#i'm gonna stop rambling now

[lazycowboynerd]

I just want to be near a Broadway theater. Like, I don't even have to be in it, just in the general vicinity; that would be really great

[gender-luster]

yes, exactly! though the point of this post is not how dracula loves, or what he does with it, the point is that he affirms that he can and does love at all. which is pretty unusual for unsympathetic villains. but it's important, because love is not this pure infallible thing. love is a feeling, love is an emotion, love is what you do with it. love is morally neutral, and (as dracula shows in the novel, and is mentioned in these tags) it can be just as flawed and messy as any other emotion. love does not automatically make things good, and the absence of love does not make them bad. people can do just as many bad and terrible things with love as they can good. whether the actions are a direct result of their love or are simply uninfluenced by their capacity for and feelings of it. someone else in the notes stated that love is a feeling, but goodness and kindness are choices, and that is so true! and i wish that more people would consider all this when they're writing (especially villains) because what they so often do is fall into the idea that "absence of love = evil" which just contributes to the continuous demonization of aspec (specifically arospec) people. now, having said all that, i'd just like to reiterate the base meaning of the original post, which is: dracula personally affirming his own ability and capacity for love is so important because 1.) it does not make him any more sympathetic or any less villainous. and 2.) it refutes the idea that he is a villain because he lacks love. and that really holds a lot of meaning (to me, at least)

unironically, one of my favourite things about dracula and something that i keep thinking about is during the may 16th entry where, after dracula has saved jonathan from the brides, the one says to him "you yourself never loved; you never love!" and dracula responds with "yes, i too can love; you yourselves can tell it from the past. is it not so?"

dracula is not evil because he is loveless. he's not loveless at all. he can and does love, and yet he is still evil. love is not the opposite of evil, and i absolutely hate the idea and tropes that are basically just like 'what makes a villain sympathetic is their ability to love. and more evil/unsympathetic villains don't have the ability to love' but bram stoker refutes that idea with this line, because dracula is pretty much entirely unsympathetic, yet still he himself confirms his own capacity for love

and idk, as a loveless aromantic, this tiny detail just means so much to me

[excali8ur]

Weird dream.

[mattodore]

birthday boy 🎂

[eyes-of-nine]

truly what a guy

[scarapanna]

[WIP] Some more updates!!!

I've been quiet recently, but got a bunch of stuff in the works for y'all!!

I'm still working on those paper puppets for a little project regarding intertwined opposites (Possibly one of the most ambitious things I've ever worked on so far) and found a proper way to introduce that new au I'm working on!!

Here are two more paper puppets for the big pmv

And a few sneak peaks for the new au!!

(Doodles+notes alongside a silly little meme with a sprite edit of pewpaw)

I'm working on an info post for it, progress has been slow however since I wanna prioritize the pmv again (Started it on june, stagnated a long period, and went back to work on it. I'm dead set on finishing it this summer AND stubborn/silly).

[Personal reminder: Beetle stop starting wips when you're already busy/silly]

[lady-lauren]

I like never really come on here and, I dunno, talk. So here goes.

It's been a long time since I've published any fanfic, tbh a long time until recently that I was even writing anything. But now that I have been writing, I've gotten in my feels.

I've been asking myself why I do this. Why do I spend hours upon hours writing fanfiction of all things, why have I spent more than a decade of my life doing this on and off?

Then I reminded myself that it makes me happy. I'm not wasting an entire weekend when I stay home and write until my laptop gets too hot. I'm not losing time. I'm not doing something without purpose.

The purpose just has to be happiness.

Why I'm typing this all out for once, I don't know. Maybe the silly little thoughts finally got too heavy so I felt like making someone else bear the weight.

Maybe I want you to know that what you're doing, what you're creating, drawing, writing, isn't pointless. It's part of your life. You're creating something from inside of you that only you can make, even if it's fanfic or original content or whatever it is.

Just... don't give up on yourself, let yourself breathe, let yourself just be happy with your hobby. I gave up on myself for a long time and I regret it.

P.S. If someone can teach me how to actually be social on tumblr again, I'd appreciate it.

