#its sometimes so difficult to grasp what the character is feeling | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

that-student-that-has-homework · 2 months

Text

Matching - Portgas D. Ace

Find more of my work here: Tumblr MasterList

This is a little idea I had for a larger Ace fanfic I'm working on. I might revise this! Please let me know if he's in character or not...I'm starting to have my doubts.

It had been the better part of a week. No, maybe a whole week at this point. While before you’d spend most of your free time around him, now you were constantly “busy.” Heck sometimes he even finds it difficult to find you on the Moby Dick! Was this the end of the honeymoon phase everyone warned him about?

Were you starting to get tired of him?

You kept sneaking around...without him! Before you used to sneak around together! Worse still is…every time he pops up to see you, you always seem like you're hiding something. It's like quickly stashed papers, and tightly clenched fists. It’s the way you spin on your heel, and tense up, when you used to not do that at all.

What was maddening was how when the evenings would hit, or even at random parts of the day, you’d run and crash into him with a huge hug. You’d beam at him bright and genuine just upon seeing him, heck you’d be practically vibrating with joy as you’d squeeze the life out of him. He’d almost turned to fire once.

Maybe you weren’t tired of him?

When you did cuddle with him, your eyes seemed to linger on the tattoo on his arm. He’d even woken up to you tracing it with your finger once before. You’d looked sheepish that he’d caught you admiring it…actually you looked a little…panicked too…

You’d squirmed in his grasp when he asked you about it. Saying things like how it’s pretty, and how it’s a tattoo unique to him, so you were admiring it. You're pretty good at dodging his line of questioning whenever he voices his suspicions about your behavior. You were also incredibly sneaky about distracting him with your affections, and by the time he’s regained his original line of thought, you’d already be gone.

There's something fishy in the air and it's not the sea king he caught the other day.

He only finds out what it is you'd been scheming behind his back when he gets back from a mission. He was so distracted for most of it. He couldn’t figure out why you were so clearly avoiding him sometimes…were you having second thoughts? What was going on? Was this an elaborate prank?

He was still in a daze as he made his way back to the Moby Dick. You used to bring peace, yet right now you’d thrown him into turmoil. He hated the way he was doubting you. He hated not knowing what was wrong.

“Hey look Ace’s back!”

“How’d it go champ?”

“Aaaaaaacee!” It was your voice that pulled him back completely.

He’d barely had a moment to look up than you’d thrown yourself on him with a hug. The force of it all almost send him toppling backwards. His hat had been knocked off his head, and he could feel the press of its medallion on his throat. He's relieved at how genuinely happy you are to see him, yet still an unease twists up his stomach in knots.

You pull away much too quickly, pulling his arms and rotating them, checking for any damage. The way you're checking up on him to make sure he's not hurt and that he's okay floods his entire system with warmth. Yet he can't help the constriction in his chest and the nagging as to what it was that had you sneaking around before he left if you missed him this badly?

He can hear the crew laughing at the obvious display of affection.

“Being bold there little missy,” they taunt you.

You shrink in on yourself a bit, embarrassment catching up to you. However when you take his hand in yours, and whistles and cheers break out, “I was doing it for Ace,” the timidity in the lines of your shoulders and face brings the heat to his own face, “I thought he might like it.”

He squeezes your hand in his. Yet his brain screams at him, then what was all that sneaking around about?

Unsure how to deal with things, he just studies you closely as you ask him about how things went and how the mission was. You're not up to anything really, or at least it doesn't seem like it. You're as attentive and engaged as ever, things are just as they used to be before.

You drag him to the kitchen, knowing he must be hungry as he usually is after a mission. You even sit with him in your little corner of the mess hall while he eats, something you hadn’t done much prior to his departure. He's talking to you about the guy with the interesting abilities that he'd fought with his mouth full, and you're indulging him.

Yet even as he tries to fall into your old pattern, the confusion only festers further. What had been going on with you?

He feels absolutely awful, doubting you with the way you’re listening to him like he's the most interesting guy in the world. To be fair, to you, he really is. He keeps talking and chewing and answering your questions, yet the thing he really wants to talk about is bubbling just below the surface. Somehow all the tension and excitement peaks and he goes head first into his plate of food.

When he finally comes back to, there’s no food on his face, and he’s resting on his arms on the dinner table, his plate off to his side. You’re still next to him, gently brushing your fingers through his hair, patiently de-tangling any clumps you come across. He groans while sitting up and blinking the sleep away.

“You’re up,” you observe aloud, “here let me clear these out of the way for you.”

You get up from beside him, unthinkingly pulling your sleeves up your forearms, and reach for the plates around him. He notices something odd about one of your hands as you walk away with the stack of plates in your hands, but before he can say much you're already on your way to the kitchen counter. He watches you, lethargically shoving food in his mouth as you hand the dishes over to Thatch, who looks at your hands, then looks his way for a moment with an amused grin.

He could actually hear the next thing as the cook raised his voice, “nah leave those dishes to me, go hang out with your loverboy.”

Had the pirate not shoved you away with a plate of food in hand, Ace got the feeling you would have pointedly ignored Thatch’s teasing to do the dishes. You walked back, your brow and lips pursed in a kind of indignation. He couldn’t help the little huff of amusement. You’d gotten much better at handling their teasing over time, but he wouldn’t deny it was cute how it would get to you sometimes.

You took a seat beside him again, sliding the plate the cook had given you towards him. Your…well he could only hope he was still really your beloved, just stared at you in silence as he chewed. For some reason it made you squirm.

That’s it. He’d had enough. He has to figure this out. You’d said it yourself, it’s really important to communicate things! That’s how relationships last!

“You’ve been real weird lately,” was what came out as he grabbed the new plate of food, “you been avoiding me?”

His brow furrowed at the way your gaze immediately fell, taking your expression with it, and how you began to fidget with your fingers - a nervous - wait. Ace’s hand extended to grab your left one, bringing it up to his face.

There on your left wrist, right where your pulse sat, in black ink sat the letters ASCE, arranged horizontally and smaller, but a perfect replica of his own otherwise. Instinctively he rubbed his thumb across it, almost as though he was checking to make sure this wasn’t an illusion and that wasn’t just normal ink from a pen.

You were looking back at him, he could see it in the way your shoulders bunched near your ears, and the wobble of your lips, and how you couldn’t keep eye contact for too long, but kept glancing back at him…you were nervous. He absentmindedly began drawing circles on your wrist, just staring at you.

“I was avoiding you, I guess,” you admitted, “I was hoping to surprise you with that,” your free hand moved to play with the hem of your shirt, as you shrunk even more, “was it presumptuous of me? Should I have asked first?”

“For a second I thought I’d managed to chase you away,” he admitted quietly, looking back down at the mark of permanence you’d etched into your skin, “that you’d gotten sick of me.”

You snatched your hand away before he could think, moving in to embrace him, “get sick, of you? Then I’d be a tasteless heathen or…whatever, unworthy of you- totally - completely - absolutely unworthy of you!”

Your arms tighten around him, “I’m so sorry I put you through that love.”

“All that sneaking around was for this tattoo?” He couldn’t help the involuntary little crack in his voice. “You really did surprise me darlin’.”

He pulls away from you first and his hands find your wrists, and his eyes again fall onto the symbol, the symbol of him, lovingly tattooed into your skin. A mark to let people know just who put the ring on your finger.

He didn’t look up from it, even when you spoke up again, “Ace,” he just traced circles over the mark that sat proudly in bold black letters, “I’m really sorry that I made you feel that way - wait does that sound? It’s not-no wait. It’s my fault!” He glanced up at you for a moment as you struggled to put what you wanted to say into words, working strenuously to apologize sincerely.

His lips wobbled upwards.

He couldn’t help it.

You’d gone out of your way, to tattoo his mark onto your body. He couldn’t help but stare at it as he continued to rub circles with his thumb. Not only that, you were straining yourself so much all because he voiced that damned insecurity of his.

“I didn’t mean to put you through that?” You tried again. “I wanted it to be a surprise, but I didn’t want to hurt you.” You paused, and he felt you move closer. “I’m sorry if what I did hurt you-no-I’m sorry that I did hurt you.”

There was a pricking at the corners of eyes, as he finally took his eyes off your little gift to him to look at you. There was a kind of relief, or maybe it was appreciation? Maybe even a tinge of surprise? He was touched, that was one thing he knew for sure-if the fire that burned in his chest was any indication. He was a sick bastard for appreciating this, wasn’t he? Seeing you so genuinely apologetic - it was alarming really, did he really deserve this apology when he was doubting you? How could he ever hope to compete with this?

“You’ve got nothing to apologize for, doll,” his voice was uncharacteristically quiet as he continued to rub circles into your wrists.

“No I do,” you insisted, “Ace, I’m happy you’re communicating how you felt to me,” you responded quietly, but firmly, “so don’t downplay how it felt when I was the one being sneaky.”

“You didn’t mean any harm though,” his lips pull into a gentle smile as he slowly brings your tattooed pulse up to brush his lips against it before flicking his gaze to meet yours, “you were here prepping this lovely gift for me and I was only thinking of myself.”

A smirk tugs at his lips at the way you have to shake yourself out of whatever spell he’d placed you under, “just because I didn’t mean any harm, doesn’t mean I didn’t do any harm,” you press on, shuddering a bit when he brushes another kiss to your pulse, “if you did the same, I’d probably have felt the same way too, you have nothing to feel bad about.”

“Forgive me for doubting you, cariña?”

He almost laughs at the affronted look you give him, firing back a, “forgive me for hurting you, love?”

“Nothing to forgive,” he’s smiling more now, “I’m glad you were being so sneaky, made this surprise all the better.”

“Don’t downplay your feelings Portgas D. Ace,” he could hear your frown, “your feelings are important to me, you’re important to me.”

“My full name cariña?” He couldn’t help but tease.

“Yes,” you answered immediately and he looked up to see how upset you looked - it was almost annoying - he’d rather not dwell, “I want you to get just how upset you were off your chest.”

That got a chuckle out of him, despite the irritation that was rising.

“I don’t want to think about it too much,” his smile fell for a moment, “I don’t want to ruin this happy moment with stupid emotions in the past.”

“But I don’t want them to fester-”

“Mi amor,” he looked at you, almost pleading, “it’s true I felt like you were ignoring me, but seeing your little surprise makes me the happiest man on the five seas.”

Seems that was enough to quiet you. Though… “six, if you include the All Blue.”

When you chuckled at him, he felt his smile returning. He honestly couldn’t care less about the past. He’d said his piece, you’d talked it out, he didn’t care anymore.

“So, you know I love you right?” The timid way in which you asked was enough to knock the wind out of him.

Yet, he grinned, and brought your marked pulse up to lips again, “I love you too.”

“Oi get a room!” The two of you startled at the sudden shout coming from the other end of the mess hall. “Sure we can barely see you in your little corner, but the lovey-dovey energy in here is off the charts!”

“Shut up Thatch!” Ace fired back. “You’re just mad you can’t gossip to Marco about it!”

“You’re the one blocking the show!”

“Good!”

