#thank you anon this is fascinating!
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I don’t know what army drill sergeants are like, but I have been through marine boot camp and I’ll tell you some drill instructor stories/facts if you wanna hear.
At the beginning of recruit training, you meet your drill instructors. They recite something called the drill instructor creed to you. You can google it, but one thing that really stuck out is that they say “thoroughly indoctrinated,” they actually use those words. Like they come out in front of you all and say they’ll indoctrinate you.
The stated purpose of the screaming and insults is to get you used to stress. They talk to everybody as if they’re gonna go infantry. Like, I’m just a pencil pusher in the air wing, but they will talk to everybody as if we’re all going to be in trenches someday with mortar rounds pouring down on us. “If you can’t handle drill instructor sergeant so-and-so screaming at you, you’re not going to be able to handle an actual battle”
I don’t think any of my drill instructors had combat MOS’s, but they would still talk it up like combat is a fact for every military member. I remember our senior saying something like “if you think boot camp is bad, maybe you should watch your best friend fucking burst into flames in front of you. Puts things into perspective.”
As another, specific example of this. Our drill instructor was once counting us down, and somebody at the last second ran to the bathroom to grab something they forgot (I don’t remember what). DI says “BITCH WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU GOING” and he says “SIR THIS RECRUIT FORGOT HIS BLAH BLAH BLAH” and our DI stopped screaming and just says “so, if an enemy plane was flying overhead, and you moved, and gave away your position, and got the motherfucker next to you killed, and he doesn’t get to go to home to his family… would you be able to take that back?”
The screaming is two-way. This is generally not accurately portrayed in movies, most likely because it would be profoundly unpleasant to listen to. The most you’ll see in movies is them saying something like “I can’t hear you maggot,” but they are actually demanding top volume screaming every time. Every single thing you say you have to scream as loud as you can, and they’ll scream at you while you do it. Everyone loses their voice in the first couple weeks
There are a lot of drill instructors who have perpetually raspy voices as a result of the screaming. At that point you never hear them scream, just whisper in a raspy voice. If you as a marine want to imitate a drill instructor, you just do a raspy voice and say something like “that’s crazy, recruit” and everyone will get what you’re doing
What you were calling “smoking” is technically called “ITing,” IT is short for Incentive Training. It is officially forbidden to IT an actual Marine, it’s considered hazing. You can only do it to recruits in boot camp. Our senior told us that it’s a punishment, but it will also make you stronger. ITing as a punishment often happens in groups, and/or you’ll often be overtly punished for someone else’s actions.
Doing things properly under stress is really emphasized in boot camp. Like, there is a proper way to address everyone, to hold things, to walk, to do ANYTHING, and if you fuck it up they immediately start screaming. For example, you have to refer to every single person by their full billet title and rank, like you can’t just say “Sgt XYZ” he’s “Drill Instructor Sgt XYZ.” Some titles get really long, because they’ll specify more stuff, like, try remembering under stress “lead series chief drill instructor gunnery sergeant so-and-so.” When you talk directly to people though, it’s just sir or ma’am. You have to say the proper greeting, and you have to request permission to speak before saying what you wanna say. You cannot say first person pronouns, you refer to yourself as “this recruit,” refer to everyone in a group as “these recruits,” and use third person pronouns for any following mentions. “Sir this recruit was filling his canteen sir,” for example. Here is an example of an ideal interaction which goes well, you’re a recruit who wants to go to the bathroom:
>“good morning sir, recruit max1461 requests permission to speak to senior drill instructor staff sergeant triviallytrue sir”
>“what bitch?”
>“sir, recruit max1461 requests permission to make a head call sir”
>“run.”
