#extremely proud of my silly little animation

[l-a-l-o-u]

please enjoy my two little shots for Shrek 2 Retold :) and if you don’t know what i’m tlking about you can watch the first one on youtube

yeah

#shrek #shrek retold #shrek 2 retold #extremely proud of my silly little animation #i didnt have much time to work on it so i had to do it quick & dirty but im happy w it #ESPECIALLY the over the top eyelashes hehe #attempt

[janitorhutcherson]

hi! can you do a fluff piece with Mike where he expresses his love to the reader through the different love languages? (like words of affirmation, gift giving, physical touch, acts of kindness, and quality time?) I feel like he would be especially great at acts of kindness with cooking :) thanks!

hii omg this is such a cute idea. this is gonna be quickish i’m sorry, i’ll totally do a longer one later. if y’all like it i’ll maybe make a series?!? but for now just a silly little blurb.

i feel like mike would be very loving and showing his love to you would be extremely important. like, extremely important. so he’d def be the kind of guy to take all of these seriously, even if they weren’t… easy… for him since expressing emotions doesn’t come as natural.

words of affirmation: words of affirmation is one of my favorite love languages. this is one that doesn’t come easy for mike — and not because he doesn’t love you, but just because he can’t really express himself well. if you’re like me, being reassured, told you’re doing great, etc, is important to you. mike would do his very best to remind you every day how important you are to him, leaving the occasional note in the morning before you head to work. it may say something like, “Reminder I am so proud of you for everything you do. I love you, baby!” he’s also ramble to you at night sometimes, just telling you how much he loves you. if you were ever down, he’d make sure to sit you down and point out all of the things he loves about you, physically and mentally.

gift giving: okay i feel like this is a big one. money doesn’t come very easily for mike. after he got “fired” (that’s what he pretends happened!😜), he had to find another job that still had shitty pay. his resume didn’t make him a great candidate for anything high quality. with that being said, every month he attempts to scrape up enough money to make you a little gift basket. it varies from month to month, depending on how much he was able to save. sometimes they’d be big baskets he’d have abby help him pick stuff out for. there may be a fuzzy blanket, some candies, face masks, maybe a candle. sometimes they’d be smaller, just a little note and some candy, maybe a stuffed animal from the dollar store. regardless of how big or small, you always appreciated it when you’d walk into your shared home and see it sitting on the table.

physical touch: oh my god i think this one is a huge one for mike. given his past, he is so touch starved. every second he gets, his hands are on you. of course, at night he loves to curl up with you in bed. he’ll have his arms tightly wrapped around you, playing with your hair or maybe rubbing your back. even when he dips down on the bed to tie his shoes in the morning, he keeps his hand on your sleeping shoulder until he absolutely has to move it. he’s the same way out in public. at the supermarket, he’ll hold your hand, he’ll wrap his arm around your waist when you’re standing in line for something. when you’re out to eat, his hand will be on your knee underneath the table. when you’re cooking at home, he will always come and wrap himself up behind you, moving with you to the point that it’s slightly obnoxious, but you don’t mind. as long as he’s with you.

acts of kindness: i so agree that this would be a big one for him that he’d be good at. before you, mike was a one trick pony when it came to cooking, and for that, he could barely do it. he could make something that was edible enough to be spaghetti. once you two started dating, he learned for you. he wanted to be able to make your favorite dishes and desserts. he surprises you all the time when he’s off of work or if he gets off before you, making your favorite dish and having it served up on the table with candles when you walk in the door after work. he’s also big on doing things like running you baths, putting the bubbles in and the epsom salts in. sometimes he’d get into it with you, holding you. i also think he’d like to take showers with you. if you struggle with mental health at all, i think he’d be the type of partner to help you wash your hair. of course he’d do chores for you sometimes, knocking out necessary errands. overall he’s a very loving partner who will do anything to make you smile.

quality time: quality time is something that isn’t easy to get. as much as you love abby, alone time is especially hard to come by. since mike is working day shifts now, you two will do your best to have a late night together at least once a week. you’re both usually pretty exhausted, taking care of abby, working, running errands. but once a week, usually on a friday night, you both stay up until 3am/4am, just talking, snacking, maybe watching a movie. otherwise, for quality time, he makes sure to sneak some time in with you here in there. he’d make sure to run simple errands with you, maybe even to sit with you at the nail salon. i also think he’d love to help you cook, go shopping. any chance he’d get to spend time with you, he’d take it.

#mike schmidt fluff #mike schmidt x reader #mike schmidt imagine #mike schmidt smut #mike schmidt #josh hutcherson x reader #josh hutcherson fluff #josh hutcherson imagine #josh hutcherson fanfic #josh hutcherson #michael schmidt x reader #michael afton

[sugarpasteltmnt]

I've been compleatly OBSSESED with neon void so far!!! It's by far my favorite fic of any I've read!! After every chapter I have to take a second to do the happy stimmies because you write all of the scenes so well. Whenever I see a new update I clear the next hour for reading it and the subsequent geek out sesion for how AMAZING it always is. You write extremely well, you convey the characters so acurately, the fight scenes are creative, the way you write Leo's perspective is AMAZING, love the font changes, the angst PALPABLE, and just over all I love everything you're able to do with this concept. The way you can see Leo's mental state deteriorating through out the fic is just *chefs kiss*. There's so much I love about the fic that I can't possibly list everything.

Also the established difference between teleporting and portaling is so great, it adds to the pure panic that void causes for the boys aside from, y'know, crazy dude capable of beating Big Mama within an inch of her life and STRAIGHT UP OFFING a buch of other yokai. It does wonders for establishing him as a threat even though he technically isn't for the turtles. Plus I'm sure that once they find out who Void really is, it will add a bunch of tension since they'll need to stop Leo from literally SCATTERING HIS ATOMS ACROSS SPACE.

AND THE CHAPTER PREVIEW ISTG I've never gotten so much serotonin from being in this much pain ;0; The gif is perfect to set the mood, I can't wait to see what happens. You're ablility to choose just the right thing to stab so many people directly through the heart is nothing short of super-natural. BUT PLEASE give the boi some happiness, if not for his sake, for mine-

ANYWAYS this is all a VERY long way of saying, I absolutely love this and I had to draw the silly boi being the silly boi. I needed to draw him happy for the health of my heart ;-; (don't worry though, I'm working on some tasty angst right now)

Can't wait to see where everything goes, GOOD LUCK TO CASEY but there only six chapters left so we're getting to the end game now >:D

Please have a wonderful rest of your week :D

THANK U SO MUCH ;w; I’m so so happy that my fight scenes are followable/enjoyable, and tho they are a binch to code I’m so happy you enjoy the funky fonts and formatting ;w; i know reading blocks of text can be intimidating/tiring for readers, so i try to break it up to help with the pacing and sprinkle in some fun, spooky fonts as treats 🩵

Something i really, REALLY loved about Rise was the fights. Not only was the animation amazing, but it was always so creative. I try my best to make the fight scenes as silly as the boys can be, while utilizing their adaptive skills to use their surroundings to their advantage.

And bruh trying to balance Leo’s insanity in a believable way has been such a (fun) challenge so it makes me so happy to hear you like it 😭🥺 and I’m so glad people seem to like the ‘teleportation’ gimmick I’ve got going on (and that it hopefully makes sense omg)

(And i will admit I’m a little proud of my chapter previews because they are so fun to write, and i like to reassure readers that 1) i have a plan and 2) I’m keeping myself accountable to finish LOL)

Also aksdlaskdhaksdh thank u for this art this part especially is SENDING ME WHEEZE 🤣🩵❗️

#he is so SILLY!!! #akasdaksd THANK U SO MUCH I LOVE IT #you translated this moment so well LOOOOL #I’m glad that my attempts at comedic moments are funny to others lmao #he’s my silly little guy your honor #tnv asks #pastel prattling #tnv fanart #the neon void tmnt #rottmnt #the neon void #tnv tmnt

[save-the-villainous-cat]

How about some hurt/comfort about a sleep-deprived villain?

Convincing themselves that they were fine was easier than accepting that there was something unhealthily, severely and unmistakably wrong with them. In the back of their mind, it was normal to stay up for 22 hours a day. Not to mention that this had been going on for months.

What should’ve been a wake-up call left them yearning and moody. One time they’d seen the hero break into their apartment, their fingers sprinkled with blood, their suit glued to their muscles. The villain had wanted to jump up and confront them but they’d been much too flustered to do anything.

As if they were living together, the hero had taken their clothes off. They’d kissed the villain. Pushed them into the pillows. Gotten on top.

Two days later, the villain had mentioned it. And as the hero stared at them, blushing from head to toe, muttering that they were out with friends at that time, the villain noticed that there was something terribly weird going on. It had been a hallucination. A good one. So good that they wished it was real.

Some sick part of their brain thought that if they slept less, they’d get more of these. But they didn’t. Slowly, they found themselves hallucinating more. Creatures in the dark corners of their rooms, their food rotting in their fridge after a day, dead animals on their balcony. The villain considered doing some extreme things, going as far as using alcohol to end their suffering.

Eventually they didn’t. They deserved this.

One restless night, the hero showed up on their porch and in all their delusion, the villain was sure they were a hallucination, too.

“Hey.”

The villain didn’t answer.

“You lost your weapon today.”

What?

“When we were fighting in the parking lot. You lost it.”

“That’s why you’re here?” the villain asked, still not entirely convinced that this wasn’t only happening in their mind. They imagined what it would feel like if the hero pushed them against the door in this very moment.

The last months had been ridiculously lonely. A single one-night stand was all the physical touch they’d gotten over this time. After that they’d felt horrible. Sleeping with a stranger didn’t feel at all like they’d expected.

“No, actually…what you said about me coming over to yours brought me here.” The villain looked up from the spot they’d glared at.

“Forget about that. It was just a silly dream.” They were about to throw the door into the hero’s face but their enemy stepped into their house, foot holding the door open.

“I know you’ve lost your sidekick,” the hero said.

A punch to the throat would’ve been less painful. The villain’s grip on the door handle tightened until their knuckles turned as white as chalk.

Pushing it away was hurtful but not as hurtful as this. Confronting it. Thinking about it. It was so real yet so difficult to grasp. Understanding that someone is gone needs time and the villain simply hadn’t allowed themselves to take it.

They’d been so young.

“I…” A headache formed behind their forehead. “I’d rather not talk about it.”

“I lost my first sidekick, too. It broke me,” the hero said. “I did some…questionable things while I was grieving. I’m not proud of it and they certainly didn’t help.”

“I’m okay,” the villain lied. “Don’t worry your pretty little head.”

“I can’t watch you destroy yourself.”

“Why not? Goal achieved.” The hero took another step and walked into the villain’s house faster than the villain thought to be possible.

“Because I save people. I don’t want to destroy them.”

Then where were you when they died? The villain didn’t say it out loud. Accusations wouldn’t bring them back.

“Please let me help you,” the hero whispered.

“Is this to clean your own conscience?” the villain asked.

“Actually, it’s because I like you.”

The villain froze.

“I can’t sleep,” they confessed. “I get two hours per night if I’m good.”

“Alright, I’m gonna run a bath for us. You need to relax,” the hero said, inviting themselves in. The villain could only stare as they walked past them.

I’m gonna run a bath for us.

For us.

#made it spicy cuz why not #writing snippet #heroxvillain prompt #heroxvillain snippet #heroes and villains #hero #villain #hero x villain #heroxvillain #an answer for an ask #request #angst #h/c

[fluffomatic]

SO I BINGED ALL OF HAZBIN HOTEL LAST NIGHT AND HOLY FUCK DO I HAVE OPINIONS!! But the only one that matters right now. Additionally ranted a bunch whoops

THE SHOW WAS FUCKING PHENOMENAL!!!