“It’s real funny though,” there was a pause, “who’d have thought the wild Fire Fist was actually a huge pile of mush!”

With the newfound yelling, people started to file into the mess hall. Which was when he noticed it was mostly empty prior to that. Of course among the people who filed in was the aforementioned first division commander.

“You like your little surprise Ace?” He asked the younger man.

“Wait you knew?”

“Who else would she ask yoi?” The medic gave him a lazy grin before turning to you. “So, did you get to say what you wanted to say yoi?”

Ace studied you as you shook your head looking both disappointed and sheepish.

“What did you want to say?” He couldn’t help but ask.

You huffed, a sheepish smile wobbling your lips, as you moved to his left side, your right hand pushing his upper arm to show more of his tattoo.

"See,” you held up your own tattooed wrist next to his arm, “now we match."

Extra:

Ace later: “I’m gonna marry her.”

Marco (who is next to him): “aren’t you already married?”

#portgas d ace x reader #portgas ace x reader #portgas ace x you #one piece x reader #one piece x you #portgas d ace x you #portgas d ace fluff #portgas d ace #portgas d ace fanfic #one piece fanfiction #one piece #ace one piece

459 notes · View notes

cadmusfly · 1 month

Text

The One Time Marshal Soult Called Thiers A Little Pissant And Then It Got Into A Dictionary

Happy birthday, you grumpy asshole curmudgeon military man who I'd probably hate if I lived at the same time as you (for I am a modern day leftist) but with the distance of time I'm utterly fascinated by what is wrong with you! I'll post a weird drawing/animation of you later probably.

So I've been perusing a 1870s biography of Soult written by someone who met him with the help of very dodgy AI machine translation, getting through a chapter or two per night, and I got to this chapter called

So that translates to "A WORD ABOUT A WORD". It's about 500 words long, not a long chapter, but I laughed so hard when I discovered it's entirely and literally about one word.

And the worst part is that the author refuses to write what the word actually is.

On the occasion of dissent, real or supposed, which had determined Marshal Soult to leave the Ministry, the press hastened to indulge in the most hazardous conjectures. According to some, Mr. Thiers and his adversary had come to the most lively explanations, the most personal recriminations, the most incisive reproaches; according to others, everything would have been limited to a single word from the mouth of the old soldier, a word to which his young opponent would not have known how to respond. This word is not that of Cambronne, but it is of an origin just as abject. Therefore, I will not write it. Its origin is linked to a low phrase, whose root is a verb not listed in the dictionary, and which has very little time. In the present indicative it serves to say: I don't care; in the future: I will put my hand on your face; in the infinitive it is only a swear word; in the past participle it energetically replaces an adjective always expressing an idea of loss, or a feeling of bad mood. This word is familiar, trivial, dirty, common, vulgar; and if, for some time, it has been introduced into conversation, it is with the help of a Germanic ending which almost completely distorts it.

More quotation from the chapter under the cut, as well as what the word actually is.

Was this word, in the beginning, Romance, Gallic or French? One could easily attribute this first character to it, if one paid attention to the quantity of applications that have come from it. Thus, with a completely patois ending, it means simpleton, dullard, deceived husband, etc.; welded to a very respectable first name, since it appears twice each year among the saints of the Gregorian Calendar, it becomes French and applies to a man who deceives, by not keeping his promise; finally in the southern countries where the Romance language is still spoken, it produces an epithet very accurate by its expression, but very difficult to define in any other language. This very euphonic epithet, very easy to pronounce, very expressive in its meaning, applies to any individual endowed with a certain natural wit, but using it badly, always talking a lot, but often saying very little, not fearing difficulties, but creating them, calling for the help of others, but hindering them in their exercise by a multitude of objections, having more thoughtlessness than malice, more malice than wickedness; this spirit denotes a man always ready to have his say on any question, penetrating enough to grasp its form whatever it may be, except sometimes to make light of the substance; not very moral, moreover, that is to say not attaching his feelings, his ideas, his conduct to any superior belief, to any religious dogma, to any philosophical principle; this is the developed explanation of this word attributed to Marshal Soult, and which he obviously never pronounced with the spelling and accent that disfigure it, if tradition is to be believed. Indeed, he would never have substituted the letter r, inappropriately inserted in the second syllable, for the letter s, which ends the second syllable; above all, he would never have given the French sound to the final vowel, he who was so accustomed to expressing another sound quite particular to the patois idiom.

(1) Here, moreover, as to the authenticity of the word attributed to the Marshal, is how tradition tends to establish it. We read in fact in a newspaper of September 13, 1869: "It was told, last night, in a circle where one likes to politicize between two cigars, that, under the July government, when a fiery Marshal of France treated Mr. Thiers as a 'little f.... iquet', Mrs. Dosne asked, the same day, to the statesman, her son-in-law: -- 'Well! what do you intend to do?' -- 'That's fine! but.... revenge? What do you want me to do to that animal? He is Marshal, Duke and Peer of France; he has everything he could dream of and even more....' -- 'Well! write the history of the conquest of Algeria, and don't put his name in it once: he will burst with spite! ' Did Mr. Thiers ever begin this history-vendetta?"

It took me a little bit to find out what the word was with all this word charades and me not knowing French, but I found it in the end:

"foutriquet"

I don't need to speak french to know what that second definition is referring to. And that second screenshot is from a French dictionary website, so this word is in the dictionary, take that, biographer writer who also trips balls about Soult's daughter!

Wiktionary claims it means "weedy man", which is also very funny. I'm guessing that it used to be a much ruder word but now probably just sounds quaint/historical/dated. I'm curious about the "s" form that the author alludes to, it seems that might have been supplanted by Soult's usage of the word.

Anyway yeah, I'm still cracking up that Soult dunked on Thiers so hard it ended up in a dictionary. Happy birthday you fuckin asshole, I might bake a cake in your honour or something.

#jean-de-dieu soult #jean de dieu soult #napoleon's marshals #cad rambles about dead frenchmen on main #french history #cadmus rambles #i am learning more about french political history than i ever wanted to

24 notes · View notes

drivestraight · 13 days

Note

hi! i am writing a character study right now (for a completely different fandom) but ofc objects in mirror keeps coming to mind because your characterization was so amazing and on point. do you have any advice for character studies specifically? and also, how did you gain the inspo for the plot in objects in mirror? was it a planned out thing or was it more just like a few key bulletpoints and then you went from there? i would love to hear about it and i appreciate you and your writing endlessly!!!

thank you so much! i have a bit of a rambling answer so i'm putting it below the cut:

i guess for characterization, the way i try to approach it, is to just keep them as human as possible in a way? like i don't think anything i do is exceptional or novel at all, but the way i think about it is to think through interactions, and go through the whole "would he do that? would he say that? would any normal person do or say that? what would X's response to Y doing this be? what is X and Y's relationship like and how do i get that across?" and i guess a lot of that is having a grasp of the "source material," so like. all the little videos that give us insight onto what they're like - and obviously that has its limits. like we really only do see glimpses, and a big part of rpf is filling in the blanks in a compelling/reasonably realistic way, and that's all up to you.

like obviously you can't reflect reality but i think it just comes down to portraying the characters so that they don't feel, like, caricatures rather than characters. and since you're doing a character study i'd assume you're writing it in like, a racing setting - in cases like these i do feel like it's more restrictive/difficult to get characterization "right," as opposed to in an au, where the characterization can feel real and compelling despite being pretty different. and this isn't to say that there's one right way - not at all. but like. making it Feel right in in an f1 setting, i'd say, is a little more narrow. it all comes down to just being thoughtful, i guess?

i do get kind of picky lasjf;lsaflaskjdf like sometimes when i feel like people try to give, for example, max or charles nuance, they go so heavy on like self-pity and trauma and inferiority it's like - is this a character who is even at all compelling? if this guy thinks he's so shit at everything like what's the point...😭 (unless he's getting rawed as a solution. that's always okay)

it's that sort of thing i mean like. it doesn't have to be accurate (we have no idea of what that actually means), but like... i do think to some extent it's important that you put thought and care into how you are portraying someone and not go too far into one extreme rather than the other. People have nuance. they can want antithetical things. etc etc. so it's just having that in mind, i'd say.

but like. if i'm being honest. not to like invalidate everything i've said above. i don't really think about it That much?? i kind of like. i pick the person i'm writing in the pov of, and just try to put myself in their head (as much as that's possible lmao), and things kind of just go from there. like i think i think about characterization when i need to, but it's more nowadays wrapped into my writing process as a whole, rather than something i think about in isolation.

and obviously i don't think that my word is gospel. this is just how i try to think about things and if this doesn't gel with you, throw it away lksjfd;lksad i'm just one person on the internet writing rpf

WOW okay i rambled a lot. onto your second question.

objects in mirror was largely unplanned. i think i've explained the story a couple times on here, but i'll just do it again haha.

when i was writing on the limit, i just wanted to write a fic about 2 guys talking. i didn't even think about writing a romantic relationship for them (deep enough in my discord dms is me talking about how i will Never ever ever ship lestappen or any sports rpf ship because i thought it was cringe), nor did i go into it with the intention of having charles go to red bull. i kinda just wanted him and max to have a drink and talk. originally it was supposed to be at the FIA gala but then i changed it, etc etc, and then we got on the limit.

leave no space was also kind of unplanned. by that point i started getting into lestappen as a romantic ship so then i was like. i wanna write something. hmmm. and then i just started writing something lmao. i think about 90% of the fic was unplanned. just vibes. scene after scene depending on what i felt like writing. maybe a bullet point here and there.

all to play for however... like. i was so against writing it at first because i knew it would take a lot of planning and effort. but then as more time passed i caved because i was like - this part of the story needs to be written. so then i literally made this spreadsheet along with plans for each race. dkfja;lkdfjsa. really an endeavor of massive proportions it was like a 2 month writing affair which i rarely ever do...

i guess "sources" of inspiration were like. seb's 2013 campaign, multi-21, spain 2016, etc etc. like past racing incidents were fun to think about/helped give inspiration for some of the incidents and this fic. and i think that one time lewis drove into the wrong pitbox lmao. and i guess also the wikipedia article of alexander the great. and also this one dream i had about someone calling me in the morning that turned out to totally be fake. <3

anyway yeah. i hope i answered at least some of your questions 😭

#asks #writing meta #objects in mirror #fic asks

9 notes · View notes

partylikemajima · 8 months

Text

I'm reading Wool and I'm starting to see points the book has done way better than the show. And vice versa. Mind you I'm not half way yet but at the part where Jules is sheriff.

❗️Spoilers for the show and Wool Book 1:

Like the depths of Marnes's and Jahns's relationship is shown more in the book and means more.

The way Lukas is shown in the book is so much more intimidating and interesting than in the show.

Also the generator repair was a different kind of intense in the books than the show. In the book its a silent, people holding their breathe, a few days deadline type of intense. The show was hold your hair hoping nobody gets their head chopped off intense. I like both.

I like they played up the mystery of Benard for the show, also him being a tall person added to his sense of a helpful nice guy but actually he isnt. In the books from the get go you can tell he knows so much shit you cant fathom and every character feels it.

