#one is a drawing that should never be seen

[keferon]

Eh okay so. My brain is absolutely cooked so you will probably just have to ignore the linguistic fuckups

Jazz and Prowl learning to communicate because language barrier is a thing >:D

Previous part

Jazz sometimes thinks that somewhere along his career path he lost the bar separating normal from...well...everything else.

After all he's seen, heard about, and done, he's not sure exactly how to measure what's weird and what's normal. He has..the general idea.

His own. And it's so convoluted and fucked up that he'd rather jump into a volcano than try to explain it to anyone else. Jazz thinks the little colorful aliens around him are weird as hell. He thinks they sound weird, he thinks they look weird, and he thinks he must be going crazy.

And then this big black and white robot catches his eye and Jazz's first thought is not "what the fuck??"

His first thought is

"Thank God! Someone's normal!"

Whoever this guy is, he sounds like he knows what he's doing. And most importantly, he looks just like Jazz. Well, not exactly. But close enough. After all, Jazz knows that his organization wasn't the only mech maker on the entire planet. Other countries were making Mechs too, and Jazz hadn't seen even half of them.

But he can recognize a giant robot when he sees one, okay?

The thought that another mech could be an alien doesn't even enter his mind.

So used to the constant presence of huge piloted robots around him, he looks at this one and clings to its appearance as something familiar and easily explainable. His brain says, we know how this works. There's a robot and inside the robot there's another person. It's the way it's always been. The sky is blue, the grass is green and the robots are human-piloted. It's that simple.

The guy takes him to the far corner of the room and says something. Jazz…doesn't understand..

The mech's face contorts in a surprisingly believable display of concentration. How...who built this robot? How could they make it frown?

He hears something else being said to him but again can't understand a word. Why won't this pilot get out of the mech to talk to him? Jazz doesn't have his communication frequency but surely they could at least shake hands. There must be some reason. Maybe something wrong with the air? Is it dangerous to be outside? This guy should know better, he's been here longer than Jazz, it seems.

(Damn it, whose idea was it to make a mech with a face, it's so distracting)

He rushes to activate the external speakers, because he and this guy obviously speak different languages, but it never hurts to try, right?

"So uh, I don't think you can understand English?"

Mech frowns again, trying to pick up on something familiar in a language that's apparently new to him. But finds nothing. Jazz lowers his horns sadly.

Oh well. Fuck. As if being stuck in an unknown place with unknown creatures wasn't enough, he can't even talk to anyone! How is he supposed to get out of here? Which way should he even go?

The mech waves his hand to get his attention and then pulls out a tablet and a stylus from..where ?

Jazz somehow manages to overlook the fact that the tablet is made to fit the mech's size. His head is still feels a bit…off..after that portal thingie.

"Charades it is then."

____________________

An hour and a half later, Jazz finds himself staring intensely at the screen in front of him with a surprisingly neatly drawn chart on it.

"So uh. Motion."

The other guy nods and starts drawing a walking mech. Then something that looks like a very unusual car. Then a submarine. Jazz gets a little lost looking at how skillful he is with the stylus.

Honestly, he's a good artist!

The guy points to the sketch of a walking mech and says

" Motion."

Then points to the drawing of a car driving and the columns of the chart.

"Motion-rotation" he points to the car again.

That must mean "driving" huh? Jazz nods understandingly.

Mech moves his finger to the submarine.

"Motion-Water."

Ah, it must mean swimming. Jazz nods once more, feeling like a wind-up dummy repeating the same motion a dozen times.

The mech makes a quiet humming noise and then points to the chart

"Motion. Sky."

And then gives Jazz the stylus?

Uh, what is he... Oh, he wants Jazz to figure out what it means.

"Motion" and "sky," right?

Jazz takes the stylus? Pencil? Thingie.. and very carefully draws out a crooked scribble of something only remotely resembling an airplane. The mech arches an eyebrow and looks like he wants to laugh.

Jazz shrugs awkwardly and tries to add windows to the airplane, but ends up making it look more like a severely fucked up caterpillar.

Mech snorts.

Jazz kicks him in the leg.

The airplane begs for a merciful death.

Jazz didn't really expect to get into a language class but he has to admit that whatever language he's learning now is a surprisingly easy one. It only took the other dude half an hour to show him the basic concept and from there it became a game of associations.

There were simple definitions. Like size, quantity, speed, emotion and so on.

There were signs that automatically turned the whole sentence into a question or a statement.

There were modifiers that Jazz defined in his head as positive and negative.

Positive speed - fast.

Positive size - large.

Positive direction - forward.

Positive time - future.

There were also basic words for senses, emotions and whatnot, also with modifiers.

