#i will probably never actually spell your name correctly

[larluce]

I had an idea for a Post canon merthur AU!!

I don't know if you have seen Sakura Card Captor? Well, there is a character called Yukito that has double personality/two alter egos. One that is a regular human being with sunshine personality called Yukito and the other that is a literal Angel/powerful creature that is cold and merciless called Yue. The interesting thing about this character is that, while Yue is aware that Yukito exists and can access to Yukito's memories, Yukito doesn't have the same privilege. Yukito, as far as he knows, he is just a regular teen student that sometimes has mental gaps.

So I wondered, what if Merlin, due to all the trauma he went through or maybe through a spell he did to himself, splited his personality in two so he could handle the long wait for Arthur's return better? One would be Emrys, the most powerful sorcerer that ever lived that also incarnates the worst aspects of him, basically Dark Merlin in all his glory, and the other one would be a Merlin without his memories, ergo, without all his traumas, his personality would be series 1 innocent Merlin, but this Merlin doesn't have magic (or rather he has it, but is blocked) and he thinks he is a common mortal man.

So one night Arthur finally returns and it's Merlin who finds him when he comes out of the lake (Emrys made sure Merlin always lived close to the lake). Of course, he's startled an somewhat scared but a feeling inside him urges him to help this stranger. The man is wearing a knight armor and talks old english for some reason. (Merlin never thought his extra studies in old english that he took for fun would actually come on handy). The man only says nonesense as he helps him out of the lake and takes him to his home thought. Apparently the stranger firmly believes he is King Arthur and that he is Merlin the wizard. He has to repeat him several times that he isn't, but they do share the name though.

Merlin: (gives Arthur a change of clothes and says in old english) Here. These are the biggest clothes I have. They might fit you and I put some blankets on the couch for you to sleep.

Arthur: (doesn't take the clothes and just stares at him)...

Merlin: (thinking he didn't speak the language correctly) I said-

Arthur: (heartbroken) You really don't remember me, do you?

Merlin: (sighs) No. I don't know you. I'm sorry.

Arthur: (almost desperate) You do! I don't know what they did to you or what happened to this place, but I'm going to figure it out. I promise!

Merlin: (smiles) Sure you will. (Thinks) He must have some mental affliction, poor man. (Says as he leaves the clothes on the couch) I'll get you some hot chocolate. (Makes a move to go to the kitchen, but has a sudden headache and faints)

Arthur: Merlin! (Runs and catches him before he hits the floor, worried) Merlin, are you alright? Please, wake up! Merlin (shakes him)

Emrys: (opens his eyes that are glowing gold) My king (his eyes water) You are back. (Craddles Arthur's face)

So Emrys explains his condition to Arthur and also that 1500 years have passed and there's probably a catastrophy coming their way since Arthur is now back and all. Obviously, it's a lot to process for Arthur and he doesn't take it all well at first, but he calms down and accepts everything eventually. Arthur can't help but notice this version of Merlin,despite crying for him at the beginning, seems void of emotion most of the time.

Emrys does a spell on Arthur so he can speak modern english and tells him he will switch back to being Merlin soon.

Emrys: (serious) You can tell him you were delirious due to almost drowning or that you had some mental affliction. He already believes that anyways.

Arthur: I'm not going to lie to him, Merlin.

Emrys: I'm not Merlin. He IS Merlin and he's not going to believe you are King Arthur.

Arthur: Why can't you stay like this?

Emrys: I'm too dangerous when I'm in control for too long. Merlin is harmless and can actually be your friend.

Arthur: You are my friend!

Emrys: (coldly) No, Arthur. I'm your weapon, your protector at best, but nothing more.

Arthur: I don't believe that!

Merlin: Believe what you want. (Turns his back to Arthur)

Arthur: And I won't lie to him either!

Merlin: Tell him what you want (Eyes glowing, about to switch)

Arthur: Mer-I mean Emrys! (Stops him by holding his arm and Enrys turns to him) When will I see you again?

Emrys: When I'm needed or when you call me. Don't abuse though. Merlin might get suspicious if he has too many mental gaps. (Switchs back to Merlin and faints again)

Arthur: (catches him before he hits the floor) This better not become an habit.

Time goes by. Merlin still believes Arthur is crazy, but at least he speaks english now. Merlin does find strange the Arthur has no document, nor he is register in the sistem apparently. Merlin doesn't have the heart to get this "King Arthur" out of his house though, since he clearly has no where to go so Merlin lets him stay. Not for free of course, he makes Arthur help with the cleaning and stuff and doesn't stand for prat behavior when Arthur acts all kingly.

Arthur gets why Emrys told him this Merlin was his Merlin despite him not having his memories or his magic. He is clumsy, he jokes, he smiles, calls him out when he's being mean, but also is there for him when he needs him. Is the Merlin he knew but more... happy. Without burdens of destiny or traumas of the past.

Meanwhile Emrys just appears when they are investigating or when there is danger coming their way, like a magical creature attack or a car Arthur failed to see when he crossed the street. Emrys never smiles or small talks, he just goes to the point and gets the job done. He is dark, but overall he is... broken.

Arthur heart eaches when he realises... he is the one who took Merlin's light. He was the one who broke him.

And that's all I have for now. I don't know how merthur would get together in this AU. What do you think?

[tiajk]

Black coded!Karasuno manager headcannons

Warnings: cursing, reader flirting with every fine man because she can, chaotic karasuno, karasuno being readers found family, fem reader, miss reader is poly and ain’t afraid to show it, some sappy feelings, probably spelled people names wrong

It’s chaotic with the mfs all they do it scream, shout eat and play volleyball

You did those things to but they’re more annoying

Tanaka and nishi always finds new ways to make you know your the goddess you are

The first years are intimidated by you even tuskki (it depends on the day)

the third years love you ur probably there favorite underclassmen

kiyoko and you are close like knit tight she loves all that you do for the team and it makes her job a little easier she know that when she leaves the boys will be in good hands

Okay anyways you’ve always known you were that girl like your a pretty black girl in japan who wouldn’t want you

While everyone in karasuno agreed with you so do other schools

which is why tanaka and nishinoya are on guard duty half the time

so guy tries to come ask you for your number *cough* Terushima *cough* they will and i repeat they will start barking at bitches screaming at the top of there lungs “NO WAY IN HELL YOU CAN HAVE OUR MANAGER SHES OURS” it pisses you off to every end especially if there fine (which is all because all hainaut boys are gorgeous)

they hate when you are flirting with the other teams at camps *cough* Bokuto and Akaashi* “Bokuto your spikes are so good you have to teach me” while giving him heart eyes which the boy is eating up because a pretty girl flirting with him and complementing his skill SOLD

you couldn’t forget about the pretty boy setter for Fukurōdani you would always tell him “Akaashi its great that you look out for bokuto like that” he would get the hints but didn’t act on them and you were a patient women you could wait “you and i should hang out i wanna get to know you more” you weren’t lying at all…

Now the boys were fumming you would give them water instead of your own team YOUR THE CLUB YOU SIGNED UP FOR they were but hurt except for suga he knew you had to claim them because you had told him that older men just hit different

anyways when yachi had joined you had welcomed her with open arms as always our girl yachi was scared out of her pants your were intimidating you had a resting bitch face and it scared her to be honest but when she saw you smile she got scared about how pretty you were (i cannon yachi is Bi you can’t change my mind)

You loved enoshita he may have been on the quieter side but he was a good friend when you really needed him you had majority of classes with him so of course you guys had a tight knit he’s the reason why you joined the club

hinata and kageyama you loved them but they were actually kinda stupid all they would do it scream ans yell at each other they were like your children when ever you would confront them about there behavior they would come up with so many excuses “Y/n BUT KAGEYAMA WHAT BEING ANNOYING” “I WAS NOT YOU SHITHEAD” rubbing your temples as they continued to argue “if you don’t shut up i will never bury you food again” They shut there asses right up after that (rich y/n?!?)

your third years were your favorites asahi, dachi, suga, and kiyoko we’re like your parents they always made sure that you were eating correctly, had enough money, and that your mental/physical health was good you are their favorite and nothing can change there mind they do get upset when you go after people there age they know it’s not a big difference but they just wanna make sure your safe

Dacahi almost had an heart attack when you told him when Shiratorizawa match was about to start that you wanted him to put you on with ushijima and tendou (he did only because they asked about you)

yams was a angel sent from heaven he was so kind you loved playing with his hair it was so soft and fluffy and it was like a stress reliever you were trying to set him up with tsukki he’s not slick i know damn well he has a crush on him and vise versa tsukki was a piece of work you always had a response for his snarky ass mouth

tanaka, *sigh* tanaka hairs dog number 1 has never and never disrespected you once he knows if he did that you would twist his ass inside out but in all seriousness he loves you it can be romantic or platonic but he would die for you defend you against any creep or someone that makes you feel not worthy he’s your hype man he’s one of your best friends you love this hot sister too he hates when you bring it up tho

Nishinoya guard dog number 2 he’s short ass hell and clings to you like a dog he has been on thin ice when he’s trying to flirt with you but he knows his boundaries he always wants to show you new tricks he comes up with but mostly rolling thunder

COACH UKAI not gonna lie you thought this man was one of the hottest men alive and you weren’t wrong he was honestly surprised when there was 3 manager but he didn’t care more help he secretly liked you the most he lets you have free meat buns and sometimes stuff from the shop but he makes you swear not to tell anyone

Takeda he made you so happy he was like your sweet older brother he always grateful that you love it with the club you always try to bring kk spare money because you know how hard he believes in the the boy and would do anything for them

in conclusion you love your “job” and the boys love you you wouldn’t know what to do without them

[decks-writing-blog]

Here to Stay Drabbles: Benrey Benry Benrye

Summary: Benrey makes some important decisions.

[A/N] In a not yet released chapter of my current WIP fic 'Gordon Swap' my headcanon that Benrey stole Barney's uniform at some point in the past gets brought up and if I recall correctly I alluded to that being the case near the end of WeverTF Benrey is too because it's an idea I've had a for a while. Writing the bit where it's brought up in 'Gordon Swap' made me want to write this so I did.

~

Everyone paid attention to the security guards. When sensitive experiments were being worked on they blocked the entrance to the labs in question, necessitating people talk to them to be let through. The perfect set up for some fun shenanigans. It wouldn’t work if not one of them though which meant a uniform was needed.

The locker and thus the name tag on the uniform inside read ‘Barney’. A good name… maybe. What made something a good name? That one brought to mind barns so maybe whoever it was owned a barn. Assuming barns existed outside of fantasy video games anyway. Regardless the name was taken and thus that one wouldn’t do no matter how good or bad it was.

Something that started with a ‘B’ would be fine though. B was a pretty cool letter as far as letters went. … A long while of just sitting in the locker room, staring at the name tag so far hadn’t brought much inspiration. Naming oneself was hard. In video games ‘aaaaaaaa’ or some kind of swear word, making the NPC’s look silly and/or rude, worked great. In real life though, in a new human looking form, it had to be something believable. Changing it later was technically possible but what if this security guard thing really took off? A bunch of different names might get confusing and wouldn’t feel right anyway. Any name chosen here would likely stick for a while.

Sticking with being called ‘X’ was possible but it didn’t feel like a name. That was the experiment’s title and the titles of other experiments almost never lined up with any of the proper names for the beings/objects involved and thus it shouldn’t here either. Besides, some distance from that lab would be nice, easier to prank people further away from it as they’d be far less likely to suspect anything fishy.

“Barney. Barbara. Benjamin.” What other ‘B’ names were there? Preferably ones that would be easy to scribble onto the the name tag with the sharpie. “Bob. Boob.” That one wasn’t a name. But it didn’t have to be a real, name did it? Just close enough to one to sound believable. It was hard to know what counted as a real name anyway.

