#i started drawing and posting art seriously and frequently for the first time

[newttxt]

20 questions for fic writers

thank you @strawhattery for @ing me, even though i do feel like it's a not-so-subtle urge to finish my current wips... (i need the kick)

for reference/those who only see my art, i used to be a fic writer who occasionally drew. that's obviously changed, but i am trying to write more, so you can find me at pseudoanalytics on ao3.

1) how many works do you have on ao3?

44, but only 35 are linked to me (9 are anonymous...)

2) what's your total ao3 word count?

347,773 😰

3) what are your top five fics by kudos?

while i nodded, nearly napping (suddenly there came a tapping) [haikyuu, ushiten]

redacted :/

the inherent romance of classical conditioning (or, the fine art of emotional recognition) [haikyuu, sakuatsu]

you're really pushing it (but you're going much too slowly) [haikyuu, ushiten]

redacted :/ (sequel to the first redacted...)

4) what fandoms do you write for?

most of my fics are so old i can't bear to look at them, but i'm trying to write more for one piece. then i've written a decent amount of haikyuu, pacific rim, and star wars.

5) do you respond to comments? why or why not?

initially? i absolutely do! but as any of my friends will tell you, i struggle to even reply to dms or texts. so alas. i drop off pretty quickly

i LOVE comments though, and i eagerly read and reread them frequently ;__;

6) what's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

oh sheesh. you may only ask once (so be prepared for the reply) which is a bad end for pacific rim 2. or i guess... a worse end. it's also a bit of a role swap au, if i remember correctly.

7) what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

i... honestly don't know. i typically write happy endings. i like to write "missing scenes" and post-canon, so things tend to be rather open-ended or to just lead into the next part of canon. my memory is also not my prize-winning quality, so i can't really remember how my fics ended pre-2018ish.

8) do you get hate on fics?

i know i've gotten some ruder bookmarks, but not typically, no. i get more hate on art or in my ask box, but i honestly just delete it all, so it never sticks.

9) do you write smut?

yes, though its debatable if it's "smut" so much as "sex in such an irreverent context that it becomes humor." i cannot take sex seriously, so alas, i rarely write it seriously. i use it more as comedy and a tool for character studies. i do enjoy a stoic character's facade getting cracked open.

10) do you write crossovers?

i don't write legitimate crossovers, with characters from different medias intermingling, and frankly, i rarely do au's either.

but if i have one weakness, it's that i am ALWAYS a sucker for a pacific rim au. yes, i am rotating a one piece version in my head.

11) have you ever had a fic stolen?

i had a sakuatsu one reuploaded to wattpad under someone else's username. they deleted my author's notes and added their own, as if they'd written the fic, too. hilariously they even used my art for the cover.

it got taken down, but idk why. i never reached out about it.

12) have you ever had a fic translated?

yeah! i've had 5 translated, and i've had 2 turned into podfics, which is cool.

13) have you ever cowritten a fic before?

nope. i'd be terrible to work with, tbh. my writing process is a holdover from my journalism days, and the steps are a mystery even to me. i think i'll stick to drawing art for other ppl and their fics.

14) what's your all time favorite ship?

i will hold to the fact that it's asanoya from ao3. they were the first ship i got really invested in, and i see their impact on everything i ship to this day. they were my "blueprint," if you will. i still get smiley when i see art for them!

on the flip side... terezi/vriska was also a formative ship for me. but i won't discuss that.

15) what's the wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

rip go ahead and start talking (i'll pick up the slack). it's my 1-of-2-chapters ushiten fic that i should just mark as complete, since the first chapter can stand alone.

16) what are your writing strengths?

hard to determine your own strengths, but i think my dialogue/characterization are pretty strong, especially since i still regularly flex those muscles when writing comics. i also think i'm funny.

17) what are your writing weaknesses?

writing.

but seriously, i am so bad at sitting down and just hammering out a fic. don't get me started on outlines or longform works. i'd rather grab my pencil and start drawing, i'm afraid.

18) thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

i think there are ways to interweave words or terms in other languages, but overall, i'm a fan of just standardizing everything into one language. if your character understands it, i think all readers should be able to understand it. and i'm not a fan of when you're expected to scroll to the end for a translation; i think it interrupts the reading flow.

this is a generalized opinion though. i think there are ALWAYS storytelling exceptions, so if the other language usage is really important to your theme/intent, i can see why you would do this!

19) first fandom you wrote for?

please don't do this to me. it was maximum ride. yes, the james patterson books about the kids with bird wings. i wrote 4-5 fics, i was in middle school, and — as far as i know — they are still up on ff dot net. no, i won't elaborate.

20) favourite fic you've ever written?

hands down, it's the sakuatsu domesticity simulator. it's not necessarily my best work in terms of writing skill, but i also drew over 50 images for it and html coded it into an interactive story. i'm just proud that i started a big project by myself and i actually finished it!

it's my dream to someday make a whole visual fan novel. i feel like the domesticity sim was the first step.

oh boy i'm bad at tagging but if @syrupfog, @lawsbbygirl, @macabrekawaii , @bmouse, or @cooknumber3 want to go for it... :))

[gh0stwitdamost]

I am so happy with how this turned out. It's literally 8 in the morning. I spent all night writing and drawing sketches of my oc and here is what I would like to deem the first complete(maybe?) unmasked design of her. Her final outfit and mask will be revealed once I am done writing the first draft. I drew mike next to her to simplify her design and have the style match closer to the game play art. Here are some quick headcannons and a few explanations to introduce her without giving too much away.

1) Her similar design to mike is intentional. I tried to focus on making sure her face did not share the exact same features as him since he is of (supposed) European descent and she is Native American. Hence the soft, rounder features, higher cheekbones, and wider broad nose. Her eyes are also noticeably more slanted and almond shaped in comparison, however I wanted her to have a solid eye color as well as his are drawn without a pupil. This is something I noticed in his design that differs from all the other characters and I though this would be perfect. Her look is supposed to seem unassuming and harmless. Just a regular girl right? But her eyes, I wanted her eyes to have the same shark-like intensity of Mike's since they were both raised in conditions of serious childhood neglect (she was also invisible to her parents). Another reason is that her and mike are tied together in past life. His Ancestral bloodline plays a huge part in the genocide of her ancestors (the Miskatonic Tribe)

4) Get ready for a time warp! Whomp, whomp, this takes place in the 1980s. Specifically 1988, a few years after Jay committed his murders in camp, and BARNABY is making his reappearance as his younger self who is camp director to this years group of unsuspecting counselors.

2) Her tribe is fictional, her and any other native american characters' tribal affiliation will not be mentioned or named with an actual real tribe at all. This is to avoid possible misrepresentation. The start of the story takes place in Montana, in between Black feet and Crow reservations. Later once we reach the Miskatonic Mountains the story takes place in the Appalachian mountain range, since H.P. Lovecrafts Miskatonic University is located in Massachusetts. To help shape the lore of the mysterious and indigenous Miskatonic people, real native american folklore of both western and eastern American tribes will be playfully inserted here and there. I will make sure to include in each chapter resources and notes to explain its origin and significance in native american culture, but please remember, a lot of this is going to be made up, so do not confuse fact with fiction.

3). I will do my best to be respectful of tribes I am not too familiar with and share with you my personal favorite things about being native american growing up (I am a part of the Eastern Band of Cherokee tribe).

5)FAIR WARNING, a lot of racism was more widespread in this time period, especially with Native American groups fighting for water rights. Some racial slurs may be mentioned, but they will be censored. This is to highlight some of the struggles OC is facing but I will not be focusing much of the story on this. (But this will explain some of the tension OC has with certain characters that appear later)

6) AGAIN FAIR WARNING, OC has experienced childhood neglect and abuse similar to mike and some of the other slashers. Disclaimers will be posted as necessary for certain parts exploring her past. Please read with caution. Since most of my work explores these topics like abuse frequently (my past gorillaz sketch) I will be making my account 18 + for mature and explicit content from now on. My artwork is a big source of therapy for my own experiences, however I don't intend to hover around this particular topic too much, in an effort to be more respectful and mindful of others feelings. I hope to portray the seriousness of these topics by trying to keep my writing and illustrations "tasteful" while doing so.

7) I intend to post 2 versions of the story. One version is edited (murders are cut away from the readers view) and put here to read on Tumblr, and a second one for another account (A03 probably) that will be unedited (murders will be included and full descriptions of massacre. This is for those of you who can stomach a little gore and blood) also, i will be writing a death sentence scene, where we get to findout how OC died and began her (afterlife?) as a slasher in nevermore.

8) I really aim to keep the story continued once its finished by writing a storyline for MC to find and "unlock" OC as a romance partner/possible villain. (Hint, Jay will be the one to help MC locate and meet OC for the first time)

9) Dorian doesn't give AF about plot holes and neither do I. Certain cannon events will still take place but I'm writing the slashers my way to help fit the narrative and fill in some blanks. Don't worry, I'm not gonna stray too far.

10) AND finally her ears, I meant to draw on piercings. She has multiple ear piercings in both sides, but also idk i might hide them. For now, her arrowhead necklace is a must.

AND THE BIGGEST THING BTW, any feathers that are drawn and worn by a character are hawk or other bird type feathers. Eagle feathers are considered sacred and are only worn by chiefs and warriors who have achieved big accomplishments or in war bonnets. No eagle feather regalia will be drawn unless its being used in proper context. There's already so much controversy about people wearing headdresses without knowing the cultural significance, I don't wanna add to it honestly.

Okay! Well that pretty much sums it up. Stick around I will be posting more soon! I have another art piece I plan to finish today and more headcannons to share.

[faraway-sunshine]

OOC FAQ (Remastered for 2025!)

(This is for information about me, the blog admin. For Sunny, check out the About Me post, linked at the top. Or read anything else on the blog, lol)

Hi, who are you?

I'm the admin behind faraway-sunshine, this Sunny askblog. I go by He/Him pronouns. I turned 18 in February but started running this blog last year.

Aside from the odd guest writer and some guidance from my friends, I make the blog alone. No AI generation is used to create anything in the blog and if that ever changes you have full rights to revoke my Internet privileges permanently.

I try to update frequently but I'm a full-time university student so this can get in the way! I also run @aubrey-right-back as a sort of sister blog to this one, and another blog for a different fandom I'd rather keep private for now.

(Other questions under the cut!)

What made you start this blog?

I have some experience running askblogs before, particularly in the Undertale/Deltarune fandom. I was creatively burnt out when I finally played Omori and fell in deep.

I've had some mental health struggles before, though not to Sunny's extent, thank goodness. I'm still on a road to recovery though. Writing Sunny through his nonlinear recovery feels healing.

Why is there a date at the bottom of every Sunny post?

I headcanon the events of the game to take place in mid-to-late June, 2000. When I made this blog at the end of July, I thought it'd be fun to have it sync with the real-world clock minus 24 years. It's honestly such a help for my creativity at times, and keeps things moving.

My headcanon also places Sunny in the Eastern Standard time zone, on the east coast of America. I don't live in America, I'm in New Zealand, so sometimes I schedule posts to appear in a better time. Most of the time though I can work without that.

This also means I don't know what it's actually like living through those times, so I do a bunch of research and may take a few liberties. At least Sunny's probably not the most up to date with the times himself!

Also please do not send asks about September 2001 I've had too many please stop please

Does this mean you'll handle X topic in the way they would have back then?

Short answer: It varies.

Long answer: Sometimes. My general rule of thumb is to link it back to experiences and frustrations still present now; for instance, the annoyance of not being taken seriously in therapy or not knowing how to tell the difference between a crush and someone you admire platonically.

Although I'm neurodivergent and LGBTQ, I'm not a racial or cultural minority, so I try not to deal with the negative side of those topics as much due to not wanting to represent it falsely.

This does mean I might use some outdated language at times, such as referring to part of the autistic spectrum as Asperger's or DID as MPD. Those are very brief though, as I don't like putting a huge load on a label.

I also promise not to use any slurs, even those I might reclaim, or to turn discriminatory violence into a major plot point. No "gay almost driven to suicide just because he wants to kiss boys" tropes present.

Wait, "plot point"?

Sunny has a life outside the blog, and I have a rough calendar of events that occur to him. There's a few special ones that happened before, such as a couple sleepovers and his first day back at school.

Events are interactive in that you can react to them, but not in that I often have an idea of how things go on that's hard to sway. It's not impossible to change that ending though!

Shipping?

When I started the blog, this was not going to be a major part of it. I continue to stand by my decision, but if you've been following a while you'd know I have been hinting heavily at him having feelings for Basil. Whether things will work out turn to you, dear viewer.

Who does the artwork and photos?

Unless otherwise specified, I do all my own! Art is made either by hand or in a bitmap drawing software, like MS Paint. Sometimes people have sent fanart and that's awesome!

Photos are always supposed to be credited. Spot an uncredited photo? Let me know!

If I can't take a picture myself I try and use public domain imagery when I can. If I have falsely used your image for purposes not permitted in the license, flip me an ask or DM me to sort it out.

Okay, what triggers can I expect?

To start with, expect canon-typical content from the game, only in frank written form (which may be more or less triggering depending).

This is by no means a complete list, but the main topics that have come up so far that either aren't in the game or are but in less detail are:

Frank discussions of sexual health and attraction

Clear, frank discussion regarding other medical topics, including physical trauma and injury (self-inflicted or otherwise)

Past trauma, PTSD, and memory loss linked to it (before and during the events of the game's story)

Parental negligence, abandonment and general lack of understanding

Eating disorders, specifically anorexic and avoidant-restrictive tendencies

Neurodivergence, sometimes through a DSM-IV/DSM-IV-TR (guidelines used in this time) view

Plurality in the same manner, primarily DID (sometimes referred to as MPD)

Psychiatric treatment related to some or all of the above alongside canon-typical causes

Homophobia (internal and external), and through other characters, transphobia

Religious trauma and discussion, based on Roman Catholic Christianity

Brief discussions and reactions to real life events that have happened before or during the blog's story, both recent (such as murders) and historical (such as the events of prior wars).

Wait, Sunny's a system?

In this interpretation of his character, I headcanon Sunny as somewhat plural. The exact diagnosis is something I'm not sure of as I'm not a therapist and he'd be slapped with DID/MPD anyway due to the ideas of the times. I've talked about this before in older posts, which have also discussed some of his alters.

Sunny's system in this take is traumagenic, but no syscourse is permitted on the blog as I'm not qualified to moderate it. This includes reblogs, tags and comments.

I write Sunny's plural sections with advice from others, but with that being said, if you think I've been offensive or inaccurate please let me know!

Help! I can't find an old post!

I apologise for the mess; I've been heavily putting off fixing the tagging system for this blog.

Try these steps in this order!

