#im rambling a lot but seriously

[cornsarts]

I feel like I make this kind of post fairly frequently but I would once again like to thank everyone for being here, from the very bottom of my heart. It means so much to me that people stick around, interact, say kind things in tags and comments. Being an artist on the web has its trials and tribulations but I've always felt like one of the lucky ones. My art comes from a place of self indulgence. I have a lot of love for it and put a lot of love into it and the fact that people are also able to derive a similar feeling from it means the world. I cannot stress it enough. So thank you, thank you, thank you.

[xxplastic-cubexx]

Chat have we discussed drunk chess with cherik cause i just think. That would be the darnedest silliest thing they could do

[oikyskau]

seeing kenji muto, the director of trigun stampede, reading an article about the portrayal of women in media made me want to take a little bit of a closer look at the women in trigun and as i was rambling about this earlier to my partner, they told me to write it down LMAO

as most of us know, in a lot of fiction, women are mostly characterised through common tropes, leading to a lack of complexity and a one-dimensional portrayal: as the doting wife, the femme fatale, the mistress, or the virgin. Their role only amounts to an Other, an extension of the male hero. they’re either the whore or the madonna.

for female characters in anime that usually means they’re either the sexy femme fatale, big badonkers and all to be gazed at, the mother, the helpless damsel in distress, or the child (yet, still sexualised despite the fact that it is a literal child); they’re portrayed through the way they are being perceived by men and mostly sexualised beyond belief. 

tristamp doesn’t do any of that.

in fact, the female characters in stampede achieve something that you don’t often see in anime: they are people. and stampede makes that clear in its very first episode by decidedly not going the route that you would usually take with the female characters they introduce:

of course, the biggest example here would be meryl, who i’d argue is the biggest driver of the plot, despite the fact that the plot of stampede is technically determined by vash - vash is an entirely passive character, he doesn’t make things happen, things happen to him and they mostly happen to him because of meryl. she’s the one who unties him, she drags them to the city, she makes them stay with him after ep3, she drives over wolfwood (rip my man), she stops for them to find rollo, she makes them follow the steamer.. you get it. she does all of this, despite being introduced as the newbie, the innocent person who would usually be the damsel in distress, who is helpless and shy and easily manipulated and who will probs be sexualised in her role as the “virgin” (sexually naive young girl who just doesn’t get all this adult sexuality yet hehe) 

but she’s not – she wears a non-sexualised outfit, she only gets called out for being a newbie, or for being small height-wise by wolfwood, but not for being a “girl”, she determines the action despite the fact that she does have a mentor figure and is therefore still in a position of a student – she still isnt an extension of roberto, vash, or anyone

in fact, the other characters – Rosa, Elendira, Luida, Rem – all take up roles that would in other media be portrayed in very specific ways: Rosa could just be a pregnant mother, who is also a divorcee, Elendira could be an innocent child beholden to her caretaker, Luida could be the loving motherlike figure and rem the Madonna figure, symbolising all the virtues a woman should aspire to have. – Rosa is a leader, her pregnancy is mentioned one single time and never made a bigger part of her character, Elendira is young but powerful, making choices by herself that are not inherently based on any kind of innocence, Luida doesn’t coddle Vash or prioritise him over her own work and mission (which also serves to inspire another woman, meryl!!), and rem is also just a non-perfect person, with secrets and questionable morality

none of these women are judged on the basis of their gender, none of them experience gender-based violence, none of them are made into a joke, none of them are sexualised (or desexualised – if you compare them to the male characters, who also do not ever make jokes about sexual promiscuity or similar stuff), they have different body types (rem has a very pronounced chest, and yet stampede doesn’t ever focus on it or give her cleavage) – note also that when presented with the perfect opportunity to call a female character a “bitch”, they chose to go with a “witch” instead, in both original japanese and english dub

their femininity is not used as a weapon against them, nor are stereotypical hypermasculine elements used to define characters’ positive traits (vash not being our traditionally hypermasculine hero for example) - the only time we see a semblance of gender-based violence is, you guessed it, at the very end, when knives forcefully takes control and bodily autonomy away from vash and inseminates the plants against their will (also interesting to note that knives, as the character that does exhibit that kind of violence, is the only character to be shown incredibly buff and all muscle) 

the women in tristamp are written for women, with the goal to be women that we can recognise, that represent the women that we are and know

anyways, i love all women in tristamp and have not once felt uncomfortable or said “oh look, a panty shot” and honestly i just find that pretty neat

