#I wish school taught me how to make stuff like this

[firebirdsdaughter]

As the daughter of a history major…

… Where the hell are so many americans on tumblr going to school???

I just saw a post about how ‘it’s taught in america that the pilgrims were Good and fleeing religious intolerance but they were actually Bad’ which first off, you cannot make those distinctions bc freaking everyone was up to kill anyone who didn’t agree in those days, but also… People claiming to be american claiming that they were definitely taught exactly that??

Maybe… If you never took a history class past elementary school, I guess. Or maybe you were in Florida (oh, gods, get my mother started on people killing each other in Florida).

Bc, resident American here, albeit one in Massachusetts, and… No. We’re not taught that. You get a romanticised version in early grades maybe, but the higher you go, you get taught that the most Puritans had different religious beliefs than the standard in England, so they took the opportunity to ship off to the colonies. There’s no victimisation, it’s just straight facts. And that usually, that was the category of people shipped off to the colonies—criminals, religious differences, poor people… Like no one in their right mind wanted to go off into the ‘wilderness.’ They did it bc they hated being where they were, and England was all too happy to get rid of them. Hell, they were also completely unprepared and many of them died on the way over. Like that shot went super bad for so many reasons.

I’m not going to claim I remember every detail I was taught, and I had a bit of a deeper knowledge bc my mother is, again, a history major w/ an interest in American history bc it is whacky), and I do remember the ‘founding’ being a little simplified, but I also distinctly remember going into higher grades and having teachers outright explain ‘what you were told as kids was a very simplified version, let’s talk about it in more detail.’ We weren’t taught that there were ‘good’ or ‘bad’ guys, we were taught that these people had a difference in belief and that for that reason, they ended up shipped off to the colonies. We talked about the conflicts, the damage, the ugly bits.

I think people claiming to have been taught a sanitised version either didn’t take many history classes, didn’t pay attention, or don’t remember much of what they were taught (which no judgement here, I barely remember). Or maybe they’re just trying to sound Cool on the internet? I can’t know. But I remain baffled by certain myths about the us that alleged Americans come out of the woodwork to claim are true when… Your experiences are not universal???

Like I’m happy to criticise the education system, bc excuse me while I cry about not being able to hold a conversation in Spanish, but like. Unless you were in a very particular environment (I went to public school, btw)… No, you weren’t taught that shit. There’s parts missing, sure, but they did not, at least not beyond elementary, try to claim the ‘Pilgrims’ were blameless. I remember being taught that life was harsh and short, and people bitter and stubborn. I don’t doubt that the words ‘fleeing religious intolerance’ might’ve been used, bc technically, yes, they were. But I am also intolerant of trolls, and mosquitos. That’s a statement, it has no bearing on what kind of people either group was.

[colorlessjay]

Here's a Destiel prompt based on a doodle I did but also Chappell Roan:

Dean Winchester is your average picture perfect American boy. Tall, blonde, football team quarterback, Kansas sweetheart with a little brother he's way too over protective of, and a southern drawl he swears he doesn't exaggerate. He's brash and rude, his confidence making him an easy target for over excited crowds and the occasion fights. The girls at school want him when he gives them a wink and a smile, and most guys envy him. Wish they were him.

But Dean had his eyes set on the unattainable

Castiel Novak. the Student body vice president who seems to fly through school like he was above it all. But not in the obnoxious 'I'm better than you' way in most teen movies. No, Castiel radiates an energy. One of pure intent, kindness, and joy that makes people fall for his hypnotic blue eyes

People like Dean, Castiel's best friend, and the guy he confides in more often than not

And Dean hates that he does. Because Castiel,for all his intelligence, was as clueless as they come

So whenever Castiel asks him to wingman for him

It's months worth of heartache and fake smiles as he watches Castiel pull every trick Dean taught him

Because Dean Winchester? He's the practice boy

-----

Castiel, wanting to the full college experience, asks his best friend Dean to help on how to date/seduce girls (Since Dean is really good at it and has been in relationships before. But only to distract from his massive crush on Cas)

And Dean, being a good friend, walks Cas through every step regardless of how much it hurts to flirt with Cas, only for Cas to use those same words and actions on girls

And one day, Cas asks Dean how to kiss. If he'll be a good kisser. Castiel's self conscious about it. Self deprecating and confused cause his lips are always chapped and his hair always a mess. And he's scared he won't close his eyes

And Dean just goes on about how those can be good things. How they're attractive. Blurting out stuff he personally feels about kissing Cas

"Your hair's perfect for kissing, short and soft and perfect to hold"

"If she doesn't like your eyes when you kiss, then she's blind as a bat!"

"Your lips look chapped but I'll bet my Baby they're as soft as the look you get when you see a bee"

"hell! Given the chance, I'd kiss you and I'd be the one left breathless"

And of course, they practice kissing

And Dean was right. It leaves him breathless

Leaves him heartbroken too when he finds Cas kissing Meg the same way a week later

-------

"I can't take it anymore, Cas! I'm so fucking tired of being your goddamn practice dummy!" Dean turns around, finally facing Castiel after he storming off "Yeah, I asked for it. It was fucking stupid to even suggest it, but you can't be so goddamn blind to not see that everything I've said, everything I've taught you, was more then just a shitty flirting lesson to me!"

Castiel stops in his chase, staring at Dean wide eyed as the rain picks up

Dean powers on, pacing and flailing "Fuck me for thinking the way you kissed me meant something then just practice" he laughs humorlessly then lets out a sob

"Fuck, Cas…" Dean looks up. his hand coming down to clutch at his wet shirt. Tears and rain running down his face "It meant something to me… you saying it otherwise doesn't change that… it just makes it hurt"

Castiel stared wide eyed and frozen. His mind flashes back to every interaction, every little touch, every word said between them

And all he could muster up was

"Dean…"

[writers-potion]

when writing enemies to lovers, how to I avoid the trope of “hes mean to me but it’s okay because he likes me” and make the mmc redeemable after being mean, because so far all I have is have her be just as bad 😭 (I don’t know if I worded that right)

Redeeming The Bad Boy Character

Drop Subtle Hints of Redeemability

Okay. Rule Number 1 for romance heroes: They need to be LOVABLE. Full stop. 

Before you start coming up with possible justifications, place the actions of your bad boy on the emotional balancing scale of your girl. Do his real feelings shine through the meanness on the surface?

What readers usually DON’T want to see redeemed is:

Outright lying/manipulating the girl 

Being obsessive and controlling 

Physical/emotional bullying (i.e. stuff that real bullies would do)

“Crossing the line”: This will depend on character - like insulting a disabled sister the girl character feels super protective towards (like NO PLEASE NO)

Even if the “enemy” phase of your romance is meant to be intense, your bad boy needs to display “goodness of heart”. This is easy if you’re switching POVs or 3rd person omniscient where you can show him secretly beating himself in regret, trying to make up with her behind her back although she doesn’t know, etc. 

Even if you’re doing the girl’s 1st person POV, drop subtle hints that the guy character isn’t as mean as the girl is made to believe:

Him having the reputation with friends/teachers/neighbors for being kind 

Him being awarded in school for good deeds

The girl’s friend telling her stories about how the guy actually seems nice. If this is a YA setting, you can even get away with explicit comments like, “maybe you’re judging him too hard”, etc. 

A good example is Bryce  in <Flipped>:

Bryce is an innately shy middle schooler who finds himself inadvertently influenced by his toxic dad, who looks down on the girl (Juli) and her family. 

By flipping over to Bryce’s POV, his reluctance for the “mean” things he’s done is revealed (he’s kinda scared of his dad + he’s never been taught better)

Eventually, Bryce grows up and learns to treat Juli better. 

If you’re going to use family history/backstory as justification, remember:

The backstory doesn’t justify anything by just existing. That’s called an excuse. 

The bad boy needs to have a point of realization and grow up, moving away from his dark past into the light, towards the love interest. 

Misunderstanding

Another way to redeem a bad boy character is to shift some blame on the female character too. In fact, every story has two sides - the girl has her own goals and biases. 

For example:

Academic or workplace rivals: since the girl has to compete with him, she will tend to take offhand comments offensively, etc. 

A third person badmouthing the buy deliberately to the girl

The girl overhearing the guy saying something bad about her (which wasn’t in fact the case) and being determined to not like anything he does after

Make Him Suffer 

If you want to give your girl some backbone, just make her fight back! “Fighting back” can be in different forms:

Ignoring the guy outright

Just giving her another potential love interest who treats her better 

She literally correcting him with awesome logic and maturity that make him shut up

She crying (either out of madness or sadness), then proceeding to avoid him actively

Write about how your bad boy will eventually realize his mistakes and come around after he takes a real blow. Think about why your bad boy is being mean in the first place: it’s to get her attention. Tit-for-tat can work for female characters who have some teeth, but doing the same things he does would mean that she IS giving him attention, which ironically fulfills his initial motives. 

Personally, I think the best way to “fight back” is to no longer give him the attention, hinting that the girl wishes to move on from this unhelpful relationship status. This will set off warning signs in the MMC’s head that if he doesn’t change his ways, she would be gone for good. 

The point is, if your girl cannot tolerate something, you can’t make her sit around. If your boy is mean and immature, she needs to be the one to take the mature step - and walk away.