Shirley has a husband?? I really like her in the show, not read much of her in the book.

The book really makes you feel how difficult it can be to travel up and down the silo, how tedious and labor intensive it is.

Theres more 'outside' screens.

Holston's death in the book is so heart-wrenching. Like in the show its very sad, but in the book? We get to read exactly what he went through and what happened and I felt like crying omg.

Hardly anyone watches the cleanings unlike the show. Though theres a party afterwards as a relief they weren't chosen to go outside (so odd never occured to me that they end up choosing someone to go out, like i think the sheriff chooses out of people with a really bad record? Holston mentions something like finding someone to clean cause of the sensors blurring.)

Also Allison talks to Holston calmly about her suspicions before the whole scene in the cafeteria.

There's no birth control scene of her taking it out, its just she runs from the computer to the cafeteria begging to go out.

George isn't a main character, just a past Jules finds hard to talk about to herself, a lover she lost. (Idk if theres actual conspiracy in the book like the show, but so far its just case closed thing she doesn't suspect any foul play).

Marnes WANTED Jules to be sheriff. Benard did not.

I will say I've been finding it hard to get into new stories lately but since I watched Silo, imagining it in my head helped a lot with reading the book so far cause I already have the scenery. I always imagine the scenes in my head for reading but sometimes its hard to grasp with stories new to me. This was almost seamless for me. Great writing.

#silo apple tv #silo series #wool hugh howey #hugh howey #silo #silo spoilers

14 notes · View notes

hoshi-y · 1 year

Note

WAIT I DIDNT KNOW YOU ADDED SUMIRE 🥹💖 I KNOW I MADE A REQUEST BUT IGNORE IT (so sorry 😭) Can I request Sumire, Kou, Mitsuba, and Yashiro (hopefully that’s not too much) with a S/O that’s like Power?

(Take your time and have a nice day/night ^^)

S/O that acts like Power from Chainsaw Man

Genre : Fluff

Characters : Akane Sumire, Minamoto Kou, Mitsuba Sousuke, Yashiro Nene

TW : None

A/N : So sorry that it took me awhile to make your request, I tend to avoid things that are a bit difficult for me hehe, I could tell you really wanted me to do your request already so here it is

Just a bit of a warning, I can't guarantee that the personality and attitude will be the same but I'll try my best

I hope you enjoy 💗

Powers Personality :

Childish

Greedy

Rude

Entirely self-motivated

Cares for a select of friends

Has severe PTSD (Afraid of being alone)

Feels that people should clean up after her

Often claims she is capable of doing things she cannot actually do

No problem with gossiping and talking about her friends behind their back

Compulsive habitual liar

That's all the info I can find about her personality

Liar liar pants on fire

You were an absolute HANDFUL to watch over.

You'd sometimes run away creating minor trouble

I mean you blew up the science lab I don't know where minor came from.....

In your excuse, you thought you could do it—

After you met Kou, your life just turned a full 180

He would follow you everywhere

Making sure you don't get hurt

But mostly to keep you out of trouble

It was driving you nuts! You couldn't skip class to chase butterflies anymore

It was hard since both of you were in the same year

But you did found out something about him

He was very gullible.

You grumbled as Kou was pulling you back to his and his friends lair, it wasn't too bad around them, you just didn't wanna help clean up that stinky bathroom—

You had to escape. And fast

"Koouuu... I don't like it in theerree.." You whined, He didn't budge which made you click your tongue. And an idea came to mind.

"Kou, I just got a text from my mom saying that.. My dog died.." You put up your best sad acting in hopes he would fall for it, and he did. He stopped in his tracks as he looked back at you "What?! Toshiba died?!"

Kou absolutely LOVED your pet dog, he would use all types of excuses to swing by

You nodded your head sadly "Mom wants me back home so we can bury him.." Kou gently let go of your hand as he sighef softly "I'll swing by to say my goodbyes to Toshiba.." As soon as he gave your backpack back, you had a cheeky smile on your face

"Thanks!! Bye!!" You ran

"H-HEY. GET BACK HERE!!"

You were too fast for Kou, eventually he just gave up. He has to stop being so gullible

Ugh how dare you call me ugly!

Everyone envied you for your clear ang glowing skin

Anyone would need sunglasses it was that clear

Everyone wanted your secret but you didn't budge

Why? well you just wanted to be the only one with fair skin

Amongst those in tge ctowd wanting your skincare routine

A pink haired gentleman also wanted a grasp at your secret

I mean how can he keep being cute with such flaky skin?!

So he pulled you aside to ask but you were a bit too hard headed

Mitsuba groaned as he held on your arm "Come on! Just one product that you use and I won't bother you anymore!" He begged but you went silent pretending he wasn't there

"HEY. I KNOW YOUR IGNORING ME" Mitsuba yelled

You checked your phone time and continued to pretend he wasn't there. "What about this, I'll buy you WHATEVER you want, for just one product"

"Mud"

"Mud Mask?!" His face lightened up as he was probably the first you told your super secret fbi skincare

"Yeah, its good for the pigs skin after all"

Mitsuba gasped "How DARE you call me a pig! Look at yourself first skeleton!" He fired back

"Oh yeah Barbie?"

Mitsuba didn't wanna back down as he soat all sort of names at you

But you won, obviously

He pushed you out of their classroom as Kou, Satou and Yokoo witnessed the entire thing.

We're you grown on soil?

When Yashiro first met you, her first impression of you was that you were pretty Childish

Not that she hated it, She absolutely adored it

For.... some odd reason....

The way you act and talk like a child

You were so cute in her eyes!

but of course we know that every child is super curious of things right?

Well you started asking a bunch of nonsense to Yashiro

Like, how do fish swim, how do cars work

"Does tinkerbell exist?" Stuff like that

She sometimes questions how you got in the Rank 3....

"Nene-chaann~" You cooed as she stopped shoveling and looked at you "Uwaahh [F/N]! I thought you went home already?" She dropped her shovel and took off her gloved and walked up to you

"I got you an Ice Pop!" You gave her the green colored one as you ate the purple one "Thanks [F/N]! I was needing something to cool me down"

You scanned the field and noticed a bunch if holes she was digging, what was she gonna do? was she gonna plant? look for worms? DIG TO ANOTHER COUNTRY?

Or... Is she gonna plant her legs?

"Nene-chan, are you gonna plant your legs in their?" Yashiro coughed as she almost dropped her ice pop "W-WHAT?! I-I'M NOT!!"

"Ehh?? Isn't that how you got your daikon legs?"

Yashiro crumbled on the spot as she looked like she was needing any god out there to take her

After that, Yashiro forced you to go home as you watched her sulk from afar

I can do it see?! ahh.. Nevermind...

Sumire always enjoyed your company, and your help

Despite you fucking up every now and then she appriciates the company

Sometimes she'd tell you not to force yourself to do something you couldn't do but you never listen

Your excuse??

"I can do it don't worry! I'm a pro at this"

You ended almost burning the food, or knocking down something

So she just lets you stay back at home

You were one of Sumire's servants, although she didn't treat you like a servant

She treated you more like a friend now.

Sumire and Hakubo watched from a far as you messed up picking up flowers. You were pulling them by the stem and not digging to get the roots and ended up having a very withered out flower

"Are they dumb?..." Hakubo deadpanned as you continued to pluck withered out flowers, Sumire giggled as she placed down her tea cup and walked up to you to help

You saw her from the corner of your eyes walking up to you but you were signaling her not to come, but she did anyways. "Your flowers are withered now [L/N]"

You pouted "I said I could do it.."

"You clearly can not, here let me teach you how to harvest flowers" Sumire smiled at you

For the rest of the afternoon, she taught you how to pick up flowers, and make flower crowns. You've mastered them by now with the guidance of Sumire.

Now that she's gone, the only thing you could do without messing up

Was making flower crowns.

I caved

IM SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG 😭😭😭, I also apologize if I the personality does not match up, I really dunno who Power is LMWODHWUD

#toilet bound hanako kun #jibaku shoujo hanako kun #tbhk x reader #jshk #tbhk #Yashiro Nene #mistuba sousuke #kou minamoto #sumire akane

42 notes · View notes

paleparearchive · 4 days

Text

Two People Who Are Bad at Talking

El Greco's initial 1★ story (1/1)

Location: dormitory hallway (morning) ; museum hallway (morning) ; atelier 2 (morning) | Characters: El Greco, Velazquez

El Greco: …

Velazquez: You're going to the atelier too now? May I accompany you?

El Greco: Yes, no problem.

Velazquez: I see. Then, let's go.

—

El Greco: (... It's rare that he's not with Rubens. Sometimes it's just one of those days.)

… A snail on a sunny day, is it?

Velazquez: What are you talking about?

El Greco: That's your current state.

Velazquez: ... I've been thinking about this for a while now, but I don't understand what you're talking about at all.

El Greco: ... I've been told this a lot, but I just can't stop talking the way I used to do back in my hometown. I'm sorry. I just can't get past this. Do you want me to call Munch?

Velazquez: I'm not saying it's a bad thing, so don't worry about it. I'm the one who invited you, so I'll make an effort without Munch.

—

Velazquez: …

El Greco: …

Velazquez: That part would be more complicated than the others. We should do it again later. Also, I've been working for so long that my concentration is starting to break down. It's not good if you continue to do poorly and make mistakes.

El Greco: Okay, then let's leave it for later.

Velazquez: …

El Greco: … You're talking straight to me.

Velazquez: ? What else do you want me to say?

El Greco: No, I'm just thankful I don't have to worry about being weird. People seem to think I'm unapproachable.

Velazquez: It is difficult to say whether you're easy to talk to or not, but you're not impossible to talk to. In fact, I'm probably the more difficult person to talk to.

El Greco: Is that so?

Velazquez: Rubens often tells me I say things too straight. He tells me to be careful… but I'm not quite sure how to do it.

El Greco: There would be no need to change. Just like I use the language of my hometown. At least I have no complaints about you.

Velazquez: … I see.

El Greco: … However, you do have complaints. That's what you mean when you say you don't understand my words.

Velazquez: That's not a complaint. It's purely an opinion. Just tell me what it means and I'll have no problem with it.

El Greco: Its meaning, you say… It's hard for me to put into words what I'm feeling.

Velazquez: Well, time will tell, I guess. I'm sure you'll understand some things as you come into contact with them.

El Greco: …

Velazquez: For now, it looks like we need a little more time for conversation. If you don't have any plans after this, why don't we have lunch together?

El Greco: Yeah. I was just about to tell you that the sun was higher in the sky too.

Velazquez: … I see, so that's what you're asking me to do, invite you to lunch. Alright, I'll keep that in mind.

El Greco: To be grasped like that is kind of... itchy, you know.

#palette parade #palette parade tl #palepare #palepare tl #card tl #card translation #translation #el greco #1★

2 notes · View notes

hindisoup · 11 months

Text

I've done some Googling and I've self-diagnosed having reached the feared, the infamous Language Learning Plateau.