“Barnley. Barley. Benley.” That one had kind of a nice ring to it but wasn’t quite right. “Beney. Ben… ray, like a ray of sunshine? Benray. Hmm… nah, too pretty.” Not that there was anything wrong with being named after a ray of sunshine, the sun was quite nice actually, but pretty wasn’t cool and it had to be something cool. This still felt like a good line of thinking though. So instead of ‘a’ like a pretty ray of sunlight how about the ‘e’ from the original name stay? Meaning it would be… “Benrey.”

“Benrey. Benrey. Benrey. Benrey. Benrey.” Ha. It’d be funny if that was the full name. Maybe some of them could be spelled a little differently too like ‘Benry’ or ‘Benrye’.

Standing and looking around revealed no one to talk to. Which made sense, humans like to sleep every single night for some reason and thus few were ever around during the night. Pretending to talk to someone would have to do.

“My name’s Benrey, nice to meet’cha. Howdy, hello, I’m Benrey. I need to see your uh… papers or something ‘cause I’m totally a security guard so I gotta see that stuff to let you through. … Hello, I’m uh… security guard, Benrey, gotta show me your papers now, ‘kay?” The delivery on some of that wasn’t great. Did security guards even introduce themselves by name? And probably instead of the nebulous ‘papers’, asking for a specific document that he could change up at will would be better. But the name felt pretty good.

The sharpie cap came off with a small pop. Pressing the uniform against the locker made it easier to scribble on the name tag. Turn the ‘ar’ into a big ‘e’ then add a little ‘r’ in front of and slightly over the ‘e’ after the ‘n’ so it wasn’t clear if it was being covered up or replaced, opening the door for it be read as ‘Benrey’ or ‘Benry’. Perfect.

New human looking form and new human sounding name, yay. There was one thing missing though. None of the humans around the lab or in any video games or TV shows were referred to as ‘it’. Why was a mystery because almost everything else – plants, bugs, animals, and video game monsters alike – went by ‘it’ at least some of the time. But if humans went by ‘he’, ‘she’ or in one instance ‘they’, then to blend in more with them being addressed as such was necessary, right? Not that blending in all the way was the goal. Standing out too much too soon would make the bit harder though.

What was the difference between ‘it’s, ‘he’s, ‘she’s and ‘they’s though? Paying more attention to that kind of stuff would’ve helped out here. Was it even something that could be gleaned from looking at a person though? Maybe it was a choice people made and told everyone else and Benrey had just never overheard such a conversation. Asking was an option as was sneaking onto a computer to look it up but… did it really matter? Of everything else, this felt far less important. So… he would be a ‘he’ because as far as he knew all the security guards he knew were ‘he’s so he would be one too.

His name was ‘Benrey’, he was a ‘he’, and he was a security guard. He wasn’t human but he would fit in with them a bit more now, enough to hopefully have some fun.

[jorrated]

Some super stray thoughts I had while reading STCO so far:

Knuckles would NOT prioritize his past over Tikal’s suffering are you crazy in the head!!!!

Zak Simond-Hurn’s art is really charming, if it wasn't for the digital onomatopoeias, I wouldn’t mind having this style by a base for an official sonic comic! The design for the red echidna villain however… HM. Not pleasing to the eye.

I like that Ebony are having a bigger role on the fist few issues! But also Ebony’s constantly referring to Super as his friend and doing things to bring him back. Like I get it but also is this going to be her only trait now? Girl…

And porker is going on adventures again. Actually I don’t think they ever explained why Porker went back to being more adventurous in the og comic, participating in Chaos defeat and all. Not against it, and I like to see he still has a bit of bite and wasn't reduced to only a coward, tho it would’ve been cool to see at least a comment on how hes back on “adventuring”.

It’s cool to see Amy dealing with grief over Jhonny (I’ve given up trying to write his name correctly, too weird for me), but IDK. Amy probably was the best grounded character in that situation, so it feels weird to see her distressed over it? I don’t know how to explain it but in my eyes, Amy’s grief for Jhonny would definitively be more melancholic than scary/guilty. I’m glad they are trying to flesh out Amy more, but it doesn’t feel very cohesive with the comic to me. And Jhonny-zombie the killer… a bit tacky but in a funny way.

WHO…. Designed Vichama. I just want to talk. Tell me why you made him look that way. What is that. What went through your head. Dude. I get that Ebony has considerably more anthro body features than the other animal characters, but I feel like Vichama crosses the line into the “gross valley”. If he were drawn closer to how Zachary is I probably wouldn’t care, he probs would’ve looked like an Archie character. But the bulging muscles are kinda upsetting to look at. Cover up man.

So Shadow was created by some enemies of the echidnas. Noted.

Big and the Drakon prosecutor are actually really cute. I like them. Knuckles trying to break Ebony’s spell on Tikal is making me fume. HE WOULDN'T TRY TO DO THAT!!!!! He maybe would be a little desperate trying to trigger some memories but he wouldn't knowingly hurt someone to get information!!!! There is a pannel tho in this part of the comic that makes Knux ask “Where is Porker” and then “Where is the emeralds”. THAT is Knuckles to me, checking in on people before anything else.

Knuckles not being able to carry Big is bullshit. KNUCKLES PUNCHES ROCKS IN HALF LMAO. It’s fine I assume they need to be separated for a reason.

ROUGE STICK LEGS. Somebody please give my girl a double cheeseburger with extra fries and a big gulp of soda.

Actually I love that Rouge is a cunt here. Girlboss!!!! Stole this dudes emeralds AND left them to die, queen shit. Didn’t work but she did have the intent to kill them.

Big wouldn’t eat his friends….. He’d never eat Froggy, and DP (Drakon Prosecutor) even tho looks like a fish, Big considers a friend. BIG WOULDNT THINK ABOUT EATING HIS FRIENDS!!! HE IS A KIND BIG GUY!!!!!!!!!!!! ← most egregious mistake until now. Fucking funny tho can you imagine dying by vore They kept Mighty funny, that’s good.

MMMMN. I like that Sonic is consistently arachnophobic. Really nice continuity. How he first met Shadow tho… It felt underwhelming? Like yeah we know they were going to meet some time but IDK. The framing/pacing is weird to me. Either have them meet quickly at the start of the issue and Sonic is like “IDK WHO that guy is but I don’t like him!!!” or have them meet at the end of the issue, but only show Shadow in shadow (lol) to hook to the next issue. Shadow’s bland ass “I am Shadow” has the same energy as two kindergartners introducing themselves first day of school.

Shadow’s personality is interesting tho. I like him being a bit cocky but not too much, it’s a good take on him, plus he bounces off Sonic pretty well. I do wonder what the hell they’re going to do with him tho.

Awn… acknowledgment of some of the chaotix families… Blockhead Bill my dude

Tikal being given more of a spotlight is neat. It doesn’t give her much, but it’s refreshing to see her thoughts and intentions. However, I can’t help but think that she was mainly inserted to aid Knuckles and be a well of angst. Like IDK, Knuckles has moments mourning his past, or wondering if he will ever understand his ancestors, and Tikal well… She sees things rather than feel? If that makes sense? Like in this comic she is able to see a bit of the past and think “wow this is horrible! Must be a nightmare!” but she doesn’t feel despair? Or anything much? The only moment so far she felt despair was to make Knux Angst, like “ooooh shes suffering so we need to wipe her memories, that means Knuckles wont have his backstories :(“. Smells fishy.

Oh wow, Shadow has an actually interesting backstory here. It gives a reason to follow Robotnik, hate Sonic, not give a shit, aaaand its ambiguous enough you can probably pull off whatever. Fucking congrats STCO writers.

Fave image. What the fuck are they even doing here. Freaks.

Hm. No thoughts on Shadows maybe death. Thematically it’s interesting and all, but we don’t get enough time with him to give a shit. Unless I’m reading it wrong it seems like Shadow is sacrificing himself to save Robotnik, but IDK.

Grimer develops a situatioship depression.

2007 ANTI-ASIAN RACISM. BAD.

Bro what’s with this Knuckles characterization. He would NOT be mean to Tikal. If anything he’d probably be a bit overbearing, trying to give attention to her even if she didn’t want it. I get trying to tie him living his whole life alone being overwhelmed and feeling frustrated that Tikal can’t give him answers, but he wouldn't treat her like crap what is this. I like Porker’s and Knux bro moment, but that doesn’t make up for treating Tikal badly for no reason. Where’s her catharsis? She’s probably just as confused and desperate as Knuckles but she doesn't get any of these moments. Sigh. This idea could’ve definitely worked if Tikal was pushier or more imposing, but like she doesn’t do much, so Knuckles just snaps and it feels off. Knuckles’s stories are probably the issues with the biggest potential, but the writers for sure squander him the most, whomp whomp.

“One of Sonic’s fears is seeing Amy settle down with someone else” no it isn’t shut the fuck up. And the fact they put this on the same level of fear as Jhonny death is deranged.

The tonal whiplash between character comics is p funny honestly. You’ll have one really serious comic followed by a comedic one, lil bit of a mood killer. I guess STC also did this, but to me it at least wasn't jarring like this. Like how am I supposed to process Big getting shot, after Knux and Tikal experiencing the worst nightmare of their lives, living the trauma of seeing million of dead echidnas, after Vector put angel island as a security fund for his ship LMAO.

SONIC CHARACTERS HELPINH OUT THE POLICE SFAJHBJHBWRKJBJB??????!!!!!!!!????????????????????!!!!!!!!!????????11111111!!!!!!!111!!!!111!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hate this actually.

These Shorty and Tekno comics…… I don’t know what it is about them but god. I just don’t like them! Firstly that now it seems they are a completely separated duo from the rest of the team. Like They don’t interact with Sonic or Amy or whatever. Secondly.. Shortfuse is TOO nice. It doesn’t feel like him where is his tantrums??? And this isn’t a diss on the artstyle itself, cause I think it looks pretty nice and cute, but I don’t think it’s really fitting for the characters? Tekno and Shorty look like they’re in a shoujo manga.

I really like how Sonic is now a loser LOL. He got canceled to hell and back.

Finally Rouge makes and appearance. Kinda only realized how little she showed up during the SA2 adaptation.

Grimer destroying Sonic’s reputation is actually kinda nice. I like that they acknowledge his Robotnik situationship depression, tho I think it’s a bit over the top have him be behind EVERYTHING. Still like it tho. Go gross boy go! (Also the art in this issue is REALLY solid, wow, Zak Simond-Hurn really is my favorite artist from the STCO group).

At some point I think I need to stop complaining about Knux’s characterization. But I Do Not Like How They Write My Boy. Doc Zach is still serving cunt so that’s great. Go grandpa go!

It’s kinda awesome to see how the issues expanded through STCO’s run, but I think having so many stories at the same time kinda makes stuff bloated. Like I’m sure I’ll forget some parts of this, even if they are short bits. Like do we really need to follow 2 sonic stories and 2 amy stories at the same time? I think it would’ve been better to pace this with a limit of 3-4 stories MAX per issue. And then once a character story is done, release the next story with the same character. Sonic and Knuckles are kinda always going to be there, having the biggest pull on the comic’s lore and story, so the other ones could cycle out between amy, tekno, shorty, tails, sonic’s world, chaotix, and so on. I haven’t read some of the other non-sonic stories like decap n attack, but those could be thrown in the cycle too!

Actually I love that DP is just hanging out in Big’s restaurant. It’s goofy I really love it.

I wonder how old Sonic’s gang is supposed to be here. Like in theory some years have passed in the comic, but how many. It’s not important at all but Amy is seen drinking wine with Chrysalis and it’s like?? Is she a kid?? Is she an adult?? Is she underage drinking? Again it’s not a big deal, and I don’t even think these characters need a specific age but IDK this was odd to me.

Oof the multiple stories at the same type problem came instantly. I like how Amy acknowledges the losses of the group, Sonic is “evil”, Jhonny is dead, Tekno is missing and stuff, Porker has PTSD and cant fight… But like. That feels so weird when you have a story right next to it with Amy and Tekno together!!! This is why the pacing and bloating feels whack, the comic has continuity with SOME of the stories but not all so its confusing. I know the OG comic had moments like these but because it had less stories per issue, it was way less noticeable, and usually were one-off stories I think.

