#trying to highlight the main points of things

[midnight-mourning]

1000 kudos/100 Follower Special!

wow so um, there’s a LOT of you now

👀👀👀

WHERE DID Y'ALL EVEN COME FROM LIKE?? HI!! 👋👋👋

AND ALSO

THIS???? CRAZY, incredibly appreciated <3 but also wild

anyway, I think that deserves celebrating! So, here’s a couple ideas I came up with for y’all to vote on, with the option of sharing other ideas in the comments, I’ll do the top two and save the others for the next milestone :)

If the 'other' option gets the most/second most votes, I'll do another poll with ideas that people suggested and we'll go from there. You can scroll down and click the read more if you'd like more info on each option! SO, having said all that:

Letting you guys make the call with this one! I have stuff prepped for all of it, just a matter of people voting since this is ME showing my appreciation to YOU. And again, next milestone will have the opportunity for the other choices :)

Also, this isn't just for followers/the moots either! Anyone is welcome to vote and participate if they'd like to 💙💙

Please also feel free to ask questions in the comments if that helps you with voting! Can't wait to see what you guys pick :D

I will expand on each option here for clarity in your decision making:

CS one-shot: I will write a one-shot (3,000-5,000 words prob) based in the CS universe. It will be canon to the fic but will never be mentioned/referenced in the fic itself so stand alone to read. It may be a future scene, may be based somewhere in the current timeline. Open to ideas on the POV and such (though I have some floating around that I can do ;))

Q&A/Ask the Cast: a classic, I know my ask box is open but here's also a clear chance to ask something that you've been really curious about! I won't share spoilers for the story, but everything else is on the table, including stuff about me, writing etc. Just no super personal questions is all! Additionally, you can ask the cast questions and answers will be in character, perhaps with a little doodle as well ^-^

Finished refs/busts for the cast of CS: I'll post the finished versions of the rough sketches I shared a few months ago, along with the remainder of the cast! This includes the rest of the engineering team, the division heads, the glamrocks, and the DCA! I also will include little blurbs for all the characters as well. This will probably happen eventually anyway BUT if you want them sooner rather than later this is you're chance if you're curious :)

Spooky Season one-shot: something halloween-related that again I'm open to ideas for! Would also be about 3,000-5,000 words in length, could be related to CS or not

Writing Requests: similar to the requests I did for reveal day, same rules apply (no nsfw, suggestive is fine, be specific if you want specific) but a little longer in length (500-1000 words)

Doodle requests: I provide you with a little drawing I made with tender love and care (would be lined, colored, shaded, etc.)

A peek into the drafts: I do in fact have a couple other fic ideas floating around in my brain that I simply haven't started so that I don't get bogged down/focus on CS. I would share those and a little bit of concept art

Other: explained above

[lewyn-martell]

.

[disneyvillainsdaily]

Thinking about Lilo & Stitch makes me really appreciate certain things about the original + the series. Almost every single named [human] character in the movie isn’t white: the only exception being Mertle, y’know, the bratty little girl we’re not supposed to like.

Besides all of the racial representation, Lilo herself is very much a neurodivergent icon, and her portrayal as the protagonist is amazing considering how characters like her are typically either sidelined or depicted in ways to make them less sympathetic/human (modern media does at least a slightly better job at adressing that kind of thing tho).

So all of that is great, but to anyone that hasn’t seen Lilo & Stitch: The Series, it also does some extremely refreshing stuff.

Pleakley gets tons of validation to dress in drag, everyone always referring to Pleakley as “she” when dressed up as “aunt Pleakley.” There’s even an episode that tackles Pleakley dealing with the pressures of his family that wants him to marry a girl and settle down to have a “normal life.” After the episode's shenanigans, there's a realistic depiction of the misunderstanding of a heteronormative/traditional parent with their non-traditional child: Pleakley's mom says that she just wants her children to be happy, but when Pleakley says that he is happy, she thinks he's only trying to console her as she insists, "How can you be happy? You aren't even married." But Pleakley finally gets it through to his mom when he says, "I don't want to be married, mother! I'm happy just as I am."

After getting to meet all of Pleakley's ohana throughout the episode and hearing from Pleakley himself -after all of the previous misunderstandings- that he really, truly, is happy, she's finally starting to understand.

Even though his mom comments as they leave that she wants him to “try wearing men’s clothes more often,” she still does walk away accepting that she simply doesn’t understand her son's way of thinking. It’ll definitely be hard for her since she’s so much more “traditional,” but she’s finally coming to grips with the fact that her son is who he is, and likes being that way, so she’ll love him regardless. She's trying her best.

The portrayal of people with physical disabilities is also great. It’s not because there’s one recurring character with some condition, but almost because there are non-recurring characters. It isn’t in every episode, but here’s an example: they want to show someone at the park playing fetch with their dog for just one shot. They could very easily have it be any a random person, but they decided to make it a lady in a wheelchair. There's another episode where Nani's friends from highschool show up and one has forearm crutches, but not just because she had some recent accident. No one in the episode questions her condition or feels the need to point it out, the only comment on it being that the friend will use the crutches to lightly bonk the others' arms, and Nani jokes, "You are still deadly with that thing."

The fact that they include characters with disabilities when they "don't have to" makes it that much more normal. These people aren't some special case or the main highlight of the episode, they're just another person. They're normal.

There's so much that all of the original Lilo & Stitch media did right, but now the name will forever be tainted with the association of the remake, which I'm sure will have absolutely none of the tasteful writing and ideas of anything prior to it.

[lover-of-mine]

Okay, welcome to Anna writes a framing meta for the first time in who knows how long. This got long as hell, so strap in.

Okay, first up, first buddie scene of the episode, the locker room, at no point you can see both of their faces clearly at the same time, either one of the faces is out of focus or they have their backs to the camera (tiny images for me to stay within the image limit, but you should be able to zoom in).

And if we get a wide shot, they have something separating them in the frame.

The not allowing the camera to focus on both of them really works to highlight how they're not seeing eye to eye, and helps the scene feel awkward because they are obscuring their real feelings, Buck doesn't Eddie to move and Eddie doesn't want to move, but they are both trying to act excited about it. And the physical divider between them highlights the way the move is getting between them. Literally. The show did this the other 2 times they fought. If something really is getting between them, we end up getting a physical display of it.

And before you get all "oh but the show is not that deep" on me.

Okay, moving on, something very interesting that I've seem a bunch of people point out is this shot specifically, they are very close, some would say within kissing distance *wink*, but the glass is between them, but the lafd logo is only obscuring Buck's face.

Since the logo is backward when we look at if from inside the locker room, it almost makes it seem like the only thing stopping them is Eddie not being in LA with Buck.

At the house showing, there's always a few steps between them, at least, but the way Buck starts the sabotage by peaking over Eddie's shoulder, to fully stepping in front of him to the point that the camera stops focusing on Eddie is the fun part here for me.

Because that's when Buck fully takes over, the meth lab story is the most intentional part of the sabotage, at least in my opinion, and the way Buck takes over when he sees someone he thought would actually go for it, the little "man, I thought we had her" before Eddie calls him out gives that impression, it really shows the way Buck escalates inside his own feelings. It also highlights the way the scene is in Buck's pov. It's pretty obvious when we consider the way we see Buck talking to the potential renters alone, but we only hear Eddie talking to them alone.

Not really relevant here but love that Buck is the only person we ever saw in that back door. New angle of the Diaz kitchen too.

Love that painting of waves behind Buck, both for the symbolism of the way this is about to crash into him and his relationship with water and life-changing stuff, the tsunami, the well, the lightning, y'all know what I mean.

Okay, before I move on I need to take a detour to fully explain why these next two scenes had me going fucking insane.

Oliver is a pretty big guy, right? He's the tallest main, he is built like a fridge, he is a person who will usually be the biggest person in the room. That ends up giving Buck the power. So when Buck is emotionally distressed, they usually exaggerate that. Like when he is yelling at his parents and everyone is sitting down but him, or when he's standing up when telling everyone about Daniel, when he's sitting on the stairs talking to Maddie about being the one who's always left behind, or how they gave Buck the literal high ground when he's waiting for Taylor so they can breakup.

There's also the way that Buck likes to sit on top of stuff that will make him taller, the counter, the top the firetruck.

They play with that a lot, Maddie conversations when she's actually getting through to him tend to have both of them sitting down, since Jennifer is that much smaller, or talks with Bobby have them both standing up since Peter is the closest in height to Oliver.

But since Oliver is really tall, Buck doesn't look up at people a lot. It usually happens with love interests in emotionally heavy scenes that, like the breakup with Ali, when he tells Taylor he cheated, the breakup with Tommy. There are a few scenes with Bobby and Maddie.

And then there's Eddie.

The gym scene and the 204 scene, well, 201 Buck is about to get up and puff out his chest, try to look as big as possible, so it doesn't count in this, and 204 is being there for Eddie, but the rest he's looking for guidance. Something I used to talk about a lot is that Buck's admiration of Eddie clouds his judgment, it forces him to this space of following Eddie's lead, it put him in a position where he was literally looking up at Eddie when he needs reassurance or validation. Which is not really good for healthy relationship, it would make Buck bend to what Eddie thinks it's best and that's not good in the long run in a romantic relationship. The conversations they had about Buck's feelings, they were on different levels in the frame, and Eddie was always higher, and Buck is putting Eddie in a space where he needs reassure him. Funny enough, if they are talking about Eddie's feelings, they are usually both sitting down, so they are equalized there.

They broke that pattern with the coming out scene. In fact they broke it so hard they have Eddie looking up at Buck while wanting Buck to reassure him that hes not being unreasonable and he can hide in the loft.

But they are both sitting down for the part of the conversation that is about Buck, and Buck needs reassurance from Eddie there, but he is not looking at Eddie for guidance, he’s looking at Eddie for acceptance. And he would only get that if they were on the same level. So monumental moment. (read more about my freakout about the coming out scene here)

Now that we are all caught up, the station scenes, they're unleveled again.

In fact, Buck is so low he's on the fucking floor. But he's not looking up because he needs guidance or reassurance or because he thinks Eddie has the answers, he's on the floor because he's about to throw a low blow. He's being unfair and he knows it.

It is about Eddie having power over Buck, but it is also about how at that moment Buck doesn't want to accept that, he wants to land a punch that's gonna put Eddie on the floor with him.

He doesn't start the first scene on the floor, but he is on the floor once he tells everyone about the move.

And he is sitting on the floor when he says the "I don't need you either" so he is physically as low as he can be as he goes for the hit that's gonna hurt Eddie as much as he's hurting.

That had me SALIVATING. Buddie will never work if they keep assuming they can read each other's minds, it is why I was so adamant about the need of another divorce era, why that's the core of half the fics I write, they need to talk when they are hurting. And this was messy, they're being intentionally hurtfull but it all ends up equalizing in the biggest show of how they have the it's you and me vs the problem not you vs me down to an art if you just let them talk.

But moving on, at the end, when he realizes that he is succeeding in hurting Eddie but it's not gonna make feel any better, they're on the same level.

Side note, they tend to be on the same level when they are talking about them. (Yes, I'm counting the cemetery scene, this convoluted breakup that went nowhere is about their relationship, I don't care).

And that obviously leads up to the final buddie scene of the episode.

Just to get this out of the way, they are positioned the same way they were when Eddie tells Buck to leave the showing, but from the other side, because now we're on Eddie's pov.

The giveaways from that for me is the fact that the house is back to the usual warm lighting, and we are learning the information with Eddie, in contrast to the cold lighting and the way we learn the information with Buck in 808.

So our running joke to put a light on Buck if we ever got a scene from Eddie's pov? Yeah.

The 2 lamps almost give Buck a glowy aura.

Anyway, the thing with this scene is the way there's a lot of space between them at first, at some point Eddie is even holding onto the door and Buck even starts adding more space, the couch between them is a nice touch too.

And Eddie keeps his distance while they're fighting, up until when the crew arives and he steps back closer to Buck. It's not really necessary, they could walk around him the same way Buck did to get in the house.

Through the whole thing, Buck is in the same place he in the center of the room.

And then Eddie is the one to close the space, because even when Eddie is going in for the hug, Buck is not moving. Eddie has full control of the movement with them even though he was the only one who didn't have the full information.

And it's fun because there are 2 other scenes like that, where one of them is stationary and the other is doing all the movement, but while here Buck is letting Eddie make the choice to come to him, the other one Buck is forcing Eddie to let him in. Coincidentally (read absolutely intentionally), it's the other times they are clearing the air, 306 talk at the station and 309 kitchen talk. In both scenes Eddie is in a spot and Buck is doing all the moving closer.

And I think that indicates a lot of the way their relationship grew since s3, it's almost exemplifying the way Buck knows he doesn't need to force his way in anymore, that that door is already open and he can let Eddie come to him.