Some signs I've noticed:

I get fewer spontaneous ideas for language learning. I still get them but less frequently and feel less inspired by them. Before, my mind was often bombarded with "Oh, let's do a vocab challenge! Let's read a book! Let's try to watch something without subtitles!" and now it's more like "Meh, I guess I can do that".

Language learning routines I used to enjoy a lot feel more like a task than enjoyable me-time. Stuff like organizing and tinkering with my Anki decks, vocabulary lists, grammar notes, etc.

I cannot see a clear goal in my learning. I mean, I say it's that I can enjoy media and arts in my target language quite fluently - but what does that mean?

And based on the stuff I read about this, it's pretty simple. Our learning slows down once we reach the intermediate level and become somewhat comfortable with the language in everyday contexts. Our brain is not getting that positive learning brain rush as frequently anymore, or the feeling is not as strong.

And I guess the risk is here that once we have enough vocabulary and grammar to work around the difficult parts (like explaining a word we don't know instead of, you know, looking it up and learning the actual word, or using just the three tenses we know and avoiding the more difficult ones) we fall in the danger of becoming stagnant.

The cures suggested that I found and am willing to try

1. Identify problem areas and define my goal

My biggest hurdles in Hindi, as of now, are remembering the genders of nouns and using word endings consistently (I can easily say or write मेरी नाम है even if I know very well that नाम is masculine just because I happen to be a female), and learning the more complex verbal structures, especially the nuances between past tenses. And even if I enjoy reading prose, I very much want to develop my skills in understanding the everyday spoken language of native speakers.

My goal is to be able to pick up a novel or short story and read a chapter comfortably - I can grasp its main characters and the way the story is developing even if I cannot understand every word. Or that I can listen to a news broadcast and understand the main points of the story - who, what, where, why - accurately.

2. Reframe my thinking

I've said that I'm happy to make slow progress. I am enjoying the journey. But now I need to own up to those words - up to this point, I've sometimes felt like sprinting. Once I learned certain prefixes and suffixes, I felt like I was gathering new vocabulary like a sponge. Slowing down is okay, it doesn't mean I've lost anything. It means I've come quite far already. There are probably more things I know (grammar wise that is, let's not bring the immensity of Hindi vocabulary in to this, please) than don't know by this point. There's still a brain rush to be experienced in learning more advanced stuff, I just need to find the right methods.

3. Try something new

I have a good routine, but I've been doing similar things for too long. I plan to find some new podcasts (recommendations welcome!), series and reading materials. So far I've used stuff that I've found available, but maybe at this point, I can try finding material on topics that interest me. Why watch a romcom if that's not my thing? I've got new pen pals now, which is a start.

Ok, I'm off to update my to-do list. I kind of feel inspired now!

Sources: x, x

#language learning #langblr #hindi

12 notes · View notes

xpiester333x · 10 months

Text

Final Fantasy 16 Review!!

Good god, what a game.

All review is going to be under a cut since this is a new game and limited to a single system so not everyone has the chance to play it yet. I'm also gonna break the review down from like least spoilery to most spoilery. So if you're on the fence about it you can read the less spoilery parts to get a feel for if its your thing or not. Each progressively more spoilery section is going to be divided with BIG warning letters so you have the opportunity to flee.

This is gonna be a long one.

SPOILER LEVEL: NON-EXISTENT (BASIC GAMEPLAY)

First let me just give a generic gushing about this game. This is absolutely my pick for GOTY. I loved the story, I loved the characters, I loved the game play, I LOVED the music.

I do not typically play action games, like ever. I have old lady reflexes and usually they feel really difficult to me, and then I get frustrated and then I stopped having fun. This game did everything in its power to appeal to people like me as well as people who enjoy suffering. I played this game in story-focused mode which (I'm assuming) has a lower difficulty. It didn't feel braindead simple by any means. It still felt challenging enough without making me mad.

There were also a ton of accessories to help with gameplay if you're having trouble. Accessories that heal instantly for you, or give you a pop up with a prompt to dodge, or one that does auto combo's for you. I didn't end up using these, because I felt I had enough grasp on how to move and dodge that I didn't need them but they definitely offer a lot of accessibility if your like me and inexperienced (and old).

If you like the challenge and suffering there is an action-focused mode with (assuming) a harder difficulty mode meant for people with more experience. They also have challenges in the game where you can replay the "levels" at increasing difficulties.

My first playthrough was about 75-80h. I did all the side quests but I skipped a lot of the challenges. There's a NG+ mode, and like I mentioned a lot of challenges of increasing difficulty so I think your time/dollar value in this game is well worth it, even at the $70 price.

Also if you're ever lost in the story (or if you're just a huge lore nerd) there are "live" lore points available at any point in the game that can provide a quick recap of what's relevant to where you are in the story at any given moment. There's also a loremaster you can visit anytime that holds a compilation of ALL the information in the game. And about half way through the game you get another character that can break every moment down in a timeline that shows you what you've done so far.

AND THE GRAPHICS. My god, they really made use of that new gen tech. The characters were so lifelike in some scenes. I cant even tell you how amazing it was to watch their faces make the most minute twitches, subtle movements that just really brought them to life and it was incredible to see how far tech has come.

THE MUSIC. Oh my god. Soken is really a genius. And the way he managed to marry a lot of FF14 music into some of the fight music really felt like being in on a secret. Idk it was a very epic soundtrack that didn't disappoint.

Also you can pet the dog. As much as you want. And he's the goodest boy.

SPOILER LEVEL: MINOR (CHARACTERS MENTIONED, MINOR PLOT DISCUSSION)

I had high expectations for this game as an FF14 player. I had total faith Yoshi P (producer) would not put his name on anything that would be disappointing. I was not let down.

First I could not get over how much of a world they managed to build. Sometimes it was almost staggering how they managed to not just create a world with various environments and people but fleshed out that world with history, political turmoil, a class system, rebellion, secret organizations... It was like playing Game of Thrones (fun fact, it was an inspiration) with how much was going on and how deep the world building ran. There were times I really just paused the game and went "My god they created a literal universe here".

It did have some plot holes. At then end while my boyfriend and I were exchanging our thoughts, we both had kind of a few "uh weird how they never mentioned ____". I feel like sometimes the game just expected you, the player to suspend disbelief. That aside though, it was a beautifully told story, and while I was playing, none of the aforementioned did anything to detract from my enjoyment of the story as I went.

If I did have one complaint for the story and the lore though, it's how overwhelming and immersion ruining the side quests can get as the game progresses. At the start there's not many side quests. You finish and arc and there is maybe 2-3 side quests available after. But towards the end of the game? You finish a single quest and theres 7-10 side quests to do. The side quests added so much to the game for side characters and lore and world building so I didn't want to skip them. But at some point it also started to feel tedious and distracting to have to do them.

It was VERY MUCH a JRPG. I heard a lot of people saying it didn't feel like an FF game and that it lost the spirit of the franchise but did we even play the same game? This was every bit a JRPG that was very true to its roots and it was the breath of life this franchise frankly needed.

The CHARACTERS. First let me just say:

A CANON GAY?!?!? IN MY FINAL FANTASY?!?!? AND HES NOT A JOKE?!?!

When Dion kissed his lover I fucking screamed and cried. And that the game didn't make him like... stereotypical? He wasn't overly flamboyant, he wasn't used as the butt of any jokes, he wasn't predatory. He was actually an incredible character, very complex, very good hearted. (Also beautiful to look at but they all were.) and when I mentioned minute facial movements earlier, I was specifically impressed by Dion. I feel like they told so much of who he was through just his face that it was stunning.

On the negative side though, I was really unimpressed with Jill's character. There were a lot of interesting and strong female side characters, but some how Jill stayed so flat the whole time. I felt like she was nothing but Clive's girlfriend and they didn't really develop her a whole lot beyond that? Even her entire arc just kinda felt... incomplete? Cobbled together at the last minute and rushed through? I think if there is one super critical thing I have to say about this game its Jill.

Oh and did I mention all the characters in this game are "old"? Like 30s, 40s, 50s, a few in their late 20s. Unheard of for an FF game but it really made a difference.

SPOILER WARNING: MAJOR!!!! (DETAILED CHARACTER AND PLOT DISCUSSION)

Let me just do a little character gush break down:

Clive: Absolutely the best FF protag ever. Like they built him like some meme edgelord but actually he's a cinnamon roll. I am actually so heartbroken for Clive because he had a troubled life from the very start with a mom that absolutely hated him, being the first born but not being the Dominant of the Phoenix, carrying the guilt of killing his brother around with him for 13 years. My heart actually breaks for him

Joshua: Baby boy. Sweet sweet baby boy. I sat in fucking suspense about this boy the whole game. From the moment he was revealed (adult him anyway) I fell in love with him and then spent the rest of the game saying "please don't kill Joshua please don't kill Joshua" I bit my nails down to nothing every fight sequence. My one criteria for not quitting this game on the spot was if he died before he reunited with Clive. If that had happened, there wouldn't be this 3000 word review rn.

Jill: The most disappointing character. I couldn't even hate her, because I didn't feel like there was enough to her to hate. She loved Clive. They worked in the whole deal about her feeling guilty (suddenly) for all the death she caused as Shiva but then as soon as Clive won the battle for her she didn't feel bad at all ever again? Idk I feel like they just didn't really care about Jill but needed a female lead so she was made?

Cid: Daddy. Cid was a great character that wasn't with us nearly long enough.

Gav: GAV. G A V . I LOVED Gav. Like from the moment he appeared I genuinely thought he was going to be a pretty minor side character and I was sad because I really loved him right from the start. But then we got to spend more and more time with him and man I LOVED him. He was such a ray of sunshine, big golden retriever energy, loved this baby boy so much. There was one point in the game where the party was Clive, Joshua, Gav and Torgal and I said to my boyfriend "they have such potential to ruin my life right now". Anything happening to Gav was my other condition that would make me stop playing the game lmao.

Anabelle: Listen. I have never hated a character so much. This bitch ruined her children's lives with a smile on her face. This bitch massacred bearers for funsies. And at the end she got to commit suicide ezpz? There really is no justice in the world.

Dion: I think I gushed enough about Dion up above but man I can just do it again. I don't know how they made me love a character that was like, barely in the game so much but they did. They made him bear all the guilt and pain and deny himself anything good and become a martyr and they just made me love him.

Now about the FIGHTS. I said the combat system was fun but I didn't even mention the Primal fights. That fight with Titan Lost? FUCKKK. It was so epic my blood was bubbling. The fight with Bahamut? CHILLS. I thought Primal fights were gonna be kinda gimmicky and cinematic and to some extent they were (VERY cinematic) but they felt so high stakes and fast paced it made your heart pound, even if you were only minimally participating during a cut scene. The devs kept saying they really wanted to give the primal fights a sense of enormity and they 100% accomplished that.

SPOILER WARNING: BIG BIG MAJOR!!!! (ENDING DISCUSSION)

The fucking ending. This fucking ending.

First of all when I say this was every bit a JRPG, I mean it so literally. The formula is all there. Pick a human trait and then fight god about it. In this case human will making them prone to destruction means god, Ultima, should take back what he gave them. And then it all cumulates in to this end fight where Clive is powered by friendship and punches god in the face lmaooo.

