#its very short buuuuut

[nights-flying-fox]

A Reminder

Its comfortember again!! A few days late bc while I wrote this on the first day I wrote this to my notebook lol anyways this one is Cass Apocalyptic Future fanfic ( by @/somerandomdudelmao) if you haven't check it out yet, go and read it!! (if you want ofc)

Sometimes Donnie forgets he and his family are safe now.

Fandom: ROTTMNT (CAS AU) | 330 Words | hurt/comfort | click for AO3 | takes place after episode 17, beware of spoilers

 Leo, Raph and Mikey were all back. Donnie, with Casey’s help had made that certain. They time traveled, came back to life.

 But there were times Donnie would have nightmares about everything going wrong. Him not being able to save them, or him getting sick again. As if he still was in danger. As if the Krang would come back and destroy everything he fixed, and everything he’d fix.

 Then his family would join him whenever he woke up with shaking breaths. Some nights Donnie would get up and sit, working on his plans for fixing more things. To bring back more of what he lost, or to make what he had better. It relaxed him, somewhat. Then he’d find out Leo joining him, ask about what he was doing, and comforting without even asking or talking about his worries. Some nights he would just curl next to one of his brothers. Then Raph would sense his worries and give him one of his most comforting hugs ever (and they would be so warm, just like the old times, when they were much younger). Donnie would gladly snuggle, accepting the feeling of being protected and loved. Mikey would be awake sometimes, and he would tell him about some dumb things his brothers while Donnie was away.

 Donnie would forget his worries as they accompanied him. They were here, alive, by his side. He had done it and pulled them back to his side. He had not let anything stop him; Krang, illness, death. He, alongside him Casey, saved them and was reunited with them.

 And most importantly they were safe. The Krang were no more, the war was over (even before it started in this timeline). They no longer had to save resources, to be always on alert.

 Leo, Raph, Mikey, they all were safe, and so was Casey. And his family was here to remind that. Remind him that everything was okay. That he was safe.

 They were safe.

[esre13]

Despite being an Acheron simp buuuuut

Aven x reader, where they both had a sort of lucid dream, Aven and the reader swapping bodies but they can’t really control it and has been watching the other’s lives like that.

In Aven, the reader kind of learns that he’s part of the IPC but important information like his name and position are censored, at most they know he’s a gambler who’s miserable despite acting like he’s happy.

In reader, depends on whether you want to change their identity or not, Aven learns that they’re traveling from world to world mindlessly(no they aren’t the Trailblazer) and just like for the reader their name was censored.

Anywho after the fourth dream (could be any amount u want) they finally meet in a situation where they both fought each other, doesn’t matter who looses, they mumbled their introduction towards one another.

Do what you want with the ending 🥀

omg i thought of something right away but its not really the best lol

The Trailblazer always fascinated Aventurine, they seemed so reserved at times that made him want to explode, at least give him a little snit bit of YOUR life! The same would go to the Trailblazer, they would want to find out about how Aventurine spends his time besides gambling his life away, but you already knew that, didn't you? Aventurine goes to bed with thoughts of you while the Trailblazer dozes off while holding a huge trashcan plushy and sleeping on a skibidi toilet pillow that said "I HAVE SKIBIDI TOILET RIZZ" on the back.

You hoped to wake up to watch the new episode but was abruptly stopped by waking on in a TOTALLY ripped body, only to realize that your standard white t-shirt and shorts were changed to black and gold sleepwear. Your room, filled with trash and skibidi toilet merch was covered with golden fleece and some cute blonde bear plushies. You stared into your now rich gold phone only to see heterochromia eyes looking back at you. You had blue and pink eyes???? What??? The you realized, you were hot, but not any hot, AVENTURINE hot. You got up from 'your' neat bed and stares into a mirror. You were Aventurine... But why?!?!??! All of a sudden you get a showered of messages to texts yelling on why you aren't at the IPC or your not taking interviews with anyone.

Aventurine works at the IPC??? You thought as you went crazy to get up and get ready, only to change your mind since if you had to change any clothes, you would have to see the body of Aventurine, you couldn't do that with your friend, can you..? (Throwing his "friend" line back at him heheheh)

Aventurine wakes up in a cold sweat, only to realize his beautiful room, adorned with gold was now a skibidi, trash haven. He looked down at his hand only to see ones that resembled yours. He felt ecstatic, he jumped around then he looked at what notifications you had on your phone. He immediately puts it down when all he sees is "SEASON 1252165321 of SKIBIDI JUST REALEASED!! ITS SOO GOOD." or "RIZZES YOUR MOM VERY CUTELY" all over your pages. He frowned and then changed your clothes since he didn't mind seeing any part of you, heck he was living his dream, his wonder, and now his answer! He got outside only to realize you weren't greeted with being the "Trailblazer" here.. They called you by a name, one that he rolled off his tongue because he just seemed to enjoy it. A little too much that he ended up sending a TEXT to HIMSELF to remind him to call you that.

Of course he walked around as you for the whole day, not wondering if you had to go through any problems what so ever, he was interested in living as you and wanted to stay as you for longer. It was as if he wanted you to himself.. And this was the only way he could do it. So he lived as you for a day, having the most fun, making taking a shower or two.. But he felt happy.. he was going to ask you to be his eventually, but for now, he'll just have you to himself for just this one day..

You will forever be intertwined by this one connection!

[lollytea]

any huntlow miraculous au ideas ??

Disclaimer: I have not watched miraculous in nearly four years. I do not know what is going on in that show anymore and at this point I'm too afraid to ask.

However the reason I did start watching it for a time was because I was intrigued by the concept. I liked this idea of different facets of your personality only on display depending on the identity you're presenting and how mixed up that can get when it's a romance between two people who know each other with and without the mask and how the relationships shift depending on that. It's very basic superhero trope stuff but idk it scratches the little part of my brain that's obsessed with psychology and messy convoluted character dynamics. So the idea of doing something like that with huntlow DOES sound cool. But I have no concrete ideas.

Me personally I don't like doing AUs with huntlow unless it keeps them in the Boiling Isles setting and it keeps their respective backgrounds as GG and half-a-witch Willow. So I'm not big on Human AUs. So I wouldn't think too much about a typical miraculous AU myself. I'll leave that to other people to have their fun with. I love the miraculous AU art they do 💕

But WHAT IF. WHAT IF WHAT IF

Okay okay okay. So what if we start off with the idea of Willow having a celebrity crush on the Golden Guard. Remember that AU? So lets say its pre-season 1. So Willow is still in the abomination track and is kinda a shrinking violet. So the Golden Guard happened to rescue her once and now she's all smitten over how cool and confident he is.

Anyway, Willow is forbidden from doing plant magic. However Willow loves to do plant magic. So her solution to this is to do plant magic in secret. One thing leads to another and now she sneaks out of the house every night and uses her magic to assist civilians in need. She's never really had a chance to let loose with her powers before. It makes her feel so cool and strong. Plus she really does empathize with how it feels to be vulnerable so she likes to help when she can. So she's developed a little bit of a superhero-ish alter ego.

