#also the animation here...lordy

[swan2swan]

And so it begins.

[skyward-floored]

Whumptober Day 29 - Fatigue, “Who said you could rest?”

CONTINUATION TO DAY 23 more Warriors and Legend (and the dragon) time!

Lordy this got so long. SO. LONG. it was never supposed to be this long and that's probably why it took so long to write 😔 but I hope y'all enjoy this monster, I had a lot of fun with it :) And also LOOK AT THIS COOL ART it was one of the things that got me to finally finish this and inspired a good bit of it XD Thank you so much for the awesome art Maeson!!

Warnings: same as 23, whipping, animal abuse, arguably torture... bad times. A little nonconsensual touching, but nothing extreme.

Ao3 link

Day 23

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They’d been stuck here for days now, and Warriors was beyond frustrated.

Whenever the troupe’s wagons stopped, Legend was dragged out of his tank, his legs trembling underneath him from the prolonged time with a tail, and pulled outside somewhere to run through tricks or... something. Legend didn’t talk about it much. Half the time he couldn’t he was so exhausted from being beaten up at the slightest misstep, intentional or not.

Apparently their captors weren’t due to reach another town for a good week or two, so it didn’t matter that Legend had a split lip and a cut on his cheek. Those and the other small bruises on his face would heal before any customers saw him. As for the whip marks on his back, well, some scars made him seem more dramatic.

That’s what the horrible woman in charge had said anyway, and Legend had nearly bitten her hand in response.

Warriors had noticed his responses were growing more feral the longer he spent with a tail, growling when he was angry, warbling more when he talked, taking longer and longer to adjust to legs. Warriors tried to talk with him whenever they were together, and regular conversation seemed to help, but Legend was still struggling.

And Warriors still didn’t know how to get them all out.

He set his head against the bars of his cage again, watching a small spot of moonlight creep across the floor. It was nice that they’d parked the wagon so the window faced the moon for once. Usually all Warriors had to look at was either Legend or the baby dragon’s glowing eyes, which, while interesting, weren’t quite as good as natural light. And he was already feeling lethargic from the lack of natural light.

The baby dragon himself was snoring softly on Warriors’ lap, head tucked against his arm, and Warriors ran an idle hand over his scales, watching as they shimmered just a little at the touch.

Legend’s guess was that he was some kind of forest dragon, based on the colors and the fact that he’d never shown the slightest propensity for breathing fire. Warriors didn’t have any clue himself, but that felt right, and would explain the faint hint of trees and leaves he thought he smelled sometimes.

He really didn’t know much about dragons though. It was a little embarrassing.

At least Legend didn’t know all that much either— he’d pretty much only met the monstrous kind.

The dragon shifted a little at Warriors’ touch, and slitted open sleepy green eyes, blinking up at him. Warriors blinked back, and the dragon yawned and shifted around, snuggling up tighter against him.

“Ink?” he chirped, and Warriors shushed him, looking over at Legend. Legend was deeply asleep though, exhausted from his daily attempts at resistance, and he didn’t move.

“Go back to sleep, it’s not morning yet,” Warriors said quietly, but instead of curling back up, the dragon’s eyes opened wider, and he sat up, looking at Warriors and cocking his head to the side.

“Ink? A-rik?” he chirped, and Warriors paused, not having heard that last word from him before. The dragon’s vocabulary had been pretty much limited to ‘ma’ and ‘ink’ before now.

“...Arik?” Warriors questioned, and the dragon’s ears pricked, his face lighting up in the only way a dragon’s could.

“A-rik!” he chirped excitedly, hopping around on Warriors’ leg. “A-rik A-rik! A-riiik!”

“I don’t know what that means,” Warriors said with a frown, and the dragon excitedly chirped the word several more times. “Is... wait, is your name Arik?” Warriors asked, and the dragon preened.

“A-RIK!”

Legend stirred a bit at the shout, but he settled down again as Warriors shushed the dragon. Or Arik, he supposed. It sounded like a name, and just calling him ‘the dragon’ had gotten a little old.

“So, Arik is your name then?” Warriors asked in amusement, and the dragon trilled.

“A-rik! A-rik!” Arik chattered loudly, and Warriors couldn’t help his smile as he set a calming hand on his head.

“Okay okay, it’s sleepy time Arik, settle down,” Warriors whispered, and the dragon chirped again, snuggling up to Warriors. He happily blinked up at him as his eyes began to droop, and a content little sigh came from him as his eyes finally closed.

Warriors smiled and slid down to the hard floor, deciding to try and sleep the last few hours before dawn. He looked up at the ceiling, and his amusement at the dragon’s antics faded as he watched moonlight glint off the bars. Unease churned in his gut at the upcoming day, worry and dread mixing into an uncomfortable lump.

He’d spent all of his time in the cage so far, but he had a feeling that was going to change soon. The woman had been taking greater interest in him and the dragon lately, and he knew it would be their turn soon enough.

After all, they had tricks to learn.

Warriors breathed out, and closed his eyes. There was no use worrying about it right now. He would get some sleep, and reevaluate tomorrow.

The same thing he’d been telling himself every night he’d spent in this place.

(...)

Warriors woke up to frantic screeching.

He jerked upright and banged his head on the ceiling, adrenaline shooting through his veins. The warm weight was gone from his lap, Legend was growling, and Warriors whirled towards the cage door, stomach dropping as he saw the dragon being dragged out, his tiny claws scratching the floor.

“Ink!” he wailed, and Warriors dove for him, moments too late as the dragon was yanked out and the door slammed shut.

Warriors threw his weight against the bars, but the door didn’t budge, and he could only watch as Arik was bundled into a tiny cage with a loop for carrying on top.

“Leave him alone,” Warriors snarled, but the man ignored him, slamming the tiny door shut. Warriors clenched the bars so tightly it hurt.

“Wow, you really did get attached to it,” a familiar voice said, and the woman appeared, a hand on her hip. Warriors glared as Legend’s fins flared aggressively, and she waved a dismissive hand. “Oh relax, we won’t hurt it. So long as you all do what I want.”

“Which would be?” Warriors growled.

She smiled. “To learn your act. I’ve been debating about what to do with you while we’ve been training the merman, and I think I’ve figured it out. It’ll be a real show for the audience, I’m sure the crowds will turn out in droves.”

The mere thought made Warriors’ skin crawl, and he crossed his arms. The woman raised an eyebrow, and set a hand on the cage where the dragon was.

“And I’m sure you know what’ll happen if you refuse,” she said, and her voice turned threatening. “Mer scales would sell for quite a bit, no less ones from a dragon.”

Arik chirped in distress, the same noise Warriors had first heard from him, and he breathed out a hiss.

“Good,” the woman said as his shoulders lowered from their aggressive position. “Perhaps you won’t take as long to learn as your friend.”

Legend glared at her through slitted eyes, but he didn’t move from his place at the bottom of the tank. As much as Warriors hated that it was his turn, he was also relieved Legend would get a break. Maybe he could take the time to recover, and be able to put up more of a fight again. And they could both get out.

The door to his cage was pulled open, and the woman jabbed a thumb backwards, motioning for him to come out.

“Come on. And don’t try anything, or it won’t be pleasant for this one,” she said as she patted the dragon cage. Warriors silently scooted out, fury boiling under his skin as he stood up straight for the first time in days. He let them tie his hands behind his back without a fight, though he couldn’t help his flinch when a collar got pulled out. He forced himself to keep still though, the woman’s threat hanging over his head like a dark cloud, and she smiled as it was fastened around his neck.

“Lovely. It took us a good hour or two to get one on your friend, and it really completes the look. Come on,” she gestured, and one of her burly assistants shoved Warriors forward.

He nearly tripped, but followed without complaint, still fuming. He could stand humiliation. He would stand it, for Legend and the little dragon’s sakes.

This was an opportunity for reconnaissance, or even escape. Warriors had gotten nowhere with any of the plans he’d been working on, and being out of the cage was exactly what he needed. He glanced back before they left the small room, and met Legend’s eyes, tired and worried. Warriors sent him a cocky smirk he didn’t feel in the slightest, and Legend’s mouth twitched upwards just a little.

Then he was pulled out, and Legend was blocked off by the door slamming shut.

After days in near-darkness, the bright sun hurt Warriors’ eyes, but the warmth of it on his skin more than made up for it. He’d always felt better with some sunshine, and though Warriors was still tense and angry, he relaxed a bit. Sure he couldn’t see very well for the first little while of the trip, and the burly man had to keep shoving him along in the right direction, but at least he was outside.

Warriors’ eyes eventually adjusted, and he began to take in the sights. The rest of the place wasn’t much to look at honestly, at least the section he was in. A couple bright wagons parked in the grass, some people cooking food who leered and stared at him as he was shoved past. The town he and Legend has been in with the others was long gone, and Warriors saw nothing past the wagons but grass and open plains.

Are the others going to be able to catch up to us? Surely they’ll put together what happened, but who knows how long it’ll take, and they’re almost all on foot...

Warriors swallowed. He’d been betting on eventual backup.

A hand harshly cuffed his ear as he tried to peer around a corner, and after that Warriors kept his head down. But he still took in every detail he possibly could. He noted who had weapons and who didn’t, which people ignored him and which ones jeered, any small bit of information that could help.

And between it all, he kept an eye on the cage held in the woman’s hand, blood boiling whenever he heard a growl or whimper from inside.

They finally reached a large tent, a bit more sturdy looking with actual walls Warriors guessed could be collapsed to transport. He got shoved inside, and blinked as his eyes had to adjust to another change in light.

He almost wished they hadn’t. The mat on the floor in front of him had stains of what was unmistakably blood.

“I know a dancer’s body when I see one,” the woman began as she strode past him and into the middle of the tent, gesturing for her lackey to untie his hands. There were several other people inside this area practicing a few things, and Warriors recognized them from when he and Legend had been captured. “That along with your pretty face and the dragon, and we’ll have people lined up for miles to come see you.”

“You... want me to dance?” Warriors said in surprise, a little of the knot in his stomach loosening. He wasn’t the world’s greatest dancer or anything, but he could certainly manage. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

“I want you and the dragon to dance,” she corrected, and snapped her fingers.

The man she’d brought with her opened the cage where Arik was, but before he could leap out, the man snatched him, and quickly bundled something over his face. A muzzle.

Warriors’ jaw tightened, but he didn’t say anything, merely caught Arik when the man abruptly lobbed him over. Arik made a whimpering noise as he clung to his shoulder, and Warriors ran a quick couple fingers along his scales.

“I know, it’s okay,” he murmured under his breath, and the dragon pressed himself against him with a shiver. He wondered how many times Arik had already gone through something like this.

Probably too many.

“Now,” the woman said, smoothing a bit of the mat with her boot, “I have a specific dance in mind for you and the dragon. So long as you can do what you’re told, and get the dragon to behave, we’ll all get along here just fine.”

Arik hissed through the muzzle, and Warriors stayed silent.

“Your dance is about dragons, harmony, mystique, things that always draw people in. Fire, swords, spectacle. If you wow the crowd, intrigue them, they’ll always want to come back,” she continued, and smiled at him. “Take off your shirt.”

Warriors froze. “Excuse me?”

“Take off your shirt,” she said coolly, and when Warriors didn’t move, tapped an impatient finger. “Come on. Or I’m going to start plucking scales.”

