#honestly I don't think my art is good enough for art thieves to want to steal it LMAOOOOO

[bleatin-good-doodles]

I want to change this side blog's name but idk what I want to change it to.... Once I decide on a name, I'm gonna make a watermark and that's what I'm gonna (hopefully remember to use) put on my art from now on.

[citrus-cactus]

10 characters, 10 fandoms (obscure takes & slightly furry edition)

I was tagged by @tangledupblue and @reliablejoukido approximately forever ago! I’ve actually done this meme two times previously, but there are always more characters to talk about (that cannot be true forever, but we’ll say it’s true for now). So let’s get to it!

Also, I don't feel like tagging this one, but please feel free to do this if you want to! I always love to hear about peoples' favorite characters <3

1. Iago (Disney’s Aladdin)

I… I… I don't have any excuses, I just think he’s neat, ok?! There has always been something about the sarcastic talking animal sidekick trope that speaks to me, even though I can’t explain why. He’s just such a angry, self-centered, fun little guy, and he has a real character arc that runs through all of the 90s animated media! Love his role in the TV series, and I also love that he went off with Aladdin’s dad at the end of King of Thieves. For better or worse, he’s my favorite Disney character, period!

2. Bad Bird/Karamaru (Samurai Pizza Cats/Kyatto Ninden Teyandee)

SPC is a show from the mid-90s era of dubs, and it’s generally beloved for taking a rather loose approach to its translation of the original source material. Bad Bird is yet another bird-type henchman, a rival to the "star" character, a bit of a punching bag, and also not-really-all-that-evil. I uh… I guess I have a type? *shifty eyes*

3. Jose Carioca

Oh sh*t I lied, I do actually have ANOTHER favorite Disney character! Who is a bird!! I honestly don’t know why I have such an attachment to Jose. Three Caballeros was something I ONLY watched at my grandma’s house as a wee one, so I do have some very specific childhood memories of it, and little me always thought this charming parrot was the best part. I have never seen anything he featured in that didn’t originate in the 1940s (yeah, I slept on the DuckTales reunion because I don't have cable or Disney+), but I’ve heard he has (had?) his own long-running comic book series in Brazil. I’ve always wanted to see one of those!

I uh… I definitely have a type. Who knew?? ^^;

4. Ryouga Hibiki (Ranma 1/2)

Ok look. I came into Ranma 1/2 in a pretty weird way: looking it up obsessively on the late 90s Internet, falling in love with character descriptions, screenshots and promo art, and reading fanfiction before I was able to watch or read ANY significant portions of the source material. Ryouga was always kind of my favorite back then, and he still is now (even though I have only seen a few of the OVAs and read about half of the manga). He’s just. He’s such an idiot (affectionate). But he's a great rival, a dog person, has Feelings but is incredibly awkward, and generally means well.

5. Ben Wyatt (Parks and Rec)

Live action? GASP! Just… Ben Wyatt is a MOOD. The entire ensemble cast of P&R is amazing, but it’s incredible how much Adam Scott and Rob Lowe brought to the table. I am very normal about Ben, Cones of Dunshire, and the Letters to Cleo shirt (I am not).

6. Lily Aldrin (How I Met Your Mother)

While I will watch Alyson Hannigan act in pretty much anything, HIMYM is a total comfort show for me, and Lily is just *chef’s kiss.* Don’t really have much more to say than that!

7. Lum(?) (Urusei Yatsura)

UY has such a HUGE ensemble cast with tons of interdependencies, you practically can’t isolate one character without at least three others tagging along. You also can’t think too hard about them, because they are all idiots (affectionate) (there is definitely a distinction to make between characterization being good and characterization being deep). Lum is... not my favorite character (that might actually be the manga version of Mendo?), but she's such a dang icon, plus she’s the one I've tried to draw the most, so that… counts?? Much like Ranma 1/2, I also have to factor in all the years I spent wanting to experience UY. Amazingly enough, I've seen more of it than Ranma at this point!

Currently wishing I could watch the reboot too, because the manga characterization/version of events might actually be getting their day in the sun? :D

8. Bentley (Sly Cooper)

Oof. OOF. Why did I do this to myself. The Sly Cooper series is a 3D platforming series from the PS2 era of video games. Penelope from Sly 3 might be my favorite character conceptually (she brings something really fun to the table, and geek girls FTW!), but her being The Fave is hampered by the fact that she only appears in the one game (What's that? Sly 4? Sorry, don't know what you're talking about). Sly 2 is hands-down my favorite entry in the franchise, and while he’s really difficult to play as, Bentley’s development across the original trilogy is… ghhh. IT’S SO GOOD, as are his friendships with Sly and Murray. Bentley!!! (I still love you though Penelope, you got done so dirty).

9. Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

I don’t believe I’ve watched/played/read any TMNT property that is younger than a third-grader at this point. But Donnie’s the Smart One, and he is Purple. ‘Nuff said!!

OK so. Birds and smart turtles. We're learning more about what my types are all the time...

10. Daisuke Jigen (Lupin III)

I have not seen much Lupin III. But Jigen is cool <3

(I also like hats).

[doctor-yamagishi]

Concern or Consideration Part 9: Networking

Part 9 of Plotline developed with @tacitusauxilium

Several days would pass without incident before Fuuka would contact Ren, Ann, and Ryuji, along with Yusuke who had joined the ranks of the Phantom Thieves

"I got a respone from MItsuru-senpai. She said that she is willing to meet with you all. She is busy so it won't be face-to-face, but virtual." Fuuka would state hoping that they had enough to mentally prepare for the occurrence since it was already under discussion.