Pleeeease It was so worth the wait!!! I adore it so much. The animation is so damn fluid and beautiful. The fucking BACKGROUNDS??? Just in general it's a pretty show! The characters are so good, too! I adore Husk and Angel~ I never got the ship before, but I absolutely do now! I still like RadioDust, but I like it a lot less now than I used to. I think since Alastor is confirmed AroAce, I like him better in more platonic relationships. I'm not saying he can't have a partner, as an asexual myself with very little romantic attraction. I just like the idea of him finding an extremely close friend group instead of a relationship (Tho with that ending, is it possible? What a cliffhanger!) I dont know what will happen in the show going forwards, but I'd like to believe the others softened Alastor up a bit and he has a reluctant but growing admiration for the group! That probably gave away my favorite character, huh? Obviously it's Alastor. I figured it would be lol. But! I absolutely adore all the other characters too! (Except Valentino but we're supposed to hate that guy. They did a good job at that 🤣 Love his design, tho). A character I was suprised to find myself in love with at the end was fucking Carmilla Carmine! She's so damn pretty??? Excuse me??? And she's a good mom!? I adore her!!! But like, the whole group is fantastic! Sir Pentious was obviously a highlight~! Can't beat a silly snake boy who is just so full of love! He absolutely deserved the ending he got 🥺 Proud of that boy! Angels character, I think, is so much better in the show. I loved him in the pilot, but DAMN! They just nail the character in the show!! OH AND NIFTY??? I want her in my life!! I adore her 🥺🥺🥺 Charlie and Vaggie are perfect together. Their relationship is my favorite. Charlie is so cute, and I adore her optimism. Vaggie has such a cool story, too, and I wasn't expecting the twist, but maybe that's because I wasn't aware of the theory beforehand, so it took me by suprise. Husk is so amazing, too. His song with Angel is so good. I love the fluffy kitty! AND CAN I MENTION LUCIFER!?! Dad of the year, my man! Wish I had a father, lol.

Sorry for ranting. I actually didn't mean to 😅 I got excited.

#i watched Hazbin friendos! #sorry for ranting #i just got hype about it out of no where

[yamcha-thelonewolf]

🫂Toriyama forgets, Yamcha doesn't!

This time I want us to relax a little bit. My last analysis, The Heart's Savior, was very challenging both for me who wrote it and for you who read it, so now it is only fair to lighten the load.

In a poll, I asked you whether you would prefer to know more about Yamcha's life as a fighter or as an ordinary earthling, and if you remember, the second choice won. So here I am analyzing a little trivia that has nothing to do with battles. Well... Sort of! Martial arts still has something to do with it, but it only serves as a background. In fact, I will tell you about an extremely strong friendship, not because the bond is actually intense but because it goes against the narrative choices of Toriyama and Toei Animation. Believe me, guys, this analysis could maintain the connection with a character we hear little about now. Lastly, just because I know it's a kind of topic that many people like, I'm going to talk somewhat about one of Yamcha's many looks.

Let's be clear, this is just my theory, it's quite silly, but at least it might make you smile a little... Well, I hope so!

Before we begin, it seems only fair to warn that the following is likely to be coincidental. Dragon Ball has never dwelled on details, at least not the ones I care about, so it is highly likely that this topic is meaningless. But... What if it doesn't? Assuming Yamcha has a life of his own in this show, talking about it might be worthwhile... Because it would once again show what a beautiful person he is in everyday life.

So... Let's get started!

Don't worry, I told you. I am not going to talk about Yamcha as a fighter, but as I had anticipated it is necessary to understand how incredible he is as a normal earthling.

We are at the end of the Fortuneteller Baba Arc. Goku has finally found out where the last dragon ball is and so sets off with Upa to resurrect his father Bora. Meanwhile, Yamcha and the others await their friend's return at Baba's palace. It is during this wait that Yamcha reflects at length on his own life and he finally decides to ask Muten to make him his pupil.

A new orange Gi is definitely needed!

Freeze! It is not the Turtle School uniform that I want to talk about. Let's go back for a moment... A few hours before the 22nd Tournament begins.

Alright! We've got it!

We are on the plane bound for Papaya Island. Bruce Lee Yamcha has completed his training under Muten, and with this proud pretty face he lets us know that we are going to see some good things. He also seems more mature. He is in his 20s. Guys, many things could be said about this drawing, but in this case I will simply dwell on his outfit. This is the first time we have seen Yamcha in such an elegant look. We were used to seeing him in martial artist outfits or otherwise with looks more suited to his wild nature, so this is a very nice surprise. For a change, he looks great. I mean, you can dress and style him any way you like: Yamcha has the incredible power to be charming in any way. Yes, even with that bowl hair from DBZ...

Jeez, I love him. Let's go back to our outfit now.

Some will remember it for sure, but for those who do not know I want to let you show that this dress has its own origin.

One more step back now.

We are in the 21st Tournament Arc. Yamcha is in town with Bulma and he's training on his own. Muten's only pupils are Goku and Krillin. Many people do not pay attention to it, but if these two boys managed to get into the Turtle School it is because of a character who unfortunately met a brutal end in the show: Lunch.

The deal is clear: If Goku and Krillin can find a nice girl to stay at the Kame House, then Muten can train them. It is the only way to access. So we can safely say that if Goku has become so strong, it is also thanks to Lunch. Fortunately, she is found in her quiet form, but soon her secret would come out...

...Whatever! Goku and Krillin can finally train under Muten. Well, there really would be so much to say about Lunch. She is a character who deserves a lot. She should not have disappeared at all after the great contribution she made to Goku and Krillin. Not only that. She even defeated some Red Ribbon soldiers, she helped Yamcha defeat some criminals because he had a broken leg, in a filler she saves Goku from an attempted "kidnapping," and among many other things she allowed to find front row seats during tournaments! Seriously, she would deserve a separate post.

If we look at Lunch as a function of the protagonist, it is undeniable that she was the mother Goku never had. At least in her good personality.

The same of course applies to Krillin. Let's think it through. She cooked for them, cuddled them before bed, and who knows how many other mother hen things she did. Goku definitely lacked such a figure, so this is also why I consider Lunch an important character in his growth. If Bulma is more like an older sister, Lunch is definitely his mommy. Have you noticed that? Every person Goku meets represents a family member. It's extremely cute.

Be that as it may, as proof that Lunch is a real mom to the two pupils, she decides to give them a nice gift at the end of their training.

Tadaaan! Okay, I admit that Goku and Krillin are really funny dressed like this. They look like two little gangsters, something like Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro as kids, but that's okay. Lunch sewed these outfits for them, and that's what matters. It was done with love.

Seeing her satisfied like a loving mommy getting excited for her kids going to school for the first time always moved me. Although in this case the destination is the tournament, the meaning is the same: Lunch gave importance to their big day by honoring it with this outfit as awkward as adorable.

Well, friends. Now that the puzzle is almost complete, we can go back to our boy! As I said at the beginning, Yamcha begs Muten to make him his third pupil. Once inside the school, it doesn't take long to realize that for all of his three years of training he has been dealing with Lunch as well.

It should be mentioned, however, that the two had actually met for the first time during the Red Ribbon Arc, when everyone leaves to help Goku.

This is the first real moment when they meet. Lunch is in her "evil" form, but a little later Yamcha will also make the acquaintance of her good side.

This meant that during these three years he also cohabited with Lunch, who must surely have cooked for him as well. I think it's a really interesting detail. Unfortunately, we don't know what has happened during these three years, but I would like to point out that this is the first time Yamcha has dealt so closely with a girl other than Bulma. Imagining that he is still very shy with girls, I have no doubt that he has been embarrassed many times in being so near to her. Stop!, I'm not saying he had feelings for her, but she is still a pretty girl, most of the time very naive as well as sensual, so I wouldn't be surprised if Lunch made Yamcha blush without even meaning to. By the way, it would be interesting to analyze Bulma's feelings in this situation, since she has visited Yamcha several times. I don't think she was ever jealous of Lunch, but she may have punched her boyfriend in the head a few times anyway just because.

...They were so cute...

Okay, now the topic is clear, isn't it? The bond between Yamcha and Lunch is one of the least explored things in Dragon Ball. There is no point in talking about it because it leads nowhere, but believe me, for an earthlings fan it is worth discussing.

First, let's start by saying that this is a different relationship from that she had with the other two pupils. If with Goku and Krillin Lunch was able to act like a caring mother, the same cannot be said for Yamcha. Yamcha is not a child like them. He is almost the same age as Lunch, so the relationship must be absolutely equal: they are two friends. Nothing more, nothing less. This does not mean that Lunch took less care of Yamcha. Surely she must have avoided giving him a good-night kiss and things like that, that is.

As for her second personality, it becomes more complicated. We will never know whether "Bad" Lunch felt attracted to Yamcha. We know she loves wild guys and Yamcha certainly is, but I don't think she was that disloyal to her friend Bulma. In short: I am convinced that there was never any sexual attraction between Lunch and Yamcha. They have always been two great friends, proving that friendship between boys and girls can exist.

So... Maternal or not, one thing is certain: when the big day comes again, Lunch gives her gift to Yamcha too.

I don't know how many of you have thought about this. I'm sure I'm not the first one who has thought about it, but geez... It's a detail that has always excited me for no real reason. Perhaps because it is one of those details that indirectly deepens the relationships between Dragon Ball characters, which are unfortunately poorly told.

I mean, try to think of the scene!

Yamcha at that time was not really the type of guy to wear stuff like that. He has lived for many years in the desert, where it is not necessary to wear fancy clothes because the only priority is to survive. Yet in the desert, we don't know how, he also learned good manners, especially with girls. I'm sure he did everything possible not to disappoint Lunch's expectations. Yamcha has always been like that. In order to please others he has often sacrificed himself, so I think something like that happened in this case as well. Let's try to put ourselves in his shoes. He may be gentle and all, he surely must have thanked Lunch for this, but how much he must have cringed wearing this?

It is a bit like putting a bow tie on a wild wolf...

This is precisely how I imagine him: deeply embarrassed and on the verge of sinking underground. "Boy, I feel so ridiculous!"

Don't worry, silly, it actually fits you much better than you think. I don't believe anyone found him as funny as Goku and Krillin were the first time they wore that thing. Anyway, I assume that this is why we don't see himwith that Al Capone hat. "Hell, I can accept the dress... but spare me that thing!!"

Here you can see Yamcha now comfortable in his elegant look and Lunch by his side totally unaware that she was the one who sewed it for him. By the way, I think it's superficial to say this but... It's really nice that she handmade this dress for Yamcha. I mean, his body is much bigger than Goku and Krillin's. She must have struggled a lot! It's a proof to how much she loved Yamcha, too.

Come on, look at her! Here Lunch is as worried as everyone about Yamcha's condition after Tenshinhan broke his leg. The way she addresses him does indeed have something maternal about it, but it mainly shows that she has become attached to him over those three years.

She is so precious...

...even when she is about to kill Yamcha and Bulma in one shot.

Gosh, I love her! It is so nice that everyone has learned to accept Lunch as she is. Yamcha is like that. He always accepted his friends, no matter how they are, he is always there for them and always took care of them. I am convinced that he loved Lunch as he loves everyone else.

So... the topic could end here, but it is not like me to conclude so trivially. I like to go beyond the impossible, in fact even this time I want to extend the whole situation.

The real point of the topic is another.

Unfortunately, Lunch's fate is the most horrible of all. In truth, I don't know which is worse between being forgotten and being ridiculed throughout the show. Let's just say that neither Lunch nor Yamcha were lucky. They also have that in common, besides the fact that both are very close to Tien. I would call it the trio of outcasts. However, if we at least know what happens to Yamcha during DBZ, we know nothing about Lunch. The last time we see her is in a bar, completely drunk because Tien is dead. Another appearance, which is really brief, is during the Buu Saga, when she gives her energy to Goku. I consider these two scenes to be frighteningly sad because in both cases we see her alone and that hurts me a lot. It is as if she has lost contact with her friends. After all, she could not even return to the Kame House because it was now inhabited by Krillin, Android 18 and their daughter. There was no place for her anymore. This hurt even more, because we really don't know what happened to her. Finally, she appears without ever saying anything in the OVA Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!

This is quite consoling, but it is not enough. Her presence is highly unnecessary. I think she was thrown into the rabble just to actually pay homage to those who were Goku's friends, but what's the point if she doesn't even say a word? She certainly deserved more since she had been forgotten for almost two decades.

Whatever... Thank goodness Yamcha exists!

He is seriously the hero we do not deserve.

Well yes, Yamcha may be the one who partly solves this great riddle:

...What ever happened to Lunch all this time?

The truth is that there are no answers. Everyone can imagine what they want. One can think that she stayed with Tien (although DBS has ruled out this possibility for the umpteenth time), one can think that she opened a food truck or that she came to visit Muten sometimes. I personally believe that she has not completely lost contact with her friends. At least, not with Yamcha. I mean, we've seen how Yamcha is not the type to quit. When it comes to loving someone, Yamcha is always in the front row. This makes me believe that he has not stopped seeing Lunch. He is too loyal to forget a person who has done so much for him. Plus, if we add that Yamcha was left alone at one point in the story, it makes even more sense that he spends his time with an equally "lonely" friend. I imagine Yamcha as a very nostalgic guy. It would be unthinkable for him to exclude such an important memory as Lunch from his life.

At least, that's how it is for me. Until now I didn't know it for sure, but a few days ago I had an epiphany. That's when I realized that maybe Lunch is still there, we just don't see her.

Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might, 1990.

Did you notice anything?

Oh god yes, it's that damn gangster outfit again. I mean, the dress sewn by Lunch. Although it is difficult to identify the timeline of this film, it is still clear that we are in a context far away from OG Dragon Ball. At first I anticipated that all this might just be a coincidence, but personally I like to believe that there is much more behind it. Assuming that indeed it is the dress made by Lunch, we need to consider one thing: it can never be that one she gave him for the 22nd Tournament. It would be really old, plus I don't think it would be able to hold up Yamcha's new body. He's now in his 30s, he has not only grown taller but also added a lot of muscle mass. It is practically impossible for him to have been able to wear it. So... Maybe Yamcha asked Lunch to renew that old dress? Think about it, it makes sense to me. Yamcha is also very cheap. Being a former thief, he knows the value of money well and knows that it is easier to lose it than to find it. He is really funny, but also very cute.

The money accumulated through baseball certainly does not change his stingy nature, that's why it is not strange to think that he turned to Lunch. Of course, also as a matter of affection. I think Yamcha is a guy who is very attached to things, especially if there are a lot of good memories behind them.

I mean, something could have happened like, "Hi Lunchie, how are you? Long time no see, it took me so long to find you! Let me guess, you're hiding from the cops, right?" and then... "Anyway, I wanted to ask you a favor. Going through my closet, I found that fancy dress you had sewn for me for the Tournament. Do you remember? Here it is. I tried to wear it but I only gained a hole in my pants. I'll let you guess where. So... Could you fix it for your bestie?"... So she would say: "Are you kidding, Yamcha? There's no way I'm going to fix that! I'll definitely sew you a new one!"

If so, we could assume that they are still in contact! It would really comfort me to know that Lunch is still part of the gang, even if we don't see her. Yamcha in this case could seriously be the link, simply because he is brought up to be.

That would be great.

I want to believe it.

After all...

...Toriyama may forget his characters, but Yamcha will never forget his friends.

Thank you!!

#yamcha #justice for yamcha #bulma #goku #tenshinhan #dragon ball #dragon ball super #dbz #dragon ball z #dbs #lunch #launch #krillin #muten roshi #akira toriyama #toei animation #anime #manga #videl #goten #trunks #puar #topic 7

[therealvinelle]

If you were kicked out of the cullens.. would you join the Denali? Or is eating people by yourself preferable to an eternity with Eleazar and being expected to woohoo unwilling humans

(Anon is referring to this post.)

My thoughts on the Denali.

No. God, no. I'd rather be on my own if them's the ropes.

Presumably, I wander around trying to improve my control, wanting someone to talk to and feeling miserable on my own but refusing to resort to the Denali and too proud to come crawling back to the Cullens. Knowing I likely wouldn't survive an encounter in the wild, I make a point to keep my distance from other vampires as well. Can't join the Volturi, I've spent too much time contemplating Aro's love life and relationship with his dead sister for that.

(Regarding the Cullens: it's not that I'm too proud. However, if things with them got to the point where they kicked me out, then... going back isn't going to be an option. Getting kicked out by them, having Carlisle give up on me and tell me to fuck off, would mean something so extreme happened that going back isn't an option and there would be no point in trying.)

A few years go by, I write a fuckton of fanfiction, watch every anime known to man, and my control gets better but my loneliness gets worse. Eventually I trust myself enough to enter human spaces, dropping by the library to read books or visiting a clothes store so I can wear actual clothes that fit.

And here's the trouble: I really am hopelessly lonely.

Humans fear me, yes, but I do exchange words with some from time to time, even for something so little as asking where to find my size in shoes.

These tidbits are the only social interaction I've had for years. (Animals, after all, flee at the very sight of me.)

I begin to feel strongly about these interactions. If it's the same librarian I ask about Christie novels every time I visit that particular library, I mourn when he has found the book I wanted because now the conversation is over. Just as I mourn the end of every other interaction I have, because exchanging words about the weather with someone who's instinctively afraid of me can't make a person less lonely.

But I increase my exposure to humans, because without that I have nothing. And if I have nothing, my resolve not to kill humans will crumble.

It gets worse, and however much I try to stop myself I start thinking of the humans I speak to as potential vampire companions. Not even just the humans I speak to, but humans who look particularly kind, or interesting, or- anything, really.

After all, isn't Carlisle perfectly happy being a vampire? Weren't Emmett, Esme, and Bella? Wouldn't I be, if I wasn't so damn lonely?

Being a vampire, doesn't have to be a bad thing at all, not if you're fit for it. And you will be free of age, disease, financial problems, free of everything.

There are humans, I know, who would prefer life as a vampire.

And if I can find one of these, ascertain to the best of my ability that vampirism would suit them, that they would follow my diet as well and stay with me...

That last bit is crucial, but the most difficult one. It requires, after all, that the human be one that likes me, that will choose to stay with me (all of these conditions do) and who will accept vampirism when it is offered, but I won't know what their choice is before I present it. At which point, the Volturi law would dictate they turn or die.

It's a catch-22, and there'd be no way to know for sure about a person anyway, plus I would be turning someone with the expectation they could fix my life. Obviously I'm being a bit silly, time to get off this train of thought and back to normal. Ahah. Ahahaha. (Me trying and failing to be casual about this).

I do not get back to normal.

Instead, what I do is... start vetting people, for lack of a better term. I start analysing everything they say and wondering to myself, how seriously did he mean it when he said he dreads his thirtieth? Did she say she's tired of everything because she's tired of everything, or was she just saying it?

I get lonelier.

I imagine it all comes to a head when I find a viable candidate.

Someone will inevitably seem like that perfect person, someone that I really like and would love to talk to all the time, someone who is moral and principled enough that I trust they would want to follow the diet, someone who doesn't have kids, no partner, perhaps not a lot of family or friends at all tying them to this life.

I've already memorised their routine, I know when they get off work, when they're alone, when no one would notice if they were snatched away in the dead of night.

I even have a long period of telling myself I'm not actually going to do this, ahaha, there are so many reasons not to after all. Heavy, convincing reasons such as "I shouldn't" and "but it's wrong, Vinelle. Dirty and bad and wrong".

These reasons become flimsier every time I tell them to myself.

In the end, I man myself up in a split second decision, and I go for it.

I have no doubt this goes terribly for me. Perhaps my companion stays with me and perhaps they even do the diet, but I took their humanity away so they could fix me, and that can never be the start of a healthy or happy relationship.

In the end I come crawling to Carlisle, "I went a little funny in the head out there in the desert, sir."

"Nonsense!" Carlisle says, "you didn't lose control once!"

Carlisle is truly proud of me, I exceeded his every expectation.

But there is still the question of the other Cullens hating my guts after whatever set of circumstances led to me being kicked out in the first place, and now that I've proven I won't kill people if I'm let on my own there's even less reason they should have to be stuck with me.

A vote is held, I lose the vote.

I end up wandering the world on my own again, and I eventually lose my companion as they either die or leave me. Vampire Vinelle goes a little more funny in the head this time.

#isekai #twilight #twilight renaissance #twilight meta #twilight headcanons

[hellolulu]

The anime made the telepathy arc more about the aliens haha funny anime girls than it did about what the arc represents and I'm still sad about it! I didn't post about it until now because I'm sad! Especially because the animation was quite beautiful!

The point of this small arc is to show that Shigeo has made peace with himself. Both as a person, by genuinely exhausting himself to help the friends he loves - putting all that effort in and continuously choosing to keep going, even when Tome is saying she doesn't want to and everyone is tired. And as an esper, freely using his powers to do something that could be regarded as useless, silly, or maybe even a touch playful; which he hasn't done since he was a child. He has only ever used it when told to, ever since the accident with Ritsu. And remember, during the last season, he was having an extremely hard time being stuck between his esper half, and his human half. It's incredible progress!! Seeing him able to combine both sides of himself in front of others, knowing he's accepted by these people?! That's crazy! I'm so proud of him!! He's grown!!

And this arc is also about him connecting with the other important part of himself (and of all of us), too: the truth of your heart.

Tome disbanding the club, leaving so quietly and dejectedly because she realises that all this time they hadn't taken her seriously. The club members being genuinely upset about it because they love her and didn't realise that she was that serious.

Takenaka being amazed by the truth in Shigeo's heart (a straightforward person who doesn't like to lie or put up false pretenses, which is rarer than you'd think, genuinely wanting to help his friend by doing something crazy like communicating with aliens) and choosing to join them because he had actually wanted to meet others like him, and because he felt like his power could be used for the sake of good for once (as he had used it when he was a child). Because he was moved by Shigeo's honest heart.

Reigen complaining that he has to babysit a bunch of kids, when in reality he knows he's spending time with people he loves and is just a little happy about it. Serizawa being genuinely upset that he can't join Reigen for drinks, worrying about him, until he knows Reigen will be with someone he cares about at the turn of the year (btw this is quite funny to me, because any typical person would go hey I'm sure my classmates wouldn't mind if I invited a friend along to drinks! We're all adults after all! Do you want to join? I can ask :D but he's autism honour bound and doesn't realise he can probably bring anyone, and Reigen's self confidence is too low to invite himself smh)

Tome crying because she was so frustrated that they only started to care when things were about to end, but knowing the truth in her own heart being that she, too, wanted to stay - so she showed up to go with them even though it hurt. Only to learn that even though they hadn't thought she was serious, they put this plan together because they do care. Because the truth is they value their friendship with her as much as she values them, and they want to make an effort to prove that.

Takenaka then putting in even more effort than he had expected to, because he realises he had let his hurt feelings (loneliness) get in the way of the type of friendships Shigeo had formed. The type of friendships he had yearned for all along. He'd even stayed awake that whole night prior, studying and memorising and taking notes, because he wanted things to go well, because these people could be onto something deeper than he'd thought friendships could be. Because the truth is he wanted to take part in something like that, too.

And Shigeo, in this arc, despite pushing himself to exhaustion, is doing it for the sake of love. For his friends. We've seen him exhaust himself before; after big fights and overwhelming moments, he becomes tired and exhausted to the point of collapsing or passing out. But here it's different - he's doing it for the sake of those he cares about. He wants to see Tome happy because she's a very dear friend to him, he wants to enjoy a day out with his group of friends that he just happened to become close to over the year, and he wants to show them how much they mean to him right now; and he wants to see Takenaka open up to others and learn that sometimes friendships are formed out of things that you don't have in common. Out of the things you learn from each other. (The mortifying ordeal of being known, if you will.)

Because what matters is the truth in your heart, that you care about your friends, that you want to be there for them, to push yourself for them, and that you know they'd do the same for you. That maybe they already have. That's the point of the arc. (That's what the point of the arc is.)

The aliens section in the manga touched on it too, in a "we were able to communicate because of a common understanding of each other, despite being unable to verbally communicate, and I was able to return home" and not.. whatever that was in the anime.

#this arc is extremely important #and there were parts of the episodes that were so beautiful and emotional #but the aliens part man #inukawa was like drugged and used and man the dude's a KID #but yk Moving Swiftly On #this arc is a very beautiful demonstration of everyone seeing their true selves and letting that truth be known #the truth in their hearts #ritsu's heart truth was that he wished to be more like the twins with shigeo instead of elder and younger brother #but you'll only know this if you read my tags so if you're here HI #i hope you don't mind that I write nicely but am also an idiot who adds asides and !!! everywhere #mp100 #mob psycho 100 #mp100 analysis #mp100 spoilers #takenaka #tome #mp100 tome #shigeo #mob #mp100 mob #lulu on the mic #reigen #telepathy arc #idk what to tag do I tag everyone I mentioned ew #I'm giving up here

[hobgobknowsbest]

So gremlins, huh? I'm noticing a rise of gremlins lately, which has inspired me to continue my extremely limited series of brain vomit posts.

Let me preface this by admitting that, unlike goblins, I did not systematically devour anything related to them when I was a child, so I'm playing catch-up in the here and now. However! I insist on including them into my extremely biased worldview.

Gremlin (n.)

20thc., "an imaginary mischievous sprite regarded as responsible for an unexplained problem or fault, esp. a mechanical or electronic one".

So, while the term goblin is extremely vague, the term gremlin is much less so. It's essentially a specialization. To put it quite simply: all gremlins are goblins, but not all goblins are gremlins.

"The earliest reference to the aerial mischief makers that would come to to be known as gremlins may have been in The Spectator, a British magazine, which noted just after World War I that “the old Royal Naval Air Service in 1917 and the newly constituted Royal Air Force in 1918 have detected the existence of a horde of mysterious and malicious spirits whose purpose in life was…to bring about as many as possible of the inexplicable mishaps which, in those days as now, trouble an airman’s life.”

