#might go further into this in another post

[bettyfrommars]

The blurb game is so fun! I love a twist of fate 🤩

I’m gonna go for E2, &, 💚

big money no whammies!

(big money is gargoyle eddie 😏)

SARAH no gargoyle for you BUT you did get a very special one and I really hope you enjoy darling

your Person is nightmare!Eddie

your Place is Dealer's Choice, so I'm giving you Abandoned Building

your Thing is a Blanket

word count: 1.2k

18+ONLY, smut, unprotected piv, oral, afab!Reader, allusions to gore and violence, zombies, terror, being on the run, a bit of hurt no comfort but you know these two always find each other. As always, this was written fast and posted without obsessing too much, so let's hope it's not too much of a mess.

pick your poison

Careful footsteps made their way along the aisles of what was once a thriving supermarket, eager hands pawing through the leftover wreckage. The shelves had been mostly emptied by scavengers months ago, yet you'd been able to find a couple cans of ravioli and one coveted can of spaghettiO's. Spotting a tin of spray cheese and a liter of warm soda put a smile on Eddie's face so bright it rivaled the sun. He was giddy, his heart was bursting, and even though the world was being overrun by flesh eating zombies, he had you and processed dairy, and that was bliss.

Weapons out, you had to make sure the area was clear and secure before you could indulge in any feasting. Paying extra caution to the backrooms and every dark corner where something worse than zombies could be hiding---other survivors who might try to slit your throats for a little Chef Boyardee.

In a small room with office supplies strewn everywhere, and a door with a lock, you hunkered down, unrolling the blankets from your knapsacks to curl up together on the carpeted floor. A nap was necessary, but you had to keep moving, to make it further south and find shelter before the winter freeze.

Eddie was between your legs then, sweaty foreheads pinned together while he sank his length in, shivering with pleasure.

"Nothing has ever felt this good," he whispered.

You sealed his mouth with yours, whimpering when he eased it deeper. You were dripping wet from the way his tongue had pulled an orgasm out of you only moments before, his chin still coated in your release.

"You make me feel real," he sat up to look down at where you were joined, wishing he could see more than what the light from two votive candles and a flashlight afforded.

You weren't paying attention to the sound of footsteps shuffling outside, you were too caught up in the emotions that welled up in his eyes. He found your hand and intertwined his fingers, lowering his chest to yours while he snapped his hips. The soft mews in his throat told you that he was already close, and you urged him on with your heels digging into his thighs.

He paused when he was as deep as he could get and kissed down your throat, breathless with desire.

"Why did you stop?" You throbbed around him, yearning for the same feverish pace.

"I don't want it to end," he hung his head in a way that felt like defeat. "I don't want to lose you."

You'd been on the road for god knows how long at that point, hot wiring cars to get you as far the gas tank would, and then finding another. The two days before the supermarket had been on foot, bathing down at the river, hiding from a horde as it stumbled gracelessly through the forest.

With your free hand, you brushed the loose hair under his bandana away from his face. "Hey, look at me. I'm not going anywhere without you, it's you and me, forever."

"Or until you decided to go all Praying Mantis on me."

"Yes, forever will end on that day."

You thought you knew the town and the state you were in, but just then it escaped you. Indiana, maybe? Kansas?

For a second, in the flickering candlelight, you swore Eddie had horns and glowing red eyes, but then he was making love to you again and you forgot to care. He babbled your name as he came, shuddering until he collapsed.

Outside, something knocked against the door, making you jump, eyes darting over his shoulder. It wasn't the knock of someone wanting in, it was more of a scratching noise, like something being dragged across it.

Reluctantly, Eddie rolled off of you, pulling his jeans up to button them as he went. "Fuck, I knew this was too good to be true," he mumbled. "I found a place that was off the grid where they wouldn't think to look, and it worked for a little while."

He kept talking, making familiar sounds, but the words made no sense, as if spoken in a foreign language. You adjusted your own clothing and reached for the handle of your machete, horrified at the sight of the doorknob twisting back and forth. Someone or something wanted in.

"Just give us a minute, okay? Jesus." Eddie got to his feet, clearly annoyed.

"Eddie, shhhh!" You backed up against the wall, heart racing. "Maybe they don't know we're in here."

The doorknob stopped moving.

You were in the middle of a long-held breath when the unplugged rotary dial phone in the middle of the room rang. Eddie swooped to pick it up before it could make the shrill noise again.

He had his back to you when he smacked the receiver to his head.

You could hear someone shouting at the other end, loud enough to blow his eardrum out, but couldn't decipher what they were saying.

"Yeah, I know," he muttered to whoever it was. "What can I tell you? I got lost. Terry's directions are shit."

Weapon in hand, you slowly got to your feet. His words maintained the form of a curious jumble while your attention locked unwavering at the door.

He bent down to click the receiver onto the cradle when he was done. "I'm sorry about this, sweetheart," he said earnestly, taking a deep breath. "I'll find you again, I promise."

That time, you understood him, but you also did not understand. Not at all.

"What are you sorry for?" Your voice wavered at the way the shadows seemed to form shapes and slink along the walls. The air was suddenly thick and stale, as if the walls were closing in.

"For this."

When he turned, he was a nightmare. Rotten flesh dripping from his bones, lips pulled back in a skeleton sneer, eyes a dead, milk white. A hungry growl escaped from deep in his chest, and he reached both hands out, gnarled fingers clawing at nothing, only a few steps away from grabbing you.