Warriors glared at her, heart in his throat, but when she began to move closer he did as she said and pulled his shirt over his head. Arik slipped down to cling to his leg while he tugged it off, and Warriors hated the way his hands shook despite his best efforts to still them. The air felt cold on his bare skin, and Warriors forced himself not to wrap his arms around his middle.

He could feel everyone in the tent’s eyes on him, staring at his bare chest, and Arik hissed again.

You’re doing it for Legend you’re doing it for the dragon she’s just trying to make you uncomfortable—

“Not even a few scales?” the woman said disappointedly, raking her eyes across him. “People are going to expect scales from a half dragon...well, we can work with the scars at least. Maybe have some makeup done to make you look more exotic. But that can come later,” she said with a clap, her smile growing wider. “Let’s get started.”

Her whip suddenly cracked across his back, and Warriors gasped in shock at the sudden pain. She did it again, and Arik fled to Warriors’ arm as he stumbled, letting out a shriek of alarm.

“That was just a taste,” the woman said calmly, Warriors staring at her as his shoulder throbbed. “You do what I say, and I won’t need this at all. It’s your choice. Now let’s get to work, honey.”

Arik rushed back up to Warriors’ neck as she spoke, pressing tighter against him. His scales were cool against his skin, but not in a bad way, and Warriors glared quietly at the woman as the dragon trembled.

But he knew he was stuck.

The last thing Warriors wanted to do was learn any kind of act, and try to get a tiny dragon to go along with it, especially in front of these people. But he didn’t have a choice. If it was just himself at stake he’d fight against it with everything he had, but he wasn’t alone.

And Legend or the dragon being hurt wasn’t an option.

So Warriors lowered his head, ignored the smirking grins and eyes leering at him, and nodded.

(...)

It didn't get better from there.

After Warriors’ first training session he could barely walk, his shoulders shredded and muscles beyond sore. The entire thing had been brutal, and that was with Warriors attempting to cooperate. He knew now exactly why Legend had been so worn down whenever he returned.

Warriors may not have been a bad dancer, but the moves he was supposed to be learning were nearly impossible in most cases, and the woman demanded nothing less than perfection. If he didn’t get a step right on the first try the whip immediately came down, and he was expected to keep moving no matter how painful it was. A significant portion of his torso had been coated with blood by the time it was over, and the only thing he'd had in regard to treatment had been having a bucket of cold water dumped over him to wash it off.

At least he knew why she’d wanted his shirt off now.

Poor Arik avoided the whip at least, too small to be an effective target, but he was obviously terrified, and getting him to do what the woman wanted was nearly impossible, even with Warriors there. The tiny dragon didn’t do anything except cling to his arm, and occasionally growl at anyone who came too close, spikes raised threateningly. Along with the gouges that had been torn into Warriors’ shoulders from the whip, there were small claw scratches marring a good portion of his arms.

Warriors hated it, but he did his best to coax Arik along with the routine they were supposed to be learning. He barely succeeded. Legend had been right with his initial observation— Arik was a baby, and terrified on top of that. It was a miracle Warriors was able to get him to do anything.

Warriors couldn’t explain to Arik that it would be better if he just tried to go along with it. He couldn’t reason with him barely at all. All he could really do was try to make the woman take out her frustration on him rather than the little dragon when he messed up.

Which she did. Quite often.

Warriors and Legend began being taken out of their cages on alternating days, though sometimes when they stopped for longer one of them was taken in the morning and the other the afternoon. The longer they were there the worse the training seemed to get, and Warriors was at a loss of what else he could do.

The woman at least seemed to recognize she could only hit both him and Legend so much before they truly couldn’t move, but she wasn’t shy about other methods of abuse. She realized Warriors hated taking his shirt off, and made him do it every time he practiced, often with an audience. If one or the both of them messed up particularly bad, they weren’t fed anything, and more than once Warriors was kept up by Arik’s tiny stomach growling, and his sad mewls for food.

Even worse, a couple times the woman had actually gone through with her threat and plucked some scales from both Legend and the dragon, all while Warriors watched.

Legend had actually managed to bite her that time, which only got him several more scales yanked from his tail, but despite the blood dripping from his tail, he said later to Warriors that it had been more than worth it.

The woman had also been pressing Warriors about any dragon skills he had, and Warriors struggled with how much to tell her. Sure he couldn't do all that much, but he didn’t want to admit to anything. And a few things were unavoidable with Legend and a baby dragon on the line. But was it okay to admit he had night vision? Or would that only make escape harder?

He didn’t know.

But the woman had gotten a couple things out of him, and he started coming back with singed hair from her attempts to figure out exactly how fireproof he was.

Their situation was getting unbearable, Warriors and Legend both hit and beaten and treated like less than human on the daily, and it was wearing on them both, any escape attempts immediately shut down, any plans ground into the dirt.

Warriors had one idea left.

And if it didn’t work...

He wasn’t letting himself think about it. It would work.

But he couldn’t put it into effect until he and Legend performed, so Warriors did his best to keep his head down, preserve his strength, and try not to worry as Legend spent more and more time curled up and silent, and Arik’s happy chirps grew less frequent, both of their scales growing dull.

But finally the moment came.

One day the wagon never stopped, trundling along much longer than it usually did. Warriors' heart beat faster when he heard some shouts outside, and he realized they'd finally reached the town they were due to perform at. He rapidly went over his cobbled-together plan with Legend, and they built as many backup ideas as they possibly could into the idea.

Soon enough the wagon was stopped and the doors were open, and he and Legend were both were pulled out of their respective cages, Arik shoved in his own tiny one. Legend’s tail split back into legs again as he was dropped on the floor, and he collapsed when he couldn't hold his own weight.

Warriors tried to go over to him, but the usual group of burly assistants held him tight, dragging both him and Legend out. The only thing Warriors managed to do was brush against Legend’s shoulder, and Legend only flinched at the touch.

Probably because the only human contact he’d had for the past week and a half was in order to inflict pain on him.

They were both dragged out into the night, the moonlight mixing with that of the torches scattered around. Warriors heard the loud chatter of people, saw lights from a town nearby, and he craned his neck, trying to see any of the crowd he could hear. But he was bundled away too quickly, and soon enough he and Legend were hurried off into two small separate tents, Arik's cage dropped to the ground with Warriors.

Inside, Warriors was descended upon by a small mob, clothes shoved at him and makeup painted on his face, unfamiliar hands sprucing up and making adjustments and touching him all over. He briefly considered making a run for it, but Arik was still stuck in his cage, and he didn’t know where Legend had gone.

So he sat there and took it, even though he was really, really tempted to scream.

Warriors caught a glimpse of himself in a mirror as he was fussed over, and blinked, shimmering scales painted onto his cheeks, his hair ruffled just enough to make him look a bit wild. It... made him look a bit like his father, actually.

Huh.

Warriors didn’t have time to dwell on it though, as he was tugged back over and given finishing touches. He was just grateful the outfit he had on included a shirt, even if it was a thin, silky material.

His scarf was wrapped tastefully around his waist, and before he knew what was happening, he’d been shoved into a small waiting area, and the woman was reminding him of the cues they’d practiced.

“And don’t try anything,” she added, eyes narrowed. “I’ve got my men posted everywhere. If you so much as twitch towards the exit, I’ll know.”

“Yes ma’am,” Warriors muttered.

She nodded, and then went through the tent flap, cheers coming from the other side. Arik’s cage had been set beside Warriors, and he quickly unlocked it while he waited, the dragon leaping onto his shoulders in one huge jump.

“Hope you’re ready little guy,” Warriors said, and Arik let out a soft chirp, pressing his head against Warriors’ chin.

He heard the sound of splashing and gasps, then uproarious cheers, and assumed Legend was currently doing his act. The urge to charge out there and stop it all was strong, but Warriors waited, his plan pulsing in the back of his mind. It was messy, and had so many little things that could go wrong with it, but it was all Warriors had.

And it all rested on the prop sword currently in his hands.

Warriors twirled it nervously, testing the weight of the criminally dulled blade while Arik paced anxiously around his shoulders. A chime rang out, and the music outside changed, the cheers and applause growing dying down. Here we go.

“A deadly dance of sword and beast, I give you...”

Warriors clutched his fake sword, and stepped out through the flap of the tent and into the light.

“...the dragon man!”

Gasps and oohs went through the audience as he stepped out, excited faces and fingers pointing at him and the dragon perched on his shoulder. Warriors took a deep breath, ignoring the eyes fixed on him as he gave the room a quick scan, and saw Legend in a tank in the corner, tail lazily flicking.

Warriors let out a small sigh of relief, and began to dance.

He moved through forms similar to fighting, twirling his sword in a careful dance as music swirled through the air. Arik wove around his arms and shoulders with a whispered instruction, and the crowd oohed again as his scales shimmered in the light.

The moves pulled on still-healing injuries, and muscles that had been pushed too far. Keeping the smile fixed on his face was a challenge in and of itself, but Warriors was good at keeping his emotions close to his chest. Even if so much as spreading his arms out was close to torture.

The music slightly changed pitch, and Warriors sped up, whispering to Arik again. He was betting a lot on the little dragon, and could only pray that it would work.

Torches were lit around him by juggling performers, and Warriors drifted closer to them, heart thudding, palms sweating, the beat of the music thudding in his ears.

Then he twirled neatly around, and in one smooth motion, threw his sword right at Legend’s tank.

It may not have been sharp, but the fake sword was heavy, heavy enough to make a huge crack form in the glass. At the same moment Arik leapt from Warriors’ shoulders and knocked over the nearest torch, sending fire shooting towards the tent walls.

Legend exploded into movement as someone shrieked, and slammed his shoulder against the crack in his tank, breaking it with a resounding crash as water burst free.

The audience screamed at the noise and spreading fire, and people began to jump from their seats, rushing for the exit. Warriors bolted for Legend and quickly helped him up, Legend’s now-legs shaking violently.

“Nice throw,” he breathed, and Warriors nodded, giving his shoulder a warm squeeze as he began to drag him towards the exit.

Arik scrambled back onto Warriors’ shirt, leaping impossibly high. He gave Legend a delighted chirp when he saw him, and rubbed against his face as they hurried away from the shattered glass and spreading fire.

Legend gave the dragon a tiny smile, and petted him in turn.

The tent had fallen into chaos, people running and shouting and trying to figure out what had happened. Warriors heard furious yelling above it all, and he quickly pulled Legend out of the tent and into the dark night outside. He didn’t really have a destination in mind, just getting away was his biggest goal.

“Try the town?” Legend wheezed, his lungs obviously straining.

“I was thinking the woods,” Warriors replied, "better cover." Legend nodded.

People streamed around them, largely ignoring the three, but occasionally someone noticed them or Arik and shrieked. Warriors made sure to change direction whenever that happened, and Legend followed beside him, his legs still stumbling as he got used to them again.

Warriors kept his gaze scanning for any weapons he could swipe, but between the crowd and uncertain lighting, nothing caught his eye. Every time someone shouted he flinched, and Warriors could feel himself flagging, pain and exhaustion dragging his steps. The longer they fought their way through the crowds, the worse Warriors' anxiety grew.

They needed to get out of here now.

Arik suddenly let out a screech, and something slammed into Warriors, tearing him from Legend’s grip and wrapping around him as he was thrown to the ground. Legend shouted as Warriors struggled, and he realized he’d been caught in a net.

