and Andrew wasn’t built for the glitzy, glamourous (heavy sarcasm here) music label life of Los Angeles.

The box slid open without a noise, revealing layers of crisp tissue paper which Pete tore past with barely a thought. Finally, his hands slipped past the fibrous texture into something hard and…furry.

Hm. Pete blinked, a cautious frown tugging at his mouth. Surely his dad wouldn’t…like…buy him a fursuit, right?

Pete stared nervously at the box. No way. Pete’s dad was a respected, high-level, Fortune 100 CEO. He probably didn’t even know what a furry was. Appeased, Pete slid the last layer of tissue paper off.

Okay. So. Maybe Pete needed to reevaluate his father some more, because he was now staring into the empty eyes of a fox mask. Granted, it wasn’t a fursuit mask, and it was actually quite delicate and beautiful, and it was a perfect fall colour, but really. A fox? As a Wentz, Pete had been called, time and time again, sly and sneaky and all those other fox metaphors, so this felt quite…well. On the nose, for lack of better wording.

Pete gently traced his fingers over it. It was a half-mask, with a protruding snout and ears, a distressingly real-feeling fur texture, and edged with gold filigree. Red and gold glass beads swirled over the forehead and under the eyes, glinting in a way that suggested mischief and glamour. Gold lines formed nonsensical patterns on the cheeks, along the snout, and around the eyes.

It was gorgeous. Pete forgot all about the implications, focusing instead on how fucking gorgeous it was.

Pete slowly lifted it out of the box, feeling like the protagonist in some highschool prom story, when the girl is wearing a dress, The One, and goes to look at herself in the mirror and gasps, “I love it.”

It was lighter than it looked. A vermillion ribbon for keeping it up, a little sponge pad to pad his forehead, and his name embossed under the eye socket. Pete set it on the bed, excitement already stirring at the idea of being able to wear it.

So maybe his dad wasn’t a furry. Maybe his dad was a genius.

Under the mask was more tissue paper, which Pete tore away to find fabric. Maroon fabric, dark and sultry. Pete was not surprised to find that it was a suit, three piece with a vest and everything.

Pete’s eyes flickered over the coat. It was longer than your average suit jacket. Pete guessed it would probably hit around his knees. Gold embroidery lined the cuffs and collar, forming intricate patterns that were fascinating to look at. Gold buttons, small and shiny, peeked out at him, winking as if they were laughing.

The vest had a heavy, darker brocade pattern embossed on it. It was barely visible, until the light caught and revealed the designs. Pete traced over the floral pattern, impressed at the feel of the silk under his fingers.

The pants were the simplest, just a pair of maroon slacks. Pete noticed the brocade pattern from the vest around his ankles, and the coat’s gold embroidery making another appearance around the waistband.

Pete’s dad was a genius. Pete highly doubted his dad actually came up with this. He made a note to send a fox themed thank-you gift to Aleena, his dad’s coordinator and assistant. She had a couple of kiddies, right? Pete wondered if they were still young enough to appreciate stuffed animals. Markedly, stuffed foxes.

Pete’s fingers, still tingling from the smooth glide of the silk, clenched into fists. He had never felt so…excited for the annual Halloween ball.

[shinygoku]

Magical Mystery Tour (1967)

Rare American Beatle Album W ! The original English release was only the newest songs that was used in their TV Special, and while they were good, it was shockingly short, so this version was beefed up by kidnapping Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever, as well and sticking a couple other singles and the song written for a special BBC Show to promote unity – All You Need Is Love. The way I phrased it makes it seem a bit haphazard, but are the results surprisingly harmonious, if less themed that Sgt Pepper?

Frankly, this is my least favourite cover so far. Both the UK version, which is just the inner picture, and this border'd and song listing US take, it's so busy yet visually uninteresting. They're in their hideous animal masks (you guys are wealthy enough to have bespoke fursuits made!!) and the stars spelling out BEATLES [where's the The?] just look offputting, and I like the US Border clouds more as a design cue to follow but it doesn't gel with anything else, including the inconsistently formatted names of the tracks. But let's not judge the book by it's cover...

SIDE ONE

Magical Mystery Tour: Roll Uuuuuup! For those who ain't sure, a Mystery Tour is something that was once quite common on British Holidays, or Staycations. When in your place away from home, one of the forms of "entertainment" would be crowding onto a bus to be driven to an unknown destination, a place of local interest or tourist hotspot. It sounds rubbish to me, but in the pre-internet days they had some popularity. Anyway, the song itself does not sound rubbish at all, though it's basic structure with minimal variation isn't particularly enchanting, or magical, either. The spoken words adds a little bit of interest, like of the ticket seller trying to snag attention and customers. A middle-of-the-road song for the big yellow bus!

The Fool On The Hill: The first time I heard this, when the Recorder piped in I was like "oh nooooo" but such is Paul's Power that not only does it work, but this song is one'a my favourites! Kind of a spiritual sequel to Nowhere Man, but this time instead of an obliviously lost individual aimlessly wandering, the "Fool" is actually very wise and it's everyone else shunning him from their own small mindedness. Even with this melancholy text, the music is jaunty and melodic and one I go back to often~ (and check out the '23 mix to hear how many different instruments are used in it!!)

Flying: One of the most odd-one-out of their whole discography! No lyrics, only instruments! And credited to the whole group, at that?! It makes very groovy background music, though as I'm not watching the visuals that were in the TV Special, I have to imagine the colours swirling myself lol - It seems to take a moody turn towards the end which makes me like it less, but it does flow better into the next song that way...

Blue Jay Way: What sounds lovely based on the title is actually named after some treacherous roads! Where people are lost at night and George is waiting for them to arrive and constantly reasserting "Please don't be long" This one makes me feel anxious :( I wanted to put the "Mom pick me up I'm scared" meme here but it messed up the formatting. Obviously to be dread-inducing is the intent, but it means I also avoid it like the plague. Well done? It's great at making something sound unpleasant, so objectively it's a success but for me I have to reject it. And even if ya like it, it doesn't half keep not ending! It goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on........... and on and on!

Your Mother Should Know: Ooooh I love this one!! Another very repetitive song, but upkey and good at coaxing me into movement! It sounds much more sincere and sweet than many, encouraging the audience to connect with the older generation as they may be privy to knowledge ya wouldn't have had otherwise. Also kinda funny for the "Your Momma So Old" style, but again, a genuine Nice Song without hidden cynicism for once XD;;

I Am The Walrus: Possibly John's most iconic song if not for the competition... If Lucy in the Sky was evocative of Lewis Carroll, this one is full blast, and only in part to the Walrus being from the Walrus and the Carpenter story within a story from Through The Looking Glass. The nonsense words strung together form something akin to being spoken to in a language you barely understand, and yet the flow of the music keeps the interest and oddly catchy nature running. Woven throughout all that is some dope instrumentals, like the Strings and Drums, and the odd turn it takes towards the end as a radio broadcast appears (again, the '23 picks this out nice and clearly~). It's another song I prefer to listen to in the daytime as the repetition at the end, orchestra fade in and radio static is a bit spooky XD;; – Apparently the BBC banned this song for a while from the line about knickers lmao. And this song inspired Dr Eggman in the Sonic the Hedgehog series!! Goo Goo G'joob!

SIDE TWO

Hello Goodbye: Paul is back with another upbeat seemingly simple ditty that I'm quite partial to! Of note is the drums and guitar flourishes and the counter vocals and the clever use of Aloha in the coda, but other than this being fun I don't have a lot to talk about. A good candyfloss type song, not much substance but a nice treat~ Oh, and watch the video! It's heavily Paul Energy but that makes is a funny lark with the boys wearing their fetching Sgt Peppers gear and even a nostalgic if odd Collarless Suits moment XD

Strawberry Fields Forever: One of John's very strongest songs, based on his childhood days messing around in the grounds of a children's home in Liverpool (seemingly these were unattended or he never got kicked out for trespassing lol). This song notably uses a Mellotron, an organ like contraption that inconsistently plays sound samples, as well as making interesting use of more conventional instruments, like the hard percussion found throughout and the odd little twangs of something at various points. This also famously is made up of two different takes played at different speeds, overlapping, which all enhances the eerie, dreamlike feel.

It's not entirely coherent, but this song feels like it has something to say about nostalgia and being able to connect with others. It also has a lovely music video of the lads larking about in a field (no strawberries, though!) and painting a piano that seems to be connected to a tree as another curious instrument. But there's a dark side to this hazy song that kicks in towards the end and with the coda; the drums get heavier, brass sounds like sirens, and John's distorted CRANBERRY SAUCE leave this with a slightly unsettling, but extremely memorable vibe. Peak John, everyone~

Penny Lane: One of Paul's very strongest songs, made in response to Strawberry Fields and thus also incorporating a big dose of Childhood in Liverpool nostalgia. This one stays brighter throughout, and seemingly much simpler, though a closer listen will shed more light on surreal moments and even innuendo. The chord progression is pleasing and little extra sound effects and the piccolo trumpet add further interest to the expected high quality.

