#tried to make it look like an old photo... but also didn't use any references so it doesn't look like i wanted at all. oh well

[sirfrogsworth]

sirfrogsworth please i am begging to know your boomer uncle’s thought process when he installed all those spam search bars what on earth was he TRUING to do

This was my Uncle Larry. He died in 2014 from a lifetime of smoking.

But while he was alive, he was what my grandma would refer to as "a character."

I feel like seeing his photo gives a partial explanation of the toolbar fiasco.

He was a man stuck in the 1960s but extremely curious about new things.

It was the early 2000s and I was trying to make some extra money. So when he was interested in getting a computer I offered to build him one from scratch.

What I didn't consider about this arrangement was that I was basically signing up to be my uncle's IT person. If something went wrong, it could possibly be due to a mistake I made.

He called me up complaining he couldn't see his websites and that the computer was running slower than normal.

I boot up his system and it takes 10 minutes to get to Windows. The desktop was filled with random programs he installed. And when I opened his web browser I was immediately greeted with a dozen pop up advertisements. Once I nuked them all, all of the different search toolbars were revealed. There was maybe a few inches of space for viewing websites and he had just been looking at photos a segment at a time for weeks before wondering if maybe it wasn't supposed to work like that.

I asked him why he installed all of this crap and he told me he didn't realize he had a choice. He just thought you had to say yes to everything that popped up on the screen. He also opened every spam email he received.

To make matters even worse, when he was searching for lewd pictures of Catherine Bell (aka the "JAG lady" with nice cans), he ended up on various softcore porn sites containing ever more dangerous pop up ads. And he clicked on all of those as well.

He loved the internet. It was a wonderland for such a curious person. He loved typing in random things and just reading and looking at pictures for hours. Aside from Maxim photos of TV celebrities, his searches were pretty innocent. He looked at old cars he used to own and lawnmowers he wanted to buy. He read old war stories and found websites helping him learn how to whittle walking sticks.

But he had no sense of danger. He had a Leroy Jenkins approach to life. He just sort of jumped into whatever without any fear or caution. Which is probably why my parents were so pissed at him when he offered 8 year-old me a ride on his new motorcycle. He immediately took me off-road and up a steep hill without a helmet or telling me to hold on. And it was a Harley, so not really meant for that terrain.

I tried a virus scan and it just said "You have every virus." So I had to nuke his Windows install from orbit. I then gave him computer lessons, which he paid me for, so that sort of worked out despite how frustrating it was to keep him from clicking on random things.

Uncle Larry taught me an important lesson.

Never tell your family you know about computers.

[wasyago]

😳🕶️👌

[thatanimewriter]

COWARD.

➳ request: How would Coco and team JNPR react to their mega intimidating and stronger then strong Male S/O, saving Velvet from Cardin's bullying, by comin' out the wood works, and just punching the absolute SOUL outta Cardin like bro's on his knees, holdin' his stomach, eyes wide, struggling to breath and all that, meanwhile the rest of his team are just trying to jump S/O but are failing MISERABLY, like it's watching 3 4-year olds tryin' to jump prime Mike Tyson, and for reference on what S/O looks like, look up Fredrick Jason the boxer manwha in images, pls and thank you :)

➳ character/s: jaune arc, nora valkyrie, pyrrha nikos, lie ren

➳ warnings: mentions of bullying, violence, swearing, mentions of thirsty people (pyrrha)

➳ notes: i don't write for coco, but i can do jnpr :))

𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 / 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭  / 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 / 𝐰𝐢𝐩 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

── 𝐉𝐀𝐔𝐍𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐂.

cheering you from the sidelines because he has tried standing up to cardin before and it went horribly

is probably mildly embarrassed that he's tiny compared to you, but is very much happy that cardin is ALSO tiny compared to you

got slightly worried when the rest of cardin's team tried to gang up on you

but you just waved jaune away with a lil flirty wink and dealt with the issue very chill

jaune was very hot and bothered after cause he couldn't lie, it was kinda attractive-

but afterwards he's so asking you for training sessions so he can get buff like you

he probably recorded the altercation on his scroll just for later entertainment

it was already put on the internet very soon after, if not livestreamed by someone else in the crowd

── 𝐍𝐎𝐑𝐀 𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐘𝐑𝐈𝐄.

she would've joined you if it weren't for ren letting you handle it by yourself

he wants her to preserve some level of her reputation and let you uphold your own as you basically hold cardin away from you with a hand to his forehead

you're clearly not invested in this fight, cause you look very bored this whole time

but you'll let her hit them with her hammer at least once, followed by a hair ruffle and a "that's my girl"

is very proud of you because if you didn't do anything about the bullies, then she would've

laughed her little ass off when the rest of the gang tried to jump you and you didn't have any difficulty

she took a selfie of you guys and the bullies on the floor n you're just smiling with a peace sign

still her favourite photo to this day and she talks about it all the time

── 𝐏𝐘𝐑𝐑𝐇𝐀 𝐍𝐈𝐊𝐎𝐒.

very much concerned for how often you might be getting into fights with cardin

but also not that mad because even though she probably doesn't wanna get involved, she'll let you have your fun

you're both such a power couple now because BOTH of you have fought cardin's whole team 1v4 and won

will stand back and watch you as if she doesn't want you to be fighting bullies in the courtyard

but she's proud on the inside and will treat you for dinner later when you win

not super happy that randos on the internet are kinda thirsty for you though

but maybe she'll jump in next time if there is one just so people can back off

and also because she thinks it's probably super cathartic-

── 𝐋𝐈𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐍.

also doesn't join in, but he won't make any moves to stop you from doing what you gotta do

he's been watching cardin be a bully for a while and is happy with the karma he's getting from you

very much annoyed by the rest of the team trying to get the upper hand, because he's trained with you and failed to do so-

a rare smile on his face when you beat them all to a pulp and will make you pancakes in the morning

special treat for delivering some well-deserved justice for the students

generally discourages you from engaging in petty school fights though, because he'd rather you save your energy

and not use it on useless people who will end up in the dumps on their own anyway

but if it's warranted, then he'll support you from the shadows :))

[hawkland]

Art Masterpost: Solitudes

Story by: ilovehowyouletmefall (@angelinthefire) Art by: sidewidner (@hawkland)

It's October and that means it's @deancasbigbang season once again! This year makes for my third time around for the event, although this year I only managed to participate as an artist (I'm still in a bit of writer's burnout since the summer). But, that meant I could put all of my focus and time into doing these four pieces for @angelinthefire's wonderful story "Solitudes." I'm gonna talk a little bit about my ideas and process and share some progress pictures behind the cut in a way that might be kind of spoilery, so if you want, just go read the story now! And then you come back here later to find out more if you wish. All works were completed in watercolor with some digital effects and filtering after completion.

I was really drawn to the imagery of the architectural elements of where the story takes place (an abandoned brutalist mansion) vs. nature and decay...plus the way light and shadow seemed to play such important roles in the visual descriptions. Dean and Cas spend so much of the story separated by supernatural forces even when they are in the same room I wanted to focus on that as well: being so near yet so far apart, not quite connecting or even able to look at each other without barriers.

I started on the banner art right away, thinking of Dean in despair (for reasons in the story) and Cas yearning/wishing he could reach him. Behind them both is the concrete wall covered in mold and moss (which was a LOT of fun to paint). The actual final watercolor painting came out as so:

(This is one of my favorite Deans that I've painted. His face can be SO hard to get right!)

Working with angelinthefire's suggestions I ran some different digital filters on the photo to desaturate/emphasize the light and dark for the final banner, and then with that in mind tried to keep the other pieces in a similar color scheme and tonal range.

The atrium painting was the biggest challenge. I knew I wanted to do a piece to capture the feeling of the house, the light coming in from an open skylight falling on brambles growing out of an old fountain spot. I was thinking of the Roman villa ruins I've visited combined with some actual Brutalist/modern homes I looked up. My original drawing plan was a bit more complicated and simplifying/taking out some elements definitely makes it more creepy/mysterious looking and less like a funky modern home.

You can see the vanishing/perspective point is right where Dean is looking at Cas.

The light falling down from above was partially painted with some interference/shimmer watercolors, but I amplified it (along with the shadows) with some digital effects at the end. This was before doing any digital magic:

Dean reaching for Cas: I made myself so sad working on that piece! It was also quite the challenge to get the likeness right at that angle and do the lighting the way I wanted, so again I used some digital effects at the end to really intensify it. Painting before filters:

I think my favorite part of that one is how I dry-brushed the ash wings in one shot and they came out just how I wanted! My main reference was, heh, that old classic shot of unconscious Cas being poked with a stick. I used my own hand for Dean's reaching out to what he sees through the harsh angled light.

The final piece is a direct companion to the one above it, and one I'd been thinking about for weeks, trying to map it out mentally before tackling it. Dean's face can be so much more challenging for me to try to capture well compared to Cas's and I really wanted to get his shock and horror in that moment while also being able to show (the real) Cas in the background/shadows...this was the third drawing pass before I finally started painting it. There's only a light bit of filtering over the final piece to push Cas back in the shadows (I didn't want to do with the paints for fear of muddying the colors...plus I was already painting Cas so small any wrong brush stroke could shift his likeness/expression.)

Overall I really like how unified these pieces all ended up feeling and I hope they manage to complement the story in a way that it deserves!

[i4eth0ld]

Neopronouns Flag Re-Desing

by: Ethan (i4eth)

I made this new flag design because the flag representing the most popular neopronouns wasn't very pleasing to my eyes and I found the meanings a bit vague and not very related to the neopronouns themselves. Not that there is a problem with that, just create an alternative to deal with these "problems".

Color Meanings

Green: Represents Diversity, and I think it's important as there are different types of neopronouns, and different types of ways in which you use pronouns for comfort, so it's important that you know that there is diversity between pronouns

Light Green: Represents Freedom, its about you can use whatever you feel comfortable with as a pronoun, it's almost freedom, it's as if you weren't obligated to use popular pronouns to refer to yourself.