Apologizing in the Other Character’s Style

What the MMC will need to do to gain the girl’s attention back will depend on what she thinks, but this will often involve:

Explaining his true motivations/resolving the misunderstanding

A genuine apology 

Spending some time apart during which he can reflect and make up to her 

Undoing the damage, if this is possible

If she’s been just as bad as him on occasions, make her reciprocate the apology! Re-establish healthy boundaries that didn’t exist before, and show how they stick to it. 

[ninyard]

re; ur kevin homeschooling post

i think about it ALL THE TIME. especially in the way that i think kevin also just really struggled with general life skills when he got out the nest, and struggled with the foxes reactions to his inability to do very ‘basic’ ‘normal’ tasks

like the foxes realising that kevin does Not know how to do like.. very regular things like he does not know how to cook or make a reservation or call his doctor or drive a car or take the bus alone or or or and and i do think they would tease him at first and laugh at oh silly kevin and his lack of human normal person skills but when they see that’s he’s actually kind of upset at not being able to do pretty average stuff without asking for help or getting really nervous about trying it in case he does it wrong i, in my gentle heart, do hope and believe they would all be sweet and patient to him and actively try to subtly teach him the skills that, to no fault of his own, he genuinely just never got taught because hey where’s the time for learning interactive skills in ur underground cult school eh!

anyways i just think it’s a very sweet image to think about nicky patiently explaining recipes to kevin and showing him each steps or matt volunteering to take him around the city on the bus to get the hang of the routes or all the little things andrew does for him !!!!

maybe this comes off coddling or a bit odd but also maybe i just wish kevin had been treated a little more gently in canon in what was truly a traumatic and deeply sheltered upbringing brushed off into like oh kevin is annoying and not personable bla bla bla

sorry this went off on a tangent i just love you kevin day and want to hold ur hand on the bus

thisthisthis oh anon don’t get me STARTED

The thing about Kevin, though, is that he is very, very, very good at hiding things. He had to be. Kevin knows how to act natural when someone walks in on him doing something that he shouldn’t, no reaction on his face. Kevin knows exactly how to look like he’s doing something when he’s doing nothing at all, when he’s listening in on a conversation that’s happening across the room. Kevin learned how to keep himself out of trouble as much as possible, and that meant becoming sneaky, becoming careful, becoming subtle.

I think that when Kevin comes out of the nest, it’s almost impossible to notice just how far behind his ability to function is. He doesn’t give anybody the chance to notice, regardless - he avoids cooking in front of anyone where he can, avoids doing the things he knows he can’t do where people can see him.

As you say, it comes to calling the doctor, or taking the bus, or tying a tie, or understanding social cues, or knowing how to order food over the phone, or grocery shopping. It comes to childhood songs and rhymes and games and Kevin doesn’t have a clue.

Wymack is the first to notice, obviously, and it’s a little while before Andrew notices too. The thing about this is not that it’s a big blinking red sign that says KEVIN IS INCAPABLE OF FUNCTIONING. It’s the little things, the things people deem common sense or muscle memory. He doesn’t know how to use a washing machine, or a coffee machine. He doesn’t know how to properly wash dishes.

But Kevin is very good at avoiding the things he can’t do. He’s very good at making sure his teammates don’t find out how incapable he is of doing certain things. It’s not his fault, it’s the way he was raised, but he still feels… embarrassed by it, in a way. When Nicky looks at him and says, “Kevin Day doesn’t even know how to make a grilled cheese?” and laughs, it hurts. It hurts when Allison throws a comment over her shoulder about how he doesn’t know how to talk to people, or when the team are playing some common childhood game and Kevin has absolutely no idea what is going on. He wishes he knew, he wishes he was raised to know, but he doesn’t.

(David teaches him how to tie a tie, naturally. When Kevin has an ear infection, and Abby and Wymack aren’t around, maybe Renee is the one that writes out a script to make a doctors appointment, “Hi, I’m sorry to bother you, I’m looking to make an appointment for…”. Matt shows him how to take the bus, and Dan shows him how to do laundry. Maybe Allison teaches him how to flirt, or put up boundaries. Maybe Andrew teaches him how to drive, and maybe Neil shows him how to light a fire or tie a knot. Nicky shows him how to order a cab. Aaron teaches him how to make Mac and cheese. Once they all see how much it actually effects Kevin that he lacks these “basic” skills, I think they all find their own ways to teach him little things. Whether they mean to or not.)

[your-unfriendlyghost]

I have two things to ask:

1.-Can we be friends?

2.-Do you have any Outsiders headcanons (or any that you haven't submitted yet)?

I mean sure?? Idk who you are since you’re on anon, so not REALLY, but I’m always down to talk!

2. Yeah lol- tons. Too many. Here’s a few (okay like 25 oops) off the top of my head lol, some serious/angsty and some lighthearted/kinda stupid without any real order. (Lotta ‘em are about Steve tbh -there’s so little to him in canon that I have the freedom to hc pretty much whatever I want)

Steve Randle’s nearsighted and has no idea, which is why he’s literally always squinting. (I’ve had that one for like months but only recently mentioned it on here lol.) Steve thinks his vision is completely normal

Dally and Sylvia genuinely cared for each other, but they were both so horrible at having healthy emotions that they just made each other worse. In a bad way, not a fun way.

When Steve gets kicked out, sometimes he hangs with Johnny in the lot. They don’t really talk about anything important like their shared experiences of having lousy parents. Instead they talk about cars, girls, music, school…lighthearted stuff. Sometimes Johnny will find Steve crying, which he never mentions- he’ll just sit down as per usual, which Steve appreciates. Steve almost never finds Johnny crying though. Johnny doesn’t cry much.

Okay tangent- I love how Steve and Johnny are low-key foils. Like Steve always seems tough but then cries when pushed to his limit, while Johnny always seems skittish until he’s under a bunch of pressure- in which case he suddenly is confident. (Not necessarily thriving obviously, but confident yk? Like grinning while saving those kids in the fire.) I know SE Hinton probably didn’t intend that at all, but it’s just such an interesting detail to me. One of these days I’ll put it into words better

Johnny’s jeans-jacket is a hand-me-down from either Steve or Two-Bit. (I can’t decide which lol) (obviously Dally would make sense too, but honestly I think it’d add more depth to flesh out Johnny’s relationships with the other members of the gang)

After the events of the book, Two-Bit starts hanging around the Curtis’s place even more. At first the gang assumes he’s trying to lighten the mood. It’s only after he gets sent to the cooler for a month due to drunk driving that they realize he was actually hanging around so much because he was trying to keep his kid sister from seeing him so drunk…

Two-Bit likes to joke that he keeps failing junior year so that him and his sister can graduate together. Which is a very bad idea since his sister is a year younger than Ponyboy.

Sodapop often feels like he’s only good for looking pretty and not all that useful or interesting otherwise. He likes himself, but when he stops to think about it too much, he starts to wonder if he really has anything going for him at all

My H/C for Steve’s home life is that his Mom is sick w/ like cancer or something. Before she got sick, Steve’s life was pretty alright for an eastsider- he and his dad fought, but they always made up for the most part. They weren’t perfect, but they loved each other. But after she got sick, she wasn’t there to mediate between Steve and his Dad anymore, and the fighting got worse and worse. And then Steve’s dad started drinking more and it was pretty downhill from there. Steve’s Dad still loves him, but sometimes Steve wishes that he didn’t. If he didn’t, then he could hate him. But his dad does love him, so he can’t get himself to.

Steve and Dally taught Johnny to drive when they were all like fourteen-fifteen-ish. Johnny is a very reckless driver. He loves speeding.

Johnny also loves fast roller coasters and stuff.

Dally doesn't ‘cuz he’s low-key scared of heights- he likes riding broncos and rodeos, but put him at the top of a roller coaster and he’s convinced that it’s gonna break and he’s gonna die. He pretends he doesn’t mind. The only people who know he’s scared of them are Johnny, and before she died, Mrs. Curtis.

Steve has a napoleon complex. Johnny, who is shorter than him by a few inches, likes to bully him for it sometimes

Ponyboy and Cherry don’t interact much in the school year after the book, but in the summer after, they start to hang out. Eventually they become pretty close. They fangirl over Paul Newman together

Ponyboy still doesn’t let Cherry read his theme though until years later

Marcia and Two-Bit re-meet a few months after the book. (Two-Bit is really scared that she’s embarrassed to be dating him, and Marcia is really scared that he’s embarrassed to be dating her. Neither of them are embarrassed. They both adore each other.)

Two-Bit likes to watch Marcia barrel racing. One time while he’s there, he runs into Ponyboy watching Cherry barrel race and immediately tells everyone much to Pony’s chagrin

Evie knows a little bit about cars, and she sometimes helps out at the DX during summers. Steve is so whipped for her lol (and Soda too Steve has two hands)

Evie and Sylvia are besties, but Steve and Sylvia hate each other. They act civil in front of Evie, but as soon as her back is turned they’re growling at each other like dogs. (Well Steve is. Sylvia just acts condescending as hell. Sometimes it goes over his head, so Steve knows she’s insulting him but isn’t sure what the insult is/means. Which makes Steve kinda want to kill her.)

