#I live on feedback

[bixels]

What's K.O. CRISIS?

Hey all. Over the past couple months, I've gotten a lot of followers who probably don't know about my OCs and portfolio projects that I'm also working on, so I'm making a quick master-post for it!

K.O. CRISIS is a series of artwork––character designs, illustrations, sketches, and animations––inspired by late-90s/early-2000s anime and Y2K culture.

Set in an alternate-history Los Angeles in the year 2001, the story follows disabled Taiwanese-American Ashley Tang as she fights her way to the top of the bracket in the national augmented boxing championship.

As the youngest female fighter in the championship, she'll have to fight tooth-and-nail to defend her place amongst the heavy-weights. While her rare dual arm prosthetics help even the playing fields, it'll take more than brute strength to prove her worth.

But this isn't a story about an underdog triumphing against all odds. Throughout the story, Ashley will push herself to the limit for the sake of validating her existence under the grinding heel of the sports media machine, in a world that values disabled bodies more than their lives. As the championship rages on, one question seems to linger through the roar: Is Ash strong enough to win, or is she brave enough to quit?

Through the project, I'm hoping to explore representations of prosthetic-users in pop culture as "enhanced superheroes," as well as discussions of trans-humanism under medical capitalism, the fetishization of new technology, and the commodification of disabled people as entertainment.

Accompanying her journey include characters like Noora Balakrishnan, a local transfem prosthetics engineer who doubles as Ashley's ringside mechanical cutwoman.

The project is still in its early stages, especially since I sorta rebooted it earlier this year (meaning I'm no longer using past, outdated art for the project). If you enjoy it, you can find more artwork for the project under the #ko crisis tag!

[snekdood]

"if we make america worse and more of a dictatorship that will be even harder to unravel and make it the way we want the country to be, maybe then everyone will join our Glorious Revolution!" bb girl you cant even be in the same room with someone who thinks you should vote, how in tf do you think you're gonna unite people to fight in The Revolution with you? it's gonna be you and your 5 friends, i hate to break it to you.

[yashley]

but I am just completely in love with matt for getting mic feedback 1nce and being like "--yes that was the psychic reverb of the solstice..........." "--a snake nearby is spooked and hisses.............." "--somewhere a ship's horn screeches". king i love u it's so so good

[specific-dreamer]

a sneak peak to the "johnny and ponyboy go to darry after bob dies" fic im writing

(after the break in case someone doesnt want spoilers ! enjoy)

However, when he rounds the corner that separates the kitchen from the living room, Darry’s suddenly reminded of a promise he made to his father all those years ago. 

Soda hadn’t even been born yet, but Darry remembers his father crouching next to him as he tucked Darry in that night. He can remember gripping his Spider-Man figurine that night as his dad ran his fingers through his hair in thought. He can remember his mom coming into his room too, but staying by the door as if she didn’t want to interrupt whatever important conversation they were about to have - well, as serious as a conversation a four and twenty-four-year-old could have. 

“You excited to be a big brother, Junior?” Darry had nodded excitedly, his eyes growing huge and suddenly he was no longer sleepy. It was a fool’s question to ask and, honestly, his dad should have known that. As soon as Darry found out there would soon be a second little Curtis, he’d been running around the neighborhood telling everyone who would listen. 

His dad had simply chuckled at the answer and, looking back, remembering the hardened look in his dad’s eyes, Darry thinks the older man knew how hard things would be for his boys in the future. “You have to promise me something, okay, Junior?” 

Darry sat up at that. As a kid, he had loved making promises for some reason; he took them as a vow, even early on. “ ‘Kay!”

“When the baby comes, you have to take good care of him, okay? Mama’s gonna be real tired and I’ll have to help Mama out, so sometimes we’ll need our big boy to help out with the baby. That's alright with you?” 

“...Huh?”

His dad sighed, biting back a smile. “After the baby gets here, Mama’s gonna be in bed a lot; she'll be real tired. So you and I have to take care of the baby together, think you can help me?” And those were the magic words. ‘Help me.’ 

“Yeah! I help you! I’ll show him my favorite toys and I’ll teach him how to play catch and soccer and-” Darry had begun to move the covers off of him, tossing the Spider-Man figurine to the side, so he could go prepare for the baby. 

“Woah, there Einstein! Calm your jets,” his dad put a hand on his chest, all but forcing Darry to lay back down. “The baby won’t be here for another week or so, kid. We have time to get ready, I promise. Can you promise me something else, though?”