>“aye sir, received sir, good morning sir”
Now of course, you’re screaming at the top your lungs, your drill instructor is screaming at the top of their lungs, and they will start blasting the fuck out of you if any part of this ideal interaction breaks down. Suppose you don’t scream loud enough, suppose you forget to ask permission to speak, suppose you forget the proper greeting, suppose you say a proper greeting at the wrong time of day, like “good morning” when it’s the afternoon, suppose you say “I” or “me,” suppose you fuck up the billet or the rank or the name, suppose you say “yes sir” instead of “aye sir,” suppose you say “bathroom” or “toilet” or any other normal word besides “head,” suppose you add an extraneous word like “emergency head call” or “desperate head call,” suppose you say “thank you” or nothing instead of “received,” or forget the second proper greeting and just run off, all of these offenses could and would warrant a blasting from your drill instructor, and might lead you to a situation where they tell you to run, only to immediately scream “get baaaack” before telling you to run again
There’s a great book called Making The Corps where a Marine interviewed everyone he went to boot camp with including old DI’s and officers and he organized it all into a chronological narrative book. Highly recommend if this subject interests you. The movie Full Metal Jacket is very accurate portrayal of 60s boot camp (R. Lee Ermey was a real drill instructor), but boot camp got massively overhauled back in the 80s so even when the movie came out it was more a portrait of the past. Notice they’re all called “privates” instead of recruits,” and they don’t refer to themselves in the third person. Some of the obstacle courses you see aren’t used as frequently anymore, and they never go through Basic Warrior Training or the Crucible
Drill instructor school is a repeat of boot camp, except everyone takes turns being drill instructors. I saw a bit of it. They were all standing in a formation like recruits, and there was like, a chain of two drill instructors. One is screaming at the guys in formation, the other was screaming at the guy screaming at the guys in formation. “FUCKING CORRECT HIM! BLAST THEM! SCREEEAAAAM!”
I like that triviallytrue is the drill sergeant
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Hello! I just binged your comic and adore it! I love the mystery around Mel and her dynamics with the other skeletons - especially her and Blue's bond! His characterization is lovely and bounces off the others well. The backgrounds are phenomenonal, too, and I can't imagine how much time and effort you've put into drawing them and learning how to draw them so well. Thank you for sharing your comic with us!!
Also, one question for curiosity's sake: are any of the skeletons romantic interests to Mel? Or familial? Or just platonic? Thank you again!
Ooh, thank you anon!
I enjoy working on character interractions and dynamics so that's really speaking to me, ahah. Blue and Mel are two friendly Monsters who met under less than ideal circumstances. It's interesting to see how a friendship can still develop under these conditions, and how they can influence each other.
The same goes for Black, Axe and the others. It's just too bad I don't have the time to showcase it more often (eventually!)
As for the art part, obviously I can't spend too much time on each page or the story would get nowhere, but thankfully I'm starting to get the hang of it, and I'm ever so thrilled when you guys take a minute to enjoy a bg, pose or a panel you find pretty. The pride of the artist within (*¯︶¯*)
Regarding your question, without going into too much detail, none of them currently have any "romantic interest" so to speak.
Depending on the skeleton, it ranges from curiosity to wariness, but it's bound to evolve, that's for sure! Perhaps even to an almost "familial" attachment, as you say.
#ask#anon#thank you!#Undertale was all about friendship and kindness#well so is TMS -in many ways#there's something fascinating and precious about these themes#and I hope I'll get to demonstrate it more in later chapters bwahaha#ahem - anyway see in for part VIII part2!
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because I know you'd appreciate this, please just imagine, kevin with freckles leading down a side of his neck and jean is stupidly obsessed with it
ANON. I - I just - ugh - *bites fist*
YES. YES. YES.
Kevin with a dusting of freckles that starts at his collarbone and sweeps up the side of his neck and ends right under his ear.
Jean, who's entranced by them, undeniably obsessed with them, who likes to skim the freckled skin with his nose, followed by his lips
Jean, who whispers in Kevin's ear things like my lips touch the sky through the constellations on your skin, and galaxies spun, universes woven on a milky white canvas that I have the privilege of tracing, and I would kiss each one a thousand times over and it would never be enough
And Kevin will melt underneath those eyes, those lips, those hands
His head falling back against Jean's shoulder as the backliner's fingertips trace, as he mouths his way along the marked path until Kevin's lungs are burning and he's breathless and -
YEP. I'M COMPLETELY NORMAL ABOUT THIS.
#for some reason I could see Jean using the freckles as an excuse to streak gold paint over them#or glitter#and just being fascinated with how they look under his fingers#the glow of Kevin's skin#man is gone for it#and meanwhile kevin CANNOT handle the attention Jean gives#squirming and yet oh so pleased#good prompt anon#we're 100% running with it#hc accepted#kevin day#jean moreau#aftg#all for the game#lovely people#thank you for the ask!
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You listened to Greater Boston, right? Is there a metaplot? Like, is it a conspiracy theory red string board podcast or a listen on long car trips looking out the window podcast?
