#i tend to ramble a lot in tags

[bloobydabloob]

Holy shit I love your Dirk interpretations, it's so true and I could talk about this shit forever. I feel like another part of his character that people seem to forget (along with Roxy for some reason) is that he's from the future in solitude in an apocalyptic wasteland. I just see that part of his character always removed which is disappointing because I feel like that's a pretty big part, especially regarding his themes around technology, his brother's theme of Time, his own isolation, and how he plays in the vastness of the universe and spacetime.

Art I drew related to the subject because I like to respond to asks with art.

But absolutely. I certainly understand where the lack of discussion over his isolation + upbringing comes from, considering a majority of the fanbase that I have seen builds their ideas based on their own version of postcanon. I’m not entirely sure how that would be fixed, but certainly even in the somewhat recent past I would see a lot more content regarding his upbringing both literally and symbolically. I don’t have much to add regarding the things you’ve mentioned, because they just are what they are. Dirk being confined to a singular room left to him by a father figure he never met, in a future where the only other person left on the planet is someone he cannot pursue a relationship of because of himself, with purely 3 robots to keep him companion, one being an exact replica of his own brain who is *also* trapped inside a pair of glasses, is about as literal as it gets to me.

The contrast to me involving the flooded, organic world in comparison to the little speckle of Dirk’s apartment packed with the dude and his technics is not only a representation of his isolation and entrapment within himself, but also of his lack of control. I think his obsession with & themes of control are a direct product in the case of Dirk specifically *of* this kind of upbringing. His themes of technology are also related to his themes around control. So much of his character is actually revolved around this to me like so much. Dirk is so deeply disconnected from humanity in every way and so much of his character + symbolism is based around that.

It doesn’t even have to be about the symbolism or anything though. It’s just pretty *interesting* in the literal sense that he lives in the middle of the ocean in the future. There’s not only a lot to theorise on to do with his young life there, but on how it might affect him in the way he acts for the rest of his life. The latter part is probably what I see mentioned the most by people talking about Dirk regarding this, I’m surprised I don’t see more discussion on the former too though. I really ought to actually talk more about Homestuck stuff on here. I will do it myself.

Roxy & Dirk’s relationship is largely ignored though because there is a narrative a certain demographic spreads that Dirk resented and blamed Roxy for her interest in him, and thus too many people believe that their relationship was or would continue to be an abusive one. Realistically, I believe it’s important to acknowledge that the way Roxy treated Dirk regarding his homosexuality wasn’t right while still acknowledging the obvious amount of respect and admiration Dirk had for Roxy. I mean we have a huge piece of dialogue from their post trickster mode conversations on the quest beds from Dirk purely stating how he feels about Roxy that people completely ignore somehow. I think this usually happens to characters that are women though. I know everyone says it, but it is true. Jane gets the exact same treatment of boiling her down to solely her negative aspects. The things I see completely mischaracterising both of them are horrific.

I mean how much more explicit can it get that their relationship is obviously very important to Dirk? But I digress. I think the best or I should say “most interesting” interpretations of their relationship usually come from DirkRoxy shippers actually.

I would be interested to hear about Dirk’s relation to his brother’s theme of time though. I don’t have any thoughts on this and I don’t recall ever hearing anyone talk about it before. If you or anyone else would be willing to enlighten me I’d be thrilled.

[makiswirl]

can i just say. and this is probably a niche hill to die on. that i am so gobsmacked every time someone vaguely hints at the idea that jotaro doesn't care meaningfully for the other crusaders, usually particularly kakyoin and joseph, when those two actually tend to be the ones he reacts to being hurt the hardest

like he cares for his loved ones!!!! that literally plays into his character motives in every single part he shows up in!!! stop lying to me!!!!!!!

[doubleedgemode]

Happy summer, everybody!

This has been a big project to take and while there's stuff to improve I'm pretty happy with it. Be sure to zoom in the big picture for details and read the comic from left to right. (Needless to say, please don't try A.B.A's behaviour.. For your safety)

Bonus doodle:

[sunshine-and-her-ikevil-stuff]

I fear that Alfons's route will be just as emotionally taxing as Elbert's and I'll miss using my tickets in time just like I did in Elbert's route because my brain's had enough emotions and miss finishing the mission board again

[bugsnaxed]

Au stuff :0D

(Cw for minor disturbing stuff, lots of eyes, and staring)

[deeply-unserious-fellow]

Something I don't like about a lot of Vox takes I see is that they tend to portray Vox as someone who's unpleasant to work with and has weird ideas about what partnership means when really... he's not? He's not and he doesn't. It's just that two of the most prominent interactions we've seen him have are with Valentino(who is a fucking NIGHTMARE to work with) and Alastor(a man he has undisclosed, deeply emotional history with). But everyone seems to discount his OTHER important relationship: Velvette. Which by all accounts, is INCREDIBLY normal.

