#I made a sketch when the episode with this moment came out

[forestanomaly]

Maybe Grian should plan an enrichment program that doesn't involve eating lighthouses Or just get the snail a buddy. I suppose that works too

[swiftlymurmurs]

I've seen a lot of people voice disappointment over this Game Changer season finale and while I personally wasn't really bothered by a lot of the criticisms (I thought the Ratfish was an interesting added game mechanic and I never really care who wins or loses so his judgements not aligning with mine made no difference to me) I do think it's very interesting and I've spent some time thinking about why it doesn't work for so many. Some thoughts: Why is this Eric guy even here?

Tim & Eric were a popular tv comedy duo in the late aughts alt comedy scene. Sam and many of the writers at Dropout are sketch comedy nerds who, in 2007, were freshly at the start of their comedy careers, and probably see them and the larger [Adult Swim] environment they were a part of as a huge influence.

Why has it maybe aged poorly?

As far as I know, their popularity came in the early stages of about a decade of quite cynical, surreal comedy that also spawned the "lolrandom" era. While huge and fresh at the time, I think my generation (gen Z, the main viewerbase of Dropout) has grown pretty tired of this style and favours sketch comedy that's more clever, witty, and emotionally open or wholesome. At least, that's a movement Dropout has very much steered into with their roster of comedians and it's what the viewers expect.

The parasocial thing

It's no secret that Dropout actively promotes itself as a tight group of friendly comedians who you are invited to get to know, expect, and love when they show up. They don't abuse parasociality in the way you see, for example, younger audience oriented youtubers shoveling merch do it, but they absolutely make use of it. Most of the moments from this episode I've seen people gush over or post positively about are those where the cast recognize each other's styles, reference their relationships, and just generally make it known how well they know one another. When a total stranger enters the picture in an episode where the cast already have a barrier to their regular banter AND is given so much power over the game, they may look like an outsider or even an enemy to the happy little family people have gotten so attached to. Especially because his role is explicitly that of an antagonist, and the cast are never given a chance to see him and maybe out their love and respect for him as a comedian. In the minds of viewers, he just stays some guy who made mean jokes about their blorbo and then left.

Conclusion

I'm always glad to see this show making big swings, and while most of them have landed, some of them are bound to miss. It's a show that prides itself on trying things the viewers may not yet know they wanted and the second it stops trying, I think it'll be all the worse for it. It's a shame to end the season on such a note, but it's been hit after hit so far, and before we know it we'll be right back into it. I love this show, I love this cast, and I'm excited to see what's next!

[rivangel]

every—lesser known—canon fact about Levi Ackerman.

infamously over the years, there have been countless false rumors about Levi in particular out of the cast. many of them have become popular, even ubiquitous, and it's annoying!

and also disheartening when you find out it's not true....

and hurtful when you realize it was - sometimes - made up by trolls.

so i'm making this post<3

credit to @levisfavoriteacup for the idea!!

*disclaimer: i'm not perfect, so this may not be Everything™️ but I am confident that it's the majority of information available, and that it's trustworthy. :)

First the most populars. There is no evidence across interviews nor other content over the years that:

Levi is ugly, and is considered ugly in AOT.

Nope. See here: (tumblr link), or:

Isayama finished his first sketch of Levi mostly on a whim, but the moment he drew his face, he had a sense it would work well / he knew he had something good. Something told him: "the yaoi fangirls are going to like this one".

As time passed and his popularity grew, Isayama caught onto this and wanted to portray him more attractively (in multiple ways) to the viewer/reader.

But from the beginning, this was something of the goal. He is short because Isayama had in mind what young women/fangirls in Japan consider attractive: a man with a higher-pitch voice; has a small face; and who is "short but strong".

In the world of AOT, he (in a nutshell) is mostly considered plain or awkward, but combined with his reputation and style, he's very charming. "He cleans up nice." Overall, it is positive :) But more importantly, realistic I think.

He's also something of a celebrity. People who advertise their product as being used by him are more successful; when he's seen in a shop, this by itself is considered "advertising" and more people come in. Quote: ""the tea that the hero bought”".

He's definitely not a 2/10 at any rate😇.

—the 24th episode of Naoki Yoshida's Anime Plan, 2013 / Interview with Frau Magazine, 2013 | Hajime Isayama x Hikaru Suruga (2014) | AU Smartpass - Erwin & Levi Close Up Interview Part 1 | Taking shelter from the rain reprise: Levi and Peaure

Levi’s type would be someone who’s "tough, feminine and sensual".

Levi's type "might" be tall people. But context matters, because in multiple translations "don't you think?" and "might be" are thrown around a lot. Isayama isn't known for his clarity. When asked, he practically said the question right back. —fan Q&A from a festival in Betsumaga, Aug.2014

What this quote might have come from is a statement by the author of an article Isayama was likely involved in. I can't say this is 100% canon, but in my opinion it's a little less canon than the Smartpass AUs; if those are sub-canon, then this is sub-sub-canon:

Levi's romantic type is someone who walks three steps behind him, and likes cleaning.

In the past, in Japanese culture, for a wife to walk three steps behind her husband implied highly traditional gender roles. What this is much more likely to mean is that Levi's romantic type is someone who will let him protect them, or will run away and survive even if it costs his life. (And they have to like cleaning.)

—the article is from 2013, and no longer exists. but the link was used as recently as 2021 as a source in this post by a reliable translator. I've found this quote also in varying qualities of translation across Japanese and English forums, so to the best of my knowledge, it's reliable.

Levi's cravat is a piece of his mother's dress + he was wearing her dress when Kenny found him.

This is a popular rumor that Isayama has never confirmed (i think it is true, tho.)

December 25th was chosen by his comrades because he doesn't know his actual birthday.

The guidebook only states that it is his birthday. I can't find any more context on this. —AOT Guidebook; p.256

His character profile:

—AOT Guidebook; p.78–79

His name is Hebrew, and means "attached" or to be "joined".

Isayama came up with Levi's name after watching American documentary "Jesus Camp". (It's about a summer camp-type program where evangelical Christian children are taught extreme beliefs. One of the children was named Levi.) Isayama heard it and thought it sounded cool. —Hajime Isayama x Hikaru Suruga (2014) | 2010 blogpost by Isayama

Levi is in his early 30s (in s3/RtS/volume 19). –Interview, Universal Studios Japan’s SNK THE REAL exhibition, 2016 | confirmation

If Kuchel was still alive, Levi would want to make sure she had an easy life. This means specifically filial piety, a concept exclusive to the East: he would fulfill his duties as a son for her. (tldr he's a mama's boy :3) —Bessatsu Magazine, 2019

Levi would have thin facial hair, but he prefers not to, so he shaves frequently. —January 2020 issue of Bessatsu Magazine (chapter 124)

He doesn't like coffee milk or coffee jelly. They're out of the question even.🤐 —July 2018 issue of Bessatsu Magazine (chapter 106)

He just gets depressed when he drinks coffee. Maybe he loves tea that much? He stopped calling Hange names like 'shitty glasses' since they became commander because he "seems" to respect their position that much. However, a Smartpass story delves deeper into this (and states as I suspected): [After Hange makes a joke] "Since becoming the commander succeeding Erwin, they’d toned down on their past speech and behaviour that had a touch of tomfoolery; Levi understanding that they were nevertheless trying to maintain the self “that was the case then”, also loses the will to curse at them." + "In the past, Hange had a Hange-type dream, and should have been progressing to that purpose. That lately, was it the weight of the office of commander, or was it due to the reality that is “all the world was our enemy”, their manner had changed considerably." —May 2017 issue of Bessatsu Magazine (chapter 92) | Goodnight. Sweet dreams, dear. Act II: Levi

If he and Kenny had fought one-on-one, Levi would've won. —December 2016 issue of Bessatsu Magazine (chapter 87)

intermission: all about tea

His favorite "food" is black tea. No actual food.

He doesn't add sugar or milk to his tea because he considers it too expensive—which it is canonically. Despite this, he will share his tea with his comrades (his original squad as far as is seen).

Even though he's Captain, he'd rather drink it straight (the implications of which are he's a hardworking man, like that of a farmer. aka, this makes him seem humble).

If a time of peace ever came, Levi wants to open a black tea shop (he said in a dreamlike way, not so much based in reality).

He also knows a good amount of facts and history about it. He's a tea enthusiast!!

Levi receives pilfered tea in shipments monthly, thanks to Erwin.

—AU Smartpass - Erwin & Levi Close Up Interview Part 2 | Part 1 | Taking shelter from the rain reprise: Levi and Peaure | Bessatsu Magazine, Jan.2014 | September 2016 issue of Bessatsu Magazine (chapter 84) | AU Smartpass My First Time Around: Levi Ackerman | The Case of the Corps Tea Party - File No. 09 Levi's Side (3/3) | sugar and milk in tea from the Japanese perspective

Levi, out of his original squad, found Petra cute/sweet in the general sense of the word "kawaii". Like Levi's romantic type however, this was sort of a non-answer to the question (of whether Levi thought she was cute). —2014 interview

After RtS, Levi seems to consider Hange and the 104th his family. —AU Smartpass My First Time Around: Levi Ackerman

He wears a cravat because Isayama based part of his design off Rorschach from the movie 'Watchmen'. He looks "delicate" because of his size and weight, but he's so powerful because [in issues before the reveal of the Ackerman bloodline] of "invisible power" at work. —January 2016 issue of Bessatsu Magazine (chapter 76)

The best way to describe the way he thinks is to compare him to the main character from the movie The Hurt Locker (2008). His character was born from Hiei from the manga 'Yuyu Hakusho', and Rorschach from the movie 'Watchmen'. The former was the basis for his appearance (especially his eyes), and the latter was the basis for his personality. Firstly though, Isayama had an image of a small man being the strongest.

—Hajime Isayama x Hikaru Suruga (2014) / Brutus Magazine (2014)

He is something of a protagonist (especially in s3p1). — Animedia, June 2018

His favorite tool (in general...?) is microfiber cloths (for dust I guess. Levi has no need for weapons :3) —July 2015 issue of Bessatsu Magazine

He will usually laugh/smile when he sees convenient cleaning goods (i.e., vacuum cleaners? feather dusters? ((cuz he's a shorty?❤️)) —Bessatsu Magazine, Dec. 2013

He does want to be taller sometimes. He gets eager to clean up after meals rather than cook at all. He can cook, though. —Bessatsu Magazine, Aug.2014 | fan Q&A in Oyama, Oita, Mar.2018

Levi mostly couldn't adapt to the changes that came about after the truth was discovered. Only he wears mostly the same uniform, cape, and blades.

After RtS, Levi personally retrieved Erwin's remains himself, for whom there was a special memorial service. After Eren (inadvertently) called him a "tiny old man" in season 3, Levi didn't care, but when he thought of it by himself later, he was hurt (unclear exactly why). Levi's father, most likely one of Kuchel's customers, is an insignificant man who's short. That's where Levi's height comes from. His face comes from his mother. At the start of season 4, Levi didn't change much compared to the 104th because he's turning into an "old man" who'd rather stick with his flip phone so to speak. He "doesn't break out into cold sweats". AKA he's always calm under pressure. He considers prostitution to be an ordinary job because of his childhood. Levi's vision is very sharp, way above average. He thought Eren's new look beginning season 4 was unclean/dirty (in more ways than one perhaps). —fan Q&A in Oyama, Oita, Mar.2018

He has slight bouts of insomnia. He never snaps/explodes when he's angry. But he does get angry or grumpy a lot, in general. He doesn't sing. It's more likely he would dance. If he was a fan of Momoiro Clover Z (jpop girl group), his favorite would be Momoka. When/if he drinks, he has a high tolerance, but he can get a little drunk :) One thing he highly hates and fears is mold. He is the one who ordered Armin to dress as Historia during the uprising. His blood type is A. Blood types are much like horoscopes in Japanese culture, and Levi's is as such: kichōmen, or well-organized; he likes keeping things neat, but can be stubborn and stressed out easily.

Whether he eats enough or has a good diet? He is "a bit lax". Maybe he forgets to eat sometimes, or has a low appetite. When Levi bathes, he goes for a quick shower then soak in hot water, which takes about ten minutes. Like a bird :')) He on any given night gets about 2-3 hours of sleep. He thought Eren was the best at cleaning (in season 3 / uprising arc). Because of his childhood in the Underground, Levi has a preoccupation/obsession with cleaning (specifically to ward off disease). He also doesn't have any pajamas, mostly keeping day clothes on when he goes to sleep - which is in "his" chair. Levi cuts his own hair using clippers. (Something like:)

He's aware Oluo imitated him, and found it annoying. Levi's horoscope (in general) as a Capricorn: Humanity’s Strongest Soldier - Levi. He possesses warmth in the midst of a dispassionate nature, and he is capable of leadership without verbal expression – both of which are special qualities of a Capricorn. Capricorns tend to hold certain levels of authority, even if they must carry out somewhat unreasonable tactics while in such positions. But when such authority is backed up with actual abilities, a Capricorn can gain Levi’s type of confidence and also be put on a pedestal by those around them. However, Capricorns won’t be dependent on others, much less trust them easily. They don’t hold high expectations and thus never feel a sense of failure. Levi’s faults include the inability to express himself clearly.  Even though he wants to encourage his companions, he always speaks in a roundabout way, and without Hanji’s translation it’s nearly impossible to understand Levi’s intended meaning. Even though he is dependable in most situations, when it comes to love/romance, he expresses himself clumsily/awkwardly. —FRaU Magazine, Aug.2014. | fan Q&A in Oyama, Oita, Mar.2018 | Levi: Close-up Report (Part One) | Translator *the horoscope wasn't written by Isayama, but was published alongside canon information, and it's also not factually wrong, so I'm including it.

