#now i can get a comic ready for summer 6 >:)

[hasarjunadoneanythingwrong]

ive been a little quiet lately since i was busy drawing the indian fgo girls in sari, but i finally finished!

#kama #jinako carigiri #vritra #parvati #lakshmi bai #sita #ganesha #parvati fgo #fgo #fate grand order #it was SUPPOSED to be done before lb6 dropped but i kind of. procrastinated #it was fun but a lot of work. i did a lot of research! #also shoutout to meera for helping me so much tyyyy ur the best <3333 #now i can get a comic ready for summer 6 >:) #my art

[hpdrizzle]

🌈 HP Drizzle 2023 Reveals🌧️

✨ The day has finally come! Reveals are happening right now! Hold onto your umbrellas and don't let the storm of applause for our talented creators blow you away! ☂️

HP Drizzle 2023 has some lovely numbers for you. We had:

⚡ 26 Fics ⚡ 6 Arts and Crafts ⚡ 1 Collab ⚡ And 1 Podfic

🌈 Which adds up to 34 lovely and mind blowing works!

A big thank you goes out to everyone who participated this year, and everyone who read, commented and sent kudos. A fest doesn't work without every single one of you.

Please enjoy the works below, and make them timeless classics as many Drizzle works before 💜

The mods of 2023 say thank you and good bye @crazybutgood @curlyy-hair-dont-care @ladderofyears @candybarrnerd @gnarf

🌈 HP Drizzle Art 🌧️ 

☔ Right Path In The Rain [T, Digital Art ] @burnedwithpointlesspurpose

💧 Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Ginny Weasley 💧 Weather: Rainy  ☔ Summary: Draco's been working hard on keeping things on the right path. It's been years since the war and he's fought to find himself through it. Part of the disovery being he has absolutely no problem sharing his umbrella with one Ginevra Weasley, and everything that comes with it.

☔ What to do When it's Sunny Outside [G, Digital Art] @shiaya21

💧 Pairing: Draco Malfoy / Theodore Nott 💧 Weather: Sunny ☔ Summary: Theo and Draco has a very different idea on what to do when it's sunny outside. Digital Comic.

☔ [ART] summer slipped us underneath her tongue [T, Digital Art] @getawayfox

💧 Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter 💧 Weather: Sunny ☔ Summary: It’s a tropical paradise until Harry forgets the sun cream. Draco is not impressed.

☔ Forgotten @acydpop

💧 Pairing: Harry Potter/Severus Snape 💧 General Audience, Traditional Art: watercolors, inks, acrylic, and colored pencils on 7.75" x 9.95" mixed media paper. 💧 Weather: Sunny ☔ Summary: Before, I used to be your whole world, now, I’m nothing more than a stranger in your eyes. Why have you forgotten me and not anybody else?

☔ Dark [G, Digital art] @smr7k4

💧 Pairing: Scorpius Malfoy 💧  Weather: Cloudy ☔ Summary: They've always been able to look up and see the constellations that bore their family's names moving in constant patterns across the sky, but tonight, there are clouds. That's definitely a metaphor for something.

☔ Things we don’t mean (we say it outright) [Not Rated, Digital Art] @legendrarry

💧 Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter 💧 Weather: Sunny, Rainy, Stormy ☔ Summary: While on a stakeout, an accident causes Draco's mood to connect with the weather, which then leads to mild panic infused rain, anger fueled thunderstorms, white lies and blooming flowers, and heated words clashing against rainbows that gives fourth to all that Draco Malfoy is, and all that he hides behind his facades. Harry's a whole lot endeared by it, and just a little bit in love as well.

🌈 HP Drizzle Fic and Art🌧️

☔ Thunderstruck [E, 8653, Digital ] @andithiel @fictional

💧 Pairing: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy  💧 Weather: Stormy  ☔ Summary: Professional Quidditch players Malfoy and Potter have been at each other’s throats since they became teammates. When things get ugly during a thunderstorm, their captain is so fed up she’s ready to kick them off the team if they don’t solve their differences, by any means possible.  There’s really only one way this can end, right?

🌈 HP Drizzle Fic 🌧️ 

☔ You are here [G, 1092] @evadne01

💧 Pairing: Ginny Weasley & Percy Weasley  💧 Weather: Stormy ☔ Summary: Percy was on his evening patrol when he heard someone crying.

☔ Rainfall Reverie, or Toad, the Wet, and a Locket [T, 5379] @astridastrolabe

💧 Pairing: Oliver Wood/Ron Weasley 💧 Weather: Rainy ☔ Summary: When a rain inconsistently causing amnesia settles over Aberdeen, Oliver Wood finds his cozy life with his partner, Ron Weasley, turned inside-out. A story of trust, of discovery, and being loved for who you are.

☔ Here Comes The Sun [G, 1905] @miss-grimwood

💧 Pairing: Narcissa Black Malfoy/Lucius Malfoy 💧 Weather: Sunny ☔ Summary: Narcissa Black was a ray of sunshine. Then she grew up, and became cold and withdrawn. She never expected Lucius Malfoy to melt the ice.

☔ A Summer's Day [T, 1,817] @midnightstargazer

💧 Pairing: Andromeda Black Tonks/Ted Tonks 💧 Weather: Sunny ☔ Summary: A love story that begins on an artificial summer's day in January and ends with a tearful farewell beneath the unforgiving August sun.

☔ In Their Winter Den [T, 2,899] @sandervansunshine

💧 Pairing: Theodore Nott/Blaise Zabini 💧 Weather: Snowy ☔ Summary: Theo aimed his wand at the wall and gathered more lights around the twinkling little bear. “Do you want a story or a song?” “Surprise me.”

☔ Snowflakes [E, 21,097] @orange-peony

💧 Pairing:  Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, Regulus Black/James Potter 💧 Weather: Rainy ☔ Summary: The first time Sirius meets Remus, it’s in the wrong place at the wrong time. The second time they meet, it’s two weeks later. Two weeks that Sirius has spent thinking about green eyes and elbow patches and that charming smile that he wishes he had captured on camera, because he’s starting to forget it and it’s killing him.

☔ Hooligans [T, 3082] @patriceavril

💧 Pairing: Molly Weasley & Gideon Prewett & Fabian Prewett, Molly Weasley & Weasley family 💧 Weather: Snowy ☔ Summary: Molly plays in the snow with her children and remembers her brothers.

☔ Letters In the Rain [G, 3274] @theblinddreamer215

💧 Pairing: Harry Potter/Severus Snape 💧 Weather: Rainy ☔ Summary: Harry Potter’s always hated the rain, though perhaps certain events make him change his mind.

☔ Unbuttoned [E, 2402] @ashiiblack

💧 Pairing: Harry Potter/Severus Snape 💧 Weather: Rainy ☔ Summary: Due to the change in weather, Snape starts leaving a few top buttons on his robe undone. It drives Harry crazy.

☔ Weathering Malfoy [T, 6,806] @drarrymyheart

💧 Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter 💧 Weather: Rainy, Stormy ☔ Summary: The war is over and all Harry wants is a normal year at Hogwarts. But he hadn’t counted on hanging out with Draco Malfoy and liking it. Not to mention Malfoy’s bizarre obsession with the weather. Or is there something else behind Malfoy’s odd behaviour?

☔ Scream If You Wanna Go Faster [E, 21,458] @lagerloutfic

💧 Pairing: Scorpius Malfoy/James Sirius Potter 💧 Weather: Sunny, Stormy ☔ Summary: James leaned forward to blow out the candles and for a brief moment their eyes met. Scorpius felt it like an arrow to his chest. His breath hitched as people cheered and the smoke from the candles climbed to the ceiling. “You’re going to ruin him.” Albus said, nipping at Scorpius’s shoulder. Scorpius sighed, “It would be fun to try.” Scorpius and Albus are determined to have one last hurrah before their summer ends. Featuring, ratbag twinks, progressive parenting with Harry Potter, the homoeroticism of sportwear, the dance floor as a love language and birds.

☔ A Work Trip to Spain [E, 1443] vitruvian8008

💧 Pairing: Victoire Weasley/Blaise Zabini 💧 Weather: Rainy, Stormy ☔ Summary: Victoire Weasley had been looking forward to lounging on the beach during her work trip to Spain. When a thunderstorm strikes, she ends up at the bar spending the evening with Blaise Zabini. Little did she know how it would progress.

☔ Worth It [M, 1392] @goddess47

💧 Pairing: Harry Potter/Severus Snape 💧 Weather: Snowy ☔ Summary: Winter was hard. Harder than he ever expected. He was used to being alone. He never expected to be lonely.

☔ Weak In The Eyes [E, 7724] @burdenedwithpointlesspurpose

💧 Pairing: Ron Weasley/Harry potter 💧 Weather: Rainy, Stormy ☔ Summary: Setting out for a night on the town, Harry was happy regardless of the possible hang ups which included torture and weather. He wanted to spend some time with his boyfriend that wasn’t just hanging out at home like the mates at heart they are. It’d been a while since they’d done something special, work dragging Ron down into a low state of mind. Thankfully, it does turn out special. Whether that’s in a good or bad way, he supposes is left up to interpretation and mood.

☔ Blame It on the Heat [E, 1500] @maraudersaffair

💧 Pairing: Scorpius Malfoy/Harry Potter 💧 Weather: Sunny ☔ Summary: Scorpius can't handle the heat. He also can't handle seeing Harry Potter parading about without a shirt.

☔ Try, Try Again [E, 5353] @hey-flynn

💧 Pairing: Harry Potter/Hugo Weasley  💧 Weather: Stormy  ☔ Summary: Hugo confesses his love to Harry twice, on very similar nights. The results, however, were incredibly different.

☔ With This Ring [E, 13370] @nightfalltwen

💧 Pairing: Sirius Black/Nymphadora Tonks 💧 Weather: Rainy ☔ Summary: A lineage spell on 12 Grimmauld requires one thing. To continue the line of the house of Black. That needs to start with a marriage to make the line legitimate.

☔ Post-war roses [T, 3.500] fast_brother

💧 Pairing: Draco Malfoy/ Harry Potter 💧 Weather: Stormy, Rainy ☔ Summary: Draco is going to Azkaban tomorrow.

☔ Fall on the Earth [Explicit, 13,622 ] @dodgerkedavra

💧 Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter 💧 Weather: Stormy ☔ Summary: Harry Potter hates being separated from Draco Malfoy. Not because he's in love with him, for Merlin's sake! Because they're Auror Partners. One time is all it takes for Draco to be attacked with an illicit potion. Until it wears off, Harry's job is taking care of his partner. Harry thinks the effects of the potion can't possibly be as serious as Robards says. He thinks wrong.

☔ The Doe Between Us [G, 11468] @shewhomustnotbenamed

💧 Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter  💧 Weather: Rainy, Snowy  ☔ Summary: Draco's teaching career is taking off alongside his friendship with Harry Potter. The rain that had endured all of summer time turns to snow as the winter solstice comes nearer, and the two of them spend a few chilly nights in the Forbidden Forest.

☔ Right as Rain [E, 12674] @maybebabyplease

💧 Pairing: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy 💧 Weather: Rainy, Stormy ☔ Summary: For Harry Potter, post-war life is boring, lonely, and insomnia-inducing. When Professor Trelawney makes another prophecy, this time about his love life, Harry dreads going out in the rain for fear of running into his soulmate. He'll weather the storm, though, every time he can find a good reason to visit Draco Malfoy at the potions shop where he works. Malfoy's practically always in that potions shop, safe from the rainy English weather. Will they ever run into each other outside, exposed to the elements? Maybe even...in a rainstorm?

☔ Down to the Wood [G, 3079] @nanneramma

💧 Pairing: Severus Snape & Luna Lovegood  💧 Weather: Foggy  ☔ Summary: There is something about the early morning light that is good for revelations: Severus and Luna might have more in common than he'd thought.

☔ Hermione Granger and the Year of Events [T, 2268] @caiti-creative-corner

💧 Pairing: Hermione Granger/Theodore Nott  💧 Weather: Sunny, Rainy, Windy, Snowy  ☔ Summary: Hermione is getting ready for her wedding and she's having it at Hogwarts after watching her friends deal with the unpredictable weather.

☔ Take This Heart (And Make It Whole Again) [T, 12,974] @mugsdontlie

💧 Pairing: Dudley Dursley/Gregory Goyle  💧 Weather: Snowy  ☔ Summary: A few years have passed since the Battle of Hogwarts, and Gregory Goyle has been trying to be a better person every single day ever since.  When he’s forced to take a holiday trip north to prevent burnout, he meets a mysterious stranger who helps him open up and let some happiness into his heart again.  Or: two former bullies being snowed in together

☔ Who we are when no one is watching [T, 15216] @uncannycerulean

💧 Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter  💧 Weather: Rainy  ☔ Summary:  Draco Malfoy has a good Ministry job, a bad reputation, and an even worse office. The latter is much improved when he stumbles upon a magical window. But much more than just giving him an office with a view, the window forces Draco to confront his own life choices and step out of his comfort zone.

☔ May All Your Christmases Be White [T, 16725] @slyth-princess

💧 Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter  💧 Weather: Snowy  ☔ Summary: It is impossible for Draco to deny the inherent festivity that Christmas brings. From Yuletide carols to fairylights, evergreens festooned with baubles in a rainbow of colors to pub nights with friends wrapped in their warmest coats. There is a level of hope that the season always seems to bring, even when life is at it's darkest. All around him are the things making the spirit of the season. People are happy.  At least, that's what he assumes. At this point, he doesn't know. For him, the holidays have not always proved to be a merry season.  What Draco does know, without any doubt, is there is one thing Christmas always needs to feel like the holiday has truly arrived. And that one thing is snow. Although, over time, he realises there is one other thing that he has begun to associate with Christmas, something he needs for the holiday to feel real. Harry Potter.

🌈 HP Drizzle Podfic 🌧️

☔ Only Happy When It Rains by Pineau_noir - a Podfic [T, 1:29:25] @cailynwrites

💧 Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter 💧 Weather: Rainy ☔ Summary: Weather-Be's, the up-and coming business of Draco Malfoy, guarantees* perfect weather for your event! If you need warm sunshine, Weather-Be's will provide it. If you want atmospheric fog, we can make that happen. We have a 100%** success rate at giving you the weather you want. *guarantee invalid if Harry Potter is in attendance **success rate drops to 97% when Harry Potter's attendance at events is counted

#hp drizzle 2023 #hp drizzle fest #hp drizzle #hp fic #hp art #hp podfic #drizzle reveals

[looniecartooni]

Okay- for over a decade now, I've thought about publishing a comic book series or graphic novel, but have never found the time, energy, or resources to get one off the ground. I've also been really nervous about exposing my writing despite coming up with multiple storylines in my life. I am planning to start a Kickstarter or something for at least one of them. I know I've pitched creative projects or theories before and haven't gone through with them, but I want to at least see what of things I have developed or began development on interests' people before I start anything.

So... I am going to start a poll. Maybe I'll make one free short comic before I dedicate myself to something that requires funding.

Descriptions below:

These Hands- A first person perspective from former Diamond Cutter infiltrator and later cause of their demise- Mimic the Octopus. See from when he first joined the Diamond Cutters and follow into his fall from grace. Will his plights be sympathetic or shall he be forever scorned by himself and his actions?

A full storyboard draft has already been created for a one-shot story. If chosen, it may take between a couple weeks to over a month to release (depending on my college schedule)

Henchmen for Hire- A cowardly magician with the power of luck on her side (and her Eldrich terrain shifter best friend) are stuck in their jobs as Henches for Hire for random Elites and criminals of their world, escapading on dangerous quests through ancient caves to find mysterious power sources and ancient treasures. While life is fairly comfortable (despite them having to live in a cave themselves because how can you live in a nice place when you're stuck in such a shady business?), the past is catching up to them, and one of them has a knife. Can these two ever live without the fear of being alone and helpless when nothing but danger plagues their lives?

This series is one of the ones I am currently working on and its still very early in development. It may take a couple months, maybe even a year to complete. There are maybe 3 stories and 5 or 6 plot points planned out. But I'm having a lot of fun with it and do hope to make something off it some day.

