#if i was a visual artist I’d draw this!!! if anyone wants to please be my guest | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

ondaspectrum93 · 2 years ago

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Do you have a diagnosis of ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) & love to paint/draw/sketch/collage/sculpt/collect various visually pleasing objects/create online visual media/mixed media/sing/dance/write/participate in any medium of creative expression as a means to communicate as a person with an intellectual disability? WELL I DO & YOU WILL DEFINITELY ENJOY IT AS MUCH AS I DO FOR I AM LEARNING TO BE PROUD OF THE BEAUTIFUL CREATIONS, CONTENT, PHOTOGRAPHY & THE PROCESS OF REPETITIONS INVOLVED IN MY TRANSFORMATIONS FROM RAW PAPER OR BLANK PIXEL SLATES TO WHICH I AMPLIFY THE BEST SENSATIONS OF COMPLETING THE SELF STARTED AND CHOSEN TASKS TO WHICH I COMPILE AND SHARE WITH MY STRANGERS WHO STUMBLE ACCORDINGLY TO MY TAGS ACROSS MY PAGE. I want to discover other humans, specifically people above the age of 18 who are either intellectually or learning disabled or co-morbid the way I am, at this point in their life, I’d love to hear about their experiences & struggles & random thoughts that pop to mind as shared along with their own thoughts about how they relate to each other’s creations… what circumstances led to this artwork being made & published & what is your name/handle/identity in your own words as the artist? I’m hoping for this page to be a place to make friends, especially even if you don’t create any art or writing or videography for yourself by yourself just yet, but plan on doing so in the first opportunity coming up with something inspiring you to go ahead and bite the bullet & stop letting people/places/things/because/but/fear driven overwhelming thoughts setting fear inside & preventing the accessible pathway from dipping your toes in the water & making a mess of mistakes bc they are so much more important to make than it is to be practiced in perfectionism’s which nobody succeeds at in this universe with or without the idiosyncrasies known to our community! This is a judgemental free space which has been made possible by the low functioning highly sensitive empath named Jacqueline Mae Gutwilik who has been going through worst heartbreak of her life post missed miscarriage12/22 & subsequent trauma caustic to her husband who is afflicted with opioid & crystal meth addiction which is now the scariest thing she is grieving on a daily basis for the past two years now (when she noticed his soul was not compatible with hers any longer for she started slowly catching up to the social cues, anxiety and pressure driven by her partner to make decisions about life that were harmful to her poor health problems in retrospect causing her Wilson Disease to deteriorate & displacing her from her comfort zone/stability by moving back to her childhood abuse/abandonment home & wound up w/o anyone b/c she had been living in an isolated domestic abusive cycle for 7 years before aware of it & her environment is NOT safe STILL to date; No matter how much she is a positive helpful, healthy, supportive to others around her, she cannot seem to make any progress or difference in her own life as per she is broken from her entire life lived trusting in the monsters who took/take advantage of her [as they victim shame her & cry wolf & dictate her life by making false reports to the police against her to try & control her or make her forced into homelessness] so she has no choice but to make her own artwork as she is doing the best she can to cope with the tremor from Wilson Disease symptoms that truly makes her feel unable to tolerate living alone in suffering while being unable to be as productive or professional or socially responsible for her own needs because she has changed exponentially from her trauma & ptsd & day to day problems that she cannot control anyone but herself & do her best to make better choices, which involves creating as much mixed/multi media prompts & writing snippets for sparking ideas for other people to join in & share their projects & play along with me, as well as hopefully find comrades with similar experiences in life through the process of learning w/their ASD diagnosis as transitioning from childhood to adulthood).

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fluffy-critter · 1 year ago

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#crosspost #busybee

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hyperanaemia · 2 years ago

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Over 1,600 votes! This got so many more responses that I thought it would. Some of the results, like the Unternet suit, was about what I was expecting but others really surprised me.

A lot of people left really insightful notes and responses on their choices and favorite suits and I wanted to share some of my thoughts as well.

Suit number one! The OG with only 3%. I’m so surprised this one didn’t get more votes. Honestly, it’s one of my faves and I think it’s a very clever redesign of the Robin suit. It’s an instant classic for me. There’s a reason why so many adaptations use it as a template. But I guess I can see some people seeing it as the default outfit and wanting to pick a different option.

I can’t talk about number two without talking about three first. I had no idea this would be an unpopular opinion but I really don’t like the OYL suit. It only got in fourth with 13% but I was so surprised. I was so sure that other people would feel the same so I tried to find the most flattering picture of it so I could give it a “fair chance”. Looks like that was unnecessary. I get the sentimental value behind it and I do find it cool that they repurpose the original Bob Kane bat suit into a Robin suit. But whenever I look at it, it reminds me of that red, old-timey, long underwear with the butt flaps. And I just don’t like that it’s mostly one solid color without something to break up the design a bit.

Number two, on the other hand, is what I think the OYL suit should look like. Just adding the black sleeves and bringing down the collar fixes the issues I have with it. And who doesn’t love the DCAU style? It’s perfectly simple and pleasing to look at. But it only got 5%. Better than some but what can you do?

Number four, the first Red Robin suit! It’s one of my favorites. It’s simple and iconic but that cowl is really hit or miss for some people. It was one of the lower-rated suits with 6%. I remember really not liking the cowl the first time I saw it but it’s grown on me. I think a part of that comes down to the artist. I didn’t like the way Ramon Bachs drew it in the first few issues of Red Robin. It makes Tim look way older than he actually is. I like how Marcus To draws it way better. Tim still looks like a teenager/young adult in it. But cowl aside, the suit itself is perfect to me! I love the bandoliers, it’s a unique feature you don’t see very often and I like how they essentially function as extra utility belts. The design for the Red Robin outfit was originally from the Elseworlds comic Kingdom come, where Dick Grayson continued to use the robin mantel. I just love the idea of Tim carrying on the Robin legacy into adulthood and visualizing that by using this name and outfit. Tim is truly Dick’s legacy character and I love that connection.

Speaking of Tim being Dick’s legacy character...

Number five, the Unternet suit! I don’t think anyone is surprised this is the winner. It got a solid 30% of the votes! If you wanted more proof that Tim sees himself as the carrier of Dick’s legacy, this is it. When you’re in the Unternet, you appear how you see yourself. So, Tim wearing what is essentially a red version of the Nightwing suit is perfect. Also, it shows that even if Tim wasn’t taking on the name Nightwing, he was definitely taking on the role Nightwing has in the batfam. My favorite part of it is the mask! I think the covered nose is the perfect compromise between a domino mask and the cowl. It feels more mature than Tim’s old domino mask but has the expressiveness that the cowl lacks. I can’t be the only one who thinks Tim keeps taking his cowl off in Red Robin so we can get a better look at his face in emotional scenes. (And we love to see his hair of course) I’d say the only thing I don’t like about this suit is the red boots. I would have preferred if they were solid black or just had red soles.

Number six is also one that I was surprised to see get so many votes. It just barely won second place with 21%. While I don’t hate it the way I do the OYL suit, I just don’t get the appeal. I think my problem with it is just all the patches on it. I think some superhero outfits add on things like color patches, straps, and belts in order to make designs look more interesting. But too much of that just blurs into visual noise to me. In my mind, an iconic design is something you can recall instantly. I think I’d like this one much more if it removed some elements. I’d just keep the red chest and remove the other patches and the logos on his shoulders. And change the colors of the straps and bandoliers back to how they look on the fourth suit, black with gold capsules. I feel like the solid gold-yellow is too distracting. But the wings! I really like the wings! It’s something so unique. I love the silhouette it gives him and it makes him stand out from the rest of the batfam. And it makes sense for a non-powered hero on a team of metas to have something that allows him to keep up.

Oh boy, number seven. A whopping 2%. All the problems I have with number six is way worse on this one. Every inch has weird patches and intersecting lines that don’t make sense. And if you wanted to know why superhero outfits often use bright, primary colors instead of more neutral tones; here’s your answer. Brown is great if you’re a duck hiding from predators, but not when you're a comic book character. Also, not a fan of ditching the cape. If you voted for this one, you have strange and eclectic tastes and I admire your contrarianism.

Number eight... When you voted and you saw this sitting at 0%, you’d be forgiven for thinking that no one voted for it. An absolutely tiny percentage did, there are just so few that they don’t even register as a percentage. And it’s not hard to see why. Since Flashpoint, I feel like Red Robin has felt less like a step forward/evolution of Robin and more like a side step. And this is the culmination of that. It’s essentially the same as Tim’s first Robin suit but worse. It just trades in the green pants for a green codpiece. Maybe it’s just the artist but the suit feels clunky to me. While I’d say number seven is a worse design overall, this one commits the biggest sin by being boring.

And finally, number nine! It just barely got third place and it’s not hard to see why. I feel like this design boils down a lot of the better aspects of the other designs into one neat package. It’s simple and sleek and a great reimagining of the Robin suit for more modern tastes.

It was really cool to get to see everyone else's thoughts on the outfits. One or two other people mentioned that an ideal suit would have the body from 4, the mask from 5, and maybe the wings from 6. I totally agree.

There were a few people mentioning other suits, like Tim’s suit in the YJ cartoon and the Red Robin suit in Batman Unlimited, and such. I’ll be honest, I totally forgot about the YJ cartoon. I only watched the first season back in 2012 and never got around to seeing the rest. The poll only allows for ten options anyway, so I felt the ones I had on here covered the ones people would be familiar with. But who knows. It might be fun to do an auxiliary poll with some suits from the cartoons and video games or other suits I missed in the future.

(Sorry, reposting since the first post wasn't registering votes)

#long post

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arknights-imagines · 2 years ago

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This is a commission for @mammonishot svshs 🥳!!! Ty for your support!!

(She helps out with the blog often, and also draws stuff for the blog too 👉👈!!)

Tysm again aaa 🥰~

Taglist for All Writing!!:

@too-many-donuts-stuff

@zone10-8

@tiredstudents

@marahuyos

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Passenger with his outgoing, artistic, Perro lover

Headcanon format; From the perspective of Doctor mostly, written in second-person!