Steve and Soda are low-key co-dependent. (Steve more so- Soda has his family at least, while to Steve, Soda and Evie are his whole world pretty much) It’s probably not super healthy, and both of them are vaguely aware of that, but are trying not to think about it too hard rn

Ponyboy’s friend group in high school consists of Curly Shepard, Mark Jennings, Scout Jenkins (from the tv show), and eventually, in her senior year, Cherry Valance. (There’s others too but those are the main ones.)

Pony dates Cathy Carlson for a while too, idk if they’re good for each other or not- I kinda like the idea of them being a sweet couple tbh, but no one else on here seems to care about them so I haven’t really explored the idea much lol

In a Dally lives au, Mark Jennings and Dally end up spending a bit of time together through Pony, and at some point they realize that they’re half-brothers lol. Mark is a deeply obnoxious little brother to have, and he drives Dally nuts on purpose. Weirdly I think Dally’s a relatively good influence on him, as much as someone like Dally can be. And Dally does care for Mark, though not as much as he cares for Johnny- Mark is, in his head, not exactly his responsibility.

Well I have (so many) more, but I think that’s enough for now lol. Point is, even though I haven’t drawn in a minute, I love these characters and their romanticized version of 1960s Tulsa so much and I think about them way too often lol

(dw once i get more into the swing of school I’ll be doin more art!)

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hi, I have a question for you about TWST. Do you think that in terms of medical care and technology our world is more advanced in some ways? I had this one idea that in TWST they don’t know CPR because they have magic. Also do you think that they had a moon landing or a space race?

On the contrary, I think Twisted Wonderland’s medical care and medical technology is more advanced than ours, if not just as advanced. Twisted Wonderland has many of the same inventions as we do (cars, smartphones, social media, etc.) and even magical variants of those (a magical wheel/blastcycle is a magic-powered motorcycle), so it doesn't make sense to me that medicine and healthcare would be the one area where the real world is ahead of TWST's. Twisted Wonderland would be more advanced than us because magic would allow them to enhance their technology to surpass what we are realistically capable of. Technomantic assistive devices integrate elements of both technology and magic to assist those with impairments. Additionally, healing potions (which accelerate the speed of one's recovery) existed as far back as 400 years ago. For those skilled in potionology, they may whip up antidotes on the spot with the right medicinal herbs.

I also don't think that the existence of magic completely negates the need for regular first aid procedures. Non-magical methods and skills must still exist since the majority of the population are non-magical. Among humans, 90% are completely incapable of magic and of the remaining 10%, most of them are not able to produce enough magic to so much as lift a cup. Very few left are competent enough to become skilled mages, and even fewer are competent enough to become medical mages. Why would the entire healthcare system of the world be entirely based in magic when so few people would be capable of administering that kind of care? CPR and first aid exist in the first place so the common everyday average Joe can help others until actual medical personnel can arrive. It wouldn’t make sense to gatekeep these skills or for them to not have been invented simply because magic is A Thing. In fact, magic is not widely accessible and is implied to be kept for the elite and well-off (more on that here and here).

“Not many humans can use magic, so we turn to chemistry for stuff like this,” Trey says in his Silk Adorned vignette when explaining to the group how the colors of fireworks can differ. The existence of regular sciences—devoid of magic—implies the existence of regular medicine as well. Remember too that not all schools teach magic, therefore regular subjects must exist and be widely taught in non-magic schools.

It should also be noted that, even with magic, it's not a perfect solution for every ailment out there. For example, the healing potions in 7-68 do not instantly restore Lilia to full health; he notes that he must still rest and that his magic is still depleted to the point where he cannot fly back in the direction he just came from.

Magic was also not always viewed as a positive either; a few hundred years ago, it was viewed as a frightening thing. Mages were referred to derogatorily as “witches” and “wizards”. Most societies were not structured around magic (and still aren’t to this day, with fae seeming to be the exception). This means that normal medicine and related first aid must have still existed since magical medicine was presumably not widely accepted.

All of that was to say that I’m pretty sure Twisted Wonderland still has CPR, among other means of non-magical medicine and healthcare 😅

Now as for your final questions, I do think that Twisted Wonderland has achieved space travel. Idia was able to launch Ortho into space in Wish Upon a Star, so the technology is definitely there. It should also be noted that spacesuits and astronauts have been mentioned in the 4koma, which implies the existence of space travel. Again, I’d also like to point out that TWST’s general technological advances are about on-par with ours (including modes of transportation), so there’s no reason not to believe they haven’t gone to space as well.

I don’t think there was a Space Race though? That’s an event that happened in our history, and we know that TWST, while borrowing ideas from irl does not cleanly align with reality. For example, the fictional countries we visit have elements from many cultures (Sunset Savanna has onsen eggs, which are Japanese, not African; Harveston has fashion and foods from various Nordic cultures, etc.).

For historical events… I think Twisted Wonderland is more likely to get its inspiration from Disney movies rather than look to actual irl history. It gets into too much muddy political tension otherwise, which I totally understand TWST wanting to keep out. There were probably other circumstances that led to the advent of space travel in Twisted Wonderland.

[bloomshroomz]

I don't understand the whole, "You can't explain gender stuff to kids; they're too young to understand" argument. Refusing to explain anything just results in more confusion.

As a kid, I thought that trans people were a really cool hypothetical, but didn't realize that could actually be a real thing until years later. I used to try to find portals where I could step in and swap my gender in elementary school, because I thought that would be the only way.

In third grade, we had a project where we were given the letters of our names and pictures of our faces, and we were supposed to draw the rest for a sort of classroom student book thing. I dropped some of the letters in my name to make it masculine, cut off the hair, and drew stuff that I thought was cool.

The teacher saw this and said, "Is that really how you want people to remember you?" clearly expecting me to say "no."

But I said "Yes," and the teacher argued against this for a bit, before giving in and allowing me to use the art that I made. They still made me create a version that aligned with my AGAB, though. The masculine version was only kept in black and white.

(Fun fact: My chosen name is actually almost identical to the name I chose in third grade. I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted, even with my limited knowledge on what I could do.)

I fantasized about being able to change my gender a lot as a kid, whether that meant being a boy, or being neither a girl nor a boy, or being between/some sort of boygirl. I wished that I could "genderbend," because that was the terminology I knew.

I learned that trans people actually exist in like... Middle school? And people were super transphobic at the time, so I internalized that for a few years before accepting that I'm trans. That pain could've been avoided if I had been taught from a young age that trans people exist, and that it's okay to be trans.

I was a trans kid, and I didn't know that was what I was until I was a teen, because I wasn't given the opportunity to know. Trans kids exist, regardless of whether you give them language to express their experiences or not.

And I've met trans kids who knew that terminology, and knew that they were trans because of it. I've also met kids who weren't trans, but still experimented with pronouns and gender expression for a short while to see how they felt, because they were given the freedom to do so. It's good to let kids explore who they are.

I'm also openly trans, and I don't hide this from anyone. Kids understand, even if I'm the first to explain it to them. It's not a hard concept to grasp. My little brother was introducing me to his friends as his big brother even when I was expressing myself very femininely, and hardly any kids batted an eye. Some of them were curious why I looked so feminine for a guy, and it was easy to explain. It has also been easy to explain what being nonbinary means.

Kids latch onto concepts like gender more easily than you think. Out of everyone in my family, my little brother (who still isn't even a teen yet) has been one of the most supportive people when it comes to my transition. I can't think of a time when he has misgendered me- not in years, at least. He caught on fast, and he never gets it wrong. He even corrects people who misgender me. I get misgendered by the adults in my family much more than the children.

Kids get it. All you gotta do is explain.

[luffyvace]

〜☆〜Shigaraki and Touya (separate) x Scholarly reader with glasses 〜☆〜

precisely what the title says~

Might post a lot lately because I’m trying to clear drafts :P

shigaraki with a intelligent reader is wonderful!

you can help him with his plans! 😋

your input is really valuable and whether the lov knows it or not you definitely play a big role in missions

your a mastermind who is very good at outsmarting the heroes

He feels like as long as he has you, no matter what you’ll always be one step ahead

your his Queen/King chess piece

together you’ll watch it all crumble

honestly I’m just assuming your in the lov because even if your not a official member you’ve certainly contributed a lot

to which he very much appreciates

He values your priorities and requests

as he said he always has room for his comrades wishes

you love him for that

never once has one of your plans completely failed

for example if all might destroys a bunch of your nomus even though they were supposed to terrorize the city

You don’t panic at all because it was all apart of your plan >:)

*rubs hands together like evil fly*

it was all a distraction so you could infiltration a hero base and steal some info and such….🥱

ez dub the heroes are walking L’s with skill issues 😂

WAIT IMAGINE READER DOES THE THING WHERE THEY PUSH UP THEY’RE GLASSES AND IT HAS THE GLOWING ANIME GLASSES EFFECT

HILARIOUS 😂💥💥

it’d be even better if your a tech savvy too

you can break into hero facilities better

plus screw with them if you want n all 💃

you and that emo long bob dude be competing (tomoyasu chikazoku)

you can first fr

READER BETTER>> READER ⬆️🔝

anyway shigaraki thinks reader with glasses is fiiiine 😍

fr like you look good!

he’ll probably ask questions like “did you make your own?”

“Where you born with bad vision or is it stigmatized?”

”when did you get glasses?”

”have your eyes gotten stronger or weaker?”

”do you keep them on 24/7 or do you take them off and take breaks?”

”do you get headaches from them?”

”is it annoying having to push them back up all the time?”

