#and also because i like silliness. for fun and profit

[kanerallels]

William and Eliza + decorating for Christmas, please?

Hmmm don't mind if I do, enjoy this randomness!

Rapping lightly on the doorframe, William opened the door to Eliza’s office without waiting for a response. “Eliza, we need to—”

He stopped short, staring at the scene before him. The room, usually rather spartan in its decorations, was far from that now. Wreaths hung here and there, and tinsel was draped on every surface that could conceivably carry it— and some that couldn’t. The legs of the desk and both chairs were wrapped in a string of popcorn and cranberries, and garlands of holly trimmed the chairs.

From the ceiling hung easily twenty long strands of red and green paper rings, which criss-crossed the room. And from those strands hung tiny bouquets of what William knew had to be mistletoe.

“What in heaven’s name?” he said.

“I know,” Eliza said irritably, and he followed the sound of her voice to where she was standing on top of her desk. About her feet were strewn several bunches of mistletoe, and as William watched, she reached up and tore another one down. “Don’t ask, just help me put it back how it was.”

“Right,” William said, resolving to ask anyway. He started into the room, only to stop short when Eliza held up a hand.

“No— no, you work on the other end of the room,” she said quickly. “The last thing I need is to get stuck under the mistletoe with you.”

Rolling his eyes, William headed to the far corner of the room, remarking, “Does that really sound so unpleasant? As I recall, the one time I did kiss you—”

“William, I am going to stop you right there. Because today has tried my patience enough, and if you keep talking, I’m going to be forced to brain you with a poinsettia.”

Snorting, William got to work. “Fair enough.”

[eyivibyemi]

✧ I won’t really write descriptions for these, but see original post tags for explanation/commentary on the song snippet ✧

[elodieunderglass]

It's not really my business, but honestly it feels like it would be advisable to hire a copyright lawyer. Like I don't feel like you're in it for the money, but it might be gratifying to have the guy milking your idea at least have to formally acknowledge you. I think I'd do it just for the peace of mind to know if I've been "legally" wronged or not. Either way, hope you continue to inspire, and live out a peaceful life.

(In reference to this post about the guy who pretends to have invented “Elder Teletubbies,” specifically how he is now kickstarting DnD minis of them.)

Ha, well, it’s all a little tricky I think. I might, hilariously, post on the r/legaladvice Reddit (even though they’re all cops lol) because the only thing I want here is for him to stop selling my “transformative work,” and ideally to stop pretending he invented it (which might be difficult as he appears to fully believe his work is creatively independent.)

I think if anything, my post counts as protected commentary or a transformative work of BBC’s Teletubbies, and I think it’s stinky to profit on that stuff in general (like I’m 190% okay with buying LotR fanart on stickers ! but I wouldn’t dream of trying to publish a fic with the serial numbers filed off. Why?)

I think ultimately I’m not a grifter, I’m a grownup, and I think it’s several levels of eye roll to sell fanart of a tv show on this level. I would be embarrassed to touch money made on that. I’m too fucking scrupulous and artisanal. I have toyed with a silly original novel for funsies since 2019 but keep saying things like, “oh, people will think this is too similar to something else that already exists” as if a silly original novel I write for fun has to somehow pass a Bar of Originality higher than anything salary-writers aim for.

I’m also pretty anti-intellectual-property myself in that leftist sense where I don’t believe people should be acting as if creative works are, like, oil. Like the resource extraction angle of intellectual property freaks me out, I don’t think getting super high-horse and snotty about Magical Brain Property is entirely compatible with the artisanal temperament I personally got going on here. I am like snufkin about this, simply smoking a pipe and making a flower crown saying “poor fools! Producing works for market, and serving as the guard dogs of the market, lest their work lose value if it becomes more common!” I do not have a high horse. I am not going to post 6900 words about the importance of defending fucking… Mickey Mouse. I buy those lotr stickers on Etsy! I do have a horse, but it’s a pretty low horse.

If it was his own work I would not care about this guy doing this in the least (apart from loftily calling it stinky - but hey, nerds are common and nerds are stinky, it’s not rare) IF he wasn’t STEALING FROM MY ANTI-COMMERCIALISATION DREAM TO DO IT.

That’s the bit that PISSES ME OFF too much to ignore: that and accepting compliments for being original like 😌 yes my twisted mind did this idk lol.

Like if you asked him point blank about the artistic choices he’d be like idk my twisted mind just sees the Teletubbies this way teehee! but if you ask ME why, for example, the adult Teletubbies live in the forest I’ll explain that in 2017 I was at a major life crossroads and this dream was ABOUT that. It was goodbye to my identity as a foreigner from the pine forests, and full steam ahead to settling permanently in the fucking shire (where the baby teletubbies on the bbc show live). It was about going back to work having had my first child, and saying goodbye to my various career dreams for myself (famous scientist! Published author!) as I chose instead, finally, the responsibility of working humbly as a public servant for the actual good of society. It is about witnessing the wild and saying “I am not of it, but it is my job to be its witness and voice.” That’s why the adult Teletubbies are dancing in my native forests while I’m watching them from the English hills. This guy doesn’t know that he just vaguely heard “spooky forest cryptid” and didn’t develop it at all, I do more work than that with FANFICTION in my time off!!!

So it’s really about nebulous stuff and ethics and not something worth paying a lawyer for I think!

But thank you so much for this, I think the thing that gets most perennial about it is the TOTAL GASLIGHTING of the “outside world” of the rest of the internet like, fully believing they invented this, and they DIDNT. They’re so wrong on the internet and they don’t know

[ratherbebitch]

my favourite things that reneé rapp has said

(in no particular order)

• "but also, like, yes, it was fun, but it was just silly, like, we made, like, a musical of a movie that was already a musical based off of a movie, like... like, we're not out here curing cancer, we're just having fun"

• "moana"

�� "i would hit on me"

• "mommy. i love her, i love you, mommy... yeah... in a respectful way"

• "ADHD! ADHD!"

• "there's a dress code... okay, and i didn't wanna adhere... to the fucking dress code... because i don't wanna wear a collared shirt if i'm told to"

• "i'm reneé rapp and i'm ruining my own life"

• "serious question... serious fucking question... do you- do you ever just kinda like look at your nipp- like, feel- like, feel your nipple... and you're just like... you're so cute!"

• "it is with a... heavy heart that i announce that this ass is in fact... still fat"

• "also, disclaimer, screw your diet culture, i'm enjoying my time with my fridge, thank you"

• "actually best ass i've ever seen in my life"

• "men should die🤗"

• "i should be sedated from time to time"

• "i feel... um... fucked"

• "today, i'm not thriving, i'm surviving, but maybe tomorrow... we'll be thriving?"

• "there's a baby... there's a baby, there's a baby, there's a baby... i'm gonna steal it"

• "i love margot robbie, so that movie is gay to me... in a way... cuz she's so cute in that movie... ah!"

• "there's no real way to, like, act or, like, look queer or gay, however, i was acting and looking gay"

• "i mean, i'd like to say thank you to all of my exes, like, i've profited heavily off of that and i really appreciate it... and a huge thank you to every man that helped made me realise that i was a lesbian"

• "harry... come out"

• "'can i be your next chair' what does that mean? ..... 😳"

• "jokes on you, skank, i don't run, it hurts my fucking knees"

• "mommy's tired, like... take mommy home"

• "um, delusion?"

• "any notes for her? ... date me?"

• "because i was like, motherfucker, one thing you're not gonna do is take away my pride"

• "yeah, a lot of people were, um, upset... and i... enjoyed it"

• "if the shoe fits... lace that bitch up and... run"

• "be mad. go home. touch grass. play in traffic."

• "leave him. quickly. with a swiftness"

• "just for a little clarification, i didn't bring that bag of apples... it was just there"

• "one could yap and one could strap"

reblog with your favourites !!

[bleedingoptimism]

Steve only agreed to go out with Tommy after their parents set them up because he “owed” his dad for ruining a potential business partnership for him at a dinner party.

To the rest of the guests, the man had just tripped and embarrassed himself but he knew and Steve knew and Steve’s dad knew: Steve had tripped him. But the guy had groped his ass when he crossed him on his way to the bathroom. He had it coming.

And even if his father had agreed with him after Steve told him the truth, he still needed help landing another client since his most profitable opportunity turned out to be a big ol’ creep. A date with another client’s son. Young, rich, good-looking, a single dad. It didn’t sound that bad.

