#He always comes out nice in the thumbnails idk why

[ch3shire-rabbit]

Thumbnail Zé my beloved

#He always comes out nice in the thumbnails idk why #crispy’s art #josé carioca #the three caballeros #I love him deeply

[lilywily143]

Live Blog Number 2

Murder Drones Episode 4: Cabin Fever

Just to say it, I love N's hat in the Thumbnail. I hope to see Khan at least once

CAMP 98.7, with a school bus coming up

There is a robot riding the bus like a cowboy and that's goofy

Oh it's definally the main protag's class. I see her fire head [literally] classmate making light in the bus XD

THEY ALL HAVE GOOFY COLORED HATS AWW

oh don't you dare tell me Lizzy and Thad are friends idk if I am happy or not

Awww Uzi [protag] has a backpack with bat wings

Oh gosh Khan!!

And wow he and a lot of people were at the camp when humans were alive

Collars Uzi and Doll have have numbers?

Oh gosh those are her mom's things?! SHe's a artist...?

"SKy deamon, sigularity, look at this S I can draw." It's that sharp triangle thing, that's a lot of stuff, and wow her mom is intresting

"I'm not who either of you needed" Khan no your awesome

Oooo did mom have a collar like Uzi? Well makes sence with that program

"just be safe" Khan you are the best dad I love you /p

I love the teachers straw hat and also Uzi made this field trip a thing! Must be about the pictures she found

HAH She didn't want a field trip, the teacher just saw it as a exsuse to make the other's grades go up. SO they are stuck with miss "crazy"

AHHHHHH N AND V ARE COUNCLERS I LOVE THEM EEE N I LOVE YOU AND V IS SO NONCHALANT I JUST LOVE THEM

Oh gah a kid fainted at them..... I don't blame them... oh wait V shot them as a warning for others... Of course she did

Yeah, be mad at V, N. "Minus 1"

So the trio of V N and Uzi are making the others do crap for their own investigation? Cool! And Uzi was so flattered at that aww

Ooo Lizzy and Thad helping the trio!!?? YES

"Anything for my bestie" Lizzy, you really seem to be a bit better

I love how V always has her claws out, she don't care

Nawww Uzi calling them friends with her blush AND a :3 smile. That was the best thing ever, so far

Someone called N a little guy even thou he is super tall. Not complaining

Oh they think the Murder Drones are defective and that's why they are nice. Hhh

V is trying so hard to not kill for Uzi, I love that for her but man she will lose it later.

Rebacca don't you dare flirt with N

Uzi, doing her work. But leaving the murder drones to the class. Hope it's okay

ooo human buildings

ooo she's getting good at her Absolute Solver Program Powers and oh no a bug

Hah I love this calander Uzi found "EVACUTE ALL DOGS: JUST IN CASE SOMEONG BAD HAPPENS IDK <- Cool we did that that's canon. Also all dogs are immortal now! THANKS TO SCIENCE"

AND UZI WAS SO RELIVED TO READ THAT MY GOSH YOU KNOW WHAT DOGS ARE?!

HAND HAND HAND HUMAN HAND A SCREAM?! SOMETHINGS GONNA HAPPEN

hhhhh that gave me a heart attack, the class got close to wear Uzi is investigating and shessh. But what's with the hand?

Two robots are holding a boat with Lizzy and V on top. WHat a ship hah

And Rebacca, stop. flirting. with. N. He has no intrest with you!

V is actually being light hearted, that's really cute to see.

"I CAN'T SWIM" The lake is frozen over -_- ANd of course N "saved" her like the sweetie he is

Uzi, breathe! "High Temp"!oh no this aint good

ohhh nooo She took a robot hand to EAT but her drone type shouldn't have that urge. Uzi please

Oh V thanks for checking on her...

YOU SRACTHED UZI'S FACE PLATE!?

Don't you dare make Uzi insecre with her friend making skills and then LEAVE ALL NONCHALANT!? V WHAT IS WITH YOU?!

ok, Well Uzi helped repair a little bug. That's nice

She gave it the salute as it left, naww

hhh a dead robot under the floorboards, thanks bug for going there, I guess

okay more creepy drawings, mabye Uzi's mom. ALso "THIS SIDE IN INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK" yet that text is on it XD

Cool looking claw nail in the paper

wait, a green bug variety. The others were always red

IT MAKES EMOTES IN TEXT BUBBLES oh gosh wait "SUBMIT TIMECARD | PTO REQUEST | REGISTER TORTURE CHAMBER COMPLAINT | END MY SUFFERING (PROMO OFFER DISCONTINUED) | CALL ELAVATOR" What the freak?!?!

The bug heard Uzi and sent in in the chat

AHHH DOLL HOLOGRAM NO

hhh back to the class with Archery!

Aww N is so cute, "Did I.. Cheat?" No your just a pro

well, V didn't kill that one, but I think she is about to....!

Uzi is back-ish, she showed N the chatting bug

Aww well, N tried. "Don't tell V I'm Here" "Uzi is that you? Get over here... WAIT NO REFLEXES!"

igybhuoinjefbvhnjk UZI WHAT DID YOU DO?!?! SHE MADE A CREPPY DRAWING CREATURE WITH THE PROGRAM BY ACCIDENT!!! WHAT THE FUCK IT'S SO GROSS!!

OH GOSH V MAY RECONISE IT?!

NO UZI DON"T RUN YOU NEED HELP!!

BREATHE UZI DON"T EAT THE ARM OH GOSH UZI CALM DOWN

SHE CAN"T CONTROL THE PROGRAM IT MADE ANOTHER CREEPY DRAWING CRITTER AHH UGH THE NOISES

oh gosh back to class, V wants to kill UZi but N defends like a good friends. And Lizzy pulled her phone out to record...

"SHE'S A KID, LIKE US V" gosh they really are kid robos

N is going to find Uzi and sheesh V really won't talk about what the thing she won't talk about is.

"Hot... Not Hot? You're to good for him" Lizzy, they aren't dating at this point.

Rebacca, what was with that look to V??? /genuinly oh wait she left the area with her bf [oh yeah also, why flirt with N if you have this un named guy??]

They found Uzi's investigation place, and now hidey hole. Stay safe

Hhhhh so much grossness is around the place

Uzi's flashlight, where is she?

SHE HAS BAT WINGS HERSELF NOW SHE HAS THE DISSASABALLY DRONE SYMBOL ON HER FACE LIKE N AND V SOMETIMES DO!!!! FUCK NO

oh gosh wait N is in the next scence and it made me think.... The current Murder Drones has wings that are bone-like, but Uzi's were bat-fleshy.... Did N, V, and also J have a fleshy look before the flashback scene in the piolt??? Did something happen to make the metal structure underneath appear?

N is in the hidey hole. PLZ PLZ be safe

Wait is it the same, there seems to be a lot more tech. or is this further in the house Uzi found???

"Zombie Drones!!!" A training video.... Oh fuck what is Uzi actually??

hhhh N got flashbacks of a girl, a lone hand, and the core situatinon talked in the piolt..

UZI GOSH! SHE IS DEVOURING THOSE ROBOTS AND SHE CAN'T HANDLE IT IN HER BODY! N FIND HER NOW

Oh no something escaped the house and it isn't Uzi on a rampage. CRAP IT"S WHAT A ZOMBIE DRONE WILL BE WON'T IT

back to class... they are roasting battieres over a fire.. clever

Rebacca's upper half came to the class!! Not a zombie drone yet gahh

"Unpopular, purple hair, hot topic." You don't remember her name so this is what you say!? Rebacca you suck

Uzi what are you doing here?

Oh gosh she really looks like a murder drone now but fleshy...

Where is Thad? He's been gone for a while.

"That's not what the book said" What does that mean?

oh hoho Uzi looks quite epic but I know this isn't good for her. She is killing them

HHH Uzi is using a body as a puppet for BAIT

V IS HERE TO SAVE THE DAY AND LIZZY YES

"killing her, not saving you." "okaaay Mom" V and Liz have a fun bond

hhhh don't kill Uzi PLZ ahhh she wants to talk to N my heartttt

UZI'S TAIL HAS A MOUTH AHHH GROSS

UZI BROKE V'S ARM AHH UZI'S TAIL BITE OFF V'S TAIL AFHBEWBLFJK

NNNNNN N YAH!!!

"Easy there buddy." *is stabbed in hand by Uzi* "Hahah ow" HE'S SO NON CHALANT RIGHT NOW AND AHH N I LOVE U

N and V are really just siblings

HHhh N is so sweet trying to help Uzi, who YEAH she's acting normal. aka tsndere

"You weren't with me to make it fun, somehow." N YOU SWEETHEART

EEEE He is so sweet, making a puppet with her tail, and her little giggles at it <333

She tried it to <33333

oh gosh right they were talking while falling [did I not mention that N threw Uzi in the air? idk why he did but it happened, i just thought she'd come back down immediatly]

Oh V has a fixed arm and is ready to kill.

N held Uzi at the last second he is so nice.

hhh his happy little face holding Uzi in such a close hug

[N is the pink blob] I love this robot /p

V stood down. Yes

Lizzy is back to sass V up a little, nice

Aww V smiled at Lizzy behind her back in such a sencire way.

the bus leaves the camp

HHHH Uzi sleeping on N's shoulder and N is sleeping too and the little green bug is with them AAA

Hh V pulling a excuse for Uzi about the missing kids

Oh gosh the sun hurts Uzi now like N!! Oh gosh she really is a flesh murder drone.

hhh she held N's hand in her sleep but N was too shy to hold it back ahh

He still has the Zombie Drones VHS...

~and credits

#LilyWily Post #Murder Drones #murder drones spoilers #Murder Drones episode 4

[sepyana]

Jjba Stardust Crusaders Ep. 9-15 thoughts

Ep. 9

It's a bit boring tbh. It's a Jotaro episode, and I'm gonna be honest, I don't think Jotaro can carry an episode by himself. He's fun when he is with the rest of the cast, but kind of boring otherwise? I don't really hate him or anything. I just wish a bit more out of his solo episodes

Yeah, there is also the Cherry thing. The end of the episode got me

Rest under the cut

Ep. 10

Finally some good fucking conflict baby!! This is when Polnareff became a vivid character in my mind. Polnareff trying to fight the Hanged Man alone and Advol being the most upset by it the most makes sense for them. I guess Advol feels a bit betrayed because he has a lot of respect for the guy.

Polnareff gives a flimsy reason why him going alone is a good thing but you can tell later that he knows this is objectively the worse choice deep down, he is just too angry to care. Everyone knows this. Advol is the only one who thinks he can force him to not go (which does speak to his "holier than thou" additude a bit).

Later when Polnareff's arrogance bites him in the ass it's Advol who comes in to help him first. Polnareff saying this was to lecture him or prove him wrong is not entirely untrue. I'm sure that was a part of it. Ultimately though the main reason is because he doesn't wanna see him die. That's what I think, at least.

I was mad that they killed Advol early but I saw him in the thumbnail of some episodes later scrolling thru Netflix so uhh. We get to have more Advol later :D idk how tho.

This was around the time when I went in to check out the dub. I would have loved the dub for the first two parts if it weren't for the stupid. fucking. accents. This part doesn't have em. The dub's great y'all I reccomend it for sure. Also I swear I heard Advol's va somewhere else before.

Ep. 11

Another good episode for characterizetion, for Polnareff and Kakyoin this time. I'm glad the Joestars weren't in these episodes. Shrinking down the cast sometimes is good, builds their interpersonal relationships. One thing I'm worried about is how many Polnareff episodes we have gotten, I hope he doesn't die early.

Anyways, fight scenes were great. I especially like the shot where Polnareff gets his ass saved again. By Kakyoin this time.

I like Kakyoin a lot in this episode. He is definitely the guy with the most emotional intelligence. Back and forth between him trying to talk some sense into Polnareff vs Hol and the Hanged man taunting him was good.

I also like how he waits to get out of danger before breaking Polnareff's nose. That's some emotional maturity right there.

Now that Polnareff has calmed down, we can focus on defeating the stand users again.

Kakyoin repeating Polnareff's linea to him when they cornered is nice. It reminds me of how he said "I don't really know why myself" when the crew asked why he wanted to join them. Fun little detail.

Another detail is the crowd's faces wehn Joseph and Jotaro find Advol's body. I couldn't find a good place to mention that.

I should also mention Hol Horse. He is a cowboy. His stand is a gun. His last name is just Horse. When faced with the people he is suppose to kill he just runs away. He also steals the crew's car at some point. I would kill to see him and Dio interact. Truly one of the jjba characters of all time.

Ngl I ugly laughed at him running away at the end. They animated it so well too and for what.

Ep. 12

It was about time we got a Joseph episode.

Polnareff is tying to give Nena some advice about love and shit and he is just. not getting thru to her. This episode is when Polnareff officially became the silly one of the group.

I'm glad to see Joseph be his BT self again. Predicting people's lines and all. Sure, age has made him weaker (evenho he is still absolutely built), but it shouldn't make him stupider. I wish we saw his intelligence at play, outside of this episode.

Hermit purple is a cool stand and seeing it get utilized is always a treat.

This is the first time they show Hamon doesn't work on stands i think? I sort of assumed that was the case but this confirms it. Even with that, Hamon still has a lot of utility. It's weird to see Joseph not use it.

I guess the SPW foundation cleared his record after this. Honestly, I have no idea what they would to without it. Where would we be if it wasn't for Speedwagon's huge crush on Jonathan.

Ep. 13

This is one of my favourite "stand user of the day" episode so far. The stand is fucking sick, the group has good chemistry together. From Polnareff being and idiot to Jotaro and Kakyoin's banter.

My main complaint is that they brought the girl back. I sang praises about her earlier and they took that personally ig. She is only in this episode too. I just don't see the point. Did she need to have a crush on him? One thing I liked about her was seeing Jotaro interact with a stranger that 1. didn't try to kill him 2. Wasn't smitten by him. She leaves after this so it doesn't even matter tham much but y'know.

Ep 14 and 15

I joked about the fog being a stand earlier i didn't think they'd actually go for it. It's definitely a creative one.

Is Polnareff not knowing the stand user and trying to befrend them gonna be a trend? I'm here for it 100%.

Something about Jotaro referencing Columbo delights me.

I don't have much to say about these two episodes. I found them pretty entertaining but not much to note about. Other than Polnareff licking the toilet.

And this is it i'm pretty sure. These take a lot of time to write but I like journaling my thoughts. Mostly for myself, aslo for my 3 mutuals.

We'll probably get a Kakyoin episode soon. He hasn't used his main stand ability at all since episode 2. I get why, but it's a bit of a shame.

#sepya watches jjba #↪ posts

[m-o-o-n-s-g-o-o-n-s]

IT’S MUSIC TIME MY GOONIES PT. 3

FT. MY YOUTUBE PLAYLIST

hehe, so i have been wanting to do one of these again for a while now, so here we are! but instead, we’re doing my youtube playlist, which has all the slowed, sadder versions of songs that i like. yes, i like sad songs, oops :P. ballads have always been my jam, probably always will be so, here are some songs from my playlist! once again, putting the playlist on shuffle and just going with the flow besides the occasional skip lol :P

people i feel like would like to see this: @loth-wolffe @weirdcharacter @ladykatakuri @ahsokasleftbicep

———

happier by olivia rodrigo but it’s ten times sadder

by wisterxiaa

i love slowed versions of songs, that is like the way to my heart lol 😂 this is really nice, her voice sounds really cool slowed down like this. the electric guitar in like the middle sounds so cool omgg. is it sad? yeah, a little, but it’s really nice slowed down like this. most of the time, the titles say this in my playlist, but i just like the way it’s slowed lol 😂. the thumbnail is so pretty 9/10, love the purple and the monarch butterflies :) overall, recommend this song when your in the mood for some olivia rodrigo, but a tad bit sadder. AND THE OOH’S AT THE END HIT DIFFERENT OMGGGG AND SHE SOUNDS SO BROKEN AND SOFT AT THE END APOBIHJ[OADSIJB

everybody loves somebody - dean martin (slowed n reverb)

by starclouds

pretty sure i got this song from General Angsty (if i didn’t, apologizes), but this slowed down verison HITS THE SPOT. i love his voice in this slowed way, it is so interesting. also, it’s reverb? like? yes, please. the thumbnail is actually a GIF that is a fountain, it’s pretty cool, 7/10, also this makes me wanna sway with like Echo or something (actually now that i think of it, i’m pretty sure i got this from General Angsty’s dancing post with the boys, which made me so SoFt omg :)) overall, recommend listen to this when you wanna sway with your lover in like a dance club, but your nestled into their neck and your pulled so close and it’s warm in their embrace :) the instruments also are really nice in this verison.

Clair De Lune Ethereal Remix

by A.Krishna

IF ALL MUSIC SUDDENLY BECAME ETHEREAL ON YOUTUBE, I WOULD MOST LIKELY CRY. so i love ethereal remixes, there’s just something so… whimsical about ethereal remixes. this song is so pretty and beautiful on ethereal omgggGGGg. the thumbnail is beautiful 10000000/10. I just- this sounds like a song you would use as like a look back through your entire life, like every memory and moment just appearing as this song plays WOW. and when the piano climax’s in the midDLE OMGGGG it is INSANE, LIKE THE EMOTIONS THAT GO THROUGH MY BRAIN AOBIASDNB and then it gets super soft and quiet aaaahhhh CAN YOU TELL I LIKE ETHEREAL?? IDK IF YOU CAN 😂 anyways, overall recommend this song when your just watching the rain fall and reminiscing about good times in your life :)

heather - conan gray ( slowed + reverb)

by Vibey

okay definitely this song is sadder slowed, like THE FEELS OMGG but it’s amazing slowed, like the original is awesome, AND THEN THIS???!! so the thumbnail is a really pretty GIF of this VHS tape just playing, and it’s purple so 10/10. this definitely brings the raspy part of his voice, and i really like it (or that’s just the reverb lol 😂) only thing i do not like about this slowed version is it cuts off the end of the song at the end of the video, and I don’t know why, but it’s still really good, so i don’t mind too much :). it’s very pretty and sad all at the same time. overall, recommend listening to this song when your just chilling, staring up at the ceiling and your like “let’s be a puddle of sad for a sec”

Chiquitita(slowed+reverbed)💜

by Brown Aesthetic Syndrome

LIL’ SOKA, IT’S OUR SONG!! OUR SONG SLOWED AND REVERBED IS SO PRETTY, AND AWESOME!!! MKAY, SO THE THUMBNAIL IS COOL, 8/10, THE FLOWERS ARE PRETTY!! YES, I WILL BE SCREAMING ABOUT THIS SONG LOL 😂 THE PIANO SOUNDS SO PRETTY IN THIS, LIKE IT’S SO MUCH MORE BROUGHT OUT :))), AND THEIR VOICES SOUND SO PRETTY SLOWED!!! OH AND THE CHORUS ITS DIFFERENT OMGGGGG AOPBINAS[FDPOIBJOFIBOAFINBPOJ IT’S SO INSANE OMGGG AOIBAPDOFSKGN!! ANYWAYS RECOMMEND THIS SONG WHEN YOU ARE LIKE “I NEED ABBA VIBES, BUT SLOWED” ALBKNDSPFOBIN

billie eilish - my future - slowed dreamy reverb

by ayabe

so this song is incredible, like it slowed really hits different. billie’s voice has always been so interesting to me because sometimes she sings like very whisper like, and other times she is full on belting like going insane, and i really like that she uses her voice in multiple different ways during her songs. billie is the number one artist i go to when i really wanna be in the feels, and this verison of my future is so amazing. the beat is so interesting, and the thumbnail is really cool 9/10, also i don’t know what the language is nor, do i know what it says, so if you do, let me know lol 😂 but the picture is cool. this song is one i listen to all the time because it’s just- yes. overall recommend this song when your chilling in bed, just in the dark, with the window open on a summer night :)

friends on the other side - s l o w e d

by angelicsounds

THIS IS SO EPIC SLOWED OMGGGGG I CAN’T NOT EVEN EXPLAIN AOBPINADOPBNF I REALLY FEEL LIKE A SPOOKY DUDE WHO KNOWS HOW TO DO SOME SPOOKY STUFF OMGGG i love the original song, and i also really like the cover by annapantsu, definitely recommend her verison too! this has got to be the coolest disney villain song slowed down, hands down. the thumbnail is a GIF of this anime character’s eyes doing weird looking highlight stuff lol idk what to call it, 8/10. overall, recommend when you wanna listen to a song that makes you feel like the main villain in a story :) AND THE ENDING HITS DIFFERENT OMGGGGGGGG

le valse de l’amour - patrick doyle (slowed down)

by mari

okay, so we all know that I love Cinderella. and this song is so incredible, i can’t- okay, but just imagine… the bad batch, undercover at a senate ball, you, trying to make sure the senators are safe. the boys are in their separate locations, you know, watching, making sure everyone is good. some random dude from out of nowhere tries to make you dance with him. you are obviously like “um, what the heck, please no sir.” and suddenly…