Mouth-positive - to speak

Brain-positive - to think, but negative-brain-do-positive - to learn.

Huh.

And it's so neatly organized that Jazz wondered if this language was designed specifically to be easy to learn.

Let's see....

Mouth - positive, effort - negative.

"Easy to speak."

The guy nods contentedly and starts talking back, while pointing to the appropriate columns of the chart to make it easier for Jazz to understand.

"Creation-positive. Purpose. Person-negative-knowledge. memory-positive-effort-negative."

Jazz frowns, concentrating on his finger.

Oh. Created. For those who don't know it. Easy to learn.

He was right. The whole thing is waaaay too awkward to write poetry but learning it is a delight.

Jazz leans over the chart.

All right, well, let's see.

“Name. You. Question?”

The other guy smiles and pokes at the chart

"Me.Motion-sound-negative.Negative-eyes-positive-someone."

Walk quietly. searching?… Sneaking?

Oh, it's not "to sneak" it's "to prowl"

"Prowl" nods affirmatively. Jazz smiles at him and looks at the chart again. Okay. How to say “music”?..

“word-knowledge-negative.”

He stops to make a gesture with his hands, as if playing an invisible piano while humming a tune.

Prowl nods

“Sound-positive-positive-hearing.”

Jazz chuckles

“A whole two positives eh? Okay then. Uh. You don't look like you listen to jazz....so..”

“Me. Name. Sound-positive-positive-listening.”

Prowl raises his eyebrows. (Jazz is jealous, he wishes he had eyebrows too.)

“You're a musician?"

Jazz quickly shakes his head while simultaneously muting the outside speakers to a barely audible level and turning on one of the songs on his playlist.

Prowl twitches in surprise when he hears the melody.

Jazz waits for the intro to finish playing and then points to himself

“Creation-negative..uh..Sound-positive-positive-hearing. Jazz. This...”

He pats himself lightly on the chest.

"..is me. Jazz."

Prowl straightens up slightly

“Oh, you're not a musician, you're the music.”

Jazz nods cheerfully

“Yes yes!”

“Jaaz?”

“No no. Jazz.”

“Ah. Jazz?”

“That's right.”

Prowl draws a portal on the screen.

“You teleported here. What happened?”

Jazz hangs back, trying to construct an answer in his head. Good thing Prowl seems to have infinite patience

“So, I uh. What was 'fight'? Movement-pain-positive? I fought these things...”

He takes the tablet from Prowl and draws a crooked blot with a bunch of tentacles on it. Then thinks for a bit and adds big teeth and a lot of eyes. He's not really sure how to draw those eyes properly, so he just scatters them randomly around the monster area.

Prowl doesn't seem to be that amused by Jazz's drawings anymore, in fact, he suddenly becomes very somber.

“Quintessons.”

He pokes at the monster

“Name-Quintessons. Number-question.”

How many?

Jazz scratches the back of his head

“So uh...a lot?....number-positive-positive-positive-positive-positi...you get the idea.”

To be convincing, he dramatically spreads his arms out to the sides depicting something very large.

Prowl looks alarmed.

And unconvinced.

“How did you survive?”

Jazz laughs pretentiously

“Ask them how they survived.”

Prowl makes the “you can't be serious” face. Jazz isn't quite sure what exactly is confusing him. Mechs are designed to kill Quintessons, aren't they? Judging by his movements, this pilot must be damn good at controlling his mech, and that kind of guys usually fight on the front lines.

He decides to put that thought aside for later. There are more important things right now, like...oh shit, where is he even going??

Jazz leans over the chart again

“Uh. Right. Question-we-move-up-place” Man, how to specify... “Knowledge-negative?”

Prowl, linguistic gods bless him, understands him and starts gesturing over the chart in response

Okay. Ah. I-move-up. Planet-creation-positive.

'I'm heading home' or 'my home planet'.”

Jazz instantly perks up.

“Oh that's great, I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to go there too.”

Prowl is speaking in a language he's unfamiliar with, so he's definitely from another country, but hey, who cares as long as it's on Earth, right? He just needs to get there and he'll find his own way from there.

He watches the space debris flicker by outside the window. Even the stars are unfamiliar, Jazz can't find any constellations he knows.

One of the little purple creatures says something and Prowl steps aside to chat with them. Jazz leans back and settles into a more or less stable position. Then does the same thing, but with his real, human body. Hell, his head still feels really fucking weird after that teleportation.

He opens the comm channel and just listens to the static for a couple minutes in the faint hope that the engineering department will find a way to contact him.

Nothing.

He sighs.

“1061 on the com. In case there's any way you can hear me...ah shit. You guys won't believe what happened...”

