#on their standards it could work too and also Doc but that’s pretty much it

[luckyofthelawnvariety]

You know what sure, I'll make a list of things I didn't realize about Etho before, after watching his entire Hermitcraft s10:

he is really good at designing little aesthetic details

he enjoys being a little menace to the other hermits (and is used to them giving him shit back, he actually expects it)

(an interesting example of the above is him attempting to tease joel with the statues, but when he realizes joel took it seriously he backs off and gives him his own statues)

he'll branch out on occasion and try something new he hasn't done before (the statues of hermits, armor stands)

he is such a perfectionist my goodness

he isn't a fan of overloading a space with details. he IS a fan of smoothing out build details so they flow into each other as much as possible (see how much he messes with the details on the bridges and gateways, making things the same colors etc)

he will kind of just poke at a problem until he figures it out. this applies to things other than redstone too.

ngl a lot of the redstone goes over my head (I break technology on a good day) but he's very good at breaking it down into chucks, to where I feel I could replicate a lot of what he makes, even if I don't entirely understand it.

on a similar note, the way he and tango both will just...put things together in such a way where you just stare at the result. frogger is insane and wonderful.

also, hilarious how worked up he gets defending his silly setup and decisions. tbf I am the exact same way but it's fun to see (I have a computer that I used until, I kid you not, it couldn't go longer than 10 min without shutting itself down. I am also the problem, mr. mic-stand-tissue-box)

he has his favorites to go bother, of course bdubs, but gem is also a favorite now, and doc and beef you can tell he thinks are fun to mess with

he has a lot of respect for other hermits? honestly it's in a chill way but he likes to go check things out and he'll back off if he feels he's overstepped. which should be standard but still, glad to see it.

he will join in on the bit, but he's normally pretty calm about it unless he likes it

disclaimer: don't mean anything by this, but sir you eat the same sandwich for lunch every day and will mimic sounds and vocal inflections you like. why are you me.

he is so petty. it's easy to miss if you aren't paying too much attention but he is SO petty, he is cleo levels of petty and judgmental.

he also will compliment people when he is genuinely impressed. sometimes it will be only to his viewers, but honestly the hermits are etho fans anyways so they'll probably get the message.

this man LIES. it's more obvious in the life series, and it ties into the pettiness and being a menace to other hermits, but he will straight up lie, especially if he thinks it's funny

he's a builder as much as he is a redstoner. it's not this way in every series but he has an eye for design and is good at enacting it, he just also has the ability to just make a build without making it super nice. (some builder hermits I'm pretty sure are incapable of letting themselves build something genuinely ugly. even bdubs stupid house in secret life is good...while etho can value practicality over pretty)

he'll pick up little things from other hermits, either in videos or actions. he's really open to learning. unless he's currently being petty. (see: he does intros similar to gem now, he'll adapt little redstone things he sees other hermits using, or little build details)

he is also really chill about teaching and giving advice, in that he'll tell you what he thinks could be better, same as he judges himself pretty much. sometimes he'll hold back, but he's in it to help you out and help you improve

he likes puzzles :)

he is always thinking of ways to improve, either himself or what he's making or the game of minecraft itself

he gets irritated with himself when he's having trouble with something. he's extremely stubborn and will sometimes out stubborn himself

on a very similar note: he is EXTREMELY competitive (see: giving himself a nosebleed doing cub's maze, not stopping until he gets the highest possible score on impulse's grass game, ALL OF DECKED OUT)

he likes doing things for his friends tbh. he really liked making frogger for the hermits, he likes figuring out new things that the hermits will use. I notice this more as a gem watcher, because the way etho was pretty much like "look at this, look what I did!" to gem about the trident farm...the hermits are hilarious

overall, here for a good time, and a slightly petty and perfectionist time, but a good time. and if he gets to bother the other hermits, or has to put up with the other hermits bothering him, so be it

in summary: I've always been a gem main, but I guess I'm a gemboy and an ethogirl now

[diari0deglierrori]

Also I had to defend the honor of Italian shows today u_u

[on-the-clear-blue]

The idea warms are hitting extremely hard today, so outside of my usual DPxDC I give you, Spider-Man in Gotham...Not MCU Peter edition!

Give me a Peter Parker that is 18 going on onto 19, he has been Spider-Man for like, 5 almost 6 years, getting his bite very early, and dealing with all the things that happen to him younger.

And give me a Year One Batman. Who is still trying to figure out what the hell he is doing, and toting along a 9 year old Robin

Peter, falling out of a portal, and doing his standard check of surroundings, spotting Batman staring at him in clunky armor and a brightly colored child: Waves slowly

Bruce, who heard some freaky shit was happening with a cult near by and went to investigate: blinking at the blue and red being that got summoned

Dickie, who is trying (and failing) to do the Bat glare: still waves back.

And like, just the idea of this 19 year old Spider-Man taking a much older vigilante under his wing, teaching him the ins and outs of it all.

Like..

Bruce, Storming through a bag guys base gets suddenly pulled back by a web to his cape.

Peter, giving him a "bitch you dumb" look under his mask: Traps! LOOK FOR TRAPS?? AND LOOK UP? PEOPLE HID THINGS UP?

Bonus, Spider-Man bending himself into a human pretzels and Dick "I have no bones" Grayson is gleefully testing to see if he could do it too.

Jump cut, years later, Peter beats emotional intelligence into Bruce with Dick.

All the Bat kids grow up with Uncle Peter, (either Peter can't get back or has been told specifically that he can't by a higher being or something) and like...

Peter is the only one that catches Tiny Tim following them during patrol, he shows him all the places to get the best angles, even poses a few times for him.

Either is there when Jason dies and saves him, or is there mourning with Bruce

(Gotham lives in fear of the memory, Batman at his most brutal and Black Suit Spider-Man)

Teaches Jason how to control his pit rage after he comes back, what is Spider-Man if not control?

Stephanie is his bestie in puns and white girl music tastes.

Tim finds a partner in constantly staying up far to late as well as someone who likes to invent,( because I hc that Peter has pretty much worked with every scientist in New York, cus like since this is a blend of canons, he has worked with the Lizard, Doc Oct, Reed Richards, the only one he said no to an internship was Stark)

Duke gets a meta mentor that can help him with his powers, Spidey has been on more than one team with someone that had some form of light powers.

Plus I think Spider-man is Gothams daytime hero before Signal joins him, they are the daytime duo

Cass is his favorite (don't tell anyone because they already know) she can see him and he can see her in a spider sense, they do the point meme whenever they sense each other.

Little stabby Damian finds out that this person with his father has been trained by many an assassin (Wade, Daredevil, Natasha, Shield in general)

And Wade...Deadpool pops up occasionally, even he doesn't understand why or how lBruce gets a strange feeling he should punch the Flash in the face the next time he sees him)

Bruce having to deal with Deadpool is terrible for him and I sadly love it.

(Also on the point of Black suit spidey in Gotham...ESPECIALLY after Jason is murdered? Oh Peter is killing the Joker, or his arm privileges forfeit. I feel like Peter would try not to kill him but wouldn't try too hard.)

