#liked the show a lot and the urge to make lots of fanart is over powering me 👉👈

[squidpedias-fanart]

HI I JUST BINGED ALL OF LMK IN A FEW DAYS UM???????

[jaysehasnograce]

Hannigram graphic I made for @averywritesthings for Christmas!

(Please CLICK for not complete shit resolution because Tumblr is terrible!)

Blood drip vector base from Textures4Photoshop here (but edited/manipulated and painted by me)

Skeleton mosaic vector from goncalocamboa on DeviantArt here

Hannibal table display vector from JayseHasNoGrace here

[the-quiet-youve-been-longing-for]

Okay time for another small (I hope) analysis on IWTV, mainly the way it's written and its place on current television. I'll try my best to format this so it's not ramblings all over, I promise.

IWTV and plot points

I watched a good amount of television in my time, and one thing I noticed here is the fact that it doesn't hold your hand. It doesn't tell you "hey, this thing x is important, now we will tell again why x is important, now here see x being used, the important thing we talked about so far, did you remember, audience?".

Let's take as an example the "don't drink the blood of the living" thing. It's said to a young Louis (telling also to the audience in the 2nd episode how vampirism in this setting works) and then every time it's brought up it's indirectly (Lestat spitting out the sick man's blood, we see Claudia buying Laudanum and we know what it will be used for, but they don't tell us "Hey, Claudia is planning to poison someone so that Lestat drinks it, because remember audience, dead blood kills them"). Sometimes not only it doesn't hold your hand, but shoves you in a different direction, especially in S2. It contradicts himself, backtracks and then it's up to you to spot it.

For example, attentive viewers may have noticed that Sam was in 2 places at once in the trial, one episode before the actual reveal. It isn't a gotcha they came up with in the finale to give more gravitas to the revelation. When they tell us Lestat mass manipulated the audience, it makes sense for the storyline too because we already saw him do that with the soldiers, we have a previous example to refer to, Armand never used that particular power.

In a time where we see so many social media adopt the "short videos" gimmick, like reels and shorts etc, having a piece of media that references back in this way is super refreshing.

2. Character complexity

Complex characters are the backbone of this show. It's easy to place a character in a box and leave them there. You see it with the stereotype of the villain, the best friend, the hero. Some tv shows may have the character shift into a different box, but it's almost never permanent (think of the times where a hero gets corrupted by the Evil Power, but then reverts back to their hero status after Defeating the Evil Power because they remembered the Power of Friendship).

We have Louis, well meaning vampire who is capable of horrible deeds when pushed to the brink. Lestat, who feels so much to the point it hurts the people around him. Armand, whose trauma and fear bring out the need to control, but at the same time he needs to do that without actually controlling. They are all these things at the same time, and it's impossible to see them in a black and white perspective.

3. Details

A line almost always has its parallels to another line in the show, gazes always mean something, props are detailed and shown (I made a post looking at Daniel's notes in 2x05, which were shown for a second only, but you can also think about Claudia's diaries, all handwritten, or the astonishing amount of folders that were in Daniels computer from the Talamasca. That is all prop work done to be shown for a few seconds at most).

4. Analysis

This is more of a fandom thing than the show itself, but I was suprised by the amount of deep analysis that people here on Tumblr did (but also on other social media). Long essays on the meaning of a scene, or on the many many topics the show brings to light (the fallacy of memory, the impact of trauma, the meaning of free will and agency).

Similarly lots of people said that the show brought them back the urge to start creating, whether it's gifs, video essays, edits, fanart, fics, what have you. I started going back to Tumblr after years (last time I was here was during S4 of Sherlock).

And I feel like this is only possible if you give your audience something to work with, something to talk about and to dissect, rather than simple "entertainment".

5. Final thoughts

Of course, this isn't to say IWTV is error free, all perfect, without flaws. Nor is it the only one that has had this amount of labor and impact. But it's still miles ahead from most media we have available at the moment in my opinion, and I really hope its success brings other showrunners or directors to want to try and dare, to trust in their audience, to avoid shortcuts and to pour love in their creation.

If you got this far, I just want to thank you for taking the time to read my ramblings again! Have a cute Louis as a reward, and see you next time :)

[mickstart]

Re your last headcanon ask: I ABSOLUTELY think we get an unfair balance of jealous Aventurine as compared to Ratio. Do you have any thoughts on how Ratio's jealousy/possessiveness would manifest? Aventurine-centric again, but I love in fanfic/fanart when he's being all over the top friendly to Ratio and then sends whoever Ratio was talking to The Death Glare™. Real gap moe.

I also love when jealousy is the thing that makes them realize "oh Shit I think I care about him more than the average coworker amount"

Okay I think. The thing about Ratio is he's so resigned to his own isolation that he probably doesn't usually GET jealous bc he's just like "of course people want to spend time with others over me. they always do. I don't care." and I think it would be a pretty new feeling to him. He'd beat himself up a LOT for getting possessive because he'd be so annoyed at how irrational it is. So his possessiveness would probably be more lowkey than Aventurine's.

I think pre-relationship he sits there and silently seethes watching aventurine flirt and YES that would probably be the thing that makes him realise he likes him a little too much. Just imagine Ratio on the sidelines watching Aventurine show a little shoulder at a bar, distracting someone he's about to fleece, and he's just hit by this competely irrational emotion he has NO idea what to do with. All he knows is he wants to march over there and throw the mark out the window.

But in a relationship he'd know that was a Tactic aventurine uses, and I think he'd kind of get off on the "Aventurine is playing all these people they don't know he's only interested in ME" (Top 50 ratio ego moments) In fact it might be a tactic of theirs on missions, to have Aventurine seduce someone and then have Ratio show up like "hello darling. mwah." and Aventurine introduces him as his Husband. (They are not married.) It makes the mark uncomfortable and also makes them feel like they can confide in Aventurine because they Share A Secret with him.

(And maybe Ratio Thoroughly Enjoys kissing Aventurine in front of them to make a Statement, and Later, Alone, reminding Aventurine who he's always going to go home with.)

Sorry another cut, I rambled again but way more this time.

I think it's easy to enter more complicated territory with Ratio's possessiveness, with Aventurine's past being what it is. It would be important that what Ratio feels possessive of isn't Aventurine, but Aventurine's feelings and attention. When Ratio is jealous he's usually doing something to get Aventurine's attention back on him. But - traumatised king that he is - Aventurine ASKS for marks and growly, frustrated possessiveness. He taunts Ratio. Asks him to "claim me", that type of shit. Asks if Ratio will buy him a collar to replace the one he wears for the IPC. Asks if Ratio would wear his collar instead, with Aventurine's address on his nametag, instead of asking him to move in like a sane person.

(Sorry my "Aventurine takes his trauma and regains power over it by sexualising it on HIS terms" agenda is so strong.)

Ratio says he's just going along with Aventurine's kinks to let him work through shit in a safe environment, but he's definitely into having Aventurine whine that he's His, or dig his nails into his hips and tell him he's HIS. He's never really been Wanted like this, enough that Aventurine covers him with bites that make him feel warm whenever he sees them, and he's never Wanted anyone else like this. It's a thrill, even if it is humiliating that Aventurine reduces him to animalistic urges. (And even more humiliating that he's then into Aventurine making fun of him for that.)

And then he buys Aventurine a necklace with his little owl eye symbol on it, and Aventurine wears that Everywhere.