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

The Misconception of Fandom and Saying Jiang Cheng is a "Good Uncle" and Jin Ling's Initiative to Begin Thinking for Himself

1. Jiang Cheng does not care to exhibit good ethics for Jin Ling and is the one to have set up nets, threatens and intimidates to impede fellow hunters at Dafan Mountain just so Jin Ling can "win":

He didn’t expect the journey to be this unlucky. Originally, he came to help Jin Ling out. Jin Ling would be turning fifteen this year, the age of which he should already be making his debut and starting to compete with the juniors of other clans. Jiang Cheng considered the decision carefully before choosing Dafan Mountain as the location of the hunt. He also set up nets everywhere and threatened the cultivators of other clans, showing them the consequences so that they would retreat, in order to let Jin Ling take the top prize without anyone fighting against him.

Although four hundred deity-binding nets were a whopping price, it wasn’t too much for the YunmengJiang Sect. Nonetheless, losing the nets were a small matter, but losing face was not. With Lan WangJi’s actions, Jiang Cheng felt a whirlpool of anger at the bottom of his heart, rising higher by every second. He narrowed his eyes, his left hand casually stroking the ring on his right hand’s index finger.

(ExR)

2. Jiang Cheng does give Jin Ling ultimatums to curry his favor just as Madam Yu did with him with impossible expectations:

Why are you still standing there? Waiting for the prey to come and throw itself onto your sword? If, today, you don’t catch the creature hunting Dafan Mountain, don’t come to me ever again!”

(ExR)

3.Jin Ling was never shown affection by Jiang Cheng and never described in softer terms by Jin Ling and is noted in novel to show any goodwill and what "happiness" he expresses is violent:

Jin Ling stood on the side, seeming as if he wanted to say a few things, but was too shocked to do so. Jiang Cheng glowered at him, “I’ll take care of you later. Stay here!”

From the beginning of his memory until now, Jin Ling had never seen such a look on Jiang Cheng’s face before: This uncle of his who led the prominent YunmengJiang Sect ever since a young age had always been cold and dark. When he spoke, he was willing to neither show mercy nor do good. Yet, right now, although he was trying hard to suppress unnecessary facial expressions, his eyes were alarmingly intense.

Although his face had always been clouded, marked with arrogance and satire, it seemed as if every corner of it had come alive. It was difficult to determine whether it was vengeful wrath, fathomless hatred, or raving ecstasy.

(ExR)

4. Jiang Cheng has no positive interest in Fairy other than to use a dog to emotionally distress Wei Wuxian and Jin Ling himself is hesitant about this until he is intimidated by Jiang Cheng:

Jiang Cheng added, “Lend me your dog.”

Jin Ling pulled himself out of the daze. He hesitated for a moment and only whistled after Jiang Cheng shot him two lightning-sharp beams from his eyes. The dog dashed over in just a few leaps. Wei WuXian, body as stiff as an iron board, could only be dragged forward, walking one step at a time.

(ExR)

5: Jin Ling is aware of Jiang Cheng torturing and killing people based on his paranoia and proceeds to help Wei Wuxian escape due to his own dislike of needless killings beginning to show, regardless of his opinion on "Mo Xuanyu":

Jin Ling, “It’s not the first time my uncle did such a thing. He has never let any of them go, even if it was possible that he caught the wrong ones. But, if Zidian couldn’t draw out your spirit, I’m just gonna trust that you’re not.

(ExR)

6. Due to his involvement with letting Wei Wuxian escape Jin Ling is pulled into the case of Yi City when he was traveling alone to Lanling Jin, and to the safety of his other Uncle as he knew Jiang Cheng would be volatile and didn't want to be faced alone with him at any point and relies on Jin Guanyao's reputation of being kjown for conflict management to deter Jiang Cheng's attentions:

Jin Ling followed Jin GuangYao out here. He still didn’t dare meet Jiang Cheng alone. Hiding behind Jin GuangYao’s back, he mumbled, “Uncle.”

Jiang Cheng replied harshly, “So you still know that I’m your uncle!”

Jin Ling quickly tugged at the back hems of Jin GuangYao’s robe. Jin GuangYao seemed as though he had been born to resolve conflicts, “Now, Sect Leader Jiang, A-Ling realized his mistake a long time ago. During the past few days, he’s been so scared you’d punish him that he hasn’t even been eating well. Children just like to make mischief. I know you love him the most. Let’s not bother him about it so much.”

(ExR)

7. Again, Jiang Cheng does not show active care for Jin Ling, who wants confirmation that he is cared for when the threat of corpses is on them during the second siege of the Burial Mounds:

A few sect leaders clutched onto their sons, cautioning them, “When the corpses rush inside all at once, protect yourself and try to get out. Stay alive no matter what! You understand?!”