But it was good. Even recognizing it was cheesy at all get out didn't make it less good. (I mean ffs he says "The only fantasy here is yours. And we shall be its final witness"). It made me giddy tbh. It was an exciting fight, and epic battle, and I felt so nostalgic because it felt so classic at the same time. It was beautiful (even if I really sucked at it and forgot to get pots beforehand lmao).

And then the fucking end. Listen. Listen. Was that flashback of Clive meeting baby Joshua really necessary. Was any of that flashback really necessary? Trust the writing and dev team that killed Haurchefant to throw that in there and make sure my heart was thoroughly crushed.

I already said I was biting my nails about Joshua dying but I really wanted to believe they were gonna some how rez him and everything would be fine but no they just left him there dead. And then they also killed Clive? I did not see that coming at all. I saw Joshua coming, I dreaded it the whole game for a reason but killing the main protagonist?? I never saw that coming.

And I sobbed. Like a baby. From the moment Ultima was finally defeated until the end credits I literally just sobbed (quietly to myself so that my boyfriend who was a little behind me in the game wouldn't hear). In fact I cried so much I'm pretty sure this whole review is a grammar and typo mess because my eyes are sticky. It left a hole in my chest.

I DID read a comment that said they both lived because in the post credit scene there is the book Final Fantasy written by Joshua Rosfield and I understand that but idk it didn't feel like they lived? Aside from that book being there nothing about the end really confirmed anything? Idk it was a weird post credit scene or maybe I'm just dumb and didn't understand. SO if you finished the game and actually sat through my garbage so far, you tell me what I missed.

I'm sure I will come up with another 30 random things to gush about when I post this and I know I didn't cover everything I even wanted to talk about before I started, but this is like, way too long already for a review. Basically, in conclusion, I really loved this game. I really highly recommend it to anyone and everyone that can play it.

#final fantasy 16 #final fantasy xvi #final fantasy 16 spoilers #final fantasy xvi spoilers #easy as pie #pie plays #game reviews

7 notes · View notes

worldbuildguild · 2 years

Text

Syllabus: Line Mileage

(source)

If you google Line Mileage you'll see relatively few search results. Why this term has come to be so obscure to the public is everybody's guess. Regardless; it is an incredibly important concept for artists working with visual storytelling to understand, as it informs them of how labour-intensive a design or composition can be.

"Line Mileage is a term that means how much line you have to draw. if you were to take a traditional drawing and stretch out the lines end to end, you would see what your Line Mileage is. Every millimeter more of pencil or digital line takes more time to draw. Intricate character designs may look good as still images, but the reality of animating such a character is time consuming. A long, curly headed character wearing a wrinkly overcoat, multiple ammo straps over his shoulders, and a striped shirt has extra Line Mileage. It is difficult to keep so many lines moving well without them seeming to crawl, pop or distract from the animation"

Tina O'Hailey: Hybrid Animation: integrating 2D and 3D assets

As O'Hailey mentions in her book: Hybrid Animation: Integrating 2D and 3D assets, Line Mileage is the total amount of time it takes for an artist to draw a character (and by that extension prop, background, etc). Animators have used this term to deduce whether or not a design is adequately balanced in its amount of details in terms of artists being able to reach their deadline by drawing it the amount of times necessary.

Line Mileage is most commonly used in the world of 2D animation. The use of the term has fallen somewhat out of favour now that the entertainment industry has skewed heavier towards 3D animation, but it's still a concept well worth grasping if you work in 2D, particularly in disciplines such as comics, animation or serial illustration where the volume of drawings you need to produce exceeds more than just a handful of images. It sounds simple enough to consider whether or not your character design is too complex to draw multiple times. But you will find, especially if you're just getting started, that your stamina drawing your character will drastically dwindle once you've been through with it a few times. If you've committed to a comic project, the first 3-4-5 times of drawing your character might be perfectly easy and motivating in enough of itself. But when you get to frame 10, 20, 40 - your design will most likely have lost a good bit of its excitement to you. Now you're in for the long haul of gruelling work, and if you have not made the design suitable for that kind of long-term labour, it is going to be absolute hell to pull through. Moreover your lack of motivation will surely come to show in the final product.

There's not one 'correct' amount of detail or Line Mileage for anyone or anything. But is understood that the average artist can undertake a certain amount of Line Mileage without overworking themselves or even worse, causing themselves long-term injuries. Yours will never be like anyone elses, so never rely on what other artists might be able to manage, you'll end up hurting yourself (I've been there and that injury still sometimes keeps me from working for days on end).

How to account for good Mileage

Milt's rough animation drawings from Thumper's famous scene: "If you can't say something nice..."

Check your medium Accounting for your Line Mileage in a sustainable way comes down to researching and making conscious decisions about the complexity of your design. This decision should be made based on your own speed rather than anyone else's, as you will be the one drawing your character again and again. So forget what industry professionals or other hobbyists can do. You're the illustrator/animator/storyteller, you make the decision (unless you're working as lead of a team; naturally you'd want to get a feel for your teams capacity first before making any decisions in that case). Your design's complexity should also be based on how many times you're supposed to draw the character. It's logical to assume that a character that you're supposed to draw once or a handful of times can be a lot more complex than a character that needs drawing dozens or hundreds of times.

Be honest with yourself when making a decision on how high your Line Mileage should be. Always give yourself a little less work ( in this context: a little less detail) than you think you can manage.

Trust me; you will thank yourself later! The following examples are based on my capacity as an artist and is not indicative of yours or any other industry professionals. Pay attention to the difference in detailing between them and notice how their complexity lessen significantly the more frequency the character is supposed to be drawn.

Illustrations Drawings: 1-5

When it comes to designs that I'm not supposed to draw a million times over ( say, a random character or creature that will pop up in the occassional leisure piece ) I don't hold that much back on the detailing for the sake of Line Mileage. Though, compared to other artists, I'm still somewhat conservative to details. Though this has all to do with my own personal stylistic preferences rather than Mileage.

In this design, meant only to be drawn very occassionally; The ribcage takes up a majority of the total Mileage. Drawing exposed bone structures is incredibly time-consuming, as it does not only take time to apply lineart to, but the construction of it and the sketch phases take a long time too, as every rib has to be lined up properly as to not break with perspective. I personally try to include as little structure that would require a lot of respective, when it comes to designs that are supposed to have low Mileage. Perhaps also a by-product of my less than stellar grip on perspective. I would recommend it for anyone who's not 100% comfortable with drawing perspective too. It's just really time-consuming from the onset. You'll also notice that every single leaf in the mane of the creature has been drawn in pretty meticulously. I would never do this for a design that would only need drawing occasionally. You can definitely simplify the likes of the mane down to a more uniform green mass though to lower your Mileage.

Storybook Drawings: 5-12

When we get into storybook (and later comic book and animation) territory, I will personally start scaling back on details majorly. Instead, I'll focus heavily on incorporating large, dominant, and interesting shapes into the design. Seen here with the tall, lanky anatomy, the big trench coat and the furry collar. The bag was added to pad out the silhouette and give a secondary shape as well. This bag and the gasmask are the only elements that require somewhat thorough construction in the sketch phases. The machinegun is drawn using a hybrid method of 3D and 2D assets, more on that in a later essay) Therefore, the majority of the design can be freehanded pretty easily with little need for reference.

Comic Drawings: 15+

Now we're getting to the more scarce designs in terms of detail. Once we reach comic level, I personally like to scale back the designs almost to the bone. Keeping only the most major shapes intact and generally simplifying the design down to its core ideas. In this particular example, that meant scaling the details down to a simple robe and overcoat/vest, along with a relatively simplified version of a sword. The character has a few details in the form of facial stubble and two scars, but aside from that, he is pretty simple when compared to the designs above. Just like the gun from above, the sword is worked into the illustrations by applying 3D and 2D assets in order to expedite the process. Therefore it isn't considered an integral part of the design itself from a Line Mileage standpoint.

Animation Frames-

2D animation is among the most laborious disciplines of 2D visuals and storytelling that you can do. This makes it incredibly expensive to produce as well. Many newer shows tackle this incredible amount of labour by simplifying their designs ( see Steven Universe, Adventure time, etc ). If you're a single artist working on something, I highly recommend you think about the economy of your details through a very conservative lens. At least if you want to animate long-form sequences. Disney and Dreamworks had success in animating relatively complex 2D characters back in the 2000s by organising in teams of up to 30 working on characters alone (in the case of The Little Mermaid) working full time to produce over one million drawings before release. If you're not Disney, you don't have 29 other people with you and enough money to pay yourself full-time along with your other animators, then you need to think very critically about how you spend your time. Granted, you can absolutely go as detailed as you want as long as you plan your animations legnth and your time-frame for making it accordingly. Anyway: Above is a very basic idea of what a design for an animation could look like. Many indie-artists currently lean towards these highly simplified by effective designs. though, we are seeing a resurgence of semi-realism in adult cartooning ( See Netflix' Castlevania. The Boondocks, The Legend of Voc Machina. Technology is allowing artist to draw more complex designs more efficiently ). You'll see that many of the structural details of the character's anatomy ( facial features, toes, etc) has been removed completely or simplified down to very minor shapes and volumes. The majority of the character is covered in one shape (the cape) and the texturing on the leaves and flowers is random splatters of a brush. This design is almost as simple as it gets, but still clearly conveys a few ideas. I'm by no means saying that you have to go this scarce with your detailing for animation, I would personally maybe shoot a little above it as well if i was to make an animated project, but from a pure Mileage point of view, this design would be very optimized for animation.

Take breaks: even with good Mileage No matter how low your Line Mileage is, taking care of yourself should be at the forefront of your mind when drawing characters multiple times. Drawing takes a huge toll on your hands, your elbows, your posture and your overall health. I'm not going to preach too much in this particular post (though expect it in a future essay) But being conscious of your Line Mileage is not only going to save you time, but spare your body from excessive repetitive work, which can cause RSI's (Repititive Strain Injury). These can completely mess with your scheduling and in worst case scenario become chronic. So don't even try it. I can personally attest that giving your projects a little more runtime is going to suck a lot less than being unable to draw for long periods of time. Certainly suck less than dealing with chronic pain and deformities because of being too ambitious with your Line Mileage.

Mod Wackart ( ko-fi ) Follow my work!

#mod wackart #essay #line mileage #character design #syllabus

59 notes · View notes

mango-dolphin · 2 years

Note

Big question: do the heroes parties know how old they are? specifically Ren and Itsuki cause they aren't even 18 yet. I don't remember Naofumi telling Raphtalia or Filo his age either, and the story isn't focused on the others enough.

I can imagine Itsuki telling his party he's 17 so he can get "wow you're so mature and heroic for your age :))))" type compliments, Motoyasu will tell any woman trying to hook up, and Ren might purposefully avoid it so he's not treated like a kid(he is).

