#honestly do not remember the reason i drew the original version but whatever past is in the past

[woolyshep]

EXPLODE!!

I redrew an old art of my sona (the wooly demon namesake :0!!) with their updated design way back in.. May? It had been a wip for a while but I finished it in May

[an-american-teen-against-crime]

Rant about ur fav superhero ready go

Okay so like I have a lot of favorite superheroes loool but thank you so so much for this Alyssa I adore you I CRI

Before we start I believe it is my civic duty to inform you that when Animated BatmanTM (aka. superior batman) walks in the batsuit the cape falls around him and he just kinda shuffles across the floor and it’s the cutest thing my eyes ever done did seen

okay so Imma pick batman cuz i was recently reading a batman comic. I feel like sometimes batman gets flack and like yeah no one is perfect but a lot of times it’s because batman is written incorrectly. But thankfully whatever version of him I don’t like I get to write off lol because superhero canon is so weird. 

I wanna do a full analysis of batman some time but I think what originally drew me to the character is that he’s like the emo dude dressed like a bat, something that I feel is normally reserved for villains? Like the darkness-coded character was the good guy. That was so cool to me. He’s an amazing detective, he is incredibly smart and resilient, and he helps people not just as Batman but also Bruce Wayne. 

What sticks out to me about Bruce is that not only does he have his strict no-kill rule (COUGH COUGH BATMAN V SUPERMAN U GOT THAT WRONG) but he also is the type of guy that genuinely cares and will try to save even villains. And like not just save them from falling, like he will try to help them get back on their feet and stop following a life of crime. 

He has like a huge heckin family because he adopted so many kids but not only is that adorable because he’s the orphan who lost his family who finds them a family but he also makes a new family for himself. He trains the robins and tries to be there for them so that they never feel the same way he did, which is kinda his whole mission.

Everyone makes jokes about his parents dying, but the thing is as an eight y.o. kid that would be extremely traumatizing, no wonder he’s so messed up. You see your parents gunned down for no reason, and then you’re all alone in the ally. Not knowing if the dude is gonna come after you next, and you cant do anything, the two people you’ve always believed would protect you from anything are dead, and you saw it happen. 

Bruce runs away from home, from his past, from Gotham. He doesn’t want to be found. But he chooses to come back. Because he doesn’t want anyone to go through what he did- he fights for those scared lonely kids left on the street alone. Side note, I also love how sweet Bruce is to kids, like here’s this big hulking shadow of a man dressed like a BAT and he’ll kneel down and try to calm some poor kid down and distract them from what they’re going through, or write that he likes some kid’s drawings of him. 

Also, Bruce is heckin dramatic . Like SO DRAMATIC I love it. He makes everything bat themed because he understands branding. He fights silently but then he will make these really dumb snarky jokes and I love him for it. Also he some how always gets the upper hand on other people, like he’s so freaking smart. Like he can genuinely freak people out and outsmarts em. And I love how he’ll appear out of nowhere and scare the crap out of people lol. Also, the dude just has PRESENCE. And if you hurt someone he’s comin for your butt.

He’s also really really bad at communicating and getting across his emotions, like he’d rather jump out a window than confess he cares about someone. Like. Which is bad cuz sometimes his kids need to hear that, but I also think that they kinda know. Bruce will literally go to the ends of the UNIVERSE for the people he cares about, and I honestly think he’s a really emotional guy he just has no clue how to express his emotions. Like he comes off super grumpy but idk. I think it’s kinda funny.  

And like always, he’s always a hoe for self sacrifice. Like Bruce. Stop. I know you have a death wish. But maybe don’t be so gun-ho about it. 

 I just love the concept of Batman. Just this dude. Runnin’ round the city. Chasing baddies. Ordered coffee where you work last week at 2am. Gave you a crazy big tip. He has like 50 children, and a really sick car. Oh also there’s this Bruce Wayne dude that is a rich orphan who also has coincidentally 50 kids, and he’s like such a himbo but you love him and sometimes he really pulls out some sick burns???

 I feel I’m missing so much but thank you for the ask, this was so much fun. Love you Alyssa <3

(included are. some short clips of why I love Bats. You will notice none of them are from the Dark Knight trilogy, and while I am grateful to those movies for getting me into batman, they do not do him justice. At all.)

Batman and Ace

(if you want them. just batman best moments on youtube itll pop up) (there’s literally so many)

ALSO THERES THIS ONE TIME THAT WONDER WOMAN TRIES TO SAVE THIS TOWN FROM LIKE A FALLING PILLAR OR SMTHN I DONT REMEMBER AND SHE LIKE GETS CRUSHED UNDER IT STOPPING IT AND BATS IS THE FIRST TO RUN OUT AND HES LIKE TRYING TO DIG AND PULL HER OUT like this dude is the weakest one of the justice league yet he’s always trying to help and somehow he always manages to keep up AND HES LIKE FRANTIC and Supes tells him they can’t get her out and he looks so freaking upset but then she lifts up the pillar thing and reveals herself to be okay and everyones so happy and she’s like :))))) “YOURE VILLAGE IS SAVED” and goes and stands by the other heroes. and . when she does. she looks down and sees Bats’ muddy gloves and smiles and he like quick hides them under his cape I just-

The Justice League animated show made me a WonderBat shipper okay and it’s never gonna go away 

okay I’m finally done thank you for the ask ILY

[geekgemsspooksandtoons]

Documentaries

Because I don’t really tag talks but I wanted to save these. Despite these might change. I just wanted to put these into it’s own post. So I can easily find them. Besides these will change. Such as Joey’s death and the fact in the info for the upcoming, “The Illusion Of Living” book in 2021 even implies Joey is dead....which actually surprised/shocked me. Because if that’s true, that’s unbelievable because at this point. I thought we would be stuck in the 1960′s with the story. Until whatever happens after Dark Revival. Unless Dark Revival does something crazy like it’s actually in modern times, the 80′s, or 90′s. I’m just rambling here.

These were old ideas and all that or whatever.

“Have you ever heard about Bendy The Dancing Demon? Boris The Wolf? Alice Angel? Joey Drew Studios? You may not know these because as the world moved on…..they were sadly left in the past….but some things are still remembered. But they aren’t pretty. 

In 1929 a young man by the name of Joey Drew and his best friend Henry Stein established Joey Drew Studios. After that a classic cartoon character was born. Throughout the years it seemed like Joey Drew Studios would be a pioneer in animation such as the likes of Wilt Dynasty Studios. Which is still going to this day. Including just in entertainment in general. It seemed like Joey Drew Studios was going places.

Yet despite the success of their classic cartoons. History wasn’t on their side. Yet what might of been the start of the downfall of Joey Drew Studios. It was when Henry Stein left the studio. Literally only a year later. 

After that and hiring several new people. It may of been possible Joey Drew Studios could take the loss. But like I said…history wasn’t on their side. 

Through 30 years and an event that happened in 1963. What we will be talking about is the story of Joey Drew himself. Along with his studio. We have tried to gather as much as accurate information as possible. So we can tell the true story as much as possible. Including from workers who have given details of their work there. 

We try to go into these questions. What was Joey actually like? Why did he team up with the company known as Gent? How did Joey treat his employees? But we will also look into these strange urban legends that surrounded the studio.

Including why for some reason many employees old and new. Such as Susie Campbell, Samuel Lawrence, Derek Brooker, Daniel Lewek, Thomas and Allison Connor, Wally Franks, and many others. Including two young women by the name of Dorthey nicknamed Dot, and Audrey. But also the disappearance of Joey’s old friend Henry Stein in 1963.

Which leads to Joey’s brutal end with him being murdered by Linda Stein on live television for many audiences to see. But also to wonder what the future for Bendy will be. As Nicole Wayne, the leader of Jollymation Studios had obtained the rights to everything related to the studio. Including it’s classic characters. As of now, their new Bendy cartoons are a success.

Join me as we try to discover of who Joey Drew actually was. Including give the details about the downfall of Joey Drew Studios”

- Bradley Clark. Director of the 3 hour Netflix original documentary “The Story Of Joey Drew Studios”. Released in the middle of 2022.

“Remember our documentary of Joey Drew Studios? Yeah that was just made a year ago…..it was very successful. Including during that time. We also talked about Jollymation Studios obtaining the rights to the Bendy cartoons and everything related to Joey Drew Studios….and I do mean everything.

Our documentary was the most successful Netflix feature in the streaming services history. It was amazing. Including those new Bendy cartoons Jollymation were making became successful too. They managed to make mine and others dreams come true……

But in 2023……after a year of success with the Bendy characters…..something happened to Jollymation Studios…..something…..no one thought would of happened. Especially for what I’ve heard a very healthy and positive work environment. Where creativity was allowed and enjoyment for all audiences. Including what a wholesome and wonderful leader Nicole Wayne was who was running the studio…….

Something happened at Jollymation…..something that would change the world forever. But also truly reveal….what was Joey Drew Studios doing all those years ago.

If you were to tell me that during Joey Drew Studios run that Joey Drew teamed up with the Gent company to make an ink machine that brought cartoon characters to life. But it required sacrifices where Joey himself possibly murdered some or actually many of his employees to try to succeed in doing that. I would of said you were crazy.

But considering in 1999….I had nightmares too….about this…Ink Demon when I tried reviving the cartoons. Along with Gabriel Wayne who experienced the same things….and when years later the legendary Aaron Bluth committed suicide because he was saying a demonic version of Joey Drew was attacking him…..I felt like I should of done something earlier.

Yet now…..after the incident at Jollymation Studios…..we have two human survivors. Cassie Madra also known as Vivzisugar. Along with Gunnar Hirsch. The creator of, "Mystery Town” from Jollymation….but also many survivors….that weren’t….human anymore.