As Jin Ling heard this, he felt himself cringe, but somewhere deep down he hoped that his uncle would say something similar as well. He waited for a while, but nothing came from Jiang Cheng, so he couldn’t help but glare at him. He glared for too long, and Jiang Cheng finally turned to him.

He seemed a bit less gloomy, but he frowned,

"What’s wrong with your eyes?”

“…” Jin Ling was quite annoyed, “Nothing!”

8. Which then extends to Jin Ling joining the other juniors, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji in fending off corpses, despite Jiang Cheng trying to hand him Zidian, Jin Ling takes the initiative to protect not only himself but the others desperate to survive the attack at the front of the cave:

1.

Jin Ling had never seen so many fierce corpses before, much less at such a close distance. He could feel his scalp tingle, clenching the sword hilt of Suihua. Yet, suddenly, his fist was peeled open, and a cold object was stuffed inside. He looked down in surprise, “Uncle?”

Jiang Cheng propped himself up with Sandu, which had lost its spiritual energy. His figure wavered slightly, "Try losing Zidian and see what happens!”

2.

Lan SiZhui was wielding his blade swiftly when he heard a loud clang from behind him. Somebody blocked an attack that came for his back.

Lan SiZhui exclaimed, “Young Master Jin, why are you here too?”

When Jin Ling saw that all of the people around his age had rushed over, he couldn’t hold himself back either. When Jiang Cheng was unaware, he stuffed Zidian’s ring back into his hand and sprinted toward the crowd, all the way up to the most dangerous area before the mouth of the cave.

The most attentive Jiang Cheng can be said to be is when he leads Jin Ling into their boat cabin, yet what he says is only another veiled insult to a child in retaliation and potentially veiled threats:

Jiang Cheng lowered his chin slightly, “Sect Leader OuYang.”

Having been named, Sect Leader OuYang could feel his eyelids throb the way his heart did. He heard Jiang Cheng icily continue, “If I remember correctly, the one who spoke is your son, isn’t he? He sure has a silver tongue.”

Sect Leader OuYang hurried, “ZiZhen! Come back, come over to Dad!”

OuYang ZiZhen was confused, “Dad, weren’t you the one who told me to get on this boat so that I didn’t annoy you guys?”

Sect Leader OuYang wiped at a few beads of sweat, “Enough! Haven’t you shown off enough times today? Come here right now!” His sect was located at Baling, close to Yunmeng but incomparable in power. Naturally, he didn’t want Jiang Cheng to bear a grudge against his son just because he spoke up a couple of times for Wei WuXian.

Jiang Cheng glared at Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi one last time before he returned to the cabin, arm wrapped around Jin Ling’s shoulders. Sect Leader OuYang sighed in relief.

(ExR)

This later all culminates to Jin Ling yelling at Jiang Cheng for chasing off Wei Wuxian once again and leads Jin Ling to try finding Wei Wuxian to speak with him once more leading to Guanyin Temple's confrontation and Jin Ling in the difficult position of turmoil of hate but not wanting to act upon the violence that has been instilled as righteously just to exhibit because it does not make him feel any better or avenged, and ironically is made to learn the lesson Wei Wuxian, learned from Wen Qing of the family hated of the Jianghu, had first told him when he had saved him from Jiang Cheng's torture:

Wei WuXian put his hands behind his back and walked over, “Young man, there are two cringe worthy phrases in one’s life that must be said, no matter what.”

Jin Ling asked, “Which two?”

Wei WuXian replied, “‘Thank you’, and ‘I’m sorry’.”

(ExR)

[laswells-ashtray]

Okay, I heard you were running out of ideas for Sergeant Price and Mac and HOPEFULLY this is the last idea you get before you get a break from the two knuckleheads. Anyhow: colorblind John. Whether it be from an injury, or he was born with it, Mac finds it funny either way to fuck with the boy.

I could imagine that one day John is sitting around in Mac’s office messing with a color cube he had on his desk and getting happy when he had ‘solved’ it. On instinct the Captain looks over because for one, he’s never been able to solve the bitch, and for two, John’s excitement had him wondering if he’d actually been able to solve the bitch.

To his surprise, the cube was still switched around, even looking a bit worse for wear in some circumstances and yet John just grinned at Mac with the proudest, most cockiest grin ever, and that’s when he realized that his Sergeant was colorblind.

How had he never seen this before?

Each time John would take a colored pen from his desk to do a word search or when he’d color in his brain books and the pictures would turn out a colorful mess, he’d always thought that John was fucking with him and was just doing it to mess up his stuff.

Oh how wrong he was, and how hilarious this situation is.

I could also imagine that, from then on, when John went to do anything involving color, he’d ask him what color he was using, and each time John would answer with the wrong color.

