#mostly a fun break between homework and more complicated drawings

[aeliem]

for @createbellatheartist's dtiys

a bit late but eh i didn't see a time limit

timelapse under the cut

[futurewriter2000]

Too Late for Love

A/N: Oh God, it was a long one but finally I finished it. I know it took me a long time to write it but I DID! I tried putting all of my best in there. Though I think I could have made it better but it’s already long so I didn’t want to make it too long. I hope you like it <3 I love torturing James so much 

REQUESTED BY @whyevenbotherrightsstuff​ : Hi can I have a request for James Potter that you and him are going back and for to each other like friends with benefits you are in love with him but you see that he still chases after Lily and you are tired of it and eventually end it and move on and he sees that you are with someone else and it just makes him jealous. Sorry that that's a long one you can decide the ending if you want.

XX

It was as if it was an addiction.

You knew it was bad. You knew it was toxic but still, the pleasure from it was more appealing than recovery.

It's like that heart and brain saying. Sometimes you have to listen to the heart, sometimes you have to listen to your brain. However, never listen to your wild hormones, sex parts, and a horny, Gryffindor teenager named James Potter.

He was leaning over you, eyes staring down- not staring, rather observing, watching you seductively.

"Last night..." he lifted your chin, placing his lips on yours gently. "... last night was perfect." he pulled away and you smiled.

"It was?"

"Yeah but we should really just-" he heard some footsteps and quickly backed away from you, leaning on the wall and crossing his arms over his chest. He cleared his throat and continued. "Just find someplace else- you know... I don't want people talking."

It felt he pulled a string through your heart and sliced it in half.

Your smile wanted to drop but you kept it all the same as none of his words affected you. "Yeah-" you backed on the wall as well, chewing your lower lip as you tried to think clearly.

He could watch you biting your lip and he just thought back- back into that night, that perfect night where your bodies just moved so perfectly together. In such sync, harmony even.

He never thought he would be one of those guys that would have someone just for sex. But you and he had so much chemistry. You and he had more than that. He could be comfortable with you, know all your sweet spots and be sure he won't fuck up. It was complicated at first because you and he took each other's virginity and both of you wanted it that way.

You didn't pressure him into dating you immediately and he had told you that he is in love with another girl; Lily Evans.

Yet he couldn't stop thinking about it because the first time was extremely awkward for both of you. It was clammy, hot, stiffed, sweaty, sticky and he didn't really know what to do.

But there was a look i. Your eyes that just told him that it's okay and to be honest, he didn't want to suck at sex, so he asked you for a "favor". Just to perfect the sex, learn, explore, and please, find what makes each other tick.

It turned into just playful fun later on. It wasn't even planned anymore. The two of you would be sitting on the sofa, talking and laughing, and the next thing you know both of you were naked.

It was pure fun.

He used you and you used him and neither of you cared. Right?

Wrong. What do you expect?

For you, James was your first and it hurt like hell at first but it was as if... You could see yourself with him. Not just in the physical way, not just sex. Sometimes, in moments, there was something between the two of you that wasn't just sex. It was intimacy. It was love- for what you thought and you knew that he knew it too.

He should, right?

Wrong again.

He was James Potter. He and the right way were really best friends.

---

It was neverending torture. It was. For you, for him, for you mostly.

He kept leaning over to her, touching her, whispering to her... Flirting. It cramped your heart, your stomach, your whole bloody body to just see them.

It didn't anger you. It saddened you because all you kept thinking was: So there was just sex? There was just pleasure? Just fun? No intimacy? No love?

And you could feel your throat squeeze like someone poured a sour lemon into it, causing you to look away.

It hurt. It hurt because you were in love and he wasn't.

The ring was your salvation. It was your biggest, purest salvation because you couldn't wait to just run away and cry. It sounded pathetic but it was as if you couldn't help it anymore.

You were so stupid to believe you two actually had something. You were naive and gullible to fall for his manipulative lies and deceiving eyes. You were so furious at yourself because you let him get close to you. You let yourself love him when even in the slightest of his body that you kissed and touch, wasn't a chance of him loving you back.

But when you call the devil, the devil comes.

You could feel his hand on your shoulder without even looking at who he was. Your teary eyes flickered to the moving figure and he didn't even care enough to look closely and notice.

"Tonight, ten?" he grinned, backing away and winking.

You stood there for a moment, looking yourself at the ground and just exploding. At first, it was soft. "No." your voice quivered but it was just enough laud for him to hear it.

"Exams can wait. Homework? Bleh!" he brushed his hand, standing still.

"No, James." you shook your head, feeling your heart squeeze at the sound of your own realization. You looked up, a tear falling down your cheek and catching his attention.

"Wait- (y/n), darling." he started speaking softly, approaching you as if he cared.

He didn't! Get it to your head, (y/n)! HE DOESN'T CARE!

He reached for your hands and at first, you wanted to hold his hands but you shouldn't and so you hid them away from him.

"Why are you crying?" he asked. He asked as if it wasn't clear.

"Why am I crying?" you repeated his question, more tears, one after the other and each of them without your permission. "I can't do this anymore. I can't have sex with you and thinking it doesn't mean something to me when it does!"

He watched, his eyes falling into concern, pity maybe?

You scoffed, letting out a fake laugh and running both of your hands through your hair. "I won't do this anymore."

"Why not?!" he snapped, furrowing his eyebrows and glaring in disbelief.

"Because you're in love with someone else meanwhile you're shagging me!"

That snapped something inside him. Hurt? - No. James couldn't be hurt.

"We said- we put the rules! You, me, and no strings attached!"

"Yes, exactly." you leaned back, lowering your tone. "No strings attached." you rolled your eyes but tears keep falling and your whole face was soaked in the. "So why is it so hard for you to just agree with me if everything was no strings attached?"

"Because I need to know why? Did I do something wrong last night?? What did I-"

"Merlin, James!" you groaned from frustration. "I fell in love with you! And I kept this going because I thought you might love me back and today I came to the realization that you don't. So I am stopping this before it gets complicated."

"It's not complicated!" he started to panic, unaware of the reactions in his body.

"It is for me." you said. "I don't want to be like some girl you bang until you get your perfect girl. I want to be loved more than just in private. I want to share that love with the world." you started smiling to yourself. "It's okay, James." you spoke gently, calming his nerves as you always seemed to do. "I get it and I won't make it complicated, I swear. I won't try and get between you and Lily- you won't even see me. It was fun while it lasted." you shrugged, digging your hands into your pockets and walking by him. "See you around."

And James stood there. He stood there unable to know what had just happened.

It seemed selfish from his side but that's who he was. He told you that... And instead of getting all fiery and furious at him, you told him you just don't want to.

I mean, if you really were in love with him, wouldn't you want to use all the time you had with him before he gets Lily?

... He shook his head, smiling to himself.

It's over. You and him are over. At least he wasn' the one to break it. It's easy and simple, you won't complicate it.

He 's happy. He is.

It's all for the best anyway. The sex was great but that's all it was. Sex. He can focus solely on Lily now.

---

And he did. He focused solely on her- on the girl he has been chasing for quite a while now. And although he didn’t want to admit it, and pretended as if it wasn’t there- he could feel you missing.

Before and during your interraction, it wasn’t always physical. The two of you talked- well, more just plain, traditional talk. It was much more deeper than that. He told you everything, even the things he wasn’t aware he thought or felt. He told you all of his dreams, felt like he could tell you everything- every thought in his mind and you wouldn’t judge him.

You wouldn’t. It was so simple. You would listen to him talk about everything in his life, sometimes leaving a comment, laughing to the funny stories and the horrible jokes he cracked. The two of you told each other how your days went, which professor pissed you off, judging other people, studying...

It really was more than sex.

His favorite thing about you and him was the infuriating, fast debates about the things both of you disagreed about. The expression on your face would be so adorable when you defended your side of the debate. Your lips pursed themselves together, your chin would tense up as your eyebrows would draw themselves together.

He smiled to himself but the smile dropped when he would see you on the other side of the class, Great Hall or corridor. You would look at him but look away as well.

The two of you could still be friends even if he was with Lily?

Wouldn’t that be much simpler than the tension both of you feel now?

---

And like always, you were correct.

He dated her now. He would sling his arm over her shoulder and whisper something in her ear as he used to do it with you. His lips that once kissed you wholly were now pressed on her skin, his body next to hers.

She had him... and you didn’t.

That hurt. That hurt like hell and it wasn’t until three months you started to realize that you need to move on. Three long months of healing, trying to piece yourself together again. He broke you and he didn’t even care. You told him you loved him and for you, that was something heavy on your heart but for him, it was like a sweep under the rug.

So, it was time you brushed those tears and move on. It took you a few tries, falling back down and getting back up thinking it won’t hurt anymore.

But it did and at times it felt like you won’t ever be able to get over him.

