#but if you just wanna see the overall without the explanation there they all are!

[fivehundredsporks]

Here is my finished list!!!

I'm gonna talk about each tier/entry individually just to go over why I like/love them (also our favs are gonna be diff and if yours aren't on here don't bust a nut or anything)

Constantly Rotating in My Mind:

so this tier is for my absolute favourites, they've pretty much become part of me at this point and I think about them non-stop, starting with;

Bleach (Anime + Manga)

So, where the fuck do I even begin with this one lmfao, Bleach is honestly my top favourite piece of media, ever, to me. everything about this just clicked with me, from the art style to the fights, the music but those aren't what made Bleach my favourite, sure they helped but it wasn't what sold me. What sold me was the characters, from the protagonist Ichigo, to the supporting characters and villains It's the characters in Bleach that always just stood out for me the most and made me love the series, especially their arcs! with Byakuya's probably having my favourite arc, besides Ichigo (but tbh I'm biased with him since he's my fav character) They all just have such believable motivations, goals and relationships. (also quick side note but I'm sick of the Orihime slander y'all better put some respect on her name, just because she got with Ichigo over Rukia and also just because of the anime's adaptation of her.)

Trigun ('98 Anime)

Trigun is honestly a recent addition to the list! I only actually watched it in January this year! But it quickly made list because I found it to be so compelling, it's got it's comedic moments for sure with Vash, Meryl and Millie but its also got such tragedy and sadness in it with not only Vash and Knives relationship (which isn't as explored in '98 as Maximum and Stampede, although you could say that about alot of '98's adaptation) but also with Vash's struggle when he eventually ends up taking a persons life, his relationship with this parental figure, Rem and his best(boy)friend Wolfwood. To the setting! it all just spoke to me and It's quickly ended up becoming my second favourite!

Jujutsu Kaisen (Anime + Manga)

If I had to describe the JJK manga in just one sentence It'd probably be along the lines of "It's so over, we're so back, its over) It's got a lot of peaks and valleys, and I don't mean that in a negative way of it being bad, but in it's triumphant moments and then being cast back down into despair (recent chapters being an example lol) But like Bleach, what I find really compelling about JJK is it's characters! It also has some of the best written characters in an anime, especially its villains! I really like the writing behind them, especially Suguru Geto's corruption into a villain! But also just how messed up the Jujutsu sorcery world and how insane you actually have to be a part of it.

Hellsing (Anime + Manga)

I'll keep this one short, Its Vampire Nazi's vs Dracula, with some badass female characters and music, also its gory as shit 10/10.

My Love Mix-up! (Manga)

This is the first BL manga that I've actually ever read! As someone who has grown up with just a general lack of LGBTQ characters and romance in their media, to find that their is an entire genre of manga for it was really eye-opening! I ended up becoming really invested in the "will they wont they" kind of relationship going on between the 2 MC's for the first few volumes, especially Kōsuke Ida, him navigating that, first of all what does it mean to "like" someone when you've never romantically interested in someone before, but then when that person is same sex. spoke to my own personal experiences growing up. It's what made me like the manga so much, also it's comedic moments! It's actually a very funny manga, especially the side couple.

Full Metal Alchemist (Anime + Manga)

FMA has one of the best stories I've ever seen in an anime/manga, the way it's so inter-connected and all the threads of plot/characters are so weaved together are! so! good! The characters and their arc's! Scar being a prime example of this! (I'm really struggling to articulate why I love this show so much lmao, look I really just love it do I have to justify everything??)

Blue Flag (Manga)

This is a LGBTQ+ story, that I'd actually recommend you just go and read it for yourself! I don't really wanna spoil anything, and if I talk about this manga I will!! just go read it now!!!!! (side note I can't believe the series got cancelled??!!!! like???!!! because of that we really got to miss out on a relationship between 2 characters!!!! and even though they get married at the end!!!!! It's still kinda vague!!!!!)

Chainsawman (Anime + Manga)

Again, one of the thing's that made me absolutely love Chainsawman is the characters, but most of all it's their motivations, and how "human" they are. and by that I mean just so, normal. Which is a weird thing to say, but when the norm for Shonen MC's is that they wanna fight and kill god, having one whose main goal is 1, Touch Boobs, get a girlfriend and have sex, it's really refreshing. It just paint's what a "normal" kid that Denji and the juxtaposition that is towards Aki, whose goal is to kill the Gun Devil. That kind of character writing is a what really drew me into the manga and made me love it. (ALSO I'm vastly oversimplifying thing's bc I don't really wanna spoil so that's just the gist of it) Also like the Found Family of Denji, Aki and Power. But I'm just a sucker for that trope!

I Think Our Son Is Gay (Manga)

This is some REALLY good positive LGBTQ representation, not just from the "MC" of the story Hiroki and him navigating being LGBTQ but from his mother's perspective as she tries be supportive/encouraging of him but also learning about what it means to be LGBTQ and what they face/go through. It's really heart-warming and sweet! I do want to throttle the dad sometimes though, I get that he's (supposed) to be learning and challenging his own bias' but if he upsets Hiroki again he will be catching these hands.

Our Dreams at Dusk (Manga)

Another LGBTQ+ story that I would highly recommend that you just go and read for yourself, It's in my opinion very powerful in it's depictions of the different LGBTQ identities covered in the story, and the struggles they face at the ages that they do! HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend this one (I believe the author is putting a new series out soon but I need to check up on that)

Castlevania (Anime)

This. Fucking. Series. It's got some absolutely amazing art and animation work on it, that just gets better and better with each subsequent season! Just like the characters! Not only are they just amazingly written with such depth, but their arc's and development are just some of the best in fiction.

Golden Kamuy (Anime + Manga)

Honestly, this is probably the Gayest Anime i've ever watched, without it actually being gay. But also it's probably the funniest anime I've ever watched, I've never laughed as much at something as I have watching this. It's also got a great story with a great kinda Sibling relationship between Sugimoto and Asirpa, and poor Tanigaki, literally the bara comedy relief of the show (Also I believe the author compared the characters dick sizes at one point? its crazy, in a good way.) I'd highly recommend!

Soul Eater (Anime)

Such a unique premise, Death himself runs a school that teaches people, regular school stuff, but also how to fight. Also some of the students can turn into weapons that the other students wield. And the moon has a face. So naturally its very good (also in a roundabout way its the sequel to Fire Force) HOWEVER The manga wasn't done when the series so I'm petitioning for a Soul Eater: Brotherhood so we get the full story!

Mob Psycho 100 (Anime + Manga)

One of my favourite aspects of this show is how it shows that nobody is too far gone, that nobody is beyond redemption and growth as person. It's a message I think a lot of people really need to hear, You can just decide to be a better person and leave the past behind you, while still learning from it. And all it takes is a Middle Schooler beating the shit out of you and calling you lame. (Also WaWa, I'm constantly rotating him in my mind)

given (Anime + Manga)

Pain. just, pain. I really like how the anime (and manga) handle the topics of grief, lose, love and toxicity. But also how to move on from that, how to process it and the importance of knowing how to communicate. It really makes for a beautiful if not incredibly sad story. (also fuck you Kaji, you know what you did.)

Sasaki and Miyano (Anime + Manga)

On the opposite side of the spectrum from given, we get Sasaki and Miyano! It's really just pure fucking fluff. It's a sweet slow-burn love story, that'd I'd really recommend if you like that kind of thing, also the fucking end music slaps.

Neon Genesis Evangelion (Anime + Manga)

Ooooh boy. NGE Is an anime that I think everyone takes something different from. whether it's the themes and messages it's trying to convey to the audience, or it's cool visuals or fights. It's got something for everyone. For me it's the message of self-love and acceptance it's conveying to the watcher through the eyes of Shinji, that we all have value and a place in the world, that it's okay for us to be here. But also it's message that escapism isn't a good thing, that we need to face our problems head on instead of hiding away from them. And then the Rebuilds building upon this and giving us even more! I'd highly recommend watching!! Just be a good mental head space lol.

Castle in the Sky (Anime)

The first Ghibli film I ever watched!!! Absolutely fell in love with the art style and animation ever since!

Howls Moving Castle (Anime)

Honestly, same with Castle in the Sky! second Ghibli film I ever watched and fell in love! such gorgeous visuals! and a beautiful story! one of my favourite films of all time!

[thatone-brightstar]

More than all the stars (Carmy Berzatto x Fem!Reader) (The Bear & The Fox Series)

Chapter 3: My darling, my dearest, my dead.

Words: 4k

a/n: Hi, hello!! so we finally meet the dreaded ex and even though you can imagine who you like, since writing it i always had Oscar Isaac in mind bc THAT MAN MAKES ME FEEL THINGS and also he makes one hell of a villain so you can't really blame me.

anyway, enjoy the chapter and remember that reblogs and comments are the way to show appreciation for your favorite creators and lmk if you wanna be added to the taglist!

Chapter 2.

He could have done more than just stand there- looking at her with that stupid expression over his face- the one many use when all the words have evaporated into thin air. But then again, what could he say, especially to someone he assumed he’d never see again? Her expression sat stoic, apart from the slightly raised eyebrows waiting in expectation, there was nothing in her face that revealed the storm inside her head.

“So?” She spoke over the ringing in his ears and brought him back from his memories. “You gonna say something or just pretend I’m not here?”

“Uhm, H-hey…?”

“Hi.” She repeated with certain disdain and a dry smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

He felt like a fish out of water, mouth rounding around the words but never able to truly push them past his throat. “Wha- what uhm, what are- uh…”

“I’m on holiday.” She answered for him and shrugged, cutting his torture short, though he thought that was more than he deserved. “I wanted to see what the great Beef of Chicagoland was all about…” Ross added and let her eyes wander from his to the dimly lit and emptied room.

Something about her analytic gaze made him stand straighter and rub the back of his neck in anticipation for her verdict. 

“We’re, uh, renovating.”

Ross offered a single nod and a weak hum as her serious expression landed back on him. “Makes sense.”

A still silence fell over them again, forcing Camry to fidget with his knuckles and take another long drag of the already wavering cig. He wondered if the lack of conversation had always felt so stagnant between them- like the middle of July- or if time had truly taken a toll on their interactions. He heard her shuffle against the newspaper covered glass once more, but didn’t dare to raise his head until she spoke again.

“I heard about your brother…” She started, cracking her knuckles out of habit. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“S’fine.” Carmy answered instantly, the words had already nestled into a permanent space in his mind, but at least for her, he knew they were genuine. “Thank you.” He said and added “I’m sorry for, y’know… everything.”

A slight curve around her mouth broke the cold glare settling over him and despite the somber tone around them, the simple action let a wave of fresh air pass into his lungs.

“What part exactly?” Ross asked, digging her palms into the back pocket of her jeans and moving slowly in direction to the dusty counter. “Leaving with no explanation? Not even letting me know you were alive… or for being an overall idiot for as long as I’ve known you?” 

The refreshing bluntness of her tone pulled out a soft chuckle from his knotted chest and he couldn’t help but nod in agreement. Carmy reached again towards the packet resting beside him and lit another tube between his lips, waiting, as if the words were magically hidden between the embers and smoke. 

As she waited for an answer, Ross pulled out the stool a few feet beside him and took out a cigarette without asking, it’s not as if he would have said anything anyway, at least nothing other than:

“You smoke now?”

Ross shrugged again and sucked the smoke into her mouth. A gleam from her left hand caught his eye. Carmy couldn’t help the surprised expression falling over his face at the sight of a thin gold band wrapping around her delicate finger, or the shimmering stone that was placed upon it. 

He signaled with his head in direction to ring. “That’s… new.” He said.

She pulled her hand back at arms length and admired the perfectly polished stone with a new spark behind her eyes, as if the owner of said promise reappeared in her memories each time she looked at it.

“Yeah… you remember Frank?” 

Carmy’s expression grew even more surprised at the mention of his former co-worker. The one that Ross, if he remembered correctly, didn’t even give the time of day. 

