#it's fun! and realistic! and the writing of

[guiltyofbitchcraft]

Hey, educators! If you're seeing this, please do not do this! The posters above are well meaning but I don't believe they're fully thinking this through.

For one, this is concept only works if you ignore disabled students. I'll use my own case as an example but I have EDS and a multitude of other issues that come with that, one of which being that after a few sentences it's really painful to hand write things! Not only that my handwriting drastically deteriorates the longer I push myself. It's not fun and one of my disability requirements I've had at each and every one of my schools since high school is that I get technology access for taking notes and doing written assignments. This is just one of a million reasons a student might need to type out their assignments. There's also a very good possibility you have students who have needs that make it easier for them to type out assignments but they aren't official recognized or diagnosed. Secondly, Blue Book written assignments cannot replace all written assignments. While they are really good for testing students ability to think quickly and organize their thoughts short term that does not replace the skills long term essay writing creates. If you want to encourage your students to become scholars and writers they'll need to learn to hone skills beyond a blue book exam. That's not even touching on how hand written essays make things like citations so much harder to teach and for your students to apply.

Also just because some professors are willing to struggle through terrible handwriting doesn't mean all are. There's some truly illegible handwriting out there and yes while more hand written assignments would help with that (although it'd be more useful to the students in earlier years rather than in later education) also consider the amount of extra work you're asking both the professor and the student to do? Hand writing takes a lot more time than typing, and students who have bad hand writing probably know it and know that the illegibility has a good chance at affecting their grade. (Also like very minor note but like please also don't forget about what a pain it is for left handed students to do blue book style exams. We know our hand smears the entire text but we can't do anything about it) I get it, AI is really becoming a problem but I don't think the solution is to make your students do more work when they're already not keeping up with the work load they have. You think they won't learn to cheat on written exams? People have before, it'll just be brought back. I'm sorry to tell you guys but there is no easy solution to this. The way towards a solution will take patience, trust, and a lot of work. It'll require a lot more realistic and genuine conversations about AI and trust with your students, it'll require going back to a system that allows students to fail in a safe environment rather than pushing them onto the next level when they're nowhere near ready. What isn't the solution is making education both inaccessible and more distrusting of the people it's supposed to help.

An ex-colleague of mine was complaining to me the other day about the ai problem in her students' papers, and I told her, "Just make your students hand-write them in class. Easy." She looked at me like I was insane and tried to explain how that would never work, but I just said,"That's how we did it for a thousand years. The invention of word processors doesn't erase all that."

To me it seems obvious. Readings are done out of class, handwritten essays are done within it. No more ai papers.

[midnight-mourning]

300 Followers Special!

AGH IT HAPPENED AGAIN

was legit just checking through my blog and realized but at least i caught it in time!!

Thank you all so much! For this and for all the support everyone gives on the silly things I make. I know the last like, several months of this blog have been chaos (from posting often to nothing while I was sick to semi-daily in December etc. etc.) so I appreciate everyone sticking with me through it all very much <333

I'll admit there's.... a LOT going on right now (looks at my wips and at my research to-do list) BUT, i don't mind adding something to the list! It just might take a bit of time to get to it lol

Pulling from the 100 follower milestone celebration ideas that didn't get picked, as well as a few other things I came up with, will do the top two if results are close :D

BUT feel free to pick the 'other' option if you have soemthing else you'd like to see! I will do whatever since this is me saying thanks ^^

Little bit of info on each thing below the cut, excited to see what you pick!

Q&A/Ask the Cast: a classic, I know my ask box is open but here's also a clear chance to ask something that you've been really curious about! I won't share spoilers for the story, but everything else is on the table, including stuff about me, writing etc. Just no super personal questions is all! Additionally, you can ask the cast questions and answers will be in character, perhaps with a little doodle as well ^-^

Writing Requests: same as all the other request things I've done, same rules apply (no nsfw, suggestive is fine, be specific if you want specific) and will be about 500-1000 words each

Doodle requests: I provide you with a little drawing I made with tender love and care (would be lined, colored, shaded, etc.)

A peek into the drafts: I do in fact have a couple other fic ideas floating around in my brain that I simply haven't started so that I don't get bogged down/focus on CS. I would share those and a little bit of concept art

AU Oneshot/Continuation: I take a oneshot I've written and add MORE to it in some way, anything that I've written is up for grabs (besides my multi-chap stories ofc) This includes my Promptober responses, DCA December, 'Secret' gifts I've done, and any other drabbles or such. Examples of times I've already done this would include Holiday Spirit (continuation of DCA December Day 7), and Restart (continuation of Promptober Day 29)

DIY the DCA: silly idea I've thought about where using my knowledge as an MechE I determine the costs of materials, equipment, etc. for what it would take to build the daycare attendant yourself, would it be completely accurate? probably not I am not an expert, would it be fun? yeah I fuckin love deep-diving on mcmastercarr for shit

Chekov's Gun Analysis Post: i explain and go line by line about ch. 15 of Confused Spirit and explain all the little callbacks, hints, etc., why i love it so much, and so on

Other: explained above, don't be shy to tell me if none of these sound interesting! Won't hurt my feelings :)

[cruel-as-sin]

bad timing | logan howlett

this is just a little thing about cas and logan running into each other in the kitchen (takes place while reader is in the bathtub during baby, am i your little secret)

↳ summary: reader’s roommate (aka cas) goes into the kitchen at a bit of a bad time, and ends up encountering… a stranger?

word count: 1.5k (sorry lol)

pairings: old man!logan & reader’s roommate, old man!logan x fem!stripper!reader (mentioned/referenced)

content warnings: 18+ content (MDNI), sexual references/innuendos, no use of y/n, third person pov, age gap (cas and reader’s ages are unspecified but they are both adults), gun (not used), cas is down bad for logan (lmk if i missed anything!)

