#i don't struggle with this in my original work is the thing. sure sometimes i'll use my Fanfic Writing Style(TM) but often i won't

[snowstories]

Been thinking lately about the Fanfic Writing Style(TM) and how incredibly restrictive it is because any deviation from a fairly paint-by-numbers third person POV tends to be wildly alienating to the average fanfic reader, and will actively be avoided.

This is especially obvious when you look at how first person POV fics are treated; they are automatically associated with bad quality, and people will immediately turn away from a fanfic the moment they see it's written in first person. There are reasons for this; firstly, it is true that beginning writers will often use first person because it feels a little more accessible than the other options, and most beginning writers are of course not very good yet on a technical level, especially not if they are also children, which many fanfic writers are. So the association between first person and bad quality is not entirely baseless (though, y'know. definitely at least a little mean spirited, if unintentionally so). Secondly, and this is a personal sentiment but one I've seen some people echo: first person can read weird when combined with fanfic, because fanfic often does not benefit from a closer connection with the POV character. We are here to watch blorbo do thing, it can feel a little weird when it is instead I doing the thing, y'know? This is personal preference, of course; no accounting for that.

However, regardless of the reasons, kneejerk avoidance of first person POV fics is probably one of the driving factors behind the homogenization of the fanfic writing style. It's difficult to put into words to me, but especially if you read a lot of fanfic, at some point it's obvious that most of these stories are written in the exact same way, with the same sentence structure, cadence, and metaphors. The often-mocked italicized Oh, usually used in its own paragraph, usually used in a romantic context, is an example of this: a writing quirk turned universal enough specifically in fanfic to be singled out and ridiculed for its frequency.

This style isn't inherently bad, many authors pull it off very well, but it's certainly restricting. Essentially banning the usage of the first person POV alone is already severely limiting, but even just a slightly different usage of the third person POV is discouraged if everyone is writing the exact same way.

This leads to an overarching problem in fandom, namely that all characters tend to sound the same. The style of writing is the same whether writing about a jaded 40-year-old man or a peppy 12-year-old girl. A story set in 1940's France will have more or less the same writing as a story set in 2010's America. Writers do often try to add little details to their narration to distinguish different characters, and success with this varies, but is usually limited. Narration in fandom is rarely personalized to the character, and instead falls into the homogenized fandom style more than anything else.

I don't have a specific goal with this post. I'm not necessarily saying 'we need to STOP big fandom's writing style' or whatever, I don't think that's productive or feasible. I do think that we should all, as readers, be a little more open to stuff like first person POV fics or stranger prose experiments rather than skipping over or closing out of a fic as soon as we encounter them, and as authors (if you actually care about improving your writing) I'm encouraging you to take a look at the prose style used in your fanfic and see if you could diversify it because oftentimes readers do respond positively when they see it, so I guess if there's anything to take away from this post as a call to action, it's that. But mostly this is just me musing on something I've noticed in my own fanworks recently that irritates me.

[ms-demeanor]

Is hypnotherapy on your psudomedicine shitlist or do you think it has validity? (To be clear, I'm not talking about 'hypnotic memory recovery' which is proven to be false)

It's worked for me and some other people I know, but I've also heard some people say it doesn't work.

I very badly want it to be on my shitlist but it gets slotted in next to meditation on the shelf labeled "infuriatingly, sometimes believing something hard enough makes it work." Some kinds of hypnosis seem to reliably create altered mental states that allow people who enter those states to internalize and process things that they might otherwise struggle with; I see this as somewhat analogous to, like, using mushrooms to feel a deeper connection to a shared sense of humanity or something along those lines. It does seem to have some reliably measurable effects but how well it works varies wildly from person to person is basically my take, which makes sense to me because I'm pretty sure hypnosis is just, like, extremely focused guided meditation.

Yesterday someone brought up an example saying that they had heard that a relatively recent study from a trustworthy scientific organization had proved the existence of one of the primary acupuncture meridians; searches for the name of the meridian, the name of the institution, searches for studies with those terms, searches for those terms and "proof", searches for only the meridian and scientific study only turned up low-quality studies that were exclusively from either acupuncture or alternative medicine journals.

A search for "hypnosis study" immediately turns up recent articles on the effectiveness of hypnosis from the American Psychological Association, Stanford University, mainstream behavioral journals, and discussion of at least one experiment that has been replicated by multiple people testing the validity of hypnosis (in multiple experiments on different groups of hypnotizable people, the stroop effect is noticeably mitigated by hypnotic suggestion). None of that is evidence that hypnosis "works" but it is evidence that something is actually happening there that *could* prove to be effective.

I'm still pretty skeptical, but there's enough evidence of an effect to say that it's not pure bullshit. Like I'll say that chiropractic is bullshit (subluxations don't cause asthma even if none of the chiros involved believe in ghosts; it's unscientific and wrong regardless of the origins) but note that I never said herbalism was bullshit - just that it's on my shit list and it's dangerous - many many many herbal treatments DO have effects and that's why it can be dangerous, doses and interactions are unpredictable.

I think that hypnosis is probably not inherently dangerous, and it seems like there may be some measurable positive effects, and even though it SEEMS really fake to me enough serious people have done enough serious looking into it that I don't feel comfortable calling it fake-like-souls-are-fake; it doesn't appear to be exclusively based on magical thinking and it has a lot in common with other altered states that people are capable of putting themselves into voluntarily through a variety of means.

So I guess tick the box for "I'm suspicious and skeptical but could be convinced if presented with enough high quality evidence, which I think it is likely possible to produce."

So it's not on my shit list but if I found out that someone I loved was using hypnosis as a treatment I'd be doing a deep dive on the person providing the hypnosis to figure out if they were a charlatan.

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

Intro post! + links to everything :)

Hi, I'm DK and this blog is mostly full of me talking about the Six of Crows and the rest of the Grishaverse! (and I'm also on AO3 as she_posts_nerdy_stuff)

It's occurred to me recently that I never did an intro post and also I'm just generally feeling that things over here are super disorganised so I've gone through all of my posts since 2022 (this was not a quick task you guys omg) and done my best to organise everything into tags so that you can access them all from here! All the links to the tags, or sometimes individual posts, are below the cut, and the categories are AO3, Grishaverse analysis, Grishaverse edits, Grishasverse knitting projects, and Grishaverse incorrect quotes.

Please note: this is a lot of stuff to wade through and I am sure to have missed the odd thing, but hopefully this is pretty mch everything! If you're looking for something that I've said should be here and can't find it, let me know and I'll do my best to track it down :)

Thank you all so much, love to you all <3

AO3 LINKS (I'm starting with the easier links, I don't have to make tags for these ones)

Original works

As I'm writing this I have four fics up on AO3, two of which are works in progress, and I'll update this post whenever that changes (ie when I finish them or when I start a new one)

UPDATE: Five fics now! Links are below <3

Daughter of the Rain and Snow

225k words, 146 chapters, Kanej focused with Wesper featured and Helnik kinda mentioned, post-canon, no archive warnings, completed

Summary:

Around ten years after the events of Crooked Kingdom, 25-year-old Captain Inej Ghafa frees Maya Olsen from a pleasure house in Ketterdam. Maya is looking for revenge against the man who put her in her position, a man who she knows nothing about except his name: Kaz Brekker.