White: Represents Recognition, because neopronouns are generally viewed very negatively by people who only use pronouns recognized by the language, and the idea would be for people to see that neopronouns don't hurt anyone and that they need to be taken seriously along with the people who use them.

Yellow: Represents Harmony, everything that a person who uses neopronouns deserves, everyone deserves to live in peace and harmony, but for this to happen people have to stop having an opinion on how people live and how they decide to be, being themselves, and Learning to respect them, well, it's not that difficult.

Orange: Represents Community, we are a group of people who are attacked for not only using the pronouns recognized by the languages, we need to be united so that anything that tries to stop us, we overcome, community is one of the very important aspects, but not just queers, but as in society itself, we walk together because we are better together

Symbol meanings

I was researching a little about pronouns, and I discovered that there is a symbol that represents pronouns, and also neopronouns, but I found this symbol a bit strange, such as the fact that it only works in the English language, and I, as a person who speaks Brazilian Portuguese, I felt a little left out, but I know that the person who made the symbol didn't do it with bad intentions.

So I decided to reuse the symbol in my own way, I realized that the part that represented the neorponomes looked like a flower, with just a few petals, so I used that to make a metaphor. Neopronouns are diverse and colorful like flower petals, so I placed a flower in the center of the flag with the neopronou symbols around it, using an old symbol, along with a possible symbol/metaphor for people who use neopronouns.

(Separate symbols, if you want to use them, and a photo by me with the meanings of the flag)

I couldn't think of any possible name for the flag, if you want to give your suggestions, you are free!

Any questions suggestions just call ⭐

[bosskie]

Continuing the Sketchbook

I felt inspired by that 'old Molluck' and I feel like I love that Molluck more now than I used to... I noticed more differences between the AO Molluck and NnT Molluck while working on this but I also did remember again why I dislike NnT... I'll write about that later in this post.

Man, I'm not even sure when was the last time I drew something like this... It's so rare that I draw 'full settings', I mean, a background, multiple characters, something that has a story etc. I'm just used to draw portraits because well, I have felt like I just cannot draw anything else... So, I took the challenge and especially when I didn't have direct references, I had to make this perspective by myself. I tried my best and hope that it looks alright. Also, I'm sorry for the quality of these. All these look better and smoother IRL. I only take a photo and edit it, so some details are lost too. But you can see the main thing, somehow, and the main details are there, like Abe's lil hand tattoo.

I actually planned something different for the second page but I wanted to draw this way too much ... I'm not sure why but this image was just stuck inside my head. This is kinda random too since I just added some stuff that came to my mind around the drawing. I basically just drew this all day since I felt like I do need a day-off... I barely keep any holidays, even for a day... I just keep feeling more and more tired...

But yes, man I just feel like I keep loving this Gluk more and more... I just noticed how this AO Molluck gives that certain feeling SoulStorm Molluck has.

(I love what like AO Molluck looks in this cutscene...) The same situation in NnT doesn't give me this feeling, so yeah, frankly, NnT Molluck is the worst version of him in my opinion. I had forgotten how artificial voice NnT Molluck has... I hadn't seen any NnT cutscene for like two years. NnT Molluck makes different sounds too, like AO Molluck makes some 'random murmur' sounds while NnT one growls. I love that murmur he makes, it's adorable... He kinda does it in SS too!

I also noticed that NnT cutscene doesn't have that 'Molock suckz' text, just now... I wonder why. I personally love that lil detail and the fact that the Gametee's RuptureFarms hoodie has that printed on it! Well, I still don't agree on that, though it depends on how we define 'suck' here; he does smoke a lot!

Oh, and I also realized how they changed what Molluck says in that cutscene in NnT too! He doesn't say 'Kill 'im!' anymore but something like 'Get toast!', if I hear right... Man, Molluck truly got softer there. But that toast thing tickled my dark humour... Yeah, when Molluck manages to catch Abe, he wants to make a good sandwich from him, put him between a bread, and before killing him, he asks from Abe: 'Whadda ya are?'. Abe replies: 'I'm a weak, pathetic, uneducated, shmuck of a slave sandwich'. Those were Abe's last words. The end.

I cannot help myself that I enjoy dark humour like that... Oddworld is just perfect for my humour! I have been joking after making that joke that welp, maybe being like all day with Molluck makes me be more like him too... Yeah, I don't hate Abe but for some reason, the only character I care about is Molluck. He just means so much to me... After all these years, I finally found a character that is 'perfect' for me. Well, I only like a few characters in general too... But none of them (but Molluck) feel 'right' for me, at least in the same sense as Molluck; it can take some time to realize it. I can like count with one hand the characters that feel somehow special to me; like one of them is like me as a villain, feels like my alter ego.

It's just kinda odd to think how 'the one' for me was Molluck... No one else has made me feel like he does... It's just so interesting but I love to have him as that one. When I saw him, in both AO and SS, before really getting into him, I felt nothing special toward him, didn't see anything special in his appearance either; I only liked Gluks in general. But then, that SS Molluck just started to feel like me as a Gluk and here I am!

[serendertothesquad]

Seren's Studies: Wordsville's Official Release -- Is It Really an Odd Squad Clone? (Part 1)

You can bet your fine ass I am, because, to put it nicely, the fuck is this?

All right. Anyway. So part of what I used to weaponize my YouTube channel for was doing Seren Reacts videos on new PBS Kids shows. Basically, I'd take the first episode they'd upload and react to it. Since I don't have the capacity to actually do that for this show, and since I did tell you all I'd do a Seren's Study on Wordsville when it came out and I had a chance to see it...here ya go. I watched the first episodes of this thing so you don't have to!

...Uh...well...if you don't want to, anyway.

In this essay, I'm going to put the final nail in the coffin as to the issue of whether Wordsville is truly an Odd Squad ripoff or not. I'll also be picking apart the first episode screencap by screencap, just like I used to do in the good old days of Odd News.

(At the very least, the America's Funniest Home Videos animation I'm not a fan of. At least with Tom Bergeron it was funny.)

Below the break we go!

(Just as a side note: this will be split into multiple parts because Tumblr apparently has a photo limit now. That's...gonna make these followup Seren's Studies just a bit trickier.)

Ohhhh they're really trying, bless their little hearts.

Look at that, they even threw in a goddamn university degree like these kids up and went to Harvard. Because Odd Squad agents didn't go to university and aw God man you gotta be shitting me.

Man, the theme even follows the same schtick of Odd Squad agents explaining who they are and what they do! I guess that's one for the Half-Ass list...

(And on a related note, because I don't think I brought this up: Gabby's actress sounds like she was on Odd Squad at one point, but hell if I know where. Guess I'll know when the credits come up.)

Hm. Hah. Just like, y'know, Olive and Otto, Orla and Omar at one point in ti- really, do I have to keep going?

You could tell me this was an Odd Squad sequel spinoff in disguise and I'd 100% believe you.

(Also is that...is that a rainbow bead design in the upper right there? Does Sly is gay or am I just going nuts because this episode was uploaded in Pride Month and Sinking Ship already has some LGBTQ+ rep under their belt?)

I will say that, unlike with Odd Squad, I appreciate them not making this out to be some stupidly thinly-veiled Zoom or Skype parody. It looks like a new fresh platform that isn't supposed to reference anything. I like that!

...Nah, not even I'm desperate enough to pry an Odd Squad jab out of this title.

I am, however, getting flashbacks to Wonderful Precure and people speculating about the colors in the title. If this were one of those seasons we'd have a group of five with a blue-green Cure as the leader, which would melt the Internet. Definitely. Maybe.

Also, unless they're working on Odd Squad UK and we don't know it yet, Christin Simms is not an Odd Squad name I recognize. Seems they've worked on pretty much every modern Sinking Ship series but Odd Squad, which I choose to take as intentional just due to the similarities between the two series alone. I mean let's be honest...if it were an Odd Squad writer, it would really only reinforce a few of my points.

So I've chosen to watch "The Case of the Disappearing Donuts", mainly because I believe that's the episode that was featured in the sample script I talked about in the previous Seren's Study. Just...y'know, as a heads-up. I tried to go for the first episode.

And needless to say...I'm not sure if this is it (TVO released five episodes in a bundle and your guess is as good as mine as to which one is the series premiere) but I can already see a striking difference with Odd Squad, in that yes, Wordsville does indeed launch us clear into the plot without any warning. Yeah yeah they explained it in the intro but I do not care. Let me get to know your characters first!

Once again, I will reiterate for you all: this show being purely digital instead of live-action completely hinders it. It is 2024. The pandemic is not an excuse anymore. I'd get more enjoyment out of this if it weren't two people communicating through mock Apple laptops.

And if you aren't getting what I'm picking at, imagine if, for the nearly ten years it's been on, Odd Squad was a purely-digital show. Would we get the worldbuilding? The lore? The character development? The funny interactions? No, no, no, and no. It's like the difference between talking to someone in video chat and talking to someone in real life. One boosts your health. The other one, not so much.

Clearly they didn't really try for this bit in the audio department, because this cookie is all about that bass with absolutely no fuckin' treble.

(To be fair, though, Odd Squad has soundbytes like this from time to time too. So I can't really complain all that much.)

Something I was shocked to find out about Wordsville: each episode is all of 8 minutes long. Which...doesn't really help the series' case because the pacing is utterly atrocious. For Odd Squad, which has mostly 11-minute episodes, the pacing is smoother for a lot of them. I can take my time, understand what's going on, and enjoy what I'm seeing. Hell, even Tiny Time Travel's pacing isn't awful for the short time it has, and I wasn't gonna even touch that show for this Seren's Study because it's not made by the same people outside of Tim...until people brought up similarities, and I felt at least obligated to mention it once.

This falls squarely into the category of "if I go on an acid trip, can I drag out this episode three times longer than it actually is?"

We.

Are 55 seconds in.

And we are already getting to the conflict.

...Hand me the bong. The BIG bong. If you see dogs in my front yard, just tell 'em to get inside and glow upstairs because I'm goin' hard.