“may i have this dance?”

it’s Hunter (or crosshair, but i’ve written a fic about Hunter dancing with the reader, so i feel like he would be a good dancer).

anyways, he whisks you away from random dude, and your like “Hunter there’s no music” because the orchestra just finished their previous song, and he’s like

“just wait.”

bam, this song comes on.

and suddenly, Hunter’s waltzing with you and you didn’t even know he could waltz. and it’s exactly like the scene from Cinderella 2015. So you two are doing your own thing in the middle of the ballroom, and everyone starts moving out of the way because woah these people are really good at dancing

and you are just shocked because HOW??

and he just leads you through the whole thing. he spins you around, and if your wearing a dress and it’s got some tulle on it, it swishes around when he spins you and oh my god the butterflies and smile he gets when you giggle because you love the way it swirls around you. and then people start backing up more, because at this rate, you guys are taking up the whole dance floor.

and you just keep going, and he starts pick you up and spinning you around when the harp comes on. and he grabs you by the waist and starts swinging you around just like Kit & Ella do in the movie. and then the end of the song comes, and he dips you, brings you back up, and that’s it.

and when it’s all said and done, you just look at him, and well, he obviously looks extremely handsome, his suit is all pressed, and his hair is done back in a bun, but he’s got a few wisps coming out from your whole little dancing experience, and all you can say is:

“I-”

“shhh, mesh’la. later. i’ll tell you later.”

anyways, thumbnail is a solid 11/10, and recommend if you wanna daydream about dancing at a senator ball with Hunter.

no i am not planning on writing a fic about this, what you you implying? okay, yes i am, i am. no shame 😂

sleeping beauty - once upon a dream (slowed + reverb)

by Paige Coddington

sleeping beauty is one of my favorite disney princesses besides rapunzel & cinderella, so i love this. The GIF is so pretty, 10/10. Aurora’s voice is pretty, and her vibrato is so much more prominent in this verison, and i am obsessed. this is so pretty, I- speechless, actually. and then philip comes in and it’s just ✨ also, i always like aurora in the pink dress when i was younger, but now i kind of like the blue dress more. they should have just given her a purple dress i guess lol 😂 overall, really pretty, recommend when you are in the mood for some more nostalgic disney vibes :)

D a n c i n g Q u e e n 女王

by v a p o r w a v e

okay so i originally found this on an edit of “the snap from avengers infinity war, but dancing queen” -

and when i tell you that the snap got even sadder, I-

anyways, i also really like vaporwave music, very interesting and very cool. i love the video because i’m pretty sure it’s the original music video, but it looks like your looking through a kaleidoscope, so 100000000/10. this song is so good vaporwave, like, just yes. like when i say this hits different, like for real, this hits different. ABBA is always good, but this by far has to be my favorite thing of ABBA music i have ever found. It’s like…

it’s just incredible.

like i said with the ethereal remix of clair de lune, this is like a song that you put on your life, and just look at all the memories and moments that have happened to you.

overall, recommend when you wanna just sit and think for awhile, or maybe make the snap from avengers infinity war sadder

———

and that’s it! i decided that i would just stick to 10, the other ones i have done are about 12, and i just thought it was a good number lol 😂 i hope you guys enjoy these as much as I do, and check out my pinned post to see them all linked on one post :)

lots of spells (& music listening),

moony

#music #music time my goonies #youtube #hope you enjoy ☺️ #wolffe :) #general angsty ✨ #lady kuri 😏 #bicep ahsoka 😎🧡💙 #you need a new nickname lil’soka #since i call you that now #lil’soka 💙🤍🧡🌼

[not-delicious-milk]

unspoken

pairing | fushiguro megumi x itadori yuuji, kugisaki nobara x zenin maki

content | um i think this counts as slow burn maybe, idk instrospection? sort of fluffy and sort of angsty? just two emotionally constipated bois and one (1) really bad wingman. or maybe a great wingman. depends on how you look at it. i think this is funny.

word count | 3.2k

form | oneshot

originally posted | 30 December 2020

author's note | i really wanted to make a joke about sukuna having 2 dicks but unfortunately there was no opportunity to. also i did all that research about heian period courtship and what did it amount to? like 3 sentences

He met Fushiguro's eyes, and balked slightly at their intensity. They always seemed to bore right through him, as if his skin was glass and Fushiguro interested himself more in what lay underneath. Not that there's anything he cares about in there.

"You're not hurt, are you? I did push you kind of hard."

Yuuji shook his head quickly. "No, I'm fine." He tried to set his mouth in a neutral line, like Fushiguro so often did.

Fushiguro nodded curtly, and turned to leave, back to where Ijichi was waiting with the car. Yuuji's fingers twitched.

or

yuuji doesn't know how to talk to fushiguro. sukuna "helps."

Fushiguro sure looks nice today. 

Yuuji sighed and looked away. He really needed to focus on the mission. There was a grade 2 curse somewhere on the premises of this abandoned building, and if he kept staring at Fushiguro, he'd probably get— 

"Look out!" Yuuji was only briefly aware of the curse's presence before he was aware of concrete, a dull throbbing in his side as he realized Fushiguro just saved him — again — and was busy siccing his Divine Dog on the curse that appeared while he was distracted. 

This is embarrassing, he grumbled to himself. 

You've got that right.

Yuuji did his best to tune out Sukuna's voice as he got up and into battle position. Fushiguro seemed to have the situation under control, so he focused on cleaning up the lower-grade curses swarming around them. 

Something flickered at the edge of his perception. This time, he wouldn't be caught off guard — Yuuji launched himself at the curse on the other end of the room, intercepting it before it had the chance to so much as look at Fushiguro.

"I didn't need your help for that one," scoffed Fushiguro as his Divine Dog slunk back into his shadow. "Honestly, I could have done this alone. Don't know why you insisted on coming."

Yuuji bit back a retort. "I need the experience, right?"

He met Fushiguro's eyes, and balked slightly at their intensity. They always seemed to bore right through him, as if his skin was glass and Fushiguro interested himself more in what lay underneath. Not that there's anything he cares about in there. 

"You're not hurt, are you? I did push you kind of hard." 

Yuuji shook his head quickly. "No, I'm fine." He tried to set his mouth in a neutral line, like Fushiguro so often did. 

Fushiguro nodded curtly, and turned to leave, back to where Ijichi was waiting with the car. Yuuji's fingers twitched. 

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

Movie night was usually somewhat less stressful than fighting a curse. Usually. 

The film was something Yuuji was pretty sure Gojo-sensei had found at the very back of the clearance shelf. The DVD store probably paid him to take it off their hands. It wasn't even so bad it was good, it was just bad. 

Kugisaki had fallen asleep somewhere in the middle of the opening credits. At first, he'd been a little confused and concerned for her health — it was only 6 pm, after all — but sneaking a peek at her phone screen when it lit up intermittently afforded him all the clues he needed. Kugisaki had been texting Maki-senpai, probably for a while, and probably all night. 

Her phone screen lit up again — they were a few hours into the movie, and surely Maki realized she wasn't going to respond, right? Yuuji strained his eyes and recognized the thumbnail of what could only be described as a cursed image. Is that a floating banana? What the— 

Something stirred in his chest. Jealousy? Why? Because Maki and Kugisaki had only been texting for a couple of weeks, and they already shared inside jokes that made Kugisaki laugh like a hyena in the middle of the night? Because they never needed to ask, to confirm, before sharing something — a word, a bag of chips, a seat, a jacket? Because when Kugisaki looked at Maki, with that vulnerability in her eyes that she always disguised with harsh words and thinly veiled threats of violence, Maki looked back?

Yuuji couldn't stop himself from looking at the other person on the couch with him. Fushiguro looked like he was going to cry of boredom. Or punch someone. Or both. 

Should I switch the movie? I don't think he likes it. 

Well, Gojo-sensei picked it. He would probably be offended.

Yuuji looked around. His teacher was conspicuously absent. No way! He's the one who forced us all to watch this shit, and he just leaves before it's over?

"Hey, um…" The question was past his lips before he could stop himself. "Fushiguro, is there something you'd rather…" Yuuji already knew what his answer was going to be. There were plenty of things Fushiguro would rather be doing, let alone watching. Reading a book, for one. Alone. 

He received only a vague shrug in return. "Do whatever you want."

Yuuji found himself staring blankly at the floor. An oppressive silence blanketed the room, even with the vague sound effects and poorly dubbed dialogue coming from the TV. 

This is torture. Say something already.

I would if I could, okay? Unless you have any better ideas.

That managed to shut Sukuna up, at least for a moment. Good. All that was left was to sit through the last scenes of the movie and go back to his room and scream into his pillow. 

Yuuji could feel his forehead flushing and his eyes starting to burn. Oh, no no no no no. Why is this so awkward? At least Fushiguro can't see anything since all the lights are off. Or maybe he can see in the dark, like a vampire? Come to think of it, he is pretty pale… He's probably not saying anything to be polite. I bet he can see everything. I bet he's reading my mind right now with that stupid look of his. 

"I need to go to the bathroom," Yuuji said, a little louder and a little higher than he intended. Fushiguro only raised an eyebrow at him and went back to watching the screen.

As soon as he was out of the dorm common room, Yuuji sucked in a breath of air. 

"Coward."

This time, the cold voice he was so used to hearing came from the back of his hand. Yuuji didn't have anything to say in response. If he did, it would only be in agreement. How pathetic of him. 

"You're damn right that it's pathetic. It's a miracle you can even stand up straight, given your lack of a spine."

Yuuji was almost at the door to his bedroom. 

"I'll help you, just this once."

He froze. Since when did Sukuna help with anything?

"I don't believe you," he muttered.

An eye opened on his hand just to roll itself at him. "I'm the one who has to listen to your self-deprecating monologues, and I'm getting sick of it. Just tell him how you feel, brat." Sukuna's disembodied lips curled into a smirk. "If you don't, I will."

"No way!" Yuuji whisper-shouted. He practically sprinted into his room and, in the absence of a lock, pushed a chair behind his door to grant the illusion of privacy. But Sukuna wasn't done yet, and the next time he closed his eyes, Yuuji found himself ankle-deep in what he really hoped wasn't blood, and looked up a pile of ox skulls at the last person he wanted to hear romantic advice from. 

Sukuna absentmindedly picked at long, black nails. "Why don't you switch with me? I'll be sure not to embarrass myself, so don't worry about that."

"That's kind of creepy. Aren't you like, a thousand years old?" Yuuji wrinkled his nose. "Do you just want him all to yourself?"

Sukuna made a face. "Oh, that's disgusting." He made a retching sound, like a cat coughing up a hairball. "Imply that again and I'll kill you in your sleep."

Yuuji was, at the very least, thankful that the murderous curse sharing his body had standards.

"Now the image is burned into my brain. Look at what you've done, brat." Yuuji only recognized the sensation of being cut into pieces and immediately restored because of how many times his conversations with Sukuna had ended that way. Still, he stumbled a little at the sudden disorientation. 

"Hmm." Sukuna tapped his nails on a skull. "Brat, what have you been educated in?"

"Huh? Aren't you the one who complains about having to sit through my algebra classes? You already know what I'm educated in. Um," Yuuji furrowed his brow. "I took piano lessons when I was 8? Not that I was any good at it."

Sukuna sighed. "I don't care about your algebra or your piano lessons. I mean your courtly skills."

"Uh."

Yuuji heard the creaking of bone, and he was met with two pairs of blood-red eyes suddenly before him. 

"Calligraphy? Poetry?"

"No…?"

Sukuna leaned in closer. "So, nothing then? You know nothing?"

Yuuji pushed him away. "Um, you've seen my handwriting."

"Kids these days." Sukuna clicked his tongue. "How standards have fallen."

"You know, a lot of things have changed between now and when you were alive. For one, there's this new thing called personal space."

The curse ignored him. Yuuji blinked and saw the ceiling of his dorm room, back at home in his body. 

Do you at least have a brush, then?

No, weirdo. I have a pen, if that's good enough for you.

Tch.

Seriously, how are you this far behind? I thought you were starting to get this modern era stuff. 

I am trying to salvage the situation you've put me in, brat. How will you write a letter to him without putting care into your calligraphy?

Nobody said anything about a letter! 

This is how it was done in my time. You certainly don't have any better options.

"Fine, I'll Google it then," Yuuji mumbled. He opened his laptop, his fingers hovering over the keys. Slowly, he typed out "how to tell someone you like them."

The advice was all very vague. It was awkward enough to admit to himself that he liked Fushiguro in a way that went past friendship. It was worse that Sukuna's eye was wide open on his cheek and reading everything he did, reminding Yuuji somewhat of a teacher hovering behind him in the computer lab and reading over his shoulder. 

"It says you should give him a gift. I have an idea." Yuuji didn't want to hear Sukuna's idea. "You should give him the carcass of a beast you slew yourself." Yuuji didn't want to hear any more of Sukuna's ideas. 

"Sukuna, have you ever actually done this before? Because I don't think that would work, even if it was a thousand years ago."

"Why would I need to do such a thing?"

That was a little surprising. "Well, you sounded so confident, I thought you had experience or something."

"Love is a fruitless endeavor. The only thing that matters in this world is the spilling of blood upon the earth, and everything that comes between. But you're so annoying that I decided to stoop down to your level so I could help you. You should be grateful."

"Stoop down to my level? What, is this wounding your pride?"

"My pride isn't something so easily scarred. Hearing your constant chattering, all revolving around that Fushiguro boy, is much more painful than condescending to help you." 

"What's with the flowery language all of a sudden?"

"You really are uncultured."

"Well—" 

The sound of someone knocking at his door startled Yuuji out of his carefully constructed comeback, laced with a few choice words he'd learned from Kugisaki the last time she stubbed her toe. 

"Itadori? The movie's over." Oh fuck. "You left your phone on the couch." The doorknob rattled. 

"Uh, just a second!" Yuuji slammed his laptop shut and dragged the chair out of the way before opening the door.

Fushiguro blinked. "Itadori, were you watching po—"

"Nope! No, I wasn't," Yuuji said, fully aware that every word he spoke only cemented that conclusion in Fushiguro's mind. "I'm just going to take my phone now. See you tomorrow!" 

Yuuji grabbed his phone and made a move to close the door, but Fushiguro caught his wrist. His grip was firm and cool to the touch. 

"You've been acting strange lately. Did something happen?"

"I'm fine," Yuuji said automatically. His lips had probably memorized the shape of those words by now. 

"No, you aren't." Fushiguro's grip tightened a little, as if worried that Yuuji would try to snake out of it. I could try. I'm stronger than him.

"Itadori, look at me."

Shakily, Yuuji turned. Blue eyes met hazel. He felt naked somehow under the spotlight of Fushiguro's penetrating gaze. Oh god, that sounds so wrong. I don't want to think about that, not now.

"Is it something I said? Or did something else happen to you? I want to know." 

(It had nothing to do with anything Fushiguro said, and everything to do with what he didn't.)

Itadori. I need you.

"I said I'm fine."

"And I said you're not." Fushiguro sighed a little and closed his eyes. The flutter of his eyelashes was distracting. "I'm worried about you."

Fushiguro? Worried about him? 

"Why?" Yuuji knew it was a stupid question, but he was feeling pretty stupid at the moment. "Why would you do that?"

"Why—" Fushiguro's grip on Yuuji's wrist loosened in surprise. Yuuji twisted himself away, ready to cache himself in his room, but Fushiguro caught the sleeve of his hoodie instead. Worse, he stepped inside and uncomfortably close to Yuuji.

He could already feel his face turning red, and this time he couldn't rely on the cover of darkness. 

"You're seriously asking me why I worry about you?" Fushiguro's voice didn't sound quite as even as it usually did. Yuuji didn't let himself hope it was concern. "You died in front of me, Yuuji. I… I had nightmares about it for months. Of course I'm worried."

He didn't know if it was Fushiguro's sudden use of his first name, or the quiver that accompanied it, but Yuuji's blood froze. He couldn't move even if he wanted to. 

Fushiguro positioned himself in front of Yuuji, and placed a steadying hand on his shoulder. His sapphire-blue eyes, normally so cold and distant, glittered with repressed tears. Yuuji stared at his lips instead. They looked so soft. Fushiguro had been biting them again; they were slightly flushed and raw in some places. 

"Please." Fushiguro was barely whispering now, his words only meant for the two of them. "I don't…"

I don't want to lose you again.  

Yuuji opened his mouth to speak, but didn't know where to start. How could he claim insecurity now that Fushiguro had been so vulnerable with him? His anxieties suddenly seemed very small and pitiful in the face of the burden he'd saddled on his friends. It was his fault that Fushiguro was close to tears now, when he could face curses on his own without a flicker of fear. Dark, thick shame sat heavily in his throat, and all he could do was gasp for air. 

You should take off your shirt.

Indignation replaced guilt in one swift motion. I am not taking off my shirt. 

"Sorry, Fushiguro." The apology was too quick, too shallow. "I'm sorry. For… everything." The back of his throat stung. "I'm sorry for bothering you. Please, just…" Just go. Just leave me alone. 

Just leave me to die. 

"You don't have to worry about me."

It's only going to hurt you in the end.

"I'll be f—"

Fushiguro grabbed him by the back of the head, subtracting from the distance between their faces. "How many times are you going to say you're fine? Is it so hard to believe that I care about you?" 

Don't say it. 

"Is it so hard to consider that I—" Fushiguro's voice broke. A gentle flush crept across his neck as he seemed to realize how close their faces were. 

Yuuji's vision blurred around the edges. Time crawled to a standstill, and there was nothing but the slope of Fushiguro's lips, trembling with words unsaid. Yuuji could hear his heart beating in his ears. He wondered if Fushiguro could hear it too, and if he felt some small comfort in knowing that the heart he had seen torn from its body and discarded like offal had been restored, and that it could beat and bleed and break again. 

"Would you just kiss him already?" 

Yuuji would have liked to think Sukuna had kept that comment for his ears only, but the way Fushiguro reeled back and turned beet red confirmed otherwise. 

"Your purple prose is getting on my nerves. I think I preferred it when you couldn't string sentences together." The lips on his cheek curled. "Honestly, if you had just taken your shirt off like I said, this would have been over already. I should have done it for you."

"What do you have against shirts? Haven't you ruined enough of my hoodies?"

Fushiguro cleared his throat. "Um."

Yuuji's face burned. "Oh. Uh. Sorry about that."

"What is it with you and apologies? You don't have to be sorry for everything." But Fushiguro was laughing. His mask had cracked, or perhaps he removed it himself. 

Yuuji couldn't help but smile. "I'll stop being sorry when you stop acting like you don't need anyone."

Fushiguro's face darkened slightly, as if wrapped in a shadow. "Is that what it was? I—"

Yuuji punched him lightly in the arm before he could apologize. "You're so emotionally constipated." 

The tiniest of grins played on Fushiguro's lips. "So…" He leaned in closer. "What was that about kissing me?"

And this time Yuuji leaned into it, letting Fushiguro take everything he had. His eyelashes, still wet from almost crying, brushed against Yuuji's face as they breathed each other in. Yuuji found himself clinging to him like a lifeline, as if any moment he might slip away.

I'm not going to leave you behind.