.... and buys Ratio a collar with a small aventurine stone attached instead of a nametag.

[chubs-deuce]

Something that I hate that ppl do when it comes to hating on Chalastor is saying “Alastor is aroace and Charlie is in a relationship with Vaggie! You’re being disrespectful to both of them!” Even when you explain that’s it’s merely a harmless AU, they still get soooo upset.

Which first off, Alastor is actually ace, not aroace, Amir literally said that himself, and second, just cuz Charlie is with Vaggie doesn’t mean other people are going to ship them, cuz Charlie is bisexual! And thirdly, being ace or aro or both is a spectrum. It’s a wide range of things, not everyone is going to be repulsed. Yeah canon show Alastor maybe repulsed by sex and romance but that’s what AUs are for! They are there for others to expand and change things as they see fit.

Like I think Chaggie is a cute canon ship, but I find Charlie and Alastor and even RadioRose far more appealing and adorable, and especially when it comes to the fanart. Like the fanart! Every piece of Chalastor and RadioRose fanart I have seen is just *chef kiss* ✨perfection✨ seriously your art of Chalastor has got to be my favorite fanart I’ve seen of them, everything is just so beautiful 😭🥹 also I’m a huge sucker for Dad!Alastor

Before I dig into this response any further I'd like to thank you for the high praise of my art, but I'd also like to point out that I don't exactly appreciate the negative tone you're bringing into my inbox here and would like to kindly remind you that my asks are not a confession booth for fandom salt... ^^"

I understand that it can be really frustrating to deal with that kind of stuff, but I feel like a lot of this belongs more in dms than in an ask box that gets responded to publicly...

Fuck knows I have my own not-so-nice opinions about some things certain people in fandoms do, especially considering the nigh constant harrassment some ships are under by other sub-groups of the fanbase, but I vent that shit privately with friends where it won't kick any beehives into a tizzy along the way... It also imo just reflects on the rest of the ship community a bit better to not make big public stinks over some faceless douchebags on the internet with too much time to waste ^^".

(Yes this is an open invitation to just dm me with fandom salt like this if you need to unload some, I'll happily indulge you there! But I really would prefer keeping fandom salt out of my asks and in turn out of my public posts lmao)

Ultimately I'm a strong believer of ship and let ship and I am also of the opinion that if you need to put down another ship to enjoy your own you're not doing the shipping thing right.

Indulging in romantic and/or sexual fantasies about fictional characters is meant to be fun! We're all just sitting in our own little corner making our dolls kiss after all.

Unfortunately, I think a lot of people in this modern era of fandom spaces keep forgetting that. For many, shipping is a competition for bragging rights (i.e. canonicity), a form of activism or for yet again others it can be an excuse to mask bully urges and habits as exerting moral superiority (hence the constant, hypocrisy-filled barbs at people not "respecting" their canon sexualities)

Depending on which one you're dealing with, you may get genuine confusion at your shipping preferences since they approach shipping with a completely different mindset (i.e. shipping for canoncity and/or aesthetics over the narrative potential and/or writing quality) or people intentionally trying to bait you into a defensive response.

Sometimes you can argue someone out of their frustration about your lack of "respect" for canon by explaining that what you do doesn't affect canon in the slightest, nor do you even want or need it to - maybe even giving your reasons for shipping something! But that only works on people that are already receptive to your arguments, so you have to know who and what you're up against and if they're even worth wasting that sort of time and energy on.

I can assure you that 90% of the time the easiest option is to just block antis without giving them the grace of a response. It's usually the quickest way to get out of those types of situations lol (ignore them if they start claiming that they "won" and consider you weak or cowardly for blocking them - they just want to guilt you into unblocking so they have more free reign to keep harrassing you)

[crookedkryptonitebeliever]

I’ve spent the past few days eating up all the Yves content I could find on your blog he’s just so perfect oh my god??? I don’t know how to put it but he sounds like the type who’d always have the best posture and the way he walks would feel feathery.

I did not see this question from the gazillion asks I read but if something similar has been asked before you can ignore this.

How would Yves be with an artist reader who mostly has time for him but completely becomes detached for hours or sometimes days while working on a drawing? Sorry if it’s too specific you can go with different scenarios too.

Also sorry if I randomly drop a fanart of him one of these days

oh man i would be honoured to receive a fanart of yves and hell yea i love yves thanks for reading thru the madness, yea hed like walk so fluidly n shit its like unreal

but anyways getting to da meat:

He would be happy if you have a lot of time to spare for him. Yves would never take a single second for granted and he will cherish every moment with you.

Through his observation and your own assurance, he is secure in the relationship. So he wouldn't mind you disappearing into your room for days on end to complete an art piece. He will let himself in to provide you your meals or do parallel work; he will bring his laptop over and do his own thing while you do yours.

There is an invisible timer that dictates when you should go to the bathroom, eat, rest, or sleep. If you're cooperative when he greets you with a kiss and reminds you to come to bed, eat dinner or to relieve yourself after an entire day of not visiting the toilet once, he will continue to use that method. He doesn't mind having to babysit you for ages, Yves actually likes it.

He would take pictures of your progress. When you start to think that your work looks horrendous, Yves will show you the photos of your earlier stages. Praising you for how far you've come, telling you that he personally thinks it's beautiful. But he is in no way a pure 'yes man', it depends on your goals. If you want to create photorealistic paintings or drawings, he will provide the best constructive criticism on how to improve your proportions. You can simply describe what you want to create, Yves could be your muse if you want him to. He is willing to stay in a singular, muscle-straining pose for hours if you ask him to. Or, he could gather reference materials for you. Yves does have a strong background in photography too. No concept is too absurd for him to capture or even sketch.

However, if you react negatively to his reminders, such as harshly shoving him away or screaming at him to leave you alone, Yves will be resorting to reality bending. Depending on how much you hurt him, he will either make you cry 'on your own' by manipulating you into thinking that your work is terrible no matter what you do. You can't accuse him of saying derogatory remarks, because he wasn't even in the room. You shooed him out earlier.

He messes with the lighting to make your artwork 'ugly' in your eyes. Yves toggles with the humidifier or dehumidifier to make it harder to work with your art medium. The temperature in Yves's studio either seems to be sweltering or freezing. But the thermostat says otherwise. Either way, you can't create in these atrocious conditions. So you give up and retire for the day.

Everything will be back to normal tomorrow, but if you pay closer attention, you will start to feel upset over your artwork every three hours. Specifically, 12pm, 3pm, 6pm, and inevitably give up by 10pm. You would only have the urge to continue after enjoying breakfast with him past 7am. Strange, don't you think?

During your breaks, you would automatically seek Yves out for lunch, tea time, and dinner. He will not visit if you express your extreme displeasure with his presence while you work, Yves gives you the 'freedom' to choose to meet him in his office. He is always there if you need him.

Regardless, in the end, you will never fail to appreciate your own work no matter how tough the journey was. Yves ensures that you know your creation is valuable. He is supportive of your passion and is willing to finance any and all of your essential (and nonessential) materials. You could even ask him for advice, unlocking a previous chapter of his life where he used to paint under a pseudonym, for the wealthy, the enthusiastic, and the eccentric. Best to keep your mind open and not undermine him in anything, or else you might miss out on fascinating Yves lore. He wouldn't bring these up on his own if you never asked. It's always a good thing to learn from someone much older than you are.