This one also has a slightly off ending, this time the sounds trailing off with the cymbal seemingly left to resonate. The music video is another feature of interest, cutting between the real locale and the Boys riding on horseback to reach a fancy tea party, which is later upturned. The two songs feel like two sides of a coin and I'm so fond of both, oddities and all!

Baby You're A Rich Man: Apparently the manager of the band, Brian Epstein, really didn't like this one and thought it was directed at him? And I know that John in particular was mean sometimes, though all I have is hearsay, and no way of knowing if that was his intent or an unfortunate miscommunication. This is made a hotter topic by the allegations that the last spoken title in this is using an altered line to be more insulting ...I don't know if I hear it or the power of suggestion is in play, so I'm not writing it out. But if true then yeah, it's very tacky and uncool. Other than all that, I'm not that wowed by this one. It's whatever, falls way short of the other nonsense lines like Walrus and their musical instrument skill is always a high standard. I only slightly prefer to listen to it than Blue Jay Way as it doesn't fill me with dread, just Nothing.

All You Need Is Love: I find it a little odd how it starts of with the French national anthem, but for a very basic song on the surface I really dig it. They're right! Love for fellow man, for interests, for the world we live in, and more! That's what it's all about, baybee! Not just one kind but all sorts of Love!! The messages of encouragement for being oneself and trying things out, and the extremely raw, passionate reprise of She Loves You (YEAAHHH YEAH YEAH) helps carry this simple ditty into one I always look forward to – and its use in Yellow Submarine has even more gravitas! Believe Me!!

CONCLUSION

Best 3: The Fool On The Hill, Strawberry Fields Forever, Penny Lane

Blurst 3: Flying, Blue Jay Way, Baby You're A Rich Man

Overall Quality?: We have a slightly awkward moment here, as the two easily best numbers weren't meant to go with the songs under the Magical Mystery Tour banner, and rather outshine them. Such things do occur when going against the authors' intent, which technically this album is...! But, like the yt upload of TFOTH with Paul prancing around on French hills, it was rather too short for the liking of consumers... XD;; (For what it's worth, my Best 3 picks from the UK ver of MMT would be TFOTH, IAMTW and YMSK)

So yeah, SFF and PL really are stolen valour that should have gone into Sgt Pepper.... though that may've made an album too packed for its own good! But ouughhh, the themes really do tie into that album more, while the MMT originals having a more ....mysterious and magical, I s'pose, energy to 'em was the point. And then there's the other singles stapled on, some I really like and then BYARM which I think sucks. Still though, the album is very much more Hits than Misses, and I only have Flying on the Blurst list as it lacking vocals means it's hard for it to compete with the clever and/or fun of the songs that do have more words. To sum it all up I'd say it's Eclectic.

🪲🪲🪲🪲

So, back to the Band's intended canon next and it's ...The Beatles. Much better known as The White Album, but given how very long it is, for my own sanity I may hafta keep each mini-review for the songs short, or else it wouldn't be done in time! ^^;;;

[miss-bvnny]

It's my birthday so I can finally be cringe legally. So, here's some bits and pieces of something that I've been playing with off and on since about June. As I sit here and finish off the last of my birthday sushi, I ask myself what I'd regret more: NOT sharing something I'm admittedly proud to have slaved over played around with for the last few months, OR the fact that this basically spells out how I'm a LeFou stan. Oh well. There's only one way to find out.

''One evening, whilst being dragged along on a hunting trip with his self-absorbed meathead of a stepbrother, LeFou gets lost and ends up at a mysterious castle forgotten by time, hiding a secret far more mysterious and peculiar than anything anyone's seen before. But at the same time it is, in every way possible, a tale as old as time.''

There's a whole lotta words to be said about all of this junk, so I'll put it under a readmore for the convenience of all. Please don't be mean to me about my interests.

Sketches 1 and 2 - First (Left) and final (Right) pass of Beast!Nicole

I was very tense in life and about this entire idea when I first started to dip my toes into it, and that definitely translates into my first try at drawing Beast!Nicole. Much like the Beast in the original 1991 Disney classic that has luckily never been turned into an ugly abomination of a live action cash grab remake, I tried to mix several animals in her design. She's got the lower half and tail of a wolf, upper torso of a lion, and her head...where it gets messy. I've always loved the designs of the hyenas in The Lion King, so I drew inspiration from Shenzi for her neck and part of her head. Her mouth/muzzle however is based on some of those cursed photoshops of horses with wolf teeth:

I can remember I'd JUST come back from seeing a special showing of Kung Fu Panda 2 the morning I drew the very first one of Nicole, and I've always LOVED Boss Wolf. I think you can see just a BIT of inspiration from his body shape looking at her. It probably comes across a bit better in the final when I cleaned her up somewhat. I hate looking at that first one so much, actually. It's so unforgivably clunky. BUT I did get the hang of her with time, hence the second pass. Wanna know a fun fact? Those colors were originally just something I kinda slapped together as placeholders. But...I grew pretty attached to them, so they stayed. There is...almost a month between her initial test and her final, btw.

Sketch 2 - Expression test/me having some fun

Yeahhh there was a time when I had no idea how far I was gonna actually try and go with this stuff, so I just kinda...played with it. Beast!Nicole is a treat to draw, so I jumped at any excuse to sketch her. Where the Beast in the movie had to learn to be bit more of a gentleman and control his temper, Nicole is...prone to impatience and outbursts under extreme stress. In this AU, she was forced to take the throne at a young age after the death of the previous king and queen. Going from a teenager to a ruler almost overnight weighed heavily on her, and she's got a short fuse. The night o the party in which the enchantress cursed her was a result of her breaking down and not thinking. I know there's debate in some places about whether or not the enchantress was right to curse an 11 year old prince for denying entry to a stranger, so...I tried to make this version a bit more...ambiguous on who's at fault. Maybe Nicole was being hasty, and maybe the enchantress was wrong to condemn a teenager to Eternal Fursuit just for trying to abide by stranger danger rules. IDK.

Side note - I can't help but imagine that in her Beast form, Nicole sounds like April Winchell. Think prime angry Sylvia from Wander Over Yonder.

Sketch 3 - Smiledog.jpg ''And give him an elegant, ladylike smile!!''

I wanted her to be unsettling. LITERALLY so unsettling. She;s got a horse mouth with canine teeth, I can't imagine that puts a warm feeling in anyone's heart at all. I also just really wanted to redraw that smile scene as an excuse to draw a lot of teeth.

Remember how I said Nicole's got BAD trust issues? Most of that comes from the memory of having suitors, possible consorts, and foreign princes trying to woo and flirt. They were suffocating, and it left her with a lot of lasting bad impressions. Wouldn't call it outright sexism on her part, just...caution based on experience. To the point where the rest of the enchanted objects heard that only true love's kiss could break the spell and they all went ''Hahaha we are so fucked'' Took them forever to even begin to fathom the idea that this LeFou guy MIGHT maybe be the one to break it???

But...in the end, they work together because...they're not typical of what the world expects from them. In MY headcanon, which ignores and disowns any and all alleged ''Live action remakes from 2017'' that may or may not include ''Josh Gad'', LeFou is Gaston's yougner step brother. A headcanon, I might add, that was inspired by @wreckham and their Balto rewrite where Star is Steele's younger brother. What does that have to do with Gaston and LeFou? Well:

A weird hill to die on headcanon-wise, but I'll take it. Anyway, Nicole is a huge terrifying beast. A practical manifestation of how awkward and out of place she felt as a young princess trying so hard to fit into a role she ascended to before her time (Honestly, Nicole is just Twilight Sparkle's bookworm tendencies and lack of social skills mixed with the intimidating aura of Vitani and Sergeant Calhoun. Kiiiiind of a mess). She isn't small and lovely and fair like a young princess should be. MEANWHILE, LeFou is the young brother to the ''town hero'' and...that's kinda hard to measure up to. He's not the huge hulking man that's traditionally sought after. *COUGH* *COUGH*

They sort of...find a connection over this topic. Nicole likes him because he's nothing like the rich stuffed shirts that always flexed their looks and wealth to try and win her heart, and LeFou likes that she doesn't care if he's not a big and tough guy. Every Furry girlboss needs a short king.

Sketch 4 - ''THAT HURTS!!''