Well, I guess he already did in season 5 breaking the door down, but like Eddie says, Buck doesn't to break the door down, he wants to let Eddie open it. If he lets Eddie know he's there, Eddie will make the choice to let him in. And it is what happened. Eddie was upset because he thought he couldn't count on Buck and not being able to count on him always get Eddie off balance, it's why Buck fully disarms him telling him about renting the house, he was ready for anger but Buck just reminded him that he's got him. And I think that's beautiful.

This adds nothing to nothing but I need to say that "if you need to be pissed off at me to make it easier for you then be pissed off" most romantic thing I've ever seen. "Be mad at me if you have to, but stop faking it", you don't need to pretend with me on crack, had me screaming crying throwing up.

Some random things to point out, with the 2 fist bumps and the hug this is the episode they touched intentionally and without of them being mortal danger the most.

Also, the last scene has the same color pallete of the coming out scene.

In the still, the blue of Buck's jacket looked a bit too light, but when I put them side by side, that's Buck's blue. But the fit is a bit too big and the black shirt and the black color offset that. There's also the way that in 809 both of them are in the warm background. The yellow elements aren't that intense, but Buck mismatching is making me 👀 because while Buck is pulling the ultimate grand gesture as a clinger can do by doing that thing that will allow Eddie to leave him, I don't think living in that house alone is going to be easy for Buck. And Eddie stays in the warm background with a black shirt. So yeah, that's fun. Buck is in his color but in the wrong fit, Eddie is just no color at all yet but it keeps looming behind him.

This is long as fuck already and I just hit the image limit so I will shut up now, but I'll be back at some point about colors. As always, if you read this I love you.

[rexomi]

Something something. Making Solas a liar in Veilguard actively brings back a problem they fixed working on Inquisition.

On December 20 2019 VGS posted an interview with Trick Weekes about their work on Solas. This whole sentence is a link so its large enough for mobile but also disclaimer this is before they changed their name so deadname warning.

Here's a transcription I found here which is where i took the screenshots above. Since I know not everyone has 40 minutes to listen to an online radio interview.

I however highlighted the main point since most of you are not reading the screenshots anyway but skimming through. Rant under Read-more. Also bc i try to not be too negative on people's dashs but also i wanna ramble some more.

"But he lied a lot more. And it really weakened his character."

You can tell this happened during the game. Solas lies only once within Inquisition. He says something he can't be vague about and you push him so he lies, badly. He usually tells the truth vaguely. Typically Solas lies no more than Blackwall.

I fully believe that if in Inquisition your inquisitor figured out that Solas was Fen’harel and asked him bluntly to his face he'd confess. He might even be impressed. But why would you ever start to think that. No one assumes that their coworker is actually Poseidon regardless of how much they love the beach and ocean.

He hides in your expectations.

You can't ask him about being an ancient elf or being Fen'harel of myth because those aren't very probable. They're astronomically low to be truth within that universe. And outside, no one finished DA2 and went i wonder if one of our next companions is the Dread Wolf. Sera said, impossible things can't be surprises. He doesn't have to lie so when the truth comes out it's becomes obvious on a second playthrough.

They then actively bring back a problem they fixed in Inquisitions development. That they were open about fixing. That having a character that outright lies to you makes you have no intention of even hearing out the character. It retroactively undercuts Inquisition bc i see people trying to find Solas' lies in it when they aren't going to find any beyond the court intrigue.

It undercuts any lore we do get from Solas bc people dismiss it outright as being a lie from Mr "I abhor blood magic". I feel like shaking people's shoulders like no, dont do it.

They retconned him guys i have proof from 2019.

And its like if you hate Solas is this even satisfying? Like that's not Solas. His motivations are gone (that's a whole other post) and so is his core personality trait. It's like they went here's the Dreadwolf but during the ten years they replaced the smug asshole who was insufferably right with a 20 yo senior chihuahua that doesnt have any teeth.

My favorite villains are those that tell the truth. Because nothing hurts more than the truth. Can you imagine if he told you the truth. If he told you horrible things that you dismissed as lies to only be true. Wouldn't Varric’s death have more weight if he told you Varric was dead only for you - for everyone - to see him in the Lighthouse. If it was a spirit who took his shape to help you or even because it saw something worth reflecting in your memories.

So you dismiss him until it's revealed near the end oh he was telling the truth and you have an oh shit maybe he was right about other things but its too late to try and stop any of the truths he told you which could be from allies/companions betraying to stuff about Ghilan'nain and Elgarnan.

Like the only way to redeem Solas was to listen to him and by going out of your way to address problems he sees and you can find the alternative to tearing down the Veil by a series a little puzzle pieces throughout the game.

Have it be he will only listen to you if you listen to him. That he'll reject your other solution bc why the hell would he trust you if you couldnt extend the same.

Like Solas couldve been a great villian and he should've been great for both the haters and those that liked him. Not only the romance but for those who became his friend. Like i keep coming back to if i hated Solas would i be satisfied with Veilguard.

And the answer is no because that isnt Solas.

Tricking him has no weight bc he's an idiot in Veilguard like not even in the ending bc doesn't notice you switch the dagger around like right in front of him but none of his actions make sense. Ppl have mentioned the regret prison makes no sense for Elgarnan and Ghilan'nain bc they don't have regrets.

Attacking Solas has no weight because he literally needs the shit kicked out of him by a dragon for it to even begin to work. They literally need him to be at deaths door before its realistic that Rook could take him in a fight.

Redeem has no weight bc of the massive retcons to his motivations. They had to retcon the post credits scene bc even if Flemythal went hey i don't want you to do this Dai Solas wouldve went okay but that doesnt solve my other problems with the veil including the corruption of spirits and the fact its in literal shambles so i guess is still coming down.

I'm just disappointed. By the end of Trespasser they had a great villian and they just tossed it to the side and reverted him and people are arguing about a character who's sole defining trait in Veilguard is a problem they solved before Inquisition launched.

Basically we can sum it up with a screenshot.

[navydoves]

Have you ever heard of the Omegaverse?

✎ᝰ summary: you wanted to try something new with sylus to spice up your intimacy. something quite strange.

✎ᝰ cw: fake omegaverse, explicit but no actual sex, mentions of breeding, scent/pheromone kink, perfume addict, dirty talk but it’s not mean, needy sylus, you get the idea, no Y/N, it’s all lowercase bro

✎ᝰ a/n: not sure where this came from. i proof read AFTER i published this and then realized i forgot a whole chunk so shoot me. anyway, enjoy.

࣪𖤐

it wasn’t like sylus couldn’t sexually please you. it was, quite in fact, the exact opposite. it didn’t matter if it was with his fingers, his mouth, or his thick, veiny cock that was most definitely imprinted deep within your pussy at this point from just how many times he’s had you face down in his bed—it didn’t matter how, but sylus managed to pleasure you intensely, lovingly, passionately every single time.

to say you were blessed was an understatement. he was your god given man, top to bottom, perfection crafted by the gods themselves you would think. patient, kind, loving, dominant, wealthy, all the traits someone could ask for in a partner. but sometimes… you wanted to push the boundaries of your relationship just to see how “nonjudgmental” and capable sylus was willing to be for you.

your history with fiction was lengthy. always having your nose in books from a young age, reading about magic treehouses and mouses with cookies. fiction wasn’t juvenile, it was freedom, it was creative, it was part of you. but as you grew up and left phases behind, you also gained responsibilities by the year. that passion was driven elsewhere. being a hunter required time, energy, and dedication, all things you put in to get to the rank you are today.

yet, your love for fiction never really left. maybe put on pause, but getting lost in stories was a feeling you missed. now more settled down in your life, with a boyfriend and stable job, you felt the urge to relive the fixations of your childhood.

one thing led to another and instead of opting for the local library to check out some books or maybe dusting off your shelves to find other forgotten ones, you find yourself online, preferring the “e-reading” experience instead.

bad choice? nah.

while sylus was out on “commerce negotiations” (what he half-heartedly described it to you as, so as spare you the details of potential bloodshed), you lounged in one his many common rooms within his large estate, almost bored of how you couldn't find eye-catching stories to read or even skim through.

your short-attention span was just about to reprimand you for spending so much time on a task that proved to be fruitless, until, that was, your eyes grazed over a certain, unfamiliar category. "omegaverse?" you mumbled to yourself before curiously tapping on the highlighted word. the screen of your phone loaded in several different comics and stories with titles and thumbnails that were dowsed in eroticism and innuendos. you've never really strayed away from mature, sexual themes but it also never really was the main focus of the stories you read-unlike what this "omegaverse" proved itself to be. it only took one click to really interest you, and before you knew, you were down a rabbit-hole of this alternate universe that was all about primality and mates. it was about humans, sure, but with more of a… cardinal touch to it. needless to say, it aroused you. even if you felt weird about it and were in slight denial that something so… bizarre could do this to you, you couldn't help it. especially when your thoughts drifted off and imagined sylus and you in a lot of these scenarios; scenting, marking, breeding. sure, you could do and have done these things with him to an extent, but it wasn't exactly the same.

your thoughts and sensations were interrupted by a familiar voice down the hall of the common room you were in. you swiped out of the tab you were on and put down your phone to greet sylus.

"sy, you're back. negotiations go well?" you asked with a gentle smile on your cheek whiling pushing yourself off the couch to go properly welcome him. he stood tall by the wall, leather jacket still on and hugging his form along with matching and equally as tight leather pants. his earthy, steel scent spilled into your nostrils and comforted you as you embraced him gently.

"'course it went well, when doesn't it?" he replied with a slight smirk to his lips and a lilt of smugness in his voice. he was right, you can't name one instance where his deals and bids didn't go his way. it was a true tell of his power in the N109, and something about his dominance in the field made you internally giggle. he wrapped a firm arm around your waist and kissed your forehead tenderly before pulling back. "don't tell me you were all worried about me? my little lady should know i'll always return home safe."

you chuckle slightly and remove your arms from his form. "nah, wasn't really worried, in fact i was more bored than anything else." sylus raised a brow.

"bored? i leave you my entire estate with rooms upon rooms to entertain yourself in and you're bored?" he teased just slightly. "what a needy kitten you are. i'll tell luke and kieran we'll build a few more game rooms if that'll keep you entertained." you knew sylus was more-so joking, but if you truly did ask for it, he'd build you a village.

you watch him move off the wall and slide off his leather jacket to put on one of the chairs that was tucked into the dining room table. he pulls the chair back and sits on it, elbow on the table and propping up his head on his palm. his legs manspread in fashion, his posture at ease, and his demeanor rather playful in the moment.

"i don't... really do much, not unless i have hunter work to do. which... i try not to bring to our quality time. i try to relax here, yknow?" you respond, embarrassed heat now burning at certain parts of your skin from just looking at sylus.

a low, throaty chuckle comes from sylus. he nods his head at your words and reaches out to take your wrist into his soft palms. it amazed you how nice the skin there was despite all of his dirty work.

"i know, love. you don't have to explain yourself to me. im glad you're resting up." he smiled and leaned in slightly to kiss and nibble at the crevice of your neck affectionately. "how was your reading?"

you tensed up slightly at his question and swallow. it wasn't exactly a lie that it went... nicely, after all, now you have a greater depth of internet niches and sex scenarios to think about, but you didn't want to just give him a rushed blanket statement and move on. no you wanted... more.

sensing your hesitation and slight tension in your body, sylus pulled back from your neck and looked up at you with a wondering expression. he tilted his head, making your heart flutter a little bit.

"you okay?" he asked in a murmur. he nudged his nose underneath your chin and brought a hand up to your hip to squeeze you from over your clothes. "do you need me, love?"

a shudder runs down your spine at yet another one of his questions. you knew what he meant. he took your flushed state as one of need, one of desire, and he wasn't entirely wrong... he just had the wrong context.

"err... sylus," you whispered while tilting your head down fully toward him and cupping his face, "you love me, right?"

"with every fiber of my being, yes."

"and you'd anything for me, right?"

"yes," he raised a brow, "how much do you want?"

"no this isn't about money,"

"then what is it, darling?"

you hesitated on your next words. like stated before, it wasn't like sylus couldn't sexually please you, you just wanted to try something…new.

"have you ever heard of the omegaverse?"

sylus's brows furrowed in confusion and then in ponder.

"no, i don't think i have. what is it? the name of an organization or something?"

you almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the situation, but you refrain. a small, silly grin grows on your lips as you shake your head.

"no it's a... genre, i think. i really don't know how to explain it to you but it's something i want to try between us. i can kinda... show it to you, if you'd like." you reach for your phone in your pocket and click on the few tabs of explanations you searched up for yourself in attempts to better understand this weird internet niche. sylus looked between you and the phone before fully immersing himself to the words on the screen. now, you were no longer flushing from nervousness or arousal, but from pure and utter embarrassment.

the feeling only grew once sylus fully took your phone from your hands and began reading more intently. he tapped at a few god-knows-what things and after a few very long, heavy minutes, he finally looks up at you. you tense again, posture rigid and skin hot. he smirked.

"i'm guessing i'm the alpha?"

