#marshmallowgoop | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

standardquip · 10 months

Text

Post I'm replying to is here

"Generally speaking, the more hours I devote to [editing] a video, the more I like it and the prouder I am of the results.

I fear that others don't feel the same, though. My second-most popular video on Tumblr is an "older" one of relatively little effort, and I unfortunately can't say that I care much for it myself. It took maybe 20 hours, tops, whereas more recent videos that pushed past the 50-hour mark—and that I'm far more confident in—have garnered maybe half the notes.

[...]

I enjoy edits with lots of clips and effects... but are those kinds of AMVs just "bad"? Or is the way I'm executing them bad? Am I focusing on all the wrong things with my videos?"

- @marshmallowgoop

This is touching on a much larger "issue" in the vidding/editing community than you might realize (although you do seem to recognize it is an issue) but I'm going to try to tackle it in many points.

These are in no particular order.

Your audience doesn't know how long it took to make something.

I know it's hard to come to terms with the fact that sometimes "crappy" things do better than stuff you personally like more, but unfortunately that happens with everyone, all the time. Memes get more traction than well-written anecdotes, headlines get more traction than the actual article, and short vids are often easier to relate to than longer ones with more of a story.

What the internet zeitgeist grabs cannot easily be predicted and is never a judgement of quality. Throw this logic in the garbage, because what goes viral should never have any factor in your self-worth.

Who is your [main] audience for your videos?

If you're making your videos for you, than whatever you like is good. If you like what you end up with, then the video succeeded. If you are making videos to chase audience interaction (which is valid, btw, just not something I personally do), then they need to appeal to a very wide general audience. You'll need to re-assess why the vids aren't getting as much interaction as they used to and adjust your editing style to increase that interaction.

But your past posts don't seem like that's your target. It seems like you make vids for you. So don't think your videos are "bad" because they're not getting likes. They're getting the most important like: Your own.

Of course, it's always nice to be validated by other people. But that's generally not going to happen based on the amount of effort you put into something. It's generally just gonna be with people who vibe with or relate to your content, and if they don't then it won't be shared as much.

Another thing to factor in is where the people who like the stuff you like are located. Maybe your immediate circle is more about conan memes, and you need to go to reddit or something to find the conan romance fans. It could also be timing. Maybe the people who like conan romance aren't online when you post and don't see it. Or maybe it's just luck because the internet and social media are just Like That and totally random. Talk to any artist about trying to play the algorithm to sell more art! 😆

What is the ultimate goal for your videos?

On a per-video basis, you'll generally have a premise for a video.

Things like:

I want to play with new effects

I want to gain as many likes as possible

I want to make an action video

I want to make a character profile that people who have not seen the source video can appreciate

I want to make a good video for a particular song

A "good" video will balance visual entertainment with story, but ultimately, in my experience, it helps to simplify your video down to one goal, and then base all of your following decisions on if those decisions achieve the goal.

As an example, let's say you want to make an action video but your primary interest is the visual effects. This will affect your scene selection, as you should pick scenes that will work better with effects.

Action videos are generally more cohesive when they center around one particular character or duel. If that "plot" were your goal then you'd pick scenes that created a narrative structure aligning with the character or duel's progression.

But since you want to use as much vfx as possible, you may diverge from that cohesiveness by instead injecting a montage of "powering up" scenes with flashy transitions, or maybe you will sidestep the focus on one particular rivalry and include another fight with an unrelated character because that gives more opportunity for better added animation.

This does not make any quality judgements on what is "good" or "bad" when it comes to videos - instead it comes down to whether this particular editing decision advances the ultimate goal of your final video.

Similar to writing, if you're making a persuasive essay, you shouldn't meander onto your own related-but-not-actually-the-topic-of-the-essay rant. The rant might be great, but it's not the purpose of the essay and ultimately just muddies the point you're trying to make (much like this metaphor probably did for my post about video editing, whoops).

"is the way I'm executing [amv effects] bad?"

First of all:

"Good" or "bad" is so subjective, there is no overseer that can definitely say this is good or bad, because it's art, and art is subjective and on and on. Which I'm sure you know, but it bears repeating anyway.

I have tried to be unbiased for this reply so far, but I have to disclaim before I continue that I come from the "school" of "raw editing" - which is to say, trying to stay away from a bunch of effects - so while I am trying to remain unbiased, what I say next will probably be biased despite my efforts.