He realises and for a second he feels bad, was he wrong to just assume that the boy was deliberately fucking up? He can't bear to tell him that the Rubik's cube isn't solved because he looks so damn proud and hell, sometimes when your toddler points at a distorted blob they drew and tell you it's a giraffe, you just have to agree.

He decides to further test this revelation, purely for science before he outright tells John that for his entire life, he's been colouring the grass red.

So, he waits until John is in his office one day and makes himself seem busy with a stack of papers in front of him. He sits four files in front of John. And four post-it notes with little notes. One blue, one green, one yellow and one pink. Each file has a coloured scribble on the top right corner in a corresponding colour. He casually asks John to put the right note with each file. It should be easy, right? Each file has a colour at the top for each note and Mac is just so busy with useless paperwork that the brass is hounding him about.

He feels bad because the lad is willing to help, John might be an arse but he's a good guy and he'd never say no to helping Mac. He'd just say yes reluctantly.

He feels even worse when John finishes the task and hands it over happily, asking if Mac has anything else he could help with. He got the blue and yellow notes right, the green and pink not so much.

"John, I have a question and I want you to answer me honestly. Can you do that for me, lad?"

"Yeah, what is it?"

"What colour is this?"

"Red, why?"

"Son, I love you and I admire your confidence but that's green."

"What? Are you taking the piss?"

"Son, I know your dad was a drinker but was he never sober enough to maybe comment on your drawings when you were a wee laddie? Maybe tell you that your colours weren't quite right?"

"Mac, what are you on about?"

"You're colourblind. Colourblind as shite, actually. I'm surprised you actually managed to join the army."

"..."

"I won't tell because if I do, you're fucked and other than this you're a mighty good fuckin' soldier but from now on if anyone asks, your favourite colour is blue because you can identify it easily and no discussing other colours. I'll label the red and green pens I keep in the drawer for you, alright?"

"Alright."

[khaire-traveler]

Hello there! I'm very new to hellenic polytheism and came across a question that I am not sure how to approach. I would be really grateful if you could let me know your thoughts on this (please don't feel obligated or anything, tho. I know I am just a random person asking a random question 🫣). So, for a while now, I've been getting more into greek mythology and from there into fandoms that depict the deities (e.g. Epic the musical which I love a lot). Would you say it is inappropriate to seek out fanfiction or fanart (especially those including ships) in those fandoms, or should I refrain from doing that as it would be disrespectful? Or are there limits I should be aware of? Thank you so much should you choose to answer this 💜 (I apologise for missing paragraphs. I am not sure how to do those on mobile.) (Also, is there a right way to end these kinds of letters/messages/questions? Like a way to express my gratefulness?) (Sorry if none of this makes sense. I always get anxious messaging strangers, but I couldn't find answers anywhere, so I thought I'd just ask🫣)

Khaire, Melie!

Ah, yes. The age-old question. How sinful is fanfiction, exactly? /joke (wanted to start this off light-hearted)

In all seriousness, I'll start with this: If you want to know how the gods feel about it, ask them. There is no better answer than the one that comes directly from the source. I understand the nerves around asking this question; some Hellenic Polytheists feel VERY strongly about it, and honestly, seeing their strong opinions has made me doubt my own interests in such media. Remember that some rando's opinion online, however, isn't the law, regardless of how strongly they feel about it or how desperately they want you to do exactly what they're doing. Opinions are opinions; facts are facts - they are separate things. Personally - and this is MY opinion -I think never engaging with modern media depicting the gods is a little too strict of an approach, and by following that, I feel that a lot of people are banning themselves from engaging with fictional media that they might enjoy. Each piece of modern media about the gods is a creative interpretation of Greek mythology, and people have been doing this kind of thing with other religions - that they don't believe in - for AGES. It's entirely normal, even if it is kind of annoying sometimes. Now, some retellings, games, shows, etc. genuinely take things too far, in my opinion, and warp the mythology so completely that it might as well be a different story entirely. I'm bordering on a tangent, so I'll move on.

Modern media about the gods isn't an inherently abhorrent, evil thing that should always be avoided, however, but personally, I do draw the line of engagement at shipping.

First and foremost, live your life the way you want to. Engage with your practice however you wish. I'm not the law-maker of this religion - no one is - and while I might disagree with someone's approach, I'm not going to shit all over them for doing things differently from myself. Now, into my opinion. I don't think shipping gods - be it from a modern form of media or not - that you worship is appropriate, personally. In my experience, it will blur your actual perception of those gods. I've seen it happen over and over again that people confuse the fictional representation of their God in media with the actual god, then feel the need to distance themselves from the media in order to regain something they feel that they lost. Like I said, you do whatever you wish, but I find it's just better to avoid the awkwardness of shipping entirely.