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

your breath was heavy and coming out sporadically due to the full force of sylus's body weight atop of you. all 260 pounds (117.9 kg) of his body pressed into you and squished you into the mattress, sandwiching you between two forces. all 6'1 (186 cm) of his form towering over your shorter, smaller frame and taking advantage of your limited movement.

sylus's nose buried into your nape where your skin and hair strands met, making for the perfect concoction of your feminine musk. he let out a low groan and pressed his hips into yours as arousal built in his body purely from just your scent.

"my pretty," he purred against you, "you know better than to walk around smelling so nice when im nearing my rut, don't you?"

you whine softly in response. you couldn't believe how easy it was to convince sylus to do this, and you especially couldn't believe how good he was at playing the part. he chuckles, it's a genuine sound from him. he was, in fact, enjoying this.

"yknow it's only your scent that gets me going like this, love. can't stand the scent of other omegas, fucking repulses me. mmm," he presses into you again, "but when i come hooome, and i can smell yooou in the air, im reminded how lucky i am. reminded how perfect my sweet girl is.” sylus moves a hand to your face and tilts your head to face him better. his fingers gently dig into your cheeks, squishing them in an almost affectionate manner. "im all yours, you've got me hooked. im so... addicted to you."

you let out a small whimper but nod in agreement. he is all yours, thankfully so. words have failed you for the past several minutes due to the sheer amount of arousal coursing through your body, and only small noises were what you were reduced to. clothes weren't even off, lights hadn't been dimmed, yet sylus was able to fully and utterly make you putty, and you both loved it.

he loved seeing you this way, submissive and needy for him. while he let you have your fun in the past, here and there, at the end of the day it was always him taking control and guiding you once he had enough. and now, playing respective roles where you were an absolute submissive to him and he was an absolute dominant to you, made him prosper.

"mm, should i take your vow of silence as your way of telling me you like this side of me?" he chuckles lowly. you mewl softly in response. "atta girl. i knew since the time you snuck into my room to get off to my pheromones that you were a little filthy. i didn't know just how filthy you were, though."

sylus's fingers let go of your cheek and moved down to your shoulders to press you back down fully against the mattress. his weight was so deliciously suffocating you and you felt like you could get high on the pressure alone.

"now that i've got you where i want you," he began, a hand snaking between your front and the mattress and sliding down slowly to your pelvis, "i'll tell you exactly what i want to do with you. do you wanna hear?" you nod in response but it earns a disapproving frown from sylus. "use your words, angel."

"y-yes, tell me what you want to do to me," you groan out with need right before you close your eyes shut. sylus lets out an approving rumble and continues to move his hand down your pelvis until it was right under your bellybutton. he leaned into your ear and bit the skin of it gently which sent intense arousal shocks to right in-between your legs.

"im gonna breed you," he mumbled, "god im gonna breed you so good, so much, that there's no doubt you're pregnant with my children." you moaned softly at his words. while deep down, you knew that children weren't a thing you and sylus were looking for right now, the idea of him creamping you over and over again in hopes of impregnating you was incredibly erotic.

sylus laughed at your obvious infatuation with the idea and pressed his hand deeper against your pelvis. "mm, right here, our kids will grow. your womb will know my knot so well that it'll happily take my children. isn't that right? my pretty little omega, my pretty little wife."

without waiting for an answer, sylus flips you over onto your back and looks over your form appreciatively. baggy clothes and sweaters would never stop him from enjoying you, in fact, he loved imagining your pretty body underneath those layers. he dips his head down to your chest and nuzzles his head against the bump of your breasts, a low purr coming out of him again.

your hands instinctively go into sylus's hair and scratch his scalp tenderly as he moves his head lower and lower down your body. you felt an unfamiliar sense trepidation simmering within you but it only worked toward arousing you even further. something about the uncharted territory of this roleplay, of sylus made you nervous but deliciously so. you didn't know what to expect from him and you loved it.

"mmm, fucking delicious," sylus murmured as he took in the aroma of your clothes, imprinted with the various body sprays and perfumes he's bought you over the months. nothing ever enters your cabinets until careful deliberation on what suits you the best is done, and even then, he insists on customized, personally made scents just for you so that no one else but his love can smell like this. his cock twitched in his pants at just the mere thought that you smelled like his money, his gifts, his love. and in this case, his omega.

"s-sylus..." you whimper while arching your hips up to his hands that were now slowly moving your baggy shirt up to your waist. his hands were so warm, gentle, but so, so insistent. without response he dove his head into your stomach and sniffed, low rumbles of appreciation vibrating your body. he smiles against your skin and glances up at you.

"you smell so fertile, love," sylus groans softly, "your pheromones... i guess my rut is coming sooner than i thought. i can feel it... agh... im lightheaded...". you look down at him cup his face tentatively, worry spread across your face.

"are you alright?" you ask nervously. sylus lets out a shaky exhale that glides up your wrist. he grabs the back of your hand with his, closes his eyes, and tilts his head to the side to press a delicate kiss to your palm. it takes a few heart-pounding, stomach churning moments for him to respond, and each second felt like you were getting a new adrenaline rush. he looks back at you, eyes now intense and half lidded, shiner than usual in a way the pierced right through you.

"you have a minute to run," he mumbles. a simple, straightforward statement that made your mouth go dry. you stare blankly at him for a moment before getting up from the edge of the bed and looking around, hoping that something here had an answer for the absurdity of the situation. sylus glanced at the nightstand where a few of your perfumes sat there in their gorgeous, shimmering bottles. he stood and picked up one haphazardly and then handed it to you. "douse yourself in it and run."

you look down at the beautiful violet coloured bottle, elegance in a glass, and hesitate. it was an extremely expensive perfume and to... douse yourself in it like it was some moderately cheap, beauty supply store spray was frankly crazy. but in this moment, you weren't sure what it was, but everything was telling you to listen to sylus.

you shake the bottle gently and threw caution to the wind with the sprays. up and down your body in close proximity, you sprayed the scent to make sure it stuck onto you and you didn’t stop until that the word douse would be imprinted onto your skin. when you finished with milking the nozzle dry for what it was worth (literally), you carefully put the bottle down back on the stand and glance over to sylus.

"sixty."

sixty?

"fifty-nine."

fuck.

you rush out of the bedroom and down the corridor to one of the common rooms in the estate. the fact that this manor was particularly huge helped your escape tremendously. your legs took you farther and farther away from the wing sylus was on with each passing second. you weren't exactly sure where to go or if you should hide, but you had a feeling you should.

you found a hiding spot in a mostly unused storage closet one floor above where sylus was at. you weren't exactly sure what number he was on or if maybe he was already looking for you and you were too busy scrambling to hear him, but you had a spot now.

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

"one... zero," sylus hums. a small smile grows on his lips as he steps forward and out the bedroom he waited in. he did intentionally count slower than usual, just to give his pretty little lady some fighting chance, but he knew it was already over the minute you asked to do this roleplay.

he stepped into the hall casually and took long strides with confidence. the prominent boner in his pants stuck out terribly and made a show of itself with each movement of his hips. where was his precious omega? maybe behind this door? or that underneath that ottoman? or on that balcony?

no.

he knew where you were, or at least, he could take a very good guess. the perfume you doused left a prominent scent trail wherever you clambered around to, and that was his guiding phermone to finding you. although, lucky for you, it was also a disadvantage. each strong whiff of you to his sensitive nose made him groan softly and palm at his aching cock. he was so frustratingly erect that it felt like his groin was going to pop out of his pants anytime soon.

"mngh... darling..." he called out mockingly, "if only you could see the mess you've made of me right now. it's almost maddening, yknow?" he staggered down another hall and has to bite back a loud moan as he smells you everywhere. you were erratic in this hall in particular, he guesses, not that it's anything to complain about. it only got him readier for you.

"you're making this... so difficult for me. i wonder... how wet you are right now, just waiting for me to pound into your eager pussy." he stalked the hall for longer before stopping at the end of it. his back presses against the wall with a groan as he imagines you wrapping around his twitching cock and massaging him slowly, lovingly, with your warm walls. he reached down and into his pants to stroke himself for some type of relief but he refused to cum unless he was inside you.

after a few more minutes of stumbling around halls and rooms, groaning both in frustration and desire, sylus eyed a particular door in the middle of a hall on the opposite wing of his estate, a floor up. he can almost feel you throbbing behind there, maybe even taste the sweat and arousal on your skin. he smirked before moving toward the door and stopping right outside of it. he didn't open it, or knock, or even say a word, he just stood there, breathing.

you, of course, were behind that door, shivering in pure ecstasy and need. you heard his voice echo from halls down and it was exhilarating how he stalked you just by your scent. god this was so much better than what you had initially imagined when mentioning the roleplay. now, sylus was only a few feet away from you, intimidating you from just right outside the storage closet door.

you tried not to make a noise but pleasure just kept shooting down and in between your legs every time you thought about what would happen once he got his hands on you.

"won't you help your alpha?" sylus purred while eyeing down the door. "i've been such a good boy, yeah? giving you time to hide, taking the time to look for you, even waiting for you outside this closet. besides... you're the one who caused my rut."

he flashed a toothy grin that you couldn't see. he was enjoying this more than he thought he would, even if he was aching in every part of his body for you. he reached down into his leather pants again and a few moments later you could hear wet, squelching sounds coming from the opposite side of the door. the sounds made you squeeze your thighs together and tilt your head back. god, he was getting off and teasing you with the promise of his cock and he was reveling in that fact too.

"ngh... fu... god. im so hard, love. im swollen with all the fucking need in the world and i..." he grips the door with his free hand and grits his teeth. "i need you so bad. where else am i gonna put this cock, huh? no other omega fucking deserves it. its you who i want to impregnate."

you couldn’t take it anymore. you reached down your own soft felt leggings and began rubbing yourself over your absolutely drenched panties. you needed relief so bad, the past hour had just been you soaking yourself in arousal without any true stimulation, it was so close to driving you insane. and, especially now with sylus a breath away and teasing with the sounds of his cock like an animal, you were sure you were actually experiencing insanity.

you could hear sylus pump himself faster and the low growls that came in succession with it. he sounded like he was going insane too, actually.

“‘m gonna cum all over this door if you don’t come out and see me, love, and i don’t want to do that.” sylus’s teased. his grip on the knob became tighter making the veins of his hand become more prominent. you could hear the clacks of the brass of the doorknob move around, he truly was holding back.

you shouldn’t have kept quiet, that was the mistake you realized when the door came flying open and hit the wall beside it. you stared up at sylus from where you where sat on the floor, hand down your pants and eyes wide from exhilaration and a little bit of fear.

your eyes flit down to his very exposed cock that arched up to his abdomen and painted his shirt with pre-cum. it throbbed there and bobbed gently, back and forth, on its own. you could feel your mouth salivate at the creaminess, the thickness, the curve of his angry, needy, swole cock.

he looked at you with slight surprise in his eyes for a moment before smiling, eyes squinting with amusement.

“found you,” he breathed out.

before you could make a run for it sylus quickly bent down and grabbed onto your hips. you yelped in surprise but you didn’t move away from his (almost) bruising grasp on you. instead, you submitted to his touch almost immediately and from the low growl that came from his throat, you could tell he very obviously liked that.

he moved his hands down your legs, teasing the inner corners of your thighs before gripping both your ankles with one, strong hand. he flipped you onto your front and laughed at just how pliant you were being with him.

“you’re coming with me, darling,” he purred. he stood to full height and dragged you out the storage closet and into the hall, his steps slow and methodical. the rough bumps of carpet ground against you through your clothes and gave you a nice, scratchy feel on your nipples. the storage closet inched further and further away from you with each step sylus took toward down the hall.

you felt dizzy with desire, he’s never manhandled you like this before and you sure as hell weren’t complaining that he was starting now. and god, he must’ve doused himself in his cologne too because all you could smell—instead of carpet dust—was his intoxicating scent. his pheromones. it was a manly musk that resonated with oak and cherries, and, despite that scent always bringing a sense of comfort to you, it now brought you a heady sense of mind numbing horniness.

you felt yourself go non-verbal again from the sheer anticipation within you, now only whimpers escaping your tight lips. there was an aching emptiness between your legs that you knew could only be satiated by the hilt of sylus’s cock breeding you over and over again.

when another low laugh rumbles in his chest, you glance behind with trepidation in your eyes and found him already looking over and down at you. he gritted his teeth in a large smile.

“it’s time i actually start taking this roleplay seriously.”

࣪𖤐

a/n: first fic on here but i feel like im a bad fiction writer so idk how this is gonna play out. i also dk how tumblr works since im more of a reader on here but again… we’ll see how this goes. also im an xavier main. just had to mention that here cause i love him sm

[merrybloomwrites]

It's Just One of Those Days

Summary: Working at Smosh means getting used to seeing people play crazy characters. One thing you're not prepared for is your crush flirting with you while dressed as a darts character based off of Fred Durst.