And so Steve met Tommy. 

At first, Tommy was… good. He was charming, cute, a praiser and a joker but the more Steve got to know the less he liked. After a while the compliments stopped and the commanding requests began. Get me this, pick this up, cook me, blow me, dress me, feed me, drive me, me, me, me.

But if Steve wanted or needed something? Tommy was sooo tired and busy. He hadn’t even made an effort to meet Steve’s friends yet. Plus he was always making Steve feel dumb and unimportant, saying his job was silly, even if Steve made almost as much money as him with fewer hours.

Telling him not to ‘worry his pretty head about it’ when Steve asked for clarifications or wouldn’t talk to him about work because Steve ‘wouldn’t get it’. He talked down on Steve all the time and offered him money to “buy himself something nice” in a degrading manner as if Steve was nothing more than arm candy for him.

The worst part was when he realized Tommy… wasn't funny. At all. All his jokes were based on making fun of other people. And he was the only one who laughed at them. He was no better than a bully. He… kind of sucked.

And Steve would’ve loved to never have to see him again. But the problem was he had fallen in love with Tommy’s daughter, Tarja. Because Tommy might have been a terrible boyfriend but at least he was a good enough father. So the weeks Tommy got Tarja, Steve spent most of his time with her. 

She was just a delight. Cute, smart, and actually funny. She had the most deadpan sarcastic humor a 6-year-old could manage and it cracked him up. She was also super creative and loved drawing, reading, bedtime tales, and coming up with stories of her own.

Her emotional maturity was impressive, better than her father’s actually, and one of Steve’s favorite things about her. He’d never forget the day he went to pick her up from school and she’d been upset. When Steve asked her how he could help she had calmly explained what had happened, how it made her feel, and what she could do about it… over ice cream, obviously. It made him wonder what kind of person her other dad was like because she had clearly not learned how to communicate like that from Tommy.

And the thing is, Steve had always wanted a kid, ever since he was young all he wanted was a family and even if Tommy wasn’t great he just couldn’t make himself leave the connection he felt with Tarja. And he couldn’t just come out to Tommy and say: ‘Hey I wanna break up, but I’d love to keep seeing your kid,’ that would land him at best a punch, at worst in jail.

There was also the fact that, no matter how much he tried to deflect, Tommy’s comments were starting to get to him. Maybe Tommy was as good as he’d get, maybe he was dumb and uninteresting and the only thing he had going for him was his looks, maybe this was his only chance for a family. So he stuck it out. Cherished the times when they were all together.

And then he met Eddie.

👈previous part

👉 next part

☕🥐💕?

[sanjisboyfie]

halloween with the strawhats !

little headcanons i have for halloween !! ! ! ( a a couple days after )

male reader, platonic pairings, straw hats are just a cute lil friendgrouip + don't ask me why zoro and luffys are so short, i don't know why either. i think they just got longer the more down the list you go sooorrryyyyy

also more so modern???au

— luffy definitely wants to do a group costume, something silly and fun. he tries his hardest in convincing everyone to get on board with the idea, but it seems like usopp and chopper are the only ones hearing him out </3 luffy would try hitting you with the puppy dog eyes, but you were already committed to your costume for a while so you had to reject the poor boy.

"b-but, [name]!!!" it was obvious the man was putting on his best whiny voice, elongating every syllable in your name just to sway you. he was also rocking the both of you back and forth in a hug to woo you over in joining his group costume. "it won't be the same without you dressed up with us!"

"luffy, i already decided my costume much earlier in the year, i'm sorry," you said, petting down his raven hair with an apologetic look on your face. but your words only sullened his mood further and made the pout on his face turn into an outright frown.

"but, [name]!!!" luffy began shaking you even more roughly, turning you into a bobble head figure basically. you couldn't do anything to break out of his strong grip and just had to take his torment with a smile.

"i'm sorry luffy," you said softly, runnng a hand up and down his arm to comfort him.

"i don't forgive you!" luffy childishly whined, releasing you from his hold and walking off to a different aisle in the halloween costume store. "whatever, you're the one missing out!"

"i believe you, luffy," you called out, laughing when you heard him grumble under his breath and stomp in annoyance.

— zoro definitely has a lazy ass costume, mainly because he thinks the holiday is a silly thing for children (usopp, luffy, and chopper all lectured him on how it wasn't like that at all). i'm thinking he jsut wrapped himself in toilet paper and said he was a mummy, also using his costume as an excuse to just speaks in grunts and groans to everyone else.

"zoro, could you pour me some more punch!" you had politely asked him as he was closest to the juice bowl. he simply shook his head with his arms crossed over his wrapped chest, giving you a firm, "arrhhggh,"

"zoro, what?"

"uurghghruuhg"

"okay, fuck you too,"

— nami is invested in making some money off of the holiday!! she's committed to it. she has a really pretty costume planned out and forces everyone to participate in a costume contest with a submission fee of 50 bucks, even though it was just your friend group participating. either way, she decides that the winner of the contest gets all the profit. so she wins - obviously in a non-rigged way - and cheers in victory. but even with all of her focus being on getting some cash out of the holiday, she does compliment your costume and slide you a couple bills.

"hm, i was scared you were gonna beat me, y'know?" she mused, looking at you with a mischeviously look on her face, "because i really like your costume, [name]! you look great!"

you grinned at the compliment, "thanks, you do too! and that's why you won, you have the best costume. plus, sanji would have never let me won that prize since he knows how badly you wanted the reward,"

she playfully rolled her eyes at the mention of the blonde, "yeah, well, sanji doesn't have to know about this then," she said, pulling some bills out from her pocket and putting it into your own. "next year don't expect this treatment though! i was feeling generous just now,"

you smirked, taking the cash from her happily and watching as she joined robin's side.

— usopp is the life of the celebration. he is the best story teller of horror stories, even if he himself gets scared of his own made up tales. he brings everyone into the center, under a huge blanket fort and tells the scariest story known to man. but when he reaches the climax, luffy suddenly pops his head into the enclosed space, loudly asking if anyone else wanted food, and completely threw usopp off of his game. the poor man let out a loud girlish scream and jumped into your lap to hide from luffy's grinning face.

"and then when the killer," usopp took a deep breath, looking at everyone's face individually, "finally came knocking on poor little billy's door, he was greeted by the sight of-"

"oh!! i'm getting more food from the kitchen, do you guys want anything?!" luffy had got up for a bathroom break earlier and completely ruined usopp's horror story. his make-up drenched face pushed the blankets aside and completely surprised everyone in the fort. especially usopp.

usopp jumped off of his sitting position and into your lap, hiding his face in your neck for some comfort. he was practically crying and whimpering from fear, eyes screwed shut as he refused to look at the demon (luffy) that was there to terrorize him and his friends (ask if they wanted more food).

"begone, demon!! begone!!" usopp pathetically cried out, also not even looking up at the supposed demon to condemn them.

"usopp, it's just luffy-"

"demon! demonic activity! demon!!!"

— chopper really enjoys the nature of halloween despite being scared very easily. while the place is in an uproar of just ultimate chaos, he's very kindly giving out candy to whoever comes by. unfortunately, not everyone that comes around is dressed in peaceful, cute costumes.

just as you were pouring another drink for zoro. there was a loud, girlish scream that was coming from the front door. the green haired man took the drink for himself, grunting at you. you could only guess what he meant by that.

but you didn't dwell on it further, moving to see what was at the front door. and lo and behold, there was chopper stiffly standing in front of someone in a freddy krueger costume.

"ah, sorry, he scares easily," you explained quickly, resting a hand on chopper shoulder and asking if he was alright. seeing that his shaking eyes were still trained on the figure, you decided to take the candy bowl from his hands and protectively stand in front of him.

even though this guy definitely didn't pose any harm to chopper, it would make the scared guy feel better (probably) to have a physical barrier between the two.

"here, have a good halloween," you said with a smile, making the freddy krueger nod in appreciation and then walk off of the porch. when they were gone, you closed and locked the door behind them and turned to chopper with a grin.

"c'mon man, they were just in costume," you teased, relieved to see chopper was out of his fearful state and instead blushing in embarassment.

"freddy was a scary guy!!" he argued, but it only made you pinch his cheeks in a harmless way.

"right, right, well you were very brave just now chopper,"

"of course i was!!!"