“Yeah…shit, Frank?” He asked, incredulous. 

“Ugh, gross no.” The girl answered and Carmy’s shoulders fell in relief. “One of his cousins.” 

Her eyes went from the shimmering rock to the plastic covered pop machines they had yet to take out and Carmy could almost see the memory of her lover replaying over her softening features.

“We uh, we met a month after you left… I guess it just clicked.” She shrugged and finally turned to him.

From up close, he could see how much her face had truly changed. There was little trace of the jovial features he had known, yet the spark in her eyes remained. It wasn’t for him anymore though, that much he knew, and it would have probably affected him more a year ago than it did then. 

“Finally someone my age-“ Ross joked and slightly swayed in his direction. Carmy sniggered back, relieved that the tension was slowly withering away. 

“I’m glad.” He responded sincerely as a gentle smile unfolded over his features. 

The girl nodded slowly and smiled back, tearing her gaze away and refocusing it back to the lit tube dangling from her fingers. 

“How’d you know?” He blurred out the thought that had been kneading itself in his head for a few weeks now.

“What?”

“Y’know… that he’s- that they’re, y’know-”

“The one?” She answered for him in a teasing tone that made him roll his eyes but nod back.

The room went quiet as she thought, only his foot continuously tapping against the floor in angst was heard. Ross’ brows slowly raised up as her eyes examined his nervousness closely, then she turned her body fully towards him and leaned against the counter.

“I dunno, honestly.” Her response was simple and he tried to swallow discreetly so as to not show his disappointment. “It’s different for everyone.” She reassured. His eyes rose expectant to her face once more. “I felt… peace. Like I can finally breathe and I’m not struggling to hold my head above the current anymore.”

Carmy knew the feeling she was referring to, the consistent pressure crushing his lungs that no amount of cigarettes could numb out but that suddenly, the single thought of you, fixed. The weight that fell off his shoulders as soon as he crossed the entrance to your home and the glee on your face as you saw him, that was the peace she was referring to. You weren’t the bandaid that temporarily taped up his shitty moods, but the whole damn antibiotic that eradicated the virus altogether.

“Listen, I-” Ross stopped abruptly to gather her scattered thoughts, exhaled loudly, then continued. “I just wanna get it off my chest. I did like you, Carmen, like a lot, but… we would have torn each other to pieces.” Her sigh came out like a nervous chuckle.

He nodded again and swallowed hard, taken back. “Right- yeah no, definitely.”

“With Jonathan it’s easy. It’s like breathing, just second nature. And in spite of everything that went on with us, I still mean what I said before… I do hope you find that one day.” For a second, her features softened into the girl he had known more than a year back, the one who had truly seen him when no one else had. 

Your face instantly appeared in his mind. That morning at the farmer’s market, the cold breeze had tainted your soft cheeks pink and the fuzzy knitted scarf swallowed half your face whole. His chest felt like it could concave suddenly and he felt like an absolute idiot for not realizing it sooner.

An uncontrollable grin spread around his face, raising his flushed cheeks up to his eyes. He coughed slightly to clear his throat but it only fused with a soft snigger that filled him with an unfamiliar warmth.

“Yeah…” He exhaled as his eyes caught the same shimmer as the stone. “Yeah, I think I have.”

“I’m glad.” Ross repeated his words back, nothing but honesty clear on her face. 

**********

The dull and foggy sky mirrors your mood as you mark your steps over the cobblestone, bouquet held tight in between your gloved hands. 

You haven’t visited since the funeral, it had been too painful to do so. One loss after another had been enough to topple your fragile mental health and you were sure that if you had visited before being ready, it would have guaranteed a similar headstone beside hers. Despite the slight jittering of your fingers though, you’re sure of every step you take, careful to move around the more weathered graves.

Your heart leaps in your chest once you spot the space reserved for your grandmother. The headstone is more dramatic than the ones that surround it, but then again, she never did anything small. There’s a carved limestone angel that guards her sleep as it rests with crossed arms over it, wings wrapped around the slab. It still looks relatively new, despite sitting in the hard Chicago weather for a year and part of you feels guilty for visiting after so long, but you know she would have understood. 

Your nose has started to freeze with the chill wind and you use one gloved hand to wipe away the rogue tear that tickles your nostril, before slowly stopping in front of the grave. 

“Hola abuelita.” You whisper and sniff with difficulty. “Te traje Claveles.” 

The dead grass snaps quietly as you sit cross legged and lay the vibrant flowers right under her name. With empty hands, you begin to play with the loose threads of your worn out gloves as you search for something to say. ‘Not like you can hear me, anyway.’ you think to yourself bitterly, then a humorless chuckle escapes when the image of her, slightly smacking the back of your head, comes to mind.

“Sorry.” You reply instantly, as if she could see your thoughts. “I’ve never been good at this sorta thing, you know me.”

The morning is mostly quiet, despite a few chirping birds and the light traffic that sneaks past the trees, everything is still. 

“Nice place you got here…with the shade n’ everything- Mom says hi. I asked Papi si quería saludarte, but he says he’ll come by next week as always.” Your throat begins to close up and you try to clear a pathway with a few subtle coughs.

You reach out to clean off the few petals that fell from the dried flowers your grandfather left last week and another batch of tears bundles over your bottom lashes. You’ve always admired their love, the kind that transcends even after the other is gone, because ‘til death do us part’ doesn’t really carry any meaning when you truly love someone.

A softer smile takes the place of the teary one as the memories of Sunday mornings sitting between them and watching old movies invades your mind. She’d braid your hair with dexterous hands as you watched various men porcelain their love to a young Rita Moreno through the black and white screen. The whiff of coffee and cigarettes from your grandfather felt like home and the loving whispers they’d share with one another behind your back put the prettiest bird songs to shame. 

“A lot’s happened since you left…” Your voice carries out through the wind, but you like to imagine that it's taking your words to her. “I met someone- not the asshole I told you about, you were right about him… someone else. His name’s Carmy. You would’ve liked him, Papi does, pero ya sabes como es, he won’t admit it. He’s been through a lot, but he’s still really sweet. He’s a fighter… I think he’s the one.” Your epiphany goes quiet in the secluded cemetery and your heart starts to beat even faster as the words sink in.

You’ve come to the conclusion that the bad thing about being surrounded by so much love is you’re always searching to replicate it. Your grandparents loved you so much, that the need for a father never even crossed your mind, and they loved each other even harder that all you ever wanted growing up was a love like that of your own. You went through countless partners in search of “the one” and always came out empty handed, but she was always there- with her cafecito and old movies- to pick you right back up. 

What scares you now is that she isn’t there to pick you up if anything were to happen anymore, and after Isaac, you’re not sure if you can go through another broken heart as bad as that one.

You huff out a hard sigh and wipe your cheeks a little too hard, tainting them pink. 

“I’m sure.” You repeat again a little louder to drown out the critical thoughts. “No- yeah, I am. I am.”

The distracting vibration from your phone pierces the calming silence and gives you a chance to leave the vexing thoughts behind.

“What-”

“-the fuck did you do?!” He yells from the other line as soon as you answer, making you pull the phone away from your ear.

“Hello to you too J-“ 

“What the fuck did you do-” Your brother interrupts again and you roll your eyes. “-I just saw that lanky tall guy from your old job drop my mom off at the house!” 

“Really? That was fast…” 

His frustrated groan vibrates across the receiver while you unfold your legs from under you and stand up. You place a quick kiss over your fingers and place it over the tombstone before moving back to the entrance. 

“I don’t know what the big deal is, she’s an adult, she can go out with who she wants.”

“Yeah, exactly. Who she wants, not the first asshole you put in front of her.”

“Oh, you jealous you’re not the only man in her life now, huh?” 

Joshua scoffs and you can imagine how he impatiently rolls his eyes before mumbling a ‘fuck you’.

“Fuck you too, dude. Why don’t you get a life and stop worrying about what my mom does with hers.”

“Fine- but when she comes home crying cause that fucker broke her heart, Imma send her straight to you.”

“Fine!”

“Good!”

He doesn’t wait for another response before ending the call. You shove your phone back into your coat with a huff and pull your car keys out instead.

**********

There isn’t much you can do during the winter classes. Since the day recedes to night earlier than usual, the courses have been shortened to an hour long, which then shrinks to 45 minutes after trying to get the kids settled into their stations. Only after months on the job do you  finally understand the vexing task of a sheep herder.

By the time the sky has gone from blue, to orange, to an angelic lilac, only two little ones remain and you’ve been making the most out of their cooperative nature by having them haul their drying works into the back. They do so excitedly, between debates over which dinosaur is the best and why it’s the T-Rex. The conversation brings a smile to your face as you hear their voices slowly fade away from the inside storage. 

It’s a few minutes past 8 when the bell from the entrance door dings and a sigh of relief exits your chest. 

“In the back!” You call to whoever arrived.

While the echoing steps move closer, you turn with your attention fully on the jar of paint that doesn’t want to screw on correctly. Once you get it right and the steps have stopped a few yards away, you look up with a kind smile that vanishes as soon as your eyes settle on the man in front of you.

Your lungs have stopped working completely. Your fingers hold a deadly grip on the jar, bending the plastic with enough strength to turn your knuckles white. Without taking your eyes off him, you blindly settle it back down on the cart and try to regulate your racing heart and breath.

The moment you see him again, everything stops in the most terrible of ways. It feels like standing by the edge of a panic attack, but not falling all the way through, just feeling the waves of cold  sweats traveling down with every heaving breath. In an attempt to ground yourself, your fingers dig into the rough fabric of your apron, instantly absorbing the wetness of your trembling hands and for a second you swear that if you were brave enough to look down, you would find your guts splattered all over the wooden floor.

“Hi Uncle!” The little boy rejoices once he spots the man and walks to your side, oblivious of your hardening gaze on his guardian.

You swallow down the sickening sweetness that your afternoon tea had left in your mouth. “Kenny, where’s your mom?” You rub a hand over his hair with a forced smile.

“She had  a late meeting.” The man’s strong voice vibrates through the walls with little effort, the sound ringing in your ears.

“This is my uncle Isaac.” Kenny adds as if you didn’t already know and the simple mention of the name rips your gut open once again.

You keep your eyes glued on the child, thinking that maybe if you don’t acknowledge the man disturbing the room, he would vanish into thin air like a mirage. ‘Or combust violently’ the voice in your head muttered viciously.

“Can you be a dear and take the last reference pics to the back? Inside the red basket, please. And then grab your bag, okay?” You indicate with a last gentle pat over his shoulder.

He salutes then runs to the doors and out of earshot. With another shaky breath you turn back to the paint cart and try your best to swallow down the knot of bile that has begun to grow.

“I need a permit from his mother to let him leave with a stranger.” You state as calm and collected as your growing anxiety allows you.

His deep chuckle reverberates through the crystal walls and lands on your skin, chilling it to the touch. “What, so I’m a stranger to you now?” He asks.

“You’re nothing to me as far as I’m concerned.” You scoff as you push the cart back to its original place, doing your best to calm the nausea that the memories of seeing him at the charity event are causing.

“Oh, cut me some slack, I’ve been trying to apologize.” 

“Yeah, and what’s that good for?” You spit out instinctively, turning around with new found irritation.

The look on his face is full with triumph and your palm itches with the need to punch the smug off his dumb face. You wish you had the same courage as that night, when you followed him out the gallery with every intention of denting his jaw, but that kind of bravery only comes with alcohol and there is unfortunately none in sight. 

“C’mon Fox…” He says through a sly smile and takes a step towards you, immediately making you take one back.

“Don’t call me that, you don’t get the right to call me that after what you put me through.”

There’s a stare in your eyes that would send any sane man running for the hills, but Isaac has always been anything but. He takes it as a challenge instead, tilting his head to the side like a hunter analyzing its prey, with a toothy grin that exposes the canines in an almost charmingly vile way.

His eyes drag slowly down your body with an obvious gesture, one that has you crossing your arms over your chest to shield as much as you can from his view. “Then what can I call you? Mi amor?” He says instead.

