#also lol in case anyone is new or forgot

[sharpace]

I'm sure everything will be fine.

Super duper loving The Magnus Protocol. My little horror heart is so full.

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[cashmere-caveman]

Hanif Abdurraqib, it’s not like nikola tesla knew all of those people were going to die | Anne Carson, H of H Playbook | Richard Siken, Snow and Dirty Rain | Franz Wright, Heaven | Toby Whithouse, shooting script for Being Human S1E1 | Franz Wright, Heaven | Erin Slaughter, I Hope My Salt Lamp is a Weeping Deity | Richard Siken, Straw House, Straw Dog & My Country: The New Age, Episode 16

image descriptions in alt

[dailyhatsune]

hi! not exactly a request but i do wanna ask, whats your process when you're rendering more paint like art? (if that makes sense, English isnt my first language so apologies hdskhsjdbd) i really love how you use the colors and im curious how you do it :0

i’ve been meaning to answer this one for a while so here’s how i painted miku in today’s post (put under the read more because yeah prepare for a long post

i’d also like to preface this by saying that i never follow a set way of doing things, so in terms of what my personal process is like, these are only broad strokes of what i do! sometimes i’ll combine or skip parts entirely, depending on how i feel. also, this is not a tutorial, just how i do things, so please don’t treat it like one :’D this will read like the ‘how to draw an owl’ picture if you do

first, like every artist, i sketch. more specifically, i’m getting an idea of what i want to paint later on. this could be how a scene is set up or in this case, how a character is posed. here i’m not concerned about details or getting everything perfectly, i’m only planning how the thing will be composed. maybe a lot of canvas size changing, or adjusting what miku’s doing (note how busted miku’s right hand looks from all the transforming!) however, i still have to be concerned with how clear the sketch will be to future me, because the sketch won’t be any good if i can’t read what miku’s doing

after that, i lay down a flat gray under the sketch, mainly focusing on giving miku a clear silhouette. this is also a good time to make adjustments to the composition on the fly if i suddenly feel like something can be improved upon, like shortening miku’s left arm from the sketch!

after painting a flat silhouette, i start shading in grayscale, focusing only on lighting. i usually do it in two passes, one for the lightest and darkest tones i’ll use (not black and white) and then a second for midtones to blend them better with the base gray but i forgot to screenshot the result of the first pass 🗿 nevertheless, here is where i can start adding some amount of details. i’m not including any extra accessories yet, just focusing on the base design of the outfit and the character herself (for anyone wanting to draw characters from That Gacha Game, this is how i personally make the process more bearable for myself.) i still use the dark gray to separate where certain details (like the facial features and fingers) begin and end, mainly to make colouring more bearable later.

now here’s where i get the Good Colours. it’s a cheat lol. i put a gradient map layer over the grayscale painting so that there’s a little bit of color to start. some gradient maps can be applied as is, some need the layer settings adjusted to make it look good. this one, for example, is a (free) gradient map set from the csp assets store that needs you to set the layer opacity to 20% and to set the blending mode to color to achieve this result. in general, i tend to pick which gradient map i want to use based on vibes, or basically whether i want the work to be warmer or cooler, colour-wise. but this does do quite a bit of lifting for the colors in my stuff.

and then, finally, i add the colours. i add flat base colours in an overlay layer. at this stage, i’ve made the character silhouette clear enough that i don’t need to refer to the sketch anymore for what miku looks like. also, the gradient map layer does its magic by making the shading a bit more vibrant than it would’ve been without it. after that i paint over with a new layer to add details like the lace.

and then i put some extra shading on top. basically this is where the ‘better lighting’ happens. again, this isn’t a tutorial, so i’m not here to say what each part of the lighting is, but i’ve labeled which layers do which job. in other works where the lighting within a scene is more defined (from a window, from a small crack in the walls, etc) the glow dodge layer may be more opaque and sharper, but since this isn’t a work with that, the lighting was applied using an airbrush. the linear burn layer is also there to make the whole thing darker so the glow dodge doesn’t end up oversaturating miku. i also usually match the lights to the vibe i want, and use a complementary color for the shadows. so here you can see i have warm colors on the glow dodge layer, but light purple on both the linear burn and multiply layer.

and that’s it for the character—here’s a gif showing how each layer adds to miku! (sorry it’s so toasty)

as for the background, depending on the complexity, it may go through a similar process, or if i can settle with flat image backgrounds, i just go for that. it’s ok to use external image materials. i didn’t have a background in mind for this miku in specific, so i got some default csp materials and threw together something

and that’s about a rough overview of what my process for more finished works looks like! again, art is a fluid process so i never specifically stick to certain steps all the time, and you shouldn’t either. i can probably answer why i’d pick this colour over another in one particular work, but it’s something that kinda has to be learned on a grander scale. i think everyone can already feel what colors work with what atmosphere or what setting, even if they can’t immediately explain why. colors and composition do take some level of experimentation to find what works best!

[sun-roach]

Fox thoughts cause he is always on my mind lol

Phase 1 Fox:

He got the corrie guard symbol big on his upper armor -> shows his pride for this corps, pride to be leading it. It shows his loyality towards Coruscant and his duty

Also the other red marks look like abstract arrows down or an abstract form of the sword in the corrie symbol. It’s on his helmet, his upper arms and his shins -> just emphasizes that his duty is his pride. He is born for this.

Still his armor is kind of minimalistic? He could have gone more bold especially with the talent he seems to have? (Like this man painted that symbol perfectly on his chest… the amount of control he has in his hands and the eye for symmetry… 👀)

Anyway since it’s phase one armor, it makes sense that most of it is still white.

I don’t think Fox was the one to choose red as the color for the corrie guards. Red doesn’t shout safety…

But then again after leaving Kamino he got to see so many colors and maybe red just clicked with him because its the only color beside white and blue he knows. As a cadet they wore it. Maybe red is safety for him. So maybe he did choose it.

Pose: confident, chest-out, ready at any given moment, to me he looks light on his feet, maybe even a lil arrogant or bored in the second pic, prouuud

Phase 2:

Corrie symbol on his left arm, very small-> left side indicates loyalty, it’s where the heart is. So the corrie guards are where his loyality still lies. Having it very small on his arm, it might say it is his', it’s more private, less bold and loud. But still prideful, just not 'arrogant'

Now his armor is even more minimalistic. In contrast to his men he has the colors reversed -> probably to show his status as the (marshal) commander, as well as to catch anyone’s attention away from his men. -> protective, caring

His armor is almost completely red. Corrie red, he bathed in the blood of his dead men. He is 'responsible'. He has to shoulder it.

But also red for safety -> perhaps his own need for safety grew.

The white chest armor could indicate the grief that is filled in his heart.

The white also tangles around his biceps and hips. Maybe it’s to show that he is controlled by his grief? The white boots could also mean that where ever he goes, there will be grief

————————————————————————

Yet if we go with the mandalorian color meanings… (tho i dun think they had learned much of the culture (,see Bacara being socially outcasted because he couldn’t understand mando'a)) <- correction in the comments!!!!

Red also stands for honoring a parent. Since Fox has no parent except maybe he viewed his trainers as some, i don’t think this fits. I don’t think Fox would honor Jango either lol

White stands for a new start… again i don’t think that fits for him.

————————————————————————

Pose: side view, kinda turned his back, yet he always has a posture that screams confidence -> loss of pride, insecurity, less controlling, reacts and acts, more risk taking ( i forgot the adjective… but like if someone has his back turned to summon, they have less vision and control, they r letting danger in. In this case tho he has only half of his back turned towards the viewer -> could show that he is still wary but in less control). His posture in other scenes also seem more defensive (him crossing his arms in front of his chest) and he is also easier to frighten? (See anakin causing him to flinch a bit)

Honestly i dunno what i wanted to say with this. These r just thoughts that popped up in my mind

But i guess all in all you could say that Fox went from confident, prideful, a lil bit arrogant to confident, quiet , depressed jxjjdndndndndndn

[shadow-the-crow]

okay.

okay.

i did it. i just finished mag 101.

HOLY SHIT

i... i have a lot of thoughts. and i'll make proper posts about them.

but for now i just want to say: it wasn't good in the way i expected, it didn't touch me the way i expected. i mean, it was, and it did, but differently.

am i a bad person for not being devastated because of what happened to Michael? i mean Michael Shelley. maybe it's because i already knew what was going to happen. there wasn't really anything new about it, just the sacrifice i already expected. of course, the repeated "he trusted her" and all that stuff hurt. but i don't feel as bad for Michael Shelley as i probably should. i mostly feel bad for the thing Michael is now, or was. i mean, Michael's pain was also his pain, right? (i'm gonna make a post about that soon.) but yeah, maybe it's because we didn't hear that person talk directly, or maybe i haven't realized the full extent of his fate yet. maybe it'll hurt more on a relisten. idk. but i do feel bad for not being devastated about his fate. that's what y'all were talking about when you said this episode would destroy me, right? or maybe it wasn't. in any case, with the info i had before listening, i was convinced that's what you were talking about, so that's the thing i expected to destroy me.

however, what came closer to destroying me was Michael the Distortion. holy shit. i have so many feelings about him. this whole fucked-up identity thing, the last minute or so of it being Michael... holy shit, his scream. i had to pause and wait until i stopped shaking. although there have been other well acted screams of pain on this podcast... i've never heard anyone scream like this.

oh yeah and i almost forgot: i never expected the "it's not the same person but it's still the same thing" thing to make sense to me. i expected Helen the Distortion to feel like a different being. but somehow it still sounded like it did when it was Michael... It somehow felt the same. I never thought this would be possible, but they really managed to remove the Michael part and keep the Distortion part, just with good voice acting and a bit of sound editing. that's really impressive.

okay that's all i can put into words for now lol

[meowunmeow]

Undead Unluck Chapter 202 Spoilers!!

At first, I thought the title didn't make sense. Then I read on and oh it makes so much sense.

Of all languages... French. 6997 languages. And you chose French. Nico you USAmerican.

But yeah the game is extremely biased. Unless you're a polyglot, you're gonna lose against the literal personification of language.

So how exactly did 100!Nico beat Language... Was he a polyglot? Did he skimmed through every single dictionary there was before battling? Was he smart enough to choose something other than French?

I audibly gasped and yelled "WAR?? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE" because seriously. What is he doing here and how did he even get here.

I'll admit to being unknowledgeable and not understand what Top means by Moga. Google only said a bunch of stuff that has nothing to do with planes nor war. If anyone knows what he means, go ahead and tell me.

I like how the planes have animal heads.

I'm assuming she means Mandarin here because it's the standardised language. Even though there are other Chinese languages like Hokkien or Cantonese. I can't blame Mr. Evelyn here because the raw is most likely to be "中国語" which literally translates to "Chinese".

I like the callback again. Logic and self-imposed rules are what ultimately stops negators from fulfilling their potential. Victor ends up falling behind Andy in terms of strength because he somehow convinced himself souls do not exist. So here, even though Ichico is well versed in souls, she is still a woman of science. She can't back away from logic that easily.

