#definitely hibiscus

[throughthemeadowflowers]

[bluejayybird]

Inspired by an Anya & Daisuke piece by @infohazardouz , go check it out 🫵✨

Thinking about an alternate universe where Anya and Daisuke go to college together

Anya's back for her ninth round of medical education after taking more time to study since the Tulpar returned to earth, Daisuke pursuing art despite his mother's insistence that it's a dead end career (his father doesn't mind, as long as Daisuke's happy and making relatively good decisions) (Daisuke's Cool Dad is a hill I will die on, he gave Daisuke that Hawaiian shirt, he told me so-)

Having kept in touch after the trip, they figure out they're going to the same campus and scramble to see if they can share a dorm- if they couldn't, they'd try to save for an apartment, or Daisuke would butter up his parents to see if they'd cover it as long as he's in school

Notes, books and drawings strewn across their living space, organized chaos; Daisuke would help Anya study medical terms and procedures- they'd both get queasy about some of the subjects, but power through together. Anya would help Daisuke with his art block, giving him references and inspiration for assignments

Swansea sends each of them new sneakers and other school necessities, and Curly calls to check in once or twice a week; they have monthly potlucks and movie nights, tossing popcorn at each other and usually ignoring the film entirely in favor of the company

Swansea swears he's not crying as he watches them walk the stage at their graduation, then immediately runs up the isle and lifts Daisuke in a spinning hug, all of them misty eyed and laughing during pictures

Anya starts an internship at a local doctor's office as an assistant nurse, and Daisuke takes commissions, paints public murals, and posts popular art memes online

They're both happy, finally starting to feel like they've found their purpose; they adopt two cats (a maine coon and a ragdoll kitten named Elodie and Hibiscus, respectively) and keep their apartment once they both start making their own money, walls covered in old mementos, Daisuke's art, and inspirational posters, diplomas framed and hanging above the TV in their living room

[definitelyimportantpost]

Wowww woohoo yippee yahoo

Kira Sania, the healer of my guild in EO3.

[nasiahime]

❄️🍑✨

[lady-hibiscus]

CHAPTER 3 IS OUT AT LAST

[mmmatchasims]

Hibiscus: *murmurs* This feels... Familiar.

[sweetlittlemosments]

Tea Time ☕

[botaniqueer]

That rush of happy feelings when a plant you got as a produces flowers and fruit and it's like, "I grew this c:'

[sojourner-between-worlds]

So ya'll remember that hibiscus I got for free last fall that I wasn't sure if it was dead or not? Upon advice, I kept it for the winter to see if it would come back in the spring and

I don't know if that's part of the hibiscus or not but something sure is trying to grow there lol

[pareidoliaonthemove]

Okay, so I've spent almost a week fussing with this, and it's not going to get better, so I'm sending it out into the world.

This is my answer to Week 1 of Nutty's Palette Challenge, a computer generated simulation of a cross stitch design (because 1 week to design and stitch a pattern isn't going to happen with me).

It's supposed to be a tocan sitting on a branch with a hibiscus flower in the background. Maybe if I fudged and used a larger palette? Or ditched the flower?

Definitely a learning experience, and at least a base to start working off.

[coollyinterferes]

holds his hand & gives her bro a pretty seashell gives her bro a pretty seashell gives her bro a pretty seashell gives her bro a

unprompted asks 【always accepting】 @rzrbite

A warm smile spreads across Speedwagon's face, not only because he's genuinely happy to see his sis, but also at the sight of the little present she got for him.

"It's so pretty!!" Joy can be heard through his voice. "Thank you so much!" A sentiment that shows clear as day on his face. "This is gonna look wonderful on my shelf." the man then makes a small pause, holding back a small smirk, before adding "--It's gonna be a sea-shelf now." It's a terrible pun and he knows it, and the goofy grin on his face shows it too. But there's also the fact that he loves terrible puns just as much as he loves his sis. Additionally, he wasn't lying there. He does plan to put the little present on one of the shelves in his room so he can easily look at it whenever he wants to.

"Alright, amazin' jokes aside. You know what else would look wonderful?" And, almost as if it was magic, he presents Midler with a pair of hibiscus flowers: One is soft pink, the other is bright yellow. With utmost care, he puts them both in Midler's hair, just a little above her right ear.

"So? What do ya think, sis?"

