#but for now i think the comic will suffice ;-P

[frodo-with-glasses]

If you haven’t listened to the audio Phil Dragash recorded for me at the end of our interview, you’re really missing out on a riot!

Turning the last panel into a GIF ate my colors, so here it is as a still image.

[twistedtummies2]

UPDATED: Sinister Sevens - Venom

And now we’ve come to - FOR THE TIME BEING - the last Spider-Man nemesis I’m going to cover with these Sinister Sevens. (I’ll probably make lists for Mysterio, Vulture, and Kingpin as well, but not till later.) My second favorite Spider-Man Villain (and one of my biggest pred crushes from comics), Venom.

Venom is another villain who has been the identity of many characters…not just in comics, but also other media. However, the most well-known and commonly featured version of the character - and the one I’m going to focus this list on - is Eddie Brock. The typical tale of Venom has Spider-Man being exposed to a dark alien being called a Symbiote: a gooey little gremlin that gives him a “black costume,” which he uses for a time…before, slowly, the Symbiote starts to torment him, as it heightens his aggression and brings out the worst of his qualities to the forefront. Eventually, Spidey frees himself of the Symbiote…but this is only the start of the story. The Symbiote attaches itself to Brock - a fellow with a bitter rivalry with Peter Parker - and thus the pair become Venom: one of Spidey’s most dangerous and powerful foes, partially because Brock knows the true identity of the wall-crawler. Making this list was actually the hardest one of them all to do; my opinions on Venom have changed over the years, and after properly revisiting a few incarnations, I found that there were several cases where I liked certain interpretations either more or less than I used to, and figuring out the ranking was REALLY tough, as a result. After much deliberation, I THINK this ranking is accurate. I think. It’s…really hard to say. XD I should also add that Venom is slated to appear in the next “Marvel’s Spider-Man” video game for Playstation, and given how good the original and the Miles Morales game were (and considering the freaking Candyman is slated to be the voice of Venom), I have high hopes that one will make my Top 7. But, we have some time till then, so in the meanwhile, here are My Sinister Seven Portrayals of Venom! (And again, I just want to remind you all, Venom is a kink crush of mine, aaand that MIGHT have biased some of these choices. I’m trash, what can I say? :P )

7. Daran Norris.

Norris voiced several characters in Neversoft’s 2000 “Spider-Man” video game and its sequel, “Enter Electro.” I already mentioned him playing Sandman in the latter, in an earlier list. In the first game, however, probably the most prominent character Norris handled was Venom: the story of the game has Venom returning, and at first, he’s up to his old tricks at trying to ruin Peter Parker’s life. However, thanks to the machinations of Carnage and Dr. Octopus, the dark Symbiote ends up teaming-up with Spidey to take the villains down. This version of Venom is much more comical than most, as the game makes him out to be sort of a doofus: he starts off a threat, but becomes more of a loveable galoot. He’s something of a childish brute here, constantly frustrating Spidey with his antics. I actually find the humor of their interactions really funny, but I think I just prefer a Venom that is, if not necessarily smarter, just less of an obvious dunce, and more of a menace.

6. Quinton Flynn.

Flynn is one of my favorite voice actors, and I truly enjoy his take on Venom in “Spider-Man: Friend or Foe?” I mentioned this game before on my lists for Sandman and the Lizard; suffice it to say, I think Flynn’s Venom can be seen as pretty similar to the Neversoft one, but better, in my humble opinion. Once again, Venom starts off as a threat and an enemy, but ends up teaming-up with Our Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man in order to stop arguably more dangerous opponents. However, instead of Venom being portrayed as a loveable dunderhead with a dangerous and cunning side, the roles are effectively reversed: Venom is arguably one of the nastiest and most unsettling characters in the game, as they really, REALLY play up his carnivorous side, and not for the sake of humor. He’s brutal, sadistic, and unendingly vicious. Instead, the humor comes from Spidey - with his wit and geekiness together - and the more volatile Venom having to put up with it all. You can basically sum it all up with the following bit of dialogue… Spidey: “Spider-Man, Party of Two? Your bad guys are ready. ;) ” Venom: “...Remind me why I haven’t eaten you yet? -_- ” And yeah, this Venom usually uses singular pronouns instead of plural ones. A bit inaccurate, but I can live with it.

5. Keith Szarabajka.

I used to like Szarabajka’s Venom slightly more, but he’s fallen a bit in the ranks. Not by much, but a bit. He played Venom in the video game “Spider-Man: Web of Shadows.” I mentioned this game in the past when talking about Electro. It’s a very middling game, in my opinion - far from the worst, but also far from the best - but the main thing that helps Venom here is that it’s a game where Venom is the main antagonist, and much of the story revolves around his relationship with Spider-Man. The story has Venom starting to infect New York City with a sort of “Symbiote Plague,” with numerous people either being hosts to Symbiotes, being mind-controlled by them, or being turned into Venom-like monsters themselves. Spider-Man goes on an adventure to cure everyone and stop Venom, before the entire city is infected. (Wow, what a topical game this can be seen as nowadays, oi…) In the course of the game, Spidey is infected as well, and thus regains his Black Costume…and the story largely focuses on him having to deal with those old issues again, as he has to constantly choose what the right choice is, between more peaceful and more aggressive tactics. At the end of the story, Spidey has to choose whether to save Eddie Brock (who, in this version, is indicated to have once been his friend), or let the man die alongside the monstrous Symbiote that has controlled both their lives for so long.

4. Hank Azaria.

In “Spider-Man: The Animated Series,” we actually know Eddie Brock for a good while before he ever becomes Venom. In this version, he’s depicted as a rival of Peter Parker’s, but not necessarily a bad person; he’s someone determined to get the limelight, and he’ll go to nearly any length for it. As time goes on, Brock’s life starts to crumble, and so when he encounters the vengeful Symbiote, he becomes a particularly spiteful and fiendish Venom. Azaria really set the standard for what Venom’s voice and personality would be like, at least outside of comics, and I really love the look of the character - especially the red and blue highlights creating a visual mirror to his nemesis - but my main problem is that much of Spidey’s conflict with Venom feels rushed. A lot is squeezed into just one episode, and after that episode, Brock just kind of vanishes, and only returns for two more outings before meeting his final departure. I would have liked to see more of Venom, and see the show take its time more with the character; other villains had relatively few appearances but felt better handled overall, in my opinion. To be fair, good pacing was always one of the major issues with this series, in my opinion, so I guess that’s more the program’s fault than a problem with Venom himself. And for a long time, this was the definitive Venom to me, so I guess it was doing something right.

3. Tom Hardy.

Hardy’s Venom…leaves me conflicted. The first movie was a hot mess, while the second movie, while an improvement, was ultimately still just “okay” overall. I seriously don’t quite get why so many people went mad over either one. Part of this ties into my issue with Hardy’s take on Eddie Brock himself: one the one hand, the advertising for the first film was really pushing this as a dark story with a really nasty protagonist, playing with the psychological agony and descent into madness we’ve seen in other interpretations. That, of course, isn’t really what we got: the relationship between Brock and his Symbiote is instead played up more like a pair of bizarre lovers or a sort of buddy-cop picture, with the fairly sensible, Average Eddie (as opposed to Average Joe) having to put up with Venom’s mixture of animal aggression, unending hunger, and alien tendencies. On the flip side of things…I have to admit, I legitimately like the relationship! It’s not what I was promised, but it IS fun to watch, and Hardy is a great actor who pulls it off and just has fun with it all. And in the second film, I already knew what I’d get, and it was interesting to see how things played out with that in mind. I also have to say that, for all the faults these movies and this interpretation might have, it’s really interesting to see a take on Venom in a world where there isn’t a Spider-Man. I still have mixed feelings about the little Eddie Easter Egg in “No Way Home,” and vice-versa the “Now Way Home” Easter Egg in “Let There Be Carnage,” but I guess part of what’s fascinating about this portrayal is having a Venom without a visible Peter Parker. I struggled for a while with where to place this version, and ultimately, I decided on third place: I love it a lot, but much like Patrick Page’s Green Goblin, I don’t think I can go any higher ONLY because EVERYTHING ELSE SURROUNDING IT is kind of “meh,” at best. :P

2. Arthur Burghardt & Daniel Capellaro.

While Azaria and Szarabajka are takes on the character I feel have aged less well over time, this is a case of a Venom that I think has aged better. (I do wish they’d used the same voice actor for Brock in and out of costume, like in many other incarnations, but that’s really just a nitpick.) This take on Venom appeared in the game “Ultimate Spider-Man,” set in the comic book universe of the same title. The story focuses on both Spider-Man AND Venom getting tangled up in a complicated conspiracy, which ultimately leads to the creation of Carnage and involves such villains as the Green Goblin, Electro, Rhino, and more. The story is actually told through two parallel lines: players alternate being handling Spidey AND handling Venom, as the pair’s dual storylines criss-cross constantly. As Spider-Man, it’s a typical sort of Spidey game: save civilians, fight the bad guys, etc. But as Venom, players have to DEVOUR INNOCENT PEOPLE (including kids, I should add, YIKES) and face off largely against more heroic characters, such as Wolverine. Playing as the bad guy is somewhat unique, and the way Brock’s story pans out as the game goes on, and we see how he develops as a character, and how his relationship with Peter works, is pretty interesting. Another game, “Battle for New York,” tried something similar to all this, with players alternating between playing Spidey and the Green Goblin, and taking place in the same comics universe…but it was less successful, in my opinion, compared to this one. I guess what we can learn from this is devouring innocent kids with balloons is the way to better games. (pauses) Wow. That got dark. Sorry.

1. Benjamin Diskin.

Yep. Jack from Beastars played Venom, and while he isn’t the definitive voice of the character for me (I’m not sure what that would be, to be honest, off the top of my head), he’s nevertheless a brilliant portrayal. In “Spectacular Spider-Man” (yeah, that show again), just like in the 90s Animated Series, Diskin plays Brock long before Venom ever comes onto the scene. In this version, Brock is one of Peter Parker’s best friends, alongside Harry Osborn; in fact, he and Peter are practically brothers! However, as the show goes on, Brock starts to resent Peter more and more, as his “Spider-Manning” forms a rift between the two. Things only get worse when the Symbiote comes into play. Just like Azaria, this Venom was particularly spiteful and nasty, but this is where things get interesting: instead of just disappearing after his first defeat, Brock actually remains a recurring presence in the show, building up the next battle between himself and Spider-Man. This made the encounters between the wall-crawler and his enemy all the more special, because the relationship between the pair OUT OF COSTUME was REALLY the real focus, and we got so much buildup and development there that it meant that when Venom did rear his ugly mug, it was always a big deal. He’s also one of the few characters, if not the ONLY character, who DIDN’T suffer from the fact this show got a third season. When Venom left the series for the last time, it actually felt like a satisfying way to go; even if we HAD gotten a third season, and still had never seen Brock again, I don’t think I would have minded much. I can’t think of too many other characters where that was the case (seriously, my ONLY complaint with this show is we never got more of it), and as a result, one could argue Venom was probably the best-handled part of the whole series. For that reason above all else, Benjamin Diskin takes the cake as My Favorite Venom. (And since this is Venom, we’ll assume that cake was chocolate…bravo if you got that joke.)

[stanknotstark]

Astral Pt. 8 (Loki x Reader)

Ok guys they’re REUNITED! God i hope you all know that I wrote all 7 parts in one day because i was so obsessed with getting chapters out so i wouldn’t have to write them daily or lose my thoughts!! Ok well now i have some time to figure out where the story will go from here or if i end it here....

IM JUST JOKING it’s not over yet XDD it’s barely begun :p Feel free to send messages about what you think is gonna happen or who might make minor appearances, villain or hero, cuz i have some planned out! I’ve been doing research guys, i bought a marvel encyclopedia for the first time in years cuz i visited the store the other day and loaded up on comic books again it’s been awhile but my collection is growing again ^^

You’re standing next to Natasha when the brothers drop down from the sky in their rainbow elevator thing. Thor called it the bifrost? It wasn’t something Loki had talked about when you had been on speaking terms, he must have not found it important enough.

The brothers landed outside on Stark’s glorified patio, 91 floors up. You almost forget to breathe as you look at Loki. His hair is a little longer now, he’s definitely lost some weight, and the bags under his eyes tell you enough. His face is cold as he looks around and, angrily, lets Thor lead him inside where you all stand in various places waiting on them. You note that both the brothers are dressed casually but it’s still a bit much, Earth wise. 

You swallow as Loki first sees Tony and smirks at him, “Seems I won’t be missing that drink you promised?” 