“Call me nothing, no soy tu amor.”  You mutter through gritted teeth and move quickly around the room to finish collecting the last of your supplies. In the back of your mind, you rush the kids to finish quicker, but their debate keeps them too entertained.

“Oh, but I recall how much you used to love it.” His words slither out with venom and his eyes narrow in satisfaction when he notices you stop fully in your tracks and give him another angry stare. “Did you forget how much fun we used to have?” 

“I remember how you fucked up my life-” You remark over his words, but he speaks over them again. 

“Remember when I took you to The Met?” With each word, the bile in your throat feels more inevitable, clawing its way higher up. “How you thanked me so well for the trip in those lacy blue-”

“-Yo babe, sorry I’m so late-” His booming voice invades the room as soon as he appears past the exhibitions, bringing a wave of fresh air into your dying lungs. “-Cousin finally got the permits from Cicero so-”

Ava’s excited footsteps charge out the back and towards her dad, followed by a calm Kenny carrying a Spiderman backpack. The excitement from the children is enough to trigger your migraine but it doesn’t matter because you’ve never been more thankful for Richie’s terrible time management skills. 

When he finally has his daughter securely in his arms, Richie’s eyes dart from you to Isaac, finally feeling the thick air that stays stagnant between you. 

It only takes him a second to notice your stance, the hardness of your jaw and the menacing stare you give the man beside him. “Am I interrupting anything-“

“No.” You’re quick to answer. “They’re just leaving so…”

Kenny stretches his hand up to take your high five goodbye and promises Ava they’ll finish their debate tomorrow while Isaac doesn’t move. He’s still, with a defiant gaze that feels like minutes, then he swings Kenny’s bag over his shoulder and takes a few strides in your direction, stopping less than a foot away. You don’t retreat this time and despite the height difference that’s more obvious up close, you eye him down with all the anger you can muster. 

He pulls something you can’t see out of the pocket of his coat and brings it up to your view. The signed permit rests between his index and middle finger as he offers it to you, but once he sees you won’t take it, he flicks his wrist towards the desk beside you and lets the paper fall lazily over it. 

“I’ll see you around…" Isaac whispers like a menacing promise. "the paint suits you, by the way.” It’s low enough for only you to hear and the smile that goes along with his denigrating tone makes your face turn in disgust. 

Your gaze launches daggers at his back once he turns and takes the small boy by the hand, disappearing past the installation and your lungs only stop burning when the bell dings a final time. 

“What’s that asshole’s problem?” Richie mutters, hand over Ava’s ears and stare lost in the space left empty. 

The desk beside you has never felt more sturdy than the moment you let yourself fall back on it, the adrenaline has finally left  your system and turned your legs into jelly. It screeches lightly and makes Richie turn his head towards you, concern evident once he spots your colorless face. 

“Hey, hey kid, you okay?”

“Wha- yeah, yeah I’m fine. It’s Just um… it’s just been a really long day.”

“Yeah…” He plays along and takes a few weary steps towards you. “Probably doesn’t help that you’ve been smellin ‘ this shit all day either, huh?” He says, taking one of the closed jars with his empty hand and scanning the label.

“Yeah… that’s probably it.” You reply absentminded as your eyes focus past the glass, hoping to not catch sight of the man. 

“Mhm…” Richie repeats in the same tone. “Listen, I know cousin’s got your car and he’s still at the restaurant so if you pack your stuff now, I'll drop you off at home.”

You nod a few times, eyes still on the glass, then with another heavy sigh, you clear your throat and push yourself off the desk. “Yeah, that’d be great. Thank you, Richie.”

You move quickly behind your desk and pull out your already prepped bag and keys- careful to not let him see the wayward tear that the strange confrontation has left behind- before tucking your hair behind your ears and giving him a thin lipped smile. 

“Thank you.” You whisper towards him.

Richie shrugs his shoulders and the little girl that’s already falling asleep over them stirs lightly. 

“What’s family for?” He replies and for the first time since you’ve met him, both his voice and demeanor carry a strange serenity that makes you understand why his daughter is peacefully asleep by the time she reaches her car seat. 

Taglist: @pearlstiare @teteminne , @beebslebobs, @harrysmatcha , @yum-yahgurt , @pussy-f41ry , @kirakombat , @redsakura101 , @hobisunshine13 , @feyhunter78, @xeneth99 and that's it lmao

[riuhere]

[tap on the picture for higher quality]

Yess!! I'm finally done!!!

This AU concept has been brain rotting my brain for the past few days and I finally had the courage to draw it hshshsh

Okay so before I start rambling. I just have to note to you that English isn't my first language so if my explanation ends up confusing you. You can just ask me in the ask box! It's open anytime! And If you're not into uh 'x reader's' then this is actually not for you :D

So before I start explaining I'm just gonna say that this version of reader is a completely different version of her from the original concept. In which in the original concept reader dissappears without a word after an incident had happen involving a prince and his bestfriend to which she views them as siblings of her own. Basically an AU from an original AU (?)

In this AU however, our reader went completely insane after the tragic lost leading her to her own demise (mentally and physically).

Btw trigger warning if you wanna keep reading!!

In summary, she basically started distancing herself from her family (Mom goat and Papa goat) by locking herself in the bedroom where their siblings used to reside.

Of course, none of her parents thought any of it being abnormal because that's what someone normally does when they grieve, they isolate themselves to give it time to take everything in. And after reality practically smacked them in the face that their siblings may be gone forever. That's where things started to get very interesting...

And by interesting, I mean she basically started illegally experimenting on monster souls in secret without her family knowing about it. The main reason for it is because her main goal is to find a way to revive her siblings even if the has to use her own soul to do it on way or another and to her the 'bonus' of it is by discovering something 'new' every single day and despite everything she continues to preservere to reach that said goal.

So yeah this AU overall is basically 'what if' reader stayed and went insane instead of dissappearing without a trace.

(side note: in this AU Toriel and Asgore are still together and that was practically only for the sake of their only child remaining from the incident. She's practically the only thing keeping the family from separating. And the fact that she may never be able to meet their love interest/SOULmate in a few years from now in this timeline. Another side note: not gonna lie @semisolidmind made me realise how I'm not that much of a self shipper either due to how I don't really see myself in most of my characters cause their all basically viewed as 'reader' or 'y/n' to me. Does that make sense?)

[desiredcaramellatte]

kinda nervous since this is my first time requesting, i cant find a masterlist for this (idk if you have one but), can you do hcs for dark cacao x a reader whos very goofy and finds it really hard to be serious?

if you dont wanna do hcs a oneshot is completely fine ^^

p.s. i hope your having a lovely day!

You did an awesome job, happy I could be the one to receive your first request!

Yep, I don’t have a masterlist. I tried to make one once and it crashed my phone multiple times lol

Anyways, here’s your request! I hope your day is splendid as well 💕!

Dark Cacao x Silly Reader

Romantic

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ Dark Cacao is pretty impressed by how you can find humor in almost everything. Dark Cacao being, well, Dark Cacao, he doesn’t understand a lot of jokes. You’re probably going to have to explain them to him.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ If he ever gets one of your jokes without you explaining it he will proclaim why it’s funny. He’s getting better at understanding all of your jokes as well, though he still does occasionally ask you for an explanation if he’s curious about it.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ Your jokes often get stuck in his head. He will be thinking about them and running over them at random point of the day. There have been multiple nights where he’s just been awake, staring at the ceiling and trying to recall every joke you’ve told him. “Ah. An alligator in a vest is also known as an investigator.”

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ He enjoys your mischief, it’s a good break from his crushing reality. You can make him lighten up very quickly with all your silly goofiness, and he has found himself a little less brooding lately due to your influence.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ Every blue moon he’ll approach you and tell you a joke with the absolute flattest face ever. He’s just trying to impress you by showing you he can joke too, even if he isn’t too good at it… most of these small jokes he tells you are ones he hears in passing conversations or ones he read from a book.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ He admires your resolve in tough situations, how you can just continue to be that silly person he loves so much even when faced with hardships and challenges. It’s one of your best qualities, in his eyes. He can always count on you to be there in rough times.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ There have been times where he’s gotten snappy at you for joking at the wrong time, such as when he’s in the middle of an important meeting or trying to make a hard decision for his kingdom, but it’s mostly just stress, mixed with his hard, grumpy nature, that pushes him to do so.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ Typically he does have a lot of patience with you, when he isn’t too stressed, that is. Overall, he really enjoys that you are able to see the bright side in almost everything, and honestly admires you for that.

[hyperraduo22]

my dps roman empires

cuz i keep seeing those videos with my love mine all mine on my feed with consistently ugly-sob-inducing stories and roman empires so now i have this long list i wanna share

+ may include some little facts here and there for anyone new in the fandom

• anderperry’s entire relationship and dynamic

literally no explanation needed on why it’s the top of the list and the first thing i wrote down

the whole hourglass and icarus x the sun dynamics makes me sob every time without fail

someone rewrite the script so they have a happy ending please

also me: wym they already do?? they got married and went to new york??????

• charlie and neil :(((

• thinking about charlie’s experience and dealing with grief post-expulsion

• todd’s entire character

bro makes my quiet x anxious kid heart go brrr

like just thinking about the little implications of his behavior and what’s said about his brother in the script makes me wanna cry and scream and throw a tantrum

he really represents the epitome of all quiet shy kids out there and i really appreciate it

• dead poet’s society but from cameron’s perspective

i understand y’all wanting to punch and yell at him and show no forgiveness but i also think you should give a bit of sympathy for this kid

he doesn’t know any better just like charlie or any of the other poets

damn this movie does a great job of showing reality and the fact that there’s no real enemies

• dead poet’s society but from pitts’s perspective 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

like i’d pay to see this honestly

• pitts’s screen time :((((

my underrated boy :(((((

• pitts and cameron’s dynamic

i KNOW we see these two talking in the background and seeing him make cameron laugh and smile the most compared to everyone else

like??? i wanna see more?????

cameron being outwardly comfortable around someone finally???

• the fact that all the movie's events ensued as they’re all high schoolers

like idk if there’s a canonical age for any of them but whether they’re juniors or seniors the trauma is still the same

• the thoughts of the kids who stood up on their desks at the end of the movie

how are they dealing with keating being away now? how do they view life in general?? did they really appreciate keatings class???? would they join the dps if they had the chance???????

• hopkins’s portrayal

its kind of a 50/50 since bro barely has screen time, yet i see his character oftentimes being portrayed as the class asshole

i think it’s clear that him and his friends commit tomfoolery and are overall jerks but to think that he’s the more sensible, level-headed guy makes a lot of sense to me—kinda similar to charlie in a way

like he knows limits and when to not push them even if he doesn’t come off that way. all bro does is chill in class and stare off into the windows daydreaming (as shown in the whole ripping out the poetry intro scene). bro doesn’t wanna be there. he’s just chilling and honestly same💀

• spencer’s actual treatment in the movie

ik we love this man, and our headcanons (or at least what i’ve seen and my own for the most part) say that people treat him well but low key everyone be on his shit

like it brings up the question of whether or not this is considered bullying cause any scene i see he’s either blatantly shoved around or even the guys around him purposely steal his medicine and pass it around so he can’t have it (including stick participating in this)-

like i think there’s some limits to being a jerk and idk how spencer really feels throughout the movie cuz he’s a background character :////

• HANDSOME ASS BACKGROUND CHARACTERS AND THEIR SCREEN TIMES = UNFAIR! CRIMINAL !!!!!

• the fact that ginny’s character just gets completely cutout. like she has a few lines to begin with and then the movie comes out and she ends up being a non-speaking extra in the play like i’m- what happened???