What you’re about to watch is a collection of fresh interviews from those two people….along with….what appears to be…. reincarnations of missing people….such as Henry Stein, Susie Campbell, Allison Connor, Wally Franks, Sammy Lawrence, Audrey, and whoever else can talk.

But we will also be showing footage that may be too disturbing for younger audiences. That may change the perspective of these classic cartoon characters. Which may destroy possibly your innocence as well.

We are thankful Cassie and Gunnar managed to get actual footage of what went on in Jollymation Studios during that week. Again….this footage may be disturbing to honestly general audiences everywhere. All what you will see….is real. Captured on cam corders.

Including we will be delving into the mindset of the madman that was known as Eric Richardson….the man who everyone in Jollymation when Hell was unleashed named him, “The Modern Devil”.

But also we’ll be talking about the first creation of the ink machine…..Bendy himself.

I’m Bradley Clark. Now here is the story of what happened to Jollymation Studios earlier this in 2023"

- Bradley Clark. Director of the 3 hour Netflix original documentary “The Fall Of Jollymation”. The anticipated sequel to “The Story Of Joey Drew Studios”. Released in the middle of 2023.

[diveronarpg]

Congratulations, GHOST! You’ve been accepted for the role of OTHELLO with a faceclaim change to Oscar Isaac. Admin Kaitlin: Oh man, Ghost, you have no idea how long I have been waiting for an Odin to bless our dashes. I’m not sure exactly what it is about him, but he’s one of those characters that has just always been enchanting to me, and I am so so so stoked that we’re finally going to have him on our dash. I absolutely loved the version of him that you gave us in this application, and I can’t wait to see where you take him from here! Please read over the checklist and send in your blog within 24 hours.

WELCOME TO THE MOB.

Out of Character

Alias | Ghost

Age | Twenty-four

Preferred Pronouns | She/Her

Activity Level | I haven’t been on tumblr, more specifically the rp world, in like a long ass time so it might take me a couple weeks to get back into the swing of things (this goes for writing too) but I am going to be on at the very, very least 3-4 times a week and that’ll be on a bad week tbh.

Timezone | EST

Current/Past RP Accounts | Yikes. These. Are. Old. They were all hard to find because my memory (and liking to weird and complicated urls) is a little foggy and 3 are from the same rpg but here you go! The last I had deleted interactions off of but it has A LOT of character building posts I made for her.

In Character

Character | Othello; Odin Bello. Can I use Oscar Isaac, please?

What drew you to this character? | I was originally looking at Delilah when she was auditioned for an taken up by the perfect player. So, I decided to read him and I fell in love. I love broody “bad” boys who are also hella loyal and lost. I like his mix of brutality and passion. There is so much room for him to develop and I always look for that in characters. The last bit of his bio also sums up perfectly what I see in Odin. A constant battle with himself, really.

All must learn a little bit of cruelty in a time where there is no room for kindness. All must learn to be a little kind in a time where the world only knows to be cruel.

What is a future plot idea you have in mind for the character? |

I. Bellamy. Out of all Odin’s connections, I feel I could have the most fun with this one and this is why this is a major plot idea I have stirring in my noggin. That is, of course, if it is ever feasible. It also plays into his and Bellamy’s connection to Pandora. He obviously wants to use Bellamy to potentially have a connection to the Montagues, to have someone inside to give him whatever information he needs. He also wants to take Pandora down. They are equal, but to him there could only be one brutal entity running around Verona. I’m sure he knows Bellamy’s annoyance with Pandora and what better way to find a way to tear her down than through Bellamy? If the blood is not on his own hands, how could he be guilty? If it wasn’t a Capulet that were to be Pandora’s demise, then there’d be no need for an outcry of more war. It seems to be the perfect concoction for a messy ending, but for who???

II. Delilah… I want Odin to regret the day he ever met her and not because of her supposed unfaithfulness, but because he was never man enough to love her right. I want him to watch her succeed and truly KNOW that he fucked up. I want him to try and make up for it and I want him to fail. Honestly, I am a sucker for hurting my own characters and what better way than giving Othello a taste of his own medicine?? It will also prove Ivan’s disloyalty to him and that would add a whole new level whenever this man comes into the picture in Diverona. I want Delilah to succeed so bad if you can’t tell.

III. PICK A SIDE ODIN!!! I want him to become one or the other. His mother or his father. I want there to be a downfall so hard that he either gives up all hope and becomes the monster people knew he would become or for him to see the errors in his way and try to make emends for them. No more broody, brutal and crying Othello. No more bloodshed. No more war. Every action has a consequence and so far he has gotten away free of harm. I want to tatter him up, strip him down and still see if he thinks brutality and kindness could have ever shared a home in the same body.

Are you comfortable with killing off your character? | Bring it on!

In Depth

What is your favorite place in Verona?

Odin took in a breath of fresh air, filling his lungs with the oxygen he knew he needed to survive. Some people say they don’t need a thing in this world to survive the bitter taste of reality. Yet, he knew as long as he was alive, he knew what it was like to need something so badly you would die for it. He felt he needed oxygen just as much as he neededVerona. To pick and choose a favorite place was like asking him if he’d rather go deaf or blind. He’d choose both over losing any spot or step he had in this city.

“I didn’t come back to this home to be asked to favor one area in it over the other,” He licked his lips, eyes looking around him. It was the closest thing he ever had to a home. “Would you pick a favorite child out of ten if you had them?” He laughed, something hollow and telling of the answer he already knew.

No.

Because when it comes to something you love, you love all of it, not just the pieces that bring you the most happiness or contentedness. Through all the ugly you love it. Just like through all the blood and glorious battle, Othello loved his fair Verona.

What does your typical day look like?

***6:00 AM: The alarm on his bedside table goes off, but he is already awake. The muscles in his shoulders ache from a sleepless night, but he reaches over and dismissing the tone before sitting up in bed. His feet hit the cold floor beneath him as he stretches out his body, groaning in what seems like pain. They tell you about the hurting and then the healing, but somehow he missed the healing.

6:05 AM: Hot water runs in the shower, the steam filling the room and fogging up the mirror. He stands, forehead against tile as his skin burns beneath the water. He prepares his mind for the day that follows. He remembers his father, his stern glare and harshness. He remembers how he is just like him and it helps his mind to adjust to the world he is about to enter. He reminds himself that kindness only gave him the hurting. He wonders when the healing will ever come.

6:30 AM: He is dressed in uniform, sitting in the driver’s seat of his vehicle. He waits for the cold to leave his bones, but it never does. He adjusts the mirrors and his walkie-talkie before starting his car and driving off. Verona seems still, but he knows the facade way too well to believe it to be true.

6:47 AM: A running car is parked on the side of the road, driver’s side open, body splayed out over the top of the hood. He puts his lights on and pulls over. When he comes up to the person, it is clear they are no longer a part of the land of the living. EDM pounds through the speakers of the car, the hood covered in rose-gold chromatic dust. He takes in a deep breath before going back to his car.

6:50 AM: Odin comes back with a bag of white powder, some wipes and a plan. There are no known users of what the Capulets call il sangue di Faerie and there is good reason for that. Even he doesn’t know much about the dust, but he’d protect his family no matter what. He might have been cold and hardened over, but he had always been a faithful man. His loyalties were concrete. So, he did what he could to hide the truth. He cleaned up the mess of Faerie’s Blood before wiping the cover-up drugs over unbreathing nostrils, sprinkling the rest over the hood that once shined like the lights of the night life that hid these secrets as well.

6:53 AM: “Dispatch, we have a problem,” He spoke calmly into his walkie-talkie, eyes never leaving the corpse in front of him. “We have an overdose victim on the side of the road about 3 miles away from The Dark Lady. Send medics immediately. Suspect appear to be dead. ” He waited only moments for a response that help was on the way. At least this person didn’t have to experience the hurting. If only he was able to stick around for the healing.

7:30 AM: The car door shuts. Odin watches what’s left of the scene before him. His heart rate is steady and his mindset unaffected by what just happened. This city was a battle field and there were bound to be fatalities along the way. Accidents happen, especially when it comes to Faerie’s Blood cocaine addiction…

8:00 PM: The rest of his day was uneventful. He comes home to silence, slipping out of uniform and kicking it to the side. There is a twinge in his chest that he can’t quite describe as he pulls the blankets aside and climbs into bed. He remembers and feels the hurting and thinks about the healing. He thinks about how if your dead you can never hurt and then there would be no need for the healing. Even if you’re only dead on the inside, it still counts. He is content enough then to slowly drift into a slumber.***

Odin laughed, taking in a deep breath. “You think being a law enforcement officer would be more interesting, but it really isn’t. On a bad day we catch a thief trying to steal some cigarettes or catch someone driving under the influence. Gotta keep the streets and people of Verona safe, yeah?” He licked his lips, knowing very well his real day-to-day life was more of a glorified cop show where something was always happening. If it wasn’t covering up drugs… it was covering up a murder.

Othello drew in a deep breath. “But if you really want to know. There’s never a dull day with the family. Do you think I dawn the uniform now because I fight for justice? Maybe for them, but it is a good disguise. What officer isn’t morally corrupt nowadays? It just seemed to work.” He also needed the boost after his discharge. “I became a hero and found a place I belong. So, in the end, who gives a fuck what I do in my day?”

What has been your biggest mistake thus far?

The answer was simple. No matter how much he hated to admit it and to reveal his heart, he knew no other answer to give. His jaw clenched with a whisper of pain, but what else was a strong and calloused man to do but than to swallow it down in one heavy gulp. “Falling in love,” His father also made the same mistake. “What else has it brought me other than betrayal and hurt?”

