#technically 3 but the 3rd is just Sleepy

[six-legged-sea-leopard]

i have 2 moods

[thecapricunt1616]

Nov. 1st with Dad!Lip! 💕

WC: 888 DC: @gallaghersgal I hope you like this my dearest Maggie! I'm sorry it's shorter than I thought but I didn't want to overwrite it !

It was the morning after your daughters 3rd Halloween, well, technically it was her 4th Halloween, but this was the 3rd night that you and Lip had taken her out to collect candy around the neighborhood. It was very surprising to you, that you were instead of being woken up by her, who had insisted on sleeping between you and Lip last night, you were woken by the sound of the toilet flushing in the bathroom next to your room. You hear the soft thudding of footsteps and when you finally opened your eyes you see Lip padding in, wearing his matching chucky pajama pants with your daughter. When you were at Walmart, and she saw them on the rack - she decided they had to have them. The only thing, was they didn’t make childs size for that kind of movie of course, so he gave her the medium t-shirt that hung off her like a dress, and he kept the pants that fit him just right.

She was currently in said dress, sprawled out on his side of the bed like a starfish dead asleep which she’d probably done as soon as he’d gotten up to pee. “See what I gotta deal with?” he joked quietly and you huff a sleepy giggle, reaching out and pulling her to your chest, kissing her curly strawberry blonde hair that was wild with sleep. 

“Can’t believe she’s still sleeping” you whisper, rubbing her back gently and she nuzzled into your chest as she slept, her legs all curled up into her tshirt that hung off her little shoulder and swallowed her like a cloak. 

“I think the extra 3 blocks wiped ‘er out” he chuckled, grabbing his phone from the nightstand once he settled back down next to the two of you and snapped a picture while you werent looking “they wiped me out too if m’honest” he put his phone back down and laid on his side, stealing your daughter away and kissing her head and she happily nuzzled into lips neck and wrapped her little arms around his bicep. 

You gasped playfully, poking the little freckle on his cheek “Did you just steal my baby when you complained she steals your spot?” you tease and he hummed

“She’s a little heater, you have all the blankets, she has my shirt- m’I supposed t’freeze? Then who’s gonna pay the bills ‘round here” he smirked and peeked a blue eye open at you. You leaned in, resting your forehead on his and smiling

“You’re lucky you’re so cute” you whisper as to not wake your sleepy baby between you and gave his lips a gentle kiss. “I can’t fall back asleep, I’m gonna go make coffee want some?” you sat up, grabbing your silk robe and tying it around you since you didn’t want to bother putting on a bra, it was looking like one of those days you 3 were just going to laze around.

“Please- you always make it good” he said and you smiled, shaking your head as you found your other slipper that your cat had found and bat around during the night 

“Yeah cause I brew it with cinnamon for you? It’s one extra step babe” you head down to the kitchen, but not without looking at your little family still all snuggled up in bed, now covered with the blanket Lip had quickly stolen back the moment you’d gotten up. You put cinnamon and coffee in the filter, starting a pot and getting out 2 of the nice big mugs and pulling the creamer out of the fridge for yourself. You decided to slip an apple and a poptart in your pocket for when the baby wakes and says she wants a snack, on days like this you didn’t mind allowing her to be a bit unhealthy. 

After making up the coffees, you carefully padded back to the bedroom, nudging the door that you’d left cracked open with your hip to be met with a sight that always melted your heart no matter how many times you’d seen it before. Lip of course, being so wiped out from classes last week now on his holiday break, had easily fallen back asleep, with your daughter snuggled up to him. But what was even sweeter was your daughter had snuggled up to him in such a way that her lips were pressed against his cheek as well as her little nose. 

“Oh” you couldnt help but whisper to yourself with a loving smile as you took in the absolutely beautiful sight of the family you had created with Lip. You carefully went over and set your coffee cups down on the nightstand without a sound, and returned the favor of taking a candid picture by slipping your phone out of your other pocket and snapping a few photos of them with a wide smile on your face. You set the apple and poptart carefully on the nightstand before taking your coffee, and carefully going to sit on the rocking chair in the corner of your bedroom as to not disturb them when you sat in bed, but also just enjoy the sounds of the morning from your cracked window, and the sight of your two most favorite people in the world getting much deserved rest.

Fin

[tpwkwriter]

could u pls pls do one where anxious reader calls harry having a panic attack but its from his pov and kinda tells how it worries him that shes like that and would do anything for her????

First off thank you for the request! How cute would Harry be omg<3

Warnings: mentions of anxiety, panic attacks, worries, slight cursing and mentions of lot ending 😭

————————‘Half the world away’———————

As ‘love on tour’ was halting to an end a lot more of Harry’s time was being taken up, perfecting each rehearsal, each song, making sure each outfit was correct, putting the band to practice, these next few days were gonna be hectic no doubt, and with LOT coming to an end Harry wanted to ensure it had a bloody good send off.

However balancing work, fame and a relationship could be tricky. Y/n has such an amazing sense of understanding and patience Harry wasn’t sure she was real, whenever Harry would be out late or have to leave for periods of time y/n would always put a brave face on and late him go no matter how reluctant she was.

It was a hot July in Italy, Harry had rented out a gorgeous luxury b&b for there stay, the plan was to stay out in Italy after the tour to finally bask in some quality time under the Italian sunshine.

Y/n knew Harry loved his job, despite the judgemental public, the paparazzi, and certain interviewers he loved his job, and seeing her love celebrate his winnings and travel the world preforming to thousands and millions each night was truly a sight to y/n’s eyes.

However sometimes y/n just wanted her Harry to herself, she hated how selfish that sounded but it was true, she often wanted mornings just to themselves or evenings where they could cuddle up in there bed, but with Harry’s tight schedule this rarely happened at the moment.

“Baby v’gotta go” Harry quietly told y/n who still lay on the bed.

“M’kay” she hummed.

“Y’alrigh?” Harry asked.

“Mmm”

“I’ll be back for lunch alrigh?” He says softly smiling, seeing there clearly was something up.

“Okay”

‘She might just be sleepy’ he thought to himself.

“Okay baby, I love you” he said leaning down to kiss her forehead.

“Mm, love you” she said closing her eyes after his lips left her body.

It was safe to say he left feeling like an absolute arsehole, she was clearly not happy or her usual self and he couldn’t out his finger on why.

————Harry’s pov————

The instrumental to ‘music for a sushi restaurant’ blared through the speakers of the empty arena, nothing went right this morning, this was the 3rd try of trying to get through ‘MFASR’ without a technical difficulty.

“Fuck sake” I muttered under my breath after the 4th time of the sound not working.

“Harry let’s take a break, sounds gone bust” Mitch said from my side, while taking his guitar off.

“Yeah yeah” I mumbled.

The last show of the entire tour was slowly approaching and I want this show to be my best, as a thank you from me to everyone who’s ever attended my shows and a goodbye for a while, it was a bittersweet moment.

Backstage of the arena I saw the loveband sit on sofas and vanity desks al sat around having conversations about his knows what.

“Harry don’t be so stressed man” Pauli called as soon as I walked in.

“M’trying mate” I smiled, plopping down on the empty seat next to nyoh.

“I want this show to be good” I stressed.

“And it will be, and even if something goes wrong we can laugh about it” Mitch pipes up from the corner.

“Your fans wouldn’t care H, there definitely bright people” nyoh adds

“Mmm” I hum, suppose they are right.

“I’m just, I don’t know, worried about y/n”

“Y/n?” Pauli asks concern on all the members face now, y/n was practically a little sister to them.

“I thinks she’s mad at me pauli, no idea what I’ve done” I calmly state putting my head in my hands.

“You Need to check on her Harry” nyoh warns

“It’s Not an Easy Lifestyle sometimes” she adds.

“I know I know, she shrugs my questions off, I know somethings not right”

“Harry! Where’s Harry!” We suddenly heard.

“Sarah?” Mitch called opening the door.

“Harry” she continues, while making a direct beeline for me

“Harry it’s y/n” she claims hastily passing me her phone which happens to be a call.

“Y/n?” I whisper before taking the phone from her hand.

“Harry?” I hear a familiar sniffle, fuck.

“Baby, Baby it’s me shit what’s happening” I immediately ask as I go an excuse my self from the rest of the band and shut myself into the dressing room.

“Baby I need you to breathe what’s going on hmm?” I ask trying to keep my voice quiet and calm.

All I can hear from the line is sniffles and quick breathing from my girl, my minds made up.

“Give me 5 minutes tops and I’ll be with you my love fuck I’m coming, I love you and stay exactly where you are”

With a quick confirmation of “ok” I swiftly hang up and pass Sarah’s phone back and explain what’s going on and run out of the door.

—————————

Harry wastes no time getting into the rented house, searching top to bottom of where she could be, luckily there shared en-suite was open.

Harry entered the room the see his y/n sitting in the shower with just a top and his boxers on.

‘Fuck this was a panic attack’ he knew this because the feel of cold water normally helped regulate the girls feelings.

“Oh baby” he’s fast to throw his jacket on the floor and toe his shoes off and join her, he switches the shower off and sits next to her leaning his head against the glass shower wall.

“Darling” he said wrapping his arm over her shoulder.

Immediately she fell into him, she moved herself to sit on his lap and bury her face into his chest and made herself as small as she could on his lap, he put one arm around her head as he leaned his chin on top of her head and the other arm around her legs almost holding her as if she was a baby.

“I feel silly” she breathily mumbled.

“No, absolutely no need too” he said into her hair, pressing a kiss there too.

“I miss you Harry” she honestly admitted.

“Baby-“

“I really can’t go without you” she cries, causing him to hold her even tighter.

It had just clicked in his head what’s going on, he hasn’t been very attentive these few days, he admittedly had been prioritising work, a flood of guilt and shame filled his veins.

“Fuck, fuck. fuck” he mutters

“Baby im so fucking sorry fuck” he says, truly meaning every word he said.

“You don’t know how much you mean to me, you mean the fucking world to me, I love you so fucking much it hurts me baby fuck” he says voice cracking towards the end.

That’s all y/n wanted to hear, she wasn’t often insecure or upset but she now knows she really can’t go without Harry.

“I love you Harry, M’sorry” she says more tears falling at the idea of her making him feel shitty.

“Got nothing to be sorry for, fuck”

“After this tour, m’all yours I’ll always be yours, your stuck with me love, we can go away, we can go home, absolutely anything fuck, as-long as I’m with you” he pleaded, now pressing kisses all over the girls head.

“I like that, I like a lot” she nods.

“M’sorry H I’m never normally this, clingy or crazy but, I miss you I miss your arms, and scent, having meals together, feeling you close to me” she admits absolutely emotional now.

“Hey, hey, darling y’gonna breathe for me hey?” He said pushing his fingers on her chin so she can look up him.

They then started breathing slowly together, and endured a moment of silence, nearly forgetting they where they were.

“Think we needed this” she mumbled.

“Mmm me too lovie”

“Y’ready to get out hmm? We can get comfy and into bed for a while” he adds

“What about rehearsals?”

“Fuck em we got all week”

A smirk formed on the girls lips after he said that.

“All mine, mine mine mine” the girl whined pressing further into his chest.

“That y’are, I’d do anything for you love, shit, I love you so bloody much”

——————————————————————————

Hope this is okay!

[ughgoaway]

thinking about drunk teacher girlie out on a night out with the women of the 1975 and the drunk phone calls that follow, of course.

✿❀✿✿❀✿✿❀✿✿❀✿✿❀✿✿❀✿✿❀✿✿❀✿

you sneaking off to the bathroom to call matty after a couple of guys hit on you, and it's just drunk rambling about how much you like him.

"and there was this really tall guy. like wayyyy taller than you-"

matty cuts you off mid-sentence, saying, "Alright, I don't know if I needed that bit of info, but -"

"SHH MATTHEW LISTEN. he was all like 'oh you're so hot you should come home with me', and I finally got to say 'no, I have a boyfriend.' Isn't that so cool!!"

"very cool my love," I like to think it's the first time you use the term "boyfriend" when talking about matty to him, so he gets a little flustered at you finally saying he's your boyfriend. but he doesn't put too much weight on it, considering the whole "drunk out of your mind" thing.

so yeah, it's early on in the relationship. And whilst obviously, matty knows you like him, but he didn't quite know how much.

"and I just think you're so pretty. I used to always tell my friends about your pretty curly hair." You ramble, slurring your words, but matty can still just about make out what you're saying, "I want to do your hair. Will you let me?" You perk up immediately at the thought, and matty can't help but lightly laugh at how excited you sound.