He was laughing and crying at the same time. "I never thought you liked me back," Yuuji gasped when he broke away for air.

Fushiguro traced his thumb under Yuuji's eye. "You really are dense, you know that?" "So I've been told."

Is this what I was looking for?

Yuuji melted into him, kissing him like a drowning man gasps for air. How could he have deluded himself into thinking he was alone? How, when Fushiguro's body fit him like a puzzle piece, and they were embracing each other like they had never been separate? 

You're welcome. Brat.

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

"You know, I thought you'd at least notice all the times I was staring at you," Fushiguro mumbled sleepily. Their rhythm had slowed and now Yuuji was small and limp in his arms, playing with a strand of his hair. 

"Nope. Not even once." A sea of drowsiness threatened to engulf Yuuji, but he stubbornly resisted, if only to stay with Fushiguro for a moment more. He suppressed a yawn. 

"Gojo caught me watching you train once. He tortured me about it for a week." Fushiguro chuckled softly. "Um, he takes a lot of pictures of you. If you ever find a really blurry photo of you sparring in my room, that's why."

"Mm-hmm." Who knew Fushiguro was so warm? 

"Hey."

Yuuji's gaze flickered up to Fushiguro's eyes. Oh, he thought. They're so open. I can see right through him. 

"I'm here. Okay?"

I'm not going anywhere.

"Okay."

Neither am I.

And there was nothing but Fushiguro's breathing, and the heaviness of sleep, and the weight of words unspoken between them. 

#i spent too long on this #pov: you use too many italics #can you tell this is the first time i've written a kissing scene #normally the stuff i describe in too much detail is cosmic horror and horrible gore #don't ask #i was a troubled 7th grader #sukuna definitely noticed fushiguro staring at yuuji and also his gay panic whenever he was caught #he just didn't feel the need to say anything #tag yourself i'm is that a floating banana #jjk #jujutsu kaisen #itafushi #fushiita #itadori x fushiguro #nobamaki #makibara #what even is the ship name for that #nobara x maki

[magniloquent-raven]

Number 73 "take mine" I'm thinking jacket sharing with Harringrove (either offering the jacket) if you have time!! 💖 💖

so. it’s not jacket sharing, i hope that’s okay!! and it’s actually a sequel to your first prompt? @bambixxblue and i were talking about a fix-it sequel where billy comes back and im weak for fix-its so i ended up with this. it’s. angsty. but also. soft? idk, i hope u like it anyway!!

basically the premise is billy and hopper were both in russia and had to break out together. posted on ao3

—-

Max turned seventeen three weeks ago. It’s hard to keep track of the days sometimes but Billy’s pretty sure he’s right. It’s hard to wrap his brain around Max being seventeen. When he pictures her in his head she’s still a bratty twelve-year-old with skinned knees who doesn’t know when to shut her mouth.

He tells Hop. Tells him about the birthdays he was there for, wonders about the ones he wasn’t. Cries a little too. Funny how easy it is to do that now. It used to be an ordeal, would burn and claw at him until he broke. He’s too exhausted for that nowadays, lets his tears fall unfettered and ignores the shame that still sneaks up on him when he does.

They have to be quiet, always afraid of being caught again. Billy’s constantly looking over his shoulder, jumping at shadows. It’s stupid to risk it, for something so trivial, but he can’t stop the words from spilling out.

“You miss her.” It’s not a question. Hop doesn’t ask that kind of shit, he just knows. Which is why Billy doesn’t respond. Doesn’t have to.

He pats Billy’s shoulder awkwardly. It’s the clumsy kind of affection a father is supposed to offer and it sets Billy off again, tears dripping down his nose and cutting streaks through the dirt smeared on his cheeks.

They’re holed up in an abandoned warehouse this time. Waiting. Always waiting. The plan is to stow away in the next cargo hold with enough space but in the meantime they’re fugitives, laying low wherever they can find empty, forgotten places.

Hop tells him about El while they wait. Billy’s heard most of his stories by now, but he listens anyway. Listens to the wobble in his voice as he talks about teaching El to read, hears the question under it all, about whether he’ll ever see her again.

Billy wishes he had an answer.

~~

The first time Billy set foot in Hawkins, Indiana, he was seventeen, angry and wanting nothing more than to be anywhere else.

It’s three days after his twenty-second birthday the second time. An icy December evening, dark and windy. He’s exhausted. He hasn’t eaten in two days. He’s a patchwork tapestry of scars that weren’t there before, a battered effigy of the person he used to be, cobbled together with scraps of what he could salvage.

Hawkins is the same unremarkable, rinky-dink town it always was. Seeing it again is a relief and a punch in the gut all at once. It’s all he’s wanted for three years, but it’s terrifying.

They end up in Loch Nora, of all places. The Byers’ old house was empty, and going too far into town is risky. 

It doesn’t feel real. Standing on Steve Harrington’s front porch, suddenly all too aware of the layer of sweat and grime on his skin. This place is too clean, too quiet. Peaceful, in a way that can’t be true.

Billy chews on his thumbnail, stands behind Hopper while he bangs on the door. There are no cars in the driveway, which means at the very least Steve’s parents won’t answer the door. But there’s no guarantee that Steve even lives here anymore.

He’s getting antsy, glancing around, heart pounding.

Then the door swings open.

Billy is seventeen, half-drunk and stinking like beer, colder than he’ll let on because fucking Indiana and its shitty weather, wiping the drool from his chin when he spots him across a room, already half in love by the time he’s clambered over a couch to get a closer look.

He blinks. He’s twenty-two, pale and shivering, thumbnail still between his teeth, and Steve Harrington’s doe eyes still make him weak in the knees.

Steve’s hair is longer, brushing his shoulders, but other than that he doesn’t look any different. Except that he isn’t looking at Billy with thinly veiled contempt or anger.

“Hey, kid.” Hopper says. “Gonna let us inside, or what?”

Steve is silent. Staring, lips parted. One hand still on the doorknob, the other slack at his side. He sways dangerously, and Billy tenses, prepared to catch him if he falls over. He doesn’t, but Billy’s still itching to touch him.

“Am I dreaming?” Steve blurts, looking dazed, unable to decide who to look at and ending up unfocused and hazy.

Yeah, it’s me, don’t cream your pants. The memory feels like someone else’s. A lifetime ago.

Billy bites down on his lip, battling an inexplicable, and slightly hysterical, urge to laugh.

“Dream about me often, Harrington?” Billy says, because apparently it takes more than nearly dying and spending three years as a fugitive to get over his inability to keep his mouth shut around pretty boys (or one in particular). Though now his voice comes out soft, quiet, betraying genuine sentiment. He’s not sure if that’s better or worse than the armor of taunts he used to cover that shit up with.

Probably worse.

Steve’s looking at him. Only him. Billy had almost forgotten how addictive that is. He watches Steve’s mouth open and close, tracks the way one corner curls up a little when he lets out a little disbelieving huff that isn’t quite a laugh. “More than you’d think,” he murmurs.

And Billy’s brain shuts off. There are a thousand questions stuck up there, but he can’t get a single one of them out because he’s too busy trying to get past, more than you’d think, echoing through his head in surround sound.

He’s startled out of his Steve-induced haze by Hopper’s pointed cough.

It seems like he’s not the only one, because Steve visibly flinches, “Right, shit,” he stammers, “Get—uh, get inside.” He ushers them in, glancing around, checking the street behind them.

The Harrington residence is one of those big fancy houses with more rooms than anyone could possibly need, but that means multiple bathrooms so Steve (as politely as possible) tells them they can both shower whenever they feel like it. And he fusses. A lot. All nervous hands clutching his elbows and teeth worrying at the inside of his cheek, eyes darting between Billy and Hopper like he’s sure they’ll vanish any second and never have been there at all.

Billy isn’t sure how to deal with it, so he avoids his eyes. Then misses looking at him.

An hour later they’re all in the kitchen. Billy keeps plucking at the sleeve of his borrowed sweatshirt, trying to keep calm. It’s too much, all at once. His skin feels raw, weird and tight. The overhead light is too bright, and the smell of Steve on everything is making him lightheaded. The soft detergent scent from his clothes, the shampoo Billy used when he showered (his hair is a lot longer than it used to be, it took forever to detangle it all).

Steve makes some calls. It’s late, too late to be calling people’s houses but he does it anyway.

Not long after, the front door bursts open.

Max is taller than he remembers. Rougher around the edges. Her hair is a choppy mess, auburn waves sticking out in every direction, curling around her ears, and there’s the sharp glimmer of silver in one lobe. She’s wearing a jean jacket with a torn elbow.

And she’s crying, messy and red-eyed, not bothering to wipe the snot from her nose.

“Where. The fuck. Have you been?” she sobs, shoulders shaking, and she practically trips forward in her hurry to throw her arms around Billy’s neck.

He opens his mouth. Closes it again. Feels unsteady, like he’ll fall to pieces if he moves wrong.

“I’m here now,” is all he can manage. She doesn’t need to hear about military hospitals and Russian prisons, about being kept in a cell, wondering if he’d ever see sunlight again… She doesn’t need that right now. Hell, he’s not ready to talk about it. Might never be.

He hugs her back, torn between wanting to squeeze as hard as he can, make sure she’s real, and being terrified of breaking her.

She still uses that shitty coconut-scented soap, and that’s what shatters him. He’s crying into her shoulder, clutching the back of her jacket. He used to dwarf her, remembers her being tiny and fragile, despite her fierceness, yet now she’s supporting his weight while he buckles.

They’ve never actually hugged before, he realizes, and that realization opens a door he wishes he could’ve left closed a little longer.

Guilt. Like undertow, pulling him back to harsh reality, cold steel gripping his heart, weighing it down. He should’ve been better. Treated her better. And now she’s here, crying like she actually missed him, and he doesn’t deserve it.

He pulls away, wiping the back of his hand across his eyes.

She’s still looking at him, hands on his shoulders, a wobbly smile on her face.

Billy is overwhelmed again. It must show, because suddenly Steve is at Max’s side, eyes gentle and his soft mouth pinched in a frown, “Max. Maybe give him some space.”

She clenches her jaw, probably physically holding back an argument, and nods, stepping back despite the reluctance written all over her face.

“I’m sorry,” Billy says, barely louder than a whisper. Then he can’t stop himself from saying it, again and again, gaze fixed on the floor, tears still dripping down his chin. He has to bite his lip hard enough to draw blood to finally stem the tide of apologies. He squeezes his eyes shut, tries to will the world away.

“Billy.” Steve’s voice is soft. He has a nice voice, so Billy focuses on it, through all the angry buzzing in his ears. “Billy, I need you to nod if you’re listening.” He doesn’t want to, he wants to curl up and fucking die, anything but be a person right now because everything hurts and there isn’t enough air in this room and— “Billy?”

He bows his head, twitches, it’s barely a nod but it’s all he’s got.

“Okay, good. Can I touch your hand?”

Billy’s heart stutters, aches. He’s having a hard time concentrating through the burn in the back of his throat, the static drowning out his thoughts. He nods again.

Steve’s fingers are gentle, pulling Billy’s hand from where it had tangled in his hair. He hadn’t noticed the fingernails digging into his scalp until Steve took one of his hands away. It ends up pressed against something warm, soft material under his fingers, moving slow—oh. His hand is on Steve’s chest.

“Can you breathe with me? Concentrate on me, okay?”

He does.

Steve’s cradling his hand. He’s got callouses along the top of his palm, barely there but present. He’s breathing deep, calm and steady. But despite his outward demeanour his heart is racing, Billy can feel it through his shirt. He curls his fingers into the sensation, fingertips digging in as far as he can push them.

Billy almost forgets to breathe he’s so fixated on Steve’s heartbeat.

It does its job either way though, because exhaustion is starting to hit him as the static recedes. He sags, relaxes. Every muscle in his body feels leaden.

He opens his eyes, squints against the sudden light.

He’s almost afraid to look up. Afraid of being judged, of triggering another episode, so fucking terrified, all the time—

“Billy?”

His fingers twitch reflexively, tightening his grip on Steve’s polo.

“You good?” His voice is still so soft, and so close it hurts.

It takes several long moments for Billy to collect himself. Then he looks up.

Max is hovering, standing behind Steve with wide eyes, her worry palpable. Hopper looks grim, but then again, he kind of always does. He’s a respectable distance away, watching. And Steve… Steve is right there still, holding Billy’s hand and looking at him like he cares, doe eyes shining, fixed on Billy’s face.

“I’m okay,” Billy says, voice rough. He sounds like hell, but they all visibly relax anyway.

The room is silent for too long after that. It feels tense in a distant way, like it would be awkward if Billy had the energy to care, was awake enough to feel anything but vaguely fuzzy. He’s still got a handful of shirt and doesn’t plan on letting go any time soon. Steve’s the only thing keeping him upright, and he hasn’t let go either.

“Did… did I do something wrong?” Max asks, her voice is small and tremulous and cuts right through Billy.

“No!” he’s quick to cut in, “No. Max. It’s…” Billy trembles, stutters to a stop. He has no idea how to explain, even to himself, let alone Max. Steve squeezes his hand. His stomach flips. “It’s not your fault.”

She doesn’t look like she believes him, but she doesn’t argue. He wishes he could make it better, but he’s got no idea how.

“We should all get some sleep,” Steve says.

And that’s that. His tone brooks no argument, even in a room full of stubborn assholes. Apparently, the past few years have given Steve time to hone his babysitting skills. Or maybe they’re all just as exhausted as Billy is.

There’s some squabbling about sleeping arrangements though.

Everyone insists Hopper take the master bedroom, Steve says his parents won’t know or care, his old friends did worse than sleep in that bed. They all poke at him until he relents and trudges off, bidding them a quiet goodnight.

Then Billy says he’ll take the couch and both Steve and Max yell at him.

Billy rolls his eyes. “It’s fine, guys,” he mutters. He’s not about to make Max sleep on the weird little couch (he’s done enough to her already) and putting Steve out in his own house would be shitty. “It’s not like I haven’t slept on worse.” He winces as he says it, realizing as the words come out of his mouth that it’s probably the wrong thing to say. It was meant as a reassurance, that he would in fact be fine with the couch, because at least it’s clean and warm, but all it does is make Max look sad and put a little wrinkle between Steve’s eyebrows.

“I’ve slept on this couch before,” Max says, a stubborn tilt to her jaw, “I’ll take it.”

Steve scoffs at that, “You complain every time you have to sleep on that couch, Max. Take the guest bed. Billy can take mine.” His fingers tense when he says it, and Billy realizes they’re still holding hands. His hand slipped from Steve’s shirt while they were bullying Hopper into taking the master suite, but Steve has yet to let go.

And… suddenly he wants nothing more than to sleep in Steve’s bed. But. “Only if you come with me,” he blurts.

Which is really not how he should have said that, but it’s out there now.

“Oh my god,” he hears Max mutter.

His whole head feels like it’s on fire. “Shit. I—I mean—”

“Okay,” Steve says hurriedly, then clears his throat, “Yeah. That. That works. Uh. Okay.” He’s glancing at Max awkwardly, nervous, but she just rolls her eyes. Billy barely notices her do it, too busy looking at Steve, his heart hammering.

“Steve, it’s okay. I’m—” It’s her turn to look uncertain, but it’s only for a second. “Me and El are dating. We’ve been trying to figure out how to tell everyone, and—yeah. Anyway. I’m not going to judge you, or whatever.”

Well, that was not at all what Billy was expecting. He takes a moment to worry about both of them, be terrified of what would happen to them if someone found out. Then he remembers that El can kill people with her brain and Max once threatened to castrate him with a spiked bat. The knot of anxiety doesn’t dissipate but he’s freaking out less.

“How long has that been going on?” Steve asks, sounding more bemused than anything.

Max turns pink, and it’s kind of fascinating to watch. She’s flustered. That’s adorable. “Since, um. Since April.”

“Happy for you, kid,” Billy says. And he means it. He barely knows El, in theory, but really. The kid’s been in his head. He could recite every story Hopper’s told him about her from memory. He died protecting her.

He knows her well enough to know she’s good for Max, and he loves Max enough to want her to have good things.

She grins, bright and real. Billy’s fairly certain he’s never seen her that happy before, and his heart clenches.

“I’m not sure who I’m supposed to give the shovel talk to here,” Steve says, more to himself than anything.

Billy snickers, and tugs on Steve’s hand, “Like you could take either of them.”

Steve steps closer, looking faux-offended, “I’ll have you know I won a fight once.”

“Yeah, three years ago. You’re a has-been, Harrington,” Max chimes in.

“Isn’t it past your bedtime?”

“I’m seventeen, dingus.”

“You’ve been spending too much time with Robin.”

He missed them so much. Missed something he, if he’s being honest with himself, never really had in the first place. They both hated his guts before, and he… he was a mess. Still is. Just a different kind now. But being here, being part of this, is something he always on some level wanted and…

“Oh my god, Billy, are you okay?” Max asks, concern bleeding into her voice.

He’s crying again, smiles through the tears. “Yeah. Yeah I am.”

#steve harrington #billy hargrove #harringrove #harringrove fic #a raven's writing desk #i kind of want more to this #like #el didn't even SHOW P #UP* #but it's almost 2am #rn #and #this is already so long lmao

[dobrikswriting]

Timing || D.D. Imagine

Request: Can I do a David request? She’s a big movie star and they dated for a while but broke up and they’re were like best friends, and maybe after the break up she has to bring another celebrity to the premiere of a movie for PR and she tries to tell him but he won’t listen and maybe they kiss at the end idk what from there. Angst- Fluff maybe? Just angst ? Idk! (Love your writing btw)

Thank you so much! Hope you like it!

"I just don't think it's a good idea." I said running a hand through my hair.

"Why it makes sense and it's good PR for the movie, it's happening." My publicist, Danielle, basically commanded.

"Okay master." I scoffed and hung up the phone. I laid down on the hotel bed and closed my eyes. I really didn't want to go to the premier anyways, let alone be forced to go with Tom. Don't get me wrong Tom Holland was a very nice man and I guess I was lucky to have to spend a night with him, but I was just dreading this night in general. Movie premieres used to be so fun. I could get all dressed up and take pictures and have a great night, but the only reason the night was even half way decent is because I used to have David by my side. He made the whole night better. We had been broken up for a couple months, our schedules just didn't work for each other he was always busy shooting and I was always traveling for movies, we just didn't have time for each other. I sighed and picked my phone up to call David, if I was going to be seen with someone else i felt like I wanted it clear to him that it was just for publicity.

I heard the phone ringing and then the beginning to his voicemail. I hung up and quickly sent him a text to call me when he could. I heard a knock on my door and went to answer it, I was relived to see my best friend turned assistant on the other side.

"Hey Ang," I said and gave her a quick hug. "Did Danielle talk to you?" I asked wondering if she knew the plans for tomorrow night.

"Yeah she just called so I came to check and see where you mind is at." She replied stepping into the hotel room and sitting down on the bed.

"I don't know. It's it weird that I'm sad to be seen with someone else? Is it crazy I just want it to be David by my side?" I asked laying down next to her.

"No, its not crazy. You and David were such a big part of each others lives it's normal to miss him. But don't let that ruin the fact that you are still going to have an amazing night." She said turning to look at me.

"I just wish we had ended on bad terms." I said laughing a little because it sounded ridiculous. "It would just be easier to move on if I didn't still love him, and want him so fucking bad." I said, my voice cracking saying it out loud. "I know that we both agreed this is what was best but there is a part of me that is scared if he sees that I'm out with some else that I moved on and then next thing you know he's actually moved on. I know we didn't work out right now but I just can't help but hope some how we find a way." I added.

"That's understandable, but it's also selfish. I love you with all my heart but you and David not working out might be a sign that you needed to let him go so something better could happen for you and for him. If you guys find a way to make it work that is awesome but don't let it consume you. Don't let that thought of what maybe could, but probably not, happen ruin something that could make you really happy. Not saying that that's Tom, but just let you mind be open okay." She said putting an arm around me to comfort me.

"I wish it was as easy as that." I said.

"I know it's hard, but come on lets go, we have a rehearsal dressing so don't be sad lets go make you look like a hot ass bitch and then you can take a picture and post it for all the eligible bachelors in your life." She joked. I jokingly rolled my eyes and followed her out the door.