And on the topic of Porker, I did mention before how he just kinda.. went back to being more adventurous? But know the comic insists that he can’t do it? Man this is kinda messy. I don’t mind Porker starting to become more adventurous again and then maybe regressing a bit in recovery, being too much for him, but it doesn’t feel like that is what it’s being intended here. It feels like someone read STC and maybe skimmed on STCO and then wrote this, so it feels out of place? Like you have porker in the first issue of STCO going on a mission no problems at all, but then on another issue he goes on a mission to blow up an eggman database or smth and hes freaking the fuck out being nervous all the time. Like which is it!!!!! I don’t mind him progressing and regressing on his trauma but at least acknowledge or be consistent with it! Is it because the underwater mission didn’t involve Robotnik? Is that it? Who knows.

I get that Knux and the crew planned to bait Zachary and shit, but like, then why did they act like that in the previous issue? Like the plan was to break the shield so why did Porker said to Knux be careful about it? Girl. This information is only given to bait and switch the audience and it doesn’t work. Porker and Knux have no reason to pretend to not have a plan when they are alone what.

Tails working with cops I’m going to kill myself.

Oh so like. The special zone is dead for real. Like for real FR. Jesus. Could’ve let the characters grieve a bit huh.

Really liked the #250 issue (Tho its funny that I complained about the number of stories per issue, and then #250 has ONE story LOL)! It’s awesome to see the different arts from the varied artists on the STCO team. And even with my complains and whining, it’s an impressive project full of love, good to see stuff like this!

TURBO TURBO TURBO MY BOY TURBO!!!!

The art on this issue is great but some of the flow of the dialogue is off, as in, sometimes I don’t know which speech bubble I’m supposed to read next, cause usually you go left to right, but it seems this story follows top to bottom for speech bubbles and left to right to panel. Not awful but it did throw me off, and it does fuck up the pacing.

um. hi shadow? ok.

(Only read until issue #250)

[soapified]

weirdly specific soap mactavish headcanons!! for sfw for funsies

fem!reader

hehe my first (and probably last post) sorryy if the format is confusing im still learning 💔💔. mb if things don’t make sense or i didn’t say the correct name/spelling im bad at english lol

IM SORRYRYRYRY 😭😭

ugh i want him so bad

——————————————————————————

sfw (wrote too much sorry)

words are his love language so if you play them correctly he WILL melt

loves giving and receiving compliments no matter how big or small

sliding him a few compliments at first will flabbergast this poor guy especially ones about his physique 🤭

his nose would twitch instead of him blushing

uses nicknames like “schnookums” “shmoopy” ironically especially to embarrass you in front of everybody else

sneaks in actual little nicknames for you and tries to be sneaky, ex. “love” “lassie/lass” “sweetheart” “sweet girl”

he thought he was being slick, he wasn’t and doesn’t know that

has earned a few snorts and furrowed eyebrows from the rest of them because of his antics lol

wants you to touch his hair but doesn’t wanna admit it (i am not sure if he has any tbh)

doesn’t have time to go to a barber anymore so he shaves and cuts his own hair

talks about his petite little mohawk and chews your ear off about it

“would you still love me if i shaved it off? not so beautiful anymore? arent i?!” he says, jokingly threatening to shave off the feeble strip of “mohawk” standing up in the middle of his scalp

wears Spider-Man pajamas every time he gets a chance

bought the shirt a smaller size so it’s tighter

enjoys it when you stare at his cute little Spider-Man shirt

listens to old white dad metal music and grossly adores radiohead

doesn’t admit he likes soft voices and black box recorder (our lana del rey coded sad girl king!!1!1)

“actually- i have sort of a kinship to the song creep 🤓” and his voice would thicken saying this

genuinely teared up to ‘high and dry’

his hands are very rough, his palms are slightly softer but it sometimes hurts holding them

has scars inside both of his palms

was weary of holding your hands at first because he knows how rough his hands are

does the thing where he strokes your hand with his thumb

is a bath man

has those bath trays that connect from end to end on the bathtub rim

has an arsenal of axe body spray on the tray

loves the brand philosophy because of the smell of the shower gels so he treats himself with a bottle after a long task

his one and only alternative is the dove cucumber soap bars

despises loofahs

tries to start with a cold bath but it’s too scared and then immediately starts to crank the faucet to the hot one

sings in the shower (..when he actually showers)

starts out quiet and hums but the longer it takes, the more it becomes a mini concert

sounds terrible when he sings radiohead

once tried to sing the last part of creep, his voice cracked, he knocked over a shampoo bottle on his foot, and started coughing and almost punched a hole in the shower because of the pain

tries to take cold showers and endures it unlike the bath

uses head and shoulders because he thinks his oily scalp is dandruff

doesn’t know that’s what makes his tiny mohawk flat

refuses to admit he has a skin care routine

“a what? well i barely use anything. very little.. yous gotta believe me!!1!1!1”

aftershave, retinol serum, tatcha moisturizer (he somehow accidentally bought it and was fuming because his military pension isn’t built for that)

uses the same bar of soap he uses for his body as a cleanser

also secretly has an amethyst roller (it constantly falls apart and cracked)

he has a king size bed all for himself

has a shit ton of pillows like a cocoon

bed smells like his own like scent but also a sickening amount of sauvage

never let go of his paw patrol blanket that he bought as a joke in like 2019 because it’s very warm and fluffy

surprisingly let’s you take up most of the space if you want and gives you the paw patrol blanket

used to be a mouth breather and snores so loud

throat used to be so dry and he was afraid of drinking orange juice because it stung

he thought his hoarse morning voice was hot (probably is)

doesn’t snore anymore because he got those sony headphones

he swears they’re magical (they’re really just expensive

he cherishes them and is very attached to them

once fell asleep to his usual playlist, woke up to lana del rey’s “cola”

has this one fluffy white persian cat plush toy that he named ‘goyangi’ but pronounces it horribly, also doesn’t know that it means ‘cat’

“go-YANG-gEE 🤓” and pronounced the actual G twice

“my cat is a SHE. 🙄🙄 she’s pretty little creature isnt she?”

when he’s too embarrassed to say it out loud his second name for it is “Hubert”

has had that thing since like 2014

okay that’s it byee 🫶🫶

might make a 2nd one with both sfw and nsfw

[justmediocrewriting]

Heya!

Are you open to writing Nami for your NSFW prompt list? I scrolled down to #13 and was like "yep, that sounds like something she would do" lol!

I’m so sorry for the late reply nonnie!

And can I just say that um HELL YES! I am soooo open to writing for Nami for the prompt list. I’m pretty swamped at the moment and I’m editing/finalizing certain things bit by bit, but doing something for Nami does sound quite fun! And I do agree with you that #13 seems like something she’d do.

Post edit note: I didn’t expect to divulge into NSFW headcanon territory with this response, but because it does get a bit spicy and explicit I wanted to add the “read more” tag for those who don’t wish to see it.

For some reason, I see Nami as more of a femdom; I imagine she’d be very assertive in the bedroom, and would probably get more pleasure out of being the one in charge. I do also like to think that she’s a fan of pushing her partner into overstimulation and reducing them to tears — and her own pleasure sort of sits on the back burner for a while.

I also see her as being the queen of eating pussy. She’s super ruthless with it, likes to alternate between taking her time and then just devouring you like she’s starving, only doing enough of one of the other that you just start to get used to it before she’s flipping the script.

I get the distinct feeling she’s also the type to spell your name with her tongue.

She’ll pull at least three orgasms from you before the session is over — but don’t get too comfortable when she finally relents, because then it’s her turn, and she doesn’t take it lightly. Like this chick will downright smother you between her legs, praising and degrading you simultaneously while doing it. She doesn’t really care you eat her out or not, or if you’re too tired to; she will just ride your face until she’s satisfied. I think she’s got a thing for like light hair pulling, both with receiving and giving.

To me, Nami just exudes big “experienced lesbian” energy and my bisexual ass is fucking down for it!

I’m not too sure if you had a specific gender in mind when you asked this, but because I am a woman it’s a bit easier for me to envision fics from the perspective of a woman; though I wouldn’t shy away from attempting to write from a male reader’s perspective — before writing reader inserts, I wrote a lot of gay fanfic, so it’s not like I’m unfamiliar with the male anatomy. I just don’t have a male brain so I’m not sure if I’d be able to correctly articulate a male reader. But as I said, I’m down to try!

I really appreciate this ask, because girl/girl is something I’ve actually NEVER written about (but I’ve wanted to) and I’m just excited to see that there are some who would be open to reading it.

I love you lots dahling!

❥ mama k

[thesimulacrasimp]

So yeah, here we go again! I just watched 3rd n 4th eps of hazbin hotel so, again, my thoghts abt it. Idk if i really need to put spoilers warning anymore, but ig ill do it just in case. As with previous post there will be some screenshots.

HAZBIN HOTEL EP 3-4 SPOILERS WARNING!

So tbh i dont have much to say about 3rd ep. Overall it was a really cute ep where everyone kinda got along. Also we met alot of new overlords (that one giant wolf girl was cool as hell) n got a few bop songs. I really like all new voices we got here. Also Velvette was killin in this ep, like slay queen!! Also i didnt know this girl (idk her name srry) was Carmillas (idk if spelled the name correctly--) daughter, that really suprised me.

Ok 4th ep... I have alot to say about it. First of all when that Angels moive started i was like: WTH S GOIN ON WHAT????? Then i thoght that its Angels dream (or nightmare-) n that wolf guy was representation of Valentino. N then when its all started i was like: Oh. I get it.

Speaking about Val, when all that fire started n he opened his wings, that was FUCKING BEAUTIFUL N I REALLY DIDNT EXPECT HIM TO HAVE ACTUAL WINGS, I WAS LIKE: :O I FOR REAL ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT WAS JUST A FUR COAT--- ok n thats literally the only good i can say about Val by now.

That one awful scene with Val n Angel was literally so scary... Ive never been in SA, ive never had such "experience" (and thank GOD for that), but i know that feeling of fear when you just in trap and you cant do anything, i know how that feels to be abused, when you just hiding in corner feeling so fucking scared that you gonna get beated up n yelled again, you KNOW that will happen and you just wait for it in terrify, you literally feel yourself like a little child who cant do anything, you want to share your problems to someone, just wanna cry to someone, but you cant and you need to pretend that everything is okay. I was so scared for Angel in that scene and i really felt it. And the way Angel tried to make Charlie leave before that all happened.. Yes, he definetly knew whats gonna happen n thats so scary...

Anyway OMG VOX HIIII!!!!!! :DDDD

BTW THE FACT THAT HES HOLDING VALS HAND LIKE HE WAS ABOUT TO KISS IT----- THIS SHIP IS TAKING OVER MY BRAIN PLS SEND HELP

Yeah, yknow what really strange thing about all that? Is the fact that Val s obviously a horrible person consindering all the things he done to Angel, but he is still an ENJOYABLE CHARACTER. Like- ofc that awful abusive scene was not enjoyable at all, but for some reason i just cant hate him!! I TRY BUT I JUST CANT N THATS SO WEIRD. probably its because i know its not a real person, its just a character but still-

Also (someone pls count how many times i used this word-) i really didnt expect to see an ACTUAL SEX SCENES IN THE SONG. Ig i shouldve expect it n i kinda did, but i still didnt-

Also this little scene made me fucking cry, for real. But not the fact that Angel crying made me cry, but his line: "If i end up broken, I wont be his favourite toy anymore. And maybe he'll let me go.."

I dont know why this exact line made me cry, but it did and i think this is awesome, because they really made me care for Angel, even tho, again, ive never experienced such feelings so i cant relate to that, but i still feel so bad for him.

Ok can we talk about that Husk was AN OVERLORD??? I WAS LIKE: WHAAAAATT????

