#cosplay didn't seem to be as big of a thing but i don't know if i've ever received so many compliments for a cosplay before?

[kaibutsushidousha]

Kodaka April Fools tweets 2024

Lying just because it's April Fools' is so dull. Honestly painful to watch. Lying in general doesn't do you any good. In my younger days, I told every lie I could, saying some genuinely insane stuff about being a supreme leader of evil and whatnot, and thanks to that, now that I'm in my thirties, I got famous for all the wrong reasons and can't find a stable job because people think I'm associated with the yakuza... Sigh, I wanna deck my cringe younger self's face. Quit lying for fun while you can.

My classmates aren't doing great either. Thinking you're hot shit during your school days always comes back to bite you... My advice to my past self: slow and steady effort is worth more than any talent. Also, the part of life you spent larping with that silly horse laugh is not going to be one you'll want to remember later. I wish I could make that clear to him. White lies aren't a thing. Talent is never enough. My class is proof of that. Wanna know what my classmates are like now that we're in our thirties?

Akamatsu became a piano teacher. Her player skills capped off in her teens, it seems. But she's not that good at teaching so she's considered kinda mid at her job. And now she's struggling with the father of a student incessantly hitting on her. Tough world to live in.

Toujou opened a housekeeping company but she was too strict with her employees so everyone quit. And now she's doing everything on her own. Sucks to be in your thirties without any successors or employees. She's a prime example of how being so much better than anyone else doesn't do you any good. Well, she's always working for celebrities, so she's doing well financially, but I heard about some major court fight about a missing item under suspicion of theft from one of her clients. That can't be nice.

Yumeno got to her thirties still saying magic is real, so she's past the point of no return. She agrees that's an unhinged way to live, but she's too old to suddenly change gimmicks. Work takes her all over the country, but her gimmick doesn't allow her to publicly drink, so she has to get plastered alone in her hotel room after shows. I wish she could fix her life with real magic.

Harukawa? ...Haven't heard that name in a long time. Now she was a living edgy fantasy. The past tense was because I hadn't heard of her in a long time. I don't know the details, but apparently, she went to some war zone outside of Japan because her first love didn't want to date her. Takes some real edgelord to react to a broken heart like that, but if she's still alive, I have no idea how her thirties are treating her. My personal guess is that she's a mother of many.

Chabashira opened her Aikido school but is having a hard time attracting students. So she had the idea of starting an anti-sexual-harassment campaign that could double as advertisement, but thanks to her cluelessness when it comes to romance, she got canceled for mistakenly tossing men in regular couples. She's still doing the "degenerate males" bit in her thirties. Girl really needs to get on with the times. Rumor goes that she still downs huge packs of tequila bottles with Yumeno every now and then. Really don't think there's any salvaging her reputation.

Shirogane is an office lady still continuing her cosplay hobby on the side. She could be doing well if she knew how to keep her mouth shut but frequently rambles about cosplay history and etiquette, so no one likes having her around. Stay emotionally dependent on a single hobby long enough and your passion starts to close you off to others. That's her problem.

Angie was the most successful in the class! She made big money both on the art and the religion fronts. However, there were some controversies about her devotees selling counterfeits of her paintings at exorbitant prices and one magazine made a huge news coverage of it, which resulted in her catching the police's attention. She's been recently untraceable, with the rumors saying that she'll never be back to Japan.

Oh, and Iruma... Up until some point, she had the best life of all of us. She made big money off of her inventions' patents. So far so good. Things only started going off-rails after she married an ex-stripper. The two started a YouTube channel together. And later, her husband ran in last year's elections and lost big time. They got an awful debt from his election campaign and she had to get into side jobs to pay it off. And her husband? Disappeared. No word from Iruma herself about what happened. Tough world to live in.

No further updates from Kodaka in the past 3 hours, so I assume he went to sleep and will come back to tweet about the 7 remaining boys in the morning.

[cripplecharacters]

I know we (disabled people) aren't a monolith and all that, we'll all have different opinions on what is and is not offensive, but I want to ask if you can explain your opinion on cosplaying a disabled character a little more, because I don't really understand how portraying a character accurately, disabilities included within reason, would be offensive. I could see the use of an aid that other people could be actually making use of being harmful, and I can see not treating the disability in a respectful manner by making a joke of them being harmful, but as far as the inclusion of scar to cosplay a canonically scarred character goes, I feel like excluding them seems more offensive to me, it feels like erasure of the character's disability. If for example someone cosplayed a character I made that I was using to portray my own disabilities, and the cosplayer didn't include those disabilities when they could do so, I'd find that really insulting and hurtful. I guess it feels like too nuanced of a topic for a blanket This Is Good or This Is Bad answer if that makes sense? Sorry if this comes across as antagonistic or hostile, I'm not trying to pick a fight, I just want to understand your perspective.

Hi, I'm fully aware that there is a lot of opinions going either way (from "literally everything is fine" to "abled people shouldn't cosplay disabled characters at all no matter what"). I did a longer reply about the same thing in this ask that maybe will explain some of it better. There are also opinions of other mods on this in our #cripping up tag.

I don't consider not including a character's disability in cosplay as erasure, since to me it's just dressing up as a character with your own body and all. I think everyone should be able to cosplay everyone regardless of what their "factory settings" are, just don't pretend to be a minority that you aren't a part of in your normal life. I see pretending to have a disability for "character accuracy" as more offensive, your canvas for cosplay is yourself and if you don't have that disability then you just don't and that's completely fine. For the sake of not being accidentally insensitive I won't be making comparisons to other kinds of "pretending to be a minority for cosplay", especially since most other examples would be much worse anyway. To me, this whole practice is just... unnecessary. Work with what you have the same way disabled cosplayers shouldn't cover their disabilities when cosplaying abled characters.

I see your example of a potential cosplayer not including the disability in a character that you have made. I make disabled characters too, a lot of them even (probably granted for a mod on this blog). Some of them share my disabilities. And I think that we just have fundamentally different opinions because I'd vastly prefer for someone without my disability to just omit it rather than pretend parts of their face don't move or aren't symmetric. It'd feel like mockery to me, I don't want anyone to pretend to have a facial difference for any reason. If someone tried to dress up as literally me, I'd have the same opinion - do the clothes and goatee, but leave my gait disorder and half-moving mouth out of this. Obviously these things are part of my identity to an extent, and they make me who I am, but pretending to have them to imitate me feels more akin to bullying than authenticity. To be clear I get why you have that opinion, I just feel completely differently about it. And I don't think either of us are wrong or not wrong, it's just a different view of the same thing.

At the end of the day though I don't really care about how people cosplay their blorbos if all they do is dress up and take some photos like most cosplayers do. I just answer questions when directly asked rather than go out of my way to talk about this since in comparison to a lot of other issues this doesn't have big enough of an impact on me to be too bothered by it (if I had to do a list of ableist things I'm annoyed by I can't imagine a world where cosplay would make the list). I'm guessing that most askers don't know any handy person with an FD they can ask that so they come here, and I try to be helpful to the best of my ability.

I think the smartest thing a person can do is read a few opinions of different people and make a decision for themself. There is no one convenient consensus to follow (that I know of?), so it is what it is. If there is a potential cosplayer who is reading this ask and thinks that the asker's opinion makes more sense to them, then that's what they should probably do. The only thing I insist on is that they have fun cosplaying (rather than stressing over what person on the internet is right) because otherwise what's the point...