“I told you not to try anything!” a familiar voice shouted, sharp with anger.

Warriors peered through a hole, and his stomach dropped as the woman strode forward, her hair askew and face furious. The tent they’d set on fire backlit her in an eerie way, and Legend stumbled to put himself between her and Warriors, legs shaking as he held himself up, gripping the prop sword.

His face was equally furious-looking, and Warriors began tearing frantically at the net, trying to rip a hole in order to free himself. Arik had been trapped in it along with him, and his claws dug into Warriors’ chin as he thrashed and cried in distress.

“Ma!” he wailed, and as the woman drew her whip and one of her assistants readied another net, Warriors’ gaze clouded with fury.

He’d had enough.

His rage built in the back of his throat, heat rushing up through his chest in a strangely familiar way. His throat clenched so tightly Warriors thought for a moment he was going to throw up, but then he snapped his mouth open and fire blazed from between his lips.

The net broke from the heat and Legend stumbled backwards, his eyes wide as a huge blast of fire burst towards the woman and her assistants. Warriors heard panicked shrieks, and as his fire sputtered out and the remains of the net fell away from him, he bent nearly double as he coughed, throat spasming, his whole mouth tasting like smoke.

Okay yeah I’m not really built for that, good to know, he thought dizzily as Legend shook his arm, saying something he couldn’t hear over his hacking.

“Ink!” Arik screeched in his ear, and Warriors finally caught his breath enough to stumble to his feet, and Legend dragged him away, the grass burning behind them.

They didn’t make it far before Warriors heard shouting again, and he let out a breathless curse, sparing a single glance over his shoulder. More of the other troupe members were chasing them now, and Warriors forced his exhausted legs to keep going, Legend struggling along beside him.

One of their feet caught on something, Warriors didn’t know if it was him or Legend, but they both tumbled to the ground, a triumphant shout behind them.

Warriors lifted himself up on shaking elbows, back screaming in pain, his throat raw from smoke, and Legend shakily caught his arm.

“Wars, I...” Legend wheezed, his eyes half-lidded. “I’m not... get y-yourself out of here...”

“No,” Warriors snapped, then coughed and gritted his teeth. “None of us are going back in there.”

Arik stood up and hissed as shadows fell over them, baring his tiny teeth and claws. Warriors braced himself to get up and try to fight, when someone suddenly yelled in pain.

One of the figures above them toppled backwards, and Warriors stared at the arrow protruding from a shoulder.

He’d know that fletching anywhere.

“Captain! Vet!” a familiar voice shouted, and Warriors managed to sit up the rest of the way, relief sweeping over him as two figures leapt out of the shadows and began pushing the enemies back.

Another appeared and knelt beside them, and Warriors let Wind snatch him into a hug, even though it hurt.

“Thank Jabun you guys are okay, we’ve been looking for you guys for ages," Wind gasped into his shoulder, "it took us so long to figure out where you went it was like you'd just disappeared and then there was this whole side quest thing we got stuck doing—” Wind continued as he pulled back with a relieved look, talking at warp speed. Warriors nodded as he helped Legend sit up, and Wind paused in his talking just long enough to grab him into a hug too. “—it was a whole thing and that’s why there’s a dragon over where Sky is and—”

“Whoa whoa whoa, wait, say that last part again,” Warriors said, and Wind breathed out, and then in.

“We found a dragon, the good protector kind, not a boss. She said her baby had been stolen and wanted us to help, and once we figured out you guys were here Time said he thought her baby might also be here, so that’s why there’s a huge dragon with Sky,” Wind summed up in one breath. “Also Sky can understand her? None of us can but him. It’s not very fair.”

Warriors grinned despite his exhaustion, and heard a distant roar bellow out across the field. Arik’s head shot straight up from where he'd been pressed against Warriors' side at the sound, his head and ears tilting around rather frantically, and Wind gasped.

“Whoa, what’s that?”

Warriors scratched Arik in his favorite spot. “Another escapee,” Warriors said with an exhausted smile. “...And the reason Sky’s friend is here.”

Arik eyeballed Wind cautiously, but Wind stayed still, only stretching out a hand for him to examine. Arik gave it a small sniff, then chirped, bonking his head against his fingers.

Wind giggled. “Aw, he’s cute. You... said he was captured too?”

Warriors nodded. “Yeah. For a lot longer than us.”

"Put up a good fight, though," Legend wheezed quietly, and Warriors held his shoulder a bit tighter. Legend leaned into the touch with an exhausted sigh, and Wind gave them both a worried look.

A fair amount of the yelling had died down around them, the crowds dispersing, though Warriors could still hear some shouts from across the field. More of the Links appeared shortly, looking utterly relieved at the sight of Legend and Warriors, and Warriors let them all fuss over them. Arik curled up in a trembly ball on his lap as he explained briefly all of what had happened, and Twilight and Time exchanged horrified looks more than once.

Legend was half-asleep on his shoulder by the time he finished, and Hyrule had just started to try and coax him to drink a red potion when Sky suddenly joined them all, the last one of their group to appear.

He gave Warriors and Legend relieved looks, and then his gaze landed on the dragon in Warriors' lap and his face lit up.

"Oh it's him! You found Arik!" he exclaimed excitedly. Before Warriors could reply, a huge shadow swept over them, blocking out the moon.

“Arik!” a chiming voice cried out, and a huge deep blue dragon poured out from the sky, landing effortlessly on the ground before them. Arik shot up from his place on Warriors’ lap and squealed, leaping straight at her and purring wildly as the huge dragon nuzzled him.

Warriors smiled as he leaned heavily against Legend, both dragons purring contentedly as they reunited. Time gave him an amused look from beside him, and Warriors quickly cleared his throat as he realized he was purring as well. Oh sure, now it decides to work.

The blue dragon finally eased in her frantic purring, and she looked around at them all, her eyes bright with relief. Arik sat on her head, still purring up a storm, and began chattering so quickly Warriors couldn't make out a word of it. His mother let out what Warriors assumed was a laugh, and Arik draped himself across her nose, looking happier than Warriors had ever seen him.

“Thank you heroes, you've done more for me than you could possibly imagine,” the dragon rumbled, her gaze resting on Warriors. “Especially you, little dragon and mer. Thank you for protecting my son.”

Warriors smiled, and froze as the dragon leaned forward, pressing her nose to his forehead.

“I can see that you've suffered much. Your kindness won’t be forgotten,” she said warmly, and gave him and Legend's hair a small lick.

Warriors heard a few of the others muffle laughs, but he nodded at the dragon, and Legend, though he looked confused, managed a smile in her direction.

“You guys catch the leader?” Legend murmured as he sipped at the potion Hyrule finally got him to drink.

“We did, don’t worry,” Twilight said, giving the burning tent in the distance a furious look.

“Some knights from the town came to see what was going on, and we explained the trouble. We helped them get her and most of her people in custody already,” Time said, and Warriors further relaxed.

Arik wouldn’t have to worry about her ever again.

As if he’d heard his thoughts, the little dragon hopped off of his mother and scampered over to him, not quite flying with his small hops. “Ink A-rik!” he said with a happy purr, and a sudden pang of sadness hit Warriors.

Logically he’d known this was coming, but... he supposed he hadn’t really thought about what saying goodbye would entail. He had no clue where they were in history, especially not in relation to his own time period. In all likelihood, he’d never see Arik again.

“Ink?” Arik chirped, and Warriors gave him a smile, scratching at the base of his horns.

"You’re going to have to go in a minute here, little guy," Warriors said softly, still gently scratching. Arik chirped again, and rubbed against him with a quiet purr. “Your mom probably wants to take you home.”

“Ma,” Arik said happily, looking back at her, and Warriors nodded. Then he looked back at Warriors, and his face drooped. "Ink," he said a little sadly, and gave Warriors a small lick on the nose.

"Yeah, I’m going to stay here. This is... goodbye. I'll miss you too," Warriors said with a sad smile, and Arik rested his head against his with a quiet coo, meeting Warriors' blue eyes with his own bright green.

Then he licked his nose again and pulled back, giving Legend a quick lick as well before hopping back over to his mother. Legend spluttered, but there was a fond look on his face as Arik climbed up onto his mother’s head again. The large dragon blinked happily as her baby curled up, and gave all of the Links one more grateful look, her gaze lingering on Warriors again.

“Thank you,” she purred softly, then leapt into the air, a triumphant musical cry ringing through the sky.

They all watched her sweep across the field, her scales nearly glowing in the moonlight, Arik chirping along with her. The smell of rain hit Warriors’ nose as the dragon curled over the spreading flames, and he saw mist sweep over the field, steam rising from the now-doused tent and grass.

And then she flew upwards, and both dragons disappeared into the starry night.

Warriors sighed, every ache and pain suddenly reminding him of its presence full-force. His throat and back still aches fiercely, and suddenly all he wanted to do was sleep. Legend looked over at him, and Warriors gave him a faint smile.

“Let’s get you two out of here, I’m sure you’ve have had enough of this place,” Time said, and Warriors nodded, Legend huffing out an exhausted laugh.

“Absolutely,” he agreed as his eyes slipped closed, and Wind and Hyrule helped him up, Time assisting Warriors. Warriors leaned heavily against him, legs wobbling, and Time gave him a worried look as his eye flitted across the scales painted across his face.

“You’re all right, Captain?” he asked quietly, and Warriors nodded, looking over at him.

“I will be,” he assured just as quietly, and sent Time a faint smirk. “I just want a hot meal, a bath, and to get out of these clothes.”

Time chuckled, but his warm grip didn’t lessen in the slightest as Warriors looked up at the sky one more time, scanning the swathe of stars above them.

He almost thought he heard a triumphant chirp echo from above him.

[numinous-void]

who asked for a radiorose playlist?

nobody? FANTASTIC, HERES A SERIES OF RADIOROSE PLAYLIST BC I DONT WANNA MAKE MY SPOTIFY PUBLIC… SORRY….

anyways, a lot of these songs are NOT time accurate. i’ve chosen them off lyrics, sound, and vibe- dark, romantic vibes. some are a little time accurate- they range from 30s-60s… which isn’t super accurate, but definitely better than most. a lot of these are goth, because that matches their vibe. here’s a handful of songs that remind me of radiorose, this isn’t all as there’s 100+ on my playlist, so this is a start. i also use these for world building & getting in the RR mindset. these are the ones that are more goth, not time accurate.

eat you- caravan of thieves (the BEST radiorose song, fight me.)

lovesong -the cure, -jack off jill (same song, og by the iconic goth figures, the cure. jack off jill is lady cover.)

kiss me until my lips fall off - lebanon hanover

lips like sugar - echo & the bunnymen

lovefool- the cardigans

two of hearts - stacey q

billie bossa nova x west coast mashup (trust me, it’s SO good and reminds me of them.)

go crazy - leslie odem jr (this is VERY alastor, has new orleans in the lyrics, uses the big band sounds. VERY good for alastor)

love is god - minuit machine

crimson waves - strap on halo

im addicted- selofan

animal cannibal (the OG and the buckshot princess version)

star crossed lovers - siouxsie and the banshees

romantic lover - eyedress

lovesick - the vanishing

tomb for two - lebanon hanover

strangelove - depeche mode

gallowdance - lebanon hanover

petals - lebanon hanover

love my way - psychedelic furs

love or desire - stacey q

the last beat of my heart - siouxsie and the banshees

hey lover - the daughters of eve

the sweetest chill - siouxsie and the banshees

bloodkiss- cauda pavonis

bite my hip- bauhaus

lovers passion - bauhaus

no ordinary love - sade

kiss me deadly - lita ford

just like heaven- the cure

punish me with kisses - the glove

masochism tango

i love you more than death - tearful moon

super psycho love - simon curtis

EDITED ADDS:

flesh - simon curtis (less sound, more lyrically.)

bob appetite- katy perry (lyrically, yeah ik its just innuendo but hey, why not take them literally? eye of the beholder and whatevs, we can do what we want.)

would you love a monsterman? - lordi (lyrically and the sentiment/meaning of the song.)

feed my frankenstein- beasts blanco cover (lyrics totally give off radiorose. not sure if they would like metal, but i sure as shit do so i’m biased when it’s one of my favs in general now)

these are the songs that remind me of them lyrically, there’s as few dark cabaret songs that are just vibe only, and again those older songs. hope this was enjoyable and that yall agree with these takes… i didn’t like some of the RR playlists because they just… idk😣 they didn’t do it for me, so i made this. let me know any songs you think should be added in my next radiorose songs post.

also let me know if you listen to the songs, would love to hear yalls reactions. im just a social gal and love to yap about anything and everything lol.