Despite the pout on his face as he laid back down, Darry nodded. “When the baby does come,” his dad explained. “Your mom and I are going to be really busy taking care of him- I know, I know, you’ll be taking care of him too. I know that Junior,” Darry grinned victoriously at that, far too glad to be getting his way. “However when the baby gets here, we may not have as much time to play with you anymore.”

Darry can remember thinking, that’s it? That’s what his dad was making a big deal about? “It’s okay, Daddy,” he’d said like he had already thought long and hard about this ages ago. “I’ll play with the baby instead.”

Then his dad got a constipated look on his face that older Darry can now recognize as his look when he’s trying to decide which battle to pick. “Sure thing, buddy. But the thing is, babies are loud. They cry a lot, right? And since the baby will need our help, I need you to promise me you won’t ever get mad at the baby, okay? I want you to come find me if you get mad or annoyed with the baby, okay?”

Darry had had a lot of questions then. Why would the baby cry? Darry may not have every toy he wanted, but he’d say life is pretty good, he doesn’t really have a reason to cry. Also, why would he ever get mad at the baby? Darry wasn’t completely sure, but he thinks he’d been a baby once and his dad never got mad at him. And, Darry planned on being just like his daddy when he got bigger - he has his dad’s name for crying out loud, he kinda has to be like him - so he won’t get mad at the baby either, he promised that. 

It’s this promise that Darry thinks of when he sees two cowering figures standing in his living room. It’s this promise Darry thinks of when he realizes the figures are Ponyboy and Johnny Cade. 

It’s this promise that has Darry moving closer to them before his mind can even begin to overthink if Ponyboy wants to see him. Evidently, his mind didn’t need to think too hard, because Ponyboy lets out a choked gasp as he pushes past Johnny and all but collapses into Darry's chest. 

[edwards-exploit]

thomas and gordon both have autism but their autisms are so different that they could not fucking stand each other for a good while

[nuka]

I think what makes Our Flag Means Death so remarkable in terms of representation is not just the broadness of it, but the depth.

We have an indigenous lead character, but he's not only that. He's also queer. He's a romantic interest. He's middle-aged. His arc portrays surviving trauma and abuse. It also portrays mental illness. And it portrays breaking free from toxic masculinity. And it never tries to put him in a box when he explores his masculinity and femininity.

We have a non-binary character, played by a Puerto Rican NB actor, but their arc is not about their gender identity and their coming out is simply a case of "Just keep calling me Jim". They have a romantic/sexual relationship with a black character, and never is this relationship or either of their sexual orientations or Olu's sex appeal as a fat person or "who even is the man in this relationship hahaha" questioned. When they get into a poly relationship, it's just accepted, instead of questioned or even defined.

These are just a couple of examples. It's not that Our Flag Means Death is the only or the first show with queer/BIPOC/disabled representation, because it's not. What makes the show remarkable is the unique combination of queerness, ethnicity, age, disabilities, life experiences, etc. that each character carries within themselves, yet none of these characters exist solely to appear as representation of any minority on screen. Their identities are not glued onto them, they're ingrained, but in the end, they're just people. Just like in real life. Identities do not work as plot points. Being queer is not a plot point. Being non-binary is not a plot point. It's just a small part of the whole complex experience of life.

OFMD is a perfect example of telling a queer story that doesn't focus on telling a story directly about the queerness itself. Because we have stories about queerness already. We have so many of them that it just feels like tokenism at this point to see yet another story about coming out or forbidden love or anything like that, even if it's well made.

This show took me by surprise with every new way of representation it offered, because each time it did the total opposite of what I expected. It took all the tired tropes and said, "Yeah, see these? We're not gonna do any of that." It delivered something I never thought I'd see on screen.

It never explains the characters' identities to the audience. It simply shows them exactly the way they are and lets you decide whether you see yourself in them, and I think that also allows the audience to question their own identities, to explore gender and sexuality freely without immediately putting labels on things.

People who never thought they might be trans or non-binary or queer in any way discovered their identities through the show. People who struggle with mental illness or trauma saw someone like themselves portrayed with kindness and respect on screen and were finally able to extend the same kindness to themselves. People who are always left out of romantic stories because of their age or body shape or the color of their skin finally saw themselves portrayed as desirable and worthy of love and romance.

That is why so many of us feel that, in the words of Ruibo Qian: "OFMD woke me up."

[armoralor]

Why do I want Bo-Katan Kryze to be Mand’alor? Thank you for asking, I hope this helps ✰ reminder that T*RFs can fuck off, only interact if you love trans & nb folks ♡ Bonus wife below (specifically Bo-Katan’s wife).

[waterme-stories]

My Top Blorbos of 2023!

Thanks @virgo-dream for the fun template! And @bil-daddy for keeping it surreal.