”are you farsighted? Nearsighted? Is it just for reading?”

now he’s not asking to annoy you, and these questions come with time he doesn’t trample you with them

he’s genuinely curious and is a pretty good listener

he’s not just asking just to ask it or anything

if you ever need a new pair he’ll find a way to pull through for you

he’s not always as resourceful as you but he does have some connections!

Uhh with touya? Intelligence won’t matter as much

Not to say he’s not impress though!

he likes to hear all the random facts of knowledge you tell him and he does listen

it’s intriguing, especially when he’s bored

he’d love to learn about astronomy if you know anything about it

he never took the time to learn himself but if you were to mention it he’d recognize some stars because he watches them so often

which makes for good dates!

stargazing!

you go to all types of different angles to look at them together

another thing is Touya never really went to school if so not for long

so you probably end up teaching him and filling him in on a lot of what he doesn’t know

not stuff he doesn’t care about tho

only the important stuff

essentials

which I mean it’s probably not essential anymore the way you two are living outside of society but hey it might come in handy

if someone were to ask touya a question but they’re trying to trick him by using a complex word, If you taught him he won’t fall for it! :)

I mean don’t get me wrong he’s not stupid

but you certainly are a lot smarter 😁

If you brag about it he gets kinda annoyed LOL

like if you beat him in video/board games a lot

which you do, you win like 98% of the time

the 2% he wins is from all luck games

and even so if you learn how those games work it’s over for him 😂😂

Touya doesn’t mind that you wear glasses at all

he does see a difference when you occasionally take them off but he doesn’t think you look wonky so don’t worry

he might be a little curious tho

like he’ll ask how glasses work (especially since your so intelligent)

which might lead into a conversation about why not everyone has 20/20 vision

yeah your conversations never stay on track because all the follow up questions

although you don’t mind because at least you know he’s listening

you end up explaining to him how glasses are made and he asks if you could make your own since you know

which honestly isn’t a bad idea since you could customize it and add whatever you want to it

you definitely thank him for the idea

he feels so accomplished—like he gets to be the smart one for once 😅🤷‍♀️

a sweet thing he does for you if you get eye strains/headaches is like rub your temples/run you a hot bath 💝

it surprises you how caring he can be but of course he’s not completely heartless

another cute thing Touya does is coming to you randomly with questions

”what’s this??”

”what in the world does ___ do?!”

”why does ___ happen?”

”is this normal?”

”what do you do if ____ happens”

”what’s __ x __ again”

”what’s ______ + ______ (big number + big number)?”

oh and you probably have better memory than him so

“Do your remember my past code?”

is common too 😂💗

I started this a while ago but never finished it so I’m glad to finally get this off my chest.

enjoy! Let’s see if the shigaraki and Touya stans will show up🕺

[marymary-diva17]

School lessons

Jake x reader x neytiri + sully kids

Passing down the baton from one person to another, can be hard when there is so much to live up to from the previous person that once held the position. Now that time had come when it relates to the topic, of teaching the youth and how it will go down. From a previous teacher to now someone else, who has taken up the position from her from mentor. Now it was time to go down that path and see what happens.

Y/n “ they agreed for me to teach their children”you are looking at your mates as they stand, in front of you. They had taken you away from the home saying, they need to have some private words with you.

Jake “ yes after days and days of talks with tonowari and ronal, they agreed to the arrangement to happen”

y/n “ oh okay”

neytiri “ the other clans will come around after they hear what tonowari, has to say about this whole situation”

y/n “ it looks like my school days lessons are, going to get a bit more interesting”

y/n “ they are fine with I and others teaching the children, of the reef clan”

Jake “ well yes and no after meeting with you and rest of the crew, tonowair had deemed you right to teach his children along with the other kids as well”

neytiri “ ma y/n you will do well with the job as you had taught our kids and nephew, along with the rest of the clan youth as well”

y/n “ okay I can do it and it will be beneficial for everyone in the end”

Jake “ you are going to be an amazing teacher”

y/n “ thank you my loves”

neytiri “ so how are you going to do this in your avatar body or human body, as I wish to know you are safe here”

y/n " well I will be do before so the kids can get use to me as human and avatar, it will be good and other might do the same as well"

Jake " we should speak with the others as well so they know and can decide on who wants to be a teacher"

y/n " yes come along we can gather them right now it will be good, and I think we might get more volunteers teacher later on as the process goes"

neytiri " then come along lets go I still wish to have some time with you today" the couple had meet with everyone else an told of the news everyone seem to be happy about it, norm along with many agreed to be teachers later on if the program becomes bigger.

norm " we can use this area as it not the far from the village so no parents will be worried and it can be in distance with anything, happens to anyone mask as we need to be careful"

Tsutey " this will be a good place to learn ma norm with some additions of human stuff as well"

y/n " yes we have to make sure everything will be okay in our make shift school, it will never be like grace school but we hope to live up to her reputation"

neytiri " ma y/n you will be amazing grace always said you are wise, she knew you will be get teacher among the youth and everyone ... you will do amazing job along with everyone else"

y/n " thank you"

Jake " hey if you were good enough to tutor me in ways of the navi way and everything else you will be good"

y/n " thank you"

tsu'tey " so what will be teaching the children"

y/n " well some of the way of humans and help them understand the rda as well, as most of them seem to be getting lessons on human tongue from all our children"

y/n " I was thinking about some them of any different stuff that we bought from earth, and how life on earth was like as well"

y/n " there will be music, food, entertainment, and many other stuff that I will be thinking about along with education knowledge as well"

Jake " that sounds amazing babe I can't wait to see what you, do and I might give some help if you don't mind from a jarhead like me"

y/n " I will love it"

neytiri " that sounds wonderful"

norm " we will be teaching all the other stuff we had learn in school, when we were younger and our careers as well"

Jake " that amazing as being a solider is already covered by being a warrior"

y/n " yes this is going to be good le hope the program will be accepted, by all the other clans if they are willing to do it"

Jake " I and neytiri will be here to help"

neytiri " yes because if any mother has any negative words to say a out you, I will hear about it and we will have a very nice conversation" you knew neytiri will fight any women who talked about you, she had nearly got into fights in the past over someone calling you a horrible name.

Jake " well the kids are going to like this"

neytiri " they will definitely love it and the children of the clan have been missing some school"

later that night

tuk " yeha mama is going to be our teacher again along with uncle norm and uncle max"

y/n " yes our clan kids and metkayain clan kids will be doing some school days with us, full of lessons"

lo'ak " that cool tsireya said she wanted to learn more of the humans"

y/n " well now she does and it going to be and help bring a good alliance as well"

neteyam " this is wonderful news for you mama we are all proud of you"

y/n " thank you kids"

kiri " wait mama can we request anything we wish to learn"

y/n " yes if you wish"

kiri " flora and fauna please"

y/n " I was going to do that sweet but yes we can make that happen"

Jake " we are going to need you kids to be on your best behavior, and no fighting"

kids " yes dad" the kids seem very happy about the upcoming lesson that will be coming, soon spider cam by after hearing the news and he is happy as well. Now you were taking on the opportunity and responsibilities of teaching the youth, just like your mentor grace.Deep down you are hoping that you will make her proud and not let her down.

[stargazer-sims]

After School

Ben: And... done! Now my number's in your phone. I put it as 'Plant World' since you're always calling me that.

Caroline: You could've put it as your name, but that's actually so cute. Now I'm not going to change it.

Ben: Really?

Caroline: Yeah. Are you going to put me in your phone as 'Aquatic Club'?

Ben: What else do you think I'd put? I mean, other than your name.

Caroline: I like it. It's very secret agent-y.

Ben: Except it's kinda obvious, though?

Caroline: Come on! Don't ruin my fantasy.

Ben: *laughing*

Caroline: Okay. Let me just send you a text to make sure it works.

Ben: Got it! And... I can't read it.

Caroline: What?

Ben: I, uh... can't read Japanese, Caroline. I can't even speak it all that great, to be honest. You know I'm the third generation of my family to be in Canada, right? Like, I've never even been to Japan or anything.

Caroline: You don't speak Japanese at home?

Ben: Only with my grandparents. Mom and Dad prefer English. Do you speak Japanese at home?

Caroline: Yeah, I almost always do with Yuri, and sometimes with Victor. Yuri taught me to read and write. He helped Victor learn a long time ago too, and Victor still likes to practice with me.

Ben: That's actually pretty cool. Sometimes I wish somebody in my family would've taught me.

Caroline: I could help you. It could be kind of like a secret code.

Ben: Well, sort of secret. I mean, we're not the only Japanese-Canadians at school.

Caroline: You mean the Abbottsfords? They're only half Japanese, you know.

Ben: Do you... did you ever speak Japanese with Forest?

Caroline: Not since we were really little and I didn't know much English yet. Forest prefers English. I think they all do.

Ben: So, if we speak Japanese to each other, that'd be like... kinda special?

Caroline: Yeah. It could be our thing.

Ben: I'd like it if we had a thing.

Caroline: So, decision made.

Ben: Yeah, definitely.

Caroline: You know what? I really like how easy it is to decide stuff with you. It's nice to be around somebody who knows what they want and can just say it.

Ben: You like that? So... does that mean I can say something else I really want?

Caroline: Sure.

Ben: I really want you to be my date for the Harvest Dance. Sorry I was weird about it yesterday, but it was kinda awkward trying to ask you with one of your dads there.