[thesevnthseal]

INTRODUCING...ADELAIDE!READER

🍒 Southern Cherry: Adelaide Baker is about as sweet as they come she cares a whole lot about her appearance to impress the boys around her and she is always dressed in the cutest vintage dresses and tops. While most of the girls from her area are prissy and stuck up that aint her, she grew up with two older brothers, riding horses and taking care of the family ranch. Her signature color is of course cherry red and her nicknames include Laidey or Addy both given by her brothers

🍑 Georgia Peach: She's from Georgia because well of course she is, she's from the rural Appalachian mountains, and she will kick you if you say it wrong. She has the sweetest southern accent you've ever done here but lordy is it hard to understand sometimes

🍯 Honey Bee: While she may be sweeter than honey she's not afraid to sting. She is an absolute potty mouth and she will let you know. she is not afraid to kick a mans ass for not treatin her right because her daddy raised her well and boy she knows how to fight. she 100% has a concealed carry license and its always tucked in to her stockings under her dress or in her little purse.

🍏 Apple Pie: Her family was a typical southern family with a ranch some may say the 'Apple pie life' (hehe). She grew up with two older brothers, her momma and her daddy. She was in charge of the animals while her brothers did the heavy lifting. Her favorite horse's name growing up was Dolly, She and Dolly used to do competitive barrel racing before Dolly became to old and was retired, now she rides dolly casually through the trails.

🫐 Blueberry Blues : Her favorites are the Blues, Rock'n Roll, and Country. That was all the music her daddy and brothers listened to while she was growing up so it morphed into her taste but she's is known to enjoy a little pop.

🍇 Sour grapes: Laidey is well known to hold grudges for a long time, if you do something wrong towards her you can tell becuase she will not talk to you for days and when she does there is a lot of passive aggression and snarky comments. she is never the first one to apologize even if it's her fault, but don't blame her, blame her brothers.

🍭 Candy Swirl: Addy is a swirl of personalities and hobbies, if you ask her if she likes something or has done it she will usually always say yes, and on most occasions it's one of her favorites. But she does have a top five hobbies which include; Horseback riding, hunting/fishing, baking, singing, and gardening. She is a friendly gal to all who are nice to her and absolutely adores making friends. she also tends to adopt little bits of her friend's personalities like sayings or little mannerisms

Adelaide's Summary: 5'3". wavy hair brunette with curtain bangs. big blue eyes. Americana southern gal. soft almost baby face. pouty lips. Hourglass figure with undercover muscles. Gun carrier. sweet but salty. Came to camp for new friends besides her brothers. Wears a sliver cross necklace most of the time. Gets away with things because why would her sweet self ever do something like that? nails are painted red always. expects all men to be gentlemen.

Adelaides Additions🍒:

Coming soon...

7 Yaps:.. Say hello to Adelaide hehe, she is my little addition to Camp Daylighted and it was so fun to think of her personality, A lot of it is my own but I drew some aspects from my family in the south!

Credits to @daylighted for creating this amazing universe for us to dabble in, im so excited!!!!

Divider credits to @sister-lucifer!!

[crowleysgirl56]

Doctor Who reaction and recap!

Episode 7: Wish World

Ah whoops, did it again and forgot to get this review and recap out in a timely manner. As it’s part 1 to a two part finale it’s very hard to critique the episode as a whole so a lot of my questions will hopefully be answered with part two tomorrow night.

So once again, spoilers beware sweetie. Under the cut for more!

So I don’t think I’m going to do the usual positive and negatives with this post, but more a running commentary of the episode as we go.

Right off the bat we have THE Rani turn up a couple hundred years ago locating a seventh son of a seventh son of a seventh son and LORDY my Discworld brain was already screaming “TERRY, IS THAT YOU!” Anyone who knows Discworld lore knows that a 7th son cubed is a Sorcerer, so immediately I was curious what was going on here. It wasn’t until days later when I read a post on Tumblr that I realised The Rani kissing the baby was what was giving her, her magical powers to turn everyone into animals or flower petals. I was honestly so confused and angry thinking The Rani had somehow turned magic.

The next we see of The Doctor and Belinda they turn up in bed together as a married couple in some weird freaky 1950’s world, and suddenly Conrad and his toxic ideologies have come back to haunt us. I’m going to give this episode loads of kudos for finally doing something clever with Conrad’s story arc here. The idea that he is being used to throw the world into Dudebro/Incels perfect world order of straight men, dutiful house wives, and invisible disability and this stupid insane world is what causes everyone to doubt is absolute genius.

Also, utterly LOVE the very deliberate and direct poke at JK Rowling with the obvious book cover that looks like the original published Harry Potters. We see you Russell. And we love it.

Poppy turning back up again was a confusing surprise, and if you don’t mind me jumping to the end here, the Doctor revealing that she’s real is sending me down all kinds of theory rabbit holes. It’s like, we finally have an answer for who Mrs Flood is. Now WHO THE FUCK IS POPPY! (Is she Romana? 😜).

Ruby suddenly turning up at The Doctor’s door is frankly strange. How does she know who he is, and better yet, WHERE he lives? Why does she have more doubt than everyone else? The fact that she recounts later that she’s lived through 2025 before, with a reference to 23 Yards A TIMELINE THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN, is really troubling. Either, there really IS something special and different to Ruby, or Russell hasn’t thought this through and there will be no further explanation to it. I will be mad if it’s the latter. Also shout out to Ruby’s family turning on her on a dime as the new “Rory dies all the time” trope. Hilarious!

Before we move on, let’s talk about the intrigue of the Slips. Broken coffee mugs. What’s going on here? I utterly love the reveal later. The Doctor then bumps into Mel outside, who funnily enough, slips so much she has two large bins instead of one. Ok, I have a problem with Mel in this episode. One, she’s not really doing anything in this episode other than to remind us she exists. I’m hoping she will have something interesting and important to do in the second part. Two, she is an unfortunate reminder to David Tennant still existing out there as the Retired Doctor. Which I don’t like. And frankly if David turns up tomorrow night in the finale, I will be quite angry (well, I’ll love that he’s there, but still!), because we don’t need him anymore and relying on him undermines everything that has been established for Ncuti. Moving on.

We get a glimpse of the outside world which is bonkers. Giant ghost skeleton leviathans which only purpose of being there is to make people doubt. I guess? And a giant bone palace. Again, all this is cool, but I’m still at a loss to figure out why? Like, why is it all that stuff? Just for the doubt I guess? I don’t know, this just didn’t sit right with me, I found it too weird and without purpose.

The Doctor turns up to work at UNIT, but not our UNIT. This UNIT has something to do with insurance (apologies for not remembering the acronym). The Doctor makes the unfortunate mistake of telling another man he’s beautiful. Big no, no in Completely Straight world. At this point Ruby is also still doubting and makes contact with Shirley and finds the underground resistance of people who are essentially “othered”. Disabled and Queer folk. There’s talk about fighting back and Shirley brings out a UNIT iPad. I’m sorry, WHERE did you get that from?! Is this explained?! This bit annoyed me the most I’m sorry to say (the bit with the iPad that is. The actual yarning circle with all the resistance people was quite phenomenal!). I’ll say it’s kind of sad how they sat around in the circle lamenting a lost better world. Oh hunnies. It’s not much better here I’m afraid to say. You deserve much better than the real world.

Ok Belinda is at home and it’s interesting that Poppy has a lot of doubt, causing a number of mugs to crash to the floor. Just a wilful toddler, or something more perhaps? Belinda’s mother and grandmother have a heart to heart about being a perfect dutiful wife (Fuck you Conrad), and suddenly Belinda now has doubts when she can’t remember anything about Poppy’s birth. She then needs to go scream in a field. Girl, I feel you. Wouldn’t we all love to just run out into a field and scream. In fact, let’s all do it! Who’s with me?!….

So Mrs Flood pops in on Conrad and The Giggle is revealed in the baby, who is later to be revealed to be the God of wishes (I’m really hoping there’s more to this in the second episode), which is how Conrad is creating the world. And struggling in doing so, the poor little sad baby man. Ahem. Mrs Flood’s relationship with him is interesting. Like a weird mother song dynamic. I guess because his own mother was so fucking awful, that this is the reason he wants to latch onto any kind of kindness shown to him. I’m hoping more of this dynamic is expanded on next week. Also, when she recruited him I’m assuming she has done so after she bigenerated because she mentions how this plan is THE Rani’s plan, and how else would it have been her plan if she didn’t exist yet. So I’m assuming Mrs Flood popped back in time to grab Conrad. Speaking of, where is The Rani’s Tardis? I’m hoping there’s a super cool reveal tomorrow night.

We come to the best bit of the episode which is The Doctor getting a message from ROGUE! Who is still stuck is Super Hell apparently. Doctor did you even try to save him?! He loves you damn it! I have an awful feeling this is the last we’ll see of Rogue though, which I find disappointing.

We then get the reveal of the tables. Tables don’t do that! Chilling! Extremely well executed.

Let’s fast forward to the nitty gritty of the episode, which is where The Rani finally gets The Doctor and Belinda into her bone castle lair and expositions at them for a while about her plan (let me pause here for a second to say how much I loved the campness of The Rani, and her little dance number with The Doctor. Excellent. Gave The Master or The Toymaker vibes. More of that please!). But don’t worry, the exposition is the point. Pity I still didn’t seem to quite grasp it all at first until I had to sit down for 20 minutes after the episode to examine what was going on and talk it all out. Sigh. Remember when Doctor Who didn’t used to be so convoluted. Anyway the Rani needs to create a fake world, filled with doubt, so it’ll rip apart the world to free…. Dun dun duuuhhhhhh! Omega!

Wait. What? Who?

Ok, I’m a fan of Doctor Who from way back, but unfortunately I have not seen every episode. And because the BBC is shit at actually putting anything on DVD and because Australia is even shitter at making old school Doctor Who available here, it’s very hard to rewatch Classic Who. So I didn’t actually have much of a clue who Omega was other than I knew he was an old timelord, and what sparing info The Rani provided. Annoying considering you just spent the last 20 minutes extolling your plan, you couldn’t give just a little bit more info on who this guy was?!