The Bello men weren’t made for love, his father made that clear, but sometimes the heart is stronger than the mind. Only his fists were never stronger than his heart when it came to Delilah. Even Odin was man enough to choose words over fists, but no one had ever told him that they could hurt all the same. His tongue always lashed out and he could see the pain in her eyes every single fucking time. The words still haunted him.

“You’re nothing but a harlot. Who will love you now, Delilah?”

But maybe his biggest mistake wasn’t actually falling in love, but letting other’s make him believe in the lies he also told. The same mistake that led to ruining a good name– hurting a beautiful and kind woman. He never deserved her and he never will. He was his father and she was his mother. Black and white. Cold and warm. Cruel and kind. They were the spitting image of what he grew up watching and everyone now had the answer to the question they asked for years. The question he even had deep beneath his ribs.

Which do you think he’ll turn out to be?

Which will I turn out to be?

What has been the most difficult task asked of you?

***“Bello.” his upper said sternly, making it known that he was serious in his decision. “You’re being discharged.” He knew words could hurt, but not like this. It was what was going to happen and had no control over it. He had been reckless and care free, but this was his way out of having to live brutally and lost. Yet, he wasn’t the soldier they needed with war on the horizon. “It’s for the best.”

“That’s what you think, but what if it’s not for the best?” He asked, tone slightly aggravated. He could feel his fists and jaw clench all the same. With a familiar anger he saw growing up. The same anger that swam through his veins. “This is where I belong.”

The other man shook his head, resting a hand on Odin’s shoulder. As if it were supposed to be comforting. As if it were going to fix things. “Sometimes where we think we belong is just a stop sign along the way to find your real home.”

Odin scoffed, pushing his uppers hand off of his shoulder. “Don’t pull that bubblegum bullshit with me. I’m not in the mood.”

“You need to leave. Before this gets out of hand.”

Out of hand? Them discharging him was out of hand, but he swallowed back the news like razors sliding down throat. He raised his arms in surrender before grabbing his things to leave. “You’ll regret this one day.” He said in a tone devoid of anything but anger.

At least he knew, even with the disappointment of this entire situation, that no one in this world could ever disappoint him more than himself. He thought the obstacles he tumbled through in his life before now were hard? Try losing the last thing you believed could fix you. Try leaving behind the only life you grew to love and care about. It was the hardest thing he was ever asked to do and it ended up being the thing he was best at… leaving.***

“Fuck this question.” He sighed, adjusting his shirt and standing up a little taller to make it seem as if it weren’t that big of a deal. “Being asked to leave the army was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I lost a lot.” He shrugged, like he always did when he wanted to brush off all the seriousness and hide that he was human– one who felt pain all the same. “But look at where I am at now. I wouldn’t be here if that didn’t happen, so, in a way I guess it was meant to be.”

What are your thoughts on the war between the Capulets and the Montagues?

“We’ve been fighting to choose sides for centuries.” Othello never bit his tongue when it came to his thoughts. Especially on war. “We’ve been battling, shedding blood, winning and losing for centuries. What makes now any different? I’ve seen all sides of war, this is just the same as the rest.” He shrugged, head tilting in a systematic sort of way. As if every question he was asked came with a question in return.

Shouldn’t you already know the answer?

“It’s human nature. If you really dig down deep, deep beneath the world’s kindness– it is built off of brutality and death. No resolution came without the conflict.” He laughed. “But sometimes people like the conflict a little too much to ever meet in the middle. Am I right? When have you last seen a war go on this long, if not to revel in the destruction?”

Extras: N/A

[gretchensinister]

6, 11, 15, and 19, please!

6: Which OC did you forget about?

If I could remember them, then they wouldn’t qualify forthis question, would they? Okay, but more seriously, in most cases, if I havean OC, and I’ve forgotten about them, I’ve also forgotten about the entirestory they’re in, so at least they’re not forgotten all alone, but are in thecompany of everyone else in that story. I don’t make characters just to makecharacters, and honestly I’m always a little surprised every time I rememberthat sometimes others do exactly that. However, interpreting this questionslightly differently, in the original fiction edited version of A Draught ofLight, I do have a character who’s actually pretty significant who kind of justvanishes near the end of the story. Presumably she went home, but like…withouteven saying goodbye, or without even commenting on all the crazy shit thathappened? I need to do another edit to give her a better exit.

11: Share the last paragraph you wrote.

Ah, this question comes at like the worst possible time,because the last full paragraph I wrote (as opposed to editing), I was thinkingas I wrote it, “I need to fix this later, this is a wall of text.” But here itis, anyway:

The doors opened onto a warmly-litspace that was bright enough to see everything up close, but dim enough thatthe brain ignored most of what was going on in the distance. A plush, velvetycarpet enveloped his bare feet, in a violet-red that immediately called to mindancient royalty. It drew away from him in a straight line and Pitch Black feltsure he knew what awaited him at the end. Because he knew this, he didn’t lifthis eyes right away.. Not straight ahead, at least. He wanted to get a bettersense of the room around him, first. Out of the corner of his eyes, the roomwas not so huge as he had first thought. Some of the walls were deeply polishedwood, and they reflected light from the chandeliers that have light to thewhole room. Pitch Black wasn’t going to stare at them too closely now, but hehad the impression that they were quite intricate. Along the walls, where therewasn’t polished wood, there were sections of stone, that seemed to glitter—no.The stone wasn’t glittering, those were pools and fountains. There seemed likean excessive amount of them, even if Sandy had a serious bath sex fetish (whichwouldn’t be bad, just surprising that it hadn’t been mentioned when so muchelse had) but then Cosmo supplied a more sensible answer. The pools andfountains were for everyone, and not necessarily for having sex in. Obviously,in a space where everyone was expecting to have as much sex as they wanted, itwould be a good idea to give people a chance to wash between partners or acts.And if Sandy had the money to buy him gold jewelry to wear for one night, itmade sense that he had enough money to put bath fixtures in that were luxuriousand fit the theme. The space in the rest of the room was taken up with beds andcouches, tables and chairs of many kinds, some curtains and screens providingmoderate separation between groupings. Opulent patterns and deep jewel tonesdefined almost everything in fabric. Off to the left, deep in the room, heglimpsed the gleam of wood and glassware that indicated a bar. All thisinformation about the things in the room he took in in an instant. He didn’tworry about it too much, either. What ought to draw his attention, and did,were the people. There were maybe twenty people there, maybe a few more, butnot a crowd. Which made sense, considering, well, the limits of humanendurance—and probably the management of group dynamics. Cosmo was suddenlystruck by the thought that Sandy just really liked friends with benefitsrelationships, and he also liked having a lot of friends.

15: How do you name settings/characters?

With settings, the thing that I keep in mind is that peoplearen’t really that creative when naming things. Is there a hill by the place?The place is going to be named after that, or maybe it’ll be named somethinglike “Hill in the language spoken when people first started living here” Hill.Is there a river? Is there a bay? Is there a certain type of tree really commonhere? A certain kind of weather? Is there a natural feature that looks like aneyeball/arm/leg/head/whatever? What’s the most memorable thing in the place’shistory? The place can be named after any of those kinds of things, and inalternate world stories I think of my naming as using a translation conventionso that the place names sound to the reader the same as they sound to the mainpoint of view character. The characters aren’t speaking English, but if theyhear the name of a place as, I don’t know, Redleaf, or something, then it’sgoing to be called Redleaf in the story.

Sometimes I do like to make up names for the sound, though,and for that, it depends utterly on the connotations I have of certain sounds.And that’s going to depend on…well,the entire history of English as well as my vocabulary and all my reading andreal life experiences. Also Tolkien, probably, because I read the Hobbit andLOTR as a kid, and JRR was much more serious about the development and sound oflanguage than I will ever be.

Oh, and in one of my settings, I name places by trying toimagine what a current place-name would sound like if it was used and garbledover a few thousand years.

Characters are a bit different. Sometimes I do go tobaby-naming websites if I have an idea of the sort of name I want, but moreoften I don’t, because looking up names isn’t furthering the story. If thesetting is on Earth, I’ll pick a name that I won’t mind writing or hearing inmy head for the whole story. Something I’ve heard or seen before. I likelearning random names in the hope that one of them will stick and I’ll be ableto find it when I’m trying to think up a name again.

Other things I have done to name characters: picked a wordthat has something to do with the character and run it through severaldifferent languages in a translator and changed it until it seemed more name-y;had a fantasy world where, for no reason but my whims, people’s names wereunusual, polysyllabic, but real, English words (I never finished that story butI had so much fun with the part I did write); and done the hideousaren’t-I-clever thing of naming my characters after other famous characters inthe English language literary canon. Hopefully I’ve given up this last.

Mainly, I try to choose ordinary names for characters thatcome from Earth, because I don’t really care for generational stories, sothere’s no way that the parents of a baby would know, when naming their baby,that the child would end up in any kind of adventure.

19: What does your editing/revising process look like?

For short things: I allow myself to write slowly, and then Ido one read through for both copyediting and content-level edits. This would bewhat I did for the stories for the kinkmeme prompts. I know it might sound alittle strange to characterize the writing of a story every two days as ‘slowwriting,’ but the stories were very short, of course.

And, honestly, for longer fics, it’s mostly the sameprocess, except chapter by chapter. For the novels that I really, really wantto be good, there’s at least two full editing rounds, as well as searches forwords that signal I used a weaker word than I could have (very, really, andothers).

But the process is just…reading everything slowly andcarefully, and changing what needs to be changed to make the story work betterand say what I want it to say. I don’t do things like printing everything outto make pen corrections by hand, I don’t change the size or font to literallysee the words differently, I don’t, Heaven forbid, just straight-up rewrite thewhole thing from scratch…I don’t do a lot of things.

Maybe I should, but no one’s called me out on my terribleediting yet.

