#basically just me trying to prove yes i have been drawing

[oldmanjenkins985]

TW for pedophila since I mention it very briefly at one point I would like to clarify, with all the Tessa age shit that's been going on, that my intent with this was not to prove that Tessa is an adult so she can go on to be sexualized and shit like that. My intent was to prove it was ambigious by showing all the evidence is circumstantial with explanations that both sides could use. And if you boil down *any* character, ambigious age or not, to sexualizing them, that's a completely different issue and one that very much matters. I very much do not care for that stuff, and yes I did have a crush on Tessa once. I was 17 at the time though, meaning that even if she was as young 15 that'd only be a 2 year age gap, so don't you *dare* try and accuse me of being a fuckin' weirdo or anything. I've moved on to other characters now, that being N and Uzi.

Now then, to go along with that, anyone who is uncomfortable with explicit remarks made towards Tessa or Flesha are *completely* allowed to do that regardless of her age. Whether in ambiguity or if she eventually gets confirmed to be an adult, you are *allowed* to be uncomfortable with that. You're allowed to do that with 40 year olds even.

A lot of you who were saying constantly that Tessa is a minor as if it was canon are yourselves minors. So I completely understand why you'd feel this way. The two examples I can think of are @/nuvimuvi and @/kittydragondraws (Don't wanna ping cause I don't wanna bother you with this crap). Your feelings on this are valid and there's no need for you to say Tessa is a minor as if it's confirmed canon when it's not and even one of the people in the Glitch Inn can't give a definitive answer. I don't care that he's not the end all be all, if he has just as much info as the rest of us then why would he come to the conclusion it's ambigious if he could look and see she's "clearly" a minor?

So basically: You're allowed to headcanon Tessa as a minor and be uncomfortable with explicit content surrounding her and Flesha, but that does not mean Tessa is canonically a minor and that people are pedos for saying stuff like that.

Oh, one more thing since we're here. I wanna touch on the Bite Me music video render to clear things up.

So, I've seen a lot of people saying this isn't a "sexy" pose (sorry for lack of better word), but it just...is. And no, that doesn't mean they're sexualizing Flesha, I'll get to that in a moment.

So if you just look up "sexy lean back sitting" on google, you'll find a ton of pictures of people posed extremely similar to Cyn. I'm also pretty certain I've seen pin-up drawings of when in this pose. And one final example: Widowmaker from Overwatch. *The* character who's sexualization is a big part of her design. Her sitting emote is this exact pose. And for as long as I've known this is just *the* sexy sitting pose for women. I don't know where I got that from, just that it's been in my brain for years now.

Now then, let's get back to what I said earlier about this not necessarily meaning it's meant to be sexual. I just went over how it is clearly sexual, so why the fuck am I saying it's possibly not? Very simple, it could be a joke. I've done the "Sexy pose" as a joke for years now. Even when I was 16, 17, hell even maybe as far back as 15, I've done this *exact* pose as a joke. I'm a man, so a pose like this isn't the "sexy" pose most would think of for males and that's why it worked as a joke because it was like "oh, I'm so girly" Now that doesn't mean you *have* to be a man to make it ironic and funny rather than actually sexualizing. You can just be a girl or say...an eldritch horror wearing a girl's skin. Something that horrid looking could be seen as funny when doing a pose like this since it's not exactly something you expect to see. And an even further way to say it isn't sexual: It just...might not be intended that way. It could very well just be how they had her sit. Like I said before, this is *the* go to sexy pose for women, but that doesn't mean every woman sitting like this is intending for that to be how she's percieved. They could just be...sitting.

In conclusion of that, yes this is a sexy pose, stop saying it isn't, but that doesn't mean the intent is that Flesha is supposed to be attractive. It could very easily be a joke or have no intent behind it and that's it. So once again, like most stuff surrounding this, it's completely up to the viewer to interpret it as it's ambigious.

[jalapenobee]

Hc's under the cut

So I don't ship Gin with anyone but Tachihara lowkey finds her attractive

He's constantly flirting with her (with no intention of anything real btw) and she just sighs and deals with it

Hirotsu is so confused

Gin would see Tachihara as a brother

I think other than Akutagawa she feels the most comfortable around Tachihara and Hirotsu

Also Tachihara and Gin do like. Everything together.

Like if Tachihara needs to shake an admirer he'd just say he's dating Gin and she'd be like 'ok sure' and play along

They fake date for a lot of reasons a lot of times

For this reason it is safe to say Akutagawa is not Tachihara's biggest fan (although Tachihara lowkey looks up to him)

Hirotsu always gets wrapped up in their antics whether he likes it or not

He's the designated getaway driver/diversion/alias/backup

They all think the same way btw

Like finish each other's sentences and shit

Between the three of them there's only one braincell

It belongs to Hirotsu and Hirotsu only

Tachihara and Gin like making weapons stuff together

One time they tried making a gun that shot knives and nearly killed Hirotsu

They got a sTeRn TaLkInG tO after that

Tachihara claims he can hear voices but it's really just Gin whispering in his ear at night

She drags along Hirotsu and he records his reactions

It was Gin who convinced Tachihara not to get rose gold dangle earrings. Hirotsu bought them for him behind her back and he wears them whenever she's not looking

Tachihara styles their hair and Akutagawa is not too happy about that

'...Gin wtf your hair-'

'Look at Atsushi he's worse'

Tachihara and Gin constantly try to smoke but Hirotsu has The Sense and stops them every time

He has gone. Great lengths. To make sure they don't smoke.

'Kids, smoking isn't beneficial to your health. *takes a puff*'

He's the biggest hypocrite ever

Like he'll tell the kids to sleep and stay up all night himself

Gin slips sleeping medication in his late night tea and Tachihara makes sure his sheets are clean (because he never cares to clean them himself)

Hirotsu knows this and doesn't say a thing

Tachihara and Hirotsu have an ongoing prank war while Gin plays the devil's advocate

Gin is always cooking for them

Tachihara tried to learn from her and [redacted for your safety]

The kids are always trying to get Hirotsu to go shopping or play video games with them and he always tries to say no

It doesn't work

Tachihara found a stray cat and started taking care of it. Hirotsu covers for him and Gin tries to get him in trouble

Tachihara wants so badly to be the love advice guy but he's really bad at it. Everyone goes to Hirotsu instead

He's also such a drama queen. You think Hirotsu takes care of Tachihara and Gin? No it's him and Gin babysitting Tachihara

Gin and Tachihara sometimes just walk through Yokohama together

She always points to some emo-looking thing in a window and whisper 'that's you'

Tachihara and Hirotsu have the best hearing out of the pm because Gin used to (and still does) whisper really really quietly

When Tachihara first joined he was the prime target of Gin's antics (mainly because she was unnerved at the thought of someone new in the black lizard)

They were insufferable. Tachihara would always take her stuff and yell at her because of it and yeah

It wasn't until Gin got used to him then she started to treat him as an equal and not a um. A toddler.

Hirotsu is the king of empty threats

And yet, the kids try their hardest not to piss him off. If they do, he does Things

One time Gin snapped his monocle chain and everyone who was present at the pm hq knew of her former buzz cut gone wrong within ten minutes via loudspeaker announcement

Tachihara didn't realize that Akutagawa was Gin's brother until he tried to joke with him about her

Let's just say his ribs were far from perfect condition for a while

It's one of the many reasons he's scared half to death of him (and also Gin)

Nevertheless he looks up to him (did I say that already?) and occasionally they get along

Like sskk when they first went in the thing with Pushkin except it's not romantic

[writers-potion]

How do I accurately include diversity, and not make it look like I’m just putting it in there for the sake of it?

Writing Diverse Characters - Things to Remember

Honestly, there's no definitive answer to this.

Your characters are people with clear goals, desires and a role to play in the plot. As long as they aren't just sitting there with little else but their race/gender/disability, etc. as their ONLY personality trait, at least you're on the right path.

As for representing a diverse character realistically, here are some things you can consider to get started.

Do's

RESEARCH. There are plenty of blogs/YT vids/websites that exist to help you! Meet people!

Get beta readers.

It doesn't have to be explicit. Racial identities become quite clear early on through the setting, name, and initial description(hair, eye/skin color, body shape, etc) without having to drum it into the readers each time. Gender diversity can be conveyed through the use of certain pronouns without awkward declarations.

Character first, diversity second. Please don't intentionally create a diverse character and then think about how you can push them into the cast. Have a working character, who happens to belong to a particular group.

Read works that have represented a group well. There are plenty of non-fiction works, movies and documentaries that capture the lives of people around the world with a good eye.

Use the correct terms/language

Include different types of diversity

Don'ts

Race/gender/diability is NOT a personality trait. Please. Telling me that you have a Korean girl tells me next to nothing about the character herself.