Contains: Passenger, @mammonishot's Doctor OC (placeholder "[name]" is used for them here), Canon + OC relationship, slight acquaintances to established relationship progression, established relationship, background characters (mainly SilverAsh, Jaye, and Blue Poison!), lots of fluffiness 🥺!!

Word count: 3.3k! (the piece is divided into 3 sections!!)

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PASSENGER + [NAME]

･ As nearly everyone at Rhodes Island told you: yourself and Passenger together created an image of the starkest contrast between any two people, and your relationship was the last thing anyone had expected.

･ There was you, the Doctor, [name] - a lively and warm-hearted Perro, an artist, with interest in crochet and cooking.

･ And there was him, Passenger, Elliot Glover - an inscrutable and seemingly absent-hearted Liberi, an engineer, with little to no interest in anything or anyone at all.

･ Nevertheless, you two were each the other person’s better half, the both of you being two parts of a whole. With a smile, you would always adamantly say - “I wouldn’t trade Elliot for anyone, and I’d never want to change anything between us! I really mean it!”

･ Curious in regards to the labyrinth that was his past and what truly occurred inside of his mind, your interest in Passenger had ignited the very moment the two of you first met. And in fact, so had his own interest in you.

･ You hadn't managed this because of your appearance, no - while your violet hair and fluffy Perro ears would definitely attract one’s attention -, compared to people he’d encountered in Columbia and Sargon, the way you presented yourself was nothing unusual.

･ What truly caused you to be the center of the Liberi’s focus, had been your artistic skills.

･ “Oh, Doctor. These drawings, might you be their artist?”, he’d seen sketches on your desk during his first visit to your office. Various paper sheets filled with intricate pencil drawings of weapons belonging to Rhodes Island’s Operators, items from around the Landship, and cats, among other things.

･ In reply, you’d smiled and nodded, “Yeah, those are all mine! I-...” Upon noticing something unfamiliar in his eyes - a sparkle, was it? - you had gone quiet suddenly. Perro ears stood up in surprise, you piped up, “-You look impressed, Passenger.”

･ “Quite. Your ability to put that which you visualize in your mind onto paper, and to such extreme detail…” He had carefully traced the lines of one of your sketches with his fingertip, then his gaze - with that twinkle still remaining there - met your own, “Perhaps…Actually, Doctor, might I see more of your artistic talent? I have time to spare. If you’d permit it, I would be honoured to have a chance to watch how this artistic creation of yours works.”

･ You had never nodded so vehemently - nor had you so rapidly grabbed hold of your sketchbook - in your life, “Yes, of course! I’d really like that!” You’d taken a seat right atop your desk, sketchbook opened to a blank page and placed on your lap, a pencil in your hand. Smiling eagerly, you had looked to the Liberi, “Is there anything you want me to draw to start off with?”

･ Passenger had tilted his head to the side slightly, eyes flicking up from the paper of your sketchbook and to your enthusiastic face expression. For the very first time, he’d grinned at you; an honest grin, the corners of his lips upturning only minutely, “Please, what ever you might like. I’m anxious to see.” He answered.

･ When your heartbeat sped up and your hand moved quickly - almost on its own - to draw smooth pencil lines that soon created a portrait of Passenger wearing a smile, you had quickly realized that your journey with him would take a direction so pleasantly unexpected.

･ From then on the time you two spent together increased, again and again.

･ Passenger would spend more and more of his hours with you, always stating he wished to see more of your drawing abilities. When combining your artistic skill with his engineering knowledge, you began to draw for him less of aimless doodles and more of sketches with details of such depth that they were nearly blueprints. Eventually, you and the Liberi’s sessions alone became hours of you two collaborating with each other to create inventions for the benefit of Rhodes Island or for the advancement of his weaponry - you transformed his ideas and concepts into drawings, and from your drawings he would construct a new invention.

･ The warm connection beginning to form between you and Passenger didn’t go unnoticed by those at Rhodes Island. Especially not by Jaye, Blue Poison, and Silverash - your dearest friends.

･ ”Huh, look at that Passenger guy. It might just be me, but…”

“...Why is he staring at [name]? And, oh, why did [name]’s smile become so much warmer when their eyes met just now?”

“I don’t mean to assume, though one can guess…perhaps this relationship between our friend and Passenger is not as professional as we once thought.”

･ It became common knowledge around the Landship that if Dr. [name] wasn’t working, then they were with Passenger.

･ Eventually, the time you and the Liberi spent together became interspersed with more intimate, warmer moments - enjoying snacks and coffee, talking with no caution about yourselves to one another, walking to Rhodes Island’s main deck to watch the view of the sky.

･ Until, after one of your sessions of working on a new invention together was coming to its conclusion, Passenger had finally asked you: “Actually, [name], are you soon to take time for leisure? If your answer is yes…well, it seems we’ve docked at Columbia, and this nation has a fine reputation for things of all sorts, big and small. Perhaps a visit would be worth our time…ahem, that is, if you’d like to join me. What do you say?” And he outstretched his hand, opening his palm for you in silent invitation.

･ You’d gaped at him for a moment, before smiling exuberantly, “Yes, yes! I’d really love nothing more!” You took his hand and laced both your fingers together to tug the Liberi close, “You don’t have any idea how long I’ve been waiting for you to say something like that!!”

…

･ You and Passenger’s relationship took slow advancements. You two much preferred it that way; both of your time was often consumed by your individual work and responsibilities, and there was no need to hasten anything.

･ Right away, you were the one who gave Passenger armloads upon armloads of affection.

･ One manner you do this is through your words. You mention all the time, every moment you can - how he truly means so much to you, how laudable you thought his engineering talents to be, how just the sight of him never failed to captivate you, his hair and his eyes especially.

･ You’ll talk to him privately before he’s deployed for missions, “Elliot? Be careful on that Operation, okay? You mean a lot to me, so stay safe and don’t get hurt!”

･ If you notice his inventions are frustrating him, you’ll wrap your arms around his shoulders and uplift him as best you can, “Hey, you’re doing a really good job! I know I don't know engineering stuff that well, but everything you invent always impresses me. You’re a genius, Eli, so if you’re having trouble I just know you’ll figure it out soon!”

･ Whenever he catches you staring, you’ll compliment his appearance, “Sorry, I can’t help but stare…why? Well, your hair, for one. The colour is unique, it looks so soft, and I really hope you’re not thinking of cutting it, because the long style looks perfect on you! And, your eyes too. They’re a shade of pretty blue I’ve never seen before, and I like how they sometimes sparkle when you’re concentrating or you find something interesting! You’re just handsome, Elliot. Really handsome!”

･ Initially, Passenger struggled with how to respond to all of your compliments and affectionate words; would you like it if he said something doting about you in return, like how he thought your Perro features were cute or how the dark violet shade of your hair was stunning? Perhaps you’d be upset if he didn't reply humbly? Or should he smile at you and not say anything at all?

･ He realizes, however, that none of his overthinking was necessary. Your facial expression already shined with an effusive grin and your Perro tail waved this way and that cheerfully, when he simply accepts what you’ve said - and so that’s what he does.

･ The Liberi will lean down and place a gentle kiss, light as feather, to the crown of your head before replying to you with gratitude; “Thank you very much, [name]. Your words alone are enough to lift my spirits without fail.”

･ Of course, you never hesitate in saying “I love you” - “Eli, I love you so much, you know that right?”, “I love you with all my heart, really!”, “I love you, Elliot.”

･ Despite how often you say them, the words never tire; nor does Passenger ever tire of hearing them from you.

･ If you two find yourselves unable to see each other for extended periods of time - be it because of your busy schedules or Operations and missions -, you’ll send him handwritten letters or electronic messages.

･ The Liberi grows used to having a Messenger visit him to deliver a letter, “Operator Passenger? This is from Dr. [name]. Oh, they also told me to tell you that it also comes with ‘lots of love’”, and frequently hearing the tablet device he occasionally carries ping with notifications, “Alert: new messages from [name]”.

･ Whenever he receives from you a message or letter, the same smile paints his face and the same warmth surrounds his heart every time.

･ Unbeknownst to you, Passenger saves all your messages and letters; if he finds himself yearning for you or he feels his focus slipping, he’ll reread them, and they never fail in dissolving all of his discontent.

･ Spending quality time is another one of your major love languages. Your busy schedule as the Doctor of Rhodes Island - one overcrowded with reviewing the exam results of Operator applicants, signing contracts from outside Factions, and attending Operation briefings - unfortunately left you with little time to spend with Passenger.

･ Even so, you ensure that you always have moments reserved for just the two of you.

･ During the day, you’ll put aside time for Passenger; even if your schedule on a particular day is more unyielding than usual, you’ll still have lunch in the cafeteria with him or visit the Engineering Department in order to see him.

･ While the setting of the Rhodes Island Landship wasn't exactly what one would call romantic, it mattered little. Irrespective of wherever you two were or whatever you two were doing, everyone who passed always saw both of you smiling, hands intertwined, and at comfortable ease - as if you and Passenger were truly on a sort-of date, just so long as you had each other's company.

･ You truly cherish every second, minute, and hour you have with him. He, of course, treasures the time he spends with you as well.

･ “I know your work is really important, Eli, so you can just keep doing what you’re doing. I came to see you, but I wouldn't wanna interrupt-” “Ah - no, no. Not at all. My invention here can wait, honey. Of course, you are much more worthy of my time.”

･ With all this being said, it’s not surprising that you firmly adhere to plans with Passenger, for dates or the usual sessions for the both of you to work on new engineering creations.

･ What is surprising, however, is how you allow absolutely nothing to impede on the time you had already promised to the Liberi. It’s not uncommon for you to check the clock, then suddenly leave situations while apologetically explaining that you had arrangements with him.

･ On one occasion, you had even abruptly left a meeting of much significance between some of the Leaders and Department Heads of Rhodes Island - yourself, Amiya, Closure, and Warfarin - to hurry off and meet Passenger for a date.

･ You were already beginning to stand up from the conference table when you spoke up, ��I’m so sorry everyone, but I actually have to go! At this rate, I’m gonna be late for the restaurant reservation with Elliot-”, then you were out of the room and rushing down the hall without any explanation.

･ “Ah- what, as in right now?! [Name]! Get back here! Where are they going?!”

“Dr. [name]! What’s the rush about? I still need you to approve the new shipments I have coming in!”