The aesthetic of this is just making me go insane. Like the plant based superhero costume Willow would fashion for herself. It'd be so dorky and over-the-top. Im seeing shit like a poofy little dress, a skirt made out of giant flower petals, boots made of leaves, vines snaking all over her limbs. Fairycore vibes. I also really like the idea of using her magic to spread a cluster of tiny flowers around her eyes in the shape of a domino mask.

She calls herself "Force of Nature" (or "Force" for short.) And honestly, the name suits the person she becomes. When she's taking on this identity, Willow's full chaotic side comes out. She's got a big personality. She's ruthless, she's talkative, she's mischievous, she's everything that's always been bubbling under her surface. I wanna say she even takes a little inspiration from the trademark Golden Guard dazzle.

Now Hunter is the Golden Guard and he believes it's his duty to help and protect people of the Boiling Isles. However, he begins to notice that Belos is constantly preventing him from doing so. Hunter keeps getting sent on tedious tasks to collect ingredients for his uncle's experiments or deal with business matters or WHATEVER. There is a distinct lack of helping going on here. And everytime he tries to respectfully point it out, Belos insists that the work Hunter does is important. Admittedly, Hunter is beginning to get a little frustrated. He certainly doesn't want to believe that his uncle is wrong (His uncle is never wrong.) Buuuuut maybe his uncle just isn't seeing the big picture correctly. Maybe he just needs a little convincing.

So this is when Hunter commits himself to sneaking out of the castle at night and helping all the people that the Golden Guard was too busy to help. If he used his GG persona, word would get around and he'd be in trouble for disobeying. So Hunter opts to carry out these deeds unmasked. He might have a special outfit for the occasion but his full face is on display. Doing these things has nothing to do with building Hunter's confidence, it's just to do what's right.

He keeps a journal where he documents all the good he's done while carrying out this secret job and intends to hand it over to Belos once it's full so his uncle will finally understand. The mental gymnastics are insane here. Deep down, Hunter knows Belos would kill him if he ever found out and he's taking this secret to his grave. But the journal helps him feel less disobedient so we'll let him have this.

Anyway of course Willow and Hunter eventually cross paths and decide to work together for the greater good. A friendship is formed and it does not take long before Hunter falls head over heels for Force of Nature. And because he's so transparently himself with none of his Golden Guard swag, he's a shy blushy mess around her. It doesn't help that she's one of the only people besides Belos to call him by name.

(He didn't tell her his name at first. It only slipped out after he developed a crush and he found that he had a really hard time saying no to her.)

Meanwhile Willow is very fond of Hunter. However, I feel like she's kinda blocked herself off from entertaining the idea that she might have feelings for him because of her crush on the Golden Guard. It's a very idealized crush and she's built it up so much in her head that it subconsciously prevents her from even thinking about anyone else in a romantic light. But I think some feelings for Hunter might be sneaking up on her without her noticing.

Anyway Willow has hung around Bonesborough often enough that she knows the exact times the Golden Guard shows up for patrol. She slinks around the areas where he's known to meet with people and discuss business. She'll wander around town on weekends just for the off chance of spotting him. However, though she's brave enough to march right up and say hello, she really hasn't a clue how to talk to him like a normal person so all that comes out is word vomit. (Again, this is pre-season 1 Willow. A bit of a nervous wreck.) Anyway she's stopped to "talk" with him enough times that he remembers who she is now. So that's a start!

On Hunter's end, there's this one schoolgirl who he usually meets in town and she's a massive stroke to his ego. She's clearly starstruck with him and he's eating it up. He's constantly playing up the GG persona for her to the point that it's almost flirtatious. He doesn't really notice that he's doing this and doesn't understand that she might take that the wrong way. Hunter doesn't have any strong opinions about Willow Park. She's sweet, she's a little awkward and he humors her whenever they meet. But he doesn't really form a deep friendship with her for quite a while because it can be very difficult to make connections when you're playing a character.

Anyway. There's a basic premise for your consideration. Hijinks ensue and whatnot.

[sapphic-luthor]

different anon here but does your gf have any good lesbian media/book recs (since she read so many lesbian books in such a short amount of time lol)!!

gf said, and i quote,

“i’m going to take the rest of the day off to work on this list”

so without further ado, here is her short list of recs copied straight from her (and with my own comments in italics for the ones i know):

Okay! So here’s my book recommendations.

- Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. Loved this book, love all Sarah’s books (haven’t read the non-gay one though, sorry not sorry). Sarah is a great one for the twists and I enjoyed this one so much that I actually recommended the book to my mam and she also loved it. The story is gay + set in the 19th century + lady/handmaiden trope so what’s not to like. Also really recommend. For related media, there’s a BBC miniseries based off of it, and a film by Park Chan-wook called The Handmaiden, which is honest to god one of the best films ever made. It is harrowing, but it is brilliant.

- Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters. Again, gay + set in the 19th century. Explores the queer scene in Victorian London to its full extent. A real page turner. GREAT fun, a little dark at points, but good and raunchy.

- The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters. Gay + 1920s + yearning + tense + murder + dramatic. My recommendation when it comes to Sarah’s books is to give them time. Do not put them down because I promise you they will get GOOD.  Slowburn of slowburns. Gorgeous.

- Affinity by Sarah Waters. Gay + Victorian prison + disgraced spiritualist. Compared to the other three this one is actually a little bit… boring? You’re kinda waiting for something to happen for a long time but WHEN IT DOES boy is it worth it. And that part that’s worth waiting for actually made me want to read it again.

- The Night Watch by Sarah Waters. This was a bit like Affinity for me in that I was waiting for it to pick up a bit but once again, Sarah did not disappoint and I finished it wanting to read it again. The story is told backwards through third-person narrative, takes place in 1940s London during and after WWII and follows ‘Kay, Helen and Julia, three lesbians; Viv, a straight woman; and Duncan, her brother, whose sexuality is ambiguous.’

- One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston. This was my favourite book of 2021 because I read it as a baby gay and it’s set in modern times and is so full of life and found family and fun but also considers life for gay people in the 1970s and things that they didn’t often get to experience (loudly, at least). It tugged at my heart this one. For the “sort by top kudos” “filter for fluff” fanfic reader. Not really my style.

- This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. This is the most beautiful book I’ve ever read. As Madeline Miller said, ‘this book has it all: treachery and love, lyricism and gritty action, existential crisis and space-opera scope, not to mention time travelling superagents.’ This story is truly gorgeous. Unbelievable. Not even words to describe how good this one in. Possibly my favourite read of all time.

- Afterlove by Tanya Byrne. This book made me cry! In…a good way? I’m not sure. But I enjoyed it. Set in modern day when MC dies and joins ‘a clan of fierce girl reapers who take the souls of the city’s dead to await their fate’ but can’t forget her first love who she’ll do anything to see again. This one just tugged at my heart a lot.

- Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. Epic fantasy. Dragons. Follows many characters in GoT style so it requires A LOT of focus. This isn’t a light read but it’s very good (and a prequel is coming out in 2023). IF YOU LIKE FANTASY AT ALL READ THIS ONE IMMEDIATELY.

- Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden. Okay this one will definitely not be the most well-written book you’ve ever read buuuuut there’s something VERY precious about it. It follows the relationship between two 17-year-old girls, Annie and Liza, in New York. As far as I know, when this book was published in 1982, it became the first YA novel ever to depict a main character’s same-sex relationship in a positive light. (In the 90s copies of this book were burned on the steps of a school in Kansas and there was a whole court case about it).

- Gideon the Ninth, Harrow the Ninth and Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. Oh these are great. I was about 100 pages in to the first two before I could grasp what was going on but the story is intriguing, the characters are great, there’s good humour, and the world is fascinating. The first one, Gideon, is almost like Hunger Games meets Cluedo. I’d highly recommend these and I can’t wait until my gf reads them so I can talk to her about them.

- Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour. This one is a nice, light read. MC is interning as a set designer so I found this aspect of it really interesting actually. Has some mystery, some gay love, so like why not read it.

- Matrix by Lauren Groff. ‘Born from a long line of female warriors and crusaders, and cast out from the royal court, Marie is sent to become the prioress of an abbey.’ This is a bit of a dreary, grey read (probably due to the setting and period, think Wuthering Heights), but there was something about it that fascinated me and kept drawing me back in.

- The Falling in Love Montage by Ciara Smyth. Lesbian rom-com set in modern Ireland. Very light, easy read (with some serious topics too).

- Not my Problem by Ciara Smyth. Again, a very light and easy read for the most part, with a touch on some heavier issues. Quite funny too!

- Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo. Set in 1950s America and tells the story of Lily Hu, a teenage daughter of Chinese immigrants as she begins to explore her sexuality. This time period was really interesting and the incorporation of Chinese culture into the story was something I hadn’t read before.

[can-ya-guess-my-curent-obsession]

Y- Year: /Do they remember anniversarys or important things like that/

WRITERS NOTES: Requests are open so feel free to put in a request- This is a bit short cuz my head is being weird.

Edited: nooooot yet

All art on this post is mine

This is apart of my Crack alphabet

TW: Curssing, drinking, alcoholism, gaslighting, implied trama, Murdoc's hc get's weirdly angsty, I think it's toxic, mean voices in head, smoking, neglect, uhhh I think thats it if not tell me and I'll add it

(Update: Murdocs shity behavior is not ok, its's abuse, I am nto tryingto indorse it!)

Characters:

/Gorillaz/

Russel

- y e s

-It's not like Russel's over the top, its just he has it marked on a calendar, which he did that from the beginning unlike the others

-There's usually a lot on his mind so he will forget- but like I said Russel uses a calendar as a reminder

-And the day of the anniversary/special occasion so the day of he will remember

-And he usually clears out his schedule and tell the others before hand, so the others won't bother him and his S/O nor will his work get in the way

-But if Russel forgets something every once in a while cut this poor boi some slack he has a lot on his plate

-And due to his work or just him not haveing the energy to go out- anniversarys are often more chill, less fancy

-But they are more sentimental as Rus is just that kind of person, he values memories and all that sappy crap despite him not showing it often

-All of this applies to all phases but phase 7 Russel, because he becomes to atched to that TV and the idea of the promise land that he neglects his relationship with his S/O a loooot.... he doesn't even mean to do it on purpose half the time

Noodle

- s o m e t i m e s ?

-It's complicated ok...

-Noodle has an impeccable memory, but if she gets distracted by somthing- it's easy for things to slip her mind

-Noodle is the kind of person to have a anniversary for everything

-And she tries to remember them and did the first couple of times

-But over time she just forgets

-Also older Noodle(phase 7) doesn't try to remember the other anniversaries anymore, just the main one, lifes just too all over the place for that

-But when she was a young adult she was all over that shit

-But much like Russel, work and the others in the band can get in the way

-So she does tend to start preparations/plans for it but gets wraped up in something else

-And from there its a 25% - 75% chance of remembering, and the percentage in which she remembers and forgets switchs almost every time

-If/When she forgets, and when she eventually remembers the anniversary she gets very disappointed in herself

-But you two still enjoy a lovely together- because Noodle is a queen who knows how to organize the best dates

-But if its not a anniversary or something relevant to her- she will most likely forget them-

Murdoc

- n o . . . k i n d a

-In earlier phases Murdoc just drank way to much to remember and really didn't care for sentimental things he just wasn't raised like that

-And if you don't say anything, he'll just go about his day like any other till Noodle says "Hey- Murdoc I'm surprised to see you still in the house... considering its yours and S/O's anniversary"... he spat out his his drink so fast he almost choked as he yells "FUCK" poor 2D was started so bad

-He ran to his S/O so fast

-If his S/O is fine with him forgetting or his S/O forgot too- he'll sigh in relief- and you two decide to just chill in Murdoc's love shack on wheels Winnebago and chill cuddle with each other and watch movies

-Buuuuut if his S/O is genuinely not happy Murdoc will get pissy for a while then start drinking- because he can't stand when his S/O is genuinely upset with him- then he druckenly begs for forgiveness

-And he may even try and gaslight his S/O saying it's all their fault- and he's innocent because his S/O didn't tell him or remind him(even if they did remind him a coupleof days prior) , so it's all on them- but if that hurts his S/O, he just kind walks away hoping it will all go away

-And if you sit him down and tell Murdoc that he upset you but still love him it's really awkward... then the night can go on relatively well

-But if not ah... it will either lead to a fight or you two pretend it didn't happen

-In later phases and earlier in the relationship he'll forget because he's not as invested in that kind of stuff

-But the longer he's with his S/O the more he is likely to remember AKA he gets a alarm or something to remind him

-He can do something fancy- but he's not gonna have any manners so its best if you stick to something simple

-Murdoc always remembered his and his S/O's anniversary when he was on plastic beach, and would even talk/mention it on pirate radio

2D

- y e s - i s h

-Listen- as much as I love 2D... he couldn't find his way out of a paper bag

-But he is also very determined

-Determind to remember his and his S/O's anniversary

-This counts in any phase

-He really wants to remember soooo bad

-He has reminders every where- and I mean EVERY WHERE

-But in the end he still forgot

-And 2D gets really depressed when he does, especially if he's been in a relationship with his S/O for a while

-Even if his S/O says its ok and comforts him, in the back of his head, a little voice is lampooning him

-The day before the anniversary he gets really giddy, like he can't stop smiling, I mean he even smokes a bit less

-Though before the couple of days before the anniversary he smokes more because he's anxious he's gonna forget

-And the day of and a few day's after the anniversary he smokes more due to his feeling like shit for forgetting

-He's also upset because he had a whole day pland and now his plans ruined because he only remembered/got reminded of the anniversary half way through the day

-With any other special event 2D will try to remember it- emphasis on the try

-He's not as determined as he is with anniversaries but he tries his best

========================

Tree- I spent 30 minutes trying to confirm that Russel was looking for that promise land and not some other shit- and i ended up goinng down a fucking rabbit hole and got completely distracted, and in the end all I had to do is watch that fucking murdoc talks about some crap and recaps lore and shit which took me like 2 minutes- Fucking ADHD how you pain my writing flow

[jazzyblusnowflake]

Out of curiosity may I ask for your thoughts on hazbin hotel? I’m not the biggest fan of it. I do like nifty and sir pentious though.