Use the Search bar with keywords or dates you remember

Scroll through relevant tags. All asks are tagged with the user that sent them in, and all non-asks are either tagged as Diary Post, Sunny Thoughts, or both. Typically I lean to leaving Sunny Thoughts off of longer posts. Characters, events and topics are also sometimes tagged.

Open the Tumblr Archive of the blog and scroll there. You can sort by tag, media type, and date if you like.

It might be deleted. In that case, it could be worth checking Internet Archive's Wayback Machine?

Send me an ask regarding it and I'll send you a link! Anonymous must be turned off for this so I can answer privately.

I have a question and it isn't here.

Send it in! No, seriously. Just mark it as being for the admin in some way and I'll answer.

Thank you for reading!

[whoatherebigguy]

[UNDER CONSTRUCTION AT THE MOMENT!]

Askbox is open! I'll try my best to do requests but i can't promise anything. Feel free to ask about any of my goofy universes!! <heads up: i probably wont answer asks that don't directly relate to giant monsters, or if I i can't understand what they are about>

about me/this blog: this blog is Godzilla and Gamera centric and I'll mainly be posting art for my mini continuities, most of which i dont take very seriously. I’ve got 3 main continuities, one is a goofy combined universe that takes place after defeating the Big Bad, its mostly silliness and drama at the monster brunch club. The second is a Gamera Universe I’m chipping away at, it spun off of the 1st one but developed its own self contained story arc. I’ve named it Cyclogenesis and I think it’s my favourite to work on. The third and final continuity you'll see me posting about is a comic based on Gamera Vs. Zigra called Rapid Ascent . If all goes well, it should be released later this year!

Primary Tags:

[whoa!kaiju] - main tag for combined universe designs

[G:cyclogenesis] - for my Gamera continuity :]

[G: Rapid Ascent] - everything relating to my [upcoming?] fan comic based on Gamera vs. Zigra

[whoa!kaiju attacks] - fanart of other people's kaiju designs

[whoa!awe] - for shitposting about the giant monsters living like washed up 30 somethings. aka: 'adventures with emoguirus'

[heads up: i sometimes use my own silly tags for my versions of characters i draw a lot, just so i dont end up spamming their main tag lol]

-> i am on Bluesky!

Other Tags, More About and a BYF Below:

Other Tags:

[whoa!askbox] - responses to asks, usually with drawings

[words of whoa] - random text posts, no art

[insert list of chr specific tags here]

about me [giant monster related]: The first godzilla movies i saw were millennium and my designs/art's general vibe reflects that i think[?]. I used to rent all the films i could find at blockbuster video[RIP]. I got back into big monsters after seeing KotM and i think the monsterverse is p cool, if not a little grating. I like the showa and millennium eras the best, but the poster art for the entire heisei era is fire. My fav Godzilla monsters are Megalon[shocking, i know], Gigan, Rodan, and Kiryu, but Mothra is always appreciated. <3 Final Wars is good in a bad way. Minilla exists but i dont hate them and its weird how much hate he gets.

I have a faint memory of seeing the heisei gamera films as a kid, but it didnt click at the time. now, however, i am a very big turtle enjoyer. Fav Gamera guys are: Zigra, Gamera, Gyaos and Viras. long live that dumbass tuna can and his stupid skittles bowl ship., im actually obsessed with him. please watch the Gamera movies, im so alone here

about me [personal?]: im an adult and im mostly gay [if that wasn't obvious]. It’s no longer hypothetical because I charmed someone using my cringe-fail swag. i dont have a strong preference for any pronouns, but he/him is my default. im not american, but im pretty close so that doesn't really matter. uhhhh. i also really like space and sailboats.

byf basics: i dont plan on posting anything nsfw, but do use swears frequently and will probably make gay jokes. idk if thats a thing ppl avoid or not but eh. there is a zero tolerance for intolerance policy on this blog. heres a general assortment of statements to ward off ppl: everybody deserves food and shelter. colonialism in all its forms was and is horrific. also, we love and respect trans ppl here, transfem's selfies aren't "mature content". if any of the above offends you, go outside and reflect on ur life a bit.

godzilla as a franchise started as a partially metaphor for nuclear war and mass destruction + i think we should all be of the opinion that bombing people is bad.

some important links you should click before u scroll:

PCRF

ANERA

UNRWA

[geminipixels]

10 years prior in Elmira City

“Why did you bring me to the park, D?”

“Why not? It's a nice Sunday morning, the weather's nice, and you love coming to the park to hang out.”

“Yeah, when we were like 7, maybe. But the park? That's so boring, Dallas.”

“It's not that bad, Kai-”

“You text me first thing in the morning wanting to take me out, I was expecting a karaoke bar or the country club your mom frequents. Not Central Park that barely anyone visits anymore!”

“Kairo, relax. I just thought we could have a simple hangout that isn't wasting my parents money or playing video games. Plus, we haven't hanged out around town in ages.”

“Since when do you care about wasting your parents' money, Dallas? And what's wrong with staying inside and playing minecraft like we usually do?” “Touché about my parents, Kai. But just enlighten my nostalgia for a few hours please and try to pretend you love the park again?”

“See Kairo, isn't this fun? Being outdoors and embracing our inner child again?”

“I guess. Though, I feel too big for these childish games. Can't we play chess or do something else?” “Kairo, do you ever go one day without complaining? But I agree, I'm starting to get too tall for the seesaw.”

“This is more enjoyable, Dallas. Sitting by the pond, sketching baby ducks and the cityscape.”

“Baby ducks? Boring. You and your realistic drawings, Kairo. I'm drawing Aliens abducting those protestors over at city hall.” “I still wonder why I even consider you my best friend at times, weirdo.”

“Okay, so I have big news. Remember that prestigious art school I was telling you about months ago?"

“Yeah, you wouldn't shut up about it for weeks. So what about it."

“Well, my mom and I went to tour it a while back. And she helped me submit my application for their visual arts program. Last night, when she checked her email, they previewed my portfolio and accepted me into the program!” “No way seriously? You were serious about wanting to go to LeFomage? Hell, congratulation Kairo.”

“Why don't you sound that happy for me? I feel like you're not really happy for me, Dallas.”

“I am happy. I mean, you do deserve it. It's just… means you're going to possibly leave me alone with all these weirdos and snobby pricks.”

“Oh my god, Dallas, be serious. Plus, not everyone at our school is that bad.”

“... And I'll have my own dormitory. Hopefully my roommate is nice. Oh! And apparently they have a fantastic theater program too. Like, you know, the famous Matthew Hemming? Apparently he went to LeFomage before he made it big in Bridgeport. God, I love his movies.” “Only you and every mom, maybe. That guy is a grade-A jackass. And gives off weird vibes. And has a very punchable face. But Matthew Hemming aside, I'm happy you're following your dream, Kairo.” “Then why are you giving me that look? Are you upset with me, D?”

“Nah, I'm not upset. Okay, perhaps I'm processing the face next year I won't have my best friend at school with me and that she's going to be at a private school that's 3 hours away. And I'll be forced to hang out with other people. But I'm a little worried you won't remember me or something.”

“That's not true! I'll be home every other weekend to visit. And I still can call and text you. Plus, we still can play video games together. I wouldn't forget you, Dallas.”

“Yeah, okay. That's what you say now. Until suddenly you become too busy and meet cooler and more popular friends, and I get put on the back burner. Plus your memory sucks, and you're a horrible texter.” “Okay, my communication could be better. But you've been my best friend for 9 years, Dallas. I wouldn't forget you that easily. And I promise I'll see you every month when I come back.” “Fine. You better keep your promise, Kairo, I swear.”

Tag list: @sushiikinsss, here's me finally posting the family slowly mamas :)💞

[pass1onepr1ncess]

JJBA Binary Stars: JuJou

(If you saw me repost this, no you didn't, I made some minor changes and additions and wanted make a better first post!)

I've been working on a Jojo Fan Part for quite some time now and I'm finally starting to get around to drawing the characters so that I can introduce them and talk about theProject!!! Also, if you follow my lovely partner @xxbattiepupxx you've probably seen him drawing one of the stand users for said fan part!!! ;)

In any case, the part is called Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Binary Stars and it takes place in the post-reset universe along side Steel Ball Run, Jojolion, and Jojolands! In terms of setting, Binary Stars takes place after the events of Jojolion and before Jojolands! Though Binary Stars starts off in Japan, it's in Okinawa instead of Morioh!

Jumi Joumae (Otherwise known as JuJou) is our protagonist Jojo! She has a twin sister named Jien who I'll talk about more in a following post. but the focus is on Jumi! My biggest inspiration for starting Binary Stars is that I really like how Golden Wind was heavily inspired by Y2K fashion, so I wanted to make a fan part that incorporates characters that are each based on/affiliated with a different genre of alternative fashion!

Now, without further ado, allow me to introduce JuJou and IT GIRL!

Jumi Joumae (Jujou)

Role: Protagonist/Jojo Age: 21 Pronouns: She/Her (Cis Girl) Fashion Style: Kogyaru

Jumi is a Kogal who, despite having graduated High School, continues to dress in kogal style into her early adulthood. She's very ambitious, and though her dreams of stardom and fame are far-fetched she takes them very seriously and won't let anyone talk her down from it. In fact, she's extremely protective of this dream. Anyone who makes fun of her or tries to tell her that her goals are unrealistic will discover that she can be quite confrontational. She remembers everyone who's ever laughed at her dream and holds grudges, frequently using her stand to cause trouble and mischief for them as well as just being plain petty in her interactions with them. Personality-wise, she's sort of like a fusion of Giorno and Josuke. Jumi is currently enrolled in a local college in Nagasaki for her General Studies Degree, but she has her sights set on a performing arts school in Tokyo. 

Jumi’s stand first appeared when she was around 13 years old. She’s never told anyone about it other than Jien, who of course didn’t believe her at first. It took about 3 months, but Jumi had finally gotten Jien to believe her about the “Pretty ghost lady” that lets her turn things into diamonds.Jien was never able to see IT GIRL since Jien hadn’t yet developed her own stand.

- Japanese (Has the littlest bit of White blood from Johnny but that’s a good few generations up the tree) - Younger twin to Jien by 30 minutes - Great-Great-Grandaughter of Johnny Joestar (Daughters of one of his unnamed descendants), Distant cousin to Jodio Joestar and Josuke "Gappy "Higashikata - Visually Inspired by Red Beryl (Houseki no Kuni), Clover (Zero Escape 999), and Yumemi Yumemite (Kakegurui) - Personality Inspired by Saki Tenma (Project Sekai) and Junko Enoshima (Danganronpa)

IT GIRL

Stand Name: IT GIRL Namesake: IT GIRL - Aliyah’s Interlude Ability:

Anything Jumi or IT GIRL touches turns into hardened diamond. Jumi can choose the color of said diamond, and if she deactivates her stand or if the target leaves her range, the diamond will revert back to what it was before. IT GIRL’s range is 5 meters (15 feet) in which her stand can not exit that range. IT GIRL's diamonds are neither flexible nor breakable.

In terms of stands being an extension of the user’s soul, IT GIRL represents how Jumi is casual, friendly, and laidback most of the time but how she toughens and shines under pressure and scrutiny. While diamonds can be pretty and shine like a star, they also have a sharp edge- like Jumi. 

While Jumi is more aligned with Kogal, IT GIRL is more aligned with the more dramatic Yamanba style of Gyaru.

And there's Jumi!! Next up is Jien, so I hope people will look forward to that!! I've been working on this fan part for a quite a bit now and have made not only main Jojo, Antag, and Jobros but also many minor stand users!!! I'm excited to finally start telling my story!!!! >w<

When I add more characters and such, I'll tag each post about this project with #Jojo Binary Stars so look out for that if you wanna know more!!!!!!

[manic-maniac-man]

HUgE July 2012

Andrew WEATHERALL

A PORTRAIT of THE VINYL ARTIST

He has easily transcended the boundaries of dance music and has been a star in the UK music scene.

Andrew Weatherall is a musician who continues to have a huge influence today.

Known as an avid vinyl fan, he agreed to a lengthy interview in the studio.

Just a small part of my vinyl collection.

Although they are roughly divided into genres, there seems to be almost no order to them.

“Human beings always want something to hold, they want an artifact"

"Humans have always wanted something they could hold in their hands and feel."

Andrew Weatherall is a key figure when talking about the British club scene and the music that grew out of it. His influence was strong since the late 80s, even before he entered the music industry, and the fanzine Boy's Own, which he created with his friends Terry Farley, Simon Eckel, and Steve Mays, has become a legendary publication that conveys the acid house movement to the present day. Soon after he became famous as a DJ, he was active as a central figure in the labels that supported the British music scene in the 90s, such as Factory Records and Creation Records, and he remixed and produced a series of artists, including Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine, New Order, and Happy Mondays.

He has also formed projects such as Two Lone Swordsmen (1996-) and Saviors of Paradise (1992-), which have released many great songs backed by his deep knowledge of music. He still actively produces young bands such as Fuck Buttons and The Twilight Sad.

Weatherall has been active in the electronic music scene for many years, but he is also known in the industry as an unrivaled vinyl lover. He frequents record shops in London and spends a lot of money on 7-inch records and rare records. In a slightly (or quite?) lived-in studio in a certain part of London, Weatherall talked about his love of vinyl.

He then said the following.

"Vinyl has a charm that other media can't. Just take a look at Rough Trade. A lot of new bands are releasing 7-inch records, right? Because that's the best way to showcase vinyl art. Technology changes every day, but humans don't. Humans always want something they can hold in their hands and feel. Used records in particular have an almost magical power. When you put the needle on a used record, it makes a little noise. The cover is torn and scuffed. It's the history of someone you don't know. This record has traveled a mysterious way to get here. That's why vinyl is mysterious and fascinating. It has a history of 20, 30, even 50 years. We like to think that the present we're living in is the height of civilization, but in the end, we're all the same hairless chimpanzees."

He loves vinyl so much that he established a new label called Bird Scarer this spring to release vinyl only, in order to spread its appeal to a wider range of generations. All vinyls on this label will be released in limited quantities of 300, but is there any reason for this?

"Well, I don't know, but I guess I like the collector's item kind of stuff. Distributors are more

People say it's better to make it, but I just want to pack good music into collectible things that can be touched and enjoyed, and deliver them to others. I don't have the time to seriously draw pictures, but I have the time to make music. So, like prints, I'm happy to have something that can be touched like this.

Weatherall's Bird Scarer record is packed with his passion for "creation." Does he have any criteria for the music he chooses to release on his special label?

"Well, it's music I really love, and I want to do more than just dance music. I'm looking for music with an approach like post-punk, early electronica and cosmic disco. I have so many songs I want to get out there, and maybe that's one of the reasons why I started this label. Tim Fairplay, who produced the first record on the label, and I both have a bunch of untouched music sitting in our computers."