Don't Go Blindly Into The Dark

100k + words, 60+ chapters, Wesper focused with Kanej featured and Helnik mentioned, pre-canon, canon divergence, no archive warnings, work in progress

Summary:

To hide that he can't read, Jan Van Eck has been forcing his son to pretend he's blind since he was eight years old. Wylan is now attending Ketterdam University, and meeting Jesper Fahey may very well be about to change his life. But is he safe to tell Jesper the truth? And what will Jesper say if he does?

Jesper is struggling to weigh up his life in the Barrel and his life at the University of Ketterdam, and there's a good chance that his growing debt is about to make the decision for him. He hasn't attended class consecutively for months, but maybe that will change when his newest project includes partnering up with Wylan Van Eck. But can he really leave the Barrel behind him? And how long can he keep up the pretence of who he thinks Wylan wants him to be?

Meanwhile there is a darkness growing in Ketterdam, and it seems a killer may be stalking the streets of West Stave. An unknown evil is closing its jaws over the city, and it’s starting to feel like nowhere is safe.

Our Gods Have Abandoned Us

19k + words, 11 chapters, Helnik and Kanej with Wesper kinda featured, so much angst, post-canon, canon-divergence (Van Eck wins AU), major character death, work in progress

This one properly started with this post

Summary:

"Of course they do, Jes," Kaz flexed his fingers in his gloves, "That's what losing a war means. And when that war comes, Kerch can't afford for Shu Han to win it. They'll back Fjerda against Ravka now so that when Shu Han turn against them Fjerda will back them in return. Ravka's navy will fall to Kerch's, most of Ravka's territory will go to Fjerda and if it has any money left then I expect plenty of it will be given to Kerch as part of the deal. The Shu will move against Fjerda to take back the territories they were trying to win from Ravka, and Fjerda will pay them little mind until they declare war on Kerch. Novyi Zem will back Shu Han, because they still think their trade ambassador was killed by the Kerch in what was actually Shu Han's last attempt to start a war over here, Fjerda will back Kerch, refugees will flee to the Wandering Isle and their economy won't be able to withstand it, and meanwhile I will remain exactly where I am and get drunk toasting to the end of the world. You're all welcome to join me,"

OR -

A Van Eck wins AU, mostly exploring how the Crows would respond to the situation but I have some semblance of a larger plot forming I just need to piece it together

If I'm Good Will You Come Back?

2k words, 1 chapter, sad and angst, gen but Helnik mentioned, canon compliant, major character death, completed

Summary:

Five times Matthias Helvar spoke to his baby sister through Djel, and one time that she answered

I’ve put major character death as a tag but it’s nothing beyond canon, it’s just depicted in this fic from a slightly different perspective 👍

Portrait of a Dead Girl

7 chapters so far, gen but also F/M, Alina and the Darkling are in a relationship in this but it isn't shipping them and the Darkling is the villain, canon divergence, alternate universe, rape/non-con, underage, major character death, work in progress

Summary:

Alina Starkov was given to Duke Aleksander Morozova of Os Alta in marriage when she was fifteen years old. Within a year, she was dead. The official cause of Alina's death was marked as putrid fever, but many at the time believed, and many in the future will go on to believe, that she was poisoned by her husband.

-

This fic is completely inspired by The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrel, which is a work of historical fiction based on the real lives of Duchess Lucrezia d'Este (née de' Medici) and Duke Alfonso ii d'Este of Ferrara. You don't need any prior knowledge of The Marriage Portrait or history to read and enjoy this fic, but know that my writing is very much going to mimic that of O'Farrel in format and although I'm hoping to write the story in my personal usual writing style I will definitely be borrowing a lot of my descriptors, symbols, and so on and so forth from O'Farrel - there will be some of mine too though :)

Somehow, Through The Storm

11 chapters so far but ongoing, kanej-centric with wesper and helnik featured, angst like you wouldn't believe, but also some happier times (ish), alternate universe, major character death, rape/non-con, work in progress

Summary:

In the slums of the Warehouse District, Kaz and Inej are struggling their way through a seemingly unending winter. Wrapped up in a stranger's overcomplicated marriage contract that he is convinced is key to solving the merciless weather, Kaz remains busy and distracted for days on end, putting everything else at risk. So when a storm ravages the city and sweeps Inej into danger, the offer of safety, food, and a place to stay is an overwhelming one - no matter the cost. Terrified of mounting threats, Inej signs a contract - not knowing she would land herself trapped at the Menagerie. Kaz signs a contract that states if he can walk all the way through the city and back to the Warehouse District with Inej behind him, never looking back at her, they will both go free. But this is the Barrel, the darkest part of the city where the rules of physics can change with the stroke of a pen; the journey back will not be the same as journey there… * This is a Hadestown-inspired reimagining of the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice, casting Kaz and Inej as our main characters and heavily featuring our beloved Crows, set in an alternate version of the Grishaverse with a different magic system based entirely on contracts.

Recommendations

Posts where I'm recommending fics can be found here

GRISHAVERSE ANALYSIS LINKS

Okay this is gonna be where this starts getting complicated to organise but here we go, and hopefully now that I have this as a place to keep it organised I'll be able to routinely come back here and update it so we can keep it all together :)

Assorted analysis - Grishaverse

Grishaverse asks

-> subcategory of asks: 'DK finally gets it together and answers her asks because it's about damn time (working title)'

Chapter-by-chapter SOC analysis

(NOTE: I've really been meaning to bring this series back I just haven't had time, are people still interested??)

Specific posts (I've put these ones here because they're generally the ones people ask to be tagged in or that I reference in other posts)

Kanej bathroom scene analysis

Kaz and Wylan's potential to become each other

Rare Spices Billboard

Inej vs the Wraith

Kaz's views on hierarchy

Religion in the Grishaverse (this one is mostly Djel and a little bit of the Saints; I did also write a lot in a reblog of a really good post on Ghezenism by @skepticalcatfrog as well so if you're interested in either part of that you can find it here, I would highly recommend reading their post it's really interesting)

Shadow and Bone TV show analysis

GRISHAVERSE EDIT LINKS

I'm not really sure how to organise this one but all of them are tagged here

If people would like me to I could come back and try to arrange them by character or ship or something?

GRISHAVERSE KNITTING LINKS

Most of the time when I post about this stuff I give updates on all of them, but if you happen to want to filter them (or if I need to come back looking for something specific) then here are the projects:

Kefta cardigan

Six of Crows blanket

Toy crows of the Crows

GRISHAVERSE INCORRECT QUOTES

I organised these by their sources because there were too many for me to choose another way to sort them tbh

Text posts I made based on things my friends and I have actually said. In real life. - the series

Source: friends

Source: the completely made up adventures of Dick Turpin

Source: community

Source: Parks and Rec

Source: the good place

Source: modern family

Source: our flag means death

Source: ghostbusters

Source: renegade nell

Source: the office

Source: young sheldon

Source: the cornetto trilogy

Source: big bang theory

Source: what we do in the shadows

[amerricanartwork]

Do you have any tips for drawing? Anything really

Well, "any tips for drawing" is rather vague, so I'll just offer some general advice for now, which is more about how to learn and improve than how to draw any specific thing. If you'd like some more specific advice, though, I'd love to help where I can!