• tina and gloria / girl characters portrayed in dps in general

let me explain cuz i love them but also feel bad for their characters

like low key they’re just used as experiments for the cave (implied by charlie in a deleted scene that wasn’t recovered although i think this part is in the original script as well if i remember correctly)

although he brings them back a second time in a deleted scene where they’re all dancing around outside of the cave on the night of the play only for him to make out with one of them in another deleted scene that wasn’t recovered… (( this was revealed in an old interview on someone working behind the scenes btw ))

so like i kinda feel bad for them. like y’all just there for show but i wish you had more lines and other purposes besides possibly not passing a bechdel test ://////

^ lowkey this same concept is kinda seen with chris’s character too. like all she’s there for is a romantic interest for knox. like cmon now she’s one of the main female characters and THIS is what she gets. i wanna know more about my girl chris!!!!

and i kind of understand why it’s set up this way since y’know it’s an all male boarding school in the 1950s—how do you fit female characters in and how are they viewed? it’s not the greatest setup of all time

• ANDERPERRY DELETED SCENE ON THE DOCK NOT MAKING IT INTO THE FILM LIKE OUT OF ALL DELETED SCENES THAT ONE IS THE REALLY IMPORTANT ONE !!!!!!!!!!!!!

• the deleted scene of the poets carrying neil’s coffin 🚶‍♂️

like goodbye. doors closed. tears shed.

kinda glad it’s not in the movie cuz i would’ve sobbed uncontrollably even more than neil’s death

• todd’s poem

another deleted scene that really rearranges my internal organs

the fact that him reading this poem was supposed to be in tandem/include shots with neil’s death-

why do the writers want us to cry rivers?????

BUT ALSO ITS FUNNY ASF IF YALL WATCH THIS DELETED SCENE WHEN TODD IS TELLING THEM WHAT TO REPEAT BETWEEN VERSES, ONE OF THE POETS GOES “what??🤨”

I’M SORRY TODD IK YOURE TRYING BUT THAT LITTLE AIRHEADED ASS “what?” IS SO FUNNY TO ME

• the fact that in the very first version of the script, keating was supposed to have cancer

I FORGOT ABOUT THIS UNTIL LAST MINUTE

LIKE Y’ALL ADMITTED THAT YOU WANTED TO HAVE A SCENE OF KEATING DYING IN A HOSPITAL AND WERE PONDERING ON WHETHER HIS CHARACTER SHOULD HAVE A FATAL ILLNESS FOR THREE DAYS ?!?!?

thank god y’all made the right decision and rewrote the script to take that out

[thevulturesquadron]

Hello! If you don't mind answering, what are your thoughts on Rogue only mentioning Gambit during E.7 ? It felt weird after all these episodes and exploration of their relationship.

Ahoy there! 🛸

Well... I try not to put too much thought into it. Overall Bright Eyes felt like a moment of transition towards the finale (with an absolute kick-ass Rogue). I am happy they had an episode that showcased a part of what Rogue was going through after Genosha, because, as Amelia Vogh said - 'a survivor is the last thing I’d wanna be.’ So Rogue has a lot to process: the guilt and grief over losing Gambit, the uncertainty and anxiety around Magneto and well, the death of so many people around her. Remember what Magneto said? “We shall not live our days wondering if we could’ve saved more.” Rogue is doing just that - and it's hell.

About Rogue focusing just on Gambit - it makes sense. She held his body in her arms. That moment is with her probably every time she closes her eyes. The way I see it, there are two reasons why the focus has been only on expressing her feelings for Remy.

1. It might be just the way it is. Rogue and Gambit will always be 'the couple'. More so for TAS. They are one of the most well-known and popular Marvel couples so, after the drama was done, the writers needed to pull that ship back on course. It was always going to be like that and I'll be here for the ride. Not everything in media has to be written to match my preferences. Plus, the show has kept both of them in character and written them exceptionally well so far. Especially with Gambit, I am grateful for the care they put into portraying him, because in comics it's such a mess, depending on who's writing him. So I am expecting the focus to be on Rogue and Gambit from now on.

2. The other reasoning (from a media literacy perspective), and the one I prefer -  is that she's processing. It might turn out to be true or it might not - the show will tell us. But at this moment it does look like that. Grief, guilt, shock. First of all, in Magneto's case, there was no body. The rule is until the search is called off, if there is no body, there is no death confirmation. So Rogue is struggling to accept it. What she knows is that Remy is dead - that is a reality she cannot avoid and it consumes her. On the other hand she was refusing to face the possibility that Erik was also gone. Then Kurt made it real. In the privacy of that moment between them he said what she wasn't allowing herself to think or accept: that she lost more than one person she cared about. Secondly, also why it makes that moment with Kurt so much more heavy, is that no one else in the team knows of the emotional connection she has with Erik. Everyone who knew the depths (Gambit and, in parts, Madelyne) are dead. I don't think Rogue can voice her grief in front of the rest without an explanation. She can however channel it through Gambit’s loss. What is worse is that her feelings for Gambit are now intertwined with a lot of guilt, and she probably feels like she has failed him in particular. And it breaks my heart. I don’t think that’s fair towards her and I am not particularly a fan of that, but X-men has often times put drama ahead of character development. 

So is it the first one? Is it the second one? Who knows, maybe it’s a bit of column A, a bit of column B. But there is one thing that I would have liked the episode to show more of: I wanted to see Rogue processing what it meant for her to survive Genosha, to survive the genocide. I care more about that, about her humanity, her struggles and convictions, unrelated to the romantic aspects. Romance is not the ultimate form of love, and it doesn’t have to be the most intense display of love either.

[ravcns]

My Darkest Hours

Dick grayson x fem!reader

info: somewhat inspired by after hours the weeknd seeing your ex who broke up with you without explanation, reader is a civilian

It was official, you hated galas. The previous night you debated not going since without a doubt he was going to be here. It was unavoidable though since you needed to keep up public appearances, plastering on a fake smile for the media your parents beside you doing the same. The public didn’t know but they had been divorced for two years both having their own hookups here and there. It was the same routine once the flashing lights of the cameras were gone they would split ways, leaving you alone to fend for yourself. Mingling with the wealthy was not one of your strong suits. He used to keep his hand resting on the small of your back, reassuring you that he was still there. Even after all this time had passed you found yourself seeking him out in the crowd.

Dick grayson in all his glory, surrounded by all the daughters of these high end families. They all flock towards him, fawning over his money and looks. Mostly the money though everyone knew the Wayne family was very well off. While you were staring at some point the youngest of their family Damian had walked up to you. “You should go over there.” He advised. “And look like I’m desperate? No thanks.” You replied. “Grayson may not admit it but he misses you.” He explained. “Did he send you over here to say that?” You asked. “L/N, this is extremely painful.” Confusion took over your features, “What?” “You two keep looking at one another when the other looks away. Look at him does he look happy?” Damian asked. You took the time to study your previous boyfriend surrounded in the crowd. Dick didn’t look happy at all, having a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, and overall looking tired. “What do I even say?” Great, you were asking the fifteen year old for advice. “Just start with a simple hello.” He nudged you in the direction of them.

Making your way through the crowd you tried to calm the feeling of anxiety that clawed at your chest, threatening to steal your breath. Technically you two didn’t end on bad terms so there really wasn’t anything to be nervous about. Moving through the multitude of girls you came face to face with Dick Grayson. “Hi.” You said with a smile. His face lit up no longer showing the previous exhaustion. “Y/N, hey. Do you wanna sit at the bar?” He whispered his question, trying to escape the girls. You grabbed his hand leading him to two seats.

“Thank you. That was suffocating.” He told you. After ordering drinks you spoke. “So we have a lot to talk about, Dick.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Either you start explaining or go join those girls over there again.” You stated, swirling your drink. “I owe you that much. To start off I still do really love you but, let me tell you why we needed to end things.”

a/n literal garbage but there will be a part two

[dominicdelagol2]

Planning to try out Auctober again this October! Feel free to join in and draw for each prompt! List of prompts and their context below:

1: Red Instead - Instead of the blue puzzle piece as displayed by Autism $peaks, we light it up red instead!

2: Special Interests - Anything you love the most in your life!

3: Music - Music is always nice to listen to, especially video game music!

4: Comfort Food - Food is yummy. Fast food is even yummier because why wouldn't it be?

5: Stim / Verbal Stims - Stims include making mouth noises and waving your arms back and forth for comfort!

6: Stim Toys - Fidget cubes, spinners, squeezable toys, etc. -- they can be fun to use!

7: Sensory Euphoria - Some things can make you most happy, whether it's eating chicken with queso dip, seeing a light-filed city during night time, store candles with a good food-like smell, you name it!

8: Hyperfixation - One particular thing you're focused on so much! It can be the periodic table, a video game series, painting, anything you can think of!

9: Info Dumping - Wanna know what one thing is? Then you'll wanna be ready for a detailed explanation going at least 200-pages long!

10: Neurotypical Expectations - Neurotypicals expect an awful lot from autistic people. For all we know, some random guy might expect you to know how to build an aircraft carrier! Of course, that's just me haha

11: Jobs...? Where? - Obviously, there are TONS of open jobs available, but whatever jobs ARE open, workers and its managers expect you to work, and work, and work, and work, and work, and work...without considering your overall health at all, nor giving you a long-enough break to help you catch your breath physically and mentally.

12: The Outside World - Outside is scary. No matter how safe you are, there's a tiny chance something bad or worse will happen. Society can even expect you to be "normal".

13: Social Anxiety - It's hard enough making friends, let alone be an extrovert. Chances are, one could have sociophobia!

14: Self-Advocacy - Nothing about us without us! Seriously, neurotypical adults have talked about autism and didn't include autistics in the conversation. (got that from one of my Auctober 2023 drawings)

15: Self-Care - Self-care is important! Make sure to brush your teeth, eat and drink healthy, exercise and whatnot!

16: LGBTQIA+ - Autistic people are more likely to be LGBTQIA+!

17: Rainbow Infinity - Rainbows are a whole spectrum of colors! Same with the autistic spectrum--all sorts of different experiences!

18: Au-DHD - ADHD, but "A" is replaced with "Au" as in aurum, which is Gold in Latin. ADHD can mean one is hyperactive!

19: Too Much Energy - The energy builds up too fast and you just have to exercise to tone it down! Of course, the energy could vary, sometimes being suddenly energetic when you just need to sleep.

20: Out-of-Nowhere Info/Fact - Say you're doing a simple job like vacuuming. All you have to do is move the vacuum on the floor as you hold the handle, thus cleaning the floor. Simple, yes? Well, surprise -- some guy sucker punches you with random information such as "Hey buddy! Vacuums use more electricity when you turn the vacuum on and off rather than letting it stay on!" (I've actually been told that one time, and the info sounding unconfirmed to me, it just left me in a long mental stasis of confusion) Like, when did anyone ask for a detailed fact about something that's SUPPOSED TO BE SIMPLE? I don't have time to comprehend an entire page of info, I just like to keep things SIMPLE as you neurotypicals tell me to my face.

21: School Experience - Experience can include elementary school, middle school, high school, college -- You can explain a particular event or two during any of these time periods!

22: Routine - A little something every day or now and then to stay consistent! Daily tasks can included 3 meals a day, staying productive or such!

23: Unmasking - Unmasking is not easy. Defending yourself from the unpredictable world, trying to blend in with society -- it's exhausting! Let the autistic community just be what they wish to be already.

24: Autistic Viewpoint - How do you view the world as an autistic?

25: America (Derogatory) - This one might not need an introduction -- America, the "Land of the Free" and the "Land of Opportunities", sure likes to screw us all over! Police are too paranoid, justice is a load of baloney, daily gun violence anywhere and everywhere, dangerous bigots normalizing the R-slur, then you have big and popular figures here smearing the autistic community into a negative light...and the list of bad things never stops growing! A very cruel country, like not even cartoon villains are this mean-spirited! How is the autistic community supposed to exist in peace when the USA is basically nothing but trouble? Happy 4th of July, I guess...

26: Comfort Media/Games - A TV show or video game is always nice to play and keep calm when times get tough out there!

27: Fancy Wording - A series of five-dollar words can arrive rather than a simple "yes" or "not" to suffice. Sometimes, fancy words such as Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis can be fun to learn about!