Experimental Living- A mad geneticist and engineer finally returns home from his stay in prison and is ready to wreak havoc on the world with his new genetic experiments. However, things do not go as planned and in order to keep his cover as a "reformed" villain, he must raise them as if they were his children, which the 10-year-old and 6-year-old are more than happy with. With help from his Henchmen, constant harassment from his mystic and militant father, and suspecting eyes of heroes and citizens, will this evil villain turned single dad ever succeed in his violent plans to save the world?

I storyboarded almost the entire series and a sequel series for this for almost a full year. There are still many parts that need to be tweaked or rewritten as there are gaps and maybe some problematic elements, but this could be something that could get started sometime in the Summer. I want to be able to fund it, but I don't have the elements to do so at the moment and I'm afraid the premise is a bit too close to the idea of a Starline, Surge, and Kit AU. Though it is more loosely inspired by them with a lot more to it than that, I don't know if I might run into some copyright issues if I go through with it, no matter how loosely the characters or premise are to their inspirations.

Journey of Eclipse- The Light had fended off the Darkness for hundreds of years, constantly sealing it in a cave to protect the world from his curse. Now, a child born from the Light and conceived by the Darkness must tread on a perilous journey to save his mother from the curse that now finally firmed its grasp on her. But this story is not so black and white, and the circumstances that lead to the birth of such a child may have a much more deep-rooted tale than what has been told.

I had this idea back in High School and recently revisited it. I would imagine that it would be a rather short series or graphic novel, but may need a few months to fully get a good narrative out of it. There is a clear beginning, middle, and end, but much more needs to be fleshed out and reconfigured to tell a well thought out tale.

Angel Story- A long time ago, super soldiers known as "angels" were created to protect villages from strange dark entities referred to as "demons" or "shadows". With the dark entities seemingly vanished, the angels and their children were now declared to be the protectors against criminals and symbols of order. However, new chaos arises as these angels are seemingly vanishing, or getting corrupted by a similar energy to that of the shadows which should be impossible. Now a new crew of angels must try and stop these new monsters and the energies that are driving them.

Only one plotline of this supposed to be short series has been fully developed, but it's fun to work on and reread the storyboards for. It may take a few months give or take to fully start, but I feel it will be a fun read when worked out to its full potential.

I have quite literally cabinets full of stories that I have created since freshman year of high school and have on and off worked on quite a few. There are some others that I am currently working/reworking on such as a superhero trying to find out what happened to her superhero dad while being raised by her evil uncle. Feel free to ask for more information on any of these projects or any other projects. I've been too scared to bring them up or publish any creative projects because of being overwhelmed with school and fear of possible backlash. But I'd be happy to share anything people might want to ask about- I want to know if I could actually do this or if this is one of those dreams I've got to just put on the back burner.

I'll still create just random fan stuff for BBU and things like that. I did try to start a videogame/visual novel last year, but that never truly got really developed or much attention. I might work on other different kinds of projects in the future when I have the time, money, and energy (or stop making excuses). But for now- let me know what you guys think (very kindly) and if you'd ever wat to see an independent project created by me. If not- that's fine too, just please be nice if you think this isn't a good idea.

If no one chooses anything- that's fine too. I'd probably still do something eventually or try my shot again with other pitches. I welcome any advise for creating, publishing, self-publishing, legally making money or legally getting money to make something, ect. I'll be posting on other social medias as well. Let me know your thoughts (nicely and constructively). Thank you.

#my writing #writing advice #advertising myself #sonic idw #writing pitches #my art

[greatqueenanna]

3/1/22

I'm Back!

After a ridiculously long Hiatus since November, I am finally back and ready to talk more Frozen! So, let's get this started and clean off all the dust and cobwebs haha. There's a lot to talk about!

-----

Yes, I know - FROZEN 3!

First things first, the elephant in the room and the thing that people kept sending me messages about - last month Frozen 3 was officially announced! The fandom is happy, concerned, anxious, and excited all at once. I'm personally very happy that we'll finally be getting some new content. You can definitely expect that I will be covering Frozen 3 news and speculation, as well as throwing in my own thoughts here and there over the coming years.

Also, don't hesitate to let me know your thoughts and fears about the new sequel - I'd love to hear them.

-----

Upcoming Analyses

Over my hiatus, I was able to complete two of my promised analyses. Fatherly Burdens - Is Agnarr Portrayed Negatively? Will be released tomorrow, 3/2/23. It's a bit of a controversial one, so be prepared! Polar Opposites - Comparing the Sister’s Personalities is coming the day after, 3/3/23. It's a tame one, so it should be a nice little read.

As for the others, I'm going to label below their release dates and if everything goes well, they should release on those dates with no problems.

Irredeemable Monster - Should Hans Make a Return 3/9/23

Stoic and Strong - Talking about HoneyMaren and Her Importance 3/23/23

I will also be reblogging old analyses that I think are some of my best. So be prepared for some oldies coming back into the spotlight over the next couple of months!

-----

That Dang Frozen Canon Talk!

Now for Frozen Canon Talk! 4th Edition - I promised it, I pushed it back, and now I finally have a date for it - 4/20/23.

I will be talking about Canon again, but many of my initial thoughts have changed over the course of doing more research and having more discussions. This is why I have removed all earlier versions of the post, so people wouldn't get confused.

-----

Arendelle Archives

As some of you probably have noticed, I have joined The Arendelle Archives - a fan group that is dedicated to writing about and chronicling important Frozen Franchise Information.

I want to give a shout-out to these great documents below, written by @saiten-gefroren and Winter Loves Summer. The first is the Annals of Frozen which summarizes what we know about both Arendelle and Northuldra. The second is The Frozenverse which contains all the published titles so far in the Frozen franchise, like media, books, comics, and spin-offs.

These are amazing reads, and the work and dedication here deserve more attention and credit.

Annals of Frozen by saiten-gefroren

The Frozenverse by Winter Loves Summer

-----

GQA-Lite Redone

I'm re-creating my side blog to be Frozen-centric fandom side topics. I want this main blog to focus more on the analysis of the franchise itself, rather than on the fandom drama. Thus, the purpose of GQA-Lite is to cover more fandom-related topics. In my bio, you will see where my opinions are aligned, so from that, you should get an idea of what GQA-Lite will cover.

It will no longer delve into non-Frozen topics, but I will be creating a whole new blog later on where I don't talk about Frozen. Stay tuned if you're interested in that.

GQA-Lite link here and in Bio.

-----

What's Next?

Now for the final update - a poll! As said, I am definitely taking advantage of this haha.

#greatqueenanna/updates

[quartzelaii]

Perfectly Aligned

CHAPTER II

— L/N Y/N, best friend to Kageyama Tobio since age 6. L/N Y/N, the object of all Tsukishima Kei's desires since age 15.

Masterlist

CHAPTER I ➛ CHAPTER II ➛ CHAPTER III

word count: 11k

"How's that poster design coming along? Good, I'm hoping?" Nakano Miyaka, the Arts Club president, hovers over the table like a bespectacled hawk. Her thick glasses almost make her eyes look comically huge with the way she surveys the club room like some sort of cliché cranky supervisor from an office sitcom.

The Arts Club room is small and dingy, probably the smallest and dingiest room in prestigious Shiratorizawa. The four walls perpetually smell of acrylic paint and marker ink from paintings and other artwork that take too long to dry. The desks and chairs are stained with various pigments, courtesy of those hard-headed club members who always forget to put down newspaper before working on their projects.

Upon enrolling in high school, you had trouble finding a new club to pledge yourself to since you've said good bye to volleyball. When you were a kid, one of your favorite way to pass the time aside from playing volleyball is messing around with whatever coloring materials you could find in your pencil case— crayons, watercolors, those small pots of poster color that smell like expired medicine. You'd take your time creating your own masterpiece. More often than not, it would actually turn out good and your Dad would display it by the fridge or frame it to hang in the living room. You enjoyed making art for him, that was until he and your mother divorced. Suddenly, it didn't make sense to continue doing art anymore.

However, on your first day of school at Shiratorizawa, you were handed a flyer for the Arts Club by Miyaka herself who was scouting new recruits at the time. Perhaps it was her overly-enthusiastic persona, or maybe it was because the prospect of making art again made you feel nostalgic— either way, it only took three minutes of convincing before you were signing up.

Miyaka instantly took a liking to you. You're an efficient and productive member of the club, adamant on creating a good first impression on your clubmates. Not long after that, Miyaka has appointed you as the club's Secretary even though you're still a first year. You accepted the honor with much eagerness.

"Just tweaking a few things and then it's ready to be printed." Came the monotonous reply of the club's vice president, currently hunched back over his laptop.

"A few things, huh?" Miyaka gives a pointed look at him then at the laptop's screen. "Seems to me like you still have a lot to tweak considering the page is still freakin' blank."

Aoki Raiden groans and leans back against his chair, pulling the strings on his hoodie so the fabric engulfs his face. 

"Please get off my back, Miyaka-san. I literally can't work with you watching me all the damn time."

Miyaka yanks the hood off his head. "I gave you a week to finish the poster design, Rai. We're already behind schedule as it is."

"You do know the festival isn't until October, right? It's still the middle of August, not to mention it's summer break. Stop being such a worrywart. We have plenty of time." Raiden drawls as his fingers clack on his laptop's keyboard. From where you're sitting, you can see the interface of Twitter on the screen, the poster design's editing page has been minimized and is now completely abandoned.

"I dedicated the whole summer break to work on our booth so we don't have to worry about it once school starts." Miyaka puts her hand on her hips in an attempt to assert authority. "Us third years are gonna be super busy by September and I won't have time to supervise this club by then. You really have to be more considerate, you know."

"Ugh, fine. Give me three days and I'll send you the final design."

"No, are you kidding me? You have until tomorrow to finish that."

Raiden glares at the club president but doesn't complain any more. Reluctantly, he pulls out the editing software again and begins working, but not without complaining all the way.

Miyaka then turns to you who are currently writing on your notepad at the corner of the room, a calculator sitting on your lap. "How about our budget plan, Y/N-chan? Has it been taken care of yet?"

"Yep, I've added both what we've spent so far and the estimation of how much we'll be spending once we build the booth itself." You say, tapping your pen on the notepad. "I made a table for it, too, Miyaka-san, so there won't be any confusion. I'll give the printed copy to you tomorrow."

You rummage through your notepad, checking your various notes from the days before. "I've also checked in with Ryo-san and the other second-years earlier. They're about 50% done with the mural but they ran out of paint so they had to order more. Their expenses are already accounted for, by the way."

"See? That's what a responsible club member looks like. You should really learn a thing or two from your kouhai. Seriously, I should have fired you as vice president and appointed her instead." 

Raiden can only sneer in response, both at you and Miyaka. His typing becomes more aggravated by the second.

"And what about the piece you'll be showcasing at the silent auction?" The bespectacled third-year asks you again.

"Also done but it's still drying. I used oil paint."

"Great! I'm thinking of making that our centerpiece."

"What?" Raiden almost jumps from his seat. "How about my clay sculpture of Bourgeois' Spider? You told me it's gonna be the centerpiece!"

"Well, we can't actually showcase something you haven't even started on yet, can we? Tell you what, show me the finished product and I might actually change my mind."

"I'm getting on it! Just stop pestering me about it! God!"

Miyaka says something snarky in retaliation but you don't hear it. You're busy looking at the clock mounted on the wall to hear about the bickering of your two upperclassmen. The clock reads 2:28 PM. Tobio texted you an hour ago saying that they've defeated their first opponent and were currently waiting for their next match. You're almost buzzing in your seat in worry that you won't be able to catch it.

"Miyaka-san, I was wondering if I could leave early today? I'm supposed to watch the boys volleyball at the Sendai City Gymnasium."

"Eh? But I was told Shiratorizawa isn't playing today. Something about them being too good?"

"Oh, yeah, they won the Inter High so they're already seeded in the Qualifiers." You nod. "I'm actually gonna watch Karasuno."

"Why? Is your boyfriend in there?" Miyaka wiggles her eyebrows. You know it's just a playful teasing but you can't help getting flustered. Your cheeks heat up almost immediately. You hate how you always have this reaction.

"No, just my best friend."

"Yeah, right." Miyaka rolls her eyes with a sly smirk on her lips. "Everybody knows best friend is, like, code for boyfriend"

You reiterate rather defensively that Tobio is just a friend despite Miyaka clearly not believing you. It always entertains you whenever she teases and badgers Raiden but when you're on the receiving end of it, you don't think it's amusing anymore. Only when your face is about the shade of a ripe tomato did Miyaka stop her teasing, but not without giggling about how agitated you look about the whole thing.

Eventually, she grows tired of joking around and agrees to your request.

"No fair! How come she gets to go?" Raiden whines. The way he pouts and crosses his arms like that reminds you of one of those spoiled kids who throw temper tantrums in malls. He's a few months older than you but you forget that with how childish he acts sometimes.

"For one, she's actually been very productive today and she deserves an early out."

"What, just because she's the Darling Setter of Miyagi, she's free to watch volleyball anytime?"

Miyaka cocks her head to the side. "Darling what of Miyagi?"

"Setter. It's just a nickname I got when I used to play volleyball back in middle school." You wave it off as if it's no big deal— though you'd be lying if you said you didn't feel the warm swell of pride in your chest upon hearing that nickname again after so long.

"Which is cringe and tacky, by the way." Raiden rolls his eyes, something you're now accustomed to seeing. You stick your tongue to him which he responds by sticking his tongue back to you. You don't take offense whenever Raiden eggs on you like that because you know he doesn't really mean it— it's just the way he is. To be honest, you have grown quite fond of his salty remarks, and sometimes, you even participate whenever he initiates a lighthearted squabble.

"I knew you used to play volleyball but I didn't know you were famous. Should I ask for your autograph?" Miyaka leans against your desk with an impressed look on her face.

"As much as I want to sign stuff for you, Miyaka-san, I don't think my autograph is worth anything anymore." You hope your response is buoyant enough to hide the fact this is a sore topic for you. You still haven't fully come into terms that you're not a volleyball player anymore.

"You really sure it's okay that I leave early?" You hastily add as an attempt to steer the conversation.

The bespectacled third-year taps her chin in thought as she looks at Raiden who is brooding in the corner. "You know what? I'm actually in the mood to watch some volleyball, too. Can I go with you, Y/N?"

"Of course, you can. I never pegged you as a volleyball fan, though."

"Oh, I'm not." She chuckles as she tidies up her desk. "But my boyfriend is such a nerd for it so I figured I should try to appreciate it more."

"Oh? You have a boyfriend?." Your brows shot up in surprise at this fact.

"You don't have to look so surprised about it, but yes. We made it official two weeks ago. We're keeping it lowkey. Not many people know yet."

"Oh my god," You hear Raiden's trademark exasperated sigh before he closes his laptop with a muddled thud. "A lot of people know you're dating Tendou-san. You can't say it's lowkey if it's all over your Twitter. Also, that whole will-you-be-my-girlfriend shenaniganhe did by the congregating area? Yeah, thatwasn't as cute as you think it was. He littered so much confetti that day, it looked like a unicorn threw up all over the place. Our class had to clean that up while you and your boyfriend made out behind the gym. You thought we didn't see that, huh? Well, we did!"

"Jesus, Raiden, that's not your story to tell!" shrieks Miyaka. The sound of it has you flinching.

Miyaka and Raiden commence yet another wrangle with the former chastising the latter for exposing her love life like that. Whenever something like this happens, you always give the two of them a couple of minutes before both of them cool down and continue on normally as if nothing happened. On your first few weeks with this club, you did think that this constant spat between the president and vice president was a bit too much for your liking— but then you learned soon enough that Miyaka and Raiden have been friends since middle school, and them fighting is a common occurrence, almost always not personal. They are actually really solid friends when both of them are in a good mood.

Your two upperclassmen finally reach an impasse. You haven't been listening to their argument so you don't exactly know how they went from Miyaka getting mad at Raiden for disclosing info about her love life, to Miyaka inviting Raiden to watch volleyball with you. You were busy putting away the papers and stationaries into their respective drawers when you heard Miyaka ask if Raiden wanted to come to the Sendai Gymnasium instead of being a whiny little bitch (the exact phrase she used). The way she worded the invite was a bit unorthodox but you know well enough that she just invited him so Raiden wouldn't feel left out when the two of you leave. She really cares for him in that way.