Even though there is not a definitive "good" or "bad" in vidding (and if you're hanging out with people who are making blanket judgements like this... don't), we can instead look at art, cinematography, and editing fundamentals for the general "laws".

As fan video editors, we are also essentially our own directors and cinematographers. We can choose which scenes we want to use for certain goals and sometimes even make up our own scenes through compositing.

I made this playlist that is about half fundamentals and half random editing guides. I do still add to it, but it's hard to find videos that aren't bloated (and also related to vidding somehow), so updates are few and far between.

Anyway, of note are:

youtube

These are both highly valuable as they can help you not only choose which scenes to put together, but how to position them if you're framing your own shots through zooms and motion effects.

I watched all the videos you linked, and I think you are a good editor that makes what you like and that may not appeal to a broad audience.

I'm not a conan fan, but your vids aren't boring. I'm not a heavy vfx editing fan, but your videos don't look like most heavy vfx shorts. You're either making stuff your own (what I assume) or using presets I'm not familiar with.

WARNING I'M GOING TO CRITIQUE SOME OF YOUR VIDS BELOW

(I assumed you might actually want answers to some of those questions; if not, skip this part!)

The school of thought I come from with vidding says that everything should have a purpose. If my goal is to make a plot-driven vid, then what does a particular effect add to the video?

In this video at 0:04, you have this kind of cut in block thing, and I'm wondering what is this for? Why is it there? To me it's distracting and interrupts the flow.

But it could be a callback to Yu-Gi-Oh somehow? Maybe it's to give the video a feel like it needs to buffer load or something?

I'm not familiar with either source mentioned in the description, so I can't say, but as a general audience member, there's just so much stuff happening visually that I have no idea what's supposed to be happening story-wise. Maybe it's a character profile?

I'm sure you could extrapolate effects and decisions for all your other AMVs. But deciding if something works for your video's goal has nearly zero impact on the time it takes to complete.

Meanwhile, I look at this vid, which seems like a standard romance vid and it seems like a good balance between the romance and the effects; I'd only maybe change one or two things. Nearly all the effects work together to advance the story of the romance, so I'm not sure what went "wrong" here (in terms of lack of audience interaction).

END CRITIQUING

Is accessibility a concern?

Many vfx-heavy amvs rely a lot on motion transitions, which can cause motion sickness! I've gotten motion sick from more AMVs than I care to admit LOL.

But even aside from that, there are photosensitive people, and their photosensitivity triggers are far more broad than just flashing lights.

I noticed all your vids have captions and that you participate on ao3, so it seems like you're hanging out with people who also value accessibility.

In this way, by making vfx-heavy videos you are probably limiting your audience to people who are not photosensitive and/or sensitive people willing to "gamble" on a vfx heavy vid.

What you can do to help curb this is by adding content warnings about photosensitive triggers in your videos. On ao3 these are typically called "physical triggers," but 2 years ago I made a whole system called Vidding Photosensitivity Relay (VPR) .

Basically is comes down to describing what visually happens in your video. In most of your videos cases it would be motion transitions, quick cuts, and peripheral text. These relays (I'd hesitate to call them warnings) give people a better idea of what to expect when it comes to the videos they're watching.

With a better informed decision they could know if they can watch the video now, or later in a different setting, or maybe not at all to avoid a days-long migraine or something similar-- I was very surprised just how many people involved in vidding are photosensitive!

So that may be something to look into. You don't have to use VPR as a system, but it at the very least does list potential triggers and examples so you could refer to those.

My somewhat off-topic more of a personal reply here

"But I'm absolutely terrified that I'm only getting worse here—that as I learn more effects and get more comfortable with my program, my work is actually degrading."

(source)

Maybe you're just losing focus? Did you go through a writing phase where you had a massive vocabulary and started inserting all the "big words" into everything? The usage is technically correct but the message gets muddied due to the readers perception?

Maybe it's that.

I think re-assessing what your personal goals are, and deciding for yourself what you want to prioritize - your likes vs other people's likes (for starters) - will help.

There is also a need to decouple internet interaction from self-worth, which I know is MUCH easier said than done. But there are SO MANY great artists, editors, people in general, who don't get much interaction because the algorithm doesn't prefer them and/or they don't market themselves. That doesn't make them worth any less than the people who make it their priority to market themselves instead of create art.

I hope this whole post doesn't come off as patronizing or anything!

I usually just talk into the void and not get actual direct replies LOL.

Also sorry for taking so long to reply! Hope it helps in some way.