I had to search it up but wow, you're telling me this is supposed to be a sea creature of some kind... They're both equally confused, they 100% deserve each other.

Whoa whoa whoa... Nico can't see or hear souls. Yet he somehow manages to hear Ichico's pain? Does he have a wifey sense of some kind?? Loser.

I like how she talks to him like usual. She's either somewhat stupid or just forgot he can't hear her. But she's right in the end and he can indeed hear her.

Aw man that means summoning a living creature and having it die causes damage compared to summoning objects. Probably because it requires active imagination rather than pulling it from real life memories. That means that Nico needs to battle with a MacGuffin that isn't under Lan's domain.

But then that also means the way to beat Lan is by summoning an imaginative creature that can kill Lan's own imaginative creature, the dragon in this case. But what defeats a dragon?

Nico can't see her yet... He is stressed out to the max here and hoping that she is fine.

NEW SOUL ABILITY UNLOCKED?? TELEPATHY??? Or... An ability manifestation?

They weren't kidding about Ichico being a threat due to her quick adaptation with soul abilities.

Ooh she had this set up from the beginning... She chose umibuzou and didn't bother imagining a decent creature because she just wants a "u". Her reliance on English really convinces my British-born Japanese HC of her lol.

Lol Sean probably woke up and went "something's wrong. I can feel it." and Gina just snacks him back to sleep.

FENG??? rip to tells fans but FENG???

Should've seen this coming when I re-read the early 101 arc and I noticed that Feng understood Fuuko even after she took off her necktie translator (her armband). After living for so long, he could definitely picked up an extra language or two.

It's around 1:30-2:00am in Brazil. So probably around 6:00am in the UK. So around 1:00pm in China or Hong Kong if that's where he resides. This man was enjoying an afternoon nap when he got teleported with his hair messed up and tits fully out.

[fbfh]

Francis Wilkerson crushing on (obsessing over) you hcs

wc: 1k

pairing: francis wilkerson x gn!babysitter!reader

warnings: (canon) obsessive behavior from francis but reader is into it (against their better judgement /hj), pinning against wall, begging, francis being pathetic for you /pos, reader is trying to be professional lol

summary: Francis knew his mom hired a new babysitter to look after his brothers, but he didn't expect you to be so... perfect. now he has an impossible to manage crush on you.

song rec: obsessed with you - the orion experience

a/n: oh look another obscure heartthrob there are no fics for!! literally how did we get the scene of hal telling the boys what their relationships will be like and that Francis canonically has that gene and have no one simp loudly for him. yes I know this show went off the air years ago and I don't care. also full disclosure, I haven't watched much malcolm in the middle but I think I have a pretty good grasp on the characters let me know if anyone's ooc lmao

@yesv01

Okay starting off strong 

The scene

The Scene?????

Are you fucking kidding me???

So we know he's a bit of a trouble maker 

That's putting it lightly 

But the fact is Francis is not afraid to get his hands dirty 

He is not at all afraid to get fucking messy

And you know having Lois as his mom is more than enough reason for him to be straight up feral

As Hal said, the men in their family have a habit that makes them a little unstable (and very desperate) in relationships 

It's giving greek tragedy curse 

So if you've ever wanted a hot slightly unhinged obsessive pathetic hot mess boyfriend 

Francis is the one for you 

Okay maybe boyfriend isn't quite the right word 

He’s not “technically” your boyfriend yet

But he’s hellbent on getting there eventually

He just has to warm you up a little first

Prove that he would be such a good boyfriend that you couldn’t say no

He just has to really plead his case, tell you how he feels

He figures if he’s up front and honest, lays his cards on the table

If he tells you he’s fallen for you, all the amazing traits he admires about you and that he thinks you could have some great chemistry

That he’d really love to get to know you better 

That he has a good shot at you agreeing to go on a date with him

It’s a solid plan

So he’s not sure how he ends up literally begging you on his knees, arms around your waist and kissing your stomach after getting rejected a dozen times in like two days

He thinks of something smart but every time he opens his mouth something erratic (and probably a red flag) comes out

He didn’t see this coming

No one did except Hal and Lois

Hal should start offering relationship tarot readings because in that minute and a half speech to his kids, he not only predicted Malcolm's first relationship 

But Francis's too

He's hooked up before, had flings here and there 

But he's never really liked anyone 

Until he sees you, the new babysitter Lois hired 

You're so sweet 

You're responsible, make good grades, and actually have a modicum of common sense 

Lois is hoping you're just what her boys need

Francis is often out of the house doing god knows what 

One of the reasons Lois hired you to begin with 

So it's a little while before Francis actually meets you 

But when he does?? 

Holy hell brace yourself 

When Francis sees you it changes his fucking brain chemistry 

He grabs his brothers and is like "That's the babysitter???"

"Yeah??"

"So you just forgot to mention how hot they are???" 

They did not expect this kind of reaction from him

He pays Dewey five bucks to sneak into your bag and see he can find out what body spray or lip gloss or cologne you use 

Dewey somehow manages to get in and out of your bag without you noticing

“What’s it called?” Francis asks, needing to satisfy the burning urge to know what you smell like up close

“Twilight… twilight something.” Dewey says, trying to remember. “I think it was… twilight sedation. Yeah, that’s it.” 

Francis looks over at you

“Twilight sedation…” he says dreamily

It’s twilight forest, but who’s counting

Francis needs to be around you as much as possible

Being home more than usual won’t be a problem, he thinks

He’s not responsible enough for Lois to let him watch his brothers unsupervised without utter chaos anyway, so it’s not like you’ll stop coming over

So now when you’re babysitting his brothers

When you’re making mac and cheese or helping them with their homework

He’ll find little moments to steal you away

Every time he fully intends to have a conversation with you 

Banter, build a rapport, get to know you better

And every time he ends up shamelessly coming onto you

And usually ends with him pinning you to a wall begging you to let him kiss you

Just once

Please, just once, just one time

And every time you manage to slip away and go back to what you were doing

Helping his brothers with video game levels and homework 

And every time, it leaves him wanting you more and more and more

You think he’s just messing with you at first

But you can’t deny the sincerity of his face and voice and body language

He’s burning for you

Aching for you

And it’s a little overwhelming to say the least

Especially with how out of the blue it is

You want to just have a normal conversation but always end up with him much closer to you than you expect

So you panic and slip away

And so begins the enticing game of cat and mouse between you that drives Francis even crazier for you than he thought was possible

Every time he promises himself he’ll play it cool, just be normal around you

And every time he ends up pinning you against the kitchen counter telling you what a good boyfriend he’ll be

Please just let him prove it

The logical part of your brain knows these should probably be red flags 

But a smaller part of you wants to see

The logical part of your brain also knows that you absolutely should not date the son of the woman you’re babysitting for 

Especially since (aside from Francis) this is the chillest cushiest babysitting job you’ve ever had

Lois was right, you’re exactly what her boys need

And since it’s impossible to get a babysitter, much less keep one, she’s paying you really well for this

So yeah

Dating her son would be a huge conflict of interest

You can’t

You absolutely cannot

But the one thing you failed to take into consideration is that you lowkey have horrible taste in men

So this thing building between you and Francis is really just a matter of time 

Then things are really going to get crazy

[ablupen]

I Completed Lessons 1-10. Here's what happened, and the ending I got.

Alright! After about 15 hr 23 min total of F2P playing, I've completed all 10 lessons with all main stories/episodes watched. Granted, anything past lesson 4 isn't full S completed anymore, and I am very broke, but eh.

Anyways, here's some pictures of how it's going:

And now some more thoughts and summaries, including stuff I didn't say in my last post.

The boss levels are basically beating up the boys... Well, uh, if you're mad at one of the seven, go play their boss level, ig?

Solomon's cooking is so bad it caused Henry 1.0 to rapidly polymorph temporarily into random things

Henry 1.0 was originally huge. Levi befriended the snake when both of them were hiding from Satan

Henry 1.0 became regular snake sized bc Sol shrank him 😐 This means the shrink spell wore off, apparently.

The building that you and Sol share is called Cocytus Hall. I wonder where this building would be present day..? Did it get recycled?

Newly-demon brothers are being discriminated

Cerberus was obtained bc of a rumor that anyone who tames it becomes Ruler of the Underworld.

Mammon rallies everyone behind Luci's back to find and tame Cerberus

On the way there, we discover that we can still summon the brothers (We summon Beel to eat a magically growing pile of apples)

Apprehension attempt on Cerberus did not succeed. Luci saves everyone and tames Cerberus. Someone leaks these news and this is how the seven brothers become the seven rulers.

We become one of the three core founding members of RAD lmao

Somehow we get caught in a dream(?) with Levi in the TSL world. Levi does not know TSL at this point in time. Anyways, he summons Lotan at the end of it, who apparently actually appeared in real life, flooded the room, and then left.

Fuck i forgot when this happened so I'll just leave it here, but: Satan turned everyone except you and Lucifer into Chihuahuas. Including himself. Thankfully, the spell had a limit so it didn't last long

Angels enter the scene! For RAD consultation.

Apparently at some point the bottom of Asmo's bathtub becomes a portal.

Solomon is a fucking bastard and pushes everyone into the bathtub. You choose if you go in by your own will or if he also pushes you.

It leads to the Celestial Realm??? No lol jk, it's actually inside a very familiar looking labyrinth and y'all are being chased by a giant spider, fuck.

Solomon remakes pact with Asmo to distract spider.

Solomon then summons Barbatos

Unfortunately at some point he pissed Barbs off so he's ticked off by this summon. Barbs teleports the spider away and Sol uses his pact to force him to make a portal back home, but Barbs gets mad and later TELEPORTS HIM TO A DRAGON'S DEN LMAO

dw he's alright! He returns next lesson with a dragon egg.

Bad news! Diavolo and Barbatos realize you're human and not a demon after... What/when is this? 6-7 lessons? Yeah. Anyways, Dia tells you that you should pack up bc he's sending you back to the human world. You're another distraction, so to eliminate some stress, you're being deported, sorry. This is not a good thing.

Mammon and crew - except Luci obviously take on a ghost hunting job at the tome place idk I forgot the spelling

Mammon gets fucking possessed by a human ghost named Adam after you read his name off of a tomestone bc it was written in a human language.

Adam says that a demon killed him with consent many years ago bc Adam was trying to look for his lover but their dead

In case it wasn't obvious, that you.

Also, the demon knew you'd have the Ring of Light on you still. Anyways, Adam tells you that the demon's name/alias was Nightbringer. Guys, it's a fucking name drop!!!

You manage to open the gates for Adam by slurping up some of the brothers' powers and by the powers of the ring

Next day, you get a letter telling you to meet Dia concerning your expulsion, which Sol comes with you to try and change Dia's mind.

Suddenly, Belphegor basically kicks open the doors to demand that Beel be released. Apparently, he's been jailed. Shit, isn't that a parallel or what, huh?