You let out a terrified scream, and Eddie hated to hear it, but it was only for a moment before the invisible hatch in the floor opened and you tumbled through the infinity hole to your bed.

Once you were gone, his shoulders slumped, and that lonely vice gripped his heart once again. He stood in the same spot for a while, staring at the nest of blankets where you had once been. "I'd choose to live in a zombie apocalypse if I knew it meant we could be together" you'd said that to him once.

He was tired of this life; he was tired of losing you. What type of fucked up universe would let the two of you find each other only to make it so that you could never really be together?

"It's so fucked up," he whispered, agreeing with himself.

From the other side of the door, a woman's voice proceeded with caution. "You alright in there, Eddie?"

"Yeah," he lied. "Tell Kevin I'm taking a vacation day tomorrow."

[thecoffeelorian]

Fandom Friday--The Fanart Edition

06/14/2024

Hello again, everyone…and welcome back to another Fandom Friday.

The purpose of these entries, if you have not yet heard it, is to bring more visibility to art and stories that might otherwise go unnoticed on the Tumblr timeline, as well as to help the creators of such fanworks achieve more followers in the process.

Today is also the day where I feel as though I should make an important announcement, because it deals with future installments of this series and I don't want anybody to be surprised/shocked...:

Since the 10-link limit was starting to hold me back a bit too much, if not also cause me to only add art links when I really wanted to include fanfiction links as well...I'm going to start doing a total of 7 links for each medium in two separate entries, as I feel that I won't be leaving as many writers or artists out this way.

And so, without further delay...here are the fanart recommendations for this week!

THE CLONE WARS

The Clone Wars Fanart--By @gorlicberd:

The Clone Wars Fanart--By @dessinatsunset:

TALES OF THE JEDI

Tales Of The Jedi Fanart--By @thessbread:

THE BAD BATCH

The Bad Batch Fanart--By @kzya111:

The Bad Batch Fanart--By @bitterfishiesstuff:

The Bad Batch Fanart--By @doodlingfoolishness:

CROSSING THE FANDOM STREAMS

Star Wars Rebels/Jurassic Park--By @swordbladeknight7:

In conclusion, as part of my mission to poke around the Star Wars fandom and, on Friday every week, highlight those artists who might otherwise go unnoticed…I hope you will check out the links I have included for yourselves and like, comment on, and reblog them, as well as also giving the artists a few more followers to their Tumblr pages.

Please also like and reblog this latest installment so that these links can be spread around to as many other fans as possible, just in case not all of them can tune in at the same time.

An additional thank you goes to @djarrex for making the divider I used earlier in this post, but still want to give credit for.

And finally, so that I do not forget...this post will be continued in its second half: the Fanfiction Edition. Thank you, good morning, and I'll see you in the next post!

The No Pressure Tag List: @musicalselaw @gun-roswell @callsign-denmark @melymigo @saphiranishimurashan

@theosb0rnway @hastalavistabyebye @vaderkin-is-a-lightning-rod @vincili @tlmtwelve

@bbtechsimp @thatflatfrog @algo-o-nada @ankossss @tazmbc1

@yeehawgeek @tech-aficionado @exquisitesarcasm @korribanarchive @msknight10

@sharpasanaro @that-gay-jedi @badbatchposts @quietgingerfangirl @sunshinechildskywalker

@universitysunflowers @littlefeatherr @riverside-of-neverland @pastasmoothie @cyberscorch

@ilovemedia @cinnamonsugar-pretzel @brownielocks69 @here-comes-the-moose @skellymom

@lilithastar @maxims-multifandom-corner @serinzatravel-blog @rott1ngbra1n @snap-my-kneecaps and anybody else who might be on the lookout for new and interesting works around the fandom.

[crowleysgirl56]

Concerning the reactions to the comment David made to a young woman about the ending of Good Omens season 3 (including mine).

Firstly let me start by saying that most of my posts are to be taken a jokes. They are written to be mostly tongue in cheek, sarcastic and (what I think) are hilarious. So even though my previous post about freaking out about what David said might seem like I was legitimately panicking I just want to say that it was a joke and please don’t take it too seriously. Honestly I hope it just made you laugh, and you continued scrolling. If my post caused anyone to further their own anxiety or freak out, I apologise. If my post contributed to the fandom as a whole slightly losing their minds, I also apologise.

For those of you who took your reactions to David’s comment a step further and threatened that poor girl, insulted her, or were just generally mean to her, stop it! Don’t do that! Don’t be awful. Please be kind. Go and apologise!

With that out of the way, I did want to do a quick* analysis of the comment and perhaps address why people (and to a little extend myself) are feeling nervous.

To begin with, Neil has previously said (and this is a really good point), David was speaking directly to a fan, and was unaware he was being filmed. So when he says “maybe it’s not the ending you want”, he’s speaking directly to the person who asked him. We don’t know the context of their interaction beforehand and maybe she (or anyone else) had already expressed what their desire for the ending is, so this was his response. However taken out of context, the fandom has put themselves in the shoes of the person asking the question and therefore inserted themselves into the you part. The ending might not be want we want or expect. And considering the number of discussions the fandom participates in, the number of headcanons the fandom throw around, and the number of fanfics being written and read, whatever ending Neil has written is not going to satisfy everyone. It’s impossible to. But that is the same of any fandom really.