I’m trying to listen to more things post w359 and heard Greater Boston was good, so… yeah
Hello Anon! Yes I do listen to (and love) Greater Boston! I'm going to try to to focus on the particular questions you asked here, but for more of general attempts to pitch the show, you can look at these posts of mine: Greater Boston description ask , Greater Boston pitch post. (These posts are from a while ago, so stuff has happened in the show since, but I still think they provide a decent introduction, to the extent that it is possible to sum up this show.)
Greater Boston very much has an ongoing plot, or rather a range of interweaving ongoing plot threads. I hesitate to call it a 'metaplot' because I almost think that implies an apparent anthology structure (like in The Amelia Project or The Magnus Archives, both of which I'd describe as anthology shows from which a metaplot emerges. Greater Boston isn't really that). The first couple of episodes might seem slightly like they are each a few somewhat self-contained stories, but that approach changes quickly. The show follows a wide range of characters and events, but I'd say that the connections, throughlines, and returns to key characters are frequent enough to create the sense that you are following one big story.
I'm not sure I completely understand what you mean by your dichotomy of red string vs long car ride podcasts. Greater Boston definitely lends itself to a fair amount of red string thinking, given that there's an extremely high number of characters who interconnect in a range of ways, and some really interesting stuff going on with the nature of the storytelling later on.
But, at least in my eyes, Greater Boston is not primarily focused on figuring out a mystery/conspiracy, or theorising about what will happen, in the way that the 'red string' approach might imply. There are some mysteries, but for all of the utterly wild stuff that happens in this show, what appeals to me the most about Greater Boston is the characters, and how the show forces you to engage with everyone from the main focus characters to the smallest minor character to the antagonists you thought they couldn't make you sympathise with. What ultimately keeps me thinking about this show is the emotional journeys of these characters, the ways they struggle and impact each other and relate to one another... (And to be honest, I don't really kid myself that I can actually predict where this show is going to take you next.)
Does Greater Boston fit the "listen on long car trips looking out the window" vibe? If the long car journey vibe means a show you can just let wash over you while you tune in and out of it, then probably not. But if you mean something that can hold your attention for a long period, with enough variation in tone and plot to keep you interested, then Greater Boston definitely slots into that category for me.
Obviously I'm going to say you should listen to it, because, well, you came to a fan of Greater Boston in order to ask about it, but I hope this response helped you figure out if it's the vibe you're looking for at the moment!
(From the past tense of 'listened' in your ask, I wonder if you might be under the impression that this podcast is fully released. So I just thought I'd mention that while the Season 4 finale had some sense of resolution, there is still a fifth and final season of the show planned!)
#Thanks for the ask anon!#I love being asked to talk about my favourite podcasts#Greater Boston#Greater Boston podcast#I'm putting this in the Greater Boston tag just so any other fans can share their thoughts for anon#I'm fascinated by this way of categorising audio dramas#Where do different shows fall on the red string to long car journey spectrum?#If I've misinterpreted what you meant anon#feel free to send another ask to help me understand#or just if you have more questions#Also if at any point you do listen to it#I'd love to hear what you think#the empty man posteth#the empty man answereth#Long post
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Hello! I don't know if op who submitted the asked to you about anzu lore & engirls is going to elaborate, but I want to drop my two cents too since I do like Anzu and find Engirls so interested. I'm sorry if I'm repeating anything you already know and I'm not an engirls expert either so i could be wrong about some of these.
Since you mentioned Engirls Protag and the war, here's the timeline that I believe under the common assumption that EG takes place alongside ES!! (given that Suzu and the bunch, who graduates in the end of EG was Anzu's old classmates and friends)
Anzu is a year older than her little step-brother (protag of Engirls who most fans seems to call Tenn(kousei-kun)). Basically in Anzu's 1st year of high school, she attended Kimisaki Academy, and Tenn was in his last year of middle school. Anzu and the Troublemakers' failed revolution occurred then (supported by the fact that Azusa was a second year in middle school during Paradise), and she suffers from bullying until she decides to transfer to Yumenosaki during her second year. By then, Tenn is in his first year, attending Yumenosaki as well.
In ! Era Anzu has told one of the characters (I forgot who) that her brother doesn't want to be associated with her when they are on campus and to pretend that they don't know each other (but he's at least nice enough to help her promote Trickstar to his fellow general course peers for her during DDD). Generally they have a somewhat strained relationship, which was surmised by various ES and EG characters as teen angst + his inferiority complex with his sister.