“Hehe, Warfarin, Closure, let them go. I think our dear Doctor has something planned with a special Liberi.”

･ Often, you’ll draw sketches of the locations where your dates or intimate moments alone with Passenger have been - restaurants, city streets, rooms of the Engineering Department, his dorm - so you’ll always have something to help you relive the time you two enjoyed together.

･ Compared to you, Passenger conveyed his affection in ways more abstruse, much less direct.

･ He wasn’t one for physical or verbal displays of love; instead, his love for you takes the form of distinctive, special gifts. Ones you wouldn't be able to find anywhere else - because he creates them all himself, with only you in mind.

･ The Liberi engineers all sorts of gadgets and devices to gift you: alarm clocks, desklights, headphones, nightlights.

･ With any new present, Passenger gives you a small kiss on one of your Perro ears, “Oh, before I forget…here. This is something I made for you.” Whenever you question - he’d dedicated time and work to creating something, just for you? - a soft smile comes to his lips and he’ll chuckle lightly, “Heh…no, pardon my laughter. But, honey, is it not reasonable of me to want to put my skill towards creating something that might have a chance of making you smile?”

･ Miraculously, he somehow themes whatever he creates for you around your most favourite things - cats, most often.

･ The cat-shaped devices the Liberi gives you, their fur patterns and the cute cartoony expressions on their faces, seem almost familiar to you as if you’d seen them before - that’s only by happenstance, you think.

･ That was, until SilverAsh had visited your office one afternoon, and saw the cat-shaped desklight on your desk.

･ When he asked where you’d gotten it, you exuberantly explained, “Oh! That’s a new gift from Elliot. It’s so cute, right? Look at the cat’s little face!!” The Feline, however, narrowed his eyes slightly and brought his fingers to his chin, “The cat’s expression, I believe I’ve seen that before….[name], would you be so kind as to trust me with your sketchbook for a few moments?” In reply, you tilted your head to the side and your Perro ears perked up, but you passed the item to him with a shrug, “Yeah, of course! Here, Enciodas.”

･ After skimming through the pages, SilverAsh paused at one, studied your drawings closely, then looked back at the desklight Passenger had given you. His eyebrows shot up, and he spoke to you again, “Well then, it seems as though my thoughts were correct. [Name], come and look, won’t you?” You watched with raptness as your friend held up one of your cat drawings beside the cat-shaped desklight from Passenger.

･ It took a small while of looking between the two before you realized; “It- It- Enciodas, whoa- Elliot’s gift looks like my drawing!!”

･ It suddenly made sense why all of his gifts were familiar - his inspiration for all of them was your own artwork.

･ You hurried out of your office in a flash of movement, “I have to find Eli, thank you Enciodas!!”, leaving the Feline to smile slightly in amusement towards your antics, “With the speed of Kjeragandr, my friend.”

･ “Elliot!! All of your gifts, they’re inspired by my drawings, aren't they?”

“Oh, [name]. So you recognize them after all…and if I nodded yes?”

“That’s just- aahh- the sweetest thing!! I love you, I love you so much!”

･ After that, you couldn't restrain yourself from gifting Passenger presents in return.

･ Ones bought from stores you encountered on city streets - scarves, mugs, notebooks. Ones you created using your own hands, too - crocheted hats made with holes to comfortably fit his Liberi feathers, those artworks you’d drawn of the locations where you and him had dates or spent time alone together, homemade lunches including food you knew he enjoyed.

･ Everyone at Rhodes Island would certainly say that, “Passenger has to be just drowning in all the gifts Dr. [name] gives him!”, however, he nevertheless accepts each of your presents as if it were the first - with a soft smile on his lips and a sparkle shining in the azure of his eyes.

･ Another way Passenger expresses his affection for you is by, if he can assist you with anything at all or can do something to make your day more pleasant for you, he does.

･ He’ll prepare a cup of your favourite tea and leave it on your office desk in the morning if he notices you’d been too occupied with your Rhodes Island duties to get tea for yourself, he’ll purchase new drawing pencils for you if he hears you grumbling to yourself about how your current ones were beginning to run out and becoming too small for you to use properly, he’ll tidy the paperwork and pages of sketches into clean piles if he sees that your desktop has grown messy.

･ On one occasion - after you’d mentioned, “Eli, ugh! I wish I was better at cooking…” - he went out on an endeavour to assist you in becoming a better cook.

･ Unfortunately - outside of growing coffee beans while in Sargon -, his knowledge in food was lacking. Considering they were both your friends and skilled in cooking, the Liberi came to Jaye and Blue Poison with the problem.

･ “You want to help them get better with food? There’s really nothing bad about [name]’s cooking, but I guess you could say their food is a little so-so. It’s good to hear you want to help them out so bad, Passenger, but I don’t know what we should do…”

“Oh, Jaye, how about we teach him how to cook some recipes [name] will like, then he can go show them after he’s learned it? I think they’d really like that. Passenger, is that okay with you?”

“If it might benefit [name], then yes, of course. For them, I want to offer the most perfected service.”

･ Like Blue Poison had suggested, after he himself had a thorough understanding of the recipes and cooking techniques your friends had shown him, he then taught them to you and guided you through every process or difficulty; albeit slowly, with the Liberi’s help, the food you cooked became increasingly better, until he eventually heard Rhodes Island’s Operators and staff praising your food for its deliciousness.

･ To Passenger, every act of service he does - whether strenuous or easy - will always be worth witnessing the beaming expression on your face and way your Perro tail wags ecstatically.

…

･ As your relationship progresses through years, Passenger begins to realize that he’s found what he came to Rhodes Island searching for; his new purpose.

･ It wasn’t another menacing enemy he needed to kill, nor a leader who would command him and his skills however they wanted.

･ When he walks into his dorm room where the items you’ve gifted him are scattered around and the walls are occupied by your artwork, when Messengers deliver him lunches or letters from you as he attends to his work around the Landship, when he hears you call out his name and turns to see your ever-shining smile - Passenger feels his heart swell in his chest, and he understands what his purpose now is.

･ [Name] is his purpose. You - your violet hair, your adorable Perro features, your passion in creating art, your interest in cooking, your vibrance and kindness - are his reason for being.

･ Together, the two of you will stay at each other’s sides; he’ll walk with you through whatever paths you take, because - “[Name], I love you deeply. I am yours now.”

･ And Passenger, Elliot Glover; he will love all and everything that you do, always.

#I enjoyed working with her on this svdhsb 💕!!#and I had fun writing for Passenger as well 🥺!! I hope I did him justice svshs #exe's commissions ✨!#arknights #arknights imagines #arknights x reader #arknights passenger #passenger arknights #arknights passenger x reader #arknights imagine #arknights headcanons #arknights fanfic #arknights writing #headcanon #headcanons #fanfics #writing #passenger #elliot glover

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rantrambles · 3 years ago

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Ever get so upset you make a Tumblr account to vent?

I haven’t even listened to The Penumbra Podcast yet but it’s on my list because it’s insanely popular and the cosplays I’ve seen are hot as hell (A+ to all the cosplayers I’ve seen you’ve done great work). Now, with the recent news surrounding the podcast, I’ll wait till it’s done if I ever do get into it. I’m Asian and part of the LGBT community but I’m not nonbinary so I can’t say much about the trans represention in the art but I wanted to add my two cents on the matter as a person of color and someone examining the situation from the outside. Also, before I get deeply into it, I’m not the only person of color with opinions on this matter so if people have their own frustrations and criticism with the racism in The Penumbra Podcast and/or the new artist they hired, definitely listen to them too. These are my own personal opinions, and I’m sure other people will disagree and that’s fine. We’re all going to have different views on this so bear that in mind. Also, feel free to correct me or add anything if I’ve missed some information. Here’s a great breakdown of the whole situation for those that don’t know what happened. Finally, I was very hesitant to post this, but I felt it was important because I make a statement at the end on how race should be presented in a podcast format so if you are interested in making a podcast and want to have a diverse range of characters, please skip to the end to read those thoughts.

I’ll start off by saying, I’m not even that upset with the new artist that The Penumbra Podcast hired. I know that statement alone is controversial but I don't personally know them, and I’m not going to judge who they are as a person by a few pieces of art they’ve made. They are the least of the problems that I have here. Since the announcement and the backlash, I’ve been scrolling through the artist’s Instagram account and I can tell why people find the designs offensive, but I’m also comparing the designs to the artist’s other work, and I honestly believe that’s just their style. They’ve exaggerated the features of just about every character they’ve made, regardless of race or gender. From what I’ve seen the sharp angles and overly round curves in the anatomy that make some of the character’s features more jarring are how they prefer to draw. I’m sure they’re capable of drawing more realistic proportions but for the most part they’re art aims to call attention, be bold, and create distinguished features. Not inherently a bad thing on its own.

And yeah I’d understand the issue if this were a scenario where the artist heard how these characters acted in the podcast and thought “hey, obviously this character is a black woman because they are super strong and therefore must have big muscles, no other woman could look like that” or “hey, this character has to be Asian because they act super seductive sometimes better draw them as such.” But from my understanding the race was already decided by previous official artists and a general description of the characters were already generated by the audience, similar to how The Magnus Archives leaned towards drawing scrawny Jon with black, greying hair and dark skin. The new artists couldn’t really change those features even if those features aren’t described in canon because a depiction that strayed too far from popular fandom interpretation would make the character’s unrecognizable to the fanbase.

I think the reason this became such a big issue for most people is because the new Penumbra artist used their exaggerated art style when making these characters and people of color and nonbinary folks already see themselves drawn as these exaggerated caricatures all the time (with those images being used to further discriminate against them). I’m sure the artist didn’t mean for their art to be offensive, but that of course doesn’t change how it was received.

According to some, the poses and expressions the artists chose did not fully represent the characters entirely and only served to further perpetuate harmful stereotypes, and I’ll have to take their word for it because I still haven’t listened to the podcast so I have no idea how the characters act. But again much of the criticism is based on the one line-up and doing a deeper dive into the artist’s work I managed to find artwork that was much less offensive. Here some art where Vespa is depicted in a non-violent pose and one where Vespa is in a threatening pose but not an overly violent one. Here is Peter drawn in a non-seductive pose. Hopefully, the artist truly does keep the criticisms in mind as they work on the new official art. I’m just not the type of person that wants to get the pitchforks out and cause this particular person to lose a job they seemed really excited about over their old character line-up, especially when that person is also part of a marginalized group.