Speaking of fandoms, yes we are collectively nervous for a few reasons. One, for a good month there, we were convinced that the ending of season 2 was what the end of that story was going to be. Then when it was announced there’s still one more story to tell, there was another four months before it was finally confirmed that we were going to get that story. Two, case in point Game of Thrones. I don’t think I need to explain anymore than that. We have been burned before and now we’re worried it could happen again (though I will point out here, Neil has a better handle of storytelling and the love, devotion, and desire to finish a story that is beloved to him and is effectively a love letter to his best friend, compared to two TV producers who got bored and wanted to move onto other projects…). Three, filming is still 6 months away, and the premiere likely another year after that. A lot can happen in that time. So after these experiences, I can appreciate why people get nervous and a little in their heads about things.

In terms of the immediate reaction to what this could mean for the ending itself, I honestly cannot fathom how some people have managed to draw a straight line from “It might not be the ending you want” to “Terry would absolutely hate it”. Like, that just boggles my mind. HOW do you extrapolate that? David then immediately said “It’s a good ending”. So I think it’s safe to say that it will be good.

So let��s talk about endings and what people are mostly worried about.

1) Crowley and Aziraphale become human. This isn’t going to happen. Mainly because Neil has joked multiple times that this is the ending. Therefore if he says “this is what will happen” I’m pretty confident that this is what definitely won’t happen. You know after season 2, I ended up writing my own little fan fiction about them becoming human. I thought it was sweet and cute. Then I saw a lot of people absolutely hate that idea, so I never published it anywhere. Oh well.

2) Either one or both of them will die. Also not going to happen. Something tells me that Neil would not participate in the “bury your gays” trope. I do think that maybe there might be a non-permanent death or near death in the climax. But both will live, I’m positive of this.

3) Sex. I’ve spoken about this before. We’re not getting hardcore sexual activity. This is not the show for that. Neil has said before he’s not into writing that kind of thing. Do I think we’ll get more kissing? Yes. Do I think there will be implied sex? Maybe, hopefully, I’m wishing for it. But there is not going to be actual sex folks. Please make your way to AO3 for your reading pleasure.

4) The South Downs. And now we get to what I’m most worried about. That we won’t get what everyone assumes the ending will actually be. Crowley and Aziraphale retired and living in the South Downs. Will I be disappointed if this doesn’t happen? Absolutely. Will I lament here about it? Sure, probably. Will I send Neil abusive messages about how he destroyed and ruined the ending? NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT! AND DON’T ANYONE ELSE DO THAT EITHER!

So, will the ending be what we want? There is every chance that it will be, but always a possibility that it won’t be. This is the nature of storytelling. You will never satisfy everyone. Will the ending be good? I have no doubt in my mind that it will be. David says it’s a good. I trust him. Neil says it will be good. I very much trust him.

This is a comedy, first and foremost. Comedies have happy endings. Let’s just take a collective breath and believe it to be so.

*by “quick” I actually meant “really long”. Sorry about that.

[lgihtspeed]

Prior to her appearance on IGNITE!, VIOLET debuted twice. Her first group lasted nine months. Her second group lasted three—in hindsight, that one might have been a scam. Lightspeed will last eleven. It seems to be a pattern with her. She was first interested in becoming an idol at the age of thirteen. Highly inspired by second generation girl groups like SNSD and T-ara, she began to learn how to sing and dance. At seventeen, Violet moved to South Korea to pursue her dream, against her parents’ wishes. She has not spoken to them in eight years.

IGNITE! was truly her last chance. After nearly a decade of trying and failing to be an idol, she was almost ready to call it quits. That was when Violet learned of the show from her older sister. After breezing through the audition and early stages of the show, her professionalism and obvious desperation helped her secure second place, and a spot in Lightspeed.

KNOWN FOR: Saying “I don’t know any boy groups except BTS and EXO” (as a joke?). Being the only person to give a thank you speech in Korean. Hitting an extremely high whistle note while watching a video of her first group’s debut stage.

STAGE NAME : Violet

FULL NAME : Violet Quyên Lâm

BIRTHDAY : June 30, 1997

BIRTHPLACE : Calgary, Alberta, Canada

HOMETOWN : Calgary, Alberta, Canada

ETHNICITY : Vietnamese

NATIONALITY : Canadian

FACE CLAIM : Jun Vũ

ASH was born Jang Dohyun in Seoul, South Korea, before moving to the US to live with the rest of his extended family when he was less than a year old. He picked the name Ash for himself when he started going to school and none of his teachers could pronounce his name. As a teenager, the rise of the Hallyu wave in the West led to his interest in kpop and kdramas, and became his way of reconnecting with the country he was born in. As a college student, he took this one step further with his participation in UCLA’s kpop cover dance team, where he met Tyler.

While on IGNITE!, his rank rose steadily throughout the second half of the show. Although a good enough performer, he was seen more as comic relief and a moodmaker than a serious contender for the winning group. He was also popular for his constant promotion of his family’s Koreatown bakery instead of himself. In the finale, his rank skyrocketed from seventh to second, surprising Ash most of all. He is Lightspeed’s leader in name and not much else.

KNOWN FOR: Promoting his family’s bakery more than himself. Re-editing his profile pictures and posting them to his Instagram after the show. Writing “fre sha vaca do” as his catchphrase.

STAGE NAME : Ash

FULL NAME : Dohyun Jang

BIRTHDAY : July 9, 1999

BIRTHPLACE : Seoul, South Korea

HOMETOWN : Los Angeles, California, USA

ETHNICITY : Korean

NATIONALITY : American

FACE CLAIM : Serim Park

TW: Death

TYLER was the only survivor of the major car accident that killed his parents and older brother. At the age of two, he spent a few months as a ward of the state of Illinois before being adopted by an older childless white couple. He spent most of his life on the family farm, before jumping ship to Los Angeles for college, where he met Ash on the UCLA kpop cover dance team.