Spider-man being a founding members of the Justice League, them having to deal with Peter crawling on the ceiling, and scuttering through air vents!

Peter making Parker Industries, pointing inventions from other heros/villains from his world, he isn't above pettiness, and that's how the DC world gets some of Reed Richard's old designs he gave to Peter "Because they are practically useless" they arnt they save millions of lives. Not to mention Arc Reactors, Peter grinned the whole time claiming it was his idea.

Hope you enjoy my ADHD rambling brought to you be sleep deprivation

[stormyrainyday]

🍎🫐🍑 if it's not too much at once <3

omg hi !!

🍎 Is there anything you straight-up won’t write?

Kind of basic but I'm not really one to write smut like it's fine I enjoy consuming it from time to time. Honestly, it's not even a matter of being uncomfortable I just don't like to write it. If I think about it, I wonder if it'd be fun to use sexual intimacy to discover more about how I think two characters would interact but I'd be so far out of my depth that I'd have to leave it for a long while down the road.

🍑 If you could make a connection between your favorite character and another work you care about (whether a crossover/fusion or a wonderfully “pretentious” literary reference) what would it be? How would it work?

I've had an Alhaitham/Kaveh and Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch crossover rotting in my brain for ages and just haven't had the time to replay the game to flesh it out. But I imagine it as broken-hearted Alhaitham and pure-hearted Kaveh. A silly, sweet AU. Then they become companions and explore the world together it'd be cute as fuck.

If you've never heard of Ni No Kuni you should look into it it's so fun and gorgeous if a little childish and it's animated by Studio Ghibli it's so cool. I love the real time turn-based combat it was my first time playing a game like that.

🫐 What’s your favorite underrated thing in your fandom? (A ship that only you seem to write for, a character there’s almost no fics about, a trope that criminally hasn’t been written yet, etc.)

Oh man, can I make a list.

Shenhe and Baizhu as characters are so underappreciated. Shenhe is part of a major story quest (the first Interlude quest) but so rarely makes appearances after that. On top of that, she's a pretty niche unit that's only rerun once so I feel like people don't give her enough attention which is a damn shame because her backstory is so cool to pick apart. She's also canonically the most powerful human in the game? The only rival to her in strength is Childe and even then between you and me I think she could beat him. Childe is my favorite but Shenhe is stupid powerful in her lore. So yes. I wish more people talked about her characterization and lore but unfortunately half of her tag is rope bondage smut.

Baizhu keeps getting fucked over by Hoyo and gets a lot of hatred from the fandom for being gay-sounding (which, I don't love his English voice acting but homophobia from the Genshin Impact fanbase is fucking rich). It's actually kind of shocking how much hate he gets when he is literally just existing. I think there isn't enough work dissecting the utter tragedy of his situation and the way he values selflessness to the extreme-- even the game seems to treat his contract and his pursuit of immortality as something to be celebrated, when in reality he is dooming himself to an eternity of suffering should he succeed. Most of the works about him are shipping him with Pantalone or are just your standard run-of-the-mill sickfics (nothing wrong with that, I just think that he is open to much more dissecting and prodding and that there should be more works cutting him open to show his heart).

Also I haven't written about it yet but I am absolutely batshit insane about Childe x Lyney rarepairing, when I have more time I will compile my incoherent google doc about them into a fic or at the very least an extensive Tumblr post. Before I get shot I would like to gently remind you guys that Childe in canon is in his early 20s and Lyney is not a kid he's just short please read the character stories thanks <3

Not Genshin related but I also feel very strongly about certain Stardew Valley NPCs and feel like we don't talk enough about how nuanced their characters are despite having relatively straightforward cutscenes and dialogue but that's a post for another time

[spacecowboy6780]

HII !!! LOVED YOUR ART ♡

do your csm ocs have lore? i'd love to read it ! (not me trying to make fanart no how would you think that nooooo of course nooooott)

HAADJKFMKLGD THANK YOUUU SO MUCH 😭😭 i dont know if i really have any good lore yet... im pretty bad at making that typa stuff i kinda just draw things lol

Orion!!

(i draw him a little differently each time dw abt it)

his pants are like- loose at the bottom so not tight fit :)) and he has like black combat boots i guess he's a whole sucker for black and white clothing hehe..

has a tongue piercing and a piercing on his right ear

he has a contract with the fox devil

likes the color white

does mma, anything to do with shooting things, and fishing

barem's right hand man (just a person to do his dirty work lol)

he's wasian, white mom (died during his birth), japanese dad (hates him for his mom's death and makes him try twice as hard because of it)

from a rich family who owns a [blank] company (i haven't decided what yet, i feel like a gun company would work but that's kinda ironic cuz yk)

he was a good child! always trying to meet his father's standards so he could do well, he wanted to be the best because he wanted his father's "love" (it wasn't really love. his father was emotionally manipulative and abusive and only gave him "love" whenever he did something in his favor or good. when he didn't he would tell him how much of a disgrace he is. only to treat him nicely again when he did something good.)

a social bird, made friend easily all throughout his school years, a popular and friendly person. he started to realize he could do whatever during his highschool years, because of his status as the sole heir to his father's company so he started to become more rebellious, going out more, skipping classes, getting drunk, but he always brought back straight A's. he became a rowdy asshole genius typa guy

closeted homo up to college years, he started really embracing his gay then. during highschool and middle school he would date women but he didn't really feel anything for them and would usually break up with them after a few months. he would make up the sweetest and most heartbreaking reasons why and they would forgive him, when in reality he really didn't care about them

his dad was suffering from heart issues as he got older, and as orion got older he grew to hate his dad, he slowly poisoned him with arsenic which led to him having a heart attack and dying!! one day he accidentally put too much arsenic into his food but he was like yknow what it's okay and then made sure to keep the maids away from his slowly decaying father, put him to bed early and tada he had a heart attack

he got away with it cause a) he’s the sole heir to the company and b) if he went to court? 💰💥💰💥💰💥

he met barem at the chainsaw church!! he was curious about it, flyers and all over town so he went to check it out. he got a tour from one of the church members before bumping into him. it was kind of a physical attraction at first, he just wanted to get into his pants. so he got a tour from barem, saying he didn't remember any of it (playing dumb blond stereotype lol). but after talking to him he was like hey wait this guy is also kind of cool and an eye opener (idk what he would've said i'll figure something out) and then he started to reeeeally take a liking to barem. he started to appear more around the chainsaw church, mostly around barem and talk to him a lot but he wouldn't join it. he didn't want to marry a woman. barem asked why he would come to the csm church if he didn't want to join it. orion was blunt and was like to see you ofc. barem was like ???.

sooner or later orion became his right hand man (i'll explain more on how later), or more of a person to just do a lot of his dirty work because he was so willing to do it. he's also willing to pay for all of barem's expenses. lol sugar daddy

ok i think im done for now but ill make like- a better doc for him i think he's like the first kind of fleshed out oc i've made in a while haha!