And OF COURSE that one Husk n Angels song. You already know how i feel about it so im not even gonna talk bout it! SIKE‼️I WILL!!!!! THIS SONG IS SO FRICKIN CUTE, THE FACT THAT HUSK STARTED TO JOKINGLY (or maybe not jokingly-) SAYING THAT ANGEL IS A LOSER TO BRIGHT HIM UP IS ACTUALLY SO SMART! THEYRE BOTH SO CUTE TOGETHER SINGING AND HOLDING HANDS FOR A LITTLE TOO MUCH!!! AND THIS SONG IS MUSICALLY ALSO SO AMAZING, ITS LITERALLY MY STYLE OF SONGS, MAYBE MY NEW FAV SONG I CANT REALLY TELL RN! And the meaning of this song is really good too. Whatever is happening to you, unless youre not alone, everything is better!

Andddd everything is ended quite good and wholesome! They came to the hotel, Charlie apoligized and everything is good!!

soooo yeah! Thats it i guess! Im pretty sure im gonna edit it if i remember something else i wanted to say, but thats it by now!

My review/thoughts on eps 1-2

My review/thoughts on eps 5-6

My review/thoughts on eps 7-8

[tricksterrune]

Rogues playing DnD: Classes

I fully admit that this is based on my limited experience of DnD, mainly through season 1 of Vox Machina, The Gamers 2: Dorkness Rising and FrasierDnD Twitter, specifically this. I also used to play The Dark Eye from which I steal aspects. And WoW

for @belphegor1982

Piper: DungeonMaster

He brings them together. They call him a nerd for it, but it sounds like fun so they all join in. But while Piper is the most experienced as of now, he hasn't played since college and wasn't the dungeon master, he isn't 100% in control and improvises a lot. At first he tries to keep them on the story path but learns to relax and let go. He used to have a high level bard in college and frequently uses that character's relatives as npcs.

James: hmmmmm

In the Dark Eye there were classic fae changelings. Fae could take a child and leave a changeling in its wake. And you could then play as the child that was taken which grew up in the fae realm, learn magic and becomes fae-like (If I remember correctly). James would play a character but never actually clarify whether he was the original character or the changeling pretending to be him.

Or I go with my initial answer and say that he roleplays as someone who does not fit into the world of DnD (as I once played a whole quest trying to be Indiana Jones). Half-elf...alledgedly

Mick: Monk....now

Mick's character became a monk later in life and starts as a veteran character (is that a thing in DnD?). Which means that he starts stronger but his character is old. He'd be a Dragonborn because they look badass. He is always super-prepared and carries endless supplies.

Mark: Wizard, elf or human

I hc Mark as someone who likes reading and not just Mark Twain, who was overshadowed by his gifted brother who was into natural sciences. He probably loves fantasy books but never engaged as a teen, wanting to appear tough. He has big ideas but hasn't read the rulebook too closely, just stories and wants to be a wizard who can do everything, mainly throw fireballs at people. Piper has to remind him frequently that he can't do the thing he just announced he was going to do. "I cast Firestorm!" "Do you know the spell?" "No?" "What about your spell slots?" "My what?"

Roscoe: Artificer, human

He sticks to what he knows best so he essentially plays himself. BUT he has read the rulebook twice and has become a rule's lawyer. He often thinks outside of the box but sometimes gets bigged down by what the numbers say are possible and what's a good story. He'd try a peasant railgun.

Lisa: Rogue, tiefling

Skintight leather? Check. Awfully sharp knives? Check. Steal absolutely EVERYTHING? Check. Often gets the party into trouble with her antics. "Can I roll to steal the crown?" "Seeing as its currently on the king's head, he's looking at you and is surrounded by his royal guard....no." She'd play tiefling, sexy as hell.

Digger: Barbarian, half-orc or orc

Digger junior, his character's name, will fight everyone, drink everything and then fight everyone again. He is legendary in bar brawls. His secret goal is to be the brawler like no ever ever was. Fighting's his real test, drinking is his cause. Digger jr is Digger unfiltered which you'd think was impossible.

Len: Druid, elf

He was blackmailed into attending at first (but secretly has fun) and plays a druid, almost exclusively in bear form (assuming that's possible, I' drawing on my WoW knowledge). His favorite trick is making people think he's a regular bear and only reveals himself when it's funny. Has written a couple of bear puns, but is afraid to use them unless he's a little drunk.

Sam: Bard! And a woman!

Charisma, charisma and charisma! He needs everyone to know that he is the most beautiful lady of all the land. And his character doesn't get her hands dirty, she stays outside and keeps inspiring the party. In ideal circumstances anyway, she has mace (an actual mace) when things get tough.

Roy: Warlock, Tiefling.

Roy strives to become an eldritch entity himself, possibly by killing his patron. At least he's not giving up his soul. He draws the most beautiful character portraits between rounds.

[cherryminxx]

Ahhh!!! Previous Annon here (one that asked about LIs) and I love your opinions about them <3 They’re all so unique and I love the whitney head cannon too.

Thought I’d share my own opinions about all of them because I’ll probably be frequent here! (mostly hidden under anonymous but still)

!!SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN’T ROMANCED GH AND A FEW OTHER SPOILERS FOR FOM AND SDV BTW :(!!

DOL is a tricky one because I only ever romanced Eden or the great hawk (HATE eden’s introduction events and the way you go above getting their love but I saw fanart and fell in love instantly), Eden mostly because of how I can avoid paying my orphan tax at their cabin because Bailey doesn’t come collect (pretty sure there’s a lore reason to that)

GH because I think out of all of the LIs (excluding pure!Sydney, Robin and maybe Alex (their high dom is a bit iffy) they’re the most calmest and nicest of them? Sure they kidnap you at the first meeting but they honestly don’t do anything after that? (I HC they don’t understand the human concept of love so they do it in their own way

It’s pretty easy to get Stockholm syndrome with them too, and you get strong wings from them with is a plus for flying everywhere. Low maintenance too, not very demanding!

SDV isn’t that hard, considering I only ever romanced either Shane, a modded character or Hailey.

Shane because of my “I can fix him” mindset, and because of his heart events! Especially the one where marnie gets us to water him. He goes through a lot from the heart events and he changes through them too. He’s also the diversity quota I guess.

Hailey because I love mean blonde girls and with the way she gets nicer each heart event. Also love her relationship with Emily, they’re so cute together and I love them both equally. Hailey’s also such an interesting character as you go along?? You learn how she’s upset about her parents just leaving them with the house and some money but she doesn’t want to show it if I remember her events correctly. Love her so much and she deserves the world and more

FOM is easier because I fell in love at first sight

Hayden. Him riding in on a horse?? Giving me turnip seeds?? Fell in love on the spot with that man. I love heneritta (excuse me if I spelt her name wrong) too, best chicken in the entire game and the only chicken I love fully (srry coop chickens).

He’s also one of the only plus-sized (?) bachelors and I love him for that. Also the fact he’s a himbo, I love me a himbo with a beard that knows his way around a farm (I love farmers in general) and with animals <3

Second option would’ve been Olric (Orlic? I forgot how to spell his name JUST now) if he was a marriage candidate because I love geology hoes but I’ve headcannon’d him as Aromantic just because he seems too busy collecting rocks to notice when your trying to court him into dating. He might not be dateable but if he was I’d drop everything to give that man all my perfect ore.

Juniper too, I don’t have much of a reason for her tbh I just love woman that are mysterious and witchy in their own time.

I never really liked march, I didn’t understand the hype for him but when the heart event update comes out maybe I’ll find what people mean. I just had when a fandom locks into one character and that’s ALL the fanart/fanfics you see.

Thanks for coming to my rant, sorry if I bored you out through the paragraphs but I’m very passionate about certain things. Gonna be frequent here I can tell, might as well give myself a cool Anon name or smth when I think of one.

Ohmygosh I literally am In love with all of ur opinions

I’ve never actually romanced Eden but I am LITERALLY in LOVE with all of his fanart and fics etc! Honestly I think I haven’t romanced him due to being a creature of comfort and I always just go for Whitney and forget about the rest LOL. As for great hawk I actually forgot about him, I never knew you could get wings from him that is DEFINITELY going to come in handy!

IM SO GLAD YOU MENTIONED HAYDEN BEING PLUS SIZED. Hes like my big perfect beefy man with ABS !! and ugh I totally see how he’s a himbo (Himbos are literally my favorite of all time)

I’m also so sad about olric when I saw him at first I legit was like “yeah it’s gonna be him” AND THE GAME JUST MAKES HIM NON-ROMANCEABLE HELLO?? it was quite literally my sadest discovery hopefully the devs listen and add his cute self. I LOVE your aromantic headcanon I absolutely agree! he’s too busy looking at rocks he doesn’t notice your flirting duh

As for March I’m so glad you’re not the only one who’s head over heels for him like I just don’t get it. He’s just mean 😭 like I guess I see the appeal but again I’d like to see his new heart events before I make a better opinion of him!! Plus you’re so right about the March fanart don’t get me wrong it’s great! But I would love to see way more ryis and Haden art and hopefully fics in the future!

Honestly Shane has been my go to a couple of times! not as much as Harvey per say (I love his dumb ass) but I kind of like how different his personality is from the rest of the town! it definitely adds some deepness to the sdv lore? I’m horrible at explaining 😭

Btw u absolutely did not bore me I loved reading this! I love seeing other peoples prospectives on characters, so it was a treat reading yours! :D

so glad to welcome you as my anon hehehhehe >:D

[heinzpilsner]

Okay, here's the... third? second? - anyway, another part of analysing Maiko interactions in "The Beach" series.

Because I absolutely hate myself, apparently! Yay!

This part is kinda intermediate - today we'll look at the beginning of the party events in all their depressing glory.

But before analysing Maiko interactions themselves, we need to dissect Zuko's weirdly... passionate relationship with Ruon-Jian for the sake of the context.

(Ugh, who chose this guy's name? I couldn't remember its spelling properly and had to copy it every time! Your parents should be cursed for it, Rohn-Juhn!)

Anyway, our characters enter Chan's house and are greated by Ruon-Jian, who for some reason is an object of Zuko's special attention now, apparently.

"Hey! First ones here, huh?" "He thinks he's so great!"

That's a bit of... intense reaction for such a casual greeting, I'd say.

But when I think about it, it kinda... makes sense?

So far, Ruon-Jian did three notable things:

1) Had the audacity to be a popular guy who didn't want to invite Zuko at first;

2) Invited Mai personally to the party (in a pretty casual manner though);

3) Checked his hair several times.

Okay, now, when Zuko's antipathy looks much more reasonable (I bet it was the hair thing that did it to him!), let's return to the characters' lines.

The next thing Zuko does is addressing Mai about Ruon-Jian in a conversational manner:

"Well, what do you think of him?"

He actually sounds calm, but the question is downright childish. I mean, what kind of answer he expected from Mai?

"His haircut is awful"?

"Socially adapted boys are so boring?"

"You're so much greater than him, Zuko"?

"You're my forever boy"?

Mai agrees with me in my bewilderment.

"I don't have any opinion about him. I hardly know him." "You like him, don't you?"

And here it is!

Honestly, this accusation always sounded so out of the blue for me!

I mean, Mai didn't even look at the guy that much! The only one who seemed to be oddly fixated on Ruon-Jian so far was Zuko himse...

Wait a minute.

Zuko, are you... projecting?

Ta-da! What a twist!

But no, I'm just fooling around here. I mean, I wouldn't judge him if he were, but as we learn in the next part of the analysis, this is not the message that the episode really tried to deliver.

(Which makes this scene pretty awkward.)

To detect the reason behind Zuko's bizarre jealousy, let's consider some facts about the character:

The previous three years probably didn't make him especially confident about his appearance (Did he overlook all those swooning girls on the beach? Who knows, it's kinda weird);

When it comes to equal status informal interactions, Zuko is totally unsocialized. He never had an opportunity to learn how to earn respect of his peers without fighting or throwing his title around. So, it makes his position in normal teenager hierarchy relatively low;

Actually, if I remember correctly, the only non-enemy teenage boy Zuko previously interacted onscreen was Jet, and... It kinda was all about business and ended in disaster anyway?