-

Time had gone by so fast I didn't realize how late it was until I walked outside and saw it was dark. We had just finished practicing what my hair and makeup would look like for tomorrow, I looked pretty amazing if I do say so myself. I needed some fresh air so I went on a walk outside the hotel until I found a bench along the side walk and I decided to sit and just relax for a second. It was short lived when I started to feel my phone vibrate in my hands. I looked down to see David's name on the screen, I tried to ignore the butterflies in my stomach, I had missed him so much I was excited to talk to him. I answered his face time and waiting for the screen to show him.

"Hey! Wow y/n you look good! Have a hot date tonight?" He joked. I felt a blush come up, it was a very simple compliment so I don't know what it made me so giddy. Maybe it had something to do with how good he looked with his messy brown hair, and his glasses on.

"Thank you, we were just practicing some possible looks for tomorrow night, you think this is a winner?" I asked doing some model faces.

"I think you'll look amazing no matter what." He softly replied back. I smiled at him.

"Well I just wanted to talk to you about something, today Danielle told me that tomorrow, instead of my going alone they want me to go with Tom and I ju-" I started but was quickly cut off.

"Y/n that's cool! I've heard he's a super fun guy you'll have a really good night! I gotta go but good luck. You look really good." He said quickly and then the call ended.

My heart sank a little bit, I don't know what I expected but I was sad that I didn't get to talk to him longer. I missed him so much it hurt. I put my phone down in my bag and just sat on the bench for a little longer. I thought about what Angela said about not wasting my time being sad and letting that ruin something that could make me happy and I made a goal for myself to not let me ruin tomorrow night with sad thoughts. I got up and went back to my room. I got in the shower to wash off all the make up. After I was all clean I got in bed and opened up youtube to watch a couple videos until I felt more tired, of course the first suggestion that popped up was David's new video. I felt my heart get tight as I looked at the thumbnail of him and Madison Beer alone in his Tesla together. It was nothing to get hurt over so I don’t know why I felt like my world was shattering. Maybe that's why he didn't really care about who I was with. He had already moved on. I had spent all day being sad about it and here he was doing it with no problem. I put my phone on the night stand and just laid in bed thinking about everything. From my life with David and everything it could of been to my life now, and I how I was going to turn it into something that made me happy, I loved acting, and at first moving around for movies was so exciting, but now it was just exhausting and putting a strain on my life that I didn't want anymore. I quickly sent my manager a text to look into some tv show gigs, so I for at least a while I could stay in one place for once.

-

Premier day always seemed to go in fast forward. I was always being whisked around for someone to work on my tan, someone else doing hair, someone else doing make up, getting dressed and then for someone else to practice what to say and how to say it so that magazines couldn't take anything out of context.

I hadn't even had much time to think about anything when I heard a knock on the dressing room door. "Come in." I shouted at who ever was on the other side.

"Hello." I heard a voice say as the door opened. I smiled brightly as I saw Tom's face appear from behind the door. "Oh my gosh you look amazing." He said coming to greet me with a kiss on the cheek. We had grown pretty close since filming the movie together. "So how do you feel about tonight?" He asked, he was there through my break up with David, he knew how hard it had been on me.

"Good you know we are going to have an amazing night." I replied back smiling at him.

"That's my girl! We'll the limo is waiting, you ready to face the cameras?" He asked holding his hand out. I nodded and grabbed it, walking with him out to the limo, where there was luckily champagne, I happily grabbed it and popped it open, taking a drink without a glass.

"Oh so we're about to have a real fun night." Tom added laughing, I laughed with him and passed him the bottle. We had a only about a ten minute ride to the venue but we put quite a dent in the bottle. I giggled as the limo came to a stop and a figure open our door. We got out and I took a deep breath as Tom got slid his hand in mine. I looked down at our interlocked fingers and back up at him. He squeezed my hand and gave me a knowing smile. We turned to the swarm of fans and cameras as we started to walk into the where the red carpet was. We posed for some pictures before we got to our first interview.

"Y/N can I just say you look breath taking." The interviewer stated right away.

"Thank you thank you, a big shout out to my team that makes this all happen." I said back.

"Tom how does it feel to have such a beautiful date tonight?" They asked moving the mic to him.

"You know I feel very lucky and out of place next to her, she deserves her own red carpet she's amazing." He said laughing.

"Now y/n we were so sad to hear about you and David splitting but this looks like a good couple right here, will we be seeing more of you two in the future." She said looking at me.

I paused for a second not sure what to say back. "You know we are super good friends and I am so lucky to have Tom and all my other friends in my life. I am so happy and ready for the future but for right now that future is just focused on me and no one else."

The interviewer nodded and then went into questions about the movie and our other co-stars. The rest of the night went pretty much the same, I dodged questions about David and for the most part it went really well. It was hard to have a great night when every five minutes someone was asking about David, but Tom made it very fun and as much as possible tired to save me from being asked questions I didn’t want to answer.

After the premier everyone was going to the after party, I was joining but I wanted to change into something more comfortable first so I went back to my hotel. I walked into the lobby and stopped in my tracks as I looked at the seating area and saw that familiar mop of brown hair. David locked eyes with me and instantly stood up and walked over to me.

"Hey, can we talk?" He asked as he got closer. I nodded not able to get any words out, I hadn't seen David in person since we decided to break up and he looked as amazing as ever. We walked in silence back to my room, He sat on the couch and I sat on the bed. No one said anything at first, then David spoke up.

"You look amazing. Did you have fun tonight?" He asked looking at his hands.

"About as much fun as I could have when everyone wants to talk about you all night." I replied. He looked up and me and I could see they were red, almost like he had been crying.

"Why are you here?" I finally asked.

David opened and closed him mouth a couple of time, searching for how he wanted to respond. "I didn't know how to respond when you told me you had a date to this thing tonight." He said looking down again. "Y/N I know we made this decision together but I just wasn't prepared to see you with someone else." He added. "I mean I guess it's bound to happen I mean you are amazing and beautiful. And any one would be lucky to have you."

"It wasn't a real date David, but even if it was, I deserve to be happy. I deserve to be with someone if that's what I want. You can't go posting videos of you and other girls and then still expect me to just sit around and wait for you to want me again." I said, finally releasing the hurt I had been holding inside.

"You obviously didn't watch the video, but anyw-" David started and I cut him off.

"Why? What does that mean?" I asked curious.

"We were giving each other shit, I told her I would never like her back and she joked about how I would never be over you." He said looking back up at me. "And you're right you do deserve that. I just.... I don't want that to be with someone else." He said standing up and walking over to me. "I want to be the one that makes you happy and I know we said ending it was better for both of us but I don't think so. I have been so miserable without you, I would much rather be together and have to work around our schedules than not be with you at all. I miss you." He said, he was standing right in front of me, so close that all I wanted to do was jump into his arms.

"I miss you too David, but do you remember how hard it was before? We ended it for a reason." I replied back, he heart broke as I saw his face fall. "I want to be with you too but what is going to be different?" I asked

"Everything. I'll come with you to set more and travel with you I'll do whatever it takes to make this work I am so sick of not being with you." David replied.

"Last night I asked my manager to try to find me some TV shows I could audition for." I said off topic. "Today he emailed me about a couple shows looking for new characters, almost all them film in LA." I said looking up at David.

"Okay, but do you think that's going to make you happy? You love doing movies and seeing the world." David said looking at down at me, making sure I was making this decision for me not for our relationship.

"I love acting, and I love you and this is a way I can have both. I can still see the world but now it'll just be on vacations with my boyfriend." I said. The biggest smile swept across David's face as he basically leaped on me pushing both of us forward on the bed, his lips met mine and instantly the past few months of pain washed away and everything felt like it would be okay again.

#david dobrik imagine #david dobrik #david dobrik x reader #david dobrik x y/n #david dobrik x you #imagine #vlog squad imagine #vlog squad #jeff wittek #heath husar #zane hijazi #erin gilfoy #carly incontro #scotty sire #kristen mcatee

[zamoimagines]

Wrong Number

Prompt submitted by @taciales : a gay plot where muse a sends a selfie to the wrong number and then muse b sends one back with the message “wrong number”?

Pairing: Billie Dean Howard x Reader

A/N: Sorry this is short, I kinda wrote this in between classes the other day. Also, I’m adding that Billie is a family friend of your parents cause why not, so hope ya’ll like it

You were sitting on your bed, scrolling through your camera roll on your phone. Your brows furrowed every time you glanced at one photo after the next. Taking flirty photos was always hard for you. Flirting wasn’t your strong suit, yet here you were, trying to send photos of yourself to some stranger you met on a dating site. 

They had asked you for a photo just to see if you were who you said you were. You understood where they were coming from. You just hated that it had to be a photo. You were so nervous over it that you had put on a full face of makeup, put on a different outfit entirely, and even styled your hair. Yet, none of the pictures were good enough to send by your standards. 

Maybe if I try one more shot... you thought to yourself.

You snapped another photo in hopes that it would look somewhat presentable. To your surprise, when you went back to look at it, it was kinda cute. Yeah, your cleavage was pretty obviously showing. But it looked good enough to send. You smirked to yourself. You couldn’t admit it, but you were a little proud of yourself. 

You attached the picture and sent it to the person you’d been talking to. His name was Bill. You weren’t sure how you felt about guys, but you were willing to give any sort of love a try at this point. You quickly sent the picture before you could change your mind. A picture wasn’t enough, so you texted a small blurb so he’d know it was you. It read,

Y/N: hope you like it xx

You dropped your phone next to you before sighing aloud. It took more energy out of you than you thought it would. Hopefully, he wasn’t a catfish or a pervert or something. 

In an instant, you heard your phone ding. Maybe it was Bill. 

You opened your phone to see what he’d sent back. To your surprise, you didn’t get a picture of a man back. 

Instead, it was a picture of a blonde woman. She had on a silk blouse with a few buttons undone. She was beautiful, yet so familiar. The reply read,

Billie: wrong number, sweetheart ;)

It didn’t hit you until you really looked at the picture. A wave of panic washed over you.

“Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck!” you cried out.

You hadn’t sent the picture to Bill. You sent it to Billie, your mom and dad’s friend from high school. You barely knew her, but you always had her number for when your parents would go out of town for business trips during your senior year. How in the hell did you still have her number? You were in college, how had you not thought to delete her number!

You rapidly texted back to send her a message back.

Y/N: omg i’m so sorry, i meant to send this to a boy

Y/N: i put in the wrong contact, i am so so sorry

You nibbled on your thumbnail anxiously as you awaited her reply. 

A ding came from your phone. 

Billie: don’t be sorry, sweetie

Billie: he’s a lucky boy if he’s getting pictures like that 

You found that your cheeks were heating up. Were you blushing? 

Was Billie flirting with you?

Looking down at your phone, you saw a bubble pop up. 

Billie: you look beautiful, y/n

Your body froze up. You struggled to text back.

Y/N: thanks. 

Y/N: you look really nice too

Y/N: like i love that shirt on you

You smacked the palm of your hand to your forehead. 

“I love that shirt on you? Are you FUCKING kidding me?” you thought aloud. 

You held your head in your hands. You used to have a crush on Billie back when you first met her. You remember the smell of her thick perfume and how it lingered when she’d walk past you. Her hands were always soft. When she’d look at you with those dark brown eyes, your little teenage heart would flutter. But that was years ago. You thought you’d gotten over your little crush, but seeing this new picture of her only sparked your feelings up once again. 

Another ding. 

Billie: thank you sweetheart 

Billie: I thought you were into girls?

Billie: At least, that’s what your mom told me 

You pressed your lips together as you tried to think of what to say. 

Y/N: I mean, yeah, I am

Y/N: Idk I wasn’t having any luck finding girls on the dating app I use

Y/N: so i figured that i’d try a guy 

Billie: no girls? that’s a shame. 

Y/N: Yeah, all the girls on the app are a little stingy.

Billie: Maybe that’s the problem? That you’re trying for girls? 

Billie: Perhaps you need a woman instead. 

Your heart nearly stopped. Butterflies filled your stomach as you could feel your veins burning. 

Y/N: what are you implying?

Billie: well, maybe you should just try someone a little older 

Billie: someone more mature would treat you much better

You weren’t sure what to say. You couldn’t tell if she was trying to actively seek you out. Though, you don’t remember your parents telling you that Billie was gay. Maybe she was just trying to give you advice. You took a deep breath before texting back, 

Y/N: maybe. I mean, I don’t know any older women that are interested  

Y/N: but i’ll keep an open mind if i find anyone like that

Billie: ...

Your eyes stayed glued to your phone as you awaited her reply. 

Billie: I’m interested. 

You couldn’t believe what you were reading. You couldn’t bring yourself to type anything back. Was this a prank? Or was she actually being serious? 

You threw your phone to the edge of your bed. Pulling your knees into your chest, you tried to process what was going on. 

This had to be a joke... Right? 

All of a sudden, your phone began to ring. Your heart began to pound against your chest. You glanced up to see who was trying to call you. 

It was Billie. 

Your body felt paralyzed. You couldn’t move a muscle. What were you supposed to do? Face the shame of falling for some cruel jest?

There was a tiny chance that she could actually be meaning all of this. Maybe a two percent chance. Either way, you knew that you couldn’t ignore the call. You picked up your phone and hesitated. The more it rang, the less time you had to decide. Before you could think anymore about it, you touched the answer icon and held the phone to your ear. 

“Hello?” 

“Hey, gorgeous.” Her voice cooed out. You bit your lower lip at the sound of her voice. 

“Hi...” you muttered. You weren’t sure of what else to say. 

“So, did you think about my offer?”

“U-uh, I’m not sure what you mean-”

“Sweetie, I asked you to go out with me.”

You stayed silent. You didn’t dare accept anything until you knew that she was being serious. 

“Y/N? Are you there?”

“Yeah, I’m here... Sorry, I’m just a little overwhelmed.”

“It’s okay, honey, there’s no need to be anxious.” Her voice was smooth, and a little deep. You loved listening to her talk. 

“How about this... I’ll pick you up from your place around eight o’clock. If all goes well, then maybe you can have a drink with me at my apartment. If not, then I won’t ever bother you again. Does that sound fair?”

It took you a moment to process what she was saying. This was all real.

“That sounds perfectly fair.” 

You could hear her chuckling on the other end of the call. 

“Good. Then I’ll be at your place tonight.” 

“Sounds perfect,” you replied. 

“Oh, and Y/N?”

“Yes, Billie?”

“Wear that shirt tonight. I want to see how pretty you look in it in person.” 

You were swooning. This had to be the best day of your life. 

“I will.”

“Wonderful. See you tonight, Y/N.” 

REQUEST MORE HERE!

#billie dean Howard x reader #sarah paulson x reader #billie dean howard #ahs #ahs imagines #American horror story #american horror story imagines #murder house #murder house imagine #requests are open

[bilgisticallykosher]

Selfishness vs. Selfishness Redux

Pre-episode thoughts. I don't think they're going to address the dark side Everybody-already-knew-that thing right away. I'm still thinking Deceit's gonna be Virgil, but I'm also not so certain that's going to wind up going down. Because there's a lot of other stuff to get into. We know from the first Asides that stuff between Virgil and Patton is growing, and simmering. It's coming, and while that's in the future, there's probably going to be more build-up here. Is it that Patton knew about Virgil's past? Is it something else entirely? This is going to be a two hour episode, geez. 

Also, I can't believe he's actually going to the wedding. Idk. All those people saying he got the date wrong, though? First of all, Logan is in charge of the schedule, he'd never let that happen, how dare? And also, I always double check dates and invitations for stuff. I really doubt Virgil wouldn't have looked at the invitation and checked the information again. Watch me be totally wrong now. 

I don't know who I think the cloaked figure is. Could be Deceit ("like a freaking Scooby Doo villain"), could be Thomas himself. Probably not Organization XIII, but I'm not completely eliminating the option, let me have this. 

Things I'd like, but am 99% certain won't happen; Deceit's name (which I'm both hoping and expecting to not start with D), a new side, Remus and Deceit interacting on camera, or really Remus at all. Except for that green score of BOOBS, I maintain that's Remus's contribution. 

ALRIGHT, LET'S GO, I'M NOT READY!!!!

First impression of the thumbnail. You vs. Yourself???? Oh my gosh. Ohhhh, I'm freaking out. Patton looks so apprehensive, and I don't know if that's on general, or because of Roman or in response to Roman, because Roman looks so annoyed at Patton! He's so angry oh my gosh. I mentioned I wasn't ready, right? Okay. Okay. So their sprites are different styles, which is cool. Patton's looks risk-based stroll around town type of RPG, Roman's looks fighting style. 

The options for the character select???? Oh my gosh, that's. Hi, Remus. Anyway, uh, I don't know what this means, but there's three character options on top and- DARK SIDES ARE SEPARATE FROM LIGHT SIDES! Oh gosh, I was thinking maybe it was something to do with specifically Logan. Ooh, Deceit's in his lawyer outfit, nice touch.  THERE'S AN EXTRA BLANK PLAYER OPTION. I don't know if that means he'll be revealed this episode, or just that he exists. I mean, we just had Deceit's logo, Remus's reveal and name reveal… here goes.

IT STARTS WITH THE VIDEO GAME??? THIS IS THE INTRO????? THE WEDDING??????!!!!!!! Oh hey word crush. Oh hey, it's the couple! Starting to think this is a dream or fantasy, btw. Also, Lee and Mary Lee sound like...Esteban and Valerie? Maybe? Idk. Omg, Life is pain. 

This is awkward, beautiful. Pfft, hence the marriage. Photographer is great, no idea who he or the emcee are. Ooh. Crushed. 

INTRO??? EXCUSE ME??? Oh was SvS originally on 3/31? Yeah, good, play a review like all of us haven't been obsessing over what happened last time. "APRIL 13" I'm just going thi pause forever now. Oh this is going to be the angry walk in that was previewed in the bloopers, I can tell. Oh no. OH NO! And it is at night and he seriously freaking actually went to the wedding????

Oh my gosh he's so angry. Ohhh, Patton rethinking his phrasing, nice. You should never→I'm surprised that you etc. Oh Roman! Oh, maybe we should… not review. Oh boy. 

Oh there's Patton's avatar. In then guitar hero thing. Oh, Thomas is associated with the color white, confirmed??? I like how they did the notes there. So much detail. The talk sprites are great, but the expressions on the dancing sprites are worth paying attention to. Okay, Patton's still very, um, defensive, I guess is the word? Thomas is angry and bereft and confused and full of doubt, and Roman's heavily on the confused side (ha) about him aligning with Deceit. This is why he stole his hat. Great animation work, everyone, that was fantastic, artists! 

"Why didn't I just talk to them before the wedding?" THOMAS. Also, because Deceit specifically prevented Logan from being too close to the courtroom scene by benching him and not asking him what his idea of a compromise was. "I brought that up," well, you did, but Deceit kinda made it seem like you were suggesting lying to them, so you got shut down. Sorry, Ro. Listen, I love Deceit, but the boy's a manipulator. 

We learn to predict the future!!! Roman, no. Woah, Patton's just being completely dismissive. I mean he's been through some hard times the last few episodes, minus LNTAO, but damn. Oh. Roman's very much defending Patton. This forebodes very badly. This is going to explode terribly. Oh no. 

Okay, so, the thing with the feral cats. Is Roman okay? Did someone do this to him? More importantly, did he do this to me? Also, on a serious note, I'm super shocked Deceit hasn't come in yet, because he (and Thomas, and arguably Patton) is obviously regretting going to the wedding. I mean, Virgil's not coming in right away because of the reveal at the end of DWIT, but- hey where's Logan?! Logan and Deceit should both totally be here! *gasp* Except in the one on one episodes (Heart vs. Mind, My Negative Thinking, Logince; the argument) it's always primarily been the two sides that are featured with the others either not there or off-screen or making small cameos. But Deceit was and is an important part of this decision past, present, and going forward! 