I can imaging his party asking Nao how old he is, and them just freaking out when they learn he's 16!!! after they freak out to Ren about "why didn't you tell you you are only a CHILD". since i think they are all like complete adults(youngest being 18).

canonically: no clue </3 i DO remember Naofumi mentioning offhandedly in the anime (s2 i believe) that he was 20? but i don't remember the context (let alone which episode; was probably before the Spirit Tortoise arc tho?). and like you said, the story (especially in the anime) isn't focused on the others enough to really give us any ideas? you could make inferences based on the passing glances of their parties, but they'd be a lot of conjecture.

i DO get the impression raphtalia and filo are aware of his age to some extent—raphtalia in particular i feel would be the best bet out of his current (anime s2) party to know his age. that said, it's wholly possible that raphtalia doesn't actually know the exact age either: naofumi seems like the type of person to just not mention much about himself (even before getting betrayed by Myne!)

not that he'd go out of his way to hide stuff about his character (in fact he seems pretty unapologetic about himself mostly within reason), but rather he just wouldn't think to say anything. i am very much the same way where i just won't mention shit about myself, even if it's relevant. i tend to hide my birthday from people for instance because i don't want it to be a big deal—i don't have any birthday traumas, i'm just a tad private like that.

(imagining one day naofumi mentions offhandedly somewhere casual in luroluna that he's 20 while everyone starts losing it to some degree. rishia and eclair thought he was in his 30s. melty thought he was 16, for some reason. filo was actually exactly on the mark, strangely enough—no one expected her to have that good a grasp on the passage of time, let alone its relativity to others. raphtalia, having a skewed perception of human ages, assumed naofumi was either in his late teens or mid-20s], and got cllllose enough frankly)

headcanon-wise: god. GODDDD i can't agree more with the assessments on itsuki and motoyasu it's absurd.

itsuki would definitely think being 17 would simultaneously be a badge of maturity (he's so close to being 18! plenty grown and so close to graduating high school! practically an adult!!) as well as a bragging right (he's doing such heroic and marvelous things at such a young age. he's not even 18 yet! what a brilliant mind with such a bright future!!!). unfortunately for him, announcing this fact just makes his gullibility that much more obvious

from what i've read on the wiki and inferred from the anime, it seems that this would've definitely been something that itsuki's party capitalized on. he was practically announcing to the world that he was a young, impressionable mind that could be influenced and controlled. (and this is why we practice internet safety, folks!)

he'd probably really hate to be reminded that he's 17 in those ways (e.g. that he's young, naive, inexperienced, etc), even if it's not outright said. probably reads into things a LOT so sometimes he might snap about it in a situation where the other party wasn't actually trying to belittle/demean him at all. it can make it a little more difficult to talk itsuki down, because he seems like the type of person who'd hate to be told that he can't do something. especially because of something he can't necessarily control, like his age.

probably felt even more insecure about his age when rishia, also 17, joined the party. just another reminder of who he used to be: some pathetic, easy-to-bully weakling struggling to keep up with the rest of the pack.

(but also, wouldn't it have been so comforting? so relieving? to finally have someone your age by your side again?)

(someone who might not necessarily understand everything you say, but gets so naturally in-tuned to it just by virtue of being in a generation similar to yours? even though you're from two completely different worlds?)

(someone who gets overwhelmed by all the demands that the world puts on them, and the demands they put on themself, just like you?)

(someone who is struggling just as much as you are?)

(someone who gets it?)

itsuki would prefer not to have any more teammates his age or younger. he doesn't need to babysit anybody.

motoyasu loudly announces his age, height, weight, blood type, and marital status to anyone displaying a mildly flirtatious manner in his direction.

ren doesnOkay i should probably elaborate more on motoyasu actually.

i think motoyasu's age is something that keeps in his mind a lot, funnily enough. he's 21, so he is (well, was) at that point of his life where he "had" to start figuring out his life direction. ESPECIALLY after learning that he was kinda modeled after (romantic?) VN protagonists, i got the vibe that motoyasu had kinda been... drifting? in terms of his self-identity, anyways.

he seems like the type to focus more on the moment of things, particularly at the expense of thinking out the consequences. honestly, w/the degree of delusion he tends to display whenever Enacting His Heroic Persona™, it's possible that this tunnel vision is something deliberate: so that he doesn't have to think much about his future, much less choose where he's going.

but once you hit that 21 mark, it's easy to fall into the trap of believing you're starting to run out of time (even though you Just finished being a teenager, still haven't gotten much life experience at ALL by virtue of being so young, and you could easily live quadruple the time you've already been alive—so you've got a LOT of time to use).

(i'm approaching this from an american perspective, so i don't know how applicable the 21 milestone is—HOWEVER, you're kind of considered an adult at age 20 (and are treated more or less as an adult in many legal things by 20, though the transition period starts at 18-ish).)

motoyasu's already 21. he could barely even choose a girl to love properly, and he didn't see the warning signs of the relationships he had haphazardly begun. maybe he should've done something about it. maybe he should have listened to those girls. he's just a body, after all—they probably know what's best for him anyways. otherwise he'd just be wasting his life away, right?

(foreshadowing my personal take on motoyasu's previous life. oops. i'm worried about him your honor)

all of motoyasu's party members know his age and would generally know his birthday month/season. he seems like he'd mention that kind of stuff offhandedly a lot: he gives me the impression he's typically an open book when it comes to his thoughts and his personal life. (that is, with some Exceptions. he's a bit of a master at dodging things he Does Not want to acknowledge to the point of essentially trashing them from his mind—raphtalia commenting that motoyasu's words were "empty" during the pope fight is something that echoes in my head a LOT.)

whenever he Does bring up these facts (like mentioning he's an april baby a lot—idk if he was born in april but motoyasu gives me april vibes), it doesn't seem like he's trying to nudge them towards doing something for him at all. he's a tad too oblivious/blunt for that. motoyasu is just a bit of a motor mouth who doesn't care for his own privacy. (not in the dangerous way that itsuki might, but rather just "oh, he's just easy to talk to")

I DIDN'T REALIZE I'D TYPE SO FUCKING MUCH. UHHHHH for ren my answer is actually incredibly simple:

Ren's party members wouldn't even know what he had for breakfast in the morning.

it's not that they don't pay attention to him or anything, because (especially in the beginning) they really really tried to. this bitch is just a puzzlebox of a person who adamantly refuses to talk about himself very much. he'll talk about necessary stuff and won't shoot down small talk by any means, but if naofumi is a passively private person, ren is an Actively Private Person.

it'd be hard not to suspect that ren was hiding Something acting like that, but it became pretty evident to the party (the longer they stayed) that ren just really sucked at divulging information about himself. which WOULD suggest traits of its own, hilariously enough

he's socialized and well-adjusted enough to hold thoughtful, in-depth conversations, but asking him about his favorite food is an exercise in confused futility. (he'd keep second guessing himself and forget the name of the food and then remember he hates x spice and so on and so forth and you wouldn't actually get much of value from the question you actually asked—)

i don't think ren's party ever got close enough to really see much of that kid's true self, outside of those fleeting awkward teen convo moments. not that he'd go out of his way to show it. but they probably got the sense (ESPECIALLY w/his loner behavior) that he was one of the younger Cardinal Heroes.

(i think it'd be a fair assumption to say that generally the people of melromarc would believe itsuki was the youngest cardinal hero, especially as he'd state outright that he was 17 commonly. no one really expected a 16-year old hero)

don't worry about ren's party asking naofumi how old ren is tho, because after the Spirit Tortoise arc ren doesn't have a party to worry about anymore :)

(i am so fucking sorry

49 notes · View notes

marshmallowprotection · 4 months

Note

Hi Kait, I hope you're doing well this morning. I wanted to let you know that I've been reading your writings on Ao3 to practice my English reading skills (my native language is Spanish). I've found that I can understand about 70% of the words, which makes me really happy because I can see that I'm making progress. Your writing is absolutely delightful, Kait, and I think you're one of the best writers I've come across! Each sentence keeps me hooked until the very end, and I especially love the way you narrate the thoughts and feelings of the characters in every situation.

Never stop doing what makes you happy, honey! You're amazing! I'm sure many of us who visit your blog would agree with that. You make us happy too ♡.

You know, I think I came across one of your writings about two years ago, but at the time, I didn't have any intention of reading it in English (my English level was so low that I couldn't bring myself to read long texts). I was going to use a translator... Bad idea. Honestly, I had a hard time reading it all, even though I was reading it in Spanish. I couldn't enjoy it or fully understand it. But of course, it wasn't your fault at all. It was simply because I was using the translator, and everything was being translated so literally... I couldn't grasp some words or expressions.

I've come to realize that learning English is not about translating literally in your head, and I've been learning that. Reading your writing in its original language is ABSOLUTELY BETTER! Like I said before, it's beautiful what you write. Last night, I couldn't go to sleep without finishing it, hehe.

Take care of yourself, sweetie! Drink water and I hope you have a great time this weekend. Kisses! 😘.

What time is it? #kait validation hours ✨

Thank you for the kind words.

Learning another language can be incredibly difficult even with a lot of practice under the belt, and I commend anyone who works hard to be able to communicate and read another language. I struggled a lot during my years in high school with Spanish, and while I surely can't hold a conversation with anyone because I can never remember how to conjugate my verbs, I have so much respect for people who have learned how to balance more than one language.

I hear a lot of people discount themselves when they come into my inbox, apologizing profusely that they're sorry for any mistakes with their English because it's not their first language. But, darlings, you are learning a second language and you're doing it well every step of the way. Just because it takes you a moment to remember what the word is in English doesn't mean you're bad at English.

It just means you have to juggle all the languages you know in your head until the word clicks! It's impressive! You know how to phrase things in your native tongue! Your second language is a whole other battlefield. Slang and colloquial language change everything, too! A lot of information you learn in language classes goes out the window when you realize formal language is way different than what people do in real life!

I think the great thing about learning another language is getting to see a different perspective. Think about it, in our world today, it's kind of amazing we can go on the internet, learn another language, and communicate to somebody we never would have been able to 100 years ago. You and I can talk right now because we have technology and language to back us up!

I like to marvel at that fact sometimes because it's amazing realizing what good has come out of where we are.

Thank you for enjoying my writing! I'm happy to hear you've come a long way in your language journey, and that some of my stories have touched you. I'll smile today knowing that somewhere in the world, a person read my stories and felt at home with them.

#not mm #mod kait #ask #anon #kait validation hours?

3 notes · View notes

thefoolsloop · 1 year

Text

The Burnt City - a couple of improved shows gives me a sunnier outlook

I believe I've now been to TBC more times than I went to TDM. This has nothing to do with the merits of each production: I came quite late to TDM and by the time I'd really got into it the show was nearing its end. TBC happens to be on, it happens to be (acceptably) convenient and I have a number of friends I can go with on different dates. So it just happens to work out.

So why am I still going back? First of all, as I said before, even less than perfect Punchdrunk is better than no Punchdrunk. And a couple of good shows have tilted the balance towards TBC. I still don't miss it much when I'm gone, but at least I have a good time when I'm there.

(A little spoilery below, but not much.)