Zuko is pretty awkward in romance, and his relationship with Mai is not exactly in its best stage now.

the best stage was in seasons 1 and 2 if you ask me

So, when Zuko can't be a prince, but forced to be just a boy among other boys in front of Mai, he feels insecure and threatened, even If he doesn't reflect on it properly.

But there's one guy around who seems to have no problems with getting respect from his peers, as well as concerns about his appearance.

The guy who also happened to invite Zuko's girlfriend to the party.

Basically, Ruon-Jian is... Zuko's new Zhao? Only from the world of teenage romance and socialization.

... And this context kinda turns Mai into either a new Avatar or a new Ozai* (yep, again). Which is... kinda cursed, I agree.

(*I mean, outwardly the competition between Zhao and Zuko was about catching the Avatar. But catching the Avatar for Zuko was mostly just a way of getting his father's love back. So, Zhao in this context can be considered as someone who tried to steal Ozai's love from Zuko. Just like Ruon-Jian in Zuko's mind tries to steal Mai's love.)

Geez, it was weird. I didn't plan to dig that deep!

But whatever.

One way or another, right now Zuko feels pretty undermined - and this is on top of his generally bad emotional state lately.

Alright! It all sounds... quite logical to me now, actually (even although seeing Zuko like this is not exactly pleasant).

The only problem though is that half of these things weren't addressed in the actual episode previously.

The show doesn't make accent on Zuko's reaction when Ruon-Jian invites Mai, and instead of showing Zuko's insecurity about his appearance, it shows us girls swooning over him.

So, Zuko's jealousy streak looks quite random - not to mention unmotivated. Mai literally didn't give him a single reason to suspect her interest in Ruon-Jian.

I dunno, perhaps Mai can be hard to read for Zuko sometimes, but she's not that unreadable! That way, he could imagine any random feelings and intentions behind her poker face and accuse her of it.

"You want to smear a platypus bear with mayonnaise and tie it to the chandelier, don't you, Mai?" would sound about as legitimately at this point.

and I have no idea why it's the first thing that came to my mind

Seriously though, there is no respect or trust for Mai in Zuko's behaviour whatsoever. Basically, he just ignored the lack of evidence, as well as Mai's own answer, completely.

But what kind of relationship can you build without respect or trust?

If he just doesn't believe Mai's words even though she didn't lie to him before, what is she supposed to do?

On the other hand, can you really blame Zuko for doubting Mai's love after the way she treated him recently?

So, instead of reacting to the real situation with the real people, he's stuck too deep in his own head, where he's never good enough, and all the resources inevitably end up in the hands of zhaos*, while all the love is slipping away.

In his mind, Zuko is in the process of losing another battle.

(*Hmm, on the other hand, his rivalry with Azula should run much deeper than with Zhao. I dunno, both versions kinda work, when I think about it.)

Of course, this is just my far-fetched interpretation - Zuko's irrationality could have different mechanisms behind it. But all I can really think about is either this, or... suppressed bisexuality hypothesis? Or both. Oh my.

...Anyway, the boy is clearly not okay.

Mai isn't going to address the problems though - she just sighs heavily and walks away. Perhaps she's planning to wait until Zuko ends up in a less distressing environment to... just stop worrying and forget about it?

Well, good luck with this strategy, girl. I'm sure with Zuko in such a state it will lead you to fantastic results.

But so far, it's calm before the storm.

...And we'll look at the storm in the next disastrous parts of the 'Analyzing beach Maiko' series, because I can't take more of this torture today, apparently!

Thanks for your attention?..

I still ignore all the notifications.

(Kinda didn't expect that I'll manage to find not just one, but two hypotheses of Zuko's irrationality here, lol. I wonder whether it was a writer's intention, or this meaning kinda worked out in itself in spite of sloppy writing.)

[earthstellar]

In the G1 episode “Trans-Europe Express”, we are given this incredible map of the Europa 2000 race.

Now, I don’t often call out animation fuck-ups, especially not relatively minor ones or one-off errors; Especially in the 80s, it’s just a fact of the way these shows got made that you’re going to have errors at a much higher incidence rate than any modern animation, for a lot of different reasons.

But I love this map. LMAO 

Spelling Words Good, or Not: Language is, in fact, difficult

I don’t know which element of it is my favourite; I like how the slight shadow on the misspelled “I” in “Ciech” seems to suggest that it was spelled another way before they rubbed it out on the cel and then wrote over it with another letter.

Which means that there is a non-zero chance that at some point, it may have been spelled at least somewhat more correctly, but then made incorrect in someone’s self-doubt around their spelling skills.

Special shout out to “Rumania”, which historically was actually a correct spelling of Romania in English for quite a while-- Just not in the 80s when they were making the show! :’)

I can understand having a hard time trying to draw an outline of Europe if you have about 15 seconds to get a cel done and just have to put it through to get the show made, but the spelling is something that could have likely been checked in a dictionary or encyclopaedia (this was the 80s, so no Wikipedia yet) fairly easily-- But that’s assuming they had one nearby, and had the time to mess with it if they did. 

(I’m aware that some studios/individuals did have a stray dictionary floating around in order to help check English words that needed to be added to background elements like store signs etc., but not all studios did this, and who knows what the situation was when this map had to be made.)

To be fair, it is worth noting that the letters themselves are legible, and although I can’t remember which animation studio handled this episode specifically, they are absolutely writing letters that they may not be super familiar with writing out, so I definitely give this some points for being fairly easy to read, errors and spacing issues aside. (It’s hard to write in a language you may not be all that familiar with, using a writing system that is very different from your native language!) 

The rubbed out “I” shadow in “Ciech” also tells me that someone was at least trying and considered it long enough to try to fix it/doubt their spelling, so there was effort here. It’s just unfortunate that the end result is somewhat chaotic, but I do respect that someone at least sort of tried! 

Time Constraints: Much like the race itself, they gotta goooo

I think the biggest issue here was most likely some kind of extreme time constraint in getting this done, because this feels more rushed than actually half-assed to me (the shadow on that “I” tells me there was at least an attempt made, lmao, I have to believe that someone was genuinely trying to get this right), but the end result inevitably gives the same feeling as someone drawing a map on a napkin for a tourist quickly while standing on the curb outside a café.

That having been said, this map is a shit show, and I love it.

I like to think that this map was made by a spectator of the race for a non-local friend of theirs so that they could have a general idea of what the race route is, which would explain why it looks like a napkin map and why the country names are all in English. 

I have to say, I also loved the mixed capital cases on “BuLGAliA”.

The “Switz” crammed into the tiny space but then “Albania” being fully spelled out and just written across borders is also extremely funny to me, for some reason.

Regardless of anything, this had to get made at lightning speed and it was only intended to be on screen for a few seconds, so that’s worth keeping in mind; At a very brief glance, a kid who has never been to Europe and has no understanding of geography would probably take this at face value without any issues at all, and G1 was a toy advertisement for children, after all. Kids in Europe may have very well gotten a good laugh at this, so it might be one of those errors that ends up being win/win. 

But I love this map so much. Just look at it. Hell yeah. 

Geography is Probably Important to Note Here: History Matters 

Also, for those less familiar with European geography, it’s worth noting that this episode went into production in 1984/85, so maps of this region might look a liiiiiittle bit different nowadays compared to the mid-80s, lmao. 

For comparison, here is a map of Europe circa the 1960s, which still isn’t the mid-80s, but for some reason this is the best map I could find that isn’t hyperfocused around one sub-region or the other and it’s generally more accurate to the mid-80s compared to a map from today: 

So they had the general idea more or less right, it’s just that the Europa 2000 map is what happens when you don’t give animators enough time to fully reference stuff! (Or even enough time to trace an actual map outline.) 

Anyway, Tumblr crashed on me twice while I was trying to make this post, so I’m leaving it here-- But shout out to those of you who live on or near the Europa 2000 race route! :) <3 

[no6secretsanta]

The Painting of Mao

A/N: For @glorifiedscapegoat from @a-still-small-vox.

[Ao3 link] (now live!)

This AU popped into my head when I was doing the matches, and I was like, ‘Who likes AUs? Ah, I know. Mira!’ so I assigned myself to be your gifter. I understood your request to mean “if you write angst, give it a happy ending”, not “please write me angst with a happy ending and not something else”. I hope I interpreted that correctly, because this story is not very angsty. It does, however, have a happy ending. I really hope you enjoy it, and happy holidays!

P.S. The name of Shion’s town in this story, Maceria, means “wall”.

⁂

Shion sat before his easel, frowning as he idly scraped his palette knife back and forth against the edge of his palette. The said palette was a riot of colour, adorned with daubs of all the rainbow colours and splashes of all the unnameable colours in between. Blues and greys predominated, however, giving the impression that Shion might be painting a mystical ocean, perhaps under a sunset or struck by a fiery storm.

Shion’s smock was similarly adorned with flecks of colour, which he hadn’t even noticed before. This particular painting tended to cast a hypnotic spell on him, blotting out great chunks of time and holding his focus against all the needs of his body. Hunger, thirst, and exhaustion were no problem when in front of this canvas.

The trouble was, Shion didn’t actually know what he was painting. It wasn’t that he had no plan. Most, if not all of his artworks, were carefully planned beforehand. Clients had certain expectations after all. Shion specialised in portraits, and because paintings were expensive, they were usually portraits for the wealthy, so they had to be done right. So maybe this painting was a portrait? Shion didn’t know.

He didn’t know because his brain simply could not comprehend what he put down on the canvas every time he sat down before it. He could see shapes and colours, but when he tried to focus on them, they went fractal, kaleidoscopic.

The only thing he did know was that the painting compelled him. Every time he thought of discarding it, he got a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. It was irrational to feel like painting over, discarding, or donating a canvas for re-use was a crime akin to murder. And yet.

There was a knock on the doorframe behind Shion, and he turned his head to see his father standing there.

“Still working on that enchanted canvas, son?” he said.

“Dad…” Shion groaned, setting down his palette and palette knife on the table beside him. The canvas probably was enchanted or magical in nature. But he felt like his dad didn’t take that possibility seriously, and was just saying that to tease him.

“Still haven’t figured out how we can turn a profit on that thing. Maybe if it turns out to contain a long-lost prophecy or ancient hero. Then it’d be worth a pretty penny,” Shion’s dad continued.

“Daaaaaad…” Shion groaned again. “You never change.”

Shion’s dad laughed and winked. “Nope. And that’s why we’re the most profitable studio in Maceria.”

Although Shion’s mother had been born into a wealthy merchant family, she had chosen to marry a young woodworker instead of a person with an equal social standing to her own. Fortunately, her parents had given her enough money for Shion’s father to apprentice to a woodworking studio, where he learnt to make decorative frames and canvas stretchers, among other things. He had then encouraged his young son, Shion, to apprentice to a master painter so that they could establish their family business, where both painting and framing was done in-house. It wasn’t the first career that Shion would have chosen for himself, but he liked the intellectual aspect of it, the meticulous attention to detail, the analysis of the painting subject, the puzzle over which techniques to use to create the impression that he wanted the viewer of the painting to have. And he liked working with his father as well, for all the mischief he caused.

Shion rolled his eyes at his dad, who looked not the least bit discouraged.

“I’m done for the night. I’m heading up to see your mother and to have some of that leftover apple crumble she baked. Better hurry up or I’ll have the whole thing.”

Glancing back at the canvas, Shion felt a tug in his gut. He found his hand closing one of his paintbrushes before he even realised he’d moved. “I think I’m going to stay here for a while. Please don’t eat all of the apple crumble.”

“Don’t bet on it,” Shion’s dad said, although Shion suspected that his dad would save him some anyway. Shion’s dad turned towards the stairs that led to their apartment over the studio, and then paused. “Son… be careful with that thing.” He gave Shion a heavy look.

“It’s not evil…” Shion began, glancing at the painting out of the corner of his eye. “He – um, it is just… nervous. I think.”