Tony gave him a once over then shrugged. “I guess you deserve a small break. Thor filled me in on what’s been going on.” Tony said, you thought you could hear a hint of a threat lacing his words though. Loki huffed and rolled his eyes looking at the rest of the team before his eyes landed on you. 

You looked into his eyes for what felt like hours but must have only been seconds. The angry look he had been parading in dropped and you saw a flurry of reactions so quick everyone else would miss it but you knew Loki. You try your best to keep your face disinterested, not quite sure if you succeed. Still a bit hurt he told you to never come back coming to the front of your mind you look away and whisper to Nat, “I gotta go, fill me in on what happens.” Then you rush out.

You hear Tony saying, “You already scared off y/n..” as you left the room. 

You basically run to your room and slam the door shut. Your breathing had started becoming haggard on your way up and only intensified as you closed yourself in your room. Both your hands gripped at your hair and pull, your eyes squeezed shut, tight. You shouldn’t be reacting like this it was Loki, it was just Loki. He wouldn’t hurt you, physically. You had thought that you were over whatever heartbreak you had all those years before. How the fuck were you to function normally around him if just one look at him made you this panicky? Made your heart beat so hard you thought it might break out of your ribs. Made you want to cry deliriously happy and sad at the same time. 

You let go of your hair, let your tears fall, and punched the wall a few times, hoping the pain in your hands would ground you. Luckily, it did, but you’d probably have to come up with an excuse because your knuckles were blooming dark purple. You took in deep breaths, copying what Loki had taught you to do when you got to worked up, subconsciously, the thought of him causing you to freak a bit more but then you just focused on breathing. 

It’s a few hours later when Natasha comes to your room and tells you dinner is ready. You had settled and had a book open in your lap as you sat on your bed. You consider skipping dinner and you’re about to say it when you see the look Natasha is giving you. She had been the one to teach you to over come your fears, to face them head on. She probably thought you were scared of Loki because he had tried to take over the world. Oh, how wrong she was. You nodded and told her you were gonna wear something else. She left you in peace and you sighed, rubbing a hand over your face then putting on your brave face and getting dressed in something casual. A simple t-shirt and jeans would suffice. 

When you entered the dinning room, a floor below yours, everyone was seated. Natasha had left you a seat. Right next to Loki. You swallowed and studiously kept your eyes anywhere but on Loki when you sat down. You realized Loki was very tense when you sat next to him but said nothing on the matter. 

“Brother! This is dear Y/n I mentioned, she’s got a quick wit just like you, I’m sure you both will be the best of friends!” 

You smiled at Thor but it probably came off as more of a grimace because Thor gave you a frown. Loki said nothing and focused on eating his food. The whole table got silent realizing something was up between you and Loki. You cleared your throat and tried to sooth things over by looking at Loki. His eyes caught yours and for a second you got lost in them, again. God, get ahold of yourself!

Mentally shaking your head you plastered a smile on and said, “Nice to meet you, Loki, I can’t wait to get to know you.” You finish lamely then quickly look at your food and begin stuffing your face so you wouldn’t have to speak anymore. 

“Riiiiiight.” Tony said eyeing you and Loki suspiciously. Steve sat next to him frowning at your attitude. You missed the silent conversation Natasha and Clint had. 

“You’re going to choke if you continue to eat like a bilge snipe that hasn’t seen food in weeks.” Loki said in a casual voice.

You choke. You swallow what is in your mouth, Natasha hitting your back a few times, and then you laugh. 

God you missed Loki. 

“Remember when you swallowed that moon berr-” Stopping yourself short you swallowed and closed your eyes, last seeing Loki’s happy look turn into a neutral face as he glances around at the team. Damn. 

“Remember? You two know each other?” Natasha asked, nudging you with her elbow. Thankfully you see she reserves her judgement on the situation. 

Sighing you look at the team and set your utensils down. 

“Loki is...” You shot Loki a confused look as if to ask if you still were but shook your head and continued on looking at Nat primarily, “We’re soulmates. I first met Loki when I was 13 years old.” 

“In person?” Steve asked.

“No, I can astral project my spirit but because I’m his soulmate it wasn’t hard it just kind of happened when I needed him most.” 

You picked up your glass of water, noticing you are shaking a bit. You especially tried not to jump when you felt Loki set a comforting hand on your thigh under the table. Taking a drink you looked at the table, took a deep breath, then let your eyes come back up to the confused team. 

“When you needed him most?” Tony asked after a few minutes of silence. 

Looking at Tony you bit your lip. Should you....

“My grandfather killed my grandmother in front of me when I was 13, I hid in my closet and closed my eyes, when I opened them I was in a room in Asgard.” 

“She was in one of my mental rooms that I use to astral project. A fabricated room I made when I was younger.” Loki said, his eyes only on you. 

“He was always there when something bad happened and we became best friends. I was 17 when I realized I had magic, his magic.” You said looking at Nat who looked confused. “Because we’re connected through our mind and soul, I draw my power from him. The powers I have are Loki’s in a sense but at the same time my own, I can do some things he can’t and vice versa.” 

“So if Loki just like, hypothetically, died,” Tony rolled his eyes when Loki glared at him, “Hypothetically! Would you lose your powers?” 

You swallowed as a knot formed in your throat and looked at Loki with sad eyes, willing him to answer because you surely didn’t have an answer for that. 

“Possibly.” Loki clipped out, sending a glare at Tony, as if damning him for making you think of that preposterous idea. 

Tony hummed in thought. 

“If you’re soulmates, why did she react the way she did when she first saw you?” Thor asked, mostly aiming the question to Loki. Loki looked at Thor, angry, then let out a breath and held his chin high. 

“We had a falling out three years ago.” 

“No doubt your fault?” Thor said causing Loki to nod once with a roll of his eyes. 

“No!” You yelled looking at Loki with exasperation. “I’m the one that chose to leave!” 

“I’m the one that gave you an ultimatum.” Loki ground out, frowning at you. 

“You were trying to keep me safe.” You said causing Loki to scoff. 

“Ok, wait, what happened so we can all choose our sides respectfully here?” Clint asked. 

“Shield found out about my powers when I was 17, said once I turn 18 they can give me an offer I can’t refuse. I could work for them. Loki said not to do it because it sounded like they were gonna use me as a weapon, that we knew nothing about Shield and what it stood for,” You sighed and pinched the bridge of your nose with closed eyes, “I told him I was gonna take up their offer considering I had a bad home life, he argued Shield could be more dangerous and I told him I was still gonna take the offer anyways so he offered an ultimatum.” Letting your hand fall down to your lap and over Loki’s, still resting on your lap. You softly caressed his knuckles under the table. When you had closed your eyes, to pinch your bridge, you missed the concerned look Loki gave as he saw the violet bruises on your knuckles. 

“He said if I leave to never come back because he wouldn’t be able to watch me get hurt.” 

Tony breathed through his teeth, a hiss, but otherwise everyone stayed silent. 

“I left.” You finished lamely.

The table stayed silent for awhile, everyone gathering their thoughts and questions, until Steve spoke up. 

“After she left, what did you do Loki?” 

“I had Heimdal watch over her-”

“He is all seeing.” Thor said quickly to help out.

“-and I told him that if she were to find any trouble she could not handle to send me to her.” 

You looked up at Loki, shocked, who zealously kept his eyes on Steve. You offered what comfort you could by grasping his hand and squeezing. You smiled inwardly as Loki’s tense form softened slightly. 

“I’m taking it she never ran into trouble she couldn’t handle.” Steve said, more as a statement than a question.

“From what Heimdal has told me, joining Shield is the best thing to happen to her and I almost stopped that.” 

“You couldn’t have known.” You said quietly, frowning in thought, Loki finally looked down at you and your heart almost broke in half at the hurt in his eyes. 

“All you wanted was the best for me and I’m sorry I left,” You looked down and squeezing his hand before looking back up at his eyes, “I’m sorry I left and never tried to reach you again but I’m not sorry about the decision I made.” 

Loki looked at you for a bit then nodded, satisfied with something he found on your face or possibly in your eyes. “I’m sorry I never tried to reach out to you too.” Loki admitted.

You glanced at Thor who sat next to Loki, looking a little put out he never knew about the both of you. 

“Sorry we didn’t tell you Thor I kind of wanted to keep it a secret because I was going through a lot and wasn’t very trusting of strangers at the time.” You said to placate Thor, making the blame fall on you instead of Loki since their relationship was already rocky to begin with. A minor way you could apologize to Loki about not contacting him. 

Thor smiled, genuinely, then said “I’m just happy to make your acquaintance now, y/n.” 

Everyone went back to eating their almost cold meal now. Natasha and Clint the only ones that noted that you and Loki ate with one hand the entire time.

Conversations flowed between the team smoothly like you all were meant to be there, together. No one made any comments on the fact that you and Loki couldn’t keep your eyes off each other the entire time either.

Pt. 7/Pt. 8/?

Tag list: @justfangirlthingies @emelieh99  @high-functioning-lokipath​ 

[mikedeodatojr]

#Repost @betweenthegutters Coincidentally, here's another recent comic I read which also won an Eisner (Best Humor Publication) this past weekend. Not All Robots is more amazing social satire from Mark Russell. It's a bit surprising to see Mike Deodato Jr. draw this, as he's not a name that comes to mind when I think of comedy, but I think his style ends up working here, seeing as how there are lots of expressionless robots in a dark, scary world. The premise of Not All Robots is a dystopian future where every human family is assigned a sentient robot to be the family's breadwinner. Humans ain't good for anything (except for cutting hair) so robots have simply dominated the job market for being more efficient and cheaper. The Walters are a typical American family who depend on their robot Razorball in order to have money to survive, but he's pretty resentful of his family even if the dad tries to ingratiate himself with Razorball. There's a lot of interesting subtext about toxic masculinity, technology, artificial intelligence, and privilege. Perhaps most importantly, this comic is consistently funny, with great dialogue and comedic writing. Helpfully, the TPB even contains an essay by Russell discussing some of the themes and goals of his own work. I'm not sure if readers would be better off simply reading the comic and thinking for themselves, but due to my complete and utter lack of faith in the intelligence of humanity, I think it's probably a good thing to include his essay so that the masses can see that there's more to his story. There are some great jokes that I'll probably post later, but suffice it to say that this is a great comic, and probably one of the best things Deodato has worked on in quite some time. This is a volume 1, so I hope we do get a volume 2. AWA seems to be pretty disregard by a lot of current readers. Maybe folks look at it like a throwback to early 2000s Marvel and the Bill Jemas era due to the creators often involved in their books, which isn't a wrong assessment. However, I've read several of their offerings now and I've enjoyed the ones I checked out. I'd definitely buy my own copy of Not All Robots. https://www.instagram.com/p/CggIMyiNqBO/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[gphoenixsims]

Sims Flashback Challenge

Challenge created by @lovelysimies​

Rules: There isn’t any rules, just snap a photo of two sims, one recent and one of the oldest you can find and post it! Tag it  #simsflashbackchallenge and @lovelysimies​ so I can see your progress!

I think I’ve done something similar to this in the past, but thank you for thinking of me on both my blogs, @charlotkas-simblr​​ and @redsimmer-blog​ ​  ❤️❤️❤️    

Here we go then!

This is dated March 21st 2008 and it’s the oldest I can find in my external drive. If there were images older than this, they died alongside my first laptop, with any actual play pictures I had, I only saved the “art“ ones.