28: Gold - Gold is part of the periodic table, atomic number 79! Light it up gold instead of blue for Autism Acceptance! 'Au' as in Aurum, and autism!

29: Neurodivergent Community - There's all sorts of Neurodivergent people worth seeing! They all have different experiences!

30: Autistic Pride - Autistic and proud!

31: FREE SPACE -- Explain any topic you wish!

[rei-caldombra]

The time hath come! For a passionate post of one of my favorite series Demon Girl Next Door / Machikado Mazoku. (above image made by me)

Just wanna say right away that I adore this show and I am largely just bringing up positives. This is a gushing post that ended up being super long. And reminder that my writing isn’t meant to be all encompassing and describe the show in every detail. So if there’s something I mention about the show that intrigues you, you should check out the source material (and if I encouraged you to do that then I've succeeded!)! This will contain direct spoilers. I do not bring up every single aspect of the plot and characters, but I bring up many of them. Skip to the end if you just want to hear a short conclusion. 

DGND is incredibly dense despite how simple it seems on the surface. This show is so much more than just goofy wholesome fun. 

When it comes to stupid moe derpy characters, i think Shamiko is one of the best examples of this archetype. She has plenty of personality aside from that. Some stupid characters feel like they only exist to be stupid for gags. They genuinely don’t seem like they can function as a human being on their own, to the point of feeling like they could be offensive portrayals of mental retardation. 

But Shamiko is well rounded. She is not JUST a character who is dumb. Her lack of smarts and common sense does actually have some explanation too. You learn that the curse on Shamiko’s family has a physical effect as well. Shamiko spent most of her childhood in intensive care at a hospital, her physical issues exacerbated by the curse. And Shamiko was not just taking on her portion of the curse, her soul had chosen to take on Ryo’s portion of the curse as well. Before she awakened to her demon heritage, she wasn’t even able to walk through her school without collapsing. She was not able to get a proper education very well before the start of the series.  She had less opportunities than most to get normal experiences. She also had little capacity to be physically active, which gives more reason for her being pathetically weak than because the jokes of her being incapable demand it. This strength of writing just gets better as the series goes on because we see her develop into a character that is less incompetent and less physically weak. Rather than riding on these same failure jokes, we actually see Shamiko develop into a character who is capable. She manages to defeat a magical creature on her own, Sakura (the character who set up this whole town and is the most important non main character in the overall story) basically passes the torch of being the town’s caretaker on to her, she is the leader of the operation and successfully uses her abilities to remove Mikan’s curse and save Ugallu. She starts out the series as incompetent and capable of very little, being liked but looked down on by most of the cast. But she grows to be respected by everyone, to the point where Momo and Mikan eventually do consider themselves her “minions”. She truly grows from a dumb and unconfident little girl into a leader that very capable people like Momo and Mikan see as an equal. She grows mentally as well as physically. She gets access to more magical abilities, she gets less physically unwell, she gets more confident in herself. 

Ryo is shown to be very smart, which makes sense in comparison to Shamiko because she was healthy enough to be in school. And she is not just naturally smart, she actually has the drive to be smarter as she wants to support her sister. Which you can say is her wanting to support Shamiko in return for how Shamiko took on her portion of the curse. Ryo stands out more than just the “smart child” archetype she fits into. DGND is filled with details that elevate even the minor characters into more than just archetypes. 

Shamiko still has the motivation to win and get stronger, but she realizes intentionally hurting Momo or another magical girl isn’t the way she wants to go about it. And she doesn’t want Momo to hurt herself to get her the blood either. Especially when we learn from the accidental blood offering that the result of using blood to lift the curse permanently weakened Momo slightly. Which by reading into the subtext you realize means she lost mana, which according to the way they describe magical girls in this universe, is her entire existence. This is one specific example of how dark subject matter is present in the generally goofy and bubbly story.  

I love Shamiko and Momo’s dynamic, it's the crux of this series and the appeal. Their “rivalry” quickly develops into basically being just a roleplay bit between the two. It changes from Shamiko wanting to physically beat Momo to effectively emotionally overtaking her. She wants to be respected by Momo and make Momo into her vassal. It still has the original intention of making Momo submit to her, but in a more intimate and consensual way. It doesn’t feel like the idea of defeating Momo in battle was forgotten, it feels like Shamiko’s goals and motivations naturally change. 

You really buy into Shamiko and Momo’s friendship because we get so much time with them together. There are other characters who are important and get screen time, but Shaminomo is the focal point. 

DGND is legitimately the only ship I care about in all of anime. Their personalities mesh so perfectly. Simplest way to describe them is tsundere x kuudere. I really want to put emphasis on me, someone who has never cared for shipping, am very into this ship. I live for cute fanart of them together. They have so many cute and funny interactions. The way their personalities flip on the stereotypes of a demon and magical girl are very good. Shamiko is incredibly pure, always wanting to help people and find a peaceful solution. On the other hand Momo is fairly dark in the way she thinks, being more conniving and directly confrontational when a situation comes up. 

There’s so many situations where the series has very obvious romantic subtext. And I fully buy into it, it works so well. Its romantic af. I also think their dynamic is written very great because you don’t HAVE TO interpret their relationship as romantic. You can see it as just very close friends. Or you can see them as having a sisterly bond, having the report of both argumentative and caring similar to how I’ve heard people describe sisters. The idea of Momo’s (not blood relative) sister’s core literally being in Shamiko also lends some credence to this interpretation. 

Do I think they’re gonna be in a romantic relationship by the end of this? Probably not. But that doesn’t necessarily mean this is trashy gay baiting. I think it being up to interpretation is fine when it’s backed up by good writing. And here it absolutely is. And even though I made the point that you could see it as unromantic, I just can’t lol. Just to give one example- Shamiko learns about the vassal contract (aka demon marriage) that her Mom and Dad went through and then immediately goes to Momo and says she should be her vassal. That scene has very obvious romantic intention and you cannot deny it. And this moment is not just some one-off thing to get the yuri fans going again, the idea of Momo becoming Shamiko's vassal is very important going forward from there.

I love these two so much as a couple. They have hilarious back and forths, their personalities mesh very well, we see their growing understanding of each other, they can be adorably possessive at times, there's is just so much endearing and charming about their dynamic. I finally understood how people who are super into a ship feel. 

All of the characters are at least enjoyable in some way, but the heart of the show is the main duo. And the show never really tries to go against that. If you don’t ship Shamiko and Momo that's fine, but to me it never really presents anyone else as super shippable other than Mikan, and It's very clear that isn't something the show itself is pushing. 

To quickly go on about other core characters- Lilith is really great, she is really cute and has a lot of funny jokes. And later on she ends up spending less time being the butt of jokes and is genuinely very helpful. Ryo is cute and her relationship with her sister is super wholesome, Mikan is really great and gets a lot of personality and more to do S2 onwards, Shamiko’s mom has some funny moments and has an interesting role, Anri is funny and a good goofball friend, Lico is a funny addition who grew on me a lot, Shirosawa has some funny moments and works as a straight man to Lico’s shenanigans (as well as being the only male character in the show), Sion was my least favorite at first but she also gets a lot to do later and gets more characterization than just “occult + science girl”. 

DGND has a much larger and overarching story than most cute wholesome shows do. And it’s written very well. It seems like this would be a mostly episodic cute event of the week kind of story, but its got a heavy story and complete continuity. Story details are spread out well, dripped in between various normal moments in the show. There are constantly little hints being thrown around about the history and background elements. A lot of things that initially seem like just gags actually end up being relevant to a later scene or the overall story. There are a lot of visual details that end up being used later. The story resonates very strongly because the characters are deeply involved in it. A simple story for this simply could’ve been “an evil threat enters the peaceful town and Shamiko and crew need to stop it” with some random villain. Instead, everyone is relevant. Shamiko’s father is involved, Momo’s sister is involved, Shamiko being in the hospital is involved. The town and the characters in it really feel like they have history, and that history is very important to them and the story. And the story does have a lot of dark elements to it. I really like how this very positive and upbeat series has these serious and dark accents that help to balance it out. It makes it more engrossing. It's a very good mix of goofy with enough dark and dramatic elements to make you pause and think seriously about what is going on. The show manages to have plenty of simple episodic bits where it's just the characters being cute and having fun, but not too often or lacking little bits that remind you that there's a serious story and deeper issues. The story generally just continues being interesting and engaging, it never really dips. There are lots of mysteries that you really want to know the answers to. 

One moment I like from episode 12 is when Shamiko, Momo and Lilith are talking about Shamiko becoming her vassal.

This just seems like a joke in the moment since they are calling out how Momo is much more like a Demon and should fall to darkness by becoming Shamiko's vassal. Later on this is exactly what happens, despite Momo declining becoming her vassal. But even if you did immediately think this is foreshadowing, when it does come back up it's not exactly how or when you would expect it. So, it's interesting and surprising whether you assumed its foreshadowing or not. This is just one of many moments and a more direct one where something you expect to just be a joke ends up being an important detail later that gets revisited.

A truly unique aspect of the town is how demons and magical girls are set up to not interact with each other. That is in order to apparently keep the peace. Shamiko is able to transcend this because she has Sakura’s core. So she is the only one who can unite all the magical people in the town in order to figure things out and protect the town. I really like this detail. 

To compare DGND to another one of my favorite series, the town of DGND feels similar to Morioh of Jojo part 4. Over time we spend so much time getting to know different places and people in it that it grows into a place that you can believe exists. You see all the moving parts and areas that make it function. You can imagine where people go and what they do outside of what's directly on screen. This is what is required to make a fully realized setting, and as a result makes the story very engrossing. Reaching this should be the main goal of a series that has a static setting, and I feel both these shows excel at this.

There is so much well written slow growth in the series. Shamiko and Momo opening up to each other, Shamiko growing more capable, Lilith being able to interact more, the characters learning about the history of the town. It's very satisfying and feels natural. Its distributed very well. 

Where many stories rely on big lore dumps, DGND never has this problem because of how well details are parceled throughout the series. Momo starts out as a very taciturn character you don’t know much about. Momo never goes on some long rant about her entire sad backstory in one moment. That isn’t necessary because if you pay attention during the dialogue, you can get all of it in a more natural way. As it comes out organically through her conversations with Shamiko and other characters and when the story actually demands that information. She doesn’t need to directly say that she is depressed because you can figure that out from how she talks and acts in little moments. She doesn’t need to directly say why she is not an active magical girl anymore because you can figure out that bad things went down from little moments in her conversations. The writing is not lazy and does not treat the viewer like they are dumb. It gives you the opportunity to speculate and figure things out yourself, then later when it makes sense for the characters to be direct, they clarify things. 

Putting great writing aside for just a moment, DGND is SO CUTE AND WHOLESOME. So many moments of the characters just getting along and having fun together that are super endearing. This show is just so charming and makes you smile. 

DGND is also very funny. Shamiko and Momo’s report is hilarious, especially at the beginning when they’re more at odds. There’s lots of silly weird gags, like puns and random goofy things. All over you can see little visual gags, like text on an object or a goofy item. DGND has a openly goofy tone that it presents confidently. One recurring joke that's really funny is how all the normal people react tamely to all the magical stuff that goes on. There’s a good mix of different kinds of jokes. There are also lots of gags parodying magical girls. I mentioned how I like how it has the negative perspective of magical girls to balance the positive aspects. The show continues to be very balanced by having magical girl parody as well as unironically cool magical girl things (mainly the transformations). It does its silly moments in good ways. Its goofy but doesn’t do it too much and make it feel like its random just for the sake of it. The anime mixes goofiness and story perfectly. I love the tone of this series so much. 

There isn’t exactly a ton of serious life messages, but there’s nice stuff about societal expectations and getting along with people. When it comes to the magical society, it's very clearly anti segregation and anti-stereotyping based on race. 