Oh, and I also have a document where I can paste substantialsections or well-written, but irrelevant sentences that have been cut from thework to be published. That way I don’t have to feel bad about deleting stuffthat took me plenty of time and energy to produce, but I can still effectivelyget rid of it, while I know it’s still there if I need to put it back later. That’sprobably the closest thing to a Real Writing Tip here.

[natsubeatsrock]

My Incredibly Unpopular Thoughts on: Nalu II

Consider this post an OVA. After three years of infrequent posts in this series, I’ve made 13 editions of the series, which, incidentally equates to the number of episodes in a seasonal anime. (And yes, that means the Naruto post all count as one post to me.) So, now that the series is over and I at least hope that someone is interested in seeing more actual analysis against Nalu from me, I’ve decided to bring back this for one more go around.

Keep in mind that the point of this series is that I have a really big post devoted to my thoughts on a subject that I’ll refer to so I never have to talk about it again. A lot of this has and involves analysis but, as the name should imply, it’s clearly and obviously biased. For the most part, I explain my biases but I don’t make it a habit to apologize for having them. If you’re unconvinced, there are plenty of people more popular than me for disagreeing with me.

This should go without saying but read “My Incredibly Unpopular Thoughts on: Nalu” before reading this if you haven’t already. I don’t think this post leans as heavily as many of my other series-type posts do. However, I think it’s important to have a basic idea of my thoughts on Nalu and its fandom before going into this post. Not to mention, it’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever written for this blog, so...

You know, I'm not even sure if I wanted to do this. If you can't tell, I've been pretty chill about Nalu and very transparent about why. I feel as though I shouldn't have to make too many more posts about Nalu considering I don't see it as canon. I've been wanting to retire this series with the previous edition focusing on my favorite character for more than a year. And to be blunt, I wouldn't make this if it were just me talking about how canon Nalu isn't.

However, I've seen a few things that, even though I've addressed them in posts since the end, have pushed me close to the edge. The thing that really set me off has been a realization I, and other Fairy Tail analysts, have come in rewriting the series I already said in an earlier post. And trust me, I’ll get to that soon enough. (read: it’s close to the last thing I talk about)

But let's start with an easy one; I don't care about Twitter sketches. I don't mean that in the sense that I don't find enjoyment from seeing pictures Mashima puts on Twitter. Many are really good and one of the main reasons I got a Twitter was to see his tweets. I've reblogged tons of them, both original sketches and recolored versions and his original Stone Age comic is one of my favorite things he's done for the series.

I mean that in two other ways.

One: The sketches mean nothing to me in regards to if the ship makes sense or is canon.

The fact that Mashima draws Natsu and Lucy in XYZ situation means nothing about them actually being in XYZ situation in the actual series. After all, the series is over and the sketches have little if any bearing on the series. Your ship isn't canon because Mashima drew them for fun.

And I know someone is going to respond with something like, “You wouldn't feel that way if Mashima drew one of your ships.” You know, despite the fact that I said literally nothing about the Pocky Day sketches which involves Graylu. 

So, I'll use an example of one of my low-key ships: Natsu and Mirajane. Earlier, Mashima did a drawing of Mirajane and Natsu building a snowman together. And this past Valentine’s Day, he drew Mirajane giving a gift with Natsu giving one for White Day. You know what that means about their romantic prospect to me? Nothing! As cool as it is that he did it, the Natsu x Mirajane ship is still as out there as it would have been otherwise. I ship Natsu with Lisanna over her sister for a reason.

Two: I don't care about the sketches enough to bring this kind of thing up every single time Mashima draws Natsu and Lucy in the same picture. 

Everytime Mashima draws them together, someone comes into my inbox and tells me how stupid the Nalu fandom is for thinking that whatever wacky situation Mashima puts them in. Look, I've been in this fandom for long enough to know how this works: Mashima does literally anything Nalu related and it's praised as proof of Nalu as canon. This was always the case with even stupid developments in chapters. Now that those are gone, I'm not shocked the fandom moved to the only thing Mashima puts out for the series.

These exact same things are my thoughts on the Nalu/Gruvia kids from the NYCC trip. There are three quick differences I wanted to add. 

I get that Mashima didn't draw other ship kids but that's only because he wasn't asked to. 

The kids where a was waste of an opportunity to ask Mashima a question about the series, as thegreatrhapsode has proven with his list of 100 alternate questions. 

(I also came up with another 80 or so on some papers I can’t seem to find, though many of mine are more about Mashima and his works than about Fairy Tail.) 

As a fun warm-up for rewriting the series, I’ve been working on a scenario for them to exist and meet which will come out eventually. And, as I reiterate multiple times in said scenario, it’s only a hypothetical.

Now, despite talking about this in at least three prior posts, I want to talk about the Nalu ending.

IT'S NOT CANON!

There is no clear and established relationship canonically proven to exist between Natsu Dragneel and Lucy Heartfilia. I can't believe that this is an issue for so many people. There was no confession. There was no kiss. Honestly, I don't even think Lucy thanking Natsu is or even should be considered romantic.

One of the annoying schools of thought surrounding this ending is that Natsu and Lucy are canon, but aren't in an explicitly romantic relationship. That they clearly love each other, but they wouldn't kiss or stuff because that would be out of character. I've even seen people say Natsu chickened out of a confession.

I'm sorry? Are we talking about the same Natsu? I don’t mean that in the sense that there aren’t times where aspects of characters aren’t up for debate. I mean that in the sense of ���What convinced you that this was the right context for such a line of questioning?”

I don't think it's impossible for characters to be fearless and headstrong in some situations but timid and scared in another similar situation. I'm one of those people when it comes to performance versus public speaking. But Natsu hasn't been shown to be this kind of person when it comes to romance. Frankly speaking, romance isn't really an explored aspect of Natsu’s character. There are jokes about him and Lucy being a couple and Lisanna jokingly proposing to him, but that's not really grounds to believe he would be shy to confess to her. In a special edition magazine, it was even revealed that Natsu isn't even really interested in romance.

And then there's the other question from Comic-Con: Who do you think Natsu would end up with?

Again, this was a waste of a question. I know that sounds harsh and it’s a question that many people in the fandom may genuinely want to know. But was there literally anything more important that we could have gotten asked? Between two people, there’s a list of near 200 issues with Fairy Tail that were left unresolved at the end of the series. Even if it’s not about the plot hole ridden, contradictory, pseudo-success that Fairy Tail ended up becoming, you don’t want to know anything else about Hiro Mashima the person? I’ve read other works by him and I’d love to know more about Rave Master or Monster Soul or even the more recent Starbiter Satsuki.

That aside, as I said in the past, this was more conjecture than definite. This wasn’t, “Natsu will absolutely end up with Lucy later on in events after the end of the series”. If anything, this was “It’s most likely that, were the series to continue past the ending, Natsu might end up with the literal only female he could reasonably get away with forming a relationship with that isn’t Erza.” (I say even as I ship Natza. #multishipperprobz) He was later asked who Natsu would end up between Lucy and Lisanna and the answer was that it’s complicated. In other words, it’s not definitely in Lucy’s favor, as (and I only mention this because someone will inevitably bring this up if I don’t) it isn’t definitely in Lisanna’s favor.

But, let’s put all those actual facts aside for a bit and genuinely assume that the Nalu fandom is right about this. They’re not, but let’s assume they are. Mashima’s hilariously roundabout way of addressing the elephant in the room that is whether or not Natsu and Lucy are in a romantic relationship is outright confirmation that they are in fact a canon couple. I want you to consider how terrible this should actually be considered for the Nalu fandom.

Pretty much since I’ve been a fan of Fairy Tail, the expectation for Nalu was that they were definitely going to be canon in the series. There was near constant speculation of how and when this would happen. I even mentioned a few times Mashima could have made it canon if he wanted to when I broke down Nalu. The big one I remember, and one I even mentioned in that post, was when Natsu was coming back after the second time skip. This was right around when I started reading chapters of Fairy Tail weekly and actually seeing this made it seem like the fandom really cares about this ship happening.

Obviously, there was no confession at that time, obviously, that wasn’t the first time the fandom reacted in such a way and, obviously, the clamor for such a moment didn’t die down with time. There were plenty of instances where this thing would happen, pretty much up until the last chapter of Fairy Tail. Even going through old chapters of Fairy Tail, I can (only sort of) see where and when people who thought that Nalu was endgame would want a confession to be followed up.This was a big reason people were willing to put up with Fairy Tail despite knowing better. On top of all the terrible arguments used for defense of Nalu, the clear baseline assumption for a lot of it was obvious: “We [the people against Nalu] are all going to be proven wrong in the end”.

So, what does it say that the creator of the series comes out months after the last chapter and say that they end up becoming canon later on in events we don’t get to see? Shouldn’t that make the Nalu fandom seem mad? After 11 years worth of canon material, you couldn’t bother to give the fandom a proper, in-series ending? 

In the last chapter, we got 5 pages devoted to Mashima’s Zervis AU, positive signs towards Elfgreen and even a shoutout to Kinabra (it’s probably not as bad as people might think), but Natsu or Lucy can’t even get a thought bubble alluding to their potential romantic feelings that “were totally obvious and you’re blind if you can’t see this”. Every other ship in the Big 4 got, at least, a step forward. Even if you want to argue that what we got from Gruvia or Jerza doesn’t matter considering the Century Quest is a serious step back, Nalu didn’t even make a step forward, to begin with. If anything, it took several steps backward.

This is an incredibly unfair comparison for multiple reasons, but let’s look at the end of Fullmetal Alchemist (or Brotherhood for you anime fans). One ship’s hilariously awkward statement near the end of the last chapter of the series before going on a long journey was definitely supposed taken to be a love confession. And, surprise surprise, it was actually taken to be a love confession in series. On the last page, there’s a picture of their family. (I don’t mention names because I’m trying to keep some mystery for those who don’t know.)