[acertainmoshke]

Happy STS! What are your go-to/preferred writing tools? Favorite pen types, notebooks, keyboards, etc, but it doesn't have to be limited to just those things. Writing programs, favorite reference books, thesauruses, dictionaries, TTS software, whiteboards, corkboards, flash cards, encyclopedias, anything goes!

Nooooooooooo Nopal you don't know what you've done! How could you know I have an actual special interest in this??

So I am obsessed with notebooks but also REALLY picky about them. My handwriting is teeny so I don't like big lines, and I think it looks neater and prettier with smaller lines anyway. The covers can have a cool pattern or be plain if it's a nice color and high-quality enough. I do occasionally make exceptions; my current journal is fairly cheap with large lines, but it's a rare older Batman one in my favorite color with bat-tech designs on all the pages and a light-up bat signal on the color, so it was worth it. My newly discovered favorite notebook aspect is ones that are designed so the pages lay flat and it's easier to write. Oh, and I LOATHE spiral notebooks. The big school-style ones are ok for random notes or anything unimportant, but the smaller little ones that are normal book size are absolutely worthless. The spirals always come undone before I'm done with them.

I'm also picky about writing utensils. I keep a journal strictly in pen so it can't fade and I can't get embarrassed and erase it. I write stories strictly in pencil because I WILL need to erase and try out lines. But, although I'm using one currently for my big-lined Batman journal, in general I can't stand large ballpoints. By which I mean 0.7, which is pretty standard. 0.5 is ok, but I much prefer the rarer smaller pens. I used to have a Japanese friend who I would get to send me 0.35 pens because they are normal there but expensive over here. In pencils anything under 0.5 is impractical, but I like the fancy mechanical pencils with a nice grip and a dent that lets you dig out the eraser even after it's erased down. My current one is teal.

None of that answered your question but it was necessary anyway. And this is getting too long so the actual answer is going under a cut.

We'll see how long I can keep it going, but I like to write my stories on paper. Of course, it's not worth starting a nice new notebook if I'm unlikely to finish it and it's impractical if I don't have a clear idea of the basic story, because jumping around out of order is impossible. I like it though because it forces me to slow down and think about each scene; I can't rush the way I do when typing. It also gives me a built-in edit when I copy it up, so by the time I'm editing a full draft it's already technically a second draft. And it's convenient because I can take it to work and write on my breaks, or if I'm waiting in line at the post office, or anywhere I happen to find myself.

I do still write on the computer, of course, for fanfiction or just-for-fun things I'll never finish or stories I'm still figuring out. When I do truly long-form things I like to use work because I hate the way Google docs looks (controversial, I know). But for short things, or worldbuilding, or fanfic, I like to use Notion. I like that I can nest pages within each other endlessly. It makes my autistic organizing brain buzz.

I recently discovered that I enjoy using actual notecards pinned to a corkboard for initial plot planning. I can't always do this, and I make outlines too for more detail, but being able to physically move stuff around in real space helps my brain focus on what is actually important to include.

Thank you sooooo much for giving me a chance to ramble about this!!

[myhatisblue]

lore.

I think Mills would have to do a lot of studying on anatomy. Knowing how everything worked would make altering flesh while maintaining function.

I think that would also make the physical contact thing provide more information that he doesn't actually want. Since he'd be capable of actually processing what he's seeing. At least in terms of knowing something wasn't standard in terms of text book examples. Leading to moral issues of if he should or shouldn't let someone know they need to go see a doc if he realizes it. I don't think he could bring himself to personally intervene in that kinda thing.

It's a flood of information when someone makes contact, all leading to the same realization, that the thing touching him is trapped in a form it doesn't fit. And something pulls at him to just fix the problem. No matter how hard he tries to shake it, it's an instinct he can't escape.

That's why he couldn't really help people who needed it, he's not able to get past the fear of going too far. That once that kinda step is taken there won't be any coming back, he won't be him anymore.

Now I don't think he'd enjoy studying that kinda stuff, but likely after seeing it makes things easier he'd pretty much have to slog through it.

For some reason I think it would be really funny if he knew someone they were pregnant before they did. And how awkward that conversation would be.

[tickly-trashcan]

hello everyone!! still… away LOL but ive been doing a bit of writing in my downtime hehe. i started working on a little backburner project and was wondering… would anyone be willing to help beta read for me?? ive had a few people beta read my fics before, but i always feel bad asking people out of the blue haha so i feel like if i threw it out there more generally then it’d be easier!! if you’re interested i’ll put a little bit of info below the cut! :D

Beta reading is essentially proofreading a fic! A beta reader is more casual than like… an editor! beta readers can check for grammar mistakes and such but its mostly just for if the fic sounds good or not haha at least thats how I understand it. If anyone’s up for beta reading i’m not expecting like… super serious edits with every sentence LOL just maybe a few notes~

The fic i’ve been starting a little bit on is… kind of loose lol there’s not too much plot it’s mostly just delving into some characters. It’s a modern AU ninjago fic (predictable, i know) and is essentially a slice of life fic where the main five all live in an apartment and go about life. Later on, they end up deciding to go on a road trip across Ninjago and thats where a lot of the character exploration comes in! I’m not sure if there’s going to be any shippy stuff in it tbh, mostly found family vibes but that could change depending on how it turns out!

It’s probably going to be a little boring since its so self indulgent but if anyone would be interested in beta reading (even just giving it a skim and saying whether its good or bad LOL) please DM me!! i’m currently working on standard notes since I dont have great access with mobile google docs, but as soon as I’m able I’ll send what I have so far your way! I currently have about… half of chapter 1 done, and so far my outline has about 3 chapters planned, its at about 1.3k so far! I’m expecting it to be a shorter multichapter fic, but if i end up starting to plan more than 10 chapters i will let yall know!! also note if you want to volunteer to beta read you dont have to commit to the whole fic LOL i am a chronic overwriter and love to include stuff that probably doesnt need to be there so it could easily get longer than expected quickly!! okay now ive rambled way too long hehe but if you’re interested pretty please dm me!!! :DDD thank you for reading all of this if you did fbhkdfsnjskd treat yourself to a cookie!

(note i can probably copy paste what i have into a google doc if anyone would like to read like… immediately LOL but it’ll probably be easier to just upload when i get back and when i have a bit more done i’m kind of jumping the gun a bit with asking for a beta reader now hehe im just excited. I should be back on april 8th but i’ll be severely tired and jetlagged so realistically i can probably get a good quality document by april 9th!! just a quick heads up lolol)

[afleetingmuse]

Hi everyone!

To fix a duel ended problem I'm having as a DM, I've made a thing! Lol

The Flaw:

Sometimes if I have a/any new player(s) who wants to try D&D but finds it intimidated or overwhelming. Traditionally, I have a one on one character creation session or a group game 0. All pretty standard stuff and while I don't mind doing this, it can be very time consuming. Especially if I have new players that are just doing a one shot(the ending always has flexibility to morph into a campaign).