[lunemoths]

kiss ryuji week day 4: sports / hangouts / post-canon !!

they are the eepers

[mapicccc]

feel kinda bad for caring more about wardens at spawn than anything else that happened yesterday

[nugatorysheep]

Being in both the Steven Universe fandom and the Ratchet and Clank fandom is insane, because in one of these fandoms a selfcest ship is the most common ship for the main character with a ton of popular fanart, and in the other people will tell you to kill yourself for even thinking about it. And the only difference between the two is that one ship is straight and one is gay

[livethrushit]

that last scene in the qaf finale was painful. we get a voiceover of michael talking about how some things should never change and the show decided that very much included brian. we then get him dancing in babylon to beat us over the head with the idea that nothing has changed at its core. but everything has in that moment. everything had changed for seasons. with everyone dancing "the way it should be" brian was the only one who didn't fit in that scene, yet there he was smack in the middle of it all

this wasn't growth, it wasn't poetic, it was a poorly written ending

[fallenwhumpee]

"An Hour."

• Masterlist •

Warnings: Hospital settings, aftermath of captivity, mentioned death.

Medic, despite what their job would suggest, wasn't a caregiver. They were just a mechanic working on circuits, not who carefully kept the whole mechanism running. They could fix people, but it was that. Someone would have to take over the aftermath.

Much to Medic's relief, Leader was a caregiver. A good one, even.

Too good, they lately noticed. Too good that it was starting to make Medic worried. But just like every other day, Medic knocked the infirmary door in exactly same time, before opening it fully. Youngest was asleep in the hospital bed - Medic had said Leader that it was unnecessary, but Leader  brought one anyway - and at last drops of their IV.

"An hour," Leader muttered. At this point it felt like a ritual. So, without a word, Medic moved and changed Youngest's IV to antibiotics as Leader deserted the room silently. Probably to sleep.

Good, Medic thought. Leader needed it.

Medic made their way to the armchair, only to see Leader's office keys on it. For a moment, they considered giving it back. They respected privacy, but they were also curious. For the last one month and a half, all Leader did was looking for Youngest, caring for Youngest or staying in their office. The first two was understandable, but the third...

Now Medic could learn whatever Leader was doing in their office.

Medic hesitated. They shouldn’t invade Leader’s privacy—Leader had done nothing to earn suspicion, at all. And Leader never broke anyone's boundries, so Medic doing it to them was just wrong. But something had been gnawing at the back of Medic’s mind for weeks now, something beyond the usual worry for Youngest. Leader’s behavior, so single-minded, so intense, felt wrong. So wrong for someone almost obsessed with making the future better. And if there was something in that office that could explain it...

Steeling themselves, Medic turned and walked down the hall to Leader’s office. The key slid into the lock with an ease that almost felt too simple. "Where's Leader?" Medic shouted. Leader's room was wide open and Leader wasn't there.

"Went for a quick walk," Right Hand shouted back.

Medic took a deep breath. "Okay," they muttered. With a simple twist, the door creaked open. Medic slipped inside, shutting it quietly behind them slowly. The room was dim, the only light filtering through the half-drawn blinds, casting long shadows across the walls. At first glance, it looked like any other office—neat, organized, professional. Just like how Leader liked to keep everything. Medic opened the lights.

Notes. Dozens of them, pinned to a board on the wall, scattered across the desk, and even taped to the edges of the bookshelves, almost creating a wallpaper. Most were in Leader’s precise handwriting, detailing locations, names, dates, and other pieces of information that, together, painted a picture out of a detective's office. Medic’s gaze was drawn to a map on the wall, marked with pins and red string connecting various points. They moved closer, recognizing the locations as places where incidents had occurred—break-ins, disappearances, attacks. All related to Youngest.