[orcelito]

oh yeah uh i forgot to talk about my day. i havent rly been existing as a person whoops. uh

work kinda sucked but not NEARLY as bad as yesterday. honestly yesterday was probably the worst shift ive had in uh. well at least a year im betting. it was really so very bad.

today was better except Whoops my bike broke a little bit. forgot to mention that too. i left it at work overnight in the storage room n im gonna bring it to the bike shop tomorrow. so im gonna be without my bike for a few days </3

uhm. otherwise ive been procrastinating, still not doing my dishes, reading trigun fanfic and rewatching trigun stampede and reading trigun maximum. and also browsing etsy for trigun merch, of which i bought a few things.

now im thinking about skipping class again bc it's accidentally oh so late and i am very tired. i can rationalize it to myself that it's Totally for the sake of finishing my lab tomorrow. but really ive just lost control of this semester and i barely wanna do shit anymore. lol.

[lady-hibiscus]

I close my eyes, smiling. "Anything?"

Yes. Anything. The Universe says. I don't know how She's found me, in the dark coldness.

"I wish for sadness. I wish to take the suffering of more than one person, the suffering of thousands." I am standing on a bridge at 2:34am.

What?

"I want a thousand people's depression, their insomnia, their anger, their sadness. I want their manic episodes, their despair, their heartbreak. I do not care if they will recieve my name. They won't know it."

The Universe is silent, considering.

Finally: The last man I granted this wish to was selfish. He took all the wealth of another, only to be killed atop his sea of riches by his scorned predecessor.

I wait for Her to continue.

And the one before that, she took the love of her sister's betrothed, and the sister had no one to tell, died alone and destitute.

My eyes are still shut. The wind is so cold.

I was beginning to think there was nothing redeemable from your species.

I don't know if there is. She isn't wrong.

But you have shown me there are still good humans.

What?

In accordance with your wish, I will take the loneliness and suffering of one thousand people.

"Thank you-"

But I will not bestow it upon you.

"What?"

This has only happened once before, in history. There was another who was not greedy, and what happened to Him will happen to you now. Satisfied with your purity of heart, you shall inherit my full power, to be my vessel on Earth.

"Your full- I can't, I won't. Please, Universe."

Be at peace. I will not be dead, nor gone. You will simply be the Eye of the Universe.

"Wait, who was the one before?" The thought dawns on me. "No no no, I can't. I'm not- I'm not who you think I am."

Be at peace, my child. I know who you are. I made you.

"But I made mistakes! He didn't make mistakes- you don't make mistakes! I'm a bad person- I don't deserve-"

You wished to take upon yourself the pain of a thousand.

"Universe- Mother, that's because I'm on a bridge! I- I'm-" I hang my head. "You don't understand!"

I understand everything. I know how you feel right now. But I also know you would be more of the help you long to be alive. I know if you take the Eye now, you can travel your world a little while longer, helping far more than a single thousand.

"I-" My voice shakes. "See, I am selfish. That's too hard. I know what's at the end of this journey, if I have to follow His footsteps. I know the hardships. I would rather take the thousand than the billion, and meet You now."

A soft swirling sound, indescribable, like the world coalescing into a star. Behind me is the world incarnate. Soundlessly, I fall to my knees, seeing but not feeling the shock of the pavement on bare skin.

Strong yet gentle hands lift me by the shoulders, bend to touch my scraped and bloody kneecaps. At Her touch, they restitch themselves, form to perfect condition.

Be not afraid.

I can't speak.

You will take my blessing, child. We will go into the world together, you and I, the Eye. We will liberate billions.

A startled laugh finally falls from my lips. "Liberate billions? Sorry, that's what a supervillain says when they're about to murder."

Sometimes, death is a mercy. But I understand. Fear not, for though I am vengeful, I will work positive miracles through you.

"Right. Yeah." I'm dizzy and this is a late-night hallucination. Must've been the pills. Another hysterical laugh pushes its way to the ground. "I'll become the next crucified saint, huh."

The Universe extends her hand.

I stare down at it.

“I will grant you a wish. BUT… your gain will be someone else’s loss. If you want riches, someone will be stripped of theirs. If you want health, someone will fall ill. If you want love, someone will get their heart broken. And whatever you choose, that someone will know your name.”

[susiestamps]

Federal Territories of Malaysia (Wilayah Persekutuan) 1979 15 sen Flowers - Hibiscus rosa-sinensis

[silkentine]

Me when they are the sisters ever: 😭😭😭 They came out soooo freaking well. I won’t lie, they took me a thousand years to finish but through the constant support from all of my buds (and my latent bisexuality), we made it 😤

Hopefully you guys know the deal by now: design choices, easter eggs, and (NEW!) closeup shots below the read more. ⬇️

I wanted Ace to have a very down-to-earth vibe and looked at Aussie beach-girls, coastal cowgirls, and vaqueras for reference. (IDK, I’ve just always envisioned Ace as part-Australian🌺 and Mexican 🏴‍☠️) Her clothing choices are mostly natural or utilitarian materials like the painted wooden beads on her top, her woven fabric and leather belts, and her denim jumpsuit. I gave her bikini top a zen-garden kind of feel because I read the first Ace’s Story Novel and I loved how idyllic and peaceful they made Sixis Island sound so I wanted to invoke that in some way.