Their friendship is weird, you think to yourself as Raiden sassily agrees to go. You didn't plan on having company at Tobio's game, but your two senpai are alright companions— there are worse people to be stuck with.

"Maybe after the game, the three of us could go for some yakiniku." Miyaka has locked the club room and is now bouncing on the balls of her feet at her suggestion.

"As long as you're paying, then it's fine by me." Raiden lags behind you and Miyaka as the three of you set off.

"If you had given me the poster design today, maybe I'd have considered treating you— but you didn't, so no yakiniku for you."

"I have money. I can pay for my own yakiniku, thank you very much."

Your phone buzzes in your pocket. Tobio's name pops up on the screen with a text that has you widening your eyes.

"Guys, the game is starting in fifteen minutes! We have to hurry!"

You clutch your bag tight as you begin to sprint towards the gates. Miyaka and Raiden follow suit staggeringly. The former is shouting for you to slow down while the latter grumbled annoyedly to himself about regretting his decision to come.

The bus ride from Shiratorizawa to the Sendai City Gymnasium was fortunately quick. Though the game has probably already started, you still drag Miyaka and Raiden into a convenience store so you can get some snacks to give to Tobio after the game. Miyaka doesn't miss this opportunity to tease you further about being head-over-heels in love with your best friend, which you tried to ignore but couldn't help getting defensive over. 

After paying for your stuff, you practically yank the two of them by their shirts into the stadium.

By the time you've arrived at the stands, the whole place is already buzzing with cheers from the crowd. There aren't many supporters because it's only the preliminaries but the air is still thick with excitement and anticipation.

It takes you three seconds to locate Karasuno's black and orange uniform in the court. The first set of their game against Kakugawa has already started. The scoreboard tells you that Kakugawa is leading at 2-0, though years of playing volleyball has taught you that it's still too early to gauge the trajectory of the game.

"That's Karasuno." You tell your companions, pointing at the court in front of you.

"Uh-huh, and which one's your boyfriend?" Miyaka cranes her neck and squints her near-sighted eyes to see the players better.

"Not a boyfriend." You remind her. "He's. No. 9."

"So tall!" You hear Miyaka emit a yelp. You follow her gaze and realize she's not looking at Tobio— she's looking at the opposing team's No. 9, who is probably the tallest high schooler you've ever laid your eyes on. He could be about two-meters tall, maybe even more. For a moment, you wonder what this would mean for Karasuno— a two-meter giant like that is surely a pain to play against. You'd hate to see Tobio's team lose just because of the overwhelming advantage Kakugawa has.

"I meant the black team's No. 9." You nudge her by the shoulder and point at Tobio in the other side of the court who is currently conversing with his teammates about what to do during the next rally. During his years at Kitagawa Daichi, he used to despise communicating with his team, but now you can see that he has changed so drastically. He looks more confident now, more open. You smile at this realization.

Miyaka nods approvingly upon seeing Tobio, commenting that he's tall and cute. She even goes as far as to say that he suits you perfectly and that you look good together, which elicits a flustered squeak from you.

You remain silent after that. You follow Tobio's form as he expertly maneuvers the ball across the court. You cheer whenever Karasuno scores and gasps in dejection whenever the other team does. You don't think Tobio knows you're here yet— not once has he looked at your direction since you arrived, not that you're expecting him to look for you. You understand completely well that the only thing that has his undistracted attention during the game is the ball itself.

Raiden grumbles about you being too loud, but you beg to differ— you're just getting fired up. Little does he know that your loudest cheer is yet to come.

The first time you see Tobio and Hinata's new quick attack is when you lose your mind, screaming and applauding until both your throat and palms felt sore. It's just so thrilling to see it firsthand, especially as a former setter yourself. Normal people may see it and think it's just a flashy move, but you know how much precision and concentration a setter has to master before executing such a technique. 

Your best friend really is a genius.

"Nice toss, Tobio!" You shout. You doubt he heard you among the collective astonishment of the crowd. You're so fired up that Raiden has to poke you on your ribs to bring you to reality.

After that first quick attack, your focus is now entirely on the game, occasionally turning to Miyaka whenever she has some technical questions about what's going on in the court. Even though you learned that she's dating Tendou Satori, she doesn't seem to be all that informed about volleyball yet. Raiden remains quiet as he leans against the hand rail, observing the game with a bored countenance— though there's this one instance when he groans disappointedly when Karasuno's ace botched his jump serve. You find it amusing that this Shiratorizawa student has started rooting for Karasuno as well.

You're here to support Karasuno as a whole but you still can't help being biased. You can't seem to tear your gaze away from Tobio— so much so that the other members of the team seem like faceless characters in the background. You see them all moving and you're aware of each member's efforts but you're bewitched by Tobio. You can't not look at him.

All that changed, however, when he steals the crowd's attention with a monster kill block.

For the first time that day, your focus settles on Tsukishima. 

Honestly speaking, you kind of forgot he was even in the team. If it weren't for that superb kill block he did, you would have went along the entire game not acknowledging his existence. All of a sudden, though, the attention you're giving Tobio isn't undivided anymore— Tsukishima has half of it now.

"Whoa, he stopped that ball all by himself like what Satori does." You hear Miyaka observe beside you in awe.

Tsukishima doesn't seem unfazed nor thrilled after winning that mid-air battle. He maintains his cool mien even as his team surround him joyously. He goes back to position, adjusts his glasses, and prepares for the next rally as if he didn't just effectively shut down the opponent's spiker all on his own. If you were playing against him, you'd be extremely annoyed at how calm he is.

Still, despite alternating your focus on Tobio and Tsukishima, the former still has your unrelenting support. When he and Hinata ended the first set with yet another freak quick, you didn't know your scream was the loudest. Only when Miyaka laughed at you about it did you mellow down and opted for clapping your hands instead.

The second set is just as gripping as the first, maybe even more. You got to see for the first time Karasuno do a synchronous attack and whenever they do, your eyes unknowingly follow Tsukishima run up to the net and jump with the intent of spiking. The blonde is a great blocker but he's also an effective spiker with his height and ball control. You find yourself cheering and clapping whenever he scores.

Miyaka notices by the second set that your loudest applause are reserved for Tobio and Tsukishima, and sometimes the occasional gasp of astonishment for Hinata's amazing reflexes. The other Karasuno members are amazing players in their own right but you seem more ardently supporting the aforementioned two.

After Tsukishima scores with a block-out, you bring your hands to your mouth and shout a rather impressed "nice kill". By this, Miyaka taps your shoulder to get your attention, and she wastes no time asking forthrightly if you know the blonde. You respond by saying that you have met him before but choose not to elaborate further. Fortunately for you, Miyaka doesn't press any more. You can only imagine how excruciating her teasing would be if she knew the nature of how you met Tsukishima.

After Hinata scores the final point in favor of Karasuno, you and Miyaka find yourselves hugging each other in glee. You have probably rubbed off your enthusiasm on her because she asks if you'd accompany her to watch Shiratorizawa's game at the qualifiers to which you happily agree. Even Raiden who looked disinterested throughout the whole game is joining in on the applause, evidently enjoying the match more than what he expected.

"We still on for barbecue?" 

"I am kinda hungry so I guess I'll go with you." Raiden shrugs. The three of you make your way down the stairs as the crowd starts dispersing.

"I'm coming, too. I'll just congratulate Tobio and give him the snacks I bought. I won't be long." 

"You're hopeless." You see Raiden shake his head mockingly.

"I think it's cute." Miyaka simpers. "You don't understand these things yet because you're single since birth, Rai."

You almost remind her that you are also single since birth and Tobio is not your boyfriend, but you feel like you've reiterated that fact enough that it's getting annoyingly redundant.

"You go on ahead, Y/N. We're gonna go to the rest rooms because I'm gonna freshen up and Rai has to splash cold water to his face to wipe off that hideous scowl. Just meet us there?"

"Okay! Be back in a jiffy!" With this, you're off speed walking to the direction of the corridor where you remember players keep their baggage in. You've been in this stadium a lot when you were in middle school that you still have the whole place memorized.

It takes you two minutes to see Tobio. He's still in his uniform so you locate him right away among the other players that are coming and going. He has his back turned on you, head downcast as he adjusts his bag that is slung over his shoulder.

You tiptoe to where he is. The surrounding chatter of other boys in the vicinity makes your arrival all the more unnoticeable.

"So, that's your new quick attack, huh?"

Tobio wheels around upon hearing your voice. His default scowl is replaced by a smirk once he sees that it's you who has spoken.

"Impressed?" You can see his ego radiating off of him like an aura.

"It's alright." You shrug in faux nonchalance.

"Liar. I heard you screaming louder than everyone earlier."

You blush profusely at that. You knew you were loud (Raiden wasted no opportunity calling you out on it), but you didn't know Tobio heard you all the way down the court. His other teammates must have heard you too and thought you were crazy. The mere thought of it is enough to make you cringe in embarrassment. 

"Okay, fine. It was pretty neat." You finally admit, rolling your eyes. "Congrats on getting through the preliminaries. You guys deserved it."

Tobio grins, the kind that is laced with a dangerous amount of smugness. If you didn't know him at all, you would be offended rather than pleased when he says his thanks. 

"Here, I got you this." You rummage through your bag and give him a paper bag from the convenience store you went into earlier. Inside are a bottle of sports drink and three protein bars— all his favorite brand and flavor, you made sure of that.

Tobio thanks you as he rips open a protein bar with his teeth before biting into it. He demolishes the bar in two enormous bites which prompts you to berate him for eating too quickly lest he wants to choke to death. You threaten to take back the remaining two protein bars if he doesn't slow down. He argues with you with his mouth full, spewing unintelligible protests and half-chewed oats alike as he raises the paper bag out of your reach.

That scene may have been a little too loud because from behind Tobio, a mop of orange hair pops out to investigate the small commotion.

"What's happening here— Kageyama! You went to buy snacks without me?" Hinata seems to be more offended upon seeing Kageyama's stuffed face. 

Tobio shakes his head and juts his thumb at your direction, trying to say without words that it's you who gave the snacks to him. Hinata blinks as he registers your presence for the first time.

"Shiratorizawa?" His gaze lingers for a second on the shirt you're wearing which is purple with the academy's emblem printed on the front— the same shirt Miyaka and Raiden are wearing today. Since it's summer break, you don't have to wear your school uniform while doing club work inside campus but every once in a while, Miyaka still orders the club to wear the purple shirt, probably only for aesthetic reasons.

"Hey, is she your girlfriend?" Hinata tiptoes so he can whisper to Tobio's ear. It's not really a whisper because you can still hear it, and probably other people in the vicinity heard it too. 

"She's just a friend, dumbass." Tobio barks at the small middle blocker.

"Hi. I'm Y/N." You take it upon you to introduce yourself with a bow.

The middle blocker visibly stiffens when you speak, his entire face erupting into a shade of scarlet that has you worrying if he's okay.

"Hinata Shoyo! N-n-nice to meet you, too!" He squeaks.

"What's that I hear? Kageyama has a girlfriend?" Tobio's other teammate with the No. 2 jersey enters the scene from the benches you didn't realize he was sitting on, almost hopping to where you are to take a closer look at you. Either Hinata's voice was too loud or No. 2 just has superhuman hearing.

"She's not my girlfriend, Sugawara-san." Tobio says a-matter-of-factly.

It kind of annoys you how Tobio never shows emotion whenever he denies being your girlfriend— something he does more often than you would have realized. It's always robotic, as if he's reciting from a user manual for a build-your-own furniture. It's annoying to you because you're the exact opposite— when someone insinuates that you and Tobio are a couple, you're always reduced to a blushing mess. It's just so unfair, you think. How come he's not bothered by it at all?

"Y/N, is it? I'm Sugawara, Kageyama's senpai." He grins proudly as he puts his arm over Tobio's shoulder, making the latter stiffen uncomfortably.

"Nice to meet you." You bow to the silver-haired boy.

"Oh? You're from Shiratorizawa." He parrots the observation Hinata had earlier.

"Yes, I'm a first year student there."

"I bet you guys are bummed out that your volleyball team didn't get Kageyama-kun here." Sugawara looks smug in a way that is lighthearted.

"I don't think they're bummed out, Sugawara-san. They're the ones who rejected me." Tobio's reply has you snorting. How did he manage to say that as seriously as he did?

"And they're definitely regretting that now, no?" Sugawara gave Tobio's back a rather loud smack which is supposed to be an encouraging pat.

"Where are the rest of your team?" You ask out of curiosity. It seems like Tobio, Hinata, and Sugawara are the only Karasuno players around. The absence of a certain blonde doesn't go unnoticed by you.

"Rest room, probably, or watching the remaining games.", came Tobio's curt reply.

"I think Asahi and Daichi are getting drinks from the vending machines." Sugawara quips in, looking at his wristwatch. "Now that I think of it, I've been waiting for my soda for twenty minutes now. Where the hell are those guys?"

Suddenly, as if on cue, a boisterous and rather obnoxious laughter rings from the other side of the hallway. Karasuno's No. 5 and No. 4 are loudly joshing around with the rest of Karasuno in tow. 

It's hard not to spot him among his teammates. He stands out with his towering height and striking blonde hair. Tsukishima currently has his headphones on, scrolling on his phone with his hand tucked inside his pants pocket. He has already changed out of his uniform and into a plain white shirt and black trousers.

You're having a hard time registering the fact that the two of you are gonna see each other again— not that you're entirely opposed to it. The boy has definitely earned a considerable percentage of your trust after he had walked you home last night. Maybe you could thank him again for that. You just don't know how you're gonna open up that conversation. Even thinking about how awkward it would be already has you cringing already.

You debate with yourself whether or not you should get away now. You are not necessarily avoiding Tsukishima. It's just that after the events of last night, you feel like meeting him again would be a painful kind of awkward. You'd hoped that the interaction you two had wouldn't have a sequel. You're grateful for what he did for you but you were already so embarrassed about it, and having to interact with him again would just relive that in your memory.

By the time you've made your decision to scram, the incoming group is already a few feet away. Tsukishima peels his gaze away from his phone once the group has stopped in front of Sugawara who is giddy to get his soda he's been waiting on for twenty minutes. You instinctively let Tobio's body cover your own, not wanting to let your presence known just yet. Meeting new people, especially a lot of them, is particularly overwhelming for you.

At first, Tsukishima doesn't see you as he takes his headphones off and let it hang on his neck. A tall freckled boy is currently talking to him, stealing his attention. You don't realize you've been staring at Tsukishima. It is only when he felt the ghost prickle of a pair of eyes trained on him did he look at your direction. When he meets your gaze, it is you who is the more shocked. Hazel eyes fix on yours. If he is the least bit surprised to see you, he doesn't let it show. His expression doesn't change as his gaze lingers on you for a second before turning back to the boy whom we was conversing with.

Immediately, you cower even further behind Tobio.

"I should probably go now." You say, careful not to let your presence more known than it already is. 

Your voice is soft, barely above whisper. By the looks of things, it is only Kageyama, Sugawara, Hinata, and Tsukishima who know that you're there. You're hiding behind Tobio (Sugawara and Hinata are stood beside him so their figures unknowingly conceal you too). The rest of the boys are oblivious of you— you're thankful for the loud No. 4 and No. 5 duo for diverting the team's attention with a most likely exaggerated story about a heated altercation with a rival team they bumped into at the rest rooms.

"Where are you going?" It's Kageyama's voice that catches the attention of the group. You could have slipped quietly without anyone noticing if he hasn't spoken. Curse him and his megaphone voice.

You're suddenly aware of a dozen or so pairs of eyes trained on you.

"Who's this?" It is No. 4, the libero, who pops the question. He's elbowing No. 5 whose eyes look like they've seen stars once they lay on you. 

"Uh, sorry... I'm L/N Y/N. It's nice to meet you all." You really should have gotten away while you had the chance

"L/N? As in L/N Hotaru's daughter?" No. 5 has his eyes widened, his finger pointing at you. "You're the Darling Setter! I knew you looked familiar!"

"Right! L/N Y/N, I remember now. You were on Volleyball Monthly!", points out Sugawara. "Your hair was so much shorter back then. I almost didn't recognize you."