You did though. You haven’t realized it until you saw him kissing her and it didn’t affect you as much as it used to. It was as if you were used to it already. It was something normal, something you saw every day, something... someone just moving on with their life and you’ve come to a realization, you could be that too.

And you were.

There was this boy in Hufflepuff. He was always your partner in most classes, asking you if he could copy your notes or that if you could help him with homework. Whenever he needed something for school, you were his person and you thought that for a long, long time.

You didn’t mind helping him. You knew he wasn’t serious for school, he told you that too many times. He just wasn’t serious. He was calm and relaxed, pretty much let life take care of it by itself. Whenever you were with him, you felt just the same. He made your worries go away, your body just go back into a calm state.

He reminded you that you could over-worry yourself, overthink, overstress and he was there to take all of that away. Put you on firm ground and explain to you that life is just simple, it’s your perspective that’s changing it.

He started opening up. Like a clam that was forever shut. It took you by surprise when he became so loose around you. For a long time, you wondered what he wanted from you because usually he did but all he wanted was to talk and you seemed to realize that he really was not the person you thought he was.

You talked with him every day. He told you about his thoughts, his days, and everything that was going on. To be honest, you loved listening to him because his mind was so much more expandable. He was a maniac for art and music, that was why he hated school so much. It restricted his creativity.

He was an artist that was why his silence was so pleasant. He’d sent you a letter that he is coming to your house, you’d wait for him on the sofa by the fireplace and he would come in his sweatpants and a hoodie, two different socks and completely messy dark hair. He would just sit down, both laughing and talking at first and then he would pull out his sketchbook and pencil and draw you. His eyes were like tropical water. It would be coral blue and if you looked closely there was such a gorgeous green colour. It didn’t change. Not even at night when the two of you would just be sitting or lying by the fire, you could still find his eyes so mesmerizing.

It didn’t take him long to tell you he liked you. It took the two of you two weeks before he would just blurt it out.

He drew you for the third time by then and he would turn it around, grinning. “What do you think?”

“What I always do. You’re incredibly talented and I look too damn good.” you started to tease but he only let out a chuckle and moved closer.

“You do.” he was now beside you, looking at you so deep into your eyes. “And did I tell you that you look beautiful today?” he tilted his head to the side, eyes still stuck on yours as a blush crept on your cheeks.

“I- uhm.” you smiled, looking away and letting out a soft giggle.  

“Why are you turning away?” he asked, clearly teasing you a bit.

“I don’t know.” you turned your head back and he was much closer than he was before.

His eyes flickered down to your lips and his tongue subconsciously licked both of his lips. “You don’t?” he started moving in as you nodded, smiling as his lips lazily approached yours. He licked your upper lip just to tease you at first, smiling as he pulled away and could see your lips pulling themselves in like a magnet. Your hands placed themselves under his jaw and behind his neck, kisses slow, lazy and a bit careless.

It drow you wild how slow he was and as he saw you rush in, he pulled away, grinning cheekily at you as he brushed his thumb over. “Why the rush?”

“Why the delay?” you quirked an eyebrow and he smirked, moving back in and kissing you much more deeply but still slow.

Though this time it didn’t drive you as wild as before when he only teased with his tongue, slipping in and out. Now kisses were full and whole, intimate and consuming. He would lay you down on your back and press his body against you, kissing your jawline with slow, gentle and wet kisses, leading down to your neck and causing you to let out heavy breaths. But his kisses were so addictive that those heavy breaths weren’t breaths anymore but moans and you weren’t patient enough. You wanted him. You tried to pull him back up, kiss him with all the fire he lit inside of you but when you did try, his eyes flickered with mischief and torment, making you realize you just got the devil. His one hand grabbed your hands and lifted them above you, another free one, unbuttoning your shirt and placing soft kisses on your bare skin.

One thing you did not expect was the Head Boy making his night rounds before bed. One, clear thing you did not expect was hazel eyes setting on the couple kissing and touching at the fireplace.

It was the way his hands touched your skin, gently at first and digging his fingers into you as if you were his. The quiet moans you let out weren’t meant to be for him- no not for the Hufflepuff.

All thoughts ran through his head like a train- a second only before the rage filled his body and he stormed over, tackling the boy off you.

It took you a while to realize what had happened but before you could, they were already fighting on the ground, one on top of the other and otherwise.

“THE HELL JAMES!!” you shouted, grabbing him by the arms with all your strength and pulling him off. “GET OFF HIM!” you shouted at him, trying to cover your bare breast with one hand as the other kept pushing him away from the Hufflepuff.

Luca, who was panting as much as the other boy was glaring but smirking as well as it seemed to provoke the Gryffindor. “Thought a Chaser would punch better than that.” he wiped the small amount of blood from his lips.

James wanted to go back at him but you pushed him yet again. “JAMES!” you glared at him. “What the hell?!”

“Yeah, (y/n)! What the hell?!!” he snapped at you as well, pointing his hand at the Hufflepuff. “Luca Oliveira?! Him?!”

“I don’t see how it’s any of your business?” you finally buttoned up the part that would cover your skin, taking a step back and closing to Luca.

You could feel his hand take a hold of you from behind and you gladly took it as he always did bring you comfort.

“This tosser?!”

“OI!” You felt Luca storm by you but you quickly pulled him back.

“Luca no!” you pulled him back, trying to calm him down and placing your hand on his chest, trying to catch his gaze. “Luca.” you put your hand on his cheek and brushed it lightly until his eyes looked at yours- from fire to admire. He smiled sweetly at you, putting his hand on top of yours. “Let me take care of him.”

“You won’t- I mean-” he started to panic but you quickly smiled and shook your head.

“Just go get a pack before it gets swollen.” you sent him away and barely left the room, shooting James an ugly glare.

When he left you turned back and tucked the ends of your shirts to your sides, making him scoff and roll eyes. “Oh, come on (y/n)! It’s not something I haven’t seen.”

“Yeah, well it’s something only me and Luca get to see from now on!”

“OH! Who do you think you are? Made of gold?”

“Might as well!”

“Don’t flatter yourself. You’re just one of many girls. There are others with much better bodies than you!”

“Well, then you won’t mind me covering my skin, would you?” you continued to button the shirt until you saw Luca’s hoodie over the armrest and threw it over you, only goading the boy in front of you.

“Cute.” he glanced at the sweater, turning it into an eye roll.

“You jealous?” you scoffed, crossing your arms over your chest.

“Jealous?! JEALOUS?!!” he continued to laugh in disbelief. “Why would I ever be jealous of him when I’m with Lily?!”

“I don’t know, James! Why would you ever attack Luca like that? Why would you tackle him on the ground and punch him?!” you started to get more furious, causing him to be silent as he contemplated. “You said it yourself. No strings attached-”

“Yeah well, you broke it first by falling in love!”

“And I told you I won’t complicate and stand between the amazing, hubba-bubba love you and Lily have. Did I attack Lily? No. Did it hurt? Yes but I sucked it up because that’s what maturity is! And when you clearly didn’t care half of shit for me I realized that I need to move on as you had clearly moved on with Lily!”

“Don’t say I didn’t care for you! I did!” he pointed his finger at you, growling and glaring at you.

“WHERE?!” you snapped, opening your arms and looking around. “Where did you care for me?! The sex part? That wasn’t caring- it was pleasure. What Luca gives me isn’t just pleasure, it’s love and I gotta say James I feel loved when I’m with him.”

“But do you love him?”

“I don’t know. Do you love Lily?” you stared at him and he stared back, the tension between the two of you building.

“I have to.”

“That’s not clear enough. Are you in love with her?”

“What do you mean?”

“Love isn’t an obligation, James.”

“WELL FINE! I’M IN LOVE WITH YOU!” he blurted all of a sudden, just as he did with you and his feelings he wasn’t aware until they were said. He stared at you for a while as you stared back into his eyes, feeling your whole world turn upside down.

You started backing away.  “No.” you said, your voice quivering.

“I guess I am in love with you.” he smiled to himself, finally feeling his heart function properly. “I am in love with you- I love you!” he beamed and ran to you, taking your hands into his. He wanted to kiss you but you just couldn’t do it.

“No, James!” you pushed him away again.

“What do you mean no? I love you. I finally know now-”

“NO!” you shouted, shaking your head and running your hands down your face. “You don’t get to realize it four months later and come running back to me as if I had waited for you. I moved on! I healed! I don’t want you anymore. You’re too late!”

And it felt like the heart that finally started beating died away.

“You can’t.”

“You’re with Lily.”

“I can break up with her.”

“I’m with Luca.”

“You can break up with him.”

“I’m not breaking up with him.” you watched him. “Don’t you get it, James. I’m moved on from you and I fell in love with another person. I fell in love with someone who isn’t afraid to show how much he loves me. He’s vocal about it, he holds my hand, he’s not afraid to tell me what he feels and I love that about him. He makes me feel amazing about myself and with you? With you, I felt like just someone there for you.”

“That’s not a bad thing.”