Also from 2008 and I still like it a lot lol A “movie“ poster for a story a friend at the time was writing with our group’s RP characters. Photoshop was already my domain by then and I had it set that Sims was more to make art than actual playing :P

And now onto the most recent stuff... You’ve seen it already HERE but here you go. I have even more recent, as in working on it last night, but can’t show because it’s for the Vampire Academy comic, so this has to suffice for now. So most recent, February 26th 2021. One of, if not THE post with more likes I have ever put out there, featuring a Regency AU!Thea and her man Octavious. Really happy people seemed to like this one :)

Nothing much seems to have changed, just better CC, learned to make my own poses and Photoshop got a bit more refined. I know this has been making rounds for a while, so I don’t know who to tag. @veninorchid​? @grecadeasimsstudios​? :P

[artpoint420]

Melvin and the Silent Diagnosis for a Brilliantly Broken Psyche

Hypothetical Diagnosis Insecurity masked with narcissistic tendencies characterized with compulsive obsessions driven by blatant autism, and no that is not an immature insult I test extremely highly for Asperger's myself Here's the Evidence: (I will state before hand that Melvin-borg is a completely separate character in my mind, and thus will not be included in this particular theory.  Melvin decided not to turn out like him, so they are canonically separate characters) He is obviously and frequently inspired by George and Harold, but his deeply embedded fear of rejection makes him dangerously bitter, and it doesn't help that everytime he breaks out of this protective shell, he is rejected or betrayed once again. It’s important to note that while he may be high-functioning (aka: Aspergers) he is still Autistic. That’s because Asperger’s is not a form of autism- it is autism. Period. And any kind of autism or mental attypicality left untreated can develop in to many, many other severe mental disorders, or, in general, make life a metric heck ton harder and complicated than it already is. I also need to confess that I test highly positively for autism myself as well as being an INTP female (Myers-Briggs Personality Test). Not to brag, but all that combined with my naturally creative nature makes me rare af, but it also means I can't communicate or handle stress #liketheothergirls, so that has lead me to being/feeling bullied and ostracized.  I also have anxiety and depression issue which run in my family, and mild insomnia, and may or may not be relapsing into an eating disorder. Paired with psychical problems like acid reflux and severe neck tension, health, whether psychical or mental is of uttermost importance to me.  It suffices to say, autism is not easy to deal with and if not taken care for properly a person, especially if not made at least aware of what autism truly is, it can truly ruin their life. Combined with the neglectful nature of his parents (at least in the books) I and many others in this fandom truly believe Melvin is at least autistically coded. Not only does this fit the archetype of his character but it also fits the theme of the books to a TEE. At its core, CU, of all things, is a children's book series, about living your best life despite not being “normal.” Even characters like the teachers or Mr Krupp who strive for “normality” are shown to actually have deeply repressed creativity, or, in some cases, deep trauma from their own childhoods. It suffices to say that I resonate deeply with Melvin. Say what you want about him or me, I was able to relate to him the second he spoke his first line in the second book. Sorry to turn this into a long vent, but I feel it is best to use myself to support this theory as well as harder evidence, even if it is mostly a means of self-therapy. To start, we both are obsessed with school even to a detrimental degree. Ever since head-start (Pre-K but a million times better), these "book-smarts" were the first thing I ever truly excelled at. When the other kids bullied (or as I now know as teasing) me, I would lose myself in a stack of homework or a book 2-3 grades past my grade level (this is before I drew or wrote as a main hobby). Similarly, Melvin is rarely seen without a book or gadget, just like me. We both over analyze things and hide our feelings. We both have intense crushes on others but are terrified to dare express them, or do but to nothing but awkwardness. We were both science kids, and fascinated by words and/or numbers alone (I still am just in a more artistic way). We both struggle to communicate and relate to others. We both have a unusual sense of humor and are highly observant of surroundings all the while missing what’s in front of our noses. We both have interests that quickly spiral into obsessions and dropping the obsession only when sick of it. We both practice similar forms of stimming. We both not only thrive but crave control and structure with the world around us, even to the point of being "control freaks" and creating odd habits, routines, and rituals regardless of whether they are necessary or make sense. We both have an intense fear of intimacy and rejection to the point of practicing self-isolation and in some cases self harm or other unhealthy coping methods (seen with Melvin over eating sweets or over working himself. For me it’s disordered eating or self flagellation, something I have all but completely dropped but still) We also both tend to see ourselves as inferior to others and attempt to mask those feelings with a superiority complex (I feel bad for my siblings but I didn’t know what I was doing, and no it was not abusive just sibling rivalry and I’m the oldest anyway, and we are country kids and understand “rough-housing” =/= using each other as a punching bag, but accidents happen I'm sorry) We both seem to become easily overstimulated and have explosive mental and emotional breakdowns when things just . . . become too much However the harsh divide between male and female and fictional and nonfictional means we both present certain traits differently. Whereas he presents a more linear line of thinking my mind is overwhelmingly sporadic. Also, I have over sensitivities to touch and light (and sometimes certain noises, but not anything not normal? Wfk.) But maybe he does have oversensitivity but I can't think of an example off the top of my head. Enough about me however. I know Melvin and autism has been done to death.  Hell, I just did it to death.  My actual theory is more on the inner mechanisms of his mind and predicting how he will develop should the series allow for full character development. Also, similar to my Krupp theory, I will be listing his crimes out and give him a proper sentence for his age and maturity level (which will be light as I am sympathetic to his plight).   This is already getting too long, so Imma try to finally get to the point.  Characters with autism are honestly a mixed bag, sometimes there as standardized as my mystery Daddy Sherlock Holmes and other times they are as subtle as Pearl or Peridot from Steven Universe (has Rebbaca Sugar confirmed this? sorry). Honestly, it does distress me that autism is almost always used to have an evil genius character or some weird side character for brownie/ diversity points. (this makes me a bit hypocritical I guess, considering my own stories. I guess tropes are tropes for a reason) And while Dav Pilky May not be subtle with his scholastic politics or humor his one spectacular tool in his writing books has always been, when it comes to his characters, showing instead of telling. This is something I latched on to even as a kid, and I was already thinking up theories on the characters before I even knew character theories were a thing.  Like what happened to Harold's Dad (hint, hint).  Why was Harold's sister rarely used?  Does Mr Krupp actually like their comics (a now accepted theory, but not just min? And many many others I'm probably never gonna write.  It took until how long in the books to reveal George and Harold have ADHD? Before that they were simply described as being as smart as Melvin but just in different ways. Personally I feel that autism is inverted ADHD. This is an opinion I’ve recently formed so if I’m wrong bloody attack me in the comments. Anyway, Melvin presenting autism makes him the perfect foil to George and Harolds’ more sporadic antics. The only true difference between autistic folks and ADHD folks is that those with autism tend to crave a structured environment full of rules, and set goals to achieve, while such an environment is HELL to children with ADHD (aka:George and Harold). (Even though if with adults they can trust, children with ADHD thrive in structured environments if they are surrounded by adults or authority figures they can trust.)  I know some will tell me ADHD is on the spectrum, but I just learned this like actually the other day and don’t fully understand it.  My prediction is that Melvin will eventually and naturally mellow out if just because staying so high strung all the time is a huge waste of mental energy.  I know good as hell I had to.  Also, he mellowed our in the books and went from a screeching revenge exacting lil narcissistic white boi prick to a person who simply wants to pursue his interests and even helping George and Harold (selfishly, but help nonetheless). He even went from enjoying the fame and attention of hero-ing to realizing it did not fufill him. Indeed quite the opposite.  His true passion lay in solving world problems through science, and I don't think the ending for him in the books could have been any more perfect considering his character.   In the Netflix show, similar to how I think Krupp's personalities are merging, I believe that Melvin will eventually become more like his Broski alter ego (which I calmly demand more of).  Overall, given that this show needs to go back to the status quo more often than not, I don't think his core character will ever change, and it doesn't need to.  Multiple times throughout the series he's been shown to crave friendship from George and Harold, despite audibly hating him . Textbook Tsundere, I know.  He will form a friendly rivalry with George and Harold, I have almost no doubt about that, taking the season 1 finale, season 2 finale, season 3 first episode, and halloween special into consideration. (Yeah, if someone will send me clips I will give them my eternal gratefulness) To conclude, because by god this is long, Melvin is, SHOCKER, just a little kid.  A little kid who likes muffins and dolls and has big hopes and dreams.  A little kid whose love for science and unrecognized creativity is channeled into making inventions that are even more impressive than those of Professor P (sorry P).  But he is a little kid with his own needs and stuggles which at this point remain unmet.  His parents are canonically neglectful, I cannot repeat that enough times.  The effects of neglect are a hell-hole of its own regardless of growing up with undiagnosed autism.  But that's just a theory- Alright, that was a banger, I guess next up is Melvin-borg since writing this has given me some interesting ideas for him.  Let’s see how long this hyperfocus train will go!

[aeronuzlockes]

Will From Grace update, or have you moved on from it? :x

Rest in Peace, From Grace

The author done fucked it up beyond repairs short of redoing it and it just wasn’t worth it. (Yes, I have moved on)

And I’m going to give you more than you asked for here. Like yes/no could suffice but I’ve been working up the nerve to give y’all my eloquent farewell and can’t truly be assed to do it so here’s the tea, right. The reason I’m not working on From Grace anymore...

 Only reason I worked on it as long as I did is because of the whole incident with Jelleh and Mae because before that happened, I was 20 steps out the door. Didn’t want to do it anymore. Got some long time fan telling me that using the correct pronouns for someone was a respect that had to be earned not freely given through the course of like  7 essay comments until I blocked the stupid asshole (Yeah everyone thinking I was snapping at Jelleh? I was snapping at that asshat 2 months after the fact bc he took his whiny ass to Jelleh’s journal to agree with him). Mae bullied how many people out of the community? And I got so many messages from people who were like “I’m glad you said something because I was too afraid to because of who would get involved”. The highlight was Mae sending me a message that began with a paragraph saying that I was just trying to salvage my “reputation” and I don’t know about the other 5 paragraphs bc I had better things to do with my time, but I got a good laugh out of the first part.

So I kept going out of pure spite- wasn’t going to the next nuzlocker bullied out by Mae. 

and I am out of spite after using it all to do something positive instead for once, had a huge emotional breakdown that lasted an entire year starting the summer of 2017 from extreme gender dysphoria which is when the updates started dying off in the first place, the nuz community is honestly better off without my bitter dumb bitch self lmao, I’m better off not being in it right now, and I’m in love with DnD and want to do my own original work. 

So it’s been real, y’all, but I’m p much done here... Specially after leaving the discord server with one final “fuck you” that I wouldn’t say I’m proud of... but it got my ass to stop hanging around waiting for a non-dramatic time to quietly leave. (that was my plan- to leave quietly. I. fucked. that. up. in a manner. that Leaf. would be proud of. but that’s not actually a good thing)

I have been kicking around the idea of a collab nuz comic with the dnd squad but we haven’t finished the game yet so... ??? not likely? but maybe? and with me just drawing for the most part

I will probably continue to reblog random nuzlockes that look nice that I’m not actually reading bc I can draw my own stuff or read other people’s and I’m focusing on me right now. But don’t expect anything fresh on the nuz from this cat because I’ve been done since 2015 and canceled since 2017.

Hat’s off to y’all having fun in this corner of the internet. We may see each other again- perhaps not. If you liked what you saw here, you can follow @aerorwen for lots of gay art and portraits and people it’s a lot of DnD angst which is fun. Leaf is a half-orc druid and Arnold is her wyvern in that verse. Its a real fun time.

Alas, 4 years is far too short atime to live among such excellent and admirable nuzlockers. I don't know halfof you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half aswell as you deserve.

So long, and may your horse never be an ass.

bye

[salavante]

Aesop 29 or the Helmsman

(I’ve drawn his floating head a lot, so here’s him with his hood up, which I draw less) Also formal apology because I think like maybe no more than four people who follow me play Destiny, so a couple things may sound a little esoteric. I’d suggest checking out the Ishtar Collective (links to offsite) if I refer to something unfamiliar. 

Full Name: Aesop-29

Gender and Sexuality: Male and Homosexual.

Pronouns: He/Him.

Ethnicity/Species: Exo, from the little crop of Destiny fancharacters that I have.

Birthplace and Birthdate: Unknown factor. But Aesop was found by his Ghost in the middle of nowhere, in a southwestern state that I have not chosen yet. Arizona, Texas, Colorado and Southern California are all candidates. Aesop has just a little bit of a Texan accent. 

Guilty Pleasures: Aesop is trying to learn how to play guitar and is really bad at it, making him very shy and nervous about his attempts. Similarly, Aesop enjoys singing, but usually does it when no one else is around - because no one else has really heard him sing before, it is a well kept secret between him and his Ghost that he’s actually pretty good. I personally like to keep the list of music that he likes to the 50’s-60’s bracket to match the kind of retrofuturistic style that the Golden Age tech in Destiny has. We the viewer read it as being ‘old’, even if it’s much, MUCH older than we realize because the setting is far future. That’s really all that matters, that we recognize it as being antiquated. His favorite of the very small pool of albums he has access to are Marty Robbins’ “Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs” and Nancy Sinatra’s “Boots” and “Sugar”. Sojourn teases him about it and has thusly introduced him to the feeling of shame. He also likes drinking alcohol even if it doesn’t actually make him drunk. Sometimes he does it out of spite. Someone you don’t like? Pound his drink right in front of him and walk away.

Phobias: Aesop’s kinda agoraphobic - he feels trapped and panicked in enclosed areas with lots of people, can be overstimulated by large groups of people talking/making a lot of noise. This makes him mostly useless in large-scale conflicts. He has managed to curb some of this by being accompanied by Sojourn or Calico to areas or situations that are high risk (whether that means a combat scenario or just going to The City), but this can get squirrely because Calico doesn’t have a ghost anymore and if killed would die permanently, and Sojourn has a tendency to get worked up in a fight and leave him behind on accident. If everything goes well though, Aesop is perfectly functional fighting in the small group that is his fireteam - himself, Sojourn (exo warlock) and King (human titan). His ghost, Chanticleer, can also sometimes talk him down if he’s starting to spin up into a panic attack. It’s something that he wants to fix, but, existing within the confines of your anxiety is a cold comfort that he indulges in. In general, he’s a very anxious person with a lot of existential dread, but he puts on a clownish, brazen act and hopes people don’t notice.

