#fuck it. post it. make it a little bit aesthetic. call it a day

[feleshero]

Little Miss Hardy Came out to party And thieve 'til break of day!

Along came a spider, Who crawled down inside her And frightened Miss Hardy away.

[josyards]

AFTG Instagram HCS

Andrew

Andrew has social media, but it's a faceless 'user929485829394' kind of account (or aminyard maybe... but nobody thinks it's him) that has no followers because he just goes on there to keep up to date w stuff.

All the foxes find it eventually because someone (Nicky...) saw it open on his phone & the fans are so confused why the foxes all follow this random anon account

(Andrew deletes his account the second people start to realise who the account belongs to and makes a new one that only Neil knows about)

(Nobody questions why Neil follows a random anon account that is private because it's so... Neil of him. So nobody realises that it's Andrew this time around.)

With his only audience as Neil, Andrew posts a little. Not a lot. But it's nice, Neil thinks, when he opens Instagram to see that default icon with the ring around it.

Neil

Neil doesn't really post much but when he does it's of other ppl (primarily Allison and Matt but sometimes there is a 'soft launch' of Andrew which the goalie says he hates but never tells him to delete), his account is mainly centred around exy -- all his stories are exy related etc.

Sometimes he tags Kevin in random shit that makes no sense to anyone but them. One time he reposted this random french tumblr post about mafia relations and tagged Kevin and Kevin was hysterical because what the fuck are you doing neil are you trying to get us killed.

Funnily, his pfp is a photo of Kevin smashed drunk because he found it really funny and Kevin ends up blocking Neil on social media when he refused to change it (and because of the shit he gets tagged in).

Kevin

Kevin keeps his Instagram very professional. He posts his magazine photoshoots & has stupid shit like clips of him on Kathy's show saying. "Thank you for having me @kathy, it was a pleasure." and the fans EAT IT UP.

The foxes don't let him live it down and every time he posts anything the foxes all repost it w stupid music or something like that, or just with "HAHAHAHAHAHAH".

But that's not just it, sometimes Kevin posts photos from practice; sneak shots that nobody realises he's taken. It seems sweet; it would be sweet if he wasn't such a raging asshole when they practice. He also posts their match scores on his story.

What shocks the foxes the most out of everything is how open he is about his obsession with USC Trojans. Sometimes they wonder whether they accidentally followed a Trojan fan account but no, it's just Kevin Day shitposting about Jeremy Knox.

Nicky

Nicky predominantly posts loads of selfies and shit, lots of candid photos of the others!!!! He does 'camera dumps' and 'monthly dumps' of photos. He posts everything that he can and his story is like a vlog.

He's also very outspoken with his opinion of social media and goes live all the damn time. It drives the monsters insane when they hear "hey guys!" from their living room.

He actually gains quite a bit of attention as the only fox who isn't completely shutdown secrative about his life and so his reason for posting is fed constantly.

He likes to do those "ask me question" stories and it's really entertaining to see him suddenly rush up to one of the foxes and ask questions that the fans want to know. If you're a new fan, your go to Instagram is 100% Nickys. His highlights are full of info on everything and everyone.

It surprises the foxes immensely when they find out his Twitter time is more than Instagram.

Allison

Allison is similar to Nicky in some sense but more professional, it has more of a 'model/fashion student' vibe to it; she likes to post random stories of her having dressed Neil up (bonding she calls it) and has a little highlight for him (the foxes appreciate her efforts).

She likes to do reels, like "dress up neil w/ me!". She also does advertisements w/ skincare & makeup groups.

She has a very aesthetic-looking account; she likes to do GRWM's (and sometimes they star a fellow fox which makes the fan so excited for each new release). She's extremely charismatic and draws a lot of followers from industries other than sport/exy.

Dan

Dan posts about Exy A LOT which surprises the foxes because even though they know that she loves the sport they didn't realise she followed it with such ferocity.

She has a lot of Foxes content on her page, like group photos or post-match selfies etc. She always posts something like that with the score of the game in the caption.

Her pfp is either one of her and Matt's eyes or a photo of them kissing at the end of a game (maybe the Raven one?).

Matt

Matt's Instagram is a shrine of Dan...andNeil. His focus is largely selfies w them or candids of them. He has highlights for them, named "<3" & "Neil!" (they used to both be <3 but then someone asked if they were poly and the foxes lost their shit).

Matt doesn't really post about exy that much, his Instagram seems to capture the domestic side of the Foxes that don't get shown too much through the other's accounts.

Matt's favourite passtime is posting photos of Neil where he blatantly crops Andrew out of the photo. So you get: Neil looking in adoration at... someone? something? The fans go crazy every time.

Renee

Renee's Instagram is the epitome of domestic. It's crazy. She's private and only accepts people she knows (aka the foxes). She posts the most beautiful candids of the foxes you will ever see; them in their Halloween outfits in Eden's Twilight, (an extra slide of Andrew and Neil looking at each other (it was a collective agreement to ignore Kevin who was slumped on the table)), them post Raven match which was taken by Stephanie Walker, a games night which Neil somehow coaxed everyone into (including Andrew) etc.

It's an account almost solely for documenting the PSU Foxes adventures together. Sometimes she posts a quote about her beliefs or music that she likes.

Her account is the foxes favourite, though they'd never admit it.

Even at gunpoint.

Aaron

Last (and very much least), Aarons Instagram (post book three) is almost entirely soft-launching Katelyn.

Library study photos where you can see a girl's hand and someone else's book?

Check.

Two coffees one which has a lipstick stain on it?

Check.

He's done it all.

(Pre-book three as well) He also sometimes posts random photos of like locations (#courthouse /j) but nothing more than that, all of it is Katelyn and it makes the foxes ill.

I may do more. or edit this

[loremaster]

BOBA AU - CHAPTER 1 EXTRAS

I had actually drawn a few more things than could fit within the 30-image-per-post limit. Here are the ones that didn't make the cut, with commentary!

(tw: mild animal abuse, n*zi mention, suggestive themes)

Zilch's animal companions. I named Carmina Burana and Tortellini, Gucci and Bosch were named by my friends - though Bosch was supposed to be called Hieronymus, it just didn't fit on the nametag lol

I wanted to illustrate some examples of Zilch casually mistreating/neglecting the animals but this was as far as I got. I don't think he would be a full on animal abuser, just... the type of person who likes having a bunch of pets to show off but doesn't really think about properly caring for them. He likes the aesthetics of animals much more than the logistics.

This was gonna be the chapter cover and I forgot. Oops.

This was just practice drawing the church characters from their sprites.

Zilch: I must say, it's an unexpected pleasure to run into another kindred spirit around here. I'm Zilch~

This scene was actually cut deliberately. I drew it before I decided exactly what the Nun's issue with Zilch would be and then once I did, I felt like it didn't fit anymore. Zilch is still excited to see someone else with ears and tail like him, but in the final version, he's a lot more derisive about it.

I imagine the Nun is, like, an actual animal-human hybrid whereas Zilch is a furry with a wallet that can afford bioengineered bodymods. (One day, my friends... one day...)

Zilch being flippant and Halara being dismissive/tsundere. Couldn't really find a place to put it but I still like the drawing - even if I did accidentally give Zilch human ears.

By the way, you might notice Zilch hasn't been wearing his cap. There are two reasons. One is to show off that his ears aren't actually connected to it. If I had the time to go back and redraw the prologue with him wearing it - so Halara's "holy fuck" reaction makes more sense here - I would. (Not really worth trying to fix though, not until the rest of the story is done.)

But the other reason is that upon looking closer at Zilch's original design, I thought it was a little too evocative of Nazi imagery and wasn't really comfortable with it. It's not really the same style of hat, sure, but combined with the swastikas in his eyes??? yeah no way is that not intentional. (I redesigned his eye symbols to be catlike slit pupils instead.)

I get he (or, the hitman, I guess) is supposed to be a villain, and a minor one, in the original game... but here I'm gonna flesh him out a bit more. So I guess in that sense the removal of the hat symbolizes his growth as a character beyond his terrible awful fascist upbringing lol (more on that in the Gumshoe Gabs soon)

If I were making this an actual game it would be fun to have Yuma get a fun little added gameplay element of using Zilch's Forte like he does with Halara's. He gets some little animal friends!!!

I imagined Zilch would ask to be carried, but Halara won't do it without getting paid an exorbitant amount. And then Zilch forks over the cash on the spot. Yuma screams internally. If he had that the whole time why were they even trying to negotiate over the coat???!? Why does he still have his own debt to pay if Zilch could just cover the whole thing up front????

Halara has to pretend not to be enthusiastic about this opportunity.

Shinigami is... there, I guess.

Martina my wife driving around her little parasite of a boyfriend. Ms Electro please call me

Was originally gonna have Seth say that out loud but then I remembered he doesn't want to lose his job. (It's okay, he loses it anyway.)

(Also yes this is pre-Vivia-DLC.)

And then the mystery is solved!

Zilch feels indebted to Halara for saving him from the Nail Man, and wants to follow their example, turn it around, treat his animals better... his act of goodwill here is extremely performative, though. But, hey, everyone's gotta start somewhere!

Ultimately I cut this scene after coming up with the cat bed idea. (Was very tempted to have Halara cruelly taking the coat from the boy, but just decided to skip it instead.)

So Zilch kinda idolizes Halara now... which is fine... but then the morning after he really lets his simp flag fly.

Congrats on your furry boyfriend, I guess?????

A doodle from the margins of this comic way back when.... which finally has a place to belong! \o/

Zilch's fursona. His "zursona," if you will.

Thanks again for reading! I love everyone's comments in the tags and I'm so glad you all like my version of Zilch especially. Excited to develop him some more in future chapters >:)

[landinrris]

ohmygod you have GOT to write a drabble about the norrix shirtgate of march 2024 ™️ please

Oh ho ho something like this? Last night Taylor wrote some dialogue that popped into my head (as I have been doing lately), and this afternoon Taylor fleshed it out a bit. This is more in line with a reaction to the shirt + the Instagram photo, but still, same idea and same crazy.

Lando’s just finishing toweling his hair when his phone starts ringing. It’s nine in the morning— probably Max calling to see where he is and if he can have another fifteen minutes on their scheduled meet-up time.

The caller ID isn’t Max though. It’s Martin, a selfie of the two of them from Australia smiling up at Lando from where his phone is sitting on the bathroom counter. Lando quickly counts back the ten-hour time difference and is surprised Martin’s even still awake after the long day he’s had.

Beggars can’t be choosers though. Lando slides his finger across the answer button and presses the speakerphone before Martin has a chance to say anything. “Hello?” 

Lando directs his attention back to his reflection in the mirror and sets about sorting out the tangled mop on top of his head.

“Are you trying to get me to out myself?” Martin asks point-blank, sounding semi-serious. Given the hour, he could also just be tired.

Lando’s fingers pause in his hair, and he glances back down at the phone as if it holds all the answers. “In what way?” It clicks in the few seconds between Lando finishing his question and Martin speaking again. He could easily correct himself but finds he wants to hear Martin admit to whatever embarrassing reaction he had to Lando’s post.

“Those pictures? In the shirt you stole from me? You did that on purpose.”

Lando can’t help the self-satisfied and questioning hum that makes it past his lips. Because Martin's right, almost. He didn't originally set out with the intention to take the photos wearing that shirt, but Lando woke up missing Martin a little harder in his jet-lagged state than he was prepared to. So, he shrugged on the shirt he’d stolen on the tail end of their France trip even though everyone would inevitably trace the origin of it. (Lando had caught Max trying to pretend he wasn’t looking at first, but rather than put him out of his misery, Lando let him stew.)

And then they'd stumbled across the new art that hadn't been in the graffiti alley last year. Max had looked at him knowingly, suggestively, this time not hiding what he was trying to infer, and Lando had taken the bait. 

Only later, as he was looking through the photos, up early again because of jet lag, did Lando decide fuck it. 

He and Martin talked about their plans for the year while they were in Vietnam, zipped inside their tent for the night and alone with their thoughts. They're not hiding anymore per se, themselves or their relationship. Lando’s finished with not just posting whatever the hell he wants because of what it’ll eventually look like. 

Hide in plain sight, Martin agreed.

Now Martin groans somewhat dramatically. “Menno had to take my phone. My fingers were hovering over the keyboard for too long and he caught me.”