Word Count: 1.7K

AN: This is based of a request and I got a few messages/comments of people looking forward to this so I hope you all enjoy! So fun to write (and to have a reason to watch this video again)

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Working in the art department at Smosh means that there’s rarely a dull moment. The props and sets you need to make are often random, confusing, and challenging. It’s the perfect job, and you love every strange minute of it.

The section of the art room that you work in is closest to the door, and people are always coming and going. It’s fun to see everyone and say quick hellos as they pass which always brightens your day.

By far your favorite person to see is Spencer. You’ve been harboring a crush on him for a while now, somehow managing to keep it a secret from him and the rest of your coworkers. Or so you think. 

Your paths don’t cross all that often, games not requiring new sets or props as frequently as main and pit do. It��s more likely he’ll stop by to get a costume for a character that he’s doing. Since there’s a changing room back there, people will often come in looking normal and leaving looking, well, different. 

And it’s the highlight of your day any time that happens, especially when it’s Spencer. He’s always goofing around, speaking in the silly voices he’ll be using for whatever video is coming up. By this point you’ve gotten used to The Chosen, as well as Spencer’s persona for all the Gentleman games. 

On one particular day, you see him come in and the two of you talk for a moment before he heads back to get his costume. You go back to your work, trying not to make it obvious that you’re waiting for him to walk by again so you can see what today’s character is.

He doesn’t walk by. Not exactly. He heelys past, accessorizing with fingerless leather gloves, and a fedora wrapped in zebra pattern and topped with wolf ears. “M’lady,” he says as he goes by, tipping his hat in your direction. The crush you have on him makes you want to like the attention, but even Spencer can’t make that hat not creepy. You’re grateful when he comes back later to change into his normal clothes, and you get to end the day talking to normal Spencer once again. 

You’d gotten to the point of working at Smosh that you thought you couldn’t be surprised by things anymore. But then came time to film the ultimate darts showdown. Shayne walks past first, dressed as The Chosen so you don’t bat an eye. Next is Courtney, dressed as Gerald Cakes. This is another character that has been around for a little while, but you hadn’t seen in a few months. And honestly, that booty always catches you off guard.

Amanda walks by, looking pretty normal. She’s put on a wig, a hat, and a jacket. Nothing too crazy. The wings she’s carrying would have made you curious when you first started, but now you don't bat an eye. 

Finally Spencer rushes through, also in a seemingly normal type of outfit, but he’s gone too quickly for you to get a good look. 

Almost two hours later they come back, all laughing and joking about things that happened during filming.

No longer running late for anything, Spencer stops by your workstation. You ask him how it went and he replies, “It’s just one of those days,” in a voice you’ve never heard from him before. 

You laugh, you’re face pure confusion before replying, “I take it you didn’t win?”

“No,” he says, still in the voice as he makes a big show of looking sad. 

“And uh, who are you?”

“Name’s Fred Darts,” he answers. When you still look confused he explains in his normal voice, “You know, like Fred Durst.”

“I don’t know who that is,” you state.

“Seriously? Like, Limp Bizkit?”

“Ok, that sounds familiar.”

“I know you know one of their songs. Behind Blue Eyes?”

“Oh, yea, that one I know. But only because a character sings it on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

“That makes sense,” he says. 

“Does it?” you ask with a laugh.

“For sure! I know you’ve watched that like, ten times. I’m not surprised that you know songs only from the show,” he replies. You try not to blush at how happy it makes you that he knows this fact about you. 

“Well, I’m sorry you didn’t win the darts tournament. Was it close?”

“After me sucking for the better part of the video I finally figured it out and came in third, but I was only a point behind Shayne. Amanda won and then hit me in the head with one of her doves.”

“Doves? That explains the wings, at least. I’m sorry you didn’t win,” you say with a sympathetic look.

“Yea, kind of a bummer. But you know what would cheer me up?” 

“What’s that?”

“Going out to dinner.”

“Oh, you want to get a group together tonight?”

“No, I uh, was thinking just the two of us?” 

Internally you’re freaking out, wondering if this boy you’ve had a crush on for years is really asking you out. But externally you stay calm and say, “That sounds great!”

“Awesome. It’s a date, then. We could try that Italian place you were talking about.”

“I’d love that,” you reply with a soft smile. He matches it with a shy smile of his own and says, “I’m gonna go change, but I’ll meet back here at 5? I know you normally carpool with Katie but I can give you a ride home after.”

“Thanks, I’ll let her know I won’t need a ride today.”

“Alright, perfect. See you later, then,” he says as he turns and walks away to the changing room in the back. 

You sit there for a moment, trying to decide if that really just happened. Spencer, who you’ve been crushing on for so long, just asked you on a date. Just like that, out of the blue, while dressed as Fred Durst. 

You’re still in a trance as he walks by, now in a normal jeans and t-shirt combo. You share another shy look and he says, “Can’t wait for tonight,” and heads back to his desk.

In no time your friend, and fellow member of the art department, Katie, walks over and asks, “What in the world was that?”

“Oh, uhm, I don’t need a ride home tonight,” you say, avoiding what she really wants to know.

“Okay that’s fine. But you didn’t answer my question.”

You pause before finally saying, “I think I have a date with Spencer tonight.”

“I thought that’s what happened! That’s awesome! I’m so happy for you guys, it’s honestly been annoying watching you both flirt cluelessly. Glad you finally figured it out.”

“We did not flirt cluelessly!” you say, slightly offended, while knowing she’s probably right. 

“Oh you so did. But it doesn’t matter, you finally got your heads out of your asses. You two will be cute together.”

“Well it’s just one dinner. We’ll have to see what happens.”

“The next Smosh wedding, that’s what’s going to happen.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. Now go, you’re distracting me,” you say, no heat behind your words.

“Oh sure, I’m the one distracting you,” she teasingly says as she walks back to her work. 

That night no less than ten of your coworkers see you and Spencer leaving together.

“That could be problematic,” you say.

“I think it’ll be okay,” he replies. “I found out this afternoon that there was a bet on when we’d finally go on a date.”

You’re rendered speechless for a moment before you laugh and shake your head. 

“I cannot believe how nosy the people we work with are,” you say.

“If I’m honest, I’m just impressed by their lack of meddling,” he points out. 

“I feel like we should get them back somehow.”

“I agree. But that’s a project for another day. I just want to spend tonight getting to know you better.”

And well, that’s just about the most romantic thing anyone’s ever said to you. 

“I’d like that,” you reply.

That’s exactly what the two of you do. The dinner goes by too quickly, and you’re happy when Spencer suggests getting ice cream on the way home. 

It’s a little chilly out, and the cold dessert doesn’t help. When he notices you shiver, he slips out of the jacket he’s wearing and wraps it around your shoulders. Not only does the jacket warm you, but so does the sweet gesture. 

Before you know it, you’re walking up to your building, wishing the night would never end. Spencer is beside you, having insisted that he walk you to the door. 

“Thank you for tonight. I had a really nice time,” you say, knowing it’s a cliche but not caring. It’s the truth after all.

“I’m glad. And as annoying as our friends are, they’re right. It was time I finally manned up and asked you out. Can’t explain why losing at darts while dressed as Fred Durst finally gave me the courage, but I’m glad it did.”

“Me too.”

The two of you stand there for a moment, not saying anything. You watch as his eyes flick down to your lips, and decide that if he could be brave earlier and ask you out, you can be brave now. You lean in slowly, giving him the chance to pull back, but he doesn’t.

His lips meet yours, pressing against you in the sweetest kiss you’ve ever experienced. He pulls back briefly before placing two more pecks on your mouth. 

“Good night,” he says, his breath ghosting across your face, sending butterflies through your belly.

“Good night,” you manage to say. You open your door on autopilot, turning around to share one more quick kiss with Spencer before heading inside and going up to your apartment. 

Months later, you and Spencer are still going strong, and Fred Darts is brought out once more for a competition between all the previous darts characters. 

As Spencer heads to the set he stops by and asks for a kiss good luck. It seems you’re his good luck charm, because this time he comes out victorious. What he doesn’t tell you is that he doesn’t care about winning a game, since he already won the girl of his dreams.

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AN: Thank you for reading! I've got a couple more Spencer stories planned, but requests are open!

[kianamaiart]

I just wanted to tell you that I love idwtbamg and am especially blown away by the character designs for aika and zira!!!!!! their colour palettes compliment each other really well and are soft while still having some contrast and I would love to know how you came up with the designs or if you don't feel like sharing that, your favourite parts of their designs and what you're most proud of? Good luck with the pilot, by the way!!! ^^

Aw thank you so much! Character design was initially what I wanted to do when entering the industry so I love whenever I'm able to do it~

I talk about my process for picking colors here a bit!

Design process under the cut (loooong post ahead)

Whenever I'm designing a cast of characters I always start with the main character and build off of them. I started specifically with Aika's normal girl design. I wanted a star theme, and the star hair was the first thing I knew I needed. With her hair being the most eye catching and important part of her design, I wanted to make sure whatever else she had going on wasn't gonna distract from it too much. So I went for a more top heavy, but simple look with a big tshirt, small black pants. Aika was initially fully blonde but the stark black pants was starting to pull the eye. That gave me the idea to use the stark black in her hair (for the bottom half)! Made her hair even more eye catching and highlighted the star pigtails in a nice way.

For her magical girl design, I wanted to make it feel over the top and overwhelming to contribute visually why Aika wouldn't want to be a magical girl. Big poofy dress, ribbons poking out everywhere for a crazy silhouette and tall, tall platforms. I also wanted to give her longer hair in this form so I went with goddess locs! I was able to do an easy shorthand with it (long thick strands with lil curls at the end) I like the kinda biblically accurate angel look she has. My favorite part of this design was the ribbons in her hair that make the star pigtails look like shooting stars heehee

With Zira I knew I wanted her to be opposite to Aika. So sticking with the space thing, I gave her a moon motif and that was my jumping off point. With Aika having high pigtails, I decided to give Zira low pigtails and give them a vaguely crescent shape (like crescent moons get it?). Continuing with the opposites thing, I wanted to make Zira's design bottom heavy as opposed to Aika's top heavy one, and also color-wise, go on the opposite side of the color wheel from yellow for its complimentary color, purple! I didn't want Zira to feel too stylish (she's a loser after all) but also didn't wanna make her design ugly. I tried toeing the line of out of style but lowkey trendy with the grungy skirt, jeans combo. Also went with the stark black shirt under the tshirt to lean harder into the 2000s look. On top of that it helped tie her design to Aika's more (this is where I decided the stark black was gonna be an essential part of the design language of this show). My favorite part of her design for me is the mangled ends of her pants. It's a small detail but I think it says a lot about her as a character (she drags her feet, she's a little careless, kinda messy, etc.)

Hoshi is star. There's not much more to their design haha. I did give them wings to mirror Aika's dress ribbons. With their human design though, I just knew I wanted to make sure that they'd be able to make a star shape with their silhouette. Thus the hoodie and stubby limbs. Gave them the stark black pants (again at this point, it's part of the design language of this show). I tossed around the idea of giving them eyes that matched more with Aika and Zira, but it just didn't look like Hoshi so I stuck with the same face in their star design and I just thought that was funny hehe. My favorite part of Hoshi's design is just the overall fact that I managed to make them look like a star in their human form still haha

Eclipse was the hardest design for me. You would not believe how long it took me to decide whether I wanted to make him a boy or a girl. Eclipse was also gonna be named Void (and DeVoid was gonna be Eclipse) but it didn't feel quite right. I knew I wanted him to ALSO be opposite from Aika, but in a different way that Zira is. Looking at it that way helped me land on the name Eclipse because I thought it'd be fun to give both Zira and him moon motifs (as Aika's love interest and alleged love interest respectively). Similar to Zira I wanted to have purple be in his design to contrast the yellow in Aika's design. Due to his name now being Eclipse, I figured going dark with his design would make the most sense but my friend/roommie Bri @/ghostbri (who is a professional painter/color designer) suggested going pastel instead and it worked perfectly. It matched his personality and also plays on the fact that he cares more about theatrics and aesthetics than actual villainy. He completely misses the point of being the servant of darkness. He's heavily inspired by Tuxedo Mask. I wanted to make it feel like he saw a cool character once in a tv show and he decided to make it his whole persona. So he's got the suit, he's got the cape and he's got the mask. My favorite part of his design is his cape, intended to also have a crescent moon shape but then also have that stark black on the inside so his silhouette really pops against it. It's funny bc it ended up being like a reverse eclipse where the light is blocking out the dark.