[reverse-pines-twins]

"Ok, it was a pain to get it- but here you go Belle"

Stab hands her over the amulet Stanford had taken

@reverse-falls-stan

*She's sulking in the corner until he says that. Mason's off on stage, playing to the crowd and causing at least five separate fangirls in the crowd to swoon. Even backstage, the sounds of cheering as he draws a heart in the air are clearly audible. Mabel seems bitter and angry about being grounded still. The instant she hears Stan's voice, she perks up, stands, and rounds on her heel to face him.*

Oh- hello Great Uncle Stan! I can't believe you're here! And with my amulet, too! I really can't thank you enough, Great Uncle Stan. You're so generous and wonderful and lots of other things!

*She goes to grab the amulet.*

[seriousturd]

Shhh they’re sleeping

[saline-coelacanth]

Part 2 to that Storm Vessel comic I started working on a bit ago. (Go see part 1 here)

But yeah I just really wanted to draw a scene of Cole and Jay getting to actually talk for a little bit until Jay starts to slowly turn back into crazy mode and he has to leave.

Oh and btw, no, this is not the scene where Jay loses all hope and goes to the endless sea, that happens later in the timeline. I just felt like mentioning it in case some people assumed that's what this scene was. Again, there's a lot of time where Jay is still flying around Ninjago and destroying stuff before he fully leaves.

[flowerakatsuka]

WELP LOOKS LIKE WE'RE FINALLY GETTING SEASON FOUR 😭🎉✨️

[nyx-thedragon]

okay, here's the post about my thoughts on Newsies 1992 that I promised, because I just remembered that I was gonna do that.

First of all, I didn't realize that Kenny Ortega directed the movie until the credits (I did like, zero research on the cast or crew, I just knew that Christian Bale played Jack Kelly) and I think that explains why it was so fucking good (and why Jack and Davey were so gay lmao)

Number 2: this one is just a thought about the story of Newsies in general, but I do not see the need for a romance subplot at all. especially in the movie, because Jack and Sarah barely interact with each other, and the "oooh they like each other he he he" little subplot start the first time they meet ? at least in the musical, Jack and Katherine interact a lot and they're friends before the romance stuff starts. idk. it just kind of irks me when media has a romance subplot for no reason.

Number 2.5: following up on the romance subplot; it could be completely taken out and the story would be exactly the same. "but what about at the end when Jack decides to stay in New York because of his love interest?" you may be asking. simple: he realizes that he has a family already in New York with the newsies and he doesn't want to leave them and be alone. this ending emphasizes the importance of familial and platonic relationships and bonds, which I think we just need more of in general.

Number 3: I love how the movie has the time and means to go more in-depth with Davey and how he reacts to Jack's betrayal and how he keeps the strike going without Jack and everything. I know that the live version is a musical, and therefore has more music, but still they kind of glossed over all that if I'm remembering correctly (I haven't watched livesies in a while and may be misremembering things oops)

Number 4: the scene where the rest of the workers join the crowd for the children's crusade is so much more powerful in the movie, because they were able to have a ton of extra people, as it is a movie and not a stage production with a smaller cast. I genuinely got some chills when I watched that scene it was awesome.

Number 5: all of these guys have beautiful voices. I didn't know that Christian Bale could sing (if it is him singing and not someone else because I know sometimes movies do that; have someone else sing for a character instead of their actor or voice actor). The songs are different than what I'm used to with the musical soundtrack, but I enjoyed them a lot. and the choreography was great too.

Number 6: I like Denton. he's awesome. it's great that the newsies have an actual adult that helps them instead of someone who is assumed to be close to Jack's age (Katherine).

Number 7: the scene in Medda's theater when Snyder and the police showed up was so- I don't even know, I just really like it. I was on the edge of my seat watching it. also, Davey kicking Snyder in the face on the swing was so badass. I love you movie Davey you're so cool

Number 8: there was way more romantic tension between Jack and Davey than between Jack and Sarah. I'm just saying. the scene where Jack was being carried away by the police after getting punched by Snyder, when Davey reaches for him and tries to get the police to let go of him? oh he wants that cookie so effing bad. Davey going after Jack by himself when he was taken to Pulitzer's from the Refuge? Gay. (also how did no one see him??) the alley scene? they should've kissed. Davey confronting Jack after he sold out to Pulitzer? they should've angry-kissed there. the scene at the end after Jack comes back on the governor's carriage and the way they stare at each other?? my homo-alarm was going off so loud. idk they just had so much tension and I thank Kenny Ortega for that, because I know damn well that he had everything to do with that.