What I do consider important personally is the original thing I brought up, which is how abled people use facial difference as a costume in order to scare or disgust others. That is insensitive, offensive, and always in poor taste, it spreads misinformation about visibly disabled people and creates a negative image about a whole group of people, a lot of whom dread this time of the year (as mentioned in the article). Talking about this is in my opinion way more important than any Comic Con cosplay of a fictional character will ever be or has ever been, which probably influences my opinion on cosplay. When I think "fake facial differences", I'm reminded of horror villains with make-up that tries and fails to imitate how visibly disabled people look like. I associate fake scars and fake burns and fake skull shapes with this problem strongly, and as you can guess I don't like it at all. I find the authenticity argument hard to believe for myself when what is usually originally portrayed is an abomination of VFX designed to make us look scary; for most of these characters there is nothing good coming out of their "FD representation" anyway. If Freddy Krueger magically started to be shown as abled I'd be glad, not mad that the character who genuinely horribly affected how people from my community are seen is no longer doing that. This might be a radical take, but most existing characters with facial differences literally shouldn't have them. The way they are portrayed shapes how people are seen for the worse and if I had a "disability erasure" button for all the Scars and Voldemorts out there I'd make them as abled as possible.

Is this how all people with facial differences feel? I don't think I can go and ask each of them but definitely no, it's just the opinion of A Guy on the Internet (many such cases!) and rather than anything else I just want to share my view on stuff, so askers can hopefully make a more informed decision - whether that's writing, drawing, cosplay, etc. If someone reads my take and decides that they want to do the opposite, at least they have a bit of context on how some people might feel about it, and I think that's still valuable.

This is my opinion on this and I hope this clears it up more,

mod Sasza

[carionto]

The duality of Man, or triality? quadrality?

Alien to Human about New Human: Correct me if I'm wrong, but they appear abnormally large for your species?

H: Yea, he's a biggun alright, even without the EV suit I'd say... 7'3'', 310 pounds, bet he power lifts.

A: Umm... not to be rude, but, uhh... he seems, well... how should I put this...

H: Intimidating? Terrifying? Evil? Yea, if this station didn't have high screening standards I'd be totally pissing myself if he started walking towards me. The mohawk and eye tat totally make me believe he could snap me in two with a single glare.

A: I feel ashamed that my instincts are telling me to flee. I wish nature were easier to change.

H (shouting at NH): Hey buddy! Could you come over here for a minute please? You look awesome by the way!

A (whispering nervously): what are you doing?!?

H: Gotta overcome those fears somehow, I believe the best way is a direct confrontation.

NH approaches, somewhat slowly, looking around at all the other aliens in the station that are chatting, waiting around, or doing some work. He finally approaches A and H, and in a very deep and husky voice says: Um, hi, hello. T-thanks for the compliment, I, uh, was a little worried I would stand out too much here.

H: Oh you totally do, my friend over here is practically about to pass out from how much like a gothic viking of death metal you look.

NH: Oh no, I'm so sorry, I-I just grew up in Sweden-Delta and both my parents were huge into classic local music, so I just, uh... it's complicated. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare anyone.

H: Hey, relax pal, we're all good people here. Anyway, what you here to do? I'm planning on starting a bakery, still testing out what kind of flour most species here can actually stomach. My friend here is on the team working on Moon theft preventative measures.

NH: Oh, that's cool. I'm here as an exchange student with the department of applied astrophysics. If all goes well, I can finish my Bachelors degree remotely and stay here as an intern with the head researcher.

H: Oooh, that's cool. (so cool yea that you're apparently half my age but oh well guess I'm a big fat time waster like my father before me and oh god change the subject before I get depressed in front of strangers) That's a real big bag you got there, carrying some super secret science things, eh?

NH: Oh, that... uhh... guess it can't hurt to tell, security vetted it already anyway.

NH proceeds to unzip the bag and hold up a large white piece of clothing with light blue rings and accents, alongside a strange white cap with what looked like small fins, and a curious little backpack.

NH: It's uhh... um... my... Ika... musume... cosplay.... (oh gods I can't believe I said it out loud again)

After a moment of awkward silence, NH slowly puts on the backpack and presses a button on it's strap, and suddenly numerous light blue colored tentacle-like appendages sprout out from the backpack and move in line with NH's movements.

NH: I, uh..., got my engineering friend to make them articulate and interface with my contacts. I can make them do all sorts of things, like make various shapes and animals with them, though works best as a shadow theater.

H:...

NH:...

A now frozen out of confusion than fear:...

H: That's so

NH: (oh I know it's so lame, but I love that show)-

H: COOL! I don't know what a ika musume is, but those things look amazing. You said articulate? How precise can they be? I'd love to have something like that instead of my useless assistant. Poor lad can't make a piece of toast if his life depended on it...

NH: Y-you like it?

H: I LOVE those things. My daughter does cosplay too sometimes, but she makes her Dreadnought suits herself from scraps. One time the military came to our house and installed a limiter on the gauss cannon she found in a crash site, said it would otherwise start to generate small doses of radiation if used too frequently. But she replaced it with a handmade rail gun before the next convention. Do you go to those? Did you see a 7 meter tall hulking metal monstrosity with a bunch of candles all over? That was her.

NH: Oh, I think I've seen video of that, but no, not in person, I go to smaller events. I don't really like big crowds.

H: Oh yea, I get ya, you do seem a bit on the shy side now that we've been talking for a bit. Hey, no worries, like I said, we're all good people here.

NH: T-thanks, but I think I should be going now, the teacher is calling me over.

H: Oh yea, go ahead, didn't mean to take up so much of your time. Have a fun stay and I'm sure you'll ace that paper or theory? Or whatever astrophysicists do, you seem like a solid kid.

NH: Oh, uh, thanks. Good luck with your bakery. And you with stopping those weird people from stealing more moons. Bye.

H: Bye bye, come visit, don't be a stranger now, I'm set up just a short bit from the main lift on floor 14.

NH: R-right, I'll, uh, be sure to stop by soon.

A is finally able to process what they just heard and says: What was all that just now?

H: What? Just a friendly chat with what is apparently basically a kid. Man, this kid's got so much going on, while I'm almost 50 and I have an oven. Life, man, it can go in so many ways. Anyway, let's go grab a drink, I'm parched.

[dxrksong]

About the Zerum Pressure controversy on roblox

Personally, I can see why people are upset, but I also don't understand it.

Zerum isn't actually Zerum. 'Zerum' is a character. A character connonical to Sebastian's story. Zerum is just more or less cosplaying as her own character.

As far as I know, she doesn't ACTUALLY want to marry Sebastian. She's the sole reason why he even exists after all. So He's HER character. Zeal had given Zerum all right to him, too!

So if she wants to give Sebastian a wife that she just so happens to like cosplaying as, then it shouldn't be a big deal.

Now! For the other problem.

"They would've been 10 years old when they got married!!"

Now here's where I think people miss the point:

'Zerum' and Sebastian are around the same age. Which means something must've happened in order for them to NEED to get married!

There is SO much angst and story potential here. It's sad that nobody sees it! Because 10 year olds don't get legally married for no reason!

Personally, for me, through my experience of story beta-ing, a very angst filled plot point comes into mind:

Imagine you've made a friend, maybe even having met by saving her from a bear attack? You have never met her parents, but she always seems to be hiding from grownups whenever they're around. One day, some intimidating adults dressed in suits start poking around the neighborhood, scaring your friend to the point that they beg you to hide them.

Your family welcomes her in with open arms and tries their best to keep her hidden.

Unfortunately, your family is found out, and your family, along with your friend, are arrested and detained. Tensions are high, and you find out the reason why they were hunting your friend in the first place.

They wanted to use her abnormalities. Did they want to do genetic experiments? Medical torture? Maybe even turn her into a breeder to see if her abnormalities pass down?

Either way, you desperately didn't want that to happen. You were trying to figure out what to do when your law obsessed sister comes up with an idea:

If she's legally binded to someone, they can't take her.

But that poses a problem. Your baby brother is too young to know what's going on, and they don't allow same sex marriages just yet. So that left your 10 year old mind, to bravely take the stand to glare in the face of the government or science adjacent corporation, just to save your friend!