#reply #replies #video editing #vidding #longform #article #amv #marshmallowgoop #Youtube

17 notes · View notes

hexfloog · 2 years

Note

Hakuba?

disclaimer: i haven't seen ep.479 yet, it's been a hot minute since i read magic kaito, and i wrote this after a few drinks

(in no particular order below the break)

they got done dirty by fans • despite being basically prototype shinichi (and, appropriately, looking a bit like the end product of using polymerization on him with shiho), he gets relatively little attention. obviously most of this is just due to the fact that he just doesn't appear in anything-- and hasn't for a not-insignificant amount of time-- but that and personality and flaws aside, i think it's kind of a shame because of most everything else on this list, such as...

wasted potential / didn't get enough screen time / they work better as part of a dynamic • his relationship with kaito is so funny. he heckles him """knowing""" that he's KID but has never actually 100% without-a-doubt, irrefutably confirmed it. he gets bamboozled every time but is just so dead set on it that he completely ignores kaito's repeated insistence that he isn't who he thinks he is and just continues to talk to him as if he's talking to KID and that's just hilarious to me. it's kind of like if conan never disclosed his identity as shinichi to heiji but heiji treats him like he does in current canon anyway. of these interactions by far the best one is the volunteering of valuable information to kaito in the middle of the chat noir heist as an under-the-table, backhanded sort of bidding of "good luck." it's a lesser mirroring of the relationship kaito has with conan - but arguably funnier since hakuba """knows""" the truth but conan does not (and likely does not care to, as it would not alter the dynamic). • the above, but now with the added hilarity of him being 1 of 3 members in a group of 4 (one of whom is JUST KAITO HIMSELF sksksk) who know that kaito moonlights as KID at the conclusion of MK1412. i'm a little mad this didn't continue like WHAT were they gonna do LMAO • adjacent to the above: his apparent (former? is he still into her?) infatuation with akako. obviously it's just/mostly a result of him being under her spell but it's so fucking funny that she still sort of notices him regardless. even if he is just a means to an end she calls upon him when kaito is in danger in sun halo, which is... wild?? akako is also member #2 of this KID group which makes this even funnier, deadASS what was the endgame of this group gonna be in practice LOLOL, everyone just uses everyone else as bait for something or other and the end goal of unmasking KID is just completely moot if 75% of them already know

wow! they are a horrible person

• you cAN'T JUST SAY THAT TO HEIJI AND GET AWAY WITH IT

• *wildly gesturing* YOU ALSO CAN'T JUST ACCUSE OTHER PEOPLE OF NEPOTISM (something something people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones etc. etc.)

• in the MK anime specials canon, hakuba has relatively little interest in capturing KID and instead uses him as bait iirc?? tbf they're all guilty of this in the MK1412 canon, but it rubs differently when spider is the prey they're trying to catch - different if only because he poses a legitimate threat to even kaito. even if he saves him before he's lost to the nightmare that's still something of a MASSIVE gamble, especially if both he and kaito combined are not much of a threat to spider T___T like this is like... how conan tends towards recklessness when the black organization is involved, including the disregard/failure to consider the full consequences of involving or using the people around him, villain or otherwise (pisco and itakura, at least, come to mind).

why do they look like that • he LITERALLY debuts in sherlock cosplay • his eyes are red?? hello???? (why is this so vivid in my memory but now when i try to look up screenies to corroborate they're brown in every single one of them)

whatever. they're red to me. makes things more interesting sksksks

i don't really have much to say about them / i forgot this character existed (am i the biggest lying liar or nah. look at all this text) • despite all of this, that's kind of all i have to say about him. i didn't do my homework and am drawing purely on memory and that's a little hard when he makes so few appearances even in the MK canon(s). MK in general has a lot of wasted potential tho imo and i think that extends to its primary cast too, including hakuba. personally i think he's far too wacky to mesh well into detco canon, in the same way that detco kaito is not quite the same as MK kaito.

all in all i think hakuba, unlike his successor, is really not at all tolerable on his own and works infinitely better with practically anyone else in the ekoda gang (but mostly kaito, bc they are both proprietors of a part of the MK-brand of Shenanigans).

anyway thank you for the character!! nice opportunity to think about the fellas i don't typically yammer about :D

#ask #ask game #marshmallowgoop #dcmk #hakuba saguru #internal screaming hours #text

28 notes · View notes

fanarain · 2 years

Note

4 for the WIP Challenge?