Your jaw would be on the floor if you knew that his old canvases were now retailing for billions of dollars at auctions. But he deems it unnecessary for you to learn of that, all you need to know is Yves can draw human hands wonderfully and accurately in any pose, in under five minutes with no reference.

[parageist]

If you were a slugcat what would your powers, your special mutations be? Also backstory maybe? :3

okay well i do have a slugcat OC but they don’t exactly represent me: they’re called The Hermit, and is gray with green-tipped limbs and markings. their hands are large and webbed, allowing them to climb walls and ceilings quick like a lizard, but their walking speeds and spear damage is pretty average. they make up for this by being quite crafty, and dons a pair of ancient binocular goggles. when using this ability, time slows (even slower than the effects of mushrooms), and you can freely move the camera around the room, allowing you to quickly take notice of everything in the room. though when using the goggles, you can’t control the hermit’s movement or throws at all, but it will warn you if a projectile or predator is approaching them. also after you take notice of something off-screen, it will show a faint marker at the edge of the screen pointing to it. you can customize this to show creatures, objects, exits, shortcuts, etc. the markers disappear once you leave the current room.

anyway, onto lore! [THIS IS GONNA BE A LONG ONE LMAO]

(this takes place a little bit before spearmaster’s campaign) the hermit once lived in the slugtree, but during their time the current leaders of the tribe were a lot more anxious about leaving the territory. despite this, one day the hermit leads a large expedition to find some ancient technology hermit claims will improve the lives of all the slugcats. this goes horribly wrong, and everyone but hermit is lost in the excursion. when they return, the hermit is exiled from the slugtree, never to return. because of this, they feel an intense fear of ever going outside again, and spends the next decade of their life in isolation, living in the remains of one of those giant transmission towers.

they never leave the tower, but over the years they transform a lot of it into their own massive fort, easily traversing the structure with their wall and ceiling climbing. maybe life as a hermit isn’t that bad?

then one day, they find a peculiar, spear-sized needle in one of the tower’s many shelters, alongside a wall scribbled in drawings. the hermit is fascinated by this concept of “art”, alongside the mysterious needle. finally tired of endlessly scavenging parts and improving their fort, the hermit embarks picks up two new hobbies: drawing and finding out who or what left that needle. they manage to find an ancient telescope and set it up, spending most of the day watching from atop their tower for any new travelers, while at night they retreat to the lantern-lit shelters and draw (mainly fanart of the carvings they found, which are of a strange being with antennae and seven dots on their forehead.).

eventually, they find something. a glimpse of a purple slugcat with a large be-speckled tail, carrying two white spears, traveling from the direction of the slugtree to somewhere in the distance. despite the hermit’s fear of the outside world, a primal urge burns inside them to follow this purple stranger into the fog. the next cycle a close call with a vulture sends them running back inside the safety, though they continue to ponder this for many cycles, scribbling drawings of the mysterious traveler everywhere.

deja vu strikes the hermit, as they catch yet another glimpse of the tantalizing stranger, this time traveling the opposite way, back towards the slugtree. this infatuation the hermit has with them leads them to slide down the tower and get a closer look at them. from the safety of some rafters, they observe the traveler pulling white needles from their tail and hurling them at lizards. at some point, the hermit accidentally makes a noise, and the spearmaster looks up at them, surprising the hermit with their lack of a mouth, before both of them slink away into the shadows.

the next day, the hermit returns to that spot, finding more of the spearmaster’s drawings of creatures and beings unknown to the hermit, including that same antennaed entity, confirming this is the same slugcat who left that needle here so many cycles ago. inspired by the spearmaster’s beautiful combat skills, the hermit ties rope to a pair of spears leftover by the purple traveler, fashioning two “grappling hooks” they can use to pull impaled prey closer or assist with climbing, as the rope is also tied to their back. (these two spears + rope both occupy a back slot and free up the hermit’s hands when not in use. when you have an empty hand, press grab and up to unsheath one of them. you can throw it and it does the same damage a normal spear does, but it can’t travel further than about double the length of saint’s tongue. this frees up the hand you previously had the spear in, but if you want to reel it in, you have to keep at least one hand free, and having two hands free increases the reel-in speed and force. to pull it back, hold C. once within grabbing distance, you can press grab to yank it out and return it to your back sheath slot. also keep in mind the hermit has two rope spears, and if one of them is already deployed, you can up+grab another and throw it, maintaining the original rope connection. however, if both of your spears are impaled into two different large objects/creatures and one or both of them is moving away from the other, one of the spears will be dislodged once the impaled creature moves further than the max rope length. extremely fast or forceful creatures/objects may also dislodge even if you just have one spear deployed, but most of the time they’ll stick into whatever they’re impaled to until removed. also, when both spears are out and grappled to two different objects, you can hold C to reel in the first one and V to reel in the second. keep in mind though that unlike grapple worms or saint’s tongue, the spears aren’t strong enough to allow you to dangle from impaled ceilings, and you need both spears to scale a wall, though im unsure why you would want to do that as you can just climb walls/ceilings with your webbed feet. the rope spears are designed for pulling things closer, though with both of them impaled into the same creature you can theoretically grapple to it and let it pull you along lmao)

anyway, back to story. the hermit becomes even more obsessed with art, drawing the spearmaster and the strange creatures they drew everywhere inside their tower. this helps them pass the time and keep insanity at bay, but the hermit can’t keep doing this forever. one day, either the tantalizing stranger returns for a 4th time and forces their curiosity to leave the tower, or the hermit’s transformation of their home tower leads to the creatures and plants they feed on eventually dying out, forcing them to leave and find food elsewhere.

turns out, it’s a combination of the two. the spearmaster is seen once again traveling back into the unknown, and the hermit uses their dwindling food supplies as an excuse to face their fears and satisfy their obsessive curiosity. though even if the hermit’s tower was crawling with nutritious prey and their dreams weren’t plagued with the spearmaster obsession, it seems the universe has an extra, third safeguard in place to force the hermit out of their tower. past the slugtree, far far in the distance, one of the giant cubes that dominates the horizon, crumples into the ground, shaking the land for miles with a deafening rumble. and whether it’s due to a design flaw or the hermit’s modifications, their home tower collapses in half, leaving them disoriented and destitute. hopefully their tools and the knowledge they gathered from the spearmaster’s scribbles will be enough to keep them alive, as they embark on a mission through the unknown to track down their mysterious idol.

this takes them through the following regions:

-Crumbling Skyway: an old railway bridge, with half of the hermit’s collapsed tower home crashed into it. through the railway itself is only about one or two rooms thick, it supports a variety of plants and creatures that dangle from its underside. below that is the

-Dandelion Forest: growing from the mud flats of this part of the outer expanse is a grove of lighter-than-air puffballs, connected to the ground by vines. despite being a separate biome from the skyway above, the roots that dangle from it seem to form a symbiotic relationship with the floating dandelion trees below, perhaps even being two parts of the same creature’s life cycle. whether the hermit takes the skyway or the forest floor doesn’t matter, as either way brings them to

-Midpoint Factory: a large hulking mass of steel, filled with a variety of both mechanical and biological instruments made for producing specific parts for the iterator project. though after it was abandoned in the ascension, most of the bizarre, purposed mechano-organisms remain alive inside, some still producing parts for a long-abandoned project. on top of this factory facility is a subregion called the interchange, where resources and parts for the iterator project would be put on trains and distributed to other sites in the local group. at this point the hermit has lost track of which direction the spearmaster went, and there is a secret path that will take you towards NSH’s facility, but most of the evidence points you the other way, towards the