All for you to be declared legally dead 9 years later when you're falsely accused for the murder of nine people, one person for every year you had kept your friend from the greedy corporation's claws.

Years later. You don't know if she's still even alive anymore. Your only memory you have of her is a photo and your wedding band you were allowed to keep with you, most likely mourning the loss of someone you fought so hard and sacrificed so much for while having little hope of her survival.

The angst! The drama! The feels!!! And everyone is just focusing on false rumors about Zerum kicking them out of the discord group chat when THEY were the ones talking about NSFW stuff in front of literal impressionable CHILDREN that lurk and talk in said group chat!

Yeah, I'd ban you, too.

Oh! And one more thing! If you REALLY don't like the fish man being married. In all technicality, 'Zerum's a widow. Sebastian is legally dead. Stop attacking a real person!

[maryhadalittlehobby]

Recap of IWTV Screening and Conversation at 92stY

(Please dont repost/reupload my pics or vids from here or IG anywhere else. Sharing/linkinh is ok. Thanks!)

I started the day with a fang gang meetup hosted by Black Girl Talks Fangs. The restaurant was cute and the food great. I'm not a big wine drinker but got a blood red Chateau in honor of the occasion. After, we headed over to the event space.

In my experience attending different events there, the actors typically come in just before the event starts or a few minutes into the screening.

In this case- it was both.

Eric strolled up super casual and had a convo with myself and a few other fans asking if we had read the books and what we were looking forward to. He gave a parting message that the season is amazing and he is not just saying that because he is part of it. I believe him. He was super personable and down to earth.

Delainey arrived next and again kind and generous with her time. She has a very chill energy. Her outfit was more casual this day but I thought chic and the face card never declines. Her makeup artist does her right! And can we talk about that sleek ass ponytail

She complimented my cosplay and said she thinks my beret might be the screen accurate one!

She asked to touch it and said mine was softer!

She also said Carol Cutshall gifted her the beret so she owns Claudia's.

I put this cosplay together in 3 weeks which is barely enough time. Thankfully I had the idea knocking around since October when we first saw this fit in the trailer that dropped at NYCC 23.

Myself and a few fans waited till about 15 minutes into the start of the screening before we gave up on waiting for Jam Reiderson.

While running to the screening I nearly literally ran into Rolin. I asked for a quick pic which he obliged.

The episode was amazing. Very much on par of season 1 so far. Can't wait to see the full thing. Delainey fit into Claudia seamlessly.

The panel itself was great as well. I have a few vids in my IWTV highlight on IG and a few others in an upcoming youtube video I will make AFTER the episode drops. There are some spoiler bits plus 92Y is dropping the full panel too after the ep airs.

Highlights include watching Jam Reiderson literally communicate telepathically- what was the fun on set story?!

Sam slapping Jacobs' lower inner thigh in front of god (Rolin) and everyone.

Working together is like putting on an old glove. An old sock?! Lol what. 'Is that dirty?'

Assad trauma dumping on main. "Armands lost...like me." "I'm intimidated by the cast" Sir please!

Assad also being spicy saying he thinks Armands memory of Lestat is pretty accurate. Drag him king😄

Delainey and Jacob gushing about how they immediately bonded and established their father/daughter/sibling vibes.

Eric calling Jam puppies and Jacob saying "I'm a grown man a parent"lol Sir you are a baby girl as evidenced by

Rolin saying that's a book and this is a show. To me that said was book lovers have the book and you always will but this is a new thing that respects the source but isn't tied down to every single detail.

Then Sam saying there are contradictions even within the series. Please lets talk about it.

And I love this new narrative everyone is spinning, even Sam, who seemed to be in the Lestat is right and Louis is lying boat last press go round. Now everyone is saying there is no right and wrong or truth and lies-the story is told by different people with different perspectives and that's all. Which yes! that's ALWAYS how I saw it! Just because Lestat became the main character and most favored doesn't mean he is infallible.

Jacob and that plushie. Who would have imagined he'd love it so much. Another fan was coming with their Lestat. I don't know if they had intentions of giving it to Sam but sadly they didn't make it.

After the panel I went back to the spot and aimed to get Jacobs signature on my Street of Immortality print which I managed.

I would have loved to get Sam's to but I also wanted to give other fans the chance to get photos and autos. I was already so lucky.

They signed for a loooong time. So long I thought our side wouldnt have a chance or only a few people would. Turns out fans were conducting mini interviews with them lol Someone needs to collect all the questions and answers.

Also they are the smallest cast you've ever seem. Pocketbsized. Everyone one of them is so unassuming.

Overall I had a super good time. The audience vibes were immaculate. The person beside me during the screening/panel was losing their shit then apologizing. But honestly I was here for it lol

Also you could 100% tell it was an audience full of the online fandom.

I ended the night checking out the Time Square ad. It was awesome to see our vamps represented. Hopefully we get a ton of new fans from all the amazing marketing this year.

[mikakissiekiss]

one underrated thing that I feel like I haven't seen people mention in all of this is getting a lil sheet with their handwriting 😭 Am I just crazy? I love that kind of stuff!

Some thoughts on that below if you're interested or want to see it idk

I'm no analyzer or anything, but look at Leo's! I love how his handwriting is just a bit... messy? It's still written very clearly and legible but just kinda looks like he writes fast. I mean, he probably does 😅 And I love that it goes out of the box sometimes just on the edges! I really like how he writes his 5's also but that's mostly just cuz that's how mine look

Mao's looks a lot more straight by comparison! I like that he starts the lines in the last three boxes on the left edge (notice how Leo started sorta in the middle) and how he wrote his birthday with the month and day characters instead of only numbers. And his writing seems a bit smaller too. I feel like it obviously makes sense for him to be a bit neater

With the newer characters it's a bit harder cuz we don't really know them yet, but I feel like what we have is enough to kinda guess (on some of them, at least) I'm not too sure about Esu, but his cute compass drawing?? He kinda writes like Mao but his letters are a lot more crammed and less neat

For Ibuki though, I feel like this says a lot! The thick marker? Big writing, and he goes out of the box quite a bit. I also didn't realize he wrote "smile" at the top, I couldn't read it at first 😅. Based on this I'd say he seems really bold and confident (he gave those vibes away just by how he looks tho) Also I love his lil star in his signature, so cute!

Kanna is (as we already know) very neat! His handwriting looks so nice. Good spacing, straight lines. It looks pretty fancy. I also think it's fun that he also has a thicker pen/marker, I don't know what that says about him but his writing definitely looks really nice

And Yume's is so cute!! The round letters, and so many hearts 💕 His signature is so fun! And look at how many hashtags he put in the box. I can't wait to read his stories, the fact that he's a cosplayer is fun, I hope his stories talk more about what he likes to cosplay

And Raika's!! I love the way his letters trail off a bit at times and get kinda stuck together. And it looks like he wrote kinda smaller and more cramped to fit in the box more. Again, idrk what that means for him but I'm excited to see what he'll be like! He seems a bit self-conscious to me but I can't really tell yet.

[crookedkryptonitebeliever]

I wonder how Yves would deal with his s/o absolutely hate his guts. Like just one meeting and they already find his existence insufferable for no reason at all.

Another Anon Sent: Me , personally, would find Yves annoying as hell in real life. Mf is too composed

TW: mentions of past physical abuse (on Yves's side)

There is always a reason. Many reasons. The most glaringly obvious one is that if you don't like how he presents himself. Yves's existence already challenged a wide array of norms that had been established since the publishing of the bible. Maybe you don't like that he's a "man", "cosplaying" as a "woman". He knows a lot of people didn't, many of his old scars hidden under his turtleneck are there to prove that. Perhaps he's too good for you, unintentionally reminding you of your own inferiority. Perhaps, like what was described, he is too composed and put together that it seems suspicious.