↳ a/n: so this was absolutely NOT supposed to be this long but i had so much fun writing that i just got caught up in it… anyway enjoy my semi self-insert LMAO

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Logan has been rifling through the cupboards for what feels like forever. Realistically, he knows it’s only been two or three minutes, but he can’t make heads or tails of the organization in this place and he just wants a fucking cup to get you some water.

Then he hears the door open from down the hall. It wouldn’t be you- too soon. He sniffs the air, just once- nope. Not you. Back and forth footsteps, the quiet click of a closing door- and then the sound gets closer.

Breathing. Quiet, nearly held, but not quite. A heartbeat that’s just a little too fast.

Someone’s there.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Cas had tried to wait it out. Really, they had, swear it. But they’d just gotten to a massive story beat in their newest favorite game, including a betrayal, and anger makes them hungry. Really fucking hungry. Plus they probably hadn’t eaten since long before their roommate got home. They’d lost track of time, which was, admittedly, their fault. All of this kind of was, if you exclude the fact that they’d just been seeing red over this stupid video game.

Anger also makes them forgetful.

So it was only natural that after a long period of ignoring their hunger, then finding out that a friendship built up over the entire game was a lie, they were kind of distracted and maybe forgot that their roommate had company.

Like I said, it’s not their fault!

Anyway. They’d slipped off their headphones only to immediately pull them back on when they’d heard the sounds from the room next door. Not the first time, probably wouldn’t be the last. They waited impatiently, scrolling through TikTok until they deemed it had been long enough for them to venture out of their room. At this point, they didn’t care what they heard, they were fucking starving.

When they pulled off their headphones again and were met with silence, they thanked the lord and began making their way towards the kitchen.

They hadn’t even pulled their bedroom door shut when they heard something- the closing of a cupboard. They froze, ears perking up, and they could pick up on the sound of water splashing from the bathroom. Jesus, in the bathtub? Cas was going to have to remind you to clean it.

But if that was the case, which they so foolishly completely fairly assumed, then whoever was in the kitchen was probably an intruder.

Okay, listen. They’re paranoid, alright? Anxiety will do that to you, especially when meds that work are about as hard to come by as an ounce of common sense in today’s society- and Cas, tonight, has neither.

They caught the door before it closed, slipping back inside their room and getting the gun from their safe. They pulled the door closed behind them as quietly as possible, feeling rather than hearing the click as it shut, their gun gripped tightly in their hands.

So that’s how we ended up here. With your roommate stepping cautiously down the hall towards the kitchen, convinced that someone has broken into your apartment.

Which they haven’t.

When they reach the doorway, they spot him. An old older man, rummaging through the cupboards with a frustrated huff as he tries (and fails) to find what he’s looking for.

What the fuck is he doing? Cas thinks to themself, holding their breath as they linger in the doorway, watching for any sign of what this man might be up to.

“Where do you keep your cups?” He grumbles, opening another door, met with various painted bowls laughing back at him.

Cas stays quiet, brow furrowed. He doesn’t look like a thief- but looks can be deceiving, right?

“What, are you just gonna stand there? Where are your fuckin’ cups?” Is he talking to-

He turns around, eyeing them up for a brief moment before meeting their gaze with a hardened expression.

Cas is frozen in place, eyes locked on the man as he stares at them impatiently. Their grip on the gun tightens to the point that their knuckles are white, but something keeps them from raising it. They may not have common sense, but they have damn good intuition, and this guy is not a threat.

“Um- my- you.. what?”

His gaze darts down to the gun in their hands. Immediately, his entire stance changes. He’s tense, on edge, ready for a fight. This guy has to be pushing seventy, there’s no way he can do anything, right? But his muscular arms visible beneath his white undershirt, the way his eyes were trained on the weapon almost immediately, the lack of any panic or fear in his expression, all suggest otherwise. “You her roommate?” His tone is much less friendly now (if they could have even called it that to begin with). Despite being the one holding a gun, Cas is pretty sure that one wrong move will leave them dead on the floor in seconds.

But also, this guy just mentioned you. Which means… he’s your company?

Before they can think too long about whether or not this guy can even get it up anymore, they realize they should probably say something. Cause, you know, they’re still holding a gun.

“Uhh.. yeah.” They stammer. “Sorry. I’m, um, a little paranoid.” They stumble over their words with a nervous laugh, cautiously setting the gun down on the kitchen counter.

“I can see that.” His stance relaxes some, but the tension in his bones remains evident.