-Hazy Spires: following the railway bridge, the ground below gives way to a hazy abyss, where bizarre structures pierce through the toxic smog. these are remains of an old bioengineering compound; matrixes of mixers and separators, where organic chemicals and the ingredients for purposed organisms were synthesized. many species were even grown in situ here, escaping from their confines and roaming the complex. at lower levels of the facility, the toxic haze grows thick enough to be dangerous, though the hermit is able to fashion a gas mask to survive the deep sections for short periods of time. eventually, the hermit discovers the collapsed railway bridge gives way and they have to ride some giant flying organism to get across the gap. on the other side is a subregion but it’s so large it may as well be it’s own, the

-Organometallic Refinery: a bioengineering compound more specified for forging a special steel alloy, infused with microbes for a self-healing effect. this facility could be considered more lifeless than the one next door, but it simply lacks a biodiverse ecosystem, as the organometal refinement process leaves the building too toxic for many creatures. though it’s unknown how much of the hazy abyss below the factory spires is created from industrial activity, as beneath the toxic clouds is a massive sinkhole called the

-Vent Zone: at the end of the organometallic refinery, the hermit finally catches up with the spearmaster after all the agonizing factory structures they passed through. both don’t know how to react, as neither have interacted with another slugcat in ages, with spearmaster having never met another of their kind before. but they look out into the distance together, as a looming superstructure grows closer and the fog grows thicker. they mount a giant flying creature to cross the vast expanse of haze between the retaining wall and the refinery, but not too far into their journey, a vulture attacks them, and the hermit panics, falling off into the abyss below. somehow they survive, waking up in a massive sinkhole. the terrain is filled with acid pools alongside the rubble of the collapsed railway bridge, and even during the day the air is dark and hard to breathe. the proximity to the hermit’s destination results in deadly, acidic rain that drowns the sinkhole every night. the hermit’s skin is chemically burnt from injuries, and can no longer stick to walls or ceilings, relying on only their spears, goggles, and gas mask to keep on surviving. what little life manages to sustain itself down here is unlike anything else, being borderline impossible to kill. as the hermit stumbles through the mangled mess of acid, mud, and metal, they eventually come across a crumbling wall, and realize this sinkhole must be a recent development. it turns out a vast aquifer once stood here, right above a chamber of void fluid. ever since ancient construction activities damaged the thin crust separating this aquifer from the void sea protrusion, the two fluids have mixed, resulting in a reducing chemical reaction, decomposing water into its base elements and allowing it to recombine into much more reactive compounds. this, combined with the draining of the aquifer for the nearby iterator facility, has led to a mixture of toxic gases and acid bubbling from the ground, creating the vent zone and the layer of haze on top of it. as the hermit scales the crumbling, slanting wall, unable to use their climbing ability, they eventually make it above the layer of smog, into the facility grounds of Seven Red Suns. first off, they cut through a passage near the top of the retaining wall through to the other side, a vast reservoir known as

-Darkwater: SRS’s facility was built in an unconventional configuration, with one of their can’s legs being right on top of the retaining wall. this means that right after the hermit steps through the wall into SRS’s facility grounds, they’re beneath their can’s underhang. the first subregion of this shaded reservoir is the Treatment Center, where pumped groundwater would be purified before being sent up SRS’s leg. a bunch of scavengers have made the refineries and water-agitators their home. past that is the Lakebed Pipeline, which during dry seasons, would transfer water across the bottom of the reservoir into the Treatment Center. during wet seasons though, the whole reservoir would be full of water, creating a vast lake underneath SRS’s shadow, even partially submerging the treatment center. however, as more iterators went online, the climate became much wetter, and so maintenance orders on the pipeline were stopped, as even during the dry seasons the reservoir was full. even before the mass ascension the lakebed pipeline fell into disrepair, which came back to bite SRS all these centuries later. the recent earthquake caused by moon’s collapse resulted in the vent zone sinkhole caving in, damaging half of SRS’s water intake systems, draining the darkwater reservoir, and what little remains of the lakebed pipeline has barely enough capacity to supply SRS with water. most of SRS’s critical systems are intact and operational for the meantime, but the creation of spearmaster will be the last bioengineering project SRS can attempt without drying up. anyway, past the lakebed pipeline is the last subregion of darkwater, the Exterior Pumping Station, which takes in water from beyond SRS’s can and pumps it across darkwater and through the treatment center, up into SRS’s easternmost leg. through this mechanical mess of pipes and pumps lies the source of half of SRS’s groundwater, the

-Underground River: a snaking maze of natural caverns and artificial conduits, the underground river is quite small compared to the other regions but it felt distinct enough to not just be a subregion of somewhere else. the dank caves and tunnels are home to a diverse selection of life, mostly adapted to breathe underwater as the conduits flood with water when the rain comes. the river eventually branches into two paths, but i’ll continue through the one which leads up into a sewer system beneath

-Derelict Cityscape: one of the oldest cities in ancient history, that sits at the bottom of a massive cliff. it was abandoned long before SRS’s construction, as most of its inhabitants chose to scale the massive cliff it’s built next to once technology allowed them to modify themselves to breathe at those altitudes. then some time later the iterator project started, and the first ever generation-2 model, Seven Red Suns, was built a few miles past the cliff, sandwiching the derelict cityscape between the two sides. what few stubborn ancients who remained at the bottom of this canyon were forced to leave once the iterator came online, drenching the ancient city in rain. the nearby cliff acts to trap most of the moisture exhaled by SRS in the canyon, resulting in the abandoned city being vastly overgrown and humid, with some buildings being completely unrecognizable as the high moisture allowed nature to overtake them. some of the more modern buildings are still standing however they lack the luxuries and advanced technologies of the living cell block skyscrapers atop iterator cans. speaking of cans, if you go to the eastern edge of the city, you’ll end up at the base of the leg of

-Seven Red Suns: okay im gonna be honest i haven’t drawn the map for this area yet but this is the end of the hermit’s journey. they finally reunite with spearmaster and meet SRS, who at first is cautious, as the spearmaster nearly died saving the hermit, but the hermit expresses their admiration for spearmaster, and SRS eventually comes around, adopting hermit, who is now The Apprentice. spearmaster, SRS, and the apprentice all teach each other different things from their journeys, and maybe one day spears and apprenti fall in love and maybe have slugpups and SRS becomes a scug grandpa or whatever the non binary equivalent to that is lmao. but yeah, that’s the end of the hermit’s journey of becoming the apprentice, but i still have some ideas i wanna write down. somewhere in SRS’s can is a blocked off area, where they first experimented with bioengineering. they were very young and experienced when they began this however, resulting in the creation of many bizarre, useless, or dangerous organisms. but to SRS they were all still living creatures, and they couldn’t just kill them all or release them into the environment, so now there’s a secret lab inside his can full of mutant beasts and it plays out like the true lab from undertale. maybe there’s even some prototypes to spearmaster in there, SRS is super guilty but doesn’t know how to deal with it, and eventually, far after spears’s and apprenti’s campaign someone discovers it and SRS has to deal with it finally. another cool idea i had for SRS’s structure is for the top to be a giant empty grassland instead of a desolate wasteland, which also lacks a city. the reason why? well that leads us to my next region idea, where you take a precipice-like skybridge across the canyon to the aptly named