Apparently, he suddenly got out of control and rampaged. Dia manages to pin him down and get him into a cell with sheer strength alone, but later escapes in the next lesson after you confront Luci and Belphegor who had a spat.

You, Luci, and Belphie get blamed for causing all of this 🥴 Especially by Barbs. Anyways, using your magic siphoning ability from your future pacts and the Ring of Light, you knock Beel out. Lesson 10 ends with you revealing that you're human and Dia and everyone wondering who tf you are to have this kind of power.

That was a lie. The very last scene was actually Satan and Simeon watching a cat that you introduced to Satan before you left with Luci and Belphie and discover the rampaging Beel. "Do you think MC will come back before the cat wakes up?" "I hope so."

Context for the quotes on the Nightbringer site:

Lucifer; "My pride hurt my brothers": I actually don't remember this one. I don't even know if my choices led up to this one. Will maybe revisit everything tomorrow or sum

Mammon; "We chose to follow Lucifer here. We all had reasons for doin' what we did.": This is from when Mammon is trying to convince the other brothers to join him in his search for Cerberus. He's tired of being discriminated, and doesn't regret his choice.

Leviathan; "I never wanted to come to this awful place, to begin with!": When Diavolo meets with the brothers concerning plans for RAD and about possibly making an announcement to show the brothers'presence, Levi is against this. He doesn't want the attention.

Satan; "I can barely stand being around them. It's torture.": Obviously, "them" are his "brothers". I can assume when he says this, but I think I can guess when it is. It was probably after he stormed off once the others discuss what the Celestial Realm was like. He's never seen that place, and he can't relate to the other brothers.

Asmodeus; "I want to return to the Celestial Realm...! I want to be an angel again! The way I used to be... White wings and all!": This is during the weird portal in the bathtub scene. He had tried to move on from the fall, but Simeon's appearance reminds him of what he lost again. He's scared of the fact that he's getting used to his demon self and that he's forgetting what it was like to be an angel.

Beelzebub; "I have a big secret that I've never been able to tell... Not even to Belphie.": I've actually never encountered this one bc I didn't get close to Beel. Has anyone seen this one?

Belphegor; "Who deserves to be punished the most?": After Lucifer temporarily admits defeat and doesn't stand up to Diavolo to let Beel go, Belphegor gets angry. He's scared that he'll lose another sibling. After telling you about Lilith and how stubborn she was, he admits that he doesn't know who to blame: Lilith for breaking the rules, the angels for directly killing her (or was this second one the other brothers for not doing more? I forgot damn), or himself for not protecting Lilith.

Anyways, that's all I can think of rn. Do note though that in Nightbringer, choices apparently actually matter so you may have gotten different results!

[helloalycia]

moving on [one] // alicia clark

summary: desperate times call for desperate measures and you're forced to join a dangerous gang to keep you and you sister alive. But when you realise just how dangerous they are, you worry about what their influence can have on your sister.

warning/s: mentions of violence, blood, injury and death.

author's note: here’s the first part to an alicia clark imagine i recently worked on. i still miss her lol but it’s great to see Alycia in a variety of roles lately – she deserves it and her acting was wasted on ftwd! still miss Alicia tho so if you do too, i hope you guys like this one! 🥰

some things to note: y/s/n = your sister's name and this is set in season 3 before June reveals herself as June, so she’s called Naomi in this in case anyone is confused or forgot the show aha

also, shameless plug but i’ve shared the first two chapters of my new story on my wattpad account (linked below) and i’d appreciate if you checked it out and let me know what you think! it’s a girl x girl drama fantasy romance ☺️

okay you can enjoy now aha ♥️

two / three / four / five / six / wattpad / masterlist

"You find anything?"

I refrained from cursing as I answered, "Nothing. Everything has been taken."

My sister, Y/S/N, sighed from the other side of the convenience store. "That's the fourth place in a row. We can't keep doing this."

I frowned, glad she couldn't see my expression. "Hang on. There might be something."

Pushing myself from behind the counter, I moved over to the long-defrosted freezers, hoping someone might have stored something there. Only, before I could take a look, the noise of a bell from the front door rang out and I immediately grabbed my pistol, directing there.

"Woah, woah, woah. Relax, ladies!"

I clenched my jaw when I recognised the man as the leader of a local gang, Jeremy. Behind him were a few of his people, all fully armed but making no move to grab their weapons.

"Small world, it seems," Jeremy joked, glancing between my sister and I. When neither of us said anything, he added, "There's no need for the guns. We're here same as you. Looking for supplies."

Reluctantly, I lowered my gun but kept it firm in my grip. I glanced over at Y/S/N, wondering why she didn't do a better job of keeping watch.

"So, did you find anything?" he continued, speaking to me.

I purposely stayed quiet, fixing my narrowed stare on him. Everywhere we went since arriving in Texas a few weeks ago, we bumped into Jeremy and his gang. It started off as us avoiding him, but after bumping into him accidentally and him recognising us over and over, he always offered us a place with him. He rubbed me the wrong way and he never gave up. I half expected him to kill us out of convenience since we were searching for the same things in the same areas. But he always let us go and I didn't want to imagine why.

"It's been picked clean," Y/S/N answered for me, and I shot her a questioning look which she chose to ignore.

Jeremy hummed in response, glancing around. "We'll be on our way then." He glanced at me, smiling in a way that made me uncomfortable. "That wasn't so bad, was it? We all live here after all. We can help each other out."

I swallowed thickly, grip tightening on my gun.

"You're welcome to join us," he added with a nod. "You know where to find us if you ladies change your mind."

After a tense few seconds, he finally left with his people and I didn't fully relax until I heard his truck driving away.

"He's always–"

"Weren't you keeping watch?!" I cut Y/S/N off, staring at her with disbelief. "They just walked right in!"

"I know, I know," she said quickly, frowning. "Sorry."

Massaging the bridge of my noise, I released a breath. Being angry was no use. Besides, it wasn't her I was angry at.

"If he wanted to hurt us, he would have by now," Y/S/N added hesitantly, knowing how I'd react. "I don't think he means harm."

I scoffed, shaking my head. "Yeah, no harm. Just wants us to join his stupid gang."

"Would that be so bad?"

Pausing, I looked to her with a warning look. "Don't start."

Thankfully, she left it at that. The last thing I wanted to hear were her thoughts on how we needed their help to survive. Of course, my life wasn't so easy.

Later that same evening, after no luck searching for supplies, Y/S/N and I were camping out in a derelict building, eating the last of our rations. I had a map spread out between us, trying to figure out where we could move to next that may serve us better luck. But almost everywhere was touched apart from farmhouses and a baseball stadium. None of that could help us. And I feared where that would leave us.

"We could try to find a working car and either drive to some of these farmhouses, or make our way out of Texas altogether," I suggested, pointing to the route on the map.

"All the gas will be taken from the cars out there," Y/S/N said disappointedly.

"Okay, well we can try to find some garages. Maybe there's still some old cars in there with fuel," I tried, but even saying it aloud felt pointless.

"Y/N..."

"Fine, not that, but we can't stay here," I decided. "Just– let me think."

It went quiet as I racked my brain for a way out, a plan. We'd officially used up all our food, couldn't find more and had no mode of transport. We were lucky enough to have the few bullets in our guns that we did, but even those were close to running out.

"Y/N, maybe we should consider taking up Jeremy on his offer," Y/S/N said after a moment.

I glanced up at her, seeing the regret in her expression next to the fire.

"I know you don't want to, but they have food, supplies, protection," she continued, sucking up a breath. "It's our only choice."

"I don't trust them," I told her, shaking my head. "They aren't family. They won't look out for you like I will. We can find another way."

"I don't think we can," she said with a frown. "It's been weeks. We haven't settled. There's nothing here. At least they have a place to call home. Food. If we keep going like this, we're gonna die."

"No, we won't," I said stubbornly. "We've lasted this long without help from Jeremy." Even his name in my mouth made me uncomfortable. "We'll figure something out."

"Y/N!" she said suddenly, making me look up. Softer this time, she said, "We don't have a choice."

I hated that she was right. I could stay up all night looking over this map, but nothing would work. We'd pushed our luck and now we were desperate. And Jeremy and his stupid gang were the only ones we could turn to for help – anyone else we'd met out here was either struggling themselves or on the verge of death.

"Okay," I said, already knowing it was the wrong choice. "We'll find him tomorrow."

I swear I saw a hint of a smile on Y/S/N's lips and I wasn't so sure why she liked them so much. They had always tried to convince her to join. Looks like they were both getting what they wanted.

To my dismay, Jeremy accepted Y/S/N and I into his gang with open arms. I still didn't understand what he could want from us so bad, maybe just some new recruits, but he let us join and had that stupid knowing smile on his face when we did. He'd never explicitly done anything bad to us, but something about him and his people rubbed me the wrong way. Their nonchalant, easygoing attitude to this new world was a discomfort to me and definitely not something I wanted my little sister and I to be around, but we had no choice.

We stayed with them a month and it was as comfortable as I was expecting. They were always on the move, setting up different camps in different areas and changing it every other day. Y/S/N and I helped out with the community side of things, but Jeremy insisted we joined him on the supply runs. Y/S/N and I were decent shots and good at defending ourselves which he'd clearly noticed. So, we started to do that, too. I hated it, wanting the very opposite of this life now that we had somewhere to stay. But Y/S/N loved it. She was enjoying our time here, especially working under Jeremy and his second-in-command, Tia. It worried me a little.

After that month of somewhat living and not just surviving, Y/S/N and I were on a supply run with Jeremy, Tia and a few others. As we were driving down the open stretch of land, I noticed a person fighting off some infected off the side of the road and grew worried.

"They need help," I realised, patting Jeremy on the shoulder and leaning forward. "We have to stop."

Jeremy tried not to laugh in the front seat. "Not our problem."

I looked to my sister with raised eyebrows, but she stayed quiet and shrugged. Refusing to do nothing, I tried again with Jeremy. 

"Please, we can help him! It's just a few infected!"

"I don't remember bringing Mother Teresa with us, do you?" Tia joked, making everyone except my sister and I laugh.

We were coming past the guy now and I had a closer look at him struggling to fight off the two infected with nothing but a baseball bat.

"We can't just leave him!" I shouted. "Please! I'll do it!"

Jeremy suddenly hit the brakes, making us all fly forward. Surprised, I looked to him and saw he was already grabbing his gun.

"You want me to help? Fine. I'll help," he said, meeting my gaze in the rear view mirror. "Wait here. All of you."

Relieved, I nodded and watched as he got out the truck and approached the guy with his gun. Like second nature, he shot both infected in the head with only two bullets. They fell in an instant and I sighed with relief, glad we could at least help somebody whilst with Jeremy and reaping the 'rewards'.

"Thank you so much, man," the stranger was saying with relief, pushing himself from the ground. "I owe you my–"

Without warning, Jeremy fired a third shot at the stranger's head, making him fall to the ground as quickly as the infected did. I gasped, covering my mouth as I watched Jeremy shake his head and walk back to the truck.