“Sorry.” They say again. “She told me she had company, I just thought you two were in the bathroom. And I thought you’d be… well, um…” Younger. Much younger. Not someone’s grandpa, holy shit. He raises an eyebrow, and upon further consideration, they decide it’s probably best not to tell this very dangerous looking man how ridiculously fucking old he is. (Like, seriously?) “Nevermind.”

He seems to know what they were going to say, but thankfully moves on from the subject. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“Oh, yeah. Last one on the end.” They point, and sure enough, when he opens that cupboard, the inside is full of various cups, mugs, and glasses. He picks out a tall one, moving to the sink to fill it with water. “Don’t.”

He turns, looking at them with a gaze they’re pretty sure could turn people to stone. Who the hell is this guy? “I’m getting your roommate some water.” His tone is low, bordering on menacing.

Cas, having determined that this man is very much not a threat if you brought him here, is now very quickly beginning to understand why you took home such a specimen.

Yeah, okay, they’re a masochist. And probably have something wrong with them. Sue them, or something, but holy shit, they kind of want to pick the gun back up just to see what he’d do about it.

There’s definitely something wrong with them.

Anyway.

“No, I- I know, I, um-” Fuck. As much as they’d like to think they’re some kind of badass who could stand up to this guy even a little bit for the sake of getting a good punishment, every coherent thought in their head has gone out the window. Spit it out already! “We have a pitcher in the fridge. You can get it from there.”

He stares at them for a moment, nostrils flaring- but then, suddenly, he relents. If they weren’t so worked up they thought they might be delusional, they’d be convincing anyone that would listen that this man had a fucking smirk on his face. “Thanks.” He says as he turns away, pulling the pitcher out of the fridge.

“And you can get ice from the freezer.” God, they sound like an idiot.

While he’s turned away making you a glass of water, they can’t help but stare. He’s big, tall, veins on his arms that make Cas wonder if he has them anywhere else- nope, stop, not thinking about him like that. He’s clearly whipped for you.

“D’you know what snacks she likes?” He turns around again to ask the question. How does he stare so intensely yet look so unbothered at the same time? “I didn’t think she’d want much since it’s late, but…”

“String cheese. In the fridge.” Cas has given up on trying to rein in their thoughts, instead settling for getting him the fuck out of here as quickly as possible. They tap their fingers on the countertop, trying to act like they aren’t staring when they absolutely are.

Before he can leave, they speak up again- they just can’t help themself. “Did you get some for yourself?”

He looks at them with a confused frown. “What?”

“Water. Did you get some? I’m assuming no, since I had to tell you where our cups are.” If there’s one thing Cas is good at keeping a firm tone for, it’s taking care of other people, and there’s no way in hell this old man doesn’t need a long drink of water after fucking you.

“I’m fine.”

They wave a hand, interrupting him. “Water. Now.”

For a moment he just stares at them, and they gulp, feeling heat rise to their cheeks.

Yep, they really did just tell this man what to do.

But for some reason, he listens, pouring himself a glass of water and downing it, eyes locked on them the whole time.

“There. You happy?”

“Could be better, but that’ll do for now.” They ease into the banter with him naturally.

He huffs, grabbing the things he got for you. “Yeah, alright. Night.”

Even a goodnight? What a gentleman.

“Goodnight!” They call out, watching him go before they begin to make themself something to eat. They’d almost forgotten entirely about their quest for sustenance and their intense gaming session- and while those things take precedence for the rest of the night, that old man lingers in the back of their mind.

[capsizedskeleton]

heartstopper (a lot of the time) is the television equivalent to reading a fluff fic and having to curl into a ball at the parts that are too sweet. 10/10

[nadas-dirthalen]

tacking on to say: my love is by no means only for its writing! i am constantly blown away by its visual design. the art book showed me the motivations behind the more stylistic/stylized approach, and i fully agree with the premise. while less purely realistic, there is a timelessness to the visual style of veilguard that i believe will age really, really well.

i love the level design. the visual design of minrathous, kal-sharok, weisshaupt, and arlathan forest have me floored constantly. combine that with the brilliant audio work, and you have me on the brink of tears every time i'm in arlathan and That Music comes on.

speaking of the music? i've hunted for the unreleased tracks in the game (you can turn down all sound but the music to find them!) and hvae downloaded them all. they're that good. so many are amazing, but the one from when bellara talks about cyrian never, ever fails to make me cry.

i love the combat. i'm engaged, but not overwhelmed. dazzled, but still equipped to navigate and react quickly. everything is brighter, shinier, more fun—and, in a stroke of genius, that perfectly reflects the continued thinning of the veil over the past ~15 years before veilguard.

the breadth and depth of thedas as a world—not only its stories, but its mechanics, its music, its history, its life—will forever impress me.

and i know i'm not alone.

putting out into the ether for the zillionth time that i really love veilguard. i love to chew on its lore. i love thinking about the devouring storm, the executors, and all the clues we *haven't* found/discussed yet. i love the companions and how they act as put-together as professionals in their 30s often act (and that taash acts so believably how a nonbinary, maybe-autistic person discovering themselves in their early 20s acts. ask me how i know). i love the romances and how much life there is in each one, yet how much room exists for headcanoning as well. i love veilguard's portrayal of solas, and i love how rook mirrors him so well, so devastatingly.

wishing there was a way to shine a bat-signal at the folks at bioware without directly addressing/tagging them directly (and implying they should reply, like on bsky). wishing i could give them all head pats from afar.

i really like veilguard. i hope they know how loved it is.

because it's damned good art.