Again, that’s just my opinion on that particular artist. Those who are offended by their art are still valid in how they feel, and the artist should absolutely take their criticism to heart to better how they represent the characters.

What I’m more upset about is that I think The Penumbra Podcast should never have released official art for their characters in the first place and that’s their mistake that they refuse to own up about. They have made it clear that the story was never meant to portray characters of colors, a fact emphasized by the fact they hired mostly white actors from the start. They only started releasing art of the characters to get a profit. And the thing is they know what they did was wrong. All I had to do was search Penumbra Podcast racism and there is a note on their website saying that they archived some old official art.

“We have discontinued all Penumbra merchandise that uses the original character designs, and in the meantime, any profits on the sales of that merchandise will go to the For The Gworls project. We also realize that the depiction of these characters as POC, while not appropriate for us to use in our marketing and merchandise, has nonetheless become personally meaningful to many POC listeners. For that reason, and because we do not wish to distance ourselves from our mistake, we are keeping these images on our website for archival purposes. Though we do want to make it clear that many of the main/featured voice actors are white and that we did not write the characters to represent any specific POC experience, you are, as always, free to imagine these characters in any way that you like.”

I went to their shop and they still sell posters and pins with the character’s faces on them, but they are donating it to a good cause so hopefully that stays the same. However, I still find it a little uncomfortable that they are still selling character merch and have plans to continue selling character merch. They have no right to dissuade the fans that already found representation in the characters, but they also have no right to profit off the representation that was built, regardless if they made the story.

Let’s compare this to another piece of popular media. I love Avatar the Last Airbender and, I liked the ATLA voice actors just fine but there should have been more people of color doing voice acting behind the screen too. The voice actors for that show were mainly white too, however, the creators knew that they would be making poc characters. That’s what makes the difference. Did they still choose to go with mostly white voice actors? Yes. Could they have done better and pay more people of color? Also yes. But I’m not as furious at them because they did their research on the cultures they were basing the ATLA world off of and intentionally gave us a show where Asians could see characters that looked like them represented on the screen. The Penumbra Podcast did not do any of that. Again, they openly admitted that it was never their intention to make the character’s people of color when they made the podcast so that goes to show no research was made to properly represent specific cultures. The color of the character’s skin in their official designs therefore became more of aesthetic choice rather than representation, and it wasn’t even their aesthetic choice to begin with!

Race isn’t a color you can just throw onto the character because you feel like it. So I want this to be a lesson to anyone that wants to make a podcast: if you want to include poc characters please do some research into the cultures you plan to represent the way you would with any other form of media. Just because the audience can’t see the characters and just because it’s harder to smoothly introduce the character’s appearance doesn’t mean you’re allowed to be lazy on how you present the characters. Do research before you start writing the first episode and take the time to hire poc actors. Hiring poc actors is actually the least that can be done to show representation. Also, since the audience cannot visually see the race of the characters on a podcast and it can’t typically be described the way you would in a book, you’ll have to be creative. It’s not my job to say how, but my suggestions would be, before the fans come up with their own image of the character, you need to establish race in the first few episodes or release character profiles on a website so that the fans know you canonically intended the characters to be of a certain race even if you aren’t able to mention it in the actual podcast. If you are unwilling to do any of these then the best route is to avoid stating race at all and allow the audience to build their own representation into your form of media. However, once this happens, you are not allowed to profit off popular fan interpretations. You lose all rights to create official art or images of the characters. You cannot use “we have a diverse cast of characters” when you market your story. It doesn’t matter whether you created the content or not, you did not create the representation for those minority groups.

It’s one thing for fans to build their own inclusivity into a form of art like a podcast, but it’s another thing for the creators who never worked to make the representation happen to take advantage of the representation that the listeners built for themselves. Thank you for attending my TedTalk.

#the penumbra podcast #podcast #race #the magnus archives #diversity in podcasts #diversity #tpp #tpp fanart

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consumeconstantly · 4 years ago

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Summer Photography (aka the thirst trap)

Summary: Marinette is forced to take pictures for Gabriel in order to pay for her summer graduation trip with her best friends from lycee. Adrien, her primary model, wants to avoid the summer heat and pulls in one very attractive bad-boy motorcycle man to be his replacement.

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July in Gotham comes with an almost rancid kind of heat.

The kind of heat that is impossible to banish unless the air conditioning is set to 65 degrees and there’s a dehumidifier in the room. The kind of heat that makes babies cry with discomfort and adults curse whenever they have to take a foot outside. The only age population that enjoys it are the teens. More precisely, the teens are more fans of being on summer vacation, rather than the sticky warmth, but they find ways to work with the heat, rather than against it. Some teens gather on apartment rooftops, taking in the rare, smoggy breeze with pleasure. Others frequent their local swimming pool, an ice cream parlor or convenience store. If they get really desperate, they take shelter in the library.

Should a teen be forced out onto the muggy sidewalks full of sweaty bodies, they drift towards parks or areas of ‘city beautification’ and find a tree to rest their weary bodies under.

Of course, there are always exceptions to these norms.

“Marinette,” Adrien groans, sweat on his brow. “Can we please do this not during peak heat?”

“No,” Marinette says. “Your father insisted on having pictures of a male model at precisely two in the afternoon, and it took me months to convince him to let us come on this trip, so we’re not going to do anything to jeopardize it.”

“It’s not like he can do anything now. We’re literally an ocean away.”

“Suck it up, sunshine,” Marinette swats her hand at a lazy fly, not bothering to look up from changing the lens on her camera. “Maybe I’d let you get away with a substitution. Gabriel didn’t specify that the person in the pictures had to be you, but we don’t know anyone in Gotham, and everyone we’ve come across so far isn’t exactly the friendly sort.”

Adrien flicks the collar of his t-shirt, desperately trying to generate some sort of a breeze so he doesn’t melt. “This is all Nino’s fault. He and Alya insisted on going to that couple’s show when he could have been out here, taking my place. If Luka were here, he wouldn’t have deserted me like that.”

“We all know of your and Luka’s undying love for one another, but he is busy touring. He’ll meet up with us in New York, though, and you can have your disgustingly sweet love-fest over there. Meanwhile, I’ll be forever alone.”

“Don’t put yourself down like that, Marinette. At least five people in each city we’ve gone to so far have tried to go on dates with you.”

She crinkles her nose and does a test shot, making sure the light setting works out. “Yeah, but they all reeked of desperation and alcohol. Plus, at least two of them were just looking for a person to cheat with.”

“No good,” Marinette says, frowning at the shadows the tree cast. “Gabriel won’t be happy with these kinds of photos. You’re going to have to move out of the shade.”

“No!” Adrien wails. “I refuse! It’s bad enough that you dragged me out here, but to make me go in the sun? You know I burn easily.”

“Yeah, yeah drama queen, but these photos aren’t going to take themselves, and I’m one hundred percent sure that you don’t want to have to do this twice. Which is what we’ll end up having to do if you don’t get your little butt out into the sun so we can take quality shots.”

Adrien whines before a motorcycle revs in the not so far distance. A very Chat Noir smile creeps onto his face. “I don’t think I will. I’ve just found my substitute.”

Marinette follows his gaze, then shrugs. “If you think you can convince him to substitute in, you’re free to go. But remember, it’s Gotham, and if you get jumped, I’m not going to help. It’s too hot for a fight.”

“You underestimate my charm.” Adrien says, already triumphant.

True to form, Adrien somehow manages to get motorcycle man over to her.

“Not sure how Adrien convinced you to do this, but I guess he gets a free pass.” Marinette knows exactly what Adrien’s going to do with his free time. He’s gone on and on about Gotham’s Museum of Vigilantes, and to be quite frank, Marinette doesn’t want to get caught up in another one of Adrien’s rant sessions on the Bat Family. “Anyways, nice to meet you. I’m Marinette, and my awful boss has come of with the wonderfully creative idea of Summer Heat for a photoshoot in the summer.”

She has a bone to pick with Gabriel Agreste. More than one, actually. In fact, she’d say that out of the 206 (well, 207, if she counts the fracture she got in her left pinky toe after that last akuma battle that weirdly, still hasn’t healed) bones in her body, she’d pick a fight with Gabriel over at least 200 of them. The lack of originality is one thing, but she’s not sure how she feels about his blatant attempts to set her up with her son during this trip. Somehow, he still hasn’t grasped the fact that his son doesn’t swing her way despite having hundreds of pictures of being lovey-dovey with Luka all over the internet. In fact, maybe it’s because Adrien and Luka have that many pictures that Gabriel is trying to push for a heterosexual relationship. A lack of vision both for his photo shoots and for his company. Marinette doesn’t understand how she once looked up to this man.

“It’s no problem. I’ve got nothing better to do, anyways.”

Marinette blinks, then reassesses the man in front of her. Not only does he have a sinfully attractive voice, but his visual appeal isn’t that bad, either. “It’s still nice of you to do this. Should be a pretty quick shoot. Five outfit changes and a few poses in each-- shouldn’t take any longer than an hour, hour and a half.”

She rummages through her bag, fishing out a stack of paper. “You’ll get paid for your time. $250 for the whole shoot, and if you want to keep one of the outfits, feel free.”

If she’s being completely honest, she thinks that Gabriel’s summer collection is a hot mess, and she doesn’t particularly want the burden of bringing back the disgusting articles of clothes back with her in her suitcase. Should motorcycle man not want any of them, she’ll send them back via express mail.

“Don’t need the money, but I’m trying to stay out for as long as I can. Any way you could make the shoot go on longer?”

“You want to stay out in this heat?” Marinette asks in disbelief, taking out a small bag of makeup to apply to his face. She motions for him to sit in the shade of the tree while she sees what she needs to cover up.

“Beggars can’t be choosers,” Motorcycle man says.

“Like the owner of a custom Harley-Davidson is poor,” Marinette quips. Humming in approval after giving his features once over, she decides that foundation isn’t necessary, only concealer to cover up the dark circles and some old scars.“You have great skin.”