TBH the thing about this was...there WERE a few scenes I felt...REALLY obligated to try. The Ballroom scene WAS one of those, but unfortunately you won't see that one, since its over tumblr's photo size limit. Kinda happy about that, since it looks...less than great. Where was I? Oh yeah. Uhhhh this is one of my favorite scenes from the movie so I ABSOLUTELY wanted to give it a shot with these two. Sketches 4-6 are all drawn directly into screenshots from the movie because I was NOT about to try and redraw those backgrounds. God this movie is GORGEOUS but soooo intricate and i am only a little creature who scares easily. Also, I had OTHER things that were hard to draw that I was more focused on. Wanna know what those things were?! LEFOU. I don't know if I'm bad at diverse faces or maybe he's just genuinely a little tricky, but GOD I still have a hard time drawing him. Assume every sketch of LeFou here in this post took me three hours minimum. That's why most of these are of him and Nicole. My deal with myself was that if I at least gave him a good college try, I could ALSO have fun drawing Nicole, who is WAY easier. I mean I'm...getting a LITTLE better at him, but still. He was NOT east the first few times.

Nicole's snarly face in this one was so fun to draw. I looked at a lot of Nala during the chase scene with Pumbaa, and Sabor fighting Tarzan to get her teeth right. Hilariously, I also looked at Steele.

Sketch 5 - ''It's obvious there's a spark between them..''

''You are a strange sight

Some new kind of wonder

With good hidden under

I'm sure that it's true.''

A theme song??? Is for me??? Is for my silly little drawings???

Sketch 6 - Nicole's hour in the fursuit is over

THat's right I KEPT her in the dress for the final fight in this AU. Why??? I DON'T KNOW I wanted to. Maybe it was a reference to the ''running from a T Rex in high heels'' scene in Jurassic World. Maybe it was me trying to convey how Nicole has finally come to own the ''princess'' she never thought she could be. I DON'T KNOW. OH. and by the way. her dress is loosely inspired by the one @Johannathemad drew here

Sketch 7 - A most peculiar Mademoiselle

I was looking at these by @davidgilson and they were SO cute I....KINDA wanted to give something similar to it a shot. That tiny LeFou is going to make me fucking scream he is SO small

You guys wanna know a really embarrassing fact? So...LeFou is voiced by Jesse Corti, right? Who ALSO provided the signing voice for Charlie in All Dogs Go To Heaven 2. So....AHEM and COUGH maybe Ive been listening to these a lot while I draw LeFou and Nicole. What of it.

Um....that's all for now, but....Hopefully there might be some more on the horizon. I've been...kinda burnt out and tired as a result of some work drama lately, but...I have more sketches and ideas with this AU I'd like to do. It's been...really fun to play with, honestly. i had a GREAT birthday tho, and...I think it was more than appropriate that I shared this today <3

[adobe-outdesign]

Thoughts on cinderace?

Oh, Cinderace, where do I begin with you.

Okay, first, the good: I do like the concept a lot. Soccer star that's also a rabbit because they have powerful hind feet and legs. Good! That's a great concept.

However, the design is... well, it could be better. I feel bad for ragging on it because I feel like everyone does, but it really does have some massive issues.

The first problem is the one I talked about with Scorbunny, which is the human-like anatomy. Sure, it has long feet, long ears, and fur, but those elements are tacked on to a humanoid body, much more so than Pokemon usually gets with its anthro characters. Compare to Diggerysby or Mega Lopunny:

Diggerysby is fatter, but it has much shorter proportions, a distinct muzzle area and buck teeth, and more haunch-like legs. Mega Lopunny strays closer to humanoid, but even it has a more elongated face, digitigrade legs, and thinner proportions in the arms and neck that keep it from being quite as humanoid as Cinderace. Note also the eyes on both of these guys, which are also less anime-like than than those on Cinderace.

This might not bother everyone, but for me it almost pushes Cinderace into the uncanny valley a little, like it's a person in a fursuit instead of a wild animal. It also would've helped the design to exaggerate it; in particular, the legs feel like they needed to be a powerful set of haunches with much bigger, longer feet, to emphasize the soccer thing. Right now they're really no more impressive than a human foot, which kind of defeats the concept of it being a rabbit in the first place.

Even putting that aside though, I also feel like the design could be better. First, the navy blue parts feel a bit out of place; I think a lighter orange and a red would've worked better here.

Then there a few things I just don't get, conceptually. What's up with that huge red streak of fur between the ears, or that weird shape between them? What's with the blue upper lines? Even the legs are a little questionable with that random yellow spot on the side; maybe it's meant to resemble the line on soccer shorts, but then why not make it an actual line? It feels like if you stripped off the red and gold by the ears, removed the blue top and maybe the "eyeliner", made the legs white instead of blue, and maybe added a little splotch of orange on the chest for a "number", it would've read clearer as a soccer player. Right now it looks more like a Yugioh protagonist.

As for the g-max, I'm really not fond of how all the starters just get an "item" of theirs made bigger instead of themselves. Feels like it emphasizes how hollow the gimmick is. How does this even work in-universe? Does it just never get off of the ball? Or does it only use the ball sometimes, resulting in it otherwise being a (relatively) tiny g-max without it? I do like the lop ears at least, mostly because the exaggeration is at least a little unique.

[obsidianstrawberrymilk]

Mmk but what if at some point people in Paris just get used to akumatizations right??

Bc like at first ofc there would be a ton of people moving out I imagine. Like there’s a weirdo in a costume that looks like a grey condom turning people in monsters with evil butterflies and causing insane amounts of property damage and also you literally can’t feel negative emotions so OBVIOUSLY people move out. But then after a while it’s just, who cares. The people who are left are here to stay and they’re probably just like USED to akumas by now.

Like okay, Hawkmoth akumatized by co-worker and she’s now making my boss explode into bloody pieces? Alr, I’m reading a book in the designated ‘akuma space’ till she leaves and I can continue working. Ugh, another huge monster blocking the road? Get out of the car and fucking climb - I don’t have time for this shit. Test gets interrupted by a rampaging baby-man? Well, we’ve seen weirder shit, clear off to the gym and we’ll resume it, no you don’t get a break.

Like at some point does it just become part of normal life? Do people just stop having time to be scarred by everything that’s happening and are just like ‘alright here we go again I guess’. Does Hawkmoth make the rate of crime go up now the police are busy with his huge monsters?

“Oh damn, my mom was akumatized and now she can’t drive me to the exam to determine if I get into med school... well, she’s huge, and clinging onto her will get me closer, so why not? Oh, she’s a murderous monster? Fuck you, I’ve studied for years for this.”

“Our waiter was akumatized? Damn *sips water* we’ll leave a really good tip for when they come back.”

“Hey why does that dude keep showing up in his skintight pigeon fursuit?” “They don’t let him feed the pigeons in the public park” “Ah that checks out.”

“How was this akuma defeated again?” “He interrupted my fucking grocery run so I slammed his head with my bag of rice.”

[matoitech]

galo =] if u already got him then ed elric

i will do both! :3

galo

First impression

ok well first impression i saw him in a gifset like early 2019 maybe?? made from one of the trailers and i was like that character design is fun! i did not yet know who he was <3 but like first time i actually watched promare i just LOVED him. and it has not changed! i expected lio to be my favorite from trailers bc vaguely kurapika vibes and that was like, the 2 weeks in september 2019 that promare was KICKING on tumblr so everyone was comparing him to kurapika. ANYWAY THIS ISNT ABOUT LIO I LOVED GALO A LOT FROM THE 1ST TIME I WATCHED IT

Impression now

my love has only grown <3 like i generally have a character in something that i zero in on and decide is my favorite but galo is like literally my favorite character ever i adore him. hes a great character! still underrated (though lio deserves all the love he gets <3) i could talk about him for hours and i mean. technically i have if you count how much time ive spent writing about promare.

Favorite moment

oh man what to even pick. i love when he gives a powerpoint presentation in the middle of a fight

Idea for a story

someday im gonna write the anthrocon medic galo x fursuiter lio who passes out from heat exhaustion au

Unpopular opinion

i think most of my opinions about galo are unpopular opinions. that hes not stupid? thats a big one

Favorite relationship

him and lio :) that everything about the movie is set up to constantly remind you they are gay and falling in love is a fantastic experience i will never get over

Favorite headcanon

i mean i would say trans galo but thats canon

---

ed elric

First impression

im pretty sure i liked him a lot from the beginning but i dont remember very well? he was def one of my fave chars when i was an fma blog bc i wrote a lot of meta about him and had him as my icon lol. hes the only character i think looks ok w that hairstyle. the bangs? not sure what that part of the hair is called

Impression now

id need to rewatch fma but i like him hes a really good well written character!

Favorite moment

;-; man this is rly reminding me i need to rewatch. a lot of scenes i can think of r 03 scenes but theyre not His moments as much as i just think theyre narratively rly smart

Idea for a story

sometimes i think about revisiting service dog au...