“They were not.” Because there’s no way. If Lando didn’t know better, he’d think Martin was reacting to the more blatant thirst traps in his .mov post.

“Lando, baby, have you seen the photos? And you didn't warn me. What do you expect me to do when you’re sitting there looking comfortable and proud like that?” 

Just the implication makes Lando's face warm and his chest ache. It’s at least another month before they see each other in China, and the days feel exponentially long looking at a calendar. “I expect you to be a normal human who doesn’t feel like risking it all over an aesthetic picture. At least wait until I post another thirst trap,” Lando muses. He turns to prop his hip up against the counter and picks up the phone to bring it closer to his face to pull up Instagram.

Most of the comments are normal, taking the aesthetic at face value. A few people play into the tone of the bubblegum pink hearts. A few more seem to have the nerve to call him on what he’s trying to do.

“Post a thirst trap and see what happens.”

The smile that spreads across Lando’s face hurts his cheeks. “Maybe that’s in tomorrow’s dump. Guess you’re gonna have to go to bed to find out.”

A huff of laughter from Martin’s side of the phone might as well be music to Lando’s ears. “Fine, you freak. You can tell me about everything when I’m not about to fall asleep. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Can’t wait. Talk to you later.” The line goes quiet, much to Lando’s disappointment. He swears he could talk to Martin forever and not get bored— about everything and nothing at all. When Martin calls him at the end of his day, rested and recovered, Lando’s sure he’ll hear all about how the half marathon went. He’ll be on the brink of passing out himself, but he won’t care. He’ll lay there listening and counting down the days until next time.

[butchsophiewalten]

Man this is so random but this theory is stuck in my head and I wanna see how other people feel about it because I don't see people talk about it a lot (I have no clue if the link will go through properly since I've never put a link in a ask box)

https://www.tumblr.com/art-w0rm/667910993425350656/theory-time

Oh god not this theory again. I really truly try not to be mean to people for no good reason on this blog, but this theory is literally one of the stupidest fucking things I've ever seen in my entire life. I don't talk about this theory because to me it's like the walten files theory equivalent of that tubby custard mechanically separated chicken post.

Most of the time I genuinely don't even consider it worthy of my time, because it's nonsense, but this is a very nicely worded ask, and I really don't mean to dedicate any of the vitriol I hold towards this theory to You, poor anonymous person, so I will deconstruct it. I will go through the theory point-by-point and deconstruct why I disagree with it.

First up, this:

Showbear is not a character in The Walten Files anymore. Showbear was fully retconned and is never going to appear in the series again. He was effectively just a cameo of ThunderingStatic's (one of Martin's friends) OC, but when The Walten Files blew up and people started assuming Showbear was Martin's character, Static decided to withdraw his character from the series and focus putting him in other projects.

Martin talked about this on Twitter forever ago, but I wouldn't be able to find that tweet now. But here's a bit from the interview he did with KnowYourMeme back in 2021 where he talks about it:

Now this:

This is just stupid to me? Like a complete logical incongruity? I barely even know how describe what is dumb about this because I can't even fathom how anyone draws this conclusion from this information. How is it strange for a man to say 'if my wife isn't home by the time she said she was going to be, let me know, in case something happened.'????? Why would Rosemary be out cheating on her husband with her fucking daughter with her??? If Rosemary was cheating on her husband why would her whole life collapse when he went missing? If Rosemary was cheating on her husband why would she show up at the restaurant every day after he disappeared asking if anyone had seen him and hoping to find him alive??? Why would she make paintings of herself and him together after he disappeared????? What the fuck are you talking about?

Ok now this:

Whatever. This is maybe the most coherent part of the theory, to me. I definitely agree that Sha evokes a 'wolf in sheep's clothing' sort of aesthetic, but I do remember Martin saying something in a Twitter Q&A at one point about how that wasn't actually intentional, and that Bon was the character he actually meant to seem unusually predatory. I looked for a while and couldn't find a screenshot of that, but I did find this one where he says the thing about Bon:

So whatever. take that with a grain of salt.

I don't even know what to say. here. Whatever. sure she was rolling in the hay

yeah Rosemary is asking if she's still beautiful because she cheated on her husband and not because she was chopped up and stuffed inside a big animatronic sheep. I think this is correct and is the True Deep Lore.of the walten files. I'm sure this doesn't have anything to do with the recurring motif of the double-meaning behind the word Beautiful either.

I don't know why it's weird that the lost lingering spirit of a mother would be calling out to her only living child. I Don't know why that needs additional explanation involving this batshit infidelity conspiracy theory.

Sha's chest is also ripped out

So is Banny's, honestly? Just a little less?

ok now this:

I guess I can't disprove this except that I think this is dumb. I think this is a really incredibly stupid logical leap to make. Y'know I really meant to go into this levelheadedly and very calmly go through every point and talk about why I think it's Decisively Disagreeable or whatever but I can't. I really can't. I just cannot keep my patience with this sort of thing.

You'd think if there was an infidelity aspect here it would've been lampshaded in some respect, at all, in the old /sophiewalten findjackwalten page text. Where it's literally Sophie talking to Jenny about what she remembers about her family.

Especially if the idea is that Sophie is meant to have been there. You'd think something like that would have come up here. Not 'she was nice and a good mom until my dad disappeared and her mental health started getting worse'

[multi-kpop-fanfics]

Happy go-lucky boy! (sometimes not so happy)

pairing: best friend!Seokmin x gn!reader (ft. some of the sebongs)

genre: minor fluff, angst, comedy, best friends to lovers!AU, college!AU, slice of life

warnings: mentions of food, mutual pining, seungkwan our lord and saviour, hoshi is a mf idiot, kissing, jealousy, cursing, mentions of anxiety and panic attacks (they aren’t actually happening), seokmin is sad :(

word count: ~2.2k

summary: Seokmin is a bright person, full of love, especially for you - but it proves to be a little too overwhelming for him to handle.

Author’s note: Hi Madi @heartkyeom​! This is your @svthub​ secret santa calling <3 I know it’s cliche to write a fic for a Christmas gift, but I really hope this will cater to your tastes (and keep you on your toes for the next part hehe)~ Happy reading and happy holidays my love🤗

“Kwan”, Seokmin nudges his friend’s shoulder with a grin but the latter ignores him. “Seungkwaaaan”, the older male whines again, making Seungkwan roll his eyes in annoyance. 

“BOO SEUNG-”, “Will you shut up?”, he snaps his head towards Seokmin, dramatically putting his phone down on the table. “But you were ignoring me!”, “You were about to tell me about Y/N’s latest instagram post, weren’t you?”, he deadpans and Seokmin is left frozen in his spot. 

“H-How did you know?”, he asks while rubbing his nape and Seungkwan merely shows him the screen of his phone, the post in question clearly visible. “Oh”, “Yes, Seok, you’re not the only one who’s friends with Y/N and follow their profile”, “Ahahah, yes you’re right”, “But you are the only one who has a crush on them and is a complete coward about it-”, “I shouldn’t have bothered you at all”, Seokmin grumbles, crossing his arms in front of his chest. 

“Listen, I know you’re very fond of them and literally adore them, but you won’t win anything by sitting here, liking and commenting on their posts or going out with them for coffee or food or whatever while you’re walking next to them with fucking heart eyes”.

Seokmin hates it when Seungkwan gets brutal with his words - but what he hates the most is that Seungkwan is right about everything. 

But how is he supposed to make a move on you when you’re always so confident and a literal ball of sunshine?

His heart does somersaults whenever you post a selfie or a full bodied pic, in the cutest outfits, with bright colors and statement jewelry - if Y2K aesthetic was a person, it would be you.

But it’s not just the bright colors you’re usually sporting -  it’s your smile and radiant eyes that make him melt on the spot, whether he’s looking at you through the screen of his phone or in real life, in flesh and body.

All of his worries are skyrocketing to the max when he spots you at the cafeteria cashier, paying for your milk boba and you turn around, happily waving to him. He feels like he just got showered in ice, frozen in his seat and about to enter a panic attack.

“Dude, calm down, you’ll make it worse if you don’t relax!”, Seungkwan whisper yells at him, “I can’t fucking calm down - oh God, they’re almost here, Kwan, I’ll fucking pass out-”

“Good morning besties!”, you greet the two men with a big smile, “How are you doing on this fine day?”, fine my ass, Seokmin thinks - but a bit louder than he was supposed to. “Seok? What’s wrong?”, you ask him with a worried tone and he looks at you, frozen and eyes wide open, not knowing what to say.

His fight-or-flight instincts kick in and he mutters a faint ‘sorry’, bolting out of his seat and away from the table, leaving you and Seungkwan utterly baffled.

“What just…?”, “Don’t mind him, Y/N, he’s just…hella stressed lately”, Seungkwan makes up a kinda believable excuse, hoping you won’t catch up on what is really going on. “I might text him later, I’m worried about him”, you sit down, a pout forming on your lips. “I know you are, I am too”, Seungkwan exhales, “But knowing Seok, he hates making his friends worry about him, even if it’s something serious”.

Even if his friend loves him like he's the most precious person in the universe?, you mutter to yourself, fiddling with the straw of your boba, completely missing the way Seungkwan's eyes widen in shock. You didn't even notice that you said it louder than you thought you did, sighing as you take a sip of your beverage, slouching back in your seat - your mind is still occupied with Seokmin’s bizarre behavior and you pray to whatever higher being exists in the universe that you’re not the reason he acted that way.

“Um, Y/N, I should get going, class starts soon and Soonyoung will probably start wailing if he’s left alone”, Seungkwan clears his throat, “Where are you headed to?”, “Me? Um, I think I’ll go back to the dorms, my classes are over for today”, you reply nonchalantly. “Okay then”, the blond man gets up, “I’ll catch you later then. Oh, and cheer up a bit, everything’s gonna be okay!”, he says before sprinting away to make it in time for his class.

“Everything’s gonna be okay, huh…”, you mutter and leave the cafeteria, clutching the milk tea in your hand as you make your way back to your dorms, the taste of the beverage not feeling as sweet as it was a few moments ago.

Seokmin wants to disappear from the face of Earth after what happened today. 

He feels like the biggest idiotic asshole in the universe and the worst of all? He made you sad AND worried about him.

“Ughhhh you stupid, stupid fucking idiot dumbass!”, he curses in the pillow he grabbed and pushed on his face, practically screaming and kicking his feet (not in the cutesy way), all while his roommates are worriedly watching him behind the half open door of his bedroom.

“Do you think we should step in?”, Mingyu asks with an upset expression. “I would say no, but given the current situation and how he has been acting today, I guess we don’t really have any other choice”, Joshua sighs. 

“Um, I can hear you two”, Seokmin speaks with a defeated tone and his roommates shyly enter the room, awkwardly clearing their throats. “Aw come on, just speak”, he throws the pillow on his side, trying his best to sit up on the bed. “I’ll be honest with you, Seok, this isn't like you at all”, Joshua sits right next to his friend, “Can you at least tell us what’s going on?”. “What’s the point of telling you what’s wrong with me if I can’t solve it on my own?!”, Seokmin protests. “Are you fucking stupid? This is exactly why we’re here!”, Mingyu kneels in front of him. 

“Ew, Kim, kneeling? Really?”, “Shut up, Shua! Anyways, where was I? Oh, right”, the tall man picks up his train of thoughts, “What I’m trying to say is that we want you to tell us your troubles, because we’re your friends and we wanna help you”, “As much as I don’t want to admit it, Mingyu is right”, Joshua adds, his hand resting on Seokmin’s shoulder, making the man exhale in defeat.

“Okay fine, you won”, he shrugs, “I’m madly in love with Y/N but I don’t know how to confess to them because I’m a goddamn coward who has fucking heart eyes everytime I see them in person or one of their insta posts or whatever and I managed to make them upset today because I acted like a scaredy cat in front of them AND Seungkwan!”, he blurts out in one go, leaving his friends completely stunned.

“Well shit, dude”, Mingyu breaks the short-lived silence. “That’s all you have to say?!”, Seokmin asks with a baffled expression, “I literally spilled everything that has happened up until this morning!”, “Actually, I do have something to add”, Joshua chimes in, “Please do, I would love to hear your input”, “You’ve royally fucked up everything, Lee Seokmin”.