— sanji is dressed up as a prince and goes around proclaiming his loyalty to robin and nami the whole night. he becomes more playful, though, so he doesn't really give you guys (literally, the guys) a hard time. if anything, he joins in the shenagians and lets loose a little bit. one of the rare times you get to see sanji being a mischevious little shit.

"bleh! who put salt in the cupcakes instead of sugar?!"

cue sanji giggling behind his hand and shooting you a knowing look. you laugh with him, fist bumping him under the table while he watched luffy run around and wash his mouth under the kitchen sink.

"why is the frosting sour cream?! sanji, i'm gonna beat your ass up!!"

zoro chases after sanji, those being the first coherent words he says the entire night, mind you. and now they're both running in circles around you. sanji is laughing his ass off while zoro is spitting out globs of sour cream at him.

"sanji!!! why did you pout bittermelon in the stew this tastes like ass!"

"oh! i'm sorry, [name], that was supposed to be for franky," sanji apologized, going through the cabinets and finding some stew he put in the tupperware. it was still hot, you could tell from the bottom of the container.

"why are you so mean to them today?"

"i can just get away with it by sying it's a ghost," sanji shrugged, half-assedly answering your question. "besides, don't you think it's funny?"

"it is, but sooo heartless," you laughed, making the blonde nod his head in acknowledgement.

just as he was about to say something else, there was another shriek coming from the living area, "sanji!!! this isn't strawberry glaze, this is hot sauce!!!"

"why are you yelling for me, it was the ghost!!" sanji shouted back, making the both of you collapse on each other in laughter.

— robin enjoys how everything is so lively during halloween. she loves the spookiness, the decorations, the horror movies!!!, she just loves everything about the holiday. it's a genuinely fun time of the year for her so she just loves to take it easy with you guys.

robin was slumped against the sofa, chuckling at the way chopper and usopp shrieked at the character on the screen killing another person. it was a classic slasher film she suggested and no one had a problem with it, except for usopp and chopper being scared straight through their teeth.

meanwhile, you and robin were enjoying the movie with grins on your faces. you'd sometimes feed her popcorn, her doing the same for you, and then you'd both laugh quietly whenever usopp and chopper started getting really spooked.

after the movie, you and robin reconvened in the kitchen to get more refreshments. you were talking about the movie, chatting in good nature.

"i don't know, i still think stu macher is the best ghostface," you said with a smile, "billy is the one people always talk about, but stu is my favorite,"

"well, maybe the best ghostface, but i don't know about best slasher," she said in amusement, "i like jason,"

you grimaced, "really? his mask is so creepy,"

"that's why, his character is cool," robin shrugged, taking a cherry from the platter of eating it with a hum, "also, the movie was good, i liked it,"

you grinned, ruffling her hair as she shot you a mischevious grin. her affinity towards slasher, or any horror, movie was known amongst the friendgroup. she enjoyed the rush scary movies gave watchers.

"remind me to never cross you, who knows what you might do," you joked, making her scoff and lightly jab her finger into your side. she allowed you to rest your arm around her shoulder, the both of you walking back to the living room with a big bowl of popcorn and tray of drinks.

— franky is a big decorations guy. he makes everything so festive!! plus he goes all out. don't ask him why he decided to put a fake skeleton in the shower, he'll just respond that it was his creative vision and it was a good one too. you appreciate his dedication to the holiday, although you do wish you could just walk around the house without fearing for your life at hyper realistic decorations all around.

when you first arrived to the party, you told franky you were going to drop something off in the bedroom of brook. it was some prop he was asking for his performance coming up.

you were supposed to just drop it off in his bedroom. but why was it that after you turned around from brook's bedside table, there was a figure in a scary mask standing behind the door and staring right at you. you were about to scream before the figure suddenly fell ont he ground, showing that it was just a paper cut out.

"franky!! what the fuck!!" you shouted in frustration, stomping out of the room and going to give the man a piece of your mind.

but as you were walking out of the room, and into the hallway, a figure jumped out of one of the many open doors and scared the shit out of you. this time your fist shot out and nailed the masked figure in the face, making them fold over and hold their nose.

"c'mon [name]!! what the hell!!"

"no, franky, what the hell at yourself!!" you screeched, seeing the familiar face after he took off his mask. you fretted over his face, apologizing over and over again at him. "i'm so sorry, but - seriously what was that thing in brook's room!?"

"it's called a halloween decoration, asshole!" franky cursed, holding onto his nose.

"yeah, and i thought that someone was there to kill me! why'd you put shit in his room anyway?"

"to scare you, obviously!" franky said, allowing you to examine his face and wincing when you saw the damage that was done. "sorry for scaring you,"

you softened at his apology, lightly tugging on a strand of his hair and murmuring an "i'm sorry, too." he grinned at your apology, smiling ear to ear as he assured you he'd be fine.

"they were scary, i'll tell you that," you said, standing the both of you up and guiding him to the sink. but he shook his head, nursing his nose with his hand.

"you know how many time i've broken my nose, this is just a scratch. didn't even make my nose bleed," franky assured you, laughing as you realized that what he was saying was true. how many times franky has broken his nose when he'd been working was uncountable.

"yeah, let's just forget it happened then," you said, making franky hum in approval.

"oh! but don't tell zoro about that thing up there, i plan on scaring him too,"

you laughed, nodding your head and deciding that it would be funny to hear zoro scream out in fear.

— brook is another person that like robin, enjoys anything horror related. he hides around corners or in closests and waits to make someone his victim. and if it isn't anyone in your friend group, he will go around terrorizing the trick or treaters.

"boo!!!"

"ahhh!!!"

there was a scream that followed brook's and then a parent could be heard yelling at him. the rest of the strawhats all ran to the window to see what was happening and everyone winced when they saw a parent was easily chewing out brook for hiding in the bushes and scaring their poor child.

you sighed, running a hand through your hair and walking over to the front door to collect brook since everyone else was too busy laughing their asses off at his predicament.

"ma'am, i'm sorry for his behavior," you started, walking up to brook and taking ahold of him by his elbow, "i'll just bring him inside,"

"no! i'm not done yelling at him yet!"

"have a lovely night, ma'am," you said, turning away from her and taking brook inside to scold him yourself. you looked over your shoulder and saw the woman was disgruntled, but instead focused on comforting her scared to death child.

"what is up with you?! that was a kid who wasn't even 10 years old!"

"but-but!!" brook's laughter echoed in the home, making everyone else join in, "his face was so funny!!!"

you bit your lip, trying to keep a level head and be responsible instead of just joining in on the laughter. but when brook was beginning to mimic the kid's expression, you broke out laughing along with eveyone else.

"and his mom was so mad! and began scolding me like i was her own kid too!!"

"just quit scaring the shit out of kids!" you shouted, slapping him on the backside of his head - but your words didn't really get your point across because you were laughing as much as he was.

— jinbe doesn't really understand the hype of halloween, but he can see how enjoyable it is for everyone else. he doesn't rain down on anyone's parade, bearing through the scares that brook and franky get up to, while also being a reliable figure for usopp and chopper during the horror movie. let's just say by the end of the night, you and jinbe are all tired out as you were being the "baby sitters" of everyone for the whole day.

on the night of halloween, it was basically a big party and sleepover for everyone in the friend group. you and jinbe were working overtime basically to make sure everyone was alright. luffy could possibly be eating suspicious candy, but thank god jinbe knocked it out of his hand before then. you were on duty to be comforting usopp and chopper whenever a shadow passed over the window - even though it was just a tree branch swaying in the wind.

finally, the night was over (it was the early hours in the morning by the time everyone was tired) and you and jinbe were tiredly spread acorss the couch. the group had set up a fort on the floor with the couches surrounding them. they were all sleeping on the mats and blankets they set out for themselves, cuddling to their hearts' content.

jinbe sighed in content of finally being able to rest, putting on a calming nature show on the tv instead of the horror movies that we were all binging.

you laughed at his obvious exasperation and he just waved his hand to you dismissively, showing that he didn't care about showing just how tired he was.

"i can't believe sanji made the glaze tabasco sauce," jinbe said under his breath, making another rouse of laughter come from your mouth.

"did you hear zoro finally say anything besides belrrhh and uurgghh," you said, exaggerating the sounds zoro was making. jinbe covered his mouth to stop his laughter from waking everyone else up. "i mean, seriously if he wanted to just not talk to us, he could've just stayed home,"

jinbe smacked the couch cushion as a means of hiding his laughter, turning to you with tears in his eyes, "you know he enjoys arguing with you and sanji more than he'd admit, there's no way he would have missed out on this,"

you both broke out into loud laughter, making zoro turn over and throw a pillow at you in his sleep ridden state. he sleepily told you to shut up, making jinbe point a finger at his sleepy state.