And he understands that. He cannot please every category of people he comes across. This could mean you hating his entire being and viciously attacking his character for being the way he is. Yves accepted that, but it doesn't mean it hurts him any less. He may try his best to accommodate your wants, he can be malleable but only to a certain extent. His hair and makeup carry the weight of emotions and memories that you can never experience, and his mannerisms make up the legacy of all the crucial fragments of his life. Yves has his own identity and he cannot lose that. Without one, he knows he will fall apart and wither, all of his hard work will be for naught and you will be left unprotected.

Your hatred for him is an integral part of you, developed over years of exposure to your environment. No one is born loathing, it is the buildup of teachings from adults that causes it. As selfish as he is, he wouldn't just expunge it completely from your mind, even if he knows he can rewire your brain to an obedient little thing. That isn't you.

However, tolerance can be learned. If Yves knows you would have hated him upon initial contact, he wouldn't reveal himself too early. You still had years of maturing to catch up. He has time, he can wait. Yves will tailor your experiences, letting you mingle with diversity, and broaden your view of the world. He knows all the buttons, the levers, and the switches in your mind and how he could manipulate them to better you.

Not to say all your friends are paid actors and actresses, Yves doesn't even need to do that most of the time. All he needs is information, about who will be there, when will they be and why will they be there. And just like fate itself, Yves will bring you to them. Change needs to be gradual, the human mind simply cannot take massive shocks.

Maybe you find his tranquility irritating because you didn't grow up seeing that. Your home life could have been chaotic, unpredictable, and constantly needing you to turn on survival mode. Hence, seeing Yves as an anomaly in the world and rejecting the unknown. You're used to the mayhem, not the peace; at least in disorder, you know what to expect.

Then, Yves will give you a frame of reference. You will meet people of varying degrees of collectiveness, with him being on the extreme end of the spectrum. You will see more and more portrayals of similar personalities in the media. Then, surely but slowly, you will change.

Right?

Perhaps, no. You won't. You could stay the same and it would only mean his hypothesis wasn't correct. You might even get worse. And that is alright, this is in no way, shape or form a failure. He still succeeded, he succeeded in obtaining data. This is the scientific method, no outcome is still an outcome. It is this attitude that got Yves to where he is, to the mammoth collections in his office. He will try again, with another experiment design, with another hypothesis based on the last study's results. Why didn't it work? Was there something he missed? Did his bias get in the way? Was he not looking at the big picture this whole time?

Regardless, he will keep going. Each time, he learns something new about you that others may deem insignificant. But could potentially be the determining factor. And he notes it down without missing a beat.

That is why it takes years. That is why you're more likely to meet Yves only later in life. You still need more time to develop your views and you are constantly changing whether you like it or not.

Knowledge may not be the cure to hatred, but it is the cure to ignorance. Yves would do is present the world as best as he can in front of you, and let you think for yourself. To him, the gift of choice is the ultimate expression of love.

[dontlookheswatching]

I wanna randomly ramble about my main au regarding ships real quick.

TRIGGER WARNING, PLEASE NOTE THAT I MENTION THINGS LIKE ABUSE, RAPE, ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE!! Please don't read if these things upset you! I want everyone to be safe, so if any of this is triggering, this is to tell you to scroll by!

I'm a multishipper, I've stated this on my blog before, I ship practically everything if I see it a certain way. But lore wise when it comes to my blog, relationships are specific. I might post a relationship chart one day, but basically, I have main ships, and then I have like a billion little side ships I enjoy but they wont make a big appearance on this blog unless they're random doodles unrelated to the lore, or part of a ramble or reblog. Im gonna list examples of each so people know what to expect in future posts where some of these ships are featured. If you want to unfollow me for some of these, I'm not stopping you, I'd highly encourage doing so if any of these ships make you uncomfortable, because I don't want anyone to stay on my blog if it brings discomfort.

Several main ships I have that'll be featured perhaps the most are ones like Jeff x Ben, which if not already obvious is the main relationship that'll be focused on. Another is Tim x Toby, they're both adults in my au, I do not support pedophilia whatsoever and if need be I have aged up characters to avoid this. Lastly, I have Liu x Eyeless Jack. I honestly dont know why I started shipping it but its really cute to me and it stuck and they're very dear to me. These three are perhaps the ships that'll be featured the most, but I'm having a brain fart like always and I'm already forgetting my own ships-😭

These are ships that'll be in the blog as well but they aren't as big and focused on. A example to start off with is Jane x Clockwork. I know, canonly, Jane is married to Mary, and I love that, but this is my own personal au so things are different, although in my heart Jane and Mary are definitely on top, and I might do doodles of them from time to time. Another example is Nina x everyone. No, not literally. She just has crushes that come and go ALL the time, and she flirts with everyone, so often to where no one questions it anymore. She had a Jeff arc and got over him and now she's living her life how SHE wants to. A few more include Nurse Ann x Judge Angels, Hobo Heart x Cody/X-Virus, Lost Silver x Glitchy Red, Jason the Toymaker x The Puppeteer, and Kate x Rogue. I have many more, but for now, I'm gonna explain the ones already listed since a few might seem really random. For Angels and Ann, Im just gonna admit, I'm a sucker for enemies to lovers or people who act like they hate each other but they secretly love each other deep down. For Hobo and Cody, in my au, they're both huge loners, and we're paired in a mission once. It was very awkward but the more they talked the more they realized they had a lot in common. I love them. Theres more lore to the reason I've paired Silver and Red together, but to sum it up, Silver had a massive crush on Ben, but Ben has his eyes set on Jeff and didn't return the feelings, and I didn't want Silver to be sad and alone his whole life, plus, they're dynamic is adorable. Sad pessimistic person x person who has seen whats under the sadness and admires them anyways. For Jason and Puppeteer, i saw a cosplay with them on tiktok and I couldn't help myself, I caved immediately. And lastly for Kate and Rogue I realized their characters have several things in common and I realized they'd probably get along pretty well.

Now, for side ships, I won't give an explanation, this ramble is already longer than planned. Im just gonna throw them out there with no context. EJ x Ben, Ben x Lost Silver, Nina x Kate, Tim x Brian, Tim x Jay, Jay x Alex(Yes some other marble hornet characters may be featured in the blog or in doodles), Jessica x Amy, Toby x EJ, Liu x Ben, and many MANY more, too many to state here.

Now that its out there, I wanna real quick talk about something I've reblogged a few days ago. Just because they're bad people who have done bad things, it doesn't mean they dont deserve love or happiness. Plus, the majority of these creeps were people who were wronged time and time again until they were pushed over the edge, it probably definitely wasn't something they had planned out since they were like 3. Now, despite this, some of them definitely aren't the best lovers to have, like Jeff, because again, these are murders and deranged killers. This is a super dark confession but theres A LOT of lore between Ben and Jeff in my au where things were AWFUL for them because Jeff couldn't get a grip on himself for the longest time. He's not like that anymore, and things are MUCH better for the both of them, but they definitely had an era in their relationship where things were beyond toxic. Beyond toxic as in Jeff was incredibly abusive, physically and mentally, and had a MAJOR alcohol addiction, and even proceeded to get Ben addicted to drugs at some point, sometimes going as far as raping him when he did not give consent. I won't give away too many details, but I will say, again, this is in the past and they've both healed over their traumas and managed to get through it together, and are in a much better state(A lot of breaking up and getting back together happened throughout this 'toxic era' though, and even after healing, theres still minor problems that I will not elaborate, they will be found out throughout the blog and maybe hints in some doodles.) But this is a good example of what a realistic relationship in this fandom with Jeff might look like. But just because people are deranged and definitely not mentally stable, it doesn't mean they can't try to change, and it definitely doesn't mean they dont deserve love unless they're as bad as Jeff was but with no intentions to change.

