#drew this during class haha :'D

[flowery-laser-blasts]

"Funny story, not funny 'haha', but it was a Tuesday... "

"Drew? Are you in there? Look, we didn't mean for it to go that far."

Possible's voice called out from just outside the cleaning supplies closet door, he seemed to be getting better at faking concern if it wasn't for his stifled laughs. "Come on man, it was just a joke, and besides it's not like you didn't try to mess with our experiments first!" Ramesh's voice chimed in. "Just leave him be," Chen commented, "We still have to finish cleaning the mess he made in the lab before dictator Rogers returns and we all get in trouble." There probably was a silent agreement between the three of them, because soon after Drew could hear his roommates' footsteps leaving. Drew knew that he needed to get this chemical prank off his skin as soon as possible, who knows what the side effects could be. But as much as he tried, he couldn't find the strength to get up. The pain caused by the concoction burned into his flesh and made the blood in his veins feel like icy daggers; it demanded all of his energy to not pass out. "I suppose, if I lose this hand I could always replace it with a robotic one..." he thought-.

"-I can't possibly replace my entire body with machinery." Drew muttered half-jokingly as he looked into the bathroom mirror. The pains from the chemical burns were gone, but the blue stains appeared to spread from his hand further up to his arms, shoulder, and chest. He had managed to cover his eye with the foundation he haphazardly stole from the nearby drugstore (it involved a dog chase, rubber bands, and a thrown-over gumball machine) but it wouldn't be long before he had to cover up his entire face and wearing gloves in the summer during class would prove to be very impractical. A few weeks later, Drew unofficially resigned from Middleton Institute of Science and Technologies, before anyone could notice or make jabs at his new appearance. My take on how Dr D's skin turned blue. Hope you don't mind any spelling or grammar mistakes. I'm an artist, not an "Englist". I have a personal grudge against James Possible and his friends.

#dr drakken #drakken #drdrakken #kim possible #kimpossible

[boeingboingboing]

I drew USS Nimitz instead of studying last night *chuckle*

Haha cringe camera quality as well :')

Anyway it was an experimental try and uhh he looks a little off because I ended up making him tinier because i drew him in a horizontal way instead of vertical in the book lol. His nose was literally to long to fit

Anyway, here's some hcs about my boy since i dunno what else to say:

-Is always seen bright and fine. He hides his feelings for others. Is calm and composed during stressful situations lol.

-Is very protective of his class ships. Is a father-figure for all of them

-Outgoing, determined, courageous, supportive, still wise, overprotective sometimes.

-Snores l o u d l y (credit to @thatonelightyear )

-Goofy guy, is capable of being more annoying than the naughty ones in his crew

I will got lotta think 'bout lol but yeah.

#uss nimitz #woc ships #disney planes

[claypigeonpottery]

Heyyyyy~ I'm just... So in love with all the work you do, they're all so precious and beautiful I'm in tears. Thank you so for what you do, can't wait to buy something you made soon :D

If it's okei, can you please tell the story of how you got into this and how did you progress from being babie artist to now growing artist and how long you've been doing this for? What's your top 3 fav works you've done? Did you eat good food today, if not please dooo. Thenks

thank you! that's very sweet x3 I'm excited to get more stuff fired and up on Etsy, hopefully before the end of June

.

choose three favourites of my work? oh, that is a difficult question.

one thing I really didn't like about my art when I was younger was that it was all very static. it was people sitting or standing, it was still life paintings. one of the things I'm really proud of in my work now is the sense of capturing a moment instead of someone posing, and/or giving a sense of movement

these two are just the opposite of static and I love them for that

and then there's this mug. the design is great, the details are great and I had so much fun carving it. it was honestly just delightful and I wish I'd kept it. I don't say that very often.

all sold

.

I'm putting the rest of this under a cut because I'm going to ramble

I started drawing because I was making silly comics about me and my friends in grade school and through high school (I assigned them all fursonas because I was a really cool 15 year old lol)

I got a little more serious about art in high school, but I never thought it'd be something I'd make money at.

when I was... in my early twenties? maybe 19 still? ah, memory issues, I went through a nine month art program, the 'Urban Canvas' project run by SCYAP (saskatoon community youth arts programming). the program is meant to support young artists, especially those with mental health or addiction issues. and it meant I got paid to draw and paint and create weird shit for 40 hours a week, for nine months. and then some (seven? eight?) years later I got to go through the program again which... honestly I'm so grateful I got to do that. (and SCYAP still supports me, they give me a table at their craft show every year and helped me with my first solo gallery show)

these are some of the pieces I made during my time at SCYAP:

and two very rare pictures of me, posing with two of my master studies. the left from when I was 20ish, and the right when I was... 27ish? (man I'm still proud of that Gentileschi copy)

.

it was after SCYAP when I started thinking that I could actually make money as an artist. so I painted more than a dozen murals, drew a 20-some page full colour comic, painted pet portraits, and sold my own paintings. commissions were more reliable than selling my own work for a long time lol

as for how I got into pottery, my mental health uh... haha. it took a nosedive about six years ago and during some of the worst of it, I was severely agoraphobic. my mom, who has always supported my art, offered to take me to pottery classes with her, in an attempt to get me leaving the house at least once a week. it did help (along with a lot of other things) and once I started exploring the surface decoration side of pottery, things really clicked for me

.

tangent: one of the things that really drove me to progress as an artist was having something driving my work. whether it was preparing for a gallery show or making a bunch of holiday cards or making piles of fan art because I was obsessed. every time I made something, anything, I improved. so when I had a goal that made me create more, I improved faster.

my unsolicited advice: make that weird fan art. it's good for your art. (I was really into tf2 lol)

.

I've tried tons of different mediums and I think it was a great way to help my style evolve.

when you're making art with a new medium, it might take awhile before you're making your own personal work. I, at least, find that I usually have to do some studies of other peoples' art and just try some basic creations before I do anything more personal. but once I'm ready to do MY stuff, I have a new repertoire to pull from. I wouldn't be the potter I am if I didn't have the experiences I got from other mediums

like acrylics (I did a lot of self portraits >.>)

paper flower making

watercolour

collage

cake decorating

(also oil paints, pastels, 3D wire art, crochet, linocut, stone carving, sewing, set painting and quilting. also my spouse and I like to make crafts together, like cutting-construction-paper, gluing-pompoms-and-googly-eyes crafts, because it's just fun to make stuff together)

I'm sure pottery isn't the last medium I'm gonna try. I'll probably get obsessed with carving tiny wooden figurines or making wax sculptures at some point. who knows!

.

and now I'm in my mid-thirties, making art pretty much every day. I've been doing this since I was a teenager, so almost twenty years now.

I never imagined I'd be satisfied with my own art, that I could look at most of my pieces and not see how I could have done it better, but hey, here I am.

.

wow that was rambly. the ADHD really comes out when I'm writing lol. and I did eat real food today! before having some freezies

thanks so much for your ask, hopefully I satisfied your curiosity

#art #ask #asks

[bluskye-27]

Secret's Out!

Summary: Ace, your ever-dumbass best friend, decided to run his mouth about your crush. Now how would the pineapple-loving man react to this? 🍍🐦

"You're lame."

"Shut up, Portgas."

"Hmph."

Ace and his best friend Y/n were sitting next together during their Math class. Not wanting to listen to the teacher droning, the freckled male turned to annoy his seatmate.

"What'cha doin'?" Ace whispered, peering over at his friend's desk just to be blocked by their hand. He pouted. "Come on, lemme see!"

"No way in hell, Freckles. Go mind your own business." Y/n huffed, covering their doodles with their hands. They have to protect it, or else the damn freckled gremlin would not let them live it down. After all, it's a doodle of them and-

"Holy shit! Is that Marco and you?!" Ace hollered, flustering his best friend successfully. "And you even drew little pineapples! Are those your kids?! Haha!"

"Shut the fuck up, Portgas!"

Ah, did I forgot to mention that they're still in class?

"MR. PORTGAS! MX. L/N! INTO MY OFFICE, NOW!"

"Y-yes, Ma'am!"

........

"Oh~ Marco! I love you so much! Mwa!" Ace mocked in his best impression of Y/n. He laughed, making kissing sounds into the air. As for the latter, they're currently trying to drown out his high-pitched voice, face down on the cafeteria table.

"Ugh, shut up!" They hissed angrily.

"Marco~ Let's have kids! I want pineapple kids~!"

"Ace, I fucking swear I'll-!"

"What's up, you guys?" Thatch cuts in, placing down his tray of food on the table. "Heard you guys got sent to the office! What did you idiots do anyway?" The brunette snickered, eyeing the younger duo mischievously. "Spill out the details, children!"

"Ugh, not you too!" Y/n whined, smacking Thatch's shoulder. "And no, don't you dare listen to Ace's bullshit." They huffed, grumbling under their breath.

"What! I haven't even said anything yet!" Ace bellowed, looking at his best friend with a fake innocent look. Y/n glared at him.

"You two are loud as ever, huh? Why don't you guys tone it down a little bit-yoi?" And in came the root of their problem, Marco, their second oldest of the group. After settling down at their table, the blond looked at his friends curiously. "What's the situation?"

Thatch snorted, nibbling on his fries. "I dunno. These two got sent to the office but won't tell me why." He pouted. "Come on, just tell us already!"

Marco sighed, rubbing his forehead. "You guys got sent to the office again? What the hell have you idiots been doing-yoi?"

"Oh~ Marco! You're definitely the cause of the problem, I'm telling you!" Ace cackled, eyeing the horrified Y/n beside him. "Right, Y/n~?"

The older pair perked up at the mention of the blond's name. "Marco?/Me?" They looked at each other before at the pair across them.

"U-uh, don't believe Ace! He's lying!" Y/n whisper-shouted, pushing the former away. The said male shook his head in return. "I'm not lying!"

"You are!"

"I'm not!"

"YOU ARE!"

"I'M NOT!"

Glaring at each other, the best friends got into a heated staring competition, making Thatch and Marco sigh at their antics. They both knew how stubborn they could be when they're in a disagreement.

"Okay, stop. We get enough of y'all arguing." Thatch scolded, shaking his head in exasperation. Marco sighed exasperatedly, crossing his arms over his chest. "And mind telling me why am I the cause of your stupidity-yoi?"

Ace grinned evilly, feeling victorious. "About that! I saw Y/n doodling a picture with them and-!" Yet he was interrupted when the said friend abruptly stood up with a dark look on their face, staring in a threatening way at the freckled male.

"I'm leaving." With that, Y/n walked away, leaving their three friends dumbfounded.

They all stared in disbelief at their friend's back until Marco spoke. "...Ace, what the fuck did you do?" He growled in annoyance.

However, the idiot was still gaping at where his best friend had went. "Uh..."

Thatch gave the freckled male an accusatory look, "Portgas D. Ace, you're in BIG trouble now!"

Ace was ashamed. And it tripled when Marco was glaring daggers at him and Thatch mocking his stupidity. Good job, best friend.

........

"Oh, fuck. Now it's raining?" Huffed Y/n, glaring at the water constantly dropping from the dark clouds. "And where's my umbrella?! I swear I put it in here!"

Unbeknownst to the panicking h/c protagonist, a certain blond friend was sneaking up behind them.

"Yo."

"H-huh?!" Getting all defensive, Y/n tried to hit the person but stopped themselves when they saw who it was. "Marco!"

The said blond smiled lazily at them, ruffling the other's hair affectionately. "Why are you panicking, huh? Did you forgot your umbrella-yoi?"

Turning away to hide their flustered face, Y/n nodded in agreement. "Y-yeah." Marco chuckled at his h/c friend in amusement. How can a feisty person become so shy all of a sudden? He smiled, finding their flustered state cute.

"H-how about you, Marco? Did you have an umbrella?" Gaining some confidence, Y/n asked the male timidly.

"Yes. Would you like me to walk you home-yoi?" Marco tilted his head at them, holding the said device.

"S-sure."

Their cheeks became slightly pink, but it went unnoticed by Marco.

"Come on." With that, the blond started walking away with Y/n following beside him under his umbrella.

It seemed like they were in comfortable silence, neither of them saying a word as they trudged through the pouring rain. Y/n wanted to speak but couldn't find the words when they were very close to their blond crush.

"Why did you stormed out earlier? Did something happened between you and Ace-yoi?" Marco spoke, glancing at his younger friend from the corner of his eye. "You seemed very upset too."

Y/n bit their lip, unsure of the situation. After all, Marco is the very cause of their scuffle with Ace. 'Should I tell him?' They asked themselves, measuring the consequences of their possible answers. Maybe they should lie-

"You have a crush on me, don't you?" Marco blurted out, smirking at his h/c friend. But that damned smirk got wiped off when he noticed how Y/n's about to explode in embarrassment. "Oh shit, it's true-yoi?"

All Y/n did was nod, avoiding the surprised look the blond was giving her. Secret's out, they sighed.

After a few seconds, Y/n finally found the courage to look up at the taller male and opened their mouth to answer. However, that was exactly what they didn't expect. Because before they could utter another word, the blond grabbed and pulled them close, dropping his umbrella in the process.

"I have a crush on you, too-yoi."

Guess Y/n now has to thank a certain freckled best friend for his loud mouth, huh?

Bonus Ending:

"Ow..." Ace winced, rubbing the bump on his head he got from his angry pineapple look-alike friend before.

Meanwhile, Thatch was laughing his ass off at the sight. "Serves you right, idiot!"

Ace just glared at him before gaping at the gloomy weather outside the school building.

"Oh shit, it's raining. Good thing I've got an umbrella!" Roughly unveiling the said device, Thatch can't help but recognize the umbrella Ace has.

"Hey, Ace?"

The said freckled male looked at the brunette curiously. "Yeah?"

"Isn't that Y/n's umbrella?" Thatch pointed at it, confusion swimming in his orbs. In response, the freckled idiot grinned proudly. "Yep!" Cue the umbrella breaking.

"Oops."

Thatch sighed, pitying the younger male's constant misfortune. "You're dead meat, Portgas."

Ace can't help but smile sheepishly. "Guess now we have to run under the rain, huh?"

The brunette facepalmed.

Tagging @kazenomegaminowanpisu !

#one piece #portgas d. ace #one piece thatch #marco the phoenix #marco the phoenix x reader #one piece marco x reader

[finchy4077]

MASH asks :D

* what’s one of your favourite m*a*s*h episodes & why? —"Deal Me Out" is the ultimate comfort episode for me. Every line hits, every transition is flawless, Sidney and Sam are a fucking lethal combination. It gets my brain buzzing about headcanons—it's a more subtle "Hawkeye is having one of his depressive lows" episode where his lethargy is clicked on almost the whole time, I'm fascinated by how comfortably Hawk and Sidney interact even though this is supposedly one of Sidney's first few times being there, etc. Shout out also to "Crisis" and "Your Hit Parade" for being other frequent comfort watches.

* who’s your favourite character? who’s the character you relate most to? why? —Ahh, BJ is the ultimate favorite as well as the one I relate to the most. Unfortunately for him, I imprinted on him and Peg and their relationship during one of the worst periods of my life where I saw a lot of what I was experiencing at the time in both of them, and it gave me a safe place to hunker down and process everything so that I could emerge from that period far better than I was when I went in. He can't escape now. There's no use, I've locked all the doors.