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Use references when you're stuck on something! No artist is ever "too good" to use references when they want to draw a particular thing better. References can be photos or other artists' art (ideally with credit depending on how closely your art resembles the original), though I don't use the latter much because trying to copy another artist's style typically doesn't work as well as just keeping the inspiration in the back of my mind and going with the flow.

Speaking of that, finding an art style is a gradual thing, from what I've experienced. To me, it seems to be a thing that develops over time as a result of how different artists solve different problems. You don't have to stress about getting any one "style" with your art; just focus on solving problems with your drawings, and it'll develop its own unique look by virtue of you being a unique person and consciously or subconsciously adding new things to the solutions you find. If you are looking to emulate a specific style, try to pick one that solves problems you have with drawing or (to go off the previous point) appeals to what you enjoy, or perhaps what specific genre of art you plan to do.

To go further, Always look to solve problems. If you're struggling to draw a particular thing, try to figure out what specific part of the drawing is challenging for you, and look for ways to improve on that aspect. If you realize you struggle drawing hands — or even more specific, you struggle drawing hands in dramatic poses where the fingers are curled — for example, set the goal to find a method to draw hands in those kinds of poses, then relax. I usually find a solution to these kinds of problems within days of setting the goal, and I don't even have to search super hard. In fact, sometimes more comfortable methods of drawing certain things just pop in my mind!

Save any tutorials or references you find especially helpful! I like to bookmark YouTube tutorials I like, as well as the blogs or websites of any artists whose work I find inspiring. I also have a HUGE Pinterest board with tons of tutorials on drawing all sorts of things, so that definitely helps!

This is perhaps one of my biggest tips: try to get in tune with your "artist intuition" in a sense. Recognize what things you already do and don't like to draw, not just in the subject, but the general process you use to think about and draw an image, what parts of said art process you enjoy the most (line art, coloring, shading, sketching, etc.), and what kind of art you want to make in the future or what purpose you plan to use your art for. I've found understanding these things about myself really helps figure out which art tutorials will be more or less useful, and which art styles/processes feel comfortable to me. This is not to say you should never seek to improve, but rather, look for a means of improvement that fits your natural drawing preferences and habits. Maybe the Loomis method isn't the easiest way for you to visualize the human head, and another method works better. As long as you get the result you want, the process can be tailored to fit you specifically, even if that means using a process that's obscure or even exclusive to you.

You will never be perfect, and can never stop improving. So don't worry so much about making sure you're "good enough" to draw the ideas in your head. I know it can be worrying to think you aren't skilled enough in certain aspects to bring your ideas to fruition, but because you can never stop improving, if you need to be "good enough" before you can draw the things you love, you'll be waiting forever. So don't bottle up your ideas just because you think they won't turn out very professional. Instead, just do your best in the moment and note what you can get better at afterwards. And worst-case scenario, you can always come back and redraw the idea once you've improved.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Okay, well, this was the stuff I could think of so far right now. I hope this helps!

[bogkeep]

grousing about ai art stuff

every time i open twitter (my mistake) there's a new thread on how to spot ai art or ai photos by finding all the mistakes in it, and like obviously this is useful and it's good to watch out because they kEEP SHOWING UP EVERYWHERE AHHH HELL WORLD HELL WORLD, but it's also a little depressing that we're training ourselves to nitpick all kinds of details within a piece of art.

like even before the artifically generated image boom randos on twitter would reply to fully finished illustrations with the most asinine unsolicited advice possible. art's gonna be flawed sometimes! i'll draw someone in a weird pose because of vibes! i'll wing a hand! i don't fucking know what a house actually looks like!!! like yes of course the way a human artist creates flawed art is different from the way an algorithm doesn't actually know what anything looks like because it has no mind. it doesn't know shit. so it's not that it's UNRELIABLE but it's like. it's like... i've been telling myself and others every time i'm struggling to make something look Just Right that actually nobody i going to be staring as hard at my art as i am while making it. if i don't point it out people aren't likely to notice unless they are going through it with a fine toothed comb BUT NOW WE ARE DOING THAT APPARENTLY. WHICH IS ANYONE'S PEROGATIVE AND FAIR ENOUGH! PEOPLE CAN LOOK AT MY ART HOWEVER THEY WANT IT'S FINE

but it's ALSO so depressing to consider having to analyse every single piece of art you come across like that my goddddddd i just wanna enjoy it!! i wanna enjoy art!!!! i mean the main reason i finally stopped going on twitter regularly was during the NFT boom and i got so tired of having to vet every single artist i came across to make sure i wasnt retweeting nft stuff. like that really ruined my previously enjoyable experience of LOOKING AT NICE ART ON MY FEED WITHOUT PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE.

god another thing that happened during the dark nft times was how certain art styles tended to be nfts. and i don't mean the ugly apes and stuff, like of course there's those, but there were a lot of artists who sold their souls to crypto and there was just a certain Vibe to a lot of those styles. like i got a sixth sense for it, i would see a piece of art by an unknown artists and when i checked - yep, that was a crypto guy now. and you know what!!!! i hated that!!!! i hate that it ruined entire art styles for me!! AND NOW ARTIFICIALLY GENERATED IMAGES ARE DOING THE SAME!!!!! like what tends to tip me off is less because i spotted some wonky hand or a weird flap but because the style is a popular one for the ai bros to imitate. you know what i mean right!!!!!! it's kind of how the ai photos look a bit too clean and crisp and smooth in an unsettling way. it just pings the brain a bit.

ULTIMATELY the absolute main method i have for filtering away ai images isn't so much looking for mistakes, but by checking sources. it's the same way i check that i'm not reblogging from reposting accounts Because That's A Thing I Care About Too - if there's no description or the description seems off and i don't recognise the OP, i check the original post/blog to see what's up. if the image gives me a weird vibe, i check where it comes from and who posted it. oftentimes the comments on posts with ai images will point it out - they're not always accurate and there's definitely been times where people are a little too trigger happy to accuse art of being AI... but it can be a good lead or confirm suspicions. on one hand, i don't want to do detective work while im having chill scrolling time, but on the other hand - i already had this habit for other reasons, so it's less disruptive to me than the alternative. it also helps that it's very rare for ai shit to turn up in my tumblr feed. i don't want to keep looking over my shoulder!!

(also for anyone who wants a little bit of optimism in the middle of all this, here's an episode of Better Offline podcast that outlines how it's very unlikely for generative ai to actually get much better. here's the part two also.)