Using sterotypes. Now, it's all right if your character has a few sterotypical traits, but definitely not if sterotypes are the only thing they have.

Diversity is not a "shock factor". Suddenly revealing that a character is actually gay and has been in the closet all this time as a refresher so that it draws readers' attention? Not a good idea.

One diverse character does all. This can often be seen in female characters of slightly dated works where one woman will play the role of supportive mother, sister, femme fetale and sexy Barbie at the same time. Don't write a diverse character who basically does everything a diverse character can possibly be. All that it proves is that the writer is lazy.

Things I personally hate seeing:

Weird pronunciation of languages. As a Korean person, I always get turned off by works (mostly badly written fanfics, yes, I read those...) that try to transfer Korean dialogue directly onto the page without even checking for the correct way to spell them out. A similar example would be pinyin for Mandarin. Please, this makes the character sound stupid throughout...

Character sticking out almost painfully. If your character isn't from the region but have lived in it for a long time, what reason do they have not to blend in?

Relying on variety shows/dramas as reference. Media representation of diverse characters that are meant for entertainment is not the best source for authentic research. I die every time someone lists a number of Korean rom-coms they've watched for "research". IT DOES NOT COUNT.

As a last note, remember that there's no limit to the kind of characters a writer can writer. Accept that our job as writers is to step into other people's heads, not seeing things from one (our) perspective - and it is not going to be easy.

Hope this helps :)

[takemebacktowheniwassane]

i've been seeing a lot of falsettos posts recently deconstructing the fandoms beliefs and firstly

holy fuck thank you, i try to steer clear of fandom (and fandom-izing thereof) drama but this is getting a lot more visible recently so here's some little tidbits for you

whizzer brown is not an unflawed character!

okay so i haven't seen enough dissecting this but!!! in the chess game!

the whole point of marvin using that game to determine the ending of their relationship is because he suspects whizzer is constantly deceiving him and wants to prove it.

whizzer LITERALLY proves him right!

he asks marvin to help him along (yes i know he says he doesn't want help, hear me out, it's a little more complex than that) and takes advantage of the fact that marvin is- like- infatuated with him.

he draws him into a sense of false security then starts throwing accusations at him ("since you need a man!" "what?" "who's 'brainy'," "or witty, move.") until hes able to win, which he does with ease because he's been using marvin having this idea that he isn't smart against him.

of course, marvin's side of this isn't the best either but honestly, for once the fandom should focus on a different character when they think 'insane asshole'. typically we should also probably change our perspectives a little to be more unbiased cuz fr guys, this is getting really.. annoying.

i understand he's the most visibly flawed but that doesn't excuse constantly picking the worst parts of this musical (without other context, btw) to use against him.

and this post certainly isn't here to excuse anyone either i've just got a lot of opinions that i wanted to share while falsettos is.. trending? right?

2. marvin's (headcanoned but still somewhat researched) autism

this one isn't brought up as much but when i do see it around, it's kind of a skewed viewpoint.

while rewatching bits of the proshot i realized a lot of different neurodivergent traits that he shows-

he's helpless during I Never Wanted to Love You and is childish and regressive when he's upset (not every autistic person is like this either, i know this is a bit of a touchy subject so i just wanted to add that).

usually when people depict it i see it either toned down or joked about which is fine when all in good fun, and when its done respectfully.

not here to attack anyone, just here to point it out and say that yes :) he most likely is neurodivergent, but despite that his actions aren't condoned. he's still kinda a dick who needs to get his shit together

3. ..the lesbians also have shit going on?

just putting this out there- I DON'T SEE ENOUGH FOR THE LESBIANS! OR TRINA!

the girls in this musical are like thoroughly neglected and i think that's kind of shitty just assuming the fact that william finn put them in to demonstrate how gender roles put people in degrading positions (and he even makes it more prevalent by showing marvin as something like a misogynistic character who forces whizzer into more feminine roles to show the audience what woman have to/had to go through in society).

anyways, the lesbians aren't just there guys. they have a plotline too. in Something Bad is Happening, you derive a lot from charlotte singing about the outbreak of HIV/AIDS and realize how she operates on a daily basis (she's passionate about her work and takes every bad day as a hit to her life and career, explaining in a way that as a black, jewish, lesbian, FEMALE doctor in this time, everything that goes wrong is immediately brought down on her so much more than it would as any straight white male pharmacist-).

cordelia on the other hand has to handle the fact that her girlfriend is so adamant about her work ethic that she can't actually be super present in their relationship at times like that.

but either way she still sticks by her and is constantly trying to be supportive and endearing despite feeling like she's not amounting to her gf who's basically a hero in her eyes.

i kinda just wanted to bring that up because they mean a lot to me and they don't get enough love from the fanbase, thank you for listening to my TED talk <3

[lilies-n-slander]

just my unstructured thoughts on “complicated and sad”

I’m not huge on radiostatic and haven’t thought about the dynamic as much as other people so probably I’ll be retreading common ground

radiostatic friendship had to have broken up for smth more ideological, it would honestly be a bit boring/disappointing if it was just over the unrequited romance aspect (but it was likely a contributing factor)

the fact that vox asked alastor to join his team gives a few clues

I think atp vox still thought positively of alastor while alastor’s opinion of vox was starting to deteriorate. Vox respected alastor enough to *ask* him to join, rather than manipulate or try to force him

if that’s the case, then whatever vox did that alastor hated likely wasn’t malicious (but knowing vox, it was still a bad/harmful thing)

it seems like the kind of situation where alastor showed discomfort and vox refused to change and didn’t understand what he was so mad about

what could vox have done that alastor disliked so much that it ruined a previously good friendship?

using people? Alastor does that

owning souls? Alastor does that

killing people? Alastor does that

associating with and enabling ppl like val? Maybe? It seems like an arbitrary line to draw, altho one of the comics shows alastor killing an attempted rapist

influencing people’s perception of them through media? Alastor does that, but maybe it was the difference of method that he didn’t like (hypnosis vs charisma)

being fake? Alastor does that but is better at it than vox (smiling to hide weakness)

being weak*? (*not just physically) Now we’re talking. Alastor hates weakness, both in other people and himself. He hates when people let their composure slip and tries to exploit any weakness he sees. Maybe it disgusted him to see someone he thought was strong actually prove to be weak, insecure, and pathetic

a combination of the last three seems the most plausible to me (especially considering what things alastor disses vox for in stayed gone), but I’m still struggling to come up with something that has the right amount of “oomph” to it

I’m curious what alastor initially liked about vox in the first place?

did he only like him bc he thought vox was stronger than he actually was?

has vox just changed so much over the years that the vox alastor formed a friendship with was basically a different person? That would make me curious about what sparked that change in vox—was it a particular incident or gradual corruption?

does alastor hate modernity because of vox or does he hate vox because of his modernity?

leaning twds the former, the way alastor speaks abt tech has a personal tinge to it

most of vox’s hostility twds alastor is prob due to what alastor did as rejection

supported by vox not having much variety of his insults in stayed gone

yes he’s pathetic and might be salty that he doesn’t return his feelings, but I feel like that’s not the whole explanation

does “I thought he was gone *for good* too” imply that alastor has previously disappeared or been shooed away by the vees and came back soon after?

“he owes us a lot more than money” + “things have changed a lot since he left town… …I gotta send a message of who’s really in charge of things now” = before he disappeared, alastor was previously in control, possibly by sabotaging the vees and overthrowing them?

I didn’t rlly mention “still pissed he almost beat you that time?” bc that had to have been after the fallout, so not as much to dig into there (this isn’t to say that I don’t desperately want a flashback of it lol)

hmmmmmmmnfgh… so many questions

I really hope their backstory has already been mostly planned out, bc it seems like something that would go poorly if you just made it up on the fly

[kaybreezy3000]

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Sometimes your fanfic best friend gives you a shout out in an anon ask reply, and then you get excited and make your quickest Five fanart and first-time sort of animation based on a pairing she mentioned and that you wrote years ago. 😄

Link to Bad Kitty's ask

Link to my other art and stories on Tumblr

Link to my long read/3-part Five Centric TUA story with Five paired with a character similar to the one above (and yes-she has Harley Quinn vibes but don't worry if you don't like her-she is not her, I just borrowed some of her wild and fun and qualities. 😉)

------

Updated note added late 6/28/24 after a continuous thread of harassing comments from one user that now has been blocked. No this is not 'AI' made or traced like that person repeatedly said it was. I did not steal someone else's art like they accused me of with no back up other than ripping me apart with more mean comments about what looks so bad about this. They also said my other art posts are 'AI,' and that I have no drawing skill or understanding of how clothes fold.