DeVoid was the easiest for me to come up with the design for LMAO. Like obviously. I wanted to make her feel slick but prickly but also slightly over the top like a lot of old school magical girl villains. I thought it'd be a difficult balance to strike but it actually wasn't too bad! I gave her a sort of form fitting cocktail dress and at this point the stark black was a must so it worked out that the "void" character would just be in that all black look. It really helped her feel slick like I wanted (also gave her the slicked back hair for this reason). To give her some edge, I gave her the giant pointy shoulder pads, giant pointy horns, pointy ears, sharp nails and bat wings! Oh also worth mentioning she's the one main cast character I didn't use Aika as a jumping off point for. I designed her to look good next to Eclipse since they'd be the ones interacting the most. I made her wings white to contrast with her black dress (opposite to how Eclipse has a black cape but then mostly white outfit). To ensure that her design wasn't too dark and that her arms would read against her body, I gave her those bright silver bracelets~ While her design was easy for me to come up with, my god figuring out what color to make her hair was killing me. Tbh I was avoiding pink/red like the plague. I didn't want her to look toooo much like Jessie Team Rocket LOL. I tried white, I tried purple, I tried a more pastel pink but none of them worked well in a lineup with the rest of the characters. Bri helped talked me through all this haha. Pink/red worked the best especially there was no pink/red in the entire lineup. The Jessie influence is still there but I feel like she looks different enough! Favorite part of her design is her big ass horns)

Finally Miss! Miss was an interesting case because I designed her as I was storyboarding the pilot. She was intended to be an incidental character that we'd only randomly see once in a while. She had a veeery generic teacher design in my first pass but then as I was hiring VAs I got the idea to cast Michele Knotz to play her and that was enough for my brain to start going and come up with a backstory for her and a role that could tie in with the rest of the cast in a more meaningful way. Because of this, I designed Miss to the voice I imagined Michele would use for her. She does a great groggy and tired voice so I gave her those tired eyes, she has a darker color palette, her posture's a little more sluggish, etc. Her design still felt bland in the board so I gave her a couple piercings which helped. But then! The stark black! I gave her the half dyed hair which worked phenomenally and is probably my favorite part of her design. It leans into the tired feel (too tired to dye her roots) and also was a nice way to get the black in her design without just having to give her black pants or a black shirt or something. I'd only figured out her color palette way later and after recording Michele. The VA announcement image was the first time I'd fully drawn and colored Miss. I went with green since there was no green in the lineup! Also green's my favorite color so I had to.

PHEW that's it! Hope it was an interesting read and look into my brain.

[nipuni]

Alright, time to share my opinions about Veilguard!! I have both criticism and praise so bear with me as I jump from one extreme to the other 😆 spoilers ahead of course!

The game has a very rough start with the dialogue being formulaic and rushed and the characters overexposing. It feels like a heavy handed attempt at summarizing all of previous games' lore for newcomers or in case you forgot but it's so overdone it feels coddling and trivializes a lot of previous events. Luckily this gets better once all of the introductions are out of the way, though the excessive hints and clarifications continue until the end sadly.

The locations are absolutely incredible and very diverse!! This is a highlight of the game for me. There is so much detail and care in every map and there are so many of them. My pc is struggling to reach medium settings and yet everything looks stunning. The verticality of the maps is so imposing and the graphics have a very dreamy quality that I love. I also enjoy the maze-like structure to the maps, it's more linear but makes everything look a bit more intentional. The color and light direction was amazing, all the visual development really!! it has to be one of the prettiest games I've ever played.

When I started I have to admit it did not feel like I was in Thedas and it all felt a bit theme-parky, if that makes sense. A lot of previously important and established world elements that made Thedas what it is were overlooked or made irrelevant. But the more I played the more it started to feel a bit more similar to Inquisition, for better or worse depending on what you feel about Inquisition. But!! this also feels like a selectively sanitized version of Thedas compared to previous games. In it's attempt to stay safe and uncontroversial in some aspects it loses a lot of substance and it changes the tone. The surface level politics, ignoring previously established major societal issues and a tell-don't-show approach makes the world seem more simple and shallow with no grey areas to explore. ( the humor also falls flat and out of place often too, and WHY is everyone always smirking, enough!! godlike beings are destroying the planet please this is not the time for Marvel banter aaaa )

The pacing at the start is a bit of a mess. It is so fast it felt like jumping from one world shattering discovery to the next with no time to process. The characters also seem to underreact to important information and major developments. It felt like the game was rushing me through all this to get to the part of the story it wanted to tell me while I was still wrapped in my shock blanket trying to catch my breath lmao. I really like all the key story points they touched upon, I just wish they dwelled more on them to give them more narrative weight. ( though blaming every bad thing to ever happen on the Elves was certainly..a choice )

I think the writing could have used more subtlety in the first half and more boldness in the second 😆 but I loved the thematic parallels between Rook and Solas and how every quest informs the main storyline. I do wish Rook was given more impossible choices and put in more difficult situations that forced them to lie or betray their own to better drive the point home though ( listen I just love a Trolley problem!! we need more of those, I'm the Trolley problem's number one fan!! ) I feel like they missed the chance to put Rook in Solas' role and be as vilified and hated for it as Solas was despite their best intentions which would make Rook's regrets stronger and in turn make their escape from the fade all the more impressive and give them a better understanding of Solas to either use against him or earn his respect. The line 'they called me the Dread Wolf, what will they call you when this is over' from the trailers was so good I was waiting for this!! But everyone just loves Rook no matter what!!

But I feel like I stated too many negative aspects in a row so moving on to some things I enjoyed!

The characters were very lovable to me. The romances weren't as long or impactful as I would have liked but I enjoyed all the companion quests. Emmrich is a delight and his quest is so wild and fun. I loved learning about Nevarra and I was awestruck by the Grand Necropolis. The mourn watch was so interesting, it showed a whole new side of Thedas' lore I knew nothing about! and I loved Manfred! Davrin is so charming, he became a favorite. I loved his quest too and learning more bits and pieces about the Dalish was great, I wish we got more. Seeing the Wardens through his quest also made me enjoy them a lot. Assan was very cute too and I'm glad he was treated as an animal and not turned into a goofy Disney sidekick too much lmao 😭 Lucanis is hilarious. The fantasy Spain/Italy was a bit silly and off at times but he is very sweet! and I love the Spite possession, that was so fun I'm glad they kept him that way! Bellara is adorable, her first backstory quest made me cry and I just love a nerd! I wish the second part of her story was written better however, and she sort of devolves into 'it's hard, I wish it was easy but it's hard' dialogues too often sadly. Anaris and the Forgotten Ones' portrayal was underwhelming and anticlimactic which was disappointing. Harding is also very cute and her Titan plotline was the most interesting to me, I bawled my eyes out in her quest!! I love the dwarven lore of this universe I'm so happy we got more of it!! ( she also fucking died in my playthrough?! I was devastated what the hell 😭 'whatever it takes' WEUEUGHHHG I'M SO SORRY) Neve was a slow burn for me because of my choices in game slowing that relationship down ( saving Treviso I mean, perdón amor 🙏 ) but I love detective novels and she is such a badass I ended up loving her. Taash was unexpected, I didn't think they would be so young. The coming of age story was sweet, though I found myself cringing a lot too at the handling of it I have to admit ( and the Lords of Fortune in general, and the Antaam...and que Qun..listen- kajshfgf ) but I also enjoyed learning more about the first expedition and the Qunari in general despite the messy writing and choices. I also loved Antoine and Evka! and Strife! And I haven't even read any of the novels they are in 😆 also Mila!!!! and her dad oh my god and Felassan haunting the narrative!! speaking of haunting, I would have loved for Cole to be in the lighthouse too I think it would have worked well 🤔 especially with the whole 'reading Solas' secret diary' thing the game had going on lmao

Everyone seems to get along except for a bit of friction that is quickly resolved at the start, which is hmm missed potential? I would have preferred more tension personally. I enjoy the drama! gives me more to work with and gives you a better grasp on everyone's personality by contrasting values. I think they wanted to speed run a found family trope for the new hero to establish some emotional stakes early on but it ended up making everyone seem like a group therapy session instead. The group meetings also have everyone either state the obvious or repeat the same opinion or conclusion to each other, I would have loved these meetings to have more bickering, have people get mad and storm out and also get to listen to different takes on a situation. Make Rook struggle more to take the reins and keep the team functional, learning how to be a leader.

Speaking of Rook! ( who in my case has a northern British accent that I loved so much 🥺) They seem to have a very established personality. I was expecting more of a blank slate but I'm lucky that the personality they went for kind of matches what I would normally choose in a first playthrough. Though the lack of range in the choices is irritating and takes away some replayability and role playing potential. Rook is very supportive and selfless, I wasn't expecting this tbh! But it all made my Rook turn into the team's weird supportive necromancer mom so it worked out in the end I guess lmao. I can't wait to draw her!!

I was so overwhelmed by the amount of information we got about Solas and his past!! I was expecting answers but not these many and not for them to be such an integral part of the plot!! The game feels like it's about him more than anything else. His arc is the best written out of all. He is mentioned in every conversation, he's the main advisor and the narrative foil, you get to talk to him often, you work for him and with him and go into his memories it all feels so surreal to me lmao I love him so I'm delighted ngl! but also making the other Evanuris so cartoonishly evil makes Solas into such an obvious choice of an ally, god of trickery or not, that it sort of takes the decision out of your hands and makes some dialogue options and companions' opinions seem almost nonsensical. I have no idea how this game would feel to someone who absolutely hates Solas' guts honestly. I suppose I will find out soon enough 😆

About Solas' story, I loved it! I somehow also feel that I knew it already, all the speculation and theories that Solavellan fans were crafting for years were so accurate that it was all very validating. Even the wildest ones! Solas as the Maker, the elves spirit origin, Mythal giving him a body, the war with the Titans, the origin of the Blight, Solas being on your side as advisor, I can go on, we knew!! Also I have to mention this I'm sorry but they made him look so hot!! unbelievable. And the bloodied teary eyed pathetic look in the end ouurghhh I'm cheering and clapping!!

The romance conclusion was so lovely 😭 the Loki and Sigyn ending we deserved to such a mythological epic!! and open ended enough for all of us to cook!! and we got to see him fight and transform into the Dread Wolf!! and whimper and cry!! and bleed and love!! that's all I ever wanted, incredible we were really spoiled what the hell I still can't believe it 😭 GDL acting was brilliant as usual! the visuals were also incredible and exactly what I had in mind when I imagined where the story may go, the eclipse, the giant wolf, the glowing eyes, the Elvhenan ruins, the statues, even the hair lmao it all aligned exactly to what I've been painting all these years but better I was thrilled 😭

Solas backstory with Mythal also offers players that didn't romance him a chance to see him act out of love and show a side they wouldn't be able to reach otherwise and I think it was smart! also very tragic and sheds more light into all of his choices and words and his relationship with Lavellan too and the parallels and reversals and uughh thoroughly enjoying the emotional distress 👌

Pleasing both the Solas lovers and haters at the same time was always going to be hard with him being such a polarizing character by design and the world states being so different but I think they did a good job! at least from my side of things.

I think my favorite part besides the Solas related stuff was the Blight. I loved how horrific and gross and threatening it was! I've always loved the concept of the Blights and I'm glad it was such a huge part of the story in this game. I also loved Treviso!! has to be the most beautiful city in Thedas ahhh and the Necropolis!! the gardens!! Vorgoth!!! Kal-Sharok!!! I can't believe we got to see it!! and a Titan!!! the giant floating face of Ghilan'nain in the clouds??? and the huge archdemons and dragons!! oh and that warden dragon trap in the shape of a griffon?? and the giant blight tendrils!! the siege at Weisshaupt was outstanding!! and the floating panopticon castle situation in Minrathous uughh there is so much I loved.

OH I also enjoyed the Varric arc even though I saw it coming since the trailer it was still played well and it was touching 🥺

The ending felt a bit jarring to me in tone though, a bit too cheerful considering...the horrors. Over half the continent destroyed and most of the problems Thedas had before the game are still there. Veil in place and all 😆

But I had fun!! I'm nitpicking really, the conclusion to Solas' story feels very satisfying to me which was my main worry so I'm happy. It is a good game!! with a sort of soft reboot feel to it and aimed at a younger audience which is probably what they were going for? You can sort of feel the struggle the team went through during production in the way the target audience seems unclear sadly. I also can't help feeling like this is an ending, so much was revealed and resolved!! but maybe I feel that way because that is what I felt after Shadowbringers / Endwalker in FFXIV once my favorite part of the story was wrapped? They can always pivot to a new continent and expand on the world and cultures we know almost nothing about, but that is always harder to sell so I have no clue where they will go from here 😵‍💫

Anyway I'm still processing a lot of stuff that I will probably talk (and draw) about later, this is already long enough!! for now I'll look up how to get the artbook because the art direction of this game is fantastic!! I would love to hear your thoughts too really, I'm curious about the experiences of players who made different choices and with different tastes to mine!!

