#i think i actually posted about this concept before

[enhanextdoor]

𓂃۶ৎ 𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐄 𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐇 𝐈𝐓 ━━━ 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖻𝖾𝗍.

西村 力 (n.rk). ─────⠀ㅤ 3,002 (in total) ―୨୧⋆ ˚ 𝗳!𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 𓈒 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬. ⠀

부인 성명 (disclaimer) : read at your own risk. there is going to be fluff and angst themes. NOT PROOFREAD

taglist: @choisanswife. @leehsngs. @myjjongie

moving away from home was one of the hardest things for you to do. it was what you had known your entire life, but college was an exciting new time. you thought it would be a fresh start, you would be able to make new friends and not be held back by some of the rumors and different issues that living in a small town held. you wanted to experience the world and maybe you were a little naive, but you thought the world would be good for you. welcome weekend was what really fucked you over. everyone was asked to go around and share a fact about themselves on the auditorium stage and as you were walking up your shirt caught on the stairway and ripped. you were so embarrassed you cried, people recorded and this quickly spread around campus. you were labeled the “cry baby” of campus. so much for getting a fresh start right? nope! 

it had been three weeks since the semester started and honestly you tried to avoid the stares and laughs, you figured that the other students would eventually move on from your little mishap but in the age of smartphones no way. you even became a bit of a campus meme, the worst group of them all had to be the dance team. the first person to post the video to social media? none other than jake. he didn’t think it would get as big as it did and well it even got him a little more credibility on campus. you just wanted to keep your head down and the library was one of the best places to do that, you had been practically living in your dorm and in the library. you were enjoying the silence. enter nishimura riki, the it-boy of the freshman clas, he casually made his way over to you and pulled a book from the shelf next to where you were standing. 

he was the newest member of the dance crew and all everyone had been talking about. ‘jungwon made such a good choice as captain letting him on the team.’ ‘we are so qualifying this year’ ‘he’s just so dreamy’ those are just some of the things you’ve heard. your gaze shifted to him only for a second before you grabbed the book you needed and started to head back towards the table you had claimed. “y/n.. that’s your name right?” ni-ki spoke up. you stopped to look at him and arched an eyebrow slightly, nodding your head. “yeah, that would be me.” you prepared yourself to get the cry baby comment or some kind of joke, but he walked over and examined your book. “oh this is actually the one i need too. think we could sit together and look it over?” he set the book in his hand on empty carts at the side of the column.

you were a bit shocked that he would be wanting to do an optional reading for class, the professor made sure to emphasize that this reading wasn’t required but could help students get a better grasp on the concepts. “sure?” you sounded a little hesitant because you were. maybe ni-ki wasn’t a bad guy and truthfully needed the book for class just like you. the pair of you walked over to the table and you opened it up to the page that you needed. “you need this for intro to society too right?” you questioned to see if he was taking the same basic sociology class you were. “yup and look at that you’ve got the page right and everything.” he flashed a smile. 

the pair of you read the book only speaking to indicate when it was okay to turn the page. it was nice, having an interaction with someone that wasn’t just trying to make fun of you. after two hours of powering through the book you both reached the end and you closed the book. “well that was nice.” he stated as he leaned back in his chair a little. “yeah, it was nice.” you admitted before tapping your fingers on the table a little bit of anxiety building in your stomach. “you know you are pretty cool y/n. we should go out sometime.” 

his words sent a little bit of panic through you mainly because you knew that talking with him could impact his social status on campus or bring on more taunting. then you were fighting with the implication, is he asking you in a friendly way or in a date kind of way? you sat there for a second. “did i break you y/n? shit that was so not what i was trying to do.” he was sat forward now examining your face. “no, no, i heard you and am not broken.” you replied and glanced back to him. “just don’t think it would be a good idea for us to go out.” you stood up to go return the book from where you found it. he stood and followed you right over to the shelf. “oh come on y/n, afraid that people will tease me too? i really don’t care about any of that. you are cool and we shared a book doesn’t that mean anything to you?” he was talking in a bit more of a teasing tone at the end. you couldn’t help but roll your eyes playfully because that was cheesy. “okay then we can go out.” you shouldn’t cave so easily but honestly you are just a girl. “great it’s a date then.” he winked.

you two had exchanged numbers before you left the library and set a plan of when you were going out. everything about this made you nervous but excited. was this really happening? the coolest guy in the freshman class wanted to take you out on a date? it seemed too good to be true. you spent hours getting ready for this date and the pair of you went out. the date was a simple move theater then dinner date. you two had a great time, the conversation at dinner flowed so naturally. he had you laughing, you made him laugh in return. it was nice being out with someone that didn’t just see you as a joke. he walked you back to your dorm and before he left you two kissed. you felt the butterflies in your stomach and the whole nine yards. 

two months passed and several more dates occurred within those months. you never saw this coming, but there you were on the quad with ni-ki laid out under you and your head rested on his stomach as you laid down as well reading your book. the two of you were all the campus could talk about. “we are throwing this party tonight to celebrate winning our latest comp.” he said which pulled you from your book, “oh yeah? well i would love to come with you if that is what you are asking.” you looked up to him with a warm smile. a smile that ni-ki had grown so accustomed to. he had fallen for you and if only you knew everything he knew that you probably wouldn’t feel the same anymore. he sat up which had you sitting up as well and he admired you with a smile of his own, “you make me so happy y/n. you know that right?” you weren’t sure where this was coming from but you leaned in to give his lips a little peck. “yeah, yeah nishimura. i have a class to get to.” you stood and then leaned down to give him another peck on the lips. “see you later?” you asked but didn’t wait for an answer before walking backwards to start heading away from you. “yeah.” he waved you off and went back to laying down to look at the sky. 

he wasn’t sure how he was going to tell you the truth, all of this started with a bet. he was hanging out with all the guys and jake showed everyone the video. they all laughed about it, ni-ki included. “you want to prove yourself to be one of us?” jay said while leaning his arms on his knees and the rest of the guys started to pick up what was about to go down. “get cry baby to go out with you.” he continued and everyone else was laughing. “oh my god that would be so funny actually. you should so do it.” sunghoon chimed in. ni-ki wanting to be accepted by these older much cooler guys agreed. “i could totally get her to go out with me, easy. i’ll do you one better i’ll get her to actually fall in love with me too.” god how he regretted that day now, he felt like he was walking on eggshells. it was only a matter of time before someone slipped and told you and he didn’t want to lose you. while he was trying to get you to fall in love with him he did something that would ruin everything, he fell for you. 

later that night after all your classes and getting ready for what felt like forever you headed to the frat where the party was being hosted. you went inside and started looking around for ni-ki but instead found jay and jake by the drinks table. jake was a little loaded and that made him a little louder than normal. “Y/N! YOU’RE HERE!” he was basically shouting and leaning on jay for the support. “hey jake.. you doing okay there buddy?” you gave a pointed look and jay made a little face while shaking his head to indicate that this boy was long gone. you had gotten to know the rest of the guys and much to their surprise they liked you. the guilt of the bet weighed on all of them too, but they tried to ignore the elephant in the room. heeseung came walking over to see the drunk jake and jay supporting him. “need some help with that one?” he pointed to jake literally just hanging off jay. “you know it we should get him some water.” jay replied and you spoke up. “let me go get him some. you two just make sure he stays upright.” 

you pushed through to the kitchen and came back with bottled water. they had gotten jake seated on a couch. “oh have you guys seen ni-ki?” you questioned. they all shook their heads and jake decided to speak up. “naurr but i am so glad you two are dating. i mean to think this all started because jay thought you were some looooser and bet ni-ki that he couldn’t get you to date him. oh! and im sorry for posting that video of you.” he was pouting and batting his eyes. “don’t hate me.” jay and heeseung’s faces both looked so shocked and heeseung literally put his hand over jake’s mouth. your mouth fell open a little as you tried to process everything that was just said. ‘some loser’ ‘a bet’ those words burned and you felt like your heart was shattering right there. “i should go.” you forced a little smile and handed the water over to jay, backing away from them. “y/n wait..” jay spoke up but you had already turned and started to rush towards the exit. 

you thought that things were different with ni-ki, that he was one of the only people that actually gave you a chance. he made you feel safe and loved, he was someone you could just talk to for hours. was all of this just some silly little game to him? was your heart just something he could toy with? as you were walking out of the party, ni-ki was on his way in. his eyes caught a glimpse of you and he went to take your hand, “y/n where are you going?” you stayed right there your back to him, hand in his and using every ounce of strength you had to keep your tears in. “was it worth it?” your voice sounded so broken and he was confused until his phone buzzed, he glazed over the text from heeseung explaining what just happened. he shoved his phone right back into his pocket and he moved to stand in front of you, his hand still holding yours.  “y/n, baby, i can explain.” 

him moving to be in front of you wasn’t helping because now glancing up at him the tears just started to cascade down your cheeks. “explain? explain what? that you made a bet that you could date me? guess what riki, you fucking did that didn’t you? i bet you are so proud of yourself. god just leave me alone. i never want to see you again.” you shoved his hand away from yours and walked off leaving behind the boy you fell in love with and any shred of hope that people were still good. 