"It is one of the most storied of aviation legends: the idea that flying machines are sometimes infested with nefarious gremlins—“little people” who tinker wantonly with various aircraft components. Endlessly creative in their antics and completely devoid of scruples, their devilment seems to know no limits. Physical descriptions of gremlins vary widely, though oddly enough, few airmen have claimed to have actually seen one. Gremlins are usually said to be about a foot tall, with long noses and brightly colored skin, most often hues of green or blue. Especially large feet with suction grips allow for walking in and outside the plane. The gremlins’ overall features are cartoon-like. They wear parts of vintage flight gear and bug-eyed goggles, although, as with other cartoon characters, clothing can be optional. They invariably sport wild and devious expressions when on their appointed rounds. All have magical powers."

The gremlin specialization is obviously a mechanical one. Or, more specifically, the destruction thereof. Their motivations for such mayhem have been the target of much speculation over the years; some have said they match a pilot's mood (i.e. if a pilot's mood is dark, so shall his flight be, or if it is good, then all will be well, etc.). Some have theorized that it is simple pride, and if they feel as if they are insulted or laughed at, their chosen method of retaliation is the tampering or annihilation of property.

The etymology of the word “gremlin” is murky. Some say it derives from the Old English greme or gremian, meaning to vex or annoy, which was then coupled with goblin. But there are other plausible explanations. In Irish Gaelic gruaimin can mean “ill-tempered little fellow.” The German gramlein can be rendered into something like “a small bit of grief.”

Honestly, gremlins are quite the fascinating cousin to all goblin-kind, and I find myself regretting skipping over them when I was younger. The meagre research I've done over the past few days has actually resulted in much, much more than I could hope to squeeze into a single post.

I apologize, cousins. I never gave you the credit you deserved.

So! In closing:

Gremlins are

Proud

Extremely colourful

Enemies to machines of all types

Comfortable in, and protective of the sky

Incredibly sneaky

Incessantly talkative

Pack animals

Vicious

No friend to humans

As a bit of a silly afterthought, I feel the need to bring up a conversation I had with someone recently about gremlins, and how they were compared to a beaver's innate compulsion to stop flowing water. Except with them, it's machines and technology.

#gremlins #gremlincore #gremlin aesthetic #big gremlin energy #goblincore #goblin culture #goblin community

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Fish (conjectural title)

Debut: Kirby’s Dream Land

Here is a fish.

Congratulations! You have now seen the entirety of the screentime this fish gets in any official media. You basically know as much about the fish as I do. What is even the point of this post, then? Well, maybe you did not previously know about the fish, and now you do!

What we have here is the intro cutscene for Float Islands, where Kirby is fishing, catches a fish (THE fish), and inhales it, getting the hook stuck in his mouth and causing a funny face when he tries to pull it back out. A fun and silly little scene. But something’s fishy about it. The fish!

This is the exact same image of the fish I showed at the beginning of the post, because it literally only has one sprite. I’m all out of fish images. I could send real fish images, and we’d all like that, but that would be avoiding the real topic, which is this fake pretend fish! The fish is never elsewhere in the game, even as an enemy, and it is not in the character roll call after completing the Extra Game, either.

Kirby fans will be familiar with Blipper, the recurring fish enemy debuting in this very game, which DOES already have multiple frames of animation, one- seen here- being rather similar to the pose of our ambiguous Fish! It begs the question, why would they use Fish, rather than Blipper, here? Kirby eats so many things on his journey, did they draw the line at him eating swim goggles? Less acceptable than eating bombs? Than eating CLOWNS?

They would soon reevaluate their stance on Kirby eating goggles with Kirby Super Star, where Blipper plays the role of Fish, and this continues into Super Star Ultra, and it is safe to say we will never see Fish ever again, outside of rereleases of the original game. Though we can always visit and eat Fish in Dream Land 1, it was erased from retellings of the very same tale... how tragic!

Of course, I am being incredibly dramatic here. There is absolutely no issue with Fish being replaced with a Blipper, and like I said, it’s weird there was once ever NOT a Blipper in that role! It makes all the sense in the world to use an established funny fish design over a simplistic one that could pass for a seal or a ghost as much as it can pass for a fish.

As for why Fish ever existed in the first place... my hypothesis is that it was a beta design for Blipper! We know Kirby himself was a sort of beta design they came to love, so I don’t think it would be too weird for other early sprites to be left in the game. Fish’s one frame of animation and extremely simple design make it feel like a bare minimum fish, like a placeholder. Maybe just no one bothered to replace the sprite with the final Blipper in the cutscene!

Do you know any more than I do about this Fish? Please let me know if you do! And I hope you are proud of me for having this much to say about Fish.

#fish #Kirby's Dream Land #kirby #kirby entities #not mario #funky friday #mod chikako

[recurring-polynya]

Fanfic Round-Up 2023

I was looking at last year's round-up in preparation for doing this and it is very hilarious because it starts out with "well I set a new record in sucking" and let me tell you: I have blown away last year's new record in sucking.

That's not entirely fair-- last year, I had a pretty big word count before I stripped out everything that I hadn't actually written that year, which knocked it down to about 113k. This year, I posted an extremely sad 58,086 words, but if you add in the fanfic I spent half the year working on and haven't finished yet, it gets back up to about...113k. This is still roughly half of what I used to be capable of, but I guess I'm just not anymore. I actually tried to quit writing in the first part of the year, because it was making me miserable, but it turns out that then I just got I-am-not-writing-miserable, which was much, much worse, so I just started Doing It Miserable. I finally started feeling a little better around October before I got kneecapped by Christmas, just like I do every year. Anyway!! Here's the goods:

Most of this year's Squad Six is Jerks (volume 4 of my multi-year collection of short stories) was stuff for RenRuki week, so technically it got written in December of 2022, or before because at least two of them were things I had lying around. It includes Part 3 of my silly Renji-joins-Squad 4 AU, an angsty TYBW healing springs story, some zanpakutou nonsense, and a nice Rukia birthday story that I'm actually pretty proud of. Later on in the years, as part of the Bleach Returns event to celebrate cour 2 of the anime, I wrote a little post-lude to the Rukia's arrest scene, which I am never not thinking about.

My big accomplishment for the year, I guess, was go places, a Rukia-and-Renji-prepare-to-try-out-for-the-Academy story. I had started it years ago, and it was just this little, no-plot thing that I was fond of, and I decided to dust it off and make something of it. That turned out to be a ton more work than I expected, but I'm actually really proud of the result, which is a little bit melancholy, but also full of heart (and world building). Please read it if you enjoy scenes where characters go to the post office.

On my usual one-every-three-to-twelve-months pace, I wrote two adult fanfics this year. One is the (loose) sequel to the other. If you like stories about people having sex in extremely inconvenient places, please check out the very descriptively named Rukia and Renji Bone Down in the Urahara Shouten Stockroom and/or Things to Do in Hueco Mundo When There's a Sandstorm and You're Stuck in a Cave.

The last thing for this year was a fraction of your happy heart (irresolution doesn't suit you), a nice story where Renji and Orihime commiserate about the long-haul pining lifestyle and then go fight each other for funsies. Now that I think about it, this was another one that I pulled out of the dusty WIPs pile and finished off.

I guess that was a big theme for this year, which on one hand, sounds kind of lazy, because all I did was finish things. On the other hand, I finished a lot of things, which is sort of the perpetual lament of the fanfic writer, so good for me. Also, it was easy for some of them, but for others, it was a lot of work (I am looking at you, go places).

Also, I very much did spent a lot of time working on my next installment of the Heart is a Muscle. There's still a significant stretch to go, but I'm pretty confident that I'll be able to complete it in the first part of 2024, before the Summer Vacation slump (I have now learned to set my expectations very low for June-Aug and also the month of December, because that's just how it is). After that, I'm optimistically hoping to pick up and complete a little in love now and then as my fall project, but that's a long way off, so we'll just have to see.

#my writing #year end roundups

[badscribbles]

art vs artist 2023!

this year: for the first time probably ever it was actually difficult to select just 8 pieces to represent this year. I drew A LOT overall, even considering some dry spells. the side effects and bad health shit I'm still experiencing have been a little less abhorrent than last year but art continues to be something that is helping me cope with the horrors of it. been a mixed bag in terms of materials which is cool. there's a lot of pencil art I'm extremely extremely fond of but which isn't really polished enough to go on here... I drew A LOT of monkees screenshots & those few months of doing that were really important for my ability to draw loosely and simplify things!! I was in either a traditional phase where I couldn't make digital art or vice versa, no in between!! first half of the year was traditional art, second half digital. plenty of times this year I've been really frustrated and baffled by my sudden inability to make even faces (the only thing I'm good at) look even passable, so it's nice to see a little collection of things I'm proud of to remind me I am actually okay sometimes.

next year: my big goal for next year is more lino prints and more painting! I have some canvases to practice on and lots of paint so it's silly that my fear of failure (as well as the effort of setting up paints) is holding me back from something I think I'll enjoy a lot. trying to make more art of animals is another goal; I don't think I'll ever enjoy like making art of landscapes (urban or boreal) but animals I adore and might lead me into being able to make paleo art eventually :) ultimately people are my #1 love so I also want to get MUCH BETTER at anatomy. I will do lots of anatomy studies next year for sure.

#art vs artist #art diary

[coral-melon]

Hello! Are you taking matchup requests? If yes, I'd like to send one in for Obey Me

I'll go by ⭐. My pronouns are she/her and I'm demisexual

Appearance: I am South Asian with long wavy black hair. Usually tie my hair in a half ponytail at the back because I like how it looks and I don't really like the feeling of hair on my shoulders. I am 165 cm tall and reasonably fit

Personality: I'm calm, collected and hardworking. I can be a bit aloof and arrogant sometimes, but I make sure it doesn't get out of hand. I am curious and perfectionistic, and I'm also pretty academically smart (though I sometimes struggle with impostor syndrome). The gifted kid burnout syndrome is catching up, though. People say I do have a bit of a cold facade, but once they get to know me, I'm much warmer and gentler than they initially thought. I care deeply for my friends and my family, so I'll do whatever I can for them. I do face a lot of pressures too from having to be the perfect oldest daughter, the therapist friend (despite psychology not being my major, more of a special interest) and from having to do well in school (engineering is kicking my ass low-key). I often bake my closest friends and family a cake on their birthday with a silly message written on it. I also has a soft spot (special interest) for outer space and love to stargaze wherever the skies are clear

Likes: Books, herbal tea, art, lofi hip-hop, video games, anime, drawing, spicy food, affogato, outer space

Dislikes: Incompetence, unnecessary conflicts, bullies, fake friends dishonesty, cruelty, dog-eared book pages, anyone who dares threaten my family, loud noises, itchy fabrics, bright lights

Hello! Thank you for introducing yourself and It’s a pleasure to meet you, -⭐️!

I match you with…~

★ You two are seen as a married old couple. Both of you understand each other wholeheartedly but this does mean that you often clash with one another. One moment you’ll be arguing and the next you’ll be sitting in a tranquil silence as the two of sip on a cup of tea while listening to one of his cursed records.

☆ Stubborn to the core, you two always try to one up each other. It astonishes him just how far you’ll go to achieve what you want; he won’t say it out loud though. But in the end, what you truly do is just help each other out.

★ Although he doesn’t say it out loud, he’s extremely proud of everything you do. The way you’re just so hardworking can put almost every single demon to shame. But he can sense how little you feel about yourself at times.

☆ So he encourages you to keep doing better than your previous accomplishment, so that you can finally stand tall and proud of all your achievements. But it’ll sometimes slip his mind that you are only human; when he thinks you’re slacking off, it’s actually you feeling burned out from everything. The pressure of having to keep up with his standards can be too much at times.

★ There have been many occasions where you get frustrated at Mammon because of how hard it is to work with him. His hopeless when it comes to his studies! Lucifer can’t help but chuckle under his breath whenever you come ranting about the failed study sessions.

☆ He’s not fond of sweets, if you baked something for him, he’ll eat it mostly to indulge you. But he likes how it’s never overly sweet, its a mild flavor that he has come to appreciate. You got him to try and Affogato that was actually quite good in his opinion.

★ He also enjoys the silly messages you leave, it motivates him to get through his work. He often find himself thinking about them and gets sudden cravings for your homemade stuff.

☆ He appreciates everything you do to help him out, his brothers are always a handful and a pain in the ass neck at times. He also can’t help but feel soft whenever you come by his office to hand him a cup of tea that’s especially to aid in sleep.

