#but i am overall doing well!

[bibelots]

Hello I hope all are well !

I wouldn't say I'm taking leave from this, most likely just inactivity, as I have a veeeery busy coming month and year (starting a job at the same time as finishing my MA dissertation due at the start of September) !

I'm always around for catchups, and if anyone wants to find me elsewhere (ig, twt, I'm more active there - but they're more personal accts) - just lmk!

I know I appear in bursts on here but I truly do appreciate you all v much x

[meamiki]

5% of a color headcanon.... two versions since b&w emphasizes the dagger more i think but i still like the warm tones ASFSADA

i am not biased towards rainbow daggers whatsoever i promise (lie)

((also friend is streaming now and im there too!! bit more info linked here, its rated mature tho))

[luck-of-the-drawings]

"And soda; runs off into the street..." "...and soda... is totally okay!"

[prince-liest]

I’m a sex-repulsed ace, and reading the latest chapter of 666 (as well as your analysis here on Tumblr) made me realize that I have been subconsciously thinking about MY OWN sexuality from an allo perspective? And that it has kinda been messing me up?? Like, ever since I learned that sexual attraction was actually a Thing and that it’s Important To People, I had been carrying around a fear of being deficient in some way and not being able to love to the same extent as allos. (1)

Even though I know logically that’s complete garbage and totally untrue, I felt left out of the loop because people seemed to care strongly about this thing I couldn’t even imagine. Whenever it looked like a relationship might happen I panicked for a reason that I couldn’t understand. But now I’m starting to realize that it’s because I was subconsciously terrified of an ‘ulterior motive’ behind the other person’s reasons for wanting to be with me. (2) That part of the reason they even cared was because of something I don’t experience. So thank you, because this realization just clicked into place while reading your work. The thing is, this way of thinking was just internalized in such a way that I didn’t even realize it was there until literally this week. And I think you’re right; one of the main reasons behind that is because I’ve always consumed media written from an allo perspective. (3) If ace/aros are shown at all, they’re depicted as “lacking” and their character development usually revolves around being “fixed” by the story. When I was ~10 years old my mom sometimes let me watch the Big Bang Theory with her (looking back, maybe not the best decision). Anyways, there was one episode deep into the series where Sheldon (who for the past nineish seasons was probably the closest thing to mainstream ace rep) has sex with his girlfriend for the first time. (4) Afterwards, he says something along the lines of “that was better than I thought it would be”, and it’s presented as a Very Good Thing and a big step in their relationship. I think a lifetime of stuff like that makes it very easy to internalize aphobia and feel like the lesser part of the relationship. Or to feel like the other partner is making a huge sacrifice to be with you. That got wayy too long, sorry. All that was just a lot of words to say that I appreciate you. Take care of yourself!(5)

The portrayal of asexuality that you see in media being almost exclusively as you described is very tedious to me because it presumes that something is inherently lacking in aro/aceness rather than that feeling of "lacking" being something that is induced by societal norms. Actually, one of the things that I find additionally alienating is that fandom spaces specifically have been getting better and better about ace characters - but got damn does fandom not jive with aromanticism. Like, a character doesn't want to fuck? That's becoming a liiiittle more fine, it's 2024, we stan consent. But not shipping someone romantically?? Not so easy, now.

I'm glad that my work has been something that resonated with you in this respect! Alastor cares a lot about his reputation as a demon but is pretty blatantly a person who could not possibly give less of a shit about being "wrong" for not being experiencing romantic or sexual attraction. The explanation Viv gave at one point for his own understanding of himself (that he thinks he's just "waiting for the right woman") actually stuck out to me a lot because it's a very "well, nothing is wrong with me for not feeling anything, it's the world that's failed to produce a suitable person" perspective.

But having that kind of confident perspective of your own rightness in the world is really not often portrayed in media, or even in fandom, which even ten years ago was still in the throes of standardizing "Oh, no! Me, gay? These feelings are so wrong!" style m/m content and is honestly not that far off from essentially that for aro/ace characters.