"Of course darling, you can do it tomorrow, yeah?" matty is already grabbing his keys as he talks to you, preparing to inevitably come pick you up

"Mmm, yeah. then we can have a shower together. and I can steal your nice shampoo, the lavender one." You're leaning against the sink as you talk, and you can feel yourself getting more and more tired with each word.

"Will you come get me matty, m'tired. and I wanna see you, my pretty boyfriend. " You complain, and before you even finish your sentence, you can hear the engine roar to life on the other side of the phone.

"Be there in 20"

//////

matty manages to get there and soon wrangles you away from charli, who at first doesn't recognise matty and shouts at him for "kidnapping! wait, or is adultnapping?"

after minimal fighting and a lot of flirting from you ("Do you know you're like, really hot? a proper dilf. " "Yes darling, that's the 3rd time you've told me I'm a dilf, thank you though.") Matty gets you in bed, but before long, you start whining about your makeup being on.

"ughhh it's gonna be so bad for my skin. but m'too sleepy. oh well!" You try to flip over and burrow into the pillows, but matty stops you and pulls you to sit up before running off you get your makeup wipes.

"Nope, it'll only take 3 minutes, and I'll do it for you, sweetheart. You just sit there and look pretty, yeah?" You hum happily at being called pretty, and stay on the bed trying not to fall asleep sitting up.

Matty quickly searches his cupboards for anything you've left behind on your nights staying over. he stumbles across a pack of makeup wipes and briefly remembers you saying something about just them not being enough. But honestly, the way your eyes are drooping, he knows it's more about speed than technical skill at this point.

he gently wiped at your eyes, making sure to get the mascara off, "because I know it always burns your eyes, baby. just a few more wipes, I promise."

soon enough, you're passed out snoring on the pillow, and matty is getting you comfy before settling beside you.

///////

now... the next day at school? hellish. 30 screaming 6 year olds + a killer hangover is not a good combo. and you almost feel like scolding carly for convicing you to go out, but to be honest, you were just as bad an influence.

matty brings you a coffee at lunch, "knew you'd be absolutely hanging, sweetheart. was no trouble popping in, really." he says with a sweet smile and a takeaway coffee.

you immediately have a few sips of the coffee, sighing happily as the hot liquid falls down your throat. you put the drink down after chugging a little bit too much at once, but that's forgotten as soon you pull matty into a deep kiss as a token of your appreciation.

After a few seconds too long with a little bit too much tongue for a kiss at school, matty pulls away a little bit dazed and blinking hard. "I'll bring you coffee everyday if that's the welcome I get, fucking hell"

So he brings you coffee whenever he can get away from then on, switching to herbal tea once you get pregnant with baby healy no.2 <3

[npfehr]

Once upon a time, ten or fifteen years ago, a friend and I decided to watch All The Star Trek*. Each week we'd get together and watch around 3 episodes in a row**, and in this manner we eventually did achieve our goal.

We enjoyed this quest, and even though there were aspects of the shows we didn't agree on***, there was one thing in particular we both loved:

Sulu Looking Back! Look at him! He's all, "Are y'all seeing this? This is weird, right??"****

The best part is that, being on a limited budget, the show re-used this shot often and just put different effects on the viewscreen. So we got to cheer every time Sulu Looked Back.

Anyway, I'm re-watching the show these days and I'm still delighted by it and wanted to share it with everybody because I couldn't find a GIF anyone else had made.

* At that time, Enterprise was the last thing that had been on TV, and the JJ Abrams films were on the horizon. We also excluded The Animated Series because my friend simply refused to watch it.

** To be honest, I was (and am!) a sleepy boy so it would go like this: 1st episode wide awake / 2nd episode starting to droop, maybe miss a line of dialogue here and there / 3rd episode a total struggle to stay awake and almost nothing absorbed. So there's plenty of Star Trek that I've technically seen but don't remember at all. It's been fun to rediscover!

*** One of the biggest things was: the technobabble. You know, where there's a Big Problem and a crew member suggests something science-ey and with a lot of syllables as a solution. My friend enjoyed it and went on deep dives about its concepts and internal consistency. I thought it may as well have been a burst of static over the speakers, and would just patiently wait for the line right after where somebody explains it in plain English for the viewers at home. "Like putting too much air in a balloon!"

**** If you're not familiar with the geography of the ship this might look like a fourth-wall break, but he is in fact looking to the more senior members of the bridge crew for guidance. But, if you want it to be a fourth-wall break, that's fun too and I say go with it!

[sabo-has-my-heart]

IMW: Ch.9 Finals

Warnings: mild theft

Word Count: 1280

     This was the 3rd night in a row that you were up late studying. Finals were just a few days away and while you were pretty sure you had the material down, you were still panicking, spending hours upon hours going over the same information again and again, working and reworking things you’d learned until your eyes hurt, dark circles under your eyes from lack of sleep, but you really wanted to get this apartment. You and Ace had grown close, you wanted to give him more than just a couch to crash on. Granted, with the money he was making, the two of you could probably afford a place by yourselves, but this fighting thing was supposed to be temporary, he needed to save as much of that as possible. You’d even opened a savings account at your bank for him so he had somewhere to put the money he was making. Knocking on your door, Ace peeked into your room, sighing and shaking his head at you. This was the 4th time this week he’d caught you asleep at your desk, arms crossed under your head, worn out from studying and a lack of sleep. Why were you even working so hard for him? Technically speaking, you barely knew him, why would you work so hard to help someone you didn’t even know? Not that he was complaining, he appreciated everything you were doing for him, but no one aside from his brothers and Dadan had ever been so kind to him. Carefully picking you up, he moved you to your bed, tucking you in before heading back out to the living room. He’d planned on asking if you needed anything, but clearly what you needed right now was sleep. Pausing, he headed back into your room, unplugging your alarm clock before grabbing your phone and taking it with him. You had 4 alarms set for those days where you just didn’t want to wake up, but you also didn’t have any classes tomorrow and you needed sleep. 

     The sound of your alarm going off had Ace bolting up in a panic, suddenly reminded of when somebody was foolish enough to attack the Moby Dick. Turning the alarm off, he glared at the device. How could anyone deal with such a thing? Why would anyone willingly choose to wake up in such a manner? Nothing, not even Marco’s worse wake up call, could compare to the sound that had just left your cell phone. Rolling over, he sighed contently, falling back to sleep, only to be woken back up 10 minutes later by the infernal thing. It was official, he was never getting a cell phone! It was a few hours of sleep later that he was woken up by your yelling, his half asleep mind unable to process what you were yelling at him about.

     “And if you ever do that again, I’ll make you sleep on the balcony!” you shouted as he rubbed his eyes, glaring at him as you snatched your cell phone up. You couldn’t believe he’d just taken your phone like that on top of unplugging your alarm clock.

     “Do what again?” he asked, giving you a sleepy look. 

     “My alarms! Seriously! What if I’d had class today! My finals are coming up, what if they’d been this morning!” you shouted once more.

     “Your finals are on” Ace yawned and blinked tiredly, “Monday from 1 to 3, Tuesday 8am to 10 am, then again from noon to 3 pm. Wednesday” another yawn, “11 to 1, Thursday 4 pm to 7 pm, and Friday at 2 pm to 4 pm.” he said, having memorized your finals schedule. It was something you’d mostly said in passing while studying, but it had sounded important so he’d written it down, “Go back to sleep, Marco overworked himself too, but he was a phoenix so he could get away with it. You look like shit when you’re sleep deprived.” Ace said without mercy, curling back up in his nest of blankets and falling back to sleep. You looked at him indignantly as he slept, had he really just said that? Storming back to your room, you picked your textbook back up, returning to your studies. You were working so hard to help him and he’d taken both your alarms! A voice in the back of your mind knew he was right, there was no way you could go into your finals as you were, but right now you were too annoyed to acknowledge his point. 

     Walking out of your last final, you took a deep breath, trying to calm your nerves.

     “Don’t worry, you did fine.” Ace said, making you damn near jump out of your skin as you turned to face him, finding him leaning against a wall, his hands stuffed in his pockets as he ignored the girls who attempted to talk to him.

     “What are you doing here? How’d you even find your way here?” you asked, glaring at him.

     “What? Did you think I wouldn’t study a map of the campus? I’ve got a million other things to study, why not add one more thing? At least navigating a small area is easier than algebra.” he said with a shrug, walking over to you, the both of you heading back to your dorm.

     “So you can figure out a map of my college campus, figure out where my classes are, and find your way around by memory, but you can’t memorize basic mathematics?” you asked irritably. 

     “Navigating your campus is easy. You should try navigating by the stars, knowing that if you get it wrong, it could be weeks before you hit the next island and you know you don’t have enough food and water to last that long.” he said, smirking as he thought back to sailing across the GrandLine. 

     “Now come on, my latest pay was pretty good… I think, let’s go get some food. That one place from last week was really good.” he said, throwing an arm around your shoulders and steering you away from your dorm and out towards your car. Not that you were going to argue, with your finals finished and him paying, eating out sounded amazing right now. 

     “You still need to finish studying though, we agreed that you would stop fighting once you get what you need and until we find a way to get you back, you’re going to need a job. Even simple fast food jobs require some education. To say nothing of what people will think if you can’t manage the basics.” you said, the boy rolling his eyes at you.

     “Yes, Marco. I also promise to do all my paperwork by the end of the week.” he said sarcastically. It was something you’d learned in his time with you. He was the second division commander of a large crew, he commanded about 100 people, answered to only a few other higher ups… and rarely did his paperwork unless his friend, Marco, hovered over his shoulder and watched him do it. 

     “I’m serious! We had an agreement! I don’t care what you do once you have your documents, but you’ll need the basics to get any sort of work!” you argued, making Ace chuckle.

     “You worry too much. Come on, you just finished your finals, let’s celebrate! No worrying about me or what I need to do. We’re getting an apartment soon!” he said with a grin, his usually upbeat attitude making you smile. Maybe he had a point, his own studies could wait until tomorrow, you’d finished your finals and you had a good feeling about how you did. 

[tinyorangepotato]

I'm constantly so needy and jealous and I'm glad I don't (at leats I think I dont) show it because god that would be annoying. this is the first time in actually a little while since I have been unable to sleep when I wnat to (usually around 12 or 1. it's now 2:30 and ive tried to sleep) and im awake and energetic while being sleepy and if someone walked up to me and said hey let's go take a walk and chat, I would be so down to join. I just wanna talk but the one person who I would enjoy talking to will probably be back awake in 2 hours and hopefully I'm not still awake by then because I got work in the morning and I alreayd suck at waking up and now I'm going to sleep even later than usual.

anyqyas back to the main topic, God I just want to cuddle or hang out and watch a show or just lay down and chat and hang out with someone and I should've been selfish earlier when he got us in a vc but wanted to go to sleep at 9 but I can't. there's no reason for me to insist on staying talking other than I wanted to and I know he would be sleepy so not talking as much and has ti wake up earlier than I do and do more intense work which he gets almsot no break from and so he needs his sleep but what about me (that's sarcasm(proabbyl the wrong word). I'm not that needy... maybe)

but like one of my friends will go to a Halloween party and have a fun time and run around and drink and shit meanwhile I fucking wish. God im just so envious of anything and everything always. I wish I wasn't always the driver but I'm the only one of my friend group that can drive and make plans. i wish I had other people I liked to hang out with because , again, I'm the planner of my group and I dotn host parties or whatever and I just wanna feel like the movies show. where you go to a party (it doesn't even have to be like a huge one like how 21 jumpstreet has it or whayever) and hang out with peope and do crazy ish things and drink and run and jump on a tire swing (that's what I'm friend did) and man. I just want ti have fun. other people do either with getting new things so starting a new hobby or getting into a new show and talking about it constantly or going out somewhere and not having to worry about everything.

I don't know where I'm going with this. but fuck I want things. I'm now putting aside all of ym paychecks except a full tank of gas (fill up when I get paid) and 50 dollars for getitng food when at work or any emergencies. I have been giving myself like 150 but I realized how much I owe while also still trying to save up for a place which I think jm the only of the two of us saving but that's okay because he makes more and will be paying for more things and he's already actually paying for his car insurance and all that while I'm not so I can afford to be broke when I get paid.