Oooh, I like the Lee and Mary Lee backstory. Hm. Patton does bring good points, but. I still agree with- oh, Thomas just solidly saying no made me snort. Okay, so speaking of the coin bleeping, why the video games? I know there's more to come with it, how do they come into play? Oh okay metaphor. 

That was clearly not the good ending, Roman. Bringing up Is Thomas A Good Person again. OOH xylophone, is he a-comin'? Oh he's directly blaming Patton. Wow, Roman. 

A BAGEL?! Oh, game sssssssstore. Really? Frogger, Pat? 16 graphics. Oh there's the hotdogs. OH and there's the cloaked guy! Smashing our theories. That does not seem like Sondheim. 

The puns, oh my gosh, brilliant. Getting to the meat of them here. Gosh these graphics are fantastic. 6AM dull. 

Oh. Hm. Technically, he does not have to give him the 'dog. The building tension is fascinating. 

HI, LOGAN! Patton looking real uncomfortable at "regret." I mean, they all know they regret it now, right? Roman making fun of behoove, that's so funny, I have no idea why. Seriously, whoever's doing the art, I'm dying at Logan's expressions. Woah good thing viewers have the pause button. I'm all for not buying X-mas decorations. I'm doing my part, goyim. 

I'm counting "it's not like Kingdom Hearts" in lieu of that having been Organization XIII. Oh boy, Patton. Right thing vs. Feeling good vs. Feeling good about doing the right thing. This is falling apart. Patton's noise. 

BOOBS omg Deceit is Bowser. I love that painting in the background! Scutes! Time went from limited to being lost to poorly spent to wasted! I'm standing by the purple being Virgil. Fyi, in Judaism, doing a good thing for the wrong reasons doesn't matter, because you're still doing the good thing, even if it's just for the reward. There's a thing about it with Avraham and a King.

Roman's getting close to breaking. Reptilian rapscallian guy. And who's to say he can't be doing it for the reward and to help people? 

"... an individual's happiness and the amount of selfless acts…" that should be number, not amount, Logan! Can't judge good deeds only by how good you feel when you do them. 

Okay, here we go. How do we know what's Right? Killing and stealing is illegal everywhere, yes, Thomas, what are you doing, Thomas???

Oh my gosh, not the trolley problem. They're referring to Deceit as Denial and Roman as Passion! Oh gosh, that looks like Joan, Talyn, Dot, Valerie, and Terrence, and Leo by himself, maybe? Oh geez, I jolted. Logan index carding for trolley problem. 

Unus Annus is right, the trolley problem is stupid. Oh my gosh, Logan's giant wall of text physically pushing Patton back, I spit all over my screen. Skip All. 

Roman's… blaming himself? Oh!!! Are we getting Roman's insecure arc???!!! This is a complex issue, and Patton's having a hard time backing down, and everyone's feeling bad.

Scared?! I hear music! NO. Why is he scared, oh my gosh?????? That's not a tired metaphor. Oh! I've heard of hypoxia! It was hypothesized (and disproven) to be the reason for a specific Bermuda Triangle incident. 

Good point, Logan. Regarding theory and in the moment instincts. Remus mention with intrusive thoughts! Shocked that Logan is arguing for leisure time. Logan's self satisfied smirk at the self-sacrifice. GLITCHY! Oh he's a frog. Lilypadton. 

Oh my gosh I'm getting so stressed. Yes, thank you, Logan for the scream. I… don't. The conscientious comment. No, it's not. This seems… Deceit-y. IT IS! SHARP SIDE OH MY GOSH! Oh, he didn't rise up, he popped out in the freaking dialogue box, NO, FRICK IT WAS RIGHT THERE! And the Nietzsche and the specific examples that he used!!! I'm so angry! I DIDN'T THINK HE'D TAKE LOGAN'S PLACE AGAIN! I MISSED THE SIGNS! 

Hey guys, look, it's Deceit. Bull… frog. Lord of the lies. Oh! 8-bit Deceit theme. Okay, the first thing Deceit said about him not doing it on purpose was nice, but yeah, those words striking him is accurate. Yeesh, harsh. 

Is Patton eating his own words? Oh, uh, is anyone going to acknowledge he hit Thomas? Is that telling of the situation instead of just being a funny background event? 

The crick in Thomas's neck is so funny. SNAKES ON THE PLANE!!! ...Hm. Happy that he brought that up. Oh my gosh, Deceit's spluttering, he's like so bad at things sometimes, I love it. 

Logan! No, don’t do that, everybody appreciates you! Double curse? Pffffft, Logan. Deceit…definitely smiling at Logan's logic. Deceit is interesting here. Oh wow, yikes. He's really fascinating here. Legitimately complimentary? Oh, no, kind of not, maybe. Roman looks distressed.

"...Trees?" Roman's super pumped up. Good for him! Ha, his imitation. Deceit looking confused? Patton looking all sorts of things, I really think that Deceit is being genuine here- NAME?! I'D THIS HAPPENING? Why is he stripping? His, no, what does his glove have to do with his name? 

………. Janice? Did he say Jenus or Janice. It sounded like Janice. Deceit. No. Oh, burn, Roman. Damn, he almost got me. His name is not Janice. No. It's not. Don't even. Deceit was being so straight(ha)forward for the past couple of minutes. Awww, Roman. Insecurity addressing time? Wait, why is Deceit nodding at the hero thing? His lip is trembling, his voice is cracking and oh no! Roman just sank out.

Don't call him Janice, that's not his name. Oh he's being genuine again. Patton's talking about himself. WAIT WHAT. He had a five second cameo, omg. 

Yeah, those are the easier questions. No, Deceit, bad Deceit. Man, his facial expressions in this episode. Fractionally fiendish fibber. Oh, I like the reasons for Deceit being a part of him! That's… cute? Oddly cute, maybe. So, freaking how far in the future is the Asides? 

Stop calling him Janice, that's not his name. Oh, Deceit and Thomas bonding. That snort, oh my gosh. Oh, serious Deceit again! That reaction to "you're right" is oddly similar to that fake laugh at the end of Embarrassing Phases. 

………. Virgil's not here yet. His reveal isn't being addressed. Accepting Deceit. That's why he's so pissed at Patton in Asides. The next episode proper they're going to reveal that Deceit's accepted, more or less, and Patton was a big part of that, hugely changing his mind, that's why he's so pissed at him!!!

April 30th? Oh is this Lee and Mary Lee? I was wrong on the voices. Door-yelling! Hm. I mean. It's nice that they're acknowledging him, but I really don't think that sways the situation one way or another. Cute more background, and Thomas being awkward. They. This could have been instead of the wedding. Kingdom Hearts again! 

Oh hi, Patton and Deceit. He seems annoyed at the situation. Patton and Deceit bonding. Hi again, Leslie. Wild. 

This video really didn't go at all how I thought it would. Roman was barely miffed at Patton. Oh man, this was intense. I. Oh man. I need to process a lot. But I think we're on the right path, here. Janice is not his name!

Okay, I went on tumblr and two seconds in, I saw Janus, which I looked up and that makes way more sense. Another, more condensed post to follow. And several thousand reblogs.

#roman sanders #ts spoilers #janus sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #virgil sanders #remus sanders #svs redux #character!thomas #sanders sides #new video reaction

[fart-gate]

SG1

Season 4 episode 8

"THE FIRST ONES"

Notes by me

- the thumbnail is a lizard man

- the BANDANA

- archeologist! Daniel

- "sg11, archeologist survey, P3X 888, dig site 5" is it bad i thought it was sexy when he did this

- I paused it on the fossil and it looks like it had wings???

- Cleo lol

- so the goaulds werent parasites a few million yrs ago. Good to know

- robert rothman is bossy as hell

- old goaulds did NOT have naquada in their dna

"Thats significant"

"How so?"

"I have no idea"

💖💖💖💖

- 🎵sometimes I feel like...somebodys WATCHIN MEEEE🎵

- omg Daniel one punch and your down. Need to have more combat training with tealc buddy

- Daniel gets kidnapped YET AGAIN

- rothman yelling for Daniel was nice actually

- an unas!!! From the viking episode

- hopefully this one doesnt sound like james earl jones

- sg1 said oh Daniel in trouble? I already have my boots on lets go

- P3X 888 is where the goaulds originated? Didnt we already try looking for a homeworld?

- I thought the unas growling was Daniel snoring for like a hot sec ok im tired leave me alone

- apparently nobody likes rothman and yeah i get it hes annoying

- tealc is lead on this one! Master tracker

- "rest!....it means.......rest"

- "grrrrr rest" the stargate programs professional linguist everyone

- love Daniel just talking to himself

- "yes! Very refreshing! ok im good for the next ten miles"

- his eyes are piercingly blue for my pleasure only

- forest sets are my favorite btw

- 2 moons thats so cool why doesnt earth have 2 moons we're missin out

- why does he have 2 phones???

- oh its a recorder

- daniel recording himself: this creature has dragged me around for hours and wants to eat me. But other wise we've become great pals < 3

- "juvanile" he got kidnapped by a teenager akdndjd

- im sorry his eyes are so distracting

- OKAY OKAY when it growls at him and he puts his head down to be submissive hhhhrrrrnnnngggggg

- SHE SPEAKS!

- daniel could make friends with a rat and it would show him all their rat friends and rat culture. I got away with that metaphor but you know what I mean. He could make friends with anything

- I just CANT get over how pretty he looks in this ep??? You thought I wouldnt keep talkin about it??? U were wrong

- this unas whole costume is so cool

- daniel: *tries to drink by dipping face in water*

Unas: what were you raised in a barn?? Use your hands idiot

- how is he swimming with his hands tied

- that goauld came at him like a torpedo

- ok! The unas said you get goauld guts all over your face for being an idiot

- ka means no

- well now hes gonna be wet forever (👀)

- is hawkins the leader of sg11?

- of course Jack sits RIGHT next to the goauld infested lake!!! Of course!!

- ah my favorite. Spit roasted parasite

- needs salt

- unas: this is my cave

Daniel: LOVE what youve done with the place

- hot potato with a goauld head ajdjs

- "yes yes all the kids are playing this these days OOPS in the fire!"

- at least he made him laugh

- why every time one culture shares food with earth its always chocolate?? Why not idk fuckin??? Pringles???

- oh its a cliff bar

- alright. He didnt have to sexually moan while eating a cliff bar BUT he sure did

- this unas is very curious

- "I met my father in law like this" OOF movie reference

- btw the guy that plays the unas?? Amazing 10/10

- ah shit hawkins has a GOUALD!!!!

- the unas have cave drawings ooooo

- daniel recording himself: me and the unas are besties now

Unas: *draws picture of him dragging Daniel to his doom*

Daniel : ......nevermind

- can tealc sense the goauld in the lake?

- when he shoots it out of the air. Invented sexy

- Sam can only sense the ones with naquada!!! This is really cool plot

- jaffa are unblendable. I wonder if the other guy that was immune had what jaffa have

- daniel about to kill him with a large rock and then his chaotic morals take charge again

- btw no glasses Daniel has been here for almost the whole ep

- "its been a hoot"

- WHEN HE PUTS HIS HEAD DOWN 👀👀👀👀👀👀

- "anybody with a snake in their heads, raise your hand!"

- see!?!?! Tealc with the plans im tellin ya

- rothman too damn.

- that guy pronouncing goauld like "goo-ahld" ????

- "this way" *points to a sign that says 'this way'

- hurry up!! Daniel about to get consumed by reptilians!!

- aw hes protecting him!

- Daniel speak Big Lizard Man language now

- "we've communicated, we're friends!"

- LIZARD BRAWL

- KING LIZARD BOY!!!

- "dan-yeeeell??" Oh no oh no I'm crying he wants to keep him

- "sha-ah-ka" he liked Daniel bc Daniel said the word for their moon god ok I get it now

- "whats that mean?"

"I have no idea....but I think ive just been invited to come back one day and find out" 💖😭 best friends with lizard people

~

Whump under the cut

Daniel jackson whump: knocked out,dragged, kidnapped, waking up,hands tied, out of breathe, collapsing, flinching, exausted, leg swiped, fell over onto back, cut on face, bloody cheek, fear, more flinching, noises!, almost sacrificed to lizard ppl

BONUS:

Jack and sam whump: hands tied, less than 10 min

🤓no glasses!Daniel for 99% of episode!

🎶listening to Youve Got A Friend In Me by Randy Newman🎶 bc Daniel and the Unas are besties and I think im funny

#stargate season 4 #no glasses!daniel #daniel whump season 4

[the-smartest-mallard]

Please just listen (’cause I don’t ask for much)

SUMMARY: In which Huey meets his dad NOTES: lots of angst but it’s sweet in the end. also idk who to tag in this but big thank u to lena who writes the most excellent long lost father lmao

HUEY:

Ooooh Huey couldn’t believe he’d done this. Huey could not believe he had done this and he hadn’t even told his brothers and oh, they were gonna kill him, when they found out about this (which they would, inevitably, because they were brothers and brothers had a way of just Knowing, it was a wonder Huey had kept this up in the first place—) they were gonna use the books in his room to beat him to death and he would probably deserve it, too, for being a crappy brother. 

And yet, he couldn’t bring himself to turn around. Even though he thought about it, several times, and he checked over his shoulder to see if there was anyone there, make his escape like he had never ever been there at all...

It had taken a few hours and a few trains to get back to Duckberg, but Huey had made it. His palms had sweated the entire way there and though he’d tried listening to a podcast to pass the time, he wasn’t sure he had heard any of it. He had the address written on a piece of paper, printed in his neat script, but he had it memorised by now. Not that he would throw the paper away, just in case it fell out of his head, never to be remembered again.

Huey had gotten off the train in Duckberg and had considered turning around and getting back on a train, back to Swynlake; he could be home in a few hours and it would be like he had never left at all. He did, in fact, have his return journey booked — he had known he wouldn’t be able to get away with staying the night, and besides… what if his dad didn’t want him to stay the night?

Yes, his dad. Every so often Huey allowed himself to think about it. Allowed himself to be excited: I’m gonna meet my dad, not just see him in a photo, see him for real, my own father! And then it was immediately followed with doubt. What if he doesn’t want to see me? And guilt. Why didn’t I tell Dewey and Louie? What will Uncle Donald think, when he finds out?

Huey took a deep breath, and looked at the door. The house was a perfectly ordinary house, on a perfectly normal street, in a perfectly normal neighbourhood, which for some reason wasn’t what he had expected. He wasn’t sure what he had expected, but it certainly wasn’t this, suburbia at its finest.

Huey twitched, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He knew what Mei would do, if she were here: she would knock, no hesitation. Though why it mattered what Mei would do was beyond Huey, because she wasn’t here. She knew who her father was. Though admittedly, it had been very nice of her to cover for him — maybe he should have brought her along.

No, no, he needed to do this. Before he could lose courage again Huey surged forward, rapping his knuckles against the door in three quick knocks before he took a step back. There was no immediate response, and as the seconds ticked by, Huey got antsy again. He should leave. Obviously there was no one in. Maybe he had the address wrong. Yeah, that was probably right. He was in the wrong place entirely, silly him! Okay, better head back to the train station, get a cup of tea and wait a while—

When the door swung open Huey blinked, mouth falling open a little, the intention to speak there but no words coming out.

“Um— sorry. Hi. I’m— I’m Huey.”

IWAN:

Iwan Drake lived a perfectly normal suburban life. In the morning he would get up early to make coffee and ready breakfast for himself and his wife who was running on little sleep with the new baby waking them both up at every hour of the night. Life was pretty good for Iwan Drake as he readied himself for a relaxing weekend at home. The routine was the same, so he was up and about the house early, cleaning up, sipping at his coffee and settling in front of the tv to watch the news.

Neither he nor his wife had expected any visitors. In fact, Iwan had nestled himself comfortably on the couch by the time the doorbell rang. His wife had just settled next to him to feed little Richard when it happened, and the baby made a little wail of a noise. “Don’t worry darling, I’ve got it,” Iwan said, getting to his feet and making his way over to the door. 

He opened it wide, ready to tell some solicitor that he didn’t want to buy any of their products. But instead of a solicitor, it was a boy. A boy with very familiar looking curls stood in front of him. It was unmistakable. After all, Iwan knew how he’d looked as a boy. There was no denying that the boy in front of him looked a great deal like he had. Besides the eyes. Those eyes came directly from Ella.

“Huey?” He echoed, voice cracking a little as he almost reached out as if to prove to himself that the boy was real. This wasn’t a hallucination. One of his boys was standing in front of his door and introducing himself to him. Iwan had always hoped he’d be able to see his boys again, but he didn’t think it would be like this. “Honey? Who’s at the door?” 

The man took a breath and let it out again, carefully scanning over Huey as if to see just how he’d grown and how time had passed since he’d held the boy in his arms. “It’s my son. It’s...one of the boys.” He’d told his wife about them, of course. They’d had a long conversation about whether or not to try and reach out and gain custody again. Iwan wished for it. He wanted to be able to take care of his kids properly. He resented the fact that Donald had never helped him to figure things out, he’d just taken the boys and decided to raise them on his own. It hurt. It hurt to see Huey for the first time in so many years. 

“Come….why don’t you come in Huey?” 

HUEY:

The door opened and it reminded him of that weird Harry Potter dream, of looking into the Mirror of Erised and seeing himself all grown up. Oh, for sure, Huey had the right house. The man in front of might as well have been a fourth triplet, for all he looked like Huey and his brothers.

Huey didn’t know what to do. He wanted to step forward and hug him, he wanted to turn around and run. Part of him wanted to yell, which was strange cause Huey was never really an angry person, but then again when it came to his brothers, sometimes he was. He wanted to demand an answer. He wanted to know where his dad had been all these years.

The call from inside the house drew his eyes away, over his dad’s shoulder, and Huey blinked, the only outward sign of him freezing up like a deer in the headlights, or something - there was someone else inside the house. A woman. A honey. Suddenly Huey felt tears prick at his eyes and he didn’t exactly know why but he felt like he was intruding. He should leave. This was a mistake — he needed to go.

But then Iwan invited him in, and Huey, mouth dry and hands shaking, just a little, didn’t know what else to do.

“O-okay.” He nodded, stepping past his dad into the house.

IWAN: 

It was still a sight to behold, and Iwan was reeling because of it. One of his boys! Iwan never thought he’d get the chance to see them again. He’d tried to get in touch with Donald before. Honestly, he’d tried to communicate with the man before he’d taken the kids in too, but hadn’t worked out well. So to see one of his kids nearly fully grown and okay was....jarring.

“Huey, this is my wife Angela. Angela this is…this is Huey,” he said, a small smile on his face. “And of course there’s also little Richard.” He introduced the baby, even though he wouldn’t be able to do anything to greet Huey. It was the principle of it really. They were half-brothers. Angela was still nursing Richard, and Iwan was at a loss of what to do...what to say. Where to even begin with this.

So he went to the kitchen and quickly filled two glasses of water, setting one down at the dinner table. “Here, come sit lad. I’m sorry I’m not very...I don’t know…” he was admittedly a little frazzled. “How are the boys? Dewey and...and Louie,” he asked, though he wasn’t sure if he was even allowed to do that much. “Are you well? I’m sure your uncle has been taking good care of you...hasn’t he?”

HUEY:

The wife and the baby made Huey want to shout Sorry! and run out of the door, run all the way back to Swynlake, cause he was intruding wasn’t he? He should have tried to call, or something, he should have reached out first rather than showing up…

“It’s nice to meet you.” He told Angela, sounding a little hollow and blinking owlishly, but ever the good, polite boy his uncle had raised him to be. He looked at the baby again and then glanced quickly away, looking at his dad— at least he seemed just as confused as Huey felt.

Huey went to the kitchen when he was told to, sitting down in one of the chairs and taking the glass that was offered. He didn’t drink from it, just wrapped his hands around it and tapped his thumbnail against the glass, looking at his dad like he was afraid to look away, lest he disappear again.

“They’re— they’re fine.” He nodded. Now his throat felt dry, but still he didn’t move the glass. “Uncle Donald— yeah. He looks after us. We, um. We live with Uncle Seamus. It’s a farm, it’s— it’s good.”