By !! Era, Anzu is in her third year, and Kimisaki Academy have decided to go co-ed, leading Tenn to transfer there (don't remember if there are actual reasons stated in-game or if he's just dropped there with no explanation). Due to that, Tenn was able to help the students of Kimisaki, mend their relationships, help Anzu reconnect with her old friends, and talk more with his sister. Anzu actually gets mentioned quite often in EnGirls, like how she makes his bento lunch, Seira sneaking into Yumenosaki to see her, drives her friend Natsumi to school, and etc.
Unlike Anzu who is an only-girl in Yumenosaki's idol course because she's a last minute decided test subject for the producer course (either her or her family most likely agreed out of desperation to be able to transfer), Tenn seems like he's the only-boy in Kimisaki just because he's the only one who enrolled?
There's lot of parts that are implied but still lies in the realm of headcanon/speculation. Like how EnGirls makes it clear that the reason Anzu transferred was due to the bullying she received as the target for the actions of the Troublemakers, since she was always a slacker who the teachers already disliked, but in the EnStars novels she says it's because of family circumstance. Although in the same novel, she (and Chizuru in the novel extra Crosstalk) does give a nod to the events of Paradise, regretting leaving her friends behind and running away; meaning that for Anzu transferring was not because of the bullying, but her own cowardice (although the bullying was pretty bad it was school-wide). For Tenn, the step-siblings have always been described as close growing up, but they have seem to have grown distant lately. Apparently, Tenn had even lived away from their family for a while. One could speculate that maybe he transferred out of Yumenosaki and into Kimisaki (both schools are in the same neighborhood) to get away from his sister, who at that point have probably gained notoriety as a the sole producer of the academy. Given that some stories make it a theme to validate Tenn, and tell him that he's a different person to his sister who is also great and deserves his own happiness, supports this in my opinion.
I'm sorry if this is so long, I hope it isn't rude or anything, it's just that many people have made me aware of how interesting Anzu's character, backstory and current arcs are and I wanted to share that to anyone else that might be interested too. She's pretty complex and well-written if you cherry pick all the stuff about her specifically from the stories, which is why I can understand why many fans consider her as her own character and more than a self-insert.
NO THIS ISN'T RUDE AT ALL, ANON!!! I am literally shaking your hand, thanking you. I'm a little curious as WHAT the Kimisaki revolution was right now....and what part Anzu played.
But STARS I LOVE THIS SO MUCH. You don't understand how much I love this....Anzu predates the Enstars games, firstly (cause I heard engirls was released first). The thing about her being a legacy of engirls, haunting its narrative (at least it seems that her shadow is cast over the engirls era pretty widely), and then switching to a viewer and casting her shadow on the Enstars boys??
I was so wrong in my post about her except also not because her self-insert-ness still feels somewhat significant. Except she's like...a very strange bridge between the player and the characters, existing in both worlds (her and her brother, it seems).
Anyway, Anzu lore is SO cool and I'll have to reread this again to fully appreciate it because man, I love this!
#to look back on#fandom spamdom#ensemble stars#enstars#engirls#ensemble girls#stuff i say#seriously anon THANK YOU SO MUCH THIS IS SO NICE OF YOU#taking the time to write all this out! thats seriously so sweet!#again i am fully welcoming of any and all lore. spoilers or otherwis#man i really want an anzu and tenn card now...or just official art or something#or like when the story ends we get to see them sing on stage together....#also i kind of do love everything that anzu is...she's like the ultimate Subtly Breaks Tropes character. really subtly#its so fascinating to me
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any tips on getting into classical studies? i want to try something new :3
as someone who has tirelessly studied latin in high school and even considered taking it up at university (but got scared off from the lack of prospects), i must confess you are about to read the most biased, opinionated answer to a (wonderful) question like this.
(note: i'm excluding ancient greek from the narrative because i have only touched it once in my entire life, and that alone to put in a henry fic. if you've ever read any of the 12 existing henry x reader works on ao3, you probably know which one, lmao.)
i love, love, love, love, love latin. knowing the inner workings of that beautiful language is so utterly beneficial, especially to those who intend to go on and study even more languages. it's simply the root of all "evil" — so many languages spoken in the world today have originated from it. therefore, knowing latin itself is a wonderful premise and definitely facilitates learning any other language descending from it. i stand by that.
now, to the actual question — how to get started. well, i'm not a university professor (yet). of course, i recommend studying the classics in an academic setting — at school or university, even as an elective, if that's an option. i can only imagine it to be difficult if done on one's merry own. but then again, i've never tried. if you are going solo, however, and have no opportunity to attend a course or something along those lines, order yourself a textbook for beginners. grammar basics, basic vocabulary. do not start by reading the original works of ovid or homer. you'll go down shamefully. build a basic understanding and then dabble into the beautiful pool of literature that there is — and there is a lottt.
alternatively, just go to a course. you'll be dealing with an overseen and confirmed curriculum, follow a solid path, be able to study without the added anxiety of "how on earth do i do this?".
whichever way you end up dabbling into the wonderfully convoluted, complex and yet mesmerizing world of the classics, however, i hope you have fun and encounter very few difficulties. thank you for your interest! i'm convinced you have all the ability to absolutely crush it.