The AI accusation is a very mean thing to say and it's happening to so many people on here and in the actual profession art world. I do agree that I am not great at art or writing but that doesn't mean I am using AI and claiming it's mine. It's very sad that people feel the need to attack art in this way when it's clearly not even good like mine.

This picture/animation was done with me doing a very bad, very fast sketch, and then hardly correcting my lines before I quickly color filled the drawing that I MADE based off the fact that I have drawn Five in a suit more times than I can count and I have basic drawing skills, not great skills but basic. The reason the hard lines are both gray and black in some spots is because I went in after to correct stuff like gaps that needed to be filled for color filling and I did that in a different layer with black rather than the gray I used the first time. It's an error but one I was aware of but didn't care about because this was supposed to be fast and messy.

So yeah... this is NOT TRACED, and from what it was supposedly traced or 'stollen' from, I have no idea what this user thought that was because they never backed that up with some image that they seem so sure I used. This was based on Five with one of my original characters, so that image they claim I stole didn't exist until I made it.

I'm just trying to have fun with my friends on here while learning to draw better digitally. I am not an artist, and I definitely don't get paid or try to make people support me.

To those like the user who did this, please just chill with the mean comments and be kind to art makers on here and writers and all content posters. If you don't like something ignore it or keep your negativity inside instead of spreading hateful intentions and saying things that are not true about people and their work or their ideas.

Sorry to go off about that on here when it was just supposed to be silly and fun, but this stuff isn't okay and needs to be shut down. I am not always going to post 'proof' pictures of my works in process. I have done that before, but it's not what this is about for me, so I don't even think to do it normally. I have other art posts on AO3 with hand drawn stuff so I figure I don't need to prove I can draw. If someone wants proof, it isn't hard to find it through my posts.

I know most people are only here just for the fun stuff and let's have more of that. ❤️ Peace and love to you all.

[vitaminseetarot]

Quick General Advice for Your Situation (PAC)

One thing I want to mention is that all three piles had earthy palette cards with something spicy on the back of each pile's deck. This could have been the influence of Moon in Taurus as the lunar nodes are beginning to switch over to Aries. I'm sending frustration with all three piles but also a lot of passion and motivation.

Pick which earthy palette color you prefer for some quick guidance.

(piles 1, 2, 3 - images from pexels.com)

Spring Grass: XV Devil, Page of Swords, III Empress (Back: 3 of Wands)

The energy you're building up is leading you to seek out or attract new opportunities to travel to places you haven't experienced before. I'm sensing a strong draw towards what's new at this time, so it could be literal travel or you're seeking out a new experience overall. This could be a radical change from what you're used to. If you feel you're not in any position to travel soon, this may still be your pile, so hang on! Don't feel stuck! I'm letting you know now that plans can change quickly and spawn out of nowhere just as quickly. Your advice is to be in a state of expansion and open mindedness. Although 3 of wands is Aries energy, you're being asked to step into more Sagittarian energy of enthusiasm for adventure and optimism for brighter times. There might be a long period of time where this traveling doesn't happen even when you finally get itchy for it. That's because you need to sit down and do some planning. Make an itinerary, even for a fake trip. Look up photos, have conversations with people about it. Get in the mindset for it. Yes, it's possible to experience the impossible. But you have to be in a state of preparedness for it. Get your basic needs in working order so that when the opportunity does arrive, you'll be more than ready for it, inside and out.

Pink Quartz: Hermit, XIII Death, XVIII Moon (Back: 5 of Wands)

Even though you feel motivated enough to move forward, there's still tiny threads trying to pull you back into overthinking things. It can feel like you're busy when in reality your plans go nowhere because they're dead on arrival. It's one thing to be sparked by an idea, it's another to put it to print without losing what made you want to do it to begin with. I'm seeing an image of somebody sitting hunched over at their bench, writing down one sentence on a sheet of paper before crumpling it and starting again. This isn't a healthy mentality as you're not giving you and your imagination a chance. Your advice to be kinder to yourself by giving your inner vision more space to breathe. Being in stillness and sitting back with a blank canvas is part of the creation process and is in the end more productive than deleting the first page of your book over and over again. You have all three cards as major arcana, so learning this lesson will prove to be monumental to your life's overall progress.

Stone Brown: IV Emperor, III Empress, 7 of Swords (Back: 7 of Wands)

I think this pile is definitely experienced when it comes to making big plans and carrying them through. It seems the one thing that motivates you most is the feeling of "this has to be done, whether or not I like it." You put on a strict poker face only to fall apart as soon as no one's looking. Please let me tell you, pile 3, that you do not always have to be strong for everyone else. It's beautiful for you to see yourself as an important part of what makes life work, that your skills and patience are needed and appreciated. But all the praise in the world won't make up for that hollow feeling of coming home and realizing that you have to be strong for yourself, too. Your advice is similar to pile 2. You need to greatly soften your approach. Allow other people to pick up the pace and help you every now and then. Especially if there are many moving parts and you get into "octopus mode" of needing to be involved in all the cogs of the wheel. It shouldn't always be equal work, going out and dealing with people, then dealing with yourself. When you need time for yourself, take the chance. Ground yourself through nurturing and soothing habits at home, something that lets you take off the "big boss" mask for a while.

[thiefking]

i need to draw/speak more of my narutos. "my narutos" meaning specifically the versions of every character that exist in my head, of course. i wanna draw hinata and gaara (besties of all time) especially. because other than the fact that they have the most fully realized design changes in my head, they are perhaps the defining aspect of My narutos, as opposed to everyone else's. their friendship to me is like "ok i'm going out...! (wearing some extremely Please Don't Look At Me outfit)" "not dressed like that you're not." "better? (she is now gothed the fuck out with an invader zim handbag)" "yas bitch slay." this is how they work. to me

i want to draw Literally Exactly That what i just described there as a meme but i do also kind of want to write or draw sometjing more substantial because i am The Hinata And Gaara Understander. as individual characters and as a pair of besties. amd i need to explain to others why it makes perfect sense because i just Know that i am one of extremely few to look at these two, of all characters, and deduce that the character arc hinata SHOULD have had is one that would be so obvious to gaara & something he would encourage. or maybe the only one, but the fandom is/was so big that it feels statistically unlikely... if we're talking CURRENT fandom i may actually be uniquely insane about this. i don't know for sure i haven't really interacted with the fandom i've been fucking around in my own skull this whole time that's how i even arrived at "hinagaara bffs" in the first place

but like... listen. hinata's thing is basically (in an inconsistent, half-baked, and never fully realized form): "i can change to improve myself and finally meet everyone else's standards and prove them wrong...!" as she is trying to emulate naruto. ... "prove them wrong", but she is not subverting anything if she meets an expectation that was explicitly set. hinata is not naruto. naruto's expectations were that he is worthless and nothing and not worth having any expectations for in the first place, and basically all of konoha thought this way. if naruto accomplishes basically anything at all he proves someone wrong, even if just a little. hinata had expectations set on her, specifically by her family, that she is not meeting. even though what hinata WANTS to do is prove them wrong, what she is fundamentally DOING is trying to please them by doing exactly what they want her to do. yes, when they think she won't even meet their lowest expectation and she does meet it, she is TECHNICALLY proving them wrong... but she isn't really achieving meaningful personal growth by doing this, is she? all she has done is meet their standards and essentially fall into their evil ghoul trap and accept EVEN MORE PRESSURE as a "reward" because now that she finally met this one single goal, they can move the goalpost. she will only ever be the failure who occasionally surprises them, she will always be lagging behind the others, and every single time she fails she gets sent back to square 1 in their eyes. meeting all their expectations or even surpassing them entirely is always going to feel hollow and fragile, because in the back of her mind, if she slips even once she has to do it all over again. she deserves better than constant paranoia

gaara (and pretty specifically gaara) can rightfully point out the problem with hinata's current mindset because hinata's hardships are way closer to GAARA'S than naruto's, to be honest. it's not lacking a family; it's having a family that doesn't feel like a family, and that family isolating one child and encouraging the others to treat them like shit so that one child never has anyone on their own level when they're at home and they are constantly forced to be aware they lack some ambiguous something that seemingly everyone else has that would make them "worthy" of being loved by their own family