Im always happy to further explain any of this, but I will not tolerate harassment for the things I like. But anyways yeah thats my whole thing on ships im gonna go cry over my broken apple pencil now

-Max❤

[kamimarroco]

First time meeting Ren

Good morning, good afternoon and good night everyone! I brought another BTD fanfic that I worked on for a few days, and I confess that it gave me a bit of work. Anyway, the title gives it all away, and also, it can be considered a sequel to my first story. Enjoy it!

As your eyes felt heavy, the complete darkness of the basement was inviting, your eyelids slowly closing in the face of exhaustion and the pain of freshly inflicted wounds. Usually you weren't one to admit this, but your captor really made you feel the worst possible sensation with this last torture session. Maybe he was too excited about the discovery of your immortality and the possibilities that fact opened up for him. You still remember the smile of genuine euphoria on his face when he saw you returning from the dead, breathing like any other living being. At that point, everything went downhill.

Without anything else to do and with drowsiness already affecting you, you allowed yourself to sleep peacefully in the face of this situation. Even though you were still tied to a pole and the pain from the bruises continued to burn, you just wanted to escape it for a moment. Who knows, maybe you'll wake up in your bed and realize it was all just a terrible nightmare. And then, you would laugh and tell your friends about this madness like it was no big deal. If that weren't the case, then you'd be content to dream about cotton candy or pudding, it doesn't really matter.

These thoughts brought a smile to your face as your consciousness switched off, finally being able to rest from this fucking hell, your breathing becoming regular and deep.

[...]

Because you had nothing to guide you about the time, you didn't know how many hours had passed since you slept. The only thing you were sure of was the sound of soft footsteps coming down the stairs, as if someone wanted to go unnoticed. Well, bad for that person, because you noticed their presence the moment they entered the basement. Even so, you didn't bother opening your eyes to find out who it was.

“So you're that immortal girl he talked about so much? Damn, you look just like any other”, a young, male voice said, making you confused and forcing you to finally open your eyes to satisfy your curiosity. "Hehe, I knew you were awake”

Looking carefully, you noticed that it was a young, short boy with visible red hair. You would have considered him an ordinary boy if it weren't for his fox ears and tail. Goddammit, you had no idea your captor had another prisoner.

“If I'm not wrong, either you are cosplaying or you are a beastkin”, you stated your first observations. “And to be more exact, I'm a grown-ass up woman”, your tone sounded a little irritated.

“For a grown woman, you sure don't have the manners of a lady”, arms crossed, the tail twitched methodically, flat ears on the head and a judgmental look on his face.

You sighed, trying to regain your posture. “Right, sorry. I'm probably just taking my anger out on you”, you hoped your words sounded sincere, wanting to lighten the mood. “You know, can't expect someone to be in a good mood when trapped in a basement”

The beastkin looked to the side, seeming to relax for a moment. “It's alright, I know how it feels"

“Yeah, I kinda figured it out”, you said, referring to the scars and the collar around the boy's neck. Some of the injuries on his body were fresh while others were completely healed. “It seems like you've been experiencing it longer than I have”

“You can say that”, he closed the distance between you and him, crouching down to look at you closely from top to bottom. You hadn't paid attention before, but his amber eyes were very beautiful to look at. “Looks like he didn't bother to take care of your wounds. Do you want me to help you?”

“You are gorgeous”, those words left your lips without a filter, making him blush slightly. “I would be very grateful if you helped me”

“Right…”, still embarrassed by the compliment, the boy got up and started searching for something in the basement cupboards. With his back turned to you, you could see the fox tail more clearly and observe its movements from side to side, your eyes completely mesmerized by the animalistic feature. Come on, it's not every day you come across an almost human being with animal parts, this could be your only chance to see something like this.

“Enjoying the view?”, he asked as he grabbed a medical kit, turning to face you.

You immediately looked away, embarrassed that you had been caught staring for so long. “I wasn't looking at anything…”, you made the cliché move of denying your attitude.

“Let's say I believe it”, he chuckled as he crouched down again to treat your injuries, taking some objects from the medical kit. “This might hurt a little, so be prepared”

“Don't worry about me, go on”, you said in a confident tone. As he cautiously brought his hands closer to your wounds, you couldn't help but eagerly anticipate the touch. And no matter how much you mentally prepared yourself for the moment, the cloth moistened with alcohol still made you groan in pain, the burning sensation making you grind your teeth. Still, this was nothing compared to Strade's playtime, so you tried to do your best to look strong during the process.

You could see a look of admiration on his face as you occasionally glanced at him, your attention more focused on the treatment of the wounds. The striking color of your blood, so beautiful and bright… Was that why Strade got excited so quickly?

Well, whatever, the important thing is that your wounds were finally being disinfected, which would save you from future problems. Being already used to the pain, it didn't take long for him to take care of the rest, making you let out a sigh of relief.

“And it's done”, the beastkin spoke as he finished his work, getting up to put the medical kit back in the cupboard. “You surprised me, I thought you would at least complain about the pain”

“I couldn't make myself vulnerable so easily in front of a boy younger than me”

“Come on, I'm not that young”, he put his hands on his hips, a smirk on his face. “Maybe you're just too old”, he chuckled.

“You know, it's rude to ask a woman her age”, you looked at him with a smile on your face, enjoying the moment the two of you were sharing. “Besides, I've been through worse”, remembering the origin of the bruises sent shivers down your spine.

“I know exactly what you mean”, his eyes stared at the ground, his facial expression changing to a more serious one. “Anyway, I think I stayed here too long. He probably noticed that”, the boy stated as he approached the stairs.

“Wait!”, you called him, trying to be as quiet as possible so as not to attract attention. “Thank you for taking care of my bruises, and I'm sorry for being rude earlier”, you said softly while maintaining eye contact. “Can I at least know your name?”

The boy looked thoughtful for a moment, but then began to speak. “It's Ren. You can call me Ren”

Ren... It was a beautiful name to say. “It's a cute name, it suits you”, you stated without hesitation. “You can call me by my legal name”

“Really? And what would it be?”

“It's…”

As you spoke your name, you saw his smile returning to his face, seeing a sparkle in his amber eyes when he heard you, ears twitching along with his tail.

“It's a good name, I think it suits you”, he gave you a compliment before leaving. “Maybe I'll see you again, who knows”

“Yeah, maybe…”, you whispered as you saw the boy going up the stairs, hearing the sound of the door being locked seconds later. Without any more company, you sighed, looking at the blood-stained floor as you waited for something to happen again.

[madman479r]

Ben 10,000 X Wonder Woman Gibslythe Ship Table

Context:

Ben 10,000 from Classic series

Wonder Woman from Justice league Animated series.

For Ben, this is after Ben 10 Season 3 episode 1 "Ben 10,000", in which he has started to relax a bit though he still maintains a firm attitude, taking being a hero seriously.

For Diana, this is set during the Thanagarian invasion of Earth "Starcrossed".

During this Ben finds himself in a new dimension and Immediately recognises that he's in the middle of an invasion. He manages to free the Justice League and assist them in fighting off the invasion.

During the time the team pretended to be civilians to get to Wayne Manor, Ben went with Diana instead of Bruce, so the fake kiss scene was between them.

After they fight off the Thanagarians and expand the Justice League, Ben decides, if he can't get back home, he might as well stay to help keep this Earth safe. His time in the DC universe, he and Diana grow close and start to date.

Big/Little Spoon: Diana had never shared her bed with another, so imagine her surprise by how comforting it feels to cuddle with someone, a man no less. For Ben he was in the same situation, having been constantly patrolling his earth he actually didn't sleep much at all, so having Diana with him in his arms makes him feel less anxious and jittery about not patrolling the Earth for anything.

Lends/Borrows Clothes: I don't think there's much Diana has that Ben would wear, unless he wants to cosplay as her, but that's not likely to ever happen.