[batboyblog]

https://www.tumblr.com/batboyblog/779837967162343424

"dumb selfish people were dumb and selfish because the Democratic Party didn't give them the perfect utopia or make the perfect decisions, so they voted for the beavis and butthead of dumb and selfish people to get power because they wanted more money and clout for themselves, only to find out that beavis and butthead wanted to kill them all and all they did was metaphorically blow whatever remained of their own brains out."

to be clear I do understand why a lot of people vote for Trump, but like the Tariff highlighted a kind of person I find super confusing, people who voted for Trump believing he didn't mean the things he said.

and like other kinds of people who voted for him not *knowing* what he was saying I understand, to be clear I think such people are too stupid to be allowed anything sharper than a crayon. But at least I understand what happened, "oh you're dumb and didn't pay any attention so we all have to suffer now, got it great, glad you 'didn't vote for!' the thing you voted for"

but with the Tariffs there are SO many Wall Street guys who's job and only personality trait is this shit and they make it clear, they knew, they heard him.

and how could they not? clearly immigration was Trump #1 issue, but Tariffs were second, he mentioned them at every rally, interview, the debates. Harris mentioned them in every speech she gave too making it clear that every academic economist thought Trump's plan would make inflation go crazy and crash the economy.

so they knew, they say they heard him, but they didn't believe him... what? what? that my brain can't get around, not "I'm dumb and I didn't understand what he was saying" because these guys went to business school they know what a tariff is, no "I heard a candidate say he was gonna do a thing I hate and think is a terrible idea, but I voted for him because I didn't believe him"

and for these types its not "I voted for him for other reasons and just gaslit myself into hoping he wouldn't do this" these guys voted, or so they say, mainly on the economy and stock market. So Trump's main plan for the economy and policy that was most likely to affect the stock market they just didn't believe he'd do? but they voted for it any ways? what?

And even if you do believe that right? that the candidate is not gonna do the thing he says he's gonna do, what are you voting for? you know? "oh I don't believe he's gonna try his main campaign promises" is normally a reason people give for NOT voting for someone.

Ultimately, my best guess is that the largely white bros of Wall Street and big business decided that the Government was fake and gay and nothing it did would ever really effect them other than at the end, ie taxes. And they voted for Big Daddy Trump to give them a tax cut, but more importantly to do away with the last 10-ish years of having to treat women who work for you like they're human and not being allowed to say racial and homophobic slurs at work

but the ability to just ignore the loaded gun pointed at their forehead by the man screaming "I'm gonna blow your brains out!" is something that will always leave me confused, they saw the gun, they heard the ranting, but for no real reason they didn't think the gun was loaded, now their brains are all over the place.

[fixyourwritinghabits]

Does anyone have any tips on writing flashbacks? I'm finding the tense a pain -- "When Jonathan was a boy, he had once run into friends at the local chip shop. "What are you doing here?" Biff had said .... But if not using perfect tense, what's a good way to transition into and out of flashbacks?

I know I've read good ones, but I can't remember how it worked (because it was "invisible")

One big issue with flashbacks is that there are so many ways to do them. That makes juggling when and where to do them a bit tough. However, there's definitely some things to keep in mind:

Some Don'ts

Don't use a flashback right before conveying information the flashback makes essential. The one is a bit confusing, but imagine this - you're in the middle of a confrontation with the big bad. Right before they start fighting, a flashback reveals the villain killed your main character's brother and therefore this is personal! ...Except that information would have been better revealed much earlier in the novel, especially if everyone but the reader knows it.

Don't start a flashback in the middle of an action scene. You could, for example, throw some quick remembrances of something that happened in the past, but if you're interrupting a critical scene to yank the reader back to a multi-page event in the past, you're killing all the tension in the story.

Don't let a flashback take over the main plot. If the flashback is more important than what's happening in the present, you're writing the story from the wrong point of time. You might want to consider shifting the narrative to that time period, and dealing with the "current" plot at a later point in the book or settling for quick, contextualizing flash forwards.

Don't use a flashback to hide things from the audience. The absolute worst way to use a flashback is to make a scene look like it happened in a way that it didn't. If your flashback is deliberately misleading in a way the characters of the story are aware of, don't use it. For example, let's say your MC flashes back to her father's murder. It's framed to look like her uncle did it. But your MC has known all along her mother was the murderer. The flashback isn't a story she's telling, it only exists for the readers, and audience she's not aware of. Even in first-person with an unreliable narrator, a flashback is not a good way to introduce doubt in a story. It makes the reader feel as if they've been cheated.

Some Dos

Use flashbacks to convey something essential to the story. You might have pages of past events that you've cut out of your story. I certainly do. But including them slowed down the pacing and killed the tension, and ultimately, I narrowed it down to what was essential for moving forward the plot. If the flashback tells us nothing about the character, the plot, or the world in relation to either, it's probably not necessary.

Use flashbacks for character-building. Your character is formed by their past. You will need to touch on that past in some ways. A flashback triggered by a painful memory (discovering an old toy, looking at a photograph, etc) might be a way to go about it.

To show how the character got there. Your character stumbles into a bar with a head injury. As they attempt to have a normal conversation, we flash back to the car accident they fled from.

Use flashbacks to highlight but not show the real issue. This is harder to convey, but if your character is trying to avoid the truth of an event, they might often revisit the event (a fight, an argument, a conversation), but not cover all the details. This skews toward hiding things from the reader, so you should be careful about it. However, if the narrator is avoiding the truth, there are ways to do it (flashing back but not covering the whole event, flashing back to pieces of the event, etc).

Use flashbacks to frame what actually happened. Your character tells a story about themselves the whole book, but the flashback reveals what actually happened in a moment that reveals the true nature of their character.

Types of Flashbacks

Mid-scene, short paragraphs. Good for characters struggling with trauma, trying to avoid the truth of something, or looking at an image or thing that jogs their memory.

A few pages of needed context. Your MCs are at a party. They're laughing it up, seemingly having a good time. The next page or so steps back into the fight they had in the car on the way there, and how they spent time fixing their makeup before going inside.

A whole chapter - maybe. As I said above, the longer you spend in a past event, the more likely that is the main story. But if you need the POV of a character from the past, or need to highlight a critical event that you deliberately skipped over when it happened, a chapter might be a good call.

How to determine what kind of flashback you need and where you need it? That depends on where you're at in the story.

Does this flashback convey critical information about your character?

Does this flashback convey critical information about your plot?

Does this flashback add to or fit into the tension of the scenes around it?

Does the flashback slow down or stop the action? (It may be in the wrong place in your story.)

On that note, is your finale flashback-free? (If you're wrapping up the story, you need to have all your cards on the table.)

There's many, many more things we could get into, but that's a decent start. Working in flashbacks is a matter of trial and error at times, so don't shy away from them when drafting. You'll figure it out!

[year2000electronics]

Bill & Ford & A Book, Oh My!

DISCLAIMER: The Book of Bill has Bill Cipher serving as an unreliable narrator. If we go out trying to say something is "definitively a truth" or "definitively a lie", we're going to keep arguing about it until the heat death of the universe. This is just my own personal interpretation of the source material. If you don't agree, that's fine! Also TBOB spoilers abound.

So it's no secret that interest in the dynamic Bill & Ford have (enemies, platonic, romantic, formerly romantic, whichever way) has really skyrocketed since TBOB's release. Of course, there are the 'easy' culprits to point towards, with Mabel referring to Bill as 'being like a needy ex', and the whole O'Sadley's fiasco (Him literally crying over losing Ford and going "one Sixer, please"? Messy. Messy behavior. Still, I think it goes so much deeper than that.

Bill, being the unpredictable chaos entity that he is, also serves as the main antagonist for a show about family and having close bonds with each other. We don't really need to look into his inner psyche that much, because that's just not what he needed to be doing at that point in the cartoon. He's meant to be a way to divide the Pines, really. And a silly little guy. A silly little obstacle. So, naturally, when it came to Bill's arguably "closest" relationship to someone in the show (Ford), it was very easy to interpret it as Ford being tricked by a completely apathetic Bill, who was just using him as a rung on the ladder. And I do want to stress that Ford and Bill's physical actions remain fairly consistent throughout interpretations, and focusing on the fact that Bill badly hurt Ford is important, so if that's how you still see it, then fine by me! No harm no foul!

But I think the relationship, their story, their tragedy just becomes so much more interesting with the lens The Book of Bill has presented. We’re finally able to see Bill’s perspective as a “protagonist” of sorts in a medium where he’s not just something to defeat- and that’s something we’ve never gotten before, so it’s shedding light on an area we didn’t know about for sure! Again, Bill is lying to the character of "the reader", so we can't trust it as a completely unbiased source. But we can speculate on where the "truth" is between these lies.

First of all, Bill's backstory was that he destroyed his home dimension- we knew that already. But now, with the extra content we have about it, we see something interesting- that Bill's backstory mirrors Ford's to an uncanny degree.

Both of them champion their intelligence, although they highlight how it set them apart from others, as well as highlighting their own 'rare mutation/birth defect'.

Again, with this self-isolation already spurred on from their "weirdness", but also as a little aside, I would also like to highlight that Bill being 'ready to be one', looking up at the stars, striving to 'reach' them, is a shared motif he has with Ford, who is also associated with space, the stars, and reaching them.

Bill's 'trying-really-quick-to-convince-Ford' fantasy sequence even has him in a field of stars as a sort of "ultimate wish fulfilment". Remember, this is Bill showing Ford something he thinks would win Ford over, at least a little.

(And I'll take a quick time out for this train of thought to point out- hey! Bill admits he sought out most of his other victims, but Ford summoned him, and it took him by surprise! That adds a fun little layer of complexity to everything, don't you think? Another little layer of humanity for this whole mess- Bill didn't expertly seek out the 'perfect victim' or anything, it was just... luck. Some twist of fate.)

Anyways.

Obviously, the intro page to the 'Sixer' section has a ton of red flags galore (I mean, poor guy's literally depicted as a hapless puppet. C'mon, Bill. Not to mention the "OH BOY HE'S ALREADY SO ISOLATED, IT'S PERFECT" thing.). This guy is kind of a terrible companion no matter how you slice it. He's terrible to everyone close to him, because he's a deeply traumatized character who refuses to heal. BUT, the wording here is kinda deliciously intriguing to me. All of humanity is Bill's puppets, his future victims, but to me, it's clear that he holds a fondness for Ford. From "This is what a partner looks like", to "Me and Sixer could be the perfect team", to "He had what I always wanted- fingers" (drawn to his strangeness, maybe?), "He was destined for so much more", "I looked at his futures and giggled", and most stand-out to me, "Society calls these people freaks, I call them Henchmaniacs!"

Going back to the pre-Book of Bill era I was talking about, Bill's offers for Ford to join him were always in a sort of murky territory for interpretation. The first offer could definitely be read as mocking, with the line "WITH THAT SIX-FINGERED HAND, YOU'D FIT RIGHT IN WITH MY FREAKS!" in particular making it seem like Bill was only saying that to rub Ford's strangeness in his face, and the second offer to join Bill being under a new circumstance- that now Bill is desperate and believes Ford is the only one who can help him. But the Book of Bill mentions the idea of Ford becoming a Henchmaniac more than once, and also has Bill upset at losing Ford and claiming "he'll be back", as well as Bill seeming to use "freak" more like a badge of honour, and having previously complimented Ford's six fingers (In the Sixer intro page, he highlights Ford's fingers as a quality he likes, and in the pages about bodies, he states that "humans should have more fingers". To me, that first offer reads more now like Bill being genuine about finding Ford a place among his misfits. ...Although, the moment Ford says no, he does zap him into a statue. So. Y'know. He's still got issues.

(Yeah, again, red flag city. "Just hazing"? Bill, none of what you were doing over there was okay! You might have suppressed everything traumatic that happened to you, but that doesn't mean you can go around traumatizing everyone! Good lord.)

Bill has already been imply to like other characters because they remind him of himself. Pointing towards a connection with a character Bill DOESN'T have a weird undefinable ex-partner thing with... Mabel! Alex has says in multiple official media and interviews that Bill sees a lot of himself in Mabel, and essentially, that he thought Mabeland was the perfect prison because if HE liked all that awesome, uncontrolled chaos over any family or friends, why wouldn't SHE? And we see that again in TBOB. So basically, what I'm saying is that we have two characters to back up the fact that Bill seems gravitated towards humans or other living beings that he views as being 'like him'- beings he can relate to! So, y'know, what does that say about Bill and Ford?

There's also Bill's plans for the reader and "Weirdmageddon 2.0", where he portrays the reader as getting to, like, perch on his arm like a little bird and get their own little crown? And specifically calls out Ford for not going through with things?? Okay, Bill??

AND Ford not only being the only human mentioned on the list of people he "definitely doesn't miss so stop asking", but also having his own category? Alright, man.

Of course, another point to the 'Hey, maybe Bill can actually feel emotions towards humans besides complete and total apathy' club is this page here, which has ALSO been hotly debated! Certainly, we know he's telling the truth about his home dimension being destroyed, and we know that he's lying about the 'monster', but some interpret this scene as Bill not being remorseful at all and playing his reaction up to earn Ford's sympathy. And me, personally, I dunno if I agree. I feel like the specific inclusion of Bill "looking distant, more distant than I'd ever seen him" (Mirroring the fact that he keeps blacking out when thinking about all his large-scale massacres) and him "laughing joylessly", I think this sequence is meant to tell us that Bill actually is being vulnerable with Ford here, it's just hidden under layers and layers of deceit, whether towards himself or Ford or both.