In my penultimate show to date I had the pleasure of an entire loop with Milton's Zagreus. Amazingly sympathetic, his performance is warm and sincere, keeping you invested even in the downtime when he's just moving things around on the bar top. Milton generously granted me both 1:1s and the napkin interaction, and they all reinforce the sincerity of his character. This is a Zagreus with no agenda, no ulterior motive than to show his affection for Eurydice. For the final loop I transferred myself over to Eurydice (Yen-Ching Lin, much better than I had anticipated). They had so much chemistry, essential for this pair. It was good to see both sides of the same relationship - perhaps this will be a good idea going forward (Aga/Cly again, or Iph/Pat? I haven't done a full Polymestor loop yet, so maybe him and Polydorus in the same show would make sense).

My most recent show was two nights ago. I'd hoped to catch Omar's Agamemnon, but this seems to be one of the performances I'm doomed never to see. I consoled myself with a second look at Fania's Clytemnestra (still my favourite), then saw bits of Brenda's Macaria and WenHsin's Eurydice. I got a nice hug off Brenda (she really goes for it) and I'd have happily done another entire loop with her, but she went in for the 1:1 and I know how difficult it is to pick up Macaria after that.

Anyway, I diverted to Ally's Luba. I've seen Luba a fair few times because it's tended to be performers I like (Fania, Steph) and it can be a bit less popular than other loops. And I'd been wanting to see Ally in a role properly for a little while. Like all the best PD performers she has tremendous presence (not hurt by the fact she's very tall) and I enjoyed her loop very much, even consenting to accept the 1:1 for a third time. (I say 'consenting' because I wasn't too bothered whether I got it or not, but since she offered and since I was the only one there who'd been following her the whole loop, I decided it would be ungracious to refuse.)

Ally led me down to the Troy finale (I didn't even realise performers led people there, I've always been in situ long before it starts), but I went on my own to the Mycenae finale. As I watched I felt a pair of hands grasping my elbows from behind.

There's something about what I would call the "Punchdrunk Touch". You feel contact, sometimes taken by surprise, but the touch is both firm and reassuring. You couldn't mistake it for an audience member touching you. It feels like the performer is taking control of you, but in an entirely non-threatening way. I wonder how they achieve that effect - is it taught, or is it something innate in people who go on to work with PD?

Anyway, I was gently turned round to find WenHsin was my silent accompanist. Perhaps it was a consolation prize for her passing me up for the 1:1 earlier; or just good luck on my part, who knows? Of all the performers who have led me out at the end she was the loveliest, all smiles and delight, seeming genuinely delighted that I'd spent this short amount of time with her, wishing me a good evening as if she really meant it (I wouldn't be surprised if she did). I hope I can catch her Persephone one day.

I'm never sure how much the performers are still in character in the walkout. Andrea was quite intense, almost but not quite threatening. Theo was silent and maybe a little sad. Steph (definitely in character) was mysterious. Stefanie gave me a warm hug. Ryan, with a broad smile, just said thank you as if I'd offered to mow his lawn or something.

To summarise, as I become more familiar with the show it becomes like a jumper or pair of shoes that have been properly 'broken in'. I know which things interest me, which things bore me. I still know what I have left to see. I've had almost all the 1:1s I care about, pretty much all the interactions. I'll probably be going about once a month from here on (the loss of Miranda - albeit for the happiest of reasons - has dampened my enthusiasm slightly, I'll not lie). Basically I've 'settled in'. I've reached the point where I don't expect too much, I just want to get further immersed in the story and admire my favourite performers, old or new.

(Footnote: in spite of the email sent by PD before every performance, it seems that most audience members are no longer wearing Covid masks. Even a lot of the staff seem to have dropped them. I'm wondering if the 'rule' will soon be withdrawn?)

#punchdrunk #immersive theatre #the burnt city

14 notes · View notes

cryosilverbirds · 2 years

Text

bury me today in midnight feathers and starlight

Summary: In the midst of being haunted by melancholic shadows, you yearn for the comfort of your lover.

Warnings: depression, mentions of self-harm, brief suicidal thoughts

Notes: This is very much a self-indulgent comfort fic that I wrote as an outlet of sorts for my mental health that decided to dip again. All descriptions of depression in this fic are drawn from my own experiences.

Word Count: 2.0k+

You felt your insides suddenly cave in to gaping emptiness and you knew that it had come back. You supposed it was only a matter of time. You escaped from its drowning grasps a few years ago and have been living in the light and cycle of your daily life since then. Sometimes it would try to creep back in, but it never managed to hook its claws into you deep enough to take you back down into those lightless depths for an indefinite amount of time. You were fine for the most part in those years of living in the light, but you supposed the recent uptick in stress from academics, job hunting while working a part-time job, and having to constantly help resolve the conflicts of the demon brothers you lived with was what gave the melancholic shadows the perfect opportunity to sink their fangs and bleed their venom into you again.

And it seemed there was added potency to that venom as well now.

You went about the following days plagued with the emptiness within; the loss of feeling, of joy, nothing you loved or had interest in made you happy anymore. It all felt so meaningless and lifeless, just like you. Levi would notice one night while you were over watching anime with him, would see that you watched without sparks of vigour in your eyes, and spoke not once throughout the entire viewing when you would’ve already said something like expressing your opinion on what the characters did. He would ask if you were alright, and you would give him a smile that didn’t reach your eyes, telling him that you were fine before going back to watching the scene in front of you. The third-born would linger his gaze on your profile a bit longer, worry swirling and coiling tight around him.

You no longer looked forward to when your favourite foods were cooked for dinner, you forced yourself to eat what you once enjoyed eating. Beel would notice and ask if you were feeling alright, to which you would put up a smile and say that you were. The sixth-born would take your answer and not press you any further, but worry would still grow in his stomach alongside his hunger.

You wandered the hallways of home, school, the streets, with or without company, with a smile painted on to cover up how you had become a shell of your former self. The melancholic shadows hissed and spoke of despair.

Does anything matter? Does my life matter? What is the point of living? Of my life?

I want to crawl into a hole and die.

I don’t want to do anything anymore. I’m so tired.

Satan and Asmo would notice you looked distant, your eyes not focusing on anything in front of you. They would express their concern and you would once again put up a facade of a smile and reassure them that you were fine, that there was nothing to worry about. They wouldn’t pry any further but let you know that if you needed to talk, that they were there for you. They watched as you nodded in understanding before continuing on walking, exchanging worried glances with each other after.

You woke up every morning with limbs of lead, your body made of stone. Getting out of bed was difficult and you wanted nothing more than to sink back into sleep and dream of nothing. Perhaps sleep forever in a dreamless sleep. Belphie was no stranger to feeling tired, but the way you lost your bright aura that you usually carried with you and looked like you were haunted by more than just a lack of sleep had him more awake than he ever was.

But that was all the usual you had experienced before, it was nothing new. Not the added potency your melancholy had bled into you. The added potency was the clawing, buzzing urge to reach deep into yourself, to sink your fingers and nails into your insides and tear apart your flesh, to destroy all that you were if it meant you could feel something else other than the emptiness inside. If it could fill that void. But you can’t reach deep into your flesh and rip it all out, so you settle for rubbing and scratching your skin red. Mammon noticed the angry red skin while he was hanging out in your room one day, and when he questioned you about it, you lied that it was like that because you felt itchy. You withdrew your hands into your sleeves after, Mammon watching you with a frown on his face.

You didn’t hate the brothers worrying over you, you appreciated that they cared and had made it known throughout the week that if you needed anything from them, they would be there to provide it. Lucifer was no exception either, despite the fact that he had mostly been absent during the week, leaving interactions between the two of you brief and mostly restricted to text messages. You understood that he was busy as he was Diavolo’s right-hand man, and you also understood that he did try to make time for you, his lover. But some work just can’t be dropped on a whim or left for later as he would do with some in the past, and it seemed that was the case this week. That was why you didn’t seek him out for his presence, his comforting warmth that you so wanted to bury yourself in, if it meant that it could briefly offer you respite from your suffering.

It’s funny, you thought as you laid in bed one night. Even when everything else has had the joy sucked out of them, somehow, Lucifer still shines through the dark like a star.

Your guiding star in the dark that rekindled just a bit of warmth in you at the thought of him. You supposed that not everything could be so easily destroyed by the abyss.

A bittersweet smile pulled at your lips, the many tiny pinpricks to your eyes that preceded the instant welling of tears in your eyes following. Your heart squeezed with melancholic pain as the tears overflowed and ran down your cheeks, leaving salty trails in their wake. You squeezed your eyes shut as you sobbed, clapping a hand over your mouth to quieten it, to not alert anyone else to your pain. You laid in your bed, in the solitude of your room, letting your pain coil tight around you and leave you through your tears and your heaving breaths. You cried for what felt like hours, the result of it being your face and pillow being drenched in your tears, your hair stuck to your face, your nose in pain from rubbing at it so much.

“Fuck…” You peeled yourself from your tear-stained pillow, pushing yourself up slowly into a sitting position, the duvet sliding off your shoulders and pooling at your lap. You ought to go get yourself cleaned up and change out your pillowcase, but after exhausting what little energy you had with crying, you really didn’t feel like getting out of bed at all. Maybe you’ll just sleep in your tear-stained bed.

Click.

The sound of your doorknob turning had your eyes shooting to your door where it had begun to open, allowing slivers of moonlight from the large windows outside in the hallway to illuminate your room, save for the shadow that stood in the centre of the doorway.

There was only one person who would be awake at this hour.

“Lucifer…”

It was the softest of whispers, but in the melancholic silence of the room, the first-born who had come in to check on you heard you.

“(Name).”

A soft whisper of your name in his deep voice.

There was the slight rustle of fabric as he stepped into your room, gently closing the door behind him and sealing away the soft, silver moonlight, casting your room in darkness once again. He then continued forward until he was right by your bed, looking down at you with concern you could barely see in his dark grey eyes tinged with crimson red, but you could feel it; he carried none of his intimidating aura with him, only a softness that was rarely shown and reserved for you.

“Come to check on me to make sure I’m asleep?” you asked quietly, unable to help the hollow joking manner of tone and smile that slipped in.

Lucifer sat down by your duvet-covered legs, the mattress sinking with his weight. “Yes. My brothers have made me well aware of what is going on with you.”

Your hollow smile disappeared completely and you bowed your head, looking down at your lap, your arms moving to hug yourself.

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, and I won’t force you. It is your decision whether or not you want to talk about it to us. We are here to help you, however you need it.”

You nodded slowly in understanding, though the action seemed almost lifeless. “Thank you, I appreciate you guys looking out for me. I’m sorry I worried you guys.”

“There is no need to apologise. You cannot help the relapse in your mental health and it is only natural for those that care for you to worry about you.”

A gloved hand reached under the duvet to place itself on top of yours. “If anything, I should be the one apologising for not being able to support you when you needed me most. I know you are considerate of my work, but it should not take priority over you. I’m sorry for letting you down.”

“Luci… It’s okay, I didn’t let you know because I didn’t want to make you worried over me when you already had so much work to do,” you explained, placing your other hand on top of Lucifer’s gloved hand and squeezing it gently. “You didn’t let me down, so please don’t beat yourself up.”