The Background:

The last one shot I did was for a my best friend, her husband, her brother and his girlfriend. But because the four of them lived in another city and I was only visiting for a few days I asked them if they'd like to pick their race, class, and background, and I'll fillout their character sheets for them so we can just go over some smaller details and jump right into the game. They all agreed but while I was filling things out and choosing some basic and versatile spells. I realized I'd still have to go over background features, racial abilities or all the things they would have on hand. So I handmade little cards that explained things like dark vision ect. I then went to the dollar store and bought some of those plastic card holders that go in binders. Set it up for them, so that all I had to do was hand them a few of these sheets and everything they needed was easy to read and straight forward(luckily for me others on Reddit had blank spell cards which was a real time saver).

My players loved it, and after a quick explanation of the basic of dice rolling and where to find information they needed we hopped into the game. It was great but very time consuming on my end for a one shot.

The Inspiration:

I have another one shot coming up in a few months and while my sister lives in town(Hi Sister, I technically haven't asked you yet if you wanted to play but Cousin's Husband is really excited) , my cousin and her husband live out of town. So when I showed up to work early today I couldn't find my new campaign notes on my Google Docs. I didn't want to try and remember what I had already wrote down so I started thinking about making some blank cards that I could fill out the information and get started on all the behind the scenes work. When I had the idea to make a printable sheet so that I'll never have to handwrite it out again. It took a few tries to get a basic look that I liked. What would be easiest to print out and not waste paper ect.

The Idea(Couldn't think of another character sheet reference that would work):

And I have this first draft to show for it. Basically I made a few of these sheets in Excel the top three rows are all the same, since they are the three most common Kits. Then the forth row has a different Kit on each page.

I wanted a space where they could erase and change the amount of what they have, like ball-bearings, rope, string, pitons and rations. If they ever get broken, lost, used or cut. Then I added how much the flat rate of price so you wouldn't have to look it up if you wanted to sell it. Finally I added a spot for a base weight incase you ever want to play a game where your strict on your carrying capacity but left it blank so again if something was to happen to your gear you can change it.

I know this has probably been done before I didn't think to look before I got started but regardless tada! Feel free to ask any questions or tell me what you think.

(I also posted this on Reddit, but figured I'd share it here too)

[dykelawlight]

hyperspecific: what do you think fem!L, Light, & Mikami have on / in their desks?

GOOD ONE!!!! I'll do Mikami first because I've been thinking about that bitch of late

Mikami

Office landline. If we're doing this during the canon time period of the show, big old desktop computer + her work laptop on a little stand so she can be an early adopter of the use of dual monitors, which used to be fucking crazy to even think about. Work nameplate. I think she's a huge neat freak at work and basically only keeps stuff on her desk as she's actively using it, so she might end the day with a huge spread of case file stuff and code reference books and legal pad notes on her desk and will tidy every bit of it up and put it in its proper place before she leaves (probably at about 3AM if Japanese govt attorneys keep comparable schedules to Japanese firm attys). She's got a pull-out filing drawer that is organized to the letter with paper case files. Her other main drawers are just full of typical work stuff; extra legal pads, extra pens, hand sanitizer, paper clips, whatever. All pretty boring and standard-issue. She might have some pens in a little cup on her desk and she might have like a plain box of tissues for clients. She has an ergonomic wrist rest for her keyboard and a plain black mousepad. She leaves home stuff at home. I don't think she has so much as a houseplant in there. She wants to be taken seriously in an impersonal way and doesn't have time for shit like (glancing at my own desk) a tape dispenser shaped like a hedgehog.

She obviously has a desk at home, too, but it's similarly boring, with very few extra personal touches. She might have like a candle over there, a desk lamp, stuff like that, and she might stack personal reading (whenever she has time) over to the side.

L

L's desk is a fucking wreck. L is meticulously clean but by no means organized. L spreads case docs all over the place. Some of them fall on the floor. Whatever. She'll retrieve them as necessary.

She's obviously comfortable curling up into her preferred pose in a regular chair, but I think in terms of a regularly used personal desk she has a kneeling chair that she misuses by putting her feet on the pads instead of her knees, thereby completely negating any ergonomic value it might provide. (I am doing this as we speak.) I also think she keeps a space heater under her desk because she has terrible circulation in her feet.

She has a desk lamp but it's pretty standard-issue. She has a couple small things she fidgets with while she's really deep in thought, like a rubber band ball. Her drawers are also completely disorganized and chiefly used to ferret away snacks in the event that she forgets to eat for 8 hours or whatever. She might have some little desk-sized decorations that she thinks are amusing; probably like a Newton's cradle she can mess around with and a mini stuffed animal that she's become attached to for no particular reason. She's like Mikami if Mikami was a mess and also could ever loosen up. I think she has a wide array of colored gel pens also. She DEFINITELY has one of those 00s mouses with like bright blue fake water and plastic fish in it.

Light

Light's desk as an adult is carefully calculated to look both utilitarian and "normal." She has a plant. She has a nice little lamp she picked out. She has a box of tissues with a fun but unobtrusive pattern on it. She has a candle. She has a framed picture of her family. If she and L are together then she probably has a framed picture of them looking very Normal also, maybe on vacation or some shit. She has a plug-in mug warmer for her coffee. Etc. Desktop computer too but probably a little sleeker than Mikami's because she enters the workforce later.

Her desk is generally very clean. She keeps a microfiber cloth and some wet wipes in a drawer. She is still prone to the use of false-bottomed drawers to hide things she doesn't want other people to find, even if they're harmless and not magical murder weapons. She also keeps very organized files in a filing drawer for whatever her job might be in this scenario (probably a cop). Unlike L, she is staunchly opposed to the concept of eating at one's desk and has zero snacks in her vicinity at any time. That's why you pack a fucking lunchbox (very boring bamboo bento with her name on it).

She keeps a desk at home that's basically exactly the same because she doesn't like to mess with perfection. Unlike her last home desk, this one is not rigged as a bomb.

[cerenemuxse]

Initially, I thought Cailitn and Connor were twins or at least the same class.

I'm going through and updating my Docs and Sheets on the characters right now, and I've been considering making them British engines instead of American engines. It just makes much more sense to me as well as helping with the size issue. American engines are typically massive. Take this photo of LMS 6229 Duchess of Hamilton (streamlined) and a BO P-7 class for example.

Source

To clarify, I love Caitlin and Connor as they are! Definitely two of my favorite CGI-only characters from T&F, but I just don't think their basis are correct for this. Think about it.

The Earl is ALL about preservation and to me, it just seems like he'd be more interested in preserving non-streamlined steam engines more than streamlined steam engines. Maybe that's a better reason as to why he chose Caitlin and Connor, but unless he's having them travel all over the United Kingdom, why would they be streamlined. Originally, I assumed they would go to Barrow-in-Furness from Ulfstead Castle with no stops, which is somewhat the case.