Doesn't/Does Use Pet Names: Diana mainly addresses Ben by his name, only referring to him as something like "My Love" in privacy, not wanting their business to be anyone else's. Ben does the same for Diana, wanting to respect her boundaries, plus he doesn't want to seem degrading to her after having heard of Themyscira's views on men.

Introverted/Extroverted: Both are a healthy balance. With Diana having been raised in a isolated island, she's eager to explore the world and what it has to offer. Ben is the opposite, having seen the world and beyond, but despite having and extroverted personality and life before adulthood, there are times in which Ben would just like to have some peace and indulge in his favourite things.

Affection Through Words/Actions: Despite his sometimes serious and stern attitude, Ben knows the right things to say and do to show his affection to Diana, be it complementing her abilities as a warrior or her beauty, or using one of his aliens to make her a gift or show her something, like going on a flight with her to see the world. Diana tends to show affection through actions such as pecks on Ben's cheek or deep and passionate kisses, pouring her love for him in the act. Another way to show it is through sparring with Ben, Diana is an amazon after all.

Confesses First/Waits For Confession: Back when he was being a hero 24/7, Ben found romance to be distracting and never really bothered with it, so he was no expert on how to confess to Diana. Diana on the other hand decided that beating around the bush wasn't her thing and confessed for feelings to Ben, knowing he just needed the push to show her that he loved her too.

Screams About/Squashes Bugs: One is hero who's seen the scariest monsters and aliens of the universe before his 15th birthday and the other is a near invincible warrior, so bugs don't really scare either Ben or Diana.

Drives the Car/Can't Drive: Ben is better with a car while Diana is better with a jet.

Can't Cook/Makes Dinner: Ben knows the basics to cooking but that's about it. (My headcannon is that Ben 10,000 never really ate much, instead transforming into Swampfire or Wildvine and basking in sunlight like photosynthesis for a few minutes to re-energise himself). Diana was taught how to cook so she knows whats she's doing.

Dislikes/Loves PDA: Ben isn't too wild about PDA, wanting to rather keep it when it's private while Diana is even about PDA, only going as far as small kisses in public, giving hugs or holding Ben's hand.

Overprotective/Chill Going: Having been the top hero back on his Earth has made Ben think he should be the one to take on the baddest of the bad, not out of arrogance or underestimating the other heroes, but because he doesn't want to risk anyone getting hurt when he could do it himself, regardless if he's the one in danger. Diana knows Ben can handle himself, especially after hearing his feats back in his universe, but notices that Ben has a tendency to put himself in unnecessary danger in an effort to keep everyone else safe, so she'll do what she can to fight by his side and keep him safe in return.

Has More/No Relationship Experience: Before he turned stoic and cold, Ben had some experience in dating, though they never worked due to his hero life style. Diana never really had a relationship, the only romantic interest having been Steve Trevor but that was another time.

Horny Levels: Both can keep it in their pants but there are times when they just find it hard to resist one another. Diana neve thought she'd be enticied by man or their bodies but Ben had a physique that gives Diana thoughts which would make Aphrodite blush. The same being for Ben, especially when her outfit leaves little to the imagination.

Awkwardness Levels: Neither feel awkward with each other though sometimes Ben doesn't want to risk making Themyscira's views on men seem justified while Diana can rarely feel uneducated about the world outside of Themyscira.

Jealousy Levels: Both have very little to feel Jealousy about but the ugly emotion can be there at rare moments, like when another man/woman tries to make a move on Diana/Ben

[barananduen]

Art Advice: How to Have a Positive Outlook

Welcome to the next Art Advice Article in the series! This time, we'll talk about tactics you can use to not feel discouraged when things don't turn out the way you want.

🌳It Happens to Everyone

If it gives you some consolation, know the fact that everyone screws up sometimes, even professionals. People just tend to not show their screw-ups, so it's easy to make the false assumption that everything they do is wonderful and they never mess up. Just because you didn't see it doesn't mean it didn't happen. Mistakes and work the artist doesn't like happen to everyone at all levels. It's completely normal!

🌳Changing Your Outlook about Mistakes

When we draw something that doesn't come out how we intended it, keeping these two things in mind will help you move forward. We'll introduce the ideas first and then expand on them below.

Mistakes are necessary for progress. Every time something doesn't come out "right," we get one step closer to getting to the point where it does come out just the way we want it (perhaps even better!). We just need to keep trying and not give up.

You can use humor to not let it get you down. Laugh at your own mistakes. You don't have to show them to others if you don't want to, but YOU can laugh at your own screw-ups. It will help you not feel bad about them.

🌱Expanding on #1: Mistakes are Necessary for Progress

Whenever something doesn't come out right, you will (should) work on fixing it, if not in that drawing, then in the next one(s). These are the stepping stones necessary for perfecting your craft. Think of it like defeating baddies in a video game: you can't level up without overcoming those obstacles.

I know people say it so much that it's almost become a cliche, but it's true: practicing is necessary to get to where you want to be. Art is like a sport: you're not going to become a goal-scoring machine without having first spent time standing in front of the goal shooting balls at it during training, and then doing it while moving and with other players in the way (add obstacles/change scenarios). When I used to go to conventions, I would see people sitting on the floor or wherever with their sketchbooks, drawing all the time; then the people in the artists' alley were always drawing while at their table.

🌱Expanding on #2: Using Humor

This is easier explained with a story, so I'll tell you of a time I wanted to learn how to draw panthers. I'd never drawn one before, so I drew a few.

One looked like Bart the bear, that big brown (Kodiak) bear that you used to get in all the movies.

So I LOLed at it and took a look at my bear cosplaying as a wannabe-panther and tried to figure out why it looked like a bear instead of a panther - aha! the lower jaw was too long. I made it shorter. Also, the eye was too round.

(Note: At the time, I didn't know I was going to use this for an article, so I didn't scan it before corrections; I've drawn over the scan to show what it originally looked like.)

I drew another, but it looked like a cute shiba-inu instead. I drew a bow on it and some blush; had another laugh. I looked at my shiba-inu cosplaying a hello-kitty panther and tried to find out what made it look like a shiba-inu instead of a panther. The jaw was STILL too long.

I left my shiba-inu/hello-kitty because it was funny and drew another one, this time with an even shorter lower jaw. Still not right. Made the lower jaw thicker from gum to chin.

Repeat, repeat, repeat drawing more panthers until I got one I liked. Then I drew it again. Then I drew it from another angle to make sure I'd gotten the hang of it.

🌳Closing

So, when you have something you don't like:

Remember that this happens to everyone.

Mistakes make progress.

Don't be harsh on yourself, laugh at it instead.

Look closely to see exactly what about it seems "off," then you can work on those bits.

Once you get it right, try again a couple more times to cement the knowledge.

Last, but very important: don't drown in your mistakes, always stop and appreciate what you did RIGHT! There is plenty of good stuff, but, in general, we, as humans, tend to overlook it and focus on the negative things. Don't. While it's important to learn from our mistakes, it's also important to recognize our successes so we can build on them. Do not neglect your strengths!