“Well, it’s probably not evil because it hasn’t consumed you,” his dad said. “But that doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous. I think it’s probably fine, but you know how your mother worries.”

It’s enchanted, not cursed, was on the tip of Shion’s tongue. Instead, he just sighed.

“It’s fine, Dad. Go have your dessert.”

After lingering for a moment longer, Shion’s dad shrugged and then disappeared from the doorway. Shion heard the thuds of his footfalls on the stairs, until the door at the top of the stairs creaked open and then shut, and there was silence.

Shion closed his eyes. He took a deep, fortifying breath. Then, he turned back to the canvas with the paintbrush and palette in his hands.

“I’ve done everything I can to help you,” Shion muttered to the painting. “What do you want from me?”

The canvas with its mystifying swirl of colours failed to respond. But Shion noticed, for perhaps the first time, that the central form of the painting seemed to be very much akin to the shape of a human face.

So it is a portrait, then.

Shion resisted the urge to brush his fingers over the still-wet paint to feel the shape of it, as if by touch alone he could determine what colours were really underneath his fingers, and if the face that they might form was a kind one or a cruel one. He had a feeling that the person who was perhaps represented here was just as mysterious as the painting he – um, they were depicted in.

Before he had really anticipated it, Shion was gathering paint from his palette once more. His hand moved toward the canvas, and he fell into a soft oblivion.

Some time later, Shion let his aching arm drop with a sigh. He looked out the window, expecting to see a thick black swathe of night. But to his total shock, he saw a blush of pink on the horizon. It was the morning of the next day. Shion had painted all through the night, something that had never happened before.

It wasn’t just his arm that ached, but his whole body. His head throbbed. But when he looked at the table beside him, he saw a half-full glass of clean water and a plate with what looked suspiciously like crumble crumbs on it. Apparently, he’d gotten up to get food and water at some point, and hadn’t even known it. That had never happened before either.

Shion felt a pit in his stomach. Was I wrong about the portrait? Is it evil after all?

He couldn’t help but turn towards the portrait, to try and re-centre his understanding of it. When his eyes met the gleaming, river-grey eyes on the canvas, the room... stopped.

It was like being held in the centre of a crystal. Cocooned against the outside world in glass and in silence. All was still, the dust motes hanging in the air and the breeze that had ruffled the branches outside instantly pausing. Shion was caught between two breaths, suspended.

And he could see, really see, for the very first time, what he had painted.

As he had suspected, a portrait. A man with grey eyes, at once dark and yet silvered with light. Shion had never seen eyes like that before, though somehow he had painted them – or the man had compelled him to paint them that way. He had pale, delicate skin with long, blue-grey hair tied up in a curious ponytail knot behind his head, its soft strands charmingly framing his face. Another colour Shion had never seen.

Behind the man was a verdant forest. But the sky was not blue, but grey with smoke that rose from the trees in plumes. Here and there Shion caught glimpses of the red and orange of fire. Seeing it made his stomach turn, for reasons he didn’t understand.

“You’re beautiful,” Shion couldn’t help but softly say to the man in the portrait. “And mysterious…” he sighed, running a hand through his already-messy brown hair. “I wish I knew your name.”

The man’s grey eyes seemed to gleam.

There was a word on the tip of Shion’s tongue.

“Hmmm,” Shion hummed. Yes. It came to him all in a rush, then – “Nezumi.”

The man’s dark eyelashes fluttered.

“Hello, O Mighty Painter,” said Nezumi. Shion could hear the playful irreverence in his voice. Like Nezumi’s face, his voice was mysterious and beautiful. His words were formed more like a song than like speech.

“My name is Shion. And you’re amazing,” Shion breathed.

“No vocabulary, and no sense of self preservation. You should be worried that I’ve been stealing your will.”

Shion shook his head. “No you haven’t.” It was true. Although Shion had felt uneasy about being compelled, he’d never felt that he wanted to stop working on the painting, that he couldn’t get free. He’d known he was under a spell, but he’d been okay with that.

Nezumi raised an eyebrow, and Shion caught his breath as he noticed the elegance of the simple movement.

“Who are you – really?” Shion said.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Nezumi said, but then relented. “Fine. I owe you that much.”

Shion looked into Nezumi’s grey eyes, and he began to speak.

“I am a nymph, a forest spirit, bound to a tree in the Mao forest. My tribe lived there in peace until a fire was started by greedy humans who wanted the land for their cattle. We all hid our spirits away in our trees, knowing that our magic and their strength together would make them resilient against the fire.

“Most of us survived, but our trees grew sick and weak when their leaves were burned. Some of my tribe and my family were able to escape, but I was too weak to leave my tree. The humans came back and saw an opportunity. They cut down all the trees that had not been turned to ash by the fire, some of them with spirits inside them and some of them without.

“The tree I was in was made into a canvas stretcher. So you see, it isn’t actually the canvas which is ‘enchanted’, but the stretcher. And it’s not enchanted, but inhabited.”

Nezumi smiled a dangerous smile, his white teeth gleaming. “And that is how I came to be in your painting, human.”

Shion didn’t reply, but simply stared.

“Well?” Nezumi said. “Are you an idiot? Speak.” The sting in the words was lessened by the slight tinge of worry in his voice.

Shion blinked. Then, he was wiping his eyes with his sleeve, heedless of the thin purple paint streaks he was leaving across his cheeks and nose.

“That’s horrible!” he burst out. “Didn’t those humans know that you lived in that forest?”

Nezumi looked taken aback, but then shrugged. “It’s not like they would have cared.”

“They’re worse than scum!” Shion burst out, still watery. “I’m sorry that happened to you, Nezumi. It was a travesty! But –” And here he was struck with a thought, “Now that I’ve painted you, can you come out of the stretcher? Can you go find your family?”

There was a pause, where Nezumi looked Shion straight in the eyes. “With the grace of the one who painted me, I can.”

“Me?” Shion said. “Of course I’ll help you, Nezumi. But what do you need me for?”

“You are the only one who really sees me. You are the only one who can speak me into reality once more. But beware, Shion. If you don’t truly know me, I may not turn out to be the person I’m supposed to be.”

Shion drew back, pondering the weight of Nezumi’s words. “You mean… if I just expect anyone to appear, it won’t work? Or… if I imagine you wrong, you’ll turn out wrong?”

Nezumi only shrugged enigmatically.

Narrowing his eyes, Shion tapped one finger against his lips. How could he know Nezumi, when he’d met him just tonight? Shion wanted to help him get out of the painting as fast as possible, but what if he needed more time to get to know him?

But now was the singular moment. Somehow he knew that this crystal moment was perhaps the only chance he’d get to speak Nezumi back to his rightful existence.

It’s now or never.

“Alright,” Shion said, talking aloud. “I’ll do it. Just… stay still.”

Nezumi rolled his eyes. “Shion, I’m a painting.”

“No, you’re a canvas stretcher. Be quiet.”

But Nezumi kept chuckling as Shion closed his eyes and tried to think.

What did he know about Nezumi from all those days he’d sat before this canvas with a palette in his hand, drawn to complete it without really knowing why?

It came to him, from the depths of his mind. He did know who Nezumi was. Someone who was sarcastic and prickly, distant, and yes – hurt. But at the same time, someone with a quick intelligence and humour, interesting and clever. And beneath his cool exterior, there was someone who was warm, who cared.

Nezumi could have driven Shion to complete the painting at a back-breaking pace, and Shion would have told himself it was the fire of inspiration, and let him. And yet, Nezumi hadn’t taken advantage of him. In fact, he’d sent Shion packing off to bed more than once when Shion had wanted to keep working, to hasten the uncovering of the mystery. Looking into the depths of Nezumi only reinforced what Shion already knew.

This painting is not evil, it is not cursed. It is good. And Nezumi is my friend.

“Alright,” Shion said, opening his eyes and giving a sharp nod. “I’m ready.”

Nezumi let out a breath. Although it was subtle, Shion thought he could see the muscles around his eyes tighten.

“Then hold me in your mind, and reach out for my hand.”

Shion closed his eyes, and held thoughts of Nezumi behind them like water held in cupped hands. He reached forward, farther and farther than he should have been able to with a canvas and easel in front of him. Then his fingers brushed warm skin. Nezumi’s hand tightened around Shion’s, and Shion pulled.

The world turned upside down. There was a clattering sound as wood hit tile. Shion opened his eyes, and there was a man standing in front of him, head and body and arms and legs and all, taller than Shion and still clutching his hand.

Nezumi.

“You’re here,” Shion breathed, and then a bell rang, and then the crystal silence shattered.

The world turned right again. Shion and Nezumi were standing in Shion’s studio, the easel and canvas lying on the floor behind Nezumi. Behind him, the sunrise had reached the top of the sky, burnishing the room with warm morning colours.

“You’re here!” Shion said again, delight suffusing his voice. He dropped Nezumi’s hand and threw his arms around him.

“Oof,” Nezumi huffed out. “Is this how you treat every stranger you meet?”

And yet his arms came up to enfold Shion’s body, and gripped tight and warm and real. And Nezumi pressed a kiss to Shion’s brown hair.

[becameundone]

(park seonghwa. cis man. he/him. homosexual.) ⇝ hey, isn’t that min kim? i think that the twenty-eight year old from london, uk works as a hair stylist (cosmetologist) for the coyote hair salon, but outside of that people describe them as neon red lights glowing in the night, candied cherries floating in a glass of bubbles, every outfit deliberate and detailed and smoky eyeshadow smeared on, the glimmer of white salon lights reflected in the blades of your scissors . i hear they are vain & pedantic, but they are also known to be supportive & individual. consider giving them a visit at their home in delilah's den gated community and get to know why they’re called the sour cherry.

TW: brief mentions of an abusive relationship, not detailed; emetophobia (one single mention)

BASICS.

Min's full legal name is Minwoo Kim. He doesn't actually mind his name at all, he has no issue with Minwoo, but he also happens to really like how Min sounds. That, and he got sick of people mispronouncing his name all the time (the W is silent!). People were already calling him Min and he found it less annoying to let it stick. However, he will not be at all upset if somebody calls him Minwoo, so long as they say it correctly.

He grew up in a fully bilingual home and speaks Korean quite naturally (although he also has a bit of a talent for picking up languages so certainly helps).

As mentioned in Tomo's intro, Min and Tomo are best friends c: i love besties! Min was also slightly infatuated with Tomo when they first met but their relationship is strictly platonic. There are no romantic feelings between them.

Also, because I like making my muses know each other, he does also know Mio (sorry that their names are spelled so similarly); although Min is by no means a professional dancer, he does have some history with it (as I'll go on to explain) and he still finds it fun so he'll hang out at the dance studio with Mio and sometimes they'll work on stuff together. Any friendships Min does have are very important to him, as he's struggled with making his friends his whole life.

He can be vain and occasionally a little shallow but it mostly comes from a fear of being ignored; he likes to stand out because he doesn't want to fade into the background. He wants to be NOTICED. Please. He's begging you. (Except don't give him too much attention because he hates that too. Good luck figuring that out!) It also comes from a place of needing to be entirely himself. Min has felt like an outcast most of his life so, instead of worrying about not fitting in, he'd rather stand out. He puts EFFORT into how he looks. Eyeliner, shimmer eyeshadow, a great smelling perfume; these are all staples for Min. His hair always looks great too. Because of course it does. Hair's kind of his thing.

Min currently lives in a cottage in Delilah's Den Gated Community with his older cousin. Because his cousin was planning on living there regardless, Min is only expected to cover his own utilities and food costs. Otherwise, he'd likely live in Seal Harbour apartment complex; when he was still in London, he was living in a shitty little flat. Living in a nice little cottage is pleasant enough but he doesn't like the gated community much, finding it too boring and isolated after having lived in city as densely populated as London.