And, because I apparently need to beat this point into the ground, let's talk about Mashima’s plan for Nalu. I feel like I shouldn't have to make any more discussion about this. But I’ve seen someone who said that Mashima’s words on Nalu mean that his plan might be to make them canon later on. In a post a two months after the end of the series. So if you think I was jokingly making a stupid argument with that open letter, you're sorely mistaken.

First off, we found this out during the last arc of the series. There's no way he could have made Nalu any type of reasonable romantic development given that Natsu and Lucy weren't simultaneously conscious during the chapters the afterword in question came out. And if you want to go by what volumes were released around that time, the latest one in the main series had Natsu groping Lucy. 

Again.

Keep in mind that assumes that there was enough for them to reasonably even end up in a romantic relationship with by the end of the arc anyway, which, of course, I don't think considering two months before, then I explained why Nalu was terrible in the prequel to this post. And of course, there was plenty of time for them to develop a romantic relationship in the five or six interactions they had in between then and the last chapter.

But consider that this is getting away from the main issue at hand: Mashima’s word on Nalu. He wasn't planning on writing them as a couple originally. And that isn’t just worried about how wasn’t planning on making more of the series past Phantom Lord. He said that their current relationship was somewhere between friends and lovers. That doesn't mean they'll go from friends to lovers. If anything, that means Natsu and Lucy have a relationship close to being siblings, where they care about each other a lot, but not in a romantic sense.

This is probably also a good time to beat my favorite dead horse again: “Natsu should (have) apologize(d).” Mashima is willing to admit that Natsu and Lucy have a really important relationship, to the point that his fans recognize that and want it to be romantic. Why would it make sense to cause a big break in that relationship, recognize that tension exists because of it, and do nothing about fixing it in any context? Now, consider how much of a failure this looks like when you're writing them as a close-knit relationship. 

I’m sorry, how is this better than Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon or the Inuyasha ship, WatchMojo folks?

And none of this is even why I've decided to make this post. This is all just extra stuff I've had on my mind before and during the writing of other smaller posts about Nalu. Some of this even came up while I made this post. But those are all small fries compared to the thing that really tipped me off.

This past May, I started going through how I would rewrite Nalu. I figured that, since the ship wasn’t going to be canon anyway but was still popular, there had to be some way I could work them into a romantic relationship. While it was part of the reason I got into rewriting the series as a whole, I realized that I wasn’t going to get very far doing this well. Not because I didn’t like the ship in the original Fairy Tail. But because it would make no sense to put them together given their character arcs.

That’s right. Nalu works against the individual character arcs of Natsu and Lucy.

Look at it this way: if you’re going to focus on Lucy as a character, you should focus on her membership of Fairy Tail. That was her dream at the start of the series. If you're going to on Natsu as a character, you should focus on his search for Igneel. That was his dream at the start of the series.

You see the issue?

Now, this wouldn't be that big of an issue if this changed through the series to a point where they realize they want to be with each other. But in Tartaros arc, they double down on their individual goals. While Natsu’s dreams are dealt with later in that arc, the reason Lucy tracks the guilds whereabouts in the next arc is that she still wants to be with them.

I have more I want to say about how it was handled and how I'd fix it another post, but this is too important to leave for later. Not only was Nalu terribly undeveloped. Not only was it never meant to be canon. Not only is it not canon. Even if it was meant to happen, it would work against both of their supposed character motivations.

There are definitely more things I can talk about. For instance, there’s the double 180 the Nalu fandom pulled where the fandom agreed Natsu and Lucy are definitely in love and would have a kid, shifted to saying that romantic stuff like that would be OOC for them, and shifted into saying they’d have a potentially kinky physical romantic relationship within the span of a few months with no self-awareness whatsoever. But at the end of the day, what would be the point? You know, other than sharing my thoughts with the world? I mean, for all I or anyone else can say about how this ship utterly fails in multiple different aspects, people will still believe Nalu is amazing and canon. There's very little I or anyone else can actually do about it. 

The Nalu master list is aesthetically nauseating, but it's more popular than the Nali one. Consider that my post about Nalu not being the original plan has only a fraction of the notes that other posts about that not being the right interpretation do. Many of the points I've torn apart regarding Natsu’s lack of apology are still being used as if they're totally fine. I’m willing to bet there are more posts about how Nalu is actually canon than there are likes/reblogs of my post about how Nalu isn’t canon. (For reference, the number is 12.)

This isn't a Nalu exclusive kind of thing considering I said similar things about Gruvia and Nali last year, but it's still annoying to see my least favorite thing in anime continue to be defended against all odds and reason. A while back, I even saw someone who made a chart about how much of Fairy Tail was pointing towards Nalu, as a teaser for a video they’re making. This series isn’t labeled “incredibly unpopular” for nothing.

I said this in an earlier post, but the anti-Nalu camp isn’t giving me much to enjoy either. I get it, I clearly still don’t like Nalu either. However, the way this fandom has been doing since the end of the series has been annoying. I get that the Nalu fandom is annoying, hypocritical and near unbelievable plenty of times. I’ve seen plenty of stupid with my own eyes and much of part 1 talks about my issues with the fandom. However, I’d love to learn more about why the actual ship fails for so many people then how so many people fail at convincing them.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that I’ll stop finding things to talk about Nalu-wise. A while back, I saw someone make a post about when Lucy could have fallen for Natsu. Next week, a list of 13 Fairy Tail chapters where I think you should have given up on Nalu happening (11 chapters which are in the main series and two special chapters) will be posted in the anti-Nalu tag in response. While some are obvious picks like 416 and 545, a few are places where Mashima could have helped Nalu’s case be more airtight but didn’t.

One of the big first steps to my rewrite of Fairy Tail is how to reconcile the aforementioned “Nalu problem” and I have a few things I have to get to before that. And with the final season of Fairy Tail coming, my own rereading of the series, and more rewriting of the series, I’ll definitely come up with more incredibly unpopular thoughts on one of the most popular things in Fairy Tail.

In Conclusion:

Nalu is trash. It’s not canon, it shouldn’t have been canon and be aware of anyone who would be willing to argue otherwise. 

[dirtycoolcatconfessions]

COOL CAT DVD PACKAGE FULL ANALYSIS

  As some of you may know, as a birthday present I have finally received the Cool Cat movie from a friend of mine. Seeing as I am the self-proclaimed front-runner of the ironic Cool Cat fandom, I feel it is my duty to provide you all with my full analysis of all that comes with this monstrosity, so strap in fellas, this is gonna be a long one.

  Here's an image of the full package:

  Alright, let's start off with the "Thank you for your purchase" type paper.

  Right off the bat, let me say that every paper (bar the "poster", though that one is still preeeetty bad, though I'll analyze that when we get to it) is literally just standard-fare 8.5x11 printer paper. Now, let's start from the top. It says "Cool Cat Productions" as opposed to Derek Savage Productions, what he listed in the movie from what I can remember, so that's pretty strange. To the sides you can see two horrendous pictures of the cartoon form of Cool Cat, which both look like they were drawn in different art styles, with the one on the right for some reason reminding me of some kind of old 2D Chuck E. Cheese drawing, and the other on the right appears to be crying out in pain with weirdly-detailed clothes, a curly pig-like tail, and looking like a failed attempt at perspective. After that it lists the website, (nothing new here) and the email, which uses Yahoo, which I find fairly unsurprising.

  Another thing I love which shows just how much love and care (sorry, "love" and "care") Derek puts into his products is the fact that it doesn't even specify what you ordered, (in addition, the fact that it lists "bookS", since Derek doesn't even have the Cool Cat books for sale, and the Cool Cat Stops Bullying book comes with every purchase of the DVD, and soundtrack, of which they don't sell at all, though I believe Derek stated something about wanting to sell it in the future) which really lets you know that Cool Cat Loves You in particular and cares who You are as a person. (The capitalization is really weird throughout the paper, especially when listing the various products you could have bought, really lending to the "Copy-paste" feel of the whole thing, and the Cool Cat Loves You part somehow evokes a ™ without one even being there.) Further down it asks you to print out free "Cool Cat Loves You" posters (instead of just saying Cool Cat posters, for whatever reason) which is strange for a vast number of reasons. First of all, the poster section of the website is NO LONGER ON THE WEBSITE, and second of all, using the Wayback Machine to go back to an instance when there was shows that the 11x17 "poster" is identical to the poster received in the movie package, which makes you wonder why you would want a second one. 

  (One fun thing to note about this image is the fact that promises that Cool Cat greeting and birthday cards are "Coming Soon!" which I feel really shows you just how much commitment Derek has towards his projects.)

  Back to the original paper, we reach the bottom third of the page, we have Derek begging you to tell everyone you know about Cool Cat so that they know it's time to cut off all ties with you, followed by a call to follow the official twitter @CoolCatLovesYou, officially confirming that that twitter is indeed the real one, fucking weird and not-so as it may seem. Then there are a number of images of potential merchandise you can buy, mainly consisting of the horrendously drawn books that Derek isn't even selling because he's "still looking for a publisher." (Yeah, he couldn't get anyone to publish his books, what a fucking surprise, right? In addition, upon incredibly close inspection of these low-res images, I found that they don't even list the "Illustrated by" that's shown on the Cool Cat Stops Bullying book that came with the movie, since Derek wasn't actually the one who drew this shit. And it's not because it was only on the Cool Cat Stops Bullying book, since among the books on here IS that exact book, sans the "Illustrated by" like all others on the page. I just found that interesting.) Finally, reaching the very bottom of the FIRST ARTICLE OF LIKE 6 (told you it was gonna be a long one) we have a reminder to visit Cool Cat online for Game"s" (There's only one game on the Cool Cat page, "Cool Cat's Fun MatchGame") "Cartoons" (Neither of the two cartoons are accessible from the current page anymore) and More! (Which if by more you mean continuous self-advertising, shitty web design, and child-unfriendly content that can be easily clicked to from the page.) 