"Happy now?" he asked rhetorically, glancing at me with a sigh before starting the truck again.

Like nothing had happened, he continued on his way and nobody said a word. I seemed to be the only one who was mortified by his actions – he'd just killed an innocent person! When I looked over to Y/S/N, she gave me a warning look and shook her head as if telling me not to say anything. I couldn't tell if she was as surprised as I was or not.

When we returned to camp afterwards, I rushed straight to my tent, needing to be away from Jeremy and his gang and everybody here. How could he do that without remorse? He barely batted an eye. That definitely wasn't his first kill– murder.

"Y/N," Y/S/N followed after me breathlessly. "God, you walk fast."

"Y/S/N, what the fuck?!" I whisper shouted, looking to her with watery eyes. "He just murdered an innocent man!"

She didn't say anything, only frowned.

"I knew there was something off about him, about this place," I said, shaking my head and covering my mouth. I didn't realise I was shaking until I did. "We can't stay here. Who knows what else he's capable of? How many others he's killed?"

"Y/N, I'm not defending him, but maybe he had a reason," Y/S/N said weakly. "Maybe the guy was bit and was going to die anyway."

I blinked, taken aback by her words. "What? How can you say that? You saw it with your own eyes, he did it for his own enjoyment! That's fucked!"

She sighed slowly, hands on her hips. I suddenly felt like I was in a tent with a stranger when I realised she wasn't reacting like I was. She was acting like this was normal.

"We need this place," she decided. "We need their food, their home, their weapons. We're alive because of them. We can't leave."

"And we can't stay," I said with a glare. "If we associate with people like this, then what does that make us?"

She clenched her jaw, meeting my glare with her own. "Tell me a better way. Go on. Tell me another plan for survival." I didn't know what to say and she knew it. "You tell me where we go after this and I will happily leave with you right now. Go on."

Clenching my fists by side, I looked away from her and she scoffed.

"Exactly, there's nowhere," she stated bitterly. "All you do is complain. But you don't have a solution."

Swallowing hard, I tried to remain calm. "Y/S/N, we can't be around people like this. It's not safe."

"It's not safe out there either," she reminded me with a firm stare, before her gaze softened. "Look. If you can figure out a plan B, then we can leave."

"You promise?"

She nodded, taking my hand and squeezing it gently. "I promise."

I didn't want to be here for a second longer, but I wasn't going to leave my sister behind. So, my next priority was finding a plan B. Somewhere that wasn't here. And the sooner the better because I feared Y/S/N wouldn't want to leave if I waited too long.

"Are you sure this place is empty?" I asked Tia, clutching my gun tightly.

"Why? You scared or something?" she retorted with a smirk.

I chose not to reply as I followed behind everyone. We were on yet another supply run barely two months later, except this one was to an abandoned campsite for a rival gang that had long departed this area. Intel had it that they hadn't returned in weeks, hence our plan to stop by and see if there was anything left. But it seemed everybody here had a death wish and nobody was cautious.

"Y/N, we wouldn't be here if it wasn't safe," Y/S/N reassured me, but I could see her smiling with amusement at Tia's joke.

Just as I had feared, Y/S/N was beginning to love it here. And I couldn't exactly ask her to leave again because I still didn't have a plan B, not a sustainable one anyway.

"Okay, for Y/N's sake, everyone open your eyes and ears and spread out," Jeremy ordered, making the others laugh. "Try not to piss your pants at the sight of infected."

I rolled my eyes but kept close to Y/S/N. As we all stepped further into the building, I looked around and saw it truly had been abandoned, little evidence showing somebody had lived here recently. It didn't make sense though. This rival gang wouldn't just leave.

"I think there's something over here," Jeremy realised, motioning with his rifle to the corner of the room. "Follow me."

He stepped forward casually and I wouldn't have cared if it weren't for a wire sticking out the corner of the wall getting my attention. I followed it with my eyes, confused to where it was leading, but only when it was too late did I realise what it was. Eyes widened, I shouted to Jeremy.

"Don't take another–!"

I couldn't remember much after that. There was an excruciatingly loud bang and then everything went black. When I came to, my ears were ringing and I felt like I could hear the blood rushing in my head. My vision was crossed over, blurring images of smoke, fire and debris. I wasn't sure how long I'd been lying there, but when I was finally able to keep my eyes from crossing over, I saw I was on the floor, covered in debris and ash. Blinking, I realised half the ceiling had collapsed and everything was on fire.

Y/S/N was the first thing on my mind and I tried to sit up, but I couldn't move. My body was numb, lungs begging for fresh air and eyes watering in the heat. I turned my head, glad I could at least do that, and squinted to see around me. I couldn't see any bodies, but then I heard snarling and knew infected were in the vicinity. I needed to get up!

"Y/N!" I heard my name being called and turned my head to the direction, recognising it as my sister's voice. "Y/N!"

More snarling. The infected were on my side of the fire, closing in.

"Y/N!" Y/S/N screamed again, and I finally saw her on the opposite side, searching for me. Her eyes found mine and I wanted to call for her help, but I could barely breathe. There was a pain, but I didn't know where.

"We have to go, Y/S/N, come on!" another voice said, and I saw Jeremy beside her, yanking her back.

"No, she's over there!" Y/S/N tried to fight against him, wanting to come to me.

"She's basically dead and we will be too if we don't leave now!" he shouted at her.

She stared at me with tears in her eyes. I tried to do something, give her some sort of signal that I wasn't dead. I was right here and okay! But she gave me one last apologetic look and let Jeremy drag her away. I couldn't believe what I'd seen. Had I seen correctly? I had to be wrong, surely.

But there was no time to debate it. I couldn't lay here and let the infected get me. I had to get out, get to my sister, get some damn air!

The ringing subsided and my vision straightened up. I forced myself into a sitting up position, feeling a burning in my shoulder but too afraid to look just yet. Whilst the adrenaline had the better of me, I stayed on all fours and crawled my way out the building, keeping my mouth covered with my shirt. Finally, I saw daylight and got out, taking in big gulps of fresh air. It helped, a little, but my head was spinning and I couldn't hear properly still.

Infected were closing in in the distance, I realised. I forced myself to stand, trying not to cry when my shoulder continued to burn. I risked looking down and saw that it was covered in blood from a piece of shrapnel lodged in there and still burning from the fire. I needed to get away from the heat. I needed Y/S/N.

With difficulty, I tried to find the others out front. Looking back, the whole building was set ablaze. They couldn't have gone far, right? I hadn't been down for that long.

But they were nowhere to be found. No cars, trucks, nothing. I had nothing on me either, no supplies or weapons or first aid. My only focus was getting away from the fire and away from the infected, so I kept low and out of their line of sight, putting as much distance as I could between them and me.

The longer I stay out here though, I thought, the more likely my wound will get infected and I'll die.

I didn't know how bad it was, but it didn't feel good. I didn't care though. All I kept thinking about was Y/S/N. Did she really choose them over me? Why would she do that?

No, she couldn't have. I saw. She wanted to come get me. They forced her. They made her believe I was already dead. She didn't know.

I saw that, right?

I wasn't sure what I'd seen. My mind was still a muddle and, though the ringing had stopped, I felt exhausted. But I couldn't just pass out anywhere. I needed to find my sister. Get somewhere safe.

The evening crept up on me quicker than I thought. I was forced to take refuge in an old gas station. There, I could see the building was still burning in the distance, a bright flame in the evening sky and no doubt attracting every infected for a five mile radius. I took that moment of peace to inspect my shoulder closely, peeling my shirt which had partially melted into the flesh. The pain became too much though, blinding, and I had to leave it as is. I had nothing to treat it with anyway. The shrapnel was the only thing stopping the bleeding, for now.

The rival gang, they'd rigged the place with explosives. I knew something was up. If only fucking Jeremy had scouted it out beforehand.

The night was rough. I barely got any sleep, drifting into unconsciousness out of pure pain rather than comfort. When I woke up the next morning, I almost didn't want to get up, but the thought of getting my sister back was what pushed me. I'd lost a lot of blood, barely any energy left, but I had to keep going. I knew the way back, but it was much longer without a car.

I kept going, glad there were no infected to challenge me, though it would definitely be a challenge I'd lose. I was burning up, my fever getting worse and worse the longer my wound was left untreated. I couldn't escape the smell of smoke on my clothes, nor blood. I thought I could keep going, but I collapsed by a car in the street soon enough.

Trying to force myself up, I squeezed my eyes shut and attempted to push up, but it didn't work. I had no energy left. I think I was dying. I had to be. I couldn't even hold myself upright against the car, my back hitting the ground and staying that way. Everything hurt, but I tried to push it away as I looked at the clouds in the sky.

At least I would be reunited with my parents soon. Maybe they would know why Y/S/N did what she did, because I couldn't figure it out. Still, I hoped she was safe wherever she was.

Time had been a blur since the fire. Seconds merged into minutes which merged into hours. If it weren't for the clouds turning pink, I wouldn't have known how long I'd been out there, simply staring at the sky and waiting for death. It was at sunset when I was beginning to lose feeling, lose common sense.

I heard a car engine, I think, though I couldn't be sure. There were voices. Female. Overlapping, not making any sense.

"–no bites–" one was saying.

"–burnt flesh–" said the other.

A hand pressed to my cheek and I couldn't stop it. Suddenly, I was looking into the eyes of a stranger. Her lips were moving, concern on her face. Why did she care about me? Who was she?

She might have said the most important thing in the world or the dumbest, but I wouldn't know. Her words were background noise. Her face was a blur. More voices. And then everything went silent.

My eyes were heavy when I began to wake up, as if I'd been sleeping for years. A quiet groan escaped my lips as I forced them open, and then I felt the aching all over my body, though not as painful as I last remembered. Blinking the blurriness from my vision, I realised I was lying down and looking up at a ceiling. Ceiling? Where was I?

Turning my head, I made out a an IV bag beside me, attached to my wrist. Was I in a hospital? That didn't make sense.

I kept looking around, memories of recent events flashing to mind as I tried to make sense of where I was. Subconsciously, I reached for my injured shoulder, surprised to find it bandaged under a shirt that wasn't mine.

Panicking now, I forced myself to sit up, grimacing at how quickly I did it. I didn't know where I was or who had found me, but I couldn't stay here. What if Y/S/N was looking for me? What if she was too far? I had to get out of here!

I ripped out the drip from my arm and pushed my legs over the edge of the bed. Looking around once more, a bit more awake, I realised it wasn't a hospital. Hospitals were usually white and bright. This was a simple room with medical equipment stored inside and alongside a few beds. Wherever I was, this was there medbay. I didn't want to stick around to find out who owned it.

Standing up proved to be a challenge, my energy drained completely, but I managed. There were no shoes around nor on my feet, so I hobbled barefoot to the door, yanking it open and holding it for support as I blinked at the daylight. Adjusting, I raised my hand to cover my eyes slightly, stepping outside.