This show has the philosophy of “finding joy in the little things” that you see a lot in Japanese media. Such as the very poor Shamiko family still remaining happy. I’ve always vibed with this perspective and like how it's portrayed here. 

DGND is not the best-looking show visually in the animation department, but it is great where it matters, and the weaker parts are often played as a strength. The art is generally very good but the animation is very limited. But especially in season 1 the limited visuals are played very well. Whether it's the magical transformations still looking very good or using limited animation to do funny gags (like the EEEHHH gif you probably saw even if you did not watch the show when it first came out where they just wiggle around the static image). Imo the limited animation really doesn’t hurt the viewing experience. And it gets better in S2. All the magical transformations are really good. I think the coloring in particular for the anime are very nice. 

And there’s one visual aspect of DGND that takes a lot of extra effort, which is the character designs. One visually distinct thing that elevates DGND above a lot of anime is the number of outfits the main characters have. It adds so much more personality. They feel so much more alive because it feels like they actually have a closet full of clothes. There is so much more effort put into the character design. So many series just have the characters in a singular outfit 99% of the time. Which is understandable because that's easier to draw and replicate. But it can make them feel more like a character that only exists for that singular thing. Characters only shown in combat outfits are hard to imagine in another scenario when they aren't on the battlefield. With school uniforms it's hard to imagine then without them. But with DGND the number of outfits we get for the characters make it easier to imagine them in a variety of situations. They feel like they have lives because they have all the outfits they would for people who have normal lives. Sometimes shows feel like time stops in between what we as the audience see, like the characters don’t have lives outside of what we see. But DGND in multiple ways avoids this issue due to its character designs and other details. This is an incredibly important point to me. I absolutely love this aspect of the show and wish more shows did this. I have a lot more respect for the art of the show because of this point. 

Another character design aspect that is done very well is Shamiko’s tail. Her tail is incredibly expressive and constantly moving and changing. It portrays a lot of her emotions and is a thing for us and also the characters in the show to react to. I love the characters, primarily Momo, reacting to Shamiko’s tail expressions. It really shows how Momo pays attention to Shamiko and makes the characters feel like they have more spacial awareness. Bring that up because I feel sometimes shows can make characters appear to only see or hear what the writing allows them to in a questionable way. Verbal example of this is when a character says half a sentence before getting cut off, and everyone acts like they heard nothing at all. The anime portrays the tail well, and further makes Shamiko a very expressive and an interesting character to watch. Which is very important for a main character. 

While there can be limited animation it still succeeds at making the characters be very expressive. There are lots of great faces.

I also like all of the openings and endings. One thing nice about them is that they don’t directly spoil anything like many openings tend to but do have little things that can make you go “oh i know what that creature is” or “I get that now!”. 

Now to the sound design, which is immaculate. The anime has the best sound effects of anything I’ve watched. There are so many great goofy sound effects that add to the character's reactions. My favorite has to be the train whistle toy used when Shamiko or Lilith is angry. The sound effects further add to how expressive the characters feel. The creators clearly had a ton of fun doing the sound design and it comes through. A fun goofy soundtrack for a fun and goofy show. 

The music is also very good as a whole. I usually don’t pay a ton of attention to background music but I’m obsessed with DGND so I do here. I think the BGM fits well with the setting. They sound very magical and fantastical while also sounding modern. It's very peppy and can get high energy with Shamiko’s strong reactions, while also being very low during the slower moments. And sad when it needs to. I’m not great at describing good music since I’m not a huge fan of music, so I’ll just say it's far above average in my opinion. My favorite track is probably Shamiko’s transformation theme. 

The voice acting (just talking about the Japanese voice actors, i haven’t seen a lot of the eng dub) is super good. Of course, Konomi Kohara is absolutely amazing as Shamiko. She is the master of cute anime girl noises and gives so much energy in her performance. She brings out Shamiko’s wide range of emotions and mannerisms extremely well. Momo’s voice acting is also extremely good, the soft but dull voice perfectly fits Momo’s character. All around the voice acting is excellent but the main two really have their personalities on full display from the voice acting. 

When it comes to anime vs manga, I do like the manga. But the voice acting, soundtrack and anime additions add so much for me. I have to recommend the anime over the manga. But if you are more sensitive to the anime girl noises type of thing and find it annoying, you will likely enjoy the manga more. 

—---Here’s a good spot if you are skipping to the end—----

Each individual aspect of the show is strong. The characters and the world are very dense and endearing with great drama and emotion behind them. If you are into light romances, you will very much adore the sweet relationship between Shamiko and Momo. If you enjoy light fantasy then I feel DGND provides a unique world with interesting interpretation of magical girls and demons. If you just like comedies, DGND will keep you laughing constantly with its silly gags. If you enjoy a detailed story that builds over time, you should greatly enjoy the story here. If you just want girls doing cute and wholesome things there’s plenty of it. I really do recommend this series to anyone. 

I absolutely adore this series, it's very close to my heart. It’s in my top favorites and I consider it my comfort show. Fanart of DGND never fails to make me feel a little happier. I love this goofy world and its endearing characters. I love the complex and constantly developing story. I love the wholesomeness with dark flavors behind it. 

I had a ton of fun writing this one! It brought me a lot of joy getting back into the nitty gritty of this series. I wrote a ton for this and spent way more time on it than my other posts so far. Hopefully it wasn’t too much messier than the others in terms of formatting, separation etc. It’s so long and I didn’t want to spend a ton more time just doing minor edits lol. But I truly did put a lot into this one, it deserves it! I really tried to put down anything I thought of well and remove very little. I could go on even more if I let myself, but I do not want to force it and have this take a long time. I've written enough, I'm satisfied.

Also if you want to hear more gushing about this show and get that episode by episode, I highly recommend Anime Slushie’s YouTube videos on DGND. I like their discussions on the show. And re-listening to them helped me to get the writing juices flowing. If we get a season 3 you better believe I’ll be doing episode by episode posts where I go into detail on everything. 

I want to end this by wishing the absolute best to Izumo Ito, the author of DGND who has been combating health issues. Thank you for all your hard work on this amazing series! Thanks for reading! Please check out Demon Girl Next Door / Machikado Mazoku! And please give us season 3.

[coconox]

3.23.24 whb spreadsheet update

hi again !! lots of new things were added yesterday in the spreadsheet so i wanted to make a post giving a brief description of everything thats been added/changed :>

slightly 🤏 more in-depth details for some additions will be mentioned under the read more but tl;dr

added recommended builds for satan (attacker), mammon (attacker), gamigin (still working on how to get images of their signature artifacts but info about why they're there is already included)

separated "read me" info into 2 parts: first part includes general stuff about the spreadsheet, 2nd part includes stuff in regards to only the build lists

included f2p/beginner tips in the first part of "read me" (when you open up the spreadsheet you are automatically sent to the first part of "read me," the tips are located near the bottom of that sheet)

added mammon (attacker)'s unholy board requirements

new sheet created named "other". contains random calculations such as how long it takes for f2p players to get enough seals/yellow keys to hit hard pity on their respective banners (debut l/s-ranks), how much time it takes to max likeability, how much event currency is needed to get all event-exclusive items, + more

some additions to add in the near future:

recommended team comps (will range from l-ranks only to s- or a+-ranks only of a certain element to a mix of both)

mammon side branch requirements to obtain all voicelines

that's all for now ! if you wanna see more info about certain points it'll be down here ↓

i'll just be listing out the numbers from earlier rather than typing the whole thing cause i'm lazy lmao

point 2 - "read me" info in regards to build lists

the sample outline and notes from earlier additions of the spreadsheet are still there

the new addition is creating a very VERY brief overview of everyone's ratings in the form of a tier list

tl;dr of each rating provided in the screenshots are

s - provides more than enough to clear all content a - good, but some cases may have better alternatives b - needs a bit more thinking but still relatively ok

i will only be showing VERY SMALL SNIPPETS OF IT. i highly recommend going to the spreadsheet directly to see the whole list since it's quite long

again, the overall performance ratings are based off of GAMEPLAY ONLY, NOT lore. the overall ratings are a collective decision made by the ppl working on this sheet based off of trial and error across different stages and/or personal experiences before working on this spreadsheet as a whole

if you have a differing opinion in regards to the reasoning behind a certain character's overall rating or recommended builds my asks/dms are always open for discussion!

marksman

all marksmen are included in this tier list they are just out of frame for me to properly screenshot it all without losing the quality (i.e. properly seeing which character is in which tier), i recommend seeing the sheet itself if you are looking for a certain character

tanks

gabriel, eligos, and valefor are on this list just out of frame from the screenshot. i recommend seeing the sheet itself if you are looking for any of those 3

close-rangers

all close-rangers are included in this tier list they are just out of frame for me to properly screenshot it all without losing the quality (i.e. properly seeing which characters are in each tier), i recommend seeing the sheet itself if you are looking for a certain character

healers

buer is on this list he is just out of frame for me to properly screenshot without losing any quality

each character on this list has a 1-2 sentence description in the notes (indicated with the small triangle in the corner of each image) as to why they're placed at a certain rating (more in-depth explanations are in their respective build lists)

point 3 - f2p/beginner tips

pretty straight forward, if there's any other tips you think i should add don't hesitate to send an ask/dm!

point 5 - "other"

a lot of random calculations are on there so i'll just provide screenshots of some of the important ones

how long does it take to get enough seals/yellow keys to hit hard pity?

this is based off of dailies/weeklies/monthlies alone. stuff obtained through shop or events or likeability rewards or panty party are not included

tl;dr, way too long lmao i hope pb provides more ways to get seals in the future

how much time does it take to farm enough event currency to buy all event-exclusive items?

assuming you farm the advanced difficulty stage

i cannot emphasize this enough to check out the spreadsheet as i'm exlcuding a whole lot of info/notes that ngl i'm too lazy to type it all out lmao. but yeah, that's the update so far with the spreadsheet, have a cookie you deserve it after reading all this 🍪

[mydysfunctionalvampirefamily]

Now that my secret identity has been revealed (by me) I shall bravely soldier on like nothing has changed and scream into the void.

Wynn! I know subtlety is not your strong suit, but damn.

Look at them! They're actually just talking and not arguing! I'm so proud.

Guys, I'm gonna be real honest. They've been talking for like 10/15 minutes now and I don't really know whats going on, my brain is so tired. I tried relistening. Absolutely nothing was retained. I might have to do this episode again, or maybe just not and see how big of a issue this will be.

So far I know that the sabat is attacking and they are debating what to do.

Johnny asking Miles to be his date. 👀 We all. Know Miles is saying hard to get.

😂😂😂Britta idk what you were expecting they'd say, but I know you didn't expect them to go oh okay no problem, because you're smarter than that.

Britta you cannot stay with Eden, there are people who would be upset. Here in the real world.

I mean Britta or someone needs to reach down deep inside her, if you know what I mean. 😏

This is hard though, because I totally get what Johnny is saying, but my social anxiety is agreeing with Britta. Tbh I'm surprised she hasn't just walked into the sun.

Neil, sweetheart, baby, love of my life. What is going on with you and the obsession with Britta? Like you are grilling her way too hard, and this is not the first time. Is this because she was kidnapped? Idk it's very strange, I can't place it.

Poor Britta, so much has happened to her that I had completely forgotten that Shaw had promised to 'give' her to some Bruja.

Johnny you don't know the half of Britta and Pendragon.

Wynn, you're a goddess for offering to go with Pendragon.

NEIL?!??! WHAT THE FUCK???? Idk if this is confirmation bias or what but you're being so weird about Britta!

Wynn: can we let Britta choose how she comes (to this). 😏 I'm so sorry, I am Really tired.

Neil: Britta, how do you wanna come?😂

Omg Wynn: I like mouth stuff. 😂😂 Thank god I am not alone on this train.

Do aunts and uncles usually talk about sex at thanksgiving???? That feels very unamerican.

Aw Britta I get you, being scared is the absolute worst. And having to do smth you're scared of sucks.

Wynn being her guidance councillor self.