  Alright so, the next article, well, honestly I'm not sure what to call this one. It's got two sides, so let's start with the side I'll probably spend less time on.

  Alright, so I guess this side is some kind of info paper? Still not sure what to refer to it as. If you notice at the top it lists the quote that's on the cover, "Cool Cat is Cooler than Barney the Dinosaur!" and I would like to bring to attention the fact that the quote is attributed to Ben Daka, the producer of Cool Cat Loves You, which helps in making the quote seem as incredibly unbiased as possible. (Also yeah, the fact that someone actually produced this steaming pile of dogshit surprises me likely just as much as it might you.) It proceeds to list the summary of the movie, saying what kinds of movies it is, etc. etc. etc. It also lists that it "Includes FOUR Original Cool Cat Songs" however as someone who has watched the movie before online when it was on Youtube for a brief day or two before getting taken down, I can say that there are only two that actually play in the movie proper, "Cool Cat Boogie" and "Cool Cat Loves To Rock", while one is only in the movie as an instrumental while the actual lyrics are only in the DVD menu from what I can remember ("Cool Cat is My Best Friend") and the other only plays during the credits, and is just the song from the now-defunct Cool Cat "cartoon" ("Cool Cat is Cool") however the one in the credits does have an instrumental track behind it, but I'm too lazy to find somewhere you can find that version at the moment.

  Moving on, we have the "STARRING" portion of the page, in which it lists Vivica A. Fox and Erik Estrada despite their 2-3 minute appearances. In addition, if read from right to left, then it technically lists Vivica first, and even if you do read it from center outwards, the way it was likely intended, it still has Derek listed where you would most likely begin reading instead of Cool Cat, which I feel really shows off his vanity.

After that, we have the imperative ">Get Your COOL CAT Today<" which makes it sound like some kind of cat adoption poster or something. After that there's the blatant lie of "We Appreciate Your Business" followed by a statement saying that discounts for schools, libraries, and stores are available, which honestly makes me wonder if there are any places that even carry the movie that aren't online. Also it's kinda weird that they'd have that on one of the papers that comes with the movie. Does Derek expect people to be so blown away by their movie that they just have to bring this flyer to stores and shit so that others can feel the joy of the movie? I don't fucking know this entire analysis is just me talking to myself and probably pointing out shit you could have noticed yourself, but hey if that's not what the blog itself is I don't know what is. Anywho, another fun thing to note is the fact that according to the flyer, the runtime of the movie is 75 minutes, which actually makes it debatable as to whether or not it could actually be considered a film. Final thing to note of this side is that I was indeed correct in my previous assumption that the movie was supposedly made by "a Derek Savage Productions" as opposed to the "Cool Cat Productions" stated on the earlier paper, which is weird.

Anywho, next side of the paper, let's go.

  Now this side, this side infuriates me to no end. It's pretty much one glorified advertisement for the movie you already purchased. To save on time, I think I'll probably speed through this one tbh since the last time I wrote this thing it took me like 4 hours and it mainly consisted of pointing out every little thing on the page, so I'll just give the main things. First of all, why the fuck would you advertise your own movie in the flyer that comes with the fucking movie??? In addition, why does it advertise the books? As I previously established, the books aren't for sale, since Derek's still looking for a publisher. After that, it states that there are Cool Cat eBooks, which I'm pretty sure there aren't any, and they wouldn't even need a publisher I don't think. Also, just to point out, Derek actually managed to misspell merchandise as "MERCHINDISE" at the very top.

  The movie also claims to be a "DOVE AWARD" winner. After some research (I.E. one single google search) I found that the "Dove Award" is actually an award given to exceptional Christian music, so unless the soulful ballad of "COOL CAT IS COOOOOOL" won one of those, I find it highly doubtful that its correct. Next to it, you can see a logo with the words "FAMILY APPROVED" and "ALL AGES". This is the "award" Derek was actually talking about, which is really just an organization that makes sure that movies are family friendly, which sure is a real fucking accomplishment. Below that the flyer claims that it's **STARRING** Vivica A. Fox & Erik Estrada, who really nailed their 2 minute "starring" roles. After that there's some quotes, including one by the late Adam West, may he rest in peace, saying "Cool Cat is Cool!" despite the fact that on the Cool Cat site the quote from West actually says "Cool Cat is Fun!" which shows just how trustworthy this quote was, plus the fact that Derek most likely got the majority of celebrity quotes by walking up to them and asking them to say it. After that there's a quote of "I Love Cool Cat!" from Bo Derek, an actress starring in such great films as Tarzan the Ape Man,  Bolero, and my personal favorite, Ghosts Can't Do It. (All of those films had incredibly negative reception btw, apparently all three of which won her three seperate Golden Raspberry Awards). Finally, below the advertisement for some hideous hats and shirts, there's the godawful pun of "Get Your Cool Cat Purr-chindise" which manages to misspell the latter half of merchandise again, though on the current website, it says "Purr-chandise" so Derek had to have fixed it sometime, but seeing as this flyer is advertising the hats which only just came out a month or two ago, this flyer was made recently, so I don't fucking know.

Moving on, we've got the Cool Cat Loves You Poster.

  The first thing to note is that the poster feels like it was made on 11x17 printer paper, and all-in-all feels really low quality. In addition, it's fairly creased and banged up since Derek apparently doesn't know that you're supposed to roll up posters when shipping them. The main thing I want to note that stands out to me is the fucking background. When I first got it, I thought Derek, like, spilled coffee on it or something, but when I went to look at those posters online using the Wayback Machine, I found that it was completely intentional. I have no worldly idea why anyone would think that this would make a good background, since it gives off either an accidental coffee spill vibe or a 1984-esque dilapidated post-apocalyptic "Big Brother is Watching" sign from it.

That's about all I have to say for the poster, so let's move on to the keychain.

First of all, I'm debating whether or not to put this keychain anywhere since I would probably run a high risk of getting the shit kicked out of me. Anywho, there's not much to say here, it feels like a generic truck stop souvenir keychain, except the fact that Cool Cat is weirdly not centered is bothering me.

Here's the back side to the keychain.

  Again, not much to say, other than the fact that I never want to see the question "Got Cool Cat?" ever again.

  Now we have the book that came with the movie, Cool Cat Stops Bullying. Here's the front cover:

  As you can see the art is fucking hilarious and it looks like Cool Cat is being held at gunpoint. And again, I'd like to point out that it wasn't even Derek who drew this, it was some guy named Robert Rainbow. Imagine paying someone to draw your book and getting this in return. Also, fun thing to note, Daddy Derek is actually a cat in this one (Yes, that is actually supposed to be Derek, since Cool Cat refers to him as Daddy Derek in the book) which poses the question of why the ever-loving FUCK isn't Derek a cat in the movie? (I'll tell you why, it's because Derek still thinks he's hot and wants to show off his "body" in the movie, plus the fact that he was likely way too cheap to have more than one costume made, though it could have easily been avoided by not having the parents, namely Derek, show up often, or in such complex scenes, etc etc. You get the drift, it's just lazy and self-aggrandizing).

Following that, there's the back of the cover.

  Again, not much to analyze in detail, except for the fact that Derek would apparently charge $3.49 for this shitty thing, despite the fact that you can read it in around 2 minutes or under.

  After that there's the side of the cover, which actually has some sad little tidbits of its own.

  If you look closely enough, you can see that the book is fucking stapled together, which I find hilariously depressing. In addition, the publisher is sourced as "Blue Thunder Books" which from my extensive google searching towards the topic, doesn't seem to be a real publisher.

  I would love to post every page of the book itself, but I feel like that might be grounds for some kind of copyright takedown from Derek, though I'll continue looking for some legal way for you guys to see each page, since each one has an illustration, and they're fucking hysterical. Here's a single image for you guys as a little teaser:

  Anywho, onto what you all have been waiting for, the main attraction, the only thing that was purchased and all this other junk just came with for free: The movie. You all have probably seen the box a hundred times, so there's not much for me to analyze there, but here's the front:

  One thing I'd like to point out that I haven't seen anyone else discuss is the fact that Derek and Maria, though most notably Maria, are incredibly low quality and poorly cropped in, to the point where you can't really even make out Maria's face since it's so blurry.

Here's the back:

And here's the side:

  What's interesting to note here is the fact that on the top of the side there's two little icon image things, one of Cool Cat, and one of Vivica Fox, both of which are pretty low quality.

Anywho, enough stalling. Time to open this motherfucker up.

  I'll be honest, when I first opened this thing up, the first thing I noticed was the smell, oddly enough. It's really hard for me to describe, though I will say it's a weirdly bitter, sour smell, maybe something like glue mixed with something else. I have no idea. Anywho, as it was previously pointed out by YMS, the image on the disc is literally a fucking sticker. Unlike YMS's, however, is the fact that it doesn't come off just by breathing on it, so I'm guessing it was just glued to the disc. In all honesty, I haven't even put the disc in my computer to play it yet, since I'm afraid I'll either somehow get a virus from it or that it'll melt inside my computer. I'll just put it in.

Okay, so after putting the disc in the DVD the Disc Drive I got this.

Alright, so there are two folders, the audio one is empty. Great. Then there's the video one.

No idea what this means. Guess I'll have to play it on a DVD player for now.

  Anywho, I guess that there wraps up my analysis! It was mainly me just blabbing on and on about things you probably don’t care about, and doesn't really have a conclusive "end'' or anything, but hey if anything else pops up I'll be sure to notify you guys. Thanks for reading this far if you did, and hopefully Tumblr won't crash before I can post it this time.