“Fuck you both”, he grumbles, falling back on the bed with a loud plop. “Hey, come on, buddy, it can’t be that terrible - nobody could ever hold a grudge against you, especially when you’re literally such a happy-go-lucky guy!”, Mingyu pats his back, “Besides, you could always text them back and explain yourself - you’re best friends with Y/N, so I doubt it’ll go that bad”. 

It’s as if a light bulb has lit up above Seokmin’s head and he grabs his phone, opening the chat he has with you, to see the familiar bouncing dots appear on his screen.

Y/N is texting…?, Seokmin notices and lets out a loud yell when he reads your message.

y/n <333: hey seok, sorry if i’m being nosy, but i wanted to check up on you…you seemed very upset earlier :(

“Why the hell are you yelling?!”, Mingyu whines, covering his ears, “Y/N texted me!”, Seokmin yells back in panic and the three men are instantly glued to the screen. “Are you seriously going to leave them on read?”, Joshua glares at his friend. “No, of course not! I’m just trying to think of a good answer”, “Oh my God, he’s so whipped”, “I fucking know, right?”, “Can you two shut the fuck up? Thanks”, Seokmin makes both of his friends stop simultaneously as he tries to type out a decent answer.

seokshine☀: hi y/n, sorry for earlier today :/ 

seokshine☀: i..didn’t want to worry you, just…some personal shit going on

“Well, at least you’re being honest…kinda”, Joshua mutters, which earns him a slap on the head from Mingyu, signaling him to stay quiet and just watch.

y/n <333: oh i see….

y/n <333: do you perhaps wanna talk about it? you know you can talk to me about anything

“Yeah, I fucking wish I could”, Seokmin scoffs, typing out his answer, his fingers calmly clicking on the screen, unlike the rest of his demeanor.

seokshine☀: it’s…kinda sensitive, i don’t feel very comfortable saying more rn :(

seokshine☀: sorry for that

Mingyu frowns as he reads the sent message, soothingly rubbing his friend’s back up and down. 

y/n <333: it’s okay! there’s no need to apologize, i won’t push you to do smth you don’t want to

“Fuck, stop being so nice to me”, Seokmin’s voice cracks, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. “Seokmin…”, Joshua looks at his friend, leaning closer to him.

y/n <333: um…i’ll go out with soonyoung tonight for ramen, do you wanna join us? it could lift your mood…

Tch….of course, that fucker, Seokmin scoffs, biting his lips out of frustration.

It’s not like he hated Soonyoung, not at all - on the contrary, Soonyoung is one of his closest friends. But the thought of you and him eating together, laughing and perhaps flirting (he knows how flirty Soonyoung can get when he’s in his comfort zone) makes him upset….and jealous.

“Uh oh…”, Mingyu grimaces and Joshua mirrors his expression, fully aware of how well you get along with Soonyoung - it was a very fine line, and one wrong reaction could blow up on Seokmin’s face. Badly.

seokshine☀: nah, i think i’ll stay home today

seokshine☀: don’t wanna be a party pooper today :”)

God, would he be one hell of a party pooper if he actually went.

y/n <333: aw :( 

y/n <333: if you wanna stay home, i’ll respect that

seokshine☀: ty for understanding me :’’)

y/n <333: don’t even mention it, that’s what friends are for <3

y/n <333: i will still miss you seok :(

Seokmin laughs dryly, tears now freely spilling from his eyes, staining his cheeks. He drops the phone on his bed, sobbing loudly, feeling lost and helpless. And it was all because he acted like a fool in front of you.

“Oh, buddy…”, Mingyu pouts and brings his friend in a warm hug, Seokmin’s head resting on his chest, as the brown haired man cries nonstop, “It’s okay, let it all out, we’re here now”.

Joshua silently stares at Mingyu, a puzzled expression on his face, as if he’s trying to ask what they should do to help their friend. But none of them have a good answer.

But maybe someone else does.

boo seungkwan: hey, dumbass

boo seungkwan: HEY

boo seungkwan: STOP LEAVING ME ON READ I KNOW YOU’RE ACTIVE

boo seungkwan: oh come on tiger bitch

tiger king: i’ll ignore the last word but now you have my attention

boo seungkwan: i hope so bcs things are serious this time

tiger king: how serious??

boo seungkwan: we must set up y/n with seok. asap

tiger king: okay i’m down! 

tiger king: why should we do that again?

boo seungkwan: oh my god you’re a fucking idiot

boo seungkwan: they’re in love with each other, you himbo!!

tiger king: and how was I supposed to know that??

boo seungkwan: seriously now? you haven’t noticed?

tiger king: uhhhhhh

tiger king: no? 

boo seungkwan: this is not going to end well…

tiger king: oh come on, kwan, i’m supposed to leave in ten! don’t wanna stand up y/n

boo seungkwan: wait - YOU’RE GOING OUT WITH Y/N??

tiger king: IT’S JUST RAMEN, STOP YELLING AT ME

tiger king: besides, it could be a good chance to get some extra intel yk?

boo seungkwan: wow, look at you putting your brain to good use for once

tiger king: i can put other parts of me to good use as well ;)

boo seungkwan: you’re gross

boo seungkwan: just…try to be discreet and not give away anything, okay?

tiger king: aye aye sir

Seungkwan closes his phone, letting out a breath he wasn’t aware he was holding, holding the device on his chest.

“I hope they won’t be mad at me”.

[princessconsuela120]

Chapter five: Boys Don't Cry—✧

Series masterlist

Chapter Warnings: mentions of pregnancy, cursing, smoking, drinking, vomit

Author's Note: This one took a bit longer, but it's a longer post so I hope you all enjoy. The ending lowkey made me so sad.

chapter art the loml @clownfacepancakes120 & og cover by @silvell

—✧

SCHOOL, FOR THE PAST TWO WEEKS, FELT LIKE A FEVER DREAM. It was as if my whole life was taking place and school was simply a pit stop along the way. I had spent most of my days in school avoiding Stan and Kyle, and skipping class with Kenny, or Craig, or both. See, before my ultimate pregnancy, which led to the decline in my life status, Kenny Craig had been smoking buddies. Though Kenny would forever be my best friend, Craig was a close second. The monotone boy had voiced on many occasions to me that he “hated me,” but I knew that secretly meant I was his favorite person in this noisy town. Besides his beloved Tweek, who I had spent many occasions third wheeling the two without my consent. Besides, Kenny Craig and I had a special bond in the sense that I was better best friends with both their little sisters than them. Karen Tricia and I had had many many sleepovers, we even shared adorable power puff girl friendship bracelets. Me as Blossom, Tricia as Buttercup and Karen as Bubbles. We chose to go for accuracy over aesthetics.

After telling my family, Kenny had taken me to spend the night at his house, and then the next morning to meet Craig at our spot in the park so I could tell him the news. He was just as shocked as I had been, Tweek nervously stressing my future for me before having a panic attack when he realized I could no longer be his coffee buddy. Craig just looked at me in disbelief, before hugging me. His sure fire way of telling me he'd stay with me through anything, no matter what. Craig was the type of kid who never voiced his emotions, unless they were to Tweek or words of aggravation. But he was by no means the type to stand there and tell me he was there for me and always would be, so that hug meant everything to us both.

“I hate this,” I mumbled, hiding my face in my hands. “I swear I think people are staring at me.” i rambled. It was currently 7th period, only two more classes before school was done for the day, and Kenny Craig and i were skipping. We had snuck out to our spot in the park, and had been sitting there since. I sat in between the two, leaning against Kenny’s shoulder as Craig laid his legs across both our laps, laying his head against the bench's arm.

“No one is staring at you Juno, you’re being dramatic.” Kenny reassured, taking a hit of his blunt, making me sigh. I nodded, agreeing with him momentarily before turning to see Craig staring at me with furrowed eyebrows.

“Craig, stop staring at me!” I shouted, making him raise his hands in defense, shaking his head.

“I’m sorry! I’m just, how did you even get pregnant anyway?” Craig said, staring at me with the same blank high face he had been staring at me with since we sat down.

“Well you see Craig, when a penis and a vagina love each other very much..” I began to explain, a teasing expression on my face as Kenny started poking his finger through his other hand to further tease Craig. He shoved me lightly, making both Kenny and I chuckle.

“Oh fuck off. I know how babies are made stupid.” He growled, making me raise an eyebrow at him.

“Well then why’d ya ask princess?” He rolled his eyes at me, sitting up slightly in his seat.

“Because Peewee, you’re supposed to be the mature one of us three remember?” 

Peewee, a stupid nickname from a stupid boy. Ever since we were kids and would play ‘The Stick of Truth,’ Kenny and I would always be the princesses together, ruling over our kingdom. After Craig had teasingly called Kenny gay one night while we were playing for being a princess, I took matters into my own hands to dub Craig a princess too, so Kenny wouldn’t feel as gay. Craig hated it so much, only for him to end up being the gayest one in the group. I had called him princess ever since. And due to my one and only weakness being my height, he referred to me as Peewee. It really was sweet when you think about it.

“I thought I was the mature one?” Kenny asked, earning looks for both Craig and I. I fake pouted at him, patting his head as if he were a dog.

“Sure Ken, you’re the mature one.” I teased, sharing a look with the boys before we both laughed. Craig and Kenny continued on laughing, but I couldn’t help but feel my heart dip in my chest. I made awkward eye contact with Stan from across the way, he was skipping too. He was alone though, usually he’d have Kyle right beside him but he didn’t. He took a long swig from his beer bottle before making his way away from the school. I sighed, staring at where he just stood.

“Hey, Joey, I was just teasing you I swear.” Craig said, another nickname he usually called me by. Craig claimed he needed to be original. He couldn’t just call me Juno like everyone else, he needed to be special.

“No, I know. It’s okay.” I said, shaking my head to try and erase the image of my saddened brother from my mind.

“Then why do you look all sad?” He asked again, as Kenny gestured towards me with his blunt.

“Need a hit?” He offered, earning a slap on the shoulder from Craig.

“She’s pregnant dickwad.” He grumbled, earning an angry look from Kenny.

“Ow! Just cause she’s pregnant doesn’t mean we should disclud her now does it?” He asked angrily, causing Craig to roll his eyes.

“You’re a dumbass.”

“Well I’m rubber and you’re glue whatever you say bounces off of me and sticks to you.” Kenny teased, taking a hit from his blunt before sticking his tongue out at Craig.

“Okay I didn’t know we were back in the 3rd grade!” Craig shouted, and Kenny scoffed.

“At Least in the third grade you didn’t run your mouth!” Kenny shouted back, before the two boys broke into bickering. This was usually the dynamic between the two, the the bickering was always playful and full of love. Usually their nonsense bickering would end up cheering me up or distracting me,but I just sat there, staring again.

“I'm scared.” I mumbled, whispered even, barely even loud enough for them to hear. But they did, and both boys immediately stopped fighting, and looked at me with equal amounts of concern.

“What?” Craig asked, pulling away from the position he had been fighting kenny in to come closer beside me.

“What are you scared of?” Kenny asked, and Craig sighed.

“I was just kidding, I’m not actually gonna chop Kenny’s dick off.” Craig reassured, making me shake my head slightly with shock.

“Woah, what?”

“Yeah you missed about 50% of that argument spacing out.” Kenny said, both boys laughing before I interrupted again.

“No no, I’m scared for tonight I mean.” I sighed again, feeling Kenny grab my hand before I turned to smile at him. “I’m meeting Mark and Vanessa tonight with my dad. I mean what if they’re like, mean or lame hippies. Or what if they’re pagan cult leaders and want my baby to sacrifice to their god?” I rambled, shaking my head in my hands as Kenny laughed slightly.

“I don’t think they’re pagan cultists. Satanists, maybe, but hey you win some you lose some.” Kenny teased, earning another light slap from Craig.

“What if they don’t like me? What if they judge me, or think I’m dumb.” I continued on my nervous rant, now earning a sigh from Craig.

“You’re not dumb Joey.” He said softly, making me scoff.

“I’m 17 years old and I’m fucking pregnant. I’m pretty dumb.” 

“Not dumber than Craig.” Kenny said, his voice full of sincerity as I let out a light chuckle, making Kenny smile that he achieved his goal to get me to smile.

“Hey!” Craig shouted, about to begin arguing again before Kenny shushed him.

“Shut up dude, this is serious.” Kenny said, making Craig scoff and roll his eyes.