"see! like i said, in his sleep he can't help it!!!!"

the strawhats are just the cutest ugh. happy halloween everyone 😻☝️school is my biggest opp rn so i ltr have noooo chances to write or upload but hipefully this weekend i can ‼️‼️‼️

tags - platonic

[aroaceleovaldez]

do you have anymore rogue demigod headcanons? recently i've been thinking of my own rogue demigod ocs and trying to come up with ideas for them

BOY DO I

Okay i have a lot of very niche thoughts about how rogue demigods work and the sort of loose culture they have as a collective group. I'll go over the main thoughts I have and throw some bonus loose rogue concepts at the bottom of the post just for fun if anyone wants oc ideas. Below a cut cause i've thought about this a lot so there's. a lot:

Most rogues take the "names have power" thing a lot more seriously than campers do, since they don't have the protection of the camps to help them. As a result, many rogues go by "rogue names" or pseudonyms. Some chose their names on the spot, others slowly gained a name over time or were nicknamed by other rogues. Some may choose to not go by a rogue name, but many at least have one even if they don't always use it. Some rogue name hcs I have for specific canon characters include: "Hound" or "Hound of Hades" for Nico (cause hellhounds, also rogues making jokes about him being "the camps'/Olympians' dog"), "Rue" for Chris (named himself after Clarisse cause he missed her, though he's too bashful about it to admit it), Luke's was "Titan," and Hylla's being "Twice-Kill" is just canon. It's also fun to play around with how common some rogue names might be ("Wolf" and other animal names are definitely popular), how silly some might be (Just the first thing that popped into their head, their old street/town name, a famous actor or character, a youtuber's name/handle, cryptids, etc etc. "Ender" is also definitely popular. yknow. from Minecraft), and what stereotypes might be associated with rogue names/common rogue names. You can get real funky with it really easily. I'm personally a big fan of there being a rogue joke about people with animal-themed rogue names, just because of how common they probably are. It's probably rare that somebody earns an animal-themed rogue name from the collective community rather than just picking it themself. Also easy jokes about rogues sliding by with youtuber names or similar just cause most rogues can't access the internet, so they don't get the reference.

Almost all rogues knew about other mythologies/pantheons way before the camps did. It's a very open-secret type of thing. It's pretty impossible for them to not run into demigods from other pantheons living like they do. They just generally don't tell camper demigods about it, partially because it's sort of an unspoken rogue agreement to keep it secret from them for general demigod safety and also because most rogues don't like campers, so it's kind of a joke to keep them in the dark. Titan Army demigods were very well aware of both camps in particular.

The Amazons, Hunters, Circe's Sorceresses, and other rogue groups are also fully aware of this but don't ever mention it, even if they're camp-affiliated. The sorceresses just generally didn't run into campers enough for it to be relevant (and the campers they did run into probably never went back). For Amazons they're probably just too focused in profits to bother stirring up trouble by telling the camps about it. The Hunters probably don't mention it for the safety of the camps.

Camp Jupiter is very anti-rogue and hostile towards rogues in general. It's very rare that rogues are able to join the legion, and anyone who leaves to become a rogue is formally exiled and can't ever return. Most people who join the legion have to either be sponsored by a retired legionnaire family living outside of camp or just wholly directed to camp by a god (or representative of a god - see: Nico for Hazel). Rogues particularly hate CJ because of that. CHB on the other hand is perfectly willing to take in former rogues and there are plenty of ex-rogues in CHB who are fully aware of other pantheons. They just. Don't feel like ever mentioning it. Rogues are generally a bit kinder towards CHB because of their more open friendliness towards rogues, and will help direct new demigods towards CHB fairly often. They're still not fans of it most of the time, but they understand rogue life isn't for everyone and that it's safer, at least.

A lot of rogues take mercenary work, or other hired jobs. Technically this one is just kind of canon. See: Lots of TOA rogues, even some rogues from PJO and HoO are implied to have been hired by the Titan Army or Giant Army (or Octavian). This line of work is seen as totally legitimate to rogues, though there's a lot of different opinions within rogue circles about how it should be gone about. The most common opinion is that it's taboo to take or hire hits on those who run safehouses. Rogue safehouses are usually considered off-limits for any kind of targeting, and trying to target them is sure to ruin your reputation. Stealing or inter-rogue violence is generally considered on the table though. It's largely a lawless space. If you're particularly cruel or try to throw your weight around a lot though, you're sure to be ostracized by other rogues. Because of this, groups like the Titan Army who vocally advertised a lot of trying to make life better for rogues were popular, but other groups like the Giant Army or Tri are significantly less popular because they're seen as just power-grabs trying to hire extra muscle because they can't handle their petty squabbles on their own. Most rogues who joined the Giant Army or Tri were either indebted to them somehow or really desperate and willing to take more dubious jobs.

Norse rogues are actually significantly more common than Greek or Roman rogues, as they don't have any options for a camp to train at instead of living as a rogue, and get hunted down by monsters once they become old enough often regardless of specific parentage. Norse rogues are often more willing to take more dangerous work, as they hope it will either attract the attention of their godly parents to help them or if they build up reputation and die valiantly it will be enough to get them into Valhalla.

Safehouses are rare, but not unheard of. They're mostly just rare because their success rates vary wildly, and many try to build one but fail. The successful ones are often widely known in rogue circles, and there are some that are trade/gathering hubs to find work or restock supplies (and catch up on news). Most are considered peaceful zones, though there are some where combat is allowed, or may even have spectator sports like gladiator battles or etc where rogues can try to build up their reputations and notoriety.

Not every demigod benefited from Percy's deal that the Olympians had to claim all their kids - for some, they could have otherwise slid under the radar, but being claimed caught the attention of monsters and forced them on the run. Some got claimed in the middle of doing something in their mundane lives (with the gods doing some mass-claimings after the war) and had to run away on the spot, and resent Percy/CHB/The Olympians for it.

Free to use rogue demigod concepts:

Amazons and Hunters count as rogues! Anything with them is always fun. Ex-Circe sorceresses are also very fun.

Titan Army, Giant Army, and Tri rogues are also always very fun to play with.

Rogue satyrs, fauns, and nymphs! Or monsters/part-monsters, even!

Cursed rogues! Maybe they're part-monster, and/or the curse is part of them being banished/exiled somehow.

Rogues who run safehouses, or rogues who don't run safehouses but live there. What's their community like? How does it function? What are the rules there, and what's life like there? What's their role?

Think of a rogue name and then make a character themed around that. It's VERY fun I highly recommend it, especially if the names are leaning silly. Rogues stealing youtuber names, or their favorite anime characters, or some other pop-culture reference and hoping nobody notices. Rogue named Vriska or Sans or something. Rogues named after Pokemon. Get funky with it.

Rogues who work with monsters, or have alliances with them! How did their alliance come to be? Is it reliable? Why do they work together - what do either of them get out of it? etc etc.

Mercenary rogues, or other rogues who do hired work. Who are their clients, and what does their work entail? How does that impact their reputations?

Rogues who were revived with the Doors of Death. what were their lives like before they died? How did they die? How did they come back? Were they ever part of the Giant Army? What's their second life like?

Multiple generation rogues! Second-gen or third-gen rogues who were born into rogue life outside the camps but have always known about demigod communities.

Demigod who got claimed unexpectedly from the post-Titan War mass-claiming stuff and was forced on the run.

Norse rogues! Rogues from different pantheons! Or even rogue magicians! How do their lives differ from Greek/Roman demigods? What do they get up to?

[deconstructivesurgery]

Been thinking a lot about Borderlands 3 and Rhys lately and since I've seen people posting a lot about the things they dislike about the way Borderlands 3 handled... literally everything, from previous games' characters to their strange and sudden insistent belief that "some of the megacorporations that make weapons to profit off of the galaxy being unsafe and constantly engage in inter-corporate war to steal things from each other are good actually" I thought I'd add a few of my own thoughts into the ring, this time specifically about Rhys- one of the characters who I found to be both dumbed down in 3 (although to a lesser extent than characters like Vaughn, who was pretty much just reduced to a bit character.) Cut because this is gonna be a long one, folks.