I owe like 5k still for my teeth (it's all just paying back care credit and I think I ahve 10 more motnhs to do it but im paying like 300 everyone month and I get only around 1k every month. so hopefully I'll be saving around 600 every month).looked at places and even the cheapest trailer was still a down payment of around 7k menawhike ive got not even 3 saved up and my dad still owes me that 1600 but he's been having a rough time even in his new better job so that's still gonna be a while.

and once we do get the place, I'll have to buy a mattress and dresser and all that shit becaus ei don't ahve fucking anything. hell I don't even have my own 4 walls to kepe anything at the moment. I got a second technically 3rd) job but that pays like shit. it was legit paying minimum wage so not even 9 dollars a d I've made 70 bucks the first pay period I've worked there (2 weeks) which is dogshit. for 8 fucking hours. at my first, better job, I would've made close to 120 with taxes removed. but I cant fucking get mor ehours there because of my fucjing aunt

I love her and I like to help out and she's the onyl reason I have a car and insurance (car insurance thay is) and have food every day but god damn. Sunday Tuesday and Friday I pick up carry out and then go to her place from like 11-3 (it's fairly random hut usually fits w8thin that time). so it's not like i can work more at job 1 seeing as they close at 6 and thay extra 2 and a half hours is not worth driving there and back. so I got another job but I've barely been scheduled and when I have it's been times I alreayd said I can not do. so I gotta pick up others shifts but my brain says "or you cna ignore the message and watch youtube" so that's usually what I do.

I wish I had a more simple schedule. even if I went to my aunts like 7-11 or at night it would work better but she's nto awake rhay early and she goes to lay down at around 6 so the time we have rn is the best time. but it fucks everything.

hell I would be more happy if I even just had a room to myself. that's all I want. please. even my friend who doesn't have a mattress to sleep on has a room and privacy and now 3 kittens constantly interacting with them and fuck. I qant soemthing for myself. I'm legit signing up for Doordash just so I can make a few extra bucks when I got ahit else to do.

I just want and need and fuck man im not gonan ever say it to anyone because I'm constantly like this and it's irrational and selfish so I'll keep it to myself to not harm anything. I'm a possessive and needy can't but no one will know because I push it down because it won't do any good to let it out.

(also really doesn't help rhat I am spending a few hundred on Christmas present for my friends but shhhh that's how I show love I guess so it's okay)

[male-reader-requests]

Dog Days Pt.1

Pairings: Mirio Togata x Male!Reader 

Word Count: 2,344

Warnings: This is technically part two to Puppy Love but it can be read as a stand-alone. This is also going to be split into 2 parts just because this one is already stupidly long, and I promise the next installment of this will be better and have more to do with the request!

-

When people first meet Mirio they tend to akin him to the sun. He's very bright and nice and lives to make people happy, and that's who he is. He doesn't hide behind a mask of lies to please others, that's just who he is.

When people meet (M/N) on the other hand they always think he's lying. No matter how nice and polite he is to everyone around him they always think he's some sort of delinquent, that he's a horrible person. "There's no way someone that tall could be good, no way someone with a quirk like that is a decent person."

Sometimes (M/N) wishes they were right.

(E/C) eyes shown with disdain as they looked on at the wreckage before them, blinking lazily as red shown in the dark. Mirio had somehow convinced him, despite (M/N) really not wanting to, to come see class 1-A and help out with training. It had seemed like a good idea, sort of, but now (M/N) just wanted to go to sleep.

This had all started because of that broccoli haired boy, what was his name? Midio? Medusa? Mizuza? Whatever his name was he'd found (M/N) and Mirio sometime this morning.

The two of them had been outside, Mirio messing with the flowers and grass while (M/N) worked on a paper for his History class. It was an odd, but cute sight if you ever saw it in person. Mirio had his head pillowed on one of (M/N)'s thighs, the taller male making use of his many pairs of hands. Two hands were typing away at the laptop in his lap, two of them were propping him up against the ground, and the other two were playing with golden hair. 

Truthfully Mirio would have loved to have (M/N)'s undivided attention, but him passing his classes was also important so he chose to stamp down on that feeling. It was a nice and sunny day, warm and on the weekend. The two of them didn't have any plans but they did want to spend the time together, and Mirio had used that as a weapon. 

Soon after (M/N) had finished his essay the green boy had shown up, talking to Mirio about some kind of training that (M/N) was too tired to remember but somehow the two of them had gotten dragged to a cityscape training field.

Aizawa was there, looking as tired as (M/N) felt, along with 19 students. Scratch that, there was 20, one of them was just ridiculously short. 

All of them were dressed out of uniform, most likely in their hero costumes, and were staring at Mirio and (M/N) as if they were forgien objects. 

(M/N) sighed, (E/C) eyes closed as his hands stuffed themselves in the multitude of pockets in his clothing. He hated dealing with children, 99% of them were afraid of spiders, but he hated dealing with teenagers more due to them not having come to terms with their fear of spiders. He wasn't a mean guy, but when someone is being rude to you over something you can't control it can make you pretty pissy.

And now here (M/N) was, looking at the wreckage brought on by an anger issue having pomeranian. He was hiding, well not really hiding but going stealthily behind the profanity-wielding child, in the shadows in a hope that they'd just call the match off.

(M/N) wasn't really much of a fighter. He could fight well, hell he could kill a man if he so pleased, but that wasn't really his thing. Due to the arachnid-ness of his being, he was much stronger than other people. Like actual spiders, he was somewhere between 100 and 150 times stronger in proportion to his weight, so (M/N) decided to use that strength to do wreckage clearing and rescue missions.

But now this blond Bitch was getting on every single nerve in his body and making him think of changing over to a confrontation hero. 

"Come out you eight-legged freak!" the blonde yelled, hands sparking as he shouted to the sky. 

(M/N) sighed as he sat on the ground, head propped up by one set of elbows as the others slowly gathered silk from his back. The kid was good, he could admit that, but he needed lots of polish. A literal shit load of polish, and then he would be a great hero.

With another sigh (M/N) looked up at the sky in wonder, wondering why he had to have been the one here, before whistling sharply. It got the kid's attention quickly, spinning around ready to attack, only for his hands to get attached to his body by a mass of silk slowly turning him into a cocoon. 

He thrashed about, screeching as he slowly tilted back before falling with a less than dignified yelp. Groaning as he forced himself up off the ground (M/N) moved over to the kid, watching as he yelled out some pretty creative insults. (M/N) then promptly sat on his chest, ripping the ribbon off of the kids neck before holding it up in the air. 

A buzzer went off before some red-haired kid made his way into the wreckage. Not wanting to see the kid mauled (M/N) got up, leaving the kid to pick his friend up. On the way out he met Mirio, giving the blond the ribbon that was meant for the two of them. 

"You were great out there!" the blond was practically vibrating. He'd always enjoyed watching (M/N) use his quirk, watching him fight. "Yeah?" (M/N)'s voice was low and tired, but there was a slight smile on his face as he gently ruffled the blonde's hair.

He left after that, Mirio entering the training area to watch as Bakugo was drug off by Kirishima.

-

Izuku didn't really know what he'd been expecting, but this wasn't exactly it.

Earlier that day he'd found Mirio and uh... his boyfriend? together. They'd been talking softly about something but had stopped when Izuku had approached them. He then word dumped on them about how his class was doing some kind of special training and that it would be much appreciated if they could come and help.

Mirio had jumped right on, but the other boy had been a bit hesitant. Izuku could tell why now.

Mirio and (M/N) had thrown everyone's names into a bag and were drawn at random, fighting whoever until they either got through the whole class or were too tired to continue. The fights had all been stupid easy so far, Mirio taking everyone out quickly, or making them surrender. 

(M/N)'s fights had been a bit messier. It was obvious he was uncomfortable fighting, his strength going on display when he'd hit through a wall on a missed punch. Everyone was wary of him, they knew nothing about how he fought and what kind of strengths he had other than the eyes and the arms. 

The first person against (M/N) had ended up being Jiro. It had been a quick match, (M/N) capturing the girl in silk, but now after she seemed slightly dazed as she sat on the floor in the back of the room. 

As Izuku looked around the room he realized that everyone that (M/N) had fought was actually more or less dazed, looking extremely sleepy. Confused, and a bit concerned Izuku made his way over to Jiro who had been hit first, but was cut off as Aizawa declared (M/N) the winner of his fight between him and Bakugo.

Mirio went to go greet the other male before going to his fight, (M/N) coming in looking tired.

There were soot marks all over his skin thanks to dodging Bakugo's attacks, and Izuku watched as he rubbed at his eyes, smearing it like cheap eyeliner. He watched as (M/N) yawned and made his way over to a corner before sitting, letting his head fall back and close his (E/C) eyes. The red ones stayed open.

It was a bit unnerving to look at that, to watch as pure red eyes moved around in their sockets to look around. It was hard to figure out where they were looking exactly since they were one color without a pupil, but Izuku got the general idea that he was looking around at everything. 

Midoriya had heard things about (M/N) from other students and in passing, most of it coming from Mirio gushing about him at any given point, but he knew he was strong. 

A lot of people, mostly the second years, seemed weirded out that (M/N) had already decided to become a rescue hero. It wasn't very common that people decided what kind of hero they would become in their 3rd year, most waited until they had a bit of experience to see what they were best at, and even then most people wanted to become confrontational heroes, to be the person who took down the bad guy and saved everyone. (M/N) seemed content to stick to the shadows.

Maybe it had to do with his arachnid quirk, not wanting to be seen or to be put in any danger? Maybe it was just a personal preference though?

Midoriya hadn't realized it, as per usual, but he was mumbling to himself. Lost in his own little world he didn't notice that 6 red eyes had shifted to look at him, (S/T) ears tuned into the mess of words pouring from his mouth.

For (M/N) he was used to people talking about him behind his back, he was odd even in a world of superheroes. He had 6 arms and 8 eyes, he was far from normal so people talked about him. Most of it wasn't very good, people talking about how creepy he was and how he wouldn't be a good hero because he wasn't good with people, but the drivel coming from the bush-boy was statistics and questions about his quirk. 

All of it curiosity without any of the disgust and distrust.

Curious, (M/N) focused all 6 red eyes on the boy, his figure slowly coming into focus.

Like an actual spider (M/N)'s eyes were put into groups for seeing different things. 3 of them were for noticing motion in a blurry wide-angle vision, 3 of them were specifically for judging the distance between things, and the 2 that weren't red were the only ones that actually focused on things and saw in color. These ones were for locking onto things when he needed to. 

Right now the green-haired boy was a blurry figure that actually just looked like a tall bush. He was roughly 8 feet away, mumbling to himself.

Confused, and slightly concerned as to why the boy had taken such an interest in him, (M/N) let his head drop onto his shoulder, cracking his eyes open to squint at the male. He didn't seem to be noticing his surroundings, but the other students were ignoring his words so this must have been a normal thing. 

Sighing, (M/N) sat up so that he was leaning forward, scooting himself around so he was actually facing the kid. 

He was a little under average height, messy hair and wide eyes, freckles. He looked like the sort of kid you'd want as a younger brother, cute in a sort of boyish way, but now he looked like a deer in headlight. 

Midoriya, who had been lost in his own world, hadn't noticed that (M/N) had moved, but now the tall male was a bit closer. He was sitting cross-legged, arms propping him up on the floor and on his elbows, but all 8 of those eyes seemed to be trained on him as his head tilted slightly to the side.

It... was horrifying in all honesty. (M/N) was tall, he was a big guy in general, but as he peered at Midoriya it was terrifying. Like being under the eyes of a predator.

"What's your deal?" (M/N) said softly, the words slurring slightly with exhaustion. 

Midoriya knew he was being spoken to, knew that (M/N) was talking to him, but at the moment he was a mere statue in a garden. He was stuck. 

The area where (M/N)'s eyebrows should have been furrowed, confusion crossing his features. The kid had been mumbling to himself just fine a moment ago but now he was completely still, eyes impossibly large.

Concerned, (M/N) drug himself to his knees, leaning forward to lightly tug at the kid's uniform. It was like setting off a firework, fine for a second or two before he exploded. 

He immediately tried to jump back, only to stumble and fall like the clutz he was.

(M/N) blinked owlishly at the kid, who was also blinking in confusion. 

The kid wasn't... actually scared of him, right? He was a teenager, he could get over his fear and realize that (M/N) wasn't going to hurt him... right?!

The kid looked scared though, and it felt like a punch to the gut.

Sighing lightly (M/N) waved a hand at the green-haired male, moving to stand up. 

"Sorry for startling you," he mumbled, pulling his hood over his head before stuffing his hands in various pockets.