The dark circles under Levi’s eyes are to convey the “self-destruction” he takes on to reach the “standard” of Humanity’s Strongest. —Interview on the topic of Levi, May 2015

His 'liege'—as Eren is to Mikasa, and Uri is to Kenny—is Erwin. He is afraid of making deep relationships because of the cruel world he lives in; he can't know when someone he cares for will die or how soon. That 'gap' left in Levi's heart by Kenny's death was filled by his squad (the 104th). If Levi hadn't joined the Survey Corps, he would've been a "very irresponsible person". Risky with his life perhaps? As a kid, Levi used to make himself stronger in order to receive praise from Kenny. When he abandoned him, he wondered what his strength was even for. He was able to find peace with Kenny after his death. In CH72, the reason Levi kicked the shit out of Eren and Jean is because of his argument with Erwin earlier.

He knows he's a slave to his own strength, aka the idea of being a hero. He realizes it when Kenny asked what he's a slave to in s3/ch69. —Answers Guidebook, Aug.2016

If he ever changed his appearance, the one thing Levi couldn't be able to give up is his undercut :') He would grow out the top and tie it up :3 —Oyama homecoming event Q&A in 2014 | 2 | 3

Levi knows how to use a gun, but he "places more trust" in knives. —Bessatsu Magazine, 2019

Levi tolerates saunas. But instead of enjoying himself he seems to see it as a test of endurance. (LOL) —Bessatsu Magazine, 2020

Levi has newspaper-level handwriting that he practices often. He's very conscious of it and being connected back to the Underground. —AU Smartpass TEXT: Levi’s Signature

Isayama had considered killing Levi around the time of the thunderspear explosion. (As always) Isayama deliberated with his editors whether or not it'd be meaningful if he died, and they decided it wouldn't be. —Kawakubo interview, 2021

Specially, Levi holds his swords in a reverse grip "his own way" since he wasn't officially trained. —Illustrate Note Magazine, 2017

Levi forcefully bathes Hange by knocking them unconscious. —AU Smartpass - Erwin & Levi Close Up Interview Part 1

Levi is 4 at the time that Kuchel dies. —What the director informed Kamiya Hiroshi of on set

His character song is called "Dark Side of the Moon", found on YouTube here. Translated lyrics here.

how to draw Levi:

—AOT Guidebook; p.229 | +Illustrate Note Magazine, 2017

[gamerknight7310]

Miraculous Ship Names

I hate when people just mush characters's names together to have it as their ship name, so I, and two friends of mine, have come up with a couple unique names we think fit all the canon and semi-canon ships of miraculous. I'll also give my brief opinion on what I think of the ship, so be nice as my tastes might be different from yours, but with that out of the way, let's get started.

Name: Catastrophe Ship: Adrinette (Adrien x Marinette) Type: Het Opinion: I kind of only see them as just friends

Name: Betrothed Ship: Adrigami Type: Het Opinion: I wished these two got together over what we got in canon

Name: Regal Lily Ship: Alirose (Prince Ali x Rose) Type: Het Opinion: I think it's really cute, but it probably wouldn't last too long

Name: Legally Blonde Ship: Chlodrien (Chloe x Adrien) Type: Het Opinion: I wished these two had a sibling dynamic towards the end of the show, but we can't have nice things

Name: Shining Armor Ship: Chlokim (Chloe x Kim) Type: Het Opinion: I can kind of see the vision with them, definitely toxic for sure

Name: Insecurities Ship: DjWifi (Alya x Nino) Type: Het Opinion: It felt rushed in the episode that introduced them as a couple and I don't know just never felt anything with them

Name: Stockholm Syndrome Ship: Feligami (Felix x Kagami) Type: Het Opinion: It was rushed and Kagami wouldn't realistically hook up with someone that looks like her ex especially their cousin

Name: Toxic Love Ship: Gabenath (Gabriel x Nathalie) Type: Het Opinion: I love how toxic this ship is and wished it continued for the entirety of the Agreste arc

Name: Princess & The Tailor Ship: Gabmilie (Gabriel x Emilie) Type: Het Opinion: I mean… it's alright for what we got in canon, but that's pretty much it

Name: Goths & Roses Ship: Julerose Type: Femslash Opinion: I think these two are absolute cuties and I absolutely love them

Name: Sinking Ship Ship: Kimdine (Kim x Ondine) Type: Het Opinion: I don't like this ship as both people are at fault in the relationship

Name: Just Business Ship: Liladrien (Lila x Adrien) Type: Het Opinion: Eh don't really see it

Name: What Could've Been Ship: Lukanette (Luka x Marinette) Type: Het Opinion: This should've been endgame over Adrinette

Name: Infatuated Ship: Marcaniel (Marc x Nathaniel) Type: Slash Opinion: I don't like Nathaniel he's a bitch and Marc deserved better

Name: Delusion Ship: Marikim (Marinette x Kim) Type: Het Opinion: I didn't like how the writers made Kim look evil when he's just a himbo

Name: Gentle Hearts Ship: Myvan (Mylene x Ivan) Type: Het Opinion: I wish we got more of them as I do think they're cute together

Name: Sketches Ship: Nathanette (Nathaniel x Marinette) Type: Het Opinion: Eh I don't really see it at all plus this came out on the second episode of the first season so yeah no

Name: Just Friends Ship: Ninette (Nino x Marinette) Type: Het Opinion: Honestly this came out of nowhere as it was meant to put Alya and Nino together by the end of the episode

Name: Tell Me Why Ship: Zoenette (Zoe x Marinette) Type: Femslash Opinion: There weren't that many moments with Zoe and all of a sudden she's in love with Marinette yeah fucking right

[prince-rowan-of-the-forest]

Smile Wiped Clean

Roman loves his job. He loves to be creative, to make things, to put everything he has into his work. Roman loves his job. He does.

He loves his job, but he struggles to get it done sometimes, the pressure is overwhelming, the criticisms feel like splinters digging into his skin, working on a script can sometimes feel like he's being asked to cut off his own hands. What is he supposed to do when he has to love his job?

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| AO3 |

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Warnings: Self depreciation, RSD, Roman be struggling, Patton adn Logan are kind of assholes in the beginning.

Pairings: platonic dlampr

Word Count: 7961

Notes:

Hello everyone :3

I was inspired to write some roman angst and then cranked out almost 8k in like five days. Why can't I do this for the projects I actually need to work on, huh?

----

Roman let out a deep sigh, putting down his pencil and resting his head in his hand as he gazed at the sketch he had begun to work on today. He had planned to attempt a storyboard of the latest script idea he had come up with for Thomas’ video, hoping a change of format would help with the pooling sense of dread he had been feeling every time he thought about working on it. 

Somehow, though, it may have made it worse. When he drew all the lines simply came out wrong. The sketch looked off, the lines were wobbly, when he tried to draw himself and the others the faces just felt off in a way he couldn’t hope to describe or fix. He groaned, ripping out the notebook page and tossing it into the overflowing basket beside his desk along with every other attempt he had made so far. 

With another groan, Roman tugged at his hair in frustration. If he couldn’t at least get this started before their next meeting tomorrow Logan would get angry and Patton would get upset. Virgil would probably tease him and usually he would tease back, but right now he just couldn’t fathom being able to handle it. 

He had to get something written, even jotting down ideas in bullet points would be better than staring uselessly at a blank piece of paper and pulling his already dishevelled hair - from the amount of times he had run his hands through it in frustration. 

This wasn’t working. It just wasn’t and trying to force it wasn’t helping. Roman stood abruptly and shut his notebook. Take a break, he told himself, that’s what Janus would tell him to do. He had so many things to do today, even catching a glimpse of todays to-do list in the front of his book made that sense of dread come back. Roman counted out three deep breaths to calm himself and ease the knot in his stomach even a little before snapping himself into his Prince outfit, stopping in front of his mirror to fix his hair before squeezing his hands into fists. Another deep breath and he stepped out of the room and into the hallway. Go downstairs, get something to eat, sit and watch a show maybe, relax for a bit and then go back to the tasks. 

He really hoped no-one else was downstairs. Roman wasn’t sure he had the energy to deal with that right now. 

Tapping his fingers against the counter as he waited for his leftovers to eat up, Roman wondered if he really even wanted to eat them. Sure, the meal was nice last night, but… Roman wasn’t sure it sounded appealing right now. He had to eat something though, and the idea of cooking something new felt even worse. No-one was downstairs right now, it was a little late for lunch but too early for Patton to be downstairs working on dinner already, so he figured he would be safe for the moment. 

The sound of the microwave timer running out startles Roman out of his thoughts and he quickly rushes to remove his food, bypassing the table entirely and bringing his plate and a glass of cooled water from the fridge over to the living room couch. He would just watch an episode or two of a cartoon whilst he ate and then get back to work. That sounded like a good idea, right?

He put on an episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender and sat back to eat his meal in peace. 

Admittedly, Roman was eating a little slower than maybe he should have been so that he could watch more episodes than he would have otherwise, but when he finished his food he was halfway though - he couldn’t exactly stop in the middle of the episode, so he told himself he would go back upstairs as soon as this was done.

Unfortunately, his luck with the common area being empty seemed to run out only moments after he had finished eating, putting his plate on the coffee table to be cleared up when he left. Alas, it seemed the end of the episode was destined to be interrupted as Logan came down the stairs. 

For a moment, the two just stared at each other. 

“Roman,” Logan greeted, Roman hid a wince.

“Hey Logan,” Roman said, smiling brightly as they all expected from him, “How are you on this wondrous afternoon?”

“I’m doing well,” Logan said with a nod, “I have had a productive day, I simply came down for a cup of coffee.”

“Ah! I think the pot was brewing when I came down, so it should be done now,” Roman said happily, glad he could provide some hopefully useful information to the other side. Logan just hummed.

“Hm,” Logan hummed, Roman let out a soft sigh, before glancing back at the TV. Logan’s gaze followed his, “Don’t you have a lot of work to get done today? Why are you wasting time watching a cartoon?”

Roman wished he was exaggerating when he thought about how that felt like an arrow to the chest. He gripped the material of his trousers between his fingers, looking back at the TV - any hope that he could do this he may have gotten from the cartoon was immediately crushed. It turned out, Roman was well aware of how much work he had to do today, being reminded of it only made things worse.

“I do have a lot of work to do,” Roman said, “I’ve been attempting to work on it all morning - I simply came down for some food and a break, I was going to go back to my room and keep working after this episode.”

“Ah, of course,” Logan said, rolling his eyes. Roman couldn’t help that he felt a little crushed. “Well, I shall prepare to pick up your slack, as usual, then.”

With that metaphorical punch in the gut, Logan turned and walked into the kitchen. Roman grit his teeth as he reached for the remote to turn the TV off. He had wanted to finish the episode, but now even the thought of doing so made him feel sick. The passive aggressive remark rang in his ears, bouncing around the inside of his skull and bringing back that feeling of dread tenfold. 

He went to put his plate in the sink. With a scathing look from Logan as he went to leave it, he turned back to rinse it off and put it onto the dishrack. All whilst trying not to cry or scream. 

Part of him wanted to make a cup of tea and grab a few biscuits to take up with him, but the idea of spending a second longer in the kitchen with Logan made his gut twist. How was he supposed to write a script when he felt like this? The break was supposed to help, but now he just felt even worse than before. 

—-

“Roman,” Logan said at the meeting the next day as he held Roman’s proposed script in hand, “I thought we talked about you doing this work yesterday?”

Roman might have winced, “I did? It’s… right there? You’re… holding it?”

“What I’m holding,” Logan says, adjusting his glasses as he looks down at the binder, “Is…. mediocre at best.”

“Well… yeah teach, it’s a first draft? It’s not going to be perfect-”

“Roman,” Logan interrupted, fixing his gaze on him, “This reads like an elementary school child’s first play script. What happened?”

Roman really did wince this time, his hands clenching and unclenching as he tried to come up with something to say around the burning hole that had just been punched through his chest, “I-”

“Surely it can’t be that bad, kiddo,” Patton said brightly, “Hey Logan, can I have a look?”