What They Would Be Famous For: Honestly, probably something very mundane, like breaking a dopey Guinness-style record or something like that. The entire point of Aesop is that he is very average in his skills in a world of blisteringly powerful space wizards and the like. I find his challenges are more about what goals he sets for himself and if those goals conflict with the status quo. Does his worth need be defined by how good he is at killing things vs. is the pursuit of personal wellness and happiness selfish in the context of a world fighting for its survival. Can these things coexist. etc.  

What They Would Get Arrested For: Probably something relatively benign done for the sake of pulling a dangerous stunt in the name of fun or looking cool. If he was a regular ass human in a normal modern setting, probably taking a nice vintage car for a joyride.

OC You Ship Them With: Aesop will have a love interest in the comic canon, but I’m gonna keep that under my hat for awhile yet. It’s not Cayde though, Cayde is dad. If Amanda Holliday was a man, he’d be utterly and entirely in love, but, alas. He’s still infatuated with her platonically though, and thinks she has pretty much the coolest job in the world. A promise of visiting her is a good way to entice him into going to The City.

OC Most Likely To Murder Them: When death is not a factor, this becomes less of an issue, hah. Aesop and his bff Sojourn have killed each other a number of times in training, to an almost nonchalant degree. Aesop has also been killed much more in training, by his fireteam’s resident titan, King. Aesop will also find a rival in a local Fallen pike gang, the leader of which has the placeholder name of Easy Rider. I also have a Cabal villain I am throwing around and trying to decide if they’ll stick, but I need to do a lot more work and research on that. They’re my least favorite enemy type mechanically, but I think they could make perfectly acceptable antagonists in a narrative. 

Favorite Movie/Book Genre: Aesop does not read. He can, he just doesn’t. I think maybe, MAYBE, someone could get him to read comic books, but those aren’t very sturdy and I feel like the amount of intact physical copies at this point would be almost nothing. The pool of movies and media that he has available to him are very sparse, but he absolutely drowns himself in spaghetti westerns, and would probably also like trashy action movies if they were available to him. I also think he would like Grease, HAHA. It has cars and guys in leather jackets singing in it. He’d also probably like any kind of rustic, western themed musical. And anything with cars in it would have his immediate interest no matter how bad it is, but he’d zone out in any parts he doesn’t like. 

Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: To be honest I think most of the time, movies are a little too long for him and lose his interest partway through. He has a really short attention span and anything too long, complicated or artsy will lose him and he’ll start being fidgety and chatty and start making his boredom everyone else’s problem. Even if there’s a movie he likes, if there’s a part that’s boring to him, he zones out. He probably watches the same 2-3 movies over and over again, which is fine because his available library of media is probably really small. I like to think that they probably have movies in some kind of archive that they put up publicly in The City every once in awhile, like they have a projector that puts it on the side of a building and people just bring chairs and shit. Aesop has an aforementioned fear of crowds but he probably does some hunter parkour bullshit and perches somewhere at a healthy distance to watch from afar, as long as it’s something he thinks he would like. If he doesn’t he gets up and leaves.

Talents and/or Powers: Aesop seems to have an interest in vehicles, but due to a bet with his mentor, Calico, he has not actually been taught how to drive a Sparrow and so pines for them from afar. As said, he’s learning how to play an instrument, and if we want to be technical, is a Gunslinger speced Hunter with the Golden Gun super. He is very bad at being stealthy, as he is very impatient and is also a little bigger than the average exo. He’s just kinda tall and wide and tends to clunk around. If his Ghost Chanticleer wasn’t as clever as she was, Aesop would probably be perma-dead by now.

Why Someone Might Love Them: He’s kind of a dumbass and a space cadet but has the potential to be very sweet, and the people he cares about, he latches on to really hard. Similarly, when set to a task he cares about, he does not quit. Unfortunately, many of his goals are unresolved, but it does not mean that he will stop trying. If he were to, say, become romantically interested in someone, he would go to great lengths to connect with him, even if it meant doing things Aesop himself may not like. In specific circumstances, Aesop may find that he has a great capacity for nurturing and bringing out the best in other people, a talent Aesop himself undervalues. Though he’s not all that intelligent, Aesop is very reflective and existentially inquisitive, and thinks about a lot of big picture stuff that other people might push aside in an era of crisis. Though he may not understand science or the way the world works in a mechanical sense, he is awed by it, and is a great appreciator of natural beauty. He’d cry at a particularly beautiful sunrise, if he could cry. I’d say he could be described as having a romantic soul.

Why Someone Might Hate Them: To be honest, Aesop has trouble establishing empathy with people he doesn’t know very well, and so is less invested in Earth’s plight than he probably should be (it would not be hard for Dead Orbit to sway him to their views). This makes some people think that he doesn’t take his charge seriously, and they also usually assume that he’s a slacker because he’s plateaued in his abilities so early. Really, Aesop is acutely socially anxious, can have panic attacks in large crowds, and generally prefers to stay away from The City unless he needs to go there, and so has a big emotional disconnect from it. Calico and Chanticleer have tried to get him more accustomed to groups, but has been thusfar mostly unsuccessful. His insecurity and anxiety also cause him to pull odd, dangerous stunts to prove his worth, making him unreliable and impulsive. He can bungle social interactions rather spectacularly, and is easily goaded into doing really stupid shit. Really, he is a person who may just be “too much” for some.

How They Change: Oooooghhh….I can’t talk about this. I forgot how frustrating it is to not be able to talk about things because you’re going to make a comic out of it. Suffice it to say he’s gonna change a lot.

Why You Love Them: I think Aesop encapsulates a lot of anxieties I have post-college. Aesop is a person in transition who is unsure of his future, knowing only that he can’t quit now, because quitting means failure and failure means death. Because he is in transition, he is anxious about forming relationships with people, worried that either he will be left behind by them, or that they won’t like him when he’s “finished” becoming a person. I think he has a complex relationship with his personhood and sense of self. I dunno, I think that’s an interesting anxiety for a protagonist to have. I am also interested to see what Aesop will end up contributing to his society/organization and his interpersonal relationships, and if he’ll be happy with it. I’ve put a lot of work into him, the ‘original Aesop’ I had in mind might as well be a completely different character now. Aesop was originally a little cameo that I did in our TTRPG game, Godslaughter, because my boyfriend had put a dunmer cameo character into our game and I wanted to return the favor. Then he made a sheet for him. Then I decided to keep him around, then I decided to play Destiny 2, then I decided I loved it, lol. There is still a version of Aesop in the TTRPG but he is so incredibly different, they may as well be different characters. We refer to him as “Bad Aesop” but should probably call him something more dignified (we won’t).

[starspatter]

I think you should do ALL THE ASKS :D

WELL ALL RIGHT THENA - Ships that you currently like a lot. (They don’t have to be OTPs because not everyone has OTPs.) Friendships, pairings, threesomes, etc. are allowed.1) DCAU TimSteph2) ItsuHaru3) Logan x Diana Prince4) Itsuki Koizumi x Kyouya OotoriB - A pairing–platonic, romantic or sexual–that you initially didn’t consider, but someone changed your mind.*looks at WonderWolf and SuperBats*C - A ship you have never liked and probably never will.BatCat.  Even back when I wasn’t a fan of Batman I remember I read one DCAU comic involving Catwoman, and her character just didn’t appeal to me.D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t.Any Kagepro ships tbh.  Idk I’m just not really invested in the romance of the series.  I prefer them all as friends/platonic.E - Have you added anything cracky/hilarious to your fandom? If so, what?Ahaha…  I’ve contributed a fair bit of Kagecrack through vids/posts, though I think my favorite are these BTAS crossover edits.Also Kyorange and Skitzo!Kyon for TMoHS.  (Plus the “genderbent cast is the previous generation” theory if that counts?)F - What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom?Well I’ve been a Pokémon fan since elementary school.  While I no longer watch the show/play the games, I still follow the new generations and RP on occasion.G - Have you ever had an OTP? If so, do you remember your first one? Who was in it?Eeyup.  While I don’t ship too often, when I do I ship HARD.  ItsuHaru was my first real “obsessive” OTP, but I think the honor for the *very* first ship I had goes to… Cody x Ken from Digimon S2, in a sense. *shot* ^^; Idk I was just really focused on the idea of them making up and becoming “friends”. XP Though I also shipped Ken with Kari too bc of the Dark Ocean stuff.  (Also Gary Oak x Molly Hale from Pokémon but that’s a whole other story. >.>; )H - What is your favorite source text for fandom stuff (e.g., TV shows, movies, books, anime, Western animation, etc.)?I’m still mostly a weeb so animu is my go-to, but I’ve been branching out to more Western stuff lately.  (Although when it comes to Kagepro the songs are still the best medium. =3=)I - Has Tumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why?Steven Universe.  While I still love the show, hearing about all the toxicity in the fandom really turned me off so I just try to avoid it.J - Name a fandom you didn’t think about until you saw it all over Tumblr. (You don’t have to care about it or follow it; it just has to be something that Tumblr made you aware of.)Again, Steven Universe.  Also Over the Garden Wall and Bojack Horseman (the former of which I still really recommend you see).K - What character has your favorite development arc/the best development arc?I’m also gonna say Sunset Shimmer from Equestria Girls.  She went from being a seemingly one-off villain to a fully redeemed good guy and leader in her own right.  Though she still has her insecurities, it lets her relate to and help others in the same situation to not let those feelings of inadequacy or jealousy overcome them.Also Midna from Twilight Princess.  Her change of heart from servicing her own needs to selfless sacrifice after observing how hard Link tried to save others mirrors my own feelings when I met Link in OoT/MM and watched him grow into a true hero, working to help both the people of Hyrule and Termina even when he had no obligation or was openly blamed for Ganon’s rise to power.L - Say something genuinely nice about a character who isn’t one of your faves. (Characters you’re neutral about are fair game, as are characters you merely dislike. Characters that you absolutely loathe with the fire of ten thousand suns are exempt, as there is no point in giving yourself an aneurysm over a character that you hate.)So I’m not a big fan of Dick Grayson in the DCAU (or any of his animated adaptations aside from Lego Batman; his YJ version being especially egregious) since I see him as rather childish and bad at dealing with conflict, but he’s admittedly a lot better in the tie-in comics, which give him some much needed development as Nightwing (whereas he barely got any screentime in TNBA).  There he acts as a genuine big brother to Tim, and is shown to not be as nearly as bitter at Bruce as the Old Wounds ep would have one believe.  I also like that they highlight Dick’s fondness for music, wherein his musical knowledge actually comes in handy to solve a couple cases.M - Name a character that you’d like to have for a friend.All of the Mekakushi Dan, SOS Brigade, or Host Club tbhN - Name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice).1) More Kagepro content in general2) More DCAU TimSteph 3) More ItsuHaru

O - Choose a song at random. Which ship or character does it remind you of?Growing Up - Run River NorthDefinitely a Timmy Todd/TimSteph song now that I think about it.  Especially the lines “I found my way without your help, with a broken family” and “monsters in my head”. ;(P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas).…Tbh I’m really liking the “Legion x Ouran” idea lately. XD *shot*Q - A fandom you’ve abandoned and why.Hm…  I don’t think there are any I’ve really “abandoned”, per se.  Most of them are still there, just not at the forefront anymore.R - Which friendship/platonic relationship is your favorite in fandom?All the relationships in Kagepro *shot*S - Show us an example of your personal headcanon (prompts optional but encouraged)Molly Hale from the third movie is the god of the Pokémon world.  Just… don’t ask lol.T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending?Already answered, but I’ll add a few of my favorites for DCAU TimSteph:1) Tim cuts his own hair after RotJ (or rather just lets it grow long) since he doesn’t trust anyone else with sharp objects around him.  Steph is the first person he allows to trim his hair for him (even though she has no experience with it either), since I imagine him feeling comfortable enough around her that he even falls asleep like Sousuke does with Chidori in Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid.  (For context, he was raised as a soldier from an early age and this is what happened when they tried to take him to a salon.  Played for laughs, but probably an accurate portrayal of people suffering from anxiety/PTSD having to deal with mundane tasks that trigger them.)

2) Similarly, Steph plays piano to help calm Tim down whenever he’s having a panic attack.3) After RotJ Tim refuses to wear red for a long time until Steph knits him a red scarf and tells him it “suits him” bc red is the color of heroes.