Hello, Marshmallow! Thank you for the ask!

The WIP was just written for a ShinRan Week prompt created a year ago that I'd never touched upon in aaaaages! It was supposed to include a kiss, but I'd needed to, kind of, write about Ran feeling a little sad (maybe even a bit sus) that Conan isn't that cheerful for Ran as much as he usually did. And then the muse refused to tell me anymore scenes aaaaaaaaa! I literally have only two scenes in the draft sobsobsob!

Here's a little snippet! My apologies if it disappoints!

Black Knight and Princess

She stands in the middle of the room, staring idly at her dress. There’s little time to change before her performance, but she can’t help but feel a little despondent. Of course she has rehearsed this play many times, so she knows that she will do her best, seeing as it is her first play in years. She doesn’t want to disappoint the audience, after all. Her dad and Kazuha wished her luck, but the one person she had wanted encouragement from the most… didn’t, for some reason.

She thought he would be most excited for her and would wish her encouragement. Or maybe he would just scoff something about the play, but in a way that would give her courage, she knows, just as he always did before. But today he was a little different. She thought he was acting a little indifferent about her performance. He just said he’ll ‘watch from the audience’ and just… left. Simply that.

His behaviour was a little unusual today.

That’s why she can’t help but feel a little sad still as she stares at her dress.

“－n? Ra－ ou ther－? －arth to R－. Ran! RAN!”

A voice right into her ears snaps her out of her thoughts, making her turn to the right, seeing Sonoko close to her face.

“Ah!” Ran exclaims in surprise, stepping backwards a little. Sonoko simply raises her eyebrow.

“Are you back with me?”

Ran blushes in embarrassment. “Y-yes, I’m sorry. I was lost in thought.”

Sonoko’s eyes narrow a little. “What were you thinking about?”

“Nothing important.”

She stares at Ran for what seems like a long time, before giving out a breath. “Alright, I’ll grill you about it later.”

Ran knows that she will. She doesn’t think she has any choice in that matter, so she just sighs.

“For now, you need to change into your dress. There’s 15 minutes left, and we have work to do in such a short time!” Sonoko pushes gently at Ran’s back towards the dress. “Hurry! We don’t want to be late for the stage!”

She chuckles softly. “Okay, okay, Sonoko! I’ll change now!”

#WIP game #ShinRan #DCMK #Detective Conan #Mouri Ran #Suzuki Sonoko #mine: fics #fic draft #ask answer #marshmallowgoop #writing snippet #my writing

3 notes · View notes

birdmenmanga · 6 months

Text

hi I'm compiling my address book right now because I send postcards to people and like. if I haven't reached out to you and you've received something from me in the past/are interested in getting postcards from me would you mind dming me... I feel like I have way more addresses than what I have actually written down rn...

#just thinking thoughts...#okay right now mutuals I have in my addressbook.#(or atleast I've dmed about this)#ray logomancy cheese haogy #ashe xan kuro calamari bird bells circ bread marshmallowgoop rainy #heli #gary jeepers aris kitsoa sura #haifa limonat #if you are not in here and you want things!! let me know!!#if we've dmed or sent asks or chatted in discord then I'm probably down to mail you something!!

4 notes · View notes

mirrorfalls · 1 year

Photo

@dcmksecretsanta is proud to present... a gift for @marshmallowgoop!

Surpr... ahhh, who am I kidding, you probably knew it was me from that first minigift. The real surprise is how badly this thing did not want to exist. They threw everything they had at me: last-minute obligations, a sudden weight-loss fad, crippling depression of the "Are we back to pretending you know anything about gifmaking?” persuasion (on top of the regular persuasion), various “Hey, wouldn’t a nice big meta/AMV/Heiji fic be better and easier...?” siren-songs, and to top it all off a total fzzzt of the desktop I originally, lovingly put this together on...

They tried—and they failed, babey. Merry belated Christmas!

(It probably won’t take you five seconds to pinpoint the source for each of these, but I hope the Implications of each character’s assigned piece keeps you up essay-writing for weeks. 🙂)

#Detective Conan #All told the learning curve gifmaking-wise was a breeze #At least for my amateur level #Any and all suggestions on how I can make it better are welcome #(As are suggestions on which characters I *should* have cast as X piece!)

598 notes · View notes

conanredraw · 7 months

Text

🔎 CONTRIBUTOR LINEUP - PART 7 🔎

New day, new contributors! Now is time to introduce our artists recreating chapter 6!