"Has this been going on for a while?" Yusuke inquires, unsure why something with such an impact on their times had been recently brought to his attention. He needed all the time that he could to get back into a comfortable flow regarding his art.

"Sorry Yusuke, everything occurred so fast once you joined that our bigger focus was on Madarame than on the future." Ann admits through her text.

"Honestly, I'm kinda nervous about what it will be like to meet someone who has a lot of experience using a Persona." Ryuji comments honestly, though it wasn't going to make the meeting any less tense for the Phantom Thieves.

"Knowing Ryuji, he'll just make a bigger fool out of himself than normal." Morgana states to Ren, though it wasn't put in the chat. Ryuji would sneeze from where he was. He couldn't tell who was talking about him, but he doubted it was anything good. Outside of Morgana, for the most part he didn't mind at the time.

"Given that they could've kept us from progressing with our heists and with Fuuka's assistance in Madarame's palace, I doubt there is too much to worry about." Yusuke calmly reaffirmed.

"Yusuke's right. As far as we are aware, Fuuka could've told them about the metaverse app and they could've taken care of us with little problems if they wanted to." Ann agreed.

"Anyways, where did you want to meet up for the meeting Fuuka?" Ren inquired, though all eyes were watching the chat more than ever while Fuuka made her response.

"The room I am staying at is good for the meeting as everything is already set up there. Don't worry, Mitsuru-senpai's really nice." Fuuka responded before typing out the address.

"I will let the receptionist know that I am expecting all five of you for supplemental lessons and to direct you to my room." Fuuka states.

"Five of us?" Yusuke inquired trying to keep account of all who was being invited.

"It's the four of us and Morgana, dude. Though he's a cat, he's still a member of the Phantom Thieves." Ryuji commented as he was doing his best to make a mental note of the location.

"Why did he single me out? I am a human too.....I think." Morgana responded, his tone shifted from upset to dejected at the possibility that he wasn't human, though he wasn't going to readily accept that fact.

"Anyways, see you guys over there. Depending on how this goes, we might get additional support when dealing with the palaces." Ann remarks before the line of text ends.

Roughly one hour later, all of the Phantom Thieves had gathered in Fuuka's room, which had a computer hooked up to a projector. The projector was aimed at a blank wall of the room.

"Even with the lack of furnishings, this room is not devoid of artistic appreciation." Yusuke commented, appreciated the subtle nuances of interior decorations that lingered in the room.

"We're here to meet with Mitsuru who sent Fuuka over, not to ingrain her room for a painting." Ryuji commented exasperated at how Yusuke can get so worked up on anything aesthetic.

"Focus Yusuke, it's the least you can do after I had to buy your round trip tickets for the train to get here." Ann added on, midlly annoyed at Yusuke's narrow-vision at times.

"Wait, why did you have to buy his ticket Takamaki?" Ryuji inquired looking over at Ann.

"I had spent all of the money I had on hand for supplies. Did not even have that much for a meal, but as long as I have what I need for my paintings, I will be fine." Yusuke remarks calmly yet proudly of his decisions before turning his attention to Ann.

"Still I must thank you for your generosity Ann. Just let me know when you would like to model for a painting and I will make sure it is able to repay you back considerably." Yusuke would later add on.

"For the last time, I don't want to be in your painting." Ann was going to restrain herself mostly for Fuuka's sake so not to cause her trouble being up in her hotel room. Otherwise, she would have stomped on the floor a couple of times.

"Mitsuru-senapi, are you there? I have all the Phantom Thieves here for the introductions." Fuuka spoke up softly into the microphone of her computer while waiting for an image from Mitsuru's camera to be shot out on the projector.

"My apologies Yamagishi, some business matters took longer than anticipated." Mitsuru remarks from the computer's speakers before an image of Mitsuru appears. She was sitting in her chair inside the Shadow Operative's headquarters.

"My apologies about the delay everyone and I apologize for you all having to take the time out of your day for this introduction, but I hope you will get enough value out of this opportunity to compensate for it." Mitsuru states calmly, resting her head softly on her right hand.

"Given the appeal of the room, I can say that will be the case." Yusuke responds before anyone can make a more substantive answer.

"Don't mind him. Anyways, why don't introduce ourselves? Since you arranged this meeting in more ways than one, we can start." Ren responds with a light flourish of his right hand.

"That would be appreciated and I will make sure to introduce myself in kind afterwards." Mitsuru answers gratefully with a subtle nod of her head.

"Guess I'll start then. The name's Ryuji Sakamoto, nice to meet you." Ryuji remarks, not sure how to really act given the Phantom Thieve's member's social identities along with the contradiction between Mitsuru's position and her apparent age.

"I'm Ann Takamaki. Hope we get along." Ann contributes before turning her attention to Yusuke, who had his focus on the details of the room for recollection later. "Yusuke." She would call out to snap him out of his focus.

"I am Yusuke Kitagawa and I hope that our collaboration can make wonderous works of art." Yusuke remarked before promptly returning his attention back to the room.

"My name's Morgana and no, I am not a cat." Morgana manages to squeak in, though Mitsuru wasn't surprised by Morgana's ability to speak and would turn her gaze toward Ren who was the last member of the Phantom Thieves to introduce himself.

"Ren Amamiya." Ren introduces himself.

"Ren's our leader." Ann adds on, earning a quiet nod from Mitsuru who has manages to make at least one implied fact by the statement brought to her attention.

"Since Amamiya is your leader, Yamagishi will give you my number should anything come up that you feel requires my attention." Mitsuru claims, nodding over to Fuuka who nods her head in return.

"Thank you for introducing yourselves. My name is Mitsuru Kirijo." Mitsuru introduces herself, though she would be slightly off-guard by the reaction it would obtain.