A part of you wished that they didn't. You're not at all accustomed anymore to people recognizing you as the Darling Setter. All you can do is smile awkwardly as the boys seem to renew their interest on you. You can see Tobio silently laughing, amused at how you looked uncomfortable at the spotlight.

Hinata is probably the most impressed. He's practically jumping up and down in front of you, his eyes twinkling as if he is star struck. 

"You're the L/N Y/N? My sister saw you on the television last year. She thought you were very pretty and wanted to be like you!"

"R-really?" You stammer out, both flattered and disbelieving.

"Yeah! Her name's Natsu. She's only 9 years old but she's already interested in volleyball, and she wants to—"

"Oi, can't you see she's uncomfortable?" Tobio butts in, glaring at Hinata's enthusiasm.

You're not really uncomfortable, per se. You're just not used to the attention anymore. Back when you were in middle school, you absolutely adored being in the center of it, not so much now that you're in high school.

"It's fine." You assure your best friend.

"I appreciate that, Hinata. Please tell Natsu I say hi." Hinata beams at your response.

No. 4 and No. 5 are nudging each other on the ribs, wordlessly working out which of them gets to talk to you first. You watch, amused, how they try to muster the courage to step forward and talk to you. They must really have no experience talking with girls, judging by how they're struggling right now.

"Don't you two try anything funny. She's Kageyama's girlfriend." Sugawara wags a finger at the two of them and they exclaim both their surprise and what could only be disappointment. 

"She's not." Tobio denies as nonchalantly as ever before tipping his head back to drink from the sports drink you gave him.

"Kageyama, you lucky bastard!" 

"Way to go, Kageyama!"

The two have apparently ignored his denial.

Your eyes are casted down to your shoes so you don't see the way Tsukishima raises his eyebrow a millimeter upon hearing what Sugawara said. Not only that— he narrows his eyes ever so slightly when he sees your dejected reaction at Tobio's response.

"Wait, so are you or are you not his girlfriend?" It's No. 4 who speaks this time.

Before you could open your mouth to speak, two fists smack on top of No. 4 and No.5's heads. The fists belong to whom you recognize is the team's captain.

"Nishinoya, Tanaka," He growls warningly. "Stop harassing her or else I'll have the two of you run laps on our next training."

Nishinoya and Tanaka mutter their apology with a bow and you wave them off, saying that it's really no problem. For some reason, they also turn to apologize to Tobio who just stared at them in utter confusion, biting on his protein bar without saying a word.

Some of Tobio's teammates start conversing with you, too— nothing much, just questions that are more for the sake of either being polite or genuine curiosity than anything else. 

"H-hello. You've mastered the jump floater serve, right? What's the technique so it doesn't end up doing a topspin, if you don't mind me asking?" The tall boy Tsukishima was talking to earlier approaches you. You'll soon learn that his name is Yamaguchi. He still seems shy. You can very clearly see his cheeks dusted in pink and he stutters out the majority of words in his sentences, but he makes an effort to talk to you nevertheless. Ironically enough, seeing that he's more nervous than you melts away your own uneasiness.

By this time, all your nerves and apprehension about meeting Tobio's team has dissipated. It's easy to talk with them because they're nice people, treating you with respect and friendliness. You're thankful for them for not asking too many questions about your ex-Olympian father— you're proud of him but talking about him is taxing and quite repetitive sometimes.

Yamaguchi and Hinata are specifically the two who kept the conversation going. You've built a rapport with them maybe because they're first-years such as yourself. Yamaguchi is now asking you if the entrance exam to Shiratorizawa was really as hard as everyone said it was. He visibly blanched when you said that the exam gave you a  headache that lasted for days. Hinata, however, is more curious about your volleyball career. When you told the orange-haired middle blocker that you're not part of any volleyball club right now, his eyes widened to the size of saucers. He voices out that it's such a waste of talent. He has a way with wording out his compliments that you feel yourself blushing pathetically. Tobio just stands beside you through it all, munching on his protein bar as he listens to you talk with his teammates and occasionally adding to the conversation if his input is needed.

It doesn't take long before you're laughing quite freely with them.

Through the whole ordeal, Tsukishima has backed away from the group unnoticed. He is currently leaning against the wall a few feet away, his headphones fit snuggly on his ears but the music is turned off. Scrolling aimlessly on his phone has lost its appeal by now and he wishes he'd brought his PSP with him to pass time.

Every couple of minutes or so, you steal a glance at Tsukishima. He's the only one from the team who hasn't said a word to you, not even a polite greeting. You were a bit anxious at the prospect of talking to him again, but now that he clearly has no plan to even spare you a minute of his time, you feel quite annoyed. The two of you are not friends, probably not even acquaintances— but still, after the events of last night, you expect him to at least not treat you like a stranger.

It's not like you want him to approach you and be all chummy. You just want him to acknowledge you, maybe with a nod of recognition or even a small wave of his hand wouldn't hurt. Heck, you even cheered for him at their game earlier. You weren't being subtle with it, too. You were screaming until your throat was raw— he definitely heard you supporting him. The only explanation is he just doesn't care and he just doesn't know how to behave like a decent human being.

Maybe you were wrong when you thought he wasn't half as bad last night. Maybe you were too lenient on your judgment when he is utterly and very clearly just a jerk. 

You look away from him with a huff. If he doesn't want to be your friend (or at the very least, an acquaintance), then it's most definitely his loss and not yours.

From the corner of your eyes, you see two purple figures standing at the hall's entrance. The Shiratorizawa shirt that Miyaka and Raiden are wearing are hard to miss. Miyaka waves at you once you make eye contact with her. They must have been waiting by the rest rooms for quite some time for them to come looking for you. This is as good a cue as any to say leave.

"I really have to go, Tobio. Some club officers and I made plans to get barbecue."

"You won't come over for dinner?" He asks, his head tilted to the side. You're vaguely aware of Hinata and Sugawara suddenly whispering among themselves upon hearing that.

"No, sorry. They're already waiting for me. It'd be rude if I cancelled now." You nod at the direction of your two senpai standing a few feet away, emphasizing your point.

"Mom is expecting you for tonight. " He shrugs but you don't miss the small pout he makes. "But whatever, it's your call."

"I suppose I could swing by later if we finish at the yakiniku place early?" It came off more like a bargain than a suggestion.

"But you'd be full by then."

"I'll save room, don't worry." You cheekily respond with a light chuckle. "I guess I'll see you later?"

Tobio ends the conversation with a nod and a short "okay".

With this, you turn to the rest of the group. They're not looking at either you or Tobio but you know that they heard your conversation. They must feel like they've being privy to something intimate, which you can assure them that they're not. Hinata is biting his bottom lip, clearly stopping himself from commenting anything. Sugawara is whistling as his eyes flit to the toe cap of his shoes. Nishinoya and Tanaka are having a hard time closing their mouths as they continue to gape at Tobio. All of them a clearly still under the impression that you are his girlfriend.

"It's nice meeting you all." You say to the group and you're met with a chorus of pleasantries.

"Bye, Hinata, Yamaguchi!" You wave specifically at the two freshmen whom you've bonded with the most.

You bow at the rest before turning on your heels and walking away. You don't see the way Tsukishima's eyes follow your retreating figure.

You're at least twenty feet away when Sugawara's hand finds the crown of Tobio's head, ruffling his hair roughly. "You dog! She's definitely your girlfriend. You're inviting her over for dinner!"

"I really envy you right now, Kageyama!"

"I wish I had a girlfriend too."

"Teach us your ways!"

The pandemonium that ensues after you left could be something out of a comedy skit. They're simply refusing to believe Tobio when he says over and over, almost pleadingly, that you are just his best friend. Tobio isn't the type to raise his voice at his upperclassmen so Hinata took the brunt of his fury when the setter reached his breaking point. 

You would have found it hilarious how your best friend chased Hinata around, kicking the poor boy on the shin when he finally caught up to him. 

You would also definitely appreciate the way Tobio blushed uncontrollably as his teammates continued to jeer and tease, if only you had seen it.

You apologize profusely to your two upperclassmen when you finally reach them, saying that you lost track of time talking to the Karasuno players. However, they don't seem at all angry about your tardiness. In contrary, they have a glint in their eyes that tell you they're amused about something.

"For a non-girlfriend, you sure looked a lot like a girlfriend back there." Raiden says with a roll of his eyes . You didn't realize they've been watching the whole ordeal all this time.

"Huh?"

"He's right, Y/N. I mean, think about it— not only did you watch his game, you also bought him after-game snacks. Not to mention he introduced you to his teammates." Miyaka links her arm to yours as the three of you start making your way to the stadium's exit. "It's like this unspoken rule among athletes' girlfriends, and you should trust me on this because I'm an athlete's girlfriend."

You manage to let out an incredulous scoff. "You guys are being ridiculous. It's no big deal, really. I've been doing it for him since we were in middle school."

"Woof, that's rough." Raiden whistles. "So, you've been doing girlfriend duties since middle school but he hasn't asked you to be his girlfriend yet?"

"It's not that simple." You groan, both exasperatedly and bashfully.

"How is that not simple? You like him and by the looks of things, he likes you, too." It's Miyaka who speaks this time.

"He likes me?" It's really cringe and embarrassing that that's what you took away from her statement.

"It's really obvious," She says without hesitation. "I have a good eye on this kind of stuff. Trust me, he likes you."

You stay silent for a few seconds to ponder on her words. You'd be lying if you said that you haven't been fantasizing about Tobio liking you back. The idea just seems farfetched, especially since it's Tobio of all people. He has the emotional capacity of a grain of rice.

You try your best to think nothing of it. You will just end up getting hurt if you believe what they're saying. You don't want to feed yourself blind hope, especially if there's nothing to back up their claim.

"He doesn't." You mumble, feeling your heart sink. It is with a painful acceptance do you realize that you believe that sentence wholeheartedly.

Miyaka and Raiden look at each other, communicating silently. They're one of the closest friends you have in school. All those times you spent in the club room slaving away projects upon projects really strengthened your bond with them. They are probably the next people who know you best after Tobio.

"Why do you seem so sure? You haven't even confessed yet." Raiden says with a scoff.

"I'm not gonna confess because I know he'll just reject me. It'll ruin everything and I don't want that to happen. It's too risky."  You're now past denying that you do like Tobio. It's actually quite refreshing for you to talk about your feelings for him this openly. You feel as if a weight has been lifted off your shoulders after years of hopeless pining.

"Wow. You really are stupid."

"Rai-san!" You cry out, clearly offended.

"You have a mirror, don't you? You're fully aware that you're pretty and if you disagree with that, either you have brain damage or just really dense. You're smart, you're hella good at volleyball— you're also, like, his number one fan. Tell me, what more could he want?" Raiden taps his finger on your temple. "Think, Y/N. If he had any ideal girl, it would be you."

You're always so surprised whenever Raiden shows his supportive side, albeit the way he delivered it could have been nicer and less abrasive. He always seems so negative and snarky, but when he does say something nice, you know it's genuine. Miyaka can only nod her head vigorously in agreement.

"Aw, Rai-san!" You throw yourself at him and engulf him in an embrace. You hear him grumble in protest but he allows you to hug him nevertheless.

"Rai has never said anything nice like that to me. I'm actually really jealous" Miyaka says with a soft pout. "What he said is true, though. You're the perfect girl for Tobio and I'm sure he already knows that. You should confess and see how it goes."

"I-I don't know." You bite your bottom lip. "I need time to think about it."

"You'll have plenty of time to think about it while we eat barbecue. I'm absolutely starving. How about you two slowpokes hurry up before all the good tables are taken, yeah?" With this, Miyaka tugs you by the arm as she speed walks. You don't protest because the grumbling in your stomach tells you that you're getting quite hungry too.

Your trio reach the exit of the stadium and you're fortunate enough to catch a bus immediately. The topic of Tobio is momentarily set aside as Raiden shows you a video he took of Miyaka napping in the club room, a steady stream of drool coming out of her open mouth. Raiden even threatens that he'd send the video to Tendou, which obviously rattles Miyaka. Her face turns into a bright shade of red, demanding Raiden to delete that video or she would make sure he regretted it.

You and Raiden laugh hysterically, so much so that the other passengers on the bus give you the side-eye. Miyaka looks like she's gonna exolode with embarrassment as she tries to pry Raiden's phone from his hands. 

It's moments like these that allow you to breathe without anxiety. You don't even realize that today, you have completely forgotten about the fact that you're gonna move to Tokyo soon. You're glad that you have Miyaka and Raiden to distract you from that.

Dinner with your two upperclassmen was great. You talked about various stuff, though you notice that they didn't bring up Tobio anymore— they must have sensed that you weren't comfortable talking about him so they let it be. However, Miyaka did say that if ever you need help confessing to your best friend, she'd be glad to help. You thank her for her offer but you're not quite sure if you're even gonna go about doing it. You still have to be sure about what to do next before making a move.

You didn't fill up on yakiniku despite your stomach protesting because you promised Tobio you'd still come over for dinner at his house. Miyaka and Raiden didn't hold back, though. They ordered so many meat and side dishes that you had to try your best not to look so envious.

Once the three of you are done, you take a bus home. You plan on showering first before going to Tobio's house so you don't look so haggard, at least.

You see your Mom's car in the driveway once you arrive home. She's home early, you think to yourself. She usually goes home at 8 PM or later.

Your Mom pops out of the kitchen once she hears you're back home. She's bobbing a tea bag up and down her steaming cup while her face is covered in a seaweed mask that's part of her weekly skincare routine.

"How's that yakiniku place? Is it any good?"

You texted her a few hours ago that you'd get yakiniku with your club mates so she doesn't have to wait for you at dinner.

"A bit pricey but worth it, I guess. We should go there sometime, Mom."

"How about lunch on Sunday? We could go shopping at the mall after. What do you think?"

"Sounds good." You smile. There's a voice in your head that says she's only trying to compensate for the whole moving to Tokyo thing. Quite frankly, you're still mad at her about that, but you also know she only has your best interest at heart. You try to understand her position.

"I'm gonna go shower and go to Tobio's. He invited me for dinner." You say as you make your way to your room.

"Do you really have to go? You've already eaten and you were just at his house last night." She follows you until she's leaning against your room's doorframe.

"I could still eat. Besides, I think it's a special dinner since Tobio's team got through the preliminaries. He told me his mother was expecting me. I couldn't say no, could I?"

Your mother takes a sip from her tea. "Well, as long as he invited you and you're not imposing."

You don't respond after that. You're rummaging through your closet in search for specific articles of clothing you want to be wearing tonight.

"Hey, Mom? Have you seen my beige shirt? The long-sleeved one? Oh, no, wait— I forgot I haven't washed it yet."

You hear your Mom click her tongue. "It's in the laundry room. I added everything in your hamper to the load when I washed my coats last night. If I didn't, you wouldn't have anything to wear for this week. Sometimes I wonder what you would do without me."

The relief that courses through you is overwhelming. "Thanks, Mom! You're the best!"

You practically sprint to the laundry room to retrieve your shirt. Your Mom yells after you to take all your folded laundry to your room so you wouldn't have to return for them later. You come back to your room with a basket of your now clean laundry, the smell of vanilla fabric conditioner wafting through the room.

"Who's Kei?"

You cock your head to the side in confusion. "Kei?"

"There was a handkerchief in your hamper with the name Kei embroidered on it. It should be in there somewhere." She motions to the laundry basket. "Why do you have it in the first place?"

It takes you a couple of seconds to find said handkerchief. When Tsukishima gave it to you last night, you didn't know it was embroidered with his name— you can only assume that Kei is his first name from context. You're just realizing that you didn't ask him for his first name. You just knew him as Tsukishima.

"So, who's Kei and why do you have his handkerchief?" Your Mom repeats the question.

You tell her with a shrug that it's the boy who walked you home last night. You also tell her what happened in the café but deliberately omit the part about him giving you the handkerchief because you'd been crying, replacing it with a lie that you'd spilled water on yourself instead. 

You examine the handkerchief for the first time since it was given to you. You didn't get to take a good look at it last night. The word Kei is embroidered in forest green thread at the bottom right corner. You wonder how you managed to miss it.

"I thought it was Tobio-kun who walked you home?"

"No, Mom. It was this other boy. He's Tobio's teammate, actually."