#astrum asks#such a fascinating question to ask#thank you very much dear anon#oh the classics#how to become a the secret history character 101#don't know if henry winter would approve of this but he's also fictional AND dead so who cares. pick a struggle
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fruits basket is about a girl who gets involved with a family that's cursed with turning into animals from the chinese zodiac when hugged by a member of the opposite sex. except one of them, who turns into a cat. i haven't read it in over 15 years so i couldn't tell you how it holds up but at the time it was fun
I hate to ask this. But where exactly do the fruit baskets come in? They have to exist, that's the name. Right?
#not a poll#asks#That is fascinating so far but sounds like a pretty miserable existence (for the cursed family)#Thinking of the logistics here how. Hm. You know what I actually don't need the answer to that question#Thank you anon
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Please..tell me everything that’s on your mind about hesitant alien, I’ll start: Haunted house is underrated
Haunted House IS underrated, you’re so right anon
Anyway, I have SO many thoughts about Hesitant Alien that I don’t even know which ones to focus on (hence why it took me like 2 months to answer this ask) but one thing that I’ve been thinking about a lot recently is tracks on Hesitant Alien that feel like sister songs to stuff from mcr. I’ve already talked kind of a lot about Drugstore Perfume and Kill All Your Friends, but the ones I’ve been thinking about lately are How It’s Going to Be and Foundations of Decay. They both evoke for me (tho obviously there’s multiple ways to interpret them) the specific feeling of, like, “I spent my whole life thinking I would die young, and then I didn’t, and now I’ve reached an age I never thought I’d get to and I have to figure out what to actually do with this life.”
And there’s something I find so fascinating about the contrast of Foundations, a song with a very dark, moody sound that is, at heart, deeply life-affirming (“you must fix your heart,” and all that) vs How It’s Going to Be, a song that sounds on the surface really saccharine and lighthearted but that has an undercurrent of deep anger and resentment (“You said we’d all be dead by twenty-five,” “Your disappointed sighs,” “We’re just bored you’re still alive,” etc). Idk. Much to think about.
#now that i think about it desert song how it’s going to be and foundations make a really fascinating tryptic#but you asked about hesalien so this really isn’t the time to get into that#anyway thanks anon! sorry it took me so long to respond!#i had too many hesalien thoughts to sort through#mcr#gerard way#hesitant alien#baby you’re a haunted house#how it’s going to be#foundations of decay
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If you were a chulip character how would players kiss you?
find and present to me a working copy of Dragon Ball Z Budokai 1 for the PlayStation 2 and you can kiss my stupid ass
#ask#anon#for a more serious and personal answer. idk i imagine you'd have to see and accept me at my weirdest. otherwise NO kisses. NO love.#you cannot 100% the game if you cannot accept me for the weird fucked slop i am#i also deal 98 hearts of damage if you fuck it up. and i wont appear for 30 ingame days. need time to recover.#best hope you didnt leave me as one of the last citizens you had to kiss#you could savescum i guess to bypass the wait time#but deep down id know#the only character in chulip to have a mr resetti mechanic#another silly answer would be that youd have to find a working beta of tf2 with grenades still intact. but thats impossible im afraid.#but even then i dont think i feel that attatched to the beta. its just the researcher in me who wants to see how the viewmodels look#like we know what the dynamite packs viewmodel looks like. but not really anything else im afraid.#we have an idea of what some viewmodels wouldve included with their model#like the bear trap has an unused portion of its UV sheet that displays what wouldve likely been meant to be a chain#so i wonder how a chain wouldve been adapted with the beartraps viewmodel#like is it a cluster of them on the end of the chain and the scouts spinning it.#or is the viewmodel of one with a chain wrapped around the jaws to help its viewmodel have a more solid silhouette#the frag grenade has what i assume to be the uv portion of a pin#im just fascinated by scrapped content i think.#anyway thank you for the ask anon#i kinda wish i had a game i couldve listed with a funnier title but. dbz budokai is the one that sticks out in my mind
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What are your thoughts on the OM! Brothers with a Christian s/o? They don't openly say it, but Simon and Luke know because they are super faithful? And they wear a cross necklace?