hold on let me put yhe rest under a readmore this post is long as fuck

the hyuugas treat hinata like shit and call her weak, and because her parents gladly and openly call her weak and because she's supposed to be heiress to the clan, her sister and neji (the only family who were close enough in age and rank to not intimidate) were made to hate her, think she is weak, be jealous of and resent her for being heiress despite her weakness, and treat her like shit like the other hyuugas do, thus completely isolating her within her family. and rasa treated gaara like shit and had given up on him LONG before he snapped (let's be fucking real here if gaara had to learn that "love" makes emotional pain feel better at age SIX... and not to mention the entire yashamaru """plan""" was utterly and blatantly fucking NONSENSE on all levels like nice going rasa you just turned your kid almost irreversibly insane... seemingly on purpose...? i can only assume it was on purpose and you just wanted to be a spiteful bitch to the kid who killed your wife because literally what else did you think was going to happen with that but that's a rant for another time.), he tacitly encouraged temari and kankuro to not even bother with gaara and to be afraid of him like everyone else is because RASA was also OBVIOUSLY SCARED and not only that he was constantly literally trying to murder gaara so temari and kankuro also had reason to believe from a very young age that associating with him might make rasa treat THEM like that too, essentially forced gaara to straight up kill his uncle who was the ONLY family member he had who talks to him like he isn't a monster (and inexplicably decided that he should also tell gaara outright that he is not and was never loved by anyone), etc etc etc; gaara was also isolated within his own family and made to be the odd one out, over and over again. naruto knows what it's like not having a family at all, but he never experienced having family— non-metaphorical, blood relation, "entire reason you were born" family— who hates you. naruto knows how it feels to be neglected and feared by an entire village, that's how he relates to gaara. hinata was hated by her own family, the people she depended on for life itself, but she was never hated by the village at large, even if she perceives herself to be. naruto can empathize with this and put himself in her shoes, but like... gaara KNOWS, firsthand, what hinata is experiencing. that is why gaara is fairly uniquely capable of pointing out the problem Very Directly because he would see it way faster than anyone else

naruto could see it too, and he could say all the same things, but he wouldn't do it how gaara would. and i think hinata needs to hear someone speak to her, bluntly and authoritatively, and say "you deserve better than this." because normally whenever she hears someone (her own family) speak to her bluntly in an authoritative tone they're telling her she's weak and pathetic and subpar and needs to improve, and every time she is spoken to like that she believes them and marks that weakness off as something to fix. hearing incredibly matter-of-fact validation and encouragement spoken the exact same way primes her to believe that encouragement, and now her compulsive need to please people who speak to her that way is going to force her, even fleetingly, to take it seriously. especially because gaara would tell her something she is doing wrong, which will feel familiar, but he actually has HER best interests in mind. there is no benefit or advantage for him if she succeeds. he is unaffiliated, not even from konoha, he gains nothing from it. gaara doesn't tell her to try harder nor to give up and accept mediocrity. gaara tells her it's okay to give up and try something else, and sometimes it's the people around you who are the ones who need to change, not you.

gaara looks at "i will change myself to prove myself to others", and he says instead: "you need to stop caring what other people think about you and stop morphing yourself to their perception. just because YOU aren't doing that in a 'if you all want to call me a monster then fine, i'll be a monster' kind of way, like i did, that doesn't mean that isn't still an unhealthy way to think. you should figure out who YOU are and live as who YOU are, unapologetically, until they get the point that they can either accept you as you are and realize they were wrong, or they can fuck off. this is a situation where it is Not Your Fucking Problem that other people are disappointed with you especially because of how hard you've already been working to try and meet their arbitrary standards. this isn't about talent or hard work. this is about whether you even Want to be doing what everyone else wants you to do. and it is difficult and terrifying and lonely to be the only person who knows who you really are. it is hard work to figure it out and it is hard work to convince others, and at times it will feel hopeless. so i won't let you be the alone. i won't let you have to try and fail all alone, like i did. i will be your first victory, i will give you listening ears, i will be your silent dressing room mirror while you try on different hats before you figure out which one fits, i will be here and i will not judge you or decide on your behalf who you are, and i will be your family if no one else will. literally. if they cast you out you can come home to me. temari and kankuro have already accepted me as i am, i'm sure they'll accept you as you are too"

and then with time and gentle coaxing hinata decides to stop trying to be what her family wanted her to be and starts being a goth weirdgirl and pursues her interests in mycology and psychology and entomology and starts fucking THRIVING

i could go on forever. i should stop now or i never will. some of the parallels between them or the reasons that gaara would specifically want to support her in the specific ways i envision came about entirely from headcanon (coughs. even more headcanon than... the rest of this... coughs) and i FORGET that it's headcanon. for example "gaara created his good reputation in sunagakure through brute force good deeds. like people were so scared of him that they wouldn't let him CASUALLY prove that he was trying to be better, so he basically had to scare them even more just to prove that he was no longer scary. things like using his sand to hold people in place... so that he can physically put money into their hands and say 'this is yours and you will take it and use it to pay rent and buy your child that toy he wants. i do not want anytjing in return and i will be leaving you alone now.' because otherwise people would run away before he even gets the chance to be nice. literally just has to hold them still and pointedly do something nice for them and then let them go without hurting them while they tremble in misplaced terror like he;s a wildlife vet wrangling an injured seagull". this is part of why he would say "be unapologetically you and they can accept that and realize they were wrong about you to begin with, or they can fuck off". NONE OF THAT is explicitly canon... but there is so much & it makes perfect sense to me. aauuugaghh hinata my hinata my hinagaara besties my hinata. i could go on and on and on and on. goddammit I WILL GIVE HER THE CHARACTER ARC SHE NEEDS & DESERVES... GIVE HER TO ME KISHIMOTO.... WHAT IF THE FACT THAT HINATA HAS 3 PERSONALITY TRAITS IN CANON ACTUALLY MEANT SOMETHING AND WASN'T JUST BECAUSE YOU, MASASHI KISHIMOTO, SELF-ADMITTEDLY DO NOT KNOW HOW TO WRITE WOMEN? WOULDN'T THAT BE SO MUCH LESS EMBARRASSING FOR YOU? I CAN MAKE IT REAL! I CAN MAKE IT MEANINGFUL!!!! I CAN MAKE IT ABOUT REPRESSION!!!! I CAN MAKE IT ABOUT WORKING HARD TO BE WHO YOU WANT TO BE, AND SAYING "SCREW YOU" TO PEOPLE WHO TRY AND DECIDE WHO YOU ARE ON YOUR BEHALF, AND THE REJECTION OF THE STATUS QUO, AND EMBRACING THE THINGS THAT MAKE YOU DIFFERENT AND MAKING USE WHAT UNIQUE STRENGTHS YOU HAVE INSTEAD OF TRYING TO MATCH WHAT EVERYONE ELSE IS DOING, AND HOW HUMAN LIVES ARE INHERENTLY VALUABLE EVEN IF EVERYONE AROUND YOU SAYS YOURS IS WORTH NOTHING!!! JUST LIKE WHAT NARUTO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!! I CAN EVEN SPICE IT UP A BIT AND USE MY MAGICAL WOMAN-UNDERSTANDING POWERS TO MAKE IT ABOUT HOW WOMEN ARE ACTUALLY JUST REGULAR PEOPLE WHO ARE AS VARIED AS MEN AND HOW THE SOCIETAL CONCEPTS OF WOMANHOOD AND PROPER WOMANLY BEHAVIOUR ARE RESTRICTIVE AND OPPRESSIVE, AND THE MANY WAYS THAT SOCIETY WILL FORCE TOTAL CONFORMITY AND PUNISH EVERYONE WHO STEPS OUTSIDE OF THAT FRAME (AND EVEN THOSE WHO REMAIN WITHIN)!!! I CAN MAKE IT ABOUT COMPULSORY HETEROSEXUALITY!!!! I KNOW YOU'RE AFRAID OF GIRLS MR KISHIMOTO WILL IT MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER IF I ALSO MAKE IT ABOUT NEJI WATCHING HINATA COMPLETELY REJECT HER CAGE AND DISCOVER HERSELF AND HOW HE FEELS ABOUT IT AND MAYBE JUST COVER YOUR EARS WHEN I START TALKING ABOUT EGGS!!!!!! MR KISHIMOTOOOOOO PLEEEEEEEASE

[wonderful-magician]

OK do you ship dinahboose and if you do I NEED YOUR THOUGHTS. ( I saw you where analyzing ceeb’s characterization sooo) if not just use this as a free space to ramble about something else idk 💀

it is 1:am but I am so desperate to ramble and I also will take any excuse to draw any ship I like ever which is almost too many so excuse me if I sound nonsensical

^^!!

OKAY I LOVE DINAHBOOSE obv I've been into this musical for a total of 2 weeks or so- so I'm still scrounging every bit of Information on these guys that I can. And I've done wayyy more research on CB than I have Dinah ( he has a lot more to look at though ) but these two just make sense to me. They just make sense. Opposites but not opposites. They are confusing and they are both confused. But at least they can hold hands while confused.

Personally I struggle to ever hate or dislike ships unless there's like a blindingly obvious reason to dislike a ship. But dinahboose is probably my second favorite ship so far for StEx ( Electraboose has 1st place and Krupp/purse has 3rd )

Totally not gonna use this to talk about my personal rewrite of StEx.. specifically C.B. because I don't want to make a post just for it LMAO.