[pavanblazze]

Chapter 2: Drew Fanningham

“It started to snow again eh,” I look up at the sky and dredge my feet through the snow making it to my truck parked down the side walk and slam the door shut, which dropped the icicle build up on my door. I took a cigarette and light it as usual using my old rusty lighter and take a deep drag on it and release the smoke in a sigh. “It is going to be a shitty day at work again,” I say to myself and start to drive, with the half-burnt cigarette pushed to the side of my lips. I originally used to work as a delivery guy for amazon, but quit it seven months ago as I didn’t like to be pressured into delivering two hundred fifty parcels a day and pee in a bottle to keep up the pace. I drove my pickup truck through the city with my eyes aimlessly wandering this grey rundown city. We are pretty accustomed to the grey on the walls, the white in the snow, the black from the night. City lives are always dull like that perhaps, or maybe that’s what it means to live in a city. I check the time on my worn out old fossil watch that I bought for myself as a present few years ago, on getting the job at amazon. It was already half past one in the afternoon. The murky skies made it feel puzzling to perceive the time of the day, as this city was always with this damp, dull sky raining at us with ash colored snow. I was feeling hungry and I took a right and into Morrison street, where I parked the road and entered a diner named “Bill’s bar’n’diner”.

I went and took a seat near the third window from the entrance where I had been sitting for a few years now. I was just looking at the grey sky wondering if the sky ever changed its color to blue in this city. I certainly did not see it happen in my 12 years here. Though I did see the blue sky once, I joined my neighbors and their kids and got dragged to a remote farm somewhere far away where I was made to pick cow shit and do many other menial tasks for an entire week. Though I don’t resent it now, it just serves me as a memory of a place where the sky was still blue, and the farm was full of plants and fruits that were full of color. I now envy that family who lived there, along with my then neighbors who knew them somehow, as they might get to see the blue sky everyday and bask in the sun.

“Let me guess, beef lasagna again?” came a voice towards me. It was Henry, the waiter who works in the diner. “No Henry, I was thinking to eat a pork shoulder today, with some salad on the side maybe?” I answer him and turn my gaze back at my window again looking at those same old clouds. Henry was an African American man, would easily be in his fourties, was working in this diner ever since I started coming here. “Really? No lasagna today? Oh lord! you’re planning to skip work today, aren’t you? Is everything okay Drew?” I was startled by his response. I haven’t really thought about skipping work altogether, maybe I was about to do that. Or Henry just assumed that’s the case. In any event I was just hungry at that moment. “Just get me a pork shoulder Henry...” I said to him in a low mellowed voice and he finally moved from his position. I was back at my cloud gazing when the radio in the diner started to announce news about the parade that’s going to happen in the city in a few days and how they blocked off major roads in the city. “Great, just when I thought my day couldn’t get any better.” I took a deep sigh. Not only it was snowing but now, the roads were blocked. Such a shitty way to start my day. Maybe I should just stick to Henry’s version and skip work today as it doesn’t seem favorable at all.

“Here you go Drew!” Henry walked towards my table with a portion of pork shoulder with a dark glaze on it probably from the sauce. I pull the plate towards me before I realized that Henry got himself a plate of food and sat on the opposite side of the table. “Shouldn’t you be working Henry?” I asked him holding my knife and fork looking at him. He just smirked at me in reply. “I am on my lunch right now, so you don’t get to boss me around man!” I gave a sigh as it can’t be helped. Henry likes to join me in lunch and sit at my table sometimes. Whenever he does, he always asks me one thing.

“How long are you going come here and eat beef lasagna?” asked Henry with half of the chicken wing still sticking out of his pursed lips with his eyes giving me a cold stare. “I told you many times Henry, I am used to living alone now for many years. I don’t want to burden myself with another person living with me.” I said trying to dodge the question. “There will be a time when you wish you had a wife Drew. That’s fact! You can’t escape from facts young man. You outta eat from a woman’s hand to keep that body of yours running for a few more years before hitting the service station like ours,” said Henry in his typical grease monkey flair, as he used to work in a garage previously. I took a deep sigh and light a cigarette in the diner looking out through the window at the same boring monochromatic view wondering what exactly is it that keeps pulling my gaze back at it. “I can’t change your opinion Drew, if only I had a daughter, I would have unleashed her on you I say,” he said while he chuckled. “Thanks Henry. But I can take care of myself.” I raised from my seat, putting my coat back on me and shake Henry’s hand and leaving him the money and tip for his company and walked towards the door. “Watch out for the roadblocks! The parade’s got it blocked all the main roads ya know,” reminded Henry as he sat at his seat finishing up his lunch. I tipped my hat looking towards him and walked out of the diner.

I walk through the grey snow covered concrete streets wondering if my life would have been any different if I had a wife. Would it be filled with more color? Or would she just blend into the many shades of grey that this city displays eventually turning pale and cold. Maybe I always wanted to move out of this city, or maybe I wanted to get a better job first. Whatever the reasons maybe, I wasn’t ready for a wife. I am not a needy young man that marries to get rid of loneliness. I wife would never let me drink the whole bottle of my favorite bourbon or spend a week without a shower. Would be nice if she did my laundry and cleaned the house, but honestly who would like to do that these days. Maybe she would, if she was innocent and hopeful about the world but I don’t want corrupt someone like that. The images of a girl I have seen many years ago in a farm started to come to mind. She had a good stature for a girl working in a farm and carried a cheerful disposition. I can’t forget her auburn hair and radiant smile, even while wearing a shabby blue dress she wore while doing farm work. Her family would wake up very early in the morning to begin the farm work. I sat there with my eyes still sleepy on the haystack when I saw her for the first time. She was wearing a long skirt dress and walked towards me carrying a pail of water with her both hands as her face was filled with early morning sweat with the sunrise glow coming up from behind her. Her hair gleamed in a scarlet orange while her wet blue dress glimmered from the first sunbeams. As she tried to wipe her face to her sleeves her green eyes would glisten. That was my first memory filled with colors. If I hadn’t seen her, I would probably get used to this bland tasteless grey life in this city.

I didn’t remember her name but I strongly felt it started with an L. “Would my life be different if.. nah, that’s not going to happen.” As I was consumed by my drifting thoughts I noticed that it started to snow as a snowflake ended up on my skin. I start to walk on a quick pace and was surprised that the path I just walked to the diner was barricaded. “Bloody great! I have to walk all the way around the block to get to my car.” I drop my cigarette on the snowy side walk and start to walk through the side corners of the building to escape from the falling snow. It was where I stumbled upon what appeared to be a woman shivering in cold. To my surprise the color of her hair was very nostalgic, like I saw it before somewhere. Even that murky blue colored dress. I thought people in this city mostly wore grey clothes. One must be rich to afford clothes colored anything other than the boring grays. But again, if they were opulent enough, why would she be sitting in the falling snow like this. I approached her and realized that she was carrying a large leather trunk. Leather trunks are out of fashion for over twenty years from now. Who ever bought that, definitely got it over a long time ago.  My strange feeling that I have seen the same colors somewhere before grew stronger as I got closer to this person. Maybe it was that same girl from the farm. How could it be? What is the chance that she is sitting in a nameless alley in this city from a far away farm. But I decided to try my luck uncovering the truth. I approach the lady. “L…Linda..Lucy.. Laura… Larissa.. Leila!” That’s right! Her name was Leila.

I walked up to her and put my hand over her shivering shoulder, “Leila, is that you?” She turned towards me and looked towards my face. She had green eyes. It must be her! But is it really her? Or is my memory hazy. “You seem oddly familiar sir, who might you be?” she said. It was her without a doubt. I exclaimed, “oh my god, what are you doing here?”

[diveronarpg]

Congratulations, GHOST! You’ve been accepted for the role of OTHELLO. Admin Rosey: We’re so happy you returned to us! Othello has always been one of my favorite characters because of his complexity and depth. The voice that you’ve given to emphasizes the humanity, which hurts all the more. You have no idea how ecstatic we are to see him return and watch him claim the throne.  The version of him that you’ve portrayed for us gives us such hope that he will swindle all of our hearts ruthlessly. Who else is ready for some Othello and Desdemona to ruin our lives? Please read over the checklist and send in your blog within 24 hours.*

WELCOME TO THE MOB.

Out of Character

Alias | Ghost

Age | Twenty-four

Preferred Pronouns | She/Her

Activity Level | I don’t have a job anymore so I’m back \m/ about a 6.5 this time around.

Timezone | EST

Current/Past RP Accounts | Yikes. These. Are. Old. They were all hard to find because my memory (and liking to weird and complicated urls) is a little foggy and 3 are from the same rpg but here you go! The last I had deleted interactions off of but it has A LOT of character building posts I made for her.

In Character

Character | Othello; Odin Bello. 

What drew you to this character? | I was originally looking at Delilah when she was auditioned for an taken up by the perfect player. So, I decided to read him and I fell in love. I love broody “bad” boys who are also hella loyal and lost. I like his mix of brutality and passion. There is so much room for him to develop and I always look for that in characters. The last bit of his bio also sums up perfectly what I see in Odin. A constant battle with himself, really.

All must learn a little bit of cruelty in a time where there is no room for kindness. All must learn to be a little kind in a time where the world only knows to be cruel.

What is a future plot idea you have in mind for the character? |

I. Bellamy. Out of all Odin’s connections, I feel I could have the most fun with this one and this is why this is a major plot idea I have stirring in my noggin. That is, of course, if it is ever feasible. It also plays into his and Bellamy’s connection to Pandora. He obviously wants to use Bellamy to potentially have a connection to the Montagues, to have someone inside to give him whatever information he needs. He also wants to take Pandora down. They are equal, but to him there could only be one brutal entity running around Verona. I’m sure he knows Bellamy’s annoyance with Pandora and what better way to find a way to tear her down than through Bellamy? If the blood is not on his own hands, how could he be guilty? If it wasn’t a Capulet that were to be Pandora’s demise, then there’d be no need for an outcry of more war. It seems to be the perfect concoction for a messy ending, but for who???