For a moment, Roman was relieved as Logan passed over the script, Patton wouldn’t be as harsh, he was always softer in his approach. Roman tried not to hold his breath as Patton read through it.

“Well-” Patton frowned, shifting from one food to the other, “I’m sure there's… some part of this we can use? With some refining of course! Roman did say this was a first draft after all!”

That did not make him feel half as reassured as he had thought it should. Roman fidgeted with his fingers, chipping away at the red nail polish he had applied yesterday in hopes it would make him feel any better about this. He took a deep breath and tried to swallow it down.

“Right, right of course, I can refine it,” Roman nodded, his smile felt forced and broken, he suddenly wished Virgil had come to this meeting - he was always good at distracting Roman even if it was with something equally painful. It would even be better if Remus popped up and distracted everyone, maybe then the attention would be off of him. 

“Wonderful, please don’t procrastinate this again,” Logan said primly, “I would not like you to leave it to the last minute again.”

“I wasn’t-” Roman started protesting, before biting his lip, “I won’t,” he said with a soft sigh, “It’ll be done.”

“Awesome! Thank you Roman!” Patton said with a clap of his hands, clearly trying to lighten the atmosphere in the room.

“Yeah, um, is that all?” Roman asked, looking at the two of them, “I’d like to get working on the script, you know? So that it’ll be ready?”

“Of course, I believe that was the primary purpose of this meeting,” Logan nodded, “The rest of the points I have for today do not require your input.”

Roman nodded and wordlessly sunk out to his room, trying to ignore the stab of pain from that closing statement on top of everything else. He dumped the script on his desk and sat down on his bed, holding his hands in his lap and trying to stop them from shaking. 

—

The script made him feel sick. He knew it was bad, it really was thrown together. Just like Logan had said, it read like the creation of an eight year old. After the events of yesterday Roman had barely managed to get in an hour's work. He had no idea why he was struggling so much. Thomas was doing okay, Roman was getting enough sleep and eating when he was hungry and getting water when he was thirsty. Usually when he struggled to get words down on a page it was because something else was wrong, but now he couldn’t figure out what that was. 

Roman took a deep, shaky breath to battle the threatening tears. The script was awful, Roman didn’t know how to fix it, no matter how hard he tried now no ideas were coming to his brain. Part of him didn’t want to create at all now. He didn’t want to work on the script, he didn’t want to disappoint them again. Everything he made recently was like this, just getting worse and worse. Logan was just trying to encourage him to be better, but Roman couldn’t help the dread he felt at the idea of picking up that script, opening up that document, even the idea of brainstorming felt like too much right now.

If everything he made was useless anyway, why should he bother?

Maybe going into the imagination when he felt this bad about his creative talents was a bad idea, but Roman couldn’t stand the sight of that script on his desk like a beacon of failure and he couldn’t go to the common area incase one of the others found him there and chastised him for lying to get out of the meeting. He definitely didn’t want Janus to find him after that show and ask him what was wrong, so… imagination it was. 

—

The imagination was normally bright and full of life, Roman’s side especially was always populated by vibrant colours and lively bright characters and creatures, butterflies that fluttered around the forests, townsfolk going about their business with smiles on their faces in the villages he had created, the palace gleaming in the distance, shimmering with gold on the hilltop, the mountains behind coated with shimmering mist from the seas beyond.

Right now, yellowed dead grass crunched beneath his feet, the leaves on the trees were dulled, there wasn’t a butterfly to be seen. He spotted a hornet's nest in the woods and quickly altered his path to avoid it. 

The villagers he talked to - hoping for any sort of kindness or reassurance were snappish and rude, turning away from him with a huff or a scoff. The sky was dimmed with clouds and the palace and mountains loomed menacingly on the horizon line. The imagination always reflected him, after all. There was no escaping the reality of the situation here.

After walking for what must have hours, Roman found himself on a beach. Unable to go further - he had no energy to conjure a boat right now, or turn himself into a fish or a merman. In the end he just settled down on the shoreline, watching the grey waves lap at the gritty sand that was normally golden and bright. Roman let it fall through his fingers, knowing he wouldn’t find any seaglass was in this state. Sighing softly, Roman pulled his knees up to his chest and looked out to the sea. 

Roman didn’t move even as it got dark and the tide went out. The sky was clouded over, he saw no sunset nor moon and stars, just a dark, black void. The smell of seaweed and salt was too strong and vaguely unpleasant, the sound of the waves grated on his ears and the texture of the sand under his hands made him feel a little sick, still it was better than the alternative of going back. The script he had to work on was back in his room. He almost gagged at the thought. 

—

“Hey Roman!” Patton called the next day as Roman came downstairs for breakfast. He hadn’t changed, only making his way back from the imagination when the sun began to rise, washing the sand off of his hands and running water through his hair to make it look like he had just showered, he’d snapped himself into suitable pajamas and covered up the bags under his eyes and made his way downstairs, “Tried to come see how you were doing with the script yesterday but you were out of your room! How’s it going?”

“Oh! Uhm,” Roman said, glancing around the room. Virgil was sitting at the dining table and Logan was sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee, invested in some book, okay, it would be okay, “It’s going fine - um, I went to the imagination yesterday to get some more inspiration - building scenes to write and stuff.”

It was a blatant lie. Roman knew it and resisted the urge to look around for Janus. But Patton seemed to buy it. 

“That’s great! Did you get what you needed to work on it?” 

“Yeah, for sure, I’ll start doing the actual rewrites today, what’s for breakfast?” Roman said, plastering a smile on his face in the face of that same sheer dread he felt at the idea.

“I was actually about to start cooking!” Patton said, “Virge and I were trying to work out what we should have, I wanted to make eggs and bacon but he thinks we should have pancakes.”

“We had eggs and bacon like two days ago,” Virgil huffed, crossing his arms on the table and digging his fingers into his jacket - which he had pulled over his pajamas it seemed. Roman slipped into the chair next to him, “And yesterday we just had toast.”

Roman was about to say something about how he’d prefer pancakes too - sweet foods were always great for getting him in the mood for creative thinking - before Patton got there first.

“Why don’t you decide, kiddo?” Patton asked, looking at Roman with a bright smile - Roman tried to keep his own on his face even though his chest seized with panic at the question, “Would you rather have pancakes or eggs?”

Roman’s eyes darted quickly between Patton and Virgil as his fingers tapped worridly on the table. Patton’s smile never left, but Virgil’s grimace might have become something more concerned. Roman suddenly felt trapped, being the tiebreaker, he would disappoint someone no matter which option he picked. He knew which he would prefer, but it wasn’t that simple. If he sided with Virgil then Patton would get upset, but if he sided with Patton then Virgil might get angry. Not to mention, if he picked the more unhealthy option then Logan would probably get upset too, but he didn’t want to disappoint Virgil-

“It’s fine,” Virgil said after a few seconds, “Make your bacon, me and Princey can make pancakes ourselves afterwards, boom, problem solved.”

Roman couldn’t help but perk up - getting pancakes and possibly being able to cook with Virgil felt like a good way to start the morning. Virgil sent him a small smile - he must have noticed. 

“Hm-” Patton said, frowning, Roman immediately deflated, hand coming up to fidget with his wet hair, Virgil seemed to notice this too because a quiet growl escaped him - Roman didn’t think Patton had heard, “Well, I s’pose you could, but… Roman is banned from the kitchen for a reason, kiddo.”

Roman cringed. The last time he had tried to cook had been a disaster, but if he and Virgil were doing it together surely it wouldn’t be that bad.

“I won’t let him touch the oven,” Virgil said, whilst Roman sat there awkwardly fiddling with his hair and looking away, not sure what to do with himself.

“And you’re okay with-”

“I wouldn’t’ve asked to do it if I didn’t want to, Pat,” Virgil pointed out. Patton sighed and nodded.

“Alrighty kiddos - if you’re sure, lemme just get things together for Logan and I, then I’ll get out of your way?”

“Sure,” Virgil shrugged and Patton headed back into the kitchen to begin cooking. Virgil immediately leaned over to Roman, “Hey Princey, what’s going on with you?”

“Huh?” Roman asked, eyes snapping up to meet him.

“You look like shit, dude,” Virgil said, still whispering, “You look like you just ran your head under the tap and slapped some concealer on your face, not to mention you panicking just now - are you okay?”

“What? Oh, yes, fine, fine of course!” Roman says brightly, forcing himself to sit up straight and put a smile on his face. Virgil frowned, clearly not buying it, but he just coughed awkwardly and moved on, much to Roman’s relief.

“Okay, well um - do you actually want to cook with me? Do you even want pancakes at all? I didn’t- mean to assume but I know Pat can be kinda pushy and you seemed panicked so I-”

“I do want to cook with you, Scaramore,” Roman interrupted him with a small smile, “As long as you can handle my ineptness.”

“You’re not inept,” Virgil rolled his eyes, waving his hand, “Pancakes are easy anyway.”

“If you say so,” Roman chuckles, shaking his head. 

Once Patton was finished in the kitchen, Virgil got up and urged Roman to follow him, setting out the ingredients. With specific instructions and supervision that was slightly overbearing but to a level that somehow made Roman more comfortable than less - it was nothing like when Patton did it, it felt more like he was being guided and looked after as he did the things that Virgil told him to do, rather than making one mistake and having Patton swoop in and take over. 

The pancakes weren’t perfect, but they were still nice. Roman had a lovely time making them with Virgil too - he didn’t think they would've been half as much fun if he had made them alone. 

He didn’t want the meal to end, honestly. The conversation was light and fun - Virgil was talking about some new music he had listened to and Roman had been laughing along with him. Virgil told him he should give it a listen sometime and Roman said he would. It was almost enough to give him his spark back. 

The rest of the day he spent working on the script. Careful to avoid Patton and Logan - Janus and Remus too in all honesty - Roman headed back into his room to work his way though the script, fleshing things out, making the descriptions clearer and the dialogue more interesting and nuanced. By the time Patton called them all down for dinner Roman was absolutely exhausted and incredibly drained, but he actually had something he thought he could be proud of to show them. Maybe this would actually go well.

Even still, the idea of having Patton and Logan look over it made his hands shake and hairs stand on end, he didn’t like it one bit. 

The next few days he spent refining the script as much as he could. It needed to be perfect for Thomas to use it after all. It needed to be perfect for Logan and Patton to approve. He needed to be perfect if he didn’t want them to get upset with him, and if they did get upset with him then… well he needed to be perfect then too. 

And then they had the meeting with Thomas.

Roman rose up with the script clutched to his chest. Everyone was staring at him - he knew he was late, he had just been making some panicked, last minute touches, making sure everything was perfect, but now he was late and they were all staring at him.

He should say something witty. Something about how he was always fashionably late maybe, but Logan was glaring at him and Patton looked disappointed and Janus was here too and Roman couldn’t get the words out past the lump in his throat.

“Roman,” Logan said when it became clear that Roman wasn’t going to say anything, “You were made aware that we had a meeting today. We were all waiting for you.”

Nevermind the fact that no-one ever chastised the others for being late for these. Roman squashed the thought down with a bitter feeling. 

“I was just making finishing touches!” Roman announced in his normal bright and boisterous tone, “I didn’t want to leave our darling Thomathy without something perfect, after all!”

Logan hummed and nodded, Roman couldn’t help the sigh of relief that escaped him as the conversation moved on without a lecture. Janus looked at him for a second too long, Roman wished he hadn’t noticed.

“Well then kiddo! How ‘bout you show us what you’ve come up with?” Patton said, almost like he was coaxing Roman into sharing. Roman was, admittedly, reluctant, but he handed the script over to Patton to look at anyway. It was his job to come up with these things after all, he shouldn’t be afraid of the criticism he was bound to receive. Still he couldn’t help but nervously twist his hands together as Patton read through the script with a small frown on his face and passed it off to Logan to look at whilst Thomas and Janus tried to make conversation with him. He knew he was distracted, watching Logan’s face for any sign of what he might be feeling about the script Roman actually felt fairly proud of after all of the heartache that had gone into it. Whether he would actually let Thomas see it at all. 

“Well,” Logan started, snapping the binder shut, “It is not our best work-”

Roman felt like he had been punched in the gut, but he schooled his features to look neutral as Thomas took the binder.

“But! I suppose if this is all Roman can create it will have to do.”

“But I-” Roman started, wanting to tell them how hard he had worked on it, if that would even mean anything. 

“It’s alright, kiddo!” Patton said brightly, “I’m sure you’ll do better with the next one! One bad script isn’t anything to feel bad about.”

But Roman did feel bad about it, that was the thing. If Roman expressed that he wasn’t sure what would happen, would they get upset with him? Janus was giving him an incredulous look.

“Well,” Thomas spoke up as he skimmed through the script, “I think we’ll have to rework this a bit to get it to work - but it’s a really good start Roman! Thank you!”