“Yes, it is! Because you were NEVER THERE FOR ME!” your voice cracked and your tears started to appear. “We talked about you! We did the whole sex deal to please you! We never once made a decision based on my needs! And I needed to be loved! I needed love. I needed support and someone to turn to.”

“You know you could always turn to me.”

“No.” you shook your head. “I don’t trust you anymore.”

“Please, (y/n).” he took your hands in his again. “Give me a second chance. I can prove it to you. I can love you. I can cherish you more than any man can. I can show you how much I love you-”

And to you, that felt like everything you wanted to hear from him... once. Once when you told him you were in love with him. Once when he looked at you but still chose to kiss her. Once in all those four months.

Not anymore.

“No.”

“I just realized! I didn’t know I loved-”

“No!” you shouted, ripping your hands away from him and crying. “You loved me?!” your voice continued to crack, barely letting out any sound. “Did you love me when you kissed her? Did you love me when you chose her over me? Did you love me when you saw me in the hall and decided to ignore me? Did you love me when you made love to her? When did you love me?”

“I DIDN’T KNOW!”

“Well, neither did I, James and that’s not my problem. Not anymore.” you started to pick up your stuff, turning him your back.

“You can’t do this? If you loved me, you wouldn’t turn your back on us so fast.”

“It took me months to get over you. Why would I want to get back to you when I have such an amazing guy waiting for me with a bruised lip?” you smiled as you thought of him. “Turning my back on us is the least thing I could do after what you did. You didn’t give us even a chance.”

“You don’t love him.” his voice quivered, his eyes tearing up. “Do you?” his voice was so weak by now that it sounded just like yours months ago.

You knew how much it hurt him but once you lose trust into someone, it’s hard to get back and you just couldn't’ go back when you’ve come this far.

“It’s too late, James. I just don’t want you anymore.” you shook your head and started backing away, seeing tears fall down his cheeks as you did.

It squeezed your heart to see him broken but you and James stopped existing a long time ago.

“Please.” you could hear his plea behind you, causing you to lose so much strength in your body, you could feel your legs go numb.

This was the hardest part, (y/n).

You looked over your shoulder to find him there standing in defeat and tears. “No.”

The hardest but finally the last.

[writing-freak]

Softly Soaring hcs

(GIF credit to its owner :)) )

Todoroki Shouto x Reader

Request: @greywarenns

greywarenns asked:Hi! I discovered your blog recently and I absolutely loved the "facts of the universe" hcs you did with bakugo x reader who is his childhood best friend and crush! Is it alright if I ask for hcs like that with todoroki please?👉👈 I totally understand if you don't feel like writing it bc you don't want it to be repetitive! whether you decide to write this request or not, thank you so much!💕

A/N: umm ok so I went like way overboard, but this was also so fun so I couldn’t help myself hehe. this is my first time writing for todoroki ahhh but it was so fun and I hope it’s alright?? thanks for the request, and thanks everyone for reading! stay safe, have a great day! 500 follower celebration coming next!!

so I’ve been obsessed with this song lately, and ended up sorta basing this on it cause I can’t get it out of my head, I would totally recommend listening, but it’s not 100% necessary to the story :)

The song is Soul Meets Body by Death Cab for Cutie

also i have a hand holding kink

Warnings: slight mention of Todoroki’s trauma, but mostly pure fluff

Masterlist

Todoroki Shouto

being todoroki’s best friend came with its fair share of difficulties

especially since you had known him since you were in diapers, and had been a part of every rocky event that shaped the course of his complicated familial relationships, his dealings with trauma, and the stubbornness and emotional instability that came with being a teenager

sometimes you wondered how your friendship lasted so long, but then you spent just a moment around the boy, and you fell back into the comfortable rhythm you shared

for you, todoroki was home

he was playing on the playground, falling asleep way past your bedtime beneath the starlights decorating your ceiling

for him, you were what it felt like to be understood, especially when his stoic demeanor and “blank” face led him to be considered the “dark and mysterious” resident bad boy, who was more likely to be admired and avoided rather than considered a real person with very real feelings

you could see past the stoic expressions in a heartbeat, and knew where to draw the line between a bad day at school and nearing a mental breakdown with memories from his past flooding his senses

you saw the moment his eyes withdrew, the moment he slipped out of the world around him and into one he’s constructed in his mind out of walls and barricades to keep everyone else out

you were the only one allowed a key to the door of that world, and only because you’d spent years constructing it yourself

you had become so reliant on each other in so many ways, but at this point, it barely registered

you shared a world, an atmosphere, a universe

you shared blankets, clothes, and dorm rooms too

half of your friendship is simply being there, because you’ve gone on so long you’re fully comfortable sitting in silence on the floor of his dorm room all afternoon, reading to yourself while he does his homework

you’ve snuck yourself out of his dorm after accidentally dozing off too many mornings to count

the rest of class 1-a is convinced you’re dating, or at least...you know....

todoroki can’t make fun of you, though, because we all know he’s falling asleep on your shoulder at every occasion you have a moment’s break

we also know he’s doing it when you’re busy too, cause this boi can sleep through anything

you share music the most, because you love lying next to him, your heads barely touching, as you share a world beyond your own, forced to think and feel the same as the musicians mold your mind and soul

so it’s not surprising at all to todoroki when you’re pounding on his door frantically at 1 am, your phone clutched in your hand as you shove an earbud in his face

he blinks the sleep out of his eyes as you invite yourself in, dragging him to sit beside you on his bed

“listen to this song,” you say, completely serious, with wide, intense eyes as you hold the earbud out to him, more gently this time

“o-okay,” he says, confused but not surprised 

you close your eyes as the song you spent the whole night falling in love with begins to play in your ear

I want to live, where soul meets body, and let the sun wrap its arms around me

as the song softly finishes, a melody softly soaring through my atmosphere, you open your eyes slowly, tears staining your cheeks as you look expectantly at your friend

his eyes are closed, in what you initially thought was focus, or, as in your case, peace and emotional vulnerability

but when they didn’t open, even as you tugged your headphones back, you realized it was, in fact, in sleep

angry you just shared what you thought was an emotional moment with an unconscious idiot, you slapped the boy awake, pouting as he looked at you in accusation 

“you were supposed to be listening,” you said, fuming

todoroki at least has the decency to look sheepish, but he doesn’t apologize, instead opting for a “it’s after one in the morning”

if he thought looks could kill before…

instead of yelling (like you want to), you shove the earbud (a bit harshly) back in his ear as you cue the song again

this time, you leave your eyes open, locking onto todoroki’s with a glare

you play the song, and it softly begins again, and this time, you’re watching his eyes closely to see his reaction (and to be sure there is one at all)

And I do believe it’s true, that there are roads left in both of our shoes

But if the silence takes you then I hope it takes me too

you see something flash in his eyes at that line, though you’re not sure if it’s your own tears returning once more as the beautiful words wash over you for the millionth time tonight

So brown eyes I’ll hold you near, cause you’re the only song I want to hear

todoroki tilts his head just slightly to the side, and you’re suddenly bombarded with the memory of his soft locks tickling your temple as you stare up at the stars, tiny fingers interlocked like your mom taught you to do when crossing the street

cause everything with todoroki felt like that, like crossing the street, like following your own roads that always intersected, were one and the same

a melody softly soaring through my atmosphere

and as the musician’s voice pierced your eardrums, you were met with the sounds of a thousand artists before him, the sounds of countless nights listening with your best friend, the sound of his voice as he counted down the numbers before hide and seek, the melodic sound of his voice as he woke you early after a night spent crashing on his floor

a melody softly soaring through my atmosphere

you didn’t realize the song was over until todoroki touched your face, and you let out a breath you hadn’t known you had been holding in

there’s a teasing smile on his face, but something in his eyes tells you the words changed him like they changed you

“just checking to make sure you didn’t fall asleep,” he says, before letting out a yawn, and you’re suddenly jolted back into reality, where you sat, on your best friend’s bed, in the middle of the night, sharing music like you always did

you’re up in a second, pulling your headphones to yourself frantically, blushing up a storm as you realize just what you had been thinking

“I have to go,” you stammer, and you’re running out of there stumbling as tears of embarrassment threaten to spill from your eyes

you make it all the way back to your dorm before you cry real tears, confused and upset by the way your best friend was making you feel

but jokes on you if you think you’re going to get away with leaving like that

you know todoroki like the back of your hand, but he knows you just the same, and when you wake the next morning, you know avoiding him is out of the question

he finds you quickly in the halls of the dorms, and you just let out a sigh as you greet him

“I really liked that song,” he says softly, slow to start the conversation you know is coming

so you sigh again, and look away, sheepish, a feeling completely alien to you around your closest friend flooding your veins

“I spent all night listening to that song alone,” you say, wringing your hands together, “thinking about what it would feel like to feel that way about a person, to know someone who cleanses you and makes you whole and makes your soul a part of you again”

“and then I heard it again while I was looking at your eyes, and I realized I already had that”

“it just scared me, that’s all, cause I’d never looked at you that way before”

he was silent through your confession, and you were terrified to look at him, knowing you’d know the second you saw him what he was thinking, and afraid you wouldn’t like what it was

“shou?” you finally ask, your voice breaking as you chance a glance in his direction

but you find his eyes gazing at you softly, a look you recognize as understanding on his face

he reaches for you, and you let him pull you in, your fingers intertwining as you’re brought in close

his free hand cups your cheek, and you lean into him, your lips brushing as you finally embrace

it’s like a sigh, a finally, and you feel like you’re breathing in air after being underwater for so long

you part so soon, and your foreheads are resting on one another, the familiar feeling of his soft hair tickling your skin making you giggle softly

you squeeze his hand, your eyes fluttering open until you’re gazing into his eyes, your noses brushing affectionately

a melody softly soaring through my atmosphere

Taglist: @anything-and-everything-here69​ @crystal-lilac​

[kintatsujo]

any advise for someone putting together a webcomic?