Wow look at Johnny being all tactful and doing this dividing the invitation.

Neil, goddamn that is so sad. Why would Johnny just tell you good luck?? Dude you are a part of this coterie! When will you get that into your thick skull?

Wynn immediately catching it. She had a full time psychologist job with this coterie damn.

Miles just being a shithead: I heard you got invited to a ball recently.

Miles: I am used to being hated. (😭 what is going on you guys??? Youre the best!)

Miles actually thought that Wynn hated him now. Goddamn Wynn, I hope you charge by the hour.

Hell yeah, Britta!! I know this is all under duress, but if you can stop yourself from fleeing the scene when Pendragon shows up (which I wouldn't blame you for, let me be clear) the you're going to do a great job at this rave!

What if Delgado brings Carmen and Britta is going to get sucked into some bisexual maelstrom.

Neil!!! Sweet lord, why does it sound like you exactly know what's going on and yiu just want to hear her say it. Calm down.

Johnny getting a new jacket for Britta without question. 🥰

Neil omg are you seriously going to steal that jacket back??? Is this a weird Britta thing? Or a weird ownership of stuff thing? Or both or neither?

We all knew it, but it's still gratifying to see Miles being a great boy toy.

I don't think anyone has called a Bruja rave a soiree before. Lmao

Lmao Neil being pulled around by Jane.

Okay say what you want but this Rave is making everyone look good!!

Lmaooo Jane just collaring Neil without explanation. 😂

Wait what diablerist?? Ohh because of the trial??

Jane is the best, I love her.

I know it's such a small thing overall, but I love the mount of detail we always get clothes wise. It really helps me visualise, even though my visualisations are often wrong and offend people (see: Johnny's shaved head and Britta's light blonde curls)

Whethers is such a dream boat!

Johnny doing his iron heart thing. 🥰 I know he has done it a few times alrwady but it always warms my heart.

[eve-be-sleep-deprived]

How do you get such nice shots in captura? I wanna get better at it could you share some tips? Been trying to figure it out but I admit I'm not the most knowledgeable in photography etc.

Well.... It's a bit of a complicated process and it relies very very much on personal preference. Much like with any type of art there are different styles that each individual artist will gravitate toward. I can only show you how I do things, so I'd recommend asking other Captura folks on here about their own styles to see where our processes and preferences differ.

I'll also include some extremely helpful videos at the bottom, they go extremely in depth as to best practices and technical exploits.

Alright, lets get started with the background stuff... the tools! ReShade: Shader injection, a MUST if you want to take dynamic and customized captura without using a program like Photoshop to do everything in post.

SRWE: Simple Runtime Window Editor.... the god among programs... It's an upscaler, allowing you to increase the resolution of the game beyond the bounds of your monitor. It's how I was able to get 15K panoramas at one point in time.

Any image editing software. Since I rely mainly on compositing to get the lighting I do, I need something to overlay and mesh the images with. I use GIMP cuz it's free, but even Microsoft Paint will work as soon as it add the ability to layer images.

Those are the tools... what about the tactics?

Well, I generally prefer moodier shots with the Warframe being the central focus (though, that's also the side effect of me cropping the image). Just a note! Moody doesn't mean dark, moody is the enigmatic space between dark and light where there is more dark than light... but there's still a good amount of light to be had. Occasionally you can have overexposure in a moody shot even.

Important to note, the overall exposure level of the environment, even is the scene lighting is low, will effect how brightly your Warframe can be lit. Both the Scene Light and Exposure sliders need to be fine-tuned otherwise you won't be able to light your Warframe at all.

Now, for shot composition I prefer low angles with either a cluttered but familiar/recognizable background, or a simple but abstract background. The Subject, be it a Warframe, an enemy, or an NPC, reside in the center with their feet out of shot.

Like so:

Each of these shots also demonstrate well the way I like to pose my subjects: Symmetry and.... not... not symmetry. The official term for this is Contrapposto, which is Italian for Counterpoise. Basically, even though the Wisp is sedentary, her body is still giving off the impression of movement based on how her waist is curving and hips are tilted, forming a loose 'S' shape. There's a handful of animation sets, Khora (Urushu) Noble, Mesa Noble, and Wisp Noble are excellent for this.

Some examples:

But... what about the lighting? This is where things get technical. So, the standard Captura's three-point lighting system is generally inadequate at properly lighting the entire Warframe. This is where compositing enters the picture, in a very literal sense. Each of these shots, shown above, are composites of between two and four separate images, each with different lighting angles. I actually have an example I made for an earlier explanation made already (thank goodness)

Getting the different lighting angles is really simple, just rotate the 3-way lighting without moving the camera. Then you overlay them in some photo editing software and just start going layer by layer, erasing bits of the topmost layer to reveal your desired highlights or shadows from the shot underneath.

Don't feel obligated to do this compositing process though! Sometimes the 3-way lighting works perfectly well for a shot or environment, don't feel obligated to complicate this process.

And this segues in nicely to the final part of the shot-making process, post-processing and fog layers.

Now, fog layers are important to the overall appearance and vibe of my Captura. They add texture the image that the game doesn't impart naturally, removing large swathes of solid color from the background and foreground. An added bonus is that the added texture makes the image look somewhat better (imo) when compressed, or when viewed at lower resolutions.

The same image with and without Fog

This shot contains two individual fog layers, one in the foreground, washing out the foliage, giving the general uniformity of it texture and implied depth, it also serves to cover up the manual blurring I did (poorly) around his legs. Then there's the background Fog, which is the deeper blue you see in the sky. It adds a more dynamic air to the generally dour set of greys. And, again, the fog is just something I personally like to add, even if it doesn't serve a practical purpose in a shot. No shade if someone feels the fog ruins the shot, I almost always keep a fog-free version about.

After the fog is added, blended, and blurred slightly, I will apply a few gentle blurring filters to remove any jarring or jagged pixelation from the shot, giving the Frame a somewhat smoother appearance and reducing the file-size dramatically.

That's just how I do it though, it's not a particularly popular style, but it's how I do it and how I love to do it! :3 Remember to ask around, I'm sure there's lotsa Captura Artists out there willing to explain their methods and processes.

Helpful vids! How to Captura by Vash Cowaii Hotsampling in Warframe for High Res Shots by PurpleFlurp

good luck, and happy snapping!

[what-a-strange-creature--moved]

Slow Dance

Bella x Jacob | AU - No Cullens Word Count: 2,645 | Rating: G, no warnings Summary: At her father's insistence, Bella agrees to go to prom with an old friend. A/N: I think this is my favorite one so far. 💘 Written for day three of my February writing challenge previous | next (18+) Read on AO3

It started with Charlie, of all people.

“I just wanna make sure you’re not missing out on anything,” he’d told me, as if that would be enough of an explanation to cool my rage. I still don’t know what he was thinking, arranging for me to go to prom without even asking me first.

“I just can’t believe you’d do something like this. It’s my life! It’s not fair!” I hadn’t yelled at my dad like that since I was a kid and I knew how petulant I sounded as the words left my mouth.

The argument we had that night two weeks ago had been fiery and, ultimately, pointless. Part of his plan had been to find a date for me — because I certainly wasn’t going to ask anyone myself — which led him right to the door of an old friend. Jake was more than happy to accompany me to prom, and with someone else so excitedly involved… well, I couldn’t slam the brakes on the whole operation now, could I?

Now that the day is here though, I could imagine all the things I would rather be doing instead of dolling myself up. I could be rereading a book for the millionth times. I could be doing laundry. Researching colleges to apply to in the fall. Talking to Mom on the phone, thanking her over and over for never putting me in a situation like this.

As I finish curling my hair, I stare at myself in my bathroom mirror, harshly, critically. A medium-sized burn radiates heat and blooms brightly on my neck beneath my left ear. My makeup, painstakingly applied on my own, will certainly pale in comparison to the other girls I’ll see, who I’m sure went to a department store to have it done by a professional. So unused to formal clothing, I decided I would put my dress and shoes on before starting on my face and hair, just so I could get comfortable in it, but now my feet are aching and my body itches everywhere the fabric touches.

My dad better hope this will all be worth it.

“You almost done, Bells?” Charlie calls from the living room. “You kids’ll need to leave soon.”

“Be down in a minute,” I yell back as I yank the curling iron’s cord from the wall. I run my fingers through my hair, spraying some hairspray in short bursts like Mom taught me. Some of the strands still clump together, but overall it’s not my worst attempt.

I take a step back and really take it all in, looking between the sink mirror and the full-length mirror on the bathroom door. When I picked out my prom dress, I’d been feeling very dramatic and angry, only a couple days off from my argument with Charlie. I chose a black velvet dress that sweeps the floor and hugs my body in a way I’m not entirely comfortable with now. In the store, I liked the deep, dark purple floral pattern that covered it, but in this dingy lighting, it looks too much like old lady wallpaper. This all goes without mentioning the thin straps and the low neckline — I really don’t know what I’d been thinking.

Honestly though, I don’t look too different than I normally do. Kind of. Maybe a little paler than usual while wearing such dark colors. And the black eyeliner is a little intense…

Oh boy.

I brush my hair over my shoulders, partly covering my face, and hope that’s enough to make me feel more like myself; at least I have a place to hide.

“Are you trying to skip out on taking pictures with me?” Jake yells up the stairs. “Because I think you might get your wish.”

“Shut up, I’m ready!” I laugh, and it’s enough to finally get me to leave the bathroom.

Here goes nothing.

//

I didn’t get to avoid having my picture taken. Charlie and Billy snapped a couple of Jake and I in the living room, a candid one as he tied the corsage around my wrist and one of us posed, our arms loosely around each other’s waists. My smile felt strained in spite of my best efforts, but Jake exuded such confidence that I’m sure the photos will turn out at least half alright.

And though we pull into the venue’s parking lot a few minutes after prom had kicked off, we still manage to catch the photographer as he takes pictures of the couples going into the building. Once again, I can only guess how the photo will turn out, how much of an evident contrast there will be between Jake and I simply because he’s more comfortable in his own skin than I could ever imagine being myself.

“I’m surprised Forks High was willing to shell out the money for a place like this,” Jake says lowly, so close that his breath tickles my ear. I shiver, then sweep my hair over my shoulder, a curtain of separation.

I turn my head, leaning in so I can speak just as quietly.

“My friend Jess told me the prom committee had to do a lot of fund raising. It looks great, though.” Apparently, it had taken an unreasonable amount of convincing for the school board to approve a Paris-themed prom at a local private venue instead of using the school gym like every other year. Somehow, they pulled it off.

“Is this anything like the dances back in Arizona?” he asks, nudging my side with his elbow.

I smile up at him. “I wouldn’t know.”

Then I take a step away from him as I lead him toward the table my friends are seated at near the DJ booth.

Ever since I walked down the stairs at my house, I’ve noticed a difference in Jake.

He hasn’t said too much about the way I look, which is both a relief and a worry. A relief because I don’t want any attention drawn to myself, but I worry because I still feel like I look ridiculous.

At first sight, all he did was smile that broad smile of his and say, “Nice dress.”

Which Charlie followed up with, “Kind of showy, though,” before I could respond.

I could feel how red I turned as I stood at the base of the stairs, arms crossed over my chest.

Eventually, Billy said consolingly, “You look very nice, Bella,” and I mumbled, “Thanks,” and then we moved on to the exchange of flowers.

Since then though, Jake has found every reason to be much closer to me than he ever has been. When he speaks, it’s soft and close to my ear. When I move, he moves as if he’s a shadow, attached to me. Each time I stumble — an inevitable thing when I wear nice shoes, no matter how short the heel is — he grabs my arm or waist and balances me again, whether or not I need the help.

It’s new. It’s… interesting. I try to maintain a little distance, but it doesn’t feel right to tell him to back off. He’s not bothering me or anything.

“Well, well, well, look who it is!” Mike says as Jake and I walk up to the table. He has an arm slung over Jessica’s shoulder, but I catch the quick elevator glance he gives me. Sometimes I want to smack him. “Bella and… uh, the La Push guy. What’s your name again?”