There were people all around, smiling, in no danger, all doing different things. To my right, a small group were building some sort of structure. To my left, there was a garden being tended to. And up ahead, in the distance, I saw seats. Was I in a sports stadium? What the hell?

Distracted and confused, I failed to see someone nearby spot me and approach with urgency.

"You're awake!" the blonde woman realised, immediately stopping by my side. "You shouldn't be on your feet. Please, let's go back inside!"

I didn't know why I listened to her, even when she held my arm and practically ushered me back inside. A lot more tired than I realised, I let her sit me back on the bed.

"I see you took your IV out," she said with a reprimanding tone, before moving to grab it. When she tried to touch me, I moved my hand away, making her frown. "Please. It will help. You need rest."

Without speaking, I refused to give her my hand and she seemed to get that I didn't trust her nor know who she was.

"I'm Naomi," she introduced. "I'm the nurse here and I've been making sure you don't die from blood loss. What's your name?"

I glanced between her eyes, wondering if I was insane to trust a stranger so easily. But she did help me when I was at my lowest, so could she be all that bad?

"Y/N," I said, voice too hoarse to be above a whisper.

As I cleared my throat, she passed me a cup of water that I failed to notice beside my bed. Taking a few sips, I relaxed at the way it soothed my throat.

"Well, Y/N, it's nice to meet you," she said with a small smile. "Please can I...?"

Referring to the IV, she waited patiently. I nodded and let her put it back into my arm before setting up the bed so I could sit upright without holding my own weight.

"You're very lucky we found you when we did," she said once she was done. "Your shoulder looked like hell. It's much better now."

I didn't know what to say. All I could think about was Y/S/N and where she was. Was she okay? Was she safe?

Before Naomi could say anything more, the door opened again and in walked two more people. They seemed familiar – I think they were the ones who found me, but that memory was hazy.

"You're up," the younger girl said, glancing at me before looking to Naomi. "Is she okay?"

"Physically, sure," Naomi answered.

The younger girl nodded and stepped forward, her attention back on me. "How are you?" Before I could think to answer, she shook her head. "Sorry, I didn't even ask your name. I'm Alicia and this is Luciana." She motioned to the girl beside her, who offered me a small smile. "We're the ones who found you out on the side of the road."

"I'm Y/N," I answered reluctantly, glancing between them both. "Thank you for taking me in."

I knew it was the right thing to say, but I still wasn't sure if I was safe, even if they were all being polite to me.

"Y/N," Alicia repeated softly, before smiling. "It's nice to meet you, Y/N. How are you?"

I blinked, looking down. "I, er... I don't know."

They exchanged looks, making me feel out of place, before Naomi said, "Can I ask how you ended up how you did? You have some pretty nasty burns on your shoulder."

"We saw smoke not too far from where you were," Luciana added gently. "Lots of infected were attracted to it. Is that where you were?"

I pursed my lips, remembering it all so suddenly. Y/S/N could still be out there. Or she could be back at their base, if they hadn't moved yet. I needed to find her.

But how could I tell these strangers that? I didn't know them, I didn't know if I could trust them. What if they wouldn't let me leave?

"You're free to stay here for as long as you need to," Alicia suddenly said, as if reading my mind. "You should, if anything. You need rest."

"Where is here exactly?" I asked calmly, hoping they couldn't detect my nerves.

"This is the Dell Diamond Baseball Stadium," Naomi answered. "It's been converted into a small community, a safe place that's well guarded and well supplied. You're safe here."

I clenched my jaw, looking away momentarily. The baseball stadium. Safe, supplied and guarded? All I could think about was how if Y/S/N had just risked visiting it instead of writing it off as useless, we could still be together and none of this would have happened. Now... now it was quite far out from the fire and she'd be long gone. Maybe. I wouldn't know unless I got up and searched.

"I get this might be a lot," Alicia said considerately, "so you should sleep it off and then we can talk more. How does that sound?"

It sounded pretty damn great, my whole body exhausted still.

"Thanks," I said awkwardly, looking between them.

They smiled and Naomi helped me to lay down properly, lowering the bed. I hated to admit it, but as soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out like a light.

When I woke up, it was dark out the window. I wasn't sure how long I was out for, but I felt a lot better. 

The sound of someone awkwardly clearing their throat made me push myself up slightly, looking at the end of my bed. There, I saw Alicia sat on a chair, smiling a little.

"Sorry, I didn't want to scare you or anything," she said, standing up and unsure what to do with herself. "I figured you would wake up soon and thought you might want to eat something."

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, humming tiredly. She helped prop my bed upright and I leaned back, waking up a little more now.

"It's chicken, potatoes, some vegetables," she explained when she carefully handed me the tray. "Hope you like it."

That definitely woke me up and I widened my eyes with surprise, looking down at the food. It was still hot, steam curling off it and leaving a pleasant smell in my nose.

"Is everything okay?" she asked worriedly, looking over the tray. "Is there something in it?"

I shook my head, glancing up at her. "No, it's– it's perfect. I haven't had food like this in– well, a long time. Thank you."

Relieved, she nodded and smiled before pulling her chair around to my bedside and taking a seat. I dug in, savouring each bite between sips of water and wondering how I'd been lucky enough to land somewhere like this. These people were too nice, suspiciously nice, and I still couldn't gauge if they were after something or not.

"Er, thanks for all of this, Alicia," I said when I realised she was sitting there whilst I scoffed my face rudely. Clearing my throat, I added, "I should have said so earlier, but I was– it's a lot to adjust to."

"I can imagine," she sympathised. "And no worries. I'm just glad we could help."

I paused, pursing my lips. "Yeah... why are you helping? It's hard to come by these days, so..."

"You're expecting a catch," she read my mind, an amused smile on her lips. When my expression confirmed this, she continued, "There's no catch. Luci and I saw someone hurt and who needed help, so we helped. This place is for people who need somewhere safe. A home. That's all this is."

"You don't even know who I am," I said without thinking, too amazed at her naivety of the world to hold back. "I could be a horrible person. A murderer. Someone not worth saving. Do you just pick up every person you see?"

Not the slightest bit offended, Alicia tried not to laugh. "Well, are you any of those things? Because last time I checked, murderers don't announce they're murderers."

I raised my eyebrows, wondering how she could be so calm about this world we were in. How long had she had it easy that she wasn't afraid? I was almost jealous.

"You're right," she decided, giving me an apologetic look, green eyes still flickering with partial amusement. "I don't know who you are. So, maybe you can tell me. Starting with why we found you how we did. If you want."

Still, I wasn't sure if I could trust her. But nothing about her screamed evil, and she had helped me, so it made sense to tell her the truth. Besides, I couldn't find Y/S/N without her letting me go.

"The fire," I said, recalling that they'd seen it, too. "It was a booby trap some old gang left. I was with my sister and another group checking it out. But the trap was triggered and the whole place went up in flames."

Alicia's eyebrows knitted together as she listened. "You weren't alone?"

"No, and that's why I need to find my sister," I said confidently. "She needs me."

Alicia nodded slowly, straightening up. "How did you get out? Didn't you see her in the fire? And what about your group?"

I frowned at the memory. "The group aren't good people. I wanted to leave them for a while, but they were the only thing keeping my sister and I fed and alive. My sister, Y/S/N, she was there. I woke up and I saw her, but that arsehole..."

Seeing Jeremy's face in my head, the way he dragged her away... it made me clench my fists without realising.

"The leader, Jeremy, he told her I was dead, or as good as dead, and to get out whilst they could," I continued. "The infected were there. It was smokey. I couldn't hear properly. But I saw it. Saw them."

"And she saw you, too?" Alicia asked patiently.

I nodded. "She went with him."

"She saw you, but she still left?" Alicia asked with surprise.

I swallowed hard, fixing her with a stare. "I know what it sounds like, but she didn't just leave. He made her."

She didn't seem convinced as she tilted her head slightly. "Y/N..."

"She wouldn't just leave," I repeated bitterly. "She's my sister. He made her leave and I need to find her! She needs to know I'm alive and then I'm gonna take her away from him and she'll be okay. I just– I need to get out of here."

Alicia pressed her lips together thoughtfully. "Y/N, I'm sorry this happened, and I'm sure you saw what you wanted to see in the moment. But like you said, you were barely conscious, there was a fire, infected... it sounds like she just left you."

"She didn't!" I exclaimed, before shaking my head and pushing the tray onto the bed. "Forget it, I don't need to explain this to you. I'll find her myself. Just let me out of here."

As I attempted to pull off my blanket and get up, Alicia suddenly shot up and stopped me.

"Let go," I told her with narrowed eyes, and she thankfully did.

"Just wait," she said, meeting my eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. Look, you're in no position to go back out there on your own. It's not safe."

"I've managed before," I assured her with a fake smile. "Now move."

Rolling her eyes but staying put, she said, "I'll take you there. We can go back to the fire. Back to wherever you think she is. Find a clue to her whereabouts."

I paused, studying her suspiciously. "Why would you do that?"

"I know what it's like to do anything for your family," she said, and I believed her for some reason. "And you don't seem like a bad person."

"So, what? You're just helping me out of the kindness of your heart?"

"Is that so hard to believe?"

I quirked a brow, intrigued by the stranger. "Yeah."

She sighed, relaxing when she saw I wasn't going to try to leave again. "I'll take you in the morning. But I'm telling you now, if you don't find her, you should leave it at that. Don't go looking for her."

"Are you insane?" I asked. "She's my sister. Of course I'll keep looking."

"Whether you want to admit or not, she left you to die," she said with an apologetic but knowing voice. "She chose this Jeremy guy over you. And you going out there to look for her isn't worth your life. Sister or not."

I tensed my jaw to contain my annoyance at her assumption, but said nothing. She didn't have to believe me – she didn't know Y/S/N like I did. I'd find her. She'd be waiting for me. I knew it.

"Fine," I lied, only needing Alicia long enough to find Y/S/N, which I would. "Tomorrow morning it is."

Content with my answer, she nodded and took a step back. "Good. Now eat. If you're to come with me, you need your energy back."

Begrudgingly, I pulled the tray back onto my lap and obeyed, feeling like a child. I wasn't sure why Alicia was being so generous – maybe she really was just being kind, but I'd seen so much evil these past few years that it was hard to accept.

[wings-of-ink]

First Devlog?

Hello everyone...boy, there are a lot of you already, still trying to digest that...

So, I gather that I should do these logs on occasion. I do not know how often, perhaps just when I have a few things to say. I will try not to ramble too much, but my fingies like to talk.

Anyway, I am working on chapter 3 right now. There’s some fun moments so far in it that I hope you’ll like, and we’ll get to meet Zahn, Duri'naan, and then Rundis. I’m trying not to rush because there are some exciting scenes that I’m eager to get to. I’ve outlined them to tide myself over until I get that far. There’s some quiet moments you’ll get to have as well, and right now I feel like that’s what I’m struggling with. Those areas of my story are like bridges to the next, more exciting, parts and sometimes I feel like they fall a little flat. But, I’m trying to keep in mind this is my first draft. I’ll go through it another time or two to perk things up. Those moments are still important for letting the MC get to know each RO.