I think something interesting is the fact that Borderlands 3 really took away some of the snide, prideful behaviour Rhys had in the original Tales, kinda stripping him of some of his less "cutesy" personality flaws while giving him new ones he didn't necessarily have before- like accidentally making him seem incredibly shallow in quests like Space Laser Tag- where he's mainly concerned about trivial things like his favourite spots being destroyed while the company he fought to rebuild for the past SEVEN years is also being crushed. This is largely because instead of portraying him as the flawed but OVERALL currently well-intentioned (to some degree) character he is, they wanted him to be little more than an "adorkable" goofy type of character- and acknowledging his past of scheming ambition and potential to be incredibly dismissive of others doesn't fit that.

The thing *I* personally like the most about my perception of Rhys as a character is the dissonance between his character arc and his actions beyond the original Tales. I think it's important to spearhead this conversation with the fact that I don't like buying into the idea of Rhys being possessed by Handsome Jack post-TFTBL, trying to bring him back, or even still being in possession of his infected ECHOeye. Whether he sided with him for the majority of the original Tales or not, I prefer believing that the canon ending to the game inevitably resulted in Rhys finally discarding his idolization of Jack and resolving to veer his own life away from following in Jack's footsteps and towards creating his own ideal future with Atlas.

Does that immediately make him a morally perfect wonderful guy who's not still questionable by sheer virtue of INSISTING on making a return to the very corporate hellscape that pushed him to do everything from get unnecessary body modifications (still forever thinking about the fact that he did NOT lose that arm, my man had it purposefully removed for the sake of career success). No. The FUN part of it all is that Rhys is simultaneously right- he isn't like Jack, and I really don't like that the new Tales really switched up his behaviour to resemble his more- and wrong. Because at the end of the day, he's now still the CEO of a large-scale weapons manufacturer taking advantage of the unrest between planets and corporations just like every other big corp.

I think more than anything, I like Rhys best when he's a well-intentioned person (with glaring character flaws like a persistent love for the corporate life and lingering ambitions) who genuinely cares about Atlas and believes that it's the key to bettering the world he lives in- while simultaneously only REALLY managing to be, at most, a lesser evil. Someone snarky and occasionally snide, who's lightened up into the more affable, comfortable, almost silly persona we see in 3- but not missing the flaws that were definitive of his character in the past, either.

I wish we'd seen him have a stronger reaction to Katagawa Jr. and the possibility of losing Atlas, instead of the played-up-for-laughs kind of upset he displayed over things like a donut shop vs. the literal potential destruction of the company he scavenged out of a bad situation and brought back from the grave. I wanted to see him take it more PERSONALLY. To me, Atlas is in part Rhys trying to prove to HIMSELF that he doesn't need to be like Jack. It's proof and reassurance that when he tries to tell himself he's better, he's right. It's freedom from the corporate rat race he used to live in, because *he*'s in charge of it now, and he's running it with a lighter hand. To me, it's his own (flawed, yes, but I should've made that clear already) attempt to spit on everything Hyperion represented as a corporate environment.

If I'd had my way with it, honestly, I would've played a bit of a more emotional angle with the ideas Borderlands 3 lays out for you. I really love Katagawa Jr. for a lot of reasons, but one of them is the fact that he's a character that really echoes a lot of Rhys' own (past and present) character traits right back at him, and I think that should've been emphasized more. I wanted it to hurt more! Let Rhys look dead in the eyes someone who is, in many ways, eerily similar to himself- opportunistic power-grabbing and all- and realize that he's going to have to have him killed to protect what he's built for himself. I wanted him to realize that this was the only way things were ever going to turn out- because there's no happy ending when you go corporate in the Borderlands universe. It's going to be backstabbing, conflict with other manufacturers, and destruction all the way down.

Anyways I have a *lot* more to say than this (autism does that to a motherfucker)- but I see a lot of discourse? Discussion? Who knows- anyways. I see it a lot regarding Rhys, and I think my take is essentially, TLDR:

He doesn't need to be the pinnacle of evil, a new clone of Handsome Jack or someone stepping into his footsteps, just another heartless corporate fuck who underwent no character development whatsoever and is just as bad as Maliwan, or Tediore, or anyone else. He also shouldn't be reduced to "the good one". I know that Borderlands 3 itself is for the most part completely allergic to nuance, especially in character writing, but I think it's fascinating to play with the idea of a character who is trying to do their best to BE "the good one" and succeeding to some degree- while still failing to break the status quo in a way that matters. He also doesn't need to be entirely a goofy piece of shit that's obsessed with action figures, OR a conniving, snide asshole who's way too overconfident sometimes. He could've and should've been a bit of both, y'know?

Thanks for coming to my TED talk. If you read all this, you have my commendation.

[plusultraetc]

👀👀 you mentioned a sports festival rant?

YES Sports Festival rant!! When I answered this ask about MHA favorites, I 'jotted down a couple of notes about the Sports Festival' which turned into like. A 1.5k word essay. In my defense, this arc truly does have it all, the good, the bad, and the ugly. There's so much to talk about here that 1.5k words doesn't even begin to cover it!!

The Good:

So until now I have been a predominantly anime fan who occasionally reads the manga when I need a quick refresher on something, or I just want to reexperience a chapter through a slightly different lens. That being said, I haven't read through the Sports Festival arc in its entirety, so my opinions are based on the anime, and in the anime, this is genuinely such a fun arc to watch. It has a similar low-stakes-high-energy vibe to Joint Training; the audience is properly introduced to so many new characters and their quirks; and there are some really great emotional beats throughout (shoutout to Todoroki vs Sero. I am HAUNTED by the entire stadium in awe of Todoroki's instant-win juxtaposed with Midoriya thinking 'In that moment, he looked very sad to me.' That split-second moment where Todoroki wonders if not using his father's quirk really makes him any less Endeavor's son? HAUNTED.)

MY PERSONAL FAVORITE PART OF THE ARC: Aizawa & Present Mic's stand up comedy routine in the commentator's booth. They had no reason to be as funny as they were. 'There you have it folks, Eraserhead is a terrible teacher' I mean. I did write a fic about the circumstances leading up to the comedy routine and it is,, not super lighthearted but let's ignore that for now and focus on the silly. I WILL SAY, something else Sports Festival does is constantly remind me that characters like Aizawa, Mic, Midnight, and All Might are products of UA and, in turn, of pro hero society. Those first three especially are products of an All Might-centric pro hero society, which adds another messy layer to the things they are willing to accept and even encourage. Huge brainrot about the pro hero house of cards balanced on the wobbly table that is All Might forever!!

Midoriya is really at his most Midoriya in this arc also. I personally think Izuku is at his best when his ingenuity and empathy are the focus (these are character traits that imo become less and less prominent as the show goes on and his focus shifts to becoming stronger. You can probably pinpoint the exact moment where his priorities change (at least I think so?) and then you could probably write an essay about trauma and responsibility and cry). ANYWAY, early Midoriya is Very Worried All The Time about doing exactly as All Might says, which is why it is so so important that he does not win the Sports Festival. The Festival is kind of a microcosm of the pro hero world, with the medal ceremony being the parallel/precursor for hero rankings. Coming in first place/being Number One is a big big deal in this arc, as always. Izuku's most impactful moment is when he prioritizes something (or someone) else over that coveted first place medal, in spite of how badly he wants to impress All Might and be worthy of his legacy. He was just a really good bean in this arc okay???

The "Bad" (but no less interesting!):

As wonderful as it was to see the pro heroes come to the rescue at USJ, the Sports Festival is here to remind us that, in so many ways, this world is a dystopia. It's not just because of the Hunger Games-esque nature of watching children fight each other & broadcasting it worldwide for entertainment and profit. When you think about it, the Sports Festival is kind of like college-level sports, just with superpowers and high schoolers (there's even a recruitment aspect. It's literally like MHA college football). And sure, fighting each other with superpowers is considerably more violent than your average sport, but they do have people with healing quirks like Recovery Girl on standby. Even serious injuries can literally be undone in seconds. What makes the college sports-ification of hero school so weird is the 'hero' part. Like, not only are you already indoctrinating your future heroes (who have so much relatively unchecked power & responsibility as pros) into the hero/celebrity culture super early on, but the students are competing to impress current pros, secure a good internship, and further their careers. Like. You're essentially teaching them that being a good hero = putting on a good show. Maybe if the point wasn't to 'win' an internship it wouldn't be so strange to me but as is? Wild. Really fun bit of worldbuilding. I am spinning it in my head like a carnival prize wheel.