-Cliffside: if you kept going to the west through the underground river, you would end up in a giant waterfall which connects up into the bottom of a giant cliff. you can also reach this area at the western side of the derelict cityscape. this cliff is natural, unlike a retaining wall or iterator can wall, with many primitive, *ancient* ancient structures carved into the rock, long since abandoned or eroded from the humid exhalation of SRS. there are a bunch of more modern structures too, including experimental city designs the ancients undertook, and a sort of giant elevator that goes to the top. there’s also a bunch of scavenger settlements along the cliffside, covered in moss and roots. once you near the top, you’ll find the giant sky bridge that crosses the canyon over to SRS’s can, and on the top of the cliff is a massive plateau that stretches out for miles above the clouds, obscured by a gigasized city, the

-Continental Capitol: the end of what i have planned so far. before the ancients built SRS, they relocated from what’s now the derelict cityscape, far above the clouds, scaling Cliffside, and founded a new city atop this plateau. because of the cultural significance and long history of this city’s population, the new city became one of the many capitals of the ancient’s global empire. this one grew so large it was known as the administrative capitol of one of the planet’s entire continents, housing nearly a hundred million ancients in its towering constructs. so yeah, after they built SRS, they had no need for a city on top, as the continental capitol was already built atop a plateau above the clouds, and was safe from the rain. now the top of SRS’s can is just a flat empty sea of grass, with a radio mast in the middle

one more bonus concept: sometime in the future but probably before saint’s time, the activity in the vent zone has damaged the retaining wall to the point where SRS’s eastern leg collapses into the sinkhole with it, breaking their can in half. maybe this also unlocks the hidden mutant lab area and spears/apprenti/their descendants discover it and SRS has to explain themselves (as also half of them fell into an acid sinkhole lmao). i also think a lava region would be really cool but i have no clue how tectonics and volcanism works in a world where the mantle is void fluid instead of magma lmao. i already handwaved the vent zone’s creation as a result of void fluid “vaporizing” water but im not sure how i could explain it turning rock into magma. either way, the geological activity from the vent zone continues, causing severe damage to SRS’s facility and can. hey, you gotta figure out a unique way for each iterator to die out instead of them all just decaying from time!

also not even kidding, this post took me over three fucking hours to complete lmao. i have been doing nothing but typing this on my phone in complete silence, checking my notes and drawings and transcribing them here, and getting up for a bathroom break once, every so often plugging my phone back in. shit it may even be four hours by now xD

anyway, this one is definitely going in the parageist classics. oh and here are sketches i have so far (i didn’t even draw the hermit/apprentice yet lmao, i just focused on all the cool regions, i love drawing maps :3)

[kebriones]

Does Greek mythology count as a fandom? Probably not but still there's definitely the community there.

Also i don't like the minute something becomes popular like a series or movie people jump to fanart and i feel the anxious urge that i have to draw it only because it's popular and it may gain popularity.

It's general yeah for commissions but internet has become hostile to new artists so eventually just focus on what i like the most. Though it's also not bad when your art gets appreciated.

well I count everything as fandom. Greek mythology itself is.... a mythology. The entirety of myths from a specific time and place. I would say "the people who like greek mythology" can consider themselves/be considered part of a fandom for sure. fandom isn't a scientific term so we can say "the cat fandom" etc, whatever we want.

Okay yeah, I understand the fear of missing out, but we also need to remember that the fanartists usually actually like the thing. when something is popular it means many people watch it and a percentage of these people are artists. if 1 in 50 people draws, when 50 people watch something then you have only 1 making art, if 50.000 people watch it then you have a thousand artists. that's an over simplification but I hope you get my point. FOMO is an issue we need to work on in ourselves because it's a useless burden.

There's a discussion i've seen happening a lot about the problem with fandoms getting faster and faster, where the majority of fans consumme everything within a month and then forget the thing afterwards, making fanartists feel like they have to rush. That's a problem with media in general imo, and it's up to everyone individually to understand this is a problem, slow down and enjoy things more and for a longer time. But there will always be people who are fans of a thing years and years after it's done. Star trek fanart, or lotr fanart is still doing extremely well out there.

When everyone and their mother is trying to market you a new band, a new game, a new series it doesn't help. At the same time, nobody can police how long people spend on any one interest and nobody owes anyone their free time and attention.

OKay so for commissions, as I said, if your art is good, and you build yourself a small community of artists (even just a few dozens of people) who will see you making a "commissions open" and reblog it, you can get some jobs. then one job will bring another, but it's a very slow process. Another thing about commissions is that you will absolutely get orders that do not interest you at all, and unless you're crazy succesful, you'll have to take them to make a living. so if you see your "making fanart of things you maybe aren't crazy about" as part of your job, maybe that will make it easier.

But literally, don't stress. Just post your art and try to focus on growing as an artist. If you don't rely on commissions to pay rent and food, literally give 0 fucks about the audience.

Final note, it really is extremely rewarding and the best motivation, to have your art appreciated by others. The more you grow and the more you share it, the more of that you'll get. People are usually very drawn to others who are passionate. Whatever you're passionate about, share it. Be annoying, even. post stupid sketches, post whatever. I thought I was just gonna be screaming into a void about alcibiades but i've found a bunch of people who also want to scream about him and it's great.

P.S. PRO TIP I JUST THOUGHT OF. One could say this is a bad thing, idk, but the way social media is, it pays off to show yourself along with your art. I don't mean show pictures. I mean post about your day. Post your thoughts, whatever. Make your presence more personal rather than "I just post my art", especially on places like twitter and tumblr. On instagram, you can do that through stories. Share funny things, be engaging. I have favorite artists that I know nothing about, but the ones I feel like I know personally I will be more likely to support by buying merch/commissions or helping them promote their stuff. It makes people feel like they can talk to you more.

[wix-0-nightshade]

Ya know what. I’m throwing the main thing going through my mind with the top TMA AU I’ve made. This. May/may not be long. I do have my little rambles lol. Anyway! Let’s goooo!! Please ignore cause it will mention some spoilers- I think? Idk. Going with what I have.

My first ever AU I have made is The Magnus Archives x Clue. Now. I did not think this. I was showing my mom Elias fanart and one of them(yes) had been Elias holding the pipe. And my mom’s response was “It reminds me of Clue”. So that got me thinking. What if I did actually cross it over.

A lot of the thought’s are in my mind lol. And I’ve written the thoughts as well(And got help from a friend :333) but. I have the urge to start making random scenarios. Like just the season 1 crew together and people don’t suspect Martin is the actual killer- but also may write an actual fanfic for once. Will I get to it anytime soon- I- don’t honestly know. Sorry for that. But wanted to see people’s interest. Since ya’ll took a liking to the Plush AU I’ve made not not as much as the Helen AU with “The Yellow Door”

But! I hope you enjoyed this post. Tell me your thoughts if you want to. I’ll be floating around.