Number 9: THE FUCKING HARMONIES HELLO. I feel the same way about the harmonies in livesies, but the ones in 92sies are different from those, which I'm used to, and it was just so fun listening to them. god, I love music, can you tell?

Number 10: Spot Conlon. that's it, really. I like him, he's funny, "on the grounds of Brooklyn, your honor". I just love him. so much.

Number 10.5: Racetrack Higgins. he does so much more in the movie than in the stage production, and I love that. he's also very funny and has incredibly witty lines and I love it.

Number 11: I love getting to see more of the other newsies, and especially Davey's interactions with them. I don't remember getting to see much of that in livesies, and I think it really helps the viewer to connect with the characters and story more.

ummm, I think that's all I can think of that I wanted to share. if I think of more things, I will come back to share them. I think I'm probably gonna watch it like ten more times in the coming week and try to get my younger brother to watch it cause he's only seen the stage production so far (my town's high school is doing Newsies for their musical this year and he's gonna audition !!!!).

alrighty chat, that'll wrap up this tumblr post. have a great day and keep being cool :3

[maka-moved]

some postal dude gender headcanons since someone was interested hehe (i'm mostly talking about p2 here, but these could apply to any of the dudes probably)

trans postal dude is really fascinating to me cause i think he'd be quite a different character from a lot of modern trans rep. like, dude is a (relatively) older guy from from rural arizona, who was likely raised in a fairly conservative and religious household, so i think it's safe to assume that he wouldn't have access to much of the resources or terminology that we have now. growing up, he might've known a little about queer people from word of mouth and the few magazine articles he could find on the topic, but for the most part it was a lot of figuring things out on his own.

his adolescent years were really messy and all over the place, he definitely did a lot of experimentation during that time. a lot of sneaking out of his parent's house after dark to hang out in the back alleys with the other weirdos like him. during this time he was still closeted and figuring things, i don't think he really started presenting and identifying as a guy until his mid 20s when he moved away from his parents, and even then he had to go stealth. though keep in mind that's he's a broke bastard living in the middle of nowhere, so he had to DIY a lot of shit.

surgery of any kind is not an option, so that meant he had to work with what little he had. fortunately for him, he's able to pass fairly well with a sports bra, some rolled up socks, and baggy clothes. it's why he almost never takes off that huge trench coat he's always wearing, aside from it just generally being a source of comfort and pride for him. he also started taking hormones when he moved away from his parents, which i like to think uncle dave helped him acquire (albeit through dubiously legal means).

so maybe dude wouldn't make for "good" trans rep, but he's alive and himself against all odds and that's what i love about this headcanon

for dude, transitioning has its ups and downs. on one hand it's incredibly liberating to dress and act and be the way you've always wanted to, but on the other hand it can be quite lonely and difficult too. dude already has to constantly keep his guard up, constantly be vigilant of the people around him and how he's being perceived, but being one of the few queer people in a small town compounds that even further. plus i imagine that he probably has a lot of complicated feelings about his gender and sexuality that he doesn't really know what to do with on account of being really repressed and all that.

[aeb-art]

cringe is dead or whatever so… here's a super rough comic about geo getting smooched at a new year's eve party o7 (the mall toons of course belong to @8um8le)

happy new year, go kiss a robot xoxo

[quietlyblooms]

alrighty, friends, i feel the need to be a little transparent because it's affecting things here. the short version of everything is: i'm not doing so hot in the mental health department. no one needs to be concerned -- i'm okay even if i'm having a hard time. but i just ask that everyone continues to be patient and understanding bc i promise that i'm excited to write and chat!! both new and old mutuals, i have so much admiration for you all!! the problem is that the discomfort and sensitivity i feel are making it increasingly difficult to be punctual and social.

so what does this mean? it means my activity may continue to be extra slow. i might procrastinate with messages or go completely silent. i might not log on some days just so i don't have to use my brain. but however my presence here fluctuates, i promise that in no way this is a reflection of my feelings towards you or our muses. i'm just going through it.

all that said, thank you for being here <3 thank you for filling my dash with things that make me smile, and thank you for being a space where i can relax. i care about all of you so much, and i encourage you to be kind to yourselves!! take breaks!! take your time!! your happiness and health matter first always.

[trans-queen-administrator]

One year ago, give it take a few days, I started reading Worm. I finished it in a week. I don't think I'll ever read a story that affects me as much as Taylor's did, and since it's the anniversary of me reading Worm I think I might as well get sappy and emotional and write out how much Worm impacted me.