And then their size becomes the issue. I'm trying to stick as close as to real-life circumstances as I can, and having them be cut down to size isn't an option I want to default to when it comes to American steam engines working on the North Western Railway. I'm already using the "they were just built different for UK railways" storyline for another character.

So I'm currently considering the following locomotives:

LNER A4s: I know I questioned the streamlining situation but I think it makes more sense for them if I do have them travel the majority of the United Kingdom to collect passengers for Ulfstead Castle. This would be an interesting option because they'd act so differently to Spencer, considering they're privately owned like him.

LMS Coronation Class: This is could work either way because I'm also considering the possibility that the journeys had to be stopped at Barrow-in-Furness when dieselisation happened and the last of the steam engines were withdrawn from service. At that point, streamlining is unnecessary so the casings are removed.

LMS Princess Royal Class: If I decide not to go the streamlined route or I want to make one of them a different class.

These were chosen for multiple reasons, those being:

I would like to keep the single survivors as they are, like Blue Peter, Tornado, Flying Scotsman, and Duke of Gloucester, which they will be joined by Hengist, a BR Standard 6. This already knocks off the LNER Gresley A3s, LNER Peppercorn A1s, LNER Peppercorn A2s, BR Standard 8, and BR Standard 6.

Go for a class that isn't made up of one example, such as the single BR Standard Class 8, Duke of Gloucester, and GWR 111, The Great Bear.

Cannot be classes that have already been used, keeping that heavy diverse of classes on the Island of Sodor and character roster in general. This knocks off the SR Merchant Navies, as well as the SR Battle of Britians and West Countries, and the LMS Royal Scots, rebuilt and unrebuilt for all three.

Not to use any recent classes, specifically BR. This crosses off the BR Standard 7.

Drop classes that wouldn't have survived by at least the 1950s. This crosses out the LNER Raven A2s and GWR 111.

The 4-8-4 configuration is a definte "No." It was considered to be too much by the LNER when the Hush Hush was released into traffic. Even though it was rebuilt with the body of a A4, it still retained its wheel configuration. It just seems too much for the NWR, considering its size. Its slightly bigger than the Furness Railway from what I've gathered. (If not, they're about the same size.)

These are the engines from the UK that I have listed so far, so I have still have more classes to sift through. The American steam engines are already a "No," due to their massive size. I have the following that could be really good candidates, because I'm pretty damn sure the Earl would love to preserve/operate a foreign engine. It just screams like something he would do. However, this list contain streamliners.

New South Wales C38 class: This one because they look similar to the Hudsons. Like the LMS Coronations, their casings can be removed to unveil the nonstreamlined version. Built in the 1940s.

Source: Wikipedia

Iraqi State Railways PC class: Similar design to the streamlined LMS Coronations with the valenced similar to those of the LNER Gresley A4s. Purely streamlined. I haven't found a photo where its not streamlined. Built in the 1940s. Only international option I've chosen that doesn't have any survivors to this day.

Source

DRB Class 01.10: Another streamlined engine that can have its casings removed. Built in the 1930s.

Source: Wikipedia

"But wait a minute, you just said this about the streamliners-" yeah I did but here's the thing. Connor and Caitlin are KNOWN AS streamliners. They're known to be different to the other engines and extremely fast. I would like to keep that as the first thing you know about them. They're ✨ streamlined ✨.

But then here comes another issue (this is post is so damn long- wut 😭)

I want to make "Best Engine Ever" canon to EoSR but I can't think I can pull off how dangerous it becomes since all of the examples I've mentioned have front buffers and they don't really have skirts, excluding the Iraqi State Railways PC class.

With all of this taken into consideration, I'm definitely leaning towards the New South Wales C38 as Connor's basis, just because the front reminds me of his T&F basis. They're green which is closer to the teal/blue Conor is originally in. As for Caitlyn, I'm somewhat considering the Iraqi State Railways PC class. It's a very good candidate, in my opinion, but the paintwork is what's throwing it off. I don't want to end up with two green engines, though it looks like the PCs used a mint green.

I'm just not entirely convined by the UK steam engines, though technically the Iraqi State Railways PC engine is English since this basis was built in England.

These classes were built mostly before BR era (C38s: January 1943 - November 1949 & PCs: 1940), they look smaller than the American engines and about the same size as the UK built engines, and they have visual aspects that remind me of their original basis from Thomas and Friends. Neither class only has a sole survivor. The Iraqi State Railway PCs having no surivors while the New South Wales C38s have four survivors. Neither class is made up of one example or been used as a basis for another character. Both classes survived past the 1950s and early-1960s, with the lastest withdrawal being that of a C38 in 1970.

So this is my overly-complicated and probably unnecessary analysis/research for Connor and Caitlin's new basis because I'm weird and want to stick as close to the real-world as much as I can. I wrote this within the span of two days because i was doing research as I was writing this so consider this post as a bunch of notes (which is part of the reason why I kept contradicting myself when it came to streamlining 🤡).

[eldritchships]

Thoughts on Earthspark!Flatline (spoilers for the most recent episodes)

Follows the standard version to begin with, except that part has to be set in the past, as the war’s over in the present. Flatline has cut ties with both Autobots and Decepticons, as he doesn’t want anything more to do with their conflict.

Being a former member of the 'Cons, GHOST has Flatline on something of a parole/house arrest. Flatline is allowed to live in a cosy, out of the way (and bot-sized) laboratory-slash-summer-home, but he probably has to give GHOST something in return in order to keep his freedom. Most likely, this is either his occasional services as a Cybertronian medic, or the manufacturing of bot-compatible medicine - thus far, we don't know who's been patching Optimus and Crew up after their battles, and having a Doc-Bot on hand would make it easier for the humans

(Note: Tarantulas mentioned that GHOST either imprisons or indentures 'Cons, so there's enough precedent for me that one of their prisoners could be contracted)

Flatline’s much happier in his current living situation, for the most part left alone in peace and able to work. It's not a perfect arrangement, but it's better than living in a cell. I also think he's on a tighter leash than he believes, and Croft is fine to use Flatline for her own benefit until there's adequate opportunity to eliminate him.

Flatline wasn't at the battle for the Allspark, or at least was fighting further away from the space bridge. So he was told and currently still thinks Shockwave died in the battle! Nobody has told him the truth yet! (At first Megs wanted to avoid further confrontation, but the half-truth went on for so long that at this point, it feels like it's been too long to come clean)

Dealing with Shockwave's 'death' was messy and Flatline was just as angry as to be expected. 15 years of no war, and presumably finally being convinced to work on his personal issues, have done a lot to heal those wounds, but they're definitely not gone. Especially if he were to find out he was lied to.

More divorced energy than other versions

Flatline has probably been inside the GHOST base when they needed greater repairs on one of the 'Bots (which means there's set-up for potential future drama)

ES!Flatline is more combat trained, a result of how long his service lasted before the war ended

Overall, he's doing pretty alright! It's not perfect, but it's the closest he's felt in a long time to his pre-war self. He's happy.