BIG BONG.

...I'm not touching the timing of this call because convenience is in literally every piece of media with video chatting ever. It's not just a Wordsville thing.

The Town Baker walked so Baker Graham could work his hand at a whip.

No but seriously, I can't look at this character and not think of Chef O from Odd Squad UK. The brainrot set in once I viewed the trailer. It hasn't left.

Hey, it's a good marketing tactic.

And it makes a great gift for your SO if they happen to have a name that starts with any of the letters. Hell, get the U, the T and the I and you'd have a winner!

...

Waaaaaaait a second-

In this era of super-powerful processors and AI seeping into anything and everything, there is no scientifically possible way Gabby can pull up a computer dictionary within milliseconds.

And when Odd Squad, the show that has ironic low-tech stuff, is more realistic than your high-tech show, you got a problem.

Minute and a half into this thing and this is the only bit that got me close to smiling thus far.

But something I wanna point out is that I've gotten cookies from bakeries that look a lot better than that. Hell, the cookies at my local supermarket look better than that! Just as big, and far yummier!

I see they switched around the personalities for Sly and Gabby, and I can see why.

Gabby emotes the most.

So does Olive.

Gabby is Olive with a braid and a fedora.

Gabby is the serious o- guys, really, must I go on?

Something something substituting bagels like in "Soundcheck" for donuts instead.

This is what happens when you let your co-CEO binge-watch all the Shrek movies, Sly.

Careful, Gabby...please don't drop the title.

Odd Squad doesn't drop the title all that much, but the fact that the episodes are referred to as cases in-universe sells the comparison. Wordsville's cases are just...different. Copyright infringement and all that. When Oprah sues, she sues hard.

Thank you. I hate it. Off you will fuck from my lawn.

...Look, I know what the "Sly-mation" is and y'all are not being slick. You don't get to wave a fucking stylus in my face and say what you're doing is animation but with a fancy name. Animation is hard. Animating stuff halfway and slapping your client's head on their animated body instead of drawing a face resembling your client is a disservice and I will abso-fucking-lutely take that personally as a fan of animation.

I mean, hey, if I were an animator, I'd fully commit. You people remember that the studio who made this worked on a Spongebob movie. Lemme repeat: a Spongebob movie. And yet this is what they decide to do for animation.

When Odd Squad does animation, it's good in most instances. (I choose to forget "Olive and Otto in Shmumberland", TYVM.) Not anything stellar, but it certainly is passable. Here? Lol. Lmao, even. God no. This feels like a way to insert animation into the show but without employing the CGI that other shows, Odd Squad included, have. Like a "lol I'm so quirky" thing.

Get out.

This is like if Disney had Disneymation. Dreamworksation. Laikation. Netflixation. Huluation. So on and so forth.

Point being, it's dumb. Just say it's animation and stop plopping flowers onto it. When you get more of a time limit, then you can be quirky all you want.

We are now 2 minutes into an 8-minute episode. I know what's happening. Kids know what's happening. Unless you're banking on the research that kids' attention spans are the size of a pea, we do not need a recap.

...Is this really the same person who wrote for Endlings? Because apparently they can't handle something in an 8-minute timeframe.

You either get the Chad Blender/Flash/ToonBoom, or you get the Virgin Mock Scratch.

I just feel cheated. Disappointed. Like when your mom and dad drove by McDonald's when you were a kid after they promised you they would get you some. I've seen good animation. They had the chance to do better, and didn't. That's what pisses me off the most. It's that complete utter wasted potential.

I know Vet Wilder is a reference to some celebrity (the name is at least somewhat familiar), but I'm at a complete loss as to if they did the same thing for Athlete Glory or if they just confined a girl named Glory to one destiny in life.

So she'll become...a Faded Glory.

(I'm sorry, I had to.)

Okay, they're reiterating this for the young children, and I- guys, this hurts. It's like they're trying to differentiate themselves from Odd Squad but tripping over their own feet in the process.

Ten cookies Gene Vet Wilder gave it to an animal named Yummy and that this series will go down another Odd Squad route and defy biology.

Either that, or "Yummy" is his pet name for Not-So-Faded Glory, which I am banking absolutely nothing on because romance.

...No, not Baker Graham's cookies. I'm sure dude's good at what he does, but I know of a better bakery, thank you very much.

*aggressively takes out the ibuprofen for the headache this shit is giving me*

This reads like TVOkids font, and I'm not even mad.

I'm only sad I didn't get the "I know so much about fonts" autism.

(Also, this is really just called The Bakery? They have one bakery? That's it? Even Toronto has more than one!)

-----------------------------

Onward to Part 2!

[faerie-starv]

80s Kids: Afton Kids

I've been meaning to draw my own version of the Afton kids from Five Nights at Freddy's for some time now and here they are! :3

I'm also doing the Duchess Celestia ideas challenge(50 ideas actually) and picked the second choice which is 'Look at some of your old photos and either draw them or something inspired by them'. While I have the photos, I'm not going to post them here for safety reasons but I was born in early 80s and have some memories of the era. Since the Afton kids were living in early to mid 80s era I figured they're perfect idea to draw them.

For Evan Afton aka the Crying Child from Fnaf 4(Evan is not an official name by the way but it seems to be the most popular fan name), his outfit was based on a former neighbor kid from Tuscon neighborhood in Arizona. The kid was around eight or ten years old(can't remember as I was three back then) but I do remember the shirt and shorts he was wearing when he was over along with his older sister (who was my babysitter). I don't remember how many stripes was on his shirt so I'm only guessing.

The oldest Afton kid, Michael Afton from Sister Location and Fnaf4, as much as I liked the teen Michael render with Peter Parker hair(I forgot who made it but you'll see it on Fnaf animations on YT), it doesn't seem to match up with the early to mid 80s hair style. Me and other fans think he should have a mullet hair as it was popular hairstyle in the 80s. I got inspired of Steve Harrington's mullet like hairstyle from Stranger Things and I loved it how it turned out. I also made the jacket based from Eddie Munson(also from Stranger Things) because it looks bad ass and since Michael is a rebel, I put the Metallica logo patch on his jacket. I used @adorkastock pic for a reference pose for him and Evan. https://www.deviantart.com/adorkastock/art/2021-DEJ-18-No-872493165

Lastly, Elizabeth Afton's(either middle child or youngest, I'm not sure as there's a debate over it so I'm making her a middle child) dress was based from a Simplecity sewing pack. I changed the stripe colors to pink and blue based from her original dress she wore from Sister Location(which she possess Circus Baby). The dress was pretty popular for little girls in the 80s and I had a dress similar like that(mine was light blue with flowers, I think they were small daisies, can't remember) along with my daycare mates. I found it on Etsy when I was trying to find an 80s summer/spring dress when I found it. I also gave her a Mary Jane shoes.

I am sorry that Evan's and Mike's shoes didn't turn out well as it's my first time drawing sneakers(I know it looks bad) and I didn't use any references(which I should have but oh well).

I tried to make the 80s retro back ground using a tutorial but it didn't came out the way I wanted so I just kept the bottom grid. I promise I'll try to make a better one next time as I really loved the 80s grid background.

[audi0med1c]

CHAPTER 2 of "Is It Over Now?"

"Look What You Made Me Do"

3,263 words - if you prefer to read on Archive or Wattpad...links here

---------------------------------

Lexa's thumb hits dial on her phone before she's even closed the door behind her, now alone in the back seat of the black Suburban after walking the young blonde up to her door and respectfully declining the invitation to come up for a nightcap. She had used the excuse of an early call time tomorrow for her reason for needing to head home, though it was only 10:30 and she could not be more wide awake.

"So I take it you are not face-deep in your smokin' hot date if you're calling me right now." The smug voice teases through the phone.

"It wasn't even a real date Anya, you knew that." Lexa pinches the bridge of her nose.

"You said your agent asked you to take out one of his buddies' newbies to help get her exposure, that's still basically a date."

Lexa sighs heavily.

"Also...incredibly bold of you to take her to Clarke's favorite restaurant."

"I didn't choose it!" Lexa exasperates, "I felt bad saying no when she said she'd never been able to get a reservation there!"

"Well you did choose to overdo the PDA." Anya snorts, "Based on what I'm seeing on twitter."

Lexa quickly opens the app and scrolls her timeline, seeing plenty of shots from various angles within the restaurant - no doubt from other diners - from the night.

There's one picture of her back, as she reached Clarke at the front of the restaurant, with the caption "Uh-Oh, caught bringing the flavor of the week to their old go-to spot!"

She scrolls some of the comments underneath....

-----------

Damn what a power move, I respect it though.

This was definitely intentional 😳 so shitty.

I feel so bad for Clarke. They're always a younger hotter version of her 👀

Omg Lexa in suits😍😍😍

Hahaha Lexa having exactly one specific type will never stop being hilarious.

Okay but CLARKE'S DRESS🥵....like yes I'd chase after her too Lex

------------

She scrolls more of the photos, images of Raven and Octavia shooting daggers across the restaurant, Lexa guiding her date out at the end of the night with a casually placed hand on the model's lower back, plenty of shots of Lexa looking like she's having a pleasantly flirty conversation while clinking glasses of champagne, and someone actually caught her placing the quick kiss on the back of the girl's hand when she returned to her table after Clarke left. She clicks into that picture, which is captioned "Lexa's Rizz is unmatched"

She hates that word – 'Rizz'... more dumb slang from Gen Z that is cringey as hell. But she's curious about the comments under this one, and as usual, it's a mixed bag of both her fans and Clarke's.

------------

Awww I would die on the spot if Lexa ever did that to me😭

Lexa thinking "You look like my next mistake"

This is the cutest shit ever!

Ms. Perfectly Fine strikes again😬

Lexa's game >>>>>

Ew that could NOT look more forced.

I need Clexa back!