“You’re welcome,” Roman said automatically, almost not even registering that he had said it. His mind was elsewhere. He was too busy thinking about hiding his shaking hands and holding back the tears he knew were threatening to get through. They had said it was fine, it was a good starting point, but Roman had spent the last three days working on this, he had worked and reworked and spent so much time making it perfect - he had been proud of the script he had ended up with, and it was just… subpar. A good start, with pieces they could pull out though the majority was trash. 

“Are you alright, Roman?” Someone asked, Roman startled and looked up, glancing around. Everyone was looking at him - why was everyone looking at him?

After a long moment of blank staring, Logan sighed.

“I asked if you would be able to rework the script by Friday,” he asked. That was two days' time - they really wanted him to redo a whole script in two days? He pressed down the bubbling panic that was trying to make his way up his throat. He didn’t want to work on the script at all, the idea of doing so made him feel like he had just been told to cut off his own hand, but he would have to.

“Oh- uh, sure,” Roman said, “Um- can we go over what exactly I need to rework?”

As much as it would be painful to hear, he needed to know exactly what was wrong with his script so that he could change it to what they wanted. Janus frowned at him, but didn’t say anything to Roman’s relief. 

“Ah, of course, I can go over the issues with the script for you now,” Logan said, taking the binder back from Thomas. With every comment he made - every nitpick, every piece of emotional nuance he decided was unnecessary - Roman felt himself grow more and more upset. Still he kept that mask of indifference on his face, made it look like none of Logan’s words were hurting him. He made it look like he was listening intently and taking in every word whilst really he couldn’t hear a thing Logan was saying over the roar of his own insecurity in his ears. 

‘This part could be better’ Logan said, ‘this whole section is useless’ Roman heard. ‘There should be more jokes in this part’ Patton told him, ‘None of this is engaging’ Roman heard. 

‘If you rewrote this part-’, Logan said, over and over. ‘You should never write again’ Roman heard, over and over. 

This is bad, this is pointless, everything you create is worthless, you’ll never make the viewers happy with this, no-one will ever want to watch Thomas’s videos with this sort of script, do better, work harder, useless, worthless, bad, bad, bad-

“Roman?” A voice cut through the stream in his head and Roman all at once realised he had screwed his eyes shut and clamped his hands over his ears as though he could block out the voices in his own head. He knew he was taking their criticisms too harshly, they were being constructive, he shouldn’t feel this awful over a few constructive comments. Carefully Roman pulled his hands from his ears and blinked away the tears in his eyes to look around. Logan looked annoyed, Patton confused and a little upset, Thomas seemed confused and Janus looked… concerned. Roman thought he must be imagining it.

“Now - Roman, you know how rude it is not to listen to the rest of us, don’t you?” Patton said, in that gentle chastising tone that drove Roman up the wall, “What was that all about?”

“Indeed, I find it very disrespectful that you would resort to such a childish show of disrespect in the face of simple criticism.” Logan said with a frown on his face. Roman looked down - he wanted to retort that it wasn’t just that. He had worked hard on thai script, he had been proud of it, their simple criticism was making him feel like he was being torn apart at the seams, it was more than simple, every comment was like a needle stabbing into his heart, a new paper cut adorning his hands until they were unusable, it felt as though they were tearing out every one of his muscles and organs one by one until he was just a gruesome sack of bones and skin, they were tearing him apart and they didn’t even realise it. Roman didn’t even have the guts to truly tell them. Instead all he did was pretend things were fine and go sob to himself in the imagination when he had time to spare. What a miserable life to lead. 

“Roman, are you alright?” Janus asks eventually after Roman never replied. Roman flinches and takes a deep breath.

“Of course,” Roman says, willing himself not to stutter, “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Darling,” Janus drawled, rolling his eyes, “You know I can tell when you’re lying.”

“What’s going on, Roman?” Thomas asked, frowning a little as he looked over at him. 

“Yes, I would like to know, if this is what is hindering your ability to do your job adequately-”

Roman broke. 

That comment was the last straw, his job, his purpose - he couldn’t even do the thing he was made for. He couldn’t even do the one single thing they expected from him correctly. He was so useless. 

“Maybe you should do it then,” Roman said, finally done with all of this, “You write the script, if my ideas were so terrible, maybe you should do it, give it a try, see how easy it is.”

“Roman, kiddo-”

“No!” Roman interrupted, bringing his hands up to his hair, “Stop it! Just stop! You want to know why I’m having trouble making things to your standards recently? It’s because of you two! You two and your constant- constant telling me what I’ve been doing wrong! Telling me not to take breaks, making me choose, standing here and critiquing something I was so proud of- I- I can’t do it! It hurts! It really fucking hurts and I can’t say anything because you’ll just start getting angry with me-”

Roman sucked in a deep breath, drawing himself up, and trying to calm down, but it was too late, tears were already streaming down his face, he was already shaking violently, there was nothing he could do about this now that he had started. 

“You two never - you never see how hard I’m working, you, Logan, you think I don’t care about the quality of what I give you when I’m trying so, so hard to make it the best I possibly can every time. You have no idea how hard it is to stand here and listen to you both tear apart something I’ve spent days working on- you don’t- you don’t understand how hard it is, Patton, to choose when someone will be upset with me no matter wha option I pick.”

“How could we know these things when you have never told us?” Logan asks sharply, frowning, “Perhaps if you expressed these struggles we would go easier-”

“Would you? Would you really? Because- because we’ve been through this before! We’ve talked about this! About you being too harsh with your criticism, about Patton’s conscientious language - we- we’ve been through this and you haven’t done a thing,” Roman said, “And when I try and bring things up you always get angry and defend yourselves - how the fuck am I supposed to express a problem I have when all I’m going to get in response is anger?”

“We wouldn’t-” Patton tried.

“You would! You would! You always do- that- that passive aggressive tone you do- and even now you’re trying to deny it! How the fuck am I supposed to get through to you two like this?” Roman asked, throwing down his hands, tears were streaming down his face now and he hardly even noticed, “How am I supposed to talk to you two when you act like this?”

“Roman if you could please just calm down - we can talk about this civilly-”

“I’m done talking,” Roman hissed, “I just- I don’t- I’m done, I’m going to the imagination, don’t look for me.”

With that, he sank out. The room was left in silence. After a long moment, Thomas turned to the three of them.

“Guys,” Thomas said, “What the fuck was that?”

“Language-” Patton said.

“Patton, respectfully, shut up,” Janus said, more harshly than he meant to, “I’m not going to look for him.”

And Janus sunk out too, leaving the other three behind to talk.

—-

Roman sat on his beach alone and sobbed into his knees. 

He cried so hard that storms raged in the distance, the waves crashed and the sun was blotted out with dark clouds, still Roman sat and cried and cried. He didn’t know what he wanted right now. He wanted to be alone, he wanted someone’s arms around him, he never wanted to talk to the others again, he wanted to be told that everything was okay. He wanted to be left to his beach and his crying, he wanted to be cared for and comforted. 

“Remus told me I might find you out here,” Said a voice behind him. Roman made a sad, startled sound and immediately felt pathetic for it, “I suppose he was wrong, hm?”

Roman turned quickly to see Janus behind him.

“What- what are you doing here, snake?” Roman asked, trying to sound angry and only succeeding in sounding choked up and miserable. 

“Oh nothing,” Janus said, walking over to come and sit next to him, “Totally not seeing if you need anything after that absolute delight of a conversation - Virgil told me how much you hate being hugged.”

Roman couldn’t help but laugh, “Why would you want to hug a failure like me? You might catch something.”

Rolling his eyes, Janus put an arm around him. Roman didn’t have it in him to protest, he really did want the hug. 

“There you go,” Janus said softly as he pulled him gently into a proper hug, three of his hands wrapped around him as he pulled Roman close, one running gloved fingers through his hair and another wiped the tears from his face, “You are definitely a failure, darling, everyone thinks so.”

Roman sniffed, “Really? How can you - how can you say that after all of- of everything?”

“Cause it’s true, RoRo! You’re not a failure,” Came the voice of his brother from the direction of the sea, Roman turned in Janus’ arms just in time to watch his brother pull himself from the ocean. Roman yelped as Remus ran over and pulled both of them into a hug.

“Remus!” Roman yelled, choked a little by his tears as he tried to push Remus off, “You- you’re soaked! Get off!”

Remus cackled and hung on, “Your fault for having a breakdown on the beach, Ro-Bro- you basically asked for it.”

“You stink of seaweed, Remus,” Janus sighed, “I will only allow you to join this hug if you dry off and change.”

Remus groaned, rolling his eyes, “Roro, snap us back to your room or something will you?”

Sighing, Roman shook his head, clinging to Janus and reaching out to grab Remus’ arm before sinking them back out to his room. Immediately he shoved Remus off of the bed. Janus coaxed Roman back into his arms as he relaxed onto the mountain of pillows in his room. Roman took a few deep breaths before burying his face in Janus’ shoulder and trying not to sob again as Janus rubbed his back up and down in a way that was so comforting. 

Minutes later, Remus joined them, draping himself across Roman’s back and thunking his head on his shoulder. 

“So,” Remus said, “Who do I gotta kill?”

“No-one,” Roman said at the same time as Janus said: “Patton and Logan.”

Roman huffed, “I don’t- I don’t want you to kill them - I just want them to listen for once.”

“I can totally make them listen,” Remus said, “If you tell me what you’re actually upset about.”

“Thanks, Ree,” Roman mumbled, sitting up a little and wiping at his eyes with a sniff, “Um- I just-”

“Why don’t we start at the beginning,” Janus said softly, never ceasing in the way he was petting Roman’s hair so gently, the touch made him want to melt, “Why don’t you just try and tell us both how you’ve been feeling?”

Roman nodded, taking a deep breath before he started spilling everything. Telling the two dark sides everything he had been feeling recently, the way the comments felt suffocating and the criticisms felt like thorns digging into his skin. He told them how he had been feeling about his creations and why the imagination was so grey, by the end he was once again teary. Janus was whispering soft reassurances to him the entire time, whilst Remus seemed to be seething in rage.

“I’m gonna go talk to them,” Remus said through his teeth. 

“Leave the morningstar,” Roman said, there was a stammer in his voice, but his tone was firm.

“You never let me have any fun, Roro,” Remus said, leaving the morningstar leant up against Roman’s bed. Roman nodded his approval and Remus sank out.

They stayed there for some time, about fifteen minutes or so, though Roman wasn’t sure, he spent most of it with his head buried in Janus’ shoulder. The comforting arms wrapped around him helped him to calm down a little more from all of that. The outburst - all of the pent up emotions he had about all of this - had honestly made him feel a lot… better, especially now that he had comfort.

A while later, when Roman was just starting to get sleepy from all the comfort, the door opened slowly - almost cautious, and Virgil’s face peeked into the room. Janus smiled a little and shifted, making Roman grumble. 

“It’s Virgil dear,” Janus said softly. Roman glanced up and made a grabby motion at Virgil, who chuckled and walked into the room properly. Coming to sit down next to Roman on the bed. Roman immediately grabbed him and pulled him into the hug. 

“Hey Princey,” Virgil said, shuffling closer and wrapping his arms around them both, “Hey Dee.”

“Hey Virgil,” Janus smiled, “What are you doing here?”

“Remus is talking to the others,” Virgil said, “I kinda heard what happened a little and wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Well, as long as Roman wants you here, you’re welcome,” Janus said with a soft smile. With the way Roman was now clinging to Virgil’s hoodie as well as Janus’ capelet it seemed he really did. 

“What’s up anyway, Princey? I heard what Remus was saying about their mean comments and I mean - I kinda noticed you were having a bad time a few days ago with Patton but…?”

Roman sighed softly, “I don’t know what it is,” He said, “I’ve just… been struggling - with motivation or - I suppose drive? I’ve been feeling bad about everything I make so I’ve been reluctant to make anything, but that just makes me feel worse so it’s just a cycle-”

“Ah,” V said softly, dropping his chin to Roman’s shoulder, “That sounds like burnout.”

“Burnout?”

“Yeah it’s like - when you’ve worked yourself too hard and now it’s causing you problems,” Virgil said with a head tilt. Roman hummed, “When was the last time you did something for yourself Princey? Like - just went wild and didn’t have someone criticising you for it?”

“I…” Roman said quietly, “I don’t know, I don’t remember - I mean, I’ve just felt so uninspired…”

“I think, and you’re not going to like it,” Janus said, Roman sighed, already pretty sure he knew what the other was about to say, “That you might benefit from a break?”

Roman groaned, he had seen it coming, “I can’t stop creating - it’s - it’s my whole purpose! What will I be if I can’t create?”

“Darling,” Janus said gently, “Just like the rest of us, you are allowed to take a break if you need to, a week or two, just… relax, create things for yourself, perhaps we could do something fun in the imagination? I’m sure Remus could help, but you’ll never get out of this state if you keep pushing yourself.”

Roman knew that he was right, he was sure Virgil knew that he was right, but he just… couldn’t figure it out, how was he to be useful if he couldn’t do the things he was supposed to do? But then - if he kept going he would never create anything worth sharing with Thomas anyway. What would it matter then if he took a break?