The vinyl sticker design for Bird Scarer has already been announced, and Weatherall's thoughts are also expressed in the illustrations used on it.

"This is a part of a Victorian painting. I hope this logo will become the identity of the label. In fact, each release from (Bird Scarer)

Chet Baker photo, Edwardian gentleman poster

A pinboard with a glimpse of Weatherall's taste, including art, vintage postcards, etc.

The walls of the recording studio are filled with retro graphics, including flyers from past DJ nights and B-movie posters.

The delay unit "Space Echo RE-201" and Copycat are often used in dub and reggae. Both are indispensable effects for songwriting.

A studio equipped with a Theremin, Fender guitars, and numerous delay units

The classic analog synth "Roland SH101"

A track list haphazardly written on an envelope

Synths plugged into guitar effects

A dusty synth that doesn't seem to be used anymore

I decided to include linoleum prints on the first 20 singles.

"I think that's the idea behind it. I designed a different bird scarer for each one. A lot of techno record covers are too flashy or electronic, but they're a bit too modern, or too techno. I don't think an electro record needs to be all electric on the outside. I like it more for something with a Victorian or Edwardian feel to it. It creates a nice contrast with the modernity of the music inside."

Musicians who love vinyl often pay close attention to the mastering and pressing techniques that determine the quality of the vinyl. I wonder if Weatherall, who has a wealth of experience, has any preferences when it comes to the manufacturing process.

"As for Bird Scarer, I left all the pressing to one guy, because he worked for most of the record labels that played the kind of music I liked. We pressed it in France, and I trusted him and left it to him. I'm more particular about mastering, so I try to be there when it's mastered, even if it's not my own vinyl. I've been using a guy called Noel Summerfield for 15 years. He's a great mastering engineer, and we've had a good relationship as friends for a long time. He does everything, from electro to Warp, thrash metal, dub, punk. He's got a lot of musical knowledge, and he's always happy to help bands who want to master.

"He has a really good understanding of the sound that I want to create and the sound that I want to create. Liam Watson, who produced Billy Childish and the White Stripes, is also a big supporter of his. He's a very famous, old-school producer, so he must have even stronger opinions than I do."

An encounter with vinyl and the honeymoon period

Born in 1963, Weatherall first encountered music in the late 60s and developed his musical foundations in the mid-70s, a golden age that saw the birth of many classic songs that continue to influence musicians today, including psychedelic, folk, glam, and punk.

"My earliest influences would have to be David Bowie, T-Rex and Slade. I was around 11 or 12 years old, when they were all at or nearing their musical peak. And it wasn't just about the music for me; it was also about how they looked. Coming from a strict country upbringing, these musicians were totally foreign to me."

Weatherall grew up in Windsor, about 30km west of London. It's not exactly a rural town, but it's green and pastoral, so it's understandable that it might feel unsatisfying for an adolescent boy. His parents were the earliest generation to work hard to move from the working class to the middle class. That's why

They raised their son Weatherall strict so that he would not have to go through the same hardships as they had.

"I was tied down by a lot of rules,

I went to a tough school. I always wanted to escape from what my parents were trying to get me to do. Then I found music. It was a great escape. It was like a portal to escape from all the boring stuff around me into a world of color. Then I saw David Bowie and Marc Bolan on Top of the Pops. It was like seeing this magical place called London. Like I said, at that time for me, music had to sound exciting, not just have good songs. Like glam rock did. And then punk rock came along two or three years later. Of course, punk looked and sounded exciting. That's when I went from glam rock to punk. The impact that punk had on a 13-year-old boy is indescribable. I don't think it'll happen again because so much is available now and people aren't so easily shocked. The Sex Pistols were a cultural and musical bomb for me at the time. When I was 10 or 11, I only knew music as good sound and weird hair, but when I was 13, I knew more about it and its impact on me."

Billy Childish's prints (bottom left) are displayed on the back wall of the studio. Next to them are works by Thin Lizzy, Marty Feldman, the great actor from "Young Frankenstein," and comedian Peter

Photos of heroes such as Cook are lined up.

"Music was like a gateway to a world that was in colour"

That's why music means more to me the older I get."

Although glam and punk were a huge culture shock for him, Weatherall is not one to become nostalgic as he gets older. Even now, he is as hungry and open-minded about music as he was as a teenager.

"Most of the pile of vinyl and CDs in here have been bought in the last year or two. I'm spending more on music these days than I've ever spent before, but there's still so much more to buy. Ultimately, people will enjoy music more if they stop obsessing about originality. Because nothing is original. There are records from the '50s that you could mistake for Autechre. Almost every piece of music has been done by someone before. I'm now more interested in whether the music is 'authentic' than originality. I'd rather listen to music by people who just believe in what they're doing than listen to music by people who care about whether it's imitation. That's why I like Billy Childish and the new Garage Bank bands. What they're doing is retro, and people say it's nostalgia, but I see it as something lasting and timeless. Music writers and fashion writers have always been into that kind of thing, and I think it's a lot more interesting than just being original.

A writer would probably say it's lame. But music has never been on the cutting edge of fashion. In fact, music is often made to be the antithesis of fashion. That's why it lives on. This kind of music has a "style". In my opinion, only those who have their own style can talk about fashion. Well, I can say this because I'm a 49-year-old old man (laughs). When I was 16, I followed all kinds of trends. But the real timeless music and art never follow trends. That's why I still love music and art. I guess I've stopped looking for originality and new thrills. You just enjoy what's in front of you. In today's world, things are moving so fast and we're overwhelmed with information. We're all like kids in a candy store, like, "Damn it, I want this, I want that..." That being said, I'm not anti-modern. I'm just telling the young guys to take it easy a bit (laughs)."

DI Weatherall and his relationship with vinyl

As mentioned above, it was the acid house Manchester movement of the early 1990s that made Weatherall's name known throughout the UK.

By remixing and producing songs by major musicians of the time, such as The 1990s, New Order, and Happy Mondays, his excellent musical sense became widely known. Weatherall was also popular as a DJ with a wealth of musical knowledge, and he excited the movement's excited audience every day. The 90s was a time when CD culture was taking root. As a DJ who was popular at that time, did he feel any change?

"It wasn't until the 2000s that you could play CDs in clubs. In the early '90s, there weren't even CD decks. Everyone brought their own vinyl. In 1992, I tried to play a CD I'd recorded in the studio, but there was no deck. If I wanted to play something that had a CD source, I had to cut a new record or bring my own CD deck. Of course, CDs were starting to become popular, and I often used them for recording, but when I played in clubs, it was vinyl. It was about four or five years later that CD players started to be used in clubs. Now it's the standard. A record player is just a stand for your PC (laughs)."

Such a tragic situation is the reality of vinyl records today.

What is the significance of its existence in the world?

"It's the sound quality. I play CDs but I buy vinyl.

Record the vinyl onto a CD using an analog line

I'm going to use the last CD recorder in the world."

The VINYL-ONLY PLAYLIST by ANDREW WEATHERALL for BBC RADIO6 "6 MIX"

Weatherall's vinyl-only setlist broadcast on a UK internet radio station. It's a luxurious lineup of 29 songs, spanning two hours. You can no longer listen to it, but I hope you can enjoy his outstanding musical sense and the cleverness of his song selection.

"The sound of vinyl to my ears was so obvious, it was warmer, fuller, more punchy. That's what vinyl is and will always be in clubs"

"To my ears, the difference was huge - it was warm, it was rich, it was powerful. That's why vinyl will never go away from the clubs."

I went to the store to buy a new one the other day, but they said they don't make them anymore. The young guy at the store didn't even seem to understand how it worked. "What? You don't use a PC?" he said. "No, it records directly from the deck." This way you can produce a warm sound even in digital format. Plus, it's easy to carry around. It's a pain to carry 200 records around.

Age is one thing, haha. I've never been a macho guy, but it's getting worse these days. Anyway, the beauty of vinyl is the sound quality. A few weeks ago I was DJing at a club in England that had one really crappy sound system.

A guy put a memory stick in the CD player and it sounded horrible. You wanted to run away. Then I played the vinyl-to-CD and it sounded so good it was like I'd replaced the whole sound system. To my ears, the difference was so clear. It was warm, rich, powerful. That's why vinyl will never go away from clubs. But there's a whole generation of people who only listen to MP3s and iPhones. To them, that's music and they're fine with it. When I go to a club with hundreds of 18-25 year olds, they're going crazy over fingernails on a chalkboard. I have to cover my ears.

If the young people saw me like that, they would probably think that someone's dad had come to pick me up (laughs)."

In order to get this younger generation to embrace vinyl, Weatherall, who is from his father's generation, started a vinyl-only label like Bird Scara, and is sending out records to the world every day.

"There was a time in the past when many record manufacturers and factories stopped operating. There were countless factories, but now they have been streamlined to meet current demand. It's fine if you're a label that presses 300-500 records at a time, or if you just want to press 50 limited editions. If there are thousands of people who want to press 50 copies, the factories can keep operating. No matter how many vinyl records you make, you're not going to become a millionaire. Well, it's the same if you make CDs nowadays. I guess you could make money by mass-producing MP3 files for 150 yen each and giving artists only 20 yen of that. But vinyl has the best sound and value as a product. I'm not anti-technology, considering how much we rely on digital technology every day, but I think there's a balance. Traditional techniques and ways of expression shouldn't be lost so easily."

Weatherall himself has connections with young musicians who want to cherish the vinyl culture.

There are many people who are into that kind of thing. In particular, indie rock bands these days are all releasing 7-inch records.

"I recently bought a 7-inch by Crocodile. They're my favourite band. I think the first record I bought was a 7-inch by electric psych band Django Django. Most of the new bands I like are releasing singles on 7-inch, or making limited edition vinyl releases when they release albums. So I don't think vinyl will ever die. Bands that believe in their music and make good sounds will stick with vinyl."

RADIO6's vinyl-only mix

A recent publication that made me feel the strong bond between vinyl and Weatherall.

Among his activities was a two-hour performance on BBC's online radio station RADIO6, which consisted entirely of vinyl tracks. A total of 29 tracks were performed on the show. Perhaps there was a particular reason for this.

"I do live shows on this station on an irregular basis, once or twice a month. Whenever there's a show that I can do, I'm invited. They know my stance very well, and they know that I like vinyl and buy it a lot. So when they came up with a plan for a vinyl special week, my name was at the top of the list."

When he heard Weatherall's legendary setlist, he immediately wrote down a rockabilly tracklist for us.

Apparently there was. A station that streams online only plays vinyl records.

I was a little ironic about that, but I didn't say anything because I didn't want to ruin the good mood. It turned out to be very well received, which was a relief. I also tried to make the setlist not just be old collector's items, to show that vinyl culture is still alive and well. After the old rare tracks, I played some old songs that are still available in reissues, to show that "this is a song from 1973, but you can still buy a reissue today." I wanted to show all sides of vinyl culture, from collector's items to reissues and stuff from younger bands. If I played only rare stuff that you can't get, it wouldn't be a good promotion for vinyl (laughs)."

Vinyl (or CDs recorded from vinyl)

Weatherall must have many opportunities to DJ exclusively. For example, is there a set that you would most like to play on vinyl right now?

"Well, a rockabilly set would be good. I'll write you a top ten list. When I DJ at rockabilly clubs, I don't play CDs. I play original vinyl sets. Of course, I could write on the CD, like I said, but the rockabilly club crowd is a little different. They're a little louder.

They want to see the original records. When I play at those clubs, some people come to the booth just to see me. They are a little skeptical because I usually play dance music. When they come here and see that I play original records, they reluctantly accept and leave. I'm used to it now. I've been listening to rockabilly since about the same time as glam rock. Glam rock itself is 50s rock with a slightly different sound, so there's not much difference. I definitely have that sound in my blood, and the audience is gradually getting it. Every two years or so, rockabilly becomes popular and you see clothes that look like it in Topshop and Topman, but it's just a similar thing, it's not the real thing. Real rockabilly is based on very strict rules. Maybe that's why fans are so attached to vinyl.

Weatherall talks about vinyl with a serious face, but when I asked him if there was anything else he paid attention to when playing an analog-only setlist, he gave me this slightly playful reply:

"You have to make sure the record doesn't blow up (laughs). That's the most important thing. And you have to be careful that the audience doesn't put their drinks on the vinyl and spill it. You have to use a good needle and make sure the record doesn't blow up.

Other than that, there are no rules.”

In search of new sounds

There are vinyl records and CDs everywhere.

Weatherall's studio. As you can tell just by looking at this, his record collection is no joke. But he still visits record stores every day in search of new sounds. Where is it that he frequents in search of sounds he's never heard before? When I asked him this question, Weatherall first talked about his music.

He told me about the secret place where his roots lie.

"The most important record store in my life was in London.

I don't have a record shop in my hometown of Windsor. It was a small independent shop called Revolution Records. It was the only record shop in that small town, and it was run by a guy called Richard Foley. He had amazing taste in music. Country western, my first reggae, punk, post-punk, heavy metal... The range of records I bought from that shop was incredible. I was a listener of John Peel's (famous BBC DJ, died in 2004) radio, so I would often buy songs I heard on his show, and I could usually get them from that shop, or if they didn't have them I could order them in. It was a great shop for such a small town. In small town England at that time."

Introducing Weatherall's vinyl releases, including those he has worked on as a producer and remixer.

Radioactive Man EP. A solo project by Keith Tenniswood, formerly of Two Lone Swordsmen.

Records are scattered around the studio. In the foreground is the single "Surrender" by American post-punk band Suicide.

In the front row of records propped up against the wall are singles by reggae legend Keith Hudson, a CD by UK house scene giant Trevor Jackson, and the post-punk compilation "Minimal Wave Tapes." Weatherall's tastes are broad.

I'm listening to the latest album "The Resurrection and Revenge of the Clayton Peacock" by Michael Chapman, an iconic figure of UK folk rock, on heavy rotation right now.

This is a valuable record book that contains all the issues of "Boy's Own," a fanzine that Weatherall, Terry Farley and others made when they were young. It conveys the heat of the acid house scene that they were so passionate about. Available for purchase from Djhistory.com

"For me, music has always been a ritual. A disco where a group of people dance to the rhythm of the drums in a square is a ritual that has been around for thousands of years, right? (laughs)"

There were a lot of stores like that. Looking back, I was really lucky. It's been gone for a long time, but it's always been my favorite store."

Of course, now I buy my vinyl from record stores in London.