My mind has been in a million directions lately too, and I’ve had a lot of ‘duh’ moments. I’ve done so much world building since I started this last year (around August/September I think), that I have pockets of important details that I kinda just forgot! So, I plan to re-read all the notes I’ve made and try to also put them into one place. I have some in my phone, in a notebook, and in no less than three folders on my laptop. It’s a wonder I have survived this many years…

What you can expect for coming updates…

-A couple fixes, of course – thank you to those who found some of those pesky buggy bois for me.

-A nicer front page, instead of being slapped with my ramblings, I’d like to actually have a nice start page. I’ll figure it out eventually, lol.

-I’ll be adding a name bank to the MC’s Nameday scene that will also show you what each name means, so if that is important to you, it’ll save you the internet search. If it tickles your fancy, the name selection will correspond in some way to the marks (names meaning "night" or "storm," etc.) so you can theme your MC a bit.

-Extra coding in case you decide to shorten MC’s given name to just “Ravi.” I did not once consider that anyone would do this, and my first play-tester – my own spouse – did….He told me about it since it made some dialog with Oswin make zero sense, and then I published the story without fixing it because I completely forgot about it.

-Different contrast color for dark mode links. I feel like I have drastically improved this with a new gold color. In retrospect, I don’t know why I didn’t use the gold before. I love it as an accent, I use it all over! The blue never felt 100% right, but my brain shut down after thinking about it too long. Here’s a sample and a (M) Zahn tease:

When can you expect an update?

I’d like to make my next update during the Amare Games Festival, ideally containing both chapters 3 and 4 since they go pretty tightly together. This will also insure that you meet the rest of the posse. It’s a tall order for both chapters to be submitted on time, and I don’t want to rush them either, but I’m going to try really really hard, lol. I will focus first on polishing chapter 3, so that no matter what, I can at least get it out in time.

Here’s a link to the post about it:

And this is the submission time frame: open from March 31st 2024 at 11:00 PM to May 1st 2024 at 12:00 AM

As a side message, should you want to read on…

I also wanted to give you all a big, like really big, heartfelt thank you. I have received so many kind messages and comments that I just can’t believe it. I am so happy (and honestly, genuinely shocked) that you’re enjoying my IF, and I’m motivated to work hard so you also enjoy each new chapter of your journey. There’s so many secrets I want to share with you about the world, and I am struggling to be patient myself, lol.

I am not usually a very open or social person, and I was scared for a long time to share anything I wrote. I reached a point in my personal life in the last few years where I just needed to embrace what I loved to do and share it with a community that shares in that love. I encourage you to do the same whether there is a story in your heart, music on your lips, or a paintbrush in your hands. Life is NOT about your 8-5. We may not be able to survive without it, but whatever moment you can, do what you actually love. Put away the those things that don’t matter, the things that stress you - including people, and make time for who you are.

Thank you all and take care!

~Lunan

[madsfrank]

This isn't a request or anything just some thought sharing but I-

I'm kinda obsessed with the thought of Sole going to the glowing sea all alone. They couldn't possibly ask anyone else to come there with them, not when they know the risks. So they go alone. One night they and their companion go to sleep only for the companion to wake up alone with a note (or a holotape) next to them explaining where Sole had went, what they planned to do.

Sole knows it's near suicide to go there, alone or not, they won't let anyone but themselves to take that risk

The synths and robots aren't immune to deathclaws, the rest are at risk of radiation poisoning and deathclaws, and frankly they don't want to risk Hancock going feral just because they dragged him in there, so they go alone

Maybe the companions go after them only for them to get to the edge of the sea just as Sole is coming back

DONT MAKE MY CRY. 😭😭

No, I absolutely agree with this idea. I’ll add that sole knows they have been exposed to the least amount of radiation. They have the best chance of walking out alive.

Now, the question is, does sole wear power armor? I’m gonna go with they do…cause it’s suicide in game if you don’t, lol.

Anyways…(idc if it’s not a request you’re getting your damn reaction lol)

Not including cods or strong or any of those guys bc this is more of a romance prompt sooo.

X6 also isnt included because he wouldn’t have met sole yet…so…

• Cait

Waking up…feeling that emptiness beside her that she was so used to…sole’s absence didn’t even alert her at first. She was so used to being alone.

Now, frantically, she searched around their shred room in sanctuary, before finding a holotape hidden between some detective cases on sole’s personal desk.

When she heard…in sole’s own voice say not to follow them…and that they love her…her breathing became shallow and fast.

Screw what sole says, they aren’t leaving her behind.

(Basically running like the flint Lockwood meme) she makes it to the edge of the Glowing Sea. She forgot most of her gear and was basically just clutching a few bags of radaway

Looking beyond the mess of fog and broken trees, she sees a massive form…

…more specifically the shape of power armor.

“Sole! You bastard!”

She’s crying as sole steps out of the power armor…collapsing onto the ground…coughing up blood and gasping for air.

She gladly tosses Sole all of her Radaway…basically pouring it down their throat.

When sole wakes up…against a tree nearby..Cait is punching their arm…asking them why…why they would leave alone…that there could have been another way.

Sole knows the truth though, it had to be them.

• Curie

In her new body…she was so used to sleeping next to sole…feeling their warmth…now gone suddenly.

She jolts awake, quickly feeling herself go cold…even colder when she saw the private note written to her.

She figured as much, she calculated it. They were gone…most likely out there…suffering or even…dead.

Quickly, she gathered a supply of stimpacks and radaway from their shared home and took off towards the Glowing Sea.

…seeing them…at the edge of the sea…collapsed next to a suit of power armor…she thought it might have been too late.

She wasn’t strong enough to draw them away by herself so she utilized the power armor

Once out of the danger zone, she began stimming them and inserting the Radaway into their veins.

Hearing them cough and moan in pain nearly broke her heart. She payed on top of them in exhaustion, having rested for the first time since she set out for them.

Sole will drag their arm over her form…thinking about all the pain they just put her through and having to remember that there was no other way.

…the only other way would’ve meant losing her.

And they just couldn’t risk that.

• Danse

Danse is a military man. Waking up alone had never bothered him before.

He didn’t wake up immediately. When he did awake, he didn’t even put together that sole had went to the Glowing Sea

But that damn holotape…

He wasn’t sad…he was angry…he could’ve grabbed a suit and followed him

He’s a damn synth he should be able to handle more radiation. He should…he…

“SHIT”

Danse grabs a supply bag for himself and for sole before leaving their homestead.

The trek was long…but Danse prayed it wouldn’t be too long.

Reaching the edge of the glowing sea…he saw them. Their damn near lifeless form nearby a suit of tattered power armor

A deathclaw had gotten to it

“God no…no no no…sole…”

He easily carried them out of the irradiated area and into an abandoned home…laying them on a bed full of dried blood.

He felt them breathing and instantly got hit with adrenaline…he quickly gave them Stimpacks and Radaway. Then, he just sat nearby in silence and prayed silently to whatever deity would listen.

When they awoke..he’d be right there…his eyelids heavy but soles safety was much more important.

He’d never watch them die…never…not like this…

…he knew it would always be him first.

• Deacon

Being alone for so long…he wondered why he woke up so fast…noticing the warmth next to him gone.

“Christ, no”

He already knew though. He already knew…even without the handwritten note next to his pillow…

He couldn’t even bring himself to read it. He was so…upset? He basically threw it away.

He didn’t even try to make sense of his emotions as he gathered a heap of railroad supplies to track them down with.

His mind was racing with thoughts he couldn’t make sense of the whole trip…they couldn’t just leave him like this…even if it WAS because they cared.

Coming to the edge of the sea…he spotted them.

They were covered in blood…power armor long abandoned.

He wasn’t a hugger, but literally forced them into his arms…not even caring about how heavily irradiated they were.

Pulling them against him and out of the Glowing Sea, he applied what he brought with him…bringing them out of their pain and suffering.

“Don’t ever do that again…I…Dez…someone could have helped you…don’t leave me behind here.”

Sole had to go though…they knew they had the best chance…and they could risk loosing the only man in this whole damn wasteland with hope.

The only man…who they loved.

• Gage

“Shit…”

He already knew when he woke up.

He knew sole was a damn hard head and this just proved it…

“Leaving alone to protect some damn raider?” He said aloud as he read sole’s note to him.

He was pissed that sole would not take him with them…he could have protected them…

It’s not even worth it to go out there alone…there has to be another way…there just had to be…

He’d gather up a few supplies before storming off…prepared to give sole a earful

However…when he found them…laying in the dirt face down…his expression shifted.

“Shit…hey, boss?”

He’d soon try to focus on their faint breathing before hurriedly giving them Stimpacks and Radaway to ease their pain.

He then prop them up and take them in a tight grip

“Sole, you idiot…let me go with you…I’m just a raider…I’m expendable…your not”

Sole would shush him before trying to convince him that it had to be them…

But sole knew Gage would never believe them…because sole knew that gage really cared…

…maybe he was the only one that did.

• Hancock

Hancock’s late-night jet trip kept him asleep well after sole left.

Waking up, he didn’t register the fact they had gone. When it did though..he felt more hurt than when he started becoming a ghoul.

The holotape only made things worse.

Gathering up what little supplies they kept within their home, he took as much as he could carry and began the not-too-far hike to the Glowing Sea.

They were collapsed against a tree…breathing shallow enough they could have been mistaken as dead.

Luckily they were already out of the high amounts of radiation.

He gave them much needed care, as much as a man like him could figure out how to do without needing an actual doctor.

“Don’t you dare do that to me again, sunshine. Now I’ve gotta haul your ass to a doctor”

Truthfully, he understood why they left without him…he could go feral.

But that doesn’t mean they should have gone alone.

Sole had never been happier to see him, but they felt that familiar pang of guilt. They knew they had to be the one…so why…why did seeing hancock’s expression hurt them so much?

After a while of Hancock just holding them close, he looked up at them:

“Your the only damn thing I care about…don’t go taking off on me now”

There was that smile…that damned smile

And soon, all their pain felt small again.

• Maccready

Maccready was a very, very light sleeper. Duncan being young and his past trauma made sure of that.

It’s a wonder he didn’t catch sole climbing out of bed before they left…but seeing as how well they knew him…they also knew how to stay quiet.

He played that damn holotape on loop and could believe anything that he was hearing.

“S-sole?”

He felt…hurt and..betrayed? He didn’t know.

He was always open with how he was willing to walk to the ends of the earth with sole.

But…he knew in his heart that they were more well equipped…

“Don’t think like that!”

Shaking off the fact that they may have been right to go alone, he gathered supplies and began his own way to the glowing sea…and being a traveler himself…made it in record time.

…oh god…

They were covered in blood and laying at the edge of the Sea.