"I see. It was very dark. I just thought Tobio-kun grew a lot taller since I last saw him." She muses. "So, is this Kei boy a suitor?"

You bite back an incredulous laugh. "No way."

"A special friend, then?" You don't even know what she means by that.

"Definitely not."

You see your mother shrug from where she is leaning on your doorway. "Still, seems like he likes you enough to let you keep something that expensive."

You frown, confused. "Huh?"

"That's CLASSICS the Small Luxury." She points at the square fabric you're holding. "That's, what, ¥2000 a piece, give or take? The embroidery definitely cost extra, too. He probably paid around ¥3000 for that one."

"Who would pay ¥3000 for one friggin' handkerchief?" You almost shriek in disbelief.

"It's really good quality, you know. It's probably 100% cotton, too. Back when I was in med school, these handkerchiefs were all the hype. All my girl friends had one. I didn't. I was broke and could only afford those 6-in-1 packs you could buy at convenience stores." She laughed at the memory, her hand covering her mouth ever so daintily.

Tsukishima's voice rings inside your head.

"A single slice of cake is nowhere near the value of that handkerchief." 

You just thought he was either lying or exaggerating.

Your phone buzzes on your bedside table, taking your attention away from the conversation. You catch a glimpse of Tobio's consecutive texts on the notification bar.

tobio: you still coming?

tobio: mom made tiramisu for dessert

You fold the handkerchief neatly and set it inside your drawer. The brand name CLASSICS The Small Luxury is printed right below the embroidery, another detail you've missed. You're definitely gonna be returning it to Tsukishima. As much as you appreciate him letting you keep it, you can't, not when it's worth ¥3000 with his own name embroidered on it.

How you're gonna return it to him, you still have no idea. You'll have to think of ways to get in contact with him again. You could very easily ask Tobio to give Tsukishima the handkerchief the  next time they see each other, but it would be quite rude and offending to the owner if you didn't return the handkerchief personally. It's the least you can do after he let you use it when you needed it last night.

You make a mental note to ask Tobio for Tsukishima's number or home address. You'll worry about it later. For now, you really must hurry up if you still want to catch dinner at the Kageyama's.

You shower and get changed. Before leaving the house, you inform your mother that you'd be home before 9 PM— you're feeling quite guilty for storming out last night and getting home late so you give yourself an early curfew tonight as compensation. Your mother is still a little worried that you're taking advantage of the Kageyamas' hospitality, but you reassure her that it's fine and Tobio's family won't call child services on her.

You leave the house after Tobio sends you another text saying that his mother asks what time you'll be arriving.  There's extra spring in your steps as you take the familiar route to his house— probably because you're excited to eat Mrs. Kageyama's cooking, or perhaps it's because you're giddy at the prospect of having dinner again with the boy you have a hopeless crush on. It's probably one or the other. It also could be both.

Tobio's Mom is preparing a feast, judging by the mingling scents of various dishes wafting throughout the whole house. She went overboard this time that you kind of regret having yakiniku earlier.

You offer to help Tobio's Mom and Miwa in the kitchen but the two women just wave you off, telling you to go relax and have some refreshments that they've prepared in the living room. Tobio's Dad is sitting on the couch, watching a baseball game on the television. He's so captivated by the game, shouting at the screen whenever his favorite team scores, that you feel like it would be rude if you sat down beside him and ruined the moment.

Tobio opens and closes his mouth, thinking of how to tell his father to scoot on the sofa. Even Tobio himself is scared of his father, it seems, because he remains quiet and accepts defeat instead.

"Let's go to my room?" He says beside you once he sees that his father won't be making room in the sofa for the two of you any time soon.

You follow him up the stairs and into his room which you've been in countless times before. Unlike those other times, however, you're now feeling a bit queasy as you enter. You hate the fact that going into your best friend's room is putting non-innocent thoughts inside your head now, something that you didn't worry about a year ago.

 Tobio plops down on his swivel chair as you make your way to his bed. The door is left wide open— you don't have to be told to do that, it's just courtesy and muscle memory from all the times Tobio has invited you to his room.

You unceremoniously collapse onto his bed, taking last month's issue of Shonen Jump from his bedside table with you. You don't particularly enjoy the way your stomach does a back flip when you smell a faint trace of his cologne on his bed sheets. You try to ignore it by flipping through the Jump's pages, trying to find any new manga to distract yourself with.

Tobio must have seen you so engrossed in reading that he felt like reading too. You hear the rustling of paper as he takes out an issue of Volleyball Monthly from his bookshelf. You immediately recognize it as the issue where you were featured in.

A sly smirk appears on your lips. "Turn to page 17. You'll see a very pretty girl there."

Kageyama already knows what you're talking about before he even turned to said page. "What girl? I only see a hobgoblin holding a volleyball."

"Jerk." You chuck a throw pillow at him which would have landed square on his face had he not ducked to avoid it.

There was a couple of minutes of silence disturbed only by you turning pages and Tobio playing on his Nintendo DSi— he quickly grew bored of looking at Volleyball Monthly and fished the console from his drawer. His attention span is comparable to that of a chicken, you think to yourself as you watch him play with the handheld device. Compared to when he was reading the magazine, Tobio looks a lot more entertained playing Bomberman Blitz.

"We've improved, haven't we? My team, I mean." Tobio suddenly says while his brows are furrowed in concentration at his game.

You look up from what you're reading. "Yep, it's scary how much you guys evolved. I should probably warn our volleyball team about you. I'm sure Ushijima-san would want to know what kind of techniques you have under your sleeves."

He gives you a glare that could have killed a weak-willed soul.

"I'm kidding! They'll just have to find out how much stronger you've gotten when they face you in the finals."

Tobio snorts. "We'll beat them for sure."

"You always say that but what's your plan, though? Do you have any tactics to beat Ushijima-san?" You inquire curiously.

Tobio presses pause on his Nintendo, cradling his chin in thought. "Well, none of us can beat him one-on-one so we'll have to work on our three-man block more, but aside from that, our floor defense is pretty solid. Nishinoya-san and Daichi-san could definitely receive some of his spikes, so I'm not too worried about that."

"You really don't think anyone on your team could block him?" You ask and he just shakes his head. "Don't you have faith in your middle blockers?"

He stares at you as if you've just asked a very stupid question. "Have you seen our middle blockers?"

"Hinata does good when it comes to offense but he's absolutely worthless when it comes to blocking and receiving. He's fast and jumps high but that's about all he can do.

And then there's Tsukishima"

Your attention is snatched when you hear the blonde's name. "What about him?"

"He just... doesn't try." Tobio simply says. "He has the height for it, he has good game sense too, but he gives up way too easily. If only he's pushing himself a little harder, we could strengthen our defense a lot more."

"I see."

"Don't even get me started on his rotten attitude. He's a sarcastic dick, thinking he's smarter than everyone. You would hate him too if you'd met him."

You almost tell Tobio that you have indeed met him, but judging by the way his face contorts in disgust when talking about the blonde, it won't be such a good idea.

You've seen Tsukishima play today. You're not saying that Tobio is wrong, but you definitely do not see the blonde 'giving up way too easily'. On their match against Kakugawa, Tsukishima looked focused and motivated— granted, he didn't look as enthusiastic as Tobio or Hinata, but he still seemed like he was enjoying the game. Though, you can't disagree about what Tobio said about Tsukishima being a sarcastic dick— that one was definitely correct.

But maybe, Tobio is not entirely wrong. He obviously knows Tsukishima better than you. The only instance you ever see him play is during official matches. You have no idea how he is like during practice.

"Hey, Tobio? When's your training gonna start again?"

"We have one on Saturday. Why do you ask?"

"Can I come and watch?" You try to make your shrug look as casually as it can when in reality, you're starting to get nervous about your bold request.

Tobio thinks about it for a second before nodding. "Sure."

You have no idea what your end game is when you asked to come to their practice. 

You do know one thing, though— you're gonna see Tsukishima again and it's gonna be the best opportunity to give him back his handkerchief.

The Nintendo DSi narrowly misses your thigh as Tobio chucks it on the bed. A second later, the impact of his body weight hitting the mattress causes you to almost fall off. He's spread-eagled on the bed with his face turned up to the ceiling. He's so close that you can feel the warmth of his body on your own skin.

"Wanna have a go?" He jabs the Nintendo blindingly at you, his eyes still fixated upward. 

You take the console out of his hand and starts a new game. It's harder than you remember it being, or maybe you just haven't played it in a while. This old Nintendo model's buttons are difficult to press, you tell yourself as the character dies yet again— not your fault but the console's. You restart only to die at the same spot.

"You're horrible at this." Tobio snickers. You've been glued to the game for the past minute that you didn't notice that he has wiggled closer to you so he could watch you play. 

You turn your head to look at him with the most hateful glare you could muster. You hope that he doesn't detect the look of yearning in your eyes because God knows there is. His dark blue eyes are just so beautiful, you could drown in them. The shape of his nose, the curve of his lips, the soft dusting of color on his cheeks— they all make him unbelievably gorgeous that it's a miracle you haven't melted on the spot considering his face is only a few inches away from yours.

 You feel like you've mastered by now the look of indifference whenever he's around, and yet you wonder if Tobio would have guessed by now that you have a crush on him if only he has the perception of an average teenage boy. Surely, you're not hiding it that well. Miyaka and Raiden did say it was very obvious.

"You died again." He points out as the DSi emits the telltale sound that signals the gruesome death of the pixelated bomber. 

You all but shove the device to his chest in frustration. You feel the vibration of his laughter as your hand makes contact with him as you feel your heart quicken instantaneously.

"Why do you want to watch our practice?" He asks after he has turned off the Nintendo and tossed it haphazardly somewhere on the mattress.

You shrug. "I wanna see you train."

Not exactly a lie but not the full truth either. The real reason you're going to their training is to give Tsukishima the handkerchief. Watching your crush practice volleyball is just a bonus.

"Why? Do you miss me that much when I'm not around?"

It's meant to be a joke. You're not meant to take it seriously. He's smirking in a way that tells you he's just having a laugh... but you're only human, and humans can only hide their feelings so much before some of it leaks.

"Yes, I do."

Tobio laughs.

You frown at this reaction.

"Stop it. That's gross." His shoulders shake as he tries to suppress his laughter. You blink back stupidly, both in surprise and mind-numbing hurt. No way he just said 'that's gross'.

He turns on the Nintendo again, unaware of your ragged breathing and how clammy your hands have gotten. You force out a laugh that you hope mirrors his.

For the rest of the night, none of your smiles or laughter seem to be genuine. Not even during dinner which is exquisite with all of Tobio's favorite food crammed in the too-small dining table. Not even as you say your good night to them by the front door as you prepare for your leave. Not even as you refuse Tobio when he offered to walk you home, right after his mother has chastised him into being a 'proper gentleman'.

This must be what a heartbreak feels like, you muse as you lay awake on your bed.

It hurts, and what's worse — it's because of Tobio.

I haven't updated in so long and felt guilty that's why this chapter has 11k words omg sorry not sorry

tag list: @sktvienna @thechaosoflonging @kenryug

#tsukishima x reader #kageyama x reader #tsukishima angst #kageyama angst #mutual pining #friends to lovers #tsukishima fanfic #kageyama fanfic #haikyuu x reader

[georgiapeach30513]

As @oh-my-damn pointed out yesterday, deactivating was a statement. He chose to pull himself out of the narrative and basically say “I’m not doing this anymore.”

He could’ve not posted for the rest of summer because he was already barely posting as is. We obviously seen the reason why he’s taken a step back with social media. The remaining fans weren’t happy with him and filled with dread for the possibility of something coming on 7/10.

Do I personally think he’s taking the time off to heat up to get ready to get married? No, the math ain’t mathing for me. Why take the summer off days before your “fiancés” birthday? Why deactivate now and not closer to your wedding date when you need privacy the most? Why are you allegedly building your “family” home that is meant to be more private, but allowing the designers to post every corner of it? (NDA’s are a hell of a thing.)

Truthfully, I think he wanted off of social media after the backlash from his stories on 1/6 and 2/14, but he couldn’t. He had Ghosted to promote. I think things really changed in May. She posted Dodger and someone’s Facebook dad went hard with the trolling. His birthday was surprisingly quiet and I think he was mulling this over for awhile before finally jumping ship.

I do believe it was a statement. To me even posting was statement. You can check when I posted those, I was on my phone at the right time. Because his story and tweet I screenshot almost immediately after they were posted and within s few minutes he had deactivated. All of that was less than five minutes. That was definitely a statement.

He doesn’t post that often. Had he said nothing, we would never know the difference. That’s why I say timing is everything. Right before 7/10. Right after it seems he has no obligation to post about a project. This was a perfect opportunity for a break.

Again with the timing, we have been told he will get married before the end of the year. Honestly, that’s not much time, but even so his fall is going to be busy! And I’m talking about projects that we KNOW. Pain Hustlers press, NYC comic con, Red One press.

So I could be wrong, but someone who hates summer I don’t see getting married in the summer. So he’s getting married and then going straight into work mode for the end of the year?

And if he deactivated to take the heat off himself, he’s leaving his fiancé on social media to fend for herself? You can be private and be a public person. That is possible. You can be a private couple and have a public persona outside of your relationship. The relationship status, privacy, and deactivating do not go hand in hand for me. If he’s coming back it’ll be before PH, so he’ll be back September, the supposed month of a wedding, so that doesn’t add up to he left to have a wedding theory.

I refuse to bring the house talk here. Chris hasn’t talk about this alleged house, and he’s not showed us this alleged house. To me, that’s private. And I agree with all that you said.

And we’re back to timing. He fulfilled his work obligations with social media. He promoted his work, and now he quite possibly has nothing until September/October. Remember when I said after Ghosted it should have been quiet? Instead we’ve got a pottery video, Red One photos in Hawaii (but none of the Rock), Walmart appearance, and an almost two hour podcast that was one on one with Pete Holmes. That’s a lot.

I think a lot changed in May as well. That was the month something happened every weekend. That was the month the trolling had reached a peak and we were all so tired. We got the PT photos as well. Justin’s dad to me was the ultimate troll, and I actually think I came up with a solid excuse for that. I guess…we wait and see 😖

[nickmaghighlights]

Nick Mag Highlights - #124 September 2006

Happy Mother’s Day everyone, and welcome back to another edition of Nick Mag Highlights! Today, we'll be checking out Issue #124, and its behind-the-scenes look at Barnyard. If you're looking for all the information you could want on the #1 animated movie of 2006, I'm afraid you're out of luck, because Cars is not mentioned anywhere in this issue.

(For the record, I’d watch Barnyard over Cars any day. Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius is better than both of them, though.)

Excuse the lack of pretense, but I’m ready to just dive right into this one! I think whatever I’ve got to say about the movie Barnyard is best left for when we get to the actual section about it. Most I can say for now is I certainly have more experience with its sequel series, Back at the Barnyard, which I remember Nicktoons had a downright obsession with playing at all hours of the day. Guess it was popular!

Feeling like Wild Mike tonight? You can read the full magazine here.

So the theme of the issue is print, huh? I guess they’re right: if it weren’t for print, we’d never have Nickelodeon Magazine! Not to mention I would be out of a blog!

If the war on drugs is ever revitalized and you are ever in charge of marketing material similar to this, I recommend keeping any fill-in-the blanks on your ads to a minimum. I’m certain that this box was met with more phallic doodles and Cool S’s than it was heartfelt proclamations against drugs. But since I’m a little more mature than that, I’ll play along.

There. I don’t drink because I know if the Aaahh!!! Real Monsters characters were real they’d be disappointed in me for it. Krumm told me that in a dream once.

Man, big things were happening in the world of Nickelodeon this year! Avatar: The Last Airbender was still riding high, Barnyard and Nacho Libre were in theaters, and we saw the premiere of Mr. Meaty (plus The Jimmy-Timmy Power Hour 2 and 3, but those aren’t in this issue)! All equally powerful stuff, and no, that’s not up for debate. 