Also what is it Disney? Is this new season a completely new and revamped show for new audiences? Or is it littered with deep-cut references that only the most devoted old school fans will feel any kind of awe for during a reveal? It felt very much like Benedict Cumberbatch declaring “I am Kahn!”

Look, it was an exciting cliffhanger. The Doctor plummeting to an earth that is falling apart around him (even if this means nothing because we know The Doctor will get out of it in part 2). The reveal that there’s something about Poppy. Omega coming back for…revenge? Let’s go with Revenge.

Final thoughts: an exciting episode that has successfully brought together the mystery threads of the season, even if somewhat confusingly. I know I’ve skipped over quite a lot, but feel like I’ve pointed out all the main parts that I had the most feelings about.

Once again I’ll give this 3 and a half out of five stars.

I pray that the finale sticks the landing. Question before we go: Why did the Tardis’ doors explode inwards at the cliffhanger of The Interstellar Song Contest? And how did The Doctor and Belinda end up unscathed in the fake world? Is that going to get explained?

[scrunckled-idiot]

i NEED you all to check out this animation. good LORDY LORD

the animation, the art style, the music, the BODIES. just mwa! i have little knowledge about burlesque, all i know is that its a strip tease act of sorts. Idk man. big dumb fag who goes AWOOGA over hips n' thighs😞 its really hypnotic.

also i REALLY FUCKING NEED THE SOUNDTRACK ITS SO FUNKY AND JAZZY LIKE FUUUUCK!!!

but honestly, my brain went all fuzzy and tingly in like every good way possible. i think it could be used as a really good art study as well! ya got some VERY GIFTED woman on display here! of course i see it as an art as well and not something to get my pecker up. its a theatrical art!

[myarmsaretoolong]

I WILL ASK YOU ABOUT EUROVISION SONGS!!

(i’m still salty baby lasagna came second last year)

look away for a moment,, i can't lie i so wasn't into eurovision last year even with the doccy who double premier leading into it........ i went up some doggers hill to go see the northern lights instead... okay okay you can come back now i prommy

im still salty about tattoo beating cha cha cha the year before that! i had a eurovision party and everything and it ended in pure disaster. so thats clearly rec number one but im pretty sure everyone on tumblr already knows it cos. yeah how can you not? side note! the only good thing about tattoo is gallifrey cabarets cover of it where, instead "youre stuck on me like a tattoo-who-oo" it like "like doctor who-oo-oo" which i think is a huge improvement. (i went looking for the video of it and got mightly distracted snooping on the doccy premier tonight whoops)

sooo some of my favourite eurovision songs! gunna split them into categories i think starting with:

songs that people know

waterloo - abba (yes its a eurovision song. the amount of friends ive had to explain this too??? honey they won in BRIGHTON its the biggest thing thats happened in that city why don't you know this?? i thought you were allies :/)

fairytale - alexander rybak

arcade - duncan lawrence

snap - rosa linn (all three of those were eurovision songs first KNOW YOUR ROOTS (im actually so chill about things i just like being dramatic don't hate me))

zitti e buoni - måneskin (the GENDER?? me please)

give that wolf a banana - subwoolfer. unironically.

realising as i go that my perception of popular songs is so skewed so sorry if im way off base

songs thats eurovision people know

hey mamma - sunstroke project (anyone who doesn't know this one watch this video and report back with how many seconds in you realised what meme it spawned) (don't look at the title) (cos yes thats eurovision too)

hard rock hallelujuah - lordi (FINLAND MY EUROVISION BELOVED eurovision at its finest right here) (also recommend watching the video for this one. its very important actually)

soldi - mahmood (clap clap)

satellite - lena (just a classic innit. can't go wrong)

10 years & think about things - Daði Freyr (the jumpers are enough to get me hooked, the song are icing on the cake)

hold me closer - cornelia jakobs (if a breakup songs gets me, an aroace, screaming it and crying then you've done well)

(everyone brace im about to be loudly british on main) SPACE MAN - SAM RYDER (URGH THIS SONG HAS ME IN SUCH A CHOKEHOLD I LIVED A LIFE WHERE WE DON'T COME BOTTOM THREE AND GOD WAS IT EVERYTHING IVE EVER WANTED)

more niche songs (or maybe not, like i said ive got no fucking clue really)

Voilà - barbara pravi (entrancing song. not my usual eurovision type but i couldn't look away)

discoteque - the roop (this is what they should play in the club <- someone whos never stepped foot in a club)

mata hari - efendi

dark side - blind channel (another finnish should-have-one in a long list. speaking of which...)

jezebel - the razmus (holds balloon ominiously in your direction)

brividi - mahmood & blanco (just really nice)

river - ochman (the chorus...)

llámame - andrei ursu

nobody but you - caesar sampson (i hate the song that won over him... tragic...)

lie to me - mikolas (i really can't defend this one but bop-whop-a-lu-bop on his wood bamboo has been in my head longer than it has any right to be... bow ties are cool?)

miss you - Jérémie Makiese (its a bond song to me)

lock me in - circus mircus (DESERVED TO QUALIFY AT LEAST)

tell me more - turalturanx (same)

like an animal - piqued jacks (LOVE) (also gray its such a doc/jack/rose song)

stripper - achille lauro (watch the video...)

there’s my list of favourite songs! i could go on but half my keyboard keys have stopped working and it’s getting on my nerves XD please let me know yours too!

[catatonicsx]

heyy i was wondering about the songs

ohhh where to even begin. since you mentioned being interested in milex theories, i'll go through a couple of my fav songs with a focus on talking about milex.

you probably couldn't see for the lights, but you were staring straight at me

this song has long been known (with somewhat beyond reasonable doubt) to be about the lead singer of The Little Flames, of which miles was coincidentally the guitarist of. there's not much to reallyyy prove that it's about miles and not the female lead singer, the latter which he's basically all but admitted to, other than their relationship that was fostered soon after the song was written (which was around 2005).

i also learned via a reddit thread that the Frank Spencer mentioned is a character in a British sitcom called Some Mothers Do 'Av 'Em who is very accident prone. (x) so, that's interesting!

do i personally think it's about miles? no, not particuarily. but i think it's interesting that the love interest of this song is so closely aligned with miles......

what's interesting is that put your dukes up, john is a Little Flames cover. there's not much i want to analyze in this song considering it's not an arctic monkeys one, technically, i do think it's cool and that it's an important step in both the arctic monkey's sound development and alex's and miles' relationship.

now i am of the sort who believe a lot of humbug songs are about miles-- especially coming off the recording of the age of the understatement in 2008. i'm not sure how much of their relationship shifted or was furthered during this time (my tinhatting only goes so far as fantasy and lyric analysis) but i DO believe alex was at least thinking of miles during the writing of humbug in the american desert.

dangerous animals

there is not much evidence in this specific song that lends me to believe it's about miles, i mean it is chock full of she/her pronouns (but when has that Ever stopped anyone's theorizing...) and the reason this song stands out to me is not so much of incriminating lyrics more so it just...evokes some nice images for me.

i am not entirely sure how sensual alex meant to portray his struggles with sleep in this song but Lordy! they sure are. "been fighting with my sheets / and nearly crying in my sleep" ohhh so he's writhing in bed clutching at his sheets with a sheen of tears in his eyes... okay... hm... okay (gets so hard i die)

dangerous animals is a song about being in love with a girl (?) who is unattainable for some reason but still delights in torturing poor, poor alex who follows her (?) like a dog willing to do whatever humiliating thing she (?) asks of him/forces him to do. "sharpen the heel of your boot / and you press it to my chest and you make me wheeze / then to my knees you do promote me." alex is willing and even eager to humiliate himself for this girl (?) and sees his submission as an act of bettering himself, something to be proud of (see "promote me") (gets so hard i die)

BUT GET THIS. and i am pulling in some outside sources here, but to complete my tinhatting, i feel it necessary to mention that the song "too little too late" by miles kane off coup de grace mentions the line "pirouetting in the dark" which i do take as a reference to this song. so maybe miles knows something we don't about dangerous animals. maybe HE is the dangerous animal. it's not much, so i guess we'll never know....

potion approaching

while we're on the topic of stupid theories. i think matt said somewhere this one is a love song to alex's car? i would kill to find the interview again, but the gist was alex had this car which he loved driving and the band joked that potion approaching was actually a ballad about imagining his car as a girl.

but actually: "i've got this ego mechanic / she's always trying to give me vitamins." the vitamins in question are, of course, drugs, and they work as an "ego mechanic" in that they make alex more fun to be around/better at writing (a theme mentioned in My Propeller because that song is not unfortunately about a certain organ).

WAIT I JUST MADE A BREAKTHROUGH IN REAL TIME. i think that the "she" and the "you" are DIFFERENT PEOPLE. i usually assume that the pronouns are used interchangeably but i think i have just discovered something Huge.

the first verse (is about doing drugs, yes, but focus) mentions a "you" that the speaker falls into a kiss ("tide took me to your mouth") and also maybe further than a kiss ("and then swept me back down to your palms") with and the speaker goes "oohhh. okay this is all i want to do, this is the person i want to be with" (the meaning of "yours is the only ocean")

but THEN in the second verse the "she" is mentioned, the "ego mechanic." okay. maybe vitamins aren't drugs but like Normal Pills ... to make him stop wanting this other person ... my evidence here is "if i could be someone else for a week / i'd spend it chasing after you / cause she's not shattering my attitude."

the speaker .. wants to be someone else .. but currently he's confined by the "she" character who is "shattering [his] attitude"

"no matter how she folds the potion / yours is the only ocean"

hey. wait. it makes perfect sense that the "she" is trying to control his desire somehow, but the "you" is still the only person he cares for.

hm. this could be milex if you thought about it.

the end bit: "oh, but if we're gonna escape though / we really ought to think it through / would you like me to build you a go-kart?" has long been laughed at for its seeming randomness but actually it's NOT random. the speaker wants to escape with the "you" because the situation with the "she" is so controlling ... and UNLIKE in dangerous animals, he doesn't want to be controlled, he wants to be free on a go-kart with his lover.

could be milex. you know. if you wanted to think abt it that way.

fire and the thud

aside from being possibly my favorite arctic monkeys song, i believe this one, too, is about miles.

THE VERY FIRST LINES describe a welcome chance to the status quo: "you showed me my tomorrow / beside a box of matches / a welcome threatening stir." and given that this is a love song (you'll see) i think this is describing a welcome end to one relationship and a welcome start of another; a stirring up of affairs. romantic.

"my hopes of being stolen / might just ring true" again, speaker wants his lover to burn the boring status quo future, he wants to be stolen away.

"depends who you prefer" it seems like both alex and his lover are in relationships, alex is wondering if his lover (miles, lol) will drop his girl to be with him. if alex too drops his girl. seems they're at an impasse...

immediately after, we get "if it's true you're gonna run away / tell me where, i'll meet you there" more running away, like in potion approaching. these two lovers have to be somewhere away from "prying eyes" (will mention more later).

next two stanzas (?) are questioning if the speaker's lover feels the same way he does.

and GODD. GOD. some of the greatest lines ever written "the day after you stole my heart / everything i touched told me / it would be better shared with you." GODDDDD. i don't even have any analysis just ruminate on how beautiful this is for a moment please.

the rest of this verse just describes various BEAUTIFUL haunting gorgeous incredible details about the speaker's pining. the soup, the books, the mark (a bruise that takes a while to heal, perhaps? sounds sexy).