[yuseirra]

What if Ai and Hikaru are "gods who don't realize they are gods"? The idea of such entities were suggested recently (I went and checked, it's mentioned on chapter 144)

and tsukuyomi even said "I'm sure your mother is watching you somewhere in this world, she might be looking down as a star, you know?" to aqua during chapter 118. This may not just be a taunt, but something that's actually true. This idea of Ai being a reincarnation of the brightest star is something that's been introduced in the song IDOL already("一番星の生まれ変わり") and it's something that's stuck out to me because Ruby had once mentioned something about Ai being "chosen by the gods" and that Ruby herself is an incarnation of Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun(Ch3). This is brushed off as a joke but with what's been mentioned there.. it's something that can be important.

that's why Ai can't be reborn as person again, maybe? She's returned to being a god and is watching her children and kamiki from afar, protecting them and helping them in ways she could?

In "Fatal" a person (most likely to be Ai) that's is dearly pursued by the speaker of the song is described as a star-like being:

Your eyes with glittering stars in them

A dazzling light that saves all from loneliness

You have given me a fatal flaw Selfish giant star, ruined lives

The idea of their love being a "star"'s continuously being revisited throughout the song. What if Ai really WAS a star that had a form of a human once and has returned back to being it after death?

and it's because of the "star" that the speaker(who I think is kamiki) decides to "embrace his destiny"

Please, keep your eyes on me I'll weaponize even the pain carved by fate So that it can light the regrets from sometime

Your beauty radiating from far away causing Burnt eyes, stripped feathers, creative fall from heaven

Taking over every field of vision You shine egoistically Even the feelings kept deep in my heart I will drag them out and sublimate And I will embrace all of my destiny

I will not stop to struggle on this stage I want to get closer to the only [ai] This foreordained destiny

It's the darkness that fell out from the light of that star

Doesn't Kamiki's name have "light" and "god" in it? Either he has something to do with the gods or is one himself without realizing what he is, and starts to accept some sort of fate he has himself after having met with Ai

and it makes sense for him to go

Keep your eyes on me, my dearest fatale!

because she REALLY COULD be watching what he's doing from the stars, trying to get closer to her so desperately

it's really interesting if you start to take kamiki as a god of some sort, because that'd explain how he's unintentionally caused others to grow insane by the things he's said. He told Uehara about Airi and he ends up killing her. He told Ryosuke about Ai and he stalks and murders her. Maybe he's been subconsciously using his divinity of a god making people to take action but it ended up all twisted and it doesn't work out the way he originally intends for it to be. With the case of Yura, what he's said about her ends up coming true too, maybe she really didn't watch her steps on the mountains but that was because of his powers of a god that's caused it?

This would explain why the police never found him suspicious after Goro and Yura's death and the other murders (if he's really caused any/and more of it), there's no way to prove he's the one that'd done it because he really didn't do it in a physical sense.

So Ai, who's returned to being a god now, could be trying to stop him through her children? And Tsukuyomi is getting involved in this because Kamiki's going out of line as his duties as a god(although he doesn't know if he's one) too?

Anyway, that's what's been on my mind today. The idea of gods have been introduced time to time, and I feel some of the major characters would have to do with it.. the twins were reincarnated for a purpose too(ch. 75) and itd make sense if it's because of what'd been going on for their respective parents in this new life. If so, the gods have their children fix what their parents are up to.

[latelylately]

i read le guin's essays on plagiarism and influence and content (https://www.ursulakleguin.com/bvc-art-information-theft-and-confusion-part-two and https://www.ursulakleguin.com/bvc-art-information-theft-and-confusion-part-one)

which were really good and i enjoy her dunking on JKR.

she didn't elaborate much after this sentence but she uses the word "play" as a way of describing what authors do when creating new works influenced by others and i think it is underrated and deserved like 5 more paragraphs. it kind of underpins the difference between copy-stealing-iteration and influence-inspiration-iteration.

if you know me you know i have complex and disagreeable pomo baby opinions on plagiarism. but i think le guin has matured my opinion on this because i agree with her distinction between art and "content" although in the moment the two may be hard to distinguish (or in a different light, one and the same).

i still struggle with this philosophically. i've always been made very nervous by the concept of plagiarism---ive spoken about this with another autistic friend of mine and we share this opinion. with a sample size of exactly 1.5 (questionable self diagnosis is a half point here) i feel like this might be a distaste for what i see as a nebulous and ever-changing social concept, and that is why I find it disagreeable and anxiety-inducing.

before i continue: clearly, it is morally wrong to steal. copying entire passages of work and passing it as your own for profit and at the detriment of another author is something I'm not going to philosophize about because its obvious enough it's unethical.

what I struggle with philosophically is the line between where collection and curation ends, and art begins. Is a vibes blog original work? Kind of, but most people would say not. Is a moodboard? Closer to original work, sure. What about collage? Or whatever shit Duchamp and Andy Warhol were on? Those things are accepted as art because we say they're art, and that's how art is defined. And where's the line between a moodboard and a collage? It is a socially enforced age/reputation/gender-based line where a 16 year old girl making a fit check meme with stock images for a tiktok is not art but a 40 year old accomplished artist making a collage from found photos is? I don't know!

I also think the fact that we see "internet content" as an endless reservoir from which to draw from (or at least people who scraped that data to train generative AI) speaks to the lack of ownership that is inherent to anything you make. Part of art making is sharing, and once you share something, you can't own it anymore. No matter how much you try---watermark your art, ask people not to repost it, ask people not to kin your OC's or whatever---people will use and take the thing you've made with no regard for you, the person who made it, because it spoke to them and now it's theirs. Regardless of the ethics of this, I think it's an indisputable fact that the internet has shone a light on how we can sometimes operate like magpies. So what does that say about ownership and art?

Most likely I only have this opinion because I've never been the victim of large-scale impersonation and art theft. But then again, that's not really what I'm talking about. I'm talking about how once your art gets into public domain, it's public.

I have a lot more to say about the concept of "information" and also the ethics of generative AI but my thoughts are half-formed shitty little turds so I'll stop

[myokk]

20 q's for fic writers

tagged by @crushribbons love you Laney😙😙😙😙💓💓💓

How many works do you have on AO3? I am a humble baby writer so I only have three...so far

What's your total AO3 word count? 99,211...before I joined tumblr and fanart hell (affectionate) I was writing SO MUCH...I started in January bahahahahhahahahahahahah

What fandoms do you write for? Hogwarts Legacy, but in the future I'll probably do Tomione…beginning of death eaters super evil but sexy 1940s Tom Riddle making Hermione turn evil… (among others). Tbh (fanart-wise NOT writing) I also want to draw harvest moon…stardew valley…x files… I would love to attempt writing for P&P bc I have so many ideas, but I am too lazy to make sure they're historically accurate and it would drive me crazy if they arent so I'll just enjoy them hehe

Top five fics by kudos? I only have three published so far, but the most popular is my Ominis oneshot, legilimency. I have no idea how that one actually got readers...but I'm happy bc I really like it too and I reread it sometimes!! My main fic is actually doing a lot better than I expected too, bc when I started posting I was just shouting into the void and I wasn’t part of the community or anything🥹 the little excerpts I post here too, that go along with my writing, also do a lot better than I expected and it makes me so happy to read your comments💓