Damn what she say to Clarke after chasing her on her way out? 👀

Imagine fumbling Lexa Woods 💀💀

Lexa's roster is 🔥🔥🔥

—————-

"Ummm hellooooo?!?" Lexa suddenly remembers she's still on the phone.

"Oh, sorry uh what did you say?" She stammers.

"You are playing with fire if you keep doing this you know..." Lexa doesn't bother asking if she's referring to the public dates with models or intentionally antagonizing Clarke any chance she gets. Anya is one of the few people who knows anything about what actually happened between them two years ago when everything blew up in the media, and the fact that she is dating one of Clarke's best friends has only made it more complicated to not constantly hear about what she's up to.

"Don't worry about me Anya," Lexa tries to play off her growing remorse at not coming up with a reason to go to a different restaurant, "If I know Clarke, I'm pretty sure I just ruined her night." She laughs to cover up the worry that it might actually be true, and that makes her want to give her driver the Beverly Hills address she knows better than her own and go apologize in person.

Instead she types out a quick text, contemplating it, before hitting send.

—————————

Lexa: Hey, sorry about tonight, I really didn't think about how it looked.

She's not expecting a reply right away, if at all, but her phone vibrates only seconds later.

The One💔: Okay, sure let's go with that.

Lexa: I am😒The champagne was a bit much though. It's not like you haven't had plenty of company yourself? Including people I used to work with, btw...

The One💔: At least I had the decency to keep my nights out of sight.  At OUR fucking spot Lex? Really? That's low, even for you.

Lexa: I said I was sorry.

The one💔: Whatever.  I expect it at this point.

———————————

"Uhh Lexa?" Anya says cautiously.

"What?" Lexa's hardly listening.

"Don't think you ruined her night."

"What do you mean?" Her attention sharpens, and she gulps down the lump in her throat, hoping it's not the one thing she doesn't want to hear.

"Raven just got dropped off and heard Clarke tell the driver to head to Malibu."

The words settle like rocks in her stomach.

"You still there?"  Anya says after a minute of silence.

But Lexa hangs up without saying goodbye, her chest heaves briefly as her pulse races. Her eyes barely start to sting when she shifts in her seat, sucking on her top teeth, heat flaring behind her ears as her fingers quickly type out another text she will probably regret tomorrow.

Lexa: Tell Niylah I said Hi.

She leans back in the leather seat and lets out a sigh, satisfied with one last taunt on the night, picturing Clarke venting to Niylah over more wine the rest of the night, the girl Clarke always told her was "just a friend" which turned out to be one giant slap in the face.

They were dating within weeks of Clarke and Lexa's breakup. Looking far too familiar and comfortable for two people in the initial stages of a romance. But the relationship fizzled out after a year, and now they were back to 'just friends' again, orsomething...and Lexa somewhat relished the thought of Clarke spending the rest of the night venting to her most recent ex about herself, even if it was in a negative light.

Her phone vibrated again though, and the words on the screen sent her stomach plummeting.

The One💔: Tell her yourself,  I don't plan on talking when I get there.

//

Clarke had shot off the same message to the same three people she always does. Two of them were for a more primal purpose, and the third was just for moral support and maybe some cuddles, and usually their responses made the final decision easier if she wanted any company at all over the silent efficient satisfaction of her electronic alternatives at home.

----

Clarke:  Up for a visitor?

Bel💙:  Aren't you with O? Everything okay?

Last Resort🤢: Of course, already hard just thinking about you.

Niy💞: You know you don't need to ask. Door is open. Tea or night cap kind of night? -----

She had already given the driver instruction to head to Malibu, knowing which option she preferred, and knowing, as usual, that it was almost always available.  Perhaps the most reliant person she had outside of Octavia and Raven, Niylah and her had remained close even after breaking up last year. 

They ran in the same professional circles, with Niylah being a gallery curator, which was how she and Clarke had met.  She was a pure-heart, kind, and understanding.  She knew before Clarke did that they just were not meant to last, despite their deep respect and endearment towards each other.  It didn't surprise her or upset her when Clarke finally broke things off, unable to commit to the next level of their relationship when the subject of moving in was broached.  Clarke realized she wasn't able to offer that level of commitment, or exclusivity even, to anyone - even someone as deserving of it as Niylah.

It honestly didn't even change that much about their dynamic, except the ratio of how much they saw of each other in the daylight versus at night became much more lopsided. 

Clarke enjoyed watching the scenery outside change the further away from the city they got, until they were driving along the coastline. The vast darkness stretching out to the horizon, the waves ominous as they danced and crested in the dark was eerily soothing. 

Her phone vibrates again, and it's the last person she expected to hear from tonight.

Walking 🚩: Hey, sorry about tonight, I really didn't think about how it looked.

She huffs out loud in the back seat, instantly annoyed. Always the same bullshit. Lexa always knew what she was doing.

Clarke: Okay, sure, let's go with that.

It had been months since they had seen each other at an event for Raven's tech company.  Lexa had made the very rare decision to come solo, which Raven and Anya probably made her do for the sake of their intertwined friend group, who was all seated together near the front as Raven's guests.

They had been seated on opposite sides of the round table, with Octavia inbetween her brother Bellamy, and her boyfriend – Lexa's cousin - Lincoln, on one side and Anya - Lexa's oldest friend - and Raven on the other.  Clarke wasn't sure exactly what to expect, since usually when they had to be around each other it was premieres or parties where they could mingle within a larger crowd and avoid each other easily. But sitting at the table, it was hard for Clarke to find other things to look at.

Lexa made it easier by being preoccupied with her phone most of the dinner, making no attempt to hide her smiles as she typed away to however many people she was talking to at the time, asking Anya how long she needed to stay before she was allowed to dip out for other plans. If there was one thing Lexa was always aware of, it was that being seen in public would find its way onto social media one way or another, and after being seen at the event at the same table as Clarke, she made a point of being caught very much cozied up to some model later that night at a club.  

Didn't think about how it looked my fucking ass... Clarke thought to herself.

Walking 🚩: Tell Niylah I say hi. 

Clark grinned. She knew Raven would tell Anya, who would tell Lexa where she was going.  She'd told the driver to head to Malibu regardless if she actually ended up going or not, making sure to say it loud and clear before Raven was fully out of the car.  Lexa's favorite thing seemed to be flaunting her parade of women in front of Clarke, but two could play this game, and Lexa would very soon come to learn that Clarke was much better at it.

Clarke: Tell her yourself, I don't plan on talking when I get there.

Niylah greets her with a warm mug of tea and even warmer hug, not letting go for almost a full minute. It had been a while since she has been here. 

"You look nice." She says softly when they let go.

Clarke slips her hands around the girl's neck, "Just kiss me, I've had a long night."

"What did she do this time?" Niylah chuckles. It catches Clarke off guard a little.

"What?"

"I'm not offended Clarke, but I'm not dumb. It's almost midnight, so there's only one reason you're here."

"Niylah it's not--"

"I said I'm not offended. It's okay, Clarke." The older girl urges, running her hands up and down Clarke's arms, "We didn't work out for a reason, but it doesn't mean I hate whatever this is, you know you are always welcome here.  I can be whatever you need me to be for you."

Clarke looks down, slightly ashamed, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to--"

Niylah cuts her off, lifting a finger under her chin to close her mouth, bringing her face back up to look at her, and grazes her thumb over Clarke's bottom lip before pressing a soft kiss into her.

"I guess I should send her a thank you note one of these days, maybe some flowers..." She smiles sweetly, "...if she's what keeps bringing you back here to me."

Clarke's eyes start glistening, and she wishes more than anything she had come here under a different circumstance. Her and Niylah had remained close even after their breakup, and it changed very little about their dynamic or connection, only that there was no longer any expectations or obligations to each other.  They saw each other a lot less, and in public they were mostly just cordial friendly associates, operating within the same circles both being in the art industry.

But when they were alone, they seamlessly fell back into the comfort and ease of each other out of habit.  It was a quiet, tender caring that Clarke let herself get lost in possibly too quickly when everything initially blew up in the media with Lexa.  It was an easy escape, a refuge from the harshness of having so much of your life on display all the time, of constantly being compared to everything and everyone else around Lexa. Always feeling like she had to prove herself.

After a year together, when Niylah had mentioned Clarke perhaps moving in, it hit her that they had already reached their ceiling, and Clarke knew she didn't have any more of herself she could give to the girl, or anyone else at the time, and it wasn't fair to take such a step knowing it would never be more than this.

"You Okay?" The older girl asks gently, reading Clarke's face.

"I'm fine." Clarke tries to assure, but her glossy eyes well up even more.

The girl takes Clarke's face in her hands, "You're not fine at all." 

"Niylah, would you mind not talking?" 

She could save the guilt for the morning.  Right now she needed to feel soft hands drag along her skin, warm lips laying claim to every limb. Her fingers tangle in open hair as her head falls back into pillows and she crumbles like a piece of paper, lost in the sensation and memories that should NOT be surfacing in this moment. She lets Niylah have her completely, keeping her eyes shut so that she won't be tempted to look down and realize it's not green eyes looking back at her.

//

Lexa is several shots deep in the back of a dive bar on the East side around the corner from her high-rise. She's made nice with the owner, who lets her in the back so she can tuck away in the corner and usually goes unnoticed as long as she keeps to herself. The local patrons are mostly middle-aged men who wouldn't recognize her even if one of her movies or shows was playing on the tvs in the corner over the bar.

Part of her wishes she hadn't turned down that invite to go upstairs when she dropped off her date. She keeps staring at the last message in her phone. I don't plan on talking when I get there.

It could be anyone else. Literally anyone else.

Clarke knew exactly what she was doing.

Niylah was the reason they broke up. Just waiting in the weeds, feeding Clarke who knows what kind of lies. Lexa always sensed she was feeding Clarke anything to help her believe the never-ending rumors that would swirl around in the media about Lexa and practically any female friend or co-star she had. Just waiting for the perfect moment, the smallest crack to push through and make her move.

Fuck Niylah.

Right now she's probably waiting with open arms for Clarke to arrive and hear how much of a betrayal it was what Lexa did tonight.