Their heart pounded as they picked up a file from the desk. It had a picture, the person's face partially obscured, but there was no mistaking who it was. Medic had seen that face around Whumper—one of the underlings of them. The person had been found dead two weeks ago, the cause still under investigation. There were detailed reports about them, autopsies, locations, biographies... informations that Medic doubted Leader had the authority to kno let alone storing.

They set the file down, their hands trembling slightly. Leader had been gathering evidence, but it wasn’t just about finding Youngest. It was about something more.

Another photo on the desk caught their eye. Medic took it, revealing more photos, more notes underneath. Some were crossed out, others highlighted. A list of names—people connected to the kidnapping—each one with a note beside it: confirmed dead, under surveillance, possible lead.

Some of these people were no longer a threat because they were dead. Was it coincidence, or had Leader...?

The sound of footsteps in the hallway snapped Medic out of their thoughts. They hurriedly closed the folder and placed thr picture back on the desk, glancing around to make sure everything was as they’d found it. The door clicked shut just as the office door opened.

Leader stepped inside, looking tired but alert. They froze for a moment, eyes narrowing as they stared in the sight of Medic standing in their office.

“What are you doing here?” Leader’s voice was calm, but there was an edge to it, a warning.

Medic tried to keep their expression neutral, forcing a casual shrug qs if they weren’t digging through the room for the last ten minutes. “You left your keys on the chair. Thought I’d drop them off.”

Leader’s gaze flicked to the keys in Medic’s hand, then back to their face. For a moment, neither of them moved. Then, slowly, Leader crossed the room, taking the keys with a nod.

“Thank you,” they said, their tone polite but distant. “Please wait for my return next time.”

Medic nodded, feeling the tension in the air like a physical weight. They turned to leave, but couldn’t help one last glance at the desk, at the folder now lying innocently on the surface.

Leader didn’t miss the look. “Is there something else?”

“No,” Medic replied quickly, shaking their head. “Just... take care of yourself, okay? You look like you haven’t slept in days.”

Leader’s expression relaxed, a smile so soft and tender taking over. “Don't worry. Byt you should get some rest too.”

How could Medic be suspicious of them when all Leader did was worrying and caring for the team? Shoving the guilt down, they forced a smile and left the office.

-•-

Later that day, Medic was in the break room when the news broke. The television mounted on the wall buzzed with static before the anchor’s voice cut in, somber and urgent.

“We interrupt this program with breaking news. Henchman, a key figure in the recent string of criminal activities linked to the late terrorist Whumper, was found dead earlier this evening. Authorities are investigating, but details remain scarce at this time.”

Medic’s blood ran cold. Henchman—another name on Leader’s list. Dead. Just like the others.

They stood frozen, the room spinning around them. The timeline didn’t add up. Leader couldn’t have done it—they had only left the office for ten minutes, not enough time to cross the city and back. But the coincidences were too many, too pointed.

When Medic next saw Leader, they couldn’t help but study their face, searching for anything. But Leader looked even more drained than the last time, still trying to hold it together desperately. When Medic mentioned the news, Leader’s response was calm, almost indifferent.

“Tragic, but not unexpected,” Leader muttered, shrugging slightly. They weren’t even focused— they looked like they could just collapse and take a twenty four hour nap. “Agency was after them. It was only a matter of time.”

Medic nodded slowly, but the uneasy feeling in their gut only grew. There was something, something that was beyond their understanding. But as Leader walked away, Medic knew one thing for certain— Leader was doing something wrong. It was either their sleeping habits or the team had a huge problem.

-•-

Soo, have another random one. This is standalone, but I wrote this with "A Score to Settle" in my mind. Not quite part two, but I began writing with that intention.

[cloudcountry]

i just want to extend a reminder to every minor on here. please be careful. please do not post nsfw. please do not interact with adults who have a) stated they don't want to interact with minors or b) create nsfw content. i get that it's not going to stop minors from consuming said content but for your safety and theirs be careful.