* what’s one of your favourite head-canons? —Oh man. I have extremely unique interpretations of a lot of the characters as compared to fanon, and I own that, so a lot of my headcanons are nowhere near universal :) I'll say the one I came up with that got me most out of my mind was Sidney spending a year as a visiting psychiatry professor while Hawk was in med school, and them initially meeting that way (purely based on Hawk's joking comment in Edwina of "According to my three psychology classes, two of which I cut..." and me going "Hmm, I wonder what made that third class different enough that you stuck around.").

* what’s your favourite ship/ships? —Anybody who knows anything about me knows that I am the resident I Ship Everything loudmouth, and I am on a quest to write it all to boot, so this is the most evil question you could ask me. If I have to sum it up, my top ship is BJ/Peg/Hawk, my guilty pleasure ship is BJ/Peg/Hawk/Trap, and the runners-up are BJ/Margaret, BJ/Sidney, Sidney/Sam, Trapper/Margaret/Hawkeye, BJ/Leo—you know what, really any BJ/Character ship, but add Hawkeye to it as well. I am not much one for monogamy, as we see haha.

* what’s your favourite m*a*s*h fanfic? —Anything at all by my friend Canon. "With All My Cynical Heart" is a Trapper/Hawk that has become my preferred idea of when the two of them first hook up. I always have to give a shout out to "a crash course in fellatio on the edge of a mine field" because it was my first Sidney/BJ fic I read, it made an entire fic universe spawn in my head, and it was also one of the first times we connected one-on-one over something so exciting to us. And of course if someone is a Sidney/Hawkeye enjoyer and they have NOT read "Insanity in the service of health," they are missing out on an incredible magnum opus.

* what’s your favourite piece of m*a*s*h fan art? —I am biased because @saltseashark has done some incredible sketches of moments from my fics or just little ideas that bubbled up out of my head!! This is one from one of my BJ/Leo fics, for example; as soon as I saw it, I wanted to chew a hole through my wall. But also a wonderful friend drew me a multi-page BJ/Sidney/Hawkeye comic for a holiday exchange last year and I cried very real tears over it. I'm still kind of jealously guarding the whole thing close to my chest just for me right now, but I posted a page of it here. It's fucking gorgeous.

* have you met/had correspondence with/received a letter from any of the cast? —Extremely well-timed question because I just mailed off a letter to Mike on Monday. Help. But I needed him to know the role he played in getting me through that aforementioned difficult period, so I wouldn't have forgiven myself if I didn't send it :) The mortifying ordeal of being known, etc. Thanks for these questions!! They were super fun!

AAAH! i’m so sorry i didn’t see this until now!

- i LOVE sidney!!! i see why ‘deal me out’ is a favourite. i’m in the midst of a rewatch so i only vaguely remember “your hit parade” but i’m excited to see it again :’)))

- BEEJ!!!!! oh how i love that cheesy mustache <333 m*a*s*h has definitely gotten me through some really difficult times too, there’s something comforting about a character you love dealing with something you’ve also dealt with. i’m glad they’ve been a comfort. (hawkeye’s had some troubles with his ol noggin similar in vein to what i’ve experienced and i think that’s why tragic funny man has imprinted himself on my heart).

- that headcanon would make a lot of sense given how familiarly and comfortably they interact from very early on in the series - it’s not a headcanon i’ve heard before but it’s one that i like & makes sense to my brain 👀

- honestly i really think given the nature of war & intensity of everyone’s experience at the 4077th, monogamy doesn’t make as much contextual sense to me - how could you not be so incredibly bonded to each other through that experience? and in the same light, that experience doesn’t take away from the love you have with others/back home/etc. bj/hawk/peg is a perfect example of that for me <33

- thank you so much i’m going to add these to my read list, i’m especially excited for insanity in the service of health - sidney/hawkeye has really grown on me. ALSO?!? such beautiful artwork!!!!

- well i hope the mortifying ordeal of being known turns into the delight of being seen, and that you hear back from mike!!

(random sidenote… before i found mashblr, i was on ao3 reading A Lot of fanfic. you are honestly my favourite writer. i got so excited checking back every sunday! midnight trepidations, hell the whole of some things are evergreen has my heart and soul! i’m excited to see where you take it <333 )

[yanir-gryphon]

Haha I just saw how your dragonborn tetsuo is also a monk, that's so cool! :D I am trying out the monk class for the first time in bg3 also with a dragonborn hehe

I'm interested to know more about Tetsuo 👀

I haven't played much DnD to be honest, Tetsuo is still smol lvl1 silly dragonborn :} My DM start campain only for me, it's a lone wolf dragonborn adventure hehe.

Tetsuo, being an egg, was given by her parents to the Silver Dragoness Temple in thanks for helping out - children are very precious to nomadic dragonborns in DM original setting. She was a restless and untroubled child - it was hard for her to get along in the temple, surrounded by humans. When Tetsuo was a teenager, after an unfortunate incident during training, she injured her human friend, after which she couldn't stand the guilt and sawed off her horns/spikes, which then didn't grow back. Tetsuo has grown wiser with age, but she still can't always balance her power - the older monks teach her to be gentle and careful with all living things and to keep her power in check (which she is still learning, and making great progress) Despite her formidable look and six-foot-two stature, she is kind, patient and gently! She also socially awkward and a bit of naive ":D Her elder masters, foreseeing the danger looming over the nearby village, send her to figure out what's going on. This is how her adventure begins!

Monks are cool!!! I'm playing BG3 too(played since early access), as gnome sorcerer with draconic bloodline. I drew him even, you can see below somewhere on my blog. Thank you for asking 💖💖💖

#text post #tetsuo #my d&d character

[spaceman-spaetzle]

sorry 4 this but now you got me interested: how did u develop ur style? :D its distinct n vibrant n i love it

there's absolutely no need to apologize! this will probably become an incoherent ramble so i'll see what i can do! thanks again for letting me learn about your style too :) <3

i've drawn since i was a tot tbh. i've been told that i was always a bit self critical (do not recommend 0/10), and 3 year old me once complained about how what i drew looked like a potato. but with that came determination and a genuine free feeling that came with drawing.

i think i started actually keeping sketchbooks since i was maybe 9-10? mentioning this because keeping sketchbooks is intrinsic to my work. and like a lot of artists this generation, i was very inspired by anime. i definitely drew anime girls awkwardly standing stiffly with hands behind their backs, LOL. i couldn't decide on a distinct style for a long time though, but throughout my childhood i grew inspired by pop artists like roy lichtenstein.

i hung out with a lot of animators during my uni days, and i found myself studying a lot of artists and animators who had these crazy, dynamic poses and vivid characters. i was in the fandom for a long time, but in the middle of college, i took a break and really began to experiment! my love for inks, which was introduced to me when i was about 14, stuck with me and from there i was able to develop my style.

like you, i've taken all sorts of art styles ive appreciated and sort of made it into my own thing, but from what i learned from my animator friends' art and my brief time taking animation classes, i really wanted to make my art feel bold and full of movement. i still struggle to capture movement the first time when i draw things, so i still have a long way to go! but i guess what really helped me develop my style was establishing my values in my art practice. what do i want to see? how do i wish to draw for myself? those kinds of questions! and that meant crossing out things such as same face syndrome. i also find it really important that character designs say something about the character's personality. so for roderich, i like drawing him in a mix of sharp and soft angles. his pointy nose, chin, and sharp shoulders to me resemble a judgmental aristocrat and the softness resembles the contrast between people's assumptions of him and aspects of him you would have to get to know him in order to learn. i also just generally think he's a bit on the thicc side and a bit soft to touch, haha. i also like trying to vary the body types i draw.

sorry that this was so long! as for artists i like, i tend to follow a lot of twitter artists that have very fleshed out, distinct voices in their styles and i like to learn from them. one of my fave artists is victoria vincent/vewn! and growing up, artists i enjoy include erte, alphonse mucha, and Plenty more. and lately i've been feeling inspired by egon schiele. he makes me want to play with exaggeration and proportions a lot more!

thanks for asking and please know your art just feels very vivid and tangible, if that makes sense? like they're clearly stylized but it feels like there's so much thought put behind the characters! they almost feel real in a sense.

#ask 4 me #:D #this was. really long and i wish i listed more artists but my brain is tiny #also to improve my style i'm gonna try to use color palettes online and improve my sense of color theory #we'll see where things go haha #but Yes you're still welcome to message my dude!

[pohlunaali]

Malaysia Trip (4 Nights 5 Days Trip)

A summarized blog post about my first time at Kuala Lumpur.

It was the last few chances to go for an overseas trip in my final year of school so why the heck not despite not knowing anyone in the trip.

DAY 1 (26TH SEPTEMBER 2023):

Heading off to Malaysia via Bus~

Didn't expect to see so many trees in the next few hours. Would have thought I spend the few hours in the bus drawing or doing something productive but no I just knocked out half of the ride, I guess this is what happens when you hit the adult age

Once we arrived to our hotel rooms -> A view from my room! ( Happy to say I had a real sweet roommate during this trip☺)

Dinner time aka Group of introverts battling their way through salespeople challenge

also lizard 🦎 I was hoping to see more lizards but this was the only one I saw through this trip

"hallo"

DAY 2: (27TH SEPTEMBER 2023)

Little do my legs know we are gonna have a leg day in the next two days.

On our way to Lemonsky Studio & Inspidea Studio vrrr ( Saw my fellow schoolmates interning at Inspidea as well! glad they recognized me haha covid has cause us to not know our class well)

Studio 1: Lemonsky Studio

Such a humongous studio with so many colleagues wowza and they had a cool lounge area with arcade games and gachas! It was cute how they named each room or door based on the big projects they worked with. My fellow colleagues lets meet at the final fantasy room

Also the number of projects they worked with, W o w

Brought home two of their postcards of the projects they worked with, Ratchet & Clank and Diavolo! ( I don't play these two games ! :D <- not a gamer ) I just thought the monster in the Diavolo postcard looks cute

Quick stop to the mall after that: (The speedrun of a quick bite so we can check out the anime store goal - My team's objective)

Spoiler: The anime store was boring but the arcade store next door wasn't! but it sure took some of our money like this darn clown claw machine which was bloody BROKEN and my coins are gone with it Damn cute clowns.... But is okay I got the highlight of this whole trip, my wittle lizard guy in a gacha machine. I luv him <3

Studio 2: Inspidea Studio

Their office was smaller than Lemonsky Studio but it was very cozy and welcoming. Their "head animator boss" was real cool -> image below

Oh to work there and have feline colleagues~

Was real neat to see my schoolmates currently interning there and hearing how their time was in an overseas internship. A studio that is still doing 2D Work and illustration was nice to see in this trip as it has mostly been 3D targeted sighhh

Next Stop: Batu Cave ( RIP My legs)

Off with 200 Steps up to the cave with monkeys eyeing you for food.

I came back down with having beef with these monkeys for trying to steal my drink. One of them stole one of our mountain dew and down it like a true gamer.

The view at the top was very worth it in the end also BIG chickens

and cat

With sore legs, we return to Pavillion Mall for dinner and shortly after I got lost 💞 (Is okay I was found)

Back to the hotel room, sore

DAY 3 (28TH SEPTEMBER 2023):

The actual reason why this overseas trip was a thing, a convention at KLCC with various animation/games studio and talks coming in to talk.

Drew DJ Subatomic Supernova and my guy at Inspidea Studio Booth's

SNUFKIN FROM FINNISH ANIMATION MOOMIN?!

also twin tower

Talked to Tenten Studio and listened into a talk about working in concept art for games. Got an interesting advice that they would be interested to see process of how you design the character/prop/environment from research in your portfolio. Though I don't know if I have the interest to grind my skills up to the level of a Games Concept Artist

Alright cutting this off as Part 1 of the blog | PART 2

#ali blog #malaysia #Kuala Lumpur

[intheticklecloset]

The Great Academia Road Trip, Part 4 (My Hero Academia)

Primary Universe

Summary: When Kaminari flees from the friends he's playing cards with during a game night at a hotel, their ensuing chase and tickle attack leads to a conversation the electric blonde never knew he needed to have.

A/N: I really like this one because I think it highlights the importance of having conversations about your wants and boundaries before entering play with others. Plus it's cool character development for these three, and I like that, too. Enjoy!