Unpopular opinion

oh man i dont know.. that 03 ed is a good character? 03 ed and BH ed both start from the manga and BH stays on track w the manga mostly but 03 ed deviates a lot and i dont agree w ppl saying that that makes him a ‘worse’ character than manga/BH ed inherently. taking his character in a dif direction subtly at first but making that gap wider the further the story goes to ultimately get to a dif place is cool! i like that 03 really did its own thing i respect that. i like that 03 ed rly did start out at the same place but his experiences were different than manga ed so he had to make different choices and his character changed from that. 

also he shouldve stayed short but thats probably not. unpopular idk

Favorite relationship

him and alphonse make me cry i love good sibling relationships

Favorite headcanon

i feel like yall know im gonna say Autism. its kind of my brand

[quentinsquill]

Fic: “Minor Mendings and Mistletoe” (The Magicians)

Minor Mendings and Mistletoe 

Fandom: The Magicians 

Rating: PG 

Word Count: 3,057

Warnings: None 

Summary: It’s Christmas at the Physical Kids cottage, and Quentin uncovers a piece of Eliot’s past that his friend forever thought lost. Can he make a connection with his crush and discover the truth about his magical abilities at the same time? 

Author’s Notes: This is based on a drawing by @highkingfen that completely inspired me! I thank her for allowing me to write a fic based on her wonderful art. Check that out here, along with a bunch of other original and amazing designs at her Redbubble shop, FillorianQueen! Comments and kudos are magic and as always, enjoy! 

Minor Mendings and Mistletoe 

By Lexalicious70 (aka QuentinsQuill) 

“Do we really have to do this?” 

Quentin turned from opening several large cardboard boxes to see Eliot standing at the Physical Kids cottage bar, pouring himself a glass of wine and making a show of looking spectacularly bored. 

“Come on, El! It’s Christmas!” 

“Well technically, it’s February 15th, at least out in the real world,” Eliot replied. Margo opened one of the boxes and began to unwind several strings of multicolored lights as she scoffed in reply. 

“Since when do you worry about life outside of Brakebills?” She asked, and Eliot frowned. 

“Since you want to turn our cottage into some kind of cheesy Rankin Bass cartoon?” 

“What’s so bad about Christmas?” Quentin asked as he unpacked a large artificial tree. “I like Rankin Bass animation.” 

“Oh, you sweet summer child,” Eliot sighed, then narrowed his eyes at Quentin as he opened his mouth to reply. “And don’t you dare compare me to the Grinch!” 

“If the green fursuit fits,” Quentin muttered as he slapped dust from the front of his sweater. Eliot downed his wine, refilled his glass, and stepped out from behind the bar. 

“By all means, proceed,” he said as he headed for the front door. “Just don’t ask me to participate!” 

“Wow,” Quentin sighed as Eliot slammed the door behind him. “Who took a dump in his eggnog?” He asked Margo, who plugged in a string of lights and nodded as they came to life. 

“Don’t mind El,” she said. “He’s not the biggest fan of Christmas.” 

“How come?” Quentin pulled the legs of the tree stand open. While he’d only been living in the cottage for five months, he’d spent enough time with Margo and Eliot to feel like he’d gotten to know them as friends. Granted, he was a bit scared of one and was crushing hard on the other, but they felt like friends just the same. They had even tried to help him find his magical discipline, but to no avail. 

Margo paused to pour herself a glass of wine and then filled one for Quentin as well. 

“Without going into detail, El didn’t have the most ideal of childhoods. When you think of Christmas, what comes to mind?” 

“I don’t know, uhm . . . snow? Going crosstown to check out the lights in Manhattan? Skating at Rockefeller Center with my dad when I was little?” 

“Sounds like stuff right out of a Christmas movie,” Margo nodded. “But El’s parents were less about Christmas fun and more about the religious aspect of it. Lots of praying, lots of church services, and not a lot of decor.” 

“That sucks,” Quentin nodded as he constructed the tree and began to fan out the branches. “But he’s an adult now . . . he can celebrate any way he wants!” 

“I guess he doesn’t want to. Maybe he’s not okay with the memories it brings up, Q.” 

Quentin paused and glanced over at Margo. 

“How bad can church be?” He asked. “My dad is a lapsed Protestant so we didn’t really go once I turned like, ten, but . . .” He trailed off at Margo’s pointed expression. “Oh. You mean his parents . . .?” 

“It’s not for me to give you details, Quentin,” Margo replied. “But let’s just say that some of the first magic lessons Eliot truly applied himself to was how to repress unpleasant memories.” 

Discomfort twitched in Quentin’s stomach and he fell silent to focus on shaping the tree. Most of the cottage occupants had drifted away from the decorating efforts, leaving Margo and Quentin to unpack all the boxes. The ornaments had been collected from previous students who had left them behind and they now filled a cardboard box that used to contain a build-it-yourself desk. 

“Damn!” Margo said suddenly from one corner. “Q, do me a favor?” 

“What’s up?” Quentin asked as he finished assembling the tree. 

“There’s an extension cord thing--one with all the plugs--up in El’s closet, up on the shelf above where he hangs his shirts. Grab it for me, would you?” 

“Go in Eliot’s closet? Uhm--” 

“Yes, go in his closet! Don’t worry about it, I’m giving you permission.” 

Quentin glanced up the stairs. He knew Eliot had gone off somewhere to mope or flirt or whatever he did to avoid Christmas, but closets were personal things and the thought of stepping into that space, full of Eliot’s clothes, his scent, made Quentin’s heart vibrate against his rib cage like a frightened parakeet. 

“Quentin! I’m standing on my fucking head over here!” Margo said from the corner. 

“All right, okay! I’m going!” Quentin turned and headed up the stairs to Eliot’s room. There were only six people occupying the cottage this semester, so Eliot had only closed his door instead of locking it. Quentin turned the knob, guilt pricking his conscience. 

Quit being so jumpy, he told himself. Margo told you to come up here, it’s not a big deal, so just grab the cord and don’t be so stupid!

Stepping into Eliot’s room was, for Quentin, like entering a space full of possibility. He took in the bed with its plum-colored duvet, the nightstand mirror edged with photos of Eliot and Margo, and, to Quentin’s great surprise, one of himself. He stepped closer to examine the image and saw himself asleep on the cottage couch, a Fillory and Further book spread open across his chest. He wore his Brakebill’s shirt, tie, and blazer, but the tie was undone and his hair hung in his eyes. 

When the hell did he take this? Quentin asked himself. And why? 

The possibilities were too overwhelming to contemplate at that moment so Quentin turned to the closet instead. The doors were tightly closed and Quentin swung them open. They folded aside and the smell of Eliot’s cologne, a mix of ocean water and sandalwood, wafted out, along with the scent of fresh clothing. Quentin glanced around like a guilty child sneaking cookies out of the kitchen before he leaned in to sniff at one of Eliot’s cardigans. It was well-worn, almost on the verge of shabby, but the fabric was softer than a baby’s blanket with repeated washings and Quentin allowed it to touch his cheek a moment before he pulled back and glanced up at the shelf above his head. He murmured a few lines of Arabic and let the magic fill him before he rose into the air, light streaming from his fingertips. He pointed them at the shelf and he saw the extension cord right away, coiled up in one corner. There were also a few dusty-looking hat boxes, a stack of magazines with nude men on the cover, and-- 

“QUENTIN!” Margo roared from the bottom of the stairs, and Quentin gasped as he lost his focus on the spell and the light sputtered and died. He pitched backward and gave a yelp of dismay as he grabbed the nearest surface--the closet shelf. The thing came free of its braces and Quentin shielded his face as he tumbled to the carpet and the contents of the shelf and the slat itself rained down on him. 

“Shit!” He gasped as the slat slammed into his right knee and two of the hat boxes spilled open as they hit the floor. The erotic magazines fluttered down around him like wounded bats and Quentin blushed at the array of nudity scattered there. 

“What the fuck are you doing up here?” Margo demanded from the doorway. “What was that--oh, Jesus!” She snapped as saw Quentin laying among the ruins of Eliot’s closet shelf. “Haven’t you ever heard of a stepladder?” 

“It’s your fault!” Quentin shot back as he got to his feet. “I was looking for that cord when you screamed at me! It broke my concentration!” 

Margo rolled her eyes. 

“I swear, you are the most fragile forest-type creature I have ever met!” 

“I didn’t say it scared me, I said you broke my concentration!” Quentin began to gather the spilled contents of the hat boxes which, to his surprise, did not contain a single hat. Instead, Quentin found himself picking up jewelry, unopened packs of cigarettes, dozens of matchbooks, and a few items that defied description (at least in Quentin’s realm of experience) but looked personal enough to make him blush again. Margo picked up the shelf slat and replaced it, shoving the ends back into the casters. Quentin stacked the magazines and handed them over, and she gave him an amused look before tucking them back into their proper place. He glanced around to make sure he hadn’t missed anything and spied a smaller, square box that had tumbled almost all the way under the bed. Quentin bent over to pick it up and something inside gave a chiming rattle of broken glass. Margo glanced up. 