[jwisun]

your stuff is soo amazing!!! i've got nothing to req (unless u wanna do chenle bf texts :p /hj) but i've binge read all of ur text scenarios in one sitting, keep it up!!! <3

FANK YEW!!! im so glad u love it. and NO need to joke about chenle w me i am crazy and in love w him so Anytimeeee baby

silly bf chenle x gn!reader sfw <333

[auriidae]

the amount of em dashes i use when writing ethubs is frankly embarrassing

[reachexceedinggrasp]

The very first set photos are feeding my delusions hopes

[lyndiscealin]

prev:

Oh no, I mean it. The more I think about it, the more realistic it becomes for me.

Jeremy says that to Jean after Jean has is breakdown at the end of the book. Right after Jean thinks that all he has is a golden cage. That it is better than anything he ever had and he should be thankful... but he isn't.

He hates it.

I thought the only way for Jean to get his happy ending is him finding fun in Exy. But he won't, he can't. Even with the Trojans.

On the other hand I am 100% convinced that Nora would not write this book if she didn't give him a happy ending.

So Jean has to get away from the Moriyamas.

Neil and Kevin are pretty happy with the deal, they are fine, but Jean isn't.

And Jeremy giving Jean a 'blank check'?

I don't mean 'he buys Jean from Ichirou' as in 'he goes behind his back'. Because that would be horrible. I can't imagine exactly how this will go down, because Nora will have to write it so there is no power dynamic between Jeremy and Jean and that is infinitely hard. But I think it is a realistic outcome that somehow Jeremy buys Jean's freedom.

And Jean will be able to step out of his cage for good.

okay, hear me out.

Jeremy gives Jean a blank check. 'Everything you need' and when Jean challenges him on it he answers 'Try me, I can afford it'

So... initially I thought of it as a metaphor, but we also know Jeremy is rich.

New theory. Jeremy buys Jean from Ichirou at the end of the series.

[caterpillarinacave]

Using the computer as a babysitter for Jed and Octavius is all fun and games until they figure out how to use Larry’s credit card

[blindmagdalena]

Homelander & Yulia "Empress" Bellam. art for my planned homelander x oc fic, The Hand You Wanna Hold is a Weapon. 🖤 ( art by Toyryla )

[wickmitz]

I decided to start talking about Wick and Rocky's relationship because I like their dynamics too, I like seeing Wick scared of Rocky and Rocky being aggressive with him, which is unusual because Rocky is rarely aggressive with anyone, but of course Wick is an exception to rule

Also my mini opinion about their possible relationship, I think that if Rocky didn't have to fight for his place, then he and Wick could become friends, or at least tolerate each other a little, I also see some superficial similarities, their gentlemanly and romantic natures, and their common love for explosions (remembering the quarrymen chapter), but this is my assumption, I think that I don't understand the characters' personalities well, so I can be wrong in this assumption, something like that. So, what do you think about their relationship?

for starters, i cannot thank you enough for this ask! as i’ve said previously, i have many thoughts on these two, so it’s nice to finally be able to share some of them. although given the extent to which i think about them, i apologize in advance if this is sloppy and sort of everywhere … while i’ll try to structure things the best i can, i cannot promise i’ll succeed! but hopefully this is an enjoyable reply nonetheless.

one of my favorite things about rocky and wick’s relationship is absolutely how aggressive rocky is towards the aristocrat ; he is prone to glares and cruel jokes and borderline hissing whenever the man is within his line of sight, or can be brought to a wailing-fit over the mere mention of his name from miss m’s mouth. there is a childishness to it, but a very prominent threat as well in spite of rocky’s usual incompetence. so he goes out of his way to posture around wick, readily lying and adorning himself with the gangster drapes he so badly wants to wear, in the hopes that it intimidates … will even badmouth wick’s family and make fun of his name and rock related obsession to mitzi, and so on so forth! yet all of this is very reminiscent of schoolyard bullying rather than anything too severe, though we as the audience understand rather quickly that rocky would bash wick’s head in with a tire iron if he could. ( translation : if it wouldn’t earn the tears or hate of a certain beloved mitzi may ) and it’s all very intense despite the absence of actual violence! and i understand why many fans see this as unusual for rocky and believe that it’s only wick who makes him act so aggressively, but i’d argue it isn’t really wick at all that prompts such scary reactions from him … and that rocky is a deeply angry character who’s a.) been boiling quietly for a long, long time and b.) has turned wick into a punching bag of sorts for this inner world of resentment and hurt. basically, when he’s judging the well-to-do or poking fun, his eyes don’t look at wick and actually acknowledge him as sedgewick sable ; instead this is a being, something vague and metaphorical, who threatens to upseat rocky’s permanence in the lackadaisy and steal away his savior, and he’s had a hand in the violinist’s misfortune for a long time.