Do you respond to comments? yes!!!!! Comments/hashtags always make me SO HAPPY and these interactions are the fun of sharing these things with you all. I get swamped by notifications sometimes so I might respond super late but I always try to bc I LOVE YOU ALL SOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? my main fic...I have a horrible ending planned but I might chicken out at the end and make it happy. in my fanarts I can make them happy so that might be enough for me...and I’ll go with the evil ending muahahahahahaa

What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? the Imelda/Poppy fic. Honestly it's not popular but it holds SUCH A SPECIAL PLACE IN MY HEART...it’s popular to me😤 I reread it a lot...my love letter to Imelda

Do you get hate on fics? I don't think so...If I do I'm out of the loop bahahahhahahahaha. Honestly I've had haters before on other platforms and it's not something that really bothers me bc if I don't personally know someone, I don't care what they think...and like Laney said...if they don't like something they should just make what they want to see instead lol

Do you write smut? yes😳

Craziest crossover? None I Am A Boring Girl

Have you ever had a fic stolen? not that I know of!!!!! But I also just started writing this year. I've had my art stolen sooooooo many times before though on IG and tiktok (not here yet that I know of…). If it's just copying my art I don't mind that much with these fanarts because that's how you learn and a copy will never look like the original but...

Have you ever had a fic translated? nope!!

Have you ever co-written a fic before? No but I'm collaborating with @versailles-black for fanart shenanigans bc our MCs are cousins🥹💓 plus the whole Leo/Bea thing with @the-ozzie …I’m actually considering writing a oneshot about the two of them so I think it counts!!

All time favorite ship I have two...Elizabeth/Mr Darcy have had me in a vicelike grip for my whole life...but so have Scully and Mulder...

What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I really really really want to write my Ominis longfic that's a continuation of my oneshot, but it's hard to find the time to write lately bc I've been so busy!!! like...even finding time to do these fanarts is a struggle these days. I still have hope I'll finish it though bc apart from ME wanting to read it there are a few others who are also looking forward to it!!!

What are your writing strengths? no idea🥲

Thoughts on dialogue in another language? I personally like it!!! But only if it's used correctly...I've seen Spanish in fics before where the person CLEARLY doesn't speak it and it drives me crazy, esp if the character is supposed to be Spanish-speaking. Or...when people add random phrases in with the rest English, bc as a bilingual person I feel like it doesn't really work like that lol. I added some Spanish to the Imelda oneshot I wrote and I like to read it when it's done naturally, and if anyone asks me for translation in the comments I’m happy to oblige🥰

First fandom you wrote in? Hogwarts Legacy is my first fandom ever bahahahhahahahahah

Favorite fic you've written? tbh I love all three that I've written so far!!!!!! I can't choose🥹🥹

Laney said there's no 20th question…I love you all😙😙😙

zerooo pressure tags for @kay9leo @writing-intheundercroft @heyitszev @noxxytocin and anyone else who thinks it would be fun to answer🥹💓😙💓😙

[an-indecisive-nerd]

As I promised to some of you lovely people, here's a brief (it's not at all brief I apologize) introduction to the gods of my world.

All the gods of my world are related, they are all part of the Alarie family. Here I'll be giving some basic info about each member (minus the ones that aren't gods), then I'll follow up with individual character introductions assuming it wouldn't spoil anything.

Universe

The goddess of the universe and creation, she is the original God and the matriarch of the Alarie family. Her real name is Ellowyn.

She's a very kind and nurturing soul, and a wonderful mother. She loves all her creations and is very happy with the universe she's created. She's also in charge of Heaven.

- Preferred form: female

- Domains: Creation, Heaven, existence as a whole

- Followers' robe colour: N/A

- Accent: Italian

Chaos

God of chaos and destruction. He's Ellowyn's husband and his real name is Casimir.

His entire goal in life is pretty much just to stir shit up for no reason, and he never fails to do just that. He sometimes goes a little too far and has to be trapped in the core of a planet for a century or two to cool off.

- Preferred form: Either

- Domains: Destruction, chaos, the end of everything, black holes, hell

- Followers robe colour: N/A

- Accent: Scottish

Darkness

Cas and Ellowyn's first born son, he's the oldest the second generation of gods, though when they’re discussed he's usually listed last. His real name is Caliban.

The second generation onwards of gods are the ones that actually take on specific followers, but of all of them Caliban takes on the least. He tends to be considered the loner of the family, and his manner can seem very calculated and cold to most. It's never clear what he's planning.

- Preferred form: Either

- Domains: Darkness, power, ambition, strategy, evil (in certain regions), cold, night

- Followers robe colour: Black

- Accent: Canadian

Sun

The second child of Ellowyn and Cas, she became the ruler of the gods after Caliban abdicated the throne. Her real name is Ravindra.

Ravi has a lot of responsibilities as ruler of the gods, and thus tends to be a workaholic. As a god more responsibilities means more power though, so she's also quite arrogant and proud. Underneath that arrogant shell though is a woman who deeply cares for her family and would do anything to protect them.

- Preferred form: Female (uses male form more often because of {spoilers})

- Domains: The sun, Honesty, Clarity, wisdom, Knowledge, leadership, light, purity, revenge, etc. Etc. Etc.

- Followers robe colour: Yellow

- Accent: Indian

Moon

Goddess of the Moon, third child of Ellowyn and Cas. Her real name is Esmeray.

Esmeray tends to be a passive observer of the events of the universe. Or at least, that's what it looks like. In reality, Esmeray is the goddess of prophecy, and she's constantly working to make sure her universe goes in the right direction, using gentle nudges that even the other gods don't notice. She inherited a healthy love of chaos from Cas, so she does occasionally use this power for mischief, but she always has good intentions.

- Preferred form: female

- Domains: the Moon, prophecy, illusions, lies, sleep, blindness

- Followers robe colour: purple

- Accent: Stereotypical valley girl

Air

Air god, fourth child, real name is Audra

Audra, fittingly, is a wanderer and a free spirit. They struggle with taking things seriously, and there's not much that can bring the air God down. The downside? They can be a bit of an airhead.

- Preferred form: Either (they switch forms constantly, rarely staying in the same form longer than an hour)

- Domains: Air, freedom, creativity, traveling parties, indecisiveness, drugs

- Followers robe colours: Light blue

- Accent: Boston

Earth

Fifth child, her real name is Adamina.

Adamina is a very kind woman. She's the goddess of nature and motherhood and as such she practically adopts all of her followers. She has many children of her own, so many in fact that they can't be made into gods and have to be content with basic immortality.

- Preferred form: Female (never switches)

- Domains: Earth, nature, animals, plants motherhood, marriage, peace, kindness

- Followers robe colour: Green

- Accent: Australian

Love

Sixth child, real name is Cerys. He has the most... eclectic set of powers.

Cerys is the black sheep of the Alarie family. He used to be the God of prophecy as well as love, and disappeared shortly before a major event because of a vision he had. Usually in order to do this you have to give up your God powers, but Cerys somehow found a way to retain most of them, only giving away a few to throw people off. He seems like a rather simple man, friendly and sweet, your stereotypical kind love god. However if you suspect there may be more to him than that, you wouldn't be the first...

- Preferred form: Depends

- Domains: Love, time, passion (non-sexual), poetry, {spoilers}

- Followers robe colour: N/A

- Accent: Ukrainian

Fire

Seventh child, real name Cyra.