I open my mouth to respond, but I’m beat to the punch.

“It’s Jacob.” As he speaks, Jake pulls out a chair then gestures for me to sit down. I take the seat, blessedly next to Angela. She smiles excitedly at me, tells me she loves my dress and hair, and her infectious energy has me smiling back and complimenting her, too.

“Oh yeah, I totally forgot,” Mike says, though from the way he says it, it doesn’t really seem like he’d forgotten. “And how do you know Bella? I can’t remember.”

“Our dads are friends,” Jake replies as he sits down beside me. “We’ve known each other since we were kids.”

“That’s right, that’s right,” Mike says, nodding as if he’s working through the information. “But it’s been a while since you’ve seen each other?”

I glance over at Jess to find she’s already looking at me. She seems just as confused as me, though I can tell by the hard line of her mouth that she wants Mike to stop talking. I hope she can see in my eyes that I want the same thing.

For his part, Jake appears unfazed. His hands are clasped on the table, the sleeves of his white button-up rolled to the elbows. He looks at Mike for a long moment, then says, “You don’t have a very good memory, do you?”

Mike scoffs, stammers a bit, looks around at the rest of us, but there’s no way for him to recover. Tyler and Lauren tease him openly while Jess drops her head into her hands. I try to hold my laughter in, covering my mouth with my hand, and I look over to see Angela doing the same.

“God, Mike, stop being weird,” Jess says, slapping his shoulder with her clutch. “Let’s dance.”

Then she drags him out of his seat as the opening notes of an upbeat pop song shake the room. Lauren and Tyler follow suit, leaving me to talk with Jake and Angela for a while. Now freed of any strange tension, it’s fun to joke around and people-watch with them. It’s easy to forget how much I’d been dreading this.

After a few songs, Angela leaves to join Eric at the DJ booth, and then it’s just Jake and I at the table, a comfortable silence settling between us.

I take a moment to really look at him for the first time tonight. His button-up and black dress pants are simple and well-worn. He didn’t wear a suit jacket and the deep purple tie he’d came in with as well as the boutonniere I’d pinned on him are now abandoned on the table. I look at his long, shiny hair and warm skin, and I’m struck with a sense of affection I can’t place.

I think back to days when we were kids on the pier of a lake, me running from him as he tried to put bait worms down the back of my shirt. I fought hard to put a stop to those summers in Forks with Charlie, but when I recounted the highlights from those years, Jake was there for most of them.

Maybe that’s where the flutter in my chest is coming from: it’s nice to remember someone so fondly and, years later, be fond of them still.

After a moment, Jake looks over at me, his grin widening when our eyes meet.

“Are you having a good time?” he asks, brows raised. He sounds a little skeptical.

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“From what I’ve heard, you reeeeally don’t want to be here.”

I grimace, then shake my head, turning away from him.

“That’s true,” I mumble. “I don’t normally do things like this.”

He leans in toward me, close enough that he curls an arm around the back of my chair to support himself. Once again, I’m struck by his proximity. I can smell the cologne he’s wearing and I’ve only seen him a handful of times since coming back to Forks, so I have no way of knowing if he’s the type of guy that wears cologne all the time or if it’s just for tonight, but it’s masculine and warm.

“Do things like what?” he asks, and it takes my brain a moment to catch up to our conversation.

“Um, well, I don’t really get dressed up or go out with… people,” I say, flushing. “And I definitely don’t dance.”

He frowns, tilts his head. “Why not?”

I scoff. “I’m too much of a klutz for that. Plus, it’s not my thing.”

“Oh, c’mon,” he teases, giving my shoulder a gentle squeeze. I jump at the skin-on-skin contact. “How do you know it’s not your thing if you don’t try?”

“The klutz thing kind of answers that for me,” I respond. “Unless you want to see me flail all over the place.”

“You won’t flail all over the place.”

“You just want to point and laugh at me,” I tease, crossing my arms in a put-on huff. “And here I thought we were friends.”

He gives me a long look, his teeth digging into his lip. I wait for what he might say next, watching his mouth for his next joke. No other reason.

“I won’t laughing at you, Bella,” he says, his voice that same quiet, low tone, somehow perfectly audible despite the thumping of the music. “I promise.”

I don’t know what to say next, suddenly sharply focused on Jake’s hand, his cupping my shoulder, and his dark brown eyes and his cologne. Lost as I am, I’m aware that I don’t know what to make of this feeling at all. I’m never in situations like this with a boy. Every “date” I’ve been on has been slapped together for me, but this is the only time I’ve been relaxed enough to not look for a way out. Maybe it’s Jake’s natural affability, or maybe it’s the fact that I just know him, but my level of comfort makes me feel as if I’m about to shiver out of my seat. I hope I’m not actually shaking as much as I feel like I am.

Jake seems more alert than I am currently. His chin lifts and his eyes pull away from mine.

“Oh, here’s a good song,” he says. That’s when I hear the change that’s taken place: a slower tempo, a softer melody. Couples on the dance floor hold each other close and begin to sway back and forth.

Jake stands, holds out a hand to me.

“Come on,” he says, then smiles widely. “I won’t take no for an answer.”

I give him a half-glare, one without any ire behind it — I’m sure if I pressed the issue enough, he would back off — but I grab his hand and let myself be led away from my safe little corner.

In a choice that feels only slight purposeful, Jake stops near Mike and Jess, who are spinning in a tight, absent circle not looking at each other, then turns to face me. He places one hand on my waist while the other brushes my hair back over my shoulders, away from my face. It’s a move I don’t expect, my face flooding with heat.

When his other hand finds my waist, I place my hands on his shoulders and we begin to dance.

After a moment, he says, “See? No flailing.”

“We’re barely doing anything.”

“Were you expecting a waltz?”

“Maybe.”

He huffs a laugh, rolls his eyes. Then, in another move I don’t expect, he pulls me closer to him. I look up into his face, so kind and familiar. I feel the way his chest moves as he breathes, a inch of two away from mine. I don’t know how long this song has been playing or how many minutes are left in it, but time feels a little irrelevant all the sudden.

Jake opens his mouth with a quick breath, then closes it. I hum, give him a questioning look, but he shakes his head.

“What?” I ask, brows furrowed. I’ve never known him to second-guess something he wanted to say, at least to me.

He holds my gaze for a moment, grinning shyly.

“You look so beautiful tonight,” he says. Soft. Low.

The smile that grows on my face is hundred-watt, but I can’t help it.

“Thank you.”

“Of course.”

Perfect.

[all-mirth-no-matter]

Initial thoughts on the Teen Wolf Movie:

CGI and special affects were almost on the same level as Once Upon a Time’s

Like there was literally a shot that looked like it came straight out of GTA5

I’m glad Stiles wasn’t in it. Makes it easier to pretend it isn’t real. Like 6B.

Though I am glad they at least mentioned him. I do wish Scott had mentioned him.

Jackson was one of the best parts. Everything about his character is what you wanna see in a former unlikable character. He had the best lines.

Coach. Glad to see everything is exactly the same with him.

Peter x Melissa. It’s the only explanation for why no one was questioning why Peter was already in the house.

They seriously not gonna even allude to Eli’s mom? Just gonna keep up the weird other parent mystery that the Hales have going on? Stupid.

Malia x Parrish. I’m not mad about it. At this point, it’s more like a “eh whatever” feeling.

Very disappointed in Liam’s overall lack of a role in the whole shebang.

And the lack of Liam/Mason. Like, there was none. What was that about?

The girl who was with Liam. They built her up so much in all the promo stuff and she was barely even a character. I don’t even remember her name or if they even mentioned it.

She was basically just the Kira stand in. Same way Eli was the Stiles stand in. That’s it.

The ending was stupid. Derek shouldn’t have gone out like that. Just dumb and unacceptable.

Peter should have been the one to sacrifice himself. They should have causally built it up, calling back to all his seasonal transgressions and actually show some character development. Maybe him trying to be a better dad, uncle, great uncle. And then he pulls Derek out and takes the fire, the final sacrifice.

They obviously don’t know how to write movies. It felt like a build up of a season without the density or longevity. They relied on character backgrounds without giving you any insight or empathy into who they are now to the point where you felt like you were playing catch up for most of the movie. It got to the point of the climax and I felt like I was still going “what the hell is even going on”.

Peter sniffing the stump. Hilarious.

There’s def more but that’s all I can think of at the moment. I had low expectations but even still. Just felt cheap.

[nothorses]

sooo, i'm super conflicted on the tme/tma thing. on the one hand i do agree that transmisogyny very clearly hurts people beyond trans women, so the exempt/applicable wording is ...not great. But overall, this is an argument about terminology, yeah? is nitpicking terminology really a useful way to spend our time? is this at all comparable to the terminology argument that surrounds transandrophobia (the good old "call it anything else" nonsense)? that probably needs some explanation -- i guess they're both situations in which ppl not part of a group have issues with word(s) used by that group based on the form that those words take. (with tme/tma seeming to be used as ingroup/outgroup terminology instead of being used with the meanings of their unabbreviated forms)

i don't really know, man. hope this isn't entirely incomprehensible, would appreciate your thoughts on the topic

I mean, my take on "terminology arguments" is that I'm not here to police the language people choose & use, but I reserve the right to express my opinion on the subject more broadly. (i.e. I don't care if you wanna use TME/TMA, but I still dislike the terms personally.)

imo, the difference between "transandrophobia" as a term and "Transmisogyny-Exempt/Transmisogyny-Affected" (TME/TMA) as terms is that the first is describing a form of oppression and a commonality between lived experiences; the closest relatives to that are "transmisogyny" and "nbphobia/exorsexism". The extended family includes "transphobia", "homophobia", "queerphobia", etc.

"TME/TMA" are not describing any new systems, experiences, or forms of oppression; they're specifically creating an in-group and an out-group distinction based on (perceived) experiences of oppression.

There is no relative to those terms. No group has an equivalent to those terms.

"Straight" vs. "gay/queer/whatever" is based on personal identity; so is "allo" vs. "a-spec". So is "cis" vs. "trans". These are groups you personally identify into; words you can choose and claim according to your own personal experiences, identity, and relationship to the words. They are self-determined.

"TME/TMA" are not self-determined. They are, even at their most well-intentioned, a way of identifying a group based on whether people are or are not impacted by this form of oppression.

More practically, they are a way of identifying a group based on whether other people assume they are sufficiently impacted by this form of oppression. (Ask around a little and see how many people have been gatekept from claiming "TMA" because they aren't transfem, or they don't seem transfem enough, or because their experiences with transmisogyny aren't "direct" or "severe" enough.)

Even more commonly, they are a not-so-subtle way to identify transmascs (TME) and transfems (TMA) in a way that paints transmasculinity as "an oppressor class" and continues to define transfemininity solely by "adequate" oppression and suffering (and if that sounds like truscum with extra steps, well). Granted, this is a problem in usage, and I can't really hold the terms themselves accountable for that.

In a world without "transandrophobia" (or an exact equivalent) as a word we can use, transmascs- and others who experience it- have no way of naming the unique form of oppression leveled against us for our proximity, or perceived proximity, to transmasculinity.

In a world without "TME/TMA" (or an exact equivalent) we can just. Call people "transfem" or "not transfem". Or we can say "I don't experience transmisogyny" or "I am impacted by transmisogyny".

Or, if they really need a word for it, they can call us "shrimpdicks" or "aidens" or whatever and make things a little simpler for everyone- considering, you know, the terms were coined to serve baeddelism.

[dkettchen]

re ship ranking stats visualisation:

I have finished making diagrams for the overall ships/characters/fandoms (that appear in the 2013-2023 ao3 data sets) data (not rankings/individual years yet, nor extra data I'll add later)!

do y'all wanna see a post about those ones already or prefer to wait until I'm done with all of them (minus extension ones)?

(either way they're available on my github repo if you just wanna look at em for yourself without further explanation)