obviously, rocky doesn’t think wick robbed him of his family twice over and made him homeless, but he is channeling the fear and anguish of those events into his loathing for wick, if that makes sense? it’s easier that way -- to finally have an outlet for everything bleeding inside of you, to be able to bite and claw at something without feeling conflicted or having to take personal accountability for your own mistakes … which is something that i think rocky does struggle with to a degree. he is sort of a finger pointer! his pain has to be worth something, it has to be for someone else ; spending years homeless and losing his last bit of family was for freckle, and the scrambling of his literal brain was for mitzi, and that means he can’t ever be angry with them! well, except that he is, somewhat, but he buries it deep down instead of feeling it. with freckle there is a sense of strain between them -- an air of ‘you owe me��� from rocky to freckle as he uses freckle to appease miss m, and he constantly pokes fun at his cousin too. it’s lighter than his jabs at wick, but there’s a constant pestering, a reminder of how good freckle has it : how he’s got the mom and the house and the job and the girl most notably. i don’t think rocky is intending to come across as mean, and to his credit he hardly does! but it’s rather clear to me that some part of him, some hidden and deeply hurt part, is rather indignant about taking the fall for freckle all those years ago. which he can’t understand, because how could he? he made that choice, he decided to take accountability for something he didn’t do because he loves freckle and knows it’d be so easy to believe this family tragedy was roark’s fault ; the devilish child he was, all troublesome and too broken to properly fit anywhere. so there is a disconnect born here, where rocky can’t comprehend that he’d be angry at freckle, so instead these not so great feelings are placed elsewhere and silently boil over time. and with mitzi … i don’t think he’s angry at her per se, but there is a frustrated and desperate chorus of : why him and why not me, when i’m the one out here dying for you? which is certainly unpleasant. of course, rather than allowing those feelings to be more aimed at miss m, whom he feels unloved by, he ( again! ) represses these emotions and allows them to fester into his greatest fears and fantastical complexes. i think there is a lot of other miscellaneous anger he could have towards others too … perhaps some part of him is sore upon seeing ivy’s normal lifestyle, watching her go to university and knowing that’s been taken from him. or an ache felt when hearing stories from zib and the band and how they used to travel successfully, living as nomads, and rocky is all too reminded of his similar lifestyle and how he couldn’t make it work as effortlessly. people with immense trauma are more prone to irrational anger and jealousy, to viewing everything around them as unfair and believing it’s even more unjust that so many people get to live comfortably while they’ve suffered. a situation that gets more messy when you’re someone like rocky, a man who’s willingly made choices that have harmed himself and wants to continue on with his smiling, bumbling fool of an act. he does not want to be angry, does not want to see it within himself, i think, which leads to an accidental increase of it.

all of this is to reiterate that wick is a scapegoat for rocky and nothing more. it’s why he’s rather hypocritical whenever it concerns the man. for example, it was stated by tracy that he looks down upon wick for his excessive presence at the bar, yet he appears to enjoy hanging out with zib -- who drinks just as often! he makes fun of how all wick ever talks about is rocks, when he himself is prone to poetry rambles that people find irritating or boring, and etc etc. this is also just a human nature thing, to critique someone you heavily dislike and even going as far as to belittle things you love or do in your own day to day because you just hate them that bad! but given rocky’s willingness to befriend anyone, it more so reeks of a dehumanization element. wick is every obstacle in his way, every divine force that threatens to send him packing again, so he is equal parts unnerved by wick’s presence and angry about it. it is mostly a fear response we are seeing, an emotion that’s morphed into long held resentment and anger. so his actions are extremely defensive, with him trying to push wick far away and keep him and mitzi separate, like some sort of animal attempting to ward off a threat that’s come too close to their home. despite the loaded animosity there, this hate has hardly reached its peak … but it shall only grow more intense as things continue onward i’m afraid, since as it stands ( in the comic at least ) rocky is at an all time low … and is ten times more desperate. i’d honestly say wick has become so warped in his mind’s eye that he can only strive towards ‘winning’ over the other man, because that’s all he can see anymore. i think mitzi implying that wick willingly helped her out, the intense head injury, and rocky’s fragile emotional state is exactly what pushes him towards premeditated murder in look-see. i don’t know how people perceive that arc, but to me it’s very clear that rocky actively sought to see the deaths of wes and fish that night. going as far as to lament that he’d be, “very disappointed if ( he ) dreamed them,” and purposefully luring the marigold duo away to have freckle pick them off. while you could argue that this was a smart move, in a gangster sort of sense, there’s still no denying that rocky is oddly chipper about the whole thing and is now seeking death out ; whereas before his methods of vengeance were just, well, ruining people’s livelihood but ultimately leaving them alive. this isn’t to discredit the fact that rocky is going through something! he is in a very muddled and dark place, mentally and physically, but even tracy has said that the head injury hasn’t changed rocky’s personality -- it’s only brought things to the surface.

source : q&a with tracy .