During their summer trip, Marinette has become makeup artist, photographer, public relations manager, and trip advisor. It’s a taxing job, but well worth the reward, which is an all-expense-paid graduation trip with her friends from lycee. Well, Nino and Alya had to pay, but between Nino’s part time DJ gigs and Alya’s ad revenue on the Ladyblog, it wasn’t hard for them to raise enough for the two month long, seven city, four country trip.

“One of my siblings is insistent that we do our best to minimize the scarring. Don’t know what his deal is, it’s not like our faces are sellable commodities.”

“That’s where you’re wrong-- you’re pretty good looking and could easily go into modelling or acting if you wanted. So props to whoever your sibling is. And thank your genetics too.”

Motorcycle man snorts. “Not cut out for that lifestyle. I like more… adrenaline inducing jobs.”

Marinette almost-- almost laughs. The placement of the scars on his face do imply that he’s gotten in at least one or two knife fights before, and there’s a thin line on his neck that definitely looks like it hurt. Motorcycle man has definitely been in trouble before, but he’s also good enough to get himself out of it. She’s not going to bother asking what his job is. She doesn’t want to be an accessory to any of his crimes. “Action movies, then?”

“Oh sweetheart, I make action movies look like a kid’s fist fight.”

“Wow, we have a bad boy on our hands, ladies and gentleman.” She finishes applying highlighter and sits back to admire her work. His jaw can cut glass. “Okay, Motorcycle Man, it’s time to take pictures. If you’re good, maybe I’ll draw the shoot out-- I’m not a fan of this humidity.”

Summer is better than winter, if only because she’s acquired a weird habit to almost hibernate when the temperature gets too cold. It’s easy for Marinette to shrug off the heat most days, even when her friends complain constantly.

“The name’s Jason.”

“I think I’ll stick with Motorcycle Man. Alliteration, you know? Now, one hand in your pocket, the other at your collar. Left leg out a little, like you’re ready to take a step-- perfect. Walk forwards a little, yeah, just like that.”

Jason is Adonis personified. The perfect package of cocky, arrogant, and bad boy. It doesn’t hurt that he’s well muscled either-- even Adrien doesn’t have thighs like that, and he spends hours as Chat Noir jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

“You’re a natural,” Marinette praises. “Have you ever modeled before?”

“Not like this, but I’ve got my fair share of pictures on the internet.”

She’s going to regret asking this. But curiosity killed the cat, not the ladybug. “If not for modelling, then what for?”

“Oh, you know. This and that. A few odd jobs here and there.”

And if that doesn’t make Jason sound more like a criminal, she doesn’t know what will. Marinette decides that she definitely won’t bring up a day job, let alone a night job.

“All right, next outfit.” She pushes a muscle tank top and light, ripped jeans into his hands. “You can change in the public restroom, and if anything doesn’t fit, just let me know.”

He takes the outfit, but pauses at one of the other outfits she has in her bag. “Is that… leather and fur? For a shoot with the theme of summer heat?”

“I don’t call the shots, I’m just the poor lackey who has to make them look good. Trust me, if I were in charge of design, the only outfit that might still be in the bag is the one you’re holding right now.” Gabriel is definitely losing his touch. But hey, doing this weird intern summer program for him isn’t the worst thing she’s had to do in her life. It’s good to learn from other people’s mistakes, rather than making them herself.

“Don’t worry. Crappy fashion isn’t going to scare me away. Have you seen some of Gotham’s villains?”

At that, she couldn’t suppress a laugh. “You’re talking Gotham villains? How about Paris?”

“Paris is some weird alternate dimension. It doesn’t count,” Jason protests.

“I could say the same for Gotham. Really, why are there so many Robins? Can’t they come up with another name?”

“I almost wish I could argue with that.”

He comes out of the stall, and Marinette feels the summer heat. Jason, Motorcycle Man is ripped. Yeah, his thighs are probably some of the thickest she’s seen, but his biceps are to die for. She’s half tempted to ask for his workout regime, but she’s sure that somewhere he’ll casually throw in ‘beating up random people on the street’ or ‘punching people who piss him off.’ Those are just the kind of vibes that Jason gives off.

“The arm holes are kinda tight.”

“I’m sure they are,” Marinette breathes, chest tight. Jason’s eyes smoulder. He knows exactly what he’s doing as he places an arm on the door frame and flexes. She thinks she can die happy, now.

They wrap up the shoot quickly. All of the clothes are promptly packaged up except for the tanktop and jeans.

@jasonette-july-2k20

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For the other jasonette prompts i’ve written for so far, i think i’ll probably continue them eventually, so lmk if you want to be added to the tag list for that. pretty surprised these are getting such a good reception thank you guys for that ;)

#jasonette july #jasonette #jason todd #marinette dupain cheng #maribat #miraculous ladybug #dcu #summer #jason has thicccc thighs #marinette is a ho for muscles #adrien agreste #original content

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worldbetweenworldszine · 3 years ago

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Q&A #2

Hi guys! We are back with another Q&A. We hope these answers some more of your questions :))

7. Q: I am sort of unclear on the theme. It’s about the memories of the characters? It is a bit of a difficult concept to picture

A: Memories can center around specific characters! These can be like Luke reminiscing his life on Tatooine, Obi-Wan reminiscing his life as a Jedi, etc. they could also be collective memories within the Star Wars universe like celebrating Empire day, a large memorial for the loss of Alderaan, etc. We would like to show not just characters but also greater events and experiences that transcend just individuals and move into social events or holidays that might exist in Star Wars!

8. Q: Will this zine have ships or be gen?

A: We will allow canon ships into our zine, but we will be staying mostly gen and SFW!

9. Q: Do we get Characters assigned or can we choose them?

A: A little bit of both! In our contributor application, we will have a preference section for eras and characters as well as a section for you to put down your ideas, as well as what characters/era you would prefer to make pieces for. If you are accepted as a contributor, we will try to accommodate preferences. But we will assign and move people down their preference list if certain eras or characters have too many people interested in making something about them. We want this zine to encompass all of canon, so I’d suggest having multiple ideas planned.

10. Q: Are there any Deadlines already planned?

A: We have a general timeline for ourselves and during the creation period! Creation period should last between November-January, with three check-in dates just to make sure everyone is on track! We hope to open pre-orders at the end of this creation period.

11. Q: I worry about what the time margin will look like that the artists will work in/how tight of a deadline there would be! I'm a bit anxious is all.

A: Creation period should last about three months, with three check ins to keep everyone on track! We think that should be ample time for everyone to work on their piece as well as get feedback when asked.

12. Q: i’m multifandom but starting to draw a lot more star wars! is this for star wars only accs?

A: Nope! We are accepting anyone who loves Star Wars, whether they’re new to the fandom or not.

13. Q: Will there be spots open for people that have not participated in a star wars zine before? i saw some of these zines have a lot of the same participants and i was wondering if there would be an attempt to switch it up. with skill level still considered of course.

A: I can understand your thoughts. I (Katan) have never participated in a zine before, and not from not trying. We are open to accepting people who have never participated in a zine before and we want to try and have a variety of artists involved. But understand that when we judge contributors and their portfolios, it is based on skill level. If you want, you can start building up a portfolio now! Find your best pieces. Create new pieces. Put your best foot forward so we can see just what you can bring to the table!

14. Q: I've never participated in a zine before, so my personal concern is gonna be how much the mods will guide the whole process/how much experience you have to bring to the table.

A: Understandable concern! We currently have mod applications open, so I cannot tell you fully about every mod’s experience. Speaking for who is on now, Tobias and I (Katan) have no mod experience. This is our first zine after all! Our graphic design mod, who has been making the visuals for all of our posts, is Marta. She has far more experience than us. She has worked on multiple zines, including the Found: A Clone Wars Zine! One thing is for certain: all of us want this project to happen! We will do everything to make sure it runs smoothly.

We had another question come in after we made this post, so I will add it here:

15. Q: I know some zines only have some more expensive bundle options, will there be an opportunity to purchase only a few things at a time? Like just the zine itself or just a few of the merch items?

A: Yes! We will have multiple bundle options, including a digital only bundle, a zine only bundle, and merch bundles!

Our mod application and interest check are both still open! If you are interested in the former or haven’t filled out the latter, please don’t hesitate to do them!

-Katan

#zinemaking #qa

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rokutouxei · 3 years ago

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catching your attention

genshin impact | G | 2930 albedo / aether

Aether loves Albedo’s company, but not when he’s ignoring him and has all of his attention focused on sketching… well, him. He’s stubborn and in love enough to find a way to catch Albedo’s attention back.

It starts like this: he and Aether are in the heights of Dragonspine, after a trek on the lookout for a specific, elementally-infused kind of starsilver. A blizzard had trapped them into a small cave, and it was an easy decision to make that it would be better if they wait it out instead of daring to walk back to the alchemist’s camp at the foot of the mountain.

Albedo starts a fire with some wood he’d found and some sort of pyro potion in his bag. Paimon’s line of sight goes back out to the white-gray of the hailstorm.

“Looks like we’ll be out here all night,” she muses. “Paimon hopes we can get out soon because I’m getting hungry.”

Aether pulls out a sandwich from his bag as if by second nature. “Mora meat?”

“Mora meat!” Paimon exclaims, before snatching the food from his hands. With that, she retreats to the other side of the fire, happily munching on her snack.

Aether has memorized all the necessary tricks to get Paimon off his back, and like this… with Albedo so close… well, it would be a shame not to use them.

Said alchemist is sat down on one side of the fire, and Aether crouches down by him, a serious expression on his face. “We won’t have time to finish your experiment by tonight,” he says, rather guiltily. “Sorry.”

While his elemental sight may have made their trip much easier, they still ended up making a turn in two in the wrong direction, taking up extra time. Albedo only shakes his head. “It’s alright. The materials aren’t time-sensitive. They can wait until tomorrow. On the other hand, I will have to apologize, as this trip will delay your return to Mondstadt and take you away from your Guild duties.”

Aether waves his hands in the air dismissively. “It’s alright, Katheryne isn’t too strict about those,” Aether says. “Not much to sketch in here, though, huh?”

“To the uninterested eye, yes. But the patterns of the rock formations are quite fascinating if they’re to be studied, or perhaps even mapping the interior of the cave.” Albedo pauses. “However… there’s something more involved I’d like to put to paper, if I may.”