Anyway, all of that is to say that there's not yet much out there that doesn't frame allo/amatonormative values as the default that "even aro/ace people can (and should want to) achieve," and that it's really fun to write a fic that is unequivocally from the perspective of a character who is aroace and doesn't see it as even remotely a fault in himself. Does he have moments where he's a little confused and trying to process how things fit for him? Absolutely. But he just doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who thinks he owes romance to Vox of all people, hahaha. I've written him trying to conform to allo/amatonormativity more with Mimzy, because I think the social standards of their time could push him into it, but Vox? Absolutely not, he does not respect Vox enough for it to even enter his mind.

And then, on the other hand, writing it from an aroace perspective centers the way that romantic and sexual interest can feel like a betrayal of a good thing. With a character like Alastor, it frames romantic and sexual attraction the same alien way that we usually see aromanticism and asexuality framed as.

In the end, this is just one of a plethora of different experiences that aro/ace people can have, but it's one that I really wanted to see represented more, so I'm very happy to write it. I'm glad that you're enjoying it!

[n4rval]

a few pointers on how i draw this idiot because i can

Definitely DTed himself (you fool no one dude): come on. if you think he's not crazy enough to experiment on himself, what are you doing. the average creature would likely simply vaporize in a CORE accident, but throw an amalgam(dubious term) in it and watch it haunt your footsteps.

Somewhere around 7' ?: lord have mercy. well, i'm not complaining, i've dealt with 10'.

Old man hunch (ow!): this is what happens when you spend your whole life crouching to look at people. or when you try your best to look smaller and kinder as to not creep anyone out, but you creep them out anyway. loneliness is often the price of brilliance

AUTISM HANDS (RAD) (COOL): or of autism. loneliness is often the price of a neurodivergent understanding of social norms. but sometimes you're just cuckoo bananas as well, and that's okay. tries his best to be a gentleman(fucking old man), comes off a little awkward about it

i've picked purple as his representative color for reasons i'll elaborate once i throw in some pre-DT headcanons in here

[the---hermit]

You know when you watch movies set in the past or fantasy movies, and when you get the epic pre-battle scenes you inevitably ask yourself why do they need all those drummers and stuff when all those men playing could be given a sword or something and be added to the troops? I am currently visiting a medieval festival and I just heard an exibition of war drums and I feel like I could run a half marathon. The drummers make so much sense.

[starpros-sunshine]

Eichi gives away the mask so easily because it was never meant to be an "engagement ring" like you delulu wataeis imagined it to be lmao. It was wataru saying that he will continue playing tsumugi clown role in fine and won't leave it for hokuto's mother troupe after graduation. Do you dumb fucks even read the stories? Eichi didn't even understand tf that mask meant when wataru gave it to him and wataru referenced fucking tsumugi in his "proporsal". I dunno why the f you think it's ok to lie about "! EnDiNG wItH wAtAeI EnGaGeMEnT" when the chapter it happened wasn't even close to the end of ep:link. Cope

PS: how do you live with the fact that Eichi clearly admitted to never being in love in his life and Wataru said that even though Eichi likes him, he still can easily discard him for the sake of his objectives?

I love you anon thank you for giving me a nice reason to ramble again beautiful ask 10/10 I'm sorry this is probably not how you hoped this would go but this is such a funny block of text delightful really thank you for the enrichment please marry me

But okay yes now to get down to the actual ask just to disclaim I am solely relying on translations seeing as I do not speak japanese well enough to understant the original text so if anyone has anything to add to this or to correct me on please feel free to do so.

Now to get started I'm not sure if one could say Eichi gave away the mask "So easily" seeing as he claimed that it was "a hard choice to make"? Which, as one might know, implies unease with an idea and pondering and debating and a general amount of thinking behind a decision so? I know this isn't really the main focus of this ask but I'm just a tad miffed with the semantics of it is all. And in either case giving the mask back to Wataru while expecting it back still shows a certain degree of trust in their relationship it wouldn't have been such a big deal for him (as it apparently was) if the mask didn't have a lot of sentimental value to him (the both of them really if we look at the whole exchange).

Now to the claim that the mask was "only" Watarus promise to stay with fine and "continue playing Tsumugis clown role". This is not entirely incorrect. Regarding the acting troupe and staying with fine bit at least.