Word Count: 2,293

Part 1

~~~

“Uno!”

“Agh, seriously?” Ojiro groaned, glancing at Kaminari’s single card with resigned frustration. “That’s the fifth one! How many of these do you plan to win?”

“All of them,” Denki replied with a smirk. “Obviously.”

Shinsou considered a moment, eyeing his hand. He had a draw four card, but he also had the color in play right now. Plus that would go to Ojiro anyway, and he didn’t want to rob his friend of the chance to stop Kaminari. Any other card he played would leave it up to Ojiro instead. He could reverse it, but that only risked Denki having the color in play and winning the game.

Finally he huffed out a sigh and tossed down a nine. “Good luck, man.”

Ojiro groaned again, hesitated, then decided to draw. A relieved look passed over his face for a brief moment before the reality of his choice settled in. He placed the wild card on the deck and thought for a long, hard moment, entering a staring contest with Kami, who just smirked at him in return.

“…blue,” Ojiro finally said.

Kami sighed, reached for the deck…then lay down his last card – also a wild card – and threw his hands in the air in victory. “Haha! Fifth win, baby!”

Both Ojiro and Shinsou groaned loudly, tossing down their unplayed hands in defeat.

“What the heck, Kaminari?” Shinsou asked. “You’re, like, the king of every game I ever play with you. First Mario Kart, now this?”

Kaminari smirked. “I’m just that good, my friend.”

Ojiro tried to share a glance with Shinsou, but the purple-haired boy was already gathering up the cards to shuffle them again. The blonde snuck his tail over to him under the table, brushing it along his side gently. Shinsou jolted and shot his eyes to him at last, and finally, an exchange of information without words took place.

“You know, Denki, I think there’s one game that both Shinsou and I could beat you at easily,” Ojiro challenged, knowing their friend would take the bait.

“Oh yeah? What is it? Bring it on, punks – I’ll be happy to wipe the floor with you again!” Kaminari grinned, winking to let them know he was kidding. Mostly.

Shinsou took his turn to smirk confidently. “You’re awfully cocky for someone so ticklish, you know.”

Denki froze, eyes going wide. He looked between the two of them, then around at the others in their class who were seated at separate tables in the dining room, each playing their own card or board game. After a long travel day, their teachers had decided to let them have the night off to rest and recuperate before the next round of training in the morning. Though no one had overheard their conversation, if Ojiro and Shinsou started tickling him, everyone in the room was going to tune in to their game.

“Um…c-can’t we talk about this?” Kami tried, turning back to them nervously. He’d had a chance to tell his other group of friends about his preference for lighter tickles, but he hadn’t told Ojiro or Shinsou yet, and if he brought it up now it would just look like a cop-out. “Please don’t attack me with tickles right now. I don’t want everyone to see me like that.”

Ojiro quirked a brow, shared another look with his partner in crime, and hummed. “Fine. Then the game we’ll play now is ‘keep quiet.’ While we play this next round of Uno, Shinsou and I will tickle you at random, and you have to keep quiet when we do or you automatically forfeit the round.”

Kaminari didn’t like his prospects, but it was better than the alternative, so he nodded. “S-Sure. Fine. I can still beat both of you.”

Shinsou shuffled, dealt, and began the next round of play without a word, though he was smirking slightly. Ojiro played, then Kami, then Shinsou, and so on, until the sparky blonde began to wonder when the first tickles would come. The longer they played, the more nervous he got, until finally Shinsou moved slightly, and Kaminari leapt out of his chair with a yelp that drew everyone’s attention to him anyway.

“I haven’t even touched you yet,” Shinsou chuckled.

Denki backed away from the table, eyeing the dining room exit. “You said I had to keep quiet. You didn’t say I couldn’t run away.”

“Run away now,” Ojiro dared, “and we’ll hunt you down and tickle you whether others are watching or not.”

Kaminari considered for exactly one second.

Then he took off at a sprint for the door.

Lucky for him, they weren’t allowed to use their quirks in the hotel, otherwise he knew either one of them would have caught up with him immediately. As it was, Ojiro had to let his tail drag behind him and Shinsou couldn’t use his binding cloth to lasso him, so they all ended up running to the nearest set of stairs, darting up them as fast as they could. Kaminari’s heart was racing and the sounds of the chase were freaking him out, but he was determined to at least make it back to the room they were sharing for the night before anything went down.

Finally they reached the fifth floor, and Denki bolted into their blessedly empty room, Shinsou and Ojiro hot on his heels. Shinsou had the presence of mind to close the door behind them even as Ojiro tackled Kami to the ground and immediately started tickling.

“Be gehehehehehentle – be gehehehehentle, plehehehehease!” Denki shrieked through his giggles, squirming and kicking already. He thought maybe he could toughen up and take the harsher tickles he knew were coming his way for running, but now that he was here, he knew he couldn’t, and he hadn’t talked about a safe word with either of these friends yet, so he had to get the words out now. “No hahahahahahard tihihihickles, please! I’m seheheheheherious!”

Ojiro kept him pinned to the floor but eased up on his attack slightly, eyeing his friend with curiosity. “Hey…you okay, man?”

Shinsou knelt beside them both.

“I don’t care if you tickle me,” Denki said in a rush, embarrassed, just wanting to get it over with. “Just please don’t tickle hard. I don’t – I don’t like being made to scream and beg. I just want to laugh.”

Ojiro opened his mouth to say something else, but before he could, Shinsou reached over and began carefully poking and prodding at Kami’s side and ribs. “Gentle tickles. You got it.”

Denki flopped onto the floor, out of breath from running so fast and now giggling quietly at the light touches, but his smile was genuine, and both of his friends could see it.

“You like soft tickles, huh, Denki?” Ojiro teased, carefully straddling him and motioning for Shinsou to take his arms. Once his torso was exposed, the blonde scribbled his fingers over his belly and hips. “Wouldn’t have thought you were the type.”

“I would’ve,” Shinsou said quietly. “I’ve spoken to some of our other mutual friends, and they told me you’re more ticklish than Midoriya. Knowing that, and knowing your personality, I assumed that if you liked tickling at all you’d probably like softer tickles due to your sensitivity.” He hummed. “Truthfully, I’m surprised Todoroki can stand being tickled like you tickled him earlier. He seems pretty sensitive himself.”

Kaminari giggled helplessly beneath them both, flushed red from Shinsou’s casual observations about how ticklish he was. He arched his back when Ojiro got a little too close to his waistline. “I c-cahahahahahan’t hehehehelp it,” he whined. “I juhuhuhuhust can’t tahahahahake anything rohohough.”

“Who said anything about helping it?” Shinsou asked.

“Yeah.” Ojiro smirked. “Everyone has their preferences. Even Kirishima has his limits, and we all know he loves being tickled until he’s screaming and crying. It’s all good, Denki. If you just want gentle tickles, we’ll tickle you gently. Doesn’t mean we’ll go easy on the teasing, though~”

Denki whined again. “Nohohohohohohoho, no teheheheheasing…” But he obviously didn’t mean it.

For the next several minutes the two of them tickled Denki into a happy, giggly stupor – so much so that at some point he even stopped resisting the teasing. He just let it all wash over him, let it consume him, let it take him to an elated plane of existence.

Then Ojiro’s tail brushed over his kneecaps, and he jolted right back down to Earth. “No! Nohohohoho, not the knehehehehehees!”

Ojiro lifted his tail. “Sorry. I promise I’ll be really soft, but if you’d rather not mess with that spot at all, I’ll leave it alone.”

Kami couldn’t stop giggling for Shinsou’s fingers in his underarms, but he took a moment to consider before replying. “G-Gehehehehentle,” he said at last, blushing. “My sahahahahafe word is rehehehehed.”

“A safe word?” Ojrio asked.

Shinsou nodded. “That’s a good idea, actually. I should have one of those.”

“Eheheheheveryone should. I t-thihihihihihink mohohohohost of us hahahahahave one if we’re tihihihihihickled enough for it to mahahahahatter.”

“Okay, red means stop for real. Got it.” Ojiro let his tail begin brushing over Kami’s kneecaps again, making the blonde arch his back with a squeal, giggles already bordering on laughter just from the lightest touch. “You okay?”

“Yehehehehehehehes!” Denki whimpered, grinning widely despite himself. “I’m okahahahahay!”

Shinsou took the opportunity to move down to his ribs while Ojiro let his tail brush a little more over his knees, making the blonde sputter and laugh and squirm beneath them.

“Frick, it tihihihihihihickles – it tickles so muhuhuhuhuhuch!” Kami squealed. “How dohohohoes eheheheheveryone do thihihihihis?!”

“What do you mean?” Ojiro asked.

“D-Deheheheheku and Tohohohodoroki and Kirishimahahaha – all of thehehehehem can take beheheheing tickled on their wohohohohorst spot for wahahahay longer than mehehehehe! How do thehehehehey do it?!”

“They just have different tolerance levels, that’s all.”

“It doesn’t make you any weaker for not liking it like they do,” Shinsou added quickly, firmly. “Again, everyone has their preferences. You can probably handle softer, teasing tickles way longer than they can. I know for a fact Midoriya can’t stand being teased and tickled at the same time.”

Ojiro flashed him a smirk. “Had a tickle fight with Deku, did you?”

“Yes. He lost, obviously.”

“Obviously.”

Kaminari suddenly felt like it was all too much, and he called out the safe word around a mouthful of giggles. The others let up immediately, and when he sat up, he sighed heavily, feeling worse than before. “Part of me kind of wants to be able to take that level of tickling. It looks fun on the outside, but when it’s actually happening to me I just can’t stand it. It feels more like torture than fun and I always bail immediately.”

“And there’s nothing wrong with that,” Ojiro said firmly, grabbing his shoulder. “Just because a lot of others in our class like being tickled that hard doesn’t mean you have to. Think about Iida. He sits by and watches all of us laugh ourselves to death on the regular, but he never wants anyone to tickle him, and that’s perfectly valid. If you like it, you like it. If you don’t, you don’t. And it’s not like you hate tickling entirely – just the harsher stuff, right?”

Kami sighed. “Right.”

“If you start comparing your endurance levels to others in your class, then you’ve completely missed the point of tickling.” Shinsou spoke quietly but with conviction. “People tickle each other to make each other smile, laugh, and be happy. You can do that with soft tickles just as easily as hard ones. When do you feel happier – after someone pokes you lightly or digs into your worst spot without mercy for ten seconds?”

“Pokes me lightly,” Denki replied immediately, shuddering at the memory of the second option.

“Then that’s your tickle type.”

Ojiro and Denki both looked at Shinsou with blank stares. “Tickle type?”

“Yeah. Everyone’s got a different one. I like being tickled both roughly and gently, but sometimes I’m in the mood for different kinds. That’s my type.” The violet-haired boy looked to Ojiro. “You?”

“Um…I’ve never really thought about it,” Ojiro admitted, “but I guess…I’m only in the mood for it sometimes, and when I am I usually like to just go all-out tickle fight until someone surrenders.”

Shinsou nodded, looking to Kaminari next. “So, what’s your tickle type?”

Kaminari couldn’t explain why, but being asked that for the first time made him feel so much better, so much more confident and in control. “I…I’m in the mood for it whenever, as long as it’s gentle. I don’t like being made to beg for mercy or scream my lungs out. I just like being poked and tickled really softly. Sometimes for prolonged periods if I just want to giggle mindlessly for a while.”

Once he was done, Shinsou nodded again. “See? Three different people, three different tickling preferences. It’s not about how much you can take. It’s about how much you want, and what kind you want. All that matters is that you’re comfortable and having fun. That looks different for everyone. You should ask Midoriya and Todoroki what their types are sometime. I’m sure their answers will be really different. They may even surprise you.”

After a beat of silence, Denki offered him a smile. “You know, you’re wise beyond your years, Shinsou.”

“Thanks.”

Ojiro asked, “So have you had enough for tonight? Or would you like us to tickle you more?”

Denki flushed pink and averted his eyes, but replied, “I…wouldn’t mind a little more. Now that I’m feeling better about it.”

Shinsou and Ojiro shared one more knowing look. Then they wrapped Kaminari up in a tickly group hug that had him giggling and squirming happily for a long, long time.

~~~

Part 5

#fanfiction #tickle fic #boku no hero #my hero academia #bnha #mha #denki #kaminari #hitoshi #shinsou #ojiro #conversations #boundaries #respect #communication #important #soft tickles #game night #tickling #ticklish #tickle

[aalissy]

Soulmates

Anddd this is the final chapter for Marichat May! I hope you guys enjoyed reading my little prompts for this month :). If you’d like to stick around and read my Ladrien June chapters feel free to do so! Otherwise, thanks for reading these with me haha. Lemme know what you think <3

AO3

“No way!” Marinette gasped, staring at the mark on her arm with wide eyes. It wasn’t a piano or the logo for Gabriel like she was expecting. Instead, it was a small, black pawprint. 

Blinking in surprise, she shook her arm out, wondering if it could possibly change before her eyes. How could her soulmate possibly be Chat Noir? It didn’t make any sense. Adrien was always supposed to be the one for her.

With a harsh exhale of disbelief, Marinette sunk onto her chaise, still staring down at her arm. Sure she had a tiny crush on her partner but it wasn’t anything compared to what she felt for Adrien... was it? 

Licking her lips, she couldn’t stop herself from remembering their kisses. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she then carefully rubbed her thumb against her lower lip. Maybe it wasn’t as crazy as she thought. Chat had always said that they were destined for each other. Perhaps he had been right all along. With a small smile, she traced the pawprint on her arm.

Pushing herself up, she happily skipped downstairs, calling out to her parents, “Maman! Papa! I got my soulmark!”

“Oh honey, let me see!” Sabine clapped excitedly back, holding onto her daughter’s arm gently as she looked down at the soulmark.

Tom quickly ran over to see it as well, gasping with glee as soon as he saw it. “I knew it! I always told you that she had something for Chat Noir!”

Sabine sighed, gently patting her arm as she nodded her head at her husband. “You were right. I would have sworn that it was going to be the other blonde.”

“Maman! Papa!” Marinette blushed, bringing her arm back as she couldn’t stop herself from tracing the pawprint once again. “You can’t say things like that!” 

“Sorry, dear,” Sabine chuckled. “But we have been waiting for this day for a while now.”

Shaking her head at her parents fondly, she looked down at her arm, murmuring, “Do you think he has his soulmark too?”

Tom reached forward, squeezing her arm gently. “He should. Sabine and I got ours at the same time.”

Marinette beamed at her parents as they glanced at the other lovingly. Soon she and Chat could be like that. The only issue was whether or not he had a soulmark dedicated to her designs or if he had a small ladybug on his arm. Swallowing nervously, she figured she would need to ask him during their next patrol. She would just need to be extra careful for the next few days.

Shaking her head once, she realized how late she was for school. “Anyway, I really need to get going! Goodbye, maman! Goodbye, papa! I’ll see you after class!”

Marinette kissed them both on their cheeks before bolting out of her house, happily skipping her way to school. She tightened her jacket over her soulmark, wishing that she could squeal to Alya about it even though she knew that she needed to have her talk with Chat Noir first. 

As she drew closer to the school doors, she tilted her head curiously when she saw Adrien, Alya, and Nino waiting outside. With a small frown, Marinette stepped up close to them, looking to her best friend as she said, “Hey guys! What’s going on?”

“Hey, Marinette,” Adrien spoke up almost shyly, causing her gaze to dart over to him in surprise. “I wanted to show you something this morning.”

Her steps slowed to a stop as she looked at him suspiciously. Her heart pounded in her chest as she wondered what he could possibly show her. Surely it couldn’t be... 

Marinette gasped in surprise when Adrien pulled up his sleeve, showing her the new mark on his wrist. Her palm slapped to her mouth as she gaped down at the sewing needle and thread that had suddenly appeared there. Her hand shook as she lifted her wide, shocked blue eyes to meet his.

He gave her a soft smile, glancing down at the mark as he scratched the back of his neck. “Something tells me that this is supposed to be your mark, am I right?” 

Marinette choked, glancing down at her soulmark that was still covered up by her jacket sleeve. This couldn’t be right! She wasn’t Adrien’s soulmate. She was Chat Noir’s! How could his soulmark be related to her, show up on the same day as hers, be in the same place as hers, and yet he wasn’t her soulmate?! 

“I-I... y-you...” Marinette stuttered, watching with sadness as his brow slowly creased with a frown. 

“Are you alright?” he asked, reaching out for her as concern flitted across his eyes.

Instead of answering, she simply shook her head quickly. She shot one glance at the school’s entrance before turning and running as fast as she could in the opposite direction. She’d need to explain to her parents that she got sick because she couldn’t sit through multiple classes behind Adrien. Right now, she really needed to get some air.

Marinette heard her friends call after her but she simply kept running. Pushing some Ladybug speed into her legs, she kept going until she collapsed onto a bench, certain that she had escaped. Scrubbing her eyes, she sighed with exasperation. She had just decided to give Chat a chance when Adrien shows up at school wearing her mark?! It wasn’t fair! What was she meant to do?!

Sniffling quietly, she wiped her nose on her sleeve. Shakily, she peeled back her jacket, wondering if both she and her parents had gotten it wrong this morning. Nope, the same black pawprint continued to stare up at her. Staring down at it with a tearful smile, Marinette sucked in a deep breath of air. She really needed to get home and tell her parents what had happened. Maybe they’d have some explanations for her.

About to push herself up off the bench she had collapsed on, she froze when she heard a familiar voice call out to her, “Purrincess, are you alright?”

She whirled around, staring with open-mouthed shock at Chat Noir. Blinking dumbly, she asked, “Chat Noir? What are you doing here?”

His lips quirked with amusement even when his eyes looked depressingly sad. Marinette wondered what had happened when he gestured at her, speaking up again, “You looked sad. I wanted to make certain that you didn’t get akumatized. Did, um, something happen purrhaps?”

Chat sat down next to her, shifting almost uncomfortably as he continued to gaze at her with something in his eyes. Marinette sniffled again, clenching her arm around her soulmark as she tried to give him a weak smile. “Kind of. It’s a long story, really.”