It was hardly a betrayal compared to what Clarke did with Niylah.

No, two can fucking play this game.

The brunette rips another double shot, before taking out her phone and sending a message that only ever meant one thing.

Lexa:

Cos: I can be there in 20? Lexa: Bring tequila.

Morning comes too quickly, bright and harsh and Lexa's head is pounding. She's sprawled out naked, on her stomach face first at the edge of her bed, and her hand fumbles around the covers searching for her phone to check the time: 7am. Damn. The space next to her is empty but she smells coffee brewing, and as soon as she attempts to sit up, a steaming mug is placed next to her on the nightstand, and the rich aroma stings her nostrils.

"You're alive" the perky blonde girl giggles, sitting on the edge of the bed and brushing the mess of wavy brown strands back from Lexa's face as she's hunched forward, trying to will the room to stop spinning.

"Baby Love... lay down, I got you, here." She props some pillows against the headboard so Lexa can lean backwards against them. "Here let me get you some water and advil too." As she's rummaging through a cabinet of medicine, vitamins, and supplements, Lexa looks through her phone, seeing mostly more tweets and comments about the run-in at the restaurant, but the nausea in her stomach worsens when she switches over to Instagram and sees a new post at the top of her feed. She stares at it for a minute, then drops her phone and races to the bathroom to empty her stomach.

"You good babe?" The blonde says through the bathroom door, concerned.

After a couple rounds of heaving, Lexa pants, "I'm good, just going to hop in the shower."

"Okay, did you want to grab brunch after?"

Lexa wasn't sure she even wanted to leave this bathroom anytime soon, let alone eat, or be photographed out with Costia after just being seen on a date last night.

Costia knows what they are, and more importantly, what they are not. It works for them. Costia is hot and fun and eats up the attention she gets as Lexa's favorite arm candy. What started out as just purely hookups over a year ago evolved into a real friendship with convenient benefits.

"Not today Cos, sorry I have a shoot later."

"Ohhhh is it for that new show? The one based on a book?"

Lexa turns the shower on, "It's just a mini series, not a whole show, but yea."

"Aw...I love coming along for those." The girl hints, and Lexa feels a little guilty for wanting as little human interaction as possible the rest of the day.

"Next time Cos, I promise."

The hot shower has her feeling brand new when she emerges, and she's relieved to find the apartment empty as well. She grabs her phone to text her driver, Gustus, about picking her up in a bit for her photoshoot when she sees a message waiting from Anya:

Anya: Looks like you were face-first in a smoking hot blonde last night afterall😏 We still hanging later?

Lexa is confused at first, but then checks her phone, and sure enough, is tagged in a new photo:

She notices who liked the picture, grinning as she plops back into her bed in her robe, smug and satisfied, thinking:

Let the games begin.

[asksoldieron]

SO-10: Smiling Faces...

If there's a lot of engagement on this, this post is liable to get real long, beware before you expand.

Welcome to the Engagement Lounge, for A Funny Sort of Day (SO-10) an instalment! Short comments can go in the replies, but there's a 475 character limit. Longer ones will need a reblog. Remember to @asksoldieron if you're reblogging someone else's reblog, so I can see it too!

I will be laid up this week, and possibly for a few weeks, so if the links don't work or something's screwy, I can't fix it. This'll go up on automatic and I'll have to fix it later if it needs it!

*sigh* Some AI-generated shit made it into the art this week and I can't fix it. I don't have time. Public Domain Vectors has caved to the pressure and started generating graphics with AI. They seem to be tagging them, but it's all the way at the end of the list and I didn't know to look until it occurred to me I'd better check. I think they are generating these images based on their own in-house PD art, which is less galling than the usual kind, but I don't know. These learning algorithms are black boxes and they don't have to disclose how they work. My ability to assemble collages ethically is in danger, but I don't know how to protect myself. I will be checking the tags from now on, but it's on them to tag things honestly.

I don't generally have any use for the generic people and scenery, but this week was an exception. That is exactly the creepy, sterile landscape and family I wanted, and I put a lot of work into getting them to look that way, and I don't think I have the will to take it apart and put it back together again. Maybe later, but I'd still be using the AI stuff as a reference. I mean, I'm not going to get it out of my imagination.

Ah well. Setting my art guilt aside, this week is a long one and next week will be too! My idiot cast had a lot to do before I could get them to Erik. I tried to cram it in there as best as possible, but there's some overflow. Go ahead and pour yourself an extra coffee if you need!

The lyric I'm referencing is from the Temptations: "Smiling faces, smiling faces, sometimes, yeah, they don't tell the truth. Smiling faces, smiling faces tell lies and I got proof." (So my accidental use of some smiling AI people is at the very least thematically appropriate.) There are a lot of treacherous smiles in this one! I think the worst one has to be the doughnut lady, who is perfectly pleasant while making Milo complicit in a mass deportation/genocide - she assumes he'll be okay with it, no matter which it is. It's a good thing Milo hardly ever smiles!

It's also a good thing he likes trains! +1 for special interests and us poor folks who have 'em. Of course, it doesn't hurt that he does art with Calliope and she knows how to cut, paste and airbrush an ad. I've been setting this up for years, folks! Real-life Russia has a habit of playing with photos this way too. They probably could've put together a plausible little village, except most ads and photos move in TS and SO. No animation at all would be just a bit suspicious.

Old cisterns like this one

offer a lot of potential living-space. And if they don't get water in them anymore, well, hey, why not? When magic forms its own weather patterns and quasi-lighting, sometimes it's good to be a little under the weather. But where did they go from there?

Think the Kijeks and all their animals went to the same place?

[Back to Site?]

[aegislash-kingdom]

If you have a sword oc, it is very likely that I have started to study them and make theories or headcannons about them for fun. (Mainly because I literally have nothing better to do with my time than to think about swords.)

So today I am going to share a theory I had about the loveable dork dusk from @elbdot series "el's alolan adventures"

First of all I want to make it perfectly clear that THIS IS NOT CANNON ! its just a simple idea I had when studying the character for fun!

Second of all I just want to point out that I love this huge dork and he's become a regular staple in my life even if ive only been following for literally a month. ( and No I'm not even embarrassed to say I have that really old sailor moon pic as my lock screen because he makes me happy)

and lastly, (THE SINGLE PHOTO IS FOR REFERENCE PURPOSES ONLY AND IT BELONGS TO @elbdot!) it is also from the candy cane song!

Now, with that out of the way let's jump into the headcannon!

So this headcannon is based on a very small detail that is quite easy to glaze over apoun your first glance at dusk. After all he does look fairly normal for an aegislash aside from his blade being a different shape, having 2 points instead of 3. However we're not focusing on the blade, instead we will focus on his shoulders instead!

AND NO I DIDNT STUTTER BECAUSE WE'RE ACTUALLY GOING TO LOOK AT SWORD SHOULDERS! SO BUCKLE UP BUCKAROO WERE IN FOR A RIDE!

One day, as I gaze apoun the bean, I came to notice something that has been a common reoccurring habit that dusk has. Dusk keeps raising his cloth shoulders up into points!

The pointy cloth shoulders are most prominent here in this photo and I've come to notice that dusk mainly does this when he's either, excited, scared or nervous about something.

The height of his shoulders can vary depending on mood too! If dusk is nervous or excited, they will be higher than normal as opposed to him being angry or scared.

Now, we could definitely say it's part of elbdots artstyle, But I believe there may be a more interesting reason behind why he does this 👀

So for those of you that have known or been following elbdots page for a while you will know that dusk has a gifted jacket that he used to wear in the comics or in some other separate art pieces.

Well, I got to thinking about this and noticed that jackets have shoulders and dusk does not put the jacket over his pointy metal shoulders. So if he doesn't put them over the metal shoulders how does he keep it on?

(⬇️ Art by me)

I have an answer for that!

I imagine when dusk was first gifted his jacket by EL, he didn't know how to properly wear it or keep it on at first. This would lead to dusk learning how to wear human clothes so he could wear the jacket propery. Eventually it would lead to him simply positioning his shoulders outwards so that his jacket wouldn't slip off his arms.

So... What if dusk had just been wearing the jacket for so long, that it just became a regular habit over time even when he wasnt wearing it? he doesn't seem to realize that he's even doing it either.

(⬇️ Art by me)

So in conclusion, dusks pointy shoulders may be a simple habit from wearing his jacket! However... I honestly wonder if dusk has ever tried to wear any other types of human clothes besides his jacket, sunglasses and that one sweater. If he has I wonder how he managed to wear them?

[musicalherbalist]

I have come up with a creative way to get around talking about Trimax spoiler characters with my roommate. Sorry for the new probable string of mh posts, currently it's been giving me serotonin and an occasional stress distraction. I love my bf, and he gave me a fantastic present! ^^ Also, I just want to bring up... I don't get why people hate Rise so much? Honestly, it feels like funner Dark Souls to me.(If you know my old content, I *love* Dark Souls' world, story, artstyle, and music, but I actually lowkey hated actually playing it. If any of you come at me saying I should just 'get good', I'm sorry for this, but I just didn't find actually playing it fun. Elden Ring was kinda fun when I tried it at a friend's house, though.) When you make an attack, you have to commit to it, unless you have a way to animation cancel out of it, unless you use a faster weapon. I don't. So far, I loved Hunting Horn the *moment* I picked it up, and have lowkey kind of...haven't picked anything else up. The Blunt Force Instrument doesn't have a lot of ways to get out of it's animation lock, but using what you can to slip by monsters' attacks is just plain *fun*. It reminds me of playing Dragoon in ffxiv. Also, the music is utterly fantastic, and I love the environmental storytelling at play in almost all of the areas. I actually really adore base Rise because, while the story was really bare bones at first, it genuinely sold me on the 'close knit community' vibe. Elder Fugen feels like a loveable father-figure, I really love just talking to Hinoa and Minoto(they do have actual sibling vibes), and Iori and Yomogi feel like genuinely good kids trying to do what they can to help their community. I also genuinely think that Master Utsushi is a funny 'mentor' character. I have more to say about the characters, I love just running around and *talking* to the npcs. I'm not going to touch on the Kabuki Theater references in pretty much almost every aspect of the game, but the moment I recognized certain tropes and nods, especially when it came to Ibushi and Narwa, as well as Magnamolo, it sold me on the game's subtler writing. That's where the story shines. Although, I do think that the story *is* rather bare bones, and nearly every other MH game I've looked into seems to suffer from this, but in Rise's case, almost everything else makes up for that. Also, a fair amount of the armor is pretty cool, and while I don't like how utterly grindy the game can be, at least the fights don't really get boring to me. I've fought Narwa probably 10 times while trying to get a Thunder Serpent Orb for the horn, and I still haven't really gotten bored of it. I *have* gotten confused, because I keep accidentally face-tanking her desperation move, and I have no idea why I keep living through it. I might post more photos soon, but not before I post more art. Thank you to everyone who reblogged my commission prices, and I do finally have a Ko-Fi, too. :) If anyone wants to do a one-time donation, or pay for a com through there, my Ko-Fi is https://ko-fi.com/tokotoko14879 ! Thank you all!