it had been three days since the party and your phone had been blowing up with messages from all of the guys. ni-ki had messaged the first day just a few times asking if the two of you could talk, but when you ignored him for the fifth time he got the hint. he was a mess too and you knew it only because the rest of the guys were messaging you over and over saying that this was their fault not ni-ki’s. that wasn’t helping any considering he could have said no. you had skipped your classes the last two days which is not like you in the slightest, but professors had to understand you just had your heart ripped out so that’s basically a medical emergency right? maybe this would have been easier if you had made some actual friends on campus, but the friends you made were the boys and obviously didn’t trust any of them right now either. 

you did the one thing you could think to do, packed up a bag and took the first flight home. you needed to get away from campus and have a slight reset. home was going to give that to you, there was no ni-ki there, none of the guys to come knock on your door, just you and your family. after the third day home you were starting to feel a little better. the feelings of betrayal were still very much there and you played a card game and when you won your instinct was to text ni-ki to let him know, but you couldn’t exactly do that. a big part of you missed what you had with him. you just had to remind yourself that it was probably all just fake. 

there was a knock on the door and your mom went to get it, you were on the couch reading to get caught up on some of your classwork. “y/n, honey it’s for you.” your mom called out which confused you because you weren’t expecting anyone. you got up and made your way over to the door pausing when you saw none other than ni-ki standing there. your mom had walked away when you made it to the door and you stared at him, “what are you doing here? how did you even find my house?” you questioned in a hushed tone. “well i remember you talking about it when we went on our first date. you said that you lived in the old house with the handprints in the sidewalk and named the street so.. i just walked down the street until i found the handprints.” you stepped outside and closed the door behind yourself, crossing your arms over your stomach. he remembered that? most people wouldn’t care to remember a detail like that. you needed to push that delusion from your head, he doesn’t care. or does he?

“i tried to give you your space, i really did and honestly sunoo told me flying here was a terrible idea, but it’s been almost a week and i am losing my mind y/n. none of it was fake.. nothing i said or did with you was fake. i know it started with not the best intentions and honestly i should have told you the minute i fell for you, but i didn’t want to lose you because i’m an idiot that took a bet.” he was rambling just a little and you were focused on the fact that he said he fell for you and it was real. everything he said and did with you was real. “you mean it?” you spoke finally which cut him off from going to say something else. “of course i mean it. i am so in love with you y/n that i literally hopped on a flight to go to some town i’ve never been to to walk up and down a street in hopes of finding the girl of my dreams.” 

you were hesitating on forgiving him because you weren’t completely sure if he was telling the truth, but your heart was screaming to forgive him because to be honest you are in love with him too. every little moment you two shared, every kiss, all the late night talks, the times you shared books, it was all just so comforting. “if you ever break my heart again nishimura riki i swear i won’t let you back in.” you moved in a little and he did as well. “i swear on everything in this world i won’t break your heart again.” the two of you shared a soft and sweet kiss on the door step. his hands on your waist, yours finding the comfortable spot around his shoulders. when your lips parted he smiled at you and you felt that happiness creeping back in. “so uh.. when am i going to meet my future in-laws?” he smirked as you gave him a teasing glace. 

a/n: thank you so much for reading! i hope you enjoyed this fic. i would love if you commented thought/opinions, liked, or reblogged!

c. enhanextdoor ; do not copy, repost, or translate my works.

[newttxt]

hi quip! i really like your one piece comics and i am curious how you do them! i'm not good at comics and want to be better at drawing them! how do you learn how to make comics?

thank you!

uh oh... im afraid u have caught me at the perfect crossroad of "bored at work" and "unrelated task ive been meaning to do but keep putting off."

this is long. i hope you like reading (and grayscale progress pics). and of course!!! disclaimer before we begin that this is just how I, personally draw comics. there is no "right way."

quip's comic-making process!

Switching my typing to make this more legible...

My process can kinda be broken down into 6 steps:

Brainstorming

Thumbnailing

Sketching

Panels & Text

Lines

Tones/Colors

1. Brainstorming

My brain is a leaky sieve on a good day, so I sloppily jot down ideas in my phone notes the moment I have them. This helps me when it's time to draw too, because if I feel art blocked, I can look through old concepts and see what catches my interest.

Otherwise, I love drawing for other people's writing. :) And if worst comes to worst, doing manga/comic page redraws in my style teaches me new things every time.

Once I have my idea, I'll usually make a bulletpoint list of "plot points" or "story beats" I want. Then I plan the comic with this format that I've adapted from a tutorial I read once. I'm going to use my most recent comic (original comic post) as an example.

I start in the third column, writing notes of what I'd want to see in each panel. I also include the dialogue (in this case, I didn't have to write the dialogue! it's from the fanfic linked in the original comic post!). I usually write the whole name like [Luffy:], but at this point I've drawn so much of these guys, just the first letter works.

I like to handwrite these notes to get an idea for how much text I'm putting in a single panel.

After I describe all the panels, I go back and separate them into pages. I can't tell you how to know how many panels to a page. It's whatever works for you. I just kinda know about how big each panel will be, and so I can feel when I'm probably running out of space. (Also. You can change things later. I don't in this example, but I add/drop pages/panels all the time.)

2. Thumbnailing

Thumbnailing—as the name suggests—should be done tiny. Too tiny to accidentally get sucked into details.

This is about marking down blobs where items/characters go, and figuring out the paneling. I'll draw and redraw these a bunch of times too.

This is also the most time-consuming/brain-working part for me. If I were in a zine that did progress percentage, I'd try to finish thumbnailing around the 50% mark (but I'm also a moderately fast artist, so your mileage may vary).

I think the terrible quality makes them charming, actually. I really like how silly they look. :')))

I will add, when you draw your "page" rectangle, make sure it's the same proportions as your actual canvas for the final image. You want an accurate idea of how much space each panel will take up, especially if you have a lot of text.

3. Sketching

This is my most recent change to my usual workflow, and it's saving me a lot of time. I make my thumbnails a bit bigger (each one about half the size of the final canvas), and I sketch these basic body forms right over them.

It just helps give me placement for my actual lines!

I usually draw these in a paleish color so I can lower the opacity and not get distracted by them while lining. The random darker parts are to either help keep two forms separate (like when two characters have their limbs all over) or to better define sections that were too sloppy/poorly proportioned.

I also think this helps my poses stay looser, because I have more dramatic/wriggly shapes that aren't too bogged down by proportions yet.

Sidenote: I CANNOT show this here, but sometimes this is when I take videos. Of myself. I prop my phone camera up and shoot a video of me acting each panel. :/// It looks really dumb, but it also shows me fun body language ideas like hand gestures, expressions, weight distribution, etc. Just pretend you're an overdramatic cartoon character, and try not to worry about your roommates or mother walking in on you doing odd things. (You can also use the video for anatomy reference later, but I usually just capture the vibe and don't try to copy the actual video frame.)

4. Panels & Text

Oh, boy. So, the panels are usually just straight lines (though it's fun to make creative exceptions, like a round panel to mimic looking through a spyglass), but there are some fancy rules that I don't strictly adhere to.

I believe (I have no technical training in this. Take everything I say with a grain of salt) the vertical gaps (between two side-by-side panels) should all be a consistent width and the horizontal gaps (between two panels on top of each other) should be another. The vertical ones? Should be thinner? Because you want the eye to easily glide between them, whereas the horizontal gaps should be a visual barrier to keep you from jumping ahead. Just something I've vaguely noticed.

There are lots of fun "default layouts" you can look up. Or keep it a consistent grid. I think it's fun to sometimes have characters/objects sticking out of panels and overlapping others. This is just a matter of taste, creativity, and inspiration. (Read Witch Hat Atelier... It has some of my favorite paneling...)

You may also notice I have already done the speech bubbles. This is, to me, a crucial step. This helps me catch early if I don't have enough room for all the words. It also lets me plan the art in each panel with the speech bubbles in mind. There's nothing worse than working really hard on a panel, and then you realize there's no room for the bubbles.

I also try to lay them out in a way that guides the eye! Even without art, can people tell where to go next? Better yet, if I want people to look at panels out of order (aka not left to right, in my case), can I use the speech bubble path to make them? Here's just a vague example of what I mean.

As an added bonus, doing speech bubbles early also allows me to be lazy! :) Ignore the comic; I'm not supposed to post it yet oops,, There's a whole lot of drawing to do on each comic page, and I am not wasting my time on stuff that will be covered up. So yes, if I hide my bubbles, there are a lot of unfinished lines trailing off into nothing. (As a bonus, if there's a part of a character you're struggling with—and it won't look weird to do so—you can move speech bubbles to just hide the problem area yayyy)

Making the actual bubbles could be their own whole tutorial, tbh, but there are some general guidelines I use.

Zoom out when you choose your font size. You want to know how it will look to the average reader, so it isn't super teeny tiny or way too big. You generally want to keep the same text size for all your pages/bubbles.

When I draw bubbles, I try to size them about one vertical letter height (and some change) around the words [left side]. This isn't always the case though, because humorously large or funny shaped text bubbles can convey different feelings [right side].