Caroline: It's okay. I get it.

Ben: So, do you want to?

Caroline: Go to the dance with you? Yes, I totally want to, and maybe in the meantime we could go on a regular date? Like, go to a movie or go bowling or something?

Ben: Yeah, I'd love to do that.

Caroline: Awesome! Are you going to walk me to and from school tomorrow?

Ben: Absolutely.

Caroline: See you tomorrow, Plant World.

Ben: You got it, Aquatic Club.

[raggstorice]

FLASH HEADCANONS!

Where I take a fandom and give a Headcanon for Every. Single. Character.

Twisted Wonderland! #1

Here we go!

Riddle: whenever a bug lands on him he freezes. Just stops.

Ace: His parents always shut down his beliefs. Very much a 'Stay in line and You'll be fine' type of family. (If requested I will rant on my HC Ace backstory)

Deuce: He calls his mother every day and one day she just starts crying and is all like 'Im so proud of you. You've changed so much and I love you.' and Deuce started crying too.

Cater: Does not actually care that much about Magicam. He just needed something to base his personality off of.

Trey: Uses southern insults All. The. Time. People talk to him and he's just 'Well good for you!' and people think he's the nicest.

Leona: If you put a weighted blanket on him he will just fall over like that one scene in Lilo and stitch.

Ruggie: Knows everyone. And I mean EVERYONE. Try to introduce him to someone new and he'll just be like 'OMG my old friend!' yeah.

Jack: Named his cactus Paula. Also Talks to it and uses it like a doll. (Like that one scene in DRDT)

Azul: His first experience with a land dweller was when he saw a coin fall from the surface and he followed it. There was a language barrier so he couldn't talk to them. He wonders how they're doing some days.

Jade: Had a bonding moment with Jack over their love for plants (mushrooms and cacti) also eats mushroom-spinach pizza (like me!)

Floyd: He bites. Also he's banned from playing against other schools in Basketball because of the sheer amount of fouls he gets. Jamil is so done.

Kalim: Will summon a rainbow to cheer someone up. He's precious.

Jamil: Doesn't actually hate Kalim. He just needs to be mad at someone. Oh also he cooks for the Basketball club and brings food to practice. Ace is his biggest fan.

Vil: Godly eye makeup. He's the one who gave Rook his feather in his hat.

Epel: Bad Ass Mother Fucker. He prefers to fight with his tounge rather than his fists. The only one to realize Trey's passive aggressiveness.

Rook: Will bring back fresh meat from his hunts. Him and Jade bring the best ingredients to the Cafeteria and no one knows.

Idia: one time he hid from people in an empty classroom for several hours after school. Ortho almost sent a search party.

Ortho: Spends hours analyzing his friends. Like as a hobby. He brings them perfectly planned gifts and they all love it.

Malleus: Lilia cuts his hair. He also polishes his horns. He secretly really enjoys Sebek's loyalty just wished he was quieter.

Silver: Takes care of the horses so well. They love him and will only accept food from him.

Sebek: He can be surprisingly quiet if you ask nicely. He gets loud again if he gets worked up. Autistic.

Lilia: He loves his sons. He ends up taking care of the whole Campus. No one in NRC can take care of themselves properly so he does it. Mockingbird by Eminem coded

Crowley: He shows up randomly and helps students. Lilia is taking a student to the infirmary? He's there and takes them for him. Leona is asleep in the botanical garden? Crowley kicks him away from the path. The teachers are so done with the chaos and are ready to combust? He's there. He will make the chaos worse and somehow contain it at the same time.

Crewel: He stays stocked up on potions ready to help any students that are ill, tired, or in any sort of pain. He will let you sleep in his classroom and will pull you into his office if he thinks somethings up. Many students have cried in front of him.

Trein: Will go out of his way to include history not taught in textbooks. Stuff about gay rights, racism, trans right, war crimes, fun facts about political leaders, etc. He does it all in the most monotone voice ever.

Lucius: The best cat. Used to be a stray wandering campus. Will bring gifts to students it likes. Recognized Leona as one of its own.

Vargas: Always down to help students. Oh you have Asthma? Good thing I have SEVENTEEN EXTRA INHALERS. You seem to be struggling a little why don't you sit down? Exercise without rest is as good as no exercise at all.

Sam: Will give freebies to students who need it. Oh you skipped lunch to study for a test? Good thing I have a sandwich just for you! Your pen broke? Which one do you want? Also will tell you all the tea.

Grim: Whenever he eats those blot crystals he suddenly knows all of the victims trauma which he reports to Yuu.

Yuu: Has serious conversations with Overblot victims. The best non licensed therapist.

Authors Note: It's 1:23 AM. I'm going to sleep.

[artist-issues]

idk anything about 21 pilots, but you talk about them a lot and they seem cool!! Who are they and what are they about and where do i get started in their music 😁

GIRL

These kinds of questions make me so happy. People who know me in real life organically ask me to talk about movies and stuff sometimes, but never bands, and when they find out I like twenty one pilots, never them 😂

Anyway,

Twenty one pilots is a roughly 15 year-old band led by Tyler Joseph, who used to be an intern at Five14 Church (New Albany Church) in Columbus, Ohio, and a rising basketball star in his schooling. Then, my understanding is, he taught himself how to play piano, got interested in/wrote songs during his senior year of high school, and then eventually dropped out of college to pursue making music full time. The band is named after a play by Arthur Miller called “All My Sons.” Tyler Joseph studied it in school—he was inspired by the plot of having to make a hard decision that ultimately costs lives…and you can hear through all the songs the sense of urgency, and the way the lead singer is convinced that every single choice you make can have dire consequences.

At the start of the band, it had him and two other members. Their first album is called “Twenty One Pilots,” and it has sick album art that everybody loves:

The band played local shows (like in literal houses and backyards and stuff) and were mostly performing songs from this album. My favorite twenty one pilots song is on this album: it’s called Addict With a Pen.

(Specifically, my favorite is this version of him performing it live several years after its release, which I saw after returning from the camp where I got saved.)

In those early years, twenty one pilots performed songs off of Self-Titled. But they also did a few that Tyler Joseph wrote independently, the ones not featured on the album.

One of the songs that he wrote that isn’t on this album was written when he was in high school before he had a band. It’s called “Save.” He probably recorded it in the early 2000s, but if I don’t have my years mixed up, I didn’t hear that song until I was 14-turning-15 in the year 2011. And it, along with another song of his called “Clear,” played with it, was the first song I ever heard by twenty one pilots. I heard it the week I gave my life to Christ. Save is a gut-scream song about the need to be saved. It’s hard to listen to. But in the context I heard it in, I needed to be hearing the idea of “needing salvation” in that extreme and real of a voice. So I love it.

Clear is about Tyler Joseph’s struggle with trying to figure out if it’s better to get people thinking with cryptic lyrics about their need for a savior—OR should he just come out and say, “I’m a Christian, I believe Jesus Christ is what you need, please believe in Him like I did?” He winds up settling on the first option (sometimes I wish he hadn’t) and “telling the audience what he can,” and not pushing it on them when they “let him know when they’ve had enough.”

Clear planted the germs in my brain that led to me considering art, and then storytelling as a tool to deliver hard truth “under the eyes of watchful dragons.” He talks about the concept of Romans 7 using the philosophy of disguising his words, like in Clear, in this interview, which, when I saw the part at about 9 minutes, made me start paying attention to Tyler Joseph as a person instead of just listening to his music.

Anyway. Back to the band.

One of these independent songs, NOT on the original album of the band, was called “Time to Say Goodbye,” and it has a pretty intense ‘cycle of knowing you’re messed up (like really messed up. suicide attempt and purposeless darkness levels of messed up) -> unable to fix it on your own -> trying anyway -> failing -> driven to accept Christ’s ability to kill the old you so you can live for something bigger than your messed-up self’ concept in the lyrics.

That whole progression, the “Romans 7 Progression,” I think of it as, winds up being one of the strongest recurring themes in every album afterward.

But I bring it up because the legend is, when performing that song, Time to Say Goodbye, at a little venue, Josh Dun, who already had some experience drumming in a different Christian band, saw twenty one pilots for the first time. And he thought the song and Tyler were brilliant. The current drummer of the band introduced him to Tyler, and when everybody in the band except Tyler quit, Josh Dun quit his job with no fallback plan and became the drummer of twenty one pilots. Since then, they have been a two-man band.

They have their own genre, because they’re both self-taught, and one of the identifying factors of the band is that both Josh Dun and Tyler Joseph are intensely opposed to giving in to the draw of “Fame” or “Success.” They stubbornly insist that they just make music they like. Whatever, that’s not unique, lots of bands are punk rock and go “fight the power, we don’t care what anybody thinks, etc.”

But then you listen to Tyler Joseph adding screamo and ukulele and rap over…like, church-piano, and you hear him say things like, “I just rap because I needed to fit a lot of words in, and also my brother likes fast rap.” and you go, “oh. They meant it. They don’t know how any of this works and they just do what they like.”

Especially in their early stuff.

I “got into” twenty one pilots in the year 2011. That’s the same year they signed to a record label. They produced what I think is their best album, “Vessel,” (nobody agrees with me.)