Cyra is charming and polite, but also reckless and a bit dim. He's quick to anger and can be aggressive, but it's not too difficult to calm him down.

- Preferred form: Either

- Domains: Fire, change, passion (sexual), warmth, war, aggression, obsession, forging

- Followers robe colour: Red

- Accent: Southern

Water

Cyra's younger twin sister, real name Rayan.

Rayan tends to be very laid back and go with the flow. She's very accepting of people and rather calm in general. The exception is that she is a god of jealousy. She protests all her siblings' relationships, particularly Cyra's, and tries to convince them to break up often. Other than that she’s chill.

- Preferred form: Whichever one Cyra's not using

- Domains: Water, adaptability, acceptance, jealousy, emotions

- Followers robe colour: Dark blue

- Accent: Greek

Life

Life is the first of the third generation and is Ravi's adopted child. I can't reveal his name because spoilers

Life works a lot, much like his mother, and he also has her proud streak. He has a passion for experiments, which is why creatures like the platypus exist. Most of the time when asked about his work he'll respond with something along the lines of "You wouldn't get it", but if he thinks there's a chance that you would get it and you do manage to get him talking about it, he'll ramble on for hours, saying a million words per minute in the hopes of being able to discuss all his ideas before you shut him down.

- Preferred form: Male

- Domains: Life, healing, beauty, souls

- Followers robe colours: N/A

- Accent: Ancient roman

Death

This one is considered the adopted child of Caliban. Once again I can't reveal her name because spoilers.

Death is quite reserved. She’s very compassionate and does her best to ease good people's passing. She enjoys being able to bring justice to those who were cruel. She’s often seen as the gods' scapegoat, because she has many of the domains that are generally considered bad. Don't feel bad for her though, she signed up for this role. Why? Even the gods aren't sure.

- Preferred form: Either

- Domains: Death, pain, suffering, paranoia, madness, loss, grief, torture, being trapped, chains, etc.

- Followers robe colours: burgundy

- Accent: British

And that is finally all the gods. I'm so sorry.

@pheonix358 @unforgettable-sensations @littleladymab

@satohqbanana @megamijadeheart @my-bright-legacy

@thecomfywriter @wyked-ao3 @ominous-feychild

[palaeosinensis]

hi! I saw your post on linocut (?) prints, and wondered if you have any tips for carving. I really struggle with working with flipped images and getting depth right (I also struggle with describing things, so hopefully all this makes sense). If they were some other kind of print, you can totally disregard. Your art looks cool! Keep up the great work :)

I'll certainly do my best! As far as flipped images go it depends on how I'm getting the images onto the block and what the material is (rubber vs real lino vs the gray stuff). The only time I really mentally deal with flipping the artwork is if I'm drawing directly on the block which is rare; I nearly always draw on paper or digitally first. Sometimes I can draw in heavy soft pencil and then just lay the drawing directly onto some materials, like the rubber blocks, and rub the back hard with a barren or spoon. With linocut or the gray stuff I either just use carbon transfer paper or I'll print the art as-is and glue it art-side-down onto the lino with PVA glue. You then very carefully and gently wet the paper and rub away the paper fibers while leaving the printer ink/pva glue layer in place. The carbon paper trick is to draw however you like, use either an old tv screen or a light box, flip the art over, lightly retrace the drawing in a colored pencil (it'll be mirrored), sandwich lino-->carbon transfer paper-->the artwork (mirrored side up) and then trace the image like normal. It'll appear flipped like your lightbox traced side, but will print normally like the original artwork. As far as depth goes definitely ask more printmakers than just me. But I handle depth one of two ways: 1) I picture how the ink squishes or spreads in my mind. Just a little; it's not huge. I then make sure to carve deep enough to hold that bit of squish over. Printing technique is huge here; it's easy to overink a block. 2) I imagine while I'm cutting that the lines need to be supported by the rubber/lino below them sort of like a buttress. If you could make a cross section of a linocut line on the block it should look more like a trapezoid and less like a square. The more negative space around a black line and the thinner the black line is the more important this is. Lines that are very close together tend to support each other & spread the pressure out so their buttress angles can be steeper. If you have a large black area with lots of small negative space marks (Like a black wolf with little white gouges for fur texture) you almost don't have to worry about this. I am FAR from an expert, but I hope this helps! Definitely ask other printmakers. Printmaking is newer art territory for me so I'm sure more experienced folks can offer you more or better tips. :)

[senblades]

Tell us about the planning doc!!!

thank you very much for indulging me HAHA

So I started writing the planning doc like. When I really shouldn't have LMAO- I wasn't busy right then, but I was absolutely about to be. Oh well! What's done is done.

The planning doc is, essentially, a full outline of all the plot of fftsr, told exclusively in dumb jokes and memes ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Or, well, more accurately, a dumping ground for all my ideas in chronological order, marked with dates and some (emphasis on SOME lmao) of the confidant rank ups for Akechi and Ren.

I'll share some of the outline already written in chapters to get my point across: (UH MAJOR AND MINOR SPOILORS FOR FAITH FOR THE SECOND RUN- earlier chapters, mostly)

As you can see, not everything from the doc makes the cut. Sometimes things just don't work anymore, or I can't quite find a place to shoehorn it. I'm pretty sure a line showing how Sumire was struggling without a team never made it into the chapter- or, if it did, it was so negligible that it doesn't even matter.

Plus, I definitely hadn't figured out all the scene-by-scene POV's by that point. The "April 18" bullet point implies that scene might have taken place from Sumire's POV, but the final chapter actually has it as Ren's.

I also put all my Metaverse powerpoint slide intermittently as they become relavent. I'm not actually sure if this explanation ever made it into a chapter... I think Akechi might have implied it? But I don't think it was ever spelled out, since I couldn't find a smooth way to do it. Oh well! Here it is now!

There's also outlines of character conversations and motivations, as expected. The level of detail within the planning doc is VERY uh. Well, it's dependant on a lot of things. There are some major beats that I just hadn't thought of until writing the actual chapters, but some of the character-related convos that are more centred to the plot got written down pre-writing chapter 1

From memory, I think the above scene also changed slightly in the final fic. Sometimes what I write as character motivations in the planning doc ends up being VERY DIFFERENT by the time I get to the actual chapter. And, sometimes, the characters just run away with a scene HAHA

Speaking of character convos, some of my jokes in the planning doc made it, almost word for word, into the fic's chapters. Akechi hysterically wondering if Rank 3 is the "deepest darkest secrets" Rank Up is something that I wanted to immortalise lmao

As you can also see, though, not all of the confidant rank-ups were planned- Magician rank 2 is implied, but I didn't actually know what it was going to be at the time.