Times like now (M/N) wished he had been born without so many limbs, even if it was just so that he could have sleeves to hide himself with.

[tl-notes]

Kobayashi’s Maid Dragon S2 Episode 2 Notes

Here’s some notes for episode two, too, if you’d care to join me.

The “stay quiet” here is 大人し[い] otonashii, which takes the word for “adult” and adjectivizes it. It’s a common word with a variety of meanings, such as  when something is “behaving” properly and not raising a fuss (from children to computer code to a chronic disease to political forces, all sorts of things) or when something comes across as “mature” (like a clothing design or a young person). 

In this case the idea is that the dragons had chosen to “behave” and mind their own business, which (they seem to assume) led the humans into underestimating them and deciding to attack. (”Stay quiet” probably does a pretty good job of getting that across, but just to fill it out.)

This is 残念ながら zannen nagara, or “unfortunately...”. 

The reason I bring it up here, is that it’s not a particularly intimate way of speaking and leans somewhat formal—potentially implying Ilulu has no more close relatives left to give her this news (and/or maybe her family’s social position is one where other dragons had to treat them with respect).

The second line here is 平常心を保つよ、私は, which is a fairly strong declaration of intent. I kind of feel like “I need to keep a clear head” sounds less confident, like convincing herself “ok bad situation, but if I just do this I’m fine.” In contrast, the Japanese imo is more of a “[Ilulu can do what she may,] but it won’t get it to me either way.” Just a mild point of characterization I suppose.

Just for clarity, she does use the word 雄 osu here, which is the more biological term for “in a sexually reproducing species, the one that produces sperm,” rather than a more gender-based term.

The TV show, シャシャシャシャキーン Sha-sha-sha-shakiin, is a combo reference to irl Saturday-morning kids’ variety show じゃじゃじゃじゃ～ン Ja-ja-ja-jaaN and weekday-morning シャキーン! Shakiin!. 

The former’s name comes from the Japanese equivalent of ta-dah!, while the latter’s comes from the ”sound” for becoming alert, going from relaxed/sleepy/bored/etc. to “wide awake let’s go.” (though not necessarily sleep/wake related)

If you’ve seen these two emoji:

(´・ω・｀)  (｀・ω・´)

The one on the right is the “シャキーン” one, and is the contrast to the gloomy one on the left (ショボーン shobon). Or these, going from asleep to awake:

( ˘ω˘ )ｽﾔｧ…  (｀・ω・´) ｼｬｷｰﾝ

In manga and stuff you’ll also see it used for e.g. someone drawing/brandishing a sword, striking a cool poses with a lens flare, things like that.

I think it gets translated to metallic-y sounds in English fairly often in those cases (like drawing a katana, or a mecha pose), hence the translation above. 

The verb for “frolic” here is じゃれる jareru (no relation to jajaan above), which is like to play/mess around, typically in a physical sense. For example it’s used in the compound word じゃれ合う jareau, which is often used in the same way English might say “playful wrestling” about kids or animals.

Though the word Kobayashi uses is actually a different じゃれる compound, じゃれつく jaretsuku, which is like playfully/affectionately grabbing/cuddling up/etc., (also primarily regarding kids or animals). There’s a bit of overlap with some of the uses of あまえる amaeru mentioned in the last episode’s notes.

Assuming I had the visuals, I’d probably just write this as “Please not on my lap...” or similar. (Kobayashi also uses a different verb conjugation for Tohru vs. Kanna in this scene, ~つくな vs. ~つかないで; Kanna’s being more plead-y compared to Tohru’s more “cut it out!” feel, hence the “please.”)

“Contact” here is “skin-ship,” a portmanteau-esque combination of skin and kinship or relationship. It’s primarily a Japanese word (you won’t find it in English dictionaries typically), but it was apparently coined by an American speaker at an international WHO seminar in 1953 (from which a Japanese attendee brought it back to Japan and it was later popularized). 

The original use of the word was in reference specifically to parent-child physical intimacy, but as it became more widespread in usage the meaning extended to all sorts of relationships, from the platonic to the romantic. 

One reason, presumably, that the term caught on so powerfully in Japan is that it has historically been a very touch-adverse culture (at least compared to say the US), and this extends even to parents with their children after the first few years. You’d see (and still see) psychologists recommend “more skinship” to people, for example.

The relative lack of skinship may partially explain the head pat thing mentioned in last episode’s notes (e.g. when you want to touch your kid, but hugs aren’t on the menu) and things like the old “hand-holding is lewd” meme. (Note this isn’t just me getting all orientalist here; there’s been a good bit of research on the skinship gap, and how it may be shrinking, by Japanese scholars.)

This line is also a bit of foreshadowing that Tohru has realized Kobayashi’s... situation already.

The Japanese here is 心と心でつながった後は体ですよ, which I only really mention because I kinda felt like the English’s “Now...” implied she was saying they only recently ‘connected their hearts,’ which I don’t feel from the Japanese wording and would say is probably not how Tohru thinks. E.g. more of a “Our hearts are already connected; now it’s time for our bodies!” kinda thing.

This 3/3 is March 3rd, which “equals” ♀ because that’s the date of Hinamatsuri, sometimes also referred to as Girl’s Day. The third day of the third month was originally a holiday brought over with the Chinese calendar, and it morphed from a more spring/peaches holiday into it��s more girl-oriented version at some point in the Edo period.

One of the highlights of Hinamatsuri is the doll displays, as pictured in this short bit with the Saikawa sisters. There are various types of displays, but this sort of staircase arrangement is the most common I believe. Each level has a certain type of doll that goes on it, with the top level having an “emperor” and an “empress” doll—which is the pair Riko replaces with dolls of herself and Kanna.

There’s some similarities between these doll displays and stereotypical Christmas trees: a family is likely to have a set of ornaments/dolls they mostly reuse each year, you put them up some time in advance of the actual holiday, then get lazy and leave them up too long put them away for a year after it’s over. A lot of businesses and such will put up displays as well.

“The judge in the underworld” is left vague here and isn’t a specific reference to anything, but is generally in line with the typical “image” of what happens after you die (setting aside actual religious beliefs) in Japan. 

Please see the documentary series Hoozuki no Reitetsu for more info.

As of right now in the anime, Ilulu has only shown up twice, and only once of those when Kobayashi was alone. The implication seems to be that there have been other Ilulu encounters that we haven’t seen. 

Also, for clarity, the Japanese is 私が一人の時にいつもイルルは来るから, which is more of a “whenever I’m alone Ilulu shows up” than a “she only shows up when I’m alone.” (The English could sorta be read either way I think?)

This bit is それだけじゃないって、争い以外もあると思ってくれているからだ。私はそんなトールを信じているから…　だからその為にイルルと和解したい

The main point of contention I have with this English is that it implies Kobayashi wants Tohru and Ilulu to make up. However, I’d say this is more Kobayashi wanting to come to terms with Ilulu herself (and just by extension Tohru/the other dragons/maybe other humans). 

That is, by making peace between herself the human and the “hostile” dragon Ilulu, she’d be helping prove Tohru’s belief correct—and she has faith in Tohru that it is (see also last season finale).  

(Notably while Tohru is Chaos faction herself, there’s not really been another Chaos dragon yet to be convinced like this. Kanna is no-faction, Fafnir is technically no-faction even if Chaos-ish, Quetzalcoatl is an observer, Elma is Harmony, and Tohru’s father is an exception on multiple levels.)

Without getting too deep into the “why,” one quick thing I’ll point out is that she says 和解したい wakai shitai, not してほしい shite hoshii or させたい sasetai etc., meaning it’s something she wants to do herself, not want/make someone else do. Generally speaking you can’t use the ~たい “want to” form for anyone but yourself (you don’t know what anyone else is thinking, after all), unless quoting them, asking, or in the ~がる “seems to want to” form.

This is a 防犯ブザー bouhan buzaa, a crime-prevention buzzer, also known as a personal or self-defense alarm. They emit a very loud sound when activated. The idea is you, well, use it like she does here, when someone is trying to do a crime to you.

Since most Japanese children walk to school, it’s extremely common for these devices to given to students (either by parents or a gov’t body). It’s technically recommended for adults to carry them too, though the advent of the mobile phone has driven down carry rates.

This particular one was probably purchased in episode four of season one, if you want to rewatch and see why!

This is 私にぶつけたい気持ちでもあるの？in the Japanese.

The verb for “tell” is ぶつける butsukeru, an evocative word meaning ~to slam against (somewhat similar to “vent” in English when used with emotions/feelings). 

The “something” is 気持ち kimochi, ~emotion/feeling/thought.

So the Japanese here feels a lot more expressive than "something you want to tell me,” I would say (that could just as easily be a translation of 話したいこと). That said it’s not an easy thing to express in English within the confines of the format here, especially if you want to keep the “target = ‘me’” part.

It might feel somewhat like “You got something bottled up you wanna hit me with?”, though I doubt if I’d use that either.

As a side note, the manga has Kobayashi say an extra line after this, about being the “main tank” to take her “hate” (Japanese for “aggro” in MMOs). 

A small note that “that girl and that boy” is あの子とあの子 ano ko to ano ko, so no gender specification in the Japanese (it’s a good language for talking about people without specifying a gender!).

“Next time” here is 今度 kondo, which is an interesting word because you can situationally use it for “recently,” “this time,” “next time,” or “soon.” 

The reason I bring it up here is the English “next time,” personally, leaves me thinking “Was there a previous time? What ‘next’ do you mean?”—just a heads up that that’s not really an issue in the original line.

Also: this whole extended scene with Kobayashi saving Ilulu is one of the “many senses” mentioned in the episode title. (see also episode one notes re ikemen)

As an aside, this "play” is じゃれ合い jareai, the noun form of the jareau that was mentioned in the above “frolic” note.

If you were wondering: “Do dragons use paper?”, the word here is 形骸化 keigai-ka, (almost) lit. ~reduced to bones, meaning something that once was strong/effective is now basically just a formality. It’s similar to the phrase “dead letter” in reference to old laws that aren’t really enforced anymore.

So two potential points of ~lore relevance~ here: 1) the rules probably used to be enforced, 2) we have no evidence (either way, from this) that they actually have them on paper somewhere.

こりゃトールの父ちゃんは本格的に優しかったみたいだな

This might just be me reading too much into the English (again), but one difference in nuance between these two lines is that the English has Kobayashi implying Tohru’s dad “seemed” kind (which implies he’s not really kind, just kind in contrast to this villain), while the Japanese is more taking this as evidence that Tohru’s dad was actually being kind (see also last season finale).

For those wondering if the みたい in that line would imply a “seems”: it sort of does, but it applies across the whole observation here. I.e. “seems Tohru’s father was genuinely nice” vs. “making Tohru’s father seem genuinely nice” (which I’d guess would probably use 優しく見えてくる or something). 

When you see “underestimate” in anime, most of the time it’s なめる nameru. It comes from the verbified archaic adjective 無礼し nameshi, meaning a combination of looking down on, acting rude towards, etc., and uses the same characters as “rude” (though often written in hiragana/katakana).

It also is a homonym of the verb “to lick,” so “Don’t underestimate humans” sounds identical to “Don’t lick humans.”

“Functional member of society” is 社会人 shakaijin, ~lit. person of society, which is a very commonly used word to refer to basically anyone who is an active member of society. It includes homemakers, so it’s not strictly “has a job at a company,” but in many contexts it’s used like “people with jobs” versus “students and NEETs.”

(Not that there’s anything wrong with the translation, just some extra context.)

A technique reminiscent of this shadow puppet silhouette style was also used in Hyouka, another Kyoani show and one directed by the late Series Director Takemoto Yasuhiro. 

I kind of feel like yelling “Stay with me!” at someone injured is something you do when they’re in danger of fading away, not when they’re waking back up? Maybe that’s just me.

The Japanese is お気を確かに o-ki wo tashika ni, a polite (since Tohru almost always speaks kinda formally to Kobayashi, as part of the maid thing) way of saying “pull/hold it together,” and is used in a variety of situations.

Kanna’s line is a question (e.g. like “are you okay?”) in the Japanese here, whereas the English sounds more like something you say to someone who’s injured to try to reassure them. 

This line is その子離れようとしないんです sono ko hanareyou to shinai n desu.

The English is a pretty literal translation: hanareru is the verb for leaving/separating (in some senses), and the ~you conjugation means “try to ~”. However, that conjugation also has a second use in just indicating intent—especially when used in the negative, like here—so e.g. “She didn’t want to leave your side,” or “She wouldn’t leave your side at all.”