[justscrolllling]

Here, a fan comic of tmnt I never finished and gave up on 😌

You can totally tell I suck at art, I didn’t just wanna leave all this effort behind tho… so here you go, my cringe fanart 😘😘😘

So I had this idea for the 2012 tmnt apocalypse au, like summing up how they all got to where they were in the movie. I wanted it to be mainly Mikey and Leo centric (mainly Mikey), because they didn’t get much backstory (or at least a strong one) in the movie, and I wanted to add more depth on how Mikey loses his mind over the apocalyptic years. It wasn’t planned to be JUST Leo and Mikey, i was definitely gonna add some Raph and Donnie in there as well, just to satisfy my urge to traumatized the brothers some more lmao.

Quick sum up of the original idea bc it’s super cringe: the story begins with Mikey and how he got out of the city, he meets some people and escapes with them, along the way he makes a map with some spare paper supply as the group searches for an oasis, he makes a friend along the way but they end up dying and that’s how he gets his poncho (it belongs to the dead person). Eventually it leads to a small montage of Mikey leaving the group and his mental health just declining from there, he starts to hallucinate and the loneliness of not having his brothers there takes a tole on him. After some time Mikey stumbles upon the oasis, finishing his map he spends a nice time in the water and enjoying the greenery, but after some time he doesn’t want to be alone and he sets out to go find his brothers, knowing they’re not dead. He stumbles upon a small clan and entrusts his odd map with them, and him being the sparkle sunshine guy he is, his map is unreadable. Mikey continues on this journey, with constant doubts at the back of his mind that his brothers are dead, this eventually leads to even more of a mental decline and he gets more traumatic flashbacks as he continues. He soon starts to hallucinate after fighting with himself that his brothers are not dead, and starts to make fake items to represent each brother, talking to icecream kitty and chompy along with his new hallucination brothers he finally finds the pizza place. This is where his story ends (I had planned it to be him seeing the pizza place and a childish smile appears on his face, it making him look absolutely insane and he walks towards the pizza place and the comic panel fades out).

Leo I didn’t plan much, his was a lot more of a short story beginning ing with a few terrifying panels of him just withering in pain and losing himself to the mutation. This would then lead on to more of a silent comic with no talking and Leo just wandering and slowly becoming this beast.

Raph and Donnie’s little mini comic was just supposed to show how Donnie became a robot and how the 2 bond as they set sail across the now barren world, searching for an oasis, completely believing their brothers are dead.

Pg: 1 (1.5) - 5

Oh btw page 1.2 looks different because that’s my more recent art style, it’s there bc I needed to add more context, I’m not good at making comics so forgive me if it’s confusing..

Yeah so that’s my cringey tmnt fan comic bc I can ❤️

I don’t own tmnt

[dragongirldg]

Hellooo there how are you

anyways if you want you can use this post to infodump on whatever you want

Info dumping huh? Well then.

I have been the biggest fan of this one ship for as long as I remember. Back in high school, I developed an interest in Homestuck. I obsessed over John Egbert specifically.

As I read fanfiction and looked at fanart, no ship sparked. I didn’t really care. I would read and yeah it’s cute and blah blah blah not my OTP.

Then the worst thing could have happened.

I looked at a crack ship and then I was fxcked. The more I thought about it, the more I loved it. Karkat who? Dave who? Dirk who? Sollex and Eridan who? Literally everyone that’s a common ship WHO?

It didn’t stick with me.

Want to know what stuck?

Caliborn.

I had this idea of Calliope getting to John first and then breaking up for one reason or another.

Then Caliborn and John date or live together for other reasons.

Calliope doesn’t really come into the equation anymore or show up in my daydreams.

I don’t why, but I thought it was adorable if John just got bothered by Caliborn at every turn. They���d bother and fight and just it was cute how much they antagonized.

Then I started developing my trans Headcanon and June eventually makes her first appearance without her being June. It’s only recently (late 2022? - 2023) that I heard the name June and went from there.

I would draw and write fanfiction after fanfiction adding and subtracting details.

June stays 8ft tall and Caliborn is slightly shorter by a few feet or inches.

Caliborn gets rid of the half shaved hair look for short curly hair.

I couldn’t stop doodling John all over my school work to the point my science teacher recognized him when I gave her a little quiz. She had a bearded dragon in the classroom and I loved holding them during class :3

(Don’t ask about the things I did in highschool)

I had a ton of ideas and a lot of them were problematic tbh so I’m still curving them out of my head for far better ideas.

No matter what fandom I became a part of John/ June x Caliborn never left me. I didn’t want to really read fics anymore since no one writes my ship.

Does anyone actually do pixies and Crocker and Harley and Egbert family dynamics? Do they ever have them interacting like a big extended family?

If I had the urge, I’d write my AU ideas more. (I’m kinda stuck at the moment, work burns me out to much and too often that I don’t have motivation to get through the one? Shot I have)

I am going to attempt to redraw this political romance fancomic I drew a long time ago to update it with my newest version of John/ June. That means she will be June. If I could find the notebooks I had.

With my inability to write I’m stuck with lackluster chapters and get nothing done. I need some form of energy boost for my creativity. It’s at an all time low at the moment, being used for other fandoms.

Like this Transformers AU that got me in a chokehold.

Optimom AU (I have a whole blog on it if you want to send asks and stuff)

Optimus becomes the mother of Soundwave, Sari, and Bumblebee. The seeker teens think of Optimus as their mother and there are like 9 of them. Not to mention the others that kind of sees Optimus as a mother figure.

Basically Found Family Trope :3

It’s more complicated than that and I have several fanfics and fanart (which is now found in the Blog)

The messy Age thing with Sari, it’s because I plan of having her die at some point (trauma) and I can’t in good conscience do that to a 3-5 year old (it’s by electrocution).

Yeah it’s messed up, but the world of Transformers is equally if not more messed up and morally grey :3

At least Ariel (Black Arachnia) and Sari get to become extensions of Unicron and Primus!

Sentinel redemption and Ultra Magnus retiring to become Optimus’ father.

There’s a lot to the AU I’m not going in to in this post but yeah!!! That’s it!!!

Honestly I could go on, but then the post will never end.

[michellemisfit]

TAG GAME: FANDOM EDITION

Tagged by the wonderful @energievie, thank you my love!

Your Name: Michelle (Mys for short)

Your Age: Just turned 38 🤟

Your First Fandom(s): Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Your Current Fandom(s): Shameless is my current active fandom, but like, you never really leave a fandom, you just get distracted by a new shiny thing. There’s still Merlin (2008) and Shadowhunters (2015) fic open on my phone right this minute. And I go back and read some of my favourite fic from much older fandoms on a semi regular basis. I have hundreds of them saved in word. Because if you love something… don’t let it go! Save the ever-loving shit out of it and keep it on your current laptop as well as on multiple external hard drives for back up!!

How did you first get into fandom? I was looking for someone to talk to, and that wasn’t going to happen in real life. So instead I found myself on a German Buffy Forum, which led me to discover fandom, online friends, and fanfic… all of which changed my life forever.

How long have you been engaging with fandom spaces? Probably since 1998? It was during Buffy Season 1, but when it aired on German TV, so 98/99 sounds about right. I DEFINITELY lied to the ‘are you over 18?’ ticky boxes!!

How often do you read fanfics? Daily. I used to be that kid that would walk to and from school with her nose in a book. Now I’m that adult that walks to and from school reading fanfic on her phone.

Top 3 characters from your current fandom(s): Mickey Milkovich. Ian Gallagher. Lip Gallagher.