I also want to take a minute to talk about the medal ceremony here. I thiiink that Bakugou being chained to the podium is meant to be comedic(?), kind of a 'look how mad he is, they literally had to drag him out here' moment, but the conflation of hero/villain imagery in this scene. Omg. Again, the medal ceremony is like a mini hero ranking (that he has won!!!) but the only other time we've seen a muzzle-like thing like the one Bakugou is wearing is on a villain in the first episode. To bring that back at this moment?? The bars of my enclosure. The bars of my english degree. Agh.

I actually mentioned this around the time I posted that very silly Sports Festival fic for Monoma’s birthday, but can we talk about how 1-A IMMEDIATELY turns on each other during this arc? Like?? They’re a MESS. Obv the writing reason for this is that there needs to be competition to make this competition arc interesting (and it succeeds!) but 1-A’s immediate willingness to go for the jugular gets Really Awkward when you realize they are literally the only class that does this—and, what’s more, that there is literally no reason for them to do this. Unnamed 1-C student #3 is right: the other first year classes are only participating in the Festival to make the hero students look good. We know this because the first challenge—the obstacle race—is literally designed to eliminate non-Hero Course students from the competition. Even if hero students didn’t have (generally) more powerful quirks and more training than everyone else, the very first obstacle in the race is the Hero Course Entrance Exam robots—ie, a challenge the hero students have already beaten, but that disqualified students from other courses from admission. Even deliberately hanging back and doing recon, 1-B is able to get all of their students through the obstacle race. Then, after the Cavalry Battle, we see 1-B once again demonstrating a level of maturity and support that the vast majority of 1-A severely lacks. I know I sound like Monoma rn, but I think this has a lot to do with the fact that, as we continue to see throughout the series, 1-A takes a lot of their cues from Midoriya and Bakugou and, to a lesser extent because he’s so quiet, Todoroki. Later, this is a good thing, because the mini big three pushes their class to be the best they can be, but here, these three characters are in shambles—insecure and off-kilter and desperate to prove something, and that energy very much spreads to their peers--which I personally think is great bc it makes for good TV and leaves lots of room for character growth!

The Ugly:

You have no idea how tempted I am to just put a picture of Stain here. He would deserve it for what he did to my man Tensei. I actually love Stain as a villain but SPEAKING OF WHAT HE DID TO MY MAN TENSEI.

The show tells you how important the Sports Festival is. Everyone treats it like it’s the Olympics, except fifty times more important. UA students are scouted by pro heroes and agencies during the event, and putting on a good show can literally change the course of your career (just as doing poorly can ruin it before you even get a chance to graduate). More sports analogies! This makes sense. But the thing is, countless pros show up to watch the event in person. Even more provide security. Literally my first thought was, if I was a criminal I would commit so many crimes during the Sports Festival. Who tf would be around to stop me? And then I had a good laugh because we actually see Shigaraki watching the Festival and I was like ‘oh, there isn’t a spike in villain attacks because the villains are watching it too lol.’

But THEN, Tensei gets attacked by Stain ON THE DAY OF THE FESTIVAL. So there are still heroes out hero-ing and villains out villain-ing, and it’s probably way easier to do the latter when everyone from All Might to Endeavor and beyond are watching teenagers beat the tar out of each other. But you’ve gotta scout those future interns and sidekicks so what are you gonna do!! Once again, the Sports Festival is a microcosm of pro hero popularity society—it’s this insulated little bubble where everyone is so worried about how they look, where they ranked, who they beat to that podium, while the real world carries on outside. Iida himself is distracted by that shiny first place medal until Stain attacking his brother body slams him back to reality.

[shark-myths]

tell me more about the writing class!

I would loving nothing more!

so my long-time writing crush @alienfuckeronmain (seriously, we became pairing rivals in a now-deceased fandom more than 20 years ago) runs an amazing writing class annually. It is fully virtual and recorded, so you can attend synchronously (I recommend this because the Q&A after the lecture is invaluable!) or whenever works best for you. It focuses on writing as a LIFESTYLE, something sustainable and full of joy, healing the productivity/perfection trauma many of us come to associate with the craft. it focuses not on sharing and critiquing writing but on how to support yourself and your life so that you can DO it, for fun and for love, in a way that works for you. it is such a healthy and beautiful approach to my favorite thing in the world, I highly recommend the course. The website is here and the instagram account, bloodinkbonewriting, also has a lot of info and promo material. Phoenix herself is an incredible talent with some recently published books I highly recommend. She’s most famous for being canceled in various fandoms, writing the finest one direction fic you can imagine, being the master of dead dove and fucked-up dynamics, and of course, humanized Cars fic.

self-disclosure / soapbox time: I work as a psychologist, and I so frequently encounter grown-ass adults who made all the right choices. They put away ‘childish’ things like hobbies and passion and silliness and intensity, they prioritized all the values our culture prizes, and they end up feeling so fucking empty and bleak. I constantly connect to gratitude about my daily writing practice, about my relentless and unprofitable pursuit of writing for joy. I have been writing rpf since I was thirteen years old. I thought I *invented* it and would certainly go to hell for my ingenuity. And it is the richest part of my life. I meet all the best people this way. I love who I am and the way I live because of being connected to art and community—a community of transformative work and creativity and passion, of screeching about our favorite things without self-consciousness or self-erasure. I genuinely believe this is the best part of my self and life. (except for my cats.) and when I encounter the dullness and misery of a life at the grindstone, I know beyond doubt that writing and fandom are my #1 protective factor. They are the reason I don’t feel that burned out and hollow way about my good, good life.

if you do one thing for yourself, find a way to create and connect joyfully and without the evaluative eye of others upon you. and if you have lost the way to doing that with writing because of the world we live in or, worse, the educational system and endless pressure to make your art profitable—blood ink bone has my highest recommendation as a gentle way to recover that path within yourself!

[etherealhoneybee777]

Okay, the mp100 fandom (and other fandom spaces as well) makes me really hopeful✨

The internet is mostly a cruel and terrible place. It largely exists as an instrument of global capitalism. Governments use social media to push propaganda that either reinforces their fascist, conservative ideals or instills leftists that want to fight back with a sense of hopelessness that paralyzes and scares them. And we’re also getting to a point where much of the content we see online is not only made by AI, but interacted with by AI as well. We’re seeing “art” and ragebait stories that aren’t even made by real humans, but are spread online as if they’re true. Transactions are everywhere, but because everything is a subscription service, we own nothing. Corporations are putting advertisements on even the most sacred corner of the web & encouraging people to constantly consume, to BE consumed with the desire to consume more things, and to fill up the little time we have left with constant, buzzing productivity—because the internet is an instrument of capitalism, and capitalism is about constant expansion, expansion that won’t stop until everything in our lives is quantifiable and our whole being is stretched thin in service of a pointless, unstoppable economic growth.

In the face of that, I think your mp100 art is amazing. I think your fic is amazing. I am glad you decided to share it with us. I am glad you took the time to analyze Mob or Serizawa or Tome. To post screen grabs of Dimple or gifs or animatics or anything else. I’m glad you reblogged my post and added some silly or thoughtful little hashtags. I’m glad you DM’d me or posted a long ramble about Ritsu or Teru or reigen.

People don’t have to do these things. They don’t have to sketch characters or share headcanons or write fic or make watch parties on cute little discord servers. But they do. They do it because it’s a fun thing to do & because they’re talented and passionate. And it makes me happy that on the internet—which is increasingly being used to alienate and control us—still hosts real communities and real people making real art and writing their real thoughts without any kind of profit motive or manipulative agenda. People are literally just posting because they want to share their work and connect with others. It reminds me that no matter what capitalism does, we live in a fundamentally social world & we’re constantly trying to connect with each other about the things we like. MP100 is the thing I like and the people here make me hopeful. I see people post their art/writing/headcanons and I get super happy. I get inspired. I look at people’s bios and all the different countries they’re from and get really happy that the internet can be used as a tool to connect people across the world with the same interest together.