（◎Д◎）

Just in case: this is an emoji for expressing shock. 

One thing that is left out of the English in this line is the だけ dake, “only.” 

So Kobayashi’s not necessarily surprised at this by itself, but in contrast to the fact that Tohru says she probably can hide her claws/tail (so why not this too?). 

The base phrase Tohru is saying here is 私たちの仲じゃないですか, which roughly means “that’s just our relationship,” and is used commonly when being thanked for doing a favor for someone close. It’s similar in meaning to something like “hey of course, no problem, I know you’d do the same for me.”

Tohru puts a little spin on it by adding the “eternal” to make it 永遠の仲, which is a separate phrase that means probably what you’d think it means.

This quick cut to Tohru’s feet and the light “foot pop” motion... I have a hard time believing it’s anything but the director trying to give some subtle “goodbye kiss when leaving for work” vibes, even if they aren’t literally kissing. Just me?

Here she says あのトール ano Tohru, lit. “that Tohru,“ which in this sort of context carries a meaning similar to using an italicized “that” in English: not just any Tohru, but that Tohru, the famous one. The implication is that yes indeed Tohru is well-known among other dragons—and known to be quite strong and merciless.

It’s not a particularly big deal, but technically this is 人間と, i.e. Living with.

The ball hands thing is generally thought of as “Doraemon hands” in Japan. Doraemon gets the name from the food “dorayaki,” but “Dora” is also how you pronounce the first two syllables in “Dragon” (ドラゴン doragon).

Keep this in mind.

挨拶 (あいさつ) aisatsu, often translated as “greeting(s)”, is a lot bigger of a thing culturally for Japan than it might be for where you live. Though translated as “greetings” it also includes farewells and more. Basically a general term for “in X situation, say Y” style semi-set phrases.

In more traditionally minded companies, for example, employees are often expected to give a rote ohayou gozaimasu when they arrive (even if they think no one is around to hear it), and may get chewed out for not doing so or half-assing it. Then when passing someone in the hallway etc., an otsukare-sama desu, and yet another phrase when leaving for the day. Also the ittekimasu and itterasshai (when leaving home/saying bye to them) or tadaima and okaeri (returning home/welcoming back) that probably many anime-watchers are familiar with. Even itadakimasu is an aisatsu. 

Obviously every culture utilizes “greetings” like this, but in Japan they’re pretty heavily ritualized and treated as a cornerstone of human relations, a key part of showing respect for your fellow humans (even people you hate!) and ensuring the smooth working of society. It’s not the thing they chose to have Tohru put first in her “living with humans [in Japan]” notebook for nothing!

The English “the” is a popular word to use in Japanese as an intensifier, similar to how it’s used in a sentence like “this isn’t just an [example], it’s the [example]!” 

It’s usually pronounced “za” and often written that way in katakana (ザ) for this usage. (If you type “za” in a Japanese IME, most will offer up “the” as one of the options to convert the text to, even.) 

The word she says here is 喝 katsu, which, in this sense, is a stereotypical thing for a Zen teacher to say to a student as a stand-in for explaining some deep Zen concept that words can’t describe. So here, it’s kinda like “Yes this may seem contradictory, but really it’s just too complicated for you! No more questions!” 

Obviously that’s oversimplified and it’s used in other ways too (see Saikawa’s father during the sports festival), but just for the purposes of this joke, there you have it.

The word used in the Japanese here is 建前 tatemae. If you’ve ever studied any Japanese, you’ve likely heard about honne vs. tatemae, your inner feelings vs. the front you put up for social reasons. 

People new to the language are sometimes prone to approaching that distinction with “well why doesn’t everyone just honne all the time, why play games?”, but of course almost everyone splits themselves like this. You probably hate your boss, but you also probably don’t tell them that to their face to avoid getting fired. Or maybe you have some family members you can’t stand, but act nice around anyway because it’s not worth the trouble to start fights. 

Japan just put names to the idea, and maybe leans a little more toward encouraging tatemae in more situations.

This is せいぜい悩むんですね.

せいぜい seizei as an adverb means doing something to utmost extent one is capable of. You’ve likely heard it from a villain somewhere saying something like “Struggle all you like, wahaha!”. 

Though it’s not necessarily down-talky like that, in modern times that is the trend (you can use it for yourself no problem, but if used to talk about someone else’s actions it may come off as belittling). Tohru, as one of the strongest beings in the setting and with the pride to match, uses it a lot.

悩む nayamu is to worry, fret, ruminate over (some difficulty etc.).

The sentence in general is one that is highly context dependent, but here it’s Tohru thinking to herself, somewhat impressed, that Ilulu is actually putting serious thought into the question of what she wants to do with her life. 

And, as the background suggests, finding it surprisingly adorable/admirable; up until just a few days ago, Ilulu was known as one of the most extremist Chaos faction dragons obsessed with nothing but destruction, yet look at her now. In a way, Tohru’s taken over an older sister kind of role for her.

(For the curious, if the ね was dropped or swapped to a よ here, that would imply she was directing the comment “at” Ilulu, rather than saying it in observation.)

The word here is 契る chigiru, which usually means to swear/pledge (e.g. swear a pact, pledge your love), but can also be a somewhat fancy word for having sex, especially of a married couple.

I feel like I personally would have used more of a euphemism for the translation.

The phrase here is ダメの助 dame-no-suke, where dame is no/bad/can’t do/useless, and (no)suke is a common ending to first names; both actual names and sort of on-the-spot nicknames; someone looking sleepy might be called a 寝坊助 nebou-suke in the same way as “sleepyhead.”

Or, as here, sticking to the end of things for comedic effect or as indication of a panicked/confused thought process.

（ ° ρ ° ）

Just in case: this one is also expressing shock, but a kind of dumbfounded shock. The ρ is a drooling, slack-jawed mouth.

In the next episode preview they talk about where Ilulu will sleep, since they don’t have room for another bed. Ilulu wants to sleep in the closet—or more specifically, the 押し入れ oshi-ire, which is a particular closet layout you’ll find in many Japanese bedrooms. 

The typical difference is that an 押し入れ was originally designed for 和室 washitsu, traditional-style Japanese rooms with tatami floors, primarily as storage space for folded-up futon/blankets/pillows, as you would put those away during the day to free up space. Thus they typically are rather wide, mildly deep, and have a waist-height, solid horizontal divider capable of supporting a lot of weight. 

They actually are pretty okay for sleeping in if you’re not claustrophobic or tall.

Anyway, I bring this up because you know who else very famously sleeps in one of these? That’s right: Doraemon.

[tricksheart]

I got to write this down but here’s a rough draft of another NEO: TWETY verse with Akira being trapped from going home to his own world 3 years ago.

Right after the events of the original game, Akira finds a blue butterfly shimmering around him. Thinking this as his way home, he follows the sparkly trail until he steps into the city of Shinjuku, which is on the verge of collapsing due to Shiba’s, Kubo’s and Haz’s plans to wipe out the area. Due to a glitch coming from the butterfly suddenly because of the fusion and inversion of Shinjuku, Akira gets turned into a reaper and is a new recruit but blasts past being just support like Beat had did in the game before. 

However, he gets put into a sleep induced coma because of the plains of fields not existing anymore and is carried from Shinjuku to Shibuya, where all of the remaining reapers go after the city is destroyed for good and is wiped from everyone’s mind in the RG. Hishima Sakazuki was supposed to show him the ropes and be his role model but with everything going on with Shibuya witnessing the same fate almost as Shinjuku did and Akira refusing to even wake up, makes this close to near impossible. Not to mention the fall out between Shiba and Hishima three years ago also put a damper on things. Akira finally wakes up at the end of week 3, even after Neku appears. While not doing much of anything to help, he does smile at the fact the team had been using the pins he designed 3 and a half years prior, aka the bunny themed pins. Akira’s appearance is his 3rd semester after school outfit, as the one with the scarf and long gray coat. Nicknames for him include; Sleepy, Narcolept, Bunny-Boy, Curly, and Aki-chu.

He himself can shape-shift in a Black & White Lapin / Rabbit based noise monster during an optional boss fight. Using various sizes of carrots as dagger weapons and using the giant front teeth to either pierce the ground or push Players into the out of bounds place and squish them. Also uses a lot of trip wires while in battle as well, making it hard to navigate while fighting him. His flame aura that surrounds him when preparing to go at full power is bright blue instead of the normal dark purple that the other reapers since he’s technically from an alternate universe than the world of TWEWY. He still obtains his abilities as when he does when being an actual player instead of a reaper, such as: Charming ( can make anyone fall in love / admire him, making the selected person let out secrets and the like ) and Distort ( secret ability, can revamp reality at will to make an area different from before ). He loses the Imprint ability but that isn’t as useful as the other two and doesn’t feel anything different by not having that skill.

At the end of the NEO: TWEWY game, he helps the other Shinjuku reapers that are left rebuild the city, with the help of his Distort ability as he is the only real one that knows what Shinjuku looked like before it was destroyed. Of course, his version of city isn’t what it was like in the TWEWY world as places are different but everyone isn’t picky about how accurate it looks and after it gets done, he finds the blue butterfly again after a few years while he’s still helping in Shinjuku’s reaper’s game. He makes a choice to either stay with the people he’s grown to know or leave. It gives him a heavy heart but he finally decides to go home, becoming a persona user once again even if he still had the 300 unsuccessful attempts to get past the interrogation room scene, Akira makes a vow to make things right in the Shinjuku, Shibuya, and Tokyo as whole as he decides that he won’t die or lose to Goro Akechi ever again. Little does he know that his story is only 1/3 done and will take all the willpower he has to save the entire world from complete destruction and ruin.

[mahalkitajohnnysuh]

Couple Things (Part I)

I know this can be a part of the Sugar and Fluff series, but it’s quite long to be a part of the compilation. Hence, another mini-series is born that focuses on Johnny and Essie’s life as a couple. 

How can she, or anyone else, not resist the charms of this giant cutie? Right? As always...

Mahal ko kayong lahat! :)

–––

Summary: This piece is inspired by another prompt, which I’m not sure if it came from the fluff generator or a friend of mine. It goes like this:

Essie is sick with a cold and can't sleep. Johnny wakes up from Essie’s twisting and turning and has to entertain Essie somehow until they fall asleep.

POV: 3rd person because I believe I wrote it earlier this year. 

Word count: 1,200 + words

Warning: Although this piece was written before the coronavirus outbreak, I do not recommend sleeping with your partner or loved one when you are sick. Please do not follow Essie even if she has a drop-dead gorgeous boyfriend. 

Recommended listening: I will list down the songs mentioned in the story, which I hope you’ll like. 

–––

Essie insisted to sleep beside Johnny even though she was sick.

“It’s just the colds, nothing serious,” she grumbled, lying down on the right side of his bed. “But baby, it can be if you don’t recover from it soon,” was the reply of her boyfriend who looked down at her from the foot of the bed.

The girl snorted before burying herself in the blanket. “Whatever, I’ll sleep here,” she said, shimming herself further into the soft fabric on top of her.

Johnny groaned at his girlfriend’s reaction before he went to his side of the bed. He made sure there was a reasonable distance between them because he didn’t want to get sick as well.

As much as he wanted Essie to sleep in her bed and check on her from time to time, she insisted that she’ll sleep beside him so he wouldn’t be standing up now and then just to see how her condition is.

“I don’t want to be a burden, so I’ll just sleep beside you. I’ll keep a respectable distance, so you don’t get sick too,” she chuckled, flashing him a small smile.

He wasn’t able to respond as she grabbed her medicine, water tumbler, and blanket from her room and placed it on his right bedside table.

\\\

It was two in the morning that Johnny realized he couldn’t sleep properly. Essie kept on twisting and turning on her side of the bed to the point that she was about to fall.

Once he heard a loud thud on the floor, he got up immediately and saw his girlfriend tangled in her blanket.

At first, Essie didn’t react, but when she rolled towards the cabinet, she hit her head against a stray shoe, and she cried in pain.

Johnny stifled his laughter at the scene but shook his head afterward to get back to what he was supposed to do. He picked up Essie from the floor, dusted off her blanket and body from germs, and placed her back on her side of the bed.

As he did so, he heard her mumbling something. “What is it, baby?” he whispered, looking at her face that was mostly obscured by her curls.

“Thank you, daddy,” she mumbled, raising her arms in the air before curling them around his neck.

“So, I’m daddy now?” he chuckled, brushing her hair away from her face. He frowned when he saw how red it was and how sweat pooled on the corners of her forehead and temple.