And remember to enjoy the process of what you're doing! 💖

Happy arting! ~B~

🌳More Art Advice Articles

You can find the index to all Art Advice Articles [here]

[atlasoftheunknown]

I used to hate anybody and everybody was radqueer. I don't anymore, for one reason in particular;

I'm concerned. Honestly everything you guys do is more concerning than anything. You all clearly have something going on, and I have a feeling it's either from the echo chamber you've dragged yourselves into or you are genuinely delusional. You all need therapy. Before one of you tries to argue why you shouldn't go to therapy, you need to understand that I am well aware therapy won't necessarily fix what's wrong, however it will give you healthier coping mechanisms than cosplaying as a minority. Three things in particular I want to criticize about radqueers however are; 1. TransAbled. I've heard the argument that "transids" are the same as transgender, a misalignment of the body and mind. I'm white and therefore do not feel comfortable speaking about transrace, however I'd like to know how you can physically not have autism, depression or anxiety, but mentally have it. That's not exactly how that works. Unlike sex and gender, mental disorders are entirely mental. It's in the name. And wanting to have a physical disability is weird at best, horrifically diminishing at worst. I guarantee if you were actually disabled you would not want to be. This is not trying to say that disabled people cannot be content with being disabled, but it's really strange to want to struggle in life. All the disabled people I've met, talked to, heard from, they don't hate their disability. They don't want to have it either. It's just their circumstances. 2. Transbody, transopinion and transoccupation These are three things I've seen a lot of and they honestly just feel like an attention grab. Transbody terms are mostly just insecurities, "feeling as if you should have [x feature]". Either that or they're unrealistic, which I'm becoming concerned is causing more insecurities for confused kids that they didn't even know could happen. Transopinion is one of two things. It's either people who are so desperate for labels they're clinging to stuff they know is bad, or is literally just changing your mind, except apparently you're not allowed to do that. This also ties into the concept of "stances" which seem to be immovable ideologies that once you express you're not allowed to change. That's a topic for another day though. Transoccupation is genuinely just having dreams and aspirations, or finding something interesting. You guys know you're allowed to have interests right? 3. Paraphilias (specifically the "big three" and other harmful ones) Paraphilias should not be accepted in the way you all think they should. There should absolutely be a little less shame involving it so that individuals can get access to the proper help, however we should not be normalizing paraphilias. They are not normal, and they are absolutely not queer identities. I'm genuinely terrified for "radqueer" kids who are saying that pedophilia is okay. What happens if it does get normalized and you get SA'd? Or when it's your kids? Or does it only apply when it's other kids, ones you don't know? This is honestly just a breeding ground for grooming and sexual abuse. It is absolutely not okay.

For the record, I still support bodily autonomy, obviously I cannot stop you from doing whatever you want with your bodies, however please stop claiming to be part of communities you were never part of, and stop trying to push your voice into our conversations.

[nighttime-tea-party]

since you say youve been in the kuro fandom even before BoC aired, could you tell me about how it was back then? :D ive always been interested in learning how internet culture used to be, how things eventually changed, how they improved/declined etc, more so when the current community is pretty much dead. was there an experience that marked you, what do you remember most fondly? was there an event that excited the fandom more than any other (like the release of a chapter or smth)? which blogs were the most popular? Its okay if you dont want to tho, i understand!

Super interesting question! I hope I can provide some equally interesting information in return.

Before the fandom had reached Tumblr, much of it centred around a forum, or at least much of what I knew. It wasn't originally a Kuroshitsuji forum but a sub-forum of a Bleach forum, actually. I think it was called Bleach Asylum? And I don't know exactly how it came to be but I think that Bleach forum had lots of sub forums for then-popular anime and manga but Kuroshitsuji gained so much popularity and the fandom happened to gather there, so that sub forum really took off and it ended up being an anchor point for the fandom. I used to always look for the most recent scanlations there, back before we were able to buy them legally.

I didn't actively participate in that forum but I lurked occasionally. It was full of wild discussions, one of which was the "two Ciel(s) theory"/"2CT" as it was called back then. It had a strong following on the website back then already. I sadly don't remember any of the other theories that were making rounds back then...

I didn't really participate in much fandom stuff back then, limited my art posts to deviantArt and my personal facebook... but eventually, I made a tumblr specifically to interact with the fandom.

As for blogs, I don't really like doing any name dropping, especially because it would go into some people who used to ship sebaciel and turned anti, and other stuff I'd rather not talk about. I do feel like back in the day, there were a couple of gigantic Kuroshitsuji blogs with massive followings that got a LOT of asks every day (to the point where it seemed like a full time job to keep up with them). Discussion around sebaciel was very different, there have always been people who disliked it but unfounded rumours like "did you know that Kuroshitsuji was supposed to be a yaoi" made rounds without people questioning it. That always annoyed me a little tbh haha.

There was one fan artist on deviantArt whose name I sadly don't remember but I think they were THE kuro artist in Western fandom back then because their style looked very similar to the anime style. I still see their art sometimes.

And fun fact on the side, I grew up in German fandom spaces and we had a big website called Animexx (I think it's still around) that was dedicated specifically to all things manga, anime, and related stuff. They had really convenient ways of browsing on-site fanart, fanfic, doujinshi, cosplay, and other fan creations, as well as forums and ways to host your own fan events. Until the early 2010s, I hung out there a lot so until then, my perspective is distorted by that German lens. I used to post my early Kuroshitsuji fanart there too.

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask! I feel like I could go on tangents for much longer but idk how interesting that would be.

[jpt1311summerbnixautumn]

Convention Blog Post

On August 1st, 2021, I went to Tampa Comic Con with my dad. This was the first and only convention I've ever been to, but I'm planning on going again with my dad this year at the end of August. At the time I was 15 and a very anxious teen so i was SO stressed about going and being judged. I had planned to cosplay as Nobara from Jujutsu Kaisen, but I decided last minute not to wear it because I didn't want to be embarrassed if I saw someone I knew while walking into the convention center (for context I lived an hour away from Tampa and there was no way I would see anyone I knew but you know when you're nervous you don't think clearly). I was very into manga and anime back then, and I was going with my dad because he's HUGE on Marvel and DC Comics, which I am also still interested in. I didn't have any big expectations going in, or really any sort of plan. I was hoping to buy some Chainsaw Man merch but that was really all I thought of ahead of time.

The convention was 3 days long: a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We decided to go on Sunday, when tickets were reduced and the convention closed earlier than it had the previous days. We also got there as soon as it opened, and I was praying that both of these conditions would make for it to be not nearly as busy as I was anticipating, but I never could've imagined how insanely packed it was. From the short walk to the parking lot to the center, we passed numerous people decked out in cosplays of all kinds. Some just wearing shirts with their favorite characters, others wearing an outfit that they bought from Amazon most likely, and a few people adorned in completely homemade cosplays that they had clearly spent days, if not weeks, completing. I didn't wear a cosplay because I thought I would be one of the only ones, but it turned out that my normal clothes were actually in the minority. After going through the long process of entering, getting our wristbands, and traversing the center to make it to the convention space, I was amazed at how many people I had already passed. And my shock only grew as we stepped inside the large room. The space was like a labyrinth, a maze with walls of tables and booths, filled with all kinds of merchandise. I had thought that fanmade anime merch like keychains and art prints would be the main thing being sold, but I was very wrong. There was a GIANT section right next to the entrance that was just at least 10 long tables of boxes filled with vintage comics. There were multiple woodworking booths that sold beautifully intricate sculptures and wall art that were all well over $300 (which seemed a very appropriate price for the amount of detail that was hand carved). It's easy to say that I was very overwhelmed by all this.

I have always LOVED people watching, and I've never been to a better place to do so than this convention. After walking around for about an hour just taking all of the information in, my dad and I went to a little snack stand and each got a cheeseburger and a drink. The few tables they had were full, so we sat against a wall and surveyed the crowd. People of all ages were cosplaying and interacting. I saw one middle aged man dressed as Batman go up to a kid dressed as the Joker who couldn't have been older than 12 and start pretending to have a rivalry with him. There were so many group costumes for things I couldn't have even imagined cosplaying. Another teenage girl was sat on the floor a few feet away from me with her group of friends, wearing her interpretation of Bill Cipher from the show Gravity Falls. It genuinely filled me with so much joy to be able to watch all of these diverse groups come together to just celebrate what they like. I was so nervous going in, but everyone there seemed so friendly and at ease, I couldn't help but feel a lot less embarrassed.