So yeah I've been basically studying C.B. ( or, I guess caboose because he hasn't been called C.B in a long time... but C.B has more personality.. ) and my version of C.B. is probably a horrible amalgamation of OLC and 2015 Bochum. Because I love radio aesthetics and the Dinah friendship but I also love the toy soldier aesthetic and absolutely batshit laugh ( I also love it when C.B. is played by somebody too flexible for their own good ) hes just a glorified circus clown on wheels with a radio set strapped to his head.

And I wish I could pretend that I understand cutting him but I do and I don't and I do. Because I honestly feel like C.B in the original does more than Electra lmao. But I don't think cutting people is the solution most the time tbh.

Okay onto more half asleep rambling that is likely to change because I'm still in the early stages of this rewrite. But. I recognize that C.B. has some issues. The one most of my friends point out is that he seemingly has no motive. He just... Is silly I guess. And I think this is a bit funny because I do like an antagonist with the motive of " it would be funny " , but at the same time. Kind of hard to make that character very ...er... Well I'll just say it does get a bit boring.

Something I also heard was that in the reasons C.B. has been cut was because caboose's aren't exactly used anymore, which is totally fair!

But could also totally be a motivation! Think about it, why is C.B still working? Still working with the freight despite essentially being useless? Because greaseball wants to keep him around to use him for cheating. Easy! Obviously none of this could easily be translated to the show. But for some comics/writings? Yes. Yes.

Think about it. Rusty is struggling, he feels a bit useless because steam is falling behind! So he tries to win and prove himself. But who else feels useless because of their job being replaced? C.B. but unlike rusty, C.B takes the other path, instead of trying to be a role model and win or prove himself. He just goes down the path of crime. And hey, he's probably a crazy adrenaline junky too so he's still doing it for the fun!

And why does he betray greaseball? Plenty of reasons. C.B might dislike greaseball because of poor treatment, he might dislikes greaseball for his treatment of Dinah, he probably just wants to get the adrenaline high of betraying him in the first place. Maybe to prove that he's important and needed because if he doesn't help, greaseball will lose. And he wants to hold it over him for his own personal desire of self importance. Who knows. He's a complicated little clown he is.

Ok anyway yeah I'm like the #3 Dinahboose supporter I will draw them more hehbehehehee

[skadiloki]

The Wolf Cried Hope pt.2 preview

A/N:Okay,as the current title suggests it's only a preview of what I have for the next part. Y'all peep the title tho?👀 I didn't have one picked out as a final decision so I asked @tarjapearce for some help and she really came in with the clutch with this one,I will forever appreciate you babes. I'm having some trouble coming up with some ideas cause school just started and I'm vehemently looking for a job...it's rough out here where I'm at but fret not chillren I'm trying my best🫠🥺 Hopefully I'll be able to push out this part soon. Fingers crossed ����

If I do this you'll leave us alone?

Soldier Boy:You have my word. I mean unless you want something more,with me of course.

What makes you think I want anything with you old man? I'm bettin those brittle bones of yours couldn't handle half the kinds of things women do today. Your ass would probably need some viagra for that erectile dysfunction ya got goin on. Poor you.

Soldier:For your information little girl I don't need that blue shit in order to help me get my dick up.

If you say so gramps.

Soldier Boy:So you in or out sweetheart?

*Sigh* Fine but I'm only doing this for dad.

Soldier Boy:Then it's settled. Now lead me the fuck out of here. A person could get lost in this place.

Yeah if you don't know the layout of it. *I push off my doorframe and shut the door behind me* Come along.

*As I move past him and when he turns to follow me his eyes travel down my body right to my ass*

Soldier Boy:Mm,damn. *He trails behind me just to draw his hand back to give it a good healthy slap but when he tries he's met with an invisible force of sorts* What in the fuck?

I had a feeling you'd do something like that.

Soldier Boy:What the hell was that?

That is what you call Infinity. It's basically the space between us that I can physically bring forth and use it as something like a shield.

Soldier Boy:Why in the hell would you do that?

Are you serious? *I stop and turn around* You've been eyeing me like T-bone ever since I walked into the kitchen. There was no way in hell I'd be that stupid to not have my Infinity up,especially around you. One you look like a man who openly slaps any woman with an ass on the side of the street and two you're radioactive.

Soldier Boy:Just because I appreciate a good ass doesn't mean I'd slap any woman's ass.

Yes,because you clearly tried to prove my point by slapping me in said ass. You could've fooled me.

A/N:Tagging those who read the last part just so y'all know I didn't forget about y'alls...even though some of y'all didn't asked to be😅 @reignsboy19 @thebumbqueen @ilovewithfictionalmen @winchesterwild78 @chriszgirl92

[messenger-of-stupidity]

Can the Redacted Characters Skateboard

Hi and welcome back to bullshit that I wrote while on a hiatus to avoid actually working on WIPs and then shoved into my scheduled posting so i didnt have to worry about it. 

Also if this has already previously been done, can someone please tell me so I can delete it because i dont wanna be a content thief. That always fucking sucks. (I say as I make up things about characters that Erik made up.)

Redacted Masterlist

OKAY LETS GOOO

Starting off strong with the Shaw pack and their respective partners.

David: Man had zero interest in actually learning to skateboard. He preferred learning to drive or ride a bike if he needed transportation. But he learned it with Asher when they were kids. Since being able to drive though he stopped practicing and now he’s rusty. He can skate and do basic ollies but that’s it.

Angel: No. They are clumsy. They get on a skateboard and immediately fall over. Wrap them in bubble wrap because they will get hurt but they will continue trying because they’re stubborn as all hell.

Asher: Yes. I headcanon he’s a skater boy so fucking hard you don’t understand. Man got obsessed with skating when he was in fifth grade and begged David to learn how to skate with him. He got so many injuries, Marie told him that she wouldn’t heal him for his skating injuries anymore. But he kept at it and when David started driving, he would be skitching to David’ car/truck all the fucking time. He also knows how to make his own boards and do a bunch of cool tricks.

Baabe: Baabe started to learn skating in middle school but then stopped. Asher taught them when they got together and now they go to skate parks and go on skating dates every now and then. it’s very cute. Asher made them a matching board to his.

Milo: No. This man sits on a board and uses both his feet and hands to make it move. He can at least balance on it unlike Angel but don’t ask him to push. He will fail and he will fall into traffic.

Sweetheart: They were able to skate in middle school but then stopped because they kept going invisible while on the street and people would try to stop a runaway skateboard. It ended up getting them and others injured so then they stopped. Now they’re too busy to see if they still retain any of their basic street skills.

Darlin: Abso-fucking-lutely. This is their main mode of transportation when they aren’t running. They continuously try to skate through the woods and fail every time because it’s not a stable enough surface. However they are a longboard user since they view street boards as hella cliche and they refuse. Also they like asking Asher to make longboards since he dislikes making the fuckers.

Sam: Yes. Especially post-turning. Man has reflexes and can make the skateboard go zoom with his vamp speed. But he doesn’t do it anymore because skateboarding at night can be kinda dangerous due to low visibility and he doesn’t like drawing attention to himself. 

Arden: yes. I just get skater girl vibes from her. I can’t explain why. But I could see Asher making her an eggboard cruiser.

Christian: No. He tried to learn so he could be better than Asher but he fails harder than Angel. Everyone thought it wasn’t possible, but he proved them wrong. Congrats Christian.

Amanda: No. She didn’t have any interest in learning.

Now onto the Solaire vamps!

William: I wanna say yes simply for the mental image of this fabulous man skating down the street while Vincent and Sam stare on in shocked horror, but Imma have to say no. He will finance skateboards, but he doesn’t know. Darlin did try to teach him how to skate with a longboard but he looked at the board then at them and politely declined.

Vincent: Are you kidding me? Of course this flamboyant fucker knows how to skate. He only got better when he was turned. He prefers driving cars, but he likes skitching to one of his cars while Lovely is driving. It’s very fun. But he continuously tries to do tricks with a longboard and fails every time since that’s not what they’re made for. He’s too stubborn to stop though. His streetboard is so scratched up please get it some TLC.

Lovely: They’re in the process of learning because Baabe and Asher told them about their skate dates and they think that’s cute. Vincent is a horrible teacher though so their learning is going very slowly.

Alexis: No. This is commoner activities and therefore below her.

Adam: No. He’s missing a head. Usually pretty important when one wishes to skate. Thoughts and prayers dude.

DAMN squad!

Huxley: FUCK YES! This dude is a skateboarding king. He has a cruiser though since he just likes the chill vibes of cruising everywhere. It’s especially helpful on campus.