[becauseplot]

i feel i should preface this with saying that this relationship analysis "takes place" before qcellbit's emotional exhaustion and motivation crash---

---but i have been having SUCH crazy thoughts abt the archivists (qcellbit n qphilza). guy who needs evidence of Everything 🤝 guy who takes pictures of and hoards Everything. two-cars-passing-each-other meme whenever cellbit (practically nocturnal at this point) makes a late-night run to the Ordo to grab some notes he left there and bumps into phil (trouble sleeping ever since the birdhouse incident) who's sitting in one of the evidence rooms organizing a new backpack of photos to hand over to cellbit.

"oh. hey phil." "hi mate."

their conversations and interactions center mostly around cellbit's investigations---the ones cellbit lets the public know about, anyway---and whatever new info phil managed to scoop up since the last time they saw each other. theories are exchanged, and photos are passed between them as easily as pleasantries. "how're you doing?" "oh, doin' alright, doin' alright. you?" "eh. busy, you know?"

they don't talk about much else.

see, they both understand secrets. intimately. things you did you would much rather leave behind you, if you can, or thoughts, worries, doubts you would much rather keep to yourself for fear of speaking them into existence. sealed lips; a tight lid. they look at each other and know they're only seeing what the other wants them to see, but that's okay. they get it. sometimes, it's just easier to focus on what is directly in front of you. what you can see, what you can touch; what you know is true, what you know is real.

what you can do.

so cellbit generates and bounces his theories off of phil, and phil is more than happy to be a sounding board. phil fills up a backpack with photographs, and cellbit is more than happy to take it off his hands. they focus on The Work, on the spiderweb of red string and loose ends and grainy pictures and scrawled notes pinned to the wall, madness-incarnate sprawled out before them. they trust each other's judgement, and they trust each other's skills, and they trust each other, and neither asks too many questions. they both appreciate it.

[t1red-gastr0p0d]

Mor Interloper AU Isat Brainrot ideas!

I'm pretty sure the Interloper can see colors.

Like, they weren't there when the wish to monochromize the world happen.

So like, everyone's confused when they mention colors of rhed or blu or gryeen etc.

Also, they can see some people's clothing color combinations are really off sometimes.

Not that they really care? They wear pelts for gosh sake.

I'm constantly trying to think of how the Interloper would connect with Mirabelle but I'm coming up blank...I'd say books but the books you read in TLD are more instructional than for leisure like what Mira reads...

I'll take ideas tho...

[volfoss]

it is beyond infuriating how anne rice seems to insist on marius being a positive force in anyone's life ever. like she can't fully commit to exploring the fact he groomed armand and has repeatedly taken away his consent for what marius thinks is best (take the end of TVA as an example) and just kind of flatly puts it in the narrative. there's not really much interest in how these horrific events make marius come across as the worst because EVERYONE loves him. for gods sake, lestat learns from armand exactly what marius did to him in TVL and then proceeds to go find marius and be super friendly to him in the same fucking book. even armand and pandora, two of the people who have MORE than enough right to hate him, do not. it doesnt feel like shes trying to explore the toxicity of the abusive dynamic he traps them in, it just is there. and like yeah ofc the toxic vampire romance series but i think that this should be handled with more care. and it is not ever really framed in a way that she is interested in exploring how marius should easily be one of the most horrific characters in this series because it kind of feels like sa/rape/grooming/other things of that sort are just put there to further plot and not to really get the respect that they deserve in a medium.

[james-spooky]

this is a test

[chaoticallyfluffy]

I slightly bent my glasses and instantly started wondering if I’d be able to drown myself in my bathtub or if my body would go into autopilot to get me out

I may be a teensy bit over dramatic

[andro-dino]

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

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

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

[cursemewithyourkiss]

I'm haunted by the surviving reel of The Dark Angel (1925). The other night I dreamt of it, I think. I keep fantasising about what it might be like and about actually going to Washington just to see it. Going insane.