“What’s that?” She asked, wiping a lock of hair from her eyes, and Quentin bit his lower lip. 

“Whatever it is, I think I broke it,” he said. “Shit.” He popped the top open and peered inside to find a white-and-blue Christmas ornament, broken into at least four pieces. The outside was decorated with painted glass and overlaid with glitter. “It’s a Christmas ornament,” Quentin groaned. “Oh shit, Margo . . .” 

“Maybe we can fix it, Q, let’s not panic!” 

“What do you think he has it for? You told me he doesn’t even like Christmas!” 

“Who knows. El can be secretive, even with me.” 

“I think I have some clear glue in my--” Quentin censored himself, knowing Margo would give him that mocking smile of hers if she knew he owned a crafting kit, “--in my room. I’ll take in there, see if I can fix it before Eliot gets back.” 

“All right, I’ll see what I can do about the tree,” Margo nodded as she left the room. Quentin carried the box into his room and shut the door before he opened his desk and took out a hinged wooden box with a hand-painted dragon on the cover. Inside was a crafting kit with a set of acrylic paints, scissors, rulers, a pencil set, and other crafting items. Quentin pulled a tube of clear glue from the box and went to inspect the ornament again, sliding the pieces from the box with care. It was broken into nearly even sections, almost like one of those chocolate oranges Quentin sometimes got his dad for the holidays, and he fit the edges together carefully. His stomach sank a moment later when he realized several small pieces would be missing, even if he did glue them. He wiped a hand over his mouth. 

“Shit! Shit, shit . . . what am I gonna do?” He asked himself, imagining the look of hurt and anger on Eliot’s face when he saw what was obviously an heirloom, broken beyond repair because of his first-year clumsiness. Shame and panic burned in his throat and then his eyes flew open as a sensation began to fill his chest, like he was taking a breath big enough to inflate a bounce house. He’d felt this way his first day at Brakebills, when he’d made the cards fly around the room, but this was different--this was a warm glow that wore a halo of power, and he raised his hands without directing them. He watched, amazed, as his fingers and wrists worked and the broken sections of the ornament rose into the air, spun around each other, and them knitted themselves into place. The metal fastening that fit into the top of the ornament seemed to give a joyous leap before fitting itself in with a small popping noise. Quentin turned his hands, palms up, dark eyes wide and full of wonderment, as the delicate glass bauble set itself into them. 

“Holy shit,” Margo’s voice said from the doorway, and he started and turned, holding the ornament to his chest. 

“Did you see that, or did I imagine it?” Quentin asked, and Margo grinned. 

“I saw it! You found your discipline, Q! The way your hands worked in a spell you couldn’t possibly know yet?” 

“But what does it mean?” He asked, and Margo beckoned him. 

“Come on . . . I”ll show you.” 

Quentin paused long enough to put the ornament back into the box and carried it with him as Margo led him back downstairs, where she took out a leather-bound book. 

“This is a listing of all the disciplines and their meanings . . .” She flipped a few pages and then traced a finger down one before she tapped a paragraph with a lacquered nail. “Here! Repairer of small objects.”

Quentin looked over her shoulder. 

“That’s it?” 

“Small broken objects are attracted to you, especially those that want to be repaired.” She glanced at the box. “I guess that includes Christmas ornaments.” 

The cottage door opened a moment later and Margo and Quentin looked up to see Eliot sweep in, along with a gust of cold air. He unwound his dark woolen scarf and then paused, his eyes widening when he saw the box sitting on the coffee table near the Christmas tree. 

“What the fuck--what do you think you’re doing with that? DId you go through my closet, Quentin?” He snapped, and Quentin took a step forward. 

“El please, don’t be mad, I can explain if you just give me a minute--” 

Eliot pulled a gilded pocketwatch from his vest, clicked the face open, and nodded. 

“Starting now.” 

“We were putting up the tree and-- and well, Margo asked me to get an extension cord from your closet so I used a spell that let me reach it, but uhm--I fell and other stuff fell too, including that box and--and I’m so sorry, I know I messed up but--” He retrieved the box and offered it to Eliot. Eliot snatched it away but then paused as he saw the ornament inside. He stared at it and then staggered a few feet to the couch, where he sat down hard. Quentin gave Margo a worried glance. 

“El? What’s wrong? Did I screw it up? I wasn’t exactly in control of the spell, Margo said it’s my discipline--fixing small things, I mean. I’m sorry I broke it . . .” 

“You didn’t.” 

“Uhm--what?” 

“You didn’t break it, Q. It was already broken. It has been, for years . . . ever since I was seven years old.” 

“El . . . I don’t understand,” Quentin said, sitting down, and Eliot blinked tears from his eyes. 

“When I was seven, my Grandma Dottie lived with us. She was my father’s mother, but infinitely more kind. This ornament belonged to her grandmother, then her mother, and then her. She always waited until the tree was nearly finished and then she’d hang it up. That Christmas, she asked me if I’d like to help her hang it. I was real excited because it seemed like such a big deal--you know how it is when you’re a kid and an adult asks you for help. I picked it up and ran to her--and tripped over an empty box.” Eliot sighed. “The ornament hit the corner of her rocking chair and broke.” He closed his eyes a moment. “I’ll never forget the look on her face. I might as well have slammed her heart into the floor. She tried to act like it was all right, mostly so my father wouldn’t punish me. Not that it stopped him.” Eliot took the ornament from the box, his big, elegant hands cradling it. “She died two months later, of a stroke. Died in her sleep. I helped my father make her coffin.” He held the ornament up to the light. “I hid the pieces in my room for years and then took them with me when I left home. I would try to use my telekinesis on them but they would never mend right. Either they would knit and then fall apart or the glass would bulge in all different directions. I put it in my closet, hoping one day I’d learn magic that would help me fix it.” Eliot looked up at Quentin and smiled. “Or that the right kind of magic would come along. I guess it finally did.” 

“Do you want to put it on our tree?” Quentin asked with hesitation, and Eliot shook his head. 

“No, Q. I want us to.” 

“Us?” 

“Yes,” Eliot rose and offered Quentin his free hand. The younger magician blushed, hope rising in his heart, as he and Eliot went over to the tree. Quentin fanned out an empty branch and curved it upward to give the ornament more stability while Eliot slipped a hook into the top of the holder. He hung it while Quentin held the branch steady, and Margo cleared her throat. Eliot glanced over and she tipped her eyes toward the ceiling, where a sprig of mistletoe orbited. Eliot followed her gaze and grinned. 

“Looks like we’re standing under the mistletoe, Q.” 

Quentin glanced up and his heart quickened its pace. 

“Looks that way.” 

“Well then. Who am I to stand in the way of holiday tradition?” Eliot bent his head down and claimed Quentin’s lips, causing the younger man to give a short gasp. He gripped Eliot’s forearms as he was kissed for nearly half a minute. When Eliot finally pulled away, Quentin kept a grip on his arms so he wouldn’t fall into the tree. Eliot tugged him into a hug and whispered in his ear. 

“Merry Christmas, Quentin Coldwater.” 

“Merry Christmas, El,” Quentin smiled as he watched the ornament wink in the glow of the Christmas tree’s lights, a minor mending that meant little to the world outside but repaired and illuminated a room of memories in Eliot’s heart. 

THE END 

[trcshbirb]

semi-meta; how far cry ; new dawn did sharky a dirty or: charlemagne victor boshaw iv deserved better.