[marinersubmariner]

I don't normally like to show WIP/sketchy/unfinished artwork because my process is a complete mess and I'm embarrassed by how bad it all is before I reach a point where I'm satisfied enough to call something done. That being said, as the AI inundation is upon us, it feels valuable to share the human trial and error and my own manic desperation that goes into making art. I always spend too much time on stuff that ends up looking like it should not have taken that much time, but I REALLY overcooked my last drawing and fried my own brain. Trying to draw a speeder bike was torture. Here's some of the goofy shit I did!

I really had intended to simply draw an existing speeder bike, but as I considered the ~aesthetic~ I wanted and examined the standard ROTJ-style bike, it wasn't working for me. In terms of motorcycles they're too much like choppers for my taste when I vastly prefer the chunky '80s futurism/cyberpunk/mecha anime look (clearly, since this started out as an Akira reference). But. I have zero expertise in mechanical design or even concept art itself. I do not know how vehicles work or how to draw them. And referencing either real or fictional motorcycles isn't a huge help because they have wheels to focus the design around, which of course hover bikes don't have.

So obviously trying to both design a speeder and draw it in perspective was really difficult to wrap my brain around. I started out by photographing one of my old '90s Micro Machines for reference, but it wasn't exactly useful for extrapolating the shape into a new design:

I sketched out some profiles, but, again, tough to convert to 3D using only my very weak power of imagination:

The only 3D-adjacent tool I know well enough to use is After Effects, which is a poor substitute for a real 3D modeler because it can really only do flat planes and basic shape extrusion, and it was too cumbersome for this. I started to try it and it sucked:

"Just learn a 3D program," you say. "Blender is free." WELL. Maybe someday. But not today. So I resorted to building it in miniature out of cardboard:

This is less mortifying than taking pose reference photos of myself (which I have done a lot! it's a great way to make yourself feel like a complete lunatic!!!) but it was also more work, so. Still makes me feel like a lunatic.

Thankfully it did make it possible for me to finally draw something. The design isn't groundbreaking, and I still have absolutely no idea how to create convincing mechanical details despite poring over mountains of concept art… but an attempt was made. My perspective is probably still out of whack because, despite having studied art throughout my entire academic career, I never officially learned all those multipoint perspective tricks, drawing cubes inside of cubes, etc. I've always preferred and been much better at organic shapes than anything mechanical or architectural.

My initial iterations were more X-Wing/BSG Viper-esque, but I kept being unhappy with the nose shape. I wanted it to be pointy and triangular but I couldn't add enough detail to make it interesting. Even after building it MULTIPLE TIMES I didn't like it, so the shape I ultimately landed on… wasn't one of the prototypes I built. LOL. It was just so hard to tell in the earlier stages, so I had to go through the whole refining process just to land on "nah." It looked alright in cardboard, and then translating it to line art, and then once I colored it I didn't like it. It would have been a lot easier if I could tell at an earlier stage than that!!!!!!

There wasn't any one ship/vehicle I referenced, but things I looked at for inspiration included: the Akira bike (obviously), Tron lightcycles, every time we've ever seen a speeder bike in any piece of Star Wars media, actual motorcycles, X-Wings, A-Wings, U-Wings, Jedi Vectors… etc.

Once I had settled on the split nose, I tried adding vertical stabilizers to the tail section for some more interest back there and to balance out the front, but even though I liked them I thought they made it too busy. It also started to look too much like a miniature ship instead of a bike, like he was riding one of those coin-operated kiddie rides. No!!! I wanted this to look cool!!! So I stuck with the nondescript tail section.

Pose and likeness referencing aren't very exciting but just know that I use a mishmash of references for literally everything. Normally I would pose myself (even though translating my own blobby female proportions into those of a large man is another layer of awkward difficulty), but riding a speeder is a tough action to recreate so I downloaded the "MagicPoser" app on my phone and used that instead. The basic version is free and you can move around limbs and joints in their normal range of motion—some of it gets rubbery, but for the most part it did what I needed it to do.

Also just had to make up an excuse to put him in a pilot helmet! The shape is based on a Y-Wing helmet—a personal favorite of mine—which made sense to me for using on a speeder since it has more face coverage like motorcycle helmets tend to have. (not that I drew him actually wearing it on the speeder, haha. safety first, kids!!—UNLESS you're a dumbass space wizard, then just do whatever looks cool.) I really waffled back and forth on what color to make the visor, because I'm extremely partial to the pink from the Y-Wing helmet, but ultimately I went with the more traditional yellow-orange. Either one looks good with blue and white so I still like 'em both.

This all feels like it was an enormous waste of time, but I did realize the thing that was in my head, so. I guess that's an accomplishment. Unfortunately the problem with making art for myself is that I invariably end up hating my own work, and being in a dead/dying fandom on a dead/dying platform means there is very little external validation to counteract the self-loathing brain worms. Agony!

[thehitchhikerguide]

Season 2, Episode 8: Man at the Window

After that last episode, the bar had been set pretty low. I had some high hopes for this one since I saw that Michael Madsen was one of the guest stars. I'm guessing this was well before he took any phone call from QT.

This episode made me wonder about the screenwriters of The Hitchhiker - did they get THEIR ideas from spying on people? I say this because that is what this episode is about.

Our "hero" (played by Edward Albert, son of Green Acres star Eddie Albert), is first seen in a town square. I totally got a kick out of all the NYC references they make in this episode, when one look will tell you, this ain't NYC. He is seen with his motorcycle. He pulls something out.

A breast pump? No wait it's a recording device.

He's listening to this couple gripe about old age. Great, this is like a less interesting version of The Conversation. But then he picks up something else.

This woman with a black eye is on the phone with her lover. Sounds like someone is stepping out on someone, which is intriguing our main character. He follows her on his bike, completely oblivious to this guy...

The Hitchhiker doesn't attempt to get a ride, as I think it's pretty tough to hitchhike on a motorcycle. However I do see room on his seat.

Instead he lets us know that "Arthur Bradley Brown steals the words of others and uses them as they were his own. But what he doesn't hear are murmurs of danger, that could warn him of the violence that can pound with the human heart."

Arthur is able to follow this woman to an apartment.

He uses this window plunger to hear what is going on inside. Really? No one sees this in broad daylight?

We see this young woman's lover is...another woman! Wow 80s HBO, I'm impressed! Well I was until I found out this is how brave they were with this:

For a show that who's tagline always seem to be "look at these," I was pretty disappointed there was nothing steamy with this couple. This cuddle is as far as they go. That's the 80s for you.

Well there is the titular Man in the Window. Come on, they don't see this?

He is able to record them talking about the whole sorted affair and how Diane is married to a brutish cop, John. The other woman is Carla, a photography artist.

The snooping doesn't end here as he follows Diane back home to her husband.

Wow this guy is good, even at a cop's house he is able to be completely invisible while staying totally in sight.

Fine, it's okay to show the heterosexual sex, but not the women. Whatever 80s HBO.

Arthur takes this newly developing story to his agent who loves the writing because the conversations seem so real. Strange they didn't seem real when they were acted out, but okay. However, it doesn't have an ending. Even Hitchhiker episodes have those!

Instead of making one up, he decides to try to make one happen using this love triangle to his advantage. He starts by calling Michael Madsen and pretending to be his wife's lover.

He even tries to send flowers to Diane. She gets angry at Carla and Carla lets her know it wasn't her doing this.

Ooo back rubs. Steamy stuff. It's a little strange this woman has this naked photo of her girlfriend just facing out the window. Arthur uses this to take photo of just the cutout, instead of the women getting cozy on the couch.

He breaks into Diane and John's house. You'd think a cop would have better security than this.

He puts some device in the phone...I'll record everything!

He also places the picture of a picture on the bed. This triggers an argument with the couple where predictably, John beats on his wife while Arthur listens.

On further examination, John gets a clue to where the photo may have come from and gets the address of Carla, while still thinking Diane is having an affair with another man.

What ensues is a somewhat tame chase scene, where John, Arthur and Diane all speed towards Carla's place to warn her/save her.

I have to say there were some interesting camera angles on some of the transportation shots. I mean, this was directed by the same guy who directed Teen Wolf Too, so we are dealing with some expertise.

John puts his police siren on, but still manages to fall behind in the chase as he crashes into another car.

This give Arthur the advantage as he reaches Carla and scares the crap out of her by yelling at her, telling her not to be scared of him.

Diane comes over soon after and the two are reunited.

But realize they have no idea who this creepy guy screaming at them is.

Then John shows up with a gun and assumes Arthur to be the lover.

Arthur tells John that his wife is actually having an affair with a woman, and John pistol whips him. I'm not sure if this is because he doesn't believe him, or because he's mad his wife is a lesbian. Carla clocks John over the head with a bottle.