"I go to this rock store in Camden called Sounds That Swing. It's also called No Hit Records... but they changed the name. It's a great store. It's like a beautiful museum inside, and the staff are friendly. They're very knowledgeable. You know those record store clerks who are a bit snobby and arrogant and won't share any information with you if you say something wrong? But not this store. When you go in, they're happy to talk about music. They also have a wide range of music, from '40s country swing to modern garage bank and R&B. If I had to pick a favorite at the moment, it would be this one. But I go to Rough Trade a lot. I go there at least 2-3 times a week. So this one's a favorite too." I buy dance music from Phonica Records. Sounds of the Universe has a pretty good selection too. I spend the most money at Rough Trade, but I frequent all the stores.

Weatherall, who doesn't shop online, has a strange rule for himself when visiting a record store.

"When I go to a record store, I want something specific.

One time. But I often find things I didn't mean to buy. So I made this rule: Let's say I have something I want in the garage punk section. I'm looking for it, and someone else's stuff that they left there because they couldn't be bothered to put it back in its rightful place. I buy it. It's usually shit, but I think it's fate or whatever. I was meant to be looking for this. And I found this. It's a Japanese band called Far East Family Band. It was like 70s prog. I don't really like prog rock, to be honest. I was looking for Billy Childish or something in the garage punk section, and there it was. It was definitely prog. I was like, what am I supposed to do? But I have to follow the rule. It was really expensive, like 25 pounds, I think. I do the same thing in bookshops. When I find a "B" in the "W" author section, I think to myself, "I've come a long way." It's like finding a lost child. I have to save it (laughs). Anyway, that's how I found the Far East Family Band, and it was awesome. If I'd looked for Billy Childish online, I'd only come across a long list. Online is convenient, and I'm not going to say anything about it.

But I also enjoy ritualistic behavior. Going to a store and talking to a salesperson is a ritual. When you go to a store, you can have a conversation with the salesperson, like, "If you like this, you can also have this..." Amazon also has similar displays, but they're usually completely off the mark. When you go to a record store, you make a lot of new discoveries, and going through this ritual enriches you musically. For me, music has always been a ritual. A disco, where a group of people dance wildly in a square box to the rhythm of the drums, is a ritual that has been around for thousands of years (laughs). Computers have made human life easier, but I don't want them to make it easier. I want things to be a little more difficult. That way, everything becomes a little more mysterious."

Whenever Weatherall comes to Japan, he always buys so much vinyl, books, clothes, etc. that he feels the need to buy another suitcase. For him, the act of shopping is an opportunity for new discoveries, the start of an adventure into a new world.

Commitment to creation

In addition to his musical work, such as composing and remixing, Weatherall also expresses his creativity through his writing. Using his experience as an editor and writer for the once-popular fanzine Boy's Own, Weatherall writes for magazines and web magazines such as NME.

Track listing for the mixed CD "MASTERPIECE" just released on April 25th.

Released by Ministry of Sound

Apparently whiskey is also an essential part of music-making.

The bin board also displays some of his favorite vinyl covers.

"Vinyl will continue to live on thanks to the power of music and people who love music, not just collectors. I don't think vinyl will ever disappear from this world."

He contributes to the magazine in between his musical activities.

"I write a lot. I read a lot. I always carry a notebook with me, and I write down interesting parts of whatever book I'm reading so I can refer back to it whenever I want. It's a great source of information and a dictionary of quotes. It helps me when I'm writing. If the quote is old enough, I can even plagiarize it (laughs)."

I wonder if his reading and writing experiences can be put to good use in his musical activities.

"Of course. They're all equally artistic, creating something, even if it only lasts for the duration of the performance, like a DJ set. Live performance is also a form of art. Written material, if it's well done, can last for about 100 years. The same goes for paintings and recorded music."

Weatherall has his own unique style when it comes to manufacturing in a broad sense.

"Enjoy and believe in what you do. It's easy for me to say this since I'm in a position to do so, but I think there are many people who are unable to freely use their creativity or enjoy creating. If you're a professional musician, you can get a second job or create music that you just enjoy. When I interviewed Throbbing Gristle (a UK avant-garde band that started as an art collective), we talked about how the music they create is often criticized. At that time,

One of our band members, Così Fanni Tutti, said, "Look, we're going to get called out for our shit. People are going to think we're shit. But we believe in what we're doing. When people criticize us for that, you just have to think it's a difference in sensibility. But when you're doing something you don't believe in and people criticize you for that, that's a whole different story. There's no way out." She said that about 15 years ago, but it really stuck with me."

Weatherall has been at the center of the UK club scene since the 90s, devoting himself to his creative endeavors with firm conviction. He has always been buffeted by the changes of the times and technology, and has maintained his influence while adapting flexibly to them. But what is the reason for his stubborn love for vinyl, which was once on the verge of obsolescence? He spoke about vinyl's existence, which is too big for mere nostalgia, in the end.

"But I love vinyl. I still feel the same excitement I felt when I bought my first record when I was about 11 or 12 years old. Vinyl will always mean something to me, so I want to make an effort to preserve it. It's hard to salvage the vinyl industry with just 300 records, but I think it's doing something to help. It's the best way to listen to music. It sounds the best. Even if it's scratched, it adds to the flavor.

Even if vinyl never returns to its heyday, it will always be around. You only need to flip through a music magazine to quickly find articles about reissues. With the help of music and people who love music, not just collectors, vinyl will continue to live on. I don't think vinyl will ever disappear from this world."

Weatherall told me that he is currently working on a new album that will be released to Japanese listeners in the fall. Will it be his second solo album in his long career? Or will it be under a different project name? Either way, it is a work he is currently working on with conviction, so I would love to hear it on his beloved vinyl.

[xdibstinkx]

Okay so me and my fiancée have had our own Invader Zim AU going for 3 years now, it's a mix of our OCS and canon characters but a lot of their personalities we have changed to make them unique to our universe and our world! We call it the RoseGold universe

My fiancée doesn't have a Tumblr but she's been desperate to post our characters and stories somewheres so we're gonna make her one tonight! For now I'll post some OC intros and some basic lore

Our AU can be NSFW and 18+ sometimes, but I will always give a warning and tag the post properly. The 18+ moments are all mostly lore based

CW FOR BLOOD, MENTIONS OF SELF HARM (not detailed)

Almighty Tallest Golden

Belonging to my amazing fiancée Holly, she is the Irken ruler in our AU

She is a defective Irken with semi-rare genetics like fluffy antennas and almost blindingly bright yellow eyes

Fashionista! She loves to design her own dresses and clothes

She's soft and gentle, but can be very murderous and revenge hungry. Low-key a dictator but a sweet dictator

During her elite training, she met Miyuki. The two started a secret love affair; they would sneak out of their bases in the middle of the night and go to degenerate space clubs

Miyuki became a Tallest before Golden, she had vowed to Golden that they would be the first gay irkens to rule Irk together and prove that their race doesn't need to be all about destroying planets and training young smeets to be killers

Red and Purple were like um nope lol and had planned for Miyuki's death so they would become Tallest before Golden

In the AU Red and Purple don't die from the Florpus, but end up being demoted and banished from the Irken Armada, so Golden becomes Tallest

Has an appointment therapist, Tenn, who has an unhealthy and unprofessional love for Golden but Golden only sees them as really close work friends

Here's some art I've made of Golden! Also the bottom two are commission pieces by zimdial on Instagram!

Royal Scientist Roze

Belonging to me, Roze is Golden's lover and the Royal Scientist!

She is also a defective Irken, she has emotional outbursts frequently and has a history of self harm (due to the trauma of being an invader + bad past relationship)

She's quiet and keeps to herself, awkward and bitchy, but behind closed doors she is the sweetest kittem

Very work oriented, takes her job very seriously as it took her forever to work her way up in the hierarchy

Her and Golden first fell in love while waiting on an emergency waiting room on the Armada together. Roze was training to be a scientist and Golden was still in elite training, this was during Golden and Miyukis relationship but they didn't exchange words until years later

Roze previously was engaged to her lab partner, Lilac. Their relationship was sloppy and not healthy, but they had to keep their lives a secret. They ended in flames, and later Roze gets her revenge on Lilac

Wasn't promoted to Royal Scientist until after Golden had come into power. Roze was assigned to give weekly debriefs on research and potential biological and chemical breakthroughs + hazards. They were always messy, Roze became so nervous from Golden's soft yet glaring eyes

Their relationship started one day in Golden's secret greenhouse. She grew all sorts of space flowers from all over the galaxy, and had invited Roze there for a 'research meeting'. Roze felt like she was going to be killed, until Golden leaned all the way down into her and admitted to how much she respects Roze. She asked her out on a date, same time same location in a few days

Because Tenn is an appointment therapist for the Almighty Tallest, she was also appointed to the Royal Scientist. Tenn developed an unhealthy and unprofessional relationship with Roze as well, but Roze didn't reciprocate and never actually liked her.

Some Roze art I've made! I don't draw her a lot, but I should

Here's just some RozeGold stuff :)

[giddlygoat]

some of my thoughts on drawing, learning the accordion, and how they apply to each other.

i have been drawing my whole life. the last time i can remember feeling genuinely ashamed of my artistic skills was when i was probably 12. at some point i was able to look at my art and realize it wasn’t anywhere near perfect, and i became okay with that. nowadays, i have no anxiety about posting my art or leaving a piece with flaws, because i like my style and i’m comfortable enough in my skills and the knowledge that there will always be room for improvement to allow myself to simply enjoy what i create.

i have always been fascinated by the accordion. around age 11 i started considering learning to play it. by 13 i saw one at an antique store and seriously considering buying it for a long time, but did not. as the years go on i find that artistic burnout is becoming more of a frequent issue with me, and i often find myself desperately wishing i had a gratifying way of expressing myself other than drawing.

i’m always humming, and doing the mouth trumpet, and clicking and clapping out tunes all day. singing and scatting are some of my favorite pastimes. i can do all this but it’s not the same as playing an instrument. i feel like it can never quite extend past my fingertips; like i’m cranking out all this energy and excitement but it can’t go anywhere. it’s like not being able to get past the sketch when you have a whole painting inside you.

about three months ago, i finally picked up the accordion. i don’t know how to read music. my understanding of the technical side of music is pathetic, although i have a good natural sense for it, and now, a good teacher. i am scared.

i have all the usual beginner issues: my hands don’t know where to go, i’m not used to the weight of the instrument, and it feels alien in a way, just to name a few.

there’s another problem, too. i’m good at drawing.

everywhere i go, i see things i want to paint. i’m taking pictures of the pickled jalapeños and carrots at work because i want to study how they interact with the opaque black plastic container, all little dynamic shapes of green and orange swimming in vinegar. i’m watching a cat stretch and yawn on the concrete and lay down in a sunbeam that looks too heavenly to be real - it gives me an idea for a sketch.

i look at the arms of the man loading hay bales with me, and try to commit to memory how the muscles move under the skin, what foot he puts his weight on, how he wipes his forehead and shifts his weight. it makes me want to draw pages of people doing mundane things, studying how weight and action and stylization works together to create something satisfying and alive. i want to do the beauty of the universe justice.

when i open procreate to draw, i am not thinking of anything. my hands know where to go, i don’t even have to look at the buttons or tools to know what i’m doing, and all these complicated layers interacting with each other and their applied effects and backgrounds etc come like second nature to me now.

the first day i used procreate, i was so overwhelmed, i was afraid to touch anything.

the first day i held an accordion, it was the same.

my problem is that i know how to look at art and examine why techniques work or not, and i don’t quite have those skills when it comes to music. sure, i can slap beautiful harmony onto any song, but heck if i know what notes they are. i couldn’t tell you what key the song is in or what defines a measure.

and i realized that while now i am looking through this frosted glass trying to make out the basic shapes behind it, one day, i will be able to peel back the mystery and truly understand not only how this instrument functions, but how music flows, too. because i see art in everything. i understand the weight of people and objects and how they would interact in a cartoon. the colors of a blooming cactus in my yard become lemony saturated in the early light and pale and dusty in the late evening. i can see the line of action in characters and better understand the composition behind paintings, and why it works.

it’s my hope, that as time spent with my accordion goes on, i will start to see music in everything, too. there’s nothing i want more than to understand it and speak its language as i do with art. i want to someday pick up my accordion and make up a melody as i would sketch out a doodle. this is the kind of stuff i think about all day.

[fairydares]

Not to be an insufferable self-proclaimed "fandom elder", but it's funny returning to the Fairy Tail fandom now having first started watching the show in (I think?) 2014. The Tumblr porn ban seriously did like an incalculable amount of damage to this fandom. rboz--an artist whose art many current fans frequently mistake for canon and who Mashima himself has praised and frequently retweeted--got deleted. (so i was wrong about this! rboz largely left the fandom because of the art reposting, which...is depressing, but does not surprise me. however, i think rboz would have been taken down anyway because a lot of their art was straight smut). This, to me, epitomizes what the porn ban did to this fandom.

A lot of the discussions I read about Fairy Tail are good, but also sort of funny to see because almost all of this is ground which has been so extensively covered and discussed by thousands of fans who were deleted or left. I'll search the "nalu" tag and see a ton of people debating whether or not Natsu has romantic feelings for Lucy or knows he has romantic feelings for Lucy, and all I can think of are those deep-diving painstaking analysis posts on their relationship, drawing on quotes from Mashima himself. Around the time Phoenix Princess came out, he explicitly said that Natsu loved Lucy, but didn't believe Lucy felt the same and so kept it to himself.

Idk. I don't mean to be an obnoxious "fandom elder" as I've already said, but I can't help mourning what was taken from us sometimes. If I can find any of the posts I'm talking about I'll reblog this and add them.