“I’ve got time,” he leaned back, crossing his arms behind his head as he tried to look relaxed. His eyes gave him away though. He looked dejected like he had lost something precious. “And, if it keeps you from being akumatized, purrincess, it’s worth it.”

Marinette’s cheeks turned a light pink. She ducked her head down with a shy giggle as she realized something. He really was her soulmate. Which meant that she could honestly tell him everything. 

Tracing the mark on her wrist for courage, she looked back up at him, locking their gazes as she began to speak again, “Well, kitty, I’ve sorta had a crush on this one boy for a really long time. I used to think that we were supposed to be soulmates and everything. But, when I woke up this morning, and I saw my soulmark, I realized that it wasn’t his. It was someone else’s.”

“Uh-huh.” Chat nodded his head but the small frown on his face furrowed even more. His ears flattened on his head and he looked even sadder. 

Marinette tilted her head at him in confusion before continuing her speech, “I was ready to just be his friend forever and give the other boy a chance when he showed up at school this morning with my mark. And then I, um, ran away because I was scared of hurting his feelings. I wasn’t really sure what to do. I still have feelings for the first boy but I also think I’ve been burying my feelings for the other boy.”

“Wow,” Chat finally murmured after a while. “I didn’t know it was possible for someone’s soulmark to not be returned. I thought they were all the same.”

Shifting in her seat slightly, she sucked in a deep breath. “D-did you get your soulmark today, kitty?”

“What?!” he asked, his eyes bulging out of his head. Marinette’s gaze shot down to his hand, which jumped over to his other hand to cling protectively to his wrist. His gaze darted around nervously as he asked, “W-what made you want to ask that?”

“B-because... I think I might have your soulmark, Chaton.” She gave him a small smile. Slowly, she peeled back her jacket sleeve again, hoping that she was right when she revealed the tiny, black pawprint on her arm.

Marinette breathed out a sigh of relief when Chat looked down at her arm in amazement. His hands came down to trace over the mark and she shivered at his touch. Tingles shot up her arm from her soulmark and she peeked up at him from beneath her lashes. 

He looked stunned. His mouth was dropped open as he continued to look down at her mark. Slowly, he lifted his head back up, a look of realization lighting up his eyes as he breathed out, “Oh. I understand now.”

“Understand what?” She tilted her head at him with confusion, wondering what he meant.

“Nothing,” Chat said, a bright beam sliding across his face. “Just furget I said anything because purrincess, I think you’re my soulmate too.”

Marinette let out a cry of disbelief before throwing herself into his arms. Thank  god he didn’t have a ladybug soulmark. That would have been tricky to explain. As Chat squeezed her to him tighter, she realized that she’d need to explain the situation to Adrien tomorrow. Maybe the sewing needle and thread were about someone else because she was positive that her kitty really was meant for her. 

Chat pulled back and she blinked up at him startled before he cupped her cheek gently. Slowly, he leaned in to brush a soft kiss against her lips. She sunk into him, kissing him back as her heart tripped in her chest. All of her worries about school, Adrien, and her parents disappeared as their hands entwined. She was with her soulmate. Everything was going to be alright. She’d explain and fix everything later. Right now, though, she just wanted to enjoy these precious few minutes with him.

#marichatmay2021 #marichatmay #miraculous #miraculous ladybug #marichat #soulmate au #soulmate #soulmarks #ML #mlb fic #mlb

[jesangel1503]

30 Day Challenge:Day 3 Topic

LET´S TALK ABOUT FRIENDSHIP

I can see this is a quite interesting but a bit sensitive topic for me. I just needed a time off to clear my mind so I can be able to cogitate on this familiar topic for everyone.

Let´s go straight to some few facts about friendship? Where did this word even came from?

So I browsed in and found out that friendship is a word of Germanic origin has existed in the English language since its founding in Old English. Back then, ‘friend’ existed as ‘frond’ which was the present participle of the verb fron, ‘to love’. The root of the verb was ‘fr-’ which meant ‘to like, love, or be affectionate to’. We can still see the remnants of this verb every day of the week- Friday or ‘day of Frigg’ is devoted to the Germanic goddess of love Frigg.

Source: whitesmoke.com

So much for it´s root word, let´s do some more researching. Many famous people have shared their thoughts about what friendship is for them. Now, maybe we can get some friendspiration from them!

Helen Keller

"I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light."

J.K. Rowling

"It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends."

Abraham Lincoln

"Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?"

Eleanor Roosevelt

"Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart"

Bob Marley

“The truth is, everyone is going to hurt you. You just got to find the ones worth suffering for”

William Shakespeare

“A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.”

Jennifer Lawrence

‘‘No matter how tired I am, I get dinner at least once a week with my girlfriends. Or have a sleepover. Otherwise my life is just all work.”

Marilyn Monroe

“Experts on romance say for a happy marriage there has to be more than a passionate love. For a lasting union, they insist, there must be a genuine liking for each other. Which, in my book, is a good definition for friendship.”

Drew Barrymore

“What’s helped me is having really good friends I know I can rely on. Cameron Diaz is one of the greatest friends anyone can ever have. She has so much love to give.”

Selena Gomez

“Every single problem I ever have is healable by Taylor Swift. If I ever I have an issue, Taylor has gone through it – she gives the most thought-out answers. And what I love about Taylor is that she does believe in the whole love story and Prince Charming and soul mates. Because of her, I haven’t lost faith.”

Emma Watson

“My two best girlfriends are from secondary school. I don’t have to explain anything to them. I don’t have to apologise for anything. They know.”

Jennifer Aniston

“We come from homes far from perfect, so you end up almost parent and sibling to your friends – your own chosen family. There’s nothing like a really loyal, dependable, good friend. Nothing.”

Oprah Winfrey

“Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.”

Ariana Grande

“The best part about having true friends is that you can go months without seeing them and they’ll still be there for you and act as if you’d never left!.”

Whew, they are really inspiring isn´t it? But lemme give you bits of how I view and value friendship. So I´d like to answer some of these challenging questions I have found and that maybe can help me dig in to what´s really coming to my mind about this topic. As you read along, you are free to answer on your own and find out? Well, this is a writing therapy for me. I thought it might be nice to put my thoughts into writing and share it with you ( Well, only if you are interested to do so) But yes, this is entirely my thoughts. Some of you might disagree about my answers and what I have been writing in this little writing space of mine, but I don´t really care! As I have said, this is my therapy. If you judge me based on my thoughts, it´s totally on you and if that amuses you, well IT WILL BE MY PLEASURE :)

QUESTIONS ABOUT FRIENDSHIP

Can you describe one of your closest friends.

It´s so hard to choose which one of them that I particularly should talk about. All of them are special to me in their unique ways. But let me describe you one of my bestfriends, whom I met when I was an aupair in the first town I lived in here in Denmark. It´s funny though because this friend of mine, came to me by fate and the first time we met, we just click, you know. Like she´s that angel from heaven, who´ve brought me and would bribed me with food to keep me from not ditching school, because for her, it would be boring without me, and that she’d prefer me than the other filipino ones at the school. She would just call me and say, “Hey, wake up and get dressed. We´re off to school,and ahh uh don´t even say a word because I am already here, parked outside your house waiting for you. And, I´ve brought us Dinuguan and Pancit for lunch! Hurry!”.. So hard to refuse right? Oh yes, she is that kind. There are no other negative feeling around her, around us everytime we were together. We got along well so fast even at the very first day we´ve met. Since then, we hang out a lot. Sometimes cutting classes and going off to the second hand shop in town together or hit the mall, or just eat out in our favorite eat all you can Asian Restaurant. It´s just pure and honest friendship. I could sense she feels the same way too. It was never hard to be myself when I am with her. You know that feeling where you can´t feel any insecurities at all and you don´t feel that you are judged whenever you are sharing sensitive moments with her. I could say that is one of those few and rare friendship I have that I truly treasure the most. 

Do you have any childhood friendships that are still strong today? Tell us about them.

I have a childhood bestfriend, and we have shared plenty of childhood memories together. I have been born in a family with no sisters so she is like a sister to me. Back then, she was living with her family in a house just a few walks from our house. I always spend time with her at their place when my parents were not home from work and she would come for a sleepover at our house during some of the weekends.. During my trip home last 2017, we were able to spend time together for a week. And still it´s as if things between us haven´t changed at all. She is still that friend who turned into family, and we assured each other that we we´re still gonna have each other´s back no matter what. Up until now, we´re still able to catch up, though I could say only through online. We both think we´re okay with the LDR thing. Haha! 

Do you have any long distance friends?

I have, in fact, so many of them! As I reside now in Denmark, so the only communication we have is the internet. The first one I talked about she lives in the UK and my childhood friend lives in the Philippines. Most of my other closest friends are residing in the Philippines, UK, US, Australia, Canada, Japan and a few ones in the Middle East.  

Do you think it is a good idea to borrow money from a friend? Why or why not?

This is a quite sensitive topic for me. But I do have views regarding friends and money matters. You know, in my entire life, I have tried to avoid situations involving friendship and money. I just don´t. I mean, I cherish people so much, and to ruin a relationship and lose a cherished friend because of money issues is a bit awful for me. I’d rather NOT. Just NO. 🙏🏻

Do you make friends easily?

I can make friends easily. And I do have a loud mouth. I am so excited to meet new people and talk with random people on the street and just smile and say hi. For me, it´s a bit of heartwarming when people comes to you, say hi, talk to you and get excited to know you. So I often think people would also want that. But given the fact that many people are too reserved, I also know my boundaries. It´s only when I feel like people would also wanna chat. I mean, like saying hi to the old lady beside me in a bus full of busy people. It could be lonely to be old, I think. Not many people are interested in talking to them. A few old people I met and talked with, they were all excited and thrilled to talked with me about their day, about their lives and jobs before and what life meant for them. For me, they have seen a lot and experienced a lot from all those years living in this world. It´s just compelling to learn from them! 

Has a friend ever let you down?

I have experienced it many times. But based from it, I always try my best to understand them and listen to them more. Humans as we are, we often make mistakes. And that includes letting a friend down. May it be a small or a big deal, but friends that are meant to last, are the friends, who still thinks of how to mend things up than to make things worst. So a friend´s apology and forgiveness is always the best ingredients to make things last.

If the trust was broken, and there is no way you can bring back what you both have had before. I just let go and pray for them. In life you will learn who you should trust and it´s always gonna be the ones who will still be there for you despite the odds. You will learn a lot by gaining and losing friends. 

Have you made any friends over the Internet?

I do have a plenty of them, with a few true ones though. But I do treat them as rare jewels that have helped me with my sanity being away from my family. I find it peculiar at first, but I have developed such strong bonds online, to take note that we haven´t even met yet! How cool is that!? Knowing and learning from a person you never met, sharing various experiences, thoughts, opinions are quite an overwhelming experience. When you get to know someone online, whom you can confide feelings to especially the things you can never share with anyone from your family or friends personally, was such a great help for me. During my first few months in Denmark, I have suffered a lot from a breakup plus the difficult adjustment phase I was going through by then. Living in a foreign country was quite a challenge for me. Even though I have my cousins and some few friends, but it was not enough by then. Because at the end of a tiring day, alone in a room, it was nice and comforting to have some people online, listening to your rants and cheering you up and helping you get your mind off the negativity and mind bugging thoughts and worries. I could say they are the ones I´d like to keep and hoping I can personally meet some of them someday too!

How do you maintain a good friendship?

I always make time to let them know that I still think and care about them. And of course, to never ever forget each of their special occassions!

How many people do you consider your "best friends?"

4 bestfriends; One is a bestfriend from my childhood years, one bestfriend from highschool, another one from college, one bestfriend whom I met in Denmark. 4 online bestfriends, one of which I already met. 

What is a best friend?

For me, a best friend is a special connection between 2 people, where there is mutual understanding of each other, where there is a bond of trust, openness, willingness to care and look out for one another, despite the distance and circumstances. Where two people feel there is no need pretending, where they can both be themselves when they are together and where two people thinks of each other as their own PERSON to run to, and be comfortable with.

What is the longest friendship that you have had?

My childhood friend; we have been friends since we were so little. So maybe that´s what you call a friend for a lifetime. 

What qualities do you think are important in a friend?

When you don´t get judged by the person and when they don´t talk negative things behind you and without you knowing.

What things should friends never do?

For me, I don´t like to compare myself with my friends. They have their own skills, talents, and own beautiful and unique lives. So maybe that is what a friend should watch out for. Insecurity and jealousy are both destructive in so many ways. Just be happy for a friend´s success and achievements.

Do you think it is possible to have a best friend of the opposite sex without becoming a girlfriend or boyfriend?

Oh, I do have a lot of friends from the opposite sex. I do happen to have one really close to me, so from a certain time, we were calling ourselves bessies. But, it did not last long. We both have jealous partners by then, so to respect each others partners, we agreed to have boundaries and thus avoiding conflicts as much as possible. 

I also often get cringey whenever a male friend of mine that´s close to me, then we´ve had our bond, and then he gets a girlfriend, and i often get jealous, but not that I have feelings for the guy, but as a female friend, I just get jealous and often felt bad about lack of attention from him afterwards. So I tend to not get too close with male friends because I know it will just turn me nuts! But I am improving myself to just be understanding and to wish all the best for them! It is the best thing I could maybe offer to a close male friend of mine if ever.

Do you think it would be possible for you still be friends with an ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend?

Of course, but only if all issues were resolved. So it´s totally okay and possible for me to still be friends with my exes. I mean, they were also a part of my life and we´ve shared some good memories together too! I am teaching myself not to be bitter with the past you know. It´s good not to hold grudge on anyone especially when they were once the people you cared most and loved you as well.

Do you believe your parents should be your friends?

My parents are my friends. And so as my brother. It´s been like that in my family. It always feel better when they are ones comforting you than anybody else.

What do you like best about your best friend(s)?

They are still there for me, even if they are far away, and if I see them again, it´s still gonna be the same, no insecurities, no pretendings and no negativity. 

What are some ways your best friend has influenced your life in a positive way?

One of my bestfriend´s view about God inspired me the most. We have the same thoughts and often go late to sleep talking about a lot of stuff about life and religion. That means a lot to me.

What do you do when you have a misunderstanding with your friend?

If it was my fault, I often offer an apology. And if it´s the other way around, I always show that I can listen and try my best to understand their reason and forgive if necessary.

What type of people do you get along with best?

I don´t prefer any types actually. I just sync in with them. I think when people are meant to have a lasting impression on you, they just do. Because I think the universe conspires the people whom you will meet. Some will come and stay, some will just go and maybe leave something for you to learn. So for me, I just blend in when someone comes along and get on with the flow. I always follow the positivity flow. If i can sense a negative vibe, I tend to not fully entrust myself. Though I give many chances to people, for I always believe that sometimes the people I met and how they are, if they mean or like that negative, is because of what they have been going through in life. May it be a bad experience or a childhood trauma. We should always shed light to these people and give room for them to be understood.

What quality do you admire most in people and which one do you find the most objectionable?

If I happen to met someone who´s mind is just as beautiful as their face or personality, and then it´s just natural for us to have a good conversation in a way that´s not awkward and trying hard. Then it´s my type of person..  I don´t care if we have different views, I am bound to respect all of them. It´s just when a person knows how to choose the right words and right thoughts in that certain moment, then I am going to be rooting for that person. 