Check the links to their accounts below ⬇️

gravityfelldown

tea

tokimaeki (Twitter - Tumblr)

Volts (Twitter - Tumblr)

Kusogorzyk

Cartoons by Andie (Tumblr - Instagram)

whalbo (Instagram - Tumblr)

ryuvine

fortune

Ado

Fiera

Citron (Twitter - Tumblr)

Lia (Twitter - Tumblr)

MarshmallowGoop (Tumblr - Twitter)

#conan redraw #fan project #meitantei conan #detective conan #detco #dcmk

121 notes · View notes

shinranweek · 11 months

Text

Another ShinRan week is officially over. Again we got so many beautiful and talented works to enjoy, so let's thank all creators who participated this year:

Creator names follow:

@ravenclawwitchc @subbe93 @otaku-108 @marshmallowgoop @ellie-tarts @detectivefable @digitallyfanged @wata-kushi @kylee-11 FeatherDragon (AO3) @ueyyuey @lenawin4 @rux363 @marivanilla05 @deducingcircumference @artycreaty You can find a list of the entries by prompt here.

We are keeping the feedback form open till next year, so fill it out if you have a chance.

Thank you for being part of ShinRan Week 2023! We enjoyed the week, and we hope that you did too ❤

#ShinRanWeek2023 #announcement

29 notes · View notes

marshmallowgoop · 7 months

Text

Repostober Day 13 | Unlucky Friday

For pretty much the entire time that I've been on this site, my avatar has been Marinette from the original Miraculous Ladybug PV. I loved it deeply—and still do! These are all sketches inspired by the PV, drawn in the latter half of 2013.

And while it's not a drawing, I did arrange a barebones piano version of the PV song in December 2021, too:

Just a MIDI and not actually played by me, but maybe someday I'll give it a shot!

Most importantly! Today's title comes from O Fortuna, an excellent PV-inspired fic by paris-mystere that I'd recommend to anyone, Ladybug fans or not. It's described as "canon characters with a pv aesthetic," and it is heartachingly good.

#repostober #miraculous ladybug #goop draws #music #guess i don't have a tag for my music but i don't think that'd be something that'd be used much ^^;

19 notes · View notes

kuroko99 · 5 months

Text

10 fandoms/10 characters/10 tags

thanks @everyones-least-favorite-bard for the tag (ㅇㅅㅇ)b

im going by most interesting/pivotal character to me which is different from my favorite/who i kin

1. Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint - Yoo Joonghyuk

2. Detective Conan - Haibara Ai

3. Voltron - Takashi Shirogane

4. Pokemon - Ingo

5. Ajin: Demi-human - Sato (im so osrry)

6. Mo Dao Zu Shi - a-Yuan/Lan Sizhui

7. Code Geass - Rolo (Lamperouge)

8. Undertale - Chara

9. Yuri on Ice - Viktor Nikiforov

10. Vocaloid - KAFU

tagged! -> @blenderfullasarcasm @vaeolus @toast-of-eden @thrushsong-kvaris @circumference-pie @magmatickobaian @marshmallowgoop @dragonsorceress22 @dezaki @hehearse

no obligations- man is it hard to search people on this dysfunctional site. (are half of my friends non-searchable or do i just not know their names??)

#waaah #sorry for the pings fellas #tagged #im not listing the fandoms this is just a list of my fandoms

7 notes · View notes

blenderfullasarcasm · 1 year

Text

WIP ASK GAME

tagged by @batshit-birds

RULES: post the names of the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! tag as many people as you have WIPs

1. no adult supervision

2. my dear devoted delicate

3. for the love of superman can we please meet some more murder suspects already

4. fuck or be moderately inconvenienced (18+)

5. bird boy bird boy where have you gone

6. orv au scenario 2 electric boogaloo (feat yjconan backstory)

7. i am not dead yet

8. haha get SHRUNK idiot (affectionate)

9. hey ghostboy what are your powers (tim: ...that's a good question)

10. what if jon's social skills were actually affected by being trapped in a volcano with only an evil version of his dad to talk to for years

tagging: @marshmallowgoop @yin1se4 @summerbummin @animikachu @kuroko99 @stygianwriter @thrushsong-kvaris @deducingcircumference @beedok and anyone who wants to do it!