Aether cocks his head to the side. “What is that?”

“May I sketch you?”

The traveler blinks, as if not quite believing what he’d heard. “…Me?” he asks, pointing to himself. He faintly recognizes the sharp thrumming of his heart from underneath his shirt. When Albedo nods, he shrugs a little awkwardly, despite being all fire and light on the inside. “If you’ll have me, then alright. Not much intrigue in this face.”

Albedo begins to pull out his sketchbook and some pencils from his bag. “Oh, don’t get me wrong. Sometimes it’s more of memory-keeping than it is about research and alchemic purposes. It’s not every day I get caught in a blizzard with you.”

For some reason, that makes Aether’s face flush. Albedo can be so smooth at times—like he doesn’t even try. “Well, then go for it. It’s an honor to be drawn by you, Chief Alchemist.”

“Please, there are no titles here, just you and me.” Albedo turns toward Aether, who is fidgeting just the littlest bit from nervousness. “Would you mind—facing a little bit—” Before Aether can react, Albedo is reaching out and tilting Aether’s face towards him, fingers on his chin. Aether is sure Albedo can see the up-and-down bob of his throat as he pulls away. It’s alright; he’d caught the redness in Albedo’s ears too, anyway. “There we go. Perfect.”

With that, Aether coughs out remnants of his surprise and nervousness by clearing his throat, and Albedo returns to his seat, hiding behind his sketchbook and pen and faux concentration.

Paimon shakes her head, looking up from her now-empty wrapper of Mora meat. “Silly boys,” she says, with a sigh.

It is pretty obvious to everyone who works with Albedo for even the shortest amount of time that it doesn’t take long for him to get lost in his work; all focus and long attention span and seriousness, he can go at his alchemic experiments for hours without interruption, not even for a drink or a bite or a toilet break. Once he gets into his zone, there’s no stopping him, unless one yanks him forcefully out of his little mind-field, not that many people have ever tried.

It becomes pretty obvious to Aether, ever since that blizzard night on Dragonspine, that the same can be said about Albedo and his sketching.

Albedo likes to draw. What was once specifically for research grew into more of a hobby. Now, when there is nothing urgent to do, he finds himself heading to places where there might be something nice to sketch—scenery, a living thing, an object. He can lose track of time there. He gets engrossed in his work as he catches the details he adores the most. Then after that, he packs his materials and heads off to the next best place.

The alchemist generally likes to draw things that catch his interest, so when he admits that he finds himself wanting to sketch Aether far more often than he thought he would, Aether feels a surge of embarrassment—and still-secret joy—fill him. He thought to himself: this would be the perfect time to get to know Albedo more, maybe get closer to him. No ulterior motives, of course, just wanting to be familiar with a friend, of course…

But Aether quickly finds out that his imaginations of what a sketching session would be are far from reality.

At the start, Albedo sometimes participates in idle chatter, a little ramble on what he’s planning to draw and how he approaches his sketch, but within a few minutes, he goes quiet, and all disappears. It’s just him, his sketch, the visual of his subject, and nothing else. It would probably take something drastic like a trio of geovishaps to truly take him out of this trance-like state, because it’s pretty solid.

(Heck, Aether’s tried. He’s blurted out an I love you! while Albedo was sketching him and the latter hadn’t even noticed. Aether still doesn’t know what to feel about that.)

At this point in their… friendship, Aether wouldn’t dare admit that when he offers a trip out to Starfell Lake or Dragonspine or Stormterror’s Lair, he just wants to hang out with Albedo, not… be forced to sit still and observe his—well, objectively, very rationally, handsome face, his teal eyes, the platinum blonde hair, so soft in its braid, his boyish face, the…

Well, the important thing is, sometimes he just wants to be a ‘more than a friend’, not… a model.

So he tries.

Slowly moves until he’s out of position to see if that will snap Albedo out of it and force him back to place. It doesn’t work. Moves sharply, like he’d gotten a flash of pain and fell out of place. There’s a blink of concern in Albedo’s face for a moment before it disappears, and it doesn’t work. Aether tries singing. Aether tries talking to himself. Aether tries calling out Albedo’s name, louder and louder each time. Hell, there was one time Aether tried to call the attention of a ruin guard. He loves indulging Albedo, loves to see the other man’s works more than the average person, but sometimes he wants his active, conscious presence, not an artist’s focused absence from the world.

Aether knows the drawings could be the smallest admissions of love, the proof that Albedo wants to treasure these memories he has of Aether, but—

He wants Albedo here. In the now.

And Aether is stubborn and will find a way to make that happen.

“What’s the easiest way to catch Albedo’s attention?” Aether asks Paimon once, while they’re off in Liyue, and out of the hearing ears of anyone who could out him ahead of his own confession.

Paimon blinks at him curiously. “You seem to catch his attention pretty easily.”

“No, not like that,” Aether clarifies, “like, interrupting him when he’s drawing or in the middle of an experiment. I don’t know how to talk to him when he gets like that.”

“Have you tried to yell his name?” Aether nods. “Move in front of him? Shout? Surprise him?” Aether nods at everything. “Huh, he’s pretty stubborn when he concentrates.”

“I know. If you have any idea, would you tell me?”

“Of course! Paimon would love to play matchmaker!”

Aether spits out the bite of sunsettia in his mouth. “No!”

“Honorary Knight,” Sucrose greets him, as he enters the Knights of Favonius’ alchemy room. Timaeus confirmed that Albedo was at the Dragonspine camp today, so Aether decides it is safe to visit Sucrose and that she would be alone. “How can I be of assistance?”

“It’s a… bit of a personal matter,” Aether mumbles quietly, sitting on top of one of the empty desks. Sucrose nods and listens patiently, twiddling with her thumbs as he describes the issue at hand.

She makes a face of confusion, then concern, before shifting back to an awkward smile. Her cheeks are pink, as well—god, Aether knows, but what a reminder that this is really such an embarrassing situation he has gotten himself in.

Sucrose says, “I’m afraid even I don’t know how to get his attention when he gets into that state. Mister Albedo is pretty intense about his research, and so we try to make sure to get all questions answered before he begins any experiments. He can go on for hours, after all, and we wouldn’t be able to contact him.”

“I see…” Aether sighs, slowly losing hope that there’s anyone who knows how to solve his little Albedo problem. “Well, thank you for your time, Sucrose. I’m sorry if I interrupted anything.”

“Oh, no, please, any time,” she beams. “If anything, I believe Mister Albedo is very taken by you if his sketches are any indication. I’m sure if there’s anyone who will be able to find a way to get his attention in the middle of his focus, it’s going to be you, Honorary Knight.”

Aether flushes, thanking the gods he’s already got his back turned and on his way to the door. “Thank you, Sucrose!” he calls out, before closing the door behind him.

Geez, who else is he supposed to ask?

“My, if the Honorary Knight himself is offering to buy me a drink, how am I supposed to say no?” Kaeya cheers, seated by the bar in Angel’s Share. Charles had been kind enough tonight to offer Aether a glass of an alcoholic drink as well—but only one, he squints, still doubting his age. Not like Aether can show an ID proving he’s a thousand years old. Kaeya insists on a toast. “How can I help you today, Aether?”

“It’s about Albedo.”

“Ohhh,” Kaeya smirks. “Come to me for relationship problems? I’m flattered.”

“It’s not—” Aether groans. There’s no getting out of this when it’s Kaeya. “Just help me out, okay?”

Surprisingly, Kaeya listens very attentively as Aether describes the situation, especially in the way Aether’s ears get redder and redder with every sentence. And it’s not from the alcohol, either. Kaeya swirls his glass of Death After Noon carefully, “hmmm”-ing and “mmhmm”-ing every few seconds.

“I see. So you want to get your boyfriend’s attention sometimes.”

Aether glares. “He is not—” he sighs. “Yet, at least. I hope.”

“That’s the spirit,” Kaeya laughs, taking a swig of his drink. “You know, there is something I’ve noticed about Albedo when it comes to you.”

“To me?”

“Yes, to you,” Kaeya nods. “See, when we’re in the same room, even if he’s not particularly part of the conversation we are having, if anyone so much as whispers your name, he turns toward the sound like a moth to the flame.”

Aether flushes. “I-is that so.”

“Mhm, definitely so. You can ask Jean and Lisa,” Kaeya says, awfully confident. It takes a moment for Aether to register that even Jean and Lisa know, and he’s a little mortified. “Now, this is a shot in the dark, but how about you try doing it the other way around?”

Whispering? How will that even work? Kaeya’s practical advice is always rather useful, but when it comes to things like these it’s easier to believe that he’s just fooling whoever is asking him, so Aether doesn’t really put much faith in its results. Still, he wishes for the best. Whatever that is.

So one day, when they are over Starsnatch cliff as he gathers cecilias and Albedo sketches the view, “Albedo,” he whispers carefully when he gets close enough, “I love you.”

Albedo tears his gaze away from his sketch and looks at him with surprise in his star-bright eyes.

Aether wills his soul to leave Teyvat at once.

It takes a while for them to negotiate their relationship into blossom. Albedo has long acknowledged it, but now he has to reckon with his emotions, as he tentatively confesses his return of feelings. But that’s far from the end of it, as apologies are exchanged with compromises made between a traveler who has to go out and far away more often than not and an alchemist who only knows his lab and his sketchbook, and very little on love and relationships and affection.

Still, it is there, and now that they’ve both come to light about it, it grows.

(Paimon, upon hearing of this later, sighs in relief.)

“Do you know how many times I’ve confessed to you in the past?” Aether asks, as he and Albedo walk back to Mondstadt, armfuls of cecilias in their hands. “Twenty-five. All of them while you were sketching. You never noticed.”

“I’m sorry,” Albedo says awkwardly, stumbling a little and kicking a pebble out of his path. “It was never my intention to ignore you, but even if so—”

“It’s alright, it’s alright,” Aether laughs, nudging him with his shoulder. “At least now you heard it. I can’t believe it’s Kaeya’s advice that would work after all this time. Feels a little silly now.”

“Sir Kaeya is definitely more socially adept and mindful than I am, so I am not as surprised it’s his word that allowed us to get to…” he trails off. “Well, this.”