I could break down every song on the album but nobody wants that and nobody would read it, so I’ll just say; it has deeper exploration of the band’s same themes:

Be Introspective - All the time, the lead singer is writing lyrics that urgently explore the dark corners of his own fear, doubt, and insecurity—and then he flips it around and begs his listeners to be introspective, too, because “there’s something you desperately need.” It’s this idea of not running from your emotions, but letting them drive you to what you need. (He’s never clear about what that is, though, beyond the general word “faith.”)

Focus on Your Purpose - They insist that being introspective should lead to picking what you believe, and living it out to make the most of your time.

What Music Should Be For - The lyrics are all about how music should be used to fight darkness, because it can be exorcism of your inner demons, and a rallying cry to gather around and show you that you’re not the only person who has demons. With that in mind, the band is consistently opposed to “heartless,” “mindless” music that’s just there to make you dance or indulge.

Peace Wins, Fear Loses - This theme is where they usually get closest to their Christian roots. The pattern, like I said, is the Romans 7 Cycle: I’m afraid of who I am because the digger I deep, the darker and crazier I am…but I don’t have to act on that fear. I can just throw myself at the mercy of…._____ which brings peace. Peace wins, fear loses. (After signing to the record label, Tyler Joseph went full-on into the idea in Clear of never saying point-blank that Jesus is the answer. He hints and alludes. But from that moment on, he disguises Biblical principles in zombie-and-darkness metaphors. And he hasn’t stopped doing that since 2011.)

Doubt - A recurring theme that actually has nothing to do with the audience is “doubt.” Tyler Joseph exorcises his issues with not being able to physically see God, and doubting His existence (usually because of a lack of feeling), or doubting His ability to wash Tyler clean, in his songs. All the time. Just…constantly. He sings about it so often. Which, on the one hand, is cool, because many Christian artists sing about the resolve to have faith in the face of doubt. They don’t sing so much about the feeling and the addiction to doubt that comes with doubt. If that makes sense. But on the other hand, that’s not cool—because when you only talk about the fact that you have doubts, but you don’t ever resolve them, then what you’re doing is you’re constantly rolling around in the problem without ever introducing the solution.

It’s worth noting that I think their very best song of all time is on this album, and it’s “Holding Onto You.”

It’s their full Romans 7 Cycle in a way that addresses doubt, too. The imagery is everything I love about twenty one pilots, which I would sum up as:

“Use dark imagery to prove how defeatable darkness can be.”

I like that kind of imagery for the same reasons I like Halloween.

People started noticing the band, mainstream, worldwide, in 2015, though. When they released “Blurryface.”

They did it in such a cool way. The band loves giving their fans a sense of “uncovering” what they’re doing next. That gives the fans a sense of ownership—like they’re a part of what the band is creating. And, it makes them want to investigate the concepts in the songs—which is one step closer to examining what they believe. Organically.

Anyway. They accomplished this before Blurryface, is I remember correctly, by making a Twitter account for this mysterious character. They’d livestream Tyler and Josh from the perspective of an unseen, loudly breathing third person. Or the feed would just be a dark shot of the woods. No explanations. At one point I think I remember “he” even started “hacking” popular fans’ accounts and making posts in-character. He always spells things in all caps, with words misspelled or smashed together. And he’d tease new songs that would be on the new album.

And then, BAM, Blurryface the album drops, and it’s a smash hit. Every single song. The band had never seen that level of success before, and all of it is very ironic, because the album concept is this: “Tyler Joseph puts a name to his Insecurities, who want him dead, and battles them.”

So the whole “album cycle,” and all through tour, Tyler Joseph wears inky black paint on his hands and throat, because anxiety gives him the feeling of suffocating. Red is also the signature color of the character representing his dark side, his insecurity: “Blurryface.”

Twenty one pilots have been very intentionally deciding what shirts they wear and what visuals they use from the beginning. Josh was always wearing something alien-associated, and Tyler was always something undead, for example. But this was a whole other level of performance art. During concerts, Tyler Joseph would start out wearing his black paint thick around his neck and hands. But as the live show went on, naturally because of sweat, the paint would get thinner and thinner. So by the end of the show, the feeling is that “Blurryface” has been defeated.

I made a huge post about ranking the Blurryface songs, if you ever have nothing to do for an absurd amount of time and feel like listening to the songs. But those songs are what most people know twenty one pilots by.

Then they took an intensely long hiatus, (I mean. One year of no public appearances.) after the success of Blurryface. I remember wondering if they were ever going to make music again, and thinking “maybe they’re the perfect band” because in my high-school-entering-college opinion, they’d never written a bad song or done anything remotely uncool or worth hating from 2009-2016, so if they never made music again they’d have gone out on top. Plus, at that point, Tyler had married, and, feeling a Christian kinship with him, I had a vague biased opinion that maybe he’d want to settle in with his family and quit the fame game.

But NO. They weren’t done! In 2018, the fans discovered this hidden website associated with the band, and you could read letters written by a new character named Clancy. They were about this whole new world Tyler Joseph created, called “Trench,” which consequently became the name of their next album. This was a full-blown concept album. It was a deeper exploration, not of the Romans 7 Cycle that always made me love their lyrics…but more like an exploration of “how do suicidal thoughts and self-focus captivate you, and what lies do they use…and can you ever really escape them?”

There was also a much tighter focus on suicide being the big idealogical villain, the antithesis, of the band. “Stay alive” and the topic of suicide were always discussed in the rest of the band’s songs. But the momentum of this album seemed very, very specifically targeted at the issue this time. There’s a whole song dedicated to it called Neon Gravestones in the smack middle of the album.

Which is great. I’m glad. It’s awesome. But it’s like…”what’s the answer?” Way back in “Time to Say Goodbye,” the answer is “replace physical life-taking with spiritual self-sacrifice and rebirth.” But Trench, and its whole concept, was specifically engineered to leave you with no clear answer to the problem presented.

Worst of all, Tyler Joseph mentioned, in his vague noncommittal way, that this album saw him flirting with the idea of “a world with no God” and “loss of faith.” But he never really said he wasn’t a Christian anymore, and songs like Morph seem to suggest the opposite.

Anyway. The album’s excellent “story,” with its notes of Shawshank Redemption and The Village and 1984 ended on a cliffhanger. The character Clancy kept trying to escape with the help of a rebellion, and kept getting captured, but he always had this sort of confused resolve to “keep going.”

The next album was weird. They flipped all of their usual imagery on it’s head, from marketing style choices to the literal clothes they wore to tiny things, like whether or not Tyler was standing on Josh’s left or Josh’s right in promotional material. And all of that was intentional. Which is why I’m obsessed with them.

I love this album because I love them and their intentionality. I don’t love it for any other reason; there’s nothing about this album that is “twenty one pilots” aside from what I just said; they are doing all of that reverse-psychology stuff intentionally. In-story, this is still a continuation of Trench; the idea is that Clancy has been captured and the whole album is propaganda from the villains. So that’s neat. But anyone who didn’t know that, and just remembered twenty one pilots from Stressed Out and punk rock were like, “what happened to twenty one pilots? What’s wrong with them?”

The album does this thing that they used to do a lot as like a meta-nod at music—they would make songs with upbeat melodies and happy sounds, but the lyrics would be about insecurity and darkness and doubt. They did that on purpose. But Scaled and Icy took that tongue-in-cheek style and made it the whole album. Plus, it released during COVID. So on top of all the chaos going on in the world, this band that usually releases music that slaps you upside the head and says, “THINK. THINK ABOUT HOW SELF-CONTRADICTORY YOU ARE. THINK ABOUT THE DARKNESS AND HOW TO GET OUT OF IT.” suddenly releases an album that’s more like, “Hey everything is fiiiine.”

This album is pretty godless. But again, this was also the album that has nothing to do with anything serious or real—on purpose—except in a reverse-psychology way. It was all on purpose.

Fast-forward to today. Clancy just released. It’s supposed to be the end of this “story” that started with Blurryface overtly, and the concepts that started in Vessel. Musically, concept-wise, it’s a return to form. They do that thing where they switch up the tempo when you’re not expecting it. You can’t pin it down to any one genre. There’s deep, dark imagery. And the story is back, not with hidden clues, but with in-your-face costumes and a music video for every song.

But the problem is, it won’t end. They said this was the end, and I thought, “if anything forces an artist to use clarity, it’s the end of a story. You have to commit to an ending. You have to say what you believe.” And that’s all I’ve been wishing would happen since 2017, when I started feeling less like “I relate to those dark thoughts and doubts,” and more like, “I’m worried about them.” Because clarity denotes security in what you believe. And the whole “battle” has been against insecurity. And to that extent, doubt.

It’s not happening, though. They released the last music video, and it really looks like the end of the story is, “and the cycle continues.” Now, there’s been hints that they’ll end the story after tour season, maybe by releasing an additional single, or some wishful thinkers are even saying “DELUXE ALBUM!!” But for now, it’s another cliffhanger-maybe-unsatisfying-ending.

The further away they’ve gotten from releasing the song “Clear,” the further away the focus seems to get from “darkness is defeatable.” And they left “it’s defeatable specifically by God” in the rear view mirror first.