Oh boy oh boy anon I don’t happy flap often but you better believe I have advice XD

For people new here: I’ve been doing my main webcomic, The Law of Purple, since 2004, also was doing a different webcomic, Alien Revenant, for several years before having to hiatus indefinitely, have done a number of fancomics, including one that ran weekly for a number of years, and I’m in the midst of rebooting another original called Eclipse Knight.  That’s why I’m someone you might consider asking about doing webcomics.  That and I take an actual philosophy to this stuff.

Onward to my Advice, born of blood and toil!!

Make a palette and stick to it

This does keep the art of your comic looking consistent but the REAL reason is because you’re not going to be spending a bunch of time deciding on colors because bam, I have ten specific colors for different shades of wood and I’m gonna pick from those.  Note how I phrased that!  I’m not telling you to make a 500 page comic using Gameboy Classic colors or something-- I’m telling you to make a palette based on the colors you’re going to want for your project.  I personally tend to prefer to work from “master” palettes where ALL the colors are coming from but you can also make pools of palettes so that, for example, individual characters have their own personal colors.

Also: Don’t bother with too many different shades of red.  A lot of people can’t see the difference between more than a handful, so why make more work for yourself?

The more backups the better

I know that probably sounds obvious but you’d be surprised how many webcomics go on hiatus because of things like “I lost half my files.”  Alien Revenant’s rocky years started because it uses conlang heavily and my glossaries weren’t as up to date on all my backups when a certain pen drive got borked.  Even after that you’d think I’d have learned my lesson and I STILL ended up having to recover some colors from LOP’s master palette that I’d added between computers when our one desktop crashed.

Don’t feel guilty for using shortcuts that work for you, and use whatever kind of references you need

I’ve made perspective references by setting up toys and a bunch of rulers and furniture and taking pictures with my phone.  I’ve made perspective references using computer programs.  I own a model Harley motorcycle because it’s the one I wanted Blue to ride.  Use free floorplan programs.  Use the Sims.  I have straight up traced pictures of buildings I’d drawn in the past and in the LOP page I’m working on there’s about fourteen characters that are just the same guy copy pasted over and over.  (They’re going to be obscured by effects so why kill myself over it?)  I’ve also copy-pasted the lineart for backgrounds from one panel to the next when I wanted the same angle, and sometimes I just copy paste the sketch layer when a character’s going to be mostly in the same pose and adjust from there.  

(Copy-paste isn’t a sin and if you’re clever it’s barely even noticeable.)

Also a full-turnaround sheet for every character is HELPFUL but like, don’t actually feel like you HAVE to do it, either, especially if you realize it’s actually stalling you out.  Reference sheets are usually most important for things like somebody having complicated tattoos, or the furniture and architecture of the main character’s house, or uniforms, things like that.

Set aside Specific Comic Work Time if possible

I’m currently doing better at keeping up with my own schedule entirely because there’s time each week that I have nothing to do but work on my comic, which is Sunday mornings while I’m sitting in my office waiting for people to go away so I can wipe down the light switches and lock the doors.  When I was at my most productive as a webcomicker, I had a full set of college courses crammed into two or three days and nothing else to do once my homework was done but sit around the school lounge areas and draw.

Time yourself doing pages and try to base your schedule on that

Even if you start off with a decent buffer, no schedule buffer lasts forever.

Don’t pick a coloring style that takes you more than four hours per page

oh my god, no amount of painterly coolness or smooth airbrushing is worth that.  I should know because I did an airbrushing style for a chapter of LOP when I first started coloring on the computer and chapters of LOP are generally between 100 and 200 pages long, and I wanted to fuck off and live in the woods or something by the time I was done.  

Not even because of how much time it took-- Once I was good at it, it looked beautiful, but airbrushing the same two dudes having a Serious Conversation for fifteen pages makes you contemplate killing them both off randomly by the end and one of them was the main character.  On that note--

Style testing will save you a lot of time and tears

There’s a number of ways to style test; do a bunch of memes with your characters, do a short five page thing, just do a series of standalone pieces.  It’ll give you a much better idea of what will work for you and what won’t.

That said if you wanted to do a different art style for every page of your comic because that’s what scratches your id, go right ahead and do it because doing webcomics should be fun if you ask me.

Pick a legible font

I had a rant about this not too very long ago.  Go to Blambot and get yourself some legible fonts.  I’m dyslexic.

Try out batching your pages

When I talk about “batching” LoP pages, I mean that I sketched four or five of them, then I went through and inked all of those, then I went through and colored all of them.  This isn’t necessarily something that works for everyone but when I have consistent Work On Comics time and a buffer it’s something that usually works pretty well for me.  

Don’t pick a website for hosting that you think is ugly

Because the website your comic is on will inform a lot of your experience.  I’m currently on ComicFury and I’m very happy there, and he’s got a set of templates you can choose from and modify the colors of.  Also personally I don’t actually trust Tapastic as a hosting site, not to go into detail but someone I read had some very bad experiences with them basically trying to legalese the rights to her webcomic out from under her.  I can direct to a post of the Twitter thread if anyone wants it but you can also find it by searching “Tapastic” on my blog.

And finally, if you stop having fun it’s time for a break.

One of the things about doing consistent webcomic schedules is they don’t always allow for that “breathing in” part of the creative cycle.  It’s okay to do things like taking a break for a month to just... binge watch three different anime or something.  I thoroughly encourage a schedule that lets you enjoy other media while you���re actively working (sometimes literally; I sometimes listen to podcasts when I color) but sometimes you just straight up need a Real Vacation from your webcomic.  Definitely consider taking at least two weeks off between discrete chapters if that’s something your comic has.  Some artists do filler, some invite in guest artists, but it’s fine to just say “see you in October.”  

Good luck, Anon, and let me know when I can read it!

[ecllas]

                                              M E E T   E L L A

1. Full Name?

Eloise Grace Dawson

2. Preferred Names or Nicknames?

Ella. Only her parents call her Eloise, and when they do it’s never a good thing.

3. What does their name mean? Does it have any significance in their family? Do they like their name?

The name Eloise means ‘famous in war,’ in French and ‘healthy’ in German. The name Ella means ‘beautiful fairy woman,’ and ‘light.’ The name Grace means  ‘eloquence, beauty, kindness, and mercy.’ Although Ella relates to these varying meanings in different ways, from her fierce courage to her romanticized way of viewing the world, she wasn’t named for them. Her great-great-great-grandmother was named Eloise, and ever a man dedicated to honoring family and tradition, her father thought it would be a suitable name for his first-born daughter. Funnily enough, Ella’s ancestor Eloise was also known for being a brash-spitfire. The family has several antique photos of Eloise marching with suffragettes at a rally in 1919, as well as a picture of Eloise at what was presumably a speakeasy sometime in the 1920s, puffing on a cigar with pearls draped around her neck, playing poker at a table surrounded men in white shirts and three-piece suits. Ella likes to think they’d have gotten along. She also feels a sense of pride in the history surrounding her name.

4. Age and Date of Birth?

Ella is 17 years old and her birthday is December 15.

5. Gender and Pronouns?

Female. She/her.

6. Hometown?

Boston, MA. She was raised in a townhouse in Beacon Hill.

7. Does your character fit into any well known archetypes or tropes?

The Black Sheep

The Lovable Rogue 

The Storyteller

The Dreamer

8. How long have they been at Broadripple?

Ella became a student at Broadripple during her Sophomore year. She was originally attending a private school in Boston where she lived with her parents, but after being caught sneaking out of the house with a rather unsavory young man ( and after one too many second chances in the eyes of her parents ) Ella was shipped off to Broadripple Academy. She hasn’t been able to go home since, spending every weekend, holiday, and break at the Academy that they are able to. In the words of her father, this was to “prevent her from being a bad influence on her little brother.” But Ella suspects it’s a prolonged act of punishment that will never end.

9. What led them to apply to Broadripple? Was it a decision made by them or by their parents/guardians or somewhere in between?