"Wait, you're Mitsuru Kirijo, as in the head of the Kirijo Group, MItsuru Kirijo?" Ryuji manages to speak up through his astonishment. It was strange to hear that someone in such a high position would have a persona.

"Yes, that is me. Do not worry though, I am not addressing you as the head of the Kirijo Group, but as the leader of the Shadow Operatives." Mitsuru does her best to assauge any anxiety that has manifested with her identity disclosed.

"Fuuka did say that the Shadow Operatives have members with a lot of experience with Personas, so I guess that you'll be helping us with our jobs as the Phantom Thieves?" Ryuji inquires, but Mitsuru would shake her head.

"No, the Shadow Operatives for the most part will be avoiding altering the operations of the Phantom Thieves." Mitsuru states calmly yet bluntly.

"What the eff is your problem?! You get us here for a meeting, but don't want to help us resolve the area's problems!" Ryuji shouts in an outburst, though Mitsuru simply lets Ryuji blow off the steam.

"Please understand Ryuji-kun, Mitsuru-senpai must have a good reason." Fuuka pleads toward Ryuji.

Between his indignation at Mitsuru's response and Fuuka's pleas, Ryuji feels conflicted, but calms down enough to avoid shouting, but has a mixture of anger and disappointment on his face as he quiets down.

"Through our experience with the first branches, it is best for each branch to mostly get experience with their personas with as little interference from the other branches. All of the Shadow Operatives have lives outside of this specialty and they may not be available to assist. It is better for everyone if the Phantom Thieves get experience now so they are prepared in the future should the other members be unavailable to assist." Mitsuru does her best for an explanation.

"That makes sense, but it still sucks." Ryuji remarks, all his prior anger and disappointment turning to grief.

"I understand Sakamoto. We can still provide support while allowing you all to gain experience." Mitsuru responds before turning to look in Fuuka's direction. "Yamagishi can offer support during your endeavors. She trusts you all and I have full faith in her opinion. Yamagishi, can you continue operating with the Phantom Thieves for the time being?"

"Yes, Mitsuru-senpai." Fuuka responds gently yet firmly.

"Thank you Yamagishi. The Shadow Operatives will directly intervene should there be a situation that we feel wouldn't have arised without our interference in the first place." Mitsuru states calmly, glad to have resolve the initial hostility associated with her outright refusal of more direct assistance for the Phantom Thieves. Or at least the portion that she could resolve.

"With that, there is nothing else for us to discuss at the moment, unless any of you have something for me." Mitsuru states, wanting to make sure to tie up all available loose ends before ending the meeting.

"Ummmm, Mitsuru-senpai...." Fuuka quietly states, unsure about whether or not she should bring up the person that has her father's eyes. If it was in Tatsumi Port Island, she would be a lot more confident in Mitsuru's ability to find information about the person, but this wasn't Tatsumi Port Island.

"Yes Yamagishi?" Mitsuru inquires, curious about what Fuuka might have to bring up.

"I-It's nothing. Sorry for holding you up." Fuuka states, deciding that it would be better to get more information about the person before mentioning it to Mitsuru.

"I do have a question. What would you have done if Fuuka determined that we are a threat?" Ryuji inquires, though he was conflicted about whether or not he wants to know the answer.

"If Yamagishi has determined that the Phantom Thieves are selfishly using their Personas, then should we determine how you are accomplishing your acts, we would swiftly and securely ensure that your abilties do not progress any further than they already have." Mitsuru states calmly, but that only added to how unnerving her statement is.

After having some time to recover from the bombshell dropped on them through that answer, Ann would speak next. "With all of the money that you have, why does Fuuka have such a standard room here?"

"The lodging was a strategical maneuver. At the time, we didn't know the capacity of the Phantom Thieves. Her accommodations are to dissuade investigation into why she arrived. If she was living far beyond the capacity of a teacher, then it might have prompted you to look into her and discover her association with the Kirijo Group." Mitsuru states calmly. While the Shadow Operatives largely operate outside of the jurisdiction of the Kirijo Group, their information is contained in the Kirijo Group database.

"Are there any other questions?" Mitsuru inquires looking around, taking note that there wasn't anything equivalent of an emerging question.

"It was nice meeting you all. Once the situation guiding the Phantom Thieves' operations has been resolved, then I hope that you will give consideration to joining the Shadow Operatives." Mitsuru states before signing off.

"Is something the matter Fuuka?" Ann inquires, taking notice of Fuuka on the edge of bringing something up to Mitsuru.

"It's nothing Ann-chan, at least not at the moment." Fuuka responds, though not entirely sure if it was nothing or not. Ann wasn't going to push the subject, seeing how Fuuka was and would change the subject.

"The only pressing matter is figuring out what to do about 'him'." Ann states sternly, earning a nod from the Phantom Thieves.

"We don't have enough information to work off of for now. We'll just need to wait for him to let his guard down. For now, let's just rest on the concept and go about the rest of our day like we normally do." Morgana states, resting his paws on Ren's right shoulder.

The Phantom Thieves would depart Fuuka's room and go their separate ways. "Let's go see Nobu again. Tae doesn't get much support from the hospital, so I am curious about why he delivers her supplies." Morgana states over to Ren who nods his head and makes his way to Tae's clinic as it is the first place and currently only place that he can think of seeing Nobu.

Standing right next to the clinic was Nobu, who was running through all of the receipts of all of the compounds that Tae had requested and was delivered, checking to make sure that they are all signed and double checking to see if there was any receipts that he might have left with Tae.

Nobu would close his eyes and mentally play back all of the compounds that were delivered and compairing them with all of the receipts, though his train of thought was driven off the tracks as he opens his eyes to look around, feeling that he was being watched.