And the thing is…I worry about that. Because it really looks like he’s just playing the field. That he started off with the intent to share Christ with people very genuinely, through the gift he was given in writing and music and even the gift he was given in struggling through darkness. And his strategy was, “I’ll use art to help people trust me, and then I’ll share what I’ve learned about the Truth (Jesus.)” But then…I mean, from the outside, it looks like they got popular. And they got popular by talking about their struggles. So how do I know he hasn’t just slipped into a cycle of doubting, then instead of letting brokenness and doubt drive him back to Christ, and pull others along with him, he sits in brokenness and doubt because he’s relying on the people who relate? He’s choosing to lean on crowds of people who feel the same way he does, cheering his songs back at him, as his support, when he used to lean on Christ?

And now he can’t even see his way back to what looked like (to me) the original intent—he says things like “I don’t think I’ll ever come out and say, ‘hey I found the answers, here they are, follow me,” in interviews. He skirts. He says, “stay alive, find your purpose, decide what you believe,” but he doesn’t say “here’s why you should stay alive, here’s what your purpose is, here’s what’s worth believing in, here’s where genuine life comes from.”

So now he gets to tell all his original (and several largely Christian) fans, “I haven’t abandoned Christ, I just struggle with doubt and I don’t want to alienate my friends (the point of the song Heathens.)” But he turns right around and says to his non-believing fan base, “I’m not telling you what to believe—in fact, maybe I’m not even sure of what I believe.”

And at some point, that stops being genuine. I think. I don’t think he’s reached the point where he’s not genuine yet. I don’t believe that of Tyler Joseph. I think he’s still not sure he wants to sing, with all the conviction it would take, about how Jesus is the ONLY way, when he himself feels like he struggles so much with doubt. How do you lead people where you’re imperfectly going? He has a handle on not committing suicide. So he leads them there, as far as he can. But…still. There’s life beyond this life. There’s EITHER life or death beyond this death. At some point, does he believe that, or not? Is he going to keep using his gift to supply bandaids to cannonball wounds, or not?

But I have basically been a nervous wreck whenever I think about them, the backing soundtrack of my growing years, since 2017.

I have enormous amounts of respect and this familial loyalty-feeling for both Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun (Tyler more so, because of his impact on me through his individually-released songs when I was in high school and then up through college.) I look at them on like, MTV and junk and have the same familiar, adoring, well-wishing feeling I did when a friend I knew went on to be moderately famous.

And all that to say, I love them, I don’t think any other band can do what they do or has done what they’ve done, and they’re my unmatched favorite. But I can acknowledge that there’s something that might be rotting in there, now. Something that didn’t used to be this way. And you just can’t keep going so long, claiming you’re talking about hope, without standing up for the Source of Hope. That’s all probably way more than you wanted to know. But thank you for letting me vent it all, even if you didn’t get to the bottom!

[11vein]

heyho! how did you learn how to draw and make art in general? i find your artstyle visually pleasing and nice to look at, i wish to one day be able to draw like you but i don't know where to begin 😞 also what are your art inspirations?

i know this is a cliche answer but i self-taught myself and improved quickly in my early years simply by attaching to a character i really liked and drawing them nonstop especially during my school days (and that character eventually morphed into my oc kaizer) because my ADHD ass didn't want to do anything with school loL genuinely though this is one of the best ways to learn is just to get really obsessed with something and draw it and branch out from there after you've had your fill dont be like me completely though when it comes to studying with art, you should absolutely do fundamental studies too (still life/etc) . i was stubborn and didnt really do it because i dont find a lot of joy in it but i think its kinda stunted my abilities that i never did in recent years though i went from drawing characters just standing/busts in an empty space to realizing i love drawing actual scenes with characters interacting with their environments and it has forced me to learn ways to streamline my art process and learn to do backgrounds. its been fun but now ive gotten way too ambitious and perfectionistic about one-uping myself and burnt myself out so im currently working on re-finding my passion and ways to work around that perfectionism. so thats kinda where i am rn...?

anyway, its really a matter of finding an obsession and honing in on it like i said . so do that but dont get so obsessed you ignore important stuff like i have done haHA

sidenote. don't fuck up your wrist listen to artists when they say you should not overexert it and do stretches because im fucked with carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists already at age 23 whoops. also references. dont be afraid to use those theyre so important it took me so many years to not be stubborn about them and that also stunted me anyway when it comes to my art inspirations/??? a lot of it is just aesthetics of various media ive absorbed into my brain and jumbled around, but when it comes to actual individual artists here are some im heavily inspired by on the visual art side (warning for nsfw/suggestive works on some of these artists pages)

nuqelear (rip)

sidu

urano000

cata_dioptric

vellmori (inactive)

populamalus

bakui (is this their name?)

avrilundi/_96peori theres absolutely so many more but these are like. some of my primary ones i can recall lately

[tetsunabouquet]

KNB Headcanons: GOM with a Witch S/O

A/N: I recently saw a request like this regarding another fandom and creator, and needed to make a KNB version because I am low-key a sucker for imagening characters from a story set in realism go fantasy.

Midorima

-Immediately interested and curious. -Obviously interested in astronomical events and celebrations. -Always tries his best to respect any ritualistic customs. -Actually becomes a 'student' of yours as he wants to be taught. -Often searches the antique stores he visits for the occasional Lucky item to see if they also have artifacts he can gift to you. -In a rare instance where Midorima felt playful, the two of you pretended to raise a demon on school grounds to prank Takao.

Akashi

-Also immediately interested and curious. -Infinitely polite about everything as he doesn't wants to appear like he doesn't care or doesn't respects witchcraft. -Doesn't wants his father to know though. He's afraid that his father will disapprove of Akashi being with you, or worse, his father actually being interested and wanting to exploit your magical powers. -You love how protective he is in that regard. -Secretly dislikes how your romantic gestures outshine his like the time a butterfly transformed into a valentine card telling him how much you loved him. He finds it difficult to come up with gestures that match your magically sweet gestures.

Murasakibara

-When he first learnt the news he asked you if you had a magic wand. -Expected to hear poof sounds and see your magic sparkle like glitter dust. -Thank the universe you like his childish view on things. -He worships you after he discovers multiplication magic and one of his future career goals is to buy a big storage room for himself so you could turn it into a candy wonderland by multipying his sweets to infinity. -Once he finally bought his dream storage, you decided to dress in a candy themed outfit to make the candyland aesthetic complete and he decided that day to propose to you in the heat of the moment without a ring.

Kise

-Could't help but reply with 'I knew you had bewitched me!' when you told him the news -Often makes flirty comments abbout how 'magical' you are. -Doesn't asks for magical favors, ever. He doesn't wants to exploit you for your powers anymore then he would allow a girlfriend to exploit him for his fame or modelling money. -Which is why you always decide on a thoughtful enchanted for his birthdays as you want to thank him so much for being so understanding towards your gifts. -You cannot stop yourself from secretly casting minor curses on the worst of his fangirls, which amuses Kise. Behind their backs he often says stuff like, "You know, whilst the warts are hideous indeed it would even have been better if you had turnt her into a frog."

Aomine

-He reacted to the news with a big gulp. -Surprisingly the most chicken about your powers out of the GOM. The mere idea of black magic makes him curl into a ball and pray to the heavens. -Doesn't ever wishes to upset you because he's terrified of the thought you'd turn him into a frog which is why Momoi practically worships you as even she can't make Aomine listen to her the way you can. -He's asked you some really morbid questions like if you sacrifice animals or people which resulted into you angrily pouting and ignoring him for a few days. "How could you think that I would do something so horrible?," you said when he apologized with a bouquet of flowers (the latter was Momoi's idea). -You finally managed to make Aomine warm up to the perks of your magic when you gifted him an enchanted basketball for his birthday. You had ensorcelled it so it never wears out and remains in its perfect new-bought state forever. -Ever since, you have been casting spells on his items to make sure they remain in perfect condition. Your one exception are his nude magazines though.

[fountainpenguin]

Riddle watches New Wish - Post #24

Growing Pains

Even the yams belong to the Dimmadomes...

Hazels' cute ladybug phone! I still like how we can't tell if it's a Dimmadome brand. Everyone else likes to flaunt logos, but Hazel's just there.

Aw, Hazel's gotten over her jealousy towards her brother's girlfriend taking up his time and thinks they're cute together. I'm so glad we get to see a sibling relationship like this.

"What's a good idea? Aging??" - Antony, unaware Hazel's about to age up with magic to see a PG-13 movie.

Okay, so... I'm gonna note down Wanda's comment that she and Cosmo were "teenagers in the 1590s." Obviously that's not true even in this show's canon since Cosmo and Wanda have been married for 10k, 20k years.

... Actually, did they say they'd been married that long in this show? They keep talking about their 10k-year vacation, not their marriage.

Point being, I'm going to try sussing out Peri's New Wish age at a later date using some information, though my 'fics will stick to my already established timeline.

There's a Dancing Tarantula movie AND a Crimson Chin movie? Dev's probably been in and out of this theater a lot lately, because those posters match the ones in his room. I wonder if he has a private theater and exclusive screening rights.

Queen.

Why do I get the feeling they're about to drop Fairy puberty info on Hazel and they probably gave this talk to Peri while posed in a similar way? oh no.

I don't think this is something I'll include in my canon because it doesn't fit my Fairy biology and I already have my own established puberty stuff in 'fic, but I admire the goofiness.

-> But I'm glad I got to hear them talk about pheromones / fairymones, because I definitely use those and it makes me laugh. Insect people...