★ I imagine there was a time where you gave him this tea without him knowing it helped make you drowsy. And he just immediately passes out; best believe he wasn’t too pleased in the morning. After that lil incident, He’ll refuse the tea and will ask to be given coffee instead. But that doesn’t mean he won’t drink other teas you give him; just don’t make him pass out.

☆ You’re an endearing person, and in a way, it feels comforting for him to know that the two of you aren’t so different. An unspoken understanding of one another pulls you closer together.

★ Even in the little things, like the fact that the loud noises or unnecessary bickering between the brothers is something the both of you keep a close eye on and work on preventing too much chaos.

☆ Yet still being so caring to his brothers leaves a warm sensation in his chest. You even try to stop being from giving cruel punishments to his brothers. He sees this a both a good, but also sees is as you defying him at times.

★ You being the eldest daughter in your family has given you the experience, and patience, to deal with their shenanigans. You’re always giving him a helping hand when he’s already too busy with his work.

☆ There are also the times where you do your own little thing in his office, perhaps drawing or playing your games during your free time, while he does the his paper work when it’s not as hectic.

★ One day he gives a gift, he gives you a magical star projector as a small token of his gratitude. You can take this hc however you please -⭐️

End

((This might be slightly off topic, but the two of you remind me of this soundtrack ^^⸝⸝))

Ty for writing this to me and I hope you enjoyed this! You sound like a very extraordinary person, remember to take care of yourself and that everything you’ve done so far is amazing⭐️

#obey me #obey me matchups #obey me requests #obey me headcanons #-⭐️

[you-are-forever-special]

I Am Your Mother's Keeper

\\×AU where our goofball boys make a new... "friend," and Taiga's life is caught up in another whirlwind.×

<Set to take place the same time as the episode 'Doublebookedklok'>

If you don't know who my OC Taiga is, this is her original story: https://www.tumblr.com/you-are-forever-special/723792412034662400/tenacious-me?source=share

But I wanted to put her in the Metalocalypse universe, and some of my great friends encouraged + inspired me to get here today.

So here we go!//

TW: Cussing, Alcoholism, Implied drug abuse + self-harm, Animal death, Mentions of blood/injuries, Spiritualism + Related ritual

(It's not in great detail, or graphic, but still!

This story gets kinda silly, then action-packed, and suddenly really intense and emotional. But I tried to end it on a more hopeful note.

I hope you enjoy! This was so much fun to make!

I'm open to constructive criticism, and any other comments, as always! And I tried my best to catch any errors, but if you spot any yourself, please let me know and I'll fix it!

Thank you very much~!)