He swallowed thickly, looking at the glass again. “My brothers— Uncle Donald— they don’t know I’m here. I didn’t. Um. I didn’t want them to know. What I was doing.” The words were beginning to tumble out of his mouth, faster and faster. “But then I found your address and I didn’t know what to do with it and my friend told me I should come and I think it’s the first time I’ve ever come this far on my own, like, without any of them knowing, and maybe I should have called first, I don’t know, I just— I couldn’t stop thinking about it so I thought I had to come and— and here I am. So.” He looked at his dad again, blinking a few times. “Yeah.”

IWAN: 

“I’m glad you came,” Iwan said first, wanting to make it quite clear that no matter how awkward this situation was (and it was certainly that), he wasn’t upset that the boy had turned up. Iwan had spent a lot of time debating over getting into contact with the boys and with Donald. But remembering the past and the custody debates...it was a difficult thing to try to reach out to their guardian.

Dozens of questions were bubbling up, though Iwan was careful not to just throw them out there. Huey had to be overwhelmed enough. After all, this was the first they’d seen each other since he was a baby. And now here Iwan was with a new wife and baby. It...well he knew it was a strange thing. But Iwan had recovered eventually, and he had found himself new happiness after losing Ella and his kids.

Iwan took a breath and let it out again, managing a small smile. “You know, you ramble just like your mother used to. I wonder…” he seemed to be lost in thought for a long moment before he drew himself back into the moment and the conversation. “I suppose you might have as many questions for me as I have for you. Are you hungry? We can go grab a bite and talk privately. I know Angela and the baby will be alright for a little while.”

HUEY:

I’m glad you came, his dad said, and Huey didn’t know if he was going to cry or not. He blinked a few times, willing away any tears that would well up, because he wasn’t going to cry today. He wasn’t going  to panic, and he wasn’t going to give up, and he most certainly want going to cry. All of the emotions crackling under his skin (and there were so, so many, joy and anger and hurt and confusion and so many more, all right there, squabbling for attention) were pushed deep down, where he could deal with them later, back in the safety of his own bedroom.

Huey was still blushing a little from the minor rampage he had gone on — sometimes it was like he just couldn’t stop the words coming out of his mouth. He wasn’t even sure where he came from, cause half the time, when he really got to rambling, his thoughts were so scattered he wasn’t sure how he articulated them at all. The words were just there, falling out of his mouth… but maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. At least, not if he shared it with his mum.

It was strange though — the mention of his mother. It wasn’t like Huey had forgotten about her, of course not, but… well. There was nothing to be done there, was there? His dad, Huey had known, was still out there somewhere. Real, alive, traceable. Living now with a new family, and for a second it felt strange for his dad to bring her up, as if there were no years, no distance between them, and they were reminiscing together. But before it could get awkward, the moment was over, and Huey was glad of it. He wouldn’t have known what to say.

“I… I would like that. Yeah.” He was almost afraid to glance into the living room, to admit that he was a stranger, intruding on a new life. He looked to his dad instead and nodded, a few errant curls falling into his eyes. “I, um— I have a train to catch. In a few hours. But food — and talking — would be good.”

IWAN:

Iwan nodded, moving toward the entryway to where he could grab a coat, glancing over at his wife to make sure once more that she was okay with him going. One short nod and he was able to bundle himself up, glancing over at the boy to make sure that he had something warm enough for outside.

It was a strange moment, though Iwan didn’t let this deter him from leading his son toward the well liked pizza place down the street. He would love to be able to spoil the kid and all, but money was a little tight, and he wasn’t even sure that Huey would appreciate going overboard yet either. They were still feeling each other out after all.

The man held open the door to the place he liked, gesturing for Huey to go in. “I hope you’re okay with pizza. Worst comes to worst you can take some leftover for your train ride. If it’s a long one.” Iwan didn’t even know where it was his son had come from. Back in the day the kid had lived in Duckberg too, but clearly it wasn’t the same now. He wouldn’t have a clue as to where Donald had decided to move them all. 

Iwan’s focus went right back on Huey as soon as the waiter had them seated. “There now. This’ll be better won’t it? I’ll admit I’m not sure where to begin...so perhaps if you have any questions, or anything you’d like to get off your chest…”

HUEY:

Huey walked alongside his dad, sneaking glances at him from the corners of his eyes as if he was worried he would disappear. And to be honest, it was a genuine worry. He wasn’t even sure any of this was real, maybe his dad was just an illusion. Maybe he was a dream, maybe all of this was a dream and any second his dad would just disappear into thin air, or in a puff of smoke, and Huey would never see him again.

If it was a dream, though, it was a very good one. Huey nodded mutely when Iwan asked if pizza was alright; he had no appetite whatsoever, but he was a teenage boy, so he’d eat pretty much anything that was put in front of him. “It’s. It’s not too far of a journey, um— I had to change trains, in London, but it’s not so bad. We live in Swynlake. The magic friendly town? Near Wiltshire.”

How had his dad not known that? Surely Uncle Donald must have told him as much; or then again, maybe he hadn’t told their dad anything at all. Maybe that was why their dad had never been in touch, because he hadn’t even known where to begin, but then that didn’t sound very much like Uncle Donald. And anyway, Huey was a sixteen year old boy and he’d been able to find his father’s address (sure, it had been slightly illegal, but he’d still done it), so really Huey didn’t know what to think.

Questions. Things to get off his chest. Huey was quite literally biting his tongue to keep on word-vomiting all over the table, but then he was given permission, and what else could he do? He watched the waiter’s retreating back and then looked at his dad, his lip trembling a little as he began. “Why didn’t you get in contact with us? Why didn’t you fight harder for us in the first place? Does— does Uncle Donald keep you updated, or something,” He was rambling again, tears in his eyes, now, but he kept his hands tucked beneath the table. “because he mustn’t, right, cause if he did you would know more about me, about us, wouldn’t you? Why didn’t you try harder?”

IWAN: 

Iwan had expected it to get awkward. And he had expected it to be uncomfortable. It had been years since he’d seen his son. Of course the kid would have a lot of questions. And not all of them would be easy to answer. Though he was doing a lot better now, Iwan still carried a lot of guilt with him. The most guilt came from not having been strong enough to take care of his kids when he should have. 

“I’m sorry Huey,” Iwan said first, tempted to look down rather than face his son’s hurt head on. But he had done enough damage in the past. Even if he hadn’t meant to do it. “I did fight for you. For all three of you. I...it was a difficult time for me. I’m not trying to make you sympathize, but just help you understand what was happening.” Iwan knew that he had screwed up. He knew it, but he still felt a little betrayed by Ella’s brother. Though the two of them hadn’t been married for very long, it had been an important relationship to Iwan, and losing her had really devastated him.  

There were times where he wondered why Donald wasn’t as devastated. Or how he was able to overcome it better. “I was grieving your mother. I’ll admit, I took it very hard. She was the first love of my life. And even now I sometimes think about the way she would smile or ramble on…” Iwan sighed and shook his head. This wasn’t all about his love story.

“In any case, I was grieving and really struggling with that and with you boys. Donald came in one day and I had done nothing for you. I know. I know I failed as a parent there. I was a complete mess. But somehow I thought...well heck, we’re still family. Donald’s here, maybe we’ll find a way to work through it all.” This idea clearly hadn’t worked out. He didn’t need to say more for Huey to recognize that. “The fight for custody was long and ugly to me, and I couldn’t justify myself being your guardian over your uncle. I was a mess. But even when he won custody I thought I’d have the chance to see you. I am your dad after all. I thought maybe when I was more put together he’d let me see you kids. That we could talk about it.” 

Iwan’s vision blurred for a moment and he had to wipe his eyes quickly to keep himself from crying. “I don’t know. It’s like after your mother died, your uncle and I couldn’t really communicate. I was a drunk mess half the time...and you kids were put in the best place that you could be.” He leaned forward to study Huey carefully. “You guys really are doing well right? Your uncle giving you what you need?”

HUEY:

Huey hadn’t thought about that. About his mother, and how that might have affected his dad. In truth, he didn’t think about his mother too much, which was maybe a bad thing, but… he didn’t remember her. And he knew there was no getting her back. His dad, though, their dad — That was a different story.

Huey tried to think of what Uncle Donald had told them about Iwan. He tried to set the two stories out side by side, looking for the bias, but it was difficult. He loved Uncle Donald, he had raised him and his brothers, he had always been like their father, and yet this was his father, sitting right in front of him, and it didn’t seem fair, if it was true.

But how did Huey know that it was true?

“We’re— fine.” He nodded. “He looks after us. Uncle Seamus, too.” 

Huey paused. He could keep asking questions, but he felt like he had to do something else. He took his phone out of his pocket and opened the camera roll, opening up a photo of he, Louie and Dewey from not too long ago. He slid the phone across the table, fingertips resting against the tabletop.

“That’s us. That’s Dewey,” he pointed. “And Louie. They don’t know that I’m here. Nobody, um— nobody does. Except my friend. So. That’s probably kinda dangerous, you could’a been anyone, but anyway— that’s us. We’re fine.”

He paused, the photo still there, three smiling faces looking up. “Did you think about us? Ever?”

IWAN: 

“Good. That’s good.” Iwan had never felt good about being cut off from them completely. Not knowing how his boys were doing or if Donald gave them what they needed properly was...well it was hard. At least Huey was able to tell him that things were going okay. Iwan had looked him over, of course. He wanted to be sure that he was doing well enough. Not that everything could be seen on the surface level, but he seemed well fed and everything.

Iwan leaned forward a little so that he could get a good look at the boy’s phone. There they were. All three boys almost all grown up. It was hard to believe. And it made him wish, as he had many times in the past, that Ella was still around to appreciate it. Still, Iwan was lucky enough to be able to see it, and that was important to note.

“Of course I did. I still do,” Iwan replied softly, smiling down at the picture before he leaned back a little. “When Angela got pregnant it was all I could think about really. Whether I could be a good dad to this kid if I’d failed my boys. If I even deserved this kind of happiness...I’ve thought a great deal about you. And I know I always will.” They were his kids, even if he didn’t get to raise them. Of course Iwan would think about them.

HUEY:

The photo made Huey feel twitchy, because all of a sudden it dawned on him: his brothers didn’t know about this. His brothers hadn’t agreed to this, who was huey to tell this man, even if he was their father, all about them, without them even knowing—

He stifled his discomfort by reaching for the phone, clicking it off so the screen went black, the picture gone. He slipped his hands into his lap, the phone held carefully between them, his knee bopping up and down in a fast, fidgety rhythm. 

“Why didn’t you try to find us? Contact us?” Huey asked. Sure it was a heartbreaking story, him worrying about not being a good enough dad, etc etc, but— “I’m a sixteen year old with a computer and I found you. I mean— I guess it was kind of illegal. You could probably have me arrested, I had to, um, back a few websites. But that’s not the point you’re… a grown up. With money.”

“Although I guess— I don't know. Maybe if you’d showed up, we — I don’t know what my brothers would have done.” Would they be angry, or excited? He wasn’t sure, honestly. He would’ve been wary, he knew that, so maybe it had to be this way. He was meant to find his dad, not the other way round.

“Is there—“ Huey cleared his throat, looking at his dad. “Is there anything you want to ask me? Anything else, I guess.”

IWAN:

Iwan took a deep breath and let it out again. “I had no legal right to do it.” That was the simple answer. The more complicated one was that the custody battle between Iwan and Donald had been incredibly ugly, and by the end of it, rather than them coming to a reasonable decision regarding the boys, Iwan had lost all of his rights to the boys: visitation, any of it. He wasn’t allowed to see them or look into them. Up until this point, he had been writing letters to Donald, hoping that maybe they could change things now that he was financially and emotionally stable. The man never responded to his letters.

The pizza chose that moment to appear before them, though Iwan was finding himself with a lot less appetite than he might have had before. Ah well. He’d just pass as much of it along with Huey when he went home and eat the rest later. Iwan reluctantly took a slice and sighed. “I’m not sure what your uncle has told you about the custody agreement. If he’s told you anything about it at all. But I lost all of my rights to you boys. I didn’t get the chance to have anything close to visitation rights. If I came near you I would imagine your uncle would have taken me to court again.” An awful enough experience the first time. He wasn’t sure he could handle another round with his ex brother-in-law. 

He glanced Huey over and nodded slightly. “I do. What do you like to do? Do you have a favorite subject in school? Do your brothers? Do you boys get along with each other? I’d...well I’d like to know as much about you and them as I can.”

HUEY:

Huey didn’t know that, because Iwan was right; Uncle Donald never told them anything. He never really talked about it, and sometimes Huey didn’t like to ask because, as curious as he was, sometimes he felt guilty for thinking about his birth parents. Uncle Donald had done such a good job, and he was still doing a good job — three toddlers couldn’t have been easy, and Huey really doubts three teenagers was even remotely better, but still. It wasn’t like they didn’t have a nice home and a family and stuff. 

But he did want to know. He wanted to know the whole story. And his appetite didn’t suffer a single bit, because even if he was nervous and a little nauseous, he was a teenage boy. Nothing came between him and free food. He chewed the end of a piece of pizza as Iwan spoke, his eyes wide as he took in the details Uncle Donald had never told him.

It sounded… ugly. Messy. No wonder Uncle Donald hadn’t wanted to talk about it, although… well, all Huey knew was that he wouldn’t have minded a little contact with his father over the years, even if it was fairly limited. He doubted it would have made him love his Uncle any less. It definitely would have helped him to understand where he came from, who he was, just a little more.

“Uh…” Huey swallowed his bite of pizza and began picking at the cheese as he thought about all those questions. “I read a lot. And explore a lot. Me and Dewey sometimes explore together. My favourite subject is probably chemistry, but I like school, I guess? So my favourite subject changes a lot. I don’t know about Dewey but Louie’s is probably de—” He stopped himself shoving some cheese in his mouth. Detention was probably only a funny joke if Louie was in the room. “We get along. I try to look after them, burden of being the oldest. I didn’t… I didn’t tell them I was coming here cause I knew they would want to come, and if they came and they got their hopes up and then you wouldn’t see us, or you weren’t what they were expecting, and it crushed them that would— it would have been my fault.” He was rambling again, so he shoved a little more cheese in his mouth to force him to take a pause. “And I didn’t want to do that to them.”

IWAN:

Iwan nodded, slowly taking a bite of pizza himself and sighing. He understood not wanting to tell family about meeting him. Honestly if he were in that position, Iwan would likely have done the same thing. It was protecting family. And as a father he would want the boys protected too, no matter how that worked. He hoped he’d get to meet Dewey and Louie eventually. He definitely did. But perhaps they could ease into it somehow. If he could try to get in touch with Donald once again.

“I understand. I don’t blame you for wanting to protect them.” Iwan smiled and took another bite of his pizza, chewing quickly before adding, “you did a very brave thing here Huey. I hope you know that.” Iwan was proud of the kid for putting in the effort. Even if it was awkward, even though he hadn’t known how it would go. Huey had done it. That was amazing. “What do you want to do from here? I’d like to get to know you better...and your brothers if they want to. I can give you my number perhaps? Something to keep in touch?”

HUEY:

Huey didn’t know that it was brave. Stupid, maybe. Selfish. Both of those and more, and if and when his brothers found out… when his uncle found out…

This had probably been a bad idea.

But Huey looked across the table at his dad and he couldn’t bear to regret it. He had wanted to meet his dad, and now he had. He wanted to know his dad. His brothers would come first, they always would, but his dad… he wasn’t as bad as Huey had thought he would be, what he had always expected. Some deadbeat, couldn’t look after his kids, didn’t want to. He wasn't perfect, sure, but neither was Huey, or Uncle Donald, or anyone.

“You can give me your number,” Huey nodded, swallowing another bite of pizza. He reached for his bag, pulling open the front pocket to produce a small notepad and a pen. “I’ll, um. I’ll text you, later. I need to tell my brothers first and then… then we can see. But I—“ Huey shifted in his seat — he’d been a fidgety kid, ants in his pants, eager to get away from the table and keep on going and the urge had never left him, “I-I would like to get to know you better too. Dad.”

IWAN:

A smile spread across Iwan’s face at that. He had been hopeful, of course he had. Hopeful but unsure whether their meeting now had shown Huey enough, if his son had enough with just this one face to face meeting. He didn’t want it to be enough. Largely because Iwan didn’t feel as if he had enough time to talk to his boy. And he wanted to get to know Huey. He wished he could get to know all three of his boys, but he would have to be patient on that front.

“Of course. You know where to find me now too. If you need anything...let me know.” He leaned over to carefully write his name and then his number down on the notepad that Huey had on him. It was smart of him to be so prepared, and he couldn’t help but be a little bit proud. He hadn’t done much to contribute to that, but his kid was smart. It made him feel a little better. One of his sons was just fine. The others he hoped would be doing okay as well.

Iwan nodded, gently pushing the notepad back toward Huey. “Now that we’re aware of each other, I think that will be fairly easy to do. How much time do you have? I don’t want you to get in trouble at home.”

HUEY:

Huey took the notepad back, glancing briefly at his dad’s handwriting, knowing he was going to end up obsessing about it a little as he made his way back home. Was it like his? Was it different? But never mind; for now he slipped it back into his backpack, zipping it up tight and patting it from the outside to make sure that it was settled and correct. 

“I have— about an hour.” Huey decided, looking at his watch. He probably had about an hour and a half before he needed to be at the station, really, but he liked to be at the station early and he still wasn’t entirely over the guilty feeling of being here, no one knowing, just... spending time with his dad.

Not that that was going to stop him, though.

#journal. #eeeeEEEEEE #also i know i already said it but again big thanks to lena

[comicteaparty]

February 12th-February 18th, 2020 Reader Favorites Archive

The archive for the Reader Favorites chat that occurred from February 12th, 2020 to February 18th, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question:

When applicable, what about a creator’s art might convince you to check out their comic?

carcarchu

I like a wide range of art styles so it's hard to pinpoint specifics but if an artist is able to draw very attractive looking characters (recognizable character designs, outfits that don't look like they came out of 2004 gap catalogue, characters that can still be recognized even when they change their hair style) then i find that very appealing. beyond that how well an artist can integrate the characters with the actual space they exist in is something i find very important as well. a bunch of floating heads can only carry a series so far. if the artist can make the characters feel like they properly exist in the space i think it can really elevate the series although in practice this is something very difficult to do.

Deo101 [Millennium]

For me, honestly some art styles are very inspiring to me and that will sometimes get me to read just because I want to see the art more and learn from it. Things like textures, colors, character design... It can draw me in just by exciting me as a learning opportunity

chalcara

For me art‘s the hook and story the line. Come for the art, stay for the story, you know?

Funnily I‘m looking less for pretty art and more for good visual story telling. I want the art to show whats going on without having to rely on dialogue.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I'm honestly very picky about art styles when it comes to comics, and that's a personal issue It has some to do with art styles being attractive to me, but honestly, the most important aspects of a creator's style to me are (1) consistency of style and anatomy, (2) level of completion, and (3) clear communication of what's happening. When it comes to whether or not I check out the comic initially, the main things that come into play with the promotional materials, covers, and/or thumbnails are contrast of the image and cleanness of the rendering. Of course, obviously, my personal tastes play into it. (I tend to like semi-realistic styles, sort of anime-ish but with a twist, or painted styles that may resemble concept art.) But honestly, probably more important than grabbing me initially to begin reading is readership retention. And that's where the 3 qualities I look for come into play: (1) Consistency of style and anatomy: This is probably the most important part for me as a reader. If I can't tell who is who because the characters change appearance from panel to panel, I'm ducking out, because that affects the clarity of storytelling. I also cringe everytime I see a particularly egregious anatomy error. I know what people look like. I see them every day. If I feel pain from looking at an artist's work, I'm not sticking around. (To be fair, everyone makes some kind of anatomy mistakes, but really it's if the anatomy mistakes are really awful to me and aren't as a result of a deliberate style CHOICE. Keyword, C H O I C E.) (2) Level of completion: This really just means that if it looks like the artist rushed through the panels or they were being lazy, I feel like their comic isn't worth my time. I mean, if an artist themselves doesn't care about their work, why should I?(edited)

. (3) Clear communication of what's happening: Once again clarity of storytelling is absolutely essential. If the composition of a large portion of the panels don't clearly show the actions of the characters, I can't follow the story. Aaaaaand as a bonus: Please, please, for the love of all powers that be, please, make your fonts legible. If I can't read the comic without squinting because your text is too tiny or hard to read, I'm not going to try. I have bad eyesight as it is. Take pity on your readers. I'm not going to suffer for your work. I have dropped far too many comics to count because the creator didn't care enough to make sure that the font was legible. And this applies to both desktop view, mobile view, scrolling format, and page to page format. Just.... Make your fonts big and clear.(edited)

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

That's interesting to think about how recognizable characters are when their hair style changes. I might try to use that as a character building exercise

Deo101 [Millennium]

Solid excercise: can you tell them all apart when they're bald and naked?