[godbirdart]

first off, i just want to say that i love your art, you are a huge inspiration to me and i love how expressive your characters are! would you have any tips for someone trying to grow a following from their art? specifically within the furry community ideally. im just not sure where to start

i hope youre having a great day!

thank you so much!!

okay i gotta preface this with: i have been doing commissions for over a decade. everything i say here i've been doing since roughly 2014, but my career as an artist didn't really Take Off and become reliable until 2019. success isn't immediate. some artists will grow faster or slower than others, not every tactic is going to apply / work for every artist; and that's okay. just keep pushing yourself and adapting and figuring out what works for You!

i’m putting this under a readmore as it got a bit long. every time someone asks me for advice on professional Anything i always write up a five page essay despite trying to bulletpoint it oof

post on multiple platforms and keep them all updated. i’m putting this one in bold because it is possibly the Most Important thing. we’re all watching twitter sinking over there, and many of my mutuals there were floundering because they hadn’t established themselves on any other social media site. i strongly recommend three or four socials minimum. my main four sites are tumblr, deviantart, twitter and toyhouse. furaffinity is also good. inkblot and artfol are new and i use them frequently as well. if you don’t like posting manually to every site each and every time you post art, Postybirb exists and is what i use to crosspost all my art to most of my socials at once.

avoid venting a lot on main. we all have frustrating days where our art isn’t getting the recognition we hoped, or we’re feeling petty about a controversial topic or the latest drama. it happens! it’s okay! however, many people just don’t like seeing dozens of negative posts on their feed. most people will sympathize, but if your negative vents are constantly clogging their dashboard they’re not gonna stick around.

shamelessly self promote yourself. reblog your own art. retweet it again. repost it. mention your other socials. we live in a world of timezones! when you post art, only a fraction of your audience is going to see it. i recommend reblogging / retweeting one to four individual pieces periodically over the course of a day and change it up each day. you can also repost your own work into photosets and title it “recent commissions” or the something like that.

don’t hide your linktrees and carrds. seriously! the amount of times on twitter i went to try and follow someone on another platform only to find they had no carrd or linktree link,, it is infuriating. put your socials link in your bio or pinned or SOMEWHERE readily at the top of your profile that’s easy to spot.

if you’re offering commissions, make a telegram channel or discord server for your announcements / openings.

post regularly. this one is a lot harder for artists that don’t make a lot of content, but posting even a status update once or twice a day can go a long way - especially if you’re on twitter with that platform’s hideous algorithm. alternatively as i said earlier, just retweet/reblog your work a few times a day and you should be good.

art trends are cool and fun and an easy way to get your work seen by others. see a “draw your sona in this outfit” meme? go, have fun with it. this one’s a bit tricky as timing is everything when it comes to ~trending~ content, so try and draw quick. that said, it’s never outdated to drawover reaction memes with your fursona.

try not to clog your socials with memes and shitposty images. this one is directed at twitter specifically. with twitter moments now gone, your media tab is the last way for people to hope to find your work organically on your profile without having to use the twitter search. they can’t get invested in your work if they can’t find it!

it’s okay to change course if you’re not vibing with where you’re headed. if you want to move onto a new aesthetic - that’s fine! you may lose some followers if they don’t click with your new vibe, but you’ll inevitably gain some new ones.

avoid frequent name changes. so many of the artists i follow have changed their brands / urls over the years that i don’t recognize them anymore.

tag your work properly. on tumblr, the first five tags on the original post are the tags your work will pop up in in the search feature. make those first five tags the Most important ones; example: #furry, #anthro, #art #fursona etc. twitter’s algo seems flip-flop if it likes tags or hates them. if you see a tag trending, repost your art in a photoset with the hashtag in the post [example: if #pokemon is trending, repost some of your pokemon fanart with the hashtag in the post body]. if the tag isn’t trending,,, i’ll be honest it’s a gamble if twitter likes your post or not at that point. i have no advice for that hell algorithm.

hosting raffles or doing a mini art request event [example: “leave a ref and i might draw your oc”] is good for traction while simultaneously giving back to the community + your audience a little!

try and reply to / like comments on your work. it’s not required per se, but it’s good to express gratitude.

engage with other members of the community. comment on other peoples work. like it. retweet it. follow other people. obviously don’t be disingenuous about it, but this is what the professionals call ~networking~

don’t compare yourself to others. this one is one you have got to keep in mind constantly. you’re going to find 17 year olds with huge followings and 30 year olds that are doing professional industry work whose level feels alien and almost out of reach. if you’re not doing as well, don’t let yourself get discouraged. we all gotta start somewhere!

related to the above point: be nice to your followers. venting on main about not having the same audience volume as others can come off as a huge middle finger to the audience you already have.

gaining a following takes time. unless you get a really lucky break, it’s going to take a lot of work and self promotion to build up your brand.

slap your name on everything. i mean it. any art you do - sign it. watermark it. people can and will share art in telegram channels and discord servers, and if the art interests someone they can easily source it back to you if your name is on it.

you can buy adspace. if you’re catering to a furry audience specifically, you can buy adspace on furaffinity pretty easily. inkblot i believe also offers adspace for artists though i haven’t looked too deep into it. this is really a “if you’re okay burning money” situation, as the huge chunkk of internet users have adblockers now and it’s a gamble if people will see or even click on your ad.

just have fun and do your own thing. you can hop on trends and draw art that caters to your audience’s tastes, but don’t forget to draw what YOU want and what YOU’RE about. Draw what makes YOU happy.

hope these help!! ;w;

[goddess-in-heaven-and-hell]

Dawn Café (Gwynriel One Shot)

Hi, I’m essentially new on here and thought I would post some of my writing. This is also already posted in a Gwynriel collection on AO3. I just thought the acotar community here is a bit bigger :) 

This one shot was inspired by a promt - about Gwyn being a barista and wooing Azriel by drawing latte art that someone suggested I write a little story about on AO3. So, a modern AU with our favourites. 

Warnings: this is definitely mature/NSFW/18+ with explicit smut and swearing 

-----

“What?? What do you mean Aelin is too good for him? I think they are perfect for each other!”, Gwyn nearly chocked on her take-away, she was so enraged. Her favorite ship was being dragged through the mud, and she wasn’t having any of it.

“Love, it’s obvious. Did you hear him talk to this Bryce girl? He was way too patronizing. If I would have done that to you when we started dating, you’d have had my balls.”, Azriel explained matter of fact, gesturing to the TV with his fork in hand.

He was really hot when he got into his debate mode, his sharp mind was the first (okay, maybe second) thing that Gwyn found so irresistible about him. Even when that sharp mind was currently debating the newest episode of “Love Island” with her.

“Don’t pretend you haven’t been guilty of that before. Cut this guy some slack, he had such a hard breakup with the brunette. I’d argue he is just misunderstood and needs a strong hand to guide him.”, Gwyn would not leave her ship. She was the proud captain.

“What he needs is a strong kick in the ass. She should go with the blond guy, what’s his name?”, Azriel rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying to remember, before blurting out, “Rowan!”.

Gwyn couldn’t help the giggle making its way up to her mouth. She would have never guessed that her broody, serious boyfriend, who profusely tried to resist watching Gwyn’s reality TV shows with her a few months ago, would end up the biggest fan. He seriously beat her to the TV every night the show was on, without fail.

“Fine, whatever.”, she decided to be nice tonight and give in to his ridiculous opinion. She would prove him right anyway next week. Finishing up her udon noodles, she threw the take away container back into its bag. That was her favorite thing about ordering in – the lack of dishes. Azriel hasn’t finished yet, but she wasn’t one bit surprised about that. He had ordered three different main courses and was currently munching himself through the second. That might have been the only downside to living with him: the increased food bills. But the past months proved he was very capable of making up for that in more than one way.

Gwyn leisurely stretched her arms and slouched back on the couch, ever so thankful for her baggy sweat pants. She continued to watch the show for a little while, eyes occasionally drifting to her boyfriend to find him working his way through the food. By the looks of it, he would actually finish, no left overs to be eaten the next day. That made Gwyn reach out her hand to rest on his knee and draw little circles there with her thumb.

Given his eating habit tonight, he must have had the worst day at work. Sometimes, his boss’s demands get so frequent and stressful that he literally finds no time to eat. His perfectionism and work ethic don’t really help with that either.

The jingle of a commercial break interrupted her thoughts. Azriel, sinking the very last spoonful of food into his mouth, let out a satisfying groan. He chewed, eyes closed as if to savor the taste one last time, with his hands meeting behind his head, his impressive biceps flexing in the process.

It was so unfair. How he looked like straight from a runway in his baggy grey sweats and black shirt, while Gwyn looked like a slob. Even though he would probably disagree with that, scold her for saying bad things about herself and then show her exactly how beautiful she looked to him. That kind of made her consider saying it out loud. But maybe not yet, as her food baby needed to settle before she considered anything close to being thrown around in a bed.

Azriel stood, the delivery bag in hand, to make his way to the spacious kitchen attached to the living room. The flat Gwyn and Az shared was previously Az’s alone. He works a demanding, but well-paying job which brought him a fantastic apartment with only little spare time to enjoy it. Which is why Gwyn cherished these little moments and every date night she got to spend with him.

Azriel returned to the couch, two glasses of wine in his hands, and carefully sat down next to her. A little closer than before, Gwyn noted with delight. He handed her the wine and they clicked glasses, smiling fondly at each other. Just as Gwyn leaned into give her attentive boyfriend a well-earned kiss, a sudden weight being dropped into her lap made her squeal. Azriel let out a huffed laugh, “Stop squealing, you’ll scare her. She just wants to say hi.”

Azriel’s black cat, fittingly (both in appearance and behavior) named Shadow, purred as she nudged her little furry head against Gwyn’s chest. The demand was clear. Gwyn chuckled, set down her glass and began fondling the cat’s head.

Azriel threw her a pointed look. “I would have jumped onto your lap an hour ago if that’s what’s getting your attention.”

She replied, “Oh, but that would only work if you were a little hairier and a little less heavy.”

Azriel gasped, offended. “Are you calling me fat?”, his hands found the hem of his shirt to lift it, revealing disgustingly perfect muscles underneath. He looked at them in fake sadness. As if he didn’t know what he was doing to her and her breathing.

“I didn’t eat three main courses of take away in the time it took me to eat only one.”, she countered. Shadow, seemingly annoyed with the loud noises her owners made, tippled back to the bedroom.

Azriel winced, “Yeah, true. I had to skip lunch today, so I had to get in some more calories with this.” Gwyn felt a little pull at her heart at his words. He was overworking himself, just like she thought he would.

“That much going on, huh?”, she moved closer to him, throwing her legs across his lap and massaging his scalp for a little relaxation. Azriel extended his arm to pull her closer to his side, then he closed his eyes and melted into Gwyn’s capable fingers.

Apparently, he didn’t want to talk about it. But that was fine, she understood that now. Azriel was the quiet sort, the one to think thoroughly about something before sharing it with his loved ones, usually to not burden or stress them. She also knew that in times when he wouldn’t allow for any mental support, she could settle for some physical affection.

They both sat engulfed in each other’s company for a while, Gwyn’s hands and fingernails drawing lazy circles in Azriel’s hair, while they refocused on their show and occasionally nipped at their wine. A newcomer to the Island was introduced now, another one of those picture-perfect males that, before she met Az, she was sure didn’t exist in the wild. He had a weird name, Hunt, but the girls were all over him immediately.

“All the girls and even half the guys look like they’re about to drool on the poor guy.”, Azriel chuckled, “Reminds me of you, when we started dating.”

Gwyn sat up with a start, pulling away her legs and hands in the process. Azriel let out a little whine at that and tried to catch her limbs in midair to pull her back.

“I. Never. Drooled. Especially not over you.”, she argued, bringing some space between them for emphasize.

“Oh, nevermind I guess I worded it wrong. What would you call nearly stumbling over your own feet, blushing like mad and drawing little cinnamon drawings in my coffee every time you saw me at the café? Simping, maybe?”

Gwyn let out a loud laugh, just because everything he just said was nothing but the truth. “Damn, it was that obvious, yeah?”

“Quite, but only after two weeks or so.”, he allowed her at least some of her dignity.

Gwyn remembered the time well. She had never felt so alive, buzzing with excitement every morning she got to work. It was at a time too, when she was new in town and slightly intimidated and homesick. Working as a waitress at the Dawn café was her way of earning some extra money while she started her internship in the archives of the city. It had been the best decision of her life, despite the early morning shifts and the constant temptation of the little cakes and sweets they served. She had not only met Azriel there, but also her coworker and now best friend Emerie. She smiled to herself thinking of the time. She could almost smell the bitter aroma of coffee.

 “Gwyn? Where is the new batch of the cinnamon rolls?”, Emerie called from behind the counter.

“Oh, I damn it. I left them in the back. Sorry Em!”, Gwyn replied, making an apologetic face towards her very friendly, but sometimes very strict coworker. She had been slow all morning and apparently that didn’t change when she got to work at 5:50 am.

She was currently wiping down the tables near the ginormous windows to prepare for the café to open. It was only her second week of employment, but she loved it here. The place had such an inviting atmosphere, the costumers were mostly friendly and the coworkers too, her favorite of them now coming out from behind the counter to turn their sign form ‘closed’ to ‘open’.

“Would you stay in front for the first hour or so while I manage our stock in the back?”, Em asked, already turning back to the door. The first hour is always manageable, as only very few people braved the streets at 6am. She nodded her understanding and took her place behind the counter, preparing the coffee.

The first few minutes, nothing noteworthy happened. A couple came in to buy two croissants, then a maintenance worker asked for his coffee to go. Gwyn just found her work flow, now slowly starting to look and think more alive. Then she saw him.

It was a bit like a shadow entered the bright and lively Dawn. An impertinent wall of black against the pastel colors of the café. And it, no he, moved towards the counter. To her.

“Good morning. Can I get a large cup of coffee to drink here?”, his voice was flat. Gwyn was awake suddenly. How- just how??

“Morning, of course”, thankfully she managed to make her voice sound semi-normal, “would you like anything else with your coffee? Maybe something to eat?”

“Nah, that’ll be it.”, he handed her five pounds with a slight smile and turned towards a seat at the window with a “Keep the change.”

Gwyn moved through the steps to brew the coffee on auto pilot, before making her way to the impossibly hot costumer. With a thanks, he took the coffee and proceeded to swipe on his phone.

Gwyn hid behind the counter. Now she finally had time to process this guy.

He sat half faced towards her, and she tried to check him out in the least intrusive and annoying way possible. Jet black hair, short in the neck, longer on top of the head, so that some bits slightly curled. He had broad shoulders and some kind of tattoo sticking out beneath the seam of a black uniform. She didn’t recognize it, maybe something to do with law enforcement? But the most striking of it all was his face. It was perfection, like some of the Greek god statues she had seen copies of in the archives had come to life to grace the people on earth. Sharp in every feature, just his eyes softened his look a bit. They had the color of honey.

She needed to get a grip. And fast, too.

More costumers streamed in a couple of minutes after the arrival of the god. That gave her something to do for a while. The café now filled with more voices and laughter. But she still couldn’t help to glance at him every now and then, just to verify that she didn’t dream him up.

When Emerie joined her to serve at 8am, and the god was already gone, she found a calm minute to describe him to her.

Emerie laughed at her face. “Not you too, please. Everyone is obsessed with that guy. You definitely didn’t make him up.”

“So he comes here more often?”, she inquired. Gwyn hadn’t seen him in her first week at all.

“Yeah, he is a regular. Sometimes he ditched for one-two weeks, but he always comes back. Maybe he is out of town sometimes.”, she glanced at Gwyn and leaned in to whisper, “Do you plan on making a move? No-one dared until now.”

Gwyn didn’t know. She really didn’t. She used to be good with people, with guys - something happened last year that made her keep her distance. But maybe it was time to close that distance again.

 Azriel’s phone rang, interrupting some well-needed one on one time. Gwyn let out a small whine as Azriel detangled himself from her to reach for the coffee table. Immediately, the sweet, attentive and fun boyfriend disappeared to make way for the stone-faced agent.