Feel free to also note the fanmail, featuring all of the grave errors Nickelodeon Magazine got caught perpetuating in their previous issues, just like every other issue’s fanmail. Yep, nothing gets by these kids! I appreciate the crew was always willing to own up to their mistakes, but did they never get, y’know, drawings in the mail instead? Something like that? Younger me would’ve preferred those instead of reminding me the team behind Nickelodeon Magazine was only human, susceptible to making errors like anyone else. These guys made SpongeBob*! How could they ever be wrong!?

*Incorrect.

A nice surprise to see Yin Yang Yo!. I remember being obsessed with this show for a short time back when it was new on Toon Disney. Couldn’t tell you why since I don’t remember a lick of it now. I’m only mentioning it because of that little leaflet you might have noticed that’s very obviously obscuring the page…

Yeah! Turns out there’s a whole 6 page comic in here, just for this ad. That’s genuinely a really cool idea, and I can’t imagine it was cheap to print something like this. Still doesn’t exactly remind me why I like the show, per se (this writing is not for me), but I can respect some cool marketing when I see it.

Pretty star-studded Celeb Page this time around, I actually recognize everyone here! And the rather delicately generic questions being asked have just reminded me that this is a back-to-school issue. It was September after all, so I guess the “print” theme is a little more appropriate than I thought. 

If summer vacation is still relevant to the life of anyone reading this, do take a second to appreciate that the season has only just begun. Because, truly, there is no greater feeling I know than experiencing the advent of a breathtakingly liberating summer vacatio- hey! Bruce Willis is wearing an Over The Hedge hat in that picture! Cool!

Confusing little bit of cross-promotion here, if only due to the fact this Avatar: The Last Airbender-themed ad doesn’t actually use any Avatar terminology, or mention anything from the show really. Not willing to catch flying french fries with your mouth? Then sorry, you’re definitely a fire… kind of… guy. Legally we cannot call you a bender.

Other notable points about this Burger King ad: - Isn’t the name “The Extinguisher” way more fitting for a water-user than a fire-user? I think they may have mixed up the arrows there. - For some reason this 2006 ad is using a pristine hand puppet of their King mascot from the 1970’s. - Doesn’t have any picture of the advertised toys. Wonder if they were any good.

Bet you’ve never seen a full-page ad for one flash game before, huh? And neither have I, I think! I’m pretty sure this was still while Nickelodeon was trying to sell games through their “Nick Cash” system, where you could purchase computer games and digital items (for games like Neopets, when Viacom still owned it) via their online storefront Nick Arcade (not to be confused with the ‘90s game show of the same name). So yeah, if they were planning on making sales off of this, I guess I understand the big-time marketing.

I really like that you’re supposed to clip out the three tips they give you. Do the editors really think it’s that cumbersome to open up a magazine when you want to read something?

Awesome two-page spread of art from James “Jimmy” Yamasaki, who’s done tons of great freelance art for a wide variety of different magazines. If you want to take a look, he’s posted lots of his work on his Instagram.

Even if the activity is a little shallow, it’s nice to see something here that’s giving books a shoutout. With all the aggressive marketing these issues had for all the latest movies and TV shows, it’s still good to remind kids that literature is worth your time too.

Am I reading a little too deep into this? Maybe, but I think that means the activity is working.

Hey, this is pretty cool! And fairly educational at that. I could see this genuinely being useful for any kid looking to make their own comics, and font choice is a pretty important aspect you may not think about at first, especially when you’re younger. A fair bit of kids probably skipped this section, but hopefully it was helpful for someone. 

For some reason, Disney’s best idea for advertising their upcoming DVD releases was door hangers. I distinctly remember there being Lilo & Stitch 2 and Tarzan II-themed ads with the same gimmick, and I don’t get it. I guess it’s a way to increase the ad’s lifespan? Kids get to cut it out, and keep it hanging on their door knob for a couple days before their parents throw it away, so I guess everyone wins right? Well sorry Disney, my childhood bedroom didn’t even have a door knob. And guess who didn’t watch Brother Bear 2 either?

Another issue, another Comic Book. This time with an awesomely done cover by artist Souther Salazar (they’ve got tons of other colorful and creative work on their official website). Nice to see Impy make the front page in the top left there, too.

Alright before we get into it, I quickly want to talk about this. Did you know that some of the style guides (official documents that outline how a design should be represented) for different pieces of SpongeBob merchandise are available on the Internet Archive? 

I’ll give an example: see that yellow shirt on the top right, with the punk-looking SpongeBob and electric guitars? That shirt was just one part of a series of punk-themed SpongeBob SquarePants merch, and the people designing that series had to refer back to this style guide to make sure everything in the series looked consistent. It’s really cool because those guides often include all of the official illustrations that were used in the merchandise in high quality, alongside stuff like official logos and fonts.

Here’s a list of all the SpongeBob-themed style guides I could find on the archive:

Punk Art Guide

Icon Art Guide (Has anyone seen this art used for any merch? I haven’t and I’m really curious.)

SketchBob Art Guide

St. Patrick’s Day Art Supplement

Fall 2004 Apparel Guide

Bedtime Style Guide

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie Style Guide

10th Anniversary Style Guide (The longest one, containing tons of official art, designs, and backgrounds)

The SpongeBob SquarePants Toolkit 2002

Bonus:

The SpongeBob SquarePants Sculpting Guide (contains 2D and 3D turnarounds of most of the main characters)

The Ren & Stimpy Show Style Guide

The Fairly OddParents Illustrator Guidelines

I could totally be alone in finding these so interesting, but hey, if you’re a fan of these characters, they might be nice to hold onto.

I may not have been much of an Avatar: The Last Airbender fan growing up, but I’ll be the first one to admit it’s one of Nickelodeon’s best-looking and well-animated shows. Seriously, some of those action scenes in particular were near movie-quality. 

This comic definitely keeps up the trend of great visuals, which shouldn’t come as a surprise considering the team behind it. Pencils and inks were done by Joaquim Dos Santos, who did storyboards and directing duties for seasons two and three of the show, and is currently co-directing Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and its sequel(!). Similarly, the colors were done by a long-time crewmember of the show, Hye-Jung Kim. Great stuff all around.

Well, this is unexpected! I know the Moomin series is popular with a lot of people, so it’s really cool to see it featured in the magazine here. I’m not really familiar myself, but I might have to check out more! This is as pleasant as it is funny.

Now, I don’t usually bring up the “Gag Station” pages in these retrospectives. It’s not on purpose, I just haven’t usually got much to say, but this time I actually wanted to point out the… oh… uh, what is that down there, is that another…?

Oh, it’s another one of these pull-out mini comics, like the YinYangYo! thing from earlier. Except this time with, y’know, Walmart mascots. Yeah, it’s a little less impressive when it’s done a second time, and with Walmart mascots I’ve never heard of before, and when it’s mostly just made up of pictures of clothes.

Anyway, what was I saying? Oh yeah.

The guy who made this, Johnny Ryan, went on to co-create Pig Goat Banana Cricket for Nickelodeon in 2015. Do with that what you will.

Here’s an odd piece of early 2000’s trivia: the ESRB had ads for itself! And not just in print either, but full on TV commercials. Those black-and-white letters were no longer content to sit idly by on the bottom left corners of the game cases; they were ready to make themselves known. In regards to print ads, there’s way more than just this one, and they all had their own characters and stories informing you why content ratings are just the bee’s knees. What I find most interesting about them is that they were made in collaboration with the artists behind Penny Arcade, a video game-themed webcomic that’s been running since 1998. Apparently in 2018, the ESRB and the Penny Arcade team worked together again to update the ads, but I’ve never seen one of these new ones in the wild. Hopefully we can get these revitalized before the next Mortal Kombat game. Don't want to risk another fiasco.

I think this section on unique books is pretty cool, I only wish the magazine team felt the same! Seriously, are we filling the story’s extra space with ads, or the other way around?

But yeah, pretty cool seeing both the smallest and largest books on Earth, even if those titles have probably been usurped by now. I was also quite curious about Shelley Jackson’s “Skin” project mentioned in the bottom right, and if you're just as curious, it was indeed finished in 2011 with a video featuring the full story and all its participants here.

Oh, and if you get a chance, that Voynich Manuscript thing they mention is available on Yale’s website. Those historians dudes are still looking for someone to make heads or tails of that thing. I think they might just be lazy, if you ask me.

Yep, I still love these calendars. I have to ask though, what’s so “pear” about September? I thought August was the start of pear season.

Also, wow, there’s a whole Wizard of Oz-themed festival in Chesterton, Indiana? I wonder what that’s like…

…

Only took us the whole issue, but we’re finally here at Barnyard! Or, what I’m just now realizing it should have been called, Funny Farm. Interestingly, the film had already been out for a month by the time they did this promotion, but maybe Kevin James was sick last month, I dunno. They’re really stretching for the questions here too, I mean c’mon, who cares if Kevin James likes the sounds of cowbells? I want to hear more about his… udder?

Good lord, they showed this to children…

Anyway, I personally didn’t see the movie when it came out, but like I said, they played Back at the Barnyard damn near constantly. I thought that show must’ve had a million episodes with how often Nickelodeon showed it off. 

I did eventually get around to watching the film, and I’m at least glad to know I wasn’t missing out on much. It’s not a particularly good film, and while it may have come from many of the same people that brought us Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (including having the same creator, Steve Oedekerk), Barnyard lacks much of the imagination and charm that made that film so compelling. I wanted all of Jimmy’s inventions as a kid, but I can’t say I ever wanted to be a cow. 

Honestly, the most value Barnyard holds for me now is that it comes from that era of 3D animation I hold a fair bit of nostalgia for, where it was competent, but still ugly. Right next to films like Jimmy Neutron and Ice Age.

Lego Star Wars II! Clear off your calendars everyone, because I guarantee there’s nothing more important going on the day this game releases in the US. Nope, nothing. C’mon, you can make a sexy slave Yoda!

Well that sure was a Mother’s Day Edition of Nick Mag Highlights, was it not? Maybe I’ll think of a way to connect the holiday and Barnyard while I’m writing this outro*.

Thank you all for joining me, and I hope you have a wonderful day. Until next time, keep on reading.

*…Nope! Better luck next year.

#nmh post #2000s #2006 #nickelodeon #magazine #barnyard

[zahri-melitor]

More DC Santa Issues:

Funny Stuff Stocking Stuffer #1

This is very much a funny animal comic. The various animals want to go see Santa at the shop, but fall through a hole to the North Pole, where the Groundhog has defeated Santa and wants to make Groundhog Day bigger than Christmas. They're all set to work in various parts of Santa's workshop and make chaos. Eventually they get imprisoned with Santa.

Santa manages a break out of the jail cell they're all in (by getting a wizard's wand changed to a candy cane so they can eat their way through the bars), then takes the 'Northern Lights' spotlights to Groundhog's house and shines them on him so he sees his shadow.

So yes it is a Santa issue, but it's also a funny animal issue. (Also there is a house ad for COIE and the Over-Monitor in this comic, which...I'm unsure it's the correct target audience?)

The Best of DC #58

Super Jnrs: The Isle of Forgotten Toys

So the Isle of Forgotten Toys is where the toys kids no longer play with go. They live there and come alive. The toys decide to stage a protest against Christmas, as that's one of the causes of them being forgotten, and hire "Wallace Van Wealthy III, the Meanest Boy in the Whole World" to help them.

Wallace is mean and plays tricks on the orphans at his school. Then he gets magically taken to the Isle of Forgotten Toys, where he is asked to come up with a way to destroy Christmas.

Wallace decides he's going to get rid of December and replace it with "Walluary", a month of heat waves, snow instead of sunshine, hail and hurricanes. He builds a weather machine to make this happen and calls himself Wally the Weather Wizard.

...Wallace has clearly never heard of the Southern Hemisphere. He's just a kid. (I have indeed experienced heat waves, snow, hail and cyclones during December. Yes, snow, on Christmas Day in summer. That was quite a year)

Santa has some problems getting the elves to work due to the change in weather - apparently their union contract says they don't have to work during summer. (Good job, Elves Union, given you have to deal with crunch every year)

The Spirit of Christmas (a fairy) eventually shows up and transforms the orphans into the Super Juniors - basically they're all wearing Justice League character costumes and have their power sets (Flash-Kid, Super-Kid, Wonder-Tot, Bat-Guy and Kid-Robin). The Super Juniors take off to confront Wally.

Shenanigans ensue and the children realise the importance of Christmas and celebrations, and after a climatic battle they destroy the weather machine, so Christmas will return.

Now that the weather has changed and it is once more dark in the North Pole, the elves are back at work. I hope their union organisers are ready to ensure they still get their summer holiday in 6 months.

How about you thank your staff, Santa? (yes of course the Elves Union is the most important part of this comic, solidarity forever with the NPEU - North Pole Elves Union)

Santa also turns up at the Isle of Forgotten Toys and promises to find them all new homes, so we are back on the 'repair old toys for Christmas' story again.

#DC Santa read along

[nerves-nebula]

I saw in the tags of one of your vent art that you’re also going back home for the summer. Do you have any tips on how to deal with that? I’m graduating high school in exactly one week and I’m a spring admit for my college. That’s… 6 months of hell at home. I’m so anxious that I can’t even get any packing or work done rn.

im not going home for the summer? might wanna check the dates on those posts cause im pretty sure that was talking about my frankly traumatizing trip home last summer.

i dont have any advice for you because to be honest, I was nearly ready to be homeless rather than return to living with my mom for the summer after my first year of college. the only reason i didn't end up homeless was because my girlfriend and her family took me in.

I will say though that what always kept me going when i DID live with mom, was the fact that I wouldn't ALWAYS live with her. just the fact that one day I will live with someone else, there's no way I'll always be stuck with her forever. and the pain would be worth it, cause there's nothing i can do right now but one day i'd live somewhere that didn't make me want to claw my skin off. and now here i am!

I also tried to focus on personal projects, (extensive) daydreaming, work, and posting online tbh. i worked at mcdonalds for like a month or two and it wasnt GOOD but it was honestly better than being at home most of the time. and i got paid. and when i came home i'd make quick, short owl house comics. Work and the owl house really got me through until college started tbh- and even after college started my new job in my schools bakery also kept me sort of sane.

honestly i think it would have helped me a lot to leave the house more often. even if it was just for walks or to chill at a cafe or something. my life would have definitely been better if i could have gotten over my agoraphobia enough to just fuckin GO SOMEWHERE. even now, my days are significantly better when im forced to leave my room.

ANYWAY that's a really long way of saying: idk enough about your situation to really help but this is what works for me.

#nnstuff #ask #asks are sweethearts #art college

[megashadowdragon]

"Rely on me for Anything" a Summer Barggy short comic

reddit comments

User avatar level 1 Evening-Task6338 · 10 hr. ago Ritsuka: “What do you mean ‘knight service’, you’re already a knight?”

Barghest: Turns and leaves the room instead of explaining what she meant.

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User avatar level 2 Practical-Giraffe · 7 hr. ago This is truly a fate stay/knight moment

40

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User avatar level 3 Most-Historian-5313 · 4 hr. ago *Fae Stay/Knight

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User avatar level 2 Hp22h · 28 min. ago Batter Up! Clearly, she meant sparring with big sticks and thick armour.

Vote

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User avatar level 1 DEV10U5 OP · 11 hr. ago This can only end in one of two ways, and both involve getting eaten.

sorry

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User avatar level 2 GreenKing5498 · 11 hr. ago That woman cannot calm down

79

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User avatar level 3 R1xnAlta18 · 10 hr. ago Listen to me peasant I'm your director Let her cook

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User avatar level 4 Kirby0189 · 9 hr. ago Astolfo is very based Oh, so she cooks the people she eats rather than eating them raw?

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User avatar level 5 R1xnAlta18 · 9 hr. ago · edited 3 hr. ago Listen to me peasant I'm your director …..Cook this guy

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User avatar level 6 Undividedbyzero · 7 hr. ago Brb I'm bringing my good old Lecter secret spice mix

5

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User avatar level 5 Meltlikefinewine · 7 hr. ago I'm pretty sure she prefers it raw. Yeah, both ways.

3

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User avatar level 1 ThousandLightning · 11 hr. ago Barghest gonna eat Ritsuka. And I don't know if it's figuratively or literally.