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

OoooooooOOOOOOOOOOHHHH

I

Might partake that challenge

Deo101 [Millennium]

Also it's really fun to draw characters in all sorts of hair and clothes so idk what id do if I couldn't tell them apart when doing that!!! That's like 40% of my art!

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

This just convinces me more and more to do AU art

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah aus are another 20% of what i draw LOL

Look im drawing the comic most of the time so I wish to partake in non canon things the rest

carcarchu

@sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD) i've read series before where the character gets a hair cut / dyes it and i'm like WHO ARE YOU? IS THIS A NEW CHARACTER?

Deo101 [Millennium]

Oh another good excercise is drawing your Characters in many different styles and seeing if they remain unique when not in yours.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I want to do all of this

This is stuff I hardly ever have time for

So I am extra attracted to it

Also, there IS a time later in the comic where a certain character's hair gets partially burned off

And then he cuts it pretty short to get rid of the singed edges

And I feel like his hair is like 80% of his character design

So I'm just a little scared about that

Deo101 [Millennium]

Also, @Cronaj (Whispers of the Past) , I am unsure what you mean by "readership retention" with something that makes you interested in a comic, could you explain?(edited)

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

By readership retention, I mean aspects of the art that decide whether I'll continue reading past the first few pages

(obviously story comes into play as well, but I won't pretend that the art in the first few pages of a comic don't contribute)

Deo101 [Millennium]

Oh okay, I thought you meant like how many readers have unfollowed or something

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Nah

More like, "oh cool! Your cover and blurb seem interesting. Lemme check out the comic!"

And then after reading the first few pages/chapter:

"ah... Not for me." Or "Nice, I'll keep reading!"

Deo101 [Millennium]

Gotcha

Capitania do Azar

Ohh I don't feel like dissing particular artsyle choices, but I know a few aren't for me. I'm no big fan of ultra realistic, hyper detailed stuff you usually see in super hero comics (other genres pick that style too sometimes and I still don't really appreciate). I particularly like artstyles that are distinct and recognizable, I have a hard time with stuff from different authors that just looks... Like a carbon copy (sometimes, the style being referenced is waaay too obvious and that is always a big no for me) Good use of color is key. Give me some good values too. I want colors to make sense and I am very tired of pink. I also appreciate consistency. If you give me artwork with a more paintery style but then the comic is cellshaded, that might tip me off. But not necessarily (tho I appreciate inner consistency inside the comic itself). Rushed stuff, like mentioned above, is also not a good look, but only insofar as it distracts me from what's happening in the story. Consistency is a very important word here, because I love seeing a common line that is able to take in all the differences that are necessary in character design and backgrounds, but also make me believe that they all could live in the same world.

Oh! And also: if the artstyle involves using lineart, I am really fond of sharp, clear lines with weight variation

sagaholmgaard

I'm curious about what you guys mean with consistency- do you guys not like if an artist's art style changes over the several years it might take to make a finished webcomic? Is it that it peeves you when the backgrounds are done in, say, a painterly style while the characters are done with lineart? Is it when the artists makes ordinary illustration work in a completely different style from their comic pages? (This is genuine curiosity I hope no one's feeling attacked rn ^^)

carcarchu

i personally really like seeing an artist's skills improve and evolve over the many years it takes to draw a series

even at the expense of a more "consistent" final product

sagaholmgaard

Yeah me too, it's one thing i really like about webcomics

chalcara

Can‘t talk about the others, but I get thrown off when one page is sprite comic, the next painterly, third cell-shaded without having a in-story-reasons for those style changes, like flashbacks or pov-changes. But more commonly, the issue’s the classic „comic‘s usually coloured, but oops, this time you only get the pencils because I had no time to update“. If that happens too often and/or doesn‘t get fixed for the archive I just lose investment in the comic.

Art evolution is natural, both in webcomic and published work with a dedicated artist.

Ah, that‘s another source of inconsistency - people switching colourists or even artists around. Once in a while is fine, but if it happens every month or so, I tend to get annoyed by it. It‘s actually why I killed my first webcomic twenty years ago; it was a collaberation and life kept getting in the way forcing me to switch colourists every five pages or so.

carcarchu

oh actually i have read a webcomic where they changed artist's 18 chapters in. i really fell in love with the magical and dark tone of the original artist and was engrossed in the world that they set up. they had a painterly style and it really set the atmosphere of the entire series but then the new artist had a super clean and cutesy art style and the sudden tonal shift really threw me off. in the long run the new artist was actually extremely consistent and better at actually releasing long chapters and very good quality chapters and the writing actually improved too because of it but it was never able to recapture what it was that i really loved about the original art style. also the new artist changed the character designs a little so the heroine was no longer even recognizable as the same person

since it was relatively early in the series i definitely would have preferred if they just got the new artist to actually redraw the first 18 chapters in the new style just so the change wouldnt be so incredibly jarring

chalcara

Any harsh breaks like that will cause some people to break away from the comic, I found. I dumped one of my favourite-for-years comic because the creator got bored by their main character and completely sidelined her in favour of a group of minor characters I had absolutely no interest in.

Didn‘t mean the comic got worse - by all accounts its still beloved by quite a sizable audience - it just wasn‘t for me anymore.

sagaholmgaard

Ahh that I can relate to. I get super attached to the main character and usually have a hard time getting into any spinoffs with the rest of the cast, even if I want to (and im a hypocrite because i also want to make spinoffs for ever side character in my own comic LOL) i guess if the style changed a LOT from page to page that would throw me off too. that feels like the artist is trying to experiment, maybe making sort comedic comic strips would be more acceptable then? Every style would at least be contained to one strip at least

DanitheCarutor

That's... actually a really good question. I don't really go for a specific aesthetic. Sometimes what's going on in the thumbnail attracts me, or it could be the use of color, the style, a character design. I'll check out a comic with just about any art style. I guess maybe if I have an idea of what the creator is going for with their art? Like, the art may have a lot of kinks, but maybe being able to tell what style they're trying to go for makes me want to check out their work? Honestly, I don't have a really strong art bias, as long as the comic is readable I'll go for almost anything. Maybe I won't check something out if the style looks extremely uninspired... like if it were the most generic, based off Japanese cartoons, style ever then I might give it a pass. But even then I do sometimes check it out anyway, so I really don't know! This question is surprisingly hard to answer! To give my last quip about last week's topic, since I don't want to derail the current one. I feel the creator's personal life is no one's business. I understand if they're a legit bad person, but digging into a creator's life to see if they qualify to be supported is... I dunno. This mindset makes me feel that if someone who liked my work ever tried to get to know me, they would be doing it solely to see if I'm good enough for them, which feels really invasive and predatory. I fully understand most people can't just enjoy something, that's how the world is, it just kinda sucks sometimes. The world kind sucks sometimes. Alright! I'm doing with giving my final thoughts on that subject.(edited)

Deo101 [Millennium]

The question is specifically about what draws you to art, rather than what turns you away so if you don't want to rag on any art styles that's not what it was asking for I think! Though yes it's very closely related (and it's not bad to say what you don't like)

Eilidh (Lady Changeling)

I definitely am more likely to read a comic that has a distinctive style - no particular style preferences, really. Interesting use of colour/value is definitely a bonus. But as long as it's engaging and the composition is good/readable, I don't really mind whether the art is "good" or not.

DanitheCarutor

@Deo101 [Millennium] I wasn't trying to rag on anything. I couldn't specify what about someone's art would draw me to their comic, it was easier to the one thing that might not, but I still said that I may be drawn in regardless. Sorry if I came off like a douchebag, totally not my intention. <_<'

Deo101 [Millennium]

No I know, someone earlier said "I don't feel like dissi g particular styles" I'll be honest I was typing my post as you were and so I didn't even read yours til after I said something(edited)

Just kind of a general thing! Feels like it went to what turns us away instead of what draws us in so just kinda a reminder of the op

sagaholmgaard

Readability is definitely important for me to want to continue following a comic, but what about the art that makes me want to read something...? I definitely have a preference toward cartoony styles overall. A solid character design will make me wanna check out a comic. If the main character has a recognizable silhouette and interesting shape language. I also love really bold lineart, especially if it's used to create shadow and contrast. Interesting color schemes too. I think how the background is drawn can really make me want to read something as well. I know BGs aren't people's favorite thing to draw but to me if the setting looks very well though out and designed, that definitely motivates me to check something out. And awe-inspiring sceneries are always hella cool! I read a lot of things outside of my artistic preferences though, but I think these are the things that might make me pick something up based only on the art itself.

keii4ii

I think I tend to find more appeal in certain compositions, which is a more subtle aspect of style. I am a major sucker for evocative use of backshots/ not-showing-the-(whole)-face, for one thing. Compositions that make full use of the three dimensional space around the figure(s) is another (this doesn't necessarily mean putting a lot of stuff around the character; you can have a mostly empty space and still make it feel very 3D).

(I hope both of those things show in my own works... I just love those things soooo much )

Deo101 [Millennium]

Oh I LOVE when a panel like... Cuts a face. Something about it makes me lose my mind every time

DanitheCarutor

@Deo101 [Millennium] Ooh! Lol sorry about that! I was so caught up with off computer stuff that I didn't notice anything else typing while I was. I haven't read the whole conversation yet, but I can see how it would turn to that. "What draws you in" is a hard topic to stay on. At least I imagine it would be since it's hard for me to talk about.

Ah! I admit I really like shots focused on scale, specifically ones were you can feel how tiny the MC is compared to what the camera is focused on. Does that make sense? Like the panel shows this ginormous thing, and it has the MC in it to show how massive it really is. That's awesome when done right.

Deo101 [Millennium]

Tiny little person. Yes. Very good

DanitheCarutor

Tiny people in giant worlds are the best!

keii4ii

I love those too!

DanitheCarutor

Oh, also this isn't a webcomic, but I've been interested in reading Vinland Saga after seeing this page on Twitter.(edited)

Something about extremely hideous expressions on semi-realistic faces jives with me.

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

What draws me in easiest is the design aspect of characters, environment and the webcomic title! It's a bit of a turn off when the title doesn't look polished. That's one of the main draws for me is an intriguingly designed logo with a catchy name that follows through their chosen aesthetic. I've seen many comics that stand apart from the title image they chose and it's a bit jarring to see! Great examples of wonderful execution of these aesthetics are BlackOut City, O'Sarilho, Sink Your HookTeeth and Shadrunners(obvs there are many more) I have to agree with @sagaholmgaard about backgrounds! There are quite a few creators who avoid them and stick to simple colours and gradients that just dont keep me in the comic- though my fave genres include a lot of world building, so BGs in a romance may not be emphasized as much. Lastly, dynamic character design!! I love a wonderfully crafted cast that allows me to read the characters easily no matter what setting or outfit they're in. Also it's really random but i do love an artist who can draw really good shoes?? That is always a draw in for me (edited)

Capitania do Azar

Oh I meant it in the way that if you spend a lot of time experimenting with different styles and techniques, you'll never be good at any of them. Style and approach changing over time is, imo, inevitable and good :) @sagaholmgaard(edited)

@@FeatherNotes(Krispy) I constantly think my logo looks like crap next to other webcomics', so thank you (edited)

DanitheCarutor

Oh god, @FeatherNotes(Krispy). Titles and logos are legit my weakest point, that part of the comic creation process is the worst! I have this cosmic-horror/fantasy comic I've been developing since 2005, and it took me till just last year to come up with a decent title. It'll probably take another 14 years to come up with a passable logo. Lmao!

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

It is really hard! Because that image/logo and name represents the body of work so firmly, its also got to stand strong with what it's representing and stand up to other titles too! Basically, i like to think of something that will help generate top results when i search on google for the title, which to me helps it stand on its own on the web, and sound catchy enough for pitches in person! I don't want to steer the convo away too much from the prompt, but there is definitely more to discuss about titles and their chosen aesthetics

varethane

@DanitheCarutor have you read Golden Kamuy? If you love hilariously hideous expressions in manga, it seems like it may be your jam lol

(it's also set in a specific historical period and contains a lot of really interesting material about the time/place it takes place in)

Also I feel like I have never, even one time in my life, come up with a good title for anything-- both Chirault and Wychwood are placeholder titles that I used just to kinda name the story for myself, which I initially intended to change when something better came along, and then nothing ever did

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I know I'm generally drawn into a comic if it's just... generally a visual feast? And it doesn't even have to be a beautiful feast - just... a feast! A super intriguing artstyle, beautiful or not, is something for my brain to pick apart and enjoy. Detailed backgrounds, intricate costumes, fascinating presentation/layout... all the way to crazy expressions and fun asides, and even some gory or scary bits to make me go EEK. Basically, if I'm reading it, and my hand is twitching with the prospect of drawing fan art, then I'm in for good.

DanitheCarutor

@FeatherNotes(Krispy) Urg that is such a nightmare! And there are only so many different styles you can do for a logo, and so many variations of words, it's like how there aren't any truly original stories anymore. I got lucky with the title for my current comic, it's the most generic thing ever, but fits in a tongue-in-cheek way. @varethane I've never heard of it, but the face compilations I'm seeing are intriguing! Man, I love stupid facial expressions.

Capitania do Azar

@varethane golden kamuy, I see you are a fellow of taste as well

varethane

(I love it so much)

Capitania do Azar

@DanitheCarutor oh idk about the "only so many things you can do with logos", I've seen amazing things in this world, if there's a limit I'm not seeing it

varethane

(I can always tell exactly when I was binging it because there's a big chunk of my phone's photo gallery that's all screencaps of Asirpa making dumb faces)

Capitania do Azar

@varethane guys shooting each other in the woods? I'm always in for that

DanitheCarutor

@Capitania do Azar Lol I guess? I can't see how you can have an infinite number of designs for writing, while still trying to keep it vaguely readable. But I really don't like lettering, so my imagination is hardcore lacking in that department.

Capitania do Azar

Lettering and logo design are their own fields of expertise, it's ok

meek

Hmm I'm similar to a lot of previous responses where I can't pinpoint a specific style or trend of art work that draws me in because the styles of comics I read differ incredibly. That being said, there are some things that I do look for to keep me coming back: 1) Consistency of style/anatomy: unless there's a specific reason for the general art style to change (not including semi-deformed or chibi versions of characters), I appreciate characters staying proportionate or just otherwise consistent throughout the comic. And art evolution isn't something that's at odds with consistency, it can actually help that by making characters more distinct and easier to distinguish from each other. 2) Potential for art evolution: Almost the opposite of the previous point lmao but if I find a new comic and I see the latest page is of a much higher skill level than the first page, I'm immediately hooked. I want to see the journey. And I want to see how far that journey goes, even past the point where the art "gets good". There's at least one comic that I can think of where once it hit the style that it wanted to, the art has stayed consistent for the past several years but so much so it's almost plateaued and become stagnant. It's still good art, by all means! But I want to see it grow and evolve more. 3) Good panel/speech layout: Okay it's not quite art in the same sense but someone else mentioned this above and I think it's important too? There are so many comics I can think of that I couldn't read or I dropped off at a point because reading was a chore, either because of giant or unsightly speech bubbles, tiny or ill-fitting font, a combination of the two, etc. Sure, graphic design and layout is a skillset completely different from pure illustration, but it's one worth knowing because otherwise you could do a disservice to your art and your story.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

@meek Seriously, the text is so important to me, and I consider it a large part of page layout and design

meek

Agreed!! It's something that bothers me with printed comics all the time. I've tried to read so many "classic" graphic novels and I just.. I can't get past the giant text boxes with small font with miniscule kerning and ESPECIALLY if they then add color to it. Please, keep in mind your readers with reading difficulties But to turn this into a positive One of my favorite things that also helps make a comic feel more personal is when the creator turns their handwriting into a font or otherwise have FUN with the speech bubbles

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

YES. As someone with bad eyesight, typography is one of my favorite aspects of finishing a comic page.

Deo101 [Millennium]

It also is super important for me with ADHD, reading is hard enough as is! so bubble layout and clarity can really bring the whole thing together and elevate a comic

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I tried that but got the feedback that my text is hard to read and the way i format my speech bubbles is distracting (: But some people have said they really like it so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Though I do think I could have done better with the font. I have good eyesight and bad handwriting do I think i have a much easier time reading weird text than many. Since you guys care so much about text, would you mind taking a quick glance at my comic and telling me how readable it is? It'd be nice getting feedback from random people as opposed to only my readers who felt strongly enough to leave a comment unprompted

meek

Oh man I have this specific panel in mind from some early 2006 Avengers comic of like.. what not to do Basically it was a bright yellow text box with this white/light blue font. It was just. It was a nightmare to read Oh sure!! Definitely send me a link

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Yep! Send me a link too! I'd love to help you out

I also have a good typography book to recommend if you're interested. I can drop it into #art_resources(edited)

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Here is link: https://www.webtoons.comen/challenge/puppeteer/list?title_no=290620

Thanks for taking the time to give me critique!

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

The link's not working, but I can probably find it on Webtoon

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

And I think i dould find a typography book interesting, so yes please do send the link

Sorry, i think the link is missing a slash

Did we both delete the link

Deo101 [Millennium]

did we both delete a

yah

i got it

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Lol

Deo101 [Millennium]

https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/puppeteer/list?title_no=290620

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Thanks

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I found it

(The font is a bit small on mobile, but the font is fine?)

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Wait can we move to shop talk?

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

(maybe we can have this discussion on shop talk channel? )

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Sure

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

OH LOL

DanitheCarutor

@Capitania do Azar Oh god, they so are! I envy anyone who enjoys that craft, I'm a lot better than I was, but lettering is still so hard. ;v; At least the fancy stuff is hard, regular speechbubble lettering is easy as long as my hand cooperates.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

There's a book I had to read for a web design course I took, and it is seriously a life saver

It put text in a whole new perspective

DanitheCarutor

I do all my lettering traditionally, but maybe that book would be helpful, I legit hate doing it no matter what medium I use. (sorry for continuing to derail the channel.)

Capitania do Azar

@DanitheCarutor i used a website that converts handwriting to fonts + font forge for tweaks to get personalised fonts

DanitheCarutor

I used to type bubbles out, and I've thought about it for my current comic but I mix up words and letters really bad, and I forget to add words entirely while typing. It wouldn't be so bad if my brain saw the mistakes while rereading everything, although sometimes it takes a couple days or another set of eyes for me to actually see them. When I write the bubbles in with a pen I make a lot less mistakes since it takes more effort to write out each letter, also my brain can keep better track of the ones I do make. I feel like that's an excuse that makes no sense.

Deo101 [Millennium]

no it totally makes sense

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

I can't say I'm ever especially drawn in by art? Besides the sense of "it looks like a lighthearted action story and I like lighthearted action stories", not much catches my eye. Though, I will drop a comic if I'm put off by the art. Like I can forgive if some things look janky at the start of the comic, but if that jankiness doesn't improve over time, I'll drop the comic. I'll also drop the comic if the character designs are bad (i.e. indistinguishable from each other, or in rare cases just too gross to look at). But again, I can't exactly say "good character designs draw me into the comic" because a lot of comic banners/thumbnails don't really show off full character designs.

chalcara

Varied bodytypes are catnip for me. And I like comics with expressive characters over comics that limit expressiveness to keep the characters pretty.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Oh, definitely agree with that second part. Comics where it looks like everyone has had a ton of Botox is a huge pet peeve of mine

Like, eyebrows are not the only part of the face that can move.