Tbh, I don´t fancy people who praises themselves a lot and think that they are always right all the time. And also, even when in an argument, no matter how big or small the issue, it´s always the tone of voice that matters to me the most.  How you say something affects what you say.  

Is getting along with others a natural ability from birth or does it have to be learnt?

For me, getting along with others is a continuing learning process. I mean up to now, I am still learning and developing my skills every day because I love to keep people who are worth keeping. And I believe there is no such skill that one can be born with a natural talent for getting along with others. It must also first be taught at home. The family is the necessary factor to develop one´s values of friendship and we will just continue to learn more and hone it as we venture out into the big world.

How important is forgiveness in human relationships?

I have been taught that it is an essential thing for us to grow and be matured. Forgiving is accepting one´s offering of peace and understanding that he or she have made a mistake and is willing to make up for it. And so as asking for forgiveness. We often commit mistakes and hurt people, that´s how human we are. So it´s important to lower one´s pride and ask for forgiveness, no matter how hard it may be. Accepting one´s own mistakes is an act of maturity, and i can say it´s also not easy but it´s necessary for human´s social growth and behavioural adaptability in the society.

Do you tell your best friend everything?

It´s funny because each of my bestfriends have their own unique qualities; one is better at the whole education and knowledge thing, other one is good at the practical thing and wise things, the other one I can confide some sexual issues and other emotional things and one I can have a good conversation about God and life. So basically, I don´t tell everything to each one of them but I go to one where I need their expertise and where they can also relate from.

Where is a good place to meet a new boyfriend/girlfriend?

I don´t think there is such a good place to meet a new bf or gf. It will just come to you as if the universe worked on it so he or she will get to where you are and bump into you. You just need to be patient. And if there is no one, just be your own gf or bf. What´s important is you love yourself and happiness is from, within you. You can still be happy without someone. You just need to unleash that thought in your mind often.

So much for this friendship thing, I hope I don´t bore you too much. Well, write to me if ever you have other thoughts about what I wrote! Ciao!

#friendship

[komahinasecretexchange]

Title: School Unity Club

Author: @thatsrightdollface

For: @bebexox4

Pairings/Characters: Hajime Hinata/Nagito Komaeda, with appearances by both Chiaki Nanami and Kokichi Oma.  Others mentioned.

Rating/Warnings: T.  Some mention of self-deprecating thought might be a relevant warning.  There is also occasional swearing.

Prompt: Non despair hopes peak au with Enemies-Friends-Lovers komahina

Author’s notes:  Hi there!!!  Happy Komahina Secret Exchange, and I hope you enjoy your gifts!!!  :D  This is prompt one of two you can expect this time around.  This was really fun to work on hehehe.  Thank you!!!

1. Okay, Why Are We Starting a School Unity Club Again?

The first time Hope’s Peak Academy tried to recruit Nagito Komaeda, of course he turned them down: he was unworthy, he insisted, trying to laugh at himself, trying to raise his metaphorical palms in obvious surrender.  I mean, come on.  Hope’s Peak… haha, that was for genuinely amazing people.  For the Ultimate Students, glimmering irrefutable beacons of hope to everybody else.  They were — no.  Nagito couldn’t go to school with people like that.  Practically superheroes, so hardworking and disciplined and just everything Nagito knew he didn’t deserve to be.  What would he even say?  How would he know where to sit, or when to participate in class discussions, or how to tactfully say no when they felt obligated to invite him along places?

But, in the end, Hope’s Peak Academy hadn’t so much wanted Nagito as a student, he gathered, as they’d wanted to study his luck.  Nagito’d always had unreasonable, relentless, mythically impossible luck.  Amazing things happened to him, and then… like clockwork, like the gears of the universe churning away… equally devastating things inevitably followed.  The Ultimate Lucky Student.  That’s right.  After years of fallen-apart loved ones and distant extended family members and snakes slithering out of his bathtub drain the second he realized “You know, I think this might be my favorite brand of shampoo,” Nagito Komaeda’s absurd luck was finally going to help somebody.  Hope’s Peak could learn from his luck, and that was worth humiliating himself daily, stumbling around Ultimate Students, rambling and awestruck.  That was worth knowing he’d never belong, because he hadn’t worked for his Talent.  It wasn’t really a Talent at all.

When Nagito was happy, he knew he was sure to feel tears burning against the back of his eyes very soon.  He was happy about the chance to attend Hope’s Peak, despite everything, despite knowing he should have turned the invitation down again, whether his luck could be useful or no…  and so, of course, bad things followed.  Bad things he hadn’t talked to his classmates about, yet, and probably never would.  Because it wasn’t like Nagito had come to such a prestigious institution expecting anybody to actually care about him.  It wasn’t like he would have clawed his way in without being invited.  Right?

Nagito liked to think that was right, anyway, just the way he liked to think he didn’t actually want any of his fancy, impossible new classmates to contradict him when he described himself as worthless, a faceless background character in their lives.  Why should they tell him he was more than a bystander?  Nagito would hold the camera when his classmates wanted a group photo.  That should be more than enough.  If he wanted to get something done for their sake, he could lean on his Ultimate Luck.  If he drew a lottery number, it would always win.  If a car was careening out of control through the school grounds, it would be sure to hit him before it clobbered anyone else.  A weird system — a horrible system, from some points of view — but it was the least Nagito could do.  It was his so-called “Talent,” after all.

Maybe that was why the Reserve Course had never made a lot of sense, to Nagito.  See, some people could pay a hell of a lot of extra tuition money and buy their way into Hope’s Peak…  but not as Ultimates.  It felt like a flashlight demanding to be called the sun, to Nagito.  Like a puddle on the street insisting it was the ocean.  If Ultimates really were “hope,” then how dare anybody scramble around to grab their spotlight away, right?  Reserve Course attendants would probably be easier to get along with than the Ultimate Students, given that Nagito was more or less “one of them”… a nobody, a stranger, an intruder here in this place for gods.  But he didn’t go looking for friends among the Reserve Course, either.  Why should he want to be buddy-buddy with arrogant pretenders?  It wasn’t like Nagito had ever felt especially good at talking to people, anyway.  He’d probably say something wrong; he’d probably mess something up; he’d probably just get furious.  Wouldn’t you want to turn off the flashlight that thought it was the sun?  

Better not to delude yourself, even if the truth was ugly, full of shaky, simpering smiles and resignation.  Happiness led to pain.  Good luck led to misery.  On and on and on, and Nagito had been fairly sure he’d graduate from Hope’s Peak without any of his classmates having memorized his full name.  You know, if he lived that long.

That’s why it was all the more surprising when Chiaki Nanami… the Ultimate Gamer…  kept insisting on talking to him.  Of course, Chiaki was kind to their whole class.  She had no reason to sit silently and play phone games with Nagito until his phone caught fire in his hands — she had no reason to chat about his favorite super-indie horror titles during breaks in schoolwork, coming over to stand by his desk on purpose.  Chiaki wanted to understand everybody: she told Nagito as much, honestly.  Chiaki wanted their whole class to be a team, and so when she asked Nagito to show up for movie nights he did.  He knew he’d suffer the bad luck for it later, but he picked up the phone when Chiaki called him every time.  

If she wanted to be friends with everyone, Chiaki shouldn’t have to work for the Ultimate Lucky Student’s friendship, obviously.  He should be a shoe-in.  And it wasn’t really that Nagito was having fun that kept him sticking around, probably.  It wasn’t really that he was starting to banter with the Ultimate Mechanic and the Ultimate Gangster, as if they were actually… uh… friendly acquaintances, or something, either.  Chiaki told him he was reliable, even if he still wouldn’t admit he belonged with the rest of them.  Even if he said hurtful things sometimes and didn’t seem to realize it.

“What?!” Nagito had balked, then.  “Have I insulted you?  Oh, no.  No, that’s unacceptable.  For someone like me to speak badly of an Ultimate Student, even without meaning to —”

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about,” Chiaki had answered.  She reminded Nagito of a cat, pretty consistently… heavy-lidded eyes, and a voice like a tail swishing slowly back and forth.  She didn’t look up from the game system in her hands as she drawled at him.  “You say horrible things about yourself, and about how you can’t understand why I’d want anything to do with you…  makes me feel like you don’t think I can pick my own friends.  I say I think you’re okay, and you spend the next half an hour telling me why that’s a stupid thing to think.  Kazuichi says he’s glad you stopped by to help him work on that robot project he’s building, and you have to make him apologize for thinking ‘trash like you’ deserves to hang out with the Ultimate Mechanic at all.”

Nagito wasn’t sure how to respond to any of that.  He’d cleared his throat.

“Your friends will hurt when they see you hurt, Nagito.  I always heard people in games saying that, and now I know it’s true.  Okay?”

“Hm.  Okay…  if you’re sure, as an Ultimate Student.”

“I’m sure as your friend Chiaki.”

“Interesting.  I mean…  yeah, I’ll do my best not to hurt you?”

Nagito had been watching the way he talked about himself around Chiaki Nanami for about a week before she came to him with a plan she’d been working on with the Ultimate Supreme Leader.  Kokichi Oma was a couple years behind them, but he was always scheming like the “Spawn of Loki” the Ultimate Animal Breeder declared him to be — his latest plan involved trying to unite the two branches of their school, the Main Course and the Reserve Course, coming together for some sort of mysterious club.  Chiaki was all for it, apparently, and Nagito had wanted to say a lot of things.  He’d wanted to say it sounded like reassuring the puddle that ships could drown in it after all, and coral reefs were sure to grow.  It felt false, and wrong.  But a lot of things Kokichi Oma said felt “false and wrong,” and Nagito wanted to be Chiaki’s real, worthy friend so badly.  He agreed to help, however he could.

“It’s so generous of the Ultimates to share their Talents with everybody!” Nagito said.  That was a fair enough rationalization, wasn’t it?  “You really are a commendable person, Ultimate Supreme Leader.  Even if practically everything you say is a shameless lie!”

And, “Hey now, most of my nefarious criminal organization members wouldn’t be called ‘Ultimate,’ and they’ve got more talents to share around than this whole stuck-up school,” Kokichi answered, voice light and airy, like he wasn’t actually invested in the conversation… though his eyes said he really was, unless that expression was just another lie from him?  Lies upon lies upon lies.  People told Nagito he was confusing to talk to, but surely he couldn’t have anything on Kokichi Oma.  Was that okay for him to think?  “A lot of these titles we got assigned feel pretty arbitrary, if you ask me.  And it’s ridiculous we’ve never actually met so many of our classmates!”

Nagito raised his eyebrows. “Classmates?”

Kokichi stared him down, smile practically painted on.  “Classmates.  Yeah.  Just think of how many possible recruits for my organization might be waiting in the Reserve Course…  ya think any of ‘em are interested in a life of evil?”

“Most of the people who made the games we play aren’t Ultimates, either,” Chiaki murmured, at Kokichi’s side.  She was muted and dusky pink, with a tender, hesitant smile — Kokichi was so glaringly bright and loud next to her.  They made a strange team, but of course no stranger than Nagito and anyone in the world.  “Please, Nagito.  The School Unity Club is going to try and form real friendships…  I think it’s a chance for us to do something good, and to learn what it’s like to be in the Reserve Course.“

As if Nagito wanted to understand something like that!  Haha!  Oh, Chiaki.  No.

But that’s what led Nagito here, to the first official School Unity Club meeting.  He filled out the Getting to Know Everybody Questionnaire Kokichi and Chiaki passed out, and he hung around in the back of the room, hands folded in his pockets, face perfectly neutral, until a spiky haired Reserve Course guy came storming up to him.  What could have possibly gotten this uppity loser so mad?  Chiaki had decorated this classroom herself, specifically for trash like the both of them.  They should be so grateful.  There were streamers and everything.

“Are you Nagito Komaeda?” Mr. Pointy-Hair spat.

“I am.  Nice to meet —”

“So you’re the one who wrote that people who joined the Reserve Course have ‘no good reason to be here’ on the questionnaire.  Knowing we’d all read it — knowing how much we want to attend Hope’s Peak Academy —”

Nagito nodded, letting himself smile.  Ah, okay.  This was making a little sense now.  “Excuse me, I think you misunderstand something,” he tried to clarify.  “I don’t believe I have a good reason to be here, either…  really, we’re almost the same, you and me.  I probably have more to say to someone like you than my whole class!”  Nagito paused.  Glanced over at the Ultimate Gamer.  “Except for Chiaki.  Maybe.  If she still thinks so.”

Mr. Pointy-Hair didn’t look reassured by Nagito’s explanation.  If anything, his cheeks were flushed red, the fury creeping up to the tips of his ears, and his hands were clenched into fists at his sides.  He was a little shorter than Nagito, but he was standing as tall as he possibly could.  “Someone like me?” he asked.  It was a question, somehow, but what exactly did he expect Nagito to say?  Mr. Pointy-Hair’s teeth were ground together, but there was something honest and wholesome about his mossy green eyes.  Nagito might have wanted to ask his name, if he didn’t feel sure he was about to get yelled at.  Why weren’t they understanding each other, exactly, here?

“You’re not an Ultimate,” Nagito said, explaining something painfully simple.  “This is a school for extraordinary people, and you and I are both unworthy of it.  You see?  But that shouldn’t be news to you…”

Mr. Pointy-Hair was spitting mad.  Was he going to punch Nagito, next?  Or simply tell him how awful he was?  Nagito was bracing himself either way, but he shouldn’t have bothered.  That was when Kokichi Oma’s spotlight found them, after all.  That was when the Ultimate Supreme Leader — sauntering around on a stage made of pushed-together desks and using a super-chipper ringmaster voice — declared, “Oh!  And what’s this?  Mr. Komaeda and Mr. Hinata are already picking a fight!  I think we just found some volunteers for a club project, guys!”

There was a scattering of polite, confused applause, and this Mr. Pointy-Hair Hinata spun around on his heel and threw himself out of the room.  The door slammed, and his footsteps thudded away down the hall.

Nagito took a stumbling half-step after him.  He didn’t mean to.  This was the sort of pretender who thought he deserved to be an Ultimate without earning it, after all.  There was no reason to wonder what their club project would be together, or if he’d ever learn Hinata’s first name.  There was no reason to ask what the Ultimate Supreme Leader had in store for them to work on — there was probably no reason to assume he and Hinata would ever see each other again, or get another chance to try and have an actual conversation.

Nagito asked Kokichi what their assignment was, anyway.

1½. Talking to You’s Like Trying to Paint in the Rain

Hajime Hinata figured if he just never attended a School Unity Club meeting again, he could simmer for a while and then amble on like this never happened.  Like he’d never met Nagito Komaeda, with his hazy dark eyes and drifting, shaky-yet-infuriatingly-resolute voice.  If he never joined up with the club again, then he couldn’t be assigned any weird-ass “club projects,” could he?  And since Nagito was part of the Main Course…  an Ultimate, even if he’d tried to convince Hajime they were “the same,” or whatever…  their paths wouldn’t necessarily cross, otherwise.  They even had passing periods at different times, and if Hajime saw Nagito’s fluffy, flyaway white hair from across the hallway he just stopped in his tracks and stalked away.