The Dawson’s are a legacy family, and although they initially intended to keep their family close together, Ella’s disobedience, rebellion, and reckless behavior pushed them to sending her to Broadripple. They believe the Academy will be able to ‘straighten her out,’ pushing her into maturity through rigorous course work, high expectations, and the watchful eyes of the nuns.

10. Whether they’ve been at Broadripple four days or four years, do they enjoy it? Do they like Broadripple?

Ella does not enjoy Broadripple. She likes some of the people and classes, but ultimately she feels trapped. Her ability to leave campus is limited, and her parents try to keep her on a tight leash so she can’t make any ‘poor life choices.’ She would probably enjoy the school more if it felt less like a prison.

11. What house are they in? Do they care very much about their house?

Ella is a legacy student in Seton. She doesn’t carry much house pride, perhaps in spite of how much her father values their identity as a Seton Family. However, she is very fond of the color blue and has been long before she became a student at Broadripple. This is the extent of her passion for the Seton Legacy.

12. Who do they share a dorm with, or are they on their own for the moment? What are they like to live with? Are they clean or messy? Early risers or night owls?

Ella is roommates with Gwen Prescott, and it is most definitely not a happy pairing. Ella finds Gwen’s incessant need to follow the rules frustrating. Her domineering personality, demand for no boys in the room, and meticulous attention to the cleanliness of the room makes Ella want to spend as little time there as possible. That being said, although Ella isn’t anywhere neat as Gwen, she isn’t especially messy either. Her desk tends to get messy rather quickly, as it is the place she happens to ‘drop off’ everything, including her jackets, homework assignments, in-progress books, and discarded articles of clothing she feels won’t fit her outfit and she hasn’t put away yet. Her bedside table is always stacked with books and her bed is made, but not tucked in - she prefers her bed to look comfy and soft rather than sterile and pressed. Ella is an odd combination of both. She finds something about the night invigorating. Because of this she is prone to sneaking out. However, Ella has a hard time relaxing. This makes sleeping in challenging, as she is often compelled to go out and do something with the limited free time she has. 

13. How is your character’s dorm decorated? Is it bare or bursting at the seams with personality? Any particular sentimental items from home?

Ella’s portion of the room is thoroughly decorated. String lights line the walls above her bed all the way along her ‘half.’ Polaroid pictures are stuck in the frame of her mirror and taped to the walls. On the wall above her bed, Ella has a full-sized world map speckled with push-pins of places she wants to travel to. Her walls are crowded with quotes from books, poems, and songs she has found meaning in, art prints. The storage space beneath her bed and her bookcase are stuffed with books, most of which are dog-eared, framed by notes scribbled in margins and dashed with highlighters. Under her bed she has a box of CDs - her Just In Case jams. Essentially, a compilation of the music she knows she couldn’t live without in the case of a zombie apocalypse or the collapse of the internet. 

14. What is their favourite subject at school? Do they even have a favourite? Why?

Creative Writing. Ella has been passionate about story-telling and writing ever since she was a little girl. Any time to completely immerse herself in the subject makes her immeasurably happy. She probably gets a little ‘too into it,’ in the eyes of her classmates, especially those who took creative writing as the ‘easy’ writing course. She’s the person who brings a 30-page short story to workshop, much to the chagrin of her peers.

15. Are they involved in any clubs? Which ones?

Ella is involved in Women of Broadripple and Chamber Choir.

16. How does your character feel about Broadripple’s Unofficial Clubs? Do they know about them? Are they a part of any of them?

Ella doesn’t have any strong opinions about Broadripple Unsolved. If anything, she thinks they’re pretty cool, mostly because she finds the notion of sleuthing around at night for clues or using an ouija board to try and contact a ghost to be thrilling. Ella has a complicated relationship with the Broadripple Boy’s Club, mostly because she loathes bullying and finds the people who participate in it to be, generally, lame as hell. However, she can’t deny the undeniable draw she feels to ‘bad boys’ with inflated egos who smoke cigarettes and have a penchant for getting in trouble. The Unofficial Chastity Club is something Ella rolls her eyes at, mostly because she thinks it perpetuates a stigma around sexuality that she doesn’t approve of.

17. Does your character participate in any sports? If so, what made them join the team?

Ella is an avid member of the swim team. She’s adored swimming ever since she was a child and participates in the sport out of passion and enjoyment rather than a drive to ‘be the best.’ That being said, her father expects a lot out of her swimming and is prone to sending her harsh texts if she doesn’t ‘perform well’ at a meet. This has somewhat tainted her love of the sport. Although she can’t deny that one of the places she feels happiest at Broadripple is at the pool in the middle of the night when no one else is there.

18. What afternoon activities does your character do? Do they just do the one mandatory one or are they involved in multiple? Why?

Ella participates in two afternoon activities - drama and the seasonal musical. She’s a total drama nerd and enjoys performing on stage. The two activities complement each other, and Ella finds her experiences in both enrich her capabilities in the other. Additionally, she just finds them really fun. Occasionally, she volunteers at the animal shelter.

19. Do they miss their home when they’re at Broadripple? Do they often go home for the weekends or do they only go home during holiday breaks?

Ella’s hasn’t been home since she was sent to Broadripple. She misses her brother most of all, but her feelings towards her parents are complicated. She misses them and is saddened by the state of their relationship, but she also harbors a deep-set anger for the way they have treated her. Ella typically doesn’t go home during the holidays, either filling out special paperwork to stay at Broadripple or staying with a close family friend or relative.

20. Did your character know Izzy De Santis or Maggie Monroe?

She knew of them but didn’t know them personally. She finds their disappearance to be suspicious, especially since no one seems to know where they’ve gone. Ella has always had a wild imagination and what might have happened to Izzy and Maggie finds itself consuming more and more of her thoughts.

21. Has your character heard of Edith Lynch? Do they know the story?

Ella heard the story of Edith Lynch when she first came to Broadripple. She’d snuck out with a few older boys and they’d told her the story to try and scare her. Eager for the thrill, Ella demanded more details, which the boys were unable to provide. This led her to doing some thorough research at the Academy’s alumni and records section of the library. In short, she knows the ghost stories, the lore and the Academy’s sanitzied record of events, but she often finds herself questioning the truth.

22. How does your character feel about Nighmore? Have they noticed the recently closed shops yet?

Ella is grateful Nighmore exists because it gives her a brief respite from the campus, but ultimately its locations and activities are lacking. She’s taken note of the closed shops and is most impacted by the Kettle closing down. Ella adored their baked goods and found she often got a lot of good writing done there. Plus, it always offered a place for her to hide out when Gwen was in one of her moods.

23. Have you made any aesthetic Pinterest boards/WeHeartIt collections for this character? Or playlists? Anything you would like to share!

**under construction

[saints-row-2]

film watch day 31: Every Halloween Film

happy Halloween today i watched every Halloween film currently available to me. i couldnt get to rewatch Halloween 2018 but i already wrote about it a couple of weeks back so feel free to revisit that post. anyway, i watched ten Halloween movies today. It took around 17 hours. i started at 11:15am and im writing this now at 6 am.

so lets get to the post. for the most part i went in chronological order, except i chose to start with Rob Zombie’s remakes because i knew if i didnt id be finishing the day by watching them at the break of dawn and the idea of doing that was so fucking putrid to me that i decided to get them out of the way first.

Halloween (2007)

i hate this fucking movie. i mentioned in an ask the other day but im happy to repeat here, i dont hate the idea of expanding on Michael’s backstory. like the fact is we largely know his backstory, the issue is how this film chose to portray it. the original Halloween is frightening because its based around the idea that the seemingly safe, quiet suburbs are not as safe as they seem; you can be on a street youve known your entire life, only a few metres from your own home, and still at risk. the whole idea of showing Michael as a murderer when he was six is to tell us that anyone could be a threat, that our conventions that all killers are a particular kind of person is false.

Halloween 2007 says fuck that, we know what serial killers are, and theyre those poor kids who come from shitty neighbourhoods and have abusive parents and mothers who are sex workers. everything that Halloween brings to the table is fucking tedious, played out, and massively uninspired. it wants to bring us the truth about why Michael is like he is, but Rob Zombie’s only understanding of serial killers is in the cliche and exploitative. he has nothing honest about human nature to show us, only the exact same stories that have been fed to us by crime and horror movies past.

this film is incredibly loud and in fucking constant motion. even on steady shots of still scenes the camera constantly shakes, and in every other scene its always whirling around from tracking shot to panning over the scene to just idly zooming in and out of nothing. Zombie’s favourite shot is to have something large and out of focus in the foreground -- like some plants -- and to shoot the characters standing about six feet away muttering to themselves. every single fucking shot in this movie lingers too long, every scene drags a little longer than it needs to. this film moves with the pace that i would describe as “family guy gag”.

and this film is so loud. people are always talking or screaming, largely about nothing important or interesting. theres always music, but it never particularly adds anything; for reasons i fail to fucking understand the entirety of the original theme plays over mostly uninteresting tracking shots of a minor character walking around yelling filler lines about nothing.

the writing is horseshit. everyone in this film is vile, no one talks or behaves like real human beings. almost every exchange in this movie is the characters saying the exact same thing back and forth inanely, frequently punctuated by screaming FUCK as loudly as possible and talking about sex in a way that 40 year old men really really wished teenage girls talk about sex. Halloween (2007) is thoughtlessly gross and mean and nasty, disconnected from any kind of human sensitivity and empathy. it wants to be complicated and to be deep but its crushingly simplistic and stupid. the only thing that redeems it is that its not Halloween II (2009). speaking of which...