Have you ever written a fic for a fandom? if so, shout it out! I have. I’m not primarily a writer, but about once a year I get the urge. Here’s my AO3. Also, if you search very hard you may be able to find some German Buffy/Spike fic out there somewhere, from when I was a child, proof read by my mother, whose main comment was ‘Oh my. You could have a career in erotica…’ (They barely kissed! Sheesh!)

Have you ever drawn fanart for a fandom? Yep. Back in the day I did the full range: Drawings, Icons. Wallpapers. Manips. Fic Banners. Fic Awards. Now I mostly stick with traditional art, and then once a year pumpkins haha Some of my recent stuff is on AO3. You can also find a lot of my art on my RedBubble Page or my Instagram.

Share a personal headcanon that you feel very strongly about: For Shameless? The Gallaghers visited Ian and Mickey in prison. Yes, they are busy, but they love their brother, and by extension they love the person their brother loves! And there is loads of them!! If they visited on rotation, it would only really “cost” them one day a month each. Not a hardship, is it? Also, Lip went more often than everyone else. Send tweet.

You’re trying to convince a friend to get into your current fandom(s) with you. what episode, clip, or scene are you showing them? Depends a little bit on the friend and on what aspect of a show I feel they’d vibe with best. 01x03 Aunt Ginger is a pretty good one. It’s got the full family working together to solve a problem. And it introduces Mandy and the itty bitty murder floof, which is a great bonus!!

And finally, what does fandom mean to you? Absolutely everything. You know Penny Lane’s speech in Almost Famous? “If you never take it seriosuly, you never get hurt, you never get hurt, you always have fun, and if you ever get lonely, just go to the record store and visit your friends.”? I followed bands around for about half a decade, and that, and Oasis’ “Please don’t put your life in the hands, of a rock and roll band, who'll throw it all away” were things I tried to live by. But fandom doesn’t work that way. Fandom is all about emotionally investing. Caring too much is basically a requirement. And what makes it safe is the fact that we are all in this together. <3

~

My word that was fun!

Tagging @malec-crazed-author, @ohfreckle, @rutherinahobbit, @deedala, @rereadanon, @toughpaperround, @teawithjelly, @faejilly, @industrious-ian, @orca122, @poemsfromthealley, @allmyfantasiesarethirdperson, @darknutmeg, @glorious-spoon, @hellofavillain, @howlinchickhowl, @katspace, @lynne-monstr, @captainjowl, @crossmydna, @vintagelacerosette, @beatperfume, @nanf1c

[biscuitboba]

Literally just rummaged through your blog and your Zolu content was immaculate, it served me so well. Ships where the fundamental basis of the relationship is Intense Devotion... makes me Deranged.

What I love is how like yes there are the big Zolu moments that any fan can think off top of their head (That first meeting in Orange Twon, Thriller Bark's Nothing. Happened, Wano's LUFFY!!!!) but what I love is that you pick out the small details as well that show how much they care about each other in the small things.

You call that being delulu (～￣▽￣)～ or overthinking but I eat that shit up (≧▽≦q). It's the small things that matter.

But what are your thoughts on other OP ships, any other OTPs? I can tell you right now that OPLA had me reevaulate the perscription on my shipping goggles for ZoNami. I did not see that ship coming let me tell you.

Or even in other media. I also noticed a recurring het ship in your blog that looks like it could be my jam but I don't recognise them or the fandom. Who were they?

Aww, thank youu for the compliment?!!😭❤💚 but yeah it's just that i can't help but to focus on all the little details (i hyperfocuse on little things like, a lot😅😅) People usually talk about the big moments (like in shells town, thriller bark, or wano), so sometimes i can't help but feel the urge to talk about the subtle moments and emphasize on them??

Talking about my other op otps... i also adore namivivi and frobin! And i also like saboala, mishanks, and usokaya too (they are on the 2nd tier, cuz zolu namivi and frobin are the one from the 1st tier, but ofc it's pretty obvious that im the most insane about zolu) my thoughts about them? I think they make me ill:) I can't help but to kick my feet when i read fics, see some fanarts, or just watch people talking about them🥺🥺 There are some other ships that i think are pretty neat too, but i don't gush over them as much as the first two tiers😅 im talking about kidlaw, kobylu, sanuso, lunami, sanami, kidkiller, etc... they are on the 3rd tier:D (kidlaw is so close to the 2nd tier tho)

I honestly can see why people ship zonami in opla loll, tbh i also didn't expect to see that ship coming out pretty strong in opla? But good for the zonami people i guess!:)

I think i reblog my favorite het ships like, all the time😭😭?? not sure which one you are asking for, but maybe you are referring to claire redfield and leon kennedy (cleon) from resident evil or cloud strife and tifa lockheart (cloti) from final fantasy vii(?)🥲

[asherlockstudy]

I watched the post S3 Sherlock cast interview 8 years later (kinda late I know)

And here are some interesting moments.

This interview was supposed to feature only Benedict Cumberbatch and Amanda Abbington from the cast. However, Martin Freeman makes a big entrance and it is implied that he actually was able to make it, though it could also feel like he simply was convinced against his initial decision.

Martin seems fine to just be around. He doesn't take the initiative to talk and the journalist has to urge him to talk. When he does though, he is fully committed.

Benedict claims Sherlock killed Magnussen because he was outplayed.

There is so much focus on TSOT compared to the other episodes. As soon as everyone states how much they loved this episode, Martin admits that he had his doubts about it and that he was very close to believing it was shit. He clarifies it proved to be great, although I am not sure he was being 100% sincere.

Steven Moffat is indirectly asked about the nepotism in the show and while he answers mostly okay, he has trouble answering why Amanda was chosen for Mary's role. He seems like he repeats himself vaguely over and over until he comes up with what he is about to say eventually; that Martin was asked to suggest any actresses and Amanda came up, who after all is so talented. Martin does not add much to this, except to agree about how talented Amanda is.

Martin makes an anti-protestant joke against Ben and Amanda almost jumps up like "Nooo, don't sa- fuck he said it".

Ben seems to be resolutely more at ease than Martin. He also tries to initiate some interaction with Martin, while Martin is definitely way more restrained. Might be that Amanda kind of looks at them left and right like she is watching tennis which adds a little of awkwardness, of which Martin seems to be more aware.

Ben and Martin have trouble figuring out what their favourite scene / memory in S3 was. Martin says he liked it when they were sitting on the bench watching the soldiers marching and Amanda pets him as a joke, implying he sounds old and boring. So then Martin plays along and jokes that his favourite scenes were also those ones he was rough and had violent thoughts in, when Ben interjected and said the marriage scene was one of them. Meanwhile, Amanda said her favourite scenes were shooting Ben and marrying Martin. And... well I don't know, all these make perfect sense, serious or funny, I shouldn't be having any second thoughts...but I kinda do. They are all sweet smiles to each other but there is something off, that I can't quite put my finger on.

Next question is what each actor has in common with their character. Martin says Amanda has a vibrant energy like Mary and Amanda herself says she kills people while looking pointedly at Ben and Ben says "she's quick-witted as you can see". Ben is lowkey anxious when Martin voices his opinion about him. Ben says about himself that he's a lot more empathetic than Sherlock, at which Amanda turns to look pointedly at Martin for a second (it is very quick and looks mostly harmless). Then Amanda says Martin is loyal and loving like John, which might have been the most unfortunate statement of all, especially since at this point it hasn't aged well. Interestingly, Martin fails to acknowledge the compliment graciously and he deflects by joking that everything people say about him always make him sound like he's a "fucking dog". Amanda adds he's also ruthless and I love how Ben seconds both descriptions. Still, Amanda insists on how good it is to be loving and loyal but Martin is still uncomfortable about it. At this moment, Ben tries to turn the attention back to him. Another interesting part is that after Ben says he is very touchy - feely, there is an abrupt cut in the interview, who knows why.