Also I enjoy your murder drones art. I love the way you draw uzi :)

Ehhh, the relationship with me and how i feel about about HH is a long one, considering ive been following viv since her deviantart days lol. well i wasn't ever that much of a fan, mostly cuz ive never been too into that stretchy cartoonish artstyle she used to use for her comic "Zoophobia" buuuuut i had to hand it to her- she def managed to accomplish something a lot of us wish we could do with our world buildings huh? so ill give her that much lmao. but I'm gonna say that i haven't watched the show YET.

tho as far as controversies surrounding her uh... religion imagery goes- even as someone whos been brought up as a religious muslim- i don't really care tbh. you need to have a certain level of capacity for satire like this and if you don't, its really not for you //shrug. mostly to say you need to really know your own rights and wrongs to not be affected by a cartoon made by people who have their own beliefs yknow?

but as far as the story has gone so far in Helluva boss im not really.... ANYWAY- its fiction, and i don't have to like EVERY aspect of it, i don't think the writing is GREAT i don't think its AWFUL- currently I'm in a very big MEH area towards it lmao-

but i can say for certain that i absolutely LOVE the songs and adore them- especially thankful of having found one of my favorite artists eVER through HH- "SILVA HOUND"- there is almost no work that he has put up that i don't go crazy over- when the beat drops i feel my soul ascend yall don't understand 😭 <33333333

and well finally the art i guess? i like it, not bad, kinda tired seeing so many people trying to imitate it to a tee- i agree that imitation is the highest form of flattery lmao but it gets old when everyone's trying to be similar yknow? but character-design-wise, again, i feel like the character designs are amazing? but.... misplaced i guess.... we all know that these characters are vivzies old ocs, but lore wise- none of the characters look like what they are supposed to be... like we all know the issue with Beelzebub, sigh, that was weird for my eyes to behold as someone who remembers queen bee from zoophobia- and im not even sure if Vaggie is a moth anymore considering her uh... new backstory??? was she even a human at some point anymore? is Adam a human? are half of the heaven population wearing masks? why do they look like characters from monsters inc. that got a yassified by James Charles?? im... so confused lmao. why do angels have horns and hell sinners have wings?? looking at husker- skipping the Alastor controversies- yada yada yada- is Charlie supposed to be a goat when neither of her parents are- yeah okay im tired never mind.

short version: its interesting on the eyes, confusing to the brain XD

overall my final comment is: its fun as long as you don't take it religiously serious ;p

and thank you so muchhh :D

[grox-empire]

Pls explain your worldbuilding for your fan-series, Daybreak. (In long detail)

Unfortunately i'm not sure I can do that, As a lot of it is spoilers. I plan on releasing it as a comic, After all!

Buuuuut here's the short version as to not disappoint you. My worldbuilding is HEAVILY and I mean HEAVILY grox-centric as all three protagonists are refugees from The Grox Empire.

Daybreak takes place during the period in which The Grox Empire is at its worst. They are under a despotic, nigh-omnipotent dictatorship. Most of The Grox Empire's problems can be traced directly back to God-Emperor Erebus.

The galaxy is currently in peril and at risk of being overtaken if the threat of The Grox isn't stopped.

However, The Grox within daybreak aren't an all-evil species. The vast majority of Grox are simply trying to survive, Many of them don't even agree with their emperor's views but play along with them anyways purely out of fear. Your average fodder grox really isn't the worst person in the world. Grox are people just as we are.

The propaganda goes both ways, However. Years of wars with the Grox have warped other species perception of them beyond recognition, Seeing them the same way that Erebus sees other species. Your average spacefaring sophont is told embellished tales of a hivemind species at the center of the galaxy who have no thoughts or free will of their own and desire solely to kill. The Grox Empire sucks, Yeah, But after millennia of war and miscommunication there is a lot of misinformation about The Grox out there.

This is only a very, very small slice of my worldbuilding, But nonetheless is probably one of the most important bits of worldbuilding that I have.

[killherkillherkillher]

@n@ tip !!!!

if you struggle w trying to sleep when you're really hungry, watch cooking yt shorts. i swear hear me out. but first do NOTTT try it on tiktok cause the algorithm catches up so incredibly quick and itll jumpscare you with food in your fyp every now and then while youtube is way easier to go unnoticed, and the thing is i stroooongly advise to watch many short content of different kinds of food in one sitting. like bingewatch a lot of shorts from a recipe channel or smth, bc if you watch only one meal for a long time (like idk a mukbang or even a 10 min video) its easy to end up craving said genre of food, like if its something with chocolate and you know you have chocolate its easier for you to give up and go to the kitchen buuuuut if you scroll, you watch a guy making a chocolate croissant, then a steak, then an earthy stew, then bread, then candy...... youre not going to even have time to develope one specific craving big enough to actually act on it (idk if im explaining myself lol) and at least for me, its like eating w my eyes, it helps very much in sleepless stomach growling nights. if someone ends up reading all this i rlly hope it helps :3

[dethharmonic]

Community Gardens

Otto Octavius x Reader; Alternate Universe - Magic Summary:  By happenstance, your attempt at a fresh start leads you to a garden. Attempting to bury your heart within it's warm soil, you hope it takes root. (See also: Closeted magic user becomes apprentice to local pariah who has destroyed half the city in his quest to better mankind. (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ ) Chpt 1: poultice

[next]

[click here for the fic on ao3]

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Okay, so I’ve definitely heard you shouldn’t touch gardens belonging to witches. Buuuuut that cabbage is huge, and I’d eat like a cabbage based king for like a week. If I’m careful. Do you thi—HEY!!”

You glanced down to the very disinterested toad you’ve been anxiously whispering to, only to see it making its way to a nearby bush. Grabbing it gently before it’s final hop, you place the small (and very confused) animal back on the loosely built stone wall you have been leaning on.

     “Don’t walk away when I’m talking to you! Rude!!”

Its well past sunset, chill setting in the air and the moon reflecting off the fine mist blanketing the masterfully maintained garden laid out before you. Stillness of the night only disturbed by the soft chirping of crickets, an owl in the distance, and your hushed ramblings being carried by the gentle breeze. Now, it is possible the toad wasn’t really helping the indecision you faced in regards to garden looting, but you’ll be damned if you braved the terror of your thought processes alone!

    “Anyways...what do you think?”

Not even a second after the last word had escaped your lips did the toad respond by gracelessly half-hopping off the ledge of the mossy wall and into the lush garden beyond.

     “Hmmm, yep.” A small nod. “Okay.”

With no time for impulse control to kick in, you swiftly hoisted yourself up and over the low wall after the toad.

     “Thanks for your input!” you breathed out as the poor creature finally made its way out of sight.