Cop sirens are heard as Arthur grabs the gun and in a very dazed state, stumbles out of the apartment.

The cops yell at him to drop the gun and instead he makes this stupid face.

And of course the cops start shooting at him like crazy.

And then:

Nothing.

It just ends with this freeze frame of him as you hear gun shots! I guess they had spent all their budget on that car crash (credit to that joke goes to my significant other). Ah well, it ends up being the most unintentionally funny ending ever. I was waiting for the Police Squad credit music to come on.

Oh wait, not over yet, I forgot about him. The Hitchhiker wanders in to tell us "Arthur Brown thought he could play people like instruments. He rearranged their lives like so many notes and used their emotions as chords. But then somebody came along that didn't appreciate Arthur's music...and put an end to Arthur's song."

Wouldn't that have made sense if he was actually a musician and not a wannabe John Travolta in Blow Out? This music analogy seems to be for a different episode, it doesn't seem to fit. All in all, an okay episode. I would have liked to see more Michael Madsen and more same-sex romance. Maybe we'll see it sometime on The Hitchhiker, but I won't hold my breath.

[reputationstationvariation]

“anyway don’t be a stranger” by reputationstation on AO3.

Catherine J. “Cat” Grant Division Home Jerseys

Note: You do not need to look at these to read the story, I am just a big hockey nerd who decided to do this for fun. It is not important for the story.

Everything looks very wonky because I decided to draw in pen, but please imagine everything looks good and I know how to fill in colour properly. All (very) rough sketches included below:

Boston Banshees - [BOS]

[BOS] - I know these jerseys look like they belong to a recreational roller hockey team and not a professional ice hockey team, but I tried to base it on the photos of Silver Banshee's costume from the comics, and this is what happened.

DC Legends - [DCL]

[DCL] - I may want to change the colour from purple to a more Legends of Tomorrow colour scheme, but I'm not sure yet. Right now, I'm still laughing about naming the team the DC Legends. This jersey design is based on a University of Notre Dame (IN, USA) concept jersey I found on the internet.

Gotham Nightwings - [GNW]

[GNW] - This jersey is based on Nightwing's superhero suit from the comics and a little bit on the New Jersey Devils Jersey jersey. The team is very much based on the real life NHL team of the New Jersey Devils, so I thought it would be fun. (I also messed up by putting a line through the blue stripe on the torso, please ignore.)

Metropolis Metropolitans “Metros” - [MET]

[MET] - This jersey is so ugly. I'm planning to redesign it but I wanted to post this, so now this is what happened. The colour scheme is based on Superman's superhero suit if Superman's superhero suit was ugly, and The New York Rangers reverse retro jersey from the 2022-2023 season, which I actually really like. This design ended up looking like 1990s retro St. Louis Blues jersey, but that wasn't what I was thinking. The 'Honouring History' shoulder patch is a reference to the comic canon Metropolis Mammoths hockey team.

National City Caracals - [NCC]

[NCC] - This is the first design I made, and I tried to make a lot more, but eventually this is the one I chose. I tried to use the colour scheme of CatCo's logo and the pink cats that are in the CatCo offices. The logo is traced from the first design I found when I Googled "Caracal Logo" The design was probably based on something from the back of my mind, but I didn't look at any photo of a specific jersey for this design.

Québec Dinosaures - [DQC]

[DQC] - When I thought of this logo after naming the team, I knew I had to do a whole series of these drawings just so I had the excuse to show off the Dinosaur Fleur-de-lis. The jersey is based on the old Rimouski Océanic jerseys from the Sidney Crosby era (03-05). It also ended up looking like the American football team Seattle Seahawks colour scheme, but that's not what I was going for. The shoulder patch is the flag of Québec City.

These are the designs of the Grant Division, which I picture to act as the stand-in for the Metropolitan division in the real-life NHL. (I know National City is technically in California but for some reason I have always pictured it to be near DC in Maryland or something so that is where I put it. Sorry for the confusion.) If you have taken the time to read through this, I appreciate it.

[gremlin-writes-angst]

You asked for ideas and I have a suggestion, a pet that normally doesn’t like other people but they almost immediately adore your Blooming Panic SO. Going up to them, letting them pet them, etc

I loved doing this, got a little carried away.

theirs a small part that mentions of past animal abuse, neglect, and dog fights. I used red words to indicate where it begins and ends. It's nothing graphic but I don't want to trigger anyone. let me know if I miss any triggers, spelling, or grammatical errors.

Gender-neutral reader/mc

Enjoy!! I also added a reference at the end for what I think the pets look like!!

After graduating and getting a job Nightowl decided he need more space

He had multiple reasons to move, he was pretty far from his new job, he'd wanted a pet companion since he was little and his current apartment did not allow it. And he realized that he wanted to live with you, and his small college apartment was not fit for two people.

He thought it be perfect, you had quit your job and was visiting Nightowl almost all summer, and of his knowledge, there was no reason for you to go back when you could get a job here and live with him.

But he wanted to get settled in before freaking you out, so getting a pet came first

He did a lot of research to find a puppy but it was a lot harder than he thought until he got a message from an old classmate, a photo of a litter of labs, Nightowl didn't even wait a second before asking if they were for sale, lucky they were and Nightowl got a chocolate lab puppy which he fittingly named Coco.

You had been to Nightowl's old apartment before, you'd even been in his new one to help pack but recently he was afraid to invite you over and it started to make you wonder.

“How's is the unpacking going?”

“Oh, it's going great! Always better with your help!”

He tries to sweet-talk you before he recalls something.

“It's mostly Coco. Whenever I do something he starts chewing it up and throwing things left and right. He doesn't seem to like the change of new things. And I know I should be a little mad but, he's just so cute. I took a photo when he got into my socks.”

Nightowl pulls out his phone to show you the adorable photo of his new chocolate lab. You'd seen the puppy before but only on calls.

“No, I totally get it, how could someone get mad at that face.”

“Thank you for agreeing, I was starting to worry I wasn't being a strict enough dad.”

You use your fingers to zoom in on Coco’s face.

“I can't wait to see this face in person, a little mad it hasn't happened yet.”

You joke as Nightowl pockets his phone.

“Yeah…about that, he doesn't like people. It's not like an aggressive thing but when I bring anyone over, he stays in a corner and glares and if anyone other than me gets within 5 feet of him he growls.”

Nightowl pauses looking at you to see if you had anything to say, he knows that he talks a lot and often forgets to let others speak. When he realizes you are content with just listening he continues.

“I would love it if the two of you met but I don't want to scare him anymore and I don't want to disappoint you.”

“Look at you, all papa mode.”

You joke before taking his hand and changing your tone, you could tell Nightowl was genuinely concerned.

“And I'd love to meet him if you're ok with that, but if it makes you feel better I promise I'll back off as soon as Coco becomes distressed. And even though I think it obvious, you won't disappoint me.”

“Ok.”

Nightowl gives in.

“What?! Really!? When!? I mean it doesn't have to be now but I did leave stuff in your apartment before I left…”

Nightowl agreed, so after your short coffee date, the two of you walked back to his apartment. When he gets to his door he pauses.

“Just, don't get too excited, cause I don't want to disp-

“It'll be fine babe.”

You kiss his cheek and rest your hand on his, the two of you open the door together. You immediately started to search the area for Coco. Nightowl realizes this and laughs.

“Sorry, um I knew you were coming back for your stuff so I made sure Coco was in a different room, just in case.”

That's when you hear scratching, you turn your head to the Nightowl's room, you can see the shadow of tiny paws under the door, then two when the scratching continence, must be Coco or a ghost, you were hoping it was Coco.

“He must have to go outside, we were gone a little longer than I planned

Nightowl opens the door, leaning down to catch his pup when he runs up to him, but he doesn't. Coco bolts straight to you as the Nightowl fumbles to stop him, only a little afraid Coco will bite you. But instead, the chocolate lab tries to climb you, not getting any higher than a foot. You lean down to pick up the puppy.

“This ok?”

You ask, not wanting to disrespect the Nightowl or Coco. Night owl nods and smiles as getting closer to you. You finish picking up the little dog and holding it near your chest. The puppy is trying relentlessly to lick your face.

“I guess I had nothing to worry about.”

“Duh, of course, all dogs love me, I'm just so special.”

You joke

“You are.”

Nightowl responds, totally serious before leaning in to kiss you, pulling away when Coco barks. Nightowl doesn't tell you this until you've agreed to move in with him, but he was so relieved that Coco liked you because if Coco didn't like you it would ruin his whole plan to ask you to move in. Nightowl takes a quick photo of his two cuties and changes it as his phone’s background.

Quest has a pitbull

Cause I said so

But seriously he does and here's why

Both are big, loyal, adorable, and often misjudged on looks …and my favorite

It wasn't really a decision Quest made or planned, he had been apartment searching for a while, not many people wanted to house someone with a record but he had his hopes up about his most recent one. Over the few weeks of applying, viewing, and being interviewed for one apartment Quest I realized something. It was a lot more space than he'd ever had to himself, he knew that it would be hard. He knew the size and silence would bother him, make it hard for him to heal. He was even considering pulling out, looking for somewhere smaller. He walked to the apartment building as the rain poured, he decided to move on to try and find a new one and had to let the owner know. As he walked, his hair and clothes soaked and dripping, he saw her. He had seen her before, she was always in the alley between a coffee shop and an antique store, she often had a small cup of water, he'd assumed one of the coffee shops was responsible for the water, given the logo. Most times Quest would just walk by, ignoring the dog, he knew he wouldn't be able to leave the poor thing if he looked her in the eyes. He always wanted a dog, but everywhere he lived didn't allow them. The first time he saw her he had to tell himself

Someone else will help it. You can't care for it now. The homeless shelter doesn't even allow dogs.

But today he stopped. He squatted down, held out his hand out to the dog, and waited. He stayed in this position for at least 5 minutes, he watched through dripping bangs as the dog slowly approached him. He smiled when the dog sniffed his hand, he stayed still as the dog lowered its head. Quest cautiously turned his hand and rested it on her head, waiting before petting her. As she got closer and closer, as he continued to pet her he dreamed. He dreamed about the apartment building 2 blocks down, what a life would be like there with this sweetheart, the space wouldn't be just his but theirs.