“What about Logan and Patton?” Roman asks softly, “Won’t they be upset with me?”

“Hopefully not after Remus is done with them,” Virgil said, the frown on his face clear from his tone. Roman sighed softly and let himself melt into them both. 

“Thanks guys,” He says softly.

“Of course,” Janus says, scratching his scalp, “You’re not welcome.”

“Anytime, Princey,” Virgil said with a small smile on his face.

—-

It was just a few hours later when Roman woke up from the impromptu map Roman had had with the other two. It seemed that Janus hadn’t fallen asleep it seemed - he was just sitting there on his phone - nor did he think Janus had noticed him wake up. Virgil however was asleep with his head on Roman’s shoulder. He sighed happily - being surrounded by the two of them made Roman relax so easily, he wished he had asked them for this sooner.

“Good afternoon darling,” Janus said softly, running his fingers through Roman’s hair, “How do you feel?”

“Better,” Roman said, smiling a little, “You okay?”

“I’m totally not fine,” he said, “Remus came back, he said the others would like to talk to you whenever you’re ready.”

 Roman winced, “Is that- is that wise?” He asked, tilting his head, “what if they’re upset?”

“I won’t be with you the whole time,” Janus said, “And if they do get upset I think Remus plans to hurt them.”

Roman made a face, “I don’t want that,” He says, “Don’t want them to get hurt.”

“Well then you can’t tell him no,” Janus said, “And we can bring Vee too.”

Roman nods, looking at Virgil who was somehow still asleep on his shoulder, he gently nudged him awake. 

“Mmm?” Virgil hummed, blinking lazily up at him, Roman laughed. 

“I think the others want to talk to me,” Roman said, Virgil frowned immediately, “I’d um- I’d really like it if you guys were there, for uh- moral support, and possibly Remus control.”

Virgil laughed, “Yeah Princey, of course I’ll be there for you.”

—-

Patton and Logan sat together on the living room sofa. Remus stood opposite them, in front of the TV with his morningstar in hand, smiling in a way that was a little bit terrifying. Roman had decided to walk down the stairs instead of just sinking out, so Janus and Virgil had followed him. The two sides on the sofa looked up, Patton gasped and almost stood up, but something - Roman could guess a menacing glare from Virgil - had persuaded him to stay sitting. 

At least the looks on their faces were fairly remorseful as the three of them went to stand with Remus. A hand was placed on his shoulder and with a glance back he saw it was Janus. With a small smile, Roman turned back to the others, waiting for them to talk. 

“Roman,” Logan said. Roman flinched involuntarily and Virgil placed a hand on his back, Logan sighed softly, “I did not realise that my criticisms were causing such a problem for you, nor did I realise that my harsh tones were causing you so much stress.”

Roman did notice that Logan was talking a lot more softly than normal, it was like he had sanded the edges of his words, the sharp points that tore against Roman’s skin were a little more dull now. 

“Now that I am aware of this I will endeavour to do better in the future,” He says, looking down, “I am sorry to have caused you so much distress.”

“Me too,” Patton said, “You always act so happy and energetic I didn’t - I didn’t realise I was causing you so much pain! I don’t ever want to hurt you, kiddo, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s -” Roman said, taking a deep breath, “I’m sorry for pretending everything was fine when it wasn’t.”

“Roman,” Janus said softly.

“But - I need a break,” Roman said, taking Janus hand, “I have - come to realise that pushing myself as I have been hasn’t been helping me or anyone else, and I know it’ll impact your schedule Logan - and it’ll make Thomas’ viewers upset if we don’t get a video out but I just - I just can’t-”

“It’s okay,” Patton said, getting up to come over to him, “You’re more important to us than one missed video.”

“I do believe that there are other videos Thomas is able to post this week,” Logan said, “If I rearrange some things perhaps we could film an unscripted video instead, allowing you time to rest.”

Roman’s eyes widened a little in disbelief - looking around at everyone. They weren’t chastising him? Logan wasn’t telling him that the script has to be done, they were really letting him take a break?

“See?” Janus said softly, “This was absolutely terrible, wasn’t it?”

Roman chuckled, elbowing Janus, “Thanks guys.”

“Of course,” Logan nodded, “Now, whilst you were gone, Patton, Remus and I had a discussion on what we could do to make you feel better.”

“And we settled on a cartoon binge session!” Patton announced brightly, Roman couldn’t help but smile.

“What would we watch?” He asked, tilting his head. 

“Well, Thomas has been wanting to watch Avatar: The Last Airbender all week, who knows why,” Virgil said with a small wink in his direction, Roman couldn’t help the way his smile widened. 

“Can we…” He said, trailing off, but with an encouraging nudge from Janus he finished his question, “Can we cuddle?”

“Of course,” Patton said, as if suggesting otherwise was offensive, “We gotta make our Prince feel better, right?”

“Come, we wouldn’t want to keep Thomas up too lote,” Logan said, adjusting his glasses.

Roman felt fondness bubbling up inside him, he looked around at his family and for once he wasn’t afraid to talk to half of them. He got to do something nice with everyone without fear of being criticised or told to get back to work - he could truly spend time with them and enjoy it for real, rather than pretend. 

“Then it’s decided,” Roman says, “A cartoon night with Thomas it is!”

It wouldn’t make everything better. Things still weren’t perfect for a while. But Roman could see that it was getting there. Though right now wasn’t perfect, he was certainly hopeful about the future. 

----

Tags: @full-of-roman-angst-trash . @your-local-random-dino @cutebisexualmess @glacierruler @roseianxiety @bella-bugatti-frogetti-baguetti @scalesfeathersnfur @oatmeal-stans-the-trash-rat @littlerat2 (if anyone wants to be added, let me know!)

----

[mallowsweetmiri]

Hello!! I hope you are having a good time. Could you please write some comfort with fred weasley x reader having mental breakdown because she lost something important to her (I've recently lost my mp3 player which was with me for 7 years and was a support during depressive episodes; I will never find it, because I lost it outside and when I realized, it was too late? If it's too much, Could you please write just comfort about reader having a bad day? Thank you for paying attention for my request 🌟

Hi hi! I’m sorry about your mp3 player sweetie. Hopefully you like this, and it can cheer you up 😊 I did something a little different because I started fixating on the fact that ‘couldn’t wizards just summon a lost item with accio?’ lmao enjoy!

summary: Fred tries to cheer up y/n when he finds her upset in common room

warnings: none :)

—————————————————————————

It was your last class of the day and you were bored out of your mind already. History of Magic was always boring, so today you planned ahead. You head been working tirelessly on a portrait of your mother for her birthday, so you brought your drawing quill to class. As Professor Bins floated in the front of the room, you sat promptly in the back, inking the final touches of your masterpiece. It was almost the end of the class when you finished and asked to go to the bathroom. You left the sketchbook open and headed down the hallway. You were finally feeling happier as spring came around, and your mom was finally getting better. She’d been sick all winter with her illness and wasn’t doing well. You smiled as did your business and strolled back to class. When you got back, you saw Avery and Cassius snicker in your direction. As you approached your desk, you saw that your portrait had been vandalized with scratches and curse words, and a mustache drawn on your mother’s lips. Hot tears threatened to pour from your eyes as the class was dismissed, and you hurried back to the dorms. This wasn’t the first time you’d been victim to the Slytherins bullying. As you ran up to the seventh floor, you tried to hide your face as you entered the portrait hole. By now, you were hyperventilating, the ruined sketch crumpled in your hand. You had worked so hard, and now it was ruined forever. You just wanted to make your mom happy.

“Y/N?” Fred sat up on the couch when he saw your state. His eyes flashed with worry which only made you feel worse because your pain shouldn’t be passed on to Fred. He was always so sweet to you and you didn’t want to burden him with something as stupid as a painting. He began to stand, leaving behind his project on the couch.

“Are you okay, Y/N? What happened?”

Your response came out as a choked sob as Fred crossed the room to meet you. He instantly embraced you, something he had done many times before. He never minded being your shoulder to cry on, and you never minded the affection. He shushed you as he swayed you back and forth. After a moment, you sniffled and rubbed your eyes, Fred ducking down and wiping a tear off your chin. You uncrumpled the sketch and passed it to him.

“I was making this for my mom. Slytherins got to it,” you frowned, looking once again at the ruined drawing. Fred smoothed it out.

“Who did this.”

You looked up and locked eyes with Fred. There was not a hint of a smile on his face.

“Freddie…” you said, cautiously. You didn’t want anymore trouble. The drawing was already ruined.

“Who did this,” he asked again, stepping towards you and motioning to the portrait. You swallowed. His height seemed to grow as he got closer to you.

“I- uhm,” you stuttered. You didn’t want to tell him, you knew he was going to confront them. Or at least get back at them.

“Y/N, I’m not going to cause any trouble,” he started sweetly, giving you a small smile, “but they ruined your portrait. Please, just tell me who did this.” He breathed out and pleaded with his eyes. You could never say no to him.

“Avery and Cassius,” you sighed. He pulled you into another hug.

“I’m sorry Y/N, I know how much this would’ve meant to your mom,” he said softly into your hair, “but she’s going to love anything you send her, darling.” He kissed the top of your head before pulling back and giving your shoulders a squeeze. You couldn’t help but smile a bit as he bid you off to your dorm for some rest. Your cheeks blushed as you thought about his smile and his hugs. He definitely knew how to cheer you up, and he would never let you go up to your dorm crying alone.

So you shouldn’t have been surprised when you went down to dinner to find Avery and Cassius with permanent inked mustaches and crosses over their eyes, but it felt just as satisfying.

[cup1dt3a]

I loved your Wally x reader and their little sister its so cute I hope its ok if I request a Wally x reader who loves to draw and reader starts looking for inspiration and they come across the show and they start drawing the characters Wally seemingly there favorite to draw

Tysm for the request and kind words! It always makes me happy to know people are enjoying my writing! And your request sounds very intriguing I like it! Hope you’re doing well or that things get better!

“ Ugh! Why must artblock be such a bitch!?” You cried out scribbling over the drawings you deemed not good.

You’ve had nothing but what feels like years of artblock. Even though it’s only been two weeks you just really wanted draw something and be happy with it but with whatever you drew you immediately hated it or just couldn’t get it how you wanted it to look. Including when a single idea came to mind it would completely vanish the moment you tried to draw. It was almost as if the gods forbid you to draw. Eventually you sighed out too frustrated to keep going as you tossed your sketch book to the side of your nightstand with your pencil and eraser.

“ Maybe watching some TV will do the trick?” You questioned to yourself .

As you grabbed the remote to the Tv flipping through the dully colored shows. Some more mature, too childish for you, others too in appropriate for you. Soon enough after your mindless flipping you came across a bright and colorful show displaying its intro. Now this looked interesting! You put the remote down onto a nearby surface as your eyes were now glued to the TV. Everything about the show from beginning to end captivated you. The show’s character designs were outstanding, the animation even more the puppets was almost too smooth like they were alive, and just everything about it made you admire it. But one character in particular caught your attention.

Wally Darling the main character of the show drew you into it even more. You loved his design and character traits. He was like a little gremlin! It didn’t help that he was also 12 apples tall. He was just a tiny little gremlin in your eyes that loved apples and drew. Him also being an artist was just a bonus for you!

“ Now! What do you think I should draw today?” He asked through the screen staring at the viewer who was currently you.

“ How about I draw you?” You muttered eyes flickering back and forth to a cream colored page and the colorful puppet.

Your art block finally vanished from your new obsession with the main character Wally. His design was supper easy to draw his figure too was just as easy. It didn’t help that the day after watching the show and drawing him the next few episodes all he did was give you brilliant and adorable poses. It was like he was practically begging you to draw him.

What a model he was. It was almost as if he never wanted you to take your eyes off of him. Like he was your little model doing anything you needed without being asked to. The perfect model indeed. But everyone has their secrets right? And your precious model had many.

He swung his legs back and forth with glee as he laid on his plush stomach on the the floors of your room. Flipping through your many many many pages of him and his friends. But mainly him. He couldn’t believe that he was the main focus of your inspiration. Him! Wally Darling the main focus of your own masterpieces. He had to admit you really did have some talent with shading and even just with drawing in general. You were just as good as him! It made him so happy almost too happy.

Looking over to your sleeping figure he couldn’t help but just want to give you a hug as a thank you for your amazing work. What kind of neighbor would he be if he didn’t thank you for being so kind as to draw him?

So as quietly as he could he had gotten up off of his little legs pushing up from the ground to tip toe over to your sleeping figure. Somewhere in your own dream land unaware and so unknowingly vulnerable to anyone who came in here. You should be glad it was him and not some horrible soul! Wally never exactly understood sleeping. Every time he tried he’d wake up in a panic scared of the horrible things his imagination came up with in his own dream land. You just looked so peaceful. He must admit that he envied you and his friends for having the gift of sleep. He’s almost surprised he doesn’t have eye bags like Franks. Just as he reached your comfy bed he couldn’t reach up. Pouting as he tried to quietly jump up without waking you. He couldn’t reach you even as he pitifully tried. Your bed was too high for his small plush legs to reach. He wondered how you even got up her everyday. You must of had to do some kind of cardio to achieve the top of this thing!