Halloween II (2009)

jesus christ this movie is so fucking boring. Halloween II is two hours long but feels like its about twenty hours long. i felt like i was watching this film for twenty days and twenty nights. i was trapped in an eternal purgatory with this movie.

i really cant fucking emphasise how boring this film is. endless scene after scene of nothing of consequence happening, uninteresting death scenes that add nothing, and Michael wandering around doing jack shit. Halloween II fucking made Michael Myers boring, and im saying this as someone who (as i repeat once every 8 seconds) has a tattoo of him. this film couldnt hold MY interest in two of my favourite characters of all time.

the big fun new addition from the first movie is the presence of Michael and Laurie’s mother as a kind of weird goth ghost guiding Michael to kill. i dont know why Michael had to be Jason Voorhees and be a mommy’s boy all of a sudden, but this addition brings absolutely nothing of interest to the film or to his character. its meant to be symbolic of fucking... something im sure, but it feels meaningless. somehow Michael and Laurie are both able to see and interact with this ghost and the ghost has an agenda to do... something? it feels about as intelligent and coherent as the bullshit cult of thorne shit from 6, but a lot less fun. at some point Michael Myers apparently has mind control powers?

not to repeat myself a hundred fucking times but this film is insanely unpleasant to watch. every scene someone is screaming, generally wailing “fuck you bitch” at anyone in their vicinity. this is two hours of people howling swear words at each other and not infrequently making rape jokes. Rob Zombie loves rape jokes! almost as much as he loves putting sexual assault in his movies over and over again for no reason.

there is nothing to enjoy in this film. theres nothing to gain. there is too much slow-mo and far too many strobe lights and absolutely nothing of any intelligence or grace. Halloween II is a thirteen year old boy in a korn T-shirt calling his mom a bitch while he draws zombies on  the back of his homework, which he will get an F for because the only thing he wrote was “reading is for faggots”.

Halloween (1978)

what the fuck can i say. this is one of the greatest horror movies ever made, if not the greatest. its one of my favourite movies. its forty years old and still just as chilling and frightening as it ever was. it has some shot composition and cinematography thats up with the best ive ever seen, all while being shot on a budget of $300,000. it does more with less than just about any film, launched the slasher genre, shot Jamie Lee Curtis to stardom and created a pop culture icon that stayed strong for decades. its a masterclass in tension and suspense, a lean-cut perfectly paced film with heaps of atmosphere and character.

i love this film with a frantic passion that makes me unable to talk about it in a particularly helpful way. i cant “review” Halloween. I love this film beyond reason and sense and you either get it or you dont.

Halloween II (1981)

Halloween II is largely one of the less remembered entries in the franchise; its a decent enough movie, neither matching up to the highs of the original or the lows of the later films. its a pretty enjoyable little film, created under the logic of ‘well the first one did well, lets do the same thing again’. Carpenter wrote the script but didn’t direct, and while the film has a solid story, the directing lacks his signature flair. its hard to pinpoint, because the film is generally fairly well-shot, but lacks a kind of eye for shot composition that Carpenter made look easy, doesnt have as much patience for suspense.

on its own merits, theres still some great shots and great scenes in the movie. and a lot of really cool kills; II got a lot more creative with what Michael was capable of, and i think the boiling water drowning kill is rightfully pretty infamous.

this was the last Halloween movie Carpenter wrote, and it was the film where the idea of Laurie and Michael being siblings was introduced. and believe me ill defend this fucking decision to the grave. adding the human connection between Michael and Laurie gives a whole other layer to their relationship thats so fascinating to me, and i love that other films try to expand on the themes of family. in general, deciding that this film would continue to focus on Laurie and not do what later slashers did with bouncing around between different casts was a great fucking move, ironically for a franchise that was intended to be an anthology.

quietly exploring the aftermath of the first film was a good idea for a follow-up, and i especially really enjoy Loomis’ role in this movie, and his discussion about who Myers is. the biggest disappointment for me personally is that Laurie lacks a lot of presence in this film. Curtis is great, as always, but the movie dawdles on some side characters who are too disconnected from her to get a sense of what shes going through.

all that being said, Halloween II is decent. the ending is really great, with some really powerful shots. Michael bleeding from the eyes of his mask after Laurie shoots him is one of the best fucking images in horror and him swinging blindly as Laurie and Loomis slowly orchestrate his death is a fucking amazing scene. i have an immense fondness for this movie, with all its flaws. it brings a lot of really cool concepts to the table, and i think it deserves some appreciation.

heres a question tho; where the fuck were Laurie’s parents. theres a suggestion theyre missing, but theres no explanation why and we never hear from them. did michael kill them too? hello? mr and mrs strode? your daughter just fucking killed a guy and all her friends are dead. where the fuck are you.

Halloween III: Season of the Witch

Halloween III is infamous as being the Halloween movie that isn’t about Michael Myers at all. when it first released it was wildly unpopular and remained so for quite a while, but has had a surge in popularity over the last few years. i think just about every horror critic i know now considers Halloween III one of the best in the franchise. and to be fair to it, its a great little movie. not a slasher at all but rather a conspiracy thriller, Halloween III is all about the mystery of what the Silver Shamrock mask-making company are really up to, and why people are disappearing. its a weird and creative little movie, with some really fucking great practical effects that turn it from just being a thriller to being an all-out horror film. it has a few too many ineffective jumpscares and some of the plot twists are kind of disappointing and feel a little too much like the easy option -- and then others are so wildly bizarre no one would see them coming because theyre fucking completely out there. but i kind of love that sort of nonsense in a horror movie. like lets just have a fucking good time in here for once in our fucking lives.

Halloween III is not a perfect or even a really great movie, but yknow, fuck it. the idea that only perfect films are worth watching is dumb. i appreciate the weird shit this film tried and i think it deserves a lot more respect than what it got; if it had been released under another title it probably would have gone down as a classic instead of being derided for years, you ask me.

now things start going rapidly downhill

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers

Halloween 4 is when Jamie is introduced as the new final girl; Laurie’s seven year old daughter, after Laurie herself died off-screen in a fucking car crash. the decision to kill off Laurie came from Jamie Lee Curtis decided not to return to the character and instead of recasting her, they went with just having her… die. off-screen. in the franchise where the previous two movies were about her triumph and determination to stay alive. like its the casual thoughtlessness of this that, the idea no one would give a shit a character returned, that in my eyes epitomises how fucking little anyone cared about this franchise going forward.

man the idea of Laurie dying completely irrelevant to Michael… thats a lot. anyway continuing on his quest to erase anyone related to him, Michael starts targeting his niece Jamie for the three movies in the franchise. this is where the series started rapidly losing any grip on reality. while Michael always had some kind of superhuman elements to him (he took six bullets to the chest and survived in the first movie) these became increasingly wildly exaggerated. now hes crushing peoples skulls with his bare hands shit like what the fuck. first of all do that to me and secondly, it was this kind of slide into unreality that let the supernatural elements of the series creep in further until you end up with the shitshow that is Halloween 6. like it was the decrease in the impact of violence and human life that really fucked this franchise over.

this film is not great. its a definite decline in quality after 2 and was on the slippery slope downwards. it has some high points, primarily in Dr Loomis. Donald Pleasance is a better actor than most movies deserve and brings gravitas to a role that in the hands of a less capable actor would be laughable. his sincere plea to Michael at one point to just kill him instead of going after Jamie is honestly fucking tragic.

outside of that, the film isnt massively interesting. Michael himself isnt particularly threatening or engaging, and his mask looks like shit in this film. the characters in this film are largely very stupid, also, which doesnt help anything much.

Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers

if theres a Halloween movie people talk about the least, its this one. II has the sibling twist, III is the black sheep, 4 is the return, even 6 gets talked about for its troubled production history. no one has anything to say about Halloween 5. and thats mostly because there is fucking nothing to say about Halloween 5. it is a relentlessly fucking dull movie that pads out its 100 minute run time with endless unnecessary scenes of shit that does… nothing. this film is dull in a way that i find incredibly detestable. i cant even watch it through a haze of impassioned anger like i can with the also incredible dull Halloween II (2009). its just fucking boring. every single scene drags like its trying to walk on two broken legs. the plot is so bare bones its nonsensical. it constantly adds new characters and new elements but all that does is makes it more incoherent and confusing. watching this movie i literally found my fucking eyes glazing over in my skull. if this film was edited correctly it would be twenty minutes long. i cannot fucking emphasise enough how much of relentless slog it is. Halloween 4 was dull but even that had the lifeline of ‘some cool ideas’. Halloween 5 is nothing. Halloween 5 is puddle dirt water.

Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers

if Halloween 5 is puddle dirt water Halloween 6 is just a fresh hot glass of piss. there are two versions of Halloween 6, the director’s cut and the theatrical release, and both are wretched. this film went full ham with introducing the supernatural elements, telling us that Michael was his whole life psychically controlled by a pagan cult called the Cult of Thorne in order to make Halloween scary again or summon the devil or who fucking cares. this movie is fucking insufferably dull, totally absurd, and wildly unsympathetic. i loathe Halloween 6 and every terrible, stupid plot decision it makes. Paul Rudd defeats Michael Myers by drawing druid symbols on the ground and Michael just gives up and lies down. theres a baby that does nothing and serves no purpose. Halloween is apparently banned in Haddonfield, which makes this more closely related to Footloose than Halloween i think. this film takes itself incredibly seriously while spouting nothing but total fucking bullshit drivel and i dont believe that anyone involved in this movie, from the cast to the cameraman to the guy who served the lunch had any faith in this movie outside of the vague hope it might make money and i wish this movie had been burned at the stake. also i hate Paul Rudd.

Halloween H20: 20 Years Later

oh thank fucking god finally some good fucking food. Halloween H20 took the decision to retcon all the sequels (except II) twenty years before Halloween 2018, proving that everyone knew 5 and 6 were fucking mistakes.

this film loses a lot of the Halloween feeling in favour of making a more generic late 1990s/early 2000s style horror. theres nothing particularly interesting about the way this movie is directed or shot, the music is largely very generic, it has a generally uninteresting glossy quality to it that studio movies always do. its very obvious this movie was inspired by Scream and it looks a lot more like Scream than it does Halloween. all of this makes me kind of sad, but other films in the franchise have proved that other directors generally are not capable of imitating Carpenter’s style so maybe its better they dont really try.

what H20 does so well, and the reason i love it so much, is that it explores the relationship between Michael and Laurie, which is something im endlessly fascinated with. this was the first movie to have Laurie shake off her fear and rise up against Michael, and while it doesnt do it with quite as much depth and intelligence as Halloween 2018, it still has a fucking good crack at Laurie’s character, and its still powerful watching her turn on the man who terrorised her for years. Michael is great in this movie too; while he has a terrible mask, watching him back on his shit as a furious force of nature who wants nothing more than to destroy anyone who gets in his way.

honestly i kind of enjoy having a Halloween in a different style; theres something fun about seeing characters recontextualised and done with justice and empathy. most of the Halloween sequels before this one (and after, looking at Resurrection) are shallow, unconcerned with any kind of emotional depth or personality. and while a lot of the stock filler characters in H20 who are lined up for the chopping block arent that interesting and dont particularly standout, watching Jamie Lee Curtis’ performance and seeing her interplay with Michael is enough. and most of the side characters arent particularly annoying, which is more than i can say for half this franchise.

this film also has what is one of my absolute favourite endings in a movie ever; the final confrontation between Michael and Laurie has a particular interaction between them that i absolutely adore and that alone is enough to make this movie one of my favourites.

H20 isnt perfect; it weirdly feels like a blueprint that Halloween 2018 would later refine into a better movie, but the idea its going to be completely disregarded for Halloween 2018 in the future makes me a little sad. in the face of so many fucking mediocre and awful Halloween sequels it did the right thing in trying to focus on what actually mattered; the connection between Michael and Laurie, although i dont feel like it succeeded in making Michael as scary as 2018 would much later. that said, the shot where Michael and Laurie just stare at each other through the glass of a window? that gives me chills every time. and hearing the Halloween theme kick in as Laurie marches off into the school with an axe looking for Michael is so fucking triumphant.

i love H20 even if Michael’s mask looks like his hair was dunked in a bucket of water and then gently blow-dried. i have no idea why it looks so fucking stupid in this movie. why is it so hard to get Michael’s mask right. you wouldnt think it was that fucking hard. anyway, i really fucking love Laurie Strode a lot, which didnt help to make Resurrection any easier to swallow.

Halloween: Resurrection

so whats the obvious thing to do after you have a movie where the power and emotion all comes from the emotional catharsis of seeing a woman get her vengeance on her tormentor? you, uh, make a sequel in which she is immediately defeated and pointlessly killed after its revealed her victory at the end of the previous film was entirely false, and then you never return to focus on her and instead introduce a horde of entirely uninteresting stock characters. yeah, makes sense.

Resurrection is fucking incredibly stupid, in the kind of fucking hysterical way only really bad horror movies can capture. theres absolutely nothing of Halloween in this other than the presence of Michael, who just as easily could have been replaced with anyone or anything. the story has a group of people on a reality show staying in the Myers house to… stay there? its not entirely clear what the challenge is meant to be, other than to just be inside the house, which i imagine gets to be pretty dull viewing pretty quickly. theres no suggestion theyre like, hunting for ghosts or something along those lines, theyre just… looking at stuff.

Michael slopes around this movie like he doesnt fucking understand where he is or whats going on, an entirely out of place relic of better times past while the cast cavorts around him doing nothing of interest and having no plots or characterisation to speak of. the film has exactly two or three funny moments, including the legendary ‘Michael Myers getting electrocuted in the dick by Busta Rhymes’, but youre way, way better off just looking that up on youtube instead of watching this movie. there is an hour of pointless plot development about characters no one cares about until Michael starts fucking killing people. this movie shouldnt exist and we should all go back to pretending it doesnt.

and thats it. thats all the halloween films. i can die now.

[surveysonfleek]

600.

5000 Question Survey Pt. 37

3501. Is 'no glove, no love' your STRICT policy? i’ve been on the pill for 8 years and i’ve only had one sexual partner since then so not really. if sleeping with someone new, then yeah. 3502. What is the best Epic movie (examples of epics: ben-her, gone with the wind, last temptation of christ)? umm.. not sure. 3503. Finish the sentence. Hey, Hey we're the: people. People say we: are too nice. But we're too busy: living. The time to hesitate is: idk. You're too: boring. It's a nice day to: sleep.