But, I mean…  that isn’t the end of the story, obviously.  Hajime underestimated the Ultimate Supreme Leader, and also how ridiculous things could get at Hope’s Peak Academy.  Sometimes, the place barely even felt real.

Hajime received the instructions for his and Nagito Komaeda’s club project midway through math class.  The guy in front of him — who he’d known the whole year, mind you, and was definitely just some guy who liked comic books and was often a little late to class — turned around in his seat and stage-whispered, “Hey, Hinata, you wouldn’t happen to know the answer to question thirteen, would you?”

“There is no question thirteen,” Hajime answered.  “The worksheet only goes to ten —” and then he actually looked up, to raise his eyebrows at his classmate and/or see if they had different worksheets for some reason.  And well.  Hm.  Wouldn’t you know it, this wasn’t his classmate at all.  This was very obviously Kokichi Oma from the Main Course in a wig.  The Ultimate Supreme Leader was wearing a Reserve Course uniform with the tie knotted all sloppily, and he grinned like the damn Cheshire Cat as he handed over a big envelope with the words “This is not your School Unity Club project assignment!” scribbled on it.

“Oh!  Nice eye,” Kokichi grinned.  “Aren’t you a smart one.”

“I don’t want to work with Nagito Komaeda,” Hajime hissed.  “And Kokichi, this isn’t your class.”

“Are you sure I’m not enrolled in the Reserve Course, too?”

“Ugh.  Yes?  And you’re two years behind me.”

Kokichi scratched at his forehead.  Hajime thought maybe he was taunting him, intentionally fiddling with his wig so that a little of his flippy purple hair snuck out.  “Nagito’s stubborn, isn’t he?  Kind of like you.”

“We’re nothing alike,” Hajime said, but even as he spat those words he knew they weren’t completely true.  Honestly, Hajime felt sick with guilt for getting his family to pay this ridiculous Hope’s Peak Reserve Course tuition — he’d tried to change his own mind, convincing himself it didn’t matter whether the world called him Special.  The Ultimate Students were just people, he told himself.  So what if nobody thought he was good enough to be one of them?  He could still live a happy, normal life…  he could still pour attention into the hobbies he loved, and spend time with the people he cared about, and maybe it was kind of a pain to have your face on convenience store magazines anyway.

Hajime told himself stuff like that over and over again, but it wasn’t like it stuck, you know?  It didn’t change the tide of his thoughts.  It felt like the minute he painted a nice, encouraging picture of an alternative to Hope’s Peak Academy for himself, it got washed away.  Staring into Nagito’s serene, self-righteously knowing eyes had felt a little like that, too.  Hajime got the feeling that he could talk to him and talk to him, but it was almost impossible to change this guy’s mind until he changed it himself.  

It was infuriating, wasn’t it, talking to people like that?

“If you want to prove you’re really different than Nagito — you’re really not super-stubborn and impossible to reach — you can always just do the project,” the Ultimate Supreme Leader grinned.  “Up to you.  I told him to meet you by those big fountains after school, and I think he’s actually gonna do it.  He asked what your first name was, too…  I told him it was ‘Daisuke.’”

“But it isn’t.”

“Oops, my bad.  So tell him yourself.”

Hajime read the crayon-drawing assignment sheets waiting for him in that envelope during a break, sitting slumped over at a table with a bunch of students he didn’t really know.  Apparently, Kokichi and the Ultimate Gamer wanted Hajime and Nagito to make a short documentary film showing everybody what life was like in the Hope’s Peak Reserve Course.  They were supposed to interview students and get some funny stories; they were supposed to go over some of the things people were studying, and rate whether the desks were comfy.  Just…  get a portrait of the Reserve Course as people, basically, the instructions said.  And be sure to let the Ultimate Supreme Leader know if anyone seemed open to helping with this prank he had in the works.  Get them to sign a short, totally-harmless liability form.  It’ll be fun.

Hajime crumpled the envelope and all its assignment sheets up, one by one, preparing to toss them away with the rest of his trash.  But then he unfolded them, running a hand through his sticky-uppy hair.  

You know what?  

Why not.  

Maybe it would do Nagito Komaeda some good, to get to know the people he was insulting.  To see the school from a different point of view.  Maybe it would be satisfying to see him feel like a jerk, fumbling around, trying oh-so-messily to explain himself to anybody a little less forgiving than Hajime.  Anyway, it was sort of annoying the guy thought his name was something random Kokichi Oma had pulled out of a hat, too.

So Hajime went to meet Nagito by the fountains.  For a moment, before they actually started working on the project, it had felt sort of right.  Nagito had stood up from where he’d been bent over some homework; he’d smoothed down his vest, and smiled awkwardly, self-consciously.  Hopefully.  It had looked like maybe he would apologize.  Maybe he’d thought over what he said, and Hajime didn’t need to spend any time convincing him he was an asshole.  In that case, maybe Nagito was the kind of willowy handsome that Hajime liked in drama actors, if you got past the funny way he held himself.  In that case, maybe his voice was sort of soft and lyrical, and if they were talking about something else…  almost anything else…  Hajime wouldn’t really mind listening to him.

But then, uh.  Hajime got close enough for Nagito to wave, and call, “Do you understand what I meant, now, then?  It’s nice to meet you properly, Daisuke!”  And it only went downhill from there.  

It didn’t help that the minute Hajime handed Nagito the school-owned camera Kokichi had finagled for them to use, it got carried out of his hands by an actual hawk.  What the hell?  “Ultimate Luck,” Nagito clarified, but what did that even mean?  So then they were gonna record the thing on Hajime’s phone, except that they couldn’t decide where to start.  Who to talk to.  They got into a half-shouting match in front of a few of Hajime’s friendlier classmates, who excused themselves as quickly as possible.  They tried to film the gymnasium, but it was closed for emergency fumigation and they ended up gagging, hunched over outside the doors for about five minutes.  They tried to film in the dorms, but Hajime’s entrance pass cracked in two when they attempted to use it.  Those were expensive!  Augh!  Why was Nagito laughing?!

Whatever Hajime tried to do, it felt like Nagito came sliding over to step on his toes.  They were getting nowhere.  This project was getting nowhere.  They had to delete the one decent interview they managed to get because Hajime himself accidentally had his thumb over the camera.  He had literally no idea how he could’ve missed something like that.

“Ultimate Luck,” Nagito said, again, for about the millionth time that evening.  “See?  It’s really not always much of a talent!”

That was the last straw.  Hajime was done.  Nagito was still obsessed with this concept of “talent”; Nagito was the last person who should be making a video trying to show what life was really like for Reserve Course students.  The Ultimate Supreme Leader was probably just messing with them, just being a little shit like people said he tended to be.  School Unity?  What could Nagito Komaeda do to work towards School Unity?  He was probably the sort of person who would want to trap a lizard that thought it was a dragon, just to show the poor little guy how small he really was.  Hajime didn’t have time for this.

And so he told Nagito as much, and he gathered up his things.  He deleted all the footage they’d recorded for their project, and went back home.  That could’ve been the end of it.  If Kokichi turned up in any of his classes again, Hajime would just tune him out.  If the Ultimate Gamer asked him why he didn’t come around anymore, yeah, okay, he’d apologize, but that was it.

Hajime didn’t hear anything from the School Unity Club for about a month.  “Good riddance,” he thought.  He imagined himself slamming a book closed.  And then possibly kicking said book under the bed, or something.

When he got a text from Kokichi Oma — wait, how had the Ultimate Supreme Leader gotten his phone number?! — Hajime almost didn’t open it.  But morbid curiosity won out in the end, as it so often did.  Morbid curiosity, and that claustrophobic, helplessly-stricken pull to the Ultimate Students Hajime still felt, even now.  He had wanted to be valuable, to be seen; he had wanted to be a revelation.  Every breath he took on this earth could have been game-changing, if only he’d been born someone else.

“Nice work on your video,” Kokichi said.  “Turned out really insightful.  I think it’ll help the Reserve Course students feel seen, too.”

Alright.  Hold on.

What?

***

2. The Light

When Nagito Komaeda asked the Ultimate Supreme Leader whether it had been difficult, convincing Hajime to come watch his documentary about the Hope’s Peak Academy Reserve Course together, Kokichi said, “You just better not mess this up, kid,” with a big, sloppy wink.  Nevermind that he really hadn’t answered the question, actually, when Nagito thought back on it – nevermind that Kokichi was… again…  younger than him.   Maybe it meant Hajime had struggled against the idea of ever actually talking to Nagito again, and Kokichi’d had to bribe him with glittery promises like, “If you give the video a chance, I’ll delete your phone number from my contacts list!”  Or maybe it meant Nagito should feel lucky – lucky in a good way, mind you – because Hajime hadn’t needed a lot of nagging at all.  Maybe Mr. Pointy-Hair was genuinely curious.  Maybe he’d be willing to forgive how badly things had gone, and try, Nagito didn’t know, “hanging out” again, sometime.

“Why did you lie about Hajime’s name, to me?” Nagito asked.  “I looked…  inconsiderate.”

“Who knows?” Kokichi said.  “I do stuff like that, you know.”

It would’ve been way too easy, if Kokichi Oma had been willing to answer a simple question for once.  But all the same, Nagito ended up sitting alone in a dark, lonely classroom after club activities were over for the night; all the same, Nagito had finished up the Reserve Course documentary film on his own.  He’d purchased four separate video cameras, and lost them all to his ruthless luck.  He’d interviewed people from Hajime’s classes, asking the questions Hajime had scrawled out on the back of Kokichi’s crumpled-up assignment envelope that time they tried working together.  “What brought you to the Reserve Course?”  “What’s your most precious goal, and how do you hope the Reserve Course will help you get there?”  “Do you like going to school here?”  “What do you think Hope’s Peak could do differently, to show that it values all its students?”  Some of the answers he’d gotten were genuinely shocking – one of them made him cry, actually, and try to shake the girl’s hand afterwards.  (She took his hand, yes, but then asked why there was so much mud on it.  Oh, crap.  Nagito’d forgotten that happened…  he’d been swallowed up by a surprise swamp on the way across campus that day.)  All of the answers were…  human?  Maybe sometimes it was easy to get so wrapped up in this business of hope and despair, talent and luck, that Nagito forgot how learning a person’s abilities just barely scraped the surface of what it would be like getting to know them.  He didn’t talk much at all, giving his interviews – aside from asking questions, of course.  He laughed at jokes, sometimes, but he tried to laugh quietly, without wobbling the camera too much.

Nagito had expected the interviews would enrage him – would make him think these people were ungrateful, were building themselves homemade trophies to take away from the Ultimate Talents the Main Course actually earned.  And sometimes, yeah, sometimes he did want to argue back.  Put them in their places, back in the dirt with him; click off the flashlight that thought it was the sun.  But he listened, for a while, anyway.  Maybe it was because Hajime would’ve wanted him to, at first – maybe it was because Hajime might have said he couldn’t do it.   But in the end, Nagito found himself with a lot of footage of people telling him their truths, and so many of those stories tasted familiar. That longing, that hurt, that want, that hunger.  It had been written all over Hajime’s face when they first met, but Nagito’d never asked his story, had he?

Ah, well.  Nagito had tried making the documentary into something Hajime wouldn’t hate, you know?  He’d gone to one of the Reserve Course’s basketball games and recorded the crowds cheering, recorded the players’ teamwork and struggle.  None of the players were the Ultimate Basketball Star or anything, but it still mattered when they won, didn’t it?  Maybe not as much, existentially, or for the hope of the world as Nagito understood it, but – but it could still be emotional watching them come together and ruffle each other’s hair, afterwards, reminiscing about the game.  Nagito had attempted to go to a Reserve Course swimming team competition too, but of course the pool flooded the second he stepped in the building…  and like, really flooded, in that most of the bleachers were still underwater and they hadn’t been able to drain the dressing rooms, yet.  Some sort of weird, constant flow in from ocean?!  Nagito wasn’t sure on the specifics.  Point being, he’d stopped attending sports events for a while, but he had asked Chiaki to record the Reserve Course’s musical production of Les Misérables so he could splice some of it into the documentary.

Nagito didn’t ask specific questions about Hajime Hinata while conducting his interviews, but he’d heard some stuff about him all the same.  He was a good classmate, people said – a hard worker, soft-spoken, but he didn’t just sit back and take kindly to bullies.  He was smart, but his handwriting was terrible, and he and Nagito seemed to like the same type of video games.  Hajime’s classmates mentioned him in passing, see, discussing him among themselves…  or they said, “Oh, no, Nagito’s probably okay.  He was with Hajime a couple days ago, remember?  Hey, Nagito, are you two friends?”

Um.

In that moment, Nagito had wanted very badly to say yes, yes they were friends. He would’ve been proud to have Hajime like him, as a person, the way Chiaki seemed to.  But he just sort of smiled and shook his head.  “We were working on a project together,” he offered.  “School Unity Club.”   It was probably fair to leave it at that, right?  

But now the documentary was finished, and Hajime had been persuaded… somehow…  to come to some empty classroom after School Unity Club let out and watch it at Nagito’s side.  Nagito hadn’t really felt like he should be going to School Unity Club meetings lately: it was surreal to be back here again, inviting Hajime into the ruins of a game tournament.  There was a scribbly, multi-color scoreboard, and bits of the floor were duct-taped off into what looked like a beanbag chair/slime vat obstacle course.  The janitors at Hope’s Peak must have hated Kokichi Oma.  Or who knows, really?  Maybe he was planning to slink back in and clean all this up himself, after Nagito and Hajime finished with their video.  Nagito showed Hajime over to some chairs he’d set up in front of his cracked-apart personal laptop.  He pulled out Hajime’s chair a little bit, like they were someplace fancy, and Hajime scoffed.  He sat down, though.  And then he gestured to Nagito’s chair, like, “Well?”

They watched the documentary in silence.  Sometimes Hajime shifted, or scratched at his neck.  Sometimes he gasped, or shot Nagito careful, considering eyes.  Nagito…  for his part…  tried his best to keep his expression neutral, the same as he’d done at that first School Unity Club meeting.  The last interview was with himself, after all, and he thought he’d made his own points pretty clear.  He didn’t understand what the Reserve Course meant, in connection to the Main Course here at Hope’s Peak Academy…  on one hand he still thought it defied the point of the whole place, but on the other it was a class full of creativity and excitement and hope for the future, too.  He’d learned a lot from the Reserve Course students, and it had been fun spending time with them.  The interview questions had been written by Hajime Hinata, but they’d honestly become Nagito’s questions too, by the end.  He thanked the viewer for watching, and the interviewees for talking to him, and the swimming team for their forgiveness when he tried to explain that it was his weird luck that ruined their tournament.

It wasn’t perfect.  Nagito stumbled over his words, sometimes, and he contradicted himself, and he went on a short monologue about how it was possible hope came in innumerable different forms.  He hinted at one of his most embarrassing thoughts, too – that maybe…  just maybe, possibly, against all odds… it might’ve been more merciful to have a world without the worship of talent, a world where all people could just live as themselves and know that was enough. He had almost edited that part out.  In another life, he probably wouldn’t have wanted anyone in the world to hear it.  It flew in the face of everything he was supposed to honor, after all.  It was skeptical of the very concept of the Ultimate Talents themselves.