I would like for him to meet the Maltos at some point, although I don't know how that would happen. Maybe they go on a hike in the woods and find Flatline's place, idk, that could be fun. Flatline isn't a kid person and he's a bit of a bad influence, but I think he could handle not being terrible to them

Physical design notes:

There's a seemingly 'out of place' stripe around his thigh, which is actually painted over his Decepticon symbol (there's no GHOST symbol on his person either)

Flatline's syringe is a mix of the Prime and Gen 1/TFA versions - he's missing the middle finger on his right hand, and the harpoon-like blade is embedded in his wrist/forearm (the pointy bit takes the space of where his middle finger would be. Kind of an Assassin's Creed situation)

Has a similar facemask to his TFA version

I'll probably stay with the helicopter alt mode, although there's more options to potentially choose from if I look at other alt modes he's had (i.e. plane, scorpion).

[cartoonistcoop]

ShortBox Comics Member Interview: Diansakhu Banton-Perry

Throughout the month of October, the Cartoonist Cooperative will be sharing interviews with members of the Co-op who have a new comic available at the ShortBox Comics Fair 2024! 

NOTE: The Cartoonist Cooperative is not affiliated, associated, authorized, endorsed by, or in any way formally connected with ShortBox.  

Today’s spotlight is Diansakhu Banton-Perry and their new comic for ShortBox, Bug In My System

We’d love it if you could introduce yourself and tell us about your background in comics.

Diansakhu Banton-Perry: Hi, my name is Diansakhu Banton-Perry. I’m a character designer, illustrator and comic artist! I graduated from VCU in 2019, and my experience in college is where I had a real start with making comics. I joined a comic anthology club, where I made short comics and edited other students’ comics, and took as many comic classes as I could till graduation!

Tell us more about your new comic?

DB: This comic is called Bug In My System and it is a short sci-fi story about a highschool girl and her crush! It’s about 25 pages, and in black and white. It has a bit of uneasy energy to it, but sharing more would probably spoil it! 

Tell us about your creative process; how did you develop this comic and what are the steps you took to bring it to the final stage?

DB: I think my process is usually pretty standard. I have ideas on Google Docs with different stories in different stages of completion. For this comic, it was an idea I had from a while ago. I always go for sci-fi fantasy stories first, and started to work through it with different comic friends since the summer of last year.  It was pretty developed by the time I started thumbnailing it out. But, as I was writing the script, I realized it was going to be too long (like over 40 pages). I wanted to keep it under 30 pages so that I could keep the pacing how I wanted, not get too carried away with story details (more characters , extra context, stuff like that) and actually physically finish drawing everything on time. So, that part took way longer than I hoped, so I ended up going from thumbs straight to inks! I don’t recommend doing that, but my thumbnails are usually pretty clear so it didn’t hinder my ability to finish the comic, but it did slow down my inking process. By the end I wasn’t able to tone the comic, which stressed me out. But the story and mood came through because of the inking style I used. I needed to not look at my comic for a while after I submitted it. But, nowadays there’s a little less stress when I look at it.

What were some challenges you faced with this comic and how did you overcome them?

DB: My biggest challenges were definitely my time management and the story development! With this comic, I got very stuck on the ‘how did we get here’ part. I knew what the conclusion would be, and the climax, but the beginning was killing me. I wanted adequate time for character development, and I got a bit carried away with how to make that happen without making the comic much longer. In the end I needed to cut out parts of the story, but it took me way too long to get that conclusion. What really helped me sort of balance everything out was talking things out with friends! Critique is crucial! Also sticking to my schedule for each part of the process. I know for the future for making my own stories, that I need to give myself adequate time in the development stage. The less I need to think the better!

Do you have any creative rituals or routines to prepare yourself to make comics?

DB: Most comic artists probably do this too, but I love drawing out my characters first. Sometimes before I even have a story. They are usually the inspiration. If I don’t have character inspo first, then I’ll make a big reference sheet, and sketch out characters from there. For this comic I sketched four or five pages of the main characters so I could get  used to drawing them, and get a good feeling on how they’d interact.

Read the rest of the interview HERE! And dont forget to check out the Shortbox Comics Fair to support these lovely creators!!

[redorich]

to those who carried on

A fic for @petrichormeraki​ and their Hermit!Tommy AU.

-------

The hermits know Tommy as a quiet young man who is very sad and contemplative. The more time they spend with him (against his will, but they know he needs the company) the more they learn of the little details. His favorite block is cobblestone, he likes building towers, and apparently his favorite woman is the Queen. They don’t ask why he wears a smiley mask even though he never seems happy. They don’t ask why he hides important things in his ender chest. They don’t ask why he wears a shattered compass on a chain about his neck.

(Once, he died in lava and lost his absolute mind. He was so upset about the compass that he didn’t even mention the stack and a half of diamond ore he had on him. Xisuma ended up manually rolling back the server just so Tommy could have it back.)

As time goes on, the tremors in Tommy's hands grow lesser. His dull blond hair seems a bit brighter, his bruises fade quicker, he doesn’t look quite so skinny-- he spends his time serenely building, resource gathering instead of running and fighting. He has a sense of humor under all that trauma, which the hermits unfortunately find out after another massive-scale prank war thought to be instigated by Grian actually turns out to be Tommy's fault.

Tommy starts swearing more. Doc gets the stink eye from Stress for this, but Doc insists he’s never once sworn around the young man. (That’s an absolute lie, but it wasn’t anything Tommy hadn’t heard before. Tommy thinks Doc is remarkably unoriginal in his cursing. He does take note of the German ones, though.)

Inviting Tommy to PvP minigames can be touchy, they learn. He likes to fight, but he fights like an animal with nothing to lose. Grian once chanted, “It stays in the pit!” and everyone present had to spend the next five minutes wrangling Tommy’s soul back into his body from wherever it’d floated off to.

Tommy likes to glide with his elytra. He claims he’s never had one before, but he flies like such a natural that a few people have their doubts. On a dark desert night, with dark blue eyes watching the night sky, he confides to Cub that it reminds him of the way his dad used to fly. He hates rockets, though. He does not confide to Cub that it reminds him of what his brother did to his best friend. He says enough that Cub can guess, though.

Scar gets fed up with Tommy’s creeper holes and makes Tommy help him fix them. At first, Tommy has no clue why Scar is breaking out things like coarse dirt and birch leaves and making the ground all fancy, but he’s not afraid of a little hard work and Scar makes it fun. He learns a lot about terraforming that day, and awkwardly comes back a few days later asking if Scar needs any more help terraforming. Tommy still hasn’t built a real base, not by Hermitcraft standards, but the small hill he’s built his dirt hut near now has a very beautiful, if amateurish, waterfall. He doesn’t tell Scar about this, but Scar finds out anyway. Tommy wakes up one morning to find that someone has left a shulker box in his house. Instead of iron-gripped paranoia, he just feels wonder that someone would give him a gift-- to the hermits, a single shulker box is nothing. To Tommy, it’s everything.

The shulker box contains coarse dirt, birch leaves, and a silk touch shovel.