“They’re gonna love you Juno. You’re giving them a literal baby, the gift of life. And if they don’t like you it’s their loss, because you’re amazing.” Kenny said, and Craig nodded along. I could help but pout at Kenny’s sweetness, as both boys pulled me into a hug, sandwiching me between them.

“I love you guys.”

“We can come with you if you want?” Craig offered, making me quickly decline.

“Nah. My dads going and I don’t want you two trying to trick him into giving you free weed again.” We got up to go back inside, as Kenny rolled his eyes, yelling after me with annoyance.

“It was one time! One time!”

—✧

MY DAD HAD TRIED TO TALK TO ME THE ENTIRE DRIVE TO THE LORINGS. I didn’t talk back. He could tell I was nervous. We pulled up into their neighborhood and I already felt self-conscious about the fact that I was wearing a sweatshirt and jeans and not a princess gown and tiara. Their garage alone was bigger than my entire house, and their lawn was decked in flowers and bushes, not dead grass and old weeds. I didn’t fit in here, this felt very outlandish.

“Hi. I'm Vanessa. You must be Juno and Mr. Marsh.” She shook both me and my dad’s hands. “Hi. Vanessa Loring.” She continued her greeting, and suddenly I realized that she was even more nervous than I was.

“It's Vanessa, right? Is that...?” I began to tease, before my dad smiled awkwardly, interrupting before I blew this before I even walked in the door.

“Thanks for having me and my irresponsible child over to your house.” He greeted, smiling at her.

“Oh, no, thank you. Thank you. Come on in. Can I take your coat or your hat?” She offered, earning a smile as I carefully handed her my jacket.

“Wicked pic in the PennySaver, by the way.” I smiled, taking a handful of the caramel candies they had on their table, handing a few to my dad. “Super-classy. Not like those people with fake woods in the background. Who are they fooling?” I joked, making Vanessa smile, confused by my very extroverted personality.

“You found us in the PennySaver?” She asked, causing me to nod as her husband came down the stairs behind her.

“Hi, Mark Loring. I'm the husband.”

“How do you do? Randy Marsh of Tegridy weed… ha, sorry, caught myself. I am no longer a weed farmer.” My dad said awkwardly, making me smile at Mark and shake his hand as well.

“Yeah, now my dad plays with rocks instead.” I teased, earning a light shove from my dad.

“Nice to meet you.”

“This is Gerta Rauss, our attorney.” Vanessa said, introducing the other woman who was sitting on the couch. She smiled, waving at me.

“And this, of course, is Juno.” My dad introduced me, and I sent the group an awkward smile.

“Like the city in Alaska.” Mark said intrigued, but I shook my head.

“No.” I said quickly, shoving a few caramel candies in my mouth.

“No? Okay. Hon, should we sit down and get to know one another?” 

“I thought I'd get drinks. What would you like? I have Pellegrino or VitaminWater or orange juice with…”

“I'll have a Maker's Mark, please. Up.” I said, gesturing up with my thumb as Vanessa gave me a shocked look. My dad chuckled at me.

“She's kidding. Junebug has a wonderful sense of humor. Just one of her many genetic gifts. She gets it from me.” He mimicked flicking his hair over his shoulder, causing me to roll my eyes.

“So, Juno, first off, how far along are you?” Gerta asked, her voice was very flat and monotone. She could make a wicked career out of voicing those alexa robots, or maybe the siri on my phone.

“I'm a junior.” I answered without hesitation, earning strange looks from the group.

“No, I mean in your pregnancy.”

“Oh, right. Kenny took me yesterday to the doctor, and they said I was 12 weeks. He wished he could be here but uh, family emergency down at the Sodosopa.” I explained, chuckling slightly to myself as I remembered Kenny stealing a handful of free condoms from the doctors office.

“Is Kenny the father?” Vanessa asked curiously, causing me to shake my head.

“No, more of a tortured third uncle kinda thing.”

They all shared a look again, choosing to ignore my strange description before continuing.

“That's great. That's marvelous. So you're into your second trimester?” She asked, making me nod.

“Yeah. Apparently. I'm due on May 4th.”

“Great. My girlfriends tell me that the first couple months are the hardest.”

“I didn't notice it at all, actually. I'm more concerned about… When they have to put that, like, elastic band in the front of my jeans.” I explained, shuddering as the thought clouded my mind.

“I think pregnancy is beautiful.”

“Well, you're lucky it's not you.” I replied to Vanessa, sighing as I thought of how freaking hard this was gonna be.

“Let's talk about how we're gonna do this thing.” Mark interrupted, causing me to raise an eyebrow at him.

“What do you mean? Don't I just have the thing… Squeeze it out and hand it over?”

“Mark and Vanessa are willing to negotiate an open adoption.” Gerta explained, this time my dad was the one to speak up.

“Wait, what does that mean?”

“It means they'd send annual updates, photos… Let Juno know how the baby is doing as he or she grows up.”

I know it's a normal thing, and i guess when you stop to think about it it's kinda sweet…but if i have to give up a piece of myself to someone, giving away a child, as much as i know it needs to be done, is so hard. No way could I live with myself being reminded I wasn't strong enough to keep it.

“Whoa, no, no, no. I don't want photos or any kind of notification. You know? I mean, can't we just, like, kick this old-school? I stick the baby in a basket, send it your way, like Moses in the reeds?” I asked, making Mark chuckle slightly.

“Technically, that would be kicking it Old Testament.” He corrected, and I nodded with agreement.

“Exactly. Right?” I nodded with agreement. “Do you know what I mean? Like in the good old days, when it was quick and dirty.”

“Well, then we all agree. A traditional closed adoption would be best for all involved.” Gerta confirmed, and all parties nodded.

“Shit, yes. Just close her on up.” I wish I could have kept a count on how many times I elicited awkward laughs from Mark and Vanessa. It was definitely a lot.

“We would compensate you for all your medical expenses.” Mark explained, grabbing onto Vanessa’s hand nervously.

“Are you looking for any other type of compensation?” She asked softly. It was such a strange question, yet she seemed so ready to give it to me if I said yes. She seemed like such a kind soul, it was extremely admirable.

“What? No. No, I don't want to, you know, sell the thing. I just... I want… I just want the baby to be with people who are gonna love it… And be good parents, you know? I mean, I'm in high school. Dude, I'm just... I'm ill-equipped.” I explained, making Vanessa smile kindly.

“Well, you're doing a beautiful and a selfless thing for us.”

“Vanessa's wanted a baby since we got married.”

“I wanna be a mommy so badly.”

Now I was the one who fake laughed.

“You don't say.” I teased, making Vanessa smile.

“Have you ever felt like you were just born to do something?” 

“Yes. Lorde.” My dad answered, with no hesitation. He looked off into the distance as if he was contemplating his life.

“What?” Mark asked, extremely confused by his answer.

“He means Geology, that’s what he means.” I interrupted, my dad nodding along, worried he would out his secret identity.

“There you go. I was born to be a mother. Some of us are.” She said with her kind smile, as my dad turned to Mark.

“How about you, Mark? Are you looking forward to being a dad?” 

“Betcha, yeah. Every guy wants to be a father… He wants to coach the soccer team...And help out with the science-fair thing, the volcano goes off…” Mark explained, smiling awkwardly. “Yeah. All that.”

“Maybe Gerta could take us through the preliminary documents you've drawn up?”

“Sweet, yeah. Could I use the facilities first? Because being pregnant makes me pee like a Seabiscuit.” They nodded, showing me the bathroom. Even their bathroom was fancy. Vanessa’s perfume cost more than my bed. I couldn't help but take a few sprays with curiosity, before leaving back downstairs. We sorted out more legal shit, to be honest I didn't pay much attention. I fell asleep on the way home, my dad held my hand the whole way.

—✧

EVER SINCE I TOLD MY MOM ABOUT THE BABY, she had been very on top of everything I did. Every night when I went to brush my teeth, she’d make sure I took my prenatal vitamins, and check on me. Like I’ve mentioned before, I had one of the best mothers ever. But today it seemed, my bitter twin brother decided to hide the bottle that resided in our shared bathroom. I tried my best not to get mad, he already hated me enough I didn’t need to push him even further. But after searching for him for a while, and Stan refusing to answer, she had started to find it rather hard to keep back her anger.

“Stan fucking Marsh, I know you hate me right now but that doesn’t mean you can just steal my prenatal vitamins okay?” I yelled, opening all the doors to try and find my brother. My parents were out to dinner again, trying to depress after the evening. “If I don’t take these and this baby comes out as a mutant, Mark and Vanessa may sacrifice me to Satan. I’m already at a liability risk that this thing could be ginger.” I made my way over to Stan’s room, surprised to not see him inside. “Stan?” I called softly, opening the door to the garage, to see Stan, throwing up on the floor leant against the wall. I quickly rushed to his side.

 “Stan!” I shouted, feeling fear fill my body. I was completely terrified. Stan’s face was pale white, besides his eyes that were red and puffy, he had been crying. His usual barely visible eye bags were now large noticeable crescents in purple print under his eyes. It’s as if he hadn’t slept since he found out. 

“Oh god. Come here Buddy, it’s okay.” I pulled Stan over to me, taking off my jacket and using it to wipe the bit of vomit he couldn’t clean off of his face. He made a low groaning noise as I did, before his eyes squinted open slightly to look at me.

“I drank too much.”  He mumbled, burying his head into my shoulder, causing me to quickly wrap my arms around him. I looked around nervously, running a hand through Stan’s hair. It was greasy. It used to be greasy, back when he used to struggle most with his depression. I convinced him to talk to mom about getting him to start antidepressants and they had been helping him ever since. His hair had lost its greasiness, and I had started helping him take care of himself. I hadn’t seen him with greasy hair since he started the medication. That’s when I looked to the ground to see his bottle of antidepressants, filled to the top from the last 

“I know Buddy, I can tell.” I said softly, taking a shaky breath to try and hold back the tears that threatened to spill. “Just, here, I’m gonna get you to my room okay, can you walk with me?” 

He nodded as I grabbed his arm, wrapping it around my shoulder to help hold him up. We made our way upstairs to my room, I left my jacket on the ground in the garage, a reminder I needed to clean up Stan’s vomit once he was safely asleep.

“I’m sorry Juno.” He mumbled into my sleeve, hugging my arm drunkenly as he laid down on my bed. I sighed, smiling at him softly.

“It’s okay.” I reassured him, carefully pulling off his shoes. I helped him get out of his shirt, giving him a comfortable one to wear to sleep. Help him take his pants off, then pull the blankets over his body. He wanted to keep his hat, just to hold. I didn’t argue it. I started walking around the room, picking up pillows to make him more comfortable, then gently tucked him in.

“You’re mad at me?” He said, his hands going to hold his face, when he pulled away to reveal fresh tears that had slipped onto his cheeks.

“No, no Stan, I'm not mad. I need you to lay on your side for me, can you do that?” I asked, helping him to move into his side.

“Dads gonna be so mad I drank all his whiskey.”

“It’s okay, I won’t let you take the heat alone. Now do you wanna tell me what happened?” He let out another low grumble, hiding his face in my pillow. I pulled his face away carefully, a fresh cold towel in my hand as I carefully cleaned the extra vomit that was left on his cheeks. 

“Wendy broke up with me.” He winced lightly. “And, and I lost you, and Kyle. Nobody wants me anymore.” I could feel it, I could feel my heart break when his eyes met mine. His big baby blue eyes were filled with so much hurt, so much sadness. He was utterly broken.

“That’s not true Stan. And you’ll never lose me, ever.” I placed a soft kiss on his forehead, brushing his hair from his face in the process.

“I’m a bad friend.”

“Kyle loves you more than he loves himself Stan, you hit a bump in the road, all friendships do.”

“No, I am a bad friend.” He replied sternly. 

“Stan you aren’t..”

“Stop lying to me! Stop telling me I’m wrong! I’m not wrong I’m, I’m shit.” He ran his hands down his face, biting down hard onto his lip, so hard I could see dribbles of blood begin to form when he began speaking again. “I’m a bad friend, I’m a bad brother, I’m a bad boyfriend..I can’t even drink right. I’m nothing. I’m sorry Juno.” His words were incoherent, his drunkenness taking over as he laid wearily in bed. His eyes were half shut, and his mouth hung open. He didn’t know what he was saying, and he probably wouldn’t even remember this tomorrow. But I would.