And finally for my Book of Bill collection stuff, there's the stuff that could be read as more romantic in nature. In the 'love' section, Bill claims he doesn't love anyone, but, like-

Come on. You can disagree with me that it's Ford, but he does have exes. And he's clearly not over them. Shrimpy little liar. And then there's the fact that a lot of his hokey 'advice' is stuff he ends up directly doing to Ford.

These rats.

The Love Cage.

The Book of Bill really outlined all that in bold, but in my opinion, it was never an entirely new revelation! Bill seems to hold a preference for Ford over other humans in the show. He shows up in Ford's dreams just to say hi, tease him, and gloat (Mabelcorn) unlike the other two dream appearances he's made (Dreamscaperers, Sock Opera) which were exclusively for business purposes. Unlike every other character that gets exclusively one nickname for their zodiac sign, Ford gets multiple (Fordsy, IQ, Sixer, smart guy, brainiac, the list goes on). Bill asks Ford to join him TWICE, whereas anyone else who tries gets their face rearranged, put in a cage and made to dance, frozen in stone, etc etc. And finally, I think, the most emblematic of Bill's weird, specific relationship with Ford, is that whereas everybody else gets turned into stone, Ford got turned into gold.

Which kinda sums up their whole thing up pretty well? Bill gave him special treatment by turning him into a golden statue (similar to yellow ha ha), always holding him close, but, like... Dude. You still kidnapped a man and turned him into a statue and then threatened to kill his niece and nephew. I don't think it will change his opinion on you if he's the Most Pampered Hostage, Actually. I just don't think that we need to explore the relationships between characters as simply "Well, this character hurt the other one, so we shouldn't really think about why or what they feel personally, because what they did was bad, so there".

Bill & Ford interest me because they're a tragedy in motion. We can see that Bill and Ford mirror each other in a multitude of ways, and we can see that they both do have positive feelings towards each other at the time they meet, and we see that Bill very desperately wants Ford to be just like him in the unhealthy ways; the ways that make Bill destroy entire universes and compartmentalize it all, because maybe then, he can finally have the companionship he so deeply aches for. Bill and Ford both had tough, lonely upbringings, but Ford moved on from that "I don't need you" mentality. That's what saved him. Bill didn't, and that's what got him where he was in the end. I feel like that's just so much more interesting than Bill just being a flat entity that makes abuse Happen to Ford, just as another Event in his life. I mean, isn't it just SO much more interesting that Ford humanizes Bill, in a way? That Ford makes him- in Bill's own words- "sentimental"? That a chaotic dream demon has regrets and loves and favourites and connections? It's the same thing with Fiddleford & Ford, although, obviously, to a MUCH lesser extent than Bill & Ford. But you get what I mean, right? You know that Fiddleford and Ford are going to undo each other in the end, and the path to that downfall is... it's telling a story! I like the story of it all! I think that's what I've been invested in and intrigued by all these years- the story, the tragedy of Bill and Ford. No matter what form it takes.

(Plus, as tumblr user fordtato pointed out in their own essay (not tagging because this post is messy enough as is oh god), hey, Ford now has two incredibly queer-coded narratives, with one of them being about how he recovered and was able to heal from an abusive relationship. And, well, I think that's just neat.)

Anyways, that's the end of the post. Thanks for reading this long!

[ave-cave]

In Defense of Mahiru's Last Words

An aspect of 2-2 that I think a lot of Danganronpa fans get wrong is Mahiru’s last words to Fuyuhiko. I’d go so far as to call them the most misunderstood last words in the series.

Mahiru's role in the second case is often overlooked in favor of Peko and Fuyuhiko's, and this line encapsulates said role, so I figured I'd try to dispel the misconceptions that surround it. Cool? Cool.

---

First thing’s first, my thesis statement (lol): in response to the well-worn criticism that Mahiru’s last words to Fuyuhiko were hypocritical, I’ll grant fans this much: her words were shortsighted and poorly-timed. They weren’t, however, hypocritical.

More often than not when I see people refer to Mahiru’s last words as hypocritical, they mean that she's condemning Fuyuhiko for avenging his sister, meanwhile her friend who committed an act of revenge received her protection. My issue with this? Sato’s murder of Natsumi wasn’t revenge. The third day of Twilight Syndrome Murder Case (which Mahiru played) has Sato explain in depth why she did what she did. She didn’t confront Natsumi with the intent to kill her; she only wanted to talk at first. But when Natsumi began making threats, she saw red and accidentally knocked her out. Knowing how dire the consequences would be if Natsumi woke up and tattled to her family, Sato killed her and pinned the crime on a rumored pervert. This is further highlighted in the trial.

Now, don’t get me wrong, Sato is still to blame here. No matter how much shit Natsumi was talking, she shouldn’t have responded with violence, and she found herself in that situation through every fault of her own. The key thing is that it wasn’t revenge; it was desperation. By the time Natsumi fell unconscious, it was Sato who was trying to avoid becoming the victim of yakuza “justice.”

Recall that the incriminating evidence Mahiru got rid of was a picture of a broken vase. To anyone who wasn’t there the day of the incident, a photo of this nature would prove basically nothing. Sure, one could surmise that it means the killer didn’t actually escape through the window, but figuring out what they did do, and by extension who they are, would require having run into Sato in the hall (given it isn’t brought up at any point, it’s unlikely there was security footage.) It might arouse suspicion, seeing as there were rumors going around that Sato was with Natsumi the day of the latter's murder, but it wouldn't be able to substantiate anything. Either way, the only people who would have any use for it were the police and the yakuza.

Mahiru protecting Sato from the police wouldn't make much sense at all. Blind loyalty toward her friends – to the point of helping them escape consequences for their actions – isn’t a trait she showcases in the main game. There are a few classmates she shows extra care toward (she’s particularly concerned for Mikan, she sticks up for Peko and she offers to help Hiyoko when the latter is struggling with her kimono), sure, but unraveling the mysteries of the killing game takes first priority for her at the end of the day. Moreover, in Twilight Syndrome, before she realizes that Sato is the killer, she takes pictures of Natsumi's body in the hopes that they'll be useful to the police (this obviously isn't the smartest move, but it's in-character: Mahiru is someone who's always trying to do the right thing despite her lack of self-confidence. She feels guilty about agreeing with the other girls not to report Natsumi’s body, and so she figures that utilizing her talent is the next best thing. We see her do something similar in 2-1.) Going from “I need to help the police find the culprit” to “my friend is the culprit; time to destroy the evidence” is a dramatic shift – one that doesn't line up with anything else we know about Mahiru.

What's a trait she does showcase in the main game? Distaste for cruel and unusual punishment. She sympathizes with Teruteru’s motive, heavily implying that Monokuma shouldn't have executed him, and she criticizes Nekomaru and Kazuichi for hogtying and isolating Nagito, before eventually bringing him food. The second example is especially noteworthy. Nagito got both the Imposter and Teruteru killed – he's an unstable individual, no two ways about it. Mahiru doesn't object to his being restrained; she objects to the over-the-top, vigilante-style methods used by Nekomaru and Kazuichi to do so. There's a clear parallel to be drawn between this and Twilight Syndrome. If she's so against Nagito – a murderer who isn't her friend – receiving inhumane treatment, then there's no question she'd be against it for Sato, a murderer who is.

It's only reasonable to assume that, when Mahiru realized the truth of the incident, she destroyed the evidence for the same reason Sato committed murder in the first place: she knew that, if it got into yakuza hands, there would be hell to pay. She wasn’t too far off the mark, either. The rumors in mind, all it took for Fuyuhiko to connect the dots was witnessing Sato’s failed attempt to discard the sole intact copy of the photo (Mahiru needed at least one if she wanted to corner Sato and coax a confession from her; she couldn't have anticipated that it would be absconded with.) And even if he didn't, say someone else found it: they might report it to the police, yes, but more likely (given the lack of solid evidence) they would start another, more potent rumor – one that would eventually reach the wrong ears, inciting action. All told, Sato was lucky to have only been killed, as the yakuza are capable of much, much worse.

Mahiru didn’t think what Sato did was right. Far from it; she was shocked and horrified when her suspicions turned out to be true. Furthermore, even outside of the TSMC, she believes her covering for Sato is something to atone for, which automatically requires thinking Sato was wrong. But if it was within her power to throw the mafia off Sato’s trail, she absolutely would, including by decidedly immoral means. You don’t have to condone murder to not want your friend to be kidnapped and tortured.

When Mahiru tells Fuyuhiko during their final confrontation that “nobody has the right to judge others for their crimes,” “judge” is another way of saying “take revenge on.” Think the phrase “playing judge, jury and executioner.” Fuyuhiko judged Sato as deserving of death for her crime, and carried out that judgment by murdering her. That’s what Mahiru is condemning. She’s not dismissing his loss – she acknowledges that his sister’s murder was terrible. She’s saying it didn’t give him the right to become a murderer in turn. This isn’t hypocritical; it’s entirely consistent with her actions in the TSMC. She never sought revenge, nor did she enable anyone else’s. She was trying to prevent revenge from the start.

That said, Mahiru isn’t above reproach (if she were, none of this would be happening to begin with.) Though I stand firm that she had every right to be angry here, I can appreciate that Fuyuhiko did, too.

Mahiru went into the beach house intending to figure out how to atone for a sin she couldn’t remember committing. Fuyuhiko went into the beach house intending to kill Mahiru as further revenge for Natsumi. Thing is, Fuyuhiko isn’t a cold-blooded killer. He thinks he's supposed to be, but deep down he’s conflicted. And so, to cope, he has an out: if Mahiru denies the game's reality, he'll call off the plan. He’ll spare her. More than anything, he just wants to believe that none of it happened; his sister isn't dead and Mahiru didn't cover for her killer. But it's too late to hope for denial. He'd already accused Mahiru of the cover-up and sent her the photos as proof, and she’d been taking it very seriously ever since. The threatening letter he left her, combined with her knowledge of the game’s true ending, would have been more than enough to convince the others to apprehend him like Kazuichi wanted – not to mention the most obvious thing to do for her own protection. And yet from the moment she received the letter, the only thing on her mind was making amends. There was no going back.

These conflicting goals are a recipe for disaster. Fuyuhiko, who had initially compelled Mahiru to face her sin, is now wanting her to deny that the events of the game ever took place. Mahiru, who came for help collecting her thoughts, is now face-to-face with the very person she needed to prepare to talk to. Keyword: prepare. Again, the important thing to understand about Mahiru is that, despite her headstrong attitude and emphasis on “doing the right thing,” she doesn’t always know what the right thing is. She lacks the confidence necessary to support her levelheadedness, and so she agonizes and deliberates. Instances of this include:

When she stays quiet as Hiyoko berates Teruteru, claiming he deserved to die, only to come to terms with the issue later (main game).

When she’s implied to spend the night awake pondering what to do about the Twilight Syndrome motive (main game).

When she waits several days before getting rid of the vase picture, showing that she didn't take the decision lightly (TSMC).

When she ruminates over how best to make amends with Fuyuhiko, leading him to think she’s avoiding him (main game).

The fact that, in the TSMC, Mahiru finds herself in a situation that tests her moral compass is what makes her involvement in the case compelling. She’s not someone who believes the ends justify the means, and yet all of a sudden she’s thrust into a scenario where they have to – where “the right thing” (not destroying the evidence) and “the wrong thing” (letting Sato suffer and/or die) intersect. No wonder she handles the entire thing so clumsily; it’s completely foreign to her.

Now consider this situation. Mahiru has been lured to a secluded area. She never got the chance to talk things through with the other girls and hasn’t the first clue about how to make amends. Fuyuhiko has proven that he isn’t all bark and no bite and could actually hurt her if provoked. Hiyoko is nowhere to be found; who’s to say Fuyuhiko hasn’t killed or severely harmed her? It’s a perfect storm of stress. Needless to say, the interaction is already doomed.

Said interaction starts when Mahiru, treating the game as though it were real, asks if Fuyuhiko killed Girl E (Sato). At this, Fuyuhiko is furious. But wait… this whole thing started because Fuyuhiko accused her of being an accomplice to his sister's murder, and yet now, when she's asking about what he did in the game, he says he doesn't want to hear it? When she says he shouldn’t have killed Girl E, he replies that nobody cares? How does this sound to Mahiru? A man who doesn't think he did anything wrong, refusing to accept responsibility? Only at this point does she get angry.