That's a really interesting question actually. I'd be most curious about what's going on in the significant other's head, because all they'll learn about the Devildom and the Celestial Realm and demons and angels will probably make it extremely difficult for that person to maintain their faith in the same way that they did before.
In particular, if they have accepted a demon enough to actually become his partner, then they must not view demons the same way that they did before.
Actually, even beyond their relationship with a demon, I'd be REALLY interested in their interactions with angels. The kinds of questions they'd ask, the sort of crisis of faith it would stir up, all the inconsistencies between biblical scripture and the reality they're experiencing.
For reasons that are pretty obvious, the game makers haven't touched the concept of Jesus with a ten foot pole, but our hypothetical Christian sure would. What about that guy? Didn't he die to save us from original sin?
And depending on the answers they get to that question, they may or may not be able to continue identifying as a Christian.
I'm assuming that they have spent enough time in the Devildom around the brothers and angels that they don't doubt the legitimacy of either party. The only way I can imagine them getting past the sheer cognitive dissonance of having a faith that conflicts with their reality would be if they thought the angels weren't actually angels. Whatever they are, they're not from heaven, they don't have any information on the big guy upstairs; they're telling lies and trying to deceive them.
I'm really invested in this question now. How does a Christian fall in love with a demon, enter an actual relationship with said demon, and reconcile all that with a faith that is centered on the dichotomy of good and evil as two forces in perpetual opposition? They simply couldn't continue identifying as Christian, could they? Especially if they're dating someone who was literally kicked out of Heaven by God.
#obey me#obey me hcs#obey me headcanons#obey me gets religious#i'm so fascinated by this#i probably went in a direction you didn't intend but it's really interesting#ask response#anon#one of my big interests is religion in the ancient world and christianity as it shaped the world today#thank you for giving me a platform to consider some of these questions anon
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Congrats on graduating grad school!
Picture Tony bursting into Steve’s room/place of business to announce his finishing of grad school feeling what you are feeling now. How would they celebrate? Maybe Tony has been waiting to confess his feelings until he was done and has time now and he better use this moments and it’s energy before he wimps out!!!
ahh i’m so sorry it’s taken me a while to respond, but thank you so much!!
now, i’ve given this a lot of thought and i wanted to give it a bit of a canon spin. imagine a post-avengers timeline where everything is domestic and beautiful and we never had to worry about ultron or thanos or magic rocks or any of that. imagine.
——
Steve’s in his studio, putting the finishing touches on a painting he’s been working on for the last two weeks when Tony comes in quietly. He’s holding his hands behind his back, shuffling his feet as if he’s nervous about something. He kind of looks the way he does whenever he’s got something for the team, like surprise gear upgrades or invitations to events. So Steve puts his paintbrush down, wipes off the stray paint from his hands the best he can, and stands up to greet his friend.
“Hey Tony. Whatcha got there?”
Tony smiles and presents Steve with a dark purple envelope. The paper is of good quality, and when he opens it, the contents inside are printed on thick card stock.
It’s an invitation to New York University’s commencement ceremony in May.
“Oh, this is nice! Are you speaking at their graduation this year?” Steve asks.
“Not quite.” Tony chews on his lip a bit before he continues. “I’ll actually be one of the graduates. And I was hoping you’d like to come and watch me cross that stage.”
Oh. Steve had no idea that Tony had been spending his time on another degree. He was busy a lot, true, but he always just assumed that he was working on projects for SI when he wasn’t doing anything Avengers-related. Steve can’t imagine how Tony managed to juggle what basically amounts to two full time jobs and a full time degree. But they don’t call Tony Stark a genius for nothing, and if anyone was going to pull off something like this, it would be Tony.
“Oh wow! Tony, that’s amazing. Congratulations! Of course I’ll be there to cheer you on. We all will.”
“Ah, well, I’d be glad to see the rest of the team there too, obviously.” Tony’s eyes crinkle as he smiles at Steve, and a slight flush crosses his cheeks as he sheepishly rubs at the back of his neck. “But see, the one person I really want to be there is you. Because you’re kinda the one who inspired me to apply for this program.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, you. I didn’t get another doctorate. I went for a master’s this time. A dual one in art and science, and it’s all because of you,” Tony explains. “You see, when we became friends, like, really became friends, I got to see the side of you beyond the master tactician. Your passion for art is incredible, Steve. Not just the way you talk about it, but the way you always try to refine your craft whenever you have the time.” He gestures around the room. “I mean, look at everything you’ve created in the last few years alone.”