This was indeed a very stupid idea, by the way. Even if you hadn’t only just moved to the area not two weeks prior, it was still long enough to hear the whispers of the townsfolk to stay far away from this patch of land and the connecting home. In those two weeks you had also not seen a soul in or around this property. While you had only flirted the thought this morning, your willpower had hit its limit on your walk home tonight.

Steadily making your way over to the row of cabbages you reach blindly into the bag slung across your shoulder. Hoping to find the small knife stashed inside, a sudden jolt of pain blooms along your palm. A loud curse hisses past your teeth, less concerned about keeping quiet as you’d unfortunately managed to find the knife blade first. With a huff you move to grasp the handle and pull your hand out to survey the damage. Very intelligent to choose the knife with a flimsy sheath for this little excursion, you bitterly thought.

Somehow the cut ran from the center of your palm to halfway up your index finger, a bright flash of red trickling down your wrist. Glancing away from the slash to ease the sudden wave of dizziness coming on, your eyes happened upon a patch of yarrow in a bed of herbs beside the side door of the sturdy home. First on the agenda is this damned cabbage, and then surely a few leaves of yarrow won’t be missed. Taking care to not coat the plant in blood, you situate the small knife at the base and saw free the prized head. Into the bag goes the stolen veggie and, after throwing the shoddy blade cover back on, the knife follows. Holding your wounded hand away from your clothing, you stand back up with a grunt and turn to the small herb patch.

In the short walk to the second planned theft, you tried to push aside the growing panic and pain of the laceration by noting the makeup of the bed. Aside from a minuscule clump of chives in the corner, it looked like they were all medicinal plants of some sort. Maybe the townsfolk were just being dramatic and overly wary of a herbalist, you pondered while kneeling down to break a stem of yarrow off. It pays to know herbs, a poultice of leaves should do the well to stop the flow of blood marring your palm. Plucking a few leaves from the stem, you grimace and pop them in your mouth (the next best thing to a mortal and pestle, which you shockingly didn’t bring with you).

So distracted by your current plight, a creak of the nearby door almost goes unnoticed. A cold weight of dread at the sound stills your actions and you glance up mid-chew. Above you stands a tower of a man, leaning casually against the solid wooden doorway. Briefly taking him in, deep green and shimmering gold popped from a long flowing robe and curiously tinted glasses. If it wasn’t for the fear, you’d be enraptured by the other-worldly glow dancing off the robe’s delicate embroidery and basking him in a near halo in the moon lit garden.

     “Ah,” he paused, locking eyes with you before continuing. “It seems I have a rabbit infestation…”

There were, at this moment, a few options to consider for a response. A rational person upon seeing would perhaps beg for forgiveness; clearly the owner of this home was indeed a magic user and as such probably doesn’t take kindly to fools digging around his property and helping themselves to what does not belong to them. A second route is to just play dumb, hoping to lead him to think you were so witless you believed this to be some sort of community garden. Evidently you wouldn’t need to pretend very hard because you took door number three!!

BOOK IT.

Mouth full of plant and head full of rocks, you shot up and tried to clumsily zip away. The man simply pursed his lips and let out a disdainful snort in response. About three rows of vegetables later the ground made friends with your face as a warm presence coiled around an ankle. Desperately trying to suck in the air that was knocked out of you, there was barely time to process what had tripped you before being wrenched back.

     “And how did that go for you? Well?” he mockingly crooned, a small smirk appearing.

Shifting on your side to face him, you let out a shaky groan before you promptly spit the makeshift spit poultice onto your wound. You wouldn’t dare to waste it after all that effort if he miraculously decided to spare you.

     “Fantastic!” you rasped out.

There was a heavy silence as you squinted up at him, a single raised eyebrow the only indication he heard you. Slow movement tightening the grip on your ankles drew your attention to what had grabbed you. A thick rope of metal snaked its way around you, ending in a claw with a stunning jewel centered like an eye. The metal gave off a soft arcane light with the eye having a brighter concentration and it seemed to shift in color, almost like a rainbow cast off a waterfall. Following the other end to its source, it hugged around the stranger and looked to be connected to his back. With a start you also saw three more of these metal arms situated around him, all peering at you with their shimmering gems.

     "If you want to act like an animal, I can string you up like one." The arms began to lift you up about a foot before suddenly dropping back to the ground.

     "Or…" trailing off, he pushed himself from the door frame; finally discarding his unnervingly relaxed demeanor. With a swift step his boot was planted on your stomach, grinding down to knock the air out of you yet again before he continued speaking.

     "Or you can tell me why exactly you thought my garden was a marketplace. Perhaps a charity would be more apt, as it looks like you had no intentions of paying for anything. I’m not fond of those who take advantage of my hard work."

     “I don’t have any money!” His harsh pressure didn’t allow for much movement but you scrambled up as far as you could to lean on your elbows, setting your panicked eyes upon him once more. Though your throat seemed near closing with terror, you continued.

     “I used the last of what I had to purchase my home! A-and I’ve been working myself to the bone in town just for meals and small supplies. When I saw your garden I thought maybe I could go a few days not worrying about food. Truthfully, I just wanted a moment to myself.” You laid back down, head hitting the ground with a soft thud. Gazing up at the stars, a defeated sigh escaped from you. “I’m so tired.”

Once you stopped talking the arms began to wriggle about, as if agitated. The movement drew your attention back to the man, and it seemed like the gemmed claws were also facing him in their soft thrashing. Tilting his head slightly and frowning he then lightened the pressure on your torso, paused, and removed his foot completely. The arm still wrapped firmly around your leg slowly withdrew. Nervously raising to a sitting position, you winced at the new aches and pains from the night before warily peering upward. You noted his expression appeared to be one of deliberation, lightening after a puff of air left his lips.

     “Maybe we can come to an agreement.” He suggested. Reaching down, he offered his hand to help you to your feet. Without hesitation you accepted, grasping tightly with your uninjured hand.

[saetoru]

Tee. Do you have any tips when it comes to writing fics??? i really wanna write one but its either i don't know how to or im just too lazy. (you're one of the most talented writers here in tumblr i swear)

help i definitely am not up to par with half my moots buuuuut i will attempt to give you some advice

sometimes not planning helps you plan best—like sometimes if you just sit with the empty doc in front of you with a vague idea and start writing, a story will just naturally come to you as you write. just write what comes to mind, even if its choppy and messy and fast—the editing is where you can reread and add and take away and adjust, etc. this is usually the norm for me in short pieces like drabbles n stuff

for longer fics, i usually think of the "conflict" and the ending first. and then depending on if the conflict is internal vs external, i break up the scenes that build up to the conflict, then the scenes following it to the end / solution, and i plan who the scene will be centered around—as in if its reader-centric or the character-centric bc that's the person you'll be developing more / giving an inner monologue for in the scene most likely. breaking the fic up into scenes gives you a solid idea of your progress—like if you're 4/7 scenes along, that tells you how much you've developed the story you know ?? and this is especially nice for when you're feeling stumped / uninspired bc if you're on scene 4 but its slow and hard to write it, and you really wanna get to scene 6, you can just skip to scene 6 and get ur creativity flowing again. connecting the scenes if you skip around can be a bit challenging sometimes, but once you slowly weave them together, you can sometimes come up with good ideas that add to the plot.