Damien: No and it frustrates him to no end. Huxley has tried teaching him, but he’s not able to pick it up. And everytime he gets frustrated he ends up damaging the deck so he stopped trying.

Lasko: No. He’s way too anxious to be confident about his balance so he always falls whenever he tries to put his foot on the back deck. He’s content with just walking, thank you.

Lasko’s listener (Kinda excited to see what pet name they get.): Yes. The confidence that is dripping (heh get it?) from this being is tangible, even from just one video. They seem pretty confident in their abilities, so that would serve them well for skating. Whether I think they do skate or not is still kinda up in the air. I can kinda see them being like that on tiktok teacher who skates around in the building ona  cruiser. They give off a really chill teacher vibes (They literally wanted to start up a workplace romance, that seems pretty chill to me) so I could see them cruising down the hall with a stack of graded papers in their bag. Also they would totally skate during a storm. They’re a water elemental so they can probably control the element enough to make sure their wheels don’t slip too much. Lasko did say they were pretty good at their magic, so I could see them having that level of control.

Freelancer: Yes. Huxley taught them, so they only know about cruisers, but they’re okay with this. They get to cruise around campus and everything and it makes them feel cool. 

Gavin: He has no need for it, but Freelancer has been begging him so he relents. Huxley and Freelancer are teaching him right now. It’s slow going since he would much rather just tease them both though.

Caelum: No. He can’t. But he’s very energetic when following after Freelancer when he can. He’s happy they found another activity that helps loosen the knots inside them. He’s a hype-boyo. 

Meridian and Sovereign storyliners!

Vega: No. It’s a human custom so therefore he has zero interest in it. Also it holds no purpose to further his goals so why would he bother learning?

Warden: No. They were too busy to learn how and they also didn’t really care. It’s just a skateboard, but there are people that need their help. Also they’re too busy trying to fight off the never ending hunger.

Avior: He’s wanted to learn but has been a bit busy the past several months/hour. 

Starlight: They know the basic push and ollies so they can easily get around but that’s it. They’ve been a bit busy too. Plus they like walking. It’s good for them.

Cam: (he needs to be here for organization sake) He has a cruiser. It’s nice to be able to to take a small break and just go past some flowers or parks and soak up how everyone is having a pretty good day. He doesn’t get the chance very often though sadly.

Asset: Yes but only because they know everything and have the ability to go through with it. They have never stepped foot on a skateboard and don’t have any plans to.

Marcus: No he’s a whiny little baby bitch. He would fall into traffic.

James: No, he’s a runner not a skater. But we respect him for it.

James listener: Yes. They don’t wanna be a marathon runner like James, but they wanna be able to go with him during his runs so they have a cruiser and they know how to use it. That’s it though.

Anton: Yes. I can feel it in my bones, if the workplace was more chill he would have an eggboard and that would be how he’d get around within the facility.

Anton’s listener: No. I get a gentle plant parent vibe from them. But they like seeing how content Anton gets when he gets to skate.

Brian: (i think that’s his name) No. He just wants to go home to his family bro. Plus he plays tennis (hc). Being a tennis player makes him above skaters. (lovingly said.)

Blake: Yes and he’s annoyingly good at it. He impresses his listener every time he does because they always think he’s not gonna be any good and then he proves them otherwise. Whether they’re dreaming or not when they see this and are impressed is unimportant. What’s important is that he impresses them and has their attention. What, are you not feeling drowsy? Don’t worry about that, look at this cool flip he can do.

Blake’s Listener: They have a skateboard that they have not touched since 3rd grade. So no, they cannot. They don’t remember and they didn’t practice long enough as a kid for it to be in any kind of muscle memory.

Elliot: Absolutely. This is another born, raised, and bred skater boy. He loves putting stickers all over the underside of his deck. It looks like someone vomited the definition of multi-fandom all over it. He also needs to get a new board before his deck snaps in half, but he’s too attached to it to do so.

Sunshine: Yes. After their accident, they were a bit scared to drive again so they learned how to skate in an effort of alternate modes of transportation. It was a necessity. But they met Elliot at a skate park when they were practicing turning and he helped them out. They became friends and then you know how the story goes.

Brachium: No. He has no access but Sunshine has told him about skating and he’s happy for them.

Unempowered! 

Aaron: He got interested when Elliot got obsessed and he tried it out but then decided against actually dedicating time to learn. But he gave Elliot stickers to put on the deck.

Smartass: Aaron mentioned that he gave up learning while Smartass was half-asleep. The next morning they went out and bought a board to prove that they were going to learn and be better than Aaron. So they’re in the process of learning and everytime they feel like giving up because it offers nothing for them besides bragging rights, spite makes them continue. We wish them luck on their spiteful journey.

Ollie: No he doesn’t. He was more into playing board games inside then going outside to learn how to skateboard or anything. He knows his name is related to a skating maneuver but that wasn’t enough to make him have any interest.

Baby (Ollie): No. They’re content with playing board games with Ollie. They like being indoors instead of outdoors anyways.

Ivan: He learned but never put his skills to use. So theoretically he knows how to skate but we aren’t sure.

Baby (Pre-Vega’s Ivan): Yes. They learned with Ivan, and actually put the skills to use. So they do know how to skate and it’s a fun hobby for them to learn new little tricks.

Baby (post-Vega’s Ivan): No. They don’t. They didn’t have any interest and still don’t even after being freed and memory modified. Skateboarding isn’t for everyone and that’s fine.

Guy: yes and he’s horrible at it. He knows how but he likes messing up because then he can go to Honey about his “boo-boos”s and try to convince them to kiss the scrapes and bruises better. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

Honey: Yes and they’re good at it. Their favorite thing to do when just skating around is a Dragon flip (also known as the 360 dolphin flip) they think it’s fun and they would do it continuously if they could. But every chance they get, they’re at least doing a dozen of them.

Geordi: He’s too anxious to actually be confident (like Lasko) but he really wants to learn. It seems less exhausting than running. He also thinks it looks cool.

Cutie: No they can’t, and street boarders thoughts are a bit too intense for them to even want to learn or try. They know Geordi wants to try, but they aren’t going to mention skateboarding because then they would have to worry about Geordi’s thoughts getting like the street boarder’s. 

Regulus: He’s invisible, we will never know if he’s a secret skater boy. He’s very good at doing flips inside your mind though.

Regulus Listener (Precious I think they’re called? Getting Gollum vibes ngl): Why do you need to go outside? Inside you can be with Regulus. That’s all you want, not to see if you can skate. Inside with Regulus, safe from those who want to take him away from you. To separate the two of you. Why are you crying? Oh, he understands. Those are tears of joy aren’t they? Don’t worry, he’ll wipe them from you as he makes you lay dormant to his every whim. Isn’t this the life you wanted?

[thana-topsy]

WIP Wednesday!

Thank you to @mareenavee for the tag! I tag @expended-sleeper @viss-and-pinegar @anxious--ace @kookaburra1701 and @moriche

WELL this is a WIP that may never see the light of day, honestly. It takes place during [vague hand gesture] but sometime after Halfway to the Sky ends. Honestly, I just kind of wanted to write Aiden and Harukar talking and getting to know each other outside of everything that had happened on their journey. So, I've cut out the bits that spoil how HttS ends, but have a Giant Nerd and a Vampire basically going on a date:

Word count: 1267

---

"But indulge me, if you will: what would you be doing had Sarel never come to you?”

Aiden raised an eyebrow. “You say that as if you don’t know the truth of his arrival.” 

“It’s neither here nor there. He’s in your life regardless. So, tell me about yourself. What are your interests? What drives you, outside of parenthood?”

“Is this a date, now?” 

Harukar gave another small shrug, and Aiden felt heat rise in his cheeks. Implications of their non-date aside, it was a good question. Aiden was slightly terrified at the fact that he didn’t have an answer readily available. 

“I’ve always wanted to prove myself as a scholar. I’m no great mage, but I know the theory behind most schools of magic backwards and forwards. It makes me a good enough teacher, but teaching isn’t really my passion.”

“So, what is?”

Aiden thought for a long moment, letting the question roll through his mind. “Research, I suppose. History. I feel most at home surrounded by books and manuscripts. Piecing together clues from the past, finding parallels between different theories, drawing new conclusions. It’s thrilling to prove an old theorem wrong.” He groaned. “That sounds so pathetic, I know.”

“Not at all. The life of an academic is attractive to many people.”

“I just wanted to do something that had never been done before—ask questions other scholars were too afraid to ask. I just wanted to find the thing that would change the history books, something attributed to me. People would hear the name ‘Aiden’ and their first thought would be of me, and not the damn Direnni Prince!” 

“How many siblings did you have?” Harukar asked. 

The question caught Aiden off guard. “Er, four. I was the…” And then it dawned on him. “Middle child.” He sighed and covered his eyes with his hands. “I’m pathetic, aren’t I?”