I'm assuming this bit in EP:Link Deadend/7 is what you are referencing, and I see where you're coming from. But the bluebird line

from literally three dialogue lines further down, which references this line of dialogue (notorious Eichi line everyone should be familiar with)

kind of somewhat really recontextualises that? Because you see this is a reference to a fairytale about a pair of siblings and they get sent out by a nice fairy to find the bluebird of happiness for her sad daughter to make her happy again so they both go on an adventure and travel far and search and search but they can not find the bluebird of happiness and then when they return home again, disappointed because they couldn't find the blue bird, they realise only one night has actually passed and the journey was probably just a dream. But then their eyes fall upon their pet dove in it's cage which appears blue all of a sudden and so they gift it to the fairies sad daughter which becomes happy again and sets the bird free. The real bluebird of happiness is a dove. At least in the version of the story I'm familiar with but I mean everyone sees the symbolism right? It's. very hard to miss.

And then dropping this?

I'm not sure how to say this properly but in the overall context this makes it pretty clear that Tsumugi has nothing to do with this anymore this is Fully between Wataru and Eichi. And I am the last person to dismiss Tsumugis significance in the course of Wataeis relationship as characters I will be among the first to protest when someone dismisses the importance of Tsumugis and Eichis relationship in favour of some image they have of Wataei but he has nothing to do with this one.

Yes Tsumugi gets namedropped but - again - I don't really see how that would lessen the sentiment Wataru is triying to convey here? Because. Yes. Why wouldn't he mention Tsumugi?

The entire conversation pretty much boils down to "Yes I was initially only in this because I thought I could replace Tsumugis role in your life and then I wanted to leave but we have spent so much time together that I realised that that is definitely not working out because I really do love you. I love you as a teammate; I love you as a friend; I love you as a person and I am very angry at myself for not managing to get that into your head. So please allow me to stay with you for as long as you'll have me." And then also Eichi not understanding because he has the emotional self awareness of a very emotionally unaware loaf of bread and also because he hates himself that is a very big thing about his character huge part of his character arc actually that he. you know? Hates himself? And feels guitly for his actions during the war? And doesn't think he deserves love and companionship? Which is why Wataru wanting to stay with him for him and not for some twisted form of revenge is such an alien concept to him? Because he is projecting his insecurities onto Wataru? As one is wont to do when they hate themself? "EiChi Didn'T eVen UnDErStanD WhAt tf ThAT Mask MEAnt" Yeah. That's. That's the point? So he can think about it and come to that conclusion himself which works as a keymoment in his characters journey from hating life and himself to enjoying being alive and wanting to live on because of the people he's surrounded with? He literally explains why he didn't immediately understand the mask during the EP:Link Epilogue/4

And to get back to the "I dunno why the f you think it's ok to lie about "! EnDiNG wItH wAtAeI EnGaGeMEnT" about which I have two things to say:

"Lying" implies further intent and an effort. Neither of which exist in this case.

He literally went down on one knee while making a big proclamation of offering himself to Eichi with a very personal item that works as a symbol for their commitment to each other on a starlit rooftop. The comparison writes itself.

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joke

And then I expected there to be a proper reason given and instead you proceed to follow that up with "when the chapter it happened wasn't even close to the end of ep:link". I know the shame is on me for expecting something sensical from an ask which has been near constant in it's lack of correct statements but such is human nature I suppose. And you are not wrong. Deadend/7 isn't very close to the end of EP:Link. That is true.

But do you know what Is very close to the end of EP:Link? The Epilogue Chapters 3-5.

Do you know what the content of those chapters is? I do. Very well actually :)

(Eichi literally explains why he didn't get it)

So if this answers your "Do you dumb fucks even read the stories?" questions, Yes. And I think I'm a lot better at it than you. So I'd say I'm coping quite well over here :p

PS: Regarding your PS, I take the "I've never been in love before so I wouldn't know" comment with a lot of humour actually as an aroace person who's emotional self awareness also ends at "good" and "Not good" I think it's very funny all things considered especially because he mentioned the loving Wataru thing several times before that and I'm generally of the belief that actions speak louder than words and also am in a happy long term relationship with the concept of "Reading Subtext". So please excuse me for not breaking down in tears everytime someone reminds me of that one singuar line of text in one of my favourite all time enstars stories that came out three years ago which also brought us the single best card set in the entire game

as well as absolute banger dialogue such as

Among others <33

And there are soooooo many other examples of wataei dialogue that simply make me swoon but I have already had to take out so many of the one's I wish I could put here so this wouldn't get "Do you love the colour of the sky" long