with my latest sharky meta still in the works , i got something else i gotta get off my chest. i don’t like fc;nd. there, i said it. i am not going to go into all the details regarding why i  don’t like it and will, most likely, never finish it, because that is, uh, a whole different post, so i’m going to focus mainly one: that’s right. sharky. sharky boshaw was, in far cry 5 , a great character. the longer you had him tag along, the more locations you dragged him to, the more you learned about him. about his past, his view on the world, and , because the man doesn’t know how to shut up , about his sexual interests and preferences. sharky’s a pretty neat dude. while his view on global warming might be a bit worrying , and his level of education ain’t the highest, he has a good heart. he means well, and he’s moved on from a shitty past to live the best present he’s able to. he’s an outcast, always has been. he’s lonely. alone. but he’s brave, and he’s optimistic. sharky is a well - rounded character , and fc;nw ruins that. i am not going to argue; fc5 features a lot of ‘stereotypical’ characters - a given. and yet, the game manages to keep a balance; none of the companions is a mere comic relief or parody. sharky follows the white-trailer-trash blueprint; from his glasses stacked on top of his baseball cap to his tacky gold chain to his even tackier 2001 flame tattoo and his love for pot; sharky is the whole package. And yet, fc5 strays from the path of portraying him as a carricature and a persiflage - despite the piss bottle collection. Despite his textbook redneck behaviour. sharky is a 3 dimensional character; a joke about farting here, an innuendo there, but it’s never TOO MUCH. for me, fc;nd changed that --- and took it too far. it’s like watchig family guy; with jokes drawn out over such an exceedingly long period of time, they stop being funny and just become awkward. peter griffin falling and holding his ankle for 40 seconds straight while wincing? that’s fc;nd. the joke ended when fc5 did, but ubisoft didn’t think so. fc5 features a lovely dialogue between sharky and jess, where he asks her if she “had a crush on fox robin hood, too.” , which can be interpreted in two ways: sharky did have a crush on fox robin hood and wants to know if she did as well, or , if jess had a crush on fox robin hood as well as other versions of the character. it was subtle, and it was good: the the implication of sharky being a furry was both hilarious and terribly probable.  fc;nd ruined it. instead of focusing on the twins and giving the player some proper backstory on those two ( the main antagonists! ) something that was to be found all over the place and mentioned every 5 minutes was: sharky and his fursuit. there are several notes to be found regarding it, and sharky himself brings it up. not only that, it also pushes it further into the ‘lmao sharky is sooo weird he actually mentioned jiffing what a freak’ territory. remember his casually mentioned piss bottle collection from fc5? you can bet he’s gonna bring that up in every second sentence. oh, and gimps on a pole. that comes up at least twice. and sharky wanting to get himself some of that sweet tiddie milk. it’s too much. while in fc5, those things were dropped occasionally, they make up most of the content one gets from sharky in the new game. sure, there are some deeper and more personal things he drops, ( and you bet i am working on a meta regarding those things ) but they make up a rather small percentage of the shit the developers have scripted to come out of our hobo’s mouth. it does no longer feel genuine - it feels scripted, like the writers merely took whatever trashy jokes sold best in the previous game and set the intensity to 120%.  there are other things about it that bother me - he doesn’t really seem to have any opinion on the highwaymen. sure, they are there, they are a nuisance, but that’s about it. his main concern seems to be him not getting his gimp. he had a lot to say about eden’s gate , the seeds, and peggies in general. and while he wasn’t a gun for hire and i did in no way expect a running commentary from him, i feel a bit . . .cheated? it seems empty. forced. hell, he still talks about peggies more than he does about the highwaymen.  last but not least - y’all thought i wouldn’t bring it up, eh? - his appearance. the fact that it took a wave of complaints for ubisoft to lap on his trademark tattoo when they rolled out a patch/update says it all. his look in general rubs me the wrong way - while a lot of thought seems to have gone into the original character design and the concept art of fc5, it seems incredibly lazy in the sequel. sharky has a distinct look, and you can almost smells the clouds of lynx africa through the screen; and while his jumper is somewhat muddy, he cares about his appearance. his van dyke beard is always neatly shaved and trimmed, and he accessorizes: shades on the hat, gold chain around his neck, bracelets on his wrists and rings on his fingers.  tl;dr : fc;nd turned a facetted and multi-dimesional character into a duck-dynasty beard-wearing, piss collecting, jiffing caricature of grizzly adams and i absolutely hate it.

[philiie]

Interactive Introverts London highlights

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD PROCEED AT YOUR OWN PERIL

This is also the most extra shit like I spent hours writing everything up lol

Go check out @danfanciesphil post here of the Brighton show which inspired me to do this :))

- When they first came it was the coolest thing ever. They were standing on the podium thing and the screen at the back lifted to reveal them in a cloud of smoke and they were silhouettes until the spotlight shined on them. Holy shit it was the best thing ever it doesn't even seem real.

- They were quite close to their apartment as well so Phil said they were considering bringing their sofa and "sitting in our browsing position".

- Dan mentioned how Phil's old videos from 2008 were very different from now (lots of audience approval) and how they were kind of really creepy and weird and honesty it probably isn't a good thing (I disagree but sure whatever). Phil talked about 'snokoplasm' and how it was literally just him rubbing slime over himself shirtless pretending to be futuristic (lots of audience approval for that lol) but he doesn't make videos like that anymore because he wants to make things that are actually entertaining and things he WANTS to make.

- Montage of everything they aren't gonna do in the show just so our expectations are levelled.

- They went backstage to get a silver box (Dan literally Naruto ran for no apparent reason) from which they were acting out the things using props from it in the centre while a voice narrated. In between each one the lights went darker so you could only see their silhouettes as they grabbed props. It was all very pantomime like which was really cool and theatrical.

- The things included: 24 hour livestream of them doing domestic home things (recording of dan on the toilet and Phil munching on crunchy nut appeared on the screen lmao), Erotic roleplay (Phil was in a policeman hat and had a baton thing while dan was in handcuffs. The recording of dan saying please be gentle, I have sensitive skin played), Stripping on stage... they started acting like they were going to actually take their tops off and they actually ripped them off to reveal an exact copy of the top underneath except Phil was now in a half sleeved shirt instead of full sleeved (I now understand Louise's joke)

- Phil stumbled and almost tripped on the step when going into the centre and was like "I almost forgot there was a step there" and was walking really strangely into the middle like elongating his legs after every time he lifted them and Dan made fun of it being like who tf walks like that. "Does anyone ever feel like Phil is actually an alien learning how humans work?" Later on in the show Phil says something about removing his lizard face and Dan says THAT would explain the weird walking. He also imitates Phil going up into the centre and says "I'm doing a Phil walk" v v cute :))

- For the Dan vs Phil segment they talked about the electric shock machines and for each round the pointer moved up one level of electric shock. The first time it moved into the yellow area and Phil said "Finger in the yellow" which elicited a massive audience reaction and dan stopped and was like oh god and Phil was giggling in his 'oops shouldn't have said that' way, somehow he made that adorable.

- The first round was seeing how well they know each other and Dan made the comment saying "don't worry guys I'm Phil trash #1 and all"

- Phil's question was: What did Dan swap alcohol with in ISG10?

Phil answered green tea correctly but the electric shock sound effect came up anyways. Dan was like no you answered that correctly it should have been a ding but the ding didn't come up anyways (lol tech crew nice one)

- Dan expressed extreme discomfort with 'x rated lester' "in any interpretation"

- Dan's bad thing was 'spoilers' and he tried to say that it's better to not be surprised. (I'm pretty sure this is the bit where he said "otherwise I'd be like 'Phil... Phil I don't feel so good'" reaching his arm out to him (infinity war reference for those who don't know,,, I could have killed him in that moment can he not) "Too soon? Yeah probably too soon."

- Phil's good thing that he had to make bad "getting unlimited money" Dan found that hilarious. His way of making it bad was that it gives you too much power- he would strap two planes together and stand on top of and ride them which would probably make them explode.

- They used the Isle of Man pic of Dan for the Dan, Phil or a rat segment (you guys know the one where he's smiling super happy) that just made me feel very warm :)

- The picture for Dan was just a really pale cream colour and Dan made the joke that it might be translucent enough to be Phil's skin but he said no I bet it's a troll and guessed rat. Turns out Dan was right and it actually was Phil's skin lmao from the picture of Phil with the silver hair dye.

- When Dan got electrocuted he fully hit his shin on one of the benches and basically died on stage. He fully snorted and turned away in shame and pain and it was the most hilarious thing ever. "Who designed this stupid set" LMAO

- Phil asks us to clap on the count of 3 after which some people immediately clap and Dan's like omg no on the count of 3. But then people start clapping for the people that clapped "are you seriously clapping for the people that just clapped" and then basically everyone started clapping and oh my gosh it was the best moment ever I've never felt more collectively part of something in that moment it was so funny and Dan looked so done with us all. A great moment.

- Someone asked in the getting deep part that there's a guy she likes but all she does is makes vine references. Phil's response to that is if he doesn't appreciate your vine references he's not worth it. Dan: "there's your dating advice from Phil"

- Phil was cleaning in 'Dan's' room (dan says "like you've ever done a chore") Phil's indignantly says he vacuums doing the hand movement. Apparently he found 'something weird' under 'Dan's' bed so he brought out a silver box that was locked saying it was heavy and handed it to Dan. [yes I'm putting that all in quotation marks fight me]

- He wanted the audience to guess what they thought was inside the box and the things that people said were: A single piece of Phil's hair, A fursuit and a Dildo(ll) rip they kept emphasising DOLL it was too funny nice one whoever that was lmao

- Phil was asking the audience if anyone had a key to open the box and Nora (what a legend) threw some plastic keys onto the stage and Phil fully tried to unlock the box using them lmao what a cutie. When Dan came back with the actual key Phil was like someone had plastic keys and dan was like wtf it was too funny.