As an aside, I also recently like the idea that Logan was at Lex’s party in the DCEU and saw Bruce and Diana together, based on this playlist that I made.  U - Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites.Gonna talk about a few I don’t mention too often nowadays.

1) Link from The Legend of ZeldaLink will forever be my greatest true love.  He’s the first real “hero” I believed in, and he honestly changed my life at one point to actually want to be a better person.  While that faith has faded and I don’t think I can ever reach his example, I still wish I had that kind of courage and kindness - or at least be able to inspire others in the same way he did me.2) Meroko Yui from Full Moon wo SagashiteIf Link was the first (and only) person I ever truly fell in love with, Meroko was the one who taught me what “true love” was in the first place.  I won’t say too much since I still sincerely hope you will check out the series someday, but suffice to say there’s a scene towards the end where she makes a choice that shows how much she has personally grown, and come to understand what it really means to “love” someone wholeheartedly.

3) Gary Oak from PokémonThis is a bit of an odd one, but Gary is a character I related to a lot when I was an adolescent since, of the main series cast, he was the first and one of few to really change his “status quo” by quitting training and deciding to become a researcher instead.  In my eyes it seemed like a shockingly conscious choice to “grow up” in a world where you can ostensibly remain a “child” forever, and I both admired and deplored him for it (especially at that tender transitory age I was going through at the time, where it feels like you’re being forced to “become an adult” whether you want to or not).

V - Which character do you relate to most?Already answered.W - A trope which you are virtually certain to hate in any fandom.Romance in general is really not my thing, so I dislike when it’s the focus/the writers feel the need to pair every character.  I’d rather leave things open-ended most of the time.X - A trope which you are almost certain to love in any fandom.Family/friendship stories + tragic adopted children wanting to be heroesY - What are your secondhand fandoms (i.e., fandoms you aren’t in personally but are tangentially familiar with because your friends/people on your dash are in them)?X-Men, Kingdom Hearts, Dangan Ronpa, Fate/Stay Night, Various Magical Girl series, Various RPG Horror games

Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go! (Prompts optional but encouraged.)I feel like I’ve rambled enough already phew. OTL Thanks for asking though. =P

[respheal]

Two years of Galebound

Hey guys, Res here! Long spiel ahead because I’m getting personal and long-winded here. Full text after the cut to spare your dash.

tl;dr: A brief history of Galebound’s development and my experiences with telling a story, joining a community, depression, and living inside my characters’ heads for two solid years.

[cut]

So I was working on page 103 early last month (yeah, the week page 103 was due to go up aaaahhahahaha -cries-) when I realized what was coming up: the second anniversary of Galebound’s start as a webcomic. The exact date of the anniversary is a little nebulous. The decision to make it a webcomic was made on 4/20/16 when I completed drawing the concept art for all the main characters (which I had set as a prerequisite for going on the hare-brained adventure) and drew what would become the title page. The first page was published on Smack Jeeves (where galebound.com is hosted) on 5/14/16. So the birthday of the webcomic is somewhere between those dates but I’m going to consider it to be 5/14, which is why I’m rambling about it today. I want to talk a bit about Galebound’s history and what it means to me.

Galebound was originally a short story called Noblesse Oblige. It was written in first person POV from Conan’s perspective and published on DeviantArt back in 2007 or so. I really wish I could find that original draft because I bet it’s wonderfully terrible. I didn’t really know what I was doing with the story at the time--Conan was an untrusting jerk, Din was an arrogant troll, and Pascal was downright unhinged. The basic mechanics of the Obligation were there (simply that Noblemen could command Magicians), but that was about it.

I pants’d the story until it got to--well, just after this point actually. The conclusion of the battle on the bridge, and then I stopped. I don’t entirely remember why. But the story stuck around in the back of my mind while I met new friends (Hi, Skypernauts!), went to college, moved across the country, met my first boyfriend, got my first job, met my future husband, and casually worked on developing an RPGMaker game in my spare time (That RPG is called Memory and that story will likely get turned into a comic eventually as well).

While I was working on Memory’s battle system, I had the thought: how would I convert Noblesse Oblige into an RPG? The magic system would probably have to be something like the field generator from the original .hack games: string together words for a certain field or, in this case, magic. That way the command side of the Obligation would be integrated into the gameplay.

I played around with that idea for a bit longer, but ultimately decided it wouldn’t work; there was a major design flaw with the game. I can’t say what that flaw was because figuring out the solution to the design flaw led to the realization of a huge twist in NO’s story. I had to get this story out. Now.

Around this time I had abandoned RPG-making (because making nice maps is a PITA), so I took Noblesse Oblige through a JulyNoWriMo (NaNoWriMo, just in July). This time I took the story through Norin, Evenheim, the bridge, and on to Cymaria and beyond, compelled as if by Obligation. I accomplished my goal of 50k words, but the story still wasn’t complete. I slowed down the writing process and kept at it, but I also wanted to share the story so badly.

And uh...well. No one was interested in beta reading it except one friend, when time allowed. My fiance made an attempt, but didn’t get very far (He tried though, bless him, and said that although the beginning was rough--lord was it ever--it picked up eventually). In his eternal patience, my fiance at least let me spill the whole story at him. He didn’t like parts of it, mainly some things that happen around the midpoint and Din as a character in general (Din was a bit more actually evil back then). But he listened to the story as a whole, which was a lot more support than I felt anyone else had given the project at the time (Thanks, Mike <3). He also made a hell of a lot of puns about the ending of it, but in fairness the ending does lend itself to a lot of puns. It’ll blow you away (ba-dum-tsh).

I started getting really frustrated. There was this story that I just had to tell, but seemingly no one who would listen. I’d put a couple chapters up on Wattpad or Tablo, but got no feedback there (and didn’t learn until much later that those sites are miserable for anything that isn’t romance). An excuse would be that I wanted to know if this project had any sort of worth and if I should continue with it, but real talk: I wanted validation. I know better now what was happening then, but...well, hindsight.

While this was going on, I posted this illustration in the NaNoWriMo forums, the first drawing I had done in about two years or so.

No comments for a bit, but one day I was browsing through the thread and noticed someone quoted me and responded, asking if I was doing a webcomic. Um...No? I had tried making a webcomic before, but it was a LOT of work and I figured it wouldn’t be something I would have time for now.

Buuuuuuuuut the seed was planted. At this point I had determined the reason no one was interested in reading my rough novel was because A) the writing must be terrible (it kind of was) and B) nobody ain’t got time for reading books. So maybe this story could be told and find its audience as a webcomic. But only if I could draw ALL of the main and secondary characters. I would have to draw them hundreds of times, so no point in trying if I couldn’t even draw them all once.

Suffice to say, I succeeded. And the comic began under the new name Galebound.

Even as the comic went up, however, the need for validation persisted. I meticulously tracked subscription counts and likes and faves and everything, craving proof that people were reading this story. It got better as the story went on and some events did provide temporary boosts (Like Galebound getting featured on a “Top Five New Comics” list from Top Web Comics -excited screaming- and I met a new friend who I could talk to about the story and she actually read the monstrosity that was the first draft), but, well...

So, long story short: I was suffering from clinical depression with all that entails, and did for quite a while. Still am, technically. Just well managed now (yaaaaaay therapy and medication). It’s funny because I can pick out the pages it was hitting me the hardest because Conan was super bummed in those pages too.

I guess what I’m saying here is that this story was a big part of my life during some of the hardest and darkest times of my life.

I’m doing better now (see: aforementioned medication and therapy). Really I’m lucky because I see and talk to other webcomic artists who have similar struggles and similar feelings and the same reactions when sad or disappointing things happen and I want to suggest they get professional help when I recognize the signs of depression in them, but I realize I’m extremely fortunate in that I even had the opportunity to get the medical attention I needed. (I will recommend up and down all day long that if you’re suffering from depression and have the opportunity to see a doc about it, do so. For years I had tricked myself into thinking it wasn’t that bad even when...it was.)

There were good things, too. I met new friends and joined a community of other webcomic creators. I contributed to some drama in the community in an attempt to hold our publishing platforms accountable. I created a website to help webcomic readers and creators. I attended my first convention as an artist (and actually sold a sticker and a booklet! Woo!) and by the time this gets published I’ll have attended my second. Galebound has gained a small fanbase and I’m so proud of how clever the readers are. Seriously, you all keep me on my toes.

Regarding the story itself, Galebound is, by my estimates, about a fifth of the way through the full story, which means it will likely run for about ten years total if things don’t speed up (and I really want to speed things up). If you consult the Blake Snyder Beat Sheet, we’re somewhere in “The Debate”, that debate being “Who is Din and can he be trusted?”

Spoiler alert (warning: song with explicit language)

The whole concept of the Obligation stems from the dichotomy of what one wants to do versus what one feels compelled to do. That could be taking over the family business, going to college, going to church, even choosing a life partner based on expectations as opposed to one’s true feelings--as a character will say in the future, “not all Obligations are magic.” This sort of Obligation is something I think a lot of people face, and something Conan, too, will face throughout the course of the story.

Galebound is also about redemption and forgiveness. There are characters who have made terrible mistakes and decisions in the name of hatred and prejudice, and those who have brought harm to others out of sheer ignorance. It’s about self-worth and purpose. It’s about friendship and reconciliation. It’s about platonic and familial love. It’s about duty...and obligations.

It’s complicated, but “simple stories are inherently false. Life is complicated, and perspective matters.”

To sort of go into Conan and Din’s headspace a bit as they are now, they’re not in a good place emotionally, and it’s soon to get worse (because a certain someone Can’t Follow Instructions). They will hit rock bottom, but after that...well, there’s no place left to go but up? After this chapter, both of them will be reeling from mistakes made in the recent and distant past, but these events--as well as what will happen with the next few days--will put them in a place to rethink everything.

Long story short, I’m excited for what’s to come, but when am I not?

Anyway, that’s my spiel. Thanks for reading and for reading Galebound! My goals for it this year are to finish the first volume, start editing some of the earlier pages in preparation for printing, get a few chapters of the novel written (again), and get to the turn into act two. I’m actually so hyped for the turn I’ve edited this paragraph a millions times to keep myself from dropping even hints of spoilers because wow I want to talk about it.

So I better stop.

Thanks again for reading and Galespeed! <3

Links

Read Galebound here: galebound.com Prints and Stickers: store.synestories.com Social Media: Twitter | Facebook Support: Ko-Fi | Patreon

[bi-rezi]

I Been Thinkin.... what would happen if feferiquest acutally, yknow, happened?

some thoughts + a complete walkthrough of everything that happened as soon as aranea got the ring of life + everything that WOULD happen if feferi replaced aranea

it’s Extremely Long. read at your own risk

cause okay here’s what happened:

- aranea got the ring of life, keeping gamzee as something of a servant

- she moved the golden battleship, alerting crockertier jane and grimbark jade to the strange circumstances

- she “healed” jake, forcing him into his full potential as a page of hope (allowing roxy to escape her dersian prison)

- jade tries (and fails) to zap jake’s hopesplosion away, so she switches the locations of derse and lofaf

- karkat alerts dave to the problem

- jade calls upon the power of the green sun to fight jake’s hopesplosion, but starts getting pushed through the surface of her own planet. eventually she loses the battle and skips across the surface of the lava lake that has now appeared, having been ko’ed

- aranea topples jade’s house onto her, killing her justly, but only thanks to a lucky 8r8k

- dave and rose start heading to lofaf

- jane goes to jade, intending to resurrect her, but is jumped by gamzee

- aranea reveals her knowledge of roxy’s presence. they speak briefly, and roxy tries to convince aranea to give her the ring so they can give it to callie before aranea knocks her out so she won’t meddle

- (callie and jade meet up and hang out and its very fun and sweet)

- dave arrives and sees all the Bull Shit thats going on

- brain ghost dirk (bgd) suddenly becomes Not Fake thanks to jake’s hopesplosion

- he begins to fight aranea just as terezi arrives to fight gamzee, leaving jane free resurrect jade BUT

- pm and bec noir arrive and take jade’s body. dave is there, freaking out. jane summons gcat to distract pm and bec noir, intending for them to drop her, but they... don’t. rip. dave chases after them to get jade’s body back

- bgd says “If I can’t get the ring off your finger, I’ll rip the soul out of your body” and it’s extremely metal and he starts ripping aranea’s soul out of her body

- this causes jake’s hopesplosion to dissipate, which causes bgd to start becoming Fake again

- rose takes the sleeping roxy out of the way. terezi continues to fight gamzee

- jane spears jake with her trident, killing him and ReFakening bgd completely. aranea’s soul gets back in her body all the way, also breaking her mind control of gamzee

- aranea knocks out jane, whose sleeping body (controlled by the tiaratop) begins to fight back anyway. meanwhile, gamzee starts to fight terezi now that he isn’t being mind-controlled

- jake resurrects from his death, which was neither just nor heroic. aranea starts to try to lift dirk’s sword so she can kill jane with it

- rose sees gamzee p much killing terezi and is like “fuck i hope this isn’t a blackrom thing... wait is it?” and like, he’s fucking killing her girl, get down there

- terezi and skaia fall into the lava just as karkat and kanaya finally arrive

- gamzee just manages to catch terezi, and it’s at this point that rose and jake (who are both jsut standing there useless) finally try to get involved

- battleship condescension arrives

- a6a6a3 happens

- [S] Game Over happens, which i’m also gonna break down:

- karkat rushes gamzee, who drops terezi, stabs karkat, and throws him into the lava

- aranea shoots bgd’s sword at jane, but jake jumps in front of her and is stabbed through the middle. meanwhile dave is fighting both pm and bec noir. aranea then stabs jane with the sword that still has jake impaled on it

- kanaya cuts gamzee in half

- the condesce fires her laser psionics all around, knocking terezi back onto solid ground and vaporizing kanaya. dave is double impaled by pm and bec noir (heroic). jake’s death is ruled heroic, and jane’s is ruled just.