In his first semester of grad school—because what else is he doing with his bachelor’s degree in psychobiology?—he auditioned for IGNITE!, seeing it as another opportunity to avoid returning to the farm. In hindsight, it was an extremely good decision, even if all of his embarrassing stan Twitter tweets were dragged into the limelight. As a competitor, Tyler was popular for his confidence and the dance skills to back up whatever grandstanding statements he decided to make.

KNOWN FOR: Freestyling his entire initial audition. Somehow continuing to tweet while filming IGNITE! Dapping up Ash every episode.

STAGE NAME : Tyler

BIRTH NAME : Tyler Ryuji Igarashi

FULL NAME : Tyler Wilfred Ryuji Lewis

BIRTHDAY : March 3, 2000

BIRTHPLACE : Chicago, Illinois, USA

HOMETOWN : Decatur, Illinois, USA

ETHNICITY : Japanese

NATIONALITY : American

FACE CLAIM : Noa Kazama

Born to second generation Korean Americans, CONSTANCE is Lightspeed’s most prominent vocalist. She was musically inclined from an early age, able to pick up and mimic melodies by ear. By the time she was fourteen, she was proficient in multiple instruments, having spent all of her afternoons at local music shops and figuring them out for herself. Her prodigal music run came to an end when she auditioned for Julliard and didn’t get in. She settled for pursuing her secondary interest of mechanical engineering instead.

Being a kpop idol was never a possibility to her. Her grandparents left Korea in the aftermath of the Korean War—why would she go back? Yet when IGNITE! announced auditions in New York City, Constance decided she could give it a try. She was indisputably one of the best singers on the show, moving the judges to tears in her final performance. She placed third at the show’s conclusion.

KNOWN FOR: Bringing an entire suitcase of snacks. Smiling like The Almighty Loaf. Pointing out the film crew’s OSHA violations.

STAGE NAME : Constance

FULL NAME : Constance Bomi Im

BIRTHDAY : January 28, 2001

BIRTHPLACE : Newark, New Jersey, USA

HOMETOWN : Newark, New Jersey, USA

ETHNICITY : Korean

NATIONALITY : American

FACE CLAIM : Winter / Minjeong Kim

MIA’S career started at the young age of six with a small background role in a children’s TV show. Pushed to perform by her mother (still reeling from her failure to be a famous actress), she took dance lessons—ballet, tap, jazz—and acting lessons and modeling lessons. As a child and a teenager, she had two big breaks: a starring role in a spinoff of a popular kids’ show, and a brief stint as a kpop trainee under JYP Entertainment. Her six months there were the greatest time of her life, so when her mother suggested she should audition for IGNITE!, she jumped at the chance.

Her previous experience was evident from the moment she stepped on stage. She never ranked below third, was center for most of her performances, and seemed to be an endless source of memorable and iconic performance clips. It came as no surprise that she placed first among the female contestants in IGNITE!’s finale.

KNOWN FOR: Carrying her team in almost every performance. Struggling to make a heart in the theme song. Reenacting an orange juice commercial she did when she was seven.

STAGE NAME : Mia

FULL NAME : Mia Odette Kim-Anderson

BIRTHDAY : June 4, 2002

BIRTHPLACE : Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

HOMETOWN : Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

ETHNICITY : Caucasian, Korean

NATIONALITY : Australian

FACE CLAIM : Lily Jin Morrow

EV, born Everett Lam Chun-sheng in Hong Kong, China, is the youngest member of Lightspeed. His parents divorced when he was six years old, leading to his subsequent move to Leeds, England with his mother and the changing and reordering of his names. His interest in music was fostered by his stepfather, a symphony musician, as a way for the two of them to connect. It worked—he took music as his fourth A-level, alongside maths, history, and English literature.

While attending university, he was met with the opportunity to participate in IGNITE! As a competitor, Ev was known mostly for his quiet disposition and peacemaking abilities. He acknowledged his lack of skill in the beginning, and improved greatly throughout the show’s run. He placed third.

KNOWN FOR: Recreating Hyungwon’s Starbucks meme with a Redbull during a practice session. Reciting Jacques’s “All the world’s a stage” monologue from As You Like It in his audition. Doing the exact same stiff ending fairy pose after every performance.

STAGE NAME : Ev

BIRTH NAME : Everett Lam Chun-sheng

FULL NAME : Everett Chun-sheng Sharpe

BIRTHDAY : January 15, 2003

BIRTHPLACE : Hong Kong, China

HOME TOWN : Leeds, England

ETHNICITY : Chinese, English

NATIONALITY : British 

FACE CLAIM : William Gao

FEATURING: @seeyal8r @snspice @venusvity @stcpidcupid @almostyours

[kaladinkholins]

We all already know Mizu and Akemi are narrative foils. But you know what? Lemme just say it, here's what I think:

Taigen and Mikio are foils.

Not necessarily to each other as individuals in the way that Mizu and Akemi juxtapose each other, but mostly in the contrast between their relationships with Mizu.

I've covered specific parallels between Taigen and Mikio in other posts I wrote; but as the number of parallels I'm noticing between them keeps piling up, I'm compelled to just compile them all in one post. So! This is, thus, the post in question.

First of all, let's look at their similarities.