Speaking of her painted wooden beads, they hang off the back of her top and represent her connection to Sabo and Luffy. They watch her back once she sets sail. She only wears one red glass bead earring because the other one got ripped out of her ear when a child, leaving her earlobe torn (don’t think about it too much 😢). Also, YES! she does wear a hibiscus flower just like Rouge (because I hate you and I want to make you cry, muhwahahahaha).

Also, I really wanted her to have super textured curly hair that licks behind her like flames. I am always considering whether or not a character should have long hair or not because I don’t want it to be a hindrance if they’re in a fight (or if they ARE a fighter with long hair, how to they avoid an enemy making use of that?). Ace is, of course, a Logia-type Devil Fruit User so I think she wouldn’t have trouble with people grabbing it LOL I get the feeling that she doesn’t take very good care of it even though it looks amazing. Like you’d think it would be soft and bouncy just by looking at it but if you ever get the chance to run your fingers through it, it’s a total rat’s nest and there’s sand and food all up in it. She still falls asleep while eating 😂 but she tries her best to only do it around people she can trust (woman moment 😔).

Honestly, her design is not that different from Ace’s canon look. It feels really vital to Ace’s character to have a lot of skin showing. And he’s always hanging all over himself with his hips all cocked like the weight of the world is too much to stand up straight. It is certainly not my OWN preference to make her an absolute smoke show. That’s just the character, okay? (I’m partially lying and the proof is that I turned the emblem on Ace’s hat strap into a sternum tattoo for no other reason than that it is sexy af.)

Here are some closeups of Ace:

Now for Sabo, I’ve made her very girly. I tried putting her in pants or something more militant but she told me that she’d wear the big poofy sleeves and hiked-up ruffled skirt. I think Sabo has always had a strong grasp on his fashion sense and individual flair and I truly believe that his personal style is one of the major influences for the rest of the Revolutionary Army resulting in the very flashy, queer, steampunk aesthetic (aside from Dragon’s plain-ass cloak). So of course I had to implement her nonconformist look when reimagining her as a woman and dress her up to the nines.

I’ve given her very ornate jewelry that is there to tell a story, even if she herself doesn’t know it. I like to think she picks up stuff from her travels that resonate with her, such as a damaged set of earrings with one stone missing or red cup-shaped shells featuring three nestled pearls. Another accessory that cannot go unmentioned is her dragon claw hat pin that keeps her top hat resting on top of her hair (and is definitely used as a weapon when the situation simply doesn’t call for trusty metal pipe). She also has a veil that obscures her prominent facial scar. I imagine she’s not very keen on the reminder of the incident from her childhood that took away her memories. I also kept her chipped toothed because 1) it’s fucking adorable and 2) is a visual reminder that she no longer aligns herself with the nobility who would have gotten such a thing fixed. She is so poised in almost every outward facet of her life from her dignified role as the Chief of Staff to the elegant materials in her clothing that it can be easy to forget she was also a rough and tumble forest dweller. Every time Koala remembers this, he lets out the biggest sigh.

Her hair is inspired by Gibson Girls and Elizabeth Swann from the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. I wanted it to be fussy and tidy but fall apart when she’s in moments of distress. For example, when she remembers her sisters, her hair starts to look like Ace’s flaming mane. I’m so in love with her, I think she looks like an adorable little porcelain doll that would fuck you up. I made an effort to keep her eyes a little bit manic. I get lost in her steely black orbs (and also Ace’s warm brown ones, but we’re talking about Sabo rn).

Here are her close-ups:

Plot notes for this AU:

For this series of character designs, I wanted the expressions and outfits to be aligned with the canon plot but I don’t know if I have the heart to kill fem!Ace in my AU. I’m too attached and ASL has suffered enough!!!!! But Ace’s death is also a major defining moment for Luffy so it feels disingenuous to completely avoid it. Also a huge aspect of Sabo’s character is carrying on Ace’s will and I have so many thoughts about how the Dressrosa Colosseum scene would play out if they were all women. Oh well, I’ll cross that tragic bridge when I get to it. I’m definitely going to draw some Modern AU Girl Piece ASL though. They deserve to hang out with no stakes 😭 They are sisters!!!

Check out the tag “girl piece” on my blog for my other One Piece genderbends! 🥰

[lady-hibiscus]

poem: america

oh say can you see by the now-dying light what so proudly we hailed no longer gallantly streaming

bloody stripes and white stars through the perilous night over TVs we watched as it descended to screaming

and the senior's years false lies flying through air gave proof through the fight democracy was not there

oh say does that star-spangled banner still wave over the land of the "free" and the home of the "brave"?