“Baby, do you feel sticky?” He slipped his hand underneath the blanket and felt for her back. It was damp with sweat. “Oh no, you need to change your shirt.”

The girl groaned before she sat up on the bed. “Can I borrow a shirt, please?”

Johnny was quick to answer her question by plucking a clean shirt from his closet. He handed it to her, and she gestured him to turn around as she changed her shirt. A few seconds later, the sweaty shirt was discarded on the floor, and Essie buried herself deep into the comforter again.

He sighed at the sight of his girlfriend still wiggling under her blanket, thinking that it was better to take care of her when she slept on her bed.

\\\

At 3:30 in the morning, Essie was staring at the ceiling and humming to herself.

She found it hard to sleep again after Johnny picked her up from the floor. She glanced at her boyfriend, who was able to sleep after that incident. But after checking up on him for the fifth time, she was surprised when she saw him looking back at him.

“Youngho!” She cried, slapping his forearm, “Don’t scare me like that.”

“Why are you not asleep?” He asked, his eyes never leaving her face.

“I find it hard to sleep again after I fell. Thanks for picking me up again, by the way,” he acknowledged her words with a nod, “But now I can’t sleep. Sorry if I woke you up. Was I humming too loud?”

“It’s fine. So, how do I make you fall asleep again?”

“Why do you want me to sleep, John?”

“Essie, you need it so you can get better quickly. Don’t be such a brat.”

The girl whined and kicked her legs on the bed as her response. The guy rolled his eyes first before facing his girlfriend seriously. “Baby…” he said lowly, one of his hands gripping her forearm.

“Please make me fall asleep then,” was her calm and collected demand.

Oh, brother. This is going to be hard, he thought, removing his hand from her arm.

“What do you want me to do then?” He started to peel off the blanket from her upper body so he could see more of her.

“The usual, with some singing,” she chirped, clapping her hands together in glee. He moved closer to her – damn it if he gets sick later or on some other day – and ran his hand through her hair.

Essie closed her eyes as Johnny detangled the knots from her hair with his hand. He saw her smiling as he massaged her scalp, leaning her face closer to his hand. She closed her eyes as her cheek pressed against his palm, contented with his action.

He couldn’t help but smile at her reaction and used his free hand to caress the sides of her face. It was warmer than usual (since she was sick), and he pressed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

“Please sing for me, my love,” she mumbled after his cool lips left her.

He thought for a moment, stroking his chin and looking up at the window across him. The girl peeked at him, and he caught her looking. “Essie!” He whined, squeezing her sides gently before he laid down on the bed again.

Johnny sang his version of The Beatles’ ‘Martha My Dear’ by replacing the name with hers.

Hold your head up, you silly girl

Look what you’ve done

When you find yourself in the thick of it

Help yourself to a bit of what’s around you

Silly girl

He heard her giggle, making him peck her on the nose. “That song fits you well,” he commented after he was done.

“Hmph, that song was about Paul McCartney’s dog,” she said, opening her eyes to look at him. “More, please?”

Johnny was in deep thought again as he tapped her outer thigh. Essie closed her eyes again, and this time, she felt sleep was finally beckoning to her.

For his second song, he didn’t sing – he did his version of Yo La Tengo’s ‘Our Way to Fall’. It was technically a song but the lyrics were done in a spoken word manner instead of being sung.

So try and try even if it lasts an hour

With all our might, try and make it ours

Cause we’re on our way

We’re on our way to fall in love

He felt sleepy when he was about to recite the last verse. But he persevered until he reached the last word. When he did, he heard Essie softly snoring with her mouth slightly ajar.

The baby princess brat has finally succumbed to slumber.

He sighed in relief and gently removed his hand from her face. When she didn’t wake, he shut his eyes and drifted off immediately.

–––

FIN

[goldenjellyfish12]

Helen Blackthorn versus the sexist pancake mix.

Author's note: this is the first fanfiction I've ever posted (actually the first fanfiction I've ever finished) and I wrote it on notes in my phone so sorry if there are any typos or punctuation errors.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters all characters belong to @cassandraclare

When Helen Blackthorn was little she used to love helping her mom in the kitchen. Helping her mom make breakfast and dinner for her little brothers and sisters is one of her favorite things to do,she knows exactly how to prepare their food and their little quirks so that they'll eat or her and her mom have worked so hard to make. Except on Saturdays when she gets to sleep in just a little bit and when she wakes up and head to the kitchen of The Institute there are a stack of warm delicious pancakes waiting for her. Pancake Saturdays are her siblings favorite day and to be fair it was Helen's favorite too at least it was until her mom got sick. When Eleanor Blackthorn (Helen's adoptive mother technically stepmom but Eleanor has always treated Helen and Mark like they were her own flesh and blood. She sang them to sleep every night growing up, put Band-Aids on their boo boos kiss them and told them everything was going to be alright when they fell down or when they woke up with nightmares in the middle of the night.)

First got sick only a few people knew Andrew Helen's father, Mark and the Silent Brothers. So the first Saturday after her mom and dad sat her and Mark down to tell him that their mom had cancer Helen woke up super early tiptoeing carefully into her parents bedroom to turn off their alarm to let them sleep in knowing that they needed the rest because baby Tavvy had to be fed every 3 hours and had he's last bottle was at 5 a.m. so they would have to be up until 8:00. After successfully  turning off their alarm and not waking them or Tavvy in his bassinet next to their bed she made her way into the kitchen and got the Bisquick box from the cabinet and started following the instructions on the back of the Bisquick box very carefully. When the first batch of pancakes we're done and they were all burnt she wasn't that worried she heard about the first Pancake phenomenon she knew that the first batch of Pancakes were supposed to be burnt but after the next three batches turned out to be burnt and black on the outside and raw and gooey in the inside she was about to have a meltdown. She knew how to cook, her mom taught her how to cook! She was good no great at cooking! She just wanted to do something nice for her Mom. Eleanor had given her everything and had always been there for her. And Helen just want to do this one thing and she couldn't even do that! That's when Mark walked in yawning and barefoot his light blonde hair askew and shining in the Morning light still in his blue and turquoise plaid pajama pants and a gray tank top. He made a face of disgust."Smells like you're trying to burn down the Institute" he said in a sleepy voice looking over at sister. Helen was on the brink of Tears. She saw Mark's eyes widen taking in the scene, Helen standing over the stove spatula in hand, red face trying to hold back tears, a stack of burnt but gooey Pancakes on a plate to her right, Helen's messy bun falling in ringlets around her face, Helen's oversized t-shirt that works as a nightgown splattered with raw batter. Helen tried to look up at her brother but she couldn't, she couldn't take the look in his eyes the look of pity. Then his arms were around her in a big bear hug. Yep, Helen was definitely crying she could feel the hot ,salty liquid running down her face. She hated crying in front of anyone especially in front of her younger siblings. She wanted her brothers and sisters to see her as strong and capable not  fragile and the type of girl that would  cry over freaking pancakes! That's when she registered Mark's voice in her ear saying"What's wrong, Hels? Did you get burnt? Are you okay? Hey it's okay. Helen it's going to be okay whatever it is it's going to be okay" Helen felt herself smile just a little bit. How kind, caring, and patient her brother is with her if only he could be a little bit more patient with Julian she thinks to herself as she unwraps herself from her brother. "I'm fine" she says in a voice that she wishes wasn't so shaky "Obviously you're not fine. You're crying" said Mark. So  Helen tells Mark how she wanted to do something special for their parents especially their mom and how it all went horrible because the stupid pancakes all turned out to be burnt and raw. "Seriously how can something be burned and raw at the same time? It makes no sense!"she said at the end of her small rant of how her morning had begun. He gave her a small chuckle and smiled at that last part "Okay" he said "We can still fix this!"

"How?" Said Helen

"Well first we have to throw those awful pancakes away their stinking up the whole entire room. Second we need to open a window and get a candle. 3rd there looks like there is just enough pancake mix for one more batch which will not be enough for our family so while I'm cooking the pancakes you can make some more pancake mix." Helen didn't think it was that bad but she could have just become numb to smell and then her and Mark got to work. Mark going to look for a candle and throwing the pancake away and Helen opening a window and starting on new pancake batter. Mark walked in with a candle and a lighter he's at the candle on The middle of the island Helen watch Mark carefully as he lit the candle making sure that he didn't burn himself with it. It didn't matter that Mark was almost 14 and that they were Shadowhunters and did dangerous things all the time he was her little brother and it was her job make sure that he was safe and didn't do stupid things like burn himself with lighters. Mark successfully lit the candle and went over to the stove to start cooking the leftover pancakes mix and Helen started on making new pancake mix for Mark to cook. While mixing the pancake mix. Helen kept glancing over to Mark making sure that he didn't burn himself on the stove or pan. When she was done making up the pancake mix she picked up the bowl and bought it over by the stove next to Mark. "Perfect timing" he said "I just got done with the first batch of not burnt Pancakes"  Helen hand him the bowl of pancake mix and then looked over to the cook pancakes and noticed that they we're not burnt on the outside and gooey and Raw on the inside like hers but a perfect toasty golden color and no goo in sight. She was more than slightly annoyed by this and mumbled under her breath "sexist pancake mix." While Mark finishes cooking the pancakes Helen decides to clean up and set the table occasionally glancing over to make sure that Mark hasn't burnt himself. What can you say a big sisters job is never done. When Mark is done cooking the pancakes Helen takes  the stack of pancakes off the counter next to the stove and places them on the middle of the island where the candle was but has since been blown out and moved. Just as Helen put the pancakes on the island the door of the kitchen opens and Andrew and Eleanor Blackthorn walk in a fussy baby Tavvy on Eleanor's hip. Helen look at the clock on the stove it reads 8:06. Helen and Mark share look as if to say right on time. as Andrew and Eleanor walk-in Andrew is cut off saying something like "I can't believe we slept through our alarm the kids are going to be up any minute and we haven't even started on breakfas-" the room goes silent except for Tavvy lite fussing. Andrew and Eleanor take in the room the table set, kitchen clean,stack of pancakes on the island, milk, apple and orange juice sitting on the island next to the pancakes with a couple of glasses, cups with lids and reusable straws for the young ones ,and a sippy cup for Dru layout ready for them to choose what they want to drink. "Surprise" Mark says "What? How? Said Eleanor and disbelief. "It was all Helens idea she did everything" said Mark

"Everything except make the pancakes." Helen scoffs "all of my pancakes turned out burnt on the outside and raw on the inside"

"I hate making pancakes mine end up the same way" said Eleanor as she started fixing tavvy formula.

"What but you make pancakes every Saturday morning?" Helen said with a hint of confusion in her voice

"No, I make pancakes on Saturday mornings" Andrew said proudly

"Sexist pancakes" Eleanor and Helen Grumble at the same time.

Helen smiles and thinks to herself of what an awesome badass feminist Shadowhunter her mom is and how lucky she is to have her.

The end

@purple-haired-faerie

[rockmiyabideusexmachina]

2020 Megaman Valentine’s Day Contest - Cat. 1 (Talent) Results!

Thank you to everyone again for your patience! This is getting posted way later than I wanted to. As much as I try to keep it short and sweet, I never do, so bear with my walls of text. 

For the talent category this year, the theme was about killing Mega Man with kindness. More specifically, entrants had to create their own original love/Valentine’s-themed Robot Master or equivalent boss character that was created to defeat Mega Man with the power of love! Even though the theme title and concept alluded more to the classic Robot Master character contests, designs for any series were acceptable. But other than one Navi and one Reploid entry, everyone stuck to a Classic-series themed creation. So you were all pretty consistent! 

There were a total of 16 entries for this category this year. Thank you all for your participation! It was extremely hard to choose winners for this category, because you all had really clever and creative concepts based off of this theme. So thank you for thinking up such clever and cool characters!!

Also thanks to Reploid 21XX for the coloring book prizes and for some additional insight. 

Again, raffle prize winners will be contained in both posts, so keep an eye out between your name and your art. Not all raffle prize winners are contained in this post. I’ll be contacting all winners soon enough, so sit tight! Might be late after work tonight, so don’t panic if you don’t hear from me right after this is posted.