Then of course the discussion goes to the fandom and, inescapeably, fanfiction and fanart. There is the famous hilarious moment when Moffat says we can't tell how well endowed Ben is because "it" doesn't see the sunlight for long, which breaks Ben who can't stop laughing, even making eye contact with Martin, who remains stiff even though he smiles. Ben also says "I thought I was the one getting it", and yes Ben you are :). Anyway, Ben claims he doesn't follow much of it but he is appreciative of it. Martin is more restrained once more (which I find odd for his general naughty demeanour) and says he appreciates it as long as it's for fun and doesn't try to force itself in the actual plot (well what would be the problem if it did?). But the most curious case is that of Amanda, who speaks first and informs everyone she is not going to answer that question. Wow. Very interesting. It is the early sign that Amanda had a problem with Johnlock and it is sooo so curious coming from an actor. Amanda has a problem with the ship and my bet is that initially Martin did not but he gradually developed a problem with it too, for whatever reason.

Ending conclusion: This interview was uploaded in March 2014. Three months after Season 3. We know for sure Ben and Martin's friendship had deteriorated in the fall of 2014. But it seems to me things had started earlier and they were worsening gradually. In early 2014, problems had already arisen between them but maybe Ben hadn't realized it yet that well.

[alovelyburn]

Anyway, I just think it's interesting that whenever people say Guts doesn't still have positive/arguably romantic (romantic to me anyway) feelings for Griffith post-Eclipse, the argument isn't based on anything Guts has said or done, it's based on how hard it is for them, the reader, to believe that would be the case.

"How could that be the case after Griffith did XYZ?"

>Lists out all the stuff Griffith did that makes the reader want to cry or hit something.

And that’s the case with a lot of Griffith hate in general - it’s all about how the reader feels about the events and what it makes the reader want to do to him, not about what Guts feels or wants to do, they just kind of project it on him. I recently saw someone respond to Griffith/Guts fanart by saying they’re surprised the pairing exists given what Griffith did and then saying Guts’ hate for Griffith is so extreme that it goes beyond just wanting him dead (vs normal enemy pairings), and like...

No, that’s YOU, Reader X. YOU are the one who hates him more than you hate most antagonists. YOU are the one who wants him dead that much.

Guts himself shows a lot more ambivalence and conflict over his violent impulses toward Griffith than any of the people making these arguments do, or acknowledge. 

He doesn’t even show the same dedication to revenge that your average revenge-plot protagonist does, considering how much time he spends unable to finish his declarations of intent (”when I find him, I’ll.............”) or how he lost his urge to kill the second he saw Griffith looking like his old self and had to talk himself back into it.

Like, okay I get your meaning - you’re mad. But Guts isn’t you. He’s a character in a story.

Just something that’s on my mind 9 out of 10 days, catalyzed by seeing one of @bthump’s asks.

[crookedkryptonitebeliever]

God I love everything about Yves so much he’s so powerful it’s ridiculous.

It’s like being besties with the last boss right off the bat and now you get to play life on easy mode with this cheat code of a man.

I can’t wait for the “The Court™️” arc where Yves wipes the floor with Evangeline and everyone related to her.

Also Yves always seems like such a cool character who has everything under control so those rare moments where he shows extreme emotions like when he cries or gets cuteness aggression hits so much harder. It makes you wonder how he would’ve been if he hadn’t gone through all he did and had to adapt :( Whenever he cries I wanna hug him.

Also unrelated but god I wanna play with his hair so bad. I wanna have cuddling sessions with him and start braiding little chunks of his hair while being wrapped in a blanket with him and a movie playing in front of us. I hope he likes movie nights and Ghibli movies because with me he’ll have a lot of them

An ask that mentioned about touching his hair

similar ask about watching your favorite movies

Yves would love to have those sessions very much. You would think that he knew nothing about Ghibli movies, but he researched so much about it, that you may think he was on the production team itself. Yves just likes to hear you rave about your favorite things, that is why he would be quiet and smile, expressing his interest in listening to your info dumping.

He would sit still as you weave his hair into braids, watching the wonderfully made animation in front of him. Yves has already analyzed it numerous times to know what the main themes of it were, the hidden easter eggs, and different fan interpretations of it. Yves understands why you love it so much, be it due to its beautifully expressed story or because you simply relate to the characters.

Give and take, you play and braid his hair, Yves expected to do the same to you. Of course, he is going to maximize your tingles by massaging your scalp and controlling his strength. He prefers when you're the one in his lap, where his form encases you like a crescent. That way, he could witness all those precious reactions to key parts of the movie, especially the ones he deems new or unseen before.

It's cold, so you snuggle deeper into him, pulling the blanket around you tighter. Yves would press a kiss on your head, ideally, movie nights would happen after you and he are fed, freshly showered, blowdried, and mildly sleepy. He wouldn't have any makeup on, so you don't have to worry about smudging red lipstick on your face.

Because he has a flatscreen television in front of the bed, you can fall asleep anytime you want. Soft, plush pillows will surround you, strategically placed so that you have less of an urge to leave his arms, let alone the bed.

Perhaps you would absentmindedly toy with the brush of his braids while your eyes are trained on the screen, but Yves doesn't mind, because he would similarly soothingly rub your arms or thighs, or twirl a lock of your hair out of habit. He would have numerous pillows propping his back up at the best angle, becoming your personal couch for the night.

Maybe you might yearn for more media regarding a specific Studio Ghibli movie. Perhaps you didn't like the ending, it was too bleak and sad for you. So you cope by consuming fanmade content that aligns with your ideal.

Yves knows this, he monitors all of your internet activities after all. He would pretend that he wholeheartedly agrees with your take and even sketch fanart of your favorite characters. His work would be so well made, so intricate that you would think it was an official lost chunk of the actual movie. He's been an expert in mimicry since he was a mere boy, hence, copying its art style and creating a narrative that doesn't seem too far off from the movies is simply child play to him.

You could fangirl/fanboy over the characters with him. He would gladly join you and add fuel to the fire by feeding you his own headcanons, analyses, and drawings. You might think that he's even more enthusiastic than you are with the way he is obsessively collecting observations about the works of Studio Ghibli. You knew that he would make it big in the fanbase if he published his thoughts and creations surrounding the media, but they're for your eyes and ears only.

It is baffling to you because his art is god-like. Yet, he is content with an audience of one: the love of his life.

Yves will allow you to have movie nights daily. He gets to hold you and you get to relax. It's a win-win. During days when movie nights aren't appropriate (i.g., you fall sick, and have to rest), he would just alter your environment to make you sleepier than usual. No need to tell you no, you're already dozing off with your head on his chest.

It would pain him to undo his braids. It was your hard work. But he has to take care of his hair, so he would gently pull the bands off and proceed with his regular haircare regimen. The same goes for you, he would let your hair breathe as you sleep, and he wouldn't want you to suffer from hair damage or loss either.

But that only means you get to braid his hair again tomorrow night.