1. Their status in society is the same. They are both samurai who lost their honour and have dreams of reclaiming it.

2. They are also both diligent as they strive to achieve this goal, they both care deeply about their work, but here as they begin to contrast, as the work in question and way they go about their goals is different:

For Mikio, his work is in taming and rearing horses; in order to prove himself, he must tame Kai—a willful and strong horse—and present it to his lord. For Taigen, his work is in sword fighting and martial arts; in order to prove himself, he must kill Mizu—a willful and strong swordsman—and present her dead body to his lord.

In the parallel above, not only are Taigen and Mikio contrasting each other, but Mizu and Kai are placed in comparison as well. And of course, Kai is Mizu's horse, and represents her. Which is why, when later, Mikio sells Kai off, it represents the way he is tossing Mizu (and their relationship) aside.

From there, the rest of the details of their character begin to contrast and juxtapose each other more clearly. So let's look at those differences, shall we?

Their backstory:

Mikio was a great samurai who was banished. A somebody to a nobody. Taigen was a fisherman’s son who rose to the top. A nobody to a somebody.

2. The first time we meet them on-screen:

Mikio is an adult. An older man. Mizu's superior in age. He is Mizu's to-be husband. A love interest. Taigen is a child. A young boy. Mizu's peer in age. He is Mizu's bully. An antagonist.

3. Their maturity and growth:

Mikio is mature, but stuck in his ways. Taigen is immature, but capable of changing and learning.

4. Their overall attitude:

Mikio is generally relaxed, easy-going and unfussy. Taigen is uptight, irritable and severe.

5. How they talk to and conduct themselves around Mizu:

Mikio is aloof, soft-spoken, and serious. Taigen is obnoxious, brash, and sarcastic. Mikio is quiet, speaking only when spoken to, even when Mizu turns to smile at him and shows openness to be near him. Taigen is loud, talking while others are silent, even when Mizu turns from him and shows no interest in conversing with him.

Mikio doesn't show much of who he is to Mizu throughout their marriage, despite their growing affection. Taigen openly shares his traumas and life story to Mizu during their brief alliance, despite their mutual antagonism.

6. Their external vs internal selves:

Mikio is calm, gentle, and considerate on the outside. Taigen is hot-headed, rude, and selfish on the outside. Mikio is cowardly and deceitful on the inside. Taigen is brave and loyal to a fault on the inside. Mikio tells Mizu that he wants to know and see all of her. But he scorns and betrays her, the woman he loves. Taigen tells Mizu that he wants to duel and kill him. But he endures torture to not betray him, the man he hates.

9. Their hair, a symbol of their honour:

Mikio's topknot is untied by Mizu during their spar. This humiliation occurs in private, the two of them alone in a rural location where no one can see them. Taigen's topknot is cut off by Mizu during their duel. This humiliation occurs in public, the two of them being watched by many others in the Shindo Dojo.

10. Their power dynamic with Mizu:

Mikio believes he is Mizu's mentor. He teaches her to throw knives, how to ride and care for horses, and about the tactical benefits of using a naginata. Taigen believes he is Mizu's equal. He views Mizu as a samurai like himself who received all the same teachings he did, and who possesses the same values.

11. Their perceptions of Mizu:

Mikio sees Mizu's feminine side first. He sees her as sweet and gentle, but also clumsy and incompetent. Taigen sees Mizu's masculine side first. He sees her as terrifying and deadly, but also strong and skilled.

12. The way they approach sparring with Mizu:

Mikio only spars with Mizu once. As the fight progresses and she is beating him, he tries to put a stop to it. When she teases/provokes him, he starts taking the fight personally and seriously, finding no enjoyment in it. Taigen spars and brawls with Mizu all the time. No matter how many times Mizu beats him, he doesn't back down. When Mizu challenges him with a chopstick, he is eager to compete with her and gladly rises up to the challenge.

Mikio and Mizu's one and only spar is a friendly match; Mizu is smiling and having fun while he grows increasingly frustrated. Taigen and Mizu's last-seen spar is a playful wrestling match; both him and Mizu are having fun and laughing.

Mikio cannot deal with Mizu being better than him, so he scorns her and walks off, avoiding her thereafter. When Taigen cannot deal with Mizu being better than him, he follows her to observe her moves and continues training in hopes to eventually beat her. After being bested by Mizu once, Mikio leaves her and sells the horse he'd previously gifted to her. After many times losing to Mizu and fighting alongside her, Taigen commends her and admits she is better than him.

13. When Mizu pins them down in a friendly spar:

Mikio sees Mizu's whole face objectively. Taigen stares at Mizu's mouth and eyes.

Mikio gets angry when she kisses him, throwing her off of him and snapping at her, calling her a monster. Taigen gets aroused, apologising, so she pulls herself off of him.

14. Mizu's blue meteorite sword is a reflection of her soul. She believes most are undeserving to face it, let alone hold it. And on that note:

Mikio is the first person (chronologically) that Mizu fights against using her sword. Taigen is the first person (we see on-screen) that Mizu fights against with her sword. Mikio is the first person (chronologically) to ever hold her sword, as she passes it to him, letting him wield it. Taigen is the first person (we see on-screen) to ever hold her sword, as she passes out, and he picks it up and carries it for her.

15. Then, last but not least, in Fowler's fortress, when she is drugged and in pain, she hears Ringo's voice in the dungeon. She then follows it to an open cell:

Mizu first sees Mikio as a hallucination, the sight of him haunting her and causing her to lose her grip on reality. Her eyes glow a surreal blue to represent this. Her Mama appears then and says Mizu's name accusingly.