He didn’t know a damn thing about wound-tending…and he all he could think about was how they were gonna die…how it was gonna be Lucy all over again and then he’d be alone…

His mind found his hands already getting to work on half-assedly patching the love of his life up. Hitting them with Stimpacks and Radaway as needed.

His eyes would lock with theirs:

“Don’t do this to me, beautiful…don’t you dare…I..”

Sole would shush him and draw him into a hug. Holding him tight and near sobbing into his shoulder.

“Never again…never..don’t do that, sole”

But sole would do it., again and again, if it meant keeping Mac out of danger.

• Nick

They had stayed over at the agency, Nick had awoken in the middle of the night, per usual as he really didn’t sleep…only to find them gone.

The handwritten note…

Oh boy…just them he knew what happened

“Trying to protect an old bot like me, huh?”

It’s not like he could very well be upset, he’d have done it for them…he was…going to do it for them.

Deathclaws ran wild out in the Glowing Sea…and he knew sole was just trying to protect them as they had the only set of power armor.

However, Nick was worried, very worried. So, he gathered up supplies from Ellie and took of to the Glowing Sea.

When he made it to the edge of the green-hazed air, he saw sole limping back through the thick fog.

“Sole! Over here!” Nick called, praying they would hear.

They did hear.

Nick then would catch them in his arms…not minding the blood from their clawed leg on his coat.

He gently applied a Stimpack followed by his Radaway supply.

“Don’t you go getting yourself killed. I’ve been out here a lot longer, I would have gone instead of you.”

Sole just nods into his shoulder, smiling.

Nick meant it too, he’d do anything for sole.

• Piper

Piper was used to sleeping with one eye open. This was because of Nat. If something ever happened to her…Piper would be listening.

So it’s no surprise that she felt sole’s absence in their shared bed.

“Blue…?”

She’d call sole’s name to no response and would quickly become frantic.

“Blue…where are ya blue?”

Again…no response. That’s when she’d find the holotape and play it.

“No…”

Without thinking she’d grab the supplies she had available and would make her way to the Glowing Sea…hoping she would make it in time.

Upon reaching the edge of the green hellhole, she’d see sole, decked out in the remaining pieces of power armor.

Sole would basically fall out of the suit upon seeing the familiar red trench coat. However, the were to weak to stand and embrace her.

Piper would do the rest. Giving sole need medical care and telling them that they were safe.

“Don’t do that to me…please…you and Nat are all that I have left”

Sole knew it wouldn’t be the last time they pulled something stupid…after all, they had a son to find and someone to protect.

• Preston

Preston wakes up at the crack of dawn pretty much so he quickly would realize sole’s absence… and immediately knew why they were gone.

Preston is a very emotionally open man with sole and sole alone. So he actively discussed the trip to the glowing sea with sole the night before.

This was all to sole brushing off the question with “we can talk about it later”

He knew that they didn’t want him to worry about him…but he did worry…in fact he was rather upset that they had up and left…leaving only a note behind explaining what they planned on doing.

He’d silently curse, leaving sanctuary with all the supplies he could muster as he headed out into a cold, early morning

Along the trip, he began to think about his emotions…he was upset and worried, yes, but…

Anyone else would have made him go…the settlers would have…but sole…

They cared.

Upon reaching the wide open area before the Glowing Sea…he saw sole tending to their broken power armor

They would greet him…before coughing and nearly collapsing.

To that, Preston would apply Stimpacks and Radaway.

“Sole…babe…I know you want to keep me safe and I’m so..very grateful for that…for you…but please, next time, wake me at least?”

Sole agreed to his surprising light terms with tears in their eyes.

Preston knew sole, they weren’t gonna stop caring. They needed to do everything they could to find their son…he just hoped next time the would communicate better.

[1000sunnygo]

(1.6.2024) Mugiwara space vol. 17 feat. Kazuya Nakai and Kamiya Hiroshi highlights! I don't promise accuracy

Source (give it a listen if you have time! it has teasers to the new opening and ending)

-

Kazuya Nakai - Zoro || Kamiya Hiroshi - Law

-It's Kamiya's second time in Twitter Space, previously he was with Mayumi Tanaka (Luffy). He says that last time he babbled a lot thanks to Mayumi san's presence, even though he forgot most of it by now (hmm how convenient that you forgot this, kamiya san 🤨)

-Anytime One Piece (the 24/7 YouTube broadcast of the episodes) has 150M views and already in its 4th lap having completed broadcasting all episodes 3 times.

-The entire Space focused on the two voice actors reading out a heap of letters from the animation staffs about the Zoro vs King and Kid-Law vs Big Mom episodes.

-Kamiya jokes about being slightly younger than Nakai and calling him "Nakai-kun" instead of "Nakai san". Funny that Kamiya's career as a voice actor is actually longer than Nakai's.

-The Zoro vs King finale had 20000 frames in the episode which set a record. The movements were a lot more fluid and film-level. After all, often it's considered overwork if it crosses 5000 frames in a TV episode.

- The animators themselves tried out new things. It seems in one of the shots, Wado ichimonji's direction was reversed from the manga's direction as a realistic correction. Cue jokes about Zoro (and King's) long (long) attack names. Also, anticipation for legendary Mihawk vs Zoro to match the quality.

- Cutting to Kid-Law vs BM, Kamiya commented that it was scary that the fluidity of movements was so good that it made him wonder if that level of effort was necessary at all (he said it's like a Disney movie).

(in case you didn't know, this scene was indeed animated by an animator who worked in Disney.)

- Kamiya says it was both fortunate and unfortunate that Mami Koyama (Big Mom) wasn't there with them in the booth (she recorded her part separately). Both Kamiya and Nakai agreed that they'd give up immediately if they were to confront against Mami Koyama somehow.

- Kamiya also noted that Big Mom used "ore" to call herself in the final scene ("I am Big Mom") - exerting dominance 💪 her falling scene was intentionally animated beautifully.

- 1066 was animated by people all over the world, so the time adjustments and language barrier was a challenge. Episode director Henry thurlow balanced it well. In his letter, Henry credited the animation director for adjusting a variety of art styles from all participating animators. It was his first time directing a One piece episode, in fact it's the first time a foreigner has directed an anime episode. He thinks the episode was successful.

- Kamiya was calling Kidd "the extra budget man" for having his complicated-to-animate attacks costing extra budget 💸

-In the final scene vs Misery, Kamiya was asked to ad-lib breathing sound for Law. Kamiya immediately said "sure, got it". Regarding this, Kamiya said he loves doing ad-libs, it adds a little more life to the characters.

- Finally, announcement for the upcoming Egghead arc debut in anime (Nakai was exhausted of reading letters so Kamiya took over to read director Nagamine's final letter lol)

- The Egghead arc would appear in a new artstyle. Unlike the serious WCI and Wano, there's a more relaxed, "fun adventure" vibe for the future adventure island. And the animators are finally free from the torture of drawing Kaido's scales (and the kimono design patterns) so they're in a relaxed mood having escaped wano 🌞 and entering "the cool future where zoro has long legs and wears dove shoes" 👢✨

-(letter cont.) "..Also, about a certain change in Law! What will happen to his voice? It's an interesting future!"

Kamiya: Well, I just finished recording that. My voice is still cracking 😎 *nonchalantly continues reading*

Nakai: is it okay to spoil like that??

(fr Kamiya would not share Law's role with ANYONE even if he turns into a woman huh)

And that's it for the highlight!

[weightless-feathers]

HUMAN!DUKE REFERENCE SHEET!

Well... I had a lot of different concepts that I wanted to include here. The first one was the idea that every robot-train should have at least one wing per cargo, Duke has four, so there he is!

Second, I feel like in this AU his problems with most of the trains would have developed because of how "imponent" his wings look im comparassion to the rest of the Leaders'.

It started with one or two coments, then people spread rumors, even if those were completely contradictory with his calm and reserved personality. He couldn't do literally anything without people speculating weird things about him. Finally, Duke decided to get new clothes and work exclusively at night, and if possible, on the areas with the least people on them (Mountain Area and Area V). And then, the virus incident happened. He forgot about working during the day hours ever again (unless Kay or Selly ask him to do that, of course).

Even after facing so many problems, he tries to focus on the good things, so he spends most of his time alone reading, fixing his uniform and trying on different white eyeliners lol.

Duke didn't want to use zippers, so his jacket is held by velcro, allowing his fit while still keeping the form of the jacket. Speaking of his uniform, the logo on his shirt represents him (the moon) "holding/protecting" the Sirus Star (Kay), a little reference as to how he is supposed to be the one that helps the Main Leader to fulfill his role.

Don't ask him what he keeps in all of those pockets.

Aaaaaand here's the reference sheet but without the wings for more clarity! Also Duke's Delta Board, I basically tried to do the exact same design that is shown in the series.

That was it! I'm not sure if anyone will be interested in drawing this particular design or any of my human designs. But just in case, you don't have to add the wings if you don't want to!

[chaoticarson16]

main six - 🟡🔴🏡 🧵 🗣

um i didn’t know if you wanted us to pick one for your character headcanon ask game, so i chose multiple just in case. also didn’t know who to choose lol

Multiple is perfectly fine cause it lets me rant about more than one of my blorbos :D (Also sorry I forgot to check my inbox!!)

🟡 - Happy

California: When he’s happy he bounces on the balls of his feet while flapping his hands and even though he won’t admit it New York finds this adorable (Me? Projecting? Nooooo)

New York: He barely shows it but he really enjoys having the rest of the northeast + California around and he likes making them little gifts and anonymously leaving them in front of their door

Louisiana: He both enjoys and gives the best hugs. He knows what kind of hugs the rest of the states like and loves just randomly appearing and hugging them

Florida: He can actually bake really well and loves to make snacks for the South. He has everyone’s favorite desserts, snacks, and allergies memorized.

Texas: Even though he’d deny it, he really likes cuddling. Whether it be cause someone was cold, sad, or just wanted to. He’s also like the perfect pillow cause he’s one of the biggest states and there’s enough room for quite a few people.

Gov: He really loves snakes so any time he sees one his eyes do the cat thing and he has to keep himself from ranting about that specific species

🔴 - Angsty/Sad

California: He genuinely doesn’t know why most states hate him. He understands some is politics but he doesn’t know why the others do. It affects him so much he’s changed himself so much to get them to like him that very few know what he’s actually like

New York: He keeps up his rude demeanor because he doesn’t wanna get too close to people in fear they’ll leave. He’s terrified of losing people he loves so he chooses to stay away from people. But it eats him up inside that he doesn’t really have anyone so he’s stuck in this cycle of wanting friends but not wanting to lose them

Louisiana: During the Civil War he was so torn between doing what his government wanted and doing what his people wanted. In the end he was forced to help his government through threat of harm. He still has heavy survivors guilt and is tormented by the spirits of his lost people. (I headcanon him as African American and that he can see spirits)

Florida: He puts on a mask that he’s happy all the time but it makes him sad knowing that most of the states are scared of him or hate him. He likes causing chaos cause it’s how his people are but he hates how the other states pull away from him when he does it.