-Took about 12hr40min to write out-

~~~~~

It all started with a plan to begin their infamous drinking bender.

But the guys in Dethklok were especially going to up the ante this time.

Mostly because...

They were bored out of their fucking minds.

They've played shows in Minnesota before, but each time, they wanted-

No, NEEDED to spice things up, and at least not be sober for their time spent here.

Besides, it's not like it affected their success much, right?

Everything always turned out fine.

And it continued to go that way...

Until they got stranded.

They just wanted to stop at a nearby gas station for a bit, and ended up accidentally being left behind.

And the boys forgot their Dethphones on the Dethbus they were on, and now they were freaking out because they were most likely going to DethDIE(Hamburger Time) out here with no supplies.

All they had with them were their current drinks that varied in levels of completion.

The boys tried to internally calm themselves down.

They each had a drink in their hand. That was something.

And Nathan assumed that any kind of drink they consumed meant that they were being hydrated, so it was ok for now.

Everyone else agreed, or at least in Skwisgaar and Pickles' case, didn't bother to argue with it.

Still pretty inebriated, the thought of going back into the gas station for shelter, and a phone, etc, to use... Didn't even occur to them.

And they figured that ultimately, the woods that they spotted nearby would be their best bet, because there was probably a shortcut to make it back to their bus.

--

None of these men were scared.

And if they were...

Fuck you, they weren't going to admit that.

...

Thankfully it wasn't cold outside.

And even if it was,

"Hey, at least we have booze, amirite?" Pickles pointedly swished the liquid around in his bottle as he was the first one to break the silence that fell upon them and say what they were all thinking as they trekked deeper into these woods.

He smirked before taking another swig from it; seemingly without a care in the world.

And amongst each other, they all agreed that alcohol + the cold totally cancels out the chances of getting frostbite.

Pickles then recalled what Nathan said earlier while they were still traveling on the road to get here.

About how they'd all get "so damn sloppy, that we'll have to make a new word in the dictionary just for this moment in history."

And he even made a note to himself after that statement to ask Charles how to get something put into the dictionary in the first place.

As usual though, Pickles got a head start on their little "party;" being much more than just drunk before they had even planned to have this so-called "Ultra Doubly-Brutal Bender Extreme," as Nathan had ultimately previously put it.

He seemed pretty proud of himself for that name. So, he just let Nathan have that one.

It could be called the "Party of the Piss Platoon" for all he cared...

He was obviously down for it either way.

But Pickles being Pickles was handling it supremely well, and just going with the flow as they walked; Along with starting to wonder who out there in this world even made dictionaries and chose what got put into them anyway.

Regardless, it'd sure take a lot more than this to get him to the point of sloppy Nathan talked about.

Toki, on the other hand, was currently trying to just win his battle with "stupids gravi-tees."

He was winning so far.

However, it was getting pretty dark, and much harder to see anything.

Toki felt that pit of uneasiness blossoming forth in his chest and rising, but he just tried to keep an eye on his bandmates.

Tried is the keyword here.

Because for now, he could only look up enough to spot the silhouettes of their heads, or legs, depending on how he was able to hold up the upper half of his body as time passed.

His worries subsided a bit since they stayed close by as he stumbled along behind them.

Toki's vision was swimming, but he was grateful that he didn't feel like he had to puke anymore.

As the other members chatted, Toki didn't make out a word since he was too busy grumbling mostly to himself about how he already emptied his new bottle; even swinging it upside down and shaking it like that would magically make more of the feel-happy juice flow out.

Toki sighed, but then he immediately was distracted as a different feeling rose within him.

He suddenly called out to the boys.

"Ah, waits, guys!!"

They all froze and turned to face him quickly, because he basically screamed that out.

Most of them seemed annoyed at the jolting disturbance, besides Pickles who was inquisitive, but overall was just vibin'.

Nathan seemed the most irritated by the sudden piercing pitch that Toki's voice could sometimes reach.

He may be used to loud noises in his profession, but certain ones like that just hit a nerve within him.

At least it wasn't as bad as certain fangirls' who have basically screamed right in his ear before.

And not in the ways that he'd prefer.

Still, Nathan was patient and just asked:

"...Why are you screaming...?"

Toki just swayed a bit and slowly blinked as he stared at them, before he remembered why he got their attention in the first place.

"OH.

I's gots to go pee!"

...

...

...

"Oka-?"

"Yous all waits for me here! 'Kay bye!"

And before they could even attempt to refuse, Toki went off past some nearby bushes and trees, humming to himself.

Murderface spoke up after he left, saying:

"Their'sch schomething scheriously wrong with him. I schwear."

Nathan just grumbled and debated continuing to walk ahead, but the softer side of him relented and decided to wait for Toki after all.

"Don't want him to somehow fall and, you know... Ugh... Something..."

Nathan half-heartedly sent his shoddy reasoning into the air before he shut himself and his feelings up with more beer.

Skwisgaar was the most antsy looking one out of them all; holding onto his bottle like it was his lifeline.

He didn't have his guitar, and needed to hold onto something before he snapped himself.

He couldn't even bring himself to make a snide remark this entire time despite his anger, but he did dramatically let out a heavy sigh; making it clear how much he didn't want to be here anymore.

Skwisgaar mumbled to himself, shaking his head.

Why did this have to happen?

It was so annoying having to deal with things like this all the time.

Some "bender" this was turning out to be.

He didn't realize how much he was truly exaggerating, or how hypocritical he could be.

He would usually tease others for complaining whatsoever. Toki overall. But if even one little thing didn't go his way, Skwisgaar was the one who would technically have the biggest reaction out of them all.

His pouting was unmatched. Especially once he could no longer keep it bottled up.

Sometimes he'd snap and yell, but for now, he tried his best to not hit anyone over the head with his-

OH RIGHT. HE DIDN'T HAVE IT.

Maybe his bottle would be good enough.

Skwisgaar could feel his eye barely twitch and he started weighing his options once Murderface yelled out to Toki about hurrying up, even though he was probably too far to hear, which made Nathan internally groan. Speaking of annoying sounds...

They might end up killing each other before actually partying at all.

Before Nathan decided to say something harsh that would require many types of guitar riffs, Pickles tsked first and sat down on the ground for now; resting an arm over his one bent knee.

"Ehh!

Calm dahwn, dood."

"Oh schorry!! I'm scho schorry for schpeaking and wanting to get out of here, Picklesch!"

Pickles deadpanned and just sipped at his drink, seeing where this was going by Murderface's expression and miffed tone.

"Maybe I schould just go off on my own and get eaten by a bear or schomething!

I betcha'd like that, huh!?"

"OH MY FUCKING GOD-!!!"

Nathan interrupted by shouting in frustration.

--

Toki finished up his business eventually and somehow didn't leave a stain all over his pants, or hurt himself, despite his clumsy movements.

He internally cheered for that and instinctively picked up his bottle, even though it was empty; almost toppling over as he bent down.

But he caught himself.

As he stood back up, he perked up more at the sound of...

Squeaking?

No...

Mewling?

As soon as that clicked in his head, Toki dropped his bottle and immediately started searching in excitement for where the noises were coming from.

He didn't care or even think about the scrapes he got as he looked around; eventually stumbling upon a den after getting by some bigger branches.

Toki's pupils dilated even more as he saw a baby kitty.

It was a pretty big kitty, but a kitty nonetheless.

It wasn't long before they were in his arms, being cradled and gently rocked like you would a human child.

He cooed down at them, and despite his drunken state, he was extremely careful with the baby.

"Oh you poors things. Alls alones down here.

Don'ts worries!

I'll takes care of you!"

Toki started telling the kitty every thing that they would do together once they got back to Mordhaus as he got back out of the den.

"I can'ts wait to shows you to my friends!"

Toki was heading back, but then he froze and his eyes widened when he heard a scary growl behind him.

He slowly turned around...

And his eyes widened as he saw a cougar.

He didn't know the English word for this animal, but he wasn't stupid.

All he did know right now was that this kind of "kitty" meant danger.

And one swipe from their claws could mean Hamburger Time for good.

That sight alone basically sobered the man up.

He became even paler than usual and started to back up a bit.

"N-Nice cat..."

Toki muttered, letting out a soft, nervous laugh.

But as the cougar got down even lower like it was going to pounce, Toki's eyes darted around and he thought quick on his feet, suddenly throwing the bottle he spotted that he left behind earlier.

It hit the cougar on their side, even though he was aiming for their head.

But he didn't stop to think any longer on it as he turned back around and booked it; screaming loudly as he ran.

He didn't even register it as he ran past the rest of Dethklok.

Toki just continued to scream and hold the baby cougar close to his chest; leaving them in the dust.

---Meanwhile---

Taiga was strolling around the woods she lived in, going through her usual rounds of checking the area to make sure everything was safe and secure.

It honestly never got boring to her...

And it was pretty much her duty, after all.

But she'd happily do this even if she ever moved for some reason.

It was all such an honor to be able to do this.

For herself, and for others.

And so far, everything seemed to be peaceful, as per usual.

Taiga smiled and took in a breath of fresh air as she walked.

She looked around, adjusting her duffel bag and gripping tighter onto her nata.

There was one more area to check before she'd head back towards the babbling brook where her cottage was by.

A soft melody flowed from Taiga's lips as she went around.

All was well until she heard what sounded like terrified screaming.

And she immediately tensed up, but kept her composure as she stopped humming and quickly made her way towards the screaming.

Hopefully whoever it was was ok-

"Oof!" "Agh!"

...

Next thing Taiga knew, the wind was almost knocked out of her as Toki barreled into her like a linebacker; knocking her over and onto the ground.

"Ugh...!"

Toki fell over too, but he quickly flipped onto his back and rolled a bit as he did; trying hard to not injure the little cub.

Thankfully they were fine, but in his still adrenaline-fueled mind, it took him a second to realize that he hit someone.

His shocked state amplified as he looked up and took in this stranger's features. His wide eyes blinked a few times.

Was he hallucinating again?

...No, they were still there.

Maybe he just went insane.

Unless, that was just a costume, or-

Toki got lost in thought and was dazed as he blatantly stared.

Taiga held her head in a hand and carefully got up.

She was fine, and didn't land on her nata at least...

So that was good.

She put all that aside for now and looked over at Toki, seeing his expression.

"A-Are you alright??"

Taiga asked, but Toki was silent.

She tilted her head as she waited to see if this man would answer.

As she glanced over his features though, something about him looked familiar...

And...

Oh god. Did he have a cougar cub in his arms!?

---

Back with the rest of Dethklok, they all had stopped arguing as they heard Toki's scream getting closer moments before, and were extremely confused as they watched Toki go off into the distance without halting, or falling.

Their looks of confusion changed to more tense ones, and Pickles got back up on his feet, his guard now raised like the rest of the guys.

They were expecting something, but not THAT.

The mama cougar roared and quickly shot out of the bushes not long after Toki did.

"OH SCHIT."

The guys scrambled, collectively throwing their bottles/cans at the animal, but that didn't do much to deter it.

Pickles and Skwisgaar yelled and decided to run too, off in the same direction as Toki did.

Murderface was about to run as well before he saw the cougar decided to try and jump on Nathan first since he was the closest.

"NO!!"

He dove in front of Nathan as a first response, and was successfully taken down.

They flew over a bit and rolled past the surprised, raven-haired man.

The cougar got a couple good, deep scratches on Murderface's back, but thankfully Murderface kicked and squirmed enough before the animal chose a time and spot to hold him in a tight grip and bite down into the meat of his shoulder, instead of getting his neck.

It still hurt like a bitch, though.

As Murderface screamed, Nathan grunted as he kicked off the animal quite aways off; stunning it temporarily as he grabbed Murderface, pulling him back up so they could run off.

He tried to ignore the pain as he ran, and Nathan just tried to focus on getting somewhere safe as they went.

---

Before Taiga could continue her thought, she heard more yelling and turned her head towards it.

She quickly got back up, trying to keep her resolve despite her own fears; holding her nata at the ready.

She came to find that her suspicions on who Toki might be were correct after all as she saw Pickles and Skwisgaar running over. Were they all here?

The pair saw Toki on his knees on the ground and...

Whoever-the-fuck not too far away with a big-ass sword or something.

The two stopped running for now and were hunched over some, panting, as they looked at each other like:

'What the hell is going on???'

They didn't ask questions right now, and heard the sound of other footsteps approaching and heavy panting; Murderface and Nathan coming from the treeline with differing levels of intense panic on their faces.

Since Taiga realized what was going on, she got a firm voice and spoke up loud enough for them all to hear; directing them to follow her once they were all looking her way.

It was obvious they all were confused and questioning the obvious despite their fear, but that would have to wait.

"Come on, this way! We'll be safe! Just don't. stop. running!"

She said with urgency as she heard the mama cougar's roar getting closer.

No one argued as they followed close behind. Except Toki was still frozen in shock. Nathan had to act fast and take the kitten out of Toki's arms and used his other arm to hoist him up; draping him over onto his shoulder.

Toki didn't struggle, but Nathan thought:

'How many times will I have to do this?'

Taiga instantly felt more relieved once her cottage came into view, but didn't get ahead of herself.

She quickly got the door open with her key and let the guys go in first.

Afterwards, she entered as well, slamming the door shut behind them all and locking it.

She knew that the cougar would most likely hang around, trying to get her baby back. But she would worry about all that later.

Eventually the growling died down when they got closer, but she could see them stalking around the cottage still, as she figured.

Taiga sighed heavily; happy she didn't have to hurt, or kill any creature today.

They were lucky to have even gotten that head start on outrunning the pissed off animal.

But now...

The world famous Dethklok was currently in her cottage.

She was too frazzled to even think about the ridiculous of all this, and more importantly, she took note of how badly Murderface was bleeding.

Taiga set down her stuff then got moving and went to grab her first-aid kit.

Nathan sat Toki down onto the nearby couch and saw how he was mostly just staring into space for now, so he just left him alone.

Pickles was the first to speak up again inbetween huffs and puffs as he tried to catch his breath like everyone else; his hand over his heart.

"Gahddamn, dat was close...!"

Skwisgaar agreed, before the room fell silent aside from their panting.

They all eventually looked over at Taiga and took in her appearance more clearly.

The giant swishing tail was especially what caught their attention.

It looked so real.

Taiga could feel their eyes on her, and she tried to ignore it.

She understood. Truly.

But this was always so uncomfortable.

So, she tried to break the tense atmosphere around them.

"I know what you're thinking...

But just let me get this real quick, and then we can talk."

She set down the first-aid kit on the table in front of where Murderface stood, near her dining area.

"Here...

Not assuming you need my help, but this offer's on the table if you want it...

I understand that I'm just some stranger, but I know what I'm doing when it comes to patching up wounds.

That looks pretty bad, but I'm sure you'll be fine."

Her tone was soft and sympathetic, but she wasn't lying...

From what she could tell, if he stopped the bleeding and cleaned it up well, he could get it stitched and heal up just fine.

Murderface knew he had gotten injured pretty badly, but hey, he didn't feel like he was going to die or anything like when he had that accident on the highway.

When he snapped out of his own stunned state, he defaulted back to his signature frown.

He looked down at the kit and back up at Taiga skeptically, but eventually decided to take the kit and tried fixing himself up.

Wounds from his own knife that he would treat back at Mordhaus could get pretty deep, so maybe this wouldn't be much different.

He avoided any further eye contact.

Taiga could see his attitude towards her, but still understood and didn't push it.

She stepped back and looked over at everyone else as they stared some more.

"...Is everybody else ok?"

They looked between each other, seeming fine, before looking down at Toki.

Now that he was in a safer environment, by a cozy fireplace, he had a bit of time for his anxieties to lower some and feel more grounded again.

He blinked and saw he was instinctively just petting the kitten repeatedly.

Toki smile some at seeing their content, sleepy face as they squeaked a bit.

"...You ams okays..."

He sounded more surprised, yet relieved; closing his eyes and hugging them close, so gently, like they could break at any given moment.

Taiga took that as a relative yes and nodded, mostly to herself.

"Good. I'm glad I came across you all in time. Cougars are pretty rare around here...

Only a few sightings have ever been documented before apparently, but..."

She watched as Toki cooed more at the kitten.

She understood completely why the mother chased them.

But she wouldn't scold them. They already went through enough.

"...yeah.

Either way, it's a good thing we're all safe now. But we might have to wait here a while. If you need anything, just let me know."

Taiga offered and was met with more stares.

She sighed a bit.

"Yes, I know I must look different-"

Murderface suddenly spoke up again, making good progress on the wound he could see. It was almost impressive how well he could handle the pain.

"Moscht furriesch do."

Taiga paused and blinked, then looked floored.

"What the- I- Ah- No, I'm not a furry!" Taiga stumbled over her words a little from how baffled she was at what she just heard.

He shrugged.

"Whatever you wanna call it-"

"I'm SERIOUS, look at me!"

Taiga suddenly yanked a bit on her tail enough to prove a point, along with doing the same, but a bit softer, to her sensitive ears.

"This is just how I am!"

"...Yeah, ookay."

Taiga facepalmed and gave up, realizing she wasn't getting anywhere with this.

She didn't need their validation, but she's never been accused of this before.

She had heard the term in the past, but didn't really consider herself one after learning what it meant.

At least, she thought so???

One of her ears then instinctively flicked over at the sound of a tape recorder click, along with Nathan saying a song title that he thought up just now from witnessing this:

"Feral Contusion"

Taiga looked up in confusion at the man's now more softened features as he seemed pretty pleased with what he just did, but she didn't question it as she sighed and looked down; closing her eyes for a second.

Pickles seemed intrigued once he got past his own initial shock.

"...Okay well, either way, ya gotta admit, dat's pretty cool."

He grinned a bit and glanced at the guys, gauging their reactions.

"I used to think it would be awesome as hell if I had a tail."

"Oh! Or wings!"

Toki suddenly spoke up, looking significantly more excited after all of that.

"Or horse legs."

Most of them paused and looked at the blonde. Besides Toki, who didn't seem perturbed at all as he kept playing with the kitten.

"...What?"

Nathan spoke.

"What!?"

Skwisgaar quickly said, somewhat defensively, and turned away slightly as he crossed his arms.

Back to his deep frown.

He regretted throwing that bottle now, as he tapped his fingers on his arm.

Taiga was so surprised as they all seemed to be less and less concerned about her appearance.

The last time anyone reacted so relatively positively to finding out the truth, was Luci.

Taiga's eyes glazed over a bit as she remembered her best friend's visage again.

It felt bittersweet.

But she took a quick breath and refocused as Toki suddenly asked what her name was.

She didn't even notice he was staring at her this time, but it wasn't from awkwardness, more from awe.

Like he couldn't believe she was real.

"I go by Taiga."

She smiled a tiny bit as her nickname was complimented and called pretty by him, but Murderface snorted and not so softly said behind her:

"Of coursche."

Taiga deadpanned, but pretended she didn't hear that.

Pickles chuckled as he got a big smirk on his face and slyly said:

"Like you have room ta talk, Murderface~"

Murderface was almost done fixing himself up already, but almost botched it as he stood up from the chair he sat in, knocking it over with how fast he moved.

"OH ALRIGHT, PICKLESCH!"

He didn't seem phased and glanced away, snickering at how easily he could make Murderface angry.

Taiga couldn't help but smile a bit more as she rolled her eyes at their antics; seeing Pickles lazily poke his tongue out the side of his mouth.

She didn't want to be weird about it, but still made herself ask once the noise died down, even though she knew the answer.

"And... You're Dethklok, right?"

They each perked up again for once at being recognized, but then nodded/confirmed as such verbally for her as they realized it's truly not that surprising with how big they were.

All types listened to them.

Nathan put his focus back on Taiga; his intense look piercing through her, but she didn't cower at all.

Just looked right back at him.

She realized he was just trying to remember something when he asked if she was at their show.

Taiga almost laughed.

She would have been hard to miss if she did.

"No, but it would be fun to get to go see you guys one day."

Skwisgaar looked slightly surprised and raised a brow as he looked back over at her.

"You've never beens tos a concerts?"

"Just not your guys' before."

Taiga dramatically put her hand up to her head and pretended to be distraught.

"I'm too poor."

But then she stopped and laughed.

"Maybe one day, though!"

Nathan was relieved that Taiga didn't start trying to guilt trip them into giving her a free ticket or something. As soon as he heard it, he was starting to tense up before he realized.

Because even if she technically saved them, they didn't owe her anything.

Toki quickly spoke up again, however;

"Wowee. Maybes we cans gives you a ticket!"

Nathan wanted to tell him to shut up, but he didn't have to, because Taiga waved her hand in disagreement.

"No thank you.

That's very generous of you, but I'd rather actually pay for my ticket like everyone else. Besides, I'd feel bad having you guys do that."

She held one of her arms and giggled a bit as she awkwardly looked to the side; some of her hair covering her face.

She still wasn't used to it whenever so much attention was on her, and sometimes, she just needed a break.

But she wasn't really uncomfortable right now, thankfully.

Especially since most of the tension in the room seemed to be gone by this point.

Which made Taiga relieved.

Toki shrugged, but didn't look offended before he then carefully held up the kitten in his hands; looking underneath them before he moved his focus back up to their face, happily saying to no one in particular, that he was going to call them Aksel.