Tommy helps Xisuma mine a giant hole in the ground near bedrock, because he realizes that he’s never thanked the admin for getting him his compass back. Well, that and the fact that instamining with a haste two beacon and an efficiency five pickaxe is a novelty. Xisuma lets him keep the cobble, since everyone knows it’s Tommy’s favorite block, but also insists he keep some of the other blocks like andesite and diorite. He pats Tommy on the head and tells him to talk to Bdubs about building a house some time. Tommy nods. He's taken aback by how tall Xisuma is, completely contrasting his mild nature. He reminds Tommy of Wilbur, on one of his good days before... Before. Not Ghostbur, though-- the admin is much too alive.

Tommy waits too long, so eventually Bdubs comes to him. The man is silly and outrageous, playing everything for laughs and unexpectedly tender. Bdubs plays up how beautiful he thinks Tommy’s hideous dirt shack is, then offers to help him build a house that’s better. For Tommy, building a house means settling down, accepting that this is his home now. Bdubs doesn’t know this. Tommy builds cobblestone dicks while Bdubs tries to lecture him about depth and block variation. Nothing gets done and Bdubs feels like he might have failed, but come next week Bdubs is flying over the area and sees the dicks are gone; so is the dirt house. In its place is a spruce-and-cobble cottage nestled near the tiny waterfall. Off to the side, he’s made a cozy doghouse for his fox, Theo. Bdubs doesn’t know how close that fox came to being named Fundy.

He spars with False, and she very pointedly does not mention how his stances are uniquely suited to a piglin. There’s only one renowned fighter who’s a piglin, after all. It's Tommy’s story to tell, if he ever does, why he’s seen enough of the legendary Technoblade’s fights to pick up on his stances, yet he’s not experienced enough to know that they don’t suit him. Instead, False gives him different stances suited more for tall, skinny people like the two of them. She’s got blond hair and blue eyes just like him. (Not that she’d know. She’s never seen his eyes, hidden behind his mask as they are.) Every now and then, he imagines her as an older sister, and the one time he says so, she smiles. When Tommy’s at home, looking at his own distorted reflection in his waterfall (he’s improved it since he built it), he muses that their eyes aren’t the same, their hair colors are subtly off. It’s close enough, he thinks.

Stress dies from fall damage and Tommy goes out of his way to pick up her stuff, because the hermits do these things out of the kindness of their hearts. The thought never even crosses their minds to steal. It crosses his mind. He doesn’t do it. Stealing from Stress would be like stealing from Niki.

He shows up at Cleo’s base unannounced and demands to see the “cool shit”. He is appropriately enthused by the giant armor-stand-bugs. She tries teaching him her armor stand magic, but it doesn’t really sink in. It’s okay, she assures him, most people don’t have the knack for it. He does, however, learn that buttons make excellent decorations. He also learns how to braid hair, bribed by ice cream. He is terrible at it, to the point where Joe has to come by to help the two untangle her hair so Tommy can start again. Watching the two bicker over capitalism and six million armor stands and a whole host of other inside jokes he doesn’t get, he thinks he’s starting to understand what friendship is supposed to be like. Joe and Cleo don’t see him clutching his compass. He and Tubbo weren’t too far off from this, given their circumstances. Maybe...

Maybe Tubbo can be forgiven.

Tommy makes minigames of his own, ones that don’t just kill you and steal your stuff. He builds things that are pretty instead of just functional, brews potions with Stress and only calls them drugs once (again, upsetting her is like upsetting Niki. Best not done), and sets up chicken bombs above people’s bases instead of just lavacasting them. (As Grian saw the hundreds of chickens slowly raining down upon his mansion, he got such a peculiar look on his face that Tommy feared he’d fucked up. The shorter, stronger (much stronger oh god why is he so strong despite being so small) man nearly crushed Tommy’s lungs in a hug, proclaiming how proud he was of Tommy. Tommy was proud of himself for not accidentally murdering Grian out of reflex. Was this what healing was like?)

Yes. It is what healing is like. Tommy knows this because that wound gets ripped open again. Tango shows him how to build the most obnoxious redstone-powered noise machine the two can think of. Tango digs a small pit, and asks Tommy to throw down his axe. Suddenly, Tommy’s in Logstedshire again; it’s not Tango asking, it’s Dream. His hands don’t shake when he tosses his axe into the pit, followed by his sword and his armor. It isn't until he’s placed the TNT down that Tango grabs his wrist and asks him what he’s doing. Tommy’s eyes clear enough that he can see past the blond hair and freckles. Tango isn’t green, he’s red. He's shorter than Dream, and his worried eyes are unhidden. Tommy shudders, then tells Tango everything.

Tango has no pity for Tommy, just understanding and sympathy. He doesn’t push Tommy to talk about it, but when Tommy’s done telling his story, Impulse and Zedaph show up. They all pretend that Tommy’s voice isn’t hoarse, that they all didn’t conveniently happen to look away when Tommy took off his mask just long enough to wipe his eyes. The men bake a cake together, fool around with honey blocks, and don’t talk about it.

Tommy knows very little about redstone, considers himself more of a builder and a fighter than an engineer. Still, Mumbo’s living base is inspiring, and Tommy often hangs around the man’s industrial district just to watch Mumbo work. Mumbo knows that Tommy hasn’t purchased a day pass, but it’s nice having someone around to talk to while he works. It’s not like Tommy is stealing anything. (Tommy totally steals from Mumbo’s industrial district storage system. The man’s farms are so efficient that he doesn’t even notice, so Tommy assumes it’s fine. What Mumbo doesn’t know won’t hurt him.)

Lava still isn’t his favorite thing in the world. He stays far away from it, instead of imagining what it would be like to hurtle towards it. Ren doesn’t really notice this, but he does notice that Tommy doesn’t seem to like his mustafarian base. On a spur-of-the-moment whim, Ren whips up some absurd plotline in which he is a lone weary traveller seeking refuge at Tommy’s base from strange alien overlords. The two have fun together, and the young man cracks more absurd jokes about it than the hermits have ever seen him do. When Ren leaves a week later to return to his own base, Tommy keeps being absurd, if a bit more subdued without someone to play off of. He builds a shrine to the “prime log”, which grows more elaborate each day. Beef and xB pretend to be his acolytes, despite having no clue what a “twitch prime” is.

They can’t see his face, but the smile in his voice is a far cry from the despondency he once wore like a heavy cloak. He is so much more animated and alive, full of motivation. He builds an entire island in three days, and hand-delivers an invitation to each and every hermit for his beach party. Everyone shows up, even those with packed schedules (Iskall) and those with introverted tendencies (Etho). Tommy is nearly moved to tears when they show up in groups of twos and threes, as though he hadn’t expected anyone to come. There aren’t enough chairs for everyone, but there is more than enough cake to go around. Tango brings drinks, Impulse brings meat to barbecue, and Zedaph makes an elaborate jump-powered grill. Keralis brings way too much confetti and several handfuls of cheap, obnoxious party noisemakers. Stress brings Tommy a crown made out of alliums. It shines far less than his brother’s gold crown, and it’ll die in a few days, but he wears it all night and keeps it in his ender chest until it withers away.