Strictly speaking, Min is bisexual but I think he has a pretty strong preference for masc identifying people and he'd probably rather date them (if i end up deciding to write him as gay, then that'll be a matter of him coming to that conclusion abt himself bc, right now, i'm not 100% sure). He never came out to his family, with the exception of his younger sister and his cousin. He's also a little weary about getting into relationships, given that his only real relationship was pretty abusive. Min would like to trust someone like that again but it'll take some patience. (Sex, however, is not something he has any real qualms about.)

Min is autistic! (YES i'm writing another autistic muse this wasn't even planned bc most of my muses here were pre-existing muses ASDFGHGF) This was diagnosed when he was child. Growing up, he never really learned how to mask and, frankly, he still doesn't know how. However, he's developed a sort of hyperawareness of how other people might perceive him and is often far too conscious of the risk of saying things other people don't understand. It doesn't really help. He's also got OCD, although it's a specific subtype where his compulsions aren't motivated by the fear of any terrible consequences and instead by his own discomfort (and there is a name for this but I can't, for the life of me, remember it). This tends to manifest as a fixation on details like symmetry and order but also often as germaphobia, although this is a little milder.

Min has three sisters, two older and one younger. He is the only son is family. His older sisters are both a few years older than him and his sister is five years younger so there's a bit of a gap between him and the next sibling either way.

Actually drinks too much Coca Cola. This probably explains his stroppiness, as well as his awful sleeping patterns. I remember early on, I had this whole Cherry Coke aesthetic for him which is funny because he doesn’t even drink it. Just regular Coke. Not Coke Zero. DEFINITELY not Diet Coke. Only regular Coke. He hates Pepsi.

He’s not as adventurous as Tomo in general but he still likes to tag along with Tomo to parties and clubs most of the time. There’s never any pressure for him to go if he doesn’t want to. Min's not a big drinker and the drugs are only an every-now-and-again thing for him but he likes hanging out with Tomo. Despite his (not always intentional) aloof attitude towards most other people, he also doesn’t mind helping Tomo out when he’s drunk because he likes feeling reliable. Min’s used to being treated like an irresponsible child or like he’ll smash into a thousand pieces if he does something wrong so it’s almost liberating to look out for someone. (That said, it goes both ways -- Tomo has definitely punched a guy for bothering Min before.)

BACKSTORY.

EARLY YEARS.

Min's early years aren't anything remarkable. He was the third child and only son of an ordinary couple, his father was a teacher and his mother a hairdresser. He was born and raised in London, where he would continue to live most of his life through until his 20s. He was raised in a Catholic family. They weren't especially religiously involved but he was baptised and he did the whole First Holy Communion and Confirmation thing. The works. He did attend a Catholic school (in the UK, this can be largely the same as any other public school, esp in terms of actual education and curriculum, just more...uh...Catholic and repressed) which did wonders for his emotional wellbeing as a closeted gay teenager...or not. Min himself is not religious at all.

From a young age, Min found himself drawn to performance. This love was first discovered in drama classes in Primary school. In Year 6 (equivalent of 5th Grade), he was cast as Gabriel in the school's Nativity play, wherein he got a solo song to himself. This sparked something in him and what he discovered was that he liked dancing best of all. He never dared to ask for dancing lessons, too embarrassed to admit he had an interest, but he would spend hours in his bedroom, teaching himself the basics. In Secondary school, he was able to continue taking roles in school plays, even if his roles were usually smaller. He'd had to beg his parents to let him take drama, instead of focusing solely on more academic pursuits, but he was never much of a theatre kid. He was never outgoing enough to land the big roles but he was happy enough to just have something about which he could feel passionate. His eldest sister, old enough to have some money put aside from her part-time job during Uni, eventually offered to pay for some dance classes; he didn't attend them that frequently, as he was relying on his sister having enough money, but he got a lot out of them.

His parents had wanted him to study something more academic at university, given that he was a clever child with good grades, but Min had since developed a very straight forward, narrow focus on the performing arts. For him, that was the only viable option. After a few arguments and the eventual intervention of his oldest sister, who'd insisted that Min was talented, his parents relented and allowed him to pursue a degree in dance.

LONDON.

Marking very little change from his experiences up until that point, Min struggled to make friends at Uni. Eventually, a compulsory group activity saw him swept into the fold of an established friend group and, although he did not feel he entirely fit in, for the first time he was among people not intent on judging him. He was able to make friends in the LGBT community and finally comes to terms with his own sexuality. It was around this time that Min really started putting effort into his looks; he'd finally found the freedom to be who he wanted. To be himself. At this point, he was still living at home. The changes were certainly noticed but, because he seemed to be doing well and because he seemed happier, nobody seemed to mind anymore.

However, it didn't take long for Min to buckle under the pressure. Barely into his second year of Uni, Min found himself struggling to cope; he'd decided to move out just before the academic year started, moving into a shitty little flat with a few friends, and he couldn't quite readjust to the changes. The social expectations of the course started to get too much and he lost focus. After repeatedly failing to show up to evaluations and flunking his assessments, he was asked to leave the course. The shame ate away at him; not only had he fucked everything up, he'd wasted his parents' money and made a fool of his sister for having any faith in him.

But that same sister was exactly the person to whom he turned. His student loans ran out quickly and he wasn't able to keep paying rent for the flat with his friends but his sister agreed to take him in for a short while, until he was ready to tell his parents the truth. It took him another month to finally come clean with them. To his shock, his mother was immediately understanding and took him under her wing as a trainee hairdresser. He'd later learn that his mum had already figured out what had happened because, despite her best efforts, his eldest sister wasn't very good at lying. His mother thought he might like to work alongside her because, after all, he seemed to be interested in fashion and style. It seemed she was right.

Min seemed to have a natural knack for hairstyling and quickly settled into his new career, finally accepting there were other things in life about which he could be passionate. He was able to get a job in another salon in the centre of London, somewhere a little more sleek and modern than his mother's place of work, and, having found a new place to stay with a mutual friend, he was finally thriving.

It was around this time that Min got into his first serious relationship, going exclusive with a former-classmate from Uni who was a few years older than him. This relationship was kept a very careful secret from Min's family but that only made it harder for him to recognise when the dynamic slipped into bullying. But, because Min had lived most of his life afraid of disappointing people, wracked by an overwhelming guilt that didn't seem to come from anywhere in particular and a hyperawareness of his inability to fit in with others, it wasn't easy for him to recognise what was happening. It was easy for him to assume he deserved it.

While his relationship continued to take a turn for the worse, Min found himself being given the opportunity to do hair for a fancy fashion event. It was at this event that he first met a dazzling young actor who'd come to London from Japan; Tomo Katsumura was unlike anybody Min had ever met. Free-spirited, full of spark, so unconcerned with what anybody else thought of him. They became fast friends, thanks to Tomo's natural ability to draw people in. It was bound to be a brief friendship as they'd have to part ways as soon as the event was over but it didn't take Tomo long to take a permanent mark on Min's life, showing him things he'd never seen before and dragging him to places to fancy for him to have ever visited himself.

"Your boyfriend fucking sucks," Tomo had said, just a few nights in, "Is he abusing you?" It had been such a blunt question that Min didn't know how to respond. He thought he ought to feel angry that this near-stranger would ask such an insensitive question. He could almost feel his skin burning. But, after a long silence, he finally said, "I really want to break up with him." Tomo shrugged. "Then do it," he had said, "I'll even come along for emotional support." It was the strangest thing a person Min had only known a week could have offered him. He didn't understand at all how quickly this man had managed to wriggle his way under his skin. But, for some reason, he trusted him. The break-up came the following night, in his boyfriend's flat. It had been nasty. Unpleasant. Cruel words exchanged. But it happened, and the whole thing somehow culminated in Tomo stepping in and punching Min's now-ex square in the nose, before grabbing Min by the wrist and escaping the flat, where Min started to laugh. And then he started to cry. So hard he ended up throwing up. But Tomo had been there the whole time, waiting at Min's side like a guardian angel.

And, then, when the two weeks of the event were up, Tomo went back to Japan, leaving Min with nothing but a promise that he'd try to stay in touch. That promise clearly proved hard to keep. For Min, everything suddenly went back to normal, save for the newfound absence of his shitty ex. And, suddenly, without the distraction of an awful relationship, Min started to see how bored he'd been. He loved his job and he loved London but his life felt stagnant.

ANCHORAGE.

Moving country was never an option Min had considered. It had never been something he wanted. Not until he'd met Tomo, who'd told him that moving abroad when his life felt all screwed up and changed everything. Besides, ever since that week, Min had grown hungry for adventure, seeing for real that was a whole world outside of his own bubble. When his older cousin, a writer who focuses on the weird and unexplained and had moved to Anchorage a few years before, comes to visit over the holidays, Min does not hesitate to ask take him back to Alaska with him. Ask. Beg. Whatever, it's all the same. Min doesn't really care about the destination, he just wants out of London. He wants a fresh start, away from everything that's starting to eat him alive. His cousin finally relents and agrees to take Min away with him. Min arrives in Anchorage during the late months of 2020, at the age of twenty-four.

Starting over wasn't immediately easy; he had to sit an exam to get a US-appropriate license before he could even think of getting a job but he'd had enough experience now to better cope with the changes in his life and earned his license with little trouble. He lands himself a job at Coyote Hair Salon and everything falls into place. Anchorage isn't too exciting most of the time but it's different than home and, to be honest, it's strange enough for it to feel like an adventure. Maybe he should be careful what he's wishing for.

Shortly after getting back to work, Min was also inspired to reignite his passion for dance. He signs for adult dance classes at a studio in town and, although they aren't at quite the level of polish one might expect from a good school in London, the energy is less intense. Less competitive. Dance becomes a way for him to destress.

Then, come early 2022, a very unexpected customer walks through the doors, asking for a stylist willing to help him fix a shitty self-inflicted hair dye job. Min looks up and sees none other than Tomo fucking Katsumura. (It later turns out that this isn't the wild coincidence it seems like and it's partly Min's fault that this is where Tomo has turned up. During their time in London together, Min had mentioned his cousin and commented that Anchorage seemed like the kind of place you'd go to run away from something, a place for hiding. Apparently, this stuck with Tomo long enough that it was the first place he thought of when deciding to 'escape' Los Angeles.)

(also sidenote YES this is another muse with a dance background but min was originally written as tomo's popstar best friend in another plot and i wanted to keep SOME element of that. min's main skill as a popstar was dance so it made the most sense to keep that specifically. also i think dancers are cool. min's biggest obstacle in his original plotline was an abusive record label so i guess i condensed that into his ex. i kept these references vague bc i didn't want to be too unpleasant about it but i think a lack of control, at some point in min's life, is integral to his characterisation.)

[junsei-draws-rotasu]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Secret of The Ooze 1990 movie

So, I never received any spoiler for the other parts of this Trilogy. So, my prediction would be the Krang is here or somehow Shredder lived.

Ah yes, I think this Film might be sponsored by pizza

I think April might be the one who sponsee this pizza place on how many times she ordered for the guys

Keno, cool name, but Keno. No. Just stick to your route and you won’t get mugged or smth

Keno, how old are you? Maybe 15 from what I see… that might explain the impulsiveness on doing something this stupid

Oh wow, Leno got some moves

I’m not sure if they’re running away from being knowing their asses being kicked or the fact there are 4 large turtles

Oh! At least you didn’t slap yourself to know reality! That is a far more better way to do so!

Raph, don’t you, that kid might’ve suffocated there?

That thief is an idiot thinking Donatello is that back and forward toy.

If the turtle left Keno stuck there, he’ll die. Thanks to Dazai from BSD, that is one painful death to be in

Is Mikey always the smallest turtle now matter what iteration? I think Raph might be the tallest one here.

Mom April. At least she isn’t yelling. But yeah, it’s ironic the rat is the cleanest one

I swear Donnie needs to be diagnosed, I’m not in the spectrum meaning I’m not qualified.

Since when did you guys become religious–oh, smelling it… I guess Pizza might be the turtles religion

Splinter, why’s re you wearing your shredded robe? Get some new clothes please.