"will the teasing of the fire / be followed by the thud?" alex wonders if this intense pining/foreplay of emotions will come to a concrete conclusion. will they be in a relationship, or will they be doomed to dance around each other, never quite saying how truly infatuated they feel?

"in the jostling crowd / you're not allowed to tell the truth" okay my tinhat is firmly ON for this one. why wouldn't the truth of this relationship be allowed to be disclosed to the public? unless... it's gay. (pride month gasps)

seriously, i can't imagine the hold up about this clear infatuation becoming public unless there was a particularly unsanitary connotation about the type of relationship it was.

"and the photo booth's a liar" this is a JUMP and i admit that. it's a LEAP and a half. but it really seems like whatever front alex is putting up in his current relationship to save face is actually untrue. he's a "liar" for pretending to be happy in his relationship.

"and there's a sharpened explanation / but there's no screaming reason to require" a bit funny! when you think about it. it seems like alex Could explain himself but is choosing not to, which is ironic because it feels like the whole song is describing and putting into great detail the "sharpened explanation" of his infatuation with his lover and therefore his lies to his current relationship.

"i'd like to poke them in their prying eyes / with things they'd never see / if it smacked them in the temples." like a lot of tbhc and, honestly, a lot of arctic monkeys songs in general, i think the vague "them" is simply the public sticking their nose into alex's relationships and songs (much like i am currently doing). there's an explanation, but people just Wouldn't Get It if they heard it. (i feel like i might get it, alex! i'm with you thus far!). again, could tie back to the gayness, if you were so inclined to believe so, because that is a harder thing to explain to the public then, say, a happy hetero relationship. maybe. if you were so inclined.

jump to golden trunks

"when true love takes a grip, it leaves you without a choice." i think this pits "true love" against some other ideal in which it then ruins. it seems "true love" is a problem, something unplanned, uncalled for, unwanted. hurts to think about.

i will drive myself INSANE talking about this song. every time i listen to it i pull my tinfoil tighter around my little cone hat. anyone talking about politics or donald trump are sooo off center. the point of the song, the emotion is all Right There.

first off, it's not about american politics. alex says (among other hilarity) "The whole song there is about a conversation between myself and someone that I’m falling for. That’s not the leader of the free world in golden trunks, by the way. The character in the song, who I’m singing to, that’s something from her imagination, that may have come out of her sense of humour." (yes i took this from genius x) and i know wrestling is Big and Many People Like Wrestling but the leader of the free world in golden trunks is such. a fucking. miles thing. to say.

again, a link that is really so slim but if you think about it too long your chest will start to hurt: "and in response to what you whispered in my ear" GODD these fools are always whispering in each other's ear. what was that quote? can't for the life of me find a credible link to it, but allegedly:

nme: what sort of things do you say to each other onstage?

alex: dark, twisted and very private things.

miles: you'd think we were freaks if you knew some of the things we talk about onstage. we talk about weird things that don't really make sense to anyone else.

again, allegedly, this is from 2008. and we all KNOW their habit of whispering to each other at all times on stage, maybe at some point (i'd hazard in 2016) there came the bizarre statement of "fantasizing" about each other..

then there are three words in this song that break my freaking heart: "in the daytime."

and FUCKKK ME that hurts. because if you take it in the context of the "fantasy" it really just reads like alex has these enduring fantasies, bred from whispers in his ears, and they happen to him in daytime and they're real and he can't ignore them. go listen to golden trunks. listen to it RIGHT NOW and PAY ATTENTION to the guttural HURT that exists in these three words. and it's never been played live. i'm sure some of that has to do with the instruments/synth-y stuff going on with it.. but GOD those lyrics are insane and they hurt me.

it's just describing an affair that never came to be, or never came to exist in the full extent that alex wishes it would've. even if it's not about miles, this song still hurts me.

and again, there's the fire and the thud -esque "the public would never understand the truth of these feelings":

"bendable figures with a fresh new pack of lies / summat else to publicize / i'm sure you've heard about enough."

alex is SICK of the fakeness and lies of his profession and, as the song implies, his personal relationships. the song assumes that who alex is singing to can relate to these struggles. he wishes for the simpleness of his fantasy, which is completely vague and unspecified, but which seems to be the solution of all his heartache and the problem of "true love's grip."

could be milex. what do i know. lol. pulls the tinfoil tighter and sets it carefully on top of my head.

-

okay. in truth, i have a lot more. i didn't even GET to the jeweler's hands which i also believe is about miles. and there's a big long post that i want to make about there'd better be a mirrorball, which i will probably make separately. there's also a separate post i have Got to make about batphone and why i believe it's such an incredible song. lmk if those sound cool to you as well.

i hope this was somewhat of what you were looking for! i tend to ramble, but thank you for the opportunity of letting me talk. let me know if you have any questions (because Believe Me i would like to continue talking about this it's like my fav topic).

FEEL FREE TO REQUEST SPECIFIC SONGS !! LIKE IF THERE WAS ANY SPECIFIC SONG YOU WANTED TO TALK ABOUT !! SIMPLY PUT IN AN ASK IF YOU WANT AND I WILL TALK ABOUT IT WITH YOU !! IF YOU WANT !!

[oogaboogaspookyman]

Dayum i had a Murder Drones dream bruh

I'll tell ya the clips i remember from it, if any

Soooo there's a point where N is inside a school and he's looking around for sumthin' idfk and he stumbles upon a little girl drone with white eyes and i think jet black hair?? And she's obviously a fun lover that doesn't wanna be here but she recognizes it's a necessity so she rolls with it and does her stuff as told– okay so apparently she's gotta finish some homework about animals, what they are and what they do, the sort, and she's like- talking a lot about her home and how her family has to pay for wifi or sumthin' etc etc and N just goes "oh is that homework? Do you have to describe animals? I can help!"

And then the girl drone (who i'm calling Leni) just goes "yeah it's homework, boring but i gotta do it- it's something about animals, what they do and all- i sortaaaaa didn't finish it because i was bored out of my mind..." And N just spots a Sonic figurine on a shelf somewhere and goes "hey, what if you talked about that guy over there?" He means the Sonic figurine on the shelf, "what does a hedgehog do? Does it like anything? You could describe a hedgehog, it's an animal!" And Leni is just. "Heh, thanks dude!" And my lordy the smile N gives it kills me oughhhh yes baby boy you did a help a girl with homework!!! Uzi is lucky to have you ough

Another clip! There's the typical big dumb creepy guy that puts kids in detention trope! Yeah he just scruffs one like a cat and tosses them onto a hook, hanged like cloth (NOT HURT THOUGH! ALIVE AND HEALTHY!) And they're just "hey dude what did i do?! Get me off this thing!!" And the big creepy guy just. Giggles at 'em as he walks away. Idfk what else happened after that- but it has to do with N???? Did he fuck up????? He's a good boy who did no wrong wtf he stopped killing a long time ago!!! The Uzi simp allegations are exaggerrated!!!!!! Leave him alone bitch!!!!!!!!

So apparently the detention drone is just like. Roaming around the school, and N is just staying out of it's sight at all times– keeping Leni safe from it too because they're buddies now and he's a good boy– and at some point taps his foot on the floor lightly to make a sound to test if it can hear and... It does not. It's big stupid AND probably deaf. Or they're just lucky idk lol

Also Cyn is there too. There's a moment after the whole detention drone shebang where Cyn pops up behind some doors and is accompanied by like- another girl drone with ponytails and black hair that is also Solver infected, and she's already gotten the eldritch claws for hands too so she's probably been infected before even like- Camp Fever, to give you an idea of the time frame, and Cyn is just. "You said "shit" now you're getting punished" and apparently getting taken out of the school is a punishment??? They're just. Grabbed and Cyn fuckin' flies away with them both, leaving them with the rest of the gæng in a like- place with two random drop pods like the ones from episode 1 and 3, and fun fact! V and Uzi are there! They're alive and well! And yes N hugs Uzi first thing, ig Leni gets to meet the rest of the bunch now lol.

Oh yeah there's also Tessa i guess lmfao idk what she's lookin' for now

[cc-kirby]

CC's Spring 2025 anime season Progress Report, 1/4th of the way into the season

On my Neospring, my friend Pen asked me to rank all of the Spring 2025 anime season stuff I've been watching so far in order of enjoyment, and I was getting so longwinded and detailed with all of my thoughts (surprise surprise) that I was breaking the character limit over there, so I figured I'd just do a short version there and post my longer Thoughts in a post over here. So if you're curious, check after the post break if you wanna see what I think of this season so far!!

Tumblr is terrible and makes it impossible to have line breaks in numbered list that look any good (how do people say with a straight face this is a good blogging platform?) so just pretend that it's numbered from 1-10.

This season has been *wild* and something that is on the bottom level of this list would probably be near or at the top of the list any other season so if you're like "why is it that low?" I promise you it really isn't. Every single one of these shows is one I'm enjoying so far.

Catch Me at the Ballpark! Fairouz Ai voicing a very tease-y and playfully mean gyaru girl who works baseball stadiums as a concessions/vendor girl was going to knock me out from the start but then I found out that this is actually an ensemble cast anthology series about the comings and goings of the fans, employees, and even baseball players who are all in one way or another involved and intertwined with the stadium and what I thought was going to just be a cute weekly series ends up having way more charm than I was ever expecting. That being said, it's not for everyone but even the sports stuff is handled in a way that makes it easy for non-sports fans to get into, and there's a lot of characters that you'll end up attaching to and cheering for and being excited over when you see them making more appearances in other episodes!! For a low stakes series that'll make you feel good and also laugh it's easily my top choice of this season, and one that I think is really being slept on big time.

mono. From the Laid Back Camp author so I knew I was going to like it. It's basically Laid Back Camp but they're all lovers of photography (and girls honestly) as opposed to camping. This is one of the series that started later than the others but immediately I'm liking the rampant stupidity of all the girls (Aoi Koga voicing another whiny and vaguely unhinged girl, which seems to be the role she's born to play at this point, has been the highlight, but the other girls are great too).

Rock Is a Lady's Modesty. LORDY. I needed a god damned cigarette after the first few episodes of this one. The angry, EXTREMELY lesbian-coded dynamic between Lilisa and Otoha needs to be studied in a lab for future generations. Otoha especially has been so funny with her vaguely stalker-ish need to want to be friends with Lilisa so bad while also verbally eviscerating her anytime they play together. It feels like "Girls Start a Band" has been a thing every season ever since Bocchi the Rock! blew up the way it did and while anyone else would argue that it's tired, I am like just keep bringing them on. Let's make the girls even more unhinged. Can't wait to see where this one goes, and we haven't even gotten to the rest of the band yet!!

Food for the Soul. Cute Girls Doing Cute Things never fails to win me over and once again, this one is no exception. Honestly group goals, this is exactly the kind of dynamic I wish I had more of in college. Another one that started late but has made Saturday my favorite day of the anime season.

Zatsu Tabi: That's Journey. Not for everyone but if you were looking for more cozy Laid Back Camp vibes with somehow even less stakes than that series had this is the one for you. Another one that's being slept on but might be a little too boring for some. I'm enjoying it though!!