“Then, at least allow me to make it up to you.”

To ease the guilt in my heart.

The unspoken words, and you understood that it would not rest until he did something that would rectify the feeling. So you allowed him to.

“Then please hold me. I want to feel your warmth, your arms, your wings around me.”

An indirect (or perhaps it was somewhat direct) request for him to hold you in his demon form. One that he complied with. You felt the familiar warm leather of his glove leave your hands as he retracted it, standing up from your bed to take a few steps from it so his wings wouldn’t knock you over when he transformed. The air shifted and tensed with Lucifer’s intimidating aura as he transformed; his casual human clothes melding and lengthening into his coat embellished with peacock feather designs, black gloves turning red, shiny black horns spiralling out to their full length, and his majestic black wings sprouting from his back. The tension in the air cleared as Lucifer turned back to face you and returned to your bedside. You pushed your duvet off your lap, flinging it towards the end of the bed before shuffling back to make space for him to sit down on your bed.

“Come here.”

You scooted closer to him and he gently dragged you onto his lap, wrapping his arms around you with his wings enveloping the both of you, his head atop yours. His warmth surrounded you immediately, comforting. His scent filled your nose, adding to the comforting warmth, and you felt yourself sink into him, the despairing melancholy within quietening their hisses.

“Thank you, Lucifer.”

His wings shifted to fold themselves closer over both your bodies, as if trying to shield you from the world and its troubles.

“Anything for you, my love. Whatever you ask of me, I will see to it that it happens, no matter how impossible.”

You felt his head move so he could place a soft kiss to your forehead.

“Rest, my love.”

With those three simple words, you let your eyes shut, letting yourself fall into the realm of sleep, buried in the midnight feathers of your lover and his being crafted with the essence of starlight.

#obey me #obey me writing #obey me x reader #lucifer #lucifer obey me #lucifer obey me x reader #lucifer x reader

33 notes · View notes

mhaynoot · 10 months

Text

tbh im a little drunk so indont know what chapter im on

if evil, why hot? no but he donates to dog charities and loves dogs huh huh? how could you make him so kskskfkf he's even more my type now slfm mr red flag im rooting for you!!

moondae already unblocked see! and accepted a call too heh so cute their development is suprising

btw i caved at arouns chapter 120? to read the manhwa and its so much easier to understand what is happening now HAHAH the visual imagery of the web novel um im not sure if its because of it being translated or just my mental picturing being very admittedly weak, but i could never quite grasp what exactly is happening when the narration is trying to describe uhh certain dance movements and especially the MVs were very ambiguous to me but i managed to piece it together using reference points to the song moods and concepts and comparing it to other kpop songs and stages ive seen. having it visually shown through the art was enjoyable and so nice and easy in comparison hahaha

in terms of art, i admire the consistency and neat linework, the character expressions are very cute and visually appealing. i think the framing and pacing matches the novel really well. although personally i dont really like the style but thats preference. everything is pretty stellar.

anyways mmm i wasnt expecting the part about his parents, i thought the arc was handled well and it led to a nice development with not only cheongryeo but also ryu chongwon

hmm its getting a little reptitive with rather small stakes at play that don't really increase my feeling of tension? because moondae always comes in pre-emptively to solve the issue and sometimes its handled too easily and maybe its because im a little recency biased with reading orv but i think the tension despite the "death" punishment doesn't feel very present

like i know moondae is supposed to be a very calm individual but i think external pressures at this point feel a little too easily waved so i hope to see many more internal and interpersonal tensions that are difficult to resolve will pop up soon like what happened with ryu chungwon

i hope its not as quickly resolved in one or two chapters again though because it's getting very, like i said, repetitive

hoping to see character development please! the cast is very large but besides the character archetypes they've been playing, i dont really feel a sense of connection between a lot of the members but im hoping thats on purpose by the author and its to reflect moondae's current feelings

#dodlr #lots to write here #drunk ramblings

3 notes · View notes

ninjastormhawkkat · 1 year

Text

Operation "Pest Control" AU

This was based on an ask idea I sent to mel, wanting to send some random angst, but now thinking about it, the idea has formulated into this au with some edits (Sorry mel, I am not going to put Blu in this one due to keeping up with too many characters.)

So Steven takes in a mouse family - Squeaky, his mate, and two pups. The mice are all vicious and have a cheese addiction with Squeaky being the most evil. When the accident occurs, Chase, Carrie, and Becky are visiting Steven to see how he is doing and try to stop Squeaky from pressing the button, they collide into Steven and get tangled up in the helmet's long cord, the other mice check on Squeaky and they all end up pushing the button (due to collective weight pressure).

So Dr. Two Brains, Carriemouse, Mousebraingirl, and Mouse Boy are born and Fair City is doomed.

So a secret government organization, dedicated to helping heroes and people through humane reasons catches wind of the chaos that is happening in Fair City and the mysterious disappearance of its heroes Wordgirl, Captain Huggy Face, and Amazo Lad. The find out what happened to Steven Boxleitner and his family so they send in a special team to quell the rising crime rates and to find away to stop the villainous mouse family and bring back the Boxleitners. The plan is called Operation "Pest Control"

Victor Boxleitner: Designation - Team Leader: Victor was devastated to hear what happened to his brother and his brother's family. He is assigned as team leader because the mouse brain family still recognize him and treat him as family, inviting him to dinner and such. Victor gains intel about future crimes the family is going to commit with help from an inside source. Wordgirl's former sidekick Captain Huggy Face who refuses to fight the family when they commit crimes but will do anything to help save them. Victor does his best to push his emotions aside and keep things at his work and with his team professional. It is difficult for him sometimes. His bosses' were hesitant to hire him as team leader due to how emotionally close he was, but they had no choice as Victor was the best agent/assassin they had for this job.

Joseph "Joe" Smith: Designation - New Hero: Joseph was picked to be the new hero that fought directly with the mouse family and other Fair City villains. His motivation for joining was that he was close friends with Amazo Guy before he vanished years back and was a fan of Steven Boxleitner. Joe feels he owes it to his old friend to say Steven and his family, especially Chase, Amazo Guy's kid. His hero name is Pulseray.

Dr. James Jenkins: Designation - Science and Gadget Expert: Dr. Jenkins is the tech guy of the team. He was hired by Victor's bosses because his intelligence is on parr with Steven Boxleitner's. He builds gadgets and weapons and handles the technical stuff to help his team. He is also assigned to working on finding a way to reverse engineer Steven's mind reading device in order to find a way to save the family. Even though Dr. Jenkins as no emotional ties to the family and is safe from being emotionally corrupted, he is still apparently more clumsy than Steven was and has to be constantly monitored during his lab work. The gadgets Dr. Jenkins makes have about a 27% chance of failure on first and fourth tries.

Kid Math aka Rex: Designation - Sidekick: Rex is the newest addition to the team whose dream is to become a great hero. He studies Steven Boxleitner's Hero Practical Guide constantly to learn how. Due to Rex's newness to Earth and not really having a grasp yet on how heroes on Earth act, Rex is made Joseph's sidekick. This rookie has no emotional ties that can make him a danger to this mission, but the kid is very energetic and has a small tendency to say the wrong things that strike emotional damage for the other teammates though he does apologize afterwards. Rex is close with Dr. Jenkins.

The Mouse-Brain Family

Dr. Two Brains - Formerly Steven Boxleitner: Designation - Co-Leader: Dr. Two Brains is the brains behind his family's villainous operations. He has deep knowledge about how hero's and super villains work which makes him dangerous along with his high intellect. Luckily his addiction to cheese makes it hard for him to act on this knowledge from time to time. He does some background work for the other villains such as provide them with gadgets or weapons to fight the heroes. Even though he has no superpowers, his children love their parents and are loyal to their family. He has two henchmen who work for him and do tasks for him that he doesn't want to bother his family to do for him.

Carriemouse - Formerly Carrie Boxleitner: Designation - Leader (her husband does not argue with that, she terrifies him.) Carriemouse has significant biological knowledge on animals. She has a mysterious ability to communicate with other animals besides mice and shows no fear of cats unlike the rest of her family. She also is an expert at gymnastics and has been able to sneakily steal people's cheese and it is too late until they are aware. No one knows yet if Carrie already had these meta human abilities or were they a result of the mutation. She also has a side partnership with the villain Longshot aka Clayde who willingly helps her out with stealing cheese without asking anything in return even though she insist he gets paid for his help.

Mousebraingirl - Formerly Becky Boxleitner: Designation - unknown. Mousebraingirl or Mouse for short is the most feral of her family possibly due to her age. She has powers and abilities that resemble the missing hero Wordgirl's powers. Unknown how she got those powers, possibly a Lexiconian herself. More data needed. Mouse is the strongest member of her family and along with Mouse Boy, does all the hard stuff in the crimes the Henchmen cannot due. Mouse is also unpredictable and uses her super strength and speed to break in anywhere and steal cheese anytime she wants to. Surprisingly, Mouse is the most kind compared to the rest of her family and appears to not like hurting innocent civilians, usually taking them out of the way and putting them into different places when her parents commit their crimes. Suggestions to convince Mouse to come back to the good side have failed as she is a "daddy's girl" and very close to her family and will not harm them. Mouse does act aggressive towards the heroes and has often tried to bite or lash out with her claws if cornered or feeling her or her loved ones are threatened.

Mouse Boy - Formerly Chase Boxleitner: Designation - unknown. Mouse Boy is more tamed and less powerful than his younger sister. That does not mean that he is any less dangerous. He will not hesitate to attack people if the option is deemed "necessary" for him. Like Dr. Two Brains, he plans out his attacks and strategies before implementing them. He goes all out when attacking the heroes and leaves them no mercy. He only cares about his family. Pulseray and Kid Math heard Mouse Boy directly quote that this whole city can "pound sand." It is noted that he shares powers similar to the missing Amazo Lad. More Data recquired

Addendum from the desk of Victor Boxleitner - Team Leader of Operation "Pest Control" Note: DO NOT DIRECTLY ATTACK THE CHILDREN! We already lost too many aiding agents due to either mental or physical reasons caused by the parents.

Victor Boxleitner, Joseph "Joe" Smith, and Dr. James Jenkins belong to @drtwobrainsstuff / @chaoticerisstuff

Carrie belongs to @melodythebunny

Longshot aka Clayde belongs to @spaaceeboyy

the mouse brain family au originates from @bops-fandom-wowie

Chase Boxleitner and the mouse names for Carrie, Becky, and Chase as well as the name Pulseray belong to me

Dr. Two Brains, Becky Botsford/aka Wordgirl. Bob/Captain Huggy Face, The Henchmen, Steven Boxleitner are trademark of PBS Kids and Soup 2 Nuts

tags: @liloskull343

#wordgirl #wordgirl au #operation pest control au #mouse brain family au #angst #wordgirl ocs #friend's ocs #becky boxleitner au #mousebraingirl au #mouse boy au #steven boxleitner #dr two brains #kid math #bob/captain huggy face #carrie #experimental cheese #implied amazing cheese #chase boxleitner

11 notes · View notes