Oh wow, so it’s the 1990 and 2012 turtles had only begun their adventure at the age of 15. The only difference is the fact the 1990 turtles knows pizza before the 2012 turtles.

I should pay attention to the poster more. So, Godzilla would be in this movie? How meta

Raph is the tallest and Mikey is the smallest. And Donnie and Leo have the same height.

Donnie is jokingly religious here since he did the sign of the cross for praying

So I was right on Shredder being alive

Shut up Tetsu, and why are we calling Shredder father??? Are we really in deep that cult mindset?

Oh, yah no. You’ll be called Tetsu instead Tatsu, that one is reserve who I actually respect. 2012 Tatsu.

Why are you talking like the stereotypical Caveman who talks in English but not supposed to

I like the new helmet design, but seriously. Get a new mask. And an overreaction to his face guys, he’s not ugly as 2012 Saki

TGRI sound awfully like TCRI. Don’t tell me this company is experimenting the Ooze on the water

Annoying little sibling Mikey

The professor sounds condescending. Getting bad vibes

“I’m paid to be suspicious” - April O’Neil 1990

What kind of worker are you?! Don’t you know safety first if it’s suspicious stuff??? YOU USE GLOVES OR ANYTHING TO COVER YOUR HAND!!!

Ngl, crunchy dandelions sounds satisfying

Oh nvm, Shredder your helmet is worse than your mask, I take back my compliment.

Same gurl, we both knew it

I have never seen you guys question yourself until you brought that up Donatello

Popping off Donnie!

Feels like they’re treating this like a game (no Shet Sherlock) shut up sergeant sarcasm

Tetsu, your very incompetent when you could’ve vanish when they were making a game plan. You could’ve vanish by not confronting them. This is why you can’t have your name correctly spelled from me

It’s in my head for a while, but is the Professor Baxter Stockman? Since the 1987 Baxter Stockman is a white man.

Keno, you can’t just go in someone’s apartment!

April you could’ve done with your cousin stayed over and forgot about them excuse, or saying it’s a collection

Yeah, fainting seeing a giant rat makes sense than fainting seeing a giant turtle

When are we getting Casey?

Especially teenagers… Probably for easier manipulation

Ugh, it looks like vomit 🤢

I’m not sure white coat is good to wear during the rain, April

They sure hit the jack spot

I like this Professor, despite being shifty, he got some balls to being sassy to the Shredder.

Pft—Oroku Saki, the Shredder, a mother of two mutants. Next thing we’ll know, Saki might win the milf award

That’s how infants are

What the hell?! I’m with the professor!

Well, the professor at least tried to make sure he’s sons aren’t killed the moment they were born.

Give them praise Saki, this is an important development for their age to be praised

Keno, NO! Raph, NO!

At least team work makes the dream work? Seriously, a bad plan.

I swear, Tetsu and Saki are boyfriends, like the minute Raph makes fun of Tetsu, Saki immediately went between them like protecting his bf

Leo, cut the rope! You still have your swords!

Splinter looks like Weasel or an Otter than a Rat

Tokka and Razhar… I can see Tokka being scary because the gimbal episode but Razhar? Nah, Chris Bradford got it

You know, I just realize this turtles fights individually and flashy like season 1 2012 turtles

In defense of the Professor, he thinks he’s being kidnap again

Aw, Donnie

Would you look at that, Saki is trying to be a mother for these mutant babies

What a prick

They should’ve frosted it instead

“Go ninja go! Go ninja go!” Didn’t realized this came from the 1990 tmnt

Damn look at those moves

The band is quite talented to make up this song on stop

The crowd thinking they got a play plus a musicale in this club

“I learnt that from a rat” - Keno 1990

This film has one of the best absurde lines

Now he looks cool and intimidating. Props to the costume team. Especially to Jim Henson

Did Shredder drown?

Of course Baxter couldn’t be the professor, Professor Perry is too cool

Oooh, here comes the scolding

[panainpublic]

i literally just finished shadow and bone and i am dutch so i get to shit on the dutch usage and pronunciation now hehehe >:D

i kept track of all names and words and stuff that i thought were dutch(-inspired) based on the word itself or context, then divided them into 3 categories: "yup, thats correct", "aaaaaalmost", and "wtf is this." (pronunciation will be thoroughly criticized later.)

(disclaimer i have only read a small part of SoC due to ✨life✨ so this is mostly based on the show)

yup, thats correct

the following words/names are completely believable, both in context and the name itself, + why:

tante Heleen - tante = aunt and Heleen is a very Dutch name; Dreesen is a real last name; Edam is a real place (their cheese is pretty good); Rozenstraat is a very generic and common street name; Edyck is the fancy old spelling of Edijk, which is probably either a place or someones name; Rietveld is a real last name; stroopwafels are real and oh so very good; Appelbroek, aka apple bottom jeans (or apple pants ig), could probably be a place name; Hiemstra is probably a real last name; Saskia is a very Dutch name; Lij could be a real place; Kooperom sounds so much like a real restaurant i actually would want to eat there now.

aaaaaalmost

these seem like theyre actually dutch names at first glance, but its just a little... wrong. off. (again, + why.)

Ketterdam, as ketter means heretic (probably why its named that tbf), would never be a real place name. it sounds very weird; "goedemorgen, fantomen" was pronounced so wrong i had to take another listen to pick up what he was saying, + wed use "spoken" instead of "fantomen", especially in the context of surprise survivors; Jakob is fine, but Hertzoon would be spelled Hertszoon. even then, its still weird - -szoon was only used with the fathers name, and "hert" means deer, which isnt really a name; Henrik Van Poel would be correct if Van was spelled without a capital. its a "tussenvoegsel", an infix, which behaves a certain way in dutch, including not being capitalized when the whole name is written out; (B/D)uysberg (dont remember exactly) is almost correct, but idk, something feels just a little off about it, especially if it was Buysberg, which is what i think it was; Kaz would be spelled with an s and maybe a C depending on the full name, and Brekker is right but just doesnt feel like a real last name.

wtf is this.

these arent dutch. these will never be dutch. no. (once again, + why.)

Kerch just doesnt sound or feel dutch, even when pronounced the dutch way (which it isnt in the show); stadwatch is a combo of dutch and english, which wed never do like this - just call it the stadswacht or the city watch, both sound better; Sturmhond is a combo of German and Dutch, make it Stormhond and id believe it (but i guess it was made up by a Ravkan, so its excusable); kruge is just not it.

alright. time to learn some dutch pronunciation and spelling rules.

all letters are pronounced, except, depending on context, for final -n.

g/ch = /x/ or /ɣ/ (make an s or z sound, roll your tongue back until its in the same spot you pronounce k), except for loan words.

ee = /eː/, or "ay".

y/ij/ei = /ɛi̯/ - closest thing i can think of is New Zealand "face" or Scottish "write". /aɪ/ ("I") would be acceptable.

uy/ui = /œy/, like finnish äy. nothing similar in English.

oo = /oː/, "oh".

oe = /u/, "oo" as in "loo" (not as in "book")

the rest is either right or depends on context.

"goedemorgen, fantomen". oh boy.

okay, so far we got /ɣud[e]m[o]rɣ[e] f[a]nt[o]m[e]/, where the letters in brackets are not yet explained and not necessarily obvious in pronunciation. from what i can recall, only one of them was pronounced correctly.

but lets start with stress patterns in dutch. the stress will always fall on the root of any given word, unless its a relatively recent loan word. in "goedemorgen", "morgen" is the root with the stress falling on "mor". they got this part right. in "fantomen" the root is "fantoom" with the stress falling on "toom". theres also secondary stress: "goedemorgen" is a compound of "goed" and "morgen", so it falls on "goe". in "fantomen", -en marks plural, and therefore secondary stress is on the other syllable of the root word: "fan".

if "e" isnt stressed in a word, its almost always /ə/ (e in "burden"). in this case, no e is stressed, so its all /ə/.

the first "o" is followed by multiple consonants, so its /ɔ/ (o in RP "sorry").

the second "o" is the shortened form of "oo".

"a" followed by multiple consonants, so its not the short form of "aa", and pronounced /ɑ/ (generic american english first a in "always")

this makes our sentence pronounced as /ˌɣudəˈmɔrɣə(n) ˌfɑnˈtoːmə(n)/.

[xxghost-zombie-jesus]

BJTM Headcanons

copy and pasted from my ramblings on discord between my friend and i so they may not make sense, i don't care. enjoy!!

first, a joke that's not really a joke. iykyk

Charles: What are your pronouns Beej: What's a pronoun? Delia: Indicative but not exclusive to your gender identity Beej: Stop swearing at me Delia: Can we refer to you as they/them? Beej: But my name is… well I can't say it but you all know it. Charles: Lydia, what are Mr. Juice's pronouns? Lydia: Oh, I use He/Him for him, he doesn't really care though

He/they beej all the way, nonbinary king. he's a demon for one, and also just doesn't actually care what people call him as long as they see him, also also he will wear whatever he wants, it's all just clothing to him. in my brain beej is like "idfk what a pronoun is and i am NOT about to learn" and then, post!musical rambling ahead: so like, if beej comes back after the events of the musical, and like, yknow, they all talk and apologies go around bc no one is really w/o fault even if beej went on a little hissy-fit and almost killed them all (and was killed in return), i like to imagine they struggle w/ what to call him bc hearing his name said by breathers is like a physical tugging in his chest, and it's not painful, persay, but it's uncomfortable and attention-grabbing. And I'm sure he doesn't really want people calling him Lawrence for a few reasons (only Juno calls him that, for one, and also he doesn't look like a Lawrence), and while Lydia would have no problem calling him BJ, im sure others have their reservations bc.... the other thing that stands for LMAO so yeah, he goes by like, Beej, BJ, Beetle, Bug, Mr. Juice (when Charles is really annoyed and/or is one of his rare times of teasing the demon), B-Man (by himself), etc and only when they're out in public where other people can see him is he ever called Lawrence because he's kind of under the cover of being Lydia's older brother who came home from college, and no one really wants to explain what Beej/BJ stands for

also, he's not great at spelling in english, the rules change too much for him to keep up and also he never really cared, and he's not the best reader out there, but he's pretty fucking good with history (hey, he lived through it!), and also math, surprisingly to everyone, including himself. He wants to be good with science but the last time he thought about it they hadn't even come up with the Big Bang theory so he's… a little out of the loop. ((he's fluent in Death and in whatever language demons use, though, but it doesn't exactly translate to english, hence why he spells his name Beetlejuice when it's supposed to be Betelgeuse like the star. i imagine he's pretty good w/ like, Olde English because that's what it was when he was learning it, but it's been modernized and he's just like "fuck it spelling correctly is for chumps and grandmas anyway")) also isnt that sad? he's named after the second brightest star in Orion's belt, meaning the self-proclaimed "Ghost with the Most" will never be the best

oh another thing, beej sometimes repeats things in 3s, as kind of a callback to his curse (his name being said three times), autistic/adhd swag makin me repeat shit i say multiple times sometimes and i am totally not projecting, and also because echolalia is a bitch that i too deal with. Lydia does it too, but only once or twice, and the two sometimes get stuck in an increasingly amusing feedback loop of repeating the same dumb word back and forth until one of them snaps out of it basically once delia walked in on Beej and Lydia playing mario-kart, repeating, "bababooie" back and forth and had been doing so for 10 minutes, and continued to do so for another 5 before Delia stepped in and got their attention beej and lydia BOTH got that autistic swag, sue me. also beej probably also has ADHD but i may or may not be projecting on that front <3 idk i just like to think that beej and lydia are both just unapologetically autistic together and when people try to be rude about it to one of them the other is like "i'll literally fucking kill you and no one will ever find the body <3"

oh and i personally will be using 'beetlejuice' as the spelling for his name except in very certain circumstances (ie someone uses his true name for any reason and/or when things are being spoken about in demon tongue. i like to think beej personally butchered the spelling bc he KNEW it would piss his mom off and he was right because it DID piss her off to high heaven)