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User avatar level 2 chanawong8 · 11 hr. ago it's probably both….

at the same time……

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User avatar level 3 Meltlikefinewine · 11 hr. ago · edited 10 hr. ago Ahh~

AAAHHHHHH

Uh~n

AARRRRGHHHHH

dies

After she was done only the cracked pelvis remained. Don't worry. You will be revived by Asclepius, and you've got a long night ahead of you tomorrow.

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User avatar level 4 mythriz · 11 hr. ago

I love VR! happy meal

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User avatar level 4 Most-Historian-5313 · 4 hr. ago Does she gain Harem Protagonist EX from that?

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User avatar level 5 Meltlikefinewine · 3 hr. ago Her kids do.

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User avatar level 2 Informal-Recipe · 7 hr. ago "I am here for a good time, not a long one" Ritsuka

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User avatar level 1 Psychological_Fee722 · 11 hr. ago Barghest best maid

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User avatar level 1 Quirky_Ad_5420 · 11 hr. ago This will be totally worth it

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User avatar level 1 BredMaker4869 · 11 hr. ago Death by snu snu

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User avatar level 1 GreenKing5498 · 11 hr. ago Either my pelvis gets broken or I get eaten alive I’ll take that coin toss

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User avatar level 2 Undividedbyzero · 7 hr. ago It's a 0,5 chance

Which is still more than a Rate Up SSR, so…

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User avatar level 1 Meltlikefinewine · 11 hr. ago Perhaps you never knew you were born ready until this moment came.

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User avatar level 1 conner_lingus_ · 10 hr. ago A mix of moans and groans, followed by shrieks and wails of pain and anguish and that's just the sun snu, she hasn't even started eaten him yet

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User avatar level 1 Nokia_00 · 10 hr. ago Barghest the total package she will even do your taxes what a woman

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User avatar level 1 noobmister69 · 11 hr. ago Working out to make proud Sign me up

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User avatar level 1 Noximilien05 · 9 hr. ago Ritsuka : (Bite in a golden apple, and use the od of 1 command seal on himself) This is going to be an uphill battle.

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User avatar level 1 Haohaev · 9 hr. ago "MY BODY IS READY."

~Reggitsuka

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User avatar level 1 chinesesoccerplayer · 9 hr. ago Morgan: And by night service, you meant knight service didn’t you Fairy Knight Gawain?

Barghest: Gah!!! Your majesty???

Morgan: In the flesh. Now as my knight, I command you to wait outside the door while I make love to my husband.

Barghest:…I’m sorry Your Majesty, but no.

Morgan: Hoh? It’s treason then. Draws her staff, screams while spinning in midair and attacks

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User avatar level 2 kyle_frei · 4 hr. ago While they're busy doing that, Melusine: Now's my only chance to abduct master.

#fgo #fgo fancomic #summer barghest #fgo comic

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Emily’s New Job

Okay, I’m a bit behind here, but I want to talk about the play Emily is doing, why it doesn’t worry us, and then some suspicious things she’s been posting that we think are hints. 

First, everyone always gets really nervous when she gets a new job. You shouldn’t. By now, it’s obvious that AMC, ABC, and plenty of other entities (Disney and Marvel for Danai, Emily’s music career, etc.) all coordinate together. She’s not going to take a gig that would compromise what she already has set up with AMC. 

So first, here’s a short convo we all had when the news of her new play broke. Just giving you this so you can hear our thoughts on why y’all shouldn’t be so worried about this. Then we’ll get into the suspicious TD clues.

@wdway:

Emily got a role in a play. Looks like this is a wonderful opportunity for her. Now the little sad response face and tears are starting, and I foresee people losing their shit over this announcement. Why does everything have to be either blazing hot or freezing cold? She got a job. I'm so happy for her. Why does the majority of people on an instant are ready to jump off the cliff about something like this? Why can't people look at that and think that probably anything that Emily is tied to with TWD would not be affected at all?

The fact that she had several weeks missing earlier this summer where she could have been filming, plus she was in Atlanta, Georgia back in the spring for a comic convention, it seemed that she was there a lot longer than need be and it was also during this time that Andy was seen in the area. How quickly people want to forget the good possibilities and go directly to the bad ones.

After all these years they are obviously wanting to keep Beth being alive as a major series reveal and if that's true, then any filming would have already been done for s11 and Daryl's spin-off. Something else I had thought about while watching the first episode of Tales: I don't remember hearing anything about their filming. It is obvious that Tales was filmed this past winter, early spring according to the clothing choices and the trees starting to bud. There were some locations that looked very familiar, so I imagine they were in Georgia on the down low filming at the same time that the regular TWD was filming. TWD has proven over the years that they can film things without the public being aware of it.

@twdmusicboxmystery:

For sure! I totally agree about Emily. I’ve been saying that for years. EVERY time she gets a job people freak out and decide TD is wrong. But I think by the time she is revealed, she’ll already have filmed all the scenes she will have needed for that set. And the fact that they’re making the point to announce it is a distraction.

@wdway:

As far as I'm concerned nothing has changed for her TWD return. TWD s11 is in the can and Daryl's spin-off is 6 episodes and won't air until sometime next summer. No real date on when filming, that is the filming in France being done publicly for promotional buzz will start. Good for Emily to have a part in a play instead of just hanging out. An actress needs to act.

@twdmusicboxmystery:

She has plenty of time for filming and I also always thought it was suspicious that they made such a show of taking down the Alexandria set, cutting the lawn, selling off parts of the property. I get that they really won’t be filming there moving forward. But the AMC lot is like 15 acres. (Or maybe it’s more like 40? I don’t remember, but it’s huge, and most of that is just woods.) They’re trying really hard to make people think they aren’t filming anything there at all.

@wdway:

Public seeing no filming=public believing no filming is being done.

I don't really believe there's anything at that Studio going on right now but my understanding is that Fear is supposed to be starting filming in the Savannah area soon so I could see them possibly using the TWD studio and properties for different TWDU projects it makes sense that they would.

@galadrieljones:

Hey guys! I totally agree with everything you’re saying. Maybe it’s because I’m somewhat of a newbie but this stuff completely skips my radar lol. Emily lives in LA and has a whole private calendar that exists beyond her Instagram acct. I think social media fools some ppl into thinking they can track a person’s every move. But she doesn’t post that much, tbh!

And unless you hired a private detective to follow her 24/7 there’s no way to know if she’s on a plane to Atlanta. It’s not like she’s Johnny Depp. She can easily fly under the radar if that’s what tptb want her to do. The fact she was publicly in Atlanta at all during the final weeks of filming was insane to me all by itself. Could mean nothing, could mean everything. But yeah, I think it’s a waste of time to get bummed out about her being in a play lol. Like, go her!

Also, I get the sense that over the last several years, AMC has been tighter lipped with filming because spoilers have become such a major threat to the entertainment landscape. Leaked footage has completely ruined some major video game releases over the past two years, and I can only imagine how hard it is to deal with TV, because like you need boots on the ground, and there are sets and many different famous ppl to coordinate at once.

I imagine, this being the final season, they are doing absolutely everything they can to keep things as secretive as possible. So, things like filming, especially for high profile scenes and characters, are going to be tightly controlled and probably offset with other news and things for purposes of subterfuge. Like this spoiler photos that came out were JUST interesting enough to get ppl talking for 48 hours but they really revealed zero real information about what to come, and that makes me feel they were probably coordinated by tptb themselves to satiate the masses and let them think they’re in control. So….yeah. No worries over here!! Lol.

Okay, so in my mind, that is that. Then, a few days later, Emily posted something that really raised my eyebrows. Over the past few weeks, she’s posted notes from scripts and such. I’ve been posting about how suspicious that is, because whatever project it was for hadn’t been announced, and there are other things that qualify as TD clues, so maybe it’s TWD she’s learning lines for.

I think the idea is that they want us to believe she was learning lines for this play. And maybe she was. This play is a real thing and obviously she would need to learn her lines. But notice how she hasn’t posted these kinds of things for other projects she’s had. Maybe a few things here and there, but not to this extent. It’s like they REALLY want us to believe this is all she’s doing right now. And if they are trying to hard to make us believe that, it’s because they’re distracting from something else. 

So, a few days after news of her play broke, Emily posted this:

It was actually a short video, panning over all the comments on this script. I just got a couple of screenshots that show most of them.

She writes, "found this in my script" as though someone left these kind notes for her. But, I kinda think Emily herself wrote them. I don't mean that in a weird, narcissistic way. Rather, maybe she was doodling this some time ago and just found it again. I found another example of her handwriting, posted on her account a while back, and they look the same to me.

So, we have the dinosaur doodle again. I say again, because she draws this fairly often, as though it's almost a signature or nick name. In fact, just a few days before, she posted this one:

But because of the dinosaur TD stuff, I kind of think that's why she does it. so we see it again. Even the I 💖 U, dinosaur. And then she zeroes in on one comment that says it was the best acting I've ever "scene," which she corrects to "seen."

Not exactly a TD smoking gun. Just feels like she's emphasizing the seen/seeing/eye stuff. I like to think that she wants us to think this is the script to the play she's working on, but maybe it's something else. The script to something linked to the dinosaur symbolism, perhaps? 😉

@wdway:

I love the dinosaur but the thing that really stands out to me is the phrase, drink lots of water. First of all, water! The other thing is that's what Daryl told Beth about drinking alcohol, drink a lot of water. Also the big black heart on white paper that is very much in the shape of a V.

So yeah. That’s pretty much it. We just wanted to point this out. Thoughts?

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl

[jezabatlovesbats]

My Summer Camp Island Fan Campers

I’m a fan of this show who’s been one since it first came out on CN.

Tasha García Ramírez is an 11-year-old ocelot. She is an artist who loves drawing things that she sees in nature. She can’t go anywhere without a sketchbook and likes drawing, painting and photographing all the pretty things she sees. She has the quirkiest brain of the camper crew (what I like to call Oscar and Hedgehog’s little group of friends) and likes to use her creativity to help them. She is also sweet, adventurous and tries her best at every new thing she tries. She shows determination in the face of boldness and is resourceful, too. Tasha most likes drawing the things she sees in nature, like flowers, trees and bushes. 

Tasha lives in Connecticut and is Colombian-American. She was invited to Summer Camp Island because she was revealed to be a forest sprite. She doesn’t really have a problem with the strange phenomena on the island because she’s spent her whole life witnessing weird things happen (but not in the magical way). She’s always ready to lend a helping hand. She can be seen hanging out with Oscar, Hedgehog and Max the most. Tasha’s cabin flag has a paint pallet with a paintbrush on it.

Jack McCattle is an 11-year-old bovine, and his younger sister Patty is 6. Jack is friendly and honest towards other campers. He’s adventurous and loves all things having to do with the outdoors, nature and animals. Patty is energetic and talkative, and she loves mice and flowers. She’s the type of person who would go outside to play in the rain. If kids ever want to hang out at the siblings’ cabin, he warns them about her and her millions of questions.

Their family lives on a farm in Tennessee, and each member has to do their part. Patty is a magical creature called a chatterbox, which means she’s part of a group of box-like creatures who can magically never run out of things to say. When she got an invitation to Summer Camp Island, her and Jack’s parents agreed to let her go, but on one condition: Jack had to go along with her so that he could look after her. The two of them share a cabin, and their cabin flag has a sprouting plant on it. The siblings are good friends with Tasha, who painted a still life of daisies for their cabin, Oliver, whom Jack helps out on the piano patch, and Katie, who they watch TV with.

Katelynn “Katie” Burrow is a 12-year-old mole and my camper sona. She is an aspiring musician and dancer, but she’s a bit shy, so she’s doing it off the stage as of right now. She’s not comfortable around other people, and without knowing it, she can act a little rude towards them. She doesn’t like hearing people talk negatively about things; she can’t handle criticism very well. Most of the time, you can find Katie chilling out and doing as she pleases. She can dance basic tarantella, as that’s personally her favorite dance, and she hopes she can one day combine it with her top favorite genre of music, which is electronic and techno. Her parents let her learn the synthesizer.

Katie flew all the way to the camp from Louisiana. Although she lives in a populous, busy town near New Orleans, Katie was always a pretty lazy mole. She came to camp because she is a river siren. She would stay inside the house she lived in round the clock with no one to talk to but her big sister Carolina (who is 17). While Carolina was generally a nice person, Katie was very introverted. When Katie’s parents received her invite to Summer Camp Island one fateful day, they suggested Katie go there even though she told them she didn’t want to. They believed one way or another, she had to get out there, but what they didn’t know was that it wasn’t the camp they thought it would be. Jack is the person Katie considers her only “true friend” in the camp. Prior to the events of “Popular Banana Split,” the two even created a comic out of pure boredom. It’s called Spectresail, and it’s about a teen pangolin who lives on a boat and goes on adventures in a ghostly world. (Little do they know that Max reads it.) Jack helped Katie open up more. Her cabin flag has a double eighth note with wings on it.

Skipper “Skippy” Lewis is a 10-year-old arctic fox. He loves anything having to do with chemistry, experiments, robotics, mechanics and inventing. He’s both a young scientist and a social butterfly. He’s the brains of the group and a logical thinker. He takes both science and friendship VERY seriously. Skippy is usually found experimenting or reading in his cabin or observing the aliens, yetis, monsters and other curiosa around the camp. He also enjoys creating gadgets and being with his friends.

Skippy is from Ontario, Canada and lives in a town halfway between Ottawa and Toronto. He had been interested in science experiments and inventions since he was six years old and was glad his parents were there to support him. Unfortunately, he lost his dad in the navy. He was invited to Summer Camp Island because he’s an elf. When he arrived on Summer Camp Island, he couldn’t wait to meet all the other campers and maybe help them out in some way. Because of his helpful motives, he and Tasha easily became good friends. Skippy was considering studying the magical phenomena of the island and taking it home to show the world for science, but the creatures on the island didn’t want him to because they didn’t want the world to know about their plan to save it yet. Eventually, Skippy learned to appreciate magic, and he helps the elves invent new things. He and Hedgehog are friends and self-proclaimed professional lab partners. His cabin flag has a vial with a green liquid inside of it, with a few bubbles over its top. 

Brianna Overwood is a 9-year-old sloth. Brianna is a very cheerful and polite friend of Pepper’s, and her motto is that any friend of Pepper’s is a friend of hers. This means that if Pepper rolls with the camper crew, Brianna wants to meet them too. She’s also an athlete, and she’s passionate about sports and health. She likes sports such as swimming, roller skating, gymnastics, tennis and yoga, but she is particularly good at swimming. She likes giving people hugs and coaching them towards happiness, helping them be the best they can be.

Brianna and Pepper live in Napsville, Vermont and have been best friends since they were both six years old. Brianna was invited to the island because she is, in fact, a mermaid. Pepper’s parents were the ones dropping them off at camp, and they’re also pretty good friends with Brianna’s parents. She also helped Pepper get used to all of the strange magical stuff. Brianna only sees Pepper as a best friend, and he sees her as a very good friend. There isn’t anything more to that. She gets along very well with all of Pepper’s friends. Her cabin flag has a cupcake with pink frosting on it.

#Summer Camp Island #SCI #oc #ocs #my ocs #Tasha García Ramírez #Jack McCattle #Patty McCattle #Katie Burrow #Skippy Lewis #Brianna Overwood

[down-the-yaoi-hole]

Vacation boys love reads! Split personalities, magical virgins, and the crème de la crème: DICK FIGHT ISLAND.

I spent a week in the woods with my cousin / best friend / platonic life partner for my summer vacation this year. We would go hiking in the morning, and then came back to our AirBNB to read all afternoon--it was heaven on earth. Naturally, I brought along a couple of books I wanted to finished and didn't read ANY of that shit. No, instead I read some very good, and some very bad boys love. Here's the best of the best and the best of the worst!

My favorite read of the week was by far "Double Trap" by Goodmen, available on Lehzin Comics. It was like watching a soap opera... I just kept reading the most absurd plot points aloud to my cousin so she could laugh along, but truthfully, I LOVED every second of over-the-top melodrama. This comic is like if "Killing Stalking" and "Banana Scandal" had a baby... an edgy affair with some great humor.