Nagito might not have been able to explain exactly why he kept that part of his own interview in the documentary.  Maybe he wanted Hajime to get him, if they ever spoke again.  Maybe so many strangers had been utterly, vulnerably honest with him, he felt like it was sort of his turn. Either way, he winced, taking in the frustrated surrender on his own recorded face.  He kept his arms folded over his chest and gritted his teeth.  Hajime was watching him imagine a world where all that mattered was the light, whether it came from a flashlight or the sun.  For all Nagito knew, he sounded ridiculous.

“That wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be,” Hajime said, slowly, after the credits rolled – Chiaki was thanked for most things Nagito hadn’t attributed to either himself or the conspicuously-absent Hajime Hinata.  “Thanks, Nagito.  You…  are you going to the next club meeting?”

“What?  Am I…?”

“I mean the School Unity Club.  If you go to the next meeting, I’ll come too.”

Nagito swallowed, fidgeting.  He brushed a little messy white hair behind his ear.  “Yeah.  Yeah, absolutely.”  He decided to push his luck, just a little, then, seeing Hajime smile: he decided to try and make this raw, beautiful person that hated him laugh.  “Maybe Kokichi’ll stop pestering me if I finally participate.”

Hajime snorted.  He relaxed, just the littlest bit, and Nagito felt his insides twist.  That was an unfamiliar feeling.

“Probably not,” Hajime said.

“No… probably not.”

That couldn’t have been part of the Ultimate Supreme Leader’s secret conniving plan, though, right?  To get them to bond over mutual frustration…  to pester them both until they started commiserating about it…

Right?

But then, maybe Nagito shouldn’t put it past him.  Kokichi’d earned his Ultimate Student-status somehow.  Maybe he and Chiaki hadn’t been completely wrong about a School Unity Club, either.

Well, now… they’d just played right into the Ultimate Supreme Leader’s hands, hadn’t they?

That didn’t matter too much, somehow, when Hajime was taking Nagito out to arcades with his other friends, and on hikes in the forest, and to read quietly on a bench in the park.  Sun on their skin, wind in their hair, ruffling the pages of their books just the littlest bit…  or else grabbing Nagito’s book away and hurtling it out horrifyingly fast into oncoming traffic.  Or maybe it was the first book Hajime got him as a gift that would get stolen by a randomly-appearing hawk, this time?   At least now Hajime knew Nagito usually laughed that desperate, rattling sort of cackle when he was upset.  Nervous.  Panicking.  At least now Hajime would rub his back, a little, and tell him they were fine.  Hey, hey.  Nagito, look at me.  Your luck isn’t your fault.  Just breathe.

Breathe.

No, falling for the Ultimate Supreme Leader’s machinations barely mattered at all, this time.

2 ½. So Glad I was Wrong About You

The first time Hajime Hinata kissed Nagito Komaeda, he hadn’t been expecting to do it, himself, if you’d asked him just five minutes before.  They were doing homework together, and the year was almost over – Nagito had asked Hajime to come to the Main Course Graduation Ball with him, as friends, of course, and high school was winding down to an end for both of them.  Hajime had just worked weekend shifts at a thrift store to buy himself a set of four-leaf clover cufflinks to wear with his suit, small and gold and hopefully not the sort of thing Nagito would think was tacky.  They were…  Hajime hadn’t known what they were, exactly, until he found himself watching the way Nagito talked with his hands, staring off into the distance, swept away in what they were discussing.  He remembered something their mutual friend Chiaki Nanami, the Ultimate Gamer, had said a few weeks before:

“I don’t think Nagito’s gonna ask you to go to the ball as his date-date.  But if he does, be nice.”

Hajime hadn’t pressed Chiaki on that, for some reason.  He’d been a little distracted by how she was completely annihilating him in the game they were playing.  Why hadn’t he…  dammit, why hadn’t he really heard her, then?  If Nagito asked him out, like…  as a boyfriend…  Hajime was supposed to treat him gently.  Maybe Chiaki thought Hajime would’ve wanted to say no, to an invitation like that?  It was hard to say.  Her expression had been all dusty lavender, vague and soft, watching her character defeat Hajime’s so, so mercilessly.  The game had been reflected in her eyes, neon and flickering and fast.

But maybe…  maybe what Chiaki said had meant more than just some run-of-the-mill politeness advice.   It could have meant Nagito’d told Chiaki he was interested in taking Hajime as his date-date, but had backed away squirming from the idea because he was still getting over the concept that he was somehow fundamentally broken.   Maybe he didn’t realize Hajime had bought those four-leaf clover cufflinks like a promise, because he didn’t want this Graduation Ball to be the last chance he got to wear them.  To be fair, Hajime had only just realized that, himself.  Who else was he gonna wear four-leaf clovers for, if not the Ultimate Lucky Student?  He’d gotten to know Nagito’s luck extremely well, over the last year together; he knew which scars he tended to keep hidden, because he hated explaining their backstories, and he had watched Nagito’s closing monologue from that Reserve Course documentary over and over in the dead of night.  Trying to understand it.  Trying to understand this impossible, contrary guy who had just helped him edit his last Japanese Literature essay of the semester.

Hajime had kept telling himself he was done with Nagito Komaeda – for weeks, he’d told himself that.  It felt like such a waste, now.  They were both growing beyond Hope’s Peak Academy, in their ways, even though obviously there had been a time when Hajime would’ve told you that was impossible.  He hadn’t thought he could imagine himself a meaningful future without some link to Ultimate Talent, without this school, whatever exactly it was, but the possibilities had started painting themselves to life without him really noticing it.  The change crept in so sweetly, somewhere between the Ultimate Supreme Leader dragging the whole School Unity Club into participating in the next academy-wide musical and that time they’d all gotten lost in the mountains and Hajime found himself spreading his coat out over Nagito while he slept.   Living had changed things, brought meaning where none had been assigned by fancy academy board members.  When Hajime learned about the Izuru Kamukura Project – a study that had apparently endowed some random Reserve Course student with all the Ultimate Talents under the sun – he was jealous, yeah, but not the way he felt he should have been.

Hajime leaned across the desk and took Nagito’s face in his hands; he kissed him fast and hard, before he could change his mind.  Kissed him like he’d yelled his actual first name in his face.  Kissed him like truth, and the revelation he’d always thought maybe he could be, if only, if only, if only.  He felt Nagito tense and then soften; he felt Nagito try to speak, and then close his eyes, pale lashes brushing against his skin.  Hajime ran his hand down Nagito’s neck, and tangled it just a little in his unbrushed hair.  Nagito made a wondering, helpless sound, and Hajime held him closer.  Pulled back.  Kissed his forehead.

“I’m sorry,” Nagito said.  Hajime didn’t think he knew what for.   Maybe he was still sorry for saying he didn’t think Hajime had any reason to come to this school and that whole tangled-up, confusing introduction they’d had; maybe he was just worried he’d turned out to be a disappointing kisser.  Somewhere out in the hallway, Kokichi Oma was laughing, calling, “You’ll never take me alive!” to someone chasing him with a mysteriously bedazzled mop.  Somewhere out in the hallway, Izuru Kamukura – Reserve Course student-turned living god – was staring out at the world and realizing it was all immeasurably, heartbreakingly boring, when all the talent possible was limp in his hands.

“Why?” Hajime asked.

“Um,” Nagito said.  There were so many words churning inside him, but he was holding Hajime’s hand really tightly, now.  He cleared his throat.  “I mean, we can try that again, if you want.  If I did it wrong.”

Hajime and Nagito were both strong believers in second chances, by that point.  They went to the Main Course Graduation Ball with Nagito holding Hajime’s hand just as tight, and no, that absolutely wasn’t the last chance Hajime had to wear those four-leaf clover cufflinks.  

#komahina #komahina secret exchange #fanfiction

[gottagobuycheese]

Creator Wrap 2020

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 5 (or so) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

As I’m typing this it is 5:02 in the morning on the last possible day to finish during 2020 so kudos to me for being a consistent person in SOME aspect skjhfskj

Thanks for tagging me, @beingjanee! When I was looking for stuff I made this year, I was kind of surprised to realize how much stuff I’d started but never finished, or finished but never posted. Granted, some are because I am not at liberty to share them, but mostly it was just because I never got around to it. So there isn’t really much to share from this year, haha. But hey, head start on next year! 

Anyways, these are some of the few things that made it outside my brain this year, despite all the Everything™. A fair few of them are co-created, so credit where credit’s due! And thus, in no particular order: 

1. Hollow Knight OST - Greenpath (Cover): Somehow in between all the studying and discording and video gaming, I was lucky enough to join my fellow agents of chaos @imperiousheiress and @silent--sonata in making our very own cover of Greenpath from Hollow Knight! Outside of formal band class or choir, I’d never actually made music with other people before, much less online across such drastically different timezones, so this was a SUPER fun little project that came out of this year! And it sounds pretty dang good, if I do say so myself. It also made me realize that if I cannot bring a keyboard or my trumpet to whatever place I end up living/working next I might actually die 

2. [Podfic] A Portrait in Synesthesia (based on A Portrait in Synesthesia by @jessicafish): This one is also a collaboration borne of the sheer madness that comes with locking five restless creatives in a groupchat during the first few months of this ridiculous year. But this is no ordinary podfic. Voiced by @d20owlbear, @silent--sonata, @internetkatze, @imperiousheiress, and yours truly, it’s also got cover art for each chapter AND an absolutely gorgeous instrumental track that accompanies it. I remember fondly the anticipation of waiting for Jess’s birthday to come by so we could finally stop sitting on it XD (speaking of, happy very belated half-birthday Jess!!)

3. Laugh Lines and Crow’s Feet: For once I did not chicken out completely when faced with the mortifying ordeal of Making a Background, so I’m definitely proud of at least that much with this piece XD. Also I love any excuse to draw people laughing, so there’s that. 

4. Fem Crowley: What started out as an exercise in head angles quickly ended up being an exercise in color. Obviously it looks way more accurate than anything I’d’ve drawn from scratch, but as far as the coloring goes, I’m pretty happy with how it turned out! 

5. Good Omens Snake-Off: Drew almost all the line art for this entire thing on the plane ride home after being forcibly punted from the country when the world first started shutting down, so THAT was new. I’ve never drawn that much on a plane before, especially without saving references first (until we landed and I had to google Brother Francis’s face of course), so I’m very pleased with it! (Also it’s just fitting to include the very first thing that came of quarantine lol)

Running out of time to post this before midnight so I’ll edit it later lol 

(EDIT: all right it is officially the Gregorian new year and now that the fire alarm has been disarmed I can finish this in peace lol) 

And I’d be remiss if I did not at least mention the entirety of the Good Omens Big Bang! I can’t quite tell how much of the work was done in 2019 (which, wild that that was only last year — well, last last year, now), so I didn’t include it, but knowing me, I’m sure 90% of it was done in the week(s) leading up to the February deadlines. 

(It’s already 2021 for me, but that’s not the case for all of you, so it’s okay I can still tag people.) Thusly I tag everyone mentioned above and also @theoldaquarian, @runningturnip, @yeswevegotavideo, @queenerdloser, @pachelbelsheadcanon, @fremulon, and everyone else who wants to share some of the things they’ve made in the past year (but no pressure!) Making it through this year was hard enough, so even if it wasn’t a particularly creative year, that’s still plenty to be proud of. And whatever else happened, I’m glad it meant I could meet you all :D 

Here’s to a better 2021 for everyone (oh hey that rhymes)! May you and your loved ones experience much more happiness, good health, and fun than in the previous year. And, of course, HAPPY FRIDAY!! (And also New Year I guess) 

#it is 5:06 and it is getting really hot under this blanket and also I promised my housemate we'd make garlic bread today #so I must break for sleep #not that this will change anything whatsoever for whomever is reading this when it's posted #lmao okay it is now 10:40 on the last night of the year because I slept until 2:00 and then made garlic bread with my housemate #and also binged the first season of kingdom #captain's log #tag thingy #tag game #honorary mentions to all the ocarina and piano and trumpet recordings that only live on my phone or DMs #they're not posted anywhere BUT I am proud of them!! I've never bothered recording myself doing anything before #but it's definitely something I'd like to continue going forward #JEEZ THAT ALARM WENT ON FOR LIKE FIFTEEN MINUTES #MY E A R S #sure hope we never have a real fire hear because I will 100% just plunk my headphones on and ignore it #instead of figuring out where to evacuate to #ANYWAYS HAPPY NEW YEAR

[gleefail]

Glee Memories: 1x10 Ballad

A long, long time ago, as Glee was approaching graduation in Season 3, I found myself nostalgic with some rare free time on my hands. So I decided to rewatch the series from the beginning and jot down some memories, discrepancies that have arisen since, fave quotes, tally solos - all that good stuff, strictly for shits and giggles.

8 years later (eek!) and once more I find myself with an unexpected abundance of free time. With so many revisiting or being newly introduced to the show between binge watching during Quarantine and all the tragedy that has surrounded the show since it went off the air, I figured I’d finish what I started. And by finish, I mean go through the end of S3. Cause I truly cannot acknowledge what happened after that. Except for 5B.

Kicking this off by reposting the first 15 episodes I already went through. Enjoy!

1x10 Ballad “Ok, who can tell me what a ballad is?” “It’s a male duck”

ok, I disagree with Schue’s definition of a ballad. “Stories set to music” – um…isn’t that every song? Or is it just in musicals that it’s supposed to be, lol?

“Looks like my weekly letter to the Ohio showchoir committee FINALLY paid off” and the look she gives Puck. Haha. This Rachel Berry is funny. Cause they’re letting us laugh at her right along with her. Not asking us to put her on a pedestal and/or take her seriously all the damn time. I’m not even gonna get started. I’m watching this post Props/Nationals, and though I didn’t think it could, my hate has grown. In abundance. Trying to keep it in check. Moving on…

“I bet that duck’s in the hat”

“Matt’s out sick today. He had to go to the hospital cause they found a spider in his ear” Um, ew. Also terrifying. However, humorous nonetheless. And an effort to explain a random absence of a Glee club member. Remember how they used to do that?

Aw, Artie drew Quinn’s name out of the hat. :) 2 seasons later and they’ll get 2 duets (both of which I loooove). Shame they didn’t do it this ep. Romantic or just friends, I ADORE the chemistry with Diana and Kevin. I really wanted to see more of that. :(

omg. Kurt’s face when Finn pulls his name. Adorable. Also, I love that Finn is not cool with it but a year later Sam is totes fine. Maybe that’s just cause I love dudes that are comfortable enough in their sexuality to do things that d-bags in high school might tease them about being gay for. Or maybe that’s just cause I love Sam Evans. Couldn’t tell ya. Except yeah, I totes could. It’s cause I wants a Trouty Mouth to call my very own. *lesigh*

“other asian” Ha!

Brittana!

“The fates talked, Mr. Schue” #BlessFinnsHeart

I love the voice-overs during Endless Love: “Screw him if he thinks he’s taking the Diana Ross part from me” “I love the days when I wear no underwear” “I never noticed how nice Rachel’s butt is…oh crap! I think Quinn knows I’m staring at it!”

I also love the facial expressions of Rachel and Mr. Schue here. Hilarious.