"Oh, Ren, it's been a while. Were you here to see me or are you passing through to talk with Takemi?" Nobu inquires, making sure that he wasn't significantly blocking the way if it was the latter.

"I'm here to see you. Was curious about why you deliver supplies to Takemi's clinic?" Ren would respond while Morgana would peek out of Ren's bag and be a spectator to the conversation.

"All medical buildings are required to have what they need to operate. No supplier is willing to directly provide her given the nickname she has, but she did work for the hospital before moving to her clinic and the supplies were done in place of money for the severance packing." Nobu states, though he cannot fathom why Takemi would move from the hospital to such a small clinic where she can help more people in the hospital.

"The nickname also keeps a lot of people from wanting to deliver to her, afraid of being the test subject for her experiments. Her reputation holds more weight with me than her nickname, and she isn't willing to take such a risk knowing that not many other people would take my place if her concoctions reacted poorly on me." Nobu adds on, hoping that Takemi's ill-suited moniker can eventually be cleared.

"Is it just me, or does it feel like someone is watching us?" Morgana inquires over to Ren, who would nod his head and do his best to look around for the eavesdropper while not trying to let it on to Nobu, though Nobu is feeling unsettled, affected by someone's gaze or glare fixated mostly on him.

"I don't want to cut this conversation short, but I feel that I need to get back to work. Takemi may be rather strange in her approach, but if you see her, I can assure you that you are in good hands." Nobu states taking several steps away from the clinic before turning to face Ren. "It means a lot that you are willing to see me with all of the other things that you can be doing instead."

Charity Social Link-Lvl 3: No bonus granted.

[vickyvicarious]

Parker: "Teach me to like stuff."

.

Okay, so. I have some thoughts about The French Connection Job's Parker+Eliot subplot. And I think I wanna approach it separately, scene by scene from each of their perspectives, because we have a couple different things going on here. It's still a little more of a Parker meta than an Eliot meta, but I have enough to talk about on both sides, and they're connected enough not to be in separate metas, that I am going to do it this way.

Also going to put this under a cut because it gets long.

Parker

This whole subplot comes on the heels of the last episode, in which there was a lot of banter throughout about Hardison and Parker's dates, and him wanting to branch out into other things than just bungee jumping or whatever. We have seen hints of this throughout S5 so far, even though we're only a few episodes in at this point. They went on a world tour that was pretty much just jumping off of stuff, Hardison said something about them figuring things out. We saw a cute domestic scene of the aftermath of them watching a movie together, except Parker 'fell asleep again' and missed most of it, and Hardison eventually went off to work on his laptop. Parker tried to comfort him last episode about dust mites and ended up freaking him out instead. She talked about how she liked fire and Hardison complained she was missing the point of his offer for a candlelit picnic. They did end on a very romantic note with her still making the effort to make it happen but getting rained out, and him recognizing her effort and listening to him, and projecting the stars around the dark room then having the picnic inside. They are clearly very happy together and both making the effort to meet in the middle, but there are still some disconnects. Which makes sense this early on anyway, but it's not out of place for Parker to start getting worried about her limited interests here given the context of them contrasting Hardison's more widespread interests.

Starting right off the bat - there's a picture limit so I can't show these early moments, but throughout the first part of the episode we see Parker looking visibly upset/pensive. Hardison notices and asks her what's wrong, but is immediately distracted by his package arriving, and then the team gets into the briefing and he doesn't get to talk to her again. (Sidenote that this is pretty OOC for Hardison, and I have to assume he would at the very least come back to her later, but they were clearly trying to get Parker talking with someone else this episode and apparently couldn't come up with a better way to do it. His writing outside of the kitchen stuff was kinda off this whole episode anyway, what with the whole tip thing.) She was about to open up to him, however, which is important. There's also a scene shortly afterwards where she confides in Nate, again after he notices her being upset and asks what's bothering her. She claims everyone but her has 'a thing', and names a few of them. He asks her what she thinks when she sees Michelangelo's David, and when her answer is an immediate assessment of how it's guarded and what she'd have to do to steal it, he kind of hesitates and then goes right back to running the con. He basically gives up on helping her with this once it becomes clear that a quick sentence or two isn't gonna cut it.

So after those brief, unhelpful conversations, that's when she makes a move. She was responding to others before, but this time she comes up to Eliot, clearly nervous. And she asks him to help her feel something.

(I find it very interesting that she doesn't ask Sophie. Sophie is the person who she would usually go to for something like this, after all. But, aside from this being an Eliot-centric episode and just like them sidelining Hardison's possible assistance earlier the writers want Parker to talk with Eliot not Sophie, I think there are maybe a couple reasons why she might go to him here. First, just distance. Eliot is right downstairs, meanwhile at the moment Sophie is however far across town at her theater. Certainly not saying she wouldn't go to Sophie eventually, but maybe that's why not first. Second, she and Eliot have an understanding, one that's been explicitly acknowledged since the start of S4. They are similar in a way entirely unlike the rest of the crew. So while Sophie may understand emotions best, Eliot is the one most likely to know what Parker is talking about when she says she just isn't feeling anything. Which by the way I'm gonna get more into later on. Thirdly they're in love but that's not actually relevant here since all of the team love one another.)