You stirred around on top of the bed hearing a small pitter patter constantly tapping your floor. You assumed it was your pet wanting attention. It was your fault for spoiling them so much they they only scratched at your bedside or tried to jump onto it so you would cuddle them. Tiredly sitting up you turned to the side of the constant pitter patter you felt around for them eventually feeling something soft and pulling them up. Not even giving it a second thought to the difference in the texture of your baby.

“ You’re so pitiful.” You told them nuzzling their forehead before dozing off to sleep.

Well this was unexpected. You’re now hugging him and he can’t get out of your grip now. Home is going to be so mad at him if he doesn’t hurry up. But at the same time you’re so comfy as you gently huggs you with his plush form. Why must the world be so cruel that he has to go soon ending this amazing moment sooner than he wants it to. If he could he would just lay in your arms forever always able to have your warm figure cuddling him. Wow he could actually go to sleep for once. But the sun is about to rise and home will lock him out again if he doesn’t come back! This was so unfair. After he sadly wiggled out of your loving grip he jumped off the bed. Landing face first onto the hard floor. How lovely?

He bit his tongue rushing towards the TV to scream out in pain as freely as he wanted to.

You woke up in an award position as if you were hugging something. You stretched your arms out trying to undo a few knots in your back. All the sudden you heart your pet making a ruckus at the door. You huffed getting out of bed to see what got them so rilled up. Soon you came to the door hearing the bell ringing. Opening the door you saw a small rectangular box at the bottom of your feel. Looking around the corner unsure you ordered anything that was supposed to arrive today.

You brought it inside to see if you could find an address or anything to know who’s it was and to your dismay there was no sticker or anything just a colorful. Little box the red, orange, and yellow pattern looked familiar. You decided to open it up to see if there was anything in there.

As you opened it you couldn’t help but squeal. It was a little Wally puppet! Whoever this was supposedly to go to was never getting it back now. You couldn’t believe it! There was only so much and so few Wally Darling puppets ever sold. You fawned over the doll not noting its smile growing by the moment as you hugged it.

Hope you all enjoyed this! I’ve been having a bit of writers block but managed to get through with this I’m so happy! I hope you’re all doing well or that yo ur day gets better.

Also ty all so much for the kind words you all comment on my works. It makes me so happy to know you all are enjoying my writing. I had written my first Wally Darling fic and a joke tbh and because I was bored and next thing Ik I’m now doing it so often I bearly write for twst XD.

Sincerely-Cup1dT3a 💌

[oneshotnewbie]

hii!! can i request a athena grant x reader where in reader fell asleep waiting for athena?? i hope you have a good day!!

ᕚ---ᕘ

The clock ticked incessantly as you desperately tried to pass the time that remained before Athena returned from her shift. It was well past midnight and you had decided to keep yourself busy, so you sat alone and visibly restless on the sofa of the Grant House in the cozy living room, surrounded by a sketchbook, a novel and a laptop that was in vain tried to get your attention with your favorite series.

You mechanically flipped through the pages of a novel, trying to read a few pages and immerse yourself in the story, but your mind kept wandering and the words blurred in front of your tired eyes. The rain pattered against the window panes, the rhythm seeming to increase your nervousness. Athena had promised you that she wouldn't be home too late. But the hours passed, and each minute seemed to last an eternity, merged with the fear that something had happened to her. And with the materials around you, you tried to keep yourself busy, trying to drive away the impatience and worries that were beginning to arise within you.

Reaching for the sketchbook, you began to draw with the pencil in your hand. Lines and curves melted onto the paper and you created abstract shapes of your lover's face but it seemed to challenge you more than it ever did. Your concentration simply wasn't centered and minutes later your gaze fell back to the series, waiting to come back to life with the start of a new episode, but the screen progressively darkened until the screen saver came on.

With a sigh, you resolved to continue drawing. Perhaps your favorite feature of Athena's face first, expressing all your thoughts and feelings in detail in her beautiful eyes that flooded you every time you looked at her. But despite your efforts, time moved painfully slowly and the form and radiance did not come smoothly; the details remained half-formed in your head.

You peeked at the clock and noticed your eyelids growing heavy. The room was silent, only the gentle ticking of the clock breaking the silence. An incessant calm that only increased the tiredness. Without further ado, you decided to make some tea to keep yourself moving around the apartment.

The tea kettle whistled in your ears as you rested your head on the counter and dozed off for a moment, before pouring yourself another cup. You began to sip the hot water while staring absentmindedly out the window. The clock ticked relentlessly in your head.

To distract yourself, you turned on the music quietly, hoping the rhythm would get you going. You put down the hot cup and began to glide around the room to the beat of the music. For a moment it felt good to let the energy flow through your body, but soon your movement was lost in complete exhaustion. You fell back onto the sofa and made another attempt to focus and catch the shine in your girlfriends eyes given how they actually shone.

The sheet of paper filled with more lines and shades and you poured your feelings and longings to soon be able to see them in reality again, into this sketch. The night progressed and the tiredness continued to eat into your body. Despite your struggle to stay awake, your eyelids feel increasingly heavy. You rub your eyes and try to keep concentrating, but the exhaustion slowly overwhelms you and you lean back. The eyes closed to rest briefly. The exhaustion took over, conspiring minutes into hours.

You fought the urge to fall asleep because you really wanted to stay awake to greet Athena when she finally came home and to fall asleep with her in her arms. But your body didn't obey you and your surroundings blurred as your consciousness went against your will. Your head tilted to the side, your fingers that were gripping the pen slowly letting go and it slipping from your hand, the sketchbook sliding gently to the floor. Your head finally rested on the soft back of the chair.

Sinking into an involuntary sleep, your breathing had become calmer as you reflexively curled up on the sofa. The clock continued ticking and the rain outside was easing as the darkness of sleep took over you relentlessly. In the distance you barely heard the sound of the key in the door and Athena quietly coming in and strutting down the stairs when she spotted you sleeping peacefully on the couch.

A warm smile spread across her face as the policewoman saw the drawing she had started on the floor and picked it up. "My little illustrator," she spoke carefully before carefully placing a soft blanket over your body and placing a kiss on your cheek before sitting down and watching you. You woke up through the movement of the soft velvet beneath you and the gentle caresses on your leg. „´thena,“ you whispered with a scratchy voice, clearly seeing the silhouette of your girlfriend, smiling tiredly at the sight of her in Uniform.

„I am sorry it took me so long to come home. I had another mission shortly before I wanted to leave,“ she spoke sadly, knowing she had kept you waiting for so long. But especially without a call that she would come later. She had been completely prevented by a road closure due to a traffic accident and was unable to write you. "But now I'm back and you can go to sleep in peace."

You nodded and put your head back on the pillow before you even put your legs on her lap and she wedged them tightly under her arms until you fell asleep and she could get ready for bed. When your breathing became shallower and noticeably slowed down, Athena knew that you had drifted back into a peaceful sleep. "Sleep well, my love."

Athena was finally home, but you were sleeping soundly, surrounded by the traces of your hours-long battle against tiredness and the unbearable waiting.

[squircatlies]

Today is the day I unleash my Mr. Bonzo fanart upon this webbed site.

This post is relatively safe up until the cut.

Is the *tips fedora* meme over a decade old? Yes. Do I care? No, absolutely not.

~

Now this is where I recommend "getting off" this post to anyone bothered by graphic depictions of body horror, blood, violence, or Mr. Bonzo (monster, not mascot like above).

I know the first image is silly, but I cannot stress enough how serious I am when I say:

Proceed at your own risk.

Now that you have chosen to continue, I have arranged the images in order of least to most vile and disturbing (though that might be slightly subjective on my part).

Remember that you can click off this post at any time.

Final warning: split tongue Bonzo.

I tried channeling Julia Drawfee with the lineart a little bit. Didn't feel like shading that one, so it's a bit flat.

Where did I lose my colours? Plot twist: the first image in this post is actually the last I've made, so technically I gained the colours. I wanted it to have more of a cheery vibe, unlike the ones under the cut, which I wanted to be kinda dreary and I feel like adding too much colour can mess that up.

Alright, I'll address the tongue. Remember how his head splits in tmagp 12? Yeah, it's a nod to that and also I asked myself "how do I make his design worse than it already is?" and that's the only answer I could come up with. I debated adding stitches connesting the two halves of the tongue but couldn't figure out how, so you're welcome. It will be present in all the upcoming drawings as well.

~

The next one is bloody, but it's not that much worse than the previous one overall.

I was playing with filters after I was done with this piece, because I felt like it lacked something, but didn't know what. Really liked this one, I think it's some sort of a gradient map. It pixelised the image and adjusted the colours a bit, it also really made the blood pop out, though it covered up some of the details.

Why did he lose his hat? It's stupid and hard to draw.

You may have noticed the artstyle change a little, the previous images having neat lineart and little to no shading. That's because I am using different tools, sketchy and soft brushes, that allow me to experiment with lighting and textures more (plus the aforementioned filter altering the image even further).

~

Alright, I feel like this last image deserves a separate warning. It references episode 12 (spoiler ahead), specifically the moment before the bartender loses a hand, though it's not entirely accurate. It's rendered in more detail than any of the previous images, so keep that in mind before scrolling down.

Basically it's pov: Bonzo licks your hand.

I feel like I could've made his tongue bigger in this one, it seems kinda small compared to his mouth. I really like how the skin on his face ended up looking. It took a lot of work.

The spit makes it look weirdly sexual, doesn't it? Listen, that was not my intention, but I'm not erasing it. I set out to make the worst thing I could and, though not without cost, I have achieved it.

I tried splattering Bonzo in blood, but it wasn't really working for me and it covered up a lot of the detail I liked, so I just put it in the background.

The human hand is drawn from reference, which I found by googling "hand reaching out away from the viewer". And let me tell you: google is shit at looking for drawing references, but I figured it was just going to be a sketch to explore an idea, so I didn't bother trying to get a better one. And then I fixated on it for a couple hours, you know, like a normal person.

I literally (and I mean no exaggeration) dusted off my drawing tablet after a few months of no use to spend the entire weekend, after tmagp 12 came out, glued to the screen making those images, except for the b'onzo one, which I made this evening.

Just to clarify: I drew all of those by myself. No filthy AI image generation is allowed in this house. I am capable of committing far greater sins than an artificial intelligence ever will.

The only thing left here is to extend my sincere congratulations/condolences to whoever got this far. It's up to you to either think you're brave or realise that you're foolish for doing so, but be comforted by the fact that at least you didn't make this post, which I cannot say for myself.

[literaljeanregrettedblog]

For the character ask thing: Olya?

Thank you for asking!

First impression:

She is so cute! I love her design and her cat-ears accessory! (≧∇≦) (◡‿◡✿)

Impression now:

:'(

you know the feeling when a character is deeper when you know more about them?

I have a new perspective on how grief is portrayed on people now.

Favorite moment:

the dollhouse, it somehow made me feel nostalgic

Idea for a story:

Maybe a beach episode with Dima (and Olezha), there's a scene that Olezha couldn't talk to his sister but wanted to take a photo like when they were kids so Dima tried to take it

(loosely based on this sketch on Leena's VK group)

(this was before ep 5 came out)

Unpopular opinion: i don't have any (；一_一)

Favorite relationship:

Olya and Dima <3 I think they are wholesome

Favorite headcanon:

She knows Vasya (in a positive sense)

[door-insurance]

Revisiting life is strange and its fandom is really bittersweet

I don’t think the fandom is completely dead, it’s not what it used to be and I accept that but it’s bittersweet

also I don’t wanna gatekeep anyone from discovering LiS late, I don’t believe in “true fans”- I’m glad we’re still getting fandom babies hehh, thankfully there is a lot of fan materials to be discovered

I just wanna be a sentimental fool about the life is strange fandom, I was there when the first episode came out I was as old as the characters and it was an event, a moment that can never be replicated- the barbenheimer for tumblr lesbians

We never had a game like this before, it felt tailor made for us and we went crazy

It was fun, you’d just log on tumblr and find new fanart of your favorite character or ship- inside jokes and shitposts were rampant, a couple of fan writers and artists came together and made a fan game- “Love is Strange” where Max gets to romance Chloe, Kate, Victoria, Amber (tell me I’m not the only who remembers shrektoria and Rachel eating a salad while laughing meme)

I made fanart and memes and they blew up but I lost that account

They’d call us sjw trash on YouTube and make fun of the game, we didn’t give a shit

But I think it was around before the storm where i started to lose interest and was burnt out, also I just didn’t like the direction they went with for the game I thought it was an unnecessary edition to the main story (Rachel didn’t need a complicated backstory, Elliot, too much conflict for 3 episodes) and I don’t think I was the only one cause this is where the fan art and fic updates started to slow down

Then I moved on to other things, other fandoms- shit happens.