which, yeah! makes sense! head trauma can cause a person to become a wreck emotionally ( think mood swings, irritability, etc ) but it doesn’t completely morph someone either. personality changes may occur, but it’s not like you’re being rewritten entirely, you know? and given tracy’s old statement, it’s clear that ‘personality changes’ aren’t a side effect he’s suffering from. something that adds to my beginning statement, which is that rocky is a deeply angry and troubled person, more so than fans give him any credit for.

however, to touch upon your mini opinion about these two, i actually wholeheartedly agree that rocky and wick could become friends if circumstances were different. they do in fact have many superficial similarities, but one of the more prominent things they deeply share is never really belonging in the groups they frequent. this is more overt with rocky’s character, yet wick faces it too in subtle ways. the well-to-do crowd, seen through the investors, find the gentleman to be lacking in about every place imaginable ; to them he is an obsessive freak who cares too deeply for meager rocks, something they constantly mock him for, while he’s also being noticeably set apart from the rest of them … he seems younger than the investors, more excitable, passionate, and a little less experienced, and doesn’t seem to care for money or reputation as much as them either. there is a constant rubbing between him and them, where what he enjoys is seen as wrong, such as his love for the lackadaisy and his choice in paramor, a grieving widow with extremely dangerous ties. we also know that wick doesn’t have many friends at all, with the only two he has being lacy and church ( church is listed as such on his character profile, in a sort of tongue-in-cheek way ), both of whom work for or with him. they are obliged to hang around, and while they care in varying ways, they are prone to judging him just as much. honestly, it’s not shocking that wick seeks refuge at his chosen speakeasy! but even there he is rather distant from everyone else. he doesn’t speak to zib ever in the comics, nor seems all too close with viktor, ivy, or horatio … it is merely mitzi he is close to, even if he knows of the other people who work there. and, once again, wick very obviously doesn’t fit in. he is not gangster material, could never be an atlas may replacement, much less someone who could get his paws dirty in such an active way. so he has his feet in two different worlds and doesn’t know how to fit into either of them, or which one he actually wants to fit into more. i think in many ways rocky could relate -- these are two very lonely people who wish to belong somewhere and be accepted by some group or another but go about it in all the wrong ways. wick, who is too hesitant to fully commit to what he wants and is worse off for it, and then rocky, who obsessively throws himself against what he wants until he breaks every bone in his body. they also have explosives to bond over, lol, and other miscellaneous things like their taste in women i suppose … but this potential bond adds to the tragedy of lackadaisy, where we see two people who on every level should get along but we’re burdened with the knowledge that it’s an impossibility anyway, because there’s no removing the circumstance of which they’re in.

though i like to believe that despite wick’s fear of rocky, he maintains a kindness towards him regardless. i think his worries about rocky are rather surface level … he doesn’t know the boy at all, really, and thus can’t make heads or tails of him, hence him believing the lie in balderdash. so when i’m feeling particularly self indulgent, i like imagining a world where they’re forced together and sort of ‘stuck’ together ; to which rocky finally breaks and exposes his wounds to wick, in every sense of the word, and wick finally gets him. the aggression, the possessiveness of mitzi … it is all fear and desperation and a profound sadness, things he’d sympathize with. if rocky was able to explain that he loathes wick because if he saves the lackadaisy then mitzi won’t need him anymore and that it’s not fair that wick gets to so easily fix things when rocky would give his soul for his home, for her, and how wick could render every sacrifice he’s already made for naught by smoothing things over with some greenbacks and he can’t lose this, he just can’t --! … which, well, wick is too kind of a man to be able to do anything except feel awful, even though it’s not his fault at all. here we have two people who could coexist! and they should, since rocky logically can’t do every speakeasy job ( band member, rumrunner, mitzi’s shadow, also the guy who gets the money for the hooch ) by himself, just like how wick can’t save the lackadaisy with only his cash and limited booze stash. it’d be a joint cooperation, a collaboration between them, both equally important in the grand scheme of crime’s every turning wheel … but rocky’s rage and fear won’t let him see that, and likely never will. still, in scenarios where everything ends up alright for the lackadaisy and the people involved in it ( which is not how canon will go, by the way ), i fancy wick and rocky getting better within their relationship. rocky will always be prickly and quick to upset around the other man sadly, but perhaps he could see wick in a softer kind of light. or at least understand vaguely enough that he isn’t out to get rocky, so to speak. and then maybe wick learns that pancakes soothe rocky’s ire and poorly makes them anytime he wishes to talk to the man, and other fun things like that! but you should have more confidence in your character analysis skills, because you were spot on ( at least in my eyes ) about them potentially getting along if things were different. it’s certainly a fun aspect to play around with, and is important to note when discussing their relationship so you can fully understand just how warped rocky’s perspective on things are. and how unstable and traumatized he is too, of course </3 sidenote, but i also hope that throughout everything i’ve said here, or anything i’ve said before on my blog, that my love for rocky and my own sympathy for him comes across well enough. while he’s deeply flawed and i have no qualms discussing said flaws in depth, i also don’t think of him as some insane freak who’s evil at his core or anything like that. honestly, i adore analyzing him so much as a character because of how far down his issues go! he’s very well written, i’ll say, as is wick and many of the other characters, but i digress.

once more, thank you for the ask! i’ll end this here because i fear if i don’t i’ll start going in circles, since their relationship is so vast and very important for rocky in a character sense. hopefully i shed some more light on it though! i love these two to bits and pieces and i wouldn’t be half as invested in lackadaisy if their dynamic wasn’t so monumental -- at least to me.