#batman #batfam #tim drake #superboy #kon el #edogawa conan #kuroba kaito #bbc sherlock #superman #superbat #timkon #yj98 #robin #red robin #danny phantom #< all show up in at least one of these wips

25 notes · View notes

snoozeeroo · 2 years

Note

personally i think of u and @/marshmallowgoop as the heishin pros so i HAVE to ask. what do u think heiji's and shinichi's love languages are?? need this for scientific research

Hello anon! I'm very flattered to be thought of a HeiShin pro, especially alongside the talented Goop!

I love this question though... the more I think about Shinichi and Heiji's similarities I realize they are polar opposites; The East and The West. How ironic?

I personally view Heiji's love languages to consist of words of affirmation and physical touch. He seems like an overly affectionate guy and I love him so much you have no idea.

Shinichi on the other hand is totally the opposite. I believe his love languages are quality time and gift giving (I noticed that he had given a few gifts to Ran before...?) Shinichi seems to really enjoy spending time with the people he loves and soaking in the moment.

Anyhow, there you have it! Heishin love languages! This was such an adorable ask and I'm very touched. Thank you for sharing your question with me! ❤

#also if anyone else thinks otherwise PLEASE share or add on. i also want to know!!!#ask #heishin #dcmk

58 notes · View notes

shsl-box-worshipper · 25 days

Text

Hi, @marshmallowgoop! I decided to make your gift both a prank fic and a fic full of Miyano angst! I loved the idea of Akemi being a bit of a prankster...but you know me, I also demand tears be involved!

Also serves as a kind of sequel to THE BREACH. So, Enjoy!

ECHO

A little girl walks the lonely road at midnight, the moon her only companion and the clothes on her back the closest thing she has to home. She shivered as the night grew longer and the silvery orb of perpetuatance lit her path forward. Despite this, she did not give. Did not succumb to the cold that surrounded her. Her name is, or rather was, Shiho Miyano. Shiho hasn't interacted with another person proper for several months now. For she was not to exist at all. In one life, she was an unaware and unwilling prisoner and trainee of a group of individuals she came to fear as time grew longer, their black coats filling her sleeping thoughts as replays of horrible things warped and meshed on each other like a distorted film.

However, during that time, she had her sister. Akemi Miyano. The greatest big sister Shiho could've asked for.

Sadly, as Shiho looked to the sky above, she recollected the moments that led to her supposed rebirth.

She was freed from the crows that had toyed with her all her life, but it came at the cost of her sister's life.

13.

Akemi Miyano was just 13 years old. And Shiho was only 10.

Still, as she walked the lonely road, Shiho couldn't help but think of her sister as someone older. Someone wiser than a woman becoming of her age.

Shiho smiled as she thought about her sister in life, reminiscing on her happiest moments with her before it came to a burning and bloody end.

...She was getting tired. Akemi told her to never stop running, and so she did. She constantly hitch-hiked and walked toward one town and the next, doing whatever she could to get food, money, and a place to sleep.

She hasn't seen another car in ages. And she was getting tired.

...She could probably sleep on the grass nearby. It was not like police or the crows came this far out. She had moved across prefecture borders at this point. Anyone searching for a missing little girl of her description at this point would venture this far.

So, knowing she was possibly at her safest at the moment, she stopped her continuous walking, her knees begging to buckle under her.

She turned around and spotted a little grass field marked by a few trees off the side of the road. Finally, something soft.

She walked off the craggly pavement and stepped her holey shoes into lush grasses that tickled at her feet.

Shiho yawned as she promptly sat her behind on the softest patch of grass she could find. She was so tired.

She could barely feel her body as she promptly flopped onto the prairie, not even caring or stirring as the resulting trampled blades of grass rubbed against her skin.

Not even bothering to move from her current position, Shiho looked up to the sky as a light breeze brushed over her, gazing at the sky above as the calming beauty of nature absorbed her.

The chirping of cicadas, the soothing cool winds, the twinkling of the stars above.

She could almost swore one of them was moving...as if coming towards her.

For a brief moment, panic right through Shiho as she remained petrified against the grass.

What was-

She then saw it blinking...before slowly disappearing from her view.

...Helicopter.

She couldn't believe a helicopter gave her that much of a jumpscare.

She sighed as her adrenaline immediately subsided. Even as she was getting used to the outside world, she was still often naive when it came to what was and wasn't normal physical phenomena.

...Though it did remind of a memory. A memory of long ago.

Before the world was so cruel. Before she was free from the crows.

Before her cherished sister became just another splatter of blood in humanity's well of hatred.

...Her eyelids were getting heavy. She felt so tired.