also, if there is a certain detail you'd like to remember if the future to hold significance, highlight it in the google doc and leave a comment like "connect later"

if you think of any dialogue that you'd like to use for later scenes you're not at yet, write them at the very bottom of the doc for safe keeping—it is very possible you can (and will if you do not do this sobs) forget dialogue that could've been really good

and as far as planning scenes go, it depends on person to person—i find making my outlines too structured makes me lose interest in writing bc it feels like the whole story is tangible and right there for me to see and then i lose motivation to actually develop the words and bring it to life. some ppl need a whole outline of how the scene opens, develops, key dialogue, and how the scene ends, etc. try playing around with how you outline your scenes—but id say the most important part is splitting your fic up into the major scenes and their purpose in developing the story.

theyre like "arcs" if you will sdjhghsdgf. anyway i rambled WAY too much IM SORRY SOBSOB but i hope this helps at least a little !!

[thewhumperinwhite]

🔨 Are there any whump tropes that you'd love to see your OC's reactions to even though you couldn't or wouldn't put it into your actual story for whatever reason?

✂ Is there a plotline that you'd planned to write but for whatever reason has been abandoned?

🥇 Pick one aspect of your story that you are particularly fond of. Anything at all.

OOH okay good question. Alright. So.

Hammer: I really really love mind control, and for some fucking reason I have written a vampire story where the vampires don't have mind control!!!! a perfect fuckin opportunity and I have wasted it!!! I think I wanted it to be clear that Karim is stuck with Micah because of Good Old Fashioned Emotional Manipulation and not because of magic, and also because i hate myself i guess.

(i do have a... maybe-canon-maybe-not post-story arc for ATTD that heavily features mind control, which i am Obsessed With, but it would be extremely difficult to write it without a Big Big Spoiler for ATTD so once again I have placed myself in a mind-control-less hell of my own making. 😔

Scissors: It's more of a scene than a plotline, but I had a whole scene plotted out for WKW where everybody's at like a grand ball and Morden tells Thorne to dance with Andry, and Thorne goes into Good Boy Mode and picks up on how funny (and maybe hot) Morden and all the rest of the Falconers think it is when he pushes Andry around in public, and he gets carried away and kisses Andry in front of everybody. Thorne is not thinking too hard about Why Morden Might Like That, he was operating 100% on Make Master Happy So Master Wants To Keep Me instincts, and he's confused afterward about why Andry, who has been starting to very cautiously open up, is suddenly cold as ice again. And then Endure happens before they actually Talk About It.

Buuuuut I couldn't find room for it in To Bid You All Welcome, which was already getting untenably long, and it feels weird to have two different Big Fancy Parties within such a short time span, so it never worked out. sigh

Medal: I really really like my villains, lol, and especially how they fulfill their roles in their various stories. in particular I think the contrast between Morden and Micah (the Vampire Daddy from atykm) is really, like. Funny???

Because, like, Morden is competent and sexy and like... a fairy tale villain? Honestly, he's just a few extra sex crimes away from being a disney villain. if you asked him what his alignment was he would say its capital e Evil. And I don't think he's like a cartoon, really, either! He's just a guy who has a lot of power and thinks he's entitled to more social status than he's been granted, and he thinks he Gets To burn the whole world down if he wants to, and he's having fun doing it. So he's always a balance between Genuinely Reprehensible And A Real Threat while also being, like... "likeable" is maybe not the right word but like. Fun To Watch, certainly.

And meanwhile Micah is like... the exact opposite of that. What appeals to me about him is that he is, stripped of all artifice, Deeply Pathetic. He's just a sexual predator with magic powers. The only thing he's good at other than Being A Vampire is sensing other people's vulnerabilities and exploiting them (and he didn't even get that right tbc: he has Deeply Underestimated most of his coven and they're going to fucking Get Him pretty soon). So he's a really fun balance too, because i get to figure out how to make it clear that he is Not A Criminal Mastermind, he's just privileged and confident, without lowering the stakes of the story--he's a pathetic old man, but he also has the power to Literally Ruin Everything.

...this got longer than i meant it to be lmao BUT basically the thing I am proud of is!! the way both of these Evil Men fit into and improve their stories while..... also being exactly What I Want From My Whumpers at different times 😁

[wariodemambo]

∗ 26﹕ who  was  your  very  first  muse ?  would  you  consider  writing  them  now ?

rosie doesn't talk at work so help her.

so, uh, this is the part where i would NORMALLY say with 100% confidence that it was marie splatoon! BUUUUUT. i can't entirely count that, because it was originally supposed to be an ask blog. dj octavio, then? ... almost there, but still not quite. he was kinda an ask with occasional rp blog that eventually turned into an rp. like marie ...

plus, i still (technically) write those two! despite how their blogs appear, splatoon is always on my mind even if its in the background. so i wouldn't consider them inactive.

then, what's my REAL very first muse? the first RP blog i made with the intention of it being an RP blog from the start? the first one i've ever branched out of the splatoon rpc for?

well, it's a very beloved mario character. which is funny that my rp journey lead me back here. oh, i'm sure you can guess who if you've been around me long enough ...

vivian! which. i think like. only vincent and MAYBE plushie or reina know about nowadays? LOL.

she had a small blog and was surrounded by TTYD muses! it was short and sweet. i was even going to ship with a mario! funny how time flies.

not sure if i'd ever write her again ... i'm not even sure where i got the idea to write her to begin with! maybe i had a brief TTYD stint? no idea. i've never actually. beaten the game, hehe. but i do relate a lot to her self-image struggles, so ... maybe if i ever get really, REALLY into paper mario again she'll come back!

[rigatoniponi]

I really like how artisticly thet changed it from botw, like the total color change of everything. The forests are richer warmer tones for the trees, the trunks now a grayish white, and the foliage and grass are yellowed and It gives it a warmer tone, which I think leans into the ancient greek/Roman themes for the game. (Architecture, clothing, pottery, enemies, UI)

The central color is green now rather than the general blue. In the opening introduction, they had link, and Zelda with the blue outfit and sword and gave us that sense of familiarity, buuuuut, they get rid of by destroying the clothes AND sword!

Even the motivations for each peice of progress is very altered

You don't get the shrine rewards for getting stronger, you use them to rid the evil of ur arm.

Also Ganon is a hot jerky vampire dude and Rauru looks non binary AF like if someone uses a binary for them I'm gonna CONVULSE.

The total change stylistically has made BOTW seem tropical with its cooler colors that aren't rich, feel more saturated and neutral the style felt.

OH

musically it's very changed which I LOVE

K wait maybe it's not

The main music still has the classical, acoustic, and the bits messing with the Purah stuff still has that futuristic electronic jabs.