(and very big thank you to the folks in the Spiderpool and Cablepool and @ageplay-may servers. This year was a Lot and y'all kept me sane and engaged with the world.)

[cacklingseahag]

So to my understanding Snooze Tumblr Live on mobile as a toggle IS working, for those confused. The issue is that Tumblr has changed what that toggle controls. Not only has it switched from 7 days snoozed to 30 days snoozed, but it has also changed *what* exactly is being snoozed.

If you look at the wording, it specifically says you toggle to snooze it “from your dashboard”. I take this to mean that what you are actually snoozing now is Tumblr Live video recommendations popping up at the top of your dashboard feed. What you seemingly can’t snooze anymore is the icon on your taskbar.

They have changed this function so that the icon will stay there on the bottom of the screen from now on, and all you are snoozing is recommendations on your dashboard tab.

So yeah, it sucks.

[uhbasicallyjustmilex]

🌸 !!CHAPTER NINE POSTED!! 🌸

Title: Four Walls

Tags: slow burn, domesticity, friends to lovers, smut, pining post sias/pre am era

Summary: Disillusioned with LA and on the heels of a breakup, Alex goes to stay with Miles in London.

[sorok0put]

WIP

literally the main reason im still doing this big ass reference sheet XDD

[sleepyorc]

Whenever there's a new tumblr update that absolutely sucks ass, I see so many posts of people complaining about it and @ ing staff as if that's a valid form of feedback. tumblr has an actual feedback box that I feel like is incredibly underused, and I feel like if more people used it we might have a better chance of seeing some more positive changes to this website.

[galoogamelady]

[leafsfromthevine]

cryptic and machiavellian ('cause i care)

AMAZING BEAUTIFUL AND SHOWSTOPPING ART BY @lnuns !

This is my chance to look back. If Sokka had turned around to catch a glimpse of Zuko walking away, just to take in who the name belonged to, it would be Zuko’s sign to pursue his ignited curiosity. It would be a sign that they both wanted to know more. This glimpse would be the single moment in which Zuko either let this go, or let this consume him entirely. So, he did what any normal person would do if their future depended on it. He stopped to look over his shoulder. Or, a Zukka college AU inspired by the song "Mastermind" by Taylor Swift.

HELLO EVERYONE! I am happy to share with you my work for the @zukkabigbang2024 : cryptic and machiavellian ('cause i care), a college AU based on the song Mastermind by Taylor Swift :3 HUGE PROPS to my lovely & crazy thorough beta reader @kartoonkrazy who worked endlessly with me through schedule changes and helped shape this story into what it is. A round of applause for the kind & insanely talented artist, @lnuns, who brought this story TO LIFE and captured the essence of this work so beautifully!!!!!! I genuinely couldn't have done this without you guys, thank you for believing in this vision <3 I present you the first three chapters of this fic—expect the remaining six chapters over the next handful of Fridays! I hope you guys love it as much as we do :))

TAGS: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Bending (Avatar TV), Slow Burn, Eventual Romance, Happy Ending, Obsessive Behavior, This is like a romcom except the romance takes a minute and Zuko is not laughing, Friends to Lovers, OR: Zuko keeps 'bumping into' Sokka and Sokka doesn't seem to mind, Title from a Taylor Swift Song, Song: Mastermind (Taylor Swift), Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Neglect, Mention of past car crash and parental death (Chapter 7)

CHAPTERS: 3/9

WORD COUNT: 9.8K / 25K+

[dieselocelot]

I'M HERE AGAIN HELLOO HIIIIII :D

question about vandermorgan cuz I'm curious....

do you have any headcanons and how do you see their relationship?

They say a picture is worth a thousand words

[prettyquickpoetry]

To all other editors and ghostwriters:

There’s apparently this $2000 online course called Fiction Profits Academy ‘teaching’ people how to make tons of passive income on Amazon as an ‘author’ by outsourcing everything. They’re being taught to squeeze writers and editors for everything they’ve got for the lowest possible price.

The students have flooded Upwork. You’ve probably seen all the many listings for ghost writing with infinitesimal budgets popping up. STAY AWAY.

These people are trying to flood the self publishing market with the sole purpose of making money. They are going to drive the cost of work way down, negatively affecting all freelancers whether they work directly with an FPA student or not.

I don’t know what makes them think this is a good idea. Authors who actually write books themselves and publish with the purpose of sharing their stories barely break even.

Readers aren’t stupid. They can tell if your story has heart or not, and these people trying to pay $300 for an entire novel? There’s no heart in that.

So good luck to these students, many of whom are already $10k+ in the red. And good luck to the freelancers they’re bleeding dry.