If you want to read fanfiction about the gods in fictional media, go for it, but I'm not personally a big fan of that. I don't know how the gods feel about it; I can't speak for them (no one can). For all I know, they could be reading the fanfiction themselves and laughing their asses off, who knows? But as a worshipper, I'm not personally comfortable with the idea of reading it. Again, do what you want with your life. If you want to read some spicy fanfic of one god with another, I'm literally not going to stop you, but make sure you're able to separate the fictional characters from the gods you actually worship before you do so - that's my advice. Too often, people end up conflating the two. When a fandom or fanfiction begins affecting your worship, practice, or even just the way you view the gods, that's when it's a problem.

I think the community has been torn on the topic of modern media for a while. Some people love it, while others utterly despise it, and you'll notice that answers will vary from person to person. In my opinion, these pieces of media become problematic when they swarm the fuck out of a small religious community that already struggles to be taken seriously. An example of this is what happened with Lore Olympus a while back. When the comic got popular, a ton of people would swarm and attack worshippers of Apollo online, calling them all sorts of extremely vile things, all because of a comic that literally wasn't even mythologically accurate. In my opinion, fandoms can get out of control sometimes, and when you're engaging with one based around the gods, I advise you to just be careful and aware. For some people, fanart and fanfiction of the gods are extremely uncomfortable, similarly to if someone were to ship Buddha with Jesus in the regard that it just...feels weird for people who actually worship those figures. Other people could care less, being able to fully separate the fictional characters from the gods they worship. Base it on your comfort, and the comfort of your gods.

I hope this helped to give you my perspective. I'm not going to tell you what is or isn't the right choice because honestly, different people will give you a different answer, and I'm anything but a religious authority. You're allowed to do as you wish, but I will always advise you to tread with caution and check in with yourself about how it feels for you personally. Reach out to your gods and directly ask them (such as through tarot, or another form of divination), "Hey, how do you feel about me engaging with this?" Asking directly is ALWAYS a good idea, in my experience. Take care, Melie. 🧡

[discordiansamba]

zuko discovered his earthbending when he was around five and panicked. he can't be an earthbender. they're fighting earthbenders.

so he just. hides it. pretends he's a nonbender.

but he can't stay away from the lure of earthbending, so he sometimes practices in secret. it's really hard trying to figure things out on his own.

eventually ozai finds out about this and well. he's not happy about it. he knows it's impossible that ursa was unfaithful, which means there's no doubt zuko is his son. but if his son is an earthbender, that would call his rule into question- so he pretends zuko is a bastard and disowns him.

it's fine. he was always a failure anyways.

kenzo 100% knows zuko is not his grandson. zuko does not know this. kenzo does not know who exactly zuko actually is- it's not really important anyways. he's a child who was traveling all alone. he needs a warm bed and food in his stomach. a place to stay where he can be safe.

he assumes that zuko might be from the colonies- maybe even of mixed blood, given that he clearly has never had any formal earthbending training in his life.

the villagers are a little suspicious of zuko at first, given the fact that he's obviously fire-blooded, but as time goes on they kind of forget their suspicions. if kenzo says he's his grandson, that's good enough for them.

lao beifong is a frequent patron of kenzo, and therefore zuko travels to gaoling often to deliver his finished commissions. lao has absolutely asked kenzo to teach his daughter toph the art of pottery at one point, feeling that it would be a fine pastime for his poor blind daughter, but kenzo took one 'look' at her and was like. what this young girl wants is not a peaceful life of pottery.

kenzo is not completely blind, but can only make out vague shapes and outlines. he lost his eyesight much later in his life, due to an illness. he was already working as a potter then and had to relearn his craft.

zuko ends up befriending toph. of course he does.

toph: huh. who's this guy and why is he lying about what his name is. ah well. none of MY concern.

zuko attends an earth rumble and watches as the little beifong girl absolutely thrashes grown men twice her side. hah. blind and helpless his ass. grandpa was right.

she agrees to help teach him more combative earthbending. she likes the cut of your jib, mudslinger.

you've seen: the gaang forgets toph is blind. now get ready for: toph forgets zuko isn't blind, because he's been exclusively taught earthbending by two blind people.

zuko may be doing a little light blue spiriting on the side. just a tad.

he gets roped into a standing draft of earthbenders a little bit before aang gets out of the iceberg and is just like. well. fuck. this isn't a great development but if i'll definitely draw more attention to myself if i try to desert.

the term of service is only three years. he can get through that, right? then he can go back home to grandpa.