Btw, "tons of red splashy sauce on body" is really bad on my hemophobia, so I'm censoring the screenshots.

This is so funny to me. Concerned dad gives The Talk.

They're cute. Very shape.

slkdjf, Peri watching Hazel on the news. I love how he squirms his legs uncomfortably- "Oooh... Pasta puberty. I do not miss that."

Is he at his parents' place, avoiding Dev? Or is this his room?

I'm pretty sure he's at Cosmo and Wanda's. You can tell from the stars on the stairwell behind him, plus I remember a couch that made me think of Princess Peach, AND they had a window on that wall overlooking Fairy World.

Between this and "Multiverse" (the other of its pair)... Not sure I love the implication that after the Irep drama, Dev's not been taking Peri to school and Peri's not making the effort to be near him. Uh-oh...

They really are like exes who can't stand to be under the same roof, for real, for real.

Alternate explanation: Peri's on his lunch break.

Maybe he's tracking Dev's phone, waiting 'til he's needed.

?? Is that how everyone in this show holds forks? Because I seem to remember Poof flip-flopping through ambidexterity before settling in with right-handedness after left-handed Foop was born, and it's very funny to see Poof hold his fork with his presumed less dominant fist.

I get the purpose of making the item easy to draw by having it face us, but I laugh.

Now that I think about it (in retrospect after Peri bragged about how he'd been following Dev around even after he quit)... I like how Peri thinks his parents hover too much and then he also hovers too much.

Geez, fairy kids have it rough. Terrible Twos, pooferty, and now this? Apparently growing into your magic just wrecks you.

Also, I want a 'fic about Hazel's parents inviting Cosmo, Wanda, and their son over and everyone (especially Antony who probably thinks he's Peri's age) just asks Peri a bunch of questions about if he's doing school or a job or whatever and he's just /laughs nervously.

Hazel's parents are so good to her and they've clearly taught her to communicate well and politely set boundaries. The contrast between them and Clark and Connie Carmichael is hilarious.

I'm glad Cosmo and Wanda have no sense of things Hazel would find gross.

This and "Multiverse of Jenkins" were really fun filler episodes!

[btr-rewatch]

Big Time Rush Season 1, Episode 18: “Big Time Concert” (Part 4)

Highlights: The band is back together (except not really. except yes it is), Jamez, the power of friendship, kidnapping, and happily ever after. A lot going on for the boys.

Great news, everyone! James survived getting hit by the car!

Over at the Knight house, Logan's attempting to fill out an application form. He's trying to figure out what to put down as his biggest weakness. Carlos points out that Logan can be indecisive, but Logan can't decide whether or not to write it down. He settles for "weak bladder." Logan, you are a gem.

Someone rings the doorbell, and Kendall goes to answer it. It's Gustavo and Kelly!

He's putting the band back together and asks the guys if they want to give this whole thing another try. Kendall makes the decision for all of them and says no. They all want to move on to bigger and better things—a hockey scholarship, medical school, running around in a costume fighting crime. All that stuff.

"You didn't even say goodbye," Kendall tells Gustavo, and y'all, there is so much emotion in his words. He's not angry; he's genuinely hurt. And he has every right to be! The guys put months of hard work into building up the band. They worked long hours, got yelled at, and gave up their lives back home to be Gustavo Rocque's next big boyband. And for all their issues with Gustavo, they grew to like him. Care about him. Then everything comes crashing down, and Gustavo lets them leave without so much as a goodbye.

The abandonment! The betrayal! Send Gustavo TO JAIL!!!!

Gustavo responds by yelling about how he (much like Kendall) isn't good at goodbyes. BUT! The guys have taught him a lot about friendship, loyalty, and family. He wants them to come back and give the band another go. They agree and set off to find James.

(Love how James wasn't included in any of this conversation. They didn't even say, "Oh, hey, let's track James down before we talk to Gustavo. He should probably be in on this conversation." Nope.)

James's dad says he left with Hawk a while ago. This is not good news. Also, hiiii Mr. Diamond; good seeing you for 5 seconds; we'll never ever see you again for the entire series. (I've always wished the parents had popped in more often and been more involved but alas)

The Knights + Carlos and Logan return to L.A., where they discover that Rocque Records is in shambles. Gustavo's had to sell everything to get them back, and there isn't even any money for them to stay at the Palm Woods. So, they'll be staying at The Rocque Woods. "It's not much, but...well, it's not much," Kelly says. Love her delivery on this line. I also love how the first thing Carlos does is reach out to touch one of the hanging electrical wires.

Gustavo tells them that the first thing they need to do is find James, so, naturally, the boys run back to the Palm Woods to see their girlfriends (girlfriendless Carlos is greeted by Lightning the Wonder Dog). They learn that James is living at the Palm Woods in their old apartment. They head on over and get quite the surprise when they ring the doorbell.

Inside, they share the good news with James, who doesn't care in the slightest. He's given up on BTR and gone all in on Hawk Records, where he's been offered a 3 album deal, a newly renovated apartment, and a personal servant.

And like...I understand that James's driving force is fame. I understand that his dream is to be a singer and that he was also frustrated and hurt by the sudden end of the band. But I find James hard to like in this portion of the episode. Just in the sense that it tells us a lot about his personality: he's willing to drop his friends and sell-out for the promise of fame and some shiny new stuff. He also is apparently pretty good at holding grudges, since he throws the whole "You told me to get a life, so I did" thing back in their faces. I don't know. I don't like this side of him. It feels like a mean-spirited alter ego of his from a parallel universe or something. It feels like Mirror!James has taken over his body.

Anyway, this line would make me and my sister lose it.

Oh, to have a Sebastian offer me toys and money at random during the day.

The rest of the guys decide that if James wants to be petty and hardheaded, they can be too. They're going to find a new James.

At Hawk Records, James learns that his name is now "Jamez," the poster of him has been altered to have fuller lips, and he's already got a new single even though he's hasn't recorded anything yet. He's feeling hesitant about the whole thing but his mind is quickly changed when Hawk shows him the ad in the paper announcing auditions for a new member of Big Time Rush.

James. Sweetheart. The guys were just explaining to you that the band was back together and they wanted you to join them. You rejected the offer quite firmly and all but told them to get lost. And now you're insulted that they're moving on without you, just like you were doing to them??

*grabs James by the shoulders and shakes him violently*

I think it's funny that there's a prominent "all together" on James's shirt during these scenes. My boy, that's the whole POINT of this episode. You can't do this alone; you guys need to be ALL TOGETHER. You need your buddies. READ YOUR SHIRT.

I also think it's funny that the audition ad specifically calls for a "tall, slender, pretty singer."

We go to the auditions then, which are a spectacular failure. They decide BTR is now a trio.

Meanwhile, James is sulking around 2J. Good ol' Sebastian tries to talk some sense into him, pointing out the superficiality of Hollywood and the hollow, friendless life James now has. Love Sebastian.

Our trio begins their concert rehearsals again. It does not go well.

��😭😭

Gustavo threatens to destroy them unless they start looking and acting like they're having a good time, so Kendall launches into the "Giant Turd" song. Suddenly, a fourth voice joins in to end the song.

IT'S JAMES!!!! The reactions are priceless.

With the band all back together, the next item on their list is to (very quickly) promote their concert that's in only a few days. We get a nice little montage, and then it's the night of the show. The boys excitedly run to the dressing room, which is actually a trap set by Hawk to kidnap them. They're taken to a large, empty warehouse and tied up. Good news! Hawk is not going to murder them. Bad news! They're going to miss their first concert, which Hawk says will kill their music careers.

And, um...I don't know about that, Hawk. I mean, let's just think about this. There's a highly anticipated concert from a new band; it's sold out and lots of investors are going to be there. The time comes for the concert to start, and the entire band is suddenly mysteriously missing. The door labeled "dressing room" has a gaping hole on the order side of it. My guess is most people's reaction would be, "Wow, something Very Bad obviously happened to these guys," not "What jerks! How dare they not show up."

Also, Hawk's plan is to contact Gustavo and Kelly after the show to tell them where to find the guys. This is a very short kidnapping, and it's CLEAR Hawk is the one behind it. He can't do anything to keep the guys quiet. In a matter of hours, the whole ordeal will be a major news story. "Hey, here's the incredible story of four teenagers in a band who were kidnapped by a rival record company!"

Tell me that wouldn't have the OPPOSITE effect Hawk's intending. This would make them overnight sensations! This is not a well-thought-out plan.

He would've been better off just killing them.

Carlos tries to channel his inner superhero to save them, and he manages to do just that by hopping around in his chair until he tumbles down the stairs and gets himself freed.

The guys escape and are picked up by Sebastian, who rushes them over to the concert venue.

The concert goes flawlessly, Griffin signs the band to a great contract, and all is set right in the world of BTR again.

And guess what!! Guess what Kendall did? He sent Sebastian to Minnesota to be Mrs. Magicowski's personal limo driver.

I can't. This is so sweet. Kendall's such a good egg.

We end, of course, with this

What a way to end the season. I had a lot of fun with this one. And look, I crammed it into 4 posts after all!

I think I'll take some time to work on some gifsets and other posts before jumping into season 2.

A huge thank you to everyone who has ever checked out a post, left me a nice comment, followed me, etc. When I decided to rewatch one of my favorite shows after so many years, I knew this would be a fun project, and you've all made it even more fun. See you soon for season 2!