- this is where people start throwing planets around. aranea grabs lolar and smashes the battleship condescension between lolar and lofaf. she then grabs locah, but the condesce retaliates by grabbing lohac and smashing it into locah

- rose rushes at the condesce, who stabs her with her 2x3dent. terezi rushes at aranea, who mind controls the former into stabbing herself with her own sword. the condesce aims her laser psionics at rose, but roxy void-ifies them both and saves rose at the last second. END OF [S] Game Over

- the condesce pops the ring of life off of aranea’s hand and breaks her neck, throwing her into the fire (a just death).

- john FINALLY zaps in w/ his retcon powers. he explores the destruction for a bit, meets dirk (who immediately Emo(tm)s at him and then dies via glitch consumption)

- john, rose, roxy and terezi all meet up on roxy’s planet and plan out the retcon and terezi has the most hardcore moment in the entire comic where she draws the outline of her own body on the ground moments before her death and then falls into it, finally dying

- rose dies and it’s heroic. forgot to mention that

- and of course roxy and john meet their denizens and all that shit and we discover that the jade who has been with callie has been the post-retcon jade this whole time

and okay. god this is a long post but like. assuming feferi gets her hands on the ring of life in a similar fashion. probably she couldn’t pull whatever strings the condesce did to get her mind control powers, but she might be able to make vriska do a couple things for her. but lets say she gets the ring of life and appears in the real world in the same place and at the same time as aranea did.

- honestly, feferi could potentially heal terezi’s eyes similar to how aranea did cause of her aspect. so even that would be the same.

- anyway. she could really get the ring from any alive person, and i don’t feel like tracking its progress through the people right now. whatever happens, she wakes up with whatever alive person she got the ring from and since she’s feferi, probably thanks them. maybe she says something like. fuckin.

FEFERI: I admit I don’t )(ave much to t)(ank you fis)( rig)(t now, but s)(orely t)(e reward of saving t)(e universe will suffice!

or something like that. you know how aranea had her dumb lines.

- she wouldn’t be able to move the golden battleship unless she had sollux or aradia with her, which is actually pretty plausible, since they were hanging out together last time we saw them iirc. maybe aradia was even how she got the ring. so, okay, say she has one of them move the golden battleship over to derse so she can awaken jake’s hopesplosion, and that alerts jane and jade that somefin’s not right.

- she probably doesn’t try to kiss jake? in terms of jake’s arc that made sense but in terms of hers it really doesn’t i don’t think. but she heals him and he hopesplodes and roxy escapes. jade does her thing, which tips karkat off that something’s wrong. she ends up getting ko’ed and causing some destruction.

- this is where feferi’s motivation actually starts to matter. lemme see what i remember lol. her thing is that she knows best, right? and like aranea realized, it would technically be for the greater good across the universes if lord english was never able to be created. so i think it makes sense for her to have almost the same motivation as aranea.

- in this case, i think feferi could be a lot more efficient than aranea was, and just use her witch of life powers to kill jade rather than inelegantly tipping a house onto her (again, thematically funny, but logically... lame).

- so jane would then go try to resurrect jade, but in this case it might be sollux or aradia who interrupts her. they probably wouldn’t go straight for fighting her, but jane might initiate that fight since she’s crockertier. let’s say it’s aradia, since she has a weapon, unlike sollux. she’s, like, slightly less op.

- as for roxy? i dont think any of them would be able to know where she is, since none of them are mind readers, seers, or light players. feferi technically inverts to a seer, but i don’t think she’s inverted, so we won’t count that. so she can actually stay invisible. maybe she meets up with rose and dave when they arrive.

- anyway, bgd becomes Not Fake and starts fighting feferi, who (unlike aranea) isn’t unarmed. i feel like feferi could totally take dirk, not gonna lie. so he probably gets his ass whooped for a bit.

- terezi arrives and i guess gamzee should too since the whole gang is here? i suppose he was on the golden ship? i dont like him. i dont want to have to track his whereabouts. terezi probably starts fighting him cause he’s a dick. unlike in canon, however, he’s not being mind-controlled, so he probably doesn’t sit there and take it.

- so dave is freaking out about jade and jane is trying to get to jade but aradia won’t let her and then pm and bec noir show up and take her body. jane summons gcat to distract them, but again, they don’t drop jade’s body. jane expresses her frustration, leading dave to chase them to get jade’s body.

- bgd gives up fighting feferi cause he’s getting his ass kicked and starts trying to rip her soul out of her body again, which makes the hopesplosion start dissipating, which makes him become Faker again

- jane spears jake, temporarily killing him and reFakening bgd. i guess instead of knocking jane out, she’d just straight up Regular Fight her. that’s another fight i think feferi could win, not gonna lie. jane’s badass but feferi toted whales around on the daily when she was alive. jake resurrects while they’re fighting.

- rose sees gamzee p much killing terezi and is like “fuck i hope this isn’t a blackrom thing... wait is it?” and like, he’s fucking killing her girl, get down there

- terezi and skaia fall into the lava just as karkat and kanaya finally arrive

- gamzee just manages to catch terezi, and it’s at this point that rose and jake finally try to get involved

- battleship condescension arrives

([S] Game Over)

- karkat rushes gamzee, who drops terezi, stabs karkat, and throws him into the lava

- let’s say feferi is winning against jane. jake intercepts the killing blow, inconveniently, and dies. she kills jane with the other end of her 2x3dent.

- kanaya cuts gamzee in half

- the condesce fires her laser psionics all around, knocking terezi back onto solid ground and vaporizing kanaya. dave is double impaled by pm and bec noir (heroic). jake’s death is ruled heroic, and jane’s is ruled just.

- in canon, this is where planets get thrown around. that could technically happen now too, actually, since feferi has sollux on her side, but it could also, like... not. instead sollux could just like directly attack battleship condescension and i feel like that’d be more efficient. maybe the condesce chucks a planet at them out of spite? but idk, i felt like that was kind of far-fetched in canon anyway, like there were people on lofaf who apparently survived the planet they were on getting hit by another planet? i call bs. nah condy probably just fires at them with her laser psionics like sollux did. its not as Dramatique(tm) but it’s also, like... less dumb

- rose rushes at the condesce, who stabs her with her 2x3dent. terezi attacks feferi, deciding that this has gone on far enough, but is quickly knocked aside and stabbed with feferi’s 2x3dent. the condesce aims her laser psionics at rose, but roxy void-ifies them both and saves rose at the last second. END OF [S] Game Over

- now it’s just condy and feferi, and i think this can be a bit of a longer fight, especially since feferi still has aradia and sollux on her side (or maybe even jsut one of them? maybe she got aradia to come with but sollux couldn’t since he’s kind of dead kind of alive). but i think the condesce can still win this fight, which leaves us with a dying rose, a dying terezi, a live roxy, and john who’s about to pop in (and dirk who’s still across the incipisphere)

and then the retcon can happen and we didnt have to have 12 extra unnecessary characters, only two of which actually got any decent development in canon, despite the fact that BOTH of them couldve been replaced with feferi

(meenah couldve been replaced with an alt feferi who god-tiered and maybe even successfully created a new world before her timeline died. like. really easily.)

as long an endeavor as feferiquest would be, replacing this section of canon with feferiquest would actually make homestuck shorter, since we could almost completely remove the whole dancestor section

[princesscrystal]

The Many Books of Author Jared McVay https://www.amazon.com/Jared-McVay/e/B006OB8M8Q/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1 Not enough room here. Suffice to say, besides being a writer for many years - Stringer for several newspapers, my own bi-line for articles in SAG and AFTRA mags., short story writer, screenwriter, and now two books, I'm also a blue water sailor, been a carnival barker, wrestled an ape on exhibition, rode the rails as a hobo for the experience, rodeo clown, storyteller, stand-up comic, MC, electrician, power lineman, owned several companies, circus clown, over 20 years as a prof. actor; Stage, Film and Television, along with some other stuff I can't think of right now. As my good friend, Jimmy Stewart once said, It really is a Wonderful Life. https://www.instagram.com/p/CL4p4sLgC3v/?utm_medium=tumblr

[italicwatches]

Comic Girls - Episode 01

Oh, fuck it. I was gonna watch this sooner or later, and while I have a lot of options on the board, I really want some craft anime right now, and I’ve got a good action/slice-of-life back and forth rhythm going too. So anyways let’s watch some girls make manga and probably have plausibly deniable romantic feelings towards each other. It’s Comic Girls, episode 01! Here we GO!

-We begin, at…A crosswalk, in Fukushima, on a quiet day. A small pink-haired moeblob sits in a car, being driven along, until a cherry blossom hits her cheek. She is very pink and very moeblob. …And then she learns that her latest manga submission did badly, when the editor gives her a call. How badly, you might ask?

-She’s bottom of the pack. The readers hate the art, the plot, the writing, and think the author can’t write high school girls worth jack shit. So our moeblob, having gotten dropped off from the car, just straight up collapses. Alas, poor Kaos-sensei, who cannot write high school girls despite being a high school girl.

-I’m not entirely sure how she ends up at the steps of a shrine, with a small army of stray cats coming to comfort her. The editor can tell this girl has potential, but god, she needs such thicker skin if she is ever going to survive…And there’s only one way to get her through a crucible without her cracking.

-Hard cut to some other girl getting a similar offer. Why yes, it’s an all-female manga artist dorm. This girl, a very free and loose blonde who…I think…Is she eating three parfaits at once? So suffice it to say she thinks this possibility over long and hashe’ll do it!

-Then we have two more girls…Who are also high school aged.

-Really.

-I just…Like, you’re putting them all in their own dorm. The entire point is they’re all working professionals, or trying to break into the industry. Considering I’ve seen about three different uniforms, I’m pretty sure we’re not going to spend any time actually going to anyone’s school.

-So what purpose does making them high schoolers serve at this point?! Ohhh my god just take me back to anime about working adults in an industry. New Game was total fluff but at least it wasn’t trying to have its schoolgirl cake and eat it too.

-Sorry, sorry, back to the show. These girls are further along the path, with one just getting serialized, and the other still deep in the grind by the sounds of it. Also they’re already tenants at the dorm.

-…So the moeblob’s a secret pervert.

-Okay that’s not entirely fair. We cut to Kaos that night, and she has tons of slightly ecchi heroine figurines in her room, and is getting all “mweeheehee” about being in an all-female manga artist dorm. Now let’s peer into her mental image of what it’ll be like! Yeah she could never survive in a stylish environment like that. Let’s try again the next morning! What if they’re all super intense serious artists? She’d crack there, too. But maybe they’re all a bunch of impassioned nerd rookies like her? A bunch of rookies all getting rejection letters every day would just be depressing.

-…Aaaand she just missed her train because she was lost in her own head. Alas, poor Kaos.

-And that’s how she ends up hauling her schoolbag, with her laptop in it, and her Rintiq tablet, down the road the old fashioned way. Wait, a Rintiq? Jesus, she has a totally-not-Cintiq? Did she just splurge All The Holiday Money, or do her parents believe in her dream that much? Like, shit, I thought I was super lucky when I got my entry-level DSLR at her age, and that was like half to a third of the price and was at a time when we were making money hand over fist.

-Oh and it’s at the top of a hill, too. Or perhaps I should say, she started at the bottom of several hills. But eventually, she makes it…And sees the landlady…And has a panic. Especially when she’s seen as a small tiny grade schooler and not the serious high school girl she insists she is. And the landlady just, isn’t, hearing it. …You know, I almost made a joke at the start about our moeblob not knowing how high school girls act because she was only in middle school.