...oh uh. huh. that is his home, isn't it?

at least he makes a new friend? sensu seems like a great guy.

coincidentally happens to be in the area when zhao captures aang. this looks like a great time to sneak out of camp and do a few blue spirit activities.

iroh helps protect the moon spirit at the north pole and later asks aang for a favor. can you keep an eye out for my nephew as you travel the earth kingdom? his father falsely disowned him as a bastard years ago and i have reason to believe he has been hiding there.

sokka: that shouldn't be too hard. a firebender in the earth kingdom should stand out.

iroh: no. he is an earthbender actually.

sokka: what.

(zuko's past, is in fact, about to catch up with him. but he has more important things to worry about- like sensu's unit being captured.

time for blue spirit activities?

hey wait is that the avatar.)

earthbender zuko would just be shun zuko getting mistaken by a blind potter for his dead grandson and then just. never leaving. he can't break this old man's heart. he ends up learning not only his craft but also a lot of other earthbending tips and tricks from the old man whom he genuinely starts to think of as his grandpa at some point.

(spoiler alert: the old man knows full well zuko isn't his grandson. in fact he doesn't even have a grandson. but the scrawny, clearly starving and definitely abused refugee kid will definitely stick around if he pretends to think otherwise.)

...and then he gets drafted into the earth king's army. well. isn't this ironic.

[koddlet]

taipril day 5!!! SURPRISE she's not just in the void... there's a floating table too. kofi request for @sapphicscience

[renai-fr]

Dragon-A-Day 2023- day 5, a Grand Exchange dragon

I drew Susie and Patches, playing poker!

(Whoo boy, this taught me that there's a reason it's a dragon a day, not multiple. Pain in the rear... I really wish I had had time to color, but I didn't want it to take another week. On to the next thing!)

[katiekatdragon27]

Did I ever mention that I ship these three as a polycule? No? Well, now you know.

Also, tis the grand return to my Western AU! It has gotten a ton of traction recently and when it was initially posted, so I might as well give the people what they want.

Progress pictures n some lore under cut:

Ok so here's the picture. When Bang first came into town, the first face he meets is Beep. Of course, being dehydrated, hungry, and in a giant mental fog, he thinks he's dead and assumes that Beep is some beautiful angel from Hevan. Beep is taken aback at first, but just decides to help him anyway.

Bang ends up staying with Beep and Bing when recovering, becoming insta-besties with Bing while slightly rizzing up Beep (for a lack of a better explanation), to which she reciprocates slightly. After he's well enough, Beep takes him into town to introduce him to her and Bing's other friends. There he meets Bo, Beep's best friend, and Boop, the bartender.

When Bang first meets Boop, he does some slight friendly flirting to him, to which Boop is incredibly flattered by. He won't admit to it tho, very much giving "it's not like I like you" energy. They often spend time together when Bang gets off sheriff duty, sharing drinks and having a gay ol' time.

Despite this, Bang does not neglect time to hang out with Beep either. He often helps out on the ranch when she's working and he's off duty. Beep actually teaches him a ton of things, such as cattle herding and maintaining farmland. Romantically working together if you will.

What Bang doesn't know is that Beep and Boop have been unofficially seeing each other for a while before this. They never really made their relationship status known, but everyone sorta knew they were a couple. However, both of them have been rizzed up by Bang, so when the two of them have an open discussion about it, they just stare at each other in disbelief, then decide to tell him together one night.

That is the night in the picture. After the confessions of course, but still that night. Bang was surprised to hear that Beep and Boop were together, but he was even more surprised that they both liked him too. They end the night admitting their crushes, and stuff and they all form a circle of love yippee the end.

I don't like picking sides for shipping lol. If I see it both ways, I'm making them poly, idc. Making peace with both sides as my sibling would say.

Anyways, have a lovely day^^

[crimsononiarataki]

"Ya really think they're impressive? Thank ya, Diluc,"

He'd smile, glad to hear that his friend thought his drawings were impressive. He'd never really shown many of the things he'd drawn, or sketched to anyone before. It wasn't a secret, Shinobu knew he sketched from time to time, but even his Deputy had no idea what his drawings actually looked like. Diluc was one of the first to see anything. Though most of his drawings were landscapes or something similar. Drawing things like doors, walls, floors, and ceilings weren't hard for him.

"I've never seen a barrel-vaulted ceilin' in person, but I have seen some images in a book I have. So I should be able to come up with somethin' for it."

It likely wouldn't take him long to come up with a few different designs for the stonework going into the ceiling. Using the metal and bamboo would also help, doing a double layer, one above, and one below would also likely work pretty well. He'd nod at the other man's words, understanding his reasoning and agreeing with him. Inazuma's temperatures fluctuated sometimes, and when it started to grow colder it tended to do so quickly, but it also remained humid due to the nation being comprised of islands surrounded by the sea.