Overall tho it still has that classic Nintendo, neutrality to it that feels like corporate doing a really good job trying to look artistically genuine

The addition of larger dungeons (supposedly, I'm not far) I think is really good! Rather than the shorter sheikah shrines, which feel like they rush you along to keep you interested in short enough time, but not enough to let the player feel like they get a better feeling of finality, and rewarding. Which botw made it kinda cheap imo. With botw, it feels like its taking advantage of people's sense of time and focus. Instead of trying to make a more satisfying and rewarding experience for the player.

With longer dungeons, It let's my neurodivergent brain feel like it can grab on to something for long enough and suck out all its experience, and then move onto my next target.

Botw main themes imo were tropical medieval castles with purple biological opposition on the ground (opps as we like to say) and now it's Greek autumn in the island of lesbos 🏳️‍🌈 and the opps are a "grarkier" green mechanical pottery robots in the sky.

No wonder so many great philosophers were Greek, you guys were smart to find out femboys were better🤭

The brightbloomy stuff makes me think of the fauna from morrowind but through a lens of nostalgia.

[plumptactician]

[No one here probably plays it, buuuuut I’ve gotten into a mobile game that has a selection of pre-set looks for the player protag. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any games do this, but its pretty interesting none the less.]

I considered which one I wanted to go with and the pic I chose is pretty surprising! It’s the far right one, so the very short, well.. pantsless girl.

Why? Guess because I wanted to change it up! haha.

Anyway, very fun game, might add something from there on here one day, who knows. Anyway that’s all I wanted to say.

[aphrorite]

-ˏˋ sweetheart diaries ˊˎ- #8 !! 🥞💫🧸

૮₍ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ₎ა ♡༘

⋆ ✧₊ june 14th 2022 🎻🍞🐻 ⊹ɞ

hewwo diary :3 today im din hav too ba day, or may bee im jus block out da bad parts >_< im slight vent buuuuut also a feel teensy 🤏 bit bwetter. <3

tw vent // vent regression

︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶

so where do im start diary? 😮😮 oh ya ! :3 2day im woke up likeee 10 mins before my bus came so im din hav much time 2 get ready BUT BUT BUT ,,, im did wear deordoorrant which is gud ! cos usually when i wakes up lil lwates dese days , im forget deodorant n it make me very embarrassed bcos im stress sweat easily … n dont wanna bother peoples w bad smellys ))): so am proud dat im din forget this time!!! ^ω^ am wore a maroon varsity jacket dat matches my school colours <3 denim jean shorts n a white tubbie top along w my signature pearl necklace :33 im was feeling very pretty today 🙈😊

sooo todays im got on bus in time 🚌 ^o^ im din get time eat breakfast doe so im was hungry ))))): gurgurugyrle. maths class was really borinf n i din really understand it >_< n den art class was vry rypical but im had funny moment where im went to refill the paper towel n just as i refill it there dis guy who looked down at the papertowel like :0 then at me like :0 and we had a good laugh <3 (:

im kinda sad doe because recently my friend has been acting weird :I she wa skinda passive aggressive to me when i explained to her tht i was hanging out w my close friend for stranger tings s4 n was like “i understand u wanted to hangout w him but likeee im here you know” which mad eme feel kinda sad and obliged when i dont owe her any of my time as a friend . bcos if we were gonna aply this logic to her than id passively aggressive remark her everytime she hang out w her friends. and she has lots. but i dont. im dont even b mad or express it. ya it kinda lonely and a lil sad bc i wish i had lot friend like her doe honestly she just kinda poopy friend rn ): n even when she hangout w other friend i understand cos everyone have ofher fg and she do too and she not obliged to hangout w me but when she do its like im not even dere. u inv me and rhen trweat me badly. is meanie. and den after that day i tried hanging out w her or a few day later n then she really left me out n i just walk behind everyone and felt so alone and she din even say goodbye to me when i walked into my class so i felt so alone and left out and unwanted ): i wanted 2 cry ))): after dat day things habent felt the same and seein what she posts on her story makes me feel like it a slap in the face becos she always talking abt how she so stressed abt schoolwork but i see her hanging out w her friends every single day and den she complains abt it, n then complains abt people msging her n doesnt reply and it makes her sound rlly ungrateful ): ik she jusy very stressed bur if she is then she should let people know to take it easy on her but she dont n it really… urhhggg it make me ): angy. sad. bothered. annoyed. and its ok to feel day way cos its emorions and i am allowed to. *sigh* im jusy wish dings were diff cos i thought she were my rock doe for now i just distance :I

im gor driveb work n it was :IIIII,,, OH OMGGGG im went into winners and i found dese rlly cute stuffies n a playmat!! a lady looked ar me weird but im kiddo so is ok if i look at toys n placemats ):< even if i not kiddomo it still ok hmph )):<< but YA they were so cute uhggg im wants buy them so bad it was $40 OG but was going for $30 so only 10% off T^T hmph. dey were feel like pillows doe when i touch the playmat so now i reallllyyy want a playmat or a pink rug :0 for my room !!!!

so den i ate lunch n it was yummy 😋:3 but when i try deunk me water it had soap in it becaos im not priplery clean waterborfl yesterday!!!!! ): but fortunatel y im make myself custom order at starbuck n manage to get a deal ! im wanted fhe deagonfruit lemonade refresher but for a grande 470 ml it was 5.85, so im did custom lemonade w 2 pump raspberry, scoop of strawberry, dragonfruit infusiob and light ice in a venti 780 ml and got that for 5.35 so i got a deal for the same taste :DD 😋😁 i happy it mobile ordee roo soo im not have to spend time trying to tell ordwer cos im get anxious sometime ))): esp w starbuck. i am ok w ordering boba sometime bcos im know what i want but starbuck mot so mych ))):

work kinda made me sad ): im was on stock and the only ding i get as a gift for working at it for 4 ish month is a 75$ gift card dat would b like… abt 1-2 paycheck (basically one biweekly for a month) but i did internship for free for 4 month. ): i just wish i learnee more or had a more enjoyable experience because honestly my boss is very toxic and she completely didnt even inv me to the employee photo for an outfit op which make me feel excluded and alone, hearing them all pose and laugh outside on the sales floor while i worked on stock alone in the back ):

my rl mom told me that alone i stand out feom the crowd as a star and dont need people like them who seek external validation which sort of made me feel better but i just wish id feel not so alone even when in crowds ): im always feel like an alien or an outsider )):

im got home, pet my furbaby, n then fell asleepy when im not supposed to ): so i feel bad abt taking nap. im sleep for 3 hr wake up n is 8:30 . im did homework which was personal finance n was kinda hard so i couldnt get alot done :I my rl mom gav me food doe before bed n brought it up which was nice bc i was only thinkin of homeworks n not of dindin. so im ate bacon egg and some 🍜 😊😋 yum yum.