Eliot

On Eliot's side, she approaches him when he's busy in the kitchen. This whole job is stirring up a lot of old feelings in him right from the start. Toby was someone who 'kept him from falling all the way down', and Eliot is deeply concerned for him. At the same time, the way they are running this con is allowing Eliot to take on the role of teacher. Even though his students aren't anything like the eager students Toby has just had taken away from him, Eliot wants so badly to take advantage of this opportunity to teach them - maybe even all the more because they're resistant. He's being given a very rare opportunity to indulge his belief that food is life and to share it on a larger scale. To use the knife to create, not just destroy. Leverage often walks a line between doing both (taking down the bad guys and helping people) but Eliot doesn't often just straight up get to just do the 'creating' part. (I mean, he loves the destruction too, he genuinely loves beating people up and taking down bad guys, but this is a rarer pleasure.) So he's pretty preoccupied with that at first, and initially dismisses Parker just like the other two guys did.

But when she just looks quietly disappointed at his response, he goes still and watches her. We cut away from them here so we don't see his actual response, but it's immediately clear that he's realizing this is actually something deeply important to Parker, and well worth his time.

On to the next part of this scene below.

.

[Eliot sets a dish down in front of Parker]

Parker: "...It's just food."

Eliot: "It's not just food! Alright, some people could look at it and just see food, but not me. I see art. When I'm in the kitchen I'm, I'm creating something outta nothing, you know what I mean? And sometimes I crush it, sometimes it's crap, but either way - it makes me feel something."

Parker: "Feel what?"

Eliot: "Just... feel."

Parker: [murmuring] "Feel... okay." [looks down at the food and hesitates]

Eliot: "You know, I didn't feel anything for a long time. Then Toby taught me how to cook, and after he did, I started to feel stuff again. That's why I share it through my food - this is my art. This is my art, Parker." [Parker nods, looking worried] "It's like lettin' a stranger in your head, just for a second. And you allow them to feel what you're feeling." [pause] "Look again." [he pushes the plate a little closer to her. Parker takes a deep breath and slowly sets her elbows down on the counter as she stares down at the plate. Eliot watches her closely.]

Parker

At this point I want to talk a little about what Parker means when she says "feel something" and talks about "having a thing." Because we've seen her have interests outside of straightforward thievery before. Sure, most of her hobbies revolves around stealing - casing local banks for fun, for example. But she clearly has a deep love for Christmas and for chocolate. So why doesn't she count those kinds of things as 'feeling something'?

I think it comes down to what Eliot's talking about here. It's a sense of art. Not even necessarily making it yourself, although that certainly applies. Parker likes sweet things like chocolate and donuts, but although she really really likes them they don't make her feel any truly deep emotion. It's more tactile than anything else, just a pleasant flavor. Her love of Christmas isn't the same either in her eyes because it's not uniquely hers. It's something she loves to celebrate but she can't do so all year round, and plenty of other people like Christmas too. This one comes a lot closer, because it definitely seems to be tied up more in community and family for her than something like enjoying chocolate and piñatas, but it still doesn't belong to her in the same way that cooking does to Eliot or theater does to Sophie. And while theoretically her love of base jumping and so on could maybe count, it is still so tied up in her thieving that it doesn't feel separate. She's really good at drawing but only thinks of it as a useful skill, not a creative outlet - this is similar to that.

She has been branching out into a lot of new experiences and emotions lately, and while she's struck out deep into uncharted waters with her relationship with Hardison, once there she's only seeing more and more things that she just... doesn't get. She loves spending time with him, and enjoys what they do together, but she doesn't understand all of those things. Not on a deeper level. She wants to feel that sense of connection to something, wants to feel deeply emotionally moved by something.

And honestly? I think she's way up in her head about it. I'm not trying to dismiss her struggle here at all, but I do think she is stressing herself out about having something uniquely her own. About having a huge interest that speaks so strongly to her personally. And those are amazing to have, but it's really not necessary. She doesn't need a strong secondary passion so much as she needs to let go of trying so hard to force herself into something.

And what's happening in this scene in particular is that Parker is trying so so hard to force herself to feel something. It's evident in her face throughout the whole scene, in her body language. And she is so terrified that it's not going to work that honestly, I'm not surprised at all that it doesn't.

Eliot

On Eliot's side of this scene, he feels like he recognizes where Parker is. This entire job has him remembering how it was to feel nothing. Her phrasing got to him deeply. He wants to reach out and teach her to see something more, just like Toby taught him.

He knew a bit about how to cook before Toby. But it was only seeing Toby's passion that struck something in him, that awoke a part of himself he might've never known before. For Eliot specifically, cooking being an art isn't just something he likes. It's something that brings him hope.

Eliot doesn't believe in redemption. But he believes in actions. And what Toby did, by teaching him to cook, was to teach him that his actions can be good. That he can create, not just destroy. That all is not lost - not 'for' him necessarily, so much as 'in' him. There is a deep empty place inside himself that he can enter so so easily. The difficulty is crawling back out again. Cooking was his rope out of there. He still finds it difficult to express his emotions very often, particularly verbally, but when he makes someone a meal he puts a part of himself into it. And yet doing so doesn't take anything from him, it just adds more.

This is all very vague and figurative and may make no sense, but the takeaway I want to have is that Eliot is opening up to Parker on a very deep level here. He feels like he recognizes what she's talking about, and it was a very bad place for him. (Again, I don't think she is quite that badly off at this point in canon, but I digress.) And while making food allows him to feel that he is demonstrating his love for someone, that he is sharing a part of himself with them, he recognizes that she isn't receiving that. What she's getting, is just a plate of food. Tasty food maybe, but nothing more than that. And so Eliot verbalizes everything to her in a way he rarely does.

And then he keeps trying. This scene obviously doesn't end up making her feel something, and we don't get to see the immediate aftermath of that, but we can glean a little about how they feel based on their reactions. And Eliot is deeply determined to help Parker feel something from his food. He insists that she play the food critic; even speaks directly to her and reminds her to consider what they talked about.