Like, yeah, their first interaction opens with her yelling at him, but that's less about Vox himself and more about Valentino. As they keep talking throughout the first bit of the episode, she starts calming down, and they just seem to genuinely get along? She has every right to look upset during Stayed Gone because Vox is being really weird and she's nOT THE ONE WHO ACTIVELY ENCOURAGED HIM TO DO THIS SHIT(staring directly at Val rn), but even then during the meeting after Stayed Gone she does actually. Participate. Unlike s o m e people. Despite being on her phone the whole time(which is literally her job-), she actually pays attention and contributes real ideas! Which tbh she didn't have to do at ALL like she did not have to put up w/ Vox's bs in RKtVS the way she did. There's also their phone call during the overlord meeting which, while I definitely think Vel was playing it up to annoy Carmilla, still sounded like a conversation between two ppl who genuinely like and respect eachother!

No matter what you think their relationship is(romantic, platonic, etc...), Vox and Velvette seem to get along REALLY well(outside of Alastor-related incidents). Like, better than either of them do with literally anybody else in the show. Vox & Val do LIKE eachother, but I find whatever the fuck is going on beneath the after the battles & masterless cattles to be DEEPLY upsetting to think about for too long(ex; any of my other posts abt their relationship), and the only other interactions we've seen either Vox or Vel have are Stayed Gone & Respectless, which are literally just song battles. Both of their only interactions outside of the Vees have been song battles. Aw fuck I'm getting off topic... BACK TO THEIR RELATIONSHIP AS COLLEAGUES- okay uh basically, I don't think they would get along this well if Vox was a terrible person to work with(note I said WORK WITH. Hate that I need to specify this but I don't think Vox is a good person overall, just a good business partner). I think Velvette is generally a good bench mark for both Vox & Valentino's relationships with other characters because she's their equal, their friend, and isn't in a weird toxic relationship with either of them. Their interactions with her provide a window into how they just generally interact with people. And based off of their interactions, Vox seems to be actually pretty decent to work with when he isn't being Actively Provoked for shits and giggles or trying to sooth the tantrum of a man child. Also when he views you as an equal and doesn't own your soul that helps too.

Edit: Hiiiiiiii just here to say that now, in the light of day, I don't really agree with everything I've said in this post? I wrote it at midnight while like half asleep so my ability to consider the fact that. We barely know anything about either Vox or Velvette at this point in time. Was kind of impaired I think. Cuz we really don't. I do stand by everything I said about their relationship to EACHOTHER, and I stand by the idea that we should take that dynamic into consideration for character analysis more often, but everything else I'm a little iffy on and I just woke up like an hour ago so my brains still a little fuzzy & I can't explain exactly WHY I'm iffy on it, but just know that I think the conclusion I drew is a bit of a leap in logic at the very least and I recognize that now lol

[crybaby-bkg]

“Are you ever angry?” You ask quietly, head resting in Bakugou’s lap. His thumb pauses where it strokes your cheeks, the far away gaze in his eyes suddenly snapping into focus as he looks down at you. He looks…different than you remembered, before you both were cast out of the pearly gates.

His hair doesn’t shine as bright as it used to, and it falls a little flatter without the halo pulling it up, soft. His eyes still hold that hardened gaze as a battle angel, but they’re deeper now. More sunken in and hollow, the flickering ichor now a stained crimson. His face is scarred and his hands are rough after the fall but he’s just—different.

“About what?” He asks, his lips pursed in confusion. You reach a hand up, stroking over his bottom lip, smooth a hand through his hair. You can almost feel the throbbing light radiating from him, can almost see how broad and ivory his wings would spread and hold you tight to him.

“It all. Everything. The fall.” You whisper, try not to shrink into yourself with the way Bakugou’s lip curls back in disgust. He pulls away from you and you sit up, resting on your knees, looking at him in such a way that his heart pangs in his chest.

His heart, something he’s never had a reason for when he still had his fists bathed in heavenly fire and no ounce of rebellion hidden under sinless skin. It aches in his chest at the mention of life after being kicked out with the only thing he could hold onto—you.