“Night speaking.”, he answered the phone, threw a little apologetic look at Gwyn and left for the bedroom, closing the door behind him. Gwyn sat up, missing the comfortable weight of her boyfriend’s body on her, and combed through her hair with her fingers. She pleaded to the gods or whomever will listen for Azriel to not have to go into work right now. His stupid boss with his stupid emergencies interrupted more than one date night during the time of their relationship. Azriel was, apparently, too vital for the operation to work too long without him. She smiled a little, the thought making her very proud of him.

But he also desperately needed some time to relax. Preferably with her. Even more preferably in her.

Azriel’s muffled voice receded behind the bedroom wall. He opened the door, and plopped down on the sofa with a sigh. Gwyn prepared herself for everything from ‘bad’ to ‘worst’, bad being he had to go into work tonight for a few hours, ‘worst’ being he had to pack. And packing usually brought a two week separation with it.

“So, I will need to do some work on the computer now. They want my approval for a mission plan.”, he threw her a pained glance, “I’m so sorry, love. I will make it up to you later, okay? Will you stay up?”

Gwyn kissed him softly. It really wasn’t his fault that he was so damn good at his job, and she didn’t want him to feel to down because of it. “Sure, that sounds fine. At least I get to keep you in close proximity.”

“Thanks for understanding.”, he took her hand to press a kiss on the back of her hand and then made his way to the small office.

Gwyn had some alone time at her hands now. And she knew exactly how she wanted to spend it. She sneaked to the kitchen, found what she was looking for with a triumphant grin, and plopped back on the couch. She turned on her favorite old-school movie and then worked her way through the sweet treat she brought herself from the kitchen. A chocolate croissant.

She always had a sweet tooth. And the time she spent working in the café taught her more than one thing about baking them. The croissant was the costumer’s favorite too, and she understood why with all her heart and soul. Well, one costumer hadn’t been too keen on it. But then again, he hadn’t been too keen on any of the baked goods there.

It had infuriated her at the time. Azriel’s stoic persistence on the one cup of coffee, with nothing sweet to counter the bitterness of it. She had tried multiple times to convince him on a cake, without any luck. If he could see her now, he would sure as hell make a comment.

 “Morning! The usual?”, Gwyn greeted the god from her place behind the counter as he stepped into the empty café.

“Good morning. The usual please.”, he confirmed with one of those stupidly pretty half smirks he liked to present her with. Today marked the 7th time that he drank his coffee with Gwyn being the barista. Not that she counted.

The god proceeded to place the usual five pound note on the table. The coffee actually just cost half of that, but he insisted on giving her the tip every time. Gwyn couldn’t help but smile at him when she took the money and thanked him. She noted, very pleased with herself, that he seemed to linger near Gwyn longer each day before taking his place by the window.

She busied herself making the coffee.

Gwyn had decided yesterday evening. That she wanted to make her move. She arranged her hair more carefully this morning, throwing the locks of auburn hair into a bun, with a few strands to frame her face. She put on her favorite good-luck necklace. Her makeup stayed minimal, but she put on some highlighter to let her face glow. All that was a good start, but she had no idea how to actually interact with him. Should she just ask him out on a date? Should she try to flirt with him before?

As she eyed the coffee and the little layer of foam that coated the surface, a brilliant idea struck her. She would go for the slow, steady approach. Her way of flirting.

She took the cinnamon they usually used to sprinkle the hot chocolate with and went to work.

After a minute she proudly admired her work. The cinnamon was arranged on the foam in the shape of a crescent with a little star in the corner. Carefully, she brought her creation to the god. She placed it. But was too chicken to stay there and wait for his reaction, so she fled back behind the counter. Baby steps, she reminded herself.

That day, and a little shiver went down Gwyn’s spine remembering it even after months had passed, he went out of his way to say his goodbyes to her (and Emerie). He had made his way back to the counter to do so, even though more costumers were flowing in the café.

Gwyn was ecstatic. Was it the equivalent of a bold pick-up line? No, but it was something delicate, something sweet to take the bitter edge from his coffee. And little did she know, it took the edge of the bitterness of his life too.

The days passed in a whirl of activity. Gwyn worked hard at the café, the archives and during her therapy lessons. She figured that, with a possibility of a date on the horizon, she should put in some extra effort in that area of her life. And then hopefully not get triggered if he decides to put a hand on her back or something, should they actually go on a date.

Everything went well. Everything was just cherries on top for her. Each day that the god took his coffee at the Dawn, she created a little picture for him with the cinnamon. She built her skill slowly, going from the basic ‘sun, moon and star’ to more elaborate motives. One morning, she even managed to draw a little cat. And in the evenings, that where before occupied by heavy silence and sleepless nights, she found herself dreaming of the next morning.

But he never said anything about the cinnamon art. He was polite, charming, but never took a metaphorical step towards her. Maybe he thought that’s how she treats every costumer? That the art was a new thing the café trained its baristas in?

On Wednesday morning, 6.25am, when the god entered the café to pay for and drink his coffee, she decided to be bold. To be unmistakably forward.

As the god took his seat, she took the cinnamon and wrote a little message for him, instead of her usually art. She thought the message through a long time, it would have to be brief, cut straight to the point she wanted to get across. But what did she want to get across? That she wanted a date? But that didn’t fit the cup.

‘ur cute’, was what ended up on the foam. It allowed him some room of interpretation and wasn’t pushy, but still conveyed her interest. With her heart almost beating out of her chest and into the coffee, she placed the cup in front of him. Damn, was it a good idea? He looked up from his phone to say his thanks, but Gwyn was already turned around and made her way to the back of the café.

“Emerie, Emerie, Emerie”, she squealed, trying desperately to stay quiet as she found her coworker backing a new tray of almond cookies.

“What is it?”, Emerie turned around in shock, eyes wide, “did something happen? Are you hurt?”

“No, not exactly. My pride might take a hit in a few minutes and I’m not sure if I am ready for that.”, she then told Emerie what she did, pacing up and down in front of the oven. “Can you please take over outside, I’ll finish the baking. But please only call for me when he left the café.”

Emerie agreed, but smiled at the antics of her friend. She was so bold, so unapologetically herself, but that guy made her freak.

Gwyn gave her a brief hug of thanks, both girls going back to work after the intrusion. After half an hour, Emerie called her back to the front.

“He’s gone. Are you okay with cleaning his table, or should I?”, Em gestured to the table by the window. Gwyn wasn’t afraid of it, as long as its occupant was not in the picture.

She made her way to the table; lifted the cup to inspect the napkin underneath and see if it was still usable, but found it used. But not in the usual way. Written on the napkin with a small, accurate handwriting was a phone number. Gwyn froze and stared, and stared, and stared, until she fully understood the message of the number. She brought a hand to her mouth to cover her grin, also mentally keeping herself from jumping up and down in excitement in a half-full café. He had left his number, for her.

Or was it for someone else? The grin left Gwyn as fast as it came a second ago. It should be addressed at her, she was usually serving him. But maybe he meant it for Emerie? Or Jada, the other barista that sometimes worked the morning shift with them?

There was only one way to find out. Gwyn pocketed the napkin, and during the day, she always found herself toying with it in her downtime. She would call him soon.

 ****

“When I’m finished in the bathroom, I want you on your knees in front of the bed, not a single piece of clothing in slight, understood?”, Azriel murmured close to Gwyn’s ear, before letting her free of his embrace and making his way to the bathroom door. Gwyn preened with excitement. Her boyfriend had finished work 10 minutes ago, went straight to her to pull her into a passionate kiss, and somehow, they ended up here. With his command being her pleasure.

Gwyn was buzzing with anticipation, she took her clothing off one by one on the way to the bedroom, before kneeling on the carpet floor. She immensely enjoyed the games they played, be it with Azriel in the dominant role or herself. Gwyn never thought that she would be able to have sex the way that Azriel proposed to her a few months after they started sleeping together, but with the right person and the level of trust that they had, it was exhilarating.

Azriel entered the room, now only his joggers, his artful tattoos on display. He stayed silent for a while, letting his love sit through her increasing nerves. Then he finally spoke.

“I really didn’t want to have to punish you tonight, you know?”

Shit, what did she do wrong? Gwyn’s thoughts raced, but nothing she did the past two days would be deserving of a punishment. She didn’t dare speak however, she didn’t have permission yet anyways. With her knees sinking in the carpet and her hands met together behind her back, she stayed perfectly still in the hopes that that appeased him somehow. It didn’t.

“But little brats who leave a trail of clothes on the floor don’t deserve anything else, I’m afraid.”, Azriel had paced behind her back now, out of sight.

Gwyn mentally both scolded and congratulated herself for leaving the clothes on the floor. Scolding, because Azriel was one to see through with his threats, and congratulating, because Azriel saw through with his threats.

He gathered Gwyn’s hair in his big hands from his position, tying it in a ponytail. His fingers brushed her neck, making her shiver. Azriel moved again, this time to kneel in front of her. His fingers now found her chin to lift it. So she could stare into his honey eyes which held a darker cast over them. She dared to hold his gaze.

“Do you have anything to say for yourself, love?”, his voice matched his eye color as he called her by her nickname.

“I’m sorry for leaving my clothing on the floor. It won’t happen again, Sir.”, her voice betrayed her. It quivered slightly under his intense gaze. His fingers moved from her chin to lightly caress her throat now, dipping to her collarbones every now and then. Gwyn already felt wetness coating her sex without him even touching her much.

“Mh, what a nice little apology. I’m not sure you meant it though. Stand.”, he ordered, raising up himself to tower over her.

Gwyn scrambled to her feet, muscles straining to keep her hands still firmly behind her back. She had learned that particular lesson two weeks ago.

He came closer to her, hands to her waist and mouth by her ear, “You remember the safe word?”, he broke character just enough to remind her of her way out, should she not want this.

Oh, but she did.

“Red, Sir.”, she murmured. Azriel nodded.

“Lay on the bed, stomach facing the sheets. You may use your hands.”, Gwyn obeyed. He still wanted to play a little nice today if he allowed her to use her hands for this. She was so relieved, she didn’t notice Azriel going over to the wardrobe to pull out a blindfold. Nice indeed.

Gwyn felt the bed dip slightly as he lowered himself on it. His hand wandered featherlight from her ankles, over her thighs, grazed her ass to find the middle of her back and continue to her neck. He found the ponytail and pulled to lift her face from the sheet with enough force to make it hurt slightly, but never too much. The command was clear though: hold your head up.

Azriel tied the blindfold over her eyes, making her effectively defenseless against him. The anticipation nearly killed her. In this compromising position, it will take Az only a couple of well-placed caresses for her to scream out his name in pleasure.

She felt his body hovering over her. The she felt his lips. First placing on kiss to her neck, then her shoulder blades, slowly working downwards. If that was supposed to be her punishment, she would gladly take it. But she never got away so easily.

Az had worked himself to her spine, licking over the spot before receding from her body completely. Gwyn’s breathing was heavy already, her breath further restricted through lying on her stomach.

“You’re going to count to five for me, love.”, he commanded, voice low and quiet.

Then she felt a zap of pain going through her as Azriel’s hand connected sharply with her rear. Gwyn whimpered, already mentally readying herself for the next blow, but instead his hands lightly brushed over the spot to soothe it. He knew exactly where to strike to make it good for her, knew his strength enough to not hurt. Never hurt seriously.

She found enough breath to mutter, ”One.”

The next slap echoed through her body, shock waves going up her spine and straight down to her throbbing clit. The burn was reduced again immediately with Azriel stroking over it. “Two.”, her voice was barely audible. But only he needed to hear her.

“You are doing so good for me love.”, he praised her, leaning down to place a little kiss on both of her cheeks before resuming to paint them red with his hands. Gwyn counted down the last three of the slaps, body deliciously aching, with Azriel praising her strength. All that was left of her brain was liquid. When the last of the slaps resided, Azriel’s lips came down to kiss her spine again.

“Good girl.”, he muttered. Gwyn practically glowed from making him proud, her praise kink nearly as strong as Azriel’s. She felt him crawling up her body again, both of his hands caging her in, hovering over her.

And then – nothing.

All she felt was his body over her, his heat radiating into her naked frame. But he didn’t touch her, he didn’t say anything, didn’t undress himself. It was infuriating. She knew he was doing it on purpose, to leave her all riled up and wondering. He wanted to have her begging. And Gwyn was already at the point where she would do exactly that.

“Azriel, please.”, she whispered into the thin air, hoping it would reach him.

“Azriel please -What?”, he shot back immediately, voice hard and unyielding.

Gwyn gulped. “Please touch me.”

Azriel touched her. On her fucking hands. Gwyn groaned in frustration and swore she could actually feel his shit-eating grin over her shoulder.

“One more try, love?”, he coaxed.

“Please touch me between my legs.”, she managed to get out before going still again in anticipation.

His lips came to her ear once more to whisper, “Spread them for me then.” Still on her stomach, she obeyed and spread her legs, whining at the loss of friction that had been her only form of release for the last minutes, but begging for his touch.

Then, Azriel’s broad fingers finally, finally, wandered between her legs, drawing little circles on the inside of her thighs. What he felt there made him chuckle softly, “Already so wet for me that you dripped down your legs? And here I was, thinking the punishment was a real punishment.”

“Always for you, Sir.”, Gwyn breathed, hoping the submissive admission would incline him to play nice. A rumble went through Azriel’s chest at her words, and his fingers grazed her sex. Gwyn couldn’t help moaning. And she didn’t stop for a long time after she started.

Azriel continued to move his fingers up and down her sex, spreading her lips to have a better access to her clit. He honed in on it, alternating between pressing down lightly and circling. He moved through her with ease, thanks to her wetness. Gwyn’s breathing turned ragged, one of her hands wandered across the sheets to find something to hold on to, something to ground her against these feelings that made her spiral sky-high. She found Azriel’s hand that lifted his body off hers, and interlaced her fingers with his. He allowed the contact. Technically, actively seeking out his touch was forbidden, but she couldn’t care less as his finger found her entrance and circled it, occasionally dipping in, but staying way too shallow.

“Sir, please. I want you inside me.”, it took everything in Gwyn to form that whole sentence and remembering her manners.

“As my good girl wishes.”, this time it was Azriel who obeyed her. He never could refuse her for too long. Two of his fingers stretched her, inner walls fluttering and contracting at the sudden contact. He pumped them in and out for a while, sometimes curling inside of her. His fingers sometimes drew out for a moment to pay some more attention to her clit again, before delving back in. Gwyn didn’t hear the wet sound she produced over her moaning and whimpering.

Suddenly, she felt a loss of contact, leaving her body yearning and shaking. Two strong hands gripped her hips and flipped her over, so she lay on her back, legs still spread. She was beginning to panic at her vulnerability. Her sight was taken from her for too long.

“Sir, can I see you please?”, it was worth a try. Azriel must have heard the slight edge in her voice as she felt gentle fingers prying the blindfold away from her eyes and over her head. Gwyn took a moment to adjust her eyes again, even though the room was only dimly lit. Azriel hovered over her, his knees bracketed on either side of her hips. “You okay love?”, he was still clad in his joggers that now bore an impressive bulge, chest heaving just as heavily as hers was. Gwyn nodded her okay, but he wasn’t having any of it. “You know to use your words when I ask that.”, he scolded, but his eyes were soft.

“I’m okay.”, Gwyn breathed and even managed to show him a little smile. Azriel nodded, sufficiently happy. He was quick to connect their lips together in a fiery kiss, tongues darting out to play with each other for a moment. Gwyn wanted nothing more to sink her hands in his hair, letting them roam his shoulders and back, on his chest trailing downwards.

“Go on, touch me.”, Azriel mumbled in between kisses to her mouth and her neck. He had this uncanny ability to know exactly what she wanted when she wanted it. But Gwyn used the freedom he granted her to explore his chest, grazing her fingers over the taunt muscles and extracting a shiver from him. By the looks of it, not only she was ready to explode any second.

“What do you want love?”

Gwyn didn’t even have to think. “I want you inside me now, fast and hard.”

When Azriel raised his eyebrows at her, she added her “Sir” hastily. Apparently, that was enough for him now as he pushed himself up from her to step out of his joggers, the considerable length of his cock springing free. He touched himself, pumping slowly up and down a few times while his eyes trailed over Gwyn’s spread-out body. “My gorgeous little girl.”, he mumbled, probably more to himself than to her, but Gwyn still smiled at the endearment.

He was over and in her within the span of two seconds. Gwyn vision blurred, pressure already building in her lower back and abdominal parts as he slid home, right to the hilt. Azriel brought his forehead down to rest against hers, eyes closed, and pounded into her. Gwyn loved every second of it, craned her head up to kiss him on the lips again, to have all her senses surrounded by him.

“Fuck, Gwyn.”, he mumbled, still sinking his cock deep into her with every thrust. Gwyn wrapped her legs around his waist and tilted her hips slightly, sending both of them groaning at the new deeper angle this allowed. His thrusts became even faster and harder, until Gwyn only managed to murmur his name over and over and over again.

Until the pressure that built couldn’t built any longer and came crashing down on her. With one last “Azriel!”, breathing labored, she came undone under him. Azriel followed a few thrusts after her, spilling his release into her with a loud roar.

After a few seconds he slid out of her carefully and plopped on the bed next to her, chest still heaving. That pretty half smirk grazed his lips as he looked over to her. “Everything okay?”, Gwyn nodded, herself also smiling.

Azriel got up, walked around the bed to Gwyn’s side, and before she could comprehend what his intention was, he had lifted her into his arms. He carried her to the bathroom and sat her on the toilet to pee (which Gwyn learned the hard way to always do after sexual activities) while cleaning himself up and throwing on a pair of boxer briefs.

“Do you want to finish watching your movie, or would you rather go to sleep now?”, he asked while Gwyn sneakily threw one of his larger shirts over her. That was her favorite part of aftercare, his scent and warmth engulfing her even after they had gone to bed.

“I’m not too tired yet, lets watch the movie.”, she answered, brushing past him to the living area. “’Not too tired’, that hurt Berdara. I should give you more work next time.”, he grumbled, following her and slapping her rear lightly.

Gwyn laughed. “You could do that, but next time it’s my turn, in case you don’t remember.”, she smiled wickedly, already forming plans on how to make him beg.

“How could I forget, Miss.”, he replied. Apparently, he was already warming up.

They snuggled together on the couch for the remainder of the movie. Gwyn almost drifting to sleep, but she wouldn’t allow Azriel the satisfaction of that. After the movie had ended, and both settled into bed, Azriel still had the nerve to take out his phone, probably checking his always full email account.

“Will you actually get the day off tomorrow, or will they find an excuse to steal you away from me again?”, she asked into the dark.

“I’m all yours tomorrow, come what may. But I still need to keep up to date.”, Azriel reached his hand out to stroke her arm soothingly. Gwyn propped herself up on her elbow to steal a little glance at Azriel’s phone, but instead of his work stuff, his gallery was opened. He was probably searching for some work-related screenshots, but Gwyn had a different idea. Quickly, she snatched the phone away from him to open one particular folder of pictures. She remembered him calling her a simp earlier this evening and found the perfect material for a counterattack.

Azriel had a folder on his phone dedicated only to the various different coffee arts she did for him. He never missed one, starting from the crescent moon, of course including the cat, and ending with the ‘ur cute’. Triumphant, she showed him the screen. “Remember calling me a simp?”

Azriel laughed and grabbed for the phone, scrolling his way through the pictures. “I remember that one, it took me all day to figure out what it was supposed to be.”

Gwyn gasped in mocking shock. “What do you mean, it’s most definitely a tree!”

“But it could also be a puddle, or a cloud, or…”, he started, interrupted from the pillow Gwyn threw in his face. His laugh was muffled.

“It hurts me, how non-appreciative you are of my art and love for you.”, she informed him, propping the pillow back under her head.

Azriel leaned towards her to peck her nose. “I am very appreciative of it, you know that. It used to be the highlight of my day. Of course now, every hour I am with you is the highlight.” All laughter was forgotten, replaced by a deep understanding of each other. “And I was obsessed with you even before you started with the art.”

“I KNEW it!”, she didn’t know it at the time, but she could pretend to have the upper hand now.

She did remember her nerves the day she decided to call his number. How she asked him out on a date and then had to go to a boxing class to work away the adrenalin that was left from it. But her story had a happy ending, and she could laugh about her freakout in hindsight.

 He didn’t pick up. After it took Gwyn a meditation practice and a little sip of wine to finally dial the number, he didn’t pick up. But it also felt wrong to leave a message, she would have to be more prepared for that. Like, actually writing out a little speech to recite after the beep. And she just knew that she would hopelessly ramble on, sabotaging her shot at the god.

Gwyn was currently sat by the little reading nook at the window, looking out to the busy street. Was 8pm a weird time to call someone? She just finished eating dinner, her work at the city archives had run late today. Maybe his work kept him occupied too?

Gwyn tried to pick up a book to let some time pass before she’d try again. Or would she come off as too pushy, calling twice in one evening? She put down the book and settled to pace up and down her window instead. She even crewed her nails a little.

When her phone rang, she nearly jumped. Taking a few steadying breaths before picking up, she finally accepted the call. “Hello, it’s Gwyn.”

“Gwyn! WHAT did he say?”, it was in fact not the god, but Emerie screaming through the phone right now. Gwyn’s stomach did a little drop.

“Emerie, you scared the crap out of me. I tried to reach him but he didn’t pick up. I want to wait a few minutes before trying again?”

“Oh dear, and I bet you got all hyped up now that I called you.”, she laughed, “well, maybe, if you call him now, you’ll be more calm.” Gwyn doubted that.

The girls chatted for a couple of minutes, Emerie telling her about the rest of her day and that she actually made plans for a blind date. Apparently, she had more luck in love than Gwyn tonight. They said their goodbyes.

Gwyn dialed again.

And, again, reached the voicemail.

Signing, she gave up on the thought of being able to ask him on a date today. Her phone on the coffee table, she readied herself for bed. Doubt started creeping in on her. What if he changed his mind and didn’t want anything to do with her?

Just when she settled in the sheets with a nice calming cup of tea, her phone went off again. Gwyn made sure to check the caller ID this time.

“Hello, its Gwyn.”

“Gwyn?”, she would have recognized that voice anywhere by now, “Hey, it’s the guy from Dawn.”

“I know, I know.”, every cell in her body was working on not making this awkward, “I tired to reach you earlier.”

“Yeah, sorry I missed that. I usually have to lock my private phone away when I’m at work.”, the god explained. “I’m glad you called though. I was wondering if just leaving my number would convince you to do so.”

“Well, it did. I am glad my coffee art convinced you.”, a smile crept into Gwyn’s face and she sat up in bed, hugging her knees to her chest. She was actually speaking with him. And it was surprisingly easy to do so. Very un-god like.

“It did. I would have asked you out in person, but I didn’t see you again in the café after you served me. And I also didn’t want to ask your colleague to fetch you like some kind of creep.”, Gwyn could practically feel his half smirk through her speaker.

“I appreciate that.”, a little pause, then she added, “So, you wanted to ask me out?”

“Straight to the point yeah?”, she could definitely feel his smirk, “Gwyn, I think you are the cutest person I have ever met in my life and I would love to take you out on a date. This Friday, if you’re free. And if you want to, of course.”

Gwyn reigned herself in to not interrupt him with a deafening “YES” while he was talking to her. Composed, at least she hoped that’s what she sounded like, she answered, “I would love to go out with you. Friday works just fine. I’m at work until 5pm.”

They quickly exchanged their addresses and worked out a time and a place to meet on Friday night. Just before they ended their call, a though struck Gwyn. She had been so used to calling him ‘god’ in her mind that she didn’t even notice.

“Well, I am looking forward to see you. By the way, what’s your name?”

The god laughed, “Fuck, I didn’t even tell you that, did I?” Gwyn liked to pretend that was because he was nervous for this call as well. “My name is Azriel.”

[relaxxattack]

hi im asking u this bc u seem to be bee duo enthusiast so

ive been calling c! beeduos relationship platonic because i thought that was what their cc’s said, and i thought they had said that they were uncomfortable with ppl shipping the characters. But ive seen a lot of posts that say their relationship is canonically romantic? and i absolutely do not want to come across as homophobic by watering down a mlm relationship to just friends because that happens so much in media so.

what is the canon state of their relationship / ur opinions on the platonic thibg

dont worry abt answering if u dont want to!! i see a lot of differing opinions and i trust yours :)

aw it’s totally fine, im flattered you asked me about this!

let me put it simply: it’s a whole mess, lol.

first im going to talk about what’s happened fandom-wide that caused differing opinions, and then i’ll explain my own opinion/interpretation. :]

(this got really fucking long im so sorry)

ranboo and tubbo initially proclaimed the relationship was romantic, specifically in argument with the wiki editors who had set it as platonic by default. (you can see this in the vod where they decide they’re canonically married— it’s very funny. chat tells them the marriage is already on the wiki, they check, tubbo is jokingly offended that it says platonic and asks if he needs to up the romance).

tubbo also makes jokes about adultry, which sort of implies the relationship is not necessarily a platonic one.

(theres definetly more in that stream alone but it’s been a long time since i watched it so i don’t remember a lot of it.)

the wiki, because of this, suffers from going back and forth on platonic and romantic, seemingly unsure where the joke ends and the canon begins, or if its canonically a joke! a mess, as you can already tell.

this gets more complicated as the marriage bit goes on: outsiders, such as phil and scott, both at one point say “platonic marriage”, which then ranboo and tubbo agree with. however, when chat asks them if they’re platonic, they say the opposite. so there is a lot of confusion there.

there’s also the difficulty of being able to tell streamers and characters apart. ranboo and tubbo both don’t like being shipped irl, and that’s their boundaries that shouldn’t be crossed. (they’re also minors, but tbh when they’re 18 in a year i will still be following their boundaries regardless of their legal age).

due to people not wanting to be accused of minor shipping, they started adding the platonic tone indicator to most of their drawings— basically a way of saying “no homo”. meanwhile, tubbo frequently on stream flirts with ranboo and makes quite a bit of nsfw comments towards him that are frankly hilarious.

this goes on for a while with nobody really sure what’s canon, but a lot of people assuming it’s probably platonic, until: the drama of the mods night. a few mods dmed all the wiki editors telling them ranboo wanted his canon character relationship officially set to platonic.

unfortunately for those mods; the very same day, a few hours later, ranboo on stream makes fun of puffy delivering him and tubbo “friendship flowers”. because, and i quote, “bruh. we’re literally married. this must be how the ancient greeks felt.”

in case you don’t know, the internet often jokes about how historians will call ancient greeks ‘very good friends’ when they are quite obviously gay. so in this context, ranboo is joking that people will call him and c!tubbo, who are married, “close friends”, when he doesn’t think they are.

basically, ranboo canonized romantic bee duo, the very same day the mods told everyone he’d wanted a platonic one.

chaos and drama immediately erupted everywhere. on tumblr, we were talking about how weird it was of his mods to do something like that without asking him first. we ALSO talked about how weird it was of them to assume that ranboo can’t make his own decisions, or assume teenagers cannot be in relationships without it being sexual. twitter did the same thing but in the opposite direction: called ranboo mods homophobic, or said they were mad ranboo felt pressured into making a romantic relationship canon ‘just so people could have mlm rep.’

i dont want to go into detail about the drama that happened that night because apparently official people follow me and i dont want to stir it up or have them come “clarify” things. im just saying what we talked about.

ranboo in typical ranboo fashion apologized quickly and seriously. he was deeply sorry for possibly offending anyone with how he’d portrayed his rp relationship with tubbo, and he also assured everyone the mod thing was just a miscommunication.

he said he would talk to tubbo and they’d decide once and for all whether it was platonic or romantic, and then announce so everyone would know.

it’s now been a few months and we've had no word from them on that development. we still have no clue.

-

now, here’s my opinion:

i want to take ranboos word for it that it was a miscommunication with his mods, but... we had it on good authority from people on the wiki team and people in the discord with the mods that (while it was happening) they were really going after the wiki admins, and also made some weird comments about it. that combined with the way ranboo seemingly had no clue (considering he canonized their romance that very same day).... it’s very. sus of the mods.

then there’s the canon we’ve got since then. although occasionally adults in the room have called it a “platonic marriage” and tubbo once (back when it first started) called it a “plankton tectonic” marriage, in roleplay it’s been... kind of not that. tubbo and ranboo make nsfw jokes about each other in character, and their characters also share a master bedroom and bed in the mansion. there's also the way c!tommy really thinks it’s a romance between them as well, and they agree with and play off that— for instance confirming that they “fell in love” when he asked, or ranboo confirming that they “make out on occasion”.

people will still put platonic on their art and posts, imo, because they’re worried about breaking ranboo and tubbo’s irl boundaries by looking like they ship them. or even just being accused of shipping real life minors. and that’s a valid fear to have.

the thing is though: c!bee duo are not cc!bee duo. they’re roleplay characters. cc!bee duo are not okay with being shipped, but they made their characters get canonically married, and call each other “husbands”. so it’s okay to write the word “husband” in your comic without adding “platonic” to it, i promise.

telling the ccs that their characters have to be platonic is... weird. it comes off as not only babying them, but also as saying teens can’t date without it being gross. which isn’t true.

(this is why seeing people overuse “platonic husband” so much bothers me. like, they ARE husbands. you can just say it. what are you trying to hide...?)