Your category winners and full gallery of entries are right here, after the break:

Category 1 (Talent) -  Dr. Wily’s Greatest Creation: Killing Mega Man With Kindness

[Full Talent Gallery]

1.) @mo-sketchbook​:

*For coming in 1st, mo-sketchbook has won $100 via Paypal, or a prize of their choice up to that value AND a Rockman 7 Coloring Book.*

First and foremost, I appreciate all the effort you put into covering so many aspects of your creation, from the various design viewpoints, weapon get form for Mega Man, and showing the weapon in action. I really loved all the things you integrated into the design to give off the feeling that it is a love-based character. The “love bug” form, cherub-like Heat/Plug-type facial features, and how you utilized hearts in different ways for his design and powers. 

I’m no Keiji Inafune, but I feel like this is a concept he would greenlight, in terms of it following his Robot Master design formula. It doesn’t need to be super detailed or flashy, but still fits the mold very well! The thought of the hearts missing their target and love energy then getting weaker is actually pretty clever, too. Cute, and I wuv it. 

2.) @peachycircuits​:

*For coming in 2nd, peachy has won $50 via Paypal, or a prize of their choice up to that value AND a Rockman 7 Coloring Book*

As usual, on the technical side of things, your art is one of the more polished and clean entries of the bunch. Combining a couple different aspects - swans as a creature known as a symbol of love, bonded for life like in marriage, and turning that into an inseparable pair of Robot Masters, was a clever way to think about your design, in terms of the theme of this category. 

And then echoing that with the iconic Swan Lake, making them ballet dancers, is like taking Tundra Man and Gemini Man’s concept up another notch. Plus, not gonna lie, amused seeing Mega Man getting equipped with a tutu. LOL So even if it’s not as heart-themed as most of the other entries, I totally liked how you thought outside the box a little bit for this. 

3.) Komito Amae:

*For coming in 3rd, Komito has won $25 via Paypal, or a prize of their choice up to that value*

I figured a cupid-styled arrow theme would pop up in a bunch of entries, but your Reploid, Beta, here caught my eye. Both in terms of the hearts, arrows and wings incorporated into her armor, and the pretty sweet looking buster that she and X both have equipped. 

While I’m not sure how it would play out in the game, I think it would be interesting to suddenly take control of random enemies in a stage, and be able to change perspective as them for a short time, after you have shot them. Whether it would be to take out an enemy horde, or perform a task X can’t that the enemy could, it would be different! Can’t see it quite having the same powerful effect on a Maverick boss, but it’s certainly neat to think about how that could work!

And the rest of the wonderful entries, in alphabetical order by alias: 

@autobot-bumblebee​:

*Raffle Prize Winner*  Dreamwave Comics: Issue 4 Page 15

I’m sorry you didn’t win a cash prize this time! Please don’t take me hostage! I totally loved the creative vintage chocolate factory mascot backstory, along with making your entry like an Ariga-styled character sheet page. Certainly get that retro feel with her clothing design. Her rose blade kinda reminds me of other hand-turned-blade-like-weapon characters, such as Alan Gabriel in the Big O or Ed transmuting one in FMA. Which is always a snazzy transformation for a robot!

@drewblossom​:

In all honesty, if I hadn’t placed you in the humor category, I think this would have very likely been somewhere in the top 3 for this category. A cuddly teddy bear with a massive Ariga-Quick Man-sized heart for a chest, extending flailing tube arms, who just wants to hug Mega Man to death is so amusing and awesome of a design. Hugs for everyone!

FluffyFrostyFury:

Your take of heat-seeking arrows and the added high jump powers were certainly a different take compared to the other cupid-styled creations. Definitely would be nice gameplay bonuses when equipped. I like how Mega Man also has the wings sprout out of his head, to mimic Cherub Woman’s pigtails, rather than the usual spot you would assume, on his back. 

HealerCharm:

Hahaha, I love how your creation has caused Mega Man to wave the white flag after falling in love...wait, it isn’t White Day, and he should be giving her a gift if it was! XD Her hair tied up into a heart was a creative touch, much like how her dress flows into all those heart shapes. Adorable!

@inanehipsterslang​:

Um, can...can I count on you to vote for Bernie this election year?

Remember kids, it’s what’s on the inside that counts, looks don’t matter. Everyone deserves love, even those you consider ‘vermin.’ This was certainly an unexpected take on the theme, and gave me a good laugh, too. ‘Boiling-hot water...with a hint of citrus!’ It burns, but it smells so lemony-fresh!! XD But the two different moves fit together well, to protect and attack. 

I like how you still incorporated a heart shape into Rodent Woman’s design with, both in her chest shape and the “nostril” area which is echoed in the Rodent Rover. And also props for giving her the non-armor form, unique compared to other entries. 

Mattasaurs:

On the one hand, your design feels so different for a Robot Master, and maybe more Navi-like. But then I get the Astro/Galaxy-type eye vibe, and sort of a Plant Man~ish body with Devil hands feel, and see how it’d fit into Classic. It’s a unique look, and I liked it the more I inspected it. I really do love the idea of the heart bubble entrapping more and more enemies, and the big ol’ group hug ending up bursting their love bubble. It’s a different concept that stood out!

Minnie:

Our Navi of the bunch combined the love bug and cupid design, but your concept changed up the attack to suck out the energy of it’s target. Which almost made me think she should have an arrow-like mosquito nose, to feast on her target that way. XD I liked your wing shield concept and RiCO-styled skirt of hearts. Rock gets some cool shades in his Love Soul/Cross form, and I get the ProtoSoul vibe, with the shield transferring to his arm as well.

@pstart​:

Another Heat/Plug-type design Share Man looks cute and sleepy, but is also “clumsy and weak.” His ability is to share body parts, so “the danger is in him sharing his less than ideal parts with his opponents.” It’s a totally neat concept, to see Mega Man lose his buster almost by accident, and now be powerless to stop Share Man. His split color scheme drives home the concept that his parts might not all be his own, and sort of a Frankenstein bot at times. Props to that idea!

While his weapon gives Mega Man the power to make enemies docile and sleepy, I really almost want to see Mega Man get dumb parts of enemies, too! Helmet switched to a Met helmet, Batton wings, a big Suzy eye! It’s now I’ve got your power...but...but what am I supposed to do with it? XD

RetroNinjin:

Unlike most others, your entry pushed the heart theme heavily in her armor design around the entire head and shoulder parts, so I definitely felt the love vibe. The color scheme fits well. Just would have liked to have had seen a little more information about her attack and concept.

RoninApprentice:

Mega Man having a “Wing Man” to set him up is a hilarious and clever idea! I give you kudos for thinking outside the box a bit on your concept and theme here. The shipping chart certainly drives the idea home, too. You still give him a classy/formal look, and keep the wing man aviation origin apparent in his attack style. Certainly a different idea having the heart bowtie transfer to Rock’s helmet in the form change, but it really doesn’t look that bad there, opposed to around his neck like it would be normally.

@star-crossed-swords​:

Different from the other cupid concepts, Eros Woman utilizes a Search-Man like targeting system to hit her targets. I like the heart scope addition over her and Rock’s eye when they go into firing mode. You took a different approach to the wing concept compared to others, echoing Cinnamon’s hairstyle in many respects. But it certainly fits with the rest of her design nicely, and looks good for Mega Man’s equipped form.

@star-shaped-soul:

Love that you were able to both include a drawing and your own sprite, to mix in with the weapon equip ones. That is one powerful crush Mega Man has on his enemies now! I feel bad for Crush Man with how big and heavy those snare trap hands of his are. This seems like a Robot Master too cute for Wily to design; more like he stole him and added horrible, cruel hands onto him! This is taking a crush on someone to a whole different level! XD

Yuri Kadry:

When equipped with Cupid Man’s power, I like the visor Mega Man gets. I think this is also a clever use of the weapon, having enemies shot attracted to one another, causing them to collide into each other. Well thought out! Love the original sprite art, and he stands out nicely against the pinks and purples in the background. 

[thinksthatit-sbesttonotlookback]

How Well Do I Know My Bookshelf?.

       Hello Everyone! In order to fight boredom while being cooped up, I decided to do the “How Well Do You Know Your Bookshelf” challenge. The way it works is that I have to answer 28 questions about my books, and each book is picked via coordinates that I have gathered from Random.org, @calamariscorpion, and @reverend-pootis . Once again, thank you for helping me with this! Normally you’re supposed to keep track of your score, but I’m too sleepy to care about score right at this moment.

(If you wish to try it, you can look up the questions online!) And now, here are the results!

- Without looking at the description, tell us what the book is about! (7, 41)

The book I ended up landing on was the first edition of the 3-in-1 Fullmetal Alchemist manga by Hiromu Arakawa. This book in particular is about Edward and Alphonse Elric, who are alchemists attempting to search for the Philosopher’s stone in order to restore their bodies.

-Without looking it up, what is the genre of this book? (9, 17)

The book I got was Red, White, & Royal Blue by Casey Mcquiston. This is a LGBTQ+ Romance.

- Without looking at the book, tell us what is on the cover! (4, 37)

The book I got was The Curiosity House: The Shrunken Head by Lauren Oliver and H.C. Chester. I love this book so much that I practically memorized the cover. It’s of the Dumfrey Dime Museum, and our main quartet standing in each of the windows.

- Without looking it up, what is the main character's name? (4, 15)

I landed on A Map of Days by Ransom Riggs. The main character is Jacob Portman.

- Without looking, name a side character! (9, 32)

I got Heartstopper by Alice Oseman. I have not read this book yet, so I’ll just throw out the first name that comes into my mind: John. (I’m incorrect)

- Guess how many pages the book has without looking! (If you guess 25 below or 25 above the number, you can count it as a win!) [5, 23]

I landed on The Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling. I actually DNFed this book, so I don’t know how many pages it has; I’ll guess 649. (I just checked, it’s over 800. I’m sad)

- Without looking it up, what rating did you give this book? If you land on a book you haven't read, pick a new set of numbers. (3, 21)

I landed on The Talisman by Stephen King, which I haven’t even opened. And since I don’t have extra coordinates, I went to the next available read book, which happens to be Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai. I gave this book 5/5 stars (It’s one of my all-time favs.)

- Without looking, where does this book take place? (4, 29)

I landed on Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer. Even though I haven’t read this, I know that this takes place in Washington.

- Without looking, what are the parent's names? (1, 32)

I landed on This Book is Not good for You by Pseudonymous Bosch. Unfortunately, I don’t remember any of the three parents named in this book, so no points for me!

- Without looking at the hardback, what color is the book under the dust jacket? (6, 48)

I accidentally cheated on this question, so this one does not count for me. I originally got Case Study of Vanitas by Jun Mochizuki, which is a paperback, like all of my mangas. The next book with a dust jacket was Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender, and I could see under the dust jacket from my bed, which renders this question moot. (It was Yellow, if you wished to know)

- Without looking, is there anything on the hardback? Like an imprint or an image of some sort? (2, 39)

I got The Legend of Luke by Brian Jacques!!! I never took the dust jacket off of this book when I read it last, so I don’t know. I’m going to assume that it has one, because it’s written like an epic. (There wasn’t anything on it :( )

- Without taking the dust jacket off, what is the color of the font on the hardback? (1, 21)

I landed on Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo, which happened to be a paperback. The next available book with a dust jacket is All By My Selves by Jeff Dunahm. I believe that the font is yellow! (it’s actually this really nice red)

- Without looking do the chapters have titles or are they just numbered? (8, 46)

I got Soul Eater vol. 2 by Atsushi Ohkubo. Since this is a manga they have titles. 

- Without looking at the book cover, does it have an award on it? (3, 7)

I got the Dark Half by Stephen King, and my copy does not have any type of award on it.

- Without looking, does this book have any author blurbs on the front cover? (3,4)

I got Skeleton Crew by Stephen King, and there are no author blurbs on the front cover.

- Without looking, does the book have a description on the back? (5, 4)

I landed on Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and I believe that my copy has a description on the back (No, it doesn’t. All it has is an introduction, some notes, and about the person who wrote the introduction)

- Without looking, does this book have an author photo? (7, 12)

I got the 2nd Fullmetal Alchemist 3-in-1 by Hiromu Arakawa. I don’t believe she has an author photo of herself, but I do know that she has her cow persona on her author segment. Since this question is technically asking about a photo with a human, my answer is no.

- Without looking it up, is this author using a pen name? (6, 49)

I got the Volume 2 of Case Study of Vanitas. I do not believe that Jun Mochizuki is a pen name

- Without peeking, what POV is this book written in? 1st or 3rd? (2, 17)

I landed on Eulalia! By Brian Jacques. Having read quite a few of the Redwall Books, I can safely say that all of them are written in third person.