He spends five days teaching himself to make flower crowns. Even his best attempt is awful, nowhere near as pretty as the crowns Stress makes, but when he gives it to her, she takes off the one she was wearing and wears his until it falls apart.

He dies fighting a creeper on Grian’s behalf, and doesn’t even panic, because he trusts that however many times he dies, no matter how stupid or ignominious or revolutionary or important, Xisuma will always let him respawn.

He spends a grand total of nine diamonds to buy a single plot of land in the shopping district. He builds a cute little bench facing the sunset, with warmly glowing street lights on either side and a small garden. At the end of the bench he places a jukebox, and buys every single disc that Beef’s music shop sells, including Pigstep. He sits on the bench while Mellohi plays and watches the tiny silhouettes of his friends flying in the evening sky. Tommy looks alone on that bench, even if he seems happy, so sometimes other people stop by to sit with him. Scar declares the bench area a public park, since everyone likes it so much, and refunds Tommy his nine diamonds straight from the throne.

[poetry-protest-pornography]

So, about Nick and Charlie's shoes, Converse & Vans, fashion, and queerness.

Queer fashion and aesthetic is one of the ways that we've always been able to express ourselves, and also signal to other queer people "hey, I'm here, too!".

From dandies who wore specific flowers, to the hanky code, to the ever handy carabiner, there are certain items that tell other queer folks very clearly– and very discreetly – what you're about.

In general, queer fashion is about not conforming to standards and expectations, sometimes in big ways, sometimes in small, day to day ways: Girls in blazers, boys in soft, fuzzy oversized sweaters and tight jeans, and the like. Cuffed jeans also a very big deal, which I was delighted to learn about in college (I rolled my cuffs because I'm short, was very excited I was also telling people I was queer), though I'm less clear on the origins of that particular trend.

Shoes are obviously a big part of fashion, and they're no less important to queer aesthetics.

In college my second time, I was almost a decade older than some of my classmates, and a joke about lesbian shoes landed somewhere over the heads of the 3 other queer people I was talking with.

The shoes I was thinking of were of course black, chunky oxfords; think Doc Martens. The Lesbian Shoes of my time. But these kids didn't have to quietly dress-up to signal their queerness– they didn't understand.

I love that young queer people have less reason to code themselves, but there's no less reason for us all to dress for ourselves, to push boundaries of expectation and wear what makes us feel most comfortable in our own skin. And so, queer fashion thrives.

In regards to Vans and Converse, their place in queer fashion history is so well entrenched, that if you search "Converse Vans gay" you'll get result after result asking "are you a Vans gay/lesbian/bi or a Converse gay/lesbian/bi?" And then people inevitably asking "what about boot gays?".

Interestingly, a lot of queer fashion and culture comes from Black drag culture, but high top shoes are from a distinctly different group: West Coast skater boys.

My theory is that these boys, as a subculture, were also not held to fashion standards of their time/place, and that gave them the freedom to wear things like brightly colored shoes without any pushback.

And us queer folks saw all the pretty colors and thought "Oh, we can work with those!" Because they already existed and were widely available and relatively affordable, you could own multiple pairs in various colors, and subvert your school's sneaker dress code requirement by making it cute and brightly colored and queer! You could wear a simple outfit that wouldn't raise any eyebrows (or put you in danger), and top it off with colorful sneakers that only people who wanted to notice would notice.

Charlie has a whole closet full of different color Converse! That scene was so much! And Nick is steadfast in his black Vans– I would love to see him in a different color next season, though I don't remember if that's a thing in the comics. Vans are generally considered the tougher/more athletic shoe, and they're definitely sturdier than all-canvas Converse, and I love how that plays into their characters as well.

Alice did an incredible job in the comic with the fashion choices she made for Charlie and Nick, and the costume designer on the show did a stellar job translating it onto the screen, Charlie's clothing is very queer coded, even beyond the shoes, and for him is obvious that it's born out of a need for that comfort and finding that space for himself, which is exactly where queer aesthetics came from. That necessity to make yourself comfortable and safe– and then visible to others like you.

Anyway, this was a lot more than I thought I was going to get into, but it was fun to write!

(Honestly, I do find myself kind of shocked that we didn't reinvent the hanky code with skate shoes, though.)

@onefootintheboilinghotlava this is for you

[saltymongoose]

Little question about player and the relationships between humans grunts and employers

Are humans just overall smarter than grunts or is reader just this genius mastermind? How about employers? They did manage to get player into their world, that time in the fanfic about the boys seeing the player for the first time deimos, the TECH guy, complained about how dificult employer technology was, is it actually just a standard PC like the one player uses?

Also about the grunts, can player just make an offhanded comment about some common human knowledge and they just go

"BRO?!?!?!?!???!!?!? WHAT"

Would grunts regarded as really really smart just, be completly floored by what player knows? Maybe as project nexus happend somewhere before madness 5, would they just know some things about the future or possibly change it?

Anyways yeah

Well, according to Krinkels, the only education that really exists in Nevada at the time of Madness is the Sleepwalker Program. However, before the fall (and Sheriff turning on the improbability drive) there must've been some form of education since the grunts from then know how to read/write. Although I'd consider the most common type of education to be the more base-level kind cause scientists with doctorates like Hoff and Jeb seem pretty rare. And this is only applicable to G01s and G02s, which don't make up a lot of the population anyway. Any generations afterward are taught by the Nexus if at all, which means that humans would be smarter than at least 85% of the grunt population by default. Plus I'd imagine human educations are far more varied compared to Nevadans'. The Player themselves would probably be well-versed in all things technical on their end too, specifically when it comes to their own equipment (like for streaming and stuff), which makes them a genius by grunt standards.

(Rest under the cut because this response is super long haha 😅)

As for the Employers, their tech is extremely advanced, but also a lot more complicated than it needs to be. Honestly the machines they use to do stuff regarding you are prototypes and have yet to be streamlined (cause why would the Auditor waste his time improving something that already works when he could be observing you instead?). In terms of how it relates to the Player's PC, it has a couple similarities, but it has an entirely different purpose so they would be far and few in between. The problem with trying to figure out their technology comes from how unknown it is (a lack of other references to use as guides especially) and also because they can be very convoluted in design.

Given the fact that the Player is probably one of the smartest people in Nevada, they could totally just make a normal remark and have grunts freak out from how intelligent they are lmao. Like you know so much about physics, psychology, biology, sociology, just everything that Nevadans are just completely lost on. Even the smarter grunts like Doc would be stunned about what you know. (Atoms? Trigonometry and algebra? Where did you learn all of this??)

Regarding the timeline, the Player would totally know about what happens in the future (at least if they've watched the series 😅) so I can see them trying to change some things. Though that would also depend on how willing they would be to do that (cause change might make things worse too). And there's the other issue of how The Machine™ would react to these changes too, which could be another problem entirely.