Now it’s Steve’s turn to blush. To this day, he still finds it hard to accept any compliments on his art.
“These are just doodles and experiments, Tony. They’re nothing like the art you see in museums.”
“That’s not true at all, and one day I’ll finally get you to believe me.”
Steve kind of wants to kiss Tony right now, but he brushes the urge away.
“So a dual master’s in art and science?” he asks instead.
“That’s right. It’s the art conservation program at NYU. The perfect blend of art and science. I studied art history and also the science behind the preservation of art. I never thought about how much technical work goes into art conservation and it’s been a blast getting to learn all of this. They let me fast track the program and get my degree within two years instead of four. And I ended up choosing time-based media as my specialty since it involves a lot more technology than more traditional art like paintings and photography, because, well, you know me.”
Before Steve could cut in and ask some more questions, Tony steps forward to take his hand and keeps talking.
“But yeah, that’s what I’ve been doing in my down time for the last couple of years and I’m hoping that one day, if you’d like, we could work together to make sure every single piece of art you create stands the test of time. Because you are so talented, Steve, and your legacy deserves to be more than just Captain America.”
Steve really wants to kiss Tony now.
So he does.
Tony responds immediately, his lips moving in tandem with Steve’s like they’ve been doing this for years instead of seconds. He doesn’t know how long they stand there in each other’s arms, but when they finally pull back for air, the invitation lays on the floor in a crumpled heap, having fallen at some point when Steve let it go in favour of grabbing Tony by his hips.
He picks it back up and smooths it against his chest the best he can, and grins at Tony.
“I’d be honoured to go to your graduation ceremony, sweetheart. I’ll be there cheering louder than anyone else. And afterwards, I’m taking you to dinner to celebrate, then we’re coming home to celebrate some more.”
He leans down to capture Tony’s lips again.
All the while, he thinks about all the paintings he’s done of Tony, hidden away behind other canvases. He wonders what Tony would think when Steve finally shows them to him, if they could match Tony’s grand gesture that was two years in the making. Because Tony may believe that his art is worth conserving, but as far as Steve’s concerned, it’s Tony—his smiles, his genius…his everything—whose beauty should be preserved for the world to see.
#i did like 10 whole minutes of research for this lmao#that program sounds SO fascinating but dear lord it’s so LONG#personally i would not do another four whole years after undergrad lol#anyway this was fun!#thank you again anon you’re so sweet#stevetony#stony#kay writes things#anonymous#ask
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All that just means Claudia is delusional. She's still a monster and even Terry calls her cruel in the last episode.
100% correct anon! She is a cruel, delusional monster and knows it.
She killed innocent creatures to save her paralyzed brother. She did that again & chose to help destroy the world because she selfishly wants her beloved dad to stay alive. Inexcusable actions, she is an evil, selfish villain. And it’s undeniable that her evil actions all come from an original kindness/love that has been twisted into dark ruthlessness. Terry saying she was cruel struck a nerve because she loves him and cares about what he thinks.
- that’s because the best villains in a story need to have an opposing contrast with the heroes. They need to be the dark reflection. Ezran isn’t selfishly bringing his parents back from the dead, he respects their passing. He would never ever hurt a living creature. Him and Callum don’t have a ruined sibling relationship. Callum & Rayla have a positive bond and good communication. Claudia is around the same age as the heroes and has all these kinds of dynamics in her own life, the difference is our heroes love one another out of pure, healthy intentions instead of dark ones. Which is the way it should be, that’s what makes them strong. Claudia took it the completely wrong direction, which makes her a complex, tragic and interesting villain to watch, and one of my favorites. It’s all about the contrast~
#thank you for the ask anon!#villain characters like this are fascinating#tdp#tdp spoilers#the dragon prince#tdp season 4 spoilers#tdp analysis#purple mailbox#tdp claudia#kdtxt
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Hello :) do you parhaps have and could share any arthuriana book references for someone who wants to get into it but doesn't know where to start?