On Procreate, I set my bubble lines to Reference and just drag-and-drop the white fill on a separate layer below the lines. (Remember to turn Reference back off again when you're done, or your fill bucket won't work right when you're drawing.)

To get the white outlines I use to keep the bubbles from cluttering up the art, I literally just Gaussian blur an all-white copy of the lines + fills... and then I copy and merge it 5 times until it's opaque enough. This is a terrible way to do it, but it works for me. :')

5. Lines

This is the part that I can't tell you how to do. I literally just. Draw right over my wacky sketched body forms. Boom. Comic drawn.

I'll make three suggestions:

Don't focus on making every panel perfect. Give a little extra love to big ones or ones you want people to linger on. Otherwise, know that people are typically speeding through the art. It's way more important to focus on storytelling than art technique. In my opinion, a good story that's told well will always be better than a beautiful one told poorly. (Some comics are beautiful AND well-written... Alas, I am just a hobbyist who needs to get the ideas out of my head at top speed.)

Put your background lines on a different layer. Put your foreground lines on a different layer too, if you have those. Basically, I try to keep the main part of each panel (usually a character or object) on my lines layer so I can erase background/foreground/etc lines to ensure clarity/focus.

You can make background lines lighter colors too. I have too many numbers sorry. (1) Background. The stuff that's farthest away. Lightest lines. Few details; more focused on shapes and the suggestion of a background (I'm not good at backgrounds). (2) Midground. Same distance away as the characters are. Lines can be black. (3) Also midground, and also the same distance away. But they're very detailed, so I lighten them so they aren't so distracting. (4) The characters. Black lines for focus. For people who haven't seen the comic, I swear they are just hugging. This is SFW. D:

6. Tones/Colors

Do not. Do NOT ask me. I don't understand colors. I hate working with them, but I try because I want to improve. I hate doing anything beyond the simplest grayscale shading. Please go elsewhere for your coloring/tone advice. This is how my color picker looks 95% of the time. I have pre-set "percentages" of black that I got by lowering the opacity of a black layer and just color picking it. I don't even know the exact percentages I used. Good luck out there. Be better than me.

7. Sharing

This is a bonus step that I didn't mention earlier, but it's actually the most important of all of them.

You need a friend. Or maybe a groupchat or discord. A family member or coworker if you're really close like that. I don't know.

Find SOMEWHERE you can spam wips and be cheered on. Drawing comics takes a while, especially if you're trying to tell longer stories than I'd dare to attempt. If I don't force someone to praise me for every line I draw, I shrivel up and die.

Also if and when you post online, add alt text. I'll admit I'm the first person to complain and drag my feet on this, and I literally use a screenreader myself when my eyes hurt (strong prescription glasses wearer). Comics should be accessible, because stories are fun and everyone should be able to enjoy them.

***

Learning???

And I guess lastly, how do you learn to make comics? Two steps: 1) read them and 2) make them. This is the tragedy of creating things.

1) Reading them: I grew up reading comic strips, western serialized comics, and webcomics. I've always loved graphic novels too. Then in late middle school, I started reading manga (Death Note and Haikyuu were my first two), and now I'm trying to read more webtoons (sorry im so slow bree)!

I also... mass-consume doujinshi, thanks to proxy mailing services and bilingual friends/Google Translate/knowing some Korean. (I have an entire bookshelf of doujin, actually,,)

The thing is, it's not usually enough to just read comics. You also need to be thinking. :/ I notice paneling, comic devices, clever comedic timing, etc. as I go. It's just a lot of studying/learning while also enjoying the story.

2) Making them: You just have to start. :( Even if you think they're "bad." My first comics were actually just drawings placed randomly all over the page, connected by speech bubbles (yay... I was already practicing how to place bubbles to lead the eye around the page...). I was going to post a pic here, but I'm a coward. Backscroll my account and you can find some older ones though.

I also know my art in general improved dramatically when I did ten comics in ten weeks for my friend's fic. Don't do this. It hurt my hands/wrists. But do practice in moderation.

***

If you actually read all that... I hope it made even a modicum of sense. And maybe it was even helpful? Just know at the end of the day, there is literally no right way to draw a comic.

And if you aren't ready to go for it yet, you can start by just adding a couple speech bubbles to your illustrations or doodles! It's a way to add storytelling and dialogue writing to things you may already be making.

Yay. I love comics. :))))

[project-sekai-facts]

Is there like a lore summary for WD? How does this set connect?

the new wday set seems completely disconnected from the past ones, especially given that they already used shiho and saki as part of the knights collection. these cards lean a lot harder on high fantasy designs and concepts than the knights sets did, which had a more grounded theme (with the exception of wday2 which had dragons and sorcerers. and a gun). i have these two posts explaining some of the worldbuilding in the knights cards. i'm also gonna tag all these posts as #white day au

a few other notes not in any of those posts:

tsukasa's costume is called chivalrous chevalier. chevalier is the french word for knight. based on his card art having him bowing before (presumably) the throne, he's probably very high ranking.

akito's costume is noble paladin. a paladin or palatine is used to refer to a high-ranking heroic knight or a palace official. or the dnd class but that's probably not what's going on here. stems from the 12 paladins in charlemagne's court in medieval romance. definitely some sort of leader

mizuki's costume is called optatio eques. eques if it wasn't obvious is to do with horses, and is latin for horseman or knight (also the latin name for the knight chesspiece). so she's a horseback knight. i mean the others should be as well but they felt the need to specify it here.

len's 2* is called noble squire. squires were lower ranking and were servants to the actual knights, taking care of their armour/gear/horses and accompanying them in battle. sometimes would become an actual knight in future. fun fact, boys usually got the squire role at age 14, which is len's age. also len is probably tsukasa's squire considering he's wxs len here.

we don't know what shiho's class is.

all of them have different colored gem brooches on their collars, possibly related to some sort of class/rank system. aktio has a red gem, mizuki has an emerald green one, and shiho has a yellow-green one like her image color. tsukasa does not have a visible one (presumably under his cape) and len doesn't have one (not a knight).

notably all have a rose as part of their uniform, and also on the flags in akito and mizuki's cards. this will be relevant later. tsukasa's is red with gold accents, akito's is gold, mizuki's is blue, shiho's is the same color as her gem with gold leaves, and len's is also gold but less detailed (again, not a knight). mizuki's is the only one that doesn't appear to be metal. this might also relate to the class/rank system.

toya's costume is called shadow knight. he's a knight. done easy.

rui's costume is called mad sorcerer. again. sorcerer. simple.

kaito's is called wandering gunner. because sure. gun. don't think about it too hard guns are old. not the one in the card mind you. wandering also gives a bit of insight to the role he might play.

miku and saki's cards don't have costumes or names that indicate what they are.

miku is aligned with the imperial soldiers but seems to be a thief. she's got a dagger and is chilling in a trashed building, looking at a market. she possibly or very likely stole her apple from said market.

saki has a spear, so we know she's some sort of warrior/knight. she also is with the imperial soldiers, based on costume design (she has no visible emblem). that said her costume has a lot more brown than any of the others, most notably her shoes and jacket don't match with toya/kaito/miku. no leather either. imo this could possibly point to 1. her being a lower ranking member 2. her having recently joined, or defected and keeping parts from her old outfit, like rui or 3. she styled it how she wanted

as mentioned in one of the linked posts, rui defected. his outfit is based on the knight of white outfits and has their emblem on it still. he also has a red gem on his collar, so he was probably at the same rank as akito (or part of his team, however you interpret those brooches). all the imperial soldiers have red gems somewhere as an accessory, but the design and placement is very specific.

toya has a rose brooch and this is why i told you to remember that. it's completely gold like akito's (the design is slightly different as has no leaves but theyre modeled differently so i'll let it slide), suggesting there was a connection there and maybe toya defected like rui did.

toya also has a dragon and is the only imperial soldier seen with one. this could point to him being the founder and/or leader since their emblem is a dragon.

again suggesting past connection between akito and toya, the dragon is referred to as toya's aibou by the artist's. akito got replaced.

while not confirmed, it's possible that the other members of mmj are part of minori & airi's faction. the windows in minori's card have a three leafed clover as part of the design.

minori and airi are probably part of different ranks given the differences in costume design.

kanade's costume is called fleeting light knight attire and mafuyu's is called abyss knight attire. now this is interesting bc this implies a light side/dark side thing, but as mentioned in one of the linked posts, they are very clearly a part of the same faction, sharing some costume design elements, as well as a four-point star emblem, red gem on their collar, and red gem accessories. this is where things get interesting.

hear me out. so kanade's costume has a similar color palette to the original knights of white set and has the heart design from tsukasa/mizuki's costumes. mafuyu's costume is a darkened version of that color palette (think back to rui's costume being a darkened knights of white one) and also incorporates some leather-looking items, like her cape.

given the set being called "what awaits after the battle" my assumption is that this set, or at least kanade and mafuyu's cards, are set before the wday 1&2 sets, at the start of the war. ik a lot of people assume it's afterwards but the phrasing works for beforehand if put in the context of thinking about the future after the newly started war. and also for the following reasons.