“You speak terribly of yourself so often. It frustrates me. And, if I’m honest, it makes me rather angry with whoever it was that put these thoughts into your head.”

“Would it be better if I spoke too highly of myself? Thought myself Auri-El’s gift to Mundus?”

“There’s a third option, you know.”

Aiden smiled and took a sip of wine. “What about you? What would you be doing now had you never become a vampire?”

“Well, I’d most likely be dead, considering I’m about two hundred years past my expiration.”

 Aiden snorted into his cup. “Fair point.” He chuckled and wiped droplets of wine from his cheek. 

Harukar appeared to think for a moment. “I probably would have died a warrior with the Ash’abah. We aren’t known for our long lifespans. So, in many ways, my affliction afforded me the ability to do much more than I might have otherwise been able to. And, despite everything, I feel that I’ve been able to do a lot of good. So I’m thankful, in the end.”

“Do you ever get tired of trying to constantly see the good in life?”

Harukar smiled. “No. Nor do I tire of trying to see the good in people.”

Aiden flushed with unwanted heat once more. “So, you said that you’ve had children, adopted or otherwise. I assume they’re all grown up?” 

“Or dead, now, yes.” 

“Dead?” 

It was Harukar who averted his eyes now. “The unfortunate aspect of having a long life. I pity elves who take human partners.”

“Ah, yes. I worried about that with Collette. Briefly, that is. Our relationship—” Aiden bit his tongue. The wine was loosening his lips already. “Well, that is to say, if you could call what we had a relationship, it didn’t last very long. So it’s less of a worry, now.”

“Collette?” Harukar tilted his head curiously. 

“She was basically a mother to Sarel. We’d… attempted a relationship before I began my research into the Falmer, but of course it ended in disaster. As all my relationships do.”

“And how many have you had?” 

What a shameful question with an equally shameful answer. “Three, I suppose. If you count a teenage fling that lasted less than a month. And then the second one was with a fellow student when I was at the College of Sapiarchs. They all end the same way: her being the first to call it off. I just—I never seem to know what they want from me!”

“Pardon?”  

“Women. They confuse and elude me,” Aiden confessed, taking another long sip of wine. “I think I’m better off alone.”

Harukar wore a strange look, seeming to take a long moment to study Aiden. “Forgive me, this may be too forward, but… I had assumed you preferred men.”

Aiden snapped to sit up straight, letting out a too-loud laugh. “What? Why?” 

Harukar gave another one of his infuriating little shrugs. “Just a feeling, I suppose.”

“Well, I’m not. I don’t.” He hesitated. “At least, I don’t think I am… or do. I’ve never—”

Don’t lie to his face, Aiden. 

Ah, of course, it had been too long since his little Daedroth had interjected. 

We both know the fantasies that occupy your mind, alone, with only your hand to keep you company.

Aiden cleared his throat. “Even if a man showed interest in me, I’m not sure I’d even know what to do.” This conversation was getting out of hand. 

“I find it’s very much the same, regardless of sex or gender. The mechanics vary slightly, is all.”

“You mean, you’ve—” Aiden tried not to gape. “You’re—?”

“I’ve had many partners in my life so far. Men and women, and a few that fell somewhere in-between. I don’t really have a preference. It all depends on the person.”

“Oh… So, then—er—what do you find attractive in a partner?” 

Harukar hummed thoughtfully, looking off and to the right. “I like those with a quick wit. I rarely hold back my own sarcasm, so someone who doesn’t feel put off by that kind of humor. I also tend to be drawn towards more…bookish types. I think, being raised a warrior, I seek my opposite in a lot of ways.” 

“You can’t be serious.” 

“I very much am.” There was a playful glint in Harukar’s glowing eyes. “I’m also attracted to passionate people. Those who have a spark for life, one might say.”

“Is that—” Aiden did manage to catch himself that time and clamped his mouth shut. 

“Is that what?”

“Sorry, no. That… I feel like that would have come out wrong. It would have been rude.” 

Aiden might as well live with his foot in his mouth, he could hear his sister saying. Anything he thinks, he says. (It had been many, many years since she’d made that observation, and Aiden had thought that he’d improved since then.)

“Now I’m curious.” 

“I was going to ask if the attraction to… that ‘spark for life’, as you said, was because you were…” Aiden gestured vaguely in his direction. 

“Ahh, because I’m undead.”

Aiden smiled, though it was more of a grimace. 

To his relief, Harukar laughed. “You should have just said it. It would have been funny. It’s one of the things I like about you.” 

“That I have the chronic ability to fit my entire foot in my mouth?”

“Mmm, I understand it’s a quality that’s probably unbecoming of an Altmer.” Harukar leaned on the table, propping his chin in his hand. “But I find it charming… most of the time, at least.”

He finds you charming. He’s attracted to men, he likes bookish types, and he finds you charming.

Most of the time…

Aiden cleared his throat before refilling his tankard with another heavy pour of wine. 

--- These fucking guys...

[juhbebbie]

Okayyyyy so City of the Dead thoughts for anyone who cares

Was I disappointed? My expectations weren't super high so I guess not, but the super overdramatic self pitying narration threw me off quite a bit. Like okay man chill out a bit. Kind of expected to not see Layla until the end so I guess there I was disappointed but not surprised. Fingers crossed she will be a central character from here on out and not a one and done thing in the series.

Okay elephant in the room time. I know a lot of people have been saying they REALLY did not like it and I really cannot blame them, but also I'm trying to stay hopeful because it just the first issue. I'm hesitant to get pissed off over the total lack of Jake and Steven just yet, when in Mackay's series neither made an appearance until like a year into the run. Yes this series isn't going to be nearly as long, but still. That being said, no I definitely don't expect Moon Knight to really be shown as a system, but I'm gonna give Prepose a couple more issues to prove me wrong (the bar is on the floor). Mainly just because I feel like it would be hypocritical of me to denounce Prepose for not including them and then praise Mackay when it took him 12 issues to really acknowledge that they are a system. I'm going to give Prepose a chance since he wrote a pretty good Black, White, and Blood story that did have them shown as a system in a pretty cool way imo.

All this to say that I'm not trying to undermine anyone else's concerns, this is just my own opinion and trust me, based on what little interviews I've read I fully expect Jake and Steven to be completely ignored and if (and when) that happens I will be right there with the rest of yall lol. I will say that it's already very clear that the set up so far was not written with the intention of having a place for Steven or Jake, which is very disappointing.

Okay positive things! I enjoyed seeing Dr Badr a lot and i didn't have much of an issue with how he and Marc's relationship was portrayed. Yes in the main run they're closer now, but they are still very much at odds but willing to work together towards a common goal, which is exactly what we see here in this issue.

I also liked where the thing with the kid is going. The detail of him being kicked out after his brother's death definitely makes me think he's going to be a reflection of Marc, which would be a cool parallel to have.

And the art for the most part was really gorgeous! I don't know what the hell was going on with Layla there at the end (otherwise great male artists not knowing how to draw women), but other than that I REALLY loved how the actual city looked.

And the Egyptian mythology was actually a lot more accurate than it usually is, which, as someone who has always been a total nerd about that stuff, actually made me really happy. There are several specific things I wanted to point out but this post is long enough as is.

Also. "I don't care if I burn" that was badass as shit come on. One of the (admittedly several!) moments of overdramatic writing that came off very well kind of like how it does in the Mackay run (don't wanna compare this too much to the Mackay run though because I understand it's obviously going to be different and that's fine)

But yeah. The overall feel and tone was very... off. I was on board with the general plot and Marc's motivations but everything around the basic plot structure just seemed like Prepose was trying to do a weird Huston run thing and it wasn't working (I don't think it worked in the Huston run either but I digress).

I've seen people saying that they didn't like how Marc was an enthusiastic follower of Khonshu, but that wasn't really the vibe I got at all? If anything it was pretty clear how much he hated everything he was doing. Which also kinda felt off. Having him say that everything was "punishment" over and over just kind of felt like I was getting hit on the head with a theme that didn't even make sense for the character, at least not at this point. Don't get me wrong, self punishment is absolutely a big part of Marc Spector's character, but there is an important distinction between doing things to right your past wrongs and doing them because you feel like you deserve it. And it seemed like Prepose understood that at first, but then later into the issue I was like Marc PLEASE shut the fuck up about punishment lol.

People more knowledgeable than myself have said things about how this looks from the standpoint that this is also a Jewish character, but all I'm going to say as a general statement for all of Moon Knight's runs is that I wish they would let him be explicitly Jewish more often. It's mentioned in Mackay's run the clash between Marc's service to Khonshu and his Judaism, but I think that that is such an interesting part of his character that needs to be discussed WAY more!