“It’s okay Stan. It’s not your fault. You’re just a little bruised buddy, it’s okay. I’ll help you heal.”

I ran my fingers through his hair, neatly tucking it away from his face and behind his ears, watching as he slowly fell into a deep sleep beside me. I let out a shaky sigh, getting up to grab a cup of water from the bathroom, and a small trash bin. 

I called Kenny, asked him to bring me two bottles of whiskey and a bottle of vodka from the liquor store next to his house, and was able to quickly replace my dad's liquor cabinet and discard the bottles Stan had cleared. I cleaned up his throw up, took out the trash, including my sweater that was now covered in vomit, and mopped the garage floors. 

I laid the trash bin and glass of water beside my bed, giving Stan a few glances to give myself some comfort with his well-being before turning to go to the living room to sleep. But Stan grabbed my hand, preventing me from walking away.

“Please...please stay.” 

I didn’t say anything in response, just nodded my head, crawled into bed beside him. He quickly cuddled into me, the way we would as children. When life was simpler, and things weren’t painful, and the world wasn’t so cold. I pressed the palm of my hand gently against my closed eyes, not wanting to cry to alarm my brother in his drunken state and took a deep breath before letting myself fall asleep. Stan would be tired in the morning. I am always tired too nowadays.

[bryce-bucher]

.50 Caliber 3D Platformer Post #1

Introduction:

Hey! I am working on a fourth project now. I hope to have this one done in the next couple of months, but we will see how that shakes out. Like many fellow indie devs, I was inspired by Siactro's scoping abilities on games like Toree3D and Kiwi64, and I wanted to make a small scope game of my own. I decided to pick up an idea I had a bit ago for a 3D platformer centered around a sniper rifle. I will be exclusively working on this game until its done or until I get burned out and need a break, in which case I will switch back to my regular work schedule on the other three projects for a bit. Do not worry about how this will effect the other projects, those ones are all p big scope, and I will be working on them until they are done or until I am dead no matter what.

Why the Fuck Would I Start a Fourth Project:

Credit Card Debt.

The Gist:

The plan for this game is that it is going to be a relatively small (about 4 levels or so) 3D platformer in which you take up contracts to kill various targets with you handy sniper rifle. The rifle will also mainly be used for traversal alongside your regular set of jumps and sideflips and all that good stuff. Aesthetically and thematically it is inspired by the likes of cruelty squad, the thing thing series, and madness combat, so I guess look forward to that if you are into y2k edgy flash era stuff and/or aggressive anti-capitalist satire. Also, .50 Cal snipers really just give me brain worms idk why. I like that it shoot big and have big reload. Mechanically, the game is mostly inspired by Mario 64 in that I want to have a varied moveset and open levels that allow the player to skip around the intended path in ways I could not even imagine. There is also going to be a little bit of hitman in there because you are eliminating targets rather than collecting stars, and those targets don't always have a straight forward method of elimination.

Conclusion:

It has been a hot second since I made a blog post. I've been p busy the last month or so, but I was working on midwest lost during the entirety of march. Next time I make a post about midwest lost I am gonna have a lot to say about it! It does make me a bit uneasy to be focusing on a single project away from the others, but I suppose that will hopefully motivate me to keep scope low and actually get this game out. Anyway, I hope u like 3D platformers because I'm gonna be posting about this one for a hot minute. Also, my friend Feverdream Johnny recently also got the Toree3D/Kiwi64 brainworms and has been working on his own 3D platformer called Obro's Odyssey. I have done a bit of playtesting for it, and it does the same evil things to my brain that neon white does, so check it out if you haven't. That is all 4 now, ty 4 reading and have a good day!

[canmom]

Animation Night 151: Modest and Immodest Short Films

Ahoy my friends! The hour is late, but not so late that we can’t watch a few films...

So. Lackadaisy huh.

I feel like you need to be in a somewhat specific age bracket of internet old to feel like that’s immensely significant. You need to be a webcomics bitch, basically. But from quite a specific era: the decade or so window between when webcomics looked like newspaper comics, and before the present era of webtoons. The Webcomics Review narrativises it as people who went to art school arriving on the scene in the mid-2000s, and that seems accurate enough. And of that crop, Lackadaisy Cats was certainly one of the biggest!

The concept is pretty straightforward. It’s a Prohibition-era crime drama set at a speakeasy that’s seen better days... and also everyone is an anthropomorphic cat. It was the beginning of the furry boom (Digger was a contemporary). But mostly... Tracy J. Butler could really fucking draw. You could say things like: clean, expressive designs with a lot of texture and depth and strong composition. (Not surprisingly, she’d worked in animation before drawing the comic.)

And compared to other comics whose selling point was the art such as The Meek and Dresden Codak, it also updated (if I’m remembering right) fairly consistently. It had archetypal characters, a very clearly defined aesthetic, and, compared to many webcomics of its era, a clear, accessible story. In short it read like a pro comic.

So it was natural for it to pick up steam.

Now, at some point I kind of stopped keeping up with most of the webcomics I read back then. Sure, some of them stopped updating, but others kept on going, sustained on merch and later, Patreon type sites. In that time, the standard of art in the scene went way up, the number of comics became so huge that there was no longer really a ‘shared context’ of webcomic readers, and manga scans and webtoons arrived in force. It is now almost impossible to build a new following with a webcomic, but you can do pretty well for yourself if you got in at the start.

Well, in the last few years a new phenomenon has developed out of that whole webcomic scene: the crowdfunded independent animated film. I wrote about this a bit back on Animation Night 117, with the biggest example being Vivziepop‘s works like Hazbin Hotel. In 2000, Lackadaisy joined in, running a kickstarter for an art book and maybe a short film if it did well. You can guess the rest of that story.

These films sit at an odd scale between ‘independent’ and ‘studio’. If you look at the credits of Lackadaisy, you’ll see a small army of animators and cleanup artists to exceed most TV productions (apparently the staff number in the 170s in total). The calls they put out for animators were demanding. And the lavish effort certainly shows! The makers of Lackadaisy set their sights on full animation, on-model, cleaned up and with an ambitious drawing count. Every scene is full of movement and acting. (There’s actually an interesting stylistic choice where construction lines are left in the final composite on many scenes.)

But in many other ways it was very unlike a studio production. One of the animators who worked on the short, Manu Mercurial, has put out a little making-of retrospective, which is pretty light on detail, but still gives some info. Since the production took place during the pandemic, it was completely organised over Discord, with animators posting WIPs and receiving feedback in full view of everyone else, and a director receptive to animators adding their own spins to shots. This apparently led to an atmosphere of friendly competition that was beneficial to the film as a whole.

Mercurial is full of praise for the film’s director Fable Siegel, who seems to have been the major organising force behind making this be an impressive, finished short film instead of just a bunch of artists hanging out in Discord. At least going off IMDB credits,  Siegel seems to have come to The Industry by way of participating in ‘Reanimated’ collabs on Youtube, before getting jobs on Hazbin and also Pendleton Ward’s experimental post-Adventure Time series The Midnight Gospel. (Right now their Twitter is a huge wall of Lackadaisy process shots if you’re curious.) Here’s an interview (by Toon Boom, so one of the questions is blatantly slanted to sell Toon Boom, but the rest is pretty interesting.)

The short film is presented as a pilot, and that is indeed how it plays out: a tour of all the major characters and dynamics of the comic/show, with a car chase, a set piece battle in a quarry, and a final wind down scene in the speakeasy itself which sets up the broader plot. It’s unquestionably very well executed. I’m certain it’s going to get a good few million views in the next few days alone, and maybe it will lead to a series. (Will it surpass Hazbin?). It’s got electro-swing, of course. SungWon Cho (ProzD) is in it, of course.

All the same... I wish it was weirder. Like something about Lackadaisy always feels like it’s playing it safe. It’s fun, it’s goofy, it’s charming... and that’s where it stops! For all that the creators like to talk about how we’re on the cusp of adult animation really taking off in America, the moonshine, and strangely ineffective guns, don’t really change the tone from the more mainstream animation. Bah humbug, etc.

Still, it’s unquestionably an extremely impressive work of animation and a sign of the way things are changing. I expect with all the animation studios laying off staff left right and centre, we’ll start to see a lot more like this.

That’s our first act! For our second...

Ian Hubert returns! I wrote briefly about him back on Animation Night 78. Hubert’s thing is compositing human actors into elaborate cyberpunk environments using Blender; his channel is full of ingenious tricks for creating impressive looking shots and effects with minimal geometry. What makes it work is Hubert’s eye for lighting and composition, knowing just where to place detail to sell a shot and what’s unnecessary for the camera.

The first episode of Dynamo Dream - which we’ll rewatch! - introduced us to a plant selling girl in some sorta cyberpunk megacity. After inadvertently saving out the weird cyborg landlord that runs her apartment, she gets a favour, which she calls on to contact her faraway boyfriend using a kind of missile launched phone terminal I guess? He invites her to come out and join him, but weird shit starts happening on the train. I haven’t watched this yet but I’m sure it’s going to deliver some fascinating visuals.

And then...

Modest Heroes is a collection of three short films by Studio Ponoc, a studio which spun out of Studio Ghibli. In the mid 2000s, the period that Ghibli could enjoy an exceptional state of employing lot of full-time salaried staff (instead of per project freelancers) was coming to an end. In 2014 it seemed they were on the verge of shutting down altogether. Yoshiaki Nishimura, lead producer of many of Ghibli’s films in the 2000s era (Howl - When Marnie Was There), left the studio in 2015, bringing in a bunch of ex-Ghibli animators under a new studio called Ponoc.

Their first film, Mary and the Witch’s Flower, apparently found it hard to define an identity beyond the shadow of Miyazaki (I haven’t seen it!), but things got a lot more exciting with their second. Modest Heroes is a collection of three short films, showing off a variety of ingenious approaches to animation. (It was originally planned to be four, but then Isao Takahata went and died while planning the segment on the theme of ‘death’... oof.) The writers of Animation Obsessive are big fans, and they’ve written two detailed, enthusiastic articles on two of the shorts in the collection.

Invisible, directed Akihiko Yamashita, is a take on the invisible man concept. Since the invisible man is, well, you know..., his entire existence must be communicated through interactions with objects and clothes. Yamashita hoped to communicate feelings and interior life. His invisibility is a metaphor for social invisibility, and thus it comes combined with other metaphors, such as weightlessness.

The idea came from Nishimura, who thought it was a worthy subject for an ‘animation genius’ such as Yamashita. Nishimura wanted the film to bring a kind of inventiveness that he felt was missing from the overly conservative contemporary anime. Yamashita, after leaving Ghibli, attempted to get by in the regular anime industry and found it unbearably strained. He returned to the fold to work on Boro the Caterpillar with Miyazaki, and this convinced him to follow Yamashita over to Ponoc.

The result is something gorgeous, with its emotional drama playing out against grimy desaturated backgrounds that are perhaps closer to something like Tekkonkinkreet than the Ghibli nature scene. Yamashita named quite a specific palate of inspirations...

As reference, Yamashita drew from Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men and Gravity, the films of Alejandro González Iñárritu and the manga of Junji Ito, among others. They contributed to the dark, unusual vibe and look of Invisible.

I’ve been wanting to watch this film for ages, here’s our chance!

Alongside that comes Yoshiyuki Momose’s film Samurai Egg (here’s the aniobsessive link again). Momose, the ‘right-hand man’ of Takahata, was one of the guys he leaned on to actually draw the storyboards of films like Grave of the Fireflies.

In contrast to the elaborate visual metaphor of Invisible, Samurai Egg is a very grounded film about a kid with a severe egg allergy. Takahata is famed as a realist, although a different sort than people like Okiura and Inoue who bring incredibly meticulous detail and well-observed acting to sci-fi scenarios. Certainly, Takahata would make films about ghosts and mythology, but he’d also make films like Only Yesterday that are much quieter, everyday dramas.

Despite sharing the everyday focus of, this film veers away from it into more expressionistic techniques, bringing in softer pencil effects to the anime cels, as well as techniques like 3DCG-rotoscoping. There’s a dance scene where Shinji Hashimoto gets to go nuts with shapes a la Ryan Woodward.