Taiga liked the name.

Understanding that it either meant "Father of peace," or "Mighty God," after wracking her brain for her knowledge of the Norwegian language.

Although, she didn't want to burst his bubble by telling him that he'd eventually have to give the baby back...

Especially since he seemed to start to feel much better.

So for now, she just stayed quiet.

Her eyes softened, and she couldn't help but feel bad for the man.

He probably just wanted a pet but didn't know what he truly got himself into.

Taiga then saw that Murderface was pretty much finished with his self patch job.

At least, for now.

He knew that he would need help later on with his back, but he really wasn't comfortable with taking his shirt off right now and letting someone do that to him.

She didn't question him and put the first-aid kit away when she saw he was for sure done with it.

He soon kept staring at Taiga's nata that was propped up against the floor.

He went over and picked it up to examine it; his love of weapons, especially the more stabby ones, getting the better of him.

When Taiga noticed, she immediately tensed up and wanted to snatch it out of Murderface's grip on instinct, but she resisted that urge and just stayed off by his side as he looked at it with a mischievous grin.

"...You like it?"

She asked, glancing anxiously between him and her beloved nata.

It couldn't be replaced.

Especially not Luci's ribbon tied to it...

So she didn't want anything to happen to it.

"Yeah. Could I have it?"

Taiga's breath hitched for a second.

"Eh-

No. Sorry.

But, I know where you can get one."

"Aw, c'mon!

I'll give you a hundred bucksch for it right now!"

Murderface had an expression like he had this in the bag, until Taiga immediately said no again.

He frowned and kept raising the price.

Until Taiga got tired of saying no and sighed, pinching her brow.

"It's not... for sale.

You can look at it, but just please, be careful."

Murderface grumbled and mocked her a bit, but surprisingly listened, looking very intrigued with the design of her nata, along with its finish.

Taiga lowered her arm and was about to get something to eat, but then she stopped when she heard what sounded like...

Helicopter blades?

Oh wow, those were getting loud, and extremely close.

Her eyes widened and she looked out one of her windows.

One of the most daunting and intricate looking helicopters she had ever seen was currently making a landing in the clearing, but was too big for the surrounding trees, effectively knocking them down.

Taiga fumed; she still owned this land after all, but tried to keep her cool.

At least it didn't damage her cottage, she thought, trying to be positive.

As soon as the guys heard and saw their Dethkopter, most of them immediately went to bum rush the door; Murderface even forgetting about the nata for now right after he put it back, and Taiga was about to shout after them to remind them of how the cougar was probably still biding its time, hiding out there despite the noise...

Before her ears picked up gunshots.

Taiga felt dread flowing through her core and she chanced looking back out the window.

She quickly looked away again, letting the guys leave her cottage.

She knew it was self-defense in that moment, as the hooded men shot the cougar, but she couldn't help but feel terrible...

All she wanted to do was protect her baby.

No one else seemed to care.

Like they were used to this.

But Taiga knew that this was a pretty fucked up world they all were in...

People even got killed on damn game shows these days.

Though...

That still didn't mean she had to just roll over and accept it like most everyone else.

But... Now what?

How could she even try to make this better?

They cheered and Skwisgaar mumbled out something along the lines of:

"Finallys."

And Nathan spoke up as they each started to leave,

"Fuck yes! Where were you, Charles!? We could have STARVED."

"It's been, ah, less than an hour."

He wasn't too worried anyways since he had trackers on the boys, but it took longer than anticipated, and he knew that anything could happen in any given amount of time.

---

Earlier when Charles was first informed about what happened to the boys, a sudden Supercell thunderstorm of seismic proportions had come out of nowhere, and wasn't spotted as they were making their flight, despite the weather radar they had installed.

The winds from the violent tornadoes it had caused, along with the severity of the lightning and size of the hail that came with it, was strong enough to even throw the Dethkopter repeatedly off course.

It was one of the worst, and most unnatural looking that Charles had ever seen.

In other circumstances, he may have even thought it to be beautiful...

He knew it wasn't impossible, but from the cyclone, the form of dark blues that flashed from within quickly morphed into a harmonious tertiary mix of purples and reds; a gut feeling tearing through Charles, telling him that this storm, like all the others he had seen happen before, was no mere coincidence.

And it had sent him further into his own level of frantic searching.

Yet he kept his cool. As he always did.

He had to. Especially in the position he held.

It was a difficult fight with mother nature, and some Klokateers were blown out of the aircraft, but he had to stay focused so the entire flight crew would not end up the same way.

But thankfully this battle seemed to end with a truce.

With the assistance of their complete avionics system, along with the Klokateers who were each trained and handpicked as the best of the best for these jobs, were able to make it back on the ground to their destination.

Although, Charles made a mental note to see to it that Dethklok's driver that accidentally stranded them would be replaced immediately.

And effectively "fired" after this fiasco.

But he'd worry about the messy details later.

---

The guys talked a bit louder as they left, to compensate for the loud noises from the Dethkopter.

Taiga didn't hear the bandmates animatedly trying to tell Charles every little thing that happened to them as he saw Murderface's injuries and urgently tried to have him looked at, but he wouldn't budge and said not to worry about that right now because he wanted to finish what he had to say too.

Funny though, because any other time, he'd be annoyed, because usually no one would pay his injuries attention at all.

But Charles just relented and "listened" to them as they talked over each other for the most part, and they had to keep starting over.

Even though he looked emotionless right now, you could see the exasperation in his eyes if you looked hard enough.

But eventually Charles started getting the gist of it throughout the rambling; beginning to fully understand more and take it all in after deciphering their...

Well, basically word spaghetti.

He got used to having to do that.

At first he thought they were all extremely high once again, but then he spotted Taiga through one of the cottage's windows himself.

He didn't physically react much, but it definitely gave him pause for a second.

Then again, not much phased him after the certain things he had witnessed before...

---

In the meantime, Toki stayed a bit behind as he stood up with his new kitten.

He still looked so happy and didn't see what happened to the baby's mother.

Or...

He just pretended it didn't happen.

Taiga had her arms crossed and was hugging herself a bit as she tried to calm down from that image that was burned into her memory when she looked out the window.

Guilt started coursing through her veins like the contents of a chilling IV drip...

Could she have saved the poor creature?

She tried not to beat herself up. It's not like she could really do much...

Taiga shut her eyes for a bit, but re-opened them and looked back up as Toki suddenly thanked her. He was the first one to.

She forced a small smile onto her face and nodded.

"Of course. It was nice to help, and meet you all."

Her voice wasn't as light anymore, yet she still tried to be friendly.

But she could start to see the glint of the unsure look bubbling up in the young man's eyes as he stared down at the new life that he was now responsible for.

It was a crushing weight, and the feeling was pretty terrifying each time that he got a new pet.

Would he mess this up as well even more... Without trying?

Toki felt like an idiot for being so impulsive lots of times.

Taiga tried not to hold any resentment towards him for taking the cub.

It sure wouldn't help anything.

Besides...

Everyone made mistakes.

No one was perfect.

She never forgot a lot of her own past regrets, as they continue to haunt her.

And she wouldn't wish that on anybody.

So she decided to at least throw Toki a bone before he got too deep into his head again.

She knew that feeling all too well, and didn't want to stand by and do nothing overall.

Taiga hurriedly found and handed him one of her favorite and most educational conservationist and ecology books.

"Here. This should help you out... I hope that it all works out for you."

You weren't really supposed to have cougars as pets, but she meant that. Hopefully the cub could be taken care of properly.

Besides, she felt like they'd each already be given lectures of some form at some point before the night was over.

She tried to inform Toki on what sources to look out for as well as those to keep in mind, especially if he ever went looking online.

She thankfully was able to save a bunch of animals out here before, and a few in her travels outside the country. And she was grateful for that, but she was only so knowledgeable.

Regardless, Taiga tried her best to explain it the best she could.

And Toki seemed to genuinely be listening.

His eyes lit up the more she went on, and he borrowed a pencil to write some things down in one of the books.

His handwriting was all over the place, but he seemed to understand it, and that's what mattered anyway, so she didn't say anything.

Taiga almost giggled a bit at how enthusiastically he kept saying "Wowee!"

But she held it back.

She got so into delving into this information, that she almost forgot about the terrible parts of today's events.

But then when she turned a bit, her eyes widened and she almost jumped when she noticed Charles standing in the doorway with a briefcase; the shadows cascading over his features making him look almost ominous.

She saw him a bit before in the media, but she knew even less about him than the band. Besides the fact that he was their manager.

Not that it was her business to know more anyway.

Taiga calmed down and sighed as she stared curiously at the man.

Toki was excitedly finishing up writing as he leaned over the table.

His tongue poked out absent-mindedly as he focused on it; licking his lips a bit.

Charles was almost surprised at seeing him that intensely focused, but once he saw the cub he held in his free arm, he held back a sigh.

"Toki...

What do you, ah, have there...?"

He was dreading asking; figuring he already knew the answer since he had gotten pets randomly before.

He knew how much it could mean to him, but despite his warnings, Toki wanted to keep him, and promised to give him the best "habipstaps."

"Hab... itat."

"Hambitets!"

Taiga shook her head a bit as she just smiled a little again. She looked a bit defeated, but didn't judge.

Toki's confident smile was beaming too brightly, so she just let him have this.

"You ams nice ladies!"

He then faced Charles again to reiterate that he promises he would take good care of Aksel.

He gave up this newest battle.

Toki was obviously dead set on this.

There were worse "pets" out there that he could have tried taking home, he supposed.

Then Toki asked if he could ask Taiga for more "cool" tips if he needed them in the future, or if she could even come to Mordhaus at some point to oversee the structure and layout of the habitat since she knew a lot about it.

His tone was very convincing, and he even tried to say he wouldn't have to hire anyone to do it.

She raised a brow for a second, wondering why he didn't just ask her directly since she was, you know... Right there.

And the fact Toki just assumed and insinuated she'd do it.

For free.

But she just let it go.

It was kind of amusing in a certain way how each member of Dethklok held their manager in such high regard, yet also treated him with such disregard at different points in time.

But it probably wasn't like that for him alone.

Either way, she actually wouldn't mind doing all that, to a point.

It would put Taiga's mind at ease being able to check in on Aksel in some form or another, however.

Even if it wasn't her fault, she still felt like she was responsible, no matter how much she knew she wasn't.

...Not that she had no semblance of trust in these people, but...

At the same time, she didn't actually know really them as individuals.

So it was hard to say.

And today was definitely a rocky start, putting it lightly.

But she tried to keep an open mind at the very least.

Charles stared at the girl.

More calculating than anything.

It was usually a liability concern when deal with who each individual who entered Mordhaus, who wasn't either an employee or a part of the band.

But he knew simple fixes to that...

And hey, if this person could actually keep Toki happy without giving him or others any extra problems to deal with (like a certain clown did), even better.

Not that he wouldn't be keeping a close eye.

Just in case.

So he ultimately said that that would be fine.

However, Taiga could tell that this conversation wasn't truly over yet.

Toki smiled even wider, like a kid in a candy store, since he was told that it was alright, and his top lip twitched a little; his mustache swinging a bit with the movement.

Charles did have a sense of exigency though, and reminded Toki that they should probably get going as well, as soon as he saw the chance to.

He agreed as he politely returned the pen.

"Thanks..."

Taiga sighed out a bit as she leaned over some and carefully wrote out her phone number in his book as well.

But she didn't seem frustrated.

More so, worn out.

So much had happened in such a short amount of time, and it was all catching up with her.

She internally hoped to at least get some rest later on, but she doubted that greatly.

Taiga put the pen down after she was done, and Toki beamed as he picked up his books and thanked her once again.

He happily said goodbye, gently moving Aksel's little paw to make it look like he was waving at her, before he quickly bounded away; off in his own little world as his tall figure went over towards the Dethkopter.

Taiga could see him through the window; his mouth quickly moving like he was excitedly talking to the cub before covering their tiny ears as they got closer to the aircraft.

It was pretty adorable, but she still couldn't bring herself to feel very chipper right now.

Charles didn't waste any time though as Taiga faced him once again.

Before he left, he wanted to make some things clear.

Taiga suddenly felt the shift in the air, like she should really watch her words, and actions while with this man especially.

She crossed her arms as he spoke, and she made eye contact with him.

"I must say that you, ah, certainly have our gratitude..."

Taiga figured he was half-heartedly attempting to save face in regards to the band, since most of them didn't really show the gratitude he mentioned, but she shrugged a bit.

"I'm just glad I could make it in time. I hope they'll be alright."

He curtly nodded, but took note of her genuine tone, before pulling out some papers.

Taiga could see this is what he actually wanted to get to as she put her arms back down by her sides. He brought the papers over to the table and neatly placed them out for her; his gloved fingers moving precisely, like he's done this routine a million times before.

She took note that he didn't seem affected in the slightest by her appearance, but that was honestly a relief at this point.

Charles explained that he would also greatly appreciate it if Taiga could fill out and sign an NDA, along with a waiver of liability.

She thought, but then paused for a bit.

She wasn't surprised by either option. Especially from the things she's heard happen around Dethklok as a whole.

And she didn't argue, but brought up something.

"Okay. I'll sign the waiver, but...

Actually, may I offer something that could potentially help us both...?"

Charles had to admit, he was taken aback, but he didn't show it.

Most people didn't even think to challenge his offers, but he was actually interested in what this girl had to say.

A slight sound of acknowledgement came from the back of his throat.

"...Let's hear it."

Taiga explained her situation in this city, and how she had help in keeping it under wraps with NDAs as well from her friends Ali and Cait.

Charles continued to make mental notes as she spoke, and she could tell, but continued on; giving over the information he may need if he wanted to confirm the details with them  too.

He didn't think that she was lying, but it was best to cover your bases when legalities were involved.

Taiga figured since there was going to be a contract signed regardless, she may as well just be completely honest, and go out on a limb here for her own sake, as she asked if they could go through with an MNDA specifically.

But she didn't give him a sob story.

Just stated what was most prevalent to the situation.

Besides, she knew that afterwards she'd be looked into more thoroughly anyway.

By either Charles, and/or others.

It was inevitable, but also understandable. Despite how intimidating this all was, she wasn't going to be difficult.

It would be stupid to even try such a thing.

What would she even be able to do, that wouldn't end in disaster?

Especially with the status Dethklok held...

They were legitimately global superpowers.

Not worth it.

Charles understood, and he was glad she actually knew what she was talking about in this regard, and cut to the chase.

Either way, he didn't see how this could really have any negative consequences, so he agreed on it.

Taiga relaxed a bit more at hearing that.

She didn't expect today to end up like this at all...

But if it could end somewhat amicably, with her safety intact, she'd take it.

As Charles set it all up, she wrote down what she needed to and instinctively organized each of the papers before handing them back over to the practically inexpressible man.

He would make sure to keep his end of the deal. If anything, he wasn't the kind of man to go back on his word.

And Taiga didn't know that about him of course, but she felt like she could actually trust this all to not blow up in flames, or worse.

He was critically acclaimed to be preeminent in what he did.

So, she tried not to worry too much about it.

At least for now.

Although, she did have one more prominent issue to bring up before he left.

But she tried to make it quick.

Taiga was confused on how she would even make the commute to and from the citadel itself.

She stated how she would use the money she had been saving up and putting away from her job at the day care Cait ran, but it still most likely wouldn't be enough.

And Taiga's job running the homeless shelter, she didn't get paid for that, and didn't want to.

She loved helping out no matter the circumstances.

She already felt bad enough having Cait pay her at first for something she'd happily do for free, but she insisted.

Charles waved it off, and decided to make a deal with her.

She wouldn't have to pay them any fees, as long as she could make sure not to cause any trouble.

For Dethklok, or him.

Charles said he would have a packet sent to her that would be filled with all of the important guidelines she would have to follow whenever stepping foot onto the property of Mordhaus.

And she wasn't the kind of person that wanted to cause some sort of scandal.

So she especially knew the obvious things to not do.

Again, from a rational standpoint, why would she?

Celebrity or not, there were just some things fans, or others did, that she could never even think of trying.

Also...

The members who made up Dethklok were grown men at the end of the day, and she wouldn't try and play babysitter, or be controlling...

But she heeded the warnings, regardless.

And would try her best to respectfully keep things in check when needed.

Even if something out of her control happened, she would just try to work through and accept it as she paid the price.

Taiga still thought it was extremely fair, and surprisingly generous of him (even if he was mostly being smart and covering his ass) given the circumstances, but she could see that overall, despite his uncaring demeanor or the monkey business that ever took place, he just wanted to keep the guys happy.

At the very least in ways that wouldn't be self detrimental, if he could help it.

So after getting past her stupefaction, she signed off on that agreement as well.

"...Thank you."

Charles glanced briefly over the papers for now before tucking them away once again.

"Yes, well...

Thank you for your time and, ah, cooperation, Ms. Taira."

Taiga nodded as she internally cringed at her real last name being said, but didn't bother saying anything about it.

Charles simply then bid her a good night and farewell; not making any grand gestures, or wasting any more time with further pleasantries as he hastily left her cottage and made his way back to the Dethkopter.

...

Taiga tried to reflect on what all happened today.

Actually, she didn't have to try.

It wouldn't leave her brain.

Especially as she went outside and was left with the mother cougar's body after everyone flew off.

Seeing these kinds of things never got any easier, but she tried to stay strong for what she needed to do next.

Taiga knew that she should take a few moments for herself later on...

It would be healthy.

Not selfish at all, she reminded herself.

And maybe, just maybe, she could successfully get a good rest afterwards.

With no nightmares.

...

But this would continue to itch away at her until she cracked...

She couldn't just leave them out here, anyway.

She wouldn't be able to live with herself.

...

So she got started.

--

As she finished burying the cougar,

Taiga knew the cycle of life would continue, no matter how she felt.

And she took her gloves off, putting them away as she got lost in thought once again.

The body would decay, feeding other lifeforms, just as others that perish.

But each time, she wanted, no...

Needed to give a proper burial.

And when possible, a ritual for it.

It was always such an intense experience.

Emotional and otherwise while going through each ritual.

But Taiga would do it again and again.

In her eyes, it was deserved.

She didn't believe in "perfect," but tried her best to carry this out in the closest way to it as possible.

Taiga closed her eyes, and tears fell down her face as she inhaled; wishing the cougar farewell, and honoring her.

If her spirit wished to remain in contact, she would gladly accept that and try her best to appease them just as she did for any others that came her way...

Whether they made a connection or not, she wanted to be a safe guide, no matter the duration of the stay.

Taiga made another protective charm, similar to the ones inside and around her cottage, and placed it over the grave.

Despite her inner turmoil about how this turned out, she tried to move forward.

Staying stagnant in this moment wouldn't change much.

She would not ever forget this experience of course, but wanted to do right by this being, no matter the cost.

If that meant watching over the cub, so be it.

Taiga would try and help whenever she was called, even after their final breaths were taken.

So after saying her final goodbyes, she got back up, dusted the dirt off herself a bit, and headed inside her cottage again to get on her new computer; immediately getting started on researching more.

She wanted to go above and beyond trying to expand her knowledge on the care, and overall ways of these creatures themselves; highlighting key DOs and DONTs.

Even if she already knew quite a lot about felines as a whole, it wouldn't hurt to read up on them even more.

Focusing on this helped distract her mind for a while...

Easing any pain that came with thinking too much on the events that transpired, or when they would suddenly flash into her head again.

But she also tried to steel herself and not push herself too hard again; taking some breaks inbetween, and trying to just...

Breathe.

When Taiga was able to open her eyes and look back up again, she let herself feel, but reminded herself of what was the utmost truth...

And the end goal she was striving towards.

Strengthened by her new resolve, she took a few more breaths, and was able to set a timer for herself to stop for tonight before trying to get some sleep afterwards.

And as Taiga finished up her current study session and jotted down her notes in the much more silent, coiling vibrations of the now recessing woods that surrounded her...

She couldn't help but wonder what the future may have in store for her from here on out.