Mizu then sees Taigen, but he is real, the sight of him a relief and grounding her back to reality. Her eyes return to their normal blue colour to represent this. Taigen looks at Mizu weakly and says her name softly.

Then, later, when facing Fowler, her revenge awaiting her, she instead chooses to follow her conscience (represented by Ringo's voice in her mind), putting aside her vengeance for a time, in order to save Taigen.

So that's basically all the ones I've noticed so far, but even then, I feel there's already so much that forms a contrast between these two.

What makes it especially incredible about these juxtapositions is that Mikio was Mizu's husband, the man she had fallen in love with, the one person she had ever been intimate with, the man who made her begin to accept herself, to put down her desire for vengeance and instead live a life of peace and happiness.

So for Taigen to have so many parallels with him... Do you see what I'm saying here!

Not to mention that Mizu clearly already has some burgeoning attraction to him, as indicated by how she thinks of him when asked about her desires. And Taigen clearly has shown interest as well (see: him getting a boner after their spar, him holding her hand and telling her, "We're not done yet.").

And on the topic of speculating future possibilities of this relationship, this post by @stromblessed has pointed out yet another parallel between Taigen and Mikio:

Mizu promises Taigen to meet him for their duel in autumn. Mizu fell in love with Mikio and duelled him during autumn.

With all that said, I do believe Mizu and Taigen's relationship is definitely hurtling towards something. But whether they will actually end up together in a sustainable relationship and have a happily ever after? Well, that is a whole other story; we'll just have to wait and see.

[averlym]

"now, doesn't that look nice?" [insp]

[marley-manson]

Hawkeye has virtually no shame about public displays of emotional vulnerability and mental instability, imo.

I’ve seen a lot of people who place a lot of importance on Hawkeye’s “If this keeps up, people are gonna realize I'm as crazy as I think I am,” line in Hawk’s Nightmare but honestly I just see it as mainly a wry acknowledgement that he’s acting less than sane in public and weirding out his childhood friends back home by detailing his nightmares to them, with a side of alluding to his actual fear, which is being crazy, as he tells Sidney over and over during that conversation. The key word there is “think” not “realize” imo.

Sidney reassures him by telling him his nightmares mean he’s sane, not by telling him that they’ll go away and he’ll stop publically sleepwalking. In fact he implies it’s something that will continue until the war’s over, and Hawkeye doesn’t seem to have a problem with that as long as it doesn’t mean he’s actually going insane.

And Hawkeye never really demonstrates any concern over people witnessing his breakdowns, and in fact seems to go out of his way to make them public half the time. I mean you got your most blatant example in Bananas Crackers and Nuts where he’s happy to exaggerate his feelings to make people think he’s insane to get a break. But even when it’s genuinely serious (and less cartoony, tonally), he’s also got no issues making public scenes.

He doesn’t quietly seek out Potter or BJ alone when he decides yes he is in fact seriously ill in Bless You Hawkeye, he walks right into everyone having a meeting and announces that he’s gonna die. He’s not only perfectly fine with Sidney visting him for a consultation in Hawk’s Nightmare, he’s the first to acknowledge why he’s there during the poker game while Sidney’s trying to be politely subtle (”Mind if I come along?” “Fine with me Doc, as long as your couch has wheels on it.”) He also ofc calls his childhood friends and tells them he’s having fucked up nightmares about them, tells everyone else about them to ask for their opinions, and tries to have a heart to heart with Frank about being afraid to go to sleep.

He makes a joke about cracking up at the farewell party in GFA, and tells some random patient he just had his “head in a cast,” apropros of nothing. He throws a tantrum in Adam’s Ribs, he publically screams out his feelings at the end of For Want of a Boot, he loudly narrates his impending panic attack in CAVE (and says that the reason he kept quiet about it for a while is specifically because he didn’t want Potter to choose a less safe place to retreat to on his account), he casually describes his emotional state as “mania” to Potter in Depressing News while, yk, building a big tower for 2 days without breaks in the middle of the camp, he breaks down in front of BJ - a guy he’d only recently met - in The Late Captain Pierce, he angrily confronts everyone about feeling betrayed and abandoned by them in the phone scene in GFA. We don’t see what he does after Dr. Pierce and Mr. Hyde but he casually mentions the insomnia to Winchester in Dr. Winchester and Mr. Hyde so he’s fine talking about it. He has two public breakdowns in the O.R. that I can remember off-hand.

And he never demonstrates any shame or regret about the public nature of any of this.

He never tries to hide his feelings - I think the closest he gets is in Sons and Bowlers, and he proceeds to tell Charles how he’s feeling for the entire rest of the night in that one - and while nearly everyone else gets plotlines where something’s troubling them that they don’t want to talk about, Hawkeye never ever does. He’s usually the one prying these feelings out of other characters and chiding them for not talking about them. Even in GFA what’s stopping him from talking about it is the amnesia - he’s reluctant and upset about having the conversations about the bus because he’s subconsciously afraid of remembering, but he still does, and after he has his breakthrough he willingly talks it through with Sidney multiple times afterwards as well, both offscreen in Sidney’s mention of follow-up sessions (including Hawkeye explicitly wanting more of them), and on screen when Sidney visits the 4077.

And in Bless You Hawkeye, the other trauma amnesia episode, he’s perfectly willing to a) accept it could be psychosomatic, b) talk about it with Sidney to find the root cause, and c) joke about it afterwards during a poker game.