Momose took some pains to avoid being too sentimental with it; AniObsessive quote Nishimura in Animation Magazine:

When you make a film about a parent and a child, it’s easy to fall into the trap of showing a “heartwarming” relationship, and creating a cheap-feeling structure. We wanted to avoid that.

The film is pre-recorded - like Grave of the Fireflies, actually. (It’s the norm in the West, but rare in anime.) There’s some interesting linguistic nuance there:

It was necessary because Oko’s role called for something special. In a detail that’s lost on foreigners, Shun’s mom uses the Kishiwada dialect, which “sounds harsh, but you can feel the love behind it,” Momose said. It’s a cruder, shorter form of Japanese. They used it partly to fit more information into Samurai Egg’s 16-minute runtime, and partly to reveal the relationship she has with Shun. He’s a Tokyo kid — he speaks differently.

As for the third film...

Kanini & Kanino takes us underwater for a pair of kids who live on a coral reef. Alas, I don’t have a detailed article on the making-of and influences on this one, but I can tell you that the director Hiromasa Yonebayishi, aka Maro, is behind it - best known as the director of The Secret World of Arriety, When Marnie Was There, and Ponoc’s first film Mary and the Witch’s Flower. Notably the dialogue for this short is all in ‘crab language’ - are these kids anthro crabs? In fact, yes, it would appear they are anthropomorphic crabs. Sick. Whether they will attend a rave I can’t say, but the internet reliably informs me that is the primary activity of crabs, so probably.

I think that’s enough to be going with! Apologies it’s so late - I had to spend most of today reinventing Canabalt. But I succeeded, so I think I’ve gotten a lot better at this whole game dev thing. Let’s go enjoy some short films!

Animation Night will be going live now at twitch.tv/canmom, films to begin in maybe 15 minutes.

[ladyfromaspookyforest]

ST Season 2 Wardrobe Analysis

Nancy, Jonathan, & Steve

I watched Risky Business for this, you guys. And I hated it. I just need to put that out there. And heads-up: this one is looong.

If you haven't read my other wardrobe posts, here's what you need to know:

Pink (or red) and blue are used to symbolize the idea of the perfect nuclear family or the "norm."

The Byers wear earth tones and warm neutrals.

Steve's color is blue

Nancy's color is purple. She wore mostly pink and blue during season 1, though as she grows into herself, she wears more purple (a blend of the two).

EPISODE 1

For starters, we get a brief snippet of Nancy and Mike fighting at home. Nancy's wearing a soft grey sweater (the go-to neutral color for the Wheelers) and I'm going to be honest: I can't really tell what color the stripes are. They're either pink and blue or purple and blue. Either way, Nancy wearing divided colors, as opposed to just the blend (purple) is an indicator that she has moved backwards into the safe zone of her family's expectations. And we know she's struggling with trying to pretend the events of the last season didn't happen.

Here are some randos, totally decked out in the pink/red and blue palette as a reminder that these are the sheep. Steve is wearing blue and red, the addition of red to his outfit demonstrating that he is trying to buy into this mindset.

Steve wears his jacket all day at school and then takes it off for dinner with the Hollands. Both he and Nancy are putting on performances and both of them are dressed in what I am deeming the Colors of Conformity. The removal of Steve's jacket makes him look more polished. He's lost the sporty half of his sporty-prep look, him bending to fit this situation not only metaphorically through color but literally through style.

Nancy and Steve actually both match this nasty wallpaper, though he pops out more, despite his efforts. But one thing I love is that even the Hollands are doing a terrible job of fitting into their own home/their own lives because look how much the KFC bucket ruins the aesthetic.

Nancy's wearing the Colors of Conformity again, but Nancy's never worn tan or brown before. So while she is still performing, influences from the past year are continuing to leak through. Influences like...

They match! So while Nancy and Steve are both wearing the Colors, their outfits don't actually go together. Whereas Nancy's and Jonathan's do, despite the fact that Nancy is still dragging around these familial/societal expectations.

EPISODE 2

The style of Nancy's outfit (dainty, plaid, little frills alongside the buttons) is absolutely something she would have worn season 1. In fact, the last time she wore a purple sweater was the last day she saw Barb. And in this episode, she sees Faux Barb (we'll call her Farb).

The Farb Incident is a large part of what sets off Nancy's drunken disaster state at the party that night, so this subtle callback to the season 1 outfit is a great detail (aside from the colors, both the S1 and S2 tops have the same type of rounded collars and she's wearing dark wash jeans).

Steve has ditched the red from his previous outfit here so that neither Steve nor Nancy are wearing the Colors of Conformity palette anymore (woo!). The dark blue shirt with a green vest is a bit of an inversion of a couple of his season 1 outfits (green or teal shirt, blue jacket). In those episodes, Steve realized he'd fucked up and tried to make it up to Nancy. This season 2 episode also shows Steve trying to connect with Nancy, and just like these episodes below, it doesn't work because in all of these moments, though he is being genuine, the comfort he has to offer isn't the comfort she needs.

Jonathan calling himself "a guy who hates parties" at a costume party where he is dressed as himself is a very blatant demonstration that Jonathan refuses to pretend. And not only is he dressed in his own clothes to make this declaration, but he's in a jacket he wears constantly, just to drive that point home extra hard. He wore it in the previous episode and he wears it for the remainder of the season.

Jonathan's outfit-repeating is a detail I haven't really discussed much yet, but I keep meaning to. Because while outfit repeating sometimes serves as a callback or, as it does here, to emphasize a point, for Jonathan in particular (who outfit repeats the most of anyone), it is a reminder that he doesn't own the kind of expansive wardrobe characters like Nancy and Steve do because he doesn't come from money. So not only do his outfits give insight into his feelings and his relationships, but they show us his circumstances.

One last thing about The Jacket:

It's red inside! Jonathan is a very closed-off person and all of his...flair...if you will, is on the inside. Back to Halloween.

We've arrived at the reason I watched Risky Business. I googled Nancy and Steve's costumes (because I didn't know what they were), which led me to someone talking about them being the characters from Risky Business and questioning why, of all the (supposedly better) outfits in the movie, they chose these ones. So obviously I had to watch it.

It became pretty immediately apparent to me, before I even got to the scenes with the outfits they chose, why Steve couldn't wear just any Joel outfit. It's because he'd have looked exactly like himself.

So I waited the whole movie only to see them not even wearing the outfits from the party in the same scene? The Joel outfit Steve wears is from a scene near the end, at a big house party (fitting). The Lana outfit Nancy wears is from the final scene of the movie.

Honestly, it doesn't even matter what happens in that scene. That tells me everything I need to know. It's literally the End. Had Nancy worn the outfit that went with Steve's, she'd have been in navy and the big Spill Incident would have had no little to no impact. So they NEEDED to put her in white for ultimate damage. But in addition to that, this outfit is the most like something Nancy would wear of all the outfits in the movie. Which makes this scene pack a double-punch, because Nancy isn't just dressing up like a character she has nothing in common with, she's actually dressing to a degree like herself and yet it's still a costume.

The stain on the costume is irreparable. She is unable to fix the facade after this incident. And going back to them wearing outfits from different scenes, Nancy's reached the end but Steve hasn't yet. Because he's still a few scenes behind.

EPISODE 3

I touched on these looks when I talked about the alley scene in season 1. Then, Nancy was wearing pastel pink while Steve was in baby blue and it was very boy/girl coded. Now, they're both in grey.

I mentioned in the other post was that Steve and Nancy are matching perfectly for the first time here. Not just color scheme or style. They are both in light solid grey with no color, no patterns. And they are finally having an honest dialogue. They are finally on the same page. The truth is finally out.

Nancy actually doesn't match Jonathan at all, and that's unusual too. This grey outfit of hers feels somewhat like a blank slate because she's always dressed in color. She's feeling down, she's fighting with her boyfriend, she's still sad about Barb. She kind of hit rock bottom at that party and this is a new beginning, but it isn't necessarily a happy one. (If it were an uplifting blank slate/fresh start moment, this would probably be represented by white rather than this gloomy grey)

Jonathan is wearing That Jacket again. And I love this sweater!! Not that it matters. But Jonathan doesn't wear a lot of variety, so it's neat to see him here in a multicolored (even if two of those colors are black and grey) striped sweater while Nancy is in this bland, solid, colorless outfit. It's unusual. The addition of more prints and colors into Jonathan's wardrobe tells us he's starting to come out of his shell, even if only to Nancy. This sweater, the yellow one from the episode prior, he wore stripes in episode 1, he has a light-colored flannel on in the next episode. It's a little more variety than we saw in season 1.

EPISODE 4

Nancy has reverted to pink and blue again. *sigh* But once she leaves the house, she adds a brown jacket.

Jonathan's flannel is blue and white with some red, matching her sweater. His t-shirt matches Nancy's jacket, his jacket matches her pants, and his pants match her sweater...it's a whole moment. A very clear sign that they are being drawn towards one another. In this scene, they are baiting HNL, which makes the presence of the Colors of Conformity actually work in their favor for once. They are pretending, but this time it's a conscious choice for the sake of getting justice for Barb. It's not the unconscious desire to be normal.

EPISODES 5-9

Nancy packs a light pink nightgown for the trip while Jonathan sleeps in the t-shirt he wore all day. That completely tracks with what we know of each character. This reminds me a bit of the scene in season 1 when Jonathan slept over at Nancy's house and she was wearing light blue pjs and he was wearing just his clothes. Then, he stood out dramatically against the backdrop of Nancy's pink and blue room. Now, he blends in while she sticks out.

This shows us that motels are not a place Nancy Wheeler is accustomed to. During this scene, they also openly address their relationship for the first time in the series. Nancy tells Jonathan she waited and when he says "yeah, for like only a month," she gets pissy and goes to sleep. Nancy's nightgown shows her discomfort within the room, but also with the situation. Whereas Jonathan has no issues being honest about it. Despite the fact that Nancy brought the topic up, she doesn't like hearing the truth: that she is responsible for "what happened to us."

We've reached the Final Outfits. The ones that last a four episode stretch. With the Colors of Conformity shed, Jancy pops in to see Murray and Take Care of Business, going against what they were told to just accept. In this case, they were told to accept the claims of Barb's disappearance and let it go and they decided to expose the lab instead. But on a broader scale, going against what is expected is like THE theme of themes in this show. So while season 1 involved both Nancy and Jonathan gaining agency and independence (her from expectations, him from obligations), this is the first major instance of them not just taking matters into their own hands, but acting blatantly against what was demanded of them.

The lack of vibrance in the wardrobe gives these scenes a more serious tone. This feels appropriate as a conscious choice for the characters to make (when going to get justice for the death of a friend, colorful clothes probably don't feel like the thing to pop on) and fitting outside of choice in order to match the tone of later scenes. i.e. Jonathan doesn't know Will is possessed yet, but when he gets back, he'll still be wearing this during the shed scene.

These pj pants...my dudes... He wore them at the motel, too, but only a glimpse of them is visible from one angle beneath the blankets. I think, like the Jacket (yes, it must always be capitalized) with the red lining, pajamas being something worn in the privacy of one's home, the bright yellow and the funky print tell us how much more comfortable Jonathan is at home. He would never wear a print like that out and about in Hawkins. And this tracks with his character arc as a whole, which is breaking out of his shell OUTSIDE of his family, letting other people in. I mentioned the season 1 bedroom scene before. Contrast that with this again. He was in his regular clothes then. He's in pjs now.

Logistically, the reasoning is obvious. That was impromptu. This time he packed. But they could have given him something like a muted plaid pant or a basic sweatpant. Instead, the wardrobe department gave him these. And if that doesn't show him coming out of his shell...I don't have an end to that sentence. It does. If I want to be extra obnoxious about the pants, there's the fact that they were barely visible at the motel and he was honest with Nancy about the state of their relationship but didn't push her when she shut it down and now the pants are totally visible and he makes a move. So as his feelings are drawn more into the open...so are his ugly pants.

Something I want to mention about Steve's wardrobe choices, now that we're far enough to have established a trend, is the contrast between what he wears to school and outside of it. So far, we've mostly seen him at school. He wears a lot of polos and button-ups. His season 1 school outfits were generally lighter in color (lots of pale blue) and very preppy while his outside-of-school outfits were darker and sportier.