~~~~~

#metalocalypse #OC #AU #Taiga #Mika #Taira #I #Am #Your #Mother's #Keeper

[powerpolyculeshowdown]

Lime for the poll runners’ ask game?

Lime -> participant(s) you’re rooting for the most?

i don't want to sway the votes so i won't do any propaganda for them after the poll starts BUT it's Wu Zetian/Li Shimin/Gao Yizhi from Iron Widow i just love the way their relationship develops so much and as someone whos unable to actually pick up a book and focus on it, the fact that i read iron widow in 4 days is amazing im still proud of that as silly as it is

yknow what ill use this as an opportunity to ramble about them askdgakdjk spoilers ahead but ill try to keep the major stuff out

for context the book has pacific rim style mechas, but instead of being drift compatible or whatever its usually a male pilot and his concubine whose life force he usually drains in order to pilot the thing, but theres a LOT of propaganda that makes girls want to be concubines, or families might wanna send their daughters for the money. im simplifying it a LOT especially cause theres more info u only learn later on as zetian herself finds out but anyway

at the start of the book zetian and yizhi are besties who obviously have feelings for each other. zetian is poor while hes very rich so their friendship is kind of a secret and they meet in the woods which i think is cute, point is its p clear zetian tries to mantain a distance, not allowing herself to admit her feelings. for reasons i wont say zetian decided to become a concubine to one of the like bigger more badass guys even if she doesnt believe the propaganda and knows she might die, she only tells yizhi this the day before

he shows up at her house the next day begging her family to let him marry her?????? which is sweet because he wants to protect her but that isnt gonna work bestie sorry she's a woman w a mission

so anyway she goes to the concubine thing and shes surprisingly powerful "for a girl" which yeah thats a super common trope but shes so much more than just the strong protagonist. shes extremely powerful in every sense of the word imo and i love her so much and i wish the world hadnt been so cruel that she had to become so strong. but anyway the guy she wants to pilot w picks her. MAJOR SPOILER they have to pilot the mecha on day 1 cause they're under attack and uhhh she kills him lol lmao she drains her life force instead which supposedly is UNHEARD OF

so they cant just kill her off cause that'd look bad instead they send her to be the concubine of the strongest guy (all of his concubines die after 1 fight) and thats Li Shimin my beloved my little meow meow hes looked down on and kinda treated like an animal cause hes a criminal and the only reason he gets to be a pilot is his powerful qi. anyway shes forced to live w him and turns out hes just a lil guy. like hes very big and scary looking but hes just a tired man pls he needs a break. she fucking survived piloting w him which nobody expected. so now theres a lotta stuff going on i wont get into but some ppl arent happy w this duo cause they're both very powerful and not exactly happy to serve. and Shimin has a drink problem.

IN ENTERS GAO YIZHI hes back babey!!! and he decides to help shimin w his alcoholism. its funny cause when they first meet his crush on li shimin is so fucking obvious zetian is like "huh i always suspected he liked guys too" but li shimin is just pissed cause this is the guy who wants to make him stop drinking

theres like 1 moment of jealousy that i can remember when li shimin realizes zetian and yizhi have a thing going on but its settled very quickly and they all kiss.

back to the drift compatible thing: at one point in the final battle zetian and shimin need more power and yizhi literally lends them his qi (its extremely rare for a third person to help) and its beautiful and they are so in love and i cant wait for the sequel

idk if any of that is coherent i kinda stopped thinking and just typed sorry for rambling on ur ask im just very passionate about them i love them so much i love iron widow so much i love xiran jay zhao so much (the writer) (you might know them from the live action mulan analysis video that went viral back when that movie came out) (check out their yt channel)

#long posts #canonpropaganda #i guess i should tag it as that #polyasks #they are my emotional support traumatized throuple and i want to be the 4th member of the polycule #oh also zetian is physically disabled (mobility issues and implied chronic pain from lotus feet) and at one point questions her gender #(she might be nb) AND she's probably bi cause she does mention she likes women too #i love her so much

[notcatherinemorland]

one of the most difficult things about getting back into art again is not romanticising my own skill gap.

like, finally, after 5 1/2 years of thinking these it was destroyed and shat on by rats, we found my portfolio of my old Big Serious Art Works. Most of it is in there, minus a sketchbook and some old final pieces (annoying!) but what is genuinely shocking to me is how good some of it is. I remember hating some of those pieces viscerally. I remember nearly crying to my friends about dropping out of art gcse over an a3 charcoal illustration of onions.... and it nearly made me cry over how good it was for a 13-year-old. Over how good it would be if i produced it now. That's not even to mention how it feels to see my two favourite sketches I ever did (ink sketch figure drawing and a charcoal cathedral window, for posterity).

What is fascinating to me now its that this is a legitimately good portfolio. Detailed sketchbooks explaining my processes; extremely varied material use and pieces at the end; composition and style and ideas are abundant. It is positively surreal to walk back through the fucking verdant greenhouse of my youthful training and then look at my last two sketchbooks... which are dull as dishwater. It's just soft and scared little portraits over and over and over again.

But the thing is: all my work is soft and scared. All of it, from the sketchbook of copic ciao-coloured magical girl anime designs I drew at 12 to the oil pastel picture of a washing machine I've been trying to start for the last 2 days. The reason my old work makes such a lush impression is because it was for academia - I had teachers forcing my hand into new every single week. These same teachers offering suggestions and guidance at every stage of the work, who genuinely cared about my making art, not just my getting good marks. It is very hard to flip through my recent books (oh, how I am proud I get to say books, plural) and see such a dearth of discipline. I knew I found it very hard, psychologically, to challenge myself, but I didn't think it was this.... obvious, in a way. I didn't realise how I had been showing my hands with the things they've created.

Anyway: there's no satisfying answer to this. I cannot afford to look back on my old works and think I was talented - it was 5 years of dedicated, cultivated, nurtured skills. I cannot afford to look back on my recent works and think of them as silly, bland, and uninspired. At the same time, I cannot afford to not challenge myself. My art will be soft and scared whatever I do - I may as well make it good.

#me meta #tumblr diary my old friend i have come to chat with your void again #i start a 5 week course of figure drawing next week & i am so excited for it i can't even explain!!!!!! #the skill gap between my eyes and my hand is fucking cavernous but like. doesn't mean i should stop!!! #it just means i gotta get all the shit out the way so i can develop them in tandem again #a level art shaped me for better or worse lmaoooo