#i WANT to put effort into this but i finish the pose and its like 'time to give half effort on the rest bc ig i just cant draw leo valdez'

[thepeonysbackup]

Cheek to Cheek

Summary: After a rough day, Alastor decides to take your happiness into his own hands, or moves to be precise!

Warnings: Fluff!! WIP!!!

Request: Yes/No

Songfic!!!: ♬♬♬

At this point, you were boring a line into the floor from how much your heels clicked against the tile flooring, only going quiet every few seconds you walked over your fuzzy white and purple rug. "She had the audacity to point that smug ass angelic weapon into my face while she was at it. Claiming I want to make trouble when all I've done for the hotel is support her girlfriend with everything I have?! Doesn't she realize that if I wasn't trying I would be out hopping rooftops, shoplifting, and running these streets lawless like how I was seven months ago?!" The soft hum from Alastor spurred you on to continue as you turned around again, this time stopping because you felt done, chest rising and falling while you stood relaxed. "Sounds to me like you were rather dreadful." That caught you off guard, "What..?"

The sudden flick of the radio dial, the click so loud it made you jump as the music started to play. Alastor's shadow smiled mischievously from the ceiling for its choice, as he stood he walked over to you with his eyes closed and smile ever present before he took hold of one of your hands and pulled you near.

'Heaven.. I'm in heaven... And my heart beats so– that I can hardly speak..

And I've seem to find the happiness I seek.. When we're out together, dancin' cheek to cheek.'

To your surprise, the steps were slow, merely the both of you slowly turning to the music and swaying with one another to the beat. His hand gently held yours, eyes now opened to stare intently down at you as he spoke, "My Dear, if I had ever met you while you were behaving in such a manner I promise you we would not have gotten off on the proper foot." His smile turned soft as he spun you and pulled you back into him, your back to his chest while he held your waist merely for a moment but long enough for his touch to be burned into your mind.

'I'm in Heaven, and the cares I had through the week, seems to vanish like a gamblers lucky streak.. When we're out together dancing cheek to cheek.

Oh I'd love to climb to mountains, reach the highest peak. But it doesnt thrill me half as much as dancin' cheek to cheek.

Oh I'd love to go out fishing, in a river or a creek, but I enjoy it half as much as dancin cheek to cheek.'

"Now Darlin' dance with me~ I want my arms around you, these chaaarms about you will carry me throoough, is heaven!~" He sang out, making you laugh a tad as he truly put in effort as he spun you out again, posing dramatically on one knee while pointing towards you. He wanted you to continue the second part, which since it was only the two of you, you obliged to. "Take it away doll, sing it!"

"Heavenn, I'm in heaven!~ And my heart beats so, that I can hardly speak~~

       And I seem to find the happiness I seek, when we're out together dancing Cheek to cheek!!~"

He laughed along with you when you finished, gently pinching your cheek while leaning back down to your level as he did. "See that's the one right there," He mused with enthusiasm, quickly capturing your lips for a mere moment before pulling back with a wide grin on his face at you own genuine smile of disbelief, "That little one right there most definitely is my favorite, please wear it more often dear. A dance will always bring out a smile, never hesitate to seek me out if ever you are in need of one again, my darlin'. Til we meet again." And with that he was gone in the flash of his shadow, slithering away under your doorway.

   What just happened?

#hazbin hotel #hazbin alastor #hazbin hotel alastor #alastor x reader #alastor x you #alastor hazbin hotel #alastor #wips #wip

[dinodanicus]

you can skip this wall of text its just about the scam this illustration was involved in.

This fairly ordinary illustration of two hands holding was involved in a very weird and convoluted scam. Last month I was commission to illustrate this image for invitations meant to go out for a supposed wedding anniversary coming up in March. The whole commission seemed odd to me I mainly draw dinosaurs and aliens. Not many people know I also draw people but the buyer who called himself Petterson Reid was offering to pay 300 up front and 200 after the work was finished. A nice offer for what was a very simple illustration. I took the job and sent him a very rough sketch of the hands to show him what the final image might look like. He liked the sketch and told me to finish the image after he sent the first payment I went ahead and finished the image that night. I held onto the picture to see if he would really send the 300 dollars first. The buyer wanted to send a check by mail which is weird but I thought he might have been a boomer who didn't understand how to use PayPal. His emails and text seemed like something my grandmother would write very proper and overly polite. I was fairly suspicious of him and waited to see if a check would actually be delivered. To my surprise a check did arrive a week later from Petterson Reid except it was for 2,790 dollars. knowing this was far too much money I asked him if it was a mistake. He said the extra money was for a PayPal invoice to the printers involved in the invitations. He wanted me to use the extra money on the check to pay the printers on his behalf. Again very weird but I chalked it up to an old person who didn't know how to pay online. I cashed the check the next day, since it was from an out of state bank they were putting it on hold for 3 days to see if the funds would clear. I told the buyer about the three day waiting period and asked for the invoice I was suppose to be paying and he went absolutely ape shit. He claimed I was trying to steal his money and was threatening to pursue legal action I was completely shocked by the change in attitude. I had to mute my phone because he kept sending wave after wave of threatening texts. At this point I was 90% sure this was some sort of scam but when I called the bank they said there was nothing to do until the hold expired. I was confident it wouldn't then to my surprise the check cleared and the money was in my account. At this point I had the finished artwork and the money so I wanted to get this crazy asshole on his way so I wouldn't have to deal with him anymore. I told him to send the invoice for the printer and I would pay it with the money on the check then I would send the picture and our business would be done. This prick sends some half assed looking invoice with a payable link on PayPal. When I try to pay, it says payment will be held till Feb 7th. Apparently this date is too late for the printers so now that processing payment has been canceled by the printer in favor of a new payment process through Zelle. I was trying to figure out what was going on, if its a scam what is the take the entirety of the check was still in my account it didn't even say it was pending. I go to pay on Zelle and discover the 2,790 dollars has been rescinded by the bank. I call and learn this ass hair had sent a forged check to the bank in an effort to have me pay these fake invoices with my own money. He guessed the bank would deposit the check without fully vetting it for the standard 10 days since I'm a long time member. He knew he had until about five a clock that day before the bank would catch the discrepancy. He was posing as the printer in order to scam 4,740 dollars from me through both attempted payment methods. luckily for me I'm broke as hell right now and didn't have the money in my own account to cover either payment with out the check. everything has been taken care of now I just thought I better share this story since I've never seen a scam like this before. It took an entire month for him to essentially get nothing I really don't know what to think of any of this its such a weird scheme.

#my art #illustration #hands #sketch

[og-danny-dorito]

[ VOYEUR : GOJO X M!READER HEADCANONS & BLURB ]

[ A/N ] : came to me in a moment of clarity while i was scrolling through content for him on tiktok. this is my design (gay men kissing)

[ CW ] : MDNI 18+, AMAB!reader, he/him pronouns for reader, established relationship, pet names, degradation, all parties are consenting

its a SERIOUS ego boost unsurprisingly LMAO

no im being so ffr rn i cannot possibly explain to you how much he's into the whole being watched while undressing/getting off thing

gojo isn't stupid; he knows you like watching him from the way your eyes linger on him while he's getting ready for work in the morning to how he always finds your gaze straying to him when you're in public

and honestly? it's comforting to him, a way to add fuel flame of his nearly insatiable need to be wanted, to be desired

but he didn't know you'd like watching him like this

well, he had a hunch you would at least. he figured it out when he first caught you watching him while he was jacking off in the shower after a long day of work, having decided to let off some steam while he waited for you to get home

he could hear you come in, but didn't bother to stop considering he thought you'd get flustered like you normally do and just go about your business as you waited for him to get out

only he heard you stop at the door to listen to him, trying not to do something as simple as breathe so as not to disturb him. he can feel you watching steam surround the cloudy room as he cums, grunting out your name under his breath

it was almost fascinating to him how much you seemed to enjoy it, unable to hide a grin at the sound of you suddenly darting off once he turned off the water, making a move to get out so you wouldn't get "caught"

so he keeps doing it. taking off his clothes to change at an agonizingly slow pace, bending over and posing himself in compromising positions as if he's trying to rile you up on purpose (he is)

there's no way he couldn't have known, really; his six eyes makes it almost impossible to sneak up on him anyway and he's almost surprised that you didn't put those dots together earlier, but he doesn't mind keeping up this little game between you two at all

he likes having the power in his hands to tease you, some power quiet and unspoken in a way that holds much more weight for him than anything he could be doing deliberately

but he pretends like he doesn't for the sake of the game. he waits until you're home, putting on a show for his not-so-secret admirer

like bro's arching his back, moaning your name- he's going the whole mile dude. he's trying to get you as worked up as possible

and when the time finally comes and he can feel you getting close he stops suddenly, going "who's there?" like he doesn't know damn well it's you

as soon as he finds you he grins like he's won some sort of competition you didn't know you were participating in, calling you a perv and saying "If you wanted to watch me get off so badly, why didn't you ask?"

his favorite thing is to catch you and then make you sit down on the opposite side of the room while he continues getting himself off, scolding you and degrading you when you move to touch yourself- or him for that matter

his version of a punishment for your "bad behavior" is just to tease you to see how long you'll last before you're begging to suck him off or have him fuck you or just touch you, really, finally relenting after he too gets impatient

he'll smile and "begrudgingly" agree too it, meanly calling you a "desperate slut" the whole time and making an effort to push you to beg for release

he's almost always going to make you thank him for it once he's done, too, making you cum hands free or finishing in your mouth and getting a sick grin on his face when you whine "thank you" with sensitivity and desperation lacing your tone

in short, he absolutely LOVES it and will 100% encourage it LMAO

"What, watching me isn't enough this time?" His voice comes out mean and teasing, eyes filled with some sort of affectionate mirth that almost feels out of place with the position he's in. It's dark in the room, dimly lit save for your bedside lamp and the streetlights shining through blinds in the window. His vibrant white hair is tousled and unkempt as it usually is, but the slight sheen of sweat that coats his skin and makes some of the snowy white strands stick to his skin makes him almost look heavenly. You think for a moment that despite the insatiable need for release in your gut and the tight fist you have in a near tearing grip on the chair's arm, it might be heaven to be here. Gojo is propped up on the bed with his left arm held at a 90 degree angle so he can look across the room at you, his other one draped across his hip so the grip on his shaft is just loose enough that he can stroke up and down without having to move much else but his hand, the flushing pink tip leaking a lot more precum than you saw when he didn't know you were watching. Well, 'didn't know' is wrong, you've noticed, taking into account the fact that his smile is all to wide for him to not have been plotting this all along. He makes a show of stroking himself almost as he did before, rolling the palm of his hand over the tip during the upstroke and letting out a near pornographic moan at the feeling. You know he's just teasing from the way he jolts a little bit afterwards and giggles at your tense shifting, not daring to take your eyes away from him. Not now, not at that he knows he has your full attention. You'd rather just obey than tear your eyes away from him, and even though you shift to relieve some of the white-hot pressure in your groin it isn't enough to satiate the overwhelming need to just touch him. "No.", you strain out, and he smiles wider, his hand picking up it's pace a bit. "Then why don't you just ask for what you want this time instead of being a little perv about it, hm? Go on, ask." You bite down a retort at the comment but still narrow your eyes a bit, the flush on your cheeks darkening a bit once you realize he won't relent in this teasing until you've nearly humiliated yourself for him. It's almost enough to make you want to tell him to shut the fuck up, but it isn't enough to stop you from visibly gulping down your pride as you shift again, this time nearly ripping the couch with how tightly you're gripping it. "Please let me touch you, Gojo. Please.", you rasp out, adding on the extra plea to try and garner some sort of sympathy from him. And apparently it works enough for him to laugh again, spreading his legs a little wider as he releases his dick from it's hold and motions for you to come over. He cocks his head to the side as he sits up fully now, watching you with need as you nearly lunge at him like a hungry animal, letting you roam your hands over his body as he breathily chants "Good boy." into your neck.

[ THANKS FOR READING! REBLOGS ARE APPRECIATED :] ]

#male!reader #gojo x reader #gojo satoru x reader #gojo satoru x male reader #gojo x male reader #jjk x reader #jjk x male reader #gojo headcanons #gojo satoru headcanons #gojo satoru hcs #gojo imagine #gojo satoru imagine #jjk headcanons #jjk imagines #jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu sorcerer #jujutsu kaisen gojo #jjk gojo satoru #jjk gojo #gojo satoru smut #gojo smut #gojo satoru x you #gojo x you

[twopoppies]

Gina, have you seen the article about Hs workout routine for LOT? I mean, we all saw the results… but I find it almost even more impressive to learn how its been done! His dedication and work ethic is so inspiring and surely part of why I adore him so much 🫠🫶

Holy hell. No wonder he’s in such great shape. Just a note that Thibo David was his old trainer with Live On Tour. I assume Brad Gould was his new trainer for Love on Tour. But I doubt his regimen was any less insane.

[…]

If you include the one-mile run and bodyweight challenge, this is the hardest warm-up I’ve ever done, but, given the intensity required for the next two elements I’m promoting them to workout status.

[…]

David says Harry Styles can run a mile in an impressive 5min 13sec—a standard some of the professional athletes David coaches can’t match—but I was urged to run my own race.

[…]

This was far closer to my wheelhouse as a CrossFit fan. I chose to tackle it in alternating sets of 10, transitioning quickly between exercises to finish within the eight-minute limit. But even commando rolling from push-up to sit-up then springing into the squats left me little time to spare.

[…]

I took 7min 39sec, and, somewhat unexpectedly, given I can barbell squat more than 300lb, it was my quads that blew up the most. Whether this was the result of the one-mile run before it or heavy front squats the day before, I couldn’t say, but my thighs were on fire by the final rep.

“I like to say that I train very smart, but you also have to be very stupid sometimes, you know? Do this type of workout in the most stupid way; go hard at the task at hand, like when you throw a ball for a dog and it goes super crazy.

“This is a very good workout for that. Very good at building everything that needs to be added after the aerobic base; aggressiveness, speed, that go-hard mentality.”

[…]

Things did become particularly spicy during round three and four though, as my body began to tire with the sustained effort.

My posterior chain (the muscles running along the back side of the body) took a battering from the kettlebell swings and sandbag-over-shoulders, my already-fried legs felt heavy during the box jumps, and my shoulders grew tired from two minutes of straight clean and presses—it was a serious test of muscular endurance.

[…] I also did 12 total rounds—I wanted the full Styles experience, after all—but I’d live to regret this. The hill I chose grew progressively steeper as I worked my way up it, and by the eighth round I felt like death. My sprints turned to slogs, and the time it took me to complete the distance I established in the first interval grew longer.

[…] The prior running and box jumps didn’t help either, but I got it done eventually in less than 30 minutes.

[…]

This was a relaxing way to wrap up a far from relaxing morning of training, and gave me a second to catch my breath after a monumental effort which lasted a little over two hours.

I swapped his day of training for one of my usual CrossFit sessions and had a lot of fun doing it. Every part of my body felt like it had been put through the ringer thanks to the muscle-burning circuit and lung-taxing running elements. I was also very, very hungry.

Another thing that impressed me was Styles’ evident fitness levels and work ethic; how he has the energy to perform for two hours during a stadium tour is no longer a mystery.

Another thing I liked about my chat with David was his openness and honesty. I often see articles online saying celebrities do a few Pilates classes or HIIT workouts each week to stay in unbelievable shape, and he was keen to dispel this myth.

“Collaborating with Harry Styles was an absolute delight; his commitment is unparalleled,” says David.

“But it’s important to note that this level of training isn’t suitable for everyone. Harry was inherently fit, but achieving the level of fitness needed for this session still required time, work and effort. Rushing into such high-volume workouts can pose risks.”

David also stressed that sessions of this intensity weren’t done every day, and the nature of his workouts will often “depend on the day and the state of the athlete”.

“It’s crucial to emphasize the significance of proper periodization,” says David. “Not every day constituted an intense session. In fact, we strategically incorporated recovery sessions which often involved a light run combined with core exercises and mobility work. Every workout was thoughtfully placed within the overall training plan.”

Read, full article here

x

#exercise Harry #workout Harry #fitness Harry #thibo david

[kokoasci]

hey hiii love your art and i am astonished by your background composition, is there a process behind that or maybe tips you would share ?

hi!! thank you! this kind of like depends per piece, im not a professional artist (compsci student, so take my advice as a student with no formal art studies with enough salt to taste) but i do have a kind of general-ish process that i can talk about like with this scara piece comp:

i work pose first, composition second: i.e. i draw a pose and usually refine it before i start thinking about a background lol 😭

working general -> specific is my best friend, and I think it also helps me evolve a drawing as i go, since i don't usually have an idea for a full composition when i start (that's so stressful to me LMAO) you can see this progress here (i erased the basic guidelines though so theres no facial features, but i usually leave the face for last anyway because it helps me fit in an expression better)

by the time i have a full pose THEN ill start refining to an actual composition. this is also the point at which i decide to start putting actual effort in

then i just. fill the background with objects, usually ones that have a connection to the character or vibe im trying to fit. this is a weird example because the only things i know about scaramouche is there's some sort of like connection with puppets and he also likes his vision so i played with that idea, which is kind of where those fishes and the general pose came from. (i go into more detail about this here!)

i originally wanted to have puppet strings for those objects as you can see below but it made the final piece kind of muddy so i took them out :(

then its just coloring, which is usually what takes me the longest because im so. indecisive 😭 i like to keep depth and 3d space as the like #1 thing in my mind while coloring though and how shadows will work with that, because i think it helps a piece pop out way more

and that's how i get my compositions !! i make it seem pretty streamlined here please know it's a lot of redoing whole parts of the drawing and fixing the background/foreground until im happy with the finished result

thank you for asking, i hope this helped answer the question <3

#ask koko #you all should see the reference pictures i had to take for this LMAOOO i look so angry in them its so embarassing #but the drawing turned out well so. it was worth it #thank you for asking! #scaramouche

[vigilskeep]

wait harker what is your beef with halsin? /gen

so on my first attempt at starting the game, i played a tiefling druid, which was quite an experience as i had no idea the first conflict i was about to walk into was between tieflings and druids. i found talking to kagha very upsetting for my character; it was obvious this was a place my character would normally feel at home, were it not for the bigotry that had taken root. the first thing kagha said to my character, after she was finished hurling fantasy slurs at and threatening a tiefling child who was crying apologies and begging to go back to her parents, was to dismiss my character as a druid on account of their race: “the treefather’s words spoken with a devil’s forked tongue”. if you read what’s on the table next to kagha, there’s a diatribe against tieflings, saying their allegiance is to the hells and implying they should all be sent back there. i also played a failed save where kagha was responsible for the little tiefling girl’s death and her only immediate reaction was to cover it up, and also where i foolishly attacked her and she commanded a full attack against the tieflings where i came back into the hollow to see dozens slaughtered and the rest desperately trying to defend themselves. so i was fully aware that kagha posed an existential threat to this entire group of innocent refugees with whom i shared common ground

(i swear all this context is necessary)

after all this, obviously i was glad to discover there was a quest to investigate kagha. i felt my character’s faith in their druid beliefs was pretty shaken, and they would be hugely pleased to displace kagha, search out the rightful leader of the grove, and see justice done and balance restored. i put some quite considerable effort into investigating kagha, stealing from her chest (and boy is stealth not my strong suit) and trekking all the way down the map to the bog to discover the truth. i was pleased to learn she was some kind of evil druid. she was an anomaly. all i needed was to get rid of her, and everything would be fine again. but i made a crucial mistake: i decided to rescue halsin first, thinking everything would be much easier if i had the true, good leader of the grove at my side before i started making accusations. after all, my character still wanted to believe in the druids, and had not felt like she would be trusted in the grove herself. it was a natural choice.

and halsin... just demoted kagha to novice?

like. that’s it. he didn’t even make her leave the grove that had been willing to support her in all this. kagha was willing to kill a tiefling child. she was willing to kill all the tieflings. if you show up before you go to rescue halsin, she’s willing to attack her own people. you can even tell halsin she was involved with these evil shadow druids, and he has almost nothing to say about it. and right after that, he had the nerve to say to my druid character that in another time they would have been a welcome addition to the grove, as if it wasn’t very clear how unwelcome people like them were, as if they would be willing to be the one exception. kagha wasn’t the only one who’d gone along with it or spat the word devil. then halsin wants to join me and leave the grove to deal with his own guilt, while bringing in some stranger to resolve the grove’s problems and restore its “purity”, as if any druids seem trustworthy neutral parties right now, and as if kagha and her influence wouldn’t still be right there, just as unchecked in his absence. and he got mad at me for the extremely minor questioning of that which the game let me do!

i absolutely do not expect anyone to share these opinions as they originate from an extremely specific experience of the game lmao. in fact, different players being able to have very different opinions based on how you experienced the game is one of my favourite parts of bg3 so far. but personally i don’t seem to be able to shake this opinion despite now playing as a different character—this current one having found out that he personally taught kagha??—and i... don’t think i’m being that irrational. i don’t like him and if i get an opportunity to drop him from my camp i will take it

#this is such an essay. sorry. if there are any negativity tags i should be using let me know #bg3 spoilers

[lovingseventeen]

dino saying “i love you” for the first time

a/n: got so excited when i thought of this that it got too long to be part of an ot13 post LOL 

back to the event! 

it came out of him while he was so happy and full of laughter. for your one month anniversary, you decided to surprise him with a dance cover of “crush.” while you were not nearly as talented a dancer as your boyfriend, you did put in quite the effort to memorize up until the first chorus.

you had the help of some of the other members to reserve a dance room along with setting up the audio system and lights. after a day of work, he knew he had to meet you, so he was hesitant to hang around the company building (he wanted to leave ASAP). he was not expecting his members to bring him to a room to find you in it. of course, they all left you two alone to have your moment.

you were dressed up in leather pants, a red crop top, a leather jacket, and heeled ankle boots, hot as ever he had to admit, and you pointed at a chair for him to sit in. on the the chair, was a remote for him to hit play and oh, was he not ready for what you had prepared. he recognizes the intro immediately and he can’t fight the grin that makes its way onto his face.

you start powerfully, with the “you’re my crush, i got a crush on you,” winking at him as you move swiftly. he swears his heart skips a beat and he really does feel like a fan. your body moves confidently as every dance step has become muscle memory after weeks of practicing.

dino laughs and cheers when you take off your jacket (an added step) during the “i don’t know what to do, tell me what i gotta do.” you’re hitting the marks accurately and he’s in awe because he’s never seen you perform anything. he feels tremendously special that it’s for him. he also can’t help but whoop when you copy how he moves during his lines, and especially when you do a very sexy body roll.

the end of the chorus is approaching and you really put all of your energy into this minute and a half of dancing- more than you ever have during your weeks of practice. so you’re internally reminding yourself to finish strong.

you finish with your chest heaving, but holding your pose the same way they do for their ending fairies- as if you aren’t tired. chan already got up from his seat, hands excited with applause.

his smile is so wide and his eyes are so bright as he approaches you, finally making you break your pose. “that was amazing!” 

his hands make their way to your arms, holding onto you. “can’t believe you learned all of that.” he’s still grinning so hard he can’t believe what he just witnessed. 

“well what can i say?” you reply, right before hitting the chorus again with just your voice, “chan, you’re my crush, i got a crush on you~” and now you’re both laughing. you look beautiful as you laugh and chan has never felt so sure about anyone in his life.

“i love you” he blurts out, and for a moment, time stops as his words settle :’)

- comment the member you want next!

- back to event!

#seventeen #seventeen headcanons #svt #seventeen imagines #svt hcs #dino x reader #dino x you #dino x y/n #lee chan #lee dino #svt dino #dino fluff #svt dino hcs #dino hcs #svt fluff

[theautumnpicker]

Read on AO3.

The arm and leg of a teddy bear lay beside its mutilated body. As far as Astarion is concerned, it's the consequences of Karlach's own actions. If the bear was so important to her, she shouldn't have left it at camp in reach of the dog. From Volo's report, Scratch hadn't even shaken the thing particularly hard; it seemed to fall apart the moment he put his teeth on it. No surprise there. The bear was ratty to begin with.

Well, it's no great loss. At least the mutt hadn't chewed up anything of actual value. Astarion feels worse for Scratch, really, who is now curled up on the far side of the camp with his tail over his nose, whining now and then and looking deeply ashamed. He only wanted to play.

Karlach doesn't weep over the teddy like a child, but Astarion's not sure he's ever seen that mournful look persist on her face for more than five minutes. Even if it is her own fault, it's damned depressing being in the same camp as her. No one talks that evening. It's an eerie silence over the campfire. By the hells, anyone would think someone had actually died.

While the others are eating dinner, then, Astarion collects the pieces of the bear and brings them to his tent. He breaks out his sewing kit, the same he uses every second evening to repair the damage to his armor or clothing, and gets started with reattaching the limbs to the aging fabric. It's even less of a surprise that they'd fallen off, now that he's holding the bear in his hands and can see just how many of the seams have split, how the thread attaching the eyes has loosened to the degree that one of them is in danger of falling out at any moment. There's no point in doing this at all if he doesn't do it right, so Astarion reinforces the seams with careful stitches in his practiced hand.

He's still repairing a small gash to the foot when Gale approaches the tent adjacent his, evidently having finished eating first. Astarion glances up and sees Karlach still staring pensively into a bowl of stew.

"Is that Karlach's bear?" asks Gale, and Astarion sighs. "That's very nice of you, Astarion!" He sounds genuinely touched.

"I don't know what you mean, darling. I'm always nice." He peers up at the wizard, tilting his chin back in a haughty pose and narrowing his eyes. "But if you say a word about this to anyone else, I might forget to be. I'd rather not play seamstress to the entire camp."

Gale looks amused in a way that infuriates Astarion, like he thinks he's learned something about him. "You don't need to worry on my account. My lips are sealed."

"Good. Now, do keep them that way while I'm working. If anyone asks, I've been out hunting." Astarion redoubles his efforts now that some of the others are beginning to finish their meal. He runs his fingers over the fabric of the bear, checking for weak points. It can't exactly be called good as new, but at least it won't fall apart again if given a firm shaking.

Much to the continued amusement of the wizard beside him, once he's finished, Astarion directs his Mage Hand to carry the bear back to Karlach's tent and dismisses it afterwards, sight unseen. Just as he's stealing away into the woods to make good on his alibi, he can hear Karlach's delighted cry: "Clive! How— Did you do this, Gale? Oh, I'd hug you if I could!"

Astarion doesn't hear the wizard's response, but as he slips away, the smile forms on his face for once without deliberation.

#baldurs gate 3 #Astarion #my fic #ficlet #clive bg3

[argumentl]

The Freedom of Expression - Vol:16 - Spring (2023/03/25)

(*This is a very long post, so to summarize the topics discussed quickly: 

•Baseball/ The WBC

•Hanami/Cherry Blossom viewing

•Kaoru's dislike of chalkboards

•First Meetings - Kaoru tells a fun story about this. 

•Spring Songs

•Moving house - Kaoru talks about dealing with cockroaches, and house sharing with Kyo.*)

K: Ok, here we are getting started with The Freedom of Expression on our Niconama channel. Im Kaoru from Dir en grey. 

J: Im Joe Yokomizo. 

T: And Im Tasai from Tokyo Sports. 

*applause*

J: Well, everyone's writing cherry blossom emojis in the comments. 

K: Yeh, its already blossoming, right?

J: It did seem to be at full bloom, but then with the rain it might already be starting to fall. 

K: Ah, yeh, maybe. Actually, today its cold all of a sudden, isn't it? 

J: It is, yeh. 

K: It was really warm until yesterday, but today I even have to wear a leather jacket. 

J: Yeah, you need it to keep the cold out. 

K: But then Tasai is here dressed like that! *points to Tasai* You came from home like this??

J: Hahaha 

T: Yeh, I was so cold. 

K: I bet you were! 

J: Its weird...Out in the dressing room he was saying he was cold, so I told him to put a jacket on, and he was like, 'No, I came here like this'. 

K: You must have felt cold when you left home though?

J: Its not even a little bit warm today!

T: Yeah, but I thought I would be ok. I mean, on the way to the station I saw a woman wearing a coat, and I had a moment of doubt, but then I thought, 'No no, I can do this'. 

J: Cause its already evening, right? By the time we finish this, it'll be really cold. And you've gotta go home like that. 

T: Yeh, I havn't got the hang of this adulting thing yet.

J: Adulting thing, haha. 

K: Haha 

J: Im not sure if thats really the issue here, haha. Well, today, its just the three of us again at long last, but I should ask you Kaoru, and Tasai, as you both like baseball...the WBC was on until last Thursday, right? Did you watch it? How was it?

K: Did YOU watch it?

J: No, I didn't even watch a second of it! 

K: Haha, I thought so. 

J: I can't say anything about it, but I figured you two could. So, did you watch it?

K: Yes, yes, I did. 

T: Of course we did! 

J: Did you watch all the Japan games?

K: Yeah. 

T: Yes 

J: Well, I should ask who played well etc, but..

T: Ok, Joe, do you know this...what pose was trending during the WBC?

J: Oh, a lot of people were doing this. This twisting motion (*twists fists one on top of the other*?). What is this?

T: Its...strangling the eel (*or something, I dunno, haha*) 

K: Hahaha 

J: No way, haha, the Samurai Japan team wouldn't do that. 

T: Haha, like squeezing an eel. 

J: I mean, that is quite Japanese though. What actually is that pose though? 

T: Don't you know? Its like grinding pepper. Like with a peppermill. 

J: Why are they doing a grinding pepper pose?

K: Yeh, why? I dont actually know either. 

T: Well, you know the player, Laars Nootbar? He's part Japanese, he's really likeable.

J: Oh yeh, I've seen him. 

T: His mother is from Higashi-matsuyama city. But anyway, its his move. The meaning behind it is grinding, like making a big effort, and doing a perfect job. For example, you can do this action to congratulate someone who tried hard and did well. So Nootbar uses this pose, and its just started trending in Japan. 

J: I see. Hey, lets do something like that for this show, for when we have fun conversations. 

K: Like what?

J: I don't know. Viewers can give us suggestions in the comments about what pose they want us to do. 

K: Haha, no no, this was your idea, you think of something!

J: Ahh, I can't think of anything of the spot. But for people who didn't watch the WBC, just give us your highlights. Who played well, the best moments, etc. 

T: Lets hear Kaoru's thoughts. 

J: Yes, Leader first. 

K: Wellll...of course Ohtani was memorable. But for me personally, I think Yoshida did well. 

T: Ohh, from the Red Socks. 

J: What did you like about Yoshida. 

K: Well, he hit when I wanted him to. 

T: He was great. Especially in the game against Mexico, he got 3 home runs. And he could hit even a perfect pitch. He was amazing. 

K: Even when they used to play at Tokyo Dome, Ohtani and others would hit regular home runs and get the crowd excited, but Yoshida would just hit the ball right out of the stadium. 

T: Yeh, if we didn't have him...

K: If we didn't have him, it would have been tough. 

J: Japan might not even have won, or might not have even made it to the final?

K: Yeah...well, that goes for all the other players too. 

J: Well, yeah. 

T: All the players were very active, right?

K: Yeah, but there was also that special 'Goodbye' at the end of the semi-final. 

J:...I have no idea about any of this. 

K: I cried a bit with Murakami at the end. He hadn't hit anything until then, it was like, 'What is this guy doing??'

T: Do you know who Murakami is, Joe?

J: I don't know who he is, but I've seen the news that he had been playing in bad shape, and some people wanted him replaced etc. But I don't know where he's from, or what was actually going on, or anything like that. 

T: He plays for Yakult. 

J: Oh right. 

T: He won a triple crown 

K: Yeh, he is the youngest to get it. 

T: He's had 56 home runs.

J: Haha, Tasai, why are you sitting like that all of a sudden. Oh look, someone commented, 'I thought Murakami was like a god'. Amazing. Lots if people  watched it. So, Murakami was great? 

T: All the players did great though. 

K: Yeah, they all did. 

J: Ive heard people telling me the manager was great too. Whats his name again, Kuriyama? What do you think, Kaoru?

K: Well, yeh, he had faith in the players. 

T: Yeh, he is the type to throw his support under the players to raise them up, as opposed to pulling them up from above. 

K: He would have been criticized for this method if the team had lost though. 

J: Yeah, people would have said he should have been more strict. Ahh, it all depends on the result. 

K: Yeah, thats it. 

J: Well, anyway, they won. What do you think? Lets hope for more of this when the pro-baseball season starts this Spring? 

K: Yeh, it starts next week. 

J: How is it gonna be this year? 

K: I think it'll be interesting. 

J: If anything, the amount of baseball fans will have increased after the WBC. 

K: Yeah, baseball is gaining more fans every year. Its great.

T: I think they will keep increasing too. Oh, and then this year, the Tigers have Okada as their manager. They are aiming for THAT*, right? (*Translated from the japanese word アレ meaning 'that thing', which is pronounced 'ah-re', and written as 'are' in roman script)

K: Oh yeh, THAT.

J: What? I don't understand. 

K: You know, THAT. 

J: THAT...

K: A-R-E, 'アレ'(THAT) 

J:...A-R-E...?

K: Its the team slogan. 

J: Really? I had no idea! Why A-R-E?

K: You know, THAT/アレ!

T:The only thing a player in yellow can aim for! 

J: ...To win?

T, K: Just THAT/'アレ'!

J: THAT?

K: Yes, everyone is aiming for it! 

T: Look at the comments!

J: Oh yeh. Everyone knows what this is??.A-R-E, is it like the english word 'are'?

K: No, just アレ(THAT). 

T: Of course its THAT!

J: Tasai you are scary today. 

T: Haha, its cause I didn't sleep last night. 

J: You've been acting weird today! 

T: Joe, you are still on air, haha.

J: Ok, ok, well, both of you enjoyed the WBC, but for the show today we'd like viewers to send in lots of messages. Anything is fine, ideas, opinions, suggestions, send them in. If you are using Twitter, you can use the tag TFOE. The first part of this show is free for anyone to watch, but the second part is for members only. If you become a member, you can watch this broadcast in the archive for one year, and we also have extra videos for members only. So please use the link at the top of the screen to become a member and watch to the end. Ok, so today, Leader, we have this chalk board behind us, with various phrases written on it. Its already Spring!....Well, its already Summer for Tasai...

T: Yeh, I saw a comment about this, so I'll just show you my tshirt. 

K: Ah, its our Phalaris shirt. 

J: Yeh, but I wore that already on here!

K: Haha, there's no need for.....Ok guys, thats enough...(*gestures to break up fight between J and T*) Thank you, thank you, I appreciate it, haha. 

J: Haha, its a fight over who loves Dir en grey more!

K: Hahaha 

J: Ok, so today we're gonna be talking about all these Spring topics that are written on the chalk board behind us. Oh, there we go, we have a close up of it. Leader, could you read out the topics for us?

K: Yes, 'Graduation', 'Starting school', 'Hanami', 'Spring songs', 'New starts', 'Food you want to eat in Spring', 'Spring Clothes', 'April Fools'....'Moving house'

J: No, hold on, hold on...haha. Leader, you missed that one right in the middle!

K: Haha, 'April Birthday'.  

J: Yes, but who's?!

K: 'Joe Yokomizo's April Birthday', haha. 

J: Thats right, thank you. haha 

T: Were you born in April?

J: Yes

T: Which day? Must be the 1st, right?

J: No no, the 8th. Its the same day as the Buddha's birthday. 

K: Ohh, thats a shame for the Buddha. 

J: Haha, don't be like that! You should be celebrating! 

K: Haha, ok, next...'Sports Days (Recently, some schools hold Sports Day in Spring)'....Oh, ok, yeh...., and then, 'Koshien', and, 'First meetings'. 

J: Thank you. Ok, so we'll discuss some of these topics, so if you see any you'd like us to choose, please write them in the comments. If anything really stands out in the comments, we'll go with that. 

T: So, its really up to the viewers? 

J: Yes, the viewers can get involved. This is really how niconama works. Ok, someone suggested Spring songs...

T: Joe Yokomizo...

J: Koshien...Hanami...

T: We could talk about them all.

J: Haha, yeh....Moving house...

T: Lots of people saying Spring songs. 

J: Yeh, is Spring songs the most popular? Oh, maybe Hanami?

T: Yeah, Hanami....Joe Yokomizo.....Hanami isn't one of the topics. 

J: Yes it is!

T: Oh yeh 

J: Hanami...First meetings....There are a lot of votes for Hanami. 

K: Lets go with that then. 

J: Ok, the first topic of conversation is 'Hanami'! ( Cherry Blossom Viewing)

T: As for Hanami, im generally against it. 

J: Eh?! Are you trying to ruin our plan? You are scary today! I mean, cool. Haha. 

K: Why are you against it?

T: Well, don't you feel cold doing Hanami? 

J: No, no, thats just cause you don't dress warmly, haha.

K: Yeh, you are too lightly dressed, haha. 

T: Haha, its just a coincidence today, really. 

J: You would be cold dressed like that! Haha 

T: No, but when you do Hanami in the park or somewhere, you sit on a sheet spread out on the ground, right? Don't you think the ground is quite cold?

K: Thats right actually, it is cold. Well, its not bad during the day, but at night it does get cold. 

T: Yeh, and I always end up wanting to go indoors to drink, so Hanami loses its meaning for me. 

K: Well, yeh, after you've bought all this stuff from the supermarket to eat, you do end up thinking you might as well have gone to a restaurant. 

J: For something nicer and warmer, right? Haha, yeh, there is that. 

T: See, Kaoru is coming over to my side. 

J: You don't actually spend much time looking at the blossoms either, do you?

K: Yeah, people just want to drink. 

J: Yeh, its an excuse to drink. But still, it is only a short time when the blossoms are here. 

K: Its fine during the day, but you can't even really see the blossoms at night. Plus, its warm during the day, well..today was raining, but yesterday would have been great for Hanami. 

T: But someone just commented, 'Hanami is impossible if you have hayfever'

K: Ah, of course, yeh. 

J: Look, someone wrote, 'I prefer the food carts in winter', Ah, winter, right?...'Street vendors are fun!'. But there are food carts out in some places at this time of year too! Havn't you seen any? 

T: Ohh, they are good. 

J: Yeah, see! 

K: There are some places that do have loads out, like how you see at festivals. 

J: Ah, like in Ueno park. 

T: Those are good. 

K: Yeah...but there are some places that  have like a restaurant feel, right? There'll be oden, and you can grill seafood, like you can sit around the grill and have a drink. 

J: There's a good atmosphere. 

K: Right?! That type of place is good. 

T: Didn't there used to be something like that at Hanazono Shrine?

J: There was, yeh. Leader, tell us about some of your Hanami memories. 

K: Well, yeah, it does just feel a bit cold, and the food is usually nothing impressive. 

T: See!

K: But I do like having a drink outside. 

J: Yeh, it feels spacious, right?

K: Yeh, but its better when its warm. 

T: Someone's commenting about pizza for Hanami. 

J: Thats pretty interesting. 

K: Well, you can get it delivered easily with Uber. 

J: Oh right, so you could specify which tree you're under, and you just raise your hand when they call out your name?

K: Well, yeh. 

T: I read something in a magazine ages ago about how people playing pachiko used to order pizza, and even specify the machine they were sat at, to get it delivered directly to then. 

J: Ehh, to pinpoint their location? 

T: Yeah. 

J: Well we'd love viewers to let us know their hanami memories, or recommendations for good hanami spots, so please send them in. Hey, we could do daytime Hanami on this show next year? 

K: Yeh

T: Someone wrote, 'I want Kaoru to pour me a beer from a Tora no ana food stall'. 

K: Like one of those ones? How do you even get those, we probably can't, right? 

J: Tokyo Sports could do something for us, couldn't they? 

T: No, I don't think so. 

K: Aren't those the type of things that get handed down to people?

T: Im not sure. 

J: Hm, you probably have to have connections in the street vendor business. Tokyo Sports has power in that sphere, right? 

T: Not at all, haha. 

J: But Tokyo Sports is like a street vendor. 

T: Well, the street vendor of mass media maybe. 

K: But even if we didnt have that kind of thing, we could do it with just a regular hot plate, or your pressure cooker...an event where we make that kinda stuff would be good, like a public live broadcast. 

J: Oh, thats a good idea!

T: Apparently you can rent food stalls.

J: Well, if we have enough support...

T: Someone wrote 'The pressure cooker is nostalgic'...Nostalgic?

J: Well, we could do The Freedom of Expression Hanami next year. 

T: I wanna do it this year. 

K: Oh, those comments are too fast, I can't read them! haha 

J: Why do they go by so quickly sometimes?

K: I don't know. 

J: Can't Dwango even tell us? Ehh. 'Cause they do fly past too quickly sometimes don't they?....Oh, it only happens to long comments? Long comments move fast!

K: Ah, I see. That makes sense, cause it goes fast when people use lots of applause emojis. 

T: Oh right! Lets test it, everyone do lots of clapping in the comments. 

J: Ah, Tasai, you're on good form. 

T: Aren't you curious? haha 

*everyone sends in a load of long emoji strings* 

K, T: Oh, look how quick it is!

J: Amazing

K: Wow, its so fast!

J: Should we really get so happy about something like this? haha. Ok, so that was our first topic, Hanami. Leader, could you erase it from the board. 

T: Isn't it that one in the middle next to April Fool? (Joe's bday)

J: No no! Don't erase that one yet! Not yet! Erase Hanami.

K: Ughh, I don't really like chalkboards. 

J: Why? The noise?

K: I just imagine my nails on it. Just looking at it I get a nasty feeling in my nails! 

J: Aghh, there always used to be someone who would scrape the board like that, right? 

K: I can only picture that when I see it. I just get so sqeamish in my nails, haha. 

J: I know what you mean, and you feel ticklish all over too, right?

K:....Well, no, I don't feel ticklish.

J: Eh, why is that just me? 

K: My nails just get this awful feeling. 

J: Don't you get this ticklish sensation down 'there' though, too?

K: No. 

T: Hahaha, this is too funny. 

K: But actually, its not the noise that bothers me. Its that sensation of nails draging on the board. 

J, T: Ahhhh

K: I hate that. 

J: Kaoru, you are showing your cute side. So you hate even looking at the chalkboard?

K: Yeah, it just makes my nails feel awful. 

J: Ahh, I cringe just imagining that sound aswell. Ok, well we finished Hanami. Lets decide the next topic. Write what you want to hear about in the comments. 

T: How about we choose the first really fast one? 

J: Ok, but there is a bit of a time lag, so just wait a sec. The first fast one right? Ah, there!

T: Spring songs! 

K: First meetings!

J: First meetings overtook Spring songs!

T: Haha, lets go with First meetings. 

K: Spring first meetings, right?

J: Yeah, like meeting people when you start school, or start a new semester etc. Haha, there are a lot of Spring song comments. 

T: Haha, someone wrote 'There's a perv* around' (*Looking for a better translation of 出会い厨*) 

J: 'We hit the limit', haha, great. Anyway, Spring first meetings! 

K: Well, I've never worked for a proper company, so I can only draw on memories from school. 

J: What do you remember?

K: Well, I have a friend from high school, I still go for a drink with him now and again, but this story is from our school days. It was a mixed school in theory, but in reality, there were only a handful of girls in each year group. So in our classroom, my seat was at the front, my friend's was behind, and behind him was a boy called Hirai Miki. So on the first day before we'd all met, that friend of mine looked at the seating plan and thought, 'Oh score! I've got girls in front and behind!' (*Kaoru and Miki are both commonly used as girls names too*)

J, T: Hahaha 

T: In between Kaoru and Miki! He thought he got lucky, haha!

K: Then when he sat down, he was like, 'Who the hell are you two?!'

J: Haha, like, 'You're in the wrong seats! These seats are for Kaoru and Miki!'

K: Haha, yeah. 

T: He didn't expect that you were boys, haha. 

J: Ahhh, Kaoru chan and Miki chan! Someone wrote, 'His harlem'

K: Yes, but we were both boys. 

T: Thats a good story. 

J: Tasai, do you have any stories?

T: Hm, let me think...

J: Oh, by the way, the members only video is great this time, don't miss it! Isn't that right, Leader?

K: Yeah. 

J: Yeh, so everyone please... 

T: Well, I have a story from my university entrance ceremony.

K: Haha, he just cut you straight off!

J: Haha

T: Yes! As I was saying, my university entrance ceremony. haha. You never know what type of people you will meet at university, but the guy next to me at the ceremony was really friendly to me, and you could also tell he was really well-built. But I was just talking to him, trying to blend in, as you do, and I noticed he kept looking at his watch. Then at a certain time, he apologized to me and got a banana and a protein drink out of his bag, and had them right there. He was like, 'Its time to feed my muscles', even in the middle of the entrance ceremony! So that was one first meeting of this kind of strange person.  

K, J: ....

K: That was a bit if an anticlimax. 

J: Yeh, the story was ok, but...

T: Aghh, Im sad now. 

J: Hey, but the members only content this time is brilliant!

T: Hey, thats not fair. 

J: No, but even the staff laughed this time! They have never laughed at any of the members only content until now! 

T: Can I ask for some super fast bananas in the conments to make me feel better? 

J: Oh, banana emojis in the comments? Ok everyone, make Tasai feel better with some bananas. 

T(*reading a comment*) Ah, no, Im not still in contact with him. 

J: Oh, the protein guy?

T: Oh look, here come the bananas!!

J: Wow, so many banana emojis! 

T: Thank you, haha. 

J: Its kinda dirty, right?

T: No, Joe, thats just you! 

J: Its just my freedom of expression. I want the whole screen covered in bananas!

K: The screens gone all light, haha 

J: They all merge after a point. 

K: (*Sees the macho muscle emoji and copies that pose*)

J: Haha, the macho emoji!

T: This is turning out well. 

J: Yeah, I think the viewers are getting used to nicinama. 

K: But we've had guests a lot lately, so its been quite structured. This time is more chilled, haha. 

J: Its good having a bit more freedom, right?

K: Haha, yeah. 

T: Ahhh, more bananas! Someone wrote, 'My finger hurts', haha. 

J: Ok, lets move onto the next topic.

K: I'll just erase First meetings (*grimaces after contact with the board*)

J: Tasai, you choose the next one. 

T: No, I'll leave it to the comments.

J: Strictly the viewers choice?

T: Today we are doing this together. 

J: Haha, you sound like a bandman saying that type of thing. Ok, comments. It doesn't have to be a fast comment?

K: Nah. 

J: Spring songs... Koshien. 

T: Ok, lets go with Spring songs....Oh, but Koshien!

K: No, there were a lot of votes for Spring songs earlier, so we should go with that.

J: You don't have much of a Spring song image though, Leader. 

K: Hm, yeh, I don't know any Spring songs. 

J: If we had to make a Spring song playlist for this show, what would you put on it? 

K: Can I use our songs? Well, probably '304 goushitsu, hakushi no sakura'.

J: Of course, yeh. That was in the comments too. 

K: Oh, 'Kaishun' aswell....But what songs would you call Spring songs in general?

J: Anything by Moriyama Naotaro. 

K: Ahh 

T: And there are a lot of songs out there titled, 'Sakura'. 

J: Whats the first Spring song you can think of? What Spring song would you hum in the bath? 

K: What would you?

J: Ohh, what would I...?

T: (*reading comment*) Ah, Yuming, right. (Matsutoya Yumi)

J: Oh, I heard a song on a show I did yesterday...What was it again?

K: You won't remember, haha. 

J: No I will, haha...Kawaguchi Kyogo!

T: Ah, that singer/songwriter? 

J: Yeh, that song is 'Sakura...something', isn't it? I couldn't remember it after all, haha...(*reading a comment*) Oh yeh,  Fukuyama Masao too. 

T: Joe, someone said that song is called, 'Amnesia'.

J: No, thats just me they're talkIng about. haha. Leader, what are your Spring songs?

K: I don't know. 

T: Egao saku....Buck Tick. 

J: How does that go again? Ah! *sings*

T: Ah, Sakuranbo! (cherry)

K: Is sakuranbo a Spring thing? 

T: Well, it has sakura in it...

K: No, but I mean the actual fruit. 

T: Hmm, its not a fruit of sakura is it?

K: No, it can't be. Cherries, yeh? 

T:Yeh, its not the blossoms. 

J: Wow, its like two teenagers are talking right here.

K, T: Hahaha 

J: Anyway, someone just commented, 'Kitakuni no haru'

T: Any cherry experts, let us know....Oh, cherry season is from May...so thats a summer song then. 

K: Hm, yeh, Sakuranbo is not a Spring song. 

J: Loads of people suggested it though. 

K: No, its wrong. 

J: Ah, wrong season. Leader, cant you think of any sakura songs off the top of your head? 

K: No. 

J: What about you Tasai?.....Of course there is Yuming with 'Haru yo, koi'. 

K: Ahhh. 

J: Also, that one from earlier....🎶mata haru ni aimashou🎶

K: Ah, Hide san.

T: Also, Ketsumeitsu....and 304 goushitsu again. 

J: But you can't really think of any Spring songs, Leader? 

K: Not really. 

J: Ok, shall we do one more topic for the free part? Hmm, lots of people saying Yuming. Well, time to pick another one. Spring songs has been erased.....Oh, look, a strong vote for Joe Yokomizo's birthday! 

K: Nah, I couldn't read that. 

T: Yeah, what did it say??　

K: I didn't see it. 

J: But it came up slowly after that!

K: Nah, didn't see anything like that. 

J: Haha, now its just turned into JoeYoko in the comments

K, T: Hahaha 

J: Ah, but maybe JoeYoko is best saved for the paid section. 

K: Yeah, thats a good idea! 

T: Ehh?! You should be paying them to listen to it! 

J: Haha, like, 'Pleeease!' No no, seeing me being teased can be paid content....Someone suggested a two level billing. 

K: Oh, we had someone before talking about that, right?

T:Toshi-Low, right?

J: Yeah, can we even manage that with this system?..Ah, no, unfortunately not. 

T: Moving house!

K: Shall we go with Moving house? 

J: Yes, ok. Bandmen move around a lot, don't they? 

K: Yeh, well I've moved 5 or 6 times since I came to Tokyo. 

J: Have you had any disastrous, or dangerous moves?

K: Not reallty. 

J: Any hauntings?

K: No, I have no supernatural sense at all, but then again, who knows?

T: Ohh, thats lucky to not sense it. 

J: Do you, Tasai?

T: Well, Im really sensitive to noise. So I'll get freaked out by the tiniest thing. 

K: Hahaha

T: There was stuff like that appearing on this show too, wasn't there? 

J: Yeah, and voices appearing. What even was that?

K: I don't know. 

T: We went for purification on that snowy day though. 

J: Yeah, and I was foretold many blocked roads for the year. 

T: Yeah, how was 2022 in the end? 

J: It wasn't that bad really....I just finished my tax return too.  

T: Are you talking about your fee? haha. Not about achieving what you wanted or anything? Your fee?? haha

J: I did achieve what I wanted! No, I did, and thats one element of it, haha. Anyway, as for moving, I wanna hear from Kaoru, what was your most difficult move? 

K: Hmm, well I have moved after finding cockroaches in my place. 

J: Ehhh?

T: I understand that. 

J: Thats like a woman.

K: Yeah, thats how much I hate them. 

J: Ehh. So if you moved house and found cockroaches straight away, what would you do? 

K: Well, I would first try to get rid of them, and if they were gone after that, then its fine. But if they kept coming back, I would have to move. 

J: You would give up and move out? Ahh, you would move because of cockroaches?

T: Even with all those cockroaches in your music videos...

K: That has no relation to it. 

J: Someone asked, 'Do you get rid of cockroaches yourself?' 

K: Well, I get them in a paper cup or something, and then put something flat under it, then take it outside like that, then throw it away. (*demonstrates with notes*?

J: You're so gentle! You let it go?!

K: Well, now I can kill them, but even then I will still always use  paper...but they dont run off quickly then, obviously. 

J: Yeh, it would be good if they go quickly, haha. 

K: Also, when you kill them, they might have eggs, which is gross. So I if I can just catch them with paper, I will, and then just throw them out. 

T: 'Use soap on them'. Ahh, yeh. 

K: I do sometimes use a plastic bag to catch them, and then tie it up. 

J: Ahh, and then throw it away?

K: Well, I will hit it while its in the bag first. 

J: Ah yeh, someone wrote, 'If you find one....(there isn't just one)'. Thats true. Its a tough problem, but really difficult if you have to move because of it. Someone else sent a question, 'Do you hire a moving company when you move?' Or do you get your friends to help?

K: I tend to hire someone, yeh. But a long time ago, like when I was first here, I would get the manager or someone to help, and shove all my stuff in the band van. 

J: Well, yeh. 'Do you like house hunting?'

K: Not really. I only do it when I have to. 

J: You don't always check around. 

K: Nah. 

J: Ah, someone commented they moved house 12 times. People wanna know how much your rent was back in the day. Where was the cheapest place you lived? Was it an apartment?

K: No, it was a unit. Well, I talked about this on my blog before, but it was towards Nerima ward. It was a two bedroom place on the third floor, and it had quite a big living area, like the size of this room. I lived there with Kyo, with a bedroom on either side. I think it was about ¥120,000 a month, between us. 

T: Thats cheap. 

J: With seperate bedrooms and a big living space? 

K: Yeah, but we didnt really use the living area, because we had our own rooms. Of course we had a fridge, and a bathroom etc. But we never spent any time in the main area, so we just used it to pile up all our band equipment. 

J: You put your instruments there?

K: Yeah, and obviously garbage would pile up, and we ended up with cockroaches, haha. 

J: Kyo strikes me as someone who would be able to deal with cockroaches. 

T: No, I bet he hates them. 

K: Yeh, he seems like he hates bugs. 

J: I see. 'Did you have a cleaning schedule?'

K: Not at all! 

T: Did you write your names on your desserts in the fridge and stuff?

K: Ah, yeh, I think so. 

J: 'Did you fight over food in the fridge?'

K: Hmm, no. 

J: Ok, well that was the Moving house topic. We've done 4 topics so far, but there are still a lot left. We'll move over to the members only part next, so I'll let you know how you can watch it. You have to be a member if you want to watch to the end. If you join, you can watch this broadcast in the archives for a year, and there will also be a members only video released in the next few days, so check it out. Leader is pointing to the link you need to join. If you click this link, you will get a screen asking you to choose your payment method. Choose your preferred method, yes, Leader is pointing to it now, click proceed, and then enter your details, and then you're good to go!

K: (*Doing thumbs up to the camera*)

J: Haha, thats the 'You're good' gesture! If you havnt already joined, please do to enjoy the rest of the show. Leader, show us your gesture for 'enjoy thr show'. 

K: (*spreads both hands out happily*) 

T: Haha, they like that. Well, we'll be getting to know Joe more in the second part. 

J: Yeh, the Joe charge.

K: Haha, Joe charge. 

J: Do you have anything to announce before we switch?

K: Uh, the tour will start next month. Oh, also, I mentioned this at Tora no ana with Joe, but Im planning another art exhibition. 

T: Oh, when?

K: Im not sure yet, but I'll let everyone know when I can. 

T: Do you have a lot of material?

K: Im in the process of creating. 

J: Yeh, you mentioned it at the talk event...is event the right word? What was I calling it? 

K: Yes...you were saying talkshow. 

J: Yes, we talked a lot there. There was an evening part and a midnight part in Tokyo, wasn't there? 

T: How long were you drinking for?

J: Oh, well into morning. 

K: The midnight part finished at about 4am, right? 

J: Yeh, it would have been great for fans who went to both parts. Anyway, an art exhibition this year. Can you give us any hints about the upcoming tour?

K: No, I can't say anything yet. 

J: Well, regardless, me and Tasai will get Kaoru talking a lot in the second part. 

T: Ahh, Im sleepy today. 

J: Haha, sleeping during the show?? Anyway, we will change over here, the screen will change for a moment, but the next part will start shortly. Please join us for part 2. 

#dir en grey #the freedom of expression #translation #kaoru #薫

[gl00mystarz]

jumping on the Eddie Munson bandwagon if I may... Eddie Munson with a boyfriend that does ballet. Just straight up imagine this just sorta graceful and composed ballet dancer with the same interests as Eddie going to his band concerts and helping with the darkest and most ruthless DnD sessions. Srry if this is a bother and thank you a lot for the effort you put into your writing !

Yes yes, Eddie bandwagon.

Just to let everyone know, I recently finished something in my personal life so I'll have way more time to write!!

And don't worry my dear, you're never a bother. I love writing, it gives me something to do <33 also I didn't know what you wanted so I decided to do HC's :) (small warning for weed mention)

Eddie Munson with a nerdy ballet boyfriend

SFW

🌸 He loves that you're so willing to help with his campaigns, as well as that you show up to every single gig his band has. It makes him feel all warm and giddy inside to know you care this much about him. He didn't even need to invite you, you just loved him that much.

🌸 In turn Eddie, though very out of place, will come to every recital and practise you have. He loves watching the way you move, the way you flow with the graceful music, it enamors him. He loves sketching you in his little sketchbook to use you as a DnD NPC.

🌸 He loves having you sit in his lap during DnD sessions, just so he can see all your hard work as you help him run the campaign, you're technically both the dm's and he loves it so much. He loves seeing the same amount of passion he puts forward come from someone else.

🌸 He makes a song just for you, and at first you didn't realize it, but when he starts playing a song to the similar beat of some of your routines, your heart melted knowing he thought of you that much. You make him sing it to you late at nights in his bed, its nice.

🌸 You 100% made a ballet routine out of some of his favorite songs, it was very difficult considering these are rock songs have a much faster tempo than your usual songs, but after he made a song for you, you felt like you had to make a routine for him.

NSFW

🌸 You always reward him after every gig with whatever his heart desires, usually he asks if he can just have his way with you. Though sometimes, he asks for you to just pleasure him with your mouth while he takes long drags from a joint.

🌸 Eddie can't help but get slightly wound up during his DnD sessions with you sitting in his lap, you get so excited and squirm around and accidentally grind against him, most breaks are taken cause he NEEDS to have a quick makeout session with you to hold him over.

🌸 You can't practice at his place, it always ends up with you bent over the nearest surface as he pounds into you, Eddie really can't help it, its as if you hypnotize him with your elegant dances and poses. He loves watching you but sometimes he can't help himself.

🌸 Sometimes when you two are planning Eddies next campaign, you'll give him ideas, and instead of complimenting you when you tell him one he really likes. It ends up in a heavy makeout session and hickeys on every inch of exposed skin.

🌸 You're his good luck charm, the two of you have a ritual of fucking in the back of his van before gigs, sometimes you leave him hanging just so he's pent up and has the motivation to get through said gig abd get back to his trailer to fuck you senseless.

#eddie x reader #eddie munson x male reader smut #eddie stranger things #eddie munson x male reader #eddie munson #x male reader

[bmbochangetales]

Hi, I've been patiently on hold now. Long time listener. Its a bit of a stretch, but could I request "LIKEY" from TWICE? My 30 year old Asian-American wife is working around the clock over the holidays to finish a project with a bunch of her male coworkers, and hearing this on the radio would be a nice way for her to relax and hopefully destress for a bit!

“A trip to Korea for a little Twice. Here is “Likey””

Finally! It was your request. It felt like you had been waiting for months. The song played out. You really hoped your wife enjoyed the song. She had been working so hard. The catchy tune soon filled your ears.

Fluttering heart me likey Me likey likey likey Me likey likey likey Pit-a-pat Pit-a-pat (Heart Heart) Me likey Me likey likey likey Me likey likey likey Pit-a-pat Pit-a-pat

[Verse 1] Keep wanting to show it all again and again Every single little thing Inside the small screen, I wanna be the prettiest Yet still, I hide my feelings deep inside It takes so much effort to get the perfect look But it is something I can never give up Makes my heart beat every day, It's something you must never know Then I go on pretending [Pre-Chorus] BB cream pa-pa-pa, put on some lipstick mam-mam-ma Pose for the camera, aren't I pretty When you see this, make a smile and press hard On that cute red heart heart down there

Suddenly, you realized, you had understood the Korean words perfectly. You struggled before to learn anything even at you wife's insistence. You couldn't help but do a cute little dance to the pop tune, jumping around like a girl.

You begin to shrink in height and build, becoming increasingly slender and short. Your whole house seemed so much larger now. You look so cute and petite now as you wiggle your hips.

Your hair quickly streaks into a gorgeous deep, rich black tone. It begins to grow long and luscious. Your eyes become copies of your wife. You look like she did at 21, like her cute younger sister now. You decide to go to her vanity and just perfectly know how to apply make up so you enhance your pillowy pout with lipstick and have a thin line between cute and sexy.

The song echoed in the halls as your clothes changed to a tiny mini skirt and a matching crop top. A modestly enhanced butt puffed underneath the swirling skirt. The crop top stretched to cover bouncy little d cups. Definitely not natural for you, but nothing obscene.

You can still feel your cock dangling between your legs but you looked like a beautiful young woman now. It made you hot to think about how happy your wife would be to see you here waiting to please her.

Your poor unni! She worked so hard. You should go find her actually. You skipped around the hallways listening for the clicking and clacking of her busy computer work. As you followed the sound, your mind felt fluffy and pink asd you walked towards her.

Inside the room, you opened the door to her sitting in a leather business suit. Her coworkers were in different positions around the room, obeying her orders, hoping to please her by completing any and every task she assigned.

She noticed you as you bounced towards her puffing out your cheeks into a cute face, begging for her attention.

“Let’s turn that aegyo to some ahegao!” She smirked at you as she pressed you back into bed. She goes under your skirt finding your cock still there all though much smaller. She begins stroking when you say.

“Me likey me likey likey likey” you moan in a high pitch voice.

"I do too, and I am sure my coworkers will too cutie"

#my stories #my writing #bmbo fm #interactive #bimboization

[hospitalterrorizer]

diary195

3/28-29/24

thursday - friday

named yesterday's entry wrong... whoops.

anyway, tomorrow i work for like 8 hours basically, and then the next day too. it sucks a lot, and whatever. i don't think one of the closing people i usually work w/ is gonna be able to come in, i mean, obv not, her hand is broken which is pretty horrifying.

i hope she recovers as necessary. it is weird to me when co-workers would wish for speedy recoveries, i almost did, but it seems like a way of thinking which foregrounds the fact that they need to be able bodied to do tasks and things, to help me or others. it's distantly self interested. i know the broader idea/supposed/assumed thing you communicate is that really you just hope the pain stops soon, i just feel like there's other stuff implicit in that. i hope it stops hurting though. it's awful that it hurts.

it feels awful also, to now talk about how i'm going to work on a song, to get it ready to release like, tonight maybe. that will be fun. i finished the cover and drew some stuff for fun as well. the stuff i drew is basically bad because i was too zoomed out and that made the pen movements translate weird, however maybe that kind of incompetence is cute.

and then there's this other doodle i did while messing w/ something for cover art i screencapped. she's kind of super obscenely ugly in a way but also cute. idk. they're giving 'alien' and 'in pain' which i feel i think. i relate, to the drawing, that i made.

these are my #bad #drawings

here is my human body in photos i took of myself because i am vain and felt good yesterday.

notice ... i cleaned the mirror. wow.

i am feeling cuter lately i think, which makes me happy, or like, on my days off where i go out, i feel really cute, and like i need to be, because i am working now there's this wider variance between ways i might be seen and stuff. so it's this really pathetic need to be cute/pretty/sexy, that emerges, when i'm not working. but at least i am feeling that way.

i also like how bad i am at posing. it's funny to post photos of me trying to do...whatever it is i am doing. i'd rather expose myself like that, it's sort of like i'm living for the failure of affecting something, which is maybe cuter than actually being effortlessly anything. the evident effort and the failure. it's at least kind of 'kawaii'.

the reading today was not much, but interesting nonetheless. he gets to an example of an early quarantine, and the methods of observation/surveillance, delivery, and keeping count, an early expression of the relation between medicine and discipline/surveillance.

one thing he also mentions, and this is an interesting theme in the book, is the writing of discipline, and power, the writing, legal code and observation, which create life for power and discipline, and the way discipline observes individuality/individuates first by a process that homogenizes people. this seems counterintuitive but he's just getting at the categories created and the ways we for instance are put into the categories. here is one place i have always felt foucault/implicated him, in particular with my gender and the impossibility of placing myself, i do not like the idea of making myself visible in the writing of power, or visible to power by writing myself in its tongue. however in many ways i sort of do. i try to look girly and stuff, i post pictures of myself. i am visible. but i am still trying to be noncompliant. i want to be noncompliant. but one noncompliance is easily absorbed into another category, take for instance a diagnosis like 'oppositional defiant disorder', or simply 'noncompliant,' or even 'truant'. i would like to be truant but really i am some other kind of issue, much smaller than even a single truant child. sad.

he also points to the early developments of examinations, medical or otherwise, mechanisms for discipline, things he looks at in his book, as ignoble sciences which, undervalued / unexamined, have enabled the uncritical birth of the sciences of the man/human.

another thing he gets at that i feel is very very very important is how the good subject is individualized:

"and when one wishes to individualize the healthy, normal and law abiding citizen, it is always by asking him how much of the child he has in him, what secret madness lies within him, what fundamental crime he has dreamt of committing" ( pp. 193, discipline and punish, michel foucault (when i do quote should i do pages/authors and stuff? if i am pulling from a real book yes probably. (real as in, in my hands, for reference later perhaps, for myself)))

this point here gets to something very interesting that i think about at times, perhaps controversial but the propensity (i am not above this) to self diagnose, seek out some kind of medicalization, this sort of thing in people, is very interesting. i don't blame anyone because being an individual is constructed as a desirable thing, and this is not the individuality where one's being and life day to day is left alone, not looked at/written, but instead the lives we lead are subject to observation, from inside ourselves and especially from the outside, appraisal, and so one. we do not know who watches but we are watched, and so this means, needing to be individual, but many of the individuations we see are related to things which, in the past, were treated as issues, they are now things that might be 'rewarded' as in with attention/sympathy, which is now part of the disciplinary reward system, or i suppose it always was, to have some portion of the sovereign will of crime or that which is a difficulty in some way, some portion of you which might become special and useful in another way. it can always be turned to use.

however this isn't what i was thinking, the use stuff, it is just true, just that it's interesting that this is something one might be able to see going farther back, and that it would blossom into what we see now.

and it's uploaded!!!

i'll put it on tumblr in a regular way tomorrow or ssomething, with tags and stuff

there's like a weird popping sound. maybe i can like, fix that, or something, before anyone even gets to hear it. let me see, #lol.

omg... ableton is being so annoyingggg.

okey:

and here's a hi res version of the cover art, that i have slaved over, and is only okay:

the photos of the mascara/eyeliner running onto tissues are from me, i did makeup and poured water on my face to make it run like i had been crying, and that picture at the top is me attacking a broken imac. and then there's the little drawings and then a photo i found of a woman's lace collection.

anyway, i need to sleep now, so

byebye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#SoundCloud

[fipindustries]

i probably shouldnt generalize or take this too far but animation really is just one of the most rewarding things to do. not just because by the end of it you will have, you know, an animation (which you will! im sorry, i know im leaving the sentence hanging but seriously, lets really pause and appreciate this. a moving drawing! a drawing that moves! it might as well be alive! it might as well be real! and YOU created it! wowzers!!!) BUT ALSO-

its just reawrding on a moment to moment execution. you get to draw the most fun thing of all to draw, people moving, emoting, body language. AND, if you are inbetweening right and you know what you are doing, you get this visceral satisfaction of drawing something in just the right place. every step is you completing a pattern with the most satisfying conclusion. i really enjoy inbetweening. i love calculating in my minds eye the exact middle point between two poses and drawing it, like i can almost visualize it. i see the empty spot between two keyframes and is like "here, right here, right on this spot, if you put the drawing good in this right precise spot you will hear the most satisfying click in your mind" and it always clicks!

think of this! a lot of times i hear from artists that they love art because of the end product that it gives you but that the process itself its a grueling effort that one must push through to get their reward of the finished piece. but (at least in my case) the journey is very much the reward itself, a lot of times i will spend hours animating something and the end product will suck but ill be perfectly satisfied because i enjoyed myself doing it.

also if you are really good and you really know what you are doing you can do so much with so little. forget about animating on ones, we are not disney here. you can animate on threes, on fours, fuck it animate on fives if you really want to. you can just do five drawings and get the coolest, cutest, neatest, most satisfying little loop to entertain your heart and soul.

animation really brings out an appreciation for the small pleasures of life and when i say small i really do mean the tiniest. the smallest, most mundane of gestures suddenly become signature moves. suddenly give so much charm and character and personality. just by the way you make someone do a simple double take or even simply blink suddenly you can give someone so much sheer charisma.

but you can go even smaller than that! more inconsequential! you develop a taste for tiny little occurences, small happenstances that would be completly invisible to normal people otherwise. the way hair flicks when someone turns their head, the way a drop slides down a surface, the way a car bounces and sinks a little when people get into it or out of it. if you can succesfully capture those things it will ground your work so much. the tiniest most indetectable of details suddenly turns curves and lines into an object with weight and corporeality.

much like music, animation is one of those arts where even the most simple, most basic of excercises, just pure, boring, highly technical executions made simply for the purpose of learning the bare bones of a technique, will still come out looking great and you will feel great for having done it. with music you can doodle something incredibly coarse, maybe you just want to learn some basic chords, you are practicing arpeggios or you are just fucking around with scales and it will still come out as music, it wont come out as rough sketches or purely skeletical, empty building blocks. it will come as a piece of music that is pleasant to hear.

same with animation, you can just be trying to rotate a character to figure out their design or have a bag of flour fall to the ground, or you are trying to figure out their walking cycle. there is no story or punchline or idea being conveyed here, is just a basic "getting the handle of your tools" excercise and yet it will still be an animation, a beautiful piece of art that is cool to look at regardless of what its doing.

and if its true that an image conveys more than a thousand words then nothing can beat the sheer density of information contained in moving images. in just three seconds of action i can lay out so many complex, hard to put into words, ideas, so many vague and ambiguous emotions can be clearly comunicated.

and god, the expresivity of it all. we are social creatures, huge portions of our brain are designed to parse language, both verbal and in terms of gestures and expressions. animation is a direct superstimulus for those sections of the brain, you can make your characters so much more expressive that a human could be, and they can be expressive in such perfect, choreographed, synthetized, crystalized, bold ways. isnt that amazing? that we can give the caloric rich, sugar refined version of body language to our brain?

i have been doing animations since i was 7. i started with a mouse, ms paint and power point. you can tell i must have really loved doing it that i was willing to put up with that just to get it done. i started because i was a child who loved cartoons, who loved animated shows and animation. it was mindblowing that such a thing even existed in the first place. it was literally magic. to see any random animated show like powerpuff girls or dexter's lab or hey arnold. it was a proof that wonders existed in this world. the magic was real.

now that i am 30 i can do that, i can make those things too! is not even that hard! i can make magic!

magic is real!

#animation #whew i got uh #really enthusiastic for a moment there #whatever im really proud of my hobby

[nothingunrealistic]

The concluding season of “Billions” is a case of “Axe” and you shall receive.

One of the series’ most prominent characters returns as the drama set in the upper levels of New York law and finance begins its seventh and final season Friday streaming on Paramount+ With Showtime, and Sunday on the linear Showtime channel. (Subsequent weekly episodes will maintain that release pattern.)

A good amount of the show’s history is incorporated into its victory lap, a particularly notable aspect being the return of founding cast member Damian Lewis as Bobby “Axe” Axelrod, the former hedge fund king who relocated to Europe to avoid a prison term engineered by his longtime nemesis, federal attorney Charles “Chuck” Rhoades Jr. (Paul Giamatti).

With the empire that Axe built now under the control of tycoon Michael Prince (Corey Stoll), who has designs on winning the U.S. presidency, changes are looming … something that “Billions” is known for, which included Lewis’ exit at the end of Season 5 and Stoll’s promotion to full series regular. Still very much rooted in the flow of the saga is Maggie Siff (“Sons of Anarchy”) as psychiatrist Wendy Rhoades, who has stayed on as performance coach at the company, despite the misgivings she has about Prince.

Wendy continues to have a confidant for her concerns in Mike “Wags” Wagner (David Costabile), Axe’s former deputy who also remains on Prince’s staff. Still present as well is Taylor Mason (Asia Kate Dillon), the non-binary financial wizard who often posed a major challenge for Axe, and whose skills also have been retained by Prince.

Siff has spent the past month starring in an Off-Broadway staging of Tennessee Williams’ “Orpheus Descending,” which she terms “quite a swerve” from the “Billions” work that she finished recently. Despite the writers’ strike, the show was able to complete its last season, and Siff allows that it was “a labored process. Everybody wanted to be respectful and honor picket lines, and it was really a matter of taking it day by day for the final month, but we finished it.” (Note: This interview took place before the SAG-AFTRA actors’ strike.)

The coda that “Billions” puts on Wendy’s story satisfies Siff: “There’s always been this thing of her being caught between two forces: Chuck and Axe. I think the beautiful thing about Michael Prince coming in, and the time she really was given to be with herself, it allowed her to carve a different kind of path. I do feel really good about where she’s able to end, and I’ll just say that I think Wendy (ends up) sort of her own person … truly independent of all of the forces she’s been knocked around by, despite her best efforts.”

Created by executive producers Brian Koppelman, David Levien and Andrew Ross Sorkin, “Billions” is scheduled to have several spinoffs: “Billions: Miami,” “Millions” and “Trillions.” After being a regular on FX’s “Sons of Anarchy” previously, Siff isn’t necessarily looking to jump into another series, though the right material could alter that thinking (“I just don’t know how to answer that right now,” she says). However, she has confidence that the makers of “Billions” know what they’re doing in expanding that concept’s universe.

“I think Brian and Dave could spin this thing many, many different ways if they want to,” she says. “There’s certainly lots of story to tell, and there are great characters who can come back or circle through. (‘Billions’) has carved out a niche and a style, and it’s got such a good, smart spirit. And there’s a lot of room in our culture to be talking about finance and money, and what people are doing with it, and what it looks like from the inside. I think they could spin this off as much as they want. It’s just a question of how much of an appetite they have for it.”

#billions #wendy rhoades #maggie siff #good for wendy i guess. now tell me about taylor's ending

[kokoasci]

Do you happen to have any tips on "filling up negative space with random objects" like you mentioned in the tags of your "product of your environment" WIP post?

The finished piece is absolutely breathtaking and I wondered how you decided on what objects to use and how you positioned them to make the composition work so well, there's something so compelling and dynamic about it that I can't quite put into words!!

Seriously, your art is extremely inspiring and eye-catching, I could analyse and ramble on about each piece for hours hehe

yes ofc! :D one of my favorite things to do with my art fr

so this is how the piece originally started:

and it was just going to be a little sketch that i didnt put much effort into. i drew that little teacup there and was like huh what if i put more around it?? this turned into the idea of putting Mori pouring the cup, etc. etc. and i now knew what kind of message/theme i wanted this piece to take.

the paper koi were a product of trying to make stuff look more dynamic :D since you can bend and twist them, i thought they'd be a good fluid addition that i could manipulate to make the piece feel more full composition-wise and tie in to the horizontal orientiation i wanted to go for.

in terms of how i pick objects, i usually just browse pinterest for random objects that catch my eye LMAO 😭 its kind of a mixture between going for elegance and aesthetic and also just what i can draw in an interesting pose (teacups are not. usually floating and tipping in air, so taking an object and putting it in a situation it wouldn't be usually gives a comp a really striking effect i think)

i also like to keep in mind motion while i draw, and how "fast" i want this scene to be if it were animated or actually moving. cups pour pretty quickly, but i wanted the other objects to look like they were almost floating or moving very slowly, which is why i think i gravitated towards bigger objects like koi fish and plants. it creates this cool juxtaposition that draws the eye in really well as you're trying to make sense of a piece when you're first looking at it!!

maybe im rambling. but, thats how i got the finished composition!

#ask koko #thank you very much for asking! #this was very fun because it forced me to think about subconscious things i think i do while drawing. so i thank you anon <3 #dazai #composition #bungou stray dogs

[gear-project]

Okay, let me get this straight. In GG Strive, the USA president is... Anti war? Like, omg, WHAT, like, how did one of the most pro war countries in the entire world even voted for a president like that? Don't get me wrong, I would love to see that in real life, but it's honestly incredibly funny just thinking about that posibility even if it's just a fictional story LOL

It's a bit complicated, but in-context it was explained in the Butterfly and Her Gale novel.

Basically, the Assassins' Organization (yes, Venom's group) was hired to set up America to go to WAR with Zepp.

The details are kindof fuzzy about whom would stand to gain from a war between America and Zepp, but regardless, the Assassins basically intended on putting a "puppet President" in the White House.

That's where Erica comes in… she was an orphan who was essentially put in that role against her will.

The Assassins posed as Zepp Soldiers who would effectively attack and kill Erica, using her Death as the trigger for the War.

This makes even less sense when you consider the idea they CHOSE her to be President and THEN CHOSE to kill her.

It's not like the public were even remotely aware of her being installed in-office (nor was she elected normally).

But well… it makes a BIT more sense if you consider what the Conclave wanted to do: put America in its pocket.

The United Nations Members had a lot to do with placing Erica in her position as well, even giving her Presidential authority. And of course the Conclave controls who works for the U.N. (as if they didn't already control the Assassins directly on both sides).

Still, as stated, they wanted a "Profitable War" that could drum up conflict and weapon production, but what they DIDN'T count on was a certain heroic rogue NINJA.

So how does a single Ninja like Chipp Zanuff play in to all of this?

Well, in basic terms, he saved Erica's life BEFORE she was going to be assassinated, so regardless of what roles they planned for her, Chipp's interference basically nullified any plans the Conclave or even the Assassins had for the American Government at that time.

Not only that, but Chipp used his connections with ZEPP to broker a Treaty WITH Erica and basically turn the tables on anyone who would want a war between the nations.

Of course, Chipp also had to deal with his archnemesis Volf (the man who indirectly killed his master Tsuyoshi), but for the most part Chipp's involvement in the faux conspiracy nipped it in the bud.

Erica was saved (even despite getting nearly fatally wounded, which Dr. Faust promptly treated), her Foster Matron was saved as well, and anyone involved in the U.N. debacle that was connected with America, the Assassins, and the Conclave, were effectively neutralized (it was also a major bust thanks to Ky Kiske's efforts working as International Police Commissioner at that time).

So, Erica served her term as an "actual President", Chipp finished his training, and a few years later, Erica works in the White House alongside current President Vernon E. Grobitz.

Vernon's policies for Peace are very much the same as Erica's… of course, his predilection for Football might be his own personal tastes.

#Erica Bartholomew #President Vernon #GG Politics #Chipp Zanuff #Assassins Organization #United Nations #GG Novels #The Butterfly and Her Gale