My dad and I sat on the floor for about an hour and finished our food, and we went to explore the rest of the convention. We stopped at almost every booth, and I had bought 2 things along the way, a Gojo Satoru poster for my friend's birthday, and a Neon Genesis Evangelion shirt for my other friend's birthday (all of our birthdays are within a week from each other so it was nice to be able to get their gifts all in one spot). The event didn't really seem like my dad's cup of tea, and I was getting worried that he wasn't having fun, but he reassured me that he was just enjoying walking around and hanging out. After 3 hours of being under bright fluorescent lights and surrounded by people and bright colors, we were both starting to get a headache and decided it was time for us to head out. I know lots of people stay at conventions from open to close every day that they run, and I have to give MAJOR props to them because I am not nearly strong enough for that. On the way out, my dad and I passed a booth that we missed before that was selling $5 vintage tees. I dragged him over to look and was SO excited because all of the shirts they had were actually really cool. He bought 2 Marvel shirts, and I was very happy that he wan't leaving empty handed. I also got 2 shirts, an oversized graphic tee of the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles show that my dad made me watch as a kid, and a Def Leppard shirt that I still wear to this day (shown below in a picture way too big for this post but it won't let me make it smaller).

3 years later, as a much more confident college student, I can't wait to return to Tampa Comic Con. I'm planning on wearing a Sailor Moon cosplay that I wore for halloween last year (added below in case anyone wanted to see), and after my previous experience, I'm no longer nervous about being judged. Comic Con is a place where the only requirement to be accepted is to be kind <3

(So so sorry this is over 1k words I just got really into writing about my experience and reminiscing. Please don't dock any points I'm just overly passionate)

[kranagok0]

Louise, the photographer and possible cosplayer (that last one is a head-canon of mine)

Okay, let's talk about Louise and why I feel that the character was not explored more when she could have appeared more times in the last chapters of the series.

I mean, I mean, look at this character and tell me he doesn't deserve more prominence. In this last season I saw quite a few interesting characters and nothing was delved into about them. I mean, I loved the series and its ending was also glorious, but I would have liked to see in more depth each and every one of the characters that they included from one moment to the next.

Anders? I bet they only put it in to give Hilda a reason to go back to Tofoten to investigate (plus we were already making a lot of theories about who Hilda's father was and they wanted to clarify that point).

Astrid's neighbor? This guy seemed to know something, I don't know what but it was like he knew more than he should. It was as if they had wanted to include it in the plot but in the end they didn't have time to do that whole process.

And I have several more, characters from other seasons and so on, but let's return to the main topic. We will talk about this in another post that I am preparing.

As I was saying, Louise feels like a character with the potential (or at least for me) to create a problem big enough to make an extra chapter or season of the series. In other words, everyone in the trio of young adventurers is literally involved in causing chaos and some kind of incident that could have escalated simply by being themselves.

David is a perfect example. The boy literally collects rocks and takes them home. We all know what incident was involved so I'll skip the details and say this: the boy was able to go to prison.

Frida is not far behind, no sir, of course not. This girl was determined to raise the dead for a book, a damned book that not even the filthy ghosts had. It caused a fight between the city's nisse at the Sparrow Scout meeting place (of course it was to help Hilda, but let's leave that aside for now). And I may not know much about witchcraft, but breaking into the witches' tower (and private areas of the library) is certainly something to talk about.

And Hilda….. Well……:

[Insert crimes against humanity meme]

Now look at Louise. He is without a doubt a bread of god. AND IT HAS NOT CAUSED THE POSSIBLE ANNIHILATION OF A CITY!

We urgently need this child to cause some trouble immediately. I don't know what to do, I just want it to get into the friend dynamic of 'we're not solving the problem, we're making a bigger one that will make you forget about the original problem.'

We need ideas people, and this is where we all come in. I mean, I'm not forcing them. I am only politely demanding that you create some extra information about Louise to be clearer about the personality of this new member of the trio of friends. Seriously, I want (need) more things from this character.

There's so much to do with this character and they just didn't use almost any of it in the series. So help me help them help me to help this character help him help me to help them help me and…. Okay, I've already lost even myself in this. But I get my point across.

So I await your comments, I would like to know what head-canon you have about the photographer boy. Mine is that he cosplays, and I would love to see him try to integrate Hilda, David and Frida into cosplaying (I once saw an image of David as Baldur from God of War and I was fascinated).

So that's all from me. I send you greetings and don't forget to comment on your ideas. Now I'm going to write more of that post about the things that were missing when investigating characters in the series. bye

[givemewallywestorgivemedeath]

okay weird q incoming but what ways do you think speedsters can get sick? Like to my understanding, they can’t really come down with normal virus’ like the flu, right? But they could get things like chronic migraines?

NANOBOTS!!! This is one of the best pieces of canon lore ever. I did a whole post on it but TLDR: normal human metabolisms have so much shit going on that they don't even notice nanobots in their body BUT speedsters have hyper accelerated metabolisms that are the equivalent of the straight A's overachiever in school on meth. So speedster metabolisms do notice nanobots and they attack full force, triggering all of the body's defenses and responses.

But the nanobots are metal so it obviously doesn't do anything. It just leaves the speedster lethargic, feverish, vomiting, dizzy, with a headache, sore muscles and a runny nose, ect. It's basically an allergic reaction.

Now, poisoning them can work depending on what the poison is/what the dosage is. You would need a 100% fatal poison and you would need a fairly high dose. Because speedsters heal fast and they have a hyper accelerated metabolism, so any poison that is based on toxicity (alcohol poisoning for example) would be out of their system faster than it could even take effect.

But poisons that can't be cleared out/processed by the body (take cyanide for example, it binds with the chemical receptors in your body making it physically impossible to use oxygen) wouldn't really be affected by their metabolism at all. So while the speedsters could heal the damaged tissues from these poisons fairly quickly (making it seem as though they were only slightly affected) they would ultimately need time to do so, time they would not have if it kills them first. This isn't technically what you are asking because there would be no substance that 'makes them sick', there would only be 'fine', 'not fine for like a minute and then fine again' and 'dead'. (... unless they were hooked up to a steady supply of the toxin)

Likewise, (this is getting more into theoretical territory, less canon) there might be some illnesses that would affect them? Not for long but if you got something super fucking fatal like Rabies, it might make them display mild cold symptoms for a day or something.

I don't know though. They have really fucking good immune systems. And even super fatal diseases can be fought. Take my example of Rabies, while it is commonly thought to be 100% fatal once symptoms show up there actually have been cases of people surviving it. Rabies is a very stealthy and fast disease, so the main problem with treating it is that your body's immune system isn't fast enough to stop it. People have survived by being placed in medically induced comas (slowing their bodily functions and thus the disease) for long enough that the medication can eradicate it. So for a speedster? That's gone in a minute tops. You would need an insane disease that I'm not sure even exists.

There's also like... pregnancy and menstruation. Growing pains, muscle pain from running is a BIG ONE, being dehydrated/starvation, blood loss, ect. Lots of ways to fuck with a speedster in a way they can't immediately fix.

There are also speedster specific ailments. It's basically 50/50 if a natural born speedster gets a weird highly fatal aging disease. Sometimes speedsters can be born without a kinetic energy shield which makes using their powers at all incredibly fatal to them. All speedsters will have connectivity issues at some point that can be fatal. Sometimes Time Gets Bad™ (shout out to when Barry kept chronically stealing time from people/things every time he used his powers). Sometimes they have too much energy and can't maintain human form (shout out to when Wally didn't know what the speedforce was and was accidentally cosplaying Ghost Rider). Velocity 9 is a highly addictive drug that works on speedsters and makes them display typical addiction behavior (and withdrawal). V9 can also cause a speedster to 'overdose' (burst into flames/lightning/energy). They all have the constant urge to yeet themselves into the speedforce. Ect.