-Also it turns out that the dorm is going to get a top-to-bottom remodeling in about a year, so there’s a timer. This iteration of the dorm isn’t long for this world something something high school experience cherry blossoms SYMBOLISM

-Anyways the blonde from before is Kaos’s new roommate and she gives zero fucks. And Kaos did not expect to be sharing her room with anyone. Meet Koyume, who has already gotten out the snacks and the paper and the pencils and really what else do you need? So Kaos’s real name is Moeta Kaoruko. …I’m sticking with Kaos. You need all the help to sound cool that you can get. Oh and Kaos gets all teary-eyed.

-“I’m sorry! Do you not like donuts?” Look if this kid doesn’t like donuts I am OUT.

-No she just doesn’t know how to handle being treated like a cute little moeblob. …How are you not used to it. Look at you. You’re 3 feet tall and your hair is pink with overly elaborate cross-pattern decorations in it. There’s no way.

-Eventually things calm down and we see the core problem Kaos is facing. In short, she lacks good anatomical studies. And if she tries to use her own body…Well, 3 foot tall moeblob. Great for bubbly comedy. Bad when you’re trying to draw a stylish, gorgeous high school girl, the kind of girl who could get scouted for a modeling job. She just ended up looking like a Mario Bros. movie goomba.

-Contrast Koyume’s problem, which is that she’s great at drawing cute girls, but terrible at drawing handsome boys. And she’s a shoujo romance artist. …So that’s not great. She just has no experience with guys to draw on… I mean, there’s an easy solution to that, Koyume. It’s called yuri and it’s the hottest new trend. You take a girl, and you have her fall in love… With a girl. (Or sometimes a bear.)

-But yeah both of them got pegged hard for their limitations by their editors, and so ended up here, and Kaos’s panic has Koyume panicking and soon they’re both just holding each other and sobbing. HEY! No crying in the dorm!

-Actually they meet the two senpais from before. And cling desperately to these two who Made It. So here’s Irokawa Ruki, the purple haired one who just got her porn serialized, and Katsuki Tsubasa, who has blue hair and is an intense shonen manga artist. Did I say porn? Yeah Ruki draws ecchi and freaks out about this tiny infant baby hearing such things. Kaos is not handling being treated like a mascot very well…Which is when Ruki gets ideas of what could be done putting the kid in a costume. Terrible, terrible ideas.

-Ignore her. So what has you two freaking out? Koyume got a debut and freaked out about not getting popular enough to survive…Stop, stop right there. The goal is not to be the best, or at the top of the charts. The goal is to get to keep drawing manga. You did well enough to debut. You have enough potential that your editor thought coming here was worth doing. Buckle down, work hard, and prove them right! The only way to achieve your ideal is to draw, draw, draw, with passion and fire! I knew there was a reason to like Tsubasa. And now, off they go.

-To their room, where Ruki is all trying to convince herself not to do things to that sweet innocent moeblob, and Tsubasa’s got inking to do. But she’s also really intrigued by firing up some rookies, even if they’re technically the same age.

-And soon that first night calms, and settles. Food is prepared, Kaos gets some time in the bath, and she’s left able to slowly process her doubts…Until the landlady reveals that the kitchen opens RIGHT to the bath so she can just summon everyone to food. Kaos has a panic.

-Episode 01: “I Got the Worst Results on the Survey!?”

-Okay, cut to time for bed! Koyume is gushy about Tsubasa being so strong and manly. Again, yuri. Kaos is already thinking of how Ruki seems like everything Kaos wants to be. Experienced, cool, stylish, curvy, attractive, makes her feel funny in her girl parts…(Wait, what was that last one? Stylish. Uh huh, sure thing.)

-Also they both get to thinking about what a real serialized pro’s room might look like…And that’s how they end up going over to see Ruki and Tsubasa’s workspace. It’s…Well, I mean, it’s a room. And Tsubasa is busy working to meet her deadlines, as Ruki gets ready to give one last push, putting her hair up and stuff…Which is when our rookies remember the whole porn thing and go looking for Ruki’s stash. Ah HA, what’s this lewd cosplay school uniform?!

-Her, her actual uniform.

-And all these rabbits?! Kaos knows rabbits mate like, like rabbits! Ruki, just, just like rabbits, you guys. Koyume wants to know where’s the perverted research material for drawing perverted manga?! Kaos counters that Koyume shouldn’t judge, maybe Ruki is just such a good pervert she can draw right out of her darkest fantasies without inspiration material!

-Ruki would like out of this now please.

-In fact, Kaos bets that under those baggy clothes, Ruki is super busty! Wait how did we even…Koyume wants to find out for herself and get a feel! And that’s how she goes for Ruki’s chest and finds it surprisingly padded and Kaos starts drawing the scene in front of her for lack of other ideas. How did we even get here. But the girls are finally made to apologize…

-And Ruki’s life story comes out. She sent in a manga about cute animals aimed at hitting the kid’s market. But her drawings of the human protagonist were so unintentionally erotic that she ended up getting sent to their 18+ division instead of their sad-onion division and serialized under the pen name Big Boobies <3 Himeko. She’d quit or start over, but now she has fans looking up to her, and their heartfelt admiration make her keep pushing. Big Boobies <3 Himeko-sensei, you’re really cool!

-Of course, with all of that, Tsubasa is behind the clock, and so soon everyone’s pitching in to try and do what they can to help…And so Tsubasa gives the rookies the tones to do, a classic grunt-labor job. Except she’s so deep into the weeds that she’s not unhooking what things like “unleash the dark energy” mean for her standard approach. Good news, Koyume knows what to do. Bad knows, Kaos doesn’t.

-But it’s because Koyume has fallen in love with Tsubasa’s manly manly charm. Anyways, thus begins the raw grind to get this chapter DONE. Koyume is doing really well, and is swiftly lost in Tsubasa’s praise. While Kaos is quietly freaking out because she’s going way slower. Not only is she less experienced, but Kaos learned digitally, and so dealing with all the analog tools is a whole new process for her. Aaaand that’s how she ends up messing up the panel. Oh god, oh god, get the white ou—THAT JUST DRIPPED AT THE WRONG SPOT

-…Kid you’re freaking out. Back up. Back up and breathe. Kaos falls into despair…But okay, this can all be fixed. Tsubasa just gets FULL SERIOUS, which also lets out a little bit of her old chuuni side. When she needs to totally concentrate, she inevitably ends up in cosplay of the characters. Whether that means we’ll be seeing more costumes, or if eyepatch and cape is just her Concentration Outfit, remains to be seen.

-Either way, Koyume is incredibly attracted to this serious stern look, as Tsubasa quickly fixes the lifework and gives Kaos a quick pick-me-up for her hard efforts. Koyume wants that kind of praiiiiise. …Oh god look at the clock. It’s time to get EVEN MORE SERIOUS!

-How do you get more serious than cosplay? First, by wielding the legendary three-pen style, like Manganora Zoro-sensei. Then, by TAKING OFF THE COSPLAY! Wait but then…

-Alright back to the grind. Kaos pushes hard, and is also starting to see…Just how far she might come if she stays here with these pros…Also she makes another mistake and Tsubasa has to fix it. Apologize when the chapter’s submitted, not before!

-And eventually, eventually, with the sun ready to rise, it’s DONE. Tsubasa flips through, confirms, and promptly lays down on the ground to collapse into unconsciousness. There’s a ton of passionate, intensity and yet kindness in this girl…It’s no wonder she’s able to draw shonen manga like she does…While Kaos here is just, so nervous, and awkward, and full of doubt, and she’ll never have any friends…

-Stop, stop right there. The dark inner thoughts are coming out. Also Koyume already considers you a friend. Ruki just needs more time to get to know Kaos, and Tsubasa is mumbling stuff about comrades in her sleep. The point is, you’ve got people on your side, rookie.

-Eventually, everyone’s just done, strewn out around the floor and trying to catch a few precious hours of sleep…

-Until that afternoon, when Kaos can confirm to her editor that she’s making new friends and feels like she’s making real progress! That’s good, that’s good. …What’s not good is your latest manuscript which is just not up to snuff to be put into the magazine as a one-off. Sorry kid.

-Credits!

…That got more dense than planned. And I didn’t even spend time detailing processes! We’ll see if things loosen up now that I’m not having to introduce everyone next time, in episode TWO of Comic Girls. Wait for it!

[jimlingss]

Rent-a-Boyfriend™ Drabble

Read the original: Rent-a-Boyfriend™ Read more at Service Series

Words: 1.7k Genre: Fluff. Lots of it.  I know this fic is a favourite amongst all of you and though I don’t have any ideas for an entire sequel, I hope this will suffice. 

You’re scared for your life.

Okay, maybe that’s a bit dramatic but you can’t call yourself over the top when Taehyung’s your boyfriend.

And recently you learnt how much he loves to celebrate holidays.

For New Years, he popped confetti the moment you walked through the door and you found your entire living room covered in balloons. When the clock struck twelve, he attacked and devoured you in kisses, claiming you his as you laughed - that was the best part. The worst part was that your entire ceiling was still covered in vibrant balloons and for the next few weeks, you live in utter fear. They would spontaneously pop one at a time; sometimes when you woke up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water and it’s pitch black outside. Sometimes a balloon would pop in the middle of your sleep and it never stopped scaring you shitless.

For Christmas, Taehyung set up three Christmas trees - one in the living room, in the bedroom and in the bathroom (you still don’t know why). When you came home, you found your apartment windows completely covered in icicles. You couldn’t even look outside and you found that he had turned down the thermostat to freezing temperatures. When you found the boy, he was in the kitchen with a humongous, boxy grin plastered on his face, caught in the act with a snow cone machine in his hand. He tried filling the floor with fake snow for you.

During the Winter solstice, Taehyung surprised you with five sweaters and two new blankets, wine and the television was playing a twenty four hour video of a crackling fireplace. He pushed your heating machine in front of the table and made you sit in front of it. But you couldn’t really complain when he was cuddling you the entire night.

Even for International Women’s Day, you came home from work to find more wine on the table, a new stock of pads next to a pitcher of red tomato juice and dozens upon dozens of cupcakes - which he confessed to almost burning down your place on the treacherous journey to make them. As if it wasn’t enough, he showed you a video that he had put together himself - a damn video of all your friends thanking you for being such an amazing woman. It was beyond embarrassing and you wondered how he forced them into participating.

And now...it’s your birthday. Great.

“Taehyung?!” You shout into your apartment, finding it oddly quiet and dark. Your back is pressed against the wall as you slowly tread in, carefully inspecting any corner he could jump out of to surprise you with confetti. “Babe?! Are you there?”

Socks tread softly on the floor and he slides into the living room with a grin. “You’re home?”

“Yeah…” You strip from your outerwear, eyeing him warily. “....are you okay?”

“Yup!” He stands tall, the same grin that you love glued on his lips. “How was work?”

“Good.” You answer back, still alert of the entire situation and how unsettling and...calm everything is. You’ll admit that you’re a bit disappointed. Though his extravagant celebrating ways is a bit too exhausting for you, you still appreciated every little thing that he put effort into.

But you’re still too suspicious to take a breath of relief.

“Happy birthday, Y/N!” He smiles. “My little dumpling’s all grown up.”

You scrunch up your face, quickly leaving a kiss on his lips. “Don’t call me that.” He pouts, following you as you walk into the kitchen. “What’s this?”

There’s a white box on the counter, a sheer window that allows you to peek at the- “It’s a cake!” He hugs you from behind, arms wrapping around your shoulder and locking you into place. “Do you like it?”

“Yes.” You look up at him with a frown. “You didn’t make me any yourself?”

“Nope.” He pops the ‘p’ with his lips. “I got it from that bakery you like.”

“Oh.” You’re a bit surprised. You really expected the kitchen to be filled with confectionery baked goods, from cupcakes to muffins, all spelling your name in icing. You even expected him to stick candles in everything and make you blow them out until you would faint. It’s odd. Too strange.

“Is there something wrong?” You ask him, turning around as his hands clasp around your waist.

Taehyung purses his lips for a second, pausing before shaking his head. “Nope. But I do have a surprise for you!”

Your eyebrow lifts at him in wariness. “A surprise?”

“Nothing bad. You’ll really like it.”

“Did you get a job?”

“No silly. Why would I do that?” He grins at you, kissing you quickly and stealing away your chance to scoff at him. “Hold on. I’ll be back. Stay here.”

You obey, sitting down on a stool as you watch Taehyung disappear into your bedroom. It takes a long minute as you stare at the wall, tapping your foot impatiently and then there’s a crash.

“Are you okay?!” You shout at him in alarm, standing up and walking down the hallway.