Jinsung (our twink MC) has always had a crush on big brother figure / boy next door, Yura, who's 6 years older than him, 6 inches taller than him, and took Jinsung in after his parents died in a car accident. Jinsung has accepted that Yura won't return his feelings, until ONE NIGHT when Yura suddenly comes onto him! They f*ck, and Jinsung is left dripping c*m the next day while his 'big bro' gets ready for work, seemingly unable to remember anything that transpired between them! Was it another man entirely who came onto Jinsung? Or was it.... A SPLIT PERSONALITY??

10/10 so far, since this is an ongoing comic, but it has everything I look for in a boys love manhwa: good art, drama, humor, a terrifying man with bags under his eyes, and lots and lots of kinky, borderline CNC sex!

My next favorite read of the week was "Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!" by Yuu Toyota. If the title alone doesn't sell you, you're making a big mistake. Huge.

Adachi (another twink MC) turns 30 while retaining his virginity and discovers a special power: he can now read minds! Much to his surprise, his coworker, Kurosawa, apparently has a THING for him. Every time they get close, Adachi can hear Kurosawa thinking about how cute he is, how sexy he must be under his baggy clothes, how much he just wants to F*CK him, and slowly but surely he warms up to the attention and starts dating Kurosawa.

8/10, and I will definitely continue reading as it publishes! The art is solid, the writing is HILARIOUS, and I'm always a sucker for a cute lil office romance.

Apparently, "Dick Fight Island" by Reibun Ike has been making its way around TikTok, so when my cousin and I stumbled across it in a Japanese bookstore, she MADE me buy it--and I will thank her with my dying breath that she did. This is hands down (dicks down?) the FUNNIEST SHIT I have read in AGES.

The story is set on a remote island populated by a dozen or so different clans. Every year, the clans get together and have one representative battle it out for the title of king. How do they fight, you ask? Well the rules are pretty simple: whoever c*ms first, loses.

When our MC, Harto, returns from studying abroad, he brings a new, surprise technique into the competition: prostate stimulation.

Full of excellent in-jokes for longtime boys love readers, "Dick Fight Island" is a humorous romp with some great, uncensored peen front & center. 10/10 for absurdist comedy.

Probably should have sorted these according to genre, rather than my personal timeline, but there you go! Some great reads from summer vacation 2023.

#manhwa #yaoi #bl manga #boys love #boys love comics #comics review #review #bl manhwa #boys love review #boys love recommendation

[fatal-error-blog]

Happy 6th Birthday, Fatal_Error!

Fortunately for him, I've had my hands full with other blog-related projects and tasks, so he gets to enjoy a quiet birthday this year. I hope everyone has been doing well! It's still been pretty quiet on the blog, which isn't awesome, but I've been working on some updates that should hopefully be ready to go out soon, which is awesome! As always I really appreciate everyone's patience with me and I'm just so jazzed to show ya'll what's coming up next. So for Fatal's 6th birthday, I thought it might be interesting to some to share 6 things that have been going on behind the scenes: 1) I FINALLY got a new job! In past posts I've mentioned having to take breaks/step away from the blog quite often in pursuit of job hunting and just general adulting. For those who aren't aware (or maybe are new here - if so, howdy!) I'm not a fulltime comic artist, and I don't rely on this blog or comic as any kind of primary source of income. So I've had to put a lot of energy and time into working on portfolio pieces that aren't just Fatal_Error (although he's in my portfolio, gotta represent!), putting in job applications, going to interviews (if lucky enough to get one), all of which takes a pretty tremendous mental strain and a lot of focus. And I've been at it for...like more than 2 years, lol. But I've finally gotten a new job, I start Monday, and I'm stoked! I'm going to have a lot more freetime to dedicate back into the comic and I couldn't be happier, because things in my opinion are about to get good. 2) The second volume of the graphic novel is almost ready for preorder! At this point I'm wrapping up the bonus comic (that those who get the second volume will see first, and will be posted online for free soon after), finishing up resizing some stuff, and just finalising the bonus preorder item and some items I want to release at the same time (like how I did with the stickers and poster last time). I'm aiming to open preorders in like, mid April. 3) In needing to plan ahead for future volumes, I have definitively figured out that there will be NINE chapters of the story in total, meaning that as soon as Chapter Five is done it's all downhill from there! We're almost at the finish line for the story!! 4) For those interested, I've been working on some Etsy shop updates with FE related items, because I haven't really added anything new in a while. Ideally it'd be nice to have them ready around the time that volume two is available but we'll see! 5) The Bluescreen Event is almost here! I've mentioned this before but Bluescreen is a side comic that I've always wanted to release as quick daily or every-other-day updates for as long as the side comic goes on for. This unfortunately requires me to have all the updates ready to go, otherwise I risk running out of updates before I can catch up. But I'm excited that it's almost ready! It's one of my favorite side comics and I think ya'll will enjoy it too. More on that later! 6) This summer (Summer 2022) I want to finally wrap up what had been started for Fatal's 5th birthday. So stay tuned ;) And that's all for now! I'm gonna keep working so I'll be able to update the story as soon as possible. Have a great day, folks!

#xed has something to say #fatal error birthday #6th birthday #fatal error #bluescreen #xedra art

[gaecactae]

So first we have FAQ! If you will have any more questions I will add em up

Q: What’s your name?

I go by Mila on daily basis, but you can refer to me as Cactae or mum (thanks to my Instagram where I went by “cornmum” for a year or so!) or a dad! Whatever! I’m just a parent

Q: How old are you?

I’m 21! Turning 22 this year

Q: Where are you from?

Middle Europe! Literal centre of it and I hate it here but let’s ditch it. At least I live close enough to the city that is by the sea and awesome beaches so I can spend good summers

Q: What’s your orientation/pronouns?

I recently came out as a genderfluid! So I go by all of them, lately having more boy phases. Though I don’t really care, I go by anything ^^ i also have a girlfriend! Partner! Uh, wife!! Uh!! I love a person okay

Q: What do you actually do for living??

I graduated first degree of studies in my country and now I will be moving to another city to finish the other one! For now, I did drawings for kids’ books, but now I will have to find a full time job hdhdh

Q: Why cactus?

Cactus was my first plant when I was a kid!! I was always sentimental for those pricks alright

I had to change lil thing and decided to just add categories, given how many various things will be here!

DreamSMP

Part 1 - Ranboo meets Phil, Techno, Wilbur and Tommy on a stroll in the forest. He decides to follow them quietly...

Part 2 - The three boys are getting ready for bed, when Tommy asks his older brothers for a story about Endermen...

Part 3 - Ranboo, turning out to be completely harmless to Tommy, takes him for a night adventure to the forest, where he shows him a treasure dear his heart...

Epilogue 1 - Ranboo’s life takes turn from the past, illusory peace among his species, finding himself not where he would like to be...

Epilogue 2 - Ranboo finds peace.

Short story about a Piglin and a Man. Part 1 - Phil takes Ranboo for a small trip to the nether and the young half-enderman finds himself curious about the owner of Arctic Empire - Technoblade.

Short story about a Piglin and a Man. Part 2 - Story about young adventurer and his blizzare finding, that changed his life forever...

Part 1 - George is haunted by dreams and nightmares, ever since his beloved was put in the prison. He decides to confront him in Pandora’s Vault.

Introduction! - meet the members of this unlikely family!

Comic - Awesamfam’s problems with Tommy and how they solve them

Mini comic - when you have a date, but you also have a little sister...

Some clarification from the very beginning!

Years go by

Kinoko Kingdom 1

Kinoko Kingdom 2

AwesamDad

CaptainMom

DadBoyHalo

Eret the Nether Prince

Ranchers and NPCs references!

CHARLIE SLIMECICLE

All the slimes!!

KARL JACOB’s BIZZARE ADVENTURE ON FAR FAR RANGE

FNAF:SB

My DJMM design!

Night Intruder pt 1

Night Intruder pt 2

Night Intruder pt 3

Night Intruder pt 4

Night Intruder pr 5

Night Intruder pt 6

Night Intruder pt 7

Sun & Moon designs!

IdentityV

Haseli doodles

Highschool AU refs

{Joscarl} Phone-o-graphy comic

The boys comic

Bugsnax

Morchmelly introduction and some doodles!

Danganronpa

“Taken good care of” fanfic - Prologue

CookieRun Kingdom

Dark Cacao Cookie x Butter Cookie (canon x oc) comic - angst:)

Novaturient comic - cover & description

Novaturient pt 1

[gorogues]

Spoilers for comics in August!

These are part of the official solicitations for that month, which you can see in full at CBR.  It’s a month heavy on Suicide Squad reprints and variant covers, as the movie is out in early August.  But the Mick story continues in the Flash book.

THE FLASH #773 story by JEREMY ADAMS art by WILL CONRAD cover by BRANDON PETERSON ON SALE 8/17/21 $3.99 US | 32 PAGES | FC | DC card stock variant by JORGE CORONA US $4.99 Suicide Squad Movie card stock variant by ALAN QUAH US $4.99 On the loose and bent on destruction, Heatwave's return couldn't come at a worse time for Wally West. Now that the onetime Kid Flash has retaken the mantle of the Fastest Man Alive, he's also taken a new job at Mr. Terrific's Holt Industries. But all of that gets put on the back burner, when the Flash must outrace the flames of one of his greatest foes and figure out why the once-reformed rogue has gone bad again.

Please write ‘Heat Wave’ correctly, DC.  Anyway, it seems that Mick really has gone bad for some reason; I was hoping last month that the covers/solicits were misleading.

I’m not sure who the fiery guy is on the Swamp Thing cover, but he certainly bears a resemblance to Mick (and if it’s him, implies that Mick joins Suicide Squad).  So I’ll post it here just in case.

THE SWAMP THING #6 story by RAM V art by MIKE PERKINS cover by MIKE PERKINS ON SALE 8/3/21 $3.99 US | 32 PAGES | FC | DC 6 of 10 card stock variant by FRANCESCO MATTINA $4.99 US With Prescot’s bio-agent set off in the Kaziranga wetlands, the Green summons Levi back to the land of his making. With Levi unable to access his powers as Swamp Thing, he finds himself trapped in the dense forest and stalked by a group tasked with retrieving his alter ego at all costs. Will he recover his powers before he is hunted down by the Suicide Squad?

Putting the Suicide Squad stuff behind a cut because it gets pretty long -- and not all of it’s included here.  I don’t know if Digger will appear in Suicide Squad: Get Joker!, but included it just in case.  Most of it is TPBs and collected editions, though the Get Joker! series is a new story.

SUICIDE SQUAD: GET JOKER! #2 story by BRIAN AZZARELLO art by ALEX MALEEV & MATT HOLLINGSWORTH cover by ALEX MALEEV ON SALE 9/7/21 $6.99 US | 48 PAGES | FC | DC card stock variant cover by JORGE FORNES Black Label | Prestige Plus | 8 1/2" x 10 7/8" 17+ After turning the tables on the Suicide Squad, The Joker gained control of the device that could detonate the bomb implanted in each of the team members’ heads. Now forced to do The Joker’s bidding, Red Hood, Harley, and the rest of Task Force X find themselves hunted by a newly formed Squad with a single mission: kill the previous Squad and take over hunting The Joker.

SUICIDE SQUAD CASE FILES 1 written by GERRY CONWAY art by JOHN BYRNE On sale 7/20/21 $19.99 US | 216 pages | 6 5/8" x 10 3/16"| Softcover ISBN: 978-1-77951-075-4 Discover the legacy of the film's eclectic villains in this collection of key stories from DC history! James Gunn's The Suicide Squad film gathers the weirdest and wildest cast of characters in superhero movie history—from Squad veterans like Harley Quinn and Captain Boomerang to the downright bizarre King Shark and Polka-Dot Man. But every character starts somewhere! Find out exactly where in The Suicide Squad Case Files 1, a new collection featuring debut and key appearances of Bloodsport, Mongal, Polka-Dot Man, King Shark, Weasel, the Thinker, and Amanda Waller herself, the government agent behind Task Force X.

SUICIDE SQUAD CASE FILES 2 written by JOHN OSTRANDER art by LUKE MCDONNELL On sale 7/27/21 $19.99 US | 224 pages | 6 5/8" x 10 3/16"| Softcover | ISBN: 978-1-77951-156-0 More legacy and origins of the Suicide Squad's eclectic characters in this collection of key stories in anticipation of James Gunn's film, The Suicide Squad! The Suicide Squad Case Files 2 collection includes debut and key appearances of Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, Rick Flag, the Ratcatcher, Savant, the Javelin, Blackguard, and more.

HARLEY QUINN'S GREATEST HITS written by VARIOUS art by VARIOUS Available now! $9.99 US | 168 pages | 6 5/8" x 10 3/16"| Softcover | ISBN: 978-1-4012-7008-7 Get ready for this summer's most anticipated movie, The Suicide Squad, with the comics that feature fan-favorite character Harley Quinn! Harley Quinn's Greatest Hits collects eight of her best stories from writers and artists including Paul Dini, Bruce Timm, Jim Lee, Jeph Loeb, Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, Scott Snyder, and more.

SUICIDE SQUAD: TRIAL BY FIRE written by JOHN OSTRANDER art by LUKE MCDONNELL AND OTHERS On sale 7/27/2021 $19.99 US | 232 pages| FC|DC ISBN: 978-1-77951-444-8 The classic story that inspired the feature film! Offered again with a new cover! Faced with a rising tide of meta-human crime and terror, Amanda Waller, the hard-headed director of a secret government program designed to neutralize super-powered threats called Task Force X sold the President on her vision: a covert action team composed of incarcerated super-villains who earned time off their sentences for every mission they completed. Deniable, disposable, and deployable to any spot on Earth, this Suicide Squad would be the perfect weapon of last resort—as long as they could be kept under control. Crafted by acclaimed creators John Ostrander and Luke McDonnell, this volume collects the first eight issues of the team's legendary 1980s title as well as their updated history from Secret Origins #14.

SUICIDE SQUAD: THEIR GREATEST SHOTS written by VARIOUS art by VARIOUS On sale 7/13/21 $12.99 US | 200 pages | 6 5/8" x 10 3/16"| Softcover | ISBN: 978-1-77951-073-0 The ultimate graphic novel companion to the high-octane, highly anticipated Suicide Squad movie coming in 2021! Featuring everyone's favorite DC antiheroes—from Harley Quinn to Captain Boomerang—this collection is sure to thrill any fan seeking more high-stakes black ops missions where no one is safe! Ranging from classic adventures by John Ostrander to contemporary takes with art by Jim Lee, all the comics heavy hitters who've shaped the Squad are featured in this collection!

SUICIDE SQUAD VOL. 1: THE BLACK VAULT written by ROB WILLIAMS art by JIM LEE AND PHILIP TAN Available now! $16.99 US | 160 pages | 6 5/8" x 10 3/16"| Softcover | ISBN: 978-1-4012-6981-4 The acclaimed story that helped launch DC Universe Rebirth! Harley Quinn. Deadshot. Killer Croc. Enchantress. Captain Boomerang. Katana. They're dangerous. They're deadly. They're deeply unstable. Their latest mission should be easy enough: recover a powerful cosmic weapon called the Black Vault from enemy hands. The Suicide Squad always gets the job done (mostly). But this time, when the weapon's dark influence spreads and the team is driven to madness and mayhem (more than usual), there's only one person sane enough to save the Squad from destruction…the Clown Princess of Crime herself, Harley Quinn! 

SUICIDE SQUAD: BAD BLOOD written by TOM TAYLOR art by BRUNO REDONDO Available now! $29.99 US | 288 pages | 6 5/8" x 10 3/16"| Hardcover | ISBN: 978-1-77950-395-4 Acclaimed writer Tom Taylor reunites with celebrated Injustice collaborators Bruno Redondo and Daniel Sampere on this GLAAD Media Award–nominated collection When the Suicide Squad is assigned to neutralize a group of international super-terrorists known as the Revolutionaries, the last thing they expect is for the survivors to join the team! Who can Squad veterans Harley Quinn and Deadshot trust when their new teammates are the very people they were sent to kill? This crew could survive the mission, but they might not survive each other—so don't get attached.

#Heat Wave #Captain Boomerang #the Flash #the Thinker #Harley Quinn #solicits #spoilers: comics #injury #tw blood #Suicide Squad movie #Squadapalooza #spoilers: Suicide Squad #King Shark #Deadshot #Killer Croc #Katana #Javelin #Polka Dot Man #Peacemaker