I didn't talk about this in my season 1 analysis and I totally should have but I wasn't focused on Steve too much at the time, so I'm going to backtrack for a second. In season 1 episode 2, he wears the teal long-sleeve shirt/sweatshirt (which I included 2 screenshots of above). This is the only time in the whole show that he wears something this casual to school and it is IMMENSLEY telling that he says to Nancy that same day that his parents have left town. Not that they're GOING out of town. They've left. We know very little about his parents, but the fact that on the one day they're out of town, he shows up to school wearing something drastically different from what he usually wears says a lot about the performance he is putting on for them.

Through Steve's wardrobe, we are being very subtly told that he is trapped by the same familial pressures and expectations as Nancy despite the fact that we never see his home life. And unlike Nancy, his separate styles for in school and outside school show that this weighs on him consciously. In this season, we see bits of the casual and the sporty begin to be incorporated into his school looks as he grows more comfortable with himself, but we can clearly see in this photo above that his chosen style is not a blend, but just the sporty/casual half.

As a reminder, he wore this to woo back Nancy. This isn't just something he tossed on because it's the weekend and he had no plans. It's something he felt comfortable in. So the combination of the sporty jacket and the preppy shirt in episode 1 or the preppy shirt and the sporty vest in episode 2 are showing us both growth and an internal struggle. The most we hear from him about this is in the car with Nancy talking about his essay when he says "What's the point? ...I'm just going to end up working for my dad anyway." He sounds extremely disappointed and put out by it, but immediately follows up by saying, "Is that such a bad thing?" This boy is CONFLICTED.

EPISODE 9

Last outfits. 3 second read: these two aren't done with each other and are a better match than they realize (please don't stone me). Nancy and Steve are matching despite the fact that they don't even interact and it's in a color neither of them usually wears.

This doesn't necessarily mean romance. It could foreshadow their breakup actually bringing them closer (as friends) or it could foreshadow them getting back together (seriously don't attack me). Either way, Nancy and Steve fit together more now that they're broken up than they did when they were together, largely as a consequence of Steve's journey this season helping him figure out who he is and what he wants (whereas Nancy's arc took her further from Steve), a theme that will return in season 4. I also want to point out that Steve looks at Nancy, but Nancy does not look at him. He sees that they're matching and she does not. She doesn't see that he's changed.

Jonathan, on the other hand, is dressed in black and grey.

Which I'm sure we will all be shocked to find are the other two colors in Nancy's dress. Basically, if I'd done this analysis after season 2 came out instead of right now, I would have known this love triangle wasn't over. Nancy's dress is a HUGE indicator of this. I'm actually so annoyed I didn't catch this the first time around. And back to the glances, they look at each other. They both acknowledge that they fit.

Other Season 2 wardrobe analyses: Mike & Will El & Hopper Lucas, Max, & Dustin

[crazylittlejester]

DAILY BRAINROT

My brain has started associating daily brainrot with getting ready to do homework, so now you're officially a part of my getting ready to do homework routine.

Going to try out color-coding the different topics, because I have a lot of ideas and my ADHD is acting up. (I promise I took my meds, it's just One of Those Days.)

I started working on a oneshot that's basically "what if I dumped a bunch of magical, spooky cryptid stuff in here" in response to a prompt from a writing group meeting. I don't really have any plot for it, but I do have a bit of worldbuilding stuff and a very long description of a house.

So it's another Hyrule-centric story featuring fae!Hyrule, except they're all kind of fae/cryptids. Supernatural, I suppose, is a more accurate description. I don't really have a good idea of what everyone will be, but there's going to be shape-shifters and ghosts and lots of creepy vibes because I'm shooting for the unsettling feeling that you get when you're afraid that the red eyes you see in the cornfield belong to something much more horrifying than a barn cat.

I think the term I'm looking for is gothic Midwest horror. Here's a link to the aesthetics wiki's entry on the topic in case you're curious.

Changing topics, I have what is probably too many ideas in my "LU Fanfiction Ideas" file in my notes app, so I'm thinking that maybe, once I've gotten some of my WIPs cleaned up and posted I could try doing some kind of ask game or tag game with them sort of like the WIP ask game that's still sort of circulating. I'd just make a list of the ideas and either write onshots/minifics for asks or have one of the tagged people pick what I work on. I'm not sure yet, mostly because I don't know if people would be interested and which one they'd prefer because I'm a bit too shy to just... toss it out into the fandom tag like that.

Time is still fighting me. It's taking longer than expected because every time I feel like I'm making progress something gets in the way. I really want to get his piece done because it establishes his plotline in the Emotional Support Loftwing series, and is supposed to be the accompaniment to a second piece that's probably from Warriors' point of view.

As a side note to that, I'm very excited to actually get around to that accompaniment because I get to write a whole bit about Sky's house on the Surface. (The town is called New Town and I love it.)

COLOR CODING. I FUCKING LOVE YOU. It makes it so easy to read oh my god (I keep forgetting to take my ADHD meds… it’s been weeks- whoops-)

THAT SOUNDS AWESOME, and don’t worry I’m very familiar with midwest horror shit. I come from the cornfields I’m one of the beasts that roam them at 4 am /hj

ooooooh that’d be cool!! I’m super interested, i can’t wait to see whichever one you decide on :)

I totally feel the ‘every time i feel like im making progress something gets in the way’ thing, I’m going through that rn with a fic. ALSO I LOVE THE TOWN.

(losing my mind over the color coding shit its so good for my little brain)

THANK YOU FOR THE BRAINROT :3

[capricornrisingsstuff]

Breaking House Rules…and the Internet

Just a little one shot of an idea that came to mind when I saw THIS pic.

May contain: spanking, themes of a sexual nature, slight degradation, minors DNI, smoking.

It was just past midnight when you stumbled through the door to your apartment, your home you shared with Steve Harrington. You told him not to wait up but he insisted. You had noticed he had watched every Instagram story you’d posted through the course of the night and as the tequila flowed, your confidence built.

So when you and your friends were in club bathroom, aesthetic wallpaper and mirrors adorning the walls, you decided to be a bit more risqué with your selfies. You bent over the sink, pouting into the mirror; lipstick in one hand, phone in the other while you snapped a sultry selfie. Lord knows Instagram would have a field day with the way your chest spilled over the cups of your corset dress.

You’d noticed that Steve had seen the story but didn’t reply. And that’s when you knew you were in for it. Your panties were already damp at the thought as you sauntered into the hallway of your apartment. “Stevieeee..?” You called out into the darkness of your home, save for one low light coming out of the bedroom. “In here sweetheart”.

You sighed, following his voice into your shared bedroom; the sight that met you made your thighs rub together. Steve was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at his phone, cigarette dangling off his lips. “I thought we agreed no smoking in the bedroom Steve?” You pouted as you stalled in the doorway. Steve, letting out a huff of laughter around his cigarette, looked up at you through the glasses perched on the end of his nose.

“Baby…are we seriously going to talk about me breaking house rules when you’re out there breaking the internet with your tits?” he replied as he turned the phone to show you your Instagram story from the club bathroom. “God Steve it’s just a picture” you huffed as you rolled your eyes, crossing your arms to push your tits up further. “Oh it’s just a picture is it doll?” Steve questioned as he reached out and pulled you onto his lap. You straddled his hips and your dress bunched up, “it’s just a picture…well…let’s see what kind of picture I can take when your ass is all red after I spank some manners into you.” You squealed as his hands, that were previously caressing your ass cheeks over your panties, came down with a smack.

“So doll, lie down like a good girl and let daddy paint that little ass of yours all red. Or would your rather me fuck you into next week and let me paint your pretty tits with my cum? Your choice darling. Be a good girl and make the right one”.

[tonberry-yoda]

Whohooo, my timer rang, it’s the 7th!🥳🤣 (At least in my country, so I hope, sending my request now is okay?👀)

First off: I wish you so so much fun with your first event. Like I already said, the idea is amazing and I’m looking forward to every single post.🥰 So, here is my soul striptease:

I’m a cisgender woman and therefore I use the pronouns she/her. I‘m bisexual but on a spectrum I tend a little bit more towards men, at least at the moment.

My favourite fandom is Hunter X Hunter and I would be more than happy about something romantic.

For characters I don‘t want to be paired with, I would say Leorio (I could only teach him some medical stuff but that’s how romantic as it would get) and the more than obvious Tonpa?!😂 And no minors oc because I‘m old.

My personality… I can find humour in everything and like to laugh a lot but at times I can be somewhat melancholic and dark-minded… which I kind of like. I‘m very adventurous and open minded and never actually judge people… each to their own, I like to say. When it comes to friendship I‘m loyal as fuck (honestly I would cover up murder for my friends) buuuut in relationships I tend to get easily bored. My s/o should have high intellect (I hate smalltalk) and somehow needs to excite me… even some drama can be quite entertaining for me from time to time. When it comes to love I’m multilingual: Physical touch, quality time and gifts are my love languages but it’s very rare that I’m verbal about my feelings. Other than that, I‘m hopelessly romantic and - when good entertained - I’m passionate and head over heels. I enjoy art in every shape or form… doesn’t matter if it’s music, visual arts or literature. Generally I just like to look at pretty things (or people) and admire their beauty (sounds kind of creepy, but I’m not a creep, just an aesthete, promise!😐) My hobby’s are singing, writing and painting, even on people’s faces, cause I‘m pretty good when it comes to make up and hair (idk why), which I enjoy doing for others. How I present myself… I have pretty long wavy black hair, light green eyes and I always always always wear black. I’m more short than tall and quite petite. My style is simple but chic, I would say. Sometimes I enjoy wearing heavy make up and statement jewellery - but that depends on my mood. Oh, and I’m the biggest Parfumjunky I know of, so I’m always smelling of at least something. When it comes to how I behave in front of others, I‘m talkative and quite extroverted. When going out or just spending time with others, I’m always the last to call it a night, cause I enjoy deep conversations so much (also, you can sleep when your dead so why taking the risk of missing something exciting?). But there are times where I need to be by myself and I need space. By others I sometimes tend to get received as cold or even arrogant at first sight (resting bitch face going strong) but when they get to know me they’re surprised how chill I actually am (or that’s what they have told me at least 😂). My quirks are definitely that I can be very impulsive (even when it comes to big decisions) and that I’m so so SO impatient. VERY IMPATIENT.🥸 When it comes to music, there’s less that I don’t like: I love metal and rock, dark classical music, sometimes even minimal and house but never ever would I listen to girlpop! (Don’t come at me Taylor 👀) And yeah, that’s that. Thank you so so much for your work und making my evenings more entertaining.♥️🖤

notes💌: hello love! happy valentine's day <333 I am SO HAPPY that you asked for hunter x hunter because it is one of my top animes! Like literally my most nostalgic and literally at the top (dont tell jjba i said that) (and a lot of people dont know that about me lol) but yes! I love this anime and had so much fun reading your matchup and thank you for participating in this event <33333

The character Cupid chooses for you this Valentine's day is...