.

In the restaurant, we start out with Parker dutifully playing her role but feeling nothing much beyond just the role. Eliot checks in with Parker, she acknowledges that the food is good but doesn't make her feel anything, and he makes improvements based on her feedback. Then something abruptly changes.

Parker: "I can taste garlic, and mushrooms... and something else that makes me feel different."

Hardison: "Wait, was that for me, cause I-I don't get it."

Parker: "No, it's the food. I get it." [smiles] "I feel something."

+

Parker: "Mmm! These black noodles are amazing!

Eliot: "Parker, it's tagliolini nero con gamberi."

Parker: "Mmm." [eats a huge forkful] "Mmm. Mmmm. These are really good."

Parker

What just happened here? Last we saw from Parker, she'd failed to feel something from the meal Eliot made especially for her in the brewpub, and she was clearly disheartened. She felt it as a failure, very much in the sense of a disappointment. She didn't want to try again, didn't think it would work, and tried to protest when Eliot said she would be the food critic. Even once she got to the restaurant, nothing was happening for her.

The difference wasn't in the flavor of the food. The moment Parker started to feel something was right after she said she felt nothing and Eliot, instead of being disappointed or giving up, took it as a challenge. He changed his recipe, he improved it specifically to better reach out to her. He kept trying.

And yeah, maybe the bone broth helped it taste better. But that wasn't the point, not really. The point is that Parker had gotten herself stuck in a hole, trapped herself in this cycle of not understanding how things make you feel and then believing that she just couldn't. She wanted something of her own and she didn't have it and she didn't immediately get anyone else's thing either, and that was it. She just wasn't capable. She was other. This is an old old fear of Parkers, dating back to Archie or even before. Something in her just isn't capable of being like other people. She wasn't worthy of being in Archie's real family, and she's not able to feel passion for anything outside of stealing. (Setting aside the fact that she loves her team, that all she needed was the right family. That you don't have to be a creator to feel passion, and you don't need to be passionate about any particular thing in order to feel deeply and find beauty in the world.) Parker has empathized deeply with people, has felt so intensely before and is constantly trying to learn more and new ways to be. But because she is noticing her teams' passions now, she has this ideal that she wants to reach, and none of that is good enough for her. She doesn't even know exactly what her ideal involves, but she can't get to it.

But when Eliot doesn't give up, that gets to her. If he views his food as sharing himself with others, Parker finally gets what he's been trying to give all along. It's all about him trying again and again, changing his approach to match her better. That's what she feels, that's what she enjoys.

And once she starts, the floodgates open. She loves the black noodles. She is so happy, she is relieved. There was this huge resistance that she couldn't get past before, but Eliot persisting helped her to break past that and now that she is out of her head about it she can enjoy the food in a way she never has before. Because she feels his love for her in it.

Eliot

Eliot is trying so hard to connect to Parker. It's not really different from what I said in the last Eliot section, and basically the same as what I just said in that Parker section, but I want to emphasize a little more just how much this is about love on his end.

Eliot loves Parker. He loves her, and he wants so much to help her. It doesn't honestly matter that he does this with food, except for the fact that food is what matters so deeply to Eliot himself. He can't reach out to her in the same way through any other medium. And we don't get to see his reaction to Parker's moment of realization. But I think it would be such a deep sense of joy. This is as fulfilling for Eliot as it is for Parker. It's exactly what Eliot has been hoping for this whole episode, to teach someone else to see food in the same way he does. It doesn't matter if it only lasts for a moment or a single meal. That's enough. He has been the support Parker needed through this time of self-doubt. And it is all the more meaningful to him because this isn't just a random student, this is Parker.

He told her he loves her through his food, again and again, and she eventually felt it. She understood. That must mean so much to him.

.

I wanna end with one more brief note on Parker. Does she get her own "thing" this episode? No. No she does not, and this scene shows us that. Parker is not suddenly interested in food or cooking. The importance of that meal was purely derived from Eliot on the other end of it, focused on her and trying his best to reach out to her.

And I don't think this is something only Eliot could have done for her either, not really. The difference between him and the others this episode is mostly in persistence. However, it's also about her mentality. Hardison has built/done things for Parker before and she felt them just as deeply - but the context was different. She wasn't looking for a sense of beauty or art in the world at large then, and so even though she felt the love in the gift just as much, it didn't make her feel like she could find that kind of emotion in other things. She just wasn't looking for it. Also, it was made easier for Eliot to reach out because there's that connection Parker has with him, that understanding that they are on the same level somehow. She doesn't feel that with Hardison - and she loves him all the more for him being different from her, but he also I think can intimidate her with how good and open he is, with how much he can feel in so many different directions. It's part of why she got so worried about herself not being able to do so this episode.

Like, the team has scolded Nate for not having a life or interests of his own outside the job not too terribly long ago! And Parker has had her own joys before! But she isn't seeing that this episode, too caught up in this fear about not having her own 'thing', not feeling anything that way. So while anyone could have helped her through this, it was easiest for her to let Eliot do so + for him to understand what she needed from him. (Hardison in particular was rudely robbed the opportunity, but they all love and support her and could have reached her. Not to detract from Eliot doing so, but also I don't wanna sound like no other method of reaching out would've worked.)

But as soon as she feels something once with Eliot's help, that relaxes those fears. And then Parker is free to look in other places. She remembers Nate's comment about art, and maybe even tells him what she plans based on him knowing where she is at the end of the episode. And then she goes to visit this statue. In her own way which means breaking in, but without any goal of taking it. She just goes to look at the art. And she feels something again.