Texas: He likes to act like he’s big and tough and that nothing affects him but it does. Every event in his state, big or small, affects him. The insults some states will throw out. He takes those to heart and truly believes them. He acts like he’s confident but he’s insecure and severely doubts he’ll ever be good enough (Damn that was rougher than I expected it to sound)

Gov: When he first came around as Continental Congress, he had so much work that most nights he didn’t sleep. PA tried to help him but it was just too much. He did that so often that it’s now become a habit. He will work until his body physically can not move anymore, sometimes skipping meals to get it all done

🏡 - Home

California: (I saw this from someone else and I stole it because it was such a good headcanon) When not at the statehouse he lives in a hobbit type house that connects into the surrounding mountain. It’s pretty roomy and he somehow has wifi in there.

New York: Usually at the statehouse cause his room there is bigger than the room in his apartment. He has a small apartment with enough space just for him.

Louisiana: He shares a house with Florida when not at the statehouse (literally married) it’s a decent sized one story house. They share one room and the others are used for shenanigans. They live away from most people so their yard is until they get to another house.

Florida: Usually the statehouse or the house he shares with Loui

Texas: He’s usually not at the statehouse. He has a ranch and a lot of land with it. He’s usually gone taking care of his horse Janie and his dog Buck. The ranch consists of his main house, a shed, and a barn with a stable. Think of a stereotypical barn then make it a light brown

Gov: This man almost never leaves his office. When he does he lives at the statehouse. He can not afford to leave them alone in the same house

🧵 - Hobbies

California: Surfing, skateboarding, hiking, basically most out door activities plus drawing, cooking, playing drums or guitar, and singing

New York: This man absolutely loves fashion. He also likes drawing, cooking and “gardening”

Louisiana: Cooking, (literally all of them can cook I’m so sorry) singing, playing instruments, dancing, and writing

Florida: Baking, dancing, singing, playing guitar and drums, causing chaos, swimming, and scaring the states with how much he actually knows

Texas: Baking, actual gardening, crochet, trick riding, shooting targets, and playing with his dog

Gov: Writing, drawing, hiking or going on walks, biking

🗣️ - Social

California: He’s pretty friendly with most people he meets and likes talking with people on social media platforms (he definitely has tumblr)

New York: He rarely talks to other people and actively avoids it

Louisiana: He treats everyone he meets like family and everyone loves him

Florida: He likes talking to random strangers about the things that interest them but when it comes to the states he actively tries to find a way to make it into a joke

Texas: He has a bit of social anxiety but it’s mostly in crowds where it’s a lot harder to escape. He enjoys talking to the other states about sports and stuff but he also likes talking to New Jersey about gardening

Gov: This man is so awkward, it’s great. The only social interaction he’s had is with politicians and the states. He can be professional no problem but the moment it comes to casual conversation he blanks. He mainly lets the person he’s talking to rant to him about things. The states actually go to him and rant about any and everything cause they know he won’t tell them to shut up

[ktchewy]

A comparison of some pens I'm currently using and some new pens I acquired

Pens used:

- Uni-ball One P 0.38mm - LAMY Safari <EF> - TWSBI Eco <F> - Pilot Capless/Vanishing Point <F> - Pilot Kakuno <EF> - Ancora Ginza custom pen <MF> - Sailor Hocoro <M, F, fude> - Kakimori brass nib dip pen - Matsubokkuri glass pen

Lengthy review under the read more 🙈

The Uni-ball One P is sort of like the control for the comparisons? Idk LOL we know for sure it's 0.38mm so we can estimate how much thinner/thicker the other pens are. This pen is my go-to for quickly jotting things down, I highly recommend the Uni-ball One series of pens to anyone looking for a gel ink pen! It writes super smooth and has never smudged for me, the way the pens from the P series (P for pocket!) look is also super cute. After using the Uni-ball One pens, other non-fountain pens just don't hit the same. When I was filling out forms during check-in at one of the hotels in Japan, the staff gave me a regular ol' ballpoint pen and after one stroke, I went "nah I'm not writing with this" and grabbed my own pen from my backpack.

The LAMY Safari and TWSBI Eco are both a constant for me, they're always filled and hanging out in my pen case. I know some people don't like LAMY Safaris or TWSBI Eco's because of inconsistent nib qualities from the former and cracking issues from the latter but both of these pens have been pretty solid for me, never had any issues with them (knock on wood! 😳) I included them in this just to compare them with the new pens I got.

I am super in love with the Pilot Capless/Vanishing Point, probably my most favourite purchase of the trip! I used to think my TWSBI Eco wrote smoothly but the Capless straight up gliiiides across the paper. I picked this up in Itoya Ginza and had the chance to try out the EF as well and I think because that one was so thin, there was a bit of feedback so I didn't like it as much. I love writing with this pen so much, it sparks joy!! The retractable mechanism is very convenient for quickly putting the pen down and picking it back up again. Super recommend it to people who are looking to try a higher budget pen. For comparison, this matte black version sells for $275 CAD locally and I got this at Itoya for ¥18,540 (tax free hehe), which equals to about $175-180 CAD.

I actually already have a Pilot Kakuno with an M and F nib in my collection and I wanted to try a thinner nib but for some reason, just the EF Kakuno was super hard to find locally. I forgot to write on my sheet that it's currently filled with Sailor Shikiori Yamadori, because of the thinness though it's hard to see the turquoise colour of the ink haha. I think this size would be perfect for writing in the condensed space of my Hobonichi Weeks, I'll have to test it out in the weekly pages once the proper dates roll around.

The Ancora Ginza pen is also another pen I was looking forward to get, only because it was almost like going to Build-a-Bear but for pens LOL If you want to search more about it, you can try the official Japanese name of it: アンコーラMy万年筆. The model of the pen is a Sailor Profit Jr. and cost ¥4,400, I did research prior going on my trip it used to be ¥3,800 at some point 🥲 You can pick between a regular steel MF nib or a fude nib but I already have a fude Profit Jr so I picked the MF instead. My friend also commented that she thought I would be making multiple pens but I'll be saving my second custom pen for another time just so I have an excuse to go back to Ancora again >:) This nib also feels really nice to write with; no feedback, very smooth. I'm trying to limit my number of inked pens so this comparison was only done by dipping the nib in ink, I do want to fill this pen properly and try journaling with it soon! The only complain I have for this pen is that the cap or body feels a bit squeaky scratchy when I screw them back together, it's most likely just the part I grabbed but the quality might be hit or miss with them. The pen that my friend made is completely fine though! I think it's worth it to get your own pen made because it's such a unique experience.

If you're looking for a dip pen to play around or swatch multiple inks at once, then you'd have to try the Sailor Hocoro dip pen. I previously ordered the fude nib one online and I loved how convenient a dip pen is in general. But because of the nature of a fude nib, it took some time to get used and having to write at a specific angle to get the line width I wanted would sometimes give me wrist pain lmao :') Then not too long ago, Sailor announced that they were releasing a M nib so I added that to my mental list of things to buy, and then seeing how cheap stationery were in Japan, I picked up an F nib (no pen body) and the extra "feed" parts too. The feed isn't necessary but I like that I can write for way longer as opposed to not having it (check out this demo from Yoseka) In hindsight, I wish I had gotten the grey body in Japan. I do like the white body but I just want to keep the bodies with their respective nibs that I got them with and I feel like I might have mixed them up while swatching inks the other day LMAO

The Kakimori dip pen has been in my wishlist for a super long time and I'm very glad I held off from buying it locally in Vancouver or ordering it online. The sakura wood nib holder and the brass nib are listed on a local shop's site for $49.95 and $64.95 CAD respectively, on Kakimori's online shop they're ¥4,520 for the nib holder and ¥7,430 for the nib. In Kakimori's physical store, I got the nib holder for ¥2,970 and the nib for ¥4,950, with the conversion rate, that's like $27-28 for the nib holder and $46-48 CAD for the brass nib!!! 🥴 Price aside, this dip pen is another tool you can use for swatch inks or just drawing/doodling with it, I love the super thick line you can get when you hold it at a low angle, it's how I swatched all those lines in my Hobonichi Weeks. I've always read about how the stainless steel nib is harder and feels scratchier than the brass nib and after having tried both in stores, I do prefer the brass nib a lot more. The stainless steel nib felt like it didn't want to be written with, it just didn't feel pleasant imo. Some people might like feedback in their pens so I do recommend testing the pens out if you're able to before buying them.

This glass pen by Glass Studio Matsubokkuri ガラス工房まつぼっくり is my very first glass pen and I only chose this one because 1) the body is simple and short, I don't like the crazy swirly glass pens I commonly see 2) the triangular body means it's less likely to roll off the table 3) it was easily found at Ancora Ginza LOL I first discovered it when I was watching this youtube channel doodle/swatch inks with it. On Matsubokkuri's own website, they have F, M, and broad listed but there was only one size available at Ancora. I think mine is a F nib but I don't have any other glass pen to compare with so it's totally a guess, I'm just comparing it with my F fountain pens 🤔 The staff at Ancora gave me two pens to test out before purchasing since glass pens will have slight differences between them. They both wrote fine, I only picked the second pen I tried because the swirls in the nib of the first pen looked wonky to me.

If you made it this far down the post, thank you! I just wanted to share my thoughts on the pens that I have and hopefully this can give a little insight and help someone on their own pen journey!! 🫶

[socksandbuttons]

Forgot my Unhinged Solar lover tag there on the previous ask but yes, while Solar roasted him that one time, that was when Eclipse is in Solar's dimension and doesn't have the star. Eclipse doesn't have the star right now, he admits that, but who knows what he can do. If he really was the one who knocked out Solar, he was stealthy enough to do that. Not to mention, he (I'm assuming) seemingly disarmed the computer's guns in today's episode. The way he mentioned Solar in his monologue doesn't sit well, not at all. My timbers are forever shivered until this Eclipse is gone. What more if Lunar sees this Eclipse?

Fjofks its fine i figured it mightve been you lol

Well even yeah like eclipse was in solars dimension solar also adapted to his new home. Hes recognized by the computer (however that MAY actually be the case of how eclipse couldve disarmed are messed with things too. Since theyre similar coding right??)

So yeah while its safe to assume solar might be in danger from eclipse, solar DOES have many people behind him that care. Also eclipse doesnt... at least OURS dodnt actually kill anyone aside his own brother (and if the theory of this being october eclipse then even further this man has killed no one, more torturing and psychological ways of torment than anytbing.)

Solar is also well aware of how eclipse came to be and how he is as well. However now this also comes down to Eclipse knowing things too (such as solar and his moons encounter...)

Your timblers may be shivered but i think we may survive this one for once maybe.

As for Lunar... lordy i mean he WAS subjected to seeing a vid of death over and over via puppet and monty podcast. Vs the first time solar came by without warning he didnt panic immediately. Not saying he wpuldnt be upset by seeing eclipse (a very... bad time esp given he needs to control his emotions rn). Hes also not defensless either. Also this eclipse has a new look.