“Why would I miss my thoughtlessness? My inability to make a decision for myself? Why would I miss being a pawn?” Bakugou is all snarls, all snapping teeth and jowls, but it doesn’t scare you. He’s never scared you, even when his gait was limp from the impact of hard soil, and his hands grew rough, and his back grew jagged from ripped feathers.

“I miss it.” You whisper so carefully into the humid night, hands reaching for his own trembling ones. “I want to be holy again, Katsuki.”

He hisses at you, snatching away like you’ve burned him, like you’ve seized his halo and ripped it into two until it split into horns. Looks at you with such heavenly fire burning in his gaze that you want to shrink beneath him.

“Well—well I don’t. Find someone else who will, cause it sure as hell ain’t me.” You wonder who he’s trying to convince here, with his shaky voice and fluttering eyes and trembling mouth. You stare at him for a long while, lips wobbling at the gravity of it all. Your head hangs low, gathering yourself in your arms, head bowed to him—it’s the only thing you’ve ever known.

“Just hold me for now.” You murmur, eyes low as you settle yourself in his arms, forcing your way into his hold. “Please?” You tack on, unafraid of his bite, his snarl, his growl. Bakugou sits there stiffly for what feels like a century, but you’re used to waiting.

He gathers you in his arms slowly, pulling you into his chest, his body covering yours completely. And if you let yourself relax enough, you can almost feel the warmth of his wings surrounding you again.

[temperamentalaquarius]

The urge to write a 7 and 1/2 page essay on why engaging with the text and not just grabbing easy fanon traits for characters is important to both identifying our personal biases and strengthening our media literacy, and why it will actually make doing things like drawing fan art and writing fanfic way more fun is so strong but like. It's 100 fucking degrees out and I'm not getting paid for this.

[ariapmdeol]

I am also surprised by the lack of post canon travelers fics, but that's probably because they're league of legends players. The only one I really know of is "Ending/Beginning" by PenchantPal, which is a oneshot about Sundancer and also Taylor is there.

If you want good uncomfortable fics, I'd recommend "Don't do Brains!" by Idiom Alpha, and "Soliloquy" by keighthundred.

"Don't do brains" is about Amy doing some deranged stuff, and "Soliloquy" is an au of an au about a Taylor who was part of the Slaughterhouse 9 and her clone who became Khepri.

If you want good Comedy fics, I'd recommend "Loaf" (and it's sequel Case) by Maroon_sweater, and "Santa-Assault and Imp the Elf" by Rukaio Alter.

"Loaf" is about Contessa trying (and failing) to bake bread without her powers. SA+IE is about Aisha and Assault having a very bad day.

If you want good general fics, I'd recommend "The Great Escape" by Colossal Mistake, and "Cogito Era Lung" by The Steve.

"The Great Escape" is about Eidolon trying to captured escape birdcage prisoners, and "Cogito Era Lung" is an actually good Peggy Sue about post canon Taylor having to share brain space with a during canon Lung.

Don't do brains, Loaf (+Case), Santa-Assault and Imp the Elf, and Cogito Era Lung can be found on Spacebattles, while the others can be found on ao3. All of these fics have good characterization, and are thus all favs. Sorry for the tangent, trying to find good Worm fanfiction is my personal Sisyphean curse.

I LOVED ENDING/BEGINNING !!! It's exactly what i would love to read more of!!!! It's one of my favorite wormfics!

I've read Soliloquy before (maybe a year or so ago?) and I really enjoyed it!!

I just read Don't Do Brains because of this ask and it was REALLY GOOD!! delightfully fucked up!! wonderful gore! REALLY REALLY GOOD!! (Note for those who haven't read it-- it's VERY dark and has intense CWs, so please read with caution!)

I read The Great Escape about a year or so ago and I really liked it!

I read Cogito Era Lung based on your recommendation, and I really enjoyed this one as well!!

I'll need to read Loaf and Santa-Assault; I'm not usually one for comedy fics but I'm willing to give it a shot!

[brain-works]

this is literally word vomit, feel free to ignore, I just needed to get my thoughts out because I feel like everyone on social media (twitter) is acting insane right now and I can’t take it anymore.

in case you don’t want to read all that:

TL;DR stop being weird it’s just racing.