Life is strange was just another part of my cringey teenage self who the hell cares I was cringe

But now I’m an adult, I have responsibilities and anxieties that I never knew I’d have to deal with- i went through a lot in the last 8 years sometimes I wish I was still that cringey ass teenager. This year was particularly bad, lost someone I loved

I stumbled upon old fan art on Pinterest and it reignited my love for the first game, I felt happy that I had something to take my mind off and goddamn revisiting the fandom years later is so bittersweet. I miss my old fandom mutuals, the blogs that used to update everyday were last active 5 years ago and most of the og fan artists had either rebranded or had left, one of them got hacked

Tumblr doesn’t make it easy for you to look up older posts, you have to rely on old blogs, Google or Pinterest (kinda made it my mission to archive what I can find)

There are new artists doing their own thing and I love that for them! Also people still write fanfics and update them, when I have the time I sketch out my fave characters and ships- it seems like there is a vocal community on tiktok but idk i don’t wanna go there

But it’s not what it was and I accept that, shit happens I’m glad I got to experience it during its peak and that I was left with good memories and content I can still enjoy

I’ve definitely seen shittier and deader fandoms

Before LiS and Steven universe there weren’t a lot of spaces that let you enjoy wlw ships, they were either upstaged by yaoi stuff or fetishized (deviantart) this game and its fan base helped me accept my identity as a lesbian, told me it’s not a fetish when two girls hold hands

[ilcuoreardendo-fic]

The Marauder’s lights were dimmed to emulate night. The only illumination in the ship came from the floor lights, control panel and the smear of stars as the ship zipped through the hyperlane.

Echo used the flattened and stretched starlight to see as he worked Tech’s mini air compressor around the head of his scomp. Small bits of metal and wire fell into the cloth across his lap; no wonder the thing hadn’t been turning smoothly since before he’d driven it into the head of that battle droid. He tucked the compressor away and tossed the debris into the scrap bag to be dealt with later.

He ran his left forefinger around the edge of the scomp and, with only a thought, made it spin. It turned smooth, slowed to a stop when he willed it. And for a moment he found himself marveling at how quickly you could get used to something so new, so strange.

Before his surgery on Anaxes, Kix had given him a choice to have the scomp removed. With the caveat that he had nothing, at the moment, to replace it with and it might be 30 rotations or more before they could make that happen. If they could.

Echo had chosen to keep it. Even if they’d had a mechno hand ready for him, he thought he might have chosen to keep it. It was...useful. Though he could admit—thinking of the empty sketchbook he’d found in the Tipoca City library, now tucked carefully away in his pack—there were some things he missed having a right hand for.

With a sigh, he spun the scomp once more, making sure it turned solidly. He’d need to remember to oil it when he got a chance; he’d left his bottle on Kamino, still not quite used to some of his new needs. In the back of his mind, he could hear Fives making a joke about him forgetting the lube.

From: A Place Called Home

I keep revisiting this bit, mentally. And after the most recent episode of TBB, I think I'm definitely keeping an idea I had for the second, larger part of this series.

Also, yes, I headcanon that Echo sketches. If you were able to see the reg manuals on his old datapad, in addition to underlined important bits and notes in the margins, there would be doodles.

Though I'm sure that's not the only thing Echo misses having a right hand for. Good thing the clones are pretty ambidextrous. (I'll show myself out.)

[articulately-composed]

Thoughts on the ATLA live action

I may not post about it a ton, but ATLA was what brought me into fandom culture over a decade ago, so as you may assume, I have some Thoughts about the live action netflix series. Now, I'm gonna preface this by saying I didn't hate it. Surprisingly enough. I came into it thinking the whole series was gonna be a hate watch, but they actually did some interesting stuff with it.

Let's start with the positives.

Sokka - When I heard that they were removing Sokka's sexism, I thought his character was doomed. That's so much of his season 1 arc, I had no idea what was gonna be left. Turns out, they didn't take away his preoccupation with being a manly warrior, they just made it less overt, and honestly, that brand of "girls suck!" sexism that exists to get refuted in early 2000s kids tv probably would have sounded out of place and preachy in a 2024 show geared towards adults. In the end, Sokka felt like one of the most fleshed out characters. His original arc was left in tact, with the bonus of him being a simpy bottom for Suki in a way that kinda fits.

Zuko - I really liked that they added some extra backstory between Zuko and Iroh sooner. The bit with the funeral was honestly really nice. I saw some critiques saying that zuko was made out to be sympathetic far too soon, but honestly, I think it worked. The show is so well known that I don't know if gaining sympathy for zuko later on would have the same effect as it did 20 years ago. I thought the Zuko and Iroh moments really helped solidify their bond on Zuko's part, and tbh, that's gonna make his season 2 betrayal that much stronger (if they pull it off well). I also like the stuff they added with Zuko's journal. Of course he's a fuckin nerd who takes detailed notes with sketches about the stuff he's researching. If Zuko existed irl he'd have a bullet journal youtube channel.

The structure - I hate that no tv series gets more than 8 episodes anymore. it's ruined so much when it comes to pacing in literally everything. That being said, I like what they did when it comes to combining plots. It really made the show feel like it's own thing and not a 1-to-1 adaptation. They stuck Jet and the Mechanist in Omashu, and it worked. Roku's temple and The Blue Spirit were the same episode. Obviously, there was a lot of picking and choosing when it came to what plot points they kept and what they scrapped, and it did do a number on some of the characters' development, but the episodes they chose to keep were important ones, and they managed to weave them together surprisingly well.

And now, the negatives...

Episode 1 - The setup is dreadful. The show starts with a solid 20 minutes of backstory. Before you even meet Sokka and Katara, you know literally all the details about the air nomad genocide. And because they show you the entire genocide on screen before Aang is released from the iceberg, you don't get the experience of having it revealed to you as Aang is experiencing learning about it. His avatar state reaction to seeing Monk Gyatso's corpse just doesn't feel warranted when there's not that slow buildup to finding out about the war and Aang's denial of the whole thing. Episode 1 in general felt messy, rushed, and missing a whole lot of vital character growth.

Aang - Honestly, Aang's character in general felt flat. He gives me ipad kid vibes. He feels like a prodigy kid who just doesn't care, instead of a fun-loving goofball who 's scared of responsibility. He makes so many quips about not paying attention to the monks or falling asleep during meditations, and while it's not like he was super studious in the original, the thing he's doing to avoid studying is goofing around. Playing pranks with Monk Gyatso instead of paying attention to the monks. goofing off in a river with Sokka instead of learning waterbending. He's so un-silly in the live action and it's to his detriment. I guess this is just a part of the 8-episode curse, but because those filler moments have to be erased, you really lose out on all of Aang's stupid kid shenanigans.

Katara - Katara fell so damn flat, which is such a tragedy. I saw someone else on here talking about how the lack of Aang helping her be a kid again in episode 1 took away a lot from her, and they are totally right! Specifically, it took a ton away from the bond the two of them have. Really, there's no reason why Katara should have traveled with Aang in the first place. She didn't bond with him over riding animals, or help him understand what happened in the last hundred years (Gran Gran takes care of all that exposition...), and they don't even head towards the northern water tribe to find a waterbending master until after Kyoshi Island, so that's not why she chose to come either. Katara is also missing her whole "had to become the mom after her mom died" schtick. Not that she should be reduced to group mom, but that's still a part of her original character. She got plenty of backstory regarding her mom, but it was mostly grief. There was a little sprinkling of her sense of justice in there, but that's another one of those "victim of the 8-episode curse" things. So much of her character got lost when the filler was cut that there's not that much left over.

The spirit world - I know I just said I liked what they did combining episodes together, but honestly I think they tried to do too much with the spirit world episode. They use the Hei Bai episode to get into the spirit world, but the whole burned forest plot from the original is pretty much scrapped for a Koh plot, which combines the original Koh plot with the fog of lost souls from Korra, and the mother of faces from the sequel comics? The spirit world episode ties to Roku, like in the original, but Roku barely does anything outside of info only important to that episode. Out of all the avatars Aang contacts, Roku is the least relevant. Kuruk is more relevant than Roku. The bit with Monk Gyatso was sweet, but it did feel like one more thing on top of an already cluttered episode. Also, I don't love that Yue was a fox in the spirit world, it felt kinda out of left field. I didn't love what they did with Yue and Sokka in general, their whole vibe felt rushed.

Final thoughts, obviously it wasn't incredible. It's a show that doesn't really need or want to exist. They stuffed the first season of a cartoon with notoriously thorough writing into 8 episodes. But I didn't hate it. Honestly, I was pretty entertained. I fully intend on seeing season 2. I want to see what they're gonna do with Azula moving forward, how they're gonna handle Toph, and what the fuck they meant by "there actually is no war in ba sing se" bc clearly there was a fucking war in ba sing se, Iroh nearly gets crushed by a boulder by a vengeful soldier over it. I came into this with rock bottom expectations, and I was pleasantly surprised

[angelsandarsenic]

The more I think about it, the more I realize how much there is to question about the genloss finale

Here's my theory

So someone tagged this on a post I made about Ranboo bowing at the end (this post)

and it made me think—"well hang on, supposedly Ranboo had broken free of Showfall Media’s control?" Except he didn’t! Because Hetch (hedge??? Hatchet?? I’m sorry I didn’t catch the name) wasn’t actually a good guy! Or on the other hand, maybe he was at first, but then Showfall put him under their control, but I highly doubt that one, given his presence in the mall and all his cryptic nonsense. He was super sketch from the beginning, I don’t even need to explain how, y'all know.

So then that begs the question: what’s going on with Ranboo? The mask is still on, the wires and the Showfall media bit in the back are still connected (and Hetch convinced them not to take it off and admitted he had some sort of control over it) but they more or less seem to be acting of free will? But at the same time, there were those moments that didn’t quite make sense; primarily, as I mentioned in the post before, Ranboo bowing at the end, but also when his whole demeanor shifted and he stabbed the guy. Finally, even after spending the entire episode angsting about his friends dying and not being able to save them, he simply stood and watched Charlie get mauled by the security beast—not even reacting. I suspect that since Showfall has no qualms about killing people in the first place, the entire premise of the gore filter and Ranboo discovering the truth was planned, the entire thing is an entertainment show (like irl). I think for the sake of it, they turned off his mask, or it did get damaged when The Puzzler shocked him, so plenty of the third episode is his own actions, but I think Showfall is still in control. I’m honestly not sure if Ranboo listening to the viewers or putting in his own code to the computer was part of that script, but I doubt it would have mattered.

Here’s the specifics:

I think Showfall Media is having trouble controlling their people. I won't speculate whether Showfall is aliens, demons or whatever, but we know that it's not human and specifically that it's still having trouble imitating human life. (Dear gods, isn't that creepy? I funcking love it).

As we've seen, the Filter is breaking more and more throughout the episodes. In the very beginning, Ranboo wakes up in the cabin and the mask isn't on. They don't know where they are, they're distressed, and they try to take the mask off. It isn't until the jar breaks and Ranboo is investigating the ashes that it turns on. I've been incredibly puzzled with why Showfall would turn the mask on then and why Ranboo would have such an upset reaction to it, but after seeing the finale, I think that Showfall was afraid Ranboo would remember something and realize what was going on too soon. Since they can supposedly reanimate people, "rewire, rescript" them and we saw with the tapes at the end (and I think Ranboo said) that there are prequels to the Social Experiments, I bet the ashes belong to someone who died in the episode right before. Then, when the mask turned on, Ranboo remembered the feeling of them getting in his head and panicked. Unfortunately, it was too late.

Right after that, they became the perfect scripted character. The next part that I want to mention, I thought was strange even before the second or third episode came out. It's when Charlie says "Uh oh! I think our contestant is running out of slime! I mean slime- I mean slime-". It reminded me of a skipping record and you can see his smile falling and getting slightly more distressed the more he says it. Because this is where Charlie is supposedly talking to the cameras, I think that lead him to start to remember/realize the truth, but the Filter kept him from saying it, and since this is the very beginning of a new show, the characters have just been "rewired" so their brains are as under Showfall's control as they can be. After that episode, there were no more shots of anyone talking to the cameras.

In the transition to the next episode and when Ranboo wakes up in the chair, the mask is still glowing. It flickers a little bit, but ultimately stays on, and being freaked out when you wake up tied to a chair in a warehouse is a completely normal reaction. I think it was when the Puzzler shocked him though, that the mask started to actually glitch and break. Specifically, the Puzzler insisted on zapping Ranboo anyway, with enough power to knock them out for a minute, and we saw the mask light flash and turn off, and Ranboo said his brain felt a little fried and foggy. Afterward, Puzzler insisted that he didn't mean to do that much, honest.