And then you got a bunch of moments and jokes where he shamelessly reveals personal information about himself, sometimes likely exaggerations that he’s still fine with people believing, sometimes clearly accurate. I sucked my thumb until my twenties, I can’t get hard, here’s the kind of niche sex I like, I’m a coward and proud, I’m fucking my married ex, I was jealous of my dad’s girlfriend, monologue about how much I miss my dad to a stranger, monologue about how miserable I am to a stranger, monologue about how terrified I am to a stranger, etc etc.

There’s also overt commentary on this - in Check-Up for example, Hawkeye suggests that Trapper got an ulcer because he’s the strong silent type who keeps his feelings in, in contrast to himself. In Bless You Hawkeye Sidney points out that Hawkeye never holds back when it comes to his feelings about the war, which is why he’s assuming the root cause is something Hawkeye isn’t even consciously aware of and goes back to Hawkeye’s childhood.

When it comes to Hawkeye it’s very difficult for me to imagine a scenario where he would try to hide anything about himself, whether that’s his feelings or something about his life, and I have a feeling it was the same for the writers of the show most of the time too lol, hence relying on amnesia twice for the mystery and reveal structure.

[hamletshoeratio]

The difference in how Hen and Eddie's cheating is treated/being treated by the fandom v how Buck's is... I wonder why...

[age-of-moonknight]

“Solve for X: Part 2 (of 3),” Strange Academy: Moon Knight (Vol. 1/2023), #1.

Writer: Carlos Hernandez; Penciler and Inker: Julian Shaw; Colorist: Edgar Delgado; Letterer: Clayton Cowles

[lock-my-feelings-in-a-jar]

what if there were more involved music ask games that requires a bit more effort, something like reblog and put one band/artist in the tags and then your followers will look them up, learn some basic info or a couple of funfacts, listen to a couple of songs and then send you an ask(anon or not) of what they learned/listened to and their thoughts(preferably of what they LIKE about it, not to hate on it), favorite lyrics, maybe some band pictures or anything they feel like including and then they add their own band/artist name at the end for you to do the same with theirs in the answer

would anybody do this to make their beloved mutuals in different fandoms feel more seen

[patchesproblem]

ok so. so. einsla portal au. <= guy who knows nothing about portal

Sorry for the late response.. I've been thinking about this for the past two days and just now got the chance to answer.

Answer under the cut (you'll see why in a second)

OKAY SO!! Funny thing is that one of my friends was asking me to write a fanfic based in Portal, though it was less of an 'AU' and more of a fanfiction inside of a fanfiction. It was essentially Cave Johnson (The CEO of Aperture and CEO of committing crimes against humanity and inhumane science) re-writing Tesla and Einsteins life story but now they were Ghost Busters (there's context to this, specifically it comes from the Cave Johnson cinematic universe (If you want I can send a video of his voice lines) where an AU Cave Johnson becomes GLaDOS instead of Caroline and starts rewriting a bunch of books and turning them into Ghost Busters fanfiction.) If I ever finish it it's going to be purposefully written weirdly and it isn't revealed until the very end that the reason for it being written weirdly and having things that don't make sense is because Computer Cave Johnson is the one writing it.

Now for an actual answer that isn't just the joke fanfic my friend and I are talking about:

I've been thinking about this for the majority of the day.. It's 100% possible, though it'd probably be similar to the Half Life AU where they aren't *replacing specific characters but instead live / work in the same universe.

*I lied partially, they replace Chell but not anyone else.

The reasoning for this is just because Chell, GLaDOS, and Wheatley are no where Near similar to Tesla and Einstein. Chells a mute woman who hates GLaDOS and Wheatley so much she refuses to even play into their bullshit, GLaDOS is a murderous supercomputer, and Wheatleys British.

HOWEVER.. I DO have other ideas.

SO one of the first ideas I had was that they're scientists working at Aperture, potentially two of the scientists behind building GLaDOS. This one's shorter since I don't think that they'd be willing to fully go through with it, and I have more ideas for the others, but still.

They'd be two of the scientists working on the technology for GLaDOS, however before it's completition they quit and refused to finish working due to realizing that Cave wanted to force Caroline into it. Though I don't know if they'd be willing to work in the first place due to the fact that yanno. Cave Johnsons not the greatest guy and is responsible for the death of hundreds of people and using people in need as test subjects.

HOWEVER.. I do have ideas for them being test subjects. This is partially an excuse to give them a portal gun because I can just Imagine the bullshit they'd get themselves into.

Some of the most notable things would be throwing each other through walls just to make them fall flat on their face, or just to scare the shit out of each other.

I can see them going through the test chambers together, and dealing with GLaDOS. Specifically, I can imagine Tesla cussing her out as GLaDOS taunts her.

Honestly I think they'd break out of the test chambers, or at least try to, before GLaDOS got the chance to cook them alive in her pit of fire.

I think they'd take their time afterward to explore Aperture and get any information they could, especially upon realizing that the 'pre-recorded messages' are really a sentient supercomputer (GLaDOS) trying to trick them.

I genuinely think that they'd have a chance of beating GLaDOS, ESPECIALLY if they're working together, just out of pure spite.

I'm probably going to either make a new post later describing this more in depth because this is essentially me throwing ideas around and none of them probably make any sense.

[aparticularbandit]

we have reached the time of year when i start a bunch of projects that i probably won’t finish.

i apologize ahead of time.

do y’all want me to post all of those first chapters here, or just.  wait until i have more than one chapter each and have a better idea about what i’m going to continue?