“EVERYTHING IS FINE.” He screams back, a louder ruckus following and making you wince. “JUST STAY OUT THERE.”

“Okay, okay.” You back away from the closed door, beginning to nervously pace around the kitchen. What was going on?

“I’m back.” He returns a few seconds later with a wrapped up box. It looks fairly neatly done, candy cane wrapping from Christmas and a yellow bow planted on top of it. “It’s your present.”

“Hey...you got better.” You muse at his wrapping skills, a lot less horrendous than when you two were wrapping gifts for friends. He had gotten tape stuck to every object in your house, accidentally spilling glitter all over your floor and you had only calmed down when he tied you up with the ribbon and- okay..that’s enough of that memory.

You clear your throat, snapping out of your daze before you start blushing and you begin to unravel his present. He watches in anticipation, eyes flickering from the gift to your face. Within a few movements, you’ve uncovered the box to reveal your favourite wine. “Aw. Thanks, Tae.” You stand on your toes, plopping another fleeting kiss on his lips and he smiles.

“Am I the best boyfriend ever?”

“You are.” You smile, already moving to take out the wine glasses. “Ready to eat some cake and drink som-”

Meow.

The sound makes you freeze and you dart your head over to the bedroom. Taehyung’s eyes grow as wide as saucers, almost comically and his mouth drops open. You frown, looking back at your boyfriend who starts to fake innocence. “What was that?”

“Nothing.”

“Taehyung.”

“I swear it’s nothing.”

You put down the bottle on the counter, crossing your arms while giving him an unimpressed expression. It’s as if you’re scolding a kindergartener and it takes one long glare before he breaks. “Fine. Fine. I just..it’s just-...I decided…”

Before he can find the right words, a chubby brown cat comes strolling into the kitchen. It’s head is held up high like it owns the place, tail flickering like its prestigious nobility. As it notices your stare, it hisses at you before jumping up onto the couch of the living room. “What. is. that?”

Taehyung sheepishly grins, a stiff bubble of laughter coming from his throat. “It’s a cat.”

“Is that the stray we saw the other day at the park?!” You’re gaping at him and he pouts at you, moving to pick up the animal. The chubby thing relaxes in his hands as he cradles it like a baby.

“Don’t call Y/N-ie a stray.”

“Oh my god. YOU NAMED IT?! AND AFTER ME?!”

“Well…” He smiles, nuzzling the cat to his cheek and it purrs with closed eyes. “I love you so much that I decided to name it after you. Isn’t she precious?”

“No. She is not.” You sigh out, an oncoming headache pounding at your temples. “Taehyung. We can’t keep this cat.”

“Why not? It can be the third member to our house!” He pouts at you, batting his eyelashes and giving you the cutest puppy dog eyes ever. You’re already feeling weak in your knees. Goddammit. This kid knows exactly what he’s doing.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about her after we saw her at the park….I chased her down and then I brought her to the vet. She’s perfectly healthy and she has all her shots too! I already bought all the things she needs!”

“Oh my god…” You slap a hand to your forehead. “Taehyung!”

“Don’t be mad.”

“I’m trying not to.”

“It’s your birthday gift.” He sets down the cat, moving to hug you again and you sigh in his warm arms. “Sorry I didn’t ask you first.” He murmurs in your ear and by the way you sigh once more, the both of you know that you’re defeated.

You bask in his warmth, returning his hug and after a long silence of the peace returning, he mischievously whispers in your ear, letting his hot breath graze against your skin in the way he knows you like it. “Are you jealous that I brought home another female? Are you afraid I won’t pay attention to you anymore?” He smirks when you shudder, even though his words are completely ridiculous. You curse your body for having such a reaction that’s already become instinctive.

“Shut up.”

Taehyung wastes no time in lifting you up in his arms as you yelp. He laughs playfully, making his way to the bedroom but then he quickly turns on his heels. “Don’t wait for us, Y/N-ie.” He addresses the brown cat the lazily settles on the carpet. “Me and this Y/N might take awhile.”

His laugh is contagious and you find yourself grinning at him. As he settles you on the mattress and climbs on top of you, you stop his attacking lips from devouring you in kisses. “You know we’re not going to actually name her Y/N-ie, right?”

He doesn’t answer you, moving your hand pressing against his mouth. “Right, Taehyung?….”

“Taehyung! Are you even listening?”

Your boyfriend ignores you again, smiling as he kisses your nose. He doesn’t give you any chance at all for the rest of the night to complain and really...you can’t even find it in you to complain.

[sonreiv]

hello! how do you get attention on ask blogs? i just started one and i'm not sure how to go about getting attention for it

‘ello, nony! Here’s some tips from personal experience:

Try to make your promo post interesting! Maybe a little introductory comic setting up how they got here, or have your character say/do something more than simply stating “askbox open!” to give viewers a taste of how you’ll interpret them, etc. There’s no problem with making more than one promo post!

Interact with other ask blogs! Follow other ask blogs within the same fandom; it’ll be easier to be updated with what your fandom’s ask blog community is up to, and to get promoted. Check their FAQ to see if they are okay with doing blog interactions, and/or hit them up with an ask/DM to be sure. I personally like to agree on convos via DMs beforehand so both parties have an idea of what we’ll do.

Be active in the beginning. Try to update every three days or at least once a week for the first few weeks - this way you’ll be a more constant presence on your followers’ dash and more easily remembered.

Do balance quality and quantity! With ask blogs, you don’t really have to put a lot of effort on the art - I actually advise against that. A more sketchy, quick style than your regular polished style suffices - make it quick and refreshing enough that it doesn’t take much of your time and doesn’t put much pressure on you.

Tag your posts efficiently to make sure they’re seen. The first five tags are the ones that will show in people’s track; the first twenty ones are the ones that will show in tumblr’s and your blog’s search. So always tag first the most popular relevant tags - like the ship name (if applicable), the character name and show name. Leave your personal organization tags for second and ooc comment tags for last.

Try to keep your blog as IC as possible - as in, avoid reblogging too many OOC posts. Promos are fine; fandom related stuff like fanart should be filtered down; fandom unrelated things like memes should be avoided. It’s not a rule, but people are more likely follow you and keep following you if your blog stays constant to its main theme.

Make your answers interesting. Show, don’t tell. Try to avoid simply having the character stand there and answer the question punctually; throw in additional thoughts and quirks, memories, a whole situation that answer the questions by itself, or a situation that ends up opening even more questions. Let’s say you get an ask like “what is Y’s greatest fear?”. You could have Y answer “my greatest fear is Y” - OR you could draw the fateful in moment in Y’s past which made their greatest fear come to be, or have their greatest fear literally barge in through the window and their reaction to it, or have them get fidgety and side eyeing a dreadful mug sitting on top of a table nearby and leave the viewer wondering “wait, what’s that all about? Is it a fear of mugs? Something that happened related to mugs?” and inevitably getting an inquiring ask. Make it engaging!

ALWAYS! GO FOR! MAKING IT! ENGAGING! What makes YOUR interpretation of Y different than others, aside from your art style? Make it so if non followers see your post reblogged by someone, they don’t just go “oh this is nice art of Y”, they go “what’s going on here?? What’s the story?”. Make people want to check out your blog to see more posts. You don’t need to have an underlying plot going on (though that really works and is pretty fun to work with), but DO try to string some of your posts with one another in some way. Make a consistent characterization for them. Create running gags, small little inner jokes between you and the audience. Create something that’s unique to your take on Y.

If your askbox is empty or none of the few current asks really inspires you, it’s fine to send yourself a couple anons! No one will know! ;P

I think I sidetracked a little bit but that’s what I got on getting ask blog visibility! If you’re curious to know how it went for me when I first started, I was lucky to have about 3k+ (4k+? Don’t remember) followers this blog when I started promoting the ask blog. I was also lucky to pick two super niche characters who had very little content for them on tumblr, so the character sheet I did to promote them got a lot more attention than the actual ask blog promo. And finally, I was on a break from university to recover from two surgery procedures on my lung (the second one was urgent and actually happened after I created the blog!) so I had a lot of time to spend at home working on long and frequent posts, which helped me gathering interest. With that I got a good starting kick, and started to update my blog every saturday, with each post being previously planned and scripted based of the accumulating asks I got! Sadly it’s been a while I can’t afford to update weekly anymore, but I’m still as pumped to keep telling the story I have been working up for over a year now.

Also! If you’re a BNHA blog and I didn’t promo you yet on @ask-protoheroes, don’t be afraid to hit me up with an ask or DM and I’ll gladly promo you! I recommend you do it on my main since I’m logged in on here more often!

[caustic-crow]

Markiplier Appreciation

I don't think I've ever properly made one of these, except for Ethan, so bear with me. There's going to be some rambling, some of my crying while typing, some laughing. But I just really felt the need to make an appreciation post for @markiplier for everything he's done.

I want to start off with the first ever Markiplier video I watched. Now. I don’t really remember; I started watching him in the eighth grade, and a lot of memories of this year has been blocked out. Suffice to say, had the video not affected me, I would not be writing this post. Eighth grade for me was 2014-2015, and if I’m being honest I don’t remember what Mark was doing then. (Now that I think about it, I’m like 95% sure the first videos of his I ever watched was his Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs series. I think. Maybe?) Anyway, whatever video it was, it started it all.

I’m not going to lie, my interest in Mark has waxed and waned over the years, giving way for a large period of Dan & Phil (which is still happening) or Jacksepticeye (equally important as Mark and D&P) or even obsessions with various bands or fictional characters that have saved my life. But it’s always been there, and I’ve always come back to his videos. Mark has always been a sort of rock for me, whether it be through his silly one shots, serious videos, longer, more in depth series (such as Until Dawn or Prey, for example), or things like A Date With Markiplier and now Who Killed Markiplier?. Mark has always been there.

It’s almost weird to type, to try and put into words how much someone you’ve never even spoken to can mean so damn much to you, but I feel like I need to. Mark is my fucking hero, so fuckle the buckle up because if you thought I was done, oh boy.

This is about to be an adventure for you guys, as only one other person, the person who was experiencing the situation with me at the time, knows what the fizzity fuck happened to make me understand just how much Mark meant to me. This is going to be weird, and I’m actually weirded out explaining it, but here we go. A few months ago, around February or March (maybe April?) I was a part of this group of friends, it was me and four others who I won’t name for privacy reasons, as I’m about 99% sure one of them now has me blocked. Three of these four people, for whatever reason, hated Mark. Whenever I (or my friend) brought him up, they would instantly come down upon him with a reign of reasons why he was terrible. I, at the time, was already afraid of being outcasted again due to another incident I now refer to as the “anime-bullshit bullshit”, simply tried to ignore the comments made and mainly dismissed them in an attempt to keep an already walking-on-eggshells friendship stable. But it felt weird. Wrong. I had watched Mark for so long, respected him for so long, that simply shrugging off these comments and not defending my reason for loving Mark as much as I do felt like a betrayal. In a way, to me, it was. It sort of put into perspective just how much Mark meant to me. You may be asking why this is relevant. I’m getting there, don’t worry.

Because of this situation, I looked back on my time as a subscriber to Markiplier, looked back to ask myself how these people could possibly hate Markiplier? To me, Mark has and always will be someone who can make me smile when I feel like absolute garbage, On more than one occasion, he’s uploaded a video with a specific message exactly when I needed it (even though this is sheer coincidence to some, this type of coincidence means a lot to me), and he’s the reason I have such a strong appreciation of dedication. Mark is the man who makes me want to grow as a person, and he and his team have created such a sheer overwhelming amount of appreciation for hard work, acting, camerawork, and editing for me that I just can’t fathom why someone wouldn’t appreciate him. He’s my role model, and I’ll be quite honest, he’s saved my life on more than one occasion. The whole thing caused such a revelation to me that it still shakes me sometimes.

Recently, Mark went on hiatus, and on Friday the 13th, released the first episode of Who Killed Markiplier. All of the episodes (including the comedic relief in between, God bless you Team Iplier) carried such excellent cinematography. The effects, the backstory (well, this may not exactly apply to the comic relief, but you feel me), the storyline itself, the acting, the characters, the stunts... it’s all so fantastic and so well put together that when I was watching it I got so invested that I felt like I was in the story myself. Which is likely how Mark intended it to be. I’m rambling a bit, I know, but I just dgnjurdfhgiI I love it so much leave me alone. Anyway. what I was trying to say is, Mark puts so much effort into his content, into doing what he loves, into everything (including fan interaction someone please let me hug him I need a markiplier hug okay) and I genuinely can’t fathom a world without him.

Long story short, if it wasn’t for Markiplier I’m not sure where I’d be tbh, and he deserves love and appreciation and I’m going to go cry about how much I love him and over the ending to WKM goodnight