- Do you really know Dan and Phil? 1% of people said 'who are Dan and Phil?' Lol they wouldn't stop bringing that up. 47% (?) of people said they don't really know Dan and Phil and Dan was like wow Phil why are you so shady? (He said this twice in the show when addressing the idea that their personalities are different online)

- They did a pie chart to show fave video series which apparently they were really excited about seeing as they hyped that up for a solid 2 minutes,,, "90% of the budget of the show was for this pie chart"

- Dan got sacrificed attached to the wheel of death comes out yelling with no warning so everyone is just screaming because it was so unexpected so i couldn't actually hear anything he said but the basic gist of it was fuck you all lmao.

- When Phil tried hitting him with a slinky it was a couple inches away from "the danger zone" I.e. Dan's crotch. Phil repeats the phrase danger zone two more times after that lmao.

- Dan says "almost hit my balls" w o w.

- The last time is some massive intense bazooka that Phil started stroking and then dan was like "stop stroking it- especially with those gloves on".

- Phil hits him the last time with the bazooka literally almost at his crotch and Dan screams. They say how it's all our fault and that we should feel bad. Phil is like "I don't think they feel guilty" lol I mean he's not wrong

- At the end dan was like "Phil help unstrap me" clearly looking for Phil to unstrap him around the waist but Phil went for his feet instead lmao (Dan just wanted a reaction from us Phil lmao well done). Phil finally got the memo though and helped and then dan stumbled out being like okay get away from me don't touch me and Phil just giggled.

- The white protection suit lab coat thing got stuck on dans shoe so he was hopping around and Phil was like do you need a hand there and Dan said "no Phil I don't need your help to get me undressed" and everyone screamed and Dan was like okay okay shut up (idk if that was an intentional line or not I couldn't actually tell but... nice)

- Phil's diss track happened and if you're reading this you've probably seen a transcript of it already but damn hearing him say bitch live was the best thing ever lmao. Also when he said the line about not wanting to get demonetised he did the making it rain hand gesture (thanks anon) which was hilarious

- There was a point where Dan was like no Phil you can't swear on stage and Phil was like aw why not I wanted to say "what the (fuck)" mouthing it and that's more than I could have ever hoped for

- They did the song and it was v cute and got stuck in my head. When Phil got up and sat on the piano he was swaying one leg back and forth and it was adorable.

- They ended the show bowing and went back behind the black screen that they came out from and were waving the whole way through and Phil was bending down to wave as the screen was going down and it was v lovely :))

And then I died the end.

[emmaswritingdump]

What the Cat Dragged In

Words: 1,671

Pairing: Adrienette

AO3 // Wattpad

Summary: Marinette forgets to tell Adrien about her last-minute sleepover.

Her guests are in for a surprise when Chat Noir drops through the window.

Chat revels in the feeling of the cold wind on his face as he vaults over the street onto the roof of another building. He grins to himself, knowing that he will never grow tired of this feeling.

He's twenty-two, and will be graduating from his university in three months. He's still modeling a bit on the side, and he has a steady job at a small boutique near his apartment. Best of all is that he's dating Marinette Dupain-Cheng, also known as Paris's favorite superhero.

They've known each other's identities for around three years now, and they started dating about two months after they find out who they both were.

Life is good for Adrien Agreste.

There's no akuma to stop tonight; Adrien just felt bored and pent-up sitting in his apartment and decided to go out for a while.

As Chat soars through the air onto yet another roof, he realizes he's just two streets away from Marinette's apartment building. In a spur-of-the-moment decision, he changes course and vaults toward her building onto the next roof, then pauses at the edge of it. He counts the floors and windows until he locates Marinette's window, then leaps over the street, holding himself up on the window sill.

He pulls out his necklace that holds two keys: one to her door and one to her window. Careful not to fall onto the street below, he pushes the window open and slides into the apartment.

"Hello, Milady," he says as he shuts and locks the window into the dark room. He drops his transformation and flips on the light switch.

He then turns around to realize Marinette never told him she was having a sleepover that night.

***

It was a last-minute thing.

Marinette was at dinner with a few old friends from school: Alya, Alix, Rose, Juleka, and Myléne.

They all finished their meals and were about to leave when Rose suggested a sleepover.

They all missed their old friends and wanted to spend some more time together, so they went to their homes and grabbed what they needed, then headed over to Marinette's apartment.

Chat Noir coming through the window hadn't even crossed Marinette's mind. After all, he hadn't actually done that since they were sophomores.

So she had her friends over. They were all drinking wine, playing games, and laughing together, until finally they decided to turn the lights off and watch a movie.

That movie was still playing when freaking Chat Noir dropped through Marinette's window.

Now, all the girls are staring open-mouthed at Adrien Agreste, their old classmate, who apparently is Chat Noir. Juleka pauses the movie.

"Is anyone else seeing this?" Alya whispers after a silence that seems to last an eternity. "Or am I just really drunk?"

"I see it too," Rose whispers back.

Meanwhile, Adrien has frozen in shock, his eyes wide. Slowly, Rose stands and tip-toes toward him as if trying not to scare off a wild animal. She reaches out with her hand and starts to stroke his face.

"Okay," Adrien finally says, grabbing her wrist and holding it away from his face.

She giggles and turns back to Alya. "He's real."

"It's not what it looks like," Adrien tries to explain.

"You're Chat Noir," Alya says loudly. "And you never even told me, you little-"

Alya suddenly stands and throws herself at Adrien, fists flailing and a colorful string of curse words flying from her mouth.

An only slightly drunk Marinette pulls her significantly drunker friend off of her boyfriend as the other girls cheer and laugh.

After being pulled off of the blond, Alya begins to drunkenly chant, "Adrien is Chat Noir! Adrien is Chat Noir!" The other girls join in, and soon they have a clumsy conga line going as they all chant the words in what Adrien assumes is supposed to be unison.

"The neighbors!" Marinette hisses, then raises her voice. "Guys, stop, it's not what you think!"

The girls stop their chanting and parading around the room.

"Then what is it?" Juleka asks. They all watch Adrien expectantly.

"I'm not Chat Noir, I just- uh," he glances helplessly at Marinette, whose eyes are wide with panic. "I'm- uh-"

"A furry!" Marinette exclaims. "He's a furry!"

Adrien stares at Marinette, his mouth hanging ajar.

Alya howls with laughter, and Adrien wonders if it would have been better to just let them in on the secret.

"He likes to dress as a cat while you do it?!" Alya shrieks, wiping tears from her eyes. "What about the leather, is that a kinky thing, too?"

"Yeah!" Marinette says. "It is! He got the Chat Noir suit because he figured being seen buying that would be less embarrassing than getting caught buying a fursuit, and the leather was an added bonus for him!"

Adrien feels his face burning and can only hope the hysterically-laughing girls are all too drunk to remember any of this tomorrow.

"But why did he come in through the window?" Myléne asks. "Why not just use the door?"

"He couldn't let anyone in the hall see him in the suit!" Marinette explains quickly.

"He's not even wearing it anymore- wait, where did it go? How did he get it off so fast?"

"It- uh- it's a tear away!" Marinette exclaims. Even tipsy, that girl is quick. "He just tore it off and threw it- wherever he threw it!"

"Why was he wearing clothes underneath?"

Marinette freezes. She opens her mouth, but no sound comes out. "Um... because, uh-"

"It's cold outside!" Adrien blurts out. "My only winter coat got stolen! I didn't even come over to do, um- that, I was just cold."

"How did you even get to the window, though?"

Adrien has an answer for that one, too: "I have a rock wall in my bedroom! I'm really good at climbing! This is only the third floor, too, so it was easy."

That seems to be a good enough explanation for the drunken girls, who decide to go back to making fun of Adrien.

"I can't believe he's a furry," Alya wheezes. "Just wait until Nino hears about this."

Adrien glares at Marinette, who only giggles and shrugs semi-apologetically.

"Hey, Adrien," Alix laughs. "Maybe if you told your dad you're a furry, he would make a designer fursuit for you!"

They all laugh, and then Alya sighs. "Man, I'm glad Nino isn't into that stuff- wait." Alya's eyes grow wide, and she looks at Adrien. "He isn't, is he?"

"I- I don't know."

"You guys never did, like, furry stuff together?"

Adrien's jaw drops. "What? Together? I don't- why would we do furry stuff together?!"

Alya gives him a look. "Come on, Adrien, we all know you guys were together when we were teenagers. It's not like you were exactly subtle about your infatuation for one another-"

"What?!" Adrien exclaims, his face burning red. "Nino and I were never together! I'm not gay!"

Alya rolls her eyes. "Well, obviously you're not gay, since you're with Marinette. And neither is Nino! You're bi. Or maybe pan. I don't know the specifics."

"That- we never- hang on, do you all think that Nino and I were together?"

Everyone nods.

"The whole class thought that," Juleka informs him.

"I cried myself to sleep every night for a week thinking you were gay," Marinette adds. "Although, now that I think about it, it really would have made sense."