3504. Have you ever had 'missing time'? no? 3505. Have you ever sent an electronic greeting? hahaha yeah. back when internet was dial-up, e-cards were all the rage. i sent them all the time. 3506. If you could send anonymous tips to people you knew who would never ever find out who sent them who would you send the following tips to? doesn't know when to leave: my bf’s brother. poor crotch hygiene: omg haha no one. talks too much: sara. band/art/dream is going nowhere: sean. most likely to get arrested: not sure. needs to get their life together: me. bad taste in clothes: no one really. bad taste in music: meh, i respect everyone’s taste in music. needs a hobby: my boyfriend lol. 3507. Are you more likely to download porn or disney movies? disney movies. 3508. What is it with people? who knows. 3509. Do you eat too much sugar? probably. 3510. Imagine you have a band. Let's name your band. Adjective: wild. Animal(plural): pandas Your band name is (adjective) (animals) Under Glass! Could be better? no. Let's try again. Adjective: Noun (plural): Your band is (adjective) (nouns) With Puppets 3511. Are you desperate but not serious? not really. 3512. Was there a time when you were younger and it took less to get you excited? yes. What did it take then? just getting out of the house. What does it take now? now staying at home makes me excited lol. 3513. Remember learning to write in elementary school? yes. We spend 2 years learning to print..then they throw that out the window and teach kids cursive. Why? i didn’t learn cursive at school. If cursive is so important and easy to read then why aren't books printed in cursive? Why aren't cursive computer fonts more popular? Why do buisness forms always say 'please print'? Schools are so preoccupied with teaching kids the complicated but traditional skill of cursive writing that more emphasis is put on that than on teaching kids how to clearly express their ideas through writing. I move that cursive writing become a jr. high school elective instead of a grammer school priority. Who's with me? 3514. Can you think of anything else (besides cursive writing) that is unhelpful, or unuseful, yet traditional and unquestioned? What? algebra. never used it after school. 3515. Name one female celebrity who you would guess wears size ___ clothing: 0? no. 5? 12? 16? 20? 3516. Have you ever been to a place where the restrooms were named in a clever way rather than just saying men's and woman's? I've seen Hens and Roosters, Bart and Lisa, Dudes and Babes...what have you seen? blokes and shielas and the hawaiian words for men and female. 3517. What is the 'message' or 'point behind': Fight Club? Donnie Darko? AI? technology may be able to surpass our intelligence. Minority Report? Solaris? A Walk to Remember? you never know where you can find love. You've Got Mail? 3518. have you seen, and what are your thoughts about these movies: Drumline? loved this! never thought i’d be into a movie about drumming. The Hot Chick? pretty funny. Maid in Manhattan? just the typical, cute, romantic comedy. Star Trek: Nemesis? About Schmidt? Evelyn? The Guys? Intacto? The Jimmy Show? The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers? Gangs of New York? Two Weeks Notice? The Wild Thornberrys Movie? Smokers Only? Treasure Planet? The Santa Clause 2? 3519. START this sentence: ....and I think to myself, what a wonderful world." i see them bloom, for me and you. 3520. What is: insanity? omg no. normal? farenheit? 3521. Tell us about yourself in the third person for a bit: no. 3522. If someone breaks a law, should they be punished if they did not know it was a law? most people know the law... unless it’s one of those really obscure ones. if this was a thing, a lot of people would claim not to know what they did was illegal. 3523. If it's so much easier to learn languages when we are very young (and it is, something to do with the developing brain) why do they wait until jr high and high school to teach them? if you start teaching a child another language they may not know the difference between their first and second language. that’s exactly what happened to me as a kid, i switched between the two without knowing which was which. 3524. Name a band you sort of like: dvsn. You are wearing that band's t-shirt in a store. SUDDENLY some guy you don't know comes up to you and goes, "Hey! You like (insert name of the band here)??!!" This is obviously a really stupid question because if you didn't like them you wouldn't be wearing the t-shirt. Your witty reply is: i sure do. 3525. If you were organizing cd's in a music store what section would you put each of the following in (don't forget the 'bargain bin' section!): Blink182 way too lazy to do this. Depech Mode Weezer Led Zeppelin The Doors Avril Lavigne Nelly Manfred Mann Iggy Pop Pink Floyd Guns N Roses Shakira Britny Spears Tool Ozzy Osbourne Madonna The Rolling Stones The Beatles Motley Crue Bon Jovi 3526. Does coffee stimulate your mind or body more? body. 3527. Can you do 'six degrees of separation' to anyone famous? i can do four lmao. my cousin’s friend acted in a movie with halle berry. done lol. 3528. What's the oddest thing in your home? idk. 3529. Do you find it odd when people who are not handicapped use the handicapped stall: in the bathroom? in the parking lot? yeah both. it’s rude. 3530. Do you sometimes find yourself talking to yourself? Do you answer yourself back? i only talk to myself in my thoughts. 3531. In your head do you call yourself 'I' or 'you' or both? both. 3532. What is the best excuse for why you haven't done your homework? i don’t have homework. 3533. Someone tells you 'well there are black people, and then there are n*ggers'. What do you think? omg that’s an instant ignore. i already know that person is arrogant and ignorant as fuck. i just hate that word. 3534. Does culture shape behavior or does behavior shape culture? first one. 3535. What determines whether a person will be: intelligent? some are born smart and some put in work to be smart. pretty? just their genetic makeup in a physical sense. happy? bubbly, cheerful personality. successful? hardworking. 3536. What is social loafing? What is groupthink? idk. 3537. I have an idea. let's change the english language by making the words fewer, shorter and more concise. What do ya think? no. 3538. What are the physical symptoms of: joy? involuntary smiles. fear? it’s all in the eyes. shame? blushing, hanging your head down. 3539. Here's the scenerio...your little eight year old brother is hangin out in the house when you come in..and catch him watching the playboy channel! What do you do/say? what are you watching? He says, "Why can't I watch this?" What is your response? you’re too young. Why do you respond that way? 8yo is too young to be exposed to sexual content imo. 3540. Who REALLY has a higher sex drive, girls or guys? How can you tell? it just depends on the individual. 3541. are you usually carefree? not really. 3542. Do you generally prefer reading to meeting people? i’m in between. depends on my mood. 3543. Do you often long for excitement? weekly. 3544. Are you mostly quiet when you are with others? if i know the group, then no. 3545. Do you often do things spur of the moment? not usually. 3546. Are you slow an unhurried in the way you move? no. 3547. Would you do almost anything for a dare? haha no. 3548. Do you hate being in a crowd who plays jokes on one another? i don’t mind. depends how far they’ll go though. 3549. Do you enjoy wild parties? i did when i was younger. 3550. Have you ever paid for something priced more than $5.00 in only change? probably. 3551. Is racism still a big part of our culture? sadly, yes. 3552. A drawing was shown to a person. The drawing showed a black man in a buisness suit standing next to a white man holding a razor. The person who saw this drawing was white and was asked to describe it to a second white person who had not seen it, who described it to a third, and so on. By the end of six rounds the final report often placed the razor in the hand of the black man and it is claimed he is waving it threateningly. What do you think of thiss? stupid. 3553. How many famous people can you name who committed suicide? i’d rather not. 3554. Do you have OCD? no. 3555. Are you more anxious or relaxed? anxious. Insecure or secure? insecure. Sociable or with drawn? in between. Original or conventional? original. 3556. Are you more emotional or calm? calm. self pitying or content? content. Fun loving or sober? fun loving. Imaginative or down to earth? down to earth. 3557. Are you more Friendly or aloof? friendly. adventurous or cautious? cautious. Broad or narrow when it comes to interests? broad. receptive or closed to new ideas? receptive. 3558. Are you more good natured or irritable? good natured. soft hearted or ruthless? in between. well organized or disorganized? organized. Dependable or undependable? dependable. 3559. Are you more courteous or rude? courteous. sympathetic or tough minded? sympathetic. hardworking or lazy? lazy. ambitious or easy going? easy going. Anxiety Inscurity Emotionalism and Self Pity are traits of a neurotic personality. Sociable, fun loving, friendly and adventurous are traits of an extraverted personality. orignality, imaginative, broad interests, and receptive are traits of an Open personality. Good natured, soft hearted, courteous, and sympathetic are traits of an agreeable personality. Well organized, dependable, hardworking and ambitious are traits of a conscientious personality. 3560. Do men and woman have little or a lot in common? depends on the individuals. there’s no answer to this. 3561. Do you feel like any of the teachers you've ever had have REALLY cared about educating you to think for yourself? eh, yes a couple. Do you tend to try harder if they DO care? yes. 3562. Have you ever been stereotyped? As what? not really actually. 3563. Have you ever been discriminated against? For what? yes, my race. 3564. How often is your school and/or job closed due to weather? never. it’s open 24/7. 3565. Who do you know that you believe does not masturbate? haha it’s not something i think about. 3566. Does a cloned human being have a soul? Why or why not? i honestly have no idea. probably not. 3567. Finish the sentance: As the world turns..I only have one concern...that: idk. 3568. What group in history has been the most oppressed? a lot of different groups, let’s be real. 3569. Have you read any biographies? Whose? yes. 3570. What are you obsessed with? sleep. 3571. Break out your decoder ring..(no hints this time)! t3ii9 8 i9f3 697 29h5 697 53ii j3 6974 hqj3? no. 3572. Do you crack your: knuckes? neck? back? other? yes to all. 3573. Of the following powers which 2 would you pick for yourself? The ability to fly, breathe under water, turn invincible, change into animals, freeze and restart time, never gain weight unless you want to, heal people with your touch, have orgasms that last for an hour never gain weight and heal people. 3574. Do you chew your pencils and pens? no. 3575. Can you tell the exact point where your back ends and your butt begins? no. 3576. When you are bored do you picture everyone eround you naked? no. 3577. What are some great holiday gift ideas for guys: cologne, clothes, alcohol. girls: makeup, candles, perfume. 3578. Who looks better naked, men or woman? women. 3579. Do you sit in chairs or fall into them? if i know the chair well i’ll fall into it lol.

3580. Has anyone ever screamed your name during sex? yes. moaned your name during sex? yes. 3581. Hershey's kisses: mint, almond, hugs, plain. other? plain. 3582. What's the best slurpee flavor? raspberry. 3583. What are five movies that you think someone would have to be living under a rock in iceland to not have seen? any disney classic. everyone would’ve seen at least one.

3584. Of these words, which ones are funny: beets? cumquat? pit? Piss-capades? fuzzy? What are some other funny words? no. 3585. Do you give good massages? yes. 3586. What songs have been 'stuck' in your head? none. 3587. What don't most people know about your job? it’s easy af. 3588. Is there anything you won't say unless someone else says it first? no. 3589. Do you need a little chrsitmas? huh? 3590. Fake or real tree? fake. 3591. Is your refrigerator running? You know what to do. yes. 3592. How can you explain when there are few words you can choose? idk. 3593. Who can it be now? idk. 3594. Where HAS Joe Dimaggio gone? And why does our nation turn it's eys to him? idk. 3595. How often do you get headaches? hardly ever. 3596. Have you ever woen fake eyelashes? yes. 3597. What could you spend 24 hours ina row doing? haha lay in bed. 3598. Is it Friday yet? it is actually. 3599. Do you remember There was a time (ahaha) when people on the street were walking hand in hand in hand?/ no. 3600. Do you talk to inanimate objects? no. Do you try to get them to answer you? no. Have they ever answered you? no.