And then there's the confidants I didn't have planned at ALL:

(UH SPOILERS UP UNTIL CHAPTER 46)

The Tower and the Aeon are the worst offenders of this: I retroactivaly added the Aeon into the planning doc- an easy feat, since it coincides with the Justice, but just know that it absolutely wasn't there originally lmao. The Aeon came about in two stages, if I'm remembering correctly- I wrote the dream sequence where Ren didn't remember shit, but some vision of Crow was there and did remember, pretty much on a whim, and then thought "okay what if that kept happening though"

I think that descision was one of the best things I could have done lmao- it made October third MUCH more exciting to write (and, I assume, to read)... (originally Metatron was not a factor in the boys remembering- just some annoying headaches and visions. Shadow Maruki was also a last-second addition! While Ren was off galivanting with Crow, I wanted to give Goro something interesting to do as well. So! Impromptu therapy session)

Now the Tower... I did have some. uh. Plans, for cognitive Akechi right from the start; I can't remember my exact thought process for when I started cooking for this confidant, but I think I saw a comment on Throw Away Your Mask explaining why the Tower was particularly apt for the character it's used for in that fic, and thought "wait I can cook with this". or something HAHA I can't quite remember. (I was also VERY MUCH inspired by Marigolds and A Tale of Two Tricksters for all of that... (love those fics you should read them if you haven't))

All of the PT's rank ups are missing from the planning doc, too. I knew I wanted to have all of them as confidants, but I had no idea what their arcana was going to be, or when those confidants would start or rank up.

I unfortuantly can't share some of my best jokes from the planning doc, since I'm joking about MAJOR SPOILERS from future chapters HA

ty very much for letting me gush lmao <3 <3 <3

[stychu-stych]

Hi, sorry if this is weird but I'm saw in your bio that your a tattoo artist but I found your account theough some cult of the lamb art (it looks cool af) and I've been planning to do illustration and animation at unj but I've also been considering a tattoo artist apprenticeship after i finish that msybe? could you possibly tell me what irs like as an apprentice and if you think I could do my courses at uni and then do an apprenticeship after? I've really been struggling considering my choices and if you had any advice or information about being a tattoo artist weather its on an apprenticeship or actually as a career I would really appreciate it if you had any information for me! I'm so sorry if this is weird and of course you dont have to tell me anything if you don't want to or am uncomfortable too but I'm really curious and with no other sources 😭 (also finding your account may just be like my idol and inspiration while I struggle through school and what I do in the future 😭❤️)

That took me a while to answer because I never feel experienced enough to advise people 😭 Or maybe I should say - I don't feel in a position to advise because, as I once said, I'm mostly a self-taught working at home studio (now almost in my own art workshop with my fiancée) and I don't have much experience working in typical tattoo studio and with other tattoo artists. But I'll try my best ✨

There're many differences between apprenticeship in different countries (and tattooing in general) for example - Poland has one of the lowest price list in Europe but still a lot of people can't afford tattoos. Or that in UK being a tattoo apprentice is a long process. I know for sure that a lot of tattoo artists I know struggle with number of clients compared to previous years. And it won't change for a long time for sure because of inflation. So if you want to start tattooing you need to know that you won't earn much money for a year at least (as I said- it might looks different in another countries)

Also as a tattoo artist (even as a apprentice) you still need to take care of your social media which sometimes can be exhausting and depressing. And I'm telling all of this because I know that you probably won't find this kind of information on other tattoo artists' profiles (unfortunately strategy "look how my life is perfect" works for social media and for getting clients)

But on the brighter side - being a tattoo apprentice isn't something you have to dedicate your whole life to it. Lot of people I know have a second job to be financially stable. I myself don't live only from tattooing - I also help my fiancée with our online store (with our fanmerch and original artworks) and go on conventions with our booth. So you always can do multiple things at once and if you'll decide that tattooing isn't for you - nothing is lost!

The best way to know more about tattoo apprenticeship in your area is to check some groups - for example on facebook- dedicated to learning tattooing

I know that this post is sooo long but believe me, I barely touched the topic. I could write an entire essay about that topic djdbdjdh

Have some wolf lady because I like adding pics to posts sjdbsjsb

[meowmeowriley]

This may have been asked before but do you plan on continuing the little meow meow fic? Is it more of a when inspiration strikes kinda thing then a schedule when to have things done by if that makes sense?

My original fic, 🥰 Little Meow Meow did a lot for me, building my confidence as a writer. It will be continued, but it's complicated.

For the most part, I write what I can. Sometimes, no matter how badly I want to write something, the words won't flow. And any time I find myself feeling more down in the dumps and struck with writers block, I tend to start a new WIP. (Don't look into that too closely and the sheer number of wips I have, it's more than I've stated publicly 😅)

I am trying to get myself to finish something, focusing on trying to finish I Don't Think We're in Space Anymore between working on Changes: A Poll-Fic and Watership Down-Bad. Those two seem to be flowing the easiest right now, but once Space is finished I do want to turn my attention back to Little Meow Meow.

That being said, I have a lot of emotions and feelings tied up in Little Meow Meow, and it's difficult to try to put into words just why I struggle with that one. But it will get finished, I love Little Meow Meow and the story I wanted to tell with it. After all, I poured all of my little emo heart into cat-boy!Ghost, and I refuse to abandon him! I just want to make sure I give the story my best, I hope that makes sense.

Tldr: I'm not capable of sticking to a schedule, but once I finish my Space fic I'll be focusing on the cat-boy fic again, I promise. 😘

Thank you for the ask, it's nice to know there's someone out there who wants the story to continue. It's encouraging, and really does make me want to continue it even more. ❤

[riftdancing]

99+ Notifications?!

99+ NOTIFICATIONS?! Tumblr what do you MEAN?? ALL I DID WAS SLEEP.

...And post my wrapped.

...And maybe a new screenshot of Siyoh.

We're not counting that last one.

Originally I had panned to try and respond individually to people, but the overwhelming amount of feedback and kind words on my wrapped has left me slack jawed and feeling many feels.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Thank you so much for your kind words and for appreciating my work.

There are a few key components to my work. Things I try very hard to keep in mind while composing a shot.

1.) Lighting: Especially in my after effects because it still has to match the original lighting of the screenshot. Which means things like rotating sun beams and making sure the reflection of light is bouncing off the right places. It probably helps that I did years of photography lessons with my Mother in real life before ever bringing this knowledge to the screenshot world.

2.) Pose anatomy & the illusion of motion in a still picture: Admittedly, its a hard thing to capture. I've been doing this sort of posing for years before FFXIV so I have lots of experience and first hand knowledge in knowing how bodies move and how muscles/joints connect. That being said, I still challenge myself every day to continue to progress in this area. Especially with occasionally pushing anatomy post where it goes realistically for the sake of exaggerated expression. Like how 2D animation will always show more expression than 3D, but I also feel like this is a difficult line to toe.

3.) Photo Angle and Scene Composition: Admittedly, I still struggle with this sometimes. In fact, if a screenshot doesn't get posted or chosen to be shown on tumblr or to other people, this is usually the culprit. I'm very picky about it. Sometimes I'll let a screenshot sit for hours and come back to it whilst trying to decide if I like the angle in which I captured the scene. I can think of at least five shots off the top of my head which didn't make it to the editing phase because of this. Loved the idea, hated the execution. Which is NOT to say I hate my work. I love my work. Even the stuff I don't post. But I believe its healthy to have your own sense of constructive criticism along side pride and love for your work. This is how we grow. I also might have deleted a few posts after growing frustrated with their final composition weeks after.