kanade and mafuyu are very clearly part of the same faction. however, kanade's costume bears resemblance to the knights of white ones, while mafuyu's bears resemblance to imperial soldiers.

mafuyu's costume follows the same rules as rui's, being a darkened version of kanade's. given design elements in rui's costume, it's very obvious the intent of him being a defector to the imperial knights side from the knights of white side. the same logic can apply to mafuyu in that case.

we can assume that over time, the light side changed their emblem from a four-pointed to eight-pointed star and adopted the rose thing. aside from that they kept virtually the same color scheme and patterns, and the jewel brooches, on their knight uniforms.

we can also assume that over time, the dark side developed further and adopted their own dress code, keeping the black leather from mafuyu's costume, and her red jewel accessories (see: toya/saki/kaito's earrings and miku's pin).

i don't know what this says for where minori, airi, and ichika fall on the timeline. also rip niigo or something

speaking of ichika, i already mentioned in the linked posts that she's from an entirely unique faction. her costume design doesn't match anyone elses, and she has a unique emblem design that looks like a heart combined with a tear drop. her costume name is illuminated courtyard knight attire which tells us nothing and they fucked the schedule this year and had to do a new theme so who knows if we're even gonna get more knights cards next year.

uh yeah that's all. emu and meiko's costume from the newest wday set have a heart emblem that's kinda similar to the knights of white one but it's different enough that i'd call it a coincidence. the theme doesn't really fit into the knights AU. oh yeah also in the new set the leoni characters have matching star emblems and the wxs characters have matching heart emblems. once again not part of knights au sorry. neither is the power of regret set sorry. i mean you can do what you want tho.

[arcane-ish]

So, my new fandom is real life politics or how Silco and Vander sort of changed my life

I actually wrote this back in the fall of 2024, before Arcane season 2 aired. I thought about posting it like … the week of Arcane premiering but it felt odd because the US election was around the time and in that context… it just felt wrong.

Anyway, you probably don’t know me, but it was like this: Back when Arcane originally aired for a while posted slightly crazy amounts about it. I’m the kind of person who loooooooves long philosophical and analytical exchanges and collecting information.

And then I dropped out cold turkey.

This is not unusual for me, I’m a fandom switcher. Except in this case the new topic I switched to, the two “fandoms” were somewhat oddly related.

I love the concept of Arcane and the themes and dualities it portrays. I love many facets of it, but a major poison of choice for me was Silco x Vander, followed by Timbomb aka Ekko x Jinx. And a big part is pondering the conflicts and different politics of their world view.

And just one major factor was imagining what the politics and lives of the young Vander and Silco looked like and why they fell out. I’m not a fic writer but I’ve tried to dabble (usually too scared to post stuff or too waffly to finish stuff). I thought a lot about what their younger lives might be like (inspired by some fanarts) and doing a litte bit of research into other political figures and how their political movements started out, just what the dynamics in a group like that might be, or just what kind of plots would make sense.

This kind of crossed into my genuine dissatisfaction with real life politics. And now, it’s not the big one that affects the most people, the US, with Trump and everything. I’m from a small European country, our elections already took place and the also sucked (and though it’s probably hybris a lot of the time it feels like we started it or at least were very early). I think a lot about the rise of the global right and how to oppose it, how it interlocks with and blocks so much having to do with climate change, how modern technology promotes radicalism in various shapes, how the right is straining for culture dominance again and is building its own ideology and whether or not the fracturedness of of public and cultured life influences this.

The main reason why I wanted to get involved is … I just really, really hate the guy who leads the way too successful far right in my home country. I hated all the ones before him too, but for various reasons this one feels even worse and not just because of the global influence of Putin. I just didn’t want him getting into power and me wanting to do something to help the opposition to him. I just felt that there was something bad in the air and I wanted to get involved even though the next election was quite a bit away at this time.

And yes a tiny bit was thinking of it of fic research of what discussions and relationships in small pub backroom political groups actually feel and work like. Like even if I washed out of the scene again, at least I would have fic idea, no?

I feel like I’m kind of lucky because my home country actually has some deep old political structures and it’s been kind of interesting trying to navigate through them.

To be honest: trying to get involved was a huge leap. If you try to look at it as a “fandom” it’s just so unfamiliar that it’s just all in real life, giving tons of real life people your phone number. Especially since I’m a person who has always tried to stay deeply pseudonym-based in fandom and never attend any fandom events, I always tried to keep real life and fandom life very separate and to now have a hobby, a “fandom” that doesn’t allow it, was very harrowing. But I decided I wanted to do, because I think the situation is serious and it’s worth it.

One thing that I found interesting how in some parts, the kind of low level politics I do actually does remind me a ton of fandom. To have those low level, normal people sitting around and trying to organize a party or a march or a discussion event and advertise it, form or revive a club, it reminds me so much of fandom and all the fandom weeks and zines and big bangs and art contests and fanfic gift exchanges that people are doing. Fandom I think has taught me a lot about people’s generosity and what people are willing to do just for passion and community. Fandom actually is a good example of something great and amazing that doesn’t run on straight self interest logic. And if it works in fandom, why shouldn’t that work in politics as well? I certainly know that I want more of that out there in real society.

I’ve always felt a little bit on the margins of fandom, because in the end I’m not a fanfic writer, I’m not an artist. But I’ve found my niche I feel in mostly writing long rambly metas and identifying the people who also do that and who like me get joy from gabbing on like that. And by cheerleading and encouraging the talented people in fandom and maybe trying to connect then, carry together and compile information. This is ultimately what I kind of hope to do in politics as well. I don’t want to get elected for anything. I don’t want to stand in front and give speeches. But I do want to identify the people who do that and who I like and believe are well meaning and encourage them and help them be more well known and maybe try to carry out some of the ideas that I think are important. And maybe on occasion find some people to have the real world version of the long fannish conversations with that I enjoy so much in fandom.

So yeah, because of Zaundads, and the fannish encounters and discussions I had because of them, I asked myself a lot of question, about myself, about sexuality, about organizing, about good and bad and what I believe in.

Generally, my plan was to just take a short break from my political stuff doings just long enough to watch season 2, shout about it like maybe till the end of the year and just like before dip out. I fully blame the @zaundadsbigbang for forcing me to stay in at least till that is done. XD

Right now I try to juggle both.

It’s funny. I was hoping to also do politics like I do fandom, where I dip out after a certain amount of time. Ideally, after “the job is done”, where I have encourages the local opposition parties to suck less so they can stand on their own.

But yeah, now with Trump in office, it sure looks like the job isn’t going to be “done” any time soon or just bewhere I think I can just let it slide and trust other people to handle it while I do nothing.

I dunno, I’ve been thinking on whether I should post at least some of my politic-y thoughts to tumblr. Or at least share some real life stories/historical stuff that I think kind of fits Arcane.

Like, one thing I have been thinking about a lot in regards to Arcane (and how it wasn’t a story concerned with politics and revolution in the end) how exactly how we tell those stories and how we can forge them and make them be appealing and believable. And I think Arcane is just a very good sample or jumping off point in that regard.

I dunno, I haven't decided yet.

[prlssprfctn]

To this day, I think the crack-au with Jason joining Bruce Wayne alike competition for fun and accidentally winning, and this becoming a reason why the whole Batfamily finds out that Jason is alive in the first place, is the funniest version of a fix-it scenario.

[bluephoenixprincess]

Last part of this post before i probably make a whole new post to detail the Spicynoodles courting tournament fic i plan to write (if people are interested in hearing that and not just seeing it when i write it)

Whatever Scenario we go with, Mac is going through a rollercoaster of emotions when he learns about all the Courting Tournaments Wukong has been subjected to.

On the one hand his heart is Warmed as he reads between the lines and figures out, at least a little bit, just how commited Wukong was to not taking another Mate after him. (Tho he could also take it in the angsty direction of him feeling like he ruined Wukongs concept of romance and mates so badly the Monkey king couldnt bare the thought of opening himself up to anyone else romantically. Cause he is an angsty Emo monkey)

On the other he's internally raging at the realization of just How many Demons and Celestials dared to treat Wukong as a Prize to be won. And he's not just pissed cause of feeling possesive over his mate, his old instincts as Wukongs Warrior have been popping up more and hears about how much disrespect his King has endured in his absence has him seething.

Macaque also gains a fair bit of grudging respect for The Pilgrims when he learns of the lengths they went to to protect Wukongs heart and Honor.

How Zhu Bajie, despite is usually prickly Attitude toward Wukong, was the most steadfast in getting Suitors to back off whenever they tried to overstep the boundries set by the tournament, and took pride in parading any disqualified rule breakers who tried to breach the Monkey kings rooms.

How Sha Wujings used his Terrifying strength and quiet intimidation to send suitors running by the dozen. Often acting as the main guard for Wukong when he wanted some time alone.

How Ao Lies usual clumsy demeanor fell away to reveal a well of protective fury that became burned into history, unafraid to put his true form between Wukong and those who coveted him.

Even Tripitaka, tho unable to fight on Wukongs behalf, always remained by his Desciples side during the past tournaments, keeping Wukong calm with meditation, lessons and Tea so the Monkey king didnt take any potentially rash actions.