[chisatowo]

4 out of five protags have been assigned! Got jumpscared by this guy so they exist now dhdmhdjdh

[dyketubbo]

hey. reminder to tag the fucking shipping for the love of god

[kotori-mochi]

Can't afford art school?

After seeing post like this 👇

And this gem 👇

As well as countless of others from the AI generator community. Just talking about how "inaccessible art" is, I decided why not show how wrong these guys are while also helping anyone who actually wants to learn.

Here is the first one ART TEACHERS! There are plenty online and in places like youtube.

📺Here is my list:

Proko (Free, mostly teaches anatomy and how to draw people. But does have art talks and teaches the basics.)

Marc Brunet (Free but he does have other classes for a cheap price. Use to work for Blizzard and teaches you everything)

Aaron Rutten (free, tips about art, talks about art programs and the best products for digital art)

BoroCG (free, teaches a verity of art mediums from 3D modeling to digital painting. As well as some tips that can be used across styles)

Jesse J. Jones (free, talks about animating)

Jesus Conde (free, teaches digital painting and has classes in Spanish)

Mohammed Agbadi (free, he gives some advice in some videos and talks about art)

Ross Draws (free, he does have other classes for a good price. Mostly teaching character designs and simple backgrounds.)

SamDoesArts (free, gives good advice and critiques)

Drawfee Show (free, they do give some good advice and great inspiration)

The Art of Aaron Blaise ( useful tips for digital art and animation. Was an animator for Disney. Mostly nature art)

Bobby Chiu ( useful tips and interviews with artist who are in the industry or making a living as artist)

Sinix Design (has some tips on drawing people)

Winged canvas (art school for free on a verity of mediums)

Bob Ross (just a good time, learn how to paint, as well as how too relax when doing art. "there are no mistakes only happy accidents", this channel also provides tips from another artist)

Scott Christian Sava (Inspiration and provides tips and advice)

Pikat (art advice and critiques)

Drawbox (a suggested cheap online art school, made of a community of artist)

Skillshare (A cheap learning site that has art classes ranging from traditional to digital. As well as Animation and tutorials on art programs. All under one price, in the USA it's around $34 a month)

Human anatomy for artist (not a video or teacher but the site is full of awesome refs to practice and get better at anatomy)

Second part BOOKS, I have collected some books that have helped me and might help others.

📚Here is my list:

The "how to draw manga" series produced by Graphic-sha. These are for manga artist but they give great advice and information.

"Creating characters with personality" by Tom Bancroft. A great book that can help not just people who draw cartoons but also realistic ones. As it helps you with facial ques and how to make a character interesting.

"Albinus on anatomy" by Robert Beverly Hale and Terence Coyle. Great book to help someone learn basic anatomy.

"Artistic Anatomy" by Dr. Paul Richer and Robert Beverly Hale. A good book if you want to go further in-depth with anatomy.

"Directing the story" by Francis Glebas. A good book if you want to Story board or make comics.

"Animal Anatomy for Artists" by Eliot Goldfinger. A good book for if you want to draw animals or creatures.

"Constructive Anatomy: with almost 500 illustrations" by George B. Bridgman. A great book to help you block out shadows in your figures and see them in a more 3 diamantine way.

"Dynamic Anatomy: Revised and expand" by Burne Hogarth. A book that shows how to block out shapes and easily understand what you are looking out. When it comes to human subjects.

"An Atlas of animal anatomy for artist" by W. Ellenberger and H. Dittrich and H. Baum. This is another good one for people who want to draw animals or creatures.

Etherington Brothers, they make books and have a free blog with art tips.

📝As for Supplies, I recommend starting out cheap, buying Pencils and art paper at dollar tree or 5 below. If you want to go fancy Michaels is always a good place for traditional supplies. They also get in some good sales and discounts. For digital art, I recommend not starting with a screen art drawing tablet as they are usually more expensive.

For the Best art Tablet I recommend either Xp-pen, Bamboo or Huion. Some can range from about 40$ to the thousands.

💻As for art programs here is a list of Free to pay.

Clip Studio paint ( you can choose to pay once or sub and get updates. Galaxy, Windows, macOS, iPad, iPhone, Android, or Chromebook device. )

Procreate ( pay once for $9.99 usd, IPAD & IPHONE ONLY)

Blender (for 3D modules/sculpting, animation and more. Free)

PaintTool SAI (pay but has a 31 day free trail)

Krita (Free)

mypaint (free)

FireAlpaca (free)

Aseprite ($19.99 usd but has a free trail, for pixel art Windows & macOS)

Drawpile (free and for if you want to draw with others)

IbisPaint (free, phone app ONLY)

Medibang (free, IPAD, Android and PC)

NOTE: Some of these can work on almost any computer like Clip and Sai but others will require a bit stronger computer like Blender. Please check their sites for if your computer is compatible.

So do with this information as you will but as you can tell there are ways to learn how to become an artist, without breaking the bank. The only thing that might be stopping YOU from using any of these things, is YOU.

I have made time to learn to draw and many artist have too. Either in-between working two jobs or taking care of your family and a job or regular school and chores. YOU just have to take the time or use some time management, it really doesn't take long to practice for like an hour or less. YOU also don't have to do it every day, just once or three times a week is fine.

Hope this was helpful and have a great day.

"also apologies for any spelling or grammar errors, I have Dyslexia and it makes my brain go XP when it comes to speech or writing"

[arolesbianism]

We did it boys we got our first game crash in oni 🎉