And also, regarding your "Wataru said that even though Eichi likes him, he still can easily discard him for the sake of his objectives" I'll just say that no he absolutely could not. I mean he'd say that and if pull comes to shove and he has no other option then he might seriously consider it but may I mention that Wataru was gone for a few days at most but really not that long of a time during Sanctuary and Eichi stopped considering being a normal rational person that doesn't leave helpless 17 year olds in the midst of a construction site. Very different situation but I feel like it's worth mentioninh here. Another example is Eichis almost not being able to go through with the war because of Wataru. Wataru had to actively come and tell Eichi to go through with it. Wataru isn't the reason Eichi started the war, that is wrong, but he is the reason Eichi almost didn't finish it. and during the war era that was his Main objective. Again I'm part of the fraction "actions speak louder than words" Show don't tell and all that, but even the words are pushing it.

And that concludes my essay :)

[raitrolling]

Sharle's outfit for the 12th Perigee Ball is complete!

His theme is that of a knight, or more specifically the archetype of a Dragonslayer. In-universe, his outfit was designed by Velour, who spent countless hours trying to perfectly meld the image of a knight in shining armour with high fashion concepts, taking inspiration from runway collections such as the Christian Dior Fall 2006 collection, and the Dolce & Gabbana Fall 2014 Menswear collection.

And don't worry, that sword is a prop and no stuffed dragons were harmed outside of this photoshoot.

Screenshots of details under the cut cuz Tumblr loves to kill the quality of my art:

[betweenblackberrybranches]

Part 2 of the little comic

Moon really does not like the situation but Y/N can't just not do their work.

Part 1 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

[riacte]

so hey guys i finished dungeon meshi yesterday and i'm still thinking about it

[bamsara]

IM HOME and god that was. something.cool festival my leg hurts

[sonictoaster]

The messenger bag I made in 2019 finally started to wear to pieces after four years of faithful service. Time for a new one!

I made the original bag without a pattern, but this time I had something to work with. I took the old bag apart and made a pattern from the pieces.

It took me a while to find the right material. I wasn’t sure what it would look like, I just knew I’d know it when I saw it. I finally found this double-sided Japanese cloth in a shop in Portland.

Once I had the right cloth for the exterior, I found a fun pattern for the interior bag in a local shop. (I always use a lighter material for the interior so it's easier to find things).

The first bag was a struggle—I had no idea what I was doing! I expected the second bag to be difficult as well, but the process went surprisingly smoothly. I got stuck a few times and had to take a day or two to figure out a solution, but the solutions always worked better than I expected!

For instance—in spite of carefully measuring each piece, the outer flap ended up being too small. I ended up constructing a border to extend the edges.

With heavy interfacing and waterproof lining, the walls were very thick and tricky to work with. Having a better sewing machine than last time helped!

Lots of pockets and hooks on the inside—essential.

I found a leather camera strap I haven't used since college and added a couple of decorative wooden buttons a friend gave me and I'd been saving for the right moment. The blue webbing along the sides that support the leather strap are repurposed from the original bag. I like that a little bit of the old bag is worked into the new.

The whole process took... weeks—but I’m so happy with how it all came together!

[lesbiancarat]

want to give my two cents on the AI usage in the maestro trailer--

i think seventeen doing a whole concept that is anti-AI is very cool, especially as creatives themselves i think it's good that they're speaking up against it and i hope it gets more ppl talking about the issue. i also understand on a surface level the artistic choice (whether it was made by the members, the mv director, or whoever else), to directly use AI in contrast to real, human-made visuals and music in order to criticize it. i also appreciate that they clearly stated the intention of the use of AI at the beginning of the video

however, although i understand it to an extent, i do not agree with the choice to use AI to critique AI. one of the main ethical concerns with generative AI is that it is trained on other artists' work without their knowledge, consent, or compensation. and even when AI generated images are being used to critique AI, it still does not negate this particular ethical concern

the use of AI to critique also does not negate the fact that this is work that could have been done by an actual artist. i have seen some people argue that it's okay in this context because it's a critique specifically about AI, and it is content that never would have been done by a real artist anyway because it doesn't make sense for the story they're trying to tell. but i disagree. i think you can still tell the exact same story without using AI

and in fact, i would argue that it would make the anti-AI message stronger if they HAD paid an artist to draw/animate the scenes that are supposed to represent AI generated images. wouldn't it just be proof that humans can create images that are just as bad and nonsensical and soulless as AI, but that AI can't replicate the creativity and beauty and basic fucking anatomy that's in human-made art?