HISOKA!

i have had a really bad brainrot for this man so thank you for the excuse to geek about him <3

you and him both have a humor that can turn dark and everyone will kinda look at you funny, but neither of you care because that's how you two get along

that's probably how you met

you told some dark joke and the entire room went silent until you saw hisoka chuckling in the corner and from there, you two were inseparable

you're both not very judgemental people and it's perfect that you arent because hisoka is A LOT and that is something that you love about him because he is willing to be a whole lot in a lil package and bring so much pizazz to the relationship

you were both really loyal friends who would do anything for each other (you have hidden bodies for him lmfao and he for you ofc) and because of that, it made your relationship so easy to start

also, i figured i'd put you with hisoka instead of someone like illumi because you will NEVER get board in a relationship with him. NEVER

you two always have something to talk about or do as a couple and you are just never complaining

THIS MAN OWNS EVERY LOVE LANGUAGE

he doesnt mind that you arent as verbal though because you give him enough of what he needs

but do expect A LOT from him

words, cuddles, flowers, acts of service, ALL OF IT <3

you two are both very romantic people who are head over heels for each other tbh lmaooo

he is definitely a piece of art to admire, that's for sure, so you get to stare at him a lot and he actually loves it. boosts his ego lmao

and he'll do the same, he'll just admire you and tell you how beautiful you are

PLEASE OH GOD PLEASE DO HIS MAKEUP

he will love you even more, which is surprising tbh

you two match all the time, even when being casual

not wearing the same clothes, but having the same aesthetic for the day

sometimes yall even clash cuz it looks awesome

you're just iconic powerhouses

he loves you so so much because you match his energy

you and him are both very much people people, so you get to enjoy A LOT of nights out together partying and just having too much fun

he will definitely give you the space you need, but honestly, he cant be away from you for too long, so he'll just stay with you in silence if you need it

cuddles are a great recharge for the two of you

*cough cough* he thinks its hot that other people think that you are kinda mean. it just means you can protect yourself. your rbf is hot to him

he knows how sweet you are thought and will never ever make you out to be a rude person

he hypes you up always

he can definitely help with the impulses and try to get you to not, but lets be real, he's just as impulsive and sometimes encourages it lmfaooo

he plays girly pop in the house to annoy you lmaoooo

but nonetheless, he loves you with all of his heart and soul and is proud to call you his partner for life <3

💌 How would he ask you to be his valentine??

this man does it in the cheesiest way possible tbh. he would make candy hearts that say will you be my valentine and lay them out on the table with chocolates, a bouquet of roses and 2 teddy bears to look like the two of you! you would come downstairs to a total surprise and hisoka would surprise sneak attack you with a hug and ask you verbally if you want to be his valentine. of course you say yes, so the man attacks you with kisses

💌 Valentine's Day Date

You and Hisoka had spend time with friends all week long and now Valentine's day was your day to spend together. You didn't want to have to go out and about and around other people, you just wanted to spend time together and be in each other's presence. "Are you almost ready, dear?" Hisoka asked, clipping on his earrings. The two of you decided to grab some drinks and then go on a late night walk together. You thought the idea was amazing and very peaceful after a long week. "Yes, I'm ready!" You came out in a black dress that suit you perfectly and Hisoka couldn't help but smile. "Oh, love," he walked over to you and grabbed both of your hands. "You look amazing." "Thank you," you said, pressing a kiss onto Hisoka's cheek, leaving a little lipstick mark. "You look amazing too." "Oh, hush." He gave you a playful smack on the arm and you two walked out the door. --- After you two grabbed a quick drink, you decided to walk around a very empty trail. You two talked for hours, just enjoying each other's company and the fresh air you had been craving all week long. You walked until you couldn't feel your legs and all you were doing was laughing and holding Hisoka's hand. "I have an idea," Hisoka said slyly when he spotted a lone lake. "Do you wanna try something?" You gave Hisoka a skeptical look, but took his hand that he outstretched to you. "Sure, why not?" Hisoka ran over to the lake and stripped down, making you blush. "Hisoka, what are you-" You were immediately covered in water as he cannonballed into the lake. He brushed his wet hair out of his eyes and laughed. "Come on, y/n!" You laughed and followed suit, jumping in the water with him. The two of you splashed around for a while and then, when you got too cold, crawled out, wrapping up in your dry clothes. You laid on the cold dirt together with your hands interlocked and looked at the stars. "I love you, Hisoka." "I love you too. Happy Valentine's day." <3

~~~~~

mystery date rules | pinned post @tonberry-yoda

[i-got-a-bad-feeling-about-this]

The Healing String (Actor Marx x GN Reader)

Chapter 3

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3

Summary- You and Marc both get ready for your first date!

TWs- None, just shorter chapter

So I'm not dead!!! yeah I know i said I was gonna post this like a month ago, and in my defense is started to write it. I just never finished it lol. I was super busy with finals and then Christmas shopping, and getting ready to visit my long distance S/O ( which went wonderfully), and now I'm back. I don't have school and I'm going to attempt to make a writing schedule. no promises though. This is a shorter chapter cause I'm just getting back but the next chapters will be longer!

Masterlink

Join the taglist

Not long after the talk in the garden, you hailed a cab back to your apartment. It was only a temporary place, but it was still nice.  Some would call it pretty and “aesthetic”, but that is not what you were thinking about when you walked into your apartment. Your mind was elsewhere. 

“Holy Shit.” you paused dropping your bag, “HOLY SHIT.” You fisted your hair in your hands and paced around your living room. 

It actually happened, It HAPPENED. You quickly dropped to the ground and grabbed your phone, you needed to tell someone, but who? 

It had to be someone reliable who isn't going to spill the beans to the rest of your family or friends or the press, and will not try to rush you two into anything. 

As you scrolled through your contacts you frowned, yeah you couldn't tell anybody, Not yet at least. 

You groaned and rolled on your back looking up at the ceiling, you should be getting ready and you will. You just need a moment to breathe and process everything that has happened. 

As you lay on your back you felt something soft rub against your side and a smile formed on your face. You turned your head to see your pup. He was an adorable little dog you had picked up off the harsh streets of Los Angeles. He was beaten up and sick when you found him, but after going to the vet getting all of his shots, and getting fixed he was such a good boy (with training of course). You had named him Ethan after one of the main characters in your book and he was your best friend.

You rubbed his head and started to tell Ethan about your day. He wouldn't tell anyone and he couldn't pressure you into doing anything, plus dog cuddles. As you pet your little buddy, your phone chimes. You immediately grabbed it and opened your phone to see if Marc had texted you. 

You smiled and read what he texted out loud to Ethan, “ 6 tonight, best ice cream place in town. I’ll see you soon soulmate &lt;;3” You blushed and looked at your dog, You quickly replied before groaning,

“I hope I don't fuck this up,” You got off the floor to go take a shower. It was hot as all hell and you were sweating like a pig. Ethan barked and ran into your room and jumped on your bed. You gave him a dead pat before walking to your bathroom, shouting to Ethan,

“You're helping me pick out my outfit.” you received a bark as a response as you jumped into the shower. 

Marc looked down at his phone with a smile as he saw your response. 

See you soon soulmate :). 

It had been sent a few hours ago, but still made him smile every time he saw it. He slid on his jacket, finally out of his costume. He wore a nice deep red dress shirt and black pants. He thanked himself for always keeping extra clothes on set or else he would be wearing a ratty t-shirt and jeans to his first soulmate date. He left the top few buttons of the shirt undone for a more casual look, He didn't want to scare them off with a super nice outfit.

He checked his hair one more time before leaving the set and getting to his car. He drove a deep red tesla he had custom ordered, he thought it was worth every bit of money he had spent on it. 

He slid into the car, quickly sending you a text letting you know he was going to pick you up soon. He quickly drove off to see you. As he drove he tapped the wheel nervously, he hoped he wouldn't fuck up this date like he had many others. ( He didn't even want to think about the time he and his date got kidnapped by a chef because he forgot his wallet). He shook his head, he was determined to make this a good first date. You deserved a calm and nice first date, you both did. 

He took a deep breath as he rolled up to your address, everything was gonna be okay. He took a few more deep breaths the way his therapist had shown him before stepping out of his car and heading up to your door. He fixed his hair once more before he knocked on your door, holding some flowers he had picked up on his way behind his back. 

As you opened the door his breath left his body, you were absolutely stunning. You looked amazing. Your hair was styled in a beautiful way that showed off your face and your outfit was amazing. It was nice and casual but suited your body amazingly well. That all was great, but the main thing he noticed was the bright smile on your face, that smile is what took his breath away. 

“Wow, you look amazing.” he complimented before handing you the flowers he had gotten, “I hope you like them, wasn't sure what kind to get.”

You gently took the flowers from his hand before answering, 

“There amazing Marc, my favorite actually, thank you so much.” You quickly put them in a glass vase with water before leaving the apartment. As you closed the door you turned to Marc, 

“You look amazing,” you stated as you both walked to his car. He thanked you, a small blush on his face before he opened the car door for you and closed it after you got it. 

As he jumped into the driver's side he smiled at you, 

“ Ready for the best ice cream ever and our first date, soulmate.” You smiled

“I’ve been ready, soulmate,” you replied.

Masterlist

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|| Taglist ||

@the-actor-you-love-to-hatete @captain-m-faye @raccoonsstinkybunns @jupiterkatt @choo-choo-trainwreckk @dark-cipherher @your-voice-is-mellifluousus @orchid-3566

If you liked it, please consider reblogging it! It helps other people find this story

[ramonathinks]

I saw your recent post, and do you mind if I rant a little? It's annoying as writers to be seeing that. Notifications are bombarded with that stuff and if you like fanfics, then its okay to reblog posts. Even place it under an organized tag (I do it). It's not going to mess up the 'aesthetic' of your blog, it only helps out writers in the community to get their stories out. Sometimes, I wonder about why I'm still writing but, I remembered that its something I do in my freetime. Or, it could be laziness but that's just me.

(sorry this is soooo late because i seen it when you sent it but i was omw to class so i forgot :/)

honestlyyy im not even going to get back into the conversation like that because two accounts ago, i said some stuff about how people need to reblog fics and how i was going to start blocking accounts and such! and i got called a bunch of slurs and told to kms😭 sooo, even when a mutual came into defense and said “hey well you can actually make a side blog if you don’t wanna mess up your aesthetic” and they were just arguing with us like all Christmas!

But at this point… i just only block blank accounts because even though nobody sees your follower count, i just am so tired of having to block like hundreds of accounts because they don’t reblog, i did that on my last account and it was so annoying. even though yes i want and wish people would reblog more, lately i have seen more accounts who actually do and that’s giving me a bit of some good feeling knowing that it’s way more accounts than it used to be but at the end of the day, i wish people would realize that: this is tumblr, you’re already a freaky fuck if you’re on here, anyone on here, i already know you’re a freak! that’s why you’re on here so stop being scared to just reblog something nsfw

[neo-neos]

thank you to the loveliest of lovely baby babes: @skateyoulater for the tag (: I love doing these so much hahaha

❥ name: (My first name would literally dox me cuz she is unique as fuck) Just call me Peach or Lychee whatever fruit you prefer lmfao

❥ sign: Capricorn

❥ height: 168 cm which would be???? 5'5? 5'6?

❥ time: 8:51PM

❥ birthday: January 19th (Which is soon and I am not happy about it) 1998

❥ fav band/artist: Band: Sticky Fingers, Ocean Alley, Young Monks, Loose Bricks (if you think: This does not mean anything to me... I listen to Australian Surf/Garage punk/Reggae lmfao)

Fav artists: Jon Bellion, Tash Sultana

❥ last movie: I think Gremlins... It was Christmas don't laugh at me

❥ last show: Ehhh I'm halfway through day 3 of Safe House season 1. But I'm currently also following: Between us, Manner of death, My school president, Never let me go, the director who buys me dinner, the new employee.

❥ when I created this blog: Ehhhh this specific blog is about 4 months old?

❥ what I post: On this blog it's BL with a little bit of language/linguistic stuff mixed into it... Although I have been thinking of just making a separate language blog but I suck at managing more than 1 blog

❥ other blogs?: Yes @pitchiness is the blog I created about 12 years ago. It has been through a LOT. From 12-year-old me just reblogging pretty pictures for the aesthetic to 14 year old angsty/emo me, to my K-pop phase, to falling back out of that and just shitposting random shite I found funny... It holds almost 50K posts...

❥ do I get asks?: Not enough (((((; nah but to be real, not that many. I am always so insanely excited to get asks because it means I can pop off with the answer and I often times write a massive answer that will probably overwhelm people... and I'm doing it again now... Eh...

❥ followers: On this blog: 212... I would say maybe 200 followers because I might have missed a pornbot here and there

On the other blog: 2986 but I think about 50% of those are no longer active.

❥ average hours of sleep: I'd say about 5-6-7 hours?

❥ instruments: I wish.

❥ what I'm wearing: Right now? Sweatpants, fluffy socks, a shirt and a hoodie. If you're asking my style normally: It differs so much, one day I wanna dress up in funky vintage blouses, the next I wanna look like sherlock holmes, and next week I want to look like a forest elf... My closet is a mess.

❥ dream trip: Tbh anywhere with the right people is always good... But Tokyo is high on my list. Seoul, Edinburgh (again), Australia would be nice to see some of my fav bands live too.

❥ fav songs right now: Ziggy Alberts - Heaven Muroki - Open up Jon Bellion - Blu Ocean Alley - Lonely diamond And like a million more HAHA

And since @skateyoulater basically tagged the entire group of besties already... I'll just say: If you see this and you want to do it too, you can just say I tagged you in it (((((: !

@neppu, @jimins-crooked-tooth, @alt-drama, @hello-n-goodbye, @ieroween1031, @chimerasinourskyline Here is mine btw lmfao