Choosing to create and make friends and be nice and spread positivity over the internet is a uniquely powerful thing. It may not seem like much, (and being on the internet is often framed as “wasting time”) but the Internet is important and the things you do here are actually tangible and real. Making and sharing art—making friends—sharing writing and blurbs and headcanons is a legitimate pushback against the terrible capitalistic machine that the internet has become. I’ve heard a lot of creators say that their art doesn’t get noticed/doesn’t matter because it doesn’t get a lot of attention. But it DOES matter. Because, for every second that someone spends seeing your art, that’s one second that they don’t spend on government propaganda or brain-numbing advertisements or ragebait or AI generated “content”. And even if no one sees your art, YOU spent time making it. You loved it and cared for it and valued it in a way that capitalism can never profit from or understand.

I hope you know that I see your art & love it. I look at it when I’m sad. My gf and I look at mp100 art while we sit outside and feel the world leave our bones. Maybe this is too much, but I’m feeling earnest and joyful tonight & am trying to lean into those feelings.

I’m just thankful. You create and share just because you wanted to create and share. You’re making the world a better place.

[sherrendipities]

i have no interest in engaging with people whose values do not align with mine, for my own safety and as a moral standard. if you don't stand for the liberation of palestine and all colonized people, this is not the place for you. if i followed you and you don't agree with me on this, it's because i didn't see anything discussing this on your blog. do us both a favor and block me. and yes, harris is as much a genocidal war profiteer as biden and trump.

learn about palestine. do your daily clicks. boycott & push for divestment where you can. vote uncommitted. keep masking. read about decolonization and liberation of all people all over the earth (free books by keystone authors).

with that out of the way: hi, hello, welcome! i'm sherry (not really), and this is where i dump out all my horny ramblings so i don't explode lol. besides being a raging slut, i'm also a scientist, communist, pagan, writer, and a lover of books.

i'm single and always enjoy meeting new folk, especially fellow nerds and commies 💕

🟢 things i love: orientation play/dykebreaking. misogyny. breeding. fauxcest (father/daughter & brother/sister). rapeplay. free use. monsterfucking. praise. petplay. corruption. edging & denial. exhibitionism. hand fetish & voice kink.

🟡 things i mostly like: degradation and dumbification, but don't make me think you don't like me ok, i'm still baby. light impact play, esp slapping and spanking. occasionally detrans comes up bc i like the bioessentialism aspect. hypno and worship are fun if i'm obsessed with you. most things get way more fun if i'm obsessed with you tbh, so i'm open for 1x1 discussion with time.

🟠 things i don't like: anything unhygenic will often squick me out, incl piss, scat, vomit, rimming, feet, shoes (specifically being stepped on), occasionally spit, etc. i'm a giant baby about substance use, so no intox play.

🔴 things i will outright block you for: raceplay of any kind, incl sexualizing hijabis. any form of body shaming or controlling eating. don't call me pig. extreme violence, especially when a lot of blood is involved. don't push me to try this kink irl without discussion first.

tag guide ⁠—

# sherry speaks : unfiltered horny ramblings

# sherry writes : longer, more cohesive horny ramblings

# sherry reads : ramblings on romantic and erotic books

# ooc : non-horny ramblings, often political

# happy queueincidence : queued posts

# 💬 , # 🐶 : tags for my fav mutuals xoxo

# me core : for silly little posts that resonate with me on a soul-deep level

i don't tag individual kinks, but mutuals and friends are welcome to ask me to!

some necessary disclaimers:

this is all fantasy and not at all representative of my real-world views and behaviors. i will often post things tagged #ooc to denote when i'm being serious!

nothing is sexy without informed and enthusiastic consent from all parties. never hesitate to communicate your needs and boundaries with me 💕

i'm quite selective with sending pictures or audios. you never have permission to share anything i send you, publicly or privately. i will assume the same for you unless stated otherwise.

header credit. pfp credit.

[sideblogdotjpeg]

hello unfortunately i thought even more about sol + swag as an analogy for being asian and it is . making me unwell. i am putting it under the cut for the main reason that it is stupid beyond belief

OK. so. hear me out .

STUPID REASONS WHY SOL IS ASIAN:

(and hint: this is all me projecting 100%)

1) moist frog who immediately turns off when it gets too cold. SOUTHEASTASIAN BOY AS FUCK (to me). guy who thinks thirty degrees celsius is pleasant temperature. guy who thinks that anything below 25C is sweater weather. guy who is soo sweaty and moist all the time (the humidity) and that is not only a natural state, but a preferrable state. 20 degrees is too cold. anything below 0 is actually not functional.

anyway. sol bufo. keepin it warm and gross. if its too cold and dry he immediately hibernates. king

2) idk if anyone reading this has seen shaolin soccer. but sol bufo. could clump shaolin soccer. essentially what im saying is sol bufo is like a buff asian jock. which is kinda goofy and goodnatured and loud and also very obnoxious. i cannot articulate this very well. but. what can i say except a human version of sol bufo was delivered to me in a dream and it was every buff chinese classmate ive ever met.

3) (you will notice the reasons get progressively more stupid and more deeply specific)

sol bufo would love milo. omg. like. chocolate drink in a juice box container that is branded as a sports/energy drink and also green. also the guy on the front of the packet milo. sol bufo coded. tbh

anyway. milo isnt strictly southeast asian..? but. yes it is actually.

4) the whole monk class is extremely steeped in asian 'aesthetics' anyway. i mean. ki. so whatever i can claim this monk for me thats my right

NONSTUPID BUT STILL KIND OF SILLY REASONS:

and this is also me projecting 100%. obviously all delusion. so i guess see this as a for-fun reading of the sol/swag storyline through the lens of a very specific of asianness

okay so. swag right. his journey is about leaving his home where he was comfortable and safe but also very confined. mothership lures him to ezry w the promise of opportunity & seeing the world, making something of himself. he ends up being exploited for his body and skills. and he runs away, but his blood still oils up the mothership cogs.

so anyway. i think its pretty clear how that cld map onto like . an immigrant experience? leaving home because of the need to find urself, but simultaneously, the threat of exploitation at the hands of ppl who see you as a potential profit to be mined. this is the first part

the part that is more crazy to me is his experience in irondeep. like, when he left moonstone he left his entire community. now hes alone ... and he cant go back. (he is stranded physically, emotionally). and at this low point, of true and utter loneliness and purposelessness, comes along bronzebeard industries. they offer him a job - but more importantly, they offer him connections.

like. thinking about how were introduced to swag. its not at his job, its his downtime, its when hes hanging out with his coworkers, when hes surrounded by 'friends'. w people who think hes cool, and the people who think hes a "sucker".

idk! but i think this also relates rlly strongly to a common experience of being international? like. when you know you are permenantly lost from home. what you want more than anything is to feel the same community and sense of belonging you used to have. and it is very easy for that desire to ge manipulated. (like - im just gonna mention the one specific instance that ive seen. which is like. international students on college campuses getting targeted a lot by christian groups. because they know those people are lonely and want a feeling of shared tradition and practice. anyway. this is one specific example but also this is literally what happens to lyddie and sister rosaline :-| )

anyway so in summary: swags story of hope/idealism, exploitation, and loneliness leading him to be a very good pawn. i think that is something that could potentially be read as the experiences of ppl dislocated internationally from their home. and im saying its asian because I Want To.

... and sol! okay. i think very simply: sol is super white-washed. total banana. and thats part of his character. he is a moonstone bullywug who never knew his own home, and still, has never even seen moonstone with his own eyes. he does not know his own history. (and kinda tangent, the place where he spends the majority of his life is in launchpad, a sanitized corporate version of reality. and i mean, the whole 'boy wizard and frog pal' is very clearly alluding to harry potter. like. its white.) but ignoring that, the essence of his character is like. this is a guy who does not know where he came from

and currently? a large part of his arc is about trying to unravel his identity by figuring out where (who) he came from. swag daniels is his one link to a community hes just now found out he has. that is a part of why hes trying so hard to save swag. swag is his family - specifically the parts about family you cant choose. that is hard, complicated and how you understand where the parts of yourself track back to.

like. i think a lot about how the pivotal moments of connection between swag and sol are all about swag... showing sol what moonstone is like. in a dream, he lets sol experience what that place is like. that place is a muggy swamp. idk. swag is taking sol back home. that fucks me up a lot

... anyway digression aside. i think one of the most painful things gg on rn w sols arc rn is. how its looking right now. sol is going to lose swag. sol is going to have to come to terms w losing swag. sol for the first time, yearns to know who he is and who he came from. but by the time he went looking it was too late. his time is up. that moment of connection was brief and gone. there are so many questions about their history that sol will never know now

so obviously this kind of dips a bit into metaphor at the end. swag represents connection to cultural history and heritage and identity. and in that lens, it reads to ME as a story abt being asian and disconnected from ur roots. but anyway. even without that lens i think sols story is still v much abt cultural estrangement

(i also have a very loose and unformed thought: which is that sols journey from wanting to stand out/be special to wanting to find a place of belonging. is ALSO INCREDIBLY RESONANT to the experience of being whitewashed asian... ESPECIALLY for ppl who do come from asia. and how that also relates to the tragedy of wanting to understand ur roots when its already too late. but . i dont rlly know if that is a common experience so. itll be noodling in my head for now)

anyway. my essay. and yes this is all make believe in my head . TLDR: i think swags an immigrant sols a banana and i am fucking insane thanks everyone

also if u read this all and want to know what part of this long ramble actly answers the question of why i think theyre asian. well. you know what.