Aether smiles and to Albedo, it’s like morning.

“I just—I just have one request though, Albedo,” Aether says, as they round the path overlooking Windrise. “I know how important sketching is to you, as an art form and—well, for memory-keeping.”

“You remembered.”

“I did,” Aether nods. “But now, now that we’re—well, this,” he gestures with what of his hand he can move, “I would like it if you could… well, if we could leave the memory-keeping for later, and… turn to memory-making, you know? Live it now, while I’m here, while you’re here.”

Albedo looks like he’s being torn apart for a brief moment, wondering if there’s anything deeper about what Aether had said, but then he relaxes as his eyes turn back to him.

For the here. For the now.

“Anything for you,” he says, voice gentle like cecilias in the wind.

They’re sitting in Starfell Lake in the middle of the night after a venture off the beaches of Stormbearer point. They spent half the entire day with each other, talking and enjoying each other’s company; and now, Albedo is quietly sketching him as he usually does. Aether is looking out at the lake, reflecting on the Statue of the Seven, the first he’d ever seen here in Teyvat, when he spots a little flutter of red coming from the other side of the lake.

“Is that—”

“Ah! Mister Honorary Knight! And Big brother Albedo! It’s me, Klee!”

“Klee? What are you doing out here at this hour?!”

“Fish-blasting! Don’t tell Master Jean! Come with me!”

The little girl in red begins to run towards them, and Aether turns to “wake” the other. “Albedo,” he whispers, and the latter slips out of his trance.

Before he can even ask what is it, Klee’s voice rings clearly through the field again. “Mister Honorary Knight! Big brother Albedo!”

There is, again, that flash of pain in Albedo’s face, eyes trained on the sketch. He’d finished Aether’s eyes but hadn’t fully drawn his braid out yet, just the fluff on his head. Before he can speak, Aether holds his sketching hand in his.

“Albedo. Let’s make memories here.”

The alchemist takes a deep breath and smiles at his boyfriend. “Alright.”

With that, Klee still a few meters away, Aether lifts the sketchbook to cover their faces, hiding them from sight as he presses a sweet kiss on Albedo’s lips, quick and soft.

“What are you doing back there?!” Klee asks, peering from above the sketchbook, just as they’ve parted. There’s a scarlet glow on their faces she can’t quite see in the moonlight—thankfully.

Aether grins as he puts down the sketchbook on the grass, turning to lift Klee in his arms. “Our little secret!”

“Noooo!” Klee frowns, but then laughs as Albedo pats her on the head. “Klee wants in too! Tell Klee!”

Albedo smiles at her and then at Aether. “How about we keep our secret, and we keep your secret from Master Jean?”

Stars form in the little girl’s eyes. “Oh, that’s great! There’s lots of fish to go kaboom!”

Aether and Albedo hold hands all the way to Klee’s favorite fishing spot.

#albether #aebedo #genshin impact #aether #albedo #what tags does this fandom use holy shit #fic #rated:g

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brittsacademia · 2 years ago

Text

Gemini | Various!BNHA X Fem!Reader

Before You Read

{Prologue} {Masterlist}

Welcome to my latest Various!BNHA X Reader book, 'Gemini'.

I'm your author, Britt, and I hope you'll enjoy your adventure! But before you dive straight into the first chapter, I ask that you please read through this brief introduction for important details about the content of this book.

☆ Table of Contents ☆

1. General information 2. Content warnings 3. Original character references

1. General information

Updates will most likely be slow. I will be doing my best to publish one chapter every 1 - 2 weeks, but I can't guarantee anything as I've been working double-time lately. Remember that spamming me with "update plz" comments won't make me go any faster.

This book will divert from canon at some points. There are quite a few canon events, though don't be surprised at the added-in arcs that I've created for this book, as well as some of the creative liberties I've taken with BNHA's story. I'm here to tell my own story, not write out BNHA's script.

There are love interests, since I know that people really like that, myself included. However, the story isn't romance-focused. There'll be a general ending to the story, and a number of extended endings where you can ship your MC with the character of your choice if you wish to do so.

I am not providing a list of love interests until the ending chapter. It'll be up to you to figure out which characters the MC has chemistry with throughout the story. I am, however, going to warn you that some original characters may end up on that list.

There are original characters of mine present. They're there to add a more personal flair to the story, as well as kick-off non-canon arcs.

2. Content warnings

This story is rated as mature. Each chapter will come with appropriate warnings should they contain anything worth mentioning. But, as precautionary measures, here's what you can expect:

• Major liberties taken with the canon. Yes, I'm putting this here and repeating it since some don't like fics that don't follow canon word for word.

• Blood, injuries and canon-typical violence. This goes without saying, given the universe.

• Sexually suggestive themes and scenes. No actual smut or explicit scenes will be displayed, but they will be hinted at.

• Strong language. It's me - of course there'll be cursing.

• Smoking, alcohol and some references to drugs.

• Manipulation, gaslighting and other toxic behaviours.

With that being said, I am not responsible for the content you choose to consume.

3. Original character references

I don't want to give out the characters' full information, the reason being that I'd rather that you get to know them naturally.

However, I do want you to have visual references so that you have a clear image of them, which is why I've commissioned artists to draw the characters for me! Follow the links at the bottom of the post to get commissions from them!

So, all you're getting from me is their names and appearance. You'll have to figure them out as characters as the story progresses.

Please note that the following art and characters are mine to use, and I do not give permission for anyone to use the artwork for any kind of face claim for your own characters or role-playing.

Feel free to come back to this section if you ever forget what the characters look like! I've written their names with a western style, so first and last.

Characters under the cut!

3.1 Eichi Touju

3.2 Inei Nozomi

3.3 Kaji Hidaka | "Astarot"

3.4 Roa Kaishuu

3.5 ??? | "Kairo"

3.6 Migaku Hidaka

3.7 Renjirou Hidaka

• Eichi, Inei, Kairo, Kaji, Migaku & Renjirou's artist: Wafflecaramel on Etsy

• Roa's artist: Kechidato on Etsy

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thyon-nero · 4 years ago

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So. How do you feel about the litjoy crate strange the dreamer collection? The art with the setting and places is beautiful, and I love the miracle for breakfast art. On the other... the characters just look... a bit white? All the godspawn has a POC parent... no way they all look Eurocentric. Idk. I feel like I will regret not collecting it, but I already have the books and it seems kinda a waste...

Hi! Thanks for sending this in—I didn’t know that litjoy was making a Strange the Dreamer collection so thank you for bringing it to my attention. And sorry for taking so long to respond! I had quite a bit to say and wanted to make sure that my thoughts were at least a little coherent. Since tumblr doesn’t like links in posts, I’ll be dropping the litjoy link in the replies for people to see what we’re talking about. Also, to the anon who sent this in, I’ll be using the generic pronoun “you” to talk to everyone reading this, so don’t feel like I’m calling you out specifically!

Your ask brings up several good points for discussion that I’m going to try and apply to a broader conversation. Namely, the whitewashing in art and consumerism in the book community. I’m only one perspective so please feel free to continue this conversation in a respectful way: if there’s one thing that Strange the Dreamer should have taught us, it’s that only through communication and understanding can we resolve conflict.

First of all: the Eurocentrism in the art. I’m not sure what policies are for reposting the art on a separate site, so I’d encourage everyone to look on the litjoy website to see it for themselves.

Is the art beautiful? Yes. Does it depict characters canonically described as brown with Eurocentric features? Also yes.

Although Weep is a fictional place, we can still fairly easily draw some parallels between the people of Weep and real world people and cultures. Off the top of my head, @readingbooksinisrael made a post (linked in replies) noticing how the words at the beginning of each chapters sounded Semitic, @inkwingart created incredible artwork of Sarai (linked in replies) without the Eurocentric features of the official art, rightfully calling out the differences between how the characters are described and how some artists choose to depict them, and I’m sure that others have spoken on this as well.

Despite the written portrayal of the people of Weep and godspawn as non-white, it’s easy for artists to avoid depicting them with non-Eurocentric features and only use blue skin as a defining feature.

Within the broader art community, I’ve seen conversations on how to depict characters of different racial and ethnic backgrounds without just changing the skin color and keeping all of the other features identical. Some art styles (typically more cartoony and stylized) definitely do draw all characters with the same face and rely on clothing, hair, and other distinctive characteristics to tell them apart. But this isn’t really enough. When artists provide enough detail to show Eurocentric features but consider using a different shade of brown (or in this case, blue) to be “enough” in terms of drawing diversely, they aren’t hitting the mark.

Ultimately there is no “right” way to visually depict these characters. However, I would encourage artists to think deeper about their designs and question why they chose certain features for certain characters, and if these features are consistent with the source material. I’d like to give the artists involved with the litjoy crate the benefit of the doubt and assume that they weren’t thinking about the implications of their art erasing the godspawn’s brown heritage, but unless any of them have made a statement, I think it’s up to everyone to decide for themselves whether these portrayals are worth supporting.

(That being said, I do adore the landscapes! It’s incredible to see these magical places brought to life. Highly, highly recommend looking at the art just for that!)

I also want to talk a bit about consumerism within the book community and whether this set is worth it, especially if you already own the books. Please keep in mind that I don’t intend this as a callout for anyone or a be-all-end-all for this discussion. My thoughts are my own and do not affect how you spend your money!

Personally, I’m not the sort of person who buys more than one copy of a book. With my current living situation, I don’t have infinite room for books and I (tragically) don’t have the money to buy every beautiful book I see! Although I only own Strange the Dreamer and not Muse of Nightmares, I still won’t be buying this collection because I know that the second copy of Strange the Dreamer will just be collecting dust on my bookshelf and taking up space from other books that I don’t already own copies of.

As of writing this (March 14, 2021) preorders haven’t opened yet so I don’t know how expensive this set is, but if you don’t already have the books and want them, this looks like a great set that’s definitely worth looking in to! However, and here’s where I circle back to your point about regretting not collecting it, I personally don’t think it’s worth buying just for the sake of collecting everything to do with this series.