Yaiba: Samurai Legend. I have my misgivings about remakes that I've talked about to death in the past but this has done a solid job so far and I hope the strong positive reviews have led to this series getting new fans. Like I get that it's only happening in the first place because Gosho Aoyama is a walking money making machine at this point but I'm glad because Sayaka is adorable and she needs more love and this series has always been overlooked.

Mobile Suit Gundam: GQuuuuuuX. Watching this series has made me realize that I need to do a better job of watching Gundam in general and has led me to debating if I should make "watch all the past Gundam stuff properly and in order" one of my unwritten resolutions for this year. The Char-centric second episode was great and I love the dynamic between the two girl leads and this newly introduced very non-straight boy from the third episode. There is a lot of stuff that they just throw around that will bewilder and overwhelm people whose first Gundam series was G Witch and while I wouldn't say that I'm an expert (a lot of my older Gundam viewing was watching stuff without context and out of order on Toonami and going "oh shit this whips I need to watch all of this" as well as watching random stuff with friends in college, including lots of Zeta which… well… you know. At least Zeta's OP whips) there's definitely some stuff where I'm like "oof, hoo boy" and I kinda feel for people. But I'm loving it a lot!!

Please Put Them On, Takamine-san. This is is the sleaziest and trashiest thing I'm watching this year and I'm not gonna get all that mad if you think it's garbage but it's got me entertained each week and I do like how the more we see of Takamine the more we see there's a sweet girl hidden under all of that sludge. The latest episode's adorable flashback has been a highlight so far for sure. Ecchi fans won't be disappointed and episode three was so raunchy that it even scared Crunchyroll (understandably so honestly).

Apocalypse Hotel. Oh man this series caught me by COMPLETE surprise. Came into it not sure what to expect but it's got enough goofy comedy charm and also some secretly muted lowkey horror aspects hiding under the surface that gets kind of answered in a GREAT way at the end of the third episode. Such a cool little series!! I love the doofy doorman robot so much.

Kowloon Generic Romance. OH MY GOD SHE IS SO FUCKING HOT DUDE WHAT THE HELL. How in the hell can that main male protagonist see the most gorgeous girl I have ever laid my eyes on is literally throwing herself at him and dismiss her like that? Loser coward. As a semi-romantic comedy it does its job with lots of cute little moments while it feels like at the tail end of every episode they pull the 1970s daytime soap opera card of dropping just a little more of a crumb of the overarching uneasy feeling of mystery you get about the series to keep you dragged in and wanting to watch more and I think that's fucking hilarious but also I'm all about it. Fuck yeah. It's lower on this list solely because I'm worried that the direction it's going in is going to be a bit of a letdown and honestly Mystery Theater slow build payoffs never really satisfy anyone enough, but I'm still liking it a lot!!

I'm also watching "Lycoris Recoil: Friends are thieves of time." but since it's only gonna be six episodes that are about 2-3 minutes each it feels kind of like cheating to even rank it but surprise surprise it's mostly been the slice of life parts of the regular series that were my favorite part of that entire show (I always thought the main villain was corny and it took me out of the series a little bit) I am getting fed all the cute Chisato and Takina moments that I've been missing so much.

[horsesteak]

“Now thank the good lordy above this absolute belter of a nook is still open in the wee hours of the day!”

The sudden blast of energy the newcomer radiated as his voice joyfully boomed through the tiny, cramped eatery was an immediate overdose for the overworked waitress. It was far too late (or rather, early, according to the man) for this sort of social interaction.

Check out Everything and Nothing by beans (with 6 e's and 6 a's) on AO3! Also check out my co-artist @gearbroth 's (!!!) art on their blog!