Here are a few examples of things which didn't quite make it to the cutting room floor or had their scene composition/posing revised into better shots. I still love them! I think some of them are great in their own ways, they just weren't particularly capturing what I was fully after.

So what does this bring me to?

Your comments. I am so overwhelmed.

All of your sweet comments touched on these three key points and I cannot express how warm and fuzzy that made me feel. It gave me such a HUGE sense of pride knowing I am able to accomplish what I set out to do. And I only ever want to continuously improve on that (and more)!

I'm going to set some new goals for myself in 2025. But all the kind tags was exactly the kind of motivational boost to keep me going in the new year and to continue to figure out new tools to enhance my skill set as I go.

Truly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much.

[mintacle]

Also regarding fanon Tim it is really pity that a lot of fans and even writers regard Tim as a mini-Bruce when i feel he should be opposite especially when it comes to their social circle. Like Tim is fascinating to me because he looked at the dark and gloom and isolation of both Gotham and Bruce and went, "It deserves to be saved. I will save it and i'll do it without it destroying me" (he failed but he tried, god did he try).

If Bruce Wayne is a mask for Batman then Robin is a mask for Tim Drake.

If Bruce is actively isolating himself then Tim is actively seeking people out (even if it sometimes means slight stalking and casual breaking and entering, which, Tim, buddy).

When his parents died Bruce buried the child he was and dedicated his life to make sure something like this would never happen to anyone else and when Jason he almost went and broke his one rule. When everyone in Tim's life was dead or dying he tried to held onto every little thing that could bring that normalcy back from before everything went to shit, whether it be cloning, trying to find Bruce, or even lazarus pit.

It is why Tim becoming batman always ends horribly, not because Tim is secretly a deranged guy but because becoming batman means affectively killing what makes him Tim Drake. It is also why i think the best ending for him would be retirement, the boy who chose to take up the robin mantle grows up to be the man who chose to give up the mantle (naturally this would take a lot of development since i feel Tim is rather addicted to it but also i think it would be good. I also feel he would still do hero work on side but as a consultant or support)

(I alse feel isolation is a major struggle for both of them. However Bruce embraces it, becomes a part of it, while Tim rejects it, loses to it. A Lonely Place of Dying indeed)

(i am so sorry i feel like i have more generalized both the characters and could be wrong about them since i am still newer to the comics but these are my thoughts from what i have seen so far)

Nah, anon, you're valid. I'm not crazy into Tim and haven't read anything with him yet (though @benbamboozled has convinced me to read Young Justice 98), from what I know of the canon version of Tim, he is very critical of Batman, which you kind of have to be if your goal is to help them (as opposed to enabling someone)

Here we have Tim on Bruce's approach to paranoia and work colleagues:

which will for me always be core part of Tim's characterization. He's very far from the boy who will blindly follow Bruce to get his approval. I think of all the Robins Tim might be the least interested in Bruce's approval. (Modern era Dick is weirdly open about wanting Bruce's approval which I don't like. Nightwing is for me ideally in extreme denial about his and Bruce's interdependance.)

Tim is far too aware of Batman's problems to want to become him. This is the kid that became Robin at Batman's lowest low. He didn't become the sidekick/ward/son of a vigilante who was larger than life, he became the support of a broken down man. It makes sense to have Dick and Jason involuntarily idolize the man, because the Batman they knew was amazing, but the Batman Tim knew? That was a spiralling man.

Which might also be why it bothers so many people that Tim isn't allowed to grow out of the Robin mantle, it feels extremely natural for him to be getting over his original mantle and connection to Batman.

[lericekrispie]

Back on that Native Dakota Cole propaganda grind

Dakota Cole being Native is so important to me. This silly little headcannon brings me so much joy, to see the character do so many things that are so so Native coded and to have a story that feels inherently Native. I don't get a lot of representation in mainstream media. A lot of the time you have to search for it yourself. In this essay I will-

Native Coding Evidence in Cannon-

Dakota, the name by itself is a fairly Native name.

Alaska (Dakota's aunt) is also a very Native name.

Dakota's real name, Damascus, originally sounded very French to me. French would point to Native, because Native people often traded with French fur traders up north (of the united states) and into Canada. With the French, sometimes there was intermarriage, whether in violence or in peace. However, with some research into the name it comes from the Bible, and the direct meaning from google is "A sack full of blood, the similitude of burning."

Alaska's struggle with addiction (a common symptom of generational trauma from the Native genocide)

Playing a drum to calm down! Drums are a very Native thing.

He has that weird thing with bears? Native ways teach more by doing then showing so learning from wildlife seems to be a way his Grandma mentor would try to teach him, and Bears is a very Native associated animal.

How Dakota fits a Native Narrative-

Having a warrior spirit. Dakota Cole has very strong morals, and undoubtedly a fighting spirit. From the way he fights, from his strength, to his honor and respect for life.

He's disconnected from his family, yet makes strong connections with others. A lot of natives separated from their culture because of assimilation and genocide often yearn for families they know love them but cannot reach, for a culture they know should be there but cannot access. Being away from that but knowing something is missing is extremely painful. You yearn for a community, and a need for a strong community is in Native blood. Dakota makes strong meaningful connections, mimicking what he is missing.

Dakota Native Headcannons-

The first time he sees a powwow he cries (he's just like me fr fr)

His mentor is Native, and lives on his Rez. That's how he found him the first time around, he was on the road, and the only place he knew of that could possibly take him in was an obscure town Aunt Alaska had mentioned once or twice of growing up in. He goes there hoping to find more family, instead he finds his Teacher (Mentor).

(Teacher is from the Eagle clan if you care)

He wakes up in the morning, and sit in the sunrise, and smudges like he was taught by his Mentor.

During the ten-month break he got really close with the community on the Rez, he would often help however he could with his superpowers.

He listens to Native Rap when he works out and Native flute music to calm down.

He connects to Vyncent a lot about tribes and traditons bc that's what Vyncent had in Fauna.

During the ten-month break he learns to powwow dance.

He spouts off old Native teachings like a parrot of what his mentor has told him, sounds really mature, and Vyncent and Will are like... "that was really smart Dakota." And he's like. Idk what it means my Mentor just told me that lmao then he keeps being silly

He get's his hair cut during the ten-month break into a mowhawk :)

(when he wants to grow it out he just buzz cuts it to even it out and he looks slay af with a buzzed head)

When he gets older he's going to get almost full body Native tattoos.

He incorporates beading into his superhero fit

Dakota's Native name is Miskomin-Makoons (Raspberry- Cub)

The Damascus' are from the Bear clan.

"The Bear Clan members were the strong and steady police and legal guardians. Bear Clan members spent a lot of time patrolling the land surrounding the village, and in so doing, they learned which roots, bark, and plants could be used for medicines to treat the ailments of their people."

Dakota's Warrior title is 'Bleeding Heart Warrior'

I'm sure I'll remember more stuff later and I'll kick myself but for now this is what I have. any JRWI Natives want to add feel free to give ur headcannons :)