Maybe now...is the time to sleep. And with it, Shiho shut out the world as she knew it.

///

"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

The first thing she heard as came home from school was a bloodcurdling scream. And all at once, her body froze in place. Her breath hitched and everything she had thought of before had left her mind. Shiho recognized the scream. That being the familiar, often calm and soothing voice of her sister.

And with it, she bolted to the living room.

"ONEE-CHAN!"

She didn't even take the chance to drop off her bag or change out of her shoes as she went after her sister's voice. She was scared, terrified even. The sound of her shoes hitting the mats that lined the floor filled the air around her.

And then, she stopped.

Instead of being filled with light, the living room she had so grown accustomed to was dark. The windows were shuttered and the lights were off. It was so dark that she could barely see the outlines of the furniture that filled the room.

Shivers went down her spine as she gulped and took a nervous step forward. Any agency that was left in her had faded at this point, and the only light in the room came from the entrance light bleeding into the living room.

Her footsteps creaked against the tatami mats that covered the floor, her hands gripping the straps of her bag tightly as beads of sweat rolled down her face.

"O-Onee-chan?" she called out in a meek voice.

...But nothing responded.

She continued walking forward regardless.

She stretched out her hand to get a feel for her surroundings. After a few more steps, her hand brushed up against ragged cloth, firm with a rough texture.

She immediately concluded that she was feeling the back of Vermouth's couch, since she could recognize the rough cloth from anywhere.

She sighed with relief for a moment, knowing where she was in the universe putting her mind at ease.

But then, it all came crashing down.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGHHHHHH!"

Suddenly, something popped up from in front of the couch, screaming at Shiho. Fear flooded her veins as her head snapped up to look at the visage.

Sharp yellow fangs, red eyes, giant horns, black skin, a monstrous visage!

All staring at her and growling with its mouth wide open.

It only took a milisecond for Shiho to join the monster in screaming.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHH!"

It scared her so bad that she fell on her rear, frozen in place by the terror that flooded her veins.

Her heart felt weak as her throat went sore from screaming.

And then, the lights came back on. The monster from the couch was gone.

Still panicked, she looked around for what turned on the lights...only to see Akemi, an amused look on her face as her fingers let go of the light switch.

"Haha, I got you good, didn't I?"

...and on the side of her face...was a monster mask.

Exactly like the monster that had made her jump and scream.

...

It didn't take her long to realize what was going on. And with it, fear turned into outrage.

"Onee-chan, that was NOT funny!"

Meanwhile, Akemi just laughed. Not like the fake laughter that the Miyano sisters had to do to appease the adults around them, but a wholehearted, belliful laugh that was so strong that it caused Akemi to hold her stomach.

"HAHA, wow, look at your face! You looked SO scared, hahaha!"

Meanwhile, Shiho was about to lose her mind. And in that moment, rage pumping through her entire body, she ran at Akemi.

"DON'T DO THAT AGAIN!"

Despite the anger present in her little body, there was always one thing that stuck out to her as she began baby-slapping her guffawing older sister:

Akemi's smile.

Unlike any smile she had seen before or after that day, it was whole, bright, and genuine.

A rare smile in Shiho's life. A smile she only saw on those that she saw as truly happy.

But it was a smile that, despite the emotions she felt at that moment, she carried with her.

Even as this moment became a memory, she knew that smile was special. And she always remembered the face Akemi made when the prank went through.

Because, at the end of the day, despite Shiho's anger, that scare was ironically the safest the Miyano sisters have ever been and ever will be.

But only in her dreams...can Shiho really live through that safety again. For that safety no longer existed in her rebirthed life. For now, that memory only served as an echo of future past.

#dcmk #dcmk fanworks server #writing #fanfiction #hope you like it

2 notes · View notes

hexfloog · 1 year

Text

Starlight - for @marshmallowgoop as part of the DCMK Fanworks Server Halfiversary Exchange! :3c Boy was I excited when I saw the opportunity to explore this relationship teehee

Words and alt crop below the break <3

I deeply admire the Miyano sibling bond and super wish it was explored more in canon. They both clearly loved and cared for each other very much in spite of their situation growing up: not only did Akemi stake her own life on completing an impossible task in order to free her sister, but her death ultimately drove Shiho to attempt to take her own-- if that doesn't speak to sibling devotion then idk what does.