Much as he will always dislike them Macaque has to admit that they did care for Wukong when he could not.

Im thinking Mac finds himself split on what to do about the new tournament initially.

Part of him just wants to courtnap Wukong himself and be done with it, hoping that maybe he's reading between the lines right and wukong will accept him back, but another part of him feels he has no right to take such action.

So he decides to join the tournament and show all these lowlives how little of a chance they ever had at being Wukongs mate. Whether Wukong accepts him back or not.

Whether he disguises himself to enter the tournament or competes as himself, either way Mac is going to school all these losers in how to actually court the monkey king.

Final note i came up with another idea for a courting tournament event! Once the suitors have been whittled down to a managable number, more combat inclined demons might choose to have their suitors spar with them, not with the goal of either side being defeated, but to test compatibility. Yes like pacific rim. Its not a fight. Its a conversation.

Idea: Demon Courting Tournaments

So seeing so many Epic the musical Ithaca Saga AUs for Lego Monkie kid got me turning some thoughts in my head like fidget toys.

At this point i think most of the LMK fandom is familiar with courtnapping as a trope in some way and the afformentioned Ithaca sage aus, especially allthe ones based on The Challenge song, have given me thoughts.

So... what if.

COURTING TOURNAMENTS.

When especially powerful or desirable demons are being pursued by too many Suitors and theyre sick of having to deal with each one individually, a more organized solution is called for.

Ideally with the help of friends and family the sought after demon will call all their suitors together and set forth a series of challenges to win their hand.

Common challenges include things that show off a suitors strength and ability to provide, ya know fighting, races, hunting contests. But also more unexpected things like say, cooking competitions or Art and poetry or a judging of gifts, to determine which suitors actually know the interests or desires of the person theyre courting.

The challenges narrow down the pool of suitors until the final decision is made.

Buuuuuut

If the sought after demon doesnt wish to mate and marry, they can appoint a trusted friend or family member as their "Champion" in the tournament.

The Champion's job is to act according to the pursued demons' best interests, knocking out undesirable suitors, acting as the eyes and ears for them to see if any of the suitors might actually be compatible. Amd if it comes to it, winning the tournament themselves to assert the pursued demons right to remain single.

So where am i going with all this?

Well one i wanna write a Spicynoodles fic with this sort of premise but, while i was planning that i had MORE THOUGHTS.

Specifically thoughts about Wukong.

Sun Wukong returning home from his legendary journey now a god, a hero and, to his dismay ...

Single.

With Macaque's absence and presumed demise, Wukong finds himself with dubious honor of being perhaps the most eligible single demon in all of Asia, much to his chagrin.

Not only does he have no desire to find a new mate (he has... had a mate, his only mate, his dear lost Moonlight) The increasingly frequent attempted courtnappings are interfering with his efforts of rebuilding Flower Fruit Mountain (His Kingdom, His people all he has left except his pilgrim brothers).

Its pissing him off to say the least. And perhaps one or two especially powerful suitors wind up causing Wukong to make enough of a commotion that Heaven urges Wukong to find a more Orderly Solution.

A Courting Tournament.

Wukong is Annoyed but if this spectacle results in him finally getting some peace and quiet hell do it.

The Pilgrims are at his side through the whole fiasco.

And it works... for a time.

See the Handsome Monkey King, Great Sage Equal to Heaven, the Victorious Fighting Buddha, is just to tempting of a potential mate for all these demons to take the hint.

So in his long Life Wukong has to Suffer through multiple courting tournaments being held in his dubious honor so that all these randy demons will get the hell off his mountain.

At least 3 happen. One of Wukongs Pilgrim brothers acting as his Champion each time, all of them fighting increasingly fiercely to protect their Little Big Brother from the careless affections of his many suitors.

[danieyells]

Acimo unscrambles into Camio, and Camio is depicted as standing on burning coals when answering questions, which I assume is the aspect of it that grants Ritsu his pseudo-invulnerability

And I imagined that when Ritsu made his wish it was something like to be unshakeable and impenetrable. He mostly meant it figuratively but as @ritsu-shinjo puts it, being immune to being punched in the face makes Ritsu very smug.

And I imagined that Camio gave him a trial. Just a little one. Maybe even before he made the wish--Leo said the demons chose them after all, so I can imagine that Camio tested Ritsu before he was ever in a situation where he would be desperate enough to sell his soul for a wish.

Ritsu found himself in some vast void or pit in hell or something. But the only thing of note between him and the bird-demon watching him was a little road of burning coals. And all Camio asked him to do was walk to where he stood across the coals. If it hurt too much or he was too frightened the path was narrow enough that he could go off the side. But if he truly believed himself worthy of the change he desired--if he really wanted to be able to help his father--he need only walk through the coals, for the trials ahead of him in life would be equally difficult, if not moreso. His soul was the only cost. But he would live normally. Should Camio need more of him, such as to use his soul while his body lived on or some such, he would know.

Ritsu, of course, requested this contract in writing. It was provided and signed(Camio 'signed' with one of his little clawed bird feet in red. . .'ink'--unsettling but not all that different from a hanko stamp Ritsu supposed) and Ritsu looked at this coal path and his bare feet(this was definitely a dream because his pajamas had mysteriously disappeared and he felt unbothered by his own nudity) and. He walked. And it burned but he was determined. He was worthy. He wasn't going to back down.

And the coals started to give way and sink a bit. They sank his ankles and they burned the whole of his feet. But he kept walking through them, trying to lift his feet up further to unsink himself. But he sank further, down to his calves. It wasn't too late to turn back and escape--but he refused to show weakness or doubt in himself. He wasn't going to show weakness to some nightmare. He kept walking and sank further--knees thighs hips and finally one step just dropped him wholly into a pit where the coals swallowed him completely.

At first he was terrified--but he realized it. Didn't hurt? It was a little hard to breathe, the fire was swallowing his oxygen, but he wasn't in pain. And if he moved his arms or legs the coals moved out of the way. He felt extremely warm, like burning, but not pain and feom what little he could see of his own hands through the coals he wasn't. Burning at all. His body was fine.

He kept walking in the direction he'd been facing. He felt a wall in front of him and when he pressed his hand against it he felt the coals covering him fall away to the ground around him and he was back in his room, pajamas back where they ought to be, no hellish void and his skin cooling down, the only coal left burning in his own hand with the little demon bird stood atop it.

It sang and for a moment he understood. Congratulatory. "Well done, Coalwalker."

The bird flapped its wings and the coal in his hand turned to the contract they had signed, Camio itself becoming a thick smoke he inhaled with a sharp gasp but didn't feel any need to cough from his lungs.

"Should you need the agreed upon strength again, you need only recite the incantation: Acimo."

"Acimo. . . ." He felt stiff, but not tense. Heavy, but not weighed down by his body. Sliding, and tilting, and-- "aah!"

His mattress slid and tilted sideways off of his bed, depositing him onto the floor with a thump much louder than he was sure was truly necessary, his bedside table sliding along the floor some from his head thumping against it. It didn't hurt despite that he felt his elbow collide with the floor--and when he squinted into the dark, hearing his mother running down the hall towards his room in response to the noise, he was certain he saw a divot in the wood where he'd cracked it on impact. None on the rest of the floor at least, but it seemed the desire to be 'unshakeable' had manifested in an increased density.

"Ritsu! Are you alright!?" His mother called into his room. "I'm coming in, okay?"

"Yes, that's fine--I'm alright. . . ." He wasn't in any pain at all. Not from his elbow in the floor or his head hitting the corner of the table. No pain, no blood, no disorientation beyond what was expected from sliding down suddenly--and the sudden lights from the hall and his room light turning on once his mother had opened the door and run over. She reached out to examine him, worried for his wellbeing. Noted his tension--the stiffness that hardened his body when he recited that incantation--and he reassured her that he was simply tense from suddenly waking up falling down. Something guided him to how he could disable the power and he 'relaxed' with a few deep breaths before his mother could worry over him further, although she still insisted on a quick trip to the emergency room to make sure he hadn't had some sort of seizure or fractured anything in his fall.

They replaced his bedframe and had the floor repaired in the coming weeks.

On the way home from the emergency room with his clean bill of health, his mother pointed out to him how rare and odd it was to see a thrush so far into the city. It tweeted at him, and he knew it was for him though he no longer understood its song, and flew away.

It would be a long time before he found use for the physical power he'd been given, but knowing that he was practically immune to physical pain bolstered his mind. Unshakeable. Impenetrable.

He need only become a fully fledged lawyer--the best lawyer in Japan--and he would absolve his father of the mounting accusations against him. This wish was only a piece in his true wish.

Nothing would get in his way, now that he had walked the coals.

[beanghostprincess]

Sanji has a thing for hands and at this point, everybody knows they turn him on, but I think we don't talk enough about the thousands of Sanuso possibilities it gives us.

Usopp works with his hands. In every way. When he is building stuff or when he is taking care of his plants. His whole fighting style is using his hands. And Usopp casually just happens to canonically be around the kitchen sometimes to do his little experiments. So I'm just saying here that Sanji gets no work done. Like. At all. He just stares at Usopp's hands constantly to the point of being worrisome.

He has already fainted more than fifteen times. Chopper is amazed at how much blood he has been losing lately. Usopp has absolutely no fucking idea this is because of his hands specifically and so whenever he tries to help Sanji get up after fainting (quite obviously grabbing him by the hips or shoulders or whatever) Sanji just. Starts bleeding more. He is dying. But he dies really happy.

[fayewoodss]

The reason I made this post was because after multiple people spoke to you asking you to leave all of us alone, you continued posting about us and crossing our boundaries while expecting us to respect yours. I don't speak for Vera, she isn't even on Tumblr anymore, but the links I included mentioning her or about her also included generalization and vague mentions to the people friends with Vera and surrounding Vera. Many of those posts were made after the inciting event of the controversy of my art. So let me get into it as well:

7. "all ive gotten from this is 1. theyre still talking about it in discord and tumblr while simultaneously saying that u should stop talking about it 2. theyre victim complex is so bad they cant seem to decipher whats real or not 3. theyre still stalking ur blog and talking about 2 anons that r riding u and 2 blogs who keep liking ur posts 4. none of them know how to move on" (anon)

call me the sun the way i’m at the center of everyone’s universe (mar)

Yes, this is a post about Vera, but includes reference to the group of friends talking to Vera. This happened when my art was still up for debate and there were still eyes on my blog and anons in my askbox that I was deleting and trying to avoid.

9. "I’m glad i wasn’t there for them defending drawing the right to draw dream fat or whatever they did" (anon)

‘just wait until mar stalks my posts and posts about how she hates this art!’ so like do you got a rolodex of my opinions on everything because i’m just repeating what i’ve already said about wolfylyn’s art about another artist that’s like giggling at predicting someone saying the sun is bright (mar)

This is a direct response to Vera defending me and, yes, while you are talking about your opinion on Wolflyn's art, you are clearly stating that you are doing this again to a new artist, me. Again, note the date and how even if this was a conversation about Vera, it was in response to the drama following my art.

10. "it is such a big problem all her friends have to join in and start talking about it :( oh but what about the "dogpiling" nen received and how vera hated every ounce of it but its ok once its mar right? mar cant express opinions without getting shit talked in a private discord and theyre the ones who r dragging this out for no reason but mar the bad guy okay" (anon)

mind you this started with me saying we should draw dream how he actually looks on my own blog then the clown brigade had to come in with how they think it’s sooo funny how they predicted me bringing up something i’ve already talked about having an issue with before? i know it’s a foreign concept but the world doesn’t revolve around vera i saw the art on my mainblr account and wanted to talk about it here so like congrats? you dug your own grave? (mar)

Your response to this ask started with a direct response to me and my art. Again, not only about Vera.

11. can’t even comment on art you don’t like without someone turning into a big 3-day ethical dilemma with about ten different side plots. because of woke. (mar)

Reference to me and my art. I know you say this is simply referencing the "catalyst" and "context" of all this, but you yourself admitted that your issues with Vera at the time were separate from the art. If this was truly about Vera, there would've been no reason to mention me. And even then adding that context alludes to me.

12. she’s not other blogs she doesn’t like doing this how admirable what do you want a purple heart or a sticker or something for also engaging in fandom wank but in a more ‘respectable’ way i’m trying to gauge how we should be adequately extolling your virtues here (mar)

The initial reason I thought this was about me was because it was posted immediately after I made a post about how upset I was with the anons I was getting and the unnecessary hate, not critique, hate I was receiving. In my post I mentioned planning on deleting a lot of the anons, especially ones where I tried to use humor to deflect strawman arguments, so when that post was shared with me I assumed it was mocking me as if I were acting from a high horse. I've since deleted that posts and a lot of the asks I received during that time.

This was my mistake in perception.

15. "i brought up a point to her about how she sat and defended nen for having an opinion which was straight up invalidating dreams sexuality but she finds a problem with u expressing ur opinion on artwork that is genuinely weird and now she wants to say "im not responding to u" like ok! i see where ur head is at now 😅 it was never about real problems and finding issues with stuff its plain old favoritism" (anon)

guys remember opinions are opinions and valid unless i’m the one expressing them it gives me +1 fandom oppression points i also get one for being the only drolo here do you feel bad for me please do (mar)

About Vera, references my art.

16. "I feel insane because Dream is skinny he's just broad but he's skinny like being broad doesn't cancel out skinny" (anon)

every other week someone sees a new picture of him and is literally terrified that he’s wasting away like that’s how skinny he looks sometimes broad is big but not big the way you’re drawing him (mar)

Universal "you" or not, this was still posted on the same day the drama took place and my ask box was flooded for nearly 10 hours straight. I still think this point stands as a reference to me because it is not removed from the context of the drama because the context is me and my art.

17. post

I reacted negatively to this one because of the situation and the context, but I agree that it shouldn't be included now.

18. can i cry bullying because it’s them and their entire friend group ‘harassing’ little old me (mar)

Once again, about Vera but a reference to the group surrounding her, including me and the inciting drama at this time. You were still actively checking my blog and my activity at that time, as well as the other people surrounding Vera.

19. and 23.

You deleted these after I made my post. They were still up for four months. I did not get screenshots to display the content of the posts and with how much I had to search through, I cannot remember them off the top of my head, but they were included for a reason and clearly deleted before your response.

33. reading people now having to reluctantly concede dream some grace because of that reddit post because they couldn’t figure out on their own or remember all the harassment that preceded this and put it into context themselves to understand that literally the entire point is there are a certain set of rules about everything and they always get rewritten so that they don’t apply to him and he can get attacked (mar)

#but even with that there’s the bizarre stipulations that he should’ve talked to someone before he posted that <3 like he’s some kind of#fucking child who shouldn’t be allowed to do anything himself gtfo#fandom wank (tags)

I included this because it was posted after a post I made gained traction and in my tags I mentioned how I think he should've spoken to somebody before posting any of this happened and I was the only one at the time having specifically said that publically.

35. post

I included this as it was a continued post about me, PT, and those surrounding us that have all asked you to stop posting and leave us out of it where you continued to post about this "super secret private situation that you couldn't talk about."

36. post

Same as previous.

37. post

I included this because "critique" has most commonly been used by you and other blogs in reference to my art, and the general mocking of people within this group. Prev applies.

38. post

I don't know what exactly you and PT talked about and I do not speak for PT, but in our own group there was a lot of discussion about the discomfort and grief caused by behavior and posts that seemed to target all of PT's close friends. This wasn't a case of us rallying PT to stand up to you and break ties, but PT expressing their own discomfort and unsure how to go about it. Even after they expressed their discomfort, you continued the very same behavior that upset them, disrespecting that conversation while expecting them to uphold that respect/boundary for you.

You do not know the full scope of my engagement in this fandom or any of that matter. I don't know what makes you think that I would otherwise condemn the behavior of my friends if we had dissenting opinions. I share many dissenting opinions with my friends and there is content that I don't personally engage with from them. On top of that, most of the content I do engage with is headcanon related to rpf, fics, art, or screencaps. As far as engaging in certain spaces I "don't have the mindset for," I don't think this is a fair point because all of this started with crit blogs and anons coming into MY space, knowing MY content, and being aware of MY posts and discussions. I am always very open to discussion and new information or ideals, even if I don't fully agree with certain perspectives or issues. I don't think I have to be everyone's friend, and I don't think everyone has to be friends with me, but I try to treat people with respect and fairness until it becomes clear that there was no respect to be given to me. Why would I respect somebody that doesn't want to engage in good faith conversation and would rather insult me, even if we disagree?

The only issue I have had in this fandom has been with you and the way your blog has stoked flames against me and my friends. The very first ask I got about the drama with my art was "Now why is Dreamie fat," which is not a conversation starter that seems open to discussion, so it immediately raised red flags as veering into a bad faith discussion, so I responded very tongue and cheek both in post and tags. Immediately, I followed this up with a sincere and neutral explanation of the au and my intentions with this art. I also received this ask that opened with "The fact that one embraces being overweight is amazing..." which comes off backhanded with the use of a medical term in a conversation about body neutrality/positivity. I explain this in the post while also giving benefit of the doubt, recognizing and validating the concern, but standing by the art and beliefs I believe to be true. There are several other posts I kept up from that time that, once again, show how I validate, understand, and agree with some of the opposing opinions and critiques.

I don't know how you want me to personally respond about whatever happened on critblr. I didn't see it. I wasn't a part of it. But you've lumped me in with a group you have issue with and you've made that very clear. When I was dragged into this, not knowing who you were, I didn't feel like I was spared any offense and I can only speak to how my name has been dragged through all of this.

39. post

I included this post because historically you've lumped me in with this group despite me not being crit, and you've tracked my activity with and around blogs that are crit or crit-adjacent, PT's blog being one of them. Also I have been the only blog using "gautism" as a tag and actively discussing speculation around George and neurodivergency, so that's not so out of reach to believe it's related to me. You can look up the tag, or search any posts connecting George and autism, and you'll see it is almost completely me, with most posts that aren't mine being years old.

43. 44. 45. 46.

I included these for the same reasons I mentioned previously. I understand they aren't directly about/referencing me, yet all of these posts came right after my own direct discussions about George's possible neurodivergency. Once again, I am the leading blog talking about this topic and haven't seen others publicly commenting on this. My posts were directly referenced/quoted in 40 and 41, proving that you and your anons had to be actively surveying my blog, also the direct link to my blog. My blog was the diving point for this conversation and the points referenced in it.

So even going off of what you have presented, these posts, except the ones I have admitted to wrongly including upon retrospect, prove a pattern of actively tracking my blog and my activity, inciting and/or entertaining inflammatory conversation about me and my art, or discuss a situation/group that involves me and my connection to Vera. Even with what you've disproved and whatever percentages that relates to the rest of your blog, you've still made me a point of conversation and mockery, with little valid or fair criticism, in the last four months of me not interacting or engaging with you.

I blocked the two blogs of yours I knew existed and you still went through the time and effort to bypass my blocks to read through my blogs, including reading non-fandom related posts for one indirect mention of you being that I've only blocked one person. A post you had to scroll through 10-15 other posts to even find to then read through the tags. Even within the friend group, there were many instances where someone would post something and it would be posted onto you blog within the hour. Whether it's me, or someone adjacent to me, we've been a constant target of mockery on your blog, not criticism. You claim that the majority of this is about Vera and not me or anyone else in my group, but the fact is that you have posted about me continuously even without Vera even being on Tumblr anymore.

I have received criticism in the past that was fair. I received criticism for my spreadsheet on content statistics when I unintentionally left out Dream's Twitter Spaces and appearances. When I received backlash for that, I admitted my mistake, amended the spreadsheet, and allowed anons to help me fill in content I missed. I directly messaged with Hata about this and had a very respectful and fun conversation about the spreadsheet and fandoms. I love critique and criticism that promotes constructive and thoughtful discussion surrounding discourse. I make the effort to engage in discourse in genuine and meaningful ways. I've made mistakes and I've been sarcastic and joking in my responses, but I've corrected past mistakes and still done what I could to provide relevant and fair responses.

What I don't appreciate is needless assumption and blame surrounding my personhood, and more often than not, that's what this has been and this all upholds it.

All of this started because of one drawing of a fictional au based on Dream Team that was meant to be a silly, lighthearted "for the girls" kinda thing. It isn't my true representation of the Dream Team, and it's not the main focus of my blog, and never has been. I've only drawn Claire four times. Majority of the discussion has been about the two pieces I drew of her way back in November. The way I draw Claire is not the way I draw cc!Dream, and that's evident from the simplest scroll through my art tag. You've labeled me the "Dream Fat Artist" all because of one au with only four drawings of Claire, compared to the roughly 30+ times I have drawn Dream as a cartoon version of what he actually looks like (with the exception of one of those being him as a popsicle and another being him as a cat beanie).

If any of this were truly about Vera, you wouldn't feel the need to continue reading my blog, continue referencing my content, and continue posting about my blog long after the inciting issue. If any of this were still about Vera, you wouldn't need to bring up Surecop (Dot), Dizzy, Catnon, or PT. You wouldn't need to speculate on the identities of Golo blogs and keep track of who owned what URLs. You wouldn't feel the need to directly quote or respond to tags in posts about topics you would never have brought up without having read through mine or others' content.

(If we really want to bring Vera into any of this, you can find reposts of her original arguments here.)

I never claimed you were trying to "run me off" either. I've had this blog for years and cycled through dozens of fandoms and fandom drama and controversy. I've never faced someone who has behaved the way you have toward me and the people surrounding me. I've never posted on this blog with the fear that someone was watching me and reporting my activity the way I've felt that anxiety with you and your anons. I posted my message to you because I was fed up, overwhelmed, and truly at a breaking point knowing that you would be on my blog no matter what, and I didn't want to feel isolated and helpless over it anymore.

I've talked to so many people outside of the fandom about this and how much it has affected me and how to cope with the distress, which is why I took every step I could to avoid and ignore you. But none of that worked and you were still posting about me and anons were still in my inbox every week. I just want it to stop. Genuine full stop.

I won't be responding to this any further. I hope you have a good day following this and that you find joy in this fandom and Dream Team content again soon. I wouldn't want anyone to feel like they need to leave or deactivate for any reason.

I just want to be left alone by you.

I've been pushed to an extreme recently and I need to get this off my chest for my own sanity. I've been ignoring this for months and doing what I can to avoid it, but things have increasingly gotten worse and I'm at a breaking point.

I know there are a lot of people keeping tabs on my blog for all the wrong reasons. This has led to a lot of my posts, fandom related and not, being taken and manipulated in ways to frame me negatively and warp any and all of my genuine intentions. I've done my best to address situations brought directly to me in good faith and with sensitive context, but everything has gotten out of hand and turned into a situation that has left me paranoid, anxious, and distraught. I need it to stop, even though I know it most likely won't.

This all started with my first drawing of the Dream Team girlfailures au in November and how I drew Claire. I understand the issue people had with it and I recognize some of the counter arguments and their valid points, but I think I explained my points well and they are equally valid. I stand by my explanation and I won't be rehashing all of it. The most I'll say is that my representations of cc!Dream in fandom context and of Girlfailures!Dream/Claire as an AU character are derived of a similar foundation but the latter is a fictional entity and not the real man.

I am always open to critique and discussion, but the feedback I've received and the long standing fixation on that art piece hasn't always been good faith critique, and has much more often been harassment and degradation of me as a person. That one drawing has led to an ongoing issue with what I would consider to be stalking and harassment.

Mar, @/cuntdrolo, has made at least 50 posts about and/or involving me, in those either directly linking my blog, indirectly mocking me and my posts, and harping on topics and discussions I was an active participant in. She claims none of this is harassment and stalking, that all of it is derived from me being a "sensitive golo" and normal fandom drama, when it's not. This hasn't been about fandom drama for a long time.

The only time I've directly interacted with her was to send her this message today:

She responded and blocked me, which is what I wanted, but has continued to post about me and this entire situation (which involves other people but I won't be dragging them into my part of this).

Here is a list of every post about me since mid-November. A few links I know for certain are missing, but I was unable to find the posts and two screenshots I had from that time saying I deserved to be killed for my art were deleted long ago. You will have to take my word for that unless I find them, but I understand and respect it if you don't.

I know she won't stop. I know there are people who will agree with her and support her, seeing only one side of this all. I don't care if people like my art. I don't care if people like me. I just want to be left alone and enjoy this fandom space without feeling like every action of mine is being watched and picked apart to an audience that don't know me and don't care to know me.

I've been in fandoms my whole life. I've dealt with plenty of fandom and personal drama. I've never experienced something to this degree of obsession, stalking, and harassment. I know a lot of this may get twisted back on me, but know I've done so much to ignore this and move on, but after this week with so much more being brought to my attention. I cracked.

Do not go to her blog. Do not interact with her posts. Do not send her anons. Do not involve yourself in this beyond reading this post and understanding my current mindset.

I don't want to be involved in this anymore. Stop making posts about me and leave me alone.

Thank you.

[magicalgirlmascot]

We know a little about Vakama’s family, and Nuju’s… did you have any details worked out about some of the other Turaga’s families?

A little bit! Not a whole lot tbh.

Vakama has been no contact with his parents at least since he became a Turaga. They were neglectful and very much the kind of parents who check out of their kid's life when he starts showing signs of neurodivergence, blaming him for not being "normal." I mentioned at one point Lhikan sitting the Metru down and telling them they needed a will and a POA, and that was the catalyst for Vakama cutting them out. He suddenly realized that if something happened to him, even if it was just a car accident and not Toa related at all, they'd be the ones making decisions for him and that scared him.

Nuju gets along with Kualus better now than when they were younger. The age gap didn't help (their parents were fairly young when they had Nuju and then Kualus was Baby Oops 10 years later) but Hot Beast Summer ultimately served to make Nuju realize just how much he'd been ignoring that relationship. They argue still, but they are quite close. Their parents live a good distance away so they don't see them often. Possibly in another province. Or maybe they moved to California after retirement and their ice elemental sons refuse to visit them there lol

Whenua is also no contact with his family but didn't do that until a few years into his marriage. They were not happy about him marrying a man (and a disabled one at that) and no matter how much he tried to get through to them they refused to change. He stuck it out for as long as he did because he was raised on the idea of "traditional family values" (and all the bullshit that comes with), but eventually it became too much. He doesn't regret it, he can't, but it does make him deeply sad in a way that Vakama (and Lewa) aren't about their families.

(At one point I was going to have a chapter or two about Whenua dealing with his father passing and all the complicated feelings about that. But I couldn't find a good place for it, and then my grandmother died in the spring and writing about a funeral service was hitting a bit too close to home. It might show up as a short story someday but for now it's pretty firmly tabled.)

Nokama is very much an oldest sibling. Of how many I'm undecided, but she's definitely the oldest. She's used to being in charge, which is where her whole "does whatever she thinks is best without asking" thing comes from. (Contrast with Gali, who also has Oldest Daughter Syndrome but was also the youngest sibling, so not only was she given responsibilities her brothers often weren't, but also her brothers never listened to her ever because she's the baby.)