Do more

renieplayerone

Yeah i agree with the janky art thought. I think it helps me follow through the jank if i see that the later pages, the artist has shown growth, and i dont want to force anyone into a "gotta redraw it" loop if thats not something they want (of course everyone has their reasons and theyre also valid af) Ill tend to be more forgiving about the jank if i know its someones first webcomic or first comic in general, because you cant learn how to make comics without actually sitting down and making the dang thing. So yeah, the jank can be a double edged sword(edited)

What super draws me in is comics with a great sense of color. While i love anything vibrant, if the softer watercolors are done well, they're chefs kiss. Prime example of that is Stand Still Stay Silent

mariah (rainy day dreams)

I've been thinking about this question all week and I think I finally boiled my answer down to something short, sweet, and to the point. It's gotta be some kind of spooky and some kind of cute I have a pretty broad range of art styles I like and I definitely also read stuff that doesn't fall under those categories, but I think my favorite stories or artists are some blend of those two things. I don't really have a preference between color and greyscale. Like I definitely love a good color feast comic, but if you know how to use your grey tones or even just black and white well it's just as good for me. Maybe that's also just me trying to justify being mostly a greyscale artist to myself TuT

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

@mariah (rainy day dreams) devils candy would def be up your alley then!

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Devil's candy v good

renieplayerone

Devils Candy is amazing

mariah (rainy day dreams)

I love to combination of cute monsters and action also.

DanitheCarutor

@renieplayerone I'm not sure if it fits totally with your preference, but if you're looking for watercolor Lost Honey is gorgeous! https://www.losthoney.com/

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Lost Honey is another great comic great to look at, really interesting world

DanitheCarutor

It's one of my faves! ;v; There is another comic that was half watercolor half digital that I used to love reading (if I remember right pages set in the current time were digital, and backstory stuff was in watercolor.), but it has been discontinued for years now. It was called Toilet Genie/D00R, a comic about a genie who was locked in a public toilet and was awakened by a pug that got thrown out by her owners. It was so pretty, with such an interesting style!

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Oh wow I haven't thought about that comic in 5 years! X'D I didn't read much of it, because I don't think there was much of it available at the time, but yeah, that one was also very pretty (edited)

renieplayerone

Oh those colors are really pretty!!

DanitheCarutor

Right? Lost Honey is total eye candy. @mariah (rainy day dreams) Yeah, it's sad the creator never got to finish it. I think about it every so often since it's one of the extremely rare (semi)watercolor webcomics out there.

Also I'm extra attached to traditional mediums since I work in a traditional medium myself.

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Same. Got that ink wash/watercolor bias.

Eilidh (Lady Changeling)

My current comic is marker shaded but I so want to do something with ink wash after this one...

DanitheCarutor

Yeah, right now I'm working with color pencils since they're cheap but I want to give gouache or acrylic a try for my next project, depending on which story I do.

Kabocha

Hm, the question is... a lil' challenging to answer. I think in a lot of cases, the art isn't necessarily what gets me, but when it does -- Sometimes it's when someone uses a resource I like/made and I can go "OOOH! I know that thing you used!" Screentones are another one that gets my attention pretty quick. Sparkles... And probably effective spot color use. As much as I enjoy many full color webcomics, there are many that get tiring to try to read for one reason or another (usually it's either a font or a saturation issue - too many similarly saturated colors near one another gets tiring to read). Also, soft coloring. Oooh, just... when the art feels like it ought to be printed on those soft-touch covers... Yeah, that gets my attention. ...and watercolor/inkwash, too. ... okay that's a lot of things that grab my attention, but tl;dr: oh hey look at all that cool stuff that people can do!

mariah (rainy day dreams)

That was part of what was so hard for me thinking about this question cuz really, a lot of things get my attention X') and the more I thought about it the more I was like "I like when a comic is like X, but oh also Y is great and I do really enjoy Z as well!" I just ... like so many things. But I think that's better than being really picky. I've meet some folks that are super picky about art and basically only like one style and I'm just like... you're missing out on so many amazing things!

Kabocha

Right? And heck, even in some comics where the style would normally be unappealing (to me), there's just something about the art and the aesthetic that clicks to make it all work together for that project.(edited)

I do think, though, that there's always going to be a special place in my heart for greyscale or screentoned comics. There's just something about art that knows how to effectively make use of shading and contrast to make their work... well, work for me.

kayotics

Art is probably the first thing that draws me in to read a comic. The top, top tier thing that gets me to pay attention to a comic is really strong inks. I love inking, and unusual inking styles. To those who know me, that's probably incredibly unsurprising. I also love really angular styles. Some other stuff I gravitate towards: cartoony styles, expressive faces, and kind of ugly characters. I enjoy seeing characters that might be described as plain or are drawn in a bit of an ugly way. The last thing that draws me in? Hands. If an art style pays attention to hands, then I'm all for it.

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Does a comic have characters with big, crooked, toothy grins? I'm down for the count X'D https://media.tenor.com/images/618576ebcc4f6d2a12438624be77c54f/tenor.gif

varethane

oh hey, did someone mention webcomics done in ink wash/marker?

Chirault was that!

1367 pages of..... ink with greyscale marker..........

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

honestly blows me away that you toned it traditionally like, all of GJS is inked trad, but to ink AND tone in marker is just.....damn

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

I love ugly characters

RebelVampire

When it comes to art, I'd say there are about four factors that will draw me in. First, readability. Can I visually follow wtf is going on in the comic? I have no interest in the visuals if I can't understand what action characters are taking. So the first point is always for if that is true. Second, character distinguishability. Can I tell one character from another? I am notoriously bad even in real life at being able to tell people apart, so when reading for fun, it's super important to me that I don't have to put a lot of effort into telling characters apart (exceptions for identical twins, of course). Third, personal appeal. Do I think the art is pretty or cute? Like, obviously this is subjective so I can't really put into words why I'd find one style appealing and the other not. But ya know, I like stuff I think is pretty to look at. Fourth, backgrounds. If a creator puts a lot of effort into their background scenery, I'm very sold on it. I love beautiful backgrounds, and the effort put into them give me an overall better impression of the comic as a whole. Since it takes some real passion to take care with backgrounds. All this being said, I'm not much of a stickler for art. If a comic is well-written enough, they can fail all these points and I'll still read it. This is just a list of what aspects have to be in the art for it to draw me in.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

My points are pretty much the same as Rebel's, with the addition of a few things: I adore comics with dramatic facial expressions and consistently excellent anatomy. Also, if the art style is unique? If I feel like I've never seen someone draw that way before? That's ++. So good. I've read comics where I thought the art was good but the story was mediocre, but I've never read a comic where the art met all my points (and Rebel's), where it made me go, "holy fuck," audibly, and then had the story disappoint. Comics where the art made me go "holy fuck" audibly: Excecutioner's Academy: The art is so pointy and colorful and detailed and weird. It's full of personality and life and so are the characters. Warning: hiatus comic ): https://tapas.io/series/Ex-Ac Ava's Demon: You guys know about Ava's Demon, right? With original music and animations ending every chapter, this might be the most effortful comic I've ever seen. https://www.avasdemon.com/pages.php#2611 Sfeer Theory: Everyone looks so different from each other, it's fantastic. Some characters are not conventionally beautiful, yet they're still so appealing. And backgrounds! And a thought-out and unique magic system! https://sfeertheory.com/comic/01-00/ Electric Bones: Backgrounds! Banter! http://electricbonescomic.com/index.php/comic/page-001/ I also loved Prague Race, but unfortunately it was cancelled ):

If anyone else has recommendations for comics with amazing art, I'd love to hear them!

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

For me, it just has to be an art style I like to attract my attention. I generally like realistic art, stylised art, or pretty much any style that hasn’t been done to death (like generic anime art; much as I love manga, I’m really tired of the over-saturation of bland and soulless anime-inspired art). Pretty much anything unique and well executed will grab my attention. I especially like greyscale and limited palettes.(edited)

And just to clarify, I do like anime-style art when it has expression and/or skill behind it; just not when it looks generic and manufactured. Overall, though, it’s the writing that’s ultimately the most important thing to me in a comic, so I’ll enjoy comics for their writing even if I’m not a fan of the art.

#ctparchive #comics #webcomics #indie comics #comic chat #comic discussion #comic tea party #ctp #reader favorites

[floralreddie]

Skittles and Soulmates (Reddie)

I got a request on my other blog that was supposed to go here, but I accidently posted a Reddie request advertisement on there yesterday, Whoops. Anyway, here’s the oneshot.

Request: Hi! I was wondering if you could do a Reddie soulmate AU! One where you are unable to lie to your soulmate, but that doesn't start until you know who your soulmate is. So like maybe they also get matching tattoos that don't appear until the two soulmates share a significant experience (like facing pennywise). Then when the tattoos appear that is when they are unable to lie to each other? Idk if that males since and you can tweak it if you need to. Thank you!!

Pairing: Reddie

Warnings: Swearing

Firstly, their dress sense was entirely different. Even in their first year as Freshman High Schoolers, Eddie refused to ditch those fucking tiny shorts that were always paired with some pastel coloured jumper or shirt. Richie, on the other hand, would usually sport some horrible knitted thing with holes in, a brightly patterned button up, or torn up jeans with a hefty pair of boots.

Secondly, their sense of humours, whilst often very similar, could be so different. Eddie enjoyed Bill’s quick quips, or Ben’s light sense of humour that reminded Eddie of something a dad might say, if he had one. Richie preferred Stan and Bev’s dry and crude humour that, in Eddie’s opinion, Richie had to a new fucking degree.

Thirdly…well, shit, they were just two very different individuals. Eddie liked reading fictional books and listening to old disco music, and Richie liked going to the arcade and listening to rock or grunge. Eddie liked exploring the fields by Mike’s farm, and Richie liked driving at seventy down some back roads with Nirvana blaring out of his pickup trucks speakers. Often, though, he would have either Eddie or Bev with him. Or both.

Richie didn’t like Bev like that, though. He just liked to hang out with her, because she liked cool music, smoked and was a pretty tight fixture as the only girl in the Losers Club. Plus, she had already found her soulmate. Ben turned sixteen two months before Bev, and the moment the girl turned sixteen, every time she tried to lie to Ben’s face, only the truth would come out. That meant they were soulmates, and that was that. Richie had practically picked Ben off the floor he had hugged him so hard because, shit, the poor kid had been pining after Bev since they were twelve.

Richie, having turned sixteen just one month prior, was still to find his. As were the rest of the Losers.

He didn’t really mind, though. He would find them eventually, and he knew they would be cool as fuck. Until then, he was perfectly content with getting through High School and then the fuck out of Derry.

‘Earth to Trashmouth’. Richie snaps to attention and turns to Bev, who is waving a crudely painted fingernail in front of his face. There were little stars drawn across her wrist. He’d seen her doing them in Chem. ‘Space out, four-eyes?’ she grins, and Richie elbows her in the side.

They’re sitting in Bill’s basement, spread across a ratty couch and the floor, and it’s Eddie’s sixteenth. It had been a small surprise gathering, but Richie knows from the politely surprised smile on Eddie’s face when Bill had led him down the stairs into the basement that he wasn’t surprised at all. Still, if anything, Eddie was a polite little fucker to anyone who deserved it.

‘Piss off, Bev,’ he laughs, leaning back against the sofa with her, with his arm thrown around the back of it. Eddie’s sitting cross legged on the floor with Bill, Stan and Mike, as Ben sits idly beside Bev with their fingers interlocked. Richie watches as Eddie unwraps Bill’s present and smiles when Eddie’s face lights up.

‘Shit, Bill!’ Eddie proclaims, and yanks the yellow shirt from the wrapping paper and nudging Bill’s leg with his stark white trainer. He’s wearing those fucking knee-high socks that, for some reason, drive Richie mad. ‘The Beatles? That’s so cool, man, thank you!’

Bill shrugs and smiles and Richie nearly rolls his eyes because, shit, ain’t Bill just the nicest fucking person around?

Stan gets him a daily planner, with a little bit for pills at the front. Ben gets him a Weezer poster. Mike gets him a new bell for his bike. Bev gets him some strawberry scented hand sanitizer, a framed picture from when they were all twelve, and a soft looking flower crown made from paper and wire and cardboard.

Richie’s eyes fucking boggle when Eddie slips it on at Bev’s insistence, and Stan rolls his eyes and says that Eddie can act like even more of a Princess now.

Richie hardly says anything because, holy shit, Eddie looked prettier than usual (and Eddie is pretty, everyone fucking knows that) and he might be having a heart attack as Eddie sits there, in his fucking pastel blue jumper, and grins. ‘How do I look, huh?’ he asks, and Richie doesn’t know if Eddie is talking to him or not, but the little twerp catches his gaze so Richie just has to fucking answer, doesn’t he?

‘Beautiful,’ he says, legs spread out and thumbs sticking through the holds in the sleeve of his AC/DC jumper. He stalls when the words come out, and Eddie looks at him with wide brown eyes and glowing cheeks and Bev is staring at the side of Richie’s face with a shit-eating grin.

‘You do look pretty cute, Eddie,’ Mike laughs, after staring at Richie for a solid few moments.

The moment is over and the laughing continues, but Eddie can’t help but eye the flabbergasted looking Richie who is staring hard at Bev with wide eyes as the others talk and shift and giggle.

‘My turn,’ Richie says, blowing the moment away and reaches into the pocket of his jeans. He shifts to access the present, causing Bev and Ben to huff and move to make room for him. ‘It’s not as good as Bill’s present, mind. Fucking over achiever’.

‘S-suck my dick, R-Richie,’ Bill shoots back.

‘Take me out to dinner first, Denbrough,’ Richie grins back, smiling easily as the others laugh. Finally, he leans down and hands Eddie a small, brown wrapped box. Eddie knows what Richie’s presents are like – they can go from sweets to cards to a bottle of beer. Never very thoughtful, but something Eddie will enjoy all the same.

He’s never been one to care for material things, anyway.

He rips past the packaging and gets to the box, and Richie watches with an odd kind of anxiousness as Eddie pulls out of the jar of assorted Skittles, Eddie’s favourite. Each colour was put together nicely, from orange to yellow to red. Eddie looks up and Richie shrugs, cheeks warm. ‘They’re your favourite,’ he points out lightly, chewing at his thumbnail.

‘I don’t think I’ve seen you put that much effort into anything,’ Stan pipes up. Richie idly flips him in the bird.

Eddie thanks him and chews his lip, before reaching into the box and retrieving a tape. He scans the songs quickly before grinning. ‘This is good, Richie! You didn’t just put your shit on there – I actually like half this stuff!’

Richie huffs. ‘My music taste isn’t shit’. Bev hums in question next to him. ‘Oh, fuck off. Happy, Eds?’

Eddie looks around at the lot of them and nods, smiling. ‘I am. Thanks, guys. And don’t call me Ed’s, douche,’ he shoots back at Richie, who merely kicks Eddie lightly with the point of his boot and grins.

‘C’mon, Ed’s. You know you love it, right?’

Eddie rolls his eyes and sighs, but the words that come out of his mouth don’t seem to match his expression at all. ‘Yeah, but whatever’. Eddie, with that fucking flower crown on his head and his cheeks as hot as the sun, stares in utter horror at the slowly grinning Richie Tozier.

‘I fucking knew it!’ the dark, curly haired boy whoops. ‘You all heard that, right?’ The others, though, are nodding and sharing looks, secret smiles twitching onto their faces. Bill looks about ready to wet himself. Eddie and Richie hardly notice, as one looks in horror at the grinning other. ‘Ha! I’m never letting this one go. ED’S’.

‘Shut up, Richie!’ Eddie wails, the confused look falling away as he glares at the older boy.

‘C’mon…Ed’s’.

It’s Bev who tells them both to shut the fuck up, as Mike moves to switch the radio up and silence the two. Once Eddie and Richie get going with a fight, they could never be fucking stopped.

The night ends at 8, because it’s a school night, and Bev and Ben leave first, holding hands and thanking Bill. Next goes Mike, then Stan, and then Richie is sighing and thanking Bill as the boy cleans up the wrapping paper. Eddie gathers his presents up into a plastic bag and nods, before grinning at Bill and telling him he’ll wear the shirt to school tomorrow.

‘I’ll walk you home, Ed’s,’ Richie says, shrugging on his baggy denim jacket over his jumper and pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. It’s dark and cold and he never really let’s Eddie walk home alone. Eddie says he just does it to annoy Sonia, his mom.

Eddie looks like he might say something, but he just shrugs instead and bids Bill farewell as they ascend the stairs, saying goodbye to Mr and Mrs Denbrough and Bill’s little brother, Georgie, who was tucked up beside his mother on the sofa.

‘I can walk home alone, you know. You don’t always have to do this when we hang out,’ Eddie says, bag swinging at his side. Richie glances down to look at the now sixteen year old and shrugs, hand buried in the pockets of his jacket.

‘I know. I like walking you home’. He stalls, not knowing why the fuck those words just fell out of his mouth, but shrugs it off. He always says things without thinking, anyway.

‘O-oh…’ Eddie stutters, staring in bemusement up at Richie. ‘Cool?’

‘Cool,’ Richie repeats. ‘Did you notice I put It’s Raining Men on the tape?’ Eddie nods and grins, because they both remember the time they got drunk in Richie’s room and blared the song out whilst his mom slept downstairs. ‘Did you also notice you’ve got that flower crown on still?’ Richie snorts and nods to the crown sitting prettily atop Eddie’s curly haired head.

Eddie stalls and snatches it off, looking around them to see if any Derry citizens were walking about. ‘Shit – why didn’t you say sooner, dick?’

‘I told you – because it looks nice’. Richie actually stops stock still that time, back rigid and mouth pushed into a harsh line. Eddie stops only a few steps ahead, looking equally bewildered.

‘…I thought you said beautiful, before,’ Eddie murmurs lightly, shocked, shoving the crown into the bag slowly.

Richie clears his throat. ‘I guess I did, yeah’.

‘You’re being weird today,’ Eddie pipes up.

Richie grimaces. ‘Yeah, I know’. They stare at each other for a few more moments as Richie worries his bottom lip, eyebrows drawn together tightly. ‘Eddie…can you try and lie to me?’

And Eddie stares at him, eyes wide and pupils blown and cheeks suddenly feeling flushed and hot. ‘W-what?’

Richie shakes his head. ‘Fuck it, I’ll do it’. He pulls his hands form his pockets and clears his throat, stare so serious that Eddie might have laughed at any other moment. ‘Eddie, I-’ And then he chokes, swallows, and looks at Eddie like he’s a fucking alien. ‘Oh, what the fuck. I can't’.

‘No way,’ Eddie laughs. ‘Oh, shit’. Eddie peers at Richie then, a little smirk making its way onto his face. ‘Do you really think I look like a dork when I wear my shorts?’ he asks, and the silence of the street is pressing.

‘No,’ Richie shrugs. ‘It just pisses me off that Danny Dean in our English class always fucking stares at your legs’. Richie blinks. ‘What the fuck,’ he repeats, lips twitching as a surprised smile makes its way onto his face. ‘Eddie,’ he breathes, taking a single step forward. ‘Do you realise…I mean…what the fuck?’

‘Stop ruining the fucking moment,’ Eddie snaps, trainers pressing against gravel as he takes an equal step forward.

Richie Tozer and Eddie Kaspbrak may be very different people. Richie might like Nirvana and Eddie might like The Weather Girls, but one very fundamental part of their friendship was that they were most definitely soulmates, and they were most definitely in love with each other.

When they kiss, in that empty street at 8:16 PM on a Tuesday night, their tilted world rightens. When Eddie clutches Richie’s jacket and forgets about mouth-germs and Richie’s poor dental care and presses his mouth hungrily to the Trashmouth’s, his world rightens. When Richie presses his forehead to Eddie’s and asks, ‘Do you really hate it when I call you Ed’s?’

Eddie lets out an annoyed breath and grumbles out, ‘…No’.

Richie’s world rightens.

#reddie #areyoureddiekids #soulmate au #richie x eddie