Tw: talking about suicide

I was in a terrible spot before Worm. Behind in every single class, failing to eat or drink or even just get out of bed for entire days, ghosting all of my friends and family just because I couldn't work up the will to talk, I just rotted in my dorm all day and let the tasks pile up higher and higher because I didn't know how to dig myself up, so I just gave up. I found Worm from some stupid meme that I saw while scrolling through social media for 13 hours a day in an attempt to drown out thoughts, and for reasons I still don't know I started to read it instead of returning to my blank inertia. I hadn't had the mental willpower to read or even feel anything in months, and it was completely out of character to immediately read it instead of just saying I'd do it later.

My sleep schedule was already fucked, once I got started it wasn't really a shock that I stayed up until like 5 am.

The week went by, I got to Leviathan, the Nine, Echidna, countless incredible interludes, and somewhere early on I think Worm became some sort of last hurrah. I'm not totally sure if I would have done it, but I had rough plans for methods of killing myself. Worm is a long work, impressively so, I was telling myself I'd finish it so I had something to be at least somewhat proud of before I went. It was a means of procrastination for the end since I didn't want to leave it unfinished, and also a road to it since once I was done reading then it would be time.

I became completely closed off from the world, even more than I had been previously. I dropped any pretenses of passing or attending class, what would the point be when I wouldn't be around for the grade? My meals became even less frequent, and when I had them it was always accompanied by reading. My sleep time was cut in half, I was waking up earlier and going to bed later all to read Worm. It was a week long fugue where I ceased to exist except for my ability to read the text. Once I was done reading, that would be it for me, and since I had closed myself off from pretty much everything there were no outside sources to convince me to change my mind. Just Worm. And it managed to do it.

Something about Taylor's absolutely insane amount of willpower just hit me hard. I remember when I read Speck and was reduced to a sobbing wreck for a day that was one of my strongest thoughts about her. She just tried so hard for everything, and absolutely never gave up as long as there was some way she could try to do something. I never learned how to put all my effort into stuff, but Taylor was inspiring enough that I wanted to at least try to learn how to try. It sounds cringey to write down, but if she could try so hard that she united all of humanity to kill an omnicidal god, then I could at the very least try to eat lunch.

Speaking of lunch, I read 90% of Speck in the corner of my college dining hall. It was like 4:00 and I was the only one there somehow, which is great because I was breaking down the entire time as I read Taylor fall apart. I don't think I'll ever read anything that hurt as much as Speck.

Another part of Taylor that was just as crucial to making me want to live was showing how much her self destructiveness hurt others. How could I justify killing myself when I just read how much it fucking tore at Taylor's friends when she became Khepri? When Lisa scrambled to just barely save Taylor from a suicide attempt in the first chapter of Gold Morning? Even when she just left them behind, Rachel's anguish was palpable, so who was I to ghost my friends because I was too scared to text anyone? I always knew on a logical level people would be sad if I died, but seeing such solid depictions of hurt from similar situations just... I dunno, I couldn't justify it when it was so much clearer to me how much it would hurt people I love.

I took a day to emotionally recover from the mental rewiring that comes from finishing Worm, and then I called my parents and told them how poorly I had been doing. I hadn't done it before because I didn't want to be a burden. They were happy to help. I dropped all my classes and went home. Worm stayed with me, it gave me some sort of substance to my life, something to latch on to. Making ideas for fanfics that I'd never write, talking with friends I'd made through Worm, rereading Speck if I needed a good cry, all of it kept me going and made my life feel less flat. Like five months later I started posting to this account and that was another outlet. It was just fun to analyze the text and make up theories about this work that did so much for me, and when I finally started posting them online that was good fun too. Thank y'all for reading my dinky little rambles, somehow I've cracked 400 followers on what was originally just a place for me to write down my thoughts during lunch hour at a mental hospital. Whenever I get a detailed comment in the notes, or I see someone like/reblog 20 of my posts in a row as they scroll through, or I see the names of people I always see in my notifications it just makes my day. Y'all are lovely.

And well, now it's been a year. Worm was supposed to be the final story I read, a countdown to the end in 1.7 million words, but it managed to convince me to keep going. I didn't think I'd make it to the next year or even the next month, but it's November again and I'm still here. I'm not doing great, but I'm here and I have Worm to thank for that.