The Puzzler was a human, just like everyone else in the cast. Whenever he had his mask, however, he was holding it up and away from his face, which I thought was strange, why do that? Of course, the Puzzler is just a strange guy, but he was surprisingly helpful along the way; his puzzles didn't have any real consequences that people didn't almost directly walk into and he even let Sneeg go when he said he needed go to the bathroom. That could of course be chalked up to comedy, or Showfall not understanding humans, but Showfall is smarter than to let them go simply because someone said to. (I won't get into all the little things the Puzzler did and said, or all the glitches/inconsistencies, this will be long enough as is, but oooh there's so much to dissect). I think the Puzzler was Aware and trying to help Ranboo, while staying under cover so he wouldn't get found out. At the end, he even says "I've been doing this for over thirty years, this group is by far the most unbelievable--you fucked up the whole thing!" Because he's aware and he made it so easy for them!

Before you come at me saying "oh but Angel, everyone DIED" LISTEN--the Puzzler gave them very obvious and plain notes saying "DON'T PRESS THIS BUTTON" and "NOT HERE" with arrows pointing to the right stuff. Sure he was supposed to be the Puzzler, so it would be reasonable to assume they were tricks, but everything he'd shown up until that point was just as much of a flop as if they were legit (which they were). Meanwhile, Squiggles is in the corner saying "ooh a button you should press it" and other such stuff. As for Nikki, yeah that one sucked. As the Puzzler said though, he wasn't expecting her to come in there and said he felt bad. After seeing what happened to Sneeg, I bet he was afraid the Showfall goons were coming for him and got spooked and shot too soon. Why would he have been hiding anyway? Furthermore, he released everyone on the carousel sooner or later even though they were supposed to die.

When the Puzzler blows up at the end, he didn't get revived. Showfall revived Charlie at least three times, Sneeg like- twice, and if they can do that so easily, then it's no wonder that they're so chill about killing off their characters. So why didn't the Puzzler come back? When Ranboo and Charlie found his little memorial thing, they were sorry for him, they didn't view him as a Showfall puppet even though he was one of the game masters. More importantly though, is that on Puzzler's memorial is a giant sign that said "TERMINATED". Terminated is intentional, Showfall Media killed the Puzzler, because they realized he wasn't under their control.

I think they also killed Sneeg permanently too. He was more aware than anyone else right before he ran, I think, which is why he ran and struggled so much. He also kept coming back to awareness multiple times, such as when the Puzzler put the hat on his head, backward and covered in gore. Running away during a livestream forced Showfall to restrain and mask him again on screen, so they couldn't have that happening again, then Sneeg interfered with the final puzzle. He seemed very mind controlled through the whole rest of the episode, but someone pointed out that in the final part with the wall, Sneeg held Austin back, not because Showfall wanted them to succeed, but because if Austin kept pushing and panicking, they would all get crushed. It also makes sense that if he knew he'd been through this all several times, then he knew he'd be reset when he died.

We're almost at the end, I promise. If you've stuck around this long, great job, I hope it wasn't too chaotic. Anyway, all of this to say that

Showfall is still figuring out how to control humans. In fact, I think their control is flimsy and relies on the Filter to work. Hetch said that Ranboo passed a test or something, so it wasn't all scripted and planned, plus people keep breaking out of the control. On the other hand, the masked "employees" (robots?? they're filled with wires) are completely controlled and only imitating people.

The way they control people is most effective with masks, but if you break the illusion that everything is fine, they'll wake up. That's why the Filter is so important and it's a problem when it glitches. That's also why all the streamers had their little setups in the mall that looked like their actual offices/rooms and why Charlie, unlike Puzzler, didn't have a mask, but supposedly his set was the cabin where he grew up.

Showfall needs the mask to control Ranboo (and it was broken in the last scenes (how did that happen?? can it still work??)) but he was still under their control for the entirety of episode 3. They may have killed him, but he'd not dead. Side theory— using the mask versus not having a mask for everyone else, while obviously a way to keep Ranboo’s identity a secret, it might canonically end up attached to his face. What if he’s already becoming one of the robopeople?? We saw their skin underneath, but there are all these wire and the control thing attached to the base of his skull and it’s controlling his brain. What if he becomes a monster or on the flip side, terribly injured when he ever takes it off

Ok so what's the deal with Hetch?

Even when he's "helping" Ranboo, he always tried to convince them to just keep going, don't resist, and trust him. Even when Showfall's control is supposedly glitching, Squiggles is on screen, which I found strange, and Hetch's help is never helpful. Hetch says at the end of the Spirit of the Cabin that Ranboo "made it to episode two", implying that he's well aware of what Showfall is putting on (which isn't the same way he presented in the finale), then even saying "I hope you're good at puzzles".

This, combined with Hetch's lackluster attempts to "help" Ranboo in the finale and him convincing them to keep the mask on and not leave, then faking his death, all strongly support the idea that Hetch is a Showfall Media "employee" (The Founder???) who is trying to manipulate Ranboo whenever the mask starts failing and they start waking up. Then of course, the end of the finale proves Hetch was evil all along.

Everything we've seen so far is a big experiment for Showfall Media, but what is it all for? Are they gonna take over the world??? Guess we'll just have to find out.

[finchy4077]

MASH asks :D

* what’s one of your favourite m*a*s*h episodes & why? —"Deal Me Out" is the ultimate comfort episode for me. Every line hits, every transition is flawless, Sidney and Sam are a fucking lethal combination. It gets my brain buzzing about headcanons—it's a more subtle "Hawkeye is having one of his depressive lows" episode where his lethargy is clicked on almost the whole time, I'm fascinated by how comfortably Hawk and Sidney interact even though this is supposedly one of Sidney's first few times being there, etc. Shout out also to "Crisis" and "Your Hit Parade" for being other frequent comfort watches.

* who’s your favourite character? who’s the character you relate most to? why? —Ahh, BJ is the ultimate favorite as well as the one I relate to the most. Unfortunately for him, I imprinted on him and Peg and their relationship during one of the worst periods of my life where I saw a lot of what I was experiencing at the time in both of them, and it gave me a safe place to hunker down and process everything so that I could emerge from that period far better than I was when I went in. He can't escape now. There's no use, I've locked all the doors.

* what’s one of your favourite head-canons? —Oh man. I have extremely unique interpretations of a lot of the characters as compared to fanon, and I own that, so a lot of my headcanons are nowhere near universal :) I'll say the one I came up with that got me most out of my mind was Sidney spending a year as a visiting psychiatry professor while Hawk was in med school, and them initially meeting that way (purely based on Hawk's joking comment in Edwina of "According to my three psychology classes, two of which I cut..." and me going "Hmm, I wonder what made that third class different enough that you stuck around.").

* what’s your favourite ship/ships? —Anybody who knows anything about me knows that I am the resident I Ship Everything loudmouth, and I am on a quest to write it all to boot, so this is the most evil question you could ask me. If I have to sum it up, my top ship is BJ/Peg/Hawk, my guilty pleasure ship is BJ/Peg/Hawk/Trap, and the runners-up are BJ/Margaret, BJ/Sidney, Sidney/Sam, Trapper/Margaret/Hawkeye, BJ/Leo—you know what, really any BJ/Character ship, but add Hawkeye to it as well. I am not much one for monogamy, as we see haha.

* what’s your favourite m*a*s*h fanfic? —Anything at all by my friend Canon. "With All My Cynical Heart" is a Trapper/Hawk that has become my preferred idea of when the two of them first hook up. I always have to give a shout out to "a crash course in fellatio on the edge of a mine field" because it was my first Sidney/BJ fic I read, it made an entire fic universe spawn in my head, and it was also one of the first times we connected one-on-one over something so exciting to us. And of course if someone is a Sidney/Hawkeye enjoyer and they have NOT read "Insanity in the service of health," they are missing out on an incredible magnum opus.

* what’s your favourite piece of m*a*s*h fan art? —I am biased because @saltseashark has done some incredible sketches of moments from my fics or just little ideas that bubbled up out of my head!! This is one from one of my BJ/Leo fics, for example; as soon as I saw it, I wanted to chew a hole through my wall. But also a wonderful friend drew me a multi-page BJ/Sidney/Hawkeye comic for a holiday exchange last year and I cried very real tears over it. I'm still kind of jealously guarding the whole thing close to my chest just for me right now, but I posted a page of it here. It's fucking gorgeous.

* have you met/had correspondence with/received a letter from any of the cast? —Extremely well-timed question because I just mailed off a letter to Mike on Monday. Help. But I needed him to know the role he played in getting me through that aforementioned difficult period, so I wouldn't have forgiven myself if I didn't send it :) The mortifying ordeal of being known, etc. Thanks for these questions!! They were super fun!

AAAH! i’m so sorry i didn’t see this until now!

- i LOVE sidney!!! i see why ‘deal me out’ is a favourite. i’m in the midst of a rewatch so i only vaguely remember “your hit parade” but i’m excited to see it again :’)))

- BEEJ!!!!! oh how i love that cheesy mustache <333 m*a*s*h has definitely gotten me through some really difficult times too, there’s something comforting about a character you love dealing with something you’ve also dealt with. i’m glad they’ve been a comfort. (hawkeye’s had some troubles with his ol noggin similar in vein to what i’ve experienced and i think that’s why tragic funny man has imprinted himself on my heart).

- that headcanon would make a lot of sense given how familiarly and comfortably they interact from very early on in the series - it’s not a headcanon i’ve heard before but it’s one that i like & makes sense to my brain 👀

- honestly i really think given the nature of war & intensity of everyone’s experience at the 4077th, monogamy doesn’t make as much contextual sense to me - how could you not be so incredibly bonded to each other through that experience? and in the same light, that experience doesn’t take away from the love you have with others/back home/etc. bj/hawk/peg is a perfect example of that for me <33

- thank you so much i’m going to add these to my read list, i’m especially excited for insanity in the service of health - sidney/hawkeye has really grown on me. ALSO?!? such beautiful artwork!!!!

- well i hope the mortifying ordeal of being known turns into the delight of being seen, and that you hear back from mike!!

(random sidenote… before i found mashblr, i was on ao3 reading A Lot of fanfic. you are honestly my favourite writer. i got so excited checking back every sunday! midnight trepidations, hell the whole of some things are evergreen has my heart and soul! i’m excited to see where you take it <333 )

[thatonecrookedsmile]

*kicks the front door with all the strength I have*

WAKE UP, CHILDREN. I HAVE SOMETHING FOR YOU TO PLAY WITH.

Hey there IRIS fans. It's been a while. More than 3 months to be exact. I came once again to offer you my gifts. Behold…..breadcrumbs! :D

Yeah, that's all I have at the moment. I'm sorry.

I was reflecting on the idea of posting things that are more....small? Don't just post finished drawings. Maybe WIPs or, sketches, or in the case above, a doodle! Basically, I don't need to ONLY post finished drawings. Or drawings. Sometimes I can just. Post words, you know. I had the realization about this a while ago when I remembered that I'm on Tumblr. I can post (almost) anything here without limiting myself. Now, will I fulfill this? I don't know. Maybe I'll do that, or I'll just post it when I have a drawing ready to post. I don't promise anything lol.

Anyway, IRIS! I made this little doodle of Goliath while I was out of the house. I only drew his Pre-Explosion version once and it was in that Transmission 3 drawing. As a joke too. So I tried to do something a little more serious. This time…he has a face! I thought it turned out good. I think I found a good way to do his hair too. I decided to color it (and do a light digital lineart over it) to make it more pleasant. Simple, but it looks nice! (I'll leave the normal scribble unedited at the end of the post) Also, I know that in the only art we have of P.E Goliath it doesn't show him with irises and pupils in his eyes. I drew them here because I thought it would be cool.

Next stop is to practice drawing his body. I have to learn how to draw more muscular bodies. Goliath has to live up to his name (and he deserves the muscles tbh)

It goes without saying that I did this after watching the new chapters of Story of Vegala. And speaking of that: i'm gonna be honest with you: I think this is my favorite part of the IRIS story/lore drops posted so far.

It's quite intriguing to see the very story that happened before everything we've seen so far. It's also nice to receive what I've wanted for a while: Tyrant and Fate Lore. It's good to have more information about two characters that we've known (more or less) for a long time now. Especially their origins (broader origins than just *the first beings that walked the Earth* or *beings that came from distant worlds in search of the emblem*)

SOV also makes me excited for other things. Like, obviously, HOAA:R. Releasing soon! December is knocking on the door, you know. But I also really want to see Jaws of Vegala now. And whatever happens in the story that takes place after GT.

So again, SOV is currently my favorite part of the lore, I believe. The anguish of waiting for the next episodes this past week was real.

I'm talking too much once again, SHIT. Yeah, Pre-Explosion Goliath. He deserves the world (He's NOT a monster, he's just BIG and STRONG, and needs a functioning family *cries*)

I don't know when I'll do my next Big Piece related to IRIS. I had something in mind but I lost the will. But I was thinking about doing something related to Solitude for a while. Hold this thought,then. Until then, I'll sketch Tyrant next. Because I like his official design.

Also, here is the unedited scribble: