smash_logs | FREE FOR ALL DRAW LOG

FREE FOR ALL DRAW LOG

Who: Anyone and everyone
What: Anything and everything
When: Let's just put it for all of September, why don't we.
Warnings: Image heavy, probably.

What is this? Simple! It's ~~a wild and crazy experiment oh god oh man~~ an open free-for-all log much like the Dorm Logs, but with pictures instead of text! Or a healthy mix of pictures and text, but the focus here is on drawing. It doesn't have to be fancy or detailed - you could draw stick figures labeled with names and it still counts - but the point is to just let loose and have fun with visual media today.

Of course, this comes with some RULES. To ease loading times on slower computers, we'll pull a tegaki and have a standard image size of 500x200. Unlike tegaki, we can be flexible and have you toy around with the canvas if you really want, but try to keep it somewhere in that general area. Go ahead and put 2-3 in a single comment, then go nuts whenever the threads collapse, why not. Throw a LINK to very large images! Likewise, LINK if your images are suggestive enough to get people the stinkeye in a public place.

These threads can be about literally anything, but if you need some ideas to start:

That Weird Island is still high above the school, swarming with monsters! Someone should probably check that out. How do you get there? Maybe you find a teleporter, or a ? Block with a vine that sprouts out of it, or get kidnapped by a swarm of butterflies. Forget about the little details.

There have been posters promoting a Bug Catching Competition happening on the 15th. A little late in the year, but there are still plenty of bugs around, and a certain visitor hanging by the fountain on that day will be more than happy to appraise your catches. Just don't piss off a swarm of local beedrill or something crazy like that.

And hey, since it is so late in the year, isn't that a perfect time for bonfires? Who the heck keeps setting those up in the chilly evenings on the quad? Is this even allowed... Well, whatever, might as well roast some yams or marshmallows while they're there.

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That made some sense. But...

"Even when you're human?"

Did he... eat... from his tattoo... That was the only flower on his body that Kiyotaka knew of. You know, as much as he believed that one should always walk the road paved with knowledge, there were some paths best not taken. Magikarp biology was probably the only kind he really needed to concern himself with.

"Well, in that case... Since this is going to be a treat for you two, you had better put extra care into it, right?! Don't squish it too much or it'll lose its shape all over again!"

Bulba had nodded in response to the question, but did not offer much more explanation than that about it. It was definitely through his tattoo, but he wasn't entirely sure how it all worked himself. Mysteries upon mysteries wrapped in an enigma.

"Oh!" He yelped a bit at the sudden instruction, blinking owliishly at the rice shape he had been squishing so much in his hands. "Ohh, ok. So just enough to get it to hold its shape."

Which was admittedy kind of a boring shape. Bulba studied the round looking lump in his hands, then glanced over at the ones Kiyotaka had been making. Much more exciting and careful in their presentation. The Venusaur grinned at the sight of them and asked, "Are yours a treat for someone too then?"

A wide array of pretty much all shapes but hearts. Surprisingly. Soon, Bulba, you too could be a master of ~~cute~~ manly shapes.

"Well, since there's so much rice..." So much endless, bottomless rice, that would keep him trapped in this kitchen for months, apparently. "I'm making some for Vivian to make sure she has lunch... And some for Hajime."

As a totally platonic way. As friends. Don't mind the not-that-subtle doofy grin while he said it, it was probably nothing.

What a beautiful llife these many adorable shapes could yield. Bulba set aside the round shape he had made, reaching for a bit more rice to try and learn thiis more shapely life.

That subtle grin was definitely not that subtle, Kiyotaka. Bulba eyed the doofiness of it all, and chuckled a bit knowingly. He thought he recognized that look.

"So Hajime's are the special treats, hm?"

He was a master of subtlety what are you talking about.

Were they really any more special than Vivian's? Well, they weren't just necessity. They were a gift. And Kiyotaka was doing it just to hear that he liked them again.

"Well... I guess technically they are the more special ones after all..."

Oh. But. Last time he presented such a gift to Hajime had been before he went and did The Thing. Even if they went back to doing their usual thing as friends after that kiss, there was still that lingering awkwardness on Kitty's part. It was made even worse by the fact that he had nobody he could really talk to about it. Even if he had anyone he felt comfortable enough with to open up to, he wouldn't really know what to say. This was not his area, at all, like ever. Feelings were so dumb.

...Was it Bulba's? If he was dating Vinnie, he was practically a guru. Both of them were, but Bulba was right here.

"Can... Can I ask you a question about a personal matter?"

The venusaur was wondering if trying to make a flower out of rice was a bit too much for a first try. Or if it would even work. Presentation wasn't one of his consistent skills just yet. But his attention was drawn away by Kiyotaka's question.

"Something personal?" He parroted, sounding just a bit surprised. It hadn't been expected, but that didn't make it uncalled for. Bulba cocked his head a bit before giving a curt nod. Was it... something to do with an issue? If it was, Bulba wasn't about to dismiss it if it was something he could help with. It certainly seemed like the other boy had some things on his mind.

"Sure, go ahead."

Well. It was a good thing that Kiyotaka was a tactful, well-spoken individual who knew precisely the best possible way to phrase his curiousity about how they even got together.

"In that case, please tell me all of the details about your relationship!"

Nailed it.

Edited 2014-11-24 21:18 (UTC)

"Uh," said Bulba, caught off guard.

????????

"What kind of details were you... looking... for?"

"W-well..."

Oh god, he didn't plan this far ahead. He really hadn't planned any of it at all, and that was stupid, because Kiyotaka was not at all the kind of man who could work on the fly.

"Don't tell anybody I'm asking this!! But I was-- I was curious about how it worked... between men."

This was definitely about figuring out feelings and distinguishing friendships from romantic inclinations and how confessions worked and innocent things like that. His nervous blushing could not add to possible misinterpretations of his question at all.

Somewhere, Vinnie felt an unexplainable sense of impending dread.

Bulba stopped what he was doing to give Kiyotaka a proper look. The question and the red spreading across his cheeks spelled a very different stage of the relationship than he had anticipated. Well then. The Venusaur coughed, glancing at the doorway to see that it was still closed for the other boy's sake before they continued. He had asked for privacy after all.

"Uh. Well. If you're already at that point..." The very ambiguous and misinterpreted point. "The concept is mostly the same. Do you... Protection is still very important between guys, so if you need any condoms we have some over at the RA's to keep folks safe."

It was amazing how straight faced he had been saying all that, speaking in low, understanding tones. He was very serious about keeping the hanky panky a safe experience.

Already at what point? Kiyotaka's problem was not knowing how to get to any point, let alone one that needed-- oh. Oh god.

And lo, with a startled yelp, he demonstrated just what happened when you overworked a rice ball: Smooshy grains oozing out between the fingers. He stared at Bulba, completely mortified to the point that it looked like he could burst into tears at any given moment.

"W-wait, no, I-- no!!"

Although it was good to know that Bulba was perfectly willing to have a serious talk about that too if things ever came to that.

"That isn't what I meant!" He made a pained sound as he took a moment to breathe and get his volume back to a kind of acceptable level. Oh god, he couldn't even look at Bulba right now. "Um, no, I didn't... I meant the... The point of getting into a relationship in the first place! That's all!" Even that was a difficult topic for him to discuss, evidently. He turned his face away entirely, gritting his teeth. "No, I shouldn't be asking about something like that, or even thinking about it...!"

Edited (W...ORDS...?!!?) 2014-11-25 05:38 (UTC)

Oh geez oh god he'd gotten completely the wrong idea wow.

"Oh... Ohhh, geez." Bulba floundered a bit, unsure of what to be doing with his hands still full of rice and Kiyotaka shying away from him emotionally at mach speeds. He sucked in a breath and tried to reel it back in, while his flower picked up the slack on its own to try and sooth the other boy's flustered soul with a touch of sweet scent in the air.

"No, please, let's try that again. I'm sorry I misunderstood..." The pokemon paused for a moment before he continued speaking, softer than he just had been. "... Is this the first time you liked another boy? If that's what this is."

Thanks for farting up the kitchen, Bulba.

At least he'd hit a lot closer to the mark that time. But it really was a loaded question. Kiyotaka didn't answer for a few seconds, squeezing the already annihilated riceball a little more tightly until he silently scolded himself for wasting perfectly good food. Not only that, but he ruined part of the gift he was preparing for the boy he felt so strongly about in the first place.

"I... am not entirely sure." His shoulders sagged just a little, but his posture remained pretty rigid for the most part. "I'm not very well experienced with this kind of thing at all! Where is the line between friendship and... and something else?" At least now that he'd found a good starting point, it was easier to keep going. "I thought I had discovered that with somebody before - with a girl - but we were both wrong. But this feels different..."

Even with the soothing scents filling the room, he began to grow flustered again, though he was considerably less frantic than he'd been before. "--I'm sorry, I shouldn't be bothering you with something so embarrassing! I should go outside and bury myself deep in some hole...!"

Wow, extreme.

"That's kind of extreme."

Extreme, but incredibly easy for Bulba to relate to. Listening to him, Kiyotaka's words gave new life to a Bulbasaur that didn't know who he could talk to, and an Ivysaur that didn't know what he was allowed to let his heart feel.

"It would bother me more if I let you run off and bottle it all up," Bulba said, setting aside his second ball of rice with the first. "They're... difficult feelings to keep locked up. If I can help you, I'd like to. I know I had wished for an uninvolved ear to listen."

Kiyotaka was nothing if not a man of extremes. But despite his extreme embarrassment and the wish that Bulba would actually tell him to shut up and focus on studying, he couldn't deny that it felt wonderful to have someone offer to listen, even if he wasn't sure to say. Maybe even just that would be enough. He gave Bulba a small, appreciative glance, though he was still reluctant to hold eye contact for too long just yet.

Ah. A bowl. He needed a bowl. Thaaat one over there. Instead of throwing out his ruined rice like any sane person, he was going to set it aside so he could force it down afterwards and not let it go to waste.

"What was it like for you?" For all the good offering an ear in retrospect did.

All the good it would do was more for Kiyotaka's own benefit. There had been a lot of turbulence to get to this point, but Bulba was finally more or less comfortable with who he was. Or, at the very least, he was more accepting and that was comfortable in its own way.

"Mmm... It was hard when I was first trying to figure out how I felt. Honestly, I probably made it a lot harder for myself, but I was... scared." The grass type moved over to wash his hands as he spoke. The water washed away the stray grains of rice that stuck to his skin, and he watched them slide away for a moment. "I was just a kid. I thought I was broken. There was a girl I had sort of gone out with too, but it didn't feel right like it did with someone else."

Bulba shut the faucet off, glancing over at Kiyotaka. "It's nothing that needs fixing though."

It didn't sound that far removed from Kiyotaka's own situation after all, though Bulba at least had been able to sort through and work it out in his youth. Kiyotaka actively avoided anything to do with the topic until about a year ago.

"No, of course it doesn't need fixing." Anyone who actually did their homework and history research back home (although nobody in their right mind needed to ever study as much as he did) would know that there were a great many warlords and other leaders with male lovers, so that wasn't the issue. Even his self-imposed pressure to produce a son just to ensure his family did not die with him seemed less important than it used to, though he didn't register that on a conscious level yet. The only moral issue was that he still believed teenagers should focus more on their schoolwork than on their hormones, but look where that got him.

"I'll... concede that this seems to be an unavoidable part of youth. Even though there are certainly bigger things that should be prioritized first!" God, shut up. "I realize now that things like... like dating and relationships are really and important preparation for adulthood."

Nobody in their right mind would think about it in those terms, either.

"So nobody is broken, it's just..." How did he want to say this? What was he trying to say? "...Well, with the girl-- did things change a lot between the two of you from before you went out with her?"

Kiyotaka just had a very different way of approaching his thoughts, didn't he? What with his unavoidable paths and all that. All Bulba could really respond to that with was with a kind of shrug, since... well. Yeah. Yeah that was all kind of important.

"Well..." Bulba ruffled the hair on the back of his head sheepishly as he tried to put it into words. "My case was kind of... Like I said, we were both kids, I'm not super sure it counts. She was more into me than I was her, but I think she was more excited about what I was rather than who I was. Studying Pokemon was really exciting for her, ha."

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FREE FOR ALL DRAW LOG

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this has definitely always beena vague novembery thread for sure for real. totally. yes.

Yes this.

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Not here

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<_>