Matau grew up in a pretty loud and chaotic blended family situation where he was the second youngest of five. It was a home full of love, but also full of yelling kids. So Matau has absolutely no trouble dealing with loud groups of children lol. As far as he's concerned that is childhood's default volume.

Onewa had a tough home life, but unlike the others I haven't really decided what that looks like yet. He strikes me as the sort of person who ran away from home several times before he was even in high school yet.

[happypeachsludgeflower]

Have I mentioned lately that Hall of Judgement by Rona23 and revised by CitadelVeilt and Theroundbartable is fantastic?? Because it is. I love it so much. All three did an excellent job. Basically, Merlin and the knights get stuck in a labyrinth and the only way to out is if someone can pass judgment for all their mistakes in life. Every so often, I’ll be minding my own business going about my day and then I’ll remember it exists and I have to go back and reread it because it’s such a good story.

[hana-bobo-finch]

erm…..posting about an OC via a rushed shitpost was not on my 2025 bingo card!! 😂😂😂😂😂😂get it??? 😂😂😂because his name is bingo??(GETS SHOT)

these are all things he has done or has attempted to do so consider this the full intro post for that freak for now. he’s still too undercooked to fully introduce but damn I love him

[razzledazzletrassh]

no major fic updates just yet guys TAKE MY WOY OC I MADE LIKE. April of last year IM PLUGGING SOME INFO ABOUT THIS GUY IN THE TAGS.

I may also redesign her soon or something. Make her more bug-like with some stuff. I can cook guys let me cook !!!

[lover-of-mine]

No but reformed self diagnosed sex addict who's actually just a bisexual disaster that uses sex as a bad coping mechanism to have someone pay attention to him even if only temporarily falling in love with his demisexual best friend who craves the stability of a partnership like the one they have before anything else is actually yet another way Buck and Eddie complete each other's lifes and abandonment issues.

[coriander-candlesticks]

Introductions ✨✨

Hey! I'm Coriander. It's not what I go by in my other blogs on here but I want to keep things a bit more separate, at least at first. This is gonna be a long one (sorry) so I'm adding a cut.

I'm exploring Hellenic polytheism, and have only recently started, but it's something I've been considering, in a way, for over a year. I don't have a big, intense story that marks the beginning for me; I didn't necessarily feel a personal, spiritual connection to any of the deities from the time I was a young child in the way others describe, and I haven't had an intense experience that marked the beginning of my path.

I've always felt drawn to Greek mythology, though. I have a distinct memory of laying on my stomach on the floor of the school library in 3rd or 4th grade, reading a picture book about Hades and Persephone. It kept my attention the way others - even Egyptian mythology, another major interest - didn't. I, of course, had the classic queer kid experience of being super into the Percy Jackson series for a while, but my interest in it predated that. The specific deities I've been drawn to have changed somewhat as I've grown up, and they definitely shaped some of my interests. But delving into them again has helped me see connections that weren't explicitly connected to Greek mythology. I felt drawn to Athena growing up, for example, and my love of owls was definitely shaped by that. Even though that has settled into the background somewhat, that connection has persisted in things like my knitting and desires to dye yarn and learn how to weave (side note: I associate crochet more with Apollo, actually, despite it also being a fiber art). I felt connected to Artemis and Persephone as a kid, but that waned as I got older, discovered I was trans, and began my transition. I've felt connected to Hestia and her quiet hearth-keeping since I learned about her: I've always strived to make myself & my space safe and welcoming for others, and being told I succeeded in that is one of the best compliments I've received. But my interests in the morbid (ex Pompeii & the Paris catacombs), psychopomps, rocks & minerals, and keys weren't explicitly related to Hades. Some of the connections didn't click until I started to look into him more seriously about a year ago. I was an artist and had interests in writing, poetry, singing, and playing instruments long before it actually clicked that all of those fell into Apollo's domain, as I associated Athena far more with visual arts as a kid. I also didn't realize that he & Artemis cover diseases (another long-running interest) until very recently. The concept of xenia, too, was something I grew up with to some extent, even though no one called it that. My father modelled it to my siblings and I; I even learned about it within the context of ancient Greece at some point growing up and it stuck with me, despite not knowing the name.

I grew up Mormon, and was incredibly devout until college, when the pandemic forcibly separated me from that environment and I not only discovered that I was queer in several ways, but realized that the Church 1) wasn't safe to stay in and 2) wasn't actually true (which came later, when I started to get over my fear of reading "anti-Mormon literature"). During that period between those two realizations I got into tarot and using plants and crystals for their correspondences (two other interests growing up), as well as using rocks to ground myself. At that time, I considered myself a "liminal Mormon", and was reaching out to Heavenly Mother specifically via tarot. But as it set in that Mormonism specifically, and Christianity generally, wasn't for me, I got more and more interested in modern witchcraft separated from the belief system I was raised in.

It never quite felt right, though. The constant need for protections and doing something "the right way" lest things backfire and you invite the wrong thing into your home, or hurt yourself, or others, or or or, made my anxious & scrupulous brain go into overdrive. I wasn't even sure I believed in it spiritually, or if I was just interested in it from a mindfulness standpoint, and staring down the barrel of comically high piles of research without knowing where to start was exhausting. The concept of dual deities, the Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine, put a bad taste in my mouth (which bled over into Persephone for a while because she and Hades are often used to symbolize those archetypes- sorry Persephone). But, not wanting to listen too much to my discomfort (since part of it may have been, and probably was, prior conditioning), I pushed ahead and actually completed one ritual that had all of the steps - cleansing, representations of the four elements and directions, etc. - and was very carefully designed to leave room for growth and change. It represented the start of my path. I still have the jar I made during the ritual, though I'm still trying to figure out what to do with it.

Around that time, I was considering whether or not to work with deities- specifically Hades, as that was who I felt the most drawn to at the time. The idea interested me, but I wasn't sure if it was from an academic or spiritual angle. I'd really only seen deity work from a modern witchcraft/neo-pagan perspective which, again, didn't sit right with me. On top of that, I wasn't quite ready to let go of Christianity even though I already functionally had, and was terrified of doing something "wrong" and getting, for lack of a better term, sent to (figurative) hell. I decided to do a simple "yes/no" tarot pull and got about the clearest "no" you can get: a reversed Ace of Swords. So I decided to let it rest and that, if I ever felt drawn to it again, I could re-approach the topic.

So, for over a year, I didn't touch it. Continuing with witchcraft after the ritual didn't feel right, either, so my altar collected dust while I tried to sort out my spirituality (or lack thereof). I settled on "I don't know and that's okay" and left it at that, trusting that when the time came, and I had more energy and mental space, that I would be able to start looking into things again.

I never truly stopped thinking about the idea of deity work/worship, though. It was always in the back of my mind. I figured it was because of the way I was raised and tried to sever my idea of spirituality from how I was conditioned while I worked through my religious trauma, got on anxiety medication, and learned more about myself and how I interacted with the world (including that I have both ADHD and autism, something that surprised no one).

Recently I talked with a witchy friend about my thoughts on divinity and what is or isn't out there (neither of us were sure but we both felt like there was something), and that conversation gave me the button I needed to start looking into paganism again. I realized at work a week or two later that I could just look up the different paths of paganism (a term I'd recently heard that hadn't clicked before then) and see if there was one that did fit. The first site I found not only had a clear, concise explanation for belief systems I hadn't knowingly come across before, but it touched on Hellenic polytheism and gave a recommendation for someone to watch to learn more about it. And unlike the sharp knot in my chest that warned me away from attending BYU, and going on a mission, and delving further into modern witchcraft as I'd been introduced to it, learning about Hellenic polytheism felt right. It was heavy and grounding and like home. Many of the issues I'd had with other neo-pagan systems - the constant vigilance & protections & concerns over trickster spirits, for example - simply didn't exist there, or were approached very differently. I still had a mental block about it, though, and realized it was because of that tarot pull a year prior. So I did another one, and got a clear "Yes, jump right in. We're waiting for you". And that's where I've been since which, granted, hasn't been for very long. I've felt especially connected to Apollo and Aphrodite recently, who I believe reached out in a different tarot pull recently - using the same card, actually - which is interesting because while I've appreciated different ways Aphrodite has been depicted, I haven't felt very connected to her in a way I realized was her until recently. It makes sense, though- I got into my first relationship around the same time I did that ritual, and not only are we still together a year later, but a trinket I used to ground myself during those first few months is also pretty directly associated with her. I'm planning on adding it to her altar/shrine area as soon as I find it (it's also still amongst the moving wreckage).

But anyway, hi! If you read this far thank you for taking the time out of your day to do so. If anyone has recommendations for books or other educational resources, or discord servers/other online forum-esque communities, please feel free to share. I've been enjoying looking through the tags and getting a feel for the community here, too; hopefully I'm here to stay.

[vim-flam]

remembered that show "stella street", which was a comedy series about random actors and musicians who lived normal lives as neighbours on the same road, and realised the only difference between this and someone's au rpf is that one of them got commissioned to be on tv.