[padfootastic]

snippets! more snippets! snippets for days!

“So, first major event was Halloween. Somehow, a troll got loose in the school, intent on causing mischief and mayhem.

“A troll?” Sirius paled. “Please tell me that’s a—a euphemism for something.”

“Siri, ew, oh my god,” Harry gagged, turning his face away from his unrepentant godfather and his ‘it’s still better than an honest-to-Merlin troll, Harry James’

“Suddenly, I’m very glad that there troll was not a—was just a troll. It was during the Halloween feast—“

“I do wonder about that day, you know. It feels so cursed.”

“You have no idea,” Harry muttered bitterly before continuing. “Anyway, so, it was the middle of the feast, Quirrell comes to warn us about the mountain troll in the dungeons before doing a dramatic faint right there, in front of everyone, and Dumbledore sends us all off to our dormitories.”

There’s a beat of silence before—

“The dormitories?”

Harry looked up to see Sirius staring at him, aghast. A small smile tilted his lips on one end. “Mhm.”

His godfather takes a deep breath. “Let me get this straight. You have a mountain troll in your school, which is supposed to be warded to high heaven and back, and your Headmaster tells you to wander through the hallways, where said troll could be lurking, to get to your dormitories??”

Harry nodded. “Yes.”

“What about the damn Slytherins? Their dorms are literally in the dungeons. They might be annoying but they don’t deserve to be killed by a thirty feet tall idiot with bad breath.”

“You know,” Harry mused, head tilting in thought, “you might just be the first, and only, adult to consider that. I’m not sure it ever even hit me until now.”

“What.”

“No one cares about the Slytherins, Sirius.”

“What—“

“I mean, I’m not saying they shouldn’t, just that they don’t. Don’t look at me like that, c’mon.”

“Harry, I have no idea what’s going on right now. It feels like I went on a weekend bender and never woke up, you’re literally two minutes in and there’s a mountain troll, a weird professor, a latently homicidal Headmaster, and still no Voldemort. How do I even react to this?” Sirius’ hands moved around frantically as he spoke, getting daste and more erratic with each word.

[necrotic-nephilim]

For the ask game

How do you think the batclan and the league of assasins would react to a consensual rastim au where because of this tim becomes the heir therefore the next demon's head

for the ask game!

heir of Ra's!Tim my BELOVED. i don't care how realistic it is it's real in my heart. i love when they're consensually fucked up together.

i think it's fun if it's sort of a slow descent, for Tim. like he goes into this completely confident he's going to backstab Ra's and come out with clean hands, but he's falling deeper and deeper. Ra's is a far more complex man than everyone has told him, and the longer Tim is entrenched in the League, the more he's drinking the kool-aid. it doesn't help he's already in a grief spiral full of self-isolation and Ra's is showing him all kinds of attention. Tim can't say when it went from "i'm going to stop him in the back" to "huh Ra's' bedroom has more of my stuff than his" bc it was so slow and gradual. maybe the search for Bruce takes longer, maybe Tim finds Bruce but sticks with Ra's for a totally rational reason with a plan he definitely plans to follow through on, eventually. but he gets closer and closer to Ra's and his lack of identity without Robin makes it easy for him to latch onto all the ideas of grandeur Ra's gives him about building a better world. Tim isn't *completely* sold, but he's able to meet Ra's in the middle for most of it

on the side of the League, i think there are a lot of divided opinions. Tim is a hit with younger League members like Prudence, but the more senior members who've been with Ra's for decades are a tad incensed at getting so quickly outranked by a teenager who doesn't even believe in murder. a lot of what Tim believes goes against the very nature of the League but. at its core, the League is loyal to Ra's. any of them would die for him or his cause and they have wholehearted faith in his judgment. because he has a point, the kid is smart, a brilliant strategist, and with some more work, won't be too half-bad in a fight. when Ra's names Tim as his heir, everyone knows it's a very distant future thing (Ra's still has a few more centuries in him and he makes sure they know it) so there's still time to work out the kinks in Tim Drake. Ra's has gone so far as to share the Lazarus Pit with Tim, so *clearly* this isn't some ploy and Ra's is dedicated to him. there's pushback, and i do think there would be some schisms in the League, smaller groups fracturing off and attempting a few coups of the League. even if Tim goes over relatively smoothly, there will be some fights that break out. and Ra's leaves it to Tim to handle, proving a point. making it clear Tim is an equal leader to the League and is more than capable of handling conflict with brutal efficiency. that wins over the last bits of support for Tim, some through genuine respect, some through fear. either way, Ra's is quite proud his choice of partner and heir has proven himself.