- - - - -

it feels crazy to me that RBR are allowed to constantly taunt Lando on social media (his insta, his threads, his tiktok, etc.) and have their TP and other high ranking members of their team call Lando pathetic, and post a livery reveal that looks like blood dripping, inviting a lot of disgusting people to comment that “it looks like Norris’s blood” and “they’re going to k!ll Norris”…

but the second McLaren post a factual analysis video that reiterates everything that everyone already knew (it was just an accident, with more blame leaning towards Max since you can literally see him move towards Lando on the helicopter camera), they’re the villains.

like, I understand that the social media admins can move real weird sometimes, but this all just seems so overblown to me. If RBR are allowed to constantly poke fun at it and act tongue and cheek about the incident, McLaren are allowed to remind people (who, by the way, are now trying to say that the incident was actually Lando’s fault the whole time - I’ve had to block a lottt of people) what actually happened and whose race it actually ruined.

I like both of these teams (lean more McLaren, if that wasn’t obvious), and I don’t root for anyone’s downfall, but I’m so tired of social media right now. yes, Max was more in the wrong for the collision. no, that doesn’t mean Lando is absolved of all guilt. but yes, it did hurt Lando’s race & championship bid more than it did Max’s, and he reacted accordingly (not correctly, necessarily, but accordingly).

any further conflict beyond that should be dealt with by them (and probably has already been dealt with) since they’re the only two people involved. it shouldn’t matter beyond that. and now both drivers are getting constant hate and death threats thrown towards them, and it’s exhausting. I just want to watch racing! I could not care less about the infighting that comes after every single time a driver makes a move! sometimes people run into each other, it happens!!!

this weekend, Max was in the wrong. last weekend, Lando was in the wrong (Spain grass incident). but it doesn’t matter! it’s racing! stop asking people to kts over a bunch of millionaires racing in badly drawn circles! and stop trying to blame the other driver more than your fave, you’re just continuing the circle of hate.

and also, as an aside, if you’re going to post hate/anti- posts towards a driver, can you please at least tag them correctly? so I don’t have to see post after post of vitriol towards my favorite drivers when I’m just trying to escape from it all? thx

I don’t know if I made the point I was trying to make but I’m just so tiredddddd like it’s been three days can we just move on to the next race. no one got injured, no one died, let’s just move please.

[needleanddead]

pulling up a chair to see what i’ve missed in the past like six months to a year btw!!! who are your blorbos. did i miss new blorbos. who is being rotated in your head!!!

[diabolic-wave]

naptime

[prairiemule]

All I can do is keep living, despite it

[andro-dino]

I don’t talk about it a lot or ever draw it but digivalen’s story arc and the way they both draw out the most in each other and help each other come to enjoy beyblade even more through their rivalry is really important to me. When you’ve got a character like Juno and a character like kite in direct contrast to each other, the obvious direction to go in is the heart vs mind route, juno being much more emotionally driven while kite is more logical. When Juno battles kite, he’s trying to get him to meet him in the middle with that, as kite is often so focused on data that it makes him narrow minded, which can lead to frustration for kite very quickly. When Juno comes to understand this about kite, she’s trying to get him to think a little less strictly and put more of his heart into battles and not just his brain. He connects with him on a deeper level, trying to draw out the full force of kites personality, his care, his pride, his drive and passion, everything that kite is, and see him fully put that out there in his battles. Obviously kites not gonna like, entirely change his battle style or anything, but it opens him up more to loosening up a little and being able to find some indulgence in battling a little more.