For the 2023 TF2 Big Bang! @tf2bigbang

~~~

See below for bonus sketches and infodump!

It's been a while since I did a big art piece like this. It was fun, and it got me experimenting with watercolour pencils for the first time. I'm still learning the craft, and as much as I want my first ever watercolour painting to be perfect, it'll have to do. I'm satisfied with my attempt this time.

Although I do wish I could capture the painting in a higher resolution; phone camera and scanner couldn't cut it, everything is still a bit blurry. Here's the best I can take on my phone:

It's also the original colours, before digital shenanigans were done to it. The work of a sleep deprived art wizard waving his silly little magic wand tool to get everything to look nicer.

The original concept for this mini-comic came to me while I was sitting under a tree, halfheartedly trying to study for my two exams the next day. I quickly sketched this:

I honestly like the lineart of this sketch better than the final. What could be better than demo's sparkley anime eyes?

I was excited I finally came up with an idea after being high and dry for weeks. Basically my mental state:

I was going to have Demo stride in, burst through that door with exuberant energy that filled the Spy's shitty dead-end cafe. And also showcase his traditional Scottish garb, which let me tell you is a whole rabbithole that I eagerly leapt into while researching for cultural accuracy. (I tend rely on real life references alot. Trying to branch out to stylised drawing would be cool.)

What happened next were these little sketches on post-it notes. I draw on them first before committing paper because...it's fun :)

Also in this case, this is a comic, so I could rearrange the drawings how I liked, so this was actually goated.

In the second image, see another case of liking the lineart more than the final. I had half a mind to keep that sketch of Spy and paint over it, but that wasn't watercolour paper, so no... :(

I was surprised how well the sketches turned out. Bloody hell, I'm an artistic genius! Now lets see how that translates to paint, eh? Well, you already know.

Some things to improve on, personally, is to make the lineart cleaner next time, so the paint doesn't mix with the pencil to make this weird greyish colour. Anatomy, always. Clothing folds is another big one. And finally, time management. Man, art is a passion, but damn does having too little time screw my art quality over. Well as they say, scarcity breeds innovation.

If you've made it this far, I am putting a virtual turtle (vurtle) in your hand, because turtles are cool, and you are too.

As a bonus bonus to this info-dump, have the original concept sketch while I was feeling out how to draw Demo in formal Scottish suit and kilt.

THAT IS ALL.

[seaofolives]

thank you for tagging me @ofdemonsandangels!! sadly I don't really know who's active on here anymore (it's been ages since I really checked into tumblr I'm sorry 😭) so if you want to play, I'll be happy if you take a tag from me!! 💖💖💖

Add 10 gifs from your favorite shows and tag 10 people

I don't know if I'll have 10 shows but I'll give it a shot under the cut!!

1. Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury (obviously, and it remains my number 1 love one year after the finale)

2. New Mobile Report Gundam Wing (a surprise addition!! I wasn't rocking with it until I was well past episode 30 and next thing I know, I'm catching up with the mangas!!) (anyway did you know that charmuro crawled so 3x4 could walk so sulemio could run? like jesus I keep calling the whole thing a convoluted 3x4 love story but they really are so gay for each other even in the mangas I'm—!) (some characters are bi but jesus christ in a zero system, quatre and trowa are not they are fucking gay and gay for each other—!)

3. Boukyaku Battery (the first season just finished but pls pls pls give it a shot it's so funny and the heartfelt scenes really are so very heartfelt) (also mamo's vocal skills and the animation come on!!!!!)

(watch boukyaku battery)

4. Yuuki Bakuhatsu Bang Bravern (a wild obari masterpiece from start to finish. you want gays and robots? it's available on crunchy roll)

(is this the most definitive bravern gif? trust me, it is) (sulemio and 3x4 may be gay but oh lord. oh lordy lordy)

5. Pluto (do you love crying as much as I do? do you love crying for inhuman humanoids who just want the best? well guess what!!!!!)

6. Wolf's Rain (speaking of crying!!!!!!) (this one is also available on crunchy roll and if you're going to watch anything on there, let it be this)

okok I think I can add some non-anime shows!!

7. The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House (for food lovers like me!!!! also it's just a very calm and sweet show, very reassuring and you get to root for everyone)

8. Signal (if you're going to watch a k-drama watch this. it's ace attorney meets frequency the movie. I've never been desperate to binge a k-drama show and been excited for news of its continuation until this show) (the continuation is soon!!!!!)

ok back to animes XD

9. Kuromukuroo (a hidden gem!!! love the historical speculation and the fluid robot motion animation and can I just say, one of the best love stories to have ever been concocted by an anime)

10. Slam Dunk (i watched all 101 episodes of it!!!! and all of the movies and ovas!!! I felt surprisingly nostalgic for its brand of humor and man, you spend so much time with the boys, you grow to love them and cheer for them)

[thr4shdoes-selfships]

Soooo...

Intros!

(Last updated June 10 2025)

Username:

@/theclowndoes-selfships, now @/thr4shdoes-selfships

Name:

I go by Vannie (or *Vans), but I also use the name Thrash

*Vans being pronounced similar to Vance

Stuff I do here:

Selfshipping, OCs x Canon, etc

( here will be only selfshipping and similar stuff to that. If you want other content. I recommend you check my main, which is @thr4shit !! )

But... yeah! I have a self shipping blog now, and... yay!

f/o list and more below cut

f/o list!!

Key:

an orange source title means a platonic f/o, a pink source title means a romantic f/o, a purple source title means a familial f/o and a blue source title is a f/o outside those categories, like a qpr, or friends with benefits, etc. noncolored source titles are for uncategorized f/o's, likely new to the list.

(work in progress, give me some time, I'm slow and there are a lot. :'D)

Heavy Shvagenbagen (Metal Family)

Dee Shvagenbagen (Metal Family)

Lif (Metal Family *and familial because of a different oc / s/i*)

Lordy (Metal Family ☆☆)

Bob (Metal Family ☆☆)

Sebastian (Metal Family)

*like, ONLY the Younger version of Glam is a romantic f/o. Glam as an adult is a platonic f/o*

Sal Fisher (Sally Face)

Larry Johnson (Sally Face)

Todd Morrison (Sally Face)

Ashley Campbell (Sally Face)

Travis Phelps (Sally Face)

James (Pokémon)

Jessie (Pokémon)

Brock (Pokémon)

Catfeine (Frowning Critters AU)

Catnap (Poppy Playtime *Smiling Critters*)

N (Pokémon Black/White ☆☆)

Brewster (Animal Crossing ☆☆)

Eyeless Jack (Creepypasta)

Toby Rogers (Creepypasta)

Jeff the Killer (Creepypasta)

Ben Drowned (Creepypasta)

Tim Wright *Masky* (Marble Hornets)

Alex Kralie (Marble Hornets ☆☆)

Bonnie/Withered Bonnie (FNAF 1/2 ☆☆)

Nightmare Bonnie (FNAF 4 ☆☆)

Foxy (FNAF 1)

Shamura (Cult of the Lamb ☆☆)

Leshy (Cult of the Lamb)

Heket (Cult of the Lamb ☆☆)

Kallamar (Cult of the Lamb)

Hvitur (Wings of Fire ☆☆)

Riptide (Wings of Fire)

Flame (Wings of Fire)

HABIT (EverymanHYBRID)

Evan Myers (EverymanHYBRID)

Lady Liberty (Schoolhouse Rock) < yes, I'm confused, too. I don't know how she got here. But she's so pretty ;-;

Bill (Curious George)

Milo Asher (TribeTwelve)

Kevin Haas (TribeTwelve)

The Observer (TribeTwelve)

Vincent "Everyman" (EverymanHYBRID)

Orin the Red (Baldur's Gate 3)

Noah Maxwell (TribeTwelve)

Randall Boggs (Monsters Inc.)

Kat (TribeTwelve)

Beelzebub (Helluva Boss☆☆)

Vortex (Helluva Boss ☆☆)

Brandy (Bluey ☆)

Tom Lucitor (Star VS The Forces Of Evil ☆)

Lanny (Prep & Landing ☆)

Gristletoe "Nancy" Joe (Prep & Landing ☆☆)

Tim Stoker (The Magnus Archives ☆)

Pan (Stray Gods ☆)

Alice Dyer (The Magnus Protocol ☆)

Needles (The Magnus Protocol ☆)

Bystander (The Magnus Protocol ☆)

*s1e21 of TMAGP

Daniel ( Welcome to Night Vale ☆☆ )

Stolas ( Helluva Boss )

*for 2 different S/Is*

Octavia ( Helluva Boss )

Blitzø ( Helluva Boss )

Noelle ( Deltarune )

Ralsei ( Deltarune )

Obake [aka Bob Aken] ( Big Hero 6 the Series ☆☆ )

Silco ( Arcane ☆☆ )

Also, just in case...

Any f/o's marked with ☆☆ I am NONSHARING of! So in appreciation/gushy posts please do NOT state your affection for them there! While I won't block, it will simply make us UNCOMFORTABLE!

Ones marked with ☆ I am semi-nonsharing !!

Please don't interact if you hate on people who share f/o's... Hopefully that makes sense? I understand nonsharing. But I DO NOT understand nonsharers who go out of their way to harass people who share f/o's. I am PARTIALLY nonsharing but I will NOT stand for HARASSMENT.

The rest of my DNI is the same as my main.

ps.

to any fictives/introjects/etc of my f/o's, I am so, so sorry if this blog makes you uncomfortable. I get how selfshipping is seen as weird, and gets weirder under various perspectives... so... yeah. Sorry in advance.

[starrwrrld]

anon asks

do you like milkshakes

what are your fave lestappen fics of all time

where's your username from??

damnn okayy ty for this anon <3

Yes I love me a good milkshakes but im not obsessed with them or anything (cant stand strawberry tho). My dad has been making absolute bangers of milkshakes for as long as I can remember so it was a cold beverage I grew up with a lot. This also means i'm very judgy about my milkshakes so I don't drink them unless i'm sure they're gonna be good.

oh lordy lord. this is gonna be longgg.

@maxcuntstappen's I Loved You Before I Knew I Was Supposed To holds a special special place in my heart. Lav, being the absolute majesty they are, did a phenomenal job with it. It's so tender and soft and sweet i can't get enough of it. I've read it enough times to narrate it scene-by-scene. I wish I could read i again for the first time ( I would gladly slam a cardoor on my hand for it). Something about it makes me wanna hug Lav and cry. (CHECK OUT LAV'S OTHER FICS TOO THEY'RE ALL AMAAZING AND SO WORTH THE READ AND RE-READ)

Right Where You Belong by @amarynas is another absolute fav. This remains the fic to which i cried the most without a doubt. It's so fluffy (lets ignore the absolute heart attacks it gave me for amin here) and RWYB Max is an absolute loser boyerfriend (affectionate) and I wouldn't want it any other way. Also shoutout to Cisca for making Charles so tenderly fierce. It was a treat.

Long Live (The Walls We Crashed Through) is a fic i'm an absolute sucker for (sue me, i'm weak for the bsfs to lovers trope). It's so tender and nice and heartwarming and I wish I could read it again for the first time.

Never in a million years would I have thought I'd read Chef AUs, but here we are Grapefruit Mignonette and Give Me That Fire are both Chef/Restaurant AUs that truly slap. They're both so well written and give you an amazing insight into the industry while keeping you in a chokehold the entire time.

Red, White & Orange-Nassau and Homeward Bound by @f1-giuki are OMLLL. They're both so good it's insane. They give me sm comfort i wanna cry. The found-familyness of it all has me in such a strong chokehold and i don't ever wanna come out of it.

Meet Me In Montreal is a series by my legend @bumblewyn that i absolutely love. It's a pretty quick read (it's all mini fics that averages at 2kish words per work, hence why the series) and a constant reminder about these two's inability to be normal about each other with a side-dish serving of angst.

I'm pretty sure there are so many gems out there i've missed mentioning bc i have the memory-span of an octopus (fun fact if you havent figued it out; octopuses are the animals with the shortest memory span of just 3 seconds) but yeah. RIP to all the other amazing fics out there that i've read and adored but simply can't remember atm, i hate my brain too (and i suck at bookmarking or saving my favs so here we are). (P.S. All these writers have more amazing, amazing fics that i've not mentioned so do check them out if you haven't)

Uhm. It literally has no meaning behind it, love. I love love stars (fav shape fs) and i was struggling to find a username and i happened to be dooding stars at the edge of a sticky note whie brainstorming usernames so i decided on star, my brain generated the word 'world' for me and it became starrwrld bc starworld was already taken. (and maybe, just maybe, it is a small allusion to the song starman and to bowie himself bc i love that man)

[episodicnostalgia]

Comic Book Break: The End of Venom (but not really even a little bit)

Featured artwork Pencils: Mark Bagley Inks: Randy Emberlin

A few posts ago I talked about how it took roughly a year after my initial introduction to Venom (through the fold-out poster from the interior of “Amazing Spider-man #365”) before I would finally get to read a full issue featuring the character.  By that point I had become as well versed on the Symbiote lore as I was able to be without the aid of the internet, which basically meant I was limited to the comics my dad bought me, along with any cursory trivia he’d absorbed from glancing through back issues in the local comic shop.  But issues #374 & #375 would finally reward my patience with Spider-man and Venom’s “FINAL CONFRONTATION!”  And oh lordy, they did not disappoint. 

The story itself is entertaining enough, but it was Mark Bagley’s artwork that really left an impression on me. I mean no disrespect to Todd McFarlane here, but while he may have co-created the character, Bagley’s take was always the definitive version for me.  Bagley’s artwork just makes him look so nightmarishly intimidating, and even with ‘the comics code’ censorship guidelines, there was no mistaking with my very-active-imagination what the character was capable of.  I do remember feeling incredibly fortunate that I was even allowed to read those issues (my folks were fairly cautious about exposing me to graphic violence), especially considering this would be Venom’s last appearance ever, if the cover was anything to go by.  After all, who would just lie about something like that?

Of course, it wouldn’t actually be the last time the those two would cross paths, or even butt heads.  In fact, Venom would end up returning only three issues later for the ‘maximum carnage’ saga.  But these issues did (sort of) signal a change in the character that would shift his/their motivations moving into Venom’s turn as an anti-hero under the ‘Lethal Protector’ moniker, which I never found as interesting.  In theory, it’s a character choice that I could get behind, but sadly Venom became a victim to weak writing and oversaturation.  Of course, the irony isn’t lost on me that just as I discovered the character, his relevance in the larger cultural paradigm was about to implode.  Thankfully I remained largely oblivious to all for some time, as my continued exposure to Venom would be drip fed to me through back issues or alternative media (e.g. the animated series).

Honestly though, even though these issues were obviously being used as a cheap marketing ploy, I do think it’s a pretty solid point to ‘end’ the character’s story, and least for that particular era.  After all, that is the thing with comics books, you kind of have to decide for yourself when to come-and-go.

That’s also part of the fun.

[oyasumi-ashurii]

Okay, so it might be a little hard for me to cohesively put all my thoughts and feelings into why I care so much about Final Fantasy VIII, but because of the 25th anniversary and seeing a lot of you talk about your love of the game I'll try the best I can. So here's my embarrassingly and extremely long personal history with the game and why it will always be my favorite.

Before FF8 I was mostly a Nintendo kid. Mario and Zelda were all I really knew, and as a hyperactive as I was I didn't really have the patience for anything story-heavy that took a lot of reading. Though I did I get a PlayStation later on I hardly bothered with anything other than Spyro or Crash. Anything similar in graphics to FF7 or 8 was mostly foreign to me too, with maybe the closest being my cousin having the first Resident Evil and I was far too young and too scared to bother with anything like that. So you can imagine the complete and utter shock kid me had going to my uncle's and seeing him play FF8 for the first time. I don't think it had been out too long but he was already on disc 3 in Esthar and, bless his soul, he let me play his save for a while. Being able to fly around the map on the Ragnarok?? The realistic proportions and animations in battle?? The absolute BANGER of a soundtrack?! All of it had me excitedly begging my parents to buy me the game. Nine year old me didn't know roman numerals, though, just that it was called Final Fantasy with some weird lettering. I had no idea of Final Fantasy as a series and I didn't know it was the eighth game or that there were eight of them at all. I couldn't remember what the cover looked like either and my uncle not long after that was going through his own personal troubles so I wasn't able to visit or ask him. We didn't have internet at home until the early 2000s (it was AOL dial-up too, jesus, I don't miss that) and my parents were strict about internet use, so I was stuck. My dad did eventually buy me an FF game as a surprise when I was eleven, and lmao can you believe I was genuinely upset because it was Final Fantasy VII?! That being said, I have an INSANE amount of love and respect for 7. Considering how much easier I think the materia system is to understand for newcomers, having it as my first, full FF experience was a bit of a blessing lol. FF7 hit me in a different way than 8 did, and maybe I'll make a post about it sometime.

So other than the brief times on the internet (I was only allowed on for an hour or two before I was kicked off) and reading gaming magazines I had hardly any access or knowledge about FF8 until years later. I knew the characters briefly and read some small stuff here and there about the world, but that was it. Even so, I STILL loved it. I would draw them (I've drawn most of my life, and I still do occasionally as a fun hobby), write about what I thought they were like, so, so much of me embarrassingly obsessing over it and driving my small group of friends in school bonkers (oh lordy I just remembered my preteen username I had used on an FF forum and now I'm cringing.) You get it. So why did I cling to the game so much, even though I barely played it? Why did it mean so much to me? Because around the time I was twelve I was deeply depressed, and throughout my middle school and early high school life video games and their stories were the only joy and comfort I had. I'm not going to go into much detail because it feels too personal to write on tumblr about and I'd rather not think back too much. If you want the gist it was at a moment in time I was mostly on my own. I felt isolated and alone, and due to growing up in and around strict, conservative circles I struggled with feeling far behind my peers, so my personal and school life suffered. Things got better though and I'm happy in my life now, so that's really it.

As I got a little older I had played other FF's and RPGs in between that I also fell in love with (especially Kingdom Hearts) and funnily enough horror games, but I still didn't get my hands on 8 until I got it on my fifteenth birthday and I was over the moon. That night and many nights and weekends after that I played every single bit of that game. I had printed walkthroughs and a guide of the junction system, with overly-detailed notes I had scribbled down and highlighted. I had written down all the rules of triple triad, weapon upgrades, item refinements and what you get from monsters, side-quests, all of it. I had never went all in into a game before, but I did it because I wanted to experience the game that gave preteen me comfort everything it had to offer. And I remember vividly when I finished it I cried until I was almost out of breath.

But you know, I didn't get emotional because of the nostalgic school-like feel and inspired real-world setting, or the overall main plot with magic, sci-fi and sorceresses. It wasn't even the deeply interwoven love stories, the theme of fate or the gameplay either, though I grew to love all of those things dearly with time.

It was because I was a socially-awkward and lonely fifteen year old girl that watched an equally as awkward seventeen year old boy overcome his own deeply-rooted fears and trauma and come out at the end of it all on the path to healing.

And I knew I'd be okay, and ever since then this game has and will always be that reminder and comfort for me.

Thanks for reading.