the Batfamily on the other hand is a complete shitshow. i think the most positive reaction would be Jason, not necessarily because he approves, but because i think he'd find the ironic joy in watching Tim finally get out from Bruce's thumb and cause absolute chaos. in a way, Bruce really has no place to talk with his history with Talia, so it's not like Tim's completely ex-communicated. they're all constantly trying to get Tim back, trying to convince him how bad of an idea this is and how terrible of a person Ra's is. i think Tim would keep close to the Batfam, partly because he *does* still care about them. Dick, Helena, Cass, Bruce, are all still some kind of family, for Tim. but there would be a clear rift. obviously it'd be the worst for Cass, who has the strongest opinions on morals and was so close to Tim and has to deal with feeling deeply betrayed. i'd have a lot of long conversations between them, where Tim talks about how he's trying his best not to compromise his morals and he's really doing this for the greater good he believes in, while Cass tries to understand his point of view and cope with the betrayal. Steph would also feel pretty betrayed, even when they break up there's a deep love between Tim and Steph and this change for Tim feels out of nowhere. they're all constantly reaching out to Tim, sometimes for serious conversation but sometimes just inviting him to hang out, hoping to get through to him slowly. they still care about each other, but the trust is what's gone. especially from Damian, who never trusted or liked Tim in the first place and would be the most furious he's replaced as an heir by Tim of all people. it's messy, but it's complicated.

for the rest of Tim's social circle, the Titans and whatnot, it's a similar reaction. the more distant of Tim's hero friends have no issue cutting him out, but people like Cassie and Bart and Kon would try to talk to Tim about it because it feels so uncharacteristic of him. they've known Tim a while, sometimes in more personal ways than the Batfam, so this switch up is sudden. i think he'd feel the most guilty about hurting them, just because they're genuinely his oldest friends in the superhero world. but he sticks to his guns and makes it clear he's happy with Ra's, and he's doing this whole League thing, like it or not. they'd still come to Tim's aide if Tim needed it, and god help anyone who hurt Tim's friends bc he'll raise hell for them, but emotionally they're distant from him. it's hard for someone like Kon to reconcile a person willingly working with Ra's given Kon's own parentage. there's still love, but it's messy and complicated. i do think slowly though, Tim would try to get them on his side. it starts with innocuous side comments made about the state of the Justice League/Titans, him not holding them back from going too far in a fight the way he usually would, as sensible team leader. it'd take a slow, long while, but i do think Tim could slowly get at least a couple Titans to be his allies, even if they're not full League members.

all in all, Tim rlly does get to have his cake and eat it too. sure, trust is lost and people aren't as close as they used to be, but Tim loses very few people he genuinely cares about. either they love him too much to abandon him, or he slowly talks them into agreeing with his new moral code. because he's still anti-murder at the end of the day, and it's clear with him at the helm, the League is slightly shifting. even Ra's seems more agreeable these days, far more open to working with heroes without instantly stabbing them in the back like he usually would. Tim can't change who Ra's is and he honestly doesn't want to, but that's the fun of it. the way they're always so opposed and arguing half the time, yet still managing to make it work because they love the chase.

[grif-hawaiian-rolls]

The Reds and the Feds

Some warmups that i got uhhh very carried away with!! But twas fun to draw blorbos together

Individual pieces and the snippets of the little scenarios that go with these under the cut

vvvv

-Donut and Neko-

“Impressive!” Neko nearly fell over when someone spoke. But he caught himself, and played off the wobble as merely switching which hand he was balancing on, which did give him a line of sight on the speaker. “Hi Donut,” Neko grinned, switching the angles of his legs to see the sim trooper better. “I had no idea you were so flexible!” Donut beamed, watching Neko shift his weight ever so slightly. “You could be in a circus with skills like this!” He shouldn’t, Neko reminded himself, because it was rude to lie apparently, but…sometimes it was just too easy. “So, funny story about that—“

-Sarge and Pavoz-

Sarge wasn’t really paying attention to him, Anton realized. He leaned out of the way of an arm swinging out with a broad gesture as Sarge recounted a story about Agent Washington and someone called the Meta— how much of it was accurate, Pavoz would have to confirm with Agent Washington another time. But for now? He watched Sarge’s face and spun his good pen- the one that had been a gift- between his fingers, and started drawing.

-Lopez and Soares-

“I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that Hughs misunderstood something when he said you needed my help with the Warthog,” Soares said. Lopez pushed himself out from under the body of the vehicle to look up at the medic. She raised an eyebrow at him, visible only because she wore her under-armor suit and not her actual armor. She must’ve been off duty. Lopez would almost feel bad for interrupting- almost. He didn’t actually feel that bad. “<Yeah. It’s not the warthog i need help with,>” He stood, and gestured for Soares to follow him to one of the other parked cars. Lopez crouched, and waited for her to do the same before he lifted the hood. Portuguese may have been a different language than Spanish, but being fluent in cousin languages meant that there was some understanding. Certainly better than whatever Donut claimed to understand of Spanish. But Lopez was a man robot of few words, so he instead opted to point at the problem instead of explaining. “Are those… teeth marks??” “<You tell me.>”

[acoustic-eel]

double post today, since i missed yesterday! previous page here

erisol week day 6, album: inspired by mitski's Laurel Hell, because while i don't necessarily think eridan would listen to troll mitski, i absolutely think he should

eridan also has one of those locked journals that plays a little sparkly sound each time you open it

and day 7: bright!