The consequence of juno rubbing off on kite so much though is that once he both becomes more emotionally aware and just comes to be more familiar with juno, he’s quick to notice how much of what they display of themself is an act, or at least not the full range of who they are. Juno, for a lot of her existence, is an oddly lonesome character, connecting so much with others because she wants to get to know them, but never really opening up herself and allowing others to know him because he’s content to let himself be someone solely around for the sake of others and not being so intimately cared for in the same kind of way. She tends to go from place to place a lot, both because they want to get to know as many people as possible but also because she’s never had many friendships that go both ways enough for her to want to stick around in one place very long. They’re fine with it, but most people don’t try to get to know them closely the way they do others. As kite and her rivalry goes on though, he starts noticing those small signs in her. It starts really with Kite being one of the first people to notice juno doesn’t battle with their full strength, and after that realization, he starts being able to read behind their expressions to see there’s more to them. He cant quite figure out exactly what it is at first, but he’s quick to deduce that there’s more to them than meets the eye. As it progresses, he notices how much more attention she gives him without him ever really learning all that much new about her, though whenever they leave, he can sense that air of loneliness about them. When Juno challenged kite the first time, the line he told him (as with most of her challenges to others) was “I’ll show you my heart,” but realizing she was holding back, kite mentioned that again at the end of the battle and said it wasn’t really true. Juno only slightly faltered at that, and though he didn’t show much, it was enough to start kites intrigue. It’s much later in their rivalry though that kite, much more bluntly, confronts Juno about this, much to their surprise. I don’t know how the interaction would go exactly, but I like the idea of kite asking what juno is battling for, and when she gives her usual schpiel about wanting to understand others more and for them to understand themselves, he stops her, and asks what they really want for themself. I really like the idea of a typically selfless character having a hard time being fully self-indulgent at times, and that’s kinda the whole basis for this dynamic. Kites a good character to be the one to call this out too imo because his two most primary character traits are how much he loves eight and how much he loves himself, so if anyone’s gonna encourage juno to do things for themself just as much as they do things for others, it’s gonna be kite. I like the idea of kite eventually becoming so much stronger over the course of their whole rivalry that much like with Sakyo, juno can’t do their typical strategy of holding back long enough to have a decent battle, which forces her to put so much more energy and effort into her battles that kite essentially forces her to battle for herself, to put in the work to really try their hardest that they can’t help but enjoy themself during the battle, and that in turn ends up being the most genuine kite sees him for the first time. The fun juno has during that battle makes her want to get stronger and enjoy battling for himself just as much as she battles for others. Kite isn’t the only character who draws this out of them as I do imagine this development also being tied with her dynamics with Zyro and Sakyo, but kite is the primary relationship through which this is explored fully from beginning to end.

The fully arc of their rivalry happens before they officially get together, though there are definitely feelings there throughout basically the entirety of their relationship. The separation of digivalen pre-Juno character development and post-Juno character development is also kinda what separates the two main dynamics of them as a ship, those being 1. Juno teasing kite and being able to get under his skin and make him a flustered, angry, tsundere mess and 2. Them being the most disgustingly overly affectionate and cheesy couple you’ve ever seen in your life (/aff). Juno catching kite off guard is kinda the whole crux of the start of their dynamic, and there’s a little flirting and silliness thrown in there which just amplifies this, and further down the line this continues but instead of it making kites head completely explode, he’s able to shake it off in order to stay focused and really draw out more from juno. This is what allows their relationship to start being on more even ground, developing until kite is the one able to start catching juno offguard, and at times, he is able to make them a bit flustered (except it’s different than when kite gets flustered, bc while kite’s system completely overheats and shuts down, juno only has that pause for a brief moment before she’s like “wow, you really are cool, you know that?” in complete earnest and affection). By the tail end of their rivalry, they’re able to entirely bounce back and forth off of each other (while there were brief moments of this previously, its completely equal and mutual here), which is what eventually gives way into kite realizing that A. Juno has genuinely been interested and hitting on him for the entirety of the time they’ve known each other and B. he ended up developing feelings for them as well without entirely realizing it, and a lot of the anger and confusion and tsundere-ness that he felt around them before was because he genuinely didn’t understand that THATS what he was feeling, and now knowing that he likes them, he’s like instantly completely confident in himself in his own kite ego Mr Perfect kind of way, enough to be able to ask juno out himself (even though she tried like ten times already) and officially start their relationship. It is after that they so instantly become the corniest couple of all time because they’ve already gone through all the awkwardness and stuff just being rivals that now that they’ve both gotten to the places that they have with and because of each other, they are so instantly able to gel together romantically and completely have that connection. They are both incredibly down bad for each other and while kite still tends to be the more obvious about it of the two, juno does have more moments of also being completely and more obviously whipped for him.

[seventh-district]

not even gonna tag this properly bc i don't wanna get Involved but i do have some Thoughts i need to get out into the void so here we go

(aaa quick edit: CW for mention/discussion of Boothill leaks)

[slightlymad]

oh my god hi sorry if this is weird but i saw you on jo's blog and you have the same name as my sister?

it's definitely not weird sjjskdjfngb you could send me the most random thought that crossed your mind and it would make me happy, ANYWAY i'm getting sidetracked, I LOVE THAT!!! i feel like i rarely meet people with the same name as mine, so this genuinely brought me A LOT of joy <333 i was actually named after princess leia from star wars but it's spelt differently in my language, so i've always spelt it like this in english and there's that lmaoo