II. Delilah… I want Odin to regret the day he ever met her and not because of her supposed unfaithfulness, but because he was never man enough to love her right. I want him to watch her succeed and truly KNOW that he fucked up. I want him to try and make up for it and I want him to fail. Honestly, I am a sucker for hurting my own characters and what better way than giving Othello a taste of his own medicine?? It will also prove Ivan’s disloyalty to him and that would add a whole new level whenever this man comes into the picture in Diverona. I want Delilah to succeed so bad if you can’t tell.

III. PICK A SIDE ODIN!!! I want him to become one or the other. His mother or his father. I want there to be a downfall so hard that he either gives up all hope and becomes the monster people knew he would become or for him to see the errors in his way and try to make emends for them. No more broody, brutal and crying Othello. No more bloodshed. No more war. Every action has a consequence and so far he has gotten away free of harm. I want to tatter him up, strip him down and still see if he thinks brutality and kindness could have ever shared a home in the same body.

Are you comfortable with killing off your character? | Bring it on!

In Depth

What is your favorite place in Verona?

Odin took in a breath of fresh air, filling his lungs with the oxygen he knew he needed to survive. Some people say they don’t need a thing in this world to survive the bitter taste of reality. Yet, he knew as long as he was alive, he knew what it was like to need something so badly you would die for it. He felt he needed oxygen just as much as he needed Verona. To pick and choose a favorite place was like asking him if he’d rather go deaf or blind. He’d choose both over losing any spot or step he had in this city.

“I didn’t come back to this home to be asked to favor one area in it over the other,” He licked his lips, eyes looking around him. It was the closest thing he ever had to a home. “Would you pick a favorite child out of ten if you had them?” He laughed, something hollow and telling of the answer he already knew.

No.

Because when it comes to something you love, you love all of it, not just the pieces that bring you the most happiness or contentedness. Through all the ugly you love it. Just like through all the blood and glorious battle, Othello loved his fair Verona.

What does your typical day look like?

***6:00 AM: The alarm on his bedside table goes off, but he is already awake. The muscles in his shoulders ache from a sleepless night, but he reaches over and dismissing the tone before sitting up in bed. His feet hit the cold floor beneath him as he stretches out his body, groaning in what seems like pain. They tell you about the hurting and then the healing, but somehow he missed the healing.

6:05 AM: Hot water runs in the shower, the steam filling the room and fogging up the mirror. He stands, forehead against tile as his skin burns beneath the water. He prepares his mind for the day that follows. He remembers his father, his stern glare and harshness. He remembers how he is just like him and it helps his mind to adjust to the world he is about to enter. He reminds himself that kindness only gave him the hurting. He wonders when the healing will ever come.

6:30 AM: He is dressed in uniform, sitting in the driver’s seat of his vehicle. He waits for the cold to leave his bones, but it never does. He adjusts the mirrors and his walkie-talkie before starting his car and driving off. Verona seems still, but he knows the facade way too well to believe it to be true.

6:47 AM: A running car is parked on the side of the road, driver’s side open, body splayed out over the top of the hood. He puts his lights on and pulls over. When he comes up to the person, it is clear they are no longer a part of the land of the living. EDM pounds through the speakers of the car, the hood covered in rose-gold chromatic dust. He takes in a deep breath before going back to his car.

6:50 AM: Odin comes back with a bag of white powder, some wipes and a plan. There are no known users of what the Capulets call il sangue di Faerie and there is good reason for that. Even he doesn’t know much about the dust, but he’d protect his family no matter what. He might have been cold and hardened over, but he had always been a faithful man. His loyalties were concrete. So, he did what he could to hide the truth. He cleaned up the mess of Faerie’s Blood before wiping the cover-up drugs over unbreathing nostrils, sprinkling the rest over the hood that once shined like the lights of the night life that hid these secrets as well.

6:53 AM: “Dispatch, we have a problem,” He spoke calmly into his walkie-talkie, eyes never leaving the corpse in front of him. “We have an overdose victim on the side of the road about 3 miles away from The Dark Lady. Send medics immediately. Suspect appear to be dead. ” He waited only moments for a response that help was on the way. At least this person didn’t have to experience the hurting. If only he was able to stick around for the healing.

7:30 AM: The car door shuts. Odin watches what’s left of the scene before him. His heart rate is steady and his mindset unaffected by what just happened. This city was a battle field and there were bound to be fatalities along the way. Accidents happen, especially when it comes to Faerie’s Blood cocaine addiction…

8:00 PM: The rest of his day was uneventful. He comes home to silence, slipping out of uniform and kicking it to the side. There is a twinge in his chest that he can’t quite describe as he pulls the blankets aside and climbs into bed. He remembers and feels the hurting and thinks about the healing. He thinks about how if your dead you can never hurt and then there would be no need for the healing. Even if you’re only dead on the inside, it still counts. He is content enough then to slowly drift into a slumber.***

Odin laughed, taking in a deep breath. “You think being a law enforcement officer would be more interesting, but it really isn’t. On a bad day we catch a thief trying to steal some cigarettes or catch someone driving under the influence. Gotta keep the streets and people of Verona safe, yeah?” He licked his lips, knowing very well his real day-to-day life was more of a glorified cop show where something was always happening. If it wasn’t covering up drugs… it was covering up a murder.

Othello drew in a deep breath. “But if you really want to know. There’s never a dull day with the family. Do you think I dawn the uniform now because I fight for justice? Maybe for them, but it is a good disguise. What officer isn’t morally corrupt nowadays? It just seemed to work.” He also needed the boost after his discharge. “I became a hero and found a place I belong. So, in the end, who gives a fuck what I do in my day?”

What has been your biggest mistake thus far?

The answer was simple. No matter how much he hated to admit it and to reveal his heart, he knew no other answer to give. His jaw clenched with a whisper of pain, but what else was a strong and calloused man to do but than to swallow it down in one heavy gulp. “Falling in love,” His father also made the same mistake. “What else has it brought me other than betrayal and hurt?”

The Bello men weren’t made for love, his father made that clear, but sometimes the heart is stronger than the mind. Only his fists were never stronger than his heart when it came to Delilah. Even Odin was man enough to choose words over fists, but no one had ever told him that they could hurt all the same. His tongue always lashed out and he could see the pain in her eyes every single fucking time. The words still haunted him.

“You’re nothing but a harlot. Who will love you now, Delilah?”

But maybe his biggest mistake wasn’t actually falling in love, but letting other’s make him believe in the lies he also told. The same mistake that led to ruining a good name– hurting a beautiful and kind woman. He never deserved her and he never will. He was his father and she was his mother. Black and white. Cold and warm. Cruel and kind. They were the spitting image of what he grew up watching and everyone now had the answer to the question they asked for years. The question he even had deep beneath his ribs.

Which do you think he’ll turn out to be?

Which will I turn out to be?

What has been the most difficult task asked of you?

***“Bello.” his upper said sternly, making it known that he was serious in his decision. “You’re being discharged.” He knew words could hurt, but not like this. It was what was going to happen and had no control over it. He had been reckless and care free, but this was his way out of having to live brutally and lost. Yet, he wasn’t the soldier they needed with war on the horizon. “It’s for the best.”

“That’s what you think, but what if it’s not for the best?” He asked, tone slightly aggravated. He could feel his fists and jaw clench all the same. With a familiar anger he saw growing up. The same anger that swam through his veins. “This is where I belong.”

The other man shook his head, resting a hand on Odin’s shoulder. As if it were supposed to be comforting. As if it were going to fix things. “Sometimes where we think we belong is just a stop sign along the way to find your real home.”

Odin scoffed, pushing his uppers hand off of his shoulder. “Don’t pull that bubblegum bullshit with me. I’m not in the mood.”

“You need to leave. Before this gets out of hand.”

Out of hand? Them discharging him was out of hand, but he swallowed back the news like razors sliding down throat. He raised his arms in surrender before grabbing his things to leave. “You’ll regret this one day.” He said in a tone devoid of anything but anger.

At least he knew, even with the disappointment of this entire situation, that no one in this world could ever disappoint him more than himself. He thought the obstacles he tumbled through in his life before now were hard? Try losing the last thing you believed could fix you. Try leaving behind the only life you grew to love and care about. It was the hardest thing he was ever asked to do and it ended up being the thing he was best at… leaving.***

“Fuck this question.” He sighed, adjusting his shirt and standing up a little taller to make it seem as if it weren’t that big of a deal. “Being asked to leave the army was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I lost a lot.” He shrugged, like he always did when he wanted to brush off all the seriousness and hide that he was human– one who felt pain all the same. “But look at where I am at now. I wouldn’t be here if that didn’t happen, so, in a way I guess it was meant to be.”

What are your thoughts on the war between the Capulets and the Montagues?

“We’ve been fighting to choose sides for centuries.” Othello never bit his tongue when it came to his thoughts. Especially on war. “We’ve been battling, shedding blood, winning and losing for centuries. What makes now any different? I’ve seen all sides of war, this is just the same as the rest.” He shrugged, head tilting in a systematic sort of way. As if every question he was asked came with a question in return.

Shouldn’t you already know the answer?

“It’s human nature. If you really dig down deep, deep beneath the world’s kindness– it is built off of brutality and death. No resolution came without the conflict.” He laughed. “But sometimes people like the conflict a little too much to ever meet in the middle. Am I right? When have you last seen a war go on this long, if not to revel in the destruction?”

Extras: N/A