am was hesitant but im called my clwose friend cos recently him n i gots in situation dat really made me sad ): we had a heart-to-heart conversation dwoe and now have a better understanding and i am so relieved dat i checked on him bc i miss his voice n his lil laughs n stutters ))’: and he missed me too which made my heart warm ( ^ω^ ) am glad that im din cry too cos if i did then itd b difficults to speak but im was super super strong today !!! im still strong when im cry but today???? nah im was strong strong ! hehe

so ya im talk w him for like hour n den now i in bed. im gon fill out habit tracker, manifestation n shut my eye, dat p much da update diary. i am very very sad indivudal and im trying to get theough it befor i relapse relapse n dings go sour. i am jusr hoping that my stress will b taken away soon and dat i can finally have my wants and needs come to fruition. i love u diary. muwah muwah.

and im also want dino hoodie but cant find any one i likes :S hmmmph ):< but am will find one one day ! <3

╭┈─────── urs truly, ࿐ ˊˎ-

╰┈➤ sweetheart xx

[vitaminwaterreviews]

After School - Virgin

Okay… Wow. Like, wow. I expected … I dunno, kinda shitty synthpop, something along the lines of Twicetagram? But it turns out First Love isn’t the exception to their sound: it’s actually a pretty good representation of what they can do. I really need to see the song average for my own sake, so let’s see:

Average score of 8.1 which is stupidly high compared to what I was expecting. But this album kind of shattered every expectation that I had for it. It was well-written, it was well-arranged, it kept me interested the whole way though. Raina impressed me, Nana and Lizzy did more of the Orange Caramel thing, the trainees blended in just fine. The MV was a bit weird but honestly kind of wholesome in the end.

And ultimately, this album really wanted me to look into more of their discography. Like, I keep coming back to the word “mature.” And when I say that, I don’t mean sexy: I mean mature. And this was just 2011! They existed for several years before and after this, with subunits and japanese releases and all of that. So I guess now I have so much more to look into.

-

Alright, I’ve just done some cursory Googling and already this album seems crazy. It’s got re-recorded versions of various singles, as well as some solo- and unit-songs. So really, less than half of this album is actually new, full-group content. But even more interesting, it features Kyung-Min, a “pre-school girl,” which is kind of a weird way of saying “trainee”. So I looked into it, and it seems like she won some sort of contest to become the newest member of After School, but she never actually debuted with the group! The only references to her are short, like a single sentence, so that’s kinda neat. Anyway, I heard Bang! one time like a year ago and I don’t remember a thing about it except that it was marching band themed.

Let’s Step Up

Steps

Breath?

More steps

Oh okay it’s rhythmic

Lol this is really cool

Okay here’s the synth

Yes I’m ready

“Ah ah hi ah ah ha”

Yeah this is cool, I really like this

9/10, I’m such a sucker for a good intro

Shampoo

I’ll watch the MV for this one, but not the others

Well she certainly is wearing a backpack

Photos

Oh okay we’re synthy now

Butts

Wow look at those waists

Yeah this is more or less what we’d expect

Dude what is this filter though

This song feels super AKB to me for some reason

Actually … maybe that makes sense

Yeah that groove with this instrumentation

The MV is lowkey kinda wholesome tho

Oh no she felllll

Okay wait but

Huh

Yeah that’s … a bit awkward

That said I do appreciate a nice instrumental break in a song

Wait whatttt no way she looks like 12

I know I haven’t talked much about the song but I’m vibing

I’m gonna Wikipedia this before I rate it

Wait there is no Wikipedia article!

Well my guess is that the new girl is E-Young, bc this probably would’ve been her first thing with the group

Alternatively its a pre-school girl

If it is E-Young, then she’s 18 in the video, so fair enough I guess

Okay wait these lyrics are kinda wild

Honestly I might regret this buuuuut

9/10

Virgin

Mkay we’re all buzzy now

It suddenly occurs to me that I don’t actually know Madonna’s Like A Virgin off the top of my head, and maybe that’s an issue here

Pretty straightforward synthpop so far though, kinda want more from it

“Diva diva diva”

Mkay that was a nice bridge, I’ll give it that

Also I really do enjoy the Vibe of this song

8/10

Bang !

Mkay yep we have some horns going on here

I dunno what to think of this tbh, I feel like I really ought to be seeing the MV here

Pretty vocal harmonies

I’m not convinced that this is very similar to the Bang! that I heard a while ago

But also I don’t know a thing about that Bang! so who knows

Okay I just clicked through the original and it’s pretty damn similar so I dunno

7/10

Play Ur Love

Mmmm this is nice

What a coincidence, I also wanna stay with them!

Woah her vocal tone is So neat here

Wait why the random synth?

This is unironically pretty though, like if you didn’t tell me that this was After School then I’d have guessed like, Apink maybe

9/10, I feel like I should stop giving these out so freely but I’m honestly so impressed by this

Dream

Pre-school girl #1

Nice 6/8 groove

This is fun, I dunno if I buy it though

Okay well the bridge kinda just saved this song for me, I was getting bored but that tied it together really nicely

Haha the saxophone

8/10 I guess finneeee

Because of You

Mmm piano

Whispering and vocoded vocals

Oh okay we get a nice hard rap out of nowhere

I totally buy this

I think strong rapping over an otherwise airy song is one of my favorite tropes

Also kind of getting 2NE1 Go Away vibes from the chorus and the vocoding

8/10

Depend on Time

Mkay, groovy

Nice acoustic guitar and kind of a slow jam groove

But it’s not a slow jam it’s more folky

Mmmm okay now that the bass is here, maybe it’s a slow jam

Their vocals! Are impressing me!

Mkay I guess this definitely fills the slow jam role, but it’s not nearly as … obnoxious as some others

Maybe I should revisit some of the old SM albums sometime

WHY ARE THE VOCALS SO PRETTY THOUGH

Ohhhh wait that was just Raina?? That’s actually fucking crazy holy shit

9/10, I just had to re-listen, I am so impressed by her like wow

Nothing to complain of

Piano moment

Honestly I’m amazed by how mature this album is? Like yeah they do their sexy thing and all that, but it’s clearly well-written and arranged and like it’s just well done

Compare to Twicetagram

Okay, this is the slow jam haha

I’m just never going to get over that Raina song though like wow

8/10

Funky Man

Right after I just got done calling them mature lmao

No for real though this is Great so far like wow

Nana, Lizzy, and a pre-schooler

Like, this feels way more Orange Caramel than Depend on Time

Although I think I do prefer Depend on Time more

Still, I appreciate this a lot, and it fits well in terms I album structure

Guitar moment

Yeah, this is nice

8/10

My Bell

I dunno who Jung-A is but apparently this is her solo

Well she certainly has a pretty voice

I would enjoy this song a lot more if IU did it, and I’m not sure if that’s because I prefer IU’s voice, or if it’s because IU’s name carries that much weight in my mind

It’s not a bad song at all, but I don’t really care for her voice in it, and also I don’t really care for the OST-style ballads

6/10

When I Fall

Piano~

Oh okay nice, glad we get a good beat here

And that was a synth hit

Lovely harmonies

Honestly this feels SO f(x) so far

Like if this was just casually the last song on Red Light or whatever then it wouldn’t feel at all out of place

(I love Paper Heart though don’t get me wrong)

I do hope this has like, a Grand Climax or something though

Mkay, it didn’t quite get to where I wanted it to, but still

8/10