it feels very obvious this was not just a way to cut corners and costs like a lot of scummy people are using AI for. ultimately it was a very intentional creative decision, i just personally think it was a very poor one. and even if some ethical considerations were taken into account before this decision, i certainly don't think all of them were. at the very least i feel like the decision undermines the message they want to convey

i would also like to recognize that i myself am not an artist, and i have seen some artists that are totally on board with the use of AI in this specific context, so clearly this is not a topic that is cut and dry. but generative AI is still new, and i think it's important to keep having these conversations

[wayfayrr]

Hi, Moss!!

First of all, congratulations on 300 followers!!

I'd like to request some soft buttered rum with a yule log to eat in for the event!

I usually lurk in the shadows, but for this milestone, I thought I'll come forth from the darkness hehe <3

You're so awesome, I love all of your stuff, ESPECIALLY the self aware fics!!!!

I hope you have a great day/night <33

~Fi 🐝✨️

here's your order for you fi, it's very nice to see you in the light like this <3

Sorry that this one is shorter than the others so far </3 (there's a little context in the tags but I'm not gonna get into everything rn) soft twi is fun though, he's just a bit of a simp and a menace ain't he? just a soft boy with too many puppy vibes for his own good! even though this one is a little shorter I can promise there's more twi coming soon.

I'm glad you like the self-aware fics too!!! they're my pride and joy to write, seeing how many ways they can be taken and how fun every link could be in the situation. I've got wild on the back burner right now but he'll be one of the first to be up after I finish the event works

[Event masterlist]

“you like the snow Wolfie?” 

Twi's acting like a puppy right now, bounding around the field, occasionally stopping to shake off the snow. It’s nice to see him acting more carefree for once, seeing as he’s usually more stressed out about wild getting into trouble and such but for now he can just be more comfortable. 

It’s not for too long though as he shifts back after my question, by the look on his face probably because I’ve not been as active as he would like me to be right now. 

“Do you not darlin’?” 

Why does he look so smug. What is he planning to d- 

“LINK! Link that’s freezing come on.”

He’s not even listening, just snickering as he’s preparing another snowball. Well two can play at this game can’t they? 

I’ve just got to hit him more than he can hit me, simple enough right, should be fine not like he’s a hero who probably has much more everything than me. If I just - 

“You alright rancher? Got a little something on your face there.”

The way his nose scrunched up was downright adorable, even though only seconds later his own snowball was buried into my hair. The melted water running down onto my neck only fueled my desire to throw another. It was simply instinct for me to start making another…

Well start on it before he tackled me anyways.

“Whu- hey. What’s - what was that for?”

“Isn’t this more fun darlin’?”

“Twi come onnn.”

“I prefer this so much more [name]... unless you’d prefer that I go back to covering you with snow?”

“Oh so you’re playing like that then?”

If he wasn’t so stupidly strong I would so have flipped this on him already, but sadly he is stupidly strong even when he’s not putting any effort into it. Not that he’s really doing anything besides holding my wrists above my head and laughing lightly. 

“Are you planning on anything then?”

“Do you want me to do anything?”

“I - I mean… why wouldn’t I?”

Something shifted in his demeanour then, as he stopped laughing, his hands slipping to my waist as he stared into my eyes entranced. 

“You’d let me?”

“It’s you, twi of course I would.”

"... May I kiss you then?"

[ferryfoam]

I just watched Tears of the Prophets girl what was that ??? Jadzia deserved better than to be fucking fire blasted alone halfway through praying what the hell !?! And then there was a significant lack of send off ? They couldn't have done a brief funeral scene where everyone talks about how much she meant to them ?? That faceless captain who crashed on a random planet from a few episodes back got more of a send off than Jadzia come the fuck on man

I'm sure there are behind the scenes reasons why she was killed off (which I will look into shortly. I guess) but seriously they couldn't have given it even a little bit more care ? For the death of a beloved character ? Who's been there for 6 full seasons of show ?

[cheaploafs]

late night cuddles