[flagellant]

I thought the Barbie movie was really good and enjoyed it a lot but also thought it was odd that the idea that toxic masculinity is just as harmful to men was never really explored. Yes it was explicitly stated that it didn’t truly fulfill the Kens’ desire for independence and that it was wrong, but the movie more frames it as wrong because it uproots the status quo, without really acknowledging that the Kens’ utopia was essentially the exact same as the Barbies’ utopia, just flavored a bit differently. And the Barbies do realize they have been mistreating the Kens and that they deserve to have more identity then their relation to Barbie, but they don’t really change the structural inequalities that caused this in the first place. A vague promise of change and putting a couple kens in meaningless clerical positions doesn’t change anything, if anything it reminds me of “progressive” democrats in the US showing support for the Black Lives Matter movement and saying they support it, but not supporting any actual change(see Pelosi and other senate and house dems’ picture of them kneeling down during the protests). It’s changing your Twitter pfp to a pride flag for a month while donating money to republicans. The problems have been addressed, which I guess is better than pretending they don’t exist, but no solutions have been offered.

I don’t want anyone to think that I think the overall message of the movie is flawed, because it isn’t. It’s a sweet, funny, nice film with a great message that I recommend everyone watch, but just like other “progressive” films, they never actually advocate for too much change. Just enough to be profitable.

See I fundamentally view the message as flawed because it tries to be both self-aware progressive feminism that addresses the innate bioessentialism of Barbie in a meaningful way while also being a fun silly Barbie movie that makes you want to buy into the brand. It wasn't even progressive, it was regressive dressed up as progressive. The Barbie movie would have been progressive in, like, 2011.

[bengaly]

Can you tell me more about Jiji and his species? I love their design!

Hello!! Yeah sure! Jiji is a meao-ixuí! They're those guys:

Jiji being the white one here:

Meao-ixuí are a species I'm revamping from some really old concepts I used to draw. I LOVED long eared, flat faced creatures and I made a thousand of them - some were their own species, some not. Heres some ideas from 2008/2009:

They're more recognisable as meaos in 2010:

Since they weren't really a single species but a set of features I enjoyed drawing, I never really wrapped them up as a single thing. So back last year 2019 or so I decided to turn those concepts I been drawing for over a decade into a species, the name being "meao" which is a silly way of writing "miau" (meow in portuguese) because thats what me and @mirtiloart called everything in our teens. So I'm kinda honouring my teenager self with that name. Theres more than one way to draw meaos - long and flat faced, and thats where the -ixuí suffix comes. Meao-ixuí are long faced ones, and meao-xatpan are flat faced ones. Heres a flat faced one from 2009 btw:

So! Their current design and lore isn't fully developed yet. I have thought a lot of little things about their culture and species, but its not a complete puzzle yet. I can for sure say so far is that they're from the tropics, are sentient, they're from a world with multiple sentient species and they're kinda the oddball there for being the only one around whos gynandropmorphic. They're marsupial-like, having pouches, and have some cool thylacoleo-like teeth:

This one is from 2019 and I've since then tuned the teeth a bit down but its still a fun way to draw it! (I've also noticed I didn't post this here which I will do after this ask) They're not very widespread in their world and often keep close to their traditional territories. Traveling around the world is a bit dangerous for them as certain things that are common in sentient communities is toxic to them - mostly things other species like to smoke so they can't really avoid it. Jiji travels as a nomad merchant with that yellow xoywren in the chibi picture, his name can be either Little Bee, Igutsak or Mayanga. Jiji is very skilled with weaving and embroidery, and since certain gatherings are dangerous for her health, its often Igutsak doing the negotiations. Personality wise, Jiji is a very chill meao. Shes often observing things in the background, but will jump in any conversation - invited or not - if she finds an opportunity for profit. Shes often the one giving ideas while Igutsak executes them. She and Igutsak adopt a human kid in their story (which is a very fun way to develop how different species deal with their offspring), and she was the one who noticed an abandoned baby hidden in a dense forest area. Igutsak is the one who nurses the kid, so heres again she being the brains while hes the action. Oh also, their world doesn't has currency. Negotiations are done by trading time, services and items. Jiji is often carrying a thousand things around in her basket backpack, which is what she is wearing in the chibi. Also the red markings on her are make-up! Meaos do that to protect bare skin areas from the sun, and also to look cool.

[whompthatsucker1981]

been thinking abt the gay sex cats post again. while the original point of the post is something for shits and giggles i would say to my art classmates after class, in extreme summary it still kinda stands, popular post making me wanna bash my head against the wall notwisthstanding. even if i hadn't put out a wall of text that was fueled by 1. being a few days out of the surgery table and still on various medications, 2. having read billy bat in two days and therefore having a fuck ton of thoughts about art, and 3. being immensely frustrated that people unironically used human soul of art spark of creativity etc as a talking point wrt generative art; the gist of my point is that you can't win any discussion about what gets to be art by appealing to idealist ideas of soul, creativity, or genius. it's been settled for more or less a century now. a tool is a tool, art can be made out of anything, and the medium is part of the message. end of that post.

of course the regret of anyone that has put out a popular post in whatever Discourse there is is that you can't leave a post scriptum disclaimer that yeah. of course this isn't the entirety of the subject. because everyone that has ever written a post never made a second post because the first covered everything. lol. that's why it continued in my askbox. as in, the issue with quote unquote ai art isnt philosophical or metaphysical, but of labor, and that it is as in marxist division of labor, not whatever people with small business owner brain make it out to be centered on copyright and potentially owed royalties that gets called an issue of labor. ai art is a threat as long as it is a tool in the hands of capitalists to hold working artists hostage. it's not the first tool to be used like that against laborers in art (and obviously other laborers too, but since people have bad idealist views on art it's what gets seen as more of an issue and an outrage lol) and it certainly won't be the last. tighter copyright laws wouldn't have saved any individual artist to ever upload works publically online, if anything abolishing copyright, even if just in regards to generative art would make it so the tool loses its leverage against the worker. also copyright as an argument misses the point because it's not a problem of any person uploading images missing out on royalties they could have earned with use of their images, if there's anything we were supposed to have learned from the nft shitshow is that right click saving isn't fucking stealing. art exists in The Age Of Mechanical And Digital Reproduction. what's more damning is that we take for granted that publically avaliable images and data online are able to be bought and sold from third parties to other parties for fun and profit in the first place, data privacy is more of an issue to machine learning than supposedly lax copyright law could ever be

and the things unsaid are the most frustrating; i did hammer home the point that you can't win an argument on art and meaning by appealing to creativity, soul and genius, but it was at the cost of having things unsaid, and that having a post become popular sucks ass in an unbelievable way. i also have regrets with regards to my tone but i was a bit silly from having read all of billy bat in two days, so even if i cringed afterwards i understand why. and with that is also the unsaid matter of taste. unlike the actual political arguments, i'm not mad that it got passed on, and i think it's better to say my two cents now with some hindsight. the gimmick of ai art is getting old now, people without art education are realizing that a program that can output pretty pictures doesn't mean you can get instant clout and a career out of it, especially with public opinion on the subject ranging from people cringing at it or being actively hostile. in the end artisanal artstation/instagram slop is gonna prevail over ai generated artstation/instagram slop in the content machine, especially since the idealistic views on art also include upholding the grindset. i think the only people left that are gonna keep relying on generative art are people with an insatiable fetish, people who think there aren't enough thomas kinkade paintings to use in their facebook posts, people who understand the comedic value of slop, and people with enough patience to mess with with image processing softwares as to get something satisfactory out of it, which is to say, artists.