On the other hand, from Fuyuhiko's perspective, Mahiru had been avoiding him ever since he left her that letter, and so the fact that she isn't answering his questions is insulting. Even though he'd already decided on revenge, he’s giving her a chance to avoid the fate he had planned for her altogether, simply by saying she doesn’t remember anything from the game or believe that it happened. Yet not only is she doing the opposite of that, the girl who supposedly tried to protect his sister's killer is claiming that he was also wrong. His anger skyrockets.

All in all, it’s pretty easy to understand where both of them were coming from. In Mahiru’s efforts to protect her friend from revenge, she prevented Fuyuhiko from getting justice for Natsumi in any capacity. There was no way the authorities would believe him, a member of the criminal underworld, over a seemingly normal high school girl – not without evidence. Sure, a picture of a vase wasn’t substantial, but it was something, and she got rid of it. Meanwhile, if Fuyuhiko hadn’t been out for blood, Mahiru wouldn’t have felt the need to destroy the evidence to begin with. In other words, they both felt they had no choice but to do what they did – Mahiru to cover things up, Fuyuhiko to kill. Their goals clashed at nearly every turn, right up to the end.

Mahiru messed up – that I won’t deny. She lost her cool and chastised Fuyuhiko while he was in the middle of interrogating her about his sister. She shouldn't have done that – not because she didn't have a point, but because it wasn't the right time to make it. Chances are if she’d kept treating the game as real, she still would have angered him enough to convince Peko it was necessary to step in, but straight-up condemning his actions more or less sealed her fate. It’s almost ironic how her go-to method of yelling at people to do better led to her death in this instance. Keep in mind, though, it was Fuyuhiko who put her in that position to begin with. He backed her into a corner, deprived her of the chance to think things through and expected her to simply… read his mind and say what he wanted her to say so that he could find an excuse not to kill her. That’s why I don’t think it’s fair to claim she brought her death entirely on herself.

Moreover, her last words in and of themselves weren’t off-target. Fuyuhiko spends nearly the rest of the game trying to atone for rushing into revenge. He realizes that Mahiru was right; “an eye for an eye” is a flawed credo, and it’s through this that he manages to earn the forgiveness of all of his classmates, even Hiyoko. Losing Peko might have been what springboarded his development, but Mahiru’s contribution shouldn’t be understated. Hell, the scenario of Mahiru's death echoes some of Goodbye Despair’s most important themes, namely restoration over retribution and being punished for a forgotten sin. The mindset that certain people deserve to die for their crimes is what leads to much of the cast’s misery, and ultimately the opposite philosophy is what saves them.

Thanks for reading :)

[little-mari-on-a-roof]

hey everyone I'm happy to introduce to you

Frenglish differences in miraculous

which is a series where I'll be highlighting the differences between the French and English dubs of the wonderful show that is Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir.

I've always watched the show in its original language and I really recommend doing so but I recognise that it isn't necessarily doable depending on the subtitles people have available to them and the fact that they might be based on the alternate dub rather than a translation of what is said in French, so I thought I'd do this as a way to both show the differences and the things that people might miss, as well as sharing some interesting facts I've noticed! I'll be making one post per episode, with for each notable difference what is said in English, what is said in French with my translation and sometimes a little comment from yours truly 😌.

Links to each episode:

Stormy Weather / The Bubbler / Mr Pigeon / Copycat /Timebreaker / Pharaoh / Lady WiFi / Rogercop / Evillustrator / Horrificator / Dark Cupid / Darkblade / The Mime / Animan / Puppeteer / Princess Fragrance /Gamer / Reflekta / Pixelator / Guitar Villain / Antibug / Kung Food / Simon Says / Volpina / Ladybug and Cat Noir + Stoneheart

I'll have to make a few disclaimers as I always do with these things so here are the main ones:

I have done this (rewatching and recording the differences) a looong time ago so I might have changed my opinion on a few things since then, although I'll try to go over and correct if really needed

I didn't actually watch it in English (sorry I really don't like watching dubs) but I instead used the subtitles available on Disney+ which seemed to be an accurate transcription of the dub. however if I've made any mistake feel free to point it out! it also means that I only focus on the text and not the delivery of the lines

I kept the translation of the original french voice acting quite literal and I am in no way competent in linguistics (women in STEM 🫡)

I've only done this for season 1, as I believe fandubs are available for the further seasons but if people are interested I might do the other ones, however I don't have access to legal streaming services with subtitles anymore so it might be a bit more complex for me

I'm not pointing out every single difference because some are uninteresting or just due to simple language differences, but only the ones I personally found interesting/relevant

I didn't include things that happen in every episode (aka the theme song or transformation phrases), but I might do a separate post for them if anyone's interested

I think that's all? hope you guys enjoy!

[movie-robotnik-positivity]

Here's a MASSIVE Sonic 3 interview, featuring scriptwriters Pat Casey and Josh Miller, as well as co-producer Tyson Hesse. This was recorded before the film's release so minimal spoilers.

I really suggest watching the whole thing, there's plenty of cool info about the production of these movies. I compiled some of the highlights under the cut:

- It was SEGA's request to make Movie Sonic an alien. This is a remnant from when they were commited to the "Two Worlds" idea, before they changed their mind on that.

- According to Pat Casey and Josh Miller, part of the reason that the Sony version of the movie fell apart is that they (along with Jeff Fowler, Tim Miller and Neil Moritz) wanted Sonic to be the main character, while the studio pushed for the human actor to be the star.

- There was an outline where Sonic befriended a kid (based on E.T). Tim Miller thought the character was pointless, since Sonic is already the kid, so they decided to pair him up with an adult instead.

- They refer to "The Little Mermaid", "Superman" and "Hellboy" as inspiration for Sonic's story in the first movie.

- The Master Emerald and the Chaos Emeralds were combined to avoid having eight different macguffins in one film, and also to avoid comparisons with "Avengers: Infinity War".

- Pat Casey and Josh Miller feel like part of the job is to NOT be lore experts, but rather people who can look at these things purely as a movie.

- Jim Carrey doesn't like to repeat himself, so they always try to throw new stuff at him every movie so he's more likely to return. This led them to the idea of having him play Gerald. The studio immediately loved the idea, and so did Jim.

- One of the things they knew had to change was the ARK, as the idea of a space colony orbiting Earth for 50 years without anyone noticing didn't mesh well with the grounded world they had set up.

- In some versions Gerald Robotnik was alive as a chaos energy ghost, stuck in-between time.

- They felt Shadow's backstory was extremely important, but knew they could only have so many flashbacks, hence why they wanted to pull aspects of it into the present (such as Gerald).

- Gerald's inclusion was also done to keep Shadow's story from feeling like a retread of Knuckles'. It also helps that while Knuckles' conflict is based on a misunderstanding, Shadow's isn't.

- Tyson Hesse thinks that while keeping Gerald alive at first felt weird to him as a long-time fan, it gave Ivo a lot more to chew on as a character and kept his story from getting stale.

- Jim Carrey's multiple comments regarding Robotnik's broken childhood and hidden vulnerabilities inspired them to explore that side of the character in Sonic 3.

- Pat Casey and Josh Miller's always like to add a little bit of heart where they can. They point to the baseball scene and the bucket list in the first movie, as well the scene between Agent Stone and Tails in 3.

-Jim Carrey first does his scenes exactly as scripted, then tries his own versions, which almost always end up being funnier. Very little of what's in the script actually stays.

- Keanu Reeves was the number one choice for Shadow. With every other character there was a lot of deliberation, but with Shadow they don't think other options were even considered.

- At one point Idris Elba was worried about Knuckles' fear of ghosts being out of character, so they did some research and found out it was already a thing. They can't remember if they got that character trait from somewhere or if it was coincidental.

- Sonic 3 and the Knuckles series were worked on at the same time. Pat Casey and Josh Miller weren't involved, as they were busy with the movie script. Tyson Hesse was involved during the initial stages of the show, leading the story department, but had to leave as soon as production on 3 started.

- They've kept almost the exact same creative team thorough all three movies, including their VFX Supervisor and Animation Director. This helped streamline process, as everyone is already familiar with each other and how things work.

- They point out how rare it is to have a franchise where everyone involved wants to keep coming back. They attribute this to the fact that these movies are entirely staffed by nice people who get along, which isn't too common.

- They claim that the Sonic 3 set was one of the calmest sets they've ever been in. Even all the Gerald and Ivo stuff, which seemed so complicated to make, was hardly an issue.

- With Sonic 2 they ran into some problems due to relying on a single VFX vendor. For Sonic 3 they ran the movie as if they were the VFX vendor, they had all the animators in-house and had all the character assets made internally.

- Tyson Hesse claims that SEGA was completely changed by the movies, and that everything coming out is being done better than it was before. He hopes fans will be able to appreciate how much the movies lifted up the franchise.

[lovebeatriceplz]

Lotr Love Languages ⋆｡‧˚ʚ🍓ɞ˚‧｡⋆

Characters: Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Frodo, Merry and Pippin, Arwen, Eowyn.

Aragorn :

☆ Quality time, Acts of service

- Quiet moments, partaking in every day domestic tasks. It's enough for him.

- Respects your boundaries and independence, but lives for carrying out acts of service. It's a "I can do it myself" + "Let me do it for you anyways" dynamic.

- Your silent protector. His eyes always find you in any setting.

- He's never one to wait for you to make a move. Not clingy, but if he's lonely he won't hesitate to seek you out.

- Sword bearing lessons.

- Physically places himself between you and the threat, almost subconscious.

Legolas :

☆ Physical touch, Quality time, Words of affirmation

- Lives for verbal praise or reassurance and returns the favour.

- Hand holding, a five finger grip.

- Prefers to be/stand close to you, otherwise he'll feel a bit awkward and unsure of what to do with his hands (so he'll hold yours).

- Quality time is really just learning about each other, inexorably falling deeper.

- Teaching him how to cook your favorite dish, teaching you Sindarin, braiding his hair the way your mother taught you, he'll impart all his knowledge on to you.

Gimli :

☆ Gift giving, Acts of Service, Quality time

- I like to think that dwarfs have a hoarding habit. Maybe not hoarding, but he'd never throw away anything you give him.

- His gifts are quite peculiar, and make no sense to anyone but you. That root that he dug up with his bare hands wasn't very romantic, or pretty. It happens to be the main ingredient in a childhood favourite.

- If chivalry is dead then he's 6ft under.

- Quality time can range from drinking games and watching intense boar fights to taking a stroll through a field and climbing a tree.

- Don't try to partake in any manual labour around him, part of it is to flex his strength and show you up, the latter is the desire to pamper you and show that he cares.

Frodo :

☆ Quality time, Words of affirmation

- Reads books with you. Probably under the shade of a tree, with your head on his chest.

- Has a way with words and can wash your worries away with a heart - to - heart.

- Wandering is better with company, he thinks. Which is why he drags you along on any expedition he finds himself on.

- Has a secret spot somewhere, maybe a dead tree trunk or a quiet spot by the creek, just for the two of you.

-Makes sure you feel included in every situation. Great listener.

Merry and Pippin :

(I was going to separate them but I got lazy mb gang💔)

☆ All of them

- I'm not going to give an example for all of them so I'll just highlight some stuff.

- 75% of their jokes are jokes that you've shared with them at some point.

- Bear hugs, pepper kisses, hand gripping holding, biting, piggy back rides, you get it.

- Not great listeners overall but very attentive when it comes to you.

- Chivalry but at different levels. Merry is the type to cover you with his cloak if it starts to pour, or carry you across a gap/leap.

- Pippin is the type to shield you from the rain, with his body. He'll bridge the gap to be crossed, with himself. "It's fine you can step on me, I won't feel it😼".

- It's common to have very out of nowhere, deep conversations when they're around.

Arwen:

☆ Physical touch, gift giving, quality time, words of affirmation

- Gives the softer, purer side of physical touch. I'm talking forehead kisses, cuddling, short but sweet pecks on the mouth, face holding, all of that. Enjoys being on the receiving end of this as well (move aside gentlemen I got this).

- If sentimental was a person it would be her. All her gifts have thought, meaning, and love behind them.

-Likes to sit and observe you in silence, if you don't mind of course.

- Hates when you worry about her.

- Never speaks to you harshly or with disrespect. If she's upset she has the emotional capacity to calm down before she addresses you.

- Has a thing for you skin and I mean that in the most intimate, non creep way. Smooth or calloused she doesn't really care, she likes how it feels under her fingertips.

Eówyn :

☆ Acts of service, Physical touch, Quality time

- Did I say acts of service? Yeah that's her.

- Likes to have her hands in your hair, she's not great at styling but if it's long enough she'll settle for putting it in a crooked braid.

- Long walks and stargazing.

- Her kisses are lingering and tender, and meant to bring comfort.

- Will insist on helping you get dressed. She'll tie the strings at the back that you can't reach, put the necklace on that you couldn't hook.

- She's a good listener but she loves to talk. Will patiently wait for you to finish your story, then go on a tangent.

- Hates when you fight because her first instinct is put distance between the two of you, then she misses your presence like crazy and loses her mind.

That's it (divider at the top top by @strangergraphics-archive)