Adrien's jaw is still hanging open, and he stares at all of them. "Is that why Chloé suddenly stopped trying to get me to go out with her when we were sixteen?"

They all nod.

Adrien says nothing, still in shock over this new information.

"You definitely didn't do any furry stuff with Nino, though, right?" Alya asks after a moment.

"Right," Adrien says. "Never, ever, ever."

"Thank goodness," Alya sighs. "I mean, no offense to you guys or anything, I just couldn't go for that." She furrows her brow. "Although, I mean, Chat Noir is pretty hot, so if that counts as being a furry-" Alya stops suddenly and gasps. "Do you think the real Chat Noir is a furry, too?"

"I mean," Alix says. "That suit does have certain... implications. It's skin-tight leather. And I can understand why it would be easier to fight in than something baggier, but there is no plausible reason for him needing cat ears, a tail, and a bell around his neck other than... sexual reasons."

"Maybe they don't get to choose what their suits look like," Adrien says defensively.

"But Ladybug's suit doesn't have stuff like that," Juleka says. "Why would the suits' creators give that stuff to Chat, but not Ladybug?"

"Who says there was a reason?" Adrien argues desperately. He can't have them thinking both of his identities are furries. "It's probably created by magic, or something."

"And the magic knew Chat was a furry," Alya finishes for him.

"No! It-"

"Hey, do you think he and Ladybug ever did the deed while he was dressed like that?" Alix asks, ignoring him.

"Oh, absolutely," Alya answers her. "No one can convince me they never got caught up in the moment after a battle and did it in their suits. I will fight you on this."

"Do you think Ladybug has a thing for leather, too?"

Now it's Marinette's turn to blush. "Okay, that's enough of that."

She quiets down her giggling friends and turns back to Adrien. "Well, I think it's time for you to go."

"I think you're right," Adrien says gratefully.

Adrien walks toward the door, and is halfway through it when Alya calls out, "Hey, Furrien Agreste, you forgot your cat suit." He looks back at her, and her face lights up. "Hey! I just realized why Marinette calls you Chaton!"

"I'm just going to- uh- leave the suit here."

"Won't you be cold?"

"I'll just deal with it."

"Okay," Alya giggles. "Bye, Gaydrien."

Adrien sighs and walks out the door.

He is never going to live this down.

[yuzuria]

Kirigiri & Togami ?

yes~ thank you!

Kirigiri Kyouko

why i like them

           the fact that the mystery and plot moved around her she genuinely felt the protagonist for me more than naegi. the type that she was the “chosen one” in trope terms where there’s mystery about  what her talent is and why she’s in hope’s peak, the one everyone is intrigued about and sort of suspicious while she’s the one who contributed the most in the trials. she got this rock hard rational attitude about her but despite that she’s very empathetic and that side of her always comes at the right time and instead of it presenting as a soft spot like stereotypes do, it’s part of her strength that builds her character. she’s initially a lone wolf but she steps forward and build their morale in a very kirigiri way and she does that while not making everyone look dumb, it naturally happens, in contrast to a certain heroine from sdr2 :/  im love her

why i don’t

          i had a bad dream where she was stripped off her character then died because she turned into a waifu. scary. :/  

favorite episode (scene if movie)

          when she threw off togami in ch4 and ch5 when she’s the only one who can lead them to the truth about junko’s plan making her sacrifice naegi in exchange of her life

favorite season/movie

          chapter 5 

favorite line

          “no amount of human language can describe the disappointment i’m feeling right now”

favorite outfit

           i really love her design, silver hair and outfit and all,, her ff uniform is much simpler than her dr1 uniform but manages to make her look breathtaking but my fav has to be her dr1 outfit

otp

          Kirizono~

brotp

          not to be basic but,, dr1 survivors, celeste, with sonia seems appealing~ and lastly komaeda!! not that i think they’ll be best of friends but they look so appealing and fun to imagine their professional rship :> my dream team

head canon

          i thought of how her hair braids have special meanings for her then i looked into her wikia and found out it’s in her likes and kinda shippy but before the tragedy i hc her to be close with sayaka and have her braid her hair

unpopular opinion

          she’s not a mary sue, she’s not an “ice queen whose heart is melted” idk how popular this is but there seems a few who believes she is one…..and her revive in dr3 sure is shit but she didn’t deserve to die in the first place (dr3 doesn’t exist)

a wish

          idk other dangan materials but i want a spinoff in her pov (dr kirigiri maybe?) and komaeda and kirigiri team pls pls pls also burning the reopened hope’s peak along with naegi

an oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen

          imagine an independent well written chara was turned into a tool for manpain and reward in the end for some guy?? that sounds so bad im glad it didnt happen. dr3 doesn’t exist

5 words to best describe them

          classy, unyielding, empathetic, genius, Not-A-Mary-Sue (i ran out of words)

my nickname for them

          i’m not good at nicknames orz, i saw a fic that refers to her simply as Kiri and i find that cute~

Togami Byakuya

Why I like them

          HE’S HILARIOUS idk about any of you but simply his mundane scene makes me laugh, he often gives me secondhand embarrassment at times but despite all that i gotta give him chill in a while and admire that his ego came from hardwork of fighting for the top of the top so his arrogance isn’t baseless. also he’s ishida akira, what’s there to hate

Why I don’t

          After chapter 2 he’s just there, he gives major clues who the killer was in ch3, suspect and got wrong in ch4, it’s kinda underwhelming for a chara that seems to be compared to komaeda in terms of status as a “deuteragonist” when he’s just… that 

Favorite episode (scene if movie)

         I like the part that he’s aware and in monitor of celeste’s actions in chapter 3 and he was the major key (iirc) to luring out the real killer, it shows how similar they are also the investigation with him during ch2 was hilarious, since i played it and knew he did the crafts of “genocider syo murder” it was funny that he showed you around the places for you to be “amazed” of “”his” work like, “look naegi, it’s suspicious isn’t it *smirk*” like a lil kid showing his mom his work

Favorite season/movie

          chapter 3

Favorite line

          is there a more iconic line than “My name is Togami Byakuya” which was followed with “How does that relate to what I’m saying...”

Favorite outfit

          He only wore one clothing iirc, let him wear a fursuit you cowards

OTP

         Formerly with celes but I kinda grew out of it, ironically shipping togakure now because of one hilarious comic and their name fits perfectly (it’s a sign of true love)

Brotp

         Celes

Head Canon

         he used to play those mainstream fb games long ago like farmville and ofc he’s also a billionaire there

Unpopular opinion

          HE ISN’T KOMAEDA’S COUNTERPART IN ANY WAY AT ALL

A wish

         he gives me all his money

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen

          interact with toko? pls don’t ever? again? i hope after toko’s honeymoon with komaru she forgets togami’s existence

5 words to best describe them

         togamemes, togamemes, togamemes, togamemes, togamemes

My nickname for them

         togamemes

give me a character and i will answer

[dystopiaas]

hey guys! i felt like making a thing about costumes n shit cause that time of year is rolling around.

1. when looking for costume clothes, use AMAZON. its better tthan ebay and for yall canadians theres amazon.ca too. NEVER USE AMAZON FOR WIGS, U CN GET SO MUCH BETTER THAN THAT

2. though expensive, please look for nicer wigs from nicer resources. its better than getting a stringy nonfitting wig at some party shop, and you can get exactly what you want! while they can be pricey, its so worth it.

3. if ur in need of some fake weapons, go buy what you need and some paints from walmart and go nuts repainting and fixing, add designs, that kinda shit. a cheaper alternative than buying a $100 sword from some cosplay website.

4. CHECK. REVIEWS. P L E A S E. itll help you see if its a sham, takes too long to arrive or anything else. be careful getting something with no reviews.

4.5. on the contrary, if the website is really fancy looking, and has an info/care button, its probably legit.

5. if u cant get something exact, get something similar or tailor on what you can yourself. sewing is pretty easy if you look up something.

6. if you are missing a piece of your costume thats not major/something is a bit off DONT FRET. we cant all have everything exactly how it is. i found a really nice wig but its not the blue i need, but its pretty close to what i want. oh well. nobody will notice or really care tbh.

7. dont leave everything to last minute. nobody likes to shove together a costume one week before halloween

8. if you arent going to wear any of the pieces ever again, even to cons, consider buying alternatives, visiting a thrift store, or just spending less money. itll save u a lot

9. be careful getting fursuits ordered just for halloween. ask the creator if they can make it by then as fursuits can take months. if you alrready have one, make sure to clean it afterwards. all that running in grass and dirt if ur trick or treating isnt good lol

10. if nobody recognizes you, thats perfectly okay. you ever see somoene on the streets and ur like . hm, whos that? it hAPPENS. feel happy you have a nice costume

just important stuff to save yalls asses. works for cons too!