"Doin' a double layer of the metal, stone, and bamboo would also help with the fluctuations of the temperatures outside, even that would have a hard time gettin' inside."

He'd have to come up with a design that reflected himself, Diluc, Inazuma, and Mondstadt as a whole. It wouldn't be too difficult to do so, he felt. Something told him the redhead would like whatever he came up with so long as it reflected everything they wanted it to reflect. Since it wasn't just going to be a place of business, and Diluc wanted it to have some character, he would do his best to ensure it had everything the other wanted, or needed it to have. He wanted it to be a good place for the other to stay whenever he was in Inazuma.

"Sounds good to me, I may do some stone carvin' for the outside to give it more character. Just little designs that'll add some more visual appeal."

Diluc examined the sketches with a sharp eye, leaning in to absorb every detail. Each design had a distinct charm, a craftsmanship that reflected Itto’s unmistakable precision and care. It was refreshing, almost grounding, to see how meticulously Itto considered every element, and Diluc found himself unexpectedly drawn to the idea of an estate that could reflect both Mondstadt’s rugged spirit and Inazuma’s refined natural beauty.

“These are impressive,” he said, his tone genuinely appreciative as he ran his finger just above the sketches. “Each one brings something unique. For the cellars, though, I think we should go with a structure that will create the most stable environment for the wine over the long term—temperature is key for wine preservation. I’m thinking of a barrel-vaulted stone ceiling, actually. It’s a design that could work very well with the bamboo and metal reinforcement you mentioned, and it’s one of the best at stabilizing internal temperature fluctuations.” He looked to Itto, explaining further. “The vaulted structure allows cool air to settle low, keeping the temperature even. It’s a design that’s been used since ancient times in Mondstadt, and it’s still used because it works. If we combine it with the layers you’re planning—stone, metal, bamboo—it would create a natural insulation that’s almost immune to external changes. Inazuma’s humidity would have a hard time disturbing that balance.”

Diluc’s gaze flicked from the sketches back to Itto, a faint hint of warmth crossing his expression. “The estate itself, though, I trust entirely to your sense of style. Whatever you feel would best blend with the landscape and respect the character of Inazuma. The aesthetic, I think, should reflect you as much as it does Mondstadt or even my preferences. After all, you’re crafting a place that will, in some ways, be a home as well as a business.” He imagined this blend of styles—Mondstadt’s open, fortified structures meeting Inazuma’s refined natural integration, something balanced between Itto’s vision and his own need for function. For a man who tended to prize control in his projects, it surprised him how much he trusted Itto’s judgment here.

Diluc nodded at the sketches once more, his tone light. “I can tell how much thought you’ve already put into this. Let’s go with the stone you’ve chosen here for the cellar, but when it comes to the estate’s visible stonework… Well, let it reflect what you think would bring out the character of this place.”

[wullfric]

Giving my sona a huge bulge mostly consisting of balls is actually so fucking awesome

[garvalhaminho]

if there is one thing i love doing is drawing out complicated family trees from media

[seaofreverie]

You ever finish a drawing that you really like and then you spend the next three days randomly looking at it for minutes at a time like that could make it possible for you to absorb its alluring and magnetic essence with your eyes

[idliketobeatree]

a gentle reminder to myself: slow down when you're met with someone else's creation. just because it's not in a museum, doesn't mean it's not worth your time. you can skim through your life all you want, you can jump over the annoying cracks and never look back, but when someone presents you (in the most literal meaning of this word – as a gift) with their art you should sit down and pay back with attention. people need creativity that is shared and appreciated, and it needs your focus and care to bloom properly. briefness kills both the idea and the community around it. so, slow down.

[aghhtdraws]

It'll be my birthday this week! it feels exciting for some reason, even if it's something I haven't held in recent years. something to celebrate!!

I keep forgetting to add this but I should make a new "wishlist" for gift art or other stuff since I've never really posted one before ^^; I see other ppl putting up gift wishlists so I kept thinking of doing the same.

I tried making a list a month ago for "things I like" and even tho I used to make this stuff as a kid before and it's pretty easy to guess what I like it was really hard.... (I was trying to make a list of physical gifts I like haha)

I ended up just describing a lot of shapes and colors, heh ^^

(Hi, I'm Anni, I like bright specific colors, pastels, stars and space, nature, moomins, and lots of unknown cartoons haha)

[tankgotstuckinthecircusgate]

my biggest dissonance is how robert de niro in once upon a time in america actually looks like young carlo (but more handsome than carlo) but noodles character is nothing like him like max is a certifed carlo core. he would do everything max did

[flufallo]

your art is so babygirl kitten core

I have achieved my goal (that is totally what I was aiming for)