Anyway, to make a long story short, definitely not the strongest first issue, but it absolutely had some great moments and I'm going to go forward with my expectations still pretty low, but willing to give it a shot for Layla's sake. But the fact that a run featuring Layla is already not turning out to be very good is a little bit heartbreaking for me I'm not gonna lie lol. I was going to go and buy myself a copy of this issue, but after actually reading it I didn't really want it anymore. So 😬 fingers crossed for the next issue I guess?

[nicxxx5]

autistic mike wheeler headcanons

*IMPORTANT* i'm reposting this post because my original post of this is not showing up under the tags and i don't know why. i mean i have an idea but nothing to prove it so... anyways i'm reposting this with some edits to try and fix it. so if you come across an identical copy of this post from me..yeah..well...that's-that's why...anyways!

this is to go along with my autistic will byers headcanons post. just a reminder that this isn't an analysis and is instead my own personal headcanons for mike being autistic as an autistic individual myself

mike is touch adverse. he really dislikes people touching him unless their people he's lose to and in his case it's the party and occasionally nancy and holly

his special interest is dnd, star wars, and will's art. he loves to infodump with the party because they share his interests even if not to his extent. he loves infodumping to will though when will draws because sometimes will draws things based off mike's rambles and mike gets so excited about adding it to his binder

he hyperfixated on both el and eddie a little bit. when he was little mike also had a special interest in super heroes and el reminded him of super heroes with her powers so he became fixated/entranced by her. eddie was super into dnd and was basically everything that mike wanted to be; he expressed himself the way he wanted and didn't care, love dnd, acted confident. so he became super fixated on him and started to model himself after eddie because eddie to mike was both really cool and embraced mike's biggest special interest.

he's very hyperverbal. he often has so many thoughts and ideas that they're so overwhelming he needs to express them verbally in order to get them out and help his brain relax.

mike has verbal stim. he likes to click and roll his tongue to help him focus. he typically does this when he's alone because people have picked on him and he's been reprimanded by teachers for doing it at school so he's kind of shy about it

mike like's to stim by flapping his hands and jumping spinning in circles (separately). he also likes to verbal stim while doing this when he really feels like he has a lot of pent up energy

he's really bad at interpreting social cues and sarcasm. a lot of it just goes right over his head. when people try to explain it to him he just doesn't get it even when thinking back to the situation.

his difficulty with social cues causes people to sometimes get frustrated with him and he gets frustrated back because he doesn't understand what he did that they didn't like

growing up he also like to hold hands with will and he didn't understand why people gave them looks and why lonnie got really mad. he stopped mainly because of will getting bullied and he wanted to protect will

mike has a very limited number of safe foods and these safe foods change for him from time to time. more often than not though he does prefer crunchy foods to soft foods

when he has meltdowns he mostly wants to be left alone. everything is too much for him so he likes to be in a really dark room with no noise. he ends up verbal stimming and rocking to try and self sooth. he really hates people touching him during a meltdown or when he's over stimulated. will is able to talk to him though and is able to get yes and no answers out of mike sometimes and help him if his stims start to become self-harming

he has alexithymia. he struggles a lot, and i mean a lot, with recognizing his feelings.

even though mike is hyperverbal he does often struggle to verbalize his thoughts a lot of the time. often times he finds writing his thoughts helps to put together his ideas

he really hates the clothes his mom made him wear growing up. the tags were beyond painful and he would tell his mom this but she didn't understand what he was talking about so she didn't really listen. mike ended up bring his clothes to mrs. byers sometimes because she noticed how uncomfortable he was and offered to fix them

i feel like i could definitely keep going with this one but then i'll feel bad if this one is significantly longer than my will byers one. might come back to edit it in the future though. let me know your thoughts!

[sadsoftserve]

Oc fact sheet

(because I'm bored and my brother did it. Please ask questions if you want...🥺)

Sabrina-

Her full name is Sabrina Charlotte Ashling

You know those alpha wolf memes? Those are her favorite. She has a shirt with one on it

What does she do when she can't sleep? Analyze the Ace Attorney series and write fanfic

Last time she slept she was three

From the ages of 5-10 she was in a hospital trying to figure out what was going on with her

Boom. That's when nightmare was discovered

Probably did the cinnamon challenge and won

Loves hot wings.

Sylvie think she's a washed up wanna be lawyer.

Know how Phoenix wright defended Edgeworth in school?

She did that too. But in seventh grade. She defended Parker.

That's how they met actually.

She met Bonnie at color guard the first day she went. Bonnie didn't want to be there, neither did she.

Now she unironically enjoys colorguard

She pays for Bonnie whenever Ms.cox takes them out to dinner after the games.

Her family is loaded. Not feenie loaded, but like a good amount of money.

She has a learners permit. And has enough hours to legally drive passengers around (suck it Sylvie)

Parker-

Her parents gave her to Percy because they didn't want to deal with ADHD

No fr

That's what they said.

Parker feels bad about it, but knows her aunt is better and cooler than her parents.

Percy is basically her mom

She said that herself (fanfic ref!!???)

Percy may be strict but she means well

Parker likes early morning cartoons, her aunt still has cable so she's able to watch them

Parker draws sometimes

She's really athletic

She's a Mundie (I know I probably mentioned an Epithet in the past. And in her outdated info card. But go with it.)

Parker has had to prove she's strong on multiple occasions to multiple people

Will infodump about anything

You better listen

She's made of facts

Just like her aunt.

She constantly has to monitor her aunts Hypoglycemia (because I'm applying that headcanon in the universe. Sue me)

Worried that she'll work herself to death.

Full name? Parker May-Lilly King. Yes

I'm dead serious

Bonnie-

The most traumatized girl you'll meet

No one knows her backstory

You wanna know??

Ask Ramsey

He'll tell you

Bonnie and Ramsey may have an uncle/niece relationship, but they act more like friends

Most of her childhood she was silent

The first time she spoke willingly she was 4

Now she won't shut up

She still has the little wooden snake her mom gave her all those Christmases ago

Hates the holidays because of 'the incident'

Gets really mopey and upset around the holidays actually

She likes fannels

She owns like six

Will willingly pick up a wild snake

Her hair is really curly. Like Molly curly.

She has an Epithet. But she's like Trixie. She doesn't know what it is, or how it works. It's only been able to manifest once.

Her full name is Bonnie Lynn Murdoch

You may be asking, "what about Dalia? Isn't she part of the group???"

Your right she is.

But she's not my oc. I have no place to give facts about her because she's not mine. Want facts @oddball-artz will give them to you.

[bsdndprplplld]

30 VIII 2023

aight it's been a while, time for an update

recently I've been doing mostly algebraic geometry, my advisor gave me some stuff to read, so I'm working through that. the goal is to familiarize myself with hilbert schemes – the topic is advanced, so there are many prerequisites coming up when I'm trying to read the book, that's kinda annoying

we are planning for my thesis to be about a certain generalization of the hilbert scheme, so basically the question is "investigate this space" and I've been having second thoughts whether I'm up for the challenge. I'm just getting to know how all that stuff works, so it's quite overwhelming to see how much I need to learn before I can do anything on my own

nevertheless, I'm pushing through as I will have to learn all of that anyway

I am working on finishing the proof from my bsc thesis and honestly I'm kinda losing hope lmao it turns out that what I probably have to do to complete it is a massive amount of extra reading and an even bigger amount of proving lemmas. the thing is that my work is about something like a generalization of results that have been proven by two people (one of which is khovanov, yes, that khovanov) and I feel it in my balls that the case I'm working on should be treated in a similar way. now the problem is that I can barely understand what they wrote for the "easier" case and I just can't see myself doing that for the more complicated one. oh and for my case I should probably use equivariant cohomology. but all I know about it is the definition, I have never even calculated anything for that + I will do a course on it this semester so it feels futile to study it now. idk I need to talk to my former advisor about this and ask him to be honest, does he even believe that this can be done?

other than that I'm applying for a scholarship. I don't think I will get it, but it is worth trying

I moved in with my boyfriend and our cat decided that my desk is way too big for one person, so now it's our desk

uni starts in a month so I should probably spend that time doing something other than math, which I will be doing all the time once uni starts, but I struggle with coming up with things to do that are not math-related. I should complete some tasks for work, but I would also like to have a hobby

there is a number of things that I could try, for instance reading, drawing, singing, grinding metas for geoguessr (apparently I'm a gamer now), but I can't commit to any of those, my interest comes in waves

maybe I could schedule about an hour per day to do one of those things so that my brain gets used to it. it is not like I can focus on math 24/7, I need to take breaks and I have days when my motivation is zero, so I just sit at my desk and watch stupid shit on youtube. but that's the point, days like that could be spent doing something meaningful and refreshing, instead I just procrastinate math lol