Parker doesn't gain some big passion at the end of this episode. She doesn't need to. She never did. She just learns how to let herself relax from that restrictive frame of mind. To simply be in the moment and enjoy things for the sake of what they are. To feel - not really in any way she was incapable of before, but intentionally now. It's a quiet victory, in the end. It doesn't mean she's going to get a new hobby or change her lifestyle at all really. But she's let go of a fear and is now intentionally seeking out new connections with the world beyond her once-limited parameters.

[legionofpotatoes]

Not the same anon as the matrix art ask, but there are plenty of artists I've seen who have a general "do not use my art for anything" rule simply to make their stance very clear on people not using/reposting their artwork without permission

Granted, thieves are gonna thieve anyway, but I guess it helps minimize people trying to take your words out of context. I've seen plenty of assholes take "personal use" to mean "oh, so I can sell your art for my own profit, cool" and then shit talk the artist when they get called out for being a scummy prick (uncommon, sure, but I've seen it enough times to know it's a real issue)

Obviously, there's no harm in using someone's art as your background/wallpaper if that's genuinely your intention, but I think anyone asking for permission to do so is probably aware of the art theft junk to some degree and is honestly just trying to be respectful

my caveats with "personal use" were private, individual, and non-commercial. I definitely don't go around touting those two words freely either, and I deal with enough art theft to force me to partition a separate work day every month to curate takedown requests. I'm as jaded as they come, I'd like to think.

and sure, those are all good and sound arguments for someone's internal moral compass and I respect that, and I fully appreciate them in almost every other case of "use"; be it reposting, roleplaying, using as icons or banners, tattooing them on, etc. since all of those uses, in some shape or form, imply public display of those images that will then invite the audience's eye and drastically improve artist discoverability if a credit is slapped on, but will create an invisible two-step barrier that most will not work to engage with if that credit isn't there. I get all that, and I aggressively champion authorship credits in my overall content sharing etiquette on the internet, for those exact reasons.

But I'm gonna be 100% honest with you here, when it comes to background pictures for my extremely private goober that I carry around in my own pocket and use with my own two eyes and no one else's, I tend to just save and set whatever wallpaper I want? 😬 it falls into a completely different category of "use" to me. again, I am not saying I don't appreciate the respectful place these asks are coming from, but they do truly baffle me on some level when I try to imagine that headspace: how would an artist be a) impacted monetarily; b) lose even granular awareness; c) or even find out to then exercise some other form of arbitrary reasoning? it's a bit strange!

but I'm not gonna like die on this hill cause everyone asking is a total sweetheart and again I love where it is coming from. But it is still strange with the lockscreens! is all I'm saying 😅

[afangirlfantasy]

hii! i wanted to ask you for a fic rec in which harry is in like a bad situation? maybe he's abused somehow and louis saves/helps him? something like birds in gilded cages? sort of a harry's louis baby kind of fic, thank youu (and ignore me if this is a request you don't like)

(I don’t know why this is showing up on my main blog, sorry!) Also, I literally just read Birds in Gilded Cages last week! LOVE LOVE LOVE! Reminded me of Club Mad, which has sadly been deleted, but would be perfect on this list that you want! I think I have a good understanding of what you’re looking for, so hopefully you find something you like! And I don’t mind doing doing ANY kind of Fic Rec, honestly! I really enjoy making these!

                            Hurt/Comfort Harry Fic Recs

we’ll play hide and seek to turn this around (give me love… by Wankerville

Words: 19k 

“So here’s the thing,” he starts. “I didn’t mean what I said a few weeks ago to like, hurt your feelings or anything. If you like painting your nails, then you should do that, and not like, care if anyone else doesn’t like it because their opinions shouldn’t matter, you know?” Louis takes a breath, finally glancing over to see the boy wide-eyed and pink-cheeked. On a whim, he adds, “And like, I noticed you scraping it off and you haven’t been wearing any and I think you should because that’s what you like.”or an au where harry paints his nails and drinks strawberry milk and is too nervous for it to be nothing and louis’ just trying to figure out whats wrong with him

Part 1 of strawberry milk fic

Pretty Boy by iwillpaintasongforlou

Words: 32k

Harry’s been forced into a high-class prostitution ring because his heroin-addicted mother is too strung out to realize that her boyfriend is pimping out her son. Louis is the crown prince of England and gets into a lot of mischief and thinks it’s normal to pay prostitutes to “get a good night’s sleep.” They probably aren’t meant to see each other beyond that one random night, but then again, they probably aren’t meant to see each other at all.

Give Me A Minute by Prncelouie

Words: 32k

OR the one where Harry discovers his husband cheating on him and his new neighbor Louis might just be the one to help pull him back from the edge.

The King and I by iwillpaintasongforlou

Words: 43k

Louis -better known as The Rogue- is the legendary King of the Thieves of London, the underground network of criminals who run the city. Zayn is his second in command, Niall is an Irish fugitive with ultra high-tech hacking skills, and Liam is a dirty cop who lets Rogue and his crew get away with just about anything. Harry is Britain’s absolute worst criminal and a professional scapegoat who flees Cheshire in search of good treatment, and just might find it under the wing of London’s regal mastermind.

Escape by AngKeats

Words: 47k

“Buddy…you really don’t have to go,” Louis added, making him falter in his step.

Harry took short, frightened breaths into his lungs and turned.

Louis. That was a typical cowboy name. A good strong, male name. A good strong male who could be harmful. A good strong male who could over-power him and hurt him. Something in his kind blue eyes told him he wouldn’t, though. It was strange, being able to read him like that, but it was true. He didn’t want to hurt him. He wanted to help.

The intruder reached for his sleep bag and he clutched it to his chest protectively. His eyes flicked over Louis’ face but he didn’t move to touch him. Louis’ horse- Hunter- gently butted his arm with his nose.