- Without looking are there any pictures or graphics in this book? (7, 20)

I landed on volume 2 of My Hero Academia by Kohei Horikoshi. This is a manga, which is almost entirely illustrations.

- Without looking, does it have an epilogue? (4, 36)

I landed on The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. I just read this so i should remember this, but I am blanking out on this. I'm just gonna take a risk and say that it doesn’t have an epilogue.

- Without looking, does this book have a prologue? (8, 3)

I can safely say that the third volume of Ouran Highschool Host Club by Bisco Hatori does not have a prologue.

- Without looking, is this book signed? (6, 23)

I got the first volume of Black Butler by Yana Toboso, and it, like my other books, isn’t signed.

- Without looking, do the page numbers have a design above or below them or none at all? (7, 27)

I landed on the 2nd volume of Noragami Stray God by Adachitoka. Because it’s a manga, I know that there’s no designs on the page numbers.

- Without looking, do the chapter headers have designs on them? (4, 54)

I ended up on Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer again. Having not read them, I do not know, but I’ll assume that they don’t have any designs on them.

- Without looking, are the acknowledgements in the front or the back of the book? (4, 17)

The coordinates gave me Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan. I haven’t read this since middle school, but I’ll assume that it's in the back… (The book had no acknowledgements)

- Without looking, what year was this book published? (2, 33)

This is the question I was dreading, especially since I landed on  Mossflower by Brian Jacques. I’m going to lowball it and say that this was written in 2004… (Turns out I highballed it. Mossflower came out in 1988!)

- Without looking, what year did you read this book? (5, 15)

I was also dreading this, as I don’t remember when I read books, just that I have read them. My final book was The Volcano of Fire by Geronimo Stilton. I’m just going to assume that I read it in 2015. (There’s no possible way to verify this)

--

Even though you don’t technically tag someone for one of these, I would like to challenge @cookiecutterwrites and @angelolytle to try this out. Who knows, you may like it!

[The edits aren’t saving]

[toomanysurveys9]

Did you ever build furniture forts as a child? Not often, but yes. My mom never really liked us doing it. She liked order. Still does. Unfortunately. What kind of dog is your favorite? I like Phe and she is a husky mix. Also love Cocoa, and Blaez. Cocoa is half akita and half Phe; Blaez is full-blooded Akita.  Is there anything on television worth watching at the moment? I have The Mentalist on right now. Have you ever had an online meet-up? Nope. What is bothering you as of now? Just a little sleepy.

Do you prefer water or land? Land I guess.

Do you tend to make a lot of messes? Not usually. Are the majority of your friends male or female? What friends? Have you ever considered dropping acid? No. Would you consider yourself to be mature? Most of the time. Describe your music style: It varies a lot depending on my mood. How does your hair currently look? Gross. I need a shower. Are you close to any of your aunts/uncles? Not anymore, no. If you have a car, what color is it? It’s technically in Jacob’s name, but dark gray. Have you ever had a seizure? Yes. When was the last time you were in a hospital? November 2018 was the last time I was in there for me. Do you go on vacations a lot? Not really. Are you self-conscious around other people? I guess so, yes. At your workplace, are you required to wear a uniform? Nope. What is your favorite pair of shoes? Converse! What was the last piece of candy you ate? Hazelnut M&Ms. Is sarcasm like a second language to you? Guess so. Have you ever witnessed a physical fight in real life? Yeah. At school. Made me sick. What do you think of people who get drunk every weekend? No opinion. I used to be that person. What was your GPA in high school? 3.2 or 3 something. Do you require a lot of private time? As much private time as you can as a parent. Do you use a lot of hair products? Nope. What is the most amount of money you’ve spent at one time? I don’t know. What is the best pizza place out there? Pizza King! Have you ever attempted to make anything crafty? Yeah. I’m not crafty and fail. Do you use any medicines daily? Nope. Do you know how to play any odd instruments most people can’t play? Nope. Have you played on any sports teams in your lifetime? No. What is your least favorite holiday? Maybe Easter. Do you curse a lot? Yeah. Wyatt is starting to pick up on it. Does it bother you when people copy your actions? Depends who and why. When was the last time you used a disposable camera? I was very, very young. How many states have you visited in your lifetime? Quite a few. What is your favorite book series, if you have one? I have so many! Are there any movies coming out soon that you’re excited to see? I’m excited for Onward to be on April 3rd. Do you have any celebrity autographs? Nicole C. Mullen. If you could be a Disney character for a day, who would you be? Belle. Or Lilo. What is your favorite color of clothing to wear? Black. What color are your eyes? Blueish-green. Have you ever been punched in the face before? Not that I can think of.

[jiang-xinfei]

Ok! Great news! Cause I finally have a backstory of jiang-xinfei which is gonna turn into wei-xinfei!

At first I thought being the daughter of wangxian or being the soul inside Stygian seal/yin iron that instead of a normal immortal that doesn't include in politics a-fei was different she turned into an immortal at the age of 18-22 and made the yin iron to sleep in/live in and that because the Yin iron was a powerful spiritual tool that xue chonghai fed resentful energy and xinfei couldn't resist it cause after all she was sealed there and put into sleep and when Stygian seal was created and destroyed although she has still his memories and all her original body turned into 10 yr old child and once the Stygian seal was purified she was able to get out and welp adopted by wangxian in the process.

But I got a better and well angstier ver! And I'm making it! 😃

So me like irl me died by accidentally falling into a pit as to why I'm there? Well I was lost on camping and that wasn't supposed to happen and "god" (heavenly officials) gave me a choice to be reincarnated as wwx older sister! And ofc I said yes cause I'm Overly obsessed by wwx story especially him and I love him(non-romantic) sooo I said yes(yes it is tgcf x mdzs au maybe even svsss idk) and since it a mistake death they gave me a chance to choose one of my belongings to become my spiritual tool and well obviously I chose the phone(in another world with my smartphone ref:)

And this is where it starts

And the process of reincarnation happens the rebirth of "insert name" and the birth of the first born child of the Weis wei-yue courtesy name xinfei and since I'm planning to at least lessen wwx burdens or entirely changing the past the moment wwx was born I spoiled and coddled him like no tmr all I did was for him and well he needed it cause in this world wwx was vulnerable towards resentment because resentment gathers towards him more than spiritual and since were a sanren blood also known as the disciples of balance it literally means everything needs to be balanced we can filter resentment to spiritual, or if were in a place theres no resentment we can filter spiritual to resentment, once the energy is slightly tilted off your life is in danger but not to much to death but slowly and wwx was overflowing of resentment and attracted resentment rather than both so he was always in bed or whenever we travelled he has to stay back or always near cangse, not allowed to walk, play around, and etc. Or he'll pass out

And when wwx was 3 and bedridden and we needed to meet the jiangs(I was 6) wwx stayed behind with only weichangze greeting and leaving right after

Before he left He was about to say that he needed to take care of wwx but I intervene and told jfm that wei-xinfei my younger sister needed father to take care of her since she was very week and was sick,I sent weichangze a wink letting him know I was kidding around(which I was in fact not) and he wanted to reprimand me but I shooed him away and cangse saw the wink and went along

So I introduced myself playfully as wei-ying courtesy wuxian 3 yrs old and a boy and since me and wwx was a splitting image with eachother like twins although I'm 3 yrs older and the same height as wwx and no i am not short wwx is just incredibly tall for his age(I'm sure in the future although I'm shorter than him I'm taller than an average girl) and not to mention I act like him only a bit calm and reserve sometimes but nonetheless I'm a splitting image of him (not that I was acting ofc it's just the fact that I'm reincarnated in the world I love and the mere fact I can lift wwx my favorite character/person his burdens up excited me to the point my hidden personality of causing mischief, pranks,curiosity, cheerful, funny, kind, caring, and self-awareness hidden by that bored lazy doesn't give 2 shits about the world persona that I built up washed away) so yes I'm a splitting image of wwx and also I kinda dressed like a boy especially like wwx does in the future like wearing black and red or anything that is black

(So jfm didn't notice anything when he came to pick wwx up later)

Anyways after all of that it was well known in the world that the youngest child of the Wei family I, Wei-xinfei is a fragile, easily sick, weak at cultivation, in near death kid. Not the genius, powerful core that is even as strong as changze(who although is weak compared to everyone but was still not strong compared to normal cultivators)who accidentally made a spiritual tool like yu ziyuans famous first class spiritual tool zidian by accident 😀in the cultivation world

Wei changze thought it was a bad idea that xinfei was known as weak and etc. But I said I like working in the shadows rather than up front and besides they'll know eventually anyways. So they left it at that and by the age of 8 weichangze and cangse sanren died

But we never went into the streets my plan was to bring us to our grandmasters mountain to train there but me and wwx always ends up late everytime we went there since the entrance of baoshan sanren was at random times it was almost impossible to know where it will open up if not for my phone so since we were always late and since I made/saved upmoney before our parents died with the help of my beautifully crafted toys and accessories we were able to meet ends meet for a year but that it our savings was dried so I made accessories that gives a lot of money and toys to sell to the shops loads of them at the same time thought wwx about balance and selfishness derailed him with it including some selfesness but always reminded him to put himself first before everyone else.

At the 3rd yr (wwx 8 Wei xinfei 11)And the entrance to the spirit mountain was opened at burial Mounds since we we were technically not harmed by resentment we can and also pay respects to our family we can go in with this no problem.

Unfortunately we were too late...

So we came back at the foot of the mountain sold a bunch of the accessories , charms, and toys and stayed for 3 days we sent off our journey we were at the outskirts of yiling when wwx was hit with a concerning fever

And we stopped by a near river to rest and attend to wwx . I left him behind a tree because he can't play in the water when his sick when a dog came and wwx was scared with dogs so he ran away from there with a fever and stopped and he was lost in yilling his head panging he stopped at an alleyway with no dogs and laid down.

While in xinfeis pov she searched for him frantically using whatever she could find with the family navigator it was a fire that glows in ur sub conscious mind to navigate ur blooded family or ur adopted ones although it has its downside if ur balanced just right yin and yang energys u can pinpoint exactly where they are or are they alive while if ur not and ur not balanced and filled with resentment yes u can be assured that the other person is alive the problem is ur sense of direction is clouded because after all resentment is everywhere it can pinpoint a general direction but it was troublesome if ur in a place filled with nothing but resentment while having more spiritual in ur body and not balanced with resentment u can only know there alive nothing is else nothing more there personification is gone in the world to put it simply there spirits and cannot be found though you'll know there very very much alive but that it.

And well yilling is so full of resentment especially with burial Mounds the direction was clouded and the more time went bye I could feel the lost of direction slowly out of earth. Meaning wwx was unconsciously filtering resentment to spiritual energy and his presence was slowly fading in xinfeis mind only seeing the flame brighten more and more. And looked and looked for him but he was never found. Something was getting in between them so they could never meet someone who-no it doesn't want them to meet and it's working it was always there even before like a reminder of what will happen and I just ignored it thinking it was nothing until our parents died it slowly shifted into a warning saying he couldn't stop what will happen and that it was hopeless but he still ignored it now... Now that small warning turned into a threat a threat saying that everything that had happened before will happen again but 100+ worse to both of them. She couldn't ignore it anymore but she couldn't stop it from growing too because she was too weak she can't handle this, this is a new dangerous being that once it's ready it will hunt both of them down growing and waiting in the shadows wanting to use there life, and suffering for amusement. And she hates it. She hates feeling useless but she can't help it.

And since then 3 yrs had passed since xinfei was now 14 and he still couldn't find her little brother she gave up everything about going to their grandmaster learned cultivation herself both resentment and spiritual and kept looking for him she already went to yunmeng but he wasn't there gusu, nie, lan, Jin anywhere he wasn't there or more specifically the thing his wwx his yingying from her... The only thing that she's still grabbing the hope too is the flame that was stronger than ever but thats it.

At the fourth year she came back to yilling just one chance and goes to the alleyway wwx was going to be picked up by yunmeng but... He wasn't there... Nothing was there... No life that indicated someone was living there... She... She changed the past... Again... And she didn't have any control of it... And it scared her... That somehow her existence here made everything worse... That somehow she was at fault... And that broke her she cried and cried in that alleyway didn't acre what the people looks sent to her. She just cried and cried.. .

And then a hand reached out to her.

It was the one and only legendary baoshan sanren the mother of her mom, her other family that is alive and well aside a-ying, her grand master, there grandmother...

Lol I might make another one but I'm really sleepy and shit I'll just finish this later as a head canon style or prompt style idc anyways bye!