If owning these editions will make you happy in the long term and you have the resources to purchase them, go for it. I think it’s important to remember though that regardless of which editions you own or whether you’ve read the books through your public library, you still have the story. This world and these characters will always exist in your mind! That being said, I think a lot of people within the book community look to special editions, different cover art, and other merch as a way to become closer to the stories that we love. Even though these may offer new visuals or (in some cases) deleted scenes and extra written material, they don’t change the fundamental story. The experience of reading these stories doesn’t depend on owning special editions. Ultimately, if you’re buying multiple copies of a book, you’re pretty much only paying for the experience of having a pretty cover on your shelves. There’s nothing wrong with that (I know I’ve been guilty of paying extra for a slightly prettier cover!) but that’s the only thing you’re missing out on when you don’t buy these editions.

Especially with the rise of BookTube and Bookstagram as ways of seeing what other readers’ shelves look like, I’ve noticed people putting more stock into what others own as opposed to what they’ve read. Although not perpetrated by everyone in the community, there is some pressure to own all of your favorite books and have the fanciest editions to show just how much of a fan you are, when ultimately that doesn’t mean anything. The person who owns every special edition and the person who checked out their library’s copy can both love the story just as much. We as readers shouldn’t have to “prove” our loyalty to different stories or authors to enjoy them. It’s perfectly alright to not own your favorite books or everything by your favorite author! It’s the experience of reading these stories that brings us together as a community, not the experience of buying everything relating to these stories.

All that being said, it’s still a personal decision whether you want to buy these editions or not. Do what brings you joy! And if that’s owning these books, more power to you. If anyone wants to chime in with more thoughts on the artwork or whether these copies are worth buying, I’d love to discuss it further and have an open discussion. We all have different perspectives and can learn so much from each other through respectful conversation.

#strange the dreamer #laini taylor #muse of nightmares #litjoycrate #ya fantasy #ya literature #asks

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bellafarallones2 · 3 years ago

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a/n: t-rated indruck fluff from #21 on Veronica Bunch's college au prompt list: I get stuck with a late class that doesn’t end until 9pm and I’m always anxious about walking across the campus to the dorms, so you offer to walk with me and one night, I find out that it’s in the exact opposite direction that you need to go in

Duck had signed up for Performance Studies because he needed arts credits and because the meeting time, seven to nine in the evening Tuesdays and Thursdays, worked well with the rest of his schedule. He was less happy when the professor emailed out the homework for the first day: a reading that examined the question “what is performance?” for thirteen dense pages without managing to come to a conclusion.

By the time he showed up to the first class, he barely remembered any of the points the reading had made. Most of the other students already seemed to know each other, and were talking in groups when he arrived. Only one man, a tall guy with silver hair whose black roots suggested he’d spent an evening bent over a sink for it, was sitting alone and silent.

“Anyone sitting here?” said Duck.

“You?” said the guy hopefully. He was wearing jeans and a soft beige cardigan over his white shirt, and there was a small rainbow-flag patch on his black backpack.

“I’m Duck,” Duck said. “And my pronouns are he/him.” He still occasionally got read as a butch lesbian, and it was better to establish the pronoun thing right out of the gate.

“Indrid. I also use he/him.”

That was all they said before the professor showed up and class began. The professor genuinely cared about the material, which made the whole thing more interesting, though Duck was still distracted. Indrid had very nice hands, nails painted chipped black, and he doodled the entire class, filling a whole page with spiky fractals.

Finally nine o’clock arrived. The sky outside was pitch-black. “I’m not really looking forward to walking home this late,” Duck said as he stood waiting for Indrid to finish packing up. “Wish I had your punk privilege.”

“Excuse me?” Indrid looked amused.

“You know. You’re tall and you have piercings.” As Duck said that, Indrid stood up, revealing that he was even taller than Duck had previously thought. Jesus, this guy had Slenderman legs. “You look like you could throw a punch.”

“I could use my punk privilege to walk you home, if you’d like.”

“I’d appreciate it, if it’s not too out of your way - I live on High Street next to the REI.”

“Yeah, I’m going that way.”

Duck held the door as they left the building and walked together down the half-lit street. The planes of Indrid’s face looked almost unearthly in the streetlights.

“You an art major?” Duck asked.

“Visual arts and math. I needed to take something in theater or music as a distribution requirement and this was the least theater or music class I could find that was also after noon.”

Duck laughed. “Yeah, I’m in the forestry program and I had to take something artsy.”

Indrid nodded. They walked in silence for a while, but Indrid didn’t seem to mind, his hands shoved into his pockets and his face turned up.

“This is me,” Duck said when they reached the REI. The door to the apartments above was almost unnoticeable next to the brightly-lit storefront.

“Alright,” Indrid said as Duck fiddled with his key. “See you on Thursday!”

“Goodnight!” said Duck when the door swung open, looking around. As soon as Indrid saw that Duck was inside, he turned and walked back the way they’d come. Duck wondered vaguely where he lived; this block didn’t have many students. Ah, well. A question for another day.

On Thursday before class Duck stopped at the snack bar for dinner and spotted a familiar head of silver hair. Indrid was drawing, his head tilted at an odd angle so he could both look at the page and drink from the straw on a sixteen-ounce cherry slushy.

“Mind if I join you?” said Duck.

Indrid looked up and his face lit up. “Of course! I don’t mind, I mean. Please sit.”

Duck realized then that what he’d assumed was art was in fact math, that Indrid was taking notes out of a slim, intimidating textbook. Duck recognized a couple of integral signs and that was about it. “Math, huh?”

Indrid nodded.

“I had to take Calc 2 for my major, I wish I’d known you then so you could have helped me with it.”

Indrid laughed, tapping his pencil. “I’d have been happy to. Certainly numbers make more sense than people do, sometimes.”

“Probably more sense than that performance reading.” Duck leaned forward. “I don’t suppose you’d be down to walk me home again?”

Indrid shrugged. “You’re good company.”

Duck met Indrid again at the local park that weekend. Their homework for the week was to record themselves performing in a way they did in their daily lives, and Duck didn’t feel like getting into gender, so he’d decided to show how he performed when giving a nature talk, and he’d asked Indrid to help film. (He’d offered to help film Indrid’s performance in return, but Indrid had politely declined, joking about performance anxiety.)

It was less awkward than Duck had been expecting. He walked around the park, pointing out the fungus on a tree trunk and a frog sitting with just its eyes over the surface of the water. Indrid, filming on Duck’s phone, smiled encouragingly whenever he met Duck’s eyes, and it was all Duck could do not to break his train of thought to grin back.

“Thank you for helping me,” he said when he was done.

“Thank you for the free nature walk!” said Indrid as he handed Duck’s phone back to him. Their hands brushed against Duck’s smooth phone case. “I come here to draw sometimes, but I’ve never noticed all that before.”

They watched everyone’s videos in class that week. Most of them were pretty boring. Duck cringed through the playing of his own video, though Indrid had done a good job with the camerawork, and a few of the music majors in the class had recorded themselves playing their instruments, which was at least nice to listen to. And then it was Indrid’s turn.

The video opened on a close-up shot of Indrid’s face. I am an artist, the voiceover said, Indrid’s own voice booming across the classroom. Sometimes I even look like it.

The Indrid on the screen bent his head - he was looking not at the camera but at a mirror behind it, putting on heavy eyeliner and spotty mascara. He switched out the subtle studs along the shell of his ear for something heavier, flashier, chain running between the holes. Then he stepped back from the camera and shrugged on a black leather jacket with spikes on the shoulders. A punk jacket. He posed, self-conscious, and as he started laughing the camera cut sharply to his face, again large.

I had an internship last summer with an insurance company calculating risk. He rubbed the makeup off his face with a makeup wipe, his eyes reddening slightly at the contact. He removed the jacket and folded it carefully before placing it out of frame. And then he picked up a pale blue button-down and buttoned it carefully down over his undershirt, and tied a tie in a perfect Windsor around his neck. He removed the bar from his eyebrow and the chains from his ears, which looked rather naked without them.

I perform to look like the things I know I can do. He dabbed concealer over the rosy maple moth tattooed at his neck, one wingtip peeking over the collar of the shirt. Then he held his hand out for a handshake, a business handshake, and sure, he looked like the kind of person Duck would trust to sell insurance. But there was something about his smile, something Duck wondered if anyone else could see. Something that lingered no matter what he wore.

Duck probably should spend less time thinking about his mouth.

“So my lease ends in January,” said Duck casually as they turned the corner onto his street. “And I’ve been having trouble finding other places that rent to students in this neighborhood, so I was wondering how you found your place.”

“Oh,” said Indrid, sounding guilty. “Well, I don’t know how much help I can be. I live up by the corner of 16th street and Broad.”

Duck did some quick mental geography as he climbed the step up to the front door. “That’s completely the other direction!”

“I know.” He was dressed like neither an insurance salesman nor a metal punk, today, with gold studs glittering in his ears like grains of sand and a soft, oversized sweater falling off one shoulder. The black roots of his hair had grown since the beginning of the term.

“You told me the first day of class that walking home wouldn’t be going out of your way! You know I don’t need walking home, right?”

“Of course. I just. Uh. I wanted to spend more time with you. I’m sorry for misleading you, we can stop if it makes you feel weird.”

Duck looked down at him. Indrid stood silently, awaiting judgment. “How about you come in?”

Indrid looked up. “I don’t mean to impose, it’s no trouble to walk home -”

Duck held out his hand. Indrid took it and followed him up the stairs without letting go. “You aren’t allergic to cats, are you?” Duck said when he finally had to take his hand back to unlock the door.

“Even if I was, I’d happily resign myself to sneezing.”

Duck opened the door and, as soon as Indrid was inside, crowded him up against it. Indrid slowly lifted his hands, trembling, and rested them on Duck’s shoulders. His gaze beneath his glasses flicked from Duck’s eyes to his lips and back again.

“Can I kiss you?” Duck said.

“Yes please.”

Indrid’s mouth was warm and soft and yielded so easily to Duck’s tongue, fuck, they should have done this sooner. Class would have been so much more bearable if he could have been looking over at Indrid’s lips the whole time knowing that as soon as class was over he could drag him out into the hallway, into one of the gender-neutral bathrooms in the arts building and kiss him silly.

“You don’t have any morning classes tomorrow, do you?” Duck asked when he finally pulled away enough to speak.

Indrid shook his head.

“Want to watch a movie and make out?”

“That sounds perfect.”

#indruck

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