Also your art is amazing and beautiful and everytime you post a new piece i stare at it in adoration and then go try to find and read the cited sources, so thank you so much for sharing your art with us :)
ough, there's probably some arthuriana blogs on this site who have a much more entry level friendly rec list/equipped to answer this than me, because my interest in arthuriana follows specific historical focuses and genre discussions. literally I read the prose tristan because I was scrolling through jstor and a text on the law in camelot mentioned the murder of dinadan, and I went, oh HELLO---
tldr; my other historical interests gave me enough background info that I comfortably jump around wherever my curiosity takes me, so I'm absolutely useless for this 🙃
tbh I'd probably just look up a summary of the main block of arthuriana texts and pick whatever sounds most fun or focus in on a knight you like and run them through a jstor search. perceval and tristan are my favorites, and kay compels me too. watch bbc's merlin and weep over gawaine, then do lancelot du lac (the film) and cry over gawaine a second time)
additionally I'd rec Stephen Knight's Merlin: Knowledge and Power through the Ages and Caitlin R. Green's Concepts of Arthur to go alongside it all because I think both books fuck severely
#ask tag#also thank you! im glad that the cited sources could be fun for other people too!!#sorry i could not be much help with this#it does not help that the brain space i usually save for arhturiana got taken over by an older interest in the templar order#(in like. the brutality of the trials when philip the fair curbstomped them into the ground fascinates me)#(the greater interest is in reception of knights and monastic military orders being reframed in a romantic context#directly overwriting their. uhhh. well! you know how it is!)#(dont get me wrong i love chivalric romances with knights. the ritual of it all. however. i like grit and grime)#ANYWAY i wish you luck with it all anon!
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I saw your baby Revali drawing and all I want to say is he is my son now I want to protect him also can I use your art as an Icon
well gee, thank you, and OF COURSE! please feel free, just credit me... even if it's old art, I would be honored HEKFJD
here have this old sketch, bro looks like he's got a lot on his mind 😩🤔
#revali#revali botw#bro the way my revali brainrot dissolved is awful I can't believe there are still gamers out here...#ride or die fr...#if you read this ur mum gay...#you ever think about that though... like there is no alternate universe where I'm not doing ur mum... fascinating#HELDKFJD JKJK PLEASE DON'T KILL M#anon why are you anon I have to see someone use my art as a pfp it'd be so surreal.....#absolutely not because I still can't believe people still have revali brainrot where would. you get that idea from#I'M GONNA CUT IT OFF HERE I CAN'T KEEP TALKING I HAVE LIKE NOTHING N EVERYTHING TO SAY THANK YOU IF YOU READ THIS YOU'RE SO REAL
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"anzu haunts the narrative/has a shadow in engirls" have you heard about how engirls canonically exists within a timeloop (I think to justify the soft-reboot in-game) caused by the regrets and griefs of the students occupying the academy. And since a lot of the most trouble characters were the ones involved in Paradise, many people safely say that anzu is a major reason for the timeloop since regret towards malice or inaction causing her to leave is a major grief of the cast. And that the timeloop was only able to end by letting all the characters connect and reconnect, and letting their scares heal. Also the timeloop also ends bc Tenn gets a girlfriend (their childhood friend Natsumi who likes him and adores Anzu), that too lol.
maybe it's the power of hindsight or short-sightedness but people don't understand how much anzu there is in engirls. She might not be a student but she's mentioned a lot, the kimisaki word search lists 25+ pages of several anzu namedrops if you combine anzu and angie (her nickname before)
You all, this game is deranged.....
I can't NOT believe in the time loop theory because there is a guy with sentient hair and small implications that magic isn't as unreal as you think it is, even if people laugh it all off.
I remember seeing an enstars tarots post once when i was browsing the tags and calling Anzu "the world". And I know nothing about tarots but just from vibes, yeah...she kind of is the world.
But the timeloop ending when both protagonists have been healed or have found a way to move past their past!!!! I love that so much!
#also just looked up natsumi (cause she sounded kind of like natsume?) and....#madara's design is based off her???#if i already didnt know madara's sister was canonically named then i would have latched on to a sibling headcanon...#but man the lore of this game runs DEEP and someone help me out...i am trapped!#xD but thank you again for sharing anon! this is all just so fascinating#enstars#ensemble stars#engirls#ensemble girls#fandom spamdom#stuff i say
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Do you have an account on TV Tropes?
I do not but I SHOULD and I've been meaning to get around to making one since 2014. This ask is probably going to be the push that gets me there, honestly.
#Thank you for asking I'm gonna go make one right now!#I am fascinated as to what prompted this question#Do share if you're up for it anon :)#TV Tropes#Asks#Anon#Mine
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