Trigger warning:Covered in wet dog hair, Quest went into both stores, asking about the dog. He learned that she was originally for sale, but after the buyer got no calls he left her here, she was covered in bite marks and gashes, pretty obviously abused, and most likely forced into dog fights.(End of tw) The coffee shop explained that no one there could take her in, nor the antique shop, but they tried their best to feed her. When Quest heard about her past he couldn't help but feel like he was meant to help the dog, so he left his number with both shops, explaining that he was getting an apartment soon and he'd love to take her in. Luckily the apartments allowed dogs, including “aggressive “ breeds, and he was able to take her in, naming her Rain. The coffee shop loves her and Quest, they often give Quest coffee in the house along with a pup cup.

Sorry I got carried away, now for you meeting her.

Quest hadn't told you about rain, he was slightly afraid you would judge her past and breed, even if he knew that wasn't you. He thought it was fine until you bought a ticket to visit him. He tried to tell you but it never felt like the right time, and now the two of you are outside his apartment building. You were super excited to get inside and rest, walking ahead of Quest as he tried to talk to you.

“So, I've been trying to tell you something-”

He was interrupted by one of his neighbors.

“Afternoon Quest, how are you?”

“Im great Ms. Opal I-”

He's cut off again when the older lady sees you.

“Oh, and who is this? Oh is this the person you're always texting? And they're finally here, how cute.”

“Yes…”

Quest blushes lightly.

“Um, their here for the week so you'll have time to chat if you'd like but n-”

Once again the lady interrupts him.

“How fantastic. Oh but what about rain, poor things, always running away from people. Will she be fine?”

“Rain?”

You question, you never heard Quest speak of a Rain.

“His sweet dog, she's so sweet when she gets to know you but that takes months, she's almost as shy as her dad, not wanting to open up to new people.”

Quest tried to talk but before even getting a word out he was cut off.

“Oh my, I'm gonna miss the birds! See you love bird later!”

The lady leaves in a rush out the door laughing at her joke. You turn to quest, his head bowed in shame.

“You have a dog?”

“Yeah… I was trying to tell you but, it's hard to get the words out, especially with Ms.Opal.”

You laugh a little.

“Other than the constant interrupting, why was it hard? It's a dog, it's not like you have another partner.”

“I know but, I just don't like the words, I think it stupid when I have to tell people and they respond in horror or worry for my safety. Or worse they think we belong together because-”

He pauses not wanting to say the words, you rub his back, letting him know you're here and listening.

“We’re both aggressive.”

His voice is low. You roll your eyes, annoyed that quiet is treated that way.

“Sounds like a bunch of idiots. Ms.Opal seems to think your dog is sweet, and she's met the dog so listen to her, not the people who assume things based on breed.”

Quest feels a little stupid thinking you'd judge his dog, feeling a lot better after hearing you say that. He's now fueled with excitement for you to meet rain. The two of you hurry up the stairs to his apartment. He tells you more about her.

“She's a pit bull, that where most people get the idea she's aggressive, but she really is the sweetest thing I've met.”

“Even sweeter than me?”

“Way sweeter!”

The two of you laugh as you arrive at his door, his excitement dialed down just slightly.

“Ms.Opal wasn't lying though, it takes a lot of time for her to be comfortable around new people, she’s … people weren't the best to her.”

Quest decided he'd tell you more later, not wanting to ruin this moment. He opens the door, putting a finger against his lips. You stayed quiet as you entered the apartment. Quest calls for the dog and whistles, you then hear the slow pitter-patter of the dog's feet. You watch as the dog rounds the corner, her body wiggling with her tail as she gets closer to the quest. She leans her body against his legs as he pets her, you watch as Quest smiles and praises the dog. You watch as the dog freezes for a second when it sees you, you let your hand hang near her face, not too close but if she wanted to she had access to smell you. She stopped wiggling and sniffed your hand, after a few seconds she started wiggling again, moving from Quest to you, putting her body against you as you pet her. You hear as Quest lets out a relieved sigh than a laugh.

“This is insane, that's the fastest she's ever warmed up to someone, even me.”

He laughs even more incredibly relieved that he wouldn't have to separate you from her for the week.

Later that night Quest tells you more about rain, her past, how he got her, why he named her that, the coffee shop. You make him promise that he'll take you and rain to the coffee shop in the morning, he feels at peace knowing the two most important souls in his life get along.

Nakedtoaster likes to support local businesses including a nearby cat cafe.

It was one of his favorite places outside of his own home, he also thought that it was a great business.

The owners were always kind and almost always working as hard as the employees, they hired people who struggled to get jobs previously, whether because of a disability,discrimination, or if they have a criminal record. The cats and kittens were up for adoption and raged ages along with backgrounds.

They mainly loved this place because no matter how packed it got it was always a calming atmosphere.

Though he was never a cat person, he enjoyed watching the kittens chase each other. The older the cats slept, the more he started to understand people who liked cats. This was his downfall.

He started to frequent the cafe, and one kitten started to frequent his lap. Every time he sat down at the cafe a kitten would jump up and sleep in their laps.

After weeks of this they started to feel bad that the kitten wasn't adopted, he had seen way, he was prone to biting and scratching the other quest, but the kitten never scratched him so they took it upon themselves to adopt the kitten, it was so calming to him anyways.

Wrong.

Toasty soon realized the kitten was a rascal, running, jumping everywhere, knocking down one thing after the other. And though he found it annoying he loved the little thing.

You knocked on the door, looked down at your phone trying to make sure it was the right apartment. You heard fumbling and someone whispered a string of curse words. That's when you knew you had the right door. You waited patiently for Toasty to open the door, when he did it was only a sliver. You could tell they were frantic and unprepared, his hand playing with his hair as he looked behind the door.

“Are you gonna let your partner in?”

You teased smiling as he fumbles and blushes.

“Oh yeah sorry.”

He opens the door wider for you, you follow their eyes to one of the rooms, a closed door. He quickly closes the door.

“Welcome… sorry I haven't had time to clean up.”

“That's okay… so… can I see the kitten?”

“Wow is that all you came here for?”

“Yes.”

Your tone was serious but Toasty could tell it was a joke, making him laugh.

“Oh, I see how it is. “

They stayed quiet, looking back at the door again before speaking again.

“I don't think that's a great idea, he's kind of violent, not bad but you're also the first person he's met since I got him. “

“You don't think I can take a little scratch?”

You ask him, hoping to raise the likelihood you'll get to see the kitten. Success.

“Ok, but I warned you.”

He turns around ready to go open the door that his kitten is kept in, only to see the door open. Toasty rushes over to the room and searches it for the little cat.

“Uggg, be careful, he's probably out there, plotting his next move”

“You make him sound like a video game boss.”

“Everything in my life is a video game boss.”

When Toaster emerges from the room they see you holding their little boy.

“You exaggerated, he's so calm. I don't know what you were worried about.”

You tell him as you pet the kitten in your arms. Toasty moves closer to you as they accuse that kitten.

“You little, you're trying to deceive them, I know your true colors.”

They started laughing, knowing they just said something silly, they also blush. When he finishes laughing he stands up, moving to pet the cat, only to be hissed at. Shocked, Toasty looks at you.

“Did he just hiss at me? Oh, he must like you.”

He directs his attention to the kitten.

“Trying to steal my sweetheart? I know they are special but they're mine.”

Toaster is back to accusing the kitten again.

“What did you call him?”

That's when Toaster realizes he let the name slip. As soon as he got the kitten he named it oven, thinking it was fitting based on his fur and they thought it was funny Toaster and oven. But when the server asked the kitten's name, the Toaster decided it best to tell no one, knowing that all would tease him.

“Nothing.”

They lie.

“No! You called him oven! You named him oven! That's so cute!”

You start laughing at the matching names.

“Yeah yeah, it's a good name ok. He has the colors of an oven and I go by a Toaster so it's… it's a good name”

“I totally agree, I bet the server will too.”

You set Oven down as you reach for your phone as Toaster tries to stop you.

I mean it's Cat, not much backstory is needed.

I do think Cat isn't big on new people.

Cat has social anxiety.

Mostly based on my own cat but because they're scared of people Cat hides really well when people are around.

Like Xyx cant even find them, and it's his house.

You arrive at Xyx’s house. Still, a little rattled from the ride on Xyx motorcycle, even if it wasn't your first time on a bike, it was the first time you rode with Xyx and boy was he reckless, but as he told you.

“I’ll be careful, need to be when I got this special cargo.”

It made you laugh at the time but know you wished you would have seriously told him to be careful.

You made your way inside, taking a seat on the couch, as you were told.

“So where's Cat?”

“Hell if I know, that little troll is probably in the walls”

Xyx moves around his kitchen to get you a drink as he continues, his voice softens a tone

“Cats aren't the biggest human fan, I mean I'm not either, but that little thing can't stand us. They always hide if anyone other than me enters this house.”

You listen as you spot a fluffy tail movie behind the chair next to the couch. Not wanting to make the cat uncomfortable, you don't do anything other than watch, you watch as the cat gets closer to you, you watch as its hind legs bend and jump right into your lap. You snicker under your breath as you respond.

“You sure about that?”

“I’d bet my bike on it.”

Xyx makes his way into the living room with a glass for you, not yet seeing the fluffy creature in your lap. He leans over the couch to hand you your drink.

“Her-”

He freezes upon seeing Cat in your lap

“Your bike? I guess I wouldn't mind a souvenir.”

You laugh as Xyx rushes over to examine Cat, making sure it's not a hologram or something. He's genuinely surprised Cat is in your lap.

“They really just cost me my damn bike. First my house now my bike, it really is a troll.”

Xyx move to sit next to you on the couch before leaning into your ear

“I don't blame it, I'd jump straight to your lap too.”