“Hunter seems to have taken a shine to you,” Louis continued as though he hadn’t just chased him halfway down his drive and was still without a name for him. “Why don’t you come up for breakfast?” He invited.

 i love you more by shoulderbone (lavenderforluck)

Words: 47k

Boys like Harry can’t fall in love. But then he meets Louis. A love story in two parts.

No One Does It Better by nodibs

Words: 49k

Harry’s an alcoholic and Louis is a bartender. The first time they meet isn’t the first time they’ve met.

Even Angels Have Their Demons by AFangirlFantasy

Words: 50k

Louis is appointed the role of Guardian Angel, and his first mission is a boy named Zayn Malik. Unfortunately, it seems that a certain Demon has gotten to him first.

Or… an Angel/Demon AU where Angel Louis hates Demon Harry, but somewhere along the way that stops being so true.

Green Doe Eyes by AngKeats

Words: 51k

“Can I fix you?” Louis asked as Harry looked over at him, eyes wet and red, tip of his nose pink and cute. He licked his plush lips and nodded.

Louis let out a thankful sigh and reached for Harry’s hand, ignoring the way Harry flinched when they touched.

He stripped off the useless bandage and winced at the re-opened wounds. He noticed the blood under Harry’s fingernails and realised he’d scratched at them until they bled.

“Harry…” He whispered, tears coming to his own eyes as he felt Harry tremble under his touch, eyes averted shamefully as he swallowed his tears away determinedly. “No, don’t be scared, it’s okay,” Louis assured. “I’m not going to judge you…I just need to protect you,” he explained.

Hideaway. by arrowtomyheart 

Words: 52k

Harry is in a borderline abusive relationship which ends after the news that Harry’s pregnant. He is homeless for the night and travels 3 hours on the train to turn up at his best friend’s Liam’s house unexpectedly for somewhere to stay. He meets Louis, Liam’s flatmate, and they discover that they have more in common that anyone would expect. They fall in love.

American Rose by justgotowisharder

Words: 53k

“Your voice sounds rosewood when you’re lying.”“I didn’t lie, Harry.”“You’re lying right now.”Louis rolls his eyes, sighing. “Honestly, fuck your synesthesia.”

(The story where Harry hears in colors and Louis’ voice is multicolored. Harry hates his disorder, Louis hates to be gay. Little they know, they’re meant to be)

You are a lovely adjective, no word ever enough byangelichl

Words: 56k

The hurt/comfort AU in which Harry leaves away an abusive relationship, and Louis offers to share his flat.

Since I’ve Found You by Rearviewdreamer

Words: 74k

Louis woke up on the morning he was meant to volunteer at the Feed the Homeless program at St. Mary’s church hoping for an opportunity to give back a little to a city that has given him everything he could ever want. Little did he know, there was one more great thing waiting there for him; a boy with radiant green eyes in a weathered jacket and a beat-up backpack slung over his shoulders.

Only You by mystic_believexx

Words: 78k

A strict school, a forbidden love and a burning hatred that turns to passion so hot Louis’ in very real danger of getting burnt…

After pulling one prank too many on their high school’s Principal, Louis and Liam get transferred to Stanford Institution, a boarding school with a reputation for handling rebellious teens. Louis’ determined to buckle down and follow the rules so he can come back home as soon as possible but unfortunately for him, his roommate-one Harry Styles- has other plans.

Sometimes things have a funny way of working out…

For Angels To Fly by @ithinkhesalwayswonderful 

Words: 80k

Louis isn’t in love with a guy and Harry doesn’t need saving. Neither of these things end up being entirely true.

Saving You by AngKeats

Words: 90k

Harry Styles works in a seedy strip club in Las Vegas and uses the big ‘C’ to get through his mediocre existence. Once he’s done dancing he goes home with whoever bids the highest and the lifestyle leaves him feeling empty and alone.

Louis Tomlinson is a successful businessman but hasn’t had the best time with friends and love so he’s become a lonely recluse who puts business before pleasure…until he hears about a guy who looks like a girl and visits a little strip club in the city.

Harry is being bought by Louis not for the night but for good and his testing ways push Louis to the limit…

Fate Don’t Know You by sincewewereeighteen

Words: 98k

[Or: The one in which Louis always hears thunder when Harry speaks and sees lightning when he glances at him.]

Give Me Truths by iwillpaintasongforlou

Words: 110k

Louis is a psychology student with a tattoo count as high as his genius IQ. Harry is in a (sort-of) relationship with a homophobic man and hates himself a little more every day. Things fall apart and Louis puts him back together.

Or, the one in which Louis falls in love with a fragile boy and tells him every beautiful truth in the world, as long as it makes him happy.

But Please, Don’t Bite by shyserious

Words: 122k

“Melodic little jingle sounded from a bell hanging over the doorframe and warm indoor air curled heavily around his shivering body for the first time in months. Harry suddenly felt a sting in the corners of his eyes and had to force down a broken sob. Fuck, he was a mess. Such a mess. He had to focus.”

Undone, Undress by angelichl

Words: 134k

Louis’ new roommate is shy, skittish, and flinches at the slightest sounds. He’s an art major who gets drunk on cherry wine, wears lacy lingerie, and shows up late at night covered in bruises that blossom across his skin like flowers.

Obviously something is wrong. Louis just doesn’t know what it is.

Shake Me Down by AGreatPerhaps12

Words: 208k

Harry’s new to college, fresh out of Catholic school and conversion therapy camp, and Louis runs the campus LGBTQIA organization.

♡ credit to the owner of the manip

♡ past themed recs here

♡ updated 3.17.20