The crumbs we get out of certain episodes and movies (in particular, episode 129 and Countdown to Heaven) showcasing Ai trying to reckon with her grief are so so good and that's what I really wish we got to see more of ;--; That Ai would willingly compromise her safety in order to touch the last vestiges of her sister... bruh

Enjoy!! And now here's the alt crop:

God this could totally be an album cover. HA good joke Hex, you wouldn't, would you...? Unless...

#art #dcmk #miyano akemi #miyano shiho #haibara ai #ai haibara #sherry #akemi miyano #dcmk fanworks exchange

124 notes · View notes

cartoonsbyandie · 9 months

Text

Tag Game: Ten First Lines

Rules: share the first lines of ten of your most recent fanfics and tag ten people. If you have written less than ten, don’t be shy and share anyway.

I was tagged by @marshmallowgoop

I'm also interpreting this to mean "most recently worked on" and including WIPs.

“I have a few questions for you. I know you’ve already been read your rights,” he said, shutting the door behind him. [”???”]

It was a blue box truck, the kind made for delivering freight through crowded city streets like Beika, the Isuzu logo plastered proudly on the front grill. [”Look Both Ways,” Bride of Halloween fic]

There had been something haunting them, long before Richard's murder-magnetism had kicked into high gear. [“The View from Makeout Bridge,” KogoMegure one-shot.]

Richard made a mental note that if he ever wanted to win a game of hide-and-seek, he should just pay Division Two a visit. Because that was the last place he’d ever expect to find himself, and he was literally standing here right now. [“Witness Statement,” NakaMouri fic.]

"You didn't beat me yet, Kaiba! I activate Contagion of Madness!" The card was recognized, every shred of confidence draining from Kaiba’s face, illuminated by a blinding light that filled the battlefield. [”Critias the Traitor,” mostly-abandoned Orichalcos!Kaiba AU canon rewrite.]

Kew understood the world of the living for what it wasn’t. [Short story file, original characters.]

I tag: idk whoever hasn’t done it, I was tagged in this forever ago

#not art #I don't have ten sorry--#I should write more

7 notes · View notes

birdmenmanga · 1 year

Text

Tag Game: Ten First Lines

Rules: share the first lines of ten of your most recent fanfics and tag ten people. If you have written less than ten, don’t be shy and share anyway.

Thank you @marshmallowgoop for the tag!! I will also be including WIPs in this list!!

Tatsume Naoyuki doesn't know when he realizes that he's in a dream. [BIRDMEN, Tatsume, bits of his ex-wife and Marilyn, set mid-series, complete oneshot]

It's always this way with urban cities. [BIRDMEN, post-canon worldbuilding, complete oneshot]

The third and last day of the Eighth Annual Wing Summit draws to a close in the conference room of a lavish New York City hotel. [BIRDMEN, post-canon Karasuma and Takayama, WIP, abandoned]

"Arthur, you want my tater tots?" [BIRDMEN, Robin and Miguel, set mid-series, WIP]

It's a different stairwell these days, in a different school and a different era, but it's a stairwell all the same, just like it was in junior high. [BIRDMEN, Karasuma and Sagisawa, post-canon, WIP]

It's that time of the night when the house grows sleepy, after dinner has been served, after showers have been taken, and the lights grow dim in the family room. [BIRDMEN, Umino and transmasc!Karasuma, mid-series, WIP]

"Why the long face, Trickster?" [BIRDMEN, Karasuma and Sagisawa, post-canon, complete oneshot]

Eishi, it's been a while since you've visited home. [BIRDMEN, Karasuma and Takayama, post-canon, complete oneshot]

It begins with a kiss; this is the moment that the spark of hope is kindled, the nameless hope Yoshimori carries softly in his chest. [Kekkaishi, Yoshimori and Soji, post-canon, WIP, unlikely to be completed]

“She could still be down there,” Yoshimori whispered weakly, shaking his head. “We don’t know that she’s failed. We— we can’t—” [Kekkaishi, canon divergence (Tokine fails to persuade Lord Mahora; Yoshimori eradicates her in the creation of his shinkai), WIP, abandoned]

Tagging @birdmenanime, @desfraisespartout, @kitsoa, @sakvnosuke, @charterandbarter, @tangentiallly, and anyone else who would like to do this!

#just thinking thoughts...#tag game #LOL 10... remember when I wrote in past tense. LOL #god I am really past my det co era huh...#mannn I do kind of want to finish my silly soyoshi fic. JUST for the sumiko and shuuji bits you know

11 notes · View notes