Haha – Brad’s like “wtf is happening?”

“Crap – she looks crazy right now!” hahahahahaha

Because of Rachel’s realization through this song, it means Lea Michele can’t squint nearly as much. Wow. It’s like a whole new Rachel with her eyes open while she’s singing.

Artie’s face after the duet. It’s like someone stepped in dog poop.

Ok, Charlotte Ross was in a show in the 90’s I used to watch that, if I recall, failed miserably but nonetheless had a brief stint as my guilty pleasure show. And I can’t remember what it is for the life of me and keep forgetting to look when I have access to google it. Anyone?

“I don’t want you to lift a finger for me. I’m your wife!” Oh wow. So unhealthy. So republican. Soooooo some parts of Ohio. These are the folks that voted for Bush. :/ Yep, I’m still ashamed to be from Ohio when I think of that election.

Suzy. Pepper. Yes. I love this actress. Bright and Hannah were my OTP on Everwood. I miss them.

“You knew it was me just by the sound of my breath. That’s so romantic.”

“Listen, you little psycho, this is Will’s wife, and if I don’t get enough sleep my anti-depressants won’t work, and then I’ll go crazy and I’ll kill you.” Oh Terri. So maternal and loving.

Suzy Pepper is sobbing to More Than Words. That was my jam back in the day!

“Your lashing out at me is fantastically compelling…and….inappropriate.”

“Thank God I never missed a piano lesson” – really Kurt? Is this the first and only time we’re to believe Kurt can play piano well enough to accompany someone from memory?

Finn singing I’ll Stand By You to a sonogram dvd on his laptop. I have no words. I don’t think I thought it was this weird the first time I watched it.

So Finn’s mom busts him singing to said laptop sonogram dvd…and he doesn’t close the laptop…or stop the dvd…or try to hide the screen. He sits up next to it as she approaches him, almost begging her to see it. I felt the same way then as I do now – it was an opportunity for him to not tell her necessarily but for her to find out anyways and I think he really wanted her to know so he could go to her for help and comfort and to relieve everything he couldn’t deal with about the situation. I’m just sayin’.

Oh old school Carol with her denim and that hair…she’s still such a great mom though. And this actress. My God. She’s amazing.

“You’re wrong, I’m right. I’m smart, you’re dumb.”

“Dude. Impulse control!” haha

“I dunno why I find his stupidity charming. I mean, he’s cheating off a girl who thinks the square root of 4 is rainbows.” #BlessFinnsHeart

Oh Young Girl/Don’t Stand So Close to Me mash-up. I fell in lust with you from the first moment I laid eyes on you.

Seriously. Matthew Morrison is so hot in this mash-up. Yowzah.

“So, Rachel, do you think you understood the message I was trying to get across with that ballad?” “Yes! It means I’m very young and it’s hard for you to stand close to me.”

“You’re a very good performer. He’s very good.”

Finn and Kurt bonding over their lost parents. This is a sweet scene.

“You think I should bring a gun?” #BlessFinnsHeart

“Casserole’s almost ready. Hope you like venison!” Ok. TERRIFYING to come home and find Rachel Berry in an apron, cooking you dinner, in your home.

Hey, remember that time that Rachel literally sang 3 lines of Crush and they released it in its entirety as a single from this episode? Ridonk.

“I found out today that my hamster was pregnant in biology class and I just started weeping!”

Aw, Mercedes and Puck are paired up for duet ballads.

haha. Babygate.

“Finn’s not the father! I am.” People be spilling out their truths to Mercedes y’all.

“Alright, look, you need to get something through your Mohawk real quick: you’re the baby’s daddy. It takes a hell of a lot more to be a father and that role’s already been cast because Quinn chose Finn. You need to accept that and move on cause you have no business messin’ up that girl’s life more than you already have. You need to back off. You owe her at least that much. ”Aw, Mercedes. Laying down tough love. And looking out for Quinn before they were even friends. Man. I love Mercedes.

Oh that’s right – Quinn has an older sister! Why did we never meet her?

“He wears a helmet when he plays, right?” – THAT’S WHAT I’M SAYIN’! #BlessFinnsHeart

“I have to go, they’ll think I’m pooping.” Hehehehe.

omg. So I love this still. Finn is doing karate moves in the bathroom mirror to pump himself up to sing to the Fabrays that Quinn’s pregnant. That is so effing funny. What happened to this Finn?

You’re Having My Baby. Haha. This song is so cheesy. This scene is so uncomfortable.

So Quinn’s parents, unlike Finn, are NOT simple-minded and have figured it out. And it’s terrifying.

“We didn’t even have sex” #BlessFinnsHeart

Quinn’s parents are kicking her out. Well, her dad is and her mom isn’t standing up to him. This is rough. Especially when you realize they’re supposed to be 15. So wrong. Poor Quinn. And her dad just screamed at her that she was a disappointment. Yeah…she’s had to deal with some shit. And in the end, they don’t acknowledge that she did and try to make her out to be the bad guy, and selfish… Way to go, RIB.

Oh good ole Carol, without a moment of hesitationlets Quinn stay with them.

“Honey, you can stay here as long as you want.” Carol’s the best. So glad she found Burt.

“We’re not so different, you and me. We’re both mildly attractive and extremely grating. Love is hard for us. We look for boys we know we can never have. Mr. Schue is a perfect target for our self-esteem issues. He can never reciprocate our feelings which only reinforces the conviction that we’re not worthy of being loved. Trust me. I’m a cautionary tale. You need to find some self-respect, Rachel. Get that mildly attractive groove back.” Suzy Pepper, ladies and gentlemen. Dropping truth bombs.

“There’s some boy out there who’s gonna like you for everything you are, including those parts of you that even you don’t like. Those are gonna be the things about you that he likes the most.” Hmm…might be true. Never thought about this, but I’d say that describes Jesse. But not Finn so much. Maybe recently. But…he has made several comments about her being annoying or controlling as they were dating. And not in a ‘those are my favorite things about her’ kinda way. Just sayin’.

Aw. Kurt seems like he feels really bad about Quinn getting kicked out.

“Open your eyes! I didn’t tell you to close your eyes.” “Is there a cake?” No, there’s no cake!” #BlessFinnsHeart

Lean On Me. Watching this now, with one ep left and it’s graduation…yeah, I’m crying. Dammit, Glee.

haha, Mercedes just kinda pushed past Rachel who was front and center to sing her solo. Probably not intentional but still funny.

Damn, Kevin McHale.

Damn, Amber Riley.

SOLOS: Rachel (1), Will (2), Finn (2), Artie (1), Mercedes (1)

#Glee Memories #Glee #lol Glee #Glee Ballad

[pocket-dust-starr]

A continuous list of things my year group and individuals from my year have done in our high school experience (2014-2019)

Destroyed some beakers by burning Coca Cola

Holds the records for most smashed windows, mainly due to aggressive handball tournaments

had our science teacher pretend to beat up a student to teach us a scientific lesson. Then had us all pretend to be murdered fake blood and all to gage other students reactions

electrocuted each other for fun on the farm

said science teacher also fueled our chaoticness and only ours

Had the Aussie equivalent of a snowball fight, where instead of snow it was wet fallen flowers and rain

Broke the school’s record of most bought flavoured milks, then lined each empty carton together on all of the windowsills

Linked every wheelie bin together and rode them through the year area

Found a condom, stretched said condom over dudes head and then blew it up to half his size

Instead of making a poster like told, made a giant paper plane and threw it out the window

two dudes hid inside the science room cupboards but then one promptly broke the shelf on top of  the other boy

entire year nut bush dance

had a bomb threat lmao

had a Christmas rave where we glued glitter to our faces

Stopped class and had a rap battle outside

ripped a table from its bolts and then had it stolen

Drew Napoleon riding a dodo and vandalised this one area with chalk (some of which can still be seen)

With our year advisers, but not the principal’s permission, vandalised the rest of the school with said chalk

Kicked a hole in the expensive science room walls

Kicked a hole in an asbestos riddled building

Painted a superhero mural for the local disability home

told to run wild when on an excursion into town

was electrocuted by science teacher from before

spent the whole of lunch trying to get a ball out a tree, mainly by throwing more balls at it

Through sheer determination and constant complaints, got equality for boys and girls mingling and whatever else we wanted

Is the reason why water fights and water guns aren’t allowed in summer

Beat each other up with pool noodles while dressed as Spartans

Had a pyjama party in the library

Played cards against humanity before Christmas with our maths teacher, obvi making him say the dirtiest answers

Had a paper mache striptease contest

20 of us got to stay overnight in Canberra and ended up on tv and basically ran wild around the city with our two teachers acting like concerned but uncaring dads

a group of girls went around taping photos of contaminated food from the canteen in retaliation when the canteen called them liars

Won a tug of war contest twice against all of the teachers

M u c k  u p  p h o t o  d a y

dude brought in food for class but forgot to take his condoms out of the bag and let’s just say he’ll never live it down

Yeeted a laptop over a 2 story building

Then dropped said laptop from 2nd story balcony

Then ran over said laptop with a car

Had a knock-n-run during bio, school captain asks to go get them, runs out of the room and down the hallway and drags the culprit back in a headlock - “Did you even know that kid?” “Haha no”

#class of 2019 #:))) #gonna miss this #love you guys #tl:dr my year is what's known as respectable chaotics #still have 5 weeks left will add more

[askcupsandcasinos]

Ive been receiving loads of submission with peoples lovely OCs in this AU, and theres so many of them Ive decided to put em all together in one post.

Its gonna be under a cut because its pretty long, lemme tell ya heh

Submitted by @blackzhatz-43

@blackzhatz-43 : My own character, her name is Gabby.

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Very cute!!

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submitted by @clearlyaveryniceperson 

@clearlyaveryniceperson : Hello! I’m kinda new to your tumblr but lemme just say I LOVE your art to bits! Anyhoo, here’s Mittie, (And yes I did name her after the Mitty from Made in Abyss so don’t get your socks in a tangle) Mittie is your friendly neighborhood flowery comedian, honestly. She always does comedy shows when she gets the chance and she makes a ton of terrible puns. Hope you enjoy! (Sorry for that splotch next to her though, I was eating while drawing this and a bit of food fell into the paper..)

P.s: king dice is a narcissistic a-hole, just saying 😂 (Don’t take this the wrong way, I absolutely adore his design)

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Thank you for your compliments!! ^o^ I love her design!!  =D it looks rather surreal, I really like it =) Nothin’ like a comedian flower ^^

I’m glad people are seeing Dice for what he really is, haha >;)

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submitted by @afterfell-sans

@afterfell-sans :  Hi, I am a HUGE fan of your blog, so I figured you guys may like a new employee in the casino. His name is Glass and he is (kind of) Cuphead’s and Mugman’s cousin. He has a broken handle and a crack on his left arm(even though it looks like it is on the right arm…) and he also has three chips down his eyes, along with a gold tooth. his symbol is a king of spades and he is just as mischievous as Cuphead, so I guess Cuphead will have twice the fun hanging out with Glass during his breaks. I hope you like the picture of my OC, Glass! :)

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Glass got class ;) I like this dude, he looks cool =) Cuphead would like him, heheh-

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Submitted by @craftyjellyfishcat

@craftyjellyfishcat :  this Lit Wick! My Oc who reacently lost a bet to King Dice and is now working at the Casino! I hope you like it!

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Oooh, wonder what kind of bet it was, heehee~ 

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Submitted by @drawcups 

@drawcups :  Here you go for your cuphead AU, her name’s Alison and she thinks the cups are alright but loves King Dice.

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She looks adorable but awesome ;) Also I can’t help but love the little glasses she holds X) Might be hard admitting the brothers are fine, haha

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Submitted by @hetasymphony

@hetasymphony : You inspired me to draw with your art, so I drew her. This is Miss. Blair; after moving to The Inkwell Isles she became a regular on Sundays to the casino. Most of the time she is seen socializing or dancing. It’s pretty rare when she gambles. She’s an extreme lightweight drinker, and the one time she got drunk at the casino the staff found out she was a witch. One thing she’ll never admit is that she’s 31 and not 20.

Also a reading of your blog. 😄😄😄

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What a beautiful witch! ;) Don’t worry though, there are a lot of witches hanging around there, it’s in Hell after all. I’m happy I inspired you ;u; makes me happy hearing that people get inspired by my stuff =‘D

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Submitted by @thewolfsquad200

@thewolfsquad200 : One drawing is of king dice as a cat because I thought it would be cute and honestly it was really fun to do it :3 ________ The other one is my character named mega she is a wolf, but she Isn’t exactly that tough and is clumsy at time but she is always determined and helps people.Anyway hope you like them both and I love you comics they are so cool and really your art style

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Sweet! ^^ Your character’s really nice! Thank you by the way ;u;

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Submitted by @cutiefacebendy

@cutiefacebendy :  Um hi. I really wanted to post this and tell you I love your comics and art. I actually sas you comics and thought that cuphead and mugman were actually your characters. I learn shortly after they were. Anyways I love your account and everything on it. Keep going. >ω<

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What cute characters! Thank you very much!! =) I particularly like the one on the far right heheh, they look cool. Thanks once again!!

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Submitted by @the1artist13

@the1artist13 :  Idk i saw these so i decided to have fun with just drawing a inspector for the Devils casino( Or a person that checks if the casino is secure) So here’s Sarah Sharpener ( School/Office Grade Pencil Sharpener)

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Ooooh! This is really good!! We haven’t had an inspector character before, how cool though!! I really like her, haha, lookin’ sharp, haha.,,, ha,,, yeah I’m funny aHEM, anyway-- n-nice colouring, too ^^

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Submitted by @serif-skeleton

@serif-skeleton : Meet AJ, she’s a fallen angel. She ended up making a deal with the devil to get back in to heaven in exchange for her immortal soul. However that didn’t work out after the bros and she ended up working at the casino after getting kicked out again.

I made good ending and bad ending form. Hope you enjoy!

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Oh wow she’s awesome!! I like your style =) I find it very nice~ Really like her bad ending form too ;)

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Submitted by @lunethedemon 

@lunethedemon : Drawing Winter in a skirt is quite weird but I like it.

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Don’t worry, she looks lovely in a skirt =) even lovelier with a bottle o’ booze, heheh~

There’s some coffee in Mug’s head but I don’t recommend drinking it.

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Submitted by @squeetart32

@squeetart32 :  I liked the thought of having an OC in the casino that is the blank card that comes in decks. Illusia is just as heartless as the devil himself. She is King Dice’s best friend and they always tell inside jokes.

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What a sweet looking heartless waiter of Hell’s Casino ;)

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Submitted by @eriannyslacattie

@eriannyslacattie :  heya i’m new and … my stupid english bad :‘v so….. here my Oc Saraon working in the casino :v is a torch and the reaction of cuphead (al verla ) so hope you like it :3… and your art is so nice :3

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Welcome to the blog! ;) I love her! ^^ she looks really cool, though a torch wouldn’t really be cool it would be quite fiery actually, fitting for Hell’s Casino ey? Thank you btw =‘)

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This is it for now, FOR NOW!! There are still quite a few in my askbox ;) I’ll wait a bit later, and post them then, don’t wanna give away all the goods at once ya know?

Either way, thank you all so much for your submissions!! ^o^

#submission #OC