-

do i think they’re canonically romantic? ehh, its likely. it’s still okay to interpret them as platonic, because again, it’s hard to tell where jokes end and roleplay begins. like, maybe it’s jokes in the rp too, and c!bee duo are just friends. friends can and should be allowed to make jokes like that with each other! aro & ace marriages exist!

or, maybe it’s actually part of the rp, and they’re very much romantic. we don’t know!

some people say they could be a qpr (queerplatonic romance), which i could see. (a qpr is a relationship that fluctuates between, or can’t quite be sorted into, “romantic” and “platonic”. people in a qpr can do romantic things while having platonic feelings for each other). in my opinion this is a very valid interpretation as well!

-

CONCLUSION (sorry this got so long omfg):

are c!bee duo romantic?

its likely, but you can still interpret them however you like!

should i put /p on bee duo content?

ehhh? i find it annoying when it’s overused (as do others), but if you’re worried you can. its up to preference. putting it too much is weird though

should i put /p on things cc! bee duo do?

no. you’re not the one saying it so you can’t decide the tone tags for that. imagine you said something to your friend and a random stranger came up and was like “haha but that was /p right...?”

can i ship c!bee duo?

mmm. i’m not sure on this one. they are canonically married and very flirtatious, but the ccs don’t like being shipped and they’re close enough to being the ccs that actively shipping might be against boundaries.

can i treat c!bee duo as romantic?

yes. literally just don’t be weird about it. it’s not that hard! you can understand that two characters are husbands without making it weird

here’s the most important thing: boundaries. cc bee duo still haven’t told us what their preferences and canon is about this whole thing.

right now, i am assuming based on what they already show us they’re comfortable with, but! the second they give us any more info! all these opinions will change!

i am only going off what they do. i would never want to cross boundaries at all. i just wish they would make theirs a little more clear.

..... i hope that helped anon, i went way off the rails... i need to go to sleep.

[soliyl]

im going to be closing my comms indefinitely

in the past year, ive drawn about five times (forgot to post them here lol, i will tomorrow). this isn’t super uncommon, ive been pretty bad about drawing consistently for awhile now. i think a big part of the problem is the fact that ive had comms open. i first opened them in 2016 (jfc) and ive steadily drawn less and less frequently since then.

even though literally no one ever commed me (besides a couple friends, and in 7 years... sheesh), just having them open put me in this mindset toward my art. it had to be “marketable.” it had to be good enough for someone to see and say “i want to spend money and get something similar.” i haven’t drawn something just to draw in a really long time. everything i make, it has to be to a certain standard. it has to be worth something.

it stopped being fun. i stopped drawing for fun.

im like, in desperate need of money, too. im in a really bad spot in my life and doing comms for some cash would be great. but when i think about it, i don’t even want to do comms. if someone genuinely tried to commission me rn i would not enjoy it, even if their request is fine. i hate the idea of forcing myself to monetize what used to be a hobby. i hate the idea of anxiously working on it and being unsure if im making it worth the customer’s dollar. i seriously just want to like art again. i want to sketch again, fuck’s sake. i literally don’t sketch anymore, i try to make a polished product right away every time.

the decline in art frequency became more steep when i started posting on twitter, too. posting on multiple platforms, desperately trying to get attention. spending hours and hours on each piece and only getting a few likes here and there. disappointed the algorithm didn’t favor me, disappointed in my art for not being good enough to catch the appreciation i craved.

im going to go back to using tumblr as an archive for my art. i’ll keep tossing it up on twitter, too, just because i participate in xiv art parties sometimes. but im done trying to market myself. i don’t want to claw my way past other people all screaming “look at me!” and also be saying “please look at me.” from now on im just going to draw when i feel like it. if it sucks, that’s fine, who cares? im not trying to sell myself anymore.

[sketching-shark]

I think we should start a protection squad (although they don’t need it because they can protect themselves) for Sun Wukong and Guanyin

“Begone monkie kid fandom trying to down grade these really interesting characters with interesting personality’s and backstory ( the both of them like seriously Guanyin backstory is so cool) to a villain wile trying to justify your angsty backstory (that are no where near as cool as monkey who fights gods and Person who has 1000 arms and heads to help people in need) for the actual villain”

So who wants to join

Me:*raises my hand*

Ps: sorry if I got Guanyin backstory wrong am not an expert on it.

Haha okay so some critiques on the jttw & associated media western fandom & fandom in general coming up, so please skip this upcoming text wall if you don't want to encounter my undoubtedly ~devastating~ words (i.e. don't like don't read as people love to say, & if I have to be inundated with images of my notp every time I go into the sun wukong tag then I imagine people can be chill with me expressing my opinions & giving people fair warning that I WILL be critiquing common fandom trends, but no need for you to see that if you don’t want to. Cool? Cool.)

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PFFFFFTTT oh man there are many times when I feel like signing up for such a protection squad...when it comes to the current western jttw & Sun Wukong fandom I do feel like I'm often swinging at a rapid pace between "well it's fandom & people are allowed to make the stories they want" & "I am once again begging my fellow monkie kid enthusiasts (& sometimes creators) to do more research into the og classic/show it more respect so you can avoid any potentially offensive/off-the-mark misunderstandings of the status & cultural context of the characters in their country of origin (I promise it's super interesting & I can provide you with links to free pdf copies of the entire Yu translation, i.e. the best one ever created, so feel free to ask!) & maybe also stop constantly stripping away all the nuance of Sun Wukong's character for the sake of either making him an entire asshole so your little meow meow can look completely innocent in comparison and/or making the monkey king's entire life & character revolve around said meow meow."

Like I get that fandom's supposed to be a kind of anything-goes environment, but one thing that honestly seems to be true of a lot of fandoms--and the western one for Sun Wukong & co. is certainly not immune from this--is that there often seems to be a kind of monoculturalization at work in what stories are created & what character interpretations are made popular. Across a multitude of fandoms, you frequently see basically nothing but the exact same tropes being made popular & even being insisted on for the canonical work (especially hasty redemption arcs & enemies to lovers these days), the exact same one-dimensional character types that characters from an original work keep getting shoved into, the exact same story beats, etc. And I get it to an extent, as fandom is generally a space where people just make art and fic for fun & without thinking too hard about it & without any pressure. 

This seems to, however, often unfortunately lead to the mentality that it’s your god-given right to do literally whatever you want with literally any cultural figure without even the slightest bit of thought put into their cultural, historical, and even religious context, even (and sometimes especially) when it comes to figures that are really important in a culture outside your own. For such figures--even if you first encounter them in a children’s cartoon--you should be a little more careful with what you do with them than you would with your usual Saturday morning line-up. It of course has to be acknowledged that there exists a whole pile of absolutely ridiculous & cursed pieces of media that are based on Journey to the West & that were produced in mainland China, but for your own education if nothing else I consider it good practice for those of us (myself certainly included) who aren’t part of the culture that produced JTTW to put more thought into how we might want to portray these characters so that at the very least (to pull some things I’ve seen from the jttw western fandom) we’re not turning a goddess of mercy into an evil figure for the sake of Angst(TM), or relegating other important literary figures into the positions of offensive stereotypes, or making broad claims about the source text & original characterizations of various figures that are blatantly untrue, or mocking heavenly deities because of what’s actually your misunderstanding of how immortality works according to Daoist beliefs. Yet while a lot of this is often due to people not even trying to understand the context these figures are coming from, I do want to acknowledge that the journey (lol reference) to understand even a fraction of the original cultural context can be a daunting one, especially since, as I’ve mentioned before, it can be really hard & even next to impossible to find good, accessible, & legitimate explanations in English of how, for example, the relationship between Sun Wukong and the Six-Eared Macaque is commonly interpreted in China & according to the Buddhist beliefs that define the original work. 

That is to say, I do think it’s an unfortunate, if unavoidable, part of any introduction of an original text into a culture foreign to its own for there to be sometimes a significant amount of misinterpretation, mistranslations, and false assumptions. There is, however, a big difference between learning from your honest mistakes, & doubling down on them while dismissing all criticism of your misinterpretation into that abstract category of “fandom drama.” The latter attitude is kind of shitty at best and horrifically entitled at worst. 

Plus, as I’ve discovered, there is a great deal of interest and joy to be drawn from keeping yourself open to learning aspects of these texts & figures that you weren’t aware of! I can say from my own experience that I’ve always really enjoyed & appreciated it when individuals on this site who come from a Chinese background--and who know much more about the cultural context of JTTW than me--have taken the time to explain its various aspects. It often leaves me feeling like woooooaaaahhhhhHHH!!!! as to how amazingly full of nuanced meaning JTTW is like dang no wonder it’s one of China’s Four Great Classical Novels. 

And I guess that right there is the heart of a lot of my own personal frustration and disappointment with the ways that fandoms often approach a literary work or other piece of media...like don’t get me wrong, a lot of the original works a fandom may grow around are just straight-up goofy & everyone’s aware of it & has fun with it, yet the trend of approaching what are often nuanced and multi-layered works in terms of how well they fit and/or can be shoved into pretty cliche ideas of Redemption Arc or Enemies to Lovers or Hero Actually Bad, Villain Actually Good etc...well, it just seems to cheapen and even erase even the possibility of understanding the wonderful complexity or even endearing simplicity that made these works so beloved in the first place. Again, I feel like I need to make it clear that I’m not saying fandom should be a space where people are constantly trying to one-up each other with their hot takes in literary analysis, but it would be nice and even beneficial to allow room for commentary that strives to approach these works in a multi-faceted way, analysis & interpretations that go against the popular fandom beliefs, & criticism of the work or even of fandom trends (yes it is in fact possible to legitimately love something but still be critical of its aspects) instead of immediately attacking people who try to engage in such as just being haters who don’t want anyone to have fun ever (X_X).   

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Anyway, I know I didn’t cover even half of the stuff you brought up in the first place anon, but I don’t want any interested parties to this post to suffer too long through my text wall lol. I was asked to try my hand at illustrating Guanyin, but as with you I’m nowhere near as informed as I should be about her, so I want to do more research on her history and religious importance before I attempt a portrait. I’ll try my best, and do plan to pair that illustration with my own outsider’s attempt to summarize her character. From what little I do know I am in full agreement that her backstory is so incredibly amazing...just the fact that she literally eschewed the bliss of Nirvana to help all beings reach it, and even split herself into pieces in the attempt to do so (with Buddha granting her eleven heads and a thousand arms as a result)...man, I can see why she’s such a beloved & respected deity. 

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 As for what western fandom commonly does with everyone’s favorite god-fighting primate...I can talk about this at length if there’s interest, but for this post I’ll just say that I guess one lesson from all of this is that for all the centuries that have passed since Journey to the West was first completed, literally no one drawing inspiration from the original tale in the west (lol) has come even slightly close to being able to equal or even capture half the extent of the nuance, complexity, religious, historical, and cultural aspects, and humor that define Wu Cheng'en's story of an overpowered monkey who defied even Buddha.

So thank the heavens we'll always have the original.

[sleepinglionhearts]

pls I think you for me into roark x steven and it's all my brain has been thinking in the past few days.. mind giving some hcs so I can brainrot some more? :'o

I'm so sorry to answer this so late! I have a large amount of stuff I think about concerning those two so it was difficult to narrow down what to reply with that would make sense hsgdhsgd

I'm sorry about 80% of this is all specific to an AU I want to eventually get around to writing/drawing and has such specific headcanons lol

-their first meeting is not in Sinnoh, but in Hoenn and when they were still pretty young. Byron gets invited to some inter-regional thing, brings his kid, said kid wanders off and runs into yet another bored young trainer and they hang out for a while. They become friends over similar interests, discover they're from different regions, and decide to become pen pals.

-...not that the pen pals thing lasts more than a couple of years or so as Steven is suddenly busier with formal competitive pokemon training and Roark is also facing a little pressure to start considering pokemon raising more seriously.

-much later, years later, Gardenia will tease Roark that the guy he used to write all the time and had his first major crush on turned out to be a regional champion quality trainer. Isn't that so funny?

-they meet again years later when Steven visits Sinnoh for purposes of rock collection and pokemon. Steven finds his way into the Underground and happens upon Roark and... well, Steven doesn't want to admit he kinda forgot Roark but it definitely takes him a minute to remember how exactly it is he knows this man who seems to have recognized him on sight and is being oddly familiar.

-Steven spends the majority of his stay in Sinnoh with Roark, either being toured around the region or just spending time together because WOW do they have A LOT to talk about.

-(Gardenia and Riley* are very amused by this.) *in this AU Riley was found as a small child by Byron and got adopted into the family! Why not! The man is already mysterious and strange, may as well add to that! Also great opportunity to have the weird sibling dynamic going.

-(Wallace is also very amused by this because as Steven's Best Friend he calls frequently to know how his favorite rock nerd is doing on his big trip and oh, wouldn't you know it, that ridiculous man has fallen in love.)

-speaking of having fallen in love they both have their own separate realizations but they don't talk about it, they just get hit by those feelings real hard after Steven has to leave. Cue both best friends yelling at their lovesick idiots about not talking about it.

-they've exchanged contact info properly by now and will text or call one another but there's something special about writing letters to one another... they've also learned that phone calls can sometimes drag on well into the early morning hours with discussions of pokemon, regional myths, and rock/fossil nerd things.

-Roark will eventually go to Hoenn after being convinced by both Riley and Gardenia (with Riley promising to look after the gym in Oreburgh, despite that being a bit of a delicate decision) and he'll get dragged around everywhere by Steven. It is possibly the most fun he's ever had.

-the first one to ask the other out is Steven because he slips up and says "I love you" in a phone call and there is no way they're not discussing that

-their primary pokemon choices are both very nice but both very different... so they have a silly rivalry concerning Tyranitar and Aggron instead

-Roark tries desperately to keep news of his dating Steven secret from Byron as long as possible. This goes on for a surprisingly long time and later becomes a bit of a joke among Roark, Riley, and Gardenia.

-On the other hand, Mr. Stone finds out about his son now dating someone (and a trainer from another region at that!) pretty quickly because Steven is... not great at hiding things like that

-I like to think of Steven on again off again accepting the position of Hoenn pokemon league champion so sometimes he's there for a while to do champion stuff and sometimes he's taken off for Sinnoh for several months, you just never know

-you can take the boys to the coast but they won't swim they'll just sift through the fucking sand looking for rocks while being fussed at by the people they went with who want them to get in the water already damn it

-the first one to go in for a hug is usually Steven. the first one to go in for a kiss is usually Roark.

-Steven very much enjoys traveling and at the times Roark cannot go with him, he sends him SO MANY PHOTOS and mails him little gifts